BEGIN

CHESS

MflNUELHHRON
 Begin
Chess

Manuel Aaron

Chess Mate, Chennai, India

First published June 2003
©Chess Mate 2003

All rights reserved, No part of this book may be re­

produced, by any means, without prior permission
of the publisher.

Typeset and edited by Arvind Aaron at Chess

Mate with help from P.D.Sagari.

A CHESS MATE publication

P.O. BOX 2051, ADYAR
CHENNAI (MADRAS) 600 020
INDIA
Tel +91-044-24902051
Fax +91-044-24918503
E-mail: chessmate@vsnl.com or
chessaides@hotmail.com
www.chess-mate.com
CONTENTS
A. Introduction by the autor 5

B. Begin Chess
1. Chess For Beginners 7
2. Relative Value Of The Pieces II
3a Opening Chess Theory 14
3 b Important Principles 16
4. The Two Sides Of The Board 18
5. Basic Tips 20
6. Elementary Items 22
7. Common Mistakes 25
8. En Passant 27
9. Common Mistakes-2 30
10. Planning 33
11. Zugzwang 36
12. Attack On h7/h2 39
13. Simple Ending 42
14. Remember Patterns, Not Moves 4?
15. Attraction 49
16. Blocking 52
17. Discovered Attack 54.
18. Line Closing 57
19. Clearance Tactics 62
20. The King Hunt 66
21. The Double Attack-I 68
22. The Back Rank 71
23. The Overloaded Piece 74
24. Which Opening To Play 77
25. Pawn Endings 79
26. Attacking The Castled Position 81
27. On The Queen 84
28. Attacking 0-0-0 88
29. The Stalemate 90
30. Draw By Repetition 94
31. Control The Centre 97
32. Pawn Structures 101
33. Castling On Opposite Sides 105
34. The Advanced Passed Pawn 108
35. Blockading The Passed Pawn 112
36. Deflection 116
37. Using The Rook For Attack 120
38. Pawnless Endgames 125
39. Pawn Endgames 129
40 Queen Versus Rook 134
41. The Pin 138
42. Double Attack-11 143
43. Destroying The Defender 148
44. The Uncastled King 152
CONTENTS CONTINUED

45. Rook Versus Pawns 156

46. The Pawn Storm 164
47. Don't Blame The Blunder 168
48. Simple Rook Endings 171
49. Queen Endings 175
50. Rook+Pawn Versus Queen 179
51. Outposts For Knights 182
52. Outposts 185
53. The Outposts 189
54. Be Your Own Doctor! 192
55. More Pawn Endings 195
56. Weak Squares Part-1 198
56. Weak Squares Part-2 201
57. The Bad Bishop 204
58. Bishop Against Knight 207
59. Bishop Versus Knight 210
60. Study The Classics-1 214
Study The Classics-2 217
61. Bishop Endings Part-1 220
Bishop Endings Part-2 223
62. Opening Traps And Tactics 226
63. Opening Traps And Pitfalls 230
64. Unnatural Squares 235
65. Giving Odds 239
66. Sacrificing The Queen 243
67. Queenless Middle Games 247
68. After Game Analysis 250

C. Indexes
1. Theme index 253
2. Opening index 254
3. Player index 254
 A. Introduction by the author

Foreword
This book is a collection of articles for beginners published in
Chess Mate during 1989-1997. The objectives of these articles
were to make the beginner a more knowledgeable and better
player. They showed the beginner how to avoid common mistakes
and gave him a good understanding of the Laws of Chess.
Each such article in a particular month did not necessarily con­
centrate on one particular theme at a time as a book usually does.
For example, in one article there might be explanations and illus­
trations of the pin motif in chess. That same article may also con­
tain a small bit on the pawn ending or queen ending. The idea of
each article was to give the beginner different interesting things in
chess so that his interest was heightened and he did not view chess
as a dull and tedious game.
After going through this book, no player will remain a begin­
ner. The basic principles of the opening, the middle-game motifs
and various endings explained in different sectors of this book
would ensure that he plays a decent game and he makes his move
after logical thinking.
However, despite all the explanations and annotations, un­
known situations will arise over the board. The variety of tactical
motifs and the hundreds of intricate combinations that abound in
chess can still puzzle and worry a player. In such a position the
player should recall the basic principles and do his best to tackle
the situation. Sometimes, he might still fail. This should not be
viewed as a failure but as an opportunity to learn something hith­
erto unknown.
Consult a stronger player and find the way to master the situa­
tion.
Good Luck!

Manuel Aaron
 Chapter One

Chess For Beginners

Il is presumed that the student already knows What is checking' the king? When the king is
how the pieces in a game of chess move. In case attacked by an enemy pawn or piece it is said to
this is not known, he may go through the Laws of be under check. Four examples of checks are
Chess'. Which is available for free download given in the diagram above.
from I IDE's website www.chessdaily.com.
How Chess is played: When a king is under check, it should be
After you know how every piece and either moved away or the attacking piece
pawn moves in a game of chess it is time to should be captured or the king should be
start play ing a game. shielded from attack by interposing some
Before you start, check whether the right piece. And this has to be done in the next
hand corner square of the board is a white move itself because a king cannot be left ' on
square It should not be a dark square. Also, it take' at anytime. If a player leaves his king
is easy to make a mistake putting the king in on take and makes some other move, that
the Queen's initial position and vice versa. move is illegal and according to Laws of
Always remember that when the game be­ Chess Article 7 (The touched piece) and Ar­
gins the white queen is on a white square and ticle 7.4 (Illegal position) that move should
the black queen is on a black square. be retracted and another move made.

In chess, the player with the white pieces Any check must be parried by the move
always moves first and makes the first move. immediately following. Ifa check cannot be
Then black makes his first move and the parried, the king is said to be-checkmated, or
game proceeds with the players moving al­ mated, and the game ends immediately in
ternately. No player may move twice in suc­ victory for the player making the check.
cession. or pass his move. Captures are not
compulsory. Object of the game
The object in a game of chess is to checkmate
Checking the King: the opponent’s king. Examples of checkmates are
given in the diagram in the next page.
At the beginning of the game the object is to
place ones pieces on squares where they will
exercise their power to the maximum. The pieces
should be developed in such a fashion that an
attack on the enemy king would be effective and
lead to material advantage and checkmate. Each
player safeguards his own king and attempts to
weaken the defenses of the enemy king to facil i-
tate checkmate.
Quite often a player picks on some enemy
weakness, hammers away at it, wins material
and uses this extra material to checkmate.
During this process several exchanges of
pawns and pieces also take place.

7
 move the black king cannot go bey ond the
fifth rank.
1.. .Kd4
If l..Kf4 2 Qd5! restricts the black
king's freedom still further.
2 Qf5! Kc4
If I ...Ke3 2 Qg4 Kd3 3 Qf4 Kc3 4 Qe4
and the restriction process goes on
3 Qe5 Kb4
If 3...Kd3 4 Qf4 and the black king is re­
stricted to the first three ranks only.
4 Qd5 Ka4
If 4...Kc3 5 Kdl Kb4 6 Kc2 Ka4 7 Kc3
Ka3 X Qb3o.
5Qb7!
This move restricts the black king to the
a-file.
Basic Mates
5.. .Ka5 6 Kd2 Ka4 7 Qb6 Ka3 8 Qb5 Ka2 9
I'he basic way to check-mate the oppo­
Qb4 Kai 10 Kc2!
nent is to reduce his material to a lone king
and then mate him with our own material. l ite black king cannot be restricted fur­
Some of the basic mates are given below. ther. 119 Qb3 ?? black has no move and. as he
is not under check it is a stalemate which is
Queen and King Versus King: only a draw.
10..
.Ka2 11 Qb2 #
I Ins is tile most basic mate that a beginner To suin up. the Queen keeps on restrict­
should start itll. ing the lone king's mobility to fewer ranks
and tiles. When the biack king is finally cor­
nered and has only two legal squares to
move in. the white king moves up to help the
Queen to checkmate.

King and two Rooks Versus King

I Qh5
Some beginners go on checking the en­
emy king without any plan and finally
stalemate the enemy king. After the text

8
 This is easy and follows the same pattern 5 Ra5 Kd6 6 Ke4
of restricting the lone king and checkmating, While the rook holds off the fifth rank,
the white king moves up to help the rook
1 Rd 1!
push back the black king further. This pro­
This restricts the black king to the a, b cess is repeated at every stage.
and c tiles alone,
.Kc6
6.. 7 Kd4 Kb6
.Kc5
l.. 2 Rd2!
lf7...Kd6 8 Ra6 and the black king is fur­
While Rd I holds the d-ftle. the other ther pushed back. But now a new cut off re­
rook will give check along the c-file, forcing stricts the black king further.
the black king on to the b-tile.
2.. .KC4 3 Rc2 Kb3 4 Rc8 8 Rc5! Kb7 9 Kd5 Kb6 10 Rcl Kb7
Now the rook on c8 holds the c-file and If 10...Kb5 11 Rbl.
the rook on d I would check along the b-fite.
4.. .Kb2 5 Rd7 Kb3 6 Rb7 Ka4 7 Ra8# 11 Rc6! Kb8 12 Kd6 Kb7 13 Rcl Kb8
14 Kd7 Kb7 15 Rbl Ka6 16 Kc7 Ka5 17
Kc6 Ka4 18 Kc5 Ka3 19 Kc4 Ka2 20 Rb8
King and Rook'Versus King Ka3 21 Rb7!
If 21 Kc3 Ka4 and the mating position is
averted. This waiting move brings the black
king where it is required. If now 21...Ka4 22
Ra7#
21..
.Ka2 22 Kc3 Kai 23 Kc2 Ka2 24
Ra7#
There are shorter ways to mate but the
above process explains the restriction and
advancing process beautifully.

King and two Bishops Versus King

This is similar to King and Queen versus

King but slower as the rook is not as power­
ful as the queen.

1 Rh4
Restricting the black king. Note that pur­
poseless checks would lead to waste of time
only.
1.. .Kf5 2 Ke2 Kg5 3 Ra4
Still maintaining control over the 4th
rank.
3.. .Kf5 4 Ke3 Ke5 This is not so easy but it follows the same
lf4...Kg5 5 Rf4! and the black king is re­ pattern of restricting the enemy and advanc­
stricted to the g and h files alone. ing on him step by step.

9
 1 Bd2 Kd4 2 Kf2 3.. .Kb6 4 Kd4 Kc6 5 Bb4 Kb6 6 Kd5
The two bishops are covering the a5-el Kb7 7 Bc5
and a6-fl diagonals Now the two bishops cover a7-gl and
a6-fl diagonals.
.Kc5
2.. 3 Ke3
7.. .Kc7 8 Bb5 Kb7 9 Kd6 Kc8 10 Bb6
With the two bishops holding adjacent Kb7 11 Ba5 Kc8 12 Ke7 Kb7 13 Kd7 Kb8
diagonals the white king moves up to restrict 14 Bc7 Kb7 15 Kd8 Ka7 16 Kc8 Ka8 17
the black king. Bg3 Ka7 18 Bf2 Ka8 19 Bc6#.

10
 Chapter Two

Relative value of the pieces

The object in a game is to checkmate the Ifyou exchange your bishop for your op­
opponent's king. Since this could generally ponent's rook, you have gained, because
be done when one player has more material your bishop is worth three pawns (some
on the board than his opponent, a player even put a bishop or knight as equal to 3.5
should know the relative value ofthe pieces. pawns) against the rook which is equivalent
to five pawns. A player who exchanges his
The most powerful piece in chess is the bishop or knight for his opponent's rook is
Queen. The second powerful piece is the said to have "Won the exchange" whereas
Rook. The Queen.and Rooks are known as the player who exchanges his rook for a mi­
the 'Major pieces'. The Bishop and Knight nor piece is said to have "lost the exchange".
are approximately equal. Both of them are
weaker than the rook but stronger than the A queen derives its powers by its ability
pawn which is the weakest on the board. to move like a rook and like a bishop. A
Bishops and knights are known as 'Minor queen placed in the centre of an open chess
pieces'. board controls 27 squares while a rook con­
The relative value of the pieces could be trols 14 squares.
expressed in terms of pawns:
The bishop and knight are approxi­
mately equal. The bishop controls 13
Queen = 9 pawns squares from the centre of the board whereas
Rook = 5 pawns the knight controls only eight squares. Yet
Bishop = 3 pawns these two pieces are considered approxi­
mately equal because the bishop is restricted
Knight = 3 pawns
to squares of one colour whereas the knight
can reach any square of the chess board and
With the above equivalents in mind, also jump over other pieces. In closed or
other equations could be worked out. Some blocked positions, the knights become very
are: powerful.
Queen + Pawn = Two Rooks However.if two bishops are pitted against
Bishop + Two Pawns = One Rook two knights in an open position, the bishops are
superior because, side by side, the two bishops
Queen =Two knights + Bishop. would control vital squares over which the
knights may not cross.
If you exchange your Queen for your op­ A pawn controls only two squares and is
ponent's queen, it is just an exchange. But if the least in value. Because of this, the pawn
you exchange a knight and bishop for your is used in assaults againts the enemy posi­
opponent's Queen, you have gained consid­ tions and as protection for its own king. The
erably as your knight and bishop put to­ potential of pawns in the endgame is great as
gether are equal to six pawns whereas your only they could be promoted to Queens on
opponent's Queen is equal to nine pawns. reaching the eighth rank.

11
 Exchange of Pieces Captures and recaptures are usually
Once we know the relative value of the made by keeping the values of the pieces in
pieces, the rules for exchanging becomes mind.
easier to understand. Obviously, a Queen Consider the diagram below.
should not be exchanged for a rook, or a rook
for a knight, or a bishop for a pawn. If you
exchange queen for a queen, a rook for a
rook, a bishop for a bishop (or knight), a
pawn for a pawn, the result is equal.
7 Make sure that when you exchange
pieces you do not lose material. To capture a
bishop, for example, you can give up your
bishop or knight which will make the trans­
action equal. But if you capture the bishop
by giving up your pawn, it is a gainful trans­
action and if you give up your rook or queen
for the enemy bishop it is a losing transac­
tion. Let us examine the two positions in the
diagram below.
White must start the exchange on d5
with his least valued force, the pawn. If he
played 1 Qxd5? exd5 and white would get
only two pawns for his queen which would
be a loss for him. Therefore, to win material
white must start the exchange on d5 with his
pawn, then with his bishop, then knight and
finally queen. I cxd5 exd5 2 B.xd5 Bxd5 3
Nxd5 Nxd5 4 Qxd5.

To decide whether material (pawn or

piece) could be w'on by a series of exchanges
on one square a player should count the
number of units attacking that square and the
number of units defending that square. If the
attacker must win material he must have one
In position 'A' white to play continued 1
Qxb7 Nxb7 2 Rxb7. As a result he has given up attacking unit more than the number of
his queen (= 9 pawns) for Bishop and Knight defending units.
(3 + 3=6 pawns). Clearly, this is a losing trans­
action.
In position 'B' the rook is in front of the In the above diagram white has four units
(pawn, bishop, knight and queen) attacking d5
queen and now I Rxh4 Nxh4 2 Qxh4 is a
while black has only three units (pawn, knight
gainful transaction as white has given up his and bishop) in defense. White could therefore
rook (5 pawns) forknight and bishop (3+3=6 win material by capturing on the d5 square
pawns). judiously .

12
 equally experienced player. However, in a game
Material Advantage Wins between two newcomers to the game, the loss of
a knight or bishop is only small incident in the
Material advantage is the most important game and they carry on. Sometimes the other
factor in winning at chess. It is possible to player becomes generous and gives back the ma­
sain (or lose!) material in a variety of ways. terial or blunders it away and the game swings
A player may capture an unprotected piece back and forth. Such games give the players
much enjoyment and a lot of experiences which
or make a profitable exchange or accept a
might turn them into strong players in the future.
worthless sacrifice by the opponent or make Your objective should be to checkmate the en­
double threats only one of which could be emy king or gain material which would gradu­
parried. A player who has a material advan­ ally lead to checkmate.
tage (even one extra pawn is a material ad­
vantage) should win the game. The object of Therefore, do not lose material yourself.
all attacking play is to mate the opponents Before you pick up a piece to place it on any
king or gain material advantage. Often, an square, make sure that no enemy pawn is at­
extra pawn is sufficient to win. If the mate­ tacking that square. Remember, a piece
rial advantage is more than a pawn it is usu­ which is touched must be moved. Article 7
ally an overwhelming advantage. in the laws of Chess stipulates that if a player
touches one of his own men he must move it,
A player who has, say, gained an extra and if he touches one of his opponents men
knight, should use that knight to win more he must capture it provided the move or the
material or exchange off all material so that capture is legal. If illegal, there is no penalty.
the extra knight is supreme in the simplified
position. Once material gain has been at­ If a chess piece is to be adjusted on a square
tained, simplify the position so that you one must first say "I adjust" and then only ad­
could reach any of the basic mates described just. Such adjustment should not be made when it
is the opponent's turn to move. In a good posi­
in the previous chapter.
tion you may blunder away a knight or even a
queen. Still, do not retract your move. Continue.
An experienced player, resigns the game If you lose, you will learn a lesson and play more
when he loses, or is threatened with the loss of. carefully. Perhaps your opponent may also blun­
decisive material in a game against another der back!

13
 Chapter Three
Opening Chess Theory
Chess theory is broadly divided into 5. Do not push the edge pawns a. b. g, h.
three major sections. The openings, the mid­ without any need as they have no bearing on the
central squares,
dle-game and the end-game. Hundreds of
books on chess have been published in dif­ 6. Do not move the same piece twice be­
ferent languages all over the world. Chess fore you have moved every other piece once.
theory is nothing but the chess experiences The following game was played 200 years
of strong players compiled thematically and ago!
instructively. By going through books, it is Legal - Saint Brie
possible for chess players to learn from the 18th Century Paris
experiences of masters without the aid of a
tutor or guide. 1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 d6
Better were 2...Nc6 and 2...Bc5. The text
Rules for Openings prevents the development of his f8 bishop
which must find some other way of getting
Players should bear in mind the follow­
into the game.
ing general principles during the opening
phase of the game: 3 Nf3 Bg4 4Nc3g6?

1. Move your central pawns to the centre A question mark signifies that the move
of the board. Moves like 1 e4 and I d4 are is bad. An exclamation mark signifies that
preferable. These pawns that occupy one the move is good. 4...Nc6 would have
central square and control another central averted what follows.
square. The four central squares in a game of
chess are d4, d5, e4 and e5. Controlling the 5Ne5!!Bdl 6 Bf7 Ke7
central squares is very important as play in 7 Nd5#
any corner of the board could be influenced
from the centre.
2. Develop knights before bishops. The
best places for the knight are f3, c3, f6, c6
from where they influence the centre. But
the best squares for the bishops depend on
the opponent's plan.
3. Castle quickly. This connects the rooks.
Bring the rooks to dl, el,(d8, e8) from where
they influence the centre.
4. Do not bring out your queen early. As it is
a very powerful piece, it has to run if attacked by
the enemy's less important pieces which would
develop freely while the chased queen runs from
square to square.

14
 This is a brilliant finish exploiting the knight a second time because white has vio­
passive move (2...d6) and a non-obvious lated almost all the rules after move No. I
blunder 4...g6.
6 Qc3
Let us now examine an instructive game
where white breaks many opening principles
White sees that after 6 Bf7? Ke7 7 Qc4
and loses his queen. (the only square from which the Bf7 could be
protected) 7...b5! the queen is compelled to
1 e4 e5 2 Qh5? abandon support to the bishop on f7.
This attacks the e5 pawn but breaks Rule
6.. .d5!
No. 4 and brings his queen out early.
Black vigorously acts in the centre.
2.. .Nc6
Black protects his e5 pawn and develops 7 edS Bf5!
his knight. Attacking c2 two fold. White hastens to
3 Bc4 defend c2 the natural way.

This threatens 4 Qxf7 mate, a mate popu­ 8d3

larly know as "Fools Mate" because only a But this allows black to trap the white
fool or a beginner could overlook this threat. queen by a pin and a fork.
Of course, now 3...Nf6?? would allow the
fools mate.
8.. .Bb4!l
3.. .g6 Pinning the Queen.
Prevents 4 Qxf7 mate.

4QI3
Again he threatens Qxf7 mate.

4.. .Nf6
Black develops another knight and
wards off the threatened mate at f7.

5 Qb3?
White isapersistentdevil! Seeingthathe
is not allowed.Qxf7 mate, he wants to atleast
take the f7 pawn with his bishop. But this
move violates Rule Nos 4 and 6. White has
made three moves with his queen in the first
five moves. It is asking for trouble.
9 Qb4 Nc2! and black won by forking
the King, Queen and Rook.
This is a good illustration of'the dangers
5..
. Nd4
of making adventurous moves with the
This breaks Rule No. 6 But chess rules queen in the opening phase of the game. The
are only to guide us and not to be imple­ Queen is too valuable to be exchanged for
mented blindly. Black moves the same other pieces.

15
 Chapter Three
Important Principles
It is necessary to understand the basic princi­ But it is illegal. The rook, or for that
ples in chess. There are many principles which a matter any piece, retains its checking
player uses during the course of a game. Often, power even when pinned. A piece (in
he uses a combination of these with great effect. the above diagram, the rook) which is
A student should be acquainted with these so that pinned against its king loses only its mo­
they become an integral part of his chess life. bility.
The most common principles are listed below.
The Trap : A piece which cannot move The fork: A fork is a simultaneous at­
to any square without being captured is said tack on two pieces. Two examples of forks
to be in a trap. are shown below.

In the above diagram, the black knight is

trapped on hl. The white king threatens to
capture it by moving Ke 1-fI-g2xh 1. The
knight cannot escape by moving Ng3 as In 'A' the knight is forking the king and
white's h-pawn would capture it on g3. queen. After the king moves, the knight will
capture the queen. In 'B' the pawn is forking
the knight and the rook. Only one of them
The Pin: A pin is a device to immobilise could be saved and the other would be cap­
enemy pieces. tured by the pawn. The fork is essentially a
double attack.

The skewer: The skewer occurs when

the king is attacked and a piece behind it, on
either a row or a diagonal, is captured after
the king moves away.

In the above diagram, the rook can­

not move as its king would come under
attack. White can now capture the rook
and win the exchange (rook for bishop).
Or, he could do still better winning a
whole rook by playing Kd6 and only
then Bxe7. Some beginners might play The king is under check. After it
1 Ke6 thinking that the rook is pinned. moves, white plays Bxfl winning the

16
queen. We shall give more such exam­ This move is a discovered double check.
ples of devices used in a chess game in A discovered check is more dangerous than
future instalments. In the last instal­ an ordinary check. The discovering piece
ment. we gave the principles of Open­ (here it is the knight) could go to any square
ings. Here is an illustrative game while the other piece checks the king, de­
manding immediate attention. Please see di­
I e4 e5 2 N13 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 d3 agram below.

So far everything is normal with both

players playing according to classical princi­
ples controlling the centre. But now, black
diverges.
4.. .Nge7?
Normal here is 4...Nf6 from where the
knight would control two central squares.

5 Ng5!

White breaks the opening principle of

moving the same piece twice before moving
every other piece once, but here he is right as
black has not played the knight to the best
square- f6- on the previous move.
8..
.Kh7 9 Nf7
Again it is a discovered check.

5.. .0-0 6 QhS!

9.:.Kg8
I bis move would not have been possible
We have reached the same position
had black played 4...Nf6.
which was reached after black's seventh
move except than black's h6 pawn is no lon­
6.. .116 7 Nf7 Qe8 ger on the board.
8 Nh6 10 Qh8 mate.

17
 Chapter Four
The Two Sides
I he Chess board is divided vertically Castle Early
into two parts for the purpose of easily iden­ One of the good principles in openings is
tifying sections of the board and in describ­ to castle as early as possible. Castling takes
ing the scene of activities. The King and the king to a comparatively safe corner of
Queen lend their names to the two sides of the board and brings the rooks to the centre
the chess board as shown below. from where they exercise great influence. If
castling is delayed, it is possible for the op­
ponent to attack the king on its original
square in the centre and permanently pre­
vent it from reaching a safe corner. A king is
generally vulnerable in the centre. If a king
is stranded in the centre, it would prevent his
own rook from being developed at the ideal
central squares dl and el (d8 and e8 for
black) and seriously hinder smooth develop­
ment of the other pieces. To illustrate the
need for early castling, we give below a
game played by the brilliant American from
the 19th Century, Paul Morphy.

Morphy- Leichtenheim
New York 1857
1 e4 e5 2 f4
White pieces on al, bl. cl, squares are
This is the King's Gambit which was
known as the Queen's rook, queen’s knight
very popular in the 19th century.
and queen's bishop. Similarly, the black
pieces on the squares a8, b8, and c8 are also .ef4
2,.
known as the queens rook, queen's knight The King's Gambit Accepted.
and queen's bishop. The white pieces on fl, 3 Nf3 d5 4 ed5 Be7
gl and hl are known as white's king's
Nowadays we know that 4...Bd6 and
bishop, king's knight and king's rook. When
4..
Qd5 are stronger.
a player castles on the King-side, that move
is designated as 0-0 as there are two squares 5 Bb5 c6 6 dc6 bc6 7 Bc4 Bh4 8 g3!
between the king and the King’s rook. But If 8 Nh4 Qh4 9 Kfl Ne7 and black could
when castling is done on the queen side, it is comfortably castle while the white king is
designated as 0-0-0 as there are three squares awkwardly placed at fl blocking the devel­
between the king and the queen's rook. opment of the king's rook.

18
 8.. . fg3 9 0-0 gh2 10 Kill! Rhd8 25 Qb7 Ka5 26 Bd2!! Qd2 2^ N<-4
This is a good move. ()t’ien in such posi­ Ka4 28 b3 male.
tions. the enemy pawn blocked in our own Here is another well known openum
camp, as al h2 in this case, provides good where black m.ikes quite a few moves w itli-
shelter lor our king from the hostile pieces oul aiming to castle quicklv and pavs for it
10.. .BI6 deal 1\.

Black has to waste a move like (his as I’ e4 c6 This is known as the Caro-kann
white was now threatening 1 1 Nh4 Qh4 12 Defence.
BI7. 2 d4 <15 3 INc3 de4 4 Nc4 NI6 5 Q<I3 c5?
11 Nc5! Nh6 This pawn move is not a blunder as it would
appear. But black loses time with the queen
If I I...Be5 12 Qh5 threatening both 17
recovering the pawn while white’s reply on
and e5.
the ninth move leads to fast development
12 <14 Be5 13 Qh5! Q<I4 and early castling. 6 de5 Qa5 7 Bd2 Qc5 8
For winning a few pawns black has kept 0-0-0! Nc4 On 8...Qe4 9 Rel
his king in the centre. After this, white at­
tacks the black king and gives him no lime to
castle. The black king w ill be hunted to death
as he just does not gel lime to reach a safe
place.

14 B17 NI7 15 Q17 Kd8 16 Bg5 BI6 17

Nc3! Bd7?
Better was 17...Bg5 18 Radi Bd2 I9R12
Bc3! 20 Rd4 Bd4 21 Rd2 c5 22 c.3 Nd7 23
cd4 cd4 24 Rd4.

18 Rf6!
If now gf6, Bf6 will win the queen. This
Rf6 was not possible on the previous move
as it would have allowed ...Qgl mate. Re­
member the queen's knight was still on bl.

18.. .Kc7 19 Bf4 Kb7 20 Rd6 Qc5 21 9Qd8!!! Kd8 10 Bg5 1-0. As 10..Ke8 I 1
Nt*4! Qc2 22 Rd7 Nd7 23 Qd7 Ka6 24 Nd6 Rd8 mate.

19
 Chapter Five
Basic Tips
A Famous Mate cumulating material ignoring white's
there is one pattern of mate which is threat.
simply brilliant. It is sometimes called the To win a game, one has to win material.
I’hilidors Legacy or simply as smothered But all the time, while winning material one
mate. The following position features this
should watch for combinations that the op­
mate. ponents may spring as white did from the di­
agrammed position.

If Materially Ahead, Exchange!

When a player has extra material he
should exchange queen for queen, rook for
rook and minor piece (knight, bishop) for
minor piece. In the diagrammed position, if
it had been black's turn to move and he had
regularly and wisely exchanged pieces on an
equal basis, there would be finally a lone
white king against black's 3 pawns and one
bishop left on the board. And that would be
enough for black to win. Let us examine a
simpler position.

White to move
White cannot hope to achieve any­
thing by exchanging queens in this posi­
tion. White plays here 1 Qb3 Kh8 if 1...
Kf8 2 QI7 mate 2 Nf7 Kg8 3 Nh6 Kh8 4
Qg8!!! Rg8 5 Nf7 mate. A beautiful mate
where all the neighbouring squares of the
black king are occupied by its own pieces
and the white knight.
This mate could occur in actual play in
similar positions and it pays to be familiar
with this mating pattern.

Take another look at the diagram. If

it had been black's move, he could have In this position, if the Knight and Bishop
exchanged pieces and easily won as he are taken off the board white would have
has one bishop and three pawns more three pawns against blacks two pawns. Such
than white. Black's mistake was in ac­ simple pawn endings could be won with

20
careful play, the plan being to bring the king changing off all material, if a player is left
forward without pushing the pawns: with a king and pawn against a lone king, he
1 Kh2 Kf7 2 Kg3 Kf6 3 Kf4 g6 should know how to win the game with that
pawn. A little carelessness could lead to
If 3...e5 4 Kg4 g6 (4,.Kg6 5 h4 Kf6 6 h5
draw through stalemate. Take the following
and black must allow the victorious Kg5) 5
position:
h4 Kf7 6 Kg5 Kg7 7 fj and the white king
will enter either f6 or h6 and win, e.g.,
7..
.Kf7 8 Kh6 Kf6 9 g4 Kf7 10 g5 and white
captures the g6 pawn. Or, if 3. .. g5 4 Ke4e5 5
Kd5 Kf5 6 g3 Kf6 (6...e4 7 Kd4 and the
e-pawn falls) 7 g4 and white captures the
e-pawn.
4 h4 Kf7 5 Ke5 Ke7 6 g4 Kf7 7 g5 Ke7 8
f4 Kf7 9 Kd6 and white captures e6 next.
If black is to move, he plays I ...Kf8, then
Now, let us get back to the diagram. As
2 f7 Ke7 3 Kg7 and white queens his pawn
exchanging his knight for the bishop would
next move.
lose the resultant King and Pawn ending,
Black could also try 1 ...Kh8. Then a big
black should exchange pawns. Let us as­ blunder by white would be 2 f7 which is a
sume that black manages to exchange his e stalemate. On 1 ...Kh8, White could win by:
and g pawns for white's f and g pawns. Then 2 Kf7 Kh7 3 Ke7 and black cannot prevent
white would have a bishop and h pawn white from playing 4 f7 and 5 f8=Q.
against black's lone knight. In such a posi­ If white is to move in the diagrammed
tion black could draw by exchanging his position, it is to the advantage to the player
knight for the last white pawn as white's lone who does not have to move first. The player
bishop cannot mate. The least unit of mate­ who does not have to move first in such a
rial that a player can win is a pawn. After ex- position is know to have the 'opposition'.

21
 Chapter Six
Elementary Items
(c) If a player touches a rook and then the
king, he may not castle with that rook and
the situation will be governed by Articles 7.2
and 7.3.
(e) Castling is illegal if (i) the king has al­
ready been moved or (ii) with a rook that has
already been moved.
If black is to move, and he plays 1 ...Kf8,
(f) Castling is prevented for the time be­
then 2 f7 Ke7 3 Kg7 and white queens his
ing (i) if the king's original square which the
pawn in the next move. Black could also try
king must cross over or that which it is to oc­
I ...Kh8. Then, a big blunder by white would
cupy is attacked by an opponent's piece or
be 2 f7 which is a stalemate. On 1 ...Kh8,
(ii) if there is any piece between the king and
white could win by: 2 Kf7 Kh7 3 Ke7 and
the rook with which castling is to be ef­
black cannot prevent white from playing 4 f7
fected.
and 5 f8=Q.
In the diagram below, both kings cannot
If white is to move in the diagrammed
castle:
position, it is only a draw: I f7 Kf8 2 Kf6
Stalemate. We, therefore, find that in the dia­
grammed position, it is to the advantage of
the player who does not have to move first.
The player who does not have to move first
in such a position is known to have the'oppo­
sition'. If white is to move first, black has the
'opposition' and if black is to move first, then
white has the 'opposition1.

■ Castling

Some clauses of Article 5.1 (b) from the

Laws of Chess are interesting:
(b) Castling is a move of the king and ei­
ther rook, counting as a single move of the
And in the diagram below, both kings
king and executed as follows: the king is
could castle:
transferred from its original squares toward
See iliiigruiH
either rook on the same rank: then that rook
is transferred over the king to the square the It is important to know all the Laws of
king has just crossed. Chess in order to save oneself unnecessary
 White mates in half a move! The solu­
tion is given at the end of the article.
The Pin
A piece or pawn which is pinned against
its king is totally immobilised. A pin is very
common in a game of chess and has myriad
ways in chess tactics. Seven positions are
giver, below.
In case white to play mates in one move
thanks to a pin. Solutions are given at the end
of the chapter.

arguments with another beginner. It is

better to have a copy of the Laws of Chess
with you when you sit to play another player
who himself may have only vague ideas of
the Laws of Chess but still states them with
authority and a banging of the table. For ex­
ample, if during a game, it is found that the
board has been placed with the corner
square to the right of each player being
black, instead of white (which is correct),
what will you do? Annul the game and play
another?
For an answer to this question, please re­
fer to Article 8.7 in the Laws of Chess. 1
guess that even experienced players will
give wrong answers! Check Solutions at
www. chessdaily .com
Now for a small chess joke. In the dia­
grammed position, white to play mates in
Haifa move!
 A Bishop and Pawn Ending 1 Kai Kc3 (l..a2 is immediately stale­
A simple ending which is an incredible mate) 2 Ka2 Kb4 3 Kbl (or even Kai, itl
makes no difference)
draw is when a rook pawn (a or h pawn) plus
a bishop of the wrong colour cannot win Be4
3.. 4 Kai Kb3 stalemate.
against a lone king which controls the Thirty years ago (in 1960), I was playing
queening square. If the bishop is of the same with a few chess lovers in the Madras
colour as the queening square, then it is a YMCA. They took back moves (illegal, but
simple win. If not, it is a draw. Please see the people do not bother about such things in
diagram below. friendly games!) but I did not. Finally, we
reached a position as in the diagram and 1 an­
nounced it was a draw. "You may be Na­
tional Champion, but a bishop is a bishop!!",
they chortled and proceeded to stalemate me
in a variety of ways before agreeing reluc­
tantly that a National Champion is a Na­
tional Champion!

Solutions
Mate in half a move: White has started
This position is a draw, because the castling on the king side and has played
white king cannot be dislodged from control K(e I) to g I. Only half of the move is com­
of al which is the queening squ are. The pleted. The other half of the move is to bring
queening square is black but black's bishop the rook on hl to fl when it is a mate!
runs on white squares. The best that black Pins: A I Rc8#. B I g6#. C I Ra3#. D I
can do is stalemate the white king. Rel#. E I Qc8#. F I Qh7#. G I Rd4#.

24
 Chapter Seven
Common Mistakes
Favourite Mistake with the f-pawn 6 Qh5! g6 7 Ng6 Ng7
Of course, if he captures the knight with
Every player has some 'favourite' mis­
.hg6.
7.. then 8 Qh8 white captures the rook.
take which he commits again and again. The
difficulty lies in identifying which is the fa­
vourite mistake. Once the mistake is identi­
fied, perhaps with the help of a friend, and
once a conscious attempt is made to elimi­
nate the favourite mistake (also known in
theoretical circles as typical mistake) a
player progresses. Almost every beginner
falls into a trap on the king-side in the open­
ing by moving his f-pawn.
The f-pawn is the only pawn on the
board which, in the initial position, is
protected only by its king. All other
pawns are protected by other pieces.
One has to be very cautious while mov­
ing the f-pawn as the enemy queen
8 Bf7!l
could attack the king swiftly along the
A brilliant move, drawing the king into a
el-h4 or e8-h5 diagonals. Let us take a
good example. double check. The simple 8...Nh8 would
lose the Queen after 9 Nh5.
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 Nd4?
8.. .K17 9 Ne5!l
.
3.. ed4 is normal but black wants to
know what is wrong with this move. 9 Nh8 would win the exchange (rook for
knight) but there would be no immediate
4 Ne5 Ne6
victory. 9 Ne511 leads to forced mate.
Back to c6 would have been better. At e6,
9.. . Ke7
the knight obstructs his own bishop on c8.
If 9...Ke6 10 Qf7! Ke5 [10..Kd6 11 Nc4
5 Bc4 f67?
leads to the same variation as in the game] I 1
I have mentioned earlier that the best Qd5#
square for the knights are the c3. c6. f3, f6
10Qf7 Kd6 11 Nc4 Kc5
squares. Now. if a pawn occupies f6, how
could the black knight be developed there? If I I..Kc6 12 Qd5#

Naturally, the Ng8 would have to be devel­ 12 Qd5 Kb4 13 c3 Ka4 14 b3#
oped at a less successful square like e7. Moving the f-pawn in the opening can
Better were 5...d6 and 5...Nf6. also lead to lack of development as it does
not help in developing any bishop. The op­ moved twice while their two bishops are yet
ponent will be able to take advantage of his to be developed. But black's pieces are mov­
lead in development and attack the kingas in ing to good position.
the following example. 9a3?
I c4 Again 9 d3 was better.
This is known as the English Opening.
We do not recommend this to players who
have taken to this game recently. It is slow in
development and requires positional insight
which needs experience.
l..
.Nf6 2 Nc3 e6 3 e4 c5! 4 f4
If 4 e5? Ng8 and black gets an excellent
game by attacking the advanced e-pawn by
...Nc6 and ...d6. But this combination of
moving the c and f pawns is always of dubi­
ous merit as shown in this game and count­
less others.

4„.Nc6 5 Nf3
Again, if 5 e5?l Ng8 6 Nf3 d6! and the
white position is riddled with gaping holes.

5.. .d5! 6 e5 Ng4! 7 cd5 ed5 8 Qb3? .c4!

9.. 10 Qa4 Bd7 11 Qdl

This breaks the opening principle "Do The only move to prevent blacks

not bring out the Queen early" and white 11 ...Nc2 winning a rook

pays the penalty. White should complete de­ 1 l...Qb6!

velopment by 8 d3 and 9 Be2. Here black wins as his threat of 12...Qf2
8.. .Nb4! can be prevented only by 12 Qe2 which al­
If your opponent has broken the opening lows the dreaded ...Nc2.
principles, you could also break them to your Therefore, before you move the f-pawn
advantage! Here, the two black knights have in the opening, think twice!

26
 Chapter Eight
En Passant
The "en passant" capture:

The "en passant" capture is sometimes a

little unclear to players who have not been
playing chess for long.

"En passant" is a French expression

which means "in passing". It is often men­
tioned in Indian chess circles as simply
"e.p." The Laws of Chess (available by free
download from FIDE's website
www.chessdaily.com ) defines "en passant"
as follows:

"5-6 (c) A pawn, attacking a square 1 d4 does not mate because of l...ed3
crossed by an opponent's pawn which has e.p.
been advanced two squares in one move Now take a look at the next diagram.
from its original square, may capture this op­
See diagram 2
ponent's pawn as though the latter has been
White mates in half a move!
moved only one square. This capture may be
made only in reply to such an advance and is
called an "en passant" capture.

If a black pawn is on h 7 and is moved to

h5, and, if there is a white pawn on g5, it
could capture the black h-pawn. White
merely places his g5 pawn on h6 and re­
moves the black pawn on h5. Suppose, the
black pawn was already on h6 and is moved
to h5, white cannot capture it. A capture
through en passant could be effected on the
immediate next move, that is in reply to the
two-step pawn move. It is not available after
making some other move.

The diagrammed position is an example

of mate being averted only because of the en
This is a chess joke. The solution is at the
end of the chapter.
passant capture.

27
 Middle game Mating Patterns

There are some thematic patterns of play

which could occur in our games and there­
fore should be recognised when they occur
in practical play.

White to play and win.

A study of the position reveals that if the

white rook disappeared from the board, the
white knight could move to f7 forking the
king and queen. This is brought about by the
square vacating sacrifice:

In the diagram above, white is to play 1 Rf8! Bf8 2 Nf7 Kg8 3 Ne5 1-0.
and win. This position is often obtained in rook
and pawn endgames. Here, the white rook
If the white queen reaches the h7 square, must vacate a8 with check or some other
black is mated. But white has to do this im­ threat in order to queen with a7-a8.
mediately as he is threatened by an
inavoidable mate in one move (Qb2). White
wins as follows:

1 Be6I! Be6 If l...Rf72 Bf7 Kf8 3 Rh8#;

2 Rh8!l Kh8 3 Rhl Kg8 4 Rh8! KhS 5 Qh 1
Kg8 6 Qh7#.

This series of sacrifices is known as 'line

clearance sacrifices’ as the bishop and two
rooks sacrifice themselves to clear the way
for the queen to mate on h7. Such surprising
line clearance and square sacrifices abound
in chess and make the game a beautiful battle
of wits.
In the diagram, this is not possible as the
black king would move only between g7 and
The next position is a square vacating
sacrifice. h7. If black plays his king to f6 or g6 or h6,

28
white would check with his rook and queen
his pawn with the support of the rook. If
black plays I...Kf7. then while would play 2
Rh8! Ra7 2 Rh7 skewering the black rook.
The black king is therefore confined to g7
and h7.
The only way left for white to release his
rook from a8 is to protect his a7 pawn by
bringing his king to b6 or b7. If w hite tries
such a plan, black can wail till the king
reaches b7. and then starts git ing checks
with his rook from the fust rank Rbl. Rai.
Rbl. Rcl etc. White cannot win.
But if the black king is in some other
square in the middle of the board, example, 1 Qc2! Kb4 2 Ra4 Kb5 3 Qc4 Kb6 <■
at c5. then white wins by I Rc8Kb62a8- Q. Ra6 Kb7 5 Qc6 Kb8 6 Ra8#
In the late middle-game, with the ex­
changing off of the minor pieces (knights Solution to mate in half move
and bishops-please refer to Chapter two) the
White has already completed half a
major pieces (queens and rooks) come into
move in the diagrammed position. The sec­
play. When a queen and rook combine
ond half of the move gives mate. Remove
against an exposed enemy king the result
the white pawn at 1'6 and place it at e5 and re­
could be deadly. An example:
move file black pawn, now at f5. and pla ce it

See diagran at f7. Thus the Bd3 is checking the black

king. Black's only reply is t7-f5. Then, white
has started the en passant process of putting
White to play and win
his e5 pawn at f6 andthe diagram is reached.
Black has a great material advantage but
The en passant move is completed when the
his king is alone exposed and defenceless on
black f-pawn is removed.
the queen side. Whites mating pattern is in­
Therefore, the solution is to remove the
structive.
black f5-pawn!

29
 Chapter Nine
Common Mistakes

One of the important principles in the able for the knight to develop at and from
openings is 'Do not move the same piece where it could have some bearing on the
twice before you have moved every other
centre is e7. Hence black should plan to
piece once.' Yet, beginners are eager to
bring it out through e7. But if immediately
move the same piece many times if they are
able to attack any of the opponents pieces. 4.. .Ne7. then the black king's bishop could
Here is one example. not get out. Therefore, the move that sug­
gests itself is 4...Bb4. This is not such a bad
1 e4 e5 2 d4?l move even though white could ward it off
This is known as the Centre Game. It is with 5 c3, because, after 5...Ba5. black
not popular with good players as the White threatens to play 6...Bb6 attacking the white
Queen is developed early and risks being queen forcing it to move again. Also,4...Bb4
chased by the enemy pieces which would has made white play 5 c3 which takes away
gain a lead in development the natural square of the knight at b 1.
2.. .ed4 3 Qd4 Qf6? 5 Nc3 Ng4?
This breaks the rule "Do not bring out Black is moving the same knight a sec­
your Queen early." The natural move for ond time with all the other pieces still unde­
black was to play 3...Nc6 developing his veloped. The temptation is that he is
queen's knight with an attack on the white attacking the queen. The best move here is
queen. This would gain a tempo for black as 5.. .Bb4 developing a piece and pinning a
white would have to move his queen again knight which could move to d5 with un­
whereas black could develop another minor pleasant threats to Qf6 and the pawn at c7.
piece. If white exchanges his queens in the Obviously, black is playing without a plan.
next move, black is okay, but white does not A simple white reply could now be 6 Qg3 at­
oblige. tacking the knight and the c7 pawn. A possi­
4 Qe3 ble continuation could be 6 Qg3 d6 7 h3 Ne5
8 f4 Ng6 9 Nf3 and white retains the option
By not exchanging queens, white leaves
of playing Nd5 at the right moment.
the black queen on f6 which is the natural
square for black’s king’s knight. Therefore, However, white counter-attacks, mov­
to develop his king's knight to f6, black ing his knight a second time to exploit
would have to move his queen again. But black’s early queen development.
black has other ideas.
6 Nd5!
4.. .Nh6? White breaks the rule and moves the
This is atypical beginners mistake. From same knight a second time.
h6, the knight has no influence over any of But here, he has tactical justification. He
the four central squares - d4, e4, d5, e5. With can capture on f6 with check where as black
the queen on f6, the only square now avail­ capture on e3 is without check.

30
 6.. . Qc6 plies. 2,..c6. 2..c6 and 2..dc4. In several si­
After 6...Ne3 7 Nf6 gf6 8 Be3 black has multaneous displays. I have come across
isolated doubled pawns on f7 and f'6 and is players playing 2..NI’6 and I have always
behind in development. Moreover, white has gained a big advantage after I d4d5 2c4Nf6
a pawn in the centre which black lacks. 3 cd5. If now 3..Qd5.4 Nc.3 gains one tempo
for white. So. next time you face the Queens
7 Qf4!
Gambit, don't play 2..NI'6andget pushed off
A double attack on c7 and g4. the board. Let us take a popular mid­
7.. .<16 dle-game mating pattern.
This is the only black reply but it leads
to a spectacular finish.

In the above diagram, in ’A’ the

black king is mated by a rook and queen
along the first and second rows. And in
’B’ the white king is mated by two rooks
along the g and h files. Both mates are
similar. It should, therefore, be remem­
bered that this pattern could occur ei­
ther horizontally as in 'A' or vertically
as in 'B'.
Now take the following diagram.

8 Bb5I!

This is a deadly pin. If now 8... Qb5, 9

Nc7 forks the king, queen and rook. There­
fore. black resgined.
The moral of this game is that one
should not bring out the quuen early in
the opening and one should not move the
same piece twice before every other
piece has ben moved once. And, of
course, principles are only for guidance
and could be broken when necessary!
A very common mistake that club level
players make occurs in the Queen's gambit.
After I d4 d5 2 c4, black has three good re­ White to play

31
 Regialis- Moiseyev, 1979
The first idea that occurs to us on seeing
this diagram is that there could be a mate
along the g and h files. For example, if the
black queen is on c4, and not in contact with
h7. white could win through the sacrifice I
Qh7'! Kh7 4 Rh4#. Therefore, white should
either decoy the black queen away from h7
or intercept its coverage of 117 without
changing his own battery along the g and h
Illes.
The move that leads to such a possi­
bility is:
1 Re4! After this move, black cannot
stop white's mating threat of 2 Qh7! He
could only try: In this position, black could win with
...Qt3 if white's bishop was not on h5. The
1.. .Nf8
tendency in a player would, therefore, be to
Black has averted the mating sacrifice on
look for a way remove the Bh5. However,
h7. But now comes a new threat.
this is only a misleading idea as the theme in
2 Qh6 this position is also mate along the g and h
The threat 3 Qg7#. files.
2.. Ne6 Only move. 3 Qh7!! 1-0.
Now let us take a little more complicated Black won through: l...Qh2I! 2 Kh2
Rh6 3Qe8 Nf6 0-l.
position.

32
 Chapter Ten
Planning
Middle Game Plan White's plan is to obtain two pawns
In a game of chess, there are quite a few abreast at d4 and e4 and also attack f7 along
guiding principles in the opening and in the the a2-g8 diagonal.
end-game. But there very few in the mid­ 4.. .Nf6 5 d4 ed4 6 cd4 Bb4 7 Nc3 Ne4 8
dle-game. The middle-game is the most in­ 0-0 White gambits a pawn to speed up his de­
teresting and also the most difficult part of velopment and launch his attack. He has com­
chess. Generally , the skill and strength of a pleted development on the 'ting-side and. at
player is judged by his middle-game. the cost of a pawn, plans to a tack on all fronts.
At the beginners level, it is possible 8.. .Nc3 9 bc3 Bc3 The text. 9...Bc3? is
to obtain, immediately after the opening weak. Keres had demonstrated with de­
is over, a middle-game situation where tailed analysis that 9...Bc3 is refuted by
your opponent has not yet castled his 10 Ba3. But in 1623, opening theory was
king, or his pieces lack co-ordination or probably non-ex istent and it is an
he has occupied himself with grabbing achievement that games of those days are
pawns at the cost of development. In still available for us today. Correct here
such cases, the best way is to play ener­ is9...d5.
getically and attack and not make for­
10 Qb3!
mal moves. But remember, do not
Playing the white pieces, one must strive
embark on an attack with a single piece.
to seize the initiative. Pawns and even pieces
And if the opponent does not make any
could be sacrificed for checkmating the king.
mistake and castles quickly, what is to be
The move, 10 Qb3, is essentially a double at­
done'.1 In such cases, you should strengthen
tack as both Bf7 and Qc3 are threatened. Here-
the position of your pieces, redeveloping
white is offering the exc tange (rook for
them if necessary in other, more effective
bishop) also to bring up his forces against the
squares according to the situation over the
black king. Please note that both black rooks
board, try to control the centre and place the
and Queen's bishop play no part in the game
rooks on open files, or on semi; open files.
and therefore, the defence of the black king is
Whatever you do, plan your play at
difficult.
all stages of the game. If necessary, re­
vise your plan to meet any unusual situ­ 10.. . Bal?
ation. Present day theory is that black can con­
Some simple middle-game princi­ tinue with IO...d5 11 Bd5 0-0 12 Bf7 Rf7 13
ples are illustrated in the following Ng5 Be6! 14 Qc3 (14 Qe6 Qd7= and on 14
game played in 1623(1) by the Italian Ne6 Nd4!) 14...Rf6 15 Ne6 Re6 16 Qc4
player Greco. Qf6 17 Bb2 when white has only posi­
tional advantage.
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 c3 11 B17 Kf8 12 Bg5! Ne7 13 Ne5!

33
 This move gleefully breaks the rule play with Blackburne and he gives me the
" Do not move the same piece twice be­ odds of two knights. I want to know how
fore you have moved every other piece best 1 should defend when I start with two
once!" But if one is sure of mating the extra knights!
opponent or gaining massive material
This is an amusing anecdote but it
that would eventually lead to mate, any
has a lesson for us, specially for those of
general rule could be broken. Now
us who are new to chess. If you have ex­
white's main threat is Bg6! threatening
tra material, always exchange pieces. If
Qf7 mate with the support of both Ne5
you exchange off pieces, the extra ma­
and Bg6. terial with you will win easily in the
13.. . Bd4 14 Bg6! d5 15Q13 Bf5 16 Bf5 endgame.
Be5 17 Be6!
Take the following position.
This is the right discovered check,
preventing the king from going to g8.
17.. .Bf6 18 Bf6 gf6 19 Qf6 Ke8 20 Qf7
mate.
This game was not a well contested
game. White played cleverly, sacrificing
material to carry out a blitz (lightning) at­
tack. But undoubtedly, he was helped by a
poor defence by black. But during those
days, attack dominated over defence and
very few players paid serious attention to de­
fending. But this 17th century game demon­
strates how to attack when the opponent
leaves his king in the centre and goes pawn
hunting.

If materially ahead, exchange! White has as extra bishop but a pawn

less. If all the pieces are exchanged off,
Wilhelm Steinitz, who was World
white will have a bishop and four pawns
Champion from 1886 to 1894, once had a
against five pawns, a position which he
visitor who asked him to demonstrate the could easily win. On the other hand, if
best lines of play in the Two Knights De­ black is to play and he is able to generate
fence which in the local language read "The an attack, white would have trouble, as
Defence of Two knights" Steinitz agreed his king has no pawn cover and is ex­
that no book had been brought out on that posed. This is a position for white to ex­
Defence and proceeded to patiently give all change and simplify and for black to
the main line variations in the Two knights attack and complicate.
Defence. After listening for a few hours, the White to play, goes about his job
x isitor told Steinitz "Excuse me. sir but this logically with 1 Qd4! Threatening Queen
is not w hat I exactly wanted. You see I often exchange as well as mate with Qd8.

34
 1.. .Q04 2 Rhd4! h6 3 Rd8 Rd8 4 Rd8
Kh7 5 Re8! This guarantees the ex­
change of the last pair of rooks.
5.. .Re8 6 Be8 g6 7 fg6 fg6 8 Bd6!
This guarantees that the knight cannot
avoid its exchange with a bishop. When a
player is having a lot of extra material, he
can give back some of it to ensure exchanges
and an easy win. Here is an example.

Lombardy-Fischer, 1960
Black has rook for bishop and pawn.
This is material advantage for black. But
how can he get past that passed pawn on e5
supported by the bishop? Fischer gives back
some material to exchange off pieces and
gain a big positional advantage. 1 ...Rc3!! 2
bc3 Re5 3 Kd2 Rel 4 Kel Kd5 5 Kd2 Kc4
with a dominating position for his king on c4
and many 'tempo moves' with his pawns
available, black wins easily now.
The threat of l..Qel mate is very un­
pleasant. But white who has an extra rook, 6 h5 b6
knight and pawn, gave back some to force Black plans to play ... a5 to create an out­
resignation. I Rh8! Kh8 side passed pawn, white would lose his
king-side pawns and the game. But before

If I...Kg6 2Rh3 2Qd8! Kh73Qd3! 1-0 pushing his a pawn, Fischer prepares to fix

because after the exchange of queens, whites whites f-pawn which would be his first tar­

extra knight would win easily. get.

7 Kc2 g5 8 h6 f4 9 g4 a5! 10 ba5 ba5 1
Now let us take the following position.
Kb2 a4 12 Ka3 Kc3 13 Ka4 Kd4 0-1.

35
 Chapter 11
Zugzwang
Zugzwang is a German expression de­ In the simplest king and pawn ending, vic­
scribing a position where a player whose tory is brought about only through Zugzwang.
turn it is to move loses material or suffers Take the position with white's king on d6 pawn
disadvantage whatever move he makes. on e6 and black's king on d8. Black to play is in
Generally, in such positions, if it is not the Zugzwang. In tne endgame, whore kings are
fighting each other. Zugzwang becomes 'the op­
turn of that player to move, he is perfectly al­
position'. in this case black has lost 'the opposi­
right.
tion' and is in Zugzwang.

Taylor-Lasker
1936 Fischer-Rosetto
Black played l...a5! and white has no 1959
move that will avoid material loss. The
This is a classical instance of a
Queen cannot move anywhere without los­
Zugzwang. Whatever black plays, he
ing the knight. Any pawn move would lose
loses. White could move his king where
material. If the knight moves, then the d4
he pleases and force black to move, los­
and c5 pawns would be lost. Black played 2
ing material. If 1 ...Kf6 2 Rb81 Rc7 3 Rf8
l>4 ab4 3 b3 and on 3...Kh6! resigned as he
wins the knight. If the king moves to any
is in Zugzwang.
other square, it would be losing contact
Young players generally tend to strike at
with the kinght and the same variation
the enemy position to grab material and mate
the king. Even when it is possible to gener- wins. If the Knight moves anywhere.
all\ apply the Zugzwang and win the game Be6 wins. And if the black rook moves,
without an active plan, they do not realise white plays c7-c8 queening with this
that a Zugzwang is possible and would go check. Black is. therefore, in a beautiful
wham-bang at the enemy. Zugzwang.

.56
 the winning plan for black being to march
Alekhine-Nimzowitsch his king in front of the pawn.
1930
But after 4 Ke6! if 4...Kf8, 5 Kf8 or if
1 Ba4! 4..
.Kd8, 5 Kd6 or if 4...f5 5 Kf5 and finally,
The threat is to win a piece through 2 b5 if 4... d5 5 Kd5 and in all these cases the black
forcing black to sacrifice a pawn. king is prevented from marching ahead of
his last remaining pawn.
.b5
I.. 2 BbS Ke8 3 Ba4 Kd8
In the following position, the Zugzwang
The black king has come to the aid of
is in the king and pawn endgame where
c7 but now Alekhine perceives that all
Zugzwang is very common
the black pieces are just supporting c6 or
c7, and cannot undertake anything to
disentangle the tie-up. So, white played
4 h41 and black came into Zugzwang. He
has a few pawn moves on the king side
and after white moves his king back and
forth to exhaust black's pawn moves,
black would ultimately have to throw
himself into the fire. Nimzowitsch soon
resigned.
The next position is a study by Skuia.

See diagram

White is a pawn down. With clever play

involving Zugzwang he could draw. The
continuation is:
Popov-Denkov
1978
I Kf5 Kg7 2 e7 Kf73 e8Q! Ke84 Ke61! In the central position with pawns on d4
4 Kf6 loses to 4...Kd7 5 KI6 Kc6 6 Ke4 and e4 and kings on e3 and d5. w hoever is to
Kc5 7 Kd3 Kd5 8 Ke3 Kc4 9 Kd2 Kd4 etc.. move loses his pawn. Therefore, white to
play uses his doubled pawns on the k-side to
reduce black's moves drastically.
1 g4!
Here there are many possibilities. A
I ...a6 2 a5 g6 (2...g5 3 g3) 3 g5!l hg5 4 g4
Kd6 5 Ke4 Ke6 6 d5.
B I...g5 2g3.
C 1..,b6 2 b5 g6 3 g5!! hg5 (3..,h5 4 g3) 4
g4-
D 1 ...g6 2 g51!

The following position is a composition

by Paoli.
See diagram
White to play and win. Difficult. Theme For example if the B moves along the b I -h7
Zugzwang. diagonal, then 5. d5 wins and if the B ...Kd3 5. d5
or if 4...Kt3 5. 15 wins. One sample variation :
Solution: 1. e4 !! Be4 2. Kf7 ! Ke2 3. Ke6
4...Bc2 5. d5 Ba4 6. d6 Bd7 7. 15 K13 X. 16 HeX 9
Ke3moves along hl-a8. 5. f5 wins. Also if 4
d7 Bd7 It). F7.
4. Ke5 ! and black is in zugzwang.

38
 Chapter 12
Attack On h7/h2
Players generally castle on the 8 Qd7! Winning one of the two black bish­
king-side. The reason is that everybody ops and the game.
knows that one ought to castle early and Why was this combination successful?
there are only two pieces on the king-side to It was successful because black's best de­
be developed compared with three on the fender of the castled position, the knight on
f6 had strayed away, the white queen was
queen side. As we are more likely to face a
ready to arrive on h5 and the white rook was
position where the opponent has castled on
also ready to come out and mate the black
the king-side, it is necessary to know how to
king while the queen ensured that the black
attack die opponent’s king on the king-side. king was defenceless on the h-file.
The best defender for white on the king-side The bishop sacrifice on h7 sometimes
is his knight on f3 while for black, it is his occurs in the French Defence and the
knight on f6. Often these knights could be Queen’s Gambit Declined when the pawn
exchanged, decoyed away or chased away, formation favours this important tactic.
making h7 or h2 very very vulnerable to at­
In the French Defence, after 1 e4 e6 2
tack. d4 d5 3 e5 c5 4 Nf3 cd4 5 Bd3 Nc6 6 0-0
Bc5 7 Bf4 Nge7 8 Rel Bd7 9 Nbd2 0-0? [
9..
.Ng6 should come first.] we have the
standard combination: 10 Bh7! Kh7 11
Ng5 Kg8 If H...Kg6 12 Qg4 f5 13 Qg3
with a dangerous attack. 12 Qh5 Re8 13
Qh7 Kf8 14 Qh8 Ng8 15 Nh7 Ke7 16 Bg5
Nf6 If 16.. f6 17 Qg7# 17 Bf6 gf6 18 Qf6
mate.

Em.Lasker-Bauer, 1882
White to play

Nine out of ten players would play 1.

Qh5 here for a victorious king-side attack.
But the future world champion had recog­
nised the significance of the absence of the
black knight of f6 and uses that factor to win
a famous game with the sacrifice of two
Morphy-Bozhe, Paris 1958
bishops, the first one on h7.
White to Play
Lasker played I Bh7!! Kh7 2 Qh5 Kg8 1 Rh3!
3 Bg7!! Kg7 4 Qg4 Kh7 5 Rf3 "Threatening If now l...Be6? 2 Rh7! Kh7 3 Qh5
6 Rh3 mate. 5... e5 6 Rh3 Qh6 7 Rh6 Kh6 mate. Or if l...Re8 2 Qh5 h6 3 Ng7 Kg7 4

39
Qg6 and Rh8 mate. Or if l...g6, then 2 fg6
Rg6 3 Qh5 wins.
.h6
I..
Black averts the attack on h7, but now h6
becomes the new target.
2 Qd2!
This double attack on h6 and the bishop
on d7 wins neatly. Ifnow2...Be63 Rh6! gh6
4 Qh6 is mate.
Though the standard bishop sacrifice on
h7/h2 wins in routine fashion when played in
the right position, the Bh7 idea is often re­
quired to be combined with other motifs to
be really successful.

Mishto - Klosa
Poland 1955
This is a fantastic position with excellent
piece play for both sides and both kings ter­
ribly exposed.
The white bishop pins a rook but the
bishop itself is pinned both against the king
as well as against the queen. Yet white found
a brilliant mate, with a sacrifice on h7.
1 Qh7!! kh7 Unfortunately the rook
cannot capture. 2 Rg7 Kh8 3 Rg8 Kh7 4
Rlg7 Kh6 5 Rg6 Kh7 6 R8g7 Kh8 7 Rh6
mate.

Batuyev - Abdusamatov
USSR 1951
White to play

With black's queen and bishop trained on

g2, white cannot immediately embark on a
sacrificial combination on h7 because after
accepting the sacrifice, black could give
back some material and exchange queens
through...Qg2! Therefore. ..

1 Be4! Qc7 2 Bh7!I Kh7 If 2..Kf8 3

Bh6!! 3 Bf6!! and now, a) 3...gf6 4 Rd3 Bf8
|4...Bg2 5 Qh4 Kg7 6 Rg3 Kf8 7 Qh8 mate]
5 l<hi Bh6 6 Qh4; b) 3...BK 4 Rd3 Qc6 5
Alekhine - West
Rh3 Kg8 6 13 g6 7 Rh8 mate. Portsmouth 1923

40
 Here the simple 1 Nf6 would have
won the exchange. But Alekhine always
used to look for beauty in his games and
the quickest road to victory. With one
black knight ineffectively stuck on h8
and the rest of the black forces massed on
the queen-side, the black king is almost
alone on the king-side. Alekhine contin­
ued brilliantly:
1 Qh7!! Kh7 2 Rg7!!! Rg7 3 Nf6
Kg6 4 BhS mate!

41
 Chapter 13
Simple Ending
In chapter six we explained the case of a It should be noted that the king on the
king and Pawn against a lone King (White: sixth rank in front of the pawn wins for any
Kg6, Pf6. Black: Kg8) and introduced you to pawt) except those on the edge files, that is,
the idea of "opposition" in king and pawn the a and h files. Generally, pawns on the a
end-games. To recapitulate, taking the "op­ and h files give good chances of draw to the
position” is to place your king on the same
weaker side in several endgames because, if
file as the enemy king with one square sepa­
the defending king is already in the corner
rating them. The enemy king is then forced
to move sideways or backwards allowing under the pawn it could often only be stale­
your king to move forward amd make the mated and could not be forced to come out.
way safe for the pawn. In certain situations,
it is, therefore, advantageous not to have the Please see the two positions.
move. For example, in the above position if
black is to move, he loses; and if it is white to
move, he only draws despite having an extra
pawn. Now see diagram No. I

ln2A, if white is to play, it is a draw after

I Kb6 Kb8 2 a6 Ka8 3 a 7 stalemate. If black
is to play. I . Kb8 2 Kb6 Ka8 3 a6 Kb8 4 a 7
I he king is on the sixt.h rank, in front Ka8 5 Ka6 is also stalemate.
of his pawn. In such a case, white wins
Position 2B is also a draw because the
irrespective of whose turn it is to move:
(a) If white is to move, he wins bv 1 Kg5 white king cannot get out of the way of his h
(or even Ke6) l...Kg8 2 f6 Kf8 (2'..Kh8 3 pawn and is boxed in by the black king. If
KI7 Kh7 4 Ke7 and the pawn queens. Note white is to play I h7 K17 and white is stale­
that 3 17 is stalemate.) 3 f7 Ke7 4 Kg7 and mated, or if I Kh7 KI7 2 Kh8 Kt8 repeats. If
queens, (b) If black is to move, it is even sim­ black is to play. I ...Kf7 2 Kh7 (2 h7 Kf8
pler: l...Ke8 2 Kg7 and the pawn cannot be stalemates) 2...K18 3 Kg6 Kg8 4 h7 Kh8 5
stopped from moving to f6. f7 and 18. Kh6 and it is black who is stalemated!

42
 We have seen the position where the
king is on the sixth rank and in front of the
pawn. If the king is on the fifth rank and in
front of the pawn, it is important who has the
"opposition". See diagram No:3.

K+P+P Vs K

In almost all cases, the king and two

pawns easily win against a lone king. See
Diagram No:5.

If it is black’s move in this position, white

has the "opposition" and wins: l...Ke7 2
Kc6 Kd8 3 Kd6 (again, white has the "oppo­
sition") 3...Ke8 4 Kc7 winning. It should be
borne in mind that the king should be ad­
vanced as far as possible before safely ad­
vancing the pawn. Two important rules are:
(a) If the king can get to the sixth rank ahead
of his Pawn, it is a win no matter whose
move it is: (b) If the enemy king can move to
the square immediately in front of the pawn,
the game is a draw.
A pawn usually needs the King's help to
queen, but sometimes it can race through un­
aided. Diagram No:5. White to play and win.
See diagram
White plays I h5 and black has no time to
capture the d pawn as after 1 ...Kd4,2 h6, the
White to Play, queens. h pawn is beyond the reach of the black king
To decide whether the pawn can queen and will queen. According to the quadrangle
unaided, in diagram No:4 imagine a line formula given above, if the h6 pawn is to be
connecting the square on which the pawn caught, the black king should reach any­
stands and its queening square and then us­ where within the quadrangle formed by the
ing this to form a large square (shown in dark squares h6, f6, f8 and h8. But here he can
lines) see ifthe black king can step anywhere reach only e5. Therefore, black must leave
into the enlarged quadrangle. If it does, the the d pawn and move for the h pawn. l...Kf5
pawn is stopped. If not, the pawn queens. 2 h6 Kg6.

43
 Black has caught up with the h pawn, but
now the d pawn starts moving.
3 d5! Kh6'4'cl6 and now the d pawn can­
not be stopped because the black king cannot
step into the quadrangle formed by d6, d8, f8
squares.
.Kg6
4.. 5 d7 Ke7 6 d8=Q
If the superior side has two connected
pawns as in Diagram No:6, victory is very
simple.

In diagram No:8, white could win as his

king is far from the pawn.

If the pawns move, they are immediately

captured by the black king. The pawns need
the help of their king to be escorted to the 8th
rank. Meanwhile, black cannot play
.Ke5? because 2 d7 will queen. The win­
l..
ning method is as follows:

I.. Kd7 2 KI3 Ke6 3 Ke4 Kd 7 4 Kd5 Kd8 5 e6

Ke8 6 d7 Kd8 7 Kc6 (7 Kd6 is stalemate) 7...Ke7
8 Kc7 Ke6 9 d8=Q wins. If white could play his bishop to c6
shielding the pawns route to d8, he could
win. The winning method is I Bd7! Bdl 2
Bishop and Pawn Vs Bishop Be6 Ba4 3 Bd5 Kd4 4 Bc6 and the pawn
queens.
Generally, such positions are drawn as
the defending bishop can sacrifice itself for
the pawn. If the defending king is in front of King+Knight+Pawn Vs King +
the pawn and on a square not controlled by Knight
the enemy bishop, then the game is a simple
See diagram
draw.
Here the defending knight must try to
See diagram No: 7
sacrifice itself for destroying the pawn.
Black achieves a draw by not moving his
king from e8 and whizzing his bishop 1 Ne5!
around the board, avoiding an exchange. If 1 Nd8? Ne5 and 2...Nd7 draws.

44
 5 Qf4
5 Qc3 is faster but I am showing how to
gain a move even if the white king had to
come from a8.
. Kdl 6 Qd4 Kcl 7 Qe3 Kdl 8 Qd3
5..
This forces the king under the pawn again.
.Kel
8.. 9 Kc2 Kf210 Qd4 Kfl 11 Qf4 Kel
1 l...Kgl/Kg2 12 Kd2.12Kd3 Kdl 13Qd2
mate.

However, ifthe defending side's pawn is

on the 7th rank and on a, c, f, h files and sup­
ported by its king, the game ends in a re­
markable draw through stalemate. See
diagram No: 11. (A and B)

1.. .Ng5! 2 Kd6!

If 2 d8=Q? Ne6 and 3...Nd8 draws.
2.. .Ne4 3 Ke7
Not 3 Ke6? Nc5 4 Ke7 Nd7 draws. Now
black can no longer prevent the pawn from
queening.
King and Queen Vs King and Pawn
This is an easy win for the queen even if
the pawn is on the 7th rank and its king is far
away .

In Diagram I I A. white can try I Qb4

Kc2 2 Qa3 Kb I 3 Qb3 Kai I and white can­
not improve any further as he cannot do
better than to stalemate the black king.
In Diagram I IB, stalemate occurs after
best play by white: I Qe2 Kg I 2 Qg4 Kh2 3
Q13 Kg I 4 Qg3 Khl! 5 Qf2 stalemate.

See diagram

However, the proximity of the king of

the stronger side to the actual theatre of op­
1 Qf4 Kg2 2 Qe3 Kfl 3 Qf3 Kel erations can sometimes win the game as in
Now that the king has been forced under the two positions is Diagram Nos I2A and
its pawn, the white king moves closer. I2B.
4 Kb3 Kd2
In Diagram 12A. the winning method is 1
Again, black is threatening to queen his Kb6! (lifting the stalemate) Kb2 2 Kc5!
pawn.

45
 Kc2 3 Qg2 Kbl 4 Kb4! A brilliant con­
ception which allows the pawn to queen and
then mates. 4...al=Q 5 Kb3! Qf6 6 Qc2 (6
Qgl also mates) Kai 7 Qa2 mate.

In diagram 12B, the white king is suffi­

ciently close to join the king in effecting
checkmate after allowing the pawn to queen
White play: 1 Qd4 Kcl 2 Qb4! (otherwise
the king will reach the al square and draw.)

2..
.KdI 3 Qb3 Kd2 4 Qb2 Kdl 5 KI3!
Kd2(if5...cl=Q 6 Qe2 mate) 6 Ke4! Kdl 7
Kd3 cl= Q 8 Qe2 mate.
 Chapter 14
Remember Patterns, Not
Moves
Learning chess is to learn patterns, not Now what was wrong with black's
moves. If you see a brilliant idea ending in a 2.. .Bf2? By understanding the pattern of
big gain of material or mate, understand it mate along the h-file illustrated in Chapter
and savour it in leisure. The same position No.9, you should be able to reach black’s
does not occur again in chess, but the same right move. He could mate with 2...Qh2! 3
ideas do. Sometimes two ideas even com­ Kh2 Rh8 mate. The mating pattern is that a
bine. Therefore, it is important to under­ rook checks along the h-file while either an­
stand ideas so that when the same pattern other rook controls the g-fde or the King is
appears on the board, the right idea is used unable to go to the g fde for other reasons,
to advantage. Take the following position: which in the above example is due to
white’s own pawn and rook blocking g3 and
gl and a black pawn controlling g2.
Now, you can extend the idea of mating
a king along the h-file by shifting it to other
files, even to the centre of the board. The
following game A not only illustrates this
idea but also demonstrates the danger of a
king staying too long in the centre without
castling.
Leman - Muller

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 b4

This is known as the Evans Gambit. The
idea is to gain a lead in development and oc­
cupy the centre at the cost of a pawn.
Another idea of white with 4 c3 leads to
black getting an equal share of the centre af­
ter 4. ,.Nf6 5 d4 ed 6 cd Bb4 7 Bd2 Bd2 8
Morezi - Ferarini
Italy 1972 Nbd2 d5! 9 ed5 Nd5.
White to Play 4..
.Bb4 5 c3 Ba5
Nowadays 5... Be7 is popular. 6 d4 ed4
Threatened with mate on g2, the game 7 0-0 Bb6 Best is7...Nge7.
continued 1 Bd5 Nb7 2 Rgl Bf2 8 cd4 d6 9 Nc3 Nf6?
Now, you should be able to say what Best was to drive the strong Bc4 by
was wrong with white’s second move and 9.. .Na5 even though it takes the Knight to
also black’s second moves if you have ab­ the edge of the board.
sorbed the ideas given in earlier lessons.
White’s second move is a grave mis­ 10 e5!
take. By applying the idea of Philidor's This opens up the position and keeps
Legacy described in Chapter No.5, you black so busy that he has no time to castle.
should be able to say that white wins with 2 10.. .de5 11 Ba3 With black’s black square
Qb8" Rb8 3 Ra7!l Ba7 4 Nc7 mate! bishop on b6. Whites Ba3 prevents the

47
black king from castling ll...Na5 12 Ne5 4. If the object of the attack is the King,
Nc4 13 Qa4 Bd7 14 Qc4 Be6 15 d5! any big sacrifice (here it was the Queen) is
This is a very strong move. It not only justified.
opens the d-fite but also brings the rooks In the next example, we shall see how
into immediate play. black’s fear of castling into an attack ulti­
15.. .Bd5 16 Qa4 c6 17 Radi White mately leads to his king being caught in the
threatens Rfel after which the black king centre and massacred.
cannot cross over f8.
17.. .Nd7 18 Nd7 Qd7 19 Nd5 cd5 Do Tai - Suetin
you 'smell' or visualise a known pattern Tbilisi 1969
now? 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cd4 4 Nd4 a6 5
Bd3 Nge71? 6 Nc3 Nbc6 7 Nb3!
By avoiding an exchange on d4 white in­
vites black to play...Ng6

7.. .Ng6 8 0-0 b5 9 Be3 d6 10 f4 Be7 11

Qh5
This move would not have been possible
had black played Nf6. Now 11 Qh5 threat­
ens to develop a big attack through
Rfl-f3-h3 should black chose to castle on
the King side. Black therefore decides to
keep his King in the centre and attack whites
Nc3. Black’s strategy in the Sicilian De­
fence is to utilise the semi-open c-file and
generate Q-side activity, chief of which is
b7-b5-b4.

H...Bf6 12. Radi!

The black king cannot go to f8 because With the black bishop on 1'6, d6 is sup­
of the Ba3 and 17 is blocked by his own ported only by the Queen. White’s main
pawn. Thus checkmate can be tried along
threat now is 13 e5.
the d and e-files as in the case of the g and
h-files. 20Rd5!! 1-0 because after 20...Qa4 12.. .Bc3 13 bc3 Qc7
21 Re 1 white mates in two as the two rooks Black avoids castling and concentrates
control the d-ftle and check the king along on white’s c3.
the e file 14.. .Rd2!
The lessons that we draw from this game The idea is to switch to f2 when oppor­
are: tune.
1. There is a close correlation between
strategy and tactics. 14.. .Nce7 15 Nd4
White does not hold to defend his c3 but
2. To enter into a combination, a player concentrates on the push f4-f5-f6. 15...Bd7
should not only have positional advantage (here 16 f5! ef5 17 ef5 Ne5 18 Ne6! Be6 19 fe6 g6
it was lead in development) but also material su­ It looks like White's attack is completely
periority in the theatre of operation (here it was neutralised.
tile central files where white had two rooks
20 Qe5l! de5 21 eI7 1-0.
against none of blacks).
The finish is sudden and dramatic. Now
3. The pieces of the attacking side
21.. .Kf8 allows 22 Bh6 mate. And if
should be in active play and co-ordinate
21.. .Kd7 22 Bf5! Kc6 23 Be4 Nd5 24 Bd5
with each other.
wins.

4X
 Chapter 15

Attraction
Forcing, or attracting an enemy piece to a The following examples are good illus­
square where it could be captured, or trations of the "Attraction" theme.
through the effect of which another piece
could be captured by any standard tactical
device is known as "attraction". This is a
common and very familiar weapon of good
players. In Chapter nine, we gave a game to
illustrate opening principles. We repeat the
moves as, in that game, white won by the
"Attraction" device: 1 e4 e5 2 d4 ed4 3 Qd4
Qf6 4 Qe3 Nh6 5 Nc3 Ng4? 6 Nd5 Qc6 7 Qf4
d6 8 Bb5! This attracts the black queen to b5
so that the knight could win it through a fork.

Let us look at the following two posi­

tions:

Ustinov - Ilivitzky
Frunze 1959
White dragged the black king to g5 and
mated him: 1 g5! Kg5 2 Qf4 mate.

In 1A, white wins through attracting

the king to a8 and then forking the king
and queen with his knight: 1 Ra8! Ka8 2
Nb6 Kb8 3 Nd7.

In IB given below, white attracts the

black king to h8 so that the g7 pawn gets
pinned by the bishop allowing the queen to
check at 116 and mate. The process is: I Rh8! Katalimov - Ilivitzky
Kh8 2 Qh6 Kg8 3 Qg7 mate. Frunze 1959

49
 If the black king were at either d7 or f7, Fischer - Shockron
white could win immediately with I e5-e6 Mar Del Plata 1959
checking the king with the pawn and simul­
Fischer has an extra bishop but he is
taneously attacking the black queen at a5
threatened with the immediate loss of the
with his own queen at h5. Therefore, white rook which is pinned against his queen. As
played I Bf7! and black resigned as he can black's queen is protected on the c8 square
take the bishop only at the cost of losing his by the Rb8, white is unable to give a check
queen through 2 e6 and if he went to f8 or d8, with his rook on g6 and win the queen.
then 2 Bg6 would cost him a knight. Fischer, therefore, attracted the black queen
away from the support of the Rb8 by playing
1 Bd7!! black resigned as I ...Qd7 loses to 2
Rg6.
A very famous example of "Attraction"
from chess history is the following beauty:

Reti - Tartakower
Vienna 1910

1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 de4 4 Ne4 Nf6 5

Qd3 e5 6 de5 Qa5 7 Bd2 Qe5 8 0-0-0! Ne4?
9 Qd8!!

A brilliant queen sacrifice that "attracts"

the black king to a square where it is subject
to a double check. After 9...Kd8 10 Bg5 it is
mate next move, wherever the king moves.
Mecking - Tan In the following diagram, white is win­
Petropolis 1973 ning but he will have tremendous difficulties
with a wrong combination of rook pawn and
In this position, white attracted the black bishop and possibilities of perpetual check
queen to a deadly square and skewered it: I by the black queen.
Bf7l! Kf7 2 Rc7!! Qc7 3 Qh7 and 4 Qc7.
 Petrosian - Simagin this position, he won the game uncharacter­
Moscow 1956 istically in scintillating style:
1 Qa8 Kg7 2 Be5!J (attracting the black
Tigran Petrosian, who later went on to queen to a square where it is set up for a
become World Champion after Mikhail knight fork.) 2...Qe5 3 Qh81! Kh8 4 Nf7
Botwinnik, was basically a positional player and 5 Ne5. Please note that the immediate 2
who rarely played exciting combinations. In Qh8 will allow 2...Kg6.

51
 Chapter 16

Blocking
Many of the tactical combinations in The squares b4 and b6 have blocked by
chess feature "blocking". Blocking is using black's own pieces.
the opponents own pieces to block the es­
cape routes of his king or major pieces. Of­
ten, blocking forms part of tactical devices
like decoy, distraction, pawn promotion, at­
traction, etc., but is rarely highlighted as it
is an elementary feature which needs no
special mention.
Blocking is often the result of sacrificial
play in the middlegame. One of the famous
and spectacular examples of blocking is the
"Philidor's Legacy" which is a mate when a
knight delivers check while the king is
smothered by three of his own pieces in the
corner of the board. This was discussed in
the in Chapter five, A similar mate was
shown in chapter 14 (Morezi-Ferarini posi­
tion). Some more examples of blocking in
the middlegame are given below.
Fischer - Benko
USA 1963 - 64
White to play

Fischer continued: 1 Bd4 ed4 (If now 2

e5, black satisfactorily replies...f5 threat­
ening the exchange of queens while cutting
off the influence of the Bd3. Therefore,
Fisher blocks the f-pawn with: 2 Rf6!! A re­
markably strong move. White sacrifices a
rook for the only objective of preventing the
black f-pawn from moving! 2...Kg8 If
. Bf6 or 2... de, then 3 e5 with 4 Qh7 mate
2..
follows. 3 e5 h6 4 Ne2! 1-0 Black resigns
because, if the knight moves, 5 Qf5 will
win, and on 4...Bf6, 5 Qh6 leads to mate.
On other black moves, white captures the
Nd6 and remains a knight ahead.

Blackburne - Another (1912)

White to play See diagram
Popov - Angelov
Blackburne mated his opponent beauti­ Corr. 1961
fully: 1 b4! Bb4 2 Bb6! ab6 3 Qa8 mate. White to play

52
 1 Ra6! ba6 2 b6 Ka8 Black's pawn on a6
blocks its king escape. 3 b7 Ka7 4 b8Q#
Blocking could also be in the opening to
slow down the opponent's development. An
example from the Giuoco Piano Opening
(also known as the Italian Opening) goes:

1 e4 eS 2 NI3 Nc6 3 Bc4 BcS 4 c3 Nf6 5

d4 ed 6 cd Bb4 -7 Nc3 Ne4 8 0-0 Nc3 9 bc3
Be7 10d5Na5 11 d6

White has only a pawn for black's extra

bishop but skillfully uses black’s own pieces
to erect a wall in front of the king and mate
him. I Rd7! (threatens 2 Qh8 mate. So,
black's reply is forced.) l...Bd7 2 Qd6! Re7
3 Qh6! Ke8 4 Rg8# The black pieces have
been manoeuvred to d7 and choking off the
king escape squares.

The theme of blocking occurs in all

phases of the game, in the middle-game, in
the endgame and also in the opening. One
11.. .cd6
example from the ending has been shown in
March 1990 as diagram 7B. Another small 11.. Bd6 12 Rel Kf8 (l2...Be7 13 Bg5!
example is the following: f6 14 Bf6 gf6J5 Ne5 h5 16 Q33 wins in
Lange-Lampert, Berlin 1903; orl3...Nc6 14
Be7 Ne7 15 Ng5.d5 16 Bd5 wins) !3 Bf7
Kf7 14 Ng5 KfS 15 Qh5! g6 16 Q13 wins
Estrin.

Of course, 11...Nc4?de7Qe7(12...Ke7
13 Qe2 wins) 13 Rel wins the queen. The
blocking on d6 serves positional purposes
also as the Black bishop on c8, and resulting
from it the rook on a8 also, would take lon­
ger time to enter the game, giving white a big
advantage in development.

12 Bn K17 13 Qd5 K18 14 Ng5 Qe8

(14...Bg5 15 Bg5 Qb6 16 Qf5) 15 Qa5 h616
Q15 with advantage to white, Schlecter
White to play and win Walter, Vienna 1896!.

53
 Begin Chess With Manuel Aaron

Chapter 17
The Discovered Attack
When a piece moves and unmasks an at­
tack by another piece behind it, it is called a
Discovered Attack. Two simple Discovered
Attacks are shown in the diagram below.

move checks the king and simultaneously

opens an attack by the black rook on the en­
emy rook.
A Discovered Check is a kind of Dis­
In la, white plays 1 b3 when the bishop covered Attack where the piece actually
automatically attacks the black rook even moved opens up the line, or diagonal, of an­
though the actual move was not made by the other piece behind it to automatically check
bishop. As the pawn attacks the knight as the enemy king. Actually, diagram IB is
well, one of the two black pieces is lost. also a discovered check. The discovered
In lb, black plays L.Bfl. Though it is a check won material in the following posi­
bishop which has been moved, it is the rook tion.
which gives check to the king and automati­
cally mates. Let us see a few examples from
tournament chess.
See diagram
Capablanca-Alekhine
WCM, Buenos Aires 1927
Black to play

White has just played Rdl and hopes to

win the pinned.bishop on d4 and get an equal
game. But black has a nasty surprise. He
played l...Ne3! which unmasks his queen's
attack on the Qb3 and at the same time
threatens 2...Ndl. White resigned because
after 2 Qd5 Rd5,3 fe3 is met by yet another
discovered attack-3...Be3I. The last bishop

54
 Brinck-Clausen-Littlewood
Varna Olympiad 1962
Black to play

Black won through l...Qd6 2Qd6 Bd4 3

Khl Nf2 0-l forafter3...Kgl 4Ne4(discov-
ered check) Kh l 5 Nd6 black has won a
knight.
Here is one famous example of a series of
discovered checks known as the 'Wheel' as it
is based on alternating checks and discov­
ered checks.

Antunatz-Hubner
Students Olympiad 1969
White to play

Try to solve this yourself. And check

with the answer at the end of the chapter.
The double check is an even stronger va­
riety of the discovered check as both the
pieces, the one actually moved as well as the
one which is unmasked, give check to the
king simultaneously. In such an event, the
king must move as the check cannot be
Torre-Lasker
warded off by interposing a piece. And if the
Moscow 1925
king cannot move, it is mate.
White to play
1 Bf6!
This discovers an attack by the Qh5 on
the black Qb5 and simultaneously threatens
Rg7. The reply is forced.

.Qh5 2 Rg7 Kh8 3 Rf7 Kg8 4 Rg7

l..
Kh8 5 Rb7 Kg8 6 Rg7 Kh8 7 Rg5! (White
should not capture the a7 pawn as well, as it
would free the Ra8 for immediate action
along the a-file when white finally captures
the queen. 7...Kh7 8. Rh5 Kg6 9 Rh3 Kf6
10 Rh6 1-0 as white has won 3 pawns
through this 'operation'.

Now that the reader is familiar with the

'wheel' the following position should be
easy: Whoever moves, mates in one.

55
 White to move mates by the double dis­ White mates with 1 Qa7!! (attraction
covered check of 1 Nc7 with both knight and theme)!...Ka7 2 Nb5 (double check)
bishop giving check. Black to move mates .Ka6 (or Ka8) 3 Nc7 mate. Black mates
2..
by 1 ...Bf3 with both rook and bishop giving with l...Qh 1+!! 2 Khl Be4(doublecheck)3
check. Kgl Rhl#.
This diagram involving double discov­ Let us conclude with a famous game
ered check is more complicate where there were two separate discovered
checks, the last one ending in mate:

Edward Lasker-G.A.Thomas
London 1921

1 d4 f5 2 e4 fe4 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 e6 S

Ne4 Be7 6 Bf6 Bf6 7 NB b6 8 Bd3 Bb7 9
Ne5 0-0 10Qh5Qe7 11 Qh7!I Kh7 12 Nf6
Kh6 (12...Kh8? 13 Ng6 mate) 13 Neg4
Kg5 14 h4 Kf4 15 g3 KB 16 Be2 Kg2 17
Rh2 Kgl and now came a remarkable dis­
covered check mate by the king. 18 Kd2
mate!
UOM 0)1 q« put? SMB 9 8’71 Z.MM S 8JM
4 8’N LQM £ SEN L’H Z SMO iZPM I

:si SAoqe uoipsod jauqn[-[-zjBumuv

Whoever moves, mates in three. at uotjnios aqj. :uoi)n|O$

56
 Chapter 18

Line Closing
One of the interesting tactics used in the
middlegame as well as in the endgame is
"Line Closing" which means closing out the
effective range of an enemy piece. In the di­
agram below, the theme of Line Closing is
combined with discovered check.

Rauzer - Rabinovich
Leningrad 1936
White to Play

White played a move that looks like a big

strategic mistake and seems to allow the
double black rooks complete control over
the h-file:
I White to play
1 hg61! Rh2.
The right way for white to win is 1 Bd6! But now, the line between the two rooks
discovering check and at the same time clos­ is suddenly closed and one of the two black
ing the black queen's access to g6. On black's rooks is lost.
forced reply of l...Kh8, 3 Qg7 is mate. If 2 Nh7!
white had played for the win of the black Like magic, both rooks are threatened (3
queen with I Bc7?orBf2? black would have Qh8and3 Kh2)andoneofthe them must go.
replied I ...Qg6 and gone on to win the game. 2..
.R2h7 3 gh7 Rh7 4 Bd3 and white
Thus, white can win only by the line closing
won.
move I Bd6. The following position unusually fea­
tures line closing tactics at different squares
The rooks are generally at their strongest on the first and fifth moves.
when they are doubled, either along a file or
along a row. However, when the rooks are
See diagram
doubled and supporting each other, they
have to be careful that their line to each other
Bachtiar-
3. Liang
is not closed by enemy tricks as in the dia­
Indonesia 1961
gram below:
Black to play.

57
 1.. .Bdl! avoided mate through a line closing ma­
noeuvre:
This closes the link between the two
white rooks and at the same time threatens .Qg4!!
l.. 2 hg4 gf6
the queen with 2...Rxb7 and mate with As white can no longer give a check
2..
.Qxel . along the g-file with the rook as was possible
2 Nf7 Kg8 3 Re8 Ne8 4 Qe7 With a se­ in the variation given at the beginning. Now
ries of forced moves white has averted both black’s extra rook wins comfortably.
threats as his queen is no longer attacked and The next position also has line closing as
the threat over el is gone. Moreover white is a defensive weapon.
himself threatening mate. Surely, black can­
not escape now? But he can! And it is a line
closing move on a different square.
4.. .Re2!I
Again mate is threatened on e I and again
the black queen on e7 is threatened. This
time white has no more checks left and he re­
signed.
In the next position, we see Line Closing
used for defence and not for attack.

See diagram

4 Ahues - Another
Berlin 1954
Black to play
5 Kotov-Szabo
Black has an extra rook. But he is threat­
Zurich 1953.
ened with mate in one move. Unfortunately,
1 ...gf6 will allow 2 Rg3 Kh8 3 Bf6 mate. If White cannot play 1 Rc3 as it would al­
black sacrifices his queen for bishop with low 1 ...Qb2 mate. Neither could he play 1
I ...Qel 2 Kh2 Qc3 3 Qc3, his defeat would Qd7? Qb2!l 2 Rb2 Rb2 3 Kai Rb7 4 Ka2
only be postponed, not averted. Black Rd7. This variation comes under the theme

58
 of a "wheel" (a series of alternating larly, in 6B white plays I Bg8 and queens his
checks and discovered checks) which pawn on the next move.
was discussed in our last lesson. Differ­
ent themes and tactical weapons could We shall now examine a frequently oc­
be ingredients of a chess combination curring endgame where one player has a
and a good player must be able to visual­ rook and pawn against a rook.
ise a combination of these themes.
Wh ite has to find a way to keep the black
army away from his King before he proceeds
with his own attack. He played 1 Ne2!l This
move not only closes the line between the
black queen and b2, but it also threatens the
bishop with 2 Nc3. Now all black defences
lose:
(a) l...Qe2 (the queen is decoyed away
horn the g-file allowing the white queen to
mate on g5) 2 Rb8! (this decoys the knight
allowing the queen to enter the black camp
w ith a deadly check) 2...Nb8 (if 2...Kf7 or
2. .Kh7 white captures the N with checks) 3
t.teX Kh7 4Qf7 Kh65 Qg7 Kh5 6Qg5 mate.

(I>) I...Bb2 2 Rb2 and the Ne2 is pro­

tected.
White must aim to push his pawn to the
(c) I...Bd4 Qd7. eighth rank and queen it. At the same time,
Line closing is very useful in the end­ he should not allow the black King to reach
game when a pawn is pushed to the eighth the queening square and draw the game.
rank and promoted to a queen. Therefore, the white rook must remain on
i the d-ftle and his King alone should escort
the pawn to the eighth rank. The black rook
will do its best to hinder the progress of the
pawn and keep checking the King. Black
continued here:

1 ...Rfl 2 Kg6 Rel 3 Kf6 Rfl 4 Kc7 Rel

5e6 Kc7 6 Kf7 Rfl 7 Ke8 Rel 8 e7 The only
way for black to prevent white from queen­
ing the pawn is to keep the white king locked
in at e8. Therefore, black plays 8...RH

See diagram
This is a standard position in rook and
pawn endings. Often it is known as the
Lucena positions. White wins by a ma­
noeuvre which looks like building a bridge
See Diagram 6 A and 6B and involves the theme of Line Closing.
White to play White continued 9 Rc2 Kb7.
In 6A, white closed the rooks line to the If 9...Kd6,^0 Kd8 wins. Now white can
queening square b8 by playing 1 Nc8 and play 10 Kd7, but a spate of checks by the
ensuring the pawn queens next move. Simi­ black rook would make any progress impos-

59
sible, e g., 10 Kd7 Rdl 11 Ke6 Rel 12 Kf6 This is a beautiful example of Line
Rfl (or even...Rel) 13 Kg6 Rel 14 Kf7 Rfl Closing in the endgame. Black played
15 Ke8 Rf3 and so on. 1 ...d2! and white replied 2 Rd8 and it seems
To make real progress, white should that black cannot avoid the draw which is
be able to close the line of the black rook threatened after 3 Rxd2. But black brought
along the vital e-file. Therefore out a beautiful reply: 2...Bd6!I and suddenly
white cannot prevent one of the black pawns
10 Rc4! (from the fourth rank the rook from queening. White resigned because if 3
would be able to parry harassing checks and Rd6 the rook blocks its bishop's control over
force home the pawn to the eighth rank) h2, and black’s 3...h2 ensures that one of the
two pawns queen. Or, if 3 Bd6 dl Q wins as
.Rf2
10.. 11 Kd7 Rd2 12 Ke6 Re2 13
the bishop has interfered with it's rooks ac­
Kf6 Rf2 cess to the dl square.
Here black has two other possibilities,
This theme of a rook and bishop interfer­
both losing:
ing with each others effective range is a pop­
(a) 13...Kb6 14 Rb8 and black will ular theme in problem composing and
have to give up his rook for the d-pawn
solving. It is called aGrimshaw. Chess prob­
as it threatens to queen with the support
of the rook and not the King; lems have specific conditions. Generally, in
chess problems, white is asked to move first
(b) 13.. .Kb8 14 Rc5 and black could and mate in two or three or any specified
do nothing to stop white from playing
Re5 closing the black rook's line to the number of moves. As the aim in chess prob­
queening square e8. lems is specific, material is immaterial. To
avoid being mated within the specified num­
ber of moves, black can do anything, like
14 Ke5 Re2 15 Re4 and the pawn
sacrificing his strongest pieces. Because of
queens.
this, problem settings are often bizarre with
the kings and pieces stuck in odd places. A
The next example shows a practical case
good problem solver is not necessarily a
of a line closing in an ending.
good player. The best problem solvers are of
See diagram
course computers.
Out last position involves a player trying
9.Nenarokov - Grigoriev successfully to close the line of his own
Moscow 1923, Black to play rook. But here, it is not suicide!

60
 As the white king is stalemated, white is
trying to give away his rook free so that the
game ends in a draw through stalemate. The
only way for black to win is to capture the
rook when his king comes on to the second
rank anywhere from c2 to f2 closing the line
of his own rook to h2, or interpose his rook
to any check on the b-file. The game went:

l..
.Kb4! (I ...Kc6 is draw by stalemate) 2
Rc4 Ka3 3 Ra4 (3 Rc3? Rb3 wins as the
stalemate of the cornered king is lifted)
3...Kb3 4 Ra3! (If 4 Rb4? Kc2 5 Rc4 bc4
and the white king can now move and there
is no stalemates) 4...Kb4! (If 4...Kc2 5 Rc3
Kb I 6 Rel Ka2 7 Rai, etc) 5 Ra4 (5 Rb3‘?
Rb3 wins) 5...Kc3 6 Rc4 Kd2 7 Rd4 Ke2
10 Mikhalilov - Grigoriev and 0-1 as white has no more checks and his
Moscow 1931
king is free to move.
Black to Play

61
 Chapter 19
Clearance Tactics
In our previous chapter, we dealt with the
closing of enemy lines to achieve important
objectives. Now we take up 'Square Vaca­
tion' and its allied theme of'Line Opening',
which is also know as 'Line Clearance’.

Square Vacation
Diagram No. I illustrates four positions
where mate is achieved by vacating a piece
from a square in order to enable another
piece of the same colour to occupy that
square and deliver mate.

Black vacated the e5# Square with a

forceful move which did not give white a
chance to prevent...Be5.
He played 1 ...Nf31! and white resigned
because, after 2 Bf3 Be5 he must lose his
queen to prevent immediate mate.
Thus, we learn that when our own piece
or pawn prevents an advantageous ma­
noeuvre or a tactical stroke by occupying a
square, we should think of objective, sacri­
fices could be cheerfully made.

l-A White to play mates by 1 a8 =

Q! Ka8 2 Qa7 mate.
1-B White to play wins by 1 Ng5!
(L..Kg7 2Qf7#)Bg5 2Qf7#
I-C Black to play : 1 ...Bbl! 2 Kbl Qa2«
1-D Black to play: l ...Rgl! 2 Kgl Qg2#
In Diagram No.2 given below, Black can
win immediately if he did not have is knight
on e5. He could then play 1... Be5 mate.
See diagram
2. Rench - Troyansk
Sofia 1969
Black to play.

62
 In digaram No.3 White vacates the f6
square for his queen.
3.Golovko- Goldin
Moscow 1964
White to play

White notes that black has guarded the f8

square adequately but no black piece covers
g7. To threaten mate on g7 he played I Rg6!
hg6 2 Qf6 Re7(lf2...Qe7 3 Qg6 Kh84 Bg5!
with the dual threats of 5 Be7 and 5 Bf6; but
blacks 2...Re7 has suddenly left f8 un­
graded allowing white to strike through that
square.) 3 Qf8 Kh7 4 Bg5! 1- 0. Black re­
signed as it has no defence against the threat
of 5 Bf6 and 6 Qh8#. Please note that
Black's Re7 cannot move as it is pinned
against his Qa3. If 4...Qc3 5 Bf6 mates. In 5 Alekhine-Shishko
the middle-game, square vacation is some­ Moscow 1919
times needed as a defensive measure. Dia­ White to play
gram No.4 is typical.
Though Alekhine has an extra rook he
appears to be in a losing position with the
black pawn on f2 threatening to queen with
check. If white did not have a pawn on g2,
everything would be fine for him as his king
could move there and stop black from
queening. The game went : 1 R15!! Kf5 2
g4! Kg4 3 Kg2 1-0. Black resigned as white
has control over the dangerous f2 pawn
while he himself cannot cope with White’s
passed pawns.
Line Clearance
Clearance of a file or rank or diagonal
sometimes facilitates an offensive or defen­
sive plan just as square vacation did.

Black to play.

Black is threatened with Qh7 mate. The

only reasonable defence is to vacate f8 for
the king with 1... Rd8. After 2 Qh7 Kf8 3
Qh8 Ke7 the white queen must return to h7
and nothing has been achieved. If black
played l...g6? shielding h7, he would have
not only lost an important pawn but also
shattered his own castled position after 2 hg
fg 3 Qg6. The square vacation theme occurs
in the endgame as well. See diagram no. 5

63
 6 Boleslavsky-Lilienthal
March 1941
White to play

White opened the e-file with a clearance

sacrifice: I Bc7! Black resigned as after
I ...Qc7 2 Qe6 white mates on the next move.
Diagram 7 features a move which is a
combination of the Line Opening and Line
Closing themes.

rate diagonal clearances occurring in favour

of the white queen.

7 Fischer-Kapilo
Colombia 1956
White to play

White played 1 Bc7! This opens the

e-file for white's Re3 and closes the black
rooks line to d7. Black resigned as his queen
is under attack and 2 Re8 is also threatened.
In diagram No. 8 white pays the penalty
9 Pugachev-Nakonechny
for delaying castling and developing his
USSR 1989
queen side first.
White to play
See diagram
8 Andonov-Lputian Black is clearly in a very bad position.
Sochi 1987 But he has a knight more and is threatening
Black to play to strike at Whites cramping pawn on e5.
White must hit at the black king fast or col­
With black's rook and queen doubled lapse through material disadvantage. A
along the c-file, his next move is almost ob­ player must find a forceful way to reach vic­
vious. He played l...Nd3! and white re- tory when he has such a great positional ad­
signedas2Qd3allows2...Qcl!3 Rel Rel# vantage as white has here. If he makes
Diagram No. 9 is an instructive but 'routine' moves, black might wriggle out of
slightly complicated example of two sepa­ the mess, and win with his extra knight.

64
 I Bb6! you play stronger. Now try this delightful
I he purpose of this surprising move is to position (diagram 10)
clear the way lor the queen to 1'4 and on to 17
for mate. Now I ...Qb6 will allow 2 Qd7/t
while I ...Nb6? is met by 2 Qf4 Nd5 (2...Ne5
loses immediately to 3 Qh4 mate!) 3 QI7
Kd8 4 Qe8<>‘ Black's reply is forced.

1.. .Qc6 2 Nd5!

This is a spectacular way to open the
d2-b4 diagonal. White now threatens the
deadly 3 Qb4. 1’he other alternative to open
this diagonal was not good. 2 Nb5? Nge5.
But 2 Qf4! also won. Let us see blacks alter­
natives after 2 Qf4!:
(a) 2.,.Q(3 3 Qb4! Nc5 4 Qc5«
(b) 2...NdeS 3 Re5! Qf3 (3...Ne5 4
Qh44) 4 Re6! Ke6 5 BI7 Ke7 6 Bc5«
(c) 2...Nge5 3 Re5 QB (3 . Ne5 4 Qh4«)
4 QI14! (forcing black to block the 1'6 square 10 Chigorin-Unknown
before checking on b4) 4 ...Ql'6(or ...Nf6, it is Petersburg 1894
the same) 5 Qb4 mate. White mates in three

2.. .ed5 (2...Qd5? loses to 3 Qb4)3 Qb4! Solve this yourself.

Ke6 4 Qg4 1-0 because of 4...Ke7 5 Qh4
Ke6 6 Qf4 for 7 Qf7 mate. Solution to this is 1 Bc4! (Opening the
This example was a little tough, but if e-file for Queen) l...Qc4 (If I ...Rf7 2~ gf7
you study the whole position and all varia­ Kf8 3 Qe8 mate) 2 Qe8! (Forcing the
tions patiently and thoroughly, it will make knight out of g7) 2...Ne8 3 Rf8#

65
 Chapter 20
The King Hunt
One of the most attractive methods of
winning is by sacrificing material to drag the
opponent’s king out of its safe position, and
mate it or gain big material advantage that
would force resignation. Sometimes the
king is dragged across the board with none
of its pieces able to prevent the stream of
checks and threats.

off the Queen and wins two pawns) 3 f5 KhS

4 Bf3 Kh4 5 g3 Kh3 6 Bg2 Kg4 7 Rf4 1-0
for if 7...Kh5 8 Bf3 Kh6 or Kg5 9 Rh4 mate:
or if 7..Kg5 8 Rh4 mate. The next example is
a nice King hunt won by Chief Editor of
Chess Mate when he was 14.

1 Kasparian - Manvelian
Yerevan 1939
White to play
The king hunt here was violent, forceful
and finally artistically quiet: 1 Rc6I! Bc6 2
Qc4 Kb7 3 Qc6!!l Kc6 4 Ne5! (The Precise
double check preventing the black King
from escaping to d7) 4,..Kc5 5 Nd3! Kd4 6
Kd2!!l A very beautiful move. Black has
great material advantage, but he cannot pre­
vent 7 c3 mate Therefore 1-0.
(See Diagram below)
2 Troynov-Popov
USSR 1962
White to play:
This is similar io the Edward Lasker -
G. A.Thomas game published in this section 3. S.Raman-Arvind Aaron
titled ‘Discovered attack’ in this book White Kanchipuram 1977
achieved victory through: 1 Qf71! Kf7 (If Black to play
.Kh8 2 Ne6 threatens the Qd8 and Qg7
l.. .13! 2 Nf3 Bh3!! 3 Kh3 g4! 4 Kg4
1..
mate) 2 Bd5 Kg6 (If 2...Kf8 3 Ne6 knocks Qd7 5 Kh4 (if 5 Kh5 Rf6! wins) 5.,Bf6 6

66
Ng5 (if 6 Kh5 Qg7 threatening 7...Qg6# long because Sofia has a serious mating
wins) 6...BgS 7 Kg5 Rf6! 8 g4 White refuses threat and cannot take the rook. If 4 Qcl?
to be dragged across the board because after Rh8 5 Kg4 f5 6 Kg5 Qg3#. As the key black
8 Kf6 Qg7 9 Ke6 (9 Kf5 Rf8, etc.) Qf7 10 move in black’s attack is f7-f5, white can
Kd6 Qe7 11 Kd5 Nb4# White had to play 8 consider 4 Ra7 pinning the f-pawn and also
g4 as blacks threat was 8...Qg7 and 9...Rh6 threatening the drawing sacrifice 5 Rf7 Kf7
mate. 6 Qd7 etc. with draw by perpetual check.
8...Qe7! (This threatens not only the But here an important factor is that the white
Queen by ...Rf2 discovered check, but also Qd2 in controlling f4 and preventing black’s
9...RT5 10 Kh5 Rh3 mate) 9 Kh5 Rh6!l 10 deadly Qh2-f4.
Kh6 Qh4 mate. Therefore if 4 Ra7 black makes the de­
coy sacrifice 4,..Rdll! which prevents the
drawing 5 Rf7 because Qd7 is now impossi­
ble. However after 4 Ra7 Rdl 5 Qg5 (5 Qe3
loses to 5...Rd4 as Qe3 interferes with de­
fence Re2-e4) 5...Rh8 6 Kg4 Rd4 7 Re4
Qg2 is mate. Barua therefore decided to sac­
rifice a rook for five pawns and the game
went.
4 Ree5 Rc4 5 Re4 Rh8 6 Kg4 f5 7 Rf5
gf5 8 Kf5 Rf8 9 Kg4 Rc4 10 fe4 Rg8 The re­
maining moves are given for technical inter­
est only.
11 KT5 Rf8 (sealed move) 12 Kg4 Rf6
13 Qd7 Rf7 14 Qd2 Kh7 15 Kh5 Qe5 16
Qg5 Qe4 17 g4 Qe8 18 Kh4 Qe7 19 a4 Qg5
20 Kg5 Ra7. 0-1. After 21 a5 Rb7 black
picks up white’s a and b pawns with the
4. Barua-Sofia Polgar rook and then turns his attention to the king
New Delhi 1990
side pawns.
Black to play
The moral of all this is that if a king is
Sofia Polgar is clearly losing on the
forced out of his castled position, he faces
queen side where Barua has two connected
passed pawns. Sofia played l...Qgl fairly very very dangerous threats. But the de­
quickly but after 2 Kg3 she thought for long fender must not give up easily as he may
as she has possibilities like ...Rc4 and ...Rh8. have unexpected defensive resources
But finally she played 2...h41! And then through the extra material that his opponent
forced 3.Kh4Qh2!l Now Barua thought for has gifted away in pursuit of the king.

67
 Chapter 21

The Double Attack

The basis of most combinations is dou­
ble attack. In a double attack, a player attacks
two pieces simultaneously and captures one
of them. Or a player may simultaneously
threaten mate and the win of a piece or pawn
elsewhere, obliging his opponent to save his
king and abandon the attacked piece or
pawn. An illustration of this is from the
French Defence game given below.
1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 de4 (th is exchange
inviting a white piece to the centre of the
board is not good for the black) 4 Ne4 Nf6 5
Bd3 Be7 (if 5...Qd4?? white wins through a
double attack: 6 Bb5 checking the king and
capturing the black queen next move) 6 ND
0-0 1 Qe2 b6?? This loses a rook through a
double attack. 8 Nf6! Bf6 9Qe4! White wins
as he threatens both 10 Qh7 mate and 10 White can win immediately by I Qg4!
Qa8. which threatens mate on g7 and also threat­
ens to win the Qd7 by Nh6. If black plays ei­
Our first diagram illustrates double at­
tack at its simplest form. ther I ...g6 or 1 ...f6 averting mate on g7, he
would still lose the queen after 2 Nh6 and 3
Qd7. I had walked into such a postion with
the black pieces against Dr.R.Nagendra in
the 1980 National B at Delhi. Though
Nagendra is a sharp tactical player himself,
he also missed l.,.Qg4! It will be comforting
to the beginners to learn that even very
strong players need to sharpen their tactical
vision by periodically refreshing their skills.

1 White to play.
White wins by Qf4 attacking the bishop
on f5 and Knight on b4. Black will lose one
of the two pieces.
In diagram 2 black has just made the
blunder Qd8-d7.

68
 One will observe from the given exam­
ples that only unsupported pieces and the
king become objects of the double attack. In
the diagram 3 one spots the unsupported
black rook on a3. But that seems to be the
on ly object of attack. For a double attack one
needs two unprotected pieces or one unpro­
tected piece and the availability of a check

3 Slepov-Shkundov
USSR 1961,
White to play.
White cleverly works on creating a sec­
ond objective to utilise the adventurous rook
on a3. He continued 1 Bg6!! hg6(if 1 ...Rel 2
Bh7 Kh8 3 Rel wins 2 pawns) 2 Re8 Be8 3
Ne6 Qd7 (if 3...Qa5 to protect the Ra3, then
4 Qg6 mates on g7) 4 Ng7 Kg7 5 Qb2 (fi­
5 Stepanov-Romanovsky.
nally the double attack has materialised) 1 -0.
Leningrad 1926,
And here is a crisp double attack from the Black to play.
19th USSR Championship
Black forced immediate resignation
with l...d5!l White cannot take the rook as a
Kf3 is answered by 2...Nd4 forking king and
queen. White’s best defence after I ...d5 is
also shattered brilliantly: 2 cd5 ed5 3 Kd5
Be6! Kd6 (unfortunately, if 4 Ke6, Nd4
forks again, or if 4 Kc6, Rc8 skewers the
queen) 4...Rd8 5 Kc7 Rf7 wins.

4 Krogius-Sergievsky
White to play.
White stunned everybody with 1 Ng6!l
This move offers both queen, Knight, but
also attacks both queen and rook. If now
I ...Qf5, then 2 Ne7 Kh8 3 Nf5 wins rook. If
l...Rd7 white wins the queen by 2 Ne7!
Black's best is to play l...Qe6 and lifnit his The next example deals with a dou­
loss to the exchange (rook for knight). ble attack by a bishop.
When a knight forks two pieces it is dou­
ble attack. In diagram 5 we see a couple of 6 Volchok-Palmetto
delightful knight forks. Correspondence 1978

69
 Black’s threat to the bishop seems to be Bd5, not only does the white bishop avoid
alarming. But white uses his advantage in capture on c4. but it also attacks both black
development and the double attack to rooks simultaneously.)
achieve a quick victory. 1 fe6! fe6 2 Nd5! 3 Nc7 Ke74Rfdl Rad8 5 Be6! (again a
(This threatens to win the Rg8 by Nf6 and double attack) 5...Be6 6 Rd8 Rd8 7 Rd8
the Ra8 by 3 Nc7) 2...Bg7! After 2...ed5? 3 Kd8 8 Ne6 1-0.

70
 Chapter 22
The Back Rank
The Back Rank However in Diagram 2, if the white
The easiest of mates is when a king is pawn is on d6 instead of on d5 with all other
mated along the edge of the board. The rea­ pieces on the same squares, then black can
son is simple: on the edge of the board, the capture the pawn safely: 1 ...Qd6 2 Qe8 Re8
hunted king has fewer squares to escape to. 3 Re8 Qf8
Diagram No. 1 illustrates this mate which is
usually known as the back rank mate. Several beautiful combinations are
based on the theme of back rank weakness.

In diagram 1-A, the white king is mated

while in 1-B, the black king is mated. Both of
these mates are very typical and both are
mates along the back rank or eighth rank.
In diagram No 2, both players have back
rank weaknesses.

Minic-Honfi
Vmyacka Banya, 1966 White to play.
The square on which mate is threatened
is d8. White is attacking d8 twice with his
two rooks. Black is defending d8, also twice
with his rook and queen. In order to win with
his attack on d8, white must deflect away
one of black’s two defenders from d8.
White played 1 Qa7!I offering the queen
and threatening black’s two defenders. If
black captures the Qa7 with either rook or
queen, he would be letting go control of d8
and get mated after 2 Rd8. If 1 ...Rd5 2 Qa8
Qd8 3 Qd8 Rd8 4 Rd8 or if l...Qc8 2 Qa8
Qa8 3 Rd8 mates. The next example has a
small twist. Diag

If black captures the pawn with 1 ...Qd5? See Diagram below

then white can either win the queen with 2 4 Lematchko-Popova
Qd5 (because 2...Rd5 allows 3 Re8 mate) or Black appears to have no back rank
mate with 2 Qe8! Re8 3 Re8 mate. weakness. Yet, white has a forced mate in

71
 Qd8 Rd8 5 Rd8 mate. Therefore, black re­
signed.
Though back rank mate occur mostly in
the middle-game and occasionally in the
endgame, one has to be careful in the open­
ing too. Diagram 6 is an illustration.

Diagram 4.
three moves: 1 Qf71Rf7 2 R<18 Rf8 3
Rdf8 mate.

Andonov-Lputyan
Sochi 1987
Black to play
Black won immediately with 1 ...Nd3I!
0-1.
If 2 Qd3 Qcl 3 Rcl Rcl or, if either 2
ed3 or 2 Kdl, the 2 Qc2. A slightly different
kind of back rank finish is illustrated in dia­
gram 7.

Diagram 5.

See diagram 2 below

5 Goldin-Bogdatev
White to play.
White’s first move is obvious: 1 Qb4!
This attacks both rooks. If now l...Rb4?
2 Rc8 mates. So, it seems that once the Rb8
moves away, white captures the rook on a3.
But it is not that simple. Black replied
.Rd8! and suddenly white had to find a
l..
better move: 2 Rcd5! this move threatens
mate on d8 and also maintains the threat to
the Ra3. If now 2...Rd5, then 3 Qb8 Qd8 4 7 Black to play.

72
 White’s back rank seems to be weak but Let us take diagram 8 again and move the
adequately guarded. But black forced a black pawn from h7 to h6. The position is
quick win with l...Qfl! (L.Qel 2 Qgl is still bad for black as white wins a rook by 1
ok. for white) 2 Qgl Rel! Black threatens Re8 Kh7 2 Qc4! Rc4 3 Ra8.
the direct Qxgl and there is nothing that
white could do about it. White resigned. If you have understood the above exam­
ples. then the following position should be
A different back rank idea is demon­
easy for you to solve:
strated in Diag 8.

White to play. Keres- Alekhine

White cannot win easily by I Qc4 Rc4 as Margate 1937
he has no mate on the back rank. White to play and win.
But he has a different way to win’: 1 Solution: 1 Qd71! 1-0 for if l...Rd7 2
Re8!! After l...Re8, 2 Qc4 wins the queen. Re8 mates.

73
 Chapter 23
The Overloaded Piece
A piece is said to be overloaded with re­ 2 Mattison-Wright Bromley 1925
sponsibilities when it supports more than White to play.
one piece or when it is required to control White played 1 Nd5!l
more than one important square. Let us see what will happen if the many
possible captures are made:
a) I...Rc5 2 Ne7 Kf7 3 Rd6 and white
has won the exchange.
b) I ...Bd5 allows 2 Qc8. The bishop was
overloaded, protecting both rook on c8 and
the pawn on d5.
c) I...Rd5 allows 2 Qe7. The rook was
overloaded, protecting d5 and shielding the
queen on e7.
d) I ...ed5 allows 2 Re7 and 3 Rb7 as the
pawn on e6 was overloaded, supporting d5
and shielding the Queen on e7.
Therefore black continued l...Qd7 and
resigned when white replied 2 Ne7! as it
forces 2...Qe7 3 Qd6 winning the exchange.
A typical case of an overloaded rook along
1 Smyslov-Lilienthal the back rank is illustrated in Diagram 3.
USSR 1941
White to play
The black queen is protecting both the
knight and the rook and is therefore consid­
ered overloaded. White wins by 1 Qd6!I 1-0
for if l...Qd6 2 Re8 mates along the back
rank (see our lesson on Back Rank).
A spectacular illustration of three pieces
simultaneously overloaded is given in No 2.

3 Drimer-Pomar
Leipzig Olympiad, 1960
Black to play
First black attracted the white queen to
square where it could be captured: 1 ...Rcl!!
If 2 Qcl the rook on gl becomes over­
loaded protecting both the qfieen and the g2

74
pawn allowing 2...Bg2!l 3 Rg2 Qcl win­ his queen is overloaded defending e4 and h2.
ning. White therefore placed his hopes on 2 3 Qd2 Be4 4 Qg2 Rh3!l White can do noth­
Bh7! Kh8! ing to prevent 5...Rh2 mate. Therefore he
If 2...Kh7 3 Qh4 Kg8 4 Qd8 and white gave up.
draws by perpetual check. 3 Qcl If 3 Qg3, The tactical themes of back rank and
Rgl 4 Kgl Qd4! and black captures Kh7 as overloaded go well together. So whenever
black controls d8 and there is no perpetual your opponent has an inadequately guarded
check. The game continued: 3...Bg2! 4 Rg2 back rank, you must think of springing an
Qcl 5 Rgl Qc6 6 Rg2 Kh7 0-1. overload combination on him. On the same
The overloaded theme often occurs as an grounds, watch out for your own back rank!
important part ofa combination which might Do you see or ‘smell’ a combination for
have other strategic ideas too, like the back black in Diagram 5? Think before you see
rank theme in Diagram 1. the answer given immediately below.
Diagram 4 starts with the theme of de­
stroying the guard and moves on to over­
loading the white queen. Akiba Rubinstein
(1882 -1961) is more remembered by this
classic combination.

5 Mikenas-Bronstein
23rd USSR Championship
Black to play.

4 Rotlevi-Rubinstein First of all l...Qel is met by 2 Qfl and

Lodz 1907 black has nothing. Bronstein who was Chal­
Black to play. lenger to Botwinnik in the World Champi­
Black sees that the white queen has to onship Match of 1951 saw deeper and
defend his important bishop on e4 and the produced a startling move which forced im­
threatened mate on h2. But the Be4 is addi­ mediate resignation. It was l...Ra3!l! This
tionally supported by the Nc3. Therefore brilliant move shows that three of white’s
Rubinstein destroyed the defender with pieces are overloaded.
. Rc3!I. If now 2 Bc3? Be4 and white is
1..
a) 2 Ra3 allows...Qel mating. The Rai
lost as his queen is overloaded with the de­
was overloaded with the defence of a3 and
fence of e4 and h2. Also if 2 Bb7? Rg3 wins
el.
an important pawn and threatens ...Nh2! as
well as ...Rh3. Therefore white took the b) 2 Qa3 allows...Qel mating as the
queen: 2 gh4 Then came another thunder­ white Queen was defending both a3 and fl.
bolt: 2...Rd2!l Even though white has cap­ c) 2 ba3 allows 2...Qat 3 Rbl Rel!
tured the black queen, he finds that yet again mates.

75
 defence of g7 and f8. So there happened 2
Bg7! Rg7 3Rfk 1-0 as after 3...Rg8 4 Ref4
he has nothing more to play for.
If you have understood the principles of
overload, then Diagram 7 should be easy for
you. How does black get back his lost pawn?

6 Furman-Witkovsky
Polyanitza-Zdrui, 1967
White to play
White is inspired by the tight corner in
which the black king is placed and thinks of
winning by smothered mate. He played 1
Re4I! If now I ...Rf7? white wins by a bril­
liant smothered mate. 2 Ng6! hg6 3 Rh4
7 Tzvetkovich - Vitolinsh
mate. Therefore black captured l...Bf4 and
Riga 1968
we see the overload idea of Diagram 3 work­
Black to play
ing here. Black’s Rg8 is overloaded with the Solution: 1 ...Nc4! 2 Bc4 Rc4 3 Qc4 Qd6.

76
 Chapter 24
Which Opening To Play?
Which Opening To Play? chess) would suit his basic character. As tac­
Chess openings are broadly classified tical chess dominates all other aspects of
under three major heads: Open Games. chess play, it is important that a young
Semi-Open Games and Closed Games. play er understands the tactical principles of
Openings with I e4 are generally called chess as soon as possible. Through practical
open games, flic Giuoco Piano (I e4 e? Nfj play, he must learn the importance of mobil­
Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5). the Kings Gambit (1 ede5 2 ity of pieces, rapid development (sometimes
f4), the Ruy Lopez or Spanish (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 at the cost of pawns or pieces), sacrifice, at­
3 Bb5). etc., are classified under open tack. counter-attack and defence. Such tac­
tics are best learnt by playing open games,
games.
especially the gambit. Therefore, young
To I e4. if black replies with defences play ers need not worry about their styles of
like the French (I...e6). the Pirc (I...d6). play and try out sharp tactical chess through
Caro-Kann (I...c6). Sicilian (l...c5). open games. After they have developed their
Alekhine (I ...Nf6). etc., the opening is clas­ tactical skill, they could decide to play
sified under semi-open games. closed games if that would suit their charac­
All the other openings where while does ter better.
not play e2-e4 on the first move are called 1 give below five games, all featuring
closed games. Under this classification open positions. Choose a partner of approxi­
come 1 d4. I c4. I 1'4. 1 Nf3. etc. mately your own strength and go through the
These are only broad, general classifica­ follow ing games one by one. It would be in
tions. One can get a closed game from a Ruy y ouV interest if your partner is slightjj^Jron-
Lopez, or an open game 4 from the Tarrasch ger than you, and you jointly study onty one
Gambit (I d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 4 cd5 cd4). A game at a time. After you study the game,
player must choose openings which suit his you should play each other two games, using
style and make him enjoy his chess. He must the same opening, once with the white
not choose an opening because 'there are pieces and then with the black pieces.
fewer variations in it to be studied’, or be­
For example let us take the first game.
cause the world champion is playing it.
King Gambit Accepted, Fischer vs Com­
The open games suit players who are
puter, 1977. The moves given in bold letters
fond of tactical play and are good at it be­
are compulsory. That means both of you
cause the character of the open game brings
the two players into quick combat without must play 1 e4 e5 2 f4 ef4. Only on the third
any emphasis on positional play. Thrilling move, white can vary and the game can take
play where a player allows the total destruc­ its own course. After playing two games,
tion of his castled position, but, just in time and so on. The same method applies to the
carries out a non-stop victorious attack other games too.
against the opponent’s king, is more likely to When playing such games, it is impor­
result from an open game than from closed tant that you strictly follow the ‘touched
games. The semi-open and closed games piece’ rule, as you cannot learn anything un­
suits players who like slow but sure develop­ less you play friendly games in a serious
ment, strategic plans, manoeuvring and manner. If you blunder a piece of a pawn.,
playing against opponents’ weak squares. you may call yourself a donkey, but do not
However, a young player who is trying to take back the move or resign. Nobody ever
improve his or her chess cannot yet know won a game after resigning. Play on, may be
which style of play (tactical or positional your opponent himself might blunder! But if

77
you are in a really hopeless position and your Latvian Gambit
opponent is playing purposefully and cor­ Alars-1 omson. 1973:
rectly. then perhaps it is time to start the next 1 e4 c5 2 Nl'3 1’5 3 Bed fed 4 Ne5 Qg5 5
game. dd! Qe2 6 Qh5 „6 7 BI7 KdX X Bg6' Qhl 9
A good habit would be to analyse with Ke2 c6 10 Nc3~Kc7 1 I If Id! Qa'l 12 Nd7
your opponent ever} game after it is finished Kd7 13 Qf5 KdS 14 Q(8 Kd7 15 QeX male.
whether it was played in a tournament or til
home. Such analysis would reveal several
Centre Counter or Scandinavian
facets of chess and without y our know ing,
you would be turning into a belter play er. It Defence
means, however, that you must record the Fischer-Addison. 1970:
moves even while playing a friendly game, I e4 d5 2 ed5 Qd5 3 Nc3 QdS 4 dd Nf6 5
but the long term results are worth the trou­ Bc4 BI5 6 Q131 QeX 7 Bt>5' Bc2 X Rc I Bg6 9
ble. Nge2 Nbd7 10 0-0 e6 I I Bf6 <d'6 12 d5 e5 13
I had suggested that you play friendly Bb5 Be7 l4Ng.3a6 l5Bd3Qd8 16 hd!h5 17
games with a partner who is slightly stronger BI5 Nb6 18 Need Nd5 19 RId I c6 20 Nc3!
than you. Sometimes it is not easy to find Qb6 21 Rd5 cd5 22 Nd5 Qb2 2.3 Rb I Qa2 24
such a partner. But perhaps you can try your Rb7 1-0.
own brother, sister, cousin, father, mother, Scotch Gambit
neighbour or class mate'.’
Ribli-lmre. Hungary 1968.
I e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 edd d c.31dc3 5
Suggested Training Programme
Ncj Bb4 6 Bc4 d6 7 0-0 Bc3 8 bc.3 N06 9 c5
Players must play two games a day. one Ne5 10 Ne5 de5 I I Qb3 Qe7 12 Ba3 c5 13
with white and another with black, using Bb5 Bd7 14 Bd7 Qd7 15 Bc5 Ne4 16 Ba3
compulsorily the moves given in bold in the Nd2 17 Qbd! Nfl I 8 Rd 11 Qc7 !9Qb5Qc6
following games. 20 Qe5 Qe6 21 Qg7 J-0.

x King Gambit Accepted Four Knights Opening

Fischer-Computer. 1977: Bel Ion-Wagman. 1976/77:
1 e4 e5 2 f4 ef4 3 Bc4 d5! 4 Bd5 Nf6 5 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 d4 ed4 5
Nc3 Bb4 6 Nf3 0-0? 7 0-0 Nd5?I 8 Nd5 Bd6 Nd5l? Ne4 6 Qe2 f5 7 Bf4l? d6 8 0-0-0 Ne59
9 d4 g5 10 Ng5 Qg5 11 e5 Bh3 12 Rf2 Be5 9Rd4c6 IONe5de5 I I Re4! Bd69! 12 Re5!
13 de5 c6 14 Bf4 Qg7 !5Nf6 Kh8 16 Qh5 Kf7 13 Nc7! Qc7 14 Qh5 1-0 because of
Rd8 17Qh3Na6 18RDQg6 19Rcl Kg720 14..
.Kf6 15 Bg5! Ke5 16 Qe2 and 17 Qc4
Rg3 Rh8 21 Qh6 mate. mates, or 14...g6 15 Bc4 Kf6 16 Bg5, etc.

78
 Chapter 25
Pawn Endings
A player should have adequate knowl­ Whites way to victory- requires knowl­
edge of basic pawn endings as a complicated edge of an endgame technique outlined in
ending can be reduced to a simple paw it end­ an earlier chapter 1 b5! (This is the only way
ing in practical play. to w in. If black is allow-ed to play I ...b5.
In Chapter five we had discussed in this white will be able to capture it only on b5.
section, an important aspect of a King and upon which black would play ...Kb7, have
Pawn versus lone King ending. The impor­ the opposition and force a draw. By playing
tance of gaining the opposition was demon­ 1 b5! white ensures that black’s pawn re­
strated in the ending: White Kg6, Pf6. Black mains on b6 so that when he eventually cap­
Kg8. White to play, only drew, whereas if tures it. his King is automatically on the
black were to play, it was white who won! sixth rank in front of his paw n and wins.)

In this ending, whichever side had the 1.. .Kb7 2 Ke4 Kc7 3 Ke5!
move was in a disadvantageous position. This is diagonal opposition. If 3 Kd5'?
I his applies when the pawn is on any file ex­ Kd7 and black escapes defeat: 4 Ke5 Ke7 5
cept the a and h files. If the pawn is on the a or Kd5 Kd7=
h files and the defending King is controlling 3.. .Kd7 4 KdS Kc7 5 Ke6 Kb7 6 Kd6
the queening square, it is a draw' no matter Kb8 7 Kc6 Ka7 8 Kc7 Ka8 9 Kb6 Kb8 10
whose move it is. Ka6 and wins.
In another chapter we discussed how a
King on the sixth rank in front of his pawn,
won irrespective of whose turn it is to move
and also that if the king were in front of the
pawn but on the fourth or fifth ranks the
win-drawn question was settled only by who
has the opposition.
In this issue we discuss three pawn end­
ings of N.Grigoriev which are of practical
value.

White to move, draws.

White cannot prevent black from captur­
ing his pawn. But he can draw by playing in
such a way that when black plays ...Kxa2, he
could reply Kc2, imprisoning the black King
in the a-file and ensuring a draw.
1 Kd7 Kc5 2 Ke6! Kd4 3 Kf5! Kc3 (if
.Ke3
3.. 4 Kg4 Kd2 5 Kfi etc) 4 Ke4 Kb2 5
Kd3 Ka2 6 Kc2 Kai 7 Kcl a2 (7...Ka2 8
Kc2) 8 Kc2 stalemate.

79
 c file again to make way for his c pawn to
reachc 1)2... c5 3 h5 c4 4 h6 Kd2 5 117 c3 6 hX
=Q c2 7 Qb2 Kdl 8 Kd3 cl-Q 9 Qc24.

2 Kd4
White prevents the black pawn from
moving before he pushes his pawn. This
forces blacks next move. 2„.Kb4 3 h4 c5 4
Ke3!

One of the fine points of chess. To go

from d4 to c I, the white King takes 3 moves

a ." & whether he takes the route Kd4-d3-d2-c I. or

Kd4-e3- d2-cI. By choosing to go via e3
white avoids the check by the black pawn
and loss of one move. For example, if here 4
Kd3? then 4...Kb3 and black will get his next
pawn move, c5-c4, with check.
Whoever plays, wins.
When it is white to move, the play is very 4,.
.Kb3
instructive. 1 Ke4(Not 1 h4 because of I...c5 This move is compulsory, though it
2 h5 c4 3 h6 c3 4 117 c2 5 hS Q Kb I which is eventually brings the King into a square (b2)
a draw as we saw already in a previous where it will be under check the moment
chapter.) white plays h7-h8=Q. If 4,..c4? 5 Kd2 and
I..
.Kb3 white stops the c pawn whereas black cannot
There are two major alternatives for stop the h-pawn.
black here.
5 h5 c4 6 h6 c3 7 h7 c2 8 Kd2! Kb2 9 118
(a) I ...c5? 2 Kd5 Kc3 3 Kc5 (if 3 114 c4 4
=Q Kbl 10 Qb8 and white wins.
h5 Kd3 5 h6 c3 6 h7 c2 7 h8=Q c I =Q draws)
3..
.Kd3 4 Kd5 Ke3 5 Ke5 Kf3 6 Kf5 and
If it is black to move in the diagram,
now, as black cannot play ...Kg3, white wins
by 7 h4. black wins easily: l...c5 2 h4 The white
King cannot do anything now to stop the c
(b) I ...Kc3? 2 h4! (As the black King has pawn. 2...c4 3 h5 c3 4 h6 c2 5 h7 cl=Q and
come on to the c file, white gains more black wins as he has queened his pawn with
tempo because the black King must leave the check.

80
 Chapter 26
Attacking the Castled Position
When we talk of the castled position, w less position of the white king. The only way
usually mean the three pawns which are in to strengthen white's position is to place his
front of the castled king I he security of the own bishop on b2.
king almost always depends on the forma­ Diagram ID is the best formation, espe­
tion of the pawns in front ol it. Four possible cially if white has a knight on 13 ora bishop
pawn formations in front of the castled king on fl. With all the three pawns on their origi­
are shown in diagram 1. nal squares there are no weaknesses which
could be utilised by the opponent. If black
places his queen on d6 and bishop on c7
threatening...Qh2. white can simply defend
w ith g2-g3. Or if black brings his queen to
l>4 and rook to h6. again threatening..,Qh2.
W hite can defend w ith h2-h3. liven though
there are many advantages in having the
paw ns on their orginal squares, one has to be
careful that the opponent is not allowed to
place his rook or queen on his first rank and
give mate.
Diagram 2 is an example which could
occur in your game.

Diagram IA illustrates a very w eak

paw n shield for the king. If the w hite queen
lands at b6. it could generate many threats in
combination with other pieces. For example,
if h is knight or bishop were on c5. the combi­
nation with the queen could be terrible for
black
Diagram IB is safer for black than IA
because the opponent's pieces cannot find
squares unpleasantly close to the king on e6,
f6. g6 or l>6 as the queen did on b6 in I A.
However, in certain cases, IB can invite a
sacrifice on h6. shattering the castled posi­
tion. One possible dangerous scenario for 2. Ravinsky - I’etryayev Moscow 1962
black could be w hen the white queen is.on g3 White to play
and a white bishop oncl. Then Bh6 is threat­ White brilliantly exploited the black
ened as the g7 pawn is pinned. square weakness on the king side as g7 and
The castled position in diagram 1C is h6 squares are not defended. White played 1
weak. If black’s queen is placed on a3 and Qh7!! and black resigned because of
bishop or knight on c3, we can see the hope­ .Kh7 2 Rh5 Kg8 3 Rh8#
l..

SI
 weakness through superior mobility of his
3. Geller-Portisch
pieces. He continued: 1 Bh6! gh6 (If I ...Kh6
Moscow 1967
2 Rhl Kg5 3 Qe3 Kg4 4 Be6 mate.) 2 Rf7
White to play
Kh8 3 Rdl! Qc8 If 3...Bd6 4 Qe3 (attacking
In diagram 3. it seems that black's h6
h6 and creating further weakness in black's
weakness is hardly a weakness at all w ith a
castled position.) 4...g5( 4...Qg5 5 Qg5 hg5
bishop bolstering up the king-side at f8. But
6 Rhl wins) 5 Rhl and 6 Rh6 wins.
white has spotted the hardly visible weak­
ness in black’s position. 4 Qe3 Bg5 5 Qg5! hg5 6 Rhl Kg8 7
1 Bg5!! Qd7 if I...hg5 2 Ng6! and white Rfd7! 1-0 (7...Kf8 8 Rh8#)
mates next move with 3 Qh8 against any de­
fence. Or if I...Qg5 2 Qf7 Kh7 3 Qg8 mate.
Therefore, black must move his queen to d7
only as he must continue to defend f7.
2 Radi! Bd6.
Any other move would allow 3 Qf7 and
4 Qg8 mate.
3 Bh6! gh6 If 3...Nb3 4 Bg7!! Kg7 5 Nf5
Kg8 (if 5„.Kf6 6 Qh6#) 6 Qg5 and 7 Qg7#
4 Qg6!!
This exploits the pin along the a2-g8 di­
agonal and shows that g6 is also a weak
square in black’s castled position.
4..
.K18
(If 4...Kh8 5 Bf7 with the threat of 6
Qh6#) 5 Qf6! Kg8
(If 5...Nb3 6 Ng6! Kg8 7 Qh8#) 6 Re3
1-0 as black has no effective defence against Kirillov-Suetin
5.
7 Rg3. Moscow 1961,
.Sei- diagram White to play
An examination of the position in dia­
4. Gurgenidze-Klovan gram 5 shows that both sides have weakened
Yerevan 1959 their castled positions. It does not mean that
White to play the players are not aware that they should
In diagram 4, black’s castled position ap­ not create weaknesses in their own camps.
pears to be solid with a cluster of pawns During the course of a chess struggle, play­
around the king, but white quickly hits at the ers accept weaknesses hoping to cash on the

82
w eaknesses of their opponents. Each player
believes that he would be able to win even
though his camp has weaknesses. Here,
black has no chance of exploiting white’s
unusual pawn formation with pawns on e3,
13. g3. The glaring weakness in black's cas­
tled position is his g7 square which is under
direct surveillance of white’s powerful
queen. White won quickly by 1 Ne61! If now
I ,fe6 2 Be6 Kf8 3 Qh8 mate. Black was ap­
parently so shocked by I Ne6! that he played
l..
.RdS? and was immediately mated by 2
Qg7#.
See diagram

6.
Alexeyev-Razuvayev
Moscow 1969,
Black to play. that forces a quick resignation. 1... Qd8!! 2
In diagram 6, white has an awful castled Qf3 (of course 2 Qd8 allows 2...Be4 mate)
position with his bishop on h2 acting like a . Qdl! 3 Kg2 Qc2 4 Kh3 Be4 0-1.
2..
pawn while his g and h pawns have been So, the next time you have grand visions
flung up and give no shield to the concerned of a great attack and have the urge to throw
king. He would just be able to defend his vi­ forward the pawns in your castled position,
tal e4 pawn with Nd2 had black continued think again. May be you are inviting your
with l...Qc6. But black has a tactical coup opponent to hammer you?!

83
 Chapter 27
On The Queen
The first technique that players are (king to d6, pawn to e6) leaving the black
taught in class is to mate with queen and king queen and king on a I and b2. Here, the white
against a lone king. The basic position is - pieces are closer to the eighth rank. The win­
White: Kh6, Qd7. Black: Kh8. Here white ning manoeuvre is l...Qa4 ( the threat is to
has a choice of five mating moves: Qc8. play 2. ,.Qe8 as in the previous example) 2
Qd8, Qe8, Qg7 and Qh7. The only move that Ke7 (the only move to prevent... Qe8)
white should avoid is 1 Qf7 which creates a 2.. .Kc3 3 Kf7 Qc4 4 Kf6 Qf4 5 Kg7 Qe5 (
stalemate draw as it is black's turn to move the same manoeuvre which is used when the
and be has no legal move to make. pawn is on the seventh rank) 6 Kf7 Qf5 7
In Chapter No. 13, we gave the technique Ke7 Kd4 8 Kd6 Qd5 9 Ke7 Ke5 wins.
of winning with a queen against king and In Chapter No. 13, we also explained
pawn when both king and pawn of the de­ how the queen cannot win against pawns
fending side were on the seventh rank and which have reached the seventh rank along
the pawn on the verge of queening. One rele­ the bishop and rook files because of the
vant question that may be asked here is how stalemate factor. But if the bishop and rook
to win when the pawn is still on the fifth or pawns are only on the sixth rank, the queen
sixth ranks. One easy way to win is to oc­ always wins because there is no stalemate.
cupy the queening square with the queen (if
Diagram 1B is - White: Kg7, Ph6. Black:
it is possible) and then bring up the king to
push the defending king away from the Dia­ Kb2, Qal.
gram I pawn and then capturing the pawn Black to play wins by l...Qgl 2 Kh8
white threatens to draw with 3 h7. If here 2
Kh7 Qg5 3 Kh8 Qh6 wins.) 2...Qd4 3 Kg8
QdS 4 Kg7 (if 4 Kh8 Qf7! 5 h7 Qf8#)
4.. .Qg5 5 Kh7 Kc3! (now the white king is
forced to abandon the pawn) 6 Kh8 Qh6
wins.
There will be several other methods of
winning from IB. The student should ex­
plore these himself.
tn the middlegames, a queen could
sometimes mate the enemy king without the
help of its own pieces. In all such cases, the
king gets mated as his own pieces block the
escape squares. An example is Diagram 2

See diagram

Fleissing-Schlechter
2.
Vienna 1893
.An illustration of this is Diagram 1.
Black to play
Black to move continues l...Qa4! 2 e6Qe83
Kd6 Kc3 4 e7 Kd4 5 Ke6 Kc5 6 Kf6 Kd6 Black won through I...Be3! 2 Be3 NC2!
arid white king must abandon his pawn and
(threat 3...Qdl#) 3 Bf2 (if 3 Kbl to answer
lose.
...Qdl with 4 Bel, then 3...Qb5 and wher­
Diagram IA is reached by moving the ever the king goes, 4...Qb2#) 3„,Qd2 4 Kbl
white king and pawn one square forward Qdl 5 Ka2 Qc2#

84
 king and only two squares not covered by
the queen are blocked by white's own bishop
on g2 and rook on fl
Unless the idea of Diagram 4 is under­
stood, the solution to No:5 given below will
be very difficult to grasp.

3,
Lebbecke-Unknown
Braunschweig 1891
White to play.

Diagram 3 is similar to Diagram 2, ex­

cept that the victim king is not on the edge of
the board. Moreover, No 3 is more recent
S.Ribkin-Marchenke
Correspondence, 1973-74
though exactly 100 years old. White won by
White to play.
1 Rb7! Kb7 2 Qc6 Kc8 (if 2...Kb8 3 Rbl
Kc8 4 Rb7 Rd7 5 Rb4 threatening both Qa8#
and Rd4 winning) 3 Rf7 Qb6 4 Qa8 Qb8 5 Though all of black's pieces are in appar­
Rc7l! Kc7 6 Qc6# ently safe squares, the lack of co-ordination
among them raises vague fears, especially
See diagram
since white’s pieces are doubled along the
4. Pattern diagram e-fde. White won through the suprising I
A typical mating pattern is illustrated in Re7!l Black resigned because of l...Re7
Diagram 3 where the black queen is sup­ (l...Rbb7 2 Rd7 Rd7 3 Qa8 wins Queen) 2
ported by a rook to give mate. The important Qd6! Kc8 (if 2...Rd7,3 Qb8# or if 2...Ke8,3
feature of this mate is that the queen covers Qe7#)3 Rcl! (if 3 Re7? Rbl mates)3...Kb7
six of the eight squares around the white 4 Qc6#

85
 The final mate had to be worked out in
advance, while planning I Re7. Note that in
the final position, 4 Rbl? (instead of 4 Qc6
f1) would have lost for white after 4...Ka8 5
Qd5 Rbb7.
When a queen penetrates the enemy po­
sition, its awesome power would play havoc.
In Diagram 6. Morphy demonstrates how to
destroy an apparently safe position.

and only after 2 bc3, did he play 2..,Kh8.

The reason Nimzovitch did not directly play
I ...Kh8? is interesting. After l...Kh8? white
wins by 2Ne4! Be7 3 Nfg5! fg5 4 Nf6! Bf6 5
Be4 with 6 Qh7# to follow.

Morphy-Unknown
6. 1859
White to play.
White continued 1 Rfel offering a
bishop for what seems to be nothing. The
game continued: l...Bc2 2 R17 Kf7 Now co­
mes Morphy's bomb. 3 Re7!l Morphy was
the greatest player of his time and his under­
standing of chess was several decades ahead
of his contemporaries. Morphy had under­
stood that his queen and bishop could effect
mate and that black's white square bishop
and queen could play no role whatsover in
the defence. 3...Ke7 4 Qg7 Ke8 (if 4...Kd8 5
Bh4 mates) 5 Qg8 Ke7 (5... Kd7 6 Qf7 Kd8 7
Bh4#) 6 Bh4 Kd7 7 Q17#
If the queen enters the enemy camp and
8.Kruger-Hottes
W.Germany 1958
occupies h6 (or h3 for black) the close prox­
Black to play.
imity of the most powerful piece (Queen)
In No 8, the black queen has penetrated
with the opponent's most sensitive piece (the
to h3. Ifwhite could get one move to chase it
king), makes dangerous sacrificial attacks
away with Qfl, he would be safe. But black
possible. Two examples follow.
takes quick advantage ofwhite’s position be­
See diagram cause white has no white square bishop and
7 Capablanca-Nimzovitch the white squares on the K-side (f3, g2, h3)
Bad Kissingen 1928 are weak. Black did not retreat his attacked
Black to play. bishop and continued: 1 ...Rh4!! 2 gh4 Be4 3
In diagram 7, we expect Nimzovitch to f4 (3 Qfl? Qg4 mates) 5...Bf3 4 Qfl Re3! 5
play l...Kh8, but instead he played l...Bc3 Nf2 (if 5 Qh3, Rel#) 5,..Rel! The black

86
 ueen refuses to be driven away and now
neat ens both Qg2# and Qg4# There is no
efence, 0-1.

Qc8 Ka7 6 Bb6!I (this twist is worth re­

membering)6...Kb6 7 Qb8#

9 Henning-Dehn
Kiel 1959
Black to play.
No.9 Illustrates another mating ma­
noeuvre in which the queen is the main actor.
1 ...Qe 1! 2 Qa8 Kf7 Now black has two mat­
ing threats: a) 3.,.Bgl 4 Khl Bf2 5 Kh2
Bg3«; b) 3...Ng4 4 hg4 Qh4#. The only de­
fence is easily defeated: 3 Be3 Ng4! 4 hg4
Qh4 5 Kgl Be3 6 Kfl Qf2# But in the dia­
grammed position white offered a draw and
black accepted!
No. 10 is an elegant composition which is
over 200 years old. Try to solve it before see­
ing the solution.

11 Fernandez-Lommer
See diagram Valenzia 1967
Black to play and win
lO.D.L.Ponziani 1769 In diagram No.l 1, if l...Rcl 2 Kb2 Rdl?
White to play and win is answered by 3 Qh7#. Solution: 1.. Qf6! 2
White wins with 1 Bd8 Ka7 2 Ra6! ba6 Kbl Rcl! 3 Rcl Qal!! 4 Kai dcl-Q 5 Bbl
(if 2...Ka6,3 Qa5#) 3Qd7 Kb8 4 Qc7 Ka8 5 Qc3!#

87
 Chapter 28
Attacking 0-0-0
The dynamics of an attack on the oppo­
nents castled position is best learnt by play­
ing with a friend many games where both
players castle on opposite sides. Ifyou castle
on the king side and your opponent castles
on the queen side, then, invariably you
should rush your queen side pawns against
your opponent’s king. If necessary, some
pawn may be sacrificed to create open files
and diagonals for the use of your rooks and
bishops.

2.
Alatortzev-Smyslov
Moscow 1942
Black to play.
In No.2, black is again a pawn down but
he seems to be having even less compensa­
tion. But Smyslov’s continuation was bril­
liant: l.,.Rc31! After this exchange sacrifice,
black’s bishop becomes terribly powerful. 2
Qc3 Nc4! 3 Qb4 a5 4 Qb3 (The white queen
cannot lose control over b2 where black
threatens a mate in one.) 4...Na3 5 ba3 (If 5
Qa3 Rb8 6 b3 Qe4 wins.) 5...Qe4 6 Qd3
Johnner- Rubinstein Rb8 7 Kcl Rc8 8 Kbl (If 8 Kd2, Bh6 mates)
Tepliz Schonau, 1922 8,..Qe5! 0-1 while the black rook controls
Black to play the c-file the queen and bishop battery fin­
ishes off the exposed white king.
In Diagram No. l, black has sacrificed a See diagram
pawn on the queen-side for attack. He com­
mands the only open file with his rooks and 3.Slonim-Riumin
queen while his bishop occupies the long di­ Moscow 1931
Black to play
agonal. He played l...Bb2! destroying the
white’s castled position. 2 Kb2 (If 2 Nb2, No.3 features atypical characteristic of a
Rc 1 mates, or if 2 Qb2 black wins the queen queen-side castled position. On the
by the pin 2...Rb8) 2...Rc3! (This important queen-side, there are two files from the king
preliminary move makes way for a later fatal to the edge ofthe board whereas there is only
queen check on c3) 3 Qa4Rc2 0-1 If 4 Kai, one on the king-side. This can spell danger,
Qc3 or if 4 Kbl Rb8 5 Kai Qc3. as in this position, or it could mean extra el-

88
bow room for the king. Black blew open
white’s castled position brillantly with 1 Nf5?l This is. in principal, an incorrect
1.. .Ba31! 2 Na4 (2 ba3? Qa3#) 2...Bb2! 3 move as all that it accomplishes is to ex­
Nb2 Qa3 4Qe5(the only way to protect b2) change his centrally placed knight for a pas­
4.. .Re8 5 Qd4 c5 6 Qc3 Qa2 7 Bel Re2J! ( sive bishop, wasting two tempi in the
black is playing for mate) 8 Be2 Ne4 0-1 as process. Correct was 1 g6! hg6 2 Ne6 fe6 3
mate cannot be avoided any more. Be6 Kh8 4 Nd5 Qc4 5 h5 g5 6 h6 g6 (to close
the h-file) 7Ne7Qe6 8Qc3 with a big attack.

Let us see a recent game with a thrilling

finish. l...Nc5 (1 ...ef5 loses to 2 Nd5) 2 Ne7
Qe7 3 h5 (If 3 g5 hg6 4 h5 g5! with a good
San Segundo-O.Rodriguez position for black) 3...Bb7 4 h6 (The posi­
Salamanca, Spain 1991 tion is critical. White threatens 5 Nd5 and 6
Qc3. Black cannot afford to allow the open­
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cd4 4 Nd4 Nf6 5 ing of the h-file.) 4...Be4! 5 Ne4 Ne4 (Thus
Nc3 Nc6 6 Bg5 Bd7 7 Nb3 e6 8 Qd2 a6 9 black has prevented Qf3-c3) 6 hg7 Rc8
0-0-0 b5 10 a3 b4 11 ab4 Nb4 (Black has (This is a very deep move that parries the
made the first opening on the queen side.) 12 threat of 7 Bf5 ef5 8 Qh5 through 8...Rc2! 9
f4 Be713 e5 de5 14 feS NfdS 15 Be7 Qe7 16 Kc2Qc7 10 Kbl Nc3 II Kc2Ndl 12 Kdl
Nd5ed517h4 0-018Qg5Qe819h5h6 20 Rd4 with a quick mate.) 7 Rh2 Ra4 8 Kbl
Qf4 Rb8 21 Bd3 Be6 22 g4 (Now white be­ d5(Now the threat is 9...Nc3 10 bc3 Qa3+-.
gins his own assault on the king-side.)
If 9 Rd3, then 9...Qb4) 9 c4 (White sacrifices
22.. .f6 23 ef6 Rf6 24 Qd4 Qf8 25 g5 hg5 26 a pawn to buy time. lf9Bf5ef5 10Qh5Nc3!
Rdel Rf4 27 Qe3 Nd3 28 Qd3 Re4 29 II bc3 Rai! 12 Kai Qa3 13 Kbl Rb8#)
Nc5?? (White becomes over confident and 9...Rac4 10 Bfl Rb4 11 Qh3 (Again a criti­
unwittingly unmasks the b-file for the black cal moment. If black does not find a decisive
rook and black pounces immediately.) combination, he is finished on the
29.. .Qf4 30 Kbl Qe5! 0-1 because it is dou­ King-side) ll...Nc3 12 Kcl Na4! 13 Kbl
ble attack with mate on b2 or rook on e.l. Rb21! (By sacrificing a rook, black deci­
See diagram sively destroys the white castled position)

4 Manich-Fischer 14 Rb2Nc3 15 Kcl (15 Kai Qa3)15...Qa3!

Zagreb 1970 16Bd3Qal 17 Kd2Qb2 18 Kel (lf!8Bc2
White to play Ne4) 18...Ne4 0-1.

89
 Chapter 29
The Stalemate
Drawing through stalemate is fascinat­
ing for the player who saves a lost position.
At the same time it is a blow to the pride of
the player who is deprived of victory by the
stalemate trap. Quite often a player who is
trying hard to avoid a draw by perpetual
check suddenly finds that he has been
tricked into stalemating his opponent.

In No.2, black's problem seems to be

white's passed a-pawn, but white has made
the mistake of concerning the black king too
much. Black ensured the draw by
stimultaneously checking the king and
threatening the a-pawn in a surprising man­
ner: 1 ...Qg4! 2 fg4 stalemate.
No.l White to play.
No. 1 is a position that could occur in any
game. White has to save himself by
perpentual checks. He went I Qg8 Kf5 2
Qh7 Kg5 (otherwise the h pawn is lost.) 3
Qg8 (White wants to keep the option of
checking from c4, which would not be possi­
ble after Qg7) 3...Kf4 4 Qc4 Kg3 5 Qd4!
This is a spectacular way to draw. 5 Qb3
also draws by perpetual checks with threats
of forking one of black's two pawns. For ex­
ample, 5 Qb3 Kf2 6 Qc2 Ke3 7 Qc3 and now,
a) 7...Qd3 8 Qe 1 and 9 Qh4, b) 7...Ke4 8 Qe 1
and 9 Qh4, and, c) 7...Ke2 8 Qc4 and 9 Qg4

5...Qe6 (if 5...Qd4? white is stale­

mated!) 6 Qe3! Qe3 stalemate. No.3 White to play

90
 If white queens his pawn it would be a No.5 Black to play.
big mistake: I b8-Q? Qcl! 2 Kh2 (if 2 Qcl, It looks like black must look for perpet­
stalemate) 2...Qf4! 3 Kgl (if 3 Qf4, stale­ ual check possibilities to save the game. But
mate) 3...Qcl draw by perpetual check. But black boldly walks into a stalemate cave,
white did not queen the pawn straightaway. rolls the stone to shut it and seal off both exit
He played the preliminary 1 Bg6! disturbing and entry. The game went I ...Qg5! 2 Kg5
the stalemate set-up and black resigned. Ka6!’ 3 Kf5 Ka5! 4 g4 a6! 5 g5 stalemate.
In some cases a player is able to create a Sometimes when a stalemate idea oc­
fortress from which he can never get out and curs, the winning side might have a variation
at the same time where his opponent cannot that evades the stalemate. It is then neces­
get at him. See No.4 sary to have patience and not try the trap
straightaway (unless one is very desperate!)
as it would put the opponent on guard and
the idea would never work in the further
course of game. Also, there are good
chances of achieving stalemate by going
along with the opponents plan and planting
the seed of stalemate in his plan itself.

No.4 Marshall-McClure
New York 1923
White to play
White surprised his opponent by 1 Rh6!
Rh6 2 h8=Q! Rh8 3 b5! and no matter what
black plays, white is stalemated next move!
No.5 also illustrates a fortress idea.

No.6 White to play

In No.6 black's threat is...Bh3 and Qg2
mate. White went along with black's plan
and played 1 Rd 1! and on 1 ...Bh3 there came
2 Rd8! Kd8 and black was probably expect­
ing white's resignation when came the
thunderbold 3 Qdl!! On the forced reply
3...Qdl the game was an amazing stale­
mates with so many pieces on the board.

No.7shows a different kind of stalemate.

91
 then world champion Mikhail Tai and I were
among the few players qualified to play in
the final top group which was an all-play-all.
In my game with Tai, 1 reached No.9 with
Tai's pieces in total command and faced im­
minent defeat.
No.9 Tal-M.Aaron

No.7 White to play.

White has a knight for4 pawns in an end­
ing where the pawns would have winning
chances. White saved himself suprisingly
by: 1 Nh6! Kh6 (if 1 ...K.f8, 2 Rg8 wins the
rook, or if l...Kh8? 2 Nf7#) 2 Rg8!! Rg8
stalemate.

White threatens 1 Rh7 Kg8 2 Rfg7 Kf8 3

Rh8#. Fortunately, I evolved an idea to get
rid of my bishop queen and pawn as my
king was stalemated.. My concealed idea
must have appeared to Tai like a desperate
man's attempt to prolong the game in vain. I
played l...Be4 which looks like a temporary
defence against the threat of Rh7. White can
w in by Ra7, but Tai was not expecting an un­
known Indian to spring a stalemate on him.
The game went 2 Be4? and I seized my
chance: 2...Qb21! Now 3 Kb2 is answered
by 3...a3 and whether white takes the pawn
or not, it is stalemate. Tai sat motionless
staring at the board and without making a
No:8 white to play
move as I looked around at the throng of
No.8 shows a common stalemate idea in spectators with pride at holding the great Tai
a rook ending where a pawn has been prema­ to a draw. But why didnt Tai move? At least
turely pushed (h3-h2). White drew by offer­ he should offer me a draw! Then to my hor­
ing to give up his rook as its capture would ror I noticed that my clock was still running.
be stalemate: 1 Re4! Kd3 2 Re3 Kd2 3 Rd3! I had not stopped it in my excitement! In a
(3 Re2? Ke2, no stalemate) 3...Kcl 4 Rdl flash I stopped it amd Tai said "Remis?"
Kb2 5 Rbl Ka3 6 Rb3 Ka4 7 Rb4 etc. (German term for draw) and the game was
At the end ofthe 1960 Olympaid at Leip­ drawn.
zig, there was an International Blitz Tourna­ When a king is in a comer square like hl,
ment (5 minutes per player per game). The al, a8 and h8 the enemy queen could be

92
lured to the f2,c2,c7,f7 squares and also to
the g3, b3, b6 and g6 squares for stalemate
purposes.

No. 10 White to play.

No. 10 illustrates the typical stalemate by
a queen when the king is in a comer. White
need notstruggle to find perpetual checks as
he has a quick stalemate draw with 1 Qf21!
Qf2 stalemate.

93
 Chapter 30
Draw By Repetition
Draw By Repetition The play went: 1 Bg6 hg6 2 Qg6 Kh8 3
If the same position is repeated three Qh6 Kg8 4 Qg6 Kh8 5 Qh6 Kg8 6 Qg6 Kh8
times, a game could be drawn by repetition 7 Qh6 Kg8.
of moves. A position is considered to be Now let us see how well you have under­
same if the same player has the move each stood the rule regarding claiming a draw. In
time and pieces of the same kind and colour the above sequel which is the earliest point
occupy the same squares and if the possible at which a draw could be claimed (a) by
moves of all the pieces are the same, includ­ white (b) by black?
ing the right to castle or to take a pawn en
passant. It is important to note that the se­
By White: After black's fifth move,
quence of the moves or the order of the white can without making his sixth move on
moves by which the position arises is imma­ the board claim that he was going to play 6
terial. Qg6 which would be repeating the same po­
In a tournament, a player claiming a sition after 2 Qg6 and 4 Qg6.
draw by repetition must call the tournament
director and inform him that it was his turn to By Black: After white's 6th move black
move and that either the position on the can claim a draw by stating that the same po­
board had just occurred forthe third time or sition with the same player to move had just
that he was intending to make a move (which occurred after 2 Qg6, 4 Qg6 and 6 Qg6.
he should write on the score sheet) which These claims by white and black will
would repeat the position three times. If the hold good even if white had played 3 Qh5
tournament director is satisfied that the Kg8 (instead of 3 Qh6 Kg8) in the move se­
claim is right then the game is drawn. If not, quence. It is very important to remember
the player must make the move written down that a claim for a draw cannot be made by a
on his score sheet and which he had claimed player when it is his opponents turn to move.
he was going to make and game continues. Only the player having the move has a right
See No. 1. to claim a draw.
The above example gives repetition of
moves through perpetual checks. It is the
most common form of repetition of moves.
No. 2 shows a draw by repetition without
any checking moves.

Diagram No. 1
White to play

94
 Diagram No. 2
Kashdan-KIochko
Nabarovsk 1965
Black to play
Black is already a pawn down and faces
losing one more at e3. He forced a draw by
sacrificing the exchange and perpetually at­
tacking the white queen: 1 ...Re4! 2 fe4 Bg4 3
Qg6 (only square) Bh5 4 Qf5 Bg4 Drawn. A
typical drawing theme is illustrated in No. 3

Qf5 mates!] 14...gh6 15 Qh6 Qe3 16 Kh5

[ 16 Kg6 loses to 16...Rd6] l6...Qh3 !7Kg5
Qe3 18 Kh5 Qh3 drawing.)'6 ...Qe2 7 Kh3
Qh5 Drawn.
It should be noted that wh ite’s rook on d I
should be let alone and should be captured
only with check if the white king goes to the
first rank. The rook on dl is no hindrance to
the drawing theme.

Diagram No. 3
3 White to play
Black has just captured a rook on dl and
expects white to recapture with Qdl. For
white, 1 Qdl appears forced though he will
be materially down, having only one pawn
diagram for black's bishop. But white
is not forced to recapture as he has a
drawing resource: 1 Qh5! Kg8 2 Qe8
Kh7 3 Qh5 draw.
See diagram
Diagram No. 4
Shman-Orlov
Moscow 1958
In No. 4 black is two pawns down and
still under pressure. There is no draw in sight
but black saved himself by:
. Bh2! 2 Kh2 Qh43 Kgl fg (threaten­
1.. Diagram No. 5
ing mate) 4 Kg2 Rf2!l 5Qf2Qg4 6Qg3(if6 Nawab Ali-Shaligram
KJ12 Qh5 7 Kg3 Qg5 8 Kh3 Qh5 9 Qh4 Qf3 Bombay 1959
10 Qg3 Qh5 11 Kg2 Qe2 12 Qf2 Qg4 13 Qg3 Black to play
and we are back where we started. In the In No. 5 black has rook for knight but is
above, if 10 Kh2 Qe2 11 Kg3 Qe3 12 Kg4 faced with the deadly threat of Qd 1 and Rb3
Qe4 and now 13 Kg5 h6 14 Rh6 [14 Kh5? as the black king has stfay ed too far from the

95
safety of his own pawn shelter. Black de­
cided to draw by a surprising manoeuvre:
l...Qb2! 2 Kb2 Rb5 and the game was
agreed drawn as the white king cannot es­
cape from the constant rook checks on c2
and cl that would follow 3 Ka2 or 3 Kai.

Diagram No. 7
Osmanagic-Gligoric
Sarajevo 1963
White to play

No. 7 brings you straight into the heat of

a full scale middle game battle where white
wants to mate his opponent along the h-file
Diagram No. 6 ifhe had the time, and black who has already
Beshenaru-Szabo invaded the open c-file hopes to attack the
Gemshivar 1956 white king along the rank. None of the black
White to play pieces seem to be threatened while almost
No. 6 illustrates a common drawing tac­ all the white pieces seem to need each others
tic. Black has a bishop more and is poised to support. If now 1 Qh4 (for 2 Rh3) there
exchange one pair of rooks which would would follow 1 ...Rfl 2 Bfl Rc3 and white's
take him one step closer to victory. How­ position collapses.
ever. white to move found the draw with
The game continued: 1 Ne6! Qe2 (white
1 Qg7!! Rg7 2 Rf8 Rg8 3 Rff7 seems totally lost) 2 Qg6!! fg6 3 f7 Kh7
Rc8 4 Rh7 drawn. The game was drawn (3...Kh8? 4 Rh3 mates) 4 Rh3 Bh6 5 Ng5!
as the Rd7 will remain on d7 while the other Kg7 (if 5...Kh8 6 Rh6 Kg7 7 Rh7 Kf8 8
rook perpetually checks the black king along Ne6 Ke7 9 f8=Q winning) 6 Ne6 Kh7 7
the row e7-g7. Ng5 drawn.

96
 Chapter 31
Control The Centre
The four central squares d4, d5, e4 and e5 The fight for the centre takes two forms.
are generally known as the centre. The The first and most commonest is to occupy
twelve squares which surround these four the centre with pawns as tried in the Queen's
central squares along c3-f3-f6-c6 are some­ Gambit and King's Gambit. The second way
times known as the expanded centre. This is to allow the opponent to create a big pawn
centre and then attack it in such a way that
expanded centre is what makes defences like
the pawns are forced to move, creating
the Sicilian (I e4 c5), the Caro-Kann (I e4
'holes' which could be utilised by the pieces
c6) the Pirc (I e4 d6), the Slav ( 1 d4 d5 2 c4
to control the centre. The King's Indian De­
c6), etc., theoretically justified. fence and the Alekhine Defence are exam­
ples of this strategy. Beginners are adviced
to adopt the first method only. The second
method is for players with more experience
and those who have adequate knowledge of
the strategical part of chess.
Sometimes we come across the expres­
sion 'surrendering the centre'. This is used
when a player allows one or more of his cen­
tral pawns to be exchanged off and thereby
loses control over a central square. One ex­
ample of this is I e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6 (Philidor
Defence) 3 d4 ed4?I Here 3...Nd7 would not
have surrendered control of d4 to white and
would have kept the 'tension in the centre'.
In the course of a fight, when one player
is successful in gaining the centre he is said
When the expression centre is used in chess, to have a 'positional advantage'. He would
it invariably means a pawn centre. And when it is then be in a position to increase this advan­
said that the 'centre has collapsed’ we understand tage by gaining more space and throw back
that the pawn structure in the centre has been dis­ the opponent's pieces and deprive them the
rupted or broken up. Then we also have the 'mo­ use of more and more squares. Or, he could
bile' and 'immobile' centres depending on plan and carry out an attack on the king-side
whether the central pawns could advance advan­ or queen-side. A player who does not have
tageously or not. control over the centre is unlikely to be suc­
The role of the centre in chess is very cessful in carrying out any attack as his op­
very important, specially in the opening and tions are limited and his opponent can easily
in the middle game. If one player controls guess his plans.
the centre, it automatically means that the A good plan for any player is to try to
opponent has less space for the use of his control the centre and keep an eye open for
pieces and he would experience problems in possibilities of attacking on the flanks. Now
both defence and attack. Therefore, from the let us see a good example of a mobile pawn
beginning itself, both players compete for structure.
possession and control of the centre. That is
the reason why players who know the funda­
mental principles of chess would not open Gligoric-Szabo
Helsinki 1952
with moves like 1 a3, 1 a4, 1 h3 and 1 h4 as
these moves have no bearing on the centre. 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4

97
 This is the Nimzo-lndian Defence. By
pinning this knight, black fights for the con­
trol of the e4 square.
4 e3 c5 5 Nge2 d5 6 a3 cd4 7 ed4 Be7 8
c5
This 'releases the tension' on the central
d5 pawn.
8..
.0-0 9 b4 b6 10 g3 bc5 11 dc5
White has surrendered or abandoned the
centre with this recapture as black now has
two central pawns while white has none. But
white has a supported passed pawn on c5 and
hopes to advance it successfully.
H...a512 Rbl ab413ab4 Nc614 Bg2
If 14 b5? Ne5 and black has the simple
threat of 15...Nf3# time for the black pawns to assert them­
14.. .Rb8 15 Ba3 selves
As white has not completed his de­ 24 f4 f6
velopment he cannot afford to be ag­
gressive. For example if 15 b5? Qa5! The only move to maintain his centre.
and now if 16 bc6? Rbl as the Nc3 is 24..
.e4? 25 Nd4 or if 24...ef4? 25 Nd4 and
pinned. then 26 Bf4 winning
15.. . Bd7 16 0-0 25 Qb3 Kh8 26 Rfl Nc7 27 Qc4 Nab5!
Again after 16 b5 Na5 white has prob­ 28 Rbel b6 29 g4 Rbe8 30 f5 Qd5 31 Qcl
lems : a) 17 0-0 Nc4 18 Bb4 Bb5; b) 17 b6 Now white is threatening Bh6
Nb7 and c5 cannot be sufficiently defended.
.
31.. Kh7 32 Ng3 e4!
16.. .Na7
Black does nothing about his own cen­
tral pawns. He occupies himself solely with
restricting white's passed b and c pawns.
Only after immobilising them will he think
of the advance of his passed pawn.
17Rel Ne8
This is the first step in setting his central
pawns in motion. The knight makes way for
the bishop at f6 and is itself planning
Ne8-c7.
18 Bel Bf6 19 Bf4? e5 20 Bd2.

See diagram

20.. .d4 21 Nd5 Bc6 22 Nf6 Qf6!

Good strategy 1 Black wants to eventu­
ally recapture on c6 with his queen. If here
22..
.Nf6? 23 Bc6 Nc6 24 b5 and the white
pawns become mobile and dangerous.
The black pawns have gained a lot of
23 Bc6 Qc6! power. White's only hope lies in a king-side
23.. . Nc6 wi 11 al low 24 b51 Now, after the attack. But attacking moves like Re3 and
recapture with the queen whites queen side Rf3 for transferring to h3 are not possible
pawns are firmly blockaded and it becomes because of the pawns on d4 and e4. As white

98
has less manoeuvring space, black can easily bishop" But here white can take 10 ef6 and
anticipate white’s attacking moves and take then 11 fe7 winning a knight) and now a
preventive steps. sample variation is 10 h3 Nh6 11 d5 Na5 12
33 Bf4 e3 34 Qdl Qc4 35 h4 Bd3 d6 13 Qa4 c6 14 ed Bd6 15 Ret etc.
White's queen side pawns have gradu­ The actual game continued: 9 Qb3 0-0
ally be come irrelevant to the outcome ofthe 10 Ng5 d5 11 Bd5 Nd5 12 Qd5 Qd5 13 ed5
game. White does not defend them and tries Nd4 14 Nc3 h6 when white was a pawn
a desperate king-side attack. Black disdains down in a lost ending though she finally
to take those pawns and aims to crush white won!
completely with his two central pawns. Care should always be taken while play­
35.. .Nd5 36 g5 d3! ing chess. Even in a winning position one
should constantly be on the look out for tac­
With this move black not only advances
tical possibilities for the opponent. Some­
his d pawn still further but he also discovers
times a player enjoying the advantage of two
an additional attack on the Bf4
central pawns could push them too soon and
37 Qg4 Now White is threatening hg5 get into trouble as the following old varia­
and black must defend, 37...Rg8 38 Nh5 tion in the Alekhine's Defence will show: 1
Re4 39 g6 White will only be getting his e4 Nf6 2 e5 Nd5 3 d4 d6 4 c4 Nb6 5 f4 (This
queen pinned by 39 gf5? gf5 as 40 Nf6 is not is known as the Four Pawns Attack in this
possible on account of the black knight on defence) 5...de5 6 fe5 Nc6 7 Be3 Bf5 8 Nc3
d5. e6 9 Be2 Nb4 10 Rcl c5!
39.. .Kh8 40 Qg3 0-1 as black would fin­ This is the only move for black to stay in
ish by 40...d2 and then 41...e2. the game as otherwise whites central pawns
The aggressive use of the pawn centre is would eventually roll over him. Whites best
illustrated in some variations of the Giuoco reply now is 11 Nf3 accepting the exchange
Piano opening. One line runs: of his d-pawn for blacks c-pawn and giving
up his dreams of a grand pawn centre. Now
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 c3 Nf6 5 see how an ambitious white move is pun­
d4 ed4 6 cd4 Bb6? ished.
The right move is 6...Bb4 leading to
11 d5? ed5 12 cd5 Nc4!l
good chances for black: 7 Bd2 Bd2 8 Nbd2
d51 Black fights for a share of the centre. 9
ed5 Nd5 10 Qb3 Na5 11 Qa4 Nc6 12 Ne5 0-0
13Nc6 Qe8!
7 d5! Ne7 (If 7...Nb8 8 e5 Ng4 9 0-0 d6
10 e6! Or, if 7...Na5 8 Bd3 c5 to prevent
b2-b4- 9 d6) 8 e5 Ng4 9 d6! cd6 10 ed6 and
now:
a) 10...Bf2 11 Ke2 Ng6 12 h3 N4e5 13
Ne5 Ne5 14 Kf2 Nc4 15 Qe2+-
b) 10...Ng6 11 0-0 0-0 12 Bg5 Nf6 13
Nc3 h6 14 Qd31 Kh7 15 Bf7 Rf7 16 Ne5+-
In the 1991 Arab Womens Champion­
ship at Dubai a game went: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3
Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 b4 (The Evans Gambit)
4..
.Bb4 5 c3 Bc5 6 0-0 Nf6 7 d4 ed4 8 cd4
Be7 white has a fantastic position with two
central pawns occupying the centre.
Now white should continue 9 e5 Ng4 This brilliant knight move attacks the
(the usual recipe in similar positions where pawns on b2 and e5 and the Be3. A game
black has no bishop on e7 would be 9...d5 Georgadze-Kopilov, Leningrad 1948
saying ’you take my knight, I take your went:

99
 13 Bf4 Nb2 14 BbS Bd7 IS Qe2 Bb5 16
Qb5 Qd7 17 Kd2 QbS 18 NbS Nd5 19
Nh3 c4 20 Ke2 0-1.
13 Bc4 Qh4 14 g3 Qc4 and inspite of
whites central pawns, black is winning be­
cause of his threat of...Nd3.
Sometimes it is possible to create a mo­
bile pawn centre from an immobile, blocked
cluster of pawns. It calls for a sacrifice.
See diagram
Petrosian-Barcza
Stockholm 1952
White to play
It is easy to see that white can sacrifice
his knight for black's two central pawns by 1
Nge6 Ne6 2 Bd5 Nd8. But white wants more
for his knight. He wants the c5 pawn as well Therefore black decided to defend his c
and therefore weakens it first. pawn. But he overlooked that though his c5
pawn is made safe it is another story with his
Ra8.
1 a4!
Black saw that if now 1 ...b4, then 2 Nge6 1.. .Ba6 2Nge6 Ne6 3 Bd5
Ne6 3 Bd5 Nd8 4 Bc4 with a great advantage Only now black saw that his planned
for white, e.g., 4...KJ18 5Ne6Ne66d5Nc5 7 .Nd8 would lose his Ra8. The game is al­
3..
d6 Qd7 8 e6 Qc6 (threat of mate in one!) 9 most over.
Qd4 Kg8 10 e7 Rf7 11 Bd5! Qd5 12 Qd5 3.. .Rad8 4 Be6 Kg7 5 ab5 Bb5 6 d5 and
Bd5 13 e8=Q Re8 14 Re8 Rf8 15 Re5 Nb3 white won quickly with his two extra passed
16 Rd 1 Bc6 17 cb ab 18 a5. pawns in the centre.

100
 Chapter 32
Pawn Structures
The pawns are the least valued of all
chess pieces. Yet, they are important in a
unique way, not because of the rule that they
could be promoted to a piece of one's choice
(usually a queen) when they reach the eighth
rank, but because entire chess strategy de­
pends on pawns and pawn structures.
During the course of a chess game some
pawns move forward, some remain at the
rear, some perish in the battle, some change
files while capturing enemy pieces and some
are exchanged off. Thus, various things are
happening to different pawns on both sides
during a game and different kinds of pawn
structures occur on the board. These pawn
structures determine the form and direction
of strategical plans for both white and black. that he can initiate action in the centre and on
When the pawn structures come into being the king-side. The semi-open d-file also
players try their best to obtain pawn struc­ promises some activity for him. For black,
tures which : 1. give them a space advantage all play is indicated on the queen-side and
and limit the mobility of the opponent's along the semi-open c-file.
pieces, 2. keep their own pawns mobile and Diagram no.l is known as the Carlsbad
aggressive, and 3. limit the mobility of the
opponent’s pawns and create weaknesses
among them.
Incorrect, hasty advance of the pawns do
not always go unpunished. Therefore, pawn
moves should be made after due consider­
ation. The fact is that thoughtless pawn
moves would deprive good developing
squares on which to develop our pieces in the
next phase of the game. And as a result,
when we struggle to find good squares to de­
velop our pieces on, the opponent could
seize the initiative and start attacking by
opening lines for his pieces.
Every good player adopts certain open­
ing systems which he likes. It is necessary
that he should understand the pawn structurs
which can arise in the opening systems that structure. It arises mostly from the Queen's
he plays. Gambit Exchange Variation. White'-s
See Diagram below chances lie on the queen-side as his pawn
Diagram No.l shows the pawn forma­ structure points towards that side with
tion that can arise from a Sicilian Defence pawns on e3 and d4. White's strategical plan
game. White's pawns on e4 and f4 indicate would be to carry out the minority attack

101
with b4, a4, b5 after which either both ingly and personally check for himself or
b-pawns could be exchanged off leaving a herself all variations.
backward c-pawn on c6 in the semi-open Naumkin-Khalifman
file, or white's b-pawn on c6 could be ex­ King's Indian Defence, E92
changed leaving black an isolated pawn on USSR 1984
d5. For black, the pawns on c6 and d5 indi­ This game is given in Chess Informator
cate action on the king-side and it is there No. 37/665
that he should seek his chances, specially by
1 d4Nf62c4g63Nc3 Bg7 4e4d65Nf3
utilising the semi-open e-file.
0-0 6 Be2 e5 7 d5 a5.
Black plans to develop
Nb8-a6-c5 making white's task of
c4-c5 harder.
8Bg5
This is aimed at hindering black's the­
matic plan of...Ne8 and f7-f5.
8.. .h6 9 Bh4 Na6 10 Nd2 Qe8
Now black intends.. Nh7 and then...f5,
but he is in no hurry and completes his devel­
opment with his next.
110-0 Bd7 12b3
White wants to play a3, Rbl, b4, c5.
However, if straight away 12 a3? a4 and
white can never play b4 as black would cap­
ture en passant a4xb3.
12.. .Nh7
Diagram 3 gives the basic pawn configu­
Black starts on his plan.
ration arising from a King's Indian Defence.
By the very nature of the blocked pawns in 13 a3 h5
the centre one could see the following plans Whenever an opponent makes a strange
for both sides. move, one should try to see the reason be­
hind it. 13...h5 is a threat to win the bishop
For white: He would try for c4-c5 often with 14,..g5 15 Bg3 h4. With this threat
prepared by b2-b4, Bcl-d2, Ral-cl, etc. Af­
black is able to transfer his hitherto dormant
ter pushing c4-c5 he might open the c-file for
bishop onto the active cl-h6 diagonal.
his rook by cd6 and penetrate the black posi­
tion by Rc7. 14 13 Bh6 15 Kbl Nc5!
For Black: He would try f7-f5, often It looks like black is tamely allowing
prepared by the Nf6-e8. This is followed af­ b3-b4, but there is a tactical stroke waiting!
ter due preparation by g6-g5-g4 or opening If now 16 b4? Bd2 17 Qd2 ab4 18 ab4 Rai
of the f-file for his Rf8. 19 Rai Nb3 wins the exchange.
The reader should check for himself that 16 Rbl f517 Qc2 Nf618 b4 ab419 ab4
generally, white cannot take the initiative on Na4
the king-side, while likewise, black cannot Both sides have progressed towards their
do so on the other flank. objectives though white is yet to achieve
Let us now see an illustrative game c4-c5. The game is approximately equal.
where two players follow their strategical
20 ef5?
objectives, The action is thrilling through­
out, right till the last moves of a rook and op­ White must open this c-file for active
posite colour bishop ending. The reader is play by 20 Nb5 Bb5 21 cb5.
adviced to go through the notes painstak­ 20.. . Nc3 21 Qc3 Bf5 22 Bd3 Ra2!

102
 This rook plays a grot role in the further .Rf4?
26.. 27 Qel!
course of the game. With this move white gets rid of most of
his problems. If 27 Bg3 Rf3!! 28 gf3 Qd7 29
23 Ne4 Be4 24 fe4 Rb2 Qh3 30 Bh2 (30 Rh2? Rh2 31 Bh2 Qf3)
3O...Qf3 31 Rgg2(31 Rbg2 Ndl!) 31 ...Ng2
If 24 Be4 Ne4 25 fe4 Rf4 26 Rf4 Bf4
32 Ra2 Nh4 33 Kgl Be3-+
when both 27 g3? and 27 Bg3 are answered
by...Bh6 with a nice attacking position for
black whohas threats like..,Re2,...Qa4, etc. .Qd7
27.. 28 Qe3 Rh4 29 Qg3

24.. .Ng4! 25 h3 This appears to force g6-g5 and reduce

White is threatened with ...Ne3. He can­ the fury of black's attack. But black’s sur­
not ease his positions with exchanges be­ prises are not yet finished.
cause if 25 Rf8 QfS 26 Rfl (26 Rai? Bd2)
26..
.Qa8 white is threatened with...Bd2 as
29.. .Qg4!! 30 Qg4 hg4 31 Rai! Rd2 32
well.
Rgdl g3!
25.. .Ne3 26 Rgl
If 32...Rdl 33 Rdl gh3 34 g3! Rg4 35
Kh2 Be3 36 Kh3 Rg5 37 g4 and the black
rook is imprisoned for life!
33 Rd2 Bd2 34 c5?

At last white achieves his objective, but

his king gets into a mating net. Also inade­
quate was 34 Ra8 Kg7 35 Rc8 Bb4 36 Rc7
Kh6 37 Rb7 Bc5 38 Rf7 Kg5 when the white
king-is permanently jailed and the black
rook re-enters the game via Rh4-h8-a8-al.
White's best is to get out of the hl jail by
temporarily sacrificing a pawn with 34 Kgl
Bb4 35 Ra8 Kg7 36 Rb8 Bc5 37 Kfl b6 38
Rc8 Kf6 39 Ke2 and white draws, not by
ccapturing c7 but by just keeping the rook on
the 8hth rank ready just for exchange. 39
Rc7? could be very troublesome after
39..
.Rh8 40 Ra7 (to prevent...Ra8) 40...b5
Black has reached the peak of his attack­ and white will be menaced by the passed
ing build-up. Except his queen, everything is b-pawn and the threat of ...Kf4.
beautifully positioned. If black plays 26 Qd7
(threatening the deadly...Ng2!) white de­
fends with 27 Rb2. Therefore, black should 34.. .Bb4 35 c6 bc6 36 dc6 Rf4 37 Rb 1
play the preliminary 26...g5! 27 Bel (if 27 Despite the opposite coloured bishops
Bg3 h4 28 Bh2 g4 is crushing) and now, on the board, the exchange of rooks does not
give white a draw: 37 Rfl Bc5! (keeping the
27..
.Qd7! after which white loses in all vari­
king locked away at hl) 38 Rf4 ef4 39 e5
ations; a) 28 Qb3 Ng2, b) 28 Rb2 Nd 1, c) 28
(white's best try) de5 40 Bg6 Kg7 41 Be4
Kh2 Rf3. In the further course of the game
Kh6 42 Bd5 Kg5 43 Be4 Bd4 44 Bf3 Kf5 45
white misses his way to a half point in a very Bg4 Ke4 46 h4 Kd3 47 h5 e4 48 h6 e3 49 h7
exciting battle. e2-+

103
 37.. .Bc5! 38 Rb8 Not 39...Bb6? 40 Rb6cb6 41 c7 Rf8 42
Ba6 +- 40 Bc4 d5!!
It is possible that both players were in
This is the best way to make the rook
time trouble, white's best here is 38 Rb7 al­
seize the initiative. 41 edS Rf4 42 Bel (after
though it should also lose: 38...R12 39 Bc4
42 Rc7 Kf6, the white rook will no longer be
(39 Rc7 Rd2 40 Bc4 d5!l [diverting the able to come to the defence of the entombed
bishop from fl] 41 Bd5 Kh8 42 Bb3 Re2 king) 42...Re4 43 Rbl Rd4 44 Rb3 Rd2 45
mates) 39...Kh8 40 Rc7 Rc2 41 Bfl Rcl 42 Bg4Bf2 46 Rb7 Kf6! Once again the white
Rf7 Bf2. rook cafinot touch c7. 47 d6 Rc2! 0-1.
If 48 Rbl cd6 49 Bd7 d5 and there is
38.. .Kg7 39 Rb7 Rf7 no stopping d5-d4-d3-d2-dl=Q.

104
 Chapter 33
Castling On Opposite Sides
One of the best ways to learn the difficult
but pleasing art of attack is to castle on oppo­
site sides and hurl the pawns on the oppo­
nent's castled position. When former world
champion Mikhail Tai was in school he used
to play hundreds of games with his class'
mates whenever there was a break between
two periods. And they used to regularly cas­
tle on opposite sides and furiously play for
check mate. They did not think of positional
play and concentrated only on check mating.
His great attacking genius which thrilled the
chess world in the sixties must have devel­
oped from the chess he and his class mates
sneaked in between classes.
There is not much strategy involved
and mate next move) 21 fe5 Be5 22 Qf6 Bf6
when two players castle on opposite sides
and give away pawns and pieces to open 23 Bf6#
lines against the opponent's king and remove 17ed5f5
its pawn shield. Here is an example of at­ Black has to first of all prevent white's
tacking play by Tai himself. But this is not king-side attack. If he calmly sets about with
from his boyhood, but from the World Can­ 17..
.Bb7? then white has the choice between
didates Match! getting his sacrificed piece back with 18 Qe4
(threatens mate on h7 and the bishop on e7)
Tai - Larsen or sacrifice a further two pieces with 18
Yugoslavia 1965 Bh7! Kh7 19 Qh5 Kg8 20 Bg7 Kg7 21 Qh6
Sicilian Defence B82 Kg8 22 g6 Nf6 (22...fg6 23 Qg6 Kh8 24
1 e4 c5 2 N13 Nc6 3 d4 cd4 4 Nd4 e6 5 Rhgl Rf7 25 Qf7 Qf8 26 Qh5 mates) 23
Nc3 d6 6 Be3 Nf6 7 f4 Be7 8 Q13 0-0 9 0-0-0 Rhgl with the dual threats of 24 gf Kf7 25
Qc7 10 Ndb5 Qb8 11 g4 a6 12 Nd4 Nd4 13 Qg6# and 24 g7 Nh7 25 gf8=Q#
Bd4 b5 14 g5 Nd7 15 Bd3 b4 The other black defence 17...g6 invites
See diagram 18 h4 to be followed by 19 h5, 20 hg6 and
mate along the h-file. For example, 17...g6
16 Nd5!
18 h4 Re8 19 h5 Nf8 20 hg6 fg6 21 Rh6 Qc7
This is a positional sacrifice as there is no 22 Rdhl Bd8 23 Rh7 Nh7 24 Bg6 Re7 25
clear cut victory after its acceptance. Black
Qh5 (threat 26 Bh7 Rh7 27 Qg6 Rg7 28 Bg7
is yet to complete his development and his
Qg7 29 Qe8 Qf8 30 Rh8! Kh8 31 Qf8 Kh7
pieces are not well coordinated. White's two
32 Qf7 Kh8 33 g6 mates.
bishops point at black's king-side and his
king-side pawns are well advanced. Tai in­
troduced this sacrifice of the knight on d5, 18 Rdel Rf7 19 h4 Bb7 20 Bf5
against the Sicilian Defence as a standard
This is a good idea, but white could have
tactical weapon.
made his task easier by playing the prelimi­
.ed5
16.. nary 20 g6! hg 21 h5 g5 weakening the black
If 16...Bd8, then 17 Nf6 gf6 18 gf6 Bf6 castled position thorough ly and then 22 Bf51
19 Rhgl Kh8 20 e5 Ne5 (20...de5 21 Qe4 .R15
20.. 21 Re7 Ne5!

105
 If 21 ...Rf7 22 Rf7 Kf7 23 g6! (This is a 0-0-0 Nd4 10 Bd4 Be6 11 Kbl Qc7 12 g4
good tactic to remember) 23...hg6 24 h5 Nf6 Rfc8 13 h4 Qa5
25 hg6 Kg6 26 Rgl Kf7 (26...Kh7 27 Bf6
gf6 28 Qh3#) 27 Bf6 Kf6 (27...gf6 28 Qh5 The black pieces are directed against
and white's queen and rook will mate) 28 white's queen-side while white's pawn sto
Qe4 (threat 29 Qe6#) 28...Qe8 29 Qd4 Ke7 rming on the king-side is already under way.
(29...KP 30 Qg7#) 30 Rg7 Kd8 31 Qb6 Kc8 14 a3 Rab8 15 h5
32 Qcl#
A typical mistake here by inexperienced
22 Qe4 Qf8 players would be 15 g5? because after
If22...RP 23 Rf7 Nf724 g6! hg625 Qg6 15.. .Nh5 16 Bg7 Ng7 white's king side at­
Qf8 26 Rgl +- tack has lost its punch whereas black's fhreat
of b7-b5-b4 is very very dangerous. By play­
23 fe5 Rf4 24 Qe3 RI3
ing 15 h5 one of the white's intentions is to
Invariably the defending player has to exchange pawns on g6 and utilize the result­
worry more than the attacking player. And ing open h-file for immediate attack. But in
such tensions often make difficult the ability this game white follows a different idea.
to think clearly. Black could still put up a
fight as follows: 24...Bd5 25 ed6 Rd4! 26
Rel (26 Qd4? Bhl) 26...Qf4 27 d7 Qe3 28 15,.
.b5! 16 h6!
Rle3 Bc6 29 Re8 Kf7 30 R3e7 Kg6 31 Re6 If 16 hg6 hg6 17 Qh2 b4 18 ab4 (if 18
Kf7 32 Rc6 Re8 33 de8=Q Ke8 34 Ra6 Rh4 Bf6 Bf6 19 Nd5-19 Qh7 Kf8 gets white
and the game could still be fought. nothing-19...Bd5 20 Rd5 Qa4 and white has
25 Qe2 Qe7 26 QI3 de5 27 Rel Rd8 28 no defence against 21...ba3) 18...Rb4 19
Re5 Qd6 29 Qf4 Nd5 Bd5 (19,..Nd5??20 Qh81 Bh8 21 Rh8#)
White sets a small trap. If now 29...Bd5? 20 ed5 Ra4 21 b3 (21 c3?? Rai 22 Kc2 Qa4
30 Re8! Re8 31 Qd6 wins the queen. 23 b3 Qa2+-) 21 ...Bd4 22 Rd4 Nd5-+ In this
variation white has only a harmless queen
.RI8
29.. 30 Qe4 b3 check on h7 and no mate because black's
Black vacates the b4 squares for his bishop on g7 simultaneously prevents mate
queen in a vain attempt to give perpetual on h8 and helps the other black pieces to
check. If 3O...Rd8 31 Re7 Rd7 32 Re8 Kf7 hunt the white king on the queen side. In
33 Bc5! Qc5 (33...Qd5 34 Rf8#) 34 Qe6# comparison, the white Bfl is a mere specta­
31 ab3 Rfl 32 Kd2 Qb4 33 c3 Qd6 34 tor.
Bc5! Qc535 Re8 Rf8 36 Qe6 Kh837 Qf71! The move played, 16 h6, is unusual and
1-0. plans the exchange of the black bishop after
The entire game was most exciting and 16.. .Bh8 and the occupation of the open
instructive till the last move. d4-h8 diagonal by the white queen with a
mate threatening on g7.
Quite often, when black has castled on
the king-side, white launches his king-side 16„.b4!
pawn assault with f3, g4,h4,h5 etc. This
See diagram
set-up is used against the Sicilian Defence,
specially against the Dragon Variation and The attack by both sides is speeding up.
also against the King's Indian Defence. We Interesting is 16...Bh8 17 Nd5 Qd2 18 Rd2
shall now see a game illustrating some of the Nd5 (if 18...Rb7 or Kf8, 19 Nf6 Bf6 29 Bf6
various techniques involved in such attack ef6 21 Rd6 winning a vital pawn) 19 Bh8 (if
on opposite sides. 19 ed5 Bd5120 Bh8 Bf3 21 Rh3 Bg4 22 Rg3
Kh8 23 Rg4 f5 to be followed by Kg8-f7-f6
Hellers-Kir Georgiev when black has 4 pawns for the bishop and
Haifa 1’987 good chances.) 19...Kh8 20 ed5 Bd7 with an
Sicilian Dragon variation B76 unclear game.

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 Cd4 4 Nd4 Nf6 5

Nc3 g6 6 Be3 Bg7 7 13 0-0 8 Qd2 Nc6 9 17 Nd5 Nd5 18 hg7 Nc3! 19 Kai!

106
 If 20 Qh6 Kf7 21 Qh7 Rg8! and the
queen looks stupid on h7!
20.. .Nb5 21 Bb5
If 21 Qb4?? Qb4 22 ab4 Nd4 wins one
bishop.
21.. .Qb5 22 Rh2 ba3 23 b3!
This is a next technique to stem the flow
of black's attack.
23.. .Qb4
If 23...Kg7 24 Qh6 f7 25 Qh7 Ke8 26
Qg6 Bf7 27 Qf5+.
Having won a pawn and the capture ofg7
imminent, black seeks exchange of Queens.
24 Ba7 Qd2 25 Rd2 Ra8 26 Bd4 h6!
If 19 bc3 bc3 wins the queen or if 19 Bc3
bc3 20 Qh6 Rb2 21 Kc 1 Rbl (remember this If26...Kg7?27 g5 gives a lot oftrouble.
tactic in future) 22 Kbl Qb6 23 Kcl Qb2# 27 Ka2 Kg7 28 Re3 Ra4! 29 c4
19..
J6! If 29 Rc3?? Rd4 wins a bishop.
Here a big mistake would be 19...ba3? 20 29.. .Ra6 30 Rc3 g5 31 Rdc2 Bn 32 Be3
bc3? (white uses black's own pawn to block h5 33 gh5 Bh5 34 Bel Bf7 35 c5? dc5 36
the a-file and protect his Kai) 20...a2 21 Qh6 Rc5 Rb8!
Rbl 22 Rbl abl-Q23 Kbl Rb8 24 Kcl+- Suddenly white's b-pawn is defenceless.

Also 19...Nd 1 Joses to 20 Kh6 f6 21 Qh7 37 R2c3 Rab6 38 Ka3 Rb3 39 Rb3 Rb3
Kf7 22 g8=Q#
40 Ka4 R13 0-1.
Make sure that you go through the notes
for both games as there is a lot to learn from
20 Rel the unplayed variations!

107
 Chapter 34
The Advanced Passed Pawn
A passed pawn is a pawn which has no passed pawn is on the diagonal between the
enemy pawns opposing it either on the file black king and the Bg3. So we get the idea to
on which it stands or on the adjacent two persuade the blockading black bishop on d7
files. There are quite a few kind of passed to move. White played 1 Qe8! and black re­
signed because, after I...Be8 2 d7 Kb7
pawns but in this chapter, we are going to
de8=Q, white has won a bishop.
consider only the advanced passed pawn, a
passed pawn which has advanced beyond
the fifth rank. An advanced passed pawn
presents many tactical possibilities because
it can become a queen in just one or two
moves. A player can sacrifice a piece or
pawn to enable the passed pawn to take the
few steps to coronation. Needless to say, a
variety of tactical themes like line opening,
line closing, decoy, discovered attack, etc.,
can influence the speedy queening of an ad­
vanced passed pawn.

Diagram 2
2.
A.N.Other-Capablanca
1942 Black to play
It is not certain that Capabalanca did ob­
tain and play the position in No.2 because
the same set up with different but immaterial
pawn structures on the queen side have been
credited to other famous players. Perhaps
this position is a composition, but it is
ingenius and instructive.
Black won by l...Rfl! 2 Rfl Qh21!
(2...gfl=Q? 3 Kfl only manages to lose
Diagram 1 black's valuable pawn for nothing) 3 Kh2
1.Kondratiev-Geller gfl=N!! 4 Kg2 Nd2 and black won.
St Petersburg 1957 There is a variation in the Slav Defence
White to play. to the Queen’s Gambit Declined where black
In No.l white has an advanced passed suddenly faces the spectre of white making a
pawn on d6. Scanning the entire board (play­ second queen within 10 moves! The varia­
ers often have the tendency to concentrate tion runs: 1 d4 dS 2 c4 c6 3 ND Bf5 4 Qb3
only on trouble spots or where they are at­ Qb6 5 cd5 Qb3 6 ab3 Bbl? (Better was 6
tacking and ignore the rest ofthe board), you cd5) 7. dc6 Be4?? (Here black must accept
see an interesting feature: the advanced the loss of a pawn and play 7 Nc6) 8 Ra71!

108
Ra7 9 c7! I and the pawn queens either on b8 Moscow 1955
or c8. If the idea behind this tactic is under­ White to play
stood. the solution to No.3 cannot be very No.4 Shows a typical position where
difficult. black's best defensive piece appears to be the
white pawn on g7 which is frustrating the
Rgl and the Bb2 and shielding the black
king. But with the pawn so far advanced,
white has- a decoying sacrifice to push the
pawn to queen with great effect: 1 Nf5!! Re2
2 Ne7! (this is a clearance sacrifice, opening
up the diagonal for the Bc2) 2 Rfe7 3 Bh7!
Kh7 4 g8=Q Kh6 5 Qg6#

Diagram 3
3.
Englisch-Maroczy
Dresden 1936
White to play

White won in No.4 by 1 Rb2!! (deflect­

ing the black queen away from the c-file as
he plans a queen sacrifice on c8!) l...Qb2 2
Qc8! Nc8 3 d7 and the pawn queens on ei­
ther d8 or c8 gaining a bishop in the transac­ Diagram 5
tion. S.Weltmander-Polugaevsky
USSR 1958
Black to play

In No.5 the black knight which is pinned

against the Re8 appears to be clearly lost, but
the advanced passed pawn on c3 won for
black as follows: l...Ng3 2 fg3 Qf6 3 Qf2
(Now the exchange of queens and rooks al­
lows the c-pawn to queen, but black must ex­
change in the best sequence to keep the
white king as far as possible from cl, the
queening square.) 3...Rel! 4 Kel Qf2 5 Kf2
c2 and the pawn queens unhindered.

The advanced passed pawn has 'the lust

to expand'. Quite often, the main purpose of
the advance of the passed pawn is to cut oft
defensive lines among the enemy pieces co­
Diagram 4 ordinating the defence, or opening new lines
4.
N ikitin-Butkevich for the attacking side, or both.

109
 Diagram 6
6.
Larsen-Tal
Bugojno 1984
Black to play

In No.6, it seems that black has a simple

win with l...N.f3 2 Khl Nd4 winning a
bishop. But that was exactly what white was
hoping for as 1 Nfl? is met by 2 Qfl! QfS 3
Rg7 Kf8 (3 Kh8 4 Rg6 mates) 4 Rfl Qfl 5
Kfl e2 6 Kel and white wins.
Black therefore played l...e2 and white
resigned. If either rook captures the pawn,
black plays according to programme (2 Nfl
and 3 Nd4 as the white queens way to fl has
been blocked. The main defence is 2 Qe2
Nfl 3 Qfl (hoping for 3 Qf3 and the varia­
tion described earlier, but now there is no
pawn blocking the e-file and black wins)
3..
.Rel 4 Kf2 Rfl! 5 Kfl Qf3-+ Diagram 8
8.Spielmann-Lerme
The next few examples illustrate some Magdeburg 1927
tactics by which advanced passed pawns are White to play
created and utilised to best effect. In No.8, white's aggressive pieces ap­
See diagram pear to be beaten back with his Bd3 under at­
Diagram 7 tack and the g5 pawn pinned. However,
white won by sacrificing his queen, creating
White to play
7.
an advanced pawn, pushing it to the 8th rank
In No.7 white's pawns are well advanced and mating: 1 Qh6!! gh6 2 gh6 Kf8 3 Rg8!!
and could, without the help of their king, Kg8 4 h7 Kf8 5 h8=Q#
promote one ofthemselves to queen: 1 b6! (1 See diagram
a6 or 1 c6 would not lead to the creation of a Diagram 9
passed pawn) l...ab6 (if l...cb6, 2 a6! ba6 3
9.Aufman-Zhdanov
c6 and c6-c7-c8=Q)2 c6! bc6 3 a6 and 4 a7,5 Riga 1963
a8=Q. Black to play

110
 Black's defensive set up in No. 10 seems
to be impregnable, but white found a way to
bash black’s bastion by combining pins
along the e-file and the 7th rank. The game
went; 1 c5! bc5 2 b6 Rc8 3 Qc3 Rfe8 (if
.Bc3 4 Re7 Kg6 5 bc7 and the knight dies
3..
where it stands) 4 Be5 de5 5 QeS! Qe5 6
Re5 Re5 7 Rc7 Rc7 8 bc7 Re8 9 cb8=Q
Rb8 10 Be6! Kg6 (there is no way the
c-pawn could be prevented from advancing
to c8) 11 c7 Rf8 12 c8=Q 1-0.
The next is an excellent example of an
advanced passed pawn deciding at the high­
est level of international chess (Spassky was
world champion when he played this game.)

See Diagram below

Here the creation of an advanced passed
Larsen - Spassky
pawn could only come about by sacrificing
Belgrade 1970
on h3. But that alone is not enough and black
has to combine other ideas to put through his
1 b3 e5 2 Bb2 Nc6 3 c4 Nf6 4 Nf3 e4 5
plan: 1...Bh3! 2 gh3 g2 3 Rfel White must Nd4 Bc5 6 Nc6 dc6 7 e3 Bf5 8 Qc2 Qe7 9
move the rook along the 1st rank supporting
Be2 0-0-0 10 f4 Ng4 11 g3 h5 12 h3 h4 13
the Rc 1, because, if3 Rf2? for example, then
hg4 hg3 14 Rgl
3.. .Bd4 wins as the Rcl is unprotected.)
3.. .Rd4! 4 cd4 Bd4 5 Kh2 Qd6 6 e5 Be5!
0-1 If 7 Qe5, gl=Q! (deflecting the rook
away from Qe5) 8 Rgl Qe5 9 Khl Qd5 10
Kh2 Qd2 wins.

White thinks that black's pawn on g3 is

isolated from the main army and will be
soon ready for capture. But he is in for a very
big suprise. 14...Rhl!I (the triumph of the
advanced passed pawn!) 15 Rhl If 15 Kfl,
Diagram 10 Qh4; or if 15 Rfl g2! 15...g2! 16 Rfl (if 16
10 Alekhine-Schwarz Rgl Qh4 17 Kdl Qh2 wins.) 16...Qh4 17
London 1926
Kdl gfl=Q 0-1. If 18 Bfl Bg4 19 Kcl Qel
White to play
mates.

in
 Chapter 35
Blockading The Passed Pawn
Now that we are acquainted with ‘the enlarge the scope of ones own pieces. As the
lust to expand’ of a passed pawn (see our opponent’s possibilities become more and
previous chapter) it is necessary to study the more restricted, attacking and tactical possi­
measures to be taken against passed pawns bilities would automatically arise.
whenyour opponent has them. The most im­
portant step to be taken against a passed In Diagram 1, after playing 1 Bd4 it
could be seen that the pawn is stopped (or ar­
pawn is to blockade it, that is, place one of
rested!) at d5 and the bishop itself is immune
your own pieces in front of that pawn so that from attack by the black rook along the
it cannot move. Aron Nimzowitsch wrote a d-file. Thus we learn that the blockading
book on this subject titled “BLOCKADE” piece, or the blockader, is free from attack
more than 60 years ago. He analysed the along the file and has a comfortable shelter
strengths of various blockading pieces call­ under the enemy passed pawn. A player
ing them strong, weak, elastic and inelastic whose passed pawn is blockaded and pieces
blockaders. restricted as in Diagram 1 will get into a pes­
simistic frame of mind. And such a state of
mind is the nursery for disasters. We give an
illustrative game.

Euwe-Pilnik
Amsterdam 1950
Grunfeld Defence
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 g3 Bg7 4 Bg2 d5 5
cd5 Nd5 6 e4 Nb6 7 Ne2 c5 8 d5 0-0 9 0-0 e6
10 Nbc3 Na6 11 Nf4 e5 12 Nfe2
White has a protected passed pawn on d5
while black has a pawn majority (3 against
2) on the queen-side. Black must manoeuvre
one of his knights to d6 to blockade the d5
pawn.
12.. .Nc4 13 b3?
As black’s plan to play ...Nd6 is evident,
white must prevent it as a knight on d6
Diagram 1 would make an excellent black blockader.
1.White to play White’s best here is 13 Nb5 Bd7 14 Nec3
In No. 1 black has a passed pawn on d5. Qb6 15 a4.
If allowed, he would play d5-d4-d3-d2 not
13.. .Nd6 14 Be3 b6 15 Qd2 Re8
only threatening to queen, but also giving
scope for aggressive action by this rook With 15 Qd2 white had threatened 16
along the d-file and his bishop along the Bh6, which is not bad for black as after the
a8-hl diagonal. White’s best strategic move exchange of the dark square bishops black
here is 1 Bd4 stopping d5-d4, stifling the would be left with his good, white-square
black rook and bishop and attacking the bishop. He moves his rook to e8 anyway
knight. against white’s next move.

When it is not possible to attack enemy 16 f4?!

pieces or objectives, one should try to re­ White has an ambitious plan of doubling
strict the power of the opponent’s pieces and his rooks on the f-file and does not want to

112
waste one move moving Radi as he plans doubt a slow manoeuvre. From g3 the knight
Rff2 and Rafi. In view of the strategic ma­ does nothing except passively defend e4 .
noeuvre by black, white should have played
according to ‘book’ completing his develop­
22.. .Re7 23 Bfl Bc8!
ment with 16 Radi and taking his rook out of White’s white square bishop is not a very
the vulnerable al-h8 diagonal. effective piece as his pawns are blocked on
white squares. Black therefore avoids ex­
16.. .Nc7 17 R12? efi 18 Bf4 changes and lets white worry over finding a
This recapture with the bishop, losing role, and a square (!) for his bishop.
pawn control over the vital e5 square has be­
come a sad necessity because 18 gf would
24 Be2 Bd7 25 Refl Rf8
lose to !8...Ne4! 19 Be4 Re4 20 Ne4 Bal. At last white has got his rooks doubled
However, after the text, 18 Bf4, the same on the semi-open f-file. But black has noth­
plan would be hazardous: 18 Bf4 Ne4? 19 ing to fear as all squares along the f-file are
Be4 Re4 20 Ne4 Bal 21 N2c3 when the adequately protected. He now pays attention
black king is in serious danger as his black to his least effective piece, the Nc7, and
square bishop is not available for defence brings it into active play.
and white threatens Be5, Bg5, etc. 26 Qcl Nce8 27 Khl f6 28 Rgl Ng7 29
18.. .Ba6! 19 Rel Qe7 20 g4 Be5! B13 Qg5!
This is a beautiful positional move.
Black allows white two connected passed
pawns in the centre of the board but he has
them well blockaded and rendered useless.
30 Qg5 fg5 31 Rgf1 Nge8 32 Be2 Rf2 33
Rf2 Kg7 34 h3 Nf6 35 B13 Be8 36 Re2 Nd7
37 Rd2 Ne5!
Black has completely controlled and sta­
bilised the centre. There could be no surprise
tactics from the blockaded white pawns.
Now black turns to cash in on his queen-side
pawn majority.
38 Be2 b5! 39 Rc2 Rc7 40 Nd! c4 41 be
be 42 Nc3
Now white has blockaded black’s c4
pawn but the fact that all of black’s pieces,
Diagram 2 including his king, are working in unison
Position after 20 Be5! makes a significant difference.

Black has a strategically beautiful posi­ 42.. .Kf6! 43 Nbl Rb7 44 Nd2 Ba4! 45
tion. He should prevent white from even sac­ Rcl Rb2! 46 Nc4 Nec4 47 Bc4 Bc2!
rificing his e4 pawn which would give life to Black has sacrificed one pawn in order to
his game. If black allows e4-e5 white’s con­ exchange rooks after which he would col­
nected central passed pawns would sweep lect both white pawns in the centre for noth­
away everything in their path. Black now ing.
starts reducing white’s options move by
48 Bb3 Rbl! 49 Rbl Bbl 50 Ne2 Be4
move.
51 Kh2 Ke5 52 Nc3 Nd3 53 Kg3 Ne4 54
21 Be5 Qe5 22 Ng3? Ne4 Be4 55 d6 Kd6 56 Bg8 h6 57 Bf7 Bd5!
A queen is not a good blockader, be­ 58 Bg6 Ba2 59 h4 aS 60 hg hg 61 Kf3 a4 6-2
cause, if attacked by an enemy bishop or Ke3 Be6 63 Kd4 Bg4 64 Kc3 Bdl 65 Bf5
knight, it must flee, abandoning the block­ Ke5!
ade. The only way for white to dislodge the Not 65...g4?? 66 Bg4! Bg4 67 Kb2 and
Qe5 was by Khl, Ngl, Nf3 which is no the game is drawn as black’s bishop is not of

113
the colour of the corner queening square (a I
is black whereas the bishop runs on white
squares).
66 Bd7 Kf4 67 Kb4 Bc2
Black is preparing to shield the g-pawn
from the enemy bishop as it marches to
queen at gl.
68 Kc3 Bb3 69 Kb4 Bf7 70 Ka4 Bg6 71
Kb4 Bf5 72 Bc6 g4 73 Kc5 Be4 74 Bd7 g3
75 Bh3 Ke3
The black king advances to f2 in a zigzag
way to prevent the white king from getting
closer to where the action is.
76 Kd6 Bf5! 77 Bg2 Kf2 0-1
If 78 Bc6 Bg4 to be followed by...Bf3
and ...g2. available for his pieces, white is able to con­
duct a king-side attack which demands the
Choice of blockaders presence of the blocakading pieces else­
If a choice of blockaders is available, the where, leaving the passed pawn to advance.
piece chosen should be the one which is the
1 Rel Qd8 2 Bbl Re8 3 Qd3 Nf8
least immune to enemy attacks and which
could use the blockading square as a base White should have exchanged rooks be­
camp from which marauding attacks could fore playing 3 Qd3. Black could now have
be undertaken against the enemy position. kept his queen at d8 by playing 3...Re I 4Rel
Because of their higher values, the queen Nf8 as the queen is better placed at d8 than
and rook are not suitable blockaders. at e8.
Knights and bishops are the best. And gener­ 4 Re8! Qe8 5 Nh4!
ally, knights are the most effective blockad­
(Had the black queen stayed at d8, this
ers. Sometimes a blockader would leave its
knight move would not have been possible.)
post temporarily to help the other pieces in
an attack and then get back in time to resume 5.. .f6 6 Nf5 Rd8
the blockade of the passed pawn. Black tries to bolster the blockade, over­
And how does the side with the passed looking a tactical stroke. If 6...Be5 7 Be5
pawn handle the enemy blockade? It is by (not 7 Rel?? Bh2) 7„.Qe5 (if 7...fe5 8 Nd6)
trying to drive away or exchange the block­ 8 d6 Rd8 9 Qc4 Kh8 (9... Qd5? 10 Ne7) 10
ader. Diagram No.3 is an illustration: Qf7+ - Comparatively better was 6 Qd7.
See diagram 7 Bf6! Bh2
Diagram 3 This is forced as otherwise black loses
3 Nimzowitsch - Gottschall with7...gf6?8Nd6Rd69Qg3 Kh8 10Qd6
Breslau 1925,
White to play
8 Kh2 gf6 9 Qg3 Ng6 (if 9...Qg6?? 10
In this position black has blockaded the Ne7) 10 f4!
d5 pawn well and also has a ‘reserve’ block­ Black was threatening both Rxd5 and
ader in Nd7. However he is a little behind in Qe5 exchanging queens. If now 10...Rd5 11
development and cannot play the knight to Rel to be followed by 12Ne7 attacking Ng6
its normal square on f6 because of Bxf6. three times.
Note that though black’s queen and bishop
battery along the b8-h2 diagonal seems to be 10.. .Kh8 11 Rel Qf8
threatening, the queen would actually be If 12...Qg8 13 Ne7! Ne7 14 Re7 Qg3 15
better placed on d8. With greater space Kg3 Rg8 16 Kf2 Rg7 17 d6 Re7 18 de7 Bc6

114
 19 Be4 Be8 20 f5! Kg7 21 Bd5 (Preventing for his kingjthen 14 Re6 (with the idea Rf6)
the King from approaching e7) 21...Kh6 22 .Rf7
14.. 15 d7! and the passed pawn tri­
KfS Kg5 23 Ke4 with the plan of Bb7, Kd5 umphs! Therefore black decides to relieve
and Bc6. 12 d6! Rd7 himself of the agony by sacrificing the ex­
If !2...Bc8, 13 Ne7 Qh6 14 Kgl Nf4 15 change for the passed pawn. White conducts
Nc8 Rc8 16 d7 wins. the reminder of the games with technical
precision.
13 Qc3!
At first glance, the idea behind this move
13..
.Rd6 14 Nd6 Qd6 15 Bg6 hg6 16
is difficult to comprehend. It is a very fine
Re8 Kg7 17 Qg3 Bc6 18 Re3 Bd7 19 f5!
move which threatens to win through a bril­
Qg3 20 Kg3 Bf5 21 Re7 Kh6 22 Ra7 Bbl
liant tactic: 14 Re8!! Qe8 15 Qf6 Kg8 16
23 Ra6 b5 24 a4 ba4 25 ba4 Kg5 26 Rb6
Nh6#
Be4 27 a5 f5 28 a6 c4 29 a7 c3 30 Rb3 f4 31
If black now tries to defeat the threat­ Kf2 c2 32 Rc3 1-0 as white threatens 33
ened combination with 13...h6 (providing h7 Rc2!Bc2 34 al=Q .

115
 Chapter 36
Deflection
Deflecting an enemy piece away from White to play
the defence of an important square or diago­ In No.2 white plays the deflecting move
nal or rank to gain tactical advantage Js 1 Rc8I! Ifblack replies 1 ...Rc8 he allows his
called ‘deflection’ This theme of deflection rook to be deflected from the support of the
is simi lar to the theme of an overloaded piece queen on the b-file and loses it. Therefore
and almost always involves a sacrifice. 1 ...Kg7 and now white wins a rook by 2 Qb2
Rb2 3 Ra8. This is a rare instance of a rook
pinning and enemy rook (the white rook on
c8 has pinned the black rook on b8 against
the Ra8!

l.Polugayevsky - Siladi
USSR 1960
White to play
In diagram No.l, white would like to
play 1 Rd3 for 2 Rh3# but the black rook on
d8 does not allow 1 Rd3. Therefore white 3 Dodza - Titkos
first deflects the black rook by 1 Bf8! Rf8 Hungary 1961
(1.,.Kh5 2 Rh7#) and then plays 2 Rd3 on White to play
which black must resign as 3 Rh3# is inevi­ In No.3, ifthe black queen was not on the
table. al -g7 diagonal, white could give a devastat­
ing check on the long black diagonal. So
white defects the queen away from the diag­
onal by 1 Re7I! Qe7 (1 ...Qal? 2 Rhh7#) 2
Qb2! Rf6 (2...Qg7 loses even faster: 3 Rh7!
Kh7 4 Qh2 Qh6 5 Qh6#) 3 gf6 Qel 4 Kg2
1 -0 because black has no defence against the
threatened 5 f7. For example, if 4...h5 5 f7
Kh7 6 f8=N Kh6 7 Qh8#
Sacrifice of a pawn or a piece is not al­
ways necesary for deflecting enemy force. A
threat to capture could deflect. Deflection
happens at all stages of the game and could
be a simple tactic to gain more space in the
centre or material superiority in a sector of

116
the board where the enemy king is located.
The following short game is a good illustra­
tion.
1 e4 g62d4 Bg73Nf3 d64Nc3Nd75
Bc4 Ngf6 6 e5! (This deflects the knight
away from the centre.) 6...deS 7 de5 Nh5
(After the departure ofthis knight to the edge
of the board, white has total control over
three of the four central squares -d4, d5, e4,
e5 ) Unfortunately for black, his developed
pieces are not on ideal squares influencing
the centre, specially his knight on d7 and h5,
whereas white has four pieces out on beauti­
ful attacking squares (the Bc4, Nf3, Nc3 and
Pe5) and more importantly, it is white’s turn
to move. In this position white can win a
knight by 8 g4, but he wants more than the
win of a sidelined knight for his central
pawn. See diagram No.4. See diagram 5
5. White to Play
White deflects the defending knight in
No.5by 1 Nd4! forcing l...Nd4 2b8=Q.

4. White to Play
8 Bf7! Kf7 9 Ng5!
If now 9,..Ke8, 10 Ne6 and the queen is
mated. Or if 9...Kf8, 10 Ne6 forks king and
queen. And if 9...kg8, then 10 QdS (this See Diagram 6
would not be possible but for the deflection 6. White to Play
of the knight from f6 to h5) 10...Kf811 Qf7#
In No.6, the black bishop is preventing
A typical deflection tactic runs: 1 e4 e5 2 g6-g7. So 1 Be7! Be7 2 g7 and 3 g8=Q wins.
NI3 d6 (Philidor’s Defence) 3 d4 Nd7 4 Bc4
g6 5 deS Ne5? 6 Ne5 de5 7 Bf7! and white See diagram
wins a pawn as black must support his queen
with7...Ke7 7. Black to Play
In No.7 the white rook is hindering
The theme of deflection occurs in several .c2-cl=Q. So, deflect it from the c-file!
l..
endgames. We see three examples: 1 ...Rb6! 12 Rb6 c 1=Q and wherever the king

in
 Rg3-h3 mating. He therefore plans to divert
the rook away from h3 so that it cannot give
its deadly follow-up check.
1.. .Bg4I!
Black gives back his extra piece and en­
sures that his king is safe from mating
threats before starting his own assault.
2 Rg4 Nf5 3 Qh3
We now see that the planned queen sac­
rifice on h7 has been thwarted. If 3 Qh7 Kh7
and now 4 Rh4 is answered by ...Nh4. The
rook has been succesfolly deflected from h3.
3.. .Rc2 4 Kfl Qb5 0-1.
If 5 Kgl Qe5 and white must abandon
his bishop which has been dominating
goes, the queen checks again and picks up black’s castled position.
the rook on the next move. Check this out!

9. Kaufmann-Polyak Kiev 1952

Panchenko - Kochiev
8. White to play
Riga 1973 In No.9, white has three pieces attacking
Black to Play. h7 and black has the same, exact number of
No.8 is a very interesting middle-game defences. To win the h7 pawn white needs a
situation. White has sacrificed a knight for fourth attacker. The obvious move is 1 Qf5
what looks like inevitable mate with Qg7. and if black answers 1 ...h6 he is beautifully
The defence l...Nf5 loses to the brilliant mated: 2 Rh6! Nh6 3 Rh6 Kg8 4 Qc8 RfB! 5
stroke 2 Qh7!! Kh7 3 Rh3 Kg8 4 Rh8#. In Rh8! (deflecting the king from fB) 5...Kh8 6
the above black’s best is to decline the queen Qf8 Rg8 7 Qh6#. But 1 Qf5 is answered by
offer by 2...Kf8. However, it is now black’s 1 ...Qd7, not only defending h7 a fourth time—
move and he is looking for a sure way of but also threatening to exchange queens. So,
winning. The plan that he will eventually instead of 1 Qf5 white must do something
follow to win is l...Rc2 2 Kfl Qb5 3 Kgl clever. What catches our attention is that if
Nf5 to be followed by ...Qe2. In the mean­ one of the two black rooks is taken off the
while he has to give priority to white’s im- board, white not only wins the h7 pawn but
tfiediate mating threat. He sees that white’s also mates the cornered king: Thus white’s
queen sacrifice (2 Qh71!) is followed by winning plan is formed.

118
 1 g5! f5 1 Bd5! Nd5
Ifl,..fg5 2Qf7! Rf7 3 Rh7 Rh7 4 Rh7# Black cannot sacrifice the queen, e.g., if
1.. .Qd5 2 Rd5 Nd5 3 Qg6 and now: a)
2 Bf5! Ne7
3.. .Kh8 4 Qh6 Kg8 5 Qe6 and Qc8; and b)
With 2...Ne7 black has made available 3.. .Kf8 4 Qf5 and white has choice of rook
the g8 square for his king and now threatens
and knight' 2 Qg6 Kh8 (if2...Kf8 3 Rfl Ke 7
the bishop twice. The bishop appears
4 Rf7 Kd8 5 Qg8 Qe8 6 Rf8+-) 3 Rd4 (The
doomed. threat is 4 Rh4. If now 3...Qg7 4 Rh4 Kg8 5
3 Bh7! Rf3 (if 3...Rh7 4 Qf7!) 4 Bd3! Qe6 capturing Rc8 with check.) 3...Qd4 4
Kg8 5 Rh8 Kf7 6 R13 1-0. After 6...Nf5 7 cd4 1-0 for if4...Rcl 5 Kg2 e2 6 Qh6 (not 6
Rf5! Ke7(7...Kg6 8 Rh6#) 8 Bb5 white has a Qh5 Kg7 7 Qe2? Rc2! 8 Qc2Ne3) 6...Kg8 7
big material superiority and the threat of Qcl.
mate with 9 Re8.

Jackson-Marshall
London 1899
See Diagram below Black to play
10. Blatny-Kavalek The white king is in a mating net in
Czechoslovakia 1959 No.l 1 but nothing seems to work for black
White to play after either l...Be7 2 Bg5 or after l...Rf4 2
In No. 10, black’s king is exposed with gf4 as 2...Bf2 allows 3 Kg5 and 2...Be7 al­
hardly any pawn to give it a shelter. Also the lows 3 Kg3. Frank Marshall, the jolly Amer­
Rc8 and Kg8 make white think of contriving ican who invented the Marshall Attack in the
a queen check on e6. However white must Ruy Lopez, set up a deadly mating threat
act quickly before the e3 pawn pushes for­ with the calm...
ward and forces the rook to keep passive l..
.Kg6! White cannot take the rook be­
guard of el. cause of mate. To avert 2...Be7 white
The heart of black’s position is the Ne7 played 2 Bg5 Then came Marshall’s bril­
which holds the vital but lonely g6 pawn. So, liant deflection: 2...Rf4I! If now 3 Bf4 Be7
white thinks of deflecting the knight. mates, or if 3 gf4, Bf2#

119
 Chapter 37
Using The Rook For Attack
Generally the rooks enter the game fairly
late because players playing according to
classical opening principles first develop
their kinghts and bishops, then castle, then
develop the queen and only later bring the
rooks to the central squares el, dl, cl, (e8,
d8, c8)
A rook is approximately equal to 5
pawns whereas a bishop or knight is worth
only 3 pawns. Therefore if white exchanges
his rook for a bishop or knight it is said that
he has given up the exchange and black has
gained the exchange. The rooks, like the
queen, are not to be developed early, be­
cause, if attacked by a knight or bishop, they
have to retreat allowing the attacking pieces
to occupy better squares and gain valuable
1. White to play
‘free’ moves. The rooks are best in attack
In No. 1 white’s win is simple: 1 Rg7
and not so good in defence unlike the knights
and bishops.
Kh8 2 Rh7 Kg8 3 Rcg7# This mating pat­
tern can occur in practice and is worth re­
There are some interesting situations
membering. Now let us see a dramatic
where the rooks come into play through the
illustration of this same idea, but with the
edge files, specially the a and h files. These
mate being vertically, not horizontally.
happen when the players castle on opposite
sides. One example from the Sicilian De­
fence is the Yugoslav Attack: 1 e4 c5 2 NI3
d6 3 d4 cd4 4 Nd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 6 Be3 Bg71
13 0-0 8 Bc4 Nc6 9 Qd2 Bd7 10 h4 Rc8 11
Bb3 Ne5 12 0-0-0 Nc4 13 Bc4 Rc4 14 h5
Nh5 15 g4 Nf6 16 Kbl b5 etc. and white’s
Rh 1 is already developed on the right square
for attack. Those who wish to quickly learn
the basics of attack, counter-attack and de­
fence should try castling on opposite sides in
all games. For example, ifyour opponent has
played 0-0, then you must try 0-0-0 and then
throw your pawns on his castled position. In
all such cases of attack on opposite wings,
the rooks play important roles. We shall see
some examples of rooks helping in mating
attacks.

When a rook controls the 7th rank it is a Richter-Another

2.
major factor in both attack and defence. And
White to play
when two rooks -are doubled along the 7th
rank they are almost always a winning com­ White won dramatically in No.2 with 1
bination. Qh61! gh6 (l...Kh6 2 Rh4#) 2 Rg7 Kh8 3

120
BgS (with the ides 4 Rh7#) 3,..Rg8 4 Rg8 The rook + bishop mate can come about
Kh7 5Rlg7# from different kinds of middle-game situa­
tion. No.4 illustrates this in a beautiful way.
White ignored the attack on his queen and
played 1 Bf6!l There followed l.,.dc42Rg7
Kh8 3 RgS Kh7 4 RhS Kg8 5 Rh8#
We have seen how a rook and bishop
could make a deadly combination. There is
also a typical rook and knight combination
though it is not very common as the rook and
bishop pattern seen above. See No.5.

3.
Bungan-Crowl
Sydney 1933
Black to play
A typical mating combination with rook
and bishop is illustrated in No,3. Black’s
idea here is to put his rook on hl. But if he
hurries with l...Rh2?? (for 2...Rhl) he is in
for an unpleasant shock: 2 Qf81 Kf8 3 Re8#
Therefore black first took care of white’s
threat before setting out to mate the white 5.Black to play
king: 1 ...Qc41! 2 Bc4 Rh2 and now, with his
Black plays l...Nf3 and strange as it may
bishop on c4, white has no counter-attack seem, white has no defence against 2...Rh2.
and loses to the threatened 3...Rhl. If now 2 Rg2, then 2...Rdl 3 Rgl Rgl#

4.
Trapl - Perez
European Cup 1961 6.Reiner-Steinitz
White to play Black to play

121
 In No.6, the rook + knight combination
is not easy to find. Black won by 1 ...Qh4'.’. 2
Rg2 (if2 Rh4 Rg I #)2...Qh2I! 3 Rh2 Rgl#
When players castle on opposite wings
the rooks that seize the h and a-files first,
could easily control the game as in No.7.

Rgg8# The double rook mate is also'illus-

trated in No.9

Kozma-AIster
7.
Czechoslovakia 1953
White to play
White did not try to defend his weakened
queen-side in No.7, but boldly carried the at­
tack to black's castled position. The game
went. 1 Rh2! ab4 2 Rdhl bc3 3 Qh6 (the
threat is 3Qh8 bh8 4 Rh8 Kg7 5 Rlh7#)
3.. .Bh6 4 Rh6 (Again white threatens the
same mate. Ifnow4...Kf8 5 Rh8Ng8 6 Rg8!
Kg8 7 Rh8#. Therefore black tries to get his
king an escape square at g6.) 4...g5 5 Rh8
Kg7 6 Rlh7 Kg6 7 Bd3 1-0 because if
7.. .Ne4 8 Rg7#.
One of the very first thing that a player Pillsbury-Maroczy
9.
learns is to mate with two rooks where one Paris 1900
rook cuts off king’s escape along a rank or White to play
file while the other rook gives mate. Let us White seems to have got his king ob­
see whether we can use this in No.8. structing his rook on hl from getting at the
enemy king.But he found a clever way out: 1
See diagram Qh6 threatening mate on both g7 and f6 and
Ekstrom-Another
8. forcing l...Qe5. After this the king is free to
Stockholm 1929 move out of the h-file. So, 2 Qh7! I Kh7 3
White to play Kg2#
White penetrated the black shelter in See diagram
No.8 with the queen sacrifice 1 Qg7!I Kg7 2 10. White to play
h8=Q!l (2 Rg5 would allow the black king Diagram 10 shows an unsual winning
to once again hide behind the h7 pawn by manoeuvre involving the rook. White to
2.. Kh8) 2...Rh8 3 Rg5 Kf8 4 Rh8 Ng8 5 play wins by 1 Qc8 (1 Qa8 Qg8 leads to

122
 12.
Bogolyubov-Another
nothing) l...Qg8 (l...Qd8 is also answered White to play
the same way) 2 Ra8! Qc8 3 Rc8 mates. White won by 1 Rb7! Qe6 2 Bc5! Qe2 3
Now let us see a practical example.
Re7!l Qe7 4 Re7#
And there are instances where a single
rook traps the enemy king with the help of a
few pawns.

11 .Capablanca-Raubitshek
White to play

In No. 11 the black queen defends a7

from mate. Therefore, white tries deflection 13. Mckay-Condie
with 1 Rfl I Qd4 2 Rf5 e3 (Black plans to an­ London 1984
swer 3 Ra5 with 3...Qf4 getting a draw by White to play.
perpetual checks.) 3 Ra7!I Qa7 4 Ra5I! and
white mates. White won brilliantly by 1 Kf2! Rg8 2
Rhl Kg6 3 f5 Kg5 4 Kg3! and black has no
Sometimes the rooks can spin amazing defence against Rh5#l
mating nets in unlikely places. No. 12 is a We close with a beautiful attack where
brilliant example of a mate in the middle of one rook sacrifices itself to fuel the attack
the board. The black king looks so secure and the second rook finishes with mate
with all his pieces around, but... (No. 14)

123
 14.
Kuzmin-Choudhary
New Delhi 1984
White to play

White’s decisive attack went: 1 Rh8

Kh8 2 Qhl (bringing the queen into the at­
tack without losing any move to black)
2..
.Kg8 3 Qh7 Kf8 4 Qh8 Ke7 5 Qf6 KfS 6
Rhl and there is no defence against Rh8#
only move.

124
 Chapter 38
Pawnless Endgames
Most of the endgames without pawns
require that the superior side restrict the de­
fending king to less and less space. Checks
are not given unless they are part of a plan to
restrict the king further and administer
check mate.

Now let us see how we can use this idea

in mating a king which is in the centre of the
board.

I. Black to play

InNo.l the best move is l...Qc2 restrict­

ing the white king to just 4 squares on the
first rank. Then the black king moves up to
enable the queen to mate: 2 Kel Kf4 3 Kfl
Kf3 4 Kgl Qg2# If the position in No.l is
given to two beginners the following might
happen: I ...Qd3?l 2 Kg2 Qe2 3 Kh3 Qf3 4
Kh2 Kg2 5 Kgl Kg3 stalemate! Do not let
this happen to you!
Mating a lone king with a rook can be
made easy if one understands the idea be­ 3. Black to play
hind the problem in No.2.
See diagram
Applying the mating idea from No.2 we
2.Black mates in 3 start with l...Kd6! 2 Kd3 (if 2 Kd4 Rf4
The solution is any move with the rook. pushes the king one rank further towards the
For example l...Ra6 2 Kdl Rc6! 3 Kel edge) 2...Kd5 3 Ke3 Rf7 (or Rf8, Rf5) 4
(forced) Rcl#. or l...Ra6 2 Kfl Rg6 3 Kel
Kd3 Rf3 5 Kc2 Kd4 6 Kb2 Kc4 7 Ka2 Rf2!
Rgl#. 8 Ka3 Rd2! 9 Ka4 Ra2#.

125
 Mating with 2 Bishops The above is only a sample. There are
Mating with 2 bishops against a long many many variations and all of them are
king is quite easy. The basic plan is to push easy. But always look out for stalemate. For
the king to a corner and then give check example take the following position:
mate. For this, the 2 bishops must act in uni­ White: Ka3. Black: Kb6; Bs-d5, e5.
son along adjacent diagonals and move by
If black plays the restricting l...Ka5 or 1
move restrict the squares available to the
Kb5, it is stalemate.
lone king. When the king is pushed to the
edge of the board one has to look out for This mate must be practised with a friend
stalemate possibilities. or tried by yourself at home.

Mate with Knight and Bishop

One can win with a knight and bishop
against a long king. But it is comparatively
difficult and requires quite a bit of home
practice. The winning process is in three
stages.
We start with the last stage which arises
when the king is trapped in the corner where
the corner square is of the same colour as the
bishop.

4. Black to play
Let us see how mate could be effected
from the position in No.4. Black plays
1.. .Bd6. By this move the white king is de­
nied access across the diagonals b8-h2 and
c8-h3. The game may continue: 2 Kd5 Bg3 3
Ke4 Bg4 4 Kd5 Kd7! The king must help
the bishops in cornering the enemy king. 5
Ke4 Kc6! 6 Kd4 B13 7 Ke3 Bg2 8 Kd4 Kb5
(8...B12 would allow9Ke5 and black makes
no progress) 9 Ke3 (9 Kd3 Bf2 and the re­ 5.Black to play
stricting process continues) 9...Kc4 10 Ke2
Kd4 11 Kd2 B13! 12 Kc2 Bel 13 Kb2 (if 13 In No.5 black has very few problems if
Kcl, Kc3 or if 13 Kb3, Bdl) 13...Bdl 14 he confines the white king to the al comer
Kcl Ba4 ( now the white king has access to because black’s bishop is a black square
only 6 squares - al, a2, a3, bl, b2, cl) 15 bishop and the al square is black. The win­
Kb2 Kc4 16 Ka3 Kb5 17 Kb2 Kb4 18 Kcl ning process is l...Ba3! (this denies access
Kc3 19 Kbl Bd2 20 Ka2 Bel 21 Kbl Kd2 to the cl square) 2 Ka2 Kb4! 3 Kbl Kb3.
22 Ka2 Kc2. This is the best place for the at­ This is the ideal set up for the attacking
tacking king to help give check mate. Note king. Note that the king of the superior side
that this king must be at a knight’s move can help in check mate only if he is situated
from the vital comer to give mate easily, 23 at a knight’s move from the crucial comer
Kai Bc6! (Further restriction with and the defending king is restricted to 2
23.. .Bb3?? would result in stalemate) 24 squares only. Now the white king has access
Ka2 Bd5 25 Kai Bb2#. only to al and bl. The knight intends to

126
come up and check the king when it is at b I, If4...Kf8 5 Nd7 Ke8 6 Ke6 Kd8 7 Kd6
forcing it to al and then mating with Bb2. Ke8 8 Bb6 Kd8 9Nc5 Kc8 10 Bh5 (a waiting
4 Kai Nf6 5 Kbl Ne4 6 Kai Suddenly move so that if 10...Kb8 11 Bg4 Ka7 12 Kc7
we find that our planned 6,..Nd2 leads to and white has reached the ideal stage 3 posi­
stalemate. So we reverse the order of the tion) 10...Kd8 11 Nb7 Kc8 12 Kc6 Kb8 1'3
Bg4Ka7 !4Nc5Kb8 !5Kb6 Ka8 16Bh3(A
moves: 6...Bb2 7 Kbl Nd2#
waiting move, if immediately 16 Na6? it is
Now that we know how to check mate
stalemate) !6...Kb8 17 Na6 Ka8 18 Bg2#.
when the king is trapped in the corner of the
right colour, let us see how one can drive it to 5 Ke6 Kc7
the right corner from the wrong corner. This If 5...Ke8 6 Nd7! (controlling f8)
requires very investing technique. We call 6.. .Kd8 7 Kd6 K.e8 8 Bg6 and play goes on as
this Stage 2. in commentary to black’s 4th move. After
the move played (5...Kc7) the king seems to
have escaped white’s net. But...
6 Nd7! Kc6
If 6...Kd8 7 Kd6 etc., as already seen.
7 Bd3!
This is a beautiful move that bottles up
the black king for good. The knight and
bishop economically control the squares
around the black king and force it back.
.Kc7 8 Be4 Kd8 9 Kd6 Ke8 10 Bg6
7..
Kd8 11 Nc5 Kc8 12 Bh5
Again a waiting move. If 12 Kc6 Kd8
and black threatens 13...Ke7.
!2...Kd8 (if 12...Kb8 13 Bg4) 13 Nb7
Kc8 14 Ko6 Kb8 15 Kb6 Kc8 16 Bg4 Kb8
17 Nc5 Ka8 18 Bf5 Kb8 19 Na6 Ka8 20
6 White to play
Be4#
In No.6 note that the black king is in the
wrong comer: the white bishop in a white Finally, let us deal with Stage 1 of the
square bishop whereas h8 is a black square. winning process: pushing the lone king from
If white plays 1 Kf7 or moves the bishop the centre to a comer.
along the b 1 -g6 diagonal, it would be a stale­
mate draw. White’s winning process is very
interesting.
1 N17 Kg8 2 Be4
As the knight covers h8, the bishop
makes a waiting move to force black’s king
to f8.

.K18
2.. 3 Bh7! Ke8 4 Ne5

This is the start of the knight’s character­

istic manoeuvre in this ending. The knight
moves in a pattern along Nf7-e5-d7-b7.
Whenever it lands on the 7th rank (on f7,
d7, b7) it covers a vital black square (h8, f8,
d8) which cannot be covered by the bishop
which runs along white squares.
4,.
.Kd8 7.White to play

127
 In No.7 there could be many different 2O...Kg821 Nf7 Kf8 22 Bh7 Ke8 23Ne5 we
ways of pushing the black king to a comer. have walked into a variation already ana­
We give one sample: lysed under Diagram 6) 21 Bh7 Kd8 22 Ke6
Kc7 23 Nd7 and we are back into the analy­
1 Kd2 Ke4 2 Bg2 Kd4 3 Ne2 Kc4 4 Be4 sis under diagram 6.
Kc5 5 Kc3 Kd6 6 Kd4 Ke6 7 Nf4 K16 (if Mastering this ending as well as mating
.Kd6 8 Bd5! and the black king is pushed
7..
with two bishops requires frequent practice
further back.) 8 Kd5 Kg5 9 Ke5 Kg410 Ne2
at home. If you have a friend to practice
Kg5 11 B15 Kh4 12 Kf4 Kh5 13 Nd4 Kh6 with, you may set a particular ^position and
14 Kg4 Kg7 15 Kg5 K17 16 Nc6 Kg7 17
Bg6! (this manoeuvre is very useful in this then play it once as white and once as black.
ending) 17... Kf8 18 Kf6 Kg8 19 Ne5 Kf8 Whoever takes fewer moves to mate is more
20 Bf5 (a waiting move) 2O...Ke8 (If efficient.

128
 Chapter 39
Pawn Endgames
Mastery of pawn endgames is very es
sential for mastery of chess. Many normal
endgames with pieces and pawns could end
up as pawn endgames after the last few
pieces are exchanged off. Quite often one is
confronted with the choice of exchanging
pieces in the endgame. A decision to ex­
change or not cannot be taken unless one can
precisely evaluate the ensuing pawn end­
game. The reader is also referred to pawn
endings published in this section in various
other chapters of this book..
In most of the pawn endgames given in
our Beginners Section in earlier chapters,
the theme of gaining or losing the 'opposi­
tion' was discussed. As the 'opposition' is
very important in pawn endings, let us dig a
little deeper into all its ramifications for a the kings are on the same file but separated
thorough understanding. Even if you have by 6 squares. In I-A and l-B the players
an ending with pieces on the board, good whose turn it is to move must give way and
knowledge of the 'opposition' would help move.aside allowing the enemy king to get
you to decide on exchanging pieces and closer to the desired objective. The number
reaching a pure pawn ending, or avoiding
of squares separating the kings in both cases
such an exchange.
is one, which is an odd number. This odd
number is significant in all cases of‘opposi­
We have been acquainted with only one
type of opposition’ as illustrated in Chapter tion’. Additionally it should be noted that
5 (White-Kg6 Pf6; Black-Kg8). The charac­ both kings are on squares of the same col­
teristics of that were : 1) both kings were on our. In 1 -C if white is to move, he plays Kg2
the same file and separated by just one and now there are 5 squares separating the
square, 2) whoever was to move was at a dis­ kings and both kings are on white squares.
advantage and lost the opposition. For ex­ As 5 is an odd number and both kings are on
ample, if black was to move, he would lose white squares, black has lost the ‘opposi­
after l...Kf8 2 f7 Ke7 3 Kg7. And white to tion’ as it is his turn to move.
move cannot win: 1 f7Kf8 2 Kf6 stalemate.
See diagram
There are other types of ‘opposition’
where the kings oppose each other diago­ 2.White/Black to move
nally as well as horizontally, and also when In No.2 with white to play, the continua­
more than one square separates the kings. tion can be 1 Kd4 when black can easily
Diagram No.l illustrates these 3 kings of draw with l...Kd6 2 Ke4 Ke6 3 Kf4 Kf6.
‘opposition’. Black could also try I...Kf5 and go for
See diagram white’s h-pawn and queen his own h-pawn..
When black is thus engaged white will cap­
1..Three kings of opposition. ture black’s b-pawn and promote his own
No.l-A is diagonal opposition along the b-pawn to queen. To determine who would
a8-d5 diagonal. No. 1 -B is opposition along a queen first and whether that queen could
rank No.l-C is ‘distant opposition’ where prevent the enemy pawn from queening, one

129
 fering from two disadvantages: I) he has lost
the ‘opposition’, and 2) compared to the
white king the black king is backward and
placed outside the centre. This position from
No.2 with black to play arises after white’s
third move in No.3, and is discussed there in
detail.

must count the number of moves required

for each operation separately. Let us now
work out this counting process. The white
king is on d4 and the black king is at f5.
White is to move. It would take 7 moves for
white to capture b5, step aside and push his
b-pawn to t>8. And for the black king to do
the same thing on the king-side it would also
take exactly 7 moves. So white would queen
first and black would immediately do the
same and the game would be a draw. It is 3.White to play.
White to play wins in No.3. If it was
worth storing in your memory that during
black to play, black would win. White to
such procedures of capturing a pawn, step­
play should move straight up: I Ke2 Now
ping aside with the king and then pushing the
there are 5 squares (an odd number) separat­
pawn to queen, care should be taken to step
ing the two kings on the same file. Also, both
aside with the king to a square which is out of
kings are on white squares. So whoever is to
reach of enemy attack. For example, after
move (here, black) has lost the ‘opposition’.
capturing the b5 pawn the white king should
not go to c6 because when black eventually The game can continue I...Ke7 2 Ke3
queens on hl, it would be giving check. Ke6 3 Ke4 Now we have reached the same
Likewise, after ...Kh4, black should play any position in No.2 with black to play. White
move other than.. ,Kg3 where it would be ex­ has the opposition and black must give way,
posed to a check when white queens on b8. moving aside.
In this particular example the eventual .Kf6
3..
checks when the pawns queen are not harm­ Now white can go for the b-pawn and
ful, but in several other endings it could be queen his b-pawn. That would take 8 moves.
the difference between victory and defeat. In the meanwhile black could capture h4 and
push his own h-pawn to hl and queen-and
So we find that in No.2 with white to that would also take 8 moves, resulting in a
play, he draws even though he does not have draw. Therefore white must try to look for
the ‘opposition’ The reason is that the white something better. And he does have some­
king is on a moire advantageous square that thing better.
the black king. The white king is on the cen­ 4 Kf4! Kg6
tral e4 square. Black’s equivalent central
Black has lost the opposition and must
squares is e5. But his king in on e6. There­ give way. After 4...Ke6 5 Kg5, simple
fore in No.2 with black to play, black is suf­ counting shows that black queens on bl on

130
the 8th move whereas white queens on h8 on Importance of the advanced king
the 6th move. Clearly, 4...Ke6 would lose for In endings where there are only pawns, it
black. is important to advance the king as far as
possible without endangering the safety of
5 Kc5 Kg7 the pawns. The king paves the way for the
Now white has two ways to win: pawns progress towards queenhood.
Method I: Go for the b5 pawn and queen
on b8 on the 8th move when black’s king is
on "4 and the pawn still on h5. Let us see the
actual moves: 6 Kd5 Kg6 7 Kc5 Kf5 8 Kb5
Kg4 9 Kc4 Kh4 10 b5 Kg4 11 b6 h4 12 b7
h3 13 b8=Q.

Method 2: Capture the h5 pawn first and

then go for the b5 pawn: 6 Kf5 Kb6 7 Kf6
(horizontal opposition) 7...KI17 8 Kg5 Kg7
9Kh5Kh710Kg5 Kg7 11 Kf5Kh6 12 Ke5
Kh5 13 Kd5 Kh4 14 Kc5 Kg5 15 Kb5 Kf6
16 Kc6 Ke7 17 Kc7 and the b-pawn marches
unhindered to b8.
We have seen that after Ke2 Ke7 white
wins. So black can try a little trick. Get back
to Diagram No.3. After 1 Ke2 black tries
I ...Kd8 which is a waiting move.
If now 2 Ke3 Ke7 3 Ke4 Ke6 and it is White to play
4.
black who has the opposition. (Incidentally
In No.4 the immediate 1 d4 would only
we have reached No.2 with white to play.)
draw aftec 1 ...Kd6 2 d5 Kd7 3 Ke5 Ke7 4 d6
Therefore white must adopt a different plan.
Kd7 5 Kd5 Kd8 6 Ke6 (or 6 Kc6, Kc8 with
He must advance, but in the direction oppo­
the same outcome) 6...Ke8 7 d7 Kd8 Kd6
site to that of the black king, leaving a file stalemate.
(here the e-file) or a rank (in some other cir­
The correct method is to advance the
cumstances) between the two kings.
king as far as possible and push the enemy
king away from the path of the pawn and
2 Kf3l! Ke7 only then advance the pawn. Thus, 1 Kd4
If now 3 Kf4, Kf6 or, if 3 Ke4, Ke6 and Kd6 2 d3 Ke6 (if 2...Kc6 3 Ke5) 3 Kc5 Kd7
black gains the ‘opposition’. So, white must (if3...Ke54 d4 Ke6 5 Kc6! etc.)4 Kd5! Kc7
now play a waiting move. 5 Ke6 Kc6
If 5...Kd8,6 Kd6 and white wins effort­
3 Ke3!l lessly as the king is on the 6th rank in front of
Now white wins in all variations. If his passed pawn. (Please refer to our Begin­
.Ke6 4 Ke4, or if 3...Kf6, 4 Kd4. If black
3,. ners article in our February 1990 issue.)
plays the waiting move 3...Kd7, white fol­
lows the same principle of moving up but in 6 d4 Kc7 7 d5 Kd8 8 Kd6!
the opposite direction of the black king, If 8 d6? Ke8 and black draws as he has
maintaining the distance of a file between the opposition. Now, after 8 Kd6! white
the two kings by 4 Kf4 Kd6. It is clear now wins without any need for counting as his
from simple counting that moving first, king is on the 6th rank and in front of his
•white queens first on the 11th move whereas pawn.
black queens only on the 12th move. One
.Ke8 (if 8...Kc8 9 Ke7) 9 Kc7 Ke7 10
8..
should also note that at the point when white
d6 and queens. Now let us get acquainted
queens on b3 but on the varge of moving to with endgames where two pawns are against
one.

131
 No.6 is somewhat similar to No.5 but
white’s pawns have advanced far. If I f6 gf6
2 Kf6 black has the opposition and draws.
White's task is however made easy here be­
cause the black kina has very little space.
White wins by 1 Kd7 Kg8 2 Ke7 Kh8 3 f6 (3
Kf7 is stalemate) 3...gf6 4 Kf7 and white
queens quickly.

5.White to play
If white exchanges pawns in No.5 with 1
e5? fe5 2 fe5 Ke6 3 Ke4 Ke7 he would only
get a draw. White wins by 1 K! If then
I... Ke7 2 Kc5 (diagonal opposition) 2...Kd7
3 Kd5 (vertical opposition) 3...Ke7 4 Kc6
Kf7 5 Kd7 (horizontal opposition) 5...Kf8 6
Ke6 Kg7 7 Ke7 Kg8 8 Kf6 wins.
The most interesting variation arises af­
ter 1 f5 Kc6 2 e5 fe5 3 Ke5 Kd7 4 Kf6! (The
easiest way to win is to move the king ahead
7. White to play
of the pawn.) 4...Ke8 5 Kg7 and then push White has a wide choice of moves in
the pawn to queen. On the 4th move the No.7 Let us first rule out the moves that do
pawn push also wins though white must take not win.
care to gain the opposition: 4 f6 Kd8! 5 Kd6! 1. 1 g5 g6 2 Ke4 Ke6 and black will
(If 5 Ke6 Ke8 and black draws as he has the move his king in such a way that whenever
opposition) 5...Ke8 6 Ke6 and white wins as white plays Ke4 he will be able to answer
he has the opposition. Ke6 and keep the opposition, e.g., 3 Kd3
Kd7 4 Ke3 Ke7 5 Ke4 Ke6 etc.
2. If I f5 the best way to draw is 1 ...g6! 2
Ke4 (2 fg6 Ke6 draws easitly. Also after 2 f6
g5! 3 f7 Ke7 4 Ke5 Kf7 5 Kf5 Kg8! 6 Kg5
Kg7! black has the opposition.) 2...Ke7! (if
2..
.gf5 3 Kf5 and white wins by Kf5-g6-h7
and then P-g5-g6-g7-g8=Q) 3 Ke5 gf5 and
black draws easily.
White’s winning process is jockeying
for a better king position:
1 Ke4 Ke6
If 1. ..g6 2 Kd4 Ke6 3 Kc5 Kf6 4 Kd6 Kf7
5 g5 Kg7 6 Ke6 and white wins the g6 pawn
easily.
2 f5 Kf6 3 Kf4 g6
If this pawn remains at g7 we would
6.White to play soon reach No.6

132
 4 g5 Ke7 If l...Kf4 2 Kf6Ke3 3 Kg7 h5 (if 3...KP
This tempts white to capture a pawn with 4 Kh7 Kg2 5 h4 wins.)4 Kg6 KP (if4...h4 5
5 f26 Kf8 6 Ke5 Kg7 7 Kf5 Kg8 8 Kf6 KI8 Kg5 KP 6 Kh4 Kg2 7 h3 Kf3 8 Kg5 etc.) 5
which is a draw despite the extra doubled Kh5 Kg2 6 h4 wins.
pawn. 2 h3!
5 f6 Kf8 6 Ke5 KP 7 Kd6 Kf8 8 Ke6 (White uses his move with this pawn to
Ke8 9 P KfS 10 Kd6! get a big advantage over the black king.)
10 Kf6 is stalemate! White has to sacri­ 2.. .Kg7
fice his f- pawn, then capture g6 and win lf2...Kg5,3 KP is similar to the analysis
with his g-pawn. given above for black’s first move. After
10.. .KP 11 Kd7 Kg7 12 Ke7 Kg8 13 2.. .h6, 3 g3 black is once again in a fix: If
Kf6 Kh7 14 KP Kh8 1S Kg6 Kg8 16 Kh6 3.. .Kg5, 4 KP or, if 3...Kg7 4 Kf5 KP 5 h4
16 Kf6? can come up against the inge­ Kg7 6 h5 KP 7 g4 Kg7 8 Ke6 etc. If 3...h5 4
nious defence 16...Kh7! 17 g6? (after this the h4 and white wins h5 after slowly pushing
game is a draw. This was white’s last chance the king away. Finally, if 3...Kh5 4 KP (4
to get back onto the right track by 17 KP Kf6? is stalemate) and wins.
Kh8 18Kg6Kg8 19Kh6!) 17...Kh8! 18Kf8 3 Kf5 KP 4 Kg5 Kg7 5 h4
(both 18 g7 Kg8 and 18 Kg5 Kg7 draw) Once again this forces the black king to
stalemate! give ground.
16.. .Kh8 17 g6 Kg8 18 g7 KP 19 Kh7 5.. .KP
queens the pawn.
(If 5...h6 6 Kf5 KP 7 h5 and the king
We close with a classical endgame. manoeuvres to capture the h6 pawn.)

6 Kh6 Kg8 7 h5 Kh8

This is the winning position which white
had aimpd to get. Now he must start rolling
his g-pawn. It is clear that in order to win, the
g-pawn must reach g7 when the black king is
atg8. If it reaches g7 when the king is at h8, it
would be a draw. Thus white must move his
g-pawn to a black square (g7) when the en­
emy king is on a white square (g8). Or, the
pawn must move to a white square when the
king is on a black square. So, as the black
king is now on a black square, white must
move his g-pawn to a white square (g4) and
not to a black square (g3) which will stale­
mate. It must also be noted that the pawn ex­
change on g6 will have no effect on the
outcome as both white and black spend a
8. White to play move each over the exhange at g6.
White’s main task in No.8 is to ma­
noeuvre his king to h6 while pushing back
the enemy king to g8/h8. .Black’s best de­ 8 g4! Kg8 9 g5 Kh8 10 g6 hg6 11
fence is to keep his pawn unmoved at h7. hg6 Kg8 12 g7 KP 13 Kh7 and white
1 Ke6 Kg6 wins.

133
 Chapter 40
Queen Versus Rook
When a player is forced to reach a rook queen capturing the rook with a convenient
against queen ending he will invariably re­ check. For example, if 7 Kh5. Qe2, or if 7
sign because it is commonly assumed that Kf5 (or Kf4), Qfl, or if 7 Kh6 (or Kf6), Qc6.
the rook will easily lose against a queen. In­ Now black brings his king into the attack
deed. the lone queen will win against the with 7...KF7.
lone rook but it is not very easy and there is a A possible variation could be 8 Rg5 Qf2
natural stalemate trap into which many will 9 Kg4 Kf6 10 Ra5 Qe2 11 Kh3 only move
walk in. I l...Qd3 !2Kg4(If 12Kh4,blackcontinues
as for 12 Kg4. If K to any square on the sec­
ond rank, black wins by 12...Qd2) I2...Qc4!
13 Kh5 (If King to 3rd rank, black wins by
13.. .Qc3) 13...Qe2! 14 Kh6 (if 14 Kh4 Qel)
14.. .Qd2 and wins the rook.
4.. .Kg7 5 Kg2 Kg6 6 Rg3 Kf5 7 Rf3
Ke4 8 Rf2 Qdl 9 R18 Qe2 10 Kh3 Qh51I
Kg2 Ke3
If I l...Qg5 12 Kfl! (the only move,
check for yourself) !2...Qb5 13 Kg2! and
black makes no progress.
12 R12
If 12 Rfl Qh4 (restricting white further)
13 Rf3 ke2 14 Rg3 Qe4 15 Kh3 Kf2 and
wherever the rook goes the queen picks it up,
e g., 16 Rg7 Qhl 17 Kg4 Qg2. This is one
reason why the rook’s best defence is for his
Diagram 1 king to stay in a corner.
I Black to play Also if 12 RfS Qg6 13 Kfl (king to any
In our first example black wins by the square on the h-file loses to ...Qh6)
deflection technique which our readers have 13.. .Qh6! wins with threats of mate on hl
become familiar with thanks to No.7 in this
and capture of rook, e.g.. 14 Re8 Kf31
section in Chapter No.36.
12.. .Qg4 13 Kfl Qh3 14 Kgl (If 14 Kel
l...Rb2! 2 Kg3 If2Kgl Rbl 3 Kf2 al=Q Qg3) 14...Qg3 15 Rg2 Qel 16 Kh2 K13
wins. 2,..Rb3!l 3 Rb3 al=Q
See diagram ’ •
Now let us pick up the continuation from
here to understand the difficulties of the (Diagram 2)
queen in overcoming the rook. 2 White/BIack to play
Diagram No.2 is one of the standard de­
4Rf3 fensive set-ups forthe weaker side. Unfortu­
White does well to keep his rook close to nately it loses for him if his opponent knows
his king because if it strays far off the queen how. It is possible that a player can go round
can pick it up with a check. and round with his queen, unable to capture
For example, if4 Rb5 (4 Rb6? Qg 1 5 Kf3 the rook and concede a draw by nothing hap­
Qb6) 4...Qgl 5 Kh4 (the only move, for if 5 pening in 50 moves, or by allowing a stale­
Kf3 or 5 Kf4 or 5 Kh3, Qfl and 6...Qb5) mate.
5..
.Qh2 6 Kg5 Qg2 7 Kh4 (The only move. One could say about Diagram No.2 that
With his rook on a white square, the king if it were white’s turn to move he would lose
must go only to black squares to prevent the by zugzwang. And if it were black’s move,

134
he could get the same position with white to Diagram 3
move by 1 ...Qe5 (The natural attempt to get 3 White to play.
closer to the king and rook and squeeze their
In No.3 White can try a variety of varia­
lives out ends in disaster. 1 ...Qfl 2 Rg3 Kf2
tions in most of which the rook has the last
3 RIj' 1 Kf3 stalemate!) 2 Kgl (hl) Qal 3
laugh!
Kh2 (If 3 Rgl Qh8#) 3...Qel and we have
reached No.2 with white to play. 1) 1 Qg6 Kf8 (Not 1. Kh8 when black
wins by 2 Kh6! and not 2 Qf7?? stalemate.) 2
Now we will consider No.2 with white to
Qd6 Kg7 (also possible is 2...Ke8 3 Kg6
play: Rg7! 4 Kh6-4 Kg7 is stalemate and likewise
17 Rc2 4 Kf6? Rg6! 5 Kg6 is also stalemate -
The rook can go only to a white square as 4.. .Rd7 and white has made no progress
it would be easy for the queen to check and whatsoever.
capture it if it were on the same colour square 2) 1 Qe5 KfS 2 Kg6 Rd7! and now we
as its king. Before we proceed further let us have: 2a) 3 Qe69 which leads to a forced
rule out a few alternatives: draw: 3...Rg7 4 Kh6 (if 4 Kf6 Rg6 is stale­
a) !7Rb2QeS mate) 4...Rh7! 5 Kg5 Rg7 6 Kf5 RI7 with
perpetual check because if 7 Ke5, Re7 pins
b) 17Ra2Qe5 18 Kgl Qg5 19 Kbl Qh6
20 Kg 1 (20 Rh2 Qc 1 #) 2O...Qg6 21 Kh2 Qh7 the queen.
22 Kgl Qg8-+ 2b) 3 Qc5 Ke8 4 Kf6 Rd6! Again, If 5
Qd6 it is stalemate. So, white must abandon
c) 17Rg5 Qh4
his plan of getting closer to the black king
d) 17 Rg6 Qe5 18 Kgl Qc5 19 Kh2 Qh5 and the game of hide and seek continues.
e) !7Rg7Qe5 White’s best way is:
f) 17 Rg8Qe5 18Kgl (or I8Khl)Qal
1 Qg5 Kh8
19 Kh2 Qa2-+.
If l...Kh7 2 Qg6 Kh8 3 Kh6+- Or if
1.. .Kf8 2 Qd8 Kg7 3 Kg5 RB (If 3...Kh7 4
17.. .Qe5 18 Khl Qd4 Rg7 5 Kf6 the position will reach Dia­
If 18 Kgl Qg7 19 Khl (If 19 Kh2 Qh7
gram No.2) 4 Qd4 Kf8 (the only move) and
and 2O...Qc2. or if 19 Kfl Qal mates)
now white has two ways to win:
.Qh7
19.. 20 Rh2 Qbl#
1) 5 Qd6 Kg7 6 Qe5 Kf8 7 Kg6 and the
18.. .Qh8 19 Kgl Qg7 20 Khl Qh7 21 rook has no safe square.
Rh2 Qbl#
2) 5 Kg6 Rg3 6 Kf6 Rf3 7 Ke6! (now
Now let us examine a different set-up black has no check while the threat is 8
which is more difficult for the superior side. Qh8#) 7...Rh3 8 Qf4 Kg8 9 Qg4+-.

135
 2 Qe5 Kh7 3 Kg5 Ra7 In No.4, white’s position is slightly
If 3...Rg7 4 Kf6 Kg8 (if 4...Rg6 5 Kf7) 5 better. He has 2 bishops against a knight and
Kg8 Qh5 and we have reached diagram 2. bishop and he also has more space for his
pieces. From hindsight one could say that he
4 Qe4 Kg8 5 Qc4 Kh7 must play 1 Bb3 and then 2 Bg5. In the
With the rook on a black square, the king game, white played 1 Bg5 which attacks the
must go only to a white square. Rd8 and opens the d-file for himself. Yet
6 Kf6! Rg7 this apparently logical and good move fails
against black’s surprising counter and white
Now the queen is ready to give the by
had to immediately resign after black’s next
now familiar long distance checks to pick up
the rook. If 6...Kh8 7 Qc8 Kh7 8 Qh3 Kg8 9 move. Black played l...Nc3!! Now, if white
captures the knight it is mate with 2. . . Ba3 a
Qg3 Kh8 10 Qh2 Kg8 11 Qgl+-
fact that is almost inconceivable from a first
7 Qh4 Kg8 8 Qh5 and we have reached look at the diagram. White resigned after
diagram No.2 .Nc3!
l..
Middle game: Counter Attack Under what theme does one classify
It is often said that counter-attack is the
black’s combination? Perhaps it is a mixture
best form of defence. Our natural reaction to
of line opening (opening the d-file for the
a threat is to take cover and avoid loss of ma­
terial. Sometimes a player who is com­ rook) and deflection (decoying white’s b2
pawn to c3.)? Considering all factors, the
pletely taken by his own attack would not at
combination has more ingredients that just
all be expecting a counter attack and might
tactical themes. Black did not panic on see­
incomprehensibly crumble. I have seen this
ing the ‘strong’ 1 Bg5. He needed to believe
happen many times. A player on the defence
in the soundness of his position. He has to
should keep searching for some weakness in
use his imagination and draw on his knowl­
the enemy camp pounce. When a player is
edge and experience of tactical chess to put
on the attack his guard could sometimes be
this combination together.
down. A knight, for example, could have
unwisely left the defence of its own king to
aid the queen in a mating attack.

Diagram No.5
5 Yohansson - Metzing
Black to play
Diagram No.4
in No.5, black appears to be in an al­
mighty mess. Though he has won a pawn
4 Rosental-Makogonov
and the exchange, his queen and rook are
Moscow 1036 both under threat. And his king remains in
White to play the centre, uncastled. By giving back the ex-

136
chanse with I ...Qa3 2 Bb8 Bc6 black could Our last example is No.6 White has sac­
remain a pawn up and be on his way to cas­ rificed a rook and 2 pawns for a mating at­
tline and safety. But it is very doubtful tack. White played I Qh6 with the crushing
„ hether he could win. threat of Qg7#. The black queen is com­
Black hit on a brilliant idea. Which does pletely cut off from the most important thea­
not come under any particular theme. He tre of operations - his own kingside. Only
had to use his imagination and look for an black’s knight could control the vital g7
unusual w ay to capitalise on his temporary square but then his h7 comes under threat.
material advantage. He played l...Qbll! 2 Black cannot reply I...Ne6 because of 2
Nbl Ba6!l and white resigned as both mate Rc2 and now black has:
and queen are thereatened. White’s best is 3 1) 2...Rfe8 3 Rh2
Bb8 Bc4 when black has no more danger and
keeps the advantage of pawn and exchange. 2) 2...Rfd8 3 Qh7! Kh74Rh2 Kg85Ne7
Perhaps one could classify' this combination Kf8 6 Rh8#
under the themes of back rank weakness and 3) 2...Qa3 3 Ne7 (3Rh2? Qal 4 Kg2 Nf4
line opening (Ba6) but ultimately it is the tri­ etc.) 3...Qe7 (3...Kh8 4 Qh7!) 4 Rh21
umph of the human mind in putting together
various factors to work in unison and suc­
ceed. Note that black had to temporarily ig­ The game continued: l...Nh5! 2 Qh51!
nore his several weaknesses and go for the gh5? 3 Nh6 Kh8 4 Rgl I and black resigned
because he cannot avert the threatened 5
enemy, thinking positively. It is a little bit
Rg8! Rg8 6 Nf7#
like real life. One should refuse to be over­
whelmed by many difficulties. So White's attack went through without
a hitch and it was topped by an extraordinary
mating combination where black's tw'o
rooks and queen could not stop white’s
knight from mating on f7. But this happened
because black was impressed by his oppo­
nent’s dazzling play and thought he was
doomed. If you think that you are doomed
and play according to ‘ book’ you will indeed
be doomed. You must fight and not give in
tamely. Black indeed has a saving move:

After I...Nh5 2 Qxh5 Qc311 and there are

two possibilities:
1) 3 Rc3 gh5 4 Nh6 Kh8 (and now
thanks to black’s queen,sacrifice the deadly
5 Rg3 is not possible.) 5 kd3 a5 6 Rd7 Rab8
7 Nf7 Kg8 8 Nh6 Kh8 9 Nf7 and draw by
repetition.
Diagram No.6
6 P.Romanovsky- A.Romanovsky 2) 3 Qh6 Qfi 4 Kg 1 Qg4 5 Kh 1 Qf3 with
1907 perpetual checks.

137
 Chapter 41
The Pin
A pin is a device to immobilise enemy piece by 9 ,.h6 because of 10 Bf6 Nf6 11
pieces. When a piece could move only by ex­ Nf6 Ke7 12 Nd5 and again white has won a
posing another piece behind it on the same knight.
line or diagonal, it is said to be pinned.
The pin is a very common element in The next game occurred in a simulta­
chess tactics. It is the power of pinning neous display by Bronstein. 1 e4 e5 2 d4 ed4
which confers, at the start of a game,a slight 3 Qd4 Nc6 4 Qa4 Nf6 5 Nc3 d5 6 Bg5 de4 7
advantage for the bishop over the knight. We Ne4 Qe7 8 0-0-0 Qe4
illustrate this with the following two short
games.
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 (The
inevitable first few moves of the kings in-
dian Defence) 5 Bg5 (This is one of the little
played variations of the Kings Indian.)
S...e5? This move is ‘usual’ in most varia­
tions of the Kings Indian, but not after 5 Bg5.
Here, 5. ..c5 or 5., 0-0 was preferable. Black,
of course, expects the ‘normal’ 6 d5. 6 de5
de5 7 Qd8 Kd8 8 Nd5 Nbd7 9 0-0-0.

Diagram 2
2.White to play.

9 Rd8!l Kd8 10 Qe4 and white won the

queen thanks to the black knights being
pinned.
We shall now illustrate a common type
of pin that occurs along the e-file in king
pawn openings.
1 e4 eS 2 N13 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nd4?
This is a little known, but very interest­
Diagram 1 ing trap.
1 .Black to play is lost
4 Ne5?l
Black is lost. The threat now is to capture
the pinned Nf6. We see thatNf6 is attacked The simple 4 d3 or 4 0-0 or 4 Nc3 is
twice and also defended twice. However, af­ enough for white to get an advantage as
ter 10 Nxf6 black’s Nd7 is vertically pinned black had badly violated the opening princi­
by the Rdl and therefore it could not recap­ ple: “Do not move the same piece twice be­
ture. Unfortunately black cannot move his fore you have moved every other piece
king out ofthe pin, forif9...Ke8 10Nc7 wins once!”
the Ra8. Nor could black avert the loss of a 4..
.Qg5 5 BP

138
 5 N17 is white’s natural move forking Diagram 3
queen and rook. But it walks into a beautiful 3 Browne-Polugayevsky
pin mate after 5...Qg2 6 Rfl Qe4 7 Be2 Las Palmas 1974
NBWI! Black to play
The deadly long range pinning power of
5.. .Ke7
the bishop in the middlegame is illustrated in
If 5...Kd8 6 0-0 Qe5 7 c3 Nc6 8 d4 Qf6 No.2 The white king has no pawn cover, un­
(S...Qe4? 9 Rel Qf5 10 Re8#) 9 Bb3 and like the black king who is safely ensconced
white has rich compensation for his sacri­ under an immobile white pawn.
ficed knight. White has two central pawns
controlling the centre and is threatening Black won by 1...RD! (This is the right
way to exploit the bishop’s pinning power.
(2-f4. e4-e5. Meanwhile black has lost the
After I ...Bf3 the pin vanished and white will
rieht to castle and his king is stuck in the cen­
tre. Moreover the black pieces do not have be relieved.) 2 RD Qe2 3 Nf2 Bc5 0-1 White
is nearly in zugzwang. He cannot defend
much scope for easy development. His Bf8
against the threatened 4...Bf2 5 Qf2 Bf3
has nothing better than e7. His Ng8 must
winning a knight because, on f2 the white
wait for the Qf6 to vacate f6. All these fac­
queen is pinned along the second rank.
tors promise white an excellent game.
6 0-0 Qe5 7 Bc4 Nf6
Here, or later, as long as the black king is
on e7. the black queen cannot capture the e4
pawn as Rfel will pin and win it. This is a
common tactic that occurs in many opening
with 1 e4.
8 c3 Nc6 9 d4 Qa5
If 9...Qh5 10 e5 wins the knight because
if IO...Qdl 11 ef6 Kf6 12 Rdl wins back his
piece with an excellent game.
10 eS Ng8 (If 10...Ne8, 11 Bg5 is cur­
tains.)
11 QD d5 12 Bg5
After 12 Bd5 Be6 the black pieces could
slowly come back to life.
12.. .Ke8 13 Bd5 and white should win.
Diagram 4
4 Schatz-Gigold, 1928
Black to play.
No.4 is a brilliant illustration of the diag­
onal pin. Black played l...Qh7
Though this move has double attack as
its theme (it threatens both Khl and Rd3 it
appears to be a big mistake as white could
pin the checking queen with 2 Rh3. If then
.Qh3
2.. 3 gh3 Rdl 4 Kh2 Rhl 5 Kg3 Rgl 6
Kh2 Rg2 7 Khl Rg4 8 Kh2 Rg2 9 Khl and
white must repeat moves with ...Rg4 as
white escapes with the booty after 6...Rf2? 7
Kgl Rg2 8 Kfl. Black, however, has a dif­
ferent and effective way to win.
2 Rh3 Rdl! 3 Kh2

139
 Now black seems to be in the soup, to­
tally. But now comes black's final surprise
in which the director of play is his Bb7.

.Rhl
3.. I! 4 Khl
If 4 Kg3 Rh3 5 gh3 Qh4 6 Kh2 Qf2tf
Now. after 4 Khl the g2 pawn is pinned.

.Qh3
4.. 5 Kgl Qg2#
The basic idea of No.4 can be shown in
the following position
White: Kgl, Qe3 Rh4, Bb2, Ps-a2, b3,
12, g2. Black: Kg8; Qd7, Re8, Bd6, Ps-a7,
b6, 17, g7. White to play and win. White
wins by 1 Rh8! Kh82Qh6 Kg8 3Qg7#
Diagram 6
6 Radulov-Sederber, 1961
White to play.
In No.6 the mating attack is made possi­
ble by a vital pin. 1 Rg7!I Kg7 2 Qg4! 1-0
After 2...Kh8 3 Qh51 Kg8 (3...Kg7 4 Qh7#)
4 Bf6 Bf6 5 Qh7it
The knight is the only piece that cannot
pin any piece and it is itself liable to be
pinned by everybody - the bishop, the rook
and the queen. Generally, the bishop cannot
be pinned by another bishop, nor a rook by
another rook. But these are possible and it is
good to be acquainted with such feature.

Diagram 5
5 Parr-Whitecroft
Holland 1968
White to move.

No.5 illustrates both vertical and diago­

nal pins in one single mating combination.
In the diagram, the important factor seems to
be the pin along the 7th rank. When pre­
sented with this position for the first time,
many players have broken their hearts trying
to get Qg7# or Ng5 followed by Qh3. Can
you solve this? It is mate in three moves in
the main line. Black could ofcourse stall the
mate for a few moves by heroic but vain sac­ Diagram 7
rifices. Solution is given at the end ofthis ar­ 7 White to play
ticle. Bergrasser-Weiner
1st European Corr chp.

140
 No. 7 is an example of pins, counter pins An understanding of the diagonal double
and counter-counter-pins! The Rg2 has pin is necessary to find the combination in
pinned the black Rg3. But the Rg2 is itself No.9
pinned by the black Qf3. In the diagram, if I
hg3 Rh7 pins the Qh6.
White played the strong 1 Qh3H lipins
the Rg3 against the Qf3 so that I...Rg2
would loss the queen.
Black's reply was also witty: l...Rfg7!!
If now 2 fg7. the white pin along the g-file is
lifted and black wins the queen by 2...RI13.
But white has not finished with his bag of
tactics.
2 Qc8! Kh7 3 fg7 Rg7
If 3...Rg2. 4 Qh8 (4 g8=Q? Rg8 5 Rg2
Qg2#) 4...Qh8 5 Kg6 g8 Q.Now white dra­
matically breaks the pin on his Rg2.
4Q113!! 1-0.
If4...Qh3 5 Rg7 Kh6 6 Rlg6 Kh5 7 Rh7
Kg6 8 Rh3.
9 Black to play
Yuryev-Tiscltler
Moscow 1927

One could see that in No.9 I ...dc4 would

lose the Ne4, but that is what black played.

L..dc4! 2 Be4Qf5I!
We have the diagonal double pin again.
But the struggle is far from over as white
could defend his Be4. Black has to play
cleverly to win.

3 Nc3 Rfe8 4 Rel

Now black cannot attack the Be4 any
further. In such positions reinforcements
have to be brought up without any loss of
Diagram 8 time. Black’s winning process is very in­
8 Black to play structive.
Robatsch-Yansa,
Sochi 1974 4..
.Re4! 5 Ne4 Re8
With his 4th move black has reduced one
Black tried to utilise the unprotected sta­ of the defenders of e4. Now white has only 2
tus of white’s Bb2 in No.5 by l...Nd5 He pieces defending e4 while black has 3 pieces
must have expected an easy victory after attacking it. White cannot defend e4 any
both 2 cd5 Bc3 3 Bc3 Qc3 and 2 Nd5 Bb2. further and in desperation tries a wild idea.
But white has a different idea. 2 cd5! Bc3 3
Qd2!J 6 g4 Re4! 0-1.
This is an amazing diagonal double pin If 7 gf5 Rel# Another case of a curious
of the black bishop. It is pinned, both against mixed double pin (diagonal and vertical) is
the king and the queen. If 3...Bb2, 4 Qa5. No. 10.

141
 Diagram 10
10 White to play
Shumov-Winawer

Petersburg 1875
White won by 1 Rel 1-0 because the
black queen is pinned legally along the e4-e8
diagonal and mortally along the c-file. If
.Qa4 2 Rc8#.
l..
Solution to No 5: I Rh5!! Qd7 2 Ng5 (ver­
tical pin) KhS 3 Rh6 diagonal pin mate!.

142
 Chapter 42
Double Attack II
Double attack was discussed briefly in Giuoco Piano: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4
Chapter 21 and hence we have called it Dou­ Bc5 4 c3 Nf6 5 d4 Bb6? 6 de5 Ne4 7 Qd5!
ble Attack II. See diagram 2.
Double attack is easy' to define. When a
move results in two enemy pieces being at­
tacked simultaneously, it is called a double
attack. Double attack is the basis of most
combinations. For a double attack to be suc­
cessful. the two attacked enemy pieces, or
more precisely the two objectives (a double
attack could also be a mating threat and a
capture of a piece), should not be able to
move away protecting each other.

Diagram 2
2 Position after 7 Qd5!
White threatens both mate on f7 as well
the Ne4. The best that black has here is:
. Bf2 8 Ke2 0-0 9 Qe4 and white has won a
7..
knight.

Nimzo-Indian Defence: 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4

e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2 c5 5 dc5 Bc5 6 Bg5
(It looks like white has a good position
but black shatters it and wins a pawn thanks
to a double attack.)
Diagram 1
1. Double attacks 6..
.Bf2! 7 Kf2 Ng4! This is a double at­
Diagram No. 1 shows clockwise, double tack. The knight checks the king while the'
attacks by the pawn, the knight, the bishop queen attacks the bishop. After the king
and the rook. moves, black captures the bishop, getting
The openings are full of posibilities for back his sacrificed bishop and winning a
double attack. A few examples follow: pawn in the skirmish.

Hungarian Defence: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 Caro-Kann Defence: 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3

3 Bc4 Be7 4 d4 d6 5 de5 Ne5 6 Ne5 de5 7 Nc3 de4 4 Ne4 Nd7 5 Bc4 Ngf6 6 Nf6 Nf6 7
Qh5. Black is forced to defend his most im­ Nf3 Bg4?
portant f7 pawn with 7...g6 and allow white Again we have a situation similar to the
8 Qe5. This game is credited to previous example. White wins a pawn by
Estrin-Liberzon. double attack.

143
 7 Bf7! Kf7 8 Ne5 and Ng4 However on queen by force) 10 Qd2 Qe51? 1 1 de5 gh2
the 7th move white cannot sacrifice his (Diag.3)
queen and play for mate with: 7 Ne5? Qa5!
(if 7...Bdl?? 8 Bt7#) 8 Bd2 Qe5! 9 de5 Bdl
10 Rdl Nd5 and white has not even won a
pawn though his position is better.
In many openings the bishop is used to
pin the knight. In 1 d4 openings there is the
danger that the pinning bishop could some­
times be captured by a double attack as in our
next illustration.

Queen's Gambit Declined, Slav De­

fence: I d4d5 2 c4c6 3Nc3Nf64cd5 cd5 5
Bg5 Nbd7 6 e3 e6 7 Bd3 Bb4 8 Bf6 Nf6?
(8...Bc3 is the best here) 9 Qa4 Bd7 10 Qb4
and white has won the pinning bishop.

Sicilian Defence: 1 e4 c5 2 d4 cd4 3 Nf3 Diagram 3

e5? 4 Ne5?? Qa5 5 Bd2 Qe5. 3 White to play
This is also a double attack by a pawn.
The h2 pawn has threats of queening on hl
With his 3...e5 black played for a trap and also on gl by capturing the knight. In a
into which white fell. Theoretically best for game Fichtl - Krause, white resigned in this
black would be to continue developing his position. Such resignations are premature.
pieces with 3...Nc6 and not try to cling to his Though a bishop down, white must try to
pawn at d4. Instead of losing a piece with 4 take advantage of black's lack of develop­
Ne5?? as in the game, white should get a ment and create complications. A small slip,
good attacking game with 4 c3 to be fol­ and black could be busted. Play could con­
lowed by Bc4 as there would be a nice tinue 12 0-0-0! Bd7(12...Nd7 could lose af­
strategical square for white on d5. ter 13 e6! fe6 !4Bd3hl=Q 15Bg6 Kd8 16
One of the two threats that a move could Nh3 Qg2 17 Nf4) Try analysing this position
make could also be a mating threat as in the by yourself!) 13 e6 hgl=Q (Best. Try ana­
next example, or a threat to promote a pawn lysing I3...fe6) 14 ed7 Kd8 15 Bc4 Qa2 16
as in the example after the next. Bf7 Qh6 17 f4 Qf6 and black, by using the d7
pawn as a shield against the white would
slowly make his extra knight count.
French Defence: 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 However, go back to black's 1 Oth move,
de4 4 Ne4 Nd7 5 Nf3 Ngf6 6 Nf6 Nf6 7 Bg5
when he sacrificed his queen. When plan­
Be7 8 Bd3 0-0 9 Qe2 b6?? 10 Bf6 Bf6 11
ning black must have anticipated 10 c6 when
Qe4+- The two threats are mate on h7 and
.Qe5
10.. sacrificing the queen is the best
capture of the rook on a8. Black must lose
way. But white played 10 Qd2 and black
the rook at the least.
continued with his plan of Qe5 anyway
thinking it was the same. If he had spent a lit­
Caro-Kann Defence: 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 tle more time, he could have found the fool
Nc3 de4 4 Ne4 Nf6 5 Ng3 h5 6 Bg5 h4 7 Bf6 proof way to an easy victory after 10 Qd2
hg31 8 Be5 Rh2!! 9 Rh2 Qa5 (Black's idea is with 10...ef2! (this is also a double attack as
to sacrifice his queen for the Be5 before he the queen is pinned and the king is obliged to
recaptures the Rh2 so that he gets a new support the queen) 11 Ke2 (or 11 Kdl)

144
1l...Qd2 12 Kd2 fgl=Q. It should be noted Black is faced with the loss of his extra
that after 10 c3 Qe5 black's plan works very knight. This is how he simplified to reach an
smoothly as white's queen is still on dl and endgame with his extra knight: l...Qf4! 2
he cannot engineer an attack along the d-file Qf4 Rgl!3Kgl Ne2 and 3...Nf4 winning.
as fast as he could if the queen were on d2.
Now let us see a few examples from mid­
dle-game positions.

Diagram 6
6 White to play
Diagram 4
4 White to Play
Korgius-Sergievsky, USSR
In No.4 white wins the exchange by 1 No.6 is a position that can easily occur in
Ng6! This move threatens both the queen tournament practise. White wins immedi­
and the rook. If l...Qf5 2 Ne7 Kh8 3 Nf5 ately by 1 Qg4! This move threatens mate
winning. with 2 Qg7 and also 2 Nh6 to be followed by
3 Qd7. If 1 ...f6,2 Nh6 Kh8 3 Qd7. A similar
position occurred in my game with
Dr.R.Nagendra in the 1980 National B
Championship at Delhi. It was the peak of
summer with the mercury soaring to 117 F
and at least three of the participants suffered
from heat stroke. I had the black pieces. 1
played ...Qd7?? and went to call Nagendra
who had wandered offto watch other games.
He did not see that he could win with Qg4,
played something else. The game took a
long and tortuous course going beyond ad­
journment. It was a journalist from Bombay
who pointed out the double over-sight later
on.

Diagram S The queen is the champion of double at­

5 Black to play.
tacks because it combines the powers of the
Bykovsky-Kuznetzov,
Moscow 1958 rook and the bishop.

145
 Diagram 7 Diagram 8
7 White to play
Platonov-Ramanovsky
Kiev 1970. •
The white queen plundered the black
peices with double attacks after 1 Bf7 Kf7 2
Qh7 Bg7 3 Qh5. Wherever the king goes he
loses one of his two bishops:
a) 3...Kf6 4 Qe5 Kg6 (if 4...Kf7 5 Qc7
and 6 Qc8) 5 Qe8 Kh7 6 Qc8.
b) 3...Kg8 4 Qe8 and 5 Qc8.
c) 3...Kf8 4 Qc5 and 5 Qc8.
d) 3...Ke6 4 Qe8 and 5 Qc8.
e) 3...Ke7 4Qc5 Kd7 (4...Kd8 5 Qg5 and
6 Qg7) 5 Qf5 Kc7 (again if 5...Kd8 6 Qg5
and 7 Qg7) 6 Qf7 and 7 Qg7.
See diagram
Diagram 9
Diagram 8
8 White to play See diagram
Faibisovitch-Etruk Diagram 10
Chelyabinsk, 1975.
10 White to play
In No.8 White won by I Ng6! 1-0 If Euwe-Davidson,
.hg6(or l...Qg62 Re7)2 Qh4attacks both
l.. Match 1925.
the Kh8 and the Re7.
In No. 10 the double attack wins on ly one
See diagram pawn, but it is enough as there are no pieces
Diagram 9 left on the board for black to stir up compli­
9 White to play cations. Euwe won by 1 Qd8 Kg7 2 Qf6!
Hort-Portisch,
Madrid 1973 Kf6 3 Ne4 and 4 Nc5..
The combination in No.9 finishes with a We can also see many endings where
delightful double attack. 1 Rg4! fg4 2 Qg5 double attack is used. The tactics in Queen
Kh8 3 Qh6I! 1-0 There are two threats: 4 Verus Rook endings (see Chapter No:40) is
Qh7# and 4 Qf8P almost exclusively double attack. In the end-

146
 piece in No.llB by 1 Kg2 attacking both
knight and bishop.

game, when many pieces exit from play by

capture or exchanges, the prospects of mat­
ing attacks diminish and the kings could
safely emerge from their comers to play a
major role in the task of attacking enemy
pieces and queening pawns.
Diagram No. 12
12 White to play and win.

No. 12 is a famous ending. It was proba­

bly composed, though it is supposed to have
happened jn a game between Fenton and
Potter. The white king is in check. Though
black has a rook, he must fight for a draw as
the c7 pawn is threatening to queen. In the
diagrammed position if I Kb7? Rd7 to be
followed by 2...Rd7 and a draw. Or if 1
Kc5?Rdl for...Rcl and capture of the pawn
if it is on c7 or the queen if it is on c8.

White's only winning attempt is 1 Kb5

Rd5 2 Kb4 (again if 2 Kc4? Rd 1) 2...Rd4 3
Kb3 (3 Kc3 Rdl 4 Kc2 Rd4 as in the main
line) 3...Rd3 4 Kc2 Rd4! (A brilliant de­
fence!) 5 c8=R!! (If white queens the pawn
black would get a draw: 5 c8=Q? Rc4!! 6
Qc4 stalemate!) After ’rooking' the pawn the
stalemate is avoided and at the same time
No.HA No.llB mate is threatened with 6 Ra8. Black has
only one move...) 5...Ra4 Now comes a
deadly double attack. 6 Kb3 1-0 Black can­
InNo.l 1A black winsapawn by l...Kb2 not parry the double threats of7 Rel# and 7
attacking both rook and pawn. White wins a Ka4.

147
 Chapter 43
Destroying The Defender
When a piece or pawn is attacked
there are three ways of dealing with the situ­
ation. The most common way is to move
away the object of attack or to defend it. The
third way is to allow it to be captured and
counter-attack. There is a fourth way too, but
one which comes to many of us naturally:
overlook the threat and lose!

In this article we deal with one piece de­

fending another. If one pawn is defending
another pawn, it makes sense to attack the
defending pawn and not the other one. If a
queen is defending a knight the Queen
should be driven away or exchanged off in
order to win the knight.

The very popular Queen's Gambit De­

clined is an example of trying to destroy the
defender: 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 (While white
concentrates on attacking the d5 pawn, black
keeps defending it.) 3...Nf6 4 Bg5 As the
Nf6 defends d5, the bishop pins it and in­
creases the attack on the d5 pawn.

You can also see the same idea in the Ruy

Lopez: 1 e4e5 2Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 This Bishop
move is the starting point of the Ruy Lopez.
By attacking the knight which defends the e5
pawn, white is eventually trying to win a
pawn. However, it should be noted that after
3..
.a6 the immediate capture of the e5 pawn
with 4 Bc6 dc6 5 Ne5 leads to an equal game
Diagram!
2 Barczay-Pribyl
after 5...Qd4 Dechin 1978
See diagram White to play

Diagram! In No.2 the pinned black knight is twice

1 Black to play. attacked but also defended twice. In order to
win the knight one more attack must be
A very simple case of destroying the de­ brought to bear on it, but then black will
fender is illustrated in No. 1. The bishop is keep defending with Nhg7, Rae8 etc. To
defended by the knight. So black won the reach a quick decision white must destroy
bishop by destroying the knight: 1...BB 2 the defending bishop. He did it by 1 Qd7!
QB Qd4. Qd7 2 Be6 Qe6 3 Re6.

148
 stroys the defender of the h8. square.) I...de5
2 Rh8 Kg73 Rlh7#
A player who is well acquainted with
typical combinations can use the motif of
destroying the defender with deadly effect.
A case in point is No.5

Diagrams
3 Spassky-Petrosian
Moscow 1967
White to play

The only piece that is defending against

white’s threatened mate with b5-b6 in No.3
is the bishop on d4. White therefore won by Diagram5
1 Qd4! 1-0 because if l...Rd4 2 b6# 5 Ozhvat - Ortel

Hungary 1971, White to play Take a

good look at No.5. Apparently black has just
played Bg2. Can you mate in two moves if
the black bishop on e5 disappears from the
board?lfyou can spot the mateby 1 Bf6Kg8
2 Nh6» then the solution to this position is
easy, As this mate does not require the
queen. White wins by 1 QeS! de5 2 Bf6 Kg8
3 Nh6#
The tripled white pawns on the g-file in
No.6 gives us a good idea, specially with the
King on h2.
See diagram
Diagram 6
6 Bisguier-Fischer
U.S.Chp. 1965
Diagram 4 Black to play.
4 Gizdavu-Ostoic
Bucharest 1973 Fischer won by White re­
White to play
signed because of 2 Kh I Rc 1 3 Kh2 hg3 4
Kh3 Rhl#
In No.4 it is the Be5 which is preventing the
while rooks doubled on the h-tite from mating. The next position illustrates not only the
As in No.l. white won easily by I QeS! (De­ theme of destroying the defender but also

149
 (For any other move the commentary of
the previous move applies.) 4 Rh6!
This is the way to continue the attack. In
such situations the aggressive queen and
rook almost always triumph over the de­
fending queen and rook. White threatens
mate in one with 5 Rh8.
4..
.KB
(IT4...Rh7 5 Qe8 Kg7 6 Rg6#)
5 Rh8 Ke7
If 5...Rg8 6 Qf5 Qf7 (6...Kg7 3 Rh7 #) 7
Qf7 Kf7 8 Rg8 Kg8 9 Kf2 and white wins the
pawn ending easily as he has two extra
pawns.
6 Qe5 Kf7 7 Qe8 (The black queen and
the superriority of an attacking queen and rook are mere spectators while the white
rook against a defending queen and rook. queen and rook call the tune.) 7...Kf6 8 Rh6
KfS 9 Qe5 Kg4 10 Qf4#

Diagram?
7 Steinitz-Zukertort Diagrams
White to play 8 Matanovic-Martinovic
Yugoslavia 1974
In No.7 it is not enough to just destroy White to play
the defender and start checking. One must
also know how precisely to carry out the Black's pieces are poorly placed in No.8.
mating attack to a successful finish. This His rook will take a long time to see the light
game was played more than 120 years ago, of the day while his bishop which should be
but the attack can still teach players of today in its g7 fianchettoed square is perched use­
a lot. The game went: lessly at a5. With the pawns in his castled
1 Rh7! Kh7 2 Qh5 Kg8 position having moved up to f6 and g6
black's king is an easy prey for an attack. The
lf2...Kg7 3 Rg6 Kf8 (if 3...Kf7 4 Rb6)4 only piece that is somewhat defending the
Qh8 Kf7 5 Qg8# black position is the knight, is therefore not
3 Rg6 Rg7 very difficult if he destroys the defender. He

150
played 1 Rf6 Kf6 2 Qf4 Kg7 3 Qe5 1-0. If square is the queen which can be driven off.
3. Kg8 4 Be6 Kf8 5 Qh8#. or if 3...Kh6 4 That leaves only the knight and bishop.
Bc3 and mate next move. From this example White therefore destroyed one of the two de­
we leant not only about the importance of fenders and pushed his d6 pawn to victory: 1
destroying the defender but also that white Rb6! ab6 2 Bb5 Qd8 3 d7 and the pawn
won because all of his pieces were concen­ captures the bishop in its cradle.
trated on the opponent's king-side while the
black forces were ineffectively arrayed on
the queen-side.

Diagram 10
10 Rizhkov-Fass, 1978
Black to play
Diagram9 White has not only defended his threat­
9 Dorfman-Grigorian ened g2 square with his knight in No.10 but
Leningrad 1977
he has'also forked the two rooks. Should
White to play
black lose? Think this out yourself.
In No.9 white has a passed pawn on d6
backed by Rdl. Black has three pieces #Z89M ZMN
blockading the passed pawn so that it cannot f I^>1 I'd £ WO Z iiW& 'l :japuoj
expand'. But one of the defenders of the d7 -rip aqj SuiXojjsop Xq sui/a rpqtl : U0!lnl°S

151
 Chapter 44
The Uncastled King
When we make the first moves of our In this game black not only does not give
game our immediate objective is to quickly back one of the two extra pawns, but he also
bring out our knights and bishops into play goes fora third!
and then tuck the king into a safe corner by
5.. .Bb4? 6 Nd2 Qg5??
castling. As we develop, or bring out our
pieces, we make threats against the oppo­ Black's idea is simple. If white defends
nent's position or defend against attack. In g2 with 7 g3 he would exchange on d2 and
this process we might, sometimes, pay a lot simplify to an endgame with two extra
of attention to the threats and counter-threats pawns: 7,..Qd2 8 Qd2 Bd2 9 Kd2 f6. There­
and ignore the safety ofour king. It is not rare fore white should not count pawns but must
when a player is fascinated with the idea of go for the attack full throttle.
winning a pawn or a piece early in the game 7 Ngf31! Qg2 8 Rgl Bd2 9 Ke2!
and delays castling. When a king remains Black has developed only two pieces so
uncastled on el (ore8) he can get into severe far and both of them are under attack. Al­
problems, especially ifthe position becomes most all the white pieces are now in full cry
open and the enemy pieces are active. When and g7 can be taken for the asking. You can
a king remains in the centre, it follows that see easily why the black bishop could not be
the rooks are also at their original corners captured immediately.
with pawns in front of them hindering their
activity and limiting theirpower drastically.
9.. .Qh3 10 Qd2 Nf6
Black realises how backward he is in de­
What happens when a player embarks on
velopment and abandons his g7 pawn. But
a pawn grabbing mission and neglects his
white has a tastier pawn!
development and safety for his king is well
illustrated in the following two short games-
11 Bf7!!Kd8
1 e4 e5 2 d4 ed4 3 c3 dc3 4 Bc4 cb2 5 If 11 ...Kf7? 12 Ng5 wins the queen. Or if
Bb2 11.. .Ke7 12 e5 (also 12 Rg7 is possible)
This opening is known as the Danish 12.. .Ne4 (12...Ng4 13 Ba3!) 13 Qd5 wins.
Gambit. White sacrifices two pawns to ben­
12 Rg7 Ne413 Qg51! Ng5 14 Bf6#
efit from speedy development and also
makes it difficult for black to develop his In the next game black sends his queen
pieces normally. For example, 5...Bc5 on a pawn grabbing mission. He does man­
would lose to 6 Bg7. And 5...Nf6 invites 6 age to castle but then not on the side that
e5. Comparatively better would be 5...d6 would have been safe for him.
when white has a vastly superior game as he l.e4c5 2.N13 d63.Bb5
controls the centre and the BfB is locked in. This is a rarely played system against
However, Black's best is 5...45! giving black's Sicilian Defence. Usual is 3 d4 cd 4
back one of the two extra pawns to get a lot Nd4.
of freedom for his pieces. If then 6 ed5, black
can safely play 6...Nf6 without fearing the 3.. .Bd7 4.Bd7 Qd7 S.c4
pawn thrust 7 e5. Or, if 6 Bd5, again 6...Nf6 The strategical ideas behind this move
equalises because the tactics of winning the are two fold. As a general rule, if black can
queen does not work after 7 Bf7 Kf7 8 Qd8 eventually play the freeing ...d5 in 1 e4
Bb4!9Qd2Bd2 10Nd2= openings and ...e5 in I d4 openings, he gets

152
an equal game. So5c4 makes black's liberat­
ing ...d5 almost impossible.
The other idea is that after the exchange
of the white squared bishops white is happy
to have his central pawns blocked on white
squares as black would have a "bad" bishop
which runs on black squares and is impeded
by its own pawns blocked on black squares.
But this game is not an illustration of
strategical ideas because black wants to win
a pawn at the cost of development.
5.. .Qg4?J
Double attack! Sure, this wins a pawn.
But the queen alone works while the remain­
ing pieces sleep in their original squares.
6.0-0 Qxe4 7.d4! 1 .Teller-Tartakower
Hastings 1926-7
With the black queen in the centre of the Black to play
board white opens up the position so that he In No. 1 though the white king is caught
could develop rapidly by attacking the ad­ in the centre his misery seems to be at an end
venturous queen. as the attacked black queen appears com­
7.. .Nc6 pelled to leave the gl-a7 diagonal for if
The seriousness of black's position is I ...Qb6 2 Rc6, or 1 ...Qe3 2 Qd2 or 1 ...Qd5 2
shown by the variation 7...cd4 8 Nd4 Nc6 9 Qd5 cd5 3 Kf2. However black unleashed an
attack which is typical for such a situation.
Nb5 Rc8 10Nd6.'ed6 11 Rel.
8.Nc3 Qg4 9.Nb5 Qd7 1.. .Re2!!2Ke2
Unfortunately 2 Qe2 loses the rook to
If 9...R.C8 10 Rel e6 11 h3 Qf5 12 d5
.QcI.
2..
shatters black.
lO.dxcS dxc5 H.Bf4 0-0-0 2.. .Ba6 2 Kd2 Qf2 3 Kc3 Rb8!
The general rule is that you should ex­ The threat is now 4...Qb2#
change pieces when under attack. But here 4 Rbl Qc5 5 Kd2 Qd4 6 Kc2
after 1 l...Qdl 12 Radi the threat of 13 Nc7 If 6 Kcl Rbl 7 Kbl Bd3 8 Kcl Qc3
wins atleast the exchange thus, black has mates.
been forced into castling on the queen side.
6.. .Qc4 7 Kd2 Qd3 0-1.
But his problems are not over as he still lags
behind in development. If 8 Ke 1 Qe3 mates as before.
12.Qa4 See diagram
The threat is 13 Qa7! Na7 14 Na7# 2 Steinitz-Bardeleben
Hastings 1895
12.. .QK 13.Bg3 a6 14.Radl! White to play
If now 14...ab5 15 Qa8 Nb8 16 Qb8#.
White is now threatening mate by 15 Qa5! Black has got a pawn more in No.2 but
Na5 16Na7# his king is stranded in the centre. If he ex­
.Rxdl
14.. 15.Rxdl Nf6 16.Qa5 Ne8 changes queen he would be safe. But white
17.Qd8+ Nxd8 18.Na7# to play made excellent use of his active
Now let us see some middle game situa­ pieces and the unsafe black king:
tions where a king is caught in the centre. 1 Re7!l K18

153
 3. Jon-Janovsky
Manheim 1914
White to play.
The attacking idea in No.3 is similar to
that in Nos. 1 and 2.
1 Re7! Ke7 2 Rel Kf8
lf2...Kd8 3 Bg5 f64 Bf6 Bf6 5 Qf6and 6
Qh8.
3 Bd6 Kg8 4 Re8! B18 5 Rf8 Kg7 6 Qc3
1-0.
If 6...Kh6 7 Bf4 Kh5 8 Qf3 Kh4 9 Bg3
Kg5 10Qf4Kh5 II Qh4#

Of course, l...Qe7 loses immediately to

2 Rc8. However we the natural 1 ...Ke7. The
game can continue 2 Rel Kd6 (if 2...Kd8 3
Ne6 Ke8 4 Nc5) 3 Qb4 Kc7 (3...Kc6?? 4
Rel#) 4 Ne6! Kb8 5 Qf4 Rc7 6 Nc7 Qc7 7
Re8#
The text, 1...KF8, is a witty reply as white
cannot take the Qd7 because of mate by
...Rel.
2 Rf7!
Again, if 2...Qf7, 3 Rc8 wins easily.
2,.
.Kg8 3 Rg7! 1-0.
(a) If 3...Kg7,4 Qd7 is check leaving no
time forblack's ...Rel#. 4 Dueball-Burnett
(b) If 3...Kh8 4 Rh7 Kg7 5 Rg7! Kh8 6 W.Germany 1970
Qh4 Kg7 7 Qh7 Kf8 8 Qh8 Ke7 9 Qg7 Ke8 White to play
10 Qg8 Ke7 11 Qf7 Kd8 12 Qf8 Qe8 13 Nf7
Black has a very strong out-post for his
Kd7I4Qd6#
knight at c4 but he has got it at the cost of
castling which would complete his develop­
ment. He is now just about to castle on the
king-side as the queen-side is too exposed
for his comfort but White stops it.
1 Ng5! h6
If 1 ...0-0? 2 Bh7, or if 1 ...0-0-0? 2 Nf7.
2. Qh5! g6
If 2.-..0-0 3 Nh7 Rfc8 4 Bh6! gh6 5 Qh6
there is no defence against the threat ofNf6#
Comparatively better would be 2...Rf8
giving up the right to castle on the king-side.
The same could then continue 3 Nf3 0-0-0 4
Ba3 and white's assault on the enemy king
has already begun.

154
 3 Qh4 Nf5 4 Bf5 gfS with just one queen, he needs one more
.ef5
4.. would be even worse after 5 e61 (a piece. The black Nc4 appears to effectively
typical thrust in such positions) 5...fe66Ne6 control both a3 and e3 squares throught
and black is totally lost. This idea is worth which the white rooks can join in the attack.
keeping in mind. White must be inventive. When the final
prize is mate what is a rook or knight?
5 Nf7! Kf7 6 Kf6 Kg8
The white queen has entered the black 7 Ra3! f4
position by sacrificing a knight. Note that the If 7...Na3 8 Qg6! Kf8 9 Ba3 Qc5 (forced)
two black rooks are still not connected with 10dc5.
each other. 6...Kg8 is forced because
.Ke8?
6,. loses the Rh8. White cannot mate 8 Bf4 Na3 9 Re3 Be8 10 Rg3 1-0.

155
 Chapter 45
Rook Versus Pawns
After an interesting middle game
where pieces and pawns are sacrificed and
counter-sacrificed, it is possible to reach
endgames with inbalances in material. For
example, there could arise a bishop against
one, two or even three pawn ending. Or a
knight against two pawn endgame. To eval­
uate who can try to win and who must try to
draw one must consider all the factors-how
far the pawns are advanced, the relative king
positions and the effectiveness of the piece
in that specific position.
We are now going to discuss endings
where one or more pawns battle a rook, or, a
rook battles one or more pawns.

After 1 Ke3? b2 the king cannot get near

Rook Versus One Pawn
We start with the rook handling just a the vital bl square: 2 Rc8 (2 Ke2 Kc2!)
single pawn. The basic idea for the superior 2.. .Kb3 and white can only draw.
side is to block the pawn with his king and 1.. .Kc2
then capture it. The defending side would try If I...b2? 2 Kdl and the black king must
to draw the game by pushing his pawn to the move away front the pawn. However the
queening square and forcing the opponent to purposeless 2 Rc8 would only draw after
give up his rook. If the pawn cannot be 2.. .Kb3.
blocked, then the superior side wins if his
2 Rc8
rook and king could simultaneously control
This is the right time to check the king
any square in the pawns path. Wherever we
and force it onto the path of his own pawn.
mention "the superior side" we mean the side
with the rook and by the "defending side" we 2.. .Kb2
mean the side with pawn or pawns even If 2...Kbl 3 Kd2 b2 4 Rb8 Ka2 5 Kc2
though sometimes it is the player with the wins.
pawns who is trying to win.
3 Kd2 Ka2 4 Kc3 b2 5 Ra8 Kbl 6 Rb8
See diagram Kai
(Black hopes for a stalemate after 7
Diagram 1 Rb2?) 7 Kc2! and the pawn falls.
la) White to play wins
lb) Black to play draws lb) Black to play
la) White to play This is quite simple as the pawn is too far
White to play must move his king closer advanced. I...b2 2 Ke2 Kc2 3 Rc8 Kb3 4
to the pawn or to bl its queening square as RbS Kc2=
his rook is already ideally placed behind the In the above example the king of the su­
pawn on the b-file. perior side approached the pawn from the
1 Ke2... same side as the enemy king. Quite often in

156
such endings the king approaches the queen­ You will note that we have marked off 13
ing square from the other side. squares in the top of diagram 2. If the white
king is placed in any ofthose squares he can­
not win. For example, let us place it on a7.
From al also the king takes the same five
moves to reach d2 as from f7, but there is a
small feature which denies white victory.
1 Kb6 Ke3!
If 1 ...e3? 2 Kc5 and the white king
reaches d2 as it did from f7. With l...Ke3,
black prevents the white king from getting to
d2.
2 Kc5 Kd3!
3 Rai
If this rook had already been here, white
could win with 3 Ra3 Kd2 4 Kd4 with dou­
ble control of e3. So this is the small feature
Diagram! that denies white victory. If the rook had
been at al instead of at hl in the diagrammed
2 White to play wins. position, white could win even if his king
In Diagram 2 the white king travels to the
were at a7.
queen-side to reach d2 and jointly control
the queening square el with his Rhl. Also 3 Kd5 trying to reach f2 falls short
by one move: 3...e3 4 Ke5 e2 5 Kf4 Kd2 6
To calculate whether the king can catch
Kf3elQ=
the pawn in time we must count the number
of moves it takes for the king to reach d2 and 3..
.e3
compare it with the number of moves taken 4 Ra3 Kd2
by black's pawn to reach e2 and the black 5 Kd4 e2
king to reach f2. The white king moving first
6 Ra2 Kdl
takes the route e6-d5-c4-c3-d2 and reaches
d2 in 5 moves. On the other hand, black takes 7 Kd3 el=N!
four moves to take his pawn to e2 and his Of course 7,..el=Q loses to 8 Rai# This
king to f2. But as white moves first he promotion of a pawn into a kinght draws in
reaches d2 just after black reaches e2 and f2 similar positions with all pawns except the a
and thus he has double control over the and h pawns.
queening square and wins.
See diagram
1 Ke6 e3 3 White to play wins.
If I ...Ke3 2 Ke5 and if now 2,..Kd3 3 Kf4 In Diagram 3 the rook is best behind the
or if 2...Kf3 3 Kd4 reaching the opposite side pawn along the file and not along the rank.
anyway. 1 Kd2 Kb2
2 KdS e2 If 1 ...a2 2 Kel and the pawn is lost.
3 Kd4 Kf3 2 Rt>8 Ka2
4 Kd3 Kf2 If2...Kai 3Kc2a2(if3...Ka24Ra8 Kai
5 Kd2 5 Ra3#)4 Kb3! Kbl 5 Ka3 Kai 6 Rh8 wins.
White controls the queening square el 3 Kc3 Kai
with both king and rook and therefore wins. 4 Ra8 Ka2

157
 marches forward freely) 3...a3 4 Rh3 a2
(The black king is too far from its pawn to
support it in time.) 5 Ra3+-
2 Rb7...
If 2 Kg7 (2 Ra7? a5) 2...a5 3 Kf6 a4 4
Ke5 Kc4! 5 Ra7 Kb3 6 Kd4 a3 7 Kd3 a2 and
white cannot prevent.. Kb2.
2.. .KC5
3 Ra7 Kb6
If 3...Kb5 4 Kg7 and white wins because
in comparison with the analysis after white's
second move white has got Ra7 free of cost
with the black king wasting a move with
Kc5 and then Kb5.
4 Ra8 Kb7
If 4...a2 5 Rh8 Kbl 6 Rhl#
5 Re8 aS
5 Ra7! Kai
6 Re5...
If 5.Kbl 6 Ra3 Kcl 7 Rai#
White could also win with 6 Kg7. The
6 Ra3 Kbl text move cuts the king off from the pawn.
7 Ra8 Kcl This is possible when the king is on the third
8 Rai# rank or still behind as here. The superior side
then waits for the pawn to advance beyond
the immediate supporting range of the king,
then attacks it from the side, and then when
the pawn is one square from queening, at­
tacks it from the rear and wins it.
6.. .Kb6
7 Kg7 a4
8 Kf6 a3
If 8...Kc6? 9 Ra5. Or if 8...Ka6 marking
time, the white king walks to the pawn via
f5-e4-d3-c3-b4.
9 Re3 a2
10Ra3

Rook Versus Two Pawns

4 Black plays, white wins. If the king of the superior side (the one
with the rook) is in front of the pawns the
In diagram 4 the pawn and its king are far win is always certain, even if the pawns are
from the queening square allowing white connected. We are going to examine only
new tactical tricks. cases where the king is far away. If the
pawns are not connected, the rook can win
.Kb5
l.. easily. But it is another matter if the pawns
If l...a5 2 Rh5 a4 3 Kg7 (with the black are connected because they could even win
king unable to escort his pawn the white king against the rook.

158
 5 Whoever plays wins. 1 Kg4
White to play wins by If 1 Rc8 d2! 2 Rc4 Ke5 (2...Ke3 3 Rc3
1 Rc7... Kd4 4 Rd8! Ke3=)3 Rc8! Ke44 Rd8 Ke3=
As a general rule it is best for a rook to at­ 1.. .Ke3
tack a passed pawn from the rear and not A good attempt but still not good enough
along the side. Here, for example, if 1 Rh3? towin would be l...c3 2Re8 Kd4 3 Kf4(Not
c2 2 Rhl b3 3 Rel b2 and black wins. After 1 3 Kf3? c2 4 Rd8 Ke5! 5 kc8 d2-+) 3...c2 (If
Rc7! the black pawns are immoblilised as .d2 4 Rd8 Kc4 5 Ke3+-)4 Rd8 Kc3 5 Rc8
3..
any pawn move would lose a pawn. And if Kd2 6 Ke4 Ke2 7 Kd4 d2 8 Rc2=
there is a choice of pawns to attack, the one
2 Re8 .
which is more advanced.
This check drives the black king into a
l...Ke8 2 Rc4 Kd7 3 Rb4 and wins. square obstructing his own pawn.
Black to play wins by simply pushing his
2.. .Kd2
pawns:l...c2 2 Rc7 b3 3 Rc3 b2 4 Rc2
If 2...Kf2 3 Rd8 Ke2 4 Re8 Kdl 5 Rc8
bl=Q wins.
white wins the c-pawn and sacrifices his
In this example we note that the two
rook for black's last pawn to draw the game.
kings played hardly any role and did not in­
fluence the outcome in anyway. From this 3 KI3! c3
we conclude that if the pawns have advance 4 Rc8
to the 6th rank they can win against the rook White follows the general rule of playing
if the king is far away. If they are only at the the rook behind the unobstructed pawn. This
4th and 5th ranks they lose. position is drawn because if 4...c2 5 Ke4
See diagram cl=Q6Rcl Kel 7 Kd3= or if 4...Kc2 5 Rd8
d2 6 Ke2. From these last two variations we
Diagram 6 see the importance of white's 3 Kf3 because
6a) White plays and draws
from f3 the king could go to either e4 or e2
6b) Black plays and wins according to black's play.
Diagram 6 is most likely to occur in prac­ If in the diagram position the white king
tice and it is important for players to under­ were at g4 (instead of at g5) then white’s
stand how they are played. It should be king is better placed and white wins: 1 Re8
repeated here that the rook is ideally placed Kd4 2 Kf3 Kc3 (If2...c3 3 Rd8 Kc4 4 Ke3 d2
behind the pawns as in the diagram. 5 Ke2 Kb3 6 Kdl) 3 Rc8 (If 3 Ke3? Kc2<
a) White to play. Rd8 c3 5 Rd3 Kb2 and strangely white must

159
give up his rook for the pawn.) 3...Kd4 4 K12 Rb4 c2 -+) 3...Kd5 3 KfS Kd4 5 Ke2 b3 6
c3 5 Kel and white wins as his king has got Rb8 b2 (6...Kc4 7 Kdl and black must con­
under the pawns: 5...c2 6 Kd2 Ke4 7 Rc3+- cede vital squares to the enemy king after ei­
If. in the diagram position the white king ther b2 or c2) 7 Kdl Kd3 8 Rd8 Kc4 9 Kc2
were at g3,g2 or gl white to play wins by I wins.
Kf2 and if it were black to play he would w in 1.. .c3
by I ...c3 2 Re8 Kf5 as further checks would If l ...b3 2 Rb5 (attacking the leading
allow the black king to move back towards pawn) 2...Kd6 3 KfS and the white king
the rook along the e and f-files. quickly arrives in front of the pawns: 3...Kc6
Again, if in the diagrammed position the 4 Rb8 Kd5 5 Ke3 Kc5 6 Kd2 Kd4 7 Rd8 etc.
white king were at f6, or c6 or d6 white to Or if l...Kd6 2 KfS and the white king has
play would draw by attacking the pawns by made progress while the black pawns stay
the king from the rear: 1 Re8 Kf3 2 Rd8 (at­ put and the black king is still separated from
tacking the pawn which is more advanced is the pawns.
always a good policy) 2...Ke2 3 Re8 Kd2 4
2 Rc5!
Ke5 c3 5 Kd4 and if now 5...Kc2 6 Rc8 with
It would be too dangerous to allow both
a draw in both cases. And if it were black to
pawns onto the 6th rank as we already men­
play no calculation is necessary to see that
tioned at the conclusion of Example No5.
black wins after 1 ...c3 as the white king is
too far away from the scene of queening. 2.. .Kd6
3 Rc8 Kd5
4 KfS Kd4
5 Ke2+
Black to play has a choice of two pawn
moves, only one ofwhich wins. I ...Kd6 does
nothing to advance the pawns and is not to be
considered.
1.. .c3!
If I ...b3? 2 Rb5 Kd6 3 Kg4 Kc6 4 Rb8
Kd5 5 KfS Kd4 6 Ke2 Kc3 7 Ke3 Kc2 8 Kd4
c3 9 Rc8=
2 Rc5 Kd6
3 Rc8 Kd5
4 Kg4 Ke4!
This is the only move to win. To the
7. Whoever plays wins. straightforward 4...Kd4 white draws by 5
KfS with a similar manoeuvre as in e.g., 6a:
In Diagram 7 white has three ways of try­ .Kd3 6 Rd8 Kc2 7 Ke3 b3 8 Rb8 b2 9 Kd4
5..
ing for a win. Two of them are successful, Kd2 10Kc4=
but not the third one.
5Kg3
1 Kg4 If 5 Rc4 Kd3 6 Rb4 c2 7 Rb3 Kb4 and
The wrong way is 1 Rb5? c312 Rb4 Kd51 white wins as seen earlier in a similar posi­
3 Rb8 Kd4.4 Rc8 Kd3 5 Kg4 c2 6 KfS Kd2= tion. Or if 5 Re8 Kd3 6 Rd8 Kc2 7 Kf3 b3
The other winning alternative is 1 Rc5 c3 and the white king is unable to control the
2 Kg4 (if 2 Rc4? Kd5 3 Rb4 c2 4 Rb5 Kd6 5 queening.
Rb6 Kc7-+) 2...Kd6 3 Rc8 (3 Rc4? Kd5! 4 5..
.Kd3

160
 6 Kf3 b3 rook could capture one of' the two pawns
with check and then capture the other one
7 Rd8 Kc2
too: 2 Ra8 c2 3 Ra3 Kf4 4 Rc3 winning.
8 Ke3 b2 and black wins.
2 Rfl c2
3 Kg6 Kg3
4 Kf5 Kg2
5 Rai Kf3
Not 5...Kf2? 6 Ra2 and 7 Rc2.
6 Ke5 Ke3
7 Kf5...
If 7 Kd5 Kd3 8 Ke5 Kc3 9 Ke4 Kb2 19
Kd3 c 1 = Q! (10 Ka 1 ? Kc2 stalemate) I I Rc 1
Kc I and the a-pawn queens.
7..
.Kd3
8 Kf4 Kc3
9 Ke3 Kb2
10 Kd2 Kai II Kcl stalemate.

Diagram 8

8a) White to play wins

8b) Black to play draws
8a) White to play
Disconnected pawns as in the diagram
are weak, especially if they are not advanced
beyond the sixth rank. If white plays 1 Ra8
then comes 1 ...c2 2 Rc8 a2 and one of the
two pawns queens. Thus 1 Kg6? is answered
by l...a2 (1 ...c2 2 Rfl Kg3 3 Kf5 Kg2 4 Rel
and white is threatening to capture c2 with
check.) 2 Rfl Kg3 3 KfS Kg2 4 Rai Kf3 5
Ra2 Ke3 and white must give up his rook for
the pawn. Therefore white must do some­
thing forceful.
1 RI21... 9a) White to play wins
Isolated pawns are best controlled from 9b) Black to play draws
the flank. From f2 the rook prevents both
9a) White to play
pawns from crossing a2 and c2.
1.. .Kg3
1 Kh7...
2 Rc2+- White cannot capture a pawn with 1 Rc7
8b) Black to play. e5 2 Rc6 Kf5 3 Kf7 e4 4 Re6 Kf4 because the
1.. .a2 rook is blocking the king’s path to the queen­
1.. .c2 also draws, but not l...Kg3? be­ ing square via the queen-side. The move
cause when the king is on the third rank the played, Kh7 is good as the king starts indi­

161
rectly moving in the direction of the pawn it Rel Kd4 7 Kf7 e4 8 Kf6 e3 9 Kf5 Kd3 10
is not clear yet which pawn the rook should Kf4 e2 11 Kf3+-
keep under surveillance.
1.. .e5 Rook vs. Three Pawns
The defending side will have good
If 1 ...c5 2 Kh6 and the king gets under
chances if the pawns are connected. The
the pawns for if 2...Kf5 3 Kh5 e5 4 Kh4 Kf4
(White was threatening to play Kg3 and get­ superior side usually wins if the pawns are
ting under the e-pawn.) 5 Kh3 Kf3 6 Kh2 not connected and his king is not farther
away than the other king.
(threat 7 Kgl) 6...Kf2 7 Re7+-
And if 1 ...Kg5 2 Re7 Kf5 3 Kh6 and once
again the white king will walk down the
h-file till he is allowed into the g-file and
eventually under the e-pawn
2 Kh6 Kf5
If 2...e4 3 Ra5! cuts the king off the
e-pawn and then attacks the e-pawn when it
reaches e3 and could not be supported by the
king asin the notes to the first move of Ex­
ample No.4
3 Kh5 e4
4 Kh4

White gives priority to stopping the most

advanced pawn, the e-pawn.
Diagram 10
4.. .Kf4 10 Fazekas-Klein
5 Rf7 Buxton, 1950
This check helps his king get into the Black to Play
g-file. If it was white’s turn to move he could
5.. .Ke3 win with 1 Kc6 Ke6 (If 1 ...Kg6 2 Kd5 Kh6 3
Ke4 and white should win.) 2 Rg7 (this shat­
6 Kg3 e5
ters black's possible wave of pawns) 2...f5 3
7 Rc7 Kd4 Kc5 (As we have already leamt white must
8 Kf2 c4 get his king under the pawns.) 3...Ke5 4 Re7
9 Ke2 Kc3 Kf4 5 Kd4 h3 6 Rh7 Kg3 7Ke3 f4 (if 7...h2 8
Rg7 Kh3 9 Kf2) 8 Ke2 Kg2 9 Rg7 Khl 10
Kf2 and wins.
If 9...c3,10 Rc8 wins the c-pawn,imme-
diately. Let us see how the game went. I...g5 2
Kc6 Ke6 White must hot allow the white
king to get closer to the pawns. 3 Kc5 Ke5 4
10 Ke3 Kb3 Kc4 Ke4 5 Re7 Kf4 If 5...Kf3 6 Rf7. 6 Kd3
11 Ke4c3 f5 7 Ke2 g4 If 7...Kg3? 8 Re5
12 Kd3+- 8 Kf2 Kg5
If black is to play he draws by l...e5 2 Black finds that he cannot push through
Kh7 Kg5. But he will lose ifhe plays 1 ...c5 2 his pawns to win and therefore decides to
Rc7 Ke5 3 Rc5 Kd4 4 Rd e5 4 Rdl Kc3 6 keep his king behind his fortress of pawns

162
and get a draw. If 8...h3 9 Rg7 or if 8...g3 18Rc6 Kf7
Kg2 give white winning chances. 19 Rh6 Kg7
9 Rh7 h6 10 Rg7 Kf6 11 Rg8 Kf7 12 20 Rh5 Kg6
Ra8 Kg7 13 Kg3 Kf7 14 Kf4 Kg7 21 RgS Kh6
Black prevents the rook from attacking
22 Rg8 Kh7
his pawns from the rear and waits for white
to capture f5 on which he will push g4-g3. 23 Rf8 Kg6
15Ra5 Kg6! 24 Rg8 Kh7
Finally a draw! Black had to be careful
If now 16 Rf5 h2 and black wins!
right upto the end. If 24...Kh6? 25 Kf5! +-
16 Rb5 Kl>6! Also, if 24...Kf6? 25 Rg5+- Check these
17Rd6Kg7 yourself!

163
 Chapter 46
The Pawn Storm
The brand of chess recommended to
players who are very young and those who
are not so young but still love excitement is
the one where the players castle on opposite
sides and attack the opponent's castled posi­
tion with pawns. If the opponent castles on
the king-side, then castle on the queen side,
and if he castle on the queen side, then castle
on the king side. The idea is that you throw
your pawns on your opponent's castled posi­
tion in a violent attack. If you castle on the
same side as your opponent, maybe you
could still throw your pawns forward in as­
sault but as these very pawns provide a natu­
ral shield for your king when they are on
their original squares, their movements
could seriously weaken your own castled Diagram 1
position and provide dangerous attacking 1 Jalilof-Kengerlinsky 1970
prospects to your opponent. White to play
When your pawns advance against the In No. 1 if white plays the obvious 1 Qc2,
castled position of your opponent, they drive then comes 1 ...g6 when black could put up a
away the knights and bishops which might stubborn defence. It must be noted that in
be on the way. As a result, only the king and such positions even though the black bishop
his three pawns remain in the castled posi­ on e8 is a bad bishop because it runs on white
tion. This is often the point at which the king squares while its pawns are fixed on white
is weak and vulnerable to a quick tactical at­ squares, it is a good defence for g6 which
tack. If the attack is delayed to bring up re­ holds the key to black's castled position.
serves before launching the attack, then the Therefore white prevents ...g6.
opponent might have the time to prevent the
attack and the attack might never take place.
Ig6!l
Thus timing is very important in such situa­ This is a typical way to open up black's
tions and one learns a lot by practical experi­ castled position. 1 h5 is met by 1 ...g6
ence. When former World Champion 1.. .fg2h5!
Mikhail Tai was a school boy it is said that in This is the idea behind 1 g6. Without
the few minutes recess between classes he making any move the Rhl is already devel­
and his friends used to play many, many oped and ready to attack the black king.
games at high speed; and they always castled
on opposite sides and hurled each others 2.. .gh5?
pawns at the opponent's king searching for Black is unaware of the seriousness of
mating attacks all the time. They would open the position. This capture opens up his own
up the opponent's castled position by push­ castled position. One should not open up that
ing and sacrificing pawns and finally even section ofthe game where he is under attack.
sacrifice pieces to mate the king. Better for black would be 2...Nce5 (ex­

164
changing off white's well placed knight and tainly not 1 ...a3? 2 b3 when white might
opening up the c-file for his Rc8) 3 fe5 Qe7 even be better. 1 ...b3 involves a sacrifice be­
and if now 4 hg, then4...h6 to be followed by cause white has 3 forces to take on b3 while
.Nf8 when black has a solid position and
5,. black has only two to retake. But when you
the white bishop has no role in the game ex­ are going for the king, pawns and even
cept to defend g6. In the actual game white's pieces could be tossed away to open up lines
attack rages unhindered. of attack. Let us see how Tai continued.
3 Rh51! Bh5 4Bh7!I 1.. .b3!! 2 cb3 ab3 3 ab3?
It is important to strike immediately The losing side makes the same mistake
though in this case even after 4 Qh5 white as in No.l, opening’up the position where
could win: a) 4...g6 5 Bg6 Nde5 (5...hg6 6 the attack is threatened. However, here 3 ab
Qg6 mates) 6 Qh7 Kf8 7 fe5 Qc7 (7...Qe7? 8 could have been a winning move but for the
Qh8#) 8 Qh8 Ke7 9 Nd5! (This opens up the genius of Tai and his good foundation in his
c-file for the Rel) 9...ed5 IOQf6Kd7 11 Qf7 school days. 3 a3 blocking the position
Ne7 (H...Kd8 12 Qe8#) 12 Bf5 Kd8 13 would have put up a better defence. 3...Be2!!
Qf8#. b) 4...Nf8 (This seems to defend h7 This would be classified under ‘line open­
adequately and 5 Qf7 could not do much ing’ in chess tactics. Black wants to control
damage but from this position white has a the c-file before threatening Q-a5-a2» Now
forced mate in 3 moves. Try to find this with­ white cannot capture the bishop with his
out seeing the further continuation!) 5 Bh7!! rook as the rook is needed to move to c3 and
Nh7 6 Qf7 Kh8 7 Ng6#; 6...Kf8 7 fe5 provide an escape square for his king at c2.
But Tai has accounted for every contin­
.Kf8
4..
gency!
Capturing the bishop would lose imme­
diately: 4...Kh7 5 Qh5 Kg8 6Qf7 Kh7 7 Kd2 4 Qe2 Qa5 5 Rc3 Qa2
for 8 Rhl# This is the right square to give check be­
cause when the king goes to c2 the b2 pawn
5 Qh5 Nde5 6 fe5 Qe71 Ke2 Ne5 8 Rfl!
Nf7 9 Bg6 1-0. would be pinned.
6 Kc2 Rc3! 7 Kc3 Bb4! 8 Kb4
The acceptance of the second bishop is
forced. If 8 Kc2 Rc8 is curtains. And if 8
Kd3, Qb3#l
8.. .Qa5 9 Kc4 Qa6 0-l.
See diagram

3 Stanciu-Ghinda 1974
White to play

How do you evaluate No.3?

White is better because he has a pawn
more and black has no compensation. Fur­
ther, white controls the four central squares
and the only open file. Black has a
Diagram 2 fianchettoed setup on the king side but the
2 Honfi-Tai 1972 bishop is missing. In such a position one
Black to play says that black has a black square weakness.
In No.2 which pawn should black push White made use of this weakness by a pawn
and open up white's castled position? Cer­ assault.

165
 This move is one way of handling the
pawn rush with h4-h5. More popular is to
allow h4-h5 and avoid any weaknesses on
the king-side.
12 0-0-0 Ne5 13 Bg5 Rc5 14 Kbl b5
When black's pawns rush up the board
they gain tempi by attacking the Bb3 ar. .
Nc3. ■
15 g4 a5 16 gh5 a4 17 h6 Bh8 18 Bd5
Kh7!
This is a safe square to tuck away ones
king, right under an enemy pawn. Even if
white manages to get rid of his h4 pawn he
cannot make his h6 pawn disappear. White
has an extra pawn now but he has to contend
with ...b4 poking at his knight.
1 f5! gf5 This is forced. If black does
nothing about the f5 pawn it would advance
further to f6 and create hieous threats to the
19 Bf6 Bf6 20 f4 b4! 21 Nce2
king. If 1 ...ef2 e6 Kg8 (If 2...Kh6 3 Qh4# or
if 2...f6 3 Qd7 Kh6 4 e7 Rc8 5 Rd6 and white
wins easily.) 3 Qd8 Qd8 4 Rd8 Kg7 5 e7
wins. 2Qh4! White has the terrible threat of
3 Qf6 Kg8 4 Rd8+ - 2...h6 Other moves were
no better. If 2...Qe5 3 Qg5 Kf8 4 Rd8# Or if
.Rc8 3 Qf6 Kg8 4 Rd3 f4 5 Qf4 and black
2..
is helpless. 3 Qf6 Kh7 4 Rd81-0. Black can­
not parry the mate threat of 5 Qf7 and 5 Rb8.

The Sicilian defence abounds in possi­

bilities of castling on opposite sides and
pawn storming.

Th. Ernst-B.AIterman
Manila Olympiad, 1992 21.. .Rd5! 22 ed5 Nc4 23 Qb4
1 e4 c5 2 N13 d6 3 d4 cd4 4 Nd4 Nf6 5 Again the losing side opens up the posi­
Nc3 g6 6 Be3 Bg7 7 13 tion where he is being attacked. 23 Qd3
maintaining the position and threatening 24
This starts the Yugoslav Attack against h5 was preferable.
the Sicilian Dragon. The plan is to play
g2-g4, h2-h4-h5 etc., while black storms on
23.. .Qc7 24 Qc3 Bg4 25 Rhel Rb8 26
the queen-side with his a and b-pawns.
b3 Qc5
Black cannot win by 26...Be2 27 Re2
.0-0
7.. 8 Qd2 Nc6 9 Bc4 Bd7 10 h4 Rc8 Na3 because of 28 Kb2. After the text
11 Bb3 h5 (26...Qc5) black threatens 27...Na3 28 Kb2

166
Nb5 29 Qc5 dc5 and the pinned knight is black has the advantage though white is still
lost, in the game.
27 Kel?
If 27 Kai? Na3 28 Qc5 dc5 and the 27.. .ab3 28 cb3
pinned Nd4 falls. It is amazing how black's
two bishops control the whole game by pins. If 28 ab3 Qa3 29 Kbl Ra8-+
Comparatively better would have been 27
Rd3 Bf5 28 Rfi ab 29 ab Qa3 (threat
2O...Rb3!) 30 Qc4 Rc8 31 Qc8 Bc8 and 28.. .Qa3 29 Kbl Bf5 30 Ka 1 Qa2! 10-1.

167
 Chapter 47
Don’t Blame The Blunder
You would have often heard of the term Petrosian left his queen to be taken in the
'blunder* in chess. What is a blunder? The 1952 Zurich Candidates Tournament.
dictionary defines blunder as 'a big mistake'.
Who are the people who make big mistakes?
Beginners, of course! So, when you stop
making big mistakes you are already leaving
the ranks of beginners and moving upward.
When your opponent threatens to capture
your queen, you might move some other
piece according to your original thinking
and therefore lose your queen. You might
also place your queen or rook or some other
piece on a square controlled by your oppo­
nent's pieces and lose it. Or you might ex­
pose a piece by moving a pawn and lose the
piece. These are clear cases of a blunder. At
your level, blunders occur because no at­
tempt is made to understand the opponent's
simple threats. You are carried away by your
1 .Short-Belyavsky
own plans and completely forget that you Linares 1992
have an opponent and that he has bad plans . White to play aand lose!
for you! Looking for victory Short avoided 1 Nf6
1 remember a game that I played against which draws and played lKe6 when l...Bc8
K.K.Shukla in the penultimate round of the was mate.
1963 National Championship at Bombay. Sometimes a player may not understand
In an equal position Shukla gave a check. a tactical point and become a vicitm. In such
I saw that my normal reply would give him a cases, it is not a blunder but it is inexperi­
draw by perpetual check and moved my king ence. Take No.2 for example.
to a4 where I saw no perpetual check. And
there it was mated in just one move! How do
you explain this? This was due to sheer care­
lessness coupled with great confidence in
my position. This characteristic of analysing
one variation in great depth and then dis­
carding it and plunging into a variation with
hardly a thought has been my big problem. If
you have the same problem you should make
a conscious effort to spend adequate but
resonable time on all variations in a position
so that you are not caught on the wrong
square.
Grandmasters are not prone to beginner's
blunders though in one famous case

168
 K.J.Parel-M. Aaron 44 Qt6 Ng6 (if 44 Rg6 Qh8#) 45 Qd4 1-0.
Bombay 1963
Black to play and lose.
White has just set up a threat to win a
pawn through the tactic of attraction. I didn't
see it and went through with my plan and
played the thematic l...a6?
The reply was 2 Nd6! and I could not
play 2...Qd6 because 3 Bf4 wins the Rb8.
Thereafter I had no chance and lost. Now, if
a beginner had played 1 ...a6, it would be at­
tributed to inexperience. But at my level of
play, it was clearly a blunder.

4. Illescas - Yusupov
Linares 1992
Black to play and lose.
For Yusupov, the move that he played
here, l...Nge7?? is a blunder because white
replied 2Bc41 and the bishop could not be
captured because of 2... dc4 3 Nc4 Qa6 4
Nd6 Kd8 5 Nf7 and 6 Nh8.

Timman-Karpov
Linares 1992
White to play
White had to make his 39th move and
probably both players were runing short of
time. Timman played 39Rcl? blundering
away the d4 pawn. 39...Rd4 40 Nf6?7
(White blunders again because black now
has the chance to win with 4O...Rh4 41 Kg2
Bh3 42 Kf2 Qg3 43 Ke3 Qel 44 Reel Kf6
winning easily)
4O...Kf6??
Karpov misses his chance as shown 5.White to play
above.
No.5 is a game between two WGMs in
41 Re6! Be6 42 Qe6 Kg7 43 Qf7 Kh6 Europe. White to move played 1 Rg8?? Rg8
If 43... Kh8 44 Qf6 Rg7 (If 44..Kh7 45 2 Rg7 Rg7 and black won. One commenta­
Bg8 first and then 46 Qd4) 45 Qh6 Rh7 46 tor described this as the ugliest double rook
Qf8 Ng8 47 Qg8# sacrifice in chess history. Why did white

169
throw away two rooks and resign? Her idea Even though this example illustrated a
was that after 1 Rg8 Rg8 she will play 2 Rb8 blunder, its also has a moral: Never resign!
K-moves 3 hg8=Q. Accordingly when she Your opponent might still get crazy
picked up her rook to play Rb8 she was ideas and hand over the game to you. No ad­
shocked to see that her king was under vantage is ever got by resigning a game.
check. Having touched the Rb7 she had to
I have often heard players claim that they
move it and it lost its life on g7. If she had
lost due to a blunder. But when I see their
noticed the check before picking up the rook
games there is no blunder, just stupid play.
she could have still played 2 hg8 Kg8 3 Rb6.
Players do not like to admit that they were
In this case too it was a blunder. White could
outplayed, that their ideas were wrong.
have won easily by 1 Rf6 Ke8 2 Rb8 Rd8 (if
They like to throw the blame on the poor
2.. Ke7 3 Rh8 Kf6 4 RfB and 5 h8Q) 3 Rd8
'blunder' and sleep easily.
Kd8 4 Rf7 Ke8 5 Rg7 Kf8 6 Ra7! and black
must finally play ...Ke8 allowing Ra8 and That is not the road to becoming a strong
Rxh8. player.

170
 Chapter 48
Simple Rook Endings
The most common endgame that occurs h-pawn and staying in the h8 comer as
is the rook and pawn ending. The reason is white's white square bishop does not control
that the rooks are not very active in the the black h8 square. (We have already dem­
middlegame and are content to guard the onstrated on how a lone king draws against a
first rank and occupy open files when the oc­ rook pawn and a bishop which is not of the
casion arises. Mostly, the queens, knights same colour as the queening comer.)
and bishops play the main role in the What should have white played instead
middlegame and get exchanged off in the of 1 Ke3? He should have played 1 Bdl and
course of play leaving the rooks to enter the then manoeuvred his king to g3 to protect
battle in the endgame. the h4 pawn and thus release his Rhl from
Sometimes rook endings are tricky. You the need to defend h4.
are a pawn up and hope to win but the oppo­ There is a simple rule for rook endings:
nent's rook does crazy things threatening A rook belongs behind a passed pawn. Take
perpetual check or getting into a stalemate. a simple case where a white pawn is on d6
For instance take the following position: and a white rook on d8 (in front of the pawn)
while the black king is on e6. Neither the
pawn nor the rook could move. If 1 Rd7 the
rook is en prise' (a French chess term which
means the rook is on take) or if the rook
moves elsewhere black simply plays Kxd6.
And if 1 d7 then l...Ke7 forces the rook to
move away abandoning the pawn. Suppose
that the rook is behind the pawn at d 1 instead
of at d8, then white is actually threatening 1
d7 as the Rook is no longer at the vulnerable
d8. Even if the d6 pawn is blocked, the rook
has enough safe squares along the d file to
keep supporting his d6 pawn.
This is when the rook is on the offensive.
Even for defensive purposes, the rook be­
longs behind the passed pawn of the enemy.
For example, place a white rook on el, a
black pawn on e3 and a black king on f3.
1 Grabarczyk-Macievsky Black easily collects the rook for the pawn in
1993 Polish Championship a few moves: l...Kf2 2 Rai e2 3 any move,
White to play el=Q4Rel Kel.
White has a bishop more and hopes for White had only one free move to make
an easy win. The king must move towards on the third move as all the other moves were
the pawns, so he played 1 Ke3? Black re­ forced. Now place the rook behind the pawn
plied with the startling rook offer 1 ...Rgl IT on e8. The game can go 1 ...Kf2 2 any move,
and the players agreed to a draw. If 2 Rgl, it e2 3 any move, elQ 4 Rel Kel. So you see
is stalemate. Or if 2 Rh2 Rg2! or if 2 Rh3 that with the rook placed behind the pawn
Rg3! all lead to stalemate. Or if 2 Be4 Rhl 3 white had two free moves instead of only
Bh 1 Kg7 and black draws by giving up his one when the rook was in front.

171
 Diagram 2 Diagram?
2 White to play 3 Study by Emmanuel Lasker
In No.2 white has two connected passed Black is threatened with mate and must
pawns in the centre and should win easily. move his king. If 1...Rel? 2 Rh8 Re8 3 Re8
But he has to be careful. For example, if Ke8 4 Kc7 and the pawn queens.
white plays 1 e5?? Kd5 and it is impossible .Kc8 If 1 ...Ke8 2 Rh8 Kf7 3 Kd7 Rai
l..
for white to win; his rook has to stay on the 4 d6 Ra7 5 Kc6 Ra6 6 Kc7 Ra7 7 Kb6! Rd7 8
third rank preventing ...Rh3 and his king Kc6 Ra7 9 d7 wins.
must keep defending the d4 pawn.
2 Rh8 Kb7 3 Kd7 Rgl 4 d6 Rg7 5 Ke6
White's best move is to move up his Rg6 6 Ke7 Rg7 7 Kf6! Rd7 8 Ke6 Rg7 9 d7
pawns and king together. The king should wins.
defend his pawns while the pawns gradually
advance and also shield the king from
checks by the enemy rook. The idea is to
control the squares in front of the black king
and then check with the rook, forcing the
king to move backwards.
Correct play could be: 1 Kc4 (Now the
main threat is 2 Ra3.) L..Rh4 (If l...Kd7 2
Rg7 Kc6 [2...Kd6 3 Ra7] 3 e5 Kb6 4 Rf7
Kc6 5 d5 Kb6 6 Rf6! exchanges rook and
wins.) 2 Rg6 Kc7 3 e5 Kd7 4 Kd5 This is the
way to advance the king and pawns together.

The black rook can give no harassing

checks. Now the threat is 5 Rg7. 4...Rhl If
.Rh7, then 5 Ra6 threatening 6 Ra7.5 Rg7
4..
Ke86 Kd8 If6 Ke6, Rh6.6...Ral If6...Rh6?
Diagram 4
7 e6 Rh8 8 Rh7 wins. 4 The Lucena position.
7 e6 Ra6 8 Ke5 Rai 9 d5 Ra5 10 Kf6! Knowledge of the the Lucena position is
Kf8 very important for all rook and pawn end­
If 10...Kd8 11 d6! ings. This position was discovered by
11 e7 Ke8 12 Rg8 Kd7 13 e8=Q wins. Lucena, of Spain in the 15th century.

172
 Black's defence lies in not allowing the
white king out of the g8 square. If white tries
to win simply by 1 Rel Kd7 2 Kf7 black has
perpetual check with 2...Rf2 3 Kg6 Rg2 4
Kf6 Rf2 5 Kg5 Rg2 etc.
Therefore white has to prepare a shelter
against the rook checks before going
through with his plan of checking the black
king and bringing his king out to f7.
1 Rf4! Rhl 2 Re4 Kd7 3 Kf7 Rfl 4 Kg6
Rgl 5 KI3 Rfl
It is necessary to analyse black's alterna­
tives: (a) 5...Kd6 6 Rf4! and black cannot
stop white's plan of 7 Kf7 and 8 g8=Q; (b)
5.. .Kd8 6 Re5 and now black is helpless
against the threat of 7 Rg5 and 8 g8=Q; (c)
5.. .Rg2 6 Re5 for 7 Rg5.
Diagram 5
6 Kg4 Rgl 7 Rg4 wins. If 5 Ka6 Ra2 6 Kb6 Rb2 with a draw.
The Lucena position is applicable to all 5..
.Rc2 6 Kd8 Rh2! 7 Rb6 KcS 8 Rc6! Kb5
pawns on the 7th rank except with pawns on 9 Rc8 Rh810 Kc7 Rh711 Kb8 and wins.
the a and h files.
Examine the following position:
White-Kh8; Rf2; Ph7. Black-Ke7, Rgl. The
white king is locked up at h8 and cannot
emerge. For example, if 1 Ra2 Kf7 2 Ra8
Rg2 3 Rg8 Rh2 4 Rg7 Kf8 5 Rg4 Rf2! This
defence was not possible in the Lucena posi­
tion with other pawns. Here the white king
cannot emerge from h8 on the right side as
there is no i-file. The position is therefore
drawn.
With a rook pawn, a win is possible only
if the king of the weaker side is cut off from
the pawn by at least four clear files.
Take No.5 for example.
See diagram
White must utilise the unfavourable po­
Diagram 6
sition of black’s king and try to get his king 6 White to play.
out fast. He must go for the direct route.
1 Rhl Ke7 2 Rh8 Kd6 White cannot win in No.6 as his rook is
If 2...Kd7 3 Rg8 Ra2 4 Kb7 Rb2 5 Ka6 poorly placed in front of his pawn. If he
Ra2 6 Kb5 Rb2 7 Kc5 and wins. By playing moves the rook anywhere, the pawn is lost.
the king to d6 as in the main line, Black is Therefore he must protect the pawn with his
preventing white's eventual Kc5. But, as one king before moving his rook. But then, after
could see, black loses control over c8. 1 Kb6 Rb3 2 Ka5 Ra3 3 Kb4 Rai white has
3 Rg8 Ra2 4 Kb7 Rb2 5 Kc8 achieved nothing.

173
 If in the diagrammed position the black Diagram 7
rook is on e7 instead ofa3, white wins imme­
diately by 1 Rg8! Kg8 2 a8=Q. 7 Black to play and draw.
In chess there are exceptions to the rules.
Again, in the diagrammed position if the
We have so far emphasised the importance
black king were at f6 (or f4) white wins by 1
of stationing the rook behind a pawn.
RfB Ke7 2 a8=Q.
In No.7, if we play l...Rbl? or l...Rcl?
The most important lesson to be learnt is white would win after 2 Kc6 as we already
when the black king is at f7 in the diagram
leam from No 3. The trouble is that after
instead of at g7. Then white wins by a
.Rcl or 1 ...Rbl black has no more checks
l..
skewer: 1 Rh8! (threat 2 a8=Q) l...Ra7 2
as the pawn shelters the white king and he is
Rh7 K-any 3 Rxa7.
threatened with mate in one move. There­
Therefore, in the diagram position, the fore the only way to draw would be to tum
black king is safe only at g7 and h7, except of the pawn shelter into a non-shelter and this is
course, if it is too close to the pawn at b7 or how it is done.
so. To draw the game black must keep his
.Rg6!
I..
rook at al and wait till the white king ap­
proaches b6 to start giving checks. Till then, Do not allow the king to advance and
his king can mark time with Kg7-Kh7-Kg7. create mate threats. Wait till white pushes
the pawn to c6 and the pawn loses its utility
as a shelter. Then switch the rook back to at­
tack the king from the rear:
2c6Rgl!
If now 3 Kb6 the rook starts checking
from the rear and draws as the white king no
longer has a pawn shelter after c5-c6. Or if 3
Rh5 planning to parry checks by interposing
with his rook along the 5th rank, then black
plays 3...Kc7 and white has made no prog­
ress.
This method of drawing also applies
against pawns on other file. These analyses
were first made by Philidor (1726-1795)
who was the best player of his times. They
still hold good.

174
 Chapter 49
Queen Endings
Chapter 48 was titled' Simple Rook End­ If 2 Kg8 Qd8 3 Kf7 Qd7 4 Kf6 Qd4! -
ings’. Unfortunately, it is not possible to hon- forcing the king to move supporting the
estly title this lesson'SimpIe Queen pawn-5 Kg6 Qg4 6 Kh6 (6 Kh7 Qh5 7 Kg8‘
Endings'. The fact is that queen endings are Qe8 8 Kh7 Qh5 draws.)6...Qh4 with perpet­
not simple. Yet, they occur more frequently ual check. Likewise, after 2 Kg8 Qd8 3 Kh7
than other endings in the games of begin­ Qh4 4 Kg6 Qg4 is again drawn.
ners. The reason is that most of you love the
.Qd8! 3 g8Q Qf6 4 Q8g7 Qd8 Q7g8
2..
power of the queen and like to keep it on the
Qh4 6 Q7h7 Qf6 and the game is drawn by
board as long as possible. So, while other perpetual check even though white has a
pieces get exchanged off, the queens remain
queen more.
on board to cause queen endings.
Queen and Pawn versus Queen is the
first ending that one should get used to. If
you have the queen and pawn, your aim
should be to push the pawn to queen. The de­
fending side would try to stop the progress of
the pawn by pinning it and by giving perpet­
ual check. The queen is eminently suited for
pinning vertically, diagonally and horizon­
tally and for giving long range checks along
files and diagonals.

Botvinnik-Ravinsky
Moscow 1944
Black to play
1.. .Qg8 2 Qe5!
In most queen endings the superior side
(the side which has more material) should
think of posting his queen in the centre of the
board. As we all know, the queen controls
more squares from the centre than else­
where. This automatically means that the
opponent’s queen has less squares for its use.
2.. .Ka4
Diagram 1
D.Lolly (1763) Black would lose if the queens are ex­
changed. He must therefore move his king to
Black to play and draw.
a safe square where white's check would not
No.l Illustrates the minus points of the
also simultaneously threaten to exchange
cornered king.
queens. Let us now examine black's alterna­
l..
.Qh4 2 Qh7 tives here.

175
 If 2...Kb6/Ka6, then 3 Kg6! Qc8
(White's threat was 4 Qf6 and 5 Qf7 ensuring
the queening of the pawn. If 3 ...Qd8? 4 Qf6
forces the exchange of queens and wins.) 4
Qb2.Ra7 (If the king goes to the c-file, say
Kc7, then 5 Qc2 and the exchange of queens
wins.) 5 Qa2! (A good move. White gives
check and simultaneously gains control of
the queening square, g8.) 5...Kb7 6 g8=Q
wins.
3 Kg6!
White now threatens to exchange
queens at f7 by 4 Qf4 K-any 5 Qf7. Black
cannot defend against this threat by moving
the king away, forexample, if3...Ka3 4 Qe3!
Kb2 5 Qf2 K-any 6 Qf7 wins. To arrest the advance of the pawn black
tries pinning. After 3...Qh8 4 Kg4 black has
.Qc8
3.. no check as 4,..Qd4? 5 Qf4 exchanges
queens.

If 3...Qd8 4 Qe6 (threatening to queen on 4 Qf4 Ka5 5 Qd2 Ka4 6 Qd4

g8) 4...Qd3 (There is no other check.) 5 Kf7 By giving a series of checks white has
Qf3 (After 5...Qfl 6 Ke7 black has no centralised his queen without loss of any
check.)6Ke7! Qb7(6...Qa3 7 Ke8 and again tempo.
black has run out of checks.) 7 Qd7! is a 6.. .Ka5 7 Kg5 Qe7 8 KfS! Qf8 9 Ke4!
counter check which forces the exchange of
White is using the position of black's
queens and wins.
king very intelligently. Now any black
check is answered by a counter check and
4 Qf4 1-0. the exchange of queens: If9...Qe8 10Qe5or
If9...Qa8 10Qd5. And white is threatening
g6-g7.
It is instructive to leant why black re­
signed. Here are three variations: 9.. .Qh6 10 Qe5 Ka4 11 g7 Qhl
a) If 4...K to a5 or b5 5 Qf5 exchanges If 1 l...Qh4 12Qf4Qe7 13 Kd5 K-any 14
g8=Q.
queens.
b) If 4...Ka3 5 Qf8 exchanges queens. 12 Kd4 Qdl 13 Kc5 Qel 14 Kd6 Qd2
IS Ke6 Qa2
c) If 4...Kb3 5 Qf7 K-any 6 g8=Q.
Botvinnik demonstrated another method After 15...Qh6 16 Kd5 black has two
of handling the superior side in No.3. checks, and both are answered by counter
See diagram checks.

Botvinnik-Minev 16Qd5
White to play. With his g7 no longer under attack, white
parries a check and simultaneously moves
1 Qf6 Qd5 1 ...Qd2?? would lose imme­ the queen onto the a2-g8 diagonal control­
diately to 2. Qf4. ling the queening square g8.
2 Qf5 Qd8 3 KhS Qe8 16.. .Qe2 17 Kd6 Qh2

176
 If 17 ...Qa6 18Qc6 7.. .Qd7 8 Kf8 wins, or if 7...Qe5 8 Qf6 pins
the queen.] 8 Qf7 Qg2 9 Kf8 and wins.) 4
18 Kc5 1-0.
Kf7 Qf2 (If 4...Qc7 5 Ke6 Qb8 6 Kd7! or il
Black has checks on c2, c7 and Q, but all
4.. .Qf5 Qf6 Qd7 or Qh7 6 Kf8 or if 4...Qh5 5
of them are answered by counter checks.
Qg6 Qf3 6 Kg8 all win.) 5 Qf6 Qa7 6 Kf8
In these endings the position of the king Qc5 7 Kg7 Qgl (If 7...Qc7 8 Qf7 and 9
of the defending side plays a big role. It e8=Q) 8 Qg6 Qd4 9 Kg8 Qd5 10 Qf7 pins
should not interfere with his queen’s chances the queen, forces exchange and wins.
of giving perpetual check. The main prob­
c) l...Kbl (or Kc2) 2 Kg8 Qg4 3 Kh8
lem is when giving perpetual check the supe­
Qd4 (3...Qh5 4 Qh7 is check) 4 Qg7 Qd7 5
rior side's queen interposes and gives check
Qg6 K-any 6 e8=Q
as shown in the above example. Now let us
take a pawn on the seventh rank of a central
2 Qd5
file.
With the black king on cl, white would
find it difficult to answer a check with an in­
terposed counter check, a theme with which
we are now familiar thanks to the earlier ex­
ample. Therefore white plans to move his
king to the queen-side to take advantage of
black's king on the c-file. But before that, he
first centralises his queen.
.Qf4
2..
Now that the white queen is no longer at
f7, black can try taking back his king to the
a-file as he need no longer fear counter
checks from f6, g7, h7 etc: 2...Kb2 3 Kf7
Qf4 4 Ke6 Qg4 5 Kd6 Qb4 6 Kd7 Qg4 7
Kd8 Qh4 8 Qd7 Kai (8...Qg5 9 Kc8 Qc5 10
Qc7 Qf5 11 Kb8 Qe6 12 Qb7 Ka2 13 Ka8
and now white threatens 14 Qa7 Kb2 15 Qb8
Kc3 16 e8=Q) 9 Kc8 Qc4 10 Kb8 Qf4 11
In No.4 black has no perpetual check, but
Ka8 Qe4 12 Qb7 wins.
he can prevent the pawn from moving by
pinning it. As he is already pinning the
pawn, all that he can do now is to shift the 3 Kg7 Qc7
king to a square where a white counter check If 3...Qg3 4 Kf6 Qc3 5 Kf7 Qc7 6 Qd4
would not result in exchange of queens. (threat: KfS) 6...Qb7 7 Qc3 K-any 8 Kf8.

1..
.KC1 4 Kf6 Qb6
If 4...Qc3, Kf7 or if 4...Qf4 5 Kg6!
a) If the king moves along the al-h8 di­
agonal (l...Kal or I...Kc3), then 2 Kg8 un­
pins the pawn and threatens to queen it. 5 Kf5 Qf2
Moreover, after 2 Kg8 if2...Qb8 3 e8=Q, or
if 2...Qg4 3 Qg7. 6 Ke6 Qb6
b) If l...Ka3 2 Qf6 (threat 3 Qal Kb3 4 If 6...Qe3 7 Kd6 Qg3 8 Kd7 Qg4 9 Kd8
Qbl) 2...Qc5 3 Qc6 Kb3 (if 3...Kb2 4 Kf7 Qh4 10Qd7Kbl 11 Kc8Qc4 12Kb8Qf4 13
Qd5 5 Qe6 Qh5 6 Qg6 Qd5 7 Kg7 Qb7 [if Qc7 wins.

177
 7 Qd6 QbS If the pawn is on the rook or knight files,
If7...Qb3 8 Kd7 Qh3 9 Kc7 and 7...Qe3 8 the best position for the king of the defend­
Kd7 lead to variations already discussed. ing opposite corner. With a rook pawn, the
defending side would be the diagonally op­
8 Qf4 Kdl
posite comer. With a rook pawn, the defend­
This is the only move for immediate sur­ ing side has excellent chances of drawing In
vival. If 8...K.C2 9 Qf5 or if 8...Kb2 9 Qe5 ex­ the 1957 National Championship at Pune. I
changes off queens. was also to win with a rook pawn against the
9 Qc7! Qe2 endgame specialist, Turab Ali. The long
10 Kd7 Qg4 range checks and pinning as a defensive de­
vice are quite complicated.
11 Kd8 Qh4
12 Kc8 and white wins by counter Practical experience is the best teacher
checks. for these endings.

178
 Chapter 50
Rook+Pawn vs. Queen
We have already learnt how a lone 1 Qg7 Kd8
queen can win against a lone rook but only It is always advisable to keep the rook
after a big struggle where the defence uses stationary with the pawn supporting it so
stalemate threats. Therefore it is reasonable that it is impossible for the queen to pick up
to expect that a rook and pawn could put up the rook with check. Black plans to move the
an even stronger fight against the queen. king around the pawn, supporting it.
This lesson could be of great practical use
since most of us at some time or the other are
2 QI8 Kc7 3 Qg8 Rc6 4 KeS Re6 5 KdS
faced with the loss of our queen and resign.
Rc66Qg3Kd8 is a draw as white has made
Really, there is no need to lose hope because no progress.
the queen is gone, unless it is for no compen­
sation at all. Quite often you get a rook for it,
and quite often, more than a rook for the
queen. In such cases, do not give up hope.
The player with the queen is likely to take it
easy and land himself in a position where a
rook and pawn draw against a Ione queen.
First, I give two theoretical positions
wh ich are ofgreat instructional value. Then I
close with a practical example from my tour­
nament experience.

2 White to play, wins.

This is a win for the queen as it has more

manoeuvring space and restricts black's
choice of moves and manages to win mate­
rial.
The King plays an active role in the pro­
ceedings, getting to black's rear and making
black's defence of the pawn very difficult.
1 Qh7 Ke6
If l...Kd8 2Qf7Kc8 3Qa7Kd8 4Qb8
1 White to play Kd7 5 Qb7 Kd8 6 Qc6 Ke7 7 Qc7 Ke6 8 Qd8
Amazingly, this is a draw! To win, white Rf5 9 Kg4 Re5 10 Qe8 Kf6 (If 10...Kd5 11
must either win the pawn or the rook. And to Qc8! with play akin to that in the main line.)
do this, he must force the rook to move away 11 Qd7 Rd5 (If ll...Re6? 12 Kf4) 12 Kf4
and get picked up with a check or squeeze Rd4 13 Ke3 Rdl 14 Qd8 Kf7 15 Qh4! and
the king away from the pawn and win it. He white is winning because there are no useful
can do neither. moves forblack whose pieces are disjointed.

179
If !5...Rd5 16 Qc4 Ke6 17 Ke4 wins, or if protected by the pawn and the pawn is safest j
15.. .Ke6 16 Qg4. And if the rook leaves the when it is protected by the king.
d-file, then 15...Rai 16 Qh7 Ke6 (16...Ke8? 5.. .Re4 6 Kf5 Re5 7 Kf6 Re4 8 Qc3 Re6 [
17 Qh8 wins) 9 Kf7 Re5 10 Kf81 Re4
17 Qg6 Kd5 (!7...Kd7 18 Qg7) 18 Qe4 If 10...Ke6 11 Ke8 and the king will
Kc5 19 Qd4 and 20 Qa 1 gradually approach the pawn. Or if I0...Ke4
2 Qc7 RcS 3 Qd8 Re5 4 Qe8 Kd5 11 Qc4 Kf5 12 Qc6 Ke6 13 Ke8 etc.
If 4...Kf6 5 Qd7 Re6 6 Kg4 Ke5 (If 11 Qd3 Rd 412 Qf5 Kc4 13 Qc2 Kd514
6.. .Re4? 7 Kf3 Re6 8 Kf4 and black is in Ke7 Ke5 15Qe2 Kf4 16 Kd7 Rd5 17 Kc7!
zugzwang!) 7 Kg5 Kd5 8 Qf7! Ke5 9 Qf5 Rd4 18Kc6
wins the rook. Now the rook has been immobilised.
5 Qc8! Any rook move would lose.
A very fine move which is difficult to an­ 18.. .K15 19Qe3
swer. If now: (a) 5...Rh5 6 Qa8 Kd4 (If Now black loses by force. If 19.. Rdl 20
6.. .Ke6? 7 Qe8 or if 6...Kc5 7 Qa5 winning Qf3 or if 19...Re4 20 Qd3 Ke5 21 Qd6.
the rook in both cases or if 6...Kc4 7 Qc6
Now let us see a position from my tour­
winning the pawn.) 7 Qa7 and black loses
nament experience.
material wherever the king goes. If7...Kc4 8
Qf7 Rd5 9Ke4, or if 7...Kd5 8 Qf7 or if
7.. .Ke6 8 Qe3 Kc2 (or Kc4) 9 Qf3 winning
the rook in all cases and finally, if 7...Kc3 8
Qa3 winning the pawn.
(b) If 5...ReI 6 Qa8! Kd4 (All other
moves lose pawn or rook. Check this out
yourself.) 7 Qa4! and whereverthe king goes
a pawn or rook is lost.
(c) If 5...Re2 6 Qa8 and again white wins
material with moves similar to those in vari­
ation (b) which you should check out and get
practice in such calculations.
(d) If 5...Kd4 6 Qc6! (Notice how the
queen does not give check but restricts the
enemy pieces and forces them into weaker
positions where it could win material.)
6.. .Rd5 (If 6.,.d5 7 Qa4 and next move Ke5.)
7 Kf3 Ke5 (If 7...Rf5 8 Kg4 Rd5 9 Kf4 and
Delli Babu-M.Aaron
Madras 1972
black is in zugzwang!) 8 Qc3 Kf5 9 Qc4 From a very difficult game where I was
Re5! 10 Qf7 Kg5 11 Qd7 Rf5 12 Kg3 Rd5 (If two pawns down, I had brought about the
12.. .Rf6 13 Qg4 Kh6 14 Kh4 Kh7 15 Qd7 position in the diagram. Now, 52...Ke7
[Note that white would lose the queen after
would lose to 53 Re8 (the rook is unpro­
15 Kh5 or 15 Qh5 or 15 Qg5] 16...Kg6 17 tected on e5) and 52...Re7 would lose to 53 ■
Kg4 Kh6 18 Qe7 Kg6> 19 Qe8 Kh6 20 Qh8 Rc8 Bd7 54 Nd5. However, 52...Re6 would :
Kg6 21 Qg8 Kh6 22 Qg5 winning the rook.) have drawn the game comfortably. But after
13 Qe6 Rd3 14 Kf2 Rd2 15 Kf3 Rd3 16 Ke2 winning back the two pawns lost earlier, I ■
wins. was in euphoria and hoped to win the game .
From these variations we come to the by capturing the d pawn. So I thought of ;
conclusion that the rook is safest when 4t is ...Kg7 to be followed by ...Re7 and then

180
 ,.Rd7 with excellent winning chances. the preliminary 58 g5 and then manoeuvre
When you are looking for victory in a posi­ his knight via dl. f2 and g4 to h6.
tive frame of mind, you can often forget to
58.. .Bd5 59 Qd5 h6! 60 Kf2 Kg7 61 h4
double check. See what happened.
Kg8
Black's strategy is clear. His king is go­
.Kg7??
52.. ing to move only among the 4 squares g7, g8.
How can an IM make such a gross mis­ h7, h8. The white king can in no case cross
take? This must be due to a combination of the 5th rank as the Re6 is going to be there
circumstances like what had happened im­ permanently and the queen is unable to at­
mediately before a few moves, the frame of tack from the rear as there is no space below
mind of the player, whether he is trying to the Sth rank. Some people would describe
win or draw, how much he feels about the the black position as an impregnable for­
outcome, whether he is normally a superior tress.
player than his opponent, etc. 62 K13 Kg7 63 Kf4 Kh7 64 h5 gh 65 gh
Recapturing with the queen would have
53 Rg8! Kg8 54 d8=Q Re8 55 Qd6 Re6 made no difference to black's defence.
56 Qd8 Kg7 57 Qd4 Kg8 58 Nd5? 65.. .Kg8 66 Kf5 Kh7 67 Qd7 Kg8 68
After this move, black's chances of draw Qd8 Kg7 69 Kf4 Rf6 70 Ke5 Re6 71 Kf5
become real. White should not exchange his Ra6 72 Ke5 Re6 73 Kf5 Ra6 74 Qd4 Kg8
knight for the bishop. Instead, he should play 75 Qg4 Kh7 Draw.

181
 Chapter 51
Outposts For Knights
In the middle-game when both players plans to attack on the queen-side with his
are jockey ing for a better position, they try to pawns. Black's pawn on d6 is called a back­
place their own pieces on advantageous ward pawn as it cannot advance without be­
squares so that they could aid in attack and ing captured and it has no other pawn on the
prevent any counter-attack from the oppo­ adjoining c or e files supporting it. Black is
nent. These advantageous squares in the op­ said to have a weak d5 square as he has no
ponent's half of the board which are free of pawn control over it and he has a backward
enemy pawn control are known as outposts. pawn on d6. Logically, this d5 square would
Here, we are going to examine only outposts make an ideal outpost for the knight. How­
for knights. ever, if one occupies the weak d5 square im­
In an I e4 opening white generally tries mediately with 1 Nd5, the exchange 1 ...Bd5
to plant his knight on d5 and in I d4 open­ forces 2 ed5 (Qd5 Bg5 leads to a good game
ings, he tries to place his knight on e5. From for black.) after which black has no weak­
these central squares the knight wields enor­ ness on d5 and his d6 pawn is no longer an
mous influence on the game as it cramps the object of attack. Therefore white prepares
enemy position and is close enough to the for Nd5.
opponent’s king to set up mating threats in 1 h4
collaboration with other pieces, mainly the This move supports the g5 pawn and re­
queen. leases the Qd2 and the Be3 from the need to
remain on the c 1 -g5 diagonal supporting the
g5 pawn. It also fits in with his long term
plan of a pawn offensive on the black castled
position. But the most important strategical
consideration is that it vacates h3 for the
Bfl. White plans to exchange his inactive
Bfl with black's well placed Be6 and simul­
taneously complete his development.
.bS
l..
2 Bh3!
In such positions an inexperienced
player would be tempted to play 2 a3 ? to pre­
vent 2...b4. Though the move 2 a3 would
prevent black’s immediate b5-b4, black
would eventually be able to prepare and
make that push when white would be forced
Fischer-Bolbochan to play ab4 opening up his own castled posi­
Stockholm, 1962 tion for the enemy.
White to play.
In diagram No.l with both players hav­ „Bh3
2.
ing castled on opposite sides, white has al­ If 2...b4 3 Nd5 BdS 4 Qd5 when the exit
ready made his intentions clear about an of black's white square bishop would make
attack on the king side as his pawn is on g5. white's white square bishop on h3 supreme
Black has got a good bishop on e6 and he along the h3-c8 diagonal.

182
 Or if 2...Nb6 3 Bb6 Qb6 4 Nd5 Qd8 (if 13 Rc7 Rde8
4. Bd5 5 Bc8) 5 Ne7 Qe7 6 Qd6 and white If 13...Rd7 14 Nf4 Qe5 15 Rd7 wins a
has won a pawn. rook. Or, if l3...Rfe8 the f7 pawn comes un­
3 Rh3 Nb6 der attack. 14 Rfl and black has no defence
against the threat of 15 Ra7 and (6 Nc7.
4 Bb6 Qb6
5 Nd5 Qd8 14Nf4Qe5
Black can also play 5...Qb7, butthen on 6 15RdSQh8
115 he will not have the option of 6...Bg5. As black's queen-side pawns are lost,
black plays the queen to h8 rather than g7 be­
6f4!
cause he hopes to generate some activity for
White can fall into a well known trap and
his queen along the h-ftle.
lose after winning the d6 pawn by 6 Ne7 Qe7
7 Qd6?? Rfd8! because if 8 Qe7, Rdl# and 16 a3
the queen has no way of retreating and pro­ In the midst of his attack white pauses to
tecting its Rdl. After the text 6 f4! white is make provision against a snap back rank
threatening 7 f5 and 8 f6. mate. He makes this move now because
black cannot use the pause to disentangle his
6.. .ef4
uncoordinated forces. Notice that the move
7 Qf4 Qd7 a3 is now okay with all the black pieces in
8 Qf5! Rcd8 cramped, defensive positions whereas it was
The power of the knight at d5 is evident a security risk on the second move when the
from black's alternatives: If 8...Qf5? 9 Ne7 black pieces were more active. After
Kh8 10Nf5orif8...Rfd89Qd7 Rd7 10Nb6 .Qh8,
15.. Fischer senses that black will
winning the exchange. Thus the Nd5 has break out with h7-h6 and lets him as he has
forced the Rc8 into passive defence. something ready for that too.
9 Ra3! .H6
16..
One should change plans according to 17 gh6 Qh6
the needs of the situation. If here 9 h5 black If 17...Bh4? 18Ng6! fg6 I9Qb3 Rf7 2O
would reply 9...Rfe8 and threaten to ex­ Rf5! and the Rf7 falls.
change queens without loss of bishop. Now
there is no effective defence for the a6 pawn.
18 h5 Bg5
Ifblack blocks the king-side with 18.. g5
9.. .Qa7 white will get an even more dangerous out­
Black offers a pawn to get out of the tor­ post for his knight at f5 after 19 Ne2 and 20
ture of the Nd5. White can now play 10 Ne7 Ng3. Now the game ends in fireworks.
Qe7 11 Ra6, but once again Fischer shows
that he could get more than a pawn from the
19 hg6! fg6
position with his Nd5. If 19...Bf4 20 gf7 Rf7 21 Rf7 Kf7 22
Rh5! Qg6 (22...Qf6 23 Rf5) 23 Qf4 Ke7 24
10 Rc3! g6 Rh6 and white's queen and rook will win by
If 10...Qd7 11 Rc7 or if 10...Rd7 11 Nf6 a coordinated attack as the black king is well
Bf6 (l...gf6 12 gf6 Bfi5 13 Qf6 loses even exposed. You should analyses this yourself.
faster) 12 gfl5 g6 13 Qg5 Kh8 14 Qh6 Rg8 15
Rc8!
20 Qb3! Rf4
11 Qg4 Qd7 Black has no escape. If 2O...Rf7 21 Rf5
12Qf3Qe6 as we have already seen in a variation ear­
Once again the strong position of the lier. Notice how the same ideas could be
Nb5 does not allow 12...Rc8 13 Rc8 Rc8 14 used in the same game. If 2O...Kh8 21 Ng6!
Nb6. Qg6 22 Rg5! Qg5 13 Qh3 mating. Or if

183
20.. .Bf4 21 Rh5 Kh8 22 Rh6 Bh6 23 Qh3
mating.
21 Re5! K18
22 Re8 1-0
If 22...Ke8 23 Qe6 Kf8 24 Qc8#
Now let us examine a knight outpost at
e5.
Botvinnik-Cbekhover
Moscow 1935
1 NI3d52c4e63b3Nf64Bb2 Be75e3
0-0 6 Be2 c6 7 0-0 Nbd7 8 Nc3 a6 9 Nd4 dc4
10 bc4 Nc5 (threatens ...e5 which white
forestalls.) 11 f4Qc7 12Nf3
White threatens a big pawn centre and an
outpost for his knight on e5.
22 Ng5!hg5
12.. .Rd8
23 fg5 N8d7
13 Qc2 Ncd7
24 Nf7?
14 d4 c5
After the game Botvinnik said that this
15Ne5 b6 was a mistake. The simplest way to win was
16 Bd3 cd4? 24 Nd7 Nd7 (24...Rd7 25 gf Bf6 26 Rf6 gf6
Premature. Betterwas 16...Nf8threaten­ 27 Qg4 Kf8 28 Ba3 Rd6 29 Qh4 Ke7 30 Rfl
ing d4. etc.) 25 Rf7! Kf7 26 Qh5 Kf8 27 Qh8 Kf7 28
g6 Kf629Qh4#
17 ed4 Bb7
Often we go wrong when there are many
Black is playing mechanically. Better ways to win.
was 17...Nf8 18 Ndl b5! stirring up some
.K17
24..
threats and complications.
25g6Kg8
18 Qe2 Nf8
If 25...Kf8 26 Qe6 Ne5 27 Rf6! (27 de5
Black is not able to do anything about the
Bc5 28 Khl Bg2 29 Kg2 Qa8 and the posi­
strongly placed knight on e5. A move like
18.. .Ne5 will be suicide: 19 fe5 Ne8 20Ne4 tion is not only wild but also unclear.)
.gf6
27.. (27...Bf6? 28 ba3) 28 Qh3 Bb4 (va­
(20 Bh7 Kh7 21 Qh5 Kg8 22 Qf7 Kh8 23
cates e7 for his king) 29 Re 1! Bc8 30 Qh6
Rdl is worth investigating.) and white’s
Ke8 31 de5 Bel 32 Qh8 Kd7 33 Qg7 Kc6 34
strong centre and well placed pieces guaran­
Qf6 Kc7 35 e6 etc. These variations are very
tee a promising attack.
difficult to calculate over the board as there
19 Ndl Ra7 would be dozens of sub-variations at every
This is a peculiar move, the significance turn which need to be precisely evaluated as
of which is difficult to explain and it is fol­ a two knight minus is not an easy matter.
lowed by yet another! Perhaps for this reason only, Botvinnik held
20 N12 Qb8? 24 Nf7 as a mistake.
21 Nb3! 26 Qe6 Kh8 27 Qh3 Kg8 28 Bf5 N18 29
Be6 Bc6 30 Qe6 Kh8 31 Qh3 Kg8 32 Rf6!
The idea is 22 Ng5 winning a pawn. Now Bf6 33 Qh7 K1834Rel Be5 35 Qh8 Ke7 36
black is forced to weaken his castled posi­ Qg7 Kd6 37 Qe5 Kd7 38 Q15 Kc6 39 d5
tion by moving a pawn. Kc5 40 Ba3 Kc4 41 Qe4 Kc3 42 Bb4 Kb2
21.. . h6 43 Qbl#.

184
 Chapter 52
Outposts
We have seen how outposts for For the present, black has tactically pre­
knidtts on e5 and d5 (d4ande4 for black) in­ vented white's intended manoeuvre of 3
fluence the outcome of a game. Now we Nd2-b3-c5.
sliall discuss outposts at other squares in en­
emy territory.
3 Qe2!
The immediate 3 Nb3 is answered by
3.. .Ne4 4 de4 Qdl and next 5...Qb3.
3.. .Ng5
4 Re3
As a rule, the attacking side should avoid
exchange of pieces which would make the
defender's task less difficult.
4.. .h5
5 h4
Whether black's intended h5-h4 is good
or bad, it is generally good psychology to
prevent the opponent from executing it. Let
him feel frustrated and rush into somethig
very unwise!
5.. .N17 •
Petrosian-Y udovic 6 Nb3 Qe7
Moscow 1953 7 R13 Nh6?
White to play A better defensive set-up would be
In the diagrammed position, white has 7.. .Rde8 to be followed by 8...Nd8.
space advantage and more room for ma­ 8 BgS Bf6
noeuvring his pieces around. Black's dou­
9 Rf6! Rf6
bled e-pawns are not necessarily weak as
they deny white access to central squares. 10 Bh3 Ne8
But the main defects in black's position are 11 Nc5Ng7
the unnaturally placed knights on e8 and f7 12 Qe3 Nf7
and the queen-side pawns.
If J2...Ng8? 13 Bf6 Qf6 14 Rfl Qe7 15
Petrosian is a master in the art of patient Qg5! Qg5 16 hg5 black cannot stop white’s
manoeuvring and he now watch how he cre­ invasion of his position by Rfl-f7.
ates and occupies an effective outpost for his
knight on c5! 13Bf6Qf6
14 Rfl Qe7
1 a5! b5
15Q12! Nh6
Of course, l...ba5 2 Ra5 and black's re­
maining unconnected queen side pawns 16 Qf6 Qf6
would become most unpleasant to defend. Black cannot defend his e5 pawn and
2 Nd2 Ned6 also avoid exchange of queens. For exam­

185
pie, if 16...Qd6? 17 Nb7 illustrates one more Be4 24 Ne4 Be I 25 Ba5 Qa5 26 Qd7 Qe5 27
strong point of the c5 outpost occupied by Nf6 Qf6=
the knight. After the exchange of queens
17Nf5Qc7
black can no longer hold his position to­
The pressure is not on the king side but
gether.
on the d6 and c4 pawns. If !7...Nb6 18 Bb4
17 Rf6 Rd6 Nc8 !9Nd2 cd3(19...d5 20Qg4Bf62l ed5
18RI8! 1-0. Qd5 22 Ne4+-) 20 Ba5 Qa5 21 Qb3 wins by
It should be noted that 18 Be6 wins a double attack on b7 and f7.
pawn because !8...Ng8 or 18...Ng4 is an­ 18Nd2!cd3
swered by 19 Bg8. However, after 18 Be6 This is forced as white was threatening
Ne6 19 Re6 Re6 20 Ne6 black may be to win the c4 pawn without any problems.
tempted to play the knight ending a pawn This results in the white Bishop on a2 com­
down though he is lost there too. With 18 ing to life. From now onwards the game is
RfBI white is advising black the utter futility forcibly lost for black, thanks to the Nf5.
of further resistance as thanks to the Nc5 out­
post the black rook is completely immobi­ I9Qh5! g6
lised and white's plan of Ra8 and Ra7 simply
cannot be countered.
We have seen the power of a knight out­
post at c5. More common, specially in e2-e4
openings, is the knight outpost at f5 (or at f4
for black). From f5 a knight makes serious
threats on the black king-side. The main
threat is against g7, the heart of black's cas­
tled position. However, in combination with
the queen, threats are also made against h6
and e7. Let us examine an example.

J.Arnason - J.Nunn
Novi Sad Oly. 1990

1 e4 e5 2 NI3 Nf6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5

0-0 Be7 6 Rel b5 7 Bb3 0-0 8 a4 Bb7 9 d3
d6 10 Nc3 Na5 11 Ba2 b4 12 Ne2 c5 13 c3
bc3 14bc3c4 15Ng3Nd7 20 BH Kf7 21 Qh7 Kf6
Black knows pretty well that the white If21 ...Ke6 22 Ng7 Kf6 23 Rf3 winning.
knight is heading for f5. To prevent it, g7-g6 22 Re3!
can be tried, but then that move would This leads to a clear victory. The chase
weaken the dark squares round the castled with 22 Qg7 Ke6 23 Qg6 Nf6 is very un­
position and invite Bcl-h6, which is not all clear. If now 22...Qc3 23 Ra2.
that dangerous if handled well.
22..
.Nf8 23 Qh8 K17
16 Ba3 Re8?!
If 23...Ke6 white had planned 24 Qh3
Better would have been 16...g6 17 d4 Kd7 25 Nd6 Kc6 26 Ne8 Re8 27 Bb4 when
Qc7 18 Rcl Rfe8 19 Bb4 RacS 20 Nd2 d5 the black pieces are in an almighty mess.
(As a general rule, in 1 e4 openings, if black
is able to play.. ,d5 without suffering any dis­ 24 R13! gf5 25 Qh5 Ng6 26 Qf5 1-0.
advantages, he equalises the game. And so it If 26...Kg7 27Qf7 (not 27 Rg3 Bg5! 28
is here,) 21 ed5 Bd5 22 de5 Bg5 23 Nge4 Rg5 Qf7) Kh6 28 Rh3 Nh4 29 Rh4 winning.

186
 moves the knight returns to this same square.
Better would have been to put his plan of
transferring one rook to the a-file, now.
4.. .Kh7 5 Rb3
This rook intends to guard against
black's invasion of f3.
5.. .fe4 6 Qe4 Rf5 7 Ra3 Qb7 8 Nc3 Ref8
9 Qc4 RO 10 Ra6
White now has a clear advantage. He has
got back his pawn and threatens to win the a7
pawn as well while his king-side is well de­
fended.
10.. .Be3?l
This is an ingenious but desperate at­
Petrosian-Gufeld tempt to complicate the game and turn the
Leningrad, 1960 tide. If 11 fe3 Nf5 12 Kf3 Nd4 13 Kg2 Nc2
White to play 14 Ndl Qf7 with some chances. Petrosian
An examination of Diagram 3 shows that would never think of grabbing material and
white's chances lie on the queen-side with all suffering an attack.
of his pieces massed there. However, no out­
11 Ne4! Bh6 12 Ra7 Qb6 1-0.
post for any knight is apparent. If outpost
squares do not fall into our laps, we should Black saw that after 13 Ra6 Qc7 14 Ne51
go about creating them. Here a good candi­ would cost him a second pawn without any
date square for a knight outpost is c6. Let us compensation.
see how the great master of positional chess, We have so far seen only outposts for
Tigran Petrosian goes about it. knights. Bishops and rooks could also be­
come very powerful from outposts in enemy
1 a6!
territory. An example of a bishop outpost is
It is worth a pawn to gain control of c6.
the next game.
.ba6
I..
1 ...b6 also loses control over the c6 Sadler-Istratescu
square in addition to letting white have an World Junior Chp., Kozhikode 1993.
advanced pawn on a6. Play can continue: 2 1 d4 Nffi 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5
Na31 f5 3 Ncb5 Rbc8 4 Rc8 Rc8 5 Rc2 Rc2 6 Be6 0-0 6 Be3 eS 7 dS aS 8 g4 Na6
Qc2 fe4 7 Qe4 Nf5 8 Qc4 Qf7 9 Qc8 Kg7 10 This is the Samisch Attack against the
Qe6 Qf8(After 10...Qe611 de6 black cannot Kings Indian Defence. Generally, white's
stop Na7 and the subsequent queening of the dark square bishop plays a significant role in
a-pawn. If now 11 Na7?, ll...Nd4 12 Qg4 this Attack while the white square bishop
Qa8 some hopes of counterplay are raised in plays a passive role behind the chain of
black's camp though the ultimate result blocked pawns. But in this example, the
should still be victory for white.) 11 Nc4! roles are reversed.
This is Petrosian's style, always threatening
9 g5 Ne810 h4 f511 NO Nc512 Nd2 b6
and increasing the pressure till the opponent
13 h5 Rf7 14 Qc2 Na6 15 NO gh5 16 Rh5
does not wait for the actual execution and re­
f4 17 Bd2 Bf8 18 0-0-0 Bg4 19 Rh2 BO 20
signs.
BO Rg7 21 Rgl Be7 22 Bg4.
2 Na5 f5 3 Nc6 Rbe8 4 Nbl? White sacrifices a pawn to get his white
A small misadventure in thinking which square bishop outside the pawn chain and in
can happen even to the greatest. After four enemy territoty. With black's white square

187
bishop exchanged off, this bishop has the run
of the white squares in the enemy camp. It
can perch at f5 or e6 according to the needs
of the situation and aggravate black's
cramps.
22..
.Bg5 23 BfS Nf6 24 Qd3 Nc5 25
Qh3 Qe7 26 Rhg2 h6 27 Kc2 Kf7
Most of black's pieces are jammed in the
limited space on the king-side. In such situa­
tions some players would transfer their kings
to the other wing. That is impossible here be­
cause of the sentry at f5 watching over the c8
square. And if the Ra8 is brought to the
king-side, then white could manoeuvre his
Nc3 to c6 via b5-a7-c6.
28 f3 Kf8 29 Bel Qf7 30 Bh4 Ke7
See diagram 32..
.R18 33 dc6! Qc4 34 Kbl Kd8 35
Rc2 Qd3 36 Na8! Rfg8 37 Bg5 hg5 38 c7
31 Nb5c6 Rc7 39 Nc7 Kc7 40 Qh6 Ne8
There is no satisfactory way to defend
the c7 pawn. The Bf5 controls the c8-h3 di­ Black's position is wide open and his
agonal and practically splits the board in pieces uncoordinated.
two. If 31...Kd8 32 Bg5 hg5 33 Rg5 Rg5 34
Rg5 and white's queen, rook and bishop 41 Be6Rg7 42Bc4.'Qd443Rg5Re744
should prevail against black's forces which
Rcl a4 45 a3 Kd8 46 Rg8 Nd3 47 Bd3 Qd3
are located in the two different halves of the 48 Kai Qd2 49Rc3 b550Qh3 Rd7 51 Qe6
board. 1-0.
32 Nc7 After the exit of the dominating bishop
Of course the immediate 32 de? would from the f5 outpost, the white queen took up
allow 32...Qc4 forcing 33 Nc3. the diagonal to harass black!

188
 Chapter 53
The Outposts
As a rule the bishops are not as dominat­ the queen is overloaded with the defence of
ing as the knights from outposts in enemy both b3 and d4.
territory. However, instances abound where White can also try to stop the threatened
a bishop perched in a strategic square, ...Bb3 by 3 Nd2? but that would allow
prevents the enemy rooks from contesting .Bd3 and 4...Rb2.
3..
open files and thus gives its own rooks total
control of a very vital open file.
3.. .Bb3
This controls the vital d 1 square and pre­
vents the white rooks from coming on to the
d-file which turns out to be the only open file
in the game.
4 dc5
After this capture, the open d-file falls
completely under black’s control. Other­
wise, black would himself capture cd4 and
play ...Nc5 securing yet another outpost.
4.. .dc5 5 Bh6 NdeS!
After the exchange of queens, black’s
domination of the d-file would decide the
outcome of the game. Now, black gets an­
other beautiful outpost at d4.
6 Ne5 Qd2 7 Bd2 Be5 8 Rbcl Bd4
This threatens Nc6-e5-d3.
9Bf4Ne510Be5
Furman-Smyslov
Rostov-on-Don, 1953 If 10Ne2Nd3 11 Bb8 Rb8 12 Bfl (If 12
Black to play. Nd4 cd4 13 Bfl Nel! 14 Rel Bc2!! and
black cannot stop d4-d3-d2) 12...Nel 13
Rel Bc2-+
In No.l, black put his bishop on the
10.. .BeS 11 Re2 e612 Rd2 Rfd8 13 Rd8
strategical b3 square after calculating some
Rd8 14 Nb5
tactical possibilities. Remember, strategy
If 14Nbl Bb2 15Rc5 Rdl wins.
and tactics are always linked. A player not
good in making tactical calculations would 14.. .C4 15Nc3Rd2 0-1.
not have played his bishop to b3. If 16Rbl Bd4-+
l..
.Ba62Rel Bc4! 3 Qd2 Sometimes, both players would obtain
The bishop is heading for b3, but cannot outposts, especially with knights on f5 and
white drive back the bishop with loss of time f4 or on c5 and c4. In such cases, the side
by 3 b3? This is where tactics comes in. If w ith more threats or with possibilities of cre­
now 3 b3 cd4! 4 Nd4 (if4 bc4 dc3 and white ating greater activity usually wins. The next
would find it very difficult to get his pawn game from the 1992 Israeli Championship is
back.) 4...Bd4! 5 Bd4 Bb311 wins a pawn as an illustration.

189
 Porper-Shvidler way to do so was 23 f4 followed by 24 Kf2
Ramat-Gan, 1992 when white can definitely hold the position.
Queen’s Gambit, D30 After the text move black is clearly better.

1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 c6 3 c4 e6 4 cd5 ed5 5 23..

.f4
Nc3?
Already an inaccuracy according to
Shvidler whose comments in Chess in Israel
we are relying on. White should play 5 Qc2
Bd6 6 Nc3 not allowing the Bc8 to develop
smoothly to f5.
.Bf5 6 Bg5 Be7 7 Be7 Qe7 8 e3 Nf6 9
5..
Bd3 Bd3 10 Qd3 Nbd7 11 0-0 0-0
The position is equal. White can plan a
‘minority attack’ on the queen side with
Rabi, b2-b4-b5, but black can use the e4
square to develop kingside counter play.
12 Rael!?! Ne4 13 Ne2 f5 14 Qa3?
This is simply wrong. White didn’t like
black’s attacking chances and decides to Porper-Shvidler
Position after 23...f4
trade queens, but the text gives black’s
knight an excellent base on c4 for nothing. The difference is strength between the
Of course black was having a good game two knights is now clear. The black knight
anyway, but 14 b4? Nd6 (!4...Qb49 >5 Rbl) threatense3 while the white knight threatens
15 Nd2 was at least worth consideration. nothing.
Though players not experienced in the game
are adviced to avoid the ugly doubling of
24 ef4Rf4 25Rel?
pawns on the a-file, this concept is not new. Early desperation. Of course, after 25
The doubled pawns restrain the advance of Rdl Re8 black is much better, but there was
the ‘decent’ pawns and the open files could no need to give away a pawn.
generate a lot of pressure as compensation. 25.. .Rd4 26 g3 Nd6!? 27 Re6?! Nf5 28
14..
.Qa3 15 ba3 Nd6! 16 Nf4 Nc4 17 Nb3 Rc4 29 R13 g6 30 h3 Re4
Rc3b5 Black reaches an ending with an extra
With this move, black concedes an out­ pawn but some careful play is still required
post for a white knight on c5. But black to clinch the point.
would have been eventually forced to play 31 Re4 de4 32 Rc3 KT 33 g4 Nd6
this move and he also had to stop a2-a4. As compensation for the pawn white has
18 Nd3 Rab8 the outpost at c5. Black’s king is better
The plan is ...Rb8-b6-a6 placed for the ending than the white king. So
white does something about that.
19 Nfe5 Nde5 20 Ne5 Rfc8
After 20...Ne5 21 de5 Rb6 22 Rfcl
34 f3!? ef3 35 Nc5?!
black’s queen side majority is worthless. This gives black time to clear d6 for the
The text move renews the threat Rb6-a6, so king. 35 Rf3+ gives white more chances.
that white’s next is practically forced, 35.. .Nc4 36 R13 Ke7 37 a4 Rd8!
21 Nd7 Rb7 22 Nc5 Rf7 23 Rbl? There is no longer any need for the rook
A dreadful positional mistake. White to sit under the c6 pawn.
definitely had to stop f5-f4. The most logical 38 ab5 Rd5!

190
 A strong consolidating move which
gives black a practically winning position.
39 Ne4 cb5 40 Nc3 Re5 41 K12 b4 42
Ne2 a5 43 Nd4 Kd6 44 Rf7 Rd5 45 Nf3
Rd3 46 Rh7 Ra3 47 Rg7 Ra2 48 Kg3 Ne5!
49 NeS Ke5 50 Rg6 a4 51 Rb6 b3 52 Rb5
Kd4 53 g5 b2 54 g6 Ra3 55 Kf2 Rb3
And now black transposes to an easily
won queen ending.
56 Rb3 ab3 57 g7 blQ 58 g8=Q Qf5 59
Kgl b2 60 Qd8 Kc4 61 Qg8
White sealed this move, but gave up
without resuming. After61...Qd5 black has
checks only at c8 and g4. In both cses black a rich positional content and deserve careful
interposes his queen with check. study.
In some cases a well entrenched piece
1 d5 cd5
has to be exchanged off. In such cases, other
If 1 ...Bc8 a simple way to win would be 2
pieces, mostly pawns, advance in the ex­
Re8 Re8 3 de be 4 Nd4 Bd7 5 Ra3.
changing process and spell great danger to
the defending side. No.3 is an illustration. 2 Nd4! BH 3 e5! Re5 4 fe5 Be8
See diagram Black abandons Lis f5 pawn. If he saves
it with 4...g6, then 5 c6 Rb8 (If 5...bc6 6 Nc6
and the b-pawn queens.) 6 c7 Rc8 7 Nc6+-
Sultan Khan - V.Menchik
London 1932
White to play. 5 Nf5 Bb5 6 Kd4 K18 7 e6 Ke8 8 Nd6
1-0.
The way Sultan Khan broke through the
black defence is very instructive. As a mat­ If 8...Ke7 9 Nb7 Rb8 10 c6 Bc6 11 Rc6
ter of fact, most of Sultan Khan’s games had Rb7 12 Rc7 Rc7 13 bc7 wins.

191
 Chapter 54
Be your Own Doctor!
Every chess player wants to improve his sis of what you were considering during the i
game and whenever he meets a strong or game or what you were afraid that your op.
well-known player, he asks how he can go ponent would reply, you start analysing the
about it. There are several techniques that same position all over with the difference
have to be followed to improve your own that there is no clock ticking away your time.
(The only hindrance could be when your'
strength. I am going to discuss only one im­
mother or wife keeps on calling you to come
portant aspect here.
for dinner.) Recording what your thought
during the game and also adding what you
Studying chess theory from books and think in retrospect as you write would give
magazines is not enough. You have to play you valuable insights into your own thinking
in many tournaments, playing against play­ process later on. After a couple of months,
ers of different styles and views and gain after the tournament is over and long forgot­
practical experience. After each tournament ten, look through the game again and go
game , write down the game score from the through your commentary and the analysis
score sheet onto a separate notebook. And of what you thought during the game and
do this the same night, before you play the during the night when you wrote the com­
next tournament game. Remember that mentary. It will be very interesting because
score sheets disappear rather surprisingly of­ your commentary was written when you
ten, notebooks rarely. were in a different frame of mind. You had
perhaps lost a crucial game which would af­
fect your chances of a prize or qualification?
More than writing down the bare game Maybe in the back of your mind you were
score it is important to add your comments to uneasy about the next round game? And de­
the score of the game. Write down what all pending on your mood of the moment, either
went on in your mind during the game. If upbeat or downbeat, there is a colour to the
you overlooked an opponent’s move, record commentary which is not easily understand­
it. Give your reasons for making certain able a few months later.
moves and analyse what you planned to do if
the opponent had played differently. I
started doing this around 1971 under the ad­ When you see the same game after a few
vice of GM Suetin who trained the top 20 In­ months you are probably considering it for
dian chess players of those days at Pune. As the fourth time. The first time was when you
a refinement, I wrote my comments in red, played it. The second time was when you
the game score in blue or black. This exer­ analysed the game with your opponent im­
cise paid off richly as I won the national mediately after it ended. The third time was
championship 5 times in a row. 1 became a when you wrote the moves down with your
stronger player by adding my comments and commentary. When you see it later for the
analysing my own games long after it was fourth time, maybe you will be too bored to
go through all the intricate analysis that you
over.
had painstakingly written down, on the
night of the game. The tension of the tourna­
When you analyse a game in your mind ment is totally gone and you are cool. You.
while playing in a tournament, there are would be looking at the game and notes like
times when you are uncertain of a move, but a stranger, just as you would look at an anno­
play it anyway because you have to make tated game between Karpov and Kasparov.
your moves within a stipulated time. Often it It is at this time that you can probably learn
so happens that when you record your analy­ the most about your chess character, identify

192
your own weaknesses and consciously re­ a player who knows only the latest lines in
solve to avoid them in future. the Ruy Lopez. If white continues as in the
Such self-annotated games can also be Two Knights Defence with 7 Ng5 there fol­
important when you go to a stronger player lows 7...d5 8 ed5 Nd4! guaranteeing that-the
for advice and guidance. By seeing your Bb3 is exchanged off.
commentary he will know how your mind
works and suggest remedies for mistakes 7 d4 Nd4
which generally follow a pattern. Some 8 Ne5?
players have a preference for knights over There are two important alternatives for
bishops and many others swear by the might white.
of the bishops. There are many players who
would go to great lengths of trouble to avoid (a) 8 Bf7 Kf7 9 Ne5 Kg8 10 Qd4 c5 11
the exchange of queens. Some players Qdl Qe8 with equality.
would be partial to certain moves like g2-g4, (b) 8Nd4ed4 9c3Ne4(Thisisrisky) 10
b7-b5, etc., and play them even when the po­ Rel Bd6 11 Nd2 Bh2 12 Kfl (12 Kh2 Qh4
sition did not require them. But showing 13 Kgl Qf2 14 Kh2 Qh4 draws.) 12...d5 13
your self-annotated game to a stronger Qh5! and white is threatening both 14 Qh2
player means exposing your weaknesses to a
as well as 14 Re4 de4 15 Qf7#
potential opponent in the future. The best is
to be your own doctor! 8,.
.Nb3
Above, I have referred to the second time 9 ab3 Ne4
that you see a tournament game. That was 10 Rel Bd6!
when you analyse the game with your oppo­
nent immediately after it is over. If you are Black has calculated precisely that there
not doing this, start doing it now. It is very would be no unpleasantness along the e-file
important. It will help both players to un­ for his knight. If black manages to castle
derstand their own minds better. You would now without suffering any disadvantage he
have been afraid of a particular move by would be ahead in development.
your opponent, a move he never made. You
UQd4
must know why. Maybe that move was un­
playable and you were just fearing ghosts This looks quite good for white. But in
during the game and losing your creativity? view of what happened, better would have
This after-game or ‘post mortem’ analysis been 11 Nc3.
should be applied even to friendly games. I
do it regularly with children. Mistakes have
to be identified and eliminated. That.is how
we become stronger.
Now let us see an instructive game.

D.C. Maclean-G.C. Flea r

Ruy Lopez, Archangel Variation

1 e4 e5
2 Nf3 Nc6
3 Bb5 a6
4 Ba4 Nf6
5 0-0 b5
6 Bb3 Bb7

This is the Archangel Variation in the

Ruy Lopez. It is a very good weapon against .0-0!
11..

193
 12 Nc3
This loses immediately. But if 12 Re4
Be4 13 Qe4 Re8 14 Bf4 (14 f4 Bc5 15 Khl
d6) 14...Be5 15 Be5 d6 and black wins. It is
a white piece which is lost by a pin along the
e-file!
.Bc5
12.. 0-1.
White loses his f2 pawn and the ex­
change without any compensation.

194
 Chapter 55
More Pawn Endings
PAWN endings require great precision b-file after the capture of the b-pawn is fur­
and thought. Every move counts and could ther away from the king-side and will take
mean the difference between victory and de­ more number of moves to reach white’s king
feat. Everything has to be calculated to the side pawns. Let us now see how exactly
last detail. Fortunately, most of the themes white wins.
are well documented and being familiar with 1 a4 Kd5 2 b5 ab5 3 ab5 Kc5 4 Ke4 Kb5 5
them can help you plan and calculate the Ke5 Kc4 6 Ke6 Kd4 7 Kf5 Ke3 8 Kg6 Kf4 9
right way to handle almost any pawn ending. Kh6 Kg3 10 Kg5 Kh3 11 Kh5 and the
The themes in the following examples could g-pawn walks to g8 without any hindrance.
be of great use in practical play.
In a nutshell, the strategy in the above
precess is to sacrifice the queen-side passed
pawn to decoy the black king to the
queen-side so that the white king could mop
up black’s central and king-side pawns be­
fore the black king gets back.

l.White to play
Black has a pawn more and his king is
better placed in No. 1. But as all king side
paw ns are blocked and his own extra pawn is
meaninglessly doubled on the e-file, we turn
our attention to the queen-side. Here we dis­ 2 White to play and draw
cover that white has a 2 versus 1 pawn ma­ Diagram 2 is more complicated because
jority and he could create a passed pawn with both sides have passed pawns on opposite
a3-a4 and b4-b5. But surely, if a passed wings. Black’s advantage is obvious as his
pawn is created in this way, will not the king is (diagram) well-placed and white’s
black king easily approach it and capture it king is forced to capture the g-pawn before
long before it reaches the 8th rank? True, coming back to the defence of his
that is exactly what would happen. Butthink queen-side. The continuation would be:
further. When the black king captures
white's passed b-pawn the white king cap­ 1 Kf2 Kc5
tures both of black’s e-pawns and being in Black’s plan is to capture the b2 pawn
the centre approaches black’s king-side with his king via c5-b5-a4-b3. If he tries to
pawns quickly. The black king being on the take his king via the shortcut d3 then white’s

195
passed a pawn cannot be stopped from and b5 pawns. Or, if 6 Kb3 e4 7 Kc3 c3 8
queening first. Kd3 Kb4 wins.
2 Kg3 KbS Kg4 Ka4 4 Kf5 (the only !...Kd6 2a5c4
4...Kb3 5 a4!
move to draw) If 2...Kd5 3 a6! Kd6 4 b61 Kc6 5 ba7 and
The sacrifice of this pawn buys two valu­ queens.
able moves for white to move his king closer 3a6!
to black’s c-pawn. If black ignores the
If 3 b6? a6! and black draws by moving
a-pawn and capture b2. then white will
h is king from d6 to d7 and back keeping both
queen on a8 just after black does on cl, and it
white passed pawns in check because white
would be a draw. must do the same moving his king from e3 to
.Ka4
5.. 6 Ke5 Kb3 7 Kd4 draw. e4 and back holding black’s two passed
On the 4th move, white had to play the pawns in check. However, after 3 b6? if
precise 4 Kf5! If he had played 4 Kf4 or 4 .ab6? 4 a6! Kc7 5 d6 and wins.
3..
Kf3 black would win by going in for the vari­ .Kc5
3.. 4 d6!Kd6 5 b6 Kc6 6 ba7 and
ation where he allows white’s a-pawn to queens on a8.
queen: 4...Kb3 5 a4 Kb2 6 a5 c3 7 a6 c2 8 a 7
cl=Q (If white had played 4 Kf4 this move
would be check, leaving white no time to
play a8=Q. We continue as if white had
played 4 Kf3) 9 a8=Q Qh 1 + and IO...Qa8

4.
Gonsiorovsky-Grombchevsky 1974
White to play.

On first glance it appears that the posi­

tion is equal or that black is slightly better on
account of his passed b-pawn. One fact that
3 Guliev-Tukmakov 1993
Zonal, Nikolaev is relevant in this situation is the advanced
White to play and win. nature of white’s pawns. But they do not
seem to pose such a big threat because any
passed pawn could be controlled by black’s
1 a4! centrally placed king. However, things are
not what they seem.
In the actual game white lost after 1 Ke3
Kd6 2 Ke4 c4 3 a4 c314 Kd3 Kd5 and white
1 h5!
gave up because after 5 Kc3 Kc5 white is in There is a general rule in pawn endings
zugzwang: if 6 Kd3 Kb4 and while white that when you are in doubt about which
captures the e-pawn, black devours the a4 pawn to advance, then advance your pawn

196
which does not have an enemy pawn on the 2.. .f6 3 g5 Ke6?
same file. Here it is the h-pawn. The simplest way to draw is 3...fg5 4 fg5
l..
.Kd5? Ke5.
The only way to draw was I e.g.. 2 4 Ke4?
Kd3 Kd5 3 g5 fg5 4fg5 Ke5 5 Kc4 and soon 4 g6 would lead to white’s victory as
only the two kings would be left on the shown at the end of the commentary to
board. black’s first move.
However, by playing 3 Ke3 (without 4.. .b5??
playing 3 g5) white could test black's end­
This was his last chance to save the
game accuracy (and greed!) without risking
game. He should exchange pawns on g5 and
anything: 3...b5 4 Kd3 b4 5 Ke3 b3 6 Kd3 b2
only then push his b-pawn.
7 Kc2 Ke4 8 g5 and now black has the choice
of drawing the game with 8...fg5 9 fg5 Kf5 5 f5! Ke7 6 g6 Kf8
10 h6 or falling into a trap and losing with Black has understood that his b-pawn is
.Kf5 9g6! Ke6 10Kb2 Kf5 11 Kc3 Ke6 12
8.. gone for nothing. All that he hopes for is a
Kd4 and black must lose as 12...KT5 is met stalemate. He is going to play his king to h8
by 13 Kd5 and g8 and hope that white would play Kf7
2 Kd3? when his own king is on h8.
Now, white overlooks a beautiful win­ 7 Kd5 Kg8 8 Kc5 Kh8 9 Kb5 Kg8 10
ning plan in the pawn ending: 2 g51 Ke6 3 Kc5 1-0.
116! gh6 4 gh6 Kf6 5 f5l! and now any move Black sees that he is lost after 10...Kf8 11
by the black king would allow h6-h7. All Kd6 Ke8 12 Ke6 Kf8 13 Kd7 Kg8 14 Ke7
that white has to do is go and capture the de­ Kh8 15 h6! Kg8 (If 15...gh6 16 Kf7 wins.)
fenceless b-pawn and force the black king to 16 hg7 (16 h7 Kh8 and it is stalemate on the
move. After 2 Kd3 black is again presented next move.) 16...Kg7 17 Ke6 and 18 Kf6
with a chance to draw easily winning.

197
 Chapter 56
Weak Squares
DEFENCE is as much a vital part of king-side while black has a space advantage
chess as Attack. The general advice for at­ on the queen’s wing. By playing g3-g4
tacking play is to start an offensive with the white loses pawn control over the f4 and h4
pawns on the opponent's castled position. squares. But white has so much of space ad­
The reverse is true when one is defending. vantage on the king-side that black is unable
to exploit these in any way. This move pre­
Then, one should not move the pawns in
vents the black knight from getting to f4 and
front of the castled position unless forced by
at the same time provides the white knight a
the opponent. good square at g3. It should be noted that the
The weak squares could be illustrated by Ne7 has no move at all. Black’s best move
the position where black has moved his here is to play Be2.
pawns to g6 and e6 and has his bishop on e7
18.. .a519 Ng3 Qb6 20 h4 Nb8 21 Bh6!
after playing Ng8-f6-d7. In such a situation,
black has no control over the h6 square This is the standard method of attacking
which is weak. Even the f6 square is some­ a castled position, guarded by a fianchettoed
what weak as it is not controlled by any bishop. Black sometimes avoids the ex­
pawn. These weak squares could be occu­ change of bishops by moving away the RfB
pied by enemy pieces which could be driven so that he could meet the exchange threat by
away only by other pieces. As a pawn can­ Bg7-h8.
not move backwards, it creates a permanent 21.. .Nd7 22 Qg5 Rel
weakness when it moves forward weakening After the exchange of the black square
a square. A weak square is defended only by bishops, black’s h6 and f6 squares would be­
a piece. This piece loses its effectiveness in come weak squares. Ifnow22...Rcl 23 Rel
the game because it is tied down to the de­ Re8 24 Bg7 Kg7 25 Nh5! Black’s best
fence of a weak square. would be to risk opening up his king-side
You could have heard players talking with 22...f6.
about ‘dark square weakness’ and ‘light 23 Rel Bh6 24 Qh6 Rc8 25 Rc8 Nc8 26
square weakness’. When black has pawns on h5
f6, g7 and h6 he is said to have a light square
Despite the exchange of rooks and the
weakness and when he has pawns on f7, g6
comparatively improved mobility of the
and h7 he is said to have dark square weak­
black pieces .white has splendid attacking
ness. Weak squares could happen any­
chances because of the black square weak­
where. Only, they could be extra dangerous
ness around the black king.
if they happen close to the king. Let us see a
few illustrative games. 26.. .Qd8
Black threatens 27...Qf8 when neces­
Fischer-Panno sary. White does not allow that and finishes
Buenos Aires, 1970 off that game in great style.
1 e4 c52Nf3e63d3Nc64g3g65 Bg2 27 Ng5 Nf8
Bg7 6 0-0 Nge7 7 Rel d6 8 c3 0-0 9 d4 cd4
See diagram
10 cd4 d5 11 eS Bd7 12 Nc3 Rc8 13 Bf4
Na5 14 Rel b5 15 b3 b4 16 Ne2 Bb5 17 28 Be4!I
Qd2 Nac6 18 g4! This is a very fine attacking move ex­
We have said that one should avoid ploiting black’s weakness (diagram) at fiS. If
pushing the pawns in front of the castled po­ now 28...de4? 29 N3e4 and the threat of 30
sition. In chess one should know when to Nf6 is devastating.
break the rules. White is dominating the
28.. .Qd7

198
 If white takes the offered pawn by 23
Rb5 ab5 24 Ra8 Kg7 he has no advantage.
White’s strategy is to keep the two black
rooks disconnected so that for all practical
purposes, black is a rook down.
.Qe6?
23..
Black would have better chances of a
draw if he gave up his extra pawn by
23..
.Kg7 24 Qd5 Rgb8!

This looks pretty good, but white is not

yet finished with his bag of tactical tricks to
exploit the weakened black king.
29 Nh7!! Nh7 30 hg6 fg6 31 Bg6 NgS
This is as good as resigning, but black
has nothing else to do. If 31...N18 32 Nh5
threatening 33 Nf6# Or, if 31 ...Qg7 32 Bh7
Qh7 33 Qe6 and 34 Qc8 next.
32 Nh5 Nf3 33 Kg2 Nh4 34 Kg3 Ng6 35
Nf6 Kf7 36 Qh7 1-0.

Geller-Unzicker
Interzonal 1952 24 Qf6! Qc8
If 24...Qf6 25 ef6 Ke8 26 Rb5 Kd7 27
I d4 d5 2 c4 c63 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 dc4 5 e4 Rd5 Ke6 28 Rc5 and white should win with
b5 6 e5 Nd5 7 a4 e6 8 ab5 Nc3 9 bc3 cb510 careful play.
Ng5 Bb7
25 f4 Qb7 26 Ra5 Ke8 27 Rbal b4 28
If 10...h6? 11 Qf3 wins through a double cb4 Qb4 29 Rd5 Qb7 30 e6 1-0.
attack.
If 30...Qd5 31 Qf7 Kd8 32 e7 wins, or if
II Qh5 g6 12 Qg4 Be7 13 Be2 Nd7 14 3O...fe6 31 Qe6 KfS 32 Rd7 wins.
Bf3 Qc7 15 Ne4
The next game was played in an original
White is now ready to exploit the weak­ manner by two great players.from the past.
nesses at h6 and f6. The theme is the weakened dark squares
15..
.Nb6 16 Bh6 Rg8 around black’s castled position.
This was forced as white was threatening Alekhine-Rubinstein
Bh6-g7-f6. Now black has lost the right to The Hague 1921
castle on the king-side and he cannot castle
on the queen-side as the Rai is ready to snap 1 d4d52Nf3e63c4a6?4c5 Nc65Bf4
up a7. Nge7 6 Nc3 Ng6 7 Be3
17 Bg5! Be4 18 Be4 Nd5 This makes black’s planned e6-e5 im­
possible.
After 18...0-0-0 19 Ra5 b4 20 0-0 black
is in big trouble. .b6
7.. 8 cb6 cb6 9 h4!
19 Bd5 edS 20 Be7 Qe7 21 0-0 Kf8 22 A knight on g6 invariably invites this re­
Rfbl a6 23 Qf3 sponse.

199
 9.. .Bd6 10 65 Nge7 11 h6!
All these moves are not according to the
general opening principles which state that
one should not make more than 3 pawn
moves in the first ten moves and not to move
the ‘edge’ pawns in the opening, but develop
the pieces. Actually, white has not lost any
moves with his h-pawn as the pawn has
made the black knight make two moves.
More importantly, white has managed to
weaken f6 for future invasions.

H...g6 12 Bg5 0-0 13 Bf6!

If black’s f-pawn is allowed to advance,
the f6 weakness disappears.
20.. .Nc4
13.. .b5
lf20...Bc5 21 dc5 Qc5 22 Bd4Qc6 (only
It is hard to envisage at this stage of the
move) 23 Ne5 Qb7 24 Ng4 and white will
game that the advance of this pawn could
win at least the exchange with 25 Nf6.
provide a white knight with an important
strategic base at c5. Black should try 21 Bc4 dc4 22 Ne5
13..
.Qc7 and plan on opening up the position After playing so well white misses the
with e6-e5 as white is behind in develop­ logical and quicker finish: 22 Ne4 (Threat
ment. 23 Bg7 R-moves 24 Nf6#) Nd5 23 Bg7 Rfc8
24 Nd6 Qd6 25 Be5 winning the exchange.

14 e3 Bd7 15 Bd3 Rc8 16 a4! b4 17 Ne2 22.. .Be5 23 Be7 Bd6

Qb6 18 Nel Rc7 If 23...Re8 24 de5 Re7 25 Ne4 and white
Black underestimates white’s ma­ threatens 26 Qf3-f6-f7# through the weak­
noeuvre with the knight. Better would have ened dark squares.
been 18...Na5 frustrating the opponent’s
plan. Grandmaster Anand once said “stop
24 Bf8 Bf8 25 Nd7 Rd7 26 a5! Qc6 27
your opponent’s plan, even if it is a bad one. Q13 Rd5 28 Rel Qc7 29 Qe2 c3 30 bc3 bc3
Psychologically, you will be better!” 31 Qa6 Ra5 32 Qd3 Ba3 33 Rc2 Bb2 34
Ke2! Qc63513 f536 Rbl (Threat 37 Rbb2)
19 Nb3 Na5 20 Nc5! Qd6 37 Qc4 Kf7 38 Qc8 Qa6 39 Qa6 Ra6
Black obviously had not counted on this 40 e4 g5 41 Kd3 Kg6 42 d5 fe4 43 fe4 ed5
pawn sacrifice. Alekhine was famous for 44 ed5 Ra4 45 Rdl! Kh6 46 d6 Kh5 47 d7
such sacrifices as he always tried to wrest the Ra8 48 Ke4 Rd8 49 Kf5 Kh4 50 Rhl Kg3
initiative and attacked the king.
51 Rh3#

200
 Weak Squares - 2
In this chapter we shall examine weak that black will have to make many moves
squares that are not in the neighbourhood of before a knight could land on d4 whereas
the king and therefore do not directly aid in a white has it ready with Nbc3. Black's
king-side attack. This calls for some experi­ queenside pawns are weak and require care­
ful handling. White already has two pieces
ence in the game and a feel for positional
trained on a6. If ...a6-a5 black creates a big
chess. Whenever a pawn moves forward it
hole at b5.
creates two new strongpoints and leaves be­
hind two weak squares - squares over which 15 Bc4! h6 16 Bh4 Nh5 17 Nd5! Bd5 18
it has just released control. Not all of these Bd5 Nf4 19 Qc4 Qc4
'weak squares’ are exploitable. When such This has become necessary as white's
squares cannot be exploited, they are not Bd5 is becoming a very strong piece. If
known as weak squares. The weak squares l9...Rac8 20 Qa6 Qc2 21 Rf2 Qc7 22 Rcl
of one player are automatically the strong Nc5 23 Nc5 bc5 24 b4 and white is on top.
squares of his opponent. A player's weak
squares become outposts for his opponent's 20 Bc4 Rfc8 21 Nd2
This knight is shifted to a more useful
pieces.
square as it has nothing to do from b3.
M.Aaron - Ravi Hegde 21.. .Nc5 22 b3 Ra7
National chp., Trichy This rook has to keep an eye on 17 also.
1979
23 Rfel
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cd4 4 Nd4 Nf6 5 This is necessary to support the pawn on
Nc3 a6 6 f4 Qc7 a4 g6 8 Bd3 Bg7 9 0-0 c4 to enable the Nd2 to move to a more ef­
Nbd7 fective square, via fl -e3 or bI-c3
If 9...Qc5 10 Khl I (10 Be3 Ng4)
IO...Ng4(lOQd4? 11 Bb5and !2Qd4+-)’l I 23.. .Rd7 24 Nfl a5
Nf3 Nf2 12 Rf2 Qf2 13 Nd5 (threat 14 Be3
trapping the queen and also 14 Nc7 winning Black wants his Nc5 to be free to do
the rook) 13...Qc5 14Be3 Qc6 15 Nb6 win­ better things than just guard the a6 pawn.
ning. But now b5 is irreparably weak.

10 Khl 0-0 11 Nb3

If black plays 1 l...Nc5 according to
plan, then would follow 12 Nc5 Qc5 (If
12..
.dc5 white gets a great space advantage
in the centre with 13 e5) 13 Qf3 and white
would eventually play Be l-e3 driving the
black queen back with advantage.

U...e5
This move is generally played when
white has moved Bfl-d3 because the Bd3
masks black’s weakness at d5.

12 fe5 de5 13 Bg5 b6 14 Qe2 Bb7

White controls d5 while black controls
d4. These two squares generally provide
strong outposts for knights and here it is seen

201
 25 Radi! Rd4 8 g4! Bg6
If black snaps up the e4 pawn, he ends up If 8...Ne5 9 de5 Ng4 10 Qa4 Ke7 (if
losing both ofhis queenside pawn: 25...Rdl 10.. .Qd7?? 11 Bb5) 11 Qb4! Kd7 (11...
26 Rdl Ne4? 27 Rd8! Rd8 28 Bd8. Ke8?? 12 Bb5+) 12 Qb7 Qc7 13 Bb5 Kd8 14
Qa8+-. In the above, if9. ..Bg4 10Qa4Nd7
26 Bfl! Rdl 11 Qg4+-.
More stubborn was to sacrifice the ex­
change and gain activity for his bishop 9h4 h6
with:26...Rdd8 27 Bd4 ed4. If 9...h5 10 Ng6 fg6 11 g5 when black
would lose the knight after 11 ...Ng4 12 f3
27 Rdl Bf8 28 g3 Nfe6 and a pawn after I l...Ne4 12 Ne4 de4 13
If 28...Nh3 29 Bc5 Bc5 30 Rd7 Rf8 31 Bg2. His best would be to retreat his knight
Kg2 Ng5 32 Bd5 and white can manoeuvre and regroup via g8-e7-f5. White would then
his knight to c4 via d2. probably exploit black’s cramped position
and lack of development by opening up the
29 Kg2 Kg7 30 h4 Rc6 centre with e3-e4. This would have been
Black was in time trouble. better for black than what happens in the
game.
31 Bd5 Rc7
If 31 ...Rd6? 32 Ne3 for 33 Nc4+- 10 Ng6 fg6 11 Bd3 Kf7 12 Qc2! Ng4
As the g6 pawn is beyond saving, black
32 Ne3 Nd7 Better v/as 32...Nd4 gets at least white’s g4 pawn in exchange.
Perhaps betfer would have been to play
33 Be6 fe6 34 Nc4 12.. .Bb4 to complete development and drive
White is clearly winning after this. The back the bishop from g6 with a later...Nf8.
knight occupies the strong c4 square from
where his bishop was operating earlier. 13 Bg6 Kg8

34..
.Rb7 35 1^3 Rc7 36 Bcl!Nc5 37
Bb2 Kh7 38 Be5 Rb7 39 Rd8 1-0.

(Time). If 39...Bg7 40 Nd6 and white

should win easily.
There is a variation in the Caro Kann De­
fence which illustrates a white square weak­
ness on the king-side: 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 e5
Bf5 4 g4 Bg6? 5 h4 h6 6 h5 Bh7 7 e6 fe6 8
Bd3 Nf6 9 Bh7 Rh7 10 Qd3 When the
queen has easy access to the weakened g6, f7
and e6 squares.
We will now see a game with similar
characteristics but from an entirely different
opening.

Bogolyubov - Gottgilf
Moscow, 1925
14 NdSI!
lNf3Nf62c4c63d4d54e3Bf55cd5 This combination exploits further th!
cd5 6 Nc3 e6 7 Ne5 Nbd7? weakened white squares in black*^
Lasker has recommended that 7...Nfd7 is king-side. The queen now joins the bishfl^
the only move here. Now white utilised the in attacking along the white squares whites
position of black’s queen’s bishop to carry the black squares are blocked with black*!1
out a vigorous attack on the king-side. own pieces. '

202
 14.. .ed5 15Qf5 24.. .Rhd8 would allow 25 hg5 hg5 26
This threatens both Qe6# and Qxg4 Rh7 Ng7 27 e4 Kg6 28 Rahl de4 29 Rlh6
when he will be a pawn up. Kf5 30 Rg7+-

15.. .Bb4 16 Ke2 Qf6 17 Qg4 N18 18 25 hg5 Ng5 26 Rh5 Kg6 27 Rahl
Bd3 Ne6 19 Qf5 Now both the black rooks are tied down
White has won a pawn and now wishes to to defend their isolated pawns.
complete his development by Bcl-d2. He
cannot do it straightaway as after the ex­ 27.. .Rd6 28 Bc2 Kg7 29 Rgl! Rg6!
change on d2 black will play ...Qxf2. There­ The exclamatory mark is for his spirit for
fore, the exchange of queens has to come trying his best to make white’s task difficult.
first. White was threatening 30 f4 winning the
knight. 29...Kft> loses to 30 Rgg5. After
19.. .Q15 20 Bf5 KT7 21 Bd2 Bd2 22 Kd2 29..
.Rg6, if 30 Bg6, then 30...N13 31 Kd3
g6 23 Bc2 g5? Ngl and black will put up some more resis­
This only leads to one more weakness for tance.
black to defend in the endgame. Better
would have been 23...Rhd8 and later defend 30Kdl! 1-0.
his g6 pawn with ...Nf8. By avoiding the ...Nf3+, white now
threatens to take the rook without any risk as
24 Bb3 Rad8 well as win the knight by f2-f4.

203
 Chapter 57
The Bad Bishop
THE understanding of the ' bad bishop' is Ofcourse everything in bishop and pawn
perhaps a key element towards the under­ endings are not as simple. Take diagram
standing of positional chess. We often over­ No.2
hear some players discussing their game and
attributing their loss to their bad bishop. One
can define a bad bishop as a bishop whose
movements are restricted by its own immo­
bile pawns, especially when it is confined to
its half of the chess board.
A bishop hemmed in by its own blocked
pawns has no easy freedom of movement
and is also unable to attack the enemy pawns
as they are placed on the opposite colour
squares.

Take the following simple position:

2.Tzvetkov-Smyslov
Moscow 1947
Black to play

In No.2 both players have white square

bishops. But only white's central pawns are
fixed on white squares, which means that
black has some theoretical advantage.
Black sees that white's king side pawns are
not fixed on white squares and he is threat­
ening h3-h4. Therefore, he forestalls it with:
. g5I!
l..
Now, white has four pawns on white
squares, which means that his prospects are
grim. Black can bring his king unhindered
No.l to e5 from where he would threaten to enter
It is easily seen in No.l that the white the white king-side through f4 while his
bishop is not only restricted by its own bishop would keep the enemy pieces occu­
pied with other problems. In the endgame,
pawns, but also it cannot ever attack the
the king should become an active player as
black pawns. And the exact opposite is true
most of the pieces which could harass the
of the black bishop. For example, if it is king with mating threats have already left
white to play, the game can go: 1 Be2 Ba4 2 the board. There is one minor factor which
Bd3 Bdl 3 Bfl (if 3 Bbl Be2 4 Ba2 Bd3 is worth mentioning about this position.
wins the e-pawn.) 3...Bc2 4 Bg2 Bd3 and the White has three clusters of pawns. These are
c-pawn is Jost. known as pawn islands. One island is on the

204
a-file, the second is on the c and d-files while
the third is onthegandhf-files. Against this,
black has only two pawn islands as you can
see. The fewer the pawn islands, the better
the position.
2 Kf2 Kf6 3 Ke3 Ke5 4 Be2!
The exclamatory mark is given to show
that this is the only move by which white can
prolong the game. Obviously, white cannot
exchange bishops with 4 Bd3 Bd3 5 Kd3
Kf4 and the black king gobbles up the
king-side pawns. The text (4 Be2) looks like
a blunder but it is not so because after
4.. .Bg2 5 Kf2! Bh3?6 Kg3 traps the bishop.
4.. .Bc2 5 Kd2 Bbl 6 Ke3
The only move, because if 6 Kcl? Bc4
and white cannot stop black's king from en­
ing a well blockaded passed pawn on d5.
tering f4 next move. Actually, black's d5 pawn is his problem. It
6.. .h6 7 B13 Bc2 8 Be2 a6 is on the same colour square as his bishop
Black is planning...Ba4 and b6-b5 so that and becomes an object of attack. The white
after the exchanges on b5, white's d5 pawn king has plans of penetrating black position
falls. by Kf2 e3-d4-c5(e5). Still, all this advan­
tage is not enough for white to win because
9 Kd2 Ba4 10 Ke3 b5 11 cb5 ab5 12 Bf3 of the presence of a pair of knights on the
Bb3 13 Be2 board. Sometimes a theoretically equal po­
This is the only defence. If now sition and a drawn game are very different
13.. .Kd5? 14 Bb5 when it will be black's turn things. For many players who have not pro­
to worry over white's distant passed pawn. gressed much they are 'quite often' different
13.. .Bc4I! things! The same way. a won game is not
Black had to calculate the ensuing pawn won till the opponent signs on the
ending accurately. If now 14 Bf3? Bd5 and score-sheet after writing the result that he
black should win comfortably. lost!

14 Bc4 bc415 a4 KdS 16 a5 Kc6 17 Ke4 1 Ke3 Ke7 2 b4!

d5! 18 Ke5 d4 19 cd4 c3 20 d5 Kd7! Once again we see the familiar ploy of
Black willingly allows the a-pawn to fixing the opponent's pawns on squares of
queen. He has calculated that he would the same colour as the opponent's bishop.
queen first and mate immediately. Note that .g6?I
2..
black had to visualise this when he started Better would have been 2...h6 playing
this action with 10...b5! according to the principle of placing pawns
21 a6 c2 22 a7 clQ 23 a8Q Qf4 mate. on squares of the colour opposite to his
Now let us see another bishop versus bishop. Moreover, white would find it hard
bishop duel, even though to start with the to create a passed pawn with his doubled
players have a knight each in addition. Dia­ pawns on the king-side if the black pawns
gram No.3 are on g7 and h6.

See diagram 3 g4 Nd7 4 f4 Nf8?

3 Karpov-Hort Black plans to exchange knights. This
Budapest 1973 will only help white. The presence of
White to play knights on the board would lessen the bad
Material is equal with white having dou­ effects of the bad bishop. Black had two al­
bled pawns on the king-side and black hav­ ternatives.

205
 A weak alternative would be 4...Nb6 5 7 Ne6 Be6 8 Ke3
Nc6 Kd6 6 Ne5 Nc4 7 Kd4 Ne5 8 fe5 Kc6 9 With the exchange of the knights a dif­
g5 Bg4 (9...Bf5? 10 Bf5 gf5 11 g3 and black ferent position has arisen and it calls for play
is in zugzwang.) 10 Bd3 Bdl 11 g3 Bf5 12 similar to the alternative discussed at black's
Bfl Bg4 (Black must not allow fourth move.
Bfl-h3-e6-g8xh7.) 13 Bg2 Be6 14 Bf3 Bf7
15 Bg4 Bg8 16 Bc8 Kb6 17 e6! and white 8.. .Bg4 9 Bd3! First it is necessary not to
wins. allow black's bishop into his parlour when
he plays Kd4.
A hopeful alternative would be 4...Kd6 5
g5 Nb6 6 Kf3 Bd7 with a difficult game for 9.. .Be6 10 Kd4 Bg4 11 Bc2! Be6
black.
If here 1 l...Be2? 12 f5! gf5 13 Bf5 wins
5 g5 Kd6 6 K13 h7.
The white king changes direction as 12 Bb3 Bf7 13 Bdl! Be6 14 BIB! Bf7 15Bg4!
right now it cannot do much from d4 as the 1-0
black king is on d6. White now threatens
There is not stopping Bc8 winning the
g2-g4, f4-f5.
a6 pawn. If the black king moves to c6 to
6..
.Ne6? support a6, then white plays a2-a3 and then
This makes white's task easy. Better was penetrates the black king-side through
6.. .Bd7 waiting for white to show his hand. Kd4-e5-f6 etc., winning very easily.

206
 Chapter 58
Bishop Against Knight
(When the bishop is stronger)
IN an endgame where both sides have together would prevent the entry of the black
pawns on both wings and the pawns are not king into his camp. White had other alterna­
blocked, the superiority of the bishop be­ tives and to understand such endgames it is
comes evident. The reason is that the long necessary to examine them:
range activity of a bishop becomes very (a) 3 Nc3 Ke5 4 Ke2 (If4 f4 not4...Kd4 ?
powerful in an open position. Even though 5 Nb5 Kc5 6 Na7 b5 7 a4 b4 8 Nb5 but
the bishop may be on the king-side, it can 4..
.Kf5 fixing the white pawns on black
watch over the queen-side. The knight can­ squares so that in the future the bishop
not do this as its range of action is limited to would be able to attack them and give the
two squares. Whereas the bishop can cover knight the additional task of defending
as many as seven squares in an open board. them.) 4...a6 5 Kd3 h5! with the idea of
Take a good look at diagram no.l playing g6-g5-g4 and then playing Bc5 at­
tacking f2.
(b) 3 Nc7 Ke5 4 Ke2 Bd6 5 Nb5 (5 Ne8?
Bb8 and the black king goes back to eat the
trapped knight at e8.) 5...Bb8 transposing to
a position similar to the actual game.
3.. .Ke5 4 Nc2 Ke4 5 Ke2 Bc5 6 f3
This loosens up white's pawns on the
king-side which makes them objects of at­
tack.
6.. .Ke5 7 h3
If black did not have a plan, white could
just play his king from e2 to fl and back. But
then white would put his pawns on f5, g5 and
h5 and then pust g5-g4 so that when the
f-pawn leaves f3, he could advance his king
to e4. From e4, the king could advance still
It looks as though white is better with his further as white would soon be in zugzwang.
knight on the central d5 square. But the
7.. .f5 8 Kfl h5 9 Ke2 h4I!
knight is unsupported and black gains time
By this timely sacrifice, the black king
by attacking it with his king. The king should
enters the white camp and destroys the
be actively used in the endgame as mating
threats against it are very rare with the exit of pawns.
many of the pieces from the board. 10 gh4 Be7 11 Ke3 Bh4 12 f4
This is forced as otherwise black could
.Kf7
l.. 2KflKe6 3Ne3 play ...Bg5 driving away the white king from
White's idea is to put up a defensive cor­ e3 and then entering with Kf4. In this phase
don with Nc2 so that his pawns and knight of the game, black tries to penetrate white's

207
camp while white tries to obstruct this plan. A very nice manoeuvre. If27...Kd4? 28
But now, black has, as his objective, taking Nc6 Kc3 29 Nd8 Kb3 30 Nb7! a4 31 Nc5
his king to e4 while his bishop would keep Kb4 32 Na4 Ka4 33 h5! gh5 34 Kh4 Kb5 35
the f4 pawn under threat. Kh5 and it is white who wins!
12.. .Kd5 13 Nb4 Kd6 28 Kg3Kb4 0-l.
If 13...K.C5? 14Nd3 Kd5 15Ne5 and it is After 29Nc6 Kb3 30Nd8 a4, white can­
black who is in trouble. Even in a winning not stop the a-pawn from queening. Though
position, it is necessary to look for coun­ still losing, white should have tried this with
ter-attack from the opponent. 30 Na5l? Ba5 31 h5 when black has two
ways to win: (a) 31...Kc4! 32 hg6 Bc3 33
Kh4 Bf634 Kh5 Kd5 35 g7 Bg7 36 Kg6 Ke4
14 Nd3 Bf6 15 Nb4 a5 16 Nc2
wins and, (b) 31 ...gh5 32 Kh4 Kc4 33 Kg5
If 16 Nd3? Kd5 and black would now (33 Kh5 Kd5 wins) 33...h4! 34 Kh4 Kd5and
play b6=b5, a5-a4 and threaten to penetrate black wins.
with his king (Kd5-c4). Soon, white would
be in zugzwang (any move that he makes
would lose material).
16.. .KC5 17 a4
This is a major decision. It is interesting
to examine whether white could have re­
mained in his shell and hoped for a draw by
not moving any pawn. Even then, black
would win as the following shows: 17 Kf3
b5 18 Ke3 a4 19 Kfi ab3 20 ab3 Kd5 21 Ke3
Bb2 22 Kf3 (22 Nb4 Kd6 23 Nc2 Be 124 Kf3
Bd2 and soon, white would be in zugzwang.)
22.. .Be 1 23 h4 Bb2 for Bf6 next winning the
h4 pawn.

17.. .Bb2 18K13 b5 19ab5 Kb5 20 Kg3

Bel 21 Nel Bb2
Of course, 21...Kb4? 22 Nd3 and white
No.2 Korchnoy-Portisch
wins the bishop. Sousse 1967
22 Nd3 Bd4 23 h4 White to play.
White tries to exchange off the king-side
pawns as he would be in zugzwang when the White has an extra pawn and a fairly well
black king returns to d5. The threat now is advanced king. But black's knight is well
24 h5 gh5 25 Kh4. entrenched in the centre and can help create
23.. .Bf6 24 Ne5 Bd8! a passed pawn on the c-file. Almost all of
Now, black's main weapon is his a-pawn. white's pawns are on white squares, the
If here 24...Kb4 25 Nc6 and black makes no same colour on which his bishop operates,
progress. The ending which arises after but activity of a piece is more important than
.Be5
24.. is drawn and the student is well other factors. 1 Bc8 Ng6 2 Kf3 Of course, 2
adviced to examine this himself. Kf5?? would lose the bishop to a fork with
.Ne7.
2.. 2...Ne5 3 Ke3 a5 4 Ba6 b4 5 Bb5
25 Nd3 Kf7 6 Kf4 White now plans to enter-66 with
If25 Ng6 Kb4 26 Ne5 Kb3 27 Nc6 a4! -+ his king. 6...Kg7 If black-fries to break
25.. .Kc6 26 Kh3 Kd5 27 Ne5 Kc5! through on the queen-side he would lose:

208
6.. .c4?! 7 bc4 (7 Bc47? Nc4 8 bc4 a4 9 Ke3 pieces cannot cope with white's three passed
b3 10 ab3 a3 and the a-pawn queens.) pawns. 8 Be2 a4 If8...c4 9 bc4 a4 10 Bdl b3
7.. .Nd3 8 Kf5 Nc5 9 e5 de5 10 Ke5 a4 11 11 Bb3! (1 lab3?? a3 wins) ab3 12 ab3 and
Ba4! Na4 12 d6 and the black king and black is helpless. If 12...Ke7 13 g6, or if
knight cannot prevent one of white's three .Nd3
12.. 13 g6 Kg7 14 Ke6 wins. 9 ba4! c4
passed pawns from queening. 7 Kf5 Kf7 If 10Bh5! Kg7 If 10...Ke7 11 g6 Ng6 12 Kg6
7.. .Nf3 setting a trap, white can walk into it wins. 11 Bdl c3 12 Ke6 Nc4 13 a5! 1-0?
with advantage: 8 Ke6 Nd4 9 Kd6 Nb5 10
Kc5 Nc3 11 e5 and once again the two black lfl3...Na5 14Kd6Nc415Ke7Ne3 16Ba4.

209
 Chapter 59
Bishop Versus Knight
(When the Knight is stronger)

As a rule, a knight is stronger than a than at e3. He would not have thought that
bishop when the position is blocked and spe­ his attempt to exchange off queens would
cially when the bishop, and its blocked lead to a positionally lost game.
pawns, are on squares of the same colour. 1 Qg5? Bd4! 2 Khl c6 3 Nc3?
This is so, because the long range action of
This leads to the smash up of his pawn
the bishop is severely restricted in such
structure. If 3 Qd8 Rad8 4 Ne3 Nb6 5 Nf5 (5
cases. In an open position, with pawns on
Nc2 Bf6 6 Na3 d5! 7 cd5 cd5 8 ed5 Re2 9
both sides of the board, the bishop is superior
Rb 1 Rd5 and black has a near winning posi­
because its range of influence is much
tion) 5...Bf6 6Ne3 d51 7 cd5 cd5 8 Nd5 Nd5
greater than that of the knight. An additional
9 ed5 Rd5 10 Rbl Re2 11 a3 Rc5 with the
handicap of the bishop is that it can affect
threat of l2...Rcc2 winning.
only squares of one colour whereas the
knight can hop back and forth to squares of 3.. .Bc3I! 4 bc3 Ne5! 5 Rbl
any colour. The accent here is on the end­ Unable to defend c4, white is forced to
game though the same idea also often work counter-attack.
in the middlegame.
5.. .b5!
In the example given below, we shall see
Black .could of course defend his b7
how even a grandmaster can get saddled
pawn and then take c4. But he is not as much
with a bad bishop against a good knight.
interested in the capture of the c4 pawn as in
the control of the c4 square and the a-file.
6 cb5 ab5 7 Rb2 Qg5 8 Bg5 f6 9 Bel
Kf7
Now both players bring their kings into
active play, and to the centre, to lend a help­
ing hand to their pieces. Black’s knight will
be well placed at c4 and the two rooks will
dictate play along the semi-open a-file. In
contrast, white has an inactive bishop and
two rooks defending the a-pawn along the
second rank. White’s prospects are grim.
10 Kgl Ra4 11 Rd2 Ke6 12 Rff2 Rea8
13 Rfe2 h5
Operating on two fronts is good when
the opponent is under pressure. He will be
worrying about the direction from which the
opponent would launch his final attack. If'
Suetin-Keres white succeeds in dourly defending his
Budapest, 1970
weaknesses on the queen-side, black would
White to play.
like to have some fresh weaknesses on
In the diagrammed position, white’s white’s king-side which would be created by
queen would feel more comfortable at c2 g7-g5-g4.

210
 14 f4?I After 33 Ke3 Rel one pair of rooks is ex­
changed off and black remains with a knight
White forestalls black’s plan of g7-g5,
and pawn more.
but now he has put an important pawn on a
black square, impeding the movement of his The next ending shows how an extra
already lethargic bishop. pawn in a knight versus bishop ending tends
to end decisively even though a drawn result
is indicated.
14..
Nc4 IS Rc2 f5!
This fixes the f-pawn on f4 for good and
loosens white’s control over d5 which will
be a good square for his knight to occupy and
from where he could threaten white’s c3
pawn.
16 ef5 Kf5 17 Kf2 Nb6 18 KB NdS 19
g3 Rc4 20 h3 Raa4
Black does not want white to be relieved
of the misery of finding activity for his
bishop. He therefore avoids 20...Nc3 21 g4
hg4 22 hg4 Kg6 (22...Kf6 23 Bb2) 23 Re6
Kf7 24 Rd6 When black has chances of sur­
vival. The c3 pawn cannot run away and it
can be taken whenever black chooses to.
Therefore he takes his time moving his
pieces to ideal squares before taking on c3.
21 a3 Kf6 22 Re8
White tries to take his rooks into the en­
emy camp when the enemy rooks are con­ S.V.Natarajan - M.Aaron
centrating on devouring white’s pawns on Singapore 1975
the queen-side.
In the diagrammed position, queens had
just been exchanged on the e5 square. Both
22.. .M! 23 ab4 Nb4 24 Rce2 Rc3 25 players now manoeuvre their kings to the
R2e3 centre to command more space. A good plan
White sacrifices his bishop with hopes of for white would be Bdl, Ke2, Bb3, Bd5 and
getting perpetual check with his rooks. But adopt a wait and see policy.
if25 Be3 Nd5 will lead to the mass exchange 36 Kel Kf8 37 Kd2 Ke7 38 Kc3 Kd6 39
of al I pieces leaving black withasimplewon Kd4 g5?l 40 Ke4 Ke6 41 g4?
pawn ending.
This is the natural reaction to black’s
25.. .Rcl 26 R18 Kg6 27 f5 Kh7 28 Ree8 threatened ...f5. But this placed the f-pawn
It looks as though white has woven a on a white square and restricts the activity of
mating net. But die net has a hole in it as his white square bishop. A good idea was to
white is forced to exchange a pair ofrooks. let black play ...f5 and answer it with Kd4.
28.. .Rc3 29 Ke2 When you are playing with your back to the
wall in a game it it sometimes a good policy
Ifthe king went up with 29 Kf4 he would
to let your opponent think that you are danc­
be walking into an ambush along the 4th ing to his tune and make him over confident.
rank: 29...Nd5 30 Kg5 Rg3 31 Kh5 Rh3 32
Kg5 Rg3 33 Kh5 Nf6 etc. .f6
41.. 42 a4?
As white is playing for a draw it was
29.. .Ra2 30 Kdl Rai 31 Ke2 better to hold the pawns back and wait for
If 31 Kd2, Rc2 32 Ke3 Rel exchanges black to advance his. Once this pawn
one pair of rooks and the danger to black is crosses a4, it becomes an object of attack. It
gone. was best left at a2. *
31„.Rc2 32 KB RH 0-1. 42..
.Nd7 43 Bc4 Ke7 44 a5

211
 This was the sealed move, and a bad one. 69..
.Kh4 70 Be2 Ne4 71 Kgl Kg3 72
Better was 44 Kf5. As a general rule avoid Bg4 h2 0-1.
making a pawn move your sealed move be­ Triangulation
cause a pawn move is an irrevocable com­
The next position is an illustrtation of
mitment.All pieces can retrace their steps
how a knight manoeuvres into the enemy
but not a pawn. The pawn on a5 now gives
position in a completely blocked position.
black a ready made object of attack.
This is also a good example of ‘triangula­
44.. .Ne5 45 Be2 a6 45 Kd5 tion’ in which a king ‘loses’ a move to
As his a-pawn is doomed, white tries to achieve the same position with the other
take one of black’s pawns. But this exercise player to move.
takes his king far away from the king-side The other player gets into zugzwang af­
where the final battle will be fought. ter the triangulation is successfully con­
46.. .Nc6 47 Kc5 cluded.
If 47 Ba6 Nb4 48 Kc5 Na6 49 Kb6 Kd6
50 Kb7 Nb4 51 a6 Na6 52 Ka6 Kd5 and the
black king will wipe out the white pawns be­
fore the white king trudges back into the
king-side.
47.. .Na5 48 Kb6 Nb3 49 Kb7 a5 50 Kc6
a4 51 Bdl Ke6
Black’s a-pawn is bound to fall, but
black will give it back only after a fight and
after drawing the white king and bishop to
the pawnless queen-side.
52 Kb5 Ke5 53 Ka4 Nd2 54 Bc2 h6 55
Bd3
White has recovered his lost pawn and
has so far managed to keep the black king
and knight away from his king-side pawns.
But with his king far away and the knights
superiority over a bishop in manoeuvring
within a confined space, white’s defeat be­ 3.
Henneberger-Nimzo witch
comes nearer and nearer. Winterthur, 1931
Black to play.
55.. .NB 56 h3 Ngl 57 Kb3 No.3 shows a heavily blocked position.
White decides to give up his h-pawn be­ If it were a little more blocked on the
cause after 57 Bfl Ke4 he could resign. queen-side , even the knight with its ability
to jump through blocks would not be able to
57.. .Nh3 58 Kc3 Nf2 59 Be2 Ke4 60 penetrate the white position. 'In the dia­
Kd2 f5! 61 gf5 Kf5 62 Bf3 g4 grammed pposition, if black played Ne4,
The march of the two black passed then white would stay put, moving his king
pawns is instructive. between e3 and e2 as the black king cannot
penetrate the queen-side. Black’s plan is to
63 Bg2 get his knight into white’s queen-side while
Better was 63 Bc6. At g2 the bishop is keeping his king at d5, tying down the white
bound to get kicked by the h-pawn. king to e3.
63.. .h5 64 Ke2 Ne4 65 Kfl h4 66 Kgl l..
.Nb5 2 Bd2 Na3 3 Bel
h3 67 Bfl Kg5 68 Bd3 Nd2! 69 Kf2 If 3 Bel black would enter a winning
If 69 Kh2 there are two ways to win, the pawn ending after 3...Nc2 4 KdiTNel 5 Kel
prosaic 69...K114 as well as 69...Nf3 70 Kg3 Ke4 6 Ke2 a3! and black-hSs the opposition
h2 71 Kg2 Nel winning the bishop. Notice and white must allow the black king either
how the knight dominates the bishop. into d3 or 13.

212
 3.. .Nbl 4 Bb2 This is known is chess as triangulation.
In this position, if white were to play, he The black king ‘loses’ a move to get the
would lose, because Bb2 is answered by same position with white to play.
a4-a3 and a king move is answered by 6 Ke3
Kd5-e4. But how to get this position with As we have already seen, if 6 Kf2, Nd2
white to play? Here come the tactic of trian­ or if 6 Bal, Kd5 7 Ke3 a3 and now white’s
gulation by the black king. He will move his only hope is to try trap the knight: 8 Ke2 Ke4
king among the d5, d6 and c6 squares and 9 Kdl Kd3 and all is over.
catch the white king on the wrong square.
The main alternative is to win the knight
4.. .Kd6 5 Ke2 directly: 6 Kdl Kd5 7 Kc2 Ke4 8 Kbl Kf3 9
Unfortunately for white, he has only this Ba3 Kg3 10 Bc5 (the bishop must be able to
square to go to because he must also keep the control gl, Black’s queening square)
knight out of d2. For example, if 5 Kf2 Nd2 .Kf4
10.. 11 d5 ed5 12 Kc2 Kf3 13 Kd2 f4 14
6 Kg2 (if 6 Ke2/3, then ...1464 and g3 falls; Kel Kg2 and white is helpless against black
and on 6 Bel Ne4 and c3 falls) 6...Kd5 and pushing his f and g pawns to queen.
black plays ...Ke4next, winning. The differ­ .Kd5
6..
ence in the position of kings is therefore Thus black has achieved by triangulation,
clear. The black king has a choice of 3 the same postion envisaged after white’s
squares to go to while the white king has 4th move with white to play. If is
only two. Triangulation wins. zugzwang, as any move by white will cost
5.. .Kc6! him very heavily.

213
 Chapter 60
Study the Classics
Chess has a rich heritage with fabulous h4Qg6 13 h5Qg5 14 Q13 This threatens 15
men who have made their mark by extraor­ Bf4 winning the queen. Black is forced to
dinary good play. A game becomes a clas­ retreat his knight to its original square, a
sic when it is very attractive and it becomes clear loss of tempi. 14...Ng8 15 Bf4 Qf6 16
quoted regularly as a model for the younger Nc3 Bc5. On the board one notices that only
generation of chess players to emulate. three of black's pieces are not on their origi­
In the old days, the art of defence was nal squares whereas most of white’s pieces
hardly considered as so mething that could are up and about. This means that white has
lead to success. If one player attacked the a big lead in development and he should be
other player reacted by counter-attacking, able to carry out a successful attack. 17 Nd5
there was no elaborate winning defence. Qb2
Nowadays, at the higher levels of inter­
national chess, defensive strategies are
deeply studied and successfully imple­
mented. But at the lower levels, specially
among inexperienced players, the same state
ofaffairs exists as it used to be in the days of
old: attack is met by counter-attack and
nothing else. Those of us who are inexperi­
enced and are at a lower level can therefore
gain a lot by going through the old classical
games and acquire tactical skills of a high
order. Our opponents are generally strang­
ers to defensive chess and are wide open to
blistering attacks. An uncastled king, cas­
tling on opposite wings, weakening your
own castled position, not taking care of your
own king's satety, etc., are common features
in old classics.
The very first classical game that comes
to our mind is the immortal game played in 18 Bd6! With ail ofhis minor pieces get­
the London tournament of 1851. ting within firing range of the enemy king,
white starts the attack sacrificing both rooks.
18.. Qal 19 Ke2 Bgl 20 e5! Na6 The white
Anderssen - Kieseritsky pieces have a stranglehold over the blade
king which is stuck in the centre. 21 Ng7
1 e4 e5 2 f4 (The King's Gambit) 2....ef4 Kd8 22 Qf6! Nfb 23 Be7 1-0.
(The King's Gambit Accepted) 3 Bc4 Qh4 4
/kn b5 5 Bb5 Nf6 6 Nf3 Qh6 7 <13 NhS?! The next classic is also credited to
The threat is 7,..Ng3 winning the exchange. Anderssen. It was played a year later in Eu­
Obviously there were no opening principles rope.
during those days. Black uses his queen and Anderssen - Dufresne
knight to the exclusion of other pieces and
lags behind in development. 8 Nh4 Qg5 9 1 e4 e52 Nf3 Nc63 Bc4Bc54 b4This
Nf5 c6 10 Rgl! White embarks on an un­ is the Evans Gambit This has almost disap­
usual path aiming to trap die black queen. peared from tournament practice in recent
Sacrificing a piece for an attack was routine times. The reason is not far to see. Defen­
in the good old days. 10...cb511 g4! Nf6 12 sive techniques have become stronger than

214
romantic gambits. But is is so out of date not was probably the first player in the world to
that it is playable again! At the cost of a understand and tactically exploit the advan­
pawn white has a lead in development, open tage of lead in development. He was, in a
diagonals for his bishops and a space advan­ way, many mental years ahead of his con­
tage. 4...Bb4 5 c3 Ba5 6 d4 ed4 7 0-0 d3 temporaries. The following game of his
This is a tactic to slow down white's attack. given below is a well known classic and
By pushing the pawn to d3, black leaves a most of you would have seen it. But it de­
white pawn on c3 which will hinder the natu- serves yet another closer look.
ral development of the Nbl toc3. 8Qb3Qf6
9 e5 Qg6 10 Rel Nge7 11 Ba3 b5? Better Morphy-Consultants
was 11 ...0-0 castling into safety and asking Paris 1859
white to prove what compensation he has for 1 e4 e5 2 N13 d6 This is the Philidor De­
his sacrificed pawn. But as we said earlier,
fence. It is passive by nature, but playable. 3
attack was always met by counter-attack
d4 Bg4?! This hands over the initiative to
and defending a position was not considered white on a platter, but it took a Morphy to
seriously. 12 Qb5 Rb8 13 Qa4 Bb6 14 demonstrate how. Nowadays 3...Nbd7 or
Nbd2 Bb7 15 Ne4 Qf5? 16 Bd3 Qh5 Cap­ 3.. .Nf6 are played. 4 de5! Bf3 5 Q13 deS 6
turing the e5 pawn with his king still on e8
Bc4 Nf6! As black's Bc8 has already gone,
would be suicidal: 16...Ne5 17Ne5Qe5 18 6.. .Qd7 was preferable. 7 Qb3 Qe7 Real­
Be7 Qe7 (or Ke7) 19 Ng3 and the queen is ising that the b-pawn is anyway lost, Black
lost. 17 Nf6! gf618ef6 Rg8 19 Radi? This plans to meet 8 Qb7 by ...Qb4+ exchanging
leads to a lovely finish and gets this game queens. The black players obviously consid­
the name of Evergreen Game. But this ered that though they maybe a pawn down
move is dubious and succeeds because of they had a chance against Morphy's attack­
lack of alertness on black's part. Black could ing genius if the queens were exchanged off.
now reply 19...Rg2! 20 Kg2 Ne5 throwing
8 Nc3 c6 9 Bg5 b5?! Though behind in de­
white into defence. By playing 19 Be4 white velopment black embarks on an adventurous
would have controlled the game and re­ course, blissfully unaware of what white is
mained in a very superior position. 19...Q13 cooking up. He should play the laborious
20 Re7 Ne7 9.. .Qc7 then ...Bc5 and 0-0.10 Nb5 cb5 11
Bb5Nbd7120-0-0For his knight white has
got two pawns and a remarkable position.
The black king is jammed in the entre with
queen on e7. All the white pieces are ideally
placed. 12...Rd8 13 Rd7 Rd7 14 Rdl

21 Qd7!l Kd7 22 BfS Ke8 If22...Kc6 23

Bd7# 23 Bd7 Kd8 24 Be7#
Many of the games of the American
chess genius Paul Morphy (1837-1884) have
thrilled chess players all over the world. He

215
 The white pieces are all ideally placed and the discovered attack. 19 Rel Note how
and cooperate with each other harmoni­ the rook enters the game with tempo, attack­
ously. For black, except his queen, no piece ing the enemy queen. Black is given no time
can move, but he has an extra rook. How­ to develop his king-side pieces. 19...Qd5
ever, in a mating attack it is not the number 20 cb Kb7? In such circumstances sitting
of pieces that one has that counts but what under the enemy pawn with 2O...Kb8 is
the pieces can do is what matters. Let us see wiser. The enemy pawn would actually pro­
how brilliantly Morphy finishes off the vide an effective shield from the power of
game. the other pieces. 21 Rbl!! A wonderful
.Qe6
14.. 15 Bd7 Nd7 16 Qb8! Nb8 17 move which tactically takes care of the
Rd8# threat to the Bb5 and brings the Rai into the
game with a threat. Black cannot play
The next game by Morphy is not so well
21..
.Qb5 because the queen will be pinned
known, but it is also a remarkable display of
after 22 Kai. 21...Nf6
an attack developing from a lead in develop­
ment.
Morphy - Airs
Mobile, 1855

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 b4 Bb4 5

c3 Ba5 6 d4 d6 7 Qb3 Qe7 8 d5 Nd4 If the
knight went anywhere else, 9 Qa4 will win
theBa5. 9 Bb5 c6 10 Nd4 ed4 11 de Qe4 12
Kdl Black has succeeded in depriving white
of the right of castling but apart from the
threatened discovered check along the b5-e8
diagonal he is suddenly faced with an extra
danger of the rook pinning his queen along
the e-file. 12...Bg4 1313 B13 14gf3 Qf3 15
Kc2 Qe4? 16 Kb2 Bc3? This only helps
white achieve speedier development. Note
that black is exchanging his developed Ba5
for white's undeveloped Nb 1. Better was the
immediate ..0-0-0.17 Nc3 dc318 Qc3 0-0-6 22 Bc6!! Qc6 23 Kai Kc7 24 Qa5 Kc8
This is black's only solution to avert the pin 25 Qa7 Nd7 26 Bd2 1-0.

216
 Study The Classics 2
Most of the classics are brilliant efforts 16.. .Qg6 17 Bf4 Rd8 18 Qc2 Ncd4 19
which please our appetite for beauty. And Qe4
almost all of these classics are short games 19.. .Ng31! 0-1.
made possible by some demonstrable mis­ If„20 Qg6, Nde2# Or if 20 Qe3, Nde2
take by the opponent. And such mistakes forces white to give up his queen for a
happen very frequently in club games and knight.
children's tournaments. The study of the Pawn hunting is a disease that afflicts all
classics will therefore help you play stronger ambitious players. If you capture a loose
and without your realising it make you un­ pawn in the opening and survive the mid­
derstand how chess tactics develop from a dle-game somehow then you can win in the
game. ending because of the extra pawn. But often,
Marache - Morphy you cannot survive the early middle-game
New York, 1857 because while you have been pawn hunting
your opponent has been developing his
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 b4 Bb4 5 pieces and preparing his attack.
c3 Ba5 6 d4 ed4 7 e5 d5! 8 ed6 e.p Qd6 9 0-0 Aron Nimzowitsch was an extravagant
Nge7 10 Ng5 0-0 11 Bd3 Bf5 12 Bf5 Nf5 13 person and he called the following game
Ba3 Qg6 14 Bf8 Qg5 "The pride of the Family".

Morphy has given up the exchange but Nimzowitsch-Alapin

he has two pawns and a terrific lead in devel­ Riga 1913
opment: all of his pieces except the Ra8 are
in play whereas white's only developed
1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 edS Nd5 5
piece, the bishop must move again. N13 c5 6 Nd5’Qd5 7 Be3 cd4 8 Nd4 a6
Black has developed only his queen and
15 Ba3 dc3 16 Bel
advanced two pawns giving white a big lead
This is the only possible move. For ex­ in development. In such cases if white does
ample, if 16 Qf3 Nfd4 17Qd3 c2 18Nc3 not play energetically the lead in develop­
Bc3 19Qc3Ne2 wins the queen. ment will disappear after a few moves. It is
at such stages in the game that a player has to
be at his creative best.

9 Be2 Qg2?
Better would be to complete his develop­
ment with 9...Be7 and meet 10 Bf3 with
10,.
.Qa5.

10B13 Qg6 11 Qd2e5

This is more for providing the queen
with an escape route along the third rank
than to attack the Ne4. White has a clear
plan to castle on the queen-side and then
play Rhgl. Black's position is already pre­
carious.

217
 12 0-0-0 ed4 13 Bd4 Nc6

believe that attack is the best form of de­

fence. In the following game, when he
14 Bf61! Qf6 forced his opponent to resign by a move
which is the most beautiful ever made, ex­
If 14...Be6 15 Bc6 bc6 16 Qd8 Rd8 17
cited spectators showered gold coins on
Rd8#
him.
15 Rhel Be7
If 15...Be6 !6Qd7# Levitzky - Marshall
16 Bc6 K18 Breslau 1912
If 16...Qc6 17Qd8# 1 d4 e6 2 e4 d5 3 Nc3 c5 4 N13 Nc6 5 edS
ed5 6 Be2 Nf6 7 0-0 Be7 8 Bg5 0-0 9 bc5
17 QdS! Bd8 18 Re8#
Be610 Nd4 Bc511 Ne6 fe612 Bg4 Qd613
Ed Lasker - G.A.Thomas Bh3 Rae8 14 Qd2 Bb4!
London 1912 Black is threatening the unpleasant
I d4 f5 2 e4 15..
.d4. White has so far failed to do any­
This is the Staunton Gambit against the thing against black’s d and e pawns.
Dutch Defence. 15 Bf6 Rf6 16 Radi Qc5 17 Qe2?
.fe4
2.. 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 e6 5 Ne4 Be7 6 This abandons a pawn for no compensa­
Bf6 Bf6 7 Nf3 0-0 8 Bd3 b6 9 Ne5 Bb7 10 tion. Better was 17 Ne2 threatening 18 c3.
Qh5 Qe7? 17.. .Bc3 18 bc3 Qc3 19 Rd5 Nd4 20
Black is taking things lightly. The mass­ Qh5 Reffi 21 Re5
ing ofthe white forces against the black king
If 21 Rc5 Rf2! 22 Rf2 Qel mates.
is dangerous in the extreme. Very necessary
in this situation is to exchange off the key 21.. .Rh6 22 Qg5
white knight on e5 with 10...Be5. lf22Qg4Nf3 23 gf3 Qe5-+
White to play and mate in 8 moves! 22.. .Rh3 23 Rc5
See diagram If 23 gh3 Nf3 wins the queen.
See diagram
II Qh7!!! Kh7 12 N16 Kh6
If 12...Kh8 13 Ng6# 23.. .Qg3I!! 0-1.
13 Neg4 Kg5 14 h4 Kf4 15 g3 K13 16 There are three ways by which the queen
Be2 Kg2 17 Rh2 Kgl 18 Kdl# could be captured on g3 but all of them lose!
Frank Marshall was a famous, flamboy­ If24hg3 Ne2#;or24 fg3 Ne2 25 Khl Rfl#;
ant American champion. He was known to or 24 Qg3 Ne2 25 Khl Ng3 26 Kgl Nfl-+

218
 15.. .Nc3!I 16 Bc5
If 16 Qc3 Rfe8 and the Be7 is lost: or if
16 Bf8 Bf8 17 Qc3? Bb4.
16.. .Rfe8! 17 Kn

D.Byrne - Fischer
New York, 1956

1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 d4 0-0

Bf4 d5 6 Qb3?l
6 e3 is more and usual here. .Be6!I
17.. 18 Bb6
6.. .dc4 7 Qc4 c6 8 e4 Nbd7 9 Rdl Nb6 Ifl8Be6!Qb5 19 Kgl Ne2 20 Kfl Ng3
10Qc5? Bg4 11 Bg5? 21 Kgl Qfl I 22 Rfl Ne2#; or if 18 Qc3 Qc5;
It was wiser to complete his develop­ or 18 Bd3 Nb5!
ment with 11 Be2 and 0-0 before embarking
on other plans. White's incomplete develop­ 18...Bc4 19 Kgl Ne2 20 Kfl Nd4 21
ment is now brilliantly exploited by black's
Kgl Ne2 22 Kfl Nc3 23 Kgl ab6!
original combination.
Watch how the Nc3 has other duties to
11.. .Na4! 12 Qa3 perform besides capturing the Rdl. If now
If 12 Na4 Ne4 13 Qcl Qa5 14 Nc3 Bfi 24 Qd6 Ndl 25 Qdl Ra2 white is helpless
15 gf3 Ng5 and black has won a pawn and against the threatened ...Rai.
also the better position.
12.. .Nc313 bc3 Ne414 Be7 Qb615Bc4 24 Qb4 Ra4! 25 Qb6 Ndl 26 h3 Ra2 27
If 15 Bf8 BK 16 Qb3 Nc3! 17 Qb6 ab6 Kh2 Nf2 28 Rel Rel 29 Qd8 B18 30 Nel
and white's position is falling around him. Bd5 and 40 0-1.

219
 Chapter 61
Bishop Endings
ENDINGS with bishops ofthe same col­ black's king-side because black can post his
our are tough and require patient, delicate bishop on e8 and deny entry even at h5.
handling. Many players are known to dislike Black's queen-side also looks defendable
endings with bishops because it does not suit because black can switch his king to c7, and
once he plays ...a5 the white king will have
their swashbuckling nature.
no entry on the queen-side.
The main advantageous factor in such
endings is how far the king has advanced; a In this position if 1 c6 Bc8 (l...Be8?2 c7
well placed king is a great asset because it Kd7 {2...Bd7 3 Bb7 wins} 3 Bc6! Kc7 4
can enter the opponent's camp and gobble up Be8+-) 2 Kf2 Kd8 3 Ke3 Kc7 4 Kd4 Kb6!
pawns. The next favourable factor is when and white's c6 pawn has turned into a liabil­
the pawns are placed on colours opposite to ity and has to be defended. It is relevant to
that of the bishop. In some positions the su­ remember Capablanca's general rule that as
perior side can come to a dead end, unable to a passed pawn advances it either becomes
secure an entry point into the enemy camp very dangerous or very weak.
with his king. At such times, waiting moves In such situations, one should move the
with the bishop could be tried to force the op­ king to the area where one has the advantage
ponent into Zugzwang. Let us examine a (in this case it is the queen-side where white
few examples to familiarise ourselves with has an extra pawn) and take stock of the po­
the general ideas in ‘normal1 bishop endings sition after reaching there.
where both sides have quite a few pawns. And that is what happened in the game.

1 Kf2 Kd8 2 Ke3 Kc7 3 Kd4 a5

This move will be forced sooner or later
because white will try Kd4-c4-b4. Now
white's winning plan will be to gain entry for
his king into b5 which is now guarded by the
Bd7.
4 Bd3 Be8 5 Bc4 Bd7 6 Bb3!
This is a good waiting move. It forces
black's bishop to move as any move by the
king would lose:
(a) 6...K.C6 7 Ba4 Kc7 8 Bd7 Kd7 9 Kc4
Kc6 10 g4 g6 (if 10...g5 11 h3 a4 12 Kb4
Kd5 13Kb5etc.)Ilh4h5 12g5(12 gh5gh5
13 a4 also wins) 12...a4 13 Kb4 Kd5 14Kb5
Ke5 15 c6 Kd6 16 Kc6 and white's c-pawn
queens very fast.
Fine-Kashdan
New York 1938. (b) 6,..Kb7 7 c6! and now we have:
This position is clearly favourable for (bl) 7...Bc6 8 Be6 Kc7 9 Kc5 Be8 10
white because of the extra pawn which hap­ Bb3 Bc6 (this bishop cannot leave the a4-e8
pens to be passed and the colour ofthe pawns diagonal as white is always threatening Kb5
blocked on the e-file. winning the a-pawn.) 11 e6 Be8 12 e7! Kd7
Of course, white's plan of action would (if 12...Bc6 13 Bf7) 13 Ba4 Ke7 14 Be8 Ke8
be to move his king over to the queen-side as 15 Kb5 and white should win the pawn end-^
he would never be able to take his king into ing easily.

220
 (b2) 7...Kc6 8 Ba4 Kc7 9 Bd7 Kd7 10 monthly Chess in the USSR found another
Kc5 and the white king knocks off the a5 plan: 1 c6! Bc8 2 a4 aS ( to prevent the
pawn to win. smothering a4-a5) 3 Bd3 (so that the Bc8 is
6.. .Bc8 7 Ba4! Ba6! permanently doomed to stay at c8) 3...Kd8
The last exclamation mark is to indicate
4 Kf2 Kc7 5 BbS Kb6 6 Ke3 Kc5 7 Ke4!
and black will soon be in zugzwang. After
that it is the best resistance under the circum­
the pawns on the king-side become blocked
stances. In the actual game black resigned
black will have to move his king (his bishop
after7...Bb7 8 Kc4 Ba69 Bb5 Bb7 10 Kb3 as
is dead) allowing the white king entry into
he could do nothing to prevent white from
d4 and then c5.
capturing his a5 pawn with Kb3-a4-a5.
8 c6! Kb6!
Black must prevent Kc5 at any cost. It
looks as though black has put up a very suc­
cessful defence. But white now sacrifices
his c-pawn to gain entry for his king into the
black defence. The king becomes the most
aggressive piece in this part of the game.
This is typical in many bishop endings and
even in simple pawn endings.
9 c7! Bc8
If 9...Kc7 10 Kc5 Be2 (this Bishop must
remain on the a6-fl diagonal to prevent
Kb5) 11 Bb3 Kd7 (if ll...Bf5 12 Kb5) 12
Kb6 and white wins the a5 pawn.
10 Be8 Kc7 11 Kc5
By sacrificing a pawn, white has gained
entry into black's defensive ring. The a5
pawn is now easy prey.
M.Aaron-R.Seth
H...Ba6 12 Ba4 New Delhi 1959
Black is now powerless to stop 13 Bb3 The diagrammed position was one of the
attacking the e6 pawn when ...Bc8 allows most unpleasant endings that I have faced in
Kb5 and ...Kd7 allows Kb6. my life. Black's king is well placed and
12.. .g5 13 Bb3 Bc8 14 Kb5 Bd7 15 Ka5 white's queen-side pawns are separated. But
a draw still looks a possibility as black lacks
White has regained his sacrificed pawn.
a good pawn to exploit the situation.
In effect he has exchanged his passed
c-pawn for a passed a-pawn. Now white 30.. .e4!
proceeds to win by threatening to exchange We all know that placing a blocked pawn
bishops and advancing his king further. on the same colour square as the bishop is
15.. .Kb7 16 Ba4! Bc8 17 Kb5 Bd7 18 not good. But here black cramps the white
position and creates vague threats of inva­
Kb4 Bc8 19 Kc5 Kc7 20 Bb3! Bd7 21 a4
Bc8 22 aS Bd7 23 a6 Bc8 24 Bc4 Bd7 25 sion by his king.
Bb5! Bc8 26 g4! 31 Be2 BdS 32 Kd2 Bc4 33 Bdl a5 34
Black is in zugzwang. Any move that he Bc2 KdS 3S Bdl KeS 36 Bg4 Kf6 37 Bdl
makes will concede material or allow the KgS 38 Kel Be6 39 13?
white king to advance triumphantly: 39 h4 sending back the king was better.
26..
.Kb8 27 Kb6 Ka8 28 Bc6 Kb8 29 a7# After the text white is saddled with weak
In certain positions it is possible to fol­ pawns all over the board requiring him to be
low two entirely different plans to achieve on his toes defending.
victory. In the Fine-Kashdan diagram given 39.. .ef3 40 B13 Kf5 41 Kd2 Bc4 42 Bg2
above, the readers of the Russian language KeS 43 Bf3 Bd5

221
 With white having many pawn weak­
nesses black offers to play a pawn ending.
If now 44 Bd5 Kd5 45 Kd3 b5 46 e4 Kc5
and the white king would be forced to pre­
vent the black king from entering c4.
44 Be2 Ke4 45 Bg4 Bc4 46 Bh5 g6 47
Bg4 f5 48 Bdl Bb5!
White is in zugzwang. His king has no
move and his bishop has no move along the
dl-h5 diagonal. He therefore has to lose
control over f3 and seek some play against
the black pawns on the king-side.
49 Bb3 Kf3 50 Bf7 Kg2 51 Kcl
If 51 Bg6 Kh2 52 Bf5 Kg3 53 Bg6 (to
stop h6-h5) Kg4 and the h-pawn will win.
It was better to maintain the bishop on d'l
to discourage black from playing a5-a4.
.Kh2
51.. 52 Kf2 g5 53 Bg6 Bd3 54 Bh5 Even 6 Kd3 could be played as black cannot
Kh3 55 Bf3 g4 56 Bg2 Kh2 57 Bc6 h5 0-1. win with 6...Bf5 7 Kd2 Bbl 8 Kcl! Ba2 9
Kb2 trapping the bishop.
White has no defence against 58...Be4 6.. .Bf5 7 Kcl Bd7 8 Kd2
followed by h5-h4 queening the g-pawn. 8 Bd 1 discouraging a5-a4 came into con­
sideration.
A recent example 8.. .a4! 9 ba4?
After this move, white has the additional
The next pdsition is from the 7th Match task of taking care that the black king does
Game of the Semi-finals of the FIDE World not invade c4. 9 Bdl put up a stronger resis­
Championship at Hyderabad, February tance. Obviously white feared 9...a3 after
1995. which he would have to contend with alter­
See diagram nating attacks against his a2 and h5 pawns.
But analysis shows white could indeed de­
Gelfand-Karpov fend.
White to play 9.. .ba4 10 Be2 Bc6 11 Bf3 Be8 12 Bdl
d4! 13 Kd3 Bb5 14 Ke4?
Black's ideas for winning would consist
After this the game is lost as the king
of attacking the a2 pawn with Bb 1 and pene­
cannot get back to stop black's passed pawn.
tration of the white position with his king.
Obviously white had overlooked black's
1 Bd3 Bd7 next move. 14 Kd2 offered some chances.
The exchange of bishops now would
14.. .d3! 15 K15 Bc4 16 Ke4 d2 17 f5
lead to an easy draw. Ba218 Kd3 Bbl 19 Kd2 BfS 20 Be2 Be4 21
2 Bc2 Be8 3 Bg6 Bc6 4 Bc2 Bd7 5 Bdl Kcl Kd6 22 Kb2 Bd5 23 Bd3 Bf7 24 Be2
Bh3 6 B13?! Ke5 0-1.

222
 Bishop Endings - 2
WITH fewer pawns on the board, same 4 Bh7 Bc4 5 g6 and black cannot prevent
colour bishop endings become easier for g6-g7#l
evaluation as everything can be calculated. 3 g5 Bg8 4 Bh7!! Bh7 5 g6! Bg6
In the previous example of Gelfand-Karpov, If 5...Bg8 there is the amusing mate with
Hyderabad 1995. the bishop ending was fa­ 6 »7! Now white wins the pawn ending eas­
vourable for Karpov, but vague. One could ily by walking his king to the queen-side,
not say firmly that Karpov would win with capturing the black b6-pawn and then
precise play from both sides. queening his own pawn.
With a few pawns left on the board, the 6 Kg6 Kg8 7 Kf6 Kf8 8 Ke6 Ke8 9 Kd6
question hinges on the defending side sacri­ Kd8 10 Kc6 Kc8 11 Kb6 Kd7 12 c5 Kc8
ficing his bishop for the remaining pawns on Kc6 and now with the 'opposition' white
the board and making a draw. The superior simply queens his pawn.
side (who generally has a pawn more) does
When the position is reduced to a single
not allow his last pawn to be annihilated by
pawn the final outcome depends on how far
the opponent's bishop and blocks out the
the pawn is from queening and on which file
other bishop with his own bishop and only
it is. Generally a pawn in the centre should
then advances his pawn. Another tactic to
be a draw because the superior side cannot
win which is also common in other endings,
successfully shield tb ’path of his pawn from
is to exchange off bishops to reach a won
the enemy bishop as ,, can whiz around the
pawn ending. In this phase of the game
board from different diagonals. When a
bishop sacrifices by both the defending and
pawn is on the edge files, victory is easier as
superior sides are common.
the defending bishop has no choice of diago­
nals.

A Selesniev study.
A Farni composition.
White's advanced king is a great asset in
this position and he uses it to restrict black Draw.
further.
Whether it is white to move or black to
1 Kh6 BH 2 Bd3! Be6 move, it is a draw in this position. The prob­
Black had a choice of only two squares lem is the white king which cannot get to g8
forhis bishop, e6 and g8. If2...Bg8 3 g5 Be6 from where it could win.

223
 It is not possible for white to drive away
the black bishop from the two diagonals con-
trolling the queening square: a3-f8 and
f8-h6.
I BfS Be5 2 Ba3 Bg7 Bb2 Bh6 4 Bel
Bg7 5 Bd2
It looks like the black bishop has no
move, but then the black king shifts between
e6 and d6 to hold the draw.
Now let us examine the same position
with the white king on g8. Then it is a simple
win with 1 BfS Bf4 2 Bb4 Bh6 3 Bd2! and
the black bishop can no longer control f8 as
the white king is on g8.

bishop from the b8-h2 diagonal. A sample

line is: l ...Bf4 2 Bf2 Bh2 3 Ba7 Bg3 4 Bb8
Bf2 5 Bf2 Bh2 Ba7 6 Bgl land white wins.
Black’s best resistance is, however, not to
wait for white to put through his plan but to
hinder the white bishop from reaching a7.
For this he will have to take his king to a6.

1.. .KbS 2 Bf2 Ka6

White’s plan of Ba7 has been foiled. But
with the black king not covering c7, white
has another tactical plan.
3 Bc5!
A nice waiting move. As the black king
cannot leave a6, the bishop has to move out
White wins of his h2 comer.
This example is almost similar to the pre­ 3.. .Be5 4Be7!
vious one but has zugzwang as the final
With the black king on a6, white now
weapon to win;
plans to bring his bishop to c7 via d8 and
1 Bb7 Bg4 2 Bc8 Be2 3 Bf5 Ba6 4 Be4! then queen his pawn. To forestall this, black
This is a nice waiting move demonstrat­ must bring back his king to f3.
ing that there is no threat, but any move by 4.. .Kb5 S Bd8 Kc6
black would concede victory. The black
We have reached the same position in
bishop has no move. Any move by the black
the diagram with the small but important dif­
king would allow Be4-b7 giving safe pas­
ference that the black bishop is on e5 and not
sage for the pawn to queen.
on h2. This allows white a tactical stroke
The next example is a famous composi­ and an express access for his bishop to a7.
tion by Centurini.
6 Bf6!
See diagram Of course, the bishop cannot be taken as
Centurini. White Wins. the pawn would queen. It must be noted
here that if black had moved his bishop to f4
1 Bh4 or g3 on the.third move, white would now
White's main plan is simple enough: shift have played Bg5 or Bh4 with a quick shift to
his bishop to b8 to drive away the black a7.

224
 6.. .Bg3 7 Bd4 Bf4 8 Ba7 Bh2 9 Bb8 Bgl
10 Bg3 Ba7 11 Bf2 and wins.
A good tactic to know in the bishop end­
ings is illustrated in the next example.

See diagram

Black to play

With his pawns advanced very ^r, black

can brazenly offer his bishop to the etremy.
1.. .Bf4! 2 gf4
If white declines the generous offer he
loses both pawns after 2 Ke4 Bg3! and white
must give up his h2 pawn also as 3 hg3 is met
by 3...h2 queening.
2.. .g3! and black queens a pawn. discussed in the earlier part of this ending.
This tactic of a bishop sacrifice when the Though it was not played, it could have ulti­
pawns are well advanced was apossibility in mately influenced the thinking ofthe players
one variation in the Gelfand-Karpov game when the game was adjourned.

225
 Chapter 62
Opening Traps And Tactics
Opening chess theory is very vast. It is 5.. .Qg2 6 Rfl
not possible to study all the openings. It is White reckons to save his rook on h 1 and
even very difficult to study some of the collect the Rh8 next move.
openings thoroughly. All serious tourna­
ment players have their own special opening 6.. .Qe4 7 Be2 Nf3#
repertoire. Some who open with I e4, forex-
ample, rarely open with 1 d4, and it also goes
the other way round. In spite of thorough
preparation a player can be taken along un­
usual channels by an opponent who is deter­
mined to test his real strength. At such times
one has to know the opening in question upto
a reasonable stage and also the many tactics
that go with it.‘ The best way to study the
openings is to study its theory from some
opening manual and then go through a lot of
published master games with those open­
ings. However, this is also not quite ade­
quate as most master games have the best
possible moves for both sides and the small
traps and side variations are rarely employed
as the opponent is also expected to know
them.
Many of you would be aware of the fol­
lowing trap:
0-1.
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nd4?I This is a very interesting trap, but what
This trap can succeed only if the oppo­ happens if white is aware of it and plays 4.
nent is naive and greedy. To be frank, I came 0-0 when he threatens to take safely on e5?
to know of this trap only some two years af­ Then white is far better and black's knight on
ter becoming an IM! Play will head for a d4 looks silly. White has a big lead in devel­
stunning smothered mate if white falls into opment which is a big advantage.
the trap:
The Philidor's Defence has a dumber of
4Ne5? traps of which the defender must be careful
. This is a very tempting and attractive if he must enter the middle-game with a rea­
move to make. In one stroke white captures, sonable chance. The very cramped nature of
a central pawn and threatens fl. But after black's set-up with d6 andNd7 allows white
this, white is lost. He is mated in only three dangerous tactics very early in the game.
more moves!
.Qg5!
4.. 5 Nf7 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 Nd7
This is whites logical continuation, fork­ See diagram
ing the black queen and rook. If 5 Bf7, Ke7
and Black threatens the Ne5 which protects If 3...Nc6 4 de5 de5 5 Qd8 Kd8 6 Bc4
the Bf7 and also the very dangerous Qg2. and white's superior development prevents
J-I'ow black wins this must be analysed by black's normal development and throws him
readers themselves. on the defensive.

226
 5 0-0
(a) A very interesting alternative is 5
Ng5 Nh6/6 0-0 and here black must play
6.. .Nb6 7ZBb3 and then only 7...Be7. If he
straight away plays the natural 6...Be7? he
gets into spectacular trouble after: 7 Ne6!
fe6 8 Bh6Nb6 (8...gh6?? 9 Qh5 Kf8 10 Be6
Qe8 11 Qh6#) 9 Bg7 Rg8 (Better was
9.. .Nc4 10 Bh8 Kf7 11 b3 Nb6 12 f4!) 10
Qh5 Kd7 11 Be6! Kc7 12 Bg8 Qg8 13 Qh6
and white has a winning material advantage.
(b) Another fifth move alternative is 5 c3
which plans Qb3 attacking f7 and b7 in some
variations. The continuation could be5 ...b5
6 Bb3 Be7 7 Ng5! Bg5 (Once again there is
an alternative which is similar to what we
4 Bc4 have already seen: if 7...Nh6 8 Ne6 fe6 9
Bh6 Nb6 10 Bg7 with a clear advantage to
white.) 8 Qh51 g69Qg5 Qg5 10Bg5 and the
endgame is advantageous to white whose
two bishops would play a big role in the
proceedings.
5..
.Be7 6 a4 Ngf6 7 Nc3 Qc7 8 Qe2 0-0
Here 8...Nb6 would be premature as
white would take the offensive with 9 de5
de5 10 Bf7! Kf7 11 a5 Nbd7 12 Qc4 Ke8 13
Ng5Nf8 14Rdl Bd7 15Be3 and white hasa
pawn and a very promising attack for his
bishop (Velihiirovic - Kavalek 1965).
The unusual Rubinstein variation in the
Sicilian Defence (2...Nf6) illustrates a possi­
bility in the opening where white can ad­
vance his e-pawn to great advantage.
I e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 e5 Nd5 4 Nc3 Nc3
.c6
4..
(4...e6 is the main variation) 5 dc3 b6?
This is the best move. Other alternatives (Better 5...d5) 6 e6!!
have to be seen here for a real appreciation of
the dangers that await black: See diagram
Here black has three possibilities, all of
(a) 4...Ngf6 5 de5 Ne5 (If 5...de5 6 Ng5 them leading to bad positions:
wins; or if 5...Ne4? 6 Qd5 threatening both
mate at f7 and the adventurous knight on e4) 1) 6...de6 7 Qd8 Kd8 8 Ne5 Ke8 9 Bb5
Bd7 (9...Nd7 10 Bc6 Rb8 11 Bf4) 10 Nd7
6Ne5 de5 7 Bf7 Kf7 8 Qd8Bb4 9 Qd2 Bd2
Nd7 11 Bf4+-.
10 Nd2 and again white has a pawn more.
(b) 4...Be7 5 de5 Ne5 (if 5...de5? 6 Qd5!
2) 6...fe6 7 Ne5 and if now black has to
allow either the devastating 8 Qh5 or 8 Qf3.
and black cannot defend f7) 6 Ne5 de5 7 Qh5
For example, if 7...Bb7, 8 Qh5 g6 9 Ng6!
and white wins material with a double attack
on f7 and e5. 3) 6...f6 7Ne5! fe5 8 Qf3 and black must
give up the Ra8 to save mate on f7.
(c) 4,..h6 5 de5 de5 6 Bf7! Kf7 7 Ne5 Kft
8 Nc3! Ke5 9 Qd5 Kf6 10 Qf5 Ke7 11 Nd5 4) 6...d67? 7 Bb5
Kd6 12 Bf4 Kc6 13 Nc7 with a big attack. Those who play the Sicilian Dragon
This should be analysed personally. have to watch out for the following trap:

227
 8.. .Qa5!9Bd2Qe5! 10de5Bdl 11 RdINd5
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cd4 4 Nd4 Nf6 5
Nc3 g6 6 f4. Here both Nbd7 and Nc6 are and black had avoided all danger.
okay. But if black plays the natural 6...Bg7? This same tactic can occur in any open­
he is in for a nasty shock: 7 e5 deS 8 fe5 ing. 1 was a victim of it via the Scandinavian
Nd5? Defence in the National B, 1995 at Madras:
If 8...Ng4?? 9 Bb5 Kf8? (If 9...Bd7 10
Qg4) 10 Ne6! and white wins the queen. Alex Thomas - M.Aaron
However, better was 8...Nfd7. 1 e4 d5 2 ed5 Qd53 Nc3 Qa5 4 Nf3 Nf6
9 Bb5 Kf8 10 0-0 5 d4 c6 6 Bd2 Qb6? 7 Bc4 Bg4??
Here, if 10...Be5? 11 Nd5 Qd5 12 Bh6! This is an example that even an experi­
Bg7 13 Nf5! Qc5 14 Kh 1!+-; or, if enced player can sometimes overlook
.Nc3??
10.. 11 Ne6! mating. well-known tactics that they themselves
have used for years.
The main idea behind the Caro-Kann
Defence is to get black's queen bishop devel­ 8 Bf7 Kf7 9 Ne5 Kg8 10 Ng4 Qd4 11
oped. It must be remembered that the queen Nf6 ef6 12 Qe2 Qd7 and though black re­
bishop is a difficult piece to develop in the covered his pawn, his position came danger­
French Defence. Even when the queen ously close to breaking point because of his
bishop is developed in the Caro-Kann, one messed up king-side. But black survived.
ought to be careful. Here is an example: How black nearly won the game later is an­
other story!
1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 de4 4 Ne4 Nbd7 5
Bc4 Ngf6 6 Nf6 Nf6 7 Nf3 Bg4? This pin is Reti-Tartakover
illusory. Vienna 1910
1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 de4 4 Ne4 Nf6 5
See diagram Qd3 e5
Here, white has a choice of two moves: 8 Here, the pin with 5...Bf5 would be a
Bf7 and 8 Ne5. Though both have the same blunder on account of 6 Nf6+ to be followed
idea, the first is correct and the second a by 7 Qf5. With e7-e5 black aims to achieve
blunder. early equality but the recovery ofthe e-pawn
After 8 Bf7! Kf7 9 Ne5 Kg8 10 Ng4 puts black back in the race for development
white has won a pawn and shattered blacks of his pieces and brings his queen into the
position.' dangerous zone in the centre.
But after 8 Ne5?? black does not imme­ 6 de5 Qa5 7 Bd2 Qe5 8 0-0-0 Ne4
diately take the queen 8...Bdl? which will Black feels quite safe in this position. If
lead to mate by 9 Bf7, but would first play 8.. .Qe4? 9 Rel wins the queen. But black is

228
in for a spectacular surprise. He was proba­
bly only expecting 9 Rel f5 10 f3.

Rootka-Vesellyi
Prague 1950
9 Qd8!!
It seems that white has overlooked that
1 e4 e5 2 N13 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 Ng5
his bishop on d2 is obstructing the Rdl.
BcSll 5 Nf7 Bf2! 6 Kf2 Ne4 7 Ke3 Qe7 8
Ke4 Qh4 9 g4
9...Kd8 10 Bg5 If 9 Ke3 Qf4 10 Ke2 Qc4 11 d3 Qf7 and
This is a double check. And for a double black has a pawn more.
check there is only one way out: RUN. But
where. If 10...Ke8 11 Rd8#Orif 10...Kc7 11
.d5!
9.. 10 Bd5 Bg4 11 Qel
Bd8# If 1 r Bc6 Bd7! 12 Ke3 Bc6 13 Rfl 0-0
and white's position is unpleasant.
Here are two more examples with the
same idea. 1 l...Bf5I!
Distl-Rossipal
1900
1 e4 e5 2 N13 Nc6 3 d4 ed4 4 Nd4 Nd4?l
This voluntarily brings the white queen
to the centre with no plans of chasing it
away.
5 Qd4 Ne7 6 Bc4 c6 7 Nc3 d6 8 Bg5 Qb6
9 Qd6 Qb2 10 Rdl Qc3 11 Bd2 Qc4
See diagram
12 Qd81! Kd8 13 Ba5 Ke8 14 Rd8#
The next is a famous example from a si­
multaneous display by Bronstein.
1 e4 e5 2 d4 ed4 3 Qd4 Nc6 4 Qa4 Nf6 5
Nc3 d5 6 Bg5 de4 7 Ne4 Qe7 8 0-0-0 Qe4 9
Rd8!l Kd8 10 Qe4+-.
If you ever play the Giuoco Piano with 3 White is mated. If 14 Kf5 Qf4 15 Ke6
Bc4, you ought to know the best way to deal Qf6#; or if 14 Ke3 Qf4 15 Ke2 Nd4 16 Kdl
with the Two Knights Defence as you could Qg4; or if 14 Kf3 Nd4 15 Kg2 Bh3 16 Kgl
run into unpleasant surprises. Qel#.

229
 Chapter 63
Opening Traps And Pitfalls
In this chapter we make our readers fa­
miliar with some of the popular traps which
arise from l.d4 and other closed openings.
The mate of the opponent’s queen is the
dream of every player. Almost always, the
capture of the opponent’s most powerful
piece is accompanied by his giving up the
game. Some traps are to mate the king.
Other traps aim to trap the queen, lesser
pieces or even to snatch a pawn.
Our first example of mating the queen
happened in the French Championship of
1924.

Jibo-Lazar
France 1924 This combination is of a smothered mate
type, and if we are to believe the story, it was
contrived and did not arise out of natural
1 d4 Nf6 2 Nd2 play. It must be remembered that in opening
There is a story that white actually was play one simple rule is ‘Develop your minor
about to play 2 c4 but black offered him a pieces before your major pieces’ and an­
sum of money if he would play 2 Nbl-d2. other allied general rule is: ‘Develop your
And white accepted. Knights before your bishops’. In many of
2.. e5 3 de5 Ng4 4 h3 the opening traps, the knights, often in com­
The story continues that here white was bination with a queen or bishop, play a vital
about to play 4 Ngf3 when black brought out part which only proves the correctness ofthe
his purse again and offered a hefty sum if he above two general principles of opening
played 4 h3. Once again white saw no harm play.
in accepting the offer and played the move
recommended by black. But now comes the Sheron-Polike
France 1927
sting.
4.. .Ne3!I 1 d4 g6 2 e4 Bg7 3 Nf3 d64Nc3Nd75
See diagram Bc4 Ngf6 6 e5 de5 7 de5 Nh5 8 Bf7! Kf7 9
Ng5
Now only white sees the diabolic plot. If See diagram
5 fe3? Qh4 mates. And white lost his queen. The black king has only three squares to
The final twist to this story is that though go to. If he goes back to where he came
white lost his queen on the 5th move, he from, 9...Ke8, then the queen is mated by 10
went on to win the game. He was the better Ne6. If he played 9...Kf8 the queen is lost by
player! This game is given in Weinstein’s the fork 10 Ne6. And if 9. .Kg8, then 10 Qd5
book Kombinacie E Lovushke Ve Debyute mates. The exchange variation in the
(Moscow 1965) but the story is unsourced. Queen’s Gambit Has an interesting trap:

230
 rably in a practical game played decades ago
in Moscow. Reuben Fine, the leading player
from America in the thirties lost the follow­
ing game to M.M.Yudovich (Senior) who
later on became a Soviet IM.. Fine creden­
tials can be gauged from the fact that in the
next tournament after losing this game he
defeated three world champions: Euwe
(who was then champion), Alekhine (who
had lost and not yet regained his title from
Euwe) and Botwinnik who later on became
champion. When Fine was at his peak, he
gave up chess for his work as a psychiatrist
and wrote a number of chess books includ­
ing the famous Basic Chess Endings.

1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 Nbd7 5 Fine-Yudovich

e3 1 d4 dS 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Nf3 c5 5 Bg5
If white tries to win a pawn by 5 cd5 ed5 cd4 6 Nd4 e5 7 Ndb5
6 Nd5?? he loses a knight through the At that time, this move was considered
well-known trap 6...Nd5! 7 Bd8 Bb4! 8 Qd2 the strongest and Fine played it regularly.
Bd2 9 Kd2 Kd8. Ragozin had found that Fine wrongly be­
lieved that here 7...a6 was inferior. He pre­
pared Yudovich to play this same a7-a6. The
.c6 6 cd5 ed5 7 Bd3 Be7 8 Nf3 0-0 9
5..
plan was to lull Fine into believing that
Qc2 h6 10 Bf4 Re8 11 0-0 Nh5?
Yudovich was an innocent who could be de­
feated easily. Accordingly, Yudovich took
20 worried minutes to make his next move.
7..
..a6! 8 Nd5 ab5! 9 Nf6

12 NdS!
If now 12...cd5 13 Bc7 traps the queen.
Black’s best is to limit his loss to a pawn and
play 12...Nf4.
Now, get back to the trap mentioned in In the diagrammed position white ex­
the above commentary to white’s fifth pects 9... gf6 16 Qd8 Kd8 11 Bf6 and 12 Bh8
move. The idea of 7...Bb4 forcing white to when he will be the exchange and two pawns
give away his queen by 8 Qd2 is used admi­ ahead. But he is in for a nasty surprise.

231
 9..
.Qf6! 10Bf6Bb4!! was played in a Students Team
White can parry the check only with his Championship in the USSR decades ago.
queen, just as in the commentary to the pre­ 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 cdS cd5 4 Nc3 Nf6 5
vious example. Nf3 Nc6 6 e3 BfS 7 Qa4 Bd7 8 Qb5
11 Qd2 Bd2 12 Kd2 gf6 and with an ex­ White has set a clever trap. If now 8...
tra knight, black won quickly. Nd4?9ed4!Bb5 10Bb5Nd7 11 Ne5Qa5 12
Readers may be aware of the Poisoned Bd7 and white has won three minor pieces
Pawn Variation in the Sicilian Defence for queen and pawn which is quite good in
made famous by Bobby Fischer in his 1972 this position as the black king is uncastled
match with Boris Spassky. In that, the poi­ and exposed.
soned pawn was the b2 pawn. It could also ..a6!
8..
be the b7 pawn. The idea is that when white If now, 9 Qb7? Na5 10 Qb4 e6
(or black) makes three moves with the queen
in the opening to capture the opponent’s
pawn on b7 (or b2), it would entail conced­
ing vital lead in development to the oppo­
nent who may be able to conduct a succesful
attack against the king which is without the
defence of its queen as it has gone pawn
hunting.

Botwinnik-Spielman
1 c4 c6 2 e4 d5 3 ed5 cd5 4 d4 Nf6 5 Nc3
Nc6
From an English Opening, the game
has transposed into the Panov-Botwinnik
Attack against the Caro-Kann Defence.
Such transpositions are common during the The queen is trapped!
early phases of many openings.
In the game, white played 9 Qb3 and the
6 BgS Qb6 7 cdS Qb2 8 Rel Nb4 game confined normally.
Black’s queen and knight seem to have This same idea of trapping a queen oc­
made a dangerous intrusion into white’s ter­ curs in other openings too. Here is an illus­
ritory, but in fact, the black queen is now in tration from the French Defence.
a self-made jail!
1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 Be7 5 e5
9 Na4! Qa2 10 Bc4 Bg4 11 Nf3 Bf3 12 Nfd7 6 Be7 Qe7 7 f4 Qb4? 8 a3! and black
gf3 1-0. cannot take on b2 because after 8,..Qb2 9
Against Botwinnik, the resignation was Na4 traps the queen.This trap is worth re­
reasonable. But against another player, membering.
white should try 12...Qa3 and hope for 13 The King’s Indian Defence can spring
Rai?? Qal! 14 Qal Nc2-+. But of course, surprises on the unwary. Take the follow­
white has the simple 13 Rc3 trapping the ing.
queen.
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5
There are many illustrative games to Bg5 e5? 6 de5 de5 7 Qd8 Kd8 8 Nd5 Nbd7
demonstrate why a queen should not be de­ 9 0-0-0 and believe it or not, black losbs a
veloped early. Here is one the reader may piece and does not even get a pawn as com­
not have come across and one which is con­ pensation! Where did he go wrong? It was
nected with the poisoned pawn. The game

232
on the fifth move. He should have played
5....0-0 or 5....C5.
The Samisch Variation (5 f3) in the
King’s Indian has a clear plan for white to
follow. But white has to be careful about a
possibility that could cost him an important
pawn.
I d4 Nf6 2c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 513
0-0 6 Be3 e5 7 d5 a5 8 Qd2 Na6 9 Bh6?
Ne4!

d7 and not on a6. But black’s position is so

good that he always stays one pawn ahead
till he wins the game on the 40th move.
13..
.Nc5 14 Nc7 Rb8 15 Nb5 Ne4 16
Bg2 Nc5 17 Nd6 Nd3 18 Ke2 Nb2 19 Nt3
e4!20Nd4Bg421 Kfl e3 and black went on
to win.
Faulty Traps
Sometimes a trap can be unsound. When
confronted with atrap a player should exam­
ine it deeply and test its soundness. Some­
If now 10 Ne4 or fe4, then 10...Q114 and times your opponent might plunge into an
next move 1 l...Qh6 when black has got back unsound variation thinking that he is win­
his piece and gained a pawn. ning. The next game is a very fine example
This same idea was used in the following from women’s chess.
game played in the 1995 National B at Ma­ Keller-German-Kertes
dras. 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 cd5 Nd5 5
N13 Bb4 6 Qb3 c5 7 e4 Nf6 8 dc5 Qa5 9 Bd2
E. Joseph- M.Aaron Qc5 lORcI

1 e4g62d4 Bg73c4 d64Nc3Nf65f3

0-0 6 Be3 e5 7 d5 Nbd7
The game has transposed to a King’s In­
dian Samisch from the Pirc Defence!
8 Qd2 a5 9 Bh6?
See diagram
Black to play
9..
Ne4! 18 fe4 Qh4 11 ,g3 Qh6 12 Qh6
Bh6 13 Nb5
In comparison with the previous exam­
ple, white has some play through attacking
c7 and later d6 because black’s knight is on

233
 In this position the Hungarian lady 15..
.f6 16 Bc6 bc6 17 Nf6 gf6 18 BK
player Kertes played a combination to win a Ba6 19 Ke3
pawn.
!0...Ne4 11 Bb5 Nc6 12 Ne4!
Black had not anticipated this giving up a
rook with check. She had expected only 11
0-0 Nd2 when she would have won a pawn.
.Qcl
12.. 13 Ke2 Qhl 14Qb4

An amazing position. White has sacri­

ficed two rooks for only one knight and is
threatening the uncastled black king in the
centre with immediate mate. White’s king is
also uncastled, and stuck in the centre, but
White has sacrificed a pawn and two ex­ the black forces are in no position to take ad­
changes. But her position is fully developed. vantage. If now 19...Kd7 20 Qe7 Kc8 21
On the contrary, black’s queen is out of the Be5 with mate on c7.
game at h 1 and her king is caught in the cen­
tre unable to castle. Further, she has no pros­
19..
.Kf7 20 Qe7 Kg8 21 Ng5! 1-0.
pects of completing development quickly
The only answer to both 22 Qf7# and 22
and taking the king to some safe comer.
Qg7# is 21...Qg5 giving up the queen. The
14..
.Qg2 15 Bg5 reader should work out for himself how
The threat is 16 Qc7# white should continue after that.

234
 Chapter 64
Unnatural Squares
We all have a general idea of which piece 5 b5 Nd4 6 c3 Ne6
should be developed where. For example, This is a very unnatural square for the
knights are best placed at f3,c3 (f6, c6 for knight. From here it blocks the development
black) because from those squares they con­ of both of his bishops and also becomes a
trol or influence two of the four central willing target for whites marauding pawns.
squares: e4, d4, e5, d5. And for bishops, ac­
tive positions mean b5, c4, g5, f4 thought
7 e5 Nd5 8 c4 Ndf4
fianchettoing at g2 and b2 also have their After 8...Ndc7 9 d4 white has a tremen­
strong points. And we all know that the dous position with black having not one, but
rooks are best when placed on open files as two, knights on unnatural square. Still it was
they will gain access to the 7th or 8th ranks. better than what happens in the game.
There are exceptions to almost all rules 9 g3 Ng6 10 f4
in different circumstances. Moves like Nh4
and Na4 taking the knight away from the
centre can have their own special signifi­
cance in a game when the position in the cen­
tre is already fixed. In this piece, the
emphasis is not on such exceptions but in
getting the opponent's pieces placed in un­
natural squares. An out of place rook or a
knight played to the bishop's fianchettoed
square are some of the situations you should
avoid and if possible force such things on
your opponent.
Knights could be easily misplaced in the
opening. In the first example, the opening is
the Wing Gambit in the Sicilian Defence.
Black hits on the unfortunate idea of enticing
white to advance his pawns too far, but in the
process his knights get placed on unnatural
.Ngf4?!
10..
squares. The white pawns advance and by
the 14th move white has already won one of ■ Black was almost obliged to make this
the knights by just making only pawn sacrifice. However, even in a bad position, it
is possible to put up a fight ifone has the will
moves.
for it. Here black could try 10...Qc7! Pre­
Marshall-Razozin
venting f4-f5 and if then 11 d4 Nd8 J2T5
New York, 1940 Ne5 13 Bf4 (if 13 de5? Qe5 fplkrtv’ed by
1 e4 cS 2 b4 cb4 3 a3 Nc6 Qxal) d6 14 de5 de5 15 Be3 Bf5 and blacks
3,..d5 is best here. position is much better than in the game.
4 ab4 Nf6? 11 gf4 Nf4 12 d4 Ng6 13 h4 eb 14 h5
A grave strategical error after which and white won.
black is obliged to move his knights to World Champion Emanuel Lasker was
white's tune. 5...d6 was better. famous for fighting from lost positions, and

235
surviving. In the following game against the 13...Nh6
inventor ofthe Caro-Kann Defence, he is un­
able to succeed because his rook is locked up
at the unnatural a7 square.

Caro-Lasker
Berlin 1890

1 Nf3 d5 2 d4 Bf5?!
This move is premature as demonstrated
by this game.
3 c4 c6 4 Qb3 Qc8
Perhaps the best would be the awkward
4.,.b6 with no bishop to occupy b7.
5 cd cd 6 Nc4 e6 7 Bf4 a6
White was threatening 8 Nb5, but this
move weakens b6 and white is quick to ex­ 14 Nc8! 1-0 because white must either
ploit it. The reader should analyse black's al­ allow mate or lose his queen.
ternatives here:...Be7 and ...Nf6 planning to This game is an eloquent example of
meet 9 Nb5 with ...Na6. black’s misplaced pieces. Except the prema­
8 Na4 Ra7 turely developed bishop, black's rook, king,
knight and even queen are on unnatural
This is the only way to avoid the knight
squares. No wonder the end came so fast.
for 9 Nb6. If 8...Nd7 9 Rel Qd8 10 Qb7
wins. Now the rook get locked up in a7, a In the hext example we illustrate how in
very unnatural position for the rook. a tense middle-game a player put his pieces
in unnatural squares leading to defeat.

9 Nb6 Qd8 10 Bb8! Qb8 11 Qa4 Ke7 M.Aaron - S.N.Dave

Now black has got two of his pieces in National B, Delhi 1980
unnatural positions - his rook on a7 and his
king on e7 which blocks the development of 1 c4 Nf6 2 N13 g6 3 b4 Bg7 4 Bb2 d6 5
his BIB d4 c6 6 Nbd2 a5 7 b5 cb 8 cb b6 9 e4 d 5 ?!
This leads to relocating his knight on h6,
12 Rel g5
an unnatural square for the knight. Better
. It looks like Lasker has gone mad. But
was 9...Bb7 10 Bd3 0-0 to be followed by
seethe alternatives: If 12...Nf6,13Nc8 forks
...Nbd7 and ...e5.
king and rook. Or if 12...Kf6, 13 Nd7 forks
king and Queen. And if 12...f6, 13 Qd7 is 10 e5 Ng811 h3 h512 Rel Nh613 Be2
mate. Therefore Lasker plays 12...g5 and
If 13Bd3, Bf5
hopes that white would win the exchange
with 13 Nc8 Kf6 14 Na7 when white would 13 ...Ra7 14 0-0 Rc7 Qc7 16 Qb3 Qd8
have the luxury of being only the exchange Black still hopes to play ...Bf5 and there­
down. But this position is worth more than fore avoids 16...e6. Quickly white controls
the exchange for white. He wants more the open c-file, making black take unwise
decisions’.
13Ne5
White is now threatening mate in two 17 Rel 0-0 18 Ba3 Re8 19 Qc3 Bf8
starting with 14Qd7. If black stops this with This leads to the exchange of his
13..
.Nf6 then 14 Nc8 Kd8 15 Nf7# fianchettoed bishop in the castled position

236
which is very bad. Better was to seek coun­ Now one more black piece huddles around
ter-play with 19...f6. the king occupying an unnatural square
20 Nfl without any use.

White activates the only piece on his side 32 Qf6 Kg8 33 Qe7 Nh7
which was not doing much. If black tries to
activate his Nh6 via f5, white will let is stay
on f5 preventing the development of the Bc8
and invade the queen-side via c7.
2O...e6
Finally black reconciles to locking in of
his Bc8. But in this process he has ex­
changed off his good bishop which was use­
ful to plug the black squares on the
king-side. Quickly, white shifts his attack to
black's enfeebled king-side.
21 Bf8 KI8 22 Qd2! Kg7 23 Qf4 Bb7 24
g4 hg 25 hg Nd7 26 Ne3 Rh8?
The next few moves show that black has
no plan. He should play ...Qb8 and chal­
lenge the Rel with ...Rc8. However, after 34 Ba6! Kg7 35 a4
.Qb8
26.. 27 Kg2 intending RhI, white has a If 35 c7 Qa8 andblack will return the ex­
very promising king-side attack. change for the dangerous c-pawn. Now
27 Kg2 Ba8 28 Bd3 Bb7 29 Rc3 Qb8? white makes sure that black cannot generate
any counter-play with b6-b5 in the future.
Ulis was the wrong time to play ...Qb8.
Black is so hopelessly tied up with his pieces
on unnatural'squares on the king-side that he
cannoi take advantage of this
non-threatening move.
.Qa8
35.. 36Qb7 1-0.
If 36...Qb7 37 Bb7 Ng8 38 Nc2! Ne7 39
Na3! planningNa-b5-d6 and then c6-c7-c8.
The Evans Gambit is rarely played now­
adays. But a hundred years ago, it was very
popular as it gave much scope for
combinative play. In those days, defensive
techniques were not developed and the
player with the attack went for the throat, not
counting pawns and pieces. In the following
game black is forced to place his knight on
e7 instead of on the natural f6 square and see
what fireworks develop from that situation.
30 Rc6! Bc6
This was forced as otherwise the rook
would invade d6. Clemens-Eisen-Schmidt
Dorpat 1862
31 bc6 Nf8
This was the only square available for 1 e4 e5 2 NB Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 b4 (The
the knight as black has just played Qb8. Evans Gambit) 4...Bb4 5 c3 Bc5 Nowadays

237
5...Be7 is considered to be best. 6 d4 ed4 7 This game is rightly described as one of the
cd4 8b6 8 0-0 d6 9 Nc3 Bd7? 10 e5 de 11 first immortal games of chess literature.
Rel Ne7 21..
.Qa3 22 Qe6 Nd8
Here 1 l...Nf6 is met by 12 de5 followed This is the only move to stop mate on f7.
by a dangerous attack. The f6 square is the Curiously the four knights on the board are
natural position for a knight defending the placed along a diagonal. Two moves later,
king-side. With the knight now on e7 white all the knights will make a perfect square
can undertake several attacking strategies leading to an unusual smothered mate!
against the king.
12 Ng5! Be6
If 12...0-0 13 Qh5 and black must decide
which of his two important pawns on f7 and
h7 he would like to part with. This situation
is directly due to the Ne7 move.
13 Be6 fe6 14 Ne6 Qd6 15 Ng7 Kf8 16
Qg4 Bd4 17 Ne4 Qb4 18 Ne6 Ke8 19 Nf6
Kf7 20 Ng5! K18
If 2O...Kf6 21 Qe6 Kg7 22 Qf7 Kh6 23
Ne4 mates.
21 Ba31!
White must take care of black's threat­
ened mate first and this bishop is not needed
for the final mate. The players in the previ­
ous century were not good defensive play­
ers, but they were terrific in attacking play. 23 Qf7!!!Nf7 24 Ne6 mate.

238
 Chapter 65
Giving Odds
When I was a young boy, I used to play have seen this variation, or, having started
chess with my father whose chess was then with a rook more, might have felt obliged to
very superior to mine. To make the game in­ win.
teresting he would remove his queen at the
14 e6! fg5
beginning and play against me. With an ex­
tra queen I found it easy to play and soon
started winning. Then he removed only his
rook and played. Then as I improved and
started beating him he changed the odds to a
bishop. Then finally he would play 1 e4 e5
Bc4 Bc5 3 Bf7 giving up a bishop for a mere
pawn. Only when I was able to beat him with
these odds did we start playing with equal
pieces. This method of playing with begin­
ners is good when training partners of ap­
proximately the same strength are not
available. They can be inspired to play
strongly if they believe they have reasonable
chance of beating the stronger player.
Nowadays giving odds at chess is un­
heard of. However, one can say that simulta­ 15 Qg61! hg616Ng7#
neous displays, especially clock simuls A smothered mate in the centre is not
where the master plays about six players common.
with six clocks also constitute giving odds.
But giving odds continues to be the best Albin - Amateur
way for two players of vastly different (White plays without his queen but
strengths to play against each other on an ap­ makes two moves first)
proximately equal level. 1 e4 2 d4 d5 3 ed5 Qd5 4 Nc3 Qd4 5 Be3
The players of the 19th and early 20th Qe5 6 0-0-0 Nc6 7 NB Qa5 8 Rd5 Qb4 9
century enjoyed games with odds. Quite Nb5
many of them are instructive and worthy of So early in the game, white threatens
study. mate in one by 10 Nc7. This has been possi­
Kashdan - Horneman ble because of the rapid development of the
New York 1930 white forces while for black, only the queen
(Remove white’s Rai) has been active.
1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 c5 4 Qg4 cd4 5 NB 9..
.e6 10 Nc7 Ke7 11 Bc5 K16?
Nh6 6 Qb3 Be7 7 Bd3 b6 8 Qg3 Nf5 9 Bf5 White has been able to offer the odds ofa
e!5 10 Qg7 Rffl 11 Nd4 Ba6? 12 NfS Nd713 queen only because black is a player who
Bg5f6 can be depended on to play very weakly.
The game could be drawn here by per­ Black can win by 11... Qc5 12 Rc5 Kd8 with
petual check after 13 .. .Bg5 14 Nd6 Ke7 15 a double attack.
Nf5Ke6 16Nd4Ke7 17Nf5.Blackmay not 12 Ne8 Kg6 13 Rg5 Kh6 14 Be3!

239
 White is no longer interested in the 12.. .Bc5 13 Ne4 Rfl 14 Kfl Nh2 15
queen. He wants the king. Ke2 Qg4 16 hg4 Bg4#
.Qe7
14.. 15 Rg7 Kh5 16 g4# Morphy - Amateur
New York 1857
Tarrasch - Fielder (Remove the Nbl)
Nuremberg, 1892
(Remove white’s rook at al and place his
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 b4 (The
a2 pawn on a3)
Evans Gambit) 4... Bb4 5 c3 Bc5 6 0-0 Nf6 7
1 e4 e5 2 f4 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nf6? 4 fe5 Ne5 5 d4 ed4 8 cd4 Bb6 9 Ba3 d6 10 e5 Ne4 11
d4 Nc6 6 e5 Ng8 Rel d5 (After this the Ba3 controls f8 and
After just six moves black has only one black cannot castle into the safety of the
piece out and the centre is in white’s control. king-side). 12 Bb5 Bg4 13 Rel Qd7 14 Qa4
Such situations are the launching pads for Bf3 15 Rc6! 0-0-0 16 e6!
decisive attacks. The immediate 16 Rb6 Qg4 17 g3 also
7 Nf3 d6 8 Bb5 Bd7 9 0-0 Nge7 10 Ng5 tvins, but the text makes the outcome very
Bf511 Bc4 d5 12 Nd5 a6? 13 N17!! Kf7 14 clear.
Nc7 Kg6 16.. .fe6 17 Rb6 1-0.
Ifl7...c6 18Bc6bc6 19 Qa6 mates. Or,
if 17...Qf7 18 Rb7!! Kb7 19 Bc6 Kb8 20
Rbl mates.

Morphy - Knight
New Orleans, 1857
(Remove the Rai and the Nbl)

1 e4 e5 2 f4 ef4 3 Nf3 g5 4 Bc4 Qe7 5 d4

d5 6 Bd5 c6?
It was too much to expect the odds taker
to know that ....Nf6 critically destroying
white’s centre is the best here. Now Morphy
gives away a bishop to completely shatter
black king’s cover. Note that he is a rook,
knight and bishop behind. Later, he will give
15 Qg4!! Bg4 16 Bf7#
away a knight also!

Amateur - Tarrasch 7 Bf7 Qf7 8 Ne5 Qf6 9 Qh5 Ke7 10 h4

Munich 1908 gh4? (10...Bh6) 11 0-0 Bh6 12 b3! Nd7 13
(Remove black’s f-pawn) Ba3c5 14 Rdl!
With f4 well controlled by black,
1 e4 Nc6 2 d4 e5 3 Nf3 ed4 4 Nd4 Nf6 5 Morphy finds a different way to get at the
Nc3 Bb4 6 Nc6 bc6 7 Bdl 0-0 8 Bd3 d5 9 black king. All of white’s pieces are working
ed5 Ng4 10. 0-0 Qh4 11 h3 Rf2! 12 Qel at full power while most of black’s forces
are still at home.

If 12 hg4 Bc5 13 Ne4 (13 Rf2 Qf2 14 14.. .Ne5 15 BcS Ke6
Kh2 Qh4#) 13..Rfl 14 Kfl Qhl 15 Ke2 If the king moves to the d-file, 15 de5
Bg4#. Or if 12 Rf2 Qf2 13 Khl Qg3 14 hg4 will win the queen through a discovered
Qh4 15 Kgl Bc5 mating. double attack.

240
 16Qe8 Ne7 17d5#l! In the diagrammed position, white an­
nounced mate in three. In the old days peo­
ple used to take pride in announcing mate in
three or seven or ten or whatever. And then
they will tell the forced moves. Here it was:

18 Qh8!I Kh8 19 Bf6 Qg7 (or Kg8) 20

Re8#

Nimzovitsch - Leelaus
Riga 1912
(Remove white’s Qd I and black’ sNg8)

1 b3 e5 2 Bb2 f6 3 e4 c6 4 Nc3 Bb4

Natural and best was 4...d5.
Nimzovitsch, known as a master strategist
cannot afford to play a calm and strategic
Thorold-Amateur
Yorkshire, 1882 game here, as he has given very big odds of
(Remove the Nbl) queen for a knight. He has to bust black
quickly or be busted.
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 b4 Bb4 5 5 0-0-0 Bc3 6 dc3!
c3 Bc5 6 0-0 Nf6 7 d4 ed4 8 cd4 Bb6 9 e5 d5 This naturally develops the Rdl along
10ef6dc4 11 Rel K18 the d-fde.
It is easy to see that this is the only move
as 1 l..Be6 loses the bishop to 12 d5 and if
6.. .0.0 7 Ba3 Re8 8 Bd6!
1 l...Kd7, 12 d5 Na5 13 Ne5 Kd6 14 Nf7 Strategy! Nimzovitsch prevents, as long
forks king and queen. as possible, the black forces from corning to
life.
12 Ba3 Kg8 13 fg7 Kg7 14 d5 Na5 15
Be7 Qd7 16 Qd2! Qg4 8.. .Qb6 9Nf3!
This takes care of white’s threat of Qg5# Black is encouraged to hunt for pawns
but the bltjw now comes from another direc­ and neglect developing his queen-side
tion. forces.

17 Qc3 Kg8 9.. Q12 10 h4 h6 11 Bc4 Kh7 12 h5 b5

13 Bf7 Re6
At last, black decided to give up a rook
for one of the thorny bishops. He should
have done this earlier.
14 Nh4 Rd6 15 Rd6 Qc5
Better would have been 15,..c5 to play
... Nc6 or... .Bb7 bringing his queen-side to
life.
16 Rhdl Qc3 17 Rld3U Qel 18 Kb2
Qh4
Black is happy that he has knocked off
the Nh4, but white has seen far ahead as he
has a forced mate.

241
 4 e3 0-0 5 0-0-0 c5 6 Nge2 b6 7 f4 Nbc6
8g4a69 f5Qc7 10 Ng3e4 11 Nce4Bg3 12
hg3
This develops the Rhl without making
any move.
.Bb7
12.. 13 Bc4! d5
White is threatened with the loss of one
of his key pieces in the centre but he has cal­
culated the finale with precision.

19Bg6Kg8 20 Re6!l 1-0.

White is threatening the simple 21 Re8#.
If 20. ..de6 the other rook mates at d8.
In the next example Blackbume plays
without losing a queen and he seems to be
losing fast, when he pulls off a beautiful
combination sacrificing some more pieces to
force mate. No wonder Blackbume was
called Black death.

Blackbume - Harley
Manchester, 1862
(Remove white’s Qdl) 14 Rh7! Kh7
1 b3 e5 2 Bb2 Bd6 3 Nc3 Ne7 If this rook is not taken it will take on g7
When you have queen more than your with check and the other rook will mate from
opponent, you can take chances like devel­ hl
oping your pieces on unnatural squares. But
15Rhl Kg816Nf6!!gf6 17B*6Ng618
you have to be alert to danger.
fg6 fg6 19 Bd5 Rf7 20 Rh8#

242
 Chapter 66
Sacrificing the Queen
We have often seen several cases where Bc8 as well as b7-b6, Bc8-b7 and Ra8-d8
a player sacrifices a knight or bishop for two deserve careful consideration.
or three pawns and an attack. Sometimes, 17 Qd2 Nf6 18 Bh6
the sacrifice occurs because the player is
This is the standard way to begin an at­
forced to do so. But sacrificing a queen for
tack on the castled king. First, exchange of
two or three pieces is not very common. The
the defender closest to the king so that the
speculative sacrifice of a queen is almost al­
king does not have enough pieces around to
ways dependent on the positioning and ef­
protect it. And, if the king has castled in a
fectiveness of the remaining pieces. As in
fianchettoed position as here, then exchange
other sacrifices, the beneficiary often has the
off the fianchettoed bishop.
recourse to give back some of the material to
avoid immediate annihilation and still have a .Bh8
18..
little extra material left to win in the end­ Of course black should avoid exchang­
game. ing off his best defensive pieces, the
Two examples are given to illustrate this fianchettoed bishop.
theme. 19 Bf4!
Safira Shanaz-Mrunalini Kunte Once again bringing the bishop onto the
National Women “A”, Salem 1996 same diagonal on which the black queen is
resting. As soon as white removes the Nd4,
1 d4 Nf6 2 NB g6 3 c4 Bg7 4 g3 0-0 5 there will be a three-fold attack on the d6
Bg2 d6 6 0-0 Nbd7 7 Nc3 eS 8 e4 ed4 9 Nd4 pawn with queen, rook and bishop.
Re8 10 h3 Nc5 11 Rel a5 12 b3
This is the right way to ultimately play
19,.
.Nfd7 20 NfSI?
a2-a3 and b3-b4. If immediately 12 a3?
(idea 13 Rbl and 14 b4 chasing the black Safer and more logical seems to be 20
Nde2 Be5 21 Be3 with the threat of 22 f4
knight on c5) 12...a4! so that when b2-b4 co­
mes, black can capture en passant with driving away the Be5 to grab the pawn on
13 ...ab3 opening an attack with the rook on d6.
the a3 pawn.
12..
.c6 13 Rbl Qb6 14 Be3 Qc7
On general principles, do not keep your
strong pieces along a diagonal or file where
an enemy piece is situated even though there
are other pieces on the way. Here, the Qb6
and Be3 are on the same diagonal. If black is
obliged to move his Nc5, then the White Nd4
can move freely to any square as the Be3
would open a discovered attack on the queen
at b6.
15 Qc2 h5 16 Rbdl Nh7?
Black needs to give priority to develop­
ing the queen’s bishop. Ideas like Bd7, Rd8,

243
 This is an intuitive sacrifice where a 27 g4! Nh7 28 Qh5 Bf8
player sacrifices material based on general Of course, the threatened Nc5 could
knowledge of the game and mood at the move to d7, but then the Bc8 must wait some
board. In positions tike these, everything more time to see action. Understandably,
cannot be-tfalculated. By the sacrifice of this the undeveloped Bc8 is on the top of black’s
knight, white plans to win at least two pawns agenda. White now targets black’s impor­
(d6 and g6 pawns) and enjoy chasing both tant e4 pawn through the pin along the e-file.
king and queen. But the Bf8 brings in some hidden resources
2O...gf5 21 Bd6 Qd61! for black.
This queen sacrifice would not have fig­ 29 (3 Ne6! 30 Re4
ured in white’s calculations. White must This loses the exchange. Perhaps it was
have thought that after 21.. .Qd8 22 ef5 black better to lose the exchange by 30 fe4 Bc5 31
would not be able to develop because if the Kf2 rather than as in the game because it is
Nbd7 moves, the Nc5 is lost. So, the Nc5 better to lose the rook for the active
must move and it can go only to a6, far from fianchettoed bishop than for the Nh7.
the theatre of operations, and allow white’s
attack to continue smoothly. Black gets two
knights and a bishop for’ a queen, but the 30.. .Nf6 31 Qh4 Ne4 32 fe4 Be7 33 Qg3
white queen’s mobility combined with Bc5 34 Khl a4!
black’s undeveloped queen’s wing makes This is the best way to develop the Ra8,
this sacrifice of doubtful merit. However, through file it was bom on!
under the cirumstances the queen sacrifice 35 g5 N18 36 h4 ab3 37 ab3 Ng6 38 h5
offered black the best practical chances. Ne539Rfl Ra2
22 Qd6 Bc3 23 Re3 Be5 24 Qh6 Bg7 25 Now black is better with all pieces in
Qh5 Nf6 26 Qh4 fe4 play. All that white can do is try to attack the
king with g5-g6.
40 g6 fg6 41 hg6 Kg7!
This is no defensive move. It threatens
to win with ...Rh8! Now white is forced to
sacrifice the rook just to survive.
42 RP Nf7 43 gP Kf7 44 Qf4 Ke7
With the equivalent of queen and pawn
for two rooks and bishop, white is bound to
lose unless she takes off some material from
black or gives perpetual check. Black, on
the other hand will try to escape perpetual
checks to carry out a victorious coun­
ter-attack.
45 Qe5 Kd8
The Bc5 was lost anyway. Now, black
uses the time to bring his pieces to more
threatening positions.
Black has the equivalent of two knights
and bishop for queen and pawn. As black is 46 Qc5 Rh8 47 Kgl Rg8! 48 Qd6 Ke8
now threatening to complete development 48.. .Bd7 49 Qb8 Bc8 would only repeat
by 27...Bf5 and bring the Ra8 into play, moves.
white’s next move, preventing it, is logical. 49 Qe5 KP 50 Qf4 Ke7

244
 As the game was anyway heading for a After the exchange of the Nb4, black’s
draw, black could have tested white with c-pawn as well as the c-file would be whites.
50.. .Ke6! After 51 Qf5 Kd6 52 c5! Ke7 the But this move seems to be a blunder as the
draw becomes certain. However if white black knight would attack the queen and
plays the queen, black would be able to win: move to b3 forking both rooks. A queen sac­
51 Qf5 Kd6 52 Qf4? (Diagonal checks are rifice in this position looks very unlikely.
the mainstay of queens in such positions. If 21,..Nd2
52 e5 Kc5 53 e6 Kb6 and black wins)
52.. .Kc5 53 Qe3 Kb4 54 Qel (The other
check would lose quickly: 54 Qb6? Ka3 55
Qa7 Kb3! 56 Qb6 Kc4 and there is no check.
Or, in the above, if56Qe3 Kb4! 57 Qel- 57
Qb6? Kc4 - 57...Ka4 58 Qdl Ka5 58 Qel
Ka6 # and black wins. This is an instructive
manoeuvre to get the king out of checks).
54.. .Kb3 55 Qbl Ka3! 56 Qd3 Ka4 57 Qdl
Ka5 58 Qel Ka6-+
51 Qe5 Kd7 52 QI5 Ke7
52..
.Kc7?? would lose to the double at-
tack53Qf7
53 Qe5 Be6 54 Qc7 Bd7 Draw agreed.
A queen sacrifice can win only if the co­
ordination of the other pieces is good. The
next example is from the 1996 Goodricke In­
ternational Open. 22 Nb4!!
A startling queen sacrifice for just two
Ziaur Rahman-T.S.Ravi knights and” a pawn. The basis ofthis combi­
Catalan Opening nation is white’s strong Bg2, white’s control
I c4 e6 2 g3 Nf6 3 Bg2 d5 4 NI3 Be7 5
ofthe semi-open c-file and Black’s impotent
0-0 0-0 6 d4 dc4 7 Qc2 a6 8 a4 Bd7 9 Qc4
rooks. It is difficult for anybody to pass up
Bc6 10 Bg5 a5.
such as attractive offer. Black can decline
Black’s intentions are clear, he intends the queen by 22...Qb4 but after 23 Qc6 Nb3
exchanging his Bc6 for the Bg2. And the 24 Rc4 Qd2 25 Rc2 Qb4 (25...Qd3? 26 Rd3)
plans to plant a knight on b4. 26 Rdl the knight is likely to be trapped.
II Nc3Nbd712Rfel Nb613Qd3Nfd5 22..
.Ne4 23 Nc6 Qf8 24 Be4 Ra8?
A preliminary 13...h6 was worth consid­ The power of the knight and the bishop
ering. After the text, black is compressed on on the queen-side is tremendous. Black
the queen-side and no plan for getting a free gives up the rook for a knight on the next
game is evident. move when it is too late. Now was the time
14 Be7 Qe7 15 Ne5 Nb4 16 Nc6! bc6 17 to return some of white’s gifts. He should
Qe4 Rad8 straightaway play 24...Rb8 25 Nb8 Qb8 26
Considering what happens later on, Rc5! g6 (26...Qb2?? 27 Rbl+-)27 Rb5 Qa7
17...c5 undoubling the ugly pawns on the and there is still life, though unpleasant.
c-file was preferable. Black’s main worry 25 Rc5 Rb8 26 Nb8 Qb8 27 Ra5 Qf8
would have been leaving the Ra8 on the This is the only way to avoid losing the
same diagonal as the Bg2. queen and being mated. In the meanwhile
18 Redl Rd7 19 e3 Rfd8 20 Rdcl Nc4 white has created a dangerous passed
21 Na2! a-pawn.

245
 28 Ra8 Rd 8 29 Rd8 Qd8 30 aS Qb8 31 33 Bd3!
a6 Qa7 32 Ra3 Kf8 The bishop will support the a6 pawn al­
lowing the rook to reach b7.

33.. .Ke7 34 Rb3 Kd6 35 Rb7 Qa8 36

b4!h5
Black is reduced to helplessness.
37 b5f5 38 Bfl!
Now that the a6 pawn is protected by the
b5 pawn, the bishop returns to the long diag­
onal with deadly effect.
35.. .h4 39 Bg2
White’s threat now is 40 Rb6! cb6 41
Ba8.
39.. .Qh8 40 a7 1-0.

246
 Chapter 67
Queenless Middle Games
Ziaur Rahman 2460
P.Mithrakanth 23S0
Commonwealth Championship
English Opening A25
Queenless middle-games are not palat­
able to all players. Some players would go
to extraordinary lengths to avoid the ex­
change of queens. This is very true of
young players and beginners who savour
the power of the queen. The simple way to
play queenless middle-games is to place
your pieces in the best possible squares and
co-ordinate their lines of action. Develop­
ment of all the pieces, and not just a few
must be given importance. If you have a
poor piece when compared with your op­
ponents, try to exchange it off. In tive. Best was to capture the Rg4 as the two
queenless middle games, the danger of black pawns on g4 and f4 only seem menac­
devastating attacks are very much reduced. ing: 29. Rxg4 hxg4 30 Rgl Rg8 31 Nc4 b5 32
So watch for opportunities to use your king axb5 axb5 33 Nb6+ Ke8 34 b4 with a slight
actively. advantage to white as black is tied to the de­
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3 g3 g6 4 Bg2 Bg7 5 fence ofhis g4 pawn) 29...Rxh4 30 Nc4 Rh3+
e3 d6 6 Nge2 Be6 7 d3 Qd7 8 Nd5 Nd8 9 31 f3 Rg8 (31,..Rxf3+? 32.Ke2 and both
e4 c6 10 Ne3 Ne7 11 d4 Bh3 12 Bxh3 black rooks are threatened, one by the king
Qxh3 13 d5 cxd5 14 Qa4+ Qd7 15 Qxd7+ and the other by a knight fork). 32. Rxg8
Kxd7 16cxd5(16exd5 f5 17Rbl Rc8 18 Nxg8 33 Rel (White looks for a chance to
b3 would be equal) I6...f5! (After this logi­ counter-attack. A pawn down, he dislikes the
cal move, black has a slight and nagging idea of being tied down to the defence of the
advantage) 17 g4 Bh6? (17...fxe4 18 Nc3 13 pawn with Rfl as it would allow black to
Rf8 19 Nxe4 Rc8 20 Ke2 Only move as leisurely manoeuvre his knights into attack­
black is ahead in development and has ing positions.) 33...Rxf3+ 34 Ke2 Rg3 35
better prospects in this queenless mid­ Nb6+ Ke7 36 Rc7+ Kf8 37 Nc4 (Better was
dle-game) 18 gxf5 Bxe3 19 Bxe3 gxf5 20 37 Rxb7 as black can neither play Rb3 nor
Rgl ? (Better was 20 fi Rg8 21 Rg 1 Rxg 1 + Rg2 followed by Rxb2 because of...Nd7 win­
22 Bxgl and white is ok) 2O...f4 21 Bd2 ning) 37...Nf6 (White can defend his e4 with
Ng6 22 Nc3 Nf7 23 Ke2 Rhg8 24 a4 Rac8 38 Nd2, but he cannot stop black's passed
25 Nb5 a6 26 Na3 Ne7 27 h4 h5 28 Ba5 h-pawn from reaching hl unhindered.) 38
Rg4!? Rxb7 Nxe4 39 Nd2 Nxd2 40 Bxd2 Rg2+ 41
See diagram Kel Ng5 42 Bb4 Ne4 43 Kfl 13 44 Bel f2!
(A bold attempt to seize the initiative
0-1.
though it has some slight risk. It is moves
like these that win, or lose, a game among Colin McNab 2465 - Lanka Ravi 2400
equals) 29 Kd3? (Appearances are decep­ Commonwealth Championship

247
 English Opening A14 tions are ripe for combinations with the
1 c4e62Nf3 d5 3 b3 c5 4 g3 Nc6 5 Bg2 white queen well placed) 23 Rbl Rfe8 24
Nf6 6 0-0 Be7 7 e3 0-0 8 Bb2 d4 9 exd4 cxd4 Bxd4 Rad8 25 Bxffi!
10 Rel Ne811 d3 Nc712 Na3 f6 13 Nc2 e5
14Qd2a5 15 a3 Na6

(White must play actively and worry his

opponent with fresh threats as otherwise
The battle for the control over the b4 black’s material advantage will slowly gain
square has reached its zenith.Black has 4 the upperhand)
pieces on that square against three of white's. 25..
.Rd7? (Here black had two alterna­
And one of white's pieces is the queen. tives both of which are better than the text.
However, there are others factors which The first alternative is of course the capture
merit consideration here. The Na6 will be of the offered bishop: 25...gxf6 26 Qh6 Bd7
pinned against the Ra8 along the a-file after 27 Kxg2 Bc6+ 28 Kfl Re6 29 Qh3 Red6 30
the exchange of the a-pawns. And the Bc8 is Qg4+ Kf7 31 Qf5. The second alternative is
yet to be developed. And is some winning as it attacks the bishop and threat­
vartiations, the Be7 is on the same line as the ens to quickly bring the off-side knight on a6
Rel. Black has an enlarged pawn centre into the game: 25...Rd6! 26 Bc3 [26 Bxg7?
which cannot be maintained in many even­ Kxg7 27 Qg5+ Rg6 28 Rxb7+ Kf8-+; 26 Bal
tualities. Based on these factors, McNab un­ Rde627 Bc3 Rel+ 28Rxel Rxel + 29Qxel
corks a fine combination) 16 b4! axb4 17 Nxel 30 Bxel-+] 26...h6 [Without 26...h6,
axb4 Ncxb4 18 Nfxd4! exd4 19 Ba3! (The
if immediately 26...Rde6 27 Qg5 with ad­
pin along the a-file, the weakness of the Be7 vantage to white; or 26...Nc5 27 Qg5+-[ 27
and the undeveloped state of the Bc8 have d4 [White cannot play Rxb7 because of Rel
resulted in this position. Black must now winning.] 27...Nc5 28 Qc2 Ne4 29 Bal Ng5
sacrifice his queen for quite a few pieces, to 30 Qd3 [30 Qb3 Rde6 31 f4 Rel+ 32 Rxel
reach a fighting position) Rxel+ 33 Kf2 Ne4+ 34 Kf3 Nd2+ -+]
19..
.Nxc2 .Nel-+
30.. and white cannot do anything
(19...Nc620Bxc6Bxa321 Bd5+Kh822 about the threatened ...Ngf3, Khl and
Rxa3 and white is almost winning) Bg2#) 26. Qg5 Rel+ (If 26...Nel 27 Qh5
Rf7 28 Qxh3 [28 Rxb7?? Nf3+ 29 Qxf3
20. Bxe7 Nxel 21 Bxd8 Nxg2 22 Bb6 Rel#) 28...Rxfi5 29 Qd7 Nf3+ 30 Khl Rb8
Bh3 31 Rxb7 Rxb7 32 Qxb7 and the black pieces
(Black has a rook and two knights for the will be no match for the queen and the two
queen, but one knight is trapped in g2 and the mobile passed pawns). 27 Rxel Nxel 28
black pieces lack co-ordination. Such posi­ Qh5! gxf6 29 Qxh3 Nc5 (If 29...Rxd3 30

248
Qc8+ Kf7 31 Qxb7+ wins the Na6. Black
has no time to capture the potentially dan­
gerous d3 pawn.) 30 Qg4+ KI8 31 d4! (After
this move black loses at least a knight. If the
Nc5 moves, the Rd7 is lost.) 31...Rd4 32
Qc8+! (32 Qxd4?? Nf3+ Now the Nc5 is
gone)
See diagram

32„.Kg7 33 Qxc5 Nf3+ 34 Kg2 Nel+ 35

Kfl Rdl 36 Qe7+ Kg6 37 Qe4+
(The power of the queen is now dis­
played in all its glory. Wherever the king
goes, black is going to pick up pawns or the
rook with check) 37...f5 (If 37...Kg5 38
Qf4+ Kh5 39 Qh4+ Kg6 40 Qg4+ Kf7 41 39..Rbl 40 Qxf5 and the rook will be picked
Qxdl) 38 Qe6+Kg7 (If 38...Kg5 39 f4+ up with an appropriate check wherever it
K.g4 40 Qe2+ wins the rook) 39 Ke2 (If goes along the first rank) 1-0.

249
 Chapter 68
After Game Analysis
To become a cut above the rest, a player (b) 5 Bg5 Be7 6 Be7 Nge7 7 Nd2 Nd4 8
must try to play all phases of the game with Nde4 Ndc6 and the game is equal.
determination, concentration and a positive (c) 5 Bg5 Nf6 6 Nd2. (It is interesting to
frame of mind. Every tournament game that learn that white went wrong in two grand­
is played for over four hours with time con­ master games with 6 d5?? ef3 7 dc6 fg2 8
trols is a sample ofthe players’ strength. The cd7Nd7!l 0-1 Razuvayev-Kupreichik 1969
most important aspect of chess training is and Doroshkevich- Tukmakov 1970! How­
analysing a tournament game with the oppo­ ever, 6 Nd2 could be more advantageous to
nent immediately after it is over, and later white than in the variation (a) where white
on, with the coach, if there is one. Without plays 5 Nd2 without the" sortie with his
doing this, walking off in a huff and tearing queen bishop, because white’s thematic
ones hair and score sheet will never lead a threat of 12-f3 will now have more teeth to
player anywhere. Generally, a well-fought it). Here again, the chances are about equal.
game runs into the endgame which is very
interesting to some but of only mild interest
(d) 5 Ng5 (this is white’s best choice)
5..
.Nf6 6 e3 Bb4 7 Bd2 Qe7 and white is
to others. There are those who detest the end­
slightly better. If here 7...h6 (instead of
game and go to extraordinary troubles not to
Qe7), 8 Nh3 g5 9 f3 and white is better. Gen­
exchange the queens.
erally, knights are badly placed on the edge
By going through the following game of the board. But there are exceptions to
which was played in the 1997 Tamil Nadu rules and the Nh3 here is a case in point.
State Sub-Junior Girls Championship at Players should play training games with
Mannargudi, one can get a glimpse of the such positions to absorb these ideas.
many things that happen (or do not happen!)
A study of these variations indicates that
in a game played under tournament tension.
white does well playing f2-f3 in this set-up,
Sometimes the unplayed variations are more
and idea which does not occur to white in
instructive than those actually played. The
this game. A good study of chess theory re­
loser is the National U-14 Girls Champion.
ally helps.

C.V.Rajalakshmi-P.Priya 5.. .Nf6 6e3d6

English Opening Better was 6...Bb4 as this bishop is a
hindrance at e7 later on.
1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 Nf3 f5 4 d4 e4 5
Ngl? 7 Nge2 Be7 8 Nf4 0-0 9 Be2 Bd7 10 0-0
This move is new, undeveloping, and
Qe8 11 Bd2?l
gives up the fight for the initiative immedi­ It is not clear yet, where this bishop’s fu­
ately. It is possible that white was taken ture lies. Perhaps at b2? Therefore, better
aback by 3...f5!? There were three good al­ here was 11 Rbl for b2-b4. I have noticed
ternatives for white: that the passive moves Bd2 and Bd7 occur to
inexperienced players who give priority to
(a) 5 Nd2 (the simplest) 5...Nf6
defence.
(5... Nd4? is met by 6 Nde4!) 6 e3 Bb4 7 Be2
0-0 8 0-0 Re8 9 f3! ef3 10 Rf3 Bc3 11 bc3 d6 11.. .Qf7 12a3Rfe8?
Kholmov-Borisenko 1954(!) with an ap­ The wrong rook! Black’s pieces are well
proximately equal game. situated for king-side activity. Sipe will

250
eventually have to play g7-g5. Good prepa­ Then black has a very strong attack with
ratory moves in this direction would be Kh8, h7-h5. However, this g2-g3 was premature.
Rae8 to be followed when necessary by Bd8, It is generally better to delay moving the
Bc8. pawns in the castled position as long as pos­
13 Rel a6? sible to avoid giving the opponent an objec­
tive for an attack. Here, Kh 1 was better.
It is better to make such moves only
when forced. From the position of black’s Black is obviously feeling elated with all
pieces it is obvious that she must play for a of her pieces pointed at the king-side. And
king-side attack from g6-g5. Normal would for a moment, she does not see the inherent
be Kh8. defensive strength of the white position....
14 Ncd5 Rac8 .f4?30ef4Nf4
29..
Of course, black loses a pawn after
14..
.Nd5? 15cd5Nd8 16Rc7.
15 c5 Kh8

If 15...Nd5 16 Nd5 Qd5?? 17 Bc4 pins

the queen.
16Ne7?
There was no need to capture this harm­
less bishop. The logical sequel to black’s
play would be 16 Bc4! with a strong
king-side attack. If then 16...Qf8 17 Nf6
Qf6 (17...Bf6?? 18 Qh5+- - check this) 18
b4 for 19...13 etc. Or , if 16...Nd5 17 Bd5
Qf6 18Bc3 for 19 f3.
16.. .Ne7 17 Bc4?
As black was anyway going to play 31 Bf4?
d6-d5, this move is a clear waste of tempo. It Black’s play is based on white’s pinned
also shows white’s anxiety to close the cen­ g3 pawn. Here, if white unpins the g3 pawn
tre. Better was to start queen-side play with by playing 31 Khl! it is the black knight
a4, b4, b5, etc. which is unpleasantly pinned against its
17.. .d5 18 Be2 Rg8 queen and threatened three-ways! If then
31.. .Nh3 32 Rf8 Rf8 33 Bg5 Nf2 34 Kgl
At last, black gets on to the right track. Ndl 35 Rdl and w’hite has a bishop more.
19 Nh5? Nh5 20 Bh5 Qf6 21 f4 Bb5! 22 However, black need not go down so
Be2 Bd7? tamely. Fascinating is the variation: 31, Kh 1!
The exchange of the white square bish­ Be3!Andnow:
ops should favour only black because in the
. (a) 32 Be3? Nh3 33 Rf8 (33 Bg5 loses a
resulting position, white’s black square rook after 33...Nf2 and 34...Ndl)
bishop would be hampered by her won
33.. .Qe3! (if 33...Rf8, 34 Bg5 and white
pawns blocked on the black squares. Better
wins as seen earlier) 34 Rg8 Kg8 and here,
would have been either 22... Be2 or 22. . . g5.
though white is the exchange and a pawn up,
23 b4 c6 24 a4 g5 25 Rbl gf4 26 Rf4 black has a very promising attack. White is
Qg5 27 R12 Ng6 28 Bel Rcl8 29 g3 in trouble as black’s queen and knight are in
This is a position with about equal excellent attacking positions. The threat of
chances. But imagine this position with both .. .Nf2 winning the queen has to be parried
white square bishops taken off the board. first. Here white has four choices:

251
 (al) 35 Qfl Nf2 36 Kgl Ne4 37 Kg2 (37 the e-pawn now. White’s problems are com­
Khl Nf2 can repeat) Nd2 38 Qdl Qe4 39 Bf3 pounded by her poor king position.
Nf3 wins. 47 c6 Kd4 48 c7 Bg4
(a2) 35 Qc2 Nf236 Kgl (36 Kg2 Bh3 37
Kgl Nd3 38 Khl Qe4) 36...Nd3! 37 Kg2
Qf2 38 Khl Bg4! 39Qd3 Be2 and there is no
defence against the threats ofBxd3 and Bf3.
(a3) 35 Qel Qe4 mates.
(a4) 35 Kg2 Nf2! 36 Qc2 Bh3 37 Kgl
Nd3 38 Khl Qe4-+
(b) 32 gf4 and 32 Rf4 are best and should
win for white with accurate play. The stu­
dent would benefit by analysing such inter­
esting positions.

31.. .Rf4 32 Rf4 Qf4 33 Qfl Qh6 34

Qel
Black was threatening 34... Rf8
34.. .QC1 35 Rel Rf8 36 Rbl Kg7 37
Rb3 Kg6 38 Kg2 h5 49 Rb4?
A defensive idea worth consideration White is rushing headlong into losing
was 38.. .Ra8 preventing white’s plannedb5 variation, but she had to do something. If 49
because black would get first use of the Kfl, Bc8 50 Bc8 (50 Rb8 is not possible be­
opened a-file. cause 5O...Ba6 is check) Rc8 51 Rb7 Kd3
wins easily thanks to the connected passed
39 b5 ab5 40 ab5 Bg4 41 bc6! bc6
pawns. But after 49 Kg2! Kc3? 50 h31 The
If 41... Be2? 42 cb7 Rb8 43 c6+- black bishop has to decide whether to cover
42 Ba6 e2 or c8 and best for her seems to be
After 42 Bg4 hg4 43 Rb6 Rf6 black has 50.. .Bc8 51 Rb8 Ra6 52 Rc8 when the game
better prospects with his e-pawn and the pos­ is equal, but very exciting.
sibility of his king occupying e4. After49 Kg2 if 49.. ,e2! 50 Be2 (50 Kf2
42.. .BB! 43 Kgl Ra8 44 Rb6 loses to Rf8+, check this out) 50...Be2 51
Rb8 Ra2! 52 c8Q Bg4 53 Kgl (If 53 Kfl Bc8
If 44 Bb7 Rai 45 Kf2 Ra2 46 Kel (46
54 Rc8 Rh2 wins) 53...Bc8 54 Rc8 Kd3 55
Ke3 leads to mate by Re2 after 47... Kg5! 48
Rh8 d4 56 Rh5 and the game is unpleasantly
h4 Kg4 49 Bc8 Kg3)46.. .Re2 47 Kfl e3 and
unclear. Analysis of this position will give
black has atleast a draw.
valuable practice and insight into practical
44.. .e3! 45 Rc6 Kf5 46 Rb6 Ke4 rook endings.
The black king has become a fighting .Kc3
49.. 50 Rg4 hg4 51 c8=Q Rc8 52
force in' the endgame. It is difficult to stop Bc8 e2! 0-1.

252
 Indexes
A. Theme Index King Hunt 66
Knight endings 44
Advanced passed pawn 108
Knight outposts 182
After game analysis 250
Knight versus bishop 210
Analysing your own games 192 Line closing 57
Attacking 0-0-0 88 Lucena position 59, 172
Attacking play 105 Middle game mating patterns 28
Attacking the castled position 81 Middle game plan 33
Attack on h7/h2 39 Opening Chess Theory 14
Bad bishop 204 Opening traps 19, 226, 230
Back Rank 71 Opposition 129
Be your own doctor! 192 Outposts 185, 189
Bishops and King versus king 9, 126
Outposts for knights 182
Bishop and knight versus king 126
Overloaded Piece 74
Bishop and pawn ending 24, 44,220, 223 Pattern Diagram 85
Bishop stronger than knight 207 Pawn Endings 42, 79, 129, 195
Blockading the passed pawn 112 Pawnless Endgames 125
Blocking 52 Pawn storm 164
Castling 22
Pawn structures 101
Centre 97 Perpetual 94
Chess For Beginners 7 Pin 16, 23, 138
Choice of blockaders 114 Planning 33
Classics 214, 217 Postmortem analysis 250
Clearance Tactics 62 Queen 84
Common Mistakes 25, 30 Queen and king versus King 8, 125
Controlling the centre 97 Queen endings 45, 175
Counter-attack 136 Queenless middle games 247
Deflection 116 Queen sacrifice 243
Destroying the defender 148 Queen versus rook 134
Discovered Attack 54 Remember patterns not moves 47
Don't blame the blunder! 168 Rook and king versus king 9,125
Double Attack 68,143 Rooks and king versus King 8
Draw by repetition 94 Rook and pawn versus queen 179
En Passant 27 Rook for attack 120
Famous mate 20 Rook versus pawns 156
Fork 16 Simple Endings 42
Giving odds 239 Simple rook endings 171
Important Principles 16 Skewer 16

253
 Stalemate 90 Ruy Lopez 148. 186, 193
Study the classics 214 Scandinavian Defence (Centre Counter) 78,
Tactic? 226 228, 239
Trap 16 Scotch Game 25, 78, 229
Triangulation 212 Sicilian Closed 198

Uncastled king 152 Sicilian Defence 144, 235

Unnatural squares 235 Sicilian Dragon 106, 120, 166, 227

Value of pieces 11 Sicilian Najdorf 201

Weak squares 198, 201 Sicilian Paulsen 48

Zugzwang 36 Sicilian Rauser attack 89
Sicilian Rubinstein 227
Opening Index Sicilian Scheveningen 105
Slav Defence 199, 202, 232, 236
Alekhine Defence 99
Two Knights Defence 229
Bishop's Opening 14
Caro-Kann 50, 143, 144, 228, 228, 232 Player Index
Catalan opening 245
Centre Counter (Scandinavian Defence) 78, Aaron M 68, 92, 169, 180, 201, 211, 221,
228, 239 228, 233, 236
Centre Game 30, 138 Abdusamatov 40

Danish Gambit 152 Ahues 58

Dutch Defence 56, 218 Airs 216
English opening 236,247, 248,250 Alapin 217
Evans Gambit 47,99,214,216,217,237,240 Alatortzev 88

Four Knights Opening 78 Albin 239

French Defence 144, 217, 218, 232, 239 Alekhine 37, 40, 54, 63, 73, 111, 199

Giuoco Piano 17, 33, 53, 99, 143 Alexeyev 83

Grunfeld Defence 112, 219 Alex Thomas 228
Hungarian Defence 143 Alster 122
King Pawn438, 226 Alterman,B 166

King's Gambit 18, 78, 214, 240, 240, 241 Anderssen 214, 214
King's Indian Defence 102, 138, 187, 232, Andonov 64, 72
233, 233, 243 Angelov 52
Larsen Opening 241, 242 Another (Unknown) 52, 58, 65, 85, 86, 108,
Latvian Gambit 78 120, 123,239, 240, 240, 241

Modem Defence 117, 230 Antunatz 55

Moscow Attack (Sicilian Rossolimo) 152 Amason 186
Nimzo-Indian Defence 97, 143 Arvind Aaron 66
Nimzowitsch Defence 240 Aufman 110
Philidor's Defence 117, 215, 226 Bachtiar 57
Queen's Gambit 144,148,190,199,231,231, Batuyev 40
233 Bardeleben 153
Queen pawn 230 Barua D 67

254
Barcza 100 Dorfman 151
Barczay 148 Drimer 74
Bauer 39 Dueball 154
Belyavsky 168 Dufresne 214
Benko 52 Ebenezer Joseph 233
Bergrasser 140 Englisch 109
Beshenaru 96 Ernst, Th. 166
Bisguier 149 Estrin 143
Blackbume 52, 242 Etruk 146
Blatny 119 Euwe 112, 146
Bogdatev 72 Faibisovitch 146
Bogoljubov 123, 202 Fami (study) 223
Bolbochan 182 Fass 151
Boleslavsky 64 Fazekas 162
Botvinnik 175, 176, 184, 232 Ferarini 47
Bozhe 39 Fernandez 87
Brinck-Clausen 55 FichtI 144
Bronstein 75 Fielder 240
Browne 139 Fine 220,231
Bungan 121 Fischer 36,50,52,64,89,149,182,198,219
Burnett 154 Flear,G.C 193
Butkevich 109 Fleissing 84
Bykovsky 145 Furman 76, 189
Byrne,D 219 Gelfand 222
Capablanca 54, 86, 108, 123 Geller 82, 108, 199
Caro 236 Georgadze 99
Centurini (study) 224 Georgiev, Kiril 106
Chekhover 184 Ghinda 165
Chigorin 65 Gigold 139
Choudhary 124 Gizdavu 149
Clemens 237 Gligoric 96,97
Colin McNab 247 Goldin 63,72
Condie 123 Golovko 63
Consultants 215 Gottgilf 202
Crowl 121 Gottschall 114
Dave,S.N 236 Grabarczyk 171
Davidson 146 Grigorian 151
Dehn 87 Grigoriev 61
Delii Babu 180 Gronbchevsky 196
Denkov 37 Gufeld 187
Distl 229 Guliev 196
Dodza 116 Gurgenidze 82

255
Harley 242 Korchnoy 208
Hegde, Ravi 201 Kotov 58
Hellers, F 106 Kozma 122
Henneberger 212 Krause 144
Henning 87 Krogius 69, 145
Honfi71, 165 Kruger 86
Homeman 239 Kuzmin 124
Hort,V 146, 205 Kuznetzov 145
Hottes 86 Lanka Ravi 247
Hubner 55 Larsen 105, 110, 111
Ilivitzky 49, 49 Lasker Ed. 56, 218
Illescas 169 Lasker Em. 36, 39, 55, 172, 236
Istratescu 187 Lazar 230
Jackson 119 Lebbecke 85
Jalilof 164 Leelaus 241
Janovsky 154 Legal 14
Jansa 141 Leichtenheim 18
Jibo 230 Leman 47
Johnner 88 Lematchko 71
Jon 154 Lerme 110
Kapilo 64 Levitsky 218
Karpov 169, 205, 222 Liang 57
Kashdan 95, 220, 239 Liberzoh 143
Kasparian 66 Lilienthal 64, 74
Katalimov 49 Littlewood 55
Kaufmann 118 Lolly,D 175
Kavalek 119, 227 Lombardy 35
Keller 233 Lommer 87
Kengerlinsky 164 Lputian 64,72
Keres 73,210 Macievsky 171
Kertes 233 Maclean,D.C 193
Khalifman, Alexander 102 Makogonov 136
Kieseritsky 214 Manich 89
Kirillov 82 Manvelian 66
Klein 162 Marache 217
Klochko 95 Marchenke 85
Klosa 40 Maroczy 109, 122
Klovan 82 Marshall 91, 119,235,218
Knight 240 Martinovic 150
Kochiev 118 Matanovic 150
Kondratiev 108 Mattison 74
Kopilov 99 McClure 91

256
 McKay 123 Polugaevsky, Lev 109, 116, 139
Mecking 50 Polyak 118
Menchik 191 Pomar 74
Metzing 136 Ponziani D.L (study) 87
Mikenas 75 Popov 37, 52, 66
Mikhalilov 61 Popova 71
Minev 176 Porper 190
Minic 71 Portisch 82, 146, 208
Mishto 4(i Pribyl 148
Mithrakanth,P 247 Priya,P 250
Moiseyev 32 Pugachev 64
Morezi 47 Rabinovich 57
Morphy 18, 39, 86, 215, 216, 217, 240, 240 Radulov 140
Mrunalini Kunte 243 Rajalakshmi,C.V 250
Muller 47 Raman S 66
Nagendra R Dr 68 Ramanovsky 146
Nakonechny 64 Raubitshek 123
Natarajan,S.V 211 Rauzer 57
Naumkin 102 Ravinsky 81, 175
Nawab Ali 95 Ravi,T.S 245
Nikitin 109 Ragozin 235
Nimzowitsch 37, 86, 114, 212, 217, 241 Razuvayev 83
Nunn 186 Regialis 32
Orlov 95 Reiner 121
Ortel 149 Rench 62
Osmanagic 96 Reti 50, 228
Ostoic 149 Ribkin 85
Ozhvat 149 Richter 120
Palmetto 69 Riumin 88
Panchenko 118 Rizhkov 151
Panno 198 Robatsch 141
Parel.K.J 169. Rodriguez, O 89
Parr 140 Romanovsky 69,
Perez 121 Romanovsky, A 137
Petryay ev 81 Romanovsky,? 137
Petrosian 51, 100, 149, 185, 187 Rootka 229
Philidor 174 Rosetto 36
Pillsbury 122 Rosental 136
Pilnik 112 Rossipal 229
Platonov 146 Rotlevi 75
Polgar, Sofia 67 Rubinstein 75, 88, 199
Polike 230 Sadler 187

257
 Safira Shanaz 243 Taylor 36
Saint Brie 14 Teller 153
San Segundo, Pablo 89 Thomas G.A. 56. 218
Schatz 139 Thorold 241
Schlechter 52, 84 Timman 169
Schmidt 237 Tischler 141
Schwarz 111 Titkos 116
Sederber 140 Torre 55
Selesniev.A (study) 223 Trapl 121
Sergievsky 69, 145 Troyansk 62
Shaligram 95 Troynov 66
Sheron 230 Tukmakov 196
Sheth 221 Tzvetkov 204
Shishko 63 Tzvetkovich 76
Shkundov 69 Unzicker 199
Shman 95 Ustinov 49
Short 168 Velimirovic 227
Shumov 142 Vesellyi 229
Shvidler 190 Vitolinsh 76
Siladi 116 Volchok 69
Simagin 51 Walter 53
Slepov 69 Weiner 140
Slonim 88 Wfcltmander 109
Smyslov 48. 74.88, 189, 204 West 40
Spassky 111, 149 Whitecroft 140
Spielmann 110, 232 Winawer 142
Stanciu 165 Witkovsky 76
Steinitz 121. 150, 153 Wright 74
Stepanov 69 Yohansson 136
Stockron 50 Yudovic 185, 231
Suetin 82, 210 Yuryev 141
Sultan Khan 191 Yusupov 169
, Szabo 58, 96. 97 Zhdanov 110
Tai 48. 92, 105. 110, 165 Ziaur Rahman 245. 247
Tan 50 Zukertort 150
Tarrasch 240. 240
Tartakower 50. 153.228

258
 I am extremely pleased to hear that Chess Mate is bringing
out a book for Beginners who want to learn chess. Books like
these can spark a child's interest and develop their talent for
the game. I have personally known Mr. Manuel Aaron from
my childhood. His expertise will be well appreciated in
dealing with basic nuances of the game. Chess Mate is already
a well known reference point in the Indian Chess scene.
Pooling their rich knowledge and experience together will
definitely benefit young chess lovers. I see lots of young minds being very keen
followers of the game. The interest and level of knowledge is in many ways
truly remarkable. I sincerely hope that the intensity of the interest in the game
will only continue to build on the strong foundation. I wish all readers of this
book all the best.
- Viswanathan Anand.

This book is an instructive tutor and a collection of very popular articles

published in Chess Mate monthly magazine from 1989 to 1997. The idea
behind this book is to offer a newcomer fundamentals in openings, tactics,
middlegame themes and endgames in one single volume. Most of the positions
are from over-the-board play and the illustrations are juicy and to the point.
The contents are ideal for both novices and coaches alike. It makes excellent
teaching value. The author exhibits his vast experience from his playing days
and teaching to make lessons for beginners in this step-by-step guide to
excellence in chess.

CHESS MATE
RO.Box : 2051, Chennai 600 020.
Email : chessmate@vsnl.com, www.chess-mate.com
Telephone: +91-44-24902051, 24450587
Fax: +91-44-24918503

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Manuel Aaron, born at Toungoo, Burma (now Myanmar) is
the father figure in Indian chess. He is Indian's
first International Master, nine times National Champion,
former two-time Secretary of the All India Chess Federation,
International Arbiter. He was also awarded the Arjuna
Award when the award was first instituted by the Central
Government. He had at best officiated in the Karpov-
Kasparov 1986 match at Leningrad as an Appeals
Committee Member. He has in his career victories over World champion Max
Euwe. From 1993 he is running the popular Aaron Chess Academy and teaches
children to excel in chess.

, US$11.95