The Chess Manual of Avoidable Mistakes Vol 1 - Romain Edouard

The Chess Manual of
Avoidable Mistakes
First edition 2014 by Thinkers Publishing
Copyright © 2014 Remain Edouard
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprod uced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in a ny form or by any means, electronic, mechanica l, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission from the publisher.
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ISBN : 978908225661 1
The Chess Manual of
Avoidable Mistakes
By
Romain Edouard
Thinkers Publishing 2014
www .thinkerspublishing.com
Key to Symbols used
a good move ± White has a serious advantage

? a weak move + Black has a serious advantage
!! a n excellent move +- White has a decisive adva ntage
?? a blunder -+ Black has a decisive advantage
!? an interesting move --+ with an attack
?! a dubious move i with an initiative
o onlymove ii with a lead in development
= equality � with counterplay
oo unclear position 11 with the idea of
oo with compensation for the sacrificed a better is
material
N novelty
# mate
;!; White stands slightlybetter
+ check
+ Black stands slightlybetter
4
Contents
Key to Sym bo Is use d ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4
P reface ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5
Ch 1: Obj e ctivity throughout a ch e ss gam e -----------------------------�----------------------------------- 9
Exe rcises to Chapte r 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 47
Ch 2: Ge n e ra I re asons for blund e ring------------------------------------------------------------------------- 51

Exe rcise s to Chapte r 2 ----- ---------------------- --------------------- --------------- - ---------------------- 93
-- - - - -
Ch 3 Concrete move s and conce ssions ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 98

Exe rcise s to Chapte r 3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------139
Ch 4: A few key tips to improve your results ---------------------------------------------------------------- 142

Exe rcise s to Ch apte r 4 --------------- ------------------------------ - --------------------- --------------------- 171
- - - -
Solutions to all Exe rcise s ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 172
5
Preface
In early 2013 I was approached by Thinkers Publishing, asking if I was interested in wri
ting a book, a nd, if so, what kind of origi nal subject I could find to write a bout. I was parti
cula rly pleased at the second pa rt of this request, since I was also motivated to tackle a
fresh and as yet not well explored a ngle of chess im provement.
My guiding principle was : what kind of book does not exist and could have helped me
i mprove quicker when I was younger. I rea lized that there was an advantage to my young
age, as I stil l had a clear memory of the different types of m istakes I was committing in my
formative chess years and it would be instructive to show how I went abo ut correcting
them .
Many chess books only show positive exam ples o f how chess should b e played, which
is very helpful in terms of improving genera l chess culture and understanding. But I feel
that the im provement margin of solving perso nal practical problems is even greater.
Thus, to gather m aterial for this book, I've went over all my games from the last ten
yea rs (approximately 1000 games), selecting at first 300, and after placing them
throughout various chapters, I wound up using a little over 100 exa mples. By noting the
recurrent mistakes in my ga mes, which are com mon to many players, I decided that the
book would consist of four main parts :
• how to be more objective during a chess game;

• how to reduce the n u m ber of blunders;
• how to judge concrete moves and concessions;

• general tips to improve chess results (lin ked to openings, psychology, and work
process)
Apart from featuring critica l mistakes of m ine, there are also exam ples of recent games
in which I've successfully dealt with a theme that had been a problem in the past. I tried
to find instructive examples that would show what kind of situations mistakes most fre
quently arise from. However, in my recent games, there a re plenty of 'negative' examples
as well, which show that chess improvement is a never ending work, and that defects are
6
always coming back at full speed if you don't work regularly on them. A few exa mples by
other players are also included, mostly as exercises.
The core of the book is the dissection of my games from a psychological and practica l
point of view, though I have tried to keep it entertaining and easy to read. While d rawing
on my own games in order to be as accurate and revealing as possible in my explanations,
as a reader, you should recognize yourself in m a ny of the typical mistakes I'm going to
describe.
Now let's have a deeper look at the composition of the book.
lt is obvious that a human being cannot retain complete objectivity throughout an enti
re game of chess. lt is difficult to catch the critical moments, not to fear 'fake' threats,
and to keep a cool head under pressure. The logical a rc of our game is often interrupted,
since it's l i n ked to the evaluation of the position which we don't always feel correctly. And
finally, which one of us has not passed the line of no return in an attempt to win an equal
game ? All this will be discussed in the first chapter.
There are m a ny causes to blundering, the main ones being : radical a nd/or m u ltiple
evaluation changes d u ring a game that produce an unsettling psychological effect, wrong
automatic moves, time pressure, lack of concentration, over confidence, etc. None of the
se problems can be completely eliminated, but all of them can be improved. This will be
the purpose of the second chapter.
Chess is a concrete game, and a game of concessions. This means there a re objective
decisions being taken at several stages of the game, and, u nless our opponent's moves are
almost all blunders, many of them should be concessions since you cannot dominate the
full chess board . The third chapter will deal with concrete technical decisions of all kinds
(transformations, pro phylaxis, transpositions ... ) . In order words : how to give away few of
the things you like in your position in order to get even more major assets.
The final chapter will consist of advice upon different themes. For exam ple, there are
many reasons for the opening to go wrong: an inappropriate choice of line, inadeq uate
work at home, a bad way of learning you r analysis. There is also a general attitude which
helps to play objective a nd a m bitious chess. Finally, there are several key things that
anyone who wants to become good has to study.
7
At the end of each subchapter (the first three chapters will contain 4 or 5 sub- chapters
each) we'll form ulate a ' ru le' that will contain several tips (in bold) for your future games.
After each chapter, you will find a general conclusion, summarizing all the rules we have
established, followed by several practical exercises, to be solved according to the
instructions. Only the last, fourth chapter will be constructed in a totally different way,
with a list of advice illustrated by games.
Since this is a book aiming to im prove the reader's practical play, the exercises will re
quire a different approach than usual. First of all, they will not be sorted by themes/topics
nor by difficulty. For most of them the only hint will be that these exercises shall concern
the chapter that is being studied. Secondly, sometimes the reader will not be asked to find
a way to a clear result like a win or d raw, but other kinds of questions: to compare be
tween several moves, find a m istake in a series of moves, find the trickiest continuation
and assess it. Why? Because in a practical game nobody is there to tell you what exactly
you should find and where.
The exercises will rese m ble a practical game as much as possible. For each exercise I
will mention if there should be a time limit to find the solution or not. The time limit will
depend on the reader's chess level/rating (a titled player should definitely use the shor
test time allotment). lt takes into consideration the fact that you know you are looking for
something, which is a big hint com pared to a chess game. lt does not mean that you
should stop searching if you don't a nswer the question in time, but the 'clock' gives a
relatively good esti mation whether you would have 'succeeded' to solve the problem in a
practical game or not. The solutions should not be only 'one move': force yourself to make
it as complete as possible: calculate full and deep lines, and even write them down if you
can. Unless it is mentioned, consider moving the pieces on the board as a last resort.
I hope very m uch that you, dear reader, will enjoy my book 'The Chess Manual of
Avoidable M istakes' !
Romain EDOUARD, November 2014.
8
Objectivity throughout a
chess game
A second problem we have to face is that

we very often miss simple defensive moves
I
when we are under pressure. We do have
a nasty tendency to feel l ike things are go
ing wrong prematurely, usually for no ob
jective reasons. Quite often, our fate can
be changed, and the pressure is tempo
rary.
§ l.l lntroduction
A third problem is l i n ked to nerves, or
Objectivity is what makes the biggest dif sometimes laziness. Indeed, we have to
ference between humans and computers. force ourselves to calculate as deeply as
Computer can miss, for example, human possible when it is obvious that the mo
sacrifices. But a l l the basic tactics are auto ment is important. Sometimes we do not
matica lly explored within a few seconds, believe that we'll be able to calculate eve
while fa ke threats or bad combinations a re rything until the end and do not even give
not even taken into consideration. We, it a try. This is what makes the biggest dif
humans, have to take thousands things ference between top players and the ot
into consideration during our games, lose hers.
time to keep an eye on many things that
are actually not working, a nd have to rea Finally, chess is a game where we have
lize where and when to think about what. to be ambitious, sometimes even brave,
This logica lly makes the task of being ob but it doesn't mean that we should over
jective much more difficult. play a position. In order words, chess is a
game in which we have to take risks, but if
The first problem we chess players meet we lose our o bjectivity and cannot mea
is that we are not always able to objecti sure the risks taken, the outcome of the
vely assess the possibilities in the position. game will rarely be satisfying.
Sometimes, if we are happy with some
thing we can do, we are not looking for
more. This is a mistake in many cases.
9
The Chess Manual of Avoidable Mistakes
§ 1.2 Try to expect as much as the posi Final ly, sometimes, you have the feeling
tion deserves that you gave your opponent some unne
cessary chances. The human reaction,
lt is not an easy task to know how much instead of playing strictly according to the
you should expect from your position, sin new parameters {which would be enough
ce you do not know its precise evaluation to win if, for exam ple, the position was
that you have to access. Though chess pla totally winning before you gave some
yers are from time to time too optimistic in chances), is to start to see ghosts every
a game (see subchapter number 4), they where and lose a l l kind of objectivity. This
a re even more often minimalist. will be the purpose of example number 4.
The first most common situation where [J, Edouard, Romain (2617)
chess players get minimalist is when it is ' Dorfman, lossif (2587)
possible to get easily a small, but stable ad Il 2010.06.06
vantage against a strong player. Indeed, it • FRA -TOP 16, round 1 1
is very human to be lazy (or too respectful) � FRA
and go for the simplest solution if it is qui
te good. But, you may not rea l ize that you
can obtain a much bigger advantage and 1. d4 dS 2. c4 c6 3. ll:Jf3 ll:Jf6 4. ll:Jc3 dxc4
be happy with the mini m u m . This will be 5. a4 �fS 6. e3 e6 7. �xc4 jlb4 8. 0-0
the purpose the first two examples in this ll:Jbd7 9. ll:Jh4 0-0 10. f3 £ g6 11. �b3
subchapter. �b6
The second most common situation is 1 1 . . . a S ! ? 12. ll:Ja2 A e7 13. tt:Jxg6 hxg6 14.
when a chess player recovers from a very �xb7 � b8 15. �a6 { 15. �xc6? � b6-+)
bad position and loses a l l kind of a mbition 15 ... cS�
in his moves or decisions. This will be the
purpose of example number 3. 12. � d1 eS 13. tt:Jxg6 hxg6 14. ll:Je2 exd4
15. ll:Jxd4 ll:JeS 16. ll:Jc2 ll:Jxc4 17. �xc4
Ae7 18. aS �c7 19. e4 Ad6 20. h3 �es
21. '\tb4 b6 22. Ae3 �ab8 23. axb6 axb6
24. �d2 �fd8
24 . . . cS !? 25. 'ltbS � aB=

25. �xd8+ �xd8 26. 'ltb3 cS 27. f4 Ac7
28. eS �dS 29. �a4 ll:Je4 30. ll:Ja3 �d3
30 ... gS ! ? 3 1 . � d 1 bS ! 32. tt:JxbS �c6 33.

ll:Jc3 �xa4 34. ll:Jxa4 � b4 35. �a 1 gxf4
36. Axf4 f6=
10
Objectivity throughout a chess game
31. 1:1 el bS 32. �dl Now comes the moment we are interested
in.
37... �dB?
37 ... � c8 was the only move to stay in the

game.
38. �xd8+ J.xd8
Position after: 32. �dl
32... �xdl?!
32 ... c4 ! 33. �xd3 cxd3 34. !! d l d2 35.

tL\bl gS!=
33. �xdl
Position after: 38 . . . �xd8
Until now the game had been very unclear,
but after a few inaccuracies, Black is suffer I had rea lized I should have a better posi
ing and in time trouble. tion playing just natural moves, and sud
denly decided not even to look for more. I
33... gS 34. 1:1 d7 gxf4 35. J.xf4 gS 36. considered that Black is going to play . . .f6
J.h2 b4 37. lt:Jc4 next anyway, and that the e4- knight will
escape. So I resigned myself to just exchan
ge my bishop against my opponent's
knight, in order to get a positional advanta
ge and later see how big my winning chan
ces are.
39. �fl?
Of course it is not always easy to realize

that you can just win a piece when you're
playing such a strong and experienced
Position after: 37. lt:\c4 player like Dorfman, but anyway half a
minute of concentration would have been
11
enough to notice that after 39. g4 ! f6 40. £3, Naiditsch, Arkadij (2716)
e6 ! followed by �g2 - � f3 the game would .1. Edouard, Romain (2602)
be over: yes, suddenly only two moves are [] 2011 .06.04
needed to attack the e4- knight ! • FRA Top 12, round 10
� M ul house FRA
39 ... f6 40. �e2 fxeS
1. e4 e6 2. d4 dS 3. llJd2 il.,e7 4. .,td3 cS

S. dxcS llJf6 6. exdS �xdS 7. llJgf3 ttJbd7
8. b4 aS 9. _ic4 �hS 10. c3 llJdS 11.
_ixdS �xdS 12. a4
12. _ib2 axb4 13. cxb4 l:[xa2 14. li xa2

�xa2 15. �cl 0-0=
12... b6! 13. 0-0 bxcS 14. bS �b7 1S. c4

'@'fS 16. it_b2 0-0 17. '@'b1 �xbl 18.
Position after: 40 ... fxeS ll fxb1 11fd8
41. AxeS?? 0 18 ... llJb6
Once again the same problem, not trying 19. �fl

to get the most out of the position and
favouring superficial concepts. o 19. i,c3 i,xf3 ( 19 ... llJb6 20. llJeS;t)
20. llJxf3 llJbG 2 1 . ttJeS .if6 22. 11cl
41. � d3 ! llJf6 (41... llJf2+ 42. � e3+-) 42. A xeS 23. � xeS ll d7=
ttJxeS followed by � c4 would still be
easily winning. 19... llJb6 20. �e2 f6 21. j,c3 eS 22. 11d1
_ic8!? 23. llJb3 ttJxc4 24. l:[ xd8+ _ixd8
41... �f7 42. �d3 llJf6 43. �xf6 2S. ttJxcS?!
I fin a l ly managed to echange my strong o 25. llJfd 2 ! � e 6 ! ? 26. llJxcS j_ d S 27.

knight against the bad dark squared bish ttJxc4 _txc4+ 28. � el=
op: but I simplified so much that the posi
tion is a dead d raw. 2S... .ib6 26. llJb3 Ae6 27. llJfd2
43 ... _ixf6 44. �e4 �e6 o 27. 11cl llc8 +
We played a nother 10-15 moves, a nd · 27... ttJxd2 28. ttJxd2 ,:c8 29. licl?!
agreed to a draw. Yz-Yz
12
29. It a3 �f7+ for sure have seen if I hadn't been playing

agai nst such a strong player like Naiditsch.
29... J,.d4 30. ltJbl? What's the point?
30. lt:Je4 !1c4+ 35. J,.xc3 i_xa4 36. b6 i_c6 37. g3
30... �b3
30 ... l:tc4-+
31. �d2 i(.xf2 32. i_xa5 �e3+ 33. �xe3

Itxc1 34. lt:Jc3
Position after: 37. g3
The endgame is actually a dead draw.
37 �f7 38. h4 �e6 39. i_b4 �f5 40.

..•
J,.f8 g5 41. hxg5 �xg5 42. J,.e7 h5 43.

i_d8 �f5 44. i_e7 �e6
Position after: 34. lt:\c3 Yz-Yz
Now comes the moment we're interested

in: in this position, I felt like I may have de [},Edouard, Remain {2212)
cent winning chances taking on c3, without .1.Salgado Lopez, lva n (2264)
any risk, and didn't even look for more. [] 2004.11.10
• Monde ( G14), round 8
34. .. !1xc3+?? � Heraklio
But using my brain a little bit more, I would

have noticed quickly enough that I could 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. eS c5 4. c3 ltJc6 5. lt:Jf3
win at once: 34 . . . J,.xa4 35. ttJxa4 !1a 1 36. j_d7 6. a3 f6 7. j_d3 "f!/c7 8. J,.f4 0-0-0 9.
b6 � xa4 37. b7 !1a3+-+ Of course, not to b4 c4 10. i_e2 g5 11. i_g3 g4 12. exf6
take risks is one thing but not to play an gxf3?
immediate and forced win is another! This
should not be read as something presump 12 ... �d6D 13. lt:Jg5 � f8 14. f7 lt:Jf6 15.
tuous: but this is something I would almost J,.xg4;!;
13
13. Axc7 fxe2 14. �xe2 r:i;;xc7 15. b5? 30 ... � xf7 3 1 . �f3 h6-+
15. ltJd2± 31. ltJd4?!
15... ltJa5 16. f7? 3 1 . �f3 d 2 ! 32. ltJd4 ltJxd4 33. �xe3
ltJ b3+
16. ltJd2;!;
31... ltJxd4 32. cxd4
16... ltJh6 17. �h5 ltJb3 18. �a2 ltJc1 19.
�d2 ltJd3+ 20. �xd3 cxd3 21. g4 e5 22.
g5 ltJf5 23. dxe5 Ag7 24. f4 Ae6 25. b6+?
25. ltJd2oo
25... axb6 26. a4 �aS 27. 0-0 AfB 28.

ltJd2 Ac5+
Position after: 32. cxd4
32... Af5?
Now it's my opponent who starts to blun

der.
32 ... � xf7 33. f5 � xf5 34. � xf5 Axf5 35.

Position after: 28 . . AcS+
. �f7+ Ad7 36. e6 d2-+
From a very good position I got in the ope 33. h4 r:i;;bS?! 34. r:i;;h2 �c8?! 35. �h6?
ning, I played m a ny nonsense moves be
cause I was hating my position (especially 35. e6! �xe6 36. f5 Axf7 37. �xf7 d2 38.
on moves 15, 16, and 25). Now my feeling �xd5 � cl 39. �e5+ r:i;;a 7 40. �xe3
finally became right: I a m totally lost! � xfl 41. �xd2 � xf5 42. �d3±
29. r:i;;h1 �afB?! 35... d2 36. �f6 �xf4+?
29 . . . � hf8-+ 36 . . . � hf8 37. �xf5 � cl 38. �d3 �xfl

39. �xfl li xf7=
30. ltJb3 Ae3?!
14
37. �g2 �e4+ 38. �h3 � E douard, Romain (2334)

A Barnett, Alexander (2193)
All of a sudden my position is total ly win - [I 2005
ning. • YWCC BU16, round 4
� Belfort
38... �d3 39. 11 d1 �e2 40. �xf4 �xd1
41. e6+ �a7 42. �xd2 �hS 43. aS bS 44.
�b4 �a6 1. e4 cS 2. lt::lf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. lt::lxd4 a6
S. �d3 �CS 6. liJb3 �a7 7. �g4 liJf6 8.
�g3 d6 9. lt::lc3 hS?N
9 ... lt::lc6 is the theoretical move.
10. �gS lt::lc6 11. 0-0-0 'fi/c7 12. �f4 �e7

13. �xa6! eS 14. �xg7 exf4 1S. �xh8
lt::lb4 16. �bS �xf2 17. a3 �e3+ 18. �b1
11b8 19. �h6 i. e6
Position after: 44 . 'Ot>a6

. .
Now comes the moment related to this

chapter: so happy that I survived this total
ly lost position, I took a draw here. But e
very single move is winning for White sin
ce, for example, I can bring my king to g7.
lt does not mean winning would have been
fair, but chess is a game where you cannot
take such irrational decisions. Position after: 19 . . �e6
.
4S. �d6+ Of course, being so much material up,

computer shows between +6 and +10 for
45. �g3+- almost any white moves. But I started to
play not precisely.
4S ... �xaS 46. �a3+
20. 11 he1?!
46. �xdS+-
20. axb4+-
46... �b6 47. �d6+
Yz-Yz 20 ... lt::lxe4 21. axb4?!
15
2 1 . lt:Jd4+- 24 ... A a2+ 25. <;f;xa2 .El. a8+-+

0-1
21 ..• lt:Jxc3+ 22. bxc3 �xc3
IN THE LIMELIGHT
Rule number one
Sometimes it is very tempting to secure a

stable/unlosable position agai nst a stron
ger player.
But, if you make a draw, even with Black,
Position after: 22 ... �xc3 because you were not ready to spend
energy or to take a ny kind of risk for win
Now comes the moment that is instructive ning a superior position, you a re still a wor
for my book, though it is not the favourite se player than your opponent: because in
one of my career! Of course, my position is the reverse situation he would not let you
still totally winning, but I gave some very the opportunity to escape the same way.
slight counter chances that were u nneces A situation where you a re willing to secure
sary. Suddenly, I started to lack time and a draw after being total ly lost for a long
decided to go for a q ueen exchange. Not period is very similar: when you have cards
only it is giving back a piece for nothing back in you r hands, have in mind that your
(which means even the queen exchange opponent is feeling worse tha n you !
would lead to a much less clear position),
but I even m issed that I get mated. Finally, i n a winning (or much better) posi
tion where you have to defend yourself a
23. �h7?? little bit, you cannot be so unobjective that
you're ready to give back a huge part of
23. l! xe3 would sti l l be com pletely win- your adva ntage (on purpose) in order to
ning, a mong many other moves: 23 ... fxe3 make the situation simple aga i n : it would
24. 'ifg5+ (24. I! d3? �e5�) 24 . .. �f8 mean you r opponent's counter play suc
(24 . . . f6 25. �g7+ j_f7 26. ld4+-) 25. ceeded brillantly. lt is l i ke running a race:
Ild3+- you don't start walking if you a re a head of
the others!
23 •.. �xb3 24. �d3 Aa2+!
Sometimes you may lose a game because
Oops. of that, but on the long term it will have a
very positive effect on your results, and
16
especial ly on your play, since practicing is Topalov, Veselin

!'!:. (2791)
the best way to improve, particularly ...Aronian, Levon (2757)
against a strong opponent. [] 2008. 12.17
• Pearl Spring, round 6
� Nanjing CHN
V Rule number one:
Chess is a game in which you have

to be rational and merciless: calcu
lation and confidence are the keys
to concretise an advantage. Play
according to the position, not ac
cording to your opponent or the
past events of the game.
I will illustrate this rule with a top level

game Topalov-Aronian (ZOOS), where To - Players reached move 40 and White is ab-
palov made a big blunder in a totally win - solutely winning in many ways.
ning position and managed to bounce back
and win the game anyway, while it was no 41. li c7 tLlh4 42. l1 c3 Itb7 43. li eZ??
longer so easy.
Dia 13
•
Position after: 43. 1:[ e2??
A terrible blunder, in a position where ma

ny moves would probably make Black re
sign.
43. . l1 bxd7
.
17
Now White is better but needs to be very

precise in order to keep winning chances.
44. �f2 !17d5 45. !I xd2 lixd2+ 46. �e3

l! a2 47. �d4!
Position after: 58... �cS
59. �c2! �d4 60. �d2 h6 61. �e2 �es

62. �e3 �f6 63. J¥.c6 �e7 64. aS=�
ltjxaS 65. J¥.xa8 �f6 66. J¥.c6 �es 67.
J¥.b5 �dS 68. J¥.a6 �es 69. h4! �ds 70.
Position after: 47. � d4! hxgS hxgS 71. J¥.c8 �es 72. J¥.d7
1-0
47... ltjg2 48. �c4 ltjf4 49. �b3 lia1 50.
�b2 !! e1 51. lieS �f6 52. aS lieS?
Position after: 72. �d7
Position after: 52 . . . � eS? A brillia nt endgame by Topa lov, who

ma naged to play at his top even after the
52 . . . li e7o 53. J¥.f1± big blunder he made on move 43.
53. l! xeS! �xeS 54. a6 ltje6 55. a7 ltJc7

56. Ac6 fS 57. �b3 �d6 58. J¥.b7 �cS
18
§ 1.3 Simple defences while being under !':, Timman, Jan H (2555)
pressure ... Edouard, Remain (2608)
[] 2011.09.07
There are different kinds of situations whe • lnventiChess GM, round 5
re chess players are under high pressure � Antwerpen BEL
during a game. In many cases, problems
can be solved by staying stoic and playing
simple defensive moves. But, while it is 1. c4 c5 2. l'Llf3 l'Llc6 3. l'Llc3 e5 4. e3 f5 5.
easy for a machine, it is not for humans. d4 e4 6. d5 exf3 7. dxc6 dxc6 8. �xd8+
�xd8 9. gxf3 l'Llf6 10. b3 �d6 11. �b2
Sometimes, you need to find a few precise �e7 12. �d3 �g8?! 13. 0-0-0 �e6 14.
moves in order to survive a game in which e4! g6 15. �he1
you suffered. But, after having been under
a long and possibly high pressure, chess
players very often collapse and m iss very
simple things. This will be the purpose of
example number 1.
Sometimes, being under an attack - but

that is not necessarily winning! - players
often get totally frightened, and start to
make tremendous mistakes mostly due to
hallucinations. This will be the purpose of
example number 2. Position after: 15. ll hel
Fina lly, while having a choice between a 15... �f4+

worse and a frightening position - but not
necessarily bad ! - players often choose the 15 ... fxe4 16. ltJxe4 ltJxe4 17. � xe4 � ge8
first (and simplest) option without objec 18. � h4 ! �g8 19. f4 l!f8 20. f5 ! gxf5 21.
tive reasons. This will be the purpose of �g1 is unpleasant for Black as wel l .
example number 3.
16. �c2 �f7 17. l'Lle2 �c7 18. exf5 gxf5
19. ltJg3 f4 20. �xe6!?
Objectively not the best move, but that de

serves an interesting mark in a practical ga
me.
20. ltJf5;t;
19
20... �xe6 21. .1f5+ �f7 22. tt:Je4 tt:Jxe4

23. l:ld7+
Position after: 28. eS
made me very afraid, but after the extre

mely simple 28 . . . llg7 which I missed,
Black is more than fine!
Position after: 23. 1:1. d7+
24. 11xc7 tt:Jxf2
Our key positio n ! U ntil now, I've been suf
fering a bit but my position has never real
ly been bad. Now is the crucial m oment
and I had a feeling that the choice of my
next m ove would decide the result of the
game: draw or loss. This was right. After
thinking (but not deeply enough ! ), I con
cluded that my initial idea 23 . . . �f8 was
bad, and that 23 . . . � e8 should be OK for
me. These two conclusions were wrong be
cause I missed very simple moves in both
of my calculations. Position after: 24 . . . lt:Jxf2
23... �e8? 25. .ig7!
23 ... �f8! 24. fxe4 � a S (with the idea of Another very simple move which I have
playing . . l:l d8 with an equal position) 25.
. m issed . All of a sudden all my pieces are
.,ieS (25 . .1f6 }itg2 26. A e7+ � e8 27. stuck and my position is lost.
j_xcS .,ib6=) 25 ... lld8 26 . .id6+ � e8
27. l1 e7+ �f8 28. eS 25 ... ltd8 26. Axh7 llxg7 27. l:lxg7 l1 d6
27 ... tl:Jdl 28. l:[g8+ �e7 29. l:[xd8 tl:Je3+

(see analysis diagram) 30. � d 3 � xd8 31. �e4+-
20
28. 11 xb7 � h6 29. It xa7 11 xh2 30. wcl ['!; Bacrot, Etienne (2710)
:,g2 31. i,.fS ltJhl 32. Ae4 ltJg3 33. ' Edouard, Remain (2587)
l.xc6+ �f8 34. i,.dS ltje2+ 35. �d2 �e8 [] 2011.08.23
36. �d3 lt:Jcl+ 37. �e4 !lxa2 38. �xa2 • FRA eh m, round 9
�xa2 39. �xf4 �e7 40. �eS ltjcl 41. � Caen FRA
l.e4 ltjxb3 42. �dS �f6 43. �d6 �f7
44. f4 �f6 45. Ad3 ltJcl 46. _ibl ltjb3
47. _ic2 ltJd4 48. Ad3 ltjb3 49. fS! 1. d4 dS 2. ltjf3 ltjf6 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 e6 5.
_ixc4 a6 6. 0-0 cS 7. _ib3 ltjc6 8. lt:Jc3
cxd4 9. exd4 j;_e7 10. AgS 0-0 11. �d2
• Ad7 12. 11 adl lt:JaS 13. Ac2 lt:Jc4 14.
�e2?!
14. �f4 is definitely critical, with the idea

of �h4.
14... jlc8?!
14 ... ltjxb2 would be about equal.

Position after: 49. fS!
15. Ab3 bS 16. lt:JeS ltjb6 17. It fel;;t
Zugzwang!
49 ... �f7 SO. Ac2 ltjd4 51. Ae4 ltjb3 52.

�dS+ �f8
52 . . . �f6 53. Ae6+-
53. f6 �e8 54. .ig8 �f8 55. Ae6 �e8

56. AdS �f8 57. f70
1-0
Position after: 17. I! fel
17... h6!? 18. Axh6
Not the best move, but too tempting! This

is very similar to 20. � xe6 in the previous
game: usually when you can sacrifice and
21
not be worse, it is quite a good deal in a ltJxd5 ltJc4 23. �c3 ltjxe5 24. �xe5+
practical game. A f6 25. ltjxf6 ltjxf6 26. 11 edl � e8 27.
� xd7 �xd7 28. �xf6+ � h7=
18... gxh6 19. � d3!?
22. Axc4 bxc4 23. �d4
19. d5 exd5 20. ltjxd7 �xd7 21. �xe7
�xe7 22. � xe7 � fd8=
19 ... �hS!?
Position after: 23 .I:! d4

.
Now is o u r key moment. lt was time to

stay calm and have an objective look at the
Position after: 19 . 'it> h8! ?
. . position. I nstead I got ti red to defend and
decided to "force my fate" . I entered a line
The most human move, intending to de in which I got immediately lost due to a big
fend with . . . ltjg8. hole in my too light calculation. Instead, a
very simple defensive move would have
19 . . . ltjc4 !? led to an u nclear game.
20. �d2 23... AcS??
20. d5 exd5 2l. ltjxd7 (21. �d2 ! ? ltjg8 22. 23... '@e8o would be ok for Black, for
ltjxd5 ltjc4! - see 20.�d2 ltjg8 2l.d5 exa m ple: 24. ltjxd7 �xd7 25. dxe6 �c6
exd5) 21. . . ltjbxd7 22. �xe7 {22. ltjxd5 26. ltjd5 c3 ! (avoiding �c3) 27. bxc3 jLg5
ltJc5 !�) 22 ... ltjc5� 28. f4 A f6oo
20 ... ltjgS 21. dS ltjc4 24. dxe6 Axd4 25. �xd4 �f6
Once again the m ost human move. After 25.�xd4 I suddenly realized that
I hesitated entering the following ugly )ine 25 ... A xe6 was losing to 26. ltJxf7+ which
(that actually makes a draw) but could not· actually is ... a double check!
make sure it was holding: 2 1 . . . exd5!? 22. (see analysis diagram)
22
This is the position we are interested in. I

have a choice between going ... h6 and get
a very unclear but frightening position, or
going ... AxgS while my position would de
finitely be worse. I calculated a few lines,
could not find a precise win for White but
got too afraid and went for ... AxgS wit
hout any objective reason. A deep analysis
Position after: 26. lt:lxf7+ shows that after . . . h6 the position would
have been OK for Black, without even a ne
26. exd7 �cd8 27. 1:! e3 (jje7 28. 1:! f3 cessity to find 'only moves'. The conclusion
�c6 29. ti:Jxf7+ 1-0 is that not only I would have increased
considerably the quality of my position go
Tkachiev, Vladislav
.:<, (2637) ing ... h6, but I would also have given my
' Edouard, Remain (2662) opponent a few tough practical decisions
Il 2013.08.22 to take, since it is not so easy to know how
• FRA eh, round 11 to keep the attack (there are several
� Nancy FRA possibilities).
15... _txg5?
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. (jjc3 c5 4. e3 lL\f6 5.
t[jf3 (jjc6 6. a3 cxd4 7. exd4 _te7 8. cS Or 15 ... h6 (see analysis diagram)
!Lle4 9. _tbs tt:Jxc3 10. bxc3 _td7 11. 0-0
b6 12. cxb6 �xb6
12 ... axb6 !?
13. _td3 �c7 14. �e1 0-0 15. lL\g5
Position after: 15 ... h6
And now:
A) 16. (jjh7
B) 16. Ah7+
C) 16. �hS
A) 16. (jjh7 11 fc8 17. _txh6 gxh6 18.

Position after: 15. ltJg5 �hS is not particularly dangerous, for ex-
23
ample: 18 . . . �f4 ! ? 19. g3 �d2 (using a ny Cl) 16.. �aS!? The sharpest, trying to
.
possible path to finally com e into defense) create cou nter play on the queenside wit
20. lled 1 �xc3 21. �xh6 �xd4 22. ltJf6+ hout caring m uch about the White attack.
�xf6 23. � h7+ <;t>h8 24. � g6+ �g8= Here would have been some possibilities
for the game to continue: 17. �d2
B) 16. �h7+ �h8 17. � c2 ltJd8 ! attack
ing c3, a llowing my f- pawn to move: simple (see analysis diagram, previous column)
and strong. 18. � d2Ll A d6 ! ?oo followed
by .. .fS or .. .f6. Cl.a) 17. Ae3 fS ! ? 18. ltJxe6 Axe6 19.
�xh6 Itf6 20. AgS � f7 21. �d1 Ite6
C) 16. �hS In that critical position, actu 22. Itxe6 � xe6 23. � xe7 ltJxe7 24. �e2
ally, m a ny moves a re playable ! (see analy �f7 25. It e1 �b6 26. �hS+=
sis diagram)
Cl.b) 17. Ah7+ � h8 18. ltJxf7+ �xh 7 ! ?
1 9 . ltJxh6 Af6 20. ltJg4+ � g8 2 1 . lle3
� e8 22. ltJh6+ gxh6 23. � g3+ Ag7 24.
�g4 �c7 25. �xh6 ii fG ! +
Cl.c) 17. Ad2 ttJxd4 18. ltJh3 ( 18. A h7+

� h8 19. A d 3 �g8=) 18 ... A e8 !
Now the variations are:
a) 19. .:, abl �xa3 20. It b7 ltJc6 2 1 .
Position after: 16. �hS � x h 6 fS 22. �e2 es +
b) 19. It adl �xa3 ! ? 20. �g4ltJfS!:+
Cl) 16 ... �aS!? c) 19. �g4ltJb3 !? 20. Axh6 �xc3 +
C2) 16... ltJeS!? d) 19. �dl ltJc6 20. Axh6 gxh6 21.
C3) 16. .
. eS �g4+ � h8 22. �hS �g7 23. �g4+ (23.
C4) 16. .. ltJdS!? !l e3? fS-+) 23 . . . � h8=
C2) 16... ltJeS!? The most equalizing mo

ve, but a lso the most beautifu l ! 17. dxeS
�xc3 18. A h7+ � h8 is a lso playa ble: 19.
Ae3 ( 19. ltJxf7+ !? �xh7 20. Axh6 �g8 !
2 1 .ltJh8 ! gxh6 22. �g6+ �xh8 23. �xh6+
�g8=) 19 ... � xgS 20. A xgS �xh7 21.
A e7 li fb8 22. �xf7 li b7=
C3) Even 16... eS is not that bad: 17.
Position after: 16 . . . �aS!? dxeS AxgS 18. A xgS ltJxeS ! 19. A f4 ( 19 .
A x h 6 ltJxd3 20. Axg7 � xg7 21. �gS+
� h7=) 19 ... �xc3 20. Af1 (20. �xeS
24
�xd3 21. �xh6 �g6=) 20... f6 21. �xeS 19 .•. g6 20. �d1?!
fxeS 22. �xeS �cS 23. �b2-+ (White is
only a very little bit better) 20. '¥r'h6 eS!:+
C4) 16 ltJdS!? The simplest: once again

.•. 20... f4
to be able to play ...fS, but also winning
some time attacking the c3-paw. 17. �d2 All of a sudden it looks like all White pieces
(17. lt:Jh7? �xc3-+) 17... fS (Even 17... are badly placed. 20 ... eS!? 21. dxeS f4 is
gxgS!? is not bad: 18. AxgS �xc3 19. also quite good for Black.
!i ad1 �a4 20. �f6 �xd1 21. I[ xd1 gxf6
22. '@xh6 fS 23. Af1!? but White is not 2 1 .i! h6
•
better, e.g. 23... !i c8 24. !!d3 �xd3 25.

�xd3 11 c3=) 18. lt:Jf3 �e8 19. it'h3
g b8oo I am getting a similar position as in
the game: but I kept my good dark-squa
red bishop and White has more problems
to organize an attack (e.g. misplaced
Queen on h3)
16. �xgS 11 ae8 17. 11 e3 fS 18. �hS 11 f7
Position after: 21. 11 h6
21... eS??
Not caring about the �xg6 obvious

threath that wins at once.
My other idea 21... lt:Je7 would have given
me a nice advantage: 22. �d2 eS 23. dxeS
�xeS 24. h4 lt:Jc8! (24... !lc8 25. I:le1
Position after: 18 . .. l:I f7 �xc3 26. �xf4 is drawish, although the
h6-rook is still misplaced.) 25. !!d1 lLlb6!
19. llh3? followed by ... �a4, ... lt:Jc4 (or ... �b3-
... _ic4) while the white pieces are being
19. �h4! would have given White a quite dominated.
big advantage: it was important to keep as
many pieces as possible in the centre, sin 22. �xg6 hxg6 23. 11 xg6+ 11 g7 24. 'ifhS
ce my only counter play is to go ...eS. lle6
25
I had com pletely overlooked that any time 43... �xh6 44. � xf4 aS 45. 11 d4 �f7 46.
I play a move like 24 ... A f5? my e8-rook is g4 �g7 47. �g3 ltJc4 48. a4 ltJbG 49.
hanging. 11 d6 ttJxa4 SO. 11 a6 ttJc3 51. 11 xaS ltJe2+
52. �f2!+-
25. llh6
25. Af6 ! � xf6 (25 ... A e8 26. A xg7+-)

26. 11 xf6+- was even stronger.
25 ... I:txh6 26. �xh6 exd4 27. �xg7

�xg7 28. �gS+
Position after: 52. �f2!
I a m not on time to reach a fortress (e. g.

� f6+ A e6+ltJe7, stopping f5 forever). The
position is lost.
52 ... ltJf4 53. �e3 ltjdS+ 54. �e4 ltjf6+

Position after: 28. �gS+ SS. �fS �g6+ 56. �gS �f7 57. 11 a7
ltJh7+ 58. �fS ltJfS 59. f4 lt:JeG 60. �es
My position is now m uch worse, and my ltjcS 61. gS �f8 62. fS Ae8 63. g6 ltjd7+
opponent dominated me technically u ntil 64. �e6 ttJcS+ 65. �ds
the end. 1-0
28... �f7 29. �xdS+ �e6 30. �hS+ �g7

31. l! el �d6 32. cxd4 ltJxd4 33. �gS+?!
33. ,ite4!+-
33 ... �f7 34. �hS+ �g7 35. �gS+ �f7

36. f3 ltJfS 37. h4 �d4+ 38. �h2 ttJe3 39.
�bl AdS 40. hS �fGo 41. �xf6+ �xf6
42. lit b4 �gS 43. h6!?
43. lla4 !? �xh5 44. � xa7 is also winning.
26
IN THE LIMELIGHT Rule number two
Rule number two Do not choose a worse position

compared to a frightening I surpi
cious one if you can't see why the
.n a practical chess game, there are not so second option is wrong!
"Tlany stronger things than a good defen
sive move.
Good' does not necessarily mean aweso Otherwise it is, once again, like surrende
"Tle or complicated. lt can be a very calm ring, or like admitting your opponent do
but precise move in a very tense situation. minates you both chess wise and mentally.
Why am I saying there is almost nothing Usually, that kind of bad decisions is even
stronger than it? Because by attacking you, conscious: when it happens to you, fight
your opponent puts you under pressure against your emotions.
and takes the psychological edge. But,
when you are able to face it correctly, it of An option, if you have enough time, is even
ten reverses the situation totally, including to try to get some fresh air outside, and
psychologically. A bit like if you manage to then, to think of the tips just above, also
survive a big series of smashes in tennis. having in mind the advice of the
subchapter number one: play strictly ac
cording to the position. If you respect this
principle, sometimes, you may miss a
When you are under the pressure direct win for your opponent. But most of
of an attack, you should have in the time, not only you will succeed be
mind that it may be a chance: if cause your opponent will not see more
you pass the test, your potential than you, but your general quality of play
result in the game is increasing will also be better.
compared to before!
The principle remains the same in an Energy, calculation, and confiden

unclear situation. Refusing any kind of ce are the keys to avoid being af
complications is often like surrendering, or raid of fake threats
admitting your opponent dominates you
both chess wise and mentally.
27
Just to have a super-well - known example, £!, Anand, Viswanathan (2775)

it is good to recheck game n u m ber 9 of the .l Carlsen, Magnus (2870)
match Carlsen-Anand, Chennai 2013: Mag :Il 201 3 . 1 1 .01
nus Carlsen won because he went deeper W FWCM 2013, round 9
than other players would in the l ine that � Chennai
actually happened in the game, and chose
a frightening position rather than a worse
one.
From a purely optical point of view it

looked very bad for Black but... strictly
speaking it was quite unclear and it even
tually quickly decided the game in his fa
vour.
Let's start with the diagra m i n the next co

lumn.
22... b3!
Keeping cool.
23. �f4 ltjc7!? 24. f6 g6
24 ... gxf6 ! ? was a good defensive move as

well : but Carlsen decided to trust his
calculation and went for a forcing line.6
25. ltjh5 ? ! fxg5 26. ltjf6+ <;i( h8 27. '@'xg5 ? !
.litgB !=t
25. '@h4 ltje8o
Difficult to imagine a calmer defence.
26.'@'h6
Threaten i ng 11 f4.
26... b2!
28
. .Jst in time. A slightly lucky end for Magnus Carlsen,

but I' m pretty sure even most of the elite
players would have panicked and would
not have entered these concrete defensive
lines.
28 ... �dl?? 29. 11 h4 �hS 30 . .li xhS gxhS
3 1. llJe3 Ae6 32. J,.xdS!+- was what
Anand had seen.
0-1
Position after: 26... b2!

§1.4 Feel the opportunities, importance of
27. i!f4 the calculation depth
Anyway! Otherwise Black has not much to Chess players cannot a lways feel tactical
worry about. opportunities, because some of them are
so hidden that - almost - only computers
27... b1=�+ 28.llJf1?? can find them. But in general, opportuni
ties are accessible to humans.
After such a good defence by Black, White
blundered. Some opportunities are very obvious and
28. A flo �dl 29. 11 h4 �hS 30. llJxhS only require a clean calculation - a bit like
gxhS 31. llxhS (31. � h3? �xh3 32. llxh3 when you open a tactics book and know
'"'b6 33. �xhS �bl+-+) 31... j_fS!:+ that you should find a win in this or that
precise position. This will be the purpose
28... �e1! of examples numbers 1 and 2.
Some opportunities are 'in between':

they're not obvious but the position looks
suspicious. In general, it is indicated by a
misplacement of your opponent's pieces,
or/and a temporary vulnerability of his
king. This will be the purpose of examples
numbers 3 and 4.
Some opportunities are only a matter of

very deep calculation. When you know
Position after: 28 .. �ell
.
that your move can be decisive (for exam -
29
pie: you have the opportunity to secure a

draw or to enter a very concrete and
complicated line) you know that you need
to calculate. But, even with a lot of time on
the clock, players often get afraid (or lazy)
and do not calculate at their best. This will
be the purpose of example number 5.
Finally, sometimes, it seems like all the

moves lead to the same. E xample number
6 will be a ga me where 'd raw was in the Position after: 22 . �e8
. .
pocket' (as chess players like to say) and I

couldn't figure out a way to create pro Now comes the moment we are interested
blems. in. Black is close to taking my super knight
on d5, and the very well - known pattern
� Edouard, Romain (2483) lL\f6+ is obvious. it's only a m atter of
... Libiszewski, Fabien (2469) calculation .
[] 2007.08.16
• FRA- Ch Nat. B, round 4 23. lL\f6+! gxf6 24. gxf6 �ha 25. �h3!
� Aix-les- Bains
Threatening to take on h7.
1. e4 c5 2. lL\f3 lL\c6 3. d4 cxd4 4. lL\xd4 25... �fa

e5 5. lL\b5 d6 6. lL\1c3 a6 7. lL\a3 il_e7 a.
lL\c4 b5 9. lL\e3 lL\f6 10. g3 0-0 11. il_g2 25 . . . �g8 26. �g3+-
b4 12. lL\cd5 lL\xd5 13. lL\xd5 il_g5 14.
il_xg5 �xg5 15. 0-0 �da 26. �h5 �ga
15 ... �b8 ! is now known as a better move 26 . . . h6 27. c3 lL\c6 28. 11 ff3+-
(according to Cornette a nd . . . Libiszewski's
book on this opening ! ), and I even played it 27. �g3+- d5
myself in 2013 .
27 . . . �f8 28. ,llg 7+
-
16. a3 bxa3 17. ,llxa3 �ba 1a. f4 �h6 19.

�c3! lL\d4 20. g4! il_b7 21. g5 2a. c3 dxe4 29. cxd4 e3 30. il_xb7 �xb7
31. �xga+ ,lixga+ 32. �h1 llxb2 33.
2 1 . llh 3 ! ? �e6 22. c3 lL\b5 23. fS �d7 dxe5 11 bg2 34. �f3 e2 35. �xg2 �xg2
24. g5+- 36. �xg2
21... �e6 22. f5 �ea 1-0
30
- Edouard, Romain (2597) der to take on e6. Once again, it is only a

' Jansa, Vlastimil (2470) matter of calculation.
:-
� 2009.07.12
• Benasque-XXIX Open, round 11 18 ... cS 19. hS;!;
··� ESP
19. �xe61
1. e4 cS 2. lL!f3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. tt:Jxd4 (see Diagram, previous column)

�c6 S. lL!c3 a6 6. ttJxc6 bxc6 7. Ad3 dS S.
3-0 l2Jf6 9. 11 e1 1;..e7 10. eS lt:Jd7 11. �g4 Below few of the (not so difficult) lines that
cE;12. lL!a4 0-0 13. �h6 l:,eS 14. c4 ltJb6 were necessary to calculate.
15. tt:Jxb6 �xb6 16. b3 1;..b7 17. h4 dxc4
18. _ixc4 11 adS? 19... �d4
a) 19... fxe6 20. �xe6+ 'it>h8 21. 'fVf7

i_f8 22. �gs Ag7 23. S;(.f6 llg8 24. e6+
b) 19... lld4 20. i_xf7+ 'it>xf7 21. e6+
'it>g8 22. �f3+-
c) 19... �b4 20. Axf7+! (20. � c4 ! ?
Axe1 21. llxe1-t-) 2 0... 'it>xf7 21. e6+
'it>g8 22. e7 ! lld6o 23. 'fVf4 lld2 24.
Ite4+-
20. !! ad1 'fVxg4 21. i_xg4 Axh4 22. g3

Position after: 18 ... .: adS? 11 xd1 23. Itxd1 Jl_e7 24. lld7 Ac8
Jne very similar example to the previous 24 . . . Jl_a8 25. Ae2+-

Jne: for very obvious reasons I may consi -
2S. llxe7 llxe7 26. AxeS aS 27. f4 a4 2S.
bxa4 I! c7 29. .tg4 cS 30. 'it>f2 c4 31. 'it>el
c3 32. �d1 c2+ 33. 'it>c1 11 c3 34. aS li. xg3
3S. a6 lla3 36. J.cB 1:.a4 37. a3 llxa3 38.
wxc2
1-0
Position after: 19. �xe6!
31
£:,Vajda, Levente (2612) 24. �f3 ;l;;

' Edouard, Romain (2652)
[] 2012.09.07 24... ..\ixeS 25. dxeS "f/lc7 26. ..\id4 �cS
• lsta n bul -40th Olympiad round 10 27. �e3 �d3 28. !tf1 �xeS
� TUR
(see Diagram, previous column)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 dS 3. �d2 ..\ie7 4. �gf3 28 . . . �c6 would be excellent for Black.

�f6 5. eS �fd7 6. ..\ie2!? cS 7. c3 �c6 8.
0-0 0-0 9. �e1 f6 10. exf6 ..\ixf6 11. �b3 29. �xdS!
c4 12. �bd2 Wh8 13. �f1 eS 14. ..\ie3 e4
15. �3d2 bS 16. a4 bxa4 17. "f/lxa4 �e7 The 'equalizing' trick I had m issed.
18. f3 �b6 19. "f/ld1 exf3 20. �xf3 �g4
21. �eS �xe2 22. �xe2 �d7 23. ..\if2 aS 29... �xdS 30. "fiie4 �xc3
30 . . . lt:Jc6 31. �xdS lt:Jxd4=
31. ..\ixc3 �d3 32. �xf8+ llxf8 33. �xaS
Position after: 23... aS
24. �c2?!
Position after: 33. 11 xaS
Now comes what I ' m calling "the moment

to feel the tactica l opportunity": the White
pieces seem little bit vulnerable, especially
the White king.
But, d u ring the gam e, I could not find any

tactics working at first sight and resigned
myself thinking that my move 30 . . . �xc3
Position after: 28... lt:\xeS (instead of just making draw) had been
32
:ompletely senseless. I did not have a 52... tt::le6;!;

jeeper look and went for a worse position.
53. l!c6 �h7 54. �h4 lidS 55. �e4+
33...�f7? ltJg6 56. �h2 lid1 57. lieS?!
�bad move even if there were no tactics 57. lixc4+-

Narking. Even a simple move like 33...h6
Nould have been better. 57... �f4+ 58. �xf4 tt::lxf4 59. l!xc4 tt::ldS
60. �d4 h4?
--taving a deeper and more critical look, I
:ould probably notice that 33... �b6+ 34. 60... 11 d2 with the idea 61. �g3 11 d3+ 62.
�d4 tt::lf4! (taking advantage of the �f2 g5 would be less clear.
.Vhite's pieces displacement) would create
:Jroblems. Suddenly I'm no longer the one 61. �es gS 62. lld4! llxd4 63. �xd4+-
Nho should be precise! White would have
:o go 35. 11 e5 and after 35... '@f6!? {35... The endgame is totally lost for Black.
t:·g6 36. g3 �bl+ 37. �el tt::ld3 38. Ite7!
_:g8 39. �c3=) 36. h4 {36. h3!? tt::lxh3+ 63... �g6 64. �cS �fS 65. b4 ltJc3 66.
37. �h2 tt::lf4 38. �e4�) 36... �xh4 37. �d4 tt::lbS 67. �f2 �e4 68. �gl tt::lc3 69.
� e8 tt::lh3+ 38. �h2 tt::l f4+ 39. �gl the �el tt::le2+ 70. �fl tt::ld4 71. Af2 tt::lbS
game would be a draw. 72. �e2 tt::ld6 73. �e3 �fS 74. �f3 tt::lbS
75. Af2 tt::ld6 76. �e3 tt::le4 77. �el �es
34. h3± 78. �d3 �dS 79. bS tt::lf 6 80. �c3 tt::le4
81. �d4 tt::ld6 82. b6 �c6 83. �e3 tt::lf7
�ow White is being much better thanks to 84. �e4 tt::ld6+ 85. �f3 tt::lc4 86. �gl
the activity of his pieces, and especially to tt::lb2 87. �g4 tt::ld3 88. �xgS tt::lel 89.
:he strong bishop on c3. My opponent �g4 ttJxg2 90. �f2
:>layed well and I could not hold the posi 1-0
tion.
� Edouard, Remain {2657)
34... tt::lf4 35. �h2�c7 36.�es ' Hansen, Eric {2567)
iil 2013.10.29
o 36. g3 ttJg6 37. �e3± • Casino de Barcelona 2013, round 5
� ESP
36...�b7 37.�gS �g8 38. 11 bS�d7 39.
: eS ltJg6 40. 1! dS �c6 41. 11 d4 �c7+
42. @g3 lieS 43. lid6�e7 44. �gl tt::lfS 1. d4 tt::lf 6 2. c4 e6 3. tt::lc3 dS 4. tt::lf3 cS 5.
45. lldl �a7+ 46. �hl @f7 47. �g4 e3 tt::lc6 6. a3 tt::le4 7. �d3 tt::lxc3 8. bxc3
:aS 48. 11 d4�c7 49.�dl�f7 50. 11 d6 dxc4 9. Axc4 �e7 10. 0-0 0-0 11. �b2 b6
:a7 51.�g4 hS 52.�gS lld7?! 12.�e2
33
12. d5? ! lt::\ a 5 13. Aa2 c4 ! + 19. e6! �e7 20. exf7+ l:!, xf7 21. lt::\ e5 l:!, f6
22. ii del;!;
12... Ab7 13. e4 lt::\ a S 14. Ad3 !I cB 15.
l:!, ad1 cxd4?1
o 15 . . . 'ifc7
16. cxd4 Ad6?1
Position after: 19. h4? !
19 ... �c6?
The most human move. But, 19 . . . h6 was an

excellent "calm" defence, a bit rem i nding
of my game with Tkachiev (subchapter
Position after: 16 ... Ad6 ? ! n u m ber 2 ) . We will analyse here:
A) 19... h61 20. Abl lt::\ c4 ! 21. �d3 g6
o 1 6 . . . Af6 22. Acl �d7 ! and Black is j ust better: 23.
h5 (23. Axh6 lt::\ b 2 24. �e2 lt::\ x d l 25.
17. dS?I li{ xd l �g4 + l 23 ... �g4 ! 24. hxg6 fxgG +
The very natural reaction, but to my big

gest surprise it seems like it was better to
delay it. 17. 11 fel was probably a better
move, especially because 17 . . . �e7 would
be met by 18. e5 ! while 18 ... Axa3? would
lose to 19. Axh7++-
17... exd5 18. eS AcS
18 . . . !l e8 ! 19. Af5 lt::\ c4 20. Axc8 �xc8�
19. h4?1
A very logical move, aiming to go lt::\ g 5, but

the engine laughs at it!
34
B) 19... �e7 20. ltJgS (20. �xh7+? �xh7

21. ltJgS+ �h6 22. �cl g6-+) 20... g6 21.
·�g4i
20.ltJgS h6
Around now there is no option but to cal

culate very precisely in order to find the
right way to play. During the game, though
I had seen the winning idea, I simply beca
me superficial and didn't push my cal Position after: 21... d4
culations until the end. 20... l!h6 21. e6±

Our critical position.
22. �c3??
Soon getting low on time I simply thought

this move can't be bad since Black has no
real way to defend himself. I somehow
wanted to get rid of the aS-knight in order
to simply go �h7-�e4. However, this was
definitely a too light and too superficial
thinking: it was time for concrete calcula
Position after: 20... h6 tions in order not to let the winning attack
fail. "Now, or never." Now we have follow
21. �hS?! ing choices:
A) 22. �h7+1 �h8 23. �bl! was still the
We will also pay attention to following: right way: 23... �g8 24. e6!
A) 21. �h7+! �h8 22. �bl! hxgS (22 ... (see analysis diagram)
�g8 23. e6 hxgS 24. �hS fS 25. hxgS is
the same.) 23. e6 fSo and here I simply
missed 24. �hS+ �g8 25. hxgS! that takes
a huge advantage: 25... l!xe6 26. g6
ltxg6o 27. �xg6 �d7 28. �a2+-
B) 21. e61? with the same idea is also

possible, but it's even better with the
bishop on bl.
Position after: 24. e6!
21... d4
35
Key alternatives are: bad. o 23... £xg5 24. � xf8 �xf8 25.
a) 24... llxe6 hxg5 fk'xg5 26. �xg5 hxg5 27. f4 ;;l;;
b) 24.. fS
.
c) 24 ... fxe6? 24. £xc5 bxcS 25. e6!
a) 24. . .la xe6 25. lt:Jxe6 fxe6 26. �g4±

.
b) 24. . fS 25. £a2 !+- This is why, in this

.
precise position, we need the bishop to be

on b l !
c) 24... fxe6? 2 5 . �g6 hxg5 26. �h7+
� f7 a nd here, for some reason, I simply
stopped my calculation, m issing that 27.
£g6+ was mating.
B) Once again 22. e6 is not as good as first

going £h7- £ b l : 22 . . . f5 ! 23. 11 fel hxg5 Position after: 25. eG !
24. hxg5 ll xe6 25. g6 11 xg6 26. �xg6 �f6
27. �xf6 11 xf6 28. £ b l ;;l;; 25 ... £xg5
22... ii, e7? 25 ... f5? 26. lt:Jf7+-
Playing the move which I expected -fortu - 26. hxgS

nately for me - ! 22 ... llg6 ! would be a
terrible news for me. I had missed that all 26. exf7+ llxf7 27. hxg5+-
of a sudden the typical 23. e6? would fail
to (23. ii, xa5 hxg5+ ) 23 ... �d5 ! since 24. 26 .. @ dS
.
f3 is met by 24 . . . dxc3+-+ (with check ! ) .

26 ... fxe6 27. gxh6 �f6 2 8 . hxg7 @xg7 29.
23. £ b4?! f3+-
o 23. £xa5 bxa5 (23... ii,xg5 24. hxg5
bxa5 25. ii,e4±) 24. � h7+ � h8 25.

ii, e4±
23 ... li eS?
Trying to get me confused due to my time

trouble. However the move is just
Position after: 30 . c4
..
36
27. exf1+ .li.xf1 28. f3 �xgS 29. �xgS

hxgS 30. lt fell c4
see Diagram, previous page)
31. j,g6
�ot the most precise, but winning anyway.

\1y opponent just resigned. Some other
-naves deserve coverage too:
a) o 31. l1 e8+ 11 f8 32. li e5+- Position after: 12. ttJa4
b) 31. _tg6 ltjb3o 32. 11 e8+! 11 f8 33.
:del _tc6o 34. £h7+! wxh7 35. !lxf8 The opening could hardly have been more
:3 36. ll c8 Ab5 (36... d3? 37. lilxc6 c2 38. disastrous for Black.
�f2+-) 37. !if.bl+-
1-0 12... Axe5?113. �xeS �d6 14. b3!?
To try to provoke 14. jt_h6 had a point:

14 ... �xe5 15. llxe5 !if.e8 16. lt:)xc5 f6 17.
!if.e2 g5! would keep practical chances.
14... �xeS 15. !lxeS f6 16. lle2 eS 17.

ltjxcS r:};;f7 18. _td2 gS 19. llael J_fS 20.
f3 It adS 21. g4 J.cS 22. lle4
::, Cornette, Matthieu (2564)

i Edouard, Romain (2562)
I! 2009.03.27
• Match Edouard I Cornette, round 4
l Chalons en Champagne FRA
1. e4 cS 2. lt:)f3 lt:)c6 3. lt:)c3 g6 4. _tbs

�g7 5. 0-0 d6 6. eS!? dxeS 7. Axc6+ bxc6
8. It el ft'c7?!
Position after: 22. li e4
8 . . . f6!?
A perfect game by White until now.
9. d3 ltjf6 10. lt:)xeS lt:)dS?I 11. 'f!fe2 0-0
12.ltja4± 22... hS 23. lla4?
37
23. gxhS � h8 24. �a4+- 42. �fl �f3 43. �b8 �gS 44. d4
23... hxg4 24. fxg4 �g6 44. �g8+ � h4�
Suddenly I am getting some decent coun- 44... �h4 4S. dxeS?

ter p lay.
45. gS ! fxgS 46. � xeS would still be a
2S. h3 complete d raw objectively.
25. � xa7 � h8� 4S ... �g3 46. exf6
2S ... �h8 26. �g2 �h7 27. ltJe4 �dh8

28. ltJf2 cS 29. �aS �c7 30. ltJe4 �ch7
31. ltJf2 I:I c7 32. �gl a6 33. �e3 ltJf4
34. �xf4 gxf4 3S. �e4 �b7 36. �c4
�ch7 !
Position after: 46. exf6
The position we are interested in. In that

decisive game for the match, while I can
just take a draw going 46 . . . �d2, I did reali
ze that the move 46 .. . 1:! f2+ should be win
ning but could not calculate it until the end
Position after: 36 ... li eh 7 ! and got afraid. If you did not look at the li
nes just below, you may take a chess board
37. !! axeS a nd try to figure out you rself why the mo
ve 46 . . . l:l f2+ wins, taking it as an exercice.
37. � h2 �f3=
46 ... l!d2??
37 ... �xh3 38. lt:)xh3 �xh3 39. �b4
�hl+ 40. �f2 �h2+ 41. �gl �g2+!? 46 ... �f2+ ! 47. �e l �e2+ 48. � d l (48.
�fl l:l e3-+) 48 . . . � e8+ 49. � d 2 � xb8
All of a sudden the position is a bit un 50. gS �g4 ! the very simple idea which I
pleasant for White. have m issed. 5 1 . g6 f3 52. f7 f2 53. g7
fl=� 54. g8=� (not q ueening with
41... llh l+= check ! ) 54 ... �dl+ 55. � c3 (SS. �e3
38
�d8-+) 55... �al+o 56. �c4 'tlffl+D 57. 29. �a7!?lt:JfS

.r;c3 'tlff6+ 58. �c4 (58. �d2 l!d8+-+)
58... �e6+-+ 29... �xc3 30. �xd7 �d2 31. "YWxe7o
looked to me like a draw, for example:
47. l!e8 lld1+ 48. l!e1 �g2+ 49. c;te2 31... 'ifxe2+ 32. �g3 �e3+ 33. �g2 �xf4
.i. f3+ 50. �fl 34. d6 'tlfxg4+ 35. �f2 c3 36. d7 'iff4+ 37.
�� g2 �d2+ 38. �h3 c2 39. �eS+ �h7
40. �fS+ �g8 41. �dS! �xdS 42. exdS
- Terrieux, Kevin (2434) cl=� 43. d8=�+ �g7 44. d6 but actually
' Edouard, Romain (2602) after 44... �fl+ 45. �h2 �f6! 46. �c7
l 2011.05.28 �eS+ 47. �g2 b4 White might be lost
• FRA Top 12, round 3 since it takes time to manage to push the
1' Mulhouse FRA d-pawn.
30. fS 'tlfxc3?
1. d4 lt:Jf6 2. c4 g6 3. lt:Jc3 dS 4. cxdS
�xdS 5. �d2 �g7 6. e4lt:Jxc3 7. �xc3 cS A very bad decision, actually overlooking
8. dS �xc3+ 9. bxc3 0-0 10. �d2 �d6 11. for some reason that a future ...�f6 would
�f3 �g4 12. lt:JgS h6 13. h3 hxgS 14. be met by d6. After playing that move I re
hxg4 'tlfeS 15. �d3 'tlff6 16. !I b1 b6 17. alized after 31.�xe7 the position is a dead
l.bS a6 18. �e2 lt:Jd7 19. 'tlfe3 �g7 20. draw.
g3 11 h8 21. 0-0 1:t h6 22. �g2 1:t ah8 23. 30... �d6 would give me a good and stable
� h1 11 xh1 24. 11 xh1 11 xh1 25. �xh1 bS positional advantage.
26. �g2 c4 27. f4 gxf4 28. gxf4 gS!
31. �xe7 'tlfd2 32. �f2 'ifd4+ 33. �g3?
All other moves would force an immediate

draw.
Position after: 28 . .. gS!
In this difficult position my opponent took

the wise decision to play dynamically, Position after: 34. A f3
which was probably his best chance.
39
33... �e3+ 34. � f3 39. � fl �cl+ 40. �e2 (40. �f2 c3 41. e5
�f4+ 42 . .,t f3 c2 wins for Black since 43.
(see Diagram, previous page) e6 loses to 43 . . . lt:Jxe6 thanks to the prov
ocation of the d6- move.) 40 . . . c3 41. �e5+
This is our key position. I spent some time (41. e5 �d2+ 42. �f3 c2 43. e6 lt:Jxe6 44.
here but became fatalistic and considered fxe6 �f4+-+) 41... � h 7 42. �f6 �d2+
the position a dead draw anyway. With a 43. �f3 �g8-+] 36 . . . �h4+ 37. j_ h3 (37.
m uch more critical and deeper look, I <;i(gl lt:J h 7 ! 38. e5 �xg4 39. f6+ <;i(g6-+)
could have noticed that I suddenly have 37 . . . �f2+ 38. j_g2 �f4+ 39. � h3 �e3+
some chances again. Of course the follow 40. � h 2 c3 41. e5 (see analysis diagram)
ing lines are almost (maybe not even al
most) impossible to calculate from the be
ginning. But they are not riskier than the
game, and entering them would give me
chances to discover something in the next
moves (while the move I played didn't).
However I got pessimistic and did not in
vest more energy in calculating.
34... c3? Position after: 4 1 . eS
Just agreeing to a d raw. 41... lt:J d 7 ! the brillant idea that changes
34. .. �gl+ 35. .,tg2 (35. � h3 lt:J h 7 ! everything. Suddenly, not only Black is
(sim ple defensive move ! ) 3 6 . e 5 �f2-+) better, but White should find many moves
35 ... �el+ 36. � h2 [36. �f3 �c3+ 37. not to lose at once. (41. . . lt:J h 7 42. e6=) 42.
�e2 �f6 ! (provoking d6) (see analysis f6+ �g6 43. �xd7 �xe5+ 44. � h3 c2 45.
diagram) �e7o 'lic3+ 46. <;i( h2 �d2 47. <;i( h3
�d3+ 48. <;i( h2 cl="@' 49 . .,te4+ �xe4 50.
�xe4+ � xf6 5 1. @f5+ �e7+
35. eS c2 36. e6
36. f6+ � g8 37. e6 @gl+=
36... �eS+ 37. � g2 cl = @
Position after: 37 ... �f6 ! 37 ... cl=� 38. 'ifxf7+ with a perpetual.
Yz-Yz
(37 ... �b2+ 38. <;i(fl �cl+ 39. � f2 c3 40.
e5 �f4+ 41. .,tf3 c2 42. e6=) 38. d6 �b2+
40
as effortlessly as possible and reaching the

critical moment, often believe the key
IN THE LIMELIGHT moment has passed. If this is attitude
change it!
Rule number three Finally, when you see several continua
tions but that you don't believe in some of
them or believe all of them lead to the sa
In most of the situations where you are me fate: do not become lazy! If you have
cutting problems that your opponent tries time on your clock, push your brain to its
to solve, there is a critical moment where maximum, and understand that chess is
it appears like your opponent is close to not only a sport, but also a science offering
solving all the problems, but also close to many surprises.
facing news ones. You are the one who
should find how to make these new
oroblems as big as possible.
If you can play on without any
When you have an obvious tactical oppor risk, try to open yourself as many
tunity, when your opponent's position doors as possible.
seems suspicious, or when the position if
very forcing and requires an immediate de
cision: it means the next move(s) you're
going to play will be the most important
one(s) of the game.
\.,) Rule number three:
In such critical situations only cal

culation counts: you should erase
all kind of superficial thinking from
your mind and invest twice more
energy in this calculation.
This looks like something obvious, but I be

lieve in most of the cases chess players are
getting pessimistic (or lazy) in that kind of
situations and cannot convince themselves
to put more effort into calculation. In ot
her words chess players like to win games
41
§1.5 Situation limits: do not overplay a [!::. Chomet, Pascal (2333)

position ,l Edouard, Romain (2507)
� 2008.03.23
• FRA-TOP 16, round 2
WARNING � FRA
Sometimes, when a player has

been pressing his opponent most
of the time, or simply when he has
more rating than him, he forgets
about the situation limits and that
he may actually lose the game.
This is one of the most obvious
behaviours that shows a loss of
objectivity.
My first example will be a game of mine After a com plicated game which seemed
where the perpetual could not be avoided, quite good for me for a long period, the
and I decided to introduce one unuseful position is a dead draw, and it is obvious
move in the game, which made no sense White is not risking anything any more.
apart from trying to play a few more
moves, and that could (and should) have 33 ... �cl+ 34. � h2 �h6+ 3 5 . �g2 �d2+
been harshly punished. 36. � h3 �h6+ 37. �g2 �d2+ 38. � h3
11 f8??
Another problem is when we start to ask
too m uch from our position because we do Totally useless. My opponent's next move
not want to make a draw. Sometimes it is a is totally obvious (and ... even not the only
good idea against weaker players, but not good move ! ) and with or without that my
anything can be done! This will be the winning chances are anyway zero.
purpose of example n u m ber 2.
39. g aS �h6+ 40. �g2 �d2+ 41. � h3
41. �e2 would win instantly.
41 ... � h6+
Luckily my mistake remained unpunished.

Yz-Yz
42
_ leiva Rodriguez, Giuseppe (2283) 17... �xc7 18. lL\xb7 lL\xd2 19. �xd2
i Edouard, Remain (2652) �xb7 20. .l:!a6 Ae7 21. f3 0-0 22. �d3
!. 2012.08.29 �h4+23. g3
• lstanbul-40th Olympiad, round 2
� TUR
1. d4'bf6 2.'bf3 c5 3. d5 b5 4. Ag5 �b6

5. c3 lt:Je4 6. Ah4 Ab7 7. e3'ba6?! 8. a4
�c7 9. axb5 Axd5 10. 'ba3 e6 11. �c2
�d6 12.'bd2 f5 13. Ag3
13. f3!?+-
13... lt:Je4 14. lt:Jac4 �b7 15. lt:Ja5 �cS Position after: 23. g3
16. c4 Ab7
Now I reached a position in which I can just
play normal (23... .,td8) and most probably
make a draw in that slightly worse but ne
vertheless solid position. But, since my op
ponent had little time and a much lower
rating, I decided to take a risk and "over
played" the position.
23... �xf3?? 24. � f1 .,txg3+ 25. hxg3

�xg3+
Position after: 16 . . . Ab7
Until now, the short summary of the game

is that I have been completely crushed by
my opponent. However he spent a lot of
time and his next move was a quite pacific
one.
17. Axc7?
17. tt:lxe4 Axe4 18. �c3+- Position after: 26 . .,f2
43
I hadn't thought for long but simply con - Hiding the king on c2.
sidered that it could not be so disastrous
to take three pawns for a piece. 27 ... g5 28. �c2 d5 29. cxd5 c4 30. A xc4
!I ac8 31. !I c6
26. �f2
(see Diagram, previous page)
White is totally winning.
But, all of a sudden, I started to look for 31. � b3 ! ?+-
moves a nd I realized that my position is to
tally lost ( a l l White pieces stand perfect, 31... �e4+ 32. Ad3
while I j ust cannot push those many but
useless pawns). My opponent just needs to c 32. �c3 !? exdS 33. Ad3+-
play a couple of simple moves to acquire a
completely winning position . lt means the 32 ... �xd5 33. �f3! �e5
sacrifice was just insane a nd inappropriate:
typical bad reaction agai nst a much lower 33 ... �xf3 34. !i xf3 �g7 35. � c4 l! xc6
rated opponent. Let's add that, after being 36. bxc6 !I c8 37. Ji bS g4 38. }I fl hS 39.
crushed that much in the opening (where �d3 h4 40. �e2 looked totally lost to me.
both of us were 'out of book'), it would ha
ve been quite objective to realize that my 34. A c4 �g7 35. l! d1 !I ceS 36. !i d7+
opponent was u nderrated and that I �g6 37. !I cc7 ll c8 38. �h1?!
should not care that much of the 400-
points difference ! 38. li xh7 g4 39. � h l+-
26 ... �e5 27. � d 1 ! 38 ... h5 39. 1:, g7+ �xg7 40. 11 xg7+ �xg7
41. � b3 �g6 42. A xe6 ll c5 43. Ad7!
11 e5 44. �c6+ �g7 45. �c3 �f6
Position after: 3 1 . 1:!. c6
Position after: 45 . <;t>fG

..
44
•Vhile I was about to resign (for example In many cases, trying to change your fate
�·d4 wins a rook) my opponent got afraid when it's settled does not give you any
:::>eing short on time (ignoring he had 40 potential chance to improve the logical
,ore minutes since we had passed move outcome of the game. When you don't
�0...) and, miraculously for me, repeated want to agree to a draw in a dead drawn
,oves. position, and are not willing to play the
logical move because of that, ask yourself
46. �c6+ rl;;g7 47. �c3 rl;;f6 48. '@c6+ one thing: is changing your move gives you
�-Y. any potential chance to win the game?
Once again, this sounds obvious, but it is
not always easy to control it during a
IN THE LIMELIGHT game.
Careful: being reasonable does not mean
Rule number four you should become a boring player and,
for example, not 'push' and equal position
Chess is a sport in which not everything against a weaker player.
can go perfect. Sometimes you are not
happy with a draw or what your position
became. Depending on your opponent's
strength, or on the tournament/match si
tuation, you may take some risk.
...,) Rule number four
However risks should be the result

of a rational thinking: its size
should be adapted to the situa
tion, and not be mostly impulsive.
45
Genera l conclusion CONCLUSION
In order to push yourself to your best and In order words, you have to renew
to improve your combativity, you should constantly and rationally your ob
not confuse: jectives during a chess game.
• achievement (good result) and success

( best possible result);
• failing (bad resu lt/ga me) and being
fatalist (considering everything went
wrong prematurely);
• illusions (forgetting things can always
get worse) and combativity (trying the
best practical chances) .
I n order t o limit your number of b a d deci

sions, you should control your emotions,
and not the contrary:
• Force your brain to erase negative

things when you realize you are losing
your objectivity;
• force yourself to calculate as much as
possible when you realize the situation
is critica l, and trust your calculation;
• before taking risks, eva luate how crazy
they are compared to the potential
chances to improve the logical outcome
of the game.
46
Exercises Chapter 1
EXERCISE 1 EXERCISE 2
Black to move. Can you fi nd the only win Black to move. Time: 5-10 m i n utes.
for Black in the next session of moves? Af-
ter that, ca n find the only draw for White
earlier in the ga me? You can move the
pieces of you r chess board. Time: unlim-
ited.
EXERCISE 3 EXERC ISE 4
White to move. Would you go for the calm Black to move. Can you find the best conti
l:t aS or for the straight � aS ? Time: 5-10 nuation for Black to make a draw? Time: 4-
minutes. 8 minutes.
47
EXERCISE 5 EXERC I S E 6
White to move. Find the best continuation. White to move. Can you see a big differ-
Time: 7- 14 minutes. ence between repeating moves with �f2
�b2+ (etc.) or playing f4 first? Time: 7 - 14
m i n utes.
EXE RC I SE 7 EXE RCI S E 8
Black to move. Time: 12 - 24 m i n utes. White to move. Can you assess the move
10. AgS? Time: 30-60 minutes.
48
Exercises Chapter 1
EXE RC I S E 9 EXERC I S E 1 0
Black to move. Is there a ny significant dif White to move. Find the most precise win
ference between . . . w hB a nd ... w h7? ning continuation. Time: 8- 16 minutes.
Time: 5 - 10 minutes.
EXE RCI S E 1 1 EXERCI S E 1 2
Black to move. Can you find the only way Black to move. Can you find the only move
not to lose at o nce? Can you assess it? Ti to stay in the game? Time: 15 -30 minutes.
me for the first q uestion: 2 -4 minutes. Ti
me for the second questio n : 25 -50 mi
nutes.
49
General reasons for blun
dering
instead o f playing. The reason is not only

that we have more time when we analyse.
2
lt is also that we have no stress or any
other kind of psychological pressure when
we are not in a practical game. For most of
chess players, the important the ga me, the
bigger are the chances to blunder. But of
course, there are many other parameters.
§ 2.llntroduction
We will speak about the five situations
Chess is one of the toughest games that where blunders occur the most.
exists because it is one of the very few
where you can lose everything d ue to a First situatio n : after a n y k i n d o f shock,
:Jne-second blunder, even if you have play like when the eva luation of the position
ed perfectly for several hours. The fact it has just changed due to something (and
'lappens so often is the reason why a rath not o n ly negatively !). I ndeed chess players
er weak computer could beat a strong G M: like their games to go their way and often
:he general quality of play of the computer somehow lose the thread when something
Nould be worse, but he would never make u nusual happens.
any serious blunder.
Second situation: when the a utomatic
'Blundering' is the most com mon way to move is not been played by one of the
spoil chess games. In this chapter we're players. The brain has mechanisms which
going to study all the reasons why 'we', are getting better, faster and more precise
1umans, blunder in chess games and we' l l gradually as we imp rove. But sometimes,
+ind out how t o reduce this n u m ber of especially when we are tired, these mecha
"11 i stakes. Not a l l the blunders a re avoi nisms a re working on autopilot and our
dable, but many of them are. brain only thinks of one move when it
looks like the normal/only one at first
Most of the reasons for blundering are sight.
purely psychological. lt means that in the
very same positions, we would not make Third situation: when we lack time. Time
the same big mistakes if we were analysing trouble is a difficult situation. lt ca nnot al-
51
The Chess Man u al of Avoidable M ista kes
ways be avoided, but, it is possible to § 2.2 Psychological reactions after a shock

handle it decently by avoiding some parti
cular practical mistakes. Let's start with one of the biggest cause for
blundering: bad psychological reaction
Fourth situation: when we lack concen after a shock. I did notice several cases
tration. I ndeed it is not a lways easy to when chess players cannot play correct
keep the brain at the same level of concen ly/objectively a nymore after something
tration during a game. Some things should a bnormal happened during a game:
be done to avoid big holes in your thinking.
• after already having blundered once,
Fifth situation: being overconfident. which changed a br u ptly the situation of
While some of the causes for blunders I ha the game (exam ples n u mbers 1 and 2);
ve just mentioned are rather linked to a • after m issing a move that ' looks' super
lack of confidence, overconfidence is a lso a strong (exam ple number 3);
big source of blunders. lt is i mportant al • while being very close to escape mira
ways to be aware of the danger during a culously after a very bad game or a hu
chess game. ge blunder (exam ples n u m ber 4 and 5).
In a l l these cases, I noticed that chess pla

yers are often either getting fatalist or too
excited (in the third case). These are major
causes of blundering.
£!:, Marin, M ihail (2583)

A Edouard, Romain {2597)
� Benasque-XXIX Open 2009.
52
General reasons for blundering
This game was the subject of the very first enough mistakes I kept on playing all my
exercise of the first chapter. Indeed, after moves extremely fast.
being a piece up (and very close to win
ning) most of the game I reached this ab 80... �e4=
solutely drawn position where my oppo
nent immediately declined a draw. I could 81. llxg3 �e4 82. llf3 �d6 83. �f2
simply not believe it and started to play all �f4 84. �e2 �d6 85. l!h3 �d5 86.
my moves in one second. This is typical a �d3 �c6 87. lih6 �d5 88. llg6 �f4 89.
childish and bad reaction. � f6 �d6 90. llf5+ �c6 91. �c4 �b7
92. �b5 �as
76. �g3 �f5 77. llg8 �f4+ 78. �h4 g3
79. �h3 �e5 so. �g2
Position after: 92... '>fta8
Position after: 80. '>ftg2 Reaching the usual drawn setup.
80... �f4? 93. �b6 �h2 94. llg5 �f4 95. llg4 �h2
96. �a6 �b8 97. !ig7 Ae5 98. lla7+
Yes, we reached move 80. I had two op
tions: to look at the board, play my move,
and take a new score sheet (starting on
move number 81) or to take a new score
sheet, look at the board, and play my
move. What did I do? I played a move with
one of my hands, and took the new sheet
with the other hand. The position was so
drawn that I considered it unnecessary to
look at the board: and I blundered my g3-
pawn in one move. Of course the position
is still a total draw: but as if I hadn't done Position after: 102. � f7
53
� b8 99. 11 e7 �d6 100. 11 d7 � c7 101. 104. 11 a7+ � b8 105. 11 d7

11 g7 � eS 102. 11 f7
Experience won against the child !
Until now a l l was fine. I had gone from 3 1-0
minutes to almost 15 minutes on clock,
which were totally useless.
!'!, Podolchenko, Evgeniy (2502)
102... �d6?? ... Edouard, Romain (2617)
[!] 2010.03.08
Why to go to such a square? There is no • EICC 11th Men, round 3
answer, so the only way to avoid it would � Rijeka CRO
have been to ask myself that q uestion. But,
instead I moved within two seconds and
played one of the few 'legal' losing moves. 1. d4 dS 2. c4 dxc4 3. lt:Jf3 lt:Jf6 4. e3 e6 5.
� xc4 cS 6. 0-0 a6 7. � b3 bS 8. a4 b4 9.
102 . . . �g3= lt:Jbd2 � e7 10. e4 � b7 11. eS lt:Jfd7 12.
lt:Jc4 0-0 13. � c2 cxd4 14. �xd4 b3 !
103. � b6 �aS?!
14 ... �xf3? 15. �d3±
Getting tired a nd not even creating more
' problems'. 103 ... �a3 104. l:id7 � c8 15. � xb3? !
105. 11 dS � b2 106. � c6 is a theoretical
win for White. 15. � b1 � dSoo
15 �xf3 16. gxf3 lt:Jc6 17. �e3 ltJcS 18.

••.
� d1 11 bS=i= 19. 11 a3 11 b4 20. � c3 lt:Jd4

21. aS?!
o 21. b3 e.g. 21... lt:Jcxb3 22. � xb3 ltjxb3

23. �a3 ! � cS 24. �e2 ltjd4 25. �d3
�dS 26. �g2 11 bb8 27. 11 d1 �xa3 28.
11 xa3 lt:Jxf3 29. �xdS exdS 30. !! xdS
ltj h4+ 3 1 . �g3 lt:JfS+=
Position after: 105. � d7 21 •.. ltjbS 22. !! c2 ltjb3+ 23. '@'e4
54
General reasons for blu nderi ng
I had completely missed that I am now lo

sing material. However the situation is not
so dramatic. But, because of the 'shock' I
played my next move too fast and lost in
one move a game that should have contin
ued for a long time.
24... �xc4?
The worst possible choice.

Position after: 23. �e4
a) 24... 11 xc4? 25. AxaS+-
In this fantastic position I hesitated be b) The very simple 24... �b3 ! ( keeping
tween staying a pawn down (with strong some positional domination) was not that
compensations for sure) or recovering the clear: 25. �xb4 �xb4 with the idea of . . .
pawn by taking on aS (with a position that I ltJSb3 and the position remains playable.
considered better for me anyway). I decid
ed to be materia list. 25. Axb4 �xb4 26. 11 xc4+-
23 ... �xaS??
Position after: 26 . .!:. xc4
Position after: 24. �d2! The position is totally lost.
23 ... fS ! 24. exf6 ,lixf6+ would have given 26 ... aS 27. f4 g6 28. Af3 �c7 29. 11 d1
me amazing compensation and most pro 'iVb8 30. 'ifb7 fixb7 31. Axb7 lt:Je8 32.
bably a winning position . Af3 lt:Jg7 33. lld7tt:Jts 34. A e4lt:Jg7 35.
Af3 lt:JfS 36. �g4 tt:Jg7 37. l! cc7 h6 38.
24. �d2! �f1 a4 39.lh7 _tcs 40. ,lixa4 l:t b8 41.
g c4 A f8 42. 11 cc7 It xb2 43. !ic8 1-0
55
The Chess M an u al of Avo idable M istakes
!'!, Pijpers, Arthu r (2338) lt::l d 4i) 16. Axd7 '@xd7 17. Axf6 exf6 is
A Edouard, Romain (2607) about equal.
[] 2012.04.06
• Deizisau-16th N eckar Open, round 3 15. fxg5 lt:Jb6 16. A e4 A xd5
� GER
U nnecessary since castling or 16... � c8
would be unclear, but I had totally missed
1. e4 c 5 2 . ltJf3 d 6 3. d4 cxd4 4 . lt::lxd4 my opponent's 18th move.
lt::lf6 5. lt::lc 3 a6 6. Ag5 lt::l bd7 7. f4 '@c7 8.
�f3 b5 9. 0-0-0 A b7 10. Ad3 g6 11. 17. A xd5 lt:Jxd5 18. '@f3
l:t he1 Ag7 12. ltJd5 lt::lxd5 13. exd5 A f6
Position after: 18. �f3

Position after: 13 ... �f6
All of a sudden I thought I was losing a lot
14. '@e3 of material since 18 ... lt::l b 6 is met by 19.
lt::l c 6 and a queen move would not be e
While there was a 300 points gap between nough to save the d5-knight. I looked for a
me and my opponent I was happy to see minute and played 18 ... lt:J b6, being very
that move a ppear on the board since the upset.
logical move 14.lt:Jc6 is a forced draw. But 18. '@e4 lt:J b6 19. lt:Jc6 e5oo was what I
it is actually very interesting! had calculated.
14. lt::l c 6 A xgS 15. fxgS A xc6 16. dxc6
lt::l e5 17. � xe5 dxe5 18. A xg6 hxg6 19. 18 ... lt:Jb6
� d7=
But the very simple move 18 ... '@c4 would
14... A xg5 ! ? save the game, since after 19. b3 '@c5
1 4... Axd5 15. AxbS 0-0 ( 15... axbS ? ! 16. there is no ltJ b3 anymore.
lt::l x b5 �c6 17. Axf6 0-0 18. A c3 e6 19. 19. lt::lc6 e6 20. '@f6+-
56
General reasons for bl undering
decided to play a bit more although the

position is resignable.
47. !r,e6
47. d6! ?+-
47 ... "J/!jc7 48. �xc7 !?
48. �b4! ?+-
Position after: 20. 'ir'f6 48... 1Ixc7 49. � bS lL:\ed6 50. i_c6
l! a7?! 51. ,Jixd6!lh2+ 52. �el llal+
I have eventually won that game (incredi 53. �e2 11 a2+ 54. �dl lL:\xd6 55. lL:\d4
ble as it may seem) but the rest is not so li g7 56. lL:\e6+ �g8 57. llxg7+ �h8
interesting to appear in this book!
0-1
fj, Bellaiche, Anthony (2472)

' Edouard, Remain (2446)
I! 2007.02.11
• FRA - TOP 16, round 3
� FRA
Position after: 57 ... �h8
My position is of course totally lost in ma

ny ways, but my opponent was in a big ti
me trouble and started to get nervous
(especia lly since he had to win to save that
important team match).
58. lit e7 g4 59. �el
59. lL:\f4+-
The short summary of the first 46 moves of
the game is that I have been totally crus- 59 ... g3 60. �fl
hed by my opponent. Especially since it
was a decisive game in a team match I 60. ltJf4+-
57
The Chess M a n u a l of Avo idable M ista kes
60 ... l2Jc4 61. ll g7 l2Je3+ 62. �el gZ 63. 67. � e l ? ! = would be a third repetition.
d6
67 ... l! cZ+ 68. � bl ll xc6 69. d7 li d6 70.
63. ll g3 ! ?+- .la xgZ ltjxgZ 71. dB=�+ I[xdS 7Z.lljxd8
63 ... lljc2+ 64. �dl llje3+ 65. �ellljc2+ (see Diagram, previous column)
Yes, this is also a kind of shock: after play

ing 50 moves telling myself "I resign next
move if he plays this or that" I am all of a
sudden having a worse but totally drawn
position. But I lost control of my emotions
and made a wrong calculation instead of
playing 'normal moves'.
12 ... �g7 73. �c2 �fS
Position after: 65 . . . l!)c2+ The super-obvious 73... � h 6 74. �d3

� gS would make a d raw at once.
66. �dl??®
74. �d2 rl;e7 75.lljb7 �d7??
66. �f2 lljd4+ 67. �e3 lljxe6 (67 ... l2Jxc6
68. d7+-) 68. iii x g2+-
66... llje3+ 67. �cl
Position after: 75... �d7 ??
Giving the half point back: of course every

body can see that the only thing to do to
Position after: 72. l!)xd8 make a draw was to run away with my g2-
knight. But, a l l of a sudden it is no longer
possible and the position is lost.
58
General reaso ns for blundering
75 . . . lt:Jf4= !'!:, Bricard, Emmanuel (2453)

... Edouard, Remain (2508)
76. 'Llc5+ wc6 77. 'Lld3 W b5 78. wc3 [] 2008.08.14
-;tc6 79. Wd2 Wb5 80. we2 Wc4 81. e5 ! • FRA-83rd eh National B, round 4
� Pau FRA
1. d4 lt:Jf6 2. lt:Jf3 e6 3. g3 b5 ! ? 4. Ag2

A b7 5. Ag5 c5 6. Axf6 �xf6 7. c3 'iVd8
8. 0-0 A e7 9. 'Llbd2 0-0 10. a4 b4 11. c4
Af6 12. ltjb3 lt:Ja6 13. �d3
The position is very normal.
13... l! c8??
Position after: 81. eS !
Now I'm going to say a funny, difficult to
Just in time. Not so fortunate for me, but believe, but true story that happened. Af
definitely deserved! ter that move, I started to look around
what was going on and got distracted. My
81... ltjh4 opponent was already thinking for more
than 15 minutes. I was feeling confident
81... fxe5 82. f6+- and started to look at the screen where all
the games of the event were being broad
82. exf6 ltjxf5 83. f7 ltjd4+ 84. We3 ltje6 casted. I saw my own position and noticed
85. lt:Jf4 lt:Jf8 86. We4 that "some guy allowed a very simple
winning tactic: lt:Jg5 " . Of course, two se
The kind of position that is always lost: the conds later, I realized this guy was me. Af
white pawn is on the 7th rank, my knight is ter thinking for 10 more minutes, my op
totally dominated, and my king is too far. ponent finally also missed ltJg5.
86 wc5 87. we5 wc6 88. wt6 Wd6 89.

.•. 14. l! ac1??
c;tg7 ltjd7 90. ltjh5 We5 91. ltjf6 ltjc5 92.
�g8 lt:Je6 93. lt:Je8 Relieved, I started to play very fast in a
1-0 (still) complicated position, feeling like a
free man !
14. lt:Jg5+-
14... jlc6
59
The Chess M a n u a l of Avoidable M istakes
14 ... cxd4+
1S. d5
Position after: 17. � xa6
I have logically lost the game in 50 moves.
Position after: 15. dS
15 ... j_xa4?? IN THE LIMELIGHT
Played within a m i n ute, only considering Rule number one:

16. lt:Jbd2 and missing that after 16. 11 a1
i,xb3 my opponent did not have to take
on b3 necessarily! This could by the way be After missing something im portant or after
an illustration to subchapter n u m ber 2 as blundering, it is very human to get fatalist
well (about 'automatic moves') . or a ngry with yourself (for exa m ple to start
to play fast and/or without calculating).
16. llal! This is childish and not the right time for it.
If you make a mistake it is not a reason to
16. l2Jbd2 b3 ! 17. ll a1 lt:Jb4 18. �b1 make one or several more. Most of the
lt:Ja2+ time, one (even relatively i mportant)
mistake is not enough to lose the game.
16... j_xb3 17. !l xa6 Nonetheless in many practical games one
big mistake often hides another (or several
(see Diagram, next column) others) due to the psychological shock.
In other words, even if you make a mistake
Now the game is over again ! have in mind that your opponent is not a
computer.
17 ... exdS 18. �xb3 dxc4 19. �xc4 dS 20.
'iVa2 c4 21. b3 'iVe7 22. e3 'iVb7 23.
!ia4+-
60
Rule number one hind. Again, your opponent may come

back to reality at one point ! Not all of your
The general philosophy to follow mistakes will remain unpunished.
during a game is that you should
never look behind and that you
should always force your oppo
nent to be as precise as possible.
The situation changed badly? Adapt your

self. Play according to the new position
and to the new parameters.
it also means that in the reverse situation

you should not believe that the point is in
the pocket if your opponent starts blunde
�ing. At some point he may come back to
reality. Keep on calculating, and try to be
precise and not superficial.
IDEA
Having a much better position, un

less you have a clear and easy
way, do not refuse small complica
tions if they seem like the very
best choice.
Finally, if you get relieved from a total ly

lost position or if you r opponent missed
something:
WARNING
lt does not mean that you became

untouchable.
In that situation too just play according to

the new parameters without looking be-
61
The Chess Man u al of Avoidable M i sta kes
§2.3 Automatic moves blindness !":, Grachev, Boris (2680)

... Edouard, Romain (2587)
U n like a computer, h u m a n brain works ac [] 2011.07.27
cording to certain logic. This means when • Biel MTO O pen, round 9
there is something very normal to do that � SUI
it is sometimes closed for other options. In
many situations, the 'automatic' move is
the best. But in some of them it is not. 1. d4 ltJf6 2. c4 g6 3. ltJc3 dS 4. cxdS
ltJxdS 5. e4 ltJxc3 6. bxc3 il,g7 7. �a4+
The first very com mon kind of automatic �d7 8. �b3 0-0 9. il,e3 b6 10. il,bS c6
move is the 'recapture': unless there is a 11. il,e2 cS 12. dS e6 13. ltJf3 exdS 14.
very clear intermediary move the brain of exdS il,a6 15. i.xa6 ltJxa6 16. ll d1 ltJc7
ten only considers recapturing and forgets 17. c4 ltJe8 18. 0-0 ltJd6 19. i.f4 ll fe8
about more options. This will be illustrated 20. i.xd6 �xd6 21. ll fe1 �d7 22. g3
by my fi rst example. !l xe1+ 23. !l xe1 !l e8 24. �d1 il,f6 25.
h4 bS 26. !l xe8+ �xe8 27. �d3
A similar automatism is the ' logical captu
re' as a consequence of very short-term
thinking. As for the first kind of automa
tism j ust above, sometimes you may even
play it i m pu lsively a lthough this was not
your intention. This will be i l lustrated by
my second exam p le.
Another similar problem is while calcula

ting, to only consider moving a piece when
it is attacked. This will be illustrated by my
third exa m ple. Position after: 27. �d3
The last very common situation is to avoid 27 ... b4? !

all kind of schematically 'wrong setups' un
consciously a lthough it is sometimes pu Definitely a positional m istake, and the
rely virtual and can be refuted by an extre start of the problems in that ( u ntil here)
mely easy calculation. This will be the pur very equal game. And now:
pose of example n u m ber 4. A) 27 ... a6=
B) 27 ... bxc4=
28. d6 aS? !
62
General reasons for blunderi ng
28 ... �c6 ! 29. d7 �g7 ! would still be quite

OK for Black.
29. d7 �dB 30. 'iVdl
30. �dS±
30 ... �g7
Position after: 40. ttJxe7
This is the position we are interested in. I

had to play rather fast (since it was move
40) and I thought giving check on e4 is not
useful because the King would not be
worse on h2 and I would have no more
checks. I stopped my calculation here and
Position after: 30 ... <;tg7 took on e7 within a few seconds. But, of
course, a deeper look who have indicated
31. �a4? me how to force a draw.
31. 'iVdS± 40 ... �xe7?
31... �fS?! 40 . . . �e4+ 41. �h2 �el! is a draw:

forcing the white queen to move in order
31... �c7 != to avoid a perpetual, after what it will not
attack a4 anymore.
32. �c6 �e7 33. �xcS+ �xd7 34. lt:\d2
�es 35. lt:\b3 a4 36. lt:\aS?! 41. �xa4 �e4+ 42. �h2 'iVel 43. �c2
�c3 44. �e2
36. �c6+;!;
The endgame is quite difficult for Black.
36 ... �dl+ 44... hS 45. �g2 �d4 46. �f3 !
Slowly bringing the king to the other side
Not the easiest way since many other mo of the board.
ves would have equalized.
37. �g2 il.,e7 38. �bS+ �f8 39. lt:\c6 46 ... �f6+ 47. �e4 �e7+ 48. �d3 �d7+
�e2 40. lt:\xe7 49. �e3 �e6+ SO. �d2 �f6 51. �d3
63
60 ... �xf4+ 61. gxf4 � xc6 62. �d2 �dS

63. �e3 f6 64. �d3 �cS 65. � e4 � b4
�.5 �0
[:, Fel ler, Sebastien (2525)

" Edouard, Romain {2562)
iiJ 2009.02 .20
• Nancy-GM, round 7
� FRA
Position after: 51. Wd3
A critical position.
51... �dB+?!
5 1 . . . �g8! was a very strong waiting

defensive move: 52. �c2 (52. '@d2 �fS+
53. � d4 �d7+ 54. � e3 �e6+=) 52 ...
�c3+ 53. � bl �d4! 54. �c2 �f8 ! 55. cS
�e7 56. c6 � d8=
52. �c2 �as 53. � bl �fS+

Here is my most illustrative exa m ple of 'au
53 . . . �cS 54. �b2 �d4+ 55. � b3 'i'c3+ tomatic move' which I have played. While I
56. � a4± had calculated earlier that my o pponent's
last move lL\c4-d6 was even more losing
54. �c2 'liVeS 55. cS �e7 56. c6 �dB 57. than the rest (because of . . . �xd6) I simply
�d2+ �c7 58. @xb4 �fS+ 59. �cl played instantly the 'automatic' move. Im
�xf2? mediately after touching my bishop I noti
ced what mistake I had done: but the auto
59 . . . �xc6 had to be played but the ending matism ( not to somehow make my queen
should be lost a nyway. hang) had been stronger than my calcula
tion.
60. �f4+!?
29 ... A xd6??
60. 'i' b7++-
29 ... �xd6-+
64
30. exd6 �xd6 31. lt:Jf5 ! exf5 32. �xg7 £!:, Edouard, Romain (2652)
' Tkachiev, Vladislav (2644)
IIl 2012.08.22
• FRA-87th eh m, round 9
� Pau FRA
1. d4 lt:Jf6 2. c4 e6 3. lL\c3 A b4 4. e3 0-0

5. Jid3 c5 6. lL\f3 lL\c6 7. 0-0 Jixc3 8.
bxc3 d6 9. e4 e5 10. d5 lL\e7 11. lL\h4
�h8 12. g3 !?
Position after: 32. �xg7
32 ... �e7??
Played instantly. This would also be a

perfect exam ple for subchapter number 1:
'Psychological reactions after a shock'.
32 ... �d7 had to be played but after 33.

�d4 White would already have big chanc
es to make a draw. (33. Af4? �xf4 34. Position after: 12. g3 !?
�xf7+ �c8 35. �xd5 ,ll xb2-+)
12. .. Ji h3 13. l! e1 �d7N 14. f3 lL\fgS 15.
33. Ac5+- �xc5 34. �e5+ �d7 35. g4
l'!xd5+ �xd5 36. �xd5+ �e7 37. '¥:fe5+
�d7 38. '@'xf5+ �e7 39. g3 n hdS 40.
�e5+ �fa 41. �hS+ �e7 42. �xh6 1! d6
43. �g5+ �e6 44. "¥!Ve3+ �f6 45. �f4+
�e6 46. b3
1-0
Position after: 15 . . . ltjg6
65
Black is a l ready facing specific problems: a nd, while I have two pawns to compensa
my idea is to go �f2-� g3 and take the h3- te for the piece I have lost, I a m going to
bishop. win the h3-bishop for one pawn only, a nd
the position is totally winning. lt looks ob
15 ... lt:)g6 vious once you see it: and if you think of it,
it is not even required to calculate (this fi
(see Diagram, previous page) nal position is just winning). The only thing
to think a bout was that ... an attacked pie
This is the position we are interested in. ce does not 'always' necessarily has to mo
My initial idea was to go 16.lt:)f5, which I ve.
considered to be m uch better for White.
But then I started to calculate 16 . . . lt:)f4 16 ... fxg6 17. � h1 hS 18. gxhS �f7
and was not happy that later (after . . . g6)
my Knight should go to a square I am not 18 ... gxhS 19. � gl !:I f7 20. j,e3 1t af8 21.
happy with. Because of that I could not j, e2;!;
make the move lt:)fS work for me. I finally
surrendered and took on g6, making my 19. � e2 gxhS 20. !:lg1 lt:)f6 21. '@'e1;t
position only a bit better. But a more
open-minded calculation should have hel Followed by �h4. My position was quite
ped me taking the right decision. pleasa nt anyway, and I have won the game
in 51 moves. Part of it will be used in the
16. lt:)xg6+? last subchapter of this same chapter.
1-0
16. lt:)fS ! lt:)f4 ( 16 ... hS 17. � hl ! ± ) 17.
� xf4 ! exf4 18. �d2 ! g6 And now, of £::, Zhu, Chen (2495)
course, I do not have to move my knight at .t. Edouard, Romain (2634)
all: 19 . �xf4 ! gxfS 20. exfS (see analysis r:n 201 1.01.26
diagram) • Tradewise G i braltar Masters, round 2
� ENG
1. d4 e6 2. c4 � b4+ 3. �d2 aS 4. lt:)f3 d6

5. g3 �e7 6. lt:Jc3 lt:Jf6 7. j,g2 eS 8. dxeS
dxeS 9. ltjdS lt:JxdS 10. cxdS c61? 11. e4
j,g4 12. 0-0 0-0 13. h3 A xf3 14. � xf3
I:ld8
Position after: 20. exfS 14 ... cxdS 15. exdS lt:)d7=
66
15. �e3 �cS 16. �xcS �xcS 17. I[cl I evaluated 23 ... g6 24. �g4 to be very dra
·�b6 18. �e2tLla6? ! wish but maybe it was the best anyway:
24 ... tLld4 25. �xg6 fxg6 (25 . . . tt:Jxc6? 26.
Too am bitious. � h5+ Wh8 27. I[xc6i) 26. � xg6+ Wh8
a 18 ... cxd5 19. exd5 �d6 (26 ... hxg6 27. �xg6+=) 27. � g7 � g8 ! ?
( 2 7... � a7 28. � xa7 �xa7 29 . � c8=) 28.
19. � c3 t2Jc7 20. dxc6? ! !! xg8+ (28. l:!cc7?! �xc7+) 28 ... �xg8
and Black is actually a little bit better.
20. �e3 ! �xe3 21. fxe3 ! would give White
a small advantage since the black Knight 24. �xf7+ W h8 25. �hS tt:Jxc6 26. � xc6
no longer has the d4-square available and � d6
there are some problems regarding the c6-
pawn: 2 1 . . .tLlb5 ? ! 22. � c5 ! ± Not the most precise. lt was time to bail
out with a draw.
20 ... bxc6 21. � fcl
26 ... �bS 27. �g6 � d l+ !? 28. Wh2
21. �c2 !? tLle6 22. E:,xc6 �b5� � h l+ 29. wxhl �fl+=
27. � c2
21... lt:JbS 22. � xc6 �b8
Position after: 27. l:!, c2

Position after: 22 . .. �bB
Here is the position we are interested in.
Now I am a pawn down, but my opponent White is going to put his Bishop on dS
is in time trouble and I have huge compen next. I decided that I should play 27 ... �b4
sation due to the . . . tLld4-move which is because after 28.Ad5 I would be ready to
coming. My opponent tried to go for an at go 28 ... �el+ forcing 29 .W h2 (29.Wg2 is
tack. met by 29 ... ll xd5 followed by ... �e4+)
while after 29 ... li[ f6 the position remains
23. �hS ! ? lt:Jd4? ! playable and unclear. This reasoning
sounds quite logical doesn't it?
67
The Chess M anual of Avoidable M istakes
27 .•. f;'b4?? IN THE LIMELIGHT
27 . . . � b6 28. 'fixeS li fG= Rule number two
28. i.,dS 'f;e1+ 29. �g2!+-

Just as you cannot prevent all of your blun
ders, you cannot always thin k of every
thing either: you a re not a computer. Ho
wever it is possible to avoid many mistakes
by not being impulsive . First of a l l, during a
game,
Rule number two
You need to force yourself to be

more open-minded when you cal
Position after: 29. Wg2 ! culate.
No. The a utomatic move didn't have to be In 95% of the cases you have to recapture
played. Now everything is hanging and . . . a piece or to move it when it is attacked.
my com bination i s not working at all ! The But you need to be ready to be a little bit
reason is that I considered ·�g2+ g c2' to more 'creative' in the other 5% of cases.
be some kind of wrong setup due to the Most of the 'bad a utomatisms' are due to
fork on e4. I based all my calculation on the very fact that the brain always consi
this factor which did not work. ders the value of the pieces as totally over
riding - this is why sometimes you have to
29. �h2 11 fGoo ( 29 . . 11 f8oo)
. push it a bit in the other direction (for
example in order to play a long term win
29 ... li f8 ning sacrifice).
29 . . . 11 xd5 30. li, e2 !+- Oops.

Secondly, unless the clock forces you,
30. �xeS 11 h6 31. �c3 �d1 32. !I d2
�e1 33. It c2 �d1 34. 11 d2 ft'e1 35. h4 i IDEA
It g6 36. eS .it dB 37. 11 d3 �xc3 38. bxc3
g b6 39. �f3 11 b2 40. � e3 a4 41. e6 You should always take at least a
11 e8 42. li d4 1l c2 43. �d3 11 xf2 44. few seconds before playing an
jtc6 1-0 'obvious' move.
68
lt is very easy to do especially in a Fischer §2.4 Practical play in time trouble

time control, and, as in the situation just a
bove, it will reduce your number of over There are two big problems linked to time
sights considerably. trouble.
Finally, The first one is very obvious: there is not

much time to think of the most accurate
WARNING move. However in a time trouble we have
a nasty tendency to enter concrete lines
When you base all your calculation blindly. This will be the purpose of example
on one key factor, don't think too number 1. We a lso tend to change our
quickly and check several times plan too often, without making time to ela
this factor does work! borate a new one. This will be illustrated
by example number 2.
lt may avoid overlooking immediate tacti
cal refutations that you may miss if you The second one: there is a big risk that
only calculated complicated things. your clock goes down to 3-4 seconds and
that you need to play a move as fast as
possible. This is the main origin of the most
crazy decisions/blunders you can see in
chess games. This will be illustrated by my
three last examples (numbers 3, 4, 5).
/:}, Salgado Lopez, lvan (2602)

� 2010.11.08
• Barcelona-Magistral, round 5
� ESP
1. e4 c5 2. lt:Jf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. lt:Jxd4

ft:jf6 5. ft:jc3 ft:jc6 6. �g5 e6 7. �d2 a6 8.
0-0-0 ft:jxd4 9. �xd4 �e7 10. f3
10. f4 is the main line.
10... 0-0 11. h4 b5 12. Wb1 � b7 13. �d2

'fi/c7 14. � d3 ll ac8 15. ft:je2 d5 16. e5
ft:je4!
69
The Chess Man u al of Avoidable M istakes
Position after: 16 . lt::l e 4!

. . Position after: 22 .. fS
.
Black achieved everything possible. How- 23. lt:Jf4? !

ever I have overplayed my hand in the next
session of moves, until my opponent We look into:
played im precise moves himself. A) 23. exf6 'l£fxg3 24. lt:Jxg3 gxf6 25.
.lk. h6;!;
17. 'lte1 .\k_cS B) 23. hS!?
17 . . . f6! ? 18. exf6 .\k.xf6!:+ 23 ... 'ltf7?!
18. n f1.\k.b6 19. n cl.\k.aS? ! 23 . . . nfe8!?
19 ... lt:Jc5!? 20. 'l£fg3 fS!:+ 24. hS .\k.c7 25 . .\k.xa4 bxa4 26. .\k.f6? !
20. c3 lt:Jc5 21 . .\k_c2 26. h6 A xeS (26 ... g6 27 . .\k.f6;!;) 27.

n fe1;!;
All of a sudden 'l£fg3 is com i ng and my
position becomes very u n pleasant. Around 26... h6
that moment I started thinking and spent
all of my remaining time. Now that I could play ... h6 myself I u nder
stood my position was excellent. My op-
21 ... lt:Ja4 22. 'l£f g3 fS ponent played his next move quickly to
take advantage of the fact I had to play 14
more moves with 30 seconds per move.
But, in such a good position it should be
enough.
(see Diagram, next column) 27. c4
70
General reaso ns for blunderi ng
Oops. All of a sudden I am totally lost.

Worse (but still good) would have been 30.
�xg7+ �xg7 31. 11 fd l fxe5 32. l2Jg6
11 fe8 33. ll d7+ �f6 34. ii cxc7 ll xc7 35.
ll xc7 i.d5 36. e7±
30 ... �xg6 31. lL:\xg6
3 1 . lL:\xg6 AxeS 32. lL:\xf8+ ]lxf8 33.

11 fdl+- 1-0
Position after: 27. c4
Our key position.
27 ..• rwt>h7?Ef>
[!, Edouard, Romain (2680)
While I had seen this move was probably j Solodovnichenko, Yuri (2559)
not so good, I cou ldn't resist to enter a for [I 2013.04.01
ced line (thinking 'if I don't I might regret': • Deizisau-17th Neckar Open, round 9
a bad reasoning ! ) . � GER
The extremely simple 27 . . 11 fe8 which I

.
actually even thought about was just 1. e4 cS 2. lL:\f3 e6 3. lL:\c3 l2Jc6 4. d4 cxd4
better for Black, with very easy play. Exact 5. lL:\xd4 d6 6. Ae3 ltJf6 7. f4 �e7 8. �f3
ly the kind of simple moves we, chess pla eS 9. lL:\xc6 bxc6 10. fS �aS 11. 0-0-0 0-0
yers, have problem to make in time trou 12. Ac4 llb8 13. A b3 d5 14. exdS li xb3
ble. This could a lso be an example for 15. cxb3 cxdS 16. 11 xdS lL:\xdS 17. lL:\xdS
subchapter number 2 of the first chapter A h4 18.lL:\c3 lt d8 19. �e4 ii,e7 20. g4
('simple defences while being under pres
sure').
28. cxdS gxf6??
Keeping on in the same terrible optic.

The normal 28. . . Axd5 would not have
been such a disaster: 29. �g6+ �g8 30.
� h4 j_xeS 31. �xf7+ �xf7 32. ltJg6 �d6
33. ltJxf8 11 xf8 34. A f2;t
29. dxe6 �g7 30. �g6+! Position after: 20. g4
71
Until now my opponent had played his 29. �c2??

opening preparation. Therefore I had so
little time left on clock that he started to A crazy and unexplainable decision, typical
get too optimistic. of time trouble.
20 ... hS?! 29. � xf7 (why not? !) would win at once,

e.g. 29 . . . �f4+ 30. �e3 �xfS 3 1 . �g3+-
20 ... �c7 ! ?�
29 ... �f4 30. ,l:l xf7 �xfS?
21. gxhS �b4?!
30 . . . e 3 ! would be quite unclear: 3 1 . �xe3
o 2 1 . . . � b4 22. ll d l;l; '@'xfS+ 32. �cl � d l ! 33. lt:Jxd l �dS 34.
lt:Jc3 'fVxf7oo
22. g f1 aS 23. h6! � b7 24. 'fVc2 �f6 2S.
li g1 �f3 26. 'fVf2 31. � e3 'l'e6 32. li b7?
26. hxg7 ! ?+- The most terrible square. Not reasoning

enough in terms of 'ha nging pieces'.
26 ... e4 27. � xg7+ � h8 28. � cS 'i'b8? 32. l:[a7+-
32 ... '¥!Va6 33. li c7?
Position after: 28 . �b8?

. .
Until now I managed to keep everything Position after: 33. li c7?

under control but I had simply no time left
on clock. While I could play the logical 33. li bSo �xc3 34. a4 �eS 35. � bl and
11 xf7 that looks completely winning, I did the position is not totally lost.
not dare without any good reason .
33. . . fVd6??
Q 28 ... �b7±
72
33 ... � dl !-+ Er,e2+ 46. �cl �xh6 47. �dl � e3 48.

�d2 !l d3+ 49. �e2 iU6 SO. 11 a4 �gS
34. !ic4? 51. llxaS+ �f4 52. lla6 JLfS 53. llc6
11 h3
c 34. 11 c5 allowing tricks on the d5-
square.
34... �h7?
34 ... �d3+ 35. � cl a4! �
35. �d2
35. � b l ! ?+-
Position after: 53 ... l1 h3
35 ... 'i:feS 36. �f2 �d6 37. �d2 �es 38.
�cl �xh2+ 39. �bl 11 d3 54. Er. d6??
54. 11 f6 was the most logical move.

would suffer but the position is a draw.
54 ... lit h2+ 55. �dl �e3
All of a sudden I am getting mated.
56. �cl !ic2+ 57. �dl llxc3
57 ... !! b2 would mate instantly: 58. �el

Position after: 39 ... l1 d3 11 g2 59. �fl Er,g3-+
40. �gl?? 58. �el llcl+
Once again changing my move at the last 58 . . . JLg4 would again mate instantly: 59.
moment without any objective reason. � f1 11 c2-+
40. 1Lf4!+-
59. 11 dl !I cS 60. 11 dS £ e4 61. 11 d7
40 ... �xgl+ 41. JLxgl e3 42. 11 f4 Axc3 11 c1+ 62. g dl 11 c2
43. Axe3 !l xe3 44. bxc3 A e4+ 45. �b2
73
ss. � f6??
All of a sudden thinking that 55. �el+
(that was of course my only intention)
loses to 55 ... l! a l+ although I can actually
go 56. Wf2 : when you see your clock
showing 'two seconds' a ny kind of halluci
nation is possible.
ss .. !! b2 56. 1! f7+ wc6 57. : f6+ WdS

.
58. llf4 f2 59. a6 !! xb4 60. n xf2 wxcS

Position after: 62 . . l1 c2
.
61. !! a2 l1 b8 Yz-Yz
The position is still theoretically lost, but I

have finally achieved a draw. The endgame � Edouard, Remain (2662)
will be one example of chapter num ber 4. ' Apicella, Manuel (2512)
Yz-Yz ;Il 2013.08.20
• FRA eh, round 9
� Edouard, Remain (2363) � N ancy FRA
' Feller, Sebastien (2345)
[] 2006
• FRA-ch U l6, round 8
� Aix les Bains
U ntil now, my opponent had played much

better than I did, but I had very decent
chances to hold the game.
Now let's see a few examples of crazy 34. '¥Hd6 £ d7

moves I have made because I let my clock
drop to two seconds. After that move (threatening . . . � xg4 with
mate to follow), I immediately saw that I
74
could go back with my queen (35.�h2) � lllescas Cordoba, Miguel (2609)

and that not much would be happening. 1 Edouard, Romain (2621)
Instead of playing it instantly to gain time, IIl 2011.11.23
or instead of thinking of something else for W ESP CECLUB DH, round 4
no more than 15 seconds (half of my � Melilla ESP
increment time), I spent more than 25
seconds on it. All of a sudden, I saw my
clock showing three seconds and was
unable to remember my move. I finally
remembered it but saw my clock showing
one (!) second. For physical reasons, I
played the move that was the closest to
the clock, but of course not avoiding the
mating threat.
35. �al??
Even playing nothing would have been

much better than this move, since I do not 25... c6!? 26. d6 �e6 27. b3 lt::\c8
even have pressure on b7 anymore!
27 ... lt::\ds+
35... Axg4 36. hxg4 �xg4+ 37. �fl
�xe3 28. d7 lt::\b6 29. 1! d6 �e7 30. f3 �f5 31.
�d4 �e5 32. �f2 �f8 33. a4 �xd4+ 34.
37... �h3-+ �6xd4 �cS 35. �1d3 �e7 36. �e3+
�f8 37. l!ed3
38. �h2+ �g8 39. �xb7 �xb7 40. fxe3
�g5!-+
After a series of miracles I have drawn that

game in 58 moves.
Yz-Yz
Position after: 37. � ed3
75
I had been slightly better for most of the Now I a m having big problems. My oppo
time during that game, but my opponent nent played very well from now until the
had defended very well. Now, with very end and beat me.
little time on clock, the very normal deci 41... hS?!
sion would be to agree a draw by repea
ting the moves for the third time. But, on o 4 l .. . lt:J c7
ce again, with two or three seconds on
clock, I played a move that makes absolu 42. g4 hxg4?!
tely zero sense.
o 42 . . 4Jc7
.
37 ... lt:JaS?<±>
43. lt:Jxg4 cS 44. � d6 cxb4 45. lt:Je5+
a) 37 ... � e7= � xe5 46. fxe5 �e7 47. � 3d4 b3 48. � b4
b) 37 ... � eS ! ? was however possible in iii xd7 49. � xd7+ �xd7 50. � xb3 lt:Jc7
order to keep on playing. Of course the d7- 51. �e3 lt:JdS+ 52. �e4 �e6 53. � d3
pawn is quite weak and it is not a com plete lt:Jb4 54. � d8 lt:Ja6 55. � e8+ �d7 56.
nonsense to at least try to look for an � as lt:JcS+ 57. �dS aS 58. � a7+ � es
advantage. But, in time trouble, and like 59. �d6 �fa 60. � aS+ �g7 61. �e7
for everything, there is a moment to be ltJd3 62. It b8 lt:JxeS 63. � xb6 lt:Jf3 64.
reasonable. � bS lt:Jxh4 65. � xaS ltJfS+ 66. �d7 �f6
67. � b5 lt:Jd4 68. � b6+ � es 69. as �ds
38. b4 1:! eS 39. f4 !! e7 40. lt:Je4 b6 41. 1-0
lt:Jf6
IN THE LIMELIGHT
Rule number three
Time tro u ble is of course a difficult situa

tion, and sometimes it is i m possible to
avoid it. The first problem is obvious: it lea
ves l ittle time for thinking. The second pro
blem is that players tend to think until the
Position after: 41. lt:.\f6 very last second and change their move
without any rational reason .
76
Rule number three However, do not forget that in a time

trouble, your 'feeling' should be an integral
You should avoid: entering forced part of your decision - if you strongly feel
lines that you have no time to cal that a line should be good, but don't have
culate; time to calculate it, you may risk yourself
to play it.
AND
let's add that, by staying calm and taking
letting your clock drop to less than weighted and reasonable decisions, you
4 or 5 seconds, as you will very of may win games thanks to your time
ten change your move at the last trouble if your opponent tries to punish it
moment without any reason and an innacurate way. Always think positive !
blunder.
IDEA
If you believe a move is good, play

it. No matter if you think it may be
bad for a reason you haven't seen.
Yes, these tips and warnings are not per

fect solutions. By following them, someti
mes you may not enter blindly a forced
line that is actually good, or, conversely,
you may trust your calculation when you
should not. But, in the very big majority of
the cases, these advices will help you not
to blunder systematically in time trouble.
77
The Chess M an u al of Avoidable M i stakes
§2.5 Lack of concentration 20. 1:t e3
There are several causes to lack of concen After I played the opening badly, I got this
tration. slightly worse but solid position : ... � d7,
. .. l:t a b8, etc . . This was a rapid game but
Sometimes it is linked to tiredness. For nevertheless quite important. I lost con
example it is quite recurrent to see some centration before playing my move a nd
one play the second move of the line he is everybody a round got surprised that I
calculating, before the first one (example sim ply resigned here: the reason was that I
number 1). had touched my aS-rook (forgetting to go
. .. �d7 first) and would lose it due to
But I believe in most of the cases it is due ltjc6+. 1-0
to a n unidirectional functioning of the
bra i n . For exam ple, you are concentrated !'!:, Edouard, Romain (2607)
on some concrete or positionnal stuff a nd ... Cvitan, Ognjen (2528)
forget about very simple tactics, very often Il 2012. 10.20
linked to basic patterns (simple mating • SUI TCh, round 8
themes, number of hanging pieces ... ). This � SUI
will be illustrated by examples numbers 2,
3 and 4.
!'!:, Piorun, Kacper (2529)

Il 2012. 12.16
• Am plico E U R eh RAPID, round 8
� Warsaw POL
17. �d3?
After I checked 17. �c2 ltjxgS 18. ltJxgS

g6 for a long time and rea lized that Black
would just be just fine, I had a quick look
and decided to go for 17.�d3 as there we
re not so many options. After playing it I
78
immediately realized something was !'!, Narciso Dublan, Marc (2540)

wrong! .t. Edouard, Remain (2620)
[]2010.07.23
17 ..• lt:)c5 ! 18. �d1 • Andorra Open, round 7
� La Massana AND
Now Black can just take on f3 and b3 and
be slightly better. Fortunately for me, my
opponent felt like it was not much of an
advantage and decided to agree a draw.
Yz-Yz
!'!,Edouard, Remain (2085)

.t. Jessel, Stephen (2205)
[] 2004 .01. 17
• FRA TCh divers, round 5
� FRA
In this position which seems very good for

Black I had the problem that 29. .. li c2
was not working because of back-rank ma
ting problems, while White was intending
to play lt:)e2 next followed by lt:)c3 and
somehow reach equality. After I analyzed
'normal' moves like 29 . . . g6 for quite some
time which didn't satisfy me, I uncorked
the move 29 . . . g5 almost without thinking
in order to threaten llc2 and offer myself
more possibilities in the next moves.
24. �g3?
29 ... g5??
Only thinking of my own attack and not
looking at what is wrong in my position. 29 ... � c2?? 30. �xc2 (30. �xd3?? lixg2+
31. <;t>xg2 �d5+-+ is the main idea of
24... g6 25. lt:)f6+? . . . .l:l c2.) 30... dxc2 31. llxd4 g6 32.
lt:)e2+-
25. �f4o gxh5 26. �xh6+ <;t>g8 27. �g5
�f8 28. �xh5 �g7=F
25 ... �xf6 26. exf6 �xa4! 0-1 (see Diagram, next page)
79
The Chess Manual of Avo idable M ista kes
Rule number four
Before playing a move you should

analyse the concrete and basic
weak points of your position.
N umber of hanging pieces (or pieces only

protected by hanging pieces) a nd other ba
sic patterns (e.g. back-rank mate) in order
to avoid very simple blunders.
Position after: 29 . gS??
. .
Actually your brain does it automatical ly

30. fS+- when you a re in good shape. But to push
yourself to pay a bit more of attention will
Simply overlooking that all of a sudden gS take you only a few seconds and, while it
is hanging with check. I lost that game 13 may sometimes be unuseful, it will from
moves later. time to time compensate for a phase of
a) I ndeed, for exa m ple 30. fxgS?? would tired ness. Be honest with yourself:
lose to 30 . . . 11 c2-+
b) 30. ltje2? �f2 would a lso be better for WARNING
Black. 1-0
How often do you asked yourself,
one second after playing a move,
the famous embarrassing question.
'What the hell did I just do?'
Let's also repeat one of the tips of the 'rule

IN THE LIMELIGHT n u m ber 2': you should always take at least
3-4 seconds before playing a move that
Rule number four you consider obvious. This also means:
The brain cannot work constantly optimal

ly. This is that why, as we have said in the
second subchapter, it is sometimes neces
sary to push it to do some things that it
does not a lways do automatically.
80
WARNING £!, leko, Peter (2735)

I. Caruana, Fabiano (2781)
You should not rush on a move if [] 2013.01.17
you are not satisfied with the oth • Wijk aan Zee Tata Steel Gp A, round 5
ers. The move you would play � NED
might be even worse!
To finish with:
IDEA
When you relax during the game,

you should never forget complete
ly about your position.
Otherwise you may forget about some

things that you have seen earlier and need
to start your calculation again from the be
ginning. To illustrate that I will use a recent Peter leko reached move 40 and took a
game Leko-Caruana, Wijk aan Zee 2013. wal k for some minutes thinking his posi
tion was totally winning. When he came
back he saw this position and cou ldn't re
member how he was planning to finish it in
a clear away. I ndeed, at first sight, White
seems better but Black a lso seems solid.
After a few minutes, he remembered
Black's gS-pawn just came from g7 and
that he could take 'en passant'. Of course it
is understandable that these things hap
pen on move 41, and not such a big deal as
the first time control has passed. However,
it may also happen to someone losing
concentration even before reaching move
40.
41. fxg6 fxg6 42. gS hxgS 43. ilxgS k,g7

44. hS ll8b4 45. hxg6
1-0
81
The Ch ess Manual of Avoidable M istakes
§2.6 Overconfidence Edouard, Romain (2686)

Ernst, Sipke (2556)
Let's finish with another of the biggest lil 2013.01.15
sources of blunders: overconfidence. There • Wijk aan Zee Tata Steel G p B, round 4
exists several examples of it, and some of � NED
them are very similar to a lack of concen
tration, especially regarding consequences.
First situation, our o pponent has been

fighting the whole game for a d raw, and
we simply don't have in mind that losing is
a possibility. This will be the purpose of
exam ple number 1.
Second situation, our position is obviously

winning, and we consider the game as won
prematurely. This may get us distracted
and/or make us forget about a 'last trick'.
This will be illustrated by examples num Having lots of time on my clock against a
bers 2, 3, and 4. few seconds I hadn't the slightest doubt
about winning this game. I sta rted to play
Third, we are in the opposite situation as 'shy' moves instead of going for concrete
we discussed in subchapter n umber 3 : our li nes, which would for sure be cleverer
opponent is in time trouble. O nce again, with such a time difference.
we feel l ike we are invincible, and have a
nasty tendency to play superficial moves 36. �gl
too quickly because we believe our oppo
nent cannot react to it. This will be ill us 36. '@xb6 d4 37. !l el ! ?+-
trated by exam ples numbers 5 and 6.
36 ... lt:JeS 37. f3 '@g6 ! 38. fxe4 d4
At least reaching some kind of small posi

tional compensation for the exchange -
even if Black's position is still very bad-.
39. '@f4 d3 40. ll d2?!
82
40. 11 e l was cleverer: my rook would later

be more mobile: 40 ... �d6 41. �fS+ g6o
(41... \t> h8 42. � cl+-) 42. �f2+-
40... �c6 41. � h2
c 41. li f2
41... �cl
Position after: 45. I!. d l
45... tt::l e3 !
a) 45 ... tt::l xb2 46. ll xd2 tt::l x a4 47. eS

�g6 48. g4 !+- would indeed be winning
for White. But who cares ? !
b ) 45 . . . tt::l e3 1 46. ll xd2 tt::l fl+-+
0-1
Position after: 41... �cl
42. g f2??
While I was about to play 42. b3 'a tempo' I £::, Leroy, Olivier (1770)
decided to take more time and calculate i Edouard, Romain (2088)
the ending after 42. � f2 �xf4 43. 11 f4 d2 j] 2003
44. l H1 tt::l c4 45. � dl tt::l x b2 followed by • France (cham pionnat U 14),round 1.6
... tt:Jxa4. Indeed, the ending is winning but � Le Grand Bornand
a bit complicated anyway (aim was to
avoid having only 'g' and 'h' pawns left).
After finishing my calculation, I did not
analyze anything else. I simply did not
consider that sometimes things can go
wrong and that losing is always an option ...
until I touched my rook.
42. b3±
42... �xf4+ 43. !! xf4 d2 44. l1 f1 tt::l c4 45.

� dl
83
The Chess M a n u a l of Avo ida bl e M istakes
A very old game of mine, played round one domination with which I can do more or
of a French Youth Championship: less anything I want.
32. f3 11 af8 33. lla2 i. e8 34. ll bl lt.JdS
45... �c3+ 35. i. cl 11 g7 36. i. a3 11 fg8 37. i. c5
lt.Jc6 38. i, b6+ �d6 39. 11 ab2
45 . . . a 1=� 46. !! xa 1 �c3+-+
39. lt.Jxc6 � xc6 40. i,xa5±
46. �d5 al=�??
39 ••. lt.Jd7
No, Romain, have a look at the boa rd
before playing your move !
47. e6+
And 11 f8 mate is coming next move.

1-0
£!, Edouard, Romain (2587)

... Haimovich, Tal (2419)
[] 201 1.07.29
• Biel MTO Open, round 11 Position after: 39 . lt::l d 7
. .
� SUI
believed the game was a l ready won,
especially since I had a lot of time against a
few seconds, and didn't care what was
going on.
40. lt.Jxc6??
Played 'a tem po', thinking more of joining

my friends outside than the game. I simply
overlooked that the d7-knight was not only
attacking e5.
40. lt.Jxd7 �xd7 41. 11 bS±

A quite similar example t o t h e previous
one. I am not having a ny material advan- 40... lt.Jxb6
tage this time but a quite nice positiona l
Now Black is better !
84
41. ltjxaS ltjxa4 42. la, xb7 1i xb7 43. cS h4 94. c6 h3 95. �e2 g4 96. �fl �h2
ltjxb7+ �c7 44. ltJcS ltJxcS?! 97. �e6 g3 98. c7 Ji,bS+ 99. �el �a6
0-1
44 ... ltjxc3 45. ll el �d7+
[!::. Edouard, Romain (2472)
45. dxcS eS 46. llal � c6 47. 1l a7+? ! A Nakhapetiane, Pogos (2427)
�b7 48. �g3 lla8 49. !l xa8 �xa8 50. !IJ 2007.11.28
�f2 �c6 51. �e3 �xcS • Wch U 18, round 11
� Kemer TUR
Position after: 51... �xcS
This endgame is very difficult and I didn't

manage to save it. This game has been played board 2 of the
U 18 World Championship. I needed to ma
52. �d2 �c6 53. �cl �e8 54. �fl �f7 ke a draw in order to ensure the second
55. �d2 �g8 56. �cl �bS 57. �e2 place and to win in order to hope for the
�a4 58. �b2 � e6 59. �dl �d7 60. first place. U ntil now that game was the
�e2 � bS 61. �fl �a6 62. �g2 �c8 63. most terrible one I had played in this
�h1 � e6 64. �g2 �g8 65. �f1 d4 66. event, and my position was strategically
cxd4 (66. �e2 � bS-+) 66 ... exd4 67. c3 totally lost.
d3 68. �cl �dS 69. �g2 �bS 70. �d2
�cs 71. �e3 �d6 72. �hl �es 73. 27. llf3 � c6 28. � c3 � e8 29. !I f3 �e7
�g2 �c6 74. �fl �a4 75. � h3 �c2 76. 30. � e2 f6 31. exf6+ gxf6 32. fS eS 33.
�fl �b3 77. � h3 �c2 78. �f1 � b1 79. llh3
�h3 �a2 80. �g2 �b3 81. � h3 �a4
82. �f1 �e8 83. �g2 �f7 84. � h3 d2! Fortunately, even though my position was
85. �xd2 �f4 86. �e2 �dS 87. �g2 lost, my opponent was having a huge time
�g3 88. �fl �xf3+ 89. �d2 �xg4 90. trouble.
�xc4 �xhS 91. �ds �e8 92. c4 hS 93.
33 ... e4
85
The Ch ess M an u al of Avoidable M ista kes
33 ... h5 ! ? 34. Axh5 Axh5 35. Jl xh5 11 xb3

(35 . . . e4 ! ?) 36. 11 h7+ �d6 37. !if7 e4 38.
li, xf6+ �e5-+
34. li, xh7+ �d6 35. li, a7 d4? !
The most human move.

o 35 . . . li, xb3 36. 11 a6+ A c6 37. i.dl
11 b4 38. h4 � c7 39. h5 � xb2 40. h6 g b8
41. li, a7+ i.b7 42. 11 xa 5 11 h8-+
Position after: 38. h4 !
36. 11 a6+? !
All of a sudden the situation is cha nging
o 36. 11 xa5 d3 37. i.dl e3 38. li a6+ and my h-pawn is quite fast!
�d7 39. li e6 e2 40. A xe2 dxe2 41. 11 xe2
with decent chances to make a draw. 38 ... il b7?
36 ... Ac6 37. A c4 Q 38 ... 11 b8
39. A e2? !
Dubious, but actually definitely the best

move in time trouble, threatening both
i.f3 and li, xc6+. Or 39. �fl ! ?
3 9... 11 b4??
Played with one second on the clock. Of

cou rse it even loses one tempo compared
Position after: 37. �c4 to taking immediately on b3. 39 . . . 11 e7 !
would still b e O K for Black, since 40. i.f3??
37 ... e3? would be met by 40 . . . e2-+
A) 37 ... a4-+ 40. i.f3

B) 37 ... d3 38. �f2 d2 39. �e2 e3 40.
li, xa 5 A e4+ Of cou rse now my position is completely
winning in many ways. At that moment the
38. h4! leader had won on board one and I knew
86
that I could not win the event anyway (he Oops !

had a better tiebreak). Still, it was im-
portant for me to win (aiming to share 48. �xd2 �f2
first), but my concentration was gone and I
got overconfident due to the several mis
takes my opponent had made.
40 ...� xb3 41. � xc6+ � eS 42. lit eS+ �f4

43. !:I xaS
43. � dS !?+-
43... � xb2 44. � dS � d2 45. �fl �g3
Position after: 48 .. �f2

.
The position is a dead draw. To be honest,

after 47 ... e2 came, it was such a shock that
for a second I did think I was losing the
game!
49. �xd3 el=� 50. �c4 �g3 Yz-Yz
[!, Edouard, Remain (2652)

Position after: 45 . �g3
. . .1. Tkachiev, Vladislav (2644)
!Il 2012.08.22
The last moves went normal. But I kept on W FRA-87th eh m, round 9
playing fast and didn't open my eyes to � Pau FRA
possible black tricks. Definitely a lack of
distrust. lt is true that the position looks
totally winning, but two pawns at the third
ran k are always something!
46. h5??
46. � d8 �xh4 (46 ... d3 47. �el+-) 47.

� g8+-
46 ... d3 47. �el e2 !
87
The Chess Man u al of Avo idable M ista kes
We have studied the beginning of that

game in the subchapter abo ut 'automatic
moves', in this very same chapter.
21. �e1 lL\h7 22. �h4 Ad7 23. Ae3 g6? !
23 . . . g gs 24. g afl g5 25. A xg5 g xg5 26.

g xg5 ltjxg5 27. �xg5 g g8 28. �h6+
�h7 was worse but maybe the best
chance to hold, since 29. �xd6?? is met
with 29 ... � g7 +
-
Position after: 34 . . . � e7
24. !I afl �f6 25. �g3 This is our critica l position. Everything has
gone perfect for me in the last 15 moves
and my position is totally winning. I had a
lot of time and my opponent had a few se
conds only. I nstead of concentrating in or
der to be precise, I became overconfident,
a lso played fast and left my opponent a
chance to come back in the game.
35. Ag4?
35. A d l would just be completely win

Position after: 25. �g3 ning, since of course 35 . A f5 would be
. .
met by 36. ll lxf5+-

Move f4 is coming and Black is more or
less lost. 35 ... AfS !
25 ... g g8 26. h4! ? �e7 27. f4 g ae8 28. Now Black i s doing badly but the game is
fxe5 dxe5 not entirely lost.
28. .. �xe5 29. �xe5+ g xe5 30. A f4 36. l:[ xe7 �xe7 37. Ah3! A xh3 38.
EI, xe4? ! 31. A d3+
- �xh3 g5?! 39. hxg5? !
29. � h2 b6 30. A h6 A a4 31. 11 f2 Ac2 Again the same mistake. This move seems
32. !l gf1 A xe4 33. 1:[ f7 �d8 34. A xh5 good enough but there is much better.
l:[ e7 Concentration is the keyword.
(see Diagram, next column)
88
General reasons for blu ndering
39. � fS gxh4 40. �xeS+ �xeS 41. li xeS

would be com pletely winning.
39... ltJxgS+ 40. AxgS llxgS? !
40 . . . �xg5 4 1 . �xg5 � xg5 42. � h4± (42.

1! f7 � g7? ! is the only case where the
pawn ending would be a draw: 43. li xg7? !
�xg7 44. �g4 �g6=)
41. �h4+ <;t>g8 42. 11 fS il g7 43. �xe7 Position after: 25. llJg3
� xe7 44. �g3
25 ... il dg8?$
Indeed, the black king is cut of and all
pawn endings a re winning for White. The 25 ... �xg2 26. �xg2 ll dg8 was not that
ending is probably lost. clear, e.g. 27. �d5 (27. �f3 e4! 28. dxe4
ltJe5 29. �f5 'i!Ve7 30. ll dS ltJcd3�) 27 . . .
44 e4 45. �f2 1! h7 46. �e3 il h3+ 47.
.••
fgf6 28. ll gl (28. d 4 fi h 4 ! 2 9 . fj'f3 ltJf6
W xe4 11 xc3 48. d6 11 xc4+ 49. � dS ll d4+ 30. dxc5 ltJg4+ 31. �g2 ltJxe3+ 32. fj'xe3
50. wc6 c4 51. d7 1-0 � xh5�) 28 ... c6 29. 'iiV g2 ltJxd3�
8, Edouard, Remain (2662) 26. �xb7 ltJxb7 27. llgl ltJd6? ! 28. �e2
... Wirig, Anthony (2496)
[I 2013.08.15 My opponent was already in big time trou
• FRA eh, round 5 ble for a couple of moves and my position
� Nancy FRA went totally winning.
28 ... !'I. h7 29. cS !? bxcS

1. c4 eS 2. g3 ltJf6 3. Ag2 h6 4. ltJc3 _tb4
5. e4 _txc3 6. bxc3 d6 7. ltJe2 a6 8. a4 aS 29 ... ltJxcS 30. �xc5 bxc5 3 1 . d4+-
9. o-o b6 10. d3 A b7 11. h3 ltJbd7 12. f4
ltJcS 13. �e3 ltJfd7 14. g4 �e7 15. ltJg3 30. !l abl+ r:j;a7
0-0-0 16. ltJfS �f8 17. fxeS dxeS 18. �c2
g6 19. ltJg3 fid6 20. !! fdl wb8 21. wh2
hSI? 22. gxhS fS
22 . .. lt dg8 !?
23. exfS gxfS 24. ltJxfS �e6 25. ltJg3 (see Diagram, next page)
89
The Chess M an u al of Avoidable M istakes
Position after: 30 ... � a 7 Position after: 37 ... �c6 ! ?
Here is our critical position. Here, I wa nted A l l of a sudden I noticed that � b8+, the
to somehow " punish" my oppo nent's time move I had planned, was not working. I
trouble by opening the position even mo started to calculate, worked myself into ti
re. Instead, a more serious approach me trouble, and got lucky that things
would have shown me one of the easy somehow didn't get worse for me.
ways to win. lt is also true that I didn't take
in consideration that I knew my opponent 38. li gcl
was a great blitz player.
A) o 38. lt:Je2
31. d4? B) 38. il. b8+ � xb8 39. �xf7 It f8 edi
tor's note
3 1 . ltje4 ltjxe4 32. dxe4 would win at on-
ce, just keeping extra material a nd wiping 38... ltjde5??
out a l l Black's attacking ideas.
My opponent finally blundered: but I was
31 ... exd4 32. cxd4 ltjc4 ! 33. �f3 also in time trouble, and didn't punish it.
38 ... ltjce5 !oo
33. il. f4 �xe2+ 34. tt:Jxe2 11 xgl 35. It xgl
cxd4 36. h6 should be easily winning, but, 39. It b3??
again, I somehow closed myself to "simple
options". 39. I[ xc4 ltjf3+ made me afraid but after
40. c;t> h l nothing happens: 40. . . ltjd2+
33 ... c6 34. il.f4 cxd4 35. �d3? ! (40 . . . ltjd4+ 41. � g2 +-) 41. c;t>gl lt:Jxbl
(41... ltjxc4 42. A b8++-) 42. ll xc5+-
o 35 . .l:l gel
39 ... I[ gf8 40. lt:Je2 c;t>a6!?
35 ... I[ f7! 36. �xd4+ c5 37. �f2 �c6 ! ? (see Diagram, next page)
90
General reasons for b l undering
IDEA
Go step by step.
Secondly, until the game is not over: al

ways beware. If players would always win
winning positions, chess would be much
less interesting, not to say boring. Do not
forget that chess is also a sport and that
practice is very different than analysis. So,
Position after: 40 ... 'if;la6 !? when your opponent seems to be about to
resign, do not forget that he didn't yet:
41. �g2 again, do not play impulsively and
I somehow could not find a better move,

even having passed time control (move
41).
\)) Rule number five
Have in mind that a winning game

41... �xg2+ 42. �xg2 It xf4 43. lt:lxf4 is a won one only once the score
lixf4 44. �g3 sheet is signed that way.
The position is a draw, but I felt like Black Finally, over the board nobody asks you to
has more chances to trick White than the be a chameleon.
contrary.
Y.-Y.
WARNING
IN THE LIMELIGHT If your opponent is in time trou

ble, prevent yourself from playing
Rule number five fast as well.
First, let's once again repeat that when you The argument that you should not let your
want to enter a com plicated line you opponent time to think on your own time
should first try to make sure you consi is a bad one: when you calculate your next
dered all the moves at the beginning of move, you calculate only this one. How
your thinking: no point to calculate a 12- ever your opponent is not in your head
moves line if you made a mistake on move and must think of several options. lt
two. means:
91
IDEA You should not confuse:
You'll use your time better than • a 'good mechanism' (helping you to ex
your opponent will. clude senseless moves) and a 'bad a uto
matism' ( making you narrow-minded or
Playing fast in order to tease your oppo im pulsive);
nents just puts you in the very same situa • 'relaxing' (walking a round, getting some
tion as him, u nless you are as strong in bul fresh air . . . ) and 'getting distracted'
let-games ( 1-minute) as Hikaru Nakamura (starting to think of m a ny things that
is! have nothing to do with your game, af
ter which you may lose the thread).
CONCLUSION
In other words, strong nerves, pa

tience and a constant high concen
tration are the keys to reduce your
G e n e ra l Co n c l u s i o n number of blunders.
During a chess game:
• you have to be able to adjust to your si

tuation, being a fighter when the situa
tion is bad, being confident when the
situation is unclear, being modest when
the situation is good;
• you should never do/play anything on
impulse and you should remember that
the right moment to analyse your past Please try to solve the following exercises
mistakes is AFTER the game; according to the following topics which we
in a time trouble (in a classica l game) you have just studied:
should avoid a ny situation that you ca nnot
control (entering concrete lines without • u nexpected surprises;
calculation, letting your clock d rop to 2 or 3 • bad automatisms;
seconds, etc.). • general control of decisions.
92
Exercises Chapter 2
EXERC ISE 1 EXERCISE 2
White to move. Wou ld you take on h5 or Black to move. In this boring position, a re
play g d4? Time : 10-20 minutes. all the King moves a d raw? Time: 4-8 m inu
tes.
EXERCISE 3 EXERC ISE 4
Black to move. Same question as for the White to move. What is the best winning
previous exercise (although you a re now chance: 84. lLJc5 or 84. �xb6? Time: 8-16
on the attacking side): can you see a d iffe minutes.
rence between all the king moves? How
many of them are actually winning? Which
one(s)? Time: 25-50 minutes.
93
The Chess M a n u a l of Avo i da bl e M istakes
EXERCI S E 5 EXERC ISE 6
Black to move. In that excellent position, White to move. Time: 30-60 seconds.
would you go for the simple . . 1:t ae8 or
.
for the concrete .. .f6? Time: 4-8 m i nutes.
EXERC I S E 7 EXERCISE 8
Black to move. Would you rather play ... a6 White to move. Time: 8-16 minutes.
or . . . b6? Time: 20-40 seconds.
94
Exerci ses Chapter 2
EXERC ISE 9 EXERC ISE 1 0
You can see the last 23 moves of the game. White to move. Would you go for fxe6 or
Did White miss a nything at any moment? just play ll cl? Time: 1-2 m i n ute(s).
You can move the pieces on your chess
board. Time: as quickly as possible.
36 . .,tc4 d3 37. cxd3 .,td4 38. 11 xf7+
!I, xf7 39 . .,txf7 e3 40. 11 el .:_ h2 41. �a2
�xc6 42. � b3 �d6 43. �c4 � es 44. b4
.la, c2+ 45. � bS �xfS 46. .,t hS �gS 47.
li e2 11 c1 48 . .,tf3 �f4 49. �dS .,tc3 50.
d4 .,td2 51 . .,tc4 11 bl 52. dS �es 53.
g h2 11 xb4+ 54. �cS li b8 55. 11 hS+
<;t>e4 56. !! h4+ �f3 57. 11 h3+ � g2 58.
11 h6 11 c8+ 59. !! c6 !! xc6+ %-%
95
EXERC ISE 1 1 EXERC ISE 1 2
White to move. What would you play if Black to move. Can you see any difference
you were in time trouble? Can you assess between ... �a2 or . . . �g4? If so, which
the move SS.a3 ( here) quickly? Can you one is best? Time: 2-4 m inutes.
assess the line SS.a3 was 56. axb4+ cb4
5 7.c5 and then assess the move SS.a3
more seriously? Can you find the best
continuation for White in the initial posi
tion? Time for the first question : 30-60
seconds. Time for the second q uestion :
1,5-3 m i nutes. Time for the third question:
u n l i m ited. Time for the fou rth question: 7-
14 minutes. You are a llowed to move the EXE RCISE 1 3
pieces o n your chess board for question
n u m ber 3 only, but you should first try to
calculate without doing it.
White to move. Time: 3-6 m i nutes.
96
Exercises Chapter 2
EXERC ISE 1 4 EXERCISE 1 5
White to move. Would you rather play d7 Black to move. Can you assess both ... �gS
or 11 d l ? Time: 20-40 m i n utes. and . .f4 moves? Time: 12-24 minutes.
.
97
Concrete moves and
concess ions
•
tional target a nd linked to a precise calcu

lation.
3
The different kinds of concrete technical
opportunities in a chess game are:
• positional transformations;
• prophylactic decisions;
• concretising decisions in endgames;
§3.1 1ntroduction • active defending decisions in endga
mes.
To have an objective approach and not
to blunder is not enough to win chess ga We use all these tech nical issues a uto
mes in most of the cases, especially if the matically in the most natural cases. For
opponent doesn't blunder either. In order exam ple, going ... eS in the Najdorf is a po
to win games, we have to take concrete sitional transformation, castling when the
decisions at several stages of the games. centre is going to be opened is a prophy
lactic decision, exchanging the last piece to
In the first chapter we have studied two enter a winning pawn ending when we ha
kinds of concrete decisions: tactical oppor ve extra pawns is a winning endgame
tunities and calm defences, which are mo transposition, etc .. We use a l l these basic
re or less exclusively related to pure ca lcu technical cunnings instinctively because
lation. They a re the basic ones, but there they entered our customs. But, to use
are many other kinds of concrete decisions them in more com plicated situations, we
that a player should be a ble to take in or need to push our brain to do it: it is no lon
der to become good: the technical ones. ger mechanica l .
In a chess game, we cannot go on wit F o r pedagogic reasons this chapter will

hout a plan. This means, that unless we ha contain much more 'positive' illustrative
ve a tactical opportunity (Chapter 1), we examples than other chapters.
have to take technical decisions at one or
several crucial moments. However, if our
opponent is not blu ndering, these deci
sions ca nnot be so easy to take. This
means they should have a concrete posi-
98
Concrete moves and concessions
§3.2 Positional transformations !'!::. Edouard, Remain (2608)

A J ussupow, Artur (2611)
A positional transformation aims to JJ 2010.06.27
:hange something positively in the posi • SUI-TCh liga A, round 5
:ion from a technical point of view: to im � SUI
::lrove the pawn structure, to exchange ma
:erial in an a ppropriate situation, to create
::lroblems out of the opponent's king posi 1. d 4 lfjf6 2 . c4 e 6 3. ltJf3 dS 4 . lfjc3
tion or other kinds of tactical problems. ltjbd7 5. �gS � e7 6. e3 h6 7. � h4 0-0 8.
� cl dxc4?!
But usually chess players want to impro
"e their positions without doing a ny kind 8 ... c5 9. cxd5 lfjxd5 10. � xe7 lfjxe7 11.
of concession. While it can work if our op � b5 ! ? cxd4 12. �xd4 lfjf6 13. 0-0 �xd4
ponent is being very cooperative, in a 14. lfjxd4 � d8 was very drawish i n : AYz
double-edged fighting ga me, this can not AYz (40) Vachier Lagrave, M (2742) -
work. Radjabov,T (2715) POL 2013.
To manage a positional transformation, 9. � xc4 a6 10. a4 c5 11. 0-0 cxd4 12. exd4
there a re severa l kinds of concessions that b6
may help to im prove other more impor
tant things in the position. Of course, every
single example is different and there is no
definite rule 'what the concession should
be to manage this or that'.
We're going to illustrate a few types of

concessions:
• an unfavourable change of the pawn

structure (exam ples n u m bers 1 a nd 2); Position after: 12 . . b6
.
• a bad pieces exchange from a strategic

point of view (example n u m ber 3); 13. dS!?
• a weakening of an i m portant centra l
square (example n u m ber 4); The negative point of that move is that it
• a temporary weakening of our own king exchanges many pieces which is not logical
(example n u m ber 5). since I'm having a space adva ntage and a
quite good version of an isolated pawn.
However, for concrete reasons this is a
strong positiona l transformation.
99
13 ... lt)xd5? Giving a big pawn away, but nevertheless

the best move !
The most natural move, in order not to a) 17 ... 11 b8 18. li d6 11 e8 19. lt)d4 ( 19.
give up the bishop pair. However it is just ll e1 ! ? ll xe 1+ 20. �xe1+-) 19 ... A b7 20.
losing for concrete reasons. lt)f5 Axd5 21. �xd5 }I e5 22. �d3 11 b7
13 ... exd5 had to be played, though is like (see analysis diagram)
admitting that White is better: 14. lt)xd5
A b7 (14 ... lt)xd5 15. Axd5 11 a7? ! 16.
!l xc8+-) 15. lt)xe7+ �xe7 16. l:I, e1 �b4
17. �d4 (threatening Axf7+) ( 17. Axf6 ! ?
lt)xf6 1 8 . lt) e 5 i s also good for White, for
example 18.. . 11 ae8 is met by 19. lt)xf7 !
�xe1+ 20. �xe1 11 xe1+ 2 1 . l:l xe1 l:l xf7
22. 11 d 1 ! �f8 23. A xf7 �xf7 24. 11 d6
and Black has a very difficult ending.) 17 ...
a5o and White has many moves to be Position after: 22 . 1I b7
. .
better ( 18. !! cd1, 18. ll ed1, 18. A b5, etc.)

but it is not such a killing advantage. 23. f4! The clea rest. 23 ... g e6 24. 11 xe6
fxe6 25. lt)xh6+ ! gxh6 26. �g6+ �f8 (26 ...
14. AxdS exdS 15. Axe7 �xe7 16. lt)xdS � h8 27. 'ifxh6+ �g8 28. 11 f3+-) 27. f5+-
�d8 17. 11 c6 ! b) 17 ... !t a7? 18. ll xc8+-
c) 17 .. 1i e8? ! 18. lt)c7+-
.
18. lt)xb6 11 b8 19. b4+-
Position after: 1 7 . 11 c6 !
The point of the white idea. Black's pieces are

getting overwhelmed and he loses material. Position after: 19. b4
17 ... lt)cS White is winning.
100
19. . . �xdl 20. It xdl l2Je6 21. llJeS � b7 ['}, Edouard, Romain (2483)
22. 11 cd6 11 feS 23. l2Jed7 It bdS 24. f3 j, Rodshtein, Maxim (2586)
�hS 25. � fl 11 e7 26. llJcS 11 deS [] 2007.07.26
26 . . . 11 xd6 27. 11 xd6 l2Jxc5 28. bxcS It c7 • Biel MTO, round 4
29. l1 d7+- � Biel S U I
27. ll d7
27. l2Jbd7+-
27 ... l2Jxc5 28. bxcS aS 29. l1 xe7 l! xe7

30. �f2 _ta6 31. ll el !+-
27. cS ! ?
Not a bad move, but I had another strong

a nd more concrete option. And now:
A) 27. cxdS! Granting the dS square, but
Position after: 3 1 . 1:!, e l ! giving the white position other big assets.
Though in this position it was not absolute
31. . . ll c7 32. ll eS+ � h7 3 3 . ll aS ll xcS ly necessary to find it to reach a huge
34. ll xa6 � c6 35. <J;e3 ll d6 36. �e4 f6 adva ntage, this is a typical concrete attack
37. g4 �g6 38. h4 hS 39. gxhS+ � h7 40. ing move and positional transformation.
f4 �h6 41. ll aS �xhS 42. ll xaS+ <J;xh4 27 ... ll xcl+ 28. 11 xcl l2Jxd5 29. l2Jc4 .l:l c8
43. l2Jc4 ll d7 44. ll dS ll c7 45. l2Je3 �g3 Here I simply thought the position is less
46. ll d3 ll e7+ 47. <J;fS ll a7 48. lt:\dS+ clear, but I didn't calculate far enough. 30.
�h4 49. l:l a3 ll aS 50. �e4 fS+ 51. �d4 � h 2 ! The point behind the white idea,
gS 52. fxgS �xgS 53. l2Je3 f4 54. l2Jc4 making the cxdS idea work: now llJd6
ll fS 55. aS f3 56. l2Jd2 ll f4+ 57. �e3 f2 cannot be avoided. The best for Black
58. ll al � fS 59. a6 <J;fs 60. a7 11 aS 61. would be to go ... 11 c6 and sacrifice a n
<;t>xf2 exchange.
1-0
(see analysis diagram, next page)
101
30 ... .11 xbl 31. .li xbl "fljc7 32. �e3 �c8
33. Ag7?
A weird blunder. lt was necessary, once

again, to be concrete.
Position after: 30. W h 2 !
A) 33 . .li bS±
( 3 0 . ltj d G ? � xcl+ 31. A xcl � f8 is what I B) 33. ltjb4! li c7 (33 ... ltjxb4 34. axb4 a6
wanted to avoid. White is still better but 35 . .li b3+- followed by �f4, lt f3, Ag7 .)
Black is suddenly very solid.) 30 . . . � c6 3 1 . 34. c6 ! The straight and concrete way.
ltj d 6 � xd6 3 2 . exd6+ �xd6+ 33. � gl+ Exchanging the passed c-pawn agai nst the
Black has a knight on d5 but cannot organ black a-pawn in order to develop other
ize the rest of his pieces. Moves l i ke 27. assets of the position . Again a positional
cxd5 are typical ly concrete decisions that a transformation ! 34 ... ltjxb4 35. axb4 .li xc6
player should be a ble to take from time to 36. '@'xa7+ ll c7 37. '@'a3 ll c3 38. �al+
time, even though here, the text move was (b5 is coming)
very good as well.
B) 27. a4!? 33 ... lt:JxcS 34. lt:JxcS � xcS 35. It b3 .li c7
36. "flif4 ll cl+ 37. � h2 .li c4 !
27 ... bxcS 28. dxcS � b8 29. ltjd3 ltja6 30.
lit abl
30. �f4 ! .li b3 31. ltj b4 ltjxb4 32. axb4

would be crushing: Ag7 and �h6 is co
m i ng.
Position after: 37 . . . l:t c4 !
Now Black i s fine.
38. �e3 .li xh4+ 39. �g3 � a4 40. .li b4

Position after: 32 ... �c8 "flic6
102
40 ... 11 xb4 ! ? 41. axb4 lt:)f8 (41... a6 42. Though Black had problems to activate his
� h2�) 42. '@xa7+ lt:)d7 is probably even pieces, I decided to exchange my strong
better for Black. bishop in order to start a concrete and
strong attack. 16. : e1 with the idea to go
41. '@h6 l! xb4 42. axb4 '@c3+ 43. � h2 16 . . . a6 17. A d 3 is enough to get a clear
�d4 44. �xh7 �f4+ 45. �g1 Yz-Yz advantage.
8 Edouard, Remain (2531) 16 ... Axd7 17. ltJe4

I. Atlas, Valery (2465)
Il 2008.10.22
• ECC, round 6
� Kallithea GRE
1. e4 cS 2. lt:)f3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. lt:)xd4

ltJf6 5. ttJc3 d6 6. f4 ltJc6 7. � e3 � e7 8.
�f3 0-0? 1
8 .. e5 is probably the most critical.

.
Position after: 17. t'Lle4

9. 0-0-0 ttJxd4 10. Axd4 '@aS 11. eS !
dxeS 12. fxeS ltJd7 13. �e3 AcS?I 14. 17 ... � h8
AbS I A xd4 15. !! xd4 '@c7
Avoiding ltJf6+. The alternatives are:
13 . . . ltJbS fol lowed by ... lt:)c6 would have
been a better defense. Our critical posi
tion.
Position after: 19 . g6
..
Position after: 15 ... 'f!ic7
16. Axd71
103
The Chess M anual of Avo idable M istakes
A) 17 ... i! ac8 (or 17 . . . l! fc8) does not 23 ... It ac8 24. ll df4 �dS 25. lt:Jxf7 .la xf7
change much: after 18. c3 White is crushing. 26. � xf7 '@cS 27. '@xcS � xcS 28. !! f8+
B) 17 ... fS 18. exf6 gxf6 19. lt:Jc5 ! ?+- Wg7 29. ll 4f7+ w h6 30. h4 gS 31. ll e7
� e4 32. 11 f6+ �g6 33. hxgS+ wxgS 34.
18. '@d3 � c6 19. lt:Jg5 g6 l:[ g7 � xc2+ 35. wd1 1-0
20. � f1 !
Continuing a concrete attack. With s o ma 8 Neubauer, Martin {2428)

ny weak squares and such a vulnera ble .1. Edouard, Remain (2636)
king Black is lost. 20. 11 h4 �xe5 21. lt:Jxh7 :!] 2010.09.27
Wg8 is less clear. W Olympiad 39th, round 6
� Khanty-Mansiysk RUS
20... wg8
20 ... �xg2 2 1 . 11 g1 � d 5 22. 11 h4+- 1. d4 lt:Jf6 2. c4 e6 3. lt:Jc3 j_ b4 4. '@c2 cS

5. dxcS AxeS 6. lt:Jf3 �b6!?
21. @h3 hS 22. '@e3 (22. �g3 !?) 22 ...
'@e7?! Forcing e3 in order to keep the white dark
squared bishop on cl.
22... 11 ad8 23. 11 df4 'li'a5 24. a3 11 d7
(24 ... j_xg2 25. g gl+-) 25. g4+- 7. e3 �c7 8. j_e2
23. 11 f6+- 8. g4 ! ? is supposed to be a n interesting

way to try to " punish" this loss of time
( . . . '@b6-. . . '@c7).
8 ... 0-0 9. 0-0 a6 10. b3 j_e7 11. j_ b2 d6

12. ll fd1 lt:Jbd7 13. lt:Je4
13. lt:Jd4 b 6 14. e4 j_ b7 15. f3 to play like

a normal Hedgehog is possible, but of
course the bishop should be on e3 and not
b2.
Position after: 23. � f6 13 ... lt:Jxe4 14. �xe4 lt:Jf6 15. �d3 h6
104
very good Kalashnikov pawn structure

( l.e4 cS 2 .lt::l f3 lt::l c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.lt::l x d4
eS). Black is gaining a lot of space, and will
be able to play .. .fS soon. The White pieces
a re badly placed: the dark squared bishop
is doing nothing on b2 while, last but not
least, the knight on f3 is very far from rea
ching the dS square . All of a sudden Black
is doing very wel l .
Position after: 15 . . . h6 18. lt:Je1 lL:lcS?!
16. e4? 1 Not the best way to carry on. 18 ... b6! with
the idea of 19. lt::l d 3 AgS 20. �f3 aS
16. 11 ac1 followed by lt::l d 2 should surely somehow dominating the knight on d3 was
be a better plan. a better plan.
16... lt::l d7 17. �e3 19. f3? !
I underestimated 19. lt::l d 3 ! creating little

problems: 19 . . . AgS ( 19 ... b6 20. lt::l b 4�)
20. �f3 �e6 21. lt:JxcS ! dxcS (21... ft'xcS
22. a4;!; ) 22. �g3 j_ f6 23. Ag4 and White
is a bit better though Black is extremely
solid.
Our critical position . lt not only seems l ike

White is having a typica l space advantage
in this Hedgehog pawn structure, but he is
also willing to play eS.
17 ... eS ! Position after: 19 . .. fS !
A concrete positional transformation, gran

ting the dS-square but transposing into a
105
19 ... fS!
Now I definitely got a wonderful Kalashni

kov pawn structure.
20. exfS � xfS 21. � d3 �gS 22. �e2
Position after: 27 . . . ... b6+
28. �f1?
28. � h l had to be played, and after 28 ...

� xf3 29. gxf3 �f2 30. � c l White will
soon be a pawn down but the position is
not entirely lost.
Position after: 22 . ... e2 28 .. !! f4 29. �dS+ � e6

. 0-1
22 ... e4!
[:, Franco Alonso, Alejandro (2483)
Ignoring the possibility to take a smal l ad ... Edouard, Remain (2665)
vantage and opening the position in my fa ::!] 2013.09.08
vour: that's also a 'concrete positional • TCh-ESP CECL U B 2013, round 1
transformatio n ' . 22 ... lt:Jxd3 23. lt:Jxd3 b5+ (� Linares ESP
was also possible.
23. �xe4? !
23. fxe4 was better but after 23... 11 ae8

24. e5 lt:Jxd3 25. lt:Jxd3 dxe5 26. lt:Jxe5
�f4 27. 11 d5 �e7 Black has very big com
pensation and White has problems.
23 ... lt:Jxe4 24. fxe4 l:t ae8 25. eS �g4 26.

'Llf3 dxeS 27. �e4 � b6+
106
In this position I a m a pawn up b u t White

definitely has compensation. lt a ppears
that my opponent is going to make a n easy
draw.
15 ... ltjhS ! ?
Position after: 1 8 . . l2Jfg6

.
19. 'i:Vg4 _tc8o 20. ltjxe7+ �xe7o 2 1 .

_txe7 _txg4 22. _txf8 �xf8 and Black i s
better.
16 ... fi:Jxe7
Now I want my knight to j u m p to f4. lt is

Position after: 15 ... lLJhS ! ? no longer s o easy for White t o equal ize.
A logical positional transformation, trying 17. ltjh4

to exchange material in order to give my
extra pawn more value. lt however requi- 17. li:Jd4 li:Jf4+
red a precise calculation.
17 . • • ltj f6
16. _txe7?!
17 ... fi:Jf4 ? ! 18. 'I;!Vg4i
Variations are:
A) 16. 'i:Va4! _txh4 17. �xh4 would give
White sufficient compensation, since after
17 . . . 'i:Vxh4 18. ltjxh4 the knight would
soon come to fS.
B) The most important concrete l i ne to
calculate was 16. ii xe7? ! li:Jxe7 17. ljj d 4
lt:Jf4D 18. ltjfS ltjfg6D
(see analysis diagram) Position after: 21. h3? !
107
The Chess M an u al of Avoidable M ista kes
18. �d3 �d7 19. .! ad1 1l adS 20. �g3 cise and concrete calculation shows this is
1l fe8 not the case.
20 ... ltjf5 ? ! 21. ltjxf5 �xf5 22. l:l e7� 22. g e3 ? !
21. h3?! Other possibilities are:

A) 22. _i b1 �f8 23. ltjf3 ltjh5=t
(see Diagram, previous page) B) 22. f4? ltj hS-+
C) 22. J,b3 �f8 (22 ... a6!?) 23. J,a4 J,.c6
Our most critical position. After that "slow" 24. J,.xc6 �xc6+
move I have found a very n ice a nswer for
cing many simplifications in my favour. lt is 22 ... �f8 !
not a very usual one, and it is difficult to
find it without a very concrete a pproach. 22 . . . ltJ h 5 ? 2 3 . �g4 �xg4 24. hxg4 ltjf6
2 1 . Jt b l d5+ 25. ltjfS would be less clear.
21 ... gS !=F 23. 1.t f3 Axf3
23 ... ltjeg8 ! ? 24. ltjf5 ltjh5-+
24. �xf3 gxh4? !
24 . . . �g7 would have been even stronger:

25. ltje4 ltjxe4 26. �xf7+ � h8 27. J,. e6
l! f8 !-+
25. 'li'xf6 ltjg6!
Position after: 2 1 . . . gS !
All of a sudden, ... �f8 is coming and White

will have concrete problems with his pie
ces. The white queen cannot move (other
wise the knight on h4 is lost) and the
knight on h4 only has one square : f3, after
which . . . ltjh5 or . . . ltjf5 will be very strong.
The problem of a move l i ke . . . g5 is that it
opens the black king and it can sometimes
be bad even if it wins material. Here, a pre- Position after: 25 . . lf.jgG !
.
108
White does not have compensation for the Rule number one
lost material.
The key is to know if you'll be able
26. ltJbS?! to take benefit of your new assets
before your opponent can punish
Or: your concessions.
a) 26. It xd6? ,li el+-+
b) 26. ltJdS 'lfeG+ A few exa m p les of this have been covered
just above: strategic concessions in order
26... �e7 27. �fS dS !-+ to start a concrete attack o r to gain space,
or a temporary self-endangerment in order
Unblocking all my pieces. to achieve a strategic goal. However, these
tra nsfo rm ations have to be evaluated
28. � xdS rj;; g7 29. l!Jc3 'i!Vf6 30. �g4 rationally so that the concession does not
ll eS 0-1 become a donatio n .
IN THE LIMELIGHT
Rule number one
IDEA
In a fighting game, and even with a very
thorough calculation, it is i m possible to You have to be able to judge
keep the control of the entire chess board . which assets will remain impor
In other words not everything in the posi tant in your position, and which
tion ca n be improved. will not.
<i> IDEA When you're dreaming of a posi

tional transformation, but cannot
In order to go ahead in the game, make it work using normal tech
you should often forget about nical means you must have in
some small assets you have in or mind that a precise and concrete
der to create bigger ones. calculation (or even a temporary
mess) can be the key to make so
This is called 'positional tra nsformations' mething work even when it looks
and in such cases these 'transformations' dubious.
could also be called 'concessions'.
109
The Chess M a n u a l of Avoidable M ista kes
§3.3 Prophylactic decisions
Chess players have quite significant prob

lems using prophylaxis. We have a nasty
tendency to exam i ne the board almost on
ly from our point of view.
Very often, it is possible to i mprove our

position a lot using 'defensive' prophylaxis,
which means trying to prevent our o ppo
nent from achieving something, not only Position after: 13. e4 ! ?
concentrating on our own plan. This will be
the purpose of exa m ples n u mbers 1 and 2. White is willing t o close t h e position and
exchange the light squared bishops i n his
There a lso exists another kind of prophy favour without giving Black too m uch
laxis: the 'offensive' one. The principle is space by taking immediately. For sure,
exactly the same: to make something work exchanging on g2 and then going .. .fS to
in our favour. We try to prevent our oppo play a solid game is not bad, but lstratescu
nent's counter play. This will be illustrated had won a nice ga me against Volokitin in a
by exa m ple n um ber 3. similar position so I decided that I should
move my bishop. However I couldn't deci
de whether to go . . . �g4 (to provoke f3)
followed by . . . � e6 or . . . �e6 immediately
since White should play f4 one day. I have
chosen the second option but it was not a
lstratescu, Andrei (2619) good decision.
Edouard, Remain (2446)
IIl 2007.03.05 13 ... � e6
• La Roche sur Van-Closed G M,round 8
� FRA A prophylactic thinking would have indi
cated me that White does not want to play
f4 himself immediately. The aim is to wait
1. lL\f3 cS 2. c4 lL\c6 3. lL\c3 eS 4. g3 g6 5. for fS and take it. If Black ca ptures with the
�g2 �g7 6. 0-0 ttJge7 7. lL\e1 0-0 8. lL\c2 g-pawn f4 comes. If Black takes with a
d6 9. d3 � e6 10. lL\e3 �d7 11. ltjedS piece then White does not move his f
�h3 12. lL\xe7+! ? pawn and ta ke advantage of the light
squares thanks to his strong bishop on g2.
A rare move. In the reverse situation Black wants to do
exactly the same (in case of f4, to capture
12 ... lL\xe7 13. e4!? it and see how White ta kes back) . This is
110
why i t was good t o provoke f3. 13 ... Ag4 ! Now White is going to develop easily and
14. f3 ( 14. �c2 i s also possible but Black has a more pleasant position .
goes 14... ltjc6 and gets an i m p roved
version of the game.) 14 . . . Ae6 15. � b1 1 6. . . �h8 17. � h 1 exf4?! (o 17 ... It ae8)
(15. f4 exf4 ! 16. Axf4 ltjc6�) 15 ... fS 16. 18. Axf4 ltjg6 19. Ae3
exfS ltjxfS ! and Black is fine: the pawn on
f3 is blocking the bishop on g2 and White White is better. I lost the game in 59 mo
does not want to go f4. This is the big ves. 1-0
difference with the game. (see analysis
diagram)
[!:, Edouard, Romain (2508)

' Smeets, Jan (2593}
!I! 2008.09 . 18
• EU Championship 4th, round 10
� Liverpool ENG
1. e4 e5 2. ltjf3 ltjc6 3. A b5 a6 4. Aa4

Position after: 16 . . . tt::l xfS ! ltJf6 5. o-o b5 6. A b3 Ae7 1. d3 o-o 8. a4
l:t b8
14. It b1 f5
8 . . . b4 is now known to be more accurate.
9. axb5 axb5 10. ltjc3 d6 11. h3 Ae6 12.

ltjd5 Axd5 13. exd5 ltjb4 14. d4!
A bad opening for Black.
Position after: 14 . . . fS
15. exf5 ! gxf5
15 . . . ltJxfS 16. b4;!;
16. f4 Position after: 14. d4!
111
14 ... e4 15. ltjgS h6 16. ltjxe4 ltjxe4 17. sation to make a draw.) 2 1 . . . JigS (21 ...
�e1 ltJfG 22. �fS;t) 22. Ji xgS hxgS 23. Ac2
(followed by f4). Black is in trouble. (see
17. c3 was the other (and maybe better) analysis diagram)
option: if Black goes 17 . . . ltjxdS? ! 18.
JixdS ltjfG White goes 19. Jic6! and is
much better.
17 ... ltjxc2 18. � xc2 ltjf6 19. � b3 � e8
Position after: 23. A c2
20... ltJe41 21. �c2 JigS=
Position after: 19 .. 11 e8
.
Our critica l position. Black has two aims: to

centralize his pieces and, most im porta nt,
to go . . . JigS either to provoke the wea k f4
or to exchange the dark squared bishops
and penetrate White's position with ...
�gS. I did not think a prophylactic way Position after: 21... JtgS
and lost my small advantage.
Now Black equalized. I made a few crazy
20. �c3?1 mistakes in the next moves, trying to win
to score a G M norm, and lost the game
20. �e2 ! (first of all not allowing . . . ltje4) very quickly.
would pose much bigger problems: 20 . . .
l't:J d 7 21. �g4 ! ? (forcing the Black queen 22. l! e1 fS
to defend the d7 knight) (21. �c2 in order
to condemn the black queen to defend c7 22 ... ,ixc1 23. l! axc1 ltjf6=
is a lso possible but after 2 1 . . . ,igS 22.
� xgS hxgS 23 . .la a7 l! c8 24. �d3 lt:JfG ! 23. f3 A h4 24. fxe4??
2S. �xbS g4 Black has sufficient compen-
112
24. : e2 lt:Jg3 2 5 . 11 e6 11 a Boo 12 ... g es
24... ,.txe1 25. eS '@'h4 !-+ 26. .,ie3 f4 27.

Ac1 : as 28. � xa8 ,il xa8 29. �fl l1 a1
30. �e2 �f2+ 31. �d3 'fi'xc2+ 32. �xc2
gS �1
� Edouard, Romain ( 2653)

' Efimenko, Zahar {2657)
[] 201 3 . 1 1 . 10
• 19th E u ropean Teams, round 3
� Warsaw POL Position after: 12 . . . ![ e8
This is our critical position. Here it was ti

1. d4 lt:Jf6 2. c4 e6 3. lt:Jc3 A b4 4. ltjf3 b6 me for a concrete decision. I thought a lot
5. 'ifb3 1? aS and hesitated a long time between lt:Jg4
(entering a better endgame) or tbd3 (ente
5 ... cS is the main line. ring a better middle game position). I n
stead I have missed a very strong prophy
6. g3 A b7 7. _tg2 0-0 8. 0-0 lt:Ja6? ! lactic offensive move.
12... cxd4 13. 'fi'xd4 h6 ( 1 3 . . . ltjcS 14.
8 . . . i, xc3 9. �xc3 d6 10. b3 ltjbd7 11. � ad l± ) 14. i, xf6 �xf6 15. f4 ! ? (15.
A b2 �e7 is more solid. �xb6?! �xeS 16. '@'xb7 !I fb8) 15 . . . ltjcS
16. ll ad l ±
9. a3!?N J.,xc3 10. �xc3 dS?!
13. ttJg4?!
10 . . . h6 followed by . . . d6 a nd . . . cS would
get on better with the ... ltjaG move. We will look at:
A) 13. _i h4! was incredibly strong. lt is
11. lt:JeSI cS? ! very difficult to think of that kind of moves.
But let's see what would happen if I had
o 11 ... ltje4 12. �c2;!; (12. J_xe4 ! ? dxe4 thought a prophylactic way. " I have a pro
13. b4;!; ) blem that Black wants to enter an ending
going ... lt:Je4 in m a ny lines, because of the
12. j_gS hanging gS-bishop. I have another problem
that I do not really have a waiting move
Threatening to ta ke on f6 with the idea because ... h6 is coming next. The only way
... 'fi'xd6 lt:Jd7. Black already has big prob to solve both problems would be to get my
lems. dark-squared bishop protected AND avoid
113
that . . . h6 forces too many simplifications. extra pawn in a rook ending is rarely an
Conclusion: � h4. Let's see if it works. Can easy win ! ) 18 ... cxd4 19. cxd4 dxc4 20.
Black go ... h6 a nyway? No, then lt:)g4 will lt:Jxc4 11 xd4 (see analysis diagram)
be even more winning." lt means after 13.
� h4 Black would have got to play a weird
move like ... h5 in order not to lose imme
diately, after what White would have been
much better.
B) 13. �f3 (threatening lt:)g4) was also
very strong: 13 ... h6o 14. � xf6 gxf6 15.
� g4+ � f8 16. lt:Jd3 f5 17. 'i¥f4 �g7 18.
11 fdl±
Position after: 20 ... !! xd4
13 ... lt:Je4o 14. A xdS ltjxc3 15. bxc3
� axd8 16. 11 fb1 11 d6 17. � b2 2 1 . A xb7 I considered this position to be
winning because I only thought of the au
tomatic move 2 1 . . . 11 xb7. lt is indeed quite
a deep line though most of the moves we
re either forced or natural. Anyway all
chess players tend to m iss moves like the
next one in many situations. 21... lt:Jc5o
(oops ! ) (21... � xb7? 22. lt:Jxa5+-) 22. 11 c1
lt:)xb7 23. 11 xb6 11 c8 24. 11 xb7 f5 ! a nd
White has nothing better than 25. ll b5
11 dxc4 26. 1! xc4 11 xc4 27. 11 xa5 which is
better for White but drawish.
Position after: 17. � b2
18. cxdS cxd4
I considered this ending to be close to win
ning but I made a m iscalculation mistake
while analysing 17 . . . 11 b8 early on. lt
means also 13. '/£ff3 was stronger than
13. lt:Jg4.
17 •.. AaS
17 ... 11 b8! 18. lt:Je3 ( 18. cxd5 A xd5 19. e4

�a8 20. e5 11 dd8 2 1 . �xa8 11 xa8 22.
11 xb6 cxd4 23. cxd4 11 xd4 24. !! cl is
better for White but not that clear. An Position after: 19 ... �xdS
114
18 ... exdS 1 9 . l'L:le3± 22. : cl
19. cxd4 � xdS 22. l'L:le3 ! ?
(see Diagram, previous page) 22 • • . lt:Ja6
20. e4! 22 ... : e7 23. � bc2 l'L:le8 24. It c8 � b7

2s. : b8+-
A concrete attacking decision/position
transformation. Instead I could have won 23. 11 c4!
material but the position would have been
much easier to play for Black than this one.
20. �xdS : xdS 21. lt xb6 11 xd4 22.
11 xa6 11 xg4 23. 11 xaS is better for White,
and for exam ple a m uch better version
than the rook endga m e I could get after
17 . . 11 b8 but, still, an extra a-pawn is ne
.
ver an easy win. The text move is a lso rat

her safe and it poses my o pponent much
more practical problems.
20... � as 21. 11 dl Position after: 23. li c4 !
My rook is being m uch better here than on

c4.
23 ... f6 24. eS fxeS 25. Axa8 11 xa8 26.

dxeS
26. l'L:lxe5 ! ?
2 6. . . 11 d3 27. lt xb6 It xa3 28. It xe6 a4? !
Position after: 2 1 . 1:!. d l 28 ... lt:J b4o 29. lt:Je3+-
21... lt:Jc7?! 29. 11 d6 !
a) 21... f6 22. l'L:le3±

b) 21... eS 22. dS+- (see Diagram, next page)
115
The Chess M anual of Avoidable M ista kes
You should use defensive prophylaxis al

most permanently. lt means that, once you
have a plan, you should implement it in the
most ingenious manner in order to make
your opponent's best plan as difficult as
possible to realize.
When your o pponent is in trouble but you
cannot find a forced win or a concrete way
to go ahead, you should try to use 'offen
sive' prophylaxis, in order to make him un
Position after: 29. 11 d 6 ! a ble to defend himself even before starting
the attack. To use an imaginative expres
Now a l l the Black pieces are stuck and the sion, it is l i ke trying to create yourself a
game is over. one-way-street !
29 ... 11 a1+ 30. �g2 hS 31. lt:Je3 11 a7 32.
e6 11 a2 33. 11 xa6 In other words in a fighting game never
mind who is better, you should try to
33. � c8+ ! ? � h 7 34. 11 d7+- prevent your opponent's goals at least as
much as you try to make your own plan
33 ... 11 xa6 34. 11 c8+ � h7 35. e7 work.
1-0
IN THE LIMELIGHT
V Rule number two
While it is important in a chess

game to have a good plan, it is al
so important to find and under
stand your opponent's plan
At a few crucial moments in the game, you

should be able to u nderstand what your
opponent's «dream » is and try your best
to prevent it.
116
§3.4 Endgames concretising decisions £!, Edouard, Romain (2255)

' Heinz, Timothee (2231)
Let's introduce this subchapter that way: [] 2005.05 . 14
chess players like to work as less as possi • FRA-Nat 1 Jeunes, round 8
ble during their games. We like to provoke � FRA
blunders from our opponents and to take
the least possible concrete decisions. How
ever, in a fighting game, and especially in 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. ltJc3 ltJf6 4. e5 ltJfd7
endings, it is usually not enough. 5. f4 c5 6. ltJf3 a6 7. ltJe2 cxd4? !
There are two kinds of concretising deci o 7 . . . ltJcG

sions in endings:
8. ttJexd4 ltJc6 9. i,e2 ,A e7 10. 0-0 ltJc5
• concrete transpositions (exam ples 11. � e3 � d7 12. ltJb3! ttJxb3 13. axb3 0-
n u m bers 1 and 2); 0 14. c3 'f/Jc7 15. 'f;\Ve1 f5 16. 'f;\Vf2 b5 17.
• dynamic decisions (exam ples n u mbers b4±
3 and 4).
However sometimes players confuse con

cretisation and completio n : once the posi
tion is tota l ly winning sometimes we u nne
cessarily keep on playing double-edged
moves. This will be illustrated by the fifth
exa m ple.
Let's notice that a dynamic decision is most

of the time related to pushing pawns soo
ner or later. Since that is the way to win al Position after: 17. b4
most any ending. A concrete transposition
aims to exchange the right pieces to enter 17 ... �b7 18. ltJd4 ltJxd4 19. i,xd4 c;t> hS
a technically winning endgame. In both ca 20. � c5?!
ses: you cannot go back ! This is what ma
kes endings even more difficult than the U n necessary for the moment. lt was better
rest. to concentrate on the kingside.
20... i,xc5 21. �xc5 'f/Jc6 22. �d4 � c8

23. c;t>f2 i, b7 24. c;t>e3 'f/Jc7 25. ll a5?!
'flie7 26. g3 g5 27. !! g1? ! g4?
27 ... gxf4+ 28. gxf4 �h4�
117
The Ch ess Man u al of Avoidable M istakes
28. �f2 �g7 29. ]I h1 hS 30. h3 ]I aeS 31. c:::. 39 ... �d7 and it will be very difficult to
1.:[ aa1 il.cS? win if I don't manage to exchange q ueens:

which is difficult to achieve.
c:::. 3 1 . . . ]I h8
40. �c6+ �dB
32. hxg4 hxg4 33. ]I hS ]I hS
Our critical position. My opponent gave

me the possibility to exchange queens. lt
appears winning but I started to calculate
and wasn't totally sure. As my position was
better I decided not to go 4l.�d6+ in or
der not to "force my fate". But, my oppo
nent's position was too solid a nd, because
of that the game ended in a draw. A long
and clean calculation would have confir
Position after: 33 ... l:l h8 med that 4l.'@d6+ was winning.
34. !! ah1? 41. � CS
34. il.xg4 ! ! fxg4 35. fS wins. The key alternative is:

41. �d6+ '@xd6 (41 . . . �d7 ? ! 42. �cS+-)
34... li xhS 35. 11 xhS 11 hS 36. ]I xhS 42. exd6 �d7 43. �es (43. �cs il. b7=)
� xhS 37. � b6 �g7 38. �e3 �f7 39. 43 ... il. b7 44. b3 il. c6 45. c4 dxc4 46. bxc4
�d4 � eS? il.f3 47. il. d 3 (see analysis diagram)
Position after: 47. Jlt_d3
Position after: 40 ... �d8 47 ... il. e4o (47 . . . il. c6? 48. il.fl+- is a
zugzwang: this is what we want to
achieve.) (see analysis diagram)
118
�d4 �c6 53. �es �d7 54. �f6 �d6 ss.

�gS �dS 56. �xg4 �c4 57. � hS �xb4
58. g4 aS 59. fS !+- (see analysis diagram)
Position after: 4 7 ... _i e4
Some other moves deserve coverage too:

Al) 48. Afl Ac6 49. cs A dS so. Ae2
A b3 seems just to be a draw: 51. �d4 Position after: 59. fS !
AdS 52. Adl Ji c4 53. �c3 AdS 54. Ji b3
would "fa il" to 54 . . . _txb3 55. �xb3 eS ! a nd White is going to promote to queen
56. fxeS f4 57. gxf4 g3 58. e6+ !? �xe6 59. first, ... with check !
fS+ �d7 60. f6 �e6 61. c6 g2 62. d7
gl=� 63. d8=� �bl += 41 ... �d7 42. �b6+ � es 43. Afl �f7
A2) 48. A e2 Jif3 doesn't help White. 44. b3 �es 45. _te2 �f7 46. �bS �c6
A3) 48. Axe4! fxe4 49. �xe4 bxc4 (49 ... 47. �d6 �b7 48. �cS �a7+ 49. �b6
�xd6 50. cxbS axbS 5 1 . � d4 �c6 52. �e7+ so. �d4 �d7 51. Ad3 �es 52.
�eS �d7 53. fS+-) 50. �d4 (see analysis �e3 �f7 53. �d4 �b7 54. �d2 �e8
diagram) 55. A e2 '@d7 56. �d3 �b7 57. Jif1
�e7 58. �g1 �d7 59. �h2 �dS 60.
�h8+ �c7 61. �fS � b7 62. �d4 Jic8
63. Jig2 A b7 64. �cS+ A c6 65. �a7+
A b7 66. Afl �d8 67. Ad3 �d7 68.
£_e2 �d8 69. Af1 �d7 70. £.g2 �d8 71.
�d3 �d7 72. � e3 �c6 73. �d3 �b6!?
Now this endga me is a very different story.
Position after: 50. � d4 74. �xb6+ �xb6 75. �d4 Ac6 76. Af1
Ji b7 77. c4 bxc4 78. bxc4 dxc4 79. Axc4
Around there I stopped my ca lculation, Jic8 80. Ae2 Ad7 81. Jid3 AcS 82. �c4
thinking it was not useful to enter such a Ab7 83. Ae2 AdS+ 84. �c3 Aa2 ss.
forcing line. A very typical mistake. 50 . . . Ad1 aS 86. bxaS+ �xaS 87. �d4 � b6
�c6 ! ? [SO . . . �xd6 5 1 . �xc4 �d7 { 5 1 . . . e S 88. A e2 Ab3 89. £_d3 Aa2 90. Ac2 �c6
52. fS+-) 52. � d4 �d6 5 3 . �e4 �d7 54. 91. _ta4+ �b6 92. Ad1 �c6 93. Ac2
�eS �e7 55. fS+-] 51. �xc4 �xd6 52. � b6 94. Ad3 A b3 95. Ab1 Yz-Yz
1 19
£::. H u nt, Harriet V (2450) 30. �xf6 '@'f7

[] 2013.02.23 30 ... !t xb3?? 3 1 . l1 xb3 l! xb3 32. 'f//xg6+=
W 4NCL Division lb, round 5
� De Vere, Staverton Park ENG 31. 'f//xf7+ �xf7 32. A e3o l! xb3? !
3 2 . . . .txe3 3 3 . lt xe3 li, b4 ( 3 3. . . !l c7 ! ? 34.

1. e4 cS 2. ltjf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. ltjxd4 11 cl 11 bc8 35. ltjd2 A xd5 36. 11 d3 Axc4
ltjf6 5. ltjc3 a6 6. Ae2 eS 7. ltjb3 Ae7 8. 37. l:[ xd6 A b5 38. l1 xc7+ l! xc7 39. fxg4
o-o o-o 9. � h 1 b6!? 10. Ae3 A b7 11. f3 �e7-+) 34. ll c3 �e7 !-+
bS 12. a4 b4 13. ltjdS ltJxdS 14. exdS ltJd7
15. c4 bxc3 16. bxc3 AgS 17. Af2 'f// c7 33. 11 xb3 11 xb3 34. Axa7 gxf3 35. �g1
18. c4 11 ab8 ! 19. aS Aa8 20. 11 b1
20. c5? ! dxc5 21. il,xa6 c4 22. ltjd2 c3 23.

ltJc4 11 fd8+
20 ... 11 b4 21. _te1 11 b7
2 1 . . . ll xc4 ! ? 22 . .txc4 �xc4 23. ltjd2

�d3o 24. 'f// b 3 �xb3 25. ltjxb3 A xd5 26.
�d2 �e7 27. 1! fd l!::+
22. j, c3 l1 fb8 23. 'f// c2 Ae3 24. j,d3 g6 Position after: 35. Wgl
25. l1 fe1 Aa7 26. Ad2 fS 27. g4? ! fxg4
28. j,xg6 35 ... �f6??
28. fxg4 ltjf6 29. h3 �c8+ The kind of mistake I've mentioned in the
previous chapters: I 've played that move
28 ... ltjf6 ! super-quickly after I got unhappy with 35 . . .
l1 c 3 . Never play a move fast just because
28 . . . gxf3?? 29. _txh7+ � h8 30. j, g5 !+- you're not happy with a nother/the others !
29. �fS? Alternatives a re:

A) 35... 11 b4 36. lt cl �f6 still wins
29. j, e4 @g7+ easily.
B) 35 ... lt c3 36. c5 _txd5 37. cxd6 �e6
29 ... hxg6? 38. d7 (38. j, d4? 1l c2-+) 38 ... �xd7 39.
l1 xe5 should be lost but gives White prac
29 ... 'fijg7 wins instantly. tica l chances.
120
36. 11 e3 only saw 48. 11 b8? ! !1 a 2+ 49. '1itel ..txdS

so. cxdS ]I xas+)
Now the position is drawish.
44 . . � b7 45. A b6?
.
36... g bl+ 37. 'l¥tf2 !! b2+ 38 ..t xf3

.
o 45. A f2
38. �fl ! ? li c2 39. 11 xf3+ '1t; g7 40 . .i b8
e4 41. 11 b3 � xc4 42 . .ixd6 'lt; f7+ 45 . . 11 h8?
.
38 ... li c2 39. A b8 <J;; e7 45 ... li h3 (threatening ... .\l c8) 46. Ji,. d8+
'l¥tg7 47. � e7 ll c3 !-+
39... 11 xc4 40 . .,txd6 .,t xdS+ 41. '1it f2 is
difficult to win for Black. 46. .,t e3 li h3!
40. l1 e4 It xh2 41. 11 g4 11 h8 Still a good move but one move ago it was
better!
47. '1t;d31J
47. j_gS+ �g7 goes back into 45 ... 11 h3

l ine.
47... Ac8 48. li, g2 Af5+ 49. <J;; d2
49. '1t;e2 ! ?
Position after: 41... li h8 49 . . ll hl

.
42. .Aa7?!
42. j,c7 ! would have been a better move,

but my o pponent m ight have missed that
42 . . . lt c8 ? ! 43. 11 xg6 ! is a draw: 43 ...
li xc7 44. ll g7+ <J;; d 8 45. ll g8+=
42 ... <J;; f6 43. A e3 11 h5 44. � e4?
44. l1 gl �fS 45. 11 bl 11 h3+ 46. '1t;e2

'1t; e4 47. j,f2 !l a3 48. j_ e l ! is a d raw. (I Position after: 53 .. li al
.
121
The Chess M a n u a l of Avoida ble M ista kes
49 ... � e4 50. 11 f2+ �f3 would have been had many possibilities to blunder. Even
a better try intending to advance with the after analysing the game I consider it was a
king. good decision.
SO. �c3 11 h3 51. �d2 �f7 52. 11 f2 11 hl 59... ll d3 ! ?

53. �c3 11 al
A n interesting transposition .
(see Diagram, previous page) 59 ... dxcS+ 60. AxeS+ �f6 6 1 . d6 �d7 62.
g dS is drawish: 62 ... 11 hS (62 ... e3 63.
54. � b4 � d4+ �e6 64. �cS=) 63. 11 xhS gxh5 64.
j,f2 �g5 65. �c3 h4 66. �xh4+ �xh4
54. � b2 ! ii xa5 55. :, b7+ �e8 (55 ... 67. �d4 �c6 68. d7 �xd7 69. �xe4=
�f6?? 56. � b6+- was what I missed, to
be honest ! ) 56. �g5 with a draw. 60. 11 xd3 exd3 61. �c3 gS
54... g el 55. �d2 11 hl 56. � e3 li h3

57. � b6 �e7 58. ll d2 e4? !
58 . . . gS ! 59. cS 11 h4+ 60. �c3 11 h l is a

better try. (60 ... g4? ! 6 1 . !J,. c7 should be a
draw.)
59. c5
Position after: 61... gS
62. c6??
White should j ust have ... waited ! Now, for

some reason, the position is lost for White.
Let us m ention that 62.c6 is the com put
er's suggestion ! The other approach is 62.
Position after: 59. cS �d2 g4 63. �c3
Our critical position. I realized that playing

normal moves would probably no longer
bring me the victory. So I decided to force
my fate entering an ending that I consid-
ered to be a draw but where my opponent (see analysis diagram)
122
67. J;.f2
And now 67. c7 had to be played but it is
already too late: 67 . . . g3 68. �d2 g2 69.
�c3 �d7 70. �d2 J;.fS 71. �c3 �e7
(see analysis diagram)
Position after: 63. � c3
We investigated :
a) 63... c;t>d7 64. J;.a7 does not help
Black: 64 ... g3? 6S. cxd6 g2 66. J;.cS=
b) 63 ... g3? 64. J;.c7=
c) 63 ... dxcS 64. AxeS+ �d7 (64 ... �f6 Position after: 71... � e7
6S. J;. d6=) 6S. �d2 g3 66. �c3 g2 67.
c;t>d2 J;.e4 68. �c3 � e8 69. �d2 �f7 70. a) Waiting goes not help White: 72. J;.gl
c;t>c3 (70. d6?? should never be played so c;t>f6 73. Ah2 �gS 74. c;t>d2 c;t>g4 7S. c;t> e3
early: 70 . . . c;t>e6-+ a nd the king goes to c;t> h3 76. J;.gl c;t> g3 77. c;t>d2 c;t>f4-+
c6.) 70 ... �f6 71. J;.d4+ �fS 72. �d2 b) 72. _id4 �f7 73. �d2 �g6 74. _ie3
c;t>g4 73. d 6 ! J;.fS 74. d7 J;.xd7 7S. �xd3 � hS-+
�f3 76. �c3 � e2 77. � b2 �fl 78. c) 72. c8='@ _ixc8 73. �xd3 _ifS+ (73 .. .
� al= J;. b7 ! ?) 74. �c4 (74. �e2 J;.e4-+) 74 .. .
c;t> f6-+
62 ... g4 63. J;.f2 �dBo (63 . J;. e4? 64.
. .
J;. h4+ �e8 6S. J;. g3=) 64. j)_g3 c;t>c7 65. 67 ... J;.xdS 68. �xd3 �c7 69. �d4 �xc6
J;.f2 J;. e4 66. J;. b6+ �c8 70. _ig3
Position after: 66 .. �c8

. Position after: 70. Ji_g3
123
The Chess Manual of Avo idable M istakes
Now the position is totally winning and my retical draw though White has to defend
opponent is in time trouble. I started to precisely.
play a few foolish moves too fast: a bad
behaviour that we'll discuss in the fourth 74 ... ,i h7+ 75. �e3 � c2 76. �f4
and last chapter.
76. � d4 A e40-+
10 ... Af7
76 ... Adl 77. � es �c4 78. i,f2 ..te2 79.
70 . . A f3 is m uch more natural.
. ,ig1 g3 80. J.d4 g2 81. ,ig1 ,if3 82. �f4
,ie4 83. � es �c30
71. i,f4 dS 72. �g3 � bS?!
o 72 . . . Ag6 followed by ... A e4, finally!
73. J,.el Ag8?
Position after: 83 ... �c3
White has no square for his bishop!

83 ... �d3 84. �f4 �e2 85. �g3 �fl 86.
� h2 would not help Black.
Position after: 73 . . . �g8?
84. �f4
I m mediately after playing my move I noti
ced that I had put my bishop on the least The alternatives are:
accurate square. a) 84. i_f2 �d3 85. �f4 �e2 86. �g3
�fl-+
74. �d3? b) 84. .i. b6 <;t>d3 85. �f4 d4-+
Phew. 84... d4 0-1

74. w es Black no longer has a way to keep
the g-pawn ! I would have to go 74 . . . �c4
75. �fS � d3 76. �xg4 � e2 77. J. c3
�e3 78. �f5 d4 79. J,. b4 d3 80. �e5 d2
81. j_ xd2+ �xd2 82. � d4 which is a theo-
124
b Edouard, Romain (2531) 39 ... we6?!

l D'Amore, Carlo ( 2481)
:!] 2008.10.21 39 . . . e4 40. Wd2 h5 was a better way to
• ECC, round 5 defend.
� Kallithea GRE
40. Wd3 wds 41. 11 a1 11 f4 42. 11 aS+
we6 43. li a6+ wts
43 ... Wd5 44. 11 h6 e4+ 45. w e3 11 f7 46.

11 h5+ Wc4 47. w xe4+-
44. :, a7 It h4 45. h3 It h6
31. !! aB
My opponent is going to lose one pawn,

and as his king is weaker he took the right
decision to go for a rook ending.
Position after: 45 ... g h6
31... �gS 32. �xgS lt xgS 33. !! Bxa7
It xa7 34. :, xa7+ Wg6 35. It a1 !! cS 36. Our main position. Everything went perfect
ll c1 wts 37. Wf2 eS 38. we3 lt c4 39. c3 for me in this rook ending ( my rook went
from passive to active, and my opponent's
rook did the contrary). Now I cannot im
prove much and it is time for a concrete
decision. I thought for a long time about
46. g4+ but decided that playing " normal
moves" should be enough to win while 46.
g4 m ight for some (imaginairy) reason fail.
lt was a bad decision: what I played in the
game was rather d rawish while 46. g4 was
winning. lt is im portant to find the limit
between the moment you must improve
Position after: 39. c3 your position and the moment you should
convert it.
125
The Chess M an u al of Avoidable M ista kes
46. .l':! f7+
46. g4+ ! <;t>f4 (46 . . . <;t>g5 47. ,l':! g7+ <;t> h4

48. <;t>e4+-) 47. 11 f7+ <;t> g3 48. <;t> e4 <;t>xh3
49. c4 ! Concrete decision, aga i n ! (49.
ll g7?? ,l':! c6=) 49 . . . <;t> xg4 50. ,l':! g7+ � h4
5 1 . c5 (see analysis diagram)
Position after: 50 . 11 a8 !
. .
Cou nter-attacking.
51. h4 It a2+ 52. �d3 � h2 53. hS � hl

54. <;t>e4 h6
Position after: 5 1 . c5
Now the position is very drawish.
Black is being dominated and is obviously
doing bad in spite of his extra pawn. More SS. �f3 ,l':! cl 56. �e2 �dS 57. ,l':! d3+
to the point, the position is lost. 5 1 . . . 1':! c6 <;t>e4 58. � d6 1':! c2+ 59. <;t>dl I1 g2 60.
( 5 1 . . . � e6 52. � xh7+ <;t>g5 53. � h8 !EB � xh6 � xg4 61. � g6 � h4 62. h6 <;t>f4 63.
<;t>f6 54. c6! � e7 55. � h6+ <;t>g7 56. <;t>c2 e4 64. c4 e3 65. 1':! c6 1':! h2+ 66. <;t>d3
� h5+-) 52. �d5 11 c8 53. 11 xh7+ �g5 e2 67. <;t>d2 �es 68. 1':! c7 1':! xh6 �-�
54. ,l':! e7+-
£:, Edouard, Romain (2646)
46 ... �e6 47. � f3 � g6 48. g4 ,l':! g8 ... Cebalo, Miso (2416}
Il 2012.07.26
48 ... h5 49. gxh5 � g5 50. h4 � xh5 5 1 . • Biel-45th MTO, round 4
,l':! h3 ± � SUI
49. ,l':! g3? !

1. e4 cS 2. lt:Jf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. lt:Jxd4
Trying to push my 'g' and 'h' pawns, but lt:Jc6 5. c4 lt:Jf6 6. lt:Jc3 lt:Jxd4 7. �xd4 d6
this is too slow. 8. _t e2 _tg7 9. _t e3 0-0 10. �d2 aS 11.
49. !I f5 � c8 50. � h5 � c7 5 1 . h4 was 1':! dl _te6 12. 0-0 a4 13. _td4 �as 14. f4!
m uch stronger. Ei fc8 15. b3 axb3 16. axb3 �b4?!
49 ••• ,l':! d8+ SO. �e2 � aS ! 16 ... ,l':! e8 17. �e3;!;
126
17. fS ! � d 7 18. � xf6 � xf6 19. tl:JdS 33. h4

'W!xd2 20. tt:Jxf6+ exf6
Also interesting is:
20 . . . � g7 2 1 . ll xd2 �xf6 22. fxg6+ �xg6 A) 33. h3 ! ?
23. eS± B ) 33. �e3 !?
C) 33. � cS ! ?
21. !! xd2 � c6 22. fxg6 hxg6 23. !! xf6
Ji(.xe4 24. !! fxd6 !! a l+ 25. �f2 !! cS 26. 3 3. . . !! h2
Ji(.dl! �c6 27. �e3 !! eS+ 28. �d4 !! el
Position after: 33 . It h2
. .
Position after: 28 . It el
. .
34. �e3
29. �f3 !
34. �cS � xh4 35. �d6 was the clearest
A transposition (the purpose of games 4 win: keeping the super-strong defensive
and 5). rook on d3.
29... � xf3 30. gxf3 !! fl 31. g d3 !! f2 32. 34... !! xh4 35. !! dB+? !
ll b6 ll a7
U nnecessary. lt was possible to go !! d7
i mmediately.
35 ... �g7 36. g d7 !! aS
36 ... ll a3 37. ll d4 ! gS (37 ... � xd4 38.

�xd4 ll a7 39. cS ! �f8 40. � eS � e7 41.
f4+- Black is dominated.) 38. !! xh4 ! ? (38.
!! xb7±) 38 ... gxh4 39. �f4 with an easy
win.
Position after: 32 . It a 7
. .
127
The Chess Man u al of Avoidable M i stakes
37. It bxb7 ll fS
Position after: 38. li d4!
We will analyse here:

a) 38... .11 h8 39. ll f4 li e8+ 40. 11 e4
Position after: 37 .. .i fS
.
.:. h8 41. f4 : h3+ 42. �d4 11 h l 43. b4+
b) 38 .. gS 39. It xh4 gxh4 40. lit bS It f6
.
This is our critical position. My opponent is 41. b4 11 a6 42. : as+-

close to reaching positiona l compensation c) 38 ... It hhS 39. ll f4+-
as his rooks a re quite active and well pla d) 38... ll xf3+ 39. �xf3 It xd4 40. cS
ced, while I have problems to push my 11 d3+ 41. � e4 : c3 42. b4 (th reatening
pawns. lt was time for a concrete dynamic �d4) 42 . . . gS 43. �fS !?+-
decision. e) 38 11 h2 39. 11 f4+-
...
37 ... !! eS+ 38. �f2 11 fS 39. 11 d3 11 h2+ f) 38 ... .i[ hl 39. 11 b5 !t f6 40. I[ d3 ! ?
40. c;t>e3 (40. �g3 11 fhS) 40. . . 11 h3 41. with a very i mproved version o f the game,
� d 2 ! Concrete dynamic decision. 41... a nd, most probably an easy win.
l Hxf3 (41 . . . gS 42. !I bS !+-) 42. 1I xf3
li[ xf3 43. cS with an easy win: White is too 38 .. g5
.
fast pushing his pawns.
38. � d3? Diagram 208
The main alternative 38. ll d41 granting

the pawn back to get a winning position
thanks to the more advanced pawns: with
one rook less, there are no more problems
to push them. This concretising decision is
also a concession, as I had to give back my
extra pawn.
Position after: 38 ... g S
(see analysis diagram) Now things are no longer easy.
128
39. �f2 49 ... �f5 ! with an easy draw since 50.

I! ed3 is met by 50 ... f6=
We will a lso pay attention to following:
a) 39. I! bS? is no longer possible: 39... 50. � b6 11 gl+ 51. � f2
lit xb5 40. cxb5 It b4=
b) lt is also too late for 39. � d4? since
Black would have 39 . It h3= as the easi
. .
est way.
39 ... � h2+ 40. �g3 � c2
Position after: 5 1. Wf2
51 ... � cl?
5 1 . . . � aa l ! was a better try, since 52.

�e2? ! is met by 52 ... � gel+ 53. �d3
Position after: 4 0. . � c 2
. � adl + while 54. � e4 ?? loses to 54 ... f5+-
Black acquired positional com pensation 52. �e2

and it is now very difficult to convert the
position to a winning one. Now my king escapes and the position is
winning again.
41. � bd7 �g6 42. � d2 � cl 43. ll dl
� c3 44. !l 7d3 !I c2 45. � ld2 !I cl 46. 52... 11 a2+ 53. �d3 !I ac2 54. � eS � c3+
� d4 � b1 47. � 4d3 !! aS 48. � e3 55. �d4 ll xf3 56. li xgS+ �f8 57. !l, dS
� e7 58. �cS � cc3 59. b4 � f4 60. !1 d4
48. � c2 f5!:+ !{ fS+ 61. �c6 g eS 62. cS fS 63. 11 d6
ll e6 64. IK. xe6+ � xe6 65. � b7+ � eS 66.
48 ... ll a3 c6 f4 67. c7 f3 68. 11 h6
1-0
48 . . . f6 ! ?
49. � d6+ �g7?!
129
[:, Edouard, Romain (2664) 17. h5 lt:Jg8�

I. Gofshtein, Leonid (2480)
[] 2012.10.15 17 ... lt:Jc4 18. h5 lt:Jg8 19. hxg6 hxg6 20.
• Eilat-28th European Club Cup,round 5 lt:Jg3
� ISR
1. e4 e5 2. lt:Jf3 lt:Jc6 3. � b5 a6 4. � a4
lt:Jge7 5. c3 g6 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 bS 8.
� c2 �g7 9. d5 lt:Ja5 10. �d2!
Position after: 20 lt)g3

.
20 ... 'iVf6
Key a lternatives a re:

A) 20... !l e8 ! ?
Position after : 10. _id2 ! B) 2 0. . . 'iVaS+!?
10 ... c5 !? 21. � b1 lt:Je5 22. � e2 c4 23. �e3 � fe8

24. wt1 ! 11 acs 25. wg1 11 e7?
Now we have following choices:
A) 10... lt:Jc4 1 1 . �c3;!; 25 ... lt:Jd3 ! 26. Axd3 cxd3 27. 'iVxd3 �f4�
B) 10... A xb2 11. �xa5 Axa1 12. lt:Jc3i
26. f4 lt:Jd3
11. �c3 � xc3+ 12. lt:Jxc3 d6 13. 'iVcl? !
26 ... lt:Jd7 27. � g4±
13. h3 0-0 14. 0-0;!;
27. f5 ! lt:J b4o
13 ... �g4 14. �d1 A xf3 15. A xf3 o-o 16.
h4 Wg7 27 . . . lt:Jxb2 28. fxg6 fxg6 29. � f1 'iVe5 30.
lt:Jf5+ gxf5 3 1 . �g5++-
16 ... f5 ! ?
28. fxg6 fxg6 29. lit f1 lt:Jc2o 30. 11 xf6
17. lt:Je2 lt:Jxe3 31. � xd6 c3 32. bxc3 � xc3 33.
130
� xa6 ltjf6 34. � h 4 lt:Jexd5 35. exd5 48 ... � d6 49. li d2 � es so. � d3 ! ? I;i a l
� xg3 36. �f3 I;i g5 37. ll b4 5 1 . �aS ! ? gS 52. g g3 �f4 53. !i c3 with
an easy win.
37. ll d4 ! ?
49. gxf3 �d6
37. . . lt:Jxd5 38. � xb5 ltjc7 39. 11 xg5
lt:Jxa6 40. li b5 li el+ 41. �f2 � al 42. 49 . . . 11 a l 50. � bS ! The concrete way.
ll b2 50 . . . 11 a3 5 1 . 11 g2 11 xf3 ( 5 1 . . . �fS 52. a6
11 xf3 53. � a2+-) 52. 11 xg6+-
42. � d S ! ?
50. 11 g2 � bl+ 51. �c4 1l cl+
42. . . ltjc5 43. �e3 �f6 44. �d4 lt:Je6+
45. �c4 g cl+ 46. � b4 ltjd4
Position after: 5 1 . . . 11 cl+
Position after: 46 ... ltjd4 Our critical position.
47. a4! 52. �b5??
The start of concrete decisions. I have taken enough decisions in the last
moves. Now it was time to be technical : to
47... �e5 enter the easiest won position and not to
bet on calculation a ny longer. There is a
47 ... lt:Jxf3 48. gxf3 �e6 49. aS � d 7 50. l i m it to everything. Clearly better was:
11 b3 followed by 11 c3 with an easy win. A) 52. �d3 was the easy way, just taking
a second pawn for free: 52... li dl + 53.
48. a5 lt::\ xf3? ! �e2 ll a 1 54. g xg6+ �eS 55. �d3 ! ?+
B) 52. � b4!? 11 bl+ 53. �a4 with the
Making White's win even easier ... in theo idea 53 . . . 11 a l+ 54. �bS avoiding . . . 11 cS+
ry! was another way, this time rather dynam
ic.
131
52 ... : cs+ 53. � b6 11 c6+ 54. � b7 l! c7+ IN THE LIMELIGHT

55. � bS
Rule number three
If you want to concretise a better ( but still

not winning) endgame you cannot 'stay'
and hope for a m istake: you hold all the
cards. At one or several moment(s), you
have to take specific technical decision(s).
Position after: SS. � b8

& WARNING
ss ... il f7?? When you have a better game and

can take a dynamic decision or
While calculating I only considered 55 .. .
transpose into a very promising
11 f7 as a decent move and decided to trust endgame, but in the mean time
my calculation, going for the dynamic and you see that your opponent may
concrete 52. � b5. That would have been a run for a draw if you miscalculate,
normal practical decision if the position the solution is not to play some
had been "better but not easy" . But as the thing else: you may not have this
position was very easily won that was a possibility twice ! The key is to cal
bad decision. culate, and to trust yourself. May
The passive 55 ... � g7 ! woul d have held be from time to time you'll miscal
the game: 56. ll c2 ll f7 57. : c3 11 f5 58. culate and make a draw from a
a6 ll b5+ 59. �aS g5 60. a7 11 b2 White better position but you'll win
ca nnot improve: 61. ll e3 (61. g cl !! b3=} many games while, by just never
61. .. �c7= Why to give Black a chance to daring to take decisions, you'll
defend the g6-pawn that was just lost? make much more draws than
wins.
56. a6 !I fS+? !
56 . . . � c6 57. ll xg6+ � b5 58. a7 11 f8+ 59. However once the position is totally win
�c7 l H7+ 60. �d6 ll xa7 61. �e5+- ning it m ight just be necessary to play
technical moves that not always will be dy
57. � b7 ll f7+ 58. � b6 ,it xf3 59. !l xg6+ namic. Find the right l imit between the
�d7 60. a7 li b3+ 61. �a6 moment where you play 'brutal ' concrete
1-0
132
moves and the moment where you should � Geller, J a kov (2490)
just be technica l . ' Edouard, Romain (2338)
[] 2005. 10.23
The very typical way t o take adva ntage o f a • Rohde Open 5th, round 2
better/winning endgame is the following: � Sautron FRA
Rule number three:
You must improve your position as

much as possible from a static
point of view (space, position of
your king, etc.);
You must find a consistent plan or
idea with the help of accurate cal
culation;
Once you are winning you must
'finish the job' technically and with
patience. After a long equal game I got this position,
Endgame dynamic defending deci that is o bviously totally drawn, but that is
sions very slightly worse since my opponent's
king is more active, and my pawns on dark
squares are potential future targets. I have
If chess players sometimes lack the nerves a choice between keeping my king on the
in order to take dynamic decisions in bet side of the pawns, in order to play passive
ter positions, it is even more the case in ly and try to hold, or to activate my king on
worse positions. Usually players don't like the other side, trying to somehow get
to force their fate and prefer the ga me to counter play. I went for the passive option.
deve lop normally.
In slightly worse positions, and especial ly 46... �d7
in endgames, we tend to sta rt to take con
crete dynamic decisions when the prob The dynamic 46 ... �f7 ! would have creat
lems are already quite big instead of taking ed some sort of balance instead of having
them when we a re sti l l on time to create a a n annoying position: 47. �c4 �g6 48.
real balance/counter play. This will be il � e6+ �fS and Black makes an easy d raw,
lustrated by the two examples of that sub e.g. 49. Ji_a7 AeS 50. �xb4 �e4=
chapter.
47. c;;t c4 1l h3 48. ,Ad4 ll h5 49. j_f2
133
The Chess Manual of Avo idable M ista kes
Of course the passive option was enough,

but now, it was time to be precise, while,
in the 'dynamic' l ine (46 . . . �f7) there was
not m uch to worry about.
49 . . . !! hS?
Too passive. lt was still time to find a more

active option. Position after: 6 1 . w bs+-
49. . . !! h 2 ! 50. � d4 lii h 5 ! 5 1 . !! g4 �c7
52. Af2 !! f5 53. A e3 I! h5 and White I'm somehow never a ble to reach the b7-
cannot progress. square with my king if I don't want to
exchange bishops !
so. !! h4!
51. � bS !! bS+? !
Diagra m 2 1 7
The best chance was trying to escape with
the king at a ny price, going 5 1 . . . �e7
52. � b6
Position after: 5 0 . 11 h4 !
Now my position is already difficult.
SO . . . ll cS+
50 ... !! xh4+? is losing: 5 1 . �xh4 �c7 52. Position after: 52. it, b 6
�bs � b7 (52 ... �es 53. �a6! A d4 54.
� e l � cs 55. � b5+-) 53. A g3 �c7 54. 52 . . Af6?
.
� a 6 ! A d4 55. Ael A c3 (55 . . . A c5 56.

� bs � b7 57. Axb4+-) 56. Af2 � d 7 57. The last chance, one more time, was to
� b7 A d2 ss. � b6 �el 59. Aas Ad2 play actively: 52 ... ,i g8 ! 53. ll h7+ �e8
60. � b6 A e 1 61. � bs+- 54. JL c7 �e5 55. �xb4 ,i g3 ! followed by
... � d3, while the most likely to happen
(see analysis diagram) would be R+B versus R (in White's favou r).
134
53. � xb4 �d8 54. wa6! £3, Prie, E ric {2526)

.1. Edouard, Remain {2508)
:I] 2008.08.22
• FRA-83rd eh N ational B, round 11
� Pau FRA
Position after: 5 4 . � a 6 !
Now the position is lost. I n that d rawish

endgame I had four different chances to
improve the game by playing 'dynamically'
(the first being the clearest draw, the last
being the less clear one). Instead I defend After a very equal game I made some inac
ed passively and lost without doing any curacies and later on reached that slightly
thing in a position that 'looked' very easy worse position. This exa m ple is a lso a very
for me. good one to d iscuss prophylaxis. White
wants to go lt:Jd3 and Wd2 (with the idea
54 � xb6 ss. l:l xb6 l:l a8+ 56. w bs w e7
.•• Wc3) to provoke ... b4. After that, the
57. b4 ll dS ss. ll b7+ wt6 59. wc6 w es white king will start to go ahead ( wc2,
60. b5 W b3, etc.) in order to create problems. I n
1-0 the game I stayed passive for some moves
and got into trouble. U nfortunately when I
decided to play active it was already more
or less too late.
30 •.. lt:JbS
The dynamic 30 lt:Jf6! was the best mo

•••
ve, in order to provoke a weakening of the

white kingside. As soon as the white f
pawn has to move the position will be an
easy draw because the black rook will at
tack e3 every time the white king runs to
the other side of the board. Typical pro-
135
phylaxis. Not that difficult, is it? (see analy

sis diagram)
Position after: 33. <;td2

Position after: 30 . . . tLlf6 !
Now it doesn't look like much but the pro
Possibilities are: blems are actually quite substantial and it
a) 31. gS lt:\e4 32. h4 11 a7� is too late to really weaken the white king
b) 31. f3 lt:\g8 32. lt:\d3 lt:\e7 33. 1:. b2 side. I ndeed the d ifference with the white
ltjc6 is similar. pawn on f2 instead of f3 is massive. I real i
c) 31. h3 lt:\e4 32. f3 (32. ltjd3 ll a7�) zed playing passive would not be a solution
32 ... ltjg5 33. h4 lt:\e6 34. ltjd3 lt:\d8 35. and finally found a dynamic plan. This was
11 b2 ltjc6= The position is equal due to the best decision, but it was too late.
the reason I have just mentioned . (see
analysis diagram) 33 .. I:t b8 34. �c2 gS
.
J ust waiting is bad: 34 . . . ll b7 35. � b3

11 b8? ! 36. ll a2±
35. w b3 hS 36. gxhS 11 h8 37. 1i a2 11 xhS

38. I[ a6 wd7
Position after: 35 ... lL!c6
31. lt:\d3 ltjc6 32. 11 b2 b4 33. �d2
(see Diagram, next column) Position after: 38 . . <;td7

.
136
39. �a4! 45. lL\eS+ �c8 46. � b6 !+- �dB 47.

!! aS+ �e7 48. � a7+ �e8 49. ll xf7 l:l g2
An excellent move. My pieces are domi SO. 11 f6 �e7 51. 11 fS g4 52. �c6 g3 53.
nated and White has a very solid setup . . . 11 f1+ � ea 54. �d6 lL\gS ss. 11 e7+ �fa
because I d i d not weaken i s before ! 56. lL\d7+ �g8 57. fxg3 � xg3 58. � xdS
lL\h3 59. 11 e4 �f7 60. lL\eS+ � e7 61.
39 ... b3 40. � b5 lL\d8? ! lL\c4+ �dB 62. !! h4 lL\gS 63. e4 lL\f3 64.
!i h8+ �e7 65. lL\d6 !l gl 66. 11 h7+ �dB
40 . . . lL\e7 was a better defense, since after 67. eS lL\gS 68. l! g7 lL\h3 69. l! xgl lL\xgl
41. lL\cS+ �d8 Black is still solid. 70. �e6 lL\e2 71. lL\bS lL\f4+ 72. �d6
ct:Jg6 73. e6 C"t:Je7 74. dS ct:Jc8+ 75. �es
41. 11 a7+ �ea lL\b6 76. d6 �c8 77. C"t:Jc3 �dB 78. �e4
1-0
41... �e6 42. �cS ± with the idea 11 a6+.
IN THE LIMELIGHT
42. 11 a3 !
Rule number four
I n worse or slightly worse positions, and

especially in endings, the key to diminish I
face the problems is often to play dynamic
moves. The right way is to take these de
cisions when the pressure is not too big
yet. After that, it m ight be too late.
V Rule number four:

Position after: 42. It a 3 !
In many cases when you start to
Now the position is lost. get dominated, the right way to
compensate for your opponent's
42 ... �d7 43. !l xb3 lL\e6 44. ll a3?! activity is not to fight against it in
vain but to create your own dy
44. lL\eS+ �e7 45. !i a3+- namism.
44 ... � xh2?
Of course, these active decisions should be
44 . . . lL\c7+ 45. �cS ll xh2 46. lL\eS+ �c8 supported by an o bjective calculation : if
was l ittle bit less clear. your position is almost a draw, don't enter
137
The Ch ess Man u al of Avoidable M ista kes
a forced line that looks very bad just to possible: not when problems a re al
play dynamic moves. Stay rationa l ! ready too big so that the game ca n't be
saved.
I n some cases, you may m iscalculate and
regret that you didn't stay and wait for You must constantly look for the right
you r opponent to develop the game. But in moment to force the hand of your
the m ajority of the cases you'll save a draw destiny.
while you may have lost playing in a
passive way. Not only because your posi
tion is worse, but also because playing pas
sive is m uch more difficult for you than for
your opponent who can play on and on for
very long without worrying about any
thing. Be practical !
IN THE LIMELIGHT
General conclusion
I n a chess game you have to be a ble to:

• maintain your position's assets as long
as you need them: not less (would be
like failing), not more (would mean that
you don't concentrate on the right
things);
• think from your o pponent's point of
view constantly (the more you'll put a
spoke in your opponent's wheel, the
easier your plan will be im plemented).
Please try to solve the following exercises
I n a n endgame you have to be able to: accord ing to the following topics which we
• take concrete am bitious decisions have just studied:
{when you are better) at the right mo
ment: not too early (you can first im
prove your position statica l ly), not too • positional transformations;
late (at one point your o pponent's set • prophylactic decisions;
up will become tougher to break); • endgames concrete decisions;
• take rational dynamic defending deci • endgames tra nspositions;
sions {when you are worse) as early as • concrete active decisions.
138
Exerc i ses Chapter 3
Black to move. Time: 3-6 minutes. Black to move. Hint: prophylaxis is the to
pic. Time : 8-16 mi nutes.
EXERC ISE 3 EXERCISE 4
Black to move. The automatic move here is Black to move. Find the best way to play
10 . . . _i c4. Ca n you find another idea and and assess the position. Time: 20-40 minu
assess it? Time: 7-14 minutes. tes.
139
White to move. The wmnmg plan is to In the next session of moves, please find
bring knight to d4. One winning plan is to two different winning moves for White (at
go 44. l2Jc5+ �d6 45. b4 fol lowed by 46. two different moments). Afterwards find a
l2Jb3. But I continued the game with 44. drawing move for Black earlier. You can
ltJel Ae5 45. c3 and my oppo nent tried move the pieces on your chess board. Ti
his only chance 45 . . . b4. Can you assess this me: u n l i m ited.
final position? Do not move the pieces
from the initial position. Time: 20-40 m i n u 46. g5 �c4 47. g6 l! bl 48. g7 l:i gl 49.
tes. � h5 �xb4 50. h4 � a3 51. � h6 b4 52.
� h7 b3 53. It b7 11 hl 54. �g6 b2 55. h5
� gl+ 56. �f7 �a2 57. h6 bl=� 58.
EXERCISE 7 ll xbl �xbl 59. h7 ll xg7+ 60. �xg7 a3
61. h8=� Yz-Yz
Black to move. Can you find the best move

and access the position? Time for the first
question : 12-24 minutes.
140
Exerc ises Chapter 3
EXERC ISE 8 EXE RCISE 9
White to move. If White goes 35.'�xd1, Black to move. Would you take o n g4 or
would you play 35 ... �b2 in order to ex would you play .. .f5 in order to put an
change queens? Access this pawn ending. eternal pressure? Hint: Try to find the best
Do not move the pieces from the initial po white resources as possible. Time: 20-40
sition. Time: 30-60 m i nutes. minutes.
EXERC ISE 1 0 EXERCI S E 1 1
Black to move. What is the best continua White to move. Can you find the best con
tion? Time: 12-24 m inutes. tinuation and assess it? Time: 15-30 minu
tes.
141
A fe\N key tips to i111prove
your results
board and playing the game. lt is indeed

important to be ready to fight from the be
4
ginning till the end and never to await the
end of the game passively.
Finally, there is a minimum of technical
knowledge needed, especia lly in endgames
with very little material. There a re basic
§4.llntroduction key positions to learn as, once again, you
cannot reinvent everything over the board,
Building your chess is like building a pyra and you also need to have automatisms.
m i d : a strong basis is the most important
in order to support a l l the rest. You need This chapter will consist of a list of tips.
to a rrive to every chess game with good There will be no general conclusion, but all
basic understanding, regarding openi ngs, these advices will be recapitulated or at
general ambition, and a minimal technical least summarized in the general conclusion
knowledge. You can be a super good pla of the book.
yer intrinsical ly: if you don't have these ba
sics, which all depend on your preliminary
work, you cannot have good results.
The first part of this chapter will be dedi

cated to opening approach. lt is indeed ve
ry im portant that you can start a game
with a position you like, that suits you, and
that you prepared decently. You ca nnot
reinvent everything over the board.
I n the second part we will discuss the ge

neral attitude to a dopt going to the chess
142
A few key tips to improve your results
§4.2 Opening matters 6. 0-0 �e6 7. i,xe6 fxe6 8. �b3 � d7 9.

�xb7 11 b8 10. 'i!r'a6tLlf6 11. ltJbd2 �d6
In this subchapter we're going to discuss 12. b3 0-0 13 . .i,b2 eS
opening matters: how to choose them,
how to work on them. A well known theoretical position.
IN THE LIMELIGHT
Advice number 1
You have to choose your openings accor

ding to your own feelings, not because
someone told/showed you something.
When you adopt an opening and realize af-
ter some games that the position doesn't Position after: 13 ... es
fit you, you have to ban this opening from
your repertoire. At least temporarily, never 14. l:i fcl !
mind i f you believe it i s objectively good.
Three times I insisted playing this position
which is unclea r but due to the positional
weaknesses requires very precise play. The
£:, Dreev, Aleksey (2703) first time I blundered going 14 ... l2Je7 and
' Edouard, Romain (2602) became worse im mediately. Afterwards I
[] 201 1.06.01 improved the game with 14 . . . 11 b6. I lost
• FRA Top 12, round 7 twice to Aleksey Dreev which by itself is far
� Mulhouse FRA from a shame. However I lost twice more
or less in the same way. 14. l:t acl?! lLl b4
15. �c4+ �f7+
Let's start with one example to demonstra
te I definitely insisted too much on playing 14 ... g b6
a specific line.
14 ... l2Je7 15 . .i,xd4 ! exd4 16. e5 J,. xe5 17.
1. d4 dS 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 eS 4. lbf3 exd4 5. l2Jxe5 'it'fS 18. l2Jdf3 l2Jfd5 19. �d3± 1-0
.i.xc4 lbc6 (37) Werle,J (2591)-Edouard,R (2508) Liver
pool ENG 2008
One of the most famous lines in the
Queens Gambit Accepted. 15. �e2 � h8
143
more I was unable to understand it and got

overplayed .
18 ... h6? !
Too slow.
19. lt::\d 3 lL\ b4 20. lt::\f2 @bS 21. a3 lL\c6

22. b4 � fS 23. lL\d3±
Position after: 15 . . � h8
.
I have lost that game in 48 moves. Yes, the
line is probably objectively decent, but
16. lL\c4 sometimes a player likes a line but the
line doesn'tlike the player!
I n the first game Dreev played 16.lL\e1 1-0
which makes very little difference with
16.lL\c4 that he played the game thereaf
ter (couple of months later). However as I
was completely unable to judge the com
plications I went for a too optimistic sacri
fice and lost the game: 16. lL\e1 � b4? 17.
lL\c4 � xe1 18. lL\xb6 �xf2+ 19. �xf2
cxb6 20. 'fj'fS �d6 2 1 . �a3 ! �xa3 22.
]ixc6± 1-0 (44) Dreev,A (2697) -Edoua rd, R
(2600) Aix-les-Bains FRA 2011
16 . .. 11 bbS 17. lL\e1 lUeS
The main idea of the position is to go IN THE LIMELIGHT

... lL\ b4 as soon as White plays lL\d3. With
these knights being exchanged, Black is
more or less fine (with ... aS, ... a4 to come
while the rest of the position is solid). This
time my opponent deviated a little bit, When you play tricky openings it is not
creating a free square for his knight on f2. enough to try to understand what's going
on: you have to learn some of the lines/key
18. f3 !? moves by heart. Opening work is a mix of
research, understanding, but also learning:
Here it was necessary to react quickly. For you cannot afford missing one of these
example going ... lL\hS or . . . g e6. Once steps.
144
j Laznicka, Viktor (2702)

IJ 2012.03.27
• European l n d eh m, round 7
� Plovdiv BUL
1. d4 dS 2. c4 dxc4 3. ltjf3 ltjf6 4. e3 e6 5.

�xc4 a6 6. 0-0 cS 7. � b3 Position after: 15. dS
Probably the other main line of the Queens 15 ... b4?? (15 ... �xd5 has to be played,
Gambit Accepted in reference to the one but I was unable to remember it in this
we have seen before (3.e4). ra pid game.) 16. d6 fgxd6 17. ltje4+- 1-0
(33) Bacrot,E (2704)-Edouard, R (2616) Le
7 ... ltjc6 8. ltjc3 cxd4 9. exd4 �e7 10. Port-Ma rly FRA 2012
�gS 0-0 11. �d2 ltja5 12. �c2 bS
13 ... � b7 14. dS
Position after: 12 . . . bS
Position after: 14. dS
Again a very critical and complicated posi-
tion . This time I couldn't remember my first ga
me exactly, only remembered that I forgot
13. 11 ad1 to take on d5 with my bishop.
First in a rapid game I lost the following 14... � xdS?

way: 13. fgf4 � b7 14. fgh4 g6 15. d5
In this move order 14 ... exd 5 ! had to be
played. Obviously I had everything in my
files, carefully checked, but I didn't learn
(see analysis diagram) the basic things "by heart" a n d got con-
145
fused over the board due to the com plexi [!, Edouard, Romain (2600)
ty of the position and my hasty learning. .t. Roser, Kevin (2423)
Il 2011.03.31
15. ltjxd5 exd5 16. 11 fe1 ltjc6 17. �f4 • European Individual Chess Ch round 9
ltjh5 18. '@'h4 �xg5 19. �xh5 h6 20. h4 � Aix-les-Bains FRA
Ae7 21. � xd5 �b6 22. �f5 g6 23. �f4
I! adS 24. I! h5 1-0
1. e4 c5 2. lt::lf3 ltjc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. lt::lxd4
e6 5. ltjc3 'fjc7 6. A e3 a6 7. �d2 ltjf6 8.
0-0-0 �b4 9. f3 ltje5 10. ltjb3 b5 11. �bl
ltjc4 12. �xc4 bxc4 13. ltjcl l! bS
Position after: 13 .. I! b8
.
In this very theoretical position, I remem

bered that I had to do two things: to go
� f4-�gS at some point with the idea to
take on f6 in order to play positional with
the help of the dS-square, a n d to go ltjce2
at some moment in order to be solid and
IN THE LIMELIGHT to somehow link my knights. But during
the game I did not realize that the move
Advice number 3 order is q uite important.
14. ltJ1e2
When you learn some theory you must try
to understand the how and the why of all 14. � f4 ! first had to be played but over
the moves orders. Otherwise you will con the board I got confused because I thought
fuse you rself many times, or will not know I should first stop 14 ... Axc3 which actual
how to punish a worse move order. ly does not work because of 15. �xc7
146
�xb2+ 16. �a1 � xc2+ 17. �xc3 � xc3 [}, Xiu, Deshun (2508)
18. � b2± ' Edouard, Remain {2634)
Il 2011.02.08
14 ... 0-0 15. i.f4 e5 16. i.g5 • Aeroflot Open A, round 1
� Moscow RUS
1. ltjf3 c5 2. c4 ltjc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. ltjxd4

ltjf6 5. ltjc3 e6 6. a3 i.e7 7. e4 0-0 8. ltjf3
"¥/jc7 9. i.e2 b6 10. i.g5?!
Position after: 16 . .,igS
And now Black had time to castle before I

go i.g5 and this is a big difference.
16... ltjeS !
Position after: 10. £g5 ? !
All o f a sudden Black is o n time t o remove
the knight from f6 and Black is doing more Everybody goes 10. 0-0 i.b7 11. i.g5 -
than fine. This is why to learn theory an guess why?
appropriate way it is necessary to look at
the position with your own eyes a n d un 10 . .. � b7?!
derstand what goes on. The game was a
draw in 73 moves. lt is important to understand why people
Yz-Yz play one move order and not a nother: 10. . .
h 6 ! 11. i.h4 ltJxe4 !
(see analysis diagram, next page)
12. i.xe7 (12. ltjxe4 A xh4 13. ltjxh4

'l'f4+l 12... ltJxc3 13. 'i'd6 'ifxd6 14.
Axd6 ltJxe2 15. Axf8 ltjf4+
11. 0-0
147
Tkachiev, Vladislav (2650)

/:},
[) 2009.08.20
• FRA-N ational A, round 10
� Nimes FRA
1. d4 dS 2. lt:Jf3 lt:Jf6 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 e6 5.

Position after: 11. . . l[Jxe4 ! A xc4 cS 6. �e2
Reaching the normal position. Another line of the Queens Gam bit Ac
cepted.
11... lt:JeS 12. Ji h4 d6 13. lt:JxeS dxeS 14.
�c2 ll acS 6 ... a6 7. dxcS AxeS 8. 0-0 lt:Jc6 9. e4 bS
10. Ji b3 lt:Jd4 11. lt:Jxd4 �xd4 12. Ji e3
The position is about equal. Anyway, after
a few blunders, I have lost the game in 29
moves.
1-0
IN THE LIMELIGHT Position after: 12. A e3
Advice number 4 12 ... �xe4? 13. lt:Jd2 �fS 14. g4! '@'eS 15.
lt:Jf3 �e4 16. lt:JgS
When you work on some opening (never (see Diagram, next page)
mind if you work with ChessBase or a
book), you m ust leave the computer some 16 .•• �c6? !
time to think in critical positions but above
all else you must a lways and systematically For openings general culture let's mentio r
look at the games that have already been that 16 . . . �e5 ! ? is anyway better fo·
played. In other words, before trying to White due to: 17. �f3 Axe3 18. �xa8 0-(
find your own ideas make sure you know 19. lt:Jxf7 �f4 ( 19 ... �xf7 20. fxe3 �xe3-
what other people a l ready know ! 2 1 . 11 f2 �g8 22. �f3+- 1-0 (28) Bl.
148
However it would have been useful to ha

ve a look at the database and experience
that this move had already been played in
a famous game Timman-Lautier (1997) .
2 0... fxe6 2 1 . A xe6 wts 22. 11 fd1 'ii'e7

23. g5
Nowadays engines show that 23. �b6! is

Position after: 16. lUgS even more winning: 23 . . . 11 e8 (23 . . . Axf3
24. 1l e1 !+-) 24. 11 d6 ! lt:)d5 25. A xd5
Xiangzhi, (2644) - Mainka, R (2492) Bad �xd5 26. ll xd5 h5o 27. g5+-
Woerishofen 2007) 20. fxe3 'ifxe3+ 21.
'ithl 'ifb6 22. lt:)d6 'ilfxd6 23. 'ifg2;!; 1-0 23 ... 11 e8 24. gxf6 'fixe6?
(44) Bu Xia ngzhi,- (2656)-Zhou,J (2572)
Shandong CH N 2007 ( o 23. 11 ac1±) 24 . . . gxf6 25. 'fih6+? ! (o 25. li.el lt g8+
26. W fl 11 g5 27. 'ti'b6 11 eS 28. 11 xeS
17. ll acl j_ b7 18. f3 i(.xe3+ 19. \j'xe3 fxeS 29. j_g4 �g5 30. 1! d l ± j_a8 31.
'l'd6 ll d7 �g6 32. �xg6 hxg6 33. !! a7±) 25 . . .
�g7+ 26. �xg7+ w xg7 2 7 . ll c7 + w hG
28. l! d6 � c8 29. � xc8 l:[ xc8 30. ll xf6+;!;
1/2-1/2 (60) Timman,J (2630)-Lautier,J
(2630) ESP 1997
25. �xe6? (25. �a3+ wg8 26. fxg7 w xg7

27. l! c7++-) 25 ... l! xe6 26. ll c7 gxf6 27.
l! xb7±
Position after: 19 . �d6

. .
I had prepared all this stuff before the

game with my computer which at that ti
me was a bsolutely terrible, and didn't find
the next White's move though recent engi
nes show it in one second.
20. lt:)xe6! Position after: 27. 1I xb7
149
After a tough defense I failed to save the 13 . . . lt:Jxe2+ 14. lt:Jxe2 �xe2 15. Axf6
game (part of it will be used as a n exercise �g4 ( 15 . . . 0-0? 16. A xg7! �xg7 17. �g5+
in the second chapter) and lost in 66 � h8 18. �f6+ � g8 19. � hel+-) 16.
moves. �xg4 Axg4 17. l:I,d4 ( 17. A xg7 I:lg8 18.
1-0 � he1+ A e6 19. A e5 l:I,xg2 20. Ag3;±;)
17 . . . Ae6 18. Axg7 l! g8 19. Af6 l:tg6 20.
A h4 l:I,xg2 2 1 . 1! hdli
� Solodovnichenko, Yuri (2574)
I. Edouard, Romain (2602) 14. Ad3 h6 15. Axf6 �xf6 16. �xf6 gxf6
[] 2011.05.26 17. lt:Je4;!;
• FRA Top 12, round 1
� Mulhouse FRA I have lost that endgame in 57 moves.
1-0
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. lt:Jc3 A b4 4. lt:Jge2
dxe4 5. a3 Axc3+ 6. lt:Jxc3 lt:Jc6 7. d5 IN THE LIMELIGHT
exd5 8. �xd5 A e6 9. �xe4 lt:Jf6 10. �h4
�d4 11. Ag5 �e5+? ! 12. A e2 lt:Jd4 Advice number 5
When, over the board, you can't remem

ber some analysis that you have done (or
that you think you have done) play accord
ing to the position and do not try to re
member it if it's clear that you cannot:
most of the time you would convince
yourself that some move must be the right
one, and mix everything up.
Position after: 12 . . . ltJd4 !'!:, Kuzubov, Yuriy (2619)

Again a line that I prepared with a poor [] 2013.04 . 14
laptop (in the train on the way to my • Dubai-15th Open, round 8
game) and a bad engine. However a look at � UAE
the database would have shown me that
the line was bad for Black because of my
opponent's next move that had a l ready 1. e4 c5 2. lt:Jf3 d6 3. c3 lt:Jf6 4. h3 g6 5.
been played. A d3 Ag7 6. 0-0 0-0 7. A c2 e5 8. d4 cxd4
9. cxd4 lt:Jc6!?
13. 0-0-0! 0-0-0
150
9 ... exd4 10. tt:Jxd4 lt:Jc6 is known to be 15. �xe4

fine for Black but instead I tried to set so-
me trick that I knew, a nd it did work. 15. ltJe1 ? ! lt:Jxc1 16. �xc1 aS!? 17. ltjc3
'lib6+ 18. � h 1 a4 19. ltJxa4 � xa4 20.
10. d5 ltJb4 11. A b3?! Axa4 �a6+
15 ... lt:Jxc1 16. � xc1 Axb2 17. lt:Jc3 Af5

18. �e2 A xa1 19. ll xa1
Position after: 11. A b 3 ? !
o 1l. lbc3
Position after: 19. li xa1
ll ... lt:Jxe4!
I am having a super good position. Howe-
The idea that I had in mind a nd that I knew ver instead of playing normal moves I tried
for some years. to remem ber the end of my prepa ration,
being sure I prepared the position until
12. �e1 lt:Jxf2! 13. �xf2 lbd3 14. �e3 now and further. I assured myself that my
e4! queen should somehow go to f6. I n conse
quence I convinced myself to do it and not
only it was a com plete nonsense, but I a lso
noticed later that I did not have this speci
fic position in my file.
19 ... �f6?
With a normal a pproach it is clear that pla

ying sim ple moves would give me a fantas
tic position: 19 . . . � c8 20. 'lid2 � e8 2 1 .
lt:J d 4 A d 7 followed b y . . . � eS o r . . . 'f/ie7.
Position after: 14 . .. e4 ! White cannot activate his pieces because
of his pawn on dS a nd if I somehow man-
151
age to exchange q ueens my position will IN THE LIMELIGHT

be much better, not to say winning (just
pushing the 'a' and 'b' pawns). Advice number 6
20. �d2 !! ac8

When you analyse a line with the help of
20 . . . �xh3 2 1 . !! f1 is very dangerous for the computer, you investigate/discover
Black. th ree kinds of moves: the ones people
should know, the computer's ones and
21. ltjd4 � d7? that players should find over the board,
the ones computer finds but that a player
o 2 1 . . . !! fe8 22. !! f1 !! eSoo will have difficulty to find over the board.
22. ltje4 �eS 23. i!el+- If the objective conclusion of that ana lysis
is not totally satisfactory for you, but your
opponent a bsolutely needs to find moves
of the third category, you should consider
your work a success. This is the main prin
ciple of a high level preparation, as chess
moves and ideas will not be refuted com
pletely and automatically.
Note:
Position after: 23. 11 el To illustrate this advice I will use a famous
game Topalov-Kramnik, played less than 2
Within three moves only my position came years after their match in Elista.
from better to totally lost. I had forgotten
that ltJf3 comes next. I lost that game in Topalov, Veselin
!::, (2780)
37 moves. ' Kramnik, Vladimir (2799)
1-0 Il 2008.01.22
• Corus A, round 9
� Wijk aan Zee N E D
1. d4 d S 2. c4 c 6 3 . ltjf3 ltjf6 4 . ltjc3 e 6 5.

�gS h6 6. � h4 dxc4 7. e4 gS 8. �g3 bS 9.
�e2 � b7 10. 0-0 ltjbd7 11. ltjeS �g7
152
knew about it but guessed correctly that

Kramnik would not be able to find it.
17 ... 'it'xd4?
Of course later the right way to play was

shown, at least for the next four moves:
17 ... I[hg8 18. 1Iad 1 (18. �gG l!Jc7�)
18 . . . cS 19. �gG ljjc7 20. l!Jxb7 cxd4 2 1 .
�e4 d 3 ? (21... l!JdS 2 2 . l!JdG d3oo) 22.
Position after: 11... it_g7 ![xd3? (22. b3 !i) 22 ... cxd3 23. �b4+ liJcS
24. liJxcS aS 25. �a3 li d8!:+ 0-1 (28)
In that well-known position of the Moscow Bromberger,S (2510)-Sandipan,C (2585)
opening Topalov decided to go for a new SUI 2009
idea : a piece sacrifice. The engine manages
to solve Black's problems here but the 18. �g6 �xg4 19. �xg7+ <;t>dS 20.
question was if Kramnik would be a ble to l!Jxb7+ �cS 21. a4!
find these moves over the board as it was
clear he would not know about 12.l!Jxf7.
12. l!Jxf7 !? <;t>xf7 13. eS l!JdS 14. l!Je4

<;t>e7 15. l!Jd6 �b6 16. �g4 lhfS 17.
�c2
Position after: 21. a4!
White is now much better and Topalov

won the game in a nother 24 moves.
1-0
Position after: 17. 'fkc2
All the moves until now were more or less

norm a l . Now Kramnik had to find . . . 11 hg8
with the idea ... l!Jc7 as the only way to
solve Black's problems. Probably Topalov
153
§4.3 Fighting attitude IN THE LIMELIGHT
I n this subchapter we're going to discuss Advice number 2

the im portance of a fighting/am bitious at
titude. In other words: in what situations
you should play the games as long as you Playing against a weaker opponent you
can, and what a pproach you should adopt should play on dead drawn positions as
for each of them. long as you can, even if you feel like a bso
lutely nothing can make you win the game.
Even after a playing a whole good game
players often see 'ghosts' while being psy
IN THE LIMELIGHT chologically pressured by a stronger oppo
nent. You should try to create fake threats
Advice number 1 either to get your opponent low on time,
or to provoke mistakes.
You m ust force yoursel f never to accept £:, Reymann, Ced ric (2236)
draws in better positions, whoever the op .& Edouard, Romain (2509)
ponent is, unless the situation is very spe Il 2008.05.10
cial (e.g. you need a draw to win a tour • Kaupthing Open, round 1
na ment, to make a norm ... ) . lt also means � Differdange LUX
that in such situations you should never try
to convince yourself that 'the position is
not so simple' in order to give you a good
excuse to agree a draw.
Note:
There are thousands of exa mples (and also
many in my games) like this, but showing
them would not be instructive since the
draw acceptances put an end to the ga
mes.
We a l ready met the beginning of this game
in the second chapter. After my opponent
missed many very clear wins I reached this
position where I had big chances to hold
the game.
154
35. l2Jc5? 40 ... hS 41. ll xgS �xe4+ 42. Wgl fol

lowed by h4 would be similar to the same.
Trying to secure a draw although White Of course 42 ... h4 is met by 43. ll hS+=
still definitely had winning chances. lt was
necessary for my opponent to keep on pla 41. h3 h5 42. ll xg5? !
ying objectively even if it was clear my po
sition had improved a lot compared to 42. t2Jc3 is more precise 42... �d3 43.
before. ll xgS �xc3 44. li xhS+=
35. t2Jd2 ! �d3 36. ll c8+ W h 7 37. ltJ bc4
�dS+ 38. f3 is still very bad for Black, 42... �xe4+ 43. Wgl �el+ 44. Wg2
though the position is not so simple. �e4+ 45. Wgl �f3 46. h4
35 ... b3 36. t2Jba4 b2 37. ttJxb2 �xb2 46. g4 ! ? hxg4 (46 . . . h4 47. ii hS+=) 47.
g, xg4 �xh3 48. 1:, g3 is a theoretical draw.
46 ... w h7 47. wt1 �hl+ 48. we2 w h6
Position after: 37 . �xb2

..
Of course the position is a dead d raw. But I

decided to take advantage of the psycho- Position after: 48 . <;t>h6
. .
logical edge I had due to the way the game

went. The only way I can hope to win this total ly
drawn position is to "stalemate" the white
38. : f4 king in order to force my opponent either
to push his f-pawn or to move his rook. My
Not the most flexible option. ki ng should first manage to move from the
'h' file after what it should cross the fifth
38... �c2 39. t2Je4 g5 40. ll g4? ! rank.
40. : f8+ r/!;;g 7 41. : e8= 49. f4?!
40... �e2
155
Not necessa ry. Now I am getting practical 54... �g7 ss. ll g5+ �f6 56. �g4 'it'e2+
chances. 49. �e3 !? 57. �f4 �c4+ 58. �f3 �d4 59. li,g4
�dl+ 60. �f4 'f;'fl+ 61. �e3 'it'g2 62 .
49... 'it'gl 50. �f3 'it'el 51. f5 �gl 52. .li g5 'f;'fl 63. ll g4 'it'g2 64. 11 g5
ll g6+ � h7 53. !i g5 �el
The position is still di fficult to break.
64... �c2
64 . . . �eS 65. f6+! should still be a very

easy draw for White, sticking my king on
the sixth rank.
65. �f4 'f;'c7+ 66. �g4 �e5 67. � h5

Position after: 53 ... 'itel
67. f6+ � e4 was my i ntention. The situa
I somehow managed to unblock the situa tion did not change com pa red to the
tion, but the position is still a d raw, as I ac begi nning of that endgame: the only way
tua lly have a very little edge regarding to get winning chances is to manage to
material. pass my king on the other side of the
board.
54. Itxh5+
54. � f4 �e2 55. f6 should be a rather

easy draw.
Position after: 73 ... Wh3
67 ... �f7+ 68. �h6 �f6+ 69. � h5
69. � h 7 ! was the normal move. The

Position after: 64. It gS position is a draw.
156
IN THE LIMELIGHT
69 ... �e4 70. ll g4+ �f3 71. lt g5 �g2
72. �g4 �c6 73. � h5 �h3 Advice number 3

You should pla y on any equal position
Trying to provoke White, again. where your opponent, whoever he is,
should play couple of more moves to settle
74. g4?? a dead draw, even if they a re not difficult
to find.
Phew, it did work !
74. 11 g6 '@'f3+ 75. � h6 �xf5 76. h5=
[3, Mastrovasilis, Athanasios (2537)
74 ... �f6 ' Edouard, Romain (2587)
Il 2011.07.04
• GRE-39th TCh, rou nd 2
� Eretria GRE
1. lt:Jf3 lt:Jf6 2. c4 g6 3. lt:Jc3 J1.g7 4. e4 d6

5. d4 0-0 6. _te3 e5 7. dxe5 dxe5 8. �xd8
11 xd8 9. lt:\d5 lt:\a6 10. 11 d1 11 e8 11.
lt:\xf6+ .,txf6 12. a3 b6 13 . .,td3 .,tg4 14.
.,tc2 1! ed8 15. 0-0 lt:\c5 16. _txc5 bxc5
17. lt xd8+ ll xd8 18. !I.d1 .,txf3 19.
Position after: 74 . . . �f6 Et xd8+ .,txd8 20. gxf3 Ag5
All of a sudden I am collecting the three re

maining pawns.
75. l! g8 �xh4+ 76. �g6 �xg4+ 77. �f7

�xf5+ 78. �e7 � h4 79. 11 g7 �e5+ 80.
�f7 � h5 81. 11 g8 '@'d5+ 82. �g7 �g5
83. � h7+ �f6 84. lig6+ �f7 85. 11 g7+
�f8 86. 11 g6 �h5+ 0-1
Position after: 20 . .. AgS
157
The position appears l i ke such a dead d raw

that nothing can be done.
21. ,.ia4?1
"Activating" the bishop, but this was not

necessary in such a simple position where
White should just " hold". Of cou rse, the
position is so draw that White would need
to make an amazing number of mistakes to
lose. But while analysing we have a globa l Position after: 31... a6
view of the position/game. Over the board
mistakes come one by one so, theoretically 32. Ae8?!
speaking, they may a l l happen. That's why
it is always necessary to play on these kind Only now I started to believe I could actu
of positions. ally win the game. The funny thing is that
2 1 . b3 is a dead draw. Even if I somehow this move is a big technical mistake, . . . but
force a4 and bring my king on b4, White is the first move of the engine ! This shows
will put his king to d3 a nd forget about the how much a " human touch" is im portant
useless f2-pawn. There is nothing to be to assess endings. White should forget a
done. bout the f2-pawn as he did in the game,
but should be ready to go _tc8 when Black
21 ... J.,c1 22. Ac6? 1 goes ... �aS, in order to simplify the posi
tion: 32. �d3 Jt.xf2 33. �e2 A d4 34.
22. b3 was more logical: White should �d3 � aS 35. Ac8! and the position is a
dispatch his pawns as less as possible. dead draw: it will end up very similar to
the game, but without 'a' pawns for both,
22 ... �xb2 23. a4 �f8 which makes a massive di fference.
Now my king should start his route to the

other side of the board. I believe that from
now this ending is particularly instructive,
a nd this is why we will have a deep look
into it.
24. �g2 �e7 25. �fl � d4 26. �e2 f6

27. h3 �d6 28. A e8 c6 29. �fl �c7 30.
�e2 � b6 31. Ad7 a6
(see Diagram, next column) Position after: 40 . W c l

. .
158
32 ... �as 33. Axc6 � b4 34. �d3 Axf2 only q uestion is if Black has a winning plan.
35. A b7 aS 36. j(_c6 � b3 37. A bS � b2 Yes, there is one.
38. �d2 Ag3 39. £d7 Af4+ 40. �d3
�cl 44. �a6 �cl 45. � bS hS 46. �a6 gS 47.
�bs h4! 48. �f2 g4!
41. �e2?
A very logical move, and the computer is

not unhappy with it. However, apart from
intentional blunders ( � fS or h4), this is
the only legal losing move !
White should j ust "stay" and prevent my
king from reaching the d4 square: 41. � e6
�d l 42. � g8 h6 43 . .\lf7 gS 44. A hS
�el 45. Jltf7 �f2 46. _thS � g3 47. � g4 Position after: 48 ... g4 !
� h4 48. �fS and Black can never make a
breakthrough. 49. hxg4
41 ... �c2 42. Ac6 �c3 43. A bS �d4 49. fxg4 �xe4 is an easy win: the white
bishop is still out of play and the e-pawn is
going to advance, e.g. 50. � e2o _tgS 51.
� c6+ � f4 52. �f2 e4 53. � bS e3+ 54.
�g2 (54. �e2 �g3-+) 54... � e4-+
49 ... Af4
Now I am going to exchange my h-pawn

against my opponent's f-pawn and either
e4, c4, or a4 will d rop, after which White
will not be well organized enough to stop
Position after: 43 . <;t>d4
. . my new passed-pawn.
Here the position still looks d rawish but 50. �a6?

White has a big problem: his bishop is
stuck around the bS square forever. lt is 50. Wg2 had to be played but after 50 . . .
not even possible to imagine at some mo � e 3 51. � c6 h 3 + 52. wxh3 w xf3
ment to put it on dS as ... �c3-b3 would
come and either c4 or a4 would fall. The (see analysis diagram, next page)
159
Now I get the same position as a fter

SO. �g2, with an extra h-pawn. This shows
that even good players can make mis
takes/see ghosts in quite simple positions.
0-1
£:::. Degraeve, Jean-Marc {2573)

Position after: 52 . . . �xf3 Il 2010.02.05
• GER-BL 1 round 7
the position is a win, e.g. 53. A b7 � e3 54. � GER
�g2 �d3 55. � dS {55. � f3 � xc4 is
similar.) 55. . . �c3 56. � f3 � b3 57. Ac6
�xc4 58. �e2 � b3 59. �d1 {59 . Ae8 c4 1. e4 cS 2. c3 dS 3. exdS �xdS 4. d4 ltjf6
60. A f7 �c3 61. Ae6 AgS 62. AdS �d4 5. ltjf3 e6 6. ltja3 cxd4 7. ltjbS ltja6 8.
63. � c6 c3-+) 59 . . . c4 60. AdS �c3 61. �xd4 �xd4 9. ltjbxd4 tt:Jc7 10. ltjbS
A c6 {61. �e6 �d3-+) 61... � b2 62. lt:JxbS 11. �xbS+ �d7 12. �xd7+ lt:Jxd7
A bS �b3 63. Aa6 c3 64. Ad3 � xa4 65. 13. Ae3 �cS 14. A xeS tt:JxcS 15. 0-0-0
�c2 � b4-+ �e7 16. lt:Je5 � hd8 17. �c2 f6
so... h3 51. A bS �c3 52. A a6 � b4 53.

A bS � b3!
Position after: 17 . . . f6
To be honest at this moment I went to my

Position after: 53 . . . � b 3 ! captain to ask him whether I could just
offer a draw. He answered me that he was
White is in a zugzwang ! not against it but that according to the
rules I should not do it before move 20.
54. �gl Ag3 ss. �hl � b4 56. �gl
�c3 57. �hl �d3 ss. Aa6 Af4 59. � bs 18. ltjd3 ltjxd3 19. 1! xd3 !I xd3 20. �xd3
� e3 lidS+ 21. �e2 eS
160
27. gxf3?
A terrible move.
27. �xf3 had to be played.
27 ... gS
This position is just lost for White. Of cour

se I have been lucky that my opponent was
tired and didn't play that endgame the way
Position after: 21. . . eS he should according to his level. Still it
shows how fast evaluation can change
I decided to play a few extra moves, not even in a very boring game. This endgame
real ly hoping the situation would change. is, as the previous one, quite instructive.
22. f3 � e6 23. !! dl 28. b3
Not necessary. I n a rook ending I could ne 28. a4 b6! changes very little.
ver real ly take advantage of my very slight
space advantage. In a pawn ending I may 28 ... bS 29. h3
do though the position is a complete draw
anyway. The pawn should rather stay on h2 but
a nyway Black is going to play .. . fS, ... hS
23 ... 11 xdl 24. �xdl e4 25. � e2 c;.tes 26. and White will be under the ... g4 threat at
�e3 exf3 some point.
Position after: 26 . exf3

. .
Position after: 30. �d3
Now it is worth playing the position a bit.
161
29... h6 31 ... <;t>dS??
29 . . . hS!? Aiming to push . . . hS but first avoiding any

f4-idea. This had a point, but it was a
30. <;t>d3 wrong reasoning: not only f4 was not wor
king anyway, but my move 3 1 . . . <;t>dS gave
(see Diagram, previous page) my opponent a change to make a draw. lt
was necessary to take a calculated decision
30 ... fS just like the ones we have studied in the
third chapter.
We investigate: . 3 1 . . . hS ! wins easily ( it is very similar to
A) 30... <;t>f4? is a draw: 31. c4! (31. <;t>e2? 4 . . . hS) and 32. f4+ fails to 32 . . . gxf4+ 33.
fS 32. <;t> f2 g4-+) 31... bxc4+ 32. bxc4 <;t>es <;t> f3 h4 34. c4 bxc4 3S. bxc4 aS! (winning a
33. cS fS (33... <;t>dS 34. c6 <;t>xc6 3S. very important tempo - chess is a concrete
<;t> e4=) 34. c6 <;t>d6 3S. <;t> d4 <;t>xc6 36. game and calculation is stronger than con
<;t> es f4 37. <;t> fS <;t>cs 38. <;t>g6 <;t>d4 39. cepts) 36. cS <;t> dS 37. <;t>xf4 <;t>xcS 38.
<;t>xh6 <;t> e3 40. <;t>xgS <;t>xf3 41. h4= <;t>xfS (38. <;t>gS <;t> d4-+) 38 . . . <;t> b4-+
B) 30 ... hS!? wins ( playing it one move
earlier would change very l ittle): 31. <;t>e3
<;t> fS 32. <;t>d3 (32. c4 bxc4 33. bxc4 <;t> e6 !
leads to the same.) 3 2. . . <;t> f4 33. c4 (33.
<;t>e2 fS!? 34. <;t> f2 aS 3S. <;t> e2 g4-+) 33 . . .
bxc4+ 34. bxc4 <;t> eS 3S. <;t> e 3 <;t> e 6 ! (avoid
f4+ ideas) 36. cS fS ! 37. <;t>d4 h4!-+ The
Black pawns a re all of a sudden untoucha
ble.
31. <;t> e3
Position after: 3 1 . . . <;t>ds??
32. f4??
M a king my task even easier than it should

have been. And now:
a) 32. h4! would simplify the position
enough to make a draw: 32 ... gxh4 (32 ...
g4?! 33. fxg4 fxg4 34. hSo <;t> es 3S. <;t> f2!
even starts to be tricky for Black.) 33. <;t> f2
<;t> es 34. <;t>g2 <;t> f4 3S. c4! and White is
Position after: 31. <;t>e3 simply on time to make a draw: 3S ... bxc4
162
36. bxc4 �es 37. � h 3 �d4 38. �xh4 IN THE LIMELIGHT

�xc4 39. �hS �d4 40. c;t>xh6 �e3 41.
c;t>gS= Advice number 4
But on the contrary:
b) 32. �d3 hS 33. �e3 �eS wins easily.
I n a unclear or equal game you should use
32 ... g4 33. hxg4 a ny kind of psychological edge you have
(e.g. i f you saved a bad position, if you play
33. h4 aS 34. �d3 g3 35. �e3 g2 36. � f2 against someone you already beat many
�e4-+ times, if your opponent is u nder a higher
pressure than you for any other reason,
33 ... fxg4 34. c;t>d3 hS 35. c4+ bxc4+ 36. etc.).
bxc4+ �d6 37. �e3 h4 A psychological edge increases a lot your
chances to get a better result than the
position deserves, and decreases your risk
of losing if you go a bit wrong. I f you have
one you should show no mercy: this is part
of the game.
� Naiditsch, Arkadij (2698)

Il 2012.06.06
• FRA TCh Top 12, round 7.2
� Belfort FRA
Position after: 37 ... h4
0-1
Let's be fair and show a similar example as

the two previous ones, with reversed
situations. Though I had been total ly out-
163
played by my opponent for the majority of 55 ... a4 56. 11 e3 11 c4 57. 11 f3 1I cd4 58.
the game, a few blunders made me 'come !! b8 !! 4d5 59. l1 bf8 11 d3 60. h5!
back', and I recieved a draw offer in that
total ly equal position. However, the match,
that was an important one in the French
league, was not going so well for us and I
decided to play on. Just a minute later, a
big surprise happened in the match and
my potencial draw became a quite good
result for my team. My opponent logical ly
used it to put pressure on me, although
the position was a dead d raw.
42... 11 xe6 43. 11 f4 aS 44. �f2 �c6 45. Position after: 60. hS!
11 b3 l! ed6 46. �e3 li eS 47. ll f8 � b6
48. l:tb8+ �c6 49. � h8 l:teS+ SO. �f4 Taking a well calculated decision at the
11 fS+ 51. � g3 l:tcS 52. lic8+ � b6 53. right moment as my time on the clock was
11 f8 �c6 54. It. e8 getting low.
60 ... gxh5
For example 60.. . l:t6d5 would make a

d raw at once: 61. l:txd3 l:txd3+ 62. �f4
�e7! 63. 1:[ b8 gxhS=
61. � h4 ll xf3
6 1 . . . ll dl ! ? is also a dead d raw.
Position after: 54. g e8 62. 11 xf3 b4! 63. axb4 �c6 64. lit f5
lit d4+?!
Just playing on and on. My first slight blun
der happened. 64 . . . l:tdS which was my first idea would
be a draw: 65. l:tf8 l:t d4+ !? 66. �xhS
54 ... �d7? ! 55. l:taS ! ll xb4 67. g6 I! b7 68. l:l f5 a3=
lt is not good news that my opponent can 65. �xhS

force me to put my aS-pawn and a4,
though the position of course remains a to
tal d raw. (see Diagram, next page)
164
IN THE LIMELIGHT
Advice number 5
The only situation where you should not

necessarily think of playing the best move
is when your position is totally and a bso
l utely lost. In such case you must try to
find a line where you give your opponent
Position after: 65. �xhS
at least one chance to go wrong (a 'last
trick') and go for it at any price. You should
65 •.. laxb4?? resign only once there is no possible trick
left (find the right limit between competi
Panicking. tion/challenge and disrespect).
a) 65 ... Itdl 66. ItcS+ <;itb6 would be an
easy draw: 67. ItaS !I hl + 68. <;itg4 g al Olzewski, M ichal (2399)
!'!,
69. g6 a3= Edouard, Romain (2334)
...
b) Less easy but a lso working would be:
il 200S.
65... a3 66. � aS 11 d3 67. g6 11 g3 68. World Youth Bel fort, round 11
•
<;i(h6 Ith3+ 69. <;itg7 11 f3 70. <;i(g8 <;i(b6=
� FRA
66. g6 It bl 67. g7
Position after: 67. g7

As this game is not appearing in the data
base, I had to push my memory in order to
Anything becomes possible if you are able recover the position I had. As this is the
to pressure your opponent psychologically! l uckiest draw I have ever made I could re
In that endgame my opponent did every- member it. My position was totally lost
thing perfect to beat me at the end. 1-0 and instead of just resigning I decided to
165
go for a last trick, though chances that it lt did work! Many other moves ( � g2,
would work were scarcely above 0,1%. �d8, 1lfd6, ll c4+) would j ust give mate
within a few moves.
1. _ixg7 liitxg7 2. l'l. c7+ liith 6 3. �fS+
6 ... liitf3 !
3 . h4 mates at once.
3 ... �gS 4. f4+ �g4 5. fxeS d2
The position is a d raw.
7. h4 �xg3 8. liitfl liitf3 Yz-Yz
§4.4 Basic endgames knowledge
While it is important to work regularly on

all parts of the chess game (studying top
level/historical games for strategy, having
regular trainings solving tactical exercises,
reading books or a rticles on general endga
Position after: 5 ... d2 mes), there is one more thing that simply
has to be learnt: the basic endgames
My opponent had a lot of time and I had knowledge.
almost no time left. However as we men
tioned in the second chapter that it should Basic endgames knowledge comprises:
not be done, he played his last moves and • a l l the positions with very little material
next move 'a tempo'. that a re known to lead to a precise re
sult (e.g. king a nd pawn against king,
6. l'l.d7?? king and queen against king and 7th
ranked pawn, position of Lucena in rook
endgames, how to mate with knight
and bishop, and many, many others);
• a l l the basic general principles of end
games (e.g. in rook and opposite squa
red bishop endings activity is the most
importa nt, while in pawn and knight
endings the materia l is the most im por
tant, etc.).
There is quite a lot of theory a bout this

Position after: 6 . . �f3 !
.
and you usually get these positions in your
166
games when you're tired (or have little ti £!, Edouard, Romain (2509)
me left). lt makes the importance of just .t. Collas, Didier (2446)
'knowi ng' things more prominent, as it [!] 2008.05.29
gives you better reflexes and fewer things • FRA-TOP 16, round 8
to 'find' over the board. � FRA
There is a minimum you should know de

pending on your chess level. The more you
improve the more you should learn. White
a player rated 1600 should for example
know a bout basic positions with K+p vs K, a
player rated 2000 should defi nitely know
how to mate with knight and bishop, etc ...
However the earliest you learn more the
better!
All this can be fou nd in several endgames

books (e.g. Endgames Chess Manual of
Dvoretsky) and is very important to know SO. g4!
not only to finish your games but also to
foresee in what kind of theoretical endings A concrete positional transformation!
you should transpose or not transpose,
especially if you have to take a fast deci 50... exf4 51. gxfS 11 h6 52. lit 1d3 �d7
sion. 53. cS j_f8 54. A cl 11 h4 SS. A d2 �c7
56. �aS+ �d7 57. _ic3 f3 58. �g3 f2 59.
All this will be illustrated by three of my �xf2 lle4 60. A eS �c7 61. cxd6+ �d7
games, followed by three exercises. Please 62. �f3 l! h4 63. �g3 1l b4 64. j_ f4 hS
note that these positions have been cho 65. h4 11 c2 66. f6 11 b2 67. 1l xhS l1 2xb3
sen in that book because they come from
my games or from recent games I know
which gives them a ' practica l ' touch. How
ever let's repeat once again that there a re
thousands of these theoretical schemes,
from basic ones to the most com plicated.
Position after: 70 . . . Wf7
167
68. laxb3 ,lixb3+ 69. �g4 � e6 70. li,h8 78. A h6?

rJ;;f7
78. h5 � xd7 79. � h7+ �e8 80. � xd7
(see Diagram, previous page) � xd7 81. h6+-
From now until move 78 included, I have 78 ... Axh6 79. d8=@ laxd8 80. laxd8
missed the very same winning idea several
times.
71. �f5?!
71. d7 � d3 72. �f5 ,lii xd7 73. lah7+ �e8

74. � xd7 � xd7 75. h5+-
71.. � b5+ 72. �e4 � b4+ 73. �e3 � b3+

.
74. �e2 � b4 75. �f3?!
75. d7 l1 d4 76. hS � xd7 77. lah7+ �e6 Position after: 80. 11 xd8
78. laxd7 �xd7 79. h6+-
And now I started to wonder how to win
75 ... � b3+?! this position if my opponent just takes on
f6 and stays with his king on g7 and his
75 ... � d4 76. � xf8+ ! (76. A eS � d l 77. bishop on the c1-h6 diagonal. Most of the
hS Axd6 78. ladS+-) 76 ... �xf8 77. hS players know that there are tricky posi
�f7 78. AeS+- tions if Black has a light-squared bishop
(versus rook + h-pawn), but many people
76. �e2 � b4 77. d7 � d4 don't know about this precise one.
80... Af4
Fortunately for me, my opponent consid

ered the position easily winning for White
after . . . � xf6 and made my task much
easier by not taking it.
80... �xf6 81. lad6+ �g7 would be a

much tougher defense, though theoretica l
l y lost - see next game.
Position after: 77 ... li d4
168
81. �f3 A eS 82. �g4 �xf6 83. lieS aS

84. llc6+ �g7 85. �gS a4 86. ,ie6 .i,b2
87. lle7+ �f8 88. l:[ a7 a3 89. �g6
1-0
£!:,Edouard, Remain (2531)

.. Zude, Arno (2451)
1!1 2008.11.05
• Bad Wiessee-12th OIBM, round 5
� GER Position after: 63 . . i_el
.
64. hS! .i,dZ 65. llg6+ � h7 66. h6!
less than 6 months later I got this position Position after: 66. h6 !
in a game. While if I hadn't studied the pre
vious position in between I may have tried This is the way to win this endgame. Not
to prevent it from happening. Now I knew that easy to win over the board !
exactly how to win it and could convert
this position in a win without even think 66. h6 .i,e3 (66 ... ,.lixh6 67. �f6 �e3 68.
ing. �f7 doesn't change a nything.) 67. !Ig7+ !
�xh6 68. ll g6+ � h7 (68 . . . � h5 ? ! 69.
56. g3 ! h4 � g3+-) 69. �f6 � d4+ 70. �f7 A theo-
retically winning position. 70 ... il,a7 71.
If my opponent a llows me to play h4 the l! a6 .i,b8 72. ll a8 � c7 (72 ... il,d6 73.
position is a very easy win. l1a1 �h6 74. ll a6+-) 73. ]Ic8 � b6 74.
1:[ c3+-
57. g41 fxg4+ 58. �xg4 A e3 59 . .la.c6+
�g7 60. �xh4 �d2 61. �g4 Ae3 62. h4 1-0
il,d2 63. �fS il,el
169
[!::. Edouard, Remain (2680)

.t. Solodovnichenko, Yuri (2559)
:Il 2013.04.01
• Deizisau-17th Neckar Open, round 9
� GER
Position after: 66. It d7
66 . � b8??
..
While it was not easy to remember 'how to

win' as we were in a time trouble, it was
im portant to know that the defensive rook
should never be a llowed to stand on the
W e have seen t h e beginning of that game second rank. The pawn should be taken
in the second chapter. from behind ( . . . ll b2) in order to prevent
it.
63. gds gxa2 64. b4 l:tal+
67. � d2 !
64... � b2 65. ll d7 11 xb4 66. !! d8 ( 66.
!! d2 � b1+ 67. 11 dl l:l b2 does not help.) Now the position i s a theoretical draw
66 . . . g b2 is the most famous theoretical ( !! e2 comes next whatever Black plays).
win in ll+ A vs 1! endings. However, even We made a draw in 139 moves (game
having in mind it is winning, it is difficult to could have stopped on move 117 accord
find over the board if you don't recheck it ing to the 50-moves rule).
from time to time: 67. ll d7 � a2 68. 11 d8 Yz-Yz
.li g2 69. l1 f8 (69. �fl � h2 70. � g8
!! c2-+) 69... Ag6! 70. .li f6 Ad3 7 1.
.li e6+ Ae4 72. 11 f6 .li e2+ 73. �fl (73.
�dl ll b2-+ White cannot go ll c6 ! ) 73 ...
l:Ia2 74. �gl !! g2+ 75. �fl ilgS 76.
� e6 ll hS-+ Please try to solve the following exercises
where big blunders happened in very
65 . .lld l !taB 66. lt d7 theoretical endings.
170
Exercises Chapter 4
Please try to solve the following exercises where big blunders happened in very theoreti
cal endings.
White to move. Can you assess both 61. Black to move. First take a very short time
11 a2 and 61. � f8? Time: 10-20 m inutes. and write down the move you would play
in time trouble. Then keep on thinking
until you a re sure of it. Time for question
EXERCISE 3 one: 1,5-3 m inutes. Time for question two:
unlimited.
Black to move. What would you play if you

were in time trouble? After a deeper
thought: how many moves are making a
draw? Which one(s)? Time for question
one: 1,5-3 minutes. Time for other ques
tions: unlimited .
171
Solutions to all Exercises
Solutions Chapter 1
EXERC ISE 1
� Marin, M ihail (2583)

� Benasque-XXIX Open 2009
Position after: 62. eS !
And now the following variations:

a) 62 ... A el 63. e6 .Jlb4 64 . .it g7 trans
posing into R vs R+B.
b) 62 ... 11 xeS?! 63. � xg3=
c) 62 ... �xeS 63. �f2 ! 1l,e4 64. �g2 !
and Black cannot improve the position,
a nd can get R+B vs R as a maxim um : 64 . . .
g4 6 5 . hxg4 .tixg4+ 66. �f3 JigS a n d the
game should continue for long but . . . is a
theoritical draw.
This is a difficult but very good exercice to 62 ... �f4 63 . .tie7 j_d6!
push the reader to 'feel the opportunities'
in a very interesting endgame. 63 ... .li.g3+ 64. �h2 does not help Black.
61 •.. �f8 64. ll g7
62. 1I g7? 64. � e6 i(.c7 65. ii e7 .J¥. dB-+
62. eS! would make a d raw: 64... lt g3+ 65. �f2
65. � h 2 A b80 66. ll e7 ll f3+-+
(see analysis diagram, next column) 65 ... ,.tf4 66. lle7
172
68. e6 � f3+ 69. �g2 .i h6 70. � f7+ � g8

66. � h7 � b3 67. �g2 .ie5-+ 71. � d7 � xf6 72. � d8+ � g7 73. e7 � e6
74. e8=�
66... !! xh3 67. e5
11 xe8 75. 11 xe8 �f6=
I have actually lost that game in 105 mo

ves, and this will be one of the very first
illustrative exa mples of chapter num ber 2.
1-0
EXERC I S E 2
£:, Conquest, Stuart C (2536)

Position after: 67. eS i Edouard, Romain (2508)
67 ... g4? � Liverpool 2008
I have missed the excellent 67 ... l! c3 ! win

ning the ga me: 1. e4 c5 2. c3 lt:Jf6 3. e5 ltjd5 4. ltjf3 ltjc6
5. d4 cxd4 6 . .ic4 e6 7. cxd4 d6 8. 0-0
.ie7 9. a3 0-0 10. 11 e1 A d7 11. �d3
11 c8 12. Ad2 ltja5? ! {12 . . . �c7 ! ?) 13.
Aa2 a6 14. exd6 Axd6 15. ltjg5
An interesting try, but that does not seem

to work. o 15. ltjc3 ltjxc3 16 . .ixc3 .i b5
17. �e4;!;
Position after: 67 . .l:l c3 !

. . 1 5... ltjf6 16. ltjc3 h 6 17. ltjge4 ltjxe4 18.
11 xe4
The alternatives are :
a) 68. �g2 li c5-+ 18. ltjxe4 .i b5 19. �f3 .ie7!::;
b) 68. 11 g7 11 e3-+
c) 68. e6 11 c7 69. � xc7 Axc7 70. �f3 18 ... ltjc6
Ji e5 71. f7 Ad6 72. �g4 Ji e7 73. �f5
�g7-+ and the two white pawns a re
falling. (see Diagram, next page)
173
22 ... eS!
The move that my opponent missed while

entering this complicated line.
23. ttJxd6 �xg4 24. A b1+D fS 25. 'fk'xg4

ttJxd4 26. ttJxcS �xc8 27. �d3!
Position after: 18 ... tt::\ c 6
18 . . . bS ! ? was also interesting, since after

19. �xh6 I would have time to introduce
Position after: 27. Ad3 !
And the move I missed, since after 22 . . . e5 I

thought I was totally winning. Black is
slightly better here, but nothing so special.
Position after: 21. .. � h7 27 ... � g8

19 . . . !I xc3 ! solving a part of the attacking 27 . . . e4? 28. � xe4;!;
problems.
28. �h3 e4 29. .t f1 �c2 30. b4 �d2 31.
19. _ixh6!? gxh6 20. � g4+ � h8 21. 'fk'h3 'fk'hS l:IgS 32. �f1+
� h7
32. Q 'it'dft
32 ... li,g7 33. �hS 'fk'f4 34. � d1? !
22. ltJe4?!
o 34. g3 � gs+
22. 'fk'hS ttJe7o (22 ... _i e8 23. � h4 'li'f6
24. lt:Je4±) 23. ltJe4 ltJfS 24. lt:JgS+ � h8 34... lt:Jf3+ 35. �h1 ltJe5 36. �gl?
25. ltjxf7+ ll xf7 26. 'fk'xf7 "fge7 27. �g6
eS !oo (see Diagram, next page)
174
37 ... �f3 38. £e2!
Position after: 36. '1ftgl?
The final mistake by White, reaching the Position after: 38. Ae2 !
position of our exercise. With fresh eyes it
feels like there is something weird with the 38 ... �xe2 39. �xfS+
white setup. But during the game, I could
not realize it and thought that after Perpetual cannot be avoided.
36 . . . tt:\g4 37.'\¥�t'h4 the move 37 . . . e3 was
strongly met by 38.f3. But, sometimes, 39 ... 11 g6 40. 11 cl
when the position looks good, it is neces
sary to have a deeper look ! 40. l! d7+!?=
36. g3 would be the only way to stay in the 40... tt:\c6 41. �f7+ l! g7 42. �fS+ �gS
game: 36 ... �xf2 (36 ... tt:\g4 37. � g2 43. �c8+ �f7 44. �d7+ � g6 45. �e6+
tt:\xf2+ 38. �gl �g4 39. �xg4 tt:\xg4 40. � h7 Yz-Yz
� h3 hs+ /-/+) 37. Ag2 e3 38. 11 fl �c2
39. Ah3 �e4+ 40. �gl tt:\g4 41. A xg4
fxg4+ /-/+
36 ... l:r, g4??
36 . . . tt:\g4 ! would win, since 37. � h4 e3

38. f3 is met by 38 ... tt:\f2 ! 39. �xf4 tt:\ h3+
40. �hl tt:\xf4-+ and ... e2 cannot be a
voided.
37. g3 !?
37. � e2 ! ?
175
EXERCISE 3 <itc8 60. li h6 <otc7 61. b6+ <itd7 62. � bS

lljc3+ 63. <it b4 lljdS+ 64. <ot cS llJf4 65.
[}; Edouard, Remain (2508) ll h7+ <otcB 66. �d6 �a6 67. �c6 lljg6
A Daly, Colm (2311) 68. b7+ � b8 69. � b6 1-0
� Liverpool ENG
EXERC ISE 4
[}; Cornette, Matthieu (2578)

A Edouard, Remain (2597)
� N imes FRA
1. e4 cS 2. lljf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. lljxd4

lljf6 5. lljc3 lljc6 6. �gS �d7 7. �e2
�as 8. �xf6 gxf6 9. 0-0 fS? ! 10. lljxfs
�xfS 11. exf5 �xf5 12. lljd5 'f#d7 13.
�b5?!
SO. �aS? 13. �g4 ! ±
Noticing t h e drawing idea too late. 13 ... 0-0-0 14. �f3 e6 15. lljb4
After 50. ll a5 Black would have big prob- o 15. c4 � b8 16. lt:J b4 d5 17. lt:Jxc6+ bxc6
lems to make a d raw. 18. �a4i
SO ... �d6? 15 ... dS 16. lljxc6 bxc6 17. �c3 11 gB 18.

�xc6+ �xc6 19. �xc6 wc7 20. � bs
50 . . . �e6 ! 51. b4 � c4 would make a n �g7 2 1 . li ab1
immediate draw: the white rook has noth-
ing to do on a 7 ! Of course 50 . . . �g4 (with
the idea of . . . � f3) or-so ... � h3 (with the
idea of . . . �f1) are also working.
51. b4
Now the endgame is just lost for B lack.
51... ltJdS 52. bS llje7 53. 11 a6+ �c7 54.

11 h6 lljdS 55. ll g6 �c8 56. 1l g7+ � b8
57. ll g6 £ b7 58. ll g8+ <itc7 59. ll g6 Position after: 21. 11 abl
176
21 ... eS? !
2 1 . . . � b8 ! was the solution, with the idea

22. a4 (22. c4 dxc4=) 22 ... �xb2 ! 23.
11 xb2 a6 and the rook ending should be a
very easy draw.
22. f3 fS 23. c3 g gf8 24. g bd1

Position after: 11. ltjc6 !
In spite of my very nice center, my position
is just worse. My opponent played a good An elega nt but theoretical move.
game a nd beat me in 94 moves.
1-0 11 ... Axc3
We will analyse here:

a) 11 ... �xc6 12. j_xe5;;!;
b) 11 ... lljd3+ 12. cxd3 �xc6 13. � b1;;!;
12. bxc3 'C)Vxc6 13. j_xeS 0-0?!
EXERC I S E 5
[:,. Edouard, Romain (2472)

.t. Bruned, Yvain (2355)
W Sautron-7th Rohde Open, round 8
� FRA
1. e4 cS 2. lljc3 lljc6 3. lljf3 e6 4. d4 cxd4 Position after: 13 . 0-0? !

..
5. lljxd4 'iVc7 6. Ae3 a6 7. 'iVd2 lt:Jf6 8. 0-

0-0 A b4 9. f3 bS? ! 14. �xf6! gxf6 15. eS !
9 . . . lt:Je5 is the main line. Opening the black king side completely.
10. j.f4 llje5 11. lljc6! 15 ... fxeS
177
15 ... � g7 16. �f4 �xc3 17. �xf6+ � g8 21. lt:Jxh4 �xh4 22. o/;kf3 ll c4 23. i;_c6
18. Ad3+- � CS 24. Ad2 .! d4? !
16. �gS+ � hS 17. �f6+ �gS 1S. Ad3 24 . . . � c2 25. � xe7 Axe7 26. Ac3 A g4=
18. � e1 wins even q uicker. 2S. !i xe7 �xe7 26. �c3 �g4 27. �e3
ll d1+ 28. !l xd1 �xd1
1S ... �xc3 19. g de1! A b7 20. !! xeS
� fcS 21. Axh7+! �fS 22. Ag6 'l!i'a1+ 23.
�d2 �d4+ 24. �e2 �xeS+
24 . . . �c4+ 25. �f2 �d4+ 26. �g3+-
2S. �xeS fxg6 26. �f6+ �eS 27. c3 ll, cS

2S. g d1 � dS 29. � xdS AxdS 30. h4 d6
31. �xg6+ �d7 32. hS eS 33. h6 � gS 34.
�h7+ �c6 3S. �f2 1I fS 36. �g7 .! gS
37. o/;ka7 e4 3S. h7 !l eS 39. �xa6+ �cS
40. �a7+ �c6 41. �d4 exf3 42. gxf3 1-0 Position after: 28 .. Axdl
.
29. a4?
EXERC I S E 6
We will also pay attention to following:
!:, Edouard, Remain (2562) A) 29. �xg7 would sim ply win a pawn:
& Gozzoli, Yannick (2503) 29 ... �xg7 30. �d4+ Af6 31. �xd1±
� FRA B) 29. �d4? does not work 29 ... � f6 =
29 ... h6 30. aS
1. d4 ftjf6 2. c4 e6 3. ftjc3 A b4 4. lt:Jf3 b6
S. e3 A b7 6. Ad3 cS 7. 0-0 0-0 8. lt:Ja4 30. Axg7 would still be possible but after
cxd4 9. exd4 j_e7 10. �f4 d6 11. b4 30 ... �xg7 31. �d4+ A f6 32. �xd1 � c3
lt:Jbd7 12. ll b1 ll e8 13. ll e1 lt:Jf8 14. followed by . . . �e7 it should be a draw.
ftjc3 lt:Jg6 1S. �e3 li eS 16. dS exdS 17.
ftjxdS ftjxdS 1S. cxdS A f6 19. A bS g e7 30 ... Af6!
20. Aa4 ftjh4? !
The idea I missed. N ice defense by my op
Unnecessary, White had no useful moves. ponent.
0 20 . . . h6 31. Axf6 �xf6 32. axb6 axb6 33. �xb6?!
178
Q 33. h3
33 .. @al
.
Position after: 38 .. �eS+

.
The position of our exercise.
Position after: 33 ... �al 39. f4??
34. f3? A terrible move, very similar to 34.f3 : why

to play some extra moves when the posi-
The first (unpunished) mistake I have tion is absolutely impossible to win any-
made, trying not to make an immediate way? ! The answer is: no, f4 is losing.
draw in a position I definitely cannot win
anymore. Now we have fol lowing choices:
A) 39. �f2=
34. h3 .i f3+ 35. � h 2 'fk'e5+= B) 39. � h3 makes a bsolutely no sense
but is also a draw, e.g. 39 ... g5 40. g4 ! ?
34. . . � b3+? �f4 41. @f2 J,dl 42. �g2 �xb4 43.
�e3=
Settling for a dead draw.
34 ... .1xf3+ 35. �f2 � e4 would be much

better for Black.
35. �f2 'Mfb2+ 36. �g3 �eS+ 37. �f2

�b2+ 38. �g3 �eS+
(see Diagram, next column) Position after: 40 . �d2+

. .
179
Some other moves deserve coverage too:

39 ... '@'c3+ 40. �f2?! a) 42. 'iVf2 'iVc3+ 43. 'iVf3 �el+ 44. �f2
gxf4+-+
40. � h4 �d2 41. � h3 �c2-+ b) 42. � d8+ �g7 43. �xd6 �e3+ 44.
�g4 A dl+ 45 . �f5 A c2+ 46. �g4 f5+
40... � d2+ 47. � h 5 �e2+ 48. g4 �xg4#
c) 42. fxgS hxg5 43. �f2 �c3+ 44. �f3
(see Diagram, previous page) �el+ 45. �f2 �e5+ 46. � h 3 �h8+ ! 47.
�g3 {47. �g4 Adl+-+) 47 ... �h4+ 48.
41. �g3 �f3 'iVf4+ 49. �e2 A c4+-+
Yz-Yz
Now a funny story happened. I offered a
draw (actually thinking the position was a EXERC ISE 7
d raw a nyway), and my opponent strictly
according to the rules went to his team £::. Hamdouchi, Hicham {2600)
captain to ask him what he should do. The .1. Edouard, Remain {2620)
latest answered : "take a d raw, what � Belfort FRA
else?". While the match was pretty unclear
and my opponent had i n mind to have a
little deeper look, his ca ptain's deterrent
response made him accept a draw imme
diatly.
An important alternatives is 41. �g3 g5!

31. �al?<±>
A typical move being in time trouble.
Position after: 41... gS ! 31. f4 ! ±
3 1 ... a 3 32. 11 hg2 g6 33. 'itgSo

would mate immediatly, and probably be a
well deserved punishment: The only way to defend the dS pawn.
180
33 ... axb2+ 36 ... b3 !
33 . . . '@'xd5?? 34. '@'f6+ �g8 35. '@'xf5+- (see Diagram, previous column)
34. �xb2 e4! 35. fxe4? 37. axb3
We investigate:
a) 37. exf5 bxa2+ 38. �xa2 �c3-+
b) 37. cxb3 �xe4+-+
37 ... l1 a8 38. �cl �d4 39. c3 �xc3+ 0-1
EXERC ISE 8
� Edoua rd, Romain (2620)

Position after: 35. fxe4? ,l Tkachiev, Vladislav (2639)
� Belfort FRA
35. �e3o would be worse but not losing. 1. e4 e5 2. ftjf3 ftjc6 3. �b5 a6 4. �a4 b5
5. � b3 ftja5 6. 0-0 d6 7. 11 el ftjf6 8. d4
35 ... �g7+! 36. � bl ftjd7?
36. �cl � xe4-+ 8 . . . ftjxb3 9. axb3 ftjd7 was necessary.
Position after: 36 . . . b3 ! Position after: 9 . . ltjxb3

.
181
9. dxeS lL\xb3 13. ttJxeS ttJxeS 14. !I xeS+ J,.e7 15.

�hS+ �d7
Here something sounds weird for Black
and 10. J,.g5 is a big tactical opportunity. 15 ... � f8 16. _i h6+ � g8 17. It e3+-
However it does not mean it is winning, so
it does require a deep calculation. 16. .ixf6!
10. JtgS ! The final point that had to be seen from

the beginning. Otherwise Black would be
I ndeed winning. better.
10 ... f6 16 ... lt:lxa1
10 ... J;,.e7? 11. Jtxe7 �xe7 12. exd6 cxd6 16 . . . Jtxf6 17. ll d5++-
13. axb3+-
17. _txe7 �xe7 18. !l xe7+ �xe7 19.
11. exf6 gxf6 12. eS ! dxeS �cS+! �f7
12 ... fxg5 13. exd6+ �f7 14. dxc7 �f6

(14 ... �xc7 15. �d5+ �g7 16. axb3+-)
15. axb3 �g7 16. lL\c3+- Black is just lost:
no need to show any precise tactical line
here (White has three pawns for a piece
and Black's pieces a re disastrously placed).
Position after: 19 .. c;ftf7

.
20. �xc7+
Also possible is 20. 'fgxc7+
Position after: 15 . . c;ftd7

. (see analysis diagram, next page)
182
After a game in which I have missed many

wins, I reached this position where I reali
zed it was time to make a d raw. I was just
hoping for a last trick here, going � h6 in
case my opponent would go ... � h7 in
stead of the natural ... � h8.
29 .. � h7?
.
Position after: 20. �xc7+

But all of a sudden I could not see a nymore
There a re the following bra nches: how to refute 30. � h6 �d6. I considered
a) 20 ... �f6 21. �c3++- this �h6 move to be a total hallucination
b) 20... �g8 21. 'fo+'d8+ �g7 22. �d4+ and made a d raw due to my little time on
�g8 23. �dS++- clock. 29 ... � h8o would be a draw.
c) 20... �g6 21. �c6++-
30. 'li' h5+
1-0
But of cou rse 30. � h 6 ! �d6o (30 . . . l:[ g8
31. �f4+-) 31. �xg7 ! wins: 3 1 . . . �xf7 32.
EXERC I S E 9 exf7 �xg7 (32 ... � b4 33. f8=�+-) 33.
ltJfS++- This is why it is always necessary
£!,. Edouard, Romain (2646) to concentrate as much as possible, even if
.t. Epishin, Vladimir (2567) you think your fate is now only in your
� Vaujany Principal opponent's hands: otherwise you may
forget things that you have seen earlier.
30... �g8 31. �f7+ � h7 32. 'fo+'hS+
So, the answer is, yes, there is a difference !

Though in that precise practical game, no
body could see it!
Yz-Yz
183
EXERCISE 1 0 27 ... �xb2 28. ll fl ll e8?
� Edouard, Romain (2597) 28 ... �b7 was the only move and after 29.
j Maze, Sebastien (2546) h5 White would have a n easier but proba
� Nimes 2009 bly not better game.
29. �f7 �bB 30. : f3 dSo
This is the position of our exercice.

Black had no time for 30 ... �d8 due to 3 1 .
l! g3 (31. lt::l h6 ! ? gxh6 32. 1l g3 1l g8 33.
l:l xg8+ �xg8 34. �xe7+-) 31... � f8 32.
lt::l h6+-
31. eS !
Let's start here with that game.
Killing a l l Black's counter play.
27. �e6!
31. li g3?? would be terrible because of
Going for an attack. There is no point de 31... i,d6 32. e5 l:l e7+
fending this b2-pawn : playing passive
White is not going to get any advantage in 31... fxeS
spite of the bad (but nevertheless solid
defending) bishop on e7.
Position after: 31... fxeS
Position after: 30 ... dS 32. lt:Jh6!
184
Threatening 33.�g8+. 28 . . . �c8 29. ltjxb5 is not total ly over, but

White is a clear pawn up.
Alternatively:
A) 32. f6 .txf6 33. 11 xf6 a lso wins, but is 29. ltjc6+ �c7 30. b4
not as strong as 32.ltJh6.
B) 32. l1 g3?? would allow 32 ... .txh4!:+ U ntil now my opponent played an excel
lent game and of course he could get a
32 ... gxh6 33. f6 stable advantage playing many other
moves. But 30.b4 seems too winning and
33. f6 !l g8 (33 ... .tf8 34. !l g3+-) 34. almost any player would do it.
fxe7+- is hopeless for Black.
1-0
EXERC I S E 1 1
£:, Libiszewski, Fabien (2520)

A Edouard, Romain (2665)
� Linares 2013
Position after: 30. b4
30 ... ltjd3o
The only chance. A nice tactical opportuni

ty using some kind of tem porary mis
placement of the white pieces.
31. ltJd4
27 ... ltjc4 28. �c3 3 1 . li d4? � xc6 is OK for Black, since 32.
dxc6?? is losing to 32 . . . �xd4 33. �xd4
After that move which I had missed, I felt ltja3+ 34. �al ltjxc2+-+
like my best chance was to provoke a nice
tactical line. 31 ... �eso 32. bxcS
28... ltjde5 32. I! e4? �xgS-+
32 ... b4o
185
EXERC I S E 1 2
!::. Edouard, Remain (2621)

j Das, Arghyadip (2470)
� Hastings 2011
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. ltjf3 c6 4. e3 ltjf6 5 .
.i d3 a6 6. b3 c5 7. 0-0 ltjc6 8. .i b2 cxd4
9. exd4 _i e7 10. a3 b6 11. �c2 dxc4
Position after: 32 . . b4D
.
1 1 . . . _i b7 12. c5;t
32 ... ltja3+? 33. � a 1 ltjxc2+ 34. � b 1 o
ltj a 3 + 35. �xa3+- 12. bxc4 _i b7 13. !! e1 0-0 14. ltjc3 � ea
15. d5 ! exd5?!
33. ltje6+?
15 ... ltja5 16. �e2 �c7 17. ltjd2;t
Not finding the win, which I hadn't seen
either. 16. ltjxd5 ltjxd5 17. Axh7+ � h8 18.
33. cxd6+ ! � b7 (33 ... �xd6 34. ltj b5++-) �f5!
34. d7 ! Going for d6+ at any price, while
there will be no good square for the black
king. 34 ... ltja3+ (34 ... bxc3 35. d6+ �a7
36. ltjc6++-) 35. � a 1 ltjxc2+ 36. � b1o
ltja3+ 37. �xa3 �e1+ 38. �c2 bxa3 39.
d6++-
33 ... fxe6 34. �xe5 ltja3+ 35. �a1 ltjxc2+

36. � b1 ltja3+ 37. �a1 ltjc2+ Yz-Yz
Position after: 18. �fS !
This is the position of our exercise. Until

here I spent a lot of time trying to find the
most precise moves. Here I thought my op
ponent was going to resign but ... he found
a very nice defensive move which I hope
you reader a lso finds. And then happened
to me something that frequently happens
186
in chess: I spent all the rest of my time o 22. � adl

trying to find a 'real win' which I couldn't
find because ... it does not exist ! After that I 22 ... � h4
even became lost due to the small 'shock'
and to my low time: a perfect illustration 22 . . . f6 ! ?
of the 'rule number 2'.
23 . .tfS .txfS 24. �xfS lt:Jf6 25. � ad1
18... lL\d4o �c8 26. �f3 l! a4? !
Other approaches are: o 26 . . . � e8

A) 18... lt:Jf4? 19. !:[ adl !? 'ii' e8 (19 ... 'fjfc7
20. � d7+-) 20. 'fi/xf4 �xh7 21. 'fi/fS+ 27 . .tb2 'i'c2?! 28 . .t al?
� g8 22. lt:JgS+-
B) 18 ... ltjf6? 19. Jlxf6 Jlxf6 20. �hS+- 28. j_c3 ! li xa3 29. !! cl±
19. Jlxd4 28... � xa3
19. lt:Jxd4 lt:Jf6o ( 19 ... � xc4 20. li e4 _i gS Now Black id much better and I miracu
21. 'ii' h 3 �f6 22. l:I g4 �h6 23. j_d3+-) lously saved a draw in 65 moves.
20. �gS ! (20. �h3 lt:Jxh7 2 1 . l! xe7 �xe7 Yz-Yz
22. lt:JfS �gS 23. Jlxg7+ �g8 24 . .ilh6
�xg2+ 25. �xg2+ j_xg2 26. lt:Je7+ � h8
27. tt:Jxc8 � xc8 28. �xg2 � xc4 29. EXERC ISE 1 3
� d l;t) 20 ... � xc4 21. .tfS .tcs 22. � adl
j_xd4 23. 'blVh4+ �g8 24. .txd4 '@'dS 25. 8 G reet, Andrew N (2423)
j_e4! � xd4 26. � xd4 �aS 27. f3± To go I. Edouard, Roma i n (2620)
19.lL\xd4 it would have been necessary to � Hastings 2009
calculate ... until here !
19 ... � xc4 20. j_eS? !®
o 20. � adl �c8 21. lt:JeS �xfS 22. j_xfS

� c7 and Black is worse... but definitely
not lost !
20... .tc8?!
20 ... lt:Jf6 2 1 . ll adl '@'c8=
21. �d3 bS 22. lL\d2?!
187
23. e5o d5 24. cxd5 l! xc3 25. d6 lt:Jf5 26. 37 ... � e3?
d7 � f8 27. d8=�
ll xd8 28. i(,xd8 lt:Jg3+ 29. � h2 lt:Jxf1+
30. ll xf1 Aren't the Black pieces a l l of a sudden
vulnerably placed?
37 ... ll b3 +
38. �f2?
White missed 38. � h4 ! after what B lack is

suffering but l uckily only a bit worse: 38 ...
f6D 39. j,xf6 h6D 40. h4 ll c3D 41. ll d8+
�f7 42. �g4 ! ? !l c4+ 43. �h3 l:l xb4 44.
g4 lt:Jd4 4S. It d7+ �f8 46. !I h7 lt:Jxf3 47.
Position after: 30. li. xfl ll xh6 ltjgl+ 48. �g3 lt:Je2+ 49. �f2 ltjf4
SO. aS;!;
This long tactical line that has just been
played could not be improved. 38 ... g b3
30 ... !! cl 31. 11 f2 �f8 32. !! b2 11 c3 33. Now B lack is a l ready much better.
A h4 � e8 34. j,e1 l! d3 35. �g3 ltjd4
36. �f4 lt:Jf5 37. l! d2 39. g4? !
All the previous moves are more or less 39. bS axbS 40. axbS g xbS 41. 11 a2 �f8+
normal.
39 ... lt:Je7
39 ... l:l xb4+ ! ? 40. �gS h6+ 41. �f6 lt:Je7

-+
40. Ac5 lt:Jd5+ 41. �e4?!
41. �g3 lt:J c3+
41 ... b6!-+
Position after: 37 ... 1I e3? (see Diagram, next page)
188
32. wg3? !
Or 32. ll c7 ! �e4? ! (o 32 ... tt::l f 3+ 33.

wg3 lt:Jcd 2 ! ? 34. c4 ! �a8 and Black still
has compensation but is definitely not
better.) 33. c6 lt:Jxe3? does . . . not work for
Black: (see analysis diagram)
Position after: 41... b6!
42. Ad6 ll e3+ 43. Wd4 !l xf3 44. bS aS

45. l1 c2 Wd7 46. !l a2 f6 47. A bS fxeS+
48. wxeS l1 e3+ 49. Wd4 l1 xh3 SO. l1 f2
We7 51. ll c2 ll h4 52. � CS ll xg4+ 53.
wes ll gS+ 54. Wd4 lt:Jf6 ss. ll c6 � g4+ Position after: 33 . . . ltjxe3 ?
56. Wd3 lt:Jd5 0-1
We look into:
a) 34. lt:Jxe3?? �xf4+-+
b) 34. wgl tt:Jt3+ 35. wf2 ttJdl+! 36.
wt1 ll d2 ! 37. l1 c8+ wf7 38. ll f8+ wg6
39. tt::l h 4+ lt:Jxh4 40. gxf5+ exf5 41. �xe4
EXERC I SE 1 4 fxe4 42. Ac5o e3 43. l1 e8 lt:Jxc3 44.
A xe3 ll c2-+
[!:. Edouard, Remain (2587) c) 34. li d7 !+- !1 lt:Jefl + 35. Wgl �xe2
.l Fressinet, Laurent (2698) 36. ll xd8+ wt7 37. ll f8+ wg6 38. tt::l h4+
� Caen FRA W h6 39. l1 f6+ ! The final trick which I
missed. 39 . . . gxf6 40. Af8#
Position after: 40. A f8#
189
32 •.• �c6! 38... hxgS+ 39. fxgS �c7 ! 40. l:[ a8+ l:[ d8
Now White may still be OK but in time And... now my only choice left was to
trouble as I was, the position was just a decide whether I prefer to get mated on
nightmare to play especially against a g3, h7, or g5 !
player of Fressinet's strengh.
33. gS? !
0-1
Q 3 3 . <t; h 2
33 •.. g 6 34. �aS??

EXERC I S E 1 5
Collapsing.
8 Edouard, Romain (2531)
Q 34. <t; h2 .1. Bachmann, Axel Schiavo (2555)
� Bad Wiessee-12th OIBM
34 .•. lt:Je4+ 35. <t; h4
35. <tt h2 lit d2-+ 1. e4 cS 2. ltjf3 lt:Jc6 3. lt:Jc3 d6 4. d4 cxd4

5. lt:Jxd4 e6 6. �e3 ltjf6 7. f4 � e7 8. �f3
35 ... lt:JxaS 36. � xaS � d2 �d7 9. 0-0-0 lt:Jxd4?! 10. �xd4 �aS?
36 ... h 6 ! ?-+
37. �f1 h6 38. �a1
38. I! a7o lt:Jxg5-+
Position after: 10 ... 'li'aS?
Q 10 ... 0-0
11. eS! �c6

A very typica l pattern in the Sicilian, but
Position after: 40 ... 11 dB now comes a bad surprise for Black.
190
Solutions Chapter 2
12. Ji bS ! ± �xbS
12 ... il_xbS 13. �xb7+- EXERC I S E 1
13. lL:lxbS .i xf3 14. gxf3 ltJdS 15. exd6± 8 Edouard, Remain (2446)
.l Krush, l rina (2449)
I have won the game in 37 moves. � La Roche sur Von-Closed 2007
1-0
41. lt::l x h5
After I took the pawn on hS, my opponent

thought for a few minutes and resigned.
Since the position seemed winning I was
not very much surprised. Later, my oppo
nent went to analyse the game with the
help of a computer. After 41. lt::l x h5 she
considered the analysis to be over, but left
the engine running by accident and left for
a short time. When she came back, it was
showing that the position was equal !
We investigate:
a) 41. lL:lxhS? b3 ! ! (quite simple, if you
only think of it ! ) 42. axb3 (42. cxb3??
�fl+-+) 42 . . . �a7 43. �xb2 l:! a8 ! and
Black has enough counter play to make a
d raw, for example 44. Xi dl �a3+ 45. �c3
191
�cS+ 46. �c4 �aS+ !? 47. b4 �a3+ 48. EXERC ISE 3

�d2 gxhS 49. �d3+ �g7 and White
should not be better. £:, Hommeles, Thee (2420)
b) 41. � d4! would give White a winning i Bogner, Sebastian (2548)
advantage. � SUI TCh 2013
1-0
EXERCISE 2
£:, Ruck, Robert (2555)

i Edouard, Remain (2636)
� G E R-BL 2010
This position was reached on move 51 of

this game!
52. �dS �e3+ 53. �c7 �f2 54. �h1

�e7+ 55. � b8 �eS+ 56. �a7 hS 57.
�h4+ �g2 58. �c4 �e7+ 59. �a6 �f6+
60. �as �fS+ 61. � b6 �f2+ 62. �as
�e1+ 63. �a4 �e8+ 64. �aS �d8+ 65.
55 ... �e6? �a4 �aS+ 66. � b4 �b7+ 67. �as
�a7+ 68. � b4 �e7+ 69. �as �gS+ 70.
Any King move anywhere but on the e-file �a6 �f6+ 71. �as h4 72. �e4+ �g3 73.
would make a n immediate d raw. Never �e1+ �g4 74. �g1+ � hS 75. �d1+
consider the position to be so draw that � h6 76. �d7 �eS+ 77. �a4 �gS 78.
you can play anything! �d8+ �f6 79. �g8+ �fS 80. �g2 �a6+
E.g. 55 ... �d6 56. � g3 (56. 11 h6+ �d7 81. � b4 �b6+ 82. �a4 �d4+ 83. �as
57. fS h2=) 56 . . . � el= �c3+ 84. �a4 '+Wa1+ 85. � bS �b1+ 86.
�as �e1+ 87. �a6 �e6+ 88. �as
56. �g3 ll e1 57. ll eS+! �eS+ 89. �a6 �d6+ 90. �as �a3+ 91.
� bs �d3+ 92. �as h3 93. �f2+ �g4 94.
All of a sudden I am losing a pawn. The �g1+ �f3 95. �h1+ �g3 96. �g1+ �f3
ending should still be a d raw but I lost it in 97. �h1+ � e2 98. � b4 �d4+ 99. �a3
88 moves. 1-0 �d6+ 100. �a2 �a6+ 101. � b2 �b6+
192
102. �a2 �a7+ 103. � b2 �b8+ 104. �h1+ �d2 114. �dS+ � e3 11S. �cS+
�a2 '@'g8+ 10S. �a3 '@'g3+ 106. �a4 �e2 116. '@'hS+ �e1 117. �e8+ �f2
'@'f4+ 107. �as h2 108. 'l'g2+ �e1 109. 118. '@'c6 '@'eS+ 119. �b6 '@'b2+ 120.
'@'h1+ �f2 110. �dS �c7 '@'g7+ 121. � b6 '@'g1 !
Finally Black is queening soon.
122. �c7 h1=@ 123. '@'cS+ �e2 124.

�c2+ �e3 12S. �b3+
Position after: 110. �dS
Almost 60 moves later, Black could push

his pawn to h2 but the game is not easily
won yet.
110 ... �e1

Position after: 125. �b3+
110 ... � g3 ! with the idea of 111. �g8+
� h4 112. @h7+ �g4 was the cleanest Now comes the position of our exercise.
way. I ndeed, not all the King's moves a re win
ning! And the one played in the game was
111. '@'h1+ �e2 112. '@'g2+ �d1 113. actually a draw.
12S ... �d4??
And now:
A) 12S... � e4! would win quickly: 126.
'@'e6+ ( 126. '@'c2+ � eS +) 126... �d4
-
127. 'iVd6+ �c4 128. '@'a6+ � b4 + -
B) 12S ... �f4 would also win since after

126. '@'f7+ �e3 forces (126 . . . �e4 127.
�e8+ �d3 128. �bS+ �e3 129. �cS+
� e4 130. �c6+ �fS 131. '@'d7+ �g6 a lso
Position after: 121 . �g1!
. .
193
wins.) 127. �b3+ back after what 127 . . . 127. �aS+ �c4 128. �a4+ �dS
� e4 ! wins.
C) 12S ... �d2 (or ... � e2 or ... �f2) 126. (see Diagram, previous column)
�a2+ would be similar to the game and
lead to a d raw. 129. �d7+??
126. �a4+
Now the game is a theoretical draw ! Unbe

lievable, isn't it? The reason is that the
Black king can not avoid checks on the
white queen's key squares: a4, a3, a2, a 1,
c6, a8, e8, f8, g8, h8.
126 ... � CS
126 . . . �dS 127. �a8+ ( 127. �c6+ Equiva Position after: 129. �d7+??
lent is . . . ) 127 ... �eS 128. '@'e8+ �f6 129.
�f8+ the white king is no longer able to Blundering a nyway. This is not one of the
find a 'winning square', e.g. 129 . . . �gS "key" squares !
(129 ... �e6 130. �e8+=) 130. �g8+ � h4 We also look into:
(130 . . . �f4 131. �f8+ �e3 132. �a3+ a) 129. 'it'c6+ �es 130. �e8+ �f4 131.
� e4 133. �a8+!= (the difference when �f8+ �g4 (131... �e3 132. �a3+=) 132.
the queen is on a3 and not b3)) 131. �h8+ �g8+ �f3 133. �a8+=
�g4 132. �g8+ � h3 (132 ... �f3 133. b) 129. �a8+=
�a8+=) 133. � h8+ �g3 134. 'fgg8+ � h2
135. 'fgh8+= 129 ... �cS 130. �e7+ �c4 0-1
Position after: 128 ... '1t;>d5
194
EXE RC I SE 4
[::,. Vachier Lagrave, M axime (2745)

A Le Quang Liem (2703)
� Beijing 2013
Position after: 85 . . . lt::\x a4
86. b3 ! !
A move that the brain has problems to

consider, especially in advance. Because it
is so unusual (there a re not one, but two
possible automatic moves: �xa4 or �xc4)
84. lt.Jc5 ! there it really requires to put things into
perspective. Even for a top player like
The best practical chance, but also the best Maxime Vachier-Lagrave it is quite nice to
objective chance. see it in a rapid gam e ! Now the ending is
probably still a draw, but Black is in trou
84. �xbG lt.Jc4+ 85. � b5 lt.Jxb2 86. � b4 ble.
�e5 ! is a n easy d raw for Black, as the f
pawn will fall by force: 87. �a3 lt.Jdl 88. 86... lt.Jc3+ 87. �xc4 lt.Je4 88. lt.Jd3 lt'Jd2+
f3 lt.Jc3 89. � b4 lt.Jb1 90. �xa4 lt.Jd2= 89. �c3 lt.Jf3 90. b4
84 ••• lt.Jdc4
The human move.
84 ... lt.J bc4 85. lt.Jxa4 �e5 would be a

better defence. While Black should not
have huge difficulties to make a draw, the
position is still more tricky than after
84. �xb6.
85. lt.Jxa4 lt.Jxa4 Position after: 90. b4
195
90... �d5? EXERC ISE 5
The black king should have stayed to block !'!:, Bates, Richard A (2386)
the b-pawn. .t. Edouard, Romain (2621)
� ENG-4NCL 2011
90 . . . �c6 with the idea 91. �c4 ltjd2+ 92.
�d4 � bs should hold.
1. d4 e6 2. ltjf3 c5 3. g3 cxd4 4. ltjxd4 d5
91. b5 5. �g2 ltjf6 6. c4 e5 7. ltjb5 d4 8. 0-0? ! a6
9. ltJ5a3 ltjc6 10. e3 �e7 11. exd4 exd4
Now the ending is lost for Black. 12. � f4 �g4 13. �b3 �d7 14. � e1 0-0
15. ltJd2 ltJh5 16. � e5
91 ... ltjd4 92. � b4 �e4 93. ltjcS+ �dS
94. ltjb3 !
Position after: 16. _ieS
Position after: 94. lt::l b3 ! 16... f6??
94 ... ltjxbS Weakening too many squa res in my posi

tion. Such a decision should always be
94 . . . ltje6 95. b6 ltjd8 96. � bS �e4 97. supported by a precise calculation.
ltjaS �f3 98. �cS ! �xf2 99. �d6+-
16 . . . � ae8+
95. �xbS � e4 96. ltjc1 �f3 97. ltjd3 fS
98. �c4 f4 99. �d4 �e2 100. �e4 f3 17. �d6! �xd6 18. cS+ � h8 19. cxd6
101. �d4 �d2 102. ltJf4 1-0
(see Diagram, next page)
196
A well-known idea nowadays. People used

to blunder here missing �gS, forgetting
that White does not have to recapture on
f3. White is now much better.
11 ... �f4o 12. �xf4 �xg2 13. l! gl � b7
Position after: 19. cxd6
All of a sudden White is much better.

luckily won the game in 90 moves - part of
it will be used in the fourth chapter. 0-1
EXERC ISE 6
Position after: 13 . . �b7
.
[!, Miles, Anthony J (2555)

j Sosonko, Gennadi (2530) 14. �es
� Amsterdam 1977
14. l:i g3 ! ? (threatening AgS) 14 . . . 'flie7
15. I:t xg7± 1-0 {51) Ermenkov,E (2463)-
1. c4 l!Jf6 2. l!Jc3 e6 3. e4 dS 4. eS d4 5. 0rev,P (2228) Sofia BUL 2008
exf6 dxc3 6. bxc3 �xf6 7. d4 b6 8. l!Jf3
A b7 9. �d3 �d6? 14... �f3
Position after: 9 . . . �d6? Position after: 18. <;t>e2
10. jLgS I �xf3 11. �d2 1
197
14 ... '@'h4 15. lit xg7 lt:Jc6 16. �g3 �f6 17. lit eS 37. '@'g5 e3 38. � xe3 lt:Je4 39. �f4
'@gS± fS 40. �el??
15. Axg7 lit g8 16. Axh7 ! lit xg7 17. li xg7 40. li b4+-
�hl+ 18. � e2
40 ... '@g6 41. g b4 �gl+ 42. � e2 � b7
(see Diagram, previous page) 43. cS tt:Jxc3+ 44. �d3 lt:JdS 45. �f3 lit e4
46. c6+ �xc6 47. It c4+ � bS 48. � xe4
18... �f3+ fxe4+ 49. �xe4 �g6+ SO. �xdS �d6+
51. � e4 �e6+ 52. � d3 '@'xc4+ 53. �e3
The alternatives a re: � b4 54. '@fS+ �c3 55. �a3+ �c2 56. f4
a) 18... Af3+ 19. � e3+- �e6+ 57. �f2 '@'dS 58. �e3 Yz-Yz
b) 18... �xa1 19. �f4 ! ? {19. lit g8+ �d7
20. dS exdS 2 1 . �fS++-) 19 ... '@b2+ 20.
� d 1 �a1+ 2 1 . �d2 �b2+ 22. � c2+- EXERC I SE 7
19. �fl lt:Jd7 20. �e3 '@'hl+ 21. li gl !'!, Reymann, Cedric (2236)
�xh2 22. A e4+- .t. Edouard, Romain {2509)
� Kaupthing Open 2008
1. e4 c5 2. c3 dS 3. exdS '@'xdS 4. d4 lt:Jf6

5. lt::\f3 e6 6. Ae2 cxd4 7. cxd4 Ae7 8.
ltjc3 '@aS 9. 0-0 lt::\ c6 10. Ac4 0-0 11.
'@'e2 l! dS 12. g dl �h5 13. a3
White is winning but the game was drawn

in 58 moves.
22 ... Axe4 23. '@xe4 �h3+ 24. �e2 0-0-0

25. 1! g3 �hS+ 26. �f3 �h7 27. �d3
�hS+ 28. '@'f3 �h7 29. g cl � bS 30. a4 Position after: 13. a3
eS 31. aS e4 32. '@hl '@fS 33. '@h4 lt:Jf6
34. axb6 axb6 35. lit al �e6 36. 1:[ a4 13 ... b6??
198
The knight on c6 is hanging and is the only 15. e5 !? � d8 16. lt::l c4 � e6?
protection of the bishop on e7. This should
have dropped me a hint.
o 13 ... a6
14. d5!
The kind of tricks you usually see just after

playing your move.
14... ltJa5
Position after: 16 . . . A e6?
14 ... exd5 15. � b5+-
15. �a2+- 16 .. � b8 ! was a strong move, so that the
.
idea White missed on move 17 does not

Now White is totally wmnmg. I (again) work anymore.
luckily won the game in 86 moves and part
of it will be used in the fourth chapter.
0-1
EXERC I S E 8
[!, Ernst, Sipke (2566)

A Bok, Benjamin (2540)
� Groningen 2013
Position after: 16 . . . A e6?
17. �a4
17. l:I e4! was very strong, but, after 17 . . .

�f5 White probably only considered
taking the black Queen (automatically) as
the big majority of the players would. J ust
thinking that "maybe" something else is
possible would make the next move quite
199
easy to find. 18. i,d3 ! (see analysis dia

gram)
Position after: 23. a4
Position after: 18. i_d3 ! 17 ... i,xc4
18 ... i, xe4o 19. �xe4 fSo ( 19 ... ltjxeS 20. 17 . . . i, d S ! was good, since 18. ltjxb6? is
ltjcxeS �xeS 21. g3 �f6 22. i,xa8 !! xa8 met by 18 ... ltjd4 ! +
23. �e4+-) 20. exf6 ! (20. �xc6 �xc4 21.
�xa8 It xa8 22. �d2;;!;) 20 ... �xf6 2 1 . 1 8. .txc4
11 e 1 ! (21. �xg6;;!;) (see analysis diagram)
Now White is a bit better. Black suffered
but made a draw in 80 moves. Yz-Yz
EXERC I SE 9
!:, Alsina Leal, Daniel (2527)

j Edouard, Romain (2636)
� Barcelona-Magistral 2010
Position after: 21. l! e l !
There a re the following branches :

a) 21 . . � h7? 22. ltJceS+-
.
b) 21 .. gS?! 22. i,fS±

.
c) 21 . . bS 22. ltje3±
.
d) 21 . 11 ac8 22. �xg6 e6 23. a4±

..
200
The aim of that exercise was to make the 40. � el

reader look for something complicated,
while there is just one simple move to see. 40. A dS � h2!:+
36. Ac4 d3 37. cxd3 �d4? 40... � h2 41. �a2 �xc6 42. �b3 �d6
43. �c4 �eS 44. b4 lit c2+ 45. �bS �xfS
37 ... e3 38. d4 � h4= 46. A hS �gS 47. � e2 � c1 48. �f3 �f4
49. AdS A c3 so. d4 .id2 51. _ic4 � bl
38. � xf7+ � xf7 52. dS �eS 53. � h2 ll xb4+ 54. �cs
� bB 55. g hS+ � e4 56. � h4+ �f3 57.
![h3+ �g2 58. It h6 g c8+ 59. � c6
� xc6+ Yz-Yz
EXERC ISE 1 0
Position after: 38 ... li xf7
� Edouard, Romain (2509)
39. Axf7 A Berend, Fred {2350)
� Kau pthing Open 2008
Here White missed the intermediary move
39. dxe4 which is winning. Automatic
recaptures are never forced ! Now I would
be losing either my Bishop or my Rook and
since I wouldn't have a passed pawn a ny
more my opponent would have enough
pawns to have a clear advantage. That was
the solution of the exercise.
39 •.. e3
Now I am three pawns down but definitely

have enough compensation to at least
make a d raw: in fact the position is even a 22 ... � b6 23. � fl aS 24. �d2 h6 25. g4
bit unpleasant for White. 1[ b8 26. fS lbxd3 27. cxd3 1[ b6
201
EXERC I S E 1 1
£::. Edouard, Romain (2620}

I. Casper, Thomas (2395)
� G E R-BL 2009
Position after: 27 . . I! b6
.
Till now everything was going fine and

seemed to be com pletely winning. Now I
entered a specific line too quickly because
while calculating I considered only the
'automatic' Black answer.
28. fxe6?? SS. a3??
28. � cl+- I could not see the winning manoeuver and

decided to go for this move when I had 2
28... � xf1 seconds on the clock. Any decision would
be better than this one ! This is why it is
Fortunately my opponent made the same necessary never to change your move at
mistake as me. the last moment, and never to take ulti
28 ... � bxe6 != would be about equal (let's mate decisions when you do not have time
notice once again that cou nting the num to calculate.
ber of hanging pieces would d rop an hint). 55. � hl � aS 56. � h7 ! The winning idea !
(56. � hS � c3 57. � xgS � b8 was bother
29. exd7 11 d6 30. ll e8+ � f8 31. lt:Je6 ing me.) 56 . . . � c3 (56 ... � b8 ? ! 57.
� xe6 32. � xf8+ � a7++-) 57. � b7 just in time: now Black
1-0 is dominated.
ss ... was! 56. lt:Jc7
56. axb4+ cxb4 57. cS was more or less

holding miraculously, but i mpossible to
calculate in time trouble: 57 ... b3 (57 ... a3
58. � al dxcS 59. ltjxc5oo) 58. cxd6 � b4
202
59. d7 a3 60. d8='@ !I xd8 61. ltjxd8 a2 62.

ltjc6+ �a3 63. !t clo (see analysis dia
gram)
Position after: 78. �b8+
and the ending should be a draw.

Position after: 63. ll clD
56 ... 11 b8
63 ... b2 64. g c3+ �a4 65. lil c4+ �b3 66.
li b4+ � c3 67. !t xb2 �xb2 68. d6 a l=�
69. d7 (see analysis diagram)
Position after: 56 . 11 b8
. .
Position after: 69. d7

57. ltjb5??
69 ... 'i!Vel 70. d8=� �g3+ 71. �fl �xf3+
72. �gl �xg4+ 73. �f2 'i!Vg3+ 74. �fl The same mistake as on move 55: taking a
�f3+ 75. �gl '@'e3+ 76. �fl 'i!Vcl+ 77. concrete decision because I could not find
<it(g2 �xc6 78. �b8+ a serious move to play. lt was time to
(see analysis diagram next column) make a draw.
203
Alternatively: 6 ... 'V/!/c7 7. b4 aS 8. � f4 @d8 9. bS l!Je4

a) 57. lL\e6 11 gB= 10. �d5 !
b) 57. liit f1 11 hB=
57 ... �xa3 !-+
Now the game is totally lost !
58. Ji a1
58. l!Jxa3 .la xbl 59. ftjxbl liit b4-+
58 ... i, b2 59. !! a2 il xbS 60. cxbS a3 0-1

Position after: 10. �dS !
Black is a l ready in big trouble.

EXERC I S E 1 2
10... Axa1 11. �xe4 �g7 12. !! d1 d6 13.
[!, Fedoseev, Vladimir (2505) cxd6 exd6 14. �xd6 !I e8 15. �f4 lL\d7
i Edouard, Romain (2634) 16. lL\gS �f6 17. �dS ftjeS 18. ftjc3
� Moscow 2011 �xf4 19. gxf4 h6 20. ftjge4 ftjg4 21. J.c7
.txc3 22. l!Jxc3 lL\f6
This is my game against the very young

Vladimir Fedoseev, played in the last round
of the 2011 Aeroflot tournament. After a
terrible tournament ( I was having 3,5/8) I
was hoping not to finish the tournament
with another loss, but on the other hand
had no energy for playing. The game
started terribly:
1. d4 ltJf6 2. lL\f3 g6 3. g3 �g7 4. Ag2 o-o

5. 0-0 c5 6. dxcS Position after: 22 . ltJfG
..
After playing my last move "a tempo" I 23. J.eS?

rea l ized that it is not so easy to regain the
c5-pawn. Giving me a chance to come back into the
game. 23. i,g2+-
204
23 ... ltjxdS 24. ltjxdS Jk,e6! 25. ltjf6+ <;t>fS 30... �dl 31. c4 �xa4 32. � c3 �c2 33. 'ii;> e2
26. ltjxe8 wxeS 27. a4 li dS! a4 34. 'ii;> d 2 jt_bl 35. �b4 'ii;> d7 36. wc3 hS
37. d4 �e4 38. �cS Af3 39. dS � e2 40.
Suddenly I am getting serious drawing Wd4 wc7 41. wc3 wcs 42. Jk,a3 wc7 43.
chances, and my opponent played a move � b4
Position after: 29. exd3

which I immediately noticed to be a draw Position after: 43 . 'ii;> b4
at once.
43 ... Jk,dl?
28. l'I d3 11 xd3 29. exd3
43 ... b6 would surely have given my oppo
(see Diagram, previous page) nent much more problems to win but I
considered the ending to be lost - and,
Now I only had to break the central chain once again, I played too fast and couldn't
of pawns in order to make a draw. So hap recover from my ... �g4 blunder. A big
py to see the game a nd event taking end, I blunder often hides another!
did not even want to think what was the
best between ... Jk,a2 and ... Jk,g4 which 44. cS A b3 45. d6+ �d7 46. was Jk,c2
were, according to my first thought, both 47. � b6 (47. c6+ bxc6 48. b6+-) 47 ...
collecting either the c-pawn or the d-pawn. .t e4 48. fS .t f3 49. fxg6 fxg6 SO. h4 .t e4
Though I was first mainly considering 51. f4 .,tf3 52. was Adl 53. c6+ bxc6 54.
... Jk, a2 I decided to go for the other op
, b6 wcs SS. �a6 1-0
tion.
29... Jk,g4?? (29 ... Jk, a2=) 30. Wfl !
Suddenly, I am collecting only the useless

a4-pawn a nd the endgame is most proba
bly lost !
205
EXERC ISE 1 3 Losing a super important tempo.
[}; Edouard, Remain (2659) 30 ... �dB would make a draw many ways:
& Sanchez, Joseph (2531) 3 1 . �aS (see analysis diagram)
� FRA-Top 12 2013
Position after: 31. 'fil'aS
We will pay attention to following:

a) 31... �gS !?
b) 31 ... �xd4 32. @a8+ ..td7 33. �xb7+
26 ... J.. e4 27. f3 l2Jg3 ..te8 34. fxe4 �f2=
c) 31.. . ..td7 ! ? 32. �a7 (32. fxe4 l:l xb3)
Counter-attacking. 32 ... .I::[ xg2+ ! ? (32 ... 'i'gS=) 33. ll xg2
!l xg2+ 34 . ..t xg2 �gS+ 35 . ..tfl J,.d3+ 36.
28. l2Jxg3 lt xg3 29 . ..t h2 !l dg8 30. !l g1 ..te1 �g1+ 37 . ..td2 �e3+ 38 . ..tc3
Jla6+=
31. aS �f8? !
Position after: 30. !I gl
30... !l 8g5??
Position after: 31... 'tlt'f8? !
206
3 1 . . . e5 32. a6 (32. j_xf7?? j_xf3 33. gxf3

�d7-+) 32 . . . �g6 33. 11 a2 (33. fxe4?
l! xg2+ ! 34. 11 xg2 l! xg2+ 35. � h l 11 f2
36. axb7+ �xb7 37. 11 a7+ � b8 38. l! a8+
� b7=) 33 . . . bxa6 (33 . . . �xf3 ? ! 34. �xf3 !
ll xf3 35. a7+-) 34. 'ifa5 .id3 35. d5 with
a crushing attack.
Position after: 32 . . �g7

.
Key alternatives are:

Al) 33. a7? 11 xg2+ 34. 11 xg2 � xg2+ 35.
�hl l:r. h2+ 36. �xh2 'ifg3+ 37. � h l
j_xf3+ 38. '@'xf3 'ifxf3+=
A2) 33. 11 a2 �xf3 34. �xf3 11 xf3 35.
a7+- also works.
A3) 33. fxe41 would win at once: (see
analysis diagram)
Position after: 3 1 . . . �f8 ? !
32. �d2??®
Trying to win calmly instead of calculating

the most direct move. 32. a61 wins. 32 ...
'ifg7 Here I simply got obsessed to defend
my King, as an 'automatism', and didn't
consider that I can at some point just
sacrifice my Queen (in order to defend my Position after: 33. fxe4 !
King) and promote to another one. (32 ...
bxa6 33. �c4+-) (see analysis diagram)
207
Some other moves deserve coverage too: EXERC I SE 1 4

a) 33 !! xc3 34. a7+-
.•.
b) 33 ... f3 34. �xf3+- £!:, Edouard, Romain (233B)

c) 33... :, xg2+ 34. 11 xg2 l1 xg2+ 35. j Chatal bashev, Boris (2491)
W h l+- � Sautron 2005
32... �g7 33. �xf4 !! xg2+ 34. !! xg2

11 xg2+ 35. Whl �g3o
36. d7!
Position after: 35 ... fgg3 36. ll d l 11 xc5 37. d7 jlf6 3B. ltJd6! (3B.
dB=�+ Jil xd8 39. 11 xd8+ Wg7�) 38 ...
Oops. This I had missed when I went for I! aS 39. tt:Jxb7 il xa3 40. dB=�+ jlxd8
the calm (and superficial) 32.'�fd2. 41. tt:Jxd8 and White is better but these
positions are always difficult to break.
36. jlxe6+ fxe6 37. �xg3 After 36.d7 White's advantage is m uch
bigger.
o 37. �f8+ Wd7 3B. �f7+ wds 39.
�c7+ weB 40. �xg3 !! xg3 41. fxe4 36... ll d8 37. 11 d1 e4D 38. Wgl
� xh3+ 42. wg2 !! g3+ 43. W h2 11 b3 44.
eS ll bS 45. W h3 cS=
37 ... ll xg3 38. fxe4 ll xh3+ 39. Wg2 ll d3

40. 11 hl 11 xd4 41. 11 xh4 !! a4 42. 11 h7
!! xa5 43 . .)l c7+ W b8 44. l:l e7 WeB 45.
l! c7+ W b8 46. l! e7 Yz-Yz
Position after: 38 . �c3

. .
208
38. lt:JaS?? e3 39. ltjxb7 e2-+ 39 ... wts
38 ... �c3o Now Black is doing very fine. I won the

game because at one point my opponent
(see Diagram, previous column) took too many risks in a drawn position.
A simple move I had m issed. Avoiding 40. �e2 we7 41. lt:JbG AeS 42. ii bl
ltjaS. However the position is still com Axh2 43. we3 fS 44. I[ hl A eS 45.
pletely winning but I could not see how ii xh7+ w eG 46. ll h6 Wf6 47. ii hl Ab8
anymore. 48. ii h7 gS 49. a4 weG SO. g4 fxg4
39. �fl ??(f) 50 ... �f4+ 51. �d4 � eS+=
39. a4 ! If you managed to find the solution s1. wxe4 g3 s2. !! hG+ wn
until here, you more or less solved the
exercise, though it is better if you could 52 ... we7=
calculate even deeper. 39 ... �f8 40. aS
� b4o (40 ... �e7 41. a6 bxa6 42. cG+-) 53. wt3 it.f4?! 54. cG wg7 ss. ii eG
41. !I d S ! (41. c6 bxc6 42. �fl � e7 43.
ltjeS weG 44. lt:Jxc6 �xaS 45. lt:JxaS
ii xd7 46. ![ xd7 w xd7 47. we2 should
also be winning.) 4 1 . . . we7 42. a6 weG 43.
ltj b G ! ? (43. ltje3 ! ? �xcS 44. !! xcS bxa6
45 . I[ c6+ wxd7 46. I[ xaG+- This precise
position is an easy win because Black's
pawns are too much advanced and Black
has no time to reach a solid setup.) 43 . . .
bxa6 44. ll d6+ wfs (44 . . . we7? 45.
ltjdS++-) 45. Wfl aS 46. It c6+- (see
analysis diagram) Position after: 55. 11 e6
55 ... bxc6??
55 . . . Wf7 56. !i e2 bxc6 57. aS � c7=
56. ll e8 Ac7 57. li[ xd8 �xd8 58. aS 1-0
Position after: 46. g c6
209
EXERC ISE 1 5 Solutions Chapter 3
[!, Tkachiev, Vladislav (2650)

,l Edouard, Romain (2597) EXERC I S E 1
� N imes 2009
[!, Mainka, Romuald (2482)
,l Edouard, Romain (2531)
�� Bad Wiessee 2008
1. e4 cS 2. ltjf3 d6 3. i_c4 ltjf6 4. d3 ltjc6

5. c3 g6 6. 0-0 i_g7 7. i_ b3 0-0 8. h3 b6 9.
� e1 ltjeS 10. d4 ltjxf3+ 11. �xf3 i_ b7
12. i_ f4 bS 13. ltjd2 ltjd7 14. dxcS ltjxcS
15. i_dS 'f!/c7 16. � acl
57 ... �gS??(f)
A losing move. While 57 .. .f4 was my initial

idea, I cha nged my move due to a last
second hallucination, which I can't even
remember. This is just one more exa m ple
of that precise problem: all chess players
have many !
Position after: 16. I:t a cl
5 7 . . . f4 ! 5 8 . b 7 f3 5 9 . �c7 f2 60. ll c1 �g5
61. � f1 11 c3+ is a draw. The position of our exercise .
58. b7 16 ... e5!
58. 1! b5 It h3 59. b7 li h8 60. b8='f!/ An excellent positional transformation, a

11 xb8 6 1 . � xb8 wins even quicker. bit similar to the game Neubauer-Edouard
that we have studied.
58... � xb7 59. �xb7 �f4 60. �c6 �e4
61. � c4+ �es 62. �cs f4 63. � cl �e4 17. i_xb7
64. �c4 �e3 65. �c3 � e2 66. �d4 1-0
17. i_h2? i_xd5 18. exd5 f5f
210
17 ... �xb7 18. Ag5?! 27. c4 !! f2 28. �xf2 1t xf2 29. �xf2
18. A h2 f5 19. �e2 might be the most

solid defense.
18 ... f5
Position after: 29. wxf2
29 ... �b6+?!Ef>
Hoping for a mistake that did happen . . .

Position after: 1 8 ... fS 29 ... e4! 30. �g1 (30. cxd5 A d4+ 3 1 . �f1
�xd5 32. !! xe4 A xb2=F) 30 ... e3 3 1 . lt:)f3
Black is better. dxc4 32. 11 dB+ �f7+
19. '@e2 lt:)e6 20. A h4 lt:)f4 21. �fl d5 30. �e2?

22. exf5 !! xf5 23. �g3 !! af8 24. !! cd1
30. �fl ! �a6 31. �g1 dxc4 32. lt:)e4 is
o 24. �xf4 !! xf4 25. f3+ not so clear.
24 ... lt:)h5 !? 30 ... e4!-+ 31. 11 f1 �d4 32. 11 fe1 �d3+

0-1
24 . . . e4 ! 25. Axf4 � xf4 26. f3 b4+
25. @e2 EXERC I S E 2
25. � h4 g5 (25 . . . lt:)f4 ! ? and White has � Fressinet, Lau rent (2697)
nothing really better than 26. Ag3 after i Edouard, Romain {2620)
what it is again possible to go 26 ... e4+) � Belfort 2010
26. g4 gxh4! ? 27. gxf5 lt:)f4+
25 ... lt:)xg3 26. fxg3 b4 1. d4 lt:)f6 2. c4 g6 3. lt:)c3 d5 4. �b3 dxc4

5. �xc4 �g7 6. e4 0-0 7. � e2 a6 8. �f4
26 . . . e4 !?+ b5 9. �xc7 �xc7 10. �xc7 A b7 11. f3
211
ltjc6 12. dS ltjd4 13. ll d1 ltjd7 14. ,A d3

ltjcS 15. ltJge2 ltJxe2 16. ,Axe2 b4 17. b ) 1 7... ,Axb2?! 1 8 . ,A a S ! b 3 1 9 . axb3
ltjb1 ltJxb3 20. ,Ac3 ;;t;
18. ,A a S ltJa4 19. 0-0 ltjxb2 20. ll cl

,Ad4+ 21. � h1;t
21 ... ,A e3?
M iscalculating a forced line, actually

missing my opponent's 25th move.
Position after: 17. ltjbl 22. ll xc8+ � xc8 23. ,Axb4 ii c2 24. ll e1
,Af2 25. ltja3 !+- ll c7 26. li b1 ,Ad4 27.
The position of our exercise. In that theo ,A aS g c8 28. ,Ad2 fS 29. h4 e6 30. d6
retical Grunfeld position White should �f7 31. ,Acl 1-0
manage to go ,AaS in order to solve his
problems and be better.
17 ... ll fc8? !
We investigate:
a) The prophylactic move 17 ... aS! would
give Black a fantastic position : 18. d6 { 18.
b3 ll fc8 19. .A f4 a4+) 18... exd6 19.
,A xd6 ll fc8�
EXERC ISE 3
£!, Kritz, Leonid {2609)

� Kaupthing 2008
1. e4 cS 2. ltjf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. ltjxd4

ltjf6 5. ltjc3 a6 6. ,A e3 eS 7. ltjb3 ,Ae6 8.
�d2 ltjbd7 9. f4 ll c8 10. fS? !
Position after: 21. � h l (see Diagram, next page)
212
EXERC ISE 4
£::, Kunin, Vitaly (2502}

j Edouard, Romain (2662}
� Helsingor 2013
1. d4 e6 2. c4 ,A b4+ 3. �d2 aS 4. lbf3 d6

5. �a4+?1 Ad7 6. �c2 lbc6 7. e3 lbf6 8.
i,e2 0-0 9. 0-0 _txd2 10. �xd2 l2je4 11.
Position after: 10. fS? ! 'ltc2 f5 12. l2Jc3 l2Jxc3 13. 'M!Vxc3 'M!Ve7 14.
dS l2jd8 15. b3
10. 0-0-0 would be a better move, though
after 10 ... bS the line is known as good for 15. dxe6 ? ! l2Jxe6-+
Black.
15 ... b6 16. a3 e5 17. b4 l2jb7 18. l2Jd2
10 ••• i, xb3 ! ll a7 19. £i.d3 l:l faS 20. i,c2 g6 21. h3
�g7
A nice concession to give bishop pair, in
order to get a quick and superior ( /\ ... e4, or ... axb4 axb4 e4}
development.
10 ... .i[ xc3? would not make much sense: 22. b5 li eS 23. f4 l2Jc5 24. ll ae1 ll aa8
1 1 . fxe6 g xe3+ 12. 'ltxe3 fxe6 13. 0-0-0±
11. axb3 d5!
Black has an excellent position.
1 1 . . . dS 12. ttJxdS (12. exd S ? ! jL b4 13.

�d3 0-0! N followed by ... l2jc5 is very bad
for White. 14. 0-0-0.1? '¥!VaS-+} 12 ... l2Jxe4
13. 'Clt'e2 l2jdf6 ! ( 13 ... 'f;h4+? ! 14. g3 l2Jxg3
15. hxg3 �xh1 16. 0-0-0i} 14. l2Jxf6+
l2jxf6 15. I! dl 'f;c7!:+ Position after: 24 . ll aa8
. .
Yz·Yz
25. e4?
25. l2Jf3=
25 ... exf4 26. 'M!Vxg7+ �xg7 27. exf5
2 13
28... ll e8 29. I! xe8 � xe8 was the last

chance: Black is still slightly better.
29. I! fl I! eS 30. g xf4
The position is a dead draw. Nothing to be

done.
30.. g e2 31. I! f2 I! el+ 32. 11 fl g e2

.
33. I! f2 11 el+ 34. 11 fl lit e2 Yz-Yz

Position after: 27. exfS
EXERC ISE 5
Our critical position. I took a bad decision,
not transposing by force in a winning £!, Edoua rd, Romain (2365)
knight endgame ! I. Lepan, Marvin (2201)
� FRA-chT 2006
27 ... I! xel?
27 . . . � xf5 ! 28. � xf5 gxf5 29. � xe8 I! xe8

30. !! xf4 !l e3 ! 3 1 . � f3 o ll xf3 32. ttJxf3
ltJd3 ! (winning an im portant tempo,
preventing <;f( f2) (see analysis diagram)
Of course the position looks like a total

domination, being a pawn up and having a
Position after: 32... lt:\d3 ! better king. But when pawns from one side
a re all of the opponent's bishop's colour, it
33. <;ftfl <;ftf6 34. <;fte2 lb b2 35. ltJd2 <;ft e5 is never that easy.
36. lbf3+ (36. <;fte3 f4+ 37. <;ft f3 <;ftd4-+)
36 . . . <;f(f4 37. ltJd2 <;ftg3 38. <;f(fl a4-+ 44. lbel?
28. I! xel gxfS? ! The concrete 44. lbc5+ ! <;f(d6 45. b4 � b6

46. ltJ b3+- would just win at once.
44... �es
2 14
44 ... �g3 ! ? 45. lt:Jf3 ? ! b4 ! would hold as At first sight this position looks totally
well. winning, doesn't it?
45. c3 b4! 46. cxb4 �xb2 50... <;t>xb6 51. lt:Jxf7 <;t>c6 52. lt:Je5+ <;t>d6
53. lt:Jxg6 �xf6!
Position after: 46 . . . il.xb2

Position after: 53 ... Axf6 !
47. lt:Jd3
Oops !
When I went 44. lt:Jel I simply considered
53 . . . � xf6 54. gxf6 <;t>e6=
that to put the knight on d3 and push the
%-%
b-pawn would be the easiest way to win.
But, as I said earlier, this kind of endings
EXERC I S E 6
provides surprises. 47. lt:Jf3 <;t>d6 48. b5
�c3o is similar.
[!:; Nyzhnyk, l l lya {2635)
.t. Edouard, Remain {2659)
47... �c3 48. b5 <;t>d6 49. b6 <;t> c6 50.
� FRA-Top 12 2013
lt:Je5+
Position after: 50. lt:Je5+
215
46. gS �c4?? �g6 g gl+ 57. c;t; h7+-) 53. g7 �xb4 54.
�f8+-] 49. g7 �a3 (49 ... a3 50. h4 ll gl+
46 . . . li xb4+ leads to a d raw: 47. � hS 51. c;t;fG 11 fl+ 52. � es lt el+ 53. Wf4
g b3 ! 48. h4 (see analysis diagram) 1! fl+ 54. �e3+-) so. h4 b4 5 1 . hS li gl+
52. �f6 b3 53. h6 b2 54. 11 b7+-
48 ... ll gl
49. � hS??
49. lt f7 ! �dS o (49 . . . a3 50. lt f4+ and I

Position after: 48. h4 would have no good square for my king:
50 ... �d3 51. !r, g4 Ir, xg4+ 52. hxg4 a2 53.
48 . . . �c6 ! ? (the simplest) (48 ... li g3 49. g8=� a l='fi' 54. 'iVdS++-) SO. � hS �e6
li a6 a3 50. g6 �cS o 51. W h6 ll g4 also 51. 11 b7 �f6 52. W h6 a3 53. 11 a7 a2 54.
holds. ) 49. g6 (49. �g6 �b6 50. ,: a8 Et a6+ �f7 SS. l ba2 ll g6+ 56. � hS+-
� b7=) 49 . . . ll g3 SO. g7 c;i( b6 5 1 . .U. e7 a 3
5 2 . 1l e6+ �a7 5 3 . ll g6 li xg6 54. �xg6 49 ... �xb4
a2 55. g8='iV a l='iV=
Now the position is a dead draw.
47. g6 li b1 48. g7
SO. h4 �a3 51. c;f;h6 b4 52. � h7 b3 53.
48. �gS wins easily: 48... �xb4 [48 ... ll b7
li gl+ 49. �f6 li fl+ 50. �e6 ll gl 5 1 .
�f7 li fl+ 52. � e 8 ! ll gl ( 5 2 . . . ll el+ 53. Diagra m 386
11 e7 ll g1 54. g7 a3 55. �f7 ll fl+ 56.
Position after: 53. g b7
53 ... ll hl?!
Position after: 48 . . l1 gl
.
2 16
U nnecessary. I played too fast, thinking my 58. ll xb1 �xb1 59. h7 ll xg7+ 60. � xg7
opponent blundered and miscalculating a3 61. hS=�
White's next move ! And now:
A) lt is funny that 53 . . . � b2 would lead to

a symmetrical position as in the game { I
would b e u p a queen instead o f being a
queen down) but the result would be the
same in spite of the two-queens
difference: 54. ll a7 a3 55. g8=� � xg8
56. �xg8 a2 57. hS �cl 58. h6 b2 59.
ll xa2 bl=� 60. h7 �xa2+= (see analysis
diagram) Position after: 61. h8=Q
Yz-Yz
EXERC I S E 7
!'!:, M iton, Kamil (2581)

j, Edouard, Romain (2617)
� FRA-TOP 2010
Position after: 60. . �xa2

. 1. e4 c5 2. ltJf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. ltjxd4
ltJf6 5. lt:Jc3 a6 6. �c4 e6 7. �b3 ltJ bd7
8. 0-0 lt:Jc5 9. f4 � e7 10. e5 dxe5 11. fxe5
B) 53 ... b2= ltJfd7 12. � f4
54. �g6 b2 12. �h5 lLlf6 ! ?=
After 54 . . . ,lil xh4? ! 55. <;tfS l! h7 1 overloo- Diagram 388

ked that White has time to take on b3 with
check: 56. ll xb3+ (56. g8=� l! xb7 could
be a bit da ngerous for White.) 56 . . . axb3
57. g8=� and after 57 . . . b2 the position is
a d raw, but I had no reason to take a risk
entering it.
55. h5 � g1+ 56. �f7 �a2 57. h6 b1=�
Position after: 21. 'i!lVhS? !
217
12 ... lbfS 13. lbce2 lbg6 14. c3 lbxb3 15. EXERC ISE 8
axb3 0-0 16. �e1 �d5 17. Il d1 b5 18. b4
� b7 19. �g3 ,ll adS 20. �f3 'ifd7=F 21. � Prie, Eric (2464)
�h5?! A Edouard, Romain (2334)
� FRA-Accession 2005
The position of our exercise. Black has a

stronger centre and everybody should
know that in most of the cases you should
open the position when you have a bishop
pair. Those two remarks a re enough to find
the strong 2 l . . .f6. However, it is also a
concession: it is rel ieving White of his
isolated e5-pawn which was a long-term
weakness.
21 ... f6!-+
35. �f5?
Black is just winning.
Considering the following pawn ending as
22. exf6 totally lost, my opponent just decided not
to recapture the piece and just lost the
22. �h3 fxe5 23. �xe6+ It f7 24. �d2 game.
,.tf6-+
35. �xdl 'fj'b2+ 36. �c2 �xc2+ Black
22 ... �xf6 23. �d2 e5 24. l'bf5 should indeed enter the pawn ending: it is
free of risk while otherwise the game
24. l'bf3 �d3 25. lbel (25. l'bcl �c2-+) would anyway be a d raw. 37. � xc2 �g8
25 . . . �c4-+
24... �e4! 25. lbe3
25. ltJfg3 � c2-+
25... �a7
White is losing material.

0-1 Position after: 38 ... <;t>f7
2 18
38. wd2 (38. w b2 wf7 39. w a3?? is too EXERC I S E 9

slow: 39 . . . gS 40. hxg6+ w xg6 41. W b4
Wf7 42. wcS we6-+ My h-pawn is j ust [:; Popov, lvan (2539)
queening.) 38 ... wf7 .t. Edouard, Remain (2472)
(see analysis diagram, previous column) � Kemer 2007
But now White has to ways to make a
draw. The logical one (with 39. � e2) which
is not so difficult, and another beautiful
one which is very instructive (see 39. w c2).
39. wc2 (39. w e2 we6 40. wf2 wfs 41.
�g3 wgs 42. e6 wf6 43. �f4 �xe6 44.
�g4 wf6 45. wf4 g6� 46. hxg6 hS 47.
g7 !=) 39 . . . we6 (see analysis diagram)
A decisive game for the World U18

Champion title in 2007. My opponent had
just moved his rook from gS to g4, most
probably considering that 53 ... l:I xg4 would
Position after: 39 ... We6 be a draw. After long thinking I got the
same assessment. But with a deeper and
40. W cl ! ! and if Black goes (40. w b2? more concrete thinking I could probably
wfS 41. � a3 gS-+) 40 . . . wfS ? ! then 41. draw the actually right conclusion that
w b 2 ! is a zugzwang: 41... gS? (41... we6 Black is winning.
42. �a3 ! g6 43. hxg6 hS 44. W b4 h4 45.
wcs h3 46. g7 wf7 47. e6+ wxg7 48. wd6 53.. fS?
.
h2 49. e7 hl=� SO. e8=� �h6+ 51.

�xdS �xe3 52. �xe4 �xc3 53. �e7+
and Black is suffering a bit.) 42. hxg6 wxg6
43. wc2 ! and White wins since he is able
to stop the h-pawn. According to basic
endgames principles we say the squares b2
and fS were "mined" until move 41 (it
would go wrong for the one who has to
move).
35 ... j_ a4 36. �CS+ W h7 37. �fS+ wgs Position after: 58. W h3
38. �e6+ wfS 39. 'i'c8+ j_eS 0-1
219
53 . . . l:[ xg4 ! 54. hxg4 � g6 55. � d2o Not This position is a well-known theoretical
allowing . . . �g5. 55 ... l:[ d6 56. �f4 � d3 ! win for Black! To find the solution, it was
(56 . . . � d4? 57. g 3 �f7 58. � h 3 hxg3 59. important to see everything more or less
�xg3 would for example be a d raw.) 57. until there. However, in a practical game,
g3 hxg3+ 58. � h3 to take on g4 even without calculating until
the end would have been quite logical,
(see analysis diagram, previous column) since after a nother move the position is
d rawish.
During the game I could not see how to
break this setup. But it is not so d ifficult. 54. 11 g5 11 f4 55. 11 g7+ � h6 56. A d2
58.. . !'! f3 59. �d2 (59. Axg3 � g5-+) �xg7 57. Axf4
59 . . . f5 ! 60. gxf5+ �xf5 61. A e l �f4 62.
A d2+ �e4 63. �el (see analysis dia
gram)
Position after: 57 . .)lxf4

Position after: 63. Ael
Now, this position is actually a draw.
63... 11 d3 ! (the simple idea that I had
missed) 64. � xg3 �f3 57 ... �g6 58. �g1 !l e2 59. �f1 l:[ a2 60.
Ac7 �f7 61. AdS 11 a4 62. �f2 � e6 63.
(see analysis diagram) �f3 �e5 64. Ac7+ �d5 65. AdS l:[ e4
66. Af6 �c4 67. AdS �d3 68. AgS ll a4
69. �f2 �c2 70. �e2 � e4+ 71. �f3
�d1 72. �f2 Yz-Yz
Position after: 64 ... �f3
220
Sol utions to all Exercises
EXE RC I S E 1 0
!::. Elja nov, Pavel (2693)

j Edouard, Romain (2652)
� Istanbul 2012
Position after: 22 . . . gS !
Getting the knight away from the centre:

sometimes it is necessary to play weake
ning moves l ike ... g5 if it brings many good
things to the position: that's a typica l con
cession that reminds little bit of the game
Franco-Edouard that we have studied in
this same chapter. 23. lt::l h 3 (23. lt::l e 2
A xe2 24. ll xe2 lt::l c4 !-+ was what I mis
My opponent just played 2 l.e3 which is a sed.) (see analysis diagram)
mistake, but I reacted wrongly.
21 ... .id7?
A) 21... �g4! (see analysis diagram)
Position after: 23. lt::l h3
a) 23 ... ltJaS? I 24. 11 c5 '¥t'd7? 25. 'W!c3�

b) 23 ... li c8 24. 11 xc8 '¥t'xc8 25. �xc8
It xcs+
Position after: 21... �g4 ! c) 23 ... lt::l b d7!+ /-+ followed by ... lt::l e 5,
and Black is a big pawn up.
The alternatives are:
Al) 22. g cl? lt::l c4-+ 22. Ir. c3 �c6 23. � cS ll a8 24. �d4
A2) 22. li d4 g5 23. lt::l h3 ltJa8 24. I! c5
'W'd7-+ Now White has sufficient com pensation to
A3} 22. I! d2 g5 ! (see analysis diagram) hold the game. A draw in 74 moves. Yz·Yz
221
EXERC I S E 1 1 49... wg4! so. f3+ w gs
[!:, Edouard, Remain (2562)

i Gozzoli, Yannick (2503)
� Nancy 2009
Position after: 50 . �gS

. .
Now the black setup is unbreakable.
51. W h2 � a2 52. W h3 il al 53. li eS

� hl+ 54. wg2 � al 55. b3 � a2+ 56.
46. � bS? W h3 � a3 57. ll bS � al 58. � b4 � xaS
59. f4+ W hS 60. 11 bS � al 61. � hS+ Wg6
Being unnecessarily afraid of the h-pawn. 62. It gs+ wn 63. 11 bs Yz-Yz
There are the following bra nches:
a) The concrete 46. aS! h4 47. W e 2 ! (a
small concession to bring the king away)
would win easily. The b3-rook is perfectly
placed. 47 ... Wg4 (47 ... Wf4 48. a6+-) 48.
a6 h3 49. a7 l'r, a l 50. ll a3 ll xa3 5 1 .
bxa3+-
b) 46. il a3? h4 47. we2 wg4=
46 .. ll al! 47. � bS+

.
47. l:t a8 l:t bl 48. I:l g8+ w h4 49. ll b8

� a l 50. l:, b4+ W gS is not easy either.
47... fS 48. aS h4 49. Wg2
49. � dS � a4 50. li eS ll g4�
222
Solutions Chapter 4
EXERC I S E 1
f.':, Bates, Richard A (2386)

A Edouard, Romain (2621)
� ENG-4NCL 2011
Position after: 61... h2
However the position was still a draw.
62. ll a1??
62. ll a3+ ! Should have been played, and
when the black king hides on h4 White sti l l
h a s o n e more opportunity t o put h i s rook
'behind ' : 62 ... W h4 63. ll aS! g4 64. ll h8+
wg3 65. wt6 w g2 66. wg5 g3 67. wg4=
The beginning of that game has already
been used in the second chapter. I luckily 62 ... g4
managed to survive a totally lost position
and now my opponent had to 'save' a draw Now the position is lost.
with very little time on clock.
63. wt6 wt4 64. .Et a4+ we3 65. 1i a3+
61. la, a2?! Wd4 66. : a4+ wc5 67 . .! xg4 h1='@ 68.
Wg5 Wd5 69. ll f4 'fgh3 70. !i f5+ we4
lt is a ' rule' in these endgames that the 71. ll f4+ we5 72. ll f7 �g3+ 73. w h5
defending rook should go behind the we6 74. ll f8 �a3 75. ll f4 'fgh3+ 76.
pawns, e.g. 61. la, f8 g4 62. c;t>f6 h2 (62 ... Wg5 �h7 77. 11 f6+ we5 78. Jl f2 '@g7+
W h2 63. w g5 g3 64. W h4 g2 65. ll f3=) 79. w h4 we4 80. !i f1 �h6+ 81. wg4
63. !! h8 Wg2 64. wg5 g3 65. Wg4= �g6+ 82. W h4 we3 83. W h3 �g5 84.
W h2 '@h4+ 85. wg2 we2 86. ll g1 '@g5+
61... h2 87. w h2 �e5+ 88. wg2 �e3 89. w h2
�d4 90. wg2 'fkh4 o-1
223
EXERC I S E 2 with so little material. Some of them, like

this one, can j ust be 'known'.
£!, Fressinet, Lau rent (2696)
.1. Smeets, Jan (2619) 104... � c4??
� G E R-BL 2012
The black king should have continued his
journey !
104 . . . W f4 ! 105. Af7 Af3 106. A b3 � hs

107. �c2 WgS ! controlling the g6-square,
with a draw.
105. ,Af7 Ae2 106. _A b3 A hS 107. Ac2
100. wts wc7 101. wgs Wd6 102. w h6

wes 103. W g7 � dS 104. �es
Position after: 107. � c2
Now ,tg6 cannot be avoided.

1-0
The position of our exercise. Yes, ... it is

move 104 of a morning game and it is a b
solutely understa nda ble that Black could
not "find" the right way with such a tired
ness (and little time ! ) . However it will of
ten be the case while reaching a position
224
E::, Radjabov, Teimour (2715)

& Swiercz, Dariusz (2627)
� Warsaw 2013
65 ... ll a7+??
A terrible blunder made by a very good

player, ... again.
The a lternatives are:

a) 65 .. 11 bS=
.
b) 65 ... <;t> h6=
66. <;t>fS ll aS+ 67. ll eS ll a6 6S. f7 ll a7

69. 11 el 11 aS+ 70. <;t>e7 ll a7+ 71. <;t>f6
11 a6+ 72. � e6 1! aS 73. ll eS 11 a6+ 74.
<;t>e5 1-0
225

The Chess Manual of Avoidable Mistakes Vol 1 - Romain Edouard

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The Chess Manual of

Copyright © 2014 Remain Edouard

Website: www.thinkerspublishi ng.com

Managing Editor: lvan Sokolov

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Proofreading: l rina Krush & Daniel Vanheirzeele

Software assistant: Hub Van Laar

Cover Design and drawings: Philippe Tonnard

Production: BESTinGra phics

Thinkers Publishing 2014

a good move ± White has a serious advantage

Ch 1: Obj e ctivity throughout a ch e ss gam e -----------------------------�----------------------------------- 9

Exe rcises to Chapte r 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 47

Ch 2: Ge n e ra I re asons for blund e ring------------------------------------------------------------------------- 51

Ch 3 Concrete move s and conce ssions ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 98

Ch 4: A few key tips to improve your results ---------------------------------------------------------------- 142

Solutions to all Exe rcise s ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 172

• how to be more objective during a chess game;

• how to judge concrete moves and concessions;

Now let's have a deeper look at the composition of the book.

Romain EDOUARD, November 2014.

A second problem we have to face is that

24 . . . cS !? 25. 'ltbS � aB=

30 ... gS ! ? 3 1 . � d 1 bS ! 32. tt:JxbS �c6 33.

37 ... � c8 was the only move to stay in the

38. �xd8+ J.xd8

Position after: 32. �dl

32 ... c4 ! 33. �xd3 cxd3 34. !! d l d2 35.

Of course it is not always easy to realize

1. e4 e6 2. d4 dS 3. llJd2 il.,e7 4. .,td3 cS

12. _ib2 axb4 13. cxb4 l:[xa2 14. li xa2

12... b6! 13. 0-0 bxcS 14. bS �b7 1S. c4

41. AxeS?? 0 18 ... llJb6

Once again the same problem, not trying 19. �fl

I fin a l ly managed to echange my strong o 25. llJfd 2 ! � e 6 ! ? 26. llJxcS j_ d S 27.

43 ... _ixf6 44. �e4 �e6 o 27. 11cl llc8 +

29. It a3 �f7+ for sure have seen if I hadn't been playing

30. lt:Je4 !1c4+ 35. J,.xc3 i_xa4 36. b6 i_c6 37. g3

31. �d2 i(.xf2 32. i_xa5 �e3+ 33. �xe3

Position after: 37. g3

The endgame is actually a dead draw.

37 �f7 38. h4 �e6 39. i_b4 �f5 40.

J,.f8 g5 41. hxg5 �xg5 42. J,.e7 h5 43.

Now comes the moment we're interested

But using my brain a little bit more, I would

15. ltJd2± 31. ltJd4?!

25... axb6 26. a4 �aS 27. 0-0 AfB 28.

Position after: 32. cxd4

Now it's my opponent who starts to blun­

32 ... � xf7 33. f5 � xf5 34. � xf5 Axf5 35.

29. r:i;;h1 �afB?! 35... d2 36. �f6 �xf4+?

29 . . . � hf8-+ 36 . . . � hf8 37. �xf5 � cl 38. �d3 �xfl

37. �g2 �e4+ 38. �h3 � E douard, Romain (2334)

9 ... lt::lc6 is the theoretical move.

10. �gS lt::lc6 11. 0-0-0 'fi/c7 12. �f4 �e7

Position after: 44 . 'Ot>a6

Now comes the moment related to this

4S. �d6+ Of course, being so much material up,

2 1 . lt:Jd4+- 24 ... A a2+ 25. <;f;xa2 .El. a8+-+

Rule number one

Sometimes it is very tempting to secure a

especial ly on your play, since practicing is Topalov, Veselin

Chess is a game in which you have

I will illustrate this rule with a top level

Now it's my opponent who starts to blun

A terrible blunder, in a position where ma

Objectively not the best move, but that de

made me very afraid, but after the extre

C2) 16... ltJeS!? The most equalizing mo

The principle remains the same in an Energy, calculation, and confiden

Let's start with the diagra m i n the next co