Positional attacks 9781312029965, 131202996X

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Positional Attacks Joel Johnson Edited by: Patrick Hammond

© Joel Joh nson, Febru a ry 2014 All rights rese rved . No part of this book m ay be rep roduced, transm itted in any form by any mea ns, electron ic, mech a n ical, photocopyi ng, record ing or oth erwise, without the prior written perm ission from Joel Joh nson. Ed ited by:

Patrick Ham mond

Cover Photogra phy:

Barry M. Eva ns

Cover Design and Proofreading: Joel Joh nson Game Search ing:

Joel Johnson, Richard J . Cowa n, William Pa rker, N ick Desmarais

Game Contri butors :

Brian Wall, Jack Young, Clyde N a ka m u ra, Ja mes Rizzitano, Keith H aywa rd, H a l Terrie, Rich a rd Cowa n, Jesus Seoane, Wi lliam Pa rker, Dom ingos Perego, Danielle Rice

Linares Diagra m and Lina res Figuri ne fonts © 1993-2003 by Al pine Electron ics, Steve Smith Al pine Electron ics 703 lvinson Ave. La ram ie, WY 82070 Emai l : Alpine Ch ess Fonts (alpine@ partae.co m ) Website : http ://www. partae.com/fonts/ Pressure Gauge graphic Image Copyright Ara m i nta, 2012 Used under license from Sh utterstock.com In Memoriam to my step dad and World War II N avy, Purple Heart Reci pient, Theodore Kosiavelon, 12/22/1921 - 11/09/2012

CONTENTS

7

Preface

7

Kudos

8

Brian Wal l

27

Young Rising Sta rs

27 30

D a n i i l Du bov Wei Vi

Sect i o n A

-

36

Pawn Ro l es

37

Pawn Structure Ugliest Pawn Structu re Ever?

38

Anchoring Alien Pawn Pawn Lever Pawn Brea k Center Pawn Mass

41 48 63 72 75

Isolated Pawn

94

Black Strategy Wh ite Strategy Elimi nate the I solated Pawn Wea kness with d4-d5 Sacrifices on e6 & f7, Often with f2-f4-f5 Played Rook lift Attack Qu eenside Play Th is Is N ot J u st A White Thing - Black Can D o I t Too Something Diffe rent

95 96 96 99 104 111 111 112

1 14 1 23

Backwa rd Pawn Dou bled Pawns

3

13 1

Hangi ng Pawns Strategy for Attacking Hanging Pawns Strategy #1 : Force a Pawn Adva nce Strategy #2 : Divide and Conquer Fa i l u re to Control Hanging Pawns= An Attack

131 132 136 138

1 40

M i nority Attack

140 142

Wh ite Strategy Black Strategy

146

Attacking Pawn Chains Pawn Chain Attack Strategy - Attack the Base Pawn Chain Attack Strategy - Attack the Poi nt Pawn Chain Attack Strategy - Sacrifice a Piece

146 150 153

Section B- Positio nal Atta ck Co n c e pts

158

Pawn Roll

1 59

Pawn Power

16 5

Passed Pawn Create a n Alien Pawn to Assist with Checkm ate Plug an Esca pe Route Checkmating Pawn Storm Slow Moving Pawn Storm Pawns as a Batteri ng Ram Sepa rate and Draw Forces Away from the Defense of the K i ng The Wh ite Passed Pawns Form a M ating N et Di rectly in F ront of the Black K i ng An Amazing Pawn G a m e Prevent a Pawn Pass to Force Open the h-fi le

Trades Bad Bishop versus G ood Knight

4

165 167 167 168 169 169 170 17 1 172 173

1 74 1 85

1 89

Excha nge Sacrifice Reasons Re movi ng a Key Defender Separation of Forces Dam aging a Pawn Structu re Wea ken Sq u a res Prevent Castling Create a Powerfu l Passed Pawn Precise Va l u e of the Pieces Lo ng-term Position a l Pressu re Space Place a Rook on a F i le

190 190 192 193 195 195 196 198 200 201

20 2 2 10

Piece Activity King Exposure John G refe

2 13

Space Control

217

Fatal Wea knesses

22 3

Weakn ess - g8 S q u a re Weakness - t7 S q u a re Weakn ess - h7 S q u a re Weakness - h - F i l e Wea kn ess - t7 & B a c k R a n k Weakness - D a r k Sq u a res Weakn ess - Light S q u a res Wea kness - Sq u a res Aro u n d The King Weakn ess - K i ngsid e Sq u a res

223 223 224 225 225 226 228 231 233

Section C- Positi o n a l Atta ck Motifs

236

Positiona l Excha nge Sacrifice Local Material Adva ntage Overwhel m ing Force Zugzwa ng/ Bind

237 2 68 295 299 5

305

Positional Attacks Beat Down G a m es Player Spotlight: Aleksa ndar l ndjic of Serbia Player Spotl ight : Alexey Korotylev of R ussia Opening Lin e - l.e4 e6 2 . d 4 d S 3 . e 5 c S 4.c3 Nc6 S.Nf3 Qb6 6.Bd3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Bd7 8.0-0 Nxd4 9 . N bd 2 Player Spotlight: G a rry Kaspa rov of Russia

307 3 10 312 3 13 323

Sectio n D- Mixed Atta c k Motifs

327

Mixed Attack Motifs Axh6 Sacrifice Axh7 Sacrifice F ishing Pole H - F i le Mate King Hunt Lay Down Sacrifice 4)d5 Sacrifice 4)f5 Sacrifice Opposite Side Castling Pawn Stor m Sepa ration of Forces The Wedge Bullet Chess Aggressive Defense Who Needs a Queen

328 329 335 34 1 354 357 384 395 40 3 412 427 442 45 0 454 463 483

Book News

498

6

Preface

smooth, el ega nt, aggressive, a n d positional attacking m a n euvers.

Prefa ce

You would t h i n k 1000 pages This book will also d elve deeper (Formation Attacks and Formation into sq u a re wea kn esses, along Attack Strategies) wou l d be with a n in-depth study of pawn enough to cover all aspects of play. Pawn structu re after all is the attacking and attack games. key to positional play. Each of However, I fe lt q u ite disappoi nted th ese topics wi l l be covered as when I rea l ized there wou l d be no they relate to attacki ng. room left i n the Formation Attack Strategies book to include the Kud os planned rem a i n i n g c h a pters related to Positional Attacking. A few of the u n p u b l ished chapters I wou ld like to thank Patrick were "Positional Attacks", H a m mond for his outsta n d i ng "Overwhelming Force", a n d "Loca l ed iti ng work on this book. I n Materia l Advantage" . addition I want t o thank Barry Eva n s for turning my cover id eas Forever the optimist and sti ll a n d d esigns into awesome pieces armed with loads of great m aterial, of a rtwork for a l l of my books. 1 simply decided to write a n other Tha n ks to both of you ! book. I n a d d ition, Richard Cowa n a n d The aim of Positional Attacks is to William Parker were extremely uncover the a rtistic side of hel pfu l i n fi nding new ga mes for attacking, one that is p ri m a rily the book. Their contri butions ca n centered on the creation a n d be fou n d thro ughout the book. exploitation o f weakn esses. O h Loads of ga m es were passed along sure there w i l l be tactics; after a l l, by Brian Wall, Jack You ng, Clyde they can not be avoided i n chess ­ N a ka m u ra, Jesus Seoa n e, H a l nor wou l d we want to excl ude Terrie, J a m es Rizzita no, a n d Keith them . But there is noth ing q uite Hayward . Tha n ks to all of you a n d like witnessing chess m a sters t o the m a ny oth ers who h a d a dissecting their oppon ents with hand - no m atter how s m a l l - i n creati ng this book. 7

Positional Attacks

B ria n Wa l l Brian Wall is not you r run-of-the­ mill Chess M aster - a ctu a l ly, anything but. H e is q u ick-witted, charism atic, charmi ng, h u morous, creative, a n d a joy to h ave a rou n d . I fi rst met B r i a n at Wang La boratories in Lowell, MA i n the late 1980s. We struck a n insta nt friendship that has grown stronger over time. We share m utual respect for each other's ch ess skills and creativity. In addition, we la ugh a lot whenever we a re together. At times h e has the power to m a ke m e la ugh so h a rd that I sta rt to cry. Nobody else has that effect on me.

Phoen ix, AZ. We pl ayed in many loca l ch ess tou rna m e nts a n d even entered a backga mmon tournam ent. We worked on variou s aspects of this book. But most of all we laughed a n d laughed. Since he returned to Colorado, my spirits have rem a i ned high and the chapters a re flowing. Th a n ks Bria n ! As a tri b ute to my good friend Brian, the seve n-ti me Colorado State Cham pion a n d fel low Life Master, I p resent a col lection of his great attacking ga m es . Bria n's i m agi native play is i nspiring and ca n be fou n d scattered throughout my attack books. All of my works a re significa ntly better as a resu lt of Brian's contri butions.

During the summer of 2013, I was struggling to write this 500 page book. Why? Well, even though I have been writing books for yea rs, and know exactly what needs to S m ashing the Sicilian be written, the actual act of writing ca n be grinding in nature. Brian has a knack for bashing t h e Countless hours spent worki ng Sici lian. alone wea rs on a perso n . I needed an injection i nto my spirit to j u m p­ ----------- G a m e #001 -----------sta rt the writing effort.

(W) Brian Wa l l (22 0 2) (B) Jorge Renteria (2 361 )

Brian agreed to spend the enti re month of J u ne 2013 worki ng with me on this book at my home in

[ B95] 2009 World Open, U n d e r 8

Brian Wall

2400 section, Philadelphia, PA, (Rou nd 3 ), 07/02/2009 1.e4 c5 2.�f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.� xd4 �f6 5.�c3 a6 6 . .1lc4 e6 7 . .1lg5 .1le7 8.�f3 �a5 9 . .Q.h4 � bd7 10 . .1lb3 �c5 11 .0-0-0 .1ld7 12.�b1 §cS 13.§he1 b5

16 . .1lxf6! No a utomatic moves ( l i ke axb3 or cxb3) here as Wh ite heads d i rectly for the Black King. Brian senses that the stagge ring Black Monarch is a bout to topple. 16 . . . . gxf6 17."�e3 �d8?

White has d eveloped a l l his pieces to good sq u a res, and after j u st thirteen moves, Black is lost. The weird thing is: Black's position does not look all that bad certai n ly not lost - a n d a few moves away from resign ing.

This is the fi n a l error as Black had to play 0-0, which retu rns the piece, to have a ny hope of survivi ng. M a ny players have a tough time com i ng to that conclusion, a n d will o pt to hang onto their ga i ns, even if it means their d e m ise.

Yes, the wi n n i ng move - Black is hurting now, as we s ha ll see.

18.�d5! 1-0

14. ... exf5 1 5.exf5 � xb3

Black cannot d efen d the d u a l White th reats o f .:tlxf6+ a n d .:tlxe7. 9

Positional Attacks

----------- G a m e #00 2 -----------Brian is forced to play the sacrifice 4Jd5 a bit sooner than he would have liked, but the move is still good. Black's position comes under extrem e d u ress shortly thereafter.

(W) Bria nWa ll (22 40 ) (B) ErikKarlsson (2 018 ) [B87] I CC 3 0, 09/25/2012 1.e4 c5 2.4)f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.4) xd4 4)f6 5. 4Jc3 a6 6.Ac4 e6 7.Ag5 Ae7 8.t\'f3 t\'c7 9.Ab3 b5 10.0-o-o Ab7 1 1.�b1 b4

12 . ... exd5 13.exd5 0-0 14.4)f5 §e8 15. §he1 Af8?? 16.A xf6 § xe1 17.§ xe1 gxf6 18.§e8 4Jd7 19. t\'g4+ �h8 20. t\'g7 # 1-0

----------- G a m e #00 3 -----------Th ere a re so m a ny ways to bash the Sici lian, just ask Brian Wall.

(W) Bria n Wa l l (22 40 ) (B) Justin Alter ( 1 9 11 ) [ BSO] Augu st 2013 DCC Tuesd ays, Denver Chess Club, Denve r, CO, ( Round 4), 08/27/2013 1.e4 c5 2. 4)f3 d6 3.c3 4)f6 4.Ae2 4)c6 5.d4 cxd4 6.c x d4 e6 7.4Jc3 Ae7 8.0-0 d5 9.e5 4) d7 10.Ae3 f6 1 1 .exf6 4) xf6 12 . .Q.d3 a6 13.4Je5 0-0 14.f4 .Q.d7 15.§f3 .11e8 16.§h3 Af7

12.4)d5! Wh ite would have preferred to have h is kingsid e Rook on el prior to playing 4Jd5. 10

Brian Wal l

17.g4! I love this move ! Not only is it aggressive b ut Black is forced to find the best move or lose. As it turns out the young sta r is not u p to t h e chal lenge.

9.Axf6 4) xf6 10.0-0-0 Ad7 1 1.�b1 lac8 12.Ab3 Ae7 13.f4 h5 14.h3 h4 15.lahe1 4)h5 16.�f3 b5 17.e5 d5 18.f5 M

17. ... �e8?

17 . . . g6 was necessary to h a ng .

arou n d . N ow Black is lost. 18.g5 4)e4 19.4) xe4 4) xe5? Black is desperate to e l i m i nate some of the W hite fi repower. 20.4)d6! Axd6 21.Axh7+ 'it'hS 22.Ag6+ �gs 23.lah8+ 'iflxh8 24. �h5+ �g8 25.�h7 # 1 -0

19.4) xd5!

----------- G a m e #004 ------------ With a l l of Wh ite's pieces pointing International M a sters a re not immune to h is bas h i ng. Brian has two videos on YouTu be related to bashing the Sici lian, entitled : "Shatteri ng the Scheveni ngen pt 1 & 2."

(W) 8-Wal l (2 33 0 ) ( B) KillerChess (2 437 ) [B94] I CC 3 0, 1 2/27/2010 1.e4 c5 2.4)f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.4) xd4 4)f6 5.4)c3 a6 6.Ac4 e6 7.Ag5 4)bd7 8. �e2 �a5

di rectly at the Black King i n the center, how ca n th is move not be good ? As it tu rns out, the move is crush i ng. 19 . ... exd5 20.Axd5 Aa4 2 1.f6! White conti n ues to tear a p a rt the protection of the Black Ki ng with his Pawns. 21 . ... Ac5 22.fxg7 4) xg7 23. �xf7+ �dS 24.4)e6+ 1-0

11

Positional Attacks

----------- G a m e #00 5 ------------ 1.e4 e6 2.4)f3 d5 3.e5 c5 4.b4

cxb4 5.a3 4)c6 6.a x b4 A x b4 7.c3 jlf8 8.d4 4)ge7 9.-'la3 G randmasters do not fa re any .11,d7 10.-'ld3 g6 1 1 .h4 h5 better. 12.4)g5 jlg7 13.g4 4)a5 14.4)d2 b5 1 5.jld6 4)c4 {W) B -Wal l {2 33 1 ) 16 . .Q.xc4 dxc4 17.4)de4 Ac6 18. �f3 0-0 19.4)f6+ Axf6 (B) agokoy {2479) 20.�xf6 .11, xhl? 21.jlxe7 �d5 [B57] I CC 3 0, 05/30/201 1 22.gxh5 gxh5 23.0-0-0 Ae4 24.E{g1 Ag6 25.4) xf7 Et x f7 1.e4 c5 2.4)f3 4)c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.4) xd4 4)f6 5.4)c3 d6 6.jlc4 26.�xg6+ �h8 27.�h6+ Eth7 �b6 7.4)b3 e6 8.0-0 a6 9.Ag5 28.Af6 # 1-o .11.e7 10.�h1 'l:/c7 1 1.f4 b5 12.-'ld3 -'lb7 13. �e2 0-0 14.E{ae1 4)b4 15.e5 4)fd5 Ports m outh G a m bit 16.4) xd5 Axd5 17.j}_ xe7 �xe7 18.f5 dxe5? 19.f6! �d6 20 . .11, x h7+!! 1-0

----------- G a m e #00 7 ------------

The ga me is over as Black is checkmated on the d a rk sq u a res shortly after 20 . . . . \!ilxh7

David Kane tu rned Bri a n onto the rich history of the Portsmouth ( N H ) G a m b it.

2 1 . �hS+ \!ilg8 22. �gS.

{W) Bria nWa ll {2 477 ) (B) amazinggrace {2 416 )

Wing G a m bit ----------- G a m e #006 -----------Black decides to gra b a poison Wh ite Rook and i n a flash, the ga me is over.

{W) brianwa l l {22 5 0 ) (B) chessgurl { 1 977) [COO] ICC 3 0, 07/16/2004

[ B30] I CC 3 0, ( Round 1), 10/3 1/2013 1.e4 c5 2.4)f3 4)c6 3.b4 ex b4 4.d4 d5 5.exd5 � xd5 6.c4 bxc3 7.4) xc3 �d8 The typica l move here is 7 . . . . �aS fol lowed by 8. dS! �xc3+ 9 . .ild2 and 10. dxc6 with an attack. 8.d5 4)b8 9.Af4 4)f6 10.-'lb5+ 4) bd7 1 1 .0-0 a6 12.E{e1 4)h5?

12

Brian Wa l l

13.�d2? M issi ng 1 3 . .£Je4! (th reaten i ng

14 . .£Jd6 # ) �b6 1 4 . .£Jd6+ �d8 1 5 . .:tlxf7+ �e8 1 6.1.txd7+ 1.txd7 17.1.te3 with a winning adva ntage

factor is that Black is attacking a n d Wh ite is defendi ng. 19. �d3 �b4 20.4)de2 4) xg4 21.fxg4?

for White.

The Black Kn ight is poiso n .

13 . ... 4) xf4 14.�xf4 g6 15.4)g5 1-0

21 . ... A, xc3 22.4) xc3 § xc3 23. �d4 �a3+ 24.�b1 § xc2 25.�xc2 � x a2+ 26.�d3 § x b3+ 27.�c3 .Q..b 5+ 0- 1

Black Dragon Queenside Castling Bish ing Pole

----------- G a m e #008 -----------(W) Jeff Baffa ( 18 39 ) (B) Brian Wa l l (2229) [ B75) Denver Open, Denver, CO, (Round 1), 01/07/2000 1.4)c3 a6 2.e4 c5 3.4)f3 d6 4.d4 cxd4 5.4) x d4 4)f6 6 . .Q..c4 g6 7.f3 .Q..g7 s . .Q..e3 o-o 9.�d2 4)bd7 10.0-0-0 4)e5 1 1 . .Q..b3 b5 12.h4 4)c4 13. �e2 .Q.. d7 14.A xc4 bxc4 15. � x c4?! Wh ite has won a Pawn but Black has compensation i n the form of open fi les for h is Rooks.

15 . ... a5 16.g4 §b8 17.h5 'ltb6 18.b3 §fc8

When Grandmaster Roman Dzindzichashvili was in town, he told so many fascinating Chess stories that I wanted to write his biography. I played over many of his games and found some Fishing Pole attacks. To those in the know, the Fishing Pole is not some silly joke but an ancient attacking weapon employed by Alekhine and others before him. Many of the World's best players use it constantly. Roman knew /liked it so he showed me a Bishing Pole system against the Queen's Gambit Declined. The idea is:

My computer a l ready has Black 1} set up a Bishing Pole on the with a slight advantage d espite Kingside; bein g down a Pawn . The other key 13

Positional Attacks

2) castle Queenside; 3) try to play e4 in one move

speed and strength of the White attack.

4) I added my own refinement

10.e4 dxe4 1 1 .4) xe4 4) xe4 12.�xe4 a4?

instead of two; and

after Fritzing a few games - in particular, the variations seemed to work better with my King on bl. Here is the idea in its purest form. Brian Wall

The two moves aS a n d a4 gave Wh ite the tem p i needed to reach a wi nning position . 1 3 . .Q.d3 1-0 Black resigned due to the only

----------- G a m e #00 9 ------------ defensive moves, fS a n d g6, lose a (W) brianwa l l (2337) (B) The G u nslinger (22 3 2) [053] I CC 3 0, 07/2 1/2004 l.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.4)c3 4)f6 4.4)f3 e6 5 . .Q.g5 .Q.e7 6. �c2 0-0 7.0-0-0 h6 8.h4

Bait = Bait = Bait = Bait=

Fishing Pole Li ngo Kn ight, ca lled "Fishing Pole" Bishop, cal led "Bishing Pole" Rook, called "Rooking Pole" Queen, ca lled "Qishing Pole"

Pawn i m m ediately and cause irreparable d a m age to the Black kingside. After the game we entered examine mode automatically and I watched as TheGunslinger feebly moved the pieces to and fro, wondering where the bullet came from, and how I pulled the trigger so fast. Brian Wall

8 . ... 4)bd7 9.clflbl

----------- G a m e #010 ------------

Wh ite is not in a rush to attack, and in some lines, the King is better placed on b l .

Another pou n d i ng of the light sq uares leads to another battered Black kingside.

9 . ... a5

(W) brianwall (2 33 2) (B) safi r (2 456 )

The text move i l l u strates how Black has u nder-estimated the

[053] I CC 3 0, 05/13/2004

14

Brian Wall

1 .d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.4)c3 Ae7 4.4)f3 4)f6 5.Ag5 0-0 6. �c2 h6 7.h4 4) bd7 8.0-0-0 §e8 9. c;f} bl c6 10.e4 dxe4 1 1 . 4) xe4 � xe4 12.�xe4 4)f6 13.Axf6 .Q. xf6 14. g 4 A com m o n o ption for "Fishing Pole Attackers" is "bait a n d switch " to a Pawn Storm, as i n this ga m e . 1 4 . ... e 5 15.g5!?

----------- G a m e #011 -----------Words ca n n ot d escri be this next ga m e . Just play o ut the moves eve r so slowly a n d savor each m ajestic blow.

( W) BrianWa l l ( 22 57 ) ( B) DeadManWa lking ( 222 1 ) [053] ICC 3 0, 08/26/2013

l.d4 d5 2.4)f3 4)f6 3.c4 e6 4.4)c3 Ae7 5.Ag5 0-0 6. �c2 h6 7.h4 b6 8.0-0-0 4)bd7 9. c;f} bl Ab7 10.4)e5 �c8 15 . ... exd4 l l .g4 d x c4 12.e4 b5 13.f3 a6 14.Axf6 Axf6 15.4) x d7 �xd7 Black overlo o ks the d efensive 16.g5 h xg5 17.e5 Axf3 resource, 1 5 . . . . g6! with the th reat 18.Ag2 Axd1 19.�xdl Ae7? of ..llf5. I n a tough position Black m a kes a n 16. �c2 Ae7 17.gxh6 g6 in accurate m ove w h e n there was 18. § xd4 �b6 19.h5! o n ly one m ethod of m a i nta i n i ng a n adva ntage : 1 9 . . . . §ad8. The Wh ite attack snowballs from

The text m ove is perha ps a bit too aggressive, if there is such a thi ng.

h e re.

20.hxg5 Axg5 21.4)e4 �e7??

19 . ... Af5 20.Ad3 Axd3 2 1 . �xd3 c5 22.§g4 §adS 23.�c2 c;f} h7 24. 4)e5!

Once aga i n Black o n ly had o n e move to h a ng in th ere (21 . ... f6). Locating the best m oves in th ese The Wh ite Kn ight deals the fi n a l positio n s in bl itz chess is very blow, attacking a l l the wea k light d ifficu lt, but o n e m u st give kudos squa res a ro u n d the Black King. to Brian as he is not having any trouble fi nding the crushing plays, 24 . ... §d6 25.4) xf7 §f6 26.hxg6+ § xg6 27. §hgl §eg8 m ove after m ove. 28.4)e5 Ag5 29.§ xg5 1-0

15

Positional Attacks

checkmate from Formation Attacks Strategies, Game #043.

"seven-time Colorado State Cha mpion"

Stau nton G a m bit Fishing Pole

22:lth5! .Q.h6 23.4)f6+! hs 24 ..Q.e4 .§adS 25. � x h6+! g xh6 26 . .§ x h6+ g7 27. .§h7 # 1-0

-----------

G a m e #01 2

------------

(W) Bria nWa l l (22 74 ) (B) Silvo (22 55 ) [ABO] I CC 3 0, 07/29/2013 l.d4 e6 2.4)c3 f5 3.e4 f xe4 4.f3 4)f6 5.fxe4 .Q.b4 6 . .Q.d3 0-0 7.4)f3 d5 8.e5 4)e4 9 . .Q.d2 4) xc3 10.bxc3 .Q.e7 l l .h4 c5? Black desperately needed to play

1 1 . . . . h6. 12.4)g5 The other thematic move i n this position is the crushing 12 . .ilxh7+!.

Final Position The ga me concludes with a variation of the M i l m a n - Fang

Here a re the wi n n i ng conti n u ations:

12 . . . . �xh7 1 3 . d8 13 . .£\ xb5 (Separation of Forces), and create tt x e4+ 14.tte2 �f6 1 5 . .Q.g5 ttg6? 16.tte5! b6 17.A.d3 fatal square weaknesses . " tth5

The time for reckoning has a rrived,

60

Alien Pawn

and Black's position can not be defended.

----------- G a m e #0 57 -----------White creates an Alien Pawn on f6, sepa rati ng the Black d efensive forces. Afterwa rds, h e relentlessly assa u lts the Black kingside.

(W) Alexey Cardoso (2427 ) (B) Daniel Lea l (2 535 ) ( B48] 35th Barbera Open A, Ba rbera del Val les, Spain, ( Ro u n d 8. 6), 07/ 1 1/2012

18.� xf6+! gxf6 19 . .Q.xf6+ Ae7 20. .Q.xe7+ �e8 21.4)c7 # 1-0

l.e4 c5 2.4)f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.4) x d4 4)c6 5.4)c3 �c7 6.f4 a6 7 . .Q.e3 b5 8 . .Q.d3 .Q.b7 9.4)b3 4)f6 10.0-0 d6 11.a4 b4 12.4)bl .Q.e7 13.4) 1d2 0-0 14.�hl 4)d7 15.4)c4 g6 16.a5 4)c5 17.4) xc5 dxc5 18.f5 4)e5 19.Af4 Af6 20.Axe5 Wh ite tra d es i n his d a rk-sq u a red Bishop i n order to create a da ngerous Alien Pawn . 20 . ... Axe5 21.f6! The Alien Pawn on f6 creates defensive issu es for Black as his forces on the q ueensid e will be spectators d u ring the Wh ite assa u lt on the Black King. I refer to this situation as "Separation of Forces" .

Final Position

61

Positional Attacks

Black King - second, Wh ite is in no rush to captu re the "free" Black Pawn on h5.

21 . ... E!fdS 22. t\'g4 E!d4 23.E!ae1 b3 24. t\'h3 h5 25.c3 E!ddS 26.t\'e3 C(t>h7 27 . .1lb1 E!hS 28. t\'g5 .ild6 29.e5

30.E!e3 C(t>gS 31.E!g3 E!h6 The Wh ite Alien Pawn on f6 is now 32.4:\d6 c4 33.E!f4 .ild5 34.E!h4 C(t>hS 35.E!gh3! fi rmly entrenched and a perman ent thorn i n Black's side. White has a m assed an 29 . ... .ilfS Black adds the last piece h e can bring to bea r in the defense of his King. At this poi nt, there a re a couple of thi ngs you should recognize about the position : first, White has a h uge space advantage due to the Pawn structure ( h is Pawns on e5 and f6 in particu lar) - essential ly, he has an adva nced wedge where he can build u p his forces i n front of the

overwhelming force i n the previously u n occu pied a rea i n front o f t h e B l a c k K i n g i n preparation for a "smash-in-the­ front-door'' i nvasion . Black is u nable to m u ster a ny defense due to so m a ny of his pieces just hopelessly spectati ng on the q u eenside. 35 . ... C(t>gS 36.E!xh5 E! x h 5 37.f! xh5 E!dS 3 8. .1lxg6 fxg6 39.t\' xg6+ .ilg7 40.t\'h7+ C(t>fS 41. t\'h8+ 1-0

62

Pawn Lever

Pawn Leve r

effective tool for wi n n i ng sq u a re battles.

Si m ple Exa m ples ----------- G a m e #0 58 -----------A Pawn Lever bri ngs the ga me to an abru pt e n d . In this exa m p le, the fi n a l position dep icts a battle for control of the f7 s q u a re. With the e6! Pawn Lever, Wh ite wi ns the battle a n d the ga m e . Accord ing to Pawn Power in Chess by H a ns Kmoch, a Pawn Lever is defined as: " a situation where two opposing

(W) MassCarnage (22 00 ) (B) w m olina 7734 ( 1865 ) [C56] I CC tou rney 369357 (3 0), (Round 4), 08/29/2010

Pawns ca n ca ptu re each other . "

1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3 . .Q..c4 4)f6 4.4)f3 4)c6 5.e5 d5 6 . .1lb5 The above d i agra m depicts such a 4)e4 7.4) x d4 .Q..d 7 8 . .1l xc6 bxc6 9.0-0 .Q..c 5 10.f3 4)g5 scenario. However, I feel that 1 1 .f4 4)e4 12.4)c3 4) xc3 definition is too broad. My 13.bxc3 0-0 14.f5 §eS 15.f6 personal defi n ition is: g6 16 . .Q..f4 .Q..f 5 17. �d2 .Q..e4 18 . .1lg3 �d7 19. �h6 .1lf8 " A situation where two opposing 20.�h4 c5 21.4)b3 a5 Pawn s can ca pture each other, 22. §ae1 a4 23.4)d2 .Q.. xc2 but the act would u ndermine one 24. 4)f3 h5 25.4)g5 .Q..f 5 26.h3 §adS 27 . .Q..f4 d4 28.g4 .Q.. x g4? side's squa re control . " 29.h xg4 �xg4+ 30. �xg4 hxg4 The games i n this chapter illustrate 31.cxd4 cxd4 32.e6! 1 -0 my personal d efi n ition of a Pawn Black resigned beca use of either Lever. I view the Pawn Lever as a n 32 . . . . fxe6 33. f7 + a n d 34. fxe8('lti') 63

Positional Attacks

or 33. ext7+ a n d 34 . fxe8 (�).

.Q.xd3 22. � x d3 §f6 23.b5 h5 24.bxc6 bxc6 25.§fe1 §afS 26. §c2 �f7 27.§ee2 h4 28.gxh4 gxh4 29.e4 �g6 30.Elc3 �g4 31.e5 Elf3 32. � x f3 § xf3 33.§ xf3

Black forces Wh ite to resign after a 33 stu nnmg . p awn Lever bl ow.

{W) Ba ris Esen {2 5 1 3 ) (B) Nikita Vitiugov {2 6 92) [ 038] World Tea m Cham pionsh i p, Bursa, Turkey, ( Round 5), 01/09/2010 1.d4 .£,f6 2.c4 e6 3 . .£,f3 d5 4 . .£,c3 .Q.b4 5.cxd5 exd5 6 . .1lg5 .£,bd7 7. §c1 c6 8.a3 .Q.d6 9.e3 .£,f8 10.Jld3 .£,g6 11.itc2 .Q.e6 12 . .£, h4 0-0 13 . .£,e2 h6 14 . .£, xg6 fxg6 15 . .£,f4 Jlxf4 16 . .Q.xf4 g5 17 . .Q.g3 .£,e4 18.0-0 .£, xg3 19.hxg3 �d7 20.b4 .1lf5 21.a4

.

••.

h 3! 0-1

----------- G a m e #060 -----------Wh ite rips open Black's d efensive structu re with a Pawn Lever.

{W) G rae m e Spain (B) Ortvin Sa rapu [CGO] 94th N ew Zealand Cham pions h i p, Wanga n ui, N ew Zea land, (Round 10), 1987 1.e4 e5 2 . .£, f3 .£,c6 3 . .1lb5 g6 4.d4 exd4 5 . .£, x d4 .Q.g7 6 . .£, xc6 bxc6 7.-'t,c4 .£, e7 8 . .£,c3 0-0 9 . .1lg5 ElbS 10. itd2 d6 11 .0-0-0 .1le6 12 .1lb3 �d7 •

64

Pawn lever

13.Ah6 A x b3 14.axb3 f6 15.h4 §f7 16 . .Q.xg7 f/; x g7 17.h5 g5? Black attem pts to avoid the opening of the h-file for W h ite's Rooks but opens h i mself up for a Pawn Lever.

33.§xf7+ f/;xf7 34.§a1 f/;f6 35. § x a7 4)e6 36.f/;e3 f/;e5 37.c3 d5 38.cxd5 cxd5 39.b4 f/;d6 40. §a8 d4+ 41.cxd4 4)f4 42. §a6+ c6 43.b5 4)d5+ 44.f/;d2 4) b4 45. § x c6+ 1-0

Featured G a m e ------------ G a m e #061 ----------A tim ely Pawn Lever by Black causes the W h ite kingside to disi ntegrate.

{W) Sopio G vetadze {2 342 ) (B) Eva M oser {2 437 ) [B33] E u ropean I n d ivid u a l Cha m p ionships (Women), Rijeka, Croatia, (Round 7), 03/1 2/2010 18.e5! With the Black d-Pawn p i n n ed to the Black Queen a n d the Black f-Pawn gu a rd i ng the g5 Pawn, White's move u n dermi nes the very sta bility of the Black ki ngsid e Pawns.

1.e4 c5 2.4)f3 4)c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.4) xd4 4)f6 5.4)c3 e5 6.4)db5 d6 7.4)d5 4) x d5 8.exd5 4) b8 9.c4 .Q.e7 10 . .Q.e2 0-0 1 1 .0-0 a6 12.4)c3 4)d7 13.f/;h1 f5 14.f4 .Q.f6 15.'/}/c2 exf4 16 . .Q.xf4 4)e5 17.b4 a5 18. §ab1 4)g6 19.jlg3 .Q. xc3 20. t\' xc3 f4 21 . .Q.f2 axb4 22. § x b4 § x a2 23 . .Q.f3 4)e5 24.c5 4) xf3

18 . ... tte6? 19.exf6+ § x f6 20.�de1 'ltf7 21.4)e4 h6 22.� xf6 tt x f6 23.ttc3 '/}/ x c3 Black trades her well-placed Kn ight 24.bxc3 f/;f6 25.§e4 4) d5 26.�d2 f/;f5 27.f3 §g8 28.g4+ for Wh ite's light-sq u a red Bishop. What is the sign ificance of this �f6 29.§he1 §f8 30.§e6+ move ? The position after the trade �g7 31.c4 4)f4 32.§e7+ §f7 65

Positional Attacks

is a Bishop of Opposite Colors with Qu eens and Rooks on the board . I n positions of t h i s type, t h e player with the best attack wins. An entire cha pter was d evoted to this topic in Formation Attack Strategies.

man euver. 28.�e4 A d rawn position could be reached after 28.hxg4 hxg4 29.'i!1e4 g3

30.�xg3 fxg3 3l .'l!1e6+ �h7 32 .'i!1h3+ 'i!1h6 33.�gl 'i!1xh3 34.gxh3 § d8 35.§dl §xd6 36.§ xb7 §aS 37.�g2 §dxd5 38.§ xd5 § xd5, b ut most players rea lize the da nger of accepting such sacrifices is h igh . 28 . ... §.e2 29. �c4?

My com puter eva luates the cu rrent position as rough ly equal, however, Black has a clear u ndersta nding a bout the need to attack here. The remainder of this ga me is a sterling disp lay of attacking ability and the use of a Pawn lever by Eva M oser. Bravo ! 26.h3 h5 27.cxd6 ll.g4!? Black preps the u pcom1 ng Pawn lever move with a Bish i ng Pole

Black misplaces her Queen.

29. 'i!1d4 was White's o n ly non­ losing move. This is the basic issue with playing d efense i n wid e-open positions, eve ry move m u st be p recise, and just one so-so move can end the game, just l i ke that.

66

Pawn Lever

29 . ... f3!

Model G a m es

This Pawn Lever move com p letely destabilizes the W hite kingside Pawn Struct u re and ca uses W h ite to pa nic by accepti ng the Bishing Pole sacrifice.

------------ G a m e #06 2 ----------Black uti lizes two Pawn Lever moves to infi ltrate the Wh ite ki ngside.

30.h xg4?

(W) jayson l ( 1 979) (B) Fea rNoEvil (22 00 ) [ B04] ICC 5 0, 1 2/08/2005 l.e4 4)f6 2.e5 4)d5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 4)b6 5.exd6 cxd6 6.4)f3 g6 7 .4)c3 .Q.g7 8 . .Q.e2 0-0 9.0-0 4)c6 10 . .Q.e3 .Q.g4 ll.b3 e5 1 2.d5 4) e7 13.h3 .Q.xf3 14 . .Q.xf3 f5 15.Etcl h6 16. �d2 �h7 17.a3 Etc8 18.4)b5 a6 19.4)c3 4) d7 20. �a2 b6 21.b4 4)g8 22.4)a4 e4 23.-'l.dl f4 24 . .Q.d2 30 . ... �h4+!! Wh ite is checkm ated on all replies ! 3V�gl Accepting the Black Queen sacrifice leads to checkmate after

31 ...1lxh4 fxg2+ 32 .�h2 gxfl (�)+ 33.�xe2 �xe2+ 34.�h3 � fl 35.f!b3 �gl 36.-'tg3 � h l + 37 . ..1lh2 �xh2 # . 31 . ... fxg2 32.� xg2 Etexf2+ 0-1

"A situation where two opposing Pawns ca n capture each other, but the act would u ndermine one side's square control."

24 . ... f3 Black weakens the W h ite kingside Pawn Struct u re with a Pawn Lever. 25.g3 .Q.d4 26 . .Q.c2?

67

Positional Attacks

26 . ... e3!

In the above partial position, Black has a plan of acq u i ring control of The second Pawn Lever the e5 square as a powerfu l disi ntegrates the Wh ite kingside centra l outpost for his Kn ight. As a and the Black attack mushrooms. resu lt, he attacked the Wh ite f- Pawn on the last move with the 27.fxe3? �g5! 28.�f2 .ile5 29.§gl �df6 30 . .Q.d3 §ce8 Pawn Lever move, g5!. Th e point 31 .e4? .Q.d4+ 32.�fl �h5 of this move is that no m atter how 33.§hl � xe4 34. .1}.xe4 § x e4 White responds - fxg5, f5, or by 35 . .1lc3 §e2 36.§c2 �e5! 37 . .Q.xd4 � x d4 38.§ x e2 fxe2+ leavi ng h is f-pawn on f4 to be taken with gxf4 - Black wi l l gain 39.�xe2 §f2+ 40.�el § xa2 0-1 control of the e5 square for his Knight. This is the true essence I n the Sici lian Defense, there a re and effectiveness of a Pawn Lever . many games wh ere the Black side Understan d i n g this tech n i q u e is attem pts to ga in control of the e5 essentia l for every chess p layer, square as a strong outpost s q u a re especially a nyone playing either for one of his Knights; and q u ite side of a Sici l i a n . frequently, the means of achievi ng this goa l is through the usage of a Pawn Lever. 68

Pawn Lever

----------- G a m e #0 63 ------------ Wh ite f- Pawn disap pears from the f4 square, Wh ite will h ave no Black achieves the powerfu l Knight means of contesti n g Black's outpost on e5, from where he control of the e5 sq u a re. lau nches an attack on the White 13.h4 gxf4 14.� de2 �e5 King.

(W) Alexa ndra Kosteniuk (2 51 7 ) (B) Leinier Do m inguez Perez (271 9 ) [ B99] World Blitz Cham pionship, Moscow, Russia, ( Ro u n d 42), 1 1/18/2009 l.e4 c5 2.�f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.4) xd4 �f6 5.�c3 a6 6.A,g5 e6 7.f4 Ae7 8.�f3 �c7 9.0-0-0 �bd7 10.g4 h6 ll.A xf6 A,xf6 12.A,g2 g5 M i ssion acco m p l ished ! 15.�xf4 A,g7 16.�bl A,d7 17 .g5 0-0-0 18.Elh3 �b8 19.�d4 Elc8 20.�b3? Si nce wi n n i ng the e5 square, Black has slowly i m p roved his position to the point where he can com m ence an attack on the Wh ite King. The problem with Wh ite's last move is the wea kness of the d a rk sq u a res (b2 a n d c3 in particular). Black has just played the Pawn Lever move, 12 . g5. Once the .

.

20. ... h xg5 21.h xg5 E! xh3

.

69

Positional Attacks

Black is pecking away at the Wh ite pieces p rovid ing d efense for the c3 sq uare. 22o.ilxh3 4)c4 23o �d3 Wh ite's attem pt to fend off Black's incom ing attack is too l ittle, too late.

31o �xa5 �g1 + 32o4)c1 �d4 33oc3 Ad3+ 34o\!7b2 � x c3 0-1

• • • • -�� �t� � �

• •i• •

� B � � b� � � ft � � /, . .

.

. . .

�

.. . . . . /

L.�

• ��A - .

ft � � � � � ­ � � � L. �

%.

. . . .·

Final Position

----------- G a m e #0 64 ------------

23o ooo 4) xb2!

Wh ite u n leashes a vicious attack on the Black Ki ng, but the strong Black Kn ight on e5 thwa rts a l l of Wh ite's attack plans.

Black completes h is attack with the punishing exploitation of Wh ite's d a rk-square weaknesses.

(W) S Mehdi (22 33 ) (B) Moha m ad AI - Modiah ki (2 569 )

24o\!7xb2 Axc3+ 25o\!7b1 Ae5 26o �d2 a5 27 o.ilf1

[ B98] 7th Dubai Open Chess Cham pionsh i p, Dubai, U n ited Arab Emi rates, ( Round 1), 04/04/2005

The Black Pawn on aS is poison; for exa mple 27 . .£\xa5 Ac3. 27o ooo .1lb5 28o� x d6 Axf1 29o�d7 �b6 30o � x f7 .1lc4

1oe4 c5 2o4)f3 d6 3od4 cxd4 4o4) x d4 4)f6 5o4)c3 a6 6o.1lg5 e6 7of4 Ae7 8o�f3 h6 9o.1lh4 g5

70

Pawn lever

Once again, Black cou nters White's aggressive Pawn p lay, with the Pawn Lever move 9 . . . . g5 to gain control of the e5 sq u a re .

squared Bishop on d3 with the possibility of e5 to u n leash its power seems reasonab le, but Black has no i ntention of a l lowi ng White to play eS, ever.

"A situation where two opposing Pawns ca n capture each other, but the act would u ndermine one side's square control."

13

10.fxg5 4)fd7 1 1 .4) xe6!?

Clearly, Wh ite has a m bitious attack plans as h is means of answering the Black Kn ight maneuver. 11 . . . . fxe6

•

•••

4)e5!

Black has achieved h is powerful Kn ight outpost. The Kn ight d efends m a ny key sq u a res from e5, including f7 a n d g6. 14.0-0+ d7 16. 'lt/xf7+ .1le7 17 .exf6

�e3+

The Black King flees the center and hides just long enough for Black to snare the White King. Castling queenside and running for your life are the backup plans. 22.E{d1 .1ld3+ 23.E{xd3 'lt/xd3+ 24.'it>f2 E{xa2 25.Etb1 'lt/xb1 26.4)b5 'lt/xb2+ 27.\tlg3 'lt/xg2+ 28.'it>h4 'lt/xh2+ 29.'it>g4 Etg8+ 30.4)g5 Etxg5+ 0-1 ----------- G a m e #08 3 ------------

White attempts to bust down the Black Center Pawn Mass to uncover the Black King. Despite his persistence, White succumbs when his own King comes under fire.

White has completely shattered {W) Sergey Fedorch u k {2 641) Black's Center Pawn Mass at the Mikhail G u revich {2597) expense of his own King's safety. (B) [COG] Cappelle Ia Grande, France, (Round 6), 02/17/2010 17 . ... 'lt/e4+ 18.'it>d1 'lt/d3+ 19.'it>e1 'lt/e3+

We reach a common dilemma posit ion. Black, the much lower rated player, is happy to draw after 20. )t>dl �d3+ 2 1 . )t>el

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.4)d2 c5 4.4)gf3 4)f6 5.e5 4)fd7 6.c3 4)c6 7 . .1ld3 a6 8.0-0 g5

Once again we witness Black pawn storming the White King with his

88

Center Pawn Mass

own King located behind a Center 26.a3 4)c6 27.4:\f7+ �c7 Pawn Mass. The Black King has found a safe haven for the time being.

g4 10.4:\el cxd4 ll.cxd4 4:\ xd4 12.t\'x g4

9.Abl

28.f5!?

r to win back his Pawn, te still envisions the shedding opens the g-file for Black's Whi of the Black's King cover. Rooks.

I n orde Wh ite

12 . ... .£)c6 13.f4 h5 14.t\'dl �b6+ 15.�hl .£\c5 16 . .£)df3 h4 17.4)g5 Jle7 18.4)ef3 Jld7 19.h3 a5 20.J1,.c2 .£) b4 21.Jle3 �a6 22.4) xf7

28 . ... §hg8 29.4)d6? 4) xe5 30.fxe6 j},xd6 3l.b4 axb4 32.axb4 §xg6 33.exd7 t\'d3 34.bxc5 bxc5

White continues his plan of stripping the Black King of all his Wh ite decides that the Black King should stay in the center and not cover. be all o wed to castl e queenside in 35.d8(t\')+ �xd8 36. t\'h5 the future. Whi t e has almost full �d7 37.J1,.xc5 t\'e4 38.§f2 compensation for the loss of the Jlxc5 39.§xc5 Knight. Just when it appears that White 22 . ... �xf7 23.4)g5+ �e8 has reached his goal and the Black 24.Ag6+ �d8 25.§cl b6 89

Positional Attacks

King stands completel y naked in shows us how the wing attack can the middle of the board, Black work. cashes in with a checkmate of his 12.�d1 g4 13.4)e1 h5 14.4)c2 own. h4 15.4)b4 39 �a1+ 40.c;l?h2 �xg2+ White has a plan to win the Black 0-1 a-Pawn, foll owed by promoting his White is checkmated after own a-Pawn. White spends four 4 1 . E! xg2 �f4+ 42. E!g3 �xg3 # . moves to relocate his kingside Knight and capture the Black ----------- G a m e #084 -----------a-Pawn. He apparentl y does not respect Black's upcoming attack, {W) Skorpion Defense {2 3 1 4 ) and will pay heavily. (B) Danielle { 1 9 1 7 ) .

.•.

[A46] ICC 15 0, 07/19/2013

1.d4 4)f6 2.4)f3 b5 3.e3 a6 4.a4 b4 5.a5 .Q.b7 6.c4 bxc3 7.bxc3 e6 8 . .Q.d3 d6 9.0-0 4)bd7 10.�e2 �g8 11.4)bd2 g5

15 . ... .Q.h6 16.4) xa6 g3 17.hxg3??

The opening of the h-file just adds to White's defensive issues (weak squares - e3, g3, f2 , etc.). 17 . ... hxg3 18.f3?

White cannot leave the Black g-Pawn on the board. 18 4)d5 19.4)e4 �h4 20.4) xg3 �xg3 21.jld2 �xa6 22.�db1 �a7 23 . .Q.e1 •

...

"primary benefit = attack on either wing"

One of my students, Danielle Rice, 90

Center Pawn Mass

10/01/2013

1.e4 e6 2.d4 b6 3.�f3 Ab7 4.Ad3 d5 5.e5 �e7 6.c3 c5 7.0-0 �ec6 8.§e1 Aa6 9.Ac2 Ae7 10.a3 �d7 11.�bd2 g5

23

.

.

.. Axe3+! 24.�xe3

No better is:

24. �fl �h2 25. �b2 4Jf4 26. A£'2

�hl + 27 . .ilgl �xgl # . 24 .

...

�xg2 # 0-1

12.g4?

White was facing the threat of 1 2 . . . . g4 , trapping the Kni g ht on f3. Grandmaster Tamaz Gelashvili Regardless, White is very attacks White from both wings uncomfortable dealing with the with all of his remaining pieces threat. converging on the White King in 12 . ... h5 13.h3 hx g4 14.hxg4 the center. Black's objective is to open files for (W) Marc Esser m a n (BOS) his Rook(s), and the h-file is now (257 7 ) open. (B) Ta m az G elashvili (NY)

----------- G a m e #08 5 ------------

(2703)

Chess league, Boston New York, (Week 6),

[BOO] U.S. versus

14 . ... §c8 15.�f1 �c7 16.Ab1 cxd4 17.cxd4 Axf1 18.§xf1

91

Positional Attacks

(W) l nferna i -Xa M (2 455 ) ( B) Ca pilanoBridge (27 16 )

[BlO] ICC 1 0, 06/25/2008

1.e4 c6 2.4)f3 d5 3.e5 -'1,g4 4.d4 e6 5.-'1,e2 c5 6.c3 4)d7 7.0-0 4)e7 8.dxc5 4)c6 9.4)d4 -'1,xe2 10. �xe2 -'1,xc5 11.4)f3 h6 12.§e1

18 . ... 4)cxe5!

Black already had control of the only two open files (c and h files) and now, he will gain control of the center too. 19.dxe5 4) xe5 20.�g2 4) xf3 21.�xf3 E!h3+

have reached an Advanced The White King is flushed from the We French Pawn structure, much like kingside into the center. Game #068. Let's see how one of 22.�e2 �c4+ 23.Ad3 �xg4+ the world's eli t e players handl e s 24.�d2 E!xd3+! 25.�xd3 the sit uation. �e4+ 26.�d2 E!c4! 0-1 ----------- G a m e #086 ------------

12 . ... g5

What else? Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura 13.h3 Ae7 performs to perfection, the strategy of the Center Pawn Mass Black prepares the move h5 by in a Bullet Chess game. protecting the g-Pawn again. 92

Center Pawn Mass

19.c4 'ith4 Black Ti m e E l a psed :

22 seconds !

"SI M PLY AMAZI N G I " ·

" ... aga i n st tough attacki�g opponents you may fi nd It necessa ry to e m ploy a Plan

.

B l �ke

cast l i ng queenside or just runnmg for you r l ife."

93

Positional Attacks

I sol ated Pawn

These posit ions are a launch pad for attacks. The White Isolated d-Pawn has the following advantages and disadvantages: 4)

White Advantages

The very definit ion of Isolated Pawn means that the possessor has eit her open or semi-open files to the immediate left and right of the Isolated Pawn; The Isolated Pawn is a lonely 1) Whi t e has easy development creature with no real friends, as due to open diagonals and a space both sides want to remove it from advantage; the board. 2) The Isolated Pawn can support For the purpose of this chapter, and White pieces on the e5 the discussion will primarily cover and c5anchor squares; and the White Isolated d-Pawn on d4. Why? 3) Black has problems developing the light-squared Bishop and his 1) I t is by far the most common isolated Pawn situation seen in queenside. chess; White Disadva ntages 2) Many openings can reach an isolated d-Pawn position; 3) Most of the characteristics of 1) Isolated Pawns can be weak the isolated d-Pawn also apply to because they cannot be protected other isolated Pawns; and by other Pawns; 94

Isolated Pawn

2) The square in front of the isolated pawn (dS ) may become a strong outpost for an opposing pi ece, especially a Knight, because there are no enemy Pawns that can chase the piece away; and 3) Trading off pieces usually leads to a di s advantage in the endgame as the I s ol a ted Pawn loses its attacking advantages but keeps its weaknesses. Black Strategy

The i d eal game scenario for Black is: 1) Control the square directl y in front of the Isolated Pawn to prevent liquidation of the weakness; 2) Trade off as many pieces as possi b l e with the idea of reaching an endgame that is bad for the opponent as the Isolated Pawn is weak and can be targeted; and 3) Win the Isolated Pawn and the game. ''The Isolated Pawn is a lonely creatu re with n o rea l fri ends"

Si m ple Exa m ple ----------- G a m e #08 7 ------------

In the following game, the former World Chess Champion was able to follow the Black Strategy perfectly on his way to a win. (W) Viktor Korchnoi (B) Anatoly Karpov

[055] World Chess Championship, Merano, Italy, (Round 9}, 10/24/198 1

1.c4 e6 2.4)c3 d5 3.d4 Ae7 4.4)f3 4)f6 5.Ag5 h6 6.Ah4 0-0 7.f!c1 dxc4 8.e3 c5 9.Axc4 cxd4 10.exd4 4)c6 11.0-0 4)h5 12 . .1l,xe7 4) xe7 13.Ab3 4)f6 14.4)e5 Ad7 15. �e2 E{cS 16.4)e4 4) xe4 17.�xe4 Ac6 18.4) xc6 Et_xc6 19.f!c3 �d6 20.g3 f!dS 21.E{d1 E{b6 22. �e1 �d7 23.f!cd3 E{d6 24. �e4 �c6 25. �f4 4)d5 26. �d2 �b6 27 .1l,xd5 Et_ xd5 28.f!b3 �c6 29. �c3 �d7 30.f4 b6 31.f!b4 b5 32.a4 bxa4 33. �a3 a5 34.E{xa4 �b5 35.f!d2 e5 36.fxe5 Et_xe5 37.�a1 �e8 38.dxe5 f!xd2 39.f!xa5 �c6 40.E{a8+ �h7 41. �b1 + g6 42.�f1 �c5+ 43.�h1 �d5+ 0-1 •

95

Positional Attacks

----------- G a m e #088 ------------

A young Boris Spassky simply sacrifices the Isolated d-Pawn to create intense pressure on the White has several attacking ideas Black posi tion. to confront the strategy employed by Black. They are: (W} Boris Spassky 1) d4-d5 pawn break to eliminate (B) Avtono m ov the Isolated Pawn weakness and [028] Leningrad, Russia, 1949 open up the position to exploit 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3 . .£lf3 4)f6 Black's slower development; 4.e3 c5 5 . .1lxc4 e6 6.0-0 a6 7:/te2 b5 8 . .1lb3 4)c6 9 . .£lc3 2) Weaken the squares around the cxd4 10.�d1 .1lb7 11.exd4 Black King by attacking eit her the 4) b4 12.d5 4)bxd5 13 . .1lg5 g7 or h7 square; .1le7 14 . .1}.xf6! 3) Utilize Rook lift(s) to add Whit e proceeds to wreck the Black firepower to the attack on the Pawn structure. White is winning enemy King; and despite still being down a Pawn. 14 gxf6 15.4) xd5 .1}.xd5 4) Weaken light squares to break 16 . .1}.xd5 exd5 17.4)d4 xh7 28.�h5+ c;t>g8 29.�g5+ C(t>h8 30.�g7 # 1-0 Defender with Doubled Pawn

9 . ... 4)e5 10. �e2 c6 11.Ab3 b5 12.a3 �c8 13.h3 a5 14.f4 4)g6 15.f5 4)e5 16.f4 4)ed7 17.Af2 a4 18.Aa2 0-0 19.§g1 Attacker Plus: Now we see the reason for al lowi ng 9. gxf3.

1 ) Lead in Develop m ent 2) Defender Pawn Structure Weaknesses

19 . ... 4)c5? 20.e5 dxe5 21.fxe 5 Attacker Minus: 4)d5? 22.Axd5 cxd5 23.f6! Axf6 24.exf6 §e8 25.§x g7+ 1 ) Down a Pawn C(t>h8 26.Ae3 Wh ite needs to free h is Qu een from the pin just for a mom ent.

26. ... d4

From a n attacking point of view, there a re two p ri m a ry reasons why a n attacker wou ld sad d l e his opponent with Double Pawns. The fi rst reason wou l d be to block in the d efender's pieces in a n attem pt t o achieve a l e a d i n developm ent. T h e secon d reason relates to the wea knesses created by a d a m aged Pawn structure.

Si m ple Exa m ple

124

Dou bled Pawns

----------- G a m e # 1 24

---

----

----

- ca m p . While Black h a s m a n aged to

I n the fol lowing ga m e, we witn ess White sacrificing a Pawn to bring both issues to the forefront, a n d afterwa rds, Black succu mbs rath er quickly.

(W} Joerg Bathke (222 5 } ( B) Jan Ritscher (22 60 } [ B04] Oberl iga N ord N 9899, Germa ny, 1998

1.e4 4)f6 2.e5 4)d5 3.d4 d6 4.4)f3 4)c6 5.c4 4) b6 6.e6 fxe6 7.4)c3 4)d7 8.4)g5 4)f6 9.d5 exd5 10.cxd5 4)b8 u . .Q.d3

eliminate his Doubled Pawn and mainta i n his extra Pawn, the Wh ite adva ntages a re more preva lent and critica l .

11 . ... g6 12.4) xh7 E!xh7 13 . .Q.xg6+ E!f7 14.4)e4 4) xe4 15. �h5 Ag7 16.Axf7+ �fs 17.Ah6 Axh6 18.�xh6+ �xf7 19.�h7+ �f6 20.�xe4 �g8 21.E!c1 4)a6? (�g4) 22.E!c3! �f7? (Jlf5) 23.E!g3 �hS 24. �g6+ 1-0 Model G a m es ----------- G a m e # 1 2 5 -----------I n order to rid h i mself of an Alien Pawn, Black a ccepts a Wh ite Pawn sacrifice that creates a Doubled f-Pawn and seriously dam ages his kingside Pawn Structure.

(W} David Bronstein (B) M iguel Najdorf [ E 29] Buda pest Ca ndidates, Buda pest, H u ngra ry, ( Round 5), 04/18/1950 Already, we can easily see t h at White has achieved his goa ls of better developm ent a n d l ight sq uare weakn esses i n the Black

1.d4 4)f6 2.c4 e6 3.4)c3 .Q.b4 4.a3 Axc3+ 5.bxc3 c5 6.e3 4)c6 7.Ad3 0-0 8.4)e2 d6 9.e4 4)e8 10.0-0 b6 11.f4 Aa6 12.f5 e5 13.f6 �hS? 125

Positional Attacks

9.Ete1 �g6 10.d4 �f4 11.hxg4

Black can not ignore the Alien Pawn, as it will not go away on its own .

Wh ite gives i n to the p ressure a n d accepts the bait. H owever, Black's attack a n d the p ressu re a re n ot lessened by the ca ptu re of Black's Bishop.

14.d5 �a5 15.�g3 gxf6 Black fi nally rea lizes he must ca ptu re on f6. The d a m age to Black's Pawn Structure is severe, and in particular, the defense of the h7 sq u a re is problematic.

11 . ... hxg4 12.�h2

16.�f5 jlcS? (�g7) 17.�h5 jlxf5 18.exf5 EtgS 19.Etf3 Etg7 20.Ah6 EtgS 21.Eth3 1-0 Black resigns d u e to the wea kn ess of his h7 square.

----------- G a m e # 1 2 6 -----------I n the Black side of the Excha nge Ruy lopez, Black accepts Doubled c-Pawns in excha nge for ra pid developm ent. Black even whips out a Bish ing Pole, for good measure, in his kingside assa u lt on the White King.

(W) Abdullah U raz ( 160 2) (B) Sergen Atay ( 1 7 1 3 )

12 . ... � xg2! 13.\tlxg2? The Black Kn ight is poison a n d the ga m e comes to a swift and abrupt conclusion .

[C68] World J u nior Cham pionsh i p, Kocaeli, Tu rkey, ( Ro u n d 12.57), 09/25/2013

1 3 . ... Etxh2+! 14.\tlxh2 �xf2+ 15.\tlhl g3 16.�h5 g2+ 17.\tlh2 g1�+ 18.\tlh3 �gg3 :tt: 0-1

1.e4 e5 2.�f3 �c6 3.Ab5 a6 4.jlxc6 dxc6 5.0-0 Ag4 6.h3 h5 7.d3 �f6 8.�bd2 �e7

I n the next t h ree ga m es, the attacker accepts Doubled Pawns to open a file for h is Rooks. 126

Doubled Pawns

----------- G a m e # 1 27 ------------ 18.Etxd7! Wh ite d rags the Black King out into the open for the checkmate.

White glad ly doubles his Pawns to open another fi le for his Rooks.

18 . ... c;t>xd7 19.Jlxc6+ c;t>xc6 20. '{fJa4+ 1-0

(W) Frid rik Olafsson (B) Miguel Qu interos

Ch eckm ate fol lows after

[ B43] Las P a l m as, Spain, 1974

20 . . . . �dS 2 l .§dl + �d4 22.§ xd4+ �cS 23.�d6+ �b6 24.§b4 # .

l.e4 c5 2.4)f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4

4.?) xd4 a6 5.4)c3 fJc7 6.1te2 4) f6 7.0-0 b S 8.1tf3 4)c6?

9.e5! b4 10.exf6 bxc3 11.4) xc6 dxc6 12.1tf4! fJd7 13. '{fJe2 �b7 14.bxc3 (White ca ptu res

The next two ga mes a re the Bronstein-La rsen Va riation of the Ca ro Ka h n Defense. The entire the Black c-Pawn to open the b-file concept of the variation is Black for his Rooks . ) 14. ... 1td7 accepts Doubled f- Pawns in 15.§ab1 fJa7 16.Etfd1 excha nge for a n open g-fi le for his Rooks. N otice how W h ite's pieces a re a l l located on great sq u a res. ----------- G a m e # 1 2 8 ------------

16 . ... gxf6 17.fJc4 1tc5

(W) Boris Verlinsky (B) Sa lo m on Flohr [ B 16] Moscow Cham pionsh i p, Moscow, Russia, (Round 1 1 ), 1945

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d S 3 . .£lc3 dxe4 4.4) xe4 4)f6 5.4) xf6+ gxf6 6.4)f3 1tg4 7.1te2 e6 8.1tf4 4)d7 9.0-0 4)b6 10.h3 1th5 11.c3 .£ld5 12.1tg3 1td6 13.Jlxd6 fJxd6 14.4)e1 1tg6 15 .£ld3 Elg8 16.c;t>h1 1txd3 17.1txd3 4)f4 18.1te4 f5 19.1tf3 0-0-0 •

Black sta nds sign ifica ntly better

127

Positional Attacks

due to the non-existent Wh ite attack.

20.b4 e5 21.§g1? �h6 22.�c2? e4 23 . .Q.xe4 fxe4 24.�xe4 §d5 25.�f3 §h5 0-1

Once again, Wh ite has n o attack on the Black King and Black is exe rting extrem e p ress u re along the open g-fi le.

----------- G a m e # 1 29 -----------M uch like the last game, Black accepts Doubled f-Pawns in exchange for a n open g-fi le for his Rooks and a n attack. H owever, White puts u p greater defensive resista nce despite facing a tougher opponent.

(W) Peter Large (B) Jonathan Speel m an

23. �d2 §dg8 24.§ae1 .Q.f3 25.§xf3 §xf3 26.§xe6 fxe6 27 . .1l,xe6+ �d8 28 . .Q.xg8 .Q.xf4 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.4)d2 dxe4 29. �e2 §e3 30. �f1 .Q.h2+ 4.4) xe4 4Jf6 5.4) xf6+ gxf6 31.�h1 .1lg3 32 . .Q.c4 b5 6. .Q.c4 .1lf5 7.4)e2 4Jd7 8.4Jg3 33 . .1lb3 �e7 34. .Q.c2 �c7 .Q.g6 9.f4 e6 10.0-0 f5 11.c3 35.�g1 §e2 36 . .Q.b1 �e3+ 4Jf6 12 ..Q.e3 .Q.g7 13 . .Q.e2 h5 37.�h1 f4 0-1 14.h3 4Jd5 15. �d2 �c7 16 . .Q.d3 h4 17.4)e2 .Q.h5 ----------- G a m e # 1 3 0 -----------18.4)c1 0-0-0 19 . .Q.c2 §hg8 20.4Jd3 .Q.h6 21 . .Q.b3? The Wh ite Doubled d-Pawns cause [ B 16] Chester, England, ( R o u n d 5 ), 1979

Wh ite underestim ates the power of the Black light-sq u a red Bishop. The move 2 1 . Jldl wou ld have add ressed the issue.

serious blockade problems fo r Black. I n a relatively few n u m ber of m oves, Black fi nds his pieces and King com pletely sh utdown.

21 . ... 4J xe3 22. �xe3 §g3

(W) Davit Shengel ia (2 567 ) (B) Sa haj G rover (2 434 ) 128

Doubled Pawns

(A34] Dubai Open, D uba i, U n ited Ara b E m i rates, ( Round 4), 04/08/2010

-----------

H ere we fi nd a ra re sa m p le end ga me where the Doubled Pawns tu rned out to be a n a dva ntage.

1.4)f3 c5 2.e3 4)c6 3.c4 e5 4.4)c3 .£)f6 5.d4 cxd4 6.exd4 e4 7 . .£)e5 .1ld6 8.c5 .£) xe5? (Ab8) 9.cxd6!

(W) Tyl kowski (B) Antoni Wojciechowski

White correctly accepts the Doubled d-Pawns, which ca u se issues for Black's pieces a n d King.

(A03] Poznan, Poland, 193 1

l.f4 d5 2.e3 c5 3 .£lf3 .£)c6 4 . .1lb5 .1lg4 5.0-0 e6 6.d3 .1le7 7 . .£lc3 d4 8 . .£)bl .£)f6 9.e4 0-0 10 . .1lxc6 bxc6 ll.c3? dxc3 12 . .£) xc3 .1lxf3 13.§.xf3 .£lg4 14.c;!lhl �d4 15.�gl �xgl+ 16.c;!lxgl .1ld8 17 . .1le3 .£) xe3 18.§.xe3 .1lb6 19.§.dl h6 20.e5 f6 21.exf6 §.xf6 22.§.f3 c4+ 23.d4 c5 24.d5 exd5 25.§.xd5 c;!lh7 26.§.d7 §.dS 27.§.b7 §.g6 28.§.g3 §.xg3 29.hxg3 §.d2 30 . .£)a4? •

... 4)g6 10.h4 �a5? (h5) ll.h5 .£)f8 12.d5

9

.

The Wh ite Dou bled d-Pawns a re clogging u p the center a n d preventing B l a c k from developing his pieces a n d placing his King on a safer sq u a re. 12 . .. a6 13.�d4 h6 �d8 15. �e5+ 1-0 .

G a m e # 1 3 1 ------------

14.b4

129

Positional Attacks

Wh ite appears to have a strong advantage as the Black Bishop seems desti ned to fa l l a long with the Black a-Pawn. However, Black rides the power of the Doubled c-Pawns to victory.

the position rested with the move

33. �xc4 c2 34. § c6.

30. ... �xb2!! 31.4) xb2 c3 32.�xb6! Wh ite's move is forced d u e to 32. �d3 c4+ and 33 . . . . cxd3, which wins for Black.

33

.

•..

a5! 34.4) xc4

There is not m uch choice a s the White pieces continue to stu m ble all over each other in a q u est to stop the powerfu l Dou bled c-Pawns. The other a ltern atives a lso lost, such as:

34 . § xc4 cxb2 fol lowed by 35 . . . . bl (�)+; a n d

32 . ... c4! Amazi ng! Black sacrifices his Rook, t h e n h is Bishop, b u t do not worry, he sti ll has those pesky Dou bled c-Pawns.

34 . §b5 c2! fol lowed by 35 . . . . bl(�)+.

34 c2 35.4) xa5 cl �+ 36.�h2 �c5 37.�b2 �xa5 38.g4 �el 39.g3 h5 40.gxh5 �h6 0-1

Wh ite' s best cha nce for hold i ng

130

.

.•.

H a nging Pawns

H a nging Pawns

As d iscussed in the Backward Pawn cha pter, one of the main Two side-by-side Pawns with n o plans of exploiting a Backwa rd other supporting a djacent Pawns Pawn is to blockade the square in are known by the chess term front of the Pawn. The p u rpose of "Ha nging Pawns." I n the a bove the b lockade is to p revent a ny diagra m, Black has " H a ngi ng type of adva n cem ent or Pawns" on the c5 and d5 s q u a res. l i q u i d ation of the Pawn wea kn ess. The term a lso a p plies if one of the Afterward s, you should build u p enough attackers on t h e Backward Pawns is backwa rd, as shown in Pawn so you ca n u ltim ately ga rner the next d i agra m ; the Black "Hangi ng Pawns" a re now located the Pawn outright. Refer to Game #114 for a n exa m ple of this on the c4 a n d d5 s q u a res. N otice that when the Pawns a re no longer strategy. side by side they become weaker. Why? The fi rst reason is beca use Strategy for Attacking the d-Pawn is now backwa rd a n d Ha nging Pawns must b e p rotected b y p ieces. The second reason is beca use of the huge hole d i rectly i n front of the Th ere a re two main strategies for Backwa rd Pawn . 131

Positional Attacks

1.d4 'df6 2.'df3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.'dc3 Ae7 5.Ag5 0-0 6.e3 h6 7.Axf6 Axf6 S:�·d2 c5 9.cxd5 cxd4 10.'d xd4 exd5 11.Ab5 �d6 12.0-0 §dS 13.§ac1 'dc6 14.Axc6 bxc6

attacking an opponent with "Hanging Pawns" . They a re : 1} Force a Pawn adva n ce; a n d 2} Divide a n d Conq uer.

Strategy # 1 : Force a Pawn Adva nce When the H a nging Pawns a re side by side, the attacker wa nts to apply i m mense pressure on them. The ide a is t o force t he defender to advance one of the pawns. Once a Pawn advances, you want to blockade the H a nging Pawns by controlling the sq u a re d i rectly in front of the Backwa rd Pawn . The last step is to attack and win the Backwa rd Pawn.

----------- G a m e # 1 32 -----------White fi nds Black in a position with Ha nging Pawns. With the dS Pawn a l ready a dvanced, he proceeds to kick i n the second h a lf of the strategy.

(W) G Agza m ov (B) Efi m G el ler [055] Soch i, Russia, ( Round 13}, 1984

Black has H a ngi ng Pawns on dS and c6. Beca use the H a nging Pawns a re not side by side, a hole exists in front of the Backwa rd Pawn on c6. As a resu lt, Wh ite swiftly proceeds to control the sq u a re di rectly i n front of the Backwa rd Pawn (cS).

15.'da4 Ad7 16.4)c5 §deS 17.b4 AeS 1S.§c2 §cbS 19.§fc1 AdS 20.4)a6 §b6 21. �e2 �g6 22.a3 Ad7 23. �f1 .ilf6 24.'dc5 .ilf5 25.4) xf5 �xf5 At this poi nt, White has fi rm control of the cS sq u a re. The next

132

H a nging Pawns

----------- G a m e # 133 ------------

step of our strategy is to attack and win the Black c-Pawn. White does exactly that.

Former World C h a m pion Boris Spassky provides u s with an exa m ple of the fi rst p a rt of the strategy, forcing one of the H a ngi ng Pawns to adva n ce by attacking them.

(W) Boris Spassky (B) Ludek Pach m a n [ 059] Havana, Cuba, 1962

26 . .£)b3 §dS 28 . .£) xc6

l.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3 . .£)c3 .Q.e7 4.4)f3 4)f6 5 . .Q.g5 0-0 6.e3 h6 7 . .Q.h4 b6 8.cxd5 4) xd5 9.Axe7 'i:/xe7 10.4) xd5 exd5 ll.J}.e2 Ae6 12.0-0 c5 13.4)e5 §dS 14.§cl f6 15.4)g6 'i:/d6 16.dxc5 bxc5

27. .£)a5 d4

Wh ite has reached a position with a sol id a dva ntage by exploiting the wea kness of B lack's H a nging Pawns. For the rem a i nd e r of the ga me, Wh ite beats off Black' s attempt for cou nterp lay t o win t h e ga me.

... d3 29.Eld2 Eld7 30 . .£)a5 E!bd6 31 . .£)b3 §dS 32 . .£)c5 a5 33 . .£)b7 axb4 34. .£) xd6 §xd6 35.ax b4 .Q.e5 36.§cdl §g6 37.§xd3 Ciflh7 38.f4 .Q.c7 39 :/tf3 Ele6 40.g3 .Q.b6 4V�hl l-O 28

.

The Black H a nging Pawns a re side by side. Seeing th is, Wh ite a pplies

133

Positional Attacks

Wh ite util izes a Pawn Lever to u nderm i n e the sta bility of the Ha nging Pawns. As a resu lt, Black decides to give u p a n excha nge rather than have his H a nging 17 . .£lf4 (attacks the d S Pawn) Pawns com p l etely dismantled . Af7 18.�c2 (attacks the cS Either way, W h ite wi ns, as the Pawn ) .£ld7 19.f!fd1 (attacks the rem a i n der of the ga me illustrates. dS Pawn )

immense pressu re on them by attacking them repeated ly u ntil he forces the adva ncement of one of the Pawns.

22 . ... E{ac8 23 . .£le6 .£le5 24.�c2+ d3 25.4) xd8 �xdS 26.�b2 c4 27.h3 �b6 28.a4 g5 29.�f1 �g7 30.�d4 c3 31.E{xd3 .£l x d3 32.�d7+ 1-0

----------- G a m e # 1 34 -----------Once again, White fi nds h i mself opposite a n adva n ced set of H a nging Pawns.

(W) Aki ba Rubinstein ( B) G eorg Sa lwe

19 . ... d4 Black felt com pelled i nto advancing his d-Pawn beca use of the White threat of 20. g1 g4 33. !U4 34. 'l:tb2? 4)e3 35.§fe1 'itd5 Jlxf4 34.§xf4 §g7 35. § x g4 36.4)f3 §fe8 37. §ac1 §c6 §xg4 36.h xg4 'l:txg4 37.J}.xd4 38.4)c3 'itf5 39.4)d1 §ce6 cxd4 38. 'l:txd4 Jlxf5 39. 'l:t x d6 40.4) xe3 § xe3 41.§xe3 § x e3 'itg6 40. 'ith2 'itg7 41.exf5 42.C(t>f2 'ite4 43.§e1 § xe1 'l:t xc3 42.Ad5+ C(t>h8 43. 'itf2 44.4) xe1 J;ld1 45.c6 'l:t x c6 'l:tc1+ 0- 1 46.4) d3 'itc4 47. Clt>e3 J}.c2 48.4)e1 Af5 49.C(t>d2 'itb5 ----------- G a m e # 1 38 ------------ 50.C(t>d1 Ag4+ 51. C(t>c1 'itc4+ 0-1 Black attem pts the Divide a n d Conquer maneuver against Wh ite's H a nging Pawns. The end Fai l u re to Control resu lt is Wh ite refusing to brea k Ha nging Pawns = up his H a nging Pawns a n d Black An Attack exploiting the sq u a re in front of the Backwa rd H a ngi ng Pawn to infi ltrate White's defenses. The last two ga mes i l l u strate what advances. .

..•

(W) Igor Bonda revsky (B) Vasily S m yslov [E40] USSR Cham pionsh i p, Moscow, Russia, (Round 3}, 1 1/15/1950

ca n h a p pen if you a l low H a ngi ng Pawns to exist u nfettered .

----------- G a m e # 1 3 9 ------------

White fa ils to conta i n the Black H a nging Pawns a n d before yo u 1.d4 .{)f6 2.c4 e6 3 . .£lc3 Jlb4 know it, the u p-an d-co m i ng 4.e3 d5 5.a3 Ae7 6.4)f3 0-0 Ka rpov has a n overwh elming 7 ..1ld3 b6 8.0-0 c5 9.'l:te2 .{)c6 kingside attack. 10.§d1 cxd4 11.exd4 J}.a6 12.b3 §c8 13.§b1 'itc7 (W) Rafael Vaganian 14.4)b5 'l:tb8 15.Jlg5 h6 16.J}.h4 .{)h5 17.Axe7 .{) xe7 (B) Anatoly Ka rpov 18.4)e5 .{)f6 19.a4 .{)c6 20.f4 [ E50] Leni ngrad J u nior 05, .{)b4 21.f5 .{) xd3 22.'l:txd3 Leni ngrad, Russia, 1969 exf5 23. 'l:t xf5 .Q.b7 24.§bc1 a6 25 . .£lc3 'itd6 26.a5? dxc4 1.d4 4)f6 2.c4 e6 3.4)c3 AM 27.bxc4 b5! 28.c5 'itd8 29.§a1 4.e3 0-0 5.4)f3 c5 6.Ae2 d5 138

H a nging Pawns

7.0-0 4J bd7 8.c x d5 exd5 28.4Jf4 4Jg4+ 29.�g2 Af3+ 9. �b3 Axc3 10. � xc3 4)e4 30.�g1 A x d 1 0- 1 11.�c2 b6 12.dxc5 bxc5 13.b3 Ab7 14.Ab2 I!cs 15.I!fd1 Hanging Pawns �e7 16.I!ac1 f5 17.4)e1 �h4 ''Two side-by-side Pawns with no 18.g3 �h6 19.4)g2 �h8 20. �d3 I!ce8 2 1.f3? 4Jg5 other supporting adjacent Pawns" 2 2 .4)f4?

----------- G a m e # 1 40 -----------(W) Svetoza r G ligoric (B) Lajos Portisch [ E54] Lugano 09, Lugano, Switzerland, 1968

22 . ... d4!

The mere fact that Black has this wi n n ing move means Wh ite has comm itted a n egregious error.

1.d4 4Jf6 2.c4 e6 3.4Jc3 Ab4 4.e3 0-0 5.Ad3 c5 6.4Jf3 d5 7.0-0 dxc4 8.A xc4 cxd4 9.exd4 b6 10.Ag5 Ab7 1 1 . I!e1 4J bd7 12.Ad3 I!c8 13.I!c1 I!e8 14. 'ti?te2 A xc3 15.bxc3 'ti?fc7 16.c4 �c6 17.h3 I!cd8 18.I!cd1 4)f8 19. �e5 4) 6d7? 20.�g3 I!a8 21.h4 �h8? 22.Ac1 f6 23.h5 h6 24.d5

23.h4 Axf3 24.ex d4

Once aga i n, the defender fa ils to control the H a nging Pawns and pays the price.

24 . hxg5? leads to a n overwh elming position for Black after 24 . . . t1"hl + 25.\t>f2 t1"h2 + 26.g7 29. f2 §ae8 30. t\' xc5 t\'g4! White d ecides that accepta n ce of the Kn ight sacrifice wou l d be too Black moves in for the kill, as the detrim enta l to h is King p rotection . exposed W h ite King has no cover. 21 ... .1}. x e5 31.'itc7+ §8e7! 32.t\'xe7+ Problem for Wh ite is Black will not § x e7 33.dxe7 t\'g3+ 34.�f1 4)d2+ 35.�e2 'itd3+ 36.�e1 accept "no" for a n a n swer. H e 4)f3+ 37. �f2 t\'e3+ 38. �g2 sacrifices h is Bishop as wel l . 4) d2 39.§hel itg3+ 40.�hl 4)f3 0-1 22.fxe5 § xe5 2 3 . .1lg4 f5 24.Jlf3 t\'d7 25.§el? .

Fin al Position 157

Secti on B Pos it i on a l Attac k Con ce pts

Pawn Roll

Pawn Ro l l

Model G a m es ----------- G a m e # 160 -----------(W) G abriel Sa rgissian (2 61 2) (B) Oliver Soto (229 3 ) [ E 13] 36th Olym piad, Turin, Ita ly, ( Ro u n d 1), 05/2 1/2006

M uch like a phalanx of a rmy a nts, Pawns in great n u m bers ca n overwh elm a n d dominate opposing pieces in a u n i q u e way. They proceed forwa rd at a slow pace, creating th reats a n d pushing more va luab le op posing pieces aside, until the th reat(s) of queen ing (or possi bly ch eckmate) causes the defender to give up. I refer to this situation as a Pawn Rol l . In this chapter, w e fi nd a set of games where one side has a Pawn Rol l . In most cases, the defender has a Rook or more for a b u n ch of Pawns, but is helpless in h i s q u est to hold off the pesky little guys from p romoting.

l.d4 4)f6 2.c4 e6 3.4)c3 .1lb4 4.4)f3 b6 5 . .1lg5 .1lb7 6.4)d2 h6 7 . .1lh4 4)c6 8.e3 'if!le7 9 . .1ld3 d6 10.f3 .1l xc3 l l .bxc3 e5 12.d5 4) b8 13 . .1lf5 g5 14 . .1lf2 4)bd7 15.'if!Ja4 a6 16.e4 0-0-0 17.c5 dxc5 18.4)c4 4)e8 19.§bl �b8 20 . .1l x d7 § x d7 21 .0-0 f6

22. 4) x b6! Wh ite sacrifices his Kn ight for two 159

Positional Attacks

----------- G a m e # 161

Pawns now - with the prom ise of more to come - a n d a n attack on the Black King.

- - - - - - - ----­

(W) Esser Joha nnes ( B) Fra n k M a rsha ll

22 . ... cxb6 23. la x b6 �cS 24.lafb1 lac7 25.la xa6 .1l.xa6 26. �xa6+ �d7 27. §bS �d6 2S.lab6 �e7 29.labS �d6 30.lab6 �e7 31.�b5+ �dS 32.labS+ lacS 33 . .1l.xc5 �d7 34.�b6+ �c7 35. lab7 � x b6 36 . .1l.xb6+ 4)c7 37.c4 �d7 3S.c5 h5 39.a4 g4 40.a5 gxf3 41.gxf3 lah7 42.a6

[C15] M atch, Amsterdam, Holland, (Round 1), 04/17/19 1 1 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.4)c3 .1l.b4 4. �g4 4)f6 5. � xg7 lagS 6. �h6 lag6 7.�e3 4) xe4 S.4)f3 c5 9.4)e5 �a5 10.4) xg6 hxg6 1 1.Ad2 4) x d2 12.�xd2 4)c6 13.Ab5 e5! 14.0-0 cxd4 15.a3 Ae7 16.Axc6+ bxc6 17 .4)e4 � x d2 1S.4) xd2 labS 19.b3 Af5 20. §fe1 f6 21.laa2 c5 22.f3 �d7 23.�f2 Ae6 24. lab1 f5 25.h3 e4

42 . ... lagS+ 43. �f1 �cs 44.c6 4)aS 45.laxh7 4) xb6 46.lab7 4)aS 47.d6 1-0 Wh ite is still down a Kn ight b ut his Pawns more than compensate for h is piece deficiency.

The giga ntic m ass of Black Pawns slowly m igrates to the White side of the boa rd, and com po u n d i ng issues is the piece activity. A Bishop pair can be a l m ost worth a

160

Pawn Roll

Knight a n d a Rook u n der normal conditions, but here they a re better d u e to W h ite's poor piece placement. 26.\t'e2 e3 27.4lfl f4 28 . .§ab2? Af6 29 . .§a2 c4 30.b4 Af5 3 1 . .§dl .§cS 32.g4 .11 x c2 33 . .§ x d4 A x d4 34 . .§ xc2 .1lg7 35 . .§cl d4 36.4lh2 d3+ 37.'i!ldl c3 0-1

Ac5 7.4lc3 d6 8.Ag5 0-0 9.4ld5 Ag4 to.Ae2 t\'d7 ll.Axf6 gxf6 12.4lh4 A x e2 13.t\'xe2 4l d4 14.t\'dl f5? 15.c3 fxe4 16.c x d4 A x d4 17.t\'e2 c6 18.4le3 d5 19 . .§adl \t'h8 20.b3 .§f6 21.4lc2? c5 22.g3 t\'f7 23.4l xd4 exd4 24.f4 .§eS 25 . .§fel .§fe6 26.f5 .§e5 27.t\'f2 t\'f6 28.h3 b6 29.g4 e3 30.t\'g3 .§gS 31 . .§e2 .§e4 Black has slowly worked his way back to an equal position. 32.\t'h2 c4 33.bxc4 dxc4 34.4lg2 b5 35.4lf4 t\'e5 36.4lg2 t\'f6 37.t\'c7 .§ge8 38. t\'c5 t\'e5+ 39. t\'xe5+ .§8xe5 40.4lel b4 41.\t'g3 a5 42.f6 \t'g8 43.4lf3 .§d5 44.4ld2 e x d2 45 .§ x e4 c3 46.§fl §dS 47.§e2 d3 48 . .§ef2? a4! •

� ��... ; -@� � c

• • • .t

Final Position

----------- G a m e # 16 2 ------------

�

�

• • • •

(W) Leonid Yudasin (2 548 )

i ��

(B) Dennis Monokroussos (22 90)

B B � B � .ft � • �� � t .��w .ft .ft • � • � � � --l�n� � -�---� � '· · · · - �

[C63] 18th N ew York M a sters, N ew York, NY, { Ro u n d 1), 07/23/2002 l.e4 e5 2.4lf3 4l c6 3.Ab5 f5 4.d3 fxe4 5.d xe4 4lf6 6.0-0

- • �� � � � �� -. . . ��� � �-

161

Positional Attacks

33. �f5+ b8 34.f3 Ac8 35.�b1 g3 36. E!e1 h3 37 . .Q.f1 E!h8 38.gxh3 .Q. x h 3 39.g1 Axf1 40. xf1 e4 41.�d1 �g4 42.f xg4 f3

Wh ite's position is now lost. But rea listical ly, how ca n a h u m a n expect t o defend against a Pawn mass such as this over the board ? 49.g5 b3 50.a xb3 axb3 51.h4 b2 52.h5 c2 53.E!xd2 c1� 54.E!dd1 �e3+ 55. g4 E!d4+ 56.f5 �e4 # 0- 1

----------- G a m e # 163 -----------The Pawn Roll generates a checkm ate this time a ro u n d .

(W) Boris Spassky (B) Tigra n Petrosian [003] World Championship M atch, Moscow, Russia, ( Ro u n d 7), 04/25/1966 1.d4 �f6 2.�f3 e6 3.Ag5 d5 4.�bd2 .Q.e7 5.e3 �bd7 6.Jld3 c5 7.c3 b6 8.0-0 Ab7 9.�e5 � xeS 10.dxe5 � d7 1 1 . .Q.f4 �c7 12.�f3 h6 13.b4 g5 14.Ag3 h5 15.h4 gxh4 16.jlf4 0-0-0 17.a4 c4 18 . .Q.e2 a6 19.h1 E!dg8 20.E!g1 E!g4 21. �d2 E!hg8 22.a5 b5 23. E!ad1 Af8 24.�h2 � xeS 25.� xg4 hxg4 26.e4 .Q.d6 27.�e3 �d7 28 . .Q.xd6 � x d6 29. E!d4 e5 30. E!d2 f5 31.exd5?

Wh ite is checkm ated on all moves. 43. E!g2 fxg2+ 0- 1

----------- G a m e # 164 -----------Wh ite has fou r Pawns fo r a Rook a n d an exchange, a n d Black is com p l etely lost? Check out the d i agra m on the next page after Wh ite's 53rd move .

(W) Artyo m Ti m ofeev (2 65 1) ( B) Denis Khis m atu llin White should h ave played 3 1 . exf5 (2 643 ) in an attem pt to rei n i n the Black Pawns. 31 . ... f4 32.�e4? �f6

[ 852] Russian Cham pionship, Superfi n a l, Moscow, Russia, ( Ro u n d 5), 1 2/24/2009

162

Pawn Rol l

l.e4 c5 2.4)f3 d6 3 . .1lb5+ .1ld7 4 . .1l.xd7+ �xd7 5.c4 4)c6 6.4)c3 g6 7.d4 cxd4 S.4) x d4 f)f6 9.f3 .1lg7 10 . .1le3 0-0 11.0-0 §acS 12.b3 a6 13.a4 �ds I4.�d2 �as IS. §fdt E{fd8 16.§acl 4) d7 17.h3 f} x d4 1S.jlx d4 Jl x d4+ 19:� xd4 �c5 20.�fl � x d4 21.§ xd4 4)c5 22.§bl aS 23.�e2 f6 24.�d2 �f7 25.�c2 g5 26.4)d5 h5 27.4) e3 h4 2S.§d5 §c6 29.§bdl §deS 30.§fl §b6 31.§bl §bc6 32.§d2 4)e6 33 - �c3 4)c5 34.4)d5 4)e6 35.§fl §gS 3 · s 4o §b5!? 4) x b5 41.axb5 �eS 42.§al e6 43.4)e3 d5? 44.ex d5 E{d 6? 45.c5 §ddS 46.�d4 Etac8 47.§ x a5 e5+ 4S.�c4 b6

��: �;]/f::s J9��� �;,

sacrifices his Rook for a Pawn to increase the power of h i s Pawn Roll to fou r con nected Passed Pawn s ! 4 9. ... bxa5 50.bxa5 §aS 51.a6 e4 52.fxe4 �d7 53.4)f5

��� g g B ��; B M � • .:a �- ���•�.!!. - - �� g ��3 g ft �� .. 3 ft B 4J¥ B � Q

·

. .

-�- ft . �� • • • • ft B a

B a

B .a:. B a .!!. a

• • • •

53 . ... §eS 54.c6+ �dS 55.4)d6 §e7 56.�c5 f5 57.exf5 §e2 5S.4)b7+ �eS 59.d6 § xg2 60.d7+ �e7 6I.f6+ � xf6 62.c7 1-0

----------- G a m e # 165 -----------At a key j u n ct u re in the ga me, White gra bs a Black Kn ight, ignoring the n u m ber of Pawns a n d other com p ensation B l a c k would receive i n ret u rn for his lost m i nor. 49.b4!! Absolutely bri l l i a nt ! ! Wh ite

(W) Ed uard G ufeld (B) Lubo m ir Kava lek 163

Positional Attacks

[C64] Student Olym piad, Marianske Lazne, Czechoslova kia, 1962 1.e4 e5 2.�f3 �c6 3.Ab5 .1lc5 4.c3 f5 5.d4 f xe4 6.�g5 .1lb6 7.d5 e3 8.�e4 �h4 9. �f3 �f6 10.� xf6+ gxf6 1 1.d xc6 Wh ite u nwisely decides that captu ring the Black Kn ight is worth the Pawns h e will lose. 11 . ... exf2+ 12.�d1 d x c6 13 . .1le2 .1le6 14.�h5+ � xh5 15 . .1lxh5+ �e7 16.b3 Ad5 17 .Aa3+ �e6 18 . .1lg4+ f5

27 . ... § xc5!

Black conti n u es to simp lify the Those Wh ite Bishops' checks rea l ly endga m e to a n easier wi n. hel ped Black activate his King a n d 28.bxc5 .1lxc5 29. §ab1 f3 center Pawns. 30.§b4 19.Ah3 §hg8 20.�d2 .1l xg2 White is d esperate a n d resorts to 21 . .1lxg2 § xg2 22.§f1 §d8 23.�e2 §x d2+ Hope Ch ess. Black is winning so h e decides that trading off some m aterial will make the win easier to achieve. 24.�xd2 e4 25 . .1lf8 f4 26.b4 §g5 27 . .1lc5

30 . ... �f5! Not 30 . . . . -'txb4?? 3 1 . cxb4 �dS 32. �e3 wins for W h ite. 31.§d4 A x d4 32.c x d4 �f4

The move 30 . . . . �fS! enabled the "What is the real value of a Pawn Black King to p rotect the key e3 square for the fi n a l push (e3, e2). when the Pawn is pa rt of a connected phalanx of Pawns?" 0_1

164

Pawn Power

(W) Hend ricks (2 43 0 ) (B) Rie m ens (2 180 )

Pawn Powe r

[ B57] Vlissingen Open, Vlissingen, N etherl a n d s, 1996 1.e4 c5 2.4)f3 4)c6 3.d4 cxd4 4. 4) x d4 4)f6 5.4)c3 d6 6 . .1lc4 �b6 7.4)b3 e6 8 . .1}.f4 4)e5 9 . .1le2 a6 10 ..1le3 �c7 1 1.f4 4)c4 12 . .1}.xc4 � x c4 13.�f3 .1ld7 14.0-0-0 �c7 1 5.g4 .1lc6 16.g5 4) xe4 17.4) xe4 d5 18. �h3 dxe4 19.g6 f5? 20. � x h7! 1-0

This chapter conta ins a n assortment o f enterta ining ga mes with va rious Pawn themes.

Passed Pawn There is no denying the power of the Passed Pawn as it a p p roaches the end of the long journey to promotion . The fi rst set of ga mes showcase the power of the Passed Pawn .

----------- G a m e # 166

------------

White anchors his Qu een to win a Black Rook.

F i n a l Position The Black Rook o n h8 can not be saved. White wins the Black Rook after 20 . . . . § xh7 2 1 . gxh7 fol lowed by the u n stoppable 22. h8(�), which ret u rns the Wh ite Qu een to her rightfu l pl ace on the boa rd .

165

Positional Attacks

----------- G a m e # 167 ------------ {W) Artu r Frolov (B) Alexey Dreev Wh ite leaves a B lack Passed Pawn unattended and pays dearly.

[C07] I nternation a l Open Tou rn a m ent, H elsinki, Finland, (Round 7), 1992

{W) Marlies Bensdorp {22 63 ) (B) Lisa Sch ut {22 77 )

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.4)d2 a6 4.4)gf3 c5 5.dxc5 A xeS 6.Jld3 4)f6 7.0-0 'ltc7 8.a3 4) bd7 9.b4 .1le7 10.,1lb2 dxe4 1 1 . 4) xe4 0-0 12.E!e1 as 13.4) xf6+ ,ilxf6 14 . .1l xf6 4) xf6 1 5.c4 E!dS 16.'lte2 b6 17.4)e5 .1lb7 18. E!ab1 axb4 19.axb4 E!d4 20.E!bd1 'ltd6 21. 'ltb2 E!dS? 22.c5! bxc 5 23.bxc5 'ltd5 24.c6! .1la8

[080] Dutch Cham pionship (Women}, Amsterdam, Netherlan ds, ( Round 7. 1}, 07/11/2013 1.d4 4)f6 2.c4 g6 3.4)c3 d5 4.e3 .1lg7 5. 'ltb3 e6 6. 'lta3 4)c6 7 .4)f3 4)e7 8.Jl,d2 0-0 9 . .1ld3 b6 10.0-0 dxc4 1 1.,1l xc4 .1lb7 12.E!fd1 4)ed5 13.E!ac1 4) xc3 14.Jl, xc3 .1lxf3 15.gxf3 4)d5 16 . .1lb4 'ltg5+ 17.\tlh1 E!fd8 18 . .1lf1 'lth4 19.Jl,e1 .1lf8 20. 'lta6 Jl,d6 21.f4 g5 22.f3? 'lth5 23. 'lte2 gxf4 24.e4 4)e3 25.Eld3 \tlh8 26 . .1ld2 c5 27 . .1lxe3 fxe3 28.d xc5? .1lf4! 29. E!cd1 E! x d3 30.E!xd3 bxc5 31.E!d7 E!gS 32.b3 'ltg5 33 . .1lg2 'lth4 34 . .1lf1 .1lxh2! 35. 'ltxh2 e2! 0- 1

Wh ite has a wi n n i n g adva ntage after 24 . . . . .ll x c6 25.

4) xg4! 25.fxg4 '{txg4+ 26.Citlhl? 4)f5 27.§f2 4)g3+! � ..... �- � � 28.Citlg1 f3 29.4)e3 'itg5 30.4)g2 4)e2+ 31 .Clt}h1 h3 32.§xe2 h xg2+ 33.Clt}g1 fxe2 16.e6! jlcS 17.ex f7+ Clt}fS 34.h4 §f1 + 0- 1 18.jlh6+ Clt} x f7 19.fxg6+ Clt}gS

;:�� � ;�:iZ � �� �J

. .. . .·

,

,

-

�� - - _4:� .-04�-0 -z;�./�� �§ g - � � /

169

·

Positional Attacks

20.gxh7+ g1 �f8

White reaches a n u nten able position due to the domina nce of the Black Knight over his Bishop.

�

34. �e4 xh3+ 35 .c&>g2 4)f4+ 36.c&>g1 0 1 ------------

G a m e # 1 89

-----------

Black fi nds h i mself saddled with a completely locked-i n l ight-sq u a red Bishop against a perched Wh ite Kn ight with a perfect hole.

{W) Carl Sch lechter (B) Walter John

• �� -�E 1 EJ..E E i t E t E t �� t E ��m : ��m �}?_J: � � *' � 1 • r�Ji· · - ��� ..�. . � •'· · · �•,. . . �•�•� - - - �� � � � g g g �§W � � �

'· · · · · '

�- - �

B lack fa ntasizes that Wh ite will want to trade his Kn ight for the [A84] Barmen M a sters A, Germa ny, Black Bishop. But White fu lly ( Round 8), 1905 u n d ersta nds the real val u e of each 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3 . .£lc3 f5 piece a n d wa nts noth ing to do 4.4)f3 c6 5.Af4 Ad6 6.e3 .£lf6 with that trade. 186

Bad Bishop Versus Good Kn ight

45.�g2 �f8 46.h4 J}.eS 47.�f3 Jlf7 48.�f4 �e8 49.E!bl �f8 50.b5 1-0

2.82 - accord i n g to my com p uter

You a re now wond ering why the va lue is so h igh -- nea rly a whole The Black q u eenside Pawns can not piece ahead, d espite Black not be adeq uately d efended. being down a ny m ateri a l, and G a m e # 1 9 0 ----------- having a Bishop versus a Kn ight. The a n swer lies i n the uselessn ess of the Black Bishop a n d the centra l Here is a nother d o m i n a nt Kn ight domina nce of the White Kn ight, versus a bad Bishop. along with the more active Wh ite (W) Joel Joh nson (222 3 ) King a n d Rook. let's see how these 1 (B) And rey Zubkov ( 945 ) adva ntages played out i n the ga me. [C14] Va lley Ch ess Th u rsday Swiss, Phoenix, AZ, ( Round 2), 09/19/2013 ---- - - - - - - - -

l.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.4)c3 4)f6 4.Jlg5 Jle7 5.e5 4)fd7 6.J}.xe7 'f;xe7 7.4)f3 0-0 8.h4 c5 9.d xc5 4) xc5 10.Jld3 4)c6 11.4)g5 g6 12.f4 4) xd3+ 13.'�xd3 f6 14.exf6 'ltf x f6 15.g3 'itf5 16.0-0-0 tt x d 3 17.§ x d3 h6 18.4)f3 Jld7 19.E!el �f7 20.a3 §ac8 21.4) b5 �f6 22.§de3 a6 23.4) bd4 §fe8 24. �d2 4) x d4 25.4) xd4 §c4 26.c3 b5 27 .4)f3 a5 28.4)e5 §c7 29.g4 J}.cS 30.g 5+ h xg5 31.fxg5+ �g7 32.E!f3 �h7 33. §efl §gS The W h ite King is free to wa nder 34.E!f7+ §g7 35.§xc7 § x c7 aro u n d the entire ch essboard, 36.§f6 §g7 attacking Black's wea knesses If we eva l u ate the cu rrent position, everywhere.

we wonder "how big is W h ite's advantage?"

37 . ... Jld7 38.�d4 J}.cS 39.�c5 §c7+ 40.�b6 §g7

187

Positional Attacks

41.�xa5 Etc7 42.�b6 Etg7 43.Etf8 Ad7 44.4)f7 EtgS 45.Etxg8 �xg8 46.4)e5 Ae8 47.�c5 �f8 48.�d6 Af7 49.b3 �e8 50.a4 bxa4 51.bxa4 Ag8 52.a5 �d8 53.4) xg6 Ah7 54.4)f4 Af5 55.a6 �c8 56.g6 1-0

------------ G a m e # 1 9 1 -----------

Black's plan is s i m p l e : 1) s e a l in the White Bishop perm a nently; a n d 2) trade o ff the rem a i n ing pieces. 22.h3 Et x c2 23. � x c2 �d7 24. �d2 �f5 25.Etcl h5 26. E{c7 Etf7 27.Etxf7 4) xf7 28.�e3 g4

Wh ite overlooks a Black Pawn thrust, which leaves his ki ngside Bishop doomed a n d useless.

(W) Hans-Joachi m Hecht (B) Robert H uebner (2 635 ) [A04] BRD-England, 1980 1.4)f3 c5 2.b3 d6 3.c4 g6 4.Ab2 e5 5.g3 Ag7 6.Ag2 f5 7.0-0 4)f6 8.4)c3 0-0 9.4)e1 4)c6 10.4)c2 f4 1 1.4)d5 4) xd5 12.cxd5 4Je7 13.Etb1 g5 14.e3 4)g6 1 5.d4 cxd4 16.exd4 Af5 17.d xe5? White is doomed in this position due to the state of h is light­ squared Bishop. Genera l ly speaki ng, a Qu een a n d Kn ight are 17 . ... f3 favored versus a Qu een a n d The point of this move is -- the Bishop beca use t h e Qu een a n d White Queen is overloaded. Wh ite Bishop share the same movement can not captu re on f3 beca use he cha racteristics. loses a piece after 18. �xf3 �xc2 29. � x a7 � x d5 30. �e3 �e5 19. 'itrxc2 §. xf3. 31.�cl �g7 32.h4 d5 33.a4 18.Ah1 A xe5 19.Axe5 4) xe5 d4 34.�d2 �c5 35.�f1 �c3 36.�e1 4Je5 0-1 20.E{c1 Axc2 21.E{ xc2 E{cS

White should have pl ayed 17. §.cl t o prevent Black's next move.

188

Exchange Sacrifice Reasons

exploring all the sign ificant reasons why players are willing to part with a Rook fo r either an opposing Kn ight or Bishop.

Exc h a nge Sacrifice Reaso ns

Below is a more accu rate list of the Reasons for Sacrificing a n Excha nge. I a m s u re there a re other reasons not listed, as bri l l i a nt, attacking players can a lways fi n d a new one; but overa ll, the list feels com p l ete.

list of Reasons for Sacrificing a n Exchange The action o f tra d i ng a Rook for a Bishop or Kn ight is called, "sacrificing the exchange " . I n Formation Attack Strategies,

we discussed the two m a i n reasons for parting with a n excha nge.

The fi rst reason is related to the precise va lue of the two pieces. The secon d reason concerned the pawn structure wea knesses caused by the sacrifices of this type. These two reaso ns cover the majority of them. However there are plenty of other reasons. In

this chapter, we wi l l be

1 ) Removing a Key Defender 2 ) Sepa ration of Forces 3 ) Dam agi ng a Pawn Struct u re 4) Weake n i ng Sq u a res 5 ) Preventing Castling 6) Creating a Powerfu l Passed Pawn 7 ) P recise Va l u e of the Pieces 8) Long-term Positional Pressu re 9 ) Space 10) Placing a Rook on a File The resulting ra nge of o utcomes from such a n action can be q u ick, like an i m m e d iate checkmate, or pai nfu l ly lengthy, as in a long-term

189

Positional Attacks

reca ptu re on h5, leads to the opening of the g-fi le and the i m m ediate end of the ga m e after Wh ite's next move.

positional bind. Freq u ently, the greater the delay in rea ping the harvest, the more i m p ressive is the sacrifice.

1 1 . ... gxh5 12.�g5 1-0

Re m oving a Key Defender

U ltim ately, Wh ite removed both d efenders of the g7 sq u a re (the Black Knight on h5 a n d the shielding Black Pawn on g6) by sacrificing the excha nge on h5.

The fi rst exa mple illustrates an excha nge sacrifice that e l i m i n ates the checkmate defend er.

------------ G a m e # 1 92 ----------{W) Chris Peterson { 1643 ) (B) Pete G went { 146 2) [A45] ICC 3 0, 1 1/10/2010 1.d4 .£\f6 2 . .Q.f4 d6 3 . .£\ c3 g6 4.e4 .Q.g7 5. �d2 0-0 6.0-0-0 c6 7.f3 b5 8 . .Q.h6 a5 9.h4 .£\bd7 10.h5 .£\ x h5 When a minor piece is performing a critical fu nction like gu a rd i ng the King then the piece m ay wel l be worth a Rook, as i n this game. 11.�xh5 Wh ite captures the Black Kn ight on h5 beca use it was: 1) protecting the Bishop on g7; 2) blocki ng the h-file; and 3) most i m porta ntly, the automatic response by Black to

Sepa ration of Forces The action of sacrificing the exchange can ca use sign ificant pawn structu re issues by doubling the d efender's Pawns. Doubled Pawns ca n create positional wea knesses, like holes a n d terrific outposts fo r attacking pieces. In scena rios of this n atu re, the attacker m ay a lso be able to build a wa l l between the d efender's rei nforcements a n d his King. In Formation Attack Strategies, I refer to this tec h n i q u e as "Sepa ration of Forces" .

------------ G a m e # 1 93 ----------Wh ite sacrifices a n excha nge on f6 to d a m age the Black kingside 190

Excha nge Sacrifice Reasons

(W} Alex Cherniack (2 3 50 } (B) G ary N ute (22 15 } [E29] 56th N ew England Open, lowell, MA, ( Ro u n d 1), 08/3 1/1996 l.d4 4)f6 2.c4 e6 3 . .£l c3 ,g_b4 4.a3 ,g_ xc3+ 5.bxc3 c5 6.e3 0-0 7.Ad3 d6 8.4)e2 4)c6 9.e4 e5 10.0-0 4)e8 l t.f4 b6 12.,g_e3 Aa6 13.'ita4 .£la5 14.d5 4)f6 15.�f3 'itd7 16.'itc2 4) xc4 19. � x f6! 17. A xc4 ,g_xc4 18.fxe5 d x e5 Why d oes Wh ite play this move? As i n so m a ny ga mes, Black Let us exa m i n e the specifics of the develops h i s Knight to f6 with the Excha nge Sacrifice from the pu rpose of exerting p ressu re on attacker's point of view: many center squ ares, after which Black castles kingside a n d his 1 ) Black loses his best d efensive trusty Kn ight becomes a key bodyguard; defender of h is King. 2 ) Suddenly the g-file is wide open One of the downsides of this setup d i rectly in front of the Black King is Black's responsi bility for the (although one m u st a lways actual protection of the Kn ight. consider that Black may h ave Should an enemy piece captu re on visions of e m ploying the open f6, Black would p refer to respond g-fi le h i m self aga i nst Wh ite's King in ki nd with a piece to p reserve his after �h8 and §g8); pawn structure. What this means 3 ) The res u ltant Black pawn is that Black should have a nother struct u re with doubled f-Pawns piece defending the f6 Kn ight so leaves m a ny sq u a re weakn esses that the wrecking of his pawn 191

Positional Attacks

(f5, f6, h6, g7, h7) that White ca n exploit (.£) to f5, -'t to h6, § to g3,

3) wou ld cause an extrem e defensive d i l e m m a for Black rega rd ing the placement of his Qu een .

etc.); and 4) White is essentially trading his "out-of-play" a-Rook for the Black Knight, as Wh ite ca n q u ickly replace the f1 Rook with §fl . I refer to this attack tech nique as a "Replacement Attacker".

19 . ... gxf6 20. �g3

There is one more sign ifica nt reason for the excha nge sacrifice. One has to consider the long­ range va lue of the pieces. I n a n endgame t h e value o f t h e White Knight when com p a red to a Black Rook would be insufficient. However in this middle ga me position, the va lue of the Wh ite Knight is significa ntly greater that the "out-of-play" Black Rook on a8, as once the Wh ite Kn ight reaches his future desti n ation (the hole on f5), his value would be d rastica lly increased, beca use h e : 1) would b e attacki ng m a ny key wea k squares a round the Black King (g7, h6, e7); 2) would act to separate the Black forces from the d efense of key wea k squares a round the Black King; and

Wh ite plans to entrench his Knight in the f5 outpost. Once there, the Black pieces wi l l be com pletely sh ut off from all the sq u a res in front of the Black King. Faced with this d i l e m m a Black chose the awkwa rd : 20 . ... t?/g4 21. t?/f2 t?/g6 22.�f5 §fe8 23. §el Wh ite heads for the open g-fi le. 23 . . .. §adS 24 . ..Q.h6 Wh ite clears the e3 sq u a re for his Rook and the co m p l etion of his p la n . Black pan ics, and the ga me comes to a q u ick conclusion . 24. ... t?/h5 25.h3 ..Q.xd5 26.exd5 § xd5 27.§e4 §dl + 28.�h2 1-0

Da m aging a Pawn Structure ------------ G a m e # 1 9 4 ----------Wh ite sacrifices the excha nge to fracture the Black kingside Pawn 192

Excha nge Sacrifice Reasons

structu re in front of Black's King.

is not enough.

(W) Zsuzsa Petronic (B) Tatjana Le m atch ko

2 1 . 'if/g4+ cJ)fS 22. 'if/g7+ cJ)eS 23.'if/g8+ cJ)d7 24. 'if/ x f7+ cJ)dS 25. 'if/fS+ 1-0

[B93] Roosendaal, N etherlands, 1976

The Black King ru ns out of esca pe s q u a res after 25 . . . . b1 §.ec8 19.g4 .1l.e6 20.4:\d4? §. x d4! The Black da rk-sq uared Bishop will be sign ifica ntly stronger after this exchange sacrifice to clear the a l -h8 diagonal . 21.ttxd4 4:\d7 22.e5 .1l xe5 23.tte3 §. xc3! Black wrecks the White q ueenside Pawn Structure with his second Exchange Sacrifice. 24.bxc3 tta3! 0- 1

----------- G a m e #268 -----------Wh ite forces Black i nto wi n n i n g t h e exchange beca use he has a Replacement Attacker ( Rook) waiting to fil l the void.

25.h3!! Wh ite forces Black to wi n the excha nge so Wh ite can activate his q u eenside Rook as a Replacem ent Attacker. Essentially this is a trade --Black's active Knight on g4 for the passive Wh ite Rook on al .

252

Positional Excha nge Sacrifice

0-0-0 15oe3 .llg4 16oh3?

25o ooo 4)f2+ 26o§ xf2 � x f2 27o§f1

-��� • ��

The Replacement Attacker joins the ki ngside attack cou rtesy of a free tempo with the attac k of the Black Queen.

�� t- l]t �� t

-�� � �.' � --�� � �� � �A � ���..�:��� ft ---��--�.%B � W: � �� ft � ���WA� .§. � ... .

", . .

27 o �c5 28o�h4 �f8 29o�g5 f6 30o �g6 §e7 000

.

�

--····�

Black desperately desires to retu rn �.... the exchange. H owever, Wh ite's wel l placed Kn ight is sign ifica ntly more va l u a ble than the Black Rook . ..... ./ 31o.lle4! �e8 32o4) h6+ �f8 33o§ xf6+ 1-0

----------- G a m e #2 69 ------- -

-- --

�

'··

-�

� --··

·

Black has p layed a n aggressive open i ng, and after his opponent sli ps-u p, he ru ns Wh ite over. 16o

The Von H e n n ig-Sch a ra G a m bit is at the root of this stu n n i ng u pset wi n .

...

000

§ x d2!

Black sacrifices an excha nge to l u re the Wh ite King out i nto the open .

(W) Kevin Burnett (2 3 20 ) (B) Ja m es Drebenstedt (1 78 0 )

"Which is worth more a Rook or a minor piece?"

[032] Saturday Tri p #20, Iowa City, lA, ( Round 2), 01/22/1994 lod4 d5 2oc4 e6 3o4)c3 c5 4ocxd5 cxd4 5o�a4+ .lld7 6o� xd4 exd5 7o4) xd5 4)c6 8o�f4 �a5+ 9o4)c3 4) b4 10o�e4+ .lle7 1 1o�h1 4)f6 l2oa3 4)c6 13ob4 �e5 14o.lld 2

17o� xd2 §dS+ 18o.lld 3 Jlf5 19o4)f3 4)e4+ 20o4) xe4 � x e4 21o4) d4 J u st when yo u think the h igher rated Wh ite may be wiggl ing out of his p red icam ent, Black lowers the boom with yet a nother excha nge sacrifice.

253

Positional Attacks

exf5 1 5.exf5 .Q. xf5 16.Etxf5!?

:�

21 Etxd4! 22.exd4 .Q.g5+ 23 d1 �xd4 24.�e2 .Q. x d3+ 25.� xd3 �b2+ 26.�e1 �xa1+ 27.�e2 �d4+ 0- 1

16 . ... gxf5

The point of Wh ite's excha nge sacrifice was to seriously d a m age ----------- G a m e #2 7 0 ------------ the Black kingside Pawn Structu re. N otice that the Black Kn ight on e7 A specu lative excha nge sacrifice was tied down to the protection of designed to weaken the Black the Kn ight on c6. kingside and gen erate a kingside attack, turns out wel l. 17. �h5 bxc3 18 . .Q. xc3 �d4 19.�e3 �g6 20 . .Q.d5 .Q.f6 21.Eta7 �b5? (W) Philip Du Chattel

(B) Pa u l Van der Sterren

Black com m its a fata l error leadi ng . to his demise. Who ca n blame him a s Wh ite is piling on the pressu re from all a ngles? Black wou l d be . . �e8 22.�f2 wm n m g a ft er 21 1 e4 g6 2.g3 .Q.g7 3 . .Q.g2 c5 �eS 23 .Jli3 § feB 24.4Jd5 Jld8 4 f4 �c6 5.�h3 d6 6.0-0 e6 ZS .�g2 �g7 26.Jldl 4Je5 27.4Jhf4 7.d3 �ge7 8.c3 0-0 9.�a3 4JbS Z8.1.ta4 .£lxa7 29.Axe8 �gS E!bS 10.�c2 b5 1 1 .a3 a5 30.�e2 �g4 3 1 .�e3 AgS 32.Aa4 12 . .Q.d2 b4 13.axb4 axb4 14.f5 .

[AOO] Netherlands Cham pionsh i p, Leeuwa rden, N etherlan ds, ( Round 4), 1975

:

·

254

. . .

Positional Excha nge Sacrifice

�ac6 33 .1hc6 �xc6.

22 . .1lxf6 �xf6 23.4)g5 h6

12.§xf2 �xg3 13.Jlf4 �h4 14.4)b5 a6 15.4)c7 §a7 16.jl x d6 .1ld4 17. �d2 4) d7 18 . .1lxf8 4)e5!? 19. §af1? Wh ite's best move here was 19 . .llh 6. 19 . ... \!l x f8 20.4)e6+ White fi nds a method of tra d i ng his tra pped Kn ight. 20 . ... .1lxe6 21.dxe6 b6 Black conti n ues h i s efforts to increase the activity of his pieces with the Black Rook being the last Black piece to join i n the action . 22 . .1lc2 \!lg7 23 . .1lb3 fxe6 24 . .1lxe6 §e7 25 . .1ld5

Black decides to let his ki ngside Rook go for su bseq uent piece activity.

l.d4 4)f6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.4)c3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Jl.d3 Ag7 8.4)ge2 0-0 9.0-0 4)g4 10.4)g3 �h4 1 1 .h3 4) xf2 25 . ... 4)f3+! 0- 1

255

Positional Attacks

Why did White resign ? Perh a ps because the fol lowing m ove seq uence (26.gxf3 �g3+ 27.�h l �xh3+ 28.�gl §e5) leaves Wh ite pa ralyzed and unable to defend.

----------- G a m e #2 7 2 -----------Wh ite sacrifices his g-Pawn and f-Pawn before the excha nge sacrifice, tea ring open the Black kingside.

(W) Zurab Az m aiparashvili (B) Matthias Wa hls [D78] Dortmund-A, Dortm und, Germa ny, 1990 l.g3 g6 2.,1lg2 .1lg7 3.4)f3 4)f6 4.c4 0-0 5.0-0 c6 6.b3 4)e4 7.d4 d5 8.Ab2 4)d7 9. '{tc2 4)df6 10.4)e5 .1lf5 ll.�c1 4)d7 12.f3 4)d6 13.4)d2 Ae6 14.e4 a5 15.4)d3 �e8 16.4)c5 4) xc5 17.d xc5 .1lxb2 18.�xb2 4)c8 19.cxd5 cxd5 20.f4 '{tc7 21.�acl dxe4 22.4) xe4 4)a7 23.4)g5 Af5

24.g4! White has a clear understa n d i ng of the position. The Black Bishop on f5 is the only piece h i n d eri ng a White kingside attack. 24. ... A xg4 25.Ad5 �fs? Even though the move e6 was his best a lternative, Black was reluctant to defend with the move because of his concern relating to the fu rther wea ken ing of his d a rk sq u a res (and the f6 sq u a re i n particu lar). 26.f5! gxf5

"Which is worth more a Rook or a minor piece?"

Black correctly avoids the Excha nge Sacrifice li ne, which would have followed after 26 . . . . Axf5 27. § xf5 gxf5 28.h7 or 25 . . . . �e7 to survive .

Once aga i n we witness a player abandoning his King. Wh ite has five pieces (which includes his long ra nge attacker, the White Queen) in the attack zone and Black has zero defenders.

26.4)f6 4) xe5 27.Jlxg7+! Jlxg7 28.h6 4)g6 29.4)hg4! JlfS 30.4)e5 Jlxg2 31.� xg6!! � xe5 Wh ite checkm ates with two Knights after 3 1 . . . . fxg6 32. {)xg6 # . 32.�g8 # 1-0 ------------

Situ ations l i ke these a re where sacrifices frequently occur as Wh ite has a huge Local M aterial Advantage in the vicin ity of the Black King and the loss of a piece wil l still leave White with a

G a m e # 2 88 -----------

H ere is a nother exa m p l e of how players can incorporate tec h n i q u es learned in my books i nto their own ga mes. Th e key m a neuver in this ga me, {)g5 > -

274

Loca l Materi a l Adva ntage

4Jh7 -> 4Jf6, I h ave o n ly seen one ti me before a n d that was i n G a m e #199 from Formation Attacks (Loek Van Wely-Peter Acs, Essent Crown, 10/19/2002).

(W) Joel Joh nson ( 22 3 1 ) (B) And rey Zu bkov ( 1948 ) [C02] Va lley Ch ess Th u rsday Swiss, Phoen ix, AZ, (Round 1), 10/25/2012 l.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 4)c6 5 . .£,f3 �b6 6.Ae2 cxd4 7.c xd4 .£,ge7 8.0-0 .£,f5 9 . .£,c3 Ad7 10.Ae3 .£, xe3 1 1 .fxe3 Ae7 12.�d2 0-0 13.�h1 E!ac8 14.e4 Ab4 15.exd5 ,1lxc3 16.bxc3 exd5 17.Ad3 4)a5

has two long ra nge pieces (Ad3 a n d �d2) focused a n d poised for a n i nvasion on the Black kingside. Although the position m ay not seem sign ificantly ti lted towa rds Wh ite j u st yet, recogn izing Wh ite's Local M ateri a l Adva ntage is a key step in turning this ga m e i nto a rout. Black's positional wea kness wi l l become a p p a rent in a few more moves. 18 .£,g5! h6 19. �h7! •

Th a n k you Peter Acs ! The road to victory is clear to me now. 19 . ... §fe8 20 . .£,f6+! Laydown p iece sacrifices work best when the defender is forced to ca pt u re the piece, l i ke here. 20 . ... gxf6 21.§ xf6 §e6 22. � x h6 § xc3 Black's position is in s h a m b les and com pletely hopeless. On 22 . . . . Ae8, Wh ite would topple the Black Monarch after 23.Jlh7+ �h8 24 .Ag6+ �g8 2S:gi'h7+ �f8 26. § xf7+ Axf7 27.�xf7 # . 23.Ah7+ �hs 24.Ag6+ 1-o

Black's pieces h ave a l l migrated to the queenside, while Wh ite now

Loca l Material Adva ntagea positional superiority obtained by having greater forces attacking a critica l part of the boa rd.

275

Positional Attacks

------------ G a m e #2 89 ----------- out the White Rook on a l either. The piece cou ld be util ized as a

(W) Artyo m Ti m ofeev ( 255 8) Replacement Attacker in any (B) I ngrid Lauterbach ( 2 142 ) f-Rook sacrifice variation . [B07] ECC, H a l ki d i ki, G reece, (Round 2), 09/23/2002

16.� x h7! §h8

1.e4 d6 2.d4 �f6 3.�c3 g6 4.Jlg5 c6 5.1td2 b5 6.Ad3 Jlg7 7.f4 �b6 8.�f3 a6 9.e5 dxe5 10.fxe5 �d5 1 1 .0-0 � xc3 12.bxc3 .Q.e6 13 . .Q.h6 0-0 14.Axg7 \tlxg7 15.�g5 Ad5

If Black accepts the sacrifice, White wi ns after 16 . . . . �xh7 17. Axg6+! �xg6 18. �d3+ �g7 19. �g3+ �h7 20. �h4+ �g6 2 1 . �g4+ �h7 22. �hS+ �g7 23. �gS+ �h7 24. § f4 a n d §h4•. The chosen move leaves Wh ite with a wi n n ing position as well . 17.�g5 f6 Black attem pts to push away the Wh ite Kn ight; White, however, has other plans. 18.exf6+ exf6 19.§xf6! Wh ite strips away a key Black d efender to exploit his Local M aterial Adva ntage. 19 . ... \tl xf6 20. �f4+ \tlg7 21. �e5+ \tlg8 22. �e8+ 1-0

At first glance, the Black position seems okay. White has two attackers to one d efender i n the right th ree fi les. However, when we add in the long-range attackers, the White Queen a n d Bishop, the Wh ite adva ntage becomes q u ite noticeable. Do not enti rely rule

Black is checkm ated after 22 . . . . �g7 23.�xg6+ �f8 24.�d6+ �g7 25.�e7+ �g8 26.§ fl �xd4+ 27.cxd4 4Jd7 28.Ah7+ § xh7 29.�xh7 • .

------------ G a m e #290 ----------Wh ite is a i m ing a l l h is pieces at the

276

Loca l Material Advantage

Black King, while Black seems to be vacating the p rem ises.

cou nterplay.

{W) B -Wal l { 2 3 78) (B) Vi perStrike { 2 336 ) [ B22] I CC 3 0, 06/07/2011 1.e4 c5 2 . .£)f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.c3 .£)f6 s.es .£ld5 6.cxd4 d6 7.exd6 .1lxd6 8 .£)c3 .£) xc3 9.bxc3 0-0 10 . .1ld3 'lf:lc7 11 . .1ld2 b6 12.'1!1e2 .1lb7 13 . .£lg5 h6 14.h4 .1l xg2? •

My com p uter is sti l l working out whether it is safe to ca ptu re that White Pawn formerly on the g2 sq uare. With no thought at a l l, I can see no reason for doing so, as the move just adds another piece to the Wh ite attack. Doesn't Black already have enough attackers poi nti ng at his King? Why give Wh ite the open g-fi le too for his Rook? 15.§g1 .Q.b7 16 . .£) h7! .1lh2 17.0-0-0 .11. xg1 18.§xg1 §c8 19.'lf:lh5 After checki ng out the d iagra m at the top of the next col u m n, it is pretty clear B lack's King has been hung out to d ry by his own defenders, and as long as White has the c3 sq u a re covered Black has nothing i n the way of

19 . ... 'lf:lh2 20. § xg7+! rt/ xg7 2 1 . 'lf:lxh6+ 1-0

------------ G a m e # 291 ----------Pawns can be included as p a rt of the loca l M aterial Advantage if they a re advanced enough to affect the aggressor's attack in a positive way, as in the fol lowi ng ga me.

{W) Erwi n Nievergelt (B) Hans Jahner [ B88] Swiss Cham pionship, Rapperswi l, Switzerland, 1955 1.e4 c5 2 . .£)f3 .£)c6 3.d4 cxd4 4 . .£) x d4 .£)f6 5 . .£)c3 d6 6 . .1lc4 e6 7.a3 .Q.e7 8.0-0 0-0 9 . .1la2 a6 10 . .1le3 .1ld7 1 1 . 'lf:le2 §c8 12.§ad1 'l!lc7 13.f4 .£) x d4

277

Positional Attacks

14o§xd4 §fdS 15o!ld3 jlc6 16of5 e5 17o-'tc1 b5 18og4 h6 19oh4 Wh ite correctly pushes forwa rd with his kingside pawn storm despite the appearance of great risk to his own King. 19o

000

d5

Black proceeds with a normal move for busting a wedge. 20og5 hxg5? A critical defensive error by Black as White wi ll exploit the newly opened h-file. 21ohxg5 4) xe4 22o4) xe4 dxe4

f- and g-pawns. In addition, Wh ite's Bishops a re long ra nge attackers pointing at the Black ki ngside, while the Wh ite Rook on d3 is headed right for Black's h-file wea kness. Essential ly, all five of Wh ite's pieces and his two kingside pawns a re gangi ng up on lonely Black Monarc h . 23o-'t xf7+! Wh ite can a lso win by heading di rectly for the open h-fi le with the move 23. §.h3!. 23o ooo � x f7 24o �h5+ �gS 25o!lh3 -'tc5+ In a lost position, the last of Black's kingside d efenders bails as the Black King is left to fend for h i m self. 26o�h2 Ad5 27o�h8+ �f7 28og6+ �e7 29o � xg7+ 1-0

------------ G a m e #292 ----------Black pulls defenders away ( 1 1 . . . . �d7 and 1 2 . . . . §. d8) from his kingside and fi nds his King vu lnera ble to attack. I n the heat of battle, m a ny strong p layers wi l l err in this fashion. Wh ite has a Loca l M aterial Advantage on the ki ngside behind the power of his advanced

(W) G ennadi Kuz m i n ( B ) Mikhail M u khin 278

Local Materia l Adva ntage

15.e5!

[B82] USSR Cham pionship, Ba ku, USSR, 1972

Wh ite u n leashes the light-sq u a red Bishop. l.e4 c5 2.4)f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.4) xd4 4)f6 5.4Jc3 a6 6.f4 e6 1 5 . ... 4)d xe5 16.A xh7+! 7.Ad3 �c7 8.0-0 Ae7 9.4)f3 4)c6 10.�e1 0-0 11.ctlh1 4) d7 As I said before, these conditions 12. �g3 Eld8 13.f5 Af8 ( Loca l M aterial Adva ntages) 14.fxe6 fxe6 ben efit from sacrifices, just l i ke Once aga i n we have a situation here. where Black has relocated a l m ost 16 . ... ctl x h7 17.4)g5+ ctlg8 every one of his pieces to the 18. �h4 g6 19.4)ce4 1-0 queenside. I n addition, White has the long-ra nge attackers (two The th reat is 20. 4.Jf6+ �g7 Bishops) a i m ed towa rd the Black 2 1 . �h7 # . U n fo rtunately for Black, King. defending the f6 sq u a re with eith er !J.e7 or !J.g7 blocks out the The other issue for Black relates to defending key weak s q u a res l i ke f6 Qu een's protection of the h7 sq u a re, leading to 20. �h7 # . and h7 without blocking out his Queen, the key d efender i n most G a m e # 29 3 ----------of these scen a rios. ------------

· �. 2.·.·.·.·�,/ . !� .�. B � � i ��t -� � �� i .�

,,

B B B B ft. •B��ft�� ,..... , ft � �� � � � ,., . ., /

�.

. . . . /

·

White fi nds himself with a h uge Local M aterial Adva ntage, which causes h i m to sacrifice two pieces to shed a l l the Pawns defending the Black King.

� � . . . . . ��� , i m � m � B (W) Artur Yusu pov (B) Philipp Sch loss e r B B . 9798, Germany, �§ �DO�] Bund eshga 99 -ft.�� � ...., 1 d4 r..r6 2 r..r3 e6 3 ·e3 c5 ��� : Ad3 .£Jc65.o-Od5 6.b3 • 4Ad6 7.Ab2 0-0 8.c4 �e7 . , .. ,/

,

9.4Jc3 cxd4 10.exd4 Aa3

279

Positional Attacks

11.'�c1 ,1lxb2 12.�xb2 dxc4 13.bxc4 �dS 14.�ad1 b6 15.d5 �a5 16.�fe1 �c5 17.�e4 � xe4 18 . .Q.xe4 ,1lb7

Now we see that Wh ite plans on just giving away those minor pieces to s h red Black's cover. 21 . ... � x h7 22. �c2+! �g8 23.�xh6+ White conti n ues fu l l s peed a head, with his plans on d estroyi ng the Black Pawn cover. 23 . ... gxh6 24. �g6+ �fS 25. � x h6+ �g8 26. �g6+ �f8 27.�f6+ �g8 28. �e5 1-0

------------ G a m e #29 4 ----------M a rk Tai m a n ov was a Top-Ten Player in the World; however, he fel l victim to a com b i n ation of not All of Wh ite's pieces a re aimed at enough kingside defenders and the Black King and Black only has a m a ny poorly p laced pi eces. Rook on d8 for defense. I can sense bad thi ngs a bout to happen. (W) M a rk Tai m a n ov 19.�g5! Wh ite recogn izes his adva ntage and moves i n for the kill. 19 . ... h6 20.,1lh7+! On the su rface, this move would appear to be foolish as the piece only gu arding the Bishop ( Kn ight on g5) is under attack. Basical ly, Wh ite is setting himself up to lose a piece. 20 . ... �h8 21.� xf7+

(B) G regory Kaidanov [Al3] Belgrade, Yugoslavia, (Round 3), 1988 1.�f3 d5 2.b3 �f6 3.Ab2 e6 4.c4 c5 5.e3 �c6 6.cxd5 exd5 7 . .Q.b5 Ad6 8.�e5 0-0 9.� xc6 bxc6 10.,1le2 �e8 1 1 .0-0 �b8 12.d3 �b4 13.�d2 �h4 Black has poi nted a l l his pieces at the White kingside. Wh ite's pieces a re poorly placed and una ble to fend off Black' s vicious attack.

280

Local Materia l Adva ntage

n u m ber of attackers, to no ava i l . 1 5 . ... j}_xg4 16.f3 � x h2!! The Wh ite ki ngside is now i n ruins. 17.fxg4 The Wh ite Rook is poison as 17. �xh2 leads to checkmate after 1 7 . . . . �h4+ 18. �g2 �xg3+ 19. �h1 �h2 • . 17

With Black's long-range attackers, the Local M ateri a l Adva ntage could look l i ke the followi ng position .

.

•..

� xe3!

The Black Rook is still poison and the Black invaders ca n not be thwa rted . 18.-'l.f6 A desperate attem pt by White, however, there is one slight p roblem : Black has enough attackers to topple the Wh ite Monarch without his Queen. 18 . ... �h3!! 19.�f3 On 1 9 .-'txd8, Black wins after 19 . . . . �exg3+ 20.�f2 �h2+ 2 l .�e 1 �e3+ 22.�e2 �exe2+ 23.�d1 � xd2+ . 19 . ... � xg3+ 20.�h1 gxf6 2 1 . � xg3 j}_ xg3 22.�f3 �d7 0-1

14.g3 �g4 15.Jl.xg4 Wh ite attem pts to red u ce the

------------

G a m e # 295 -----------

White sacrifices a d i rect path to

281

Positional Attacks

the Black King.

------------ G a m e #296 -----------

(W) Baadur Jobava ( 2710 ) (B) B e nja m in Bok { 2560 )

A risi ng s u persta r has a la pse in j udgment i n his strategy concerning kingside safety.

[C44] Tata Steel (Gro u p B), Wij k aan Zee, N etherlands, (Round 10), 01/22/2014 l.e4 e5 2.4)f3 4)c6 3 . .1le2 4)f6 4.d3 d5 5.4) bd2 .1lc5 6.c3 a5 7.a4 0-0 8.0-0 §e8 9.h3 h6 10.ttc2 b6 11.§el .ilb7 12.4)fl Ad6 13.4)g3 4)e7 14.4)h4 c5 15.Ag4 c4 16.dxc4 4) xe4 17.§xe4 dxe4 18.A xh6? Ac5?

(W) La rs Bo Hans e n ( 2580 ) (B) G iovanni V e scovi ( 24 65 ) [ DOS] 17th Copenhagen Open, Copenh agen, Den m a rk, (Round 4), 1995

l.d4 c5 2.e3 4)f6 3.4)f3 e6 4.Ad3 d5 5.0-0 4) bd7 6.c3 .1ld6 7.4)bd2 0-0 S.§el ttc7 9.e4 cxd4 10.cx d4 dxe4 The only way to refute an u nsou n d 1 1.4) xe4 4) xe4 12.§xe4 b6 13.tte2 .1lb7 14. §h4 g6 sa rifice is t o accept i t . T h i s gets 15.Ad2 §ac8 16. tte3 §fd8 back to our earlier q uestion. Do 2700 players bl uff? 19.§dl 'i!Jc7 20. 'i!Jcl e3 21.j't xe3 j'txe3 22. 'i!Jxe3 'i!Jxc4 23.4)h5 'i!Je4? 24. 'i!Jg5! 4)g6 25. d7 A key Black defender m igrates 25 .1l,g4+ Cit>e7 26 .11, f 6+ Cit>fS away from his ki ngside, leavi ng 27.�g8+ Cifi> x f7 28.�g7+ Cjfj>eS 29 . .1l.h5+ �f7 30. � x f7 1-0 Black u n a b le to fend off the fu rious incoming White attack. Black is checkmated on a l l responses with the p ri m a ry th reat 16.�h5! bxa4 17. �d3!! bei ng 3 1 . f! xh7+ �f8 32. f! h8 # . The fol lowi ng d i agra m does not tell the entire story related to The Fischer-Sozi n Attack is a very Wh ite's Loca l Materi a l Adva ntage. aggressive opening rich i n tactics, The Wh ite Bishop on b3 is also strategy, and a m azing assa u lts on attacki ng key sq u a res i n the Attack the Black King. This p roba bly •

•

•

•

289

Positional Attacks

Zone. While the Black defenders are in no position to d efend any sort of attack d i rected at the wea k g7 and h7 squares.

22 . .§ xg7+ �xg7 23. �gS + �h7 24 . .§ h6 # ca n not be stopped.

------------ G a m e #3 05 ----------(W) Bin Satta r R eefat ( 2467 ) (B) Chanda Sa ndipa n ( 2446 ) [ B89] Penta Media G M , Kela m a bakkam, I ndia, ( Round 13), 08/27/2000 l.e4 c5 2.4)f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.4) xd4 4)f6 5.4)c3 4)c6 6 . .Q.c4 e6 7 . .Q.e3 .Q.e7 8. �e2 0-0 9.0-0-0 a6 lO. E!hgl �e8 l l.g4 4) d7 12.g5 4)c5 13.�h5 4) xd4 14.-'t,xd4 b5

17 . ... e5 Ripping off the "free" White Bishop with 17 . . . . axb3, resu lts i n Black being checkmated after 18 . .§h3 fS 19 . .Q.xg7! �d8 20.�xh7+ �f7 2 l ..Q.xf8+ �xf8 22.�h8+ �t7 23.g6 # .

Black was proba bly expecting Wh ite to retreat his attacked Bishop back to b3; howeve r, Wh ite has a nother idea.

18.g6! hxg6 19.E!xg6 .Q.f6 20.E!xf6 axb3 On 20 . . . . gxf6, Wh ite checkm ates after 2 1 . .§g3+. 21.E!g3 1-0 Checkmate would follow as the dual White th reats of 22 . .§ h6 followed by 23 . .§ h8 # and

1 5 . .Q.f6!!

290

Local Material Adva ntage

With this move, White effectively sepa rates the Black defend ers from the support of his King.

§ h4.

16 .1lxf6 17.gxf6 g5 18.h4! e5 19.h xg5 4) xe4 .

. .•

Wh ite c h eckm ates the Black King after 1 9 . Axg4 20. �h6 §g8 2 1 . § h 1 fol lowi ng by �xh7 # . .

. .

20.§h1 .1lf5 2 1 .§gh4 1-0 The ga m e cou ld have concluded as follows : 2 1 . . 4:Jxg5 22.�xg5 §g8 23.§ xh7+ �xh7 24 .§ xh7+ �xh7 25.�h5 # . . .

------------ G a m e #3 06 ----------M uch l i ke the last ga me, Black faces a n u p h i l l battle when it Black's position is strategica l ly lost. comes to safegu a rd i ng his King. All of Black's pieces h ave been completely closed off from the (W) D m itrij l konnikov ( 2 43 5 ) kingside with Wh ite's last m ove. (B) loa n n is N i kolaidis ( 2565 ) Now Wh ite is th reaten ing 1 6. �h6 [B89] Russia-Cup4 Perm, Russia, fol lowed by either 16 . . . . gxh6 02/09/1997, ( Round 2) 17. gxh6 # 1 or 16. .ll xf6 1 7 . gxf6 1.e4 c5 2.4)f3 4)c6 3.d4 cxd4 g6 18. �g7 # . 4.4) xd4 4)f6 5.4)c3 d6 6 . .1lc4 1 5. ... �h8 e6 7 . .1le3 .1le7 8.-{te2 a6 9.0-0-0 itc7 10 . .1lb3 0-0 Black stops the move 1 6. �h6 at 1 1. §hg1 4)d7 1 2 .g4 4)c5 the expense of his h7 sq u a re 13.g5 b5 14.-{th5 4) xd4 15 . .1lxd4 4) x b3+ 16.a xb3 b4 defense. 17 . .1lf6 16. §g4 Once aga i n Wh ite ignores a th reat White intends on attacking the to a q u eenside piece in favo r of wea k h7 square with the move, taking his attack to the Black King. • • •

291

Positional Attacks

17 . ... E{eS 18.Etd3!! The wea k h7 square awaits. 18 . ... t\'a5 19.Eth3 h6 20. t\'xh6! 1-0

------------ G a m e #3 0 7 ----------- This time a round, we have a n (W) To m as Ora l . (B) G iova nni Vescov1 [B22] World Cham pionsh i p { U 20), Halle, Belgi um, ( Round 9), 1995 1.e4 c5 2.c3 d6 3.d4 {)f6 4 . .Q.d3 g6 5.dxc5 dxc5 6.e5 �fd7 7.e6! Wh ite chucks a pawn to weaken Black's Pawn structure. 7. ... fxe6 8.�f3 �c6 9.t\'e2 .1lg7 10.�bd2

�

u n usual position. Wh ite does not a p pear to have a sign ific a n _ hm t e adva ntage i n m ateri a l Wlt Attack Zone. Nevertheless, Wh ite is able to cash in on his attack beca use of light square wea kn esses and som e ingen ious piece play.

�

15.4:) xh7! White correctly a i m s to domi nate the wea k l ight sq u a res arou n d the . Black King with the use of his h-Pawn, Roo k on hl, Bishop on e4,

292

loca l Materia l Advantage

Black is m ated after 22 . . . . �g8 23 . ..llli7 + �h8 24. Ag6+ �gB 2 5 . �h7 • .

and Qu een . 15o ooo � x h7 16o�c4! Wh ite sacrifices a nother Kn ight to d raw Black's Knight out of the Attack Zone. I n addition, the White da rk-square Bishop, a long ra nge attacker, is now a i m ed at the Black kingside. 16o ooo �xc4 17oh xg6+ �g8 18o§h8+!! This is the o n ly wi n n i n g move for Wh ite; a l l other moves lose ! 18o ooo Jl x h8 19o �h5 Jl xg6 The Black position is in s h a m b les. 20o�xg6+ Ag7 21o�h7+ �f7 22o�h5+ �f6

23of4! 1-0 White entombs the Black King with the th reat of 24. �g6 • . Black is checkm ated after 23 . . . . 4J6e5 24.fxe5+ 4Jxe5 25 .Ag5 • .

------------ G a m e #3 0 8 ----------(W) Con rad Holt ( 2 393 ) (B) Lev M i l m a n ( 2 46 7 ) [E32] Berkeley I nternational, Berkeley, CA, ( Round 4), 01/03/201 1 1 od4 �f6 2oc4 e 6 3o�c3 AM 4o �c2 0-0 5oe4 d5 6oe5 �e4 7oAd3 c5 8o�f3 cxd4 9o�xd4 �d7 10oAf4 �h4 1 1 og3 �h3 l 2o0-0-0 � xc3 13obxc3 Aa3+ l4o�bl �b6 l5oAf1 �h5 16oAe2 �h3 17o�f3 �f5 l8o.Q.d3 �h5 19o�g5 h6 20oh4 Ad7 2 1 oAh7+ �hs H e re we see another wei rd position where White's Local M ateri a l Adva ntage is not read i ly a p p a rent. Other issues for Black i n this position a re h i s wea k light squares and the lack of safe squares for his Queen .

293

Positional Attacks

ca ptu ring either of the ha nging pieces.

27.§xg6+!! �xg6 28.h5+

22 . ... g6 23.� xf7+! �g7? As bad as 23 . . . . E!. xf7 a ppears, the text move is worse. 24.g4!! The lack of squares for the Black Qu een forces Black to capture the Wh ite g-Pawn, which resu lts i n a n open g-file. Wh ite i m mediately seizes the opportunity to have a Rook bearing d i rectly down on the Black King. 24. ... �xg4 25.§dgl �f5 26. �xf5 exf5

Wh ite e l i m i n ates the h5 sq u a re as a possi ble hiding p lace for the Black King. As a resu lt, the Black King is now stuck i n the line of fi re and a l l that rem a i n s is for Wh ite to check along the g-file. 28. ... �g7 29.§gl # 1 -0

Local Materia l Adva ntage a positional superiority obtained by having greater forces attacking a critical part of the boa rd.

294

Overwhelming Force

1) ignoring an opponent's adva nces; 2) gra bbing material without any rega rd to the consequences; 3 ) providing free tem pos to you r opponent; 4) falling behind in d evelop m ent; and 5 ) not responding to a n opponent's build u p o f forces.

Overwhel ming Force

Si m ple Exa m ples

Every so often you play a ga m e against a player w h o a l lows you to conti n u a lly post up pieces on great sq ua res u ntil before you know it, you have a position that rese m b les Custer' s Last Sta n d . Loa ds of you r attacking pieces su rround a n under-defended Monarch. In

situ ations l i ke th ese, the attacker ca n sacrifice most of his pieces to strip away the few remaining d efenders and sti l l possess sufficient force t o fi nish o ff the defending King. What causes the defender to reach his pred ica m e nt? Th ere a re a few m a i n causes:

------------ G a m e # 3 09 ----------White com m its m a ny of the a bove listed offenses u ntil his King has to make a run for it. But he doesn't get fa r.

(W) Scott Massey ( 1769 ) (B) Anthea Ca rson ( 1790 ) [A05] G/40, 201 1 Daffy Down Dilly Open, Pueblo, CO, ( Ro u n d 2), 05/07/201 1 l.e4 c5 2.d3 4)c6 3.4)f3 d6 4.c3 g6 5.g3 Jl,g7 6.J}.g2 4)f6 7.0-0 0-0 8.4)h4 Ag4 9.�b3 �d7 10.f4 Jlh3 Ten m oves i nto the ga me, White has made five Pawn moves, moved a Kn ight twice to the rim, and left his q u eenside com pletely

295

Positional Attacks

undeveloped . 11.,1l xh3? Wh ite invites the Black Qu een to his Ki ng's doorsteps so he ca n win a measly Pawn . What a bout developing his q ueenside i nstead? 11 . ... �xh3 12.�xb7 4)g4 Wh ite is already completely lost.

------------

G a m e #3 10 -----------

M uch l i ke in the last ga me, Black ignores his development while gra bbing materi a l . Wh ite stays focused on d eveloping his pieces before beating back the Black Qu een and attacking the Black King.

(W) Bil l D evin (B) N N [ASO] Lansing, M l 1.d4 4)f6 2.c4 e6 3.g4 4) xg4 4.e4 �h4 5. �e2 4) xf2? White has ba ited Black i nto heading down this path . 6. �xf2 � x e4+ 7.,1le2 4)c6 Black' s Queen is tra pped after 7 . �xh l 8. Af3 . .

.

.

8.4)f3 4)b4 9.0-0 4)c2?

13 . ... 4)d4!! The Wh ite kingside is overwhelmed and the remainder of the ga me is just more p roof. 14.§f2 4) xf3+ 15.§xf3 �xh2+ 16.�f1 �h1+ 17.�e2 �g2+ 18.�d1 �xf3+ 19.�c2 �e2+ 20.4)d2 4)e3+ 0-1

Black co ntinues with his m aterial grabbing ways. His day of awakening is fast a p proachi ng. 10.4)c3 �g6+ 1 1 .�h1 4) xal Black is ahead a Rook and three Pawns. You would th i n k the ga me should be com p l etely over with a win for Black. But noth ing could be fu rther from the truth . Watch how the Wh ite force swa rms forwa rd

296

Overwhelming Force

towa rds the enemy Ki ng. 12.4)e5! (free tempo) �f6 13. �g3 (free tempo) �e7 l4 . .1lg5 (free tem po) f6 15.Ah5+ g6 16 . .1lxf6 Black's position is hemorrhaging. 1 6 · ··· b6 17 . .1lxg6+ h xg6 18.� x g6+ �d8 19.4)f7+ �e8 g d 8 21 �e8 # t-o 20.4) d6+ ,..., •

�;:l::;�

Cham pionship, Bad Oey Germany, ( Round 4), 07

I.e4 e6 2 · d4 d5 3 · e5 c5 4.c3 .1ld7 4)c6 5.4)f3 �b6 6 . .-. " d3 b4 dxc5 .1lxc5 8.0-0 f6 9. e7 10 .Q.f4 fxe5 1 1 .4:\ xe . xe5 1 2 . .1lxe5 4)f6 13.4) 2 0 14.4)f3 a5 1 5.bxa5 E! x a5 16.E!bl �a7 17.4)g5 g6 18.E!b2

i �

•

�

White sets a tra p . 1 8. ... E{ x a2? And Black fa lls right i nto it. 19 . .1ld4 b6

Final Position

Once again, the White m i nor pieces a re pointing at the Black kingside and White sets a tra p .

(W) Berthold Koch (B) Heinz Nowa rra [C02] German Ch ess

20.Jl xg6! E! x b2 If Black capture d t h e White Bishop . with 20 . . . . hxg6, then Wh ite would win with 2 1 . �bl th reatening both 22. �xa2 and 297

Positional Attacks

1.d4 .£)f6 2 . .£)f3 g6 3 . .£lc3 Ag7 4.e4 d6 5 . .sle3 0-0 6. �d2 .£)g4 7 .j'tg5 E!eS? 8.h3 .£)f6 9 . .slh6 Ahs 10.0-o-o .sld7? 1 1 .e5! .£lh5 12.g4 .£lg7 13 . .£lg5 c5?

22. �xg6+ .

Black com m its a basic strategy flaw; he opens up the position for a better-developed op ponent. /

14.Ac4 Elf8 1 5.exd6 cxd4 16.dxe7 �xe7 17 . .£)d5 �d8 18.E{he1 E!eS

E � B E B��. � '· �� t BAB � �t�t B B� t� -B-�� � � Bit�� B � � ft B � B�B�B Bft � � ft ft � � .§ �� B • � . . . . .'

21.�h5!! e5

"- · · · · ·'

'· · · · · �

The White Queen is poison d u e to 2 1 . . . . 4Jxh5 22 . .Q.xh7 =11= .

�.

22.j't xe5 Etxf2 23.� xh7+! .£) xh7 24.j'txh7 # 1-0

------------ G a m e #3 12

�. . �

,

-----------

�.

Black fa lls behind in development due to some suspect maneuvers. From there, Wh ite has no p roblem fi nishing off Black with his Overwhelming Force.

{W) Ji m Beau regard { 1 83 0 ) (B) Bryson G regory { 1 80 8) [BOB] 2013 Qu eens Kn ightm a re Sectional, G i l bert, AZ, ( Round 4), 10/19/2013

.,. .�

. . . .·

.....�

�- - - - �

... . . . . �

19 . .£1 xf7! �h4 Wh ite checkm ates Black after 1 9 . . . . �xt7 20.�f4+ .Q.f5 2 1 .4Jc7+ 4Je6 22.4Jxe6 §. xe6 23 . .Q.xe6+ �e8 24 . .Q.xf5 + �t7 25 . .Q.d3+ �g8 26.Ac4+ �d5 27 .Axd5 =II= . 20.Jlg5 � x h3 2 1 . .£)f6+ \f]f8 22.�b4+ E!e7 23.�xe7 # 1-0

298

Zugzwa ng

Zugzwang/Bind

a few more meani ngless m oves before he runs out.

----------- G a m e # 3 1 3 -----------(W) m isuc 56 ( 1874 ) (B) HypnoticTra nce ( 2200 } [A40] I CC 15 5, 01/16/2013 1.d4 b5 2.e3 a6 3.c4 bxc4 4 . .Q.xc4 e6 5 . .£lf3 .Q.b7 6 . .Q.e2 .£lf6 7. .£lc3 d6 8.h3 .£l bd7 9.a3 h6 10.0-0 g5 11 . .£lh2 h5 1 2 . .Q.f3 t\'c8 13 . .1l.. x b7 t\' x b7 14.t\'f3? t\'xf3 1 5 .£l xf3 g4 16.h xg4 h x g4 17 .£lh2 d5 18 . .£le2 .Q.d6 19.g3 rJ;e7 20.rJ)g2 �h7 21.�h 1 �ah8 An attack can succeed in many 22 . .Q.d2 .£le4 23 . .Q.c3? .£l xf2! ways. The end resu lt does not 24 . .£lf4 .£l xh1 25. � x h 1 .£lf6 have to be that you checkmate the 26.b4 .£le4 27 .Q.e1 .£lg5 28 . .Q.f2 .£l f3 29 . .Q.g1 .Q.xf4 oppon ent's King or you captu re 30.exf4 f6 0-1 enough m aterial to win the ga m e . I t is a l s o possi ble to pa ralyze you r ----------G a m e # 3 14 -----------opponent i n s u c h a way that h e h a s no meani ngfu l moves or a n y (W) Ove Ekebjaerg available move ca uses h i m t o lose. (B) G ert Jan Ti mm er m a n The ga mes i n this chapter illustrate [C27] Correspondence N L N BC-25, this theme. 199 1 •

•

•

1 . .£lc3 e5 2.e4 .£lf6 3 . .Q.c4 .£l xe4 4. t\'h5 .£ld6 5 . .Q.b3 .£lc6 6 .£l b5 g6 7.t\'f3 f5 8.t\'d5 t\'e7 9 . .£l xc7+ rJ)dS 10 .£l xa8 b6 1 1 .d3 .Q.b7 1 2.h4 f4 In the fi rst set of ga m es, the 13.t\'f3 .£ld4 14.t\'g4 .Q.g7 defender is in com plete Zugzwa ng; 1 5 . .Q.d2 .Q. x a8 16.0-0-0 .Q.f6 he either has no m oves or has j u st 17 . .Q.b4 a5 18 . .Q.xd6 t\' x d6

Defender Has No M oves

•

•

299

Positional Attacks

19.4)h3 itc6 20.4)g5 a4 21 . .Q.c4 b5 22.4)f7+ rt;Jc7 23.4) xh8 .Q.xh8 24.h5 g5! 25.c3 bxc4 26.cxd4? cxd3+ 27.rt)b1 itc2+ 28.rt)a1 a3 29.gb1 .Q.e4 30. itd1 exd4 31.itf1 d6 32.f3 .Q.f5 33.itc1 d2 34. itxc2+ .Q. xc2 35.ghd1 d3 36.g xd2 rt;Jb6 0- 1

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.4)c3 .Q.b4 4.e5 c5 5 . .Q.d2 4)e7 6.4) b5 .Q.xd2+ 7. itxd2 o-o 8.c3 b6 9.f4 .Q.a6 10.4)f3 itd7 1 1 .a4 4)bc6 1 2.b4 cxb4 13.cxb4 A.b7 14.4) d6 f5 15.a5 4)c8 16.4) xb7 itxb7 17.a6 itf7 18 . .Q.b5 4) 8e7 19.0-0 h6 2o.gfc1 grcs 21.gc2 ite8? 22.gac1 gabS 23. ite3 gc7 24.gc3 itd7 25.g 1c2 rt;}f8 26. itc1 gbcs 27 . .Q.a4 b5 28 . .Q. x b5 rt;Je8 29 . .Q.a4 rt)d8 30.h4 1 -0

----------- G a m e #316 -----------(W) Leif Ogaa rd (B) Eugenio Torre [ E64] H a ifa, Israel, 1976 1.d4 c5 2.d5 g6 3.c4 d6 4.4)c3 .Q.g7 5.4)f3 4)f6 6.g3 0-0 7 .Q.g2 e6 8.dxe6 A.xe6 9. 4)g5 Jlxc4 10.Jlxb7 4) bd7 1 1.A.xa8 itxa8 12.0-0 d5 Final Position 13.itc2 §e8 14.f3 .Q.a6 1 5.a4 The Black's path to victory is h2 4)c7 16.f4 4)ba6 17.f5 c5

19.gxh3 §e6 20. §e2 §g6+ 21.\t>h1 Wh ite also wins after 2 1 .h2 4)f4 23.4)d4 §xh3+ 0- 1

18.f6t Wh ite prepares the key move, .ilxh6!.

------------ G a m e #3 5 2 ----------- 18 . ... cxd4 19.A xh6! Wh ite busts open the Black kingside with a tim ely Axh6.

Once aga i n the attacker i n itially only gets a single Pawn for his sacrificed pieces.

{W) Ka m ra n Shirazi {2 404 ) (B) Pauline G uichard {22 57 )

19

[Al l] 9th Malakoff Open, Malakoff, France, ( Round 2), 04/12/2009 1.4)f3 4)f6 2.g3 d5 3.Ag2 c6 4.0-0 Af5 5.d3 h6 6.c4 e6 7.4)c3 Ae7 8.cxd5 exd5 9.4)d4 Ag4 10.h3 Ad7 1 1.e4

.

..•

gxh6 20. �h5 4)e6

Defe n d i ng the Black h6 Pawn is not a n o ption due to .Q.e4+ . 21. � x h6 4)ac5 22. §f4! I n view of �g7 • , the Black Knight on e6 ca n not move. 22 . ... A xf6 23.exf6 1-0

330

.ilxh6 Sacrifice

------------ G a m e #3 5 3 --

----

- --- chosen move j u st sped thi ngs u p . -

Wh ite pushes back, from some ea rly aggression by Black, to score a q u ick knockout via a t i mely Axh6.

(W) Jana Krive c (224 0 ) (B) Fra nco Valencia (22 5 3 ) [C28] Ch ess Olym piad (Wo m e n ), Ista n b u l, Tu rkey, ( Ro u n d 8. 15), 09/05/2012 1.e4 e5 2.4)c3 4)c6 3.Jlc4 4)f6 4.d3 h6 5.f4 J}.b4 6.4)ge2 d5 7.exd5 4) xd5 8.J}. xd5 � x d5 9.0-0 �d8 10.f5 4) d4 1 1.4)g3 16.J}. x h6!! gxh6 17.�d2! 1-0 '()h4 Black has been playing aggressively however W h ite is u nfazed by everything Black has done so fa r. 12.4)ce4 Jla5 13.c3 4) c6 14.4)h5! Th is probing move leads to Black deciding to castle ki ngsid e i nto the White attack. Who can b lame her? After all the Wh ite pieces do not appear a l l that menacing. 14 . ... Ab6+ 1 5.�h1 o-o?

F i n a l Position

Black is u naware of the d a nger that waits. Rega rd less of Black's move selection, she is lost. The

331

Positional Attacks

------------ G a m e #3 5 4 ----------- 20 . ... A x h3! 2l.gxh3 �d7 Black only picks off one kingside Pawn for his Bishop instead of the usual two. The attack succeeds because he had a m ple attackers i n t h e vici nity t o fi n ish off Wh ite .

(W) Dean Ippolito (2484 ) (B) Sergey Erenburg (2 59 7 )

Wh ite rea l ly has no m ethod of defending the h3-Pawn (as 22. \t'g2 is m et by 22 . . . . x h7 19.�h4+ ciflgS 20 . .{)d5 g6 2 1 . �h6! There is no esca pe for the Black King. 21 . ... .{)b3+ 22.ciflb1 1-0

Wh ite red uces Black's checks to [A2 1] Wijk a a n Zee Open, Wijk aan just spite ones. Zee, Netherlands, ( Round 4), 1993 340

F ishing Pole

You better bring you r "A" ga me if you i ntend to su rvive the opening as White against Life M a ster Brian Wa ll.

Fish ing Pole

(W) Ja m m yDodger ( 1896 ) (B) B -Wal l ( 1 834 ) [CGS] I CC 1 0, 1 2/05/2009 l.e4 e5 2 . .£if3 .£ic6 3.Jlb5 .£if6 4.0-0 .£ig4 5.d4 exd4 6 . .£i xd4 h5 7 . .1lc4 Jlc5 8.c3 .£ice5 9 . .1lb3 d6 10.f4 'ltth4 l l.h3 'ltig3 12.�el? 'ltth 2+ 13.xf6 with a shocki ng a lternative that 23. �xh 7 § f7 (23 . . . . �xeS pushed Black back on his heels for 24 .�h5+ \t>gS 25 .h4+ \t>xh4 26.�h6 § h8 27.g3+ \t>g4 28.f3+ the remainder of the ga me. \t>h3 29.�f4+ \t>xg3 30.�e2 #) 24 .�xd3 (with fou r Pawns a n d an 390

lay Down Sacrifice

�

to d efend h i s wea k g7 sq u a re with the move 22 . . . . �f6.

exposed Black King as co pe nsation for his Bishop, Wh 1te _IS wi n n i ng. ) ) 2 1 . f1 Jlg2+ 30. \t>g1 Jlf3+ 0- 1

req u i res precision, accu racy, and assertiven ess on the p a rt of the defender. Anything less will resu lt in the attacker sco ring the fu ll point. 17 . ... fxe4! 18. '{tJ x h6 �f5 19. 'lt!xe6+ \t>h8 20. E!g5 '{tJeS 2 1 .J}.c4 W h ite desi res to checkmate Black along the h-file with §.hS.

----------- G a m e #5 1 3 -----------White p u rsues the Black M o n a rch with vigor a n d energy. Only assertive and energetic defense saves Black from a catastrophic ending.

Zurab Az m aiparashvili (B) Artur Yusupov

(W)

[041] Koop Tj uchem Invitational, G ron i n gen, N etherlands, 10/1994 1.c4 �f6 2.�c3 c5 3.�f3 e6 4.d4 d5 5.cxd5 � xd5 6.e4 � xc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.c xd4 Jlb4+ 9.Jld2 Jl x d2+ 10. '{tj xd2 0-0 1 1 .Eld1 �c6 12.Jlb5 Jld7 13.Elb1 �e7 14.Jld3 J}.c6 15.h4 h6 16.E!h3 f5 17.Elg3? Wh ite commences an unsound, al l-out attack on the Black King. Fending off a n attack of this sort

21 . ... exf3! Black fights ten aciou sly to beat back the White attack. 22. \t>d2 EldS 23.\t>c3 �d6 24. 'lt!e7 Cute, but highly i n effective . Black can and wi ll resist the u rge to ca pture the poison Queen .

477

Positional Attacks

24 . ... 4)e4+

18.�bl a4 19.4)cl a3 20.b3 4)e7 2 1 .4)e2 4)d5 22.Ag5 c5 23. �d3 §e8 24.4)g3 c4 25. �f5 4)c3+ 26. �al d3

Certa inly not 24 . 'it1xe7?? 25. §hS # . .

. .

25.�b3 4) xg5 26.h xg5 fxg2 0- 1 The last of the Wh ite mate threats (§ hl) has been squashed and Wh ite resigns.

White is com p l etely lost as the diagram of the cu rrent position does not lie.

Missed Opportunities for Aggressive Defense ----------- G a m e #514 -----------In a ferocious slugfest a m id m utual time pressu re, Black overlooks his ga me savi ng defensive m a n euver ­ not once, not twice, but th ree 27.4)h5! times. My com p uter lists White's best line as 27. 1.txf6 to trade off as m a ny pieces as possible to a [CS6] 2010 Game N ightz Open, position where Black is easily (G/30), Phoen ix, Arizona, wi n n i n g at -2 .85. Essentially the ( Round 4), 07/03/2010 com p uter wa nts to keep the ga m e close, rath er than provide m e with l.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Ac4 4)c6 4.4)f3 4)f6 5.e5 4)g4 6 . .Q.f4? moves that i ncrease my chances of d6 7.�e2 4)gxe5 8.4)bd2 Ae7 wi n n i n g the ga m e . People m a ke 9.4)b3 Ag4 to.Ab5 o-o t t .h3 errors, especially when confronted Jlxf3 12.gxf3 a6 13 . .Q.xc6 with massive com p lications and 4) xc6 14.0-0-0 Ag5 15.�d2 time press u re. Both conditions a re Af6 16.§dgl �h8 17.h4 a5

(W) Joel Johnson (224 3) (B) Pedra m Atoufi (2222)

478

Aggressive Defense

at work here. As a res u lt of this fact, my best chance of d efe n ding this position is with a n a l l-out attack on the Black Monarch.

of Wh ite's moves have been designed to exert the maxi m u m a m o u nt o f pressu re on Black. Black cou l d have gone wrong with eith er:

27 �e5 28.�f4 � xg5 29.hxg5 Ae5 .

•..

30 . . . . gxf6?? leading to a d raw after 3 1 . .§ xh7+