Let's Take A Look

Lets Take A
Look...
Nigel Davies


by Bruce Alberston
We invite you to submit games to be considered by Nigel in this column. For
all games submitted, please provide the following information: (1) Names of
both players; (2) Ratings of both players; (3) When and where the game was
played; (4) The time control used in the game; and (5) Any other information
you think would be helpful for us to know. Please submit the games (in PGN
or CBV format if possible) to: nigeldavies@chesscafe.com. Who knows,
perhaps you will see the game in an upcoming column, as Nigel says to you,
Lets take a look...
Hammer and Nail
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you treat everything as a nail.
Abraham Maslow
One of the main difficulties facing many players is that their repertoire of
ideas and strategies is too narrow. Many players have been impressed at one
time or another with some games that illustrate a particular plan. But the
danger is that they then try to bring this off in every game without being too
discriminating about the position they try to use it in. If it doesnt work theyll
try to improve the way they set the plan up. What occurs to relatively few
players is to broaden their repertoire of plans.
The most common type of plan to try and emulate is some form of mating
attack. Such strategies are readily comprehensible because the goal is clear
(checkmate) and certain types of mating attacks can be broken down into
smaller stages. If Black, for example, adopts a kingside fianchetto, White can
often try to exchange this bishop off (Bc1-e3, Qd1-d2, Be3-h6), castle
queenside and the prise open the h-file (h2-h4-h5) in order to get the kings
rook into play against Blacks king.
Chess strategy really doesnt come much simpler than that so its little
surprise that this sequence of moves is very popular even at lower levels of
the game. I believe this tendency creates both perils and opportunities. The
danger is in allowing your opponents favoured plan when its good and
getting mown down. The opportunity lies in the possibility you have to create
a position in which its bad, or find a neat way of rendering it ineffective.
To give you some examples, lets assume were playing someone who
knows he should attack a fianchettoed bishop with Bc1-e3, Qd1-d2, Bh6,
etc. Its easy to get destroyed if we react in a stereotypical way we castle
into the attack and then fiddle while Rome burns.
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Let's Take A Look
How are we going to make it innocuous or even poor? From a strategic point
of view several possibilities suggest themselves, and these might be used
either on their own or together:
a) Delayed kingside castling: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6
5 Nc3 g6 6 Be3 Bg7 7 f3 Nc6 8 Qd2 Bd7 9 0-0-0 Rc8.
b) Delayed development of the bishop to g7: 1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3
g6 4 Be3 c6 5 Qd2 b5.
c) Leave the knight on g8 to stop Be3-h6: 1 e4 g6 2 d4 Bg7 3 Nc3 d6 4
Be3 a6 5 Qd2 Nd7 6 0-0-0 b5.
d) Stop the h-pawn n its tracks with ...h7-h5: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4
cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 6 Be3 Bg7 7 f3 Nc6 8 Qd2 0-0 9 Bc4 Bd7
10 0-0-0 Rc8 11 Bb3 Ne5 12 h4 h5.
e) Prepare a counterattack with ...d7-d5: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4
4 Nxd4 g6 5 Nc3 Bg7 6 Be3 Nf6 7 f3 0-0 8 Qd2 d5.
Of course it needs a wide knowledge of different types of position and chess
strategies to be able to reel off these various counter-strategies and visualise
them in a game. How can a player develop this ability?
The best way is to broaden your chess tastes so that you study games with all
sorts of openings, including those you dont play. So rather than play through
the games in a specialist openings monograph you might examine the games
of a particular player or even work through an entire tournament book. The
multiplicity of strategies and ideas can broaden a players understanding of
chess is ways he never dreams of until he becomes a broad reader. Chess
ideas tend not to respect the boundaries of move order, so what you learn
about Nimzo-Indian positions can end up being highly applicable to positions
which arise from quite different openings.
The way not to develop is to focus exclusively on limited, single plan
openings such as the Colle, Stonewall Attack or similar systems. Whilst these
may be tempting because a player thinks he understands what to do, the one
plan nature of these positions does nothing to foster an ability to deal with the
reality of ever-changing structures and the constant need to improvise. Worse
yet, they render him vulnerable to wrong-footing manoeuvres by a wily
opponent.
In the following game Black allows the attacking plan outlined above, and in
a form that is very dangerous for Black, the standard Sicilian Dragon. Blacks
good fortune consisted in the fact that his opponent had a different kind of
hammer hardwired into his thinking, the Velimirovic Attack with Bf1-c4, Bc1-
e3 and Qd1-e2.
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Let's Take A Look
This hammer is suited to a different kind of nail. And White gets beaten by a
player almost 400 points lower rated.
Smith,P (1650) - Rouse,R (1272)
Louisville, Kentucky 1989
Sicilian Dragon [B70]
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6
Ive always maintained that a smarter way to play the Dragon at this level is
with 2...Nc6 so that after the standard kingside attack plan with 3 d4 cxd4 4
Nxd4 g6 5 Nc3 Bg7 6 Be3 Nf6 7 f3?! 0-0 8 Qd2 Black gets to play 8...d5 in
one move instead of two. Its amazing how often Ive seen White allow this
against the Accelerated Dragon (2...Nc6) which all goes to show that a little
knowledge (the Be3 and Qd2 strategy against Dragon formations) can be a
dangerous thing.
3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 6 Bc4
Here and over the few next moves White chooses a Velimirovic Attack type
of plan, but one which is more appropriate for Sicilians in which Black plays
...e6, ...d6 and puts his queens knight on c6. He would have been much better
off had he known only the Bc1-e3, Qd1-d2 and Be3-h6 strategy outline
above, the way to get into this being 6 Be3 Bg7 7 f3 followed by 8.Qd2, etc.
6...Bg7 7 Be3 0-0 8 Qe2
The queen just isnt right on this square.
8Nc6 9 0-0-0 Ng4!
This must have come as an unpleasant
surprise to White as it throws a spanner in
the works. Such moves are not possible in
the Velimirovic Attack because a black
pawn would be on e6 by now.
10 f3
Giving up the dark-square bishop is a
major concession because it will be very
difficult to attack Blacks king without it.
But 10 Nxc6 bxc6 11 Bd4 hardly inspires
confidence after 11e5 12 Bc5 Qg5+ forcing 13 Be3.
10Nxe3 11 Nxc6 bxc6 12 Qxe3 Qb6
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Let's Take A Look
This is actually a pretty good move. With the bishop on g7 and an open b-file
youd expect Black to be playing for the attack, though the endgame is also
very good if Black can homogenise his pawn chain.
If White exchanges queens then the a7-pawn comes to b6 and gives Black one
huge island of pawns. This kind of thing always warms the heart of your older
grandmaster.
I have a previous game on record from this position which shows a more
violent treatment from Black. Schork - Zikeli, Buchen 2001 went 12...Bd7 13
Bb3 Qa5 14 g4 Rfb8 15 h4 Qc7!? 16 h5 a5 17 hxg6 hxg6 18 Qg5 e6 19 Qd2
d5 20 exd5 cxd5 21 a4 d4 22 Ne2 Rxb3 0-1. I hasten to add that this wasnt
all forced.
13 Qd3 Bb7
One would rather have expected 13...Bd7 intending 14Rfb8 so as to power
down the b-file. I cant say I like the position of this bishop on b7, though
Black is always going to be better if he keeps his unopposed dark-square
bishop.
14 f4 c5
And heres another move that I certainly wouldnt play myself. It turns out
that Black can play 14d5 after which 15 exd5 cxd5 16 Bxd5 Bxd5 17 Qxd5
Rab8 would win on the spot (18 Qb3 Qe3+ wins the queen).
15 Bb3
If White had guessed Blacks plan of ...Bxc3 followed by capturing the e4-
pawn he might have been tempted to try 15 h4. Had Black then continued
with 15...Bxc3 16 Qxc3 Bxe4, White could have caused all sorts of trouble
with 17 h5. In any case the plan of giving up the dark-squared bishop is one
which entails deep risk.
15...Bxc3 16 Qxc3 Bxe4 17 Rhe1 Qb7 18 Re2 Bxg2?!
Black appears to be unaware of the danger he faces in this position. Rather
than capture a second pawn it makes sense to play 18...Rac8. This serves the
purpose of preparing ...d6-d5 by supporting c5, getting the rook off the h1-a8
diagonal (if Blacks bishop were distracted, Bb3-d5 would win the exchange)
and preparing ...c5-c4.
19 Rde1
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Let's Take A Look
19 f5!? is interesting here, immediately
getting to grips with Blacks kingside.
After 19...Be4 (19...gxf5 20 Rg1 wins the
bishop) 20 fxg6 hxg6 21 Re3, White is
threatening Rh3 with a strong initiative for
his pawns.
19...e6 20 Bxe6?
And this is nothing more than a wild,
desperate lunge. 20 h4!? is a much better
try, for example if Black stops the further
advance of Whites h-pawn with 20...h5 there is 21 f5! exf5 (21...gxf5 22 Rg1
wins the bishop) 22 Rg1 Bd5 23 Qf6! Bxb3 24 Re7 forcing Black to give up
his queen. If instead he plays 24...Qb4? then 25 Rxg6+ would lead to mate.
20...fxe6 21 Rxe6 Qd5
Many other moves would win for Black because White is a piece down for
nothing.
22 Re7 Rf7 23 Qa5
23 Re8+ Rxe8 24 Rxe8+ Rf8 25 Rxf8+ Kxf8 26 Qh8+ Ke7 27 Qxh7+ Qf7
would see an end to Whites attack.
23...Rxe7 24 Rxe7 Bf3 25 b3 Qd1+ 26 Kb2 Qd4+
Blacks queen is really magnificently
placed on this square, not only does she
participate in the attack on Whites king,
she defends the dark squares around the
black king.
27 Kb1 c4 28 Qc7 c3 29 a4 Qd1+ 30 Ka2
Qxc2+ 31 Ka3 Qb2+ 32 Kb4 c2
32a5+ would have won Whites queen,
which would make it a slightly safer move
in my view. Not that Black is in much
danger here; I just like to reduce the odds of any accidents occurring.
33 Qc4+ Kh8 0-1
White has no effective checks and hes about to face a second black queen.
Recommended Reading
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Let's Take A Look
Toward a Psychology of Being by Abraham Maslow (Wiley, 1998)
500 Master Games of Chess by Tartakower & du Mont (Dover, 1975)
Copyright 2005 Nigel Davies. All rights reserved.


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