Adrian Mikhalchishin: Destroying the opponents Center

Center is the most important part of the chess board, where most of the events are happening. We know the importance of the center and the power of the central placed pieces, but what to do when opponent controls the center? Answer look obvious to fight and to destroy it. There are two important ways - to destroy center with the pawns or even more drastically with the pieces sacrifices. Simple example of the first one: Gheorghiu F. : Ciocaltea V. Romania 1974

Euwe M. : Alekhine A, Netherlands 1935

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21.Sf5! Lc3 22.Sd6 Db8 23.Se4 Lf6 24.Sd2! White destroyed all Black pawns in the center and are ready to start pushing e and d pawns. 24...g5! 25.e4 gf4 26.gf4 Ld4 27.e5 De8 28.e6 Tg8 28...Sf6? 29.Sf3 30.Sd4. 29.Sf3?! 29.ed7? De2!; 29.Dh3! (1.protecting the king; 2.threatening the black king (Sf3-g5); 3.supporting the advance of the passed pawns) 29...Sf6 30.Sf3 Lb2 31.Tab1+- Euwe. 29...Dg6 30.Tg1 Now it is Rook sacrifice!!! 30.Sg5 Se5! 30...Lg1 31.Tg1

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1.c5! dc5 2.de5 Se5 3.Se5 De5 4.f4 De6 Transposition into endgame does not reduce the pressure 4...Dh5 5.e5 Dd1 6.Tad1 Sg8 7.f5 000 8.Se4. 5.e5 Sd5 6.Sd5 cd5 7.Dd5 Dd5 8.Ld5 Lh3 9.Tfc1 Tc8 10.Lb7 Tb8 11.Lc6 Ld7 12.Ld7 Kd7 13.b3 Thc8 14.Tc4 With the big advantage in the endgame. But the second method is much more difficult and I woukld like to demonstrate few classical exampoles of the top players.

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31...Df6?+Only chance for survival was 31...Df5! 32.ed7 (32.Sg5 h6! Euwe (32...Tg5 33.fg5 1

FIDE Surveys Adrian Mikhalchishin

De4 34.Tg2 De1 35.Tg1= Euwe) ) 32...Tg1 33.Kg1 Dd7 34.Kf2=, Euwe. 32.Sg5! Tg7 32...Tg5 33.fg5 Dd4 34.Dc3+-, Euwe. 33.ed7 Td7 34.De3 Te7 34...Db2 35.De6+-. 35.Se6 Tf8 35...Db2 36.d6! Tee8 (36...Td7 37.Sc7 Tf8 38.De5+-) 37.d7 Te7 38.d8D Td8 39.Sd8+-, Euwe; 39...Te3?? 40.Sf7#. 36.De5 De5 37.fe5 Tf5

Tal M. : Ghitescu T. Miskolc 1963

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37...Te6 38.de6 Tf5! (38...Te8 39.Kg2 Te6 40.Te1 Kg7 41.Kf3+-) 39.Te1 Kg8 40.Te3! (40.Kg2 Kf8 41.Tf1? Tf1 42.Kf1 Ke7) 40...Kf8 41.Ta3 Te5 (41...a5 42.Tb3) 42.Ta7 Te6 43.b3! Te2 44.Th7 Ta2 45.Tb7+-, Euwe. 38.Te1?! Correct here was to swap Rooks 38.Tg5! Tg5 39.Sg5 Kg7 (39...h6 40.d6!+-) 40.d6! Te5 (40...Td7 41.Se6 Kf7 42.Sf4 Ke8 43.Kg2 Tg7 44.Kf3 Kd7 45.Ke4 Kc6 46.Sd5+-) 41.d7 Te1 42.Kg2 Td1 43.d8D Td8 44.Se6+-, Euwe. 38...h6?! It was better to try to play Rook end 38...Te6! 39.de6 Kg8 40.Te3!; 38...Kg8 39.Tg1 Kf7 (39...Kh8 40.Tg5) 40.Sd8 Kf8 41.Sc6+-, Euwe. 39.Sd8 Tf2 40.e6 Td2 41.Sc6 Te8 42.e7 b5 43.Sd8 Kg7 44.Sb7 Kf6 45.Te6 Kg5 46.Sd6 Te7 47.Se4 1:0.

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19.Lc5!? Typical Tal style - to destroy opponents center and to change the course of the game. Simply to open closed position. It was possible classical plan of attack this kind of center: 19.Sh2 Lg7 20.f4. 19...dc5 20.Se5 Sc8 21.f4 Wrong was 21.Sf7 De7 captruring the Knight. 21...De7 22.c4! White has just two pawns for the piece, but powerfull center will make Black pieces passive. 22...Lg7 23.Sf3 Better was simply to centralize all pieces here: 23.Tad1 Sd6 24.Ld3. 23...bc4 After 23...Sh5 24.Sh5 La1 25.e5! White would obtain terrific position for the Rook. 24.bc4 Sd6 25.e5 Sc4 26.Dc3 Lb5 27.Tad1 Tad8 28.d6! Tal simply uses his pawns forward, instead of returning piece back. 28...Sd6 29.ed6 Db7?! Stronger, but not sufficient for equality would be 29...Df8 30.Dc5. 30.Se5 30.f5 was either strong; or even simpler 30.Dc5. 30...Sd7?!

FIDE Surveys Adrian Mikhalchishin

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Looked dangerous, but promising some chances for escape was 30...Sd5 31.Df3 Td6 32.Kh2 Tdd8 33.Le4. 31.Sh5! It is start of very dangerous attack. 31...Lh8 32.Dg3 Se5 33.fe5 Dd7 34.Sf4! Threatening to sacrifice on g6. 34...Le5 Or 34...Tg8 35.e6. 35.Lg6! Kh8 35...fg6 36.Dg6 Kh8 37.Te5 Te5 38.Df6. 36.Lf7! Ld4 36...Df7 37.Te5 Te5 38.Sg6. 37.Td4 Te1 38.De1 Df7 39.De5 Dg7 40.Dc5 Lc6 41.Td2 1:0. Polgar J. : Spassky B. Budapest 1993

20...Sbd5! 21.ed5 Sd5 22.b4?! Spassky tries too free his bishop, as plain defence just would allow Black to start roll own center. 22.Tac1 Sc3 23.Dd2 Lf3 24.gf3 d5. 22...Sb4 Other serious option would not be too materialistic, but sometimes chessplayers can regret it. 22...Se3 23.fe3 Lf3 24.gf3 e4. 23.Lb3

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23...Ld5?! Black had two other serious options: 23...d5 24.a3 Sc6 25.Da2 Sa5; 23...e4 24.Sd4 Sd3 25.Ted1 d5 26.Td3 ed3 27.Dd3, but in the last variation White would block the position. 24.Ted1 Black has good compensation after 24.a3 Lb3 25.ab4 d5 26.Ta6 d4 27.Lg5 f6 28.Db2 Lc4. 24...Lc4 25.Dd2 It is not useful to help Black to obtain more central passed pawns 25.Lc4 bc4 26.Tab1 Sd3 27.Se1 e4. 25...Sd3 26.Lh6 d5 27.Lc2 Sc5! 28.Te1? In such situations it is recommended to create counterplay at any price, or to exchange Bishops first. 28.a4. 28...Lh8! 29.Tad1 Db6 30.Dg5 e4 31.De3 Just tactical tricks keep White position playable. 31...La2 32.Lb1 Lb1 Possible was to avoid exchange of Bishops 32...Lc4! a6-a5-a4 etc. 3

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Black has real problems with space, so piece sacrifice, destroying opponents center has two ideas - second is to free both Black Bishops.

FIDE Surveys Adrian Mikhalchishin

33.Tb1 Sa4 34.Db6 Sb6 35.Le3 Sa4 Simpler was to simplify position and start pushing Queens side pawns 35...ef3 36.Lb6 Te1 37.Te1 b4. 36.Sd4 Sc3 37.Tbc1 Tc4 38.Sge2 Se2 39.Se2 Td8 40.g4 d4 41.Tcd1 d3 Simpler was 41...a5 42.Sg3 d3. 42.Sg3 Lc3 In such situations exchanges are recommended - 42...Le5. 43.Ld2 Ld2 44.Td2 Tdd4 45.f3! Only chance is to destroy powerfull pawns group. 45...ef3 46.Kf2 b4 47.Kf3 Td8 Better was 47...a5. 48.Te7 Tb8 Direct winning variation look like 48...a5 49.Ta7 b3 50.Ta5 Tc2 51.Sf1 b2 52.Tb5 Tc1. 49.Td7 b3 50.T7d3! a5 51.Tb2 a4 52.Se2 Kg7 53.Ke3 Ta8 54.Sc3 Tb4 55.Sa4 Taa4 56.Tbb3 Tf4! 57.Ke2 Kh6 58.Tf3 Kg5! One flank ends generally are drawish with such material, but here activity of Black King is decisive. 59.Kf2 Tf3 60.Kf3 Kh4 61.Kg2 Ta2 62.Kg1 h5! 63.gh5 Kh5 64.Tf3

Kramnik V. : Beliavsky A. Belgrade 1995 1.Sf3 d5 2.g3 RRc6 3.Lg2 Lg4 4.00 Sd7 5.d4 e6 6.Sbd2 f5 7.c4 Ld6 8.Db3 Tb8 9.Te1 Sh6 Defensive move, but other more central Knight move is either very dangerous: 9...Sgf6 10.Sg5 f4

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11.e4! de4 12.c5 Sd5 13.Sde4 Le7 14.Se6 Le6 15.Sd6 Ld6 16.Te6 Le7 17.Ld5 Sf8 18.Lf4 cd5 19.Te7, 1:0, Prusikin M. : Krejci J., Merlimont 2011. 10.cd5 cd5 11.h3! Before was used much less direct way of central strategy - 11.Se5. 11...Lh5

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Correct chance here was to place Rook from behind 64.Tb7! f5 65.Tg7. 64...f5 65.Tf4 Te2 66.Kh1 Te4 67.Tf2 Kh4 68.Kg2 Tb4 69.Kh2 Te4 70.Kg2 f4! 71.Kf3 Te5 72.Tg2 72.Kf4 Tf5 73.Ke3 Tf2 74.Kf2 Kh3+. 72...g5 73.Tg4 Kh3 74.Tg3 Kh4 0:1.

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Better was not to lose the tempo and to try to defend stubbornly weakness on e6. 11...Lf3 12.ef3 De7 13.f4 Sf6 14.Sf3 Sf7 15.Se5. 12.e4!! White has to destroy Black pawn group and to open the center for its pieces. 4

FIDE Surveys Adrian Mikhalchishin

12...fe4 13.Sg5 Lf7 All other defences are unsufficient: 13...Dg5 14.Se4 De7 15.Sd6 Dd6 16.Lf4+-; 13...De7 14.Se6! Lf7 (14...De6 15.Te4+-; 14...Sf6 15.Le4! de4 16.Se4+-) 15.Sg7 Kf8 16.Se4 Kg7 (16...de4 17.Lh6 Lb3 18.Sf5+-) 17.Lg5 de4 18.Le7 Lb3 19.Ld6 Ld5 20.Lb8 Tb8 21.Le4+-. 14.Sde4! de4 15.Se6 Le6 16.De6 De7 17.Te4 Kd8 18.Dd5 and there is no real defence against Bishops check on g5, 1:0. Romanishin O. : Shijanovsky V. Kiev 1967

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26...Lf4 Not sufficient attack was after 26...g5 27.Se3 gf4 28.Kf2 fe3 29.Te3. 27.Kf4 Dg2

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16...Sed5! Why to suffer without space after c3-c4, when it is possible to destroy all wall constructed by White. 17.ed5 Sd5 18.Lb2 Better was to try to stop creation of big pawn center 18.Ld2 f5 19.Tc1 c5 20.c4. 18...Sf4 19.Tb1 Interesting would be 19.Se3. 19...e4 20.Sd4 c5 21.Se2 Suddenly Black starts fierce attak against opponents King. 21...Sg2! 22.Kg2 e3 23.f3 Lf3! 24.Kf3 Db7 25.Kg3 Le5 26.Sf4

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28.Te3 Very nice mates happened after 28.Dg4 Df2 29.Kg5 Te5 30.Kh6 Df4 31.Df4 Th5#; 28.Df3 g5! 28...Te3 29.Se3 Df2 30.Ke4 Queen is lost after 30.Df3 g5 31.Kg4 h5. 30...Te8 31.Kd5 De3 32.Dg4 Dd2 33.Kc6 Dc2 34.Dd1 De4 35.Kb6 Tb8 36.Ka5 Dc6 0:1. But this kind od central destroying is not always successfull.

FIDE Surveys Adrian Mikhalchishin

Gufeld E. : Psakhis L. Kislovodsk 1982

Garcia R. : Medina Garcia A. Tel Aviv 1964

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25...Sbd5!? Black was under huge pressure on the Queens flenk, so he decideed to open the center with the piece sacrifice. 26.ed5 Sd5 27.Le4! With this move Gufeld starts plan to block Black pawns and not to allow them to be pushed forward. 27...Da8 27...Sc3? 28.Tc3 bc3 29.Lb7 cd2 30.Td1!+-; 27...Se3 28.Lb7. 28.Ld5! Ld5 29.Sde4! Te6 It is not possible to capture third pawn 29...Lb3 30.Sf6 Kg7 31.Sd7+-. 30.Tc7 Lc6 31.De2 f5? Still better was to try to improve central structure 31...d5 32.Sc5 Lc5 33.Lc5. 32.Tc1!+Not so clear would be 32.Sf5?! gf5 33.Dh5 De8 34.Df5 Dg6. 32...Lg7 Nice tactical deflection would happen after 32...fe4 33.Dg4 De8 34.T1c6. 33.Dc2 Simpler was 33.Dc4 d5 34.Da6 Da6 35.Sc5. 33...Le8 34.Tc8 Db7 35.Dc4 d5 36.Db5 Df7 37.Sc5 37.T1c7? Dc7. 37...Tab6 38.Se6! Tb5 39.Sg7 Kg7 40.ab5 d4 41.T1c7 1:0.

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16.Sd5!? Here is the creation of the powerefull center, but without any sacrifice! It means, that White believe that powerfull pawns in the center are equal at least to Knight with just one pawn as a compensation! 16...cd5 17.ed5 ab4 18.ab4 Lf5 After 18...e4 19.Sg5 Lg4 20.Db3 Dd7 21.Se4 Se4 22.Le4 White is increasing his material compensation, keeping powerfull pawn duo in the center. 19.d6 Interesting was direct 19.Se5 Lb1 20.d6 Dc8 21.La8 Da8 22.Db1 Sd5 23.Sd3. 19...Dd8

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20.Tc1 Once more was possible 20.Se5?! Ta2 21.Sc6 Te1 22.De1 Dd7 23.Se7 Kh8 24.Sf5 Df5 25.c6. 20...e4 21.Se5 6

FIDE Surveys Adrian Mikhalchishin

To disarmament led forced line 21.Sd4 Ld7 22.Dc2 Se6 23.c6 Sd4 24.Ld4 Lf5 25.d7 Sd7 26.Lg7 Kg7 27.cd7 Dd7 28.Le4. 21...Ta2 22.Lc3 Da8 23.c6 Td8 Other good chance was 23...Tc8. 24.c7 Useful was to kick away Bishop 24.g4. 24...Te8 25.Lf1

21.Lf5 Lf5 22.Sg3 Lg6 and Black is even azttacking center more directly. 8...Sh6 9.g4 00 10.Lg2 e6N Principially, correct decision was to try to create direct counterplay 10...fe5 11.fe5 e6 12.Sf3 Sf7 (weaker was 12...Ld7 13.Le3 Tc8 14.Dd2 Sf7 15.00 Sa5 16.b3 Db6

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25...Db7? Much better was 25...Sd5 26.Lb5 Sc3 27.Tc3 Le5 28.Le8 Lc3 29.Db3 De8 30.Dc3 Dd7, with winning position. 26.Ld4? White could turn the table with the fantastic chance 26.Db3 Le6 27.Lc4!! 26...Lh6? Still kept better chances simple retreat 26...Ta6. 27.Sc6! Lc1 28.Se7 Te7 29.de7 S8d7 30.Lf6 Even better was 30.Dc1 Ta8 31.Lb5. 30...Sf6 31.Dd8 1:0. Pavasovic D. : Durarbeyli V. Rijeka 2010 1.e4 c5 2.c3 g6 3.d4 cd4 4.cd4 d5 5.e5 Sc6 6.Sc3 Lg7 7.h3 f6 8.f4 Of course,principial decision is to keep fighting in the center, as to give it up there are no serious reasons. 8.ef6 ef6 9.Sf3 Sge7 10.Le2 00 11.00 g5 12.Te1 Lf5 13.Le3 Lg6 14.Tc1 Dd7 15.h4 h6 16.hg5 fg5 17.Sh2 Kh8 18.Lf3 Tad8 19.Sf1 Sf5 20.Lg4 Df7

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17.h4!, starting typical attack and opponent has no good counterattack after it. 17...Tc7 18.Tac1 Tfc8 19.h5 gh5 20.gh5 Le8 21.Lh3 Dc6 22.h6 Lf8 23.Kh1 Sd8 24.Sh4 Lg6 25.Sg6 hg6 26.Se2 Db5 27.h7, Pavasovic D. : Lie K., Dresden 2008) 13.00 b5! It is it direct counterattack on the Queens side. 14.Le3 Ld7?! (14...La6 was correct with sufficient counterplay.) 15.Dd2 b4 16.Se2 Db6 17.Kh1

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17...b3 (17...Tac8 18.b3 Sb8 19.Tfc1 Lb5 was much better) 18.ab3 Db3 19.Sc1 Db6 20.Sd3 Tfb8 21.Sc5 Lc8 22.b3 Lf8 23.Df2 Lc5 24.dc5 Dc7 25.Sg5, Goodger M. : Indrebo K., Caleta 2010. 7

FIDE Surveys Adrian Mikhalchishin

11.Sf3 Sf7 12.00

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12...g5?! Looks logical to destroy opponents center, but Black pieces are not enough active to do it successfully. Much better was typical French plan of counterplay on the Queens side: 12...Db6 13.Sa4 Dc7 14.Le3 b6 15.Tc1 La6 16.Tf2 Tac8. 13.ef6 Another good option was 13.Se2 gf4 14.ef6 Lf6 15.Lf4 Db6 16.Dd2 e5 17.Le3 e4 18.Se5 with better play. 13...Lf6 14.fg5 Here was possible to transfer to previous variation 14.Se2. 14...Sg5 15.Sg5 Direct exchanges allow White to develop easily all pieces. Slightly unnatural was another possibility. 15.Le3 Sf3 16.Tf3 Ld7. 15...Lg5 16.Tf8 Kf8 17.Df3 Kg7 18.Lg5 Dg5 19.Tf1

Now black has to be very carefull, as opponent mobilized all his pieces. 19...De7 20.De3

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Very interesting possibility was tactical transfer into sharp end 20.Df4 Ld7 21.Ld5! ed5 22.Sd5 Tf8 (22...De2 23.Df7 Kh8 24.Dd7 Db2 25.Sc7 Tg8 26.Se6) 23.Se7 Tf4 24.Tf4 Se7 25.Te4 Kf6 26.a3 b6 27.Kf2 h6 28.Tf4 Kg7 29.Kg3

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FIDE Surveys Adrian Mikhalchishin

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and Black have typical problems defending end Rook plus 2 pawns against two pieces. 20...Ld7 21.b4! Very interesting positional idea - with this flank break White tries to deflect opponents Knight, controlling important central e5 square. 21...a6 22.a4 More timid approach 22.a3 Tf8 23.Tf8 Df8 24.Se2 h6 25.Sf4 guaranteed White stable advantage. 22...Db4? 8

Very nervous decision, losing on the spot. Much more stubborn was 22...Tf8 23.Tf8 Df8 24.b5 Sb4 25.Lf1 with slight White advantage. 23.Dg5 Kh8 24.Df6 Kg8

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25.Sd5! It is this blow, which was not evaluated properly by young Azerbaijani. 25...Dd4 25...Df8 26.Dg5 Dg7 27.Sf6 was losing Bishop, as in the game. 26.Dd4 Sd4 27.Sf6 Kg7 28.Sd7 Td8 1:0. Kortschnoj V. : Nijboer F. Netherlands 1993

This attack is just optical, as there are no real possibilities for Black on the Kings flank. Or 21...Tf7 22.d6 De6 23.Dd5 Dd5 24.Sd5. 22.d6 gf3 23.gf3 Much simpler was 23.Lf3, but Korchnoi wants to sacrifice even more! 23...Lh3

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24.Kh1! Nothing wrong was with 24.Tf2, but White is ready to push his d pawn. 24...Lf1 25.Lf1 De6 26.d7 Now White promotes pawn and gets all material back. 26...Sf6 27.d8D Tfd8 28.Ld8 Sd7 29.Lg5 Tc8 30.Dd5 Sgf8 31.Le7 Sc5 32.Lh3 Dd5 33.Sd5 1:0. Vysochin S. : Galinsky T. Kiev 2003

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18.Sc5! As it was just one opened file on the board and no other way to realize space advantage, White starts to destroy opponents center and to create own powerfull pawns, rolling forward. 18...dc5 19.Lc5 Sg6 20.Lb6 Df6 21.c5 g4

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11.Lf5! As we see, such decisions can be made practically without complicated calculations. 9

FIDE Surveys Adrian Mikhalchishin

White powerfull pawns in the center are more than sufficient compensation for the pawn. 11...ef5 12.Sd5 Dd8 13.00 Se7 14.Se7 After logical avoiding of exchange 14.Sc3 Black could try to block White central pawns. 14...Sb6. 14...Le7 15.d5 00 Now blocking idea was possible, but White would keep upper hand anyway. 15...Sb6 16.d6 Lf8 17.Db3 Dd7 18.Sd4 Da4 19.Sb5 Db3 20.Sc7 Kf7 21.ab3 Tb8 22.Ta7 Le6 23.Le3 Sd7 24.f4. 16.d6 Se5 17.Db3 Sf7 18.de7 De7 19.Te1 Black was forced to return piece back to complete development. But White pieces are much more better developed and placed. 19...Df6 20.Lf4 a5 21.Tac1 a4 22.Dd5 Ta6 23.Tc7 A bit better was to play more directly 23.Sd4 Td8 24.Lc7! Td5 25.Te8#. 23...h6 24.Tec1 Le6 25.Db7 Taa8 Nothing changed 25...La2 26.Se5 Db6 27.Db6 Tb6 28.Sd7 Tb2 29.Sf8 Kf8 30.Ta7 winning pawn a4. 26.T7c6 Ld5 27.Tf6 Lb7 28.Tf5 White won a pawn with better position, so realization is not difficult. 28...g5 29.Lg3 Tfc8 30.Tc8 Tc8 31.h4 Tc1 32.Kh2 Lf3 33.Tf3 Tc2 34.hg5 hg5 35.Ta3 Tc4 36.b3 ab3 37.Tb3 Ta4 38.a3 Kg7 39.Kg1 Kg6 40.Kf1 Sh6 41.Tb6 Kh5 42.Ld6 Sf5 43.Tb4 Tb4 44.Lb4 1:0. Parligras M. : Maksimenko A. Germany 2011

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16...a5 17.Te2 Sb6 18.Se1 Ta7 19.Sd3 Te7 20.f4. 17.Se5! The most dynamic way, it was possible to prepare pawn attack against the center: 17.Te2 Se1d3, f4. 17...de5 18.Le5 Sh5 19.Lg7 Seg7 20.f4 Typical situation - White has just two pawns for the sacrificed piece, but all the center is in his hands. Black has to try some counteraatack against this control. 20...g5 21.fg5 Dg5 22.Sf3 Dh6 22...De7 23.e5. 23.Df2! Pawn c5 is without proper protection. 23...f5 24.Dc5 fe4 25.Te4

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Even simpler was active 25.Se5!. 25...Lf5 Only chance was to try to transfer into endgame, but it would not save the game. 25...Db6 26.Db6 ab6 27.Tee1! 28.Sd4, 28.Se5. 26.Te7 Tae8 27.Da7 Te7 28.De7 Ld3 29.Te1+- Te8 30.Db4 Le2 31.Dd2 Db6 32.Dd4 Db3 33.d6 Sf6 34.Df6 Tf8 35.d7! De3 36.Kh1 Tf6 37.d8D Tf8 38.Dd5 Kh8 39.Dd2 Tf3 40.Te2 1:0.

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqntrk+0 9zp-+-+pvlp0 9-+-zp-snp+0 9+-zpPzp-+-0 9PzpP+P+-+0 9+P+-+NzP-0 9-vLQsN-zPLzP0 9+-+-tRRmK-0 FIDE Surveys Adrian Mikhalchishin

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