CHESS STRATEGIES,

BRILLIANT STROKES
AND KILLER TIPS FROM
2014

EDITION #1

BRENDAN J. NORMAN
 Copyright 2014, 2015 by BJN Publishing.

Join the FREE training course Chess Tactics 101 at:

OnlineChessCourse.com
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Why I Wrote This Book

FREE GIFT!
Chapter 1. TACTICAL VIOLENCE
Chapter 2. COOL PERSONALITIES FROM CHESS.COM
Chapter 3. ENDGAME MASTERY
Chapter 4. AWESOME UPSETS
CONCLUSION
About The Author
 WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK
To be honest, I wrote this short book for myself.

Well, sort of. I wrote it for chess players like myself who love to keep up with the latest goings on in
the chess world, learn cool new strategies and gradually improve their playing strength.

By the way, by saying latest goings on above, I mean that all of the illustrative chess games in this
e-book were played within the last couple of months! They are VERY recent and fresh examples
which you probably havent seen before.

The book is also designed to be conversational and to entertain you.

The reason I said I want to entertain you is because I remember reading some chess books when I
was younger and although the content was undoubtedly fantastic (and I probably learnt a lot), I found
it really dry and boring at times, and that was way back in the early 2000s.

I think sometimes Id actually fall asleep at my kitchen table quietly snoring with a still open chess
book and the board position still intact, but thats another story haha.

Today, in the age of YouTube, Chess.com and Kindle books, etc., chess improvers want to be
entertained even more during the learning process and thats really what this book is all about.

I wanted to give you a buffet style chess learning experience where you arent forced to read the
chapters in a strict order and may choose to skip forward, come back and move around to wherever
you find most interesting at the time.

There are sections on attacking chess, endgames, amazing upsets and even a chess.com top player
profile.

Each section will conclude with a Lessons From This Section area where you can check whether
you gained all of the knowledge from the material and if not, you can always review the materials
again for your aha! moment.

Im very confident that you will improve with each section you study and Im sure you will at least
gain a small (but essential and ELO raising!) piece of chess knowledge from each section.

Im confident of this because after well over a decade of studying chess and coaching, it has become
clear to me which material is best for maximum instructional value.

On the other hand, as a chess fan I also know how to choose the most interesting or beautiful
examples too, so I hope to present you here with the best of both worlds.

Lets get started.

 FREE GIFT!
Hey again!

Before we get started I wanna give you a gift and say THANK YOU for taking the time to get this
book in the first place!

Weve recently launched an Online Chess School where you learn chess just like as if it were a
college course!

I know I always dreamed of something structured like this!

Youll be able to take chess lectures, download course materials, do homework and youll even be
required to pass a test before moving on the higher levels!

This all takes place within a community of like-minded, interacting chess lovers.

Sounds good?

JUST for downloading this particular Kindle book, you can go and join our Chess Tactics 101
course FREE.

Chess Tactics decide every game guys, so this is a no brainer!

Visit onlinechesscourse.com/free to get in EARLY!

 CHAPTER 1
TACTICAL VIOLENCE
In this chapter Ill be showing four very recent games in which the victor defeated their opponent
using what can only be described as a breath-taking tactical storm.

Such beautiful games can inspire us viewers to train that little bit harder in mastering the various
tactical themes which exist in chess, so that we too can create beauty in our games as well as scoring
points in tournaments.

Fide World Rapid 2014

17.6.2014
Moiseenko, A (2707) - Lu Shanglei (2546)

1. d4 f5

Black plays the so-called Dutch Defense which was a favorite opening of such greats as Botvinnik,
but in this move order white has several aggressive approaches to deal with it. Botvinnik used to play
1 e6 here and follow 2. c4 with f5 which limits a few of whites attacking options, but of course
black must be willing to enter a French Defense if white plays 2.e4 (Botvinnik was a life-long French
player).
2. Bg5 I always quite liked this line and even used it to score an important win as a teenager. Also
possible is the dangerous Staunton Gambit which goes something like 2. e4 fxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5
after which white will focus on developing quickly and trying to develop an attack on the kingside.

2g6 My game went 2 h6 3. Bh4 g5 4. Bg3 Nf6 (4 f4 ?! is a known trap which doesnt work
due to 5. e3 where white wins a pawn due to the mate threat on h5.) 5. e3 Bg7 and the game became
positional and drawn out finally, but I scored the point which was all that mattered to me at the time
haha! 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. h4!

I like this approach. Playing g6 has given white a target for a typical h4-h5 advance, and of course
if the white pawn gets to h5 and black plays Nxh5, white would love to sacrifice the exchange with
Rxh5. A nice point is that any attempt to prevent this plan will also cause a weakness.}

h6 This move deals with the threat of h4-h5, but as I said creates a weakness on g6 which eventually
leads to blacks early downfall. 5. Bxf6 exf6 6. Nh3!
An excellent move. The typical chess player would just calmly develop with Nf3 or by moving the e-
pawn, but this nice maneuver transfers the knight to f4 where it is on a much better square targeting
the newly created g6 weakness.

Remember this, dont just mobilize your pieces like an automaton Mobilize them to their most
effective squares which place the most pressure on your opponent!

h5 Shutting down whites h pawn once and for all, but costing valuable time.

7. Nf4 Kf7 This is a pretty awkward way of defending the g6 pawn, but obviously Rg8 was no better.
8. e3 Bh6 9. Bc4+ Natural. Blacks light squares f7, g6 and h5 are chronically weak and his entire
queenside is undeveloped.

One can sense a deciding combination on the horizon.

Kg7 10.Nxg6!
There it is!

Kxg6 Now what is whites point behind the knight sacrifice? Can you see the follow up?

11. Qxh5+!!

Amazingly beautiful chess! The queen cannot be taken due to a rather nice forced mate, and so the
black king is at whites mercy. Id suggest you pause here and figure out how the checkmate will
happen if black captures the queen.
Kh7 If 11Kxh5 12. Bf7+ Kg4 13. Ne2! f4 14. f3+ Kf5 15. e4# checkmate by a pawnso funny in
practice.

12. Qf7+ Bg7 13. Nd5 When the king is at your mercy and youve sacrificed, always remember to
bring in reinforcements for the final kill. White does this here.

Rf8 Attempts to swap queens with 13 Qf8 get mated by 14. Nxf6+ Kh6 15. Qh5#

14. Qh5+ Bh6 15. Qxf5+ Kh8 If 15 Kg7 16. Rh3! and the white army keeps coming!

16. Qg6 Bg7 17. Qh5+

Black resigned due to 17Kg8 18.Nxf6 mate. 1-0

Lessons from this game:

Dont get caught behind in development.

Mobilize your pieces to their most EFFECTIVE squares, not just any old square.
Dont forget to bring in reinforcements when attacking, especially when youve sacrificed
material.

So, whatd ya think of that game? Instructive as well as beautiful I reckon!

The next one features Ivan Cheparinov of Bulgaria, who happens to be the second of Veselin Topalov
and the guy who famously forfeited a game once for refusing to shake hands with Nigel Short!

Im serious! Check out YouTube to see the video footage of the incident, its quite funny.
Anyway, like his mentor Topalov, Cheparinov has quite the aggressive style and this game bears this
out, giving us an awesome tactical finish to enjoy.

FIDE World Rapid 2014

17.6.2014
Ringoir, T (2506) - Cheparinov, I (2682)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 Black adopts the Kings Indian Defense, a positionally risky but
dynamic opening.

4. e4 d6 5. f3 The Samisch Variation, one of whites sharper lines where he will hope to play Be3,
Qd2, Bh6, h4, h5 with typical attacking ideas. Obviously black will have a say in matters and white
rarely gets this as easy as it might seem. O-O 6. Be3 c5 I believe the old main line went something
like 6 e5 7. Nge2 Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. g4 Ne8 10. Nc1 f5 and black will try to play on the kingside,
and white will castle queenside after Nb3 and Qd2. 7. Nge2

To be honest, I have no idea why white cant just take the pawn on c5 with 7.dxc5 dxc5 8. Bxc5 Nc6
9. Qxd8 Rxd8 10. Nge2 etc, but assume that after something like b6 11. Ba3 Bb7 12. Nd5 e6
13.Ne7+Nxe7 14. Bxe7 Rdc8 15. Rc1 Nd7 16. b3 Ne5 black gets some compensation for the pawn.
7 Nc6 8. d5 Ne5 8 Na5 is another option, when black will play for a6, Rb8, Bd7 and
eventuallyb5.

9. Ng3 h5!
This is a standard idea to harass the knight on g3 and ask it where it is going.

10. Be2 h4 11. Nf1 This move might seem a little stupid, but the knight does go to f1 a lot in this
variation, the idea being that later when black plays b5, white will take, followed by Nd2-c4 in
some cases. e6 Black seeks to open the center while whites king is still uncastled. 12. Nd2 h3 This
obviously cannot be taken, but can be counted as money in the bank for laterespecially if white
castles on the kingside. Gary Kasparov once said that he regarded a pawn in this position as being as
strong as a piece.

13. g3 a6 Black for now refuses to release the tension between the central pawns, and prepares to
strike at the white pawn chain with b5. 14. a4 Prevention of b5, very standard. exd5 And only
now does he take. 15. cxd5

If 15. exd5 after Re8 the problems on the e-file and with the undefended bishop on e3 start to escalate
quickly. 15 Bd7 16. O-O b5!
Black playsb5 anyway. This is a typical pawn sacrifice where white will get a pawn, but blacks
pieces will spring into active positions as compensation.

17. axb5 axb5 18. Rxa8 Qxa8 19. Nxb5 Bxb5 20. Bxb5 Rb8

In this case, black will get the pawn back straight away.

21. Be2 21. Qe2 doesnt hold the pawn due to Qa5 after which the bishop must retreat allowing
Rxb2.
21 Rxb2

Taking into consideration just static elements of the position, white can be pretty happy.

He has two bishops, a healthy pawn chain and a potential target on h3 to attack.

Unfortunately, in chess we must consider the dynamic elements of a position as well as the static
elements in order to make an accurate assessment.

Statically, black has potentially weak pawns on h3 and d6 with his single trump being a passed pawn
on c5.

Dynamically things are quite different.

Blacks far advanced pawn on h3 makes the white king quite insecure and his active rook on the 7th
rank is also dangerous.

Combine this with the centralized knight on e5 and his easy-to-mobilize queen, black has real
attacking chances and white needs to be careful.

It turns out he wasnt careful enough and he makes a big mistake on the next move.

22. f4?
This move looks very natural.

The knight on e5 needs kicking, and f4+e5 is the natural improvement plan for whites central pawn
mass.

Again statically this makes sense, but tactically it is flawed.

If blacks knight had to move back to d7on this move, we could call 22.f4 a great success, however

22 Qa3!

When you see a threat, before defending you should look for a stronger counter-threat! 23. Bf2 The
only way to save the bishop, but allowing a lovely combination.

Pause and see if you can see it. Rxd2! 24. Qxd2 Qf3!!
This is blacks point. Using his queen with the well advanced pawn on h3, black threatens mate on g2
and if the queen is captured, white loses material after the knight fork on f3. Awesome! 0-1

Lessons from this game:

When assessing your position, take into account the dynamic as well as static elements of the
position.
When threatened, before defending you should look for an even more powerful counter-threat.
Even a lowly pawn, when close to the enemy king can be very dangerous.

Ok so that fight was instructive and had a cute finish to cap it off.

Whatd you think?

The following game and last game in this chapter is less extravagant than the previous two, but no
less tactically violent and certainly no less instructive. Check it out.

FIDE World Blitz 2014

20.6.2014
Debashis, D (2484) - Fier, A (2580)

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6
Black responds with the Queens Gambit Declined, one of the more solid responses to the 1.d4.

3. Nc3 c6!? Blacks way of playing this opening is interesting. He is playing this move order (not
blocking his f-pawn with Nf6) to give himself the option of transposing into a Stonewall Dutch if
white plays 4.e3 here, which he does.}

4. e3 4. e4 is the most logical way to play this position, taking the center directly. dxe4 5. Nxe4 Nd7
6. Nf3 Ngf6 etc 4 Bd6

5. Nf3 f5
Blacks idea. He switches from a Queens Gambit Declined into a Dutch Defense and by using move
order tricks, has prevented white from adopting the most annoying setups (See Moiseenko- Lu
Shanglei for an example).

6. Bd3 I believe 6. g4!? is supposed to be a strong move here (I once lost a blitz game online to this
idea too) sacrificing a pawn to exploit blacks time wasting and slightly weakened kingside.

The idea is that after fxg4 7. Ne5 is played, with a messy position where blacks kingside is in danger
of opening up. 6 Nf6 6 Qf6 is also an idea, stopping white from planting his knight on e5 and
instead developing his g8 knight to h6 with ideas of g5 in some cases. 7. O-O O-O 8. b3 Qe7 9.
Bb2 b6 The old way to develop the light squared bishop was by 9 Bd7 with the idea of going to h5
via e8. 10. Qc1 Bb7 11. a4 Nbd7 12. Ba3 c5 The tension in the center mounts. 13. cxd5 Nxd5

14. Nb5 Bb8!?

When I was young I used to be confused about this locking in of the rook on a8, but finally I learnt that
its more important to maintain the b8-h2 diagonal than to worry about the rooks short term
discomfort.

15. dxc5 bxc5 16. Be2 Qf6!? With the aim of using the queen to attack the kingside from g6. 17. h3
a6 18.Bb2 Qg6 19. Nc3 Nb4!? This is a tricky blitz move which worked well in the game. 19
Ne5! is objectively a better try as well as being more logical. It centralizes the knight and aims to
exchange the pieces which defend the white king.

20. Na2? This move allows black a very violent attack

Pay attention to blacks very instructive play from here on. Better would have been 20. Rd1! to
defend the d3 square with a gain of tempo as well as simply to controlling the open file.
20 Nd3! 21. Qd2 Taking the invading knight with 21. Bxd3?? gets mated by 12Bxf3 22. g4 (Not
22. g3 Bxg3!) 22 Qh6 and its over.21 N7e5

Heres an instructive moment. Blacks queen and all minor pieces are very active, controlling central
squares and participating in the attack on whites kingside.

White has somehow managed to get his pieces into passive positions (especially that silly knight on
a2) and now is purely on the defensive.
Its very easy to make a slip in this type of position.

22. Nh4 Qg5 23. Bxd3??

This move is one of those natural moves which just happen to lose to a surprising tactical shot (see
previous game for another example).

Its very natural to want to exchange as many of the hostile pieces as possible, but in this case white
has missed a key point. 23. f4! was the only chance but even then after Qxh4 24. Bxd3 Nxd3 25. Qxd3
Rd8 black still stands clearly better.

23Nf3+ A big shock. The black bishops and queen combine with deadly force.

White may have expected 23 Nxd3 24. Qxd3 Qxh4 and planned 25. Qd7! when it seems he is well
and truly out of jail. 24. Nxf3 Bxf3

25. g3 Bxg3!
26. Rfc1 and wheres the finishing touch? Can you see it?

26 Bh2+and its mate next move, white resigns. 0-1

Lessons from this game:

Two bishops aiming at the enemy kingside can be very deadly, especially with support from a
queen.
When your position becomes passive, the opponent generally gets attacking chances. So stay
 active!
The temporary discomfort of one piece is often justified in order to maximize another piece.
Chess is all about weighing up seemingly equal options and learning when rules apply as well as
when they dont.

So whatd you think of those three games anyway?

I trust you picked up some tactical ideas and some attacking plans for your arsenal and would love to
hear how you employed some of these ideas in your own games.

Feel free to contact me and share a game anyway!

In the next chapter, Ill be profiling a chessplayer who has a style which is both instructive as well as
attractive.

Studying other chess players can help us to understand our own play better, as well as give us
opportunities to learn from the strengths of others.

See you on the next page.

 CHAPTER 2. COOL PERSONALITIES FROM
CHESS.COM
This chapter will profile a chess player who I came across on the chess playing site chess.com.

He is a national master from the U.S (originally from the Philippines) who plays very tactical
attacking chess.

I have played him several times winning some and losing some (Im a little ahead at time of writing
), but must admit that his attacking style can be very, very dangerous.

Real Name: Eduardo Ortiz

Account Name: Ortznoi57

Highest Rating: 2224 (June 11, 2014)

White openings: Aggressive use of 1.d4

Black openings: Kings Indian Defense and Sicilian Najdorf

Style: Attacking/Tactical

We are going to look at two games by Ortznoi57 which showcase his remarkable tactical eye.

In both of these games he plays aggressively, places pressure on a strong opponent, makes things
messy (messy, irrational positions suit tactical players) and traps his opponents queen. Both games
also last less than 20 moves as well!

Lets check it out

Live Chess on Chess.com

9.7.2014
ortznoi57 (2085) - andante (2025)

1. d4 Queens pawnOur friends favorite weapon. e6 2. c4 d5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4
This line against the Queens Gambit Declined was originally invented by classical, less aggressive
players but over time developed into a very sharp weapon, especially in the hands of such players as
Vladimir Kramnik.

O-O 6. e3 b6 7.Rc1 Bb7 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 Qxd5 10. Bd3 Bb4+Note quite as inconvenient as
black might suspect. 11. Ke2 c5?!

Its natural to want to open the center when the enemy king is stuck there, but this is not the time to do
it.
Blacks bishop on b4 is a little insecure and the threat of a3 should be dealt with. Therefore 11
Qxa2! is the real test of whites play.

12. a3 Ba5 13. Qa4!

White threatens to just trap the bishop right away with 14.b4

Nc6 14. dxc5 Rad8 Gaining a tempo but leading to hot water after whites next move.

Already black is on the brink of defeat.

15. Rhd1! Developing with the threat of 16.Bxh7+ winning the black queen at worst. Qa2 The queen
looks very insecure in this hole so I think that hunting for threats with 15Qh5 is probably the best
chance. 16. Qc2! A nice exploitation. White threatens h7, plus to win a piece with b4, plus

bxc5 17. Bc4

This move which traps the black queen. Nice! 1-0

So not bad huh? Did you get the sense he was out for blood from the start? Lets see another one.

Live Chess on Chess.com

13.7.2014
ortznoi57 (2061) lewiseisen (2103)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7

Black plays ortznoi57s own favorite defense (the Kings Indian Defense) against him.

Talk about getting a taste of your own medicine!

4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 Na6 This funny looking move is actually quite popular. The idea is to eventually
come to the c5 square after playing e5.

6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O e5 8. Re1 Qe8Another weird looking move which is common in this variation.
9. Bf1 c6 Black protects the d5 square from a knight intrusion.

10. Rb1
Typical preparation for queenside expansion with b4.

This move also has the benefit of stepping off the diagonal of the g7 bishop, which might turn out to
be a problem later.

Nh5 11. b4 exd4 12. Nxd4 Nxb4?!

A little dubious and allowing white a strong initiative. As a general rule, tactics dont work when
your opponent stands better in the center. It was better to just play 12Nc7 and place the knight on
e6 at a good moment.

13. Rxb4 c5 This is blacks point but you see, white will become active very quickly. 14.Rb3 Bxd4
15. Nb5!

White immediately captures the initiative.

Qe5 16. g3

16. Nxd4!? looks strong, but not as tactical as white might be hoping for after Qxd4 17.Qxd4 cxd4 18.
Rd3 etc

16 f5 17. Nxd4 Qxd4

18. Qc2 Does this sneaky move remind you of something?

fxe4 19. Bb2

Oh yes! A Qc2 idea threatening to trap the queen.

Well done! 1-0

Lessons from these games:

Messy, irrational positions contain many tactical resources.

Always try to make sure all of your key pieces have good mobility, especially the queen
otherwise someone like Ortznoi57 will trap them!
The internet is full of talented chess players, go find a game!
 CHAPTER 3. ENDGAME MASTERY
Tactics are something that chess players of all levels can generally find if given enough time to labor
quietly, ponder over all of the possibilities and then finally stumble upon.

They are very concrete and usually have just one or two correct possibilities, with alternative
moves proving of little or no value at all.

It is easy enough in tactical positions to narrow the options down to a single strong move by simply
looking for a known pattern (weak back rank, for example) and then deducting which moves if any
can exploit it.

Endgames on the other hand require experience, study and good judgment in order to find the right
way, and even after making a decision we often arent sure if it was the right decision or not.

The reason for this is that endgames can be quite abstract in nature with the consequences of a single
move or bad plan reaching as far as 10-20 moves ahead.

You really need to have seen lots of ideas in many different types of positions just to even have an
inkling of what is going on, and then finding the right plan is another challenge all together.

What a headache right?

In this section, Ill be presenting you with bite sized endgame examples which you can learn from and
implement straight away in your own games.

I suggest you set up the positions from the diagram and play through the examples over the board.

Make sure to make a mental (or even physical) note of the lessons from this section part because
the knowledge will serve you well in your future endgames.

By the way, I know that studying endgames sucks, but Ive chosen some pretty cool examples so dont
worry.

FIDE World Blitz 2014

19.6.2014
Polgar, J (2685) - Wojtaszek, R (2715)
In the position above white is much better due to her strong passed c-pawn and active rook on b7.

Black has just played 41Ra6 from c6 with the aim of getting counterplay via 42Ra3+ and
possibly taking on h3.

If he can achieve this, he can try to fight by threatening to promote his h4 pawn.

Watch how Polgar achieves her own plan while also limiting the counterplay of her opponent.

42. Rd7!
Very instructive use of technique.

Polgar prepares to block the rook check with Rd3 after which black cant capture (the king and pawn
ending is lost due to whites c5 pawn), and she can then place her rook behind the passed pawn with
Rc3.

White is still winning after 42.Rxb5 Ra3+ 43. Ke2 Rxh3 but I guess Polgar didnt want to take any
risks with the black h-pawn running around.

42 Ra3+ 43. Rd3 This blocking move actually gains a tempo because black is unable to take. This
gives her the time she needs to place the rook behind her passed pawn and launch forward. Ra4

44.Rc3 Kd5?
This slips is all she needs, its strange that a 2700 player didnt take the b4 pawn when it seems so
natural. The winning method she uses here is thematic, but still very instructive for lower rated
players.

The best chance obviously was to take the pawn straight away with 44 Rxb4! and after 45. c6 Re4+
46. Kf3 Rf4+ 47. Kg2 Rf8 48. Rc5+ Kd6 49. Rxb5 Kxc6 50.Rxg5 Rg8 51. Kf3 Kd6 52. Ke4 Rg7
black is still worse, but has a good chance of drawing.

45. c6 Ra8 46. c7 Rc8 47. Rc5+ Kd6 48. Ke4

Here is the point. Black cannot take on c7 because the resulting king and pawn ending is dead lost.

Therefore blacks rook is frozen to c8 and white can improve her king and simply pick off all of the
other black pawns.
48Kd7 48 Rxc7? 49. Rxc7 Kxc7 50. Ke5 Kd7 51. Kf6 and black loses all of his pawns.49. Ke5
Ke7 Black gains the opposition and tries to keep whites king out of both f6 and d6 which are key
entry squares. 50. Rc3!

A thematic tempo losing move.

You see black would like to pass on his move here, because moving the rook allows the c-pawn to
promote while moving the king relinquishes one of the key entry squares.
White gives away a tempo to say Ok, I pass. Your move, because she knows that black has no move
which doesnt hurt him.

This state of being compelled to move when youd prefer not is called zugzwang and is a dangerous
weapon in the endgame.

Kd7 51. Rc2 Ke7 52. Rc5 Black is helpless. So after some time gaining moves Judit enters the black
kingside. Kd7 Going the other way with 52 Kf7 would be much worse after 53. Kd6 when white
promotes. 53. Kf6 Rf8+

This check allows black to blockade the pawn with his king which allows him to give annoying
checks with his rook.

This is the best try, but white is winning all of blacks pawns and so its only a matter of time until
she promotes a different pawn.

54. Kxg6 Kc8 55. Kxg5 Rxf2 56. Kxh4 Rf4 57. Rxb5 Kxc7 58. Kg5 Rf8 59. h4 Rg8+ 60. Kf4 Kd6
61. h5 Rf8+ 62. Ke4 Rc8 63. h6 Rc4+ 64. Kf3 Rc3+65. Kg2 Rc2+ 66. Kg3 Rc3+ 67. Kh4 Rc1
It is a sign of good technique in rook endings to try to stop a passed pawn from behind and considered
bad technique to try to block the pawn from in front of it.

Blacks idea is therefore to place his rook on h1 and try to slow down whites advance.

Can you see an idea weve already learned which will force black to resign immediately?

68. Rh5! Placing her rook behind the passed pawn again stops black dead in his tracks.

There is nothing left to try and so he resigns. 1-0

So that was pretty instructive right?

Considering it was a blitz game, Judits technique was pretty impressive too.

Hungarian IM Tibor Karolyi, Judits former coach takes endgames VERY seriously and has
encyclopedic knowledge of them, so its no surprise that she dealt with this particular ending without
issues.

You see when you know all of these little nuggets of endgame knowledge you can use them or at least
consider certain ideas, even when they are far off into the future.

In fact, I hate to brag (to strangers anyway), but I used the exact technique Judit used in the game we
just saw, in a tournament game I played way back in 2009.

Its very interesting actually.

Screw it, let me show you. I know ya wanna see it

O2C Doeberl Cup Major
11.4.2009
Norman, Brendan - Weller, Tony

In this position on the previous page, Im up a pawn, and I would really like to just play
a5,a6,a7,a8=Q (obviously).

The problem is that black also has aggressive intentions with his storming kingside pawns (he has just
played 25g5) and would like to get a pawn to h3 and checkmate me on g2.

These types of things are not too dangerous, but CAN happen if Im not careful.

So I started to envision ways to force an exchange of queens, while maintaining all of the winning
chances in the resulting rook ending.

After some rather lengthy analysis (hey, Im no Judit Polgar!), I noticed the winning idea far off in the
distance and went for it.

26. Qd4!!
On the surface it looks stupid to give a pawn back after working so hard to be up a pawn, but Id
already spotted the zugzwang and deflection ideas I eventually used to win.

The pawn sacrifice is justified and in my view, an expression of good endgame technique as well
see.

Qxd4 27. exd4 Rxd4 28. a5 Kg7 29. a6 Rd8 30. a7 Ra8

Stage one is complete.

Blacks rook is tied passively to blocking my passed a-pawn.

31. Ra6!? An interesting subtlety.

I dont want his king to approach my pawn via the more centralized f6 square and now if he tries that
I can take on c6 with check. I learnt this type of subtle rook move when studying the rook endings of
the great Polish player Akiba Rubinstein.

f6 32. Kf1 Stage two is to bring the king to c5 before his king can come to b7 and win my a7 pawn.

Kf7 33. Ke2 Ke7 34. Kd3 Kd6 35. Kc4 Kc7 36.Kc5

Just in time. Kb7 37. Ra3!

The same concept as in the Polgar game.

Black cant take the passed a-pawn as it results in a lost king and pawn ending.

I remember a strong friend of mine laughing after I casually played this move in the tournament hall
and saying to me as I walked by you make it look so easy

Thats the thing though, when you know these small nuggets of endgame knowledge, it does become
much easier to win won positions.

h4 Black is running out of moves and stage three will be to deliberately completely run him out of
useful moves so that zugzwang can set in. (37 Rxa7 clearly loses fast after 38. Rxa7+ Kxa7 39.
Kxc6 etc 38. gxh4 gxh4 39. f4 Kc7 40.h3
Now he has no pawn moves and is in zugzwang. Again we see the same pattern as the Polgar game

The rook cant move due to my a-pawns promotion while any king move will allow me to access the
d6 or b6 squares.

Kb7 Again 40Kd7 41. Kb6 is worse. 41. Kd6 Rd8+

42. Ke7!
More precise than 42.Ke6 because it attacks the rook and therefore prevents his king from blocking
the pawn for the moment.

If 42. Ke6 Ka8 blocks the pawn and black has more chances to fight back with his newly activated
rook.

For example, after 43.Kxf5 Rd4! and things are a little messy despite still being won for white.

42 Ra8 43. Kxf6 Rf8+ 44. Kg5 Ka8 Black has managed to block the pawn with his king but as in
the Polgar example, things are relatively straightforward now.

The rook can check me as much as he likes, but all of his pawns will still fall and I will then promote
a different pawn.

45. Kxh4 Rg8 Black tries to cut off my king from crossing back to the g-file.

Not a bad try, but its more of an annoying mosquito bite than a serious problem.

46. Kh5 Rg2 47. h4 Rg4 Targeting my f-pawn 48. Ra4 c5 If not for my b-pawn I would now be in a
sort of zugzwang myself since my king is tied to the h-pawn and my rook is tied to the a and f pawns.

49. b3!
Luckily I have my b-pawn and I can pass the ball back to him.

Now his rook must leave my f-pawn alone.

49Rg3 50. Kh6 Rxb3

Black decides to win a pawn and place all hope in his newly created passer on c5.

The downside of this is that it allows my king to cross back over the g-file.
If black tried to maintain the passive defense of the g-file with 50 Rg1 it will only be a matter of
time until I escape and win.

Simply 51. h5 Rg3 52.Kh7 Rg1 53. h6 Rg3 54. Kh8 Rg1 55. h7 Rg4 56. Ra6! Rg3 57. Rc6 Kxa7 58
Rxc5 (Also winning and good technique would be 58. Rc7+ Kb6 59. Rg7 which is a known
maneuver to free the king when trapped in the corner in rook endings with passed h-pawns.) is enough
as I get his f-pawn too.

51. Kg5 Rb4 52. Ra6 c4 53. Kxf5 Rb5+ 54. Kg6 Rc5

Black finally gets his rook behind the passed c5 pawn and is ready to launch.55. Ra2! c3 56.Rc2

Here blacks only source of counterplay (the passed c-pawn) has been blocked, and giving the a7
pawn isnt a problem.

I can promote the f and h pawns at leisure and blacks king will be miles away, unable to stop it.
Kxa7 57. h5 Rc6+ 58. Kg5 Kb6 59. h6 Kb5 60. h7 Rc8 61. Rxc3!

A last tactic which is also common in rook endings and worth remembering. 1-0

Lessons from this section:

Rooks are much stronger BEHIND passed pawns.

Passivity in the endgame can lead to zugzwang, which leads to a lossso stay active!
Sometimes its useful to play a pass move to force your opponent to make a concession.
Preventing counterplay is extremely important in the endgame, unless you can calculate as deep
as a computer!
 CHAPTER 4. AWESOME UPSETS
When a high rated player meets a lower rated player in a tournament, sits down, shakes hands and
makes a move; he is expected (and also expects) to eventually win the game.

In most cases he manages to do this, but every now and then the underdog refuses to be intimidated
and does something special to scalp their mighty opponent.

This chapter is dedicated to these underdogs and will showcase their games.

The first game is between a relatively unknown 2250 player J. Lauridsen (who?) and the powerful
Chinese grandmaster Ni Hua who packs a very heavy punch with his FIDE rating of 2674.

What I like about this game is how Lauridsen just throws everything at his powerful opponent,
sacrificing a knight and going for the king aggressively As they say, Fortune favors the brave.
Lets check it out.

ECM JCL Open 2014

5.7.2014
J. Lauridsen (2244) Ni Hua (2674)

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3!? This is the so-called Smith Morra Gambit, an opening pawn sacrifice
which is SUPPOSED to be dubious, but as this game shows, still has a lot of venom.

dxc3 4. Nxc3 e6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Bc4 a6 7. O-O

7Nge7
This is a standard approach from black. His knight will come to g6 and bishop to e7 before castling.

8. Bg5 f6 9. Be3 b5 10. Bb3 Bb7 This is all pretty standard. Black is just about ready to play Ng6
and develop his bishop, but then comes a surprising novelty

11. Nd5!

Whether this is sound or not isnt important (the engine says it isnt by the way), having the courage to
make a speculative sacrifice like this against a world class GM takes guts.
I would argue that the sacrifice is indeed sound since it makes an immediate threat (Bb6) as well as
impeding blacks plans to just unravel and win with his extra pawn.

As my good friend Ron Scott says, To beat strong players, you cant just sit thereyou have to do
something special.

Previously, only 11. Nd2 had been played, but white still got a decent position here as well after Na5
12. f4 d5 13. Bf2 Nxb3 14. Qxb3 Qd6 15. Rad1 Qxf4 16. a4 Bc6 17. axb5 axb5 18. Nf3 Qd6 19.
Rfe1 Kf7 20. Nd4 Bd7 21. Ndxb5 Qc6 22. Na7 Qa6 23. Ra1 Qd6 24.Nab5 Qc6 25. exd5 Nxd5 which
was Equidistance (2400)-VoidChessICC (2491)/playchess.com INT 2006/EXT 2007/1/2-1/2

11 exd5 12. exd5 Na5?

A natural move but giving white just the chance he needs.

Staying in the center with 12 Ne5 is best although 13. Nxe5 fxe5 14.Qh5+ Ng6 15. Bc2 Qf6 16. f4
leaves white with a very strong attack.

13. d6! Nc4 14. Rc1?!

14. Re1was a more natural and strong move.

Centralize the rook while his king is stuck in the center!

14 Nf5?! A very human move, but missing his only chance to equalize the position.

Admittedly, white still has to do something very special tactically to exploit the situation but 14
Nxe3! was the way to go.
Keep the e-file closed and THEN save your knight.

Play might continue 15. fxe3 Nf5! when black has improved things substantially.

15. Re1 Ncxe3

16.Nh4!

It takes a great imagination to play such a move.

Be7 17. Rxe3 Nxh4 Not 17Nxe3 18. Qh5+ g6 19. Nxg6! when black is getting mated.

18. Rxe7+
Curtains! Such an amazing demolition of a strong grandmaster.

Qxe7 19. dxe7Nf5 20. Bd5 Bc6 21. Rxc6!

After this hammer blow, black threw in the towel. 1-0

Lessons from this game:

Dont be afraid to sacrifice against stronger players.

Respect strong players, but dont give anyone TOO much credit We all make mistakes.
An uncastled king is a SERIOUS target!

The next Amazing Upset is a game which was played between an Estonian girl named Mai Narva
(15 years old and rated just 2048!) and Russian Grandmaster Alexander Kochyev who is rated much
higher at 2394.

There is something great about seeing up-and-coming kids crush seasoned opponents and this game
really is really one of the good ones.

The game also illustrates the dangers of just playing on autopilot and forgetting to calculate
(Kochyevs 13.Ne5 seems like an example of this).

24th Heart of Finland Open 2014

8.7.2014
Kochyev, A (2394) - Narva, M (2048)
1. Nf3 White seemingly aims for a non-theoretical opening against his much lower rated opponent, so
as to sidestep memorized theory and force her to fight on her own as early as possible.

d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Bd6 5. c4c5

Black is playing a so-called Tarrasch setup which is characterized by pawns on e6, d5 and c5.

I myself have a fondness for this setup as well as it gives black a safe setup which can also lead to
attacking chances if/when she ends up with an isolated queens pawn.

6. d4 O-O 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Nc3 h6 9.Nb5 Be7 10. Bf4 Nc6 11. dxc5 Bxc5 12. Rc1

White is playing with a lot of energy, but black is solid. As we can see, black did end up with an
isolated queens pawn, but as compensation her bishops have nice diagonals and she will have
activity for his pieces like the e-file for her rooks and the e4/c4 squares for her knights.

Bb6 13. Ne5??

This is a serious tactical mistake although it looks like a very natural move.

Usually it is the higher rated player who plays quietly and waits for his weak opponent to make a
mistake, but here the stronger player makes a mistake first.

Quite interesting wouldnt you say?

The problem is that there are a couple of small tactical nuances in the position which he had to pay
attention to and didnt.

The first being his unprotected (but advanced) knight on b5 and the second is the fact that the knight
which just jumped into e5 is not adequately protected by the bishop on f4.

Black can combine these elements and leave white over stretched.

Blockading the d-pawn with 13. Nbd4 is a better try for advantage.

13 g5! 14. Nxc6 bxc6

Here is the point that white had missed. He has two pieces hanging after that forcing sequence, the
knight on b5 and the bishop on f4.

He does his best to complicate matters, but inevitably will lose at least an exchange.

15. Bd6 Re8 16. Rxc6 Bd7 17. Bxd5 Nxd5 18. Qxd5 Bxc6 19. Qxc6 Rc8 20. Qd5

An awkward self-pin, but white has to keep an eye on the d6 bishop in case black undermines it.
For example, if 20. Qf3 a6! and a white minor piece is dropping.

20 Re6 A nice move which still threatens 21a6 as well as defending the potential pawn
weakness on h6.

21. Rd1 Qf6! Black doesnt let her much stronger opponent off the hook and plays a few strong
moves now to force capitulation.

22. e3 Rc2 Threatens Qxf2 and mate. 23. Rf1 23. Rd2 is also lost but more or less forced.

23 Rxe3!!

This crushing sacrifice cannot be taken due to checkmate and now without the e3 pawn blocking her
bishop on b6, black will quickly smash through on f2.

A game Narva can be proud of! 0-1

Lessons from this game:

If it seems like your opponent is taking it too easy, pay very special attention to the position
Maybe they are missing something!
Respect strong players, but dont give anyone TOO much credit We all make mistakes.
Once your opponent is on the ropes, attack them with all your force and finish them!
 CONCLUSION
So here we are guysat the end of the book.

Its a short book, but I think theres value (plus entertainment) there, definitely worth the buck or two
you paid at least!

Anyway, I really appreciate the fact that you actually made it to the end and by getting there, I assure
you that youve improved your chess in a measurable way.

What do you think of the whole buffet style chapters that cover different areas of chess?

I hope it was a successful experiment anyway!

If you liked this book Id REALLY, REALLY appreciate if youd leave a review (nice one?) on
Amazon as that helps me to keep creating these chess materials for you.

Also, dont forget to come over to OnlineChessCourse.com/free and get started on the Chess
Tactics 101 course you got for FREE with this book.

See you there?

Enjoy your chess my friend.

Brendan J. Norman China, 2014

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

BRENDAN J. NORMANis a full-time chess coach, author and video personality and has been
helping players to improve their chess for 7 years now.

He has trained over 10,000 players from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, France, China
and Portugal and even helped some gain 200+ ELO points in just 3 weeks!

Brendan writes chess books which are aimed to be conversational and casual, keeping the reader
entertained, while still providing high level instruction.

He has recently launched onlinechesscourse.com, an online chess learning platform which allows
chess enthusiasts to study chess in a college style format with video lectures, handouts and even post
lecture tests!

Brendan now lives in Southern China where he teaches chess, creates chess learning content and
studies Mandarin Chinese.

Learn more about Brendan at brendanjnorman.com

Get video lessons and courses by Brendan at onlinechesscourse.com