Grandmaster Versus Amateur

Grandmaster versus Amateur Edited by

Jacob Aagaard &John Shaw

Quality Chess www.qualitychess.co. uk

First edition Copyright©

20 1 1

20 1 1

by Quality Chess UK Ltd

Jacob Aagaard & John Shaw

GRANDMASTER VERSUS AMATEUR All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, srored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic.

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Contents Preface Key to Symbols used

1 2

3

Jacob Aagaard- Danes Eat Fish for Breakfast Peter Heine Nielsen-A Tale of Three Stories Pavel Eljanov- From Amateur to 2700

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John Shaw- From 1700 to Grandmaster- and Back

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T iger Hillarp Persson - The Ulysses Effect

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Jacob Aagaard- Fish Eat Danes for Supper

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7

Boris Avrukh -The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Mihail Marin-It's an Amateur's World

Game Index Name Index Opening Index

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37 55

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191

193 196

Preface This is the third collection of essays by various grandmasters that Quality Chess has published, and the first such collection dealing with a topic other than the Sicilian Defence. Once again we were able to assemble an enviable line-up of contributors, each of whom approached the subject in their own way with their own ideas and experiences. The idea for this book came from our good friend Jesse Gersenson, but the concept is not entirely new. A long time ago Max Euwe authored a book entitled Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur. It was only after the project was up and running that we were alerted to the existence of this book. To avoid ripping off the Dutch World Champion we deliberately avoided reading his book. instead preferring to do our own thing, and we hope the readers will agree when we say that the results are pleasing! The authors and their projects are as follows. Jacob Aagaard

(born 1 973 in Denmark)

Danish/Scottish grandmaster with a top rating of 2542. Most notable successes include winning the 2007 British Championship (the tournamement where he completed his GM­ title) and the Arco Open several times. As an author his greatest successes have been winning the ChessCafe Book of the Year 2002 for Excelling at Chess and more recently the English Chess Federation's Book of the Year 20 1 0 (for Attacking Manual] +2). Jacob was a co-founder of Quality Chess in 2004. Chapter 1

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Unknown amateur congratulates jacob on u·imzing the ofthe Year at the 2010 London Chess Classic.

ECF Book

Danes Eat Fish for Breakfast

Rather than embarrass the audience with national stereotypes, Jacob presents five different scenarios from his own games where grandmasters prevail over amateurs. Along the way he identifies several underlying causes for their success, offering a wealth of practical advice for amateurs wishing to bridge the gap. Chapter 8 Fish Eat Danes for Supper In this chapter Jacob shows some of his least proud moments, as well as explaining how they came about. Rather than turning the chapter into a sea of sick excuses, he uses the examples to highlight the ways in which the amateur can optimize his chances of beating a grandmaster. -

Preface Peter Heine Nielsen

5

(born 1 973)

Danish grandmaster with a peak rating of 2700. Peter has won a number of opens and the gold medal on board one in the 2005 European Team Championship, but his greatest achievement was undoubtedly reaching the last 1 6 in the 20 1 1 World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk. Outside the tournament hall Peter has worked regularly with Anand, since shortly after they met in the 200 1 World Championship knockout tournament in Moscow. Since 2005 Peter has been Anand's chief second with considerable success, although the World Champion has pointed out that Peter has the drawback of being "impossible to hide" (on account of his towering height) . Chapter 2 -A Tale of1hree Stories Peter starts by identifYing three typical ways in which a Grandmaster - Amateur game might play out, before providing an example of each scenario from his own practice. With a hearty balance of insight, anecdotes and good humour, Peter's chapter is as entertaining as it is instructive. Pavel Eljanov

(born 1 983)

Ukrainian grandmaster with a peak rating of 276 1 , placing him at sixth in the world at the time. Pavel is a regular on the Ukrainian national team, including its gold medal performance at the Calvia Olympiad in 2004. His biggest tournament success was in May 20 1 0, when he won the Astrakhan Grand Prix tournament by a full point. Recently he seconded Boris Gelfand during his victory in the 20 1 1 Candidates tournament in Kazan. Chapter 3 From Amateur to 2700 Of the seven contributors to this book, Pavel was the only one who had not previously written for Quality Chess. Nevertheless it quickly became clear that he was a real 'find' for this book, and in this chapter he shares his views on a number of topics, including the role of talent, chess education, psychology, opening preparation and choosing the right plan. The reader is guided through a number of his successes and failures which played a role in his ascension from amateur to world-class grandmaster. -

Grandmaster versus Amateur

6

John Shaw (born

1 968)

Scottish Grandmaster without a peak rating. (Okay, 2506 then.) John's biggest achievement is that he was rated 1 745 at the age of 1 9, and thus devoid of natural talent, and yet still managed to become a grandmaster at the ripe old age of 37. Over the years John has given such illustrious players as Bacrot, Eljanov and Shirov a tough fight, and eventually a draw as well. He has been a regular on the Scottish national team for almost two decades, and is a three-time Scottish Champion. He wrote two books for Everyman before co-founding Quality Chess in 2004. He is almost finished with his long-awaited treatise on the King's Gambit and promises it will be out soon . . . Chapter 4 From 1700 to Grandmaster- and Back In his characteristically humorous and self-deprecating style, John describes his journey towards the Grandmaster title, offering plenty of personal insights into the reasons for both his successes and shortcomings. -

Boris Avrukh

(born 1 978 in Kazakhstan)

An Israeli grandmaster with a peak rating of

2668, Boris was a regular for the Israeli team from 1 998 to 2009. During this period he won both gold and bronze individual medals, as well as the overall silver medal with the team at the Dresden 2008 Olympiad. Boris is the winner of numerous open tournaments and a renowned theoretician. In recent years he has written four highly acclaimed books in the hugely successful Grandmaster Repertoire series, and has worked as a trainer and second for World Champions of yesterday and tomorrow alike.

Chapter 5 lhe Good, the Bad and the Ugly In this chapter Boris presents five highly instructive games, exploring the various factors that contributed to the respective successes of both the grandmasters and the amateurs. The games have been divided into three categories, each of which has been named after a famous movie, for no particular reason apart from sounding more interesting. -

Preface Tiger Hillarp Persson

7

(born 1 970)

A Swedish Grandmaster with a peak rating of 26 1 8, Tiger is known for his deeply original and creative approach to chess. He has won many opens and has been a regular on the Swedish national team since the mid-nineties. Tiger's fame sterns not so much from the final results of his games, but more for their unusually rich content. Win, lose or draw, he is never boring. Aside from his active playing career he also found time to write Tiger's Modern (Quality Chess 2005), which was widely acclaimed. Chapter 6 The Ulysses Effect Never one to take the conventional route, Tiger begins with a bizarre-sounding quote from James Joyce's classic novel. He then examines the meaning and reveals how it helped him to raise his chess level from that of an aspiring amateur to a sabre-toothed grandmaster! -

Mihail Marin

(born 1 964)

Romanian grandmaster with a peak rating of 26 1 6. Mihail has represented Romania in ten Olympiads and won an individual bronze medal in 1 988. Although he has been successful in his long playing career, his main achievements have been away from the board. He has for example worked as Judit Polgar's second, including at the 2005 San Luis World Championship, the only occasion in chess history when a woman has taken part in a World Championship contest. While admitting a certain bias, we would argue that Mihail's greatest achievements of all are his books. Learn from the Legends (Quality Chess 2004) won the ChessCafe.corn Book of the Year award in 2005 . IM Jeremy Silman said in his review "I can't recall having seen a better book in the last two decades." More recently Mihail wrote three volumes on the English Opening in the Grandmaster Repertoire series, which inspired a number of top-level players to include this opening in their repertoires.

Grandmaster versus Amateur

8

Chapter 7 It's an Amateur's World! In this, the penultimate chapter of the book (the last being Jacob's second chapter as detailed above) , Mihail paints a warm and engaging picture of two amateurs, Dr Victor Tacu ("the good Doc") of Romania and Jose Miguel Ridameya Tatche ("Don Josep") of Spain. Mihail has become acquainted with both of these enthusiastic amateurs over the years, both personally and over the board. After reflecting on his own career, including his experiences with these two colourful characters, Mihail's conclusion is perfectly summed up by the chapter title! -

We hope that this book will be enjoyed by grandmasters and amateurs alike, and without further ado, we invite the reader to turn the page and get started. Andrew Greet, Quality Chess Glasgow, October 20 1 1

Key to symbols used ;!; +

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!! !?

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White is slightly better Black is slightly better White is better Black is better White has a decisive advantage Black has a decisive advantage equality with compensation with counterplay with attack with initiative unclear a weak move a blunder a good move an excellent move a move worth considering a move of doubtful value only move mate

Jacob Aagaard

Danes Eat Fish for Breakfast

Jacob Aagaard

10

Broadly speaking, there are two ways in which a grandmaster might beat an amateur. Either he plays well, when the difference between the two is too much for the amateur to handle, or he plays badly and wins through sheer persistence. We will see some examples of both scenarios in this chapter, but I would like to start by identifYing some typical differences between grandmasters and amateurs. Grandmasters handle the pieces better

Kasparov famously said that "real chess players" know where to put the pieces. Since his list of real chess players excluded many stars who have since crossed the 2700 barrier, it most certainly did not include me. However, I can see the truth in the argument, even if I cannot see where the pieces belong. In any case, our first game is a good illustration of this principle.

Walter Burnett- Jacob Aagaard Cumbernauld 2007

l .e4 cS 2.ltlf3 d6 3.d3 I am always happy to see such moves. Despite a rating difference of about 400 points, my opponent has effectively decided to outplay me in the middlegame. 3 ... ltl c6 4.g3 g6 5.�g2 �g7 6.0-0 eS 7.ltl bd2 ltlge7 s.�el To me it is not obvious that the rook is better placed here than on fl , but so far I don't feel offended by his piece handling. 8 ...0-0 9.c3 h6 The opening is more or less over and the position is equal. White should now decide if he wants to play in the centre or on the queenside. Also, he should think about the future of his bishop on cl and rook on al .

-7�'� �£�itN/�•m J�-� 6 �-- -�mr•-- - -m-,�� ff;rfif""��� ff;��----� 8

5� �� �-� .... ,z� �-%z� �z-

4 3

2 1

.....

-� ��r� m�.-J�z�m���/�

� w�z � w� �w� .. , .... �r�itii��t····%- % �� �§�tdi: �� �,,

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lO.ltlfl This makes no sense to me. The knight could be headed to e3, but as the d5-square is unattractive, the knight would not be seriously better placed there than on d2. The knight move also frees the d2-square for the bishop, but this is not much of an improvement. As we will shortly see, the true purpose of White's last move is actually to prepare an attack on the kingside. However, the pawn formation and piece distribution do not favour this strategy. To me the most logical move would be 1 O.a3, with the idea of meeting 1 O . . . a5?! with 1 1 .a4! to get the c4-square for the knight. Instead I would have chosen 1 0 . . . f5 or 1 0 . . . � e6, but after l l .b4 White at least has some active prospects on the queenside. 1o ... i>hs

This is a bit of a luxury and the normal­ looking 1 0 . . . �e6 was of course fine. I did not really plan anything more than to improve the king and work out what my opponent was intending with his last move.

l l .h4?! There it comes. But since the attack is inadequately supported by the pieces, it is not at all worrying.

Chapter 1

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Danes Eat Fish for Breakfast

l l ...fS! Around here Walter probably realized that I was not intending to meet 1 2.h5 with 1 2 . . . g5 and allow some sort of outlandish piece sacrifice. Instead I was content to play .. . lthg6 at some point and would therefore have replied with 1 2 .. .f4, although it was also tempting to take the pawn. 1 2.ctJih2 When he played this I already knew that I would win the game without much trouble. The knight is not going anywhere. White has handled his pieces poorly; they don't play for the same team and they are certainly not better placed than they were at move seven! The plan for Black is now simple, and merely involves bringing the remaining pieces into the game. This means the bishop, queen and rook. It is not difficult to find good squares for them, so I played the next few moves quickly. 1 2 ... J.e6 13.J.h3 Another mysterious move, and a further example of bad piece handling. Black is of course pinned for an instant, but what matters more is that White has initiated the exchange of his most important defensive piece. 13 .. .'1Wd7 I4.J.d2

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14 .. J�f7! Obviously Black has some strategically more complex alternatives such as 1 4 . . . d5, but when the opponent is not playing good moves, there is no reason to force the issue. Against a GM I would think deeply about which way to go. Here it made sense to bring the last rook into play and deal with concrete matters later on. In such a situation it is unlikely that the amateur will organize the defence in the best possible way, so why not take your time building up the attack? IS.Wfcl White is still dreaming of an attack on the kingside. IS ... �h7 16.h5 gxhS! The dream is over - there will be no sacrifice on g5 . Instead Black just has an extra pawn. I7.ttlh4 E:afs The last piece is developed and Black's position is crushing. 1 7 . . . f4 is stronger according to the computer, but I don't really understand why.

1 8.E:fl Apparently White should play 1 8 .exf5 tt:l xf5 1 9.�xf5t �xf5 20.'\Wd l with better chances to survive, but this does not make much sense to me.

12

Jacob Aagaard

18 ... £4 Black has done everything possible to strengthen his position, so the time has come to start the attack. Basic stuff, but effective. 19 ..L:e6 ¥Mxe6 20.cl?g2

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24.ttlh2 ¥Mxg3t 25.cl?hl l3fl 26.l3xfl l3xfl 27.¥Mgl l3xd2 0-1

20 .tt�g6!? I like this move. The idea is to bring the c6knight into the game and thus make use of as many pieces as possible. .•

However, 20 . . . �f6! is stronger according to the computer. It is the same principle, but also Black gets quickly onto the g-file.

Black won this game won simply by putting the pieces on better squares than the opponent. This might seem like an extreme case, but you would be surprised to see how many games I have won in similar style over the years. Often the problem of poor piece handling is especially poignant in the endgame. Take the following opposite-coloured bishop ending where White failed to grasp the importance of king activity in time.

Graeme Nolan- Jacob Aagaard

21.ttlxg6 Losing quickly. I was expecting 2 1 .tLl f5, when my idea was 2 1 . . .tLlce7.

Oban 2006

21. ¥Mxg6 22.ttlf3 As so often happens, superior piece b.andling leads almost effortlessly to a tactical breakthrough. ••

22 fxg3 23.fxg3 h4! White is too pinned and Black just wins. •..

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Chapter 1

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Danes Eat Fish for Breakfast

This ending is unpleasant for White, but not necessarily lost. However, the next move changed this.

32.h5? Graeme's thinking is not difficult to follow. Black is poised to play . . . .ib6-f2, winning both pawns on the kingside, and so he tries to give up the pawns in a more favourable way. Unfortunately his plan has two serious defects. Most obviously, he loses a lot of time as he could at least have waited for the bishop to come to f2 before advancing the h-pawn. But more importantly, he did not think enough about activating the king. I was expecting the much better 32.a3!, intending to activate the king.

It is well known that in opposite-coloured bishop endings, the quality of your pawns is more important than the quantity. I need a g-pawn to win the game.

33.hxg6 fxg6 34.a5

8 76 5 4 3 2 1

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If Black has a way to win this position then I'm afraid it's beyond me. No matter what he does, White will activate his king and obtain a passed pawn on the queenside. The advance of Black's kingside passed pawns will take a lot of time and be reasonably well hindered by the white bishop. An important factor in all of this is that Black will struggle to get his king into the game, and by the time he has won the kingside pawns, White's own passed pawn will be marching up the board.

32 ...hg5!

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34 ....id8! I did not spend a lot of time calculating the alternative, but went with general principles. By moving the bishop first I was freeing up a path for the king (for some reason I did not like the idea of the g7-h6-h5-h4 route; don't ask why) as well as clarifying matters on the queenside. At this point I had already envisaged the set-up with my king on g3 and bishop on b6. This is a very sound way of thinking, and it worked beautifully in the game. Even when such an intuitive decision leads to success, it is always useful to analyse the alternatives later in order to check if our intuition was really correct, and thereby improve it for the future. In this case it turns out that my chosen move was not only sound and practical, but was also the only technically winning one! 34 . . . h5? This was the alternative, as suggested by the cold machine. Here is a very likely variation: 35 . .ic8 h4 36 . .ixa6 h3 37.-ifl h2 38 . .ig2 i'f7

Jacob Aagaard

14

39.a6 �e3 40.a7! Giving up the asset in order to activate the king. 40 . . .�xa7 4 1 .�cl � f6 42.mdl mg5 43 .me2 mf4 44.�h i �d4

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To me this looks like a fortress. I cannot imagine the black king successfully making it all the way to a3 to win the a-pawn. The white king would reach b5 long before the black king can reach c6. 45. i> d3 The only way White can lose is by 45 .�g2??, which is refuted by 45 ... h l ='1W! 46.�xh l i>g3 47.mfl mh2 48 .�g2 g5 when White is in zugzwang. 45 . . . i> g3 46. � e2 �a7 47. � fl = The fortress is impregnable.

35.�c8 �xa5

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36.�xa6? White could have tried to prevent my plan, had he seen it. But Black is winning all the same: 36.\t>c l i> g7 37. � d l mf6 38.me2 �b6 39.�xa6 i> g5 40.mfl mf4 4 1 .\t>g2 me3 42.�c4 42.mg3 loses to 42 . . . md2 43 .�d3 �e3 and the king goes to b l , winning the a-pawn. 42 . . . i> d2 43 .�b3 h5 44. i> g3 g5 45.i>g2

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The feeling that this is a winning position for Black is rather strong: he has a better bishop, an extra pawn and a superb king. On the other hand opposite-coloured bishop endings are notoriously unfair. You can be several pawns up, only to realize that they are on the wrong colour and although your half of the board has a big population, its resources and prospects are no greater than those of your adversary. However, in this case there is a (rather spectacular) way of breaking the attempted fortress. 45 . . . h4 The normal winning plan would be to put the pawns on the same-coloured squares as the enemy bishop, in order to prevent a blockade, but on this occasion Black must temporarily place all his pawns on dark squares. In fact the decisive factors in this position will prove to be the breakthrough and - wait for it - the weakness of the c2pawn!

Chapter 1

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Danes Eat Fish for Breakfast

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The first critical position. Although White could arrange for his pieces to be on slightly different squares, he is unable to prevent a position of these general characteristics from occurring. Now Black wins by giving most of his pawns away: 47 . . . h3t! 48.<j;Jxh3 <j;Jxf3 49.�e6 And now for the second crucial moment.

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Having returned the extra pawn with interest, Black has increased the quality of his pawns and decreased the quality of the white pawns, as the ones on b3 and e4 both block his bishop. The c2-pawn will fall and the game is decided.

36 ... <j;J g7 37.<j;Jcl The white king is entering the game way too late. 37 <j;Jf6 38.<j;Jdl <j;Jg5 39. <j;J e2 <j;Jh4! This is the simple way to play. The king goes to h2, after which the h-pawn can advance freely. 39 . . . <j;Jf4 40.mfL �b6t wins as on move 36, but the game continuation is much simpler. •..

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49 . . . b3!! The big point. The bishop is now prevented from returning to b3. 49 ... <j;Jxe4 so.<j;Jg4 �e3 leaves Black with two extra pawns, but I seriously doubt that he is winning. 5 l .�f5t <j;Jd4 52. <j;Jf3 e4 t 53 .<j;Jg4 How should Black make progress? 50.axb3 g4t!! Deflection. The bishop is forced to abandon the c2-pawn. 5 l .i.xg4 t me3

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Jacob Aagaard

16

The preparation for the advance of the h-pawn is complete.

42 . .te6 .th6t 43.�e2 �g3 44.Ag8 h5 45 ..tfi h4 46.hg6 h3 47.f4 h2 0-1 ''An easy win" was what I thought after the game. As we j ust saw, things might have been different had Graeme been more focused on activating his king. A particular element of piece handling is the

ability to think strategically - to get the pieces working together towards a common goal. The following game is a good example of how this difference looks in practice. In this game White gets no advantage from the opening, but quickly outplays his opponent.

Jacob Aagaard - Peter Dittmar Arco 2007

Dittmar is a solid guy who often makes draws against grandmasters, so to beat him effortlessly shows something about how I improved in 2007, the year in which I finally elevated my rating to the level necessary to become a grandmaster (after having made the three norms in 2004) .

I.d4 d5 2 ..tf4 The London System is not very good, but having lost twice to it in Scottish weekend congresses (one of these to Hugh Brechin, see page 95) I decided to play it a few times mysel£ Unlike most grandmasters, I have never had a really good opening repertoire. 2 ... c5 3.e3 tL!c6 4.c3 cxd4 With this move Black transposes to a line of the Caro-Kann, which is home territory for him.

s.exd4 tL!f6 6.Ad3 .tg4 7.�b3 �cs s.tLid2 e6 9.tL!gf3 .te7 10.0-0 0-0

8 - ��-�-J�;-

7

-·-,�.----%� _%� �� �iW�i

645 ����a�w-0f-���f�-%'�'�� ____

-�w-�w----%� �.JL� �

3 _,J8l��� 'WlW w� rcj ----% �:� - ·j=

2 8 �!!1---- � 0 ----- ; 1

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Although I am no general opening expert, I knew that l l .�ael was the main move in this position. I also knew that the objective evaluation was that Black can prove equality - which is not entirely the same as saying the position is equal. But at the board I decided to work out my own strategy for the position, based on a kingside attack. To do this I had to first create a weakness in the black position and I decided this could be done by taking on g6, once the bishop would make it back there. As we shall see, this is exactly what happened. This does not mean that my idea was great; only that the advantage of playing with an idea was a great advantage to have.

1 I .tLie5!? .th5 I sort of expected this move, but in reality l l . . .lt:lxe5! was the better choice, as those with a database can work out. Without going into details, I had missed a finesse that renders 1 2.dxe5 considerably less strong than I thought. The position should be about even. 12 ..tg5!?

Chapter 1 - Danes Eat Fish for Breakfast

17

This was my second idea. I wanted to advance the f-pawn to f5 , force Black to take it and thus create a weakness on d5. I hoped this would also give me better access to the kingside.

12 ... llJe8!? I was expecting him to go to d7, but this is fine too. 13.he7 llJxe7 14.\Wc2 This was my intention. The queen was not well placed on b3 and I wanted to provoke this weakness on g6.

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14....tg6?! Although objectively innocuous, this slight weakening of the pawn structure should alarm Black. White has the plan of h4-h5 to soften the black kingside and take advantage of his strong bishop. I would not go as far as to claim a significant advantage, but Black has to be more careful from now on, which is the typical consequence of taking on a weakness. It was better to play 14 . . . <;t> h8, in which case I was planning 1 5 .f4 with some attacking possibilities. But probably Black can fend them off without too many problems.

I S.llJxg6 hxg6 16.llJf3

This is probably the most interesting moment in the game. White has a few straightforward plans, such as putting a rook on h3 and the queen on h4, as well as the plan executed in the game. Black needs to come up with something to counter these ideas, while at the same time creating counterplay on the queenside. It was time for a deep think. However, Dittmar played his next four moves quickly, and soon found himself in a desperate situation.

16 ... llJf6 I believe that Black's position would be tenable if he placed the knights on d6 and f5, eliminating both of the White plans mentioned above, while preparing the . . . b7-b5 advance. Instead the knights were quickly returned to their previous positions. 17.'!We2 llJ c6 18J�ael 'Wc7 19.llJeS llJxe5?! It is no longer easy to come with recommendations for Black, especially considering that if I saw this position without any knowledge of the game's history, I would be tempted to manoeuvre the knight from c6 to f5 - which would of course reverse the direction of the knight once again. The biggest point here is that when making the decision to exchange knights, Black had failed to anticipate my 2 1 st move, nor had

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Jacob Aagaard

he realized that the pawn on e5 would be a significant part of a successful attack for White.

20.dxe5 CDd7

24 . .ixg6! fxg6 25 .1Mfxg6t � f8 26.�e3 CDxe5 27.1Mff6t tbf7 28.�h3 � g8 and by now the most principled (though not the only) way to win is by bringing in the other rook with 29.�e 1 ! . I should say that I was far from sure about the conclusion of this line, but generally considered it his responsibility to work it out.

24.exf6 tbxf6 2S.Wh4?!

2I .h4! Attacking the weakness on g6, which was created as a result of my strategy laid down at move 1 1 . I think it was only now that Dittmar realized how powerful the attack really was; and by now, it is already too late. 21..-l:UeS 22.h5 gxhS

22 . . . g5 is answered by 23.1Mfe3 and soon after, f2-f4 with a strong attack.

23.'!W:xh 5 f5 Black is choosing between various evils, which cannot have been fun. 23 . . . g6 loses by force:

Missing a defensiYe resource as part of a mutual blind spot. I should have played 25 .1Mfg5!, which would not haYe reduced the power of the attack much.

2S ...Wf7? Although g6 is Black's weakest square, neither player considered 25 . . . �f7! . Black wants to play .. J:\h8, . . . §h6 and . . . �ah8 with counterplay, so White has to find 26.1Mfg5 ! when he keeps a good deal of his advantage. From now on the game is plain sailing. I don't know if Dittmar believed I would allow . . . 1Mfh5 , but it is the only reason I can find behind the last move. Again Black fails to anticipate his opponent's aggression oYer the next few moves.

26.�e5 �ed8 27.�fel :1l:d6 28.� le3 Bringing in the last piece.

Chapter 1

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Danes Eat Fish for Breakfast

28 ...�ad8 29.� g3 A simple way to play; White is threatening �eg5 winning lots of material. Black has no good answer and quickly becomes desperate. 29 ...ltJ e4 30.�f3 I could also have taken on e4 and played l'!h5, but I preferred to keep the position under control and avoid calculation. 30 ...liJf6 Once I found a suitable way to avoid a queen exchange after 30 . . . �e7 (yes, really!) , only 30 . . . g5 caused me any problems. Eventually I found that after 3 l .l'!xg5t tt'lxg5 32.�xg5t �g7 I could move the queen and there would be no defence against 34.Ei:g3 winning.

3 l .g4! I do as I teach - in this case, "Bring all the pieces into the attack!" This includes pawns that can be used offensively. Here I actually thought my opponent would resign in view of Ei:h5 and other threats. 31 ...d4 32.c4 I was sure that I had a direct win, but as long as he was not allowed to play . . . Ei:d5 , I could not see what he was going to do. 32 ..JWc7 33.g5 �6d7 34.gxf6 gxf6 34 . . . �xe5 allows mate in four.

19

35.�g3t �g7 36.�h7t 1-0 If you are an amateur and want to improve your game, I would advise you to look at "simple" grandmaster games (avoid the most complex and confusing ones) and try to work out why the GM puts his pieces where he does. The change to your thinking will be seismic. Grandmasters think in a less forcing way

I have described this phenomenon before, in Excelling at Chess. Basically there is a tendency for us to think along the lines of "I go there, then he has to go there, then I go there, then he has to go there . . . "

As a general rule, this type of thought process is not particularly helpful. It limits our thinking, and thus can cause us to overlook favourable alternatives for ourselves and, just as importantly, for our opponents. However, in a minority of cases it can yield a surprising benefit. It is my beliefthat, in certain situations, this manner of thinking can have the subtle effect of forcing our will onto the opponent. It is almost like casting a spell, making them believe there is a 'natural' path for the game to take, and at the end there will be some kind of conclusion. The opponent may subconsciously pick up on this way of thinking and become 'hypnotized' into following us down the path of their subsequent demise. To illustrate this, let me show you my first glimpse of this concept, which occurred over two consecutive rounds of the 1 9 9 1 Copenhagen Open.

Jacob Aagaard

20

Jacob Aagaard- Ib Andersen

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Copenhagen 199 1

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20.�£4? Swedish Grandmaster Thomas Ernst pointed out that the feared 20.hxg3 tLlxg3t 2 l .fxg3 tLlg4 did not lose, because of 22.tLld4! and the threats to the white king are benign. This shows another difference between grandmasters and amateurs, the ability to continue thinking beyond something that looks impressive or dangerous, to discover the real truth of the position. 20 .. .tbxf4 2I.etJd6t This is the position for which I had been aiming for some time. My main point was that after 2 1 . . . 'tt>b 8 22.tLlxf5 I am threatening '\Wxf4t, the check being very important. Both of us failed to see that Black had an alternative. 2 I . .. <.t>b8? My opponent misses a brilliant pure queen sacrifice. The correct defence was: 2 1 . . .'Wxd6!! 22.1'l:xd6 gxh2 23.'\Wxc5t <j;>bs

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The rook and queen cannot cause damage to the black king. The a7-pawn takes care of all necessary defensive duties, and so White must take a draw.

22.etJxf5 'We4 23.'Wxe4 etJxe4 24.hxg3 White has a pleasant advantage. The conversion was a bit easier than it should have been, but I not one to complain.

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24 ... etJ e6 25.f3 etJf6 26.b4 �b6 27.Eiacl h5 28.a4 a6 29.a5 �a7 30.tlJ e7 1-0 In the next round I was paired with Thomas Ernst. At this point I was still unrated, and thus certainly an amateur. Although the game was not perfect by any means, it still showed the vast difference between us when it came to seeing what is possible at the board.

Thomas Ernst- Jacob Aagaard Copenhagen 199 1

l .e4 c5 2.etJf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.etJxd4 etJf6 5.etJc3 g6 Thomas Ernst was a big expert on the Dragon, but it was also in my repertoire, so I decided to play it anyway "to learn something" . The main thing I learned was not to be naive. (It does not mean that I stopped - j ust that I learned it.)

Chapter 1 - Danes Eat Fish for Breakfast

6.J.e3 J.g7 7.f3 0-0 8.�d2 ttlc6 9.J.c4 J.d7 1 0.h4 Elc8 l l .J.h3 hS 12.0-0-0 li.JeS 13.J.g5 ElcS 14.'it>b1 bS 15.Eihe1 aS 16.£4 ttl eg4 17.e5

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Elx£7 1 9.e6 would have been even stronger. The black position is in ruins, and White is winning an exchange as well.

1 8 ... exf6 1 8 . . . ibxf6 is a slight improvement, although after 1 9 .ibxf7t Elx£7 20.e6 my position would still have been miserable. 19.e6 1 9 .ibxf7t! was simpler still. The text is not bad, just more complicated. 19 ... axh3

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17 ... a4? Played with a woefully superficial understanding of what was going on, I believed that 1 8.exf6 exf6 was going to happen and I was going to be fine. As it turns out, White has not just one powerful reply (as discovered by Thomas) , but a second even stronger one. The correct way to play was 17 . . . b4!, as seen in the following game, in which the players both somehow managed to play the best moves according to the computer all the way to the end: 1 8.tt'la4 ibxa4 1 9.exf6 exf6 20.ibxa4 fxg5 2 1 .hxg5 Eld5 22.Ele4 '1Wb6 23.Ji.b3 Elxd4 24.Elxd4 ibxd4 25.'1Wxd4 '1Wxd4 26.Elxd4 Eld8 27. 'it> cl 'it> g7 28.'it>d2 f6 29.ibe6 fxg5 30.ibxg4 hxg4 3 l .fxg5 Elf8 32.Elxg4 Elf5 33.Elg3 Elc5 34.c3 bxc3t 35.bxc3 \t>£7 Yz-Y2 Kazoks Muschalek, corr. 2002.

1 8.J.xf6! Thomas had seen deeper in his preparation. Surprisingly White takes with the bishop as the pawn has more possibilities. Nowadays computers point out that 1 8 .ibxf7t!

20.e7? But here even Thomas falls for forcing thinking. White had a brilliant zwischenzug in 20.tt'lxb3!!, after which the three threats of tt'lxc5 , exd7 and e7 ensure that he will still win a rook. 20 ... bxc2t? In my turn, I fail to understand where my chances lie, a bit like Burnett did in our first game. I should have played 20 . . . bxa2t! 2 l .ctJxa2 '1Wa8 22.exf8='1Wt ibxf8 when Black has counterplay on the queenside and the position is not clear at all. 2 1 .ttlxc2 �b6 22.�xd6!

Jacob Aagaard

22

Thomas does zwischenzug.

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of confidence. If you don't believe in your own abilities, you are less likely to trust your evaluation of the position and consequently seek some sort of security outside yourself, such as an extra pawn. Here is a typical example:

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Jacob Aagaard- Vereslav Eingorn

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25 .. .Ek4 26.g3 <±>g7 27.� d5 �c5 28.b3 �xc2 29.<±>xc2 �fl 30.�ee8 �xeS 3 1 .�xe8 �xg3 32.<±>d3 g5 33.<±>e2 gxf4 34.�e7 �fl 35.a4 bxa4 36.bxa4 �c5 37.� d5 �d6 38.�d8 �e5 39.a5 � h2 40.<±>fl � g4t 4I .<±>g2 1-0 Grandmasters know that a positional advantage is better than a material advant age

In my experience amateurs are reluctant to take extra material when they should, but have a tendency to do so when they should not. I think it is all about confidence. When you are under pressure from a grandmaster, it can be psychologically difficult to accept a pawn or a piece on offer. Often amateurs choose to take a worse position with material equality, and subsequently get hammered. At the same time amateurs have a tendency to cash in on a positional advantage far too soon, instead of maintaining the pressure. Again it is a matter

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So far I have outplayed a strong grandmaster by playing really boring chess. As this is not my default setting, I was getting nervous; when would I make a mistake? To ease the pressure, I decided to win a pawn and thus threw away my winning chances.

32.�f3! This move was a good one, but my intended follow-up was not. 32.tLl 3c5!? was another choice, when Black is under pressure. But maybe the experienced grandmaster would hold the position, and then I would have to find a way to live with myself...

32 ...'.Wc4!? I thought I had prevented this. There is a good deal of forcing thinking about my play in this game as well.

Chapter 1

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Danes Eat Fish for Breakfast

33.�xc4t? Once my opponent's last move appeared on the board, I only had eyes for the extra pawn. I did not even realize that the black king would make it all the way to d5 . Had it been the 20 1 1 me that was White here, I would hope that I would have found: 33.�d 1 ! ctJ c3 34.�d8 �c8 35 .�d2 �c4 36.ctJ 7c5

33 ... bxc4 34 ..td5t .tf7 35 ..txf7t �xf7 36.CLld6t �e6 37.CLlxc4 �d5 38.CLl cd2

23

my inexperience kicked in; thinking I still had the advantage (due to my extra pawn) I tried to win the position and took unjustified chances. Ten moves later I had to play an only move to save the game, something I was neither ready for nor able to do.

38 ... e4! 39.f3 f5 40.CLld4 g6 41 .�fl CLl b5! 42.CLlxb5 axb5 43.fxe4t fxe4 44.�g3 �e5 45.ctJ b3 CLl c3 46.CLl d4 h6 47.h3 �d5 48.�£4 �c4

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49.ctJ c6? After this Black is winning. It was essential to play 49.ctJ e6! � b3 50.lt:Jd4t � xa3 5 1 .ctJ c6! when the endgame is still sharp, but should end in a draw (in one of many possible ways) . 49 ... g5t! 50.�f5 �d3 5 1 .�g6 �xe3 52.�xh6 �f4 53.g3t �xg3 54.�xg5 e3 55.CLld4 �xh3! Black should not allow the h-pawn to become a factor. Eingorn is showing great technique and I never got a second chance in this game.

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White has won a pawn, but his knights are passive and his king totally out of play. I don't think the position is really better for White anymore, although he should not lose it. Now

56.�£4 e2 57.CLl c2 �g2 58.�e3 �fl 59.�d3 CLl d5 60.�d2 �f161 .CLlel CLl b6 0-1

Jacob Aagaard

24

In the next game White tries an interesting gambit early on and Black initially responds well. However, faced with inventive white ideas, Black continuously chooses the wrong track when it comes to deciding what material to hang on to and what material to seek. This factor alone decided the game.

Jacob Aagaard- Sandi Stojanovski Copenhagen 20 1 0

l.c4 The English Opening? Basically this tournament was a holiday for me and I j ust wanted to have fun, so I decided to play some openings I knew nothing about. Around that time we were working on Mihail Marin's Grandmaster Repertoire books on the English, so I decided to give that a punt. l. .. c5 2.g3 � c6 3.i.g2 g6 4.� c3 �g7 5.�8 e5 I reached this position sometime in the late 1 980s, when I gave up a pawn. This time I decided on a slight improvement of the same idea. 6.a3 Yes, I am definitely prepared to play b4, given the chance. 6 ...a5

8 7 6 5 4 3 2

When I showed the game to a few friends and picked up the d-pawn, my team-mate from the Danish league, IM Torben S0rensen, said "Yes! 7.d3 is definitely the most accurate move here." I thought about this for a moment and replied "You are most likely right", before executing my move on the board to general laughter.

7.d4!? The idea is to exploit the d6-square and play e2-e3 with a good game. My opponent reacts strongly. 7 ... �xd4 8.�xd4 cxd4 9.�b5 d5! IO.c5!? Ifl take on d5, Black has no problems.

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10 ...�£8!? I really did not like this during the game, and saw it as bad piece handling. But in fact the position can take it if Black follows up correctly. I was expecting l O . . . ltJe7 l l . ttJ d6t � f8 with unclear play.

l l . .bd5?! Surprisingly this tempting move is a mistake. l l .e3! This was the most accurate move.

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Chapter 1 - Danes Eat Fish for Breakfast l l . . . id7! Black has to show some respect at some point. You can at times get away with moves like 1 0 . . . if8!?, if you subsequently take your development incredibly seriously. l l . . .dxe3 ?! 1 2. ixe3 d4 is asking for trouble. This is one of those cases where only pain is associated with winning material.

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Here I believed everything was going great. The game continuation seemed to vindicate my opinion, but later I discovered that Black had missed a good opportunity.

12 .. .'1We7? Black defends the pawn, as expected. Both of us missed the strongest continuation as a result of forcing thinking, based on the notion that Black has to protect £7. Mter the correct 12 . . . mf8!! 1 3. ixf7 rJ1g7 Black is simply better.

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13.t2lxd4! exd4 14.Wa4t me7 (or 1 4 . . . id7 1 5 .Wxd4 f6 16. ixb7 and the queenside pawns are fantastic) 15 . ixd4 f6 1 6.0-0 White has far too much compensation for the piece. The computer's main line continues 16 . . . mf7 1 7./"i:ad l Wc7 1 8 .c6 bxc6 1 9./"i:cl with a strong attack. 1 2.WI'b3 ixb5 1 3.Wxb5t Wl'd7 1 4.Wxd7t mxd7 1 5 .exd4 exd4 1 6. ixd5 ixc5 The position is roughly equal.

1 I .. ..ixc5 12.WI'b3

25

13 ..ig5!? I believed that everything was going according to plan, but had failed to spot an important detail in the event that Black takes the bishop. You might criticize me for expecting my opponent to be complicit to his own demise, but he was! My chess might not have been perfect, but my understanding of psychology was. The computer wants me to play 1 3 .h4, but the general evaluation is not really different from the game.

13 ... £6? You cannot blame White for wanting to go

Jacob Aagaard

26

down the lines of the game, but you certainly can blame Black for not seeking a deviation. However, the reason for his play can be found in the note to the 1 5th move. At this point it was better to play 1 3 .. .'1Wxg5!. I had expected to be winning after 14.lDc7t � f8 1 5 .lDxa8 'Wd8 1 6.i.xb7, but I had overlooked a clever riposte:

8 7 6 5 4 3

the idea works. 1 9 . . . � xh6 (not 1 9 . . . � h8?? 20.lDd5 'Wd6 2 1 .:1%xc5 'Wxc5 22.liJxf6 and White wins) 20.'Wxg8 i.h3 2 1 .lDd5 'Wd6 22.b4 'Wf8 23 .'Wxf8t i.xf8 24.:1%fd l White has real chances in the ending, but the game is far from over.

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1 6 . . . i.b4t! 1 7.axb4 i.xb7 1 8 .0-0 ha8 1 9 .bxa5 lD f6 with an unclear game.

14.i.d2 �f8 1 5.0-0 My opponent was thinking (dreaming) about 1 5 .i.xg8 ? l'%xg8 1 6.i.h6t l'%g7, which he was truly prepared to play. I can understand why; his bishops are tremendous and White is close to lost here. Obviously I noticed the possibility, but never considered it seriously. In fact the immediate 1 5 .:1%c l ! was a bit more accurate, although the difference is not big.

15 @g7 16.:1%acl i.h3? Another example of misevaluating material. The idea behind White's last move was barely hidden - except, it turns out, from Black. .••

It was essential for him to prevent White's next move with 1 6 . . . i.d7!, putting pressure on the b5-knight. White is better here, but not greatly: 1 7.lDc7 :i%a7 1 8 .i.xg8 l'%xg8 1 9 .i.h6t This time

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17 .. :�xc5 1 8J3cl Y;¥f8 19.:i%c7t &iJe7 20.i.e6! I like this move. The queen gets the e6square. 20 i.f5 2 I .i.xf5 gxf5 22.Y;¥e6 :ges 23.Eild6 @g6 24.:gxe7 Forcing mate, but of course everything wins. 1-0 •.•

I know that this was a complicated game with various trick shots, but still the main observation seems to ring true: Black defended material that he should have let go, such as the f7-pawn and the rook on a8 . He was hoping that I would win the exchange by giving up both my bishops and all my activity, and he did not pay proper (any?) respect to the exchange sacrifice on c5 . All of this adds up to losing in 24 moves after having the better position at move 1 2.

27

Chapter 1 - Danes Eat Fish for Breakfast Grandmasters usually get an advantage in the opening

Most grandmasters are diligent workers. And most diligent workers in chess like to study the opening - because of its concrete nature. (I personally don't think the opening is the most important part of chess to study, but rather something you should only pay full attention to when you have everything else under control. But seeing as no one will ever reach a level where the rest of their game is under "control", the correct attitude towards the study of the opening must be to increase it as you improve. By the time you reach GM­ level, it should probably take up about 50% of your study time, rather than the 95% which most players stuck between 2500 and 2600 seem to think.) In any case, we should think carefully about our choice of openings, especially when facing a well-prepared grandmaster. The following is a good example of how sloppy preparation can result in the amateur getting no chance to play at all.

Sergei Tiviakov- Jacob Aagaard Breda 1998

I .e4 c5 2.c!Llf3 c!Llc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.c!Llxd4 c!Llf6 5.c!Llc3 e5 6.c!Lldb5 d6 7 .ig5 a6 s.c!Lla3 b5 9.c!Lld5 .ie7 IO .ix£6 .ix£6 l l .c3 0-0 12.c!Llc2 .ig5 13.a4 bxa4 14J3xa4 a5 1 5 .ib5 I knew that Tiviakov played this and that it had recently become fashionable. But for some reason I did not make the connection that the line recommended in my book on the Sveshnikov Sicilian did not hold up to tighter scrutiny. In this way I trundled along to the abattoir. I could of course have researched the line in advance, but I simply did not have the

discipline to do so. This lack of discipline is probably the main reason it took me ten years to make it from IM to GM.

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1 5 ... c!Lle7 16.c!Llcb4 .ie6 Later a clear path to equality was demonstrated here: 1 6 . . . .ih3! 17.lLlxe7t Wixe7 1 8 .lLld5 Wib7 1 9.i.c4 ( 1 9 .c4 i.e6=) 1 9 . . . i.d7 20.:B:a2 � h8 2 1 .0-0 f5 22.exf5 i.xf5 23.lLle3 Wid? Yz-Yz Dominguez Perez - Leko, Yerevan 200 1 . 17.c!Llxe7t �xe7 1 8 .ic6 :B:ac8 19.:B:xa5 :B:xc6 20.c!Llxc6 �b7 This was all in my preparation, and meant to be equal. But once I saw White's next move it became obvious that I was lost. •

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28

Jacob Aagaard

2 1 .h4! This zwischenzug comes with devastating effect. Previously the last word in theory was: 2 1. Wfxd6 E:d8 22.Wfc5 i.d2t 23. W fl (23. W e2?? Wfxb2 24.E:b5 Wfc2-+ Palau Viol - Moles Palleja, Spain 1 993.) Now in Velasco - Ruiz, Spain 1995 , Black should have played 23 . . . Wfxb2!N 24.lt:Jxd8 i.f4 leading to an exciting draw:

8 7 6 5 4 3

i.a4 34.E:a8 i.c6 3 5 . W xb3 i.xa8 36.f3 i.c6 37.\t>b4 1 -0 Lecroq - Dzenis, corr. 1 999.

22.hxg5 Wfxe4t 23.�fl f6 An old game went 23 . . . i.b3 24.Wfc l f6, Sutkus - Vaitonis, Lithuania 1978, but this had not made it to the books or databases in 1 998. After 25. W g1! fxg5 26.Wfxg5 Wfe1 t 27.\t>h2 Wfxf2 28 .:1'\ha1 White is close to winning. 24.E:a4 Wl'b7 25.Wfd3 i.f5!? Trying to confuse the issue, but Tiviakov keeps a cool head.

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25 .g4! i.xg4! 26.Wfd5 ! and Black has a perpetual check, but nothing more.

21...Wfxc6 The proof of the pudding is in the eating. The following game shows White's idea: 2 l . . .i.f6 22.Wfxd6 E:c8

3 1 .Wl'xg7 Wfdl t 32.�h2 E:xf2 33.E:h6t �d5 34.Wl'b7t At this point Julian Hodgson interrupted the game (my 'thinking') by suggesting that I simply resign instead of wasting my opponent's time. His argument was so compelling that I immediately complied. 1-0 It is worth pointing out that while I have lost a few times like this as an amateur, I have won

Chapter 1 - Danes Eat Fish for Breakfast in the same way equally frequently as a titled player. In any case, it is not only with this kind of forced line that one can get into trouble. At times it is also because we fail to anticipate a dangerous positional idea from our opponent. In the next game I chose a sideline against the Sicilian. It is theoretically harmless, but my opponent allowed a nice idea which should not have been difficult to avoid, and once it was unleashed Black's existence became difficult.

Jacob Aagaard- Alan Grant Perth 2008

Alan is rated about 2200, but he is a clever and resourceful player who has proven to be one of my most troublesome opponents in Scottish chess. I have drawn with him a number of times, usually with me offering in a bad position and Alan deciding not to go all in.

I.e4 c5 2.ctJf3 e6 3.h3 b6 This is universally recommended as the way to go for Black. 4.d4 cx:d4 5.ctJxd4

much. Black should play his usual moves here, with the exception of Alan's habitual . . . ltl c6.

s ....ih7?! There is a bit of forcing thinking attributed to this move. Black assumes that White is going to defend his e-pawn, but I had something else in mind. As a result Black ends up in a situation where he should not have taken the material, but instead fought for normal equality. When I encountered this position I avoided White's idea and equalized easily after 5 . . . a6! 6 . .ib2 Wlc7 7. id3 i b4t 8.c3 i e7 9.0-0 ltl f6 1 0.f4 d6= Williams - Aagaard, Great Yarmouth 2007.

6.ctJ b5! .ixe4 7.ctJ lc3 .ih7 8.ctJd6t A new move, but not an improvement. The normal 8 . if4 ltl a6 9.Wid4! ttJ f6 l O . ttJ d6t ixd6 l l . ixd6 gives White a small edge, as for example in Wippermann - Fuchs, Germany 2005. 8 .ixd6 9.'Wxd6 ctJ e7! I was hoping for a quick win after: 9 .. . tb f6 1 0. ia3 ttJ c6? l l . ttJ b5! l:l:c8 •..

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White has transposed into an Open Sicilian with a minor change, which should not matter

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1 2.'Wf8t!! l:l:xf8 1 3 . ttJ d6t r:j;; e7 1 4.ltlf5t r:j;; e s 1 5 . ttJ xg7# This is why I gave the check on d6 on move eight, but obviously I was dreaming.

IO ..id3 0-0 I I ..ia3 l:l:e8 12.0-0-0

Jacob Aagaard

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14.�hel White is now fully mobilized, and it is time to start thinking about concrete measures. 14...i.a6?! The objectively preferred option was to play 1 4 . . . lt:\ c6, but White can still claim a large advantage after 1 5 .lLlb5 e5 1 6.f4! a6 1 7.tLlc3 d4 1 8.lLi e4 with a strong attack all over the board.

White has great compensation for the pawn and the position is practically difficult for Black to play. This matters just as much as the objective evaluation of the position. We are liable to forget this human aspect of chess if we spend too much time with computers.

1 5.i.xa6 I could also have played the combination given on the next move, but I failed to spot the preferable move order. 1 5 ... ltJxa6

12 ... ltJ c8? A clear consequence of the practical difficulties Black is facing. He had to find 1 2 . . . ltJ f5 ! with the point that 1 3 .i.xf5 is met with 1 3 . . . '1Mrg5t 1 4.<j;Jb l '1Mfxf5 . White still has strong compensation after 1 5 .f3, for example, but the position definitely holds mutual chances. I think I would still take White's side on the basis that it would be harder to solve Black's problems over the board, but obviously it's 'game on!' 13."1Wg3 Now Black will find it hard to defend the kingside against the combined pressure of the queen and two bishops. Also the rooks will be very active in the centre and the knight can swing to the kingside quickly via e4 to g5 or f6 to complete the attacking team. 1 3 . . d5 Aimed against the knight's involvement. However, the cost of not bringing any pieces into play is starting to tell. .

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Chapter 1

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Danes Eat Fish for Breakfast

20.l"i:e3! � g8 2 l .l"i:xd5 and the attack is absolutely devastating. I did see the idea, but wanted to play it on the next move.

16 ...'Wc7? Losing without a fight. 1 6 . . . f6?! 1 7.lLlxd5! exd5 1 8 . ixf6 transposes to the previous note. Black could have offered more resistance with 1 6 . . . lLl d6!, although White keeps a big advantage after 1 7.lLlxd5 lLl f5 1 8 .'\Wg4 exd5 1 9.l"i:xe8t '\Wxe8 20.'\Wxf5 . Still this would have enabled Black to fight on, something we will talk about in a few moments.

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the middlegame and early endgame, he will press on until there is no hope left. This is partly because grandmasters are stubborn, a quality which is invaluable in the hunt for the title, and partly because they know that this attitude brings result more often than their amateur opponents expect. I have experienced on many occasions that my opponents find it almost ridiculous that I continue playing in a "dead drawn" position, only to win the game anyway. Sometimes after the game these same opponents will try to convince me that the position was indeed not worth playing on in, in spite of the final result! The following is just one out of many such examples, where my opponent played really well, but eventually was not rewarded for his efforts because he somehow 'stopped going' at some point.

Jacob Aagaard Paolo Tocco -

Arco 2007

l .e4 e5 2.ctJf3 ctJ c6 3 ..th5 ctJge7 4.ctJ c3 g6 5.d4 exd4 6.ctJd5 ctJxd5 7.exd5 'Welt

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17.£4 Suddenly the threat of CDxd5 is totally winning. 17 ... d4 18.ctJd5 'Wds 19 ..txd4 1-0 Grandmasters keep on going

Probably the most important attribute for a grandmaster is his tenacity. If he wants to win a game, he will fight until there are only kings left on the board. Even if he has a bad day and spoils the advantage in the opening and fails to make progress from his slight advantage in

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Grandmasters usually get an advantage in the opening and this is no exception. Although this was not part of my preparation, the game has not strayed too far away from what I was

Jacob Aagaard

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looking at in the morning. I instinctively knew that the position was very good for me, but was unable to calculate the simple refutation accurately.

to prove that my slight edge was enough to outplay him.

8 .ie2? This throws all of the advantage away. White is close to winning after 8 . @ fl !, when 8 .. ."Wc5 9.'1We2t l:iJe7 l O . .ig5 is terrible for Black, and 8 . . . tt'le5 9.'1Wxd4 ig7 1 0. if4 f6 l l .E!:el simply wins a pawn. For some reason I did not have the latter variation under control, despite it being straightforward. So, what should have been a 25-move win quickly went into muddy waters. •

8 1:iJb4 9.0-0 .ig7 10.a3 d3 l l .Axd3 �xd3 12 ..ig5? Based on a tactical oversight, but we cannot see everything. .•.

12 ... £6? Black also misses 1 2 . . . 1:fJxb2 1 3.E!:e l

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1 3 . . . 0-0!!, when he would be better.

13.Y;Vxd3 0-0 14.d6!? Y;Vxd6 1 5.Y;Vxd6 cx:d6 The endgame is slightly favourable for White because of the weak d-pawn. But because my opponent cleverly keeps it on d7 instead of advancing it to d5, there is probably not enough for a technical win. In general my opponent did a good job of handling the problems I tried to set for him, and was unable

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16 ..if4 E!:e8 17.E!:fel f7 1 8.E!:xe8 ci>xe8 19.E!:el t f7 20. � d4 a6 21 .Axd6 .if8 22 ..ixf8 xf8 23J�e3 b6 24.£3 E!:b8 25.f2 .ib7 26.g4 13c8 27.13b3 b5 28.13d3 .id5 29.c3 .ic4 30.13d2 f7 3 1 . � c2 ci>e7 32.tl:! e3 J.e6 33.g3 13c5 34.h4 h6 35.f4 ci>es 36.13f2 f5 37.h5 gxh5 38.gxh5 f7 39.f3 13c8 40.13d2 f6 4I.�d5t hd5t 42.13xd5 e6 My opponent was understandably pleased here. The worst dangers do indeed seem to be over, but this does not mean that the grandmaster will stop playing for a win.

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43.13e5t f6 44.13d5 e6 45.13d2 13g8

Chapter 1

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Danes Eat Fish for Breakfast

46J:!e2t cj{£6 47J:!el cj{f7 48J:'!e5 cj{£6 49.!'k5 cj{e6 50J:'!e5t cj{f6 5 1 .E:c5 cj{e6 52.a4 E:b8 53.E:e5t cj{f6 54.axb5 axb5 55.E:el E:g8 56.E:al E:c8 57.E:gl cj{f7 58.E:dl cj{e6 59.E:d4 E:c4 60.cj{e3 E:c8 61 .E:dl E:g8 62.E:el E:g4 63.cj{f3t cj{f6 64.E:e5 E:h4 65.E:xb5 E:xh5 66.E:b6t cj{e7 67.cj{e3 d6 68.cj{d4 cj{e6 69.c4 E:hl 70.c5 E:dl t 71 .cj{e3 E:d5

33

75 ... cj{d4! The only move to make a draw. The black king is keeping his options open. 76.h3 cj{d3 77. cj{h4 cj{e4 78. cj{g3 cj{d3 79.b4 Here the unexplainable miracle happened. Having played for many hours with his back against the wall and solved all the problems along the way, my opponent failed to make his move within the available 30 seconds and I won on time. By no means a deserved win, but a full point on the score sheet all the same. 1-0 Tocco declined my hand and said something about my mother and ancient professions. I asked the arbiter if this was entirely appropriate, to which he said "You won the game, what more do you want?" Quite right!

We were both growing tired and at this point I somehow failed to play 72.c6!, which would have j ustified my previous play and presented Black with real problems, although he should still be able to hold it with best play. However, the game was not without a final trick.

The final game of this chapter is a special case. Played in the last round of the tournament, my opponent was desperate for a draw, which would secure him an IM norm. He approached me before the game asking if i wanted a draw, to which I declined. He then started reasoning, which was totally out of order in my opinion and deserving of one answer only: "I don't care. "

72.E:xd6t E:xd6 73.cxd6 cj{xd6 74.cj{f3 cj{ds 75.cj{g3

However, once the game got underway, things quickly went his way.

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Angelo Darnia- Jacob Aagaard Arco 20 1 0

l .d4 d5 2.ttlf3 ttlf6 3.c4 e6 4.ttl c3 c6 s .J.g5 h6 6.J.xf6 '1Wxf6 7.'1Wb3 a5 8.e4 dxe4 9.ttlxe4 '\W£4 IO.J.d3 J.h4t 1 1 .cj{e2 f5!? 12.ttlg3 J.e7 13.E:hel a4 14.'1Wc3 0-0 1 5 .cj{f1 '!Wc7 16.c5 b6 17.b4 axb3

Jacob Aagaard

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yet. If nothing else, it is clear that Black has made major progress in the last ten moves!

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Black's opening play has been provocative and rather poor. I simply wanted the game to become unbalanced.

18.cxb6? White misses the chance to get a winning attack with 1 8 .'1Wxb3 bxc5 1 9 .Ei:xe6!. The main point behind this combination can be found in the following pretty line: 1 9 . . . �xe6 20.'1Wxe6t <;t> hs 2 1 .tll xf5 �f6 22.ctJ e5 �xe5 23.ctJ e7!

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29.�e2 gS 30.CLlfl eS 3 1 .f3 �g6 32.CLle3 g4 33.fxg4 f4 34.CL:lf5 �gS 35.h3 hS 36.g3 hxg4 37.hxg4 �xg4 38.gxf4 exf4 For a moment he thought I was going to take the knight, which of course would mean an instant draw.

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It is already time to resign.

18 .. .1.Wxb6 19.1.Wxb3 'Wxb3 20.axb3 Ei:xal 21 .:!':!xal cS 22 ..ic4 cxd4 23.ctJxd4 �f6 24.:!':!a8 .ixd4 25.:!':!xb8 �h7 26.:!':!a8 .icS 27 ..ia6 .id7 28.:!':!xf8 .ixf8 This endgame is of course entirely unwinnable, but there is no reason to stop just

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There is no hope left, in the sense that the position cannot be won. However, it is definitely still possible for White to lose it. As my grandmaster friend Alex Baburin once said: "Give them some rope, and they will hang themselves."

Chapter 1

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Danes Eat Fish for Breakfast

An example of a potential losing strategy for White would be to move his king away from the path of the f-pawn. In such positions I have noticed that many amateurs choose to do something, rather than just keeping their position together (as Tocco did so excellently in the previous game) .

40.'itt d3 40.�b7! was a simple way to keep the important squares under control. 40 ...ic5 41.tLld5 f3 42.'ifte4 f.2 Suddenly there is some hope of at least creating some practical problems for the opponent. 43.b4 ia7 44.ifl ic6 45.b5 ih7 46.'ifte5 'itt g4 47.b6 ih8t 48.lLl c7 'itt g3 49. 'iftd4 'itt h2 50. 'ifte3 'itt g l

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5 1 .ic4? White has played rather poorly and already this is a losing mistake. He should have put the bishop on e2 or d3, the plan of tt::l e6-g5-h3xf2 would have given him fair chances to save the game. 5 I ...ig2 52.tLla6? 52.tt::l e6 �d5 ! 53.tt::l g5 �xc4 54.tt::l h3t i>fl 5 5 .tt::l xf2 �h2! wins in 74 moves according

35

to the tablebases, but was still a better try for White - not least because I would only have had 50 moves to win the position after taking the b-pawn!

52 ...id6 52 . . . �fl would have won more quickly, but there is nothing wrong with the move I played. 53.tLlc7 ifl Apparently queening the pawn wins in 75 moves, but there is no reason to be absurd. 54.ie6

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By now I had achieved everything I could have wished for in this ending and managed to reach the winning position I was so desperately seeking. But here the miracle happened to my opponent. Not only was he terribly nervous in this game, but I was too. Had I won the game I would have taken first place in the tournament. I did not care one bit for the prize money, but it would have been my third time winning the event, and I really, really wanted the big trophy. However, it was not to be and my nervous system simply overloaded, as research has shown can happen to athletes when the stakes become too high. Obviously it is a ridiculous comparison, but I felt a bit like a football

Jacob Aagaard

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player stepping up for an important penalty shootout. I simply lost control of my emotions and abilities, and played a horrible move far too quickly.

54 ....ixc7?? Moving the bishop, for instance with 54 . . . .ie2, would have won directly. The same was the case with 54 . . . i.c5t 5 5 . � f4 i.xb6, which eliminates all counterplay. The one thing I should not do is give him a passed pawn on the seventh rank. 55.bxc7 .ia6

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56 . .ic4! 56.i.h3 i.c8! was of course my point, but now it is j ust a draw. 56 .ixc4 57.c8=Wf fl=Wf 58.Wfg4t Wfg2 •..

1/2-lf2

To summarize, the following qualities are generally what separate the grandmaster from the amateur: � Piece handling � Forcing thinking � Choosing between material and

positional advantages

� Opening knowledge in practice � Fighting spirit

Thus, if you are an amateur who wishes to progress in the direction of grandmaster level, my recommendation would be to focus on these five issues.

Peter Heine Nielsen

A Tale ofThree Stories

Peter Heine Nielsen

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When playing lower-rated opponents I have found that, broadly speaking, the game tends to follow one of three main storylines. The first and most obvious scenario involves a relatively smooth win for the stronger player. Typically he will obtain some advantage from the opening (or comfortable equality if playing with Black) , before increasing the pressure until the opponent collapses, bringing the game to its natural conclusion, at least as seen through the eyes of the winner and most onlookers. Quite often matters are more blurry. The stronger player falls into a dangerous or even outright losing position, but manages to keep the game complicated enough to pose his opponent practical problems, to which he eventually succumbs. The grandmaster breathes a sigh of relief and the amateur curses his ineptitude and/or "bad luck". The third and least common story is similar to the second, except that this time the amateur holds his nerve and succeeds in putting his illustrious adversary to sleep. (Even grandmasters are not immune from occasional bouts of "bad luck".) My own professional career has featured a certain number of all these scenarios, and I have chosen to show you one of each. We will begin with an encounter with a then fourteen­ year-old Norwegian kid, who was making his debut on Board 1 in the German Bundesliga. (As a matter of fact all three of the selected games occurred in the German league; this was entirely coincidental and nothing to do with any grander scheme.)

Peter Heine Nielsen- Magnus Carlsen

slight roadblocks in 2005 and it was not until 2006 that he broke the 2600 barrier. Casting him in the role of amateur certainly stretches the definition of the term, but despite his phenomenal abilities he was still only a young kid who had a number of holes in his game. Meanwhile I was a seasoned grandmaster rated over 2660, and playing with the white pieces I considered myself the clear favourite. Heading into this game I already knew Magnus quite well, and had done a few training sessions with him. My impression from that time - of an enormously talented kid, who isn't especially hard-working or well prepared in the opening - still stands. Sadly, my positive score against him most certainly does not! When playing with the white pieces the usual strategy, at least for a theoretician such as myself, is to put maximal pressure on the opponent as quickly as possible. Against lower-rated opponents this approach used to practically guarantee me a huge advantage, but in recent years the ubiquity of databases and analysis engines, coupled with a rise in high-quality opening books (not least from the publisher of these pages!), has enabled many amateurs to raise their opening level considerably. Nevertheless, despite the ever­ increasing competency of my opponents, my policy with the white pieces remains the same: it's serve and volley, maximum pressure and if all goes to plan, putting the opponent away quickly.

l.tiJf3 All this talk of maximum pressure in the opening, and then this modest first move! What gives?

Bundesliga 2005 By the time of this game Magnus's rating had already shot up to 258 1 , although he hit a few

I admit that the idea of playing 1 .e4 and going for mate is not without appeal. I have taken this approach plenty of times, and indeed we will

Chapter 2 - A Tale of Three Stories see an example of this kind of chess in the third and final game of the chapter. Nevertheless I have more frequently favoured queen's pawn openings, and have found that a healthy mix of l .d4, l .CU f3 and l .c4 works well. Many players have the basis of a decent repertoire, but have failed to pay sufficient attention to the subtleties of different move orders. When preparing for a particular opponent, one of my first objectives is to look for patterns of inconsistency in that regard. With Magnus being a Griinfeld devotee at the time, the flexibility of my chosen first move made it an appealing choice.

l ... l!J f6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 .tg7 4..tg2 0-0 5.0-0 d5 6.cxd5 CUxd5 7. l!J c3 l!J c6 8.d4 So now we end up in a normal Griinfeld position anyway. 8 ... l!J b6

8.d5? is impossible as 8 . . . .txc3t wins a pawn, so White is forced to play 8.e3 leading to the main line after both sides castle. Mter giving due consideration to all this, I nevertheless decided to stick with the line I had prepared.

9 .. J!e8 IO.d5!? Nowadays this line has been more or less abandoned in favour of 1 O.l"i:e l , but at the time my chosen move was considered critical. IO ... l!Ja5 I I . l!J d4 .td7 12.e4 c6 13.2:el cxd5 14.exd5

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9.e3 Transposing to the main line, although nowadays 9 d5!? is all the rage. In a sense the latter move is the more principled attempt to exploit the opponent's chosen move order. This point is best understood in light of the traditional move order, in which Black delays castling: l .d4 CUf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 .tg7 4 . .tg2 d5 5 . cxd5 CUxd5 6.CUf3 CU b6 7.CUc3 CUc6! Now

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14 ... 2:c8 Two months later in the British League, Jonathan Rowson surprised me with a nice idea: 1 4 . . . CU bc4!? My failure to achieve any significant advantage in this game serves as a reminder not to make oneself into a sitting duck by repeating the exact same opening lines, as this makes the opponent's task of preparing way too easy. In my defence I would add that the event was the 4NCL where the pairings are announced just an hour before the start of play, but even so! 1 5 .b3

Peter Heine Nielsen

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As the owner of a pair of bishops I continued the fight for a while longer, but never got any real winning chances and the game ended in a draw. Apart from the theoretical significance of Black's 1 5th move, the only exciting aspect of this encounter was that it was the final game to finish in the decisive match of the season. Happily it was enough to secure a 4-4 draw for my Wood Green colleagues, which was enough for them to take the 4NCL title. a

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1 5 . . . e5! In a previous game Rowson had preferred 1 5 . . .'1Wb6, but after 1 6.l[ke2 .!D e5 1 7.h3 iWa6 1 8 . .ie3 .!Dd3 1 9.Ei:fl e5 20.dxe6 fxe6 2 I ..!D c l he failed to equalize and eventually succumbed in Stefansson - Rowson, Calvia (ol) 2004. The text move was the Scottish grandmaster's prepared improvement - or rather, as Jonathan modestly admitted after the game - Levon Aronian's! It turns out that the two players debated this same opening variation in the French League earlier the same year, eventually drawing a tough game. Aronian deviated a few moves earlier with the mysterious-looking 1 3 Ei:b l !?, and revealed after the game that he did so in order to avoid the very move that Jonathan then went on to use against me! 1 6.dxe6 .ixe6 1 7 . .!Dxe6 Ei:xe6 1 8 .\Wxd8t Ei:xd8 1 9.Ei:xe6 .ixc3 20 . .ig5 fxe6 2 I ..ixd8 .ixal 22.bxc4 .!D c6

1 5.i.f4 So far we had both played rather quickly, but here Magnus sank into thought. When you find yourself 'out of book' against a higher-rated opponent, especially one who still appears to be following his preparation, I would recommend aiming for a safe move, leading to a playable position and hopefully an interesting battle. Instead, spurred on by the optimism of youth, the future world number one audaciously tried to refute my setup outright! (At least, in terms of striving for an advantage with the white pieces.)

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1 5 ... � bc4�! The normal moves were 1 5 . . . h6 and 1 5 . . . .!D ac4 1 6.b3 .!Dd6 1 7.iWd2 .!D a8!? intending to activate the queen on a5 or b6. All this I was ready for, but after the game continuation I had to start thinking on my own.

Chapter 2 - A Tale of Three Stories

16.b3 lD b2!? A highly imaginative move, which made me wonder if the boy sitting opposite me was not only ignorant, but also a genius. Although the evidence of this game alone would not be enough to reach a clear verdict, one can hardly deny that time has shown the latter to be an entirely appropriate description. Alternatively 16 . . . 1Mi'b6 1 7.lt:lce2 lt:l d6 1 8 .1Mi'd2 is pleasant for white, as the black knight is curiously a lot more severely misplaced on a5 than a8! 17.1Mi'd2 ttl ac4! 18.bxc4 lDxc4 19.'1Wd3 lD b2 Now the point of Black's play becomes clear. He intends to continue harassing my queen, who will have to keep d4 and c3 protected, and so at first it looks like the game is destined to end in a draw by move repetition. But after a long think, I managed to find a flaw in his idea.

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25 ...i.xd4

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26.d6t After this move Black actually has a narrow route to a draw; see the note to his 29th move for details. With this in mind, 26.i.c7! seems more accurate. My main line continues 26 . . . Ei:xc7 27.d6t Ei:c4!? 28 .i.d5t <j;>g7 29.i.xc4 lt:lxc4 30.1Mi'xc4 e5 3 1 .Ei:ad l and White keeps some advantage, the main plan being to return the exchange by taking on d4 at some point. 26 e6 26 . . . <j;>g7? loses to 27.1Mi'xb2 when either capture on c3 is met by the crushing 28 .i.e5 t. •.•

27.lD d5!

21 ...f5 22.1Mi'd3 lD b2 23.'1Wd2 lD c4 24.\Mrdl ! ttlb2 25.1Mi'b3! Having forced a weakening of the a2-g8 diagonal, the queen leaves the d4-knight to its fate in order to take up a menacing post opposite the enemy king.

Peter Heine Nielsen

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27 ...i.a4! An early sign of what a great defender Magnus Carlsen has become. The text move forces me into a concrete tactical fight, whereas less energetic alternatives would have enabled me to strengthen my attack at will. 28.'Wxb7 28 .�b4!? This move is also dangerous, but again Black can hold with precise defence. 28 . . . hf2t! 29.'it?h l i.xe l 30J'!xe l

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33.i.h5t 'it?g8 34.i.xe8 i.xe8 35 .E:e7 if7 36.�f6 �f8 37.d7 E:c6 38 .�xf7t �xf7 39.d8=�t+-) 33.i.xg4 i.c6 34.i.f3 lt:l c4 (34 . . . i.xd5 ? 35 .i.xd5 exd5 36.�xd5t 'it?g7 37.E:e6!!+-) 3 5 .i.h6 e5 36.�xc4 �xd6 37.i.g5t 3 1 . . .E:c4! is the simplest way to hold: 32.�xb2 gxf4 33.lt:lf6t 'it?f7 34.�e2 'it?xf6 35 .�xc4 �a5 36.E:b l i.c6 37.i.xc6 bxc6 38.�xf4= 32.i.f3! An important move, bringing the bishop into the attack and also opening the g-file. From here Black has several drawing options, but some are more demanding than others . . .

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30 . . . g5 !! Neither 30 ... lt:l d3?! 3 l .�xa4 lDxe l 32.d7± nor 30 .. J''k2 3 l .�d4 �a5 32J::!: e 5!± can satisfy Black. 3 l .�d4 3 l .�xb2 gxf4 also leads to a draw, for instance: 32.�e5 (or 32.i.f3 �xd6 33.gxf4 e5 34.fxe5 �e6 3 5 . lt:l f6t 'it?h8 36.lt:lxe8 E:c2 37.�xb7 �h6 38 .�g7t �xg7 39.lt:lxg7 lff xg7 40.E:b l :B:xa2 4 1 .E:b7t 'it?g6 42.E:xa7=) 32 . . . 'it?f7 (32 . . . i.c6 33.gxf4 lff f7 34.i.f3 hd5 3 5 .i.xd5 exd5 36.�xd5t 'it?f6 37.�d4t lff f7 38 .�d5 t=) 33.�xf4 (33.i.f3 ? exd5 34.i.h5t 'it?g8 35 .�xd5t lff g7 36.i.xe8 i.xe8 37.�xb7t 'it?f8-+) 33 . . . i.c6 34.�h6 exd5 35 .�xh7t= 3 l . . . gxf4!? Not the most efficient route to a draw, but the most interesting one to analyse! 3 l . . .'it?f7?! is worse: 32.!£3! g4 (32 . . . exd5?

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32 . . . i.d l ! The most effective, and certainly the most elegant defence. 32 . . . e5?! makes things a bit more difficult: 33.E:xe5 E:xe5 34.�xe5 i.c6! 35.'it?gl 'it?f8!! Not an easy only move to find. White has many options here, but he lacks sufficient firepower to get more than a perpetual. For example: 36.�h8t lff f7 37.i.h5t 'it?e6 38.lDxf4t lff xd6 39 .�d4t 'it?e7 40.�e5t 'it?d7 4 l .�d4t 'it?e7= 32 . . . lt:l d3!? is a good alternative: 33.lt:lf6t �xf6!? (33 . . . 'it?f7 34.i.h5t 'it?f8 3 5 . lt:l d7t 'it?g8 36.lDf6t 'it?f8=) 34.�xf6 lt:lxe l 3 5 . ih5 E:f8 (35 . . .i.c6t 36.1ff g l lt:l f3t 37.'it?f2 fxg3t 38.hxg3 E:f8 39.�xe6t lff g7 40.�e7t 'it?h6

Chapter 2 - A Tale of Three Stories 4 Li.xf3 i.xf3 42.'tt> xf3;!;) 36.�xe6t � g7 37.�xe l 00 After Black's cheeky bishop move, the game quickly ends in a forced perpetual:

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which attacks both d3 and e6, was winning. However, it turns out that Black has a clever defence: 3 1 . . .i.xf2t 32. � h l o:lD c5 ! Protecting e6 with tempo, and narrowly holding Black's position together. 33.�d6!? i.xe l 34.Ei:xe l 'tt> f7 ! The final important move, giving extra protection to e6, and attacking e7. By this stage White has to start thinking about securing the draw, and 35 .�d4! seems like the best way to ensure that.

30 ..ie3! Shielding f2 and challenging Black's control over the a l -h8 diagonal.

I thought my chosen continuation was completely crushing, but it turns out that Black has a defence.

30 . . . i.xe3? 3 1 .Eixe3 Ei:bS 32.�c7! wins instantly, as the black knight is hanging and there is no good defence to �c3t. a

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28 ... tLl d3 29.o:l2J e7t 'tt> h 8? The decisive mistake. Surprisingly 29 . . . Eixe7! would have enabled Black to draw: 30.dxe7 �e8! 3 l .�a6!? During the game we both thought that this move,

30 ... i.xa l ! ? is possible, but after 3 1 .Eixal Ei:b8 32.�a6! i.b5 33 .�a3 White protects the d6pawn and keeps a huge advantage. 30 . . . i.c3 3 l .Ei:ad 1 ! ctJxe 1 32.d7! reaches a fun position; despite being temporarily a rook up with dl also hanging, Black is totally lost.

44

Peter Heine Nielsen

3 1 .�a6! This move has been an important theme in a few variations, and here it decides the game. 31 ... lll xel 3 l . . . ctJ b2 32.Wxc4! ctJxc4 33.�xd4t e5 34.Elxe5 also wins quickly for White. 32.�xc4 ixal!? Knowing I'm a sucker for cheap tricks, Magnus attempts a final role of the dice.

The following game is a case in point. My opponent is a regular player for the Hamburg team, and a typical gifted amateur who has decided to put his priorities elsewhere, including as a successful poker player. Such players often lack the time to prepare their openings in great detail, but make up for it with good over-the-board skills.

Dirk Sebastian- Peter Heine Nielsen Bundesliga 20 10

l .e4 c5!? Some extremists might consider this move a mandatory choice against lower­ rated opposition, but generally with the black pieces I am happy to obtain a playable position with chances to outplay my opponent later. Once again, specific preparation is an important part of the process, involving the search for weaknesses and inconsistencies in the opponent's opening repertoire. Sebastian seemed to have a penchant for offbeat Sicilians, so I decided this would be a promising battleground for me.

33 ... e5 34.�e6! A nice touch to finish the game. As the long diagonal is now blocked, there is no good defence against Wf6t or Wxe5t mating, so Magnus resigned. 1-0 Obviously things do not always go as smoothly as in the above game. One of the most important skills for any successful player is the ability to remain competitive in unfavourable situations, and score a decent number of points from the games we should 'rightfully' lose.

2.lll f3 lll c6!? I normally play . . . d6-based Sicilians, but having discovered that my opponent generally favoured anti-Sicilians with an early i c4, I decided to leave the d-pawn at home in order to retain the option of playing . . . d5 in one move. I did not give much thought to what I might do against 3.d4, as he almost never played that way. 3.lll c3 g6 4.ic4 As expected. 4 ...ig7 5.0-0 e6 6.Elel After the game, two of my 2700-rated teammates pointed out that 6.d4!? actually renders my chosen move order slightly

Chapter 2 - A Tale of Three Stories dubious, which seems like a correct evaluation. Dirk commented that, as a regular participant in late-night poker sessions, the Bundesliga schedule involving a 1 0:00 a.m. start on a Sunday was not exactly conducive to him finding precise moves in the opening.

45

14 cxd4 15.CLlg3 d5 16.b5 'iff1c7 17.J\b3 ..•

6 CLlge7 7.d3 0-0 8.a3 d6 9.J\d2 h6 IO.Eibl b6 I I .J\a2 J\b7 ..•

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%- - u %�;.,- ; � s4 a "E" "� � · · · · 'a�!��� � Wii•��:"/� � 7 6

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--:·if��""/:= oo a

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The opening phase has passed, and at this stage I have got exactly what I was hoping for: a perfectly sound position, with rich possibilities to outplay my opponent. The lack of symmetry is an important part of the equation, which is why the Sicilian is considered such a good choice when playing for a win with the black pieces. The only caveat is that some sharp lines have been analysed out to a forced draw, but fortunately no one has written a book about that yet.

12.b4 Elc8 1 2 . . . .:!Ll d4! would have been a bit more accurate, for the reason explained in the following note. 13.CLle2 CLl d4 14 . .:!Llfxd4 I had been cursing myself for glVlng my opponent the chance to play 1 4 . .:!Ll exd4 which looked more natural to me. I'll use the 1 0:00 a.m. excuse again.

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17 Eifd8?! This was the moment where I started to drift, while operating under the assumption that everything was going well and my position was already advantageous. Technically this is true, as White's position lacks harmony and his bishop on b3 is almost dead. Nevertheless I had failed to appreciate that the position also contains huge strategic dangers for Black. ••.

1 7 . . . dxe4 1 8 .dxe4 a6!? would have been a more effective way of challenging the white position. Even though the diagonal for the bishop on b3 has been opened, the effect is mostly optical. It is hard for White to find a constructive plan, and he is likely to come under pressure on the queenside. Play might continue 1 9 .a4 Vfi c5 20.Vfie2 axb5 2 1 .axb5 Ei:a8!? intending . . . CLJ c8 with a good position for Black.

18.'iff1 e2 'iff1d7?! 1 8 . . . e5 did not really tempt me, as despite Black's proud centre, he is somewhat stuck for a reasonable plan. Furthermore the bishop on b3 has woken up, which means White can start thinking about f4. Once again 1 8 . . . dxe4! was the right idea. Mter 1 9.dxe4 Black can even consider 1 9 . . . a6!? with

Peter Heine Nielsen

46

the point that 20.bxa6 d3! gives Black excellent prospects.

19.a4 �h7? A strategic blunder. This was the last chance for 1 9 . . dxe4. .

on my part to imagine that the rook would be able to sacrifice itself on g2 just four moves from now, but I played the move with this very intention in mind. "Bishop to f8, knight to f5 and it doesn't look so bad" was pretty much the way I saw it. A cold, objective assessment might have favoured other moves, but would hardly have helped me to win the game. At times like this, a mixture of ignorance and (over) confidence is the way forward!

21 .'i:Vg4!? Technically not a bad move, but one which gave me hope. Quieter play, perhaps starting with 2 l .ib4, would have left me in a depressing position with virtually no attacking chances.

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20.e5! It was only now that the sad truth dawned upon me: positionally the game is already over! The d4-pawn is chronically weak and I have almost no active ideas to improve my position. Objectively there is no doubt that Black is clearly worse, although in view of our respective ratings I still considered myself the overall favourite. Interestingly, a similar structure occurred in the famous game Spassky - Kasparov, Reykjavik 1 988. In that encounter the white pawn was unable to advance to e5, but Spassky was nevertheless able to exert unpleasant pressure against the d4-pawn, and after 1 9 moves a draw was agreed. The legend has it that Kasparov had already turned down one early draw, so when Spassky offered for the second time he added "If you don't take it this time, then I will have to beat you!"

20 .. .:1:l:g8!? It required a certain amount of optimism

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22.lthf5? If not plainly bad, this is at least a huge practical mistake. Now my previous moves start to make sense and my pieces spring to life, for a price of only one pawn. More pragmatic choices would have been 22.ib4 and 22.Wff4, both of which leave Black in a dubious position with few prospects.

22 .. gxf5 23.Wfxd4 .i£8 24.h3? .

Chapter 2 -

A

Tale of Three Stories

Preventing . . . Eig4, but White cannot afford the time for this. 24.g3! was the right way to defend the kingside. True, White takes a certain risk by opening the long diagonal, but this is vastly preferable to allowing . . . Eixg2 motifs, which turn out to be more than mere optimism on my part. The game might continue 24 . . . Eig6 25 .�e3 d4 26.�e2 when White keeps the better chances.

47

this harsh reality, I started looking for ways to strengthen my position and hit upon the text move. The idea is obvious: there is a good chance that White will move his queen at some point, and when that happens I will now be ready to play . . . d4 followed by a quick . . . �b7. Overall this is not a bad thought, and in some ways it provides quite a useful example of a practical, results-oriented approach to a dubious position. However it turns out that there was an immediate breakthrough - I just failed to calculate it properly. 24 . . . Eixg2t? was my first intention, but unfortunately White can repel the attack with 25.cj;>xg2 Elc4 26.�b2! d4t 27. @ fl �d5 28.Eie4! winning instantly.

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The story of the game so far is not atypical. From time to time grandmasters do get outplayed by supposedly weaker opponents, but very often they manage to turn the game around. One of the key qualities that separates higher-rated players from those beneath them is the ability to seize a game-changing opportunity when it arises. In the present game I have already sacrificed one pawn, and my instincts told me that this was the moment to take resolute action. After investing quite some time calculating the various options, I came up with a surprising idea.

24 .ia8?!! What can I say about this move? Well, I spent most of my time looking at sacrificial options - more about these in a moment - but despite my best efforts, I was unable to make the attack work. Having resigned myself to .••

However, Black can win by switching the order of the two rook moves: 24 . . . Eic4! This could have led to a spectacular victory; it is hard to believe that this is all happening just four moves after Black first found himself strategically busted. 25 .�b2 25 . .ixc4 Elxg2t! 26. @ fl .ic5 is instantly crushing.

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25 . . . d4! Best, although 25 . . . �d8 and 25 . . . Eih4 are good enough too. 26 . .ixc4 Elxg2t 27. @ fl

48

Peter Heine Nielsen worry. The immediate . . . l'!xg2 still does not work, so for the time being everything is in order for White. On the bright side for Black, the g-file is still open, so I decided to carry on pretending that this offered compensation.

25 l'!g6 26.£3 h5 27.g4!? A bold yet not at all bad reaction. It also served as a sharp reminder that I was not the only one trying to win this game. . .•

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27 . . . �d8!! The queen calmly prepares to join the action on the kingside. There is no defence, for instance: 28 .�e2 l'!xf2t! 29. � d l l'!xd2t 30. � xd2 �g5t 3 l . � d l j,f3t 32.l'!e2 �g2 With a winning attack. It's always a sad feeling when you realize you've missed the opportunity to win in such grand style. Still, we should not lose sight of the fact that the most important thing is to win in the end! When it comes to the rating list or tournament prize chart, an ugly win is just as valuable as a beautiful one.

8 7 6 5 4 3 2

27 hxg4 28.hxg4 fxg4 29.l'!e2!? 29.fxg4 i c5 30.�f4 d4 offers Black decent compensation. ..•

29 g3

8 7 6 5 4 3 2

•••

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30.�g2! White continues to play well, taking full advantage of the shelter offered by the g3pawn.

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25.�fl! A good defensive move. Since the capture on g2 will no longer come with check, the aforementioned . . . l'!c4 idea is no longer a

30 ...�e7 3 1 .Y«f4 �g7 32.l'!hl l'!g8 33J!:!:h6 �f8 34J':!:h7 34.l'!xg6! scared me more, and rightly so. The problem is that 34 . . . l'!xg6 35 .�d4! prevents . . . j,g5 , and it is hard to see how Black can meet the threat of l'!e l -h l . If he tries 35 . . . j,c5 then 36.�h4! only makes things worse. 34 ...�g5

49

Chapter 2 - A Tale of Three Stories

37.a5?? A losing blunder, completely overlooking the threat I created with the previous move. During the game 37. ixe7 1Mfxe7 38.a5 was worrying me a great deal. However, the computer points out that 38 . . . iWg5 ! intending . . . l:!h6 gives Black enough counterplay. 37.c3! is strongest, when it remains to be seen if the bishop on a8 will ever see the light of day.

35.ih4t 35 .iWb4t!? would have forced me to make a tough psychological decision:

37 ... ixh4 38.iWxb4 d4! Played instantly, as though the fact that Black was winning was the most natural thing in the world.

a) 35 . . . me8 is legal, but after 36 ixg5 l:!xg5 37 d4 the bishop on a8 must give up all hope of a fruitful existence.

39J�hl

b) The sounder move would have been 3 5 . . . ie7, begging for a repetition. Though it was not an ideal result for me, in the circumstances it would have been the lesser evil and I was intending to settle for it if need be. As it turned out, it never became an issue because my opponent quite j ustifiably wanted more than a draw.

35 .. .'�e8 36JWd4 ie7

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8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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39 .. .'!Wds! A key move. The main idea is that after sacrificing on f3 and playing . . . g2, the resource of . . . l:!f6t! will enable me to weave a mating net around the white king. 40.Wfc4 ixf3t 40 . . . iWg5 !? would have been even quicker as the black king escapes to g7, but the move played is perfectly sufficient.

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Peter Heine Nielsen

50

S.CLlc3 a6 6.i.c4 e6 7.i.b3 CLl bd7 8.Wfe2?! I will insist on saying that this system strikes me as illogical, although as we will see, it is certainly not without venom. White wants to develop as quickly as possible, and sacrifice something before Black has consolidated.

4I .�xf3 g2 42.Wfc6t �f8

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43.�xg2 There is no choice, as otherwise . . . E!:f6t would lead to mate. The rest is easy. 43 ... �xg2 44.Wfd6t Wfxd6 45.exd6 �e8 46.axb6 axb6 47.�a1 �d7 0-1 This was not an error-free game, to put it mildly, but a win is a win! Fortunately the third scenario is the least common. This is when everything works well for the amateur, and the master is severely punished for his overly ambitious play.

Stephan Berndt- Peter Heine Nielsen Bundesliga 2006

Berndt is another talented German IM who has decided to focus most of his attention elsewhere, but he remains a regular player in the Bundesliga. During my preparation I noticed his fondness for a particular line against the Najdorf, and decided it would give me excellent chances to play for a win with the black pieces.

l .e4 cS 2.CLlf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.CLlxd4 CLlf6

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8 b5 With hindsight, the safer 8 . . . lt:lc5!? would have been a more sensible choice, but my intention was to refute my opponent's concept outright. ..•

9.i.g5 i.b7 10.0-0-0 �c8 One of White's ideas is that 1 O . . . b4 can be met by l l .lt:l d5 ! with a huge attack. 1 1 .�he1

Chapter 2 - A Tale of Three Stories

l l ..J'!:xc3!? Played with the unwavering confidence of one who believes his opponent has violated the most basic principles of the Sicilian. At this point I noticed that Sergei Movsesian, one of my team-mates, had taken an interest in my game. Six years previously, as a 2650+ grandmaster in his early twenties, Sergei was defeated by Kasparov after allowing a similar exchange sacrifice in a different Najdorf vanauon. Kasparov subsequently wrote in New in Chess that allowing the sacrifice demonstrated a lack of chess culture. When I glanced up towards Sergei, he gave an acknowledging smile. 12.hxc3 'WaS 1 2 . . . '1Wc7 1 3 .ii.d5 !? ( 1 3 .f3!? is also decent) 1 3 . . . lt:Jxd5 1 4.exd5 e5 1 5 .f4! gives White a huge attack. 1 2 . . . '\WcS!? has the point that 1 3 .ii.d5 ?! exd5 14.exd5t md8 1 5 .'!We8 is not mate. Instead White should prefer 1 3 .f3! when his chances are higher.

13.£3

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helped by 1 5 . . . dxe4 in view of 1 6.fxe4 when ctJxe6 ideas are in the air. 1 3 . . . ii.e7 looks sane and logical, but after 1 4.mb l ! Black is somewhat stuck for a move as 1 4 . . . 0-0 runs into 1 5 .ctJxe6!.

14.'We3 hxc3 1 5.@b l ! Simple and strong. As . . . 'Wa3 n o longer comes with check, my direct attack has evaporated and I have to start thinking about long-term compensation for the exchange. This would not be at all unrealistic, if only there were such a thing as long-term in this position! What matters here is direct attacking play, and unfortunately for me, only one side has any such prospects. 1 5 ....ie7

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16.CLlf5! Launching the attack before Black can finish developing. Berndt's choice is logical and also brave, showing no respect to the more than 200-point rating gap. There is no sensible way to decline the offer, so I am forced to unleash the potential energy of the white pieces. 16 ... exf5 17.exf5 CLl e5 Another forced reply.

Peter Heine Nielsen

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1 8.£4 tDc6 19 ..ixf6 gxf6 20J�d5

threats, only to find that my queen was about to be trapped!

23 ... tD e5 A horrible move to play, but what else could I do? 24.fxe5 dxe5 25.%Vc7 .ixd5 Alternatives are utterly hopeless. The text leads to a rapid demise, although at least it forces White to find one more clever idea. 26.%Vc8t! �g7 a

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20 ...%Vb4? 20 . . . '\Wc? was a much better fighting chance. Even though White remains better after 2 1 .'1Wxc3, it is the kind of position one often manages to turn around. Mter the text it is definitely not the case, as Berndt demonstrates with a series of excellent attacking moves. 21 .a3! %Vxa3 22.%Vxc3 �f8? 22 . . . '\Wb4!? was the last chance, with some moderate survival chances.

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23.:!'l:e4! Quite a blow. There I was, feeling a hint of relief at having stopped his immediate mating

The above game deservedly won the Bundesliga Game of the Year award, and one might wonder why I decided to select it for this chapter. The answer is in the following point, which remains true for me despite the painful reversal suffered here. This is exactly how the professional wants the amateur to play against them! From my perspective - as a long-time chess professional with a rating in the high 2600s - when I face a strong amateur around the

Chapter 2 - A Tale of Three Stories level of the two German IMs featured in this chapter, my biggest fear is that they will find a way to force a draw with a prepared opening line. I will jump through hoops, changing my openings and doing whatever I can to prevent this from happening, but it isn't always easy. If, on the other hand, the amateur comes to the board ready for a fight and aiming to beat me, I welcome the challenge. If the result doesn't go my way then hats off, and indeed Stephan Berndt deserves full credit for beating me in a manner of which any grandmaster would have been proud. Nevertheless, I still think this is the right approach for the higher-rated player. The

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amateur gets his chances, but the master prevails more often than not. The stronger player should not be afraid to take calculated risks, and should remain confident that his superior abilities will make the difference in complex, even slightly dodgy positions. Let me end by highlighting the success that this combative approach has brought me. In the five-and-a-half years that have elapsed since the above defeat, I have not lost a single game to a player rated below 2500 (although the Sebastian game had me worried for a while!), and this is the primary reason for my rise in rating which even brought me up to the magical 2700 level for a brief period in 20 1 0.

Pavel Eljanov

From Amateur to 270 0

56

Pavel Eljanov

No chess Grandmasters, even those ranked among the greatest of all time, ever carried the hallmark of glory and fame from birth; there was nothing predetermined about their subsequent success. Of course, Mother Nature has endowed us all with various gifts and abilities. Some of us are born with a fine auditory sense, others benefit from a phenomenal memory (which, incidentally, is by no means the least thing a chess player would choose to have!) , while certain individuals possess a particular trait or set of traits that are conducive to succeeding at chess. And yet, even for attaining the rank of a 'mere' Grandmaster with a rating of around 2500 - let alone the level of a world-class player - chess talent alone is wholly insufficient. All Grandmasters (not j ust those with the "super-" prefix) have travelled a long road of diligent study and practice. The most capable learners, such as Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin, have obtained the Grandmaster title within seven or eight years of first learning the game (Magnus achieved it at the age of thirteen, Sergei at twelve) , which might sound like a long time to a non-chess-player, but is as anyone who has played the game for any length of time can testifY - extraordinarily fast.

however; my best result was second place in the 2000 Ukrainian Under- 1 8 Championship, half a year before I obtained the GM title. To tell you the truth, I never ranked all that highly in Ukrainian chess. In the finals for various age groups of the Ukrainian Youth Championships I was never an outsider (I generally finished in the top half of the table) , but the podium was always occupied by players who were objectively stronger than me. As regards my chess style, I was not especially remarkable in this area either - I played closed openings and was always prepared to go into an ending. A fact which no doubt left its stamp on my game was that my childhood coaches were players who openly leaned towards positional chess; I am speaking of both my father and Anatoly Astrakhantsev, a player of Master standard and an excellent pedagogue. I consider that my main chess talent - the one I possessed to a greater degree than rivals of my age who stood out as tacticians - was my quick assimilation of typical chess patterns, my easy absorption of the basic plans for playing with various pawn structures and so forth. All these things can be placed under the heading of a player's general chess culture, the underlying force which shapes our chess philosophy.

As for the writer of these lines, I needed approximately twelve years to do it. (Having taken my first steps at the age of five, I became a Grandmaster at seventeen.) I was born into a chess-playing family. My father is an International Master who today is a well­ known publisher of chess books in Russian. My mother too can play the game; I would estimate her strength to be in the region of 1 800. At the start of my career I displayed quite good abilities - I had little trouble beating players of my own age in the local chess club in my home town. Any great successes in children's chess or junior chess eluded me,

I am inclined to think that superior chess education, compounded by experience in play, is what constitutes the chief advantage that professionals have over amateurs. Permit me to quote an extract from Garry Kasparov's best­ selling book How Life Imitates Chess:

''A Grandmaster stores thousands of patterns and fragments of chess information in his memory - and is constantly drawing on practical play to add to this store (although the fact that he can recall large numbers of games and positions doesn't at all mean that the recalling of names, dates and so forth is

Chapter 3

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From Amateur to 2700

any the easier for him) . Adriaan de Groot elegantly illustrated this 'chess memory' factor by his researches of 1 944. In the hope of uncovering the secrets of high­ level chess, he carried out a test with players of various standards, ranging from former champions to beginners. He asked them to memorize a number of positions from actual games, and then computed the accuracy with which they reproduced these positions from their heads. Among the Grandmasters, the success rate was as high as 92%. With the Masters the figure was 72%, and with the average players a mere 5 1 o/o." "Another investigation, undertaken in 1 973 by the American psychologists William Chase and Herbert Simon, helped towards a deeper understanding of this phenomenon. They repeated de Groot's experiment, but with one important addition - namely a second set of positions in which the pieces were placed on the board at random, without any chess rationale. Just as with de Groot, the strong players were better than the rest at reproducing the positions taken from games. And yet when recollecting the artificial positions, players of various levels achieved roughly the same results. When unable to rely on familiar patterns (which the psychologists call 'perceptual chunks') , the masters evinced n o heightened power of recall!" Thanks to my first mentors, then, I was quite an educated player from childhood onwards. But as we know, there are always two sides to a coin . . . Here i s one o f my first encounters against an opponent of Grandmaster standard. (Artur was still an IM at the time, but he received the higher title shortly afterwards.) At the time of the game my own rating was 2 1 90.

57

Pavel Eljanov Artur Kogan -

Krynica 1997

I.tlJf3 c5 2.c4 h6 Not the best method of reaching a Hedgehog structure. On his next move or the one after, White could and should have played e2-e4, seizing the centre at once. 3.tlJc3 .ib7 4.d4 cxd4 5.tlJxd4 ttJf6

6 ..ig5

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A playable but sub-optimal reply which was mainly dictated by psychological considerations. In my childhood I liked to set up a spiny hedgehog formation when playing with Black, but was less than comfortable on the opposite side of the board and suffered some unpleasant experiences when my opponents managed to execute a thematic freeing break with . . . b5 or . . . d5. Although the Hedgehog can arise in different forms, some of which work better than others, my general verdict about the resulting positions is as follows. Objectively White's extra space in the centre should normally enable him to claim a small advantage, but in order to demonstrate his ascendancy he will require exceptional skill as well as experience in handling these positions.

58

Pavel Eljanov

With the benefit of time, experience and detailed study of the Hedgehog's subtleties, I lost my fear of chis prickly animal. In 2005 I succeeded in winning a good game against Grandmaster Kudrin in a World Cup rapid tie-break. The continuation was: 6.f3! d6 7.e4 Leading to a version of a Hedgehog middlegame which favours White. 7 . . . e6 8 . .ie3 .ie7 9 . .ie2 0-0 1 0.0-0 a6 l l .'Wd2 'Wc7 1 2.:B:acl tt:l bd7

Black to hold the position, as demonstrated in the following game:

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1 3.a3! :B:ac8 1 4.b4! Quite a modern way of playing the variation; White is preparing to attack on the queenside. 1 4 . . . W b8 1 5 .:B:fd l :B:fe8 White is always ready to meet 1 5 . . . tt:l e5 with 1 6. tt:l a4! . I f 1 5 . . . .id8 then 1 6 . tt:l b3 .i c7 1 7. i f4 tt:l e5 1 8 . ixe5 dxe5 1 9.c5± maintains an edge for White. 1 6. � h l Perhaps a slightly more accurate continuation would have been: 1 6. tt:l b3!? .idS 17 . .if4 tt:l e5 1 8 . .ixe5 dxe5 1 9 .c5 bxc5 20. tt:l xc5± 1 6 . . . .id8! A standard transfer of the bishop to a more aggressive position. 1 7. tt:l b3 .ic7 1 8 . .if4 tt:l e5 ? An inaccuracy, condemning Black to a miserable defence. The superior 1 8 . . . d5! would have enabled

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1 9.ixc7 :B:xc7 20.cxd5 exd5 2 1 .exd5 tt:l xd5 22. tt:l xd5 .ixd5 23.'Wxd5 :B:xe2 24.'Wd6 (24. tt:l d4 :B:d2!=) 24 . . . :B:xc l 25 .'Wxb8t tt:l xb8 26. tt:l xc l :B:e8 27. � gl � f8 28. � £2. :B:c8 29. tt:l e2 � e7 30. � e3 tt:l d7 3 1 . tt:l f4 tt:l f6 32.h4 g6 33.g4 h6 34.g5 hxg5 3 5 .hxg5 tt:l d7 36. tt:l d5t � e6 37. tt:l f4t � e7 38. tt:l d5t �e6 39. tt:l f4t � e7 40. tt:l d5t Yz-Yz Dolezal - S. Kovacevic, Valencia 2009. 19 . .ixe5 ! dxe5 20.c5! :B:ed8 2 1 .'We3 b5 22.a4 bxa4 23. tt:l xa4

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23 . . . :B:d4 Desperation, but in fairness it must be said that Black's position was already barely defensible, for instance: 23 . . . .ic6 24.:B:xd8t :B:xd8 25. tt:l b6± 23 . . . .ixe4 24.fxe4 'Wxb4 25. tt:l b6 :B:xd l t 26.:B:xd l :B:b8 27. tt:l d2±

Chapter 3

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59

From Amateur to 2700

24. lt'l xd4 exd4 25. '\W g1 e5 26.c6 �a8 27. �xa6 E!:e8 28.b5 '\W a7 29. '\W fl Ei:b8 30.b6 E'i:xb6 3 l .ctJxb6 �xb6 32. '\W b5 h6 33. '\Wxb6 '\Wxb6 34.c7 1-0 Eljanov - Kudrin, Khanty-Mansiysk ( 1 .3 - rapid) 2005.

10 ... liJa6 1 1 .liJd2 .ib4 12.a3 .ixd2t 13.'1Wxd2 ltJc5 14.E!:d1

7.ctJxe4 �xe4 8.e3 Again it was better to seize the centre with 8.f3 �b7 9.e4±, but I was determined to avoid any position resembling a normal Hedgehog! 8 ... f6 9.�h4 e5 10.liJb3 Here 1 0.�d3!?, forcing a bishop exchange, was an interesting attempt: 1 0 . . . �b4t ( 1 0 . . . �xg2? l l .iWh5t; 1 0 . . . �xd3 l l .iWxd3 lt'l c6 1 2.ctJc2±) 1 1 .mfl �xd3t 1 2 . '\Wxd3 lt'l c6 1 3 .ctJ e2 ( 1 3. lt'l f5 g6f!; 1 3 .ctJc2 �c5f±) 13 . . . 0-0. Strategically White's position looks attractive, what with Black's weak light squares and vulnerable d7 -pawn, but in view ofWhite's poor development and piece coordination he cannot count on an advantage.

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14 ... a5! 1 5 ..ie2 The forthright 1 5 .b4 also promises little after 1 5 . . . lt'l b3! 1 6 . '\W c3 a4 1 7. �e2 0-0 1 8 .f3 ( 1 8.0-0 '\Wc7) 1 8 . . . �g6 1 9 .0-0 '\W c7f! . In all variations Black obtains sufficient counterplay thanks to the weak pawn on c4. 15 ... a4 16.0-0 0-0 17.£4 Continuing to play according to scientific principles: the side that holds the advantage of the bishop pair should strive to open up the game. The text move also has a negative side as Black secures the e4-square for his exclusive use. But in any case the position remains dynamically balanced.

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Pavel Eljanov

After 1 7.f3 i.f5 1 8 .e4 i.e6 1 9.i.f2 Vfi c7 20. V!i b4 (20. Vfi d6 Vfi b7 2 1 .i.xc5 bxc5 22. Vfixc5 Vfixb2) 20 . . . d6 2 1 .:9:d2 :9:fd8 22.:9:fd l Vfi c6 Black likewise defends successfully.

28.:9:d4 (or 28 .h4!?) when it is hard to suggest any kind of winning attempt for Black. Another perfectly playable solution to the position would have been: 26.e4!?

17 JWe8 18.i.g3 i.c6 19.fxe5 CLJ e4 20JWe1 ctJxg3 21 .'1Wxg3 'l®'xe5 22.'1Wxe5 fxeS •.

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23.i.g4 No doubt I believed that Black was the one who should be worried about maintaining the balance. Otherwise I would have exchanged off the bishops, and in the ensuing utterly equal rook endgame I would most likely have held the draw. Thus: 23 .i.f3 i.xf3 (23 . . . e4?! 24.i.g4 :9:xfl t 25. W xfl;!;) 24.gxf3 :9:a7 25 .:9:d5 :9:c7 26.:9:xe5 :9:xc4 27.:9:f2= fu the game goes, the ending is still equal, and neither player can realistically hope to win it without some active help from his opponent - which is exactly what I proceeded to supply! 23 ... :9:a7 24.�f2 �xf2 2S.xf2 f726.e2?! Not a serious mistake, but the prelude to one. This was a moment where I should have thought about the different plans available, before choosing between one of the following two options. White could have obtained a more comfortable version of the position reached in the game by means of 26.i.f3 e4 27.i.e2 :9:a5

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I am quite certain that this move did not even enter my head, since at that time my head contained the deep-seated, stereotyped notion that in an endgame it is imperative to arrange your pawns on the opposite colour of squares to your bishop. While this principle is of course valid in certain types of endgame, in the present case it not of great significance. The pawn move has the benefit of seizing some space while providing an ideal home for the king on e3, while Black lacks a method of breaking through. There could follow: 26 . . .'i> e7 26 . . . i.xe4?! 27.i.xd7 W e7 28 .i.b5;!; 27. W e3 :9:a5 28 .i.e2 :9:c5 29.:9:c l d6 29 . . . b5 30J'k3= 30.h4! i.d7 3 1 .g3 :9:c8 32. lt> d2

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Chapter 3

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From Amateur to 2700

White has constructed an impregnable defensive position and can simply mark time. It is worth noting that he also possesses an active plan in <;t> c3-b4, which will keep Black on his toes. 32 . . . j,e6 33.j,d3 :!:'!g8 If 33 . . . <;t> d7 then 34.j,e2 <;t> c6 3 5 . <;t> c3 <;t> cs 36.:9:fl is equal. 34.j,e2 34.:!:'!h l is also fine. 34 . . . g5 35.hxg5 :!:'!xg5 36.:!:'!h l =

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33 .:!:'!d4! :!:'!xb2t 34. <;t> fl d5! 3 5 .:B:xa4! Better than 35.:B:xd5 :!:'!b3 36.1"1d4 :!:'!xa3 37.1"1xe4t <;t> d6+ when the position is still a draw, but Black has some incentive to play on. 35 . . . <;t> e6 35 . . . <;t> d6 36.1"1a7 <;t> c5 37.l:'!c7t! is safe for White. 36.:B:a6t <;t> es 37.a4= 8

29.h4? This is a much more serious error, which incredibly takes White's game to the brink of defeat! It is always hard to admit what you did wrong, but on this occasion I should have swallowed my pride and played: 29. <;t> f2 This would have been enough to hold the position without too much trouble. Note that 29. <;t> d2? would be a mistake as 29 . . . :B:g5 30.j,h3 b5! leads to a similar scenario to that which occurs in the game. 29 . . . :B:c5 30.j,e2 30.:!:'!d4 is also good enough, for instance: 30 . . . b5 3 1 .cxb5 :!:'!xb5 32.:B:b4! :!:'!c5 (32 . . . :9:xb4 33.axb4 <;t> d6 34. <;t> e i <;t> ds 3 5 .j,e2) 33.j,d l =

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29 :!:'!c5 30J:�d4 h5! I had completely misevaluated this move, due to the same faulty thought process as described in the note to White's 26th move. Once again I was relying on my stereotyped knowledge which told me that the pawn was moving to an "incorrect" square, while failing to take into account the more pertinent fact •..

62

Pavel Eljanov

that my bishop would be driven to a horrible location where it fails to contribute anything positive.

3 1 .i.h3 h5! 32.cxh5 .txhst 33.�dl Equally uninspiring is 33. � d2 d5 34.:8b4 � d6 35 .b3 id3 36.:8xa4 !::l c 2t 37. � d l !::l en=. 33 ... d5 Note that almost all of Black's pawns are on the same-coloured squares as his bishop, and as it happens, the move . . . g7-g6 would also improve his position if he had time for it. Despite this supposedly "anti-positional" setup, a far more relevant feature of the position is the difference in activity berween the respective pieces. Is there any competent player who could look at this position and suggest that it is truly Black who has the "bad" bishop? On that note, I must stress that the presence of rooks plays a vital role. Black's bishop is a great piece, but only insofar as it supports the piece which is poised to do real damage to White's position, i.e. the rook. If White could magically make the rooks vanish from the board, then he would, at the very least, be in no danger.

The only chance to save the game would have been: 34.:8b4! A waiting move which hints at a possible activation of the rook on the b-file, should Black move his bishop away. There might follow: 34 . . . � d6 34 . . . � f6 should be met by 35.g4! g6 (35 . . . hxg4 36. ixg4 id3 37.:8b6t � e7 38.!::l b 7t=) 36.g5t (not 36. � e l ? � e5 37. � f2 !::l c 2t 38. � g3 hxg4 39. ixg4 ifl -+ ) 36 . . . � e5 when Black is better, but the advanced position of the g-pawn gives White realistic hopes of counterplay. 3 5 . i f5 � e5 36.ig6 ic4 37.ixh5 ib3t 38. � e l !::l c l t 39. � f2 !::l c2t 40. � g3 !::l xb2+ White's position is dearly worse, but not yet hopeless.

34 ... �f6 35.i.h7 This time White cannot save the game by admitting his mistake with 3 5 . i h3. Black simply replies with 35 . . . � e5, with rwo extra tempos over the previous note, which is enough to change the evaluation from dearly better to winning. 35 ... ic4 36J�d2 i.h3t 37. �el :Sci t 38. �f2

63

Chapter 3 - From Amateur to 2700 Highlighting the fact that White's bishop has fittingly been trapped in a cage made up of Black's "anti-positional" pawns on light squares. 38 . . . g6! would have been an even more thematic way of clinching the victory.

rated 2749 and Black 26 1 7 at the time of the game) I consider it a most instructive example which expands on the topic being discussed.

39.g4 hxg4 40.h5 The bishop survives, but White has been forced to give up a pawn while his position remains rotten. The rest is easy for Kogan.

Dagomys 20 10

4o ... @gs 4L@g3 !!f8 42.!!fl !!f3t 43.!!xf3 gxf3 44 ..ig6 @f6 45 ..ie8 @e5 46 ..ih5 d4 47.exd4t @xd4 48.@fl .id5 49 ..ixa4 e3t 0-1 It is clear that my eventual demise in this game was largely the result of my stereotyped thinking and blind adherence to general principles, and my failure to give due consideration to the specific features of the position. Although grandmasters are generally less prone than amateurs to such errors, they are by no means immune from them. We are not robots and cannot constantly function without reference to certain precepts and guidelines which have become established over the long history of our game. Indeed, a thorough knowledge of typical chess principles is a fundamental part of one's chess culture, without which one could scarcely hope to succeed. However trite it may sound, there are exceptions to every rule. Indeed, if these exceptions did not exist then chess would cease to be such an interesting and profound game. When dealing with this subject - specifically with regard to the placing of pawns on the same-coloured squares as one's bishop in the endgame - I cannot help but recall the following example, in which a strong grandmaster quickly collapsed after his opponent employed this very strategy. Although the game does not fit directly with the title of the book (White was

Wang Yue Ildar Khairullin -

This game had an important bearing on the outcome of the Russian League, and I witnessed the events first-hand. The Chinese Grandmaster Wang Yue, my colleague in the "Economist" (Saratov) squad, was facing a strong young Grandmaster in the St Petersburg team. In the following position Black is doing well. He has no weaknesses, his pieces are harmoniously placed and his pawns are arranged in accordance with well-established principles. Meanwhile White is faced with certain problems connected with his overextended queenside pawns. All of this makes it all the more fascinating to observe how Black's position descended from promising to losing within a mere four (!) moves . . .

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35.h5! Objectively speaking this move should not really be any stronger than 35 .a5 bxa5 36.bxa5 e5+ when the evaluation is similar: White stands worse, but he should be able to hold the position with careful play. But seen within the

64

Pavel Eljanov

context of the match and overall tournament situations, maintaining the tension was clearly the right policy. Now Black must make an important decision.

35 ...i.c8 Ildar decides to open up the game, giving his bishop some space in which to operate. The idea is correct, but it was better to implement it on the kingside. In that case White would have had to work hard for a draw, finding 'only moves' on more than one occasion. The best move was: 35 . . . ie8! Planning either ... f5 to undermine the h5-pawn, or . . . g6 to activate the bishop. There is no way of knowing, but it is possible that Black's adherence to another standard principle - avoiding the creation of additional pawn islands in one's position caused him to dismiss or underestimate the second of the aforementioned ideas. 36. � d4! White's problems are more severe after 36. if3 g6!, with two possibilities: a) 37.hxg6 ixg6 38. t2J e4 (38 . t2J b3 i c2 39. t2J d4 ixa4 40. t2J c6t W d7 4 1 . tt:l xa7 ixb5+) 38 . . . t2J c4t 39. W d4 ttJ b2 40. t2J c3 ic2+ b) 37. W d3 gxh5 38.gxh5 ttJ f5 39. t2J e4 ttJ h4 40. t2J g3 ttJ xf3 4 l .exf3 f5 42. � d4 W d6 43. � c4 and if White holds out, it will only be through a miracle. 36 . . . f5 37. if3 fxg4 38. ixg4 ttJ f5 t 39. � e5D

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39 . . . ttJ g3!? 39 ... t2J e3 40. ixe6 ixh5 4 l . t2J c4 t2J xc4 t 42. ixc4= 40. t2J b3 ixh5 40 . . . ttJ xh5 4 l . t2J d4 is fine for White. 4 L ixh5 ttJ xh5 42. ttJ d4 White's activity is sufficient to equalize, for instance:

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42 . . . t2J g3 43. tD xe6 g6 44. ttJ d4 h5 45.e4 h4 46.f5 gxf5 47.exf5 h3 48.f6t W f7 49. tD f3=

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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36.i.f3 eS 37.f5! Putting another pawn on a light square. This decision is justified by the gaining of space, shielding of the g4-pawn, and restriction of the enemy pieces, most notably the bishop. 37 �d8? This is certainly not a losing move - the stock .•.

65

Chapter 3 - From Amateur to 2700 of resilience in Black's position is too great for that - but it was an inconsistent decision. There was no reason at all to reject the move he had been planning: 37 . . . a6! 38.bxa6 (38 .i,c6? axb5 39.axb5 i, d?+) 38 . . . i,xa6 39. i, d5 @ d?

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It follows that Black could have held the game by making any sensible move that does not alter the pawn structure, for instance: 38 . . . i, d7 39.ctJ c4 'it> c7 40.ctJxd6 @ xd6 4 l . 'it> c4 i,c8 42.i,c6 Allowing a clever defence, but ifWhite does not put his bishop here, then he will never manage to achieve a zugzwang against the enemy bishop.

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Black retains a perfectly safe position and indeed it is White who should take the opportunity to force a draw while he has the chance. This could be achieved by means of 40.a5 ! bxa5 4 l .ctJ b3 ctJ c4t 42.i,xc4 i,xc4 43. ctJ xa5 i,d5 44. 'it> d3 when White is in time to rescue the knight, leaving a completely drawn endgame. s

variations (including the game continuation) , having the pawn on a7 instead of a6 makes the difference between Black drawing and losing.

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38.Wd3 a6? Black completely overlooks his opponent's one and only idea, which is to exchange knights and try to bring about zugzwang. The text move is a serious error, as in certain

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42 . . . i,a6! Now we see why Black needed to leave his pawn on a7 instead of a6! White's only remaining attempt is 43.bxa6 'it> xc6 44.e4, but after 44 . . . 'it> d6 4 5 . 'it> b5 @ c? there is no breakthrough.

66

Pavel Eljanov

It is only after this move that Black's position becomes outright lost. 39 . . . lt'l xc4? leads to the same situation after 40. rJi xc4 rJi c7 4 L ic6! rJi d6 42. rJi d3 ( 42. rJi b4 is also good enough) transposing to the position reached after White's 4 1 st move in the game. Black's final attempt at holding the position consisted of: 39 . . . e4t! 40. ixe4 lt:lxe4 4 l . rJixe4 axb5 42.axb5 id7 43. lt'l d6 rJi e7 44. rJi d5 rJi d8

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4I...e4t If instead 4 l . . .axb5 42.axb5 ia6 43. rJi c4 i c8 44.e3 ia6 45.bxa6 'kt> xc6 46. rJi b4, the pawn ending this time is hopeless for Black.

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The importance of the pawn on e2 is revealed in the following variation: 4 1 . . . rJi c5 42. i> c3 a5 (42 . . . rJi d6 43. rJi c4 e4 44.e3 'kt> e5 4 5 . i> c3+-) In this position White can only win by utilizing both free tempos with the e-pawn.

The endgame looks depressing for Black, but it is not clear if White can make progress without exchanging the b-pawns. In the event of an endgame with four versus three on the kingside, I will not venture to make a firm diagnosis, but I would risk suggesting that Black's chances of drawing are greater than White's of winning. The fixing of the pawn structure works in Black's favour in this instance. a

40.c!Llxd6 xd6 4I .i.c6! Setting up a zugzwang situation based on the poor enemy bishop, which finds itself completely stifled. It is worth mentioning that White's ultimate success also relies on the modest e2-pawn which affords him up to two spare tempos. Doesn't this speak in favour of l .d4 being the best first move?

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43.e3! (43 .e4? rJi d6 44. rJi c4 rJi c7 45. 'kt> d5 id7=) 43 . . . rJi d6 (43 . . . e4 44. rJi b3 rJi d6 45. rJi c4 rJi e7 46. rJi d5+-) 44. rJi c4 rJi c7 45. i> d5 id7 46. ixd7 'kt> xd7 47.e4!+-

42.c4 e3 43.d4 a5 44.d3! Avoiding the final pitfall of 44. 'kt> xe3 ? rJi c5 when the position should be a draw.

Chapter 3

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44 ... �c5 45.�c3 .ia6 46.bxa6 �xc6 47.�c4

1-0

What was it that caused such a solid Grandmaster, who loses extremely rarely, to collapse so quickly in what should have been a perfectly harmless position? The game had proceeded in an orderly fashion, and to my knowledge there was no time trouble. Although, as the Russian saying has it, the soul of another person is shrouded in darkness, I will hazard a conjecture. I think the reason why Black missed the winning idea based on zugzwang lay in his opponent's unconventional play which deviated from the generally accepted rules for bishop endgames. Such endgames are usually won by creating weaknesses in the opponent's camp (which was impossible for White here) , by a pawn breakthrough (also impossible) , or by fixing the opponent's pawns - not one's own - on the same-coloured squares as his bishop. Black's knowledge of these rules did something to distort his perceptions, so that his sense of danger was not triggered when it was needed. As for Wang Yue, it might seem that he was

simply lucky, as winning such against a strong grandmaster impossible. While I agree that grandmaster benefitted from

an endgame is well-nigh the Chinese an element

67

of good fortune, it would be wrong not to acknowledge the skill and fine judgement he displayed in making those unorthodox decisions which led to his opponent's collapse. Determination and fighting spirit are essential qualities for chess players of all levels. It is a given that any successful player - let alone a grandmaster rated over 2700 - will possess those attributes in spades. Nevertheless, there are certain outstanding individuals who are fighters through to the marrow of their bones; players who, no matter how drawn, unfavourable or lost the position might appear to be, will doggedly seek out every possible opportunity for a successful outcome. Like a boxer who fights back after being floored, they are ready time and again to stand up and continue the quest for their own knockout punch. Wang Yue is one of those players to whom this description applies. In spite of some fairly obvious chess defects, his competitive qualities ensure him a place in the cohort of the world's strongest players. My View on the O p ening, as a Grandmaster and Former Amateur

Not many grandmasters remain true to the openings of their childhood. Few people today know or remember that in his early years Vladimir Kramnik constantly played the Dutch Defence and the Sveshnikov Variation of the Sicilian; or that Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand were adherents of the King's Indian Defence; or that Peter Leko used to play the Griinfeld and defend the Sicilian in the Rauzer Variation. However banal it may sound, we all change over time. Our opinions, attitudes and tastes alter from one stage in our lives to another, and it isn't at all surprising that this phenomenon should extend to our favourite game. When I was a child, my father tried to impart to me a taste for his own favourite openings:

68

Pavel Eljanov

the Griinfeld Defence and the Sicilian Paulsen. As far as the latter was concerned, he and I were destined for an utter disappointment. The complicated strategic positions, in which Black always has to keep his hand on his pulse and react to an attack on his king with a counter­ attack in the centre and on the queenside, did not suit me at all. As to the Griinfeld, my results here were far better. I played it from my earliest years right up until 2008. In the Dresden Olympiad I was defeated by Onischuk in a complex struggle. For us, the Ukrainian team, this was the decisive match. We were in contention for first or second place, but after suffering a dismal 3Yz-Yz defeat we missed out on the medals entirely and finished fourth. I have not played the Griinfeld ever since. With reference to the highest levels of competition, why is it that such interesting and double-edged openings as, for instance, the King's Indian Defence, the Dutch and the Benko Gambit, have now almost gone out of use, with players of elite status employing them only sporadically? There is a widely-held opinion that the elite caste is playing too solidly as a result of being welcomed into elite tournaments with high appearance money and prizes. Being materially secure, these players are said to lack the motivation to study double-edged and risky schemes. I can scarcely agree with this view of the matter. On the contrary, chess in the last few years has become more combative than ever before. Many organizers of leading tournaments have taken to enforcing the "Sofia'' rules. A few have even taken the more radical step of implementing the 'football' scoring system whereby a win scores three points and a draw scores one, which offers considerable motivation to play for a win. I believe that the true explanation is something entirely different. The world's

leading players have devoted thousands of hours of analysis and practice to a variety of opening lines, resulting in the accumulation of vast amounts of knowledge and experience. It seems to me that the rejection of certain openings in favour of others is most likely a reflection of their objective merits. This in no way signifies that such a perennially popular opening as the King's Indian is incorrect. No - the point is rather that in this opening Black shoulders quite a large strategic risk. White will almost always obtain a tangible spatial advantage, which drastically increases the price of a mistake on Black's side. The slightest hesitant step, and Black risks ending up in a positional straitjacket. At the same time, in skilled hands, the King's Indian can be a powerful weapon; players possessing tactical ingenuity and sangfroid can achieve great success with it. An example is Teimour Radjabov, the sole representative of the chess elite who remains faithful to this opening. I now invite my readers to immerse themselves in the complexities of two openings that are diametrically opposed in their conception and philosophy: the Slav and King's Indian defences. In both cases, I have deliberately focused on set-ups that are not the most popular, so as to avoid being drawn into an excessive number of exhaustively analysed theoretical lines which can sometimes lead deep into the endgame. At the same time, the fundamental characteristics and typical plans associated with the two main openings are fully present in the sub-variations I have chosen.

Pavel Eljanov - Mikheil Kekelidze Saint Vincent 2005 I was rated 2639 at the time of the game, and my opponent was 2473, so he might be classed as a high-level amateur, depending on one's point of view.

69

Chapter 3 - From Amateur to 2700

l .d4 d5 V\tjf3 etJf6 3.c4 c6 4.etJ c3 dxc4 5.a4 i.f5 6.etJe5 etJa6!? Quite a rare variation, but certainly one that has a right to exist. Vladimir Kramnik used it three times not so long ago (albeit in rapid and blitz games) , and this fact alone says something for it! White already has to make a decision: should he move his e-pawn a single square, or should he go for a more ambitious central expansion?

8 ... e5!

a) Allowing a queen exchange on d1 is generally bad for White, and this position is no exception: 9.lLlxe5 lLlxe5 1 0.dxe5 '\Wxd 1 t 1 1 .lLlxd 1 lLl b4 1 2.lLle3 ie6 1 3 .id2 0-0-o:::;:: Black has at least enough compensation for the pawn, and may well be able to fight for the advantage.

7.e3 The right choice! From analysing the more aggressive line, I realized that it thoroughly deserved to be rated as dubious: 7.f3?! According to my analysis White is risking more than Black here. 7 . . . lLld7 8.lLlxc4 White has to play this way if he is to stand any chance of fighting for the initiative. 8.lLlxd7 is toothless: 8 . . . ixd7 9.e4 e5! 1 0.ixc4 ( l O.dxe5 ie6) 1 0 ... exd4 1 1 .'1Wxd4 lLlb4 1 2.<;t>e2 ( 1 2.'1We5t ie6 1 3.0-0 '\Wf6+; 1 2.0-0 lLlc2 1 3 .'1We5t '1We7 14.'\Wxe?t ixe7 1 5 .Elb 1 0-0 Thanks to White's queenside weaknesses, Black's position should be preferred.) 1 2 . . .'1We7 1 3.Elb 1 ie6 14. ixe6 '1Wxe6 1 5 .Eld1 ie7 (White is given distinct problems by 1 5 . . . c5! 1 6.'1Wf2 ie7+) 1 6.b3 a5 1 7.if4 0-0= Hillarp Persson - Hector, Malmo 2007.

b) 9.e4 This move is the main line, but I don't see how White can equalize! 9 . . . exd4

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1 0.exf5 1 0.'1Wxd4? lLl b4 is an utterly forlorn prospect for White: i) 1 1 .'1Wd1 ie6 1 2. i e2 ic5 1 3 .if4 ixc4 1 4.ixc4 '1Wf6 1 5 .ig3 0-0-0+ Black has

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Pavel Eljanov

a strong attack, to which White will most likely succumb. ii) 1 l .ctJ e3 looks like the best attempt, although Black keeps a clear advantage here too: 1 1 . . .�e6 1 2.�c4 tt'l c5 1 3 .\MfxdSt 2"1xd8 1 4.me2

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1 4 . . . tt'l c2! 1 5 .2"\b l tt'l d4t 1 6.mfl tt'l db3 1 7.me2 tt'l d4t 1 s . <;t> n tt'l db3 1 9 .me2 �d6 ( 1 9 . . . �e7+) 20.�xe6 tt'lxe6 2 l .tt'lc4 �c5 22.2"1d1 2"1xd 1 23.tt'lxd 1 me7 24.tt'l de3 2"\d8 25.tt'lf5t mf6 26.�e3+ White was worse although he eventually managed to draw in Van Wely - Mastrovasilis, Dresden 2007. 1 0 . . . dxc3 In the following game Black came within an inch of beating a well-known Grandmaster.

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1 6.\Mfxd7?! The least of the evils was 1 6.2"\b 1 \Mrc8 17 .�e2, though on completing his development Black should still win. 16 . . . 2"\dS 1 7.�a6 Wfxa6 1 8 .\Mfxc7 �h4t? Instead after 1 8 ... \Mfd3!-+ White is powerless against the hail of threats. 1 9.g3 2"1e8t 20.mf2 Wfe2t 2 1 . <;t> g1 \Mfxf3 22.�a3t �e7 23.�xe7t 2"1xe7 24.\MfbSt 2"1e8 25 .\Mfb4t litgs 26.2"\fl Wfe3t 27.1ilg2 h5 28.\Mfd4= White escaped and eventually drew in Babula - Gisbrecht, Pardubice 1 996. c) 9.dxe5

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Chapter 3

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From Amateur to 2700

This is perhaps the safest move, although it is still not very inspiring for White. 9 . . . Wh4t 1 0.g3 Wxc4 1 l .e4 Regaining the piece. l l . . .We6 1 2.exf5 1 2.txa6 is well met by 1 2 . . . th3! 1 3 .txb7 E1d8 1 4 .We2 Cvetkovic - Meduna, Prague 1 979, and now after 1 4 . . . lt:Jxe5 ! 1 5 .ta6 tc5 Black develops an extremely strong attack. 1 2 . . . Wxe5t 12 ... Wxf5 ! ? is also not bad: 1 3 .txa6 ( 1 3.td3 We6 1 4.txa6 bxa6 1 5 .f4 j,c5 1 6.lt:le4 0-0) 1 3 . . . bxa6 1 4.f4 tc5 1 5 .We2 0-0 Black's structural defects are fully compensated by his active pieces. 1 3 . cJtf2 ltJ b4 White must be careful here.

14 j,h3 In the event of 1 4.tf4 Wxf5 (or 14 . . . tc5t 1 5 .cJtg2 Wxf5 1 6.We 1 t cJtfS+) 1 5 .We l t te7 1 6.Eld1 ( 1 6.td6 We6 1 7.lt:lb5 ttJd5+) 1 6 . . . We6+ it isn't easy for White to demonstrate compensation for the pawn. 1 4 . . . j,c5t 1 4 . . . lt:l c5!? is also interesting. 1 5 .cJtg2 0-0! Black can afford to leave the knight en prise. 1 6.E1e 1 The knight is poisoned: 1 6.Wxd7? Elfd8 1 7.Wxb7 ( 1 7.f4 Wb8!) 1 7 . . . E1ab8-+ Tactics come to Black's aid after 1 6.tf4 ttJd5!, when White has nothing better than

71

going into a roughly equal ending: 1 7.Wxd5 ( 1 7.ltlxd5 Wxb2t) 17 . . . cxd5 1 8 .j,xe5 lt:lxe5 1 9.ltlxd5 ctJd3 20.Elab 1 Elfe8 2 l .ttJc3 Ele3 22.E1hd 1 Elae8�

9.0-0 At this point it is Black who stands at a crossroads. 9 ie7 There are rwo other interesting moves. ...

9 . . . j,c2?!

Pavel Eljanov

72

This was tried by Kramnik but to me, quite honestly, it seems rather hazardous. 1 0.'We2 tLld7 l l .tLlxd7 'Wxd7

30.tLlxd5 cxd5 3 1 .'Wxf7t c6 32.'Wxe6t W c5 33.'Wd7 E:ad8 34.'Wb5t d4 35 .e6 b6 36.e7 E:a8 37.g3 E:ab8 38.f4 g6 39.f2 a5 40.'Wc6 b5 4 I .'Wc3t 1 -0 Hammer - Hector, Malmo 20 1 0. 9 . . . j,d6!? This is a more solid move, whose chief exponent has been the Indian grandmaster Jha Sriram. I O .'We2 tLl c2 l l .E:a2!? l l .E:b l ttJ d5! has occurred more often, leading to complex play.

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1 2.e4! 1 2.a5?! grants Black some precious time for development, and in the following top-level blitz encounter Black solved his problems without much trouble. 1 2 . . . j,e7 1 3 .tLla2 tLlxa2 1 4J1xa2 j,g6 1 5 .E:d l 0-0 1 6 .e4 E:ad8 1 7.f3 hS I S .j,f4 f5 1 9.exf5 j,xf5 20.j,e5 c5 2 l .E:aa l 'Wc6 22.E:acl a6 23.g4 j,g6 24.j,xe6 'Wxf3 2 5 .'Wxf3 E:xf3 26.d5 j,g5 27.E:c3 j,e3t 28.E:xe3 E:xe3 29.j,c7 E:e8 30. W f2 E:d3 3 1 .E:xd3 j,xd3 32.e3 j,c4 33. W e4 E:xe6t 34.dxe6 Y2-Yz, Carlsen Kramnik, Moscow (blitz) 2008. The text move is much better, and was the choice of Norway's 'other' child prodigy, who has ascended to number rwo in the national rankings behind Carlsen. Incidentally, it is worth mentioning that the computer's suggestion of 1 2.d5!? is also worth investigating. 1 2 . . . 'Wxd4 1 3 .j,e3 'Wd7 14.E:ac l j,d3 1 5 .j,xd3 'Wxd3 1 6.'Wf3 Black is a long way behind in development. Perhaps a defence exists, but in practice his task is far from easy and in the game he collapsed fairly quickly. 1 6 . . . 'Wd8 1 7.'Wg3 'Wa5 I S.E:fd l h5 1 9.h4 E:g8 20.j,g5 tLl a6 2 1 .E:d2 'Wc7 22.j,f4 'Wa5 23.E:cd l j,e7 24.j,g5 j,xg5 25.hxg5 'Wc7 26.e5 ttJ b4 27.E:d7! 'Wxd7 28.E:xd7 W xd7 29.'Wf4 tLld5

a) l l . . .tLld5 1 2.a5! Freeing an extra square for the rook. Not 1 2.g4 j,g6 1 3 .tLlxg6? hxg6 1 4.'Wxc2 E:xh2 1 5 .'We4 'Wh4 1 6.tLlxd5 ( 1 6 'Wf3 E:h3) when Black has a beautiful winning continuation:

73

Chapter 3 - From Amateur to 2700 1 6 . . . � d7!! followed inevitably by . . . Ei:h8 and mate in a few moves. 1 2 . . . 0-0

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White retains a minimal plus here, but Black has nothing special to complain about either; he is quite well placed on the dark squares, and he has reasonable prospects of counterplay on both wings. For instance: 1 5 .Ei:d1 1 5 .a5 Ei:h5!? 15 . . . �a5 1 6.e4 �h5 ! ? 1 6 . . . 0-0-0!? 1 7.e5 ( 1 7.l"i:b3 �h5 1 8 .f3 a5f±) 1 7 . . . l2Jfd5 1 8 .l2J e4 bs 1 9.l"i:f3 Ei:hf8 20.l2Jg5± 1 7.�xh5 gxh5 1 8 .a5 0-0-0f±

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1 2 . . .ii.g6!? The Indian player's latest try. If 1 2 . . . l2J c2 then 1 3.2"1b3 gives White an edge. 1 3.l2Jxg6!? This looks like the principled reaction. 1 3 .l"i:d1 �c7! 14.l2Jf3 l2J c2 1 5 .Ei:a2 l2J b4 1 6.Ei:a3 lLl c2 1 7.l"i:a2 l2Jb4 1 8 .l"i:a3 lLl c2 Yz-Yz Maletin - Sriram, Delhi 20 1 0. 1 3 . . . hxg6 14.g3 ie7!?

1 3 .if4! Only this move enables White to count on the better game.

Pavel Eljanov

74

be acknowledged that this particular version of the Slav middlegame is a favourable one for him. He has managed to guard his centre, his pieces are in promising positions and he retains the initiative overall.

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1 3 . . . Wa5 1 3 . . . tt:\ d7 is well met by: 1 4.d5! tt:\xe5 1 5 .ixe5t After 13 . . . a5 1 4 .1'l:d2 '1Wb6 1 5 .1'l: ad l Elad8 1 6.'1Wf3 Walt Black's position is sturdy but rather passive. 14.\Wf3 Elad8 1 5 .Eiacl Preventing the knight from coming to c2.

To my taste, the earlier deviation 9 . . . id6!? leads to more interesting play in which Black preserves chances to turn the game around. In general, though, White ought to have a minimal plus in all of these side variations. Chess is a rational game, and it is only logical that a sound yet quirky move like 6 . . . tt:\a6!? should fall slightly short of full equality.

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13 ... b5! Taking full advantage of White's slight inaccuracy. 1 5 . . . lt::l e8 Again the exchanging manoeuvre with 1 5 . . . tt:\d7 is not a success: 1 6.\Wg3 'kt> h8 1 7.d5! cxd5 1 8 .lt::l xd7 Elxd7 1 9 .ib5 lt::l c6 20.exd5 exd5 2 1 .ltJxd5t 1 6.Wg3 � h8 1 7.f3 ltJd6 1 8 .ifl ± The scenes both here and in the earlier note with 1 3 . . . a5 are fairly typical of various lines of the 5 . . . if5 Slav. Black's position is robust but somewhat passive. White for his part has no easy task to storm the enemy ramparts. He has to manoeuvre skilfully and try to find a chink in Black's armour. It must nonetheless

14.i.b3 The alternative was: 14.axb6 axb6 1 5 .Eixa8 Wxa8 1 6.f3 b5 1 7 .ib3 Wb7! 1 8. ltJ a2 l0xa2 1 9 .ixa2 ltJ d7 20.ltJxd7 (20.ltJd3 '1Wa7) 20 . . . Wxd7 2 1 . ie3 Ela8 22.ib3 Ela6= 14 ... a6 More precise would have been 1 4 . . . id6! 1 5 .if4 We7 1 6.f3 a6 when Black has succeeded in arranging his forces comfortably and can look to the future with confidence. 1 5.i.f4 i.d6

75

Chapter 3 - From Amateur to 2700

22 .ig6 23.Wf dl E:afs 24.E:e3 Wff7 25.f3 .if5 26.b4 Wfg6 27.Wfel h5 28.h4 .icS 29.@h2 Wfh6 30.E:e5 E:f5 3 1 .E:xf5 hf5 32.@hl Wfd6 33.E:b2 Wff4 34.ctJ e2 Wfe3 35.@h2 .id3 36.Wfd2 Wfxd2 37.E:xd2 .ixe2 38.E:xe2 E:f4 39.E:d2 E:xh4t 40.@g3 g5 41 .E:c2 E:xd4 42.E:xc6 E:xb4 43.E:xa6 h4t 44.@h3 @f7 45.E:b6 d4 46.a6 E:a4 47.E:xb5 E:xa6 •..

lf2 - lf2

16 J�xf7 17 .ixd6 Wfxd6 1 8.e5 Wfd7 19.exf6 E:xf6 20J:�d2 White would keep a little pressure after 20.ti:Je4 .ixe4 2 l .Wfxe4 !l:afS 22.f3 ti:Jd5, but Black's position remains very solid. •.

•

20 ... ctJ d5 2 I ..ixd5 exd5 22.E:el

And now to the King's Indian Defence. I must confess that ever since my childhood days, I have been happy to see this opening played against me. Quite frankly, for a long time I considered it a semi-correct opening. With the passing of time I became more objective - especially after suffering a couple of painful defeats at Radjabov's hands - but the fact remains that I am always glad to occupy the centre with my pawns!

Pavel Eljanov - Zdenko Kozul Khanty-Mansiysk (ol) 20 10

A few words about my opponent: GM Zdenko Kozul is assuredly no amateur, notwithstanding the general theme of this book. He is a highly inventive player and no respecter of authorities. The opening, however, has never been his strongest point, and he usually steers clear of forced variations in this phase of the game. Although his career has featured some major successes - for instance, in 2006 he was Champion of Europe I don't think he has come close to developing his full potential. The present game consists of two contrasting phases. My opponent conducts the opening in a manner that might be described as amateurish, at least by the standards of a grandmaster rated over 2600. But then, after a single inaccuracy on my part, he demonstrates his tremendous middlegame strength with a series of excellent moves to restore the balance. -

Since the focus of this section is on the opening, I will give no further annotations. Although the rest of the game was not error­ free, the evaluation never strayed far from equality and the game eventually ended in a draw.

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Pavel Eljanov

l .d4 llJf6 2.c4 g6 3.ClJc3 �g7 4.e4 d6 5.llJf3 0-0 6.�e2 e5 7.0-0 llJ bd7 Of all the main continuations at Black's disposal, Kozul chooses the least forcing one available. 7 .. .l2l a6 is a serious alternative which also aims at the c5-square. This move has the noticeable advantage that the c8-bishop remains unobstructed, but also some less obvious defects: the e5-pawn is less well defended, and - a matter of special importance for Kozul the ensuing number of forcing theoretical variations is considerably higher. In my view the most logical and strongest move is 7 . . . l2l c6, applying immediate pressure against White's centre and forcing the first player to make an immediate decision.

8.�c2 I have also had occasion to play: 8 . .ie3 l2l g4 9 . .ig5 f6 1 0 . .ic l l2lh6 1 1 .'Wc2 c6 1 2.l"i:d1 'We7 1 3 .d5 c5 1 3 . . . l2lf7 may well be more accurate.

1 7 . . . 'Wc7! 1 8 . .id2 b5 1 9.CDb2 l2l f7 20 . .ixb4 f5 with counterplay. 1 8 .l"i:b 1 a5 1 9.a3! CD c5 1 9 . . . f5 20.l2lg5 fxe4 2 1 .l2le6 l2lf5 22.C2lxf8 'Wxf8 23.axb4 l2l d4 24.'Wd2± 20.axb4 axb4 2 1 .l"i:xb4 l"i:xa4 22.l"i:xa4 CDxa4 23 .'Wxa4 f5

24.c5! The entire game seems to have condensed into a single powerful sweep of my queenside pawns. 24 . . . l2lf7 25 . .ia3 fxe4 26.'Wxe4 .if5 27.cxd6 l2lxd6 28.'Wb4 E'ld8 29.CDd2 'Wf6 30.'Wb3 W h8 3 l .CDc4 CDxc4 32 . .ixc4 e4 33.'Wxb7 e3 34.fxe3 l"i:e8 3 5 .d6 'Wg5 36.'Wf3 .ig4 37.d7 l"i:d8 38 .'Wg3 .if6 39 .l"i:d5 1 -0 Eljanov - Paragua, Ubeda 200 1 .

8 ... c6 9.d5

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1 4.l2lb5! l2l b8 1 5 .b4!? An interesting idea, but there was no reason to force events; in the event of 1 5 .a3 a6 1 6. CD c3±, the insertion of the mutual a-pawn moves is clearly in White's favour. 1 5 . . . a6 1 6.CDc3 cxb4 1 7.CDa4 CDd7 This justifies my play; a better line was a

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77

Chapter 3 - From Amateur to 2700

9 a5?! This move turns out badly. The main line here is: 9 . . . c5 1 0.�g5 ! A typical tool in this variation. 1 0 . . . h6 Practically forced, as the pin hinders Black's plans. 1 1 .�d2 The main move, although 1 l .�e3!? is also interesting: 1 1 . . .lbh5 (Black gains nothing from 1 l . . . CD g4 1 2.�d2 f5 ? 1 3 .h3 lb gf6 1 4.exf5) 1 2.g3 ...

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1 2.g3! This is the idea behind White's little provocation two moves earlier! The g6-square has been weakened, and in consequence Black will have to forget about his standard counterplay based on f7-f5 . The course of the following game shows how unpleasant Black's life may become when he lacks this option. 12 . . . lb df6 1 3 .lDh4 lDh7 14. W h l �h3 Gurevich had already scored a crushing victory three years previously from the same position: 14 . . . h5 1 5 .CDg2 �h3 1 6.f4 �h6 17.CDd1 CD g7 1 8 .CDf2 �xg2t 1 9. W xg2 exf4 20.gxf4 g5 2 l .f5 Ei:e8 22.Ei:ae 1 �f6 23 .�c3 �e7 24.f6 1 -0 M. Gurevich - Mista, Warsaw 2005. 1 5 .l"i:gl CD g5 1 6.a3 1 6.g4! would have been even stronger. 1 6 . . . �d7 1 7.b4 CDh3 1 8 .Ei:gfl b6 1 9 .bxc5 dxc5 20.a4 a5 2 l .�d3 CD d6 22.B:ae 1 �g4 23.f3 �c8

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1 2 . . . lb df6 (better than 1 2 . . . a6?! 1 3 .a3 lD df6 1 4 . W g2 CD e8 1 5 .CDgl f5 1 6.exf5 �xf5 1 7.�d2± Eljanov - Praznik, Lj ubljana 2002.) 1 3 . W g2 �d7 ( 1 3 . . . lD g4 14.�d2 f5 1 5 .h3 lD gf6 1 6.lbh4±) 14.Cbgl lD g4 1 5 .�d2 f5 1 6.f3 CD gf6 1 7.l"i:ab l £Xe4 1 8 .£Xe4t l l . . .CDe8 a

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24.lDg2! A typical scenario for this type of position: White has fixed the queenside to his advantage, and now focuses his attention on the kingside. 24 .. .f5 25.f4! fXe4 26.CDxe4 CDxe4 27.�xe4 exf4 28.CDxf4 CDxf4 29.gxf4 �f5 30.�xf5 gxf5 3 l .l"i:g1 W h7 32.B:e6 �d4 33.�e3! �xe3 34.�g2 1 -0 M. Gurevich - Jojua, Plovdiv 2008.

78

Pavel Eljanov This exchange secures White a huge positional plus! Black's hopelessly weakened light squares on the queenside are the paramount factor here. Instead after 1 2.cxd5 b6 1 3 .a3 a4 1 4.Axc5 ( 1 4.lL:ld2 i.d7) 1 4 . . . bxc5 1 5 .lLlxa4 lLlh5, Black obtains quite good compensation.

12 ... dxc5 13.cxd5 � e8 14.t2Jd2 .id7 15.a4 f5 16 . .ib5 t2Jd6 17.i.xd7 YMxd7

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1 OJ:�dl tlJ c5 Black fared no better in the following game: 10 .. .'1Mfe7 l l .a3! lLl c5 1 2 .i.e3 h6 1 3 .lLl d2 lZ:l a6 14.lZ:la4! lL:l d7 1 5 .dxc6 bxc6 1 6.lL:lb3 lZ:lac5 1 7.lL:lbxc5 lL:lxc5 1 8.lL:lxc5 dxc5 1 9 .'.Mfa4± Judging from the way the play went, I don't think I was calculating more than two moves ahead in this game. 1 9 . . . i.d7 20.l'l:d3 E:fb8 2 1 .1'l:adl i.e8 22.1'l:b3 E:xb3 23 .'.Mfxb3 i.f8 24.i.d2 '.Mfc7 25 .'.Mfg3 E:d8 26.i.c3 E:xd l t 27.hd l i.d6 28 .'.Mfe3 cj;Jh7 29.'.Mfd2 i.e? 30.i.xa5+- Eljanov - Strelnikov, Evpatoria 2003. ll ..ie3 cxd5 In such positions, simple and logical moves are usually the strongest. It is therefore hard to understand why I refrained from the most natural line: 1 8 .b3! E:a6 1 9. l[k4 lt:lxc4 20.bxc4 E:b6 2 1 .lLlb5 (2 1 .1'l:ab 1 !? E:b4 22.lt:la2) 2 l . . . E:bf6 22.1'l:fl ! fxe4 23.1'l:ae l ± with a strategically won position.

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1 8 ... :8:a6! I had missed this resource.

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19.t2Jc4 It is already rather late for 1 9 .b3, in view of 1 9 . . . E:b6 20.E:ab l E:b4 2 1 .lZ:lc4 fxe4 22.lL:lxe4 lLlxe4 23.'.Mfxe4 E:f4 24.'.Mfe2 E:d4 25 .d6 i.f6

Chapter 3

-

From Amateur to 2700

26.l"le l (26.�f3 � g7f±) 26 . . . �e6 27.f3 � g7 when Black has sufficient play.

79

White's advantage has evaporated and the endgame ended in its natural outcome.

19 . fxe4! 20.�e2 Or 20.lt:Jxe4 CLlxe4 2 l .�xe4 l"laf6! 22.CLlxe5 �d6 23.CLlc4 �d7 24.f3 l"lf4 25 .�c2 �d4t 26. � h l �xd5 27.CLlxa5 � h8 and Black has good compensation for the pawn. ..

The Best Laid Plans...

2I .fxe3 e4! 22.lLlxd6 �xd6 23.lLlxe4 l"lxdS 24."\W c4 �ffS 2S.�xd5 White has several possibilities, but not one of them gives him anything tangible: 25.ctJxc5 �c6 26.l"lxd5 �xd5 27.�xd5t l"lxd5 28.CLlxb7 �xb2 29.l"la2 �c3 30. � f2 �b4 3 1 .l"lc2 l"ld3 Black should draw without much trouble. 25 .ltk3 �xc3 26.e4 �d4t 27.�h l l"lh5 28.exd5 �g4! 29.d6t � h8 30.�d3 (30.l"lxd4 �xd4 3 l .�e6 l"ld5=) 30 . . . �f4 3 l .g3 �f2 32.h4 l"lxh4t! 33.gxh4 �xh4t 34. � g2 �g4t 3 5 .�g3 �e2t 36.�h l (36. � h3 �h5t 37.�h4 �f3t) 36 ... �e4t 37.�g2 �h4t=

2S ...%Yxd5

In chess as in life, we will achieve nothing without a well defined plan. You may be ever so gifted in the realm of tactics and calculating variations, but if you drift aimlessly from move to move against a strong opponent with a good grounding in strategy, you are doomed to fail. It must not be forgotten that the chess pieces are a little army, and the players are commanders who should be striving to seize the most important strongholds on the battlefield. The importance of a plan is underlined by that well-known aphorism, "better a bad plan than no plan at all" - which is, however, in the nature of a joke and not to be taken too seriously. The plan should be optimally geared to the require­ ments of the position and take the opponent's possibilities into account. The following game, which I contested against an opponent with a rating of 2 1 30, is a case in point.

Pavel Eljanov

80

Thomas Freundlieb - Pavel Eljanov Deizisau 2004

l .d4 �f6 2.�f3 g6 3.i.g5 i.g7 4.� bd2 0-0 5.c3 d5 6.e3 A familiar opening variation which has many names. In Russian chess literature, practically any lines in which White begins with l .d4 and 2.lt:.'lf3 followed by 3 .i.g5/f4 or 3.c3 are simply given the common label of "Queen's Pawn Opening". In English I have encountered other names including the Torre Attack and Tartakower Variation. Which name has the most historical justification? Quite honestly I have no idea. Objectively White's opening should not be too threatening, although in practice it contains a fair dose of poison. Among the long-term adherents of the present system I can point to Tony Miles and Vladimir Malaniuk, both of whom achieved excellent results with it. The explanation lies not j ust in the high playing strength of these famous Grandmasters, but also in the characteristics of the ensuing positions, which often tend to be somewhat stodgy. 6 ... b6!? Not the main line, but quite a good move. Its chief aim is to prepare c7 -c5 without yet deciding where the queen's knight will go. The main line is 6 . . . lt:.'l bd7.

7.t£J e5 This move goes slightly against the general principles of opening play, as White moves his knight a second time without strict necessity and before completing his development. The move can hardly be called a mistake the position, just as before, is about equal. But White's entire design, which this move initiates, is faulty and leads him ultimately to defeat. Usually White sets his hopes on queenside play. The most common moves are unsurprisingly 7.i.d3 and 7.i.e2, aiming to complete development without delay. However, he can also initiate immediate queenside action: 7.a4!? 7.b4 is also playable, but the text move was played a few times by Malaniuk, whose games are most certainly worth checking. 7 . . . c5 7 . . . a5 ?! has a major defect: if Black now carries out c7 -c5 as planned, he will be allowing White complete possession of the b5-square) 8 .i.e2 i.a6 9.0-0 lt::l bd7 l O.i.b5 (or l O.i.xa6 :gxa6 l l .'We2 :gag 1 2.e4t) 1 0 . . . 'Wc8 l l .:gel i.b7 1 2.h3 e6 1 3 .:gcl :ge8 14.c4 c6 1 5 .cxd5 exd5 1 6 .'Wb3 :ge6 17.i.d3t Malaniuk - Britton, Hastings 1 99 5 . 8.a5

8 . . . lt::l a6?! A bit too passive. a

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Chapter 3

- From Amateur to 2700

The most principled reaction is: 8 . . . cxd4 9.exd4 bxa5 !? (9 . . . ctJ c6!?) The point is that in the event of 1 o.'Wa4 (after 1 o. i,d3 ctJ c6 1 1 .0-0 :B:b8 Black has everything in order) , Black can highlight his opponent's lag in development with the following nice idea: s

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ctJ e6 1 5 .:B:xa8 i,xa8 1 6 .i,h2 'Wc7 1 7.Ela1 i,b? 1 8.ctJ e5 Ela8 1 9.:B:xa8t i,xa8 20.'Wa2 i,b? 2 1 .ctJ d3± White maintains unpleasant pressure in spite of the simplifications, as nearly all the black pieces are poorly placed. Black succumbs to the tension and attempts to cut the Gordian knot, but the plan turns out badly.

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1 0 . . . 'Wb6! 1 1 .'Wxa5 'We6t (In the event of 1 1 . . .'Wxb2?! 1 2.:B:b 1 'Wc2 [ 1 2 . . . ctJ c6 1 3.'Wc5] 1 3 .i,xf6 exf6 1 4.'Wxd5 ctJ c6 1 5 .'Wxc6 i,f5 1 6.i,e2 Black is the only one taking risks.) 1 2.i,e2 ( 1 2.i,e3 i,h6!) 12 ... i,a6 Now White has no choice but to play the ugly 1 3 .ctJ g 1 , which should be enough for us to conclude that Black is doing well - though the position remains quite complex. 9.i,e2 i,b? 1 0.0-0 ctJ e4 l l .i,f4 Black's position is playable, but the tension created by the a5-pawn is a bit awkward for him.

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l l . . . ctJ d6 1 2.h3 ctJ c7 1 3 .axb6 axb6 1 4.'Wb3

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2 1 . . . cxd4?! It would have been better to continue patiently with 2 1 . . .'Wb8 22.i,g4! f5 23.i,d 1 'Wa8 24.'Wxa8t i,xa8 25.i,a4±, though even in the endgame White's pressure persists. 22.exd4 i,xd4? A faulty combination. 23.cxd4 'Wc2 24.i,xd6 exd6 25.i,f1 'Wxd2 26.'Wa7± Malaniuk - Timoshenko, Alushta 1 994.

7... c5 8.il.e2 il.b7 9.0-0

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Pavel Eljanov

9 ... ctJ e8! Highlighting the disadvantages of White's seventh move. White is forced to withdraw his pieces with loss of time, while the black knight heads for its ideal home on d6. IO.ih4?! Opting again for an inferior plan. An improvement is 1 0.i.f4 lZJ d6 l l .h3 followed by ih2, when the bishop finds a safe haven and the position remains unclear and full of play. Even if Black succeeds in carrying out . . .f6 and . . . e5, White retains possibilities of counterplay thanks to his sturdy pawn structure and the constant pressure of his pieces - especially the bishop on h2! - against the centre. 10 ... ctJ d6 1 1 .£4 f6 12.ctJef3 ctJd7

manoeuvre to d6, intending a subsequent .. .f6 and . . . e5, is one of the main thematic plans against the Stonewall structure. The upshot is that White has failed to profit from his right to the first move, and has ended up in the role of defender. This is a direct consequence of his choosing a plan that did not suit the requirements of the position.

13.g4!? There are two ways of evaluating this move . In one sense White is continuing the policy of aggressive expansion which began with 7.lLle5. Ultimately his position is not strong enough to support a direct attack, and the text move can be interpreted as a further step along a path leading towards his eventual demise. On the other hand, by preparing to push the pawn to g5 on the next turn, White prevents his opponent from carrying out his main plan of moving the queen from d8 and playing . . . e5. Overall it is hard to reproach White for his decision, especially considering that quieter continuations would also have left him struggling to equalize, for instance: Mter 1 3 .c4 e6! Black preserves all the assets of his position, and any opening of the centre is likely to benefit him.

A reversed Dutch Stonewall formation has been reached. Both sides have more or less finished developing, so let's do a little stocktaking. The transfer of the bishop to h4 (or h5 in a normal Stonewall) is a thematic plan. It would usually take three moves (id2e l -h4) , but here White has managed it in two. On the other hand he has wasted two tempos flailing about with the knight (lLl f3-e5-f3); furthermore the white bishop is less well placed on e2 than on d3 . On Black's side, I have not made a single redundant move; the knight

1 3 .id3 allows Black to carry out his main idea, opening the centre on favourable terms: 1 3 . . . '\We8! 1 4.'\We2 e5 1 5 .fXe5 fXe5 1 6.lLlxe5 lLlxe5 1 7.�xf8t '\Wxf8 1 8 .dxe5 ixe5 1 9.�fl '\WeS+

13 ... b5! The central plan with . . . e5 is no longer an option, so Black targets the queenside instead. 14.g5 iWb6 IS.ifl

Chapter 3

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From Amateur to 2700

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16 Elad8? This time my procrastination could have seriously complicated my task. There was no objection whatsoever to: 1 6 . . . b4! When the players are attacking on opposite wings, time is of crucial importance. Thus the correct policy will almost always entail consistent action in the sector where we hold a preponderance of forces - as long as precise calculation does not reveal a strong argument to the contrary. Here the variations work out dearly in Black's favour: 1 7.h5 Alternatives include: 1 7.cxb4 \Wxb4 1 8 .Elb l Elac8+ 1 7.:8b l can be met by the calm 1 7 . . . a5 !?, retaining all of Black's trumps. 1 7 . . . gxh5 ! ...

1 5 . . . b4 is possible although the situation after 1 6.gxf6 exf6 1 7.c4 is not altogether dear. The strongest move would have been 1 5 . . . a5! when the following variations turn our in Black's favour: 1 6.h4 ( 1 6.a4 b4) 1 6 . . . b4 1 7.gxf6 ( 1 7.h5 gxh5 1 8.'1Wc2 cxd4 1 9 .exd4 'Ll e4+) 1 7 . . . 'Llxf6! 1 8.dxc5 \Wxc5

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1 8 .�a4 1 8 .tLlh4 fxg5 1 9.fxg5 e5+ In the event of 1 8 . gxf6 it is hard to decide if Black should recapture with the knight, bishop, or even the e-pawn, as all three leave him with some advantage. 1 8 . . . .tc6 1 9 .iMi'c2 cxd4 20.exd4 bxc3 2 l .bxc3 l'l:ab8 22.l'l:ab 1 iMi'c7+

1 8 . . . .txf6 1 9 .tLl g5 tLlf5 20.axb5 axb5 2 l ..tg4 leaves White with a robust position.

Incidentally the immediate 1 7.gxf6 is also possible, but after 1 7 . . . tLlxf6 1 8 .dxc5 iMfxc5 1 9.tLlb3 iMi'c8 20.tLl bd4 (20.a4 b4!) 20 . . . tLl de4+ the fact that White has not managed to open the a-file clearly favours Black. White could have highlighted the defects of my last move with the help of an unexpected thrust on the other wing: 1 7.a4! a6 After 1 7 . . . bxa4 1 8 .iMi'xa4 it is clear that Black misses his rook on a8; the a-pawn is en prise, and . . . a5 is unplayable. Note that 1 8 . . . iMfxb2? is also impossible due to 1 9.l'l:ab 1 iMi'xc3 20.l'l:fc l trapping the queen. Also 17 . . . b4?! 1 8 .a5 iMi'c6 1 9.dxc5 lLlxc5 20.cxb4 is good for White. 1 8 .gxf6 1 8 .h5?! gxh5 1 9.gxf6 .txf6 20.axb5 axb5 2 1 . tLl e5 tLl c4+ 1 8 . . . tLlxf6 1 8 . . . exf6 is risky, as after 1 9 .h5! gxh5 20.axb5 axb5 2 l .c;ilg2! l'l:g8 22.l'l:h 1 White succeeds in creating strong counterplay.

17 )tJe4 ..

Chapter 3 - From Amateur to 2700 1 8.CZJxe4 dxe4 1 9.CLJd2 cxd4 20.cxd4 fXg5 2 1 .hxg5 j,xd4! 22.exd4 e3t 23.j,f3 exf2+ 1 8.h5 gxh5 1 9.Ei:h l CLJxf2 20. <;t> xf2 cxd4 2 1 .cxd4

The best way to continue the fight was: 1 8 .j,e l ! The bishop has hardly any squares available, but it remains the chief stanchion supporting the 'sandcastle' that White has constructed so tenaciously, and thus should be preserved. 18 . . . b4 1 9.CLJxe4 ( 1 9.cxb4 cxd4 20.CLJxd4 e5 2 1 .gxf6 CLJ exf6 22.fXe5 CLJxe5 favours Black) 1 9 . . . dxe4 20.CLJd2

18 ... etJxf2 19.@xf2 cxd4 20.cxd4 fxg5

85

The immediate 20 . . . e5! is also very strong.

2 1 .hxg5 e5! A breakthrough in the most heavily fortified place! As often happens in such situations, the opponent's position collapses like a house of cards.

White could also have tried: 23.\Mfgl At this point, just as in the game, the strongest continuation is:

23 . . . CLJ c4! 23 . . . CLJxf3 ? risks squandering Black's advantage: 24.CLJxf3 Ei:de8 25.Ei:e l (25 .Wh2?

86

Pavel Eljanov

h5 26.gxh6 j,xd4! 27.exd4 Wxd4t 28.cJifl Wxb2 29.l:l:e 1 Wc3-+) 25 . . . j,xd4 26.exd4 Wxd4t 27.\t>fl Wxb2 28.Wxa7 l:l:xe2 29.l:l:xe2 l:l:xf3t 30.l:l:f2= 23 ... l:l:de8 is reasonable, but less convincing than the text move: 24.dxe5 (24.l:l:e 1 tLl c4) 24 . . . d4 25.e4 d3t 26.cJie 1 Wxg1 t 27.l:l:xg1 dxe2 28.cJ?xe2 j,xe5 29.tLlxe5 l:l:xe5+ 24.Wh2 h5 25.gxh6 j,f6 26.tLlxc4 dxc4 27.l:l:afl l:l:de8 Black has a decisive attack.

What went wrong for White in this game? He certainly cannot be reproached with inconsistency in pursuing his plan. On the contrary - right until the end he was looking for counterplay against his opponent's king, and he even threatened mate just three moves before he resigned. The problem was that, in terms of the objective features of the position, his entire attacking strategy was inadequately founded. Black's harmoniously placed pieces were ready for the opening of the position and this enabled him to deliver a decisive counterattack against the exposed white monarch. At moves 1 7 and 1 8 White had the opportunity to admit that his plan was faulty and obtain an acceptable game. The ability to sense the critical point in the struggle - the moment to give a new direction to a game that is going badly - belongs to the essential skills of any strong player. Summary

25 ... dxc4 26.Wh2 The crude attack on h7 is easily repelled. 26 ... h5 27.gxh6 .ixd4 28.exd4 E:xd4 29.cJif2 E:xd2t 0-1

Knowing when to break the rules. Opening preparation. Devising a good plan, and recognizing the need to change one's plans as required. These are just a few of the skills that define one's overall chess ability, and each of them had a certain significance for me as I was climbing the ranks from amateur towards professional play. Perhaps the chosen examples and accompanying commentary will play a small part in shaping the reader's own personal journey through the 64-squared labyrinth.

John Shaw

From 170 0 to Grandmaster - and Back

88

John Shaw

When I heard the title Grandmaster versus Amateur my first thought was not of two different players, but the same player at different stages of his career. More specifically, my own career. I played at an amateur level for many years before becoming a GM. My first competitive chess was at the age of 1 5 , then I worked a little on my game, and at the age of 1 9 I was rated 1 745. By that stage, I had been stuck in the 1 700s for three years. Not exactly a meteoric rise. However with sustained effort over the decades I improved little by little and finally scraped the Grandmaster title in 2006 at the age of 37. In fact, the chapter title is a half-joking reply I gave to GM Thomas Luther about what I would call my chess autobiography.

For example, I have played the Slav Defence for years and recently Jacob asked me what I knew about the Exchange Variation. I spoke honestly, sharing all my knowledge; it took about a minute. For a GM that is feeble, but my phobia about tactics is worse. Since I was naturally weak in this area, I should have worked hard to improve. Instead I avoided studying tactics and especially avoided anything that looked like a tactic over the board. The lack of studying in this area was not due to laziness; it was the same story as with openings. "Tactics are just not for me," I told myself.

For this chapter I looked back to see what insights I could glean from my slow but steady progress. The sad fact is that the lessons are simple and trite. My strengths are in the areas I studied hard; my weaknesses are in the areas I neglected.

� An untalented player can become a GM

My studies started in the pre-computer era, so my main tools were books. I studied endings a lot because Mr Karpov said I should. Tactics were not my thing and my knowledge of opening theory was limited. Even after I became an IM, my opening knowledge was limited to skimming some chapters of Nunn's Chess Openings. Since I put decades of effort into studying chess, why did I essentially ignore large segments of the game? The answer is I created myself as a player in the image I had of myself as a beginner. This image was so fixed in my mind that it became a caricature I lived up to. Studying endings is a fine way to improve, but at a certain stage a serious player must add some muscle in the openings. I never did, because I told myself that's not the sort of player I am.

So what lessons can be drawn from my nefarious career? if he works hard enough for long enough. � Studying endings is a good way to improve, just as everyone says it is. � Be wary of the stories you tell yourself; you may develop into the style of player you think you are.

Let's see a few examples from my career to illustrate the above points. For my own peace of mind I have mainly chosen games where the good guys win in the end. One of my favourite books is Rook Endings by Smyslov and Levenfish. I have read it from cover to cover several times, so whenever I reach a rook ending I feel I am on home territory; nothing bad can happen to me here. No doubt my confidence is excessive, but I do score well when I reach a technical position. The following game against a 2600+ GM is an example of a smooth, tactic-less win. I remember it fondly because it helped me achieve my first GM norm.

Chapter 4 - From 1 700 to Grandmaster - and Back

John Shaw- Hicham Hamdouchi Gibraltar 2003

l .e4 cS 2.lZlf3 d6 3.i.h5t

89

obvious - White can eventually create a passed pawn on the queenside while Black's kingside majority cannot do the same due to his doubled pawns. I just have to meet .. .f5 with f3 (as I had read somewhere, when defending against such a pawn structure "never capture, only recapture") . My remaining task was to exchange all the pieces to reach a winning pawn ending.

Avoiding the main avenues of opening theory. This habit hardened over the years and led to me looking at the position after l .e4 c5 and deciding which pawn to place on the third rank: I have tested 2.b3, 2.c3, 2.d3 and 2.g3 . These days 2.a3 is too theoretical for my tastes.

3 lLld7 4.d4 lLlgf6 s.lLlc3 cxd4 6.'1Wxd4 a6 7.i.xd7t lZlxd7 8.0-0 e6 9.Ei:dl f6 10.a4 '1Wc7 l l .i.e3 i.e7 12.a5 Black did not choose the most challenging response to 3.ii.b5t, so I have an edge. •..

12 ... lL\ e5 13.lZlxe5 dxeS 1 3 . . . fxe5 might have troubled me more in practice, but 1 4.'\Wb6 secures a pleasant advantage. 14.'\Wa4t i.d7 1 5.'\Wa2 E!:c8 I had seen a few games in the Exchange Variation of the Spanish ( The Complete Games of Bobby Fischer was an early purchase) so I felt at home here. The healthy/unhealthy pawn structures are on different wings from the Spanish version, but the basic point was

16 ...i.xa4 I don't recall if i had calculated the following line: 1 6 . . . '\Wxc2? 1 7.CtJb6 E!:d8

John Shaw

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The strongest line does not look familiar to me now: l S .gac l '\Wxe4 1 9.gc4! '1Wg6 20.lthd7 gxd7 2 l .gxd7 l:t>xd7 22.'\W a4 t With a forced mate. Maybe I had spotted the simpler 1 8 .C2Jxd7 gxd7 1 9 .gdc l and '1Wxe6 next is strong. Yeah, maybe.

17.Wfxa4t Wfc6 My pawn ending draws nearer, but 1 7 . <j{f7 1 8.c3!? leaves Black little hope of avoiding a queen exchange, as j,b6 and gd7 are irritations. . .

1 8.Wfxc6t gxc6 19.c3 gd6 20.�fl �f7 2 1 . �e2 gcS 22,gxd6 �xd6 23.�b6 f5 24.f3 Yes, I was ready for that one. 24 ... �e7 25.�d3 h5 26.b4

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29 ... hxg4 30.ghl gxf3 3 1 .gh7t �c6 32.gxf3± Over the next few moves Black could have defended more stoutly, but it's a grim task and not so relevant for our topic. 32 .. J�g8 33.c4 ges 34. �c3 �e7 35,gf7 fxe4 36.fxe4 �d8 37.�xd8 gxd8 38.ge7+There was nothing stunning about my previous moves, but simple logical chess has been enough to build up a winning position against a strong GM. 38 ... gd6 39.c5 gdl 40,gxe6t �d7

26 ... g5 27.h3 �d7 28,gdl g4? It's always tough to sit passively, but that's what Black needed to do. 29.hxg4 Not really breaking my pawn-structure rule, as Black's pawns remain doubled; more to the p oint, my rook has the op en h-file.

Chapter 4 - From 1 700 to Grandmaster - and Back winning pawn ending I have been dreaming of since move 1 3 . Mter the game G M Colin McNab instantly calculated that 4 1 .!'l:d6t! was winning. For example: 4 1 . . .!'l:xd6 42.cxd6 li?xd6 43. li?c4 li?c6 8 7

6 5

vm"''"---77:�'"

1"·="-------- /'

3 2 b

This is easy to win; the white king steps up to support the pawns while Black cannot play . . . li?d5 to blockade because of !'l:xa6.

52 ... !'l:e8t 53.'it>f4 A thoughtless move, m1ssmg the tactics created by stepping onto the fourth rank. In this case the slip does no harm but that was just luck. 53.li?f3! was the move to keep the black king quiet. For example: 53 . . . !'l:f8t 54.\i?e4 !'l:e8t 5 5 .\i?f5 The white king has crossed the dangerous fourth rank. Now 55 . . . \i?d5 56.!'l:xa6 leaves White three pawns up.

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44.b5t! And now 44 . . . axb5t 45.\i?b4 or 44 . . . \i?d6 45 .\i?b4. I could argue I was following John Nunn's DAUT dictum (Don't Analyse Unnecessary Tactics) and the rook ending in the game is a simple win. The truth is I was falling into the habit of avoiding all tactics and I never spotted that 4 1 .!'l:d6t was a legal move.

4I. .. :Scl t 42.'it>b2 :Sel 43.'it>c2 :Se3 44.'it>d2 :Sb3 45.:Sd5t 'it>e6 46.:Sd6t 'it>es 47.:Sb6 'it>xe4 48.:Sxb7 'it>d5 49.:Sb6 'it>c4 50.c6 :Sd3t 5 I .'it>e2 :Sd8 52.'it>e3

53 ... \t> ds I was shocked the black king could move, but I had enough time to find the only move to win.

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

8 7 6 5 4 3 2

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54.c7! It was a good thing the win was simple, as I was starting to wobble. The problem with 54.!'l:xa6 was 54 . . . !'l:e4t 5 5 .\i?f5 !'l:xb4=. 54 ... :Sc8 55.:Sxa6 :Sxc7 56.:Sb6 No more thought was required, as I knew the wriggling caterpillar plan: a6, b5, !'l:b7, a7, b6, !'l:b8.

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John Shaw

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56 .. J�H7t 57.'�g5 �c4 58.a6 )";fl 59.b5 �cS 60.)";b7 1-0 A fine result that showed some of my strengths, but my weaknesses were lurking in the shadows.

S.ttJc3 Now I believe 5.c3 is a sounder choice, when after 5 . . . 1Wxc5 6.li:Ja3 Black must avoid a trap: 6 . . . ibxc3t? 7.bxc3 1Wxc3t

The following game is not at all representative of my playing career. Instead it shows what might have been if I had put serious effort into studying opening theory. In this game my opponent stumbles unluckily into one of the few lines I knew well.

John Shaw- Vladimir Epishin Groningen 1999

l.e4 cS V\ljf3 g6 An unusual choice for GM Vladimir Epishin, who was rated 2657 at the time. It was the final round and I guess he wanted to avoid his normal solid lines against a much lower rated opponent. 3.d4 �g7 Naturally 3 . . . cxd4 would have been met by 4.1Wxd4 to avoid as much theory as possible. 4.dxc5 WfaSt

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8 .1Wd2! 1Wxal 9.li:Jb5 li:J a6 1 0.li:Jc3 li:J c5 l l .li:J d4+- 1he trap springs shut on the black queen.

s ... ltJf6? The problem with White's last move is 5 . . . ibxc3t 6.bxc3 1Wxc3t 7.ibd2 1Wxc5

��}AI£ �i���.t. �� �� .t. w,�z .t. •

7 J� "-- -" .t. s

� ��� �.� �B� :� z� � '"""� z � : � � �� ��� % � � F�����r� �� 8 • �;; 8 � w� 8 w& 1� ' "" "•vm.rwi �. �

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I used to believe in White's compensation, but now I like Black's extra pawn. A plan with . . . d6, . . . li:Jf6, . . . li:J bd7 and . . . e5 will shore up the allegedly weak dark squares.

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6.e5 ttJ e4 7.Wfd4 ttJxc3 8.�d2 ttJbS 9.Wfh4!± I have generously awarded myself a couple of exclams along the way, but I was merely putting on the board moves I had learned from Nunn's Chess Openings.

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Chapter 4 - From 1 700 to Grandmaster - and Back

12.E:hel lb ds No doubt planning . . . ctJ e6 but that scheme doesn't even last one move. 13.tt:ld4 e6 1 3 . . . ctJ e6 fails obviously to 14.ctJxe6 fxe6 1 5 .iWg4. 14.ia4 The hole on d6 naturally attracts a knight. 14 .. .'?Mxc5 14 . . . a6 covers one problem, but 1 5 .ctJ b3 then creates another. The threat of i,a5 is trou­ bling due to the newly weakened b6-square. Cover that with 1 5 . . . a5 and after 1 6.ctJd4 the original problem reappears like magic. IO.hb5 I was on my own now, but it's no hardship with an extra pawn, a lead in development and an obvious plan - castle long and put the other rook on e l .

15.tt:lb5 0-0

IO ... lb c6 1 1 .0-0-0 h6 Regaining the pawn with l l . . . ctJxe5 is asking for it after: 1 2.2"1he l e6 1 3 .iJ4

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16.ixh6! Going after the king is more convincing than 1 6 .i,b4 grabbing a mere exchange.

It is reasonable to accept on faith that such a position must be great for White. A couple of lines should convince the sceptics: 1 3 . . . ctJxf3 1 4.gxf3 iWd8 1 5 .iWxd8t Wxd8 1 6.c6+- or 1 3 .. .f6 1 4.i,xe5 fxe5 1 5 .ctJ g5 iWdS 1 6.iWg4+-.

16 ... f6 17.ixg7 �xg7 1 8.exf6t I had spotted a way to force a winning ending, which I generally prize above mating middlegames. 1 8 .E:e3! would end the game with an attack in rapid style. For example: 1 8 . . . g5 1 9.iWh5 tt:l f7 20.ctJ d6 At this point the computer suggests

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Black should give up his queen, with d6, e3 and e5 being equally good/bad locations for this mate-delaying ploy.

1 8 ... �xf6 19.ltld6 No clever moves required; the threat is lLl e8t. 19 ... �£8 20.VNe7t gS 2 1 .ltlxc8 �xeS 22.VNxc5 �xc5 23.�xd7+-

34.he6 Wildly out of character; it's the strongest move and I had calculated it accurately, but in my time trouble this was needless excitement. Boring moves such as 34.g4 or 34.h6 would have required no calculation and left no room for accidents. 34 ... �fl The only trick left for Black; it takes a little fancy dancing to save the bishop. 35.�g7tD d6 36.�d7t ci>c6 37.�dd1 �xe1 38.�xe1 ci>d6 The last point is that the pinning 38 . . . 1'%e8 fails to 39.id5t. 39.�g4

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That should have been the end of the drama; with rwo extra pawns and a rook on the seventh, the win is trivial. Despite dithering my way into time trouble, I got there in the end.

23 ... b5 24.�h3 a5 25.a3 a4 26.�a2 �e8 27.�e3 f8 28.�g3 �f5 29.�xg6 �xfl 30.h4 �fl t 3 1 .�d1 �fl 32.h5 e7 33.�e1 �ef8

1-0 The database claims the game ended here, but in fact I had no idea how many moves I had made and blitzed on to about move 50. Luckily, I didn't drop anything. So, a triumph for my theoretical erudition. Or rather, the Super-GM walked into a trap from the only opening book I knew well. Just imagine if a player had learned in great depth from books and databases covering every opening in his repertoire. If you are a serious

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Chapter 4 - From 1 700 to Grandmaster - and Back GM you should not have to imagine such things; this is your everyday reality. So what happens if a GM who never liked opening theory stops doing the minimal opening study he used to do? Bad things happen, that's what. One memorable example is my game against Hugh Brechin, a young Scottish player rated around the 2000 level. We will get to that game shortly, but first I would like to show you an extract from a previous game in which Hugh scored a surprise victory over one of my colleagues.

Hugh Brechin- Jacob Aagaard Edinburgh Premier 2007

This game started as a London System. Black had been trying to create some tension, but in doing so he gave his lower-rated opponent too much rope.

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This looks fatal but Black has a devious defence. 39 . . . l"i:b 1 ! The tactics shake out to a superior queen ending for White. 40.'\Wf7 l"i:xe l t 4 l . � f2 l"i:fl t 42.�xfl '\Wc4t 43. � f2 '\Wd3 44.'\We?! l"i:e8 45.l"i:h7t '1Wxh7 46.'\WxeSt± White will win a pawn, but collecting the full point will not be easy.

38 ...i.d6? Allowing the youngster a chance for glory. Stepping back with 38 . . . �g8! was the only move and good enough to equalize. 39)tjg6t @gs 40.lD e7t ixe7 White to play and win.

38.llJh4 White could have struck at once with: 38.'Llxg7! �xg7 39.l"i:xg7

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4I ...'it>hs 42.l3h7t Reminiscent of Steinitz - von Bardeleben. 42 ... 'it>xh7 43.l3xe7t 'it>h8 44J&e5t 'it>gs 45J�Vg7# 1-0

l l .!xd6 ffxd6 12.dxc5 fixeS I could have avoided the draw by declining to recapture, but that would leave Black a pawn down for nothing.

So I went into my game with some caution. I was given excellent advice about my young opponent: "He always plays 2.�f4, but you'll win if you avoid any �xh7t tricks."

Hugh Brechin- John Shaw Edinburgh Premier 2009

l .d4 dS 2.!£4 As expected, but I had a line ready; at least I thought it was ready. 2 ... ltlf6 3.e3 cS 4.c3 ltl c6 s.ltld2 e6 6.ltlgf3 !d6 7.ltl e5 0-0 s.!d3 ffe7 9.0-0 ltl d7 A perfectly reasonable move, except that it allows a clever forced draw. 9 . . . �xe5 1 0.dxe5 ctJ d7 would keep the game going.

13 ... 'it>xh7 14.fihSt 'it>g8 15.ltle4!

1 5 ... g6D If on move 1 0 I had captured with the

Chapter 4

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From 1 700 to Grandmaster - and Back

bishop, then White would now win with 1 6.lLlxc5 gxh 5 1 7.lLlxd7.

16.Y!Yg5! Y!Ye7 I7Jt:Jf6t @g? 18.�h5t @h? 19.�f6t @g? 20.t'il h5t

8 7 6 5 4 3 2

There is no way to avoid the perpetual check. This was careless by me, but it's even worse if you know the full story. The whole line had been given on ChessPublishing by GM Eric Prie. I glanced at the line and mentioned it to one of Hugh Brechin's teammates who told him about it. Meanwhile the whole line drifted out of my memory until the odd-looking l O.lLlxd7 gave me a mental nudge. My confessions of a grandmaster are over; I hope the tales of my foibles will help you in your chess struggles.

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lf2 l/2 -

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Boris Avrukh

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Boris Avrukh

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For this chapter I have chosen five games relevant to the theme of the book, including one of my own. They have been divided into three broad categories, which might be seen as loosely corresponding to the three adjectives in the tide, although the question of what constitutes a good, bad or ugly game will depend on one's own perspective.

It soon becomes clear that the grandmaster has the edge in theoretical knowledge, but more importantly, he has a far superior understanding of the ensuing middlegame structure. A single slip on move 1 9 gave Black a brief opportunity to get back into the game, but he failed to capitalize. From there on, the grandmaster made no mistake and the game was completely one-sided.

Being a grandmaster myself, I will start with the "Good", by showcasing two convincing wins from the grandmasters and identifying some of the principle reasons for their success.

The Grand-Terminator Every player has their own strengths and weaknesses relative to their overall playing strength. Nevertheless, when it comes to fundamental attributes as calculation, positional understanding, opening preparation, endgame technique and so on, a grandmaster will outclass an amateur to varying degrees in virtually all these departments. With such an overwhelming advantage in chess firepower, the grandmaster might at times seem like an unstoppable killing machine! Obviously when the amateur is a decent FM or IM, the lines will start to become more blurry, although by definition the higher-rated player will still have the edge in most of the areas affecting a player's overall ability. The outcome of an individual game will depend on how the players perform in a variety of the aforementioned categories, but in the majority of cases the grandmaster will eventually prevail. I have chosen two games to show how the grandmaster's superiority in a few specific areas can yield a convincing victory. The first game features a King's Indian Defence.

Vitali Golod - Thai Ahergel Tel Aviv 2000

With the white pieces we have my good friend Vitali Golod, a very solid Grandmaster who is also the current Israeli Champion. His opponent, Tal Abergel, is nowadays a respectable Grandmaster with an Elo over 2500, but the present game took place in the earlier part of his career when he was rated 2279 . I am grateful to Vitali for sharing his brief analysis of this game, which by the way does not appear on the main databases.

l.d4 g6 2.c4 .ig7 3.e4 d6 4.ltlc3 ltlf6 s.ltlf3 0-0 6 .ie2 eS 7.0-0 ltlc6 8.d5 ltle7 9.b4 .

The Bayonet Attack against the King's Indian gained a lot of popularity in the early 1 990s, thanks primarily to the efforts of Vladimir Kramnik. Vitali has a lot of experience in this line, whereas his opponent did not have a stable repertoire at this point. The difference in understanding can clearly be felt as the game develops.

9... ltle8 According to theory, this is Black's third choice behind the more popular 9 . . .lbh5 and 9 . . . a5 .

IO.a4 A clever decision. Most probably Black was ready for the main continuation of 1 0.c5, so

Chapter 5 - Th e Good, the Bad and the Ugly Vitali gives him something different to think about. Regarding the objective merits of this move, it is enough to point out that such players as Ivanchuk, Grischuk and Eljanov subsequently employed it.

10...f5 ll.�a3!? A rare move, but quite an interesting one. The interesting l l .a5 ctJ f6 1 2. ig5!? has been tested at the elite level. The stem game continued: 1 2 . . . lt:J h5 1 3 .exf5 gxf5 1 4. � d2 lt:J f6 1 5 .c5 i d7?! (according to Radjabov 1 5 . . . a6! was necessary) 1 6.b5! ie8 1 7.c6 b6 1 8 . lt:J h4 i f7 1 9 . i d3 ig6 20.f3 and White obtained a clear strategic advantage in Ivanchuk Radjabov, Wijk aan Zee 2009.

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1 2. ctJ d2 has been more popular, but after 1 2 . . . i h6 I believe Black should be okay. 1 2 . . . fxe4 The critical continuation looks to be 12 . . . h6! 1 3 . ctJ e6 ixe6 1 4. dxe6 fxe4 1 5 .b5 when White has interesting compensation for the pawn, but the position is very complicated. 1 3 . ctJ gxe4 ctJ f5 1 4.c5 ctJ xe4 1 5 . ctJ xe4 � h4 1 6. i d3± White had the better chances in Bilobrk ]uric, Zadar 1 997.

12.lDd2 f4?! Another bad move, violating one of the best­ known principles of the King's Indian: before blocking the centre with . . .f5-f5 , Black should almost always look to provoke f2-f3 from his opponent. With this in mind, 1 2 . . . lt:J f6 would have been a better move, intending to meet 1 3 .f3 with 1 3 . . . f4, although it is obvious that . . . h7-h6 is utterly worthless for Black here. Another idea was 1 2 . . . fxe4 1 3 . ctJdxe4 lt:J f5 , although after 1 4. i d3± White keeps a pleasant edge thanks to his control over the e4-square and potential queenside attack.

l l . . . ctJ f6 This natural move should be virtually an automatic choice for any seasoned King's Indian practitioner. 1 2. ctJ g5!? This move has occurred only once, but I consider it the most principled option at White's disposal.

13.c5

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Boris Avrukh

White starts his thematic queenside offensive. It was also worth considering 1 3 . ig4! ? , forcing a favourable trade of light­ squared bishops. No doubt Vitali considered this, but decided to keep it in reserve.

22.cxd6 White keeps a clear advantage.

15.b5 White logically continues his queenside play.

13...g5 14.ttlc4 �g6 I found another game on the database, which continued: 1 4 . .. l:!f6 Reinforcing the d6-pawn, and hoping to use the rook for attacking purposes. Still, Black is a long way from threatening anything on the kingside. 1 5 .l:!c l i f8 1 6.b5 ttl g6 Csiszar - Binder, Salgotarjan 1 998. At this point White inexplicably played 1 7 . 8 , which is wrong on numerous levels, and eventually lost. Instead of this, I found two attractive ways to improve his play:

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Another defensive idea is 1 5 . . . dxc5 1 6. ixc5 l0d6. From this position 1 7.b6!? axb6 1 8 . ixd6 cxd6 1 9 .l:!b 1 looks promising for White, while 1 7 .f3!? also deserves attention, for instance 1 7 . . . l:!f7 1 8 .a5 if8 1 9 . ifL.± and White has much the better game.

16.cxd6 1 6.cxb6 gives Black the option of 1 6 . . . axb6! which minimizes his disadvantage. a

1 7. ih5!?

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Preparing to exchange the knight, which has the potential to become a powerful attacker. White can also plough forwards on the queenside with 1 7.b6 cxb6 (or 1 7 . . . dxc5 1 8 .bxc7 Vf1xc7 1 9 .d6! with a strong initiative) 1 8 .c6! with excellent prospects. 1 7 . . . ltJ g7 1 8 . ixg6 l:!xg6 1 9 .a5 White's attack seems to be much faster, for example: 1 9 . . . g4 20.b6! axb6 2 l .axb6 cxb6 2 l . . .dxc5 22.bxc7 Vf1xc7 23.d6±

16... ttlxd6 Black decides to exchange a pair of knights. In the event of 1 6 . . . cxd6 the best way for White to continue his queenside offensive is 1 7 . i b4 followed by a5, as pointed out by the victor.

17.ttlxd6 Another interesting option was 17 . ixd6 cxd6!? 1 8 .a5 , for instance 1 8 . . . l:!b8 1 9 .axb6 axb6 20. ih5 and White's chances are clearly higher.

17...cxd6

Chapter 5 - Th e Good, the Bad and the Ugly

1 03

19.@hl? Too cautious. In his notes to the game Vitali explained that his intention was to meet the anticipated . . . lt:l h4 with g3 , when his king would be safe from any . . . f3 sacrifices or other attacking ideas. However, the idea is too slow and gives Black a surprising chance to obtain a reasonable game. The simple 1 9 .�cl was best; there is no need to fear 1 9 . . . lt:l h4 on account of 20. i e6t! c;t>hs 2 1 . Wf g4! when Black is in serious trouble.

19...tZ�h4?

18.. .:!:U6

1 8 . . . ixg4 1 9.'1Mf xg4 Wf c8 is well met by 20. Wfe6t! c;t>h? 2 1 .�fc l with a clear advantage.

Missing a golden opportunity to get back into the game. This could have been achieved with 1 9 . . . ixg4 20. Wfxg4 f3 ! 2 l .g3 and now the surprising 2 1 . . . Wf c8! 22. Wfxc8t �xeS 23.�fc l 1':k4! , stopping White from carrying out his main plan of installing a rook on the c6-square.

1 8 . . . Wf f6 also fails to solve Black's problems: 1 9 .�cl lt:l h4 20. lt:l b l ! Preparing to penetrate with the rook to c6. Black's only chance is 20 . . .f3 but White still keeps a large advantage: 2 I . ixf3 lt:l xf3t 22. Wfxf3 Wfxf3 23.gxf3 i h3 24.�fe l �xf3 2 5 . ixd6 �d8 26. i a3 !±

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20 . . . ixe6? soon leads to a hopeless situation for Black: 2 1 .dxe6 �xe6 22. Wfb3 Wf d7 23. lt:ld5 Already threatening lt:l c7. 23 . . . �c8 24.�ac l <j;lh7 2 5 . �xc8 Wfxc8 26.�cl Wfd8 27.�c7+-

Boris Avrukh

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White has an overwhelming advantage and Black's extra pawn is irrelevant.

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decides the game in Black's favour: 23.gxf3 (after 23.g3 l::lx e6! 24.dxe6 .ixe6 White's queen is trapped) 23 . . . .ixe6 24.dxe6 l::l f4! 2 5 . 1W g3 l::lxf3 26. \W g4 l::lxc3-+ 22 . . . fxg3! ? Certainly the best attempt t o complicate the game. In the event of 22 . . . � g6 23 . .ixd6 .ixe6 24.dxe6 \Wxe6 2 5 . \Wxe6 l::lxe6 26 . .i c7! intending 'Ll d5 and a5 , Black faces a difficult endgame. 23.fxg3 'Ll f3 ! Relying on tactics to defend the knight indirectly.

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This weak, time-wasting move enables White to carry out all his positional ideas. 2 1 . . . '\W eS! This would have been much more challenging, although White can still maintain the advantage. 22.g3! Funnily enough, in his notes Vitali considered 22 . .ixd6?? as White's best move, but he completely missed the following retort:

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22 . . .f3!! Incredibly, this move immediately

24.2::\xf3!? A remarkable idea which entails a queen sacrifice. I found this the most interesting move to analyse, although ultimately it is not the strongest. Objectively White's best continuation is: 24 . .i f5t .ixf5 2 5 .exf5 'Ll d2 26.2::\f2 l::l c 8 27 . .i b2 'Ll b3 28.2::\d l 'Ll c5 29 . .i a3 ! The threat is to take on c5 followed by placing the knight on e4, with a strategically winning position. Black's only chance to prevent this is to play 29 . . . � xa4!? 30. 'Ll xa4 \Wxb5, but after 3 l . 'Ll b2 l::lc3 32. \Wb4± he does not have enough compensation. 24 . . . h5 2 5 .2::\xf6 hxg4 26 . .i f7! A nice idea which almost leads to a huge advantage.

Chapter 5 - Th e Good, the Bad and the Ugly

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26 . . . Wl' d8?! We will look at this natural move in order to see one of the elegant points behind White's queen sacrifice. Unfortunately, it must be noted that 26 . . . Wl' h8!! saves the day, for instance 27 . .ig6t i>g8 28.!hd6 i.f8 29.!!d8 .i b7 30.!!d7 Wl' h6 3 1 . i.h7t i>h8 32.!!xb7 i.xa3 33.!!fl !!f8 34. i.f5 Wd6 and Black holds. 27.!!xd6 i. d7 Hoping to obtain counterplay along the c-file, but White has a convincing reply. 2 8 . i.g6t i>h8 29. if5 Wl' c7

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The endgame is very bad for Black, as shown by 23 . . . Wl'xc8 24.Wxc8 !!xc8 2 5 . tLl a2! followed by penetration along the c-file.

24.tLla2! Securing a huge advantage by preparing to exploit the c6-square.

24... tLld7 24 . . . !!xc l 25 .!!xc l tt::l d 7 would have been a bit more stubborn, although after 26.tt::l b 4 it is hard to believe Black will survive for long.

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30.!!c6! This further material offering secures a large advantage, since 30 . . . i.xc6 3 1 . dxc6+- is just hopeless for Black.

22J:�acl tLlfB 22 . . .f3 23.g3 achieves nothing for Black.

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Deciding the game easily.

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25.. Jhc6 Positional resignation, even after the better 25 .. .l':k7 26.a5 ! bxa5 27.l!fc l +- Black's position is hopeless.

26.dxc6 tLlc5 27.tLl c3 The knight is heading for the ideal d5square.

27.. JU8 28..ixc5 bxc5

The next game is one of my own, and has certain similarities with the previous one. I was able to identifY a weakness in my opponent's opening repertoire, and quickly obtained a pleasant advantage. This time Black did not have the prospect of a kingside attack - or any other kind of counterplay for that matter - and I went on to win a nice game without giving my opponent any chances.

Boris Avrukh Ehud Shachar

28 . . . dxc5 is no better, as 29J:!d l followed by l!d7 wins easily.

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Israeli Championship 2002

My opponent is a FIDE Master with a rating of 2374 at the time of the game. He is quite well known in Israel, and has a reputation for being difficult to beat. He has always been solid in the opening, but during my preparation I noticed a serious flaw in his repertoire. In recent years he had almost always favoured the Stonewall Dutch, even when his opponents began with l .c4 or 1 . ltlf3 and refrained from playing d2-d4. The Stonewall is generally a respectable defence, but attempting to use it as a 'one size fits all' opening is an amateurish approach, and I set about finding a way to exploit its drawbacks.

1-0 Black resigned in this remarkable picture of absolute domination. One might consider this the prototypical way in which a grandmaster should beat an amateur, although of course things do not always go so smoothly. By the way, it is exceedingly rare for a grandmaster to lose a game in such a humiliating fashion, as he will usually see it coming and go to almost any lengths to break out or complicate the game in some way. I'm sure Thai Abergel learned from this experience and I guarantee there is no chance that he would lose a game in this manner nowadays.

I.tLlf3! It is not often that I refrain from my favourite l .d4, but here I had every reason to do so.

l...e6 2.c4 f5 3.g3 tLlf6 4..!g2 d5?! Just as expected. As I already mentioned, I believe the Stonewall to be dubious without a pawn on d4, and consider 4 . . . .!e7 the most reliable continuation here.

5.0-0 c6 6.d3 6.b3 il.d6 7. il.b2 0-0 8 . d3 is also decent for White, but I wanted to retain the option of playing aggressively in the centre with lt:l c3 followed by e4.

Chapter 5 - Th e Good, the Bad and the Ugly

1 07

6...-ics

7...ltJ bd7?!

Slightly unusual, and probably not a great move. Black is trying to provoke d3-d4, but this is absolutely not a part of White's plans; meanwhile the bishop is slightly exposed on c5 .

This leads to a positionally difficult situation. 7 . . . � e7 is sounder, although White has more than one route to an advantage here too:

6 . . . � d6 is also not ideal, as the aggressive 7. CLl c3 0-0 8 . e4! is advantageous for White. 6 . . . � e7 is more solid, although 7.b3 0-0 8 . � b2 still gives White the more pleasant game. It is worth adding that a queen exchange does little to ease Black's task, as demonstrated by the following recent encounter: 6 . . . dxc4 7. dxc4 (Recapturing works well, although White can also consider 7.d4!? as in the game Pappier - Vertes, e-mail 2006, leading to a Catalan position with the move . . . f7 -f5 inserted for Black, which is not something of which he should feel especially proud.) 7 . . . �xd 1 8J!xd 1 ltl bd7 9 . � f4 � c5 1 0 .e3! (preventing any tricks involving ... ltl g4 and . . . e5) 1 0 . . . 0-0 1 l . ctJ bd2 ll:e8 1 2 . CLl e5 � f8 1 3 . ttJ df3 ctJ c5 1 4.ll:d4 White had a nice edge in Kogan - Cruz, Barcelona 20 1 1 .

a) 8 . � f4 0-0 9 . CLl bd2 is pleasant for White, for instance 9 . . . ltl bd7 1 0 .d4! �d6 1 l .cxd5 cxd5 1 2. �xd6 �xd6 1 3 .l'!:fc l ltle8 1 4. �a4 and White had a serious positional plus in Maltsev - Raivio, Jyvaskyla 2000. b) 8 . ctJ c3 0-0 9.e4 was played in one game, which continued: 9 . . . fxe4 1 0 .dxe4 d4 1 l . e5 dxc3 1 2.exf6 gxf6 1 3 . �xc3 e5 At this point a draw was agreed in Kaid - Schmittdiel, Crailsheim 1 998, but it seems to me that after 1 4 . �h6ll:d8 1 5 .ll:ad 1 White retains the better chances.

8.cxd5! cxdS A sad necessity, as the desirable 8 . . . exd5 loses a pawn after 9.d4, and 8 . . . ltl xd5 9.e4± is also unpleasant for Black. White's exchange on d5 was well timed for two reasons. Firstly, in the Stonewall structure Black would generally prefer to recapture on d5 with the e-pawn. Secondly, after the removal of the c-pawns Black's queen's knight belongs on c6 instead of d7, so it was important to wait for it to move. By the way, the second of these principles is also relevant in certain variations of the Slav and Semi-Slav.

9 .if4 .

White brings the bishop to its best square, while keeping the opponent guessing as to whether the knight will be coming to c3 or d2. 9 . ctJ c3 is less flexible, although that did not stop White from winning the following game in a seemingly effortless manner: 9 . . . 0-0 1 0 . � f4 � e7 (IO . . CLl h5 looks like a better bet, chasing the bishop away from f4.) l l . CLl a4 .

Boris Avrukh

1 08

id6 1 2 . ixd6 �xd6 1 3 .!%fc l f4? 1 4 . � c7 �e7 1 5 . �xf4+- Makarov - Arnold, Cappelle la Grande 1 996.

9...0-0 lO.eLlbd2± White has obtained a dream position from the opening. Black's pawn structure is full of weaknesses and his pieces are devoid of coordination. Meanwhile White can improve his position and develop threats easily by combining play along the open c-file with the occupation of the weak dark squares in the centre.

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Black also fails to equalize with: l O . . . lDh5 l l . i g5 Also l l . i e5!? comes into consideration. l l . . . �e8 1 2 .!%ac l 1 2. lt:lb3 i d6 1 3 .e4 allows 1 3 . . . f4! with counterplay, due to the vulnerable position of White dark-squared bishop on g5 . (Instead 1 3 . . . fxe4 1 4.dxe4 �g6 1 5 . i e3± would be much worse for Black.) 12 . . . h6 1 3 . lDb3 J.d6 1 4.i d2 And White keeps all the pluses of his position.

ll.l:%acl l l . lDb3 would have prevented the possibility aoted in the next turn.

l l ...ttlg4 More challenging would have been: l l . . . lDh5! This at least forces White to find a few good moves, although he can still retain a nice advantage. 1 2. i e5! 1 2. i g5 h6 1 3 . lDb3 ixf2t! 1 4.!%xf2 hxg5 1 5 . lDxg5 lDe5! is less convincing. 1 2 . . . tDxe5 1 3 . �xc5 8

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1 3 . . . �xc5 1 3 ...lDxf3t should be met by 1 4 . lt:lxf3! (after 1 4 . ixf3 lt:lf6 1 5 . lDb3 i d7 White's advantage has been greatly diminished) 1 4 . . . �xb2 1 5 .!%c2 �b6 1 6. �e7 �d8 1 7 . �a3 with massive compensation. 1 4.!%xc5 lDc6 1 5 . lDb3 It is also worth considering 1 5 .e4!? fxe4 1 6.dxe4 lt:J f6 1 7.!%e l with long-term pressure. 1 5 . . . i d7 1 6.!%fc l l:%ac8 1 7. lt:lbd4 White retains serious pressure, as Black is unable to solve his problems by exchanging pieces: 17 . . . lt:lxd4 1 8 . lDxd4 l:%xc5 1 9 .!%xc5 l:%c8 ? 20.!%xc8t ixc8 2 1 . lDb5 a6 22. lD d6 White wins a pawn.

12.e3! A natural move, but it was important to establish that Black has no way of exploiting the f4-bishop's shortage of squares.

Chapter 5 - Th e Good, the Bad and the Ugly

1 09

16.'Wc7! Logical and strong, as the ensuing endgame is positionally winning for White.

16...'Wxc7 17.Eixc7 CLJb6

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This looks very slow, but it is hard to recommend an improvement. 1 2 . . . e5 ? Ci:l Ci:l Ci:l '1W .!i 1 3 . xe5 gxe5 1 4 . xe5 xe5 1 5 . xc5 +- is certainly not the answer.

13.CLJ b3 i.d6 The trade of dark-squared bishops almost always favours White in the Stonewall structure, but Black's position after 1 3 . . . Jie7 1 4. Jic7 '1Wa6 1 5 .e4± (or 1 5 .a3!?) is not much fun either.

Another illustrative line is 1 7 . . . Ci:ldf6 1 8 . Ci:lc5 2"1e8 ( 1 8 . . . e5? runs into 1 9 . Ci:lde6 .!ixe6 20. Ci:lxe6 l"\f7 2 1 .h3+- when the knight is trapped on g4) 1 9 .h3 ( 1 9 . Ci:la4!? is also strong) 1 9 . . . Ci:le5 20.f4 Ci:lf7 2 l . Ci:la4 and White is close to winning.

18.h3 A good practical decision. I considered 1 8 . Ci:lc5, but rejected it on account of 1 8 . . . e5 1 9 . Ci:lde6 .!ixe6 20.2"1xb7! (20. Ci:lxe6 2"1f7±) 20 . . . 2"1fb8 2 1 .2"1xb8t 2"1xb8 22. Ci:lxe6 2"1c8! when Black is a pawn down but has liberated his position and obtained some activity for his pieces.

18... CLJf6

14.i.xd6 '1Wxd6 15.CLJfd4! Reminding Black of one of the reasons why the Stonewall is a dubious choice when the white pawn has not gone to d4.

15...a6 The threat was li:Jb 5 .

19.f4! It is hard to refrain from such a pleasant positional move. Now Black's pawn structure is fixed, leaving him with the traditionally bad 'Stonewall bishop' and chronically weak dark squares.

19... !!f7

Boris Avrukh

1 10

Black could have obtained some temporary activity by means of 1 9 . . . tt:la4, but after the accurate 20.l::1 f2 ! �f7 2 l .�cl b6 22.l'!fc2 i d7 23. tLl f3 ! , followed by tt:l e5 and tt:ld4, White remains in complete control.

20.�c2! White has more space and is ready to double on the c-file, so it is best to avoid the rook exchange.

20...�e7 Nothing much changes after 20 . . . i d7 2 l . tLl c5 (less accurate is 2 l . tLl a5 ?! i b5!) 2 l . . .l'!e8 22. � f2 i c8 23.a4 when White continues to improve his position and dominates across the board.

24.�fcl i.f7 Not the most stubborn defence. Black should have exchanged some minor pieces with 24 . . . ltJ fd7, although even here 25 .�c7 tLl a8 26. tt:lxd7 ixd7 27.�7c3 still leaves him with an unpleasant position.

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Creating additional targets on the kingside.

25...g6

After 25 . . . fxg4 26.hxg4 ltJ bd7 27.�c7 � f8 28. ltJ df3! it is unlikely that Black can survive.

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26 . . . tt:lbd7? loses immediately to 27.g5 ! +-.

27.g5 There were plenty of other useful moves, but I wanted to bring my light-squared bishop into the game.

An elegant regrouping. The knight is heading to e5, and the second knight will take its place on d4.

27...hxg5 28.f:xg5 �h7

21... �b8

28 . . . tt:lfd7 29. tLl xf7 �xf7 30.�xb7 is a safe extra pawn.

It is not yet possible to play 2 1 . . . i d7 in view of 22.l'!c7 l'!b8 23. tLl a5 +- winning the b7pawn.

22.� bd4 i.d7 23.�e5 i.e8 Although White is clearly dominating, it is still not easy to crack Black's position.

29.h4 �f8 30.e4! Having made progress across all areas of the board, White's decisive breakthrough comes in the centre. It is fitting that this is made possible by the fact that White's d-pawn never travelled more than a single square forwards.

Chapter 5 - Th e Good, the Bad and the Ugly

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3 I . . .l2J a8 32.1"lxe7 l"lxe7 33 .1"lc8 ttlb6 34.1"lb8 wins easily.

32.he4 CDd5 33.1"lxe7 l"lxe7 Obviously 33 . . . tt:lxe7 34.1"lc7 is hopeless for Black.

34.1"lc8 �g7

111

Obviously the pawn IS untouchable: 35 . . . gxh5 36. �xd5 exd5 37. ttl f5t+35 . . . � e8 36.h6t <j;Jh7 (36 . . . <j;lg8 37. �xg6) 37. 1iff2 also wins easily. 36.h6t The most thematic, although 36.1"lc1 ! ? also wins instantly due to the following line: 36 . . . gxh5 37. �xd5 exd5 3 8 . ttl f5 t <j{gs 39. ttlh6t+36 . . . <j;Jh7 36 . . . \i?gS 37.1"lxe8 �xeS 3 8 . tt:lxe6!+37.1"lc2 � g8 3 8 . ttldf3 The position deserves a diagram, as Black is completely paralysed.

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I am really proud of the way I handled this game, and I still consider it one of the best positional achievements of my career.

35.h5! 1-0 A very nice way to finish the game. Here my opponent decided enough was enough and resigned. The following lines demonstrate the hopelessness of his situation: 35 . . . 1"le8

What was it that enabled Vitali Golod and myself to win so convincingly in these two games? Both of us got off to a good start, obtaining some advantage in the opening. We both went for positional play focusing on the centre and queenside (although Vitali also had to keep an eye on his opponent's potential kingside counterplay) . Vitali's strategy was largely based on the weakness of the c6-square, while I was able to benefit from the d4- and e5-squares. In both cases our opponents were unable to solve the problems and went down painfully.

Boris Avrukh

112

Summary A favourable opening; positional pressure; long­ term weaknesses in the opponent's position. If a grandmaster is able to achieve these things, then even a fellow grandmaster will have a hard time defending. For an amateur, the task will be almost insurmountable.

The Amateur Strikes Back Now we will investigate a few examples where the tables were turned, and the amateurs were able to achieve some remarkable successes. We will begin with a game featuring a relatively small 200-point rating gap. On this occasion the grandmaster plays the opening poorly, and his 2330-rated amateur opponent is sharp enough to exploit his early advantage.

Yochanan Mek- John van der Wiel Dieren 2000

John van der Wiel needs no introduction, having spent several years as the Dutch number two and amassing a great deal of experience at the very highest level. Yochanan Mek is a less famous player, but nevertheless one who has been heavily involved in Israeli chess for many years. Over the board, he is an International Master although his rating has never crossed the 2400 barrier. He is also an experienced tournament organizer, an international arbiter and a well known study composer. (For a more detailed biography of the man and his studies, see Chapter 2 of Tibor Karolyi's Genius in the

over the board, which makes him a dangerous opponent. He was kind enough to show me his collection of wins against grandmasters, including the present game which made a particularly striking impression.

l.e4 d6 2.d4 ctJf6 3.CLl c3 g6 4.�g5! Speaking as one who has some experience playing the Pirc, I believe this system to be an extremely dangerous one for Black to meet. As a matter of fact, when I played this opening I always began with the Modern Defence move order, delaying . . . CLJ f6 until I had safely avoided this system.

4...c6 Another direction is 4 . . . i.g7 5 . � d2 h6 6. i.h4 g5 7. i.g3 CLJ h5 8 .0-0-0 which also looks pretty dangerous for Black.

5.'1Wd2 ttl bd7

5 . . . b5 6. i.d3 tLl bd7 7.f4 i.g7 is a more popular move order.

6.f4

Background.) Yochanan is known as a very positive person, and this, along with his achievements and service to the game of chess, has earned him a lot of respect amongst his peers. As the composer of hundreds of studies, he has a great deal of imagination and inspiration

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A careless move. The queen on a5 might discourage long castling, but apart from that she serves no purpose and soon turns out to be misplaced.

Chap ter 5 - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Better would have been 6 . . . b5 7. � d3 Lt:lb6 (or 7 . . . �g7 first) 8 . ttJf3 � g7 9 . 0-0 0-0 when Black stays in the game, although I would certainly not recommend this line for him.

1 13

9 . . . d5 1 0.e5 Lt:l e4 looks attractive at first sight, but the following encounter proved how dangerous Black's position really is: 1 1 . We3 Lt:lxg5 1 2 . Lt:lxg5 e6

?..!Ll£3 b5 It is hard to suggest any reasonable alternative to the plan of p ushing the b-pawn. Against other continuations White would simply develop and play e5 at a suitable moment, after which the black knight would have a hard time finding a good retreat square. By chasing the white knight away from c3, Black at least gives his own knight the option of moving to d5.

s.id3 b4 9 .!Lle2 •

Already a2-a3 is a serious concern which highlights the misplacement of the queen on a5.

9...ia6

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1 3 .f5 ! Were it not for this move, Black would indeed have been fine. 1 3 . . . gxf5 1 4.g4! h6 1 5 . ttJ xf7! Excellent play by White. 1 5 . . . mxf7 1 6.gxf5 Lt:lb61his position occurred in Karolyi - Beim, Tel Aviv 1 990, and here White could have clinched victory as follows:

Other options also fail to offer Black much relief: 9 . . .'\Wb6 loses a tem po. Indeed this position has occurred plenty of times with Black to move, which can hardly be a good sign for him. 1 O.e5 Lt:ld5 1 1 .0-0 � g7 Talla - Sisak, Frydek Mistek 1 99 8 . Here White missed a strong idea:

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1 7 . Wg3! exf5 ( 1 7 . . . E!:g8 1 8 .fXe6t �xe6 1 9. Wf3t m es 20. Wf6 c;t> d7 2 l .�f5+-) 1 8.E!:g1 c;t>e7 1 9. Wh4t c;t>es 20. Wf6 With a winning attack.

10.0-0 1 0 .a3 c5 l l . �xf6 Lt:lxf6 1 2. �xa6 Wxa6 1 3 .e5± was also strong.

IO d5?! ...

Black's position was already unpleasant, but blocking the centre only makes matters worse.

1 14

Boris Avrukh

1 O . . . �xd3 would have been the lesser evil, although White keeps a substantial advantage here too. l l .cxd3! Now the c6-pawn will become a target. ( 1 1 . '1Wxd3 '1W b 5 ! is not so bad for Black) 1 1 . . . '1W b6 1 2.a3! bxa3 1 3 .bxa3 White is clearly better, but Black is still in the game.

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Another thematic idea would have been l l . �xf6!? tt:lxf6 1 2.e5 tt:le4 1 3 . '1W e3 and White has a clear edge, for example 1 3 . . . e6 1 4. �xe4 dxe4 1 5 . tLl g5 ! ± .

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1 6 .2::1x f5 ! exf5 After 1 6 . . . �h6? 1 7.E:xf7 �xg5 1 8 . '1Wxg5 'tt> xf7 1 9 .E:fl t 'tt> e8 20. tLl f4+- Black is helpless against the threats. 1 7.e6 �e7 1 7 . . . tLl c5 !? is possible, although 1 8 .dxc5 1Mfxc5 1 9 .d4 1Mf e7 20. tLl xf7 E:g8 2 1 .E:e l ± is much better for White. 1 8 .exd7t 'it>xd7 1 9 . tLl xf7 E:he8 20. tLl e5t 'tt> c7 2 1 .E:cl White has a powerful initiative for the exchange.

ll...ttle4 12.�e3 fS?! Another mistake, leading to a strategically miserable position for Black. 1 2. . . �xd3 This would have been a better practical chance. White can maintain a large advantage, but in order to do so he would have had to find a remarkable attacking idea. 1 3 .cxd3 tt:lxg5 1 4. tLl xg5 After 1 4.fxg5 e6 White is better, but Black is quite solid and in no immediate danger. 1 4 . . . e6 1 5 .f5 ! ! We already saw the same idea i n the Karolyi - Beim game referenced above. 1 5 . . . gxf5 1 5 . . . exf5 ? 1 6 .e6 is just crushing.

13.a3! I like this decision. By opening the queenside White capitalizes on his development advantage by targeting Black's weaknesses on that flank. 1 3 .exf6!?

Chapter 5 - Th e Good, the Bad and the Ugly White could also have obtained a clear advantage by accepting the sacrifice, but the consequences of this move were not so easy to foresee. 1 3 ...exf6 1 3 .. .l2J dxf6 1 4. l2J e5 leaves Black in a depressing position and it is safe to say that this was not his idea. 1 4.iixe4 dxe4 1 5.'W'xe4t ii e7 1 6.ii h4 'W' d5 1 7.'W' e3 ! It looks like Black is very close to obtaining decent compensation for the pawn, but unfortunately he has to sacrifice a second.

also strong, for instance: 1 6... e6 1 7.c5 'W' c7 1 8 . iixe4 fxe4 1 9.t2J d2 iig7 20.'W'h3 l2J f8 2 1 .iih6±

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13...ib7 14.axb4 �xh4 15.c3 1 5.l::\a3 !? is also attractive.

15...'W'b6 16.b4 A good positional move, although White was already spoiled for choice. 1 6.c4!? was

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1 7... 0-0 Black would like to play 1 7...c;t> f7, but this is refuted by 1 8. l2J g5 t ! fxg5 1 9.fxg5t c;t> e8 20.t2J f4 'W' d6 2 1 .l::\ fe 1 with a winning attack. 1 7 ... c;t> f8 1 8.f5 ! is also highly unpleasant for him. 1 8.'W'xe7 l::\ ae8 1 9.'W'xb4 iixe2 20.l::\ f2± Black does not have enough for two pawns. Of course it would have been hard to judge all these variations at the board, so Afek's move was a much more pragmatic choice.

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It is exceedingly risky to open up the queenside while behind in development; on the other hand quieter continuations would have left Black in a depressing strategic situation with no counterplay. For instance: 1 6... e6 Intending to develop the dark-squared bishop and castle. 1 7.l::\a 5! Establishing a bind over the queenside while preparing to double rooks. White should not rush with 1 7.c4? in view of 1 7...iixb4 1 8.c5 l2J dxc5 ! 1 9.dxc5 iixc5 20. l2J ed4 l2J xg5 2 1 .fxg5 ii b4f± with an unclear position. There is a reasonable alternative in 1 7.l::\f b 1 !? followed by c4-c5 , although ifWhite wanted to opt for that plan it would have seemed more logical to do so on move 1 6. 1 7...iig7 1 7... l2J xc3 ? does not work in view of 1 8. l2J xc3 iixb4 1 9.l::\a4! iixc3 20.l::\b 1 'W' c7 2 1 .ii fl +- when Black suffers a fatal loss of material. 1 8.l::\fa 1 ±

1 16

Boris Avrukh I think a better idea would have been 17 ... a4, preventing White from opening the queenside immediately. Nevertheless White maintains a clear advantage as follows: 1 8.Ei:al ! ( 1 8 .c4 � a6 1 9 .c5 V1l b7 20. �xa6 V1lxa6 is not so clear) 1 8 ...V1f c7 (intending . . . lt:J b6 next) 1 9 . c4! dxc4 20.�xe4 fxe4 2 l . lt:J h4 lt:J b6 22.f5 with a serious initiative.

18.c4? Opening the queenside is the right idea, but the timing is all wrong. The right path was: 1 8.bxa5 Ei:xa5 1 9.Ei:b2! � g7 20.Ei:fb l � c8 (or 20 ...Ei:a7 2 1 . �h4! intending to refute 2 l ...e6 with 22.�xe4! fxe4 23. lt:J g5 lt:J f8 24. lt:J g3! followed by a decisive sacrifice on e4) 2 l .c4 e6 22.cxd5 exd5 23.Ei:c2!± and thanks to the weakness on c6 White is clearly better.

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17.Ei:abl This move does not lose the advantage, but there were a couple of more convincing continuations: 1 7 .Ei:a4!? axb4 1 8.Ei:xb4 V1f c7 1 9 .Ei:fb l � c8 20.c4 e6 2 l .Ei:4b2± The threat of cxd5 is difficult to meet. 1 7.bxa5 Ei:xa5 1 8.c4! is also strong, the main point being that after 1 8 . . . Ei:xal 1 9.Ei:xa 1 e6 White can play 20.� f6! lt:J dxf6 2 l .exf6 V1l c7 22. lt:J g5 +- with a decisive attack.

17...'\Wc?

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b

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This passive move is an incredible mistake for a player of Van der Wiel's calibre. Thanks to White's last move, his first real error of the game, Black had the opportunity to reach a playable position with: 1 8 ... dxc4! 1 9.�xc4 (after 1 9.�xe4 fxe4 20. lt:J h4 axb4 2 l .Ei:xb4 c5 22.Ei:xc4 � d5 23 .Ei:c3 e6 the evaluation is similar) 1 9 ... lt:J b6! 20.� e6 axb4 2 l .Ei:xb4 � c8 22.Ei:fb l �xe6 23.Ei:xb6 h6 24.�h4 Ei:al !t and Black is very much in the game.

-�

Chapter 5 - Th e Good, the Bad and the Ugly

19.bxa5 lha5 20.cxd5! Mter this simple capture Black's position collapses like a paper house.

20...exd5 Obviously Black would have preferred to recapture with the c-pawn, but after 20 ... cxd5 2 l .E:fc l Wf b8 (2 l... ii. c6 22. ii. b5 +-) 22.ii. b 5 +­ his position is hopeless.

21.i.xe4 fxe4 2 l ...dxe4 loses on the spot after 22.Wf b3! E:d5 23.CtJ c3 .

22.e6 tlJb6

1 17

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Unsurprisingly, White had some other winning continuations. Here is an attractive line shown by the computer: 26.CtJe5!? (there is also 26.e7t ii.xe7 27. CtJ e5! with mate to follow shortly) 26 . . . E:xe3 27.e7t � g7 (27 ...ii.xe7 28.ii.h6#)

23.f5! An elegant solution, although the prosaic 23. CtJe5 ii. d6 24.f5 was also winning easily.

23 i.d6 ..•

23 ... gxf5 gives White more than one way to decide the game: 24.ii.f4 (there is also 24.E:xb6 Wfxb6 25.Wf f4! with a decisive attack) 24...CtJc4 (24 ...Wf d8 2 5 . CtJe5 is absolutely hopeless for Black) 25.ii.xc7 CtJxe3 26.ii.xa5 ctJ xfl 27.CtJe5+- and Black cannot avoid heavy material losses.

24.£6 A picturesque position! Black is absolutely helpless.

26... cj{e7 27.Wfg5t cj{xe6 28.Wfg4t?! It looks like White started to lose the thread around here, since after 28.CtJ e5 Black could have resigned immediately.

28... cj{xf7 28 ... � e7 29.CtJe5 is hopeless.

1 18

Boris Avrukh

29.tl:)gs t

A cleaner finish would have been 29.ltJ e5t �e8 30. '1W e6t '1W e7 3 1 . '1Wxe7t fixe7 32.2"i:xb6 when Black has to resign.

34. fig7! 2"i:g8 35 .2"i:xc6 (3 5 . ttJ c3 !? is also strong) 3 5 . . . fi d7 36.2"i:xd6 '1Wxd6 37. fih6 White should win this position, but Black still has chances to resist.

33... 2"i:al t 34.�f2 ih4t

32...i.e7? Black fails to exploit his unexpected chance and gives up without a fight. He could have offered greater resistance with 32 . . . 2"i:a l t 33. � f2 '1W e7! (but not 33 . . . 2"i:g8 ? 34. '1W g5 +-) when White's pieces are a bit stuck and it would not have been easy to find the winning continuation:

Black resigned without wamng for the obvious 3 5 . '\Wxh4 hxg6 36. '\W f6! with an easy win.

1-0 Although White made a few inaccuracies along the way, he always had the initiative and Black never really looked like he would get back in the game. In the next game the story is altogether different. The advantage swings dramatically from one side to the other, but the grandmaster makes the last mistake and pays the price. This time the rating gap is more striking: White weighs in at just 2 1 49, against his opponent's formidable 2587.

Matthew Herman -Alberto David Milan 2010

l.e4 cS 2.ti:)f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.CLlxd4 a6

Chapter 5 - Th e Good, the Bad and the Ugly This is one of many versions of the Paulsen Sicilian, which is more widely known as the Kan Variation.

s.i.d3 In my opinion this is the most challenging reply, although 5 . lllc3 is certainly a serious alternative.

S...i.cS Many other moves are possible, but the game continuation is the most fashionable nowadays.

6.lllb3 i.e? This leads to a complex Sicilian battle with all the pieces on the board. I have used the same system myself in recent years, and have always considered it complicated and somewhat dangerous. 6 ... ia7 is a serious alternative which has also been played in a great many games.

7.f4 This is an important moment, as White's seventh move goes a long way towards determining his whole scheme of development and future middlegame strategy. The move played in the game has become quite fashionable lately, but it is worth mentioning a few of the main alternatives in order to appreciate the diversity of possible plans. 7.c4 leads to a kind of Maroczy set-up. 7. ie3 d6 8 . lll 1 d2 is another possibility, intending to play on the queenside with moves like a4-a5 and lllc4. 7. '1Wg4! ? g6 8 . '1W e2 is one of the critical tests. White hopes to show that Black's dark squares have been weakened, while Black will try to make positive use of the g-pawn's advance.

1 19

7...d6 8.i.e3 lllf6

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Highlighting one of the advantages of the 5. id3 system. White could of course have opted for a more traditional arrangement with '1W f3 , lllc3 , 0-0 , Ei:ae 1 and so on, but in that case Black could obtain counterplay with the typical ... b5-b4, hitting the knight.

9...lllc6 IO.'IWf3 White has tried several other moves as well. 1 O.c3 has been the most popular move, and 1 0. '1W e2 has also been seen in a fair number of games. Some strong players have even tried 1 0 .a3, investing a tempo to prevent . . . lllb 4.

IO...lllb4 Personally I prefer a different approach, which I employed in the following game: 1 0 . . . 0-0 1 1 . 0-0-0

Boris Avrukh

1 20

This seems risky, and White would probably have been better off playing less ambitiously with short castling. l l . . .a5! There is no knight on c3 , so I went after the one on b3 instead! 1 2 . \t> b l Black's last move was first introduced by Fabiano Caruana, who won a fine game with energetic play: 1 2. lZ'lc4?! a4 1 3 . .i b6 � e8 1 4 . lZ'lbd2 d5! 1 5 . lZ'le5 a3 1 6.b3 lZ'lb4 1 7. � b l dxe4 1 8 . lZ'lxe4 lZ'lfd5 1 9 . .id4 f6 20. lZ'lc4 e5+ Perez Candelario - Caruana, Merida 2008. 12 . . . a4 1 3 . lZ'lc l a3 1 4.b3 This position occurred in Shavtvaladze Avrukh, Kallithea 2008, and here I should have played: s

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I would guess that White prepared this move beforehand in order to improve on one of Alberto's previous games in which he experienced no problems: 1 1 .0-0 0-0 1 2 . .i f2 lt:J xd3 ( 1 2 . . . .i d7!?) 1 3 .cxd3 .id7 1 4 . lt:J c4 Elc8 1 5 . .i b6 � e8 16 . .id4 d5 Black was doing fine in Kislik - David, Paleochora 200 8 .

'0

2

a

1 4 . . . lt:J b4!

.

b

c

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This simple move should give Black an excellent game. 1 5 .c3 If 1 5 . lZ'le2 then 1 5 . . . e5! is strong. 1 5 . . . lt:J xd3 1 6. lZ'lxd3 b5 17 . .i d4 .i b7 Black has excellent prospects on the light squares. On the other hand Alberto has a lot of experience in this system, and his choice is certainly not bad.

ll.g4!? A very aggressive approach, and in my view the most challenging one available.

In m y opinion the correct continuation would have been l l . . .b5 1 2.g5 lZ'ld7 1 3 .0-0 .i b7 1 4.a3 lZ'lxd3 1 5 .cxd3 0-0 with double-edged play.

12.g5 tLld7 13.�e2?! Although this move shows a lot of inspiration and creativity, obj ectively I must regard it as questionable. The king may not be in any immediate danger, but the position is not blocked and there is every chance that the centre could open up at some point in the future. 1 3 .0-0 was more logical, and after something like 1 3 . . . b6 1 4.a3 lZ'lxd3 (or 1 4 . . . lt:J c6 1 5 . � h3!) 1 5 .cxd3 0-0 1 6.Elac 1 ± White has slightly the

Chapter 5 - Th e Good, the Bad and the Ugly better chances, and we are reminded that the c7 -square was not a good choice for the black queen.

13...b6 There was nothing wrong with the more active 1 3 . . . b5, for instance: 1 4.a3 CLlc6! 1 5 .h4 (Mter 1 5 .a4 bxa4 1 6J'1xa4 0-0 Black has a lot of play on the queenside, and White's king position might become an issue if the position opens up.) 1 5 . . . CDc5 1 6 .h5 j, b7 Black will hide his king on the queenside, meanwhile White's king looks strange in the centre, and any opening of the position could prove extremely dangerous for him.

14.a3

8

What should Black do with the knight?

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14... lt:\xd3?

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A serious positional error, which turns 1 3 . <;t> e2?! from a bad move into rather a good one. In the ensuing position the d3-pawn will become a valuable shield, and it is now the black king that faces an uncertain future, White is poised to launch an attack in the centre and kingside regions, and long castling is out of the question. All this is a consequence of Black's decision to open the c-file with his own hands. 1 4 . . . lLl c6! would have stamped a serious

12 1

question mark on White's strategy. Mter the likely continuation of 1 5 .h4 j, b7 1 6.h5 0-0-0 Black's king is safe, while the white monarch, by contrast, could easily become vulnerable in the long term. I would definitely prefer Black here. What could have caused such a strong grandmaster as Alberto David to commit such a serious misjudgement? I am quite certain that, had he encountered the position in a different context, without having any prior involvement in the game, then it would not have taken him long to realize that 14 . . . lLl c6! was the right move. By way of explanation, my guess is that when he played lO . . . lLl b4 his sole intention was to eliminate the bishop on d3 , and he never stopped to think about how the requirements of the position had changed. To put it more strongly, he 'forgot' that the knight even had the ability to retreat.

8

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Black's only trump after exchanging on d3 is his light-squared bishop, which has the potential to become a serious force in the event that the position opens up. Unfortunately Black lacks the time needed to carry out his plans.

1 22

Boris Avrukh

16J!acl Underlining the unfortunate position of the black queen - another disadvantage of Black's decision to exchange on d3.

16...'\Wds 17.�d4 :B:c8? An inaccuracy which could have made White's task easier. It was necessary to bolster the kingside with 17 . . . g6. Play might continue 1 8 .h4 (the tempting 1 8 . li:Jc6 .ixc6 1 9 .1::1xc6 gives Black the interesting option of 1 9 . . . �xg5 !?) 1 8 . . . 1::1c 8 1 9 .1::1xc8 iMfxc8 20.h5 ms 2 l .b4 when White's chances are higher, but Black's position remains sound and difficult to breach.

b

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22. li:Jc4!

d

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White is clearly better.

18...g6 Correcting the previous mistake. Another reasonable option would have been: 1 8 .. .l2J c5 1 9.b4 ( 1 9 .f5 e5 20.f6 exd4 2 l .fxe7 iMfxe7 22 . .ixd4 0-0 is not so clear.) 1 9 . . . li:Ja4 20.f5 li:Jc3t

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18.h4? Missing a natural and strong attacking continuation: 1 8 .f5 ! Now Black faces a n uphill battle t o survive. 1 8 . . . 0-0 1 8 . . . e5 ? meets with a convincing refutation: 1 9 . li:Je6! fxe6 20. iMfh5t � f8 2 l .fxe6 iMf e8 22.:1!cfl t � g8 23. iMfxe8t 1::1xe8 24.exd7 1::1d 8 2 5 . li:Jc4+1 8 . . . li:Je5?! is also unsatisfactory, as after 1 9 . 1Wg3 or 1 9. iMfh3 it is hard to suggest a reasonable defence for Black. 1 9 .f6! gxf6 20.:B:xc8 iMfxc8 2 l .gxf6 .ixf6

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Here White should play the simple 2 1 . � f2± maintaining slightly better chances in a complex position. There is an interesting alternative in 2 l .:B:xc3! ? :B:xc3 22. li:Jxe6! fxe6 23.fxe6, but after 23 . . . iMfc7 24. iMf f7t � d8 2 5 . iMfxg7 :B:e8 26 . .ixb6 iMfxb6 27. iMfxc3 � c8! the situation is highly unclear.

19.:B:cfl !? An interesting move, but objectively it was stronger to play 1 9.:B:xc8 iMfxc8 20.h5 1::1f8

Chapter 5 - Th e Good, the Bad and the Ugly 2 l .b4!± when White keeps the upper hand thanks to the passivity of his opponent's pieces.

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1 23

21...0-0? Another serious mistake; evidently it was not Alberto's best day. I examined a couple of other interesting lines: 2 l . . .a5?! Activating the bishop on a6 is a logical idea, but Black can ill afford the time for it here. 22. etJ2f3! 22. etJ c4? would be a mistake due to the exchange sacrifice 22 . . . Elxc4! 23.dxc4 1W c8 24.b3 a4! when Black obtains serious counterplay. 22 . . . 0-0 23.h5 il.a6

A well timed advance, and the logical follow­ up to Black's previous move which covered the f5-square. Also not bad was 1 9 . . . Elf8 ! ? 20.h5 etJc5 when it is not clear how White can develop his initiative.

20.fxe5 The piece sacrifice 20.f5 ! ? looks tempting, although after 20 . . . exd4 (20 . . . 0-0? would be a clear mistake in view of 2 l .h5! with a crushing attack) 2 l .fxg6 etJe5 22.gxf7t 'tt> d7 23. 1W f5 t 'tt> c7 24. il.xd4 'tt> b8 the position is extremely unclear.

20 ...etJxe5 21.�£4

24. 'tt> d 2! A very strong move. 24. tt:l xe5 dxe5 2 5 . 1Wxe5 is worse due to 25 . . . Elc2t 26. 'tt> d l il.d6 27. W f6 il.e7 2 8 . 1W e5 il.d6= when Black forces a draw. 24 . . .'\W d7 24 . . . tt:l xd3 ? 2 5 . 1W h4 wins on the spot, and 24 . . . il.xd3 2 5 . 1W h4 forces Black to make a bad piece sacrifice in order to stave off mate. 2 5 . hxg6 fxg6 26. 1W h2 h5 27.gxh6 tt:l xd3 2 8 .Elfg l White has a strong attack.

a

b

c

d

e

f

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h

2 1 . . . 1W d7! This was the safest and best idea. When the opponent is poised to launch a deadly attack, the possibility of exchanging queens can be an invaluable resource.

Boris Avrukh

1 24

23. Wh2! This rather obvious move would have been extremely tough for Black to meet. 23 . . . W g4t 23 . . . lL\g4 24,Wh4 is hardly defensible for Black. 24. lL\2f3

b

a

c

d

e

f

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22.h5 White has nothing better. If he tries 22. lL\c4 then 22 . . . :gxc4! 23.dxc4 W a4 24.:gc l 0-0 25 .h5 .i c8� gives Black interesting compensation. 22 . . . W g4t 23. Wxg4 lL\xg4 24 . .i f4 lL\e5:t White still maintains a slight plus, but the queen exchange has made Black's position a lot safer.

22.h5Wd7 Hoping to force a queen exchange with a check on g4. s

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One might argue that this move deserves a second question mark, as White not only misses a near-winning continuation, but also allows his opponent to obtain the upper fland.

a

b

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d

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f

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h

24 . . . lL\xd3 ! ? This looks a b i t desperate, but I would regard it as the best practical chance. 24 . . . .ixe4 2 5 . dxe4 Wxe4 26. W f4 W d3t 27.'i> f2 f6 2 8 . ci>g2 fxgS 29. lL\xe5 gxf4 30. lL\xd3 fxe3 3 1 .:gxf8t .txf8 32. ci>f3± reaches a technically winning position for White. 2 5 . xd3 2 5 . hxg6 hS! is less clear. 25 . . . .ixe4t 26.'i> d2± Black does not have enough compensation for a piece.

23...gfe8! Now Black is ready to meet the attack along the h-file, and his last move also reminds us of White's shaky king position.

24.hxg6 Nothing much is changed by 24.:gh2 .i f8 25 .:ggh l :ge7! when I do not see a good way for White to meet the impending . . . d5 with a decisive opening of the centre.

.

24 ..fxg6

Chapter 5 - Th e Good, the Bad and the Ugly

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25.ClJf5!?

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1 25

27.Ei:xh7 (no better is 27.gxh7t h8 28 .Ei:h5 � g7 29.Ei:xf5 Ei:f8!-+) 27 . . . �g7 28. '@fxf5 '@fxf5 29.exf5 � c6! Not the only move, but the strongest, improving another piece and preparing to put the bishop on b5 or d7. 30. '2l e4 �xe4 3 l .dxe4 Ei:c4-+

26.i.d4

h

In a seriously worse position White desper­ ately tries to complicate matters. Objectively the sacrifice is unsound, but over the board it proved to be the correct choice, The 'best' continuation was 2 5 . '@f h2 � f8 26. '@fh3, but after 26 . . . '@fxh3 27.:1hh3 d5 Black has a pleasant advantage and White has absolutely no attacking chances. Though it is impossible to say with any certainty how the game would have finished from here, there is every chance that David's grandmaster-calibre technique would have brought home the victory.

25 ...i.f8!? This could also be considered a practical decision, as Black keeps a big advantage while avoiding any big complications. In fact he could easily have accepted the sacrifice: 25 . . .gxf5 26.g6 � f6!

a

26... ClJ c6?

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Once again refraining from capturing the knight. This time the consequences are more serious, as Black throws away his advantage. Black could have refuted the attack with: 26 . . . gxf5 ! 27.g6 �g7! I can only assume that this calm move skipped Black's attention for the second time. 28.gxh7t (or 28.Ei:xh7 fxe4 and White has no ideas) 28 . . . h8 Black is j ust winning.

27.i.c3 dS?

a

b

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h

Amazingly Black leaves the knight for a third time; perhaps he stared into the horse's eyes and became hypnotized! This time taking the knight would not have been winning, but it would have maintained approximate equality: 27 . . . '@fxf5 ! 28. '@fxf5 gxf5 29.g6 h6 30.g7 � e7 3 1 .Ei:xh6� In my opinion the strong g7-pawn gives White enough compensation to maintain the balance.

Boris Avrukh

1 26

b

a

28.'Wh4?

d

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Now it is White's turn to falter. He could have obtained a serious advantage with 2 8 . ctJ e3!, for example: 28 . . . d4 29. ctJ g4 �g7 30. � b4! ctJ e5 3 1 . ctJ f6t! (stronger than 3 1 . Wh2 h5 32. ltJ f6t �xf6 33.gxf6 Wb5 34. W g3 W f7!) 31 . . . �xf6 32.gxf6 W f7 33.Ei:g3±

28...E!:c7?? The decisive mistake, overlooking a simple tactic. Black should have preferred one of the following two ideas:

29 . . . gxf5 ? 30.g6 h6 3 1 .g7!--+ is extremely dangerous for Black. 30. Wxh7t After 30.axb4 �xe4 3 1 .dxe4 gxf5 32.E!:d l W b7! Black stands better. 30 . . . Wxh7 3 1 .Ei:xh7 W xh7 32.E!:h l t W gS 33 .E!:hst W f7 34.E!:h7t W e6!? Obviously Black can force a draw with 34 . . . ci>gs . 3 5 . ctJ d4t W e5 36. ctJ f6 White is temporarily a rook down, but he should be able to hold the position as Black has several pieces hanging. 28 . . . ctJ e5! This seems like the most pragmatic, and also the objectively strongest choice. White is more or less forced into the following line: 29.d4 ltJ c4 29 . . . gxf5 30.dxe5 (30.g6? ltJ g4 is just bad for White.) 30 . . . E!:c6 leads to an extremely complicated position. 30.e5

28 . . . dxe4 This is not the strongest continuation, but it leads to some amazing tactical complications: 29. ctJ xe4 8

7

6

5

4 3

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a

b

c

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29 . . . ltJ b4!! This amazing idea would have been almost impossible to find over the board.

30 . . . a5 ! A nice way to activate the bishop. 3 l . ctJ e3 ctJ xe3 32. W xe3 � a6+ Black's chances are higher as the king is vulnerable on e3.

29.ctJg7! An elegant blow that decides the game instantly.

Chapter 5

8 7

6 5

Th e Good, the Bad and the Ugly

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29...'Wxg7 30.�xg7 �xg7

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On the face of it, it looks like Black might have some swindling chances based on his active pieces and White's vulnerable king. But from here White does everything right and marches to victory like a professional.

3l.@dl �eS 32.�g3! �c8 33.d4 33 .�gh3! ? is also good enough, but the text is more straightforward.

33... � c4 34.�xc4 �xc4

35.e5! Now Black's position is absolutely hopeless as both his bishops are locked out of play.

35 ...�c5

1 27

If 3 5 . . . i c8 then 36.!::k3 decides the game easily.

36.�g4 ha3 This must have been an agonrzmg move to play, but in any case Black's position was hopeless and there was not much he could do against the planned attack along the f-file.

37.bxa3 �gc7 38.�el �c6 39.@e2 �bS 40.@f2 1-0 Once again we can draw certain parallels between the two grandmaster defeats. Although it may seem a trivial point, we may note that both of them had the black pieces. Although a large gap in skill will usually overcome this initial disadvantage, the privilege of the first move is certainly an important factor, which increases the amateur's chances to create problems for his opponent; or at the very least, to make it through the opening with a decent position. Secondly, both grandmasters attempted to play for a win by employing double-edged opening systems. Obviously there are pros and cons to this approach: by unbalancing the game the grandmaster reduces the probability of a 'boring' draw, but runs the risk of falling into difficulties in the event that the amateur plays well. That is not to say they were wrong to play that way, as both Van der Wiel and David are successful grandmasters who win more often than they lose. One of the fascinating things about chess is that another player of similar overall ability might go for a completely different strategy, striving for solid equality in the hope of outplaying the amateur in a simplified middlegame or endgame. One could reasonably expect such a player to concede a certain number of draws but suffer fewer losses, thus achieving a similar percentage score over time.

Boris Avrukh

1 28

There is no absolute 'right or wrong' concerning the level of risk one should undertake when playing for a win against a weaker opponent. The choice will depend on one's own playing style and temperament, as well as event-specific tournament or match tactics. I will end the chapter by exploring an interesting phenomenon that often comes into play when an amateur crosses swords with a much stronger adversary.

The Rocky Balboa Effect In Sylvester Stallone's Rocky, a part-time boxer gets a once-in-a-lifetime chance to step into the ring with the reigning World Heavyweight Champion. He seems hopelessly outclassed, and yet against all odds, he withstands the punishment, stands toe-to-toe with his elite adversary, and lasts the full 1 5 rounds.

5.0-0 .ie7 6J3el b5 7..ih3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 tLl b8 This strange-looking move characterizes the Breyer System, one of the most important variations in the Closed Ruy Lopez. It remains a popular choice all the way up to the highest level, and is regularly employed by such elite players as Carlsen, Kamsky, Mamedyarov and Svidler.

lO.d4 ttJbd7 ll.tLl bd2 .ib7 Black has invested two tempos improving the position of the knight, which now enjoys great flexibility on d7. Meanwhile the light­ squared bishop exerts considerable influence on the centre from b7.

12 ..ic2 White protects the e4-pawn in preparation for the thematic ctJ fl -g3 manoeuvre. Another idea is to play on the queenside by means of a4 and �d3 .

Chess players (usually) don't punch each other in the face, but when we are presented with a rare opportunity to do battle with someone who would normally be considered way out of our league, it can provide an incredible amount of excitement and motivation to perform well. This explains why we occasionally witness games such as the following.

Ivan Cheparinov - Victor Havik Gibraltar 20 1 0

Ivan Cheparinov has been Topalov's second for several years and is rated in the high 2600s. Victor Havik, on the other hand, is a Norwegian amateur who was rated j ust 2093 at the time of the game - a gap approaching 600 rating points.

l.e4 e5 2.tLlf3 tLl c6 3 ..ib5 a6 4 ..ia4 ttJf6

Normally Black waits for the enemy pawn to come to a4 before moving his c-pawn. The main line is 12 . . . Ei:e8 1 3 . tt:l fl � f8 14. tt:l g3 g6, and now one of the principle continuations is 1 5 .a4

Chapter 5 - Th e Good, the Bad and the Ugly c5! (only now!) 1 6.d5 c4 when the position is double-edged, but Black benefits from havin g a stable outpost for his knight on c5.

13.d5 With this move White establishes a space advantage and ensures that Black's light­ squared bishop will remain passive in the long term. Compared with the previous note, the c5-square loses a certain amount of its appeal for the black knight. There is no pawn on a4 to attack, and the b3-square is covered by a white pawn instead of just the bishop. Furthermore, White can consider chasing the knight with b4, intending to meet . . . cxb3 with axb3, which would not have been possible had the white pawn already moved to a4.

13...g6 Preparing . . . tt:l h5, as is thematic in closed Ruy Lopez positions. 13 . . . c4 gives White a pleasant choice between 1 4 . tt:l fl intending to play on the kingside, and 1 4.b3!? undermining Black's structure on the queenside, both of which give him the better prospects.

14.lL:\fl lL:\h5 15.ih6 �e8 The alternative is 1 5 . . . tt:l g7 when White must make a choice: a) In a previous game Cheparinov chose 1 6.g4, but after the thematic regrouping 16 . . . tt:l f6 1 7. ctJ g3 @ hS! 1 8 . a4 tt:l gS Black was able to repel the bishop while organizing his kingside pieces quite harmoniously. The game continued 1 9 . � e3 c4 20. @ h2 (20.b3!? looks more challenging) 20 . . . iMf b8 2 l . iMf d2 � c8 22.2::1 a3 f5 when Black obtained reasonable counterplay and eventually prevailed, Cheparinov - Adla, Pontevedra 2004. b) 1 6 . tt:l e3! is a more attractive option. The first game ever played from this position is

129

also one of the most instructive: 1 6 . . . tt:l f6 1 7.a4 h8 1 8 .b3 2::1 b 8 1 9 . iMf e2 � c8 2 0 . axb5 axb5 2 1 .2::1 a7 tt:l g8 22. �xg7t xg7 2 3 .2::1 e a l tt:l f6 24. � d3 � d7 2 5 . iMf a2;l; Black was doomed to passive defence and eventually succumbed in Karpov - Gligoric, Leningrad 1 973. Any readers wishing to improve their understanding of the Closed Ruy Lopez should pay close attention to Karpov's games, as he achieved a fantastic score in these positions and was one of the greatest ever connoisseurs of this opening.

16.lLlg3 The most challenging continuation, forcing Black to make a decision with the knight. White does not mind compromising his kingside pawns, as the open f-file will make up for it. 8

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1 6 . . . tt:l f4 can be met by 1 7 . iMfd2 �f6 1 8 . �xf4 exf4 1 9 . iMfxf4 when Black does not have sufficient compensation for the pawn. In a previous game Black tried 1 6 . . . tt:l g7 but failed to equalize: 1 7.a4 2::1 b 8 1 8 .b3 tt:l f6 1 9 . iMf d2 hS 20. � d3 � c8 2 l .axb5 axb5 22.2::1 a7 tt:l g8 This position was reached in Sideif Sade - Psakhis, Frunze 1 979, and here the simple:

1 30

Boris Avrukh

20...£6 2I.i.e3 CDh6 22.h3 l::l f8 23.1::1 £2 A better idea may have been 23.g4 aS 24.:8:ab l !?, holding up Black's queenside play and hoping to carry out g5 at an appropriate moment. 8

7 6 5

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17.fxg3 i.f8

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18.i.g5?!

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This move loses time and allows Black to consolidate his position. Better would have been 1 8 . � d2 with the possible continuation: 1 8 . . . �xh6 1 9 . �xh6 � f6 20.:8:fl � g7 2 l . � e3 Lt'l b6 (or 2 l . . .a5 22.a4 b4 23. � d3±) 22.a4!? White switches his attention to the queenside and keeps the better chances.

4 3 2 1

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Now White should watch out, as both . . . a4 and . . . c4 could prove troublesome.

24.CD h2 The idea of transferring the knight to g4 does not work well for White. 24.:8:b l a4 2 5 . � d3 would have been more logical.

24...i.c8 Directed against Lt'l g4. There was also nothing wrong with 24 . . . a4 as after 2 5 . Lt'l g4 axb3 26. �xb3 c4 27. � c2 Lt'l d7 Black has a comfortable game.

25.Eiafl a4 26.i.dl

20.:8:fl

An understandable decision, since after 26. Lt'l g4 �xg4! 27.hxg4 axb3 28.axb3 g5! Black is in no real danger. It should be mentioned that after 29. � c l White easily contains his opponent's play on the a-file and so the position is balanced, bur this was obviously not a desirable outcome for Cheparinov.

Hoping to develop attacking chances along the f-file.

26 ... axh3 27.axh3

18...'\Wc7 19.1Wd2 i.g7 Now Black has a reasonable game.

Chapter 5 - Th e Good, the Bad and the Ugly

��-� � 7m � - - -�•t � �,/lif"""- --,�� IIl ·, ;·��-- - - - �� · 4 lll8 '88'R R ��/;; /.���-� 3� �j�cl� ''/.'_;; /�}cl%�� lS m 2 � �.�� " "" . ji , :f 1 � �. 8

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27...£5!

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131

28. . J�a2 Black has full control over the a-file, but j ust as in several lines of the Ruy Lopez, this does not yield him any tangible benefit, at least for the time being.

29.\Wdl '.Wb7 Black's position looks attractive, but he cannot achieve anything special at once, for instance 29 . . . c4 30.b4 tLl a4 is met by 3 1 . Vfi e l when the game remains balanced.

30.1Wbl '.Wa7

A great move. At first it may look as though Black is playing aggressively, but in fact this move is mainly a prophylactic one, designed to prevents the opponent's main ideas of ii g4 and tLl g4.

28..tc2 Opening up the position by means of28.exf5 gxf5 29. ii c2 might easily have backfired after the following strong idea:

The natural 3 1 . ii d3 would have been better, for instance 3 l . . .:!::!:xf2 32.:B:xf2 fxe4 33 .:B:xf8t iixf8 34. iixe4 Vfif7 3 5 . Vfi d3 iif5 36.iixf5 gxf5 37.c4! and White has no problems, although he is not really better either.

31 ... gxf5? Black immediately returns the favour and puts himself in a dangerous situation. 2 8 . iih6 is more sensible, and after 28 . . . iixh6 29.'\W xh6 Vff g7 30. Vfi d2 ii d7 3 I . ii c2 the position remains balanced.

3 1 . .. ctJ xd5 ! I am at a loss to explain why Havik rejected this move, as well as Cheparinov's reasons for

Boris Avrukh

1 32

allowing it, as the following variations look pretty clear-cut. 32. tt:l g4! ? Maybe this was Ivan's idea, but i t fails to impress. Alternatives are no better: 32.fxg6? does not work in view of 32 .. .2'!xf2 33. ixf2 tt:l xc3 and White cannot avoid material losses. 32. ie4 is another idea, but after 32 . . . tt:l xc3 33.E:xa2 "!Wxa2 34. "1Wxa2 tt:l xa2 3 5 .fxg6 hxg6 36. ixg6 i e6+ Black is clearly better and absolutely out of danger.

32..bfs Now White dissolves the enemy kingside in a more favourable way.

32... �xfl 33.hh7t c;!.>hs 34.J.xfl �xd5 35.c4!? This natural move is the prelude to unexpected complications. The alternative was 3 5 . "1W d3 when Black has a couple of ideas: a) 3 5 . . . "1W e7 36. "1Wxd5 (36. i e4 tt:l f6 37. i c6 e4 3 8 . "1Wxb5 W e5! gives Black chances for counterplay, although obj ectively he is still worse.) 36 . . . m xh7 37.b4! is better for White. b) 35 . . . tt:l xc3 36. Wxc3 m xh7 37. "1W d3 t e4! 3 8 . "1Wxe4t (but not 3 8 . "1Wxd6? E:xfL.! 39.E:xf2 i d4 when Black is doing fine) 38 . . . m h8 39. tt:l f3 White is better, but Black has some practical counterplay.

35...bxc4 b

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3 5 . . . ih6 can be strongly met by 36. ic2! tt:l c3 37. "\W e l b4 3 8 . i e3± with a large advantage.

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32 . . . gxf5 Leading to a forced sequence which ends up in Black's favour. 33. ixf5 E:xfL. 34. ixh7t m h8 3 5 . ixf2 tt:l xc3 36. "1W c2 b4 Black's positional superiority is indisputable; meanwhile White has no way to exploit the apparent vulnerability of his opponent's king.

36.bxc4 � c3 37.Wc2

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When playing this move Black was obliged to see the strong follow-up on the next move. a

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37 . . . "1W e7 was unsatisfactory, as after 3 8 . i e l

Chapter 5 - Th e Good, the Bad and the Ugly ctJ e2t 39. '1Mixe2 W xh7 40. '1Mi e4t W g8 4 1 .�xf8t ii.xf8 42. tLl g4 White's advantage is beyond doubt.

38.ii.xe4 �xf2! A remarkable idea! Suddenly White must forget about the technical task of converting an extra pawn, and instead ready himself for a direct conflict requiring accurate calculation.

39.�xf2 i.d4 40.tlJf3! Sacrificing material is the way forward, and a definite improvement over 40. t2J fl ?! '\Mi f7 4 I . ii. f3 ii.xh3! when Black has good chances to escape.

40 '\Mialt 41.�h2 i.xf2 42.i.f5 •••

A slight inaccuracy. 42. ii. c6 was also less than ideal, as after 42 . . . t2J d l ! 43. '1Mi d2 '1Mi g7 44.g4 ii.xg4 4 5 . '\Mixd l '1Mi f6 the opposite-coloured bishops give Black good chances to survive. 42. ii. d3 ! This would have been strongest, although the evaluation relies on the accurate assessment of some difficult variations. 42 . . . t2J d l 4 2 . . . ii. e3 enables White to decide the game with a neat queen manoeuvre: 43. '1Mib3! '1Mi a5 44. '1Mib8 '1Mi d8 4 5 . ii. f5 +43. '1Mi e2! ii. e3 43 . . . '1Mig7? loses instantly: 44. '\Mi eSt '1Mi g8 4 5 . '1Mih5t lt> g7 46. '1Mi g6t+-

�.t· :(ll �� �� • ���----

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1 33

44. tLl e l ! Th e most accurate move, and a difficult one to see in advance. Black's pieces are clearly misplaced and he has no reasonable defence against the threat of ii. c2. 44. 'Ll g5 looks tempting, but after 44 . . . ii.xg5 4 5 . '1Mih5t g8 46. '1Mixg5t '1Mi g7 47. '1Mi d5t '\Mi f7 48. '1Mixd6 '1Mie6 49. '1Mixc5 ctJ e3 Black has chances to survive. 44 . . . g7 Black has nothing better to do, so he avoids a check on h 5 . 4 5 . ii. c2 White should win without difficulty.

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43 ... ttJdl?

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Though it seems natural to open the long diagonal for the queen, the text move is a losing mistake. To be fair, the correct defensive idea was far from obvious. 43 ... W g7!! The king marches defiantly towards his aggressors! Actually the key idea is to cover the f7- and f8-squares. Best play continues: 44. '1Mi d7t W g8 4 5 . '1Mi e6t W g7 46. '1Mixd6 'IMi c l ! Another difficult move. 47.h4 '1Mih6 48. '1Mi e7t W g8 49. 'Ll g5 '1Mig6 5 0 . '\Mi dst lt> g7 5 1 . '1Mi d7t W h8 52. '1Mi c8t W g7 5 3 . W h3± White retains some pressure here, but I am pretty sure Black should be able to hold it with accurate defence.

Boris Avrukh

1 34

48.\Wflt �h8 49.h4

44J!Mf8t �h7

Black's position is still precarious, but Havik manages to find the only move to stay in the game.

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45.\Wflt?

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Throwing away the win. The tempting 4 5 . lt:J g5t � g6 46.h4 allows Black to keep himself in the game with 46 . . . ixg3t!! 47. 'it> xg3 '® e5t 48. '®f4 '®xf4t 49. xf4 lt:J b2!, although White still keeps some winning chances in the ensuing endgame. However, the simple 45. '®xd6! provides a convincing route to victory: 45 . . . lt:J e3 (45 . . . '®g7 46. '®xd l ixg3t 47. 'it> gl +-) 46. lt:J g5t 'it> gs 47. '® e6t 'it> g7 48. '® f7t 'it> h6

50.\WeSt �g7 5 1.\We7t �g8 52.\Wflt �h8 53.\West �g7 54.\Wd7t �g8 55.\Wcst Ivan is still not satisfied with a draw, and indeed he is not risking anything by playing on.

55...\WfS 55 . . . 'it> g7 would have drawn more quickly, although in order to appreciate this, one must take into account the following pawn endgame: 56. � b7t W g8 57. � d5t c±> g7 5 8 . �xd l ixg5 5 9 . '® g4 8

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49. '®h7t! W xg5 50.h4t W f6 5 I . '®h8t White wins the enemy queen, and with it the game.

45...'.Wg7 46.\Wh5t '.Wh6 47.'Llg5t �g7

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Chapter 5 - Th e Good, the Bad and the Ugly

135

5 9 . . . m f6 60. 'Wxg5 t 'Wxg5 6 l .hxg5t m xg5 Despite appearances, Black is fine here: 62. m g 1 (62. m h3 ?? even loses to 62 . . . d5 63.cxd5 c4-+) 62 . . . d5! 63.cxd5 m f5 =

Black finds a beautiful solution. The more mundane 5 8 .. . 'Wfl 5 9 . lt:l e4 'W gl t 60. m h3 lt:l f2t 6 1 . lt:l xf2 'Wxf2= was also good enough to hold.

56.'We6t c;t>hS?!

59.'Wd7t c;t>g6 60.'We6t c;t>h7 6I.h5 'Wxd6!

56 . . . m g7 would have been more accurate, and after 57. 'W d5 lt:l c3 5 8 . 'W b7t m g6 5 9 . 'Wh7t m f6 60. 'W d3 �xg5 6 l . 'Wxc3t m g6 62.hxg5 m xg5 the queen endgame should be an easy draw.

57.CLlfit c;t>h7 58.CLlxd6?! White could have caused his opponent more problems with 5 8 .h5 'W g7 5 9 .g4, trying to get the kingside pawns involved in the attack. The correct defence is 59 . . . lt:l f2! 60.g5 �xg5 6 l . 'W f5 t m gs 62. lt:l xg5 'W eSt! 63. 'Wxe5 lt:l g4t 64. m g3 lt:l xe5 6 5 . lt:l e4 lt:l xc4 when it looks as though Black should be able to hold, but it would have been a tall order to find this idea over the board.

A lovely way to force a draw. Incidentally 6 I . . . 'W f6!? would also have been good enough to hold, but the text move is more forcing and thus the clear first choice.

62.'Wxd6 CLlg4t 63.c;t>h3 CLl f2t 64.c;t>h2 CLlg4t 65.c;t>h3 CLlf2t 66.c;t>h4 .igS!t 1/2-lfl

The players agreed a draw in view of 67. m xg5 lt:l e4t 6S. m f4 lt:l xd6 69. m e5 lt:l xc4t 70. m d5 when White captures his opponent's last pawn. Both sides made some mistakes along the way, but overall Havik showed incredible determination, resourcefulness and tactical awareness in a position which was extremely hard to defend, especially against such a formidable attacking player as Cheparinov. How can we explain his incredible perform­ ance? It looks to me as though the pressure and sheer excitement of facing an almost otherworldly grandmaster gave him an incredible amount of motivation, and he was able to elevate his concentration and overall playing strength way beyond anything that could be expected from a playing of his meagre rating. This should serve as a warning never to underestimate an opponent, no matter what their rating (or lack of one) . You never know where the next Rocky Balboa might be lurking!

Tiger Hillarp Persson

The Ulysses Effect

Ti ger Hillarp Persson

1 38

'/lny object, intensely regarded, may be a gate of access to the incorruptible eon of the gods. "

7....th7 s..te2

Although this excerpt from James Joyce's Ulysses (From Episode 1 4 : Oxen of the Sun; p.4 1 3 in the Penguin 1 969 edition) is written in a joking spirit, when I first read it almost fifteen years ago, it immediately made sense to me. I had indeed been thinking along those lines for some time, and the meaning of it turned an already perceptible note within me into a resounding chord. The sentence itself reeks of pretentiousness, so I suppose a translation to plainer English is in order. Freeing ourselves from gods, gates and eons, we might end up with something like: "When intensely studied, any part of a greater whole, however small, may grant you insights of a magnitude greater than that of the part itsel£" Still not making sense? In that case allow me to illustrate with rwo of my own encounters with experienced grandmasters, from my days as a rising amateur with a rating that had not yet reached 2400.

Tiger Hillarp Persson - Jonny Hector Rilton Cup 1 9 9 5

Ld4 dS 2.c4 c6 3.� f3 �f6 4.� c3 e6 S ..tgS dxc4 6.e4 hS 7.a4 I had studied the Geller Gambit in the Slav a few years earlier, and not long before the present game I stumbled over an inspirational old game of Tal's where he won with the text move. Even though I knew little of the precise theory on the present variation, when I encountered it over the board I decided almost immediately to follow Tal's example. I had previously devoted a huge - some would say disproportionate - amount of intense study time not to this specific variation, but rather to the types of positions where White sacrifices a pawn on c4 in order to gain space in the centre.

9..txf6 gxf6?! 9 . . .'��V xf6 1 0.axb5 cxb5 l l . 'i:l xb5 i b4t 1 2 . 'i:l c3 ixe4 1 3 .0-0 ixc3 1 4 . bxc3 'i:l c6 1 5 . 'i:l d2 is a bit better for White, but was still the best option for Black.

10.0-0 For the time being the b5-pawn is indi­ rectly defended. In such situations, White will generally look to execute a pawn break, with the main candidates being b2-b3 and d4-d5 . I decided that the best approach was to simply castle and keep all my options open.

10...a6 l l.dS!? It is possible to play more patiently with a move like l l . W c2, but I knew I was effectively a tempo up on a normal position, as Black does not usually play . . . h7-h6 so early. For that reason I decided that the immediate central break would be the most principled way to continue.

Chapter 6

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Th e Ulysses Effect

139

I had spent a good deal of time studying these positions with my friend Ludvig Sandstrom, and the "intense regard" paid off, as the flick of the b-pawn is a typical device and a move which I knew I should be looking to play at some point. Although the game was not "preparation" in the modern sense, I was certainly well prepared to do battle on this terrain.

13...cxb3 14JWxb3 '1Wb6 15.dxe6 fxe6 I6.lDh4! lDd7!

Not 1 6 . . . h5?! 1 7. ttl g6 Ei:h7 1 8 . ttl f4, when Black has to let go of either the h5- or the e6pawn.

17..!h5t �d8 18.ttJg6 E:h7 Also l l . . .cxd5 1 2.exd5 b 4 1 3 .dxe6 fxe6 ( 1 3 . . . Wxd l 1 4 . exf7t <±> xf7 1 5 . i.xc4t <±> g7 1 6. ttl xd 1 ) 1 4 . ttl d4 bxc3 1 5 . i.xc4 is quite unhealthy for Black.

Black's position is already beyond defending. Neither 1 8 . . . <±> c7 1 9 . CLl f4! ? Ei:ac8 20. CLl xe6t <±> bS 2 1 . i.g4± nor 1 8 . . . Ei:g8 1 9 .Ei:ad 1 <Jl c7 20. ttl f4 ttl fS 2 L i. f7 is satisfactory for him.

12.axb5 cxb5

19.ttJf4 ttJf8 20..!g4

There is something to be said for the more solid 1 2 . . . axb 5 1 3 .Ei:xa8 i.xa8 1 4 . dxe6 W'xd 1 ( 1 4 . . . fxe6 1 5 . W' c l �) 1 5 .exf7t <±> xf7 1 6.Ei:xd 1 although I prefer White here too.

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20....!c8

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Another possibility is 20 . . . Ei:e7 2 1 .Ei:ad l t <Jl eS 22. i.h5t Ei: f7 23 .Ei:d3 followed by W' d l , finishing the game in short order.

13.b3!

21.gadlt

Tiger Hillarp Persson

1 40

Black's position is a mess and the rest is simple.

Tiger Hillarp Persson - Carlos Garcia Palermo Zaragoza 1 9 9 5

2I..Jl:d7

2 l . . . W e8 22. � h5t W e7 23. ltJfd 5 t +-

I.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.tlJ£3 a6 4.e4 b5 5.a4 �b7 6.tt:l c3

22.tlJxe6t tlJ xe6 23.he6

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23...�xf2t!

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Black continues fighting, but his efforts are in vain.

24.�h1 24.Ei:xf2? �xe6! was Black's idea, but now he has nothing.

24.. Jhd1 25Jhd1 t �d4 26.1l*Td5t �e7 27.�xa8 �xe6 28.tlJd5t i.xd5 29.Wfxd5 i.c5 30.Wfd7t �f8 3l.�cl 1-0

7.�e2 e6 8.0-0 ttJ f6 9.i.g5 Although we have not yet transposed directly to the previous game against Jonny, I certainly felt comfortable swimming in the same familiar waters.

9...h6?! Again the same mistake!

"What a simple win," you might say. Yes, and there is nothing wrong with those! Besides, this was not a memorized theoretical line; I won the game because I understood the requirements of the position and played strong moves. Just a few months later I reached the identical position against another grandmaster through a different move order.

1o..L:£6 gxf6

Mter a completely different sequence from move 2 onwards, we have now reached the exact same position as in the previous game. You've already seen the rest, more or less.

ll.d5

Chapter 6

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The Ulysses Effect

141

1 5 . . . fxe5 1 6. 'Ll xe5t <;t> g7 1 7. 'Ll e4 i s horrible for Black.

16.'Lle4 fxe5 17.'Lld6t

1 7. 'Ll h4! �h8 1 8 .�d6 was even better, but my solution is simple and good enough. The remaining moves require no comment.

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1I. ..ih4?!

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Not a good move, although at least it had the merit of diverging from the previous game and thus forcing me to think for myself. Fortunately the right continuation is not hard to find.

12.dxe6 'IWxdl

It was better to try 1 2 . . . fxe6 1 3 . 'Ll d4 <;t> e7 although 1 4 . ilg4 is far from pleasant for Black.

13.exf7t @xf7 14.Eifxdl h5

17...ixd6 18.Eixd6 ilc8 19.�g5t @e7 20.Eih6 Elg8 21.Eih7t @f6 22.�e4t @g6 23.Eixh5 ile6 24.Eixe5 id5 25.Eia3 ixe4 26.Eixe4 �d7 I� Black resigned without waiting for 27.�e6t or 27.�f3 . Both these games were played before I decided to try my luck as a professional chess player. I had beaten grandmasters before, but it had generally been due to their mistakes in positions that were slightly better for them. The above two games were the first ones in which I climbed into the driver's seat early in the game and stayed there until the end. It impacted me in two significant ways. Firstly my self confidence improved, and secondly I had found the "gate of access to the incorruptible eon" by applying myself to the deep study of one opening line!

Specializing in Specialization

15.e5! Just because the queens are off, it does not mean White's attack has come to an end.

15 Eie8 ..•

It is possible to draw a clear dividing line between two schools of thought when it comes to chess training. One advocates that you should start by studying simple positions, mainly endgames, before working up to more complicated material. The second school starts at the beginning of the game and works forwards from there. I myself belong to a group of players who had to teach themselves, and I believe the most important thing is to start at the area that interests you the most, whether it be endgames or openings. It should also not be forgotten that it is possible to study endgames

1 42

Tiger Hillarp Persson

through openings and vice versa! The most important thing is to study in depth. I believe that studying a topic intensely for one hour is generally worth around four hours of studying half-heartedly. It is better to be excellent in one area than decent in two, and developing your skills in this way will make you much more dangerous to professional players.

blunders.) When dealing with this subject, there is one particular game that comes to my mind. In the second round of a tournament in Aarhus, Denmark, in 1 997, I was paired against a significantly lower rated opponent (22 5 5 to my 2475) with the black pieces. I thought it would be a piece of cake . . .

Looking back on my own development, It IS obvious that the time when I began to specialize, by studying certain niche areas of the game in great detail, was also the moment when I began to ascend towards the level of a truly strong player who would go on to become a Grandmaster. Up to this point I was a decent player who knew a certain amount of theory, but there was no single aspect of the game that I had studied deeply enough to understand it better than the average professional. The key was not so much that I won the two aforementioned games in convincing style, but rather that I had learnt how to study openings, along with their associated middlegame structures, so that I would be prepared for practically any eventuality. Having come to appreciate the "Ulysses principle", I continued to identifY particular opening lines that I thoroughly enjoyed playing, and resolved to become the "best in the world" at them. The quoted part was obviously not very realistic, but the important point is that I adopted the mindset whereby I would push back boundaries and go far beyond anything I had done before. The process proved immensely beneficial and to this day I still endeavour to keep the same attitude when studying something.

Aarhus 1 997

Since becoming a grandmaster myself, I have come to appreciate the danger in facing an amateur who possesses some kind of specialty. I have almost never been outplayed by an amateur other than one playing on "his" specialist territory. (I am discounting games that I lost due to my own bad play or

B o Jacobsen - Tiger Hillarp Persson

l.g3 g6 2.i.g2 i.g7 3.e4 d6 4.ltJ c3 cS S.d3 ltJ c6 6.f4 e6 7.tiJh3!? Objectively this is not a great move, but it is decent enough that Nakamura used it as recently as 20 1 0. With regard to my opponent's experience with this system, it is enough to point out that one of the earliest examples of the present position occurred in the game B. Jacobsen - 0 . Jakobsen, Hjorring 1 97 1 !

7... ttJge7 8.i.e3 0-0 9.0-0 b6 I O.g4

1 0 . m h 1 is a better move which prepares to withdraw the bishop to g 1 , avoiding a potential fork with . . . d5-d4. A recent high­ level game continued 1 0 . . . %1f d7 ( l O . . . d5! intending ... dxe4 looks fine for Black) 1 l . il.g 1 il.b7 1 2. %1f d2 Ei:ae8 1 3 .Ei:ae 1 f5 1 4 . ltJ g5 4:l d4 and now after 1 5 . 4:l f3 it was obvious that Black was doing fine in Nakamura - Sasikiran, Bursa 20 1 0.

Chapter 6

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Th e Ulysses Effect

1 43

10...f5

15.i.g3 <j;lh7?!

This is the typical answer to White's last move, but in this particular position Black could have seized the initiative in the centre with 1 0 . . . d5! threatening to win a piece. Play might continue l l .exd5 exd5 1 2 . � d2, and now Black can play the thematic 1 2 . . . f5 ! under more favourable circumstances.

If Black wanted to make a prophylactic move on the kingside, then 1 5 . . . �g7 would have avoided the reply mentioned in the next note.

ll.gxf5 exf5 12.'Wd2 h6 I was happy to stop the knight from coming back to f3 via g5 , but it was unnecessary and therefore weaker than the natural 12 .. .'1i'� d7! 1 3 .E:ae l � b7 1 4. lt'l g5 h6 1 5 . ttJ f3 E:ae8 when Black has a fine position.

13.E:ael Ei:b8 This move is clearly overcautious, but I was still operating under the assumption that I would win almost automatically by making simple and safe moves. Although the text move does not lead to anything catastrophic, there was no reason to refrain from 1 3 . . . � b7 now that the white knight does not have the g5square available.

14.i.fl i.f6?! I did not like the look of 1 4 . . . 'W d7 1 5 . �h4 � b7 1 6.E:f3 E:be8 1 7.Ei:g3 when White's kingside build-up seemed threatening. Still, after 17 . . . c;t> h7 l S . c;t> h l lt'l d4 Black's chances should be slightly higher.

16.<j;lhl Possibly stronger was 1 6 .e5!? dxe5 ( 1 6 . . . � g7 1 7. �h4 'W d7 1 8 .e6 'W e8 1 9 . ttJ b5 is awkward for Black) 1 7.fxe5 � g7 1 8 .e6 'W d4t 1 9 . c;t> h l E:b7 20.E:f4 'W f6 2 1 .Ei:h4 with an unbalanced position where Black has the better structure, but White has a host of tactical ideas waiting to be unleashed in the event that his opponent fails to defend optimally.

16...b5 17.e5 i.g7 18.i.h4 'We? 19.'We3 E:e8?!

It was better to play 1 9 . . . E:b7, but I did not want to allow White to capture on c5 with tempo after 20.a4 bxa4 2 1 . lt'l xa4 dxe5 22. ttJ xc5 . Again it was a misj udgement, since 22 . . . E:xb2 is more than okay for Black.

20.i.f6 Black may still be better here - at least if you believe the computer programs - but I had already consumed the majority of my allotted time and had a bad feeling about the direction the game was taking.

20 ...i.d7 8

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1 44

Tiger Hillarp Persson

21.lLlg5t!?! What a shocker! Just who did this guy think he was? I would never have missed such a move if I had the attack myself, but my opponent was rated more than 200 points below me and should by all standards not come up with this kind of move! At least that is what I told myself. . .

2 1...hxg5

The sacrifice must be accepted, as 2 l . . . � g8? is refuted by 22.C2J d5.

27...gxf5 There was no choice, as both 27 . . .';j;> xf5 ? ? 2 8 .Ei:fl t and 2 7 . . . CtJ xf5 ? ? 2 8 . \Wxg6t lead to immediate mate.

28.�h6t �f7 29.lLld5! It was only at this point that I came to the realization that I was not the one trying to win this game.

29 ..�d8 30.�h7t .

22.�h3t �g8 23.fxg5 Now the best Black can hope for is a draw, as the game continuation soon makes clear.

23...dxe5!?

After 23 . . . ii.e6 24.l2J e4! dxe5 2 5 . ii.xg7 � xg7 26. \Wh6t � f7 27. '1W h7t � fS 28. \Wh6t it is a draw. The text move is a risky winning attempt. Objectively the game should still end in a draw, but I had underestimated the dangers lying in store for Black.

24.J.xg7 �xg7 25.�h6t �f7 26.�h7t �e6 At this point I thought I was winning.

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30 ...f8??

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I have no idea what I thought I might achieve with this move; most probably I was still set on giving my opponent a chance to blow everything by playing 3 1 \W hSt?? when 3 l . . . CtJ g8 wins for Black. The only viable option was to accept the move repetition with 30 . . . � e6. White can try playing on with 3 l . CtJ xe7!? (instead 3 1 . \Wh6t could lead to an immediate draw) 3 1 . . . CtJ xe7! 32. \Wh6t � f7 33.Eixe5 ! ? (33 . '1W h7t=) but after 33 . . . Ei:b6 34. \Wh7t � fS White has no choice but to take a draw with 3 5 . ii. d5! CtJ xd5 36. \W hSt with a perpetual.

3I.lLlf6! I may be a rook and knight up, but the threat of g6 will cost me everything.

Chapter 6 - The Ulysses Effect

3I...ie6 32.'1Wh6t @f7 33.'1Wh7t i>f8 34.if3 ig8

145

l.c4 f5 2.g3 tLlf6 3.ig2 g6 4.tLl c3 ig7 5.lLl f3 0-0 6.0-0 lLl c6 s

.i. B.t.. S ��- � %- , � �----%� �� ______

76 �•••/

_

Y-m r %

-

,_, ,

ill � � �?:'/ � �� �� -� 3 -�-d"------� ��: -'l' -etJW� �� -� - ---%� -� w� 8 w��wt!J - ---% - - - -% 2 8 w� 1 f- ·�·�= ������ ������

� ���� !� ���� ���. !'%\\

a

I hardly knew what had hit me! After the game I was puzzled and asked my Danish friends "Who is this guy?" They kindly told me a bit about Mr Jacobsen and his accomplishments, including the following game which - had I become aware of it before encountering Bo over the board - would surely have made me more wary of him.

Anatoly Karpov - Bo Jacobsen Tallinn 1 968

This game was contested in a USSR vs. Scandinavia junior match. The young Karpov was still a couple of years away from becoming a fully fledged professional player, but he was a super-talented youngster who had already captured the title of European Junior Champion and cemented his reputation as a rising star of Soviet, and indeed world chess.

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So, what does this game have to do with the previous one? Well, once again we can see Jacobsen combining a kingside fianchetto with an early advance of his f-pawn. Given time, he would almost certainly continue with . . . d6 and . . . e5, reaching exactly the same setup from the opposite side of the board; albeit with the knight on the more classical f6-square instead of on the h-file. A glance at the date in the game header shows that almost three decades passed between this game and my own encounter with Bo. Such vast experience in playing positions of this type - from both sides of the board! - must have enabled him to develop a great deal of subtle understanding of how to handle them.

7.d4 d6 8.d5 tLle5 9.ClJxe5 dxe5 IO.e4 This opening variation was not unknown at the time of this game, but any existing body of theory was well and truly in its infancy. Nowadays it is more common to continue with 1 0.c5 or 1 0 .'W b3 here. The move chosen by Karpov is not bad, but it gives Black the kind of position he desires, with chances to launch a pawn storm against the white king.

IO...f4 ll.b3

Tiger Hillarp Persson

1 46

This is too slow to set Black any real problems, and l l .f3 would have been more challenging. Another idea is l l .gxf4!? although here l l . . . ctJ h5! gives Black interesting compensation.

bxc6 20. j,xe7 E\f7 when Black obtains promising compensation for the pawn. White's pawn structure on the queenside is less than impressive, and the knight on c3 is still several moves away from its optimal home on d3 .

ll...g5 12.f3 15...id7

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12..."11Nd6!

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Opening preparation from 1 968 was nothing like it is today, and I would guess that Bo found this move over the board. It might seem counterintuitive to place the queen in a potentially exposed position, but the tactics are on Black's side as the checks on the a7-gl diagonal could turn out to be quite nasty.

16.a4 Another sensible idea was to block the diagonal with the queen by means of 1 6. W e2 a6 1 7. W f2. Black should respond with Jacobsen's suggestion of 1 7 . . . c5 ! ? intending . . . e6 later, with a good position.

16 "11Nb 6t •..

13.g4 Here is a nice line showing how effective Black's crude attack might become: 1 3 .a4 W b6t 1 4 . � h l ( 1 4.Eif2? C2l g4! 1 5 .fxg4 fxg3 1 6.hxg3 Wxf2t 1 7. � h2 W d4+) 1 4 . . . ctJ h5 1 5 .g4? ( 1 5 . ctJ e2 g4! looks pretty unclear) 1 5 . . . ctJ g3t 1 6.hxg3 W h6t 1 7. � g l fxg3 1 8 .Eiel W h2t 1 9 . � fl j,xg4 20.Eia2 Elf7 and Black wins, as Bo pointed out in the Danish magazine Skakbladet.

1 6 . . . c5 is another reasonable move, although in this case White is under no immediate pressure and can aim to regroup with 1 7. j, b2 followed by a knight manoeuvre to d3 .

17.�h2?!

13...h5 14.h3 h:xg4 15.fxg4

1 7.Eif2 would have been safer, although following 1 7 . . . a5 1 8 . j, a3 c5 1 9 .dxc6 bxc6 20. j,xe7 E\f7 the situation is similar to that reached after 1 5 .hxg4 as noted previously, except for the fact that the e4-pawn has the potential to become weak in the future.

Bo also pointed out the line 1 5 .hxg4 j, d7 1 6.a4 W b6t 1 7.Eif2 a5 1 8 . j, a3 c5 1 9 .dxc6

17...�f7

Chapter 6 - Th e Ulysses Effect

1 47

2I.i.a3 After 2 l . ttJ a4 .txa4 22.�xa4 �ah8 White is in big trouble since 23.�h l loses to 23 . . . �xh3! 24.2:'lxh3 �xh3 2 5 . 'kt> xh3 W f2-+ .

21...'We3 22.Wfel

a) 1 8 . . . '\W c5 1 9 . tt'l a4 Wxa5 20 . .t d2 'W a6 2 l . ctJ c5 leads to unclear play according to Jacobsen. At the very least White has generated some activity and distracted his opponent from the kingside, which is a big improvement over the game. b) Although a queen exchange would not have been to Bo's liking, 1 8 . . . '\W d4! would have been the strongest reply: 1 9 . '\Wxd4 exd4 20. ttJ d l e5 2 l . ttJ f2 c 6 22. ttJ d3 �fe8 Black's chances are objectively slightly higher, although the position has stabilized and Karpov's legendary positional technique might have come into play.

18...�h8 19.'it>g2 Now it is too late to play 1 9 .a5 Wd4 because White will not be able to protect both the knight and the pawn on g4.

19...gh4 20.a5 Wfc5 20 . . . '\W d4? is less promising due to 2 1 . '1Wxd4 exd4 22. ttJ d l ! (Jacobsen) when the knight comes to f2 and White keeps his house in order.

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This sacrifice creates serious problems for the defence, but there was an even stronger continuation available. After the calm 22 . . . '\W d3 ! White's position is beyond redemption, for instance: 23.�d l (23 .Elf2 tt'l xg4! 24.hxg4 Elah8 25 .Eldl �xg4t 26 . .txg4 'W g3t 27. \t> fl Elh l t 2 8 . 'kt> e2 'W e3#; 23. 'Ll e2 tt'l xe4 24. '\W d l tt'l d2! 2 5 . Ela2 .txg4! 26 . .txg4 Elxg4t 27.hxg4 '\W e4t 2 8 . 'kt> g l tt'l xfl 29. '\Wxfl 'W e3t 30. '\W f2 'Wxb3-+) 23 . . . '\W c2t 24. 'Ll e2 �ah8 25.�hl .txg4! It is all over.

23.hxg4 ltlxg4 24.ghl The best defence since 24. '\Wxe3 ttJ xe3t 2 5 . 'kt> f2 �h2t 26. 'kt> g l l"lh3! (Jacobsen) wins easily. The continuation might be 27.�f2 g4 28 . .tg2 tt'l xg2 29.�xg2 Elxc3 when White can almost resign.

24... gxhl 24 . . . �ah8 !? is also excellent.

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Tiger Hillarp Persson

25.'Wxe3 ctJxe3t 26.�xhl g4

33.�xe3!?

After 33. <;t> g l Black wins with the help of some energetic play: 33 . . . �h8! 34. tt:l xa7 �h3! 3 5 . tLl c6 � h2t 36. <;t> f2 �g3t 37. <;t> xe3 �xe l t 3 8 . <;t> e2

27...f3 28.i.c5 i.h6 29.�el

29. <;t> g l also fails to save the game: 29 . . . �h8! 30. � f2 �f4! 3 l . �xf3 (3 l . �xe3 �h2t 32. <;t> g l �g2t 33. � h l �xe3 34.�fl �g3 3 5 . �xf3 gxf3 36. � h2 � f4 reaches the same position) 3 1 . . .�h2t 32. <;t> g l gxf3 33. �xe3 �g2t 34. <;t> h l �xe3 3 5 .�fl �g3 36. <;t> h2 � f4 and Black wins.

29... b6 30.i.xf3

The line 30. �xe3 �xe3 3 l . �xf3 �h8t 32. � g2 gxf3t 33. � xf3 'almost' equalizes, ignoring the fact that it loses a piece after 33 . . . �d2.

30...bxc5 31.i.dl �g6

Even stronger was 3 l . . .�h8! 32. <;t> g l (32. tLl b5 �f4t 33. <;t> g l �h3-+) 32 . . . � f4 when the exchange sacrifice offers less resistance compared with the game: 33.�xe3 (33 . tLl b 5 ? �h3 34. tt:l xc7 � h2t 3 5 . <;t> f2 �g3t 36. <;t> xe3 �xe l t 37. <;t> e2 �xa5-+) 33 . . . �xe3t 34. <;t> g2 � d2 Black should win comfortably.

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38 . . . g3! 39. <;t> fl (39 . tt:l xe5 t <;t> g7 4o. <;t> fl �h l t 4 I . <;t> g2 �h2t 42. <;t> fl �xa5-+) 39 . . . �h l t 40. <;t> g2 �h2t 4 I . <;t> fl �xa5 ! The loss of the bishop is a small price to pay to eliminate the a-pawn. 42. tLl xa5 <;t> g5 ! 43. <;t> g l �d2 44. � f3 � f4 4 5 . �h5 �h2-+ The bishop runs out of squares and Black wins.

33...i.xe3 34.ctJxc7 �h8t 35.�g2 �h4? This was Bo's first serious mistake of the game, and it could have cost him the win. The

Chapter 6 - The Ulysses Effect right way was 3 5 . . . \tl g5 36. � e6t \tl h4 37. � g7 ii.d2 when Black should win without too much trouble, as pointed out by the winner.

1 49

Another possible finish would have been 40. � b5 El:h6! 4 l .d6 exd6 42. � xa7 d5 43.exd5 E':xa6 44. � c6 E':al t 4 5 . i fl e4 and Black wins.

40... �h6 4I.@e2?! White could have resisted slightly more stubbornly with 4 l . � e6 or 4 l . ii.f3, although in both cases Black should reply with 4 1 . . . ie3 when he wins without too much trouble. White has to worry about the g-pawn as well as possible rook invasions on b6, f2 and h2, and it is all too much for the defence.

36.a6?

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Both players missed 36. ii.xg4! E':xg4t 37. \tl f3 El:h4 3 8 . \tl xe3 E':h3t 39. \tl d2 E':xb3 40. � e6 when White has excellent drawing chances.

36 ...�f4 Now Black is back on track and does not let go.

37.@gl g3 38.�f3 �h2 39.�g2 @f7! Preparing a decisive transfer of the rook along the sixth rank.

4I...�b6 0-1 In the second game of this mini-match Bo played l .f4 and obtained a reversed Leningrad Dutch with an extra tempo. He soon built up a huge attack and had Karpov in all kinds of trouble, but he failed to make the most of it and eventually took a draw while he was still better in the endgame. Had I been aware of all this I would surely have taken my opponent more seriously, but truthfully I should have done that anyway. Sometimes there is no telling when you might find yourself in your opponent's specialist territory, so you should always remain on guard.

Final Thoughts So, is the formula for beating a grandmaster a simple matter of learning a certain niche area exceptionally well? Unfortunately this is hardly a guaranteed recipe for success, but it is certainly a good start, as one of the biggest roads to improving in chess is to pay attention to the fine details. If one is serious about improving, one must sooner or later be prepared to evolve and move forwards. Often this will mean giving up your old favourite

1 50

Tiger Hillarp Persson

opening vananons or posltlon types and learning new ones. I believe that one of the keys to becoming a truly successful player is to go through this process constantly, so that you are always learning new ideas and patterns, and thus continuing to grow and develop as a player.

Mihail Marin

' ' It s an Amateur s World

1 52

Mihail Marin

After graduating from the Polytechnic Institute back in 1 989, I finally found myself in a position I had dreamed about for a long time: that of being able to dedicate most of my available time to studying and playing chess. My results over the final years of studentship strongly suggested the possibility of embracing the chess professional life, but, quite paradoxically, my next important 'move' took me entirely in the opposite direction. Indeed, how else could one describe my decision to spend the next season of the Romanian Team Championship playing for a modest second division team, comprised of amateurs, despite having been offered attractive contracts by the strongest first division teams? It is hard to remember my exact train of thought from more than twenty years ago, but I must have had my own rather subj ective reasons of taking such an important decision. The 1 9 87 team championship had caused me a deep feeling of frustration. Despite being the only Romanian player to have qualified for the Interzonal, I was confined to play on the fifth board. According to the Romanian Federation rules, the teams had to field their players in the strict order of their international title. By the time the championship took place, I was still a FIDE Master, waiting for the next FIDE congress in order to be awarded with the International Master title. True, in 1 9 8 8 I was promoted to the second board, but I was probably too immature to put the aforementioned unpleasant situation behind me. My decision to step back to an inferior level two years later was meant as some sort of moral compensation for my seriously inj ured ego. Finally, I would be the unchallenged top board of my team and cause great fear among my opponents! As expected, I scored an "astronomical" result (all my opponents were

mere amateurs) , but the draw conceded in the game below was the main reason for my team's failure to qualify for the first division.

Tacu - Marin ' Romania 1 989 Victor Tacu is the most colourful Romanian chess amateur I have ever met, and one that perfectly suits the inner meaning of the term. Despite being a successful medical doctor, his true lifetime passion has always been chess. Obviously the time he could dedicate to chess was quite limited, but he nevertheless aimed to maintain a professional attitude towards his beloved hobby. There is a small paradox involved here. Sometimes, only an amateur can really break free of any inhibitions and play a move just because he believes in it, or he likes it, even though the ultimate consequences cannot be predicted and the risks involved are quite big. Dr Tacu always tried to keep up with the newest theoretical developments and he was always among the first Romanian players to get the latest NIC Yearbook or Chess Informant. About thirty years ago, when I was a teenage Candidate Master, he allowed me to step into what he considered his chess sanctuary. I remember the image of a room in which there was hardly any breathing space left. All the walls were covered by shelves overloaded with chess books, and the majority of the floor also was employed for the same storage purpose! In fact, new (or very old) books as well as new opening ideas are among Dr Tacu's favourite subjects of conversation. Even nowadays, at the age of 72, he orders a bunch of Quality Chess books every few months and calls me regularly asking for advice regarding one new title or another. The balance between our general chess culture and knowledge has not always been like that, though. In the early

Chapter 7

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1 53

It's an Amateur's World

eighties we once met in the centre of Bucharest by pure chance and he told me in a low voice, as if to keep the secret from the people passing by us, "They've got Bronstein's Zurich ' 5 3 in Russian at the Cre�ulescu library - go there quickly and buy one for yourselfl Tomorrow it may be sold out!" I am ashamed to confess that I had no idea what he was speaking about, but got the book anyway. It took me several years to understand the value of this book, my excuse being that at that time I had not learned Russian yet! Despite the friendship we had developed since we first met, I sat down for the next game with j ust one result on my mind: a crushing win.

half a century; from its recent heroes I would mention the ever stubborn (in a good sense) Mihai �uba. White's approach is quite ambitious. He aims to restrict Black's minor pieces and get a stable space advantage. Ever since I began searching for an antidote, I had the feeling that White's decision to make so many pawn moves with his king still in the centre should enable Black to obtain promising counterplay.

l.d4 etJf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 d6 4.etJc3 g6 5.e4 .ig7 This variety of Benoni, characterized by a delayed . . . e6, was regularly employed by Karel Hromadka and rightly bears his name. During the 1 980s it became something of a Romanian specialty as it was used regularly by grandmasters Gheorghiu and Ghi�escu. The latter offered to be my trainer when I was a Candidate Master, and thanks to his help I was able to qualifY for the Interzonal seven years later. As a devoted amateur, faithful to the national values, my opponent also played the Hromadka System on a regular basis. As we will see, this was far from the only Romanian specialty in his repertoire.

6.h3 0-0 7 .tg5 e6 s ..td3 exd5 9.exd5 etJbd7 IO.f4 a6 ll.a4 •

The systems of development based on h2-h3 against the King's Indian (to which we have transposed after exd5) is usually attributed to Makogonov by theoreticians. In Romania however, many consider the combination of h3 with .tg5 as a national variation, and not without reason. Top Romanian players have employed it regularly over more than

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Black has to escape the pin immediately if he is to cause problems to his opponent. IfWhite is given time to complete his development with tt:l ge2 and 0-0, he should be able to consolidate his space advantage.

12.etJge2 etJh5! By threatening . . .f6 followed by . . . tt:'l xf4, Black keeps his momentum and questions the position of the g5 -bishop.

13.tLle4 This was played almost instantly. My opponent seemed to know what he was doing; indeed I also had come to the conclusion that the text move is the critical test to the whole line. White has several other possibilities to parry the threat, but none of them is entirely satisfactory.

Mihail Marin

1 54

1 3 . cj;J d2 is quite weird, as the king will need a lot of time to reach a safe square. 13 . . . f6 1 4 . �h4 �h6!

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Immediately exerting some pressure against His Majesty. 1 5 .Ei:fl f5 1 6.g3 tt:l df6 Black is close to completing his development while White's forces lack coordination, Parto� Korchnoi, Bucharest 1 966. In a relatively strong student tournament, had faced 1 3 . cj{ f2. In this case the opposition of the f8-rook with the white king gives Black the opportunity to commence active kingside operations: 1 3 . . . f6 1 4 . �h4 g5 1 5 . � g3 f5 Black was developing a nice initiative in Vasilescu Marin, Bucharest 1 986.

14 . . . tt:l e5! This move had been mentioned by Parto� in his annotations to the game mentioned in the note to Black's 1 7th move below. Almost twenty years later, Mihai �uba allowed this trick in a rapid game against Judit Polgar (at Debrecen 1 992 if i remember correctly) . Despite being a specialist of the Romanian system, he apparently did not know the analysis of his former countryman. This unpleasant experience induced him to switch to the 1 0 . tt:l f3 Ei:e8t l l . cj;l fl line. Parto�'s analysis continues: 1 5 .fxe5 'Wxg5 1 6.exd6 f5 !+ Black has excellent play on the dark squares. As we see, Romanian players of different generations have been trying to make the line work and Dr Tacu must have been aware of most of the analysis given above. The move played in the game is largely a product of the process of elimination. Since the alternatives all offer Black good play, the knight move is the only serious option remaining. But even this is not enough to guarantee a smooth ride for White. The delay in development and the weaknesses left behind by the kingside pawns make this whole line rather suspicious for him and, as Dr Tarrasch was kind enough to point out, "In bad positions all moves are bad!" Concretely, White threatens the deadly tt:l xd6, forcing Black to adopt radical measures.

13...£6 14.�h4 ctlxf4! A thematic move, underlining the fact that White has neglected to castle.

15.ctlxf4 f5 16.ctle6 An important element in White's plan. The e6-square is used to obstruct the e-file, at least temporarily.

16...fxe4 17.ctlxf8

Chapter 7 - It's an Amateur's World All these moves were played rather quickly, and it was here that I finally delivered my novelty.

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rather quickly. I was thus surprised to notice that the good Doc maintained his initial excitement. His body language seemed to suggest that he considered his position as quite promising, which I must confess I found rather irritating. Only now I understand that this interpretation could have been correct if my opponent had been a professional player. As an amateur, Dr Tacu enjoyed the thrill of competing in a complicated game against a much stronger player with every beat of his heart, possibly without thinking too much about the objective evaluation of the position.

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Correctly evaluating the dynamic factors of the position. White will either remain with his king in the centre or give up another pawn or two. The less enterprising 1 7 . . .Ct:J xf8?! also offered Black some compensation for the exchange, although he eventually lost in Parto� - Ostojic, Bucharest 1 973.

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I9.1.Wg4?! 18.CDe6 The knight returns to block the e-file. In fact, the whole assessment of the position depends largely on the knight's stability. Unfortunately I was unable to find my old notes and cannot remember my original analysis, but I recall that rather soon I was on unknown territory.

18... CtJ b6! An important move. Several white pawns are hanging now, and there is a threat to shake White's position with . . . ii,xe6. By this moment, I fully expected that my opponent would understand the seriousness of his situation and go down psychologically

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Just as with 1 3 . CtJ e4, this is the most principled move, aiming to maintain the outpost on e6. And just as on that occasion, it tends to increase White's problems, since his previous play has been a bit too adventurous. In my comments for Chess Informant, I suggested 1 9 .0-0 as a safer way out of the complications. After 1 9 . . . ii,xe6 20.:t::l e 1 ii,e5 2 l .dxe6 Vfixe6, White should avoid 22. Vfixd3 CtJ xc4, with two pawns for the exchange and excellent piece coordination for Black. Instead, the critical move is 22.b3 !?, aiming to restrict the enemy knight. I had ended my comments with this last move, without giving any clear evaluation.

Mihail Marin

1 56

20.Ei:fl The only reasonable move, but it is quite symptomatic of White's poor coordination that he does not threaten Ei:f8t yet, as the knight is pinned along the c8-g4 diagonal.

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For the sake of the truth, it should be mentioned that Black retains a strong initiative with: 22 . . . � f5 ! 23.Eia2 � f4 The threat of . . . � h2t forces White to block the bishop's retreat, leaving it in a delicate situation. 24.g3 � d4t Black has completed his centralization and has several promising plans at his disposal. He can sacrifice his knight on c4, obtaining a threatening pawn majority, or open the centre with the more cautious . . . d5 . The h4-bishop can be molested with . . . h6, and . . . Ei:f8 at any moment would increase the pressure against White's position.

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Preventing White from castling. It is interesting to note that both kings are under some pressure and the final result will largely depend on who will be able to deliver concrete threats first.

In my comments I had mentioned 20.Ei:cl ?! as a possible alternative. Just as 22.b3 from the earlier variation, this is aimed at preventing the knight's activation via c4, but after 20 . . . � xa4 the threat of . . . � b4t immediately puts White in a critical position.

20 .. .CLlxc4 2 1.�e4 Finally the threat of Ei:f8t has become real and Black has to eliminate the enemy knight.

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The net surrounding the white king is tighter than that of his counterpart, but White only needs one move (e6-e7) to create the decisive threats ofl:l:f8t and � e6t.

22 .. ."\Wc6?! Possibly intimidated by the great enthusiasm my opponent continued to exude, I started to panic. The plan of transferring the queen to a5 or b4 is rather slow, and Black should have opted for a more forcing continuation. The simplest is 22 . . . d5!. White needs to

Chapter 7 - It's an Amateur's World keep the e6-pawn defended in order to avoid immediate disaster, but after 23. 1Mfxd5 (or 23 . '1W g4) 23 . . . ctJ e3 Black retrieves the exchange, reducing White's attacking possibilities and retaining a winning position. 22 ... ctJ e3! threatening ... d5 or ... tt:l xfl is just as good.

23.'1Wf4! Exchanging queens would annihilate White's counterattacking chances, leaving him helpless against the compact mass of enemy pawns. The last move threatens a check on f7, forcing a perpetual check at least.

1 57

a promising position, despite being the clear favourite. Quite a pity, because the way I see it now, the game is rather interesting. I had the sense that things were different with my old friend though. During our occasional meetings in the decades that followed after the game, he constantly reopened the subject, mentioning some new idea that he got. In my years as a "true professional chess player", I did not find it useful to overload my memory with details about an old game from the second league. More recently I changed my opinion, and now consider a regular return to the games from one's youth to be an excellent method of self-improvement. Pushed by curiosity, I called Dr Tacu just a few weeks before writing this text and, without too much of an introduction, I asked him what he remembered about our game. He immediately pointed out that he should have castled on move 1 9, and that in the final position he got prematurely scared when accepting the draw. The second assertion is only partly justified (see the note at the end of the game) , but it became obvious that for him this had been a memorable game; one that he thought about once in a while, and probably even replayed on the board for the nth time again and again. One happy aspect of being an amateur is that one can remain focused on the artistic side of the game, by not being in a permanent rush to win prizes and rating points.

The right move was 23 . . . \W c?!, covering the f7-square while threatening . . . \W aSt as well as .. J!:e8. White has nothing better than 24. 1W f7t 1Mf xf7 2 5 . exf7t 'it> f8+ when Black's king is safe and his powerful pawn mass should decide the game.

Now is too late for 24 . . . \W c7? as there is no check on a5, so 2 5 . e7 is just winning for White.

I must admit that my memories about this game ended abruptly somewhere around the 1 5th move. Psychologically, I had little incentive to remember the way I had misplayed

This simple move keeps trouble away from the white king. The rook is taboo because of mate in two, and so Black has to retreat his queen.

24.'k!;>e2 Wfxg2t

25.E:f2

1 58

Mihail Marin

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This move was accompanied by a draw offer, which was accepted. 1!2-lf2

Given the exposed position of both kings, a perpetual check is inevitable. The Doc was right in thinking that after 26. 1W f7t <;t> hs 27 . .i f6t .ixf6 2 8 . 1Wxf6t <;t> gs 29. 1W f7t <;t> hs he is not forced to keep checking, but if he tries an active move such as 30.e7, Black forces a draw himself by means of 30 . . . d 1 = 1W t 3 1 .Elxd 1 1We4t 32. <;t> f1 1W h 1 t and so on. believe that the key moments for understanding what actually happened in this game, as well as the strengths and limitations of the typical amateur prototype, are the moves 1 3 . lt:J e4 and 1 9 . '1W g4. We can expect a chess book lover like Dr Tacu to have an excellent chess culture. This led him to know - or rather feel - that if everything had been okay with his general strategy, these ambitious moves were the only ones to allow him to fight for an advantage. Also, he had faith (perhaps too much of it) in the opening system because it had been employed by several strong Romanian players from different generations. The only problem was that, having only limited time available for study, he was unable

to test this system of logical thinking with concrete and thorough analysis (as I had done) . Objectively speaking, this should have led him to a defeat, but in every negative thing there is a positive part too. Being convinced about the correctness of his play, Dr Tacu kept displaying overwhelming optimism, which eventually inhibited me and caused me to miss a relatively simple win. We will dig a bit deeper into this theme by examining two extreme cases, taken from the practice of my old friend. In the first of them, unj ustified optimism was severely punished, but in the second a much stronger opponent succumbed spectacularly.

Voiculescu - T, acu Bucharest 1 9 82

The 1 982 Troianescu Memorial in Bucharest remains ingrained in my memory as the first really strong open tournament in which I took part as a junior. I was only 17 at the time, but I achieved a respectable score of 6/ 1 0. It was also one of the first times my attention was drawn to the colourful figure of Dr Tacu. I was on my way to including the Hromadka Indian in my repertoire, which made me follow the following game with certain interest. In what looked like a normal position with better chances for White, the good doctor decided to sacrifice a pawn.

1 59

Chapter 7 - It's an Amateur's World

19...b5? Looking at the position, I quickly decided that I was too weak to understand such tactical finesses and returned to my own game. On the way, I heard Dr Tacu's boasting to some other player that he would "get compensation at once" . It must be said that such moves are thematic in the given structure, especially with the white queen placed on the vulnerable a4-square. Nevertheless Black failed to take into account some important factors. The b7-knight is rather passive, and the pawn break does not really improve the quality of Black's position. The sacrifice would have worked out well had the b7-knight been on, say, f6, but that is an entirely different story. The situation can be summarized in the same way as 1 9 . \Mr g4?! from the previous game (the reader may also have noticed the coincidence regarding the move number) . The principled moves only make matters worse if the position is not right for them. Instead of the over-optimistic sacrifice, Black should have accepted that his position was worse and tried to look for some relief with . . . l2J e5 , either with or without an exchange on e 1 .

By the way, 1 9 . . .l'he l t 20 .2"1xe l b5?! is not really an improved version, although there are some tactical nuances to consider. After 2 1 . cxb5 l2J b6 the spectacular 22. iMfxa6? would be justified after 22 . . . 2"1xa6? 23.2"1e8t SLf8 24. bxa6+- when the dual threats of ii.h6 and a7 are too much for the defence. However, Black can defend better with 22 . . . <jj f8 !, covering the e8-square and making the threat against the caged queen quite real. But it turns out that all of this is academic. Hit the rewind button again, and White can improve earlier with 22. \Mr h4!, threatening to develop a devastating attack with 2"1e7 followed by l2J g5 .

Instead after 2 1 .cxb5 l2J b6 22. \Mr c2 axb5 23. SLxb 5 2"1b8, the threat of . . . c4 followed by . . . l2J c5 gives Black some vague hopes for counterplay.

21...bxc4 22.Wxc4 lDb6 23.\MfbS :5b8 24.:5el Black's counterplay along the b-file has not even begun, while the e-file will serve White well in launching his final attack.

24...h6 25.:5e8t :5xe8 26.Wxe8t 'it>h7

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Mihail Marin

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A crushing, and rather thematic way to end the game. Black resigned, as he cannot avoid the loss of one of his badly placed knights.

1-0 This was a rather simple example, but the thing I find most striking is the discrepancy between Dr Tacu's evaluation of the sacrifice and the objective reality. Just as with the previous game, curiosity led me to ask the good Doc whether he remembered the game above. He hesitated a bit, then said that he would probably not be able to find the old scoresheet in less than a week. Five minutes later, he called back and read to me all the moves . . . Black's assessment and handling o f the position certainly looked like 'amateurish' in the last game, but in the next example a leading Woman Grandmaster (who has since obtained the full Grandmaster title) fell victim to this kind of intuitive play, based on certain general patterns.

Tacu - Dzagnidze Bucharest 2008

preventing White from launching a pawn attack. The unfortunate placement of the g7knight (similarly to that of the b7-knight from the previous game) is balanced by the passivity of the white bishop. On the other hand Black should not underestimate the power of an attack along the b-file. The safest way of neutralizing it would have been: 24 . . . 'tt> a8 2 5 . lL'l a5 :9:c7 Clearing the d7 -square for the knight. 26.:9:b2 lL'l d7 27 .:9:fb 1 :9:b8 The queenside is well defended and Black is ready to make progress on the opposite wing with . . . h4 and . . . lL'l h5. This all sounds logical enough when in analysis mode, but would you be so patient when facing a 70-year-old player rated somewhere below 2 1 50? Why not open the kingside at once and hope he will self-destruct within a few moves?

24.. exf3? 25.ctJa5! .

One of the principles known by every amateur is that in positions with castling on opposite wings, the speed of the attack is essential. Therefore we should not be in the least surprised that White did not bother to recapture on f3 for the rest of the game. 2 5 . gxf3 ? would allow Black get back on the right track with 25 . . . 'tt> a8, followed by the aforementioned regrouping.

25...ci>a8 25 . . . 'tt> c8 ?! would allow a similar combination to that which occurred in the game, but in a simpler form: 26. lL'l c6 bxc6 27. 'W a6t :9:b7 28.dxc6+After the text move, the next step for White is doubling rooks on the b-file, but which is the most effective way to do it?

Chapter 7

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It's an Amateur's World

Black could have saved herself with 26 . . . ttl e4! , when White's position suddenly becomes a bit loose. The threat of . . . ttl xc3 prevents the doubling of rooks and it turns out that White has nothing better than 27.l"i:a6, threatening l"i:xa7t and leading to a draw by perpetual: 27 . . . bxa6 2 8 . "Mf c6t l"i:b7 29.l':'i:b 1 l"i:hb8 30.l':'i:xb7 l"i:xb7 3 l . "Mf c8t l"i:b8 32. W c6t=

27.E1fbl Now there is no satisfactory defence of the b-pawn, since 27 . . . l"i:b8 loses too much material after 2 8 . ttl c6.

27 .1.We8 .•

Immediately after the game, the Doc explained that he was inspired to play this move because of its similarity with Fischer's famous 1 9 .l"i:f6!! from his game against Benko from 1 963. He also thought that the rook was best placed on b6, as it would create the latent threat of l':'i:a6, while also supporting a possible knight jump to c6. All this sounds wonderful, and when we add in the aesthetic appeal and likely psychological effect on the opponent, it is hard imagine the reason for the conflicting punctuation which accompanies the move. In fact it turns out that Black has a route to survival after the text move; see the following note for details. However, the more restrained 26.l"i:b3! would have left her without a satisfactory way of meeting the pile-up on the b-file. For instance: 26 . . . l':'i:c7 27.l"i:fb 1 "Mf e8 At this point capturing on e8 and b7 would give White some advantage, but it looks even more promising to maintain the attack with 28. W a3! , when Black is in serious trouble.

26..J3c7?

Hoping to get rid of the queens at the cost of the b-pawn. By this stage, a mere pawn would be a small price to pay to avoid being mated.

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The prosaic 28. 1Mfxe8t l"i:xe8 29 .l"i:xb7± is of course excellent for White, but the inspirational game continuation is just killing. Every amateur in the world probably dreams of playing such an attacking game, with several pieces en prise.

28 bxc6 29.dxc6 ••.

With the terrible threat of l':'i:b7.

Mihail Marin

1 62

was much sounder than in the previous two games. Even though 26.:9:b6 was technically inaccurate, it would only have cost him half a point in the worst-case scenario.

More Amateur Adventures

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Overlooking the elegant finish. 29 . . . fxg2 30.:9:b7 '1Mf b8! would have prolonged Black's resistance. White should not be in a hurry to capture the queen, which is hardly threatening to move away. The most accurate continuation would have been 3 1 .h4! to ensure some stability for the bishop. 3 1 . . .g4 32. Jiig3 White has both a material and positional advantage, and should win without too many problems.

30.:9:b8t! Not too complicated, but a beautiful conclusion of the attacking sequence based on 2 5 . ctJ a5, 26.:9:b6 and 28. ctJ c6. Faced with the perspective of being mated in two, Black resigned. A great game for the doctor and one that he surely will remember for a long time!

1-0 Playing through this game, it was as if the amateur and his much stronger opponent had changed seats. Black's rapid decline was mainly caused by the careless 24 . . . exf3 ? . Later she missed her one chance for redemption (26 . . . ctJ e4!) and after that there was no turning back. The success of the Doc's intuitive attack was largely due to the fact that his initial position

Returning to 1 9 89, my year spent in the company of amateurs in the Romanian second division convinced me that the need to win game after game generates too much pressure, making slips like those from my game against Dr Tacu quite probable. When the season was over I corrected my error and secured a transfer to one of the strongest teams in the top division. My 'amateur experience' proved useful though, as following the opening of the Romanian borders in 1 990, I became a fervent participant in Spanish open tournaments. Comparing with round-robin events, to which I had become accustomed in my previous practice, I noticed that most of the games were to be played in the company of opponents of lower strength. In most events a 1 OOo/o result against the amateurs was essential in order to retain one's chances of winning the tournament. I soon developed an excellent 'technique' for winning these encounters effortlessly. There were however, a number of occasions throughout the years when I was outplayed by supposedly inferior adversaries. Jose Miguel Ridameya Tatche - Mihail Marin Badalona 1 9 9 1

When I sat down for the second round o f the 1 99 1 Badalona tournament, it seemed I had nothing to fear. My opponent, a well aged gentleman with white hair and a friendly face, did not differ too much from the image I had conceived of the typical Spanish amateur. The opening phase of the game vindicated the relaxed mood induced by these initial thoughts.

1 63

Chapter 7 - It's an Amateur's World

l.e4 eS I had given up the Sicilian soon after the 1 987 Szirak Interzonal, during which I had been crushed by John Nunn in a game that went on to be voted the best of the year. The Open Spanish was a better fit for the purpose of holding my own with Black in such strong events as the Zonals, Interzonals, Olympiads and national championships. Initially, I feared that l . . .e5 might not be enough to unbalance the game against weaker players. There are many deviations from the main lines that tend to lead to rather dull positions. Experience taught me, however, that there was no need to fear these secondary lines. Many equal or supposedly 'drawn' positions still offer plenty of scope to outplay the opponent, and as the saying goes, it is a lot easier to play for a win from an equal position than an inferior one!

2.lLlf3 lL! c6 3.i.b5 a6 4.i.a4 l2Jf6 S.d4 To tell the truth, I cannot remember exactly how pre-game preparation was carried out before the massive implementation of chess databases and analysis engines. I am pretty sure, though, that my opponent knew I would answer 5 . 0-0 with 5 . . . l2l xe4 and decided to take me out of book as soon as possible. It is interesting to reflect on how different things look when viewed from the opposite side of the board. Every strong player who has the Open Spanish in his repertoire knows that Black's life in the early phase of the game is anything but easy. Provoking an early unbalance in the centre implies certain strategic risks. Black can start thinking about 'playing for a win' only after having navigated the opening phase safely. For many amateurs, who tend to have a rather general level of opening preparation, the complex strategic problems arising after 5 . 0-0 l2l xe4 represent some sort of nightmare. Other main systems of the Ruy Lopez have

many elements in common with one another and once you have studied, say, the Chigorin, you will have a fair idea of how to handle the Breyer, Smyslov and Zaitsev systems. This general knowledge simply does not help if you face the Open Spanish, which demands a certain investment of time for specific study. Most amateurs lack the time and/ or inclination to study openings so comprehensively. I actually included the text move in my white repertoire for a while in my teenage years, but soon I began to understand that it offers White nothing but trouble when the opponent plays accurately. By releasing the pressure against e5, White allows his opponent to develop freely and comfortably.

s ...exd4 6.0-0 i.e? 7.e5 lL!e4 8.lL!xd4 0-0 9.lLlf5 dS As a result ofWhite's frequent knight moves, Black already has an advantage in development. Furthermore, I cannot help remarking that the pawn structure has become typical for the Open Spanish anyway!

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White can rarely do without this move in the Ruy Lopez. It prepares the bishop's safe retreat to c2, from where it will exert pressure against the enemy kingside.

Mihail Marin

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l l ...�f5?! It seems that after a more than satisfactory opening, I became prematurely relaxed. Black obviously has easy play and I trusted that my "anti-amateur" technique would simply reel in another effortless point. The bishop is certainly well placed on f5 , but the correct move order would have been l l . . . lLl c5 ! 1 2. � c2 �f5 with a fine blockade on the light squares.

12.�e3! Oops! Suddenly the knight gets marooned in the middle of the board. True, capturing it will require some effort from White, but I understood that I had stumbled into completely unnecessary problems.

12. . tt:lg6 .

Intending to meet f3 with . . . lt:J g5.

13.Wfh5 Wfc8 Black has to give up on the idea of connecting rooks, as there was no other way to maintain his fragile piece configuration.

14.£3 The knight is trapped, but fxe4 is not yet possible because of the reply . . . �g4 when White's queen will be trapped! However, White only needs to play � d 1 in order to make the

threat real. At this point I spent a considerable amount of time looking for the best way to use my 'spare tempo' , but I was unable to find the best solution.

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A friend of mine once remarked that I have a predilection for advancing my f-pawn. On this occasion I should have resisted the urge, as the move only weakens my kings ide. It would have been much better to prepare a retreat for the knight to c5 with the natural: 1 4 . . . b6 Frankly, I do not remember even having considered this move during the game. I may have rejected it because of: 1 5 . � c6 This wins a pawn, but the same thing happens in the game anyway, and it would have been better to sacrifice the soldier on d5 rather than weaken the king's residence. 1 5 .b4 weakens the queenside too much, and after 1 5 . . . c5! 1 6. � d l lLl xc3 1 7. lt:J xc3 d4 Black avoids a loss of material and has strong counterplay. 1 5 . . . E:b8 1 6. �xd5 lt:J c5 Black has some compensation for the pawn. He has good control over the light squares, while White's position lacks harmony. The queen is cut off the rest of the forces and the e5-pawn is hanging.

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Chapter 7 - It's an Amateur's World

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White can solve these issues with 1 7.f4, but then his light squares would become even weaker. It is also worth mentioning that 1 7. i!.xc5 ?! bxc5 gives him problems as, apart from the obvious . . . �xb2, Black also threatens to win a piece with . . . tt:J f4.

15.i.dl White could have completed his development with 1 5 . CLJ a3! ? before creating the threat of fxe4, but the text move works fine.

15 ... ttJg5 16.exf6 gxf6 17.i.b3 'We6 18.i.xg5 fxg5 19.'Wxg5 Here I was, looking at my position with disgust, not asking myself how long it would take to win, but rather if I would be able to save the game at all. Black is well coordinated and has a central majority, which would have offered good compensation for the pawn had the king not been so vulnerable. What follows was quite a typical story for a number of my games from the early nineties. I remember having read that Leonid Stein used to say ironically "I am especially strong in this type of position" , whenever he got a winning advantage. Sadly, it often happened that I only started to play at my best after my position had become clearly worse, on the condition that the game remained somewhat unbalanced and complex.

20... c4 2l.i.c2 gae8 22.gadl White has completed his development and is ready to start preparing the knight's transfer to d4, which would yield him a completely winning position. Black must keep changing the character of the position, in order to force his opponent to continue adapting to new situations until he eventually loses the thread.

22...'Wb6t 23.
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Mihail Marin

2SJ':hd5! White eliminates an important pawn, relying on the fact that 25 . . . Eixd5 can be met by 26. � e6t.

go wrong, as he had played so well up to this point.

Somewhere around this point I remember noticing that the friendly-faced old gentleman sitting in front of me seemed to have undergone a radical change in demeanour. Now he was like a warrior fighting for his life and there was a certain move, most probably the last one, in which he seemed to have invested all his physical energy, like a professional GM who smells blood. I had briefly been hoping that he would fall into the trap 2 5 . � e6t ? Elxe6 26. "1Mfxd5 liJ f4 when White cannot defend g2 and a3 simultaneously, for instance 27. "1Mf g5t Elg6 2 8 :1Ll xc4 "IM.rxa2 winning. 2 5 . g4 would also have been less convincing than the text move: 25 . . . "1Mfxa3 26.f4 "1Mf e7! 27. "1Mf h5 (Black equalizes after 27. "1Mfxe7 Elxe7 28.Eixd5 tLl h4, since 29. � c2? can be met by 29 . . . Ei:xf4!, exploiting White's weak back rank.) 27 . . . Ei:exf5 Limiting the material damage to the minimum. 28.gxf5 "1Mf e4t 29. "1Mff3 "1Mfxf3t 3 0 .Ei:xf3 Elxf5 Black's compensation may not be entirely adequate, bur he would have had good chances to hold the endgame over the board.

2S...'?Me2 A counterattacking move, armmg to keep as much tension in the position as possible in order to increase the probability of a mistake from my opponent. I had learned from my own practice that one important limitation when playing as an amateur is that you rarely meet players at a high enough level to offer stubborn resistance in even the worst of positions. I must confess though, that I had started to doubt if my opponent would ever

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White decides that the advantage accumulated so far is enough, and signals for a general retreat. Such a reaction is not uncommon for amateur versus grandmaster encounters. Perhaps the manner in which Rldameya effectuated 2 5 . Eixd5 was also a sign that his energy was fading. White needed to calculate just one more forced sequence after the correct 26. "\M.r c l !, which maintains the tension in the centre. The point is that after 26 ... Ei:xd5 White can answer 27.Eie l !, retrieving the temporarily sacrificed material: 27 . . . "1Mf d2 28. � e6t cj{ g7 29. �xd5 "IM.rxd5 30. tLl c2± Once the knight gets to d4 White will be well on the way to victory.

26. J:Uxf5 27."1Mfd2 .

27. "\M.r c l "1Mfxa2 restores material equality and the position is unclear.

27...b5 Black has good compensation, and can hope to obtain counterplay against the c3-pawn after the probable queen exchange.

28.tLlc2

Chapter 7

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It's an Amateur's World

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A hesitant move. I should have preferred 28 . . . ll:\ f4! , leading to similar play as in the later phase of the game. Looking back, it seems I had not yet adapted to the favourable momentum shift.

29.�d8t?! Returning the favour. 29. '\W c l ! would have kept the queens on the board without giving up the a2-pawn. In the long run, the black Icing's lack of shelter may become a telling factor.

29..J3f8 30.�d2 ltlf4! I did not let the opportunity pass me by a second time. The knight steps in, aiming to attack the c3-pawn.

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Ridameya was already in time trouble, and did not realize that this overcautious move would lead to the loss of a pawn. 3 1 . ll:\ d4 was necessary, although after 3 1 . . . '1Wxd2 32.E:xd2 E:e3 Black has excellent compensation for the pawn. The kingside majority is not threatening yet, while Black's queenside pawns are pretty well advanced.

31...�xd2 32.E:fxd2 ltle2 With the c3-pawn about to fall, the game is practically over.

33.ltl b4 ltlxc3 34.l3fl a5 The pawns are unstoppable.

35.ltlc6 l3e6 36.btJd4 l3d6 37.E:cl b4 38.btJb3

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Elegant, but certainly not the only way to win.

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Having made it to the time control, Ridameya understood that he had nothing to play for and resigned. Although he was obviously tired, I noticed that his face had become very friendly again. Definitely an amateurish attitude . . .

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Mihail Marin

I was impressed by Ridameya's play in the early middlegame, so I asked some of my young Spanish friends about him and discovered an interesting story. Josep (the Catalan version of the Spanish name Jose) Ridameya used to be an active Catalan Master in his youth, and even took part in the Varna Olympiad in 1 962. The team included two future grandmasters, Arturo Pomar (who famously was a talented pupil of Alekhine) and Diez del Corral, and some other players who never became well known. Life as a chess player in Spain was not too rewarding in those days, so Ridameya chose to focus on his career. When he retired around 1 990, he made two major changes in his life: he married an elegant lady of a similar age, and started playing chess again. Most chess players know that wives do not like it when their husbands go away for tournaments, but Josep found a simple solution: he taught his wife the game! Since then they have been travelling from one event to another, spending more time on the tournament circuit than at home. Even now, at the age of 82, Don Josep plays more chess than myself according to the FIDE Elo statistics! It is quite encouraging to infer that playing chess is like riding a bicycle to a certain extent: once you have learned it, you never forget how to do it. The fact that Ridameya was able to retain his playing strength despite almost three decades of relative inactivity makes a strong argument for this hypothesis. Mter the previous game I vowed never again to underestimate any friendly-looking white­ haired adversaries, but this was not enough to keep me out of trouble in my next game against the very same opponent, despite having the white pieces this time!

Mihail Marin - Jose Miguel Ridameya Tatche Seville 1 992

l.d4 dS 2.c4 c6 3.� c3 e6 4.�f3 fS As expected, Don Josep avoids the sharp Noteboom variation (4 . . . dxc4) and the Semi­ Slav (4 . . . � f6) . During the thirties and forties, Mikhail Botvinnik obtained some fine results with the Stonewall Dutch and enriched it with numerous attacking and positional ideas. Ridameya would have been making his early steps in chess in that period. If that is the case, it is hardly surprising that he would have felt more at home in this structure than his much younger opponent.

s.iJ4 According to theory, the Stonewall setup is only really effective in two scenarios: either when White has committed his light-squared bishop with g2-g3 , or has obstructed his dark­ squared bishop with e2-e3 . The move played by White in the game is considered to be some sort of punishment for Black's chosen move order. I drew a parallel with our previous game, in which Don Josep also chose an inferior opening. "Very well, this time I will be more careful and will not let my advantage slip away!"

s...i.d6

Chapter 7 - It's an Amateur's World

6..ixd6? Unfortunately I broke the aforementioned promise on the very next move! The premature bishop exchange allows the black queen to occupy an excellent square, from which it keeps both wings under observation. It also enables Black to arrange his knights in the optimal way, as we will shortly see. Right was 6.e3!, maintaining the tension and preventing Black from arranging his pieces as in the game. White would be happy to see 6 . . . .1\xf4 7.exf4± when the open e-file increases the vulnerability of the backward e6-pawn.

6...Wfxd6 7.e3 lD d7

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Despite the lack of flexibility in his structure, Black has managed to arrange his pieces in a most harmonious way. Soon he will be able to start a thematic kingside attack based on . . . g5-g4.

12.:gfel?! The only explanation I can offer for this somewhat mysterious move is that I wanted to prepare lLl e 5 . The immediate 1 2. lLl e5 is premature because of 1 2 . . . lLl fg4! when 1 3 .f4 is impossible due to the hanging e3-pawn. Unfortunately my chosen move was nothing more than another cheap positional threat which Black easily parries.

Preventing the occupation of the e5-square.

s.Wfc2 I am not sure whether the queen is optimally placed here, but by attacking f5 , I had in mind a simple trick. One golden rule of the Stonewall structure is that Black should always be ready to meet cxd5 with . . . exd5, avoiding the opening of the c-file through which White could invade his opponent's territory.

8... lDh6! Unfortunately my opponent had heard about that rule too; possibly before I was even born! Note that this would have been undesirable had the white bishop still been on f4.

9 ..id3 0-0 10.0-0 lD£6 ll.:gahl id7

As a professional player, I should have remembered that time is of the essence in positions with attacks on opposite wings; see the earlier game Tacu - Dzagnidze for a reminder of this theme. With this in mind, 1 2.b4 lLl f7 1 3 .b5 comes into consideration, although after 13 . . . dxc4!? 14 . .1\xc4 :gfc8 I am not convinced that White has any advantage. His pieces are hanging along the c-file (partly as an effect of the premature '® c2) , and the d7bishop will soon become active. Maybe the best move would have been 1 2.2::\ fc l followed by b4 and a4, with a patient, non-committal attack.

12...lD f7 13.b4 My initial intention may have been 1 3 .cxd5 , but it does not take long to realize that after 1 3 . . . cxd5 White is too slow to achieve anything on the c-file. Quite logically so, since he has spent two tempos placing his rooks behind pawns!

13...g5! This attacking move is fully in keeping with Black's earlier play. His initial plan is to drive the enemy knight away with . . . g4. Once the e5-square is in no further danger of being

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invaded, the active . . . CLJ g5 will increase Black's kingside pressure. By this point I could hardly believe my eyes: just 1 3 moves into the game with the white pieces, I was facing a powerful attack to which I could not find an obvious antidote. I decided to carry out my own attack and hope for the best . . .

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14.b5 g4 15.ctJd2 ctJe4 16.bxc6 ixc6 17.cxd5 exd5

White embarks on a time-consuming regrouping with the aim of occupying the f4and e5-squares. From a positional standpoint this is all well and good, but Black's attack proves to be quite potent, despite its apparent strategic drawbacks. White could have avoided serious trouble by pressing on with his attack. Ironically, the key step is to remove Black's "bad" bishop. (Incidentally, in many Stonewall positions this piece is not as bad as it looks; or at least it is no worse than White's light-squared bishop, which also finds itself restricted by the wall of black pawns.) A possible way of carrying out that plan was: 1 8 . tt:l dxe4 fxe4 1 9 . �b5 It is curious that in my previous encounter with Ridameya I eventually managed to turn the tables by attacking his "queen's bishop three" square, but in the present game I completely neglected this plan. 1 9 . . . tt:l g5 20. �xc6 bxc6

Black's queenside has withstood the first wave of attack. Although the d5-pawn has been isolated from its colleagues, the supposedly bad bishop proves to be a useful defender, which glues the queenside together and prevents the infiltration of the enemy rooks.

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2 1 .2::\ ec l ! (Before imtlating the knight's transfer to f4, it is essential to clear the e l ­ square. The immediate 2 1 . CLJ e2? allows 2 1 . . . tt:l h3t! 22.gxh3 2::\ xf2! and White is lost because his king lacks an escape route to the queenside.) 2 1 . . .m6 22. CLJ e2 2::\ afS Both sides are regrouping logically, combining attack with defence. 23. tt:l f4 tt:l e6 24. 1Mfxc6 tt:l xf4 2 5 . 1Mfxd6 2::\xd6 26.exf4 2::\ xf4 White's superior rook activity is compensated by Black's space

Chapter 7 - It's an Amateur's World advantage and the better mobility o f his king. Overall the chances are about even. 8

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The knights continue their intended 'flow' towards the central squares, but with the d3bishop blocking the way their progress will not be simple. My last move was probably inspired by Karpov's similar manoeuvres, which usually succeeded in disarming his opponents' attacks before they even got started. In this particular case the method will not be as effective because the attack has a more global character, involving practically all of Black's pieces.

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It may have been better to delay . . . h5 by means of 1 9 . ltJf4 , although Black could then have challenged the knight with 1 9 . . ttJ e6.

19 ...h5 20.'Llf4 h4 2l.i.e2 I remember evaluating the last sequence of moves as a partial success. I reasoned that by attacking the h5-pawn, I had managed to gain a tempo for the knight's transfer to e5 . The problem is that the other knight finds itself stuck on the fl -square, where it has no active prospects and - as we will shortly see - is not even much use for defending the kingside.

21..JH'7! A strong manoeuvre which is more typical

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of the King's Indian than the Stonewall. The main idea is to sustain the attack with . . . !'1g7, although the rook also performs defensive duties on the seventh rank, and might even switch over to the queenside in some variations.

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This is the most natural move, although Black could also have prepared active operations on the other wing with 22 . . . !'1c8 23. ttJ e5 !'1fc7! ?+ when White's poor coordination would have made it hard for him to contest the open c-file. After the text move, White must constantly be on guard against knight sacrifices on f3 or h3 . The prophylactic move <;iJ h l would partly solve this problem, but would also create a new one: the f2-pawn would require the knight's defence, preventing White from occupying the outpost on e5.

23.ttJe5 Finally the knight lands on the square which has been calling to it since the fourth move.

23.. J3e8! This final developing move demonstrates Ridameya's deep understanding of the position. The rook gets ready to sacrifice itself

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for White's only active piece, after which the attack will be ready to roll. 23 . . . ctJ h3t 24.gxh3 gxh3t would have been premature on account of 2 5 . ctJ g3 hxg3 26.fxg3 followed by i.f3xe4, when White enjoys full stability on the dark squares. 8

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This shuffling back and forth with the bishop is a consequence of White's lack of space. Since the d3-square is no longer needed by the knight, White clears the second rank in order to involve the queen in the defence of the kingside. Apart from lacking a concrete plan, White suffers from the complete passivity of the knight on fl . I cannot help but quote the legendary Dr Tarrasch: "If one piece stands badly, then the whole position is bad!" Sometimes a knight on f1 (or f8 for Black) can be a great defensive piece, but that is not really the case here. It seems fair to say that up to this point Black has conducted the game like a grandmaster. All his pieces are optimally placed, and they collaborate well with each other as well as with the pawns. By this stage both players sensed that the position was ripe for a tactical blow.

For as long as Ridameya was able to rely on his general chess culture, his play was impeccable. But finally, when having to choose between several tempting continuations, he made a wrong decision. Quite logically so, since the correct evaluation of each of them required accurate calculation of relatively long variations. There were at least two continuations that would have maintained or increased Black's advantage. First of all, 24 . . . h3 ! ?+ would have damaged White's kingside structure, which could not be kept compact with 25 .g3? because of: 25 . . . E1xe5 26.dxe5 ctJ f3t 27. W h l ctJ xe H Perhaps my opponent overlooked that the white queen would be under fire at the end of this line. This detail, upon which the validity of the whole line depends, is an incidental element which has no connection to the kingside situation or to Black's previous strong play. However, it turns out that Black had an even stronger continuation available. What's more, even without detailed calculation, there was good reason for him to prefer it over the game continuation.

Chapter 7

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It's an Amateur's World

24 . . . lLl f3 t! 2 5 .gxf3 gxf3t Compared with the game, Black has a pawn on f3 instead of h3, which brings two benefits. Firstly the pawn is more influential, and its control over the e2-square might make a difference. Secondly, the h-file is kept clear, whereas a pawn on h3 might be used as a shield by the white king. 26. cj;J h l One important variation i s 26. lLl g3? hxg3 27.hxg3 lLl xg3! 2 8 . fxg3 Ei:xg3t, when, deprived of the shelter on the h-file, the white king is in mortal danger. The text move is more resilient, but it also fails to solve White's problems.

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26 . . . Ei:xe5! The thematic sacrifice, eliminating White's best piece. 27.dxe5 '1W g6 28. lLl g3 lLl xg3t! The most effective way of opening the king's position. 28 . . . hxg3 ?! allows White to defend with 29. i.xe4 g2t 3Q. cj{ g l fxe4 3 1 . '1W c5 when the position is pretty unclear. Black's only direct target is the h2-pawn, but White can defend it with 1W d6 followed by e6. 29.fxg3 hxg3 Black has a massive attack, and a timely . . . d4 will open the long diagonal with decisive effect.

25.gxh3 gxh3t 26.tLlg3!

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Unlike in the line above, this defence works out well.

26...hxg3 27.fxg3 White threatens to capture on e4, after which he will be left with an active knight against a passive bishop.

The other method of continuing the sacrificial attack was: 27 . . . lLl xg3 28.hxg3 Ei:xeS 29.dxe5 1Mfxe5 3Q. cj{ h l We can see that the h3-pawn is the white king's best friend. Black's resources are not yet exhausted though: 30 . . . d4 t 3 l .e4 '1Wxg3 Threatening a perpetual starting with . . . 1W f3t . Now 32.Ei:fl ? allows 32 . . . 1W g2!t 33. '1Wxg2 hxg2t with a fork, but 32. '1W e2! parries the main threats and offers White good winning chances.

28.dxe5 Wfxe5 Threatening . . . lLl xg3 .

29.<.!ifl? By now my opponent was in time trouble and, sensing the shift in momentum, I probably thought that the rest of the game

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would be a formality. I hardly need state that this kind of thinking can only be harmful, especially as the situation on the board is still quite complicated. It is easy to see that 29. � h l ? leads to disaster after 29 . . . d4!, opening the long diagonal. I considered f1 to be a safer square for the king, but I seriously underestimated Black's next move.

30 . . . Ei:xg3! would have been much stronger, keeping the queen centralized and threatening . . . Ei:g2 . 3 l .l"i:e2 f4! This opens the kingside completely, after which the white king will not be able to avoid perpetual check. 32.exf4 1Mf xf4 t 33.Ei:f2 h2! Utilizing all the available forces. 34.Ei:xf4 h l =W t 3 5 . \t> e2 1Mf h5t! The last accurate check, preventing \t> d l -d2-c l and securing a draw.

31.Wff2 Wfe5 A much better practical choice would have been to eliminate public enemy number one with 29.j,xe4! fXe4 30. 1Mf b2. In the resulting position White has a small material advantage, but Black's position is not easy to break. However, the most important thing is that the position has become one-sided, with no serious dangers for White.

The queen retreats to her previous post, having lost two tempos. 3 1 . . .h2 would lead nowhere after 32. 1Mfxg3 h l =W t 33. \t> f2 with an extra rook for White.

29 CDxg3t! •••

The sacrifice is correct, but the follow-up is not.

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The right move was 32.Ei:e2!, preventing . . . h2 and putting an end to Black's attack.

32...h2?! A venomous, yet objectively incorrect move.

•••

It is tempting, of course, to create the threats of . . . h2 and . . . '� gl t, but both of them are easily parried by White's next move.

The unexpected 32 . . . l"i:gl t! would have led to a draw: 33. \t> e2 (33 . \t> xg l ? allows 33 . . . 1Mf g7t! with mate to follow shortly) 33 ... Ei:g2t White is best advised to cut his losses by returning

Chapter 7 - It's an Amateur's World with the king to fl , since 34. c±> d l ? leads to trouble: 34 . . . '�xf4 3 5 .exf4 h2+ The h-pawn will cost White a rook after a preliminary . . . d4, leaving Black with an active position and an extra pawn once the accounts have been settled.

33.�f2?? I do not remember whether I was getting short of time as well, but it is not especially relevant. Of course the text move was a bad mistake, but its refutation is tricky even for a grandmaster to spot. The correct path was 33. Wxe5 ! h l =W t 34. c±> e2 E!:g2t 3 5 . c±> d l ii,a4t 36.E!:b3 when Black's attack has come to an end, and White's material advantage will soon tell.

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The final mistake in this highly dramatic game. Black could have left his queen en prise for one more move with the stunning 33 . . . d4!!, opening the long diagonal and leading to a decisive attack. The main point is that 34. Wxe5 leads to mate after 34 . . . E!:g2t 3 5 . <±> fl h l =Wf#.

34.WI'bst �f7 35.ie2 White has regrouped properly and now the black king comes into the limelight, an honour that he would gladly reject!

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35...d4 Too late.

36.ih5t �f6 37.WI'd6t �g5 38.:Bglt 1-0 The comedy of errors from the final phase of the game hardly gives a hint about who was the grandmaster and who the amateur. As for the middlegame, the difference in class was quite obvious, but not in the direction one would expect! Only the final result restored the 'natural' order of things. It is worth emphasizing a significant difference compared with the previous game. In that case, Don Josep only made one real inaccuracy (26.E!:dd l ?) which enabled me to get back on track, after which my superior playing strength was enough to bring home the point. Towards the end of the later game, numerous mistakes were made on both sides, leading to a move­ by-move change in the position's evaluation. Abstractly, this suggests that the position in the second game was much more complex, as a result of Ridameya's whole strategic concept being much deeper and coherent from the beginning. There may be a good explanation for that. More than half a year had passed since our previous encounter, during which time Don Josep had partaken in numerous tournaments and possibly a good deal of home study too. His former playing strength from his Olympiad days probably started to return, although age would have exerted its limitative influence as well.

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Final Thoughts There is a saying that Fortuna always smiles on the strongest players, bur why would it be so? After all, for the result of a concrete game it is not how well you play on average, but how you play in that specific game. Psychology surely plays a role. A grandmaster is accustomed to the taste of success, and does not abandon the secret hope of winning even in the most dire of situations. This inner self­ belief is crucial if one is to exploit the smallest window of opportunity received from Caissa. For an amateur, the opportunity to beat a much higher-rated opponent is an exceptional occasion. The associated pressure and anticipation of a memorable result can end up costing him valuable energy and time, which can easily lead him along the path towards a painful downfall. I am well aware of the fact that there is no such a thing as a prototype for the amateur player. I have chosen to portray two individuals who correspond to my perception of this term, and with whom I had the opportunity to get acquainted.

cannot end this chapter without acknowledging the fact that, strictly speaking, none of the games presented above can be classified under the thematic title of this book. Dr Tacu's opponent from the third game was an IM/WGM, who has since gone on to obtain the full Grandmaster title. I did not obtain my full GM title until 1 993, but with all modesty, I was playing at the level of a grandmaster for several years before that time. I actually achieved my most impressive norm at the 1 98 8 Thessaloniki Olympiad, where I also got an individual board medal. I achieved several of my best results before completing the title, including winning my first national title and qualifYing for two Interzonals. This slight dissonance with the main theme was of course not intentional, and was merely the result of my choosing the examples which best suited my discourse. Remembering Tal's famous comment that "we are all amateurs" , I will conclude by suggesting that grandmasters might find that they have much to learn from the non-professionals, in terms of the enthusiasm provoked by playing, and the preservation of good spirits irrespective of the final results.

Jacob Aagaard

Fish Eat Danes for Supper

Jacob Aagaard

1 78

This chapter is quite difficult to write; not because I don't want to show the games I have lost to lower-rated players as a grandmaster, but because I really have not lost many games to players with a rating under 2400 since becoming a grandmaster!

8 .a3 ? ! lLl bd7 9.h3? c5 1 0 .e5 lLl h5 and White's position was already disintegrating in Hj orth ­ Andreasen, Denmark 20 1 0 .

However, since I have been quite close a number of times, I think I can give a pretty good recipe on how to beat me. I think it includes the following ingredients, although not necessarily all of them: � Play a good solid opening � Play a lot of natural moves � Be ready once you get your chance

Play a good solid opening The basic idea here is to play the man. Don't seek complications against someone of whom the reply to "how does he play?" has always been: "with an axe." The following two games provide a good example of how the same player changed tactic against me, with success.

Jacob Aagaard - Per Andreasen Danish Leag ue 20 1 0

l.e4 g6 2.d4 i.g7 3.qj c3 d6 4.i.e3 a6 5.f4 b5 6.qjf3 i.h7 7.i.d3 I am no expert in these lines, but the positions do fit my personality excellently. Here my opponent played a risky move.

7... qjf6!? 8.e5 After the game he asked me if I had seen his previous game in this line in the tournament. I had, but had not fully registered that we were in the same line. However, it was pretty irrelevant, as a grandmaster would not play a3 and h3, not to speak of an axe-wielding mad man.

9.qjxd5 i.xd5 I O.'We2 My opponent really liked this move. He felt that the potential of a2-a4 was unpleasant and that he had to act against it.

10... qjd7 This is probably not the best move. More active was 1 0 . . . 0-0 with the idea that 1 l .a4 is met with 1 l . . . lt:J c6! 1 2.axb5 axb5 . Here White should avoid 1 3.Elxa8 ?! '1Wxa8 1 4 . i.xb5 ? ? '1W a 1 t 1 5 . iW d 1 iW a5t, and instead play 1 3 .0-0, although after 1 3 . . . i.xf3 1 4 .gxf3 b4 his advantage is rather minimal.

11.0-0 This position could have fitted nicely in the section on piece handling earlier in the book (see page 1 0) . Black has not yet finished his development while White is fully mobilized. Thus Black should, as a default point, finish his development before he does anything active.

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Chapter 8 - Fish Eat Danes for Supper

ll ... c5? 12.dxc5 dxe5 1 2 . . .CtJ xc5

1 3 . i.xc5

dxc5 was perhaps the lesser evil, but after 1 4.c4 White is still pleasantly better.

13.c4! Per had not thought about this move at all, but soon it becomes apparent that White's advantage is simply overwhelming. My opponent had been caught up in forcing thinking, expecting the captures to continue until the money runs out.

13...i.xc4 14.i.xc4 bxc4 15.W'xc4 exf4 1 6.i.xf4

18...W'b6t 19.<Jih1 ltjf6 20.E1b1! 1-0 Ten months later Per came with a more solid attitude in mind. I am not sure he played better; it was j ust more difficult for me to play the position and for this reason he earned a well-deserved draw.

Jacob Aagaard - Per Andreasen Danish League 20 1 1

l.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.tiJ c3 dxe4! Per chooses to go for a solid position that fits him much better than it fits me. Even though I manage to get an advantage, it is not one that fits my core strengths, and eventually I misplay it.

4.ltJxe4 ftJd7 5.ftJf3 ftJgf6 6.tiJxf6t ftJxf6 7.i.g5 h6 8.i.e3 ltJd5 9.i.d2 c5 10.ltJe5 a6 11.c4 ltJf6 12.i.c3 cxd4 13.W'xd4 W'xd4 14.i.xd4

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16 ...0-0 17J�ad1 i.xb2?! This loses a piece, but 1 7 . . . 1W e8 1 8 .b4 is also hopeless.

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14 ...i.b4t?!

In the train on the way to the match, my team mates had discussed the Slav and the Caro-Kann for what seemed hours and hours, until I tried to cut in with a joke: "I only play c6 with White." And here we are . . .

This check is a matter of poor chess culture. This is an ending and White does not want to get his king 'into safety' . Instead he is only too pleased to be forced to put it on the beautiful e2-square.

Jacob Aagaard

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14 . . . CtJ d7! is the correct move. Theory provides us with an example: 1 5 . .i d3 ctJ xe5 1 6 . .ixe5 .i d7 17 . .i e4 0-0-0 l S .E!:dl .i b4t 1 9 . W e2 f6 20 . .id4 W c7 2 1 .a3 .i e7 22.l::!: d 2 Y2-Y2 ]. Polgar - Korchnoi, Enghien les Bains 2003 .

19..ig2 l::!: a7 20.a3 .ie7 2I..id4 l::!: c7 22.cxb5 axb5 23..ib6 !:k2t 24J:!:d2 :!:!:xd2t 25. �xd2 .id7 26.:1:!:c1 b4 27 .ic5 .ixc5 28.:1:!:xc5 bxa3 29.bxa3 :!:!:b8 30.:1:!:c7 �b2t 3l.�e3 .ia4?!

15.�e2 0-0 16.g3 tt:\d7

32.�a7 �b3t 33. �d4 �xa3!

This is the critical moment of the game. I thought for a long time here, trying to prevent Black's counterplay, but did not manage to do so. I was trying to do the right things, but they are unnatural for me and I have not trained enough to do them properly.

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I did not want to play 1 7 . .i g2, because it would allow Black to get his bishop out with 1 7 . . . ctJ xe5 1 8 . .ixe5 f6 1 9 . .i d4 e5 and a check on g4. However, this thinking is faulty in many ways. I would here be able to play 20 . .i b6!, when the threat of c4-c5 would be quite serious; and at the same time Black would lose his chance to use the d-file. Essentially the game would be ready for the wrapping.

17... tt:lxe5 18..ixe5 b5! I had missed this option entirely, which shows my limited thinking. In what follows I was able to present my opponent with a lot of problems, but the advantage was never anything serious.

•

3 l . . . .ib 5 ! was equal immediately.

Very good defensive play.

34..ic6 �a2! I was hoping for, but in no way expecting Black to play 34 . . . .ixc6 3 5 .l::!: xa3, when the ending should be winning for White, although the technical process would be far from trivial. Per's move is much better.

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The game is heading towards one of a few possible drawn endings. The most likely candidates are bishop and h-pawn versus king, with the wrong colour in the corner, or rook and bishop versus rook. With hindsight I should have gone for the latter option, but at the time it was not obvious.

36.h3

White's best chance was 36.l::!: a 8 t! h7 37.l::!: a 7, intending 37 . . . g8 3 8 . <±> e3 to drive the rook away from the second rank. I am sure the game would have been drawn anyway, but at least I would have been able to create more problems for him.

Chapter 8 - Fish Eat Danes for Supper

36...g5 37J;al �g7 38.�e3 �h2 39.�hl �xhl 40.hhl f5 41.�d4 �f6 42.J.f3 e5t 43.�d5 8

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During the game I expected him to play 43 . . . g4! 44.hxg4 f4! 45 .gxf4 exf4 46. \t> e4 h5 with a draw.

44.J.dl h5! Black also draws with 44 . . . e3 4 5 . i e2 h5!.

45.J.e2 4 5 . ixh5 f4 is an immediate draw.

45...g4 46.hxg4 It was also possible to lose, should I insist: 46.h4 f4! 47.gxf4?? g3 48. ifl e3 and so on.

46...fxg4

Or 46 . . . h4 47. gxh4 fxg4.

47.hg4 hxg4 Had it been me, I would have played 47 . . . h4, but this is all about character traits.

48. �xe4 �f7 49. �f5 �g7 50. �xg4 �g6 51.�£4 �f6 52.g4 �g6 53.g5 �g7 54.�£5 �f7 55.g6t �g7 56.�g5 �g8 57.�£6 �f8 58.g7t �g8 59.�g6 ¥2-lf2

Obviously this is quite far from a win for the amateur, but only one of the three boxes was ticked. Let's move on to the second box.

Play a lot of natural moves

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In my experience it is quite rare that the untitled player outplays the grandmaster by flashy play and great originality. Obviously it can happen, it is just very rare. It has not happened to me personally and whenever I see another grandmaster lose to an untitled player, it is usually because they are human and have made some big mistake. From this you can conclude that the way to beat a grandmaster as an amateur is to get a good position out of the opening and then play simple and good moves. What often happens is that the grandmaster will think about how he is going to win the game and push too hard. I am sure this is what happened in the following game, in which I was cast in the role of amateur against an experienced GM.

Jonathan Tisdall - Jacob Aagaard Copenhagen 1 9 96

l.d4 CLlf6 2.c4 e6 3.ttl c3 J.b4 4.V!Vc2 0-0 5.a3 hc3t 6.V!Vxc3 b6 7.i.g5 J.a6

Jacob Aagaard

1 82

This variation was new at the time and my opponent clearly did not know much about it. His reaction was probably meant to be creative, but in reality it was just reckless.

13...exd5 14.cxd5 .ixf1 15.:Shxfl b5

8.e3 d6 9.f3? Not only wasting a tempo, but also weakening the e3-square, as Bent Larsen pointed out. The usual move at the time was 9 . � d3, while these days other approaches have been successful too.

9...CLlbd7 lO.CLlh3 h6 ll.�h4 :Sc8 a

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Black is initiating a standard Benoni/ Benko counterattack on the queenside, the main difference being that the white king is usually safely tucked away on gl or h2 in such positions!

16.<j;lbl b4! 17.axb4 \Wb6 18.b5 Trying to keep the floodgates closed.

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Black has not played anything other than natural developing moves, while White has positioned his pieces a bit oddly and allowed himself to fall behind in development. This already adds up to a good game for Black, but with his next move White makes matters worse by putting his king in directly in the line of fire.

12.0-0-0? c5 13.d5 White tries to keep the position closed; but having played a2-a3 , he will not be able to do so forever. 1 3 .dxc5 Ei:xc5 1 4.Ei:xd6 Wf c7 and . . . Ei:fc8 would also give Black a big advantage.

1 8 .bxc5 Ei:xc5 would only accelerate the black initiative, while 1 8 . � e l is strongly met by 1 8 . . . 'Ll e5 1 9 .e4 cxb4 20. Wfxb4 Wi a6 2 1 .Ei:f2 'Ll d3 22. Wf a5 Wf c4 when Black continues to attack, as well as win material. For example: 23.Ei:fd2 CLJ c l 24. Wi a3 'Ll b3 25 .Ei:d3 Wf c2t 26. a2 CLJ c l t and Black has won the exchange.

Chapter 8 - Fish Eat Danes for Supper

18...a6! Quite an important move. Rather than spending time winning back my pawn, I open more lines on the queenside.

19.bxa6 Wfxa6 20.e4 l3b8!

1 83

a) 22. 'Wxb2 'W d3t 23. <;t> a l loses elegantly to 23 . . .ltJ xe4! 24.fxe4 :ga8t 2 5 . 'W a2 Wf d4t 26. <;t> b l 'Wxe4t 27. <;t> a l 'W e5t 28. <;t> b l �b8t 29. � c2 'We2t. b) 22. <;t> xb2 is met by 22 . . . �b8t 23. <;t> c2 tLl xd5 ! 24.exd5 'W e2t 2 5 . 'W d2 �b2t 26. <;t> xb2 'Wxd2t 27.�c2 'W d4t and Black will convert the advantage easily. I have no idea if I would have seen any of this, but luckily there were other good options at my disposal, such as 2 l . . .:gb4, so I would probably have won the game all the same.

21...c4! The pawn is included in the attack.

22.l3cl l3fc8 This move surprised a number of people, who believed the rook belonged on the a-file. The problem is that there is nothing there, as a check on a2 does not lead to anything significant. Doubling the rooks down the b-file makes for more sense.

21.'Llf2 2 l .�cl prevents the ... c4 advance but allows Black to finish in style: 2 l . . .�xb2t!

Black is not in a hurry; White is threatening nothing.

23.i.xf6 gxf6!? 23 . . . tLl xf6 was also winning, but I wanted the knight to go to the queenside. Besides, I had seen everything that follows.

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Jacob Aagaard

24. Wf d4 c3! is something I saw during the game, while 24. lt:J d l is met by a nice little refutation: 24 . . . lt:J c5 2 5 . Wfxc4 lt:J b3! and it is game over.

24.. J�b3 25.ttlxf6t White could create a bit of resistance with 2 5 . Wf c2, but Black wins with a series of not too difficult moves: 25 .. J!a8 26. Wfxc4 Wl' a l t 27.'Jl c2 Wfxb2t 2 8 .'Jl d l lt:J b6 29. Wf c2 W d4t 30. � e l Elb2-+

25...tflxf6 26.Wfxf6 c3 The pawn becomes a key player in the attack and White is quickly mated.

playing a last round game for a GM norm. From this one might falsely conclude that I already had the strength of a grandmaster when this game was played. Sadly not. I played occasionally good chess, but most of the time I played poorly. The IM norms I made were based just as much on luck as anything. For example, the first norm included the following game:

Dharshan Kumaran - Jacob Aagaard Budapest 1 996

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Quite undeservedly I managed to exploit my opponent's time trouble with:

103...Wfe8t!? 104.b8=Wf?? Wfxc6t 105.Wfb7 Wfxb7t 0-1 A nice game by the amateur Jacob Aagaard, but it did not contain any flashy moves. 1 8 . . . a6 and 20 . . . Eib8 were probably the best moves of the game, but they showed no more than a decent understanding of chess. In many ways this was my first step towards becoming a titled player. At the end of the tournament I had scored a performance rating of2447 and thus narrowly missed an IM norm. However, this gave me a big confidence boost; within nine months I had secured the title, and one year later I had my first experience of

Be ready once you get your chance

The final ingredient is undoubtedly the most important if you are an amateur and want to beat grandmasters. To some extent you can ignore the first two parts of the equation if you include this third and important ingredient. If you are 2 1 00-23 50 and play ten grandmasters, the chances are that you will have a good chance to win at least one of those games. It is vital to seize these fleeting opportunities when they arise.

Chapter 8

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Fish Eat Danes for Supper

Here is the game that secured my Grandmaster title, by virtue of elevating my rating above the 2500 level in the fourth round of the 2007 British Championship.

1 85

30.ctJdf3? Missing another win: 30.l"i:e6t 3 1 . �xe6t <j{ xg5 32.h4t! <j{ f4

�xe6

Li Wu - Jacob Aagaard Great Yarmouth 2007

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33. � xd5 !!, which wins immediately because of the threats of � e4# and � g5#. But who in their right mind can see something like this?

30 ...'\Wflt 3l.�g3 8

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28 ... �f7 29.ctJg5t �g6 At this point I was fearing 30. � g3!, which wins the game immediately.

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With both players desperately short of time I rejected my other candidate moves (namely 3 l . . .l"i:a4 and 3 1 . . . lLl d4!, the second of which leads to a significant advantage) in favour of a combination I did not have the time to actually check. This is a direct result of a lot of confidence, which is a great thing to have when you were ready to resign just two minutes before.

31. ..Wfglt? 32.ctJ:xgl gxglt 33.�f4??

Jacob Aagaard

1 86

We both failed to spot the refutation: 33. ctf f3! ltl d4t 34. f4 �g4t

In this game I had the advantage after the opening, but misplayed it and then blundered badly on move 1 8 . Ever since I have been running around the board trying to find moves that did not lose immediately, while simultaneously running out of time. A few moves earlier I missed the chance to fight for an advantage, and am once again on the back foot. My only chance lies in my opponent's limitations.

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The knight has been derailed and White wins after 3 5 . e5 ! .

33. . .�g4t 34.�f3 etJd4t 35.Wfxd4 cxd4! 36.ltlh3 �e4 37.tLl f4t �gS 38.;gxe4 i.xe4t 39.�g3 d3 0-1

Not a bad move, as It J USt repeats the position. But still it was worth pointing out that White was easily winning after 3 8 . '®xc7t! ct? h8 39. '® e5t ct? h7 40. '® e7t h8. By now he would have received a lot of extra time in which to find the not too difficult combination:

Not an entirely uncommon situation. Grand­ masters have bad days as well; they blunder and suddenly end up in difficult positions. For the amateur, it is vital to keep a cool head in those situations. Remember that no matter who the opponent is, the pieces don't move differently; a lost position cannot be defended . . . a

Jasmin Bejtovic - Jacob Aagaard Copenhagen 20 1 0

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4 1 . '1Wxf8t! �xf8 42.�h2 and the ending is trivial.

38 ...�h8 39.'1We5t

White offered a draw. V2-1/z

White is of course still winning, and he can always take the draw in a move or rwo, but he was on course for an IM norm and before the game he probably feared losing more than anything else.

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It is easy to understand why someone would act in this way in such a situation. In fact, I

Chapter 8

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Fish Eat Danes for Supper

would go so far as to say that anything else would be surprising. We therefore need to be mentally prepared beforehand for the fact that we might get a chance to win the game, and decide exactly how we will react should that chance arise. Virtually all elite athletes go through a visualization process whereby they see themselves winning the big race. I am not suggesting that the reader should go out and hire a sports psychologist; however it could be useful to spend a few moments gathering your inner confidence before the game, and thus giving yourself the best chance to capitalize on any opportunity that might arise. In the above game my opponent did not need to be an especially great chess player - he just

had to be ready to win. A special case to remember The last two games are from my worst tournament performance since the early 1 990s. To add to the irony, it took place at a time when I believe I was at the height of my powers as a chess player. If you doubt me, please check the game I played in the second round against Alan Grant on page 29. Although far from perfect, this was still a good game bearing in mind that it came in a weekend congress that featured a time control short enough to dissuade people with a weak bladder from participating. Unfortunately, I was suffering from something of a 'perfect storm' of external forces limiting my abilities. First of all, I had taken my wi fe and seven-week-old daughter with me. This is not something I can regret or categorize as a mistake, but it was also not an ambitious move. Secondly, after arriving at the tournament venue I visited the book stall and decided to purchase a puzzle book that initially impressed me, as I believed that the author had put in

1 87

real work and found a lot of the same positions that I had unearthed from recent tournament practice. However, I soon realized that he had simply lifted these test positions from my column in the monthly British magazine CHESS, thus plagiarizing my work. Later I found out that he had not even tried to hide his tracks, but had put them into the book in the same order as they had appeared in the magazine. (Not surprisingly the publisher provided compensation, but unfortunately this did not include Scottish rating points squandered in this event!) . We will rejoin the tournament at the fourth round, which took place on a Sunday morning. I had already lost a horrible game to an IM the previous afternoon, after first blundering a pawn and then a piece in a position that could probably have been held. By Sunday morning I was ripe - and sadly I was not facing a young talent, who might become weighed down by excessive respect for the Champion of the Union, but rather an experienced lawyer who could recognize a sucker when sat opposite him!

Jacob Aagaard - Neil Farrell Perth 2008

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Jacob Aagaard

the exchange incorrectly and my opponent missed a few chances to seize the advantage, I entered the ending with hopes of winning, although the position should be held by Black with decent play.

41.�g5 �c6 42J'�c8t �d7 43.�g8 �c6 44.i.f6 �c7 45.i.d8t �c6 46.�g6 �h6 47.�xh6 ltlxh6 48.�h4 White wins a pawn, but I did not think the position could be won. The f5-square is too strong.

48...ltlg4 49.f4 ltle3 50.�xh5 a4 51.�g6 h5 52.�h4 �d7 53.i.fl ltldl

58.�e6 5 8 .e8= lLl t <;t> c6 would have been equally hopeless.

58... lLl d6 0-1 Despite my mistakes, this was an excellent game by Neil. His opening was great, he played sound and natural chess, and despite making some mistakes when the game got complicated, he kept on fighting. And the moment the chance arose, he was absolutely ready for it. In the last round I was paired with an 1 800-rated player. By this time I obviously had no chance of winning a prize and played "a bit" fast in the hope of at least giving my family the relief of an early train home. This is in no way intended as an excuse, but simply to remind the amateurs (who will comprise the maj ority of the readers) that external factors can come into play at the board. Grandmasters are humans and they will have their own reasons for playing the way they do - and sometimes these are the wrong reasons.

Alistair Dawson - Jacob Aagaard Perth 2008

A reckless gamble. I should have moved the bishop and accepted that the game would be drawn.

l.c4 c6 2.h3

54... ltl:xfl 55.f5 exf5 56.e6t �c7!

This was my opponent's preparation; already a violation of our first principle.

Although not too difficult, we have already seen a few occasions where the amateur was unprepared for his moment of glory.

2...d5 3.ib2 ltl f6 4.\1;lfc2 e6 5.ltlf3 i.d6 6.e3 0-0

57.e7 ltle4! I had of course missed this idea entirely, even if it is not too difficult. I was simply too frustrated about not being able to win the game.

At this point White should go for 7.d4 leading to an equal middlegame. Instead he decided to win the game in Internet Blitz style!

7.i.d3?! ltl bd7 8.g4?

Chapter 8

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Fish Eat Danes for Supper

1 89

White's last two moves fail to qualify as either sound or natural, thus violating our second principle.

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14...e4

8 ... e5! Classical chess. An untimely advance on the flank is met with a counterstroke in the centre.

9.g5 CLle4 The way healthy chess supports aggressive moves is sometimes a bit unreal. My opponent looked surprised and soon quite disappointed.

10.CLl c3 1 0 . .ixe4? would lose quickly to 1 0 . . . dxe4 l l . �xe4 ltl c5 1 2 . � c2 e4 and the light squares are not doing too well.

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14 . . . b4 would be premature, as 1 5 . � c2 e4 allows White to play 1 6.h4! and hold on to his pawn.

15.c5 .tf8 16.CLld2 b4 Slightly inaccurate. I should have taken the pawn immediately, but as said, I was playing a bit quickly.

17.ygc2 ygxg5 18.£4 White gets rid of a weakness.

18 ...ygh4 19.tLlfl CLJ£6 20.h3 Sensing that the end was near, I played my next move almost instantly.

10 ... CLlxc3 11.ygxc3 ge8 Preparing to put the bishop on f8 to safeguard the king.

12.0-0-0 a5 13..tb 1 b5 14.d4 White accepts the burial of his bishops. How quickly things can go wrong. 1 4 . cxd5 cxd5 1 5 . � c6 does not work, as after 1 5 . . . lt:l b6 the open c-file would be a liability for White.

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f

g

h

Jacob Aagaard

1 90

20 i.g4?? ..•

Upon playing this move I went out to tell my wife that we were in luck and would make the early train comfortably. I was of course expecting my opponent to resign, but it quickly turned out that I had fallen into an elaborate trap.

8 � �% �% � �-� � � -,�.,

21.h.xg4 'Wxhl?! 22.ctlh2!! 7

�� !� �- '� jjj % 0% �� , � � �� J� � �w--� ��� - b i �� lS - --%u%?.:"/�3 •2r� � %m �7� 1%f---%n� � ;�. lS �vm

6 5

4

2

1

%

%

-

•:r=t�, %•�' ,,,

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

burst into laughter when he played this move. My queen is trapped and a rare case of arrogance - not a trait I usually exhibit, as I am simply not confident enough! - has been deservedly punished.

22...'Wxdl t 23.'Wxdl �a7 24.g5 25.i.c2 f5

ctld7

After making this move I told my opponent the lay of the land: "Just so you know, you can have a draw whenever you want it." As it turned out, this happened to be immediately! He accepted my offer faster than the speed of sound; at least it seemed that way, as I was still finishing my sentence when he fumbled franticly for my hand across the board. llz-1/z

Rarely have I seen anyone as happy with a draw as Alistair was; chuffed smile and feet bobbing in the rhythm of life. Truly he was not ready to win a game against a grandmaster, but had we played on, I am not entirely sure he would have either. Obviously the chances are high, but who knows, he might even have blundered back and lost the game. Who am I to judge what makes other people happy? My wife for one did not care the slightest that I did not win a prize in the tournament, but she was very happy that we managed to make the early train back to Glasgow.

Game Index Chapter 1 - Danes Eat Fish for Breakfast Walter Burnett - Jacob Aagaard Graeme Nolan - Jacob Aagaard Jacob Aagaard - Peter Dittmar Jacob Aagaard - Ib Andersen Thomas Ernst - Jacob Aagaard Jacob Aagaard - Vereslav Eingorn Jacob Aagaard - Sandi Stojanovski Sergei Tiviakov - Jacob Aagaard Jacob Aagaard - Alan Grant Jacob Aagaard - Paolo Tocco Angelo Damia - Jacob Aagaard

10 12 16 20 20 22 24 27 29 31 33

Chapter 2 - A Tale of Three Stories Peter Heine Nielsen - Magnus Carlsen Dirk Sebastian - Peter Heine Nielsen Stephan Berndt - Peter Heine Nielsen

38 44 50

Chapter 3 - From Amateur to 2700 Pavel Eljanov - Artur Kogan Wang Yue - Ildar Khairullin Pavel Eljanov - Mikheil Kekelidze Pavel Eljanov - Zdenko Kozul Thomas Freundlieb - Pavel Eljanov

57 63 68 75 80

Chapter 4 - From 1700 to Grandmaster - and Back John Shaw - Hicham Hamdouchi John Shaw - Vladimir Epishin Hugh Brechin - Jacob Aagaard Hugh Brechin - John Shaw

89 92 95 96

Chapter 5 - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Vitali Golod - Thal Abergel Boris Avrukh - Ehud Shachar Yochanan Afek - John van der Wiel

1 00 1 06 1 12

1 92

Grandmaster versus Amateur

Matthew Herman - Alberto David Ivan Cheparinov - Victor Havik

1 18 1 28

Chapter 6

-

The Ulysses Effect

Tiger Hillarp Persson - Jonny Hector Tiger Hillarp Persson - Carlos Garcia Palermo Bo Jacobsen - Tiger Hillarp Persson Anatoly Karpov - Bo Jacobsen

1 38 1 40 1 42 145

Chapter 7 - It's an Amateur's World! Victor Tacu - Mihail Marin Voiculescu - Tacu Victor Tacu - Nana Dzagnidze Jose Miguel Ridameya Tatche - Mihail Marin Mihail Marin - Jose Miguel Ridameya Tatche

Chapter 8 Jacob Aagaard - Per Andreasen Jacob Aagaard - Per Andreasen Jonathan Tisdall - Jacob Aagaard Dharshan Kumaran - Jacob Aagaard Li Wu - Jacob Aagaard Jasmin Bej tovic - Jacob Aagaard Jacob Aagaard - Neil Farrell Alistair Dawson - Jacob Aagaard

-

1 52 1 58 1 60 1 62 1 68

Fish Eat Danes for Supper 1 78 1 79 181 1 84 1 85 1 86 1 87 1 88

Name Index A

D

Aagaard 4, 9, 1 0, 1 2, 1 6 , 20, 22, 24, 27, 29, 3 1 , 33, 95, 1 77, 1 78 , 1 79, 1 8 1 , 1 84, 1 8 5 , 1 86, 1 87, 1 8 8 Abergel 1 00, 1 06 Adla 1 29 Mek 1 1 2, 1 1 5 Alekhine 1 68 Anand 5 , 67 Andersen 20 Andreasen 1 78 , 1 79 Arnold 1 08 Aronian 40 Astrakhantsev 56 Avrukh 6, 99, 1 06, 1 20

Damia 33 David 1 1 8 , 1 20, 1 2 1 , 1 25 , 1 27 Dawson 1 88 de Groot 57 Diez del Corral 1 68 Dittmar 1 6, 1 7, 1 8 Dolezal 5 8 Dominguez Perez 2 7 Dzagnidze 1 60, 1 69 Dzenis 28

B Babula 70 Baburin 34 Beim 1 1 3, 1 1 4 Bejtovic 1 86 Berndt 50, 5 1 , 52, 53 Bilobrk 1 0 1 Binder 1 02 Brechin 1 6, 9 5 , 96, 97 Breyer 1 28, 1 63 Bronstein 1 5 3 Burnett 1 0, 2 1 c

Carlsen 38, 42, 56, 72, 1 2 8 Caruana 1 20 Chase 57 Cheparinov 1 28 , 1 29, 1 30, 1 3 1 , 1 3 5 Chigorin 1 63 Cruz 1 07 Csiszar 1 02 Cvetkovic 7 1

E Eingorn 22, 23 Eljanov 5, 6, 5 5 , 57, 5 9 , 68, 75, 76, 77, 78 , 80, 1 0 1 Epishin 92 Ernst 20 Euwe 4

F Farrell 1 87 Fischer 89 Freundlieb 80 Fuchs 29

G Garcia Palermo 1 40 Gelfand 5, 67 Geller 1 3 8 Gersenson 4 Gheorghiu 1 53 Ghi�escu 1 5 3 Gisbrecht 70 Gligoric 1 29 Golod 1 00, I l l Grant 29, 1 87 Greet 8 Grischuk 73, 1 0 1 Gurevich 77

1 94

Grandmaster versus Amateur

H

Hamdouchi 89 Hammer 72 Havik 1 28, 1 3 1 , 1 34, 1 3 5 Hector 69, 72, 1 3 8 Herman 1 1 8 Hillarp Persson 7, 69, 1 37, 1 38 , 1 40, 1 42 Hjorth 1 78 Hodgson 28 Hromadka 1 53 , 1 5 8

I Ivanchuk 1 0 1

J Jacobsen 1 42, 1 45 , 1 46, 1 47 Joj ua 77 Joyce 7, 1 3 8 ]uric 1 0 1 K

Kaid 1 07 Kamsky 1 28 Karjakin 56 Karolyi 1 1 2, 1 1 3, 1 1 4 Karpov 88, 1 29, 1 4 5 , 1 47, 1 49, 1 7 1 Kasparov 1 0, 46, 5 1 , 5 6 Kekelidze 6 8 Khairullin 63 Kislik 1 20 Kogan 57, 63, 1 07 Korchnoi 1 54, 1 80 Korobov 7 1 Kovacevic 5 8 Kozul 75, 76 Kramnik 67, 69, 72, 1 00 Kudrin 5 8 , 59 Kumaran 1 84 L

Lecroq 28 Leko 27, 67 Levenfish 8 8 Luther 88

M

Makarov 1 08 Makogonov 1 53 Malaniuk 80, 8 1 Maletin 73 Maltsev 1 07 Mamedyarov 1 28 Marin 7, 24, 1 5 1 , 1 52, 1 54, 1 62, 1 68 Mastrovasilis 70 McNab 9 1 Meduna 7 1 Miles 80 Mista 77 Moles Palleja 28 Movsesian 5 1 N

Nielsen 5 , 37, 38, 44, 50 Nolan 12 Nunn 88, 9 1 0

Onischuk 68 Ostoj ic 1 5 5

p

Palau Viol 28 Paragua 76 Parto� 1 54, 1 5 5 Perez Candelario 1 20 Polgar 7, 1 54, 1 80 Pomar 1 68 Ponomariov 1 78 Praznik 77 Prie 97 Psakhis 1 29 R

Radjabov 68, 75, 1 0 1 Raivio 1 07 Ridameya 8, 1 62, 1 66, 1 67, 1 68, 1 70, 1 7 1 , 1 72, 1 7 5 Ridameya Tatche 8, 1 62, 1 68

Name Index Rowson 39, 40 Ruiz 28

s

Stojanovski 24 Savchenko 7 1 Schmittdiel 1 07 Sebastian 44, 53 Shachar 1 06 Shaw 6, 87, 89, 92, 96, 1 8 5 Shirov 6 Sideif Sade 1 29 Simon 57 Sisak 1 1 3 Smyslov 8 8 , 1 63 Sorensen 24 Spassky 46 Sriram 72, 73 Stallone 1 28 Stefansson 40 Steinitz 96 Strelnikov 78 �uba 1 5 3, 1 54 Sutkus 28 Svidler 1 28, 1 78

T

1 95

Tacu 8, 1 52, 1 54, 1 5 5, 1 57, 1 5 8, 1 5 9, 1 60, 1 62, 1 69, 1 76 Tal 1 00, 1 3 8, 1 76 Talla 1 1 3 Tarrasch 1 54, 1 72 Timoshenko 8 1 Tisdall 1 8 1 Tiviakov 27, 28 Tocco 3 1 , 33, 35 Topalov 1 28 Troianescu 1 5 8 v

Vaitonis 28 Van der Wiel 1 1 2, 1 1 6, 1 27 Van Wely 70 Vasilescu 1 54 Velasco 28 Voiculescu 1 5 8 von Bardeleben 96 w

Wang Yue 63, 67 Wippermann 29 Wu 1 8 5 z

Zaitsev 1 63

Opening Index Benoni 153 Caro-Kann 1 6 (by transposition) Dutch Defence 1 45 (by transposition) , 1 68 (by transposition) English Opening 24, 57, 1 06 French Defence 1 79 Griinfeld 39 Irregular 1 88 King's Indian Defence 76, 1 00 London System 1 6, 96 Modern Defence 1 78 Nimzo-lndian Defence 181 Pirc Defence 1 12 Ruy Lopez 31, 128, 1 63 Semi-Slav 33, 138, 140 (by transposition) Slav 69 Sicilian 1 0, 20, 27, 29, 44, 50, 89, 92, 1 1 8, 142 (by transposition) Torre Attack 80