The Safety Table

Quote of the Month: The most important on-the-board concept is safety.

Novice Nook
Dan Heisman

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From listening to players of all levels think out loud, I have learned that
one interesting safety idea is that strong players maintain a feel for
which squares are safe. As each move is played, they quickly calculate
how that move affects the safety of each affected square. You can
consider this a mental safety database or subconscious safety table,
where each entry represents an attacked square and the content is the
safety issues for that square.
For example, suppose a strong player knows that a pawn on e5 is safe it
is attacked by a knight, yet guarded by a pawn (see Whites fifth move in
the example below). But then the opponent attacks it again with f6 (see
Blacks ninth move). Now that player would be aware that the pawn is
unsafe attacked twice and only guarded once and would do something
about it.

A Parents Guide
to Chess
by Dan Heisman

There are many ways safety can be affected by a move:

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The moving pieces safety on the square where it lands.

A capture made by the moving piece.
Any new squares attacked and/or guarded by the moving piece.
Any squares no longer attacked and/or guarded by the moving
piece.
Any discoveries (for both sides!) made by the moving piece this
would include any squares cleared for movement. For example, 1.
Nf3 clears g1 for the possibility of 2.Rg1, but at this point the
safety of other pieces is not yet affected since no black pieces are
attacking the white first rank.
Any squares blocked (for both sides) by the moving piece this
would be the opposite effect of a discovery.
The allowance or prevention of castling or en passant.
Indirectly: squares that the moving piece can affect next move (or
in future moves) that have to be attended to this move, e.g., the
threat to make an unstoppable threat next move.

Looking for Trouble

by Dan Heisman

I mentioned this safety table idea to one of my students, and he asked

me to use a well-known opening as an example. Here is an edited
transcript of our conversation:
Student A few lessons back, we discussed a database one should
mentally keep. I think I recall, but if you dont mind, lets review it.
Dan Yes, the safety table and how it is affected by each move. OK,
give me an opening.
Student French, Tarrasch.
Dan OK, lets do the safety table from Whites point of view. (That
means the table will be updated primarily after Blacks move).
Student OK.
1.e4

Back to Basics:
Fundamentals
by Branislav Francuski

Dan No pieces are attacked by either side.

1e6
Dan No pieces attacked by either side, but now White cannot safely put
pieces on the a3-f8 diagonal. For example, 2.b4 is no longer safe.
2.d4 d5
Dan The pawn on e4 attacked once, guarded zero: Attention! Pawn en
prise!
White to play after 2d5
3.Nd2
Dan Defends e4. Which black line do
you want to choose?
Student 3...Nf6.
3Nf6
White to play after 3Nf6
Dan e4 is again attacked more than
defended and not safe: threats are ...dxe4
and ...Nxe4. Also, d5 is attacked once
and defended three times safe for
Black, but White can safely capture on
d5. Also, Black can now play dxe4
discovering an attack on d4, so d4 is also
in the table. So the three squares in the
table at this point are e4 (not safe), d5
(safe for Black) and d4 (may be unsafe if a capture is made on e4 and if
White cannot retake with the knight, discovering a guard on d4 with the
queen).
4.e5
Dan The table is cleared except for f6!
4Nd7
White to play after 4Nd7
Dan Now e5 is attacked once with a
knight and guarded by a pawn, so e5 is
very safe.
5.Bd3 c5

White to play after 5c5

Dan The bishop on d3 attacks h7, which
is adequately guarded and safe. The
pawn at c5 is attacked, but adequately
guarded. Now e5 looks the same as it
was before c5, except the d4 defender
is in danger; therefore, indirectly so also
may be the pawn on e5. However, the
main issue of 5c5 is that it attacks d4;
the pawn on d4 is now clearly not safe
(one attacker and no defenders), so

6.c3 Nc6
White to play after 6Nc6
Dan e5 is attacked twice and defended
only once, but it is safe for now because
the defender is a pawn and both
attackers are knights. However, d4 is
now attacked twice and defended once,
so it is unsafe.
7.Ne2 Qb6
White to play after 7Qb6
Dan e5 is still safe, d4 is now defended
twice, but attacked three times and not
safe; b2 is now attacked, but also
guarded, so safe. Also, c5 is attacked by
the white pawn, but guarded three times,
so safe. Number of squares in table: e5,
d4, c5, b2, and h7, for a total of five.
8.Nf3 cxd4
White to play after 8cxd4
Dan Capture! White is temporarily
down a pawn. d4 will be safe with a
recapture, but it has to be with the pawn
because a capture with the knight will
leave e5 unsafe! b2 and h7: no change
(safe), c5 no longer attacked.
9.cxd4 f6
White to play after 9f6
Dan d4 now attacked twice and
defended twice (safe) b2 and h7
unchanged (safe), but e5 attacked three
times and defended only twice, so
unsafe. Therefore...
10.exf6 Nxf6

White to play after 10Nxf6

Dan Move 11: d4 still safe, h7 and b2
safe, so finally White has time to castle!
11.O-O Bd6

White to play after 11Bd6

Dan d4 and b2 still safe as is h7, but
now h2 is attacked by a bishop.
However, it is also guarded twice, so h2
is safe for now.
Dan (Summarizing) After each move
(for both sides) the table is changed by
the effect of the moved pieces, and the
table contains the safety on each
attacked square. This table only covers Counting and tactics, such as
double attack, removal of the guard, etc. Yet it can be very helpful in
identifying which of those tactics can cause problems on what squares. Is
this the kind of thing you wanted?
Student Yes. So I need to get in the habit of updating the complete table
after every move.
Dan So in a sense you keep track of which squares should need attention.
If you forget and remove a defender or miss a new attacker (by a
discovery, for example), that can be enough to lose the game. Strong
players do this subconsciously. They just look for the changes and assume
things are safe otherwise.
Student Well at least for now, I need to gain discipline by doing it
consciously.
Dan Weak players, however, often assume things are safe, but there are
leftover issues that they miss! Heres an easy example: White attacks
Blacks pawn. Black counterattacks by checking. White gets out of check.
Black forgets the pawn was attacked and loses it next move. I see this
happen all the time!
Student Yes, in Xs game something like that happened. His bishop was
attacking a knight that was guarded by a pawn.
Dan What it tells me is that weaker players unfortunately sometimes
cancel out crucial parts of their table, even if the issue is left over from
the previous move! The temporarily saving of material by a zwischenszug
(in-between move) sometimes convinces them or allows them to forget
that the ongoing safety issue has been resolved.

Here are two examples of that leftover issue. In games by strong

players, the leftover safety issues occur almost exclusively with
zwischenzugs. Here is an example:
Before this I had never won more than one game in a tournament.
However, between my third and fourth event I joined a strong chess club
and experienced much improvement. This game was to be the first one
where my newfound analytical skills were put on display. My opponent,
White, has just attacked my bishop on g4.

Strauch (1616) Heisman (1385)

1st Valley Forge Open 1967
Black to play after 18.f3
The safety table now notes that the
bishop on g4 is unsafe, but I left it that
way and played the zwischenzug 18
Re6! (the simple 18Be6 is good, too,
but in a different way). Now the bishop
on d6 is guarded twice and attacked
twice, but it is unsafe because the white
queen is the lead guard. Notice how the
order of the recapturing pieces can
determine the safety of the guarded
piece (in this case the bishop on d6).
Moreover, the rook on e6 is safe, since
the knight on c5 is pinned to the king. Unfortunately for White, he cannot
easily move the bishop, as it is also pinned, e.g., 19.Bc7 Best, but not
enough 19Qxc7 20. Nxe6 Qa7+ 21.Qc5 Else the queen is lost 21
Rxd2 and the skewer on the rook wins material.
White tried 19.Rad1, but only after 19Rexd6 20.Qxd6 Rxd6 21.Rxd6
Qxc5+ 22.Kh1 did Black have to finally resolve the safety issue on g4.
Black to play after 22.Kh1
Which I did horribly with 22Be6?
Better is 22Kf8 or 22f5 with an
easy win.

White to play after 22Be6?

White should play 23.Rxc6! and the
safety table shows 23Qxc6?? no
longer allows safe interposition on f8
and thus allows mate via 24.Rd8+. Best
after 23.Rxc6! is 23Qe7, when the
win is not trivial. Instead, White
blundered with 23.Rd8+? and after 23
Nxd8 24.Rxd8+ Qf8, Black won easily
with his extra bishop.

Finally, lets contrast this to a beginner zwischenzug where the player

forgets the original concern. Here is a recent Internet game: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3
Nc6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Bg5 d6 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Qxd8+ Nxd8 7.Nxe5 Nxe4 Now
the bishop on g5 is not safe:
White to play after 7Nxe4
But instead of simply and properly
saving the attacked bishop with a
sequence like 8.Bxd8, where Black must
be careful to avoid the obvious 8Kxd8
9.Nxf7+, but instead play a complicated
line with 8Bb4+, White tries the
aggressive zwischenzug 8.Bb5+ and
after 8c6 finds both bishops attacked:

White to play after 8c6

Now White must successfully resolve
the safety issues on both b5 and g5 (A
Counting problem! See The Two Types
of Counting Problems) he must first
capture with 9.Bxd8. Instead, White
either fails to remember the carry-over
danger on g5 or fails to solve the
problem, and after 9.Bd3?? Black, in
saving the knight, is virtually forced to
win a piece with 9Nxg5.
Reminder You dont have check the safety of every square, or even
every attacked square each move, but you do need to check at least all
squares affected by the opponents previous move. If you can eliminate
common counting mistakes by keeping track of the status of key squares
and properly resolving all safety issues, it will go a long way toward
making you a better player.

Dan welcomes readers questions; he is a full-time instructor on the ICC

as Phillytutor.

Yes, I have a question for Dan!

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