CHOOSE THE RIGHT MOVE

DANIEL KING and CHRIS DUNCAN

CADOGAN
chf!SS
LONDON, NEW YORK
Copyright © 1998 Daniel King and Chris Duncan

First published 1998 by Cadogan Books pic, 27-29 Berwick St.,

London W1 V 3RF

Distributed in North America by The Globe Pequot Press, 6 Business

Park Rd, P.O. Box 833, Old Saybrook, Connecticut 06475-0833, USA.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in
writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library

ISBN 1 85744 135 4

Typeset by ChessSetter

Printed in Great Britain by BPC Wheatons Ltd, Exeter

Contents
Bibliography 6
Preface 8
Introd uction 9

1 First Steps 25
2 Tactics and Combinations 47
3 How to Calculate 65
4 Positional Play and Planning 85
5 How to Win Won Positions 116
6 Practical Play 137
7 Endings 169
Bibliography

M.M. Botvinnik: analysis and critical work 1942-56

M.M. Botvinnik (Moscow Fizkultura I Sport 1985)
Chess Coaching John Littlewood (Crowood 1991)
Chessercizes Bruce Pandolfini (Fireside 1991)
Chess for Tigers Simon Webb (Cadogan 1994)
Chess Tactics Paul Littlewood (Crowood 1993)
Chess Tactics for Advanced Players Yuri Averbakh (Batsford 1984)
Combination Challenge Lou Hays (Hays 1991)
The Complete Games of World Champion Anatoly Karpov
K.J. O'Connell, D.N.L. Levy, J.B. Adams (Batsford 1976)
Danger in Chess Amatzia Avni (Cadogan 1994)
Dynamic Chess Strategy Mihai Suba (Pergamon 1991)
The Fine Art of Swindling Ali Mortazavi (Cadogan 1996)
From Morphy to Fischer Israel Horowitz (Batsford 1973)
The Golden Dozen Irving Chernev (Oxford University Press 1976)
A History of Chess Harry Golombek (Routledge 1976)
How to Be a Complete Tournament Player Edmar Mednis (Maxwell
Macmillan1991)
How to Win at Chess Daniel King (Cadogan 1995)
Korchnoi vs. Spassky: Chess Crisis Raymond Keene (Allen and
Unwin1978)
Logical Chess (Move by Move) Irving Chernev (Faber 1981)
Mastering Chess G. Chandler, Kopec, Morrison, Davies and Mullen
(Cadogan 1994)
My Best Games ofChess 1924-37 Alexander Alekhine (Bell1939)
My Sixty Memorable Games Robert Fischer (Batsford 1996)
My System Aaron Nimzowitsch (Hays 1993)
Pawn Endings Y. Averbakh and I. Maizelis (Batsford 1974)
Play Like a Grandmaster Alexander Kotov (Batsford 1990)
Praxis der Turmendspiele Viktor Korchnoi (Olms 1995)
CJS Purdy, His Life, His Games and His Writings J. Hammond and
R. Jamieson 1982
Rook Endings G. Levenfish and V. Smyslov (Batsford 1971)
Technique for the Tournament Player Mark Dvoretsky and Artur
Yusupov (Batsford 1995)
Test Your Tactical Ability Yakov Neishtadt (Batsford 1991)
Think Like a Grandmaster Alexander Kotov (Batsford 1971)
 Bibliography 7

Three Steps to Chess Mastery Alexei Suetin (Pergamon 1982)

Winning Chess Tactics Yasser Seirawan (Microsoft 1995)
World Chess Championship 1995: Kasparov-Anand Daniel King
(Cadogan 1995)
Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953 David Bronstein
(Dover 1978)
Preface
Have you spent years playing
chess but still can't seem to make
any progress? Or perhaps you are
just starting out and aren't sure
which of the hundreds of chess
books is the best to study? Then
you are at the right place.
This is a no-nonsense guide to
how you can improve your chess.
In this book we aim to set players
on the correct learning path, ex­
plaining how and what to study.
By careful examination of our
own play we have sought to iden­
tify the skills needed to become a
chess master. To help us do this
we have each analysed one of our
own games, which we give in the
introduction which follows. This
turned out to be a revealing exer­
cise for both of us- it opened our
eyes to techniques that we were
commonly using, but had never
really appreciated.
Having identified the different
skills that we use during a game,
we have then examined each of
them in the following chapters.
Examples and exercises are given
in order to test you on these skills,
as well as some advice as to where
to find further study material.
We are not trying to fool you
into thinking that reading this
book will turn you into a stronger
player overnight. Studying chess
is a little like studying a musical
instrument: only by constant prac­
tice will you be able to develop;
but this book will at least show
you the best way in which to
make use of your study time.
There is great mystique sur­
rounding what it takes to become
a leading chess player. This book
lets you into those secrets so that
you will be able to choose the
right move.
Introduction
To help us identify the skills of a
chess master, we have both anno­
tated one of our games, without
too much hindsight, giving the
reasons why we played the moves,
und our thoughts at the time. Us­
ing these thoughts as a basis, we
have broken down our play into
Heveral essential elements.
King-Ernst
Gausdal 1993
1 g3
My (DK) opponent, Thomas
Ernst from Sweden, has a fear­
some reputation as an openings
specialist. When he is not re­
searching the purest of pure
mathematics at the Royal Acad­
emy of Sciences in Stockholm, he
is back home relaxing in his
apartment, refuting the Najdorf,
reviving the Dragon, burying the
Archangel, or discovering assorted
stunning novelties in the Griin­
feld.
Would it be sensible to risk my
favourite first move 1 e4 against
such a player? Surely, if I had
enough faith in my abilities, then
I would rise to the challenge, play
1 e4 and then improvise my way
through his web of home analysis.
Yes, that's the spirit that made
Britain 'Great'; somehow we'll
battle through against adversity,
never surrender, fight them on
the beaches and all that.
Don't be daft. If your opponent
has a strength, avoid it. Lure him
onto territory that's familiar to
you, but not to him. Hence my
choice of first move.
I have some experience in play­
ing systems with a kingside fian­
chetto (g3 and .i.g2), so even if I
don't have reams of variations in
my head backing up the move, I
should be able to get out of the
opening with my head still on my
shoulders. 1 g3 is my equivalent
of the slice serve in tennis: it's not
going to blow him away, but it's
more dangerous than it looks.
l. c5
..
First blood to me. Tommy took
five minutes over this move, and
looked distinctly crestfallen that I
wasn't going to take him on in
one of his main lines.
2 .i.g2 ttJc6
From this position White may
employ several different set-ups
(flexibility is the main asset of the
fianchetto system). 3 c4 is prob­
ably the most orthodox, and cer­
tainly the most common, move in
the position and I've played it a
few times; the problem was, I had
a feeling my opponent knew much
more about it than I did.
In any case, today I preferred
to attack. I thought it was too
10 Choose the Right Move

dangerous to hand over the initia­

tive to an opponent who has justly
earned the sobriquet Tommy 'the
Hitman' Ernst.
3 e4 e5 4 d3 g6 5 f4 .i.g7 6
lLlf3 d6 7 0-0 lLlge7 8 c3
This is a slightly unusual move
that I had already seen a couple of
times in similar positions, but had
never played before this game.
The more usual move here is 8
lLlc3, when the game has trans­
posed to a fairly standard Closed
Sicilian type position. I don't wish
to go into the relative merits of
the two systems. I chose to play 8
c3 entirely on the grounds that I
mentioned before: in order to reach
a position that was unfamiliar to
my opponent, even if it meant
that it wasn't altogether familiar
to me.
8 0-0 9 lLla3
...

A strange square for the knight?

Not really. It may end up moving
to c4 or b5 to attack the d6 pawn;
and besides, having played c3,
where else am I going to develop
it to?
. Even though Black's position is
quite satisfactory, Ernst looked
worried. He spent twenty min­
utes ruminating before playing ...
9 b6 (D)
...
A blunder.
10 f51
I'd seen and played this kind of
sacrifice several times before, so I
knew what I was getting into. For
Aarland-King
Stavanger 1989
12 ...f4! 13 gxf4 exf4 14 .i.xf4
lLlg6 15 .i.g3 lLlh5 16 h4 lLlhf4 ...
with a strong attack, or, a line
from the Leningrad Dutch:
1 d4 f5 2 g3 lLlf6 3 .i.g2 g6 4
lLlf 3 .i.g7 5 0-0 0-0 6 c4 d6 7 lLlc3
lLlc6 8 d5 lLle5 9 lLlxe5 dxe5 10 e4
f4!
10 gxf5
...

instance, in the second diagram If Black leaves the pawn on f5,

on the right: then White plays g4, and Black
 Introduction 11

will always be in danger on the

kingside.
lllllli4
I played this move fairly quickly.
I was happy if Black continued
ll. ..fxe4 12 dxe4, but I stopped
just long enough to consider the
consequences of 1 l . . .f4. As well
us 12 gxf4 lDg6 13 lLlf5 ! , there is
12 'ii'h5!?, both of which keep con­
trol over the f5 square. It turned
out afterwards that Ernst had
been wrapped up in calculating
11 tLlg5 !? He reeled off some long position, but it's good to have a
and complicated variations with­ goal in mind. See Chapter 4.
out coming to any conclusion. Having thought through in gen­
They were quite interesting, but eral terms what my plan was to
totally irrelevant: 1 1 lLlh4 is the be (occupation of the d5 and f5
most logical move in the position, squares combined with a kingside
fighting for control of the crucial attack) I got down to specifics
f5 square. I didn't even consider while my opponent was thinking.
11 tLlg5.
ll fxe4 12 dxe4
•••

This is exactly the position I'd

been aiming for. For the small
material investment, White has
tremendous positional compensa­
tion: the f5 square is available for
the white knight; White's rook is
situated on the open f-file; Black's
king is slightly exposed; the pawn
on d6 is backward and exposed;
and the d5 square is weakened.
All for a pawn.
Already I had in my mind's eye
such a position (see diagram at
top of next column): First of all, I dealt with Black's
This is what Heaven or, if you most radical freeing move, 12 . . . f5;
end up with the black pieces, Hell this gives back the pawn, but pre­
will look like. Black would have to vents White from using the f5
play fairly ineptly to allow such a square. 13 lLlxf5 looks the most
12 Choose the Right Move
sensible reply, and if 13 . . . lDxf5 14
exf5, when Black has tremendous
problems now that the line of the
bishop on g2 has been opened, e.g.
14 . . . �b7 15 lDb5 ! and the d-pawn
falls. 13 . . . i.xf5 14 exf5 d5 !? is a
better try, but then I could either
attempt a pawn roller on the king­
side with 15 g4, or break up
Black's centre with 15 c4. Enough
on this . I have two satisfactory
continuations to choose from if he
goes for 12 . . . f5.
12 . . . �e6 is the most obvious
move in the position, but it oc­
curred to me that 13 lDf5 would
cause Black tremendous prob­
lems. 13 . . . lDxf5 14 exf5 .td7 15
'ii'xd6 is out of the question; and if
13 . . . �xf5 14 exf5, Black has diffi­
culty meeting the threat off6, for
if 14 . . . f6, then 15 �xc6 lDxc6 16
'ii'd 5 + 'iL>h8 17 'ii'xc6, wins a piece.
The only move to keep going is
14 . . . �f6, but then 15 g4 sets a le­
thal kingside attack in train:
15 . . . d5 16 g5 �h8 1 7 'ii' h 5, with
the simple but effective plan of
l:.f3-h3 delivering checkmate.
Having seen this line, I began
to feel optimistic. If Black's most
natural developing move isn't vi­
able, then he must be in trouble.
12 ...�a6
Preventing the knight on a3
from entering the game via b5 or
c4, but taking away some of the
protection from the f5 square.
13 l:lf2
Not much doubt about that one.
I want to keep the rook on the
f-file; on f3 it blocks all my pieces;
and getting flash with 13 l:t£5
seemed unnecessary, as it doesn't
even need to be taken.
13 ...'ii'c7 14 lDc2
Remember my dream of the
knights on f5 and d5? With this
move I get one step closer.
14 ... i.c4 15 lDe3 i.e6
The bishop arrives at e6 any­
way, but via a strangely circuitous
route.
Shifting the knight from a3 to
e3 took me little time and calcula­
tion. It is obviously a wonderful
square, but it was at this moment
that I paused for reflection. I had
the feeling that I was already close
to winning, and I wanted to find
the most precise continuation.
I have three attractive ideas:
1. Playing a knight to f5.
2. Playing a knight to d5.
3. Playing the queen to h5 (put­
ting off making a decision with
the knights!).
 Introduction
The positions after 16 tDef5 ap­
l"'ured attractive, but I was first
druwn to the consequences of 16
li\d5 as the lines were so forcing.
'l'nking with the knight loses a
pioce, and if 16 . . . i.xd5 1 7 exd5
ti \d8 18 i.e4!, followed by 'ii'h 5, the
ut.tack is irresistible . (Note how
important it is to make sure that
llluck is unable to play . . . f5 in
these positions.)
So Black must play 16 . . . 'ii'd 7 in­
HI.ead of capturing, but then I have
I 7 tiJf6 + i.xf6 18 l:txf6, knocking
out the king's most important de­
fo nder, the bishop on g7. This
looked like the business. Just one
thing to check: is it possible to
drive the rook from f6 by 18 . . . 'it>g7?
No. 1 9 'ii' h 5 is a simple reply (if
19 .. 'it>xf6 then 20 'ii'g5 mate) and
. Now I'm back on track. Mate is
if' 19 . . . tiJg8, 20 l:th6 wins simply.
I hardly bothered looking at the
other moves: this seemed by far
the clearest continuation of the
nttack.
16 ttJd5 'ii'd 7 17 tiJf6 + i.xf6
18 :.xf6 �h8
13
Everything according to plan.
Now it was time to take stock
again. I had already realised that
18 . . . �h8 followed by . . .tiJg8 would
be Black's only chance to defend,
and had intended to meet the
knight retreat by i.g5 . However I
now saw that my intended 19 'ii'h5
tiJg8 20 i.g5 actually allows my
queen to be trapped by 20 . . . i.g4!
Under no circumstances did I
want to retreat my rook; after
. . . tiJg8 I wanted to keep Black on
the defensive. So I came up with
another idea . . .
19 tiJf5
If 19 . . . i.xf5, 20 l:txd6 recovers
the pawn with a good position (he
should probably play this, though).
19 ...tiJg8 20 i. g5
swift if the rook is captured:
20 . . tDxf6 2 1 i.xf6+ �g8 22 tDh6
.
or 22 'ii'g4 ; and with the rook em­
bedded on f6, Black's forces will
not be able to come to the aid of
their king.
20 ....1:lad8 2 1 'ii'h5 ttJce7
14 Choose the Right Move
The time has come to look for
the kill. From this moment on it
ought to be possible to calculate
through to the finish.
The first move I considered was
22 :h6. 22 . . . �h6 23 .tf6+ mates,
so Black's only way to defend h 7
is 22 . . . .txf5 23 exf5 'ti'xf5, but then
I couldn't see a way to deflect
Black's queen from defending the
h-pawn. I might well have gone
for this ifl had seen nothing else.
I have a sneaking suspicion that
White has a way to win this posi­
tion but I saw a clear cut way to
finish off the game. See Chapter 3
for a full discussion of this skill.
22 �e7! 'ifxe7
If instead 22 . . . tbxe7 23 l:lh6,
and the h-pawn drops.
2 3 llafi
Simple but effective. The rook
is maintained on f6. (Incidentally,
23 llh6 would have been a mis­
take as 23 . . . f6 saves.)
2 3 :de8 24 .th3 !
•••
Black has no defence. The threat
is .txe6 followed by llxf'S. If Black
continues 24 . . . .txa2, then 25 .tf5
wins.
24 .txh3 25 llxf7 Ibd7 26
.••
.:xf7 "ifixf7 27 'ii'xf7 :ea
Now I have a winning position:
a queen is stronger than a rook
and minor piece, especially when,
as here, the queen has lots of tar­
gets. Compared with the rest of
the traffic on the chessboard, the
queen is like a guided missile with
a nuclear warhead.
But the game must still be fin­
ished off. The secret of good tech­
nique is good calculation. Here, for
instance, it looks at first glance as
though White may play 28 'ifh5,
winning the bishop on h3, but
Black defends with 28 . . Jig6.
The second move that I consid­
ered was 28 'ifxa 7. Why not take
some pawns? I was sure this posi­
tion was winning, but I was a lit­
tle uneasy about playing like this,
 Introduction
Why? Because of my king.
Let me show you this position,
and you will understand what I
mean:
Hamed - Short
Subotica Interzonal 1987
There was a keen fight for the
•JIIItlifying places at the top of the
tournament and Nigel needed to
wlu this game. However, trying a
lelll.uu h ard, the game had turned
"M"IuHt him. The Russian contin­
wuul., do li gh ted that a rival was
�euluw down to the tournament
ll\ll�:111dor, lin ed up in the front
1 uw of tho auditorium to gloat.
Wllll.c' huH a winning position.
tlltwk c•n11 do nothing at all: he is
1 ''''"'''•ell.o pus hin g his queenside
''"w""' up tho bo ard; but instead
ul 111111 pnying atten tion to the po­
llllluu of hiH king, he got greedy:
1111 l11hrl ( not fatal, but the calm
1111 *,c:.t would have been better)
IHI t .. u :S4 .J:b6?? (poor chap;
lfattllltl, l'rom Egypt, had had a
15
rotten tournament, and this could
have been his moment of glory)
34 . . . �h3 (with much shaking of
heads and eyes rolling skywards,
the Russians filed out of the hall
as soon as this move appeared.
There was no need to stay for the
end of the game. White has no
satisfactory method of defending
against the mate on fl) 35 .J:b8
lhb8 36 0.f7 + 'ifxf7 37 'ile5 + 'iifg8
38 1i'xb8 + ri;g7 39 'ife5 + 'iifh6 and
White resigned.
Witnessing such an incident
makes a strong impression. Re­
turning to the game, take another
look at the position of my king. I
know the rook can't get to the f­
flle immediately, but it still seemed
to me that my best policy would
be to remove my king from the po­
tential mating net. See Chapter 5
for more practical tips.
28 'it>f2! l:g6 29 �d8 a6 30
�e3!
This is the other reason for
moving the king out: the e-pawn
is defended.
16 Choose the Right Move
30 b5 31 'ii' f 8l
•••
This is more to the point than
chasing after the queenside pawns.
As well as pinning the knight and
reducing the rook's mobility (it
must take care of .i.f6), an attack
on the centre pawns is threat­
ened.
3 1 . .i.g4 32 .i. e7
•.
. . . and here Black resigned, as it
is impossible to prevent 33 .ixd6
followed by 34 .ixe5, winning two
more pawns, and at the same time
starting a mating attack against
Black's king.
For me, that was not a very dif­
ficult game to play. I knew the
opening much better than my op­
ponent, and the resulting attack
was straight-forward and hardly
original. It is curious, but in my
first ever game against Ernst, in a
junior tournament in 1979, I had
won in a similar way:
a b c d e g
King - Ernst
Eeklo 1979
Don't the weaknesses on f5 and
h5 look familiar? The kingside at­
tack is equally effective here:
13 'iti>h8 14 l:.ad1 ..t f8 15 'ii' f3
•••
l:te6 16 lt:)f5 l:tc8 17 'ifh5 l:te8 18
l:td3 ..tf5 19 'iff5 .ig7 20 l:th3 h6
21 lt:)e3 l:te6 22 'ilfh5 1-0
By now you are probably begin­
ning to feel a bit sorry for poor old
Tommy but please don 't; in the
very next tournament after play­
ing the 1993 game, he thrashed me
convincingly (but you don't get to
see that one).
The next game was played be­
tween Keith Arkell and myself
(Chris Duncan) during the Mid­
lands Championship, a gruelling
tournament with six rounds in a
weekend. Round 1 on Friday night
finishes at 1 1 .00pm, then we pick
ourselves out of bed on Saturday
morning to start round 2 at
9.30am, grab a bite to eat before
round 3 starts at 2.30pm and then
hope to survive for round four at
7.30pm. If you're lucky you can be
back in bed by midnight, but
don't forget to be ready for round
5 at 9 .30am on Sunday morning,
followed by the last round at
2 . 30pm. This punishing itinerary
3
means that players really have to
earn their prize money and goes
by the name of 'the weekend cir­
cuit'. Often it can be more strenu­
h
ous than a week on an army
survival camp.
Anyhow, it was 7 .25pm on Sat­
urday evening and time for the
 Introduction
fourth round. I looked at the draw
nnd thought 'What a nightmare,
( lrandmaster Arkell on a Satur­
clny night. I'll never make it to the
hur before closing time! ' (Keith
Arkell is renowned for his boast
of winning rook and bishop vs.
mok eight times out of eight and
nil from drawn positions!) Then I
t.hought a bit longer. Keith Arkell
iM a very strong positional and
l.nchnical player, but his opening
rnpertoire never seems to be that
c·onvincing. I decided my best plan
of action was a tactical opening
with as much theory as possible.
llunce my choice of this line of the
'�uoen's Gambit Accepted.
Arkell - Duncan
Midlands Championship 1995
l d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 e4 c5 4
d" ltJf6 5 lbc3
In our most recent encounter I
hnd blundered straight into my
opponent's hands with 5 . . . e6. This
IH not a bad move, but it is totally
l.lw wrong plan against Keith
Arkell. Within three moves (6
.t xc4 exd5 7 tLlxd5 tLlxd5 8 .i.xd5
.tn7) he was able to get the type of
Hirnple position he excels in and
ultimately I was ground down in a
l'fHik and pawn endgame. I thought
l.hu game was particularly boring,
hut Keith gained what can only be
dt,Hcribed as sadistic pleasure in
l.orturing me throughout the end­
wume. After the game I told him
lhnt I believed I had had some
17
drawing chances in the later
stages, to which he responded,
'I've played that endgame before,
it just looks like you have got
drawing chances, but really you
are lost.'
5 ...b5!
This was my surprise weapon.
At the time it was relatively new
theory and I figured that Keith
may not have looked sufficiently
deeply into this variation. It is
known as the Linares variation af­
ter a number of players employed
it in the 1993 Linares super­
grandmaster tournament. In par­
ticular, Anand played a superb
game against Gelfand.
6 e5
Just as I thought, Keith plays
the old move. The fashionable
move is 6 .i.f4, but the resulting
positions can be very messy. The
following extract shows the type
of tactically hair-raising positions
you can get from this opening.
18 Choose the Right Move
Gelfand - Anand
Linares 1993
6 i..{4 'flia5 7 e5 lDe4 8 t'iJge2
tiJa6! 9 f3 %4/
A brilliant invention. 9 . . . lZ'lxc3
was played in the game Beliav­
sky-Anand earlier in the same
tournament.
10 fxe4 0d3+ 11 'it;d2 g6!!
Mter this move Black's pieces
seem to control the whole board,
despite the sacrificed material and
his lack of central pawns.
12 b3? i..g 7 13 bxc4 lZ'lxf4 14
lZ'lxf4? .
14 cxb5 i.xe5 15 'ii'b 3 would
still have left Black on top.
14... i.xe5 15 lLlfe2 b4 1 6 'ii'a4+
'ilxa4 17 lZ'lxa4 i.xa1 1 8lZ'lxc5 0- 0/
. . . and Black's extra exchange
helped him to convert the win.
Back to the game . ..
6 b4
...
Attack is the best form of de­
fence.
7 e:xf6 bxc3 8 bxc3
Should Black capture the white
f-pawn with his e-pawn or g-pawn?
8 tZ'ld7!
•••
Neither, development is more
important! The idea of this move
is to force White to capture either
the g-pawn or the e-pawn, after
which Black will be able to develop
his dark-squared bishop and cas­
tle quickly. In an open position
like this it is imperative to de­
velop as quickly as possible. (A
good example of the merits of
speedy development is the game
between Paul Morphy and the
team of the Duke of Brunswick
and Count Isouard de Vauvanar­
gue in Chapter 1.) If White does
not capture either of the black
pawns, then Black will simply
take the f6 pawn with his knight,
thereby saving the pawn struc­
ture from any damage and allow­
ing a fianchetto on the kingside.
9 'ii'a4
A clever move which is designed
to stop Black from carrying out
 Introduction
his intended ... lLlxffi. However the
last two moves have seen Black
develop his knight and White de­
velop his queen, and that can only
be good news for Black. The prin­
ciples of good development sug­
gest that you should only develop
your queen later in the game. I
think White must have regretted
this luxury later in the game.
9 ex:f6
...
Black's position has been con­
siderably improved by the inclu­
sion of the moves . . . lLld7 and it'a4
and he is now able to play 9 . . . exf6.
10 .txc4
White should have played 10
.tf4, as after the text move Black
gets all his pieces to ideal squares.
10 .td6
•••
When I have castled my knight
will no longer be pinned and I will
be able to play . . . c!Db6 or . . . lLle5.
11 .te2?!
11 'ifc6 is tempting, but after
ll. . .'ii'e 7 + 12 lLle2 .:.bs White 's
queen looks very misplaced on c6.
1 1 0-0 12 c!Df3 .:.es
•..
So far I have developed nor­
mally, just playing natural moves
which anyone can find. I have only
used one move with each piece,
castled quickly and placed my rook
on an open file. White has brought
his queen into the game and
moved his light-squared bishop
twice, so it is no wonder that he is
already in trouble. We will look at
the advantage of development in
greater detail in the next chapter.
13 c4?!
19
White was hoping to guard all
his pawns, develop his pieces and
castle all at the same time. It
would have been better to play 13
.te3, preparing to castle, but then
13 . . . lLlb6 keeps the pressure on
White.
13 it'e7! 14 'ii'c2
•••
Here White found that he was
unable to castle: 14 0-0? (or 14 .te3
.tf4) 14 . . . 'ii'xe2 15 .:.e1 'ii'x el + 16
lLlxe1 .:.xe1 mate. We must con­
stantly watch for this type of tac­
tic and Chapter 2 will help you to
spot these possibilities.
14 lbe5!
.••
Continuing the theme of stop­
ping White from castling: 15 0-0?
lLlxf3 + 16 .txf3 it'e5! , threatening
1 7 . . . 'ii'xh2 mate and 17 . . . it'xal.
15 .tea c!Dg4 16 o-o
White decides to sacrifice a pawn
in order to castle.
16 c!Dxe3 17 fxe3 'it'xe3 + 18
•••
.l:f2 .tg4
Another simple development
move.
20 Choose the Right Move

19.l:afl

22 . . . J.. xe2 23 l:el 'ii'e4 + 24 'ii'xe4

19 .l:ab8
•••
Having reached a winning posi­
tion (a pawn up with White's pieces
tied down), it is important that
every piece is made productive.
Clearly the rook is better placed
on b8, from where it could enter
the fray down the b-file or ma­
noeuvre to b7-e7 to reinforce
Black's grip on the e-flle.
:Xe4 25 l:.fxe2).
22 J..d l l:e3
With the threat of 23 . . . h4 24
tbxh4 and now either 24 . . . l:xg3 +
or 24 . . . J..h3 + first.
23 'ii'd2 h4 24 J..b31
Effectively blocking the co-or­
dination between my queen and
rook on the third rank. Not 24
tbxh4? J.. h 3 + 25 'iltxh3 .l:xg3 + 26
hxg3 'ii'xg3 mate.
24 h3+
•••

20 g3 h5
Now that my pieces are on their
ideal squares, I can try and break 8
down his king position. There is
also the hidden benefit of creating 7

an escape square for my king, just 6

in case I get back-rank mated!
5
2 1 �g2 'ii'a3 ?!
Not a bad move, but I should
have played 2 1 . . .h4, a move I re­
jected because of 22 ttJxh4. How­
ever, I could then have played (see 2

small diagram)
22 . . . 'ii'xe2 ! ! (I had missed this
and only considered the variation
 Introduction
At this point I have to be hon­
est and admit a little prayer went
up to the heavens. I was hoping
my opponent would play 25 �hl.
25 �gl
Of course not 25 �h 1? .Ubxb3
26 axb3 i.xf3 + 27 :xf3 llxf3 28
ltxf3 'ir'a1 + .
25 .Ube8
•••
Now that the b-file is blocked,
my rook on b8 is doing nothing,
so I have two choices: either to
sacrifice it for the bishop on b3 or
to bring it to the e-file. Although
25 . . . .Ubxb3 is a reasonable alter­
native, in general I never sacrifice
material if I think I can win by
normal means. If you sacrifice and
things go horribly wrong you nor­
mally lose, whereas if you don't
sacrifice material and things go
wrong sometimes you can fall back
on a draw.
26 :tel lhel + 27 tLlxe l i.e5
I had calculated that White must
stop me playing 28 . . . i.d4, either
by 28 tLlf3 or 28 tLlc2, both of
which have drawbacks.
28 tLlc2
Although this move does stop
the bishop from coming to d4, it
does have the drawback of allow­
ing my queen back into the game.
After 28 tLlf3 i.xf3 29lbf3 i.d4 +
30 �fl 'ii'a6 I considered White 's
king position to be indefensible in
the long run. There is nowhere
for the king to hide and opposite­
coloured bishops always helps the
attacker (see also the game Dun­
can-Molyneux from Chapter 5).
21
28 ft2 29 tLle3
..•
White has laid a few traps with
this move - time for some serious
calculation (see also Chapter 3).
29 1Wal +
•.•
The idea of this move is to force
the rook back to n before playing
.. ."i!i'd4. When I played this move I
felt I had calculated it to a win, but
the first move I considered was
actually 29 . . . 1Wxd2, then 29 . . . 1Wd4
and only then 29 . . . 1Wa1 + . Let us
look at the alternatives in turn:
a) 29 . . . 1Wxd2 30 ll.xd2 i.d4??
(Black should still be able to win
after 30 . . . i.xg3, but Keith is an
endgame specialist, so I would like
to polish him off quicker if possi­
ble) 31 .Uxd4! (oops!) 3 1 . ..cxd4 32
tLlxg4 f5 33 d6 fxg4 34 c5 .Ud8 35
i.a4 .Ub8 36 c6 .Ub1 + 37 �f2
.:tb2 + 38 �fl %lb1 + 39 �e2 and
White's pawns are unstoppable.
b) 29 . . . 1i'd4 doesn't achieve a
great deal because the knight on
e3 is not pinned: after 30 tLlxg4
22 Choose the Right Move

'ifxg4 3 1 'ii'e3 White is still in the the dangers of 32 . . . i.d4 and sets
game. up a picturesque combination
So 29 . . . 'ii'a l + was the correct (which at the time I thought was
move. stronger than it really is) .
30 lUI 'ii'd4 33 .l:.d3 .:.Xe3!
The in-between move 29 . . . 'ii'al + The sneaky combination that
ensures that the knight is now I needed to see when I played
pinned. 3 1 . ..'ii'xd 2.
3 1 .:t2 34 .:.Xe3 i.d4 35 �f2
White has nothing better.
31. 'it'xd2 32 :Xd2
••

This whole concept of immobi­

lising the white rook and king
As you enter the time trouble came from the following study
stages of the game, you must al­ that I remember seeing as a child.
ways be on your guard. Chapter 6
(practical play) offers an insight
into how'to avoid the pitfalls wait­
ing for you in time trouble.
32 i.c3
•••

Not 32 . . . i.d4?? 33 l:lxd4! cxd4

34 tbxg4 f5 35 c5 fxg4 36 c6 and
White's c- and d-pawns are too
strong. This would have been a
typical time trouble disaster, and
after the game I would have used
the immortal words 'If only I
hadn't played . . . ' My move avoids
 Introduction
Black can win a whole rook by
making sure that White is unable
t.o extricate himself from this
uwful pin. White's only attempt
to free himself is by playing g5, so
13lack gets in first.
57... :Xf4 58 :Xf4 g5 59 hxg5
<j;g6 60 a4 a5 61 bxa5 bxa5 0- 1
White is in Zugzwang and must
move his king from the defence of
his rook.
35 'iitf8 36 d6
.•.
Unfortunately I had forgotten
about White's d-pawn, which I
have no way of stopping without
loosening my grip over the white
rook and king.
36 f5 37 i.. a4 g5 38 d7
•••
This forces the issue. White
couldn't allow Black to play . . . f4.
38 i.. xe3 + 39 'iti>xe3 'iti>e7
•..
The tactics have finished and we
now begin the endgame phase of
the game. Fortunately for me the
position is an easy win. But too
often game commentators just
say 'and the rest was technique' .
Believe me, you still cannot afford
to make any mistakes. The phrase
'and the rest was technique'
seems to suggest that the game
will play itself; but far from it,
you must be as vigilant as ever. I
think a better ph_rase to use might
be 'as long as Black plays accu­
rately and precisely he should win
the game' . Too often I have seen
players throw away games in win­
ning positions. If you don't want
to be a victim of this, make sure
you study Chapter 5.
23
40 i..b 5 f6
With the time trouble over, I
have a simple plan in mind: re­
route my light- squared bishop to
e6 to pick off White's dangerous
d 7 pawn. Then help my kingside
pawns advance while attacking
White's weak queenside pawns
with my light-squared bishop.
41 i.. a4 i..h5 42 i.. c2
First problem - I cannot get my
bishop to e6. Oh well, Keith will
have to put his bishop back on a4
to defend his d-pawn and then I
can get on with my plan.
42 i.. g6 43 i.. d3?
•••
8
5
4
3
2
This allows Black to finish off
the game straight away with a
tactic.
43 f4 + 44 gx:f4 i.. xd3 0-1
•••
After 45 'iti>xd3 g4 White has fi­
nally made it back to material
equality, but he cannot prevent
Black promoting a pawn: 46 <iPe3
g3 47 hxg3 h2 with 48 . . . hl (Q) to
come next move.
24 Choose the Right Move
We have broken down the skills
as follows:
Chapter 1: First Steps (open­
ing play) [written by Daniel King
-DK]
The opening played a great role
in both of our illustrative games.
In each example, it was psychol­
ogy rather than learning long
variations that played a major
part in the choice of opening.
Above all it is vital to have a fun­
damental grasp of opening princi­
ples.
Chapter 2: Tactics and Combi­
nations [written by Chris Duncan
-CD]
In this chapter the various types
of tactics are systematically dis­
cussed, and we then move on to
how you can learn to spot combi­
nations in your own games. It is
critical to develop a basic level of
tactical competence.
Chapter 3: How to Calculate
[CD]
The ability to spot tactics is the
first stage on the road to calcula­
tion. Now you have to be able to
fathom 'out long variations and
work out the consequences of
different moves. This chapter is a
no frills guide to the secrets of cal­
culating.
Chapter 4: Positional Play and ·
Planning [DK]
Having a view of the 'big pic­
ture' is common to every strong
player. Positional motifs recur,
just like tactical motifs. Such
knowledge is built up by studying
'model games', typical manoeu­
vres and being able to recognise
weaknesses in a pawn structure.
Chapter 5: How to Win Won
Positions [CD]
We all lose games we should
win, but why? This chapter seeks
to identify the mistakes we make
and tries to maximise our chances
of success in the future.
Chapter 6: Practical Play [CD]
It's okay knowing all the the­
ory, but what about all the practi­
cal tips (and sneaks!). You have to
be able to look after yourself in
time trouble (and beat your oppo­
nents in their time trouble), swin­
dle people, avoid blundering and
play to your strengths. This is a
rough guide to winning ways.
Chapter 7: Endings [DK]
The endgame is a neglected
phase of the game. Too many
players are put off by the vast
amount of dry theory on the sub­
ject. This is a realistic guide, giv­
ing you a sound basis from which
to play endgames.
1 First Steps (Daniel King)
This first chapter deals with the
opening phase of the game. I am
not going to concentrate on any
particular variation here, but in­
stead look at what our aims and
objectives should be in the open­
ing; and don't tell me you've
heard it all before. While mis­
takes such as the following still
occur, then it is worth re-examin­
ing our opening play. (Perhaps
you haven't done so since you
first started playing? Well, then!)
Anand - Kasparov
PCA World Championship,
New York (13) 1995
Here Anand was expecting Kas­
parov to recapture the pawn on
e6, with the queen for instance,
when he would have castled on
one side or the other with roughly
equal chances. Unfortunately, we
are all handicapped by our mate­
rialistic mind-sets, and the Indian
was shocked to see . . .
19 c4
...
. . . played on the board. 'When
he took the pawn he should have
remembered his king was still on
el and something can happen . . . '
(Kasparov at the post-game press
conference) With one move Kas­
parov prevents the king from cas­
tling both on the kingside and the
queenside (b3 would collapse in
that case). White's king is swiftly
dispatched, trapped in the middle
of the board:
20 c3 llce8 2 1 bxc4 llxe6 22
<oWl llfe8 23 i.d3 dxc4 24 i.xc4
lt:le4
If the knight is taken then 25
fxe4l%f6 + 26 �el :xe4 + 2 7 i.e2
26 Choose the Right Move
'ii'f2 + 28 'iftd1 :Xe2 29 'ii'xe2 l:[d6 + ,
for instance, s o Anand resigned.
We all know that Anand should
have castled earlier; Anand knows
that he should have castled ear­
lier; so just why didn't he? More
on that later.
First let's think about what we
are trying to achieve in the open­
ing. Underpinning all opening
play is the struggle for the initia­
tive, in other words the fight for
the attack, or at the very least to
control the future course of play.
In order to gain the initiative, there
are three goals to keep in mind:
1 . To strive for fast and effec­
tive development of one's pieces.
2. To attempt to occupy the
centre with pawns, or to control
the centre with pieces.
3. To aim for a healthy pawn
structure.
And naturally, if you can pre­
vent your opponent from achiev­
ing any of the above, then that is
also desirable!
It is also possible to break those
aims down into some well-known
guidelines, for instance:
• Castle as quickly as possible
• Don't move the same piece
twice
• Don't make too many pawn
moves
• Don't bring the queen out too
early
• Bring the rooks out through
the middle of the board, not at
the side
• Don't grab pawns if the posi­
tion is open and you are behind
in development
• Don't begin an attack until you
have brought all your pieces
into play . . . and so on.
I should stress that these really
are only guidelines, hints that
may help in the decision-making
process; don't hold to them at all
costs. As the Rumanian grand­
master Mihai Suba likes to say,
'The Golden Rule is that there are
no Golden Rules! '
It is important to keep our
original aim in mind. There are
many ways to win the initiative,
and it might mean following some
of the rules above, but also break­
ing them sometimes.
When the concept of rapid and
efficient development is brought
up, there is one player in particu­
lar who comes to my mind: the
American genius Paul Morphy
who, for a few brief years in the
late 1850s and 1860s, dazzled the
chess world with his dynamic and
innovative play, defeating the
leading players in Europe before
returning to the United States. It
is a pity that Morphy's most fa­
mous game from that time is a
one-sided encounter against two
aristocrats playing in consultation,
supposedly during a performance
of the Barber of Seville at the
Paris Opera. Well, it was never go­
ing to be an epic. However, it is a
perfect illustration of rapid devel­
opme;nt in the opening.
 First Steps 27

Morphy - Duke of Brunswick 6 tDf6 7 'it'b3

...

and Count Isouard de A cardinal sin, moving the queen

Vauvanargue for the second time? Hardly; White
Paris 1 858 wins a pawn quite safely. After all,
it is not as though he is behind in
1 e4 e5 2 lDf3 d6 3 d4 i.g4? 4 development.
dxe5 i.xf3 7 . 1i'e7
. .

In order to save the e-pawn, the

bishop has to make a second move,
and then it is exchanged off, at
the same time helping the queen
to develop.
5 1i'xf3
Now you can see why I was
keen to stress that the guiding
rules should not be taken too lit­
erally: White has only one piece
developed and it is the queen!
However, at some stage the queen
must find a square for itself, ena­
bling the rooks to connect, and on
f3 it is safe from attack.
5 ... dxe5 8 lLlc3
I have a feeling that Morphy
took a look at his witless opponents
as they cracked open the next bot­
tle of champagne in the theatre
box, and thought to himself, 'Al­
right, let's have a bit of fun. ' In­
stead, 8 'ifxb7 is not a bad move.
Because of the threat to the rook,
Black is forced to go into a lost
ending: 8 . . 1i'b4 + 9 'ifxb4 i.xb4 +
.

10 i.d2 and White is a clear pawn

up. I would guess that if Morphy
had been facing anyone half-de­
cent, he would have gone for this
in a shot. It is hardly imaginable,
6 i.c4 but according to my records, this
Bringing a piece out with gain position actually arose in a later
of time. game, played in 1930. Here White
2B Choose the Right Move

dared to innovate with B i.xf7 +

which looks dangerous to me; that
really is flouting the rules. White
won the ending after B . . . �dB 9
1i'xb7 1i'b4 + 10 11Vxb4 i.xb4 + 1 1
c 3 (Tenk-Egert, Brno 1930). But
instead of B . . . �dB, giving up the
exchange with 8 . . 'ifxf7! would
.

have been more in the Morphy

spirit: 9 'ii'xb7 (this is the point,
Black cannot exchange queens on
b4 now, so White wins the rook in
the corner) 9 . . . i.c5 10 'ii'xaB 0-0.
Black is down on material, but he
has managed to develop most of enters the middlegame, I am still
his pieces, in stark contrast to in the opening; then when he en­
White. Black is on the attack! ters the endgame I will still be in
B c6 9 i. g5 b5?
••• the middlegame; and finally when
9 . . . 1i'c7 would have kept Black he has finished the game I will
-

in the game. still be in the endgame, and thus I

10 �xb5! cxb5 1 1 i.xb5 +
lL!bd7 12 0-0-0
There is no defence to the at­
tack. How could there be when
Black is unable to develop any of
his pieces?
12 .1ldB 13 :Xd7!
•••
A typical method of bringing
the other rook into the attack.
Black is just carried along by the
tide of White's play.
13 l:.xd7 14 l:.d1 1i'e6 15
•••
i.xd7 + �d7 16 1i'bB + � bB 17
l:.dB mate (D)
Pretty, but marred by Black's
dreadful defence. This final posi­
tion reminds me of a theory that
one South London wag used to ex­
pound a few years ago: 'I will al­
low my opponent a great lead in
development, so that when he
will be declared the winner! ' Won­
derfully absurd logic, but a little
dangerous, as the above game dem­
onstrates.
That was fun, but it is worth
looking at Morphy's play when he
faced decent opposition. In 1B5B,
Morphy played a match against
Daniel Harrwitz, a German mas­
ter who had the dream job of resi­
dent professional at the Cafe de la
Regence in Paris. It is said that
Harrwitz put up some of the stiff­
est opposition that Morphy en­
countered on his European tour,
and this was perhaps due to the
German's style: he preferred closed
positions rather than the open kind
of game that the American was
used to; and, unlike many of Mor­
phy's Qpponents, he understood
 First Steps 29

the necessity for quick develop­ Question 1 . 1 : How would you

ment. respond to 4 . . . �d7, to ensure that
your smooth development contin­
Morphy - Harrwitz ues uninterrupted? (Answers to
2nd match game, Paris 1 858 questions are given at the end of
each chapter.)
1 e4 e5 2 lLlf3 d6 3 d4 exd4 4 5 �b5!
'ii'xd4 Of course! Bringing out a piece
while meeting the threat to the
queen, and ensuring that the
queen remains in its superb cen­
tral position.
5 �d7 6 �xc6 �xc6 7 i.g5
•.•

Another piece is developed with

gain of time.
7 lbf6 8 lLlc3 �e7 9 0-0-0
•••

Here we see another point to

the early queen move: it clears
the back rank, enabling White to
castle queenside, and the rooks
are now connected.
9 0-0 10 .l:the1
...

I like this move. Morphy was

an intuitive player: he had no set
of rules to follow, so had no qualms
about bringing his queen out; he
simply judged each situation on
its own merits. The early queen
move envisages a rapid mobilisa­
tion of his queenside forces. Natu­
rally, there is nothing wrong with
4 lbxd4, in fact this seems to be
the most popular move these days,
but 4 'ii'xd4 looks ·more dynamic.
4 ...lbc6
In my view, a better way to meet
White's strategy is 4 . . . �d7, fol­ The perfect position. Morphy
lowed by . . . lbc6, ensuring that the has developed every single one of
queen is driven from its excellent his pieces and has excellent cen­
central position. tral control. He knew intuitively
30 Choose the Right Move
that any attack before he had
brought out all his pieces would
not have succeeded. Only now is
he ready.
10 h6 1 1 .i.h4 lbe8
•••
In order to relieve the conges­
tion in his position, Black seeks
exchanges, but the knight retreat
breaks the connection between
the rooks, and Morphy seizes his
chance.
12 J.xe7 1Wxe7 13 e5!
Morphy' s decision to open the
position is logical because he has
the better development.
13 .i.xf3 14 gxf3 1Wg5 + 15
••.
�b1 dxe5 16 1:.xe5 1Wg2 17 lbd5
1i'xh2
And now, as Golombek points
out, 18 f4, cutting off the queen's
retreat, would leave White with a
powerful initiative, in spite of
being a pawn down. For our pur­
poses we can leave the game here:
Morphy has a promising attack,
therefore his opening play can be
counted as a success. (Inciden­
tally, in the game Morphy played
18 :eel, and after some deter­
mined and accurate defence Harr­
witz won the game.)
Morphy - Harrwit z
4th match game, Paris 1 858
The opening of the fourth game
of the match was similar.
1 e4 e5 2 lbf3 d6 3 d4 exd4 4
'ii'xd4 lbc6 5 .i.b5 .i.d7 6 J.xc6
.i.xc6 7 .i.g5 f6
This is Harrwitz's attempted
improvement. It is true that Black
gains time by attacking the bishop,
but the pawn move interrupts the
smooth flow of his development
as the f6 square is taken from the
knight, and the scope of the dark­
squared bishop is also limited.
However, it does give Black some
security as the e5 break, which
Morphy used to good effect in the
previous game, is prevented.
8 .i.h4 lDh6 9 lbc3 1i'd7 10 0-0
.i.e7 11 :adl
 First Steps 31

Once again, Morphy brings all

his pieces into play before em­
barking on a middlegame plan of
action.
1 1 0-0 12 'ii'c 4+
•••

Now he is ready, and he seizes

upon the slight weakness of the
e6 square (no black pawns can
cover it).
12 lU7 13 lL!d4
•••

Morphy might have been toy­

ing with the idea of advancing his
pawn to f4 and then f5, to support
a knight on e6. Black prevents
that but, in so doing, creates fresh 21 i.xe5 fxe5 22 lm. 'ife6 23 lL!b5
weaknesses in his position. The 'iig8 24 .l:.f2 a6 25 lL!xc7 l:tc8 26
opening is over and the struggle tt:Jd5 .i.xd5 27 exd5 .l:.c7 28 c4
of ideas in the middlegame be­ .i.e7 29 l:th5 'ii'e8 30 c5 l:txc5 31
gins, but it is clear that Morphy, .l:.xh7+ �xh7 32 'ii'h 5 + <li>g8 33
with his greater control of the tt:Jxe7+ �g7 34 lL!f5 + <li>g8 35
centre, and better co-ordination of tt:Jxd6
his forces, has the better chances.
I give the rest of the game as it is
a good illustration of Morphy's
fluent and logical play. Looking at
these games again, it is no wonder
that Bobby Fischer, a player with
a similarly crystal-clear strategic
style, was a great admirer of his
compatriot.
1 3 lL!g4 14 h3 lL!e5 15 'iie2
•••

g5 (D)
This pawn push prevents White
from playing f4 driving away the
knight, but leaves the f5 square
fatally weakened - think back to
my introductory game, and see Here Black resigned.
the chapter on planning and posi­
tional play! You might be thinking after
16 .i.g3 l:tg7 17 tL!f5 l:tg6 18 f4 seeing those games, 'Well, I think
gxf4 19 l:xf4 �h8 20 l:th4 .i.f8 I've got the hang of that, castle
32 Choose the Right Move
early, bring all my pieces out, and
there you are, I 've got a great
opening. ' Unfortunately it isn't
quite as easy as that. First, be­
cause we were only considering
the white side of the position; and
second because Black made no real
attempt to interfere with White's
plan of development. If we return
to the Anand-Kasparov game, then
we will see how even one of the
world's strongest players man­
aged to forget one of the basic
opening rules.
Anand - Kasparov
PCA'World Championship,
New York (13) 1995
Going back a few moves, we
can see that Kasparov already has
some initiative: he has developed
his pieces, castled, and his queen
is attacking the pawn on b2. In
other words, for him, the middle­
game has begun. Anand has to be
careful. His position is fine, apart
from the fact that he has not cas­
tled, so for him the opening phase
is not over. The obvious way for
White to defend the b-pawn and
at the same time complete his de­
velopment is to castle on the
queenside, but Anand must have
been reluctant to do this in case
he found himself moving into an
attack. It is true that after 16 0-0-0
.:tb8, Kasparov is able to operate
on the b-file, but White's position
is solid enough after 17 b3, and,
importantly, he is able to organise
counterplay in the centre through
the pawn break e5 (after due
preparation), or lt:ld5.
16 b3
A little bit too careful, but cer­
tainly not fatal.
16 ... .i.e6!
This is the kind of difficulty
that confronts the player who has
yet to castle: Anand isn't faced
with a direct attack against the
king, but Kasparov is keeping him
busy with other problems - in this
case a threat to his pawn struc­
ture by . . . .i.xc4. If now 17 .i.xe6
fxe6, then Black has covered the
crucial d5 square, preventing the
white knight moving in, and
Black is ready to open up the posi­
tion with the pawn break . . . c4. So
instead of castling, Anand spends
another move dealing with the
threat to double his pawns.
17 lt:ld5 .i.xd5 18 exd5
If White had already castled
here, then he would be ready to
double rooks on the e-file, tying
 First Steps
Black down to the defence of the
pawn on e7. But it is Black to
move, and White's king is still in
the middle of the board . . .
18 e5
•••
'After . . . e5, psychologically it's
very unpleasant for White. Sud­
denly the e7 pawn, which was
weak, comes to e5 and becomes
strong. White has to admit the
strategic loss of the opening and
play an equal position. ' (Kasparov
speaking immediately after the
game) The champ has put his fin­
ger on the problem. Anand feels
that with the white pieces, the
onus is on him to play for the in­
itiative, which dulls his sense of
danger. The correct move is to
castle on the queenside, even
though it is not clear where White
is going to find play - and that is
what Anand must have feared.
Damage limitation - compromis­
ing - is one of the hardest things
to do in chess.
33
19 dxe6? d5
This one Anand had foreseen:
if 20 .i.xd5 :fd8 2 1 c4 fxe6 wins a
piece.
20 .i.e2 c4!
But not that one and, as we saw
earlier, Anand was blown away. So
the reason Anand failed to com­
plete his development was that he
became pre-occupied with other
strategical ideas (his pawn struc­
ture being damaged, for instance),
and that he was worried about
losing the initiative.
There are many other reasons
why we all, on occasion, forget
the basics in the opening. In re­
searching this chapter I thought
it might be worth looking at some
of my own games from when I
was just starting out, to see how I
managed in the opening. It was a
salutary experience. I will cer­
tainly be more tolerant of my pu­
pils when they fail in the opening.
Some of my games were simply
appalling. I think the first chess
book that i ever bought was Bobby
Fischer's My Sixty Memorable
Games (not a bad start). I blindly
copied the openings that he
played. After all, Fischer was 'The
Greatest', and if it was good
enough for him, it was good enough
for me. Unfortunately, I had no
idea of the strategic basis behind
these openings, and where the
dangers lay in them. By accident,
some of the openings worked well
for me. For instance the Ruy
34 Choose the Right Move
Lopez (Spanish) , Exchange vari­
ation, which Fischer employed a
few times in the late sixties, was a
hit, though at the time I really
had no idea why. I seem to re­
member the following sequence
occurring on a few occasions:
1 e4 e5 2 lL!f3 lL!c6 3 i.b5 a6 4
i.xc6 dxc6 5 0-0 lL!f6 6 lL!xe5
lL!xe4 7 l:le1
. . . and White wins a piece. The
reason why the Ruy Lopez, Ex­
change variation is good for a be­
ginner to start with is because it
facilitates ·rapid development, as
this extreme example shows.
I wasn't quite as lucky with
some of the other Fischer openings
that I copied. For instance, I had
great difficulty playing against
the Pirc and Modern Defences.
Fischer won a wonderful game
against Benko in the 1963/64 US
Championship using the Austrian
Attack, so that was my choice. It
involves launching three pawns
into the centre right from the
start, which is fair enough, but I
had no idea of the risks involved.
This game was typical.
King - D. Powell
Ashford Open 1975
1 e4 g6 2 d4 i.g7 3 f4
There they go, sound the trum­
pets. Unfortunately, I didn't know
what to do with them once they
were there.
3 ... c5
Black attacks the centre imme­
diately, although it might be bet­
ter just to play 3 . . d6.
.
4 lL!f3
A poor reply, justifying Black's
last move. Given that I've pushed
all these pawns, potentially giving
Black a lead in development, I
should have tried to keep the cen­
tre closed with 4 d5.
4 cxcl4 5 lL!xd4 lL!c6!
•••
 First Steps
Black has an excellent version
of the Sicilian Defence where, in­
stead of developing a piece, White
has played the premature f4, leav­
ing a gaping hole in his position.
Dealing with the attacked knight
on d4 is not easy. Capturing on c6
improves Black's pawn structure
(a pawn is brought closer to the
centre) ; retreating to f3 or b3
gives Black another tempo in the
race to develop; and 6 .i.e3 allows
6 . . . 'ifb6! attacking both d4 and b2
(White could then play 7 l2Jf5
'ifxb2 8 l2Jxg7 + 'ibg7, gaining the
two bishops for a pawn, but the
compensation is thin) . I went for
another option which was no bet­
ter than any of the above.
6 c3
Another pawn move. Morphy
would have been horrified.
6 d6 7 .i.e3 l2Jf6 8 �f3 .i.g4 9
•••
'ifg3 .i.d7 10 .i.d3 0-0 1 1 0-0
Black has completed his devel­
opment and is ready to attack,
whereas I am a move behind; more­
over, my pieces are poorly placed,
like targets in the centre of the
board.
u . . .l2Jg4! (DJ
Seizing the initiative. I can't re­
treat the bishop as the knight on
d4 would be hanging, so I have to
compromise.
12 l2Jxc6 bxc6 13 l2Jd2
Instead, 13 .i.d4 .i.xd4 14 cxd4
'ifb6 would be dire.
13 l2Jxe3 14 �xe3
•••
Black has gained the two bish­
ops which in this open position
35
constitutes a significant advan­
tage. He forced an endgame by
playing . . .
14 'ifb6 15 l2Jc4 'ti'xe3+ 1 6
•••
l2Jxe3 a5 17 .l:.fc 1 a4 18 l2Jc4
.l:.fb8
. . . and won fluently, combining
pressure on the queenside with
an advance in the centre.
King - Adorjan
Simultaneous Exhibition 1 975
Another disaster.
1 e4 g6 2 d4 .i.g7 3 l2Jc3 d6 4
f4 l2Jf6 5 l2Jf3 0-0 6 .i.d3 l2Jc6 7
0-0 .i.g4 8 .i.e3?
I didn't understand that when
you have such a powerful pawn
centre, you have to do something
with it, or else it becomes a target.
White's best move here is 8 e5.
8 ... e5! (D)
A typical move, breaking up the
pawn centre. White has a number
of captures and pawn pushes to
choose from, but none hold out
36 Choose the Right Move
any hope for an advantage. Per­
haps it is best for White to cut his
losses with 9 dxe5 dxe5 10 fxe5
�e5 11 .te2, and exchange some
pieces; the position should be about
equal.
9 f:x:e5 d:x:e5 10 d5 ?! ll:ld4 1 1
.te2 .txf3 1 2 .txf3 c6
Black already has the more
promising position owing to the
knight embedded on d4 and the
pressure on the d5 pawn. At this
point I clearly couldn 't see any­
thing constructive to do at all and
came up with . . .
1 3 .tg5? 'ii'b6 14 .te3 'ii':x:b2
. . . and Ire polished me off with
ease. It is okay to be caught out
once, but it is none too bright to
let it happen again in the same
way. As blues man B.B. King says,
'Fool me once, shame on you; fool
me twice, shame on me. ' (Inciden­
tally, I've never quite understood
the apathy to simultaneous exhi­
bitions that exists in England. As
a junior I had the chance to play
in quite a few simuls and without
exception they taught me valu­
able lessons. There is no better way
to have one's ideas tested than
against a strong player, and I can
honestly say that I am still using
some of the strategies that were
employed against me by some of
the grandmasters.)
When one builds a pawn centre
in the opening:
1. Time is lost because piece de­
velopment has been neglected.
2. One takes on great responsi­
bility. A single error could cause
the whole edifice to collapse. That's
alright if you are able to play as
accurately as Fischer but, let's be
realistic, for the rest of us, par­
ticularly when starting out, it's
chancy.
King - Barkas
Islington Major 1975
It is true that I learned a great
deal from simultaneous games,
but obviously the lessons didn't
go in quickly enough. This last ex­
ample of my efforts against the
Modern/Pirc is the most painful
to look back on, and it must have
finally induced me to do some­
thing about my, er, unique treat­
ment of the opening.
1 e4 g6 2 d4 .tg7 3 lLlc3 d6 4
f4 lLlf6 5 e5
I remember that I had seen a
game that had continued 5 . . . dxe5
6 dxe5 'ii'lC dl + 7 �xdl ltlg4 8 �el,
 First Steps
and later White had played h3
and g4, leaving Black terribly
cramped. Unfortunately, my op­
ponent quickly played . . .
5 lt:lfd7
•••
. . . and I was left on my own
again.
6 ltlf3 c5
The pressure on White's centre
is too great; it must collapse .
7 exd6
Remarkably, I managed to find
the best move, and Black now
makes a mistake.
7 exd6?
•••
Question 1.2: What should Black
play instead of this?
8 'ii'e2 + !
A paradoxical move, blocking
in the bishop, - but in this case
wholly justified as it disrupts
Black's development. The natural
move would be for Black to block
the check with the queen, but that
would give White a powerful in­
itiative in the ending, e.g. 8 . . . 1We7
37
9 'ilfxe7 + �xe7 10 li:ld5 + 'it>d8 1 1
.i.e3 . Black's king is caught in the
centre, and even without queens
this can be extremely dangerous
when so many pieces remain on
the board. The opening should be
good for White if the correct move
is now played.
8 ...'it>f8
Have a think about what you
would play here if you were White.
How, for instance, are you going
to deal with the threat to the d­
pawn?
9 d5??
Not like this I hope. I must
have imagined that with the black
king stuck on f8 I could play al­
most anything, and that would be
sufficient to win. The move shows
that I had no understanding of
the fundamentals of opening play
- I had never seen any ofMorphy' s
games. The move 9 d5 closes the
position, instantly giving Black
more security. When one has a
lead in development it makes
sense to open up the position (or
in this case simply to keep it open)
in order to take advantage of it.
At this point, someone has writ­
ten on my scoresheet, 'Too many
pawn moves - play with your
pieces! ' and that just about sums
it up. The natural move here is 9
.te3 followed by castling on the
queenside, with a tremendous at­
tack. It is a shame it didn't seem
natural to me then. The game has
a curious, but just, conclusion.
9 lt:lf6
•••
38 Choose the Right Move
The effects of closing the posi­
tion are immediately apparent:
Black is able to complete his de­
velopment unhindered, and his
king is safe.
10 g3 .tf5 11 .tg2 1i'd7 12 0-0
lLla6 13 a3 lLlc7 14 lLlh4 l:te8
It is Black with his lead in de­
velopment who is able to assume
the initiative.
15 'ifd2 lLle4 16 lLlxe4 .txe4
1 7 c4 f5
I should play 18 lLlf3 here, when
Black has a pleasant choice be­
tween 18 . . . b5 undermining the d­
pawn, or 18 . . . h6, preparing . . . q;f7,
connecting the rooks. However,
by this stage I had obviously lost
the run of myself, and I came up
with . . .
18 .:.b1??
. . . and I resigned before he took
the rook off. Sad, but true.
Luckily, help was at hand. I re­
ceived some good advice from my
first (and only) chess coach, Nigel
Povah, who appeared on the scene
around this time . The Austrian
Attack against the Modern/Pirc
was given the boot, and I began
playing
1 e4 g6 2 d4 .tg7 3 lLlc3 d6 4
.tc4 lLlf6 5 'ii'e2
At that stage in my develop­
ment this was just the right sys­
tem for me: White brings out his
pieces rapidly, and at the same
time, Black is unable to develop
straightforwardly as e5! is a threat.
For instance, 5 . . . 0-0 6 e5 ! dxe5 7
dxe5 lLle8 8 e6, and White already
has the attack. Most of my oppo­
nents played . . .
5 c6 6 e 5 dxe5 7 dxe5 lLld5 8
•••
.td2 .te6 9 0-0-0
. . . when White has a pleasant
lead in development: he has al­
ready castled; Black's queen will
soon have to move as there is al­
ready a rook facing opposite; and
finally �lack has yet to castle.
 First Steps
White already has the initiative.
There are of course drawbacks to
White's system, as I discovered
later, but it gave me a much bet­
ter idea of what I should be trying
to achieve when playing with the
white pieces, and to this day I
don't play the Austrian Attack
against the Pirc/Modern. (I gener­
ally play the so-called ' Classical'
system: 1 e4 d6 2 d4 lDf6 3 lDc3 g6
4 lDf3 i.. g7 5 i..e 2 0-0 6 0-0 - you
get your pieces out, get castled,
and two pawns in the centre is
good enough for me.) I'm not say­
ing that the Austrian is a poor
system - it isn't - it is just that it
doesn't suit me. But not only
that. If one plays too many pawn
moves in the opening, then there
is the danger of falling behind in
development; and if you do con­
struct a pawn centre, then it re­
quires delicate handling or it will
merely become a liability. Unfor­
tunately, Fischer didn't mention
that anyone below grandmaster
level would have a hard time with
the opening! My advice is to play a
system which enables you to bring
your pieces out easily.
There are many ways to mess
up the opening, and at that time,
I discovered several of them.
Pawn-grabbing was a problem.
Even today I am a bit of a materi­
alist - I like capturing pawns and
pieces and I like hanging on to
them once I've got them - but in
those days I was just downright
greedy. This was a fairly typical
39
encounter. So far we have mainly
considered examples where the
advantage of the first move has
gone to White's head, and he be­
lieves that he is indestructible.
Now we return to situations where
Black is in some peril.
D. Lynch - King
Islington Open 1976
1 e4 c5 2 lDr3 lDc6 3 i..b5 g6 4
0-0 i.. g7 5 c3
Everything alright so far, but
after this move I'm faced with the
threat of d4, seizing control of the
centre. What to do? Nowadays I
would prefer 5 . . . lDf6, and if 6 e5,
the knight settles on d5. Then I'm
ready to castle, and to break up
White's centre with . . . d6.
5 e5
•••
That one seemed reasonable to
me, preparing to bring the knight
out to e7, and at the same time
preventing d4.
40 Choose the Right Move

6 d4! is lDc4, and I don't have a good de­

I said, preventing d4. What's fence.
this? 10 ...'it'f6 1 1 iid2 lDe7 12 i.g5
6 cxd4 7 cxd4 lDxd4 8 lDxd4
.•. 'iie6 13 i.c4 'iib 6 14 lDb5 d5 15
exd4 9 i.f4 exd5 i.d7 16 'fi'e2 f6 17 d6
I think White's best move here
is probably 9 e5, followed by iixd4
and lDc3 - White has a lovely posi­
tion, but the move played was
quite good enough for me.
9 ..'iVb6?
.

Instead, 9 . lDe7 is better: 10

. .

i.d6 'iVb6 11 i.xe7 <i;xe7 (ll . . 'iixb5

.

12 i.d6) 12 lDa3 l:td8 and the

black king should reach safety on
g8. 9 . . . iib6 is a greedy move. I
know just how my mind would
have worked: I was giving my ex­
tra d-pawn some support, and at
the same time, who knows, once
the bishop moves, I might be able
to capture another pawn on b2!
Desire is the root of all evil.
10 lDa3!
1-0
Dismal. Most of White's moves
came with gain of time; either
something was threatened or Black
was prevented from castling.
The previous game is perhaps
evidence to the contrary, but
around this time the lesson of
rapid development seems to have
got through to me. I particularly
like the following miniature.

King - G. Heap
London Junior U1 6
Championship 1976

One simple developing move is
enough to kill me. White's threat
1 e4 c5 2 lDf3 d6 3 i.b5 +
This bishop check has a tedious
reputation on the international
circuit, mainly because exchang­
ing ofhl pair of bishops on move
 First Steps
four is thought to reduce White's
kingside attacking chances. Well,
yes, and no: look how quickly I'm
able to bring out my pieces.
3 i.d7 4 i.xd7+ "ii'x d7 5 0-0
•••
g6 6 c3 i.g7 7 d4 cxd4 8 cxd4
�c6 9 �c3 tMG
I 've got my strong centre, and
now I have to do something with
it. In one move, Black's king will
be castled and safe, so now is the
moment to strike.
10 d5! �a5
A horrible square for the knight,
but the alternatives also weren't
particularly rosy. Possibly the best
move was 10 . . . �e5, though after
1 1 �xe5 dxe5 White has a solid
positional advantage: using the
extra space on the queenside it is
possible to start an attack with
moves such as f3, i.e3, 'ifh3 and a4.
1 1 e5!
If Black tries ll . . . dxe5, then 12
�e5 "flc7 13 1i'a4 + is embarrass­
ing. Already, the consequences of
41
the king remaining in the middle
of the board are being felt.
l l ... �g4 12 exd6 exd6 13
'ii'e2 +
Black should now compromise
and play 13 . . �£8, and while White
.
has no immediate way to continue
the attack, he is obviously better
due to his lead in development:
for the foreseeable future Black is
playing without one of his rooks.
13 ...�e5? 14 b4
Black cannot hold his position
together, for instance, if 14 . . . �ac4
15 �xe5 �e5 16 f4.
14 ...:cs 15 i.h6!
Though I say it myself, good
move!
15 . .0-0
.
Losing a piece. The only move
was 15 . . . i.xh6, though Black must
play with accuracy if he is to avoid
immediate disaster: 16 �xe5 '"fle7
17 'ifb5 + �£8 18 �d7 + �g7 19
l:tfe1 'ifh4 20 �e4 and White 's in­
itiative continues.
42 Choose the Right Move
16 i.xg'l �7 1 7 � e5 dxe5
Or 17 . . . 'fle7 18 lLlf3!
18 b:x:a5
18 . . . l:xc3 19 'flxe5 + wins the
rook, so Black resigned.
It occurs to me that there is a
common link between these games
in which White manages to achieve
super rapid mobilisation: the early
development of one of the bishops
to b5, or in Morphy's case, g5, in
order to facilitate castling, and to
bring the rooks into the middle. It
is perhaps something to bear in
mind. I have had a lot of success
with 1 e4 c5 2 lLlf3 lLlc6 3 i.b5,
and formerly 1 e4 c5 2 lLlf3 d6 3
i.b5 + (I don't play this any more
because most of my opponents
know how to meet it, but I would
say that, if handled correctly by
White, it is a dangerous weapon
against anyone rated under 2200).
And queen pawn systems with an
early development of the queen's
bishop are also dangerous, as I
know to my cost. This next game
reminds me a little of the Morphy
game from the Paris Opera, so
perhaps ! "shouldn't have been so
hard on his aristocratic oppo­
nents.
Klinger - King
Lucerne 1 989
1 d4 lLlf6 2 lLlf3 e6 3 i. g5 (D)
There are plenty of reasonable
moves against this (3 . . . c5 ; 3 . . . i.e7;
and 3 . . . d5, for instance), but I like
grabbing the two bishops straight
away.
3 h6 4 i.:x:f6 'fl:x:f6 5 lLlc3 d6
•••
6 e4
The price I have paid for gain­
ing the so-called advantage of the
two bishops is that I am way be­
hind in development, and White
has already established a strong
pawn centre. Was it worth it? We
shall see.
6 ...lLld7 7 'fld2 c6
I wanted to play . . . e5 in order to
stake a claim in the centre, but first
I wanted to cover the d5 square,
otherwise the knight lands there
and attacks my queen. While I 'm
fiddling around, White gets on
with his development.
8 0-0-0 e5
There, I've got my move in, and
now all I have to do is play . . . i.e7,
castle and I have a perfectly satis­
factory position. White takes his
chance . He has already castled
so is way ahead in development,
therefore the logical thing to do is
 First Steps
to open up the position immedi­
ately.
9 dxe5 dxe5
It would have been better to
play 9 . . . lilxe5 10 lilxe5 'ii'xe5, even
though White is already starting
on his attack with 11 f4 and Black
is way behind with his develop­
ment. I could see that that would
be miserable, and it was never my
intention to go in for it; I saw no
danger in playing 9 . . . dxe5. How­
ever . . .
1 0 lilb5!
If 10 . . . cxb5 11 .i.xb5, and just
as in Morphy's game, it is impos­
sible to break the pin successfully,
e.g. 1 l . . .'fi'e7 12 lilxe5! \i'xe5 13
.i.xd7+ rlile7 14 .i.xc8. The threat
of 1 1 lilc7 + is difficult to meet. If
10 . . . 'fi'd8, then 1 1 lilxe5, for in­
stance. The move I came up with
is no better.
10 :bs l l lilxa7
•••
Winning at least a pawn, and
now I gave the house.
43
l l lilc5?? 12 lilxc8 :XeS 13
•••
b4
Winning a piece. I could have
resigned now, but I plugged on for
a few moves, to no avail.
13 \i'e6 14 bxc5 .i.xc5 15
••.
'ii'c3 .i.d6 16 .i.c4 'fi'e7 17 hd6 !
Good technique. White returns
some material in order to keep
the initiative.
17 .'ii'xd6 18 :d1 'fi'e7 19
•.
1Wxe5 'fi'xe5 20 lilxe5 0-0 21 :d7
. . . and at this point I decided
that enough was enough. That
was poor. My sense of danger de­
serted me, and I failed to spot the
similarity between my position
and Morphy's famous game. I ha­
ven't even got the excuse that I
was about twelve years old either.
Curiously, I managed to avenge
this defeat very quickly - just a
few days later in the same tourna­
ment in fact. I don't often play 1 d4,
but, inspired by my loss, I wanted
to repeat the same system.
King - Summermatter
Lucerne 1 989
1 d4 lilf6 2 lilf3 e6 3 .i.g5 h6 4
.i.xf6 'ii'xf6 5 e4 d6 6 lilc3 g5
There obviously must be some­
thing about this system that pro­
vokes Black into thinking that he
can get away with leaving his king
in the middle, ignoring his devel­
opment, and making too many
pawn moves. I decided to open the
position straight away.
7 e5 'fi'e7 8 h4 g4 9 lild2
44 Choose the Right Move
Because Black's g-pawn is at­
tacked, I haven't actually lost time
with this knight retreat.
9 h5
•••
10 f4
Looking at the game now, I'm
not impressed by this move. I was
concerned about protecting my e­
pawn, but this is too materialistic.
I should get on with my develop­
ment, and if I have to give up a
pawn, well, so be it. A sample line:
10 tt::lde4! dxe5 11 dxe5 �g7 12 f4
gxf3 13 'ii'xf3 �xe5 14 0-0-0 and
although Black is a pawn up, he is
a long way from bringing his king
to safety.
10 gxf3 1 1 tt::lxf3 tt::lc6 12 �b5
•••
�d7 13 'ii'e2
Black should castle here, when
his position is a little cramped,
but not too bad. At least he has
the two bishops, which might one
day prove their worth.
13 dxe5 14 �xc6 �xc6 15
•••
tt::lxe5
Now Black has difficulties as
castling queenside is met by tt::lxc6
breaking up the pawns.
15 'i!ib4 16 0-0-0 �g7
.••
But that is fatal.
17 tt::lxf7
17 �xf7 18 lthfl + �f6 19
.••
d5! exd5
Or 19 . . . �xd5 20 ltxd5 exd5 2 1
ltxf6 + �xf6 2 2 tt::lxd5 + .
20 l:.xf6+
. . . and Black resigned since 20
l:.xf6 + �xf6 21 l:.fl + �g7 22
'ii'e5 + �g8 23 \i'e6 + �g7 24 l:r.f7 +
�g8 25 'ii'g6 is mate. I'm not par­
ticularly recommending that one
should play a system involving
either �b5 or �g5 - they are not
the last word in opening theory
and there are antidotes - but if
you have problems getting out of
the opening with your head on,
then perhaps they are worth try­
ing; and it is worth pointing out
the dangers from the black side as
well.
 First Steps
To close this first chapter a few
positions to test you on the opening
concepts I have been discussing.
Question 1 .3: How should Black
best complete his development
and deal with the threat to the g­
pawn?
Vogel - King
German Bundesliga 1 987
Muir - King
British Championship 1988
45
Question 1 .4: In the preceding
diagram Black is a pawn down,
but has a lead in development as
he has already castled. How can
he turn this to his advantage?
Question 1 . 5: In the next dia­
gram, what is the simplest way
for White to take advantage of his
lead in development?
King - Scannell
Bunratty 1 996
Answers
1.1
There are two moves which I
like. First 5 .i.f4!, so that after
5 . . . llJc6 the queen may retreat to
d2, without blocking the bishop.
White's next two moves after that
would be llJc3 and queenside cas­
tling. 5 .i.g5 is also reasonable,
with a similar idea, so that the
46 Choose the Right Move
queen may retreat to d2. What
would not be good is 5 lLlc3, for the
queen has no really good square
to return to. For instance, after
5 . . . lLlc6 6 11M3 would block the
bishop on fl ; 6 'il'e3 blocks the
bishop on c1, likewise 6 'ili'd2; and
moving the queen to either c4 or
a4 leaves it in a vulnerable posi­
tion.
1.2
Black should play in dynamic
style with 7 . . . 0-0, and if White
goes against all our principles and
grabs a pawn with 8 dxe7, then
Black gets a raging attack with
8 . . . 'ifxe7 + 9 i.e2 cxd4 10 lLlxd4
l:e8, preventing White from cas­
tling: 1 1 0-0 'il'c5!
1.3
12 lLlc61
•••
By far the strongest move. If
instead 12 . . . g6 13 lLle4 lLlc6 14
'ifh4! prevents Black from cas­
tling, and therefore leaves White
with the initiative. For the price
of one pawn Black manages to
castle and gains the initiative.
13 'ifxg7 .
Or 13 'ifh4 f6 followed by cas­
tling queenside.
13 0-0-0 14 0-0 h5 15 'ii'g5
•••
lLlxc3 16 .:tacl 'ifxd4 1 7 i.b2
lLle2 + 18 lLlxe2 'it'xb2 19 lLlc3
lLlb4 20 lLla4 'ifxa2 21 .:tal 'ii'd2
22 'iff6 'ifd7 23 'iff4 'ifc6 24 lLlb2
a5 25 l:fcl c3 0-1
1. 4
9 d41
•••
Opening the position up is the
most logical idea, although it was
also possible to continue 9 . . l:r.e8!
.
(rooks standing opposite queens
are dangerous) and if 10 lLlb3,
then 10 . . lLlg4 and Black has pres­
.
sure.
10 cxd4 lLlxd4 1 1 i.xd4 'ifxd4
12 lLlb3
Perhaps it would have been
better just to play 12 lLlgf3, giving
back the pawn, but at least bring­
ing the king to safety on the next
move.
12 11Vb4+ 13 'ii'd2 'ifxd2 + 14
.••
'itxd2 l:d8
White is way behind in terms
of development, and his king is
stuck in the middle of the board;
this is a dream position for Black.
15 �c2 a5 16 .:tdl a4 1 7 lLlcl
i.e6 18 lLlh3 i.xc5 19 l:r.d2 .l:.ac8
20 �bl ..txh3 2 1 gxh3 lLle4 22
i.xe4 lhd2 0-1
1.5
1 5 'ifxc5 lLlxc5 16 l:acl
Nothing too complicated here.
White exchanges and brings the
rook into the game with gain of
tempo. Black isn't given the time
to develop.
16 lLlcd7 17 lLld4 lLlb6 18
•••
lLlc6 .l:.a8 19 lLlc4 lLlbd5
If 19 . . lLlxc4 20 .l:.d8 mate.
.
20 lLlb6 i.b7 2 1 lLlxa8 i.xa8
22 e4 1-0
2 Tactics and Com binations
(C hris Duncan)
During my coaching sessions pu­
pils often ask 'What should I
study?' There is no simple answer
or magical solution, it depends on
your strengths, weaknesses, gen­
eral level of play, understanding,
aptitude, etc. But one thing is clear,
you must have a basic grounding
and understanding of tactics. It is
no good playing the best posi­
tional chess in the world only to
find you miss a tactic and lose a
piece.
There have been many convo­
luted, complex and down-right
boring definitions of tactics and
combinations. Here are some down
to earth defmitions.
Tactics are short-term manoeu­
vres that try to take advantage of
opportunities available in the po­
sition, and combinations are a col­
lection or series of tactics that seek
to gain an advantage (normally
material) .
Enough of definitions, the most
important obje<;tive is to train
yourself to spot tactics and combi­
nations in your games. To help
you do this we shall first look at
the different tactics, which I have
broken down into the following
groups: pins, skewers, double at­
tacks, discovered attacks, decoying,
destroying the guard, overloading,
Zwischenzug (what?), clearance,
interference and mating nets. We
shall then see a number of tactics
strung together to form combina­
tions, and finally you will be able
to try to put your knowledge to
good use by solving some exer­
cises.
Tactics
Trainers and authors have given
many names to the various types
of tactics, but remember it is the
concepts and not the names that
are important. Here we shall ob­
serve different types of tactics in
action, focusing on how to spot
them in one's own games.
The pin
When you are attacking a piece
that your opponent cannot move
without losing the higher valued
piece behind, you are pinning the
first piece. The pin has the effect
of immobilising the pinned piece,
except under certain sacrificial
circumstances, which we shall ex­
amine later. In the following ex­
ample Vasyukov utilises a pin to
win the black queen.
48 Choose the Right Move

Vasyukov - Gitterman secures a material advantage for

23rd USSR Championship 1 956 White.
The pin on the black knight on
8 ltle6! 1-0 c6 is different this time:
Although it goes against our
nonnal instincts to put a piece on a
square that is attacked by a pawn,
here the knight is perfectly safe
due to the pin of the d7 pawn
against his king. I will always re­
member being told by Grandmas­
ter Eduard Gufeld that 'a pinned
piece cannot defend', and this is a
perfect example. This particular
type of pin, a pin against the king,
is known as an absolute pin be­
cause the pinned piece cannot
move in accordance with the rules
of chess.
Exploiting the pin is a common Does the move 5 d5 win the
way to gain a material advantage. knight, as in the last example?
In the diagram at the top of the No! Black has a cunning de­
next column, Black's knight on fence.
c6 is pinned to the king (absolute 5 d5 a6!
pin), and is therefore unable to Black can hit the pinning piece,
move . With this in mind simply forcing it back.
attacking the knight with 5 d5 ! 6 �a4 b5!
 Tactics and Combinations 49

Now he blocks the pin. This

brings us to an important concept:
defending against tactical ideas.
Of course it is just as important to
be able to counter your opponent's
tactical threats as it is to create
your own threats. There are four
ways to defend against the pin:
1. Remove the piece that is
carrying out the pin, either by
simply capturing it or chasing it
away (as in the example above) .
2 . Unpin the piece involved,
either by blocking the pin or mov­
ing the higher valued piece to Remember that because it is
which the first piece is pinned. not an absolute pin, Black does
3. Pin the piece that is carry­ have the option of sacrificing his
ing out the pin. queen. In this example it is only a
4. Ignore the pin with the idea temporary sacrifice.
of counterattacking. 7 ..txd8 ..tb4 + 8 'ii'd2 ..txd2 +
The first three defences to the 9 <itad2 �xd8
pin are self-explanatory, but what . . . and Black comes out a piece
about the fourth idea? What sort for pawn ahead. The motto of this
of counterattack could be used game is to always understand
against the pin? how powerful and restrictive the
My first ever British Champi­ pin is.
onship (the under l l 's) involved a
sneaky book trap which shows a
typical counter stroke.

1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 lLlc3 lLlf6 4
..tg5 lLlbd7
This is a well-known trick in
the Cambridge- Springs variation
of the Queen's Gambit. It looks as
if White can win a pawn by ex­
ploiting the pinned knight on f6.
5 cxd5 exd5 6 lLlxd5 (D)
Everything looks great, but
now comes the thunderbolt . . .
6 lLlxd51!
•••
50 Choose the Right Move

Question 2.1 : Look at the dia­ a

gram at the bottom of the pre­
8 .:
vious page. Keeping the previous
7 -, >}:'
example in mind, what should ��·
-) , .::<; ,..:.
White play? 6
>�E:-
The skewer 5 ����j
4
With a skewer the attacker threat­ %;-;,/;
:18��{
3
ens a valuable piece so that it is �if�
forced to move, allowing the cap­ 2 ;�-:;j�
ture of the piece behind it. The
skewer is often referred to as a re­
1 •
�- . :;
a b c h
versed pin because with a pin you
have the most valuable piece at 2 llh7+
the back, whereas with the skewer The skewer. The white rook at­
the valuable piece is at the front. tacks the most valuable piece (the
The skewer is a less common king), forcing it to move out of the
tactical theme than the pin because way and leaving the black rook to
it can only last for one move. The be captured.
more important piece must cede 2 .'ite6 3 llxa7 1-0
••

its ground immediately or risk be­

ing captured, whereas pins can
often remain for long sequences
of moves.
The following position demon­
strates the skewer. In order to
win, White needs to promote his
pawn or capture the opponent's
rook. It seem's that he cannot
move his rook without losing the
pawn, but . . .
1 l:b81
Threatening to promote the
pawn. Black can try playing some
irrelevant checks, but will even­
tually be forced to capture the a7 Large - Duncan .
pawn. Surrey Trophy 1 993
l. .. llxa7
Or l . . .'�g7 2 aS'Ii' llxa8 3 l:ba8 The skewer can be used in many
and wins. different positions. In this local
 Tactics and Combinations
league game my opponent care­
lessly played . . .
26 .!Dg3
Qu estion 2.2: After this move
Black is able to utilise a skewer,
can you see what I played?
The double attack
The double attack is probably the
most common of all the tactical
devices. In one move you are able
to make two threats. The most
common double attack is the fork.
Let us take a look at probably
the most famous knight fork ever,
which occurred during the match
for the 1966 World Chess Cham­
pionship.
Petrosian Spassky
- Relieving the pin and attacking
World Championship,
Moscow 1966
Petrosian wrapped up the game
with the beautiful . . .
1 'iVh8+ U �8 2 .!Dxf7 + 1-0
51
Winning back the sacrificed
queen using a knight fork, which
leads to an endgame in which
White is a piece up.
The most dangerous knight
fork is one in which the king and
queen are forked (as in the last
example) . However, the knight
fork can also be used to complete
more mundane tasks, like simply
winning a piece, as in the next ex­
ample.
Naumann - Duncan
Budapest 1 993
15 �f4
White sets up a nasty pin.
15 'ii'b6
...
the bishop on b3.
16 'ii'c2??
White chooses the worst way to
try and defend his bishop. Can you
see how Black can take advantage
of this poor move?
52 Choose the Right Move

16 �f3 + 17 'it>g2 �d4 0-1

...

A double attack on the queen

and bishop leading to material
gain.

Although the knight fork is the

most common form of double at­
tack, other pieces can be used to
create the same devastation. In
the following example the bishop
causes havoc.

White threatens both mate on

g7 and winning the queen with 3
�xh6 + . This is a typical example
of two threats which cannot be
met.

The discovered attack

The discovered attack is a subtle

Duncan - Inman
Thames Valley League 1994
form of aggression. In this attack
a piece or pawn moves off a line in
order to 'discover' (uncover) an
attack by another piece.

Question. 2.3: How can White

set up a double attack?

So far we have only looked at

threats to pieces. A double attack
may also have a different kind of
threat, such as checkmate.

In the following diagram White

sets up the double attack with a
sacrifice . . .
1 .:.Xd7!! _.xd7 2 _.g4
 Tactics and Combinations
I lore is an example:
1 .te21
'I' his move discovers (uncovers)
nn attack from the white rook on
e l l to the black queen on d8 . At
l.ho Harne time the bishop attacks
l.ho undefended knight on h5.
The discovered check
'l'he discovered check is the most
common form of discovered attack.
l t consists of moving a piece or
puwn off a line to uncover an at­
tack on the king. This is normally
very advantageous for the attacker,
UH the defender must stop the
check, so the piece that uncovered
the attack is free to cause havoc.
a b c d e g
8
a b c d e g h
Isakov .:. Nikitin
Correspondence 1 947
It is not immediately obvious
how to make use of a discovered
check in this position. Black's
position looks desperate. He is a
53
piece down and White is threaten­
ing 1 .txd7 + l:r.xd7 2 llb8 check­
mate. However, he has a beautiful
manoeuvre, based on a discovered
check, that saves the day.
l 'iid3 + ! !
...
Black sacrifices his queen to set
up a discovered check.
2 hd3
Now Black delivers the discov­
ered attack, leaving the white king
in check and the queen under at­
tack. Instead 2 �el 'ii'xbl leaves
Black clearly on top.
2 .txc6+ 3 �e2 .txa4
•.•
Now Black is a pawn up.
The decoy
The idea of decoying is to force
the opponent's piece to leave an
important square or line. The key
to spotting decoy manoeuvres is
to imagine what you would like to
be able to achieve, and then see if
there is a decoy available to help
you.
54 Choose the Right Moue

For example, in the position on Destroying the guard

the previous page, if we could de­
coy the black bishop away from
the b8-h2 diagonal, we would be
able to queen our c-pawn.
This can be done with the move
l .i.c3! hc3
Due to the pin, the black bishop
must take on c3 or be taken itself.
2 c7
The c-pawn cannot be stopped.
Often a back-rank weakness can
be used.
a b c d e h
v&!:
With the decoy we moved a key
defender, either by threat or temp­
tation. Destroying the guard by a
straight-forward capture is much
more direct. By means of a cap­
ture we are able to render an­
other piece, or indeed the king,
defenceless. In the example below
White can trade queens, enabling
him to meet the dual threats of
. . . 'ii'xg2 mate and . . . 'ii'xd2. How­
ever, on closer examination we
notice that the guard (the black
knight) can be taken by our rook
on h 7, thereby destroying the
guard and at the same time at­
tacking the black king. This tacti­
cal device will enable us to win
the opponent's queen.

d 9 h

Fuster - Balogh
Hungary 1 964

Here the decoying move . . .

l. 'ifb2U
..

. . . can be played with cata­

strophic results for White.
2 lbb2 l lbc7+
Any other moves will simply lose Destroying the queen's guard.
the rook on al : 2 :Xa2 'ii'xbl + or l hc7 2 'ii'xd5
•••

2 'ii'd l 'ii'xf2 + . Look out for positions where you

2 lbal + 0-1
••• are able to destroy the defences of
 Tactics and Combinations 55

ynu r opponent's king. In the fol­ time. A similar problem may af­
lnw ing position, Fischer removes fect a chess piece during a game.
l.hu pawns in front of his oppo­
nunt's king to leave it defenceless.

Van Parreren - Duncan

London (Lloyds Bank
Fischer - Miagmasuren Masters) 1 993
Sousse Interzonal 1967
This is a simple case of over­
1 ..xh7+ ! loading. The pawn on b3 is ex­
Destroying the king's pawn pected to defend the knight on c4
cover. and the pawn on a4 at the same
l ... <hb7 2 hxg6+ time.
Black has two moves, but they 28 .. lC!xa4
.

both end in mate. Taking advantage of the fact

2 .. �xg6
. that if the pawn on b3 captures the
Or 2 . . . �g8 3 .l:lh8 mate. knight on a4, the white knight on
3 i.e4 mate c4 will be undefended.
29 i.xe5?
Overloading Things go from bad to worse.
. 29 i.al would have been the best
Overloading is a common prob­ move.
lem. Take for example a football 29 ...i.xe5 30 ttJxe5 tlJc3 0-1
game, one defender may find him­ Black has managed both to save
self marking two strikers. As soon the threatened knight and leave
as the strikers split, the defender White having to meet the threats
will find himself overloaded, try­ of . . . ttJxdl and . . . 'ii'xe5, an impos­
ing to do two jobs at the same sible task.
56 Choose the Right Move
Zwischenzug
For anyone who doesn't speak Ger­
man, let me enlighten you. 'Zwi­
schenzug' means 'intermediate'
move or 'in-between' move. I have
to say this is my own favourite
tactic; it is the easiest to miss and
the most beautiful to pull off. In­
stead of playing the obvious move,
you are able to find a nuance in
the position enabling you to gain
an advantage. In the position be­
low, White has just played b4.
Black thought : 'I will exchange
the a-pawns, then the rooks and
only then move my knight to
safety from c5. ' How wrong he
was.
Letelier - Bolbochan
Mar del Plata 1959
Mter . . .
l axb4
...
. . . White played the excellent
Zwischenzug . . .
2 .txc51! 'ii'xc5 3 axb4 1-0
Both Black's queen and rook
are en prise.
Clearance
Often in chess we envisage a tac­
tic or checkmate, but find that
our own pieces are in the way. As
Black in the position below, we
would like to hyperspace our queen
to a2 check, forcing the white king
to cl, and then follow up with
.'ifal mate. At the moment, how­
. .
ever, our own pieces are in the
way; and this is where the clear­
ance technique comes in. The idea
of this tactic is to clear a square or
line (rank, file or diagonal) , ena­
bling us to take advantage of the
newly cleared square or line.
Often this involves sacrificing the
piece or pieces which are in our
way.
l l:tal +
...
First .we sacrifice one rook.
 Tactics and Combinations
2 �xal l:ta8 + 3 'Otbl .l:tal +
Then the next, so that we can
bring our queen to the a-file with
devastating effect.
4 �xal 'ifa8 + 5 �bl 'ifa2 +
Now we have the position that
we were trying to achieve.
6 �cl 'ifal mate
I nterference
In any battle scenario it is always
a good idea to break your oppo­
nent's lines of communication.
When their communication lines
are down, they are unable to de­
fend each other when one of the
units is attacked. This is similar
to chess: interfering with the con­
nection between your opponent's
pieces can leave his pieces vul­
nerable or unable to reach key
squares. Take for example the po­
sition below:
Eliskases - Holzl
Austria 1931
57
The stunning . . .
1 l:td5!!
... ends the game. This move
breaks the co-ordination between
the black queen and rook. It looks
like Black can simply capture the
rook, but all captures end in Black
being mated.
l ...'ii'xd5
l . . . .i.xd5 2 'ifxd8 mate; l . . . exd5
2 'ii'xd8 mate; and l . . .llxd5 2 'it'f8
mate all come to the same thing.
2 'li'f6 mate
The mating net
If you are able to ensnare your op­
ponent's king in a mating net, he
will often have to jettison mate­
rial in order to save himself. In
the following position I realised
that I could try and checkmate
my opponent's king along the a­
file.
Britton - Duncan
London (Beauvoir Masters) 1995
58 Choose the Right Move
22 :Xb3+
•••
Clearing the way for my queen
to infiltrate.
23 axb3 'iVc2 + 24 'it>a1 l:lc5
Setting up . . . .J:r.a5 mate.
25 'ifxc5
25 'ii'd2 would have been better,
but 25 . . ..1:r.a5 + 26 1i'xa5 bxa5 still
wins for Black.
25 dxc5 26 .J:r.he1 and Black
•••
went on to win (0-1).
Alternatively in some positions
you may be able to play a number
of forcing moves which lead to
checkmate. Take for example the
following position. See if you can
spot the mating combination.
Gulko - Makarichev
Moscow 1974
Some accurate calculation is re­
quired. However, if you are able to
find a forcing variation the re­
ward can be high ! ! In this posi­
tion one's first reaction is to play
l:tg8 + , forcing the black king to
h6, and then to try and make the
move g5 + work. 1 .l:r.g8 + 'iii>h 6 2
g5 + doesn't appear to work since
Black can take with the f-pawn
and then the king. In fact White
can add to his control of the g5
square by playing 2 lLlf5 + !
1 .l:r.g8 + �h6 2 lLlf5 + ! gxf5 3
g5+
White' s rook now supports this
advance.
3 fxg5 4 hxg5 + lt>h5 5 i.f3
•••
mate
Combinations
Having discussed all of the indi­
vidual tactics, the time has come
to put these together and produce
combinations. In the next exam­
ple Karpov uses several tactical
themes to produce a spectacular
win.
Karpov - Topalov
l)os Hermanas 1 994
 Tactics and Combinations
l lLlf6!1
A double attack forcing the king
to take the knight (decoy) .
1 ...�6 2 -'.e5 + !
A double discovered check, once
again decoying the black king to­
wards the centre of the board.
2 'iPxe5 3 'ii'xe4 + �xe4 4
•••
::tel +
Skewering the rook on e8.
4 ...�5 5 lhe8 -'.e6 6 .lbf8
. . . and White is left with a win­
ning endgame.
Karpov obviously has excellent
analytical powers and was able to
analyse fully the consequences of
1 lLJf6, but an investment of two
pieces before seeing a return would
put many players off analysing a
variation. If this applies to you, it
is imperative that you study the
next chapter (how to calculate) .
Deep Thought -
Mephisto Lyon
New York 1990
59
When it comes to calculating
combinations, we find that com­
puters are ruthless. In this posi­
tion Deep Thought (now renamed
Deep Blue) shows no mercy to an­
other of the leading silicon mon­
sters.
In this combination White sets
up a knight fork with some pre­
liminary sacrifices.
l lLlde5 + !!
Taking advantage of the fact
that the black knight on c6 cannot
move without losing the queen on
a5.
l ...fxe5 2 lLlxe5+
Once again trying to decoy the
knight from c6.
2 ...�f6
If 2 . . . �e7, then 3 'ii"xc6 ! lLlxc6 4
lLlxc6 + (a powerful knight fork)
or 2 . . . <iftg8 3 .:.xb8 + (removal of
the defender) .
3 1i'xa5 lLlxa5 4 .:.xb8 .:.bx:b8
5 :Xb8 :Xb8
White 's entire combination is
justified by the following knight
fork.
6 lLld7+ �e7 7 lLlxb8
Leaving White with a winning
endgame.
My pupils often say that it is
easy to see combinations when
you know exactly what you are
looking for. In this next section
you have to try and solve the posi­
tions for yourself. Progressively
fewer clues will be given for each
position.
Good luck! !
60 Choose the Right Move

Tests

Now that you have an under­

standing of all the different types
of tactics, let us see if you can put
them into practice in our test sec­
tion. Most of the positions will
contain a number of different tac­
tics and cannot be purely defined
as a single tactic such as a pin or
discovered attack.

Question 2.4: Can you see how C. Wells - Duncan

White to play can win material? Arc Masters 1 990
(This will involve a skewer. )

Tozer - Duncan
Espig Bruggemann
- Muswell Hill 1 990
East German
Championship 1973 Here White played . . .
19 .:.acl
A bad mistake, after which my
opponent resigned before I made
Question 2. 5: In the next dia­ my next move.
gram, can White snatch the b-pawn Question 2. 6: What was his rea­
with 10 .i.xb7? son for resigning?
 Tactics and Combinations 61

Question 2 . 7: I n the next dia­ Question 2. 9: In the next dia­

l{ram, can White pull anything out gram, how can White use a decoy
uf the bag? to reach a won endgame?

a b c d h

a c d e g h

Miles - Nedobora Duncan - Dearing

Seville 1994 London (Chess & Bridge) 1 996

Question 2.8: Can White take Question 2. 1 0: Can you spot the
the pawn on e5 in the next dia­ decoy manoeuvre that wins Black
gram? material in the next diagram?

a b c d e g h

Duncan - Davey P. Benson - Duncan

Thames Valley League 1 993 Isle of Man 1 992
62 Choose the Right Moue

Question2.1 1 : In the following Black should retreat her knight

diagram, how can White to move to d7 or c6, but she decided to play
take advantage of Black's weak the active
back rank to set up a mating net? 12 lLic4
•••

Question 2. 12: What is wrong

with this move?

Answers

2. 1
7 lLixe5 .txd1 8 .txf7 + rl;e7 9
lLid5 mate

2. 2
26 ...:Xc31
Temporarily sacrificing an ex­
change.
27 bxc3 l:r.xc3
Miles - Hennigan The white queen is under at­
World Open, Philadelphia 1989 tack and must move out of the
way, allowing the knight behind
to be captured.
28 'ii'd2 hg3
. . . and Black went on to win.

2.3
20 lLif6+ lLixf6
This falls in with White's plans,
but 20 . . . �e7 is no better: 21 l:.adl
llad8 (2l.. ..txg3 22 :Xd7+ with a
double attack on the queen and
king; or 2 1 . . .lLixf6 22 .txe5 with a
double attack on the queen and
2 knight) 22 llxd7+ l:[xd7 23 .txe5
and White wins. Note also that
20 . . . .txf6?? is impossible due to
2 1 .txc7.
Duncan - Kunte 21 .txe5 1-0
London (Lloyds Bank Double attack on the queen
Masters) 1994 and knight.
 Tactics and Combinations
2. 4
1 .tg5 + ! f6
If l.. .q;,es 2 l:d8 is mate.
2 .txf6+ !! gxf6
On 2 . . . �e8 3 l:td8 + �f7 4 .:.xg7
is mate or 2 . . . �f7 3 l:txg7+ 'ili>f8 4
l:d8 mate.
3 l:g7 + q;,e8 4 lhc7 1-0
2. 5
No! !
10 c4!
•••
Deflecting the queen away
from guarding the bishop.
l l 'ii'b5
Any other move will allow us
simply to capture the bishop.
l l a6
.••
Hassling the queen further.
12 'ii'd5
Has White 'got away' with his
pawn grab?
12 .tb4 + !
.•.
No, because o f 1 3 �e2 .txb7 14
'ii'xb7 'ii'd3 mate; 13 .td2 .txd2 +
14 q;,xd2 (14 'ii'xd2 is also met by
14 . . . .txb7) 14 . . . .txb7 winning a
piece, as the white queen is pinned
to the king; 13 'ili>d 1 .txb 7 taking
advantage of the pin along the d­
file; or 13 �fl .txb7 14 'ii'xb7 'ii'd 1
mate. So White resigned.
2. 6
19 .txe4 20 l:txe4 t2Jxf4 2 1
•••
l:xf4 .tg5
Skewering the two rooks.
2. 7
1 :t'8 +
White's aim i s stalemate! !
63
l . l:xf8 2 l:xf8 + �xf8 3
. .
'ii'f7+ �7 %-%
It is stalemate.
2. 8
Yes!
44 :Xe5! 'i#i>f6
Black has trapped the white
rook in the centre of the board,
but White has a saving resource.
45 :Xe6+ ! he6 46 .tg4+
Skewering the king to the rook.
46 �e7 47 .txd7 �xd7 48
•••
'ili>d4
Reaching a winning endgame.
2. 9
37 l:g6+
Black assumed that this move
was not playable because the black
queen is guarding the g6 square,
but if the queen is decoyed to g6,
White will play 'ii' h8 mate.
37 .tg7
•••
37 . . . 'ii'xg6 38 'ii'h8 is mate.
38 llxg7 + l:txg7 39 1Wxg7 +
'ii'xg7 40 .txg7 �xg7 41 l:td1
l:tf8 42 d7 l::td8 43 c5
With the unstoppable threat of
c6-c7, so Black resigned.
2. 10
30 'ii'a1 + 31 'ili>c2 .tb3 + !
•.•
Forcing the king away from the
defence of the rook.
32 'it'xb3 'ii'xd1 +
2. 1 1
1 'ii'e 7
Playing on the weakness of the
back rank.
64 Choose the Right Move

l .tc6
••• 2. 12
Defending the rook, as 1 . . Jtxe7 13 .!l)db5! axb5
is met by 2 l:td8 + . 13 . . . 'ii'c6 14 'ii'xc4 axb5 15 ll)xb5
2 l:.d8 reaches the same position as arose
Pressurising the black rook on in the game.
e8. 14 .!l)xb5 'ii'c6 15 '6'xc4
2 .!l)a6 3 lha8 lha8 4 l:tdl
•.• This is the move that my oppo­
Finally the back rank weakness nent had missed. White is a pawn
cannot be defended, due to 4 ... 'ii'c8 up with the better position after
5 'ii'xf7 + . 15 ...'ii'xc4 16 ll)xd6 + 'iti>f8 17 ll)xc4.
3 How to Calcu late (Ch ris Du ncan)

How many times have we heard Well, that is how an academic

people say: might phrase it, but what it really
'My opponent was so lucky. ' means is choosing the best moves
'I could have won a piece. ' by analysing the various defen­
' I missed a mating attack. ' sive and offensive options.
'I was winning. ' To help with this I have broken
These are all claims that can be calculation into some key skills
heard from disgruntled players that we shall look at, but first we
finding something to blame when need to appreciate why calcula­
they had miscalculated again. tion is so important.
When people make these com­
ments, what they normally mean Why is it important to calculate?
is that they were not able to calcu­
late properly. It is true that being Take a look at the situation be­
tired, not sleeping well, having to low:
travel a long way, etc . , can affect
your ability to calculate, but by
far the most common reason why
people miscalculate is because
they don't understand how to cal­
culate properly in the first place.
Surprisingly few people practise
or study this part of the game,
when you consider how many
games are decided by different as­
pects of calculation.

What is calculation?

·
'Calculation is a process of analys­
ing a position and deciding from Duncan - Weldon
resulting positions the best Midlands Open
course of action. This involves an­ Championship 1996
alysing the most important vari­
ations and coming to conclusions In this position it is not easy
about those variations. ' to see whether 23 l:[xg7 is simply
66 Choose the Right Move
losing a rook or whether a mating
attack will follow. Many pupils I
have worked with believe that
they should intuitively know the
answer to a question like this, but
chess is not that simple. If I gave
you twenty figures to multiply to­
gether, you would not be able to
give the answer instantly, it would
require some calculation. In this
respect chess is very similar.
Let's see what happens in our
example.
23 lhg7
A glance at the position shows
us that Black must play 23 . . . �xg7,
otherwise White will play .l:txf7 + .
23 �7 24 .l:tg3 +
•••
The only way to continue the
attack.
24 'iW8
•••
The only move.
25 'ii'xh6 + �e8 26 'ii'h8 +
26 'ii'g7 also wins.
26 i.f8 27 'ii'xf6 1We7
.••
Black must stop White's threat
of 28 'ii'xf7 (27 . . . 'ii'c 7 is met by 28
.l:tg8) .
How should we continue the at­
tack?
28 'ii'xe7 + !
Surprisingly White can retain a
mating attack in spite of the ex­
change of queens.
28 �xe7
...
Or 28 . . . i.xe7 29 l:g8 + i.f8 30
i.a3 with mate to follow.
29 i.a3 + �
29 . . . l:d6 is met by 30 i.xd6 +
c;f;>xd6 3 1 ttJx£7 + and wins.
30 ttJg4 + �g7 31 ttJh6 + �f6
32 ttJg4+ �g7 33 i.b2 +
This move could have been
played two moves ago, but I was
hoping that Black would put him­
self out of his misery by playing
3 1 . . .c;t>xf6, after which 32 i.cl
mates even more quickly.
33 f6 34 tDh6 +?
•••
This is only a perfectionist's
question mark. I could have mated
in three rather than five, as Mark
Hebden pointed out immediately
after the game.
34 .'�xh6 35 i.cl + �h5 36
••
i.e2 + �h4 37 .l:th3 mate
 How to Calculate
Who could have imagined this
final position on move 23? In real­
ity, although the calculation to
the final position is roughly 14
moves (approx.), there are rela­
tively few side-variations from
the main line of analysis.
Okay, so now we know it is im­
portant to calculate, but how do
we master this subject? Like any­
thing we have to start at the be­
ginning.
A grounding in calculation
Look at this position, things could
not be simpler, could they?
Duncan Rutteridge
-
Long Eaton flapidplay 1996
There are only three playable
moves:
a) 52 �g7;
b) 52 h4; and
c) 52 h3
67
Any other move allows Black to
play 52 . . . �xg5 without any com­
pensation. At a quick glance it is
impossible to tell which of these
moves is best. With 20 seconds left
on my clock I chose 52 �g7, but
what should I have done?
This is where calculation comes
in. With enough time we should
be able to calculate the position to
a conclusion. We need to look at
each move in turn and calculate
the best moves from there. First
look at the most forcing move: 52
�g7. Put yourself in your oppo­
nent's shoes and think 'what
would I do if I were Black'. The
answer should hit you straight­
away. He is bound to take the
pawn on g5.
a) 52 �g7 <hg5 53 �7
This move leads to a draw;
White draws by keeping his king
attacking the black pawn. As soon
as Black takes White's pawn on
h2, White will capture the black
pawn. Okay, we now know that
we can at least draw the position,
so we need to see if we can win.
This is known as 'having a draw
in hand'.
Now let us look at the logical
move 54 h4, guarding the g-pawn.
b) 52 h4 'iii>g4
Putting ourselves in Black's
position, the logical plan for Black
is to go for our h-pawn. It is now a
race and requires precise calcula­
tion.
68 Choose the Right Move
53 1;g7 �xh4 54 '&ttxh7 cotfxg5
Oops ! In this position White
cannot stop the black pawn from
queening.
So 52 '&ttg 7 draws and 52 h4
loses. Now let us try 52 h3.
c) 52 h3!!
A clever waiting move which
forces Black to move his king to a
worse position. For those of you
who are technically minded, this
position is referred to as a mutual
Zugzwang - a position in which
the side having the move is at a
serious disadvantage: any move
they make leads to a deterioration
in their position.
52 '&tt g3
•••
Once again it is a race and needs
precise calculation.
53 cotfg7 �xh3
This time, when Black takes
the h-pawn he is a move further
away from the g-pawn; and this
factor is crucial. A better and more
entertaining try is 53 . . . '&tth4
a b c d e I g h
54 '&tt h 6 ! ! (once again a mutual
Zugzwang, forcing the black king
to take the h-pawn and hence move
farther from the g-pawn) 54 . .'�xh3
.
55 '&ttxh7 '&ttg4 56 cotfxg6, reaching a
position where Black cannot stop
the white pawn from queening.
54 '&ttxh7 '&tt g4 55 �xg6
Exact calculation has led us to
the winning line and 52 h3 can
now be played.
Unfortunately, due to my lack
of time, I opted for 52 1itg7 and
only drew. (See the chapter on
practical play to try and avoid
time trouble!)
More complex situations
Having established the basic con­
cepts of calculation, we can move
on to a more complicated scenario.
In the middlegame there are
often many variations that need
to be analysed.
The position on the following
page comes from one of my fa­
vourite games of all time. In this
position Bernstein has just played
27 ltlb5xc3. How should we evalu­
ate this move? By calculation.
Either White will 'get away with
it' or he will lose some material.
Let us put ourselves in Capa­
blanca's shoes for a minute. He
will have foreseen this position
and, like all the great players, will
have realised that it is a critical
moment in the game. How would
he have started calculating this
position?
 How to Calculate
Bernstein - Capablanca
Moscow 1914
I for one would love to know
the answer. The real question is
how do we get to the truth of the
position?
First of all, spend a minute look­
i ng at the positional and tactical
elements of the position. By the
end of that minute you should
have grasped some of these gen­
eral themes:
1 . Both back ranks are weak.
When I give this position to stu­
dents, it is interesting to see
whether they pick up on their
own back-rank weakness or their
opponent's. In general I have
found that the defensive players
comment on their own back-rank
weakness first, while the aggres­
sive players comment on their op­
ponent's back-rank weakness.
2. There is a potential pin along
the c-file (which may be used in
conjunction with 1. above.)
69
3. Black must watch out for the
fork on a4.
4. White is a pawn (a key point)
up, so Black is under pressure to
prove something.
Next, we need to decide White's
candidate moves.
'What is a candidate move?' I
hear you ask.
It is a move that you think de­
serves further careful considera­
tion. At this stage all you need to
do is to select your candidate
moves, you should not start ana­
lysing them. It is difficult to say
how many candidate moves you
should consider; there are no set
limits . Sometimes there may only
be one or two moves worth con­
sidering; on the other hand some
positions require you to look at
seven or eight moves. Any more
than this and your brain is likely
to explode.
Now let us look at the candi­
date moves for this position. The
moves that I would consider wor­
thy of further attention are:
a) 27 �b4; b) 27 .z:r.dc8;
... ...
c) 27 lDxc3; and d) 27 lhc3
... ...
By the way this process should
not take any longer than one m­
inute.
Now that we have selected our
candidate moves, it is important
to order them, i.e. to decide which
one we want to look at first. A
mistake that many people make is
to start by looking at the move
they consider to be best. The prob­
lem with this approach is that you
70 Choose the Right Moue
never look at any of the other can­
didate moves because you keep
trying to convince yourself that it
is the best move. Remember it
takes a brave man (and a winner)
to admit that his first instincts
were wrong.
I am often asked: 'How did I
miss that simple combination? I
sat there for half an hour working
out how to win a pawn in a ten
move combination, but failed to
realise that I could have won a
piece straight away by playing a
different move . ' This is only too
common and is a result of becom­
ing infatuated and obsessed by
one idea or move.
The best way to order your
moves is according to how forcing
they are. First look at captures,
checks and any forcing moves.
These should be the first to be
dismissed unless they lead to a
win. Then look at the moves you
think are best.
Back to our example. The most
forcing candidate moves are c)
and d) . Let us look at d) first. The
logic behind this move selection
is that .we will sacrifice the ex­
change and either have to dismiss
27 . . Jixc3 as a side-variation of
27 . . . �c3 or find something inter­
esting.
d) 27 ...lb:c3 28 :xc3
There is nothing better than to
take the exchange back with . . .
28 ...tt:Jxc3 29 :xc3
This leads to the same vari­
ations as the 27 . . . �c3 line. Okay,
so there doesn't seem to be any
advantage in taking with the rook
first.
c) 27... tt:Jxc3
Let us look at . . .
28 lhc3
Here it seems as if we can take
advantage of White's back-rank
weakness.
2S ...:xc3 29 lb:c3 'ifbl + 30
_.n
30 ...'ii'xa2
Certainly not 30 . . . :dl?? (Oops!
What about our own back rank?)
31 .l:[c8 + .l:[d8 32 .:Xd8 mate. After
30 . . . 'ii'xa2 Black has won back his
pawn and has an outside passed
pawn, but unfortunately the posi­
tion is still drawn.
a) 27 ... lbb4 28 :d2 :deS 29
'ii'd l
Here White can hang on due to
Black's weak back rank.
29 .h6
..
Not 29 . .:xc3?? 30 :xc3 :xc3
. .
3U:td8 + .
 How to Calculate
30 ttle2
And after the simplification
Black will be struggling for a draw.
b) 27 l:.dc8
•••
This looks like a good move, in­
tensifying the pressure down the
c-file, and we need to look various
possible White responses to this
move. When I have looked at this
position in coaching sessions the
moves suggested have been:
bl) 28 lDxd5; b2) 28 tL!a4; and
b3) 28 tLldl
bl ) 28 lDxd5 l:.xc2 29 l:.xc2
'WWbl + 30 'ii'fl 'WWxfl + !
When you are analysing the in­
itial position in your head, it is very
easy to assume that 30 . . . 'ilixc2 is
also winning here, but it is a blun­
der: 3 1 ttle7 + 'ili>f8 32 tL!xc8 ..Wxc8
and Black has missed his chance.
These are the type of inaccuracies
that make all the difference.
31 � :Xc2
. . . and Black wins. So 27 . . . l:.dc8
looks good so far.
71
b2) 28 ttla4 lhc2 29 lDxb6
Or 29 lhc2 'fi'hl + 30 ..Wfl 'ii'xc2.
29 l:.xcl + 30 'ii'fl l:txfl + 31
•••
..ti>xfl axb6
and again Black wins. 27 . . . l:tdc8
still looks good!
b3) 28 ttldl !
Unfortunately this simple move
completely neutralises the pres­
sure down the c-file. This is a
good example of a backward mov­
ing knight, a type of move that is
often missed.
28 :Xc2 29 Itxc2
•••
. . . and Black has no tricks left,
so White is on top.
Having analysed this position
thoroughly, what do we do now?
Each move should be carefully
evaluated. So far it appears that
with best play 27 . . . ttlxc3 leads to a
draw.
Now look back through this
analysis and remember the most
important theme that keeps re­
curring: back- rank weakness.
72 Choose the Right Move
After . . .
27 �c3 2 8 .l:.xc3 l:txc3 29
•••
.:.Xc3
. . . we should be able to see that
White is particularly vulnerable
on his back rank in this position.
As such, we should consider this a
critical position and spend a little
extra time seeing if we can find a
clever tactic.
If you have read the chapter on
tactics hopefully you will now
spot the winning move.
29 'ii'b2 1!
•••
Decoying White's queen from
the defence of the back rank and
also hitting the rook on c3. How­
ever, this is not the end. We must
put ourselves in White's position
and try to find a defence. Let us
consider all his possible moves:
30 'ii'e 1 'ii'xc3 3 1 'ii'xc3 :d1 + ; 30
:d3 'ii'b 1 + 3 1 'ii'fl 'ii'xfl + 32 �xfl
:xd3; 30 :c2 'ii'b 1 + (the trick is
that now we have the white rook
on c2) 31 'ii'fl 'ii'xc2; 30 'ii'd3 'ii'a1 +
(the only winning move); 30 'ii'xb2
lld1 mate all end in tears for
White.
Well, we have made it! ! But don't
forget to check your analysis.
One last point before we move
on: always remember that tactics
and calculation are so very closely
linked. Often in our calculations
we may be looking for a tactical
trick a few moves down the line
that our opponent has missed, but
always make sure that any tacti­
cal trick you play for is sound. By
that I mean that your opponent
doesn't have a chance to diverge
and leave you in a worse position.
The skills of calculation
There are a number of important
concepts to grasp before you will
be able to calculate successfully,
and we shall now look at each of
these in turn.
1 . Visualisation. An ability to
visualise positions four, five or
more moves ahead. You need to be
able to do this so that you can
evaluate the resulting positions
and decide whether there are fa­
vourable for you or not. Of course
the best situation is where you
can visualise what you believe to
be the final position.
2. Accuracy. It is important to
be as accurate as possible in your
calculations . It is no good being
able to see a variation ten moves
deep, o�ly to find a miscalculation
 How to Calculate
i n the first few moves, as these
lire often costly mistakes.
3. Keeping control. Always en­
Hure that the moves you are ana­
lysing improve your position. Don't
expect your opponent to fall for
the traps you set him.
4. Watching your opponent.
We tend to be able to spot our own
winning ideas (well, at least some
of the time), but spotting your op­
ponent's ideas, tricks and defen­
sive resources is more difficult.
Remember that your opponent is
not there as a punch bag and
given the chance will hit back.
5. Understanding critical posi­
tions. You need to be able to judge
when a game has reached that
critical make or break situation. If
you believe a position to be criti­
cal, then you should spend more
time assessing the possible vari­
ations. Many players have no idea
about critical positions and just
play from move to move, without
any heightened awareness of the
narrow accurate paths that must
be trodden.
Before we look at each of these
concepts in greater depth, I would
like to point out the links between
this chapter and other chapters.
As your calcuiation skills im­
prove, you will be able to use your
positional understanding (gained
from the chapter on positional
play) and tactical ability (gained
from the chapter on tactics) to help
you to evaluate positions several
73
moves on. It is often said that the
most important difference between
masters and mere mortals is that
masters understand whether a re­
sulting position will be good for
them or not. This is contrary to
common belief, which would have
you believe that masters can see
further ahead than other people.
Visual isation
Visualisation involves being able
to see in your mind's eye the posi­
tion a number of moves down the
line. This is a key skill and one
that can be acquired through ex­
perience and practice.
In the following diagram, try
and calculate the consequences of
15 . lt:Jxe4 and see if you can visu­
. .
alise the final position (without
moving any pieces if you are set­
ting up the position on a board) .
P. Nunn Duncan
-
Chess & Bridge 1 996
74 Choose the Right Move
Here Black could have won by
means of an attractive combina­
tion:
15 ...ltJxe4 16 tLlxe4
It is easy to see that any other
move allows Black to play the dev­
astating . . . tLlxc3 + .
16 ....lhb2 + !
In this position direct action is
called for. 16 . . . ..i.xb2 is also a rea­
sonable move, but it is not forcing
enough: 1 7 -..f2 (in this position
the 17 . . . .l:tbl + trick doesn't work)
1 7 . . . i.c3 + (or 1 7 . . . i.a3 + 18 �a1
i.b2 + 19 Wb1 i.a3 + with a draw)
18 <j;>c1 .l:tb1 + 19 �xb1 'ili'b8 + 20
i.b6 ! !
17 <j;>c1
Alternatively, 17 �a1 .l:tb1 + 18
'i!?xbl �8 + .
17 ....l:tb1 + ! !
This i s the difficult move to see.
It goes against all of our princi­
ples to put a piece en prise.
18 'ifi>xb1 'ili'b8 + 19 'iii>c 1 ..,b2
mate
Hopefully you were able to vis­
ualise this final position in your
mind when deciding whether or
not to play 15 . . . tLlxe4. If not, you
should pay particular attention to
the next example.
Question 3. 1 : In this diagram it
is White to play. How should he
continue? See if you can visualise
the final mating position.
P. Wells - Duncan
Hastings Challengers 1 993/94
You now have an idea of what is
required when you try to analyse
forcing variations. It is impera­
tive that you can visualise these
wins. If you require further train­
ing in this department, then I
would recommend solving prob­
lems from good tactical books
such as Chess Tactics for Ad­
vanced P layers by Yuri Averbakh
or re-reading the chapter on tac­
tics earlier in this book.
 How to Calculate
Accuracy
When you are analysing a posi­
tion it is important to calculate
the position accurately. This may
sound obvious, but it is amazing
how many people play something
just because they think it is the
right move. In the Bernstein-Ca­
pablanca game it was imperative
to calculate all the variations be­
fore coming to a conclusion, and
this is often the case.
When Garry Kasparov visited
the London Chess Centre, he of­
fered some words of wisdom with
regard to calculating positions.
This position was set up as a puz­
zle for the spectators to solve.
a b c d e g h
Kasparov - Smirin
USSR Championship 1988
One of the spectators cheekily
asked Garry for some help, and he
replied, ' To find the solution you
must trust your intuition ! ' He
75
then added, 'Strong grandmasters
know that queen and knight will
mate, but not queen and bishop.
This is not always true.'
I learnt more from these two
quotes than I have from some
whole books (not mentioning any
names) . Let us take a closer look
at them.
'To find the solution you must
trust your intuition! '
When Garry said this I realised
how true it was. If you believe you
have a mating or tactical combi­
nation, you should calculate it as
far as you can - even if it involves
sacrificing material. So you should
trust your intuition to guide your
calculations in the right direction.
However, do not rely solely on
your intuition when you play a
move.
'Strong grandmasters know that
queen and knight will mate, but
not queen and bishop. This is not
always true.'
This second clue to the position
is very revealing. It is generally
agreed that queen and knight are
a good mating force, as the knight
is a good short range piece that
works well with the queen be­
cause it can control both dark and
light squares. The bishop, on the
other hand, is a long range piece
and in general does not work so
well with the queen, since it is dif­
ficult to control the opposite-col­
oured squares to the bishop while
trying to give mate at the same
time.
76 Choose the Right Moue
Smirin (a strong grandmaster)
chose to blindly follow principles,
believing that White would not be
able to mate with queen and
bishop. Kasparovteaches him (and
us) a good lesson by breaking the
rules and showing the power ofcru­
culation over general principles.
39 lbh6!!
With the threat of40 i.e6 mate,
so the rook must be taken.
39 ... i.xh6 40 i.e6 + 'ifi>h8 41
'ii'f6 +
Smirin resigned as he could see
the inevitable finish 4l.. .'ifi>h7 (or
4 l . . .i.g7 42 'ii' h4 + ) 42 "ikf7 + i.g7
43 i.f5 + (43 'ii'h5 + .th6) 43 . . . 'iti>h8
44 'it'h5 + 'iti>g8 45 i.e6 + Wf8 46
"ikf7 mate.
In the next example Black has a
number of different defences; we
must be able to visualise the win
in each line.
Duncan - Payen
Paris 1994
Sometimes you calculate a vari­
ation and for some reason it just
does not work. In this position I
wanted 16 lDxe6 to work, but on
closer examination I saw that
Black could play 16 . . . i.xe6 and
then meet 17 llxe6 with 17 . . . 'ii'd5
forking my bishop and rook. Al­
though I then have a number of
tricks involving a discovered at­
tack from my bishop on g2 to the
queen on d5, they just don't work
because when Black captures on
c5 it will be with check.
I decided patience was called
for and set up my combo with . . .
1 6 �hi! i.d7?
Black does not appreciate the
point behind my last move and
simply develops another piece.
This casual move allows my idea
to work.
17 lbxe6 i.xe6 18 lb:e6 'iid5
19 Jbf6!
After 19 lbg5 'it'xc5 20 lbxf7
�xf7 2 1 'it'xf6 + �g8 it looks as if
 How to Calculate 77

W h l l.et huH a dominating position,

huL I l!Unnot see a follow-up.
I U . . . 'I'xc5?
IU . . . .l:lxf6 would have put up
11l l11 h tly more resistance: 20 i.xe7
,O \att7 (or 20 . . . .1:le6 2 1 llJg5 ! 'ii'd 7 22
/1\aetfl 1i'xe6 23 i.f6 when Black's
l1u•k of a dark-squared bishop
lllttii iiH Lhat he is permanently in a
11111 U n g net) 2 1 'ii'xf6 llJc6 22 llJg5
••11:.! 23 h4 .l:lf8 24 'ii'd6 and the
t.h rttn LH against the black king are
ju11L Loo great.
110 ll:xf7 �7 21 llJg5 + �e8
Or 2 1 . . .c;l;>g8 22 llJe6 attacking Keres - Smyslov
Lhu queen and threatening mate Zurich Candidates 1953
till v.7 .
I:& 1i'h8 + �d7 23 'ii'xa8 'iVb4 1i'h7 + with a strong white attack.
14 h4 llJf5 25 c.th2 llJd8 26 1Vxa7 18 ... g6 19 .l:lch3 dxc4l
•d:& 27 �h3 1i'e1 28 llJe4 �c8 Keres avoids the temptation of
IU 1i'c5 + �b8 30 1i'e5 + 'ii?a7 3 1 19 . . .gxh5 20 1Vxh5 .l:le8 2 1 a4! 1i'd6
•.,a 1 -o 22 c5 bxc5 23 1i'xh7+ (or 23 1i'h6)
23 . . . 'ii?f8 24 9h6 + .
Keeping control 2 0 .lb:b. 7 c3 21 1i'c1
Threatening 1i'h6 with mate to
N uvur play for tricks if your oppo­ follow.
nunt can side-step them and leave 21 ...1i'xd4!
.v u u i n a position where you have Black's dark-square control en­
lu11t control. The following posi­ sures that he comes to no harm.
t.l c m is roughly equal, but Keres Not 2 1 . . .cxb2?? 22 9h6 1i'xd4 23
duvotes a lot of time to calculating llh8 + i.xh8 24 1i'h7 mate.
1mcri fices and combinations only 22 'ii'h6 l:[fd8 23 i.c1 i.g7 24
IA I HUe Smyslov side-step the com­ 'ii'g5 1i'f6 25 \i'g4 c2 26 i.e2 l:.d4
J I I i cutions to leave Keres's pieces
·
27 f4 .l:.d1 + 28 i.xd1 9d4 + 0·1
uflidde.
1 7 . . .i.f6 18 .l:lh5 Watching your opponent
( >bviously this is not an ideal
Nq uare for the rook, unless a win­ It is much easier to see a winning
n i ng attack can be delivered. The combination for yourself, than a
l. h ruat is 19 lhh7 �xh7 20 'ii'h 5 + clever defensive resource for your
oJ.og8 2 1 llh3 i.h4 22 .l:lxh4 f5 23 opponent. The following game is
78 Choose the Right Move
an example of what happens when
you do not analyse your oppo­
nent's moves thoroughly. To avoid
this pitfall, always make sure that
you analyse your opponent's re­
sources properly. Remember that
your opponent is trying to beat
you. Keep your wits about you
and always maintain a watchful
eye on his manoeuvres.
In the next game I failed to ap­
preciate my opponent's ideas and
paid the price!
Duncan - Harestad
Gaus dal (Troll Masters) 1996
25 l:al
There is nothing wrong with
this move, but there was some­
thing wrong with my general atti­
tude to this position. I was under
the impression that because I had
made it to an endgame against
the King's Indian and I had some
initiative on the queenside, I must
be winning.
25 .id7 26 l:a7?
•••
Without considering all Black's
defensive options properly, I de­
cided that a rook on the seventh
must be good. Unfortunately for
me, following such rules blindly
can often lead to trouble.
26 l:b81
•.•
For some reason I missed this
move and only considered 26 . . . .ic8
27 .idl, with the idea of control­
ling the a4-e8 diagonal.
27 lCJd3
After I had played this move, it
suddenly dawned on me that I
could be in serious trouble. Black
is going to route his knight to c8
to attack my b-pawn. Not only will
I have trouble defending the b­
pawn, but he will play . . . � with
tempo. Now what is my rook do­
ing on a7?
27 lCJe7!
..•
The tables have turned and
Black has the advantage.
28 g3?
Things go from bad to worse. I
decided to attempt to justify my
play by trying to smash open the
kingside. It would have been a
better idea to concede the loss of
the b-pawn and look for some com­
pensation for it. Note that . . . �b6
is unstoppable after either 28 .ic3
lCJc8 29 lCJxe5 dxe5 30 .ixe5 lCJxa7
3 1 .ixb8 �8 or 28 l:al lCJc8 29
.ia5 .l:.a8.
28 lCJc8 29 l:a2 �b6 30 h4
•••
Once you start a faulty plan it
is difficult to go back.
30 gxh4 31 gxf4 �c4
•••
 How to Calculate 79

II b c d e h Now I cannot stop his h-pawn

II
n �6
1\ j. s
'i
' '%)
4 '•
'
..
.�.
II b g
M y opponent correctly calcu­
IA lod that he need not worry
Ahuu t any knight moves uncover­
In" un attack on his knight.
82 o!Llxc5
l >osperation sets in.
82 ... lLJxd2 33 lLJxd7 .l:d8
l l tlre I might have been able to
hulrl Lhe position, but once again I
utulurestimated Black's threats.
U4 o!Llxe5?
:14 �ffi + �f7 35 l£lxh5 l£lb3 was
• lt�MHor evil.
U4 . . dxe5 35 lhd2 i.xf4
.
from reaching h2. It is time to see
if I can find a drawing line - but
7 alas it is too late!
36 .l:c2 h3 37 i.fl h2 + 38
�h1 :as 39 d6 .l:.a1 40 .l:.f2 �f7
41 �g2 �e6 42 i.c4 + �xd6 43
4 �
/
.l:.fl :xf1 44 i.xf1 �c6 0-1
I learnt a hard lesson from this
3
game. Always watch and calculate
2 your opponent's moves.
It is a relief to see that at least I
h
am not the only player who suf­
fers from missing his opponent's
defensive moves. Karpov had had
the better of Kasparov through­
out this World Championship
game, but, probably due to over­
optimism, he embarked on a faulty
rook manoeuvre (similar to mine).

II b c d e g h

II 8

1\ j. s
.. .4 Karpov - Kasparov
3
World Championship,
Seville (4) 1987
2
33 ...�g7 34 :t'6 i.b6 35 .l:tc6??
n b c d e g h
80 Choose the Right Move
35 .tf2 would have kept the ad­
vantage.
35 l'Da5!
•••
The easiest move to overlook -
a backward moving knight! (It
was also a backward moving knight
manoeuvre that I had missed.)
Never become a victim of the back­
ward moving knight (it sounds
like a horror movie).
36 .txb6 l'Dxc6 37 .tc7 lU8 +
38 �e2
38 l'Df5 + !? gxf5 39 dxc6 fxe4 +
4 0 �e2 J:lc8 4 1 i.xe5 + �g6 4 2 c7
a5 also wins for Black.
38 .... lU7 39 .i.d6 .l:td7 40 .tc5
l'Da5 41 l'Dfl :c7! 42 .i.d6 :c2 +
43 �d3 :xa2 44 l'De3 �f7 45
l'Dg4 l'Dc4 46 l'Dxe5 + l'Dxe5 + 47
.txe5 b4 48 .i.f6 b3 49 e5 :xg2
50 e6 + �8! 0-1
In the following position the
reigning World Champion believed
that he was winning and contin­
ued . . .
36 1i'xg5
••.
A. Sokolov - Kasparov
Reykjavik World Cup 1 988
Question 3.2: What manoeuvre
had the World Champion missed?
Understanding critical positions
It is very important to realise
when you have reached a critical
position during a game. This is
the make or break part of the con­
test. If you do not spend enough
time analysing the key continu­
ations, you are likely to make the
wrong decision and lose.
There are a number of clues
that should help you to identify a
critical position. First, if your op­
ponent spends a long time consid­
ering his next move and then
plays a slightly unexpected move,
be suspicious.
In the following position a set
of pieces have just come off. Black
now thought for about half an
hour before playing . . .
 How to Calculate 81

• b b4 and guide his b-pawn through.

If I had played 36 llf7, his rook
n
would not have been able to use
'
>%':!%
#� the f4 square because my g-pawn
would still be on g3 .
n • �*f;{
•;;;.�% wY;J&: . , . 6
37 h3 b3
;
1\ 5
• }::4� Now the black pawn cannot be
.. � �
' ,�
,;;
?;> ./':
stopped.
38 l:lh8 <j;c5 39 l:lb8 l:lb4 40
:t I f�i- 3
l:ld8 b2 41 .l:.d1 l:lc4 0-1
:I 2 The moral of this story is: al­
ways respect your opponent. If he
spends a long time thinking, you
a
have to wonder why.
Duncan - G. Flear
llastings Challengers 1993/94 In the next game we see Lasker
take the practical choice. His op­
35 l:tf3
•.• ponent plays an unexpected move
I had been expecting 35 . . . l:tbl + after a long think. Rather than
:16 �g2 b3 3 7 l:lh8 <j;c7 38 l:lh7 + spend a long time checking his op­
�c8 39 l:th8 + <j;c7 with a draw, so ponent's analysis, he believes him
I should have been suspicious : and plays a strong continuation
What had my opponent been that his opponent may not have
Lhinking about? seen.
36 g4??
I just played the obvious and,
IIH it happens, losing move. 36
l:lf7! was correct: 37 . . . b3 37 l:tf8
�c7 (3 7 . . . b2 38 l:lb8 + <j;c5 39
l:lxb2) 38 l:lf7 + (if the rook can get
hchind the pawn on the b-file, all
of White's problems will be solved)
:J!L <j;c8 (Black must guard the b­
fi le with his king) 39 l:lf8 + <j;c7
with a draw. ·

36 l:lf41
•••

Now it dawned on me what was

happening, but it is too late. Had I
realised what was going on last
move, I would have been okay. W. Winter - Em. Lasker
White's idea is to put his rook on Nottingham 1 936
82 Choose the Right Move
13 t:bg5
'When an International Master
spends half an hour considering a
piece sacrifice, only a fool would
accept. ' Lasker didn't even con­
sider the piece sacrifice, but played
the strong move . . .
1 3 ...1i'xe5
What would have happened if
he had taken the piece? Ai3 it hap­
pens Lasker was probably right,
as the position is very murky af­
ter 13 . . . fxg5 14 �xh7 + : 14 . . . �f8
15 'ii'f3 + �e7 16 t:be4! lbcxe5 (the
line 16 . . /.ii' d 8 1 7 t:bxc5 t:Dxc5 18
�xg5 + is also good for White) 1 7
�xg5 + t:b f6 18 �xf6 + gx f6 1 9
'ifxf6 + � d 7 20 t:Dxc5 + 'ifxc5 2 1
'ifxe5 and White wins; o r 1 4.. .'it'xh7
15 'ifh5 + Wg8 16 'ifxe8 + t:Df8 1 7
t:bf3 with an attack.
14 �xh 7 + rli>f8
Now the queens have to come
off, which will leave Black's cen­
tral pawns controlling the key
squares, without there being any
real threat to his king.
15 •xe5 t:bdxe5 16 b4 �d6 17
t:bgf3 g6
Now; the bishop on h 7 costs
White dearly.
18 t:bh4 <j;g7 19 f4 �xh7 20
fxe5 lbxe5 2 1 lbhf3
Although White is only a pawn
down, the game is over. Black has
a strong central pawn majority
and the two bishops in what will
become an open position. Lasker
duly converted his advantage.
In the next diagram we have a
critical position from a game of
Shirov - Forintos
Budapest Open 1989
Alexei Shirov, who is known as a
very dangerous and imaginative
player.
30 ...1i'd7
Black is attacking h3. What
should Shirov play? It looks as if
his pieces are placed for a king­
side attack, but how should he
continue? He could try defending
the position with either g4 or h4,
but that is the last thing he wants
to do, giving his opponent the
chance to clarify the position and
unravel his pieces.
31 e611
This pawn sacrifice is very risky;
White could be opening up the po­
sition for Black's pieces. When
you open up the position or sacri­
fice material you can normally
consider that a critical position,
when you do both at the same
time beware. Here Shirov has it
all under control.
 How to Calculate 83

3 l . .. fxe6 32 dxe6 'ii'xe6 33

.1a41
This is a superb move, correctly
IUIHossing that he can leave the
llllWn on h3 to be taken and the
rttHult will simply be a misplaced
hluck queen.
33 .'iVxh3 + 34 ..ti>gl l:ta7 35
••

/J)i6
Now ..id5 + will be killing.
35 ... ..tg4 36 ..id5 + ..ti>h8 37
lf3 ..ixf3 38 'iVxf3 'iVh5
. . . and Black resigned in view of
:19 'ikf7 lLlf6 40 'iVg8 + lLlxg8 4 1
/;)f7 mate.
Another critical situation may
n rise when you have to decide
whether or not to enter a king and
puwn endgame. When you enter
Much an endgame, there is no turn­
i n g back: your chances of swin­
c l l i ng or tricking your opponent
nro severely limited. I suggest that
you only enter a pawn endgame
w hen you believe that you will
w i n it or if it will allow you to save
n game that would otherwise be
lost.
In this position Sokolov is de­
funding a difficult position, but he
hus the choice to enter a king and
puwn endgame with 49 . . Jbc7.
This critical decision will decide
the game. If 49. : . .:xc7 works, Sok­
olov could save half a point, and
he cannot afford to miss his op­
portunity.
So he went into a deep think
nnd found a saving resource.
49 lb:c71
•••
Tiviakov - I. Sokolov
Linares 1995
Instead of 49 . . . l:tb7 50 lLlxa6
l:txb2 5 1 lLlb4 + ..ti>b5 52 ..ic7 .:b3 .
5 0 ..ixc7 ..ti>xc7 51 ..ti>g4 ..ti>c6 52
..ti>f4 ..ti>b5 53 ..ti>e4 'itxa5 54 ..ti>d4
..ti>b5 55 ..ti>d5 a5 56 ..ti>d4 ..ti>a4! 57
..ti>xc4
This is the stalemate trap that
Sokolov had spotted when he
played 49 . . . ltxc7. If he had not
considered the initial position to
be a critical position, he may well
have missed this trap. However,
he realised the importance of ana­
lysing the king and pawn end­
game and was rewarded with a
well-earned draw.
%-lf2
Answers
3. 1
36 'iVe4+ ..ti>b5 37 'iVb4+ ..ti>a6
38 ..ti>b2
. . . and 39 .:al + is unstoppable,
84 Choose the Right Move

completing the lawnmower style the queen and l1xe2. 37 l1xe2

checkmate. l:txcl + 38 tLlxc l 'ii'xf4 37 l1xd6
tLlg4! 38 l:t d7 h5 would have left
3.2 Black very much on top.
37 'ii'e 3! 37 .th5 38 l:tf8 + l:txf8 39
...

A brilliant move that Kasparov 'ti'xg5 tLlg4 40 tLlc3 .te5 41 h3

had completely missed. He cannot .tf4 42 'ti'e7 l:tce8 43 'ti'd7 tLle3
meet both threats: l::t£8 + winning 44 l%f2 1-0
4 Positional Play and Planning
(Daniel King)
C )riginally, it was my intention to
write two separate chapters, one
1 1 11 positional play and the other
1m planning. However, now that
I ' m here and thinking about the
lhomes properly, I find that posi­
tional chess and planning are in­
uxtricably linked, so I'm treating
thorn together. If you are imagin­
l nK that I am going to give you a
huckneyed list of positional con­
llopts, then I'm afraid I'm going to
huve to disappoint you: there are
"lroady plenty of books that deal
w i th the subject in a more system­
�ttic way. Besides, it is difficult to
.r l vo hard and fast rules about
Jllu nning and positional play: in
•orne cases it will merely be a
mutter of taste as to which plan to
dwose; and I also feel that you
'�'m read all that you like in a book,
ln1t positional understanding is
M omething that is built up through
asxperience. (It is sometimes said
of a player that he has a 'good
li10 l ' for where the pieces belong
1 1 11 the board, and while it is true
t.hut some players have a better
11unse than others, such an in­
•ti nct is really the result of accu­
mulated experience, as I hope will
hl!come clear.)
Every chess player thinks in a
d i fferent way, in the same way as
every musician plays in a unique
way, and that doesn't mean that
only one of them is right. Style is
personal - and crucial. Instead of
a didactic list, I'm going to discuss
how I think about the game, and
in some cases, why I think about
the game in a certain way, in the
hope that it will stimulate you
into finding your own under­
standing.
Perhaps we should first at­
tempt a definition ofpositional play
so that we all know what we're
talking about. There seems to be
a fair consensus among chess
theorists on what positional chess
is. Cecil Purdy (an Australian
who held the World Correspon­
dence Championship from 1953
to 1958) was a prolific and pro­
found writer on the game, and his
definition is typical and I think
apposite: 'Position play . . . does not
necessarily involve a "plan" . . . but
primarily a much simpler thing,
and that is the idea of strengthen­
ing one's position or weakening
the opponent's' (my italics) .
I'm not exactly sure when that
passage was written, probably
sometime in the sixties, but it still
holds true. I agree with him that
to play positionally does not nec­
essarily involve having a plan
86 Choose the Right Move
(though that might sound a little
odd; I'll attempt to deal with that
one later on) , but in most cases it
does. Playing positionally is what
we are doing when we are not cal­
culating, and it involves a differ­
ent skill, namely the weighing up
of various factors on the board,
resulting in the formulation of a
plan. The Dutchman Max Euwe,
World Champion in the thirties,
wrote that, 'Strategy demands re­
flection, tactics demand a pene­
trating glance. ' Good stuff, but
I'm in danger of theorising too
much. Perhaps it's because I've
just been reading from a worthy
tome (it is 200 pages long) enti­
tled Three Steps To Chess Mastery
by Grandmaster Alexei Suetin:
Chess strategy comprises ques­
tions of the general interaction of
the forces for the attainment of
the most important goals at vari­
ous stages of the battle . ' Lan­
guage worthy of a Soviet Party
Congress.
Quick. Let's go back to the game
I gave in the introduction and see
what I .was doing there. Usually,
the first thing that I consider
when assessing a position is the
pawn structure. For me the pawn
structure is like a skeleton, and
the rest of the pieces have to ar­
range themselves around it as
efficiently as possible. (This anal­
ogy is slightly complicated by the
fact that this is a skeleton which
is mobile and can change shape,
but it still works for me.)
King - Ernst (structure)
Gausdal 1 993
Looking at Black's pawns there
are several weaknesses. First, the
'backward' d-pawn (a backward
pawn is one that cannot be sup­
ported by another pawn and is re­
strained by an enemy pawn on an
adjoining file) . That means that
not only is the pawn itself poten­
tially weak, but that the square in
front of it is also weak, i.e. if I
were to land a piece on d5, then it
might be exchanged, but it could
never be driven away by a pawn.
The same applies to the pawn on
f7: it is backward, and the squares
in front of it on f6 and f5 are
therefore vulnerable (particularly
f5 as the white pawn on e4 could
lend support to a piece). Then
there is the black king, which is
potentially vulnerable due to the
absence of the g-pawn.
And how is White' s structure?
Well; it is fine! My pawns on the
 Positional Play and Planning
kingside and queenside are in no
danger. My e-pawn is isolated, but
us it does not stand on an open
file, it shouldn't be in any trouble.
However, I am a pawn down. I
think the main danger that I have
to look out for is that Black might
break out with either pawn on d6
to d5, or pawn on f7 to f5, which
could threaten my central con­
trol . Of course, it is artificial to
look at the pawn structure in iso­
lation to the rest of the pieces on
the board, and that is not how I
think during the game; I just
wanted to make it absolutely clear
what I was talking about when I
mentioned the structure. Let's re­
turn to the actual position.
King .: Ernst
Gausdal 1 993
My pieces are actually beauti­
fu lly placed for controlling the
position (I wouldn't have arrived
here if they hadn't been!). The
87
knight on h4 is already looking at
the f5 square, along with the rook
and pawn on e4, so the break by
Black with the pawn on f7 to f5 is
unlikely to occur so long as I am
careful. Having said that, Black's
knight on e7 is excellently placed,
guarding d5 and f5. My isolated e­
pawn is not really a consideration
- it cannot be attacked very easily,
and anyway, it is guarded by the
bishop on g2. The bishop on cl is
reasonably well placed looking at
the kingside, but the problem is
that it blocks in the rook on al. As
I haven't completed my develop­
ment, launching an immediate at­
tack therefore does not seem a
good option - think back to Paul
Morphy. Having said that, it is not
entirely clear where that bishop
belongs. There is another piece
which is poorly placed and des­
perately needs re-deploying, that
is the knight on a3, and looking at
the two critical squares in the po­
sition, d5 and f5, it is absolutely
clear where this belongs, namely
e3. Therefore . . .
14 ltJc2
. . . is the move. Somewhere in
the back of my mind I have that
dream position which I mentioned
in the introduction of the two
white knights on d5 and f5 ; but
that is really only a guide. In the
meantime, one should just play
step by step, which brings me on
to my next observation about my
play in this game. I wrote the
notes to this game not long after I
88 Choose the Right Move

played it, perhaps a month or two,

so I was able to describe my
thoughts during play with reason­
able accuracy. Unless I had writ­
ten them down 'verbatim' , then I
wouldn't have realised that I was
thinking in a particular way. It is
clear that although I have a Grand
Scheme in mind, the game can ac­
tually be broken down into a se­
ries of short operations, lasting
between two to four moves (like
my knight manoeuvre here from
�a3-c2-e3) . After completing the
operation I then take stock, and Operation over; rethink.
form the next plan. Naturally, if 21 1Vh5 �ce7
my opponent interrupts my ma­ Unexpected move; rethink.
noeuvring with a threat, or tac­ 22 �e7 'ii':x: e7 23 .:an l:tde8
tics, or something unexpected,
then I also have to stop and think
again. Purdy mentions this kind
of thinking: 'Masters proceed by a
series of short-range plans, re­
vised at every turn according to
the opponent's play. ' And so does
Artur Yusupov in his writing: 'In
essence, the entire game is an ag­
gregate of mini-operations united
by a general strategic idea that
has its basis in the opening you
have chosen. ' Well, it is nice to get
some confirmation of one's ideas.
If we return to the game again, it
is possible to break it down into Operation over; rethink.
those 'mini-operations'. 24 i.h3 i.:x:h3 25 :U7 ll:t:x:f7
14 .tc4 15 �e3 .i.e6
.•• 26 hf7 'iV:x:f7 27 'ik:x:f7 :e6
Operation over; rethink. Operation over; rethink.
16 �d5 'ii'd7 17 �f6 + .txf6 28 c,i;1f2 l:g6
18 hf6 �h8 Operation interrupted by threat;
Operation over; rethink. rethink.
19 �f5 �g8 20 .t g5 l:ad8 29 i.d8 a6 30 �e3 b5
 Positional Play and Planning 89

Operation over; rethink. Palkovi - King

31 'ii'f8 i.g4 32 i.e7 1-0 German Bundesliga 1 996

Unfortunately my games don't The Sveshnikov was perhaps the

always run as smoothly as this. It first opening that I had any clue
was, I admit, a one-sided affair, about.
but it serves to illustrate the gen­ 1 e4 c5 2 lt:Jf3 lt:Jc6 3 d4 cxd4
eral points I am making. So what 4 lt:Jxd4 lt:Jf6 5 lt:Jc3 e5
is it that made up my positional
understanding of this game? There
are two elements: the 'Grand
Scheme' in the back of my mind
which acted as a guide, based on
my knowledge of games where a
similar structure occurred; and my
ability to construct short-range
plans based on these positional
considerations. The question is,
how does one build up that kind
of positional experience? To an­
swer that I would like to look back
at one of the first openings that I
considered with any seriousness.
But first let me show you this I'm not saying that I didn't
position (D). It is Black to play. have my usual share of disasters -
What is the best move? I'll come mainly, I think, because I was still
back to this later. learning variations by rote - but
90 Choose the Right Move
at least I had some idea of my
long-term goals; and the aims that
arise from the opening are fairly
clearly defined: Black has a lot of
weak squares, but in return has a
dynamic pawn structure with sev­
eral possible pawn breaks, and
the two bishops can prove power­
ful. What helped me to develop
this understanding was that for
the first time I considered the
opening as part of the whole game
rather than painstakingly playing
through the first ten moves and
stopping there.
6 li:)db5 d6 7 i.g5 a6 8 li:)a3
b5 9 li:)d5 i.e7 10 i.xf6 i.xf6
This is one of the common
starting positions in the Svesh­
nikov. White's most reliable move
here is . . .
1 1 c3
Intending to bring the knight
back into play via c2 to e3 or b4 to
support the knight on d5. Doesn't
that manoeuvre look familiar?
That's the great thing about look­
ing at positional chess, not only is
it directly relevant to the opening
you are interested in, but it can so
often be applied to other kinds of
positions that you might encounter.
The games of the Russian grand­
master Evgenny Sveshnikov, the
player who rehabilitated this whole
system, are always worth looking
at, and at that time they gave me
a grounding in the opening. The
following was a typical encounter.
Smyslov - Sveshnikov
USSR Championship 1977
11 0-0 12 li:)c2 i.g5
.••
This was another thing I learned
about: exactly what a 'bad' bishop
was (one that is hampered by its
own pawns) and that it was best
to try to activate it - like this, for
instance.
13 a4 bxa4 14 llxa4 a5 15
i.b5 li:)e7
. . . and challenging the powerful
knight on d5 is also a sound idea.
16 li:)xe7 + 'it'xe7 17 0-0 'it'b7!
An excellent manoeuvre. The
black queen aims at the pawns on
e4 and b2, as well as attacking the
bishop; but there is another point
to this move.
18 'it'd3 i.e6 19 c4 i.d81
The queen made way for this
typical 'Sveshnikov' manoeuvre.
The bishop bounces off the back
rank to the b6 square, from where
it guards the a5 pawn, and looks
down at f2. Imagine, if Black were
 Positional Play and Planning
able to open up the f-file with . . . f5,
bringing the rook into the game
as well . . ? That would be danger­
. but the ideas remained in my
ous. Smyslov decides to simplify
the position before Black can get
anywhere near that.
20 1i'xd6 1i'xe4 21 lLle3 'ill'd4 22
'ii'a3 .i.b6! 23 .l:[d1 .i.c5 24 :Xd4
.ixa3 25 l:[d2 .i.b4 26 .l:[d1 .l:[fd8
27 .:taa1 l:td4 28 lLld5
The opposite-coloured bishop
ending that arises after 28 lLld5
.ixd5 29 cxd5 is not very interest­
ing, so the players agreed to a
draw.
Games such as this worked as
models on which I could try and
base my play; note base, not copy.
With a few exceptions there are
rarely exact 'doubles' in chess;
that's why it is best to use these
games only as guides. The slight­
est difference in a position can
mean that one strategy works and
tmother doesn't. (Think back to
my game with Ernst. I had in my
91
mind that I would be blockading
on d5 and f5, but circumstances
changed and it seemed best for
me to blockade on the f6 square
instead. ) You can see the effect
that such model games have in
the following encounter.
Geller King
-
Berne 1988
1 e4 c5 2 lLlf3 lLlc6 3 d4 cxd4
4 lDxd4 lLlf6 5 lLlc3 e5
By 1988, when this game was
played, the Sveshnikov had almost
disappeared from my repertoire,
head at least.
6 lLldb5 d6 7 .i.g5 a6 8 lLla3
b5 9 lLld5 .ie7 10 .ixf6 .i.xf6 1 1
c3 0-0 1 2 lLlc2 l:lb8 1 3 .id3 .i.e6
14 0-0 .i.g5 15 1i'e2 'it'd7 16 .:tfd1
i.xd5 17 exd5 lLle7 18 a4 bxa4
19 lLla3 aS 20 .i.b5 'it'b7 2 1 c4
1i'b6 22 lLlc2 lLlc8?!
22 . . lLlg6 looks stronger.
.
23 l:lab1 .idS!
92 Choose the Right Move

Several years on and I'm still is another way ofdiscovering these

using Sveshnikov's manoeuvre!
After . . .
2 4 .i.xa4
. . . we agreed a draw. I suppose
the position is roughly equal, al­
though there is still plenty of play
left. Black's next move should be
24 . .'fia7, followed by . . . .i.b6. The
. ing. My one consolation is that I
bishop keeps an eye on White's c­
pawn (sometimes the sacrifice with
c4-c5 , creating a passed d-pawn,
is dangerous) , and just as in the
Sveshnikov's example, the a-pawn
is guarded, and there is a long­
term threat to the pawn on f2.
Now return to Palkovi-King on
page 89 and try to find the best
move again.
model games. On occasion I have
been wiped out so convincingly by
a particular strategy that I have
used it myself as a model. This
next game is one such example. It
is painful to play through it again,
but it was a lesson worth learn­
have since employed the strategy
that my opponent uses here with
great success.
King - Keene
London 1 982
1 tt:Jf3 tt:Jf6 2 g3 d5 3 i.g2 c6 4
d3 i.g4 5 tt:Jbd2 tt:Jbd7 6 0-0 e5 7
e4 i.d6 8 l:tel 0-0 9 h3 .i.h5

Digging out model positional

games is not an easy business. For
one thing, the games should be
personal to you, they have to be
relevant in some way to your
thinking, and that's why I would
recommend trying to find classic
games from your favourite open­
ing. For instance, you might chance
upon a game in a recent maga­
zine, or perhaps in a specialised
opening book. (Incidentally, if
you've ever bought one of those
opening books that has lists of
variations that stop at around I had never before played this
move 15 with a ;!; symbol, you've set-up with White - and it shows.
been done! Make sure you find one Black's formation is sensible and
that has complete games with good solid; he has occupied the centre,
annotations. The only reasonable and it is as though I am playing
way to study an opening is to look with the Black pieces. I felt at a
at the game in its entirety.) There loss � to what to do.
 Positional Play and Planning
10 b3?! l%e8!
Supporting the centre, but also
clearing the f8 square; this is a
far-sighted move, as we shall see.
1 1 i.b2 d4!
My idea of increasing the pres­
Hure on the e-pawn and develop­
i ng the bishop at the same time
looked plausible enough, but this
move bluntly refutes it. Now the
bishop just looks misplaced on b2,
us does the rook on el.
12 a3 c5
Now I was stuck again. It ap­
peared to me that Black was tak­
i ng the initiative on the queenside,
und that I should start attacking
on the kingside. Wrong again, I'm
afraid. If I had played 13 ttlc4 i.c7
14 a4, my position would have
been solid enough.
13 ttlfl b5 14 g4
This is the move that Black has
been begging me to play ever
Hince he moved the bishop to g4.
It looks as though I am on the at­
tack, but a cold shower awaits.
14 i.g6 15 ttl g3
•••
93
Mull this position over and try
to find the manoeuvre that puts a
dampener on White's attack.
15 ... ttlf8! 16 i.c1 ttle6!
I couldn't quite believe it during
the game, but this simple ma­
noeuvre effectively puts an end to
my offensive. Control of the f4
square makes it difficult for White
to develop any play on the king­
side.
17 ttlf5 i.c7
It is important to keep this
bishop: maintaining control over
f4 is vital.
18 i.d2 ttld7 19 h4 h5 20 i.h3
hxg4 21 i.xg4 ttlf4 22 ttlg5 ttlf8
I thought I had time to deflect
Black's attention to the queen­
side, but I was just dreaming.
23 a4?
23 i.xf4 exf4 24 'ii'f3, bringing
the queen over, would have given
me reasonable chances to defend.
In the game I never managed to
counter Black's queen.
94 Choose the Right Move
23 lLI8e6! 24 axb5 lLlxg5 25
••.
hxg5 'ii'xg5 26 lLlg3 'ii'h4 27
.td7?
I must have been hoping to
play 'iVg4, but I hadn't anticipated
Black's next move.
27 ...l:.e6! 28 .txe6 fxe6
Without that bishop my king
cannot be defended.
29 .txf4 exf4 30 lLlh 1 .th5 31
f3 l:tf8 32 .l:.fl l:.f6 33 l:.f2 l:.h6
34 'ii'e2 'ii'xh1 + 0-1
It is mate after 35 �xhl .txf3 +
36 <itgl l:thl .
There was n o reason for m e to
lose that game, even after I weak­
ened my kingside with g4, but that
doesn't diminish the strength of
the knight manoeuvre. Let's sim­
plify the position and take an­
other look.
King - Keene
analysis
The knight is just crying out to
land on the f4 square. If Black
had not manoeuvred the knight
around, then my kingside attack
would have been extremely pow­
erful; as it was, my attack was
blunted, and when I overpressed,
thinking that my position was
still good, the knight became the
critical piece in the commence­
ment of the counterattack.
Keene's astute manoeuvring
made such a forceful impression
that I was able to use the game as
a model. This was played about a
year later, and the similarities are
striking.
King - Gallagher
London 1 983
1 lLlf3 d6 2 d4 lLlf6 3 c3 g6 4
.tg5 .tg7 5 lLlbd2 0-0 6 e4 c5 7
d5 lLla6 8 .id3 lLlc7 9 a4 e6 10
c4 h6 1 1 .th4 e5
There is a slight difference in
pawn structure on the queenside,
but in essence this is exactly the
same position as King-Keene, but
 Positional Play and Planning
with colours reversed. If l hadn't
oxperienced that ugly defeat I
don't think I would have had the
courage to castle on the kingside
in this particular position. I might
have preferred 12 1i'c2, or perhaps
the immediate 12 �fl.!? The prob­
lem with playing the knight back
Htraight away is that it might sig­
nal my plan - and then he might
not weaken himself with . . . g5 . Af­
ter I have castled the temptation
for Black to break the pin with
. . . g5 is just too great, particularly
as it looks as though it will herald
a strong kingside attack. Too much
to resist.
12 0-0 g5? 13 i.g3 ttlli5
It is hard for Black to imagine
that he will fall Victim to a devas­
tating counterattack in exactly
the sector of the board where he is
attacking.
14 :ell �f4 15 i.b1
I've kept the bishop so that it
controls the f5 square - just as
95
Keene did - but I've retreated it
one square further, to b1 rather
than c2. Why?
15 �a6 16 �fl! �b4
...
That's why! I would have lost a
tempo if I had played it to c2.
Models are there as a guide, but
not to be slavishly adhered to. It
is important to keep thinking for
oneself.
17 �e3! :b8 18 :aa
This move is the reason why I
wasn't concerned about blocking
the rook with i.b1: it performs an
excellent role on the third rank,
covering some crucial squares,
but it might also find its way over
to the kingside.
18 a6
•••
Black realises that his kingside
attack is going nowhere, and seeks
to open the queenside . . . but that
rebounds as well.
19 a5! b6 20 axb6 lhb6
Curiously, because the knight
sits on b4 and cannot move, I have
no difficulties with the backward
b-pawn, which in other circum­
stances might have been a source
of counterplay for Black. Now that
I have ensured that there is no
danger on the queen's wing, it is
time to return to the kingside
play.
2 1 h4! l:r.e8 22 hxg5 hxg5 23
�d2 i.d7 24 �f5 (D)
24 i.xf5 25 exf5 l:.b7 26
•••
�e4 l:r.b8 27 '1Wg4 f6 28 i.h2
With the simple idea of g3, win­
ning the knight on f4.
28 '1Wd7 29 f3
•••
96 Choose the Right Move

Looking at the preceding games,

it seems that if you manage to
bring the right minor piece onto
the critical outpost, then the rest
of the team simply slot into place
around it. No discussion of out­
posts would be complete without
including the following game. Fis­
cher makes it look so simple.

Fischer - Gadia
Mar del Plata 1960

1 e4 c5 2 tiJf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4
29 g3 would have been met by ttJxd4 tiJf6 5 tiJc3 a6 6 .i.c4 e6 7
29 . . . tiJh5, but now that the queen .i.b3 b5 8 0-0 .i.b7 9 f4 ttJc6 10
is protected, there is no satisfac­ ttJxc6 i.xc6 1 1 f5
tory defence to g3, so Black gives
up a piece in desperation. Mop­
ping up is easy though, as Black's
kingside is so compromised.
29 ttJbxd5 30 cxd5 lbb2 31
•••

i.xf4 exf4 32 .l::txa6 c4 33 'ii'h5

.:teb8 34 .l::txd6 'fif7 35 'ii'xf7 +
�7 36 ttJc3 .i.f8 37 .l::td 7+ 'it>g8
38 d6 1-0

Before you can put a minor piece

on an outpost, you need to create
the outpost! This push practically
forces . . .
l l . . . e5
.. . and the d5 square is in
White's sight.
12 'fid3 .i.e7 13 .i.g5! 'fib6 +
14 �hl 0-0 15 .i.xf6
 Positional Play and Planning
The knight covers the d5 square,
Ho Fischer eliminates it.
15 ..txf6 16 .idS!
.•.
Putting the knight in straight­
away was playable, but this is far
stronger: the exchange ofbishops
means that the knight will land
on d5 completely unopposed.
16 ... l:tac8 1 7 ..txc6 l:txc6 18
.l:ad1 .l:fc8 19 �d5 1i'd8 20 c3
..te7
97
This was exactly the position
that Fischer was aiming for when
he played 1 1 f5, forcing . . . e5 and
creating the weakness on d5.
White has a strategically winning
position now, as the knight domi­
nates on all sides of the board, but
he needs to decide how he wishes
to break through into Black's po­
sition. The brutes among us might
play for an attack by swinging the
rooks along the third rank in the
direction of Black's king, but Fis­
cher's solution is more elegant.
21 .l:al !
Black cannot stop White play­
ing a4, opening a file on the queen­
side, and once the rook invades
the end is nigh. Black's rooks can­
not defend as the knight controls
too many squares in Black's camp.
21 ...f6? 22 a4!
22 ...l:tb8? 23 �xe7 +
Black blunders a rook, but the
situation was in any case dire.
1-0
98 Choose the Right Move
Take a look at the following po­
sitions, with particular reference
to the pawn structures.
Question 4. 1 : White to play.
Identify the outpost and devise a
plan to occupy it successfully.
Hracek - Almasi
Odorheiu Zonal 1995
Botvinnik - Konstantinopolsky
Sverdlovsk 1943
Question 4. 2: In the preceding
diagram it is White to play. Iden­
tify where the outpost is and de­
vise a plan for its occupation.
Palkovi-King
Bundesliga 1 996
Let's return to that position on
page XX. I hope it was clear what
I was driving at.
1 e4 c5 2 c3 e6 3 d4 d5 4 exd5
exd5 5 .tea cxd4 6 .txd4 tbc6 7
tLlf3 tbxd4 8 '1Vxd4 tbf6 9 i.b5 +
i.d7 10 .txd7+ 1Wxd7 1 1 0-0
.te7 12 tbbd2 0-0 13 llfe1
At first glance, a natural move
for Black is to play 13 . . . llfe8,
bringing the rook to the open file.
This is certainly not bad, though
the queen on d4 is in a dominat­
ing position, and it is irritating
that it is glancing over at the pawn
on a 7. Even though the pawn
structure is quite different, the
manoeuyre . . . .td8-b6 is the best
 Positional Play and Planning 99

course of action; compare with the 1 6 �fi

Sveshnikov games. Now I had to think again.
13 .i.d8! 14 1Wd3 .i.b6
... 16 g6
.•.

The bishop has found its per­

fect square, cutting down towards
the traditionally weak point on
f2 . With . . . .i.d8-b6 I complete my
first 'mini-operation' - the mid­
dlegame has begun. It is often
possible to use a typical piece ma­
noeuvre from one type of position
and apply it to another. The link
here is the f2 square.
I was going to stop there, but
the rest of the game is worth look­
ing at, for two reasons. First, it is
a good demonstration of the idea
of short-range plans; and second
because, unusually, with so many When Purdy talked about posi­
pieces on the board, the game tional play not necessarily involv­
consists almost entirely of ma­ ing a plan, but being primarily
noeuvring. about strengthening one's posi­
15 �d4 tion, this is the kind of move
Even though the knight blocks which I think he would have had
out the bishop, Black has still in mind. 16 . . . g6 is a waiting move
gained something. With the knight - I wanted to see where White
on d4 it is now difficult for White was going to move his pieces be­
to build up any pressure on the d5 fore I committed mine - but it is
pawn; and this move also weak­ also extremely useful. At some
ens White's claim on the e-file. point in the game my king will
15 :fe8!
••• need a flight square from the back
If the knight were still on f3, rank, and . . . g6 also takes away
White could attempt to simplify the f5 square from the knight, so
the position by exchanging on e8, that I am restricting White's op­
and then bringing the next rook tions.
over to el. Now, exchanging on e8 17 �e3
would simply cede the e-file. If It is time for my next mini-op­
White tries 16 �2f3, with the idea eration.
of trading all the rooks as above, 17 lle4
•••

then 16 . . . �e4!, occupying the out­ This move, plonking the rook
post, seizes the initiative. on the central outpost, makes a
100 Choose the Right Move
solid impression. If White does
'nothing' on this next move, then
I will simply double rooks on the
e-file and that will represent a
significant strengthening of my
position.
18 f3
White has to play this eventu­
ally, as the rook cannot be toler­
ated on e4 for too long; but this
move was exactly what I wanted
to see. Although White's king is
quite safe at the moment, there
may come a time, if the position
should open up, when the weak­
ening of the second rank could
prove awkward. Compare this with
my king's position: I'm glad to
have that pawn on f7.
18 ....l:te5
The threat of doubling rooks is
still irritating, so White decides to
relieve the pre3sure by offering
an exchange.
19 lL!ec2 l:tae8
Not much choice there - I want
to maintain my presence on the e­
file.
20 :Xe5 l:txe5
White could have exchanged all
the rookS here with 2 1 .:tel . I got
as far as 2 1 . . .l:txe1 + 22 lbxe1 li'a4
23 a3 'ii' b 3! 24 li'd2 li'a2, and con­
cluded that White still had a few
problems to solve before he could
equalise the position.
2 1 li'd2
Time for my next mini-opera­
tion. (I'm not sure I like this term,
but I'm stuck with it now!)
2 1 'ii'b5
•••
For the time being, I've achieved
all I can on the kingside and in
the centre; so it seems logical to
try and force some weaknesses in
White's queenside pawn struc­
ture.
22 lL!e3
My queen has to move on, but
that's alright: the knight is on a
slightly exposed square on e3.
22 Ji'a4 23 b3
.•
I was quite glad to see this
played, as the c3 pawn is weak­
ened; and if c3 is more vulnerable,
then so is d4 - the rock that holds
White's position together. Instead
23 a3! would have been a stronger
move; don't the queenside pawns
look healthier in that case? They
would all be protected, apart from
b2, and that is much more diffi­
cult to attack than c3.
23 .'i'a3
••
There is no harm in keeping
my queen down there for the mo­
ment, though it will probably have
to retreat before too long.
24 g3
Understandably, White feels
the need to remove his king from
the same diagonal as the bishop,
and as �h1 would still leave him
with a back-rank problem, he de­
cides to put the king on g2 ; but it
sorely lacks a pawn on f2 to pro­
tect the second rank.
24 l:e8
•.•
I'm not entirely sure how I
should make progress from here,
but bringing the rook back in­
creases my options : I might play
 Positional Play and Planning
it to c8 to attack the c-pawn, for
i nstance. Over the next few moves
there is more of this 'jockeying for
position' ; I'm making moves that
look good, waiting for a moment
w hen my opponent gives me a
hreak. In the meantime, the most
important thing is not to make any
concessions, to keep my pieces as
flexibly placed as possible, and
not to make any pawn moves that
would weaken my position.
25 l::r.e l
Is White threatening tt::lxd5? No,
I would exchange rooks, then cap­
ture on d5. However, it could be
useful to take away the g4 square
from the knight, so . . .
25 ...h5
And you never know, it might
be possible to push the h-pawn
down the board to help with an
attack on the king.
26 Wg2
Now White is threatening tt::lxd5
- check it!
26 'ii'c5 27 b4
•••
White becomes impatient; this
move may or may not turn out to
be significant, but it is certainly
unnecessary: pawns cannot move
backwards!
27 .'flc8 28 tt::l dc2 :e5
••
Played with the vague thought
of . . . WeB and . . . 1Wa4, returning to
hassle the queenside pawns. That
was enough to worry White who
lashed out with . . .
2 9 a4?! a5 ! (D)
With the time control approach­
ing, the game starts to hot up.
101
White's problem is that the a­
pawn is now fixed, and weak.
30 tt::ld4
30 bxa5 would have been much
sharper. The nature of the game
would change completely and some
calculation would be needed, for
instance, 30 . . . J.. xa5 3 1 tt::lb 4 'ii'e 6
(3 1 . . .'ii'c 5? 32 tt::l exd5 ! l::r.xd5 33
tt::lxd5 'ii'xd5 34 'ifxd5 tt::lxd5 35 l::r.e5)
and both sides have to tread with
great care.
30 'ife8! 31 b5?
•••
For better or for worse White
should have captured on a5. This
way, I can attack the weaknesses
on the queenside without worry­
ing about counterplay against my
own pawns.
31. 1i'f8!
••
Threat: . . . 'ii'a3 and . . . 'ii'xa4.
32 tt::lec2 .lhel 33 'ii'xel tt::ld 7
I was slightly concerned about
the queen arriving on e5, so this
move made sense. Now I can also
think about . . . tt::lc5 , attacking the
a-pawn.
102 Choose the Right Move
34 'ii'd2 'it'c5
Now that the queen has moved
away from the e-file, I felt brave
enough to move my own queen
over to the offensive. The threat:
. . .'Wc4 and . . . 'ii'xa4.
35 l/Je3 l/Je5
The knight belongs on the out­
post c4.
36 l!Jdc2
And that is the final mistake
that I've been waiting for.
36 ...l!Jc4! 37 tiJxc4 'ii'g 1 + !
I knew that eventually I would
get a shot at White's king!
38 'iPh3 'ii'fi + 39 'it'g2
White is forced to play the
queen to this dismal square as 39
�h4 .i.d8 + is embarrassing.
39 ...'ii'xc4 40 'ii'd2
The simplest way to win is to
capture on a4, move the queen out
of the way and push the a-pawn.
Instead, I got a bit too clever try­
ing to force a quicker win and,
though I got there in the end, it
was only on the 76th move after a
tedious bishop versus knight end­
ing. Mistakes always seem to come
after the time control at move 40,
but that is another story!
I mentioned in my chapter on
the opening that in order to strive
for the initiative, it was important
to aim for a healthy pawn struc­
ture - and then I never really
mentioned it after that. Then
again, this is really a subject that
deserves to be treated under the
middlegame, or possibly even the
endgame. I saw the following game
in Bronstein's book on the 1953
Zurich Candidates tournament
and I couldn't believe how fitting
his comments were to this theme.
' . . . in the middlegame - and some­
times in the opening - the master
discerns the outlines of the forth­
coming endgame ... Here, by moves
12-15 he had already visualised
the coming knight vs. bishop end­
game . . . ' Najdorfhas a pawn weak­
ness which Averbakh latches on
to, and the game is effectively de­
cided in the opening.
Najdorf - Averbakh
Zurich Candidates 1953
1 c4 l/Jf6 2 l!Jf3 e6 3 g3 b6 4
.i.g2 .i.b7 5 0-0 .i.e7 6 d4 0-0 7
l/Jc3 l/Je4 8 'ii'c2 t2Jxc3
The usual move here is 9 'it'xc3,
keeping a sound pawn structure.
Najdorrs decision to double the
white pawns is not necessarily a
 Positional Play and Planning
mistake; it just means that he has
to take care that they don't turn
out to be a liability.
9 bxc3
9 tbc61
•••
This immediately highlights
White's problem: the black knight
is ready to move to a5 to attack
the pawn on c4. Bronstein thinks
that White should play 10 tbd2
li)a5 1 1 J.xb 7 lbxb7 12 lbb3, pre­
venting the knight moving back
lo a5, but it might appear at d6
one day, and besides, what is the
w hite knight doing stuck out on
play on b3? I still prefer Black's
chances.
10 tbe5?1 tba5 11 J.xb7 lbxb7
1 2 "ii"a4 d6 13 tbd3 tba5 (D)
The white pawn on c4 cannot
bu protected by another pawn, in
other words it is chronically weak.
White has no counterplay to off­
Hut this weakness, so he already
H tands worse. The only thing to
do is to advance the pawn, but
103
that still leaves the c4 square
weak, and that is enough to ensure
that Black's advantage is perma­
nent.
14 c5 "ii"e 81 15 "ii"xe8 l:.t'xe8 16
.:tb1 .:teeS!
A prescient move. Averbakh
knows that the c-file will open.
17 h4 d51
Fixing the c4 square. Minor
pieces, especially knights, need
outposts.
18 J.f4 f6 19 lbb4 a6 20 cxb6
cxb6 21 J.d2 tbc4 22 J.e1 J.xb4
Reducing the position down to
its bare elements. The ending of
knight against bishop should be
winning, because the bishop is
blocked by its own pawns, and the
knight has such a wonderful out­
post . . .
2 3 cxb4 tba3 24 .:tb3 lbb5 25
e3 l:c2
. . . and Black controls the only
open file.
26 a4 tbd6 27 a5 b5 28 :c3
llc8 29 :xeS + tbxc8 30 f3 tbe7
104 Choose the Right Move
3 1 .if2 <J;f7 32 l:lb1 lLJf5 33 <J;fl
lLJd6 34 :Z.b3 lLJc4 35 �g2 f5
White is in Zugzwang: if the
king retreats to the back rank,
then . . . lLJd2 wins a pawn; if 36 g4
fxg4 37 fxg4 lLJd2 and . . . lLJe4; and
if 36 .:td3 .l:.b2 and . . . :Xb4.
36 ltb1 lDxe3 + 37 �g1 f4!
Returning the pawn immedi­
ately to shatter White's kingside
pawn structure.
38 gxf4 lLJf5 39 �1 g6 40
l:lb3 �e7 41 l:lb1 <J;d7
White resigned here. I suspect
that the game was adjourned and
N ajdorf had just had enough.
Black's best winning course is to
play the king back to ffi, then move
the rook to c4 and capture on d4;
the rook and pawn ending is easy
as the f-pawn drops soon after. A
depressing game for White as he
was on the defensive right after
Black played his knight to c6 on
move nine - agony. A beautiful po­
sitional achievement from Yuri
Averbakh.
In the next game Karpov man­
ages to damage his opponent's
pawn structure on move four, en­
suring a permanent initiative.
Karpov-Browne
San Antonio 1972
1 c4 c5 2 b3 lLJf6 3 .ib2 g6 4
.ixf6!?· exf6
 Positional Play and Planning
It is unusual to give up a bishop
fi1r a knight at such an early stage
u f the game, but Karpov is alert.
l ie recognises that he will be able
t.u control the crucial d5 square,
und that this will be enough to
give him the advantage.
5 lLlc3
5 i.g7 6 g3 lLlc6 7 i.g2 f5 8
...
o3 0-0 9 lLlge2 a6 10 l:.c1 b5 1 1
d3 i.b7 1 2 0-0 d6 1 3 'ifd2 'ifa5
1 4 lUd1 l:.ab8 15 lLld5 _.xd2 16
l:xd2 b4 17 d4
' The game is strategically won:
do is firmly held, Black's pawns
un the kingside have been stopped
n nd White's extra pawn in the
1:u ntre promises him all the win­
n i ng chances. ' (Karpov)
.
1 7 ..l:Ud8 (D)
..
And now, as Karpov himself
poi n ts out, he should have played
I H dxc5 dxc5 19 .l:.cd 1, threaten­
i ng lLle7 + , which would have given
h i m an overwhelming advantage.
I I. does look pleasant for White,
105
but I had to stare at the position
for a few moments to convince
myself that it was so good; and it
is. For instance, if 19 . . . <iii>f8, then
20 lLlb6 ! , and at the very least the
c5 pawn drops off after lLld7 or
lLla4. Instead, he played 18 llcd1,
which allowed Black some tempo­
rary security after 18 . . . cxd4 19
exd4 �f8, though here too White
still has a clear advantage due to
his control over d5 and extra pawn
on the queenside.
With a bit of luck, by now
you're beginning to get a grip on
this positional stuff: check out the
pawn structure, find an outpost,
plonk a piece on it, and there you
are. That's all very well, but what
if we have to defend against a bril­
liant piece of manoeuvring? The
next two examples illustrate pos­
sible counter-strategies. In a sense,
one's thinking should be similar
to the above: by examining the
pawn structures, try to envisage
where your opponent's pieces
106 Choose the Right Move
belong, and attempt to disrupt
the smooth flow of his idea.
P. Morris King
- with 13 . . . l:.fd8 followed by . . . tt:Jc5
London (Lloyds Bank
Masters) 1 993
1 e4 c5 2 tt:Jf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4
tt:Jxd4 tt:Jf6 5 tt:Jc3 a6 6 i.e3 e5 7
tt:Jf3
The pawn structure that has
arisen ought to be reasonably fa­
miliar to you, following the exam­
ples that we've already looked at
(think back to Fischer-Gadia, for
instance) .' One of White 's strate­
gies is to establish control over
the d5 square; Black seeks to gain
counterplay principally on the
queenside, by exerting pressure
down the semi-open c-file.
7 'iic 7 8 a4 i.e7 9 i.e2 0-0 10
•••
0-0 tt:Jbd7 1 1 tt:Jd2 b6 12 i.c4
i.b7 13 'ii'e2
My next few moves are fairly
standard, but actually aimless. It
would have been better to at­
tempt to solve the problem of my
backward d-pawn straight away
and . . . d5.
13 ... h6 14 l:.fd1 .l:Ifc8 15 f3
i.f8 16 'iirh 1 g6 1 7 l:.ac1 i.g7 18
i.f2
White is planning a manoeuvre
such as i.b3 followed by tt:Jc4-e3-
d5 in order to secure absolute
control over d5. I didn't take this
sufficiently seriously, but if l had,
I might have tried 18 . . . h5 in order
to disrupt such an idea with
. . . i.h6.
18 ...tt:Jc5
My idea was to play this knight
to e6 and then to hop in to d4 or f4
with good counterplay.
19 i.xc5!
I didn't really consider this
move: I thought that his dark
squares would simply be too weak
if he gave up the bishop.
19 .. .'-xc5
 Positional Play and Planning
Recapturing with either pawn
would have been disastrous after
:.o �fl. ; White occupies d5, and
Bluck has no counterplay.
20 �b3 :ds 21 �c4
The battle for d5 is on. White's
threat is simple: to play �e3 and
lDcd5.
2l :ab8?
•••
Too casual. I was worried about
White playing a5 and landing the
knight on b6, but I was seeing
ghosts. 2 1 . . .h5 would have been
more to the point. If 22 llle 3 then
22 . . . �h6 is strong, frustrating the
attempt to occupy d5. 22 'ii'd2 is
an attempt to cut out . . . �h6, but
22 . . . �h7 renews the threat. Then
Black has suffici.e nt counterplay.
If White tries 23 lllxd6 then some
calculation is needed. Instinctively,
the self-pin looks dubious - though
where calculation is concerned
first impressions don't count for
much. However, I can see two
plausible continuations for Black.
107
First, 23 ... �h6 which forces the
following line: 24 �b7 (24 1Vd3
�xcl) 24 . . . �xd2 25 �c5 �xcl 26
:xcl bxc5 27 �xf7 :d2. White
has two pawns for the exchange,
but the rook on the seventh pro­
vides sufficient counterplay for
Black. Chances are balanced. In­
stead of 23 . . . �h6, 23 . . . 1Vc7 is a
more subtle move, countering the
threat of �xb7. I don't see a good
way out for White (24 �xf7 �h6!
25 1Vd3 �xcl wins material). This
brings me back to Euwe's quote
that I mentioned at the start of
this chapter: 'Strategy demands
reflection, tactics demand a pene­
trating glance . ' It is clear that a
different kind of thought process
is required for tactics as distinct
to strategy. However, they cannot
be completely separated, as I hope
is clear from my comments in this
game. It is vital to be able to back
up strategic judgements with cold
calculation.
22 llle 31 h5 23 lllcd5
If I now play 23 . . . lllxd5, then
White should not recapture with
the bishop, 24 �xd5 allowing
24 . . . �h6!, but instead 24 lllxd5
leaves White comfortably placed.
As we have seen, it is difficult for
Black to find counterplay in such
positions. It seemed to me that my
only chance was to duck the chal­
lenge on d5 for the moment by . . .
23 llld7
•••
. . . so that I could first play
. . . �h6, eliminate the knight on
e3, then bring back my knight to
108 Choose the Right Move
f6, when White no longer has un­
contested control over d5 . Unfor­
tunately White has a couple of
moves in between.
24 ..ta2!
Threatening b4 and my queen
is trapped.
24 b5
•••
Not exactly what I wanted to
play, but the only way out.
25 b4 'i¥a7
26 a5
A mistake. White should have
kept hounding my queen with 26
axb5 axb5 2 7 %:tal (think back to
Fischer-Gadia!) 27 .....txd5 (the only
satisfactory way of dealing with
the threat of ..tb3) 28 tt::lxd5 tt::l f6
29 tt::lxf6 + ..txf6 30 ..td5 'i¥b6 with
a highly unpleasant position for
Black: White doubles rooks on the
a-file, and it will be difficult to
prevent their invasion.
26 ..th6!
•••
I have been given a little breath­
ing space, and that is enough to
carry out the plan that I men·
tioned a couple of moves ago.
27 %ld3 ..txd5 28 J.xd5 tt::lf8 18
..tb3
This gives me a chance to break
out. I had anticipated 29 :cd l
..txe3 30 lhe3 tt::lxd5 31 lhd5 :bc8,
when the weakness of my d-pawn
is counter-balanced by the weak­
ness of White' s c-pawn. After 29
..tb3 White threatens %lcdl, piling
up on the d-pawn . In this case I
wouldn't have much counterplay,
as the bishop on b3 defends the
pawn on c2.
29 d5!
•••
I couldn't resist this move.
Aaron Nimzowitsch, in his ground­
breaking work My System, wrote
about a backward pawn's 'lust to
expand' ; I'm not sure that this
phrase has the same resonance in
the original German as it does in
English, but it is a splendid trans·
lation.
30 exd5
 Positional Play and Planning 109

It might have been better to lDf2 l:tbe8 36 lDh3 lle2 37 lDf4

play 30 �xd5 �d5 3 1 exd5 llbc8!
though Black still has good coun­
terplay, for instance: 32 llcd1 �xe3
33 l:xe3 ltxc2 34 'it'xc2 'it'xe3
threatening . . . lhd5.
30 ... e4! 31 fxe4 lDxe4 32 l:r.fi
lDd6
l:t2e4 38 lDxh5
A miscalculation, although 38
lDh3 l::txb4 was miserable.
38 ... gxh5 39 'ii'g3 + l:r.g4 40
'it'xd6 'ilf2! 0-1
8

as 41 l:r.g1 fixg2 + 42 l:bg2 lle1 +

43 llg1 1:14xg1 is mate.
This is such a beautiful position
for Black. Look at the pawn on
d5 ; it would be better for White if
it didn't exist, as it blocks the
bishop, the knight, and the rook!
(This is why I think it would have
been better for White to have ex­
changed the bishop for the knight
in the previous note.) The initia­
tive has dramatically swung over
to Black: White!s queenside play
has been stymied, and the field of
battle will shift over to the king­
side where Black's king is safe
(three pawns as cover), and White's
king is less secure (only two pawns Kasparov - Anand
for cover). PCA World championship (14),
33 'iff3 :es 34 lDd1 l:e7 35 New York 1995
1 10 Choose the Right Move
Here is another example of a
player struggling with positional
weaknesses. Kasparov has landed
himself in a difficult situation.
Let's strip the position down to
the pawn structure to see exactly
what the problem is.
The pawn structures are virtu­
ally symmetrical, apart from on
the kingside where White has ad­
vanced his f-pawn, and Black the h­
pawn. The advance of the f-pawn
has created a serious weakness in
White's camp, namely the outpost
on e4 which .can no longer be cov­
ered by a pawn. By contrast, the
white outpost on e5 can be cov­
ered by the black pawn moving to
f6. If White could play the pawn
to f5 he would have good counter­
play, but, returning to the actual
position in the game, you will see
that the f5 square is securely block­
aded by the bishop.
Black's task is therefore to
drive out the knight from e5, and
to occupy the e4 square with his
own knight. To that end Black al­
ready has a threat: . . . tbf6 followed
by . . . tbe4. Can White prevent it?
17 i.f2
Yes; if 1 7 . . . tbf6 18 i.h4! fol­
lowed by i.xf6, and White's posi­
tion isn't at all bad.
17 ...fkc7
It was also possible for Black to
play . f6 straight away, but Anand
..
had a particular plan in mind,
namely . . . tbb6-c8-d6-e4. If he had
played 17 . . . tbb6 immediately, then
the queen would have been awk­
wardly placed on a5 and 18 i.e1
would have been strong. Anand's
idea is dangerous: if he is able to
establish control over e4, he would
dominate the position. Kasparov
instinctively realised that he must
stir up some trouble or he will be
condemned to passivity.
18 :ell f6 19 tbd3 .l:.fe8 20 b3
tbb6
Anand continues with the plan,
but it is quite slow, and I wonder
whether it wouldn't have been
better to occupy e4 straight away
with 20 . . . i.e4 2 1 c4 'ii'a5 .
21 a4 tbc8 22 c4
Looking for counterplay down
the c-file, and of course the queen
must move before the knight ar­
rives at d6.
22 :ii'f7 23 a51
••
Once again, keeping Black busy.
Mter 23 . . . tbd6 24 a6 bxa6 25 tbb4,
both c6 and d5 are threatened.
23 i.f8 24 cxd5 cxd5 25 i.h4
•••
tbd6 26 a8 b6
 Positional Play and Planning
The game's critical moment.
Black is ready to play 27 . . . �e4,
then after exchanging bishops,
. . . ll:le4. Kasparov knew that he
must strike immediately.
27 ll:le51
Psychologically, this presents
Anand with an extremely difficult
decision. He can capture the piece,
plunging into complications, or he
can decline the sacrifice and con­
tinue with his seamless strategy
of playing to occupy the crucial e4
square.
27 1i'e6
•••
Anand declined the sacrifice af­
ter little reflection, which was un­
derstandable: it is not easy to
suddenly change plans and to be­
come embroiled in hand to hand
fighting, though this was the mo­
ment when he really should have
gone into 'calculation mode' . For
the record, a couple of possible
lines if the piece is taken: 27 ... fxe5!
28 fxe5 ll:le4 29 �xd8 :xd8 30 g4!
hxg4 3 1 �xg4 'ii' h 7!? which is
111
complicated, but looks better for
Black; or 3 1 . . . �xg4 32 'iVxg4 ll:lf2 +
33 :xf2 'iVxf2 34 'ii'xg6 + �g7 35
:c7 'fi'fl + 36 'ii'g1 'ii'f3 + 3 7 'iVg2
with equality. Whatever the objec­
tive merits of this sacrifice, Kas­
parov was absolutely right to play
it. If he doesn't, then he will fall
in to a passive position.
28 g4!
Anand must have underesti­
mated this move. Kasparov does
not allow the position to settle,
but keeps stirring, creating fresh
problems.
28 hxg4 29 ll:lxg4 �g7 30
...
.l:tc7!
This invasion is serious. The
usual method of countering a rook
on the seventh rank is to block
with a rook, but that is impossible
as the d-pawn is loose.
30 ll:le4
...
The knight finally arrives at e4,
but was it really worth it? Kaspar­
ov has forced so many concessions
112 Choose the Right Move
out of Black that the answer has to
be no. Moreover, Anand would re­
ally have liked to play the bishop
in to e4 and exchange the bishops
off first, but 30 . . . �e4 would have
allowed 31 l:.xg7+ and �xffi + .
3l lLle3 �b3 32 l:.gll
Black's shaky kingside is sensi­
tive.
32 ... g5 33 �g4 �xg4 34 'i!fxg4
'ii'xg4 35 .lhg4
Kasparov simplifies into an
ending where he has the better
chances - the rook on the seventh
makes all the difference. Perhaps
Anand could have defended this
position, but by now he was so de­
moralised, and short on time, that
he let the game slip very quickly.
35 lLld6 36 �f2 lLlb5 37 l:.b7
•••
l:.e4 38 f5 lb:g4 39 lLlxg4 l::t c8 40
l:d7 l:c2 4l lb:d5 1-0
A brilliant illustration of how to
cut across one's opponent's plan.
Kasparov's play was psychologi­
cally astute.
This last game illustrates a
common problem. Anand became
so obsessed with his 'pure' plan
that he refused to dirty his hands
with tactics - until it became too
late. It is important to have a
strategic grasp of the position,
but it is vital to be tactically alert
at all times. If you hang a piece in
a strategically winning position,
it's not much consolation: a big
fat zero still appears against your
name on the wall-chart. Anand's
case was unusual as he simply
refused to calculate variations,
even when the position exploded
in his face. More commonly, play­
ers are caught out because they
don't notice that there are tacti­
cal possibilities at all.
Reshevsky - Larsen
Lugano Olympiad 1968
This is a classic case of a
player's fixation with an idea
dulling his sense of danger. For
 Positional Play and Planning
•Y•r•l tnnYllll Roshevsky had been
wur" h'll tnwnrds manoeuvring his
ltniMhl In l.u cfi via b4. It would
..re.tnl,y 11LAncl wol l t he re, for if the
ltlthuat lAku11 I t , then the bishop
tt tt hn wnulcl come to life, as well
H I h• ruuk un d 1 . 'fhe American
Umu.hL tho L i mo was right:
II G\h4? .txh31
•ncl l .n rKo n w o n a crucial
tttnm l r : n tcx h3 l:txc l 28 l:hcl
••" I Jllll b up the rook on c l ; or
11 I••'" • .txc8!
b o d e
I
llury - King
IC11hlo 1 979
fti• Ill A l'n l n fu l e p isode from a
IMftlttP lm 1 r n n m o n t some years
1ft I wu •• unrr�atu lating myself on
••piQ hlll III.Y opponent: White's
fiWMI I I'• n llltlHH, und my rook is
l!llf MI"U I•I' I.v wul l pl aced in the
..... . ur t. hu tl n u my camp. Now
"" th• I I II I P to Hl.n rt looking for
... ltall , A l lcl :14 . . . 'i6'b6, dragging
Mf 'lltMII l uw k I n to play, seems to
1 13
fit the bill. If 35 .i.f2 then 35 . . . 'ii'c5
and 36 . . . 'ii'xe5; or 35 �f2, 35 . . . tbc5
threatening, well, all sorts of nasty
things. Instead I became caught
up with my own beautiful manoeu­
vres and played
34 ...lLlc5
This is the equivalent of a soc­
cer team enjoying themselves by
dribbling the ball around in the
penalty area, but forgetting to
shoot at goal. Unfortunately, my
opponent was quick on the break.
35 .i.h4
It just didn't occur to me that my
opponent, with his major pieces
stuck on the back rank, was al­
lowed to attack. Even this move
didn't alert me to the danger.
35 .. J:td7 36 'ii'fi
White creates another threat:
37 .i.xe7 and 1Vf6 + is the idea.
36 lbe4 37 'ii'f3 'ii'c2 38 e6!
••.
Decisive.
38 ...fxe6 39 :n lDf6 40 .i.xf6+
exf6 41 'ii'xf6 + �h6 42 1ff8 +
.l:[g7 43 :Z:.f7 1Vd1 + 44 <t>h2 1-0
Shocking!
1 14 Choose the Right Move

King - Larsen 41 cxb5 .:.xa5 42 .l:xa5 i.xa5

Hastings Premier 1 990 43 b6 1-0

Here a curious double oversight

occurred. Black played . . .
3 4. . .�f6? 3 5 g4?
Positionally, a fine move, gain­
ing space on the kingside and giv­
ing my king a square on g3.
35 h6? 36 �g3? <i;g7
•••

I'm not sure that Larsen had

actually noticed my threat, per­
haps it was just a sixth sense that
told him his king should be as far
away from my knights as possi­
ble.

Question 4.3: What could I

have played on either the 35th or
36th move?
Answers
4. 1
White should play . .
. the e5 square with the knight, so
28 i.xb6
Knocking out the knight which
controls the d5 square.
28 .:.Xb6 29 ttJfl !
•••
Manoeuvring the knight to­
wards the wonderful outpost on
d5.
29 i.e7 30 ttJe3 i.h4 31 ttJd5
•••
From here on White dominates.
It is a perfect illustration of the
power of an undisputed knight on
d5.
31 l:b7 32 l:teb1 'it'c8 33 <i;h2
•••
'it'd8 34 g3 i.g5 35 a4 axb4 36
l:xb4 1Wb8 37 1Wb1 .:.aa7 38 a5
4.2
This game has often been held
up as a model positional perform­
ance from Botvinnik, but only be­
cause his opponent defended so
poorly. White would like to occupy
exchanging the knight on c6 looks
a good idea.
13 i.b5!?
The plan is simple: i.xc6 fol­
lowed by ttJe5 with a dominating
position. Black appreciates the
positional threat and finds an in­
teresting counter - he exchanges
off the knight that could poten­
tially occupy e5. However, I think
there was a stronger possibility:
. . . ttJb8 ! , so that if 14 i.xd7 ttJxd7,
and the black knight covers the e5
square.
13 ttJg5!? 14 i.xc6 ttJxfa + 15
•••

l:a6 39 c4 i.d8 40 .l:.xb5 :Xb5 'it'xf3 bxc6 16 'ii'f4

 Positional Play and Planning 1 15

Botvinnik is still seeking to

take control over e5 . Black must
break out.
16 .J:r.ae8
•••

White would like to blockade e5

with the queen, 17 1i'e5, but 17 . . . f4
would be a good response; Black
forces the queen out with .. J:tf5,
and there is also . . . f3 for White to
worry about.
17 0-0 e5
Black solves the problem of the
backward e-pawn, but White still
has the advantage in the endgame
due to his blockade on the central 46 �g4 47 �e5 �c8 48 lbd4
•••

dark squares and his 'good h5 49 lbxf5 �d7 50 lbg7 �a4 51

knight' against 'bad bishop'.
1 8 'ffx e5 'ffxe5 19 dxe5 l:txe5
20 f4 l:te7 2 1 Mel .J:r.fe8 22 :Xe7
:Xe7 23 � cM7 24 l:tdl l:te8 25
.J:r.d2 h6 26 .J:r.e2 l:tb8 27 �e3 l:tb3
28 �d4
White 's domination is due to
the plan he started with 13 �b5,
exchanging the knight on c6, but
all this could have been prevented
by 13 . . . lbb8!
28 <M& 29 lba2 l:b8 30 b4 g5
•••
3 1 g3 gxf4 32 gxf4 a6 33 lbc3
l:g8 34 a4 l:g4 35 l:tf2 �e6 36
b5 axb5 37 axb5 cxb5 38 lbxb5
l:gl 39 lbc3 �7 40 l:tb2 :n 41
lbe2 %:tel 42 �e5 d4 43 �xd4
�g6 44 lbc3 �h5 45 l:te2 .J:r.xe2
46 lbxe2
f5 �g5 52 lbe6 + 1-0
4.3
On move 35 and move 36 I
could have played 35 l:txb6! l:txb6
36 lbxd5 + and lbxb6, winning two
pawns. 35 lbxd5 + :Xd5 36 :Xb6 +
and :Xa6 also isn't bad. I was just
sitting there admiring my beauti­
ful knights, which caused my cal­
culation function to switch itself
off in my brain.
This example serves as a good
conclusion. An understanding of
positional features in chess is cru­
cial if a player is to develop. How­
ever, tactics can swing the game
round in an instant, so always be
alert.
5 How To Win Won Positions
(C h ris Duncan)
In this chapter, we shall examine
a number of positions in which
one side is ahead on material and
his opponent has clearly insuffi­
cient (if any) compensation. These
are all positions that ought to be
won, but there are some technical
difficulties in each case . They all
serve to illustrate the basic prin­
ciples of converting a material ad­
vantage and are easier to state
than they are to apply:
Step one: If the opponent has
some counterplay, then first con­
solidate your own position and J. Rogers M. Stewart
-

neutralise that counterplay. Nottingham League 1992

Step two: Simplify the position
by exchanging pieces, in order to
head for a winning endgame.
Most textbooks emphasise the
latter step (exchanging material)
at the expense of the first (stamp­
ing out any remaining initiative
that the opponent may possess) .
Accordingly, instead of first con­
solidating their positions, players
often seek to swap material in
passive positions, only to find that
their opponent still has the initia­
tive and that there is no way of
proceeding. The following club
game is a typical horror story, and
is meant as a warning for those
impatient to exchange pieces:
Black has an extra piece, which
should outweigh White's extra vul­
nerable pawns. Black should be
seeking to consolidate his position
first (step one) ; and l . . .i..e 6 would
have been a good start. He could
follow up by playing . . . i.. f4, . . . i.. xe5
and ... i..f6 after which all his pieces
would be protected and his king
would be safe on g8, from where it
could eventually emerge and mop
up White's queenside pawns at
leisure. This is a long process, but
little can go wrong because his cen­
trally placed pieces are so power­
ful.
But in this game Black skipped
the rule about consolidation and
 How To Win Won Positions 117

started to simplify at once, under 1S 'iii> e2 .l:.b6 19 a7 .l:.xb7 20 l:.eS +

the traditional rationale that the 'itxeS 2 1 aS'ii' + wins) 1S �e2 l:lb6
fewer white pieces, the fewer pros­ 19 a7 .l:.xb 7 20 .l:.eS + �xeS 2 1
pects for White to generate coun­ aS'ii' + .l:.bS 2 2 'ii'e4 and wins.
terplay; but in this case, there are
also fewer pieces with which Black
can defend himself!
1 .i.xg6? 2 hxg6 lile2 + ?
•••

A better move was 2 . . JldS!,

forcing the knight from its power­
ful square. Play might then have
continued 3 tilc3 tilc6 4 e6 l:.eS,
when the e-pawn is doomed along
with the g-pawn (which causes all
the problems in the game).
3 c.W1 lilf4?
Continuing the faulty plan of
swapping pieces.
4 lbx£4 .i.x:f4 5 e6
Now Black's king is very inse­ 10 l:tf7+ 'itg8 11 b7 .i.c5 12 e7
cure. He must employ his rook Black cannot capture on e7 be­
merely to guard against the threat cause one of his pieces must guard
of back-rank mate. the bS square. Now Black's king is
5 .i.g5 6 .l:.xa7 �g8 7 b4 .l:.e8
••• caught in a permanent mating net.
8 b5 �f8 12 .i. d6
••.

Black has had to make a number Or 12 . . . .i.xe7 13 .l:.xe7 l::tx e7 14

of moves simply to attack White 's bS'ii' + .
e-pawn (S ... lhe6 9 .l:.aS + mates) . 1 3 a4 .i.c7 14 a5
9 b61 (D)
Now it is too late to capture the
e-pawn, because White's b-pawn
is about to promote.
9 .i.e3
•••

Or 9 . . ..l:.xe6 10 .l:.f7 + 'iii>gS (after

10 . . . �eS 1 1 b7 -:b6 12 .l:.xg7 .i.f4
13 a4! Black cannot cope with
three white pawns running down
the board) 1 1 b7 l:leS 12 l:r.c7 .i.f4
13 l:tc8 c;Ms 14 a4 <i;e7 (14 ... -i.bS 15
a5 is better for White) 15 a5 l:tfS
16 a6 l:lffi 17 :as .i.e5 + (17 ... .i.h2 +
1 18 Choose the Right Move
Black resigned due to 14 ... .txa5
(if 14 . . . i.b8 and then moving the
bishop backwards and forwards
to a7 and b8, White's king time­
lessly marches to d7) 15 Af8 +
lhf'B+ 16 exf8'ii'+ �xf8 17 b8'ii' + .
Black was too eager to ex­
change pieces in this game. He ac­
tually improved White's position
in the process (by bringing his
pawn to g6), leaving himself with
the one piece that could not cap­
ture the intrusive g6 pawn. Mter
the exchanges it was White who
was winning!
Duncan Molyneux
-
British Championship 1996
Black is clearly winning in this
position. He has well placed pieces
all ready for a kingside attack, a
well protected king and an extra
pawn to boot! A general rule of
thumb is that 'opposite-coloured
bishops aid an attack against the
enemy king', since the defender
finds it difficult to neutralise the
attacking bishop. White would
have faced an impossible defensive
task if his opponent had mounted
a rapid attack on his king.
30 dxc4?
.••
Black already starts to swap off
pawns, which as we shall see later
allows White to 'get out of jail' .
3 0...'ii'f3 ! would have been stronger,
preventing White from swapping
off queens with 'ii'd4. If the queens
remain on the board, White will
be unable to defend himself, e.g.
31 i.d4 l:tf5 (it is difficult to find a
useful move for White) 32 i.xg7
'ii'e3 + and wins.
31 bxc4 l:tf7 32 'ili'd4 'ii'xd4 +
33 i.xd4 i.f5
Compared to the position only
three moves ago, Black has no
chance of creating threats against
the white king; he has caused a
structural imbalance on the queen­
side and even has to watch the
weak'· al-h8 diagonal. Swapping
 How To Win Won Positions
oil' Uw queens and a set of pawns
h1u1 Horiously reduced his winning
11hn ncos. However, with accurate
,,lny Black should still be able to
win.
n 4 : n ga 3 5 J:g3
l 'rolocting the weakness on d3 .
:t" . . . l:[d8 36 l:.f4
'l'rying to blockade the dark
1111Unros.
88 ... l:ta8 37 l:te3 l':.d7
O r 37 . . . l:txa2 38 l1e8 + l1f8 39
llu7 . Now White should be able to
huld the position.
88 a3
'l'o mpting Black to capture this
f1 HIt HOJdier.
UH �f7 •••
n .l.
n a position, the player with the
II
II b c d e g h
N ow Black is threatening to cap­
f un• the a-pawn. Mter 38 . . . l1xa3
IUJ J:["H + �f7 40 l:r.h8 White has
• • • ·•• l lon t chances of saving the
M I U I ICI : 40 . . . q;,e6 41 J:e8 + <Jitd6 42
,,n 1 oJ.>d5 (42 . . . �c7 43 i.e5 + wins
her W h i to) 43 l:e5 mate!; 40 . . . .:.Xd3
• • J:[ x h 7 + �e6 42 l':.xd7 �xd7,
1 19
when exchanging the white a-pawn
for Black's h-pawn has increased
White's chances of a draw; and
40 . . . h5 4 1 l1xf5 + gxf5 42 l':.h7+
'iii> e6 43 .l:h6 + �f7 44 l':.h7 + with
a draw by perpetual check.
39 i.b2 .:.e7
Black challenges his opponent's
control of the e-file.
40 'iW2 .l:ae8 4l lb:e7 + .lhe7
Once again Black has been too
eager to exchange pieces. This
time the superior side will face
tough technical difficulties trying
to convert the position. We shall
see how White managed to draw
this position later on.
Consol idation
What is meant by 'consolidation'
(or the safety-first approach)?
When it is necessary to consolidate
material advantage should neu­
tralise any immediate threats and
more importantly, place his pieces
on safe active squares (prefer­
ably on central squares and all
protecting each other) so that the
opponent cannot generate any
meaningful threats in the near fu­
ture. He should also try to stop
his opponent from creating out­
posts for his pieces. Then and
only then, should he emerge from
his shell and offer to exchange
pieces.
If a player successfully consoli­
dates, he often wins the game
120 Choose the Right Moue

quicker than he might have ex­
pected. When an opponent is ma­
terial behind, he may refuse to
swap into a hopeless endgame;
but since all the best squares for
his pieces have been covered, he
has to retreat his pieces to passive
positions in order to avoid a sim­
plification, and this often causes
his own position to deteriorate.
Centralisatio n
8
7 his last piece into the game.
b-files, but he can prevent Black's
knight from entering the fray.
This explains his next two moves,
which stop Black from playing his
knight to d5 and then to b4.
1 lLle2!
1 lLlc2 is met by 1 . . . .l:.b8 2 lLle3
.l:tba8.
l ...l:tb8 2 lLlc3!
Now White's knight commands
a strong defensive square as well
as stopping the black knight from
entering the attack.
2 .. .'ii'b4 3 Abel
It is important to use all of your
pieces. Gulko has now brought
3 . %1d6 4 'ii'c2
. .

White does not fall for the trap

5
4 'ii'xd6?? 'ii'xb2 mate, but is happy
4 to exchange rooks. 4 'ifc1 would
have been even better, allowing
3
the rook to defend along the sec­
2 ond rank. Black is already run­
ning out of ideas.
4. .l:ldb6 5 :e2 'ii'f4 6 h3
.

Gulko 's entire army is now de­

Gulko Kasparov
- fended.
Linares 1990
Here Gulko is two pawns up
against the World Champion, and
the endgame is an easy win if he
can swap queens and rooks. In
the meantime, however, K.asparov
has vague threats against White's
king. Gulko's first task is to posi­
tion his pieces so that Black can­
not generate a counterattack. He
can hardly stop Black from put­
ting his rooks on the open a- and
6 ....l:tc6
White would welcome 6 . . J:bb2 +
7 'ii'xb2 l:lxb2+ 8 l:lxb2, since his
king would now be perfectly safe
and he could advance his a-pawn
at leisure.
7 'ii'd2
Now that his position is solid,
Gulko aims to treble his pieces on
the d-file, which will enable him
to offer exchanges without aban­
doning the protection of his king.
Note tliat his pieces occupy the
 How To Win Won Positions 121

centre and are all protected; apart 19 rJi>b1 'ii'e 5 20 f4 'ii'e6 21 'ii'e2
from the technical merits of this Exchanges are unavoidable.
safety-first approach, it is quite 2 1 ...:xd4 22 l:xd4 'ii'b 6 23
demoralising for his struggling 'ili'd2
opponent to have no clear plan of Gulko keeps control of the posi­
attack. Note that 7 . . . 'ii'xd2 s :exd2 tion beautifully.
:xc3 9 l:td8 + :xd8 10 :xd8 + 23 ...'ili'a6 24 'ii'd 3 'iic6 25 a3
q;g7 1 1 bxc3 wins for White.
7 ... 'ii'f5 + 8 q;a1 :b7 9 'ii'h6
:c8 10 :ed2
The tables have turned and it is
now Black who is on the defen­
sive, having to constantly watch
his back rank.
10 ...'ii'a5 1 1 'it'e3 rJi>g7 12 g4
l:te8 13 'ii'd4 l:td7 14 'it'f2 .:tc7 15
l:td3 :aS 16 'ii'd2

a b c d e h

This useful move is safe now

that a pair of rooks have been ex­
changed. White has taken his last
consolidating measure and is now
ready for the final phase: advanc­
ing his pieces onto dominating
central squares (rook on d6 and
queen on d4), so that Kasparov
will lose quickly if he refuses to
exchange them.
l6 •.• h6 25 ... 'it'g2 26 :d6 .:tb8 27 'ii'e 2
1 6 . . l:txc3 1 7 bxc3 defends the
. 'it'h1 + 28 �a2 l:.e8 29 'iid3 :e1
" pnwn. 30 'ii'd4 1-0
17 l:td6 Kasparov still has his queen
( l u l ko is now ready to offer ex­ and rook, but they are lurking
t•hnngos on the d-file. uselessly in the comer. 30 . . . l:.a1 +
1 7 l:tc4 18 l:td4 :ac8
... 31 <iitb 3 'ii'b 7+ 32 l:tb6 'ii'e 7 33
I H l:tc7 19 l:.a4 would have been
. . . tl)d5! would have been embarrass­
.. t·tn l nul. ing for the World Champion .
122 Choose the Right Move
Returning extra material
Another way of consolidating a
position where the opponent has
some initiative is to return some
(or all of) the extra material in or­
der to seize the initiative.
Again we join the action after
Kasparov's aggression has back­
fired.
Kasparov - Karpov
World Championship,
Moscow (6) 1984
l. 'iPe7 ·
..
Karpov relinquishes his extra
pawn with the intention of emerg­
ing with a winning initiative.
2 i..xb5
After 2 J:.xe5 + �d6 3 J:.e8 �c7
White's pieces are badly placed to
stop the march of Black's b-pawn.
2 ... lilxb5 3 llxe5 + 'it>xd7 4
.lhb5 �c6 5 .l:.h5 h6 6 J:.e5 J:.a8!
This was the point of Karpov's
play: after the exchanges on b5,
he knew that his rook would stand
behind the passed pawn, where it
belongs (see also the chapter on
endgames) . Kasparov has to re­
treat his rook to a passive square
on the a-file and bring his king
over to the queenside in order to
stop the pawn promoting. Mean­
while, Black's king moves to the
kingside, where he will create a
second, decisive passed pawn.
7 J:.a5
White cannot afford the luxury
of 7 lle7?! a5 8 l:.xg7 a4, when the
a-pawn is unstoppable
7 �b6 8 J:.a2 a5 9 <iW1 a4 10
•.•
�e2 �c5 1 1 'iii>d2 a3 12 �c1 �d4
13 f4 �e4 14 'iPb1 J:.b8 + 15 <it>a1
J:.b2 16 lha3 lhh2
Material is still level, but Kar­
pov' s better placed king wins the
day.
1 7 'iii>b 1 J:.d2 18 lla6 �f5 19
J:.a7 g5 20 .l:r.a6 g4 21 :xb6
Kasparov had to capture this
pawn, otb.erwise it would press on:
21 l:ta3 h5 22 �c1 l:.d5 followed by
 How To Win Won Positions
23 . . . h4 24 gxh4 �xf4 and the ad­
vance of the g-pawn. Note the way
in which 22 . . . lld5 cuts White's
king from the kingside . Karpov is
now a pawn down(!), but he has it
all under control.
21 ••• l:r.g2 22 l:r.h5 + �e4 23 f5
:f21
Stopping the f-pawn in its tracks.
The king is the more appropriate
piece with which to capture on g3,
because it can then guide the g­
pawn through to its coronation.
24 �c1 �f3 25 �d1 �xg3 26
�e1 �g2 27 l:r.g5 g3 28 l:r.h5 l:r.f4
29 �e2 l:r.e4 + 30 �d3 �f3 31
l:r.h1 g2 32 l:r.h3+ �g4 33 llh8 :f4
34 �e2 :xf5 0-1
The position· after 35 llgB +
�h3 36 l:r.hB + �g3 37 l:r.g8 + �h2
38 l:r.hB + �gl is a well-known win
( the Lucena position - see the
chapter on endings).
'fhe following position resulted
f'rnm a Marshall Attack of the Ruy
123
Lopez (Spanish) . White appears
to be relatively unscathed, how­
ever Black does have some initia­
tive for the pawn. I decided that it
was best to return the pawn and
reach an advantageous endgame.
Unfortunately my powers of end­
game play are seriously inferior to
those of Karpov, so whether I
would be winning the resulting
endgame was not clear to me.
Having just spent twelve hours on
trains, ferries and buses to get to
Dublin, I thought the best option
was to play an endgame where I
held a significant advantage.
Duncan - Moynihan
Irish Open Zonal 1993
26 tl)f31
Sacrificing the f-pawn in order
to swap off my bad bishop and
transfer my knight to e5.
26 ... gxf4 27 .txf4 .txf4 28
lhe7 1Wxe7 29 gxf4 1fe3+ 30 1Wf2
'ii'xf4
124 Choose the Right Move
Black has managed to win back
his pawn, but now we see the rea­
son for 26 ttJf3. After . . .
31 ttJe5!
.. . Black cannot avoid swapping
queens. The resulting endgame is
very good for White, but can you
explain why?
1 . Black's pawn structure is in
ruins: he has four pawn islands.
Let me just explain why pawn is­
lands are bad. For every pawn is­
land you have there must be at
least one pawn not guarded by an­
other pawn. In this position Black
must use s piece to guard every
pawn weakness (except b5) ; and
this will prove impossible. On the
other hand White has a strong
pawn structure. After a3, b2 will
guard a3 and c3, while c3 in turn
guards d4.
2. A classic case of good knight
verses bad bishop. After a3 Black
will not be able to attack any of
the white pawns with his bishop;
and this bishop is hemmed in by
his own pawns, thus restricting
its scope. The white knight com­
mands a strong central outpost
from which he cannot be moved ­
as we see in the course of the rest
of the game when it returns to e5
a number of times.
3. White's king is better placed.
Black does have a passed f-pawn,
so White must remain vigilant,
but thankfully my king is already
blocking its path and as we shall
see, in fact the pawn becomes a
target.
3 1 . .. 11i'xf2 + 32 �xf2 �h7 33
ttJd3
Now I begin to probe Black's
weak queenside pawns .
33 ...f4
Black seeks active counterplay,
which was probably the best prac­
tical decision as it will be impossi­
ble to defend his weaknesses. At
least this way his bishop gets
some life.
34 ttJb4 ..te4 35 ltJxa6
It is not always a good idea to
send a centrally placed knight on
a mission to win an a-pawn. How­
ever, in this position I realised
that my king is excellently placed
on f2 to stop any attack and there
is really nothing that Black can
do. Having won my opponent's a­
pawn, I will be able to quickly cre­
ate a passed a-pawn of my own.
35 l:tg8 36 l:.gl
•••
An offer that Black cannot ac­
cept. Black must move his rook,
thereby �ng the g-file. The white
rook will then be strongly placed
 How To Win Won Positions 125

on the g-file, as it cuts off the
black king and is able to attack
the f-pawn from the side.
36 l:ta8 37 tLlb4 :f8 38 tLlc6
•••
your pieces are being continually
attacked or when some other im­
passe has been created.

Now my knight heads back to

u5.
38 1tf5 39 l:tg4 :th5 40 h4
•••

This snuffs out any activity

Black might have been hoping for.
40 l:tf5 41 tLle5
•••

Back at last!
4l :f8 42 tLld7
•••

Off we go again. This time the

knight will sit on c5, from where
it can guide the queenside pawns.
42 l:lf7 43 tLlc5 l:tf6 44 b31
•••

Now it is time to create a passed

n-pawn.
44 ... .i.bl 45 a3
I could have played 45 a4 im­
modiately, but I was enjoying my­
lllttlf too much.
45 ... .i.c2 46 a4 bxa4 47 bxa4
J1f7 48 a5 f3 49 l:tgl
This stops the black bishop from
l(uing to d1 and then e2.
49 ... .i.e4 50 ltlxe4
The time has now come. This
Pnding is straight-forward win be­
•'tHIHo Black still cannot use his
k i ng.
ISO ... dxe4 51 c4 :f4 52 a6 1-0
li2 l:txh4 53 �g3 l:h5 54 .:.a1
. . .
lll(l'i + 55 <t>f4 f2 56 a7 fl'ii' + 57
ll x fl l:ta5 58 r.itxe4 l:txa7 59 c5
winK for White.
'l'ho technique of returning ma­
h• rl n l in order to quash the oppo­
nttni.'H initiative, in order to regain
I I. lntur, is particularly useful when
J. Rogers - Romilly
Darlington 1995
White must find a way to dodge
the checks.
1 c;i;>e41
1 <t>e2 would not have helped
because the checks continue, e.g.
l . . .l:ta2 + 2 �d3 l:a3 + 3 r.itc2 (3
l:lc3 l:ta4) 3 . . . l:ta2 + 4 'ii;lb 3 l:th2 ! ,
when White's king i s i n n o fit
state to support the march of his
kingside pawns. He could main­
tain his extra pawn with 5 h5 (5
l:txa7 l:txh4 would easily draw for
Black after 6 l:g7 'ifilc5 7 <t>c3 'iii>d 5
8 <t>d3 lte5 9 'iii> e 3 l:h3 + 10 <t>f2
<it>f4), but 5 . . . l:th3 + 6 'iii>b 2 l:h4 7
lha7 (7 l:.g7 a5) 7 . . . :Xg4 8 h6 l:h4
9 h7 r.itc5 is a draw.
These variations clearly dem­
onstrate the dangers of failing to
consolidated one's position, and
126 Choose the Right Move
clinging to extra material at the
expense of poorly placed pieces.
Instead, in the game White sur­
renders his pawns on the fourth
rank. In return, his king becomes
active and consigns Black's king
to the edge of the board.
t. ..:.a4+ 2 �d5 .:.Xg4
. dating a position. In the next game
There was no choice since
White threatened 3 g5.
3 .l:lxa7 .:.xh4 4 .l:lb7 + �a6 5
l:bl
The win is now elementary be­
cause the black king is cut off
from the kingside and White's
king is poised to capture on f6.
5 �a5 6 'i#i>e6 l:th6 7 �f7 1-0
...
The endgame is a simple text­
book win. Black cannot stop 8 �g7
and 9 'i#i>xf6, after which White's f­
pawn is unstoppable. Here we
saw another benefit from consoli­
dating by the temporary sacrifice
of extra material: when the player
regained his investment, he had
also simplified the position. At
the beginning of the sequence
White had three pawns to two,
but by the end a simple 1-0.
How to keep control
So far we have looked at consoli­
we shall look at how to keep con­
trol. It is always tempting to snatch
extra material when it is offered.
You have probably heard the say­
ing 'there is no such thing as a
free lunch' - it applies in chess
too.
Tann - Duncan
Midlands Open
Championship 1996
In this position Black has a se­
rious advantage. Material is level;
so what do I mean by a serious ad­
vantage?
1. A secure king position. On the
other hand White's king is very
draughty, having to permanently
 How To Win Won Positions
•r· hiM queen around to guard
.. m•l mating threats.
I , A MLrong outpost for Black's
t::llht. IL is difficult to remove the
lllk k n i ght from f4, and even if
It hi ra moved it has plenty of other
ftiHI �tca u ares to head for, such as
.. .
II . An excellent pawn structure.
Whlt.a has an awful pawn struc­
Martt w h ich will lead to pawns be­
lftl picked off.
My opponent offered me the
IJJMtrLunity to take his e-pawn.
Wl1y d i dn ' t I take it? Is it poi­
•mad'l
Nu, i t is not poisoned, but the
III•ILiun becomes amazingly murky
tftMr 2H . . . 1Wxe5?! 29 l:r.d8 + �g7 30
.t4 ( now the queens come off and
th• l nMocurity of the white king is
"n lnntcor a factor; the white rook
11 lal't us the strongest piece on
lh• IJCmrd and will prove a menace
tu Uw black pawns) _30 . . . 1i'xd4 3 1
lad4 �o6 3 2 :d7 b 5 3 3 l:r.a7
• b c d e f g h
127
. . . leading to a position where
Black has definitely lost control.
Back to the main position. In­
stead I played . . .
28 b5
•••
This move gives my king the
extra square and at a later stage I
may play . . . h4-h3, adding to the
mating net already surrounding
White.
29 h4?
This is just another weakness
in White's position.
29 1Wxe5
•••
It is now safe to take the pawn
as White gains nothing from 30
.l:ld8 + �h7 31 1i'd4? 1i'e1 + 32 �h2
1Wxh4 + 33 �g1 1i'g3 + 34 �n
1i'g2 + 35 �e1 1We2 mate.
30 :el 1i'f6 31 :dl 11Vc6 32
<itb2
Once again tempting Black to
take a pawn. However, this time
the pawn is laced with cyanide:
32 . . .11Vxa4 33 :dB + �h7 34 :d4.
32 ...l006
Guarding the back rank, keep­
ing the knight on a central square
and allowing it to take part in
both aggressive and defensive
manoeuvres. The dark-squared
diagonal h2-b8 is also opened up,
allowing Black to throw in an an­
noying check at any time.
33 a5 11Vc7 + 34 �gl 1i'xa5
Having managed to pick off this
a-pawn, I should have no prob­
lems winning a rook against knight
and pawns endgame.
35 11Vb2 1i'c5 + 36 �h1 11Vc6
128 Choose the Right Move

Black remains in control, but

now with an extra pawn. White can
do nothing because of his weak
king position.
37 <iii> g2 'it>h7 38 .l:tc1 'ii'd7 39
.l:tb1 b5 40 .l:.a1 tLlf4 + 41 'it>g3
'fi'd6 42 'fi'a3
The end is swift and brutal now
that White has left the defence of
his king.
42 ... tLle2 + 43 'iii>f2 'fi'h2 + 44
'it>e3 'it'e5 + 45 � tLld4
White is completely helpless as
Black's queen and knight domi­
nate the centre of board. Lombardy - Fischer
46 'ft'a2 'fi'f4 47 'ii'd5 'fi'd2 + 0- 1 USA Championship 1961

Simplification l . l:txc3 + 2 bxc3 .l:.xe5 + a

..

'iii> d2 .l:txe1 4 <iii>xe1 'it>d5 5 �dJ

Assuming that you have consoli­ 'iii>c4 6 h5 b6 7 'iii> c2 g5 8 h6 f4 8
dated the position and have every­ g4 a5 10 bxa5 bxa5 1 1 �b2 a4
thing under control, the issue 12 'iii>a3 �xc3 13 �xa4 �d4 14
remains as to which pieces you 'iii>b4 'iii>e3 0-1
should seek to exchange. The cor­
rect choice is by no means always
self-evident.

The first point to make is that

you must be satisfied with the po­
sition which will arise after the
exchange. The classic case of a po­
sition which you might aim for, by
means of simplification, would be
a winning king and pawn end­
game.
Here Fischer simplified by re­
moving all the pieces on the board,
thus reaching a position which is
easily won on account of the out­
side passed a-pawn which can be J. Rogers - Duncan
created at will. Nottingham League 1991
 How To Win Won Positions 129

Wltl l.CJ hus just played 30 l:.d4, In our first game, Bent Larsen
...rh•M rook exchange in a bid
n is offered an opportunity to sim­
I ftt!U t rllliHo the black initiative. plify into a winning opposite-col­
• oured bishop endgame, but he
fltllltlion 5. 1 : Should this offer
· prefers to keep the rooks on the
.. lt!C1t1Jll.od? board.
l ....i. xf5
nnl,v rurely will you want to Larsen could have continued
IIM tt llfY i nto a rook and pawn or l . . Jlxf5 2 'iii>g3 l:.xf4 3 'iii>xf4, when
• •• l t. u - c o loured bishop ending, his three to one majority on the
• lh• ••, u re notoriously difficult queenside should secure victory.
..... ' """" to
convert. But what if There is however the danger that
er npponent tries to tempt you White will put his king on the
unn of these endgames. Ifyou queenside and blockade the pawns:
eYP t.hat with best play the then the game will be drawn be­
lfMtlnM IH winning for you, should cause Black's king will be unable
� •twt�pt the invitation? to make headway on the kingside
· N•Lu rully it depends on the cir­ - this is why so many opposite-col­
ltm•t•ncos; but the following oured bishop endgames are drawn .
.... numples suggest that the With correct play, Black's queen­
lftlwur is normally 'no'. If your side pawns should not become
fii i Liun is comfortably winning, blockaded, but it is instructive to
I ll ttCJtt.o r to be patient and await note that even a world-class grand­
M •••liur opportunity. master such as Larsen eschews
the difficulties, even though the
• b c d e g h game will take longer to convert
with rooks on the board.
I
Larsen: ' I don't agree with an­
, .& notators who say that I should
. ' have forced the exchange of rooks
. . . it wins, but if you make a cou­
•I ple of small mistakes it draws.
4 With rooks there are no draws. '
I
2 c 3 .i.e6 3 'iii> g3 l:.d5 4 .l:.e4
'1f.?d7 5 .i.e5 .:.d2 6 <iW4
' Given the chance, Black wanted
to play 6 . . . .i.d5 . Instead, Karpov
• b c d e g h
could have forced the rooks off
with 6 l:d4 + , but the circum­
Karpov - Larsen stances have changed. Larsen has
Tilburg 1980 improved the position of his king
130 Choose the Right Move
and bishop, so he can play 6 . . .lhd4
7 .i.xd4 a5.
6 llxg2 7 'iii> g5 llc2 8 hh5
•••
g3 9 .i.xg3 llxc3 10 .i.e5 l:.c4 1 1
lle3
Karpov can no longer entertain
the idea of exchanging rooks. He
could not stop three connected
passed pawns, even if his king
could reach the queenside in time.
He decides to place his hopes in
the passed h-pawn, but if the worst
comes to the worst, Larsen can al­
ways sacrifice his bishop for that
pawn (by placing it on the b1-h7
diagonal) and promote one of his
pawns on the queenside. Note that
Larsen has allowed himself some
margin for error with rooks on
the board.
l l ... .i.d5 12 lla3 'iii>e 6 13 .i.g3
'iW5 14 �h6
After 14 :Xa7 . . .
a b c d e f
a b c d e f g h
Karpov would have been
mated by 14 . . Jlc6, threatening
both 15 . . . .i.f7 + and 15 . . . i.f3 + .
14 a5•••
Larsen now methodically ad­
vances his pawns.
15 �g7 'iii> g4 16 ..WS a4 17 lle3
i.f3 18 .i.e1 l:cl 19 l:e7 �h3 20
i.d2 llc4 21 lle3 c;i;>g2 22 .i.e1
l:tc1 23 .i.d2 l:.d1 24 .i.c3 c5 25
l:te7 b5 26 .i.e5 a3 27 l:th7 b4 28
h5 b3 29 h6 b2 30 l:lg7+ � 31
i.g3 + 'ote3 0-1
We can now return to the ear­
lier game Duncan-Molyneux. With
the knowledge of Karpov-Larsen,
I figured that the best way to try
and defend my position was to
reach an opposite-coloured bishop
endgame.
8
7
6
5
4
Duncan - Molyneux
British Championship 1996
42 i.c3 �e8
Black has an extra pawn and a
dangerous kingside majority, but
here tries to win another pawn.
Although he succeeds, he pays a
price.
 How To Win Won Positions
43 d4 .ie6?!
ll would have been better to play
4:1 h5 ! , with the idea of continu­
. . .
lnw 44 .id3 or 44 . . . .ig4 and then
. . .
41\ g5 .
. . .
44 i.b4 llf7?!
'l'his gives Black the chance to
rt�Rch an opposite-coloured bishop
1111ding.
4 6 :x£7 r.f;xf7 46 d5
46 c5 would have severely lim­
l�ad th e power of my bishop, so I
docided to sacrifice a pawn to
l'tlllch a position I felt gave me ex­
liCII Iont drawing chances.
46 ... cxd5 47 cxd5 .ixd5 48
�18 15 49 a4 'ifilg6 50 a5 h5 51
A•7 �f5 52 .idS h4 + 53 �h3
&o4 54 .ic7 .ie2 55 'ifilh2 �g4
II .tds �h5
I t has suddenly become very dif­
ftcm l t for Black, who must leave
hhc king on the passive square h5
&.41 ho able to advance his kingside
INaWns.
57 �h3 .ifl + 58 rl;b2 .ib5 59
*112 .tc6+ 60 � g4 61 �e3
II
131
My king heads for f4 where it
will be able to help set up a dark­
squared blockade of the kingside
pawns.
61. g3 62 �f4 g2 63 .ib6 Y2-Y2
••
Mter 63 . . . h3 64 �g3 .id7 65
'ifilh2 Black cannot make progress.
This game illustrates just how
difficult it is to play for a win in
an opposite-coloured bishop end­
ing.
By contrast, here follows per­
haps the most infamous example
of a player hurrying to exchange
pieces and thus acquiring an un­
necessarily difficult rook ending.
The perpetrator of this (unchar­
acteristic) error was none other
than Bobby Fischer:
Botvinnik - Fischer
Varna Olympiad 1962
Fischer is a pawn up and has
control of the position to boot. Be­
lieving that a rook endgame would
132 Choose the Right Move
be winning, he hurried towards it
with . . .
l tLle4+ 2 iLxe4 lhe4
•••
But the ending is not straight­
forward. Mter some inaccuracies
the game was drawn. Indeed, Bot­
vinnik later claimed that the rook
ending was tenable, but whatever
the correct assessment, clearly
Fischer should not have played
into an endgame in which he had
so little room for error.
A useful rule of thumb is that
you should exchange pieces which
are about as strong as each other
in the overall context of the posi­
tion; but if you exchange a strong
piece for a less well placed one,
then you may compromise your
advantage to such an extent that
you are no longer winning. In this
example, Fischer's knight, on a
safe outpost near the centre, is far
more effective than White's bishop,
which has no outpost and no weak
black pawns to attack. In princi­
ple it was a mistake to exchange
these pieces.
In fact, in the diagram position
Fischer's pieces seem to have
reached their optimal positions
already. If this happens and yet
there is no good way in which to
exchange pieces, then it often pays
to look at the position from your
opponent's perspective, and to
consider what his next moves will
be. If he is apparently holding the
position in spite of a material defi­
cit, it may be that his pieces are
stretched to breaking point and
that he will be in Zugzwang if left
to his own devices. In this posi·
tion, Fischer should have noticed
that Botvinnik has no moves left:
a king move allows Black to play
. . . �h4 and then manoeuvre a
knight to attack the h3 pawn; 1
iLbl allows 1 . . .l:r.d l 2 iLc2 :cl;
and a rook move allows Black to
make progress with . . . .l:lc4 (for ex·
ample, 1 l:ta3 l:tc4 2 iLd l .l:.c3 + ! 3
.l:.xc3 ttlxc3 and the endgame with
minor pieces is an easy win as
White's pawns are so vulnerable),
So according to Botvinnik, a wait·
ing sequence such as 1 . . . .l:tb4 2 a3
l:r.d4 3 f3 a5 would have had a dev·
astating effect.
Wi nn ing the won endgame
When (or if) we manage to reach a
winning endgame, how should we
play the position? One thing that
we should not do is hope that the
position will play itself. By this I
mean playing moves with no pur­
pose and hoping our opponent will
make a mistake. Opponents are
far more likely to make a mistake
when you apply some pressure.
In the following position Black
should devise an active plan. What
would your plan be? If given the
chance what would you exchange?
Pawns, pieces or rooks?
You should advance the king­
side pawns and try and create
mating threats. The knight must
stay on the kingside or in a cen­
tral position. The rook is best
 How To Win Won Positions 133

Exchanging rooks: If anything

is to be exchanged, it should be
I the rooks. There is a general prin­
, ciple about endgames involving
knights against bishops and that
I
is: if there are pawns on both
• sides of the board and the position
• is open, then the bishop will be
stronger. However, if the position
•
is blocked or the pawns are only
• on one side, the knight is often
stronger. The reason for this is
that the bishop is able to move
•
and create threats on both sides
J. Richardson - Duncan of the board easily, whereas the
#flua· Nations Chess League 1994 knight takes time to move from
one side of the board to the other.
phu�ncl on the sixth or seventh In this position the knight vs .
Pll l k , where it can impede the bishop endgame will be hard for
w h l l.n king and also pressure the White to defend.
wh lt.u kingside pawns. It is no use 35 ...f5!
hlcllnJ{ the king behind the pawns. Starting the kingside push.
'rh., king is a powerful piece in 3 6 �g2 h4
&h11 cmdgame and so must be used If Black is allowed to get in
tu nld the attack! . . . h3 + then the back-rank conse­
l� xchanging pieces: If given the quences for White will be disas­
11hn nce you would definitely not trous, hence his next move.
"•c·hnnge off the minor pieces. 37 h3 l:td4
'l'h iH would reach a drawn rook A consolidating move, stopping
l Ull I puwn endgame - see the Bot­ White from pushing the black
¥ 1 n n i k-Fischer game. king back with .l:.b4 + .
I� xchanging pawns: The more 38 i..f7 tt:Je5
JIAWnH you exchange the harder it Centralising the knight.
w I l l he to win for two reasons. 39 i..e6 tt:Jd3
I 'fhe last thing you want is
. Eyeing up the f2 pawn, while
k i nK, rook, knight and pawn vs. when the black king moves from
k l r t K, rook and bishop, which is f4 the knight will land there.
c l t·nwn. 40 i.. f7 'it>g5
:l . The more pawns that White Guarding the g6 pawn and
11 11chunges, the less weaknesses he moving aside for the black knight.
w i l l have to defend. 41 I:tb3 tt:Jf4 + 42 �h2 .l:.d2
134 Choose the Right Move
White has an impossible task of
defending his weak pawns.
43 c;Pgt lbd3 44 l%b6
White will lose the f2 pawn, so
he goes on the counterattack.
44 ... lbxf2 45 .l:.xg6 + 'it>f4 46
.l:.b6 c;i{g3
We can see the whole plan com-
ing together beautifully.
4 7 l%b3 + lbd3
White is now in a mating net.
48 <;i(fi
Or 48 i.h5 f4 49 i.g4 f3.
48 ...c;i{h2
White must now either give up
the exchange or resign because of
the threat of . . . .:.f2 mate. I have to
say it gave me great pleasure to
force resignation with the move
48 . . . c;i{h2.
If you have an extra piece, do
not allow all your pawns to be ex­
changed.
The final point to be made
about simplifying material is that
your opponent may be seeking ex·
changes too - though not the same
ones as you. If you are a piece up
for a couple of pawns, your oppo·
nent may try to eliminate all your
remaining pawns, even if this in·
volves sacrificing his pawns. If he
succeeds, you will still have your
extra piece - but a king and bishop
(or knight) against king is a draw.
Some textbooks therefore ad­
vise that whenever you are a piece
ahead, you should exchange pieces,
but not pawns. There is some merit
in this philosophy, but some pawn
exchanges may be necessary to
give your extra piece some scope.
Thus, the best rule is that you
may exchange pawns too, pro·
vided that it improves your posi·
tion: but you must ensure that
you have at least one pawn which
cannot be captured or exchanged.
Kasparov - Short
PCA World Championship,
London (3) 1993
 How To Win Won Positions
W h i te has to break through
111mowhere in this position. Kas­
••ruv decided to exchange his c3
tt•w n for Black's pawn on b5, in
urclur to attack the pawn on c6.
'l'ht�ro is a problem though. After
U1l11 oxchange, he will only have
lh ruo pawns left and the two on
lhu kingside may be swapped if
llhack plays . . . f5 and . . . g5, fol­
ktwod by . . . h4.
I .tb3
Kusparov starts the technical
prucoss by offering an exchange of
plucos. Short naturally declines
•ncl tries to exchange pawns rather
llum pieces.
I . .. .td7 2 lDf3 'itf6 3 c4 bxc4
• .1xc4 i.e6 5 i.e2
KuHparov declines the exchange
or h i H ho ps for the moment, Since
h• c�un use both his bishop and
kn l.cht to attack Black's weak c­
pA W n .
IL . .tg4 6 i. d 1 g 6 7 i.a4 i.d7
I Q \t,l �e6 9 i.b3 + q;e7 10 lDd3
II I I lDb4 f5 12 i.a4 fxe4
II b C h 5. 1
II
11 b c d e f. g h
135
Now there are just two pawns
left. Kasparov would have analysed
the game to a finish to ensure
that one of his pawns survives.
13 i.xc6 i.xc6 14 lDxc6+ �e6
15 �e3
Short's fate is now clear - he
can win either White's c-pawn or
exchange off the g-pawn, but he
cannot manage both.
15 g5
..•
15 . . . q;d5 loses to 16 lDe7 + q;xc5
17 lDxg6 �d5 18 lDf8, when White
will capture all of Black's pawns,
while denying him access to the
g3 pawn. Short goes directly for
the g3 pawn instead.
16 he4 h4 17 gxh4
Here Short resigned, because
after 17 . . . gxh4 18 lDxe5 White's
knight returns to stop Black's h­
pawn: 18 . . . h3 19 lDf3 �d7 20 �d5
�c7 2 1 c6 �c8 22 'ii?d6 �dB 23
c7 + q;c8 24 lDh2 q;b7 25 q;d7 and
White queens.
Answers
Yes! Black is offered an oppor­
tunity to simplify the position to a
technically won king and pawn
endgame, just as in the Fischer
example. This is the type of criti­
cal position in a game which must
be judged accurately (see the
chapter on calculation).
30 ...lhd4! 31 exd4 e51 (D)
32 f4
If 32 dxe6 �xe6 33 �f4 �d5 34
ct>e3 q;c4 and Black picks up the
136 Choose the Right Move
a-pawn or 32 dxe5 + �xe5 and the
d-pawn drops off. Finally, if 32
�f3 exd4 33 �e4 d3 34 �xd3 �e5
35 �c4 b6 and Black wins.
8
7
3
2
White will eventually be in Zug­
zwang and will lose his d-pawn.
32 exd4 33 'iW3
•••
It looks as if White will be able
to play �e4 and then �xd4. But . . .
33 g5!
•••
This is a key move that haa to
be seen when deciding to exchanp
rooks.
34 fxg5 +
After 34 'it>e4 gxf4 35 �xd4 �fB
White will be left in Zugzwan1
again.
34 � e51
...
This move wraps up the game,
Black will simply take the dS
pawn and march his own d-pawn
through to coronation. Notice how
ineffective the white kingside paWD
majority is.
35 'it>e2 'it>xd5 36 �d3 b6 37
h4 �e5 38 h5 'it>d5 39 g4 'itte 5 40
h6 'itd5 0-1
White is in Zugzwang again. If
he moves his king backwards, the
black king will mop up the queen­
side pawns.
 8 Practical Play (C h ris Duncan)
A, Ttme trouble
l l n r ry : ' I lost on time in a win­
ttiiiM J H IHition.'
C �uorge: 'Why do you always get
lnlu li mo trouble?'
A vt� ry good question. We have
•Il iuM I. on time and sworn blindly
Ut�al. wo will never do it again.
Ancl of course, although we rarely
•••h ut l ly lose on time, numerous
I•"'"" are thrown away in time
&�111 h lo . Time management - a
by 11xpression in the nineties - is
Ill I mportant concept. In this sec­
Uun we shall investigate how to
\llllt o u r time wisely, but first of all
I•L us try and eradicate time
lrcnablo from our repertoire.
Why do we get into time trouble?
'l'hiH question can be broken down
lnl.o four reasons:
I . We spend time needlessly on
ll'l'l'lt•vant decisions
I I. is very easy to fritter away
l i 111o on straight-forward deci­
•lnnH. We can all identify with the
fo l l o wing scenarios : You know
w hnt your next two moves are go­
h • .c t o be, but you spend time de­
l ' i c l i ng on which order to play them
ln. Worse still is when players
-. pcmd time analysing positions
when they clearly only have one
move. How many times have we
wondered whether to put our
queen's rook or our king's rook on
the d-file, only to find that the
rooks are soon exchanged and the
decision was irrelevant?
The perfectionist will always
argue that one move will be
stronger than the other, but that
is exactly what we are trying to
get away from in this chapter.
Perfectionism can seriously
harm your chess results.
Hennigan - Duncan
Budapest 1 992
2 l .lbc3
..
I reached this position with 15
minutes left on my clock. Con­
vinced that it was won, I won­
dered what move my opponent
138 Choose the Right Move
would play. With less than two
minutes left on his clock Michael
played . . .
22 �b3
Not 22 .l:.xc3 bxc3 + and Black
wins.
22 .l:.b8
•••
I spent 10 precious minutes on
this move, trying to found an out­
right win. As it happens any of
three checks(!) would win this po­
sition, but in my quest for perfec­
tion over half my remaining time
disappeared. The winning moves
were 22 . . .'ii'a4 + 23 'iii> c4 b3 + 24
c;txc3 'ii'xg4; 22 . . . 'ii'a2 + 23 �xb4
'ii'a4 + 24 c;txc3 'ii'xg4; and finally
22 . . . 'ii'a 3 + 23 c;tc4 'ii'a2 + 24 �xb4
'ii'a4 + with the same position
arising after 22 . . . 'i¥a2 + .
2 3 .tb6!
What a fighter. This was the
only move, allowing the white king
a flight square on e3! 23 c;tc4?
would have allowed the pretty fin­
ish 23 . . . 'ii'a2 + 24 c;td4 'ii'd5 mate.
23 tlxb6?
•••
Conscious of the amount of time
I had spent over the last move, I
quickly checked that I wouldn't
get mated on the back rank and
then took the bishop. 23 . . . 'ii'a4 +
would have won the queen: 24
'iii>c4 b3 + 25 �xc3 'i¥xg4.
24 'it'c8 + .tf8 25 'iii>c4
The only way to avoid . . . 'ii'a2
mate. All of a sudden with only a
few minutes left on the clock I
have 101 different options avail­
able - there must be a mate ! ! I de­
cided to cut off the d4 square to
the king by playing . . .
25 ••• dxe5
25 . . . 'ii'b 5 + was also winning,
but I started seeing ghosts at this
point in the game. Imagine that
the white pawn was on h6 instead
on h5 . White could then play 26
'ii'xfS + �xfS 27 l:ldS mate.
26 J:td8
Suddenly White has threats of
his own. At this point I will be the
first to admit that it took me too
long to spot how to win the white
queen. The point is that as you
get shorter and shorter of time,
you can never produce your best
chess.
26 'ii'b 5+ 27 �b3 'i¥a4 + 28
•••
'iii>c4 :tc6 +
Now I have finally won the white
queen, but at what price? My flag
was now hanging.
29 'ii'xc6 'ii'xc6 + 30 hb4
'ii'b6+ ?
O r 3 0 . . . tLld5 + 3 1 l:xd5 e6 + 3 2
c;tb3- 'ii'xd5 + and wins.
 Practical Play
a b c d e g h players there is always a feeling
8
a b c d e g h
31 'ili>xc3 'ii'xd8 32 .tc4 .tg7
33 lbg5 'iVd4 + 34 �b3 1Wb6 + 35
� 'ii'a5 + 36 'ili>b1 'iVM+ 37 .tb3
e6 38 hxg6 fxg6 39 lbxe6 1-0
With the game 'won', unfortu­
nately my flag fell as I made my
39th move. What a disaster, being
a perfectionist cost me dearly.
The players who win tourna­
ments regularly (such as the Eng­
lish grandmasters Adams and
Hebden) are experts at making
practical decisions; it is no coinci­
dence that you will rarely find
either of these two players in time
trouble.
2. We lack the courage of our
convictions
Okay, so you 're playing against
a strong player, it's not surprising
that you feel intimidated. Does
this mean that you have to double
check every move you make?
This is a fairly typical scenario.
When we are playing stronger
139
inside that we have missed some­
thing in the position. This type of
self-doubt can only be harmful. It
is very tempting to believe that a
stronger opponent will beat you
as soon as you make a slip. You
tend to check every move very
carefully, in fact too carefully be­
cause normally you will get into
time trouble. Of course it is wise
to respect a strong opponent, but
don't let it interfere with your
normal calculation process.
When you believe that you have
found the correct course of action,
don't dither wondering whether
you have missed something. Un­
fortunately I did just that in the
following example.
Sadler - Duncan
British Championship 1996
(The total times taken are given
after each move.)
1 d4 0 d6 0
2 e4 0 lbf6 0
3 lbc3 1 lbbd7 1
4 g3 3 e5 4
5 lbge2 6 exd4 8
6 lbxd4 8 g6 9
My preparation had gone well;
this wasn't one of Matthew's fa­
vourite lines.
7 .tg2 8 .tg7 9
8 0-0 8 0-0 10
9 .l:.e1 1 0 lle8 12
10 h3 12 lbc5 25
As I was unfamiliar with this
known theoretical position and
140 Choose the Right Move
scared of making a mistake, I
thought for thirteen minutes.
l l ltlb3 1 5 ltle6 40
A TN (theoretical novelty) but,
as you can see from the clock times,
not one that I had prepared ear­
lier.
a b c d e h
12 J.e3 20 h6 50
Here I started to worry about
f4-f5. Worrying never helps; it only
costs you valuable clock time.
13 1Wd2 23 �h7 53
14 a4 27 a6 62
The idea of this move is that I
can now play 15 . . . ltlg5 and after
16 J.xg5 hxg5 1 7 1Wxg5 i.. h 6 the
queen cannot come to b5 and then
e2. The only square left for the
queen is a5 , and this will give me
some play for the pawn.
15 ltla5? 30
I couldn't believe it. Now that
the a5 square has been occupied I
can win his queen if he takes on g5
( 1 5 . . . ltlg5 16 i.xg5 hxg5 17 'ii'xg5
J.h6! 18 jfh4 g5) .
1 5 ... ltlg51 88
A strong move. White must ex­
change his dark-squared bishop,
which allows my bishop domina­
tion of the dark squares. I saw this
move instantly and against most
opponents I would have played it
in less than five minutes, but
against Matthew I was convinced
that I must have missed some­
thing. It took me 26 minutes to
play this move; carefully checking
all the variations over and over
again.
16 i..xg5 40 hxg5 89
17 l:tad1 43
Mter the game Matthew admit­
ted that he had simply missed
15 . . . ltlg5, so all that worrying was
for nothing.
17 ... ltld7 96
Countering the threat of 18 e5.
18 ltlc4 47 ltle5 99
19 lbxe5 50 i.xe5 99
20 ltle2 55 J.e6 1 02
I had now reached a very com­
fortable position on the board, but
 Practical Play 141

n disastrous situation on the clock 32 l:.dd2 92 l:t.ce5 118

20 moves in 20 minutes. Now I 33 l:td3 95 1:tc5 118
wus going to pay the price for 34 'ii'h2 97 a5 118
cloubting my earlier play. 20 . . . 'iti>g7, 35 c4 99 b6 118
w i th the idea of . . . l:th8, would 36 l:.d5 1 02 1:te5 1 19
huve been better. 37 'ii'd2 1 04 'ii'e8 119
21 b3 59 38 'ii'd3 105 'ike7 119
39 l:.e2 1 05 f5 1 1 9
40 � 1 1 0 fxe4
Here I lost on time while press­
ing my clock, but White can play
41 :Xe4 l:tcxd5 42 cxd5.

I'm not sure whether the result

of this game would have been dif­
ferent if I had utilised my time
better, but I certainly could have
given a better account of myself.
Having seen these first two
games, you are probably thinking
that I always lose on time. Fortu­
nately this is not true: they both
Only now did it hit me how stick out in my memory for all the
Hhort of time I had become. I de­ wrong reasons.
cided to play quickly and, of course,
Htraight away I blundered. 3. We find ourselves in unfamil­
2 1 ... 'ii'd7?? 103 iar territory
Simply throwing away my im­ It is much easier to run short of
portant g5 pawn. time when you are unaccustomed
22 'ii'xg5 64 'ito>g7 1 06 to the opening that arises in the
Not 22 . . . i.xh3 23 'ii' h4 + 'iti>g7 game. The phrase 'I was move-or­
24 'ii'xh3. dered, ' springs to mind: this is
23 h4 67 i.g4 1 08 when your opponent employs a
24 f3 71 i.h3 109 clever move order and gets you
25 tD£4 74 i.xg2 1 1 0 into a position that you were not
26 �xg2 74 i.xf4 1 1 0 intending to play. An example of
27 'ii'xf4 75 'ii'c6 1 12 this is would be:
28 'ii'd2 79 1:te5 1 1 3 1 lLlc3 d5 2 d4
29 l:te2 81 .l:.ae8 114 Your opponent started with the
30 ..d4 85 �g8 1 1 6 unusual move 1 lLlc3 and, although
3 1 :t2 90 l:.c5 1 1 7 you are normally a King's Indian
142 Choose the Right Move
player, you decided to follow the
principles of chess and place a
pawn in the centre. Your oppo­
nent then returned to normality
with the move d4, and all of a sud­
den you are in a Veresov Opening.
This opening is not bad for Black,
but it has taken you out of your
normal opening lines.
If you fmd yourself in a position
you are unfamiliar with, it will
often mean that you will fall be­
hind on the clock as you try to
fathom all the possibilities over
the board. Whereas if you are con­
fident that you understand a posi­
tion you will be able to play the
position better as well as faster.
Preparation can be very important
in this respect. If you can reach a
position you have prepared at
home, the results can be fantastic.
A few years ago I found an un­
usual move in the main line of the
Closed Sicilian. It was not really a
novelty, I think it was first played
in 196 1, but then disappeared un­
til 1986. I stumbled onto it in
1990 and achieved excellent re­
sults -. six wins, two draws and no
losses. It slowly became very
popular until about 1993, when
black players decided to take it se­
riously. So what was this move?
1 e4 c5 2 �c3 �c6 3 g3 g6 4
.ig2 .ig7 5 d3 d6 6 f4 e6 7 �f3
�ge7 8 0-0 0-0 9 .ie3 �4 10 e5!
The beauty of this move is that
it initiates a very complicated po­
sition with many possibilities that
need to be considered. I found that
all my opponents knew little or
nothing about this position, and
would usually lapse into deep
thought at this point. There are
several moves that Black can play,
for example 10 . . . �ef5; 10 . . . 'i\Vb6;
10 . . lDec6; 10 . . . trucf3; or 10 . . . . dxe5.
.
The most common move played
against me was 10 . . . �ef5, allow­
ing me to instantly reply 1 1 .if2.
My opponents would then go into
another long think and come up
with either: l l . . . �xf3; 1 l . . . .id7;
1 1 . . .l:lb8; l l . . . dxe5 or ll . . . d5 .
Little did they know that I had
prepared all of these lines at
home, although some did become
rather suspicious of the speed at
which I was able to play. I have to
admit that I rarely came out of
the opening with a winning ad­
vantage, but almost without ex­
ception I would be an hour up on
the clock!
The moral of this story is that a
little home preparation can save a
lot of time at the board.
 Practical Play
4. We allocate our time incor­
rectly
In a tournament game you often
have a time limit of 40 moves in
two hours, and it is sometimes
very difficult to decide how to ap­
portion this time. Here I shall of­
fer some basic guidelines.
After you have reached the end
of your opening knowledge, you
may have a further 30 moves to
play in an hour and 55 minutes.
This is almost four minutes a
move, but I like to think of it as
three minutes a move plus a re­
serve.
At this point you need to make
some estimations about the ensu­
ing position. Is it likely to be a tac­
tical melee and end in 25 moves
or is it likely to be a deep posi­
tional manoeuvring game? If the
answer to this question is the lat­
ter then you should keep a close
watch on the clock and make sure
that you do not fall into the trap
of spending too much time on ir­
relevant decisions; after all, there
is a good chance that the game
will be resolved by a mistake in
time trouble. If the opening has
suggested a tactical, open battle
then make sure that you spend
enough time on the clock, so as
not to miss any tricks.
My two guiding principles are:
A. Make sure that you are
ahead on the clock. This is not al­
ways possible, but if you can man­
age to get ahead on the clock, it
will be your opponent who will
143
come under pressure during time
trouble. If you do fall behind, make
sure you never fall too far behind,
as this often decides the game. In
a difficult position it is easy to
drift into time trouble, only to
find your opponent making a mess
of the position. Then you find
your clock situation does not give
you the opportunity to take ad­
vantage of his mistakes.
B. There are no rules regarding
the amount of time you should
spend on a particular move. It
would be impossible for me to sit
here and say 'rigidly stick to three
minutes per move. ' It depends on
the situation and how compli­
cated your choice of move is (see
the chapter on calculation) . An
exception to this arises when you
have already been thinking about
a move for a lengthy period of
time. You are unlikely to change
your mind about a move after half
an hour's thought, so you should
go ahead and make your move.
How to avoid time trouble
Having seen the main reasons
why we get into time trouble, let
us look at the four main ways in
which we can avoid it.
1. Make a plan
The Russian chess trainer Al­
exander Kotov suggested that we
should analyse concrete calcula­
tions in our own time and look at
plans during our opponent's time.
144 Choose the Right Move
This is a certainly a good idea as it
can save a lot of unnecessary time
wasting. Establishing a plan of
action will go some way towards
countering the first reason for us
getting into time trouble - spend­
ing time needlessly on irrelevant
decisions.
2. Calculate accurately and
swiftly
One of the main reasons for
getting into time trouble is that
you check and re-check your analy­
sis . If you can ensure that your
calculations are accurate, there
should be no need to go back and
check them. (The chapter on cal­
culation explains how to make
maximum use of the calculations
that you make.)
3. Prepare beforehand
Home preparation in one form
or another is a vital part of gain­
ing time on the clock. There are
different types of preparation that
you can undertake. I recommend
that you decide on the amount of
time you can spend on chess with
regard · to preparation and then
decide on a course of action.
If you do not have much time I
suggest that you play systems
that you can get to know well and
thus become familiar with the
set-ups involved. The more time
you have, the more time you can
spend looking at critical positions
and lines where knowing the lat­
est theory is all important.
4. Use the opponent 's time
Use your opponent's time wisely.
Consider the move he is likely to
play and try to work out what is
happening in the resulting posi­
tions. You should also use this
time to think about your various
plans and manoeuvres.
It is always very inviting to get
up from your game and chat to
your friends and colleagues dur­
ing your opponent's thinking time.
Avoid this temptation, as it is a
good recipe for time trouble. An
occasional breath of fresh air and
physical movement are good to
keep your head clear and mind fo­
cused, but note the use of the
word occasional.
Never think about what you
could have done with your pre­
vious moves - torturing yourself
like this is only detrimental to
your play. It is easy to think about
past moves, but, unless they have
any direct influence on the future
of the game, forget about them
until the post-mortem.
Taking advantage of your
opponent's time trouble
At the start of the game it is diffi­
cult to know whether your oppo­
nent will get into time trouble,
but if he starts drifting towards it
why not help him along the way?
After all, if your opponent wants
to hang himself, then why not
provide the rope. Consider the fol­
lowing ideas:
 Practical Play
1. Steer the game towards posi­
tions with many choices
The easiest positions to play
are forcing positions; as soon as
your opponent finds the forcing
continuation he will play it. You
should therefore try to find tense
positions with lots of alternatives
to think about, as your opponent's
time will soon disappear in need­
less calculations . It is very time­
consuming to consider a number
of moves in a tense situation.
I like to remember the quote
from Nimzowitsch: ' The threat is
stronger than its execution. ' I
find this particularly true in time
trouble. Many players fall apart
when they perceive a strong threat
about to land. They try some pre­
ventative course of action which
leaves them in even deeper trouble.
than before.
2. Play non-committal moves
I decided to conduct a survey of
time trouble addicts and asked
them what they thought about
during their time trouble - the
unreserved answer was tactics.
They spend all the available time
analysing tactics. Assuming your
opponent is similar to the norm, it
would be pointless playing for tac­
tical tricks if your opponent is
spending his whole time looking
at them. If you do play for cheapos,
the likelihood is that your oppo­
nent will fight his way out of a
corner and leave you wondering
why you placed your pieces on
145
such strange squares. The best
approach is to play non-committal
moves which have some posi­
tional finesse behind them.
In the following position my
opponent was already becoming
short of time, and although Black
is in a better position he is by no
means winning. I decided this was
the ideal time to put into practice
my time trouble principles.
A. Edwards - Duncan
Leicester Championship 1 996
26 'ii'e2 e4!
At this point in the proceed­
ings, it is time to reveal the law
which lets time trouble addicts off
the hook more than anything else.
It is known as the 'hope' law, not
after Bob Hope, but after all the
players who hope their opponent
will make a mistake in time
trouble.
Don't play a move just in the
hope that your opponent will miss
146 Choose the Right Move
the correct defence. It is far better
to make the 'best' moves and wait
for your opponent to surprise you
with weaker continuations.
How to avoid the 'hope ' law ­
admitting you were wrong: Your
first instinct may be to catch your
opponent out with a clever tacti­
cal trick, but ask yourself a ques­
tion. If someone had played that
move against you, what would you
do?
For example, in my game it
would have been very tempting to
play for tricks with the move
26 . . .'ii'g7, but, to be honest, a trick
is all it is. Don't get me wrong, it
was the first idea I had in this po­
sition (and I'm sure it was the
first move my opponent consid­
ered) . It looks like a clever idea, so
I checked it out. As soon as I real­
ised that White had a good de­
fence, I disregarded the move.
This is one of the hardest parts of
chess, to admit that your first in­
stincts were wrong. After 27 f4!
(not 27 .l%xd6?? - this is what those
who follow the hope law would be
hoping for - 27 . . . l:.xg2 + 28 �h 1
.l%g1 + 29 · �h2 'ii'g2 + 30 tbxg2
l:[8xg2 mate) Black must do some­
thing about his bishop on d6 :
2 7 . . . i.c5 + 28 'iii> h 1 e4, when al­
though Black is still better, White
has played two forced moves and
now has a clear plan of trying to
blockade the dark squares.
27 �h1
There were so many moves to
consider that my opponent ate up
even more of his time at this
point.
27 ...'ii'c5
Although 2 7 . . . 'ii'g 7 still looks
attractive, this time it is tactically
flawed. After 28 .:xd6 .l%xg2 there
is only one move to save White,
but one move is all it takes: 29
l:[d8 + ! :xd8 30 tbxg2 and wins.
2 7 . . . 'ii'c5 maintains the pressure,
while attempting to play . . . Yi'e5
which will force g3, a concession
White can ill afford to make.
28 'ii'd2
Okay, so he spotted my inten­
tions, time for a non-committal
retreat.
28 ...i.c7 29 'ii'd4
Wise guy, huh, wants to get the
queens offi One of the key ideas if
your are in time trouble is to sim­
plify the position.
29 .. .'ii'c6 !
It is always a good idea to put
your queen on the same diagonal
as the opponent's king. In this po­
sition White's g2 square is becom­
ing a prime target for my forces.
White now has to meet two threats,
30 . . . e3 and 30 . . . .l%d8 .
30 "ii'd2 'ii'b5
Having probed White's soft
spots with my queen, I will now
be able to reach the key square
e5.
31 l:lg1
A difficult choice after which
White has very little time left. He
also had to think about 31 �gl
'ii'e5 32 f4 exf3 33 tbx£3 (or 33 :xf3
'ii' h 2 + 34 �fl i.g3, threatening
 Practical Play
to remove the defensive knight,
ufter which White's position will
fall apart like a house of cards)
33 . . . l:xg2 + 34 'ii'xg2 .l:xg2 + 35
�xg2 'ii'g3 + 36 �h 1 'ii'xh3 + 37
�g1 �b6 + winning; and 3 1 �g1
..,e5 32 g3 l:xg3 + 33 fxg3 'iixg3 +
34 'ii'g2 'ii'h 2 + winning.
3l 'ii'e 5
•••
Finally the queen has made it!
32 g3 f4
Black's forces will now smash
through, with devastating conse­
quences.
33 'ii'e 2 fxg3 34 fxg3 l:txg3 35
l:xg3 :Xg3 36 1i'b2 �c8
I wanted to play 37 . . . iif5 with­
out allowing the riposte 38 l:td8 +
i.xd8 39 'ii'xg3.
37 'ii'd2 lhh3 + 38 �gl �b6+
Here my opponent decided to
call it a day. Did you notice that I
didn't allow my opponent any
opportunities to simplify or com­
plicate the game, I just kept the
position nice and tense.
147
3. Make a tactical draw offer
If you are in a worse position or
don't mind a draw, then try punt­
ing the draw offer. I have found
that the best time to offer a draw
is when your opponent has about
ten minutes left on the clock.
There can be a double effect of of­
fering a draw. First, the opponent
may not have enough confidence
to play out the win and so accept
the draw, and second, he may use
up a large amount of time consid­
ering the draw offer, then play on.
Not only will this cost him valu­
able time, but in the back of his
mind he will be thinking about
taking greater risks to justify the
fact that he has just declined a
draw.
A good example of the first of
these scenarios is the following
position, where Black's king is se­
riously exposed:
Cole - Duncan
British Championship 1 996
148 Choose the Right Move
I managed to misplay this game,
having earlier held a big advan­
tage. My position had gradually
gone downhill, thanks to my oppo­
nent's instinctive attacking play,
and I am now in big trouble. What
should I do?
27 ... lhc4
Coupled with a draw offer!
Thankfully my opponent took the
draw because he was short of
time. If he had played on I'm sure
that he would have found 28
ttlf6 + �f7 29 'ii' h3 ! (or 29 'ii'f3),
when White' s threats against the
black king are too hot to handle.
Taking advantage of serious time
trouble
But what happens when there are
just a few minutes left for your
opponent to complete his moves?
If you are winning, just play
your natural game and enjoy
making your opponent suffer. You
may employ the type of tactics
that were discussed in the last
section, but never employ the
type of tactics that we are about
to discuss�
When you feel the game is be­
coming desperate try these tac­
tics, but don't expect them always
to work.
1. Don 't play the obvious move
If your opponent only has a
small amount of time left and you
consider your position lost, then
why not try to confuse him.
8
7
6
5
3
2
Hill arp Persson - Liss
Copenhagen 1996
Black had just played 39 . . . l:.c8,
with the intention of queening
the c-pawn. His flag was hanging,
so he was working out his re­
sponse to 40 �c2, stopping the c­
pawn from queening ( 40 . . .b5 is the
obvious choice) . However, White
played . . .
40 �d4?!
The question mark is for a very
dodgy move. The exclamation
mark is for the choice of move
given the situation. White knew
that this move would throw his op­
ponent. Black must have thought,
'What is this? Am I getting
mated? ' And as he thought about
it, his flag fell!
2. Blitz your opponent
This is a technique whereby
you allow yourself to get very low
on time as well, in an attempt to
randomise the position. The laws
 Practical Play
of chess say that you must record
your moves until you have five
minutes on the clock. Some play­
ers (although I would never ap­
prove this!?!) deliberately allow
their clock time to fall below five
minutes and then start blitzing
out their moves, the effect of
which is that it is difficult to know
when the time control has been
reached. Indeed I have often seen
games where the time control has
been at move 40 and the players
were still bashing moves out at
move 45 and beyond.
3. Let your opponent stew
When you have plenty of time,
don't speed up your play. Take
your time, but move at regular in­
tervals. The idea of this technique
is to give yourself plenty of time
to spot any mistakes that your op­
ponent makes, while allowing his
nerves to affect him as much as
possible.
4. Use the barrage technique
This is a highly acclaimed
method that was brought to pub­
lic attention in the book Chess for
Tigers by Simon Webb: 'This tech­
nique consists of playing several
moves at once! Well, actually you
have to let your opponent play
moves in between, but the idea is
that you play two or three moves
instantaneously. '
The idea behind this cunning
technique is not to allow your op­
ponent thinking time; hopefully
149
he will panic and blunder. First of
all you must plan your barrage -
consider a number of moves and
their responses. You decide which
variation you are going to play,
having checked all the sub-vari­
ations, and then bash it out, giv­
ing your opponent no time to
work out his responses. For exam­
ple, if you are about to exchange
some pieces, consider what your
move will be after his obvious re­
capture and play both moves in­
stantaneously. However, if your
opponent deviates from your main
variation, then you must stop to
consider the consequences.
What to do if you a re in time
trouble yourself
This is the part of the game where
your instincts take over and you
have to fight for survival. If you
have ignored all the advice al­
ready given about avoiding time
trouble, then please, please make
sure you take note of the advice
below; it might be your last chance!
1 . Remain calm
Do not let your lack of time in­
fluence your thought process. Of
course you will have to restrict
your analysis to take into account
your lack of time, but make sure
you calculate any tactical melee.
One good way to practise time
trouble is to play five-minute chess
with your friends, where you have
five minutes each on the clock to
150 Choose the Right Move

complete all your moves. The best Check all the tactics because the
five-minute chess players are those last thing you want to do is blun­
who can calculate accurately and der. Ifyou need to look at the clock,
quickly, and some of the best time do so during your opponent's time,
trouble players are also very good not your own!
at five-minute chess - as much
through practice as anything else. 4. Simplify the position
When I was young, I grew up If you get the chance, simplify­
playing five-minute chess with ing the position will reduce the
players like Michael Hennigan, number of variations and moves
Aaron Summerscale, Gary Quil­ that you need to consider. Some­
lan, Ali Mortazavi and Ilya Gure­ times sacrificing some material in
vich, and it is no coincidence that time trouble to give yourself the
they are all time trouble experts. initiative makes life easier. In the
position below I held a positional
2. Control your nerves advantage, but in time trouble it
We all have different ways of is often the player who holds the
dealing with our nerves; try to see initiative or attack who emerges
which method best suits yourself. on top.
Some players find drinking water
or coffee calms them down, others
like to go for a walk, while others
manage to block the whole world
out and just concentrate on the
game. Some rock in their chair,
while others (like me! ) just seem
to shake.
Of course, many psychology
books have been written about con­
trolling one's nerves, normally
under th� heading of stress man­
agement because that is exactly
what it is. The main advice that is
common to all is to eat and sleep
well, along with doing some physi­ Hammond - Duncan
cal exercise to keep fit. Thames Valley League 1996

3. Use your opponent's time 23 ....ixa4?l

sensibly The best practical move would
Try to guess your opponent's have been 23 . . . :Xd3! 24 �xd3 �e4
next move; tune into his thinking. 25 'ii'g4 f5 26 'it'h5 .ixa4 27 �e5. I
 Practical Play
could have removed his best piece,
l(uined control over e4, hemmed
h is pieces in and won his weak
11ueenside pawns at leisure. The
main advantage of this move,
however, is that in mutual time
trouble I would have held the in­
itiative and snuffed out his king­
Hide attack before it had even
Htarted. As it is, after 23 . . . i.xa4?!
White gets massive kingside com­
pensation.
24 e4 lhc3 25 e5 tl:Jd5
25 . . Jidxd3 26 exf6 1:r.xg3 27
fxe7 J::r.gd3 28 tl:Jxd3 ltxd3 29 l:r.d1
is better for White.
26 tl:Je4?
Here my opponent missed the
best continuation, 26 f5. Mter
plenty of fun in the time scram­
ble, the game ended in a draw.
B. Style
Everyone has their own style; some
players prefer complications and
15 1
others positional manoeuvres . In
this section we deal with the prac­
tical question: Under what cir­
cumstances should you consider
adopting a different style of play?
The three most common situ­
ations are:
1. In critical situations
2. Against stronger or weaker
opposition
3. To play on your opponent's
weaknesses
1 . Critical situations
Let us take a look at the frrst sce­
nario. You are in second place in
the local club championship - half
a point behind the leader. The fi­
nal round sees you up against the
leader. A draw is not enough, how
should you play the game?
Before we answer this ques­
tion, let us see how Karpov and
Kasparov would handle it. The
scenario in the next example is
virtually the same! Karpov needed
to win to retain his World Cham­
pionship, Kasparov only needed a
draw.
The hallmark ofKarpov's games
is fluency and control; he has the
reputation of being a near perfec­
tionist. Karpov's killer instinct is
never expressed by an overt show
of over-aggression, but by a ma­
chine-like persistence, wearing
down the most stubborn of oppo­
nent's. Kasparov on the other hand
loves double-edged positions, and
he is often prepared to sacrifice
152 Choose the Right Move
material to gain the initiative. It
is interesting to see how a critical
situation affected their normal
styles of play.
Karpov - Kasparov
World Championship,
Moscow (32) 1 985
As expected, Karpov opens with
1 e4, the most aggressive move.
Kasparov replies with the Sicilian.
1 e4 c5 2 tDf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4
tDxd4 tDf6 5 tDc3 a6 6 .te2 e6 7
0-0 J.e7 8 f4 0-0 9 �h 1 'ii'c 7 10
a4 tDc6 11 .tea l:.e8 12 J.f3 l:.b8
13 'ii'd2 J.d7 14 tDb3 b6 15 g4?
The question mark given is not
for the move itself, but for the
choice of move played by Karpov.
As we have already seen, this is
not Karpov's normal style. Un­
doubtedly the match situation in­
fluenced his choice of move.
Earlier in the match Karpov
had chosen the quieter 15 J.f2, a
move befitting his style. Here, for
the first time in any of their
matches, Karpov started a direct
onslaught on the king from the
opening.
15 ... J.c8 16 g5
'In for a penny, in for a pound. '
16 tDd7 17 'ii'f2 J.f8
•••
Kasparov is at home in these
type of positions; ready to strike
out with his usual counter attack
at any moment.
18 .tg2 .tb7
Kasparov completes his devel­
opment, relying on the flexibility
and soundness of his position. His
knowledge of the various nuances
in this type of position is second
to none.
19 l:.ad1 g6 20 J.c1
With the idea of l:.d3-h3.
20 l:.bc8 21 l:d3 tDb4 22 l:h3
•••
Karpov continues his blistering
attack.
22 J.g7
•••
22 . . .f5 may have been stronger.
 Practical Play
23 ..ie3?!
Kurpov adopts his normal tac­
l. h�H of strengthening his position,
ltu t this is not a normal Karpov
l.ype of position. Undoubtedly a
p l nyer such as Tal or even Kaspar­
I I V himself would have continued
the attack with the move 23 f5!
23 ... l:te7 24 �g1 l:tce8
'l'he doubling of rooks on the e­
fl le deters White from the thematic
fl'i break.
25 .:td1 f5! 26 gxf6
26 'ii'd 2 is met by 26 . . . e5!
26 lbxf6 27 l:tg3 l:tf7 28
.•.
.ixb6 'ii'b8 29 .tea �h5
This is the kind of messy posi­
tion that Kasparov revels in: he has
Kood compensation for the pawn.
30 l:tg4 �f6 31 l:th4
White cannot allow a repetition
of moves, as this would leave Kas­
purov as World Champion.
31. g5 32 fxg5 �g4!
..
Karpov finds himself on unfa­
miliar ground.
153
33 'ii'd2 �xe3 34 1i'xe3 �xc2
35 "ili'b6 .taB
Offering to swap queens.
36 l:txd6?
A blunder in time trouble. It
would have been to play 36 'ifxb8,
entering an unclear ending.
36 ...l:tb7 37 'ii'xa6 l:txb3
37 . . . �b4! would have been even
stronger.
38 l:txe6 l:txb2 39 'ii'c4 �h8 40
e5 'ii'a 7 + 41 �h1 .i.xg2 + 42
�xg2 �d4+ 0-1
In this game Karpov changed
from his usual style game plan,
whereas Kasparov played to his
own strengths.
Our next example shows an­
other World Champion, Tigran
Petrosian, changing his style and
playing right into his opponent's
hands. In his famous book The
Golden Dozen, Irving Chemev
provides the following description
of Petrosian's style of play:
'Petrosian does not play for the
attack; you get the impression
that he regards a kingside attack
as a primitive attempt to force a
win. Nor does he try to improve
his position at every turn, nor
play to weaken that of his oppo­
nents . Very often he seems to be
devoting his time to manoeuvring
his pieces to the first rank, or
even into a corner of the board.'
Looking through the next game
you will be surprised to discover
that Petrosian had the black
pieces.
154 Choose the Right Move
This was a key game in the
1969 World Championship match.
Spassky was leading the match
9lh-8lh with six games to play. If
the scores were tied Petrosian, as
defending champion, would re­
tain the title. Under such circum­
stances one would have expected
Petrosian to play a solid line with
Black and try to snatch a win with
White. However, this is what hap­
pened:
Spassky - Petrosian
World Championship,
Moscow (27) 1969
1 e4 c5 2 lbf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4
lbxd4 lbm 5 lbc3 a6 6 .tg5 lbbd7
7 .tc4 Wa5 8 Wd2 h6?! 9 .t xf6
lbxf6 10 0-0-0 e6 1 1 l:the1 .te 7?
A mistake. l l . . . .td7!, intending
0-0-0, was recommended by Tal
and Boleslavsky.
12 f4 0-0 13 .tb3 l:te8 14 �b1
14 ....tf8
Petrosian manoeuvres immacu­
lately, but this is hardly his usual
French or Queen's Gambit De­
clined type of game.
15 g4!
Spassky is at home in this posi­
tion; when there is an opportu­
nity to attack he will come out
with all guns blazing.
15 . . lbxg4
.
If this pawn is not captured
Spassky will boldly march it fur­
ther up the board. The other op­
tions were not very appetising:
15 ... lbd7 16 h4 lbc5 17 g5; 15 ... .td7
16 l:lg1 ; and 15 . . . e5 !? 16 fxe5 dxe5
1 7 lbf5 .txf5 18 gxf5 l:ad8 19
"ii'g2, when White has a strong at­
tack along the g-file and a strong
and aggressively placed bishop.
16 "ii'g2 lbf6
16 . . . e5 1 7 lLlf5 .txf5 18 exf5
lbf6 19 Wxb7 is better for White.
17 l:.g1 .td7 18 f5! �h8?
In a difficult and unfamiliar
position, Petrosian does not find
 Practical Play
the best moves. He had to try
nither 18 . . . exf5 or 18 . . . e5.
19 .l:tdfl 1i'd8?
19 . e5? would not have fared
. .
much better due to the tactical re­
Hponse 20 ti::le 6! fxe6 21 fxe6 .i.xe6
:.!2 l:xf6 gxf6 23 .i.xe6 with mate
on g8 or g7 to follow. However,
l 9 1i'e5 !? would have been the
. . .
best chance of putting up real re­
Histance, as after 20 ti::lf3 Black
can try and weather the storm
with either 20 . . .'ii'c5 or 20 . . . 'ilff4.
20 fxe6 fxe6
Or 20 . . . .i.xe6 2 1 ti::lxe6 fxe6 22
l,i)e2 with the idea of ti::l f4 putting
pressure on e6 or heading for g6.
21 e5! dxe5 22 ti::le4 ttlli5
22 . . . exd4 23 lhf0 and 22 . . . tLlxe4
23 :Xf8 + and are also hopeless.
23 'it'g6! exd4
a b c d e g h believed my opponent would let
a e g h
Against 23 . . . ti::lf4 Spassky was
planning the spectacular finish 24
l:xf4! exf4 25 ti::lf3 'ii'b 6 26 .l:tg5 ! !
i.c6 (26 . . . 'ii'd 8 2 7 ti::le 5) 27 ti::l ffi
i.e4 28 1i'xh6 + ! !
155
24 ti::lg5 1-0
Petrosian has to give up his
queen to avoid mate by 24 . . . hxg5
25 1i'xh5 + �g8 26 1i'f7 + �h7 27
.l:tf3 .
This was one of the shortest de­
cisive games in the history of the
World Championships.
During the Hastings Centen­
ary tournament in 1995, I had to
draw or win against Dirk Poldauf
to keep my chances of an interna­
tional master norm alive. I de­
cided it was time to play the white
side of a King's Indian, Fianchetto
variation, and this wouldn't have
been such a bad decision if I had
ever played this type of position
before! My whole plan was based
on the dubious merit of having
found a clever manoeuvre that I
me play.
Duncan Poldauf
-
Hastings Centenary 1995
156 Choose the Right Move
14 l:tab1 'ii'e 7 15 l:tbd1
The clever idea was to wait for
the black queen to commit itself
to e7 before playing my queenside
rook to d l . Wow, it worked! But
what now?
15 ...�d7 16 �g5?!
One move out of theory and al­
ready I start to go wrong. 16 �f4!,
putting pressure on Black's d6
pawn, would have been stronger.
16 'iff8 1 7 b4 ax:b3 18 ax:b3
•••
.!Dh5
Not being used to King's In­
dian positions, I was completely
oblivious to Black's threat, which
involves the (positionally unex­
pected) exchange of his dark­
squared bishop.
19 lle2?? hd4! 20 lbd4 .!beG!
How could I have missed such a
simple trick? Because I am simply
not used to these standard tricks,
as I have never played this type of
position before.
2 1 �e3 tbxd4 22 �xd4
I shall cut the game short at
this point (to relieve my painful
memories) and move straight to a
conclusion. In my own play, I have
never found an occasion when
changing my style of play has been
beneficial. If you need to win a
crucial game, I think that the best
advice is to play your own, natu­
ral game with a slight hint of ag­
gression.
2. Agai nst stro nger or weaker
opposition
Playing a weaker opponent
When you play a weaker oppo­
nent, you should play your nor­
mal game. However, you should
have a greater determination to
win, which sometimes involves tak­
ing more risks. It certainly makes
sense to play to your strengths,
but only you can be the judge of
the risks you should take. Person­
ally, I have always found that it
is better to give a lower rated op­
ponent more respect than their
rating would suggest. After all,
everyone can play a good game.
In my experience, many weaker
players are apprehensive about
playing strong opponents, which
leads them to play without confi­
dence. This has two direct results:
they often get into time trouble
and they are forever expecting
their opponents to deliver the kil­
ler blow, focusing on short-term
tactics without considering long­
range , plans. Therefore I would
 Practical Play
udvise you to confidently play your
natural game, whether it is tacti­
cal or positional. You will then en­
Hure that your opponent has to
play well above himself to get
anything out of the game.
Playing a stronger opponent
Having conducted some market
research amongst strong players,
I have discovered some interest­
i ng secrets. In general, they are
only too pleased to see a weaker
opponent come out fighting and
willing to take risks to randomise
the position, because they can rely
on their vast amount of experi­
ence, intuition, ability, etc. to win
the scrap.
Take for example the 1996
World Championship fight be­
tween Holyfield and Tyson. Tyson
was an overwhelming favourite to
win. Did Holyfield try to blast Ty­
son out of the ring? No, in the
same way that you shouldn 't try
to blast a stronger player off the
board. They (like Tyson) are likely
to heighten their levels of aware­
ness and pull out all the stops to
protect themselves, and then
come back at you with everything
they have got.
How did Holyfield win this fight?
He fought his own fight with his
usual style, waited until Tyson
had worn himself out and then
counterattacked when Tyson was
least expecting it.
How do we put such a strategy
into practice over the chess board?
157
Undoubtedly you should play to
your strengths - choose the open­
ing you are most comfortable
with. If you play the Trompowsky,
don't be afraid that your oppo­
nent might know the latest Kar­
pov antidote to it. Don't back out
of playing the Smith-Morra Gam­
bit because someone told you last
week that it is unsound. If that is
your best opening, play it.
Now I would like to explode a
myth that affects the moves that
many players make. After you
have decided which move is the
best in a position, for heaven's
sake play it! This might sound
like obvious advice, but just look
at how my opponent played in
this game:
Kane - Duncan
Hastings Weekend 1994
1 c4 e5 2 g3 ttJc6 3 .tg2 g6 4
ttJc3 .tg7 5 e4 d6 6 d3 f5 7 exf5
.txf5 8 tiJf3 tiJf6 9 0-0 'i¥d7 10
d4 0-0 11 dxe5 dxe5 12 'fi'xd7
tiJxd7 13 ttJg5 tiJb6? 14 c5
I had missed this simple move,
forcing the black knight to move
and allowing .td5 + .
1 4 ... tiJd7 1 5 .td5 + �h8 16
.te3?!
My opponent said afterwards
that he thought this would sur­
prise me, as he imagined I was
expecting 16 tiJf7 + . More to the
point, I was fearing 16 tiJf7 + ! , e.g.
16 . . . l:txf7 1 7 .txf7 tLlxc5 18 .te3
with an advantage for White.
158 Choose the Right Move
16 ...lDd4 17 i.xd4?1
1 7 lDf7 + would still have been
good: 17 . . . .l:txf7 18 i.xf7 lDxc5 19
lDb5.
17 exd4
•••
Now the lDf7 + option has gone.
18 lDa4 i.c2
Trying to harass the knight.
19 i.b3 i.xb3 20 axb3 c6 21
lDe6 l:.f3
At this point I was already
short of time and was wondering
what to do about my opponent's
obvious centralisation ofhis king's
rook, putting pressure on my d­
pawn. Fortunately he decided to
play a move that he thought that I
would not have considered.
22 lDb6?!
This was certainly a surprise
move, a pleasant surprise ! I only
have one playable move, so no
need to think - excellent.
22 lDxb6 23 cxb6 a6
•••
Leaving White with trebled
pawns.
24 lDc5 i.f8 25 c,i.?g2
Another surprise move, trying to
complicate matters. 25 b4 would
have been better.
25 l:.f5 26 lDxb7 l%b8
•••
With my rook on the b-file, the
pawns are easy pickings.
27 lDa5 :Xb6 28 lDc4 :Xb3 29
l:r.xa6 l%c5
30 .l:tb6?
Once again the attempt to com­
plicate the position with a surprise
 Practical Play
move fails. 30 l:. a4 would have
been a difficult defence to break
down.
30 ...lb:b6 3 1 ti:Jxb6 l:r.c2
With the threat of capturing
the b-pawn and advancing the
dangerous d-pawn.
32 lL'ld7 i.. d6 33 l:.e1 d3 34
l:.e3 d2 35 l:.d3 i..b4
White has run out of tricks and
there is no salvation from the ad­
vancing d-pawn.
36 lL'lb6 l:.c1 0-1
My opponent believed the myth
of the surprise move, deliberately
avoiding the best move on a
number of occasions in the hope
of catching me out.
There are two flaws in this the­
ory:
1 . 'You should always play the
best move, rather than the sur­
prise move, as this may turn out
to be the surprise move! ' (Mihai
Suba in his book Dynamic Chess
Strategy) The point is that you
have no way of knowing which
move your opponent thinks is
strongest, so the move you believe
to be strongest could in fact be a
surprise to him.
2. It is unlikely that the stronger
player will have decided what to
do against the best move. How­
ever, if you play a weaker move he
is likely to seize his opportunity
to punish you.
I used to be scared of playing
grandmasters, so I would often
159
try and randomise right from the
start. I have to say it never worked.
In this game I was scared of try­
ing my usual Queen's Gambit Ac­
cepted and instead tried to mix it,
with disastrous effects.
G. Flear - Duncan
Isle ofMan 1992
1 d4 d6 2 e4 c5
Trying to tempt my opponent
into the Sicilian, but he was hav­
ing done of it.
3 d5 lL'lf6 4 lL'lc3
I had never seen this position
before and in fact didn't have a
clue what I was doing.
4 e6 5 lL'lf3 g6 6 i..b5 + i.. d7 7
•••
dxe6 fxe6 8 'it'e2 i.. g7 9 e5 dxe5
10 lL'lxe5
My attempts to randomise the
position had played right into
my opponent's hands and I was
already lost, due to the weakness
of my e-pawn. Needless to say I
160 Choose the Right Move
continued to battle, but with such
a horrible position after ten moves
against a grandmaster there was
only going to be one result.
Remember we talked about how
you would try to beat a weaker
player? We agreed that in general
the only difference is that you
would have an increased determi­
nation to win - which sometimes
results in more risk-taking. Now
let us try and reverse this theory
against stronger players. As long
as you are still in the game they
will take risks to beat you. There­
fore all you have to do is play your
natural game, frustrate them, and
then take your chances when they
overextend their position. I am
convinced this is the way to beat
stronger players. It also has the
added advantage of being the best
way to improve your game. You
learn very little by playing sur­
prise moves, randomising the po­
sition or changing your opening
against a stronger player.
Play your natural game, don't
be intimidated and see the frus­
tration on their faces. Watch how
the American grandmaster Yasser
Seirawan managed to frustrate
Garry Kasparov in the following
game.
Here is the description of this
game from the Dubai Olympiad
tournament book: ' Seirawan was
quite content to set up a solid po­
sition with White and wait for
Kasparov to do something. Black
could have agreed a draw at any
point, but, feeling that he had
whatever initiative there was in
the position, the game had to con­
tinue. Right at the end of the ses­
sion, Kasparov committed himself
to complications that could have
waited, went wrong and adjourned
in a dead lost position. That was
that. Perhaps we know a little
more about Seirawan now that we
have seen this game. He is very
patient indeed. '
Seirawan Kasparov
-
Dubai Olympiad 1 986
1 d4 ltJf6 2 c4 g6 3 ltJc3 d5 4
ltJf3 i.g7 5 i.g5 ltJe4 6 cxd5
ltJxg5 7 ltJxg5 e6 8 ltJfa exd5 9 b4
'ii'd6 10 a3 0-0 11 e3 c6 12 i.e2
�f5 13 0-0 ltJd7 14 ltJa4 a5
Kasparov is slightly better be­
cause Seirawan has embarked on
a minority attack that has back­
fired, due to the wasted tempo 10
a3.
15 'ii'b3 b5 16 ltJc5 a4
Kasparov has played very well
thus far. He has closed the queen­
side and now turns to the king­
side.
17 'ii'c3 ltJb6 18 ltJd2 J:.ae8 19
ltfe1 lte7 20 i.f3 ltfe8 21 g3
i.h3 22 i.g2 i.xg2 23 �xg2 f5
24 h4
This is where Seirawan starts
employing excellent tactics. Kas­
parov was hoping to expand his
kingside activities with . . . g5 , but
Seirawan frustrates him by play­
ing h4. >
 Practical Play
a b c d e g h
24 lbc4 25 lbf3 ..tf6 26 .l:f.e2
.••
l:[g7 27 .l:f.hl ife7 28 .l:f.eel h6
With this move Black shows he
is serious about playing . . . g5.
29 'iid3 :rs so lbd2 'iie s 31
l2Jxc4 dxc4 32 'iid 1 .l:f.e7 33 .l:f.efl
'fif7 34 'iif3
Seirawan continues to frustrate
Kasparov. Now Kasparov must
exchange queens or risk losing
the initiative.
34 'iid5 35 'iixd5 + cxd5 36
•••
�f3
A sensible move, centralising
the king.
36 ..tg7 37 .l:f.dl .l:f.ff7 38 .l:f.d2
•••
1:.e8 39 l:lddl ..tf8 40 l:ldgl ..tg7
41 l:ldl �f8 42 l:ld2 �e7 43
l:[ddl �d6 44 l:lh2 �c6 45 l:lhhl
.tf8 46 l:ld2 ..td6 47 l:lddl .txc5
48 dxc5
At last Kasparov has decided to
alter the basic structure of the po­
sition.
48 l:le4 49 l:lhel l:ld7
•.•
Kasparov wants to force the po­
sition open with . . . d4.
161
50 l:ld4 g5 5 1 hxg5 hxg5 52
.l:f.edl .l:f.xd4 53 .l:f.xd4 l:[b7 54
�e2
54 ...l:lh3?!
Kasparov starts to get impa­
tient.
55 g4!
Seirawan strikes back, obtain­
ing counterplay.
55 f4 56 exf4 .l:f.xa3?!
•..
Kasparov is still playing for a
win. 56 . . . gxf4 would have held the
draw.
57 fxg5 l:la2 + 58 �f3 c3 59
l:ld1 d4 60 g6 d3 61 �e3 l:lxf2
62 g7 1-0
Having looked at a number of
Seirawan's games on my data­
base, I have found that he often
has long games. So, although he
appeared to be very patient, this
was in fact his natural game. He
is a very patient player who seized
his opportunity against the World
Champion.
162 Choose the Right Move
3. To play o n you r opponent's
weaknesses
Another scenario in which you
might possibly consider changing
your style of play is when you are
up against a player with a marked
preference for either a tactical or
positional battle. You might then
choose to avoid or head for com­
plications to counter this.
Shirov' s understanding of tac­
tics and combinations is second to
none. With the initiative in his
hands, even at the cost of mate­
rial, he is a very dangerous player.
He likes to get unbalanced posi­
tions with room for his imagina­
tive manoeuvres and ideas.
Mickey Adams is a pragmatic
player, brought up on the hard
Swiss system circuit in Britain. In
this game he shows his under­
standing of Shirov' s strong points
and plays on his weak points.
Take a look at the following
game.
Adams Shirov
-
.Belgrade 1995
1 e4 g6 2 d4 .i.g7 3 tbc3 c6 4
.i.e3 'ii'b 6!?
This is a typical Shirov idea,
putting the cat amongst the pi­
geons, disobeying all the opening
principles in an attempt to unbal­
ance the position.
5 l:bl!
An excellent decision, keeping
control of the position. 5 'ii'd2?,
gaining a massive lead in develop­
ment after 5 . . 'ii'xb2 6 l:b1 'ii'a3 7
.
tDf3, would have been the wrong
option. Shirov revels in these types
of double-edged positions.
5 d6 6 lhf3 tDf6 7 .i.e2 'ii'c 7?!
•••
Adams has simply developed his
pieces on natural squares, while
Shirov has already moved his
queen twice.
8 0-0 tDbd7 9 a4 0-0 1 0 tDd2
e5
Black stakes his claim in the
centre.
1 1 dxe5!
Adams keeps it nice and simple.
1 1 f4 would have been the move
to play against a solid player like
Petrosian, but against Shirov the
best thing to do is keep the posi­
tion symmetrical and solid.
l l dxe5 12 tbc4
...
Adams simply takes advantage
of the one weakness in Black's po­
sition, the d6 square.
12 .1d8 13 'ii'd 6!
..•
 Practical Play
The queens are now forced off,
t.uking away Shirov's number one
weapon.
13 ...lLle8
Or 13 . . . 'ili'xd6 14 lLlxd6 i.f8 15
.l:lfd1 with a slight edge.
14 'i\i'xc7 lLlxc7 15 lLld6 lL!e6
16 i.c4
16 lLlxc8 would have been pre­
mature since Black equalises af-
Ler 16 . . . l:.dxc8 1 7 l:tfd1 lLld4.
16 ... lLlb6 17 i.xe6 l:txd6
Forced due to the variations
1 7 . 1..xe6? 18 lLlxb7 and 17 . . . fxe6?
. .
18 lLlxc8 lL!xcB 19 l:.fd1, when the
endgame with the bad bishop and
crippled pawns would be one-sided.
18 i.b3
18 J.. xc8 :XeS 19 a5 lLlc4 is only
equal.
18 ... lLld7
Not 18 . . . J.. e 6?! 19 J.. c5 l:.d7 20
J..xe6.
19 l:tbdl J..f8 20 lLlbl !
The start of a simple but effec­
tive manoeuvre. Adams tries to
bring his other knight to d6, via
a3 and c4.
20...l:txdl ?!
Now Black doesn't manage to
get his queenside pieces into play
on time. He should have done
something about his develop­
ment, e.g. 20 . . . lLlffi 21 l:.xd6 J.. xd6.
2 1 .:.Xdl �g7
Or 2 1 . . .lLlffi 22 .l:.d8, intending
i.h6 or J.. g5.
22 lLla3 J..xa3
Shirov did not like the conse­
quences of the knight reaching d6
after 22 . . . J..e 7 23 lLlc4 ffi 24 lLld6.
163
23 bxa3
Adams has secured the posi­
tional advantage of the bishop
pair; now he needs to open up the
position to his advantage.
23 ...�f8
Black also stands worse after
23 . . . lLlffi!? 24 f3 (24 l:td8 b6!?)
24 ... J.. e6 (not 24 . . .b6? 25 l:.d6 J.. b 7
26 J.. g5) 25 J..xe6 fxe6 26 a5.
24 a5 q;e7
Or 24 . . . b6 25 l:td6 c5 26 J.. g5
bxa5 27 J.. a4 and wins.
25 f4!
This move, opening the position
for the bishop pair with a huge
lead in development, is decisive.
25 .. .ttJf6?
Shirov cannot stand his slow
positional demise and so tries to
complicate matters, but with his
bishop and rook out of action it is
hardly surprising that this at­
tempt backfires. 25 . . . exf4 26 J.. xf4
ffi 27 J..d6 + 'ilteB 28 :n ! b6 29 e5!
fxe5 30 l:tf7 was also winning for
White.
26 fxe5 lLlxe4
a b c d e g h
a b c d e g h
164 Choose the Right Move
27 .Ud4!
Here is the antidote! The knight
cannot move because of the threat
of .tg5 + .
2 7 .tf5 2 8 g4! c5 2 9 l:tc4
•••
. . . and Black resigned in view of
29 . . . .txg4 30 .lhe4.
C. Swindling
In this section we look at the art
of swindling. A swindle is a move,
plan, concept, tactic etc., which
radically changes the fortunes of
a game; it is seeing an idea that
your opponent misses. You can only
swindle someone from a worse po­
sition, so the first rule of swin­
dling is to recognise that you are
losing. Once you have accepted
that, keep a look out for things
that your opponent might have
missed. The chances of a success­
ful swindle are greatly enhanced
if your opponent is in time­
trouble, has become wrapped up
in his own ideas or is becoming
frustrated by your continued de­
fence.
Here is an example of what I
mean.
I had had a horrible position for
a long time. His bishop on e4 is
slicing my king's position apart,
my pawn on d4 is weak and I've
just lost control of my back rank.
Things couldn't be much worse.
Do I have any form of compensa­
tion? Yes, but not a lot. My knight
has found a strong outpost on e5
and my opponent still has to make
Duncan - McEwan
Scottish Open 1993
half a dozen moves to reach the
time control.
I will try to explain how my
mind was working at this point.
'If I could hyperspace my queen
to e8 it would be checkmate. Not
being greedy I would even accept
my rook landing on dB! The prob­
lem is that my king position is too
loose to even consider trying to
get my major pieces to the other
end of the board. My first priority
is to safeguard my king, only then
can I try to achieve a counterat­
tack. '
35 .:tcl + 36 <;i;>b2 'ii'c 7
•••
My opponent simply threatens
to play . . . 'ii'c3 and then . . . .Uhl
mate.
37 'ife3
There is no chance of a coun­
terattack yet; I must first defend
the realm.
37 J�hl + 38 <;i;>g3
••
 Practical Play 165

M.v ki ng heads for its safest 'ii'e 1 + 45 �h5 'lli'e 2 + , but it is very
IMIIIIlro: h4! difficult to reconsider a position
HH . . .'it'cl which you should have won the
My opponent is clearly think­ move before.
l Ull of only one thing at the mo­ 42 d6 'ifi>fS 43 d7 'ifi>e7 44 l:[d2
lncml: checkmate. .i.d5 45 'it'c5 +
:SD :e2 'ii'fl 40 �h4 45 'lli'b6 would have been faster:
45 . . . l:[xh3 + 46 'ifi>xh3 'lli'h l + 47
'ifi>g3 'it'el + 48 'it'f2.
45 .. .'iixc5 46 bxc5 l:[fl 47 c6
n
l:[xf4+ 48 'ifi>g3 :n 49 c7 f4+ 50
' �h4 1-0
fl '
This game had many of the key
elements associated with swin­
4 dles: my opponent was in time
trouble and had to make his most
3
important move at the time con­
trol (move 40) ; he was wrapped
.. .1. up in his own attack and un­
1
g h
doubtedly never even considered
a counterattack; and he became
Here Black, having reached a frustrated by my continued de­
completely winning position, but fence and allowed me the one op­
with no time to find the win, portunity I needed to swindle
picked up his queen and played . . . him.
40 'it'al ??
••• While playing Fritz 4 (a piece of
Both 40 .. Jhh3 + ! 41 'it'xh3 'lli'xe2 computer software) recently, I
and 40 . . . .i.g2 4 1 lhg2 'it'xg2 would began to wonder why I would al­
have won. ways get a won position against it
41 d5! and then be swindled. There are a
Out of nowhere, I suddenly have couple of good reasons for this:
some counterplay. A single move Fritz never misses an opportunity
has completely changed the game. and Fritz never gives up.
Black now has to rethink his whole In the following game I fol­
position, as it is he who now needs lowed the philosophy of never giv­
a swindle. ing up (see diagram on following
41 1icl?
••• page).
Black should now have played 38 �fl
4 1 . . .'ti'fl with a draw after 42 dxe6 Trying to get out of the pin
lhh3 + 43 'it'xh3 'lli'xe2 44 e7 along the second rank.
166 Choose the Right Move
Duncan - Lund
Manchester Open 1993
38 bxc4 39 bxc4 a5 40 ..W2
•••
.tf8 41 :eel Wa6 42 'iW1
Not only am I lost, but it is
even very hard to find a move. My
knight, Iring's rook and bishop can­
not move, my queen's rook can
only go to e2 and my queen needs
to cover the d-pawn. The only
piece worth moving is my king.
42 ... a4 43 .l:.bl
At last an active move!
43 .. .'iVa8 44 'ii'c2
Finally I have developed some
threats: ·my queen wants to come
to b2 from where it can take part
in an attack against the black
king.
44 ...1:t8h7
A good defensive move; plan­
ning to swing the rook over to the
b-file when required.
45 �f2
My pieces are still tied up, so
why not tempt him to play . . . d3 .
45 ... d3 46 'ii'd l
Now I have managed to loosen
his position: his d-pawn and g­
pawn are both undefended and
his bishop is tied to the a-pawn. I
expect that he thought I would
take the d-pawn here (46 'iVxd3??
i.xe4 47 'ii'xe4 'ii'xe4) .
46 ...1:tb7
Oh dear! Now he is threaten­
ing to win my knight on e4 by
playing . . . 1:txbl. I've got to defend
my knight, but how?
47 �e3
Stubborn defence.
47 ...'ii'd8
The threat of . . . 'ii'd4 + looks ter­
minal .
48 lDd6!
A bolt from the blue! The knight
has been unable to move for the
last ten moves, but now suddenly
White 's position has come alive.
The threat of .txc6 will destroy
Black's position.
48 ...:Xbl 49 'ii'xbl 'iVa5?
The natural move, but we both
missed the strength of 49 . . . .txd6!
50 i.xc6 1:te2 + 5 1 �xd3 .l:lb2
(Wow, what an idea! As you can
guess this was picked up by Fritz).
50 lDe4 d2
Once again this looks strong,
but I have a saving move.
51 'iVd3! dl'ii'? !
Great! All my stubborn defend­
ing is starting to pay off, as Black
starts to get desperate. Realising
that 1:txdl leaves the bishop on g2
undefended, he presumed that I
would , play 52 'ii'xd l . What he
 Practical Play
missed was that after 52 . . . .txe4, I
could play 53 �xe4!
52 'ii'xd1 .txe4 53 'iitxe41
I have some sympathy for my
opponent, as it must have been
easy to overlook this move. Now
the tables are turned. Black's rook
on h2 and his bishop on f8 are do­
ing nothing, while White is ready
to penetrate with his queen and
whip his rook over to bl. Not 53
i.xe4? 'ii'c3 + 54 'ii'd3 'ii'b 2! when
White is defenceless.
53 �b7?
•••
As usual, when the situation
changes, it is difficult to adapt.
Black had to bring his rook back
into the game by 54 . . . l:.h7.
54 'ii'd7+ 1-0
D. How to avoid blun dering
Finally, let us consider another
practical issue, how to avoid those
terrible blunders which cost so
many points.
The other day I was looking
through the book Danger in Chess
by Amatzia Avni, and came across
this position under the heading
'leaving the king with insufficient
support from other pieces' :
10 'ii'c 2?1 0-0 l l lLlfd2?
What a stupid move ! Hold on
this position looks vaguely famil­
iar. It's me! ! How could I leave my
king with no defence like that?
Well, I was young, naive, inexperi­
enced. Or could it have been that I
simply underestimated my oppo­
nent (after all he was the weakest
167
Duncan - Alperovitch
Israel 1993
player in this all-play-all tourna­
ment) .
l l lLlxt'21!
•••
Suddenly it was time to take
stock. I 'm completely lost! Of
course I tried to fight back, but
look where all my pieces are.
12 'iitxf2 .th4+ 13 g3 f4
Simply blowing my whole posi-
tion away.
14 'iitg2 fxg3 15 hxg3 .th3 + !
An impressive follow-up.
16 'iitxh3 .txg3 17 .txh7 +
Unfortunately taking the third
piece is terminal: 1 7 �xg3 'ii'g5 +
18 'iith 3 l:.f4 with a quick mate to
follow.
17.. /�hS 18 lLlf3 l:.xf3
With so little defence around
my king, it was hardly surprising
that I lost quickly from here.
This game taught me an im­
portant lesson, unfortunately one
168 Choose the Right Move

that I am reminded of every few you play, your normal thinking

years never underestimate your
- patterns are bound to be ad­
opponent. versely affected.
I feel that blunders are as much The key to avoiding blundering
to do with off the board factors as is to have a professional attitude
anything else. If you are ill, think­ and to avoid anything that will
ing of other matters or think you cloud your usual thinking proc­
will beat your opponent whatever ess.
7 Endings (Daniel King)
Hludy of the endgame is, on the
whole, neglected in western coun­
tries, perhaps partly because, fu-
11 1 led by fast time limits, a death
or glory attitude to the game still
prevails: if your opponent hasn't
��ollapsed by move 35, then it's
just too much effort to keep plug­
ICing away; endings are for all those
oustern European chaps who've
nothing better to do in the eve­
nings but go through endless end­
game studies by Grigoriev. It is a
pity, for when there are just a few
pieces remaining on the board,
lhe beauty of the game is often
displayed in its purest and most
beguiling form.
In this position, composed at
lhe end of the 19th century, White
plays and wins.
Saavedra, 1895
1 c7
White threatens to get a new
queen, and as queen versus rook
is a theoretical win, Black must
react.
l ...l:[d6+
A tricky move. If 2 �b7, then
2 . . . .:.d7 draws instantly as Black
will be able to give up the rook for
the pawn, while if 2 <tii>c 5 l:d l !
draws as 3 c8'fi' : c l + would win
the queen. Thus . . .
2 �b5
. . . is the only way to keep play­
ing for the win.
2 :d5+
•••
. . . and that is Black's only move
to keep in the game.
3 'itb4
Once again crossing to the c­
file would be impossible because
of . . . l:[d l, so the king and rook
continue their strange dance
down the board.
3 :d4+ 4 'iti>b3 :d3+ 5 �c2
•••
Now it seems like the end for
Black as the skewer is no longer
there, and the rook cannot get
back to stop the pawn queening.
However . . .
5 .l:td4!
•••
If White makes a queen, 6 c8'if
then, 6 . . . .:.c4 + ! 7 'ifxc4 is stale­
mate. But White has an answer.
6 cs:u
Threatening :as mate. Black
has only one defence.
1 70 Choose the Right Move

example above encapsulates what

the endgame is about: one side or
the other will attempt to win by
promoting a pawn, and the oppo­
nent will have to use every means
at his disposal to stop that pawn,
or even promote a pawn himself.
That is the basic idea, but within
that can be included tactics, at­
tacks on the king, weakening of
pawn structures, and a whole va­
riety of other themes. It is best to
start at the beginning and build
up from there.
6 :.a4 7 �b3!
...

The final surprise. The rook is Basic king and pawn endings
threatened, as well as :.c1 mate,
and this time there really is no de­
fence. (As a rule, I don't like chess
compositions - unless they look as
though they could have occurred
in normal play, and this one does;
it is actually based on a position
from a game.)

Mter that, please don't imag­

ine that I'm going to present a se­
ries of beautiful studies for your
edification. This is a practical
guide. I'm going to show how it is
possible to improve your endgame
play without going through three
hundred pages of rook and pawn
positions, though having said that,
there are a few basic positions
that one simply must know about.
Apart from those, I think the
same technique that I described
when I was examining positional
play of using 'model games' can
be applied in the endgame. The
And if you feel that this is too
basic for you, then don't worry, it
quickly becomes more compli­
cated. This position is a draw, no
matter who is to move. Black must
just be careful not to allow White's
king in front of the pawn.
1 d5 + 'it1d6 2 �d4 �d7
Black's king can always be
driven.back - but that's okay!
 Endings 171

3 �e5 �e7 4 d6+ �d7 5 <Jo>d5 However, if the king is in front

of the pawn, then the story is dif­
ferent. With White to play, this
position is still drawn, e.g.
1 'iPc5 �c7 2 'iPd5 �d7 3 �e5
<Ji;e7
It is impossible to force Black's
king out of the way - unless the
pawn is pushed:
4 d5 �d7 5 d6 �d8l
. . . but as we have seen that
leads to a drawn position.
6 �e6 'it>e8 7 d7+ �d8 8 �d6
stalemate

This is the critical position. The

king must retreat, and only one
move draws.
5 �d8l•••

To secure the draw, the king

moves back directly in front of the
pawn. The other two moves lose:
5 . �cB 6 �c6 �dB 7 d7 <Ji;e7 B <Ji;c7
. .

or 5 . . . <Ji;eB 6 �e6 �dB 7 d7 <Ji;c7 B

�e7.
6 �e6 �e8 7 d7 + c;Pd8 8 <Ji;d6
stalemate

However, returning to the in­

itial position, if it is Black's move,
then he loses:
1 <Ji;c7 2 c;Pe6l
•••

White's king shoulders the black

king out of the way.
2 <Ji;d8 3 <Ji;d6 <Ji;e8 4 c;Pc7 <Ji;e7
•••

and only when all the squares

. . .

have been covered is it time to ad­

vance the pawn.
5 d5 �e8 6 d6 <M7 7 d7 �e7 8
d81t'+ 1-0
1 72 Choose the Right Move
Question 7. 1: Bearing the first
few examples in mind, how would
you conduct this position if you
were White (to play)? What should
the result be?
Here is a neat practical exam­
ple demonstrating some of the
principles that we have just con­
sidered:
Gligoric - Fischer
Yugoslavia 1959
There is only one drawing move
for Black:
l. ..'iltb8!
. . . and the players agreed to a
draw, for if 2 'it>b5 (or 2 'it>c5 �c7! 3
'iltb5 'it>b7 and the white king is
blocked out) 2 . . .'iii'b 7 ! gains the
opposition, and Black's king can­
not be forced out of the way, e.g. 3
�c5 �c7.
Browne - King
Lugano Open 1989
Knowledge of these simple po­
sitions helped me to hold this
ending. My king is 'cut off from
coming over to stop the pawn,
which is, potentially, extremely
dangerous. However, there is a
simple route to a draw in . . .
60 .:.c8!
•••
The king and pawn ending had
to be calculated carefully first.
Now if 62 llh5 �c6, with an easy
draw (I will cover that later).
61 hc8
 Endings
6 1 �c4 l:xc5 + 62 �xc5 'it>c7! is
also a draw.
6l ...hc8 62 �a4 �b8!
and draws in a similar way to
Gligoric-Fischer: if 64 'it>a5 �a7 or
64 �b5 ..t>b 7. This is a good illus­
tration of why it is important to
learn a few basic positions: then
you will know what to aim for. This
theme occurs time and again.
Dr Cassidy, 1884
Contained within the following
position are most of the ideas that
I've dealt with so far. It is from
an actual game that was agreed
drawn, but the win was pointed out
by a certain Dr Cassidy in 1884.
1 �bl!
White intends capturing the a­
pawn via a2 and a3 . The quicker
route would have led to a draw: 1
�c3? a3 ! 2 b4 (2 bxa3 �e6 3 �c4
�d6 4 �b5 �c7 and Black's king
comes across in time to hold the
draw) 2 . . . �e5 3 �b3 �d5 4 "'xa3
1 73
�c6 5 �a4 <iitb 6 draws, as the
white king cannot get in front of
the pawn.
l. .. a3! 2 b3
Just as in the previous vari­
ation, if the pawn advances two
squares, then the white king can­
not get in front of the pawn to
force the win of the opposition: 2
b4? �e5 3 �a2 �d5 4 �xa3 �c6 5
�a4 �b6. Of course 2 bxa3 �e6
also draws.
2 .. .'iPe5 3 �a2 �d5 4 ha3
"'c6 5 "'a4
5 <it>b4? "'b6 is only a draw.
5 .. �b6 6 "'b4
.
White forces the gain of the op­
position. The black king must step
aside.
6 ..t>c6 7 �a5
•••
. . . and as we saw earlier, this is
an easy win.
This is a useful position to
know about. White wins whichever
side it is to move, and that also
applies if the pieces are translated
1 74 Choose the Right Move
anywhere along the sixth rank,
except, of course, to the rook files
- that is always drawn so long as
the defending king is in a sensible
position.
Knowing that this diagram is a
win helps in understanding the
following position.
Lolli, 1 792
1 <ifi>d6 <ifi>f8
. . . and now if one continues
'normally', with 2 <iti>e6 'iti>e8 3 f7 +
<ifi>f8 4 <iti>f6, then stalemate is
reached. However . . .
.
2 f7!
. . . forces the win.
2 'iti>xf7 3 'iti>d7
...
Black loses the 'opposition',
and the king must give ground.
3 <ifi>t'8 4 'i!i>e6 'iti>g7 5 r3ite7 r3itg8
•••
6 <iti>f6 <ifi>h 7 7 'i;f7 'i;b8 8 r3itxg6
<iti>g8
We already know that this po­
sition is a win whoever it is to
move.
9 <ifi>f6 <ifi>f8 10 g6 <iti>g8 1 1 g7
r3ith7 12 <M7
. . . and White makes a queen.
Question 7.2: Bearing the last
example in mind, have a go at
solving this one. This is from an
off-hand game played between
the two great World Champions,
Emanuel Lasker and Jose Raoul
Capablanca, in a Berlin cafe. White
to play and win. (Remember that
a lone rook against a lone knight
is a theoretical draw.)
Capablanca - Lasker
Berlin 1914
Question 7. 3: In the following
diagram it is Black to play. How
does he reach a winning position?
It is time to add a few more
pawns. The distant passed pawn
is perhaps one of the most com­
mon themes in king and pawn
endings.
 Endings 1 75

7 � e6 f5 8 �f6 �b5 9 r:ltg7 g5 10

�xh7 �c5 1 1 �g6, etc.
3 a5 �d5 4 �f4 �c5 5 <it>g5
�b5 6 �h6 �xa5

6
7 r:ltxb 7 g5 8 �g6 g4 9 <it>xf5
5
gxh3 10 gxh3 'ii?b5 1 1 h4 �c5
12 h5
. . . and the pawn rolls home.
3

2
a b d e f g h

7
In the above diagram White
wins by the simple technique of
1. Distracting the black king
with the passed a-pawn.
2. Allowing the white king to
move unhindered into Black's
kingside pawns for a free lunch. 2
3. Queening a pawn.

1 a4 �e5 2 �e3 f5
2 f6 is more tenacious but
. . .
loses in similar fashion: 3 a5 �d5
4 a6 �c6 5 �d4 �b6 6 �d5 �xa6
Incidentally, it is easy to see at
a glance whether the king can
catch the pawn or not.
1 76 Choose the Right Move
If the black king enters the
square on this turn, then the white
pawn can be stopped; however, if
it is White's move then after 1 a5
it is clear that the pawn is going
to reach aS.
In all endings, but especially in
pawn endings, it is vital to use the
king. When there are just a few
pieces remaining on the board the
danger of the king falling into a
snap checkmate is minimal, so it
can take up a role as a powerful
attacking piece. The next position
is one of those classic endgames
that goes to the heart of strategy
in king and pawn endings.
Cohn - Rubinstein
St Petersburg 1909
Black has the advantage here,
primarily because his king is more
advanced than White's, and he
has the move, enabling the king
to advance into the enemy camp.
The question is, which way should
the king move? Moving into the
centre looks reasonable : l . . . �d6
2 c.itd2 c.itd5 3 <itd3 f5, although
whether it is possible to force a
breakthrough is hard to say. If
there were nothing better, then
this is a reasonable position to
head for: Black has the advantage
because his king is more active
than White's. There is an alterna­
tive plan, namely to head for the
isolated pawn on h2.
When considering such a plan
the last thing on my mind would
be whether I could win if White
defended passively - I would have
achieved my first goal. What
would concern me would be if
White chose to play actively, and
went for my pawns while I was
going for his. The simplest way to
calculate this is not to go back and
forth between the two sides as in
normal calculation - it would
make me dizzy, like watching a
tennis match - but simply to count
one's own moves: l . . .�f6-�g5-
c.ith4-�h3-�xh2-'iii> g2 and . . . h5-
h4-h3-h2-h 11i'. That makes 1 1
moves until I get my queen. As for
White's moves: 1 'iii>d 2-�d3-c.itd4-
�c5-�d6-c.itc7-�xb7-c.itxa7 to be
followed by b5-b6-b7-b81i'. That
makes 12 moves, and as Black
moves first, Black should be win­
ning this race. In other words
1 . . . �f6 is the move.
.1. . 'iii>f6 2 'iii>d2 'iii>g5
While we are here it is worth
just checking the counterattack­
ing variation for White: 3 'iii>d3
 Endings
'iii>h 4 4 �d4 �h3 5 �c5 �xh2 6
�d6 �g2 7 �c7 h5 8 �xb 7 h4 9
�xa7 h3 10 b5 h2 1 1 b6 h11i' 12
b7. The calculation was correct,
Black does queen first, though a
curious situation has arisen in
which it is impossible for Black to
prevent White promoting on the
next move. However, there is more
than one way for Black to finish
off the game. The clearest method
is 12 . . .'i¥a1 13 b8'ii' 'ii'xa3 + 14 �b7
'ii'b 4 + (this skewer, exchanging
queens - or in some cases even
winning the queen - is a typical
tactic in king and pawn endings
when both sides have just pro­
moted) 15 �c8 'ii'xb8 + 16 �xb8
�xf3 and this king and pawn end­
ing is much simpler.
3 �e2 �h4 4 'iii>fJ. �h3 5 �gl
White has managed to reach
the h-pawn in time, but he stands
passively, and Black can take his
time looking for the breakthrough.
Note how Black sought to improve
177
the position of his king before
pushing any pawns. Stage one of
Black's plan is over - the advance
of the king - but the question is,
what exactly is he to do now? To
answer that, let me show you this
position.
a b c d e f g h
Here Black wins easily by mov­
ing his king along the sixth rank,
keeping the white king boxed in,
and then taking both pawns, with
a simple win. So that is Black's
aim: to exchange some pawns to
leave him with a path for his more
active king to reach the queen­
side.
5 e5
.•.
That is a good start, effectively
immobilising White's pawns, be­
cause 6 f4 gxf4 7 exf4 �g4 loses a
pawn.
6 �hl b5
Making sure that White's two
queenside pawns are fixed for
when the black king eventually
comes over to take them.
7 'iti>g1
1 78 Choose the Right Move
White can only shuffle back and
forth with his king while the
pawns advance.
7 f5 8 �h1 g5 9 �g1 h5 10
.••
�h1 g4 1 1 e4
White decides to get a bit tricky.
Instead 1 1 fxg4 fxg4 12 �g1 e4 13
�h 1 h4 14 �g1 g3 15 hxg3 hxg3
16 �fl gxf2 1 7 �xf2 �h2 wins for
Black since White's e-pawn falls
within a few moves.
u fxe4 12 fxe4 b4 13 �g1
...
g3 14 bxg3 bxg3
White resigned here, but let's
just continue the game right to
the finish'as there are a couple of
winning techniques that are worth
considering: 15 fxg3 ( 15 f3 loses
immediately to 15 . . . g2 16 f4 exf4
1 7 e5 �g3 18 e6 f3 19 e7 f2 mate)
15 . . . �xg3 16 �fl �f3 17 �e1
�xe4 18 �e2 �d4 19 �d2 e4 20
�e2 and now there are two win­
ning techniques: to go straight
for the queenside pawns (simple
enough) ; or attempt to queen the
pawn with 20 . . . e3, e.g. 2 1 �e1
(without the queenside pawns this
would be a draw, as we have seen,
however . . . ) 2 l . . .�d3 22 �d1 e2 +
23 �e1 �e3 (stalemating the king,
but the pawns can still move) 24
a4 bxa4 25 b5 a3 26 b6 a2 27 bxa7
a1.., mate.
The technique of forcing the
opponent's king to retreat by us­
ing pawn moves to 'lose the move'
is another important concept in
these endings.
Here, if Black's king were to
move, then he would lose the f­
pawn, and the game. Thus, he only
has pawn moves at his disposal.
White' s task, then, is to block the
pawns so that Black is left with
the move. This should be fairly
easy as White has so many spare
pawn moves on the kingside, e.g.
1 g4! a5 2 a4 c6 3 c4 b6 4 b3
c5 5 b3 h6 6 h4
Black must retreat the king,
and so loses a pawn and the game.
 Endings
Question 7.4: How does White
(to play) force a win from the fol­
lowing position?
If you want to get a better idea
of the technique of 'losing moves',
but also of the ability of the king
to restrain pawns, then I have
found the following to be an excel­
lent exercise (White to play) :
When I was a kid I used to play
blitz games against my brother
179
starting from this position; it's
good fun, though I still can't re­
member which side ought to win.
That is about all that I think it is
useful to cover on king and pawn
endings. They are highly complex
(Garry Kasparov considers them
to be the most difficult of all
endings to master), but let's be
realistic: an understanding ofthe
co-ordinate square theory is not
going to improve your play greatly
down at the Bull and Bush. How­
ever, what is important is to grasp
the basics.
To finish off, here are a few po­
sitions to test your understanding
of king and pawn endings.
Question 7.5: How does White,
to play, force a win from this posi­
tion?
Question 7.6: How can Black
save the game in the next posi­
tion?
180 Choose the Right Move
Vidarsson - Van der Sterren
Reykjavik 1996
Question 7. 7: Black to play. How
is it possible to draw this posi­
tion?
The two most importa nt rook
and pawn endings
Apart from king and pawn endings,
which are vital to know about as
they can potentially arise from
any ending, some knowledge of
rook and pawn endings is also
useful as, out of all the different
kind of endgames, they are the
most common. And, if there are
two basic rook endings that you
manage to grasp from this book,
then I hope it will be these. The
first one, analysed by Philidor at
the end of the 18th century, could
help you to draw a game if you are
a pawn down, and the second ana­
lysed by Lucena in 1497, could
help you to win if you are a pawn
up.
Essential roo k and pawn ending
no. 1
Philidor, 1 792
It is Black to move. White's
threat here is to play 1 �c6 fol­
lowed by :as + , to force the black
king out, and then to push the d­
pawn home. The simplest draw­
ing method for Black is to play . . .
l . . :Z.g61
.
 Endings
. . . preventing White's king from
moving forward. The only way for
White to make progress is to push
the pawn:
2 d6
With the pawn acting as a
shield, the threat is to play �c6
setting up a mating net. Black
must act swiftly.
2 .. Jlgl!
. . . and now when White moves
the king in . . .
3 �c6
. . . Black gives check . . .
3 ... l:r.cl + 4 �d5 l:dl + 5 �e6
l:tel +
The king has no shelter from
the checks, unless it moves to­
wards the rook, but that serves no
purpose:
6 �d5 .l:.dl + 7 �e5 :tel + 8
<M4 l:.fl + 9 �e3 .l:.dl
. .. and the pawn is lost.
I would strongly advise that you
play through this example again,
making sure that you fully under­
stand its details. Incidentally, in
the initial position, checking with
the rook immediately would be in­
accurate: 1 . . . .l:.c1 + 2 �d6. The dif­
ference is that the white pawn on
d5 gives the king shelter, and sud­
denly there is a threat of check­
mate on h8.
Esse nti a l rook and pawn ending
no.2
The position of the white king in
front of the pawn looks slightly
181
Lucena, 1497
odd, but it is a situation that often
arises in rook and pawn endings
when the king is attempting to
shepherd a pawn to the queening
square: the king needs shelter
from the checks of the opposition
rook and the pawn provides it .
However, in order to win, the king
must move out of the way of the
pawn, and at the moment it is
blocked in. There are actually two
methods of winning this position.
First, the classic 'Lucena' method.
l l:r.g2 +
The king is checked as far away
as possible from the pawn; this al­
ways makes good sense.
l ...<iPh7 2 l:tg4!
Moving the king out straight
away from in front of the pawn
would not be successful, for in­
stance: 2 <iPf7 l:.fl + 3 �e6 l:.e1 + 4
�fO l:tfl + 5 �e5 l:r.e1 + 6 'it>fO :n +
7 �e6 lle1 + 8 �f7 llfl + 9 'it>e8.
The king had no shelter so it must
182 Choose the Right Move
return to hiding in front of the
pawn.
2 <ith6 3 c;tf71
•••
Threatening to queen, so the
rook must check.
3 :n + 4 c;te6 l:el + 5 <M6
•••
Threatening mate with l:h4, so
the rook must keep checking.
5 ...:n + 6 c;te5 l:el + 7 1:e41
This is the point. The rook in­
terposes and the pawn must now
promote. This rook manoeuvre,
l:gl-g4-e4, is known as 'building a
bridge'.
Returning to the starting posi­
tion, there is another method of
forcing the win, and that is by
playing the rook around to dB : 1
l:a2 c;tg7 2 :as 1:d2 3 l:d8 :e2 4
<itd7, and the pawn must promote,
for instance, 4 . . . l:td2 + 5 <itc6 .l::tc2 +
6 c;tb5 l:b2 + 7 c;tc4 l:tc2 + 8 �d3 .
The checks have run out and Black
is powerless to prevent eB'ii'.
In order to prove to you that
such positions are not just part of
chess theory, but are highly prac-
tical, let me briefly show you the
finish to one of my games.
Graf - King
European Junior
Championship 1983
Here I have a pawn advantage,
but, as we have seen, that does not
always guarantee a win. The first
step is to commit White's king.
50 . . . d4 + 5 1 c;td3 l:h6 52
.l::te8 +
This was why it was important
to bring the white king to one side:
my king can now slip in front of the
pawn and shelter from the checks.
52 ...'iW4 53 c;txd4 lhh4
During the game I was fairly
confident that this position was
winning for me, because I have
managed to put White's king off­
side. In order to defend this posi­
tion the king should be standing
in front of the pawn - think back
to the Fhilidor position!
 Endings
54 �d3 l:th2!
a b c d e h
8
3 5
2 •• 2
b d e 9 h
a c
The rook 'cuts off' the king,
preventing it from returning to the
defence. This technique of 'cut­
ting off' is common in rook end­
ings; watch out for it later.
55 1:118 .:t2!
I need to move my king to the
side in order to advance the pawn,
but doing so immediately would
have caused problems: 55 . . .'iii'g4 56
<iii'e 3 and the king comes across to
defend.
56 l:th8 <iii' g3 57 �e3 f4 + 58
�d3 l:ta2 59 :g8 + �f2 60 l:lh8
l:la3 + 61 �d2 f3 62 l:lh2 + �gl
63 l:h8 f2 64 l:g8 + �
The king and the pawn have
shuffled down the board like a
crab, getting closer to the queen­
ing square, and now they have ar­
rived at a version of Lucena's
position. This was exactly what I
was aiming for when I exchanged
pawns a few moves ago. This is
why it is vital to know the basics
183
in the endgame: you know what
to head for in order to force a win
or a draw.
65 l:tg7 l:a8
6
4
3
2
First, I want to give myself
some checking distance - rooks
are long-range pieces, so they
work best the farther they are
from the enemy king.
66 l:.e7
This move speeds up the proc­
ess. It is good to know the stand­
ard positions, but don't follow
them blindly; you have to watch
your opponent's moves and think
for yourself. Look what happens if
I continue 'as normal' : 66 . . . l:ld8 +
67 �e3 �el 68 'ifi>f3 + �f1 69 �e3
and I've made no progress.
66 ... l:lg8!
Here my opponent resigned as
68 . . . �g2 and 69 . . . f2 cannot be
satisfactorily prevented.
The next two positions will test
your understanding of Philidor's
184 Choose the Right Move
position, as well as your apprecia­
tion of the pawn endings that we
have considered.
Question 7.8: It is Black to play.
Should he exchange rooks?
Smyslov - Sokolsky
USSR Championship 1949
Question 7. 9: In the next dia­
gram White has just played the
rook to h6. Should Black simplify
into the king and pawn ending?
3
2 World Championship,
The more basic theoretical po­
sitions one knows ('understands'
is probably a better way of putting
it), the better. However, I have
found it tedious, and not particu­
larly productive, to trawl through
vast reference works in the hope
that something will stick. Life is
too short. I find that a good way of
understanding endgames is to go
carefully through the 'classics',
just as I was recommending for
the middlegame. That way, it is
possible to see the whole picture,
not just a few theoretical snap­
shots, and in so doing one gets an
idea of endgame strategy, and how
and why certain endgame princi­
ples work in practice. Rather than
going through a litany of precepts,
I'm going to show a few of these
classic games, and then try and
draw some conclusions from them.
Alekhine - Capablanca
Buenos Aires (34) 1927
 Endings
The first example that I would
like to consider is the 34th and
final game from the Alekhine­
Capablanca World Championship
match of 1927. It is a typical rook
ending. White has a 'distant' ex­
tra pawn which is currently being
attacked by Black's rook. How
should the a-pawn be defended?
53 l:a41
As you probably already know,
the best place for the rook is be­
hind the passed pawn in such
situations. This ensures that the
black rook remains passive: if it
moves, then the pawn will move
one square closer to touchdown
on aS.
53 ...�f6
Now White must devise a plan.
It is time to activate the king, and
it is clear where it should head to:
b5, to dislodge the rook and get
the passed pawn moving.
54 �f3 �e5
That could have been antici­
pated; Black must use his own
king to block White out. The only
reasonable alternative would have
been to begin counterplay on the
kingside with the king, but that
would have come to nothing as
the white rook is able to defend
the pawns - another reason why
the rook is in its ideal position.
55 <ito>e3
White continues the trek across
the board anyway - there is a
good reason for this.
55 h5 56 �d3 �d5 57 �c3
•••
<ito>c5 58 l:a21
185
a b c g h
An excellent waiting move.
Black has been put into Zug­
zwang, or, as Nigel Short likes to
say, 'Volkswagen' (all those for­
eign words sound the same, don't
they?) . Zugzwang is one of the
most important concepts in the
endgame. Its literal translation
from the German is 'compulsion
to move', and in chess the specific
meaning is that the player to
move has no alternative but to
weaken his position. Here, for in­
stance, if Black moves the rook,
then White's a-pawn advances;
pawn moves on the kingside won't
help, they will run out quickly; so
the king must move.
58 �b5
•..
If the king had moved back to­
wards the kingside, that would
have allowed the white king in to
hassle the rook, so this is the best
of a bad lot.
59 �b3
White repeats moves a couple of
times, and then takes the plunge.
186 Choose the Right Move

59 �c5 60 �c3 �b5 61 'ittd4!

•••

This is the way. The white king

dashes back towards the kingside
to get a bite at Black's pawns.
Black cannot capture the a-pawn
as the king and pawn ending is
winning easily (think back to the
example I gave of the 'distant
passed pawn' in king and pawn
endings) .
6 1 ...l%d6+ 62 'itt e5 l%e6+ 63
�4 �a6
Black has managed to blockade
the pawn with his king - in most
cases, a better blockader than the be able to hinder its onward pro­
rook - but the white king has gress.
made it over to the kingside. No­ 69 ...gxf5 70 �h6 f4 71 gxf4
tice how prescientAlekhine' s wait­ l::t d5 72 �g7 .l:.f5 73 l%a4 �b5 74
ing move with the rook was : 59 .l:.e4 �a6 75 �h6 l::txa5
.l:.a2 defended the only weak pawn 75 . . . �b7!? 76 l%e7 + �a6 77 J:te5
in White's position on f2, mean­ l::tx£4 78 <it>xh5 f6 was suggested by
ing that once the black rook Smyslov and Levenfish, but 79 .l:.e1
gained its freedom, there was �xa5 80 .l:.h1 (rook behind the
nothing for it to attack. 'God is in passed pawn! ) 80 . . . �b4 8 1 �g6 is
the detail. ' (Vladimir Nabokov) clear enough.
64 �g5 .l:.e5 + 65 �h6 .l:.f5 66 76 .l:.e5 l::t a 1 77 �h5 .:.g1 78
f4 .l:.c5 67 .:.aa .l:.g5 .l:th1 79 .l:.f5 <iti>b6 80 Ibd7
Gently does it. White keeps �c6 81 .l:.e7
everything protected.
67 ...l%c7 68 �g7 l:td7 a b c d e
With Black's king way across on 8
the other side of the board, White
should have a relatively easy task
to attack and win one of the king­
side pawns. However, care is still
needed.
69 f5
69 �f6 l%c7 70 f5 ltc6 + 71 �xf7
gxf5 72 l%f3 would have been sim­
pler. White creates a passed pawn
and Black's king is too far away to
 Endings
The decisive move. White's rook
'cuts off' the black king along the
e-file, preventing it from joining
the defence. The rook alone is no
match for the king and two pawns,
so Capablanca resigned.
This ending can be divided into
stages:
1 . The rook was played behind
the passed a-pawn, tying down
the enemy rook.
2. The king marched across,
threatening to attack the rook,
thereby dragging Black's king
over with it.
3. Black was put into Zug­
zwang with a waiting move, forc­
ing a concession.
4. The king walked back to at­
tack the kingside pawns.
Returning to the initial posi­
tion, let's swap the two rooks
around.
At first it would appear that
White has benefited as it is possi­
ble to advance the a-pawn straight
187
down to a7. However, closer ex­
amination reveals that this doesn't
actually help, for instance:
1 a6 h5 2 a7 <M6 3 �1 cM5 4
f3 �f6 5 �el �g7 6 �dl �f6 7
�cl �g7 8 �bl lla6 9 'otb2 �f6
10 �b3 :tal 1 1 �b4 �g7 12
�b5 �f6 13 �b6 llbl + 14 �c5
:tal
So long as Black keeps the rook
on a1, and checks the king away
when it comes to support the
pawn, it is impossible for White to
make progress as the rook on a8 is
too passive. There is just one trick
to look out for: Black should never
play ... �e6 as .l:te8+ and a8'ii' would
follow.
Returning to the initial posi­
tion, it is also possible for White
to leave the pawn on a6, and then
to bring the king over.
The drawback is that White's
kingside pawns are just too weak.
For instance (starting with the
following diagram) :
188 Choose the Right Move
a b c d e h
a b c d e g h
1 a6 �6 2 Wf3 h5 3 We3 Wf5
4 Wd4 l:xf2 5 �c5 Wg4 6 l:td8
lla2 7 �b6 1lb2 + 8 Wc7 1lc2 + 9
Wb8 l:b2+ 10 WaS Wxg3
a b c g h
. . . and Black has more than suf­
ficient counterplay. This position
highlights why the rook is so
strongly placed behind the passed
pawn, and not in front of it. In
Alekhine-Capablanca the white
rook not only supported the a­
pawn, but defended the kingside
pawns as well. Here, Black's rook
(and king) run riot, and the white
rook is unable to combine attack
and defence.
When I think of the rook sup­
porting a passed pawn from be­
hind there are several examples
that spring to mind - usually the
ones that I've seen in diagrams in
books! I'm afraid I've always been
lazy about playing through games
on a board, so a great deal of my
chess knowledge is built from
browsing through books, particu­
larly ones where there are a lot of
diagrams.
Spassky - Korchnoi
Belgrade Candidates 1977
I saw this position in Raymond
Keene's book on the Candidates
match between Viktor Korchnoi
and Boris Spassky. It's simple,
but it makes a big impression. An
incisive piece of endgame tech­
nique from Korchnoi.
 Endings
55 ...l:la8!
I like this move! The threat is
simply to push the a-pawn down
the board. Bringing the white king
over would clearly be too slow, so
Spassky desperately sacrifices a
pawn in order to get some coun­
terplay.
56 g4 fxg4 57 'ii?g3 a5
Passed pawns must be pushed -
especially when they have a rook
behind them.
58 f5 a4 59 'ii?f4 a3 60 'ii?g5 a2
6 1 l:lal �c5 62 <iW6 �d4 63
�xf7 he5 64 f6 �d4
c d e
White resigned. The conclusion
might be 66 �g7 �c3 67 f7 �b2
68 l:lxa2 + �xa2 69 f81i' J:lxf8 70
�xf8 g3, and Black gets a new
queen.
Coincidentally, another of my
favourite rook endings also fea­
tures Viktor Korchnoi, who is well
known for his endgame mastery.
This win brought the scores level
at five-all in the epic 1978 World
189
Korchnoi - Karpov
World Championship,
Baguio City (31) 1978
Championship match in the Phil­
ippines, though Karpov won the
very next game to retain the title,
for which he was awarded the Or­
der of Lenin by Brezhnev. Those
were the days. At first glance it is
hard to imagine that White has
any advantage here at all, but
Korchnoi had seen deeply into the
position, and embarks on a bril­
liant and daring plan.
50 'ii?b 4! �e8 51 a6! bxa6 52
�a5 �d7 53 �b6
The sole purpose of the pawn
sacrifice was to bring the white
king into Black's position. Karpov
has brought the king across to de­
fend the c-pawn, but Korchnoi's
initiative continues, in spite of
Black having a whole move to try
to defend against the threat of 54
d5.
53 ...b4
190 Choose the Right Move
It seems reasonable to push a
passed pawn, but White's attack
is simply too strong for it ever to
become a serious threat.
54 d5 cxd5 55 :.Xd5 + �c8
Curiously, it is possible that
55 . . . <li'e7 draws. This is hard to
imagine, as the king voluntarily
allows itself to be cut off from the
c-pawn by the rook on the d-file.
Nevertheless, after 56 1M3 l:.c4 57
c6 a5 58 c7 a4 59 l:.d4, which Kor­
chnoi gives as winning, 59 . . . l:.c1
60 .l:xb4 a3 looks like it holds on
to me, e.g. 61 l:.a4 �d7 62 l:.d4 +
�e7 63 .l:a4, etc.
Whether this is the case or not,
Korchnoi's conception is no less
brilliant: it was the only possible
way of playing for the win and it
succeeded in throwing Karpov off
balance.
56 l:ld3!
Not only holding the b-pawn,
but threatening a lethal switch
with the rook.
56 a5 57 .l:g3!
•.•
White's attack against the king
is just as in Philidor's position,
the difference here is that Black's
rook is unable to defend along the
third rank, or along the b-file, be­
cause it is impeded by its own
pawns.
57 b3
•••
Forced, otherwise White would
have played c6, mating or queen­
ing the pawn. Now 59 c6 would be
met by 59 . . . l:.b4 + , checking the
king away.
58 �c6
58 l:.xb3 l:.b4 + 59 .l:.xb4 axb4
would not have been too bright.
58 �b8 59 :Xb3 +
•••
Now the rook is able to just
mop up the pawns.
59 ... �a7 60 :b7+ <iita6
60 . . . �a8 61 l:tb5 a4 62 <3ilc7
(threatening l:la5 mate) 62 . . . l:.e7 +
6 3 �d6 l:la7 6 4 c6 .:ta6 6 5 �d7 a3
66 c7 also wins.
61 :b6 + <3ira7 62 <iii>b5 a4 63
l:.xf6 l:.f4 64 .:txh6 a3 65 l:.a6 +
�b8 66 :Xa3 :xf5 67 l:lg3 lUG
 Endings 191

Philidor's position, except that

White has an extra h-pawn. The
win is easy: hold the position on the
queenside and push the h-pawn.
68 l:[g8 + �c7 69 l:lg7+ 'ii;1 c8
70 l:[h7

King - B. Kelly
Dublin 1 995

57 ... �8 58 l:[xb7 l:[h3 59

Here Karpov decided that he
had had enough. Let's go through
one possible conclusion: 70 . . . lle6
(Black can only wait) 71 h4 llffi 72
h5 :e6 73 h6 :m 74 llh8 + <l;c7 75
llb8 + �g7
Now the way is clear for the e­
pawn.
60 <i2?d7 lhh2 61 e6 l:ld2 + 62
<i2?e7
62 <i2?e8 would have been better,
but I was concerned about 62 ... �.
62 .l:.d5 63 .l:.b7 a5 64 �e8 +
•••

h7 l:[h6 76 l1a8! (a typical trick) 'ii;1g8 65 e7 a4 66 .l:.a7 lld4 67

76 . . . :Xh7 77 :a7+ . llxa4 c5

The combined attack of king,

rook and pawn against a king on
the back rank is very common.
Here is another example (see dia­
gram at top of next column), this
time from one of my own games.
56 �5!
The king needs the shelter of
the pawn.
56 l:[b3 57 �e6!
•••

Forcing the king out from in

front of the pawn.
192 Choose the Right Move

68 l:.a5! cxb4 69 l:.g5+ ..t?h7 Question 7. 1 0: White played 43

I hope this position looks famil­ lle5 + here and the game was later
iar - it is in essence Lucena again. drawn. What should I have played?
The b-pawn doesn't make a huge
difference. Black actually resigned
here before I could play 69 . . /.Ph7
70 �f7 l:.f4 + 71 ..t?e6 lle4 + ('take
it to the bridge') 72 l:.e5.

I have found that the best way

of improving one's understanding
of the endgame is by a combina­
tion of study of the classic games,
some study of basic theoretical
ideas, and the experience of play­
ing. Once one becomes aware of
certain ideas such as using the
king, or cutting your opponent's
king off using the rook, and so on, Fliickiger - King
then magically they begin to crop Berne 1982
up. It takes time to build up such
experience, but it is the only way. Question 7. 1 1 : White played .
. .

To finish off on rook endgames, l lla5

here are a few test positions: . . . threatening mate. What is
the best way for Black to defend?

King - Krihenbiihl
Lopez Ramos - Hevia
Zug 1985
' Spain 1992
 Endings
Question 7. 12: Black continued
4 1 . . .ltxc3, which was met by 42
ltxa4, and the position was com­
pletely level. What could Black
have played instead?
More complex endings
As I have already mentioned, as
well as some knowledge of theo­
retical endings, it is the study of
complete endgames by the great
masters that is a sure way to im­
prove. So far we have only looked
at king and pawn endings and
rook endings, so now let's con­
sider something a little more com­
plex. This has always been one of
my favourite endgames, not be­
cause it is in anyway spectacular,
in fact, precisely because it isn't.
What I find so impressive is that
Alekhine, by patience, accuracy,
and a little help from his oppo­
nent, manages to squeeze out a
win from a position which many
players would have given up as a
draw.
Znosko-Borovsky - Alekhine
Paris 1933
1 e4 e5 2 lL!f3 lL!c6 3 .ib5 a6 4
.ia4 lL!f6 5 0-0 d6 6 c3 .id7 7
.l:te1 .ie7 8 d4 0-0 9 lL!bd2 .ie8
10 .ixc6 .ixc6 11 dxe5 dxe5 12
lL!xe5 .ixe4 13 lL!xe4 'ii'xd1 14
lL!xf6 + gxf6 15 :Xd1 fxe5 (D)
White was not obliged to sim­
plify the position but, intimidated
by his illustrious opponent, he is
193
playing for a draw. However, sim­
ply exchanging pieces is no guar­
antee that the point will be split.
By careless and routine play
White quickly finds himself with
an inferior, though by no means
lost, position. In My Best Games
of Chess 1 924-37, Alekhine, with
an enormous dollop of hindsight,
now enunciates a six stage plan
leading to White's demise; and
strangely enough, the game fol­
lows exactly that course. White's
big problem in this game was that
he defended passively, the great­
est sin in the endgame, and at no
time did he attempt to cut across
Alekhine's plans.
16 .ih6 .l:tfd8 17 r.ti>fl?
A poor move that allows Black
to seize control of the centre.
From here on White is on the de­
fensive. Instead 17 g4 would have
been much stronger, preventing
Black from playing . . . f5 and at­
tempting to control the e4 and f5
squares himself. White's 'threat'
194 Choose the Right Move
here would have been to play
'ili>gl-g2-f3-e4 with a clamp on the
centre.
Question 7. 1 3: Find a way for
Black to meet White's positional
threat.
17 f5!
.••
Central control is important,
even (especially?) in the endgame.
As we will see, these two centre
pawns provide Black's pieces with
the cover that they need to under­
take sweeping operations all over
the board.
18 lhd8 + lb:d8 19 g3
Necessary, as . . . f4, locking in
the bishop, was a threat, though
the result of such an insignificant
pawn move is that Black is able
to consolidate his grip on the cen­
tre.
19 'ili>f7 20 i.e3 h5 2 1 �e2
...
<lte6
9 h
When I was discussing the mid­
dlegame, I mentioned the idea of
'mini-operations', short-tenn plans
of two to four moves with the
simple aim of improving the posi­
tion of one's pieces, or perhaps
weakening the opponent's posi­
tion in some way. In the endgame
the same technique can be used
and, if anything, with more fre­
quency than in the middlegame,
as there are fewer tactics to nego­
tiate. Alekhine has carried out
the first of several 'mini-opera­
tions ' by establishing his two
pawns in the centre, supported by
the king. It is time for the next op­
eration to take place, this time on
the kingside.
22 l:td1 l:tg8
Because of his central control,
Black would still have had the
better chances if he had ex­
changed rooks. However, I'm sure
it didn't even cross Alekhine's
mind. He would have known from
experience that, unless special
positional circumstances prevail,
bishop endings are extremely dif­
ficult to win when both sides have
an equal number of pawns. In­
stead he moves the rook to a semi­
open file on the kingside. Note
how important it was for Black to
bring the king into the centre: it
prevents White from moving the
rook down to the seventh rank.
23 f3 h4
Operation no.2 is now in full
swing. Using the isolated h-pawn,
Alekhine wants to create a weak­
ness, or perhaps open a file on the
kingside.
24 i.f2 hxg3
 Endings
While this move is perfectly
good, I'm a little surprised that
Alekhine didn't play 24 . . . h3. Al­
though this closes the kingside, the
pawn on h3 is a tremendous long­
term asset for Black if the posi­
tion ever breaks open: White's
h-pawn could potentially be at­
tacked by rook or bishop, and as
the h-pawn is already so far ad­
vanced, this looks a tempting al­
ternative.
25 hxga :bs
Keeping White busy by threat­
ening a potential invasion on h2
or h1 with the rook. This is in fact
a pseudo threat. White feels obliged
to do something about it, even
though at the moment it really
wouldn't be dangerous.
26 �gl �d6
An extremely solid move; every­
thing is protected, and the bishop
eyes the weak pawn on g3.
27 �
This is such an ugly move,
highlighting White's lack of space.
The idea is to meet 27 . . . e4 with 28
fxe4 fxe4 29 'iii>g 2, holding the g­
pawn.
27 ...:g8!
Keeping White busy by tying
him down to the defence of the
weak pawn.
28 �f2 b51
Having softened up White's
kingside, Alekhine turns his at­
tention to the other side of the
board, where he wants to gain
space with his pawns and create an
open file for his rook to penetrate
195
into the enemy position. If White
sits passively, then Black will carry
out the operation . . . c5-c4, . . . a5,
.. J:tb8 and . . . b4. White should
have been alert to this plan of gain­
ing space on the queenside right
from the start of the endgame and
played, for instance, 22 a4, in­
stead of 22 :dl .
29 b3
This actually makes it much
easier for Black to break through
on the queenside:
29 ... a5! 30 �g2 a4
At first, this move looks a little
strange; surely it would have been
better to play the rook behind the
pawn first? But Alekhine knew
exactly what he was doing: 3 1
bxa4 bxa4 3 2 l:tb1 would b e met
by 32 . . .'it>d5 ! followed by 33 . . . �c4.
The virtues of a centralised king
are clear.
There is another bid for coun­
terplay which must also be con­
sidered, namely, 31 :h1, taking
196 Choose the Right Moue
control of the open h-file . How­
ever, Black may simply keep going
on the queenside : 3 l . . .axb3 32
axb3 .l:.a8! 33 l:.h6 + �f7! Nor­
mally it is better to go forwards
rather than back with the king,
but this ensures that the pawn on
f5 will remain protected, and then
the black rook mops up on the
queenside. Alekhine had antici­
pated everything when he played
the bishop to d6. In variations
such as these, where a marauding
rook enters the position, it is es­
sential that Black's army is com­
pact and secure.
31 l:td2
White is forced to defend pas­
sively; fatal.
3l axb3 32 axb3 l:ta8
•••
This invasion is serious. White's
king is too far away to prevent the
rook's entry this time.
33 c4 Ita3 34 c5 if..e 7 35 .l:.b2
b4
Black has a simple threat: ... Ital,
. . . Itcl, and the c-pawn drops,
though it might be even stronger
to put the rook on c3 and squeeze
some more concessions before
cashing in:
36 g4
A bid for counterplay - at least
White has a passed pawn now -
though Alekhine makes sure it is
going nowhere.
36 ...f4!
This far-advanced pawn may
be a real asset.
37 �n l:.al + 38 <oire2 l:.cl 39
l:.a2
A bid for freedom, but fairly
hopeless.
39 ... l:tc3 40 Ita7 �d7 41 l:tb7
.1Ixb3 42 .IIb S l:tb2 + 43 �1 b3
44 �gl <oirc6 45 �n
45 ... �d5
Alekhine himself points out
that 45 . . . e4 would have won more
quickly, for instance: 46 fxe4 f3 !
(this is the point, Black sets up a
mating net) 4 7 'it>gl .i.xc5 48 .txc5
�xc5 49 g5 .1Ig2 + 50 'itfl �c4 and
White must give up the rook for
the b-pawn, while the black rook
mops up the last two white pawns.
Compare the two king positions.
46 l:.b7 e4 47 fxe4 + ot>xe4 48
.1Ixc7 �f3
The attack with king and rook
against king on the back-rank. By
now this ought to be a familiar
motif.
49 l:.xe7 Itxf2 + 50 �el b2 51
.1Ib7 .1Ic2 52 c6
There are several ways to fin­
ish from here, the only one which
 Endings
isn't too good is 52 ... .l:.c1 +? 53 'itd2
b11i' 54 l:.xb1 l:.xb1 55 c7 and the
pawn is unstoppable, but 52 ... r.itg2!
is also good.
52 ... r.itg3! 53 c7 f3 54 'itdl
l:.xc7 55 l:.xb2 f2
. . . and White resigned.
With that, I'm going to con­
clude this chapter on endgame play.
I should emphasise that this is by
no means a comprehensive sur­
vey. I have pointed out a few basic
positions which it is essential to
have an understanding of, and de­
scribed the method of studying
classic endgames, which helps in
the recognition of familiar themes.
Skill in the endgame will not come
overnight, patience is required
both on the board and off it, but
it is one of the most rewarding
phases of the game if you do man­
age to master its subtleties.
197
Answers
7. 1
So long as you resist the temp­
tation to push the pawn, but in­
stead, first use your king to gain
the opposition, then the position
is winning. For instance,
1 'ifi>c2
1 'ite2 works in a similar way,
but not 1 d4? 'itd7 2 'itd2 'itd6 3
'itd3 'itd5 and Black draws.
l ... 'itd7 2 r.itd3 'it>d6 3 �d4 r.itc6
4 'ite5 'itc5 5 d4 + r.itc6 6 r.ite6!
Use the king to clear the path
for the pawn (6 d5 + ? 'itd7 draws) .
6 ... 'itc7 7 d5 'itd8 8 'itd6 'ite8
9 'itc7 etc.
7.2
This can almost be solved by
process of elimination. First, 1
'itxc7 is stalemate, while if the
rook moves away instead, for in­
stance 1 .l:.h8, then l . . .ltlxb5 is a
draw. The only winning move is . . .
1 .l:.a8 + ! ltlxa8 2 'itc8
. . . and in spite of being a whole
piece up, Black loses. His only
move is
2 ... ltlc7 3 �xc7 �a8 4 �b6
'itb8
. . . and we know that this posi­
tion is winning:
5 'it>a6 'ita8 6 b6 'itb8 7 b7
'itc7 8 'ita7
. . . and White makes a queen.
7.3
Black may simply play 1 . . .1i'xe3!
2 fxe3 + r.itxe3, and wins. This was
198 Choose the Right Move
not terribly difficult given our
knowledge of this position.
7.4
1 'ili>e5 We7
The king has been blocked, but
if it were Black's move here . . .
2 g3! Wf7 3 �d6 rl;g7 4 he6
. . . and so on.
7. 5
1 f4!
Creating an 'outside' passed
pawn.
1 ... gxf4 2 Wf3 �e6 3 �xf4
'ili>f6 4 h4 <t>g6 5 b4 b5 6 a3 a6 7
h5 + Wxh5 8 �xf5
White wins because his king is
first to reach the pawns.
8 ... <t>h4 9 'ili>e5 �g3 10 �d5
Wf3 1 1 Wc5 We3 12 'iitb6 'ili>d3 13
'ili>xa6 'ili>c4 14 �a5 etc.
7. 6
86 h3l
•••
86 . . . We8? 87 'ili>xh4 �f8 88 �h5
1lg7 89 'ili>g5 and wins.
87 gxh3 �e8
The players agreed a draw
here. It's theory: 89 �g6 �f8 90
Wh7 �f7, "and the only way that
the white king can escape from
the h-file is by allowing Black's
king into the corner.
7. 7
1 ... Wf7r
l...�e7? 2 Wxe5 '1t>d7 3 �ffi wins.
2 'ili>xe5 �e7 3 �d5 �d7
and it is a draw since Black's
king holds the opposition.
7.8
No. If 55 . . Jbg6 56 Wxg6 and
this is a winning position. In the
game Black played . . .
5 4 .1:ta7 5 5 l:h6 l:g7 +
•••
. . . and a draw was agreed.
7.9
Yes, Black should exchange
rooks ; the position is a draw after
L.l:xh6 2 '1t>xh6 'ili>f7.
7. 10
Amazingly, after
43 .l:th5!
White succeeds in getting the
rook behind the passed a-pawn.
43 �e4 44 l:h3 l:bS 45 :aa
••.
. . . and the position should be
winning. An unusual ruse, though
I was kicking myself for missing it
afterwards. In the game I played
43 lle5 + , but Black's pieces were
too active for me to win : 43 . . .'it>d4
44 l::t f5 'iite4 45 llf8 l%a3 46 l:e8 +
�d4 4 7 .l:ta8 l::t a2 48 �gl l:al + 49
�f2 �e4 50 a5 lla2 + 5 1 Wgl f3 52
gxf3 + �xf3 53 a6 :tal + 54 Wh2
.l:ta2 + 55 �h3 l:r.al 56 �h4 �f4 57
�h5 V2-'h.
7. 1 1
l..J1b8!
Defending against the mate,
and at the same time preparing to
bring the rook behind the passed
pawn. If instead l . . .'iit f8? 2 l:a7!
�e8 3 l::tc 7 and the only way for
Black to make progress is to sacri­
fice his kingside pawns: 3 . . . �d8?!
4 .l:txf7 o5 5 �fl intending to use
 Endings
the king to blockade the pawn;
but now White stands better. .
2 'iii>f3 g6 3 l:ta7 l:tc8 4 'ltte 4
�g7 5 g4 c5 6 g5 c4 7 l:ta2 'lttf8 8
l:tc2 'iii> e 7 9 f4 �e6 10 l:tc3 l:tc7
White IS m Zugzwang. All I
have to do is make waiting moves
with the rook, and White, having
exhausted his run of pawn moves
will have to give ground.
1 1 h3 l:tc8 12 h4 l:tc7
White resigned as 13 'ltt f3 'lttd 5!
14 'iii>e 3 l:tc8 15 �d2 'ltt e 4, and the
king mops up.
7. 12
A simple plan for Black is to
play . . .
199
4l. .. �e4!
. . . and it is impossible to stop
the king from moving over to the
queenside to support the a-pawn,
e.g.
42 �fl �d3 43 'iti>e1 'itxc3 44
'itd1 �b3
Black continues with . . . a3, etc.,
and wins comfortably thanks to
the a-pawn.
7. 13
Mter 1 7 g4, Black may con­
tinue 17 . . . f6 18 'iti>g2 <3i;f7 19 'ili>f3
'lttg6 ! 20 .i.e3 f5 ! 21 gxf5 + 'iti>xf5
when Black has prevented White's
king from reaching e4. Chances
are even.