Chess Secrets: The Giants of Power Play

First published in 2009 by Gloucester Publishers plc (formerly Everyman Publishers plc), Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London EC1 V OAT Copyright © 2009 Neil McDonald The right of Neil McDonald to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

The Giants of Power Play

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EVERYMAN CHESS SERIES Chief advisor: Byron Jacobs

Neil McDonald

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Contents

I

Introduction

I

Chess players might be divided into strategists and power players. The bat­

Introduction

5

tle for supremacy between these two styles of play has led to creative strug­ gles

1

The Dynamic Element

11

2

Catching the King in the Centre

35

3

Opening Old (and New) Wounds

56

4

The Life History of a Knight

83

5

The Goldilocks Queen

107

6

Energizing the Pawns

129

7

A Battering Ram on the f-file

153

8

Backward Pawns and Indian Bishops

172

9

The Psychology of Preparation

191

The Art of Surprise

215

10

such

as

Capablanca

versus

Alekhine, Botvinnik versus Bronstein, and Kramnik versus Topalov. The purpose of this book is to exam­ ine and celebrate the ideas of five fa­ mous players who have contributed to the

development

of the power

play

style. I hope you find the games exciting and enjoyable. With luck, a tiny bit of the genius and magic of these five gi­ ants might reappear in your own chess. But first, here is an example of the strategical sty Ie in action:

Gamel V.Kramnik-M.Carlsen

Index of Openings

235

Index of Players

237

iLg2 0-0 6 0-0 dxe4 7 'ih2 a6 S 'i¥'xe4 b5 9 'iVe2 iLb7 10 iLd2 tiJe6 11 e3 tiJb4 12 iLxb4 iLxb4 13 a3 iLe7 14 tiJbd2 MeS15 b4 as 16 tiJe5 ttJd5 17 ttJb3!

Dortmund 2007 Catalan Opening

17 ... axb4 lS::ja5 �aS 19 ct:Jae6 _�xe6 20 ,'";Jxe6 '�d7 21 itxd5 exd5 22 axb4 :'feS 23 �a5 i;�fS 24 &c.Je5 '�e6 25 clxb5 �bS 26 :'xbS �xbS 27 '�xe7 �d6 2S ·�·a5ii.xb4 29 :bl '�'d6 30 '�a4 1-0 Kramnik played

a

solid

opening

which reduced to a minimum the risk

1 tiJf3 tiJf6 2 e4 e6 3 g3 d5 4 d4 iLe7 5

of any unpleasant surprises. The battle

5

Introduction

Chess Secrets: The Giants of Power Play

was exclusively on the queens ide king safety was never an issue.

ceptance of risk. 2) A big attempt is made to win the

Of course, a strong player is capable

in 1858 for London and Paris to prove

of handling every situation that arises

himself the best player in the world.

The Russian Grandmaster focused

theoretical battle by surprising the op­

with

on the weakness on c6 and spent the

ponent with a new move or a new way

Kramnik

whole game manoeuvring against it.

of handling a sharp opening system.

With the help of a clever temporary

3) The stakes are set high, with the

a

high

level

of

competence.

can

play

great

Besides making a big plus score in unof­

attacking

ficial games against strong opponents,

chess, while Topalov is capable of win­

he won set matches against three lead­

ning smooth positional games.

ing lights of the game: Lowenthal (+9=2-

pawn sacrifice he finally managed to

enemy

target,

Nonetheless, the fact remains that

land a knight on the square, after which

rather than a weak pawn or square. A

every pla�'er has a preference for one

Black's pawn on b5 became defenceless.

pawn sacrifice is often used to acceler­

or other of these methods of play. For

persuade Staunton, regarded by many

Kramnik was careful to leave no weak­

ate the attacking process.

example,

as his chief rival, to enter the lists.

king

often being

the

when

confronted

with the

3),

Harrwitz (+5=1-2), and Anderssen

(+7=2-2). He was, however, unable to

nesses in his own pawn structure, so

4) Threats to the king are combined

chance to introduce favourable-looking

After his great exploits in 1858 and

that Black's attempt at counterplay to­

with threats to another piece or pieces

complications or go for a tiny advan­

1859, Morphy effectively retired from

wards the end was easily defeated.

in order to overstretch the defence.

tage \vith no risk, a player will habitu­

competitive chess. After a troubled life

I have always loved the apparent ef­

5) Rather than a drive towards clar­

ally choose one path or the other. A

he died in 1884.

fortlessness of such games, which are

ity, there is an active search for tactical

player's opening repertoire will also

perfect examples of the phrase' art that

blows hidden at the end of variations.

conceals art'. At their peak of perform­ ance,

Capablanca,

Karpov,

Kramnik

tell vou a lot about his aims when he

Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946)

sits dovvn at the board. step by

It is time for me to introduce you to

Alekhine was born the son of a rich

and all the other great strategists make

step process, power play might be di­

the heroes of this book. Have fun going

landowner in Moscow in 1892. He won

chess look easy. In reality it is terribly

vided into two distinct parts:

through their games and expanding

the first Soviet Championship in 1920,

vour own chess mind!

but during the 1920s moved abroad.

Whereas strategical play is

a

hard to keep control in such games, as a first-class opponent is always looking for ways to slip out of the bind. The power play style doesn't make chess look easy, but it is full of pro­ found, unexpected ideas and stresses

6) The first is a dynamic strategy that, if it outwits the opponent, creates situa­

Here are brief biographies of our

were broken in 1928 when he made a

Paul Morphy (1837-1884)

ers.

The American chess genius was born in

and Emanuel Lasker, Alekhine was one

speech denouncing its Communist rul­

tions where combinations are likely; 7) The second is the use of tactics to

Thereafter all ties with his homeland

heroes.

Along with Jose Raul Capablanca

exploit the edge that has been gained.

the human side of the game. We are

8) Playing the man as well as the

reminded that chess is a fight between

board. For example, an opponent who

New Orleans in 1837.

Whilst still a

of the 'big three' players who domi­

two creative minds

dislikes messy tactics is forced into a

child he shovved an astounding natural

nated the first half of 20th century

double-edged fight, even if objectively

feel for the game. On graduation from

chess. To the surprise of many he beat

they should turn out well for him.

the Universitv of Louisiana he focused

Capablanca in a gruelling match in

9) Time trouble isn't regarded as a

for a couple of years on chess. He took

Buenos Aires in 1927 (+6=25-3) to be­

rather than the

solving of a logical theorem.

Features of the power play style

nuisance but rather as the chance to

part in the first American chess Con­

come

The power play style can be summed

confront the opponent with problems

gress which was being held in New

Thereafter he successfully defended his

up in three words as a blend of prepa­ ration, psychology and dynamism. Here

he will struggle to solve.

York in 1857 and won the first three of

title against Bogoljubow in 1929 (+11=9-

10) Above all, the byword of power

his knockout matches, conceding only

5)

is a list of specific features:

play is ill/balmlec. A position with mu­

one draw, before beating Louis Paulsen

defeat in 1935 against Euwe (+8=13-9).

tual weaknesses and a disrupted pawn

in the final with a score of +5=2-1.

Alekhine regained his title from the

1) Playing aggressively with Black as well as White. This requires the ac-

6

structure contains room for creativity­ and blunders by the opponent.

Having established himself as the best player in the USA, Morphy set off

the

fourth

World

Champion.

and in 1934 (+8=15-3), before a shock

Dutchman in 1937 (+10=11-4), and held it until his death in 1946.

7

Chess Secrets: The Giants oj Power Play

Introduction

Alekhine's

another crack at the title. In Clndidates

racao \\'ould ha\'e gi\'en him an excel­

dominate \vorld-class events. A sign of

two best tournament results were at

tournaments he came equal 2nd-4th at

lent chance of achieving the highest

things to come was his win over Kas­

San Remo 1930 where he scored an

Zurich in 1953 (the winner Smyslm'

honour.

\·vith Nimzowitsch

went on to draw with Bot\'innik in a

Champion,

World

As

astonishing 14(15,

in second place on Hl; and Bled] 931, where he came

five

field with 20/26.

points ahead of the

(Nimzowitsch, who

came third this time, complained bit­

World

and

match),

Championship

equal third at Amsterdam 1956. During

his

peak

years

Bronstein

was a wonderful openings analyst. No­

terly 'he is playing with us as though

tably, his research with his friend and

with children'.)

tournament

Alekhine

was

a

fine

annotator

whose writings include two collections

rival

Bolesla\'skv

Isaac

proved to a sceptical world that the King's Indian Defence was playable.

parol' in the last round of Linares early

In 1965, when the Candidates tour­

that year. which allowed him to share

by

first place with the Russian chess gen­

had

naments

been

replaced

matches, Geller beat Smyslo\' but then

ius. This was Kasparov's final game

in

before his retirement from serious play,

lost

to

Spassky

their

semi-final

match. In the first round stage of the

and it was as if he had handed the ba­

1968 and 1971 series his progress \vas

ton of dynamic chess to his opponent.

halted

b�'

Korchnoi,

Spassky

(again)

and

respectively,

Geller was well known for being a of past,

future

Later in 2005, Topalov played in the FJDE

World

ment

in

San

Championship Luis,

tourna­ He

Argentina.

and former

stormed through the first half of the

of his own games and a study of the

Bronstein was also a fine writer. His

scourge

New York 1924 tournament. He was

account of the Zurich 1953 Candidates

World Champions.

For example, be­

double round event with 61/2/7 before

who

tournament is regarded as one of the

sides his record against Botvinnik, he

cruising to first place with draws in the

helped to popularize 1... t21f6 in reply to

best ever books on chess, perhaps the

had (excluding draws) an 11-9 plus

second

1 e4, an opening that now bears his

very best.

score against Smyslov, 5-3 against both

World Champion.

a

also

profound

theoretician

name.

Efim Geller (1925-1998) was

born

in

Odessa

in

This made

him

FIDE

The chess world,

Fischer and Petrosian, and was level at

however, was split vvith both a FIDE

6-6 with Tal.

and 'Classical Chess' World Champion,

Because of his fine qualities as an

so in 2006 Topalov played a reunifica­

the

opening analyst, Geller acted as the

tion match vvith Kramnik to resolve the

trainer of Boris Spassky in 1972 and

matter. The Russian Grandmaster won

David Bronstein (1924-2006) Geller

cycle.

Bronstein was born in Bila Tserkva in

Ukraine in 1925. He \von the USSR

the Ukraine in 1924 and learnt his chess

Championship in 1955

in Kiev. He was twice USSR Cham­

Smyslov in a play-off match, and then

after beating

Anatolv

Karpov

through

the

1975

(in rapid

tie-break games)

a match

marred by off the board incidents.

qualifying cycle.

pion, sharing the title with Kotov in

won it for a second time 24 years later

Geller annotated a fine collection of

In 2009 Topalov beat Gata Kamsky

1948 and with Smyslov in 1949. He fin­

in 1979. He also shared second or third

his own games entitled The AppliCiltioll

in a match to decide a challenger to

ished equal first in the Budapest 1950

place seven times.

or Chess TllCory.

Candidates tournament, and won the

Geller was among the top players in

to

the world for over 20 years without

the right to challenge Botvinnik

Vis\vanathan Anand, who in the mean time had wrested the world title from

Veselin Topalov (1975-)

Kramnik.

ever having the two or three year spell

At the time of writing, Topalov has

[\1r the World Championship. Their

of brilliance (and good fortune) that is

Topalov was born in Rousse, Bulgaria

achieved the second highest Elo rating

�'t?-t e1f 24 games' match finished tied

necessary to earn a World Champion­

in 1975. He became a Grandmaster in

ever after those of Kasparov, peaking

14-5 \\hich meant that Bronstein

ship match. The closest he came in

1992 and broke through to the world

at 2813. He is greatly respected (and

equal

elite in 1996. He reached the final of the

feared!) as an uncompromising fighter

second with Keres at Curacao 1962 - he

Candidates matches in 2002 to decide a

with fantastic opening knowledge.

was half a point behind Petrosian, who

challenger

play-off earn

.': -:;=

: ' ."� ::\..'.

'.'.,"

with

Cl�Ille

Boleslavsky

+3=9-2

\\'ithin an ace of winning the

It I\'as particularly galling as he leading with two games to go, be­

;,,1'(' k1 � in g the fateful 23rd game.

Candidates

tournaments

was

for

Vladimir

Kramnik's

went on to successfully challenge the

'Classical World Champion's' (that is,

Bronstein remained one of the top

veteran Botvinnik for the world title.

non-FIDE) title, but lost to Peter Leko.

pla\'ers in the world for the rest of the

As Geller had a +4=7-1 life-time record

It was onl\' in 2005 that Topalov

1950s without ever managing to get

against Botvinnik, another point at Cu-

started to show the power that would

8

Neil McDonald, Gravesend June 2009

9

I

C h a pter O n e

The Dyn a m ic E l e ment

As described in the Introduction, I re­ gard power play as a fusion of dyna­

Game 2 A.Pomar Salamanca­ A.Alekhine Mad rid 1945 French Defence

mism, psychology and forceful open­ ing preparation. To some extent this is an ideal, as by no means all the games in this book contain the second and third of these elements to a marked degree.

Almost

without

exception,

however, they witness a dynamic fight.

1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 exd5 exd5 4 .ltd 3 lbc6

So what is dynamism?

"iid 7 9 1i.g5 f6 10 ..ih4 0 -0-0 11 lbbd2

Arturo Pomar was a famous chess

i. h 5 15 iVe2 ..if7 16 lbb3 l:tde8 17 lbc5

prodigy

lbd8 18 �C2 b6

5 c3 i.d6 6 lbf3 lbge7 7 0-0 ..ig4 8 l:te1 h5 12 i.g3 h4 13 .ixd6 �xd6 14 h 3 (and

future

Champion

of

Spain) who had achieved a winning position against Alekhine in their en­

(see following diagram)

counter at Gijon 1 944. That game had ended in a draw, which was a fabulous

Here Pomar retreated his knight

result for a 12-year-old boy against a

with . . .

reigning World Champion. In the fol­

19 lbb3

a year later,

... which led Alekhine in his annota­

Alekhine had felt obliged to take some

tions to give him a wonderful piece of

risks to create winning chances as

advice:

lowing

game,

played

Black in the French Exchange.

"There are positions in which a 11

The Dyn amic Elem e n t

Chess Secrets: Th e G i a n ts of P o w e r Play combination is obligatory. In order to evade the necessary mental effort the player lets slip his chances and little by

19 ...g 5 2 0 ttJh2 ttJe6 2 1 C4 Pomar

becomes

worried

about

Genuine dynamism versus one-move threats

Black's kingside advance and so seeks

thing. The celebrated German master could perform magical tricks with the pieces, calculate 15 moves deep, create

little finds himself reduced to the de­

activity in the centre, but now he is

an Evergreen Game and an Immortal

fensive and ends up by suffering a de­

saddled with a permanently weak d­

Game, but he couldn't play 15 ...b6 and

feat which, logically, is well merited."

pawn.

(107 Great Chess Battles, Edward Winter

21 ... dxc4 22 i..xC4 Wb8 23 ttacl ttJd8 24

1980)

i.xf7 ttJxf7 25 "iWc4 ttJd 5

Came 3 P.Morphy-A.Anderssen 7th matchga me, Pa ris 1858 Centre-Counter Defence

16 . . . i.b7, something that any average master can do these days. 16 ttJg5 1 Rather than being ensconced on b7, controlling the long diagonal from a

1 e4 d5 2 exd5 "iWxd5 3 ttJC3 �a 5 4 d4 e5

safe distance, the bishop finds itself

5 dxe5 'i!Vxe5+ 6 .te2 i.. b4 7 ttJf3 .txC3+

poorly placed on g4 and already the

8 bxc3 "iWxc3+ 9 i..d 2 "iWC5 10 ttbl ttJc6

subject of a tactical threat, namely 17

11 0-0 ttJf6 12 i..f4 0-0 13 i..xC7 ttJd4 14

ttJxh7! ttJxh7 18 'ii'xg4.

'ii'xd4 "iWxC7 15 iLd3

16 ... ttfd8? Here we have another useless at­ tacking move. The rook is brought into play with gain of time by hitting the white queen. But so what? The queen runs away

The

World

Champion

recom­

And now the World

Champion

to a better square than d4 and

then what does the rook do on d8?

mended 19 b4!, when 19 . . .bxc5 20 bxc5

gradually outplayed his young adver­

There's nothing to attack. And mean­

"iWc6 21 ttabl intending 22 i..b5 etc

sary:

while it has given up its defence of f7,

would give White a very dangerous

26 'ii'b 5 1.txel+ 27 ttxel c6 28 "iWe2 ttJh6

the most vulnerable square in the black

attack. Alekhine says he was going to

29 ttJd2 ttJf4 30 "iWe4 'ifd5 31 ttJhf3 ttJf5

camp.

decline the knight offer with 19 ... Wb8,

32 Whl ttd8 33 1.tcl Wb7 34 b3 "iWxe4 3 5

when after 20 ttebl Was 21 ttJa6 c6

ttJxe4 ttJd5 3 6 ttel WC7 3 7 ttJed2 ttJb4

An

interesting

alternative

was

16 . . . .td7 which aims to put the bishop on the long diagonal after all with

Black can defend okay but won't find it

38 .l:!.e6 ttd6 39 tte8 ttJxa2 40 ttJe4 ttd8

Here 15 ...b6 followed by 16 ... i..b7

so easy to carry out his attack on the

41 ttxd8 Wxd8 42 ttJxf6 ttJCl 43 b4 ttJd 3

would put the bishop on its optimal

17. . .i.. c6. This would secure both the

kingside.

44 d5 We7 45 ttJh7 cxd5 46 b5 g4 47

diagonal and, at the same time, solve

bishop itself and the b7-pawn from

hxg4 ttJxf2+ 48 Wgl ttJxg4 0-1

the problem of the loose pawn on b7.

attack.

way to preserve the energy of the

Knowing how to play in a dynamic

In that case, Black would have the bet­

17 'iVb41

white position. Once the opportunity is

style isn't a luxury. It is essential, as

ter game in view of the disfigurement

Here the white queen attacks b7,

lost,

making

situations like that after 18 ... b6 occur all

of the white pawn structure on the

supports the threat of 18 ttJxh7! ttJxh7

moves, some of them quite good, but

the time during chess games. If you

queenside.

there is no dynamism, no spark of life

think you understand strategy and see

We might say that 19 b4 is the only

Pomar

can

carry

on

Instead, there followed:

19 'iVxg4, and controls a possible inva­ sion square for a rook on e7. 17 ...i..c8

in his set-up. It is all dull, plodding

tactics pretty well, but still there seems

defence.

to be something missing from your

Adolf Anderssen couldn't escape

When we think of the fine combina­

chess, maybe it is this dynamic ele­

from the mentality that said develop­

tions that Anderssen has made, this is a

ment.

ing with gain of time must be a good

rather sad retreat.

The game actually continued as fol­ lows: 12

15 ...i.g4

13

Th e Dyn amic Eleme n t

Che ss S e c rets: Th e G i a n ts of P o w e r Play 18 l::tfel

master of the mating attack, doesn't

l:tee7?? or 24 J:i.e4?? in view of 24... l:td1+

see a good move, look for an even bet­

hesitate to exchange queens, as he sees

mating. This isn't going to be enough

ter one! 2S i.d3! 1-0

that the f7-pawn will become indefen­

to save Black despite the exchange of

sible.

queens.

19 ...'ibe7

242:.f4!

Of course if 19 ... i:ld7 20 'iieS+ will

enth rank, but is even better if it can go

20 llxe7ltJd S

to the h-file. Thus if 24 . . . a4 25 i.g6 con­

A clever attempt to create counter­ play,

as

you

would

expect

from

Anderssen. Hopeless is 20 . . .l:!.fS 21 i.c4,

Despite Black's loss of time with the bishop, if nothing happens fast he will

The rook is well placed on the sev­

mate.

tains the winning threat of 26 llh4+ 'it>g8 27 i.f7+ �fS 2S l:!.hS mate. If you have a piece that is well

when the f7-pawn is attacked three

placed,

times and must drop.

would it be better coordinated with the

nevertheless

ask

yourself:

21 i.xh7+ �h8 22 l1xf7 ltJC3 23 l:tel

rest of the pieces if transferred else­

ltJxa2

where? In chess there is no cult of the

develop his pieces and emerge with the

individual - the important thing is how

better game after all, as White has bro­

all the pieces work best together.

Now Black's most lethal problem is that the rook on d8 has to remain de­

ken queenside pawns. Therefore Mor­

fending the back rank, but has no safe

phy has to ensure that he overwhelms

squares. With the white bishop re­

the black defence and wins at least a

moved from h7, 26 ltJf7+ and 27 ltJxdS

pawn before his opponent is able to

threatens to win a whole rook.

mobilize. This means it is vital for

25 .. Jhd3, which deals with the threat

White to attack immediately without

of 26 ltJf7+ (or 26 i.xa6) in the most

wasting any time.

If

economical way, White can mate with

I'm sure you can see why the force

26 l:i.eS or 26 l:tfS. So the only safe

of Morphy's looming initiative is of a

square is gS, but 25 ... I:tgS 26 ltJf7 is also

magnitude several times greater than

mate.

Anderssen's one-move threats 15 ... �g4

This is Anderssen's idea. He has

and 16 ... l:!.fdS. The American has every

created

piece developed and beautifully coor­

which, if nothing happens on the king­

dinated, whereas his opponent has in­

side, could well win the game.

dulged in isolated attacks. 18 ...a s Insufficient, but h e can't just allow

a

queenside

Therefore

Morphy

passed

must

Tip: When your best moves allow

pawn

mate in one, it's time to resign. 24 .. Jla6 Once

again

we

can

see

that

Was

Anderssen

out-calculated

here? Did Morphy pulverize him with

quickly

Anderssen is a player who knows how

conclude the attack. And the omens are

to get the maximum out of every piece.

a brilliant sacrifice? No. The Ameri­

good, as he has two rooks, a bishop

He brings the rook into the fight in an

can's superiority was in coordinating

19 ne7. If instead lS ... .ttd7 it is mate in

and a knight assailing the black king,

unconventional way

to

his pieces and choosing the right mo­

three, with either 19 lleS+! ltJxeS 20

whereas

black

tempt his opponent into 25 ltJf7+ �xh7

ment to switch to an all-out attack.

i.xh7+ c;t>hS 21 'ii'fS mate, or 19 �xh7+

pieces that are even faintly concerned

26 ltJxdS, when he can fight on, though

Anderssen could perform feats of cal­

ltJxh7 20 lIeS+ etc.

with defence - the bishop on cS, which

White would surely have won even in

culation just as well or better, and find

19 'iVe7!

is covering some light squares, and the

that case. But Morphy knew by instinct

imaginative things to do with any in­

rook on d8, which is dissuading 24

one of the golden rules of chess: if you

dividual

Morphy, despite being an acclaimed 14

there

are

only

two

and

hopes

piece.

Morphy's

greatness 15

C h e s s S e c rets: The G i a n ts of P o w e r Play

The Dyn a mic Elem e n t

was that he knew how to combine all

i.e6 9 e3 i.e7 10 i.e2 0-0 11 'i!Ve2 f5 12

ing to have to find a queen check to

give a close-up check with your queen,

his pieces into a mighty juggernaut and

exf6 i.xf6 13 ctJbd2 i.f5 14 ctJxe4 i.xe4

hold the draw. Instead, there came:

no matter how crazy it looks. And once

then set it rolling at just the right mo­

15 i.xe4 dxe4 16 'i!Vxe4 'i!Vd7 17 i.f4

ment. His understanding of the ideas

li.ae8 18 'i!Ve2 ..ih4 19 i.g3 ..ixg3 20

look for a second check that might fol­

of force and the tempo of the struggle

hxg3 ctJe5 21 ctJxe5 li.xe5 22 li.fe1 li.d 5

low it. So 39 li.xh6+ is a crazy move, but

2 3 li.ad 1 e5 24 a4 li.d8 25 li.xd 5 'i!Vxd 5 26

it gives us 40 'i!Vg8+ and 41 'i!Vf8+, two

were way ahead of his era.

What is a combination?

you have found a way to give the check,

axb5 axb5 27 ife2 b4 28 exb4 exb4 29

close-up checks following each other, or

'iYg4 b3 30 �h2 'i!Vf7 31 'i!Vg5 li.d 7 32 f3

40 �8+ and 41 �5+ another two

h6 33 �e3 .l:!.d8 34 g4 �h8

close-up checks. Once we have seen that

The clue is in the word itself - it in­

the first two close-up checks win the

volves

combining the action of our

opponent's queen, we get excited and

pieces to change in a violent manner

notice the power of 42 g5+ after the sec­

the energy balance between the two

ond close-up check, which also wins the

armies. Alternatively, we might talk

opponent's queen. Bingo! Here the key

about a combination as exposing in

39 .l:!.xh6+!! 1-0

dramatic fashion the lack of coordina­ tion among the opponent's pieces.

to the position is the pawn on g4. White

Black loses his queen after 39 ... gxh6

wins because he is able to coordinate

40 'iYg8+ Wf6 41 "ii'f8+ '.tg6 42 'iYxf3, or

the action of his queen with this pawn it is a vital pivot for her.

Both definitions will help us in our

39 .. shh6 40 �8+ �g5 (or 40 . . .Wg6 41

task of discovering combinations. We

"iVh5+ �f6 42 g5+ followed by 43 "ii'xf3)

As we said above, Bronstein had to

need to notice when there is a lack of

41 �5+ '.tf4 (or 41.. .�f6 42 g5+) 42

see 39 li.xh6+ before 35 �6. That

�f5+ �e3 43 �xf3+.

might seem a long way ahead, but

harmony in the enemy camp,

and

where the energy level of our own

Korchnoi had been under pressure

pieces is particularly concentrated, and

a long time, not just a pawn down but

then ask: are there any ' crazy' moves or

with a weakness on b3 to defend. But

planned before playing 35 "iib6 or else

amine forcing moves with the queen

ideas that can exaggerate both of these

in time pressure he thought he saw his

he would have thrown away his ad­

and rook, nothing else. The real diffi­

factors, our own energy and the oppo­

salvation when Bronstein played:

vantage and also jeopardized the draw.

culty is in seeing that 39 .l:!.xh6+ exists

nent's lack of it?

35 'i!Vb6

The question is, how can we teach our­

as an option.

Combinations are an essential part of power play - an explosive way of exploiting dynamism, as it were.

Game 4 D.Bronstein-V.Korchnoi Mo scow vs Le n i ngrad match 1962 Ruy Lopez

The reply came in a flash:

don't forget that the position is pretty White's

combination

had

to

be

selves to see ideas such as 39 li.xh6+.

35 ... li.d 2

Here's a general rule that might be use­

Suddenly there is a double threat of

ful: if you are attacking the enemy king

36 . . .li.xb2 and 36 .. :iVxf3. Has our hero

with a queen and rook, and there are

blundered?

no defenders in sight, just a bit of pawn

36 "ii'b 8+ Wh7 37 li.e8!

cover, don't trust the pawn cover to

Letting Black carry out his threat. 3 7 ...'i!Vxf3 We

save the king. Look for 'crazy' moves to break through it!

shall

return

to

empty of pieces. White only had to ex­

consider

We might elaborate the rule by add­

37. . . li.xb2 later in the chapter.

ing that a king hates being checked

38 li.h8+ �g6

I

Promising-looking moves deserve to be calculated

GameS V.Topalov-V.Kramnik Li n a re s 1994 Sicilian Defence

close up' by the enemy queen. So if you

1 e4 e5 2 ctJf3 ctJe6 3 i.b5 a6 4 i.a4 ctJf6

With mate on g2 and the b2-pawn

are attacking the opponent's king with a

1 e4 e5 2 ctJf3 ctJe6 3 d4 exd4 4 ctJxd4

5 0-0 ctJxe4 6 d4 b5 7 i.b3 d5 8 dxe5

hanging, it seems that Bronstein is go-

queen and rook, try to find a way to

ctJf6 5 ctJe3 d6 6 f3 e5 7 ctJb3 i.. e7 8 ..te3

16

17

Che ss Secrets: Th e G i a n ts of Po wer Play

The Dy n a mic Eleme n t

..ie6 9 lLldS Ji.xds 10 exds lLlb4 11 e4 a s

On the other hand Black can still re­

and you can easily verify that after

1 2 lLld2 lLld7 1 3 lLle4 fS 14 lLle3 0-0 1 5

taliate with 29 . . . lLlxd5 and if White per­

33 . . . �xg6 34 'it'xe2 or 33 . . . lLlxg1 34 lLlxf8

32 .. .'iVxe7 33 gxf4 leaves White with an

..ie2 1i.gs 1 6 .i.f2 ii'f6 1 7 0-0 lLla6 is

sists with lLlxc8 he has ...lLlxf4+ and

lLlxf8 35 �xg1 White has an extra rook.

extra rook.

..id3 �h6 19 'iVe2 'u'aeS 20 ..ie2 lLlaes 2 1

. . .lLlxe2, grabbing the white queen.

Therefore Black has to come up with a

32 ...�hS 33 'it'd1!

g3 e 4 22 f4 .idS 23 a3 lLlf6 24 �g2 .i.b6

So far it is: for White, lLlxd6, lLlxc8,

25 ..ig1 lLled7 26 lLlbS ..ixg1 27 �xg1

lLle7+ and

'it'g6

. . . lLlxd5, ... lLlxf4+ and . . .lLlxe2.

lLlxg6; versus for Black,

Surely a good deal for White? He picks up in sequence a pawn, rook, and

with

vital

now

capacity to

be a very good move. It is therefore

queen, while Black only gains two

worth him devoting considerable en­

pawns and the queen. If we look even

ergy to working out whether it

further ahead, we'll see that the white

a good move. After all, the reward is

knight which ends up on g6 after lLlxg6

evident - if Black loses the vital d6-

really is

will be attacking the black rook on f8,

pawn without sufficient compensation,

while the black knight on e2 will be

his game is ruined. The Bulgarian will

attacking the white rook on g l . That

get to beat one of the most promising

more or less cancels itself out - both

young players in the world.

sides will have a knight hanging, and

So let's see what happened in the

The queen moves to safety and guards aI, leaving both black knights

game. For a few moves it followed the

hanging.

above analysis:

33 ... lLlh3

would like very much to take on d6,

met by 'it>f1, so that the black knight

but 28 lLlxd6? meets with the riposte

does indeed hang on e2 to 'it'xe2.

position

If

Having seen this much, Topalov knows that 29 lLlxd6 has the

We should add that ...lLlxf4+ should be

diagram

time.

lose.

both knights will be attacking a rook. the

of

nuance in this sequence, or else he will

White

In

gain

Nonetheless, the position remains tense as e7 and gl are both en prise.

28 . . .lLlxd5!, threatening 29 ... lLlxf4+ win­

Therefore, after the series of retalia­

ning the queen, when after 29 cxd5

tory blows, White will emerge with

The white knight completes its es­

'iVxd6 Black has a good position thanks

about an extra rook for a couple of

cape from enemy territory. Now Black

34 lLldS!

to the weakness of the d5-pawn and

pawns. Let's imagine this sequence: 29

has no time to capture on gl as his

the strength of his own

lLlxd6 lLlxdS 30 lLlxc8 lLlxf4+ 31 �f1

queen is hanging.

lLlxe2 32 lLle7+ �f7 33 lLlxg6

34 ...�b2 35 �g2 f4

protected

passed pawn on e4. So Topalov had to settle for gaining

Being a rook down, Kramnik's last

some space on the queenside.

throw of the dice is a direct attack on

2S b4 lieS

the rather exposed white king.

Once again offering the pawn on

36 gxf4 "iVes!? 37 l1a 2!

d6. Now a tactical theme appears, be­

29 lLlxd6! lLlxdS! 30 lLlxeS lLlxf4+ 31 'it>f1

cause after 29 lLlxd6, not only would

'it'f6

As we shall see, this prepares a highly resourceful defensive idea.

the rook on c8 be hanging, but beyond

Seeing that he loses as discussed af­

that a fork of the black queen and king

ter 31.. .lLlxe2 32 lLle7+ �f7 33 lLlxg6,

Black would get the attack he wants

on e7 would be on the cards: namely

Kramnik sidesteps this sequence by

after 38 lLlxb6? ii'xf4+, but White's re­

lLlxd6, lLlxc8 and lLle7+ and

counterattacking against a l .

ply kills his initiative.

32 lLle7+!

3S 'iVa1!

lLlxg6.

That's a lot of material White would be grabbing! 18

The knight saves itself from capture

3 7 ...lLlb6

The possibility of ii'xg7 mate means 19

The Dyn amic Elem e n t

Ch ess S e c re t s : The G ia n ts of Po wer Play that Black has no good way to avoid

lbf3 �g4 6 Ji.e2 cxd4 7 cxd4 e 6 8 lbC3

(there are no other safe squares for the

to deter i t further. And yet such i s the

the exchange of queens, after which all

Ji.b4 9 0-0 "iVas

queen) 16 "iVxaS lbxaS 17 lhe7 and

explosive power of Alekhine's combi­

White has won a piece.

nation

11 d S !

charges forward. He plans to cause

hope is at an end.

that

the

pawn

nevertheless

maximum trouble for the enemy mon­ arch, who is sitting uneasily on e8, and also for his 'close adviser' the queen, who is going to be obliged to make a hazardous journey to a l . Let's look a t some o f the variations the World Champion must have exam­ ined. If 1 1 . . .lId8 or 1 1 . . .0-0-0, 12 'iib3! is very

strong,

as

12 . . .Ji.xc3

13

dxc6!

leaves both c3 and b7 hanging. Noth­ If White now satisfies himself in de­

ing

too difficult to see so far.

38 .. J�xf4+ 39 �e1! 1-0

fending c3 with the quiet 10 Ji.d2, then Black would catch up in development

The military genius Alexander the

There are positions in which a com bination is obligatory

with 10 . . .lbf6 and 1 1 . ..0-0, whereupon

Great often chose to attack a hostile

points

White would not only have failed to

army at its strongest, rather than weak­

namely the trapping of the black queen

gain any opening advantage, he would

est, point on the battlefield. He rea­

on a l : 12 lbxdS exdS

even have the worst of it due to the

soned that the enemy general and his

Here is an example of Alekhine fol­ lowing his own advice in a game

isolated pawn on d4.

Harder to calculate is 1 1 . ..lbxdS

tioned themselves behind their sound­

fourth

sary mental effort' and, after a thor­

est defences. Therefore a rapid break­

Champion was still playing

ough analysis of the position, produced

through in that sector, even at huge

with flair and imagination just a couple

one of the best combinations of his life.

cost, might quickly decide matters by

of years before his death. If Alekhine

10 a 3 ! !

dentally, World

it

shows

that

the

had managed to survive beyond 1946

A t first i t seems bizarre t o attack the bishop, as the a3-pawn is pinned. But

We chess players are less blood­

Alekhine's keen tactical eye has seen a

thirsty than Macedonian warrior kings,

projected match for the World Cham­

chance to trap the black queen.

but we can still learn from their tech­

pionship.

10 lbf6

1 e4 cs 2 c3 dS 3 exds 'iix ds 4 d4 lbc6 S 20

combination,

cutting off the head of the enemy army

in reasonable health, he might have

Came 6 A.Alekhine-J.Podgorny Prague 1943 Sicilian Defence

Alekhine's

- both literally and figuratively.

given Botvinnik a hard time in their

•••

of

close advisers were likely to have sta­

And so Alekhine made the 'neces­

played near the end of his career. Inci­

when we discover one of the main

niques.

Here

Alexander

the

Chess

After 1O . . . Ji.xc3 1 1 bxc3 'iixc3 12 lIb 1

Player has chosen to strike his oppo­

13 axb4! "iVxal 14 'iib3! (getting his

0-0-0 either 13 'iia4 or 13 �e3 gives

nent on the most well-defended square

own queen out of the way so that a

White a very dangerous attack on the

in his centre. Black has three units - the

bishop

black king. Alternatively, if instead of

queen, knight on f6 and pawn on e6 -

pocket her opposite number) 14 ... i..xf3

directly

IS

ii.d2,

would

castling Black gives back the pawn

all

break­

IS Ji.gS! 'iixfl+ 16 ..txfl Ji.e4 17 f3, and

through, along with the latent possi­

the black king will be caught under

"iVa4! still leaves him in deep trouble.

bilities

One threat of many is IS Ji.b2 "iVaS

... ..txc3, removing the pawn's defender,

... lId8

(or

this

say

with 12 . . . lbge7, then 13 lIxb7 0-0 14

of

opposing

move,

... 0-0-0),

and

attack in the centre, with his pieces un­ able to provide an adequate defence. 21

C h e s s S e c re ts: T h e G i a n ts of Po w e r Play In the game Podgamy managed to

The Dyn amic Eleme n t are safe and compact and have some

avoid losing his queen and also got to

nice

central

squares,

especially d4,

castle, but he lost too much material in

whereas the black rooks don't have any

the process.

attractive open files, nor any strong

11... exd5 12 axb41 'iVxal 13 tbd2!

passed pawns to support.

Even without queens, you can 't rely on natural moves

the diagram position: 1) The bishop pair. 2) Pressure on the a7-pawn.

The following game appears, at first glance, to be of a positional rather than

3) Control of the d-file, which deters . .. tbc6 in view of l:td7.

a dynamic nature. But a little analysis

All these advantages seem on the

soon reveals that Geller would have

point of vanishing over the next couple

got nowhere if he had relied on 'natu­

of moves, but let's see how Geller pre­

ral', 'strategical' moves. On the con­

served them.

trary, he had to be ready to calculate

15 iLel!

and discover important tactical nu­ ances, or else his highly resourceful opponent

would

have

escaped

his

grasp.

Well, you might

think

that's

a

strange way to begin an attack! In fact Geller is

storing energy in his position

by preventing the exchange IS . . . tbxc3, which would also clear the way for a

Threatening both 14 .ixg4 and 14 tbb3! when the black queen has no safe

lS.. JbbS 19 b5 1 Not letting the knight on b3 be mo­

squares.

lested by the black rook.

13 ... .ixe2 14 �xe2+ tbe7

19 ... axb5 20 Iioxa7 b4 21 tbe2 �fcS 2 2

If instead 14 . . .�f8 White continues

f 3 n a s 2 3 ItxaS l:txaS 24 �f2 tb d 7 2 5

IS tbb3 �a6 16 bS and wins the knight,

tbf4 tb b 6 2 6 � e 3 l:tcS 27 � d 3 g5 2S

leading to a material balance similar to

tbh5 1-0

the game, but with the black king stuck in the centre. 15 lIel! 0-0 It turns out Black had no good way

Game 7 E.Gelier-P .Keres USSR C h a m pion s h i p, Moscow 1952 Nimzo-Indian Defence 1 d4 tbf6 2 c4 e6 3 tbC3 .ib4 4 e3 b6 5

15 ... �fS Of course if Black plays IS .. Jhc4??

dXc3 12 .ixc3 tbe4 13 'iVxdS ItxdS 14

the centre and makes the threat to the

�fdl gcS

white bishop real. 16 l:td4 The

Ukrainian

Grandmaster

de­

fends his bishop, attacks the knight on e4 and prepares to double rooks on the d-file.

16 tbb3! "i!Ya6

16 ... �e7

The only move, but now White can

In principle it is handy for Black to

safely grab the knight.

have the king bolster his defences

17 'iVxa6 bxa6 lS l:txe7

22

serve his own pieces for the forthcom­

he is mated. So Keres rushes his king to

has White's combination failed? No,

advantage. However, his minor pieces

them. Similarly, Geller needs to pre­

dXc4 9 .i.xC4 c5 10 a3 cxd4 11 axb4

Alekhine had seen a bit further:

doesn't sound like an overwhelming

board, as he can gain time by harassing

.id3 0-0 6 tbf3 d5 7 0-0 .i.b7 S .id2

IHe8 and Black is suddenly winning. So

two pieces for a rook and pawn, which

good for White to keep the black knight on e4 and bishop on b7 on the

ing attack.

to defend e7, but if now 16 �xe7??

The dust has settled. Alekhine has

second exchange with 16 . . . j"xf3. It's

along the d-file, but he always has to

Black despairs of defending his col­

watch out for a sudden b4-bS and

lection of weak pawns. A

fantastic

display

chess from Alekhine.

of

�b4+. At the moment this isn't dan­

dynamic

gerous as Black can reply ... tbcS, block­ White has three small advantages in

ing out the bishop; but if the knight 23

Chess S e c re ts: The Gia n ts of P o w e r Play leaves e4 or is eliminated, the check

Th e Dyn amic Eleme n t I f 19 . . . fxeS Geller intended t o exploit

has been able to work out that his king

might be very painful.

Black's lack of development with a

is in time to stop Black's passed pawn.

17 l:i.adl

couple of pins, diagonal and frontal: 20

A splendid effort.

The entrance of the black king hasn't

solved

the

problem

queenside development,

as

of

l:i.xe4 iLxe4 (not forced, but otherwise

his

he is just left with ugly e-pawns) 21

17 ... tLlc6

i..xe4 tLlc6 22 bS l:i.d8 23 l:i.c1 ! and White

Dynamism a nd psychology

would allow either 18 l:i.xe4 or 18 l:i.d7+.

will end up with two pieces for a rook.

In the following game, Alekhine man­

17 ...l:i.C7

19 ...tLld6

ages to introduce a dynamic element that is highly disagreeable to his oppo­ nent. Richard Reti was at least the equal of Alekhine in the field of strategy when So Black has completed his devel­

he was playing White and had the

opment and, despite everything, the

chance to adopt one of his beloved flank

players are equal on points: White has

openings. It needs only be recalled that

two pawns for the exchange. However,

he used the opening that now bears his

there isn't much that the black rook can

name to beat Capablanca at New York

attack, as b2 and b4 are securely de­

in 1924 - the Cuban's first loss in eight

fended. Meanwhile, White's bishop

years. If the Hungarian born Grandmas­

pair can exert enormous pressure on

ter had a weakness, it was in the field of

the fragile black kingside pawns. In

tactics. He seemed to underestimate the

Now, however, Black is on the point

Keres is ready to answer 20 ..txh7?

of playing 18 ... tLld7 with equality. It

fxeS 21 �xd6 with 2 1 . . .i.. d S! trapping

only a couple of moves the g7-pawn

importance of dynamism and calcula­

looks as if White can't prevent this

the white rook on d6 and winning the

drops off the board, whereupon White

tion. He did so well with the Reti and

with 18 tLleS?? because 18 . . . f6 19 tLlf3 eS

exchange. So Geller has to back off

has three connected passed pawns.

English Openings because they not only

wins material (moving the white rook

with 20 tLlc4 tLlxc4 21 i..xc4, when Black

With the position in front of us it

away from d4 drops the bishop on c4).

can equalize with 21.. .tLlc6. A pity that,

isn't too difficult to see that White has

strategic mastery, they also helped to

But Geller made a habit of playing 'im­

but it was a precise defence by the Es­

excellent chances. But don't forget that

mask his tactical deficiencies.

possible' moves throughout his career.

tonian

18 tLles!

agreed at this point.

Grandmaster.

A

draw

was

Geller had to persuade himself a long way in advance that this simplified

gave scope for him to demonstrate his

It has

often been asserted

that

Alekhine indulged in 'post-game ra­

The only way to keep his advan­

But no, that's not how the game

endgame would be good for him. He

tionalization' . That is to say, after win­

tage. If White had been a lazy fellow

ended. Geller once again played an

had to use both his powers of calcula­

ning a game with a complex attack that

and looked no further than 18 ... f6 be­

'impossible' move:

tion and his judgment.

involved judgment and intuition as

fore rejecting this move as a howler,

20 ..txh 7! fxes 21 l:i.xd6 ..tdS

Here is the conclusion of the game:

well as calculation, he would work out

Keres would have escaped. Instead, he

The rook is indeed trapped on d6,

28 ..tg8+ �d6 29 f4 exf4 30 exf4 tLle6

is stopped from playing 18 ... tLld7 and

but Geller has foreseen that it can be

31 iLes+ �dS 32 i..x g7 l:i.c8 33 iLxe6+

study and then claim to have seen eve­

remains bunged up. But the question

sacrificed

�xe6 34 Wf3 l:i.C4 35 iLC3 �d S 36 h4 a s

rything to a clear conclusion

remains - what

which White has excellent chances.

37 bxas l:i.xc3+ 38 bXc3 bxas 3 9 hS 'it'e6

plays to win material? The answer

22 �6xd S! exds 23 l:i.xdS l:i.cl 24 �f1

40 �e3 1-0

came in the game:

tLlc6 2 5 �e2 l:i.d8 26 l:i.xd8 tLlxd8 27 iLC3

18 ...f6 19 ..td 3 !

<;t>e6

24

does happen if Black

to

reach an endgame in

After his analytical feats earlier in the game, it's no surprise that Geller

all the variations in the quiet of his

during the game itself. Playing through his game against Reti, you might like to ask yourself: what did Black actually

need

to see at various points in his attack? 25

Th e Dyn amic Eleme n t

C h ess Se crets: The G i a n ts of P o w e r Play

Game 8 R. Reti-A.Alekhine Baden-Baden 1925 Reti Opening

crease the latent energy of the black

the g3-square which has been under­

pieces.

mined by both 20 iLhI and 23 . . .hxg3. A

21 b4 a6 22 .l::!.c1 h4 23 a4 hxg3 24 hxg3

crazy rook move to attack it is 26 . . ..l::!.e3, which opens the way for a close-up

�C7 2S bS Reti begins an immediate attack on

check after 27 fxe3 'iVxg3+. Once we

the queenside. Instead, the preliminary

start looking at this, we don't have to

25 e4 would drive the black knight

see beyond 28 Ji.g2 lbxe3 to realize that

1 g3 es 2 lbf3 e4 3 lbd4 dS 4 d3 exd3 S

from the centre and avoid all the un­

White is being mated on g2. The fact

'iVxd3 lbf6 6 ii.g2 i.. b4+ 7 i..d 2 i.xd2+ 8

welcome tactics that follow. On the

that the white queen is hanging after

lbxd2 0-0 9 c4 lba6 10 cxdS lbb4 11

other hand, Reti loved to hold back his

28 . . . lbxe3 is of no objective relevance,

"*,C4 lbbxdS 12 lb2b3 c6 13 0-0 .l::!.e8 14

centre pawns, and doesn't want to ob­

but it is a great confidence booster: 'If

IUd1 iLg4 lS .l::!.d 2 'iVc8 16 lbcs i.. h 3 17

struct his bishop's view of the c6-

I'm dreaming and it isn't forced mate

�f3 ..\tg4 18 ..\tg2 i.. h 3 19 i..f3 iLg4

square.

on g2, no matter as White won't have

2S ... axbs 26 axbs .l::!.e 3!

time to save his queen!' 27 lbf3? Reti loses his composure and im­

Here Alekhine wrongly claimed a draw by three-fold repetition. It has

Psychology

and

dynamism!

Alekhine doesn't give his opponent a

Alekhine aims first o f all t o conquer the pawn on e2. It is a perfect target for the following reasons:

mediately makes a serious blunder. It

1) It is on a tactically sensitive

is often the case that rushing defenders

square, being the distance of a knight's

towards an endangered king causes

fork from the rook on d and king on

more trouble than the original threat.

gl.

The knight was performing an impor­

2) It is performing a vital defensive

tant role on d4, guarding both the b5-

role in guarding f3 against the attack of

and e2-pawns. Even worse, retreating

the black rook and bishop.

it to f3 shuts in the bishop on hI, which

been suggested that this was a psycho­

28 ...lbc3 !

3) It can be attacked with gain of

loses influence over the centre. This

time by simultaneously hitting

reduction in the energy of the white

white queen.

pieces allows Alekhine to begin a series of tactical operations.

the

Black still has a rook hanging on e3, but he knows that, after White saves

logical ruse to persuade his opponent

second chance to dislodge the knight

The logical move was 27 ii.f3!, chal­

to put his bishop on an inferior square.

from d5 with 27 e4. Therefore Reti is

lenging the black bishop and strength­

... lbxe2+ attacking the white rook on d .

After all, having protested his right to

denied a quiet, 'neat' game where he

ening, rather than weakening, White's

continue the game, it was somehow

can demonstrate his talent for strategy.

hold over the e2-square.

Therefore n o variations needed to be calcu­ lated here. It was only necessary to no­

embarrassing for Reti to agree to a

How did Alekhine find this idea?

draw with 20 ..\tg2.

Well, remember what we said in the

20 i.. h 1 h S !

27 ... cxbS

his queen, he will get in first with

tice that after 29 'ifc4 b5! the white

White has lost control and is hit by

queen has to give up her defence of e2.

Bronstein extract above:

wave after wave of attacks, with never

29 it'xb7 it'xb7 30 lbxb7 lbxe2+ 31 Wh2

a moment to catch his breath.

the retreat of White's bishop to hI and

If you are attacking the opponent's king with a queen and rook, try to find a way to give a close-up check with your queen, no matter how crazy it looks.

the softening up of the g3-pawn in-

Here the black queen is staring at

Alekhine pre-empts White's queen­ side push with a pawn advance of his own on the kingside. As we shall see,

26

28 "it'xbs

Up

until

here

Alekhine

hasn't

needed to calculate much. He has al­

If Reti had kept his knight on d4 he

ways had the luxury of knowing that

could have replied 28 lbxb5, and so

31. ..lbxd will be at least okay for him.

avoided all the grief that follows.

In fact, this would give him a tiny, but 27

Th e Dyn amic Elem e n t

Chess S e c r e ts : The G i a n ts of P o w e r Play 33. . .l:I.d5! 34 l:I.c4 liJ2xg3. White not only

35 l:I.xe2 with good drawing chances.

could fight on in a losing position with

Therefore at this point Black needs

loses a pawn but will drop more mate­

Unfortunately for Reti, not only is he a

39 'itth4! .

to start looking at other moves. He gets

rial as his king is so badly placed; for

pawn down but his opponent can also

39 h2 liJxc2 40 �xf3 liJd4 4 1 l:I.f2 liJxf3+ 42 l:1.xf3 i.d 5! 0-1

meaningless, advantage after 32 fxe3.

nowhere special with 31...i.xf3 32 iLxf3

example, 35 i.g2 liJ£1 +! 36 �x£1 (if 36

target his king.

liJxc1 (or 32 ...l:I.xf3 33 l:1.xe2) 33 fxe3 etc.

Wg1 l:1.d1 37 �x£1 i.xf3 and wins with

3 3 ... �e6!

Instead, 31. ..l:I.xf3 32 l:1.xe2 l:I.xg3 33

38 . . . liJd2 due to the pin on £1 ) 36 . . .ii.xf3

'l.t>xg3 �xe2 leaves him with an extra

The white knight is lost. his

A brilliant display of power play by

and there is no good answer to the

pieces. He attacks the rook on c4 and

Alekhine. Once he had been given his

Beginning

a

regrouping

of

pawn. That's better, but still it is virtu­

threat of 37. . . .:.h5+ 38 .th3 liJg5 win­

wins time for his next move which

chance with 26 . . . l::!.e3! ! he kept Reti un­

ally impossible to win. So what other

ning a piece, as 38 Wg1 l:I.h1 is mate.

obliges the white king to walk into a

der relentless pressure.

moves are there? If you examine the

Alekhine didn't need to see all this - it

discovered attack.

position enough, you should be able to

was quite sufficient to get as far as

34 l:1.cc2

come across Alekhine's actual move.

34 . . .liJ2xg3 and conclude that Black is a

Reti attacks e2. If he tries 34 l:I.c5

pawn up with a strong initiative.

then 34 . . .l:I.aa3! is crushing.

3 2 l:1.C4!

34 ... liJg4+ 35 'itth 3 liJe5+ I suspect it was at this point that

William Hartston makes an interest­ ing comment on this game in

The Kings

af Chess: "From the 26th move ( . . . ) a se­ quence of mind-boggling combinations

Alekhine conceived his final combina­

take over the board, eventually involv­

tion. Everything could be worked out

ing all the pieces. Such chess, even at

due to the small number of pieces on

the highest level, is not calculable; it is

the board and the forcing nature of the

intuition backed up by the calculation

play - as you will see, White has

of the essential variations at each stage.

hardly any choice with his moves.

The human mind is capable of no

36 h2

more. Yet Alekhine's notes give no in­ dication of the unfathomable nature of such play, of the doubt that must have existed in his mind while playing the

3 1...liJe4!

game."

Black attacks both the rook on d2 and the pawn on f2. It is worth repeat­

Reti tries to confuse matters with

I would qualify this slightly by add­

ing that he is risking absolutely noth­

his clever rook move. If now 32 . . . �xf3

ing that, although Alekhine might have

ing in leaving the rook hanging on e3.

33 l:I.xe4! ! is a move worthy of one of

After 32 fxe3 liJxd2 material is equal,

his endgame studies. Then 33 . . . �xe4

but with both the white rook on c1 and

(after 33 . . .l:I.xe4 34 .txf3 equalizes) 34

the knight on f3 hanging. Therefore

fxe3 �xh1 35 xh1 liJxg3+ 36 Wg2

Black is bound to get in first when it

gives White a survivable endgame.

comes to grabbing material. And so it

32 ...liJxf2

doubted if his advantage would be enough to win, he was always in a po­ sition to bail out with a slight, if unreal­ izable, advantage. There was never a stage in the complications in which he didn't have an obvious way to remove

proves after 33 liJxd2 liJxc1 when he

Alekhine's rook has been hanging

36 ...l:I.xf3 ! 3 7 ':'xe2 liJg4+ 38 'itt h 3 liJe3+!

the tension and therefore all danger.

wins the exchange, or 33 l:I.c2 liJxf3+ 34

on e3 since move 26! But now he re­

38 ... l:I.f6!? was an interesting alterna­

What I find most enthralling about the

moves the threat, winning a pawn and

tive, threatening mate on h6. Then after

game is how close it came to burning

39 ':'xe6 fxe6 40 Wxg4 l:I.a4+ White is

out to a draw, but Alekhine always

mated by 41 'itth3 l:I.h6 or 41 g5 l:I.f5+

found a way to maintain the dynamic

42 g6 ':'g4 mate! However, White

element. As Hartston himself remarks,

i.xf3 i.xf3 winning a piece. Instead, 32 l:I.d8+ l:I.xd8 33 fxe3 has been suggested as the best chance for White, but this is entirely hopeless after 28

leaving g3 weaker. 33 i.g2 Hoping for 33 ... .txf3 34 i.xf3 ':'xf3

29

Th e Dyn amic Eleme n t

Ch ess S e crets: The G i a n ts of P o w e r Play "as a triumph of imagination and

that 40 "*"eS+ and 4 1 'ii'xb2 picks u p the

42 . . .�4+! when it is checkmate to the

judgment in conditions of obscure visi­

rook. So that means Black has to play

white king in three moves.

bility, it is quite magnificent." Alekhine

39 ..."*"f6!, when 40 'ii'd 3+ is the check­

Instead, the quiet 41 �h 3!!,

considered it to be one of his two most

ing reply.

A game saved by combinative power In the following game Alekhine is

brilliant tournament games, the other

positionally busted after 18 moves. But

being against Bogoljubow (see Chapter

rather than tamely submit to the loss of a pawn he makes an unsound, but

Four).

tricky knight sacrifice. This heaped a lot of psychological pressure on his

Sometimes you have to rely on intuition

opponent, who of course didn't know whether or not the World Champion was bluffing.

Here I wish to return to the Bronstein­ Korchnoi game given earlier in the

The result was the proverbial tri­

chapter. At move 37 let's see what

umph of spirit over matter - the force of Alekhine's personality breathed an

would have happened if Korchnoi had stopping

avoided the bait on f3 and instead cap­

... �4 ideas,

leaves Black

there

In his earlier calculations, I suspect

with no good answer to the threat of 42

might now follow 38 .l::t h 8+ �g6 39

that Bronstein stopped about here as

"*"dS+ �f4 43 I:!.e8. For example, after

1fid6+.

his intuition told him that there would

41 ... "*"es 42 .l::tf8 g6 (to stop the killer

almost certainly be a way to exploit the

check on fS), White has 43 f4+ winning

tured on b2.

After

37 ....l::txb2

exposed black king. In contrast to the

the queen or, better still, 43 'iWd8+ forc­

game,

ing mate.

in which Black was

always

unstoppable power into his pieces.

Game 9 K.Opocensky-A.Alekhine Prague 1942 Old Indian Defence

threatening ...'ii'xg2 mate, White can

I doubt very much - nay, it is im­

afford the luxury of a quiet move or

possible! - that Bronstein had seen 41

1 d4 tLJf6 2 c4 d6 3 tLJc3 tLJbd7 4 tLJf3 eS

two to pick off either the black rook,

'it>h3!! when he played 3S "iVb6. In the

5 g3 c6 6 i.g2 i.e7

queen, or king. And as a 'safety valve'

actual game,

after

Here we see Alekhine' s antipathy to

White always has a draw if he keeps on

37 .. :�·xf3 to have noticed 39 .l::txh6+!! in

the kingside fianchetto. Having played

checking the black king.

advance as Black was threatening mate

S . . . c6 he doesn't want to weaken the

it was essential

Analysis confirms that Bronstein's

in one. In contrast, Bronstein had to

d6-pawn any further and so keeps the

intuition was correct. Black loses his

trust his intuition that a move like 41

bishop defending it. No doubt Bron­

queen after 40 . . .'it>f7 41 'iVdS+ 'it>e7 (if

\t>h3!! would exist in the position after

stein would have played 6 . . . g6, when 7

If now 39 ... �gS? a nice computer

41...�g6 42 iHhS mate, or 41...'ii'e6 42

37 .. Jhb2. In any case, he wasn't taking

0-0 i..g7 8 e4 0-0 is similar to his games

might tell you it is mate in eight moves

l:tf8+ ! �e7 43 .l::te8+ etc) 42 'ilVd8+ �e6 43

a risk as he could take a draw as he

with Zita and Reshevsky - see Chapter

.l::te8+ �f7 44 11f8+ and wins.

pleased.

Eight.

beginning with 40 .l::tf8! . (If Black does the sensible thing and saves his queen with 40 .. :ikc4 it is a much quicker mate:

7 0-0 0-0 8 "iYc2 exd4?

Instead, 40 ...'it>gs is a harder nut to

Hence we have seen that when

crack. White would like to play 41

making a combination, some tactics

A modem player would trust in the c6/d6/eS pawn centre, and stand his ground with, say, 8 ... "ifc7 or 8 ... .l::te8. We

41 l:tfS+ and 42 l:thS, or 41 "*"eS+ and

"ifdS+?! �f4 (if 41...�g6 it's mate on hS)

must be seen in advance (39 .l::txh6+! ! ),

mate on fS or h4 as Black prefers.) But

42 .l::te 8(??) when the threat of 43 l:te4

whereas in other cases we have to rely

means it is checkmate to the black king

on our intuition and cross bridges as

shall also discuss this topic in Chapter

we come to them (41 �h3!!).

Eight.

Bronstein didn't have to see that in ad­ vance - it was quite enough to spot 30

in nine moves - unless Black plays

31

Chess Secrets: Th e G i a n ts of P o w e r Play Instead, Alekhine reasons that "the

Th e Dyn amic Eleme n t wracking it must be when the greatest

l:i.fl .tb5 2 3 �f5 ..Il.xfl (or 2 3... tLlf2+ 24

pawn on d6 is weak, I should get rid of

tactical genius of the age (perhaps of

.uxf2) 24 �xg4 and wins.

it with ... d6-d5 in the style of the Griin­

any age) sacrifices a piece to attack

feld. Hence taking on d4 followed by

your king!

.. .lLJb6 and . . . d6-d5 is the way to pro­

19 �xf2?

1 6 e31

ceed." Such false logic will lead him

Me5 in variation 'b' and also notice the

The win was to be had with 19

close to defeat.

As you can see, Opocensky had to find the unusual manoeuvre .uxdS and

�xd5! '

back rank trick with 'iixc8+. If Alekhine had chosen variation ' c' the Czech mas­

9 tLlxd4 tLlb6 10 b3 dS 11 :td1!

ter would have had to convince himself

Now Black would be busted after

that Black could achieve nothing after

11 ...dxc4 12 tLlxc6 fVe8 13 tLlb5! threat­

the discovered check on his king with

ening 14 tLlc7 trapping the queen.

20 . . . tLlg4+. This isn't at all easy with a

11 .. .'i!id7 ?

ticking clock and the World Champion

Even so, Alekhine should make d o

sitting opposite you.

with 1 1 . . .ii.d7, though h e remains i n an

If Black does nothing then the sim­

Even though objectively he should

uncomfortable position after 12 cxd5

ple plan of 17 tLle2 and 18 tLlf4 will win

have lost, Alekhine was entirely correct

lbfxd5 13 tLlxd5 tLlxd5 14 ii.b2.

the d5-pawn whilst keeping a crushing

to gamble in this fashion. If he had qui­

12 cxdS tLlbxds 13 tLlxds cxd S 14 .Jl.b2

positional

etly accepted the loss of a pawn he

'ue8 1S �ac1

Alekhine has to employ all his tactical

would most likely have been ground

ingenuity to set his opponent prob­

down in the endgame, if he had sur­

superiority.

Therefore

a ) After 19 ... �g4? the knight can be

lems. 16...tLle4! 17 tLle2 it.b6 18 tLlf4 tLlxf2 !

vived that long. Certainly he would

captured with the queen: 20 1lixf2 .Jl.xe3

have

21 �xe3 llxe3 22 :td8+ and mates.

Whereas after the sacrifice all three re­

b) If 19 . . .�e7 the e3-point can be

had

zero

winning

chances.

sults are possible: win, loss or draw.

shielded with 20 l:te5, followed again

Opocensky feels he has the win of a

by taking on f2, unless Black gives up

lifetime in his grasp, and believes he

his queen with 20 ...�xe5, which fails to

can achieve it with a positional queen

21 ii.xe5 l:txe5 22 1lixc8+! lte8 (taking

sacrifice.

the queen allows another back rank

19 ...Sl.xe3 20 �xe3 l:.xe3 21 tLlxds

mate) 23 'iixa8 (simplest) 23 . . .Mxa8 24 'i£ixf2 and Black must resign. c) Perhaps Alekhine was planning

White has a perfect development, a game

free

of weaknesses

and

to give up his queen at once with

the

19 ... .txe3 20 llxd7. If now 20 . . . .ixd7 21

chance to attack dS. Meanwhile the black queen on d7 and bishop on c8

One can imagine how Karel Opo­

..Il.xb7 is objectively best but, person­

make a horrid impression.

censky must have been feeling at this

ally, playing Alekhine I would simplify

1S ....Jl.d8

moment. He has all his pieces on excel­

with 21 �xf2 ..Il.xf2+ 22 'it>xf2 with an

The bishop stops an invasion on c7

lent squares, while Black's rook on a8

easily

and seeks activity on b6. Of course, it

and bishop on c8 are shut out of the

..Il.xb7! ). Alternatively Black might try

won

endgame

(22 . . .Mac8

23

would have been much simpler to have

game. So the complications

must work

20 . . .lbg4+ 21 'it>hl ii.xd7 (if 21 . . .lbf2+ 22

put the bishop on g7 in the opening ...

out in White's favour. But how nerve-

�xf2 simplifies and stays a piece up) 22

32

33

C h ess S e c rets: The G i a n ts of P o w e r Play The white rooks control open files

23 ... i.. h 3 ! !

and the knight threatens t o pick u p an enemy rook in one move (22 tbxe3) or two moves (22 tbc7 and 23 tbxa8).

C h a pt e r Two

Alekhine sees that the second threat can be ignored. 2 1...l:te2! As we shall see this is a counterat­ tack against both white bishops, not

I

Catching the Ki n g in the Centre

just the one or b2. White is obliged to go ahead with his combination as 22 tbf6+ gxf6 23 Itxd7 .i.xd7 just leaves him material down. The World Champion has achieved a beautiful coordination amongst his three remaining pieces. The miserable

22 tbc7 'ike7 23 tbxaS Opocensky has a rook, bishop and

bishop that spent almost half the game

Leaving the king too long in the centre

likely to have too much firepower for

shut in behind the queen delivers the

is an occupational hazard for chess

the defence to resist.

killer blow. If White replies 24 i..xh3 he

players. There are many reasons why

In the first games in this chapter,

is

we might gamble with the safety of our

Paul Morphy has a head start in acti­

24 ...'ike3+ 25 'it'hl 'ikf3+. If 24 i..e4 (a

most important piece, including in­

vating his rooks as there is no knight

desperate attempt to block the e-file),

competence, lack of a sense of danger,

on bl to get in the way of the rook on

rather than 24 . . Jhe4 25 iLa3!? "iWg5, my

and subtle miscalculation. Although it

al!

computer program wants to reply with

may appear a self-inflicted fault, power

mated in four moves beginning

the rather surreal 24 ... h5!. I'll leave you

players have employed various tech­

to work that out!

niques to persuade their opponents

24 11dS+ 'iixdS 2 5 i..x h3 "ii'x aS 0-1

into taking unnecessary risks with the

knight for the queen and a one-move

White wins the queen but loses the

threat in 24 .uxc8+. But he has lost con­

battle after 26 Itc8+ "ii'xc8 27 i..xc8

trol as Black can draw with 23 .. Jlxg2+

.l:1xb2.

24 'it'xg2 'iie2+, when the white king

The next time you mess up the

can't evade the checks. Alekhine finds

opening,

something even stronger.

come out fighting!

34

remember

this

game

and

king.

Rapid development crushes an inferior defence Players of the mid 19th century were

So let's imagine we have provoked

all too ready to indulge in pawn and

the opponent into leaving his king in

piece grabbing, even when judicious

the centre. What is the best way to pun­

development and the sober refusal to

ish him? A classic power play method

open lines was required.

is to bring the rooks with all possible

In contrast, Morphy first and fore­

speed into the attack. The opponent is

most aimed for a rapid and harmoni­

unlikely to be able to respond by call­

ous development of his pieces. He

ing up his own rooks into the defence,

wasn't interested in the overall size of

if only because his king is getting in the

his army, but rather how well it func­

way. Therefore, even if you make a

tioned as an attacking unit. His will­

heavy material sacrifice to involve your

ingness to make sacrifices to increase

rooks in the onslaught, you are still

the power and range of his pieces often

35

Chess S e c rets: The Gia n ts of P o w e r Play caught his inexperienced opponents out, who found their king slain before he had even put his boots on. We'll begin by looking at a couple

C a t c h i n g t h e King in t h e Cen tre 2 f4 exf4 3 tLlf3 g5 4 i.C4 g4?

of the white pieces. Imagine if White

Evidently Maurian has a different

hadn't given piece odds. In that case he

view of the situation: it's nice to be one

would still have a knight sitting un­

knight up, but even better to be two

moved on bI. This would have blocked

of the American's games played at

knights up!

in the rook on al and so prevented the

odds, in which a tiny, but well-drilled

5 d4!

Came 11 P.Morphy-T.Worra ll New Orlea ns 1857 Odds Came

game move, which prepares a decisive

force outwits a disorganized horde.

sacrifice on e7.

Certainly the opposition was weak, but

(remove the white knight from bl)

no one else has punished bad opening play with such elegance and panache

1 e4 e5 2 f4 exf4 3 tLlf3 g5 4 i.C4 g4 S

as Morphy.

d4 gxf3 6 0-01 .ii.. h6 7 Vi'xf3 tLlc6 Black is beginning to get the right idea in developing his pieces, so Mor­

Came 10 P.Morphy-C.Maurian New Orlea n s 1857 Odds Came

phy has to act fast. 8 �xf7+! Wxf7 9 'it'hS+ c,t;g7 10 i.xf4 �xf4 11 .l:Ixf4 tLlh6 Stopping

mate

on

f7

and

also

guarding the g4-square. Remember this is an odds game - so

Despite the smaller size of his army,

please remove the white knight from

Morphy doesn't hesitate to sacrifice a

Therefore Morphy would have had

bl!

minor piece. He realizes that he will

to develop the piece, say with 12 tLlc3,

have a superiority in numbers in the

thus giving the defence an important

only place where it matters, which is in

breathing space. In other words, the

the vicinity of the black king.

fact that there is a knight missing from

5 ... gxf3 6 'ii'xf3 d5 7 i.xd5 c6?

bl has proved to be to

Such pettiness when already two

White's advan­

tage, not Black's! It has given his attack

pieces up. He should develop with

a dynamism that outweighs the mate­

7. . . tLlf6!'

rial value of the knight.

8 Si.xf7+!

13 .. JWg6 14 .l:txe7+! c,t;f8

The black king is driven into the fir­

If 14 ...tLlxe7 15 �h6+! and mates.

ing line of the white queen and rooks.

15 Si.d6+ tLlf6 16 �xf6+ Vi'xf6 17 Vi'e8

8 ...Wxf7 9 Vi'h5+ cj;g7 10 ..txf4 .ii..e 7 11

mate

0-0 'it'xd4+ 12 Whl �xe4 l e4 e5

12 �afl!

An extremely attractive demolition

It seems Black is doing everything

of some outrageously greedy play.

Once again Morphy can rejoice that there is no knight on bl to get in the way of his rook's deployment to the

With an extra knight against Mor­

he can to help White's attack by wast­

phy, the priority is to survive long

ing moves with the queen and opening

enough to bring all your pieces into the

the e-file.

according to a preconceived system

Black has no good way to stop mate on

game. Therefore 1 . . .e6! would be a

13 �ael

against the odds-receiver is shown by

h5, as if 15 ... 'ii'e8 16 'iVg5 mate.

good way to start, shielding the f7square. 36

Reinforcements

arrive

from

the

queenside to complete the coordination

battlefield. The immediate threat is 13 The fact that Morphy was playing

.l:tg4+ tLlxg4 14 Vi'xg4+ cj;h6 15 .l:tf5! and

the following game, which is won in

12 .. JiVe8 13 Vi'h4 d6 14 �f6+ c,t;g8 15

almost identical style:

�xh6 37

C a t c h ing t h e K i n g in t h e Cen tre

Ch ess Secrets: Th e Gi a n ts of P o w e r Play Morphy is pleased not so much at

The fourth stage: pressure along the

game another pretty mate appears:

regaining a piece, but rather at remov­

20 l::i.fS+! 'iVxfS 21 l::i.xfS+ l::i.xfS 22 "ikxg6

e-file, culminating in e7 being attacked

ing an obstruction to his attack.

mate

four times. 15 .l:!.fe1 0,fd5 16 "ikg4 g6 17 "ikh4 as 1S

15 ... .1d7 16 l::i.1f3 0,e7

"iVxh7 .ixd4 19 0,xg6 C5 20 0,xfS 'it>xfS

The other black horse rushes over to

The fifth stage. Black has survived a

g6 to bolster the defence.

disaster on e7 with the manoeuvre

17 h4!

IS . . ..txd4 and 19 ... c5, but at the cost of

Even in the middle of an attack with heavy pieces Morphy doesn't forget

opening the d-file for the other rook.

that he needs the help of pawns to re­

21 l::i.a d1!

move obstacles. 17 ... 0,g6 1S h5! 5 ....1c5 6 0-0 0,f6 7 d4 exd4 S cxd4 3i.b6 9 .ia3 The

first

stage

of the

winning

The defeated king is blocked in by

scheme. One bishop goes to c4 to attack

two defenders on his flanks, giving us

£7, the other goes to a3 to cut off the

an

black king's escape.

epaulette mate.

9... d6 10 e5 Next we see the attacking scheme of

The second stage: White blasts open

the Evans Gambit in its purest form.

the centre with gain of time by attack­

Once again Morphy uses the absence of

ing the knight on f6.

the knight to good effect.

10... dxe5 11 "ikb3!

Once again Morphy can be happy that there is no knight on bl boxing in

Immediately

ousting

the

black

knight. 1S...�g4? For the first time in the game Wor­ rall refuses to grab material, and it is a

his queen's rook. What follows now is

Game 12 P.Morphy-T.Lichtenhein New York 1859 Odds Game

a tactical demolition. 21 ... 'it>eS 22 i.XC5! .ixC5 23 "iVgS+ 'it>d7 24 l::i.x d5+ 0,xd5 25 "iVxd 5+ .id6 26 "iVxb1+ �C7 27 'it'xaS 1-0

fatal mistake. If IS ... 0,xf4 19 l::i.g3+ 0,g6 20 hxg6 hxg6 21 l::i.xg6+ 'iVxg6 22 'iVxg6+

Here is

(remove the white knight from b1)

wants it, but having nabbed the queen

1 e4 e5 2 0,f3 0,c6 3 .1C4 3LC5 4 b4

he should be able to find a way to win

�xb4 5 c3

against a knight-odds player. 19 hxg6 hxg6

Morphy's most famous

game, played in an opera box in Paris

and Morphy has perpetual check if he

during a performance of

The Barber of Seville. Its most pleasing quality is the way Morphy blends the formal re­

Incidentally, one of the drawbacks The third stage, in which the white

of the Evans' Gambit is that this pawn

quirements of development with vig­

After 19 . . . �xf3 20 g7! .ie2 21 'iVf6!!

move takes away the c3-square from

queen joins in the battle. Already mate

orous

there is an unstoppable mate by queen­

the knight on b 1. Well, there are no

is threatened by 12 �xf7+ and 13 �e6.

achieve this feat needed some consid­

ing on hS. Have you ever seen a rook

complaints here as there ain't no knight

11

caught like this in the corner? In the

on b l !

14 0,xe5 l::i.fS

38

••.

.ie6 12 �xe6 fxe6 13 "it'xe6+ 0,e7

attacking play. Of course to

erable help from his (non-chess) titled opponents, the Duke and the Count. 39

C a t c h i n g t h e King in t h e Cen tre

C h e s s S e c re t s : The Gia n ts of P o w e r Play and ready for action, so the chance to

independence of decision and can only

The alternative was to grab the

sacrifice to open lines is heaven-sent.

react to White's moves.

pawn with 8 'iYxb7 and then slowly

On the other hand, there is no obvious

10 ... cxbS 11 .txbS+ CDbd7 12 O-O-O!!

grind out the win in the endgame after

way for Black to mobilize his pieces. If

8 ... �4+ 9 'iixb4 i.xb4+ 10 c3 etc. That

he plays 9 .. .'iVc7 then after 10 0-0-0 he

8 CDc3!

Game 13 P.Morphy-Duke of Brunswick a nd Count Isouard Paris 1858 Philidar Defence 1 e4 eS 2 CDf3 d6 3 d4 .tg4?! Morphy's

straightforward

devel­

opment has already provoked a less

would be the

classical way of handling

the position. Instead, Morphy realizes

still can't develop with 1O ... CDbd7 be­ cause f7 drops.

that keeping the tension leaves his op­

Of all Black's possible moves, 9 ... b6

ponents with a serious difficulties in

looks most solid; for example, 10 0-0-0

developing their game. This is the typi­

CDbd7. Now 11 CDb5 misses the mark

cal

than noble reaction from his illustrious

power play approach to a position.

because after 1 1 . . .cxb5 12 i.xb5 Black

These two approaches are by no

has the important defensive resource

opponents, who contrive to hand over

means

Morphy

12 ... 0-0-0!, whisking the king away

the bishop pair and let the white queen

could decide in a couple of moves time

mutually

exclusive:

from the pin on d7 and getting his

reach an active post.

to go pawn grabbing after all if it's the

queen's rook involved in the centre

4 dxes �xf3

only correct path. He simply believes

battle. Morphy would have had to set­

Development with concrete threats

that for the moment he can gain most

tle for 11 i.xf6!. If then 1 1 . . .CDxf6? 12

against f7. If now 12 . . . 0-0-0 13 Sl..a6+

Of course 4 ... dxe5 5 "iYxd8+ c;t>xd8 6 CDxe5 is unacceptable for Black.

benefit through patiently mobilizing

CDb5! breaks through in the style of the

and mate next move.

5 "iYxf3 dxes 6 .tc4

his pieces and leaving the Count and

game, e.g. 12 ... CDxe4 13 'iWf3! and the

12 ... .l:l.d8 13 �xd 7! I:l.xd7 14 �dl

Duke to stew in their predicament. Or

black king won't survive long. Mean­

Morphy completes the coordination

perhaps Morphy, an opera fan, wanted

while Black would lose a pawn after

of his pieces. It doesn't matter that he is

The bishop is developed and at the same time menaces f7. 6 ... CDf6 7 "iYb3! Attacking both b7 and f7. Here we see that Morphy was quite prepared to

to get the game over with as quickly as

1 1 . . .1i'xf6 12 i.xf7+ 1i'xf7 13 il'xf7+ �xf7

a rook down as Black is bound to suffer

possible so that he could enjoy the rest

14

a catastrophe on the d-file.

of the performance! ?

.txf7+ 'iixf7 13 "iYxf7+ c;t>xf7 1 4 l:Ixd7+.

�xd7+ or

similarly

11 ... gxf6

12

14.. :iYe6 15 Sl..x d7+

break the rule of rapid development if

I t i s also worth noting that Morphy

Instead, 15 i.xf6 'ir'xb3 16 Sl..xd7

he saw a tactical chance to cause his

had an immediate tactical opportunity

mate would be rather quaint, but Mor­

opponent problems.

with 8 .ixf7+, deflecting the black

phy finds an even more elegant finish.

7 .. :fie7

queen, so that after 8 .. :�Vxf7 9 'ir'xb7 the

lS ...CDXd7

rook on a8 perishes as there is no 9 . .'*'h4+ .

defence.

However,

Black

would then be able to build up pres­ sure on the kingside with 9 . . . .tc5 10 'iVxa8 0-0 when the f2-pawn is very vul­ nerable. Morphy always preferred to be the player offering material for the initiative. 10 CDxbS!

8... c6 9 .tgs bS? This move has been ridiculed for more

40

than

150

years.

Indeed,

A forcing phase now begins. Until

the

the end of the game Black is hit by one

American's pieces are all dressed up

threat after another - he has lost his 41

C a t c h i n g the K i n g in t h e Cen tre

C h es s S e c re ts: The Gia n ts of Po we r Play 16 'iWbS+! tt'lxbS 17 .l:.!.dS matel A wonderful, if lightweight game.

would

be

for

tactical,

rather

than

strategical, reasons.

Ii.d1 iLe7 10 exd4 tt'lb4 11 tt'le5 0-0

In such situations you can only take

White has promising pressure, but the

the material and hope for the best.

black position is still intact.

14 l:!.xd71 tt'lxd7 15 tt'le5 11a7 16 bXc31!

9 i.b3 b4?

At this point we'll get in our time machine and go forwards 80 years to see how Alekhine carried out a similar type of attack, though in a far more sophisticated manner.

A premature bid for counterplay refuted In the games so far we have seen a vastly inferior defence crushed by di­ rect, vigorous developing moves. In the

Here Black should play 6 . . . a6, aim­

next game the loser is a strong player

ing to gain space with 7... b5 and then

who received the 1M title when it was

put his bishop on b7. After 7 a4 or 7

Played with wonderful insouciance. The third pawn advance on the

A rook down, Alekhine calmly recap­

first conferred by FIDE in 1950. His

i.b3, showing respect for the ... b7-b5

queenside, and this time it is fatal.

tures the pawn, and asks his opponent:

errors are of such a subtle nature that it

advance,

White is allowed to blast open the cen­

how are you going to get out of your tangle?

Black

can

develop

with

requires his World Champion oppo­

7. . .tt'lc6 and 8. . . i.e7, as White has re­

tre before Black is able to evacuate his

nent to exert himself to the maximum.

nounced the idea of quick action in the

king.

Not many players would be prepared

centre. In contrast, if White tried to

10 d 5 1 tt'la5

It must be asserted that we are wit­ nessing no supreme feat of calculation

to remain a rook down for a long se­

break open the centre with 'iWe2 and

White regains his piece with a big

quence of moves!

l:1d1, the black knight is better de­

attack after 10 . . . exd5 11 tt'lxd5! tt'lxd5 12

solved like a mathematical theorem. It

ployed to d7, where it blocks the d-file

Mdl and then 13 e4 if necessary.

was impossible for him to work out all

and lends support to the c5-pawn. For

11 iLa4+ iLd7 12 dxe6!

the variations to an end. He had to ex­

Game 14 A.Alekhine-E.Book Ma rgate 1938 Queen 's Gambit

example, 7 'iWe2 b5 8 ..tb3 .tb7 9 li:tdl

Gaining a vital tempo to open the d­

by Alekhine, with the position being

amine a certain number of defensive

tt'lbd7 etc.

file.

tries by Black to make sure there was

7 'ii'e 2! a6

12 ...fxe6 13 .§.d1!

no obvious refutation of the sacrifice

It was safer to forget all about ex­

If White lost his nerve with 13

pansion on the queenside and just de­

.txd7+?, then after 13 . . :iWxd7 14 l:!.dl

1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 tt'lf3 tt'lf6 4 e3 e6 5

velop the kingside with 7... cxd4 8 l:td1

'iWc6 he would have nothing better than

Not that it takes any fine strategical

iLxC4 c5 6 0-0 tt'lc6

i..e7 9 exd4 0-0, when White has only a

the dismal retreat 15 tt'lbl . In that case

sense to notice that there is a lack of

The reason why we have to study opening theory is that natural moves

and then trust his positional judgment to do the rest.

small advantage.

Black would have achieved a decent

harmony among Black's pieces. It will

S tt'lC3 b5

game despite all his chess sins in the

take a long time for the rook on h8 to

don't always work. You would imag­

The second step of the queenside

opening. Such an outcome would be

get into the game, and meanwhile one

ine that there could be no possible ob­

pawns is decidedly risky. He had to

entirely illogical. And so, having exam­

of the black knights is literally para­

jection to a move that develops and

take measures against White's pressure

ined the position carefully, Alekhine

lysed by the pin, while the other knight

centralizes a knight on its best square.

down

sets out to punish his opponent.

is sitting uselessly on the edge of the

Or at least if such a move failed it

8 .. :ikc7!? For instance, after 8 . . . cxd4 9

13 ... bxc3

board with no safe moves. The great-

42

the

d-file

with

8 ... cxd4

or

43

Catch ing the King in t h e Cen tre

Ch ess Secrets: The Gi a n ts of Po wer Play ness of Alekhine's achievement is not

wins) 22 1ZJd7 and Black remains under

a quick massacre in the style of Mor­

that he saw Black would be awkwardly

severe pressure.

phy versus the proverbial 'NN' or

placed, but rather that he realized it

If you give the position after 16 bxc3

was worth investing a whole rook to

to a computer program it will keep of­

shall see, such games are still possible,

cause this discomfort.

fering brilliant defences for Black. But

even in the modem age between strong

As we saw above, when Morphy

during a game a human player has to

Grandmasters.

gave odds of the knight on bl, he often

rely on judgments and assessments, as

succeeded in turning its absence to his

it is impossible to see everything in

advantage by swinging his rook from a l

precise terms. This means that key

into the attack with greater speed. Here

moves and defensive ideas are certain

'Amateur' all over again. And as we

Game 15 E.Gelier-A.Dreev New Yo rk Open 1990 French Defence

Alekhine might well wish that his bish­

to be missed. Book was never going to

op on el would accidentally be knocked

be able to resist the flair and attacking

off the board as then he would be able

energy of his opponent. Chess remains

to strengthen decisively the attack on d7

a battle between two minds, even in

Book is desperate to free his bishop,

1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 lLld2 a6 4 lZJgf3 c5 5

with l::i:d l! But there

this computer age.

but he fatally undermine the knight on

exd5 exd5 6 iLe2 c4 7 0-0 i.d6 8 b3 b5 9

17 e4! lZJf6 18 i.g5 ,*"C7

f6. In fact he had no good move, in

a4 i.b7?

is a bishop on el,

and the need to move it out of the way

20 ... g6

gives Black a little time before disaster

view of the threat of 21 i.g5 and 22

(in the shape of l:tdl ) strikes. Besides the

�5 etc.

pin on d7, White has a second string to

21 iLg5 i.g7 22 1ZJd 7! Now Black has no good way to stop

his bow: the possibility of a queen check

If Black had kept his nerve with 9 ... c3! (another pawn move) the posi­ tion would remain unclear. It is ironic that as soon as Dreev gives into his

on h5, which would weaken the de­

23 e5.

guilty conscience about being a laggard

fences around the black king and win at

22 ... l::i:x d7 23 l::i:x d7+ cj;;f8 24 i.xf6 i.xf6

with his development he falls under a

least some material back.

25 e5 1-0

big attack.

For if 25 ... i.e7 26 "iYf3+ cj;; g8 27 l::i:xe7

16 ... cj;;e 7 breaks the pin on the knight, but it is

A brilliant display by Alekhine who

horrendous for the black king to be

elaborated and refined Morphy's at­ tacking conception.

blocking in his bishop. A better try is 16 . . . ..te7, but then 1 7 �5+ g 6 18 lZJxg6 hxg6 19 ,*"xh8+ ..tf8

10 bXc4 bXC4

wins.

Book rules out the check on h5 and

19 i.f4 Good enough to win, but 19 "iYh5!!

20 e4 gives White two pawns and a

was more spectacular:

19 . . . "iYxe5 20

continuing attack for the piece. After

"iYe8+ cj;;d6 21 l::i: d l+ cj;; c7 22 "iYd8+ <;t>b7

A sacrifice turns a blocked position into an open one

the game the Finnish 1M came up with

23 l::i:b l+ and mates, or 19 . . . g6 20 lLlxg6+

Black began the next game with six

the important variation 16 ... g6 (to rule

hxg6 21 "iYxh8 "iYe5 (otherwise f6 drops)

consecutive pawn moves - how often

out a check on h5) 17 ,*"d3! cj;;e7 (if

22 "iYh7+ cj;;d6 23 ,*"xa7 and wins.

does that happen? No one could play

17 ... "iYe7 18 i.a3 ,*"d6 19 ,*"e4 ,*"d5 20

19 ..."iYb6 20 l::i:d1

like that against Morphy after 1 e4 e5

"iYf4 intending 21 "iYf7+ keeps up the

White has achieved a harmonious

and live more than 15 moves, but such

onslaught) 18 e4 lZJf6 19 ,*"f3 iLg7 20

development which makes a striking

liberties with development are possible

It's often difficult t o judge which

iLg5 l::i:f8 21 l::i:d l

contrast with the inept state of Black's

in the closed game. Naturally Efim

piece to sacrifice in such scenarios.

kingside pieces.

Geller wants to open lines, dreaming of

Here Geller 'leads with the bishop' as

"iYa8 (better than

Book's 21.. ."iYc7? 22 lZJd7! and White 44

11 .\tXC4! !

45

C h e s s S e c re t s : T h e G ia n ts of P o w e r Play

Catch i n g the K i n g i n t h e Cen tre

he has seen the possibility of a knight

seventh rank.

fork which will add a vital impetus to

14 ...'twxc4 15 .l:i.xb7

the white attack. 11 dxc4 12 ltJxC4 iLe7 .••

After 12 .. .'�Je7 the white pieces join

0-0-0 20 .l:i.b3!

the black queen next move. At the age of 65 Geller displayed

It is often worth investing material

great energy to beat a bright young

to get your rooks into the game while

player in a topical variation. The moral:

those of the opponent are still curled

while it is perfectly acceptable to leave

the attack in Morphy style, creating

up fast asleep in the comers of the

your king in the centre if the position is

threats on every move: 13 ltJxd6+ 'tWxd6

board. We saw in the odds games

sufficiently blocked - if you have got it

14 iLa3 'tWc7 15 I:tel ltJbc6 16 d5!.

above how Morphy would overwhelm

wrong you will pay a heavy price.

13 .l:i.el 'tWC7

the enemy defence by getting the rook

Still, things don't appear that bad for Black. The white d-pawn is quies­

on al into the attack

tout de suite.

An a ppeal to good old-fashioned greed

15 ...ltJc6

cent and the knight on c4 is hanging.

The key to finishing off the attack is

Given time, Dreev is ready to play

to energize the centre pawns. Unfortu­

14 ... ltJc6 and then answer 15 d5 with

nately, if 16 d5? then 16 . . .0-0-0! attacks

A calm retreat which introduces

15 . . . 0-0-0, pinning the d-pawn. It looks

both b7 and d5. Geller finds a superb

threats such as 21 .l:i.c4 followed by 22

a little risky for the black king to be on

alternative.

pawn under the opponent's nose still

'tWf3.

the queenside, but an extra piece is a

16 ltJd2!

works wonders.

20 iLf6 21 "iVg4+

In case this is all getting too complex, let me remind you that dangling a

•••

lot of consolation for such hardship.

Geller regains his piece while keep­

Geller's next move destroys this day­

Game 1 6 E.Gel ler-M.Stean Teesside 1975 Sicilian Defence (by transposition)

ing a decisive attack.

dream.

21 ...<;t>C7 22 'iYf4+ �c8 23 iLxf6 ltJxf6 24

14 j:!bl!

'tWxf6 "iVxc2 It says something for the state of Black's position that a computer pro­ gram will tell you that blundering his queen in this fashion is by far his best

1 ltJf3 c5 2 c4 g6 3 d4 cxd4 4 ltJxd4 ltJc6

move.

5 e4 ltJf6 6 ltJc3 d6 7 iLe2 ltJxd4 8 "ii'xd4

25 'iYf5+! 1-0

iLg7 9 i.g5 iLe6 10 .l:i.cl "ii'a 5 11 'tWd2 .l:i.c8 12 f3

So that if 16 ... 'iYd5 1 7 c4 and the pawns conquer the d5-point, while af­ ter 16 ... 'tWxa4 17 d5 the pawn is rolling and, crucially, there is no pin on the d­ Here we see why 9 . . .i.b7 was a poor move: if 14 . . .ltJc6 - or any other developing move - Black is hit by the tactic 15 .l:.xb7! 'tWxb7 16 ltJd6+ winning

file to justify Black castling queenside. 16 ..."iVxd4 Dreev

decides

to

eliminate

the

pesky pawn, but now his queen is sub­

the queen. Dreev therefore has nothing

jected to a string of tempo-gaining

better than to take the white knight,

prods.

but this invites the white rook to the

17 iLb2 'tWxa4 18 .l:i.e4 'tWa2 19 i.xg7

46

A rook check on e8 or e7 will win 47

C a t c h i n g the King in t h e Cen tre

C h ess S e c rets: The Gia n ts of P o w e r Play Here Black could simply have cas­

This is the move Stean relied on,

tled, but he decided to swipe the pawn:

seeing that 15 exd5 O-O! 16 ..txe7 l:tfeS is

13 ....I¥.xc4?

excellent for Black. But not surprisingly

A player should always believe in his ideas and trust his powers of calcu­ lation. If he thinks a move is good, he

Geller has a trick up his sleeve. 1S l:txC4!! l:txc4 The

best

chance

was

15 . . . ttJb6,

erated by 6 h4. Rozentalis therefore

Game 1 7 V.Topalov-E.Rozentalis E u ro pea n Tea m Cham pionsh i p, Bat u m i 1999 English Opening

decides to leave his king in the centre and eliminate the 'Greek Gift' knight on f3 as quickly as possible. 7 dxc3 dXc4 8 �a4+! Naturally

Topalov

activates

his

queen rather than allowing it to be ex­

should make it without hesitation, ac­

though White has a big initiative for

cording to the advice of Capablanca

his pawn after 16 l:txcS+ ttJxcS 17 ..tb5+

(and true to his own words, didn't the

'itdS IS l:tc1 etc.

1 c4 e6 2 ttJC3 ttJf6 3 e4 ds 4 es ttJe4 5

8 . ..td7 9 �xC4 ..tc6 10 �g4 ..txf3 11

Cuban take the Marshall Gambit pawn

16 �xd s l:ta4 17 ..tbS+ 'itf8

ttJf3 ..te7 6 h4!

gxf3 !

when it was first offered, and win in

Black gets mated after 17 ... 'itdS IS

But even so, to grab a pawn from

. .. shades

of

the

Evergreen

one of the greatest analysts in the

Anderssen-Dufresne.

world,

18 l:tc1! 1-0

Soviet

..

�xd6+ 'itcs 19 ..td7+ 'itdS 20 ..txe7

brilliant style?).

a

changed.

Super-Grandmaster

Game

and the trainer of Spassky and Kar­ pov ... does such a player really blunder pawns after 12 moves? 13 ttJdS! �xa2 The pin on the c-file costs Black a piece after 13 ... �xd2+ 14 'itxd2 b5 15 b3. Topalov dissuades Black from cas­

14 0-0!

Much more dynamic than 1 1 �xf3

Seldom is castling of such fearful

tling, as after 6 ... 0-0? 7 ..td3! ttJxc3? (the

'keeping

the

strength. Black has no good reply, as

knight has to stand its ground with

1 1 . . .�d5!

offers

14 . . . 0-0 15 ttJxe7+ or 14 .. .l::k6 15 ttJb4 are

7. . . f5!, though White can still attack

change of queens (and unfortunately

because ex­

with S exf6 ttJxf6 9 ttJg5!?) S ..txh7+!

the even more dynamic 11 �xg7? al­

'itxh7 9 ttJg5+ we have the famous

lows mate on dl).

back rank disaster. A pity that Stean

Greek Gift Sacrifice. It is a quick mate

After the game move the attacking

didn't allow the pretty finish IS . . . ..td4+

upon 9 ... 'itgS with 10 "iih5 ..txg5 1 1

knight has vanished, but in return

19 �xd4! l:txd4 20 ..th6+ 'itgS 21 l:tcS

hxg5 f6 12 g 6 etc. I f 9 ... 'ith6 10 dxc3

White has the open g-file. Therefore

mate.

threatens a killer discovered check,

Black

while 9 . . .<.t>g6 10 dxc3 i.xg5 (Black

kingside: 1 1 . ..0-0? 12 ..th6 g6 and White

The strength of a threatened attack

cannot

contemplate

castling

loses the queen after 1O ... f5 11 h5+ 'ith6

wouldn't even bother taking the ex­

12 ttJxe6+) 11 hxg5 leaves Black with no

change - he could build up with 13

answer to the twin threats of 12 "iVh5+

l:tdl �cS 14 h5!; for example, 14 ... l:tdS

Another way to inveigle the opponent

and 12 'i!Vd3+, in either case with a deci­

15 l:txdS+ 'i!VxdS

into keeping his king in the centre is to

sive attack.

16 . . .fxg6 1 7 �xe6+) 17 �3 and Black is

make the prospect of castling appear more dangerous. 48

neat',

an unwelcome

There's no good way to prevent a

hopeless. 14 ...ttJxd S

pawns

You will see from these variations how much attacking energy was gen-

16 hxg6 hxg6 (or

soon mated down the h-file. Rozentalis is mesmerized by these 49

Ch ess Secrets: The Gia n ts of Po wer Play

C a t c h i n g the King in t h e Cen tre the

As the black king is going to be

thinks that they are the only danger

bishop has achieved maximum flexibil­

staying in the centre, the bishop turns

that he faces. As a result he notices the

ity, sitting astride two important di­

its attention to an attack on the f7-

open g-file

but he doesn't notice the white

agonals. It can go to h3 to terrorize the

square.

pawn on f3. He dismisses it as part of

black queen and knight, or it can

1S .. :iWe7

White's fractured pawn structure, and

choose to join the queen in assailing f7

Black's boxed-in bishop on f8 makes

doesn't realize it is going to become the

as occurs in the game after 18 .1i.c4.

a pitiful contrast to its powerful oppo­

possible attacks on the kingside, and

square.

1 3 .1i.e3 c6 14 0-0-0 �as

chief enemy of his king. Rozentalis is a very strong Grand­

Thus,

without stirring,

Rozentalis' defence is made all the

site number on c4.

harder as he doesn't know from which

19 l:the1

master and only this can explain his

direction the terrible bishop is going to

next move.

strike him.

White completes the mobilization of his pieces, after which the black queen

11 ...�fS?

faces being impaled against her king by

It's not a good idea to undevelop your only developed piece when you are playing Topalov!

the battering ram eS-e6. Despite our criticism play,

he

is

of Black's

only one move

He should play 1 l ... g6, aiming to

15 . . . 0-0-0 with a perfectly safe game. It

answer 12 hS with 12 .. :i*'dS!, counterat­

appears that his queen's attack on the

tacking against eS, when "Black is OK"

a2-pawn will win him the necessary

according to Rozentalis' own notes to

time for this. In reality the game has

the game. In fact Black certainly isn't

reached its most critical point. Black

out of the woods even then, as White

will either be fine or he will come un­

can gambit the eS-pawn with 13 hxg6

der a big attack depending on the en­

fxg6 14 i.e3!? or 14 .1i.c4, with Topa­

ergy of White's next move.

lov's customary two bishop pressure

15 fS!!

play. Nevertheless, this would be a real fight, as compared to the massacre in the game.

17 .. Jld S

Not a second is to be wasted!

If 17 .. :ilVxeS White's bishop chooses 18 i.h3!, when 18 .. :iWxf4 19 .1i.xd7+

1s .. :�xa2 If

12 f4!

19 ... hS 20 'iVg3 !

from

15 . . . 0-0-0

16

fxe6

tiJxeS

(or

16 .. .fxe6 17 �c4!, planning a pin on d7

wins

a

piece.

More

resistant

is

Simple

and

completely

decisive:

1 7 ... tiJxeS 18 �h3 �e7, but 19 "tWg3!

Topalov clears the way for 21 i.gS. The immediate 20 e6 was also possible; for

with 18 �xe6) 17 J::txd8+ 'ilHxd8 18 "ir'fS

clears the way for 20 f4 whereupon the

see,

and White wins a pawn whilst keeping

black knight is ousted from eS, and

example, 20 ...fxe6 21 'ii'e4! threatening

White's pawns have actually gained

his attack. Or IS .. :"xeS 16 fxe6 'ii'xe6 (if

i.d7+ etc becomes decisive. The game

22 �gS tiJf6 (what else?) 23 �g6+ �f7 24 l:Ixe6+.

The 'weak' pawn on f3 begins to flex

its

muscles.

As we shall

dynamism, rather than losing it, in be­

16 . . .fxe6 17 �c4) 17 �f4! planning i.h3

might

ing broken up. It's not how

or .1i.c4 in the style of the game.

�xd8 21

16 fxe6 "tWxe6 17 "ir'f4!

'ud7+!) 22 �xa7 and Black is defence­

pretty a

pawn structure looks, but how much

work it does.

Delicately played; the white queen

continue

19 ... .l:td8

20

llxd8+

ndl + c,t>e8 (if 21.. .�c7 22

20 ... tiJxes 21 -'!txdS+ �xdS 22 i.f4 tiJxC4 Or 22 ... f6 23 �heS fxeS 24 ..tgS and

less against 22 f4 or 22 �b6 etc. This

the black queen is lost for even less. 23 l:Ixe7 �xe7 24 "ir'd3 1-0

shuffles one square to create some

variation shows us how the queen

There's no time for 12 ... g6, guarding

deadly threats. The key to the white

sometimes has to play second fiddle to

Materially speaking, it's not all that

the fS-square, because of 13 h5 intend­

attack is the bishop biding its time on

the pawn - here she has to step out of

bad for Black: he has a rook, knight

ing 14 hxg6, when there is no safe way

f1 . It proves that a chess piece is some­

the way of the f-pawn.

and two pawns for the queen. Unfor­

for Black to recapture the pawn.

times best ' developed' on its starting

1S �C4

tunately two of his pieces are shut out

12 ...tiJd7

50

51

C a t c h i n g t h e King in t h e Cen tre

Ch ess Secrets: The G ia n ts of Po wer Play of the game. After 24. . .liJb6 (or 24. . .b5

Nonetheless, it's hard not to get emo­

tion element of power play has fulfilled

25 b3) 25 �d6+ 'it>e8 26 "iiib8+ White can

tional

the

its role. Bronstein has succeeded in

start by massacring the black queen­

swashbuckling King's Gambit against

catching his opponent's king in the

side pawns.

Tal. d5

centre and needs to find a forceful dy­ namic sequence to exploit the advan­

Already a small victory for White.

tage.

2

...

about

Bronstein

playing

14 lLig5!?

The critical reply is 2 . . .exf4, but Tal evi­ dently hadn't been spending much

Gambiting the d5-pawn. Instead, 14

time studying 19th century theory and

�el! f5 1 5 ltJg5 looks a simpler way to

so selected a 'safe' alternative.

punish Black.

3 exd 5 e4 4 d 3 liJf6 5 dxe4 lLixe4 6 lLif3

14...i..xd 5

..tC5 7 �e2 i..f5 8 lLic3 �e7 9 i.. e 3! Here Tal was about to castle queen­ side when he suddenly saw the devil­ ish

gleam

in

Bronstein's

eyes:

13 .. 0-0-0?? 14 l:I.d4! and Black loses a .

piece after either 14 ... lLih5 15 g4 or

A trap worthy of Tal

14 ...lLig6 15 g4. Over the last thirty We

have

seen

various

'explosive'

years at least nine players have fallen

methods of detaining the opponent's

for this insidious trap, with only one

king in the centre. In contrast David

surviving because the opponent missed

Bronstein sets a trap in such a treach­

the strength of 14 l:I.d4. It takes the tac­

erously peaceful-looking position that

tical radar of a Tal to avoid being

even arch-tactician Mikhail Tal (albeit

snared, although it began to bleep a All these moves are well known to

partially) falls into it.

Game 1 8 D.Bronstein-M. Ta l USSR Tea m C h a m pionsh i p 1968 King 's Gambit 1 e4 e5 2 f4 When Bronstein played the King's Gambit, it wasn't merely as a homage to the shades of Anderssen and Spiel­

If Black can't castle

15 g3!? A

pretty

amazing

move.

White

theory. Black has sacrificed a pawn to

queenside here, he is in serious trouble,

simply invites the black bishop to take

gain

his rook!

which

as White is about to play 14 !Iel+,

White quells with this precise bishop

a

temporary

initiative

catching his king in the centre, while

In fact an intermediate rook check

move.

also ensuring that the rook on a8 re­

on el looks much stronger: for exam­

9 lLixc3

mains shut out of the game.

ple, 15 1:i.el + 'it>d8 (also bad for Black is

...

A solid alternative is 9 . . .i..xe3 1 0

13

..•

iL.e4

15 . . .i..e6 16 g3 or 15 . . .lLie6 16 c4 as

�xe3 lLixc3 1 1 "iixe7+ 'it>xe7 12 bxc3

According to Paul Keres, an eye­

White will break through on e6) 16 g3! and Black dare not take on hI as

..txc2 that leaves Black only slightly

witness, Tal had become agitated and

worse.

spent an hour on the clock trying to

16 ... i.xhl 17 lLixf7+ 'ittc8 18 lLixh8 is fa­

10 i..xc5 lLixe2 11 �xe7 lLixf4 12 i..a 31

find a way out of the 'ambush' . The

tal. If instead 16 ... f6 17 gxf4 fxg5 18 .l:!.gl

lLid7? Having come this far he should

mann. It was also a carefully honed,

have

thoroughly studied weapon that he

12 . . . lLixd5 13 0-0-0 iL.e6 14 i..c4 c6.

used to win points in tournaments.

13 0-0-0

52

little too late.

tried

to

tough

it

out

with

move he selected is a good fighting

gxf4 19 lhg7 gives White a decisive

chance, since it saves the bishop from

initiative with moves like l:I.ee7 and

the trap and at the same time blocks

�h3 looming. Of course in this varia­

the check on the e-file.

tion 16 g3 has none of the artistic ap­

Here we might say that the

prepara-

peal of 15 g3 as White would be regain53

Chess Secrets: Th e G i a n ts of P o w e r Play ing his rook at once if Black had taken on hI.

C a t c h i n g t h e King in t h e Cen tre 16...cS! An excellent blocking move. The

After the game Keres asked our

energy

level of the white

position

hero why he didn't play 15 .l:i.el + first.

drops dramatically with the bishop on

He records that Bronstein "looked at

a3 shut out of the game. It took a lot of

me as if I could not understand any­

sangfroid as well as good judgment to

thing about the position, and said 'I

allow the other white bishop to con­

could not miss the opportunity to play

quer the f7-square.

a move like 15 g3 against Tal, which I

17 .i.C4 i..c6 18 tiJxf7

blooded 20 ... ii.xb5! 21 �xb5 .l:i.hd8 with

26 ... �g6

good survival chances. 21 tiJd4!

may not have again in my whole life.'" lS ...�xhl 16 gxf4

And so the battle continued, with both players getting into bad time White's knight, which was 'knocked off course' to b5, returns to the centre

It looks as if the white attack is go­ ing to triumph quickly as 18 .. JH8 loses In return for his sacrifice White has

to 19 .l:i.el+. But once again Tal rises to

two attacking bishops, a strong knight,

the occasion.

an active rook and the chance to target

18 ... bS!

both the black king and bishop on hI.

Continuing to harass the bishops

Bronstein hoped that the powerful co­

with a direct threat to one and a latent

ordination

would be

threat of trapping the other with ... b5-

enough to finish the game in the next

b4. If now 19 tiJxh8 bxc4 and the knight

five or so moves, as if 16 . . . 0-0-0 then 1 7

on h8 is trapped in the comer.

of his pieces

�h3 �c6 18 tiJxf7 and White will re­

You will notice how Bronstein is

gain his material leaving Black under

striving

severe pressure.

power of his pieces, while Tal is doing

Nevertheless,

White's

to

maintain

the

advantage

his utmost to wreck their coordination. He is willing to return his extra mate­

Brunswick & Isouard for one simple

rial for this purpose.

reason: the queens are no longer on the

19 tiJd6+ �e7 20 tiJxbS .l:i.hf8?

has a lot of defensive resources. 54

As

Keres

remarked,

we

shouldn't really scrutinize moves that

with gain of time on both this move

were being bashed out instantly. It's

and the next. The pressure soon be­

enough to see that Black is still under

comes irresistible.

severe pressure, and when the dust

21 ... �g2 22 tiJe6 .l:i.fS 23 .l:i.g1 .i.e4 24

settled Bronstein had done enough for

tiJC7?

the full point.

A pity, as Tal would probably have

27 l:te7 tiJf6 28 tiJe6 .l:i.c8 29 b3 .l:i.hS 30

resigned upon 24 .l:i.el tiJf6 25 tiJxc5, just

LDgs .i.ds 31 .i.d3+ �h6 32 .i.b2 c4 33

in time to make it a miniature game.

.i.fs c3 34 .i.xc8 cxb2+ 35 �xb2 .l:i.xh2

24 tiJC7 .l:i.d8 2 S l:txg7+ �6 26 .l:i.f7+ After the game Bronstein was can­ did enough to admit that in his earlier

36 .l:i.xa7 .l:i.f2 37 Ita4 �g6 38 .l:i.d4 hS 39 a4 h4 40 as .i.g2 41 a6 LDhS 42 ii.b7 tiJxf4 43 .l:i.xf4 1-0

calculations he had thought this was

An enthralling fight between two

not only check but also mate, as he had

players who brought so much tactical

overlooked Black's reply.

vigour into the chess world.

attacking

isn't as great as that in Morphy vs

board. As Tal now demonstrates, Black

pressure.

Missing the reply, after which Black is losing again. He had to play the cold-

55

Op e n ing Old (a nd N e w) Wo u n d s .id2 lbc2 26 .i.xf4 �hS 27 'ii' h s lbxel

C h a pte r T h ree

2S I!xel 'it'xa s 29 llal i::!. bdS 30 f6 gxf6

I

3 1 �h2 d S

Ope n i n g Old (a n d New) Wou nd s Alekhine thought that the concept of checkmate elevated chess above all other board games, in which victory The question of open/closed positions is one of the most difficult in chess strategy. It's very easy for a player to imagine that he is freeing his game by advancing a pawn, when in reality he is opening lines for the benefit of the

Game 19 P.Delekta-E.Gelier Ca ppelle la Gra nde 1992 Vienna Game

opponent's pieces. In this chapter we shall examine how the energy balance

1 e4 es 2 lbc3 lbf6 3 i..c4 lbc6 4 d3 lbas

between the two armies is affected by a

S lbge2 lbxC4 6 dXc4 �cs 7 0-0 d6 S .igs

sudden unblocking of the pawn forma­

�e6 9 lbdS .ixdS 10 iLxf6 ir'xf6 11

tion.

'ii'xds 0-0 12 l:[abl c6 13 iVd3 as 14 �hl I!feS 1S f3 �e6 16 lbg3 'ii'gs 17 lbfS

Two stun ning exa m ples of line clearance Sometimes it can be worth sacrific­

(see following diagram) Evidently

time

hadn't

dimmed

ing the queen to unblock a vital line of

Geller's tactical eye as the game fin­

attack. Here is a striking example from

ished:

one of Geller's later games.

17 ... g6! 18 lbg3 'ii'xg3 ! ! 0-1

In

the

Bronstein-Korchnoi

game

went to the player who captured the

The situation in the diagram above

opponent's men or gained the most

looks absolutely hopeless for White: he

terrain. In chess your opponent can

is the exchange and two pawns down,

have more time, space, material, but all

his knight is hanging and his bishop on

this means absolutely nothing if you

a2 is pinned against his rook. However,

have control of

one square, as long as

Topalov defied materialistic considera­

you can use that square to checkmate

tions in a manner that would have de­

his king! Alekhine saw the quest to

lighted Alekhine.

checkmate as a noble one, as it leads to

32 lbxf6!! .ixf6 33 d41!

a spirit of self-sacrifice among the at­ tacking army.

Game 20 V. Topalov-R.Ponomariov Sofia 2006 Ruy Lopez 1 e4 eS 2 lbf3 lbc6 3 i.. bS a6 4 .ia4 lbf6 S 0-0 .i.e7 6 liel bS 7 i.. b3 0-0 S h3 .ib7

White is mated after 19 hxg3 g5, fol­

9 d 3 d6 10 a4 lbas 11 .ia2 cS 12 lbbd2

(see Chapter One) a rook sacrificed

lowed by 20 .. .l1h6. I find the double

lbd7 13 lbfl lbb6 14 .i.d2 b4 15 c3 bxc3

You only need control of one square

itself to clear the way for the queen to

advance of the g-pawn a very attractive

16 .ixC3 lbc6 17 a s lbcs is lbe3 lbSa7

to win a game of chess, and here that

strike a deadly blow. Here the compli­

theme.

ment is returned: 56

19 lbfS .icS 20 lbd2 I!bS 21 f4 .ixfs 22

square is h7. White threatens 34 i..b1

exfs exf4 23 'ii'g4 lbd4 24 lbe4 lbabs 2S

with unstoppable mate. Black can de57

C h e s s S e c re ts: T h e G ia n ts of P o w e r Play

O p e n ing Old (a n d N e w) Wo u n ds

fend with 33 ... l:tg8 34 .i.bl llg7, but

If White didn't have an h-pawn the

opponent is only half the battle. The

then 35 Iha5 grabs the queen. The fact

game would be a draw as the black

other half is to have open lines that

that there is a discovered attack on the

rook could shuttle between e6 and g6,

they can exploit.

black queen with 34 ..ibl is integral to

keeping the white king at bay. Whereas

the combination.

if now 62 ... l:te6 63 'iVxe6 fxe6+ 64 'it>xe6

Well, so much for a spirit of self­

is a winning pawn endgame for White.

sacrifice when we end up nabbing the

62 ... l:tg5+ 63 'it>f6 �hS 64 �eS+ ngS 65

queen. In fact the conflict between ma­


terialism and sacrifice makes chess a rich and exciting game, even when ma­ terialism triumphs!

The opponent foolishly opens lines

3 3 ..."iNxa2 The black queen ends up sacrificing

Sometimes it's fun being a genius

A typical decision of the mid 19th

herself to save her distant consort. The

thirty years ahead of your time: you let

century. Black hopes that by challeng­

material balance now changes sharply

your

in White's favour, and Ponomariov

blunder and then you watch as your

Here Morphy is ready to open the

was unable to save himself despite a

hands play all the right moves to

necessary avenues of attack with gain

the bishop on c8. In reality he is open­

long and tough rearguard action:

checkmate him.

of tempo by 16 f4, hitting the black

ing the position just when his oppo­

34 Uxa2 lDxd4 35 b4 lDe6 36 .i.e5 i.g7

knight, and then 17 e5. If the d6-point

nent's pieces are fully deployed and

37 bxc5 .l:lcS 3S ..id6 :fdS 39 lia5 �gS

collapses, the white rook on dl and

crying out for some lines of attack. In

40 lIxa6 .l:ld 7 41 "it'xd5 .i.fS 42 'iif3 .i.xd6+ 43 cxd6 lIcdS 44 "iNd5 lDg7 45 �aS lDe6 46 .l:lxdS+ llxdS 47 g4 h6 4S h4 nbS 49 �g3 IIeS 50 'it>f3 lDfS 51 'iid 2

opponent

make

a

positional

Game 21 P.Morphy-Amateur New Orlea ns 1858 Evans ' Gambit

ing the e4-pawn he will activate his rook on f8 and create more scope for

bishop on a3 gain considerable energy

other words, he is doing Morphy's

through embarrassing the black queen

work for him. Nowadays every strong

and rook on f8. A modem player might well play

player accepts as a basic principle that

15 ... f6 here in order to increase his con­

opening lines favours the better-developed player. In his games collection Geller

'it>g7 55 'iiC7 �gS 56 d7 lDxd7 57 'i!Vxd 7

1 e4 e5 2 lDf3 lDc6 3 i..c4 .i.c5 4 b4

trol of e5. Then the game might con­

mentions

'it>g7 5S �d4+ �gS 59 'it>f4 �g6 60 �5

.ixb4 5 c3 ..ta5 6 d4 exd4 7 0-0 dXc3 S

tinue 16 f4 lDf7 17 e5 fxe5 18 fxe5,

"don't open the position when the op­ ponent has the two bishops!"

� g 7 52 't!Vd4+ �gS 53 "it'f6 �e6 5 4 'iie 7

lle6 61 'ifd7 1:[g6 62 h 5

more

refined

precept:

.ia3 d6 9 'iWb3 lDh6 10 lDxC3 .i.xC3 11

whereupon Morphy's opponent would

'iixC3 0-0 12 I!.adl lDg4 13 h3 lDge5 14

probably fall for the pretty combina­

Still, Morphy has to be accurate in

lDxe5 lDxe5 15 .i.e2

tion 18 ... lDxe5? 19 .l::i.xf8+ "iNxf8 20 "ii'xe5!

his reply. If Black is allowed one free

Morphy has played in typically bel­

dxe5 21 .i.c4+
move he will cement the knight on e5

ligerent style. In return for his sacri­

mate) 22 .i.xf7 and White has an extra

with 16 . . .£4!, ruling out f2-f4 forever,

ficed pawns he has the two bishops

piece. However, 18 ... i..e6!, a sensible

whereupon he will have a winning at­

and a lead in development - the white

developing move, would give Black

tack

queen and rook on dl strike an aggres­

good chances of escaping with at least

17 ... 'iig5.

sive pose, while the black bishop on c8

one extra pawn.

16 f4!

has yet to enter the game. Nevertheless, when it comes to tri­

58

a

But you can be sure that a strong

after

a

subsequent

17 .. .£3

or

Now Morphy begins to breathe his

modem player wouldn't have played

tactical ingenuity into his pieces.

umphing with power play, bringing

the actual game move:

16 ...lDc6 17 i..c4+

your pieces into the game before the

15 .. .f5?

The bishop returns to a post that 59

Op e n i n g Old (a nd N e w) Wo u n ds

Ch ess Se crets: The G ia n ts of P o w e r Play has become even more powerful after

ing u p the exchange to gain a secure

the weakening 15 ... f5. At the same time

position after 22 i.xf6 iVxf6.

it

prevents

Black

developing

with

. . . .i.e6.

Morphy came up with something far more spectacular:

17 ...'it>hS 1S i.b2!

f6-pawn is lethal; e.g. 24 .. :iVf8 25 f7+

In Chapter Two we saw Bronstein's

4.Je5 26 fxe5 'it>g7 27 e6+ 'it>h6 28 e7 is

superior treatment of the opening in

butchery.

his game against Tal. With 4 d3! White

24 ... iVxg2+ 25 'it>xg2 i.xh3+ 26 'it>xh3

would avoid having his knight pinned

h5 27 l:Ig1 1-0

by the black bishop.

And White won after some further

4 4.Jf6 5 d3 .i.b4 6 i.d2 e3! ...

pointless (and unrecorded) moves. A marvellous game by Morphy. I hope you can see why 15 ... f5? is so against the spirit of positional play. It seems the principle that opening lines

favours

the

better-developed

player was little known in Morphy's day. Modern players also sometimes act against this principle when they 2 1 l:teS! ! Here

18 e5 looks

hope to achieve some other advantage - in other words they believe they have

tremendously

Power play requires a sharp tactical

strong, but Morphy has seen that he

eye to exploit the opponent's false

found an exception to the rule. And

Classic Morphy: a second pawn is

can go after bigger game in the shape

ideas about a position.

sometimes they are right, and win the

offered to open the e-file and restore

of the black king.

21 ... iVxeS 22 iVxf6 iVe7 23 iVxg7+!

game as a result. But in 19th century

the pin on c3. In power play terms,

games you get the impression that

Black's pieces

iVxe7 4.Jxe7 24 f6 4.Jf5 25 .:tIel .

most players didn't even know there

come with gain of time - while White's

2 3 ...iVxg7 2 4 f6

was a rule they were breaking. They

pieces

have if he had played 15 ... f6! .

wanted

paralysed again, meaning . . . 4.Jxd5 is on

19 l:tde1!

pieces, and it never crossed their minds

the cards.

The pressure becomes overwhelm­

that the opponent's pieces might be

7 i.xe3 0-0 S i.d2

ing, as if 19 .. .fxe4 20 l:txe4 and the black

gaining the most from their plucky ad­

queen is hanging and can't give up the

venture.

ger zone and reviving his knight. If

A pawn sacrifice opens the centre

using the horse to counter the pressure

lS ..JWe7 The queen is obliged to defend g7. How much less trouble Black would

More elegant than the routine 23

to

attack,

to

activate their

gain energy - . . ..:tIe8 will

lose energy

-

the knight on c3 is

Removing the bishop from the dan­ now 8 ... l:!.e8+ White could try 9 4.Jce2!?

defence of g7. Note that Morphy elects to play his queen's rook to the open file rather

down

than 19 l:tfel. The game will be decided

9 ... .txd2+ 10 iVxd2 would ease White's

on the kingside and it might be useful to have the rook on f1 to support the f4-pawn. 19 ... l:tf6 20 exf5 iVfS

Black has an extra queen, but none

If now 21 iVg3, hoping for 21.. .l:txf5?

of his other pieces are contributing to

22 iVxg7+! iVxg7 23 l:te8+ and mate next

the kingside fight. If his queen moves

move, Black can reply 21.. .i.xf5!, giv-

to a safe square then the advance of the

60

Game 22 J.Schulten-P.Morphy New York 1857 King 's Gambit

the

e-file.

In

that

scenario

game as he might even castle queen­ side. Morphy comes up with a more astute decision: exchange the bishop immediately for the knight on c3. S ....i.xc3! 9 bxc3 1IeS+ 10 i.e2 i.g4 Not only increasing the pressure on

1 e4 e5 2 f4 d5 3 exd5 e4 4 4.JC3

e2, but also deterring White's natural 61

O p e n i n g Old (a n d N e w) Wo u n ds

Chess Secrets: The G i a n ts of Po wer Play developing move 1 1 4Jf3, as 1 1 . . . .ixf3

have tried 1 2 h3!, when after 1 2 . . ..i.xe2

12 gxf3 would leave him with horren­

13 4Jxe2 cxd5 14 cxd5 'ilVxdS IS 0-0,

dous pawns. Nonetheless, objectively

White has managed to escape the pres­

speaking,

sure along the e-file and is fully devel­

the

immediate

10 ... 4JxdS

looks stronger.

oped, albeit with rather awkwardly­

11 c41

placed minor pieces. Black has an ac­

I'm certain that Schulten made this move out of greed, as he wanted to

pensation for the missing pawn, but that's not the same as smashing his

has a

opponent in the centre.

black queen and knight the use of the dS-square as an attacking base.

13 ... .uxe21 14 4Jxe2 4Jd4

would lead to an interesting fight; for

namic grounds, which meant that he

example, after 1 1 . . . .ixe2 12 4Jxe2 4Jg4+

was always going to grab the pawn on

13 'itg3. The king looks in terrible dan­

c6 and lose horribly. The move 12 h3, if

ger on the third rank, but don't forget

he had even considered it, would have

that Black hasn't yet found time to

been instantly rejected on the grounds

bring his queen's knight or rook into

"I can't weaken my kingside like that

the game, so his firepower isn't as yet

when I'm being attacked!"

overwhelming.

Back in the 19th century the defen­ sive power of White's position after 1 2 h 3 was inevitably going t o b e underes­ timated. The art of a calm, clinical de­ fence, returning a pawn to blunt the

the

emphasis

on

sian, at times fearing something at the board, would avoid a critical dispute in the opening." In the following game Geller found just the opening line to upset the great strategist. Winning material while maintain­ ing a decisive attack. 4Jf3+! Easy, but elegant nevertheless. 18 gxf3 'ifd4+ 19 'it'g2 �f2+ 20 'ith3 'iVxf3+ 0-1 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 4JC3 Geller avoids his usual 3 4Jd2. He remarks that Petrosian was very com­ fortable in IQP positions after 3 4Jd2 cS 4 exdS exdS, so he decided to choose a sharper variation. 3 ... i.b4 4 e5 b6 5 4Jf3 �d7 6 .i.d2 .if8 7

ties even in the most dubious-looking

a41?

positions.

Geller

12 ...4Jxc6

ing about the relative power of the two

ful finish: 13 'itf2 'ii'b6+ 14 'it>g3 gxe2! IS

armies. Rather than speed up the de­

4Jxe2 4Jd4 16 �el 4JfS mate!

velopment of Black's knight, he should

13 <M1

62

realizes

that

his

World

Champion opponent intends to de­

Now the threat of 13 ... 4Jd4 wins the third rank we might have this delight­

Game 23 E.Gel ler-T.Petrosian Moscow 1963 French Defence

15 'iib1 .ixe2+ 16 'iW2 4Jg4+ 17 'itg1

of strong computer programs, players

game. If the white king runs to the

following

directly and sharply, because Petro­

are aware of latent defensive possibili­

Here we have the proof that White

the

tion, it was when his opponents played

defence.

was merely counting pawns, not think­

including

"In those rare instances when he

Nowadays, especially since the advent

12 dxc6?

of the style of World Champion Tigran

did lose, or obtained an inferior posi­

tised. Steinitz was the first great player put

Grandmaster Prepara­ tion Polugaevsky gives an assessment

lines:

opponent's initiative, was little prac­ to

In his great work

Petrosian,

Of course, Schulten was an amateur 11 c4 on materialistic rather than dy­

11...c61

has overwhelmed White's defence.

player of the Romantic age. He played

Alternatively, the heroic 11 'itf2!?

A pawn sacrifice prevents the centre being blocked

IS ... l:1xe2+! 16 4Jxe2 l:teS. We see how the arrival of Black's two queenside pieces

tive game after IS . . .4Jc6 with full com­

hang onto his extra pawn. In fact it also

dynamic value since it denies the

Also hopeless are 13 c3 'it'xd3 or 13 iLc3 4Jd4 14 i.xd4 'iYxd4 intending

velop with . . .4Jc6, . . . .i.b7 and . . . 0-0-0 and so, to quote his own words in the After 21 'ith4 it is mate in three; for

Application of Chess Theory, "White de­

example, 21 . . .4Je3 22 llg1 (to stop mate

cides to 'frighten' him with a possible

on g4) 22 . . . 4JfS+ 23 'it'gS 'tins mate.

attack on the king." 63

C h e s s S e c re t s : The Gia n ts of P o w e r Play

Open ing Old (a n d N e w) Wo u n ds cal radar is sending out unmistakable

to hold on to c7, when the pawn deficit

warning signs. The Russians even have

will increase to two again. It is a hope­

a proverb: "once you have said 'A', you

less state of affairs for Black, despite

have to say 'B'''. Chess might be defined

the opposite-coloured bishops.

as the tragedy of misspent energy. 11 �bS!

7 ../1.'Jc6 8 iLe2 tDge7 9 0-0 f6? Finding

the

idea

of

lS ... �d7 16 �gS! immediate

There is a tendency for players once

queenside castling with 9... �b7 and

they have gained material to back off

10 ...0-0-0 suddenly unappealing, Petro­

and admire the plunder. Geller was

sian switches to a different plan: he will

never a player of this type, despite the

25 lhe6 iLdS 26 :'e8+ l!f8 27 �6e7 h6

attack the white centre at once, and only

fact that the initial stage of his game­

28 .l::!.xf8+ xf8 29 .uxc7 '>t>g8 30 .tf4 g5

after he has gained counterplay there

With this alert move Geller dashes

plan normally involved exerting pres­

31 i.es l:;th7 32 .1:[c8+ �7 33 c4 i.b7 34

will he castle queenside, when his op­

his opponent's hopes of playing a

sure on his opponent's pawns. He was

l::td 8 \t>e6 3 S l:!.d6+ �S 3 6 f3 g4 3 7 l:!f6+

ponent will be distracted from carrying

slow-moving

out a direct attack on his king.

tDxe5 tDxe5 1 2 dxe5. Instead, a cut and

closed

game

after

11

always ready to return material if the

\t>gs 38 f4+ '>t>hS 39 .uxb6 i.e4 40 �2

initiative required it.

l::t b7 41 11xb7 i.xb7 42 d S 1-0

The problem is that Black isn't able

thrust battle begins in the centre, in

Here a lazy move such as 16 tDc3

to stabilize the centre, as Geller soon

which White's lead in development

would let Black back into the game with

demonstrates.

and the parlous situation of the black

16 .. 0-0-0. Beating a World Champion

10 J:.e1 fxe s?

king on e8 become decisive factors.

once is hard enough, but doing it twice

11 ... tDg6

in one game is near-impossible. Hence

In the next game Topalov is willing to

Geller can't afford to let the tempo of his

invest the exchange and a pawn to pre­ vent his bishop pair from being shut

He should have blocked the centre with 10 .. .£5, but even if Petrosian had

After 1 1 ...exd4 12 tiJxd4 all the lines

.

Smashing a blockade with an exchange sacrifice

sensed the danger it would have been

are opening for White's pieces, while

attack slacken for even a move.

psychologically

difficult for him to

the attempt to keep it blocked with

16 ... i.d6 17 'ii'h S+ �8 18 'it'f3+ \t>g8 19

out of the game. He has no immediate

make such a move. It would have

1 1 . ..e4 is gruesome after 12 tiJe5 'ii'd6 13

nxe6!

win, but can exert continuous pressure

meant admitting to his opponent, and

iLf4!, when there will be a killing dis­

even worse to himself, that his last

covered attack on the black queen.

20 ctJe7+ wins the black queen.

move was a mistake, seeing that 9 ... f5

12 tiJxes tiJgxes 13 llxes a6

19 ...l:tf8 20 tDe7+ iLxe7 21 �xc6 �xc6

was possible at once. Incidentally, this refusal to admit we

There is no way to escape the pres­ sure, as if 13 . . . iLd6 14 :'xe6+! �xe6 15

have chosen the wrong plan often over­

�xc6+ and 16 .txa8 wins.

whelms common sense. It makes us

14 .txc6 'iVxc6 15 tiJxds

pursue a bad idea even when our gut instinct is telling us to stop, or our tacti64

Now Geller has both an extra pawn and the initiative.

A second pawn drops, as 19 ... �xe6

22 l:txe7 1:!f7 23 k!.ae1 iLxa4 24 b3 iLc6 Petrosian has defended brilliantly to reach an endgame where he is only one pawn down. However, Geller has cor­

on Kamsky's broken kingside.

Game 24 V.Topalov-G.Kamsky Sofia 2006 Slav Defence

rectly judged that the passive rook on h8 will mean that Black won't be able

1 d4 ds 2 c4 c6 3 tiJf3 tiJf6 4 tiJC3 a6 5 cs 65

Che ss S e c rets: Th e G i a n ts of P o w e r Play ttJbd7 6 iLf4 ttJhS 7 ..td2 ttJhf6 8 l:tcl g6

O p e n i n g Old (a n d N e w) Wo u n ds 2s .. :tiVc7

9 h3 'fIiC7 10 g3 ..tg7 11 i.f4 'iVd8 12 ..tg2 ttJhS 13 iLgs h6 14 ..td2 0-0 15 e4 dxe4 16 ttJxe4 ttJhf6 17 ttJC3 ne8 18 0-0 ttJf8 19 'it'b3 ttJe6 20 ..te3 ttJC7 21 ttJes ttJfdS 22 ttJxdS ttJxdS 23 ..td2

The rook can then be a battering ram

Topalov shows his tactical flair.

that breaks through barriers with the

Rather than taking on e6, which would

support of the queen. In contrast, if the

allow Black the breathing space for

queen were in front she would be too

centralization with 32 . . . .l:tad8!, he tar­

important to throw herself at any de­

gets the much more important g6-

fended point, and always vulnerable to

pawn.

attack.

bishop pair, as the black knight is a

He isn't precious about the defensive

vital

piece

after

and

32 ...ttJxe4 33 ':xe4 the threats of 34 'iVh6+ and 34 ..tc3+ are devastating. 32 ...�7 Black has no time for 32. . . .l:i.ad8 be­ Having

defended

the

cause of 33 'ilih6+, when g6 drops with

b7-pawn,

a quick mate.

Kamsky is now ready to complete the

33 iLC2

final link of his blockade with 26 . . . i.e6,

The bishop, which was staring idly

when after 27. . . l':tad8 he will be excel­

at the c6-pawn, has become a fearsome

lently centralized. In that scenario it is White's knight is excellently placed,

hard to see how White would be able

so Kamsky took the drastic step of ex­

to create any play for his bishop pair.

dark­

In fact, we have reached the critical

his

off

changing

important

squared bishop.

moment in the game. If White doesn't

23 ... ..txes?

find a way to prevent Black's plan the

You have to admire the American Grandmaster's

original

approach to

energy will drain from his position. 26 e6!

chess strategy, even though in this in­

Topalov rises to the occasion. This

stance it leads him to defeat. How

exchange sacrifice isn't a luxury which

many other players would have con­

White can make according to his style

templated this capture for even a sec­

of play or mood that day - it is vital to

ond?

safeguard his position.

Even

so,

careful

defence

with

23 ... 'ilic7! was to be preferred. 24 dxeS h S This i s the idea: Black hopes to es­ tablish a blockade on the light squares.

26 ... ..txe6 27 l:txe6 fxe6 28 �el �d7 29 'ij"d3 Wh7 30 .l:1e s ! Threatening 3 0 .l:.xh5+. 30 ...ttJf6 31 li'e3 1! In putting the rook on e5 and the

It comes very close to working.

queen on e3, White is following two

25 nfel

important rules of dynamic chess:

Topalov has seen through his op­

Firstly, when you attack with queen

ponent's plan and so makes an impor­

and rook, it is usually better to have the

tant preparatory move.

rook in front and the queen behind it.

66

attacking piece. It is well known that two bishops are particularly strong Secondly,

when

attacking

with

when they control neighbouring di­

queen and bishop it usually better to

agonals which rake fire on the enemy

have the queen in front and the bishop

defences.

behind. This is because a queen inva­

33 ... .:ad8 34 �h61

sion, especially with check, has an ef­

If now 34 . . .li'xd2 35 ..txg6+ c,t>g8 36

fect on all the squares around the en­

:g5!, when Black has nothing better

emy king, whereas a bishop check has

than

far less power.

36 ... �xg5.

In this specific instance, we can see

to

give

up

his

queen

with

34 ... .:g8 35 ..tas!

that White has the devastating threat of 32 li'h6+ followed by 33 'it'xg6+ tearing up the black kingside - if the bishop and queen were the other way round there would be no threat at all. Simi­ larly, White's rook can chomp on e6 at an appropriate moment, keeping up the pressure, whereas if the white queen were in front then capturing the pawn would lead to an unwelcome exchange of queens. 31 ... Wg7 32 ..te4!! 67

Chess Secrets: T h e Gia n ts of Po wer Play

O p e n ing Old (a n d N e w) Wo u n ds

Combining attacks on enemy pieces

White doesn't need to hurry. He

and bishop to exert a stranglehold on

with an assault on their king is an im­

safeguards his king and, by cutting out

The first point of this move is obvi­

the black kingside. An amazing con­

portant facet of power play. Topalov

the queen check on bl, introduces the

ous: White wants to capture on e4 with

ception.

saves his bishop from capture and

threat of 40 J:Ie3 followed by 41 i.xf6.

his knight without allowing 13 ... gxfS in

forces his opponent to deal with two

Hence Kamsky defends f6 again with

threats: the obvious 36 i.xdS and the

his rook, but this allows the white

quiet but lethal 36 J:IgS.

queen to invade on g7.

3 5 :ikd4

39 ... J:If8 40 'iWg7

•.

Kamsky tries to complicate, but

against White's next move.

gain of time.

40

..•

J:Id5 41 i.f5!

An extreme form of a well-known

Black has managed to ward off the

power play device: the threat of mate

evil of 37 J:IgS which can be answered

on e7 is combined with an attack on the

by 37 ... lLle4. However, disaster now

black queen.

strikes from a different direction.

41 ...J:If7 42 J:Ixe7+! 1-0

and more brilliant: over the board

Game 25 E.Gelier-D.Velimirovic Hava na 1971 King 's Indian Defence

Now Black has no good defence

now White's bishop gets to c3 with 36 i.C3 'iWC4

reply. The second point is much deeper Geller has had to calculate and assess a rook sacrifice. 13 ... lLlxf6 14 lLldxe4! !

1 lLlf3 lLlf6 2 d4 g6 3 c4 i.g7 4 g3 0-0 5 i..g2 d6 6 0-0 c5 7 lLlC3 lLlc6 8 d5 lLla5 9 4:ld2 e5 10 e4 lLlg4 11 b3 f5 12 exf5

37 i.b3! The bishop attacks e6 through the black queen. When you are convinced that you have a strong initiative and the oppo­

14 ... 4:lxe4 15 4:lxe4 i.xal 16 i.g5 i.f6

nent blocks your chosen line of attack,

The only move, as otherwise 1 7

don't become disillusioned. Instead,

'iWxal gives White a decisive attack in

look around for some other route into

view of the dark square weaknesses in

his position. If chess is a logical game

the black kingside.

and your judgment is right, there is

Black could recapture with 12 . . . gxfS,

sure to be one right under your nose.

but Velimirovic decided first of all to

37 'iWd 3 38 i.xe6+ <;.ite8 39 <;.itg2

activate his bishop with . . .

•••

The power of the white bishops is such that after 42 .. Jhe7 43 "iVhS+ <;.itf7 White doesn't even need to take the

.••

Strengthening the pin on the rook. An important tactical point is that

e4?

IS ... <;.itg7, hoping to play 19 . . .h6, can be

Now 13 "iVxg4 ii.xc3 favours Black,

met by 19 J:Iel h6 20 Sl.xf6+ 'iWxf6 21

black queen, as it is mate with 44 'iWxf6+

while 13 lLldxe4 gxfS leaves the white

J:Ie7+! winning the black queen.

knights in trouble. If Geller plays a

<;.iteS (the same move answers 44 . . . <;.itgS)

18 <;.itf7

passive move, say 13 .tb2, the game

4S "iVhS+ <;.itf7 46 'iWg7+ <;.iteS 47 'iWgS.

resumes

A fine example of power play.

Catching a rook in a terrible pin

68

12

17 lLlxf6+ J:Ixf6 18 'iWal!

its

natural

course

•..

The forcing line has come to an end.

with

This is the position that Geller had to

13 ... gxfS, and his opponent has active

weigh up before 13 f6. White is a rook

play. But the Ukrainian Grandmaster is

down for a pawn, with no mating attack

always on the watch for tactical oppor­

in sight. Normally this would mean it is

tunities, and manages to throw a span­ In the following game Geller, at the

time to resign, but here the pressure on

ner (or f-pawn) into the works.

cost of a rook, opens lines for his queen

f6 is very awkward for Black. Further­

13 f6!

more, the knight on as is paralysed, and 69

O p e n i n g Old (a n d N e w) Wo u n ds

Che ss S e crets: Th e G i a n ts of P o w e r Play it's hard to see how it can ever join in

2 2... hxg4 23 hxg4 i.xg4 2 4 l:e4! and the

the defence. The other black pieces on

bishop can't do two jobs: if 24 ... ii.h5 25

the queenside will also take time to mo­

l:te6 or 24 ... .i.f5 25 l:th4, when the white

bilize. Still, if White doesn't do some­

rook will give a killer check on h7.

thing fairly fast, Velimirovic will coor­

21 .l:i.f3 ii.f5

dinate his scattered forces, in which case he will undoubtedly win.

Not 26 .th3 which allows 26 .. J�g8+

opening the f-file and then playing

and 27 .. .11gS. The game move plans to

l:txf6 and "iih7 mate. After that Black

tie Black's knight down to the d6-pawn

made sure he played his other knight

and then push his king back with the

via d7 to f8 to guard h7 before White

bishop. Velimirovic fights hard, but he

had time to open the f-file. And then

isn't able to save the game. The remain­

White started a diversionary action on

ing moves were:

the queenside to stop the knight ever

26 ...lLib7 27 :!.e6+ <M7 28 ii.f3 %:tg8+ 29

reaching f8. He found the passed pawn

'it'fl eM8 30 iLh5 l:tg5 31 .l:i.e8+ 'it'g7 32

he acquired there so wonderful that he

l:ie7+ 'it'h6 33 l:txb7 l:txh5 34 l:txa7 litxh2

forgot all about his plan of attacking h7

35 l:Id 7 'it'g5 36 l:txd6 �4 37 'it'e2 b5 38

. . . and so positional chess was born.

cxb5 'it'e5 39 l1d7 l:th4 40 a3 .l:!.h3 41 f3

We still can't answer the question:

�d4 42 b6 .l:!.h2+ 43 '.tel �hl+ 44 'it>f2

should Black be mated on h7? But I can

�h2+ 45 'it'el l:thl+ 46 'it'f2 :h2+ 47

tell you that if he lets Topalov aim his

'it'g3 l:tb2 48 b7 l:txb3 49 a4 c4 50 a s ( 3

queen and bishop at that square with

51 a6 l%b6 52 .i::tC7 1-0

impunity it is very likely to happen.

The never-ending attack on h7

Ponomariov,

After the following game, Ruslan Here, too, the attack of the white 19 llel! My favourite move of the game. Geller calmly develops his rook with

a former FIDE World

Champion who is consistently rated

pieces needs to be crowned with a pawn stab:

Castling has a surprisingly long history,

22 g4! 'ii' h 8 23 ii.xf6 "iixf6 24 'ii'xf6+

having already been given in its modem

that I made all normal moves, but then

�xf6 25 gxf5 gxf5

form in a book by Ruy Lopez in l S6l.

I found myself in a bad position." Yes,

over 2700 Elo, remarked: "I thought

the plan of 20 Ite3 and 21 �f3 to attack

So Black has avoided a disaster on

Therefore players have had around 500

even the absolutely best players in the

f6 a third time. It seems terribly slow

f6, but he hasn't been able to keep any

years to refute it. They have arrived at

world can completely misunderstand

but in fact Black can't organize a good

of his booty. In the endgame that fol­

two conclusions: namely that if Black

the needs of a position. As we shall see,

defence against it.

lows his pieces can't compete with the

castles kingside his weakest square is on

Ponomariov made a lot of moves that

19 .. J:tb8

activity of the white rook and bishop.

h7, while if White castles kingside his

were in perfect accordance with gen­

26 1le31

weakest square is h2. The obvious way

eral ideas about how the opening he

to prove this is by putting a white

had chosen should be played. Unfortu­

19 . . .h6 doesn't help much, as after 20

bishop on c2, the queen on d3, and -

nately for him, he was up against an

ii.xh6 White can restore the pin next

Geronimo! - 'ifu7 mates the black king.

Velimirovic seems resigned to giv­ ing back his extra material. Instead,

move with 21 .igS, seeing that 20 ... l:!.fS? allows mate on g7. 20 .l:!.e3 b6 One of the recurring themes of this book is that an attack always needs the help of pawns at some point. If 20 ... i.fS, sheltering f6, Geller gives the variation 21 h3! (planning to drive the bishop away with 22 g4) 21...hS 22 g4! (anyway) 70

After a couple of hundred years

opponent who knew about the h7square . . .

Black realized what was happening to him and started to put a knight on f6. Just try mating on h7 after that! And so White

replied

by

eliminating

the

knight with ii.g5 and i.xf6, after which Black was mated all the same with

Came 26 V. Topalov-R.Ponomariov Sofi a 2005 Queen 's Indian Defence

"iih7. And then Black tried playing ...h7-h6 to stop iLgS. So White started

1 d4 lLif6 2 c4 e6 3 lLif3 b6 4 g3 i.a6 5 71

C h e s s Secrets: The G ia n ts of Pow er Play b3 i.. b4+ 6 i.d2 i..e7 7 ttJe3 0-0 8 !lei e6

Open i n g Old (a n d N e w) Wo u n ds Meeting the threat of the Greek Gift,

own pawn centre, let alone cause grief

but creating a kingside weakness that

to the advancing black pawns.

Topalov immediately pounces on.

Indeed, there appears to be a dis­

15 i.bl!

tinct clutter in the white camp. The

Played according to the golden rule

queen has lost influence over the d4square, as two bishops block her view.

described

A clumsy-looking rook is sitting on c3

Kamsky above. The Bulgarian Grand­

at move 31

in Topalov­

which Black can gain time by attacking

master loses no time in maximizing the

with ... c5xd4. And finally, the white

pressure on the black kingside. The

bishop has 'stupidly' gone to d3 rather

threat of 16 'Yic2 and then mate on h7

than to g2, where it could put pressure

means that Ponomariov has to com­

on the long diagonal by attacking d5.

promise the structural integrity of his

Hence we see that the three main

Yes,

all the white pieces can be di­

kingside further, as 16 . . . g6 allows 1 7

This allows White to seize space in

enemies of the black pawn centre are

rectly or indirectly involved in the on­

.i.xh6.

the centre. Instead, no-nonsense devel­

either misplaced (the bishop on d3),

slaught. That includes the rook on hI.

15 ...f5 16 exf6 i.. xf6 17 "iWe2!

opment of the queenside with 8 . . .i..b7 9

blocked in (the queen), or off the board

Thus if 14 ... ttJc6, Black gets hit by the

i.. g2 d5 10 ttJe5 ttJa6 had proved safe

(the knight has vanished from c3).

enough

for

Black

in

a

Topalov­

famous Greek Gift Sacrifice: 15 1i.xh7+!

It's no wonder that Ponomariov

\t>xh7 16 ttJg5+ 'it>g8 (16 ... i..xg5 17 hxg5+

Kramnik encounter.

was optimistic under these circum­

�g8 18 "ifu5 comes to the same thing)

9 e4 d5 10 e5! ttJe4 11 i.. d 3 ttJxe3?

stances. His plan is clear: a quick . . .ttJc6

17 "i!fu5 i..xg5 18 hxg5 f5 19 g6 and

will be coupled with the exchange of

there is no good way to stop mate on h8.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing: can drink my tea and calmly point out

pawns on the c-fiJe and d-file, when he

that Black should eliminate the more

will have completed his development

Such is the dynamism in the white

dangerous white piece with 1l ... ttJxd2!'

with the chance to attack the loose

set-up that Black never finds a spare

pawn on e5. It seems that he is going to

moment for the developing . . .ttJc6 - a

emerge with an easy and safe game.

quite remarkable fact. Another turn­

12 .l::txe3 ! e5

The above assessment of the posi­

about in the position is that the black

tion is completely logical; in most

bishop on a6, which looked like it was

Topalov mustn't back off even for a

games of this type Black equalizes - or

doing a pretty good job putting pres­

moment, as moving the rook from c3

more - when he has avoided trouble

sure on c4, is suddenly shut out of the

would allow the vital developing move

down the c-fiJe or the hl-a8 diagonal.

main battle.

17 ... ttJc6.

But before we jump to conclusions let's

The Ukrainian Grandmaster's logic

see what actually happened in the

was impeccable, but he was, as it were,

Keeping the bishop on f6 for de­

game:

fighting the wrong war. Positional fac­

fence, as 17 . . . i..xc3 18 i..xc3 intending

13 dxe5 bxe5 14 h4!! Exactly.

What

Ponomariov

17 ...d4

tors often compete for attention in a

19 'ifh7+ is crushing. One possible fin­

has

game of chess, and the ones which

ish is 18 .. Jhf3 19 'it'h7+ �f8 20 �xg7+ �e8 21 i..g6+ and mate next move.

missed is that the white pieces, so inef­

govern a specific situation can often

standard

fectually bunched for a centre struggle,

only be deduced by a sceptical attitude

freeing move. And why not? The white

are splendidly placed for an attack on

towards 'natural moves'.

will either eliminate the rook on c3 and

pieces are ill deployed to support their

the black king.

14 ... h6

so stop it joining in the attack, or better

Ponomariov

72

plays

the

Ponomariov hopes his pawn move

73

O p e n i n g Old (a n d N e w) Wo u n ds

Ch ess Se crets: Th e G ia n ts of P o w e r Play still persuade his opponent to spend a

vant material while his king's resi­

precious tempo saving it from capture.

dence is on fire: Black eliminates the

18 ttJg5!

rook before it can join the attack, and

Power play involves outwitting an

1961) has been described as the perfect

26 lith7!

embodiment of Steinitz's theories. He knew all about the steady accumula­ tion of positional advantages; for ex­

hopes the threat to d2 will slow down

opponent in a sharp battle, which re­

White's initiative.

quires tactical prowess and courage.

20 .1i.f41

ample, the benefits in acquiring the two bishops, or control of an open file, or a more compact pawn structure, and

Here White could lose his nerve and

so on. In game after game we see him

save the rook, by 18 inl7+ <;¥tf7 19 .l:lc1,

inflicting a slight structural weakness

for example, whereupon 19 ... .1i.b7! pins

on his opponent and then gradually

the white knight and generates coun­ terplay.

increasing the pressure with a me­

Topalov realizes he has to

thodical, step by step plan. Rubinstein

strike at once, not giving his opponent

always

any time to bring his queenside pieces

compelling his opponent to take the knight. Calm and collected. The flashy 20 l:th8+ would lead to an attack in the style of the game after 20 ... <;¥tf7 (not 20 ... <;¥txh8? 21 inl7 mate) 21 'iVg6+, but as we soon see, it's better to keep the rook check hanging over Black's head. 20...<;¥;>f7 There is no time for Black to save the bishop on f6, as if 20 . . . .id4 21 'iVg6!

21 'it'g6+ <;¥te7 22 gxf6+ 18 ... hxg5

The black king loses the only minor

The rook on c3 shows it isn't just

piece that has tried to protect it. Now

bait for the black pawn after 18 ... .txg5

the attack from the white queen, two

19 'iVh7+ �f7 20 .1i.xg5! hxg5 21 1:tf3+,

bishops and rook is clearly lethal.

when White picks up the rook on f8

22 ....t!.xf6 23 1i'xg7+ 1:!f7 24 .1i.g5+ <;¥td6

and wins on material, e.g. 21... <;¥te8 22

25 'iixf7 'iVxg5

.1i.g6+ \t>d7 23 �xg7+ 'ike7 24 'iVxf8. 19 hxg5 dXc3 As indicated by the variation above, this isn't the wanton capture of irrele74

Ponomariov fights to the bitter end. He is a piece up and has a couple of interesting checks looming, so White has to be forceful.

positional

opening and with Black a shade of po­

whereas his counterpart slips away

sitional disadvantage, which he could

into a safe haven after 26 ... 'i!i'cl+ 27 <;¥te2

gradually iron out with some precise

king

has

no

'i!fd2+ 28 <;¥tf3 �dl + 29 <;¥tg2.

defensive

27 <;¥;>f1 <;¥tc6 28 'iWe8+ \t>b6 29 'iVd8+ <;¥tc6

Rubinstein was a genius of the Queen's

30 .1i.e4+! 1-0

Gambit Declined - with White he

It is mate upon 30 .. :�xe4 31 'iVc7.

would

Black was defeated without moving

queenside

either his queenside rook or knight!

moves.

give his

For

this

opponent

weakness

and

reason

a

slight

gradually

wear it down, always keeping his op­

Due to their absence from the struggle,

ponent at arm's length; while with

Topalov was able to conduct a Mor­

Black he would get somewhat the

phy-like attack.

worst of it but gradually soften up his opponent.

denies the king the f7-square, when 22 !ih8+ is a winning threat.

solid

escape,

The black

threatens mate in one on h7, thereby

for

slight advantage with White from the

26 .. :iVe5+

cuts off the black king's flight to f7 and

strived

domination - he was content to have a

Threatening mate on c7.

into action. With the game move he

A freeing move that fails

It was this formidable player that Alekhine had to face as White at Carls­

Alekhine's opponents often thought

bad 1923. He could be sure that Rubin­

that they were freeing their game by

stein would counter 1 d4 with the

breaking open the centre, when in fact

Queen's Gambit, and seek to equalize

they were falling into a positional trap.

by a series of accurate exchanges and,

They were giving the World Cham­

in time, the standard freeing move

pion's pieces just enough freedom and

. . . c7-c5. The Polish Grandmaster would

dynamism to allow him to strike one of

also seize every opportunity to accu­

his famous tactical blows against their

mulate small advantages, such as those

king.

just mentioned: weakening the white

The play of Akiba Rubinstein (1882-

centre and grabbing the bishop pair. 75

Chess S e c rets: Th e G i a n ts of Po we r Play So how could Alekhine use power play against such an opponent?

O p e n i n g O l d (a n d N e w) Wo u n ds but he wants to wait until White plays

You may recall

above

that we

tre, and now an unopposed freeing

ii.d3 so that he gains a tempo. Hence

talked about accumulating small ad­

move ... c6-c5 - Rubinstein must have

he dallies with moves like 8 ... a6 and

which was rather a long time after

vantages such as the bishop pair and

been delighted by all these 'presents'.

9 ... l'te8, and similarly White puts his

inflicting a weakness in the opponent's

However, Alekhine has seen that Black

Rubinstein's finest results in the run-up

queen and rook on the c-file and plays

to World War One (in 1912 he won five

centre.

move

is violating a positional rule himself by

9 a4. But now Alekhine decides he

international tournaments!). He was

Alekhine hands over the two bishops

immediately attacking d4. Let's see the

needs to develop his bishop.

and allows his pawns to be broken up.

fourth World Champion comment on

Surely he is just playing into Rubin­

the diagram position:

Well, the game was played in 1923,

still positionally very strong, but his tactical

eye

was

perhaps

rather

could

compete

Alekhine

enough:

once

been

position. So we should consider the situation

our hero is likely to outwit him. But

with unprejudiced

how can such a position be reached? clear, messy positions!

standard

about what should be good or bad in a

forced into a tactically sharp position,

Rubinstein isn't going to allow any un­

flouting

as no more than very educated guesses

straightforward

Rubinstein has

has

remember that such rules often serve

So the 'second half' of the power is

one

Queen's Gambit 'rules', but we should

blows. method

just

12 ...ctJxf4 13 exf4

with

Alekhine in an exchange of tactical

play

with

stein's hands? Let's see what happens:

blunted. In any case, in 1923 very few opponents

Well,

eyes.

If White's

pawns are left unchallenged on d4 and 10 ii.d3 dXc4 11 iLxC4 ctJd5

f4, then the pawn ram f4-f5 is a perma­

Rubinstein goes about his business.

Alekhine found an ingenious solu­

nent menace to the black kingside. Fur­

Now after 12 iLxe7 �xe7, followed by

tion to his problem: he discovered a

thermore, the pawns support the move

the exchange of knights on c3, he

position in which he could use the

ctJe5, putting the knight on an excellent

would be ready to attack the white cen­

supposed accumulation of small ad­

central square where it can't be kicked

tre with ... e6-e5. After this simplifica­

vantages as 'bait' to lure Rubinstein

away by ... f7-f6 without creating a

nate White's troublesome pawn on f4.

tion he would be well on his way to

into a double-edged battle.

weakness on e6. The knight's attack on

White, who has not yet castled, can

complete equalization.

f7 would be complemented by the

scarcely oppose this plan, and the

12 i.f4!!

enormous pressure that White would

game speedily assumes a most ani­

be able to exert on e6, the pawn that

mated appearance.

Game 2 7 A.Alekhine-A.Rubinstein Carlsba d 1923 Queen 's Gambit

shelters it. On the other hand, if Black re­

"This move (13 ... c5), which goes against

the general principle of not open­ ing up fresh lines to a better-developed op­ ponent, is dictated by the wish to elimi­

II

(Alekhine's italics)

In other words, Rubinstein feels obliged to punish Alekhine's positional

moved the knight with . . . ctJxe5, White

'blunder'

could recapture d4xe5, regrouping his

'blunder' of his own. Who prospers the

pawns with a space advantage.

most from this state of affairs? Objec­

12 i.f4 with a positional

1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 ctJf3 ctJf6 4 ctJC3 iLe7 5

So there is method in Alekhine's

ii.g5 ctJbd7 6 e3 0-0 7 l'tc1 c6 8 �C2 a6 9

madness. But can't Rubinstein just dis­

game has gone from being solidly bal­

solve the centre pawns, with a good

anced to being dynamically balanced,

a4 l'te8

tively speaking,

neither player:

the

A theoretical battleground of the

game?

1920s: Black wants to play a freeing

with White maintaining the slight edge

13 ... c5

he had on move one.

manoeuvre with ... d5xc4 and ... ctJd5, 76

The two bishops, a split white cen-

Still, to borrow Alekhine's phrase, it 77

O p e n i n g Old (a n d N e w) Wo u n ds

Chess Se crets: The G i a n ts of P o w e r Play has become "most animated" . This

that the black king will be disturbed.

change in the nature of the game un­

18 ... b6 19 ..txh7+ '>t>h8?

doubtedly favours the power player

A routine move; the black king is

2) The f7-pawn is undefended by the black king. 3) The black rook on e8 is unde­

player

checked and it hides in the corner, as

Rubinstein. As you would expect, he

the centre is a big bad world. In fact,

4) Back rank mates are possible

quickly gains the upper hand in the

his majesty would be much safer after

with 'iVxc8! if the black bishop is forced

sharp tactical battle.

19 . . .'iitf8! . The reasons why are dis­

from cS.

14 dxc5 "ilC7 15 0-0 �xf4

cussed after the next move.

Alekhine

over

the

classical

Black removes the more dangerous

20 ..ie4 lia7?

fended.

now the black queen is forced to re­ treat, when her vital defensive power is removed from the kingside. 23 .. :iWb8

You will notice that none of these four themes would have applied if

pawn, the one that could ram him with

Black had played 19 ... '>t>f8! rather than

f4-fS or support 4:JeS. He also hopes to

the 'obvious' 19 ... �h8. Routine is the

gain time by attacking the c4-bishop.

enemy of every chess player, no matter

16 4:Je41

how strong. 21 b4! The bishop is forced to retreat, al­ lowing the white queen to infiltrate down the c-file. 21.....tf8

If 23 .. .'iYd6 Alekhine intended to combine threats to the black king and

The only move, as if 21.. . ..txb4 22

pieces with 24 'ilVc4!, planning 2S ..tc6

'ii'xc8! .l:!.xc8 23 .l:!.xc8+ and mate next

':c7 26 "ikh4+ followed by 27 ..txe8.

move. Another serious mistake. Instead,

Black is helpless; e.g. 24 ... �g8 2S ..tc6 11c7 26 :tfdl \i'e7 27 �d3! and the rook

20 . . . Ii.b8 would have made Alekhine

on e8 is trapped.

work much harder for his win. In his

24 4:Jg5!

own notes he claims it can be achieved

With all the black pieces wrong­

With this temporary pawn sacrifice

in the variation 20 .. JIb8 21 g3 �f6 22

footed

White meets the threat to the bishop

b4! Ji.d6 (or else 23 "fIc7 traps the rook

suddenly switches to a direct attack on

and maintains the initiative. Instead,

on b8, winning at least a piece) 23 �fdl

the kingside.

the

leaves

"ile7 24 ..tc6 �d8 2S I:I.d4, but here Ko­

24....l:!.ed8 25 Si.g6!

White without enough energy to com­

tov says that Black can still resist with

bat the weakness of his queenside

2S . . .'iitg8! .

pusillanimous

16

4:Je2?

pawns after 16 .. .'iWc7 17 b4 as! . 16 ...4:Jxc5

A t this point w e might talk about

of time.

'power play, part two' beginning. This

25 .. :iWe5

17 4:JegS .tf8! "with a fully defensible

Alekhine is given the chance to show

position", but it isn't that easy for Black

off his brilliant control of the initiative

hitting b6 and the rook on e8.

after 18 ..id3, with pressure similar to

and eye for tactics. He can build on

22 ....l:td7

that in the game.

four strands:

78

1) The black king can be attacked along the open h-file.

Alekhine

Exploiting the weakness of f7 to get

is the phase of the game in which

The discovered attack on cS ensures

queenside,

the white queen to the h-file with gain

Here Kotov recommends 16 ... ..txcS

17 4:Jxc5 .txc5 18 ..id3

on the

22 'iic 6! And now White wins more time by

There's no joy in 22 ... ..id7 23 'iixb6. 23 g3! Not of course 23 'iixb6? 'iixe4. But

The black queen returns to the cen­ tre, but only at the cost of an exchange and pawn. If instead 2S .. .fxg6 26 'ilVe4 threatens mate in two with 27 'ilVh4+, when 26 .. J::td4 27 iVxg6 wouldn't help Black. Or if 2S ... 'iitg8 26 �c4 �d4 27 ..txf7+ 79

Chess Se crets: The G ia n ts of P o w e r Play

O p e n i n g Old (a n d N e w) Wo u n d s

Wh8 28 �c2 �d3 29 1i'e2 and the mate

l2JC3 0-0 6 e 3 d 5 7 l2Jge2 c 6 S b 3 l2Je4 9

outpost square in the centre, while the

thinking in the following terms: "my

threat on h7 decides the game.

0-0 l2Jd 7 10 i.b2 l2Jdf6 11 'i!Vd3 g5 12

white bishop is doing nothing much at

bishop on d6 is more valuable than the

26 l2Jxf7+ �xf7 27 iLxf7 "i!ff5 2S lUdl!

cxd5 exd5 13 f3 l2JxC3 14 i.xc3 g4 15

the moment except defending b4. In­

white knight as it guards the dark

fxg4 l2Jxg4 16 .ih3 l2Jh6 17 l2Jf4 iLd6 is

deed, it looks as if it has been put on el

squares and attacks b4. And besides,

b4 a6 19 a4 'iie 7 20 �abl b5 21 oltg2

solely to avoid getting in the way of the

after

l2Jg4 22 oltd2 l2Jf6 23 :b2

work of the 'more important' pieces

g3xf4, his bishop might become active

down the a-file.

with .tM. Why should I allows that?

I think most of us would fall for

... .txf4

White

recaptures

Anyway, I can play . . . iLxf4 any time I

Bronstein's positional trap. Only later

want."

do we see the role that the 'harmless'

28 l2Jd3 !

bishop on el is going to play in mating

and

On the contrary, Bronstein under­

the black king.

stands that he shouldn't give his oppo­

25 .. JUeS 26 �b3 WhS 27 IIba2 li'f8?

nent a second chance to exchange on f4. Now he is all set for a 29 axb5 axb5 30 l1a7 breakthrough, so Botvinnik vol­

Scotching any hopes Black might

untarily concedes the fight for the a­

have had of picking up the f7-bishop.

file.

2S .. Jbdl+ 29 ':xdl it'xf7 30 �xcS '.t>h7 31 'ii'x a6 'i!Vf3 32 'iYd 3+ 1-0

2S ...l1ab8 29 axb5 axbs 30 11a7 With his last move Bronstein has signalled

Coordinating the pieces across the whole boa rd

Horrible things often happen to the

his intention of doubling

opponent's king when Bronstein's rook

rooks on the a-file with the sequence of

reaches the seventh rank.

moves l:tal, 'iWb3, to add a defender to

30 ...i::!.e 7 31 l2JeSI

b4, and then Uba2. In the following game, White's rooks

Botvinnik could counter this with

on the queenside are unexpectedly co­

23 ... l2Je4!, as after 24 i.el the plan of

ordinated with his other pieces in the

l:tal would be obstructed. Or if White

Botvinnik adds a defender to a8 as

centre and on the kingside in an attack­

presses ahead with 24 l1al he can ex­

he needs to be able to answer 28 axb5

ing finale. It shows that even the great­

change off with 24 ... l2Jxd2 25 'Yi'xd2 fol­

with 28 . . . axb5. But once again he makes

est players in the history of chess can

lowed by 25 ... .td7. In the absence of

a misjudgment in avoiding

go badly wrong if their judgment of a

White's dark square guardian, Black

change of pieces.

position is too far away from its reality.

can use his pressure against b4 and e3

27 ... iLxf4!' Then after 28 exf4 he has for

for counterplay.

counterplay the e-file and the chance to

Game 28 D.Bronstein-M.Botvinnik 2 2 n d matchga me, Moscow 1 9 5 1 Dutch Defence 1 d4 e6 2 c4 f5 3 g3 l2Jf6 4 iLg2 i..e7 5 80

The game actually continued: 23 ... iLd7? 24 nal l2Je4 25 i.el! It seems that the World Champion

an ex­

should

play

attack d4. Instead, 28 gxf4 looks the better recapture, but 28 ... 'iie6! ? intend­ ing 29 axb5 cxb5 and then 30 ... �g8

got the relative value of his knight on

looks

e4 and his opponent's bishop on el

Black.

completely wrong. It was an easy to

He

more or less

We can easily see why 31.. ..txe5 32

satisfactory for

dxe5 would leave Black in a much

Botvinnik has failed to see the dam­

f4 with 27 ... .ixf4 28 gxf4. The passed

worse way than if he had swapped on

make such a misassessment as the

age that the white knight is going to do

pawn White acquires on e5 is a danger

black horse is sitting on an impressive

to him once he spares its life. He is

in itself, or it could be sacrificed to 81

Chess Se cre ts: Th e G i a n ts of Po we r Play open up an attack on the black king

34.. .l:ha7: 35 lIxa7 �6 36 'iWc3! ii'xh4

with a sequence such as 'iVd3, 'iWd4,

(or similarly 36 . . . .txe5 37 dxe5 "ifxh4 38

.txe4, .tc3 and e5-e6, when the white

e6+) 37 tLJg6+! ..ixg6 38 d5+ �g8 39 'ifg7

queen and bishop are deadly on the

mate.

dark squares.

35 dxes i.xes 36 �f1 'iWg8 37 .tg3!

C h a pte r F o u r

31 .....ie8 32 g4!

I

A second great move, after which the black position begins to totter. The g-pawn undermines e4, breaks open

The Life H istory of a Kn ight

the f-file for the rook, and clears the way for the bishop on el to enter the attack. Note that if Black had played 27 . . ..txf4 then, after 28 gxf4, there wouldn't have been a white g-pawn on the board to cause havoc. 32 ...fxg4 33 .txe4 dxe4 34 ..ih4! If now 37 ... iLxg3

38 iic3+

and

mates, or 37 ...'ihb3 38 I!f8+ 'ifg8 39 .i.xe5, when the bishop that Botvinnik sneered at back at move 23 has check­ mated his king. 37 ... .i.g7 38 "ifxg8+ 1-0 The rook on b8 drops. This is per­ haps Bronstein's best game: he shows enormous strategic vision in combining pressure on the queenside with action in the centre and on the kingside. Not The dark-squared bishop joins the

many players succeeded in outwitting

attack to complete the coordination of

Botvinnik in a positional struggle. The

the white pieces.

World Champion's sins - namely the

34 ....l:i.xes

avoidance of key exchanges - were

Here's

a

possible

finish

after

dealt with in ruthless style.

In this chapter we'll take a look at the

Anderssen. Certainly when the Ameri­

vicissitudes of fortune that a knight

can was playing relatively weak oppo­

might endure on the chess board. We'll

nents in unofficial games he gave his

start with his happiest moments, when

astonishing tactical powers full expres­

he can add his unique power to that of

sion. Here is my favourite example of

the queen in a combination. Then we

his genius for a combination.

shall see him surveying the whole bat­ tlefield from an outpost square, de­ of the attack. After this, the mood darkens, when the knight finds himself caught up in an assault that fails. And finally to his utter shame the horse is hamstrung by the actions

of mere

1 e4 eS 2 tLJf3 d6 3 d4 fS 4 dxes fxe4 5 tLJgs dS 6 e6 ..icS 7 tLJf7 'iVf6 8 .te3 d4 9

pawns.

.i.gs "iVfs 10 tLJxh8 'iNxgs 11 iLC4 "iVxg2

Com binations with the knight

12 I:!.f1 lL'lc6 13 lL'lf7 lL'lf6 14 f3 lL'lb4 15 tLJa 3

As you will be aware from reading this

This position was reached after a

book, Morphy had a stronger grasp of

messy tactical fight. Both kings are

strategy than any of his contemporar­

trapped in the centre. You would imag­

ies. Nonetheless, he has gone down in

ine that Morphy has enough compen­

popular

sation for the exchange, but a tough,

legend

swashbuckling

82

Game 29 T.Barnes-P.Morphy London 1858 Philidor Defence

lighted not fearful to be in the front line

as

tactician,

a

brilliant, not

unlike

double-edged battle still seems to lie 83

C h e s s S e c rets: Th e G i a n ts of P o w e r P l ay

Th e L ife H i s t o ry of a Kn ig h t

ahead. Instead, Morphy's tactical vi­

the bishop check on b4 oblige White to

sion cut through all the complications

part with a knight as well.

and gave Black a decisive advantage in

18 ... .l1.xa3 19 i.b3

just two moves:

To stop mate on b3. 19 ...d2+! Not even letting the white rooks use the e-file. 20 �b1 iLC5 21 liJe5 �f8 22 liJd3 Ue8!

Our two giants evidently assessed

The power of a n outpost

the diagram position in contrasting fashions. Let's tune into their thoughts: 15 ....l1.xe6! 16 .l1.xe6 liJd3+!!

squares where they are supported by a

why Bronstein let his rook be shut out

friendly pawn and can't be evicted by

of the game on b7. He practically in­

an enemy pawn. If a horse can be se­

vited me to give up a piece for two cen­

curely established on such an outpost

tral passed pawns. It looks promising

deep in enemy territory then the game

for me as none of White's pieces are

is often strategically won. Paul Morphy

til the end of the game.

coordinated with each other - his rooks

understood this long before such ideas

23 liJxC5 �xf1 24 liJe6+

are widely separated, the bishop on c1

were codified into the laws of posi­

is passive, the knight is doing nothing

tional chess by the teachings of Steinitz

takes the queen.

much on f4 and, best of all, I'm attack­

and other great thinkers. Morphy knew

24 ...Uxe6 0-1

ing the white queen.

Morphy is tactically sharp right un­

He is mated on the back rank if he

Bronstein: I agree with my oppo­

It's all over, as White will be mated upon 17 cxd3 .ib4+. Unbelievable but true. White perishes because of the weakness

of the b4-square,

despite

Knights love being situated on centre

Geller: I really don't understand

Game 30 D.Bronstein-E.Gelier USSR C h a m pion s h i p, Moscow 1961 Nimzo-Indian Defence

Black only having two pieces - the

intuitively what others had to discover through hard work and deep analysis.

nent's assessment. But I have the most powerful weapon in chess: the next move! 20 �g6!! 1-0 Black had to resign as after 20 . . . fxg6 the reply 21 Uxg7+ and 22 liJxg6 mate

Game 31 P.Morphy-L.Paulsen New York 1 8 5 7 Sicilian Defence

follows.

queen and bishop - involved in the

1 d4 liJf6 2 c4 e6 3 liJC3 i.b4 4 a3 ..ixc3+

It turns out that the white queen

attack.

5 bxc3 0-0 6 f3 d5 7 cxd5 exd5 8 e3 .if5

and rook on b7, which appear to be cut

Morphy plays a prototype Morra

9 liJe2 liJbd7 10 liJf4 c5 11 .id3 .l1.xd3

off from each other, can join forces in

Gambit. After 3. . . e5 4 c3! (but not 4

beyond hope against Morphy.

12 �xd3 Ue8 13 0-0 Uc8 14 Ub1 �a 5

mating the black king, along with the

liJxe5? �a5+) White will gain an initia­

17 �xd3 exd3 18 0-0-0

15 Uxb7 liJb6 16 g4 h6 17 h4 cxd4 18 g5

pawn on f6 and our hero the knight on

tive for the pawn, so Paulsen leads

dxe3 19 gxf6 UXC3

f4.

play into the main line.

Barnes gives up his queen, but it's

The double threat of mate on e2 and 84

1 e4 c5 2 d4 cxd4 3 liJf3

85

Chess Secrets: Th e G ia n ts of Po we r Play 3 ...e6 4 ttJxd4 i.cs

Th e L ife H i s t o ry of a K n ig h t differently. Paulsen makes no effort to

A modem interpretation of this idea

free his queenside pieces, but instead

would be 4 ... a6 5 SLd3 SLc5 6 ttJb3 i.a7.

starts a kingside attack. This is doomed

With the white bishop on d3 blocking

to failure against a resourceful oppo­

the queen's view of the d6-square, i.f4

nent.

could be met by seizing centre ground

S ...fS 9 eS a6 10 �e2 ttJbc6 11 0-0 1:tf7

with ... d7-d6 and . . . e6-e5, assuming

12 h1 f4?

that Black didn't have an even better

with the knight, adding new power to

file and the attack on the black rook.

his kingside attack.

An aggressive gesture that very

tactical response.

kindly gives the white knight the e4-

S ttJb3 .ib6 6 ttJC3 ttJe7 7 SLf4 O-O?

square.

It was imperative to free his game

once due to the threat of mate on the h­

13 ttJe4 ttJfS 14 .ihS!

with 7. . . d5!, even though it meant be­ ing saddled with an isolated pawn. S SLd6! 19 .. :iVgs Being tied to the defence of a weak pawn is seldom a good role for a self­

an even better post for the white knight appears on f6. A very simple example of removing

14 ... g6 lS �g4 ttJg7 16 �f3 hS

the energy from the opponent's posi­

The 'attack' continues. It can have

tion. If you stop your opponent from

no positional justification when Black

moving his d-pawn, you stop him de­

has a rook and bishop entombed on the

veloping his bishop on cS, which in

queenside, but Morphy nevertheless

tum stops him developing his rook on

has to be vigilant.

a8. While Black is concerned with ex­

17 i.h3 �h4 18 ttJf6+ 'it>hS 19 'iYe4!

tricating these pieces from the bind, he

When you have achieved ascen­

is going to be outgunned in the strug­

dancy on the dark squares, you should

gle for control of the centre. Morphy

always

look

for

a winning break­

can use his extra power either to begin

through on a light square. Here White

a direct attack on the black king or to

has d6, e5 and f6 in his grasp, so Mor­

assail the backward pawn on d7. In the game things happen rather 86

phy tries to conquer g6. If he is allowed to play 20 'ilVxg6 the game would end at

tactics should support strategy. Only one white minor piece

respecting queen.

wasn't contributing to the harmony of

20 g31

the white position, and that was the

An excellent move. Morphy plans

Provoking Black's reply, after which

You won't ever see a better example of the adage that

knight on b3. So Morphy brings it into

to open the f-file for his rooks with

action

20 . . . fxg3 21 fxg3!. You can see that the

square, as after 21.. .'Wxd2 22 'iYxg6 ':xf6

through

the

'forbidden'

d2-

logic of the position is against Paulsen.

(what else?) 23 exf6 Black has to resign.

It is White, not Black, who is bound to

21 ... i.dS 22 ttJxf3 'ii'h6 23 .l::tg1

prosper from the German Master's ill

Planning 24 g4 when if 24 ... h4 25 g5

conceived plan of throwing forward

traps the queen. It makes sense for

his pawns on the kingside. How could

Black to keep the g-file blocked, but

it be otherwise when Black is minus the

24 . . .h4 is an example of strategy

services of a rook and bishop?

being supported by tactics!

20 ...f3

2 3 ...SLXf6

not

Paulsen tries to keep the kingside

Paulsen succeeds in eliminating the

closed. He hopes to deflect the white

white knight, but the opening of lines

queen so that 21 "iVxf3 ttJxe5 allows him

soon proves fatal.

to loosen some of the bind (though

24 exf6 ttJeS?

even here 22 �c3! is still excellent for White). 21 ttJd211 Brilliant. Instead of capturing on f3

He

should

fight

it

out

with

24 . . .�xf6, even though 25 ttJe5 looks entirely gruesome - he would soon be mated by l;Iafl etc if he took the pawn

with his queen, which would have lost

on f2.

energy, Morphy intends to take on f3

2S i.f4 CLlxf6 87

The L ife History of a Kn ig h t

C h e s s Se crets: The G ia n ts of P o w e r Play 2S... 'ii'h7 26 tiJgS etc is no better.

The power of a knight on fS

This is a standard move if White has committed himself to d2-d4, when

26 'iVxc6! Nowadays the desperado is a famil­

Black loses a piece. 17 i.b1 tiJxe4 Consistent with his previous moves,

what

Black can exert pressure along the c-file

iar tactical motif, but Paulsen appears

prompted him to start his investiga­

after ... cSxd4 etc. Here, however, Geller

but it leads to a lot of trouble.

to have overlooked it.

tions into the King's Indian Defence­

is able to manoeuvre quietly with the

18 .iLb2

26.. :iWxf4 27 'i!Vxc8+

was the powerful urge to deny the

aim of embarrassing the queen with a

I like the nonchalance of the moves

white knight the fS-square with a quick

future tiJdS. Instead, Black managed to

16 b3 and 18 i.b2: White calmly de­

... g7-g6. The next two games show us

hold on after 1 1 . . .tiJc6 12 tiJf1 Ite8 13 h3

ploys his bishop and leaves Black to

why, as an unchallenged horse hovers

h6 14 d4 cxd4 15 cxd4 exd4 16 tiJxd4

figure out how to meet the threat of 19

like one of the Valkyries over the bat­

tiJxd4 17 'ii'xd4 i.b7 in G.Kasparov­

a3 CDc6 20 tiJdS.

tlefield.

p.svidler, Linares 1999.

18 ... .iLb7

A vital zwischenzug. 27 ...J:.xc8 28 gxf4 .:!:XC2 29 Itac1

Bronstein

once

said

that

Kotov develops and prepares to an­

12 CDf1 tiJc6 13 tiJe3 Ire8?!

Game 32 E.Gelier-A.Kotov USSR Cha m pion s h i p, Moscow 1955 Ruy Lopez

The immediate 13 ... .te6 to control the dS-square looks

more

sensible,

swer 19 a3 with 19 .. .tZJdS. 19 d S ! !

though White can get a slight edge with 14 tiJgS!? intending IS 'it'f3, and then if permitted 16 CDxe6 fxe6 17 'it'h3! with some pressure on the e6-pawn. 14 d4 14 CDd5!? looks quite strong.

1 e4 es 2 lDf3 tiJc6 3 .tbS a6 4 iLa4 tiJf6 Black is a piece down and, in trying

S 0-0 !iL.e7 6 l::.e1 bS 7 i.b3 0-0 8 d 3

to get some more pawns as compensa­

Geller's restrained approach t o the

tion, he permits Morphy to finish the

opening has been used with success by

game with a mating attack.

both Fischer and Kasparov. Notably,

29 ...nxf2 30 Itc8+ tiJg8 31 tiJe5 !lg7 3 2

the Marshall Gambit theory fest after 8

tiJxg6+ � h 7 3 3 tiJf8+ �h6 3 4 tiJxd7!

c3 dS is avoided.

This is all very elegantly played. It

14 ... exd4 1S exd4 i.f8?!

8 ... d6 9 c3 tiJa5 10 .te2 c5 11 tiJbd2

made rather unpleasantly aware of the

A successful attack depends on ob­ structing the action of the defender's pieces as well as opening lines for your own pieces. Geller's move closes the diago­

weakness of his opponents.

nal of Black's bishop on b7 and pre­

is impossible not to love Morphy's en­

'it'c7?!

ergy, even when we are sometimes

34.. Jlxd7 35 rl.cxg8 lIxf4 36 !iL.xe6 l:!.e7

vents his knight returning to the centre

37 l:t8g6+ �h7 38 .tg8+ �h8 39 �h6+

with 19 . . . tiJdS. The consequences of 19 Kotov plays to win a pawn. He

dS will be felt right until the end of the

should prefer lS ... cxd4 16 tiJxd4 tiJxd4

game. The knight on b4 will never be

!lh7 If this was a game played in the

17

that Paulsen must have been in such

White.

king, either directly or indirectly, and

desperate time pressure that he didn't

16 b3! lDb4

when the bishop on b7 tries to help the

have the chance to resign. 40 liIxh7 mate 88

'it'xd4 with some

advantage

to

involved in the defence of the black

20th century I would be tempted to say

A necessary preliminary to pawn grabbing, as if 16 ... tiJxe4?? 17 CDd5 and

defence it ends up blocking the vital action of its own rook. 89

Chess Secrets: Th e G ia n ts of Po we r Play Geller's move also introduces the threat of 20 a3, trapping the black

The L ife H i s t o ry of a K n ig h t 24 ....l:r.xel+ 25 J:bel hxgs

Next up is a game between two of

If 2S ... .ixdS White is nevertheless

Kotov

the greatest forces in the history of

able to exploit the weakness of the f7-

doesn't have the chance to reinforce his

chess. Emanuel Lasker became W orId

square: 26 .ixg7! �xg7 27 'u'e7 'iiVc8 28

Champion

knight,

which

means

that

in

1894,

and

Alekhine's

with it in tournament games. 11 ...lZ'lsf6 The

correct

way

to

kingside defences before the storm

lZ'lxf7! with decisive threats, such as 29

breaks.

reign ended in 1946. Once again the

lZ'lg3 Black can't play 12 . . .eS.

lZ'l7xh6+ or the quiet 29 'iWg6! aiming to

19 ...e4

12 lZ'lg3 es 13 0-0 exd4 14 lZ'lfs

mate on g7.

knight on fS is a vital attacking force.

So 20 a3 c3! (better than 20 . . . lZ'ld3) 21

26 ne3!

.iel c2! is a nuisance for White. 20 bxe4 bxe4 21 .ixe4! White has to overcome a psycho­ logical barrier in making this move, as

White attacks the black queen at

Game 33 A.Alekhine-Em.Lasker Zurich 1934 Queen 's Gambit

the light-squared bishop is a wonderful exchange on e4 wins vital time to bring his queen and knights into the attack. Here 'power play, part two' has be­ the advantage that has been gained in the preparatory phase. From now on

14..JiVdB 15 lZ'l3xd4 ttJes 16 .ib3 .ixfs 17 lZ'lxfs that Alekhine avoided with 11 lZ'le4 has

.ltgs lZ'lbd7 6 e3 0-0 7 lIel e6 B .id3

occurred after all, but with the differ­

dxe4 9 .ixe4 lZ'lds

ence that White's knight has been swapped for the black

bishop rather knight. In situations such as this,

manoeuvre.

than

10 i.xe7 'ttxe7 11 lZ'le4

the white bishop on b3 is always going to be slightly

The white rook prepares to swing to h3 to finish matters.

endgame with 17 . . . 'iVxdl 18 .l:f.fxdl very appealing, especially as lZ'ld6 is loom­

If 26 . . . .ixdS 27 nh3 f6 28 'iVg6 with

ing.

the winning threat of 29 lZ'lh6+ 'it>h8 30

17 ...'iVb6?

lZ'lf7+ 'it>g8 31 .iIh8 mate. Instead, after

In avoiding the slightly worse end­

26 . . . f6 27 'iiVg6 i.c8 28 lDh6+ 'it>h8 Black

game Lasker unexpectedly falls under

has kept the rook out of h3, but it can

a direct attack. Alekhine's play from

strike lethally from another direction:

now on is superb. He knows that if he

29 .ixf6! lZ'lxdS 30 lIe8 and again White

is lazy for even one move his oppo­

wins. 27 .ixg7! One of Geller's favourite techniques is to combine a frontal attack down an open file with pressure along a key

superior to a black

knight. Hence Lasker doesn't find the

26....ieB

If Black had left his queen on d8

has the c7-square available to her - a better square than d8, as will be seen.

1 d4 ds 2 e4 e6 3 lZ'le3 lZ'lf6 4 lZ'lf3 .ie7 5

Lasker plays the Capablanca freeing

gun: the sharp, tactical exploitation of

21 .. J:txe4 22 lZ'lgs

once, as after 14 lZ'lxd4 lZ'leS IS lZ'lgfS she

So the exchange of minor pieces

attacking piece. On the other hand, the

Kotov is hit by one threat after another.

challenge

White's knight, as after 1 1 .. .lZ'l7f6 12

nent, perhaps the most resourceful de­ White retains the knight which is

fender in the history of chess, will slip

usually exchanged off after 11 0-0 lZ'lxc3

out. For example, if left in peace Black

12 1:txc3 eS.

completely equalizes with 18 .. J�ad8.

This was something of an Alekhine

Therefore White has to keep hitting the

back at move 11 this knight move

diagonal. Here the diversionary sacri­

would have been ruled out.

speciality. He used it eight times in his

black position with direct threats.

fice on g7 will win time for an invasion

22 ...l:te7 23 'iWhs h6 24 lZ'lfs ll

1927 match with Capablanca, but his

lB 'ifd6!

on e8.

score of eight draws wasn't entirely

27 ....ixg7 2B l:teB+ i.fB 29 l:!.xfB+! 1-0

satisfactory.

Black's pieces are allowed no res­ pite. 90

It's mate on h8 next move.

As we shall discuss in the next

On the other hand he

chapter, Alekhine was unsurpassed in

managed four wins and two draws

the art of finding attacking squares for 91

Th e L ife History of a K n ig h t

Chess Se crets: The G i a n ts of P o wer Play his queen. It isn't an easy skill to learn

rejoins the fight. Besides attacking the

- if the queen is kept a little too far

white knight she would be in a posi­

from the battle an attack often fails for

tion to swing over to e5, challenging

want of energy; if she is put a little too

the dominance of the white queen.

much into the melee she can be either

20 'ii'g 3 g6

23 e4!

towards the right of the board, rather than the centre. In any case, after say 24 .. :�c7 25 !lcd1, Black is under severe pressure and would have little chance of holding out against an Alekhine. 25 lLlf5+ 'it>h8 26 "iVxg611 1-0

exchanged off for the enemy queen or hounded by the other enemy pieces. Alekhine normally aimed to stick his queen somewhere on the third rank, where she could boss the battlefield whilst keeping out of range of the en­ emy's fire. Here he has seen that the g3-square will become available after There are two ideas behind this

Black's reply.

move. The first is to advance 24 e5, which would drive the knight back from f6 and introduce tactics, such as a Black is still only one move from be­ ing perfectly okay, as 21.. .lLlc5 would exchange off White's strong bishop and begin simplification down the d-file with .. Jlxd1 and ... J:!.d8 etc. In that case,

If 1 8 .. JIfe8? 19 lLle7+ or 18 ... lLlfd7?

queen in a direct attack on the king­

is fitting that Alekhine's fine manoeu­

side. Lasker is so preoccupied with tak­ ing measures against the first idea that

would be rather isolated on g3.

he completely misses the strength of

sures that the focus of events is on the kingside, so that it is his queen rather

19 f4 and Black drops material. Ideally

than Lasker's that is full of energy. 21 "it'g51

shield the g-file, but 18 ... lLlg6 allows 1 9

The black knight on d7 is paralysed

lLlh6+ gxh6 (the pressure o n f 7 from

by the need to keep f6 defended, and

White's bishop rules out 19 .. .'�h8?) 20

so the vital freeing move 21...lLlc5 is

"iVxf6 etc, when his pawns have been

prevented.

smashed up.

21 .. .';t;hS 22 lLld6 'it>g7 White has all his pieces on excellent

A routine move that loses the game.

attacking squares, but he still needs to

The last chance Black had to save him­

find extra power to overcome the de­

self was to correct his 17th move with

fence. As so often this is supplied by a

19 .. :�a5! or 19 ... "iVb5!, when his queen

humble foot soldier.

92

A beautiful end to the game, for if 26 ... hxg6 27 .t1h3+ lLlh6 28 J:!.xh6 mate. It

Lasker's queen would be in the thick of

he would like to use his knight to

19 11fd1 !lad8?

with e5-e6. The other idea is to clear the way for a white rook to join the

the action, while her white counterpart With his next move Alekhine en­ 1S ... lLled7

piece sacrifice on f7 followed by a fork

the second one.

vres with his queen were capped with her sacrifice.

Sometimes you have to retreat to go forwards

23 ...lLlgS 24 1:[d3 Alekhine is in no rush to play 24 e5. He prepares to double rooks on the d­ file, while also giving his opponent the chance to fall for a trap. 24...f61 The black knight has retreated to g8 to avoid being hit by e4-e5, and now a

Game 34 E.Gelier-S.Gligoric USSR vs Rest of the World match, Belgrade 1970 RUy Lopez

barrier is put up against the white pawn advance. Evidently Lasker felt he

1 e4 e5 2 lLlf3 lLle6 3 iLb5 a6 4 .ia4 lLlf6

had survived the worst, and would

5 0-0 i.e7 6 l:1e1 b5 7 iLb3 d6 8 e3 0-0 9

even be able to use the e5-point as a

h3 h6 10 d4 l:1e8 11 lLlbd2 id8 12 lLlf1

base for his knight with 25 . . .lLle5. Alas

.ib7 13 lLlg3 lLla5 14 iLe2 lLle4 15 b3

for him, he should have been looking

lLlb6 16 iLb2 lLlbd7 17 'iWd2 e5 18 J:!.ad1 93

The L ife History of a Knig h t

Chess Secrets: The Gia n ts of P o w e r Play 'iia 5 19 dxc5 dXc5 20 c4 b4 21 a4 fliC7 22 ttJf5

In return for two minor pieces, Geller has a rook and a mobile centre pawn. He has succeeded in pushing

Threatening 31 ttJe7+! iLxe7 32 'i'h7+ and mate next move. 30 ... �g6 31 �e2!

back the black knight from f6, but how is he to continue his initiative? If noth­ ing happens fast Gligoric will be able to organize his pieces and come out on top. Once again Geller found the way to give his pieces vital energy. 27 ttJh411 We all admire 'loud' moves such as 23 ttJxe5!, but it is often an unobtrusive,

The white pawns have succeeded in

quiet move of this kind which wins a

bagging the black queen.

game. Its paradoxical nature means Here Gligoric played: 22 ...ttJb8 He intends the manoeuvre ... ttJc6

that it catches the opponent off guard, as he has only been looking out for ob­ vious 'body blows'.

and ... ttJd4. This is a great positional

It seems that Philidor was right af­

idea, but for the space of one move it

ter all when he claimed that the pieces

puts the knight out of the game and

were the servants of the pawns. The

leaves Black's centre under-defended.

knight is ordered to retreat from its

In chess as well as life, you have to

dream outpost on f5, as the f-pawn

strike while the iron is hot. Geller has

wants to use the square.

one fleeting moment to carry out his

27 ...ttJc6

attack or it will be too late. He seized

If Geller had shown any indecision on the previous move, the Serbian

23 ttJxe 5 ! Itxe5 24 iLxe5 'i'xe5 25 f4

Grandmaster would be in a position to complete

his

development

with

2B ... lIdB. Instead, he is overwhelmed by a series of forcing moves. 28 'iWd3! The threat of mate on h7 compels Black to make a 'hook' on g6 for White's f4-f5 advance. Bronstein once said of a similar situation: "along with the witty and subtle finesses aimed at provoking weakenings of the king's pawn cover, one should not forget such things as one-move mate threats." 28 ...g6 29 f5 ! gxf5 30 ttJxf5 94

36 "iVf4 .ltxg7 37 'ikC71

be menaced by the knight check on e7.

As I remark elsewhere, players tend

In running away she falls into a more

to 'back off' once they have won mate­

insidious trap.

rial. Not so Geller: he keeps on harass­

31 .. :i'g5?

ing the black pieces and concludes the

Necessary was 31...'i:Ye6. Then Geller

game in the quickest way.

gives a variation which is characteristic

37 ... ltb8 38 ltd6 ttJg4 39 l:txc6 .ltd4+ 40

of his power play style: 32 'iWe4! (notice

�f1 1-0

the way he gets his queen from d3 to e4

his chance with: �e6 26 e5 ttJe8

33 ... flixe5 34 'ii'g4+ 'iig7 35 ttJxg7 ttJf6 Now it's the black queen's tum to

with gain of time so that his rook can use the open d-file) 32 .. :i'g6 33 �d7!

A battle between potential outposts

(one of the Ukrainian Grandmaster's favourite tactical devices is the combi­ nation of diagonal pressure against the enemy king with the utilization of an open file in the centre) 33 . . . iLcB 34 e6! (and here is another feature of his style: the pawn ram! - both c6 and £7 are now

Game 35 D.Bronstein.S.Gligoric Moscow 1967 RUy Lopez

attacked, so Black has no choice but to give White a passed pawn) 34 ... iLxd7

1 e4 e5 2 ttJf3 ttJc6 3 iLb5 a6 4 i..a4 ttJf6

35 exd7 ttJg7 36 ttJxg7 'it>xg7 37 'iixg6+

5 0-0 i.e7 6 iLxc6 dxc6 7 d3 ttJd7 8

fxg6 38 iLe4! and White regains his

ttJbd2 0-0 9 ttJc4 f6 10 ttJh4 ttJC5 11 ttJf5

piece with 39 .ixc6, when the d-pawn

i..xf5 12 exf5 l;Ie8 13 b3 'iVd5 14 iLb2 e4

wins the game for him.

15 ttJe3 �f7 16 d4 ttJd7 17 flig4 c5 18

32 h4 iif4 33 g3!

flixe4 cxd4 19 iLxd4 c6 20 lIad1 ttJC5 21 95

Chess S e c rets: The G i a n ts of P o w e r Play

The L ife H is t o ry of a Knig h t

An attack with knights doesn't always win!

�g4 ..tf8 22 tLlc4 lIad8 23 ..te3 bS 24

the pin on the d-file means that Bron­

lLld2 ndS 2S c4 'udd8 26 cxbS cxbS 2 7

stein can't reply lLle6. In fact the pres­

lLlf3 1.:tdS 28 lLld4 lIees 2 9 �d2 1Vd7 30

sure on d4 would be so great that he

lIcl b4

would have to try to save himself with

an outpost near the opponent's king is more valuable than an outpost on the other wing.

the exchange sacrifice 33 l:tdxc3.

Or as a great player once remarked:

sins, such as allowing a piece to be shut

32 lidc21 ':xd4

"when you put a knight on e6 you can

out of the game or gratuitously weak­

These variations demonstrate an important rule of dynamic strategy:

If the defender has avoided any chess

go to sleep - the game will win itself!"

ening his defences, there is no reason

33 :c7!

why he should fall victim to a pair of

Black has avoided the danger from

marauding knights. Here for the sake

the white knight, but at the cost of the

of

rooks infiltrating into his position.

sive/counterattacking effort by Veselin

33 ... 'ilVds

Topalov against an over-eager attack.

balance

is

a

fine

defen­

The outpost on c3 wouldn't save Black any longer, as after 33 ... lLlc3 34 lixd7 .uxd7 he lacks the one move needed for consolidating with . . . a6-a5, Here

Bronstein

might

have

re­

which gives White the chance to create

treated his knight with 31 lLlf3, when

a passed pawn with 35 �c4+ �f7 36

he has some edge after 31 . . .lIe4 32 'iVh3.

Gligoric is jubilant as he has elimi­

Game 36 A.Morozevich-V.Topalov Dortm u n d 2001 Petroff Defence

�xa6 l:txf5 37 a4!.

Admittedly his queen would be rather

nated the threat of lLle6 and expects to

out of things, but he could hope to

gain two pieces for a rook. Instead, he

The modern elite player with the

build up pressure against the rather

should have modestly taken control of

style closest to that of Adolf Anderssen

loose black queenside while his oppo­

his own outpost with 32 ...lLlc3, when

is Alexander Morozevich. He tries to

nent was preoccupied with regaining

the white rooks are shut out.

generate double-edged, obscure posi­

34 i..xd4 �xd4 3 s lIxg7+!!

1 e4 eS 2 lLlf3 lLlf6

his pawn. However, Bronstein saw a

Not that this would have given him

tions which suit his combinative flair

clever tactical trap that allows him to

an easy life, as White can then jump

and keen eye for tactical chances. Most

pursue a far more powerful strategy.

into e6. After 33 lLle6! Black has no time

players try to push their opponent over

31 h 3 !

to

with

the cliff's edge while avoiding the drop

dismantle

the

outpost

Making a hole o n h2 t o escape back

33 ... lIxf5? as White can return the com­

themselves. In contrast, Morozevich is

rank threats, but also giving his oppo­

pliment in the severest style with 34

willing to plummet earthwards whilst

nent the chance to err. If now 31.. .l:te4

lLlxf8 <;t>xf8 35 �xb4+, not only disman­

grappling with his opponent, confident

32 li'd1 ! and this time the white queen

tling the outpost but

stays in the thick of the action.

knight as well! If Black supported his

31 ...lLle4

outpost with 33 ... .td6

winning the (or similarly

that he will find an outlying branch to Bronstein had to foresee this mating move before he played 31 h3.

grab at the last moment. Against such a dangerous adver­

Both sides have advanced pawns

33 ... a5 34 a3! ) White can break open a

3S ...i..xg7 36 lic8+ cj;;f7 37 'iih S+ rtie7

sary, Topalov decides he should qui­

that provide outposts for their knights

new line for his rooks with 34 a3! as 35

38 'iWe8+ rtid6 39 lic6+

etly centralize his pieces. He wants

in enemy territory. White's pawn on f5

axb4 axb4 36 l:ta2 ! ! . If now 36 . . . lLlxa2 37

supports lLle6; the black pawn on b4

l:tc8+! and, thanks to the power of the

self too much to play 39 �d8 mate.

complications start. The dull Petroff is

supports . . .lLlc3. Gligoric hopes to seize

knight on e6, Black is mated by 37 ... i..f8

39...cj;;d S 40 "iVd7+ 1-0

the perfect way to provoke his restless

his own base after 32 l:td3? lLlc3, when

38 llxf8 or 37. . . �f7 38 �xg7 mate.

96

Evidently White was enjoying him­

It is mate in two moves.

solid ground under his feet when the

opponent into premature action. 97

Th e L ife H i s t o ry of a K n ig h t

Chess Se crets: The G ia n ts of P o w e r Play 3 liJxe5 d6 4 liJf3 liJxe4 5 ..td3

Aha! The bishop is already dream­ ing of mating the black king on h7 ... 5...liJf6 6 h3 ..te7 7 0-0 0-0 8 e3 e5 9

queen and bishop battery against h7 is

knight still on e4. But on the positive

centralization defeating a premature

triumphant.

to

side, unlike after 19 liJeg5, there is no

attack. Topalov pins the knight and so

calculate 20 . . . g6 21 liJxf7! i.. f5 (it's mate

pin on the e-file, so Topalov can acti­

threatens the simple 23 . . . ..txe4 24 ..txe4

in one if the knight is captured) 22

vate his bishop.

lIxg5.

liJxd8! i..xd3 23 Ihe8 1i.xc2? (he is los­

21 ... ..td 5 ! 22 "iVh 5?

forced.

Morozevich

ing too much material anyhow) 24

White is too ambitious. He should

l:txf8+! 'it>xf8 25 liJe6+ and the black

make do with the quirky 22 liJh7!. Then

queen is lost.

the

knight

is

taboo

because

if

Therefore

White's

reply

is

2 3 f4 !!f5 ! Intending t o get maximum value from having his rook on his fourth

b) 19 ... hxg5? 20 liJxg5 g6 (Black's

22 . . . 'it>xh7? 23 liJf6+ 'it>h8 24 l:lxe8! (even

rank. White's position would start to

king won't survive long after 20 . . . i.. d6

better than 24 liJxe8, winning the ex­

crumble if he allows the f4-pawn to fall

21 "Yi'h5) 21 i.xg6! fxg6 22 liJxe6 "Yi'f7 23

change) 24... gxf6? 25 'iNd3 and the at­

to the black queen.

liJxd8 1::!.xd8 and White has a rook and

tack on h7 comes up trumps. Instead,

24 g3 g6 25 "Yi'h4 e4!!

two pawns plus attacking chances for

after 22 . . . 1i.e7 23 liJxc5! the tactics work

two pieces.

out in White's favour, the simplest be­

19

ing 23 . . . 1i.xc5?? 24 !he8+ and mates,

•..

l:td61

Rebuffing White's attack with the

..te2 liJe6 10 d4 i.e6 11 I1el h6 12 .ie3

power of centralization.

l:te8 13 liJbd2 i.f8 14 liJe4 liJd 5

20 liJe4

Topalov sees the chance to grab his

needed

Back again - no harm has been

beloved bishop pair. Morozevich isn't

done in seeing if Black would falter.

too concerned as it allows his heavy

20 ...�dd8 21 liJfg5!

while the attack on h7 wins again after 23 ... 'it>h8 24 liJf6! gxf6 25 "iVd3 etc. So Black would have to respond with the simplifying 22 . . . ..txe4! 23 .l:Ixe4 J:!.e7! (not giving White the chance to set up the queen and bishop battery

pieces to take up an aggressive posture

with 23 .. .1he4? 24 "Yi'xe4) 24 liJxf8 (now

along the e-file.

after 24 liJf6+? gxf6 White has no good

15 dxe5 liJxe3 16 l:txe3 dxe5 17 "iVe2

follow-up to his attack, as Black can

"WIe7 18 l:tel ltad8 19 liJeg5!?

defend

with

. . . .tg7

as

necessary)

24 ... 'it>xf8 with about equal chances. 22 ...�e5!!

The value of this pawn push be­ comes clear at move 29. Black could already go for the line 2S . . .hxgS 26 liJxgS �xgS 27 "iVxgS, but with the white pieces in a tangle there is no need to rush. 26 'it>h2 Morozevich

can't

extricate

his

knight with 26 liJ£3, as after 26 ... .lte7! 27

The first probe. Black is given two chances to go wrong: a) If 19 . . . .id7? 20 'i'd3! when the 98

White tries again with his other

"ii'xh6 ..txe4! (but not 27 ... l:thS?? 28

knight. Now 21.. .hxg5 22 liJxgS would

liJf6+! when Black is mated in two

transpose to variation 'b' in the note to

moves - you can never be too careful!)

19 liJeg5.

28 .¥i.xe4 l:thS the white queen's reckless

You can see that Black doesn't have

adventure on the h-file has led to her

the ... J:1d6 defence that he used at move 19, as the rook would hang to the

being trapped. A classic example of the power of

26

•.•

Wg7 27 "Yi'g4 hxg5 99

Ch ess Secrets: The G ia n ts of P o w e r Play At last it is the right moment to

Th e L ife History of a K n ig h t resistance smacks of time trouble.

takes the material.

one of his earlier games ...

34 �xfS gxfs 35 tle8 tld 7 36 tld 2 �f6

28 lL'lxgS tlxgs 29 �xgs �b6!

13 ...b4! 14 tZJb1

37 �gl lL'les 38 �2 lL'ld 3+ 39 �e3 .i.c6

Topalov's defence against White's attack is made all the easier thanks to his 2Sth move which allows his queen

40 tlb8 tle7+ 0-1 White's final ignominy is that his king is mated after 41 �d4 tle4.

to engage in a counterattack. 30 fS

The weakness of a knight denied centre squares Having praised the knight for most of

ondly, Black has ruled out the pawn ram e4-eS without allowing any lL'lfS

After 14 lL'le2 the white queen is no longer defending e4, so Black can fairly

e4-eS, lL'lbS or lL'lxe6 all gone out of the

safely snaffle a pawn with 14 ... tZJxe4 IS

window, the white queen is looking

i.xe7 �xe7. Naturally, if Kamsky had

rather shut out of things on h3.

wanted to play a double-edged pawn

This brief assessment shows us how

sacrifice he would have given up the

14 ... eS! has sapped most of the energy

poisoned pawn on move eight!

out of the white position. Topalov's

14...eS!

queenside pawns are mobile, and can be supported in their advance by the

this chapter, we shall now attempt to

black pieces, whereas Kamsky's pieces

bury it. Its chief weakness, compared

and pawns are no longer cooperating

to the bishop, is that it can't control

together to generate active play. In

squares from a distance. Therefore it

other words, White's game is passive.

can be a feeble piece if it is denied a

lS lL'lld2 a s !

safe post in or near the centre.

This pawn thrust i s all the better for

Topalov had studied Gata Kam­

being delayed a move. Good moves

sky's games in the Poisoned Pawn

need to be played at the right moment!

Variation and seen a chance to disrupt White has many successes in this book through thrusting his f-pawn at

followed by .i.xg6! and 31 fxg6 are looming. But Topalov has prepared well for this move with 2S ... c4! and 29 . . :iVb6! '

pieces and pawns. With his last two pawn moves To­

complete

answer

to

White's

threats, for if 31 tlxe7 Black mates in one move! 31 �f4 �xb2 Topalov's attack gets in first as Morozevich lacks time to play 32 tlxe7 and 33 f6+. 32 tlxe7 "iVXC2+ 33 tl1e2 "iVxfs

World Cup, Khanty Mansiysk 200S,

1 e4 cS 2 lL'lf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 lL'lxd4 lL'lf6

From this central square it introduced

5 lL'lC3 a6 6 .i.gs e6 7 f4 "iVb6 8 lL'lb3 White wants a more positional fight and so declines to offer the pawn. 8 ... ii.e7 9 "iVf3 tZJbd7 10 0-0-0 "iVC7 11 ii.d3 bS 12 tlhe1 .i.b7 13 �h 3? A poor move that allows his knight on c3 to be driven out of the game.

The disappearance of the f-pawn

More circumspect was 13 �bl, when if

robs White of any way to cause prob­

13 . . .b4 14 lL'le2 keeps the knight central­

lems for the black king. His continued

ized. But Kamsky was still following

1 00

palov wins the opening battle. In an

Game 37 G.Kamsky-V.Topalov Sofia 2006 Sicilian Defence

30....i.e7! A

16 �b1 a4 17 lL'lc1

the harmony between the American's

the black defences. Indeed, it looks highly menacing here as both 31 f6+

attack. And thirdly, with ideas such as

earlier game G.Kamsky-LSmirin, FIDE Black

had

played

the

immediate

14 ... aS?!, which had allowed White's knight to become active with IS lL'ld4!. ideas of both lL'lbS and the sacrifice tZJxe6. What's more, Black could no longer play . . .e6-eS without allowing

17 ...0-0!

the dangerous lL'lfS move, which meant

It is interesting that Topalov doesn't

that the pawn ram e4-eS was always a

rush into 17 ... a3, forcing 18 b3. If then

latent threat. White's game was there­

18 ... "iVc3? 19 lL'lc4 and the white knights

fore

have the last laugh after all with the

dynamic.

Now let's examine the situation af­

threat of 20 tZJe2 trapping the queen.

ter 14 . . . eS. Firstly, the white knight has

The black pawn thrust 17 ... a3 looks

been denied a central post on d4. Sec-

tremendously strong at first glance, but 101

Ch ess Secrets: The G ia n ts of Po wer Play

Th e L ife H i s t o ry of a K n ig h t

should be held back unless there is a

Therefore Kamsky is obliged to defend

convincing follow-up. After all, if Black

his knight on c4 with the game move,

is unable to exploit the hole on c3, all

which does Black's work for him by

he has done is renounce the potentially

opening the a-file.

more useful plan of opening lines with

Here we see the excellence of Topa­

... b4-b3.

lov's judgment in holding back the

18 tLle2 l:tfc8 19 tLlg3

. . . a4-a3 pawn thrust at move 1 7.

The white knight has taken three

21 ... axb3 22 cxb3 tLlcS

moves to get in range of the fS-square,

If now 23 �f1 �a7 etc is soon over­

whereas it could have got there in one

whelming. Therefore Kamsky tries to

move after

14 ... aS? !

15 tLld4.

Even

confuse matters by offering the e4-

worse, its journey proves a waste of

pawn.

time as it is once again thwarted by a

23 tLle2 tLlfxe41

pawn move. 19...g6!

The weakness of a kn ight against a passed pawn

Already Black is poised to seize a space advantage with . . .e6-eS. 9 �b3 'it>h8 10 'iVC3 esl

Compared to the bishop, the knight is

A simple example of tactics sup­

notoriously poor at dealing with an

porting

advancing passed pawn. We shall see

ceeded in holding back his opponent's

how Alekhine exploited this to score a

expansion in the centre, since if 11 dxeS

famous victory.

dxeS 12 tLlxeS? tLlxe5 13 �xe5 "*,xd2

strategy:

White hasn't suc­

and Black has won a piece.

Game 38 E.Bogoljubow-A.Alekhine Hasti ngs 1922 Dutch Defence

Topalov foresees that he will drop

11 e3 a s ! Not only restraining any counter­ play with b2-b4, but also preparing to take the initiative on the queenside. 12 b3 'iWe8!

the exchange but gain an irresistible The white queen is now a pitiful

attack.

sight, boxed in by her knight in the

24 �xe7 "Yi'xe7 25 ..txe4 tLlxe4 26 tLlb6

corner of the board. She can't cause the

'iWa7 ! 27 tLlxa8

1 d4 fS Like Morphy and the young Topa­ lov, Alekhine found the Dutch Defence a useful way to generate double-edged

black king any problems because her

If 27 tLlxc8 .td3+! 28 "iVxd3 "iVxa2+ 29

kingside pawns are passive. In con­

'it>c1 "iVal+! 30 fibl l:txc8+ and Black

trast, the black pawns are working

mates.

2 c4 tLlf6 3 g3 e6 4 ..tg2 .iLb4+ 5 .iLd2

hard with their pieces to assail the

27 .. J'ixa8 28 a4 .iLxe2 29 l:tc1

.txd2+ 6 tLlxd2?!

white king. 20 tLlC4 .ia6 21 b3 If 21 tLle3 a3 and White can no

positions with the black pieces.

Already an error. White should re­

Or 29 �xe2 tLlc3+ when Black will be a piece up.

capture 6 'ii'xd2 and then play 7 tLlc3.

29 ...'i!if21 0-1

The knight is passively placed on d2 and also lessens the white queen's in­

longer play 22 b3 because 22 ..."Yi'c3 wins

Two pieces and a pawn down for a

at once. It would also be hopeless to

rook and facing a decisive attack, Kam­

fluence over the centre.

allow a breakthrough with 22 ... axb2.

sky called it a day.

6 ..tLlc6 7 tLlgf3 0-0 8 0-0 d6

1 02

.

Normally we see Alekhine indulge in manoeuvres on the queenside as a 1 03

The L ife H is t o ry of a K n ig h t

Chess S e cre ts: The G i a n ts of Pow er Play cisely these lines that the white pieces

prelude to a direct attack on the enemy

blocked centre. Then it is distressing to

king. Here the situation is reversed.

see how the whole of strategy seems to

might have used for counterplay once

Black wants to fix the situation on the

be reduced to a mantra "If I'm White,

Alekhine's real assault begins on the

kingside in the most favourable man­

I'll play l:tgl and g2-g4; if I'm Black I'll

queenside.

ner before switching to action in the

play .l:!.g8 and ... g7-gS" .

19 ...d 5 !

For example, Morphy himself lost

centre. 13 a3 'iVh5

game 10 of his match with Anderssen

Once again tactical means are used

through making a . . . g7-g5 move that

to preserve the e5-pawn, for if 14 dxe5

Steinitz rightly deemed "a bad strategi­

dxe5 15 lDxe5? lDxeS 16 'fixeS lDg4 and

cal error" .

the threat of man on h2 costs White his

Unlike Morphy, Alekhine has had

queen.

the benefit of Steinitz's games and

14 M

teachings on how to play in closed po­

24 l:tg2 dxc4 2 5 bXc4

sitions. Therefore he comes up with a

White had the highly disagreeable

possible .. .fS-f4 advance followed by

superior strategy, which involves gain­

choice between giving up the a4-pawn

. . .�h3 and ... lDg4.

ing control of a light square complex of

or surrendering the light squares with

14... lDg4 15 lDg5 i.d7 16 f3 lDf6 17 f4

pawns. We never see such a sophisti­

2S 'fixc4, when 2s ... lDfdS followed by

e4 18 IHd1 h6 19 lDh3

cated approach in Morphy's games -

Evidently White was afraid of a

the closest we come are his games as Black

with

Harrwitz

(see

Chapter

Nine). You Alekhine

might went

be

wondering

to

the

why

trouble

of

26 ... bS! is horrible for him.

2 0 lDf1 I've no idea why this knight slinks away

from the queenside

With

three

minor

pieces

Alekhine wants the dS-square for

passively

his knight. Bogoljubow buys him off,

placed on the kingside, it's no wonder

but at a terrible cost.

things begin to fall apart for White on

28 lDd1 lDd3! 29 l'!.xa5 b4! 30 l:txa8

13 ... 'iVhS etc when he intends to switch

the other wing.

the weight of the struggle to the other

20 ...lDe7

wing. The point is that White has been

With the positional threat of 21...a4!,

provoked into the twin advances h2-h4

when if 22 b4 dxc4 and the d5-square

and f2-f4 which have drained all ex­

becomes a beautiful base for the black

pansive

knights.

power

from

his

kingside

pawns. This has deprived the knight

21 a4 White has no wish to play 21 cS as

Bogoljubow has responded to his

on h3 and bishop on g2 of any active

opponent's threats by blocking the

role. In contrast, their black opposite

21.. .iLbS brings the black bishop to life. 21 ...lDc6!

kingside. If this were one of Morphy's

numbers on f6 and d7 are much more

games, Black would no doubt aim to

flexibly placed for a battle on the

engineer

queenside and in the centre .

a

breakthrough

involving

... �g8 and ... g7-g5. A lot of misplaced ingenuity would be spent trying to

I

would

suggest

that

25 ... ii.xa4 26 lDf2 .i.d7 27 lDd2 b5!

struggle.

Flexible thinking: the knight goes back to c6 as the b4-square has become

13 . . . 'iihS!

goaded Bogoljubow into closing lines

Now the straightforward 30 .. :it'xa8

available. 22 l:td2 lDb4 23 ii.h1 "ii'e 8!

31

"iVb3

'iVaI,

threatening 32 ... .lfLa4,

The black queen returns to the cen­

would probably finish the game in a

make it work. In fact, playing through

on the kingside partly out of fear of his

Morphy's games is always a pleasure

adversary's reputation as an attacker

tre and increases the pressure on the

couple of moves - White's bishop on

par excellence. It is ironic that it is pre-

a4-square.

hI and rook on g2 are a sorry sight. But

until you reach an encounter with a 1 04

1 05

C h e s s S e c rets: The G ia n ts of P o w e r Play Alekhine was an artist, not just a collec­

White's pieces are in such a tangle

tor of points, and he couldn't resist a

that he has to give up the exchange,

once in a lifetime chance to sacrifice

after which he is losing on material as

two rooks and a queen for the sake of a

well as position.

pawn:

37 ':'xb5 1i'xb5 38 g4 lbf3+ 39 i.xf3

30

exf3 40 gxf5 "e2!

•.•

bxC3!! 3 1 l:!.xe8 c2

The plucky pawn sneaks past all the

Paralysing the white pieces, as if 41

defenders. This is one of the extremely

lbh3 lbg4! 42 �xe3 fxe2 and Black will

rare instances of a study-like theme

get another new queen.

appearing in a tournament game.

41 d5 '>t>g8 42 h5 �h7 43 e4 lbxe4 44

32 l1xf8+ '>t>h7 33 lbf2 cd*'+ 34 lbf1

lbxe4 'iixe4 45 d6 cxd6 46 f6 gxf6 47

lbe1 3 5 l:.h2 1i'xc4

l:td 2 'iVe2

C h a pte r F i ve

I

The Goldi locks Queen

He could have gone after e3 at once with 35 . . .lbc2! ? to create another passed pawn. 3 6 nb8 �b5

The queen is by far the strongest piece on the board, and so exceptional care has to be taken with her deployment. In the vast majority of power play games, it is the presence or absence of the queen that is the deciding factor in whether an attack breaks through or the defence triumphs. 48 1:txe2 fxe2 49 <M2 exf1'iV+ 50 '>t>xf1 �g7 51 �2 rtif7 52 '>t>e3 '.t>e6 53 '>t>e4 d5+ 0-1 A most original and creative game.

This creates a positional dilemma, as if she stands too far away from the action, the chances of a successful out­ come are reduced. On the other hand, if she strays too close to the frontline

The queen radiates energy on the third ra nk Alexander Alekhine was particularly adept at finding secure but powerful posts for his queen

011

the third rank.

From such a vantage point she could survey the whole board, and conduct an attack without being in any great danger. I have always been impressed by his subtle handling of the queen in the two games that follow. In both ex­ amples a simple manoeuvre led to a

the defenders will gain time by harass­

massive shift in the energy balance be­

ing her with threats from which she

tween the two armies.

must always flee (the only exceptions are those glorious, mind over matter moments called ' queen sacrifices' ). The solution is to find her a place amid the skirmish which, like the por­ ridge in Goldilocks, is neither too hot

Game 39 A.Alekhine-F .Marshall Baden-Baden 1925 Queen 's Gambit

nor too cold. This is by no means easy, and skill in the use of the queen remains one of the hallmarks of chess mastery.

1 06

1 d4 d5 2 c4 lbf6 3 cxd5 lbxd5 4 e4 lbf6 5 .1l.d3 e5 6 dxe5 lbg4 7 lbf3 lbc6 8 �g5 107

Th e Goldilo cks Q u e e n

Ch ess Secrets: The Gia n ts of P o we r Play iLe7 9 il.xe7 �xe7 10 lLlC3 lLlcxe5 11

dynamic play that created the fertile

It's almost too easy. The pawns

Alekhine says he avoided this line be­

lLlxe5 �xe5

ground from which Alekhine's combi­

sweep forwards without meeting any

cause of 24 ... l:tdS, but 2S i.xdS lLlxdS 26

nations flowered.

resistance at all.

e7 lLlxe7 (if the queen moves, it's 27

13 'it'd2 ! iLd7

19 .. :i!ke7 20 'ikg5 lLld 5 21 f6

'iVxg7 mate) 27 fxe7 wins very easily

An attractive recapture that Alek­ hine will punish very severely. Instead,

with the passed pawn. This was the

After 13 ... gS the reply 14 h4 looks

1 1 ...lLlxeS 12 0-0 0-0 is about equal. 12 h 3 lLlf6

very strong. For example, 14 ... g4 IS

way to win the game without giving

'tIVgS! evicts the queen from eS, as

the opponent any glimmer of counter­

Is .. :ikxgS 16 hxgS lLld7 17 .i.e2 lLleS 18

play, although it would still take a

lLldS is horrible for Black.

couple of moves to oust the black

14 �e3 !

queen from e8.

I t is better to deny the black queen

On the other hand, the move actu­

any dark squares in the centre before

ally chosen is the quickest and most

pushing her backwards. Hence the sec­

efficient way for a player with a com­

ond white queen move generates more

plete mastery of tactics to finish the

energy than 14 f4 at once which would

game. Alekhine isn't afraid to let Mar­

allow 14 . . . 'iVcS.

shall try for one of his famous swindles of

Notice how the white pawns ad­

Alekhine's manoeuvre is that Black is

vanced in unison. At every step of the

An

equally

important

point

Here the obvious move is 13 0-0

unable to castle queenside due to the

way forwards they keep abreast of

which develops with a view to 14 f4,

attack on a7. This persuades Marshall

each other, with one pawn advancing and then the other moving up along­

when the black queen is pushed from

to send his king to the kingside, where

her fine central post and White's centre

it is in range of White's mobile centre

side it. First of all they sat next to each

becomes mobile. However, Black has

pawns.

other on the fourth rank; then they

the excellent reply 13 . . . gS!, cementing

14 ...iLc6

as he sees the attempt can easily be de­ feated.

sprinted forward to the fifth rank; and

the queen on the eS-square. The white

If instead 14 . . . gS, the reply IS h4

now one pawn has reached the sixth

pawns would be deprived of expansive

still looks very strong. Or else White

rank. Positionally speaking, the next

energy, which in tum would

cast

could simply castle queens ide and ask

step

gloom over the white pieces. And if all

his opponent: where are you going to

Alekhine engineers it with his next

that wasn't bad enough, Black might

put

move.

castle queenside and then use the g­

IS ... 0-0-0? 16 �xa7, while IS ... 0-0 16 h4

pawn as a battering ram against the

isn't the sort of position you want

white king's position, which has been

against someone called A.Alekhine.

c7 and putting it on e6, and you'll see

Black is alive and kicking after 2S

weakened by h2-h3.

15 0-0-0 0-0 16 f4 'tIVe6 17 e5

that we have a real fight on our hands.

.i.xa2 �cS+ 26 ..tbl nd7! (and if 27 e6??

At this point I would like to remind

your king? Black can't stomach

White's central pawns are bursting

is

therefore

to

arrange

eS-e6.

21..:iikf8 22 iLc4! Try removing the black pawn from

24...lLlxa2+ 25 ..tb1!

Put the pawn back on c7 and there's

'iVxgS!).

with energy. Marshall tries to fight

nothing

25 ...�e8 26 e6 iLe4+

mann's famous comment that he could

against them using his

through with eS-e6 at the appropriate

have made any of Alekhine's combina­

out the restraining influence of any

moment.

what odds you would get on Alekhine

tions, but he couldn't get the positions

black

22 ... lLlxc3 23 .uxd8 l:.xd8 24 fxg7 !

falling for 27 ..txa2?? 'iVa4 mate.

from which the combinations started.

them back.

You are about to witness some of the

17 ... .l':i.fe8 18 .l:the1 l:Iad8 19 f5

you

1 08

of

Grandmaster

Rudolf

Spiel­

pieces, but with­

pawns there's no way he can hold

to

stop

White

powering

Instead, 24 e 6 threatens 2 S exf7+ <;t>g8 26 fxg7+ 'iVxg7 27 'iVxd8 mating.

Tricky to the last, but I wonder

27 �a1! 27 li.xe4 is also good enough, but it's 109

The Go ldilocks Q u e e n

Chess Secrets: The G i a n ts of Po wer Play Now we can see what Alekhine has

simpler to avoid the rook check on dl. 27...f5 28 e7+ Itd 5 29 �f6 Threatening a decisive check on f8. 29.. :YWf7 30 e8�+ 1-0 After 30 ...'ilVxe8 31 ii.xd5+ it's mate next move.

tactical

alertness

of

an

Alekhine. He immediately seizes on

the

the fact that Black's last move left the

pawn

break

that

his

position

needed has appeared on the board.

g5-square undefended.

23 ... c5

26..JWxf7

Black can't stop the forward ad­

Thanks to his fine queen manoeu­

The

achieved with his little queen move -

vance

of

White's

pawn,

because

If 26 ... Wh8 27 "iVf6 mate, or 26 ... Wxf7 27 "iVxh7+ winning the queen, or finally

vre, Alekhine was able to energize his

23 .. :�e7 would leave his knight en

26 .. Jhf7 27 �g5+ and 28 �xd8+ wins.

pawns, which in tum gave extra power

prise, while after 23 .. .'�jd7, hoping to

27 �xd8 lDa4

to his pieces. It is one of the rules of

block with 24 ...tLJf6, the white rook can

positional chess that

invade on the queenside with 24 l:ta7! .

pieces that are ac­ tively supported by their pawns will almost always triumph over pieces acting on their own.

In this variation we see how important 22 �e3 ! ! A quiet little move, but it gives Black a lot to think about. The queen radiates

Frightening the opponent

Game 40 A.Alekhine-KJu nge Po land 1942 Ruy Lopez

5 0-0 .te7 6 "iVe2 b5 7 .ib3 0-0 8 c3 d5 9

it was for White to find time for 18 a4, opening

the

a-file.

He

needed

The queen bosses the show on both wings

squeeze every piece of dynamism he The next game illustrates the tremen­

could out of his pieces, or else 23 ...tLJd7

On the queenside there is the immediate

would have been perfectly okay for

dous power of an unfettered queen.

threat of 23 tLJxd6 l:.xd6 24 �xd6 "it'xd6

Black.

First of all she prevents the enemy

25 �xb6 winning a piece; on the king­

24 f6!

queens ide

pieces

from

developing

side Black has to worry about sacrifices

A pawn throwing itself at the op­

properly. Then she quickly switches to the kingside to orchestrate an attack.

such as 23 tLJxg7 Wxg7 24 'ilVgS+ or 23

ponent's defences will be a familiar

�xd6 l:!.xd6 24 'ikgS. Junge is unnerved,

sight to readers of this book.

And finally she sacrifices herself in the

and decides to remov