Practical middlegame tips 9781857442113, 1857442113

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Practical Middlegame Tips Edmar Mednis

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CADOGAN chess

LONDON, NEW YORK

Copyright © 1 998 Edmar Mednis First published 1 998 by Cadogan Books pie, Gloucester Mansions, 4th Floor, 1 40A Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2 8HD

Distributed in North America by The Globe Pequot Press, 6 Business Park Rd, P.O. Box 833, Old Saybrook, Connecticut 06475-0833, USA. Telephone 1 - 800 243 0495 (toll free) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 1 85744 2 1 1 3 Edited by Graham B urgess and typeset by Petra Nunn for Gambit Publications Ltd, London. Printed in Great Britain by BPC Wheatons Ltd, Exeter

CADOGAN CHESS SERIES

Chief Advisor: Garr y Kasparov Series Editor: Murray Chandler

For a complete catalogue of CADOGAN CHESS books (which includes the Pergamon Chess and Maxwell Macmillan Chess lists) please write to: Cadogan Books pie, Gloucester Mansions, 4th Floor, 1 40A Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2 8HD Freephone 0800 328 0242

Conte nts

Symbols Preface

6 7

Part One: Attacking the King

9

Section 1 : Attack and Counterattack Game 1 : J.Waitzkin-E.Mednis, Reno 1 996 Game 2 : R.Kelson-E.Mednis, Reno 1 993

10 11 18

Section 2 : Attacking the Slightly Weakened Kingside Game 3: V.Korchnoi-L.Polugaevsky, Evian Ct (7) 1 977

22 23

Section 3: Kingside Attack with the Centre Closed Game 4: E.Mednis-D.Minic, Mannheim 1 975

27 29

Section 4 : King in the Centre Game 5 : J.Hector-1.Zaitsev, Jyvaskylii 1 994 Game 6: E.Mednis-E.Ermenkov, New York 1 980

33 34 37

Section 5: Attacks with Reduced Material Gan1e 7 : E.Kengis-U.Andersson, Pula Echt 1 997

41 42

Section 6: Solid does not Mean Safe Game 8 : V.Cabrido-E.Mednis, Manila 1 99 1 Game 9 : Y.Pelletier-A. Karpov, Biel 1 997

45 46 49

Section 7: Speculative Sacrifices Game 1 0: B .Kreiman-A.Shabalov, Philadelphia 1 997 Game 1 1 : E.Mednis-L.Vadasz, Budapest 1 976

53 54 58

Section 8 : Necessary Sacrifices Game 1 2 : A.Shirov-G. Kasparov, Tilburg 1 997

62 63

4

Practical Middlegame Tips

Part Two: Defending the King

68

Section 9: Keeping the Castled King Safe Grune 1 3 : S.Reshevsky-B.Malich, Siegen Olympiad 1 970 Grune 1 4: E.Mednis-J.Timman, Sambor 1 974

69 70 73

Section 10: Coping with Enemy Sacrifices Grune 1 5 : Zhu Chen-I.Smirin, Beijing 1 996

77 78

Section 1 1 : Strategic Sacrifices to Stop Attacks Grune 1 6 : G.Sax-E.Mednis, Budapest 1 976

83 84

Section 1 2: Defending Lost Positions Grune 1 7 : A.Hon-E.Mednis, London Lloyds Bank 1 992

88 89

Part Three: The Centre

94

Section 1 3 : White has the Superior Centre Grune 1 8 : G.Kasparov-A. Karpov, New York Wch (2) 1 990 Grune 1 9 : V.Korchnoi-B.Lepelletier, Cannes 1 996

95 96 101

Section 1 4 : Black has the Superior Centre Grune 20: T.Manouck-E.Mednis, Ostend 1 993

1 04 1 05

Section 1 5 : Counterplay in the Centre

1 09 111

Section 1 6 : Central Dynrunics

1 14 1 15

Grune 2 1 : A.Yermolinsky-V.Salov, Wijk aan Zee 1 997

Grune 22: M.Maga-A.Wojtkiewicz, Manila 1 99 1

Part Four: Important Strategic Elements

119

Section 1 7 : Weak Squares and Points Grune 23 : J.Lautier-P.Nikolic, Wijk aan Zee 1 997

1 20 121 Grune 24: J.Timrnan-1.Sokolov, Dutch C h play-off ( 1 ), Amsterdrun 1 996 1 25

Section 1 8 : Strategic Attacks Grune 25 : V.Anand-V.lvanchuk, Las Palmas 1 996

1 28 1 29

Contents

5

Section 1 9 : T he Slightly Superior Position Game 26: G.Kasparov-V.lvanchuk, Las Palmas 1 996 Game 27 : A.Karpov-P.Leko, Dortmund 1 994

1 34 1 35 1 39

Section 20: The Value of the Bishop-pair Game 28: P. Svidler-U.Adianto, Groningen FIDE Web 1 997 Game 29: S.Robovic-E.Mednis, Ostend 1 993

1 44 1 46 149

Section 2 1 : Two Bishops aren't Everything (when the Knights are Better) 1 56 157 Game 30: A.Dreev-J.Piket, Dortmund 1 994 Section 22: The Misplaced Piece Game 3 1 : E.Mednis-B.Laube, Wattens 1 993 Game 32: G.Kasparov-A.Shirov, Horgen 1 994

1 60 161 1 65

Section 23: Queen versus Two Rooks Game 3 3 : A.Yusupov-T.Shaked, Linares 1 997

1 69 1 70

Index of Players Index of Openings

1 74 1 75

Symbols + ++

#

!! !? ?! ? ?? 1-0 1h-1h

0-1 Ch (n) (D)

check double check checkmate a very strong move; a fantastic move a strong move an interesting or speculative move, worth trying a dubious move, for theoretical or practical reasons a bad move; a weak move a horrible move; a blunder the game ends in a win for W hite the game ends in a draw the game ends in a win for Black Championship nth match game diagram follows

Dedication To Manuel and Carmen

Preface Practical Middlegame Tips is the third and final book in my "Practical Tips" tril­ ogy. Published earlier were Practical Opening Tips and Practical Endgame Tips. It aims to do for the middlegame what the others did for their subjects. My pur­ pose is to cover the most important aspects of middlegame play whether it be tac­ tics or strategy, attacking or defending. This material is divided into four major parts : Attacking the King Defending the King The Centre Important Strategic Elements Each of these parts is subdivided into sections, there being 23 of these in total. Each section is organized in the same way: first a discussion of the principles in­ volved, followed by game(s) illustrating those principles . This way the reader gains both the theoretical underpinning required for understanding the subject­ matter and learns from practical examples about real-life situations. The book is about the middlegame. In each game I concentrate on that area of the middlegame which the section features. As a corollary to this, I try to avoid lengthy discourse on other parts . When a thorough knowledge of the opening variation is important to follow the middlegame presentation, I spend substantial time on that opening. Otherwise, I just give enough information to set the stage for the middlegame discussion to follow. The criteria used in selecting the illustrative games were: l) the game course illustrated the principle clearly, and 2) the opening is one still popular in present-day play. Twelve of the 33 illustrative games were played by me. I apologize to those readers who think that this is too much. The simple fact is that a GM understands his own games at a deeper level than those of other players and thus can present his conclusions with greater confidence. Some of the games have been previously annotated by me for various chess publications. In each case I have updated the opening part and expanded the middlegame to reflect more fully the subject under discussion . Most of the games, however, are freshly selected and prepared for this book. In general the following standard sources have been utilized in the preparation: personal knowledge, personal contacts, leading chess periodicals and chess books. When appropriate, direct credit is given in the text. •

•

•

•

8

Practical Middlegame Tips

To ensure that the reader and the author are on the same wavelength regarding the meaning of the question and exclamation marks as they are used in the char­ acterization of moves , please see the Symbols page for the presently accepted meanings . I n an undertaking o f such scope, some errors are almost inevitable. The author accepts responsibility for all of these. Your assistance in bringing them to my at­ tention will be appreciated. As always, deepest gratitude goes to my wonderful blonde wife, B aiba, not only for typing the entire manuscript but also for never-ending physical and moral support. This is my fourth book for Cadogan . I am pleased to be associated with this fine publisher. Edmar Mednis New York, 1998

Part One: Attacking the King

Section 1 : Attack an d Counte rattack In chess - just as in life - you cannot expect to get something for nothing. If you are Black and desire a reward (a win ! ) you have to take on some risk. In the early stages of the 1 972 World Championship match, the reigning champion, Boris Spassky, responded to Robert J. Fischer's 1 e4 with the classical l . . e5 . However, when the match situation later on became desperate for him, GM Spassky switched to the Sicilian. When choosing the Sicilian Defence Black risks being mated ignominiously, yet hopes that his counterattack comes first. I have selected two of my recent games as the medium for discussing the principles involved. Game 1 was played in the last round of the Western States Open at Reno, Ne­ vada in October 1 996. I needed a win as Black to get a prize. My opponent, IM Josh Waitzkin, was a half-point ahead of me and wanted to win to get a signifi­ cantly larger prize. This resulted in a total striving for victory by both players . Not surprisingly, the scene of the slugfest was a thematic and important variation of the Sicilian Defence. In Game 2 - played at the Western States Open at Reno in 1 993 - it was my unsatisfactory tournament standing (at the start of Round 5 I had 2112/4 and needed two wins in a row for a 'real prize' ) that again made a double-edged Sicil­ ian the order of the day. In Open Sicilians Black's most promising road to counterplay is the half-open c-file, with the key square along that file being c4 because it is in White' s part of the board and often accessible to Black's pieces. These points become particu­ larly important when White has castled queenside. The best practical advice to give to Black is get going as quickly as possible along the c-file and hope for the best! It works in a large number of cases - including these games . .

Game 1

IM J osh u a Wa itzki n - GM Ed m a r M ed n is

Western Sta tes Open, Reno 199 6 S i c i l i a n Defe n ce , R i c hte r- Ra uzer Atta c k 1 e4 c5 2 tl:lf3 tl:lc6 3 d4 cxd4 tLlf6 4 tl:lxd4 d6 5 tl:lc3 We see so many Sicilians now and hear so much about the Sicilian De­ fence that the impression is that it has been so forever. In fact, respect for this defence came slowly and grudgingly. It was only in the late 1 920s that the potential inherent in the above move­ order and the resulting position was recognized. GM John Nunn in his out­ standing book Beating the Sicilian ap­ propriately named it the Classical Variation. In its early history White's usual response was 6 i.e2, but Black started scoring impressively with 6 g6, the Dragon Variation. 6 i.g5 B ecause the Dragon was too suc­ cessful for White 's comfort, ways to defang it were explored. The text-move was introduced by Richter in Ger­ many and Rauzer in the Soviet Union as the way to prevent the Dragon be­ cause 6 . . . g6 leads to a ruination of Black's pawn formation after 7 i.xf6. Of course, we learned long ago that the move-order starting with 2 . . . d6 en­ sures that Black can reach the Dragon. Nevertheless, the Classical Variation has remained topical over the past . . .

-

867

sixty years and the Richter-Rauzer Attack a popular and active method against it. 6 ... e6 7 'i1Vd2 a6 Black's safest variation is 7 . . . i.e7 followed by castling kingside. The im­ mediate 7 . . . a6 is spiritually similar to the Najdorf: Black both prevents ac­ cess to b5 by White' s king ' s knight and king's bishop and is ready to start active play on the queenside with an early . . . b5. 8 0-0-0 i.d7 Over the past five years the variations after the text-move have been losing popularity to 8 . . . h6, which currently is the choice in the majority of games at international level . The value of 8 . . h6 is that White 's queen's bishop cannot retain the pin on Black's king's knight (9 i.h4 ? ! allows 9 . . . tl:lxe4) and there­ fore has to retreat to either f4 or e3 . However, Black pays a price : since he will most likely have to castle king­ side, the h-pawn sticking out on h6 makes it easier for White to open lines against Black's king. 9 f4 b5 During my ' Sicilian life ' (more than 40 years ! ) I have been using both this variation and 9 . . . i.e7 . The prob­ lem with the latter is that after 1 0 tLlf3 ! b5 1 1 i.xf6 ! , the pawn sacrifice .

Practical Middlegame Tips

12

1 1 . . ..txf6 1 2 'i:i'xd6 is not quite sound, whereas l 1 . . . gxf6 leaves the king' s bishop with less opportunity for active play than if it remains on f8. From there the bishop can reach h6 if White chooses an early f5 . It is my current opinion that the lines after 9 . b5 offer Black better prospects for counterplay . . 1 0 .txf6 ! This is the move that has taken away some of the fun from playing Black here. Now 10 . . . 'i:i'xf6? ! is dubi­ ous for tactical reasons: 1 1 e5 ! dxe5 12 tll d xb5 ! 'ikd8 13 tll d 6+ .txd6 1 4 'i:i'xd6 exf4 1 5 tlle4 ! 'f!ie7 1 6 'i!/c7 l:.a7 1 7 tll d 6+ �f8 1 8 'flib6 'flid8 1 9 'flif2 'i:i'g5 20 h4 'f!ig3 21 'f!ixg3 fxg3 22 l:.h3, when in E.Mednis-D.Grimshaw, Canadian Open 1 956, White had a strong initiative and went on to win on move 34. Therefore, forced is . . . gxf6 10 The pawn-structure is thereby set for the coming play: White will aim for a properly timed e5 or f5 to under­ mine Black's fundamentally flawed pawn-formation: Black on one hand must be on the look-out for such threats while on the other hand wait for the proper moment to open the position for his bishop-pair. Black's task en­ tails considerably more risk, yet the greatly unbalanced nature of the posi­ tion does not allow for complacency on White's part either. 1 1 �bl 'ii'b 6 (D) Quite the normal move. However, I was tempted to play 1 1 . . .b4 1 2 tll c e2 'jj' b 6, as in R.Hiibner-A.Dreev, Nuss­ loch 1 996. That game continued 13 f5 e5 1 4 tll x c6 .txc6 1 5 tll g 3 h5 1 6 .te2 . .

h4 17 tllh5 .te7 1 8 .tf3 a5 19 g4 hxg3 20 hxg3 0-0-0 21 g4 a4 22 :he l 'jj'c 5 . GM Dreev annotated this game in lnformator 66 (game 1 85) and rates this position as slightly superior for Black. I agree: Black has good chances for pressuring White ' s queenside, whereas I don ' t see what White can do. (The game ultimately was drawn on move 70.) However, in his notes GM Dreev draws attention to 16 h4 ! ? in place of the game's 16 .te2. During the game (as well as now) I was worried that af­ ter a follow-up of 1 7 .te2 or 1 7 'i:i'e2 White would capture on h5 without Black receiving any clear compensa­ tion in return.

...

After the text-move Black threatens to exchange on d4, e.g. 12 g3 'flixd4 1 3 'jj' xd4 tll xd4 1 4 :xd4, when due to the disappearance of the queens, Black does not have to worry about king safety. Since he has good central influ­ ence and the bishop-pair, Black has gained approximate dynamic equality. Therefore White has to do something

Attack and Counterattack

ab out the d4-knight: exchange it, overprotect it with ltJce2 or retreat it. The answer is: 12 ltJxc6! By far the most efficient way of han dling the situation : White ex­ changes off his uncomfortably placed knight. A paradoxical result is that Black's queen 's bishop is not at all placed better on c6 because it blocks the c-file and does not protect e6 in case White applies pressure on that point with f5 . The sound alternative is 12 ltJce2 . I discuss that at length in connection with my analysis of S .Ro­ bovic-E.Mednis, Ostend 1 993 - see Game 29. .i.xc6 12 ... 13 .i.d3 The traditional move, whereby White first completes the develop­ ment of his minor pieces and will then look at possible central breaks with e5 or f5. However, at the moment White's piece-placement is rather passive and this gives Black the opportunity for counterplay. I believe that 1 3 'ii'e l ! (with the point 1 3 . . . b4 ? 1 4 liJd5 ! ) is more annoying for Black, as played in P.Wolff-J.Fedorowicz, USA Champi­ onship 1 99 1 . This game is annotated by GM Wolff in Informator 52 (game 207). 13 ... b4! That great scientific method known as ' trial and error' has taught us that B lack must strive for counterplay as otherwise the weaknesses in his pawn­ stru cture will be a continuing hazard. T he formerly standard 1 3 . . . 0-0-0? ! ju st does not measure up. The game

13

A.Matanovic-E.Mednis, Vienna (IBM) 1 986 ended satisfactorily for B lack as my draw offer was accepted by GM Matanovic. However, subsequently in V.Jansa-E.Mednis, Luxembourg 1 990 Black ran into major difficulties after 14 a3 a5 ? ! 1 5 'ife2 ! b4 1 6 axb4 axb4 17 lDa2 ! �c7 1 8 .i.c4 'ifc5 19 l:the l l:tb8 20 .i.b3 h5 2 1 l:tc l ! 'ii'b 5 22 'ifd2 �d7 23 c3, though I did succeed in es­ caping with a draw on move 4 3 . In­ stead of 14 a3, also good is 14 l:thfl . 14 ltJe2 h5! It is also necessary to look out for White's plans. The immediate 14 . . . a5 ? ! i s inferior because after 1 5 g4 ! fol­ lowed by 1 6 ltJg3 and 17 ltJh5 White will get a dangerous attack. 15 l:.hfi The most popular continuation: the white king 's rook gets ready for play along the f-file after a later e5 and/or f5 advance. IM Waitzkin was obvi­ ously well prepared for this variation as up to this point he had only used three minutes. 1Two important alterna­ tives are: a) 1 5 l:.he l a5 1 6 liJg3 a4 1 7 .i.c4 l:.a5 1 1 8 'ii'e 2 h4 19 liJfl l:tc5 20 liJd2 Tc? 21 b3 .i.h6 22 'ii'g4 axb3 23 cxb3 'it>e7 ! 24 'ii'x h4 'ii'a5 25 l:.c l .i.g7 26 'ii'g 3 l:.g8 27 f5 e5 28 .l:.c2 'ii'a 8 ! , R.Byrne-Z. Kofol, Palma de Mallorca (GMA) 1989. Black has full compen­ sation for the pawn here, but lost even­ tually because he wanted more than perpetual check and wound up with less. b) 15 'ii'e l a5 1 6 'ii' h 4 .i.e7 l 7 f5 e5 1 8 ltJg3 0-0-0 1 9 .i.c4 l:.h7 20 l:.he l l:.g8 2 1 'ii' h 3 and now instead of

Practical Middlegame Tips

14

2 1 . . .'i*'f2 ? ! 22 lDfl ! with a slight ad­ vantage for White, as in the game M .Adams-Z. Kofol, Wijk aan Zee 1 99 1 , GM Adams suggests 2 1 . . ..l:tg4 ! ?. For full analysis by him, please see In­ formator 51 (game 204). as 15 .. 16 c3! The text-move serves both offen­ sive and defensive ends: White's queen, queen's rook and knight will be able to keep closer watch on the king and the open c-file offers opportunities for menacing Black's uncastled king. The model case of what can happen if White is overconfident was demon­ strated in N.Short-Z. Kofol, Belgrade 1 989. The game is annotated in full by GM Kofol in lnformator 48 (game 288). Its course in brief: 16 f5 ? ! e5 ! 1 7 lD g l 'it'c5 1 8 'ife2 a4 1 9 .tc4 'iite7 ! 20 lDh3 .th6 2 1 :f3 :hc8 22 b3? (22 lDf2 is better, though Black retains a clear advantage after 22 . . . .te8 ! - GM Kofol) 22 . . . axb3 23 cxb3 :a3 ! 24 .l:tfd3 .l:tca8 ! 25 .l:te l (25 'ii'xh5 .tx�4 ! ! wins) 25 . . .'ii'a7 ! 26 'ir'xh5 .te8 1 1.27 'ir'xh6 .l:txa2 28 l:td2 :xd2 29 'i*'xd2 'it'al + 30 'iiic2 .l:ta2+ 3 1 'iitd 3 'ir'd4+ 0- 1 . .l:tb 8 1 6 ... .td7 (D) 17 tiJd4 I was already familiar with this po­ sition from S .Conquest-E.Mednis, Copenhagen 1 990. GM Conquest now chose 18 .te2, leading, after 18 . . . bxc3 19 'i*'xc3 'i*'b4 20 'i*'c2 ! , to a most un­ balanced situation: Black has genuine attacking chances on the queenside, yet must watch out for trouble all along the board - queenside, centre, king­ side. The thematic game course (with .

some brief comments) was : 20 . . . :c8 21 'i*'d3 nb8 22 :d2 ! ? (playing to win; after 22 'i*'c2 I would have taken the move-repetition with 22 . . . .l:tc8) 22 . . . .tg7 23 :c l 'ii'b 6 24 .tf3 0-0 ! ? 25 g4? ! (this does not work out; the critical continuation is 25 .t xh5 f5 ! , when I judged both 26 .tf3 e5 ! and 26 exf5 e5 ! 27 f6 .txf6 28 fxe5 dxe5 as 'unclear ' ) 25 . . . h4 ! 26 .td l .l:tfc8 ! 27 .l:txc8+ .txc8 28 a3 .th6 29 g5? (the losing move; White misses Black ' s tactical defence; 2 9 'ii'f3 ! is necessary, when after 29 . . . .td7 ! I viewed B lack's position to be somewhat more com­ fortable) 29 . . . fxg5 30 fxg5 .txg5 3 1 .l:tg2 �f8 ! 3 2 t2Jf3 .tf6 3 3 'ii'd 2 �e7 34 lDg5 'ir'd4 ! 35 'it'c 1 .td7 36 �a2 .l:tc8 37 'itf4 .l:tb8 0- 1 . After 38 'itc 1 .l:tc8, 39 'ii'f4 loses to 39 . . . 'it'xd l 40 .l:td2 e5, and 39 .l:tc2 to 39 . . . .l:txc2 40 .txc2 'itc4+ 4 1 �b l .tc6 42 'it'e3 'itb5 ! .

1 8 .tc4 With the primary point of enhanc­ ing pressure on e6 after the coming f5 advance and a secondary benefit in

Attack and Counterattack g uarding the b 3 - and a2-squares. Dur­ in g the game I was suspicious of the tex t-move, because B lack can apply pressure along the c-file with gain of time, yet I found no immediate way to take advantage of that either during the game or in later analysis. For in­ stance, I could first play 18 . . . 'ii'c 5 and a fter 19 'ii'd 3, 19 . . Jk8. However, 20 b3 seems satisfactory enough. 18 :cs 19 °ii'd3 bxc3 20 b3 White plays it safe by first increas­ ing the bishop's protection rather than running into an immediate pin along the c-file with 20 1i'xc3. Nevertheless, Black has no way to take advantage of that as the endgame after 20 . . . 'ii' b 4? ! 21 '1Wxb4 axb4 22 �b3 leaves him with a vulnerable b-pawn for no ap­ parent compensation. Black should therefore continue developing with 20 �g7. a4 20 Since Black must open lines against White's king before White gets at his ki ng, the thematic text-move is quite in order. axb3 21 'ii'xc3 h4! ? (D) 22 axb3 A very ambitious and self-centred move: Black takes away g3 from White's queen and gets ready to bring his ki ng's rook to the queenside via h5. My intention was to leave the king's bishop on f8 and mate White 's king before mine goes lost. In hind­ sig ht it was quite naive to hope that Black's king and king's bishop would be abl e to cope with White's thematic . . .

...

15

central breaks . The standard move would be 22 . . . �g7 - which is what IM Waitzkin had expected. The chances then are probably in dynamic balance, but the resulting play nowhere as ex­ citing as what happens in the game.

�g7 23 f5! Better late than never ! 23 . . . e5? is strategically dubious because of 24 tbc2 ! followed by 25 tLle3/tLlb4 and 26 tLld5 . Moreover, Black loses tacti­ cally after the careless 23 . . . cj;e7 ? : 24 fxe6 fxe6 25 tbxe6 ! . 24 °ii'd3 cj;e7 fxe6 25 fxe6 26 e5! ! (D) Black is on the verge of being pun­ ished for his ' insolence ' in playing 22 . . . h4 ! ?. Witness these 'normal' con­ tinuations : a) 26 . . . dxe5 ? 27 tLlf5+ exf5 28 'ii'x d7+ �f8 29 'ii'f7#. b) 26 . . . fxe5 ? 27 'it'g6 ! .l:lxc4 28 'ii'x g7+ �d8 29 'it'xh8+ 1;c7 30 l:.c l ! .l:i.xc l + 3 1 l:.xc l + 1;b7 32 'it'h7 . c) 26 . . . l:.hg8? 27 'it'g6 dxe5 28 tLlf5 .f. ! exf5 29 'ii'f7+.

Practical Middlegame Tips

16

d) 26 . . . fS ? 27 exd6+ "ii' x d6 (or 27 . . . �f7 28 "ii' xf5+) 28 �xf5+. Therefore, Black must stop White's attack, while getting his bishops into the game. The cost, exchange and a pawn, is relatively small in a double­ edged Sicilian position. ltxc4 ! ! 26 ... 27 exd6+ Obvious enough, but in the few mo­ ments that White took before playing this, I started considering what to do after 27 "ii' g 6 ! ? . It appears that Black has to run with 27 . . . cJi>d8 and hope for the best. 27 .. cJi>f7 2S 'iWxc4 ltcS! Of course, the threatened 29 "ii' c 7 must be prevented and 28 . . . fS ?? loses to 29 ltxf5+. After the text-move, the white queen only has two squares, 29 "ii' d 3 (the game continuation) and 29 "ii'e 2, after which Black plays 29 . . . fS and gains an important tempo by threatening 30 . . . �xd4 . :as! 2 9 'iWd3 Black is now ready for a strong at­ tack along the a-file with 30 . . . "ii' aS,

while 30 �b2? runs into a most nasty pin after 30 . . . fS. In any case, Black' s bishops are ready to join the fray at an opportune moment. Our post-mortem showed quite promising counterplay for B lack. White, therefore, felt more comfortable in restarting his attack with a rook sacrifice : 30 .l:.xf6+ ! �xf6 After 30 . . . �xf6? ! I had no confi­ dence that I could survive the attack following 3 1 .l:.fl + 'iti>g5 32 'ife3+, nor was 3 1 "ii' f3+ �g5 32 "ii' x a8 attractive to contemplate. 31 'iYh7+ �rs 32 'iWxd7 White can ' t get too fancy. For in­ stance, 32 .l:.fl ?? loses to 32 . . . .l:.al + ! 33 cJi>xal "ii' xd4+ 34 cJi>a2 "ii' b 2#. 32 ... �xd4 (D)

.

33 :n+ Or 33 "ii'e 7+ cJi>g8 34 "ii' x e6+ �h8 35 "ii'h 6+ 'it>g8 3 6 "ii' g 5+ �g7 37 "ii'd 5+ cJi>h7 3 8 "ii'e4+ cJi>h6 39 "ii' x h4+ �g6, etc. White will always have per­ petual check but no more. 33 ... 'it>gS

Attack and Counterattack 'ifi>h8 'i!Vxe6+ �g8 'i!Vh6+ i.g7 'ii'g 5+ 'i!Vd5+ 'ifi>h7 'ifi>h6! 'ii'e4+ Black must avoid 38 ... Wg8 ?? or 38 ...Wh8 ?? because of 39 'ili'xa8+. 39 'ii'xh4+ 39 'ili'xa8 ? leads only to winning chances for Black after 39 . . . 'ili'xb3+. �g6 39 ... 40 'i!Ve4+ �h6 (D) lf2.lf2 Just as in the note to White's 3 3rd move, White has perpetual check, but attempts for more lead to less. One

17

34 35 36 37 38

example: 4 1 'ii'h4+ �g6 42 'ii'g 3+ 'ifi>h6 43 'ii'h 3+ �g6 44 'ii'd 3+ �h6 45 l:.f3 ?? 'ii'g 1 + 46 'ifi>c2 l:.a2#.

Game 2

FM R i c h a rd Kelson - GM Ed m a r M ed n is

Western Sta tes Open, Reno 1993 S i c i l i a n D efe n ce , R i c hter-Ra uzer Atta c k c5 1 e4 tll c6 2 lllf3 cxd4 3 d4 lllf6 4 tllxd4 d6 5 tll c3 e6 6 .i.g5 a6 7 'ii'd2 .i. d7 8 0-0-0 9 f3 (D) A popular alternative to the sharper 9 f4 of the previous game. The move has both defensive and aggressive char­ acteristics. By safeguarding e4 White takes most of the sting out of Black's planned ... b5 advance. On the aggres­ sive side, White plans a direct attack on the kingside starting with g4 and h4.

.i.e7

867

The most frequently played move : the queen 's bishop is overprotected and the kingside pawn-storm started. The most important alternatives are : a) 1 0 g4 has been defanged by 10 . . . d5 ! , e.g. 1 1 exd5 tll x d5 1 2 .i.xe7 ( 1 2 tll x d5 ? ! .i.xg5) 1 2 . . . tll c xe7 with full equality. b) 10 .i.e3 has the dual idea of re­ capturing on d4 with the bishop and preparing 1 1 g4 followed by 1 2 g5 . In S.Sahu-E.Mednis, New York (Barclay I) International 1 984, I decided to parry the second part of the plan with 1 0 . . . h5 ! ? , with the interesting course being 1 1 c.t>bl 'fic7 12 'i!Yf2 b5 13 tll xc6 .i.xc6 14 .i.d4 b4 15 tll e 2 e5 1 6 .i.b6 'il'b7 17 c4 ! . The position here offers equal chances, though Black went on to win on move 36. 10 h5 ! ? (D) Of course, I knew that 1 0 . . . b5 1 1 g4 0-0 was 'correct' , with the important continuations being: a) 1 2 .i.e3 tll x d4 1 3 'il'xd4 'i!Ya5 ! , B .Parma-V.Liberzon, Athens play-off (game 1) 1 976, when GM Parma gives as White's best 14 cl l:tc2+ 25 �bl lte2+ l:.xel 26 'ifi>cl 27 l:txel d5 ! (D) The final point: Black's bishop is saved while White's is lost. Obvi­ ously, 28 tbxg7+ 'ifi>f7 doesn ' t make White's situation any better. 'iti>d7 28 tlJd6+ dxe4 29 tbxe4 30 l:he4 fxg5

Attack and Counterattack

31 hxgS :es ! Black's knight is almost trapped but not quite. The text-move makes things clear. The knight escapes after

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21

32 l:.xe8 �xe8 3 3 �d2 .!Lif2 (34 �e3 .!Lid l +) . With the rooks still on the board, the knight gets to escape via e3. This causes White to try a desperate pawn advance on the kingside. B lack parries it with ease and remains a piece up. I ' ll say no more. 32 l:.d4+ � c6 33 rs .:.rs 34 .:.r4 °it>dS gxf6 3S r6 36 g6 :gs 'it>e4 37 :rs+ 3S l:.xhS 11xg6 .!Lies 39 :cs 40 11c2 .!Lid3+ 0-1

Section 2 : Attackin g the Slightly Weake n ed Kin gsid e The maj or purpose of castling is to bring the king to safety. Therefore 'everyone' knows not to weaken the king 's position by an indiscriminate advance of the pawns shielding the king. But, how about 'just a little weakening ' , say moving up the g- or h-pawn one square when the king has castled kingside? Usually - on an immediate basis - the risk involved is small. Yet the existence of a slightly weak­ ened kingside can turn out to be a ticking time-bomb. Therefore, be much more careful than if your kingside is faultless. Otherwise the same fate could befall you as happens to Black in the following game.

Game 3

GM Vi ktor Korchnoi GM Lev Po l ugaevsky Semi- Final Candida tes Ma tch, Game 7, Evian 19 7 7 -

Queen's G a m b i t Decl i n ed , M e ra n Va riation tbf6 1 c4 e6 2 lbc3 dS 3 tl)f3 c6 4 d4 lbbd7 5 e3 6 .i.d3 Via a transposition of moves we have reached the traditional main line of t he Meran Variation. If Black pro­ ceeds routinely, for example 6 . . . .i.d6 or 6 . .i.e7, then White after 7 0-0 0-0 will open the position with 8 e4 and have a pleasant risk-free advantage. Therefore, modern opening theory has decided that Black should start activ­ ity on the queenside by means of the coming sequence. dxc4 6 bS 7 .i.xc4 .i.b7 8 .i.d3 9 0-0 One of the two historically popular continuations. Sharper is the immedi­ ate 9 e4, when Black can immediately get his play going with 9 . . . b4 10 lba4 c 5. The point of the text-move is first to bring the king to safety and only then to start action in the centre. GM Korchnoi chose this way also in matc h-games 3 and 5 . b4 9 .i.e7 10 lbe4 lbxf6 1 1 lbxf6+ 12 e4 0-0 . .

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04 7

13 'ir'c2 At the time of the game an unusual move-order, the common moves being 1 3 e5 and 1 3 'i*'e2. As we will see, the creative mind of GM Korchnoi has prepared a surprise for Black. 13 h6 Forced because of the threat 1 4 e5 . However, as part of this variation, the slight weakening of the kingside should not be a problem. It could be­ come so later on - yet GM Polugaev­ sky pays no attention to this potential danger. 14 .i.e3 ! ? (D) Of course, with 14 e5 White could transpose into conventional lines . The idea behind the text-move is to hinder Black in freely executing the thematic . . . c5 advance. ...

Practical Middlegame Tips

24

14 lS 16 17 18 19

l:i.fdl dxcS .td4 h3 hxg4 (D)

l:i.c8 cs tllg4 eS exd4

The previous moves were pretty much forced by both sides. What we see in the above diagram is a very in­ teresting, unbalanced middlegame - a position that is not at all easy to evalu­ ate. That is, what may appear obvious at first glance, may not in fact be the truth. After the imminent recovery of the c-pawn Black will have the bishop­ pair and a passed d-pawn, whereas White's kingside has been weakened by the emergence of doubled g-pawns, the forward one being unprotected. All this is true, but there is also the other side of the coin: Black's king's bishop has little scope, the d-pawn is more of a weakness than a strength, and the ad­ vanced queenside pawns will be vul­ nerable. Moreover, White's forward g­ pawn has excellent prospects for ad­ vancing to g5, thereby menacing the

black h-pawn. If the h-pawn is ex­ changed off, then Black' s kingside will be seriously weakened. The net result is that it is Black who must strive to keep the position in balance. 19 l:i.xcS Playable, though not as strong as Black may have expected, because it does not gain a tempo thereby, since White 's queen moves away while at­ tacking the b-pawn. In fact, the rook is clumsily placed on c5 . I think that Black's best is 19 . . . .txc5 ! and after 20 'i!Vd2, 20 . . . 'i!Vf6 ! . The d-pawn is then adequately protected and dangers from a g5 advance minimized. There is no reason to fear 2 1 e5, because the cen­ tral diagonal for Black's queen' s bishop is opened and, in addition, the e-pawn can turn out to be weak. as 20 °li'd2 °li'd7? 21 l:.ac l ! Thanks to hindsight (and GM Korchnoi's fantastic play ! ) we can say that this is the losing moment. GM Polugaevsky either neglected or mis­ judged the strength of White's coming g5 . In due course, subsequent analysis and play demonstrated that with the careful 2 1 . . .l:.xc 1 ! 22 .l:hc 1 .tc8 ! Black can defend well enough. .txcS 22 .l:txcS ! 23 gS! (D) The start of White 's attack, made possible because Black's bishop has been deflected from g5 and Black's queen voluntarily gave up defence of that key square. It is out of question for Black to pass by with 23 . . . h5 ?: 24 g6 ! fxg6 25 .tc4+ 'it>h8 26 tlle 5 'i!Ve8 27 'iir'g5 l::tf6 28 .tf7 ! l:txf7 29 lll x f7+ ...

Attacking the Slightly Weakened Kingside 'Jiixfl 30 'ii'x c5 and White has won the ex ch ange with a crushing position . Therefore Black must capture, yet that allows White ' s queen to come power­ fully into play.

25

e6 ! ) 30 gxf3 .i.d4 3 1 f4 ! .t xb2 32 l:i.xd3 followed by l:i.d7 or l:!.h3 in con­ junction with e6. 29 l:!.xd3 .te4 Black must continue with activity as 29 . . . .txf3 30 l:!.xf3 fkxe5 3 1 'llr'x g6+ is hopeless . However, GM Korchnoi, with well over an hour left on the clock before the time-control (the time-limit was 40 moves in 21h hours), finds all the right shots. 30 l:!.d6 ! ! Beautiful ! Now 30 . . . .txd6? loses to 3 1 l2Jg5 since the pressure on f2 is gone and 3 0 . . . .txf3 ? allows the sim­ ple 3 1 l:.xg6+. 'ii'g4 30 31 :r6! .trs (DJ Preventing the threatened 3 2 l':.f4 and attacking the bishop . If instead 3 1 . . .'t't'g3, then after 32 e6 ! fkxf2+ 33 �h l White mates first. ...

23 hxgS fle7 24 'ti'xgS There is nothing better since g5 must be watched and 24 . . . .te7 drops the a-pawn for nothing after 25 'ir'xa5 . g6 2 5 'ii'h 5 Another unwelcome weakening of the kingside, but the threatened 26 l2Jg5 must be prevented and 25 . . .txe4 ? loses to 26 l:i.e l .i.g6 27 i.xg6 fxg6 28 'i°d5+. 'ir'f6 26 'iVh6 d3 27 i.c4! Since passive defence is bound to be hopeless (27 . . . ftg7 28 ftg5 ! ) and 27 .txe4? is refuted by 28 l2Jg5, GM Pol ugaevsky goes for counterplay. This is B lack's best chance and fails only be cause of GM Korchnoi's perfect play. 'iVrs 28 e5 ! Again there is no hope in passivity: 28 'i'g7 29 't't'g5 ! .txf3 (29 . . . l:te8? 30 .

. . .

. . .

With the text-move Black hopes for 32 .!Og5 ?, when he has 32 . . . .txf2+ ! . 32 b3! .td4 White's simple reply has Black at his wits ' end. There is no satisfactory

26

Practical Middlegame Tips

defence, e.g. 32 . . . i.e7 loses to 33 tl:ig5 and the tricky 32 . . . 'Wg3 is foiled by 33 'it>h l ! ! : 3 3 ... 'ii x f2 34 e6 ! i.xe6 35 .l:f.xg6+ ! etc. Meanwhile White was threatening 33 e6 (33 . . . fxe6 34 i.xe6+ i.xe6 35 .l:f.xg6+). 33 tl:ixd4 ! The nice simple combination started with the text-move leads to a position that is not only won but also very easy to play. Good technique in won posi· tions means selecting that continua­ tion which is both risk-free and clear. 33 'Yi'xd4 i.xg6 34 .l:txg6+ 35 'iixg6+ �h8 36 'Yi'h6+ 'it>g8 37 e6! (D) The end of the combination and end of the game for Black. White will win back the exchange and remain two pawns up. 37 'iWe4 38 exf7+ l:xf7 ,

39 °iWf6 GM Korchnoi chooses to show off his calculating ability here. Simpler is 39 'ii' h5 . 39 'Yi'bl+ 40 �h2 'Yi'h7+ 41 'it>g3 'Yi'd3+ 42 f3 'ir'xc4 43 '1Wd8+ 1-0 The conclusion would be 4 3 . . . .l:f.f8 44 'iig 5+ �h7 45 'iih 5+! followed by 46 bxc4.

Section 3 : Kingsid e Attack with the Centre Closed One of the truly helpful principles in middlegame play is : An attack on the flank is best countered by a counterattack in the centre. Because the king has generally been brought to relative safety by castling, at­ tacks on the king are mostly attacks 'on the flank' . Yet because in the middlegame the centre is the inherently most important part of the board, the attacker would like not to have to worry about the opponent get­ ting back at him via play in the centre. Thus, both for less risk of danger as well as overall comfort, you want to have the centre as closed as possible before starting your attack. The most closed centre is where the centre pawns blockade each other and therefore cannot move at all, e.g. (D) .

An example of the least closed 'closed centre' is the following one: a single set ce ntre pawns has been exchanged, the remaining pawns are pressing on each either and there is no pawn tension . For instance (D):

of

28

Practical Middlegame Tips

The most important situation for discussion is the one in the middle: all pawns are on the board and the centre is closed, yet not necessarily permanently so. Our illustrative game shows how the attack is mounted as well as how the defender obtains chances for survival if - even at the cost of material - he can generate counterplay in the centre.

Game 4

GM Ed m a r M ed n is - I M D rago lj u b M i n ic

In terna tional German Championship, Mannheim 19 75 S i ci l i a n D efe n ce , Rosso l i mo Va riation 1 e4 cS d6 2 l2Jf3 3 .ibS+ The primary purpose of this varia­ tion is fast development of the king­ side so that White can get his attack going as quickly as possible. This shows up in the variations after 3 . . . l2Jd7 4 d4 t/Jf6 5 l2Jc3 and 3 . . . l2Jc6 4 0-0. How­ ever, the move also has a strategic side, which appears if Black selects as in this game - the most solid re-

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852

The knight is awkwardly placed here and accomplishes little. 6 . . . e5 ? ! i s also dubious, as that leaves Black with the inferior dark-squared bishop. According to current opening theory Black's best approach in going for equality is 6 . . . l2Jf6 7 0-0 l2Jd4 .

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sponse.

3 .id7 'i*'xd7 4 .ixd7+ 5 c4 ! (D) White has now achieved a Maroczy Bind type of pawn-formation, thereby making it difficult for Black to achieve the thematic . . . d5 freeing break. More­ over, the set-up is without drawbacks because the light-squared bishop - in­ stead of being blocked in by White's own pawns - has been exchanged off. The tactical j ustification for the te xt-move is that the greedy 5 . . . 'i\Vg4? is me t by 6 0-0 'i!Vxe4 7 d4 l2Jf6 8 l2Jc3 , when White's tremendous advantage in deve lopment presages a killing at­ tac k on Black's king, which is stuck in the centre. 5 l2Jc6 tlJeS?! (D) 6 l2Jc3

l2Jxf3+ 7 d3 As we shall soon see, this leads to strong attacking chances for White along the f-file. Yet Black has nothing fully satisfactory, for example 7 . . . g6 8 0-0 .ig7 9 l2Jxe5 ! gives Black an un­ appetizing choice. After 9 . . . dxe5 1 0 .ie3 b 6 1 1 a4 followed b y 1 2 a5 White has a queenside attack, while after 9 . . . .ixe5 Black has an inferior version of the game continuation in which White gets in f4 with gain of time.

Practical Middlegame Tips

30

Worse is 7 . . . 'ii'g 4? ! because of 8 'ii'a4+ ! 'ii'd 7 (8 . . . ll:lc6 9 0-0) 9 ll:lxe5 dxe5 1 0 ll:lb5 ! with the threat 1 1 ll:lc7+. 8 "ii'xf3 g6 J.g7 9 0-0 ll:lf6 10 "ii'e2 1 1 f4 0-0 12 J.d2 White completes the development of his minor pieces before proceeding with the attack. Even though e3 seems like a 'more normal ' square for the bishop, I didn' t want to be bothered by a potential . . . ll:lg4 or . . . J.d4. This posi­ tion is pleasantly favourable for White: he has kingside attacking chances af­ ter f5 , whereas Black's potential play on the queenside is nebulous. 12 ... ll:le8?! (D) The plan of bringing the knight to the queenside to get in . . . b5 will fail. Therefore 12 . . . e6 looks best, though White's attack will still be dangerous after 1 3 g4 ! .

1 3 rs 14 J.g5

ll:lc7?!

Played with the idea of applying pressure on the e-pawn since Black cannot afford 14 . . . f6? ! as that would lock in his bishop for life. However, the direct 14 l:.f3 is equally good. 14 ... a6 15 1:.f3 J.d4+ Black changes his mind about con­ tinuing with 15 . . . b5 because there is no threat associated with it and White can continue his attack with 1 6 1:.afl . Therefore Black switches into defen­ sive mode. The purpose of the text­ move is to be able to block off the f­ file with . . . f6 without deadening his bishop. f6 16 J.e3! Neither is 1 6 . . . J.xe3+ 1 7 'ii'x e3 '3;g7 18 l:th3 satisfactory. hxg6 17 fxg6 18 J.xd4! cxd4 19 ll:ldS ! (D)

White 's advantage is on the verge of being decisive: the obvious threat is 20 ll:lb6, the d4-pawn is chronically weak, while 19 ll:lxd5 ? ! 20 exd5 leaves Black unable to cope with both . . .

Kingside Attack with the Centre Closed 21

'i'e4 and 2 1 'ii'f2. However, start­ with his next move Black puts up the best defence by looking for chances in the thematically correct area: the ce ntre. White, on his part, over the next t wo moves intensifies the pressure. l:tae8 19 20 l:.g3 �f7 21 :n ltJxd5 With White ready to augment his attack with 22 l:tf4 or 22 'ii'f2 , Black starts his activity in the centre. 22 exd5 e5! ..Wxe6 23 dxe6+ 24 'ikf2 d5 ! (D) Only so. There are no prospects with 24 . . . 'ii'e 5 ? 25 l:tg4 l:th8 26 h3, when White captures the d-pawn in total comfort. in g

dxc4 25 ..Wxd4 l:ld8 26 dxc4 27 ..Wf2? ! With this naive retreat White gives up the bulk of his advantage. I wanted to prevent a . . . °ifb6+ and dreamed of getting the queen to h4. Yet the queen covers little important ground from f2

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and White will have to spend a tempo to protect the c-pawn. The centrally logical 27 'ii'c 3 ! would have kept the win in hand. 27 ... f5! 28 b3 l:.fe8! Black now dominates both central files, making White's prospects for re­ alizing his one-pawn advantage bleak indeed. Therefore, White must go for Black's king, but Black now has suffi­ cient defensive resources - all thanks to his control of the e- and d-files. ..We4! 29 l:th3 30 'ikg3 l:td2 During the game I was afraid that Black can exploit White's first-rank weakness via 30 . . . 'ii'd4+ 3 1 'it>h 1 'ii'd 1 . However, this is not so because White can successfully regroup with 32 l:.h7+ 'it>f8 33 'ii'f4 'it>g8 34 l:th6 ! 'it>g7 35 l:th3 ! and retain a clear advantage. 31 ..Wg5 'ikd4+ 32 'it>hl 'it>g7 'it>f7! 33 ..Wh6+ After 3 3 . . . 'it>f6 ? ! White has 34 l:thf3 with the threat 35 l:txf5+. 'it>g7 34 ..Wg5 35 ..Wh6+ 'it>f7 36 l:tg3 (D) After saving some time by repeat­ ing moves, White continues the attack and in the process sets a diabolical trap. Black's only defence is the passive 36 . . . l:tg8 ! , after which I would have played 37 'ii'g5 , threatening 38 l:txf5+. If Black tries to prevent that with 37 . . . l:.g7 ?, White gets excellent win­ ning chances after 38 l:te3 ! 'iif6 39 l:te7+ ! followed by 40 'it'xd2. However, if Black plays the active 37 . . . l:tf2 ! he

32

Practical Middlegame Tips

should draw without too much diffi­ culty.

36 ... l:t e6? ? Black has become too enamoured of the centre files. It is true that in an ideal world Black would like to pro­ tect g6 while keeping the rook active. However, in open positions whe re you r king is in potential dange r, you must look out for all possible spe­ cific tactics. Black violates that im­ portant principle and pays the price immediately. 37 .l:.xf5+ ! ! gxf5 1-0 38 'ir'h7+ It's mate after 3 8 ... �f8 3 9 l:tg8# or 38 . . . �f6 39 'i'/g7#.

Sectio n 4: Kin g in the Centre In

the history of the development of chess, among the latest improvements is cas­ the basic idea of which is some six hundred years old. The reason for introducing castling was to get the king out of the centre so that the course of the game could be speeded up. As long as the kings remained in the ,;cntre their safety required much attention. Therefore, opening central lines for ;1ctive play had to be delayed until the king was removed to some safer area. Thus that most creative enhancement of chess - castling - came about. Therefore it is obvious enough that one of the objectives of sound opening play is to get your king to safety by castling. Of course, this is not to be followed hlindly. There is even an expression 'White/Black castles into it' , i.e. castling 1nto an imminent decisive attack. This occurs when the pawn-chain in front of r.hc castled position is ruined or the opponent's pieces are already well placed to 11111 at your king and you lack sufficient defenders . It is true that castling can genrally be delayed in closed openings. Moreover, no matter what the opening, White can usually afford - in terms of king safety- to delay castling longer than Black can. Conversely, in 1 e4 openings Black should be exceptionally wary about leav­ ing his king too long in the centre. Untold numbers of players - including GMs have suffered because they were too unconcerned about their king safety. In Game 5 a noted GM resigns as early as move 1 6 . A more sophisticated version of the same disease will be illustrated in Game 6. t ling,

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Game 5

GM J o n ny H ector

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GM I go r Za itsev

Jyvaskyta 1994 M od e rn Defe n ce g6 1 e4 i.g7 2 d4 3 lllc3 c6 Black could have transposed into the Pirc Defence by playing 3 . . . d6 fol­ lowed by 4 . . . lll f6. Instead, with the text-move he telegraphs his intention of staying within the Modern Defence complex. The strategic point of the Modern is to apply direct pressure on d4 with the g7-bishop. This entails a delay in the development of the king's knight. Black then retains more flexi­ bility than in the Pirc but risks being overrun because of his backward de­ velopment. The danger is greater if White - as here - chooses the most ag­ gressive set-up. 4 f4 d6 5 lllf3 i.g4 6 i.e3 The main line now continues 6 . . . �b6 7 �d2 i. xf3 8 gxf3 lll d 7 9 0-0-0, with a normal opening advan­ tage to White. 6 llld7? ! GM Hector commented t o m e after the game that this move must be less accurate than the standard continua­ tion 6 . . . �b6 because now White has time to recapture with the queen on f3 . For the coming play, the queen is much more useful on f3 than in front of the rook on d2.

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806

7 h3! i.xf3 8 '1Wxf3 c5 (D) Otherwise Black remains with a centrally inferior, lifeless position, e.g. 8 . . �a5 9 e5 d5 10 i.d3, J.Fichtl­ M .Czerniak, Bucharest 1 967 . Yet the problem after the text-move is that it has taken Black two moves to play . . . c5 and White can exploit this loss of time by favourably opening up the po­ sition. Note that not only is Black's king's knight undeveloped, but cannot even be developed norm ally with 8 . . lll g f6? ! , because 9 e5 will chase it back. .

.

...

i.xc3+ 9 dxc5 ! From a practical standpoint Black is forced to part with his king's bishop, thereby both weakening his kingside and the dark squares. The problem is

King in the Centre

th at the 'more normal ' moves 9 . . . dxc5, and 9 . . .'it'a5 are all met by 1 0 c5 ! when without the slightest bit of risk White has a fantastic position, for ex ample 9 . . . 'it'a5 10 e5 ! dxe5 1 1 i.b5 ( l l . . .ll'lf6? 12 fxe5). ..Was 10 bxc3 e5 11 i.d4 ! dxe5 12 fxe5 13 i.c4 ! ! (D) 9 . . . tl'lxc5 ,

Recognizing that Black's position full of holes and suffers from in­ complete kingside development, GM Hector goes directly for the vulnerable f7-point. For the uncastled king, f7 is alw ays the weakest spot because the only piece protecting it is the king it­ self. Black now has two reasonable ways of protecting f7 : a ) l 3 . . . ll'lgf6? ! would serve rea­ so n ably well if the queen' s bishop had to retreat. However, GM Hector was planning 14 0-0 ! with the idea that af­ ter 14 . . . exd4 1 5 cxd4, with White' s m iserable tripled c-pawns straight­ e ned out, he has two pawns and a dev­ as tating centre for the sacrificed piece. is

35

Black' s position is indefensible, e.g. 1 5 ... 0-0 1 6 i.b3 ! followed by 1 7 e5 . b) 1 3 . . . tiJh6 is the best there is. White has a clear advantage after 14 i.f2 0-0, yet Black has some chances of wriggling out. 13 ... exd4? Pure suicide. GM Zaitsev is a very original, creative and excellent tacti­ cian . Because of these qualities he was a long-term valued member of GM Anatoly Karpov' s team of seconds. Snapping off the bishop - and doing it quickly - hardly seems in accordance with his style. There really is no valid chess explanation for the text-move . Only what GM Zaitsev told me after the game makes sense: "It is very diffi­ cult to play two games a day with Black" (this had been the second, i.e. evening game). 14 'iWxf7+ 'iltd8 15 0-0! White ' s has brought his king to safety and completed his development. White has threats like 1 6 'it'g7 , win­ ning the rook, and 16 cxd4, obtaining three fantastic centre pawns for the piece. GM Hector reports that whereas Black captured the piece quickly, he now took close to an hour trying to fig­ ure a way out of the mess. 'iWxc3? ! 15 ... Black's best defensive try appears to be 1 5 . . .'ii' x c5, when the direct 1 6 'it'g7 should be sufficient, e.g. 1 6 . . .'it'e5 1 7 l:f8+ �c7 1 8 'ii'x e5+ .!tJxe5 1 9 l:xa8 .!tJxc4 2 0 cxd4 followed by 2 1 :n , or 1 6 . . . 'ii'x c4 1 7 l:ad l ! 'it'e6 1 8 l:xd4 (or 1 8 cxd4) 1 8 . . . 'iltc7 1 9 'ii'x h8. 16 i.b5 (D)

36

Practical Middlegame Tips

1-0 GM Zaitsev could see what was coming and didn ' t want to be shown. According to my analysis the main line is: 16 . . . lll gf6 17 .l:.xf6 ! 'iix al + 1 8 �h2 lllxf6 1 9 'ii xf6+ d8 22 .te6+ 'ifo>e8 23 'ti'd7+ 'ifo>f8 24 'iiif 7#. The final position should hardly be considered surprising since none of Black's pieces are able to par­ ticipate in the defence.

Game 6

GM Ed m a r M ed n is - G M Evgeny Ermen kov

New York (Burger) In ternational 1980 S i c i l i a n Defe n ce , Ta i m a n ov Va riation c5 1 e4 tt:Jc6 2 tt:Jf3 3 d4 cxd4 e6 4 tt:Jxd4 This is the starting point of the Taimanov Variation. White's most fre­ quent response is the normal and irre­ proachable 5 l2Jc3 . However, because Black is avoiding an early . . . tt:Jf6, White has sound alternatives. 5 t2Jb5 (D) In GM Karpov's 'king's pawn days' , the text-move was his favourite weapon against the Taimanov. White aims for a substantial space advantage and the nature of the play becomes more akin to Hedgehog positions than standard Open Sicilians. Because White threat­ ens 6 l2Jd6+, Black's response is al­ most automatic on the international circuit.

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844

5 d6 tt:Jf6 6 c4 a6 7 l2Jlc3 8 tt:Ja3 i.e7 9 i.e2 Up to here the players have fol­ lowed the standard path . Then and now that path continues 9 . . . 0-0 10 0-0 b6 1 1 i.e3 tt:Je5 , when White has the choice of 1 2 f3 and 1 2 f4 . In further play White will try to do something with his spatial superiority while preventing Black from executing the thematic freeing . . . b5 and . . . d5 breaks. 9 b6 I did not understand why my oppo­ nent wanted to choose a move-order whereby he would first fianchetto the queen 's bishop, nor did I see any rea­ son not to continue with normal devel­ opment. 10 0-0 i.b7 tt:Je5 11 i.e3 By now I was getting somewhat sus­ picious about Black's 'refusal ' to cas­ tle. In any case, with Black's king still in the centre I decided to sharpen the play. tt:Jed7 12 f4 'Vkc7 13 i.f3 With 1 3 . . . 0-0 Black could have transposed back into V.Tseshkovsky­ G. Kasparov, USSR Ch 1 979 a posi­ tion already well known at the time of our game. ...

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38

Practical Middlegame Tips

14 'ii'e2 .l:i.bS? ! (D) I could not understand why this move is important here. With the known 14 . . . 0-0 Black still could have reached Tseshkovsky-Kasparov. Again I decided that White' s normal devel­ opment for positions where Black is castled should be at least as good with the king in the centre.

h6 15 l:r.acl Since the only purpose of the text­ move can be to prepare . . . g5, it finally became completely clear to me that Black was going to keep his king in the centre and open play on the kingside. Therefore, based on the principle of Section 3 (attacks on the flank should be met by counterplay in the centre), White removes his king from a potential check on the gl -a7 di­ agonal and gets ready for action . 16 �hl ! gS? ! 17 i.hS! Of course White is not going to open the h-file with 17 fxg5 ?. On his part White is now ready for 18 f5 , threatening 1 9 fxe6. Black therefore

has to capture on f4, though I expect that the Bulgarian GM was happy enough to do so since it was part of his plan. 17 ... gxf4 18 i.xf4 lLieS ? ! If Black had a safe castled position, the black knight would have a lovely spot here. However, White now breaks through in the centre. Neither is 18 . . . ..Wc5 satisfactory and for the same reason as in the game : 1 9 lLid5 ! exd5 20 cxd5 and the queen will be trapped (20 . . . 'iWb4 2 1 l:r.c4 'iWa5 22 i.d2). In the post-mortem we concluded that only with the ugly 1 8 . . . l:!.h7 are there some chances of holding on. 19 tLldS ! ! (D)

In addition to the obvious plan of opening lines, there also is an impor­ tant strategic element to the sacrifice : to bring the inactive a3-knight power­ fully into the attack via c4. 19 exdS 'ii'd8 20 cxdS 21 i.xeS! dxeS 0-0 22 lLic4

King in the Centre Almost an embarrassing change of plans - and played after a long think. The king cannot be safe in such a busted kingside. Yet it is also mark­ edly unsafe in the centre. For instance, 22 . . . .:.cs 23 d6 ! .i.xd6 24 :xf6 ! 'ii'xf6 (24 . . . .l:txc4 25 :e6+ ! �f8 26 :xc4 fxe6 27 'ii'f3+ with mate to follow) 25 nn 'ilie7 26 :xn 'ii'x f7 27 .txf7+ 'l;e7 28 'ii'g4 ! and White wins. 23 eixe5! (D) White now has two excellent pawns for the knight to go with his active piece placement against Black's 'Swiss cheese' kingside. Recapturing the piece by 23 d6? ! is inconsequent since after 23 . . . eixh5 24 dxe7 eig3 + ! 25 hxg3 'ilxe7 the worst is over for Black.

39

White to increase the force behind the advance of his central pawns. 24 ... 'il/c7 (D) Allowing the following combina­ tion . Yet 24 . . . 'ii'd 6 loses to 25 eixf7 ! .:.xf7 26 .i. xf7+ �xf7 27 e5 ; the blockading 24 . . . .i.d6 succumbs to the similar plan starting with 25 eixf7 ! .

25 d6! .txd6 26 :xr6 .i.xe5 27 'ii'g4+ �h7 28 .i.xf7! (D) As planned at move 25 . Three of Black's defences are easy to crack:

After the text neither 23 . . . eixh5 24 'ilxh5 nor 23 . . . �g7 24 :c3 ! offers any chances for a successful defence. Therefore Black tries to get one pair of rooks off the board. l:tc8 23 24 :cd l ! White also retains his advantage after 2 4 %lxc8, but keeping the rook allows ...

40

Practical Middlegame Tips

a) 28 . . . l:t xt7 29 'if g6+ �h8 30 l:txt7. b) 28 . . . �f4 29 l:t xh6+ ! �xh6 30 'Wg6+ 'it>h8 31 'ii'xh6#. c) 28 . . . �xf6 29 'ifg6+ 'it>h8 30 'ii'x h6#. d) However, it took me consider­ able time to work out the variations after 28 . . . 'ii'c 1 ! ? , attacking/pinning the rook while protecting the crucial h6-point. Yet 'truth' triumphs after 29 'iif5+! 'it>h8 30 'i'xe5 ! lk5 (30 ... 'Wxd l +

3 1 l:t fl +) 3 1 l:t h6#. 'iWxf7? ! 28 ... The only way to delay mate, but not of much practical significance. Only my mild time-pressure caused Black to continue the game for a few more moves. 29 'ir'fS+ 'it>g8 30 .:txf7 .:txf7 31 't:ixe5 �c6 32 't:ie6 .:tcf8 33 h3 1-0

Se ction 5 : Attacks with Reduced Mate rial For an attack against the king in the middlegame to be successful a lot of fire­

p ower is usually necessary. We have already seen that in the games presented so I ar. It is therefore often assumed that when there is a substantial reduction of ma­

t e r i a l (in particular a queen exchange) the king is safe enough. Yes, you may have

worry about a pawn weakness somewhere. But the king - no problem ! However, chess is too inexhaustible to allow for any sort of mechanical deci1 0 0 - making. If the king sits on an open file - or a file that can be opened - there ; ; potential danger. This danger can become lethal if the enemy can marshal '· ' ,r c es in the king's direction while the king himself is short of defenders. That such inattention can befall even the strongest GMs will be witnessed : rom our illustrative game. Swedish GM Ulf Andersson is acknowledged as one ' 1 f the most solid and careful players in the world, yet the 'attack with reduced : n aterial ' will overwhelm even him. r,1

Game 7

GM Edvi ns Kengis

-

GM U lf Andersso n

European Team Ch, Pu/a 199 7 Engl i s h O pe n i ng lbf6 1 lDf3 c5 2 g3 3 i. g2 g6 i. g7 4 c4 cxd4 5 d4 6 lbxd4 A Reti Opening has been trans­ formed into an English Opening varia­ tion akin to the Yugoslav Variation in the King ' s Indian, with Black having challenged White ' s d-pawn with his c-pawn rather than with the e-pawn. The reliable moves for Black now are 6 . . . lbc6 and 6 . . . 0-0. Yet Black thinks that he can get closer to equality by aiming for symmetry in the centre with . . . 6 d5! ? Black hopes for 7 cxd5 lbxd5 , when White has not yet demonstrated that having the move leads to an ad­ vantage. Instead White selects a prin­ cipled plan whereby Black has to choose among unattractive alternatives. 7 lbc2! dxc4?! (D) GM Andersson trusts the stars which say that with the queens off, the king will be safe . Black's problem will be that instead of reaching an endgame, what results is a middlegame without queens . In the middlegame both king safety and active piece development are primary factors.

-

A3 1

Even less appropriate was Black's play in E.Bareev-A. Shirov, B iel 1 99 1 : 7 . . . 'ita5+? 8 b4 ! 'itc7 9 cxd5 ltJg4 1 0 0-0 i.xal 1 1 lbxal 0-0 1 2 lDb3 ltJd7 1 3 'itd4 ltJgf6 14 i.b2. Black is busted here although the game ended in a draw on move 6 1 . After the game GM B areev suggested 7 . . . e6 as Black's best, protecting the important d5point. White then only has the normal slight edge.

...

8 'i*'xd8+ �xd8 lbc6 9 0-0 Wc7 10 .l:.dl+ 1 1 lb ba3! �g4 At this moment Black must have been satisfied : his minor pieces are de­ veloped, his rooks are connected, he has no structural weaknesses and White even has to worry about his e-pawn.

Attacks with Reduced Material

GM Kengis points out that 1 1 . . .i.f5 also unsatisfactory, with White hav­ ing the pleasant choice between the acti ve 1 2 lLJb5+ and the positional 1 2 l2Je3 l:.ad8 1 3 l:txd8 ! :txd8 1 4 lLJxf5 gxf5 15 lLJxc4 ! , when 1 5 . . J:td l+? just gets the rook into trouble: 16 i.fl cJi>c8 1 7 lLJe3 l:te 1 ? 18 f3 followed by 1 9 �f2. 12 i.xc6! ! (D) is

After the game GM Kengis referred to the text-move as a "very difficult decision". Indeed White is exchang­ ing off his perfectly developed and menacing light-squared bishop for the ordinary knight on c6. Yet the proper way of considering the situation is the following one : while it is true that all four of Black's minor pieces are devel­ oped, only the queen's knight serves to pro tect his king. Once that defender is gone, Black's king will be alone in try­ in g to cope with White's three minor pieces and the d l -rook. 'it>xc6? 12 The losing move. GM Andersson was loath to ruin his pawn formation ...

43

by recapturing with the pawn because he has won so many endgames on the white side with such pawn-structures. Yet the king is more valuable than anything else ! Therefore 1 2 . . . bxc6 1 3 f3 ! i.d7 ( 1 3 . . . i.e6 ? ! just helps White after 14 lLJd4) is necessary, when White is clearly better after 1 4 lLJxc4 but there are realistic chances for Black to scrounge a draw with very accurate play. l:tad8 13 lLJxc4 At least helping to neutralize the white rook. There are no chances after 1 3 . . . i.xe2? 1 4 lLJe5+ cJi>c7 1 5 l:te l . 1 4 lLJeS+ 'iii> b 6 Walking the plank is hopeless . However, Black's position also looks untenable after 14 . . . �c7 15 l:.xd8 ! l:txd8 1 6 i.f4 . 15 i.e3+ �a6 16 lLJb4+ cJi>bS (D) 16 . . . 'it>a5 runs into the knight fork 1 7 lLJbc6+.

17 lLJed3 ! The last difficult move in the game. It is crucial to take away the maximum

44

Practical Middlegame Tips

number of flight squares from Black ' s king. After 1 7 lbbd3? ! b 6 the king es­ capes to safety via a6. 17 ... .txe2 Since no satisfactory defence ex­ ists, Black might as well grab the pawn and hope for the best. �as 18 a4+ 19 lbc6+! (D)

Another super move on c6 ! How­ ever, for a super-GM such as Kengis, this is kid's stuff compared to the deci­ sion on move 1 2 . 19 bxc6 20 b4+ �a6 21 lbcS+ �b6 22 l:.xd8 l:.xd8 23 lbe6+ �b7 24 lbxd8+ �c7 (D) 25 l:r.el ! Bringing the rook into the game while preventing any unpleasant dis­ covered attacks along the al -h8 diago­ nal . The tactical point of the move is

that 25 . . . .tc4 fails to 26 l:r.c l i.d5 27 lbxc6 ! .txc6 28 b5 . 25 ... �xd8 26 .l:r.xe2 lbdS ? ! Allowing White a passed a-pawn i s suicidal. 26 . . . a 6 is necessary, though after 27 .td4 (Kengis) the result is not in doubt. 27 .txa7 lbxb4 28 .tcs lba6 It is hardly surprising that after 28 . . . lbd5 29 a5 the passed pawn runs decisively. GM Kengis provides the following variation : 29 . . . e6 30 a6 �c8 3 1 a7 �b7 32 l:.a2 �a8 (or 32 . . . lbc7 33 a8'ii'+ ! lbxa8 34 l:r.a7+) 33 l:r.a6. Of course the text-move is equivalent to resignation. 29 .txe7+ �d7 30 .tgs .tr8 31 l:r.d2+ �e6 .td6 32 l:r.d8 33 .tf4 1-0 In the not-too-distant future the a­ pawn will cost Black his knight.

Section 6 : Solid does not Mea n Safe Your king is safely castled, pawn-cover impeccable and pieces nearby. You have an absolute right to feel that your king is safe, yes? Don ' t you believe it ! Nothing is safe forever - so much depends on the specific dynamics of the sit­ uation and this can change on every move. The player with Black is usually more on the watch for potential attacks because he recognizes that the opponent has started the game with the initiative . It is players with White - especially the lower-rated player striving for a draw against a superior opponent - who often tend to have an unjustified feeling of security. Game 8 is a straightforward demonstration of this, and Game 9 a sophisticated example.

Game s

Victor Ca b rido - G M Ed ma r M ed n is

Philippine Open Ch, Manila 1 99 1 S i c i l i a n D efe n ce , Cl osed Va riat i o n 1 e4 cS l2Jc6 2 lLlf3 3 c4 This position can also arise from the English Opening after 1 c4 c5 2 lLlf3 tLlc6 3 e4. After the game my op­ ponent said that he normally plays 3 d4, but had decided to play more sol­ idly against a GM. Cabrido is a strong master (he finished with a 7 1h/ 1 1 score) but simply had the wrong atti­ tude for this game. 3 ... eS ! Black ensures that White can ' t achieve a Maroczy Bind with 4 d4. Though the pawn-structure now is symmetrical and blockaded, the dis­ similar knight placements are in Black's favour: his queen ' s knight is on its perfect square while White ' s king ' s knight is blocking h i s f-pawn. Already White has no realistic hope for an opening advantage. 4 i.e2 The bishop is ' solid' here, yet has no scope. It would be better to create a slight weakness with 4 g3 and fianchetto the king's bishop. 4 g6 5 d3 i.g7 l2Jge7 6 lLlc3 7 i.e3 d6 8 0-0 0-0 9 ii'd2 fS! (D)

-

830

Whatever advantage exists here, it is Black's. His central pawn-structure is characteristic of King's Indian posi­ tions and Black has smoothly achieved the thematic .. .f5 advance. 10 exfS ? ! Even though the text-move causes some loosening of Black's kingside, enhancing Black' s central superiority is much too great a price to pay. Of course, the threat of 10 . . .f4 had to be parried. White should respond with 1 0 i.g5 and b e ready to exchange o n e7 . Because Black's inferior minor piece is the king's bishop there is little point in heading to exchange it off with 1 0 i.h6. 10 gxfS! 11 i.h6 l2Jg6 12 tLldS ? ! (D)

Solid does not Mean Safe

Losing time to exchange off two sets of minor pieces does not bring White closer to a draw. After the game Cabrido correctly suggested the pro­ phylactic 1 2 g3 as better, but during the game White was reluctant to create any pawn weaknesses on the kingside. Note that Black has to be very patient about rushing the . . .f4 advance as that would hand over e4 to White.

tlice7! 12 ... 1i'd7 13 i.g5? ! tlixe7 14 tlixe7+ tllg6 15 i.h6 b6 16 .:aet 17 1i'g5? (D) With two rooks and two minor pieces ' guarding' the king and all three pawns in front of the king un­ touched, White feels safe and decides to send his queen into Black's king­ side for 'an attack' . Because neither White's piece coordination nor the pawn structure on the board give any indication that Black's king is in po­ tential danger, the sortie will boomer­ ang. Instead it was high time to hunker

47

down for genuine defence with 1 7 �h l , 1 8 tll g l and 1 9 f3 .

i.b7 17 ... l:tf6 (D) 18 i.dl A picture-perfect situation for Black: he controls all the key central squares and his pieces are purposely directed against White 's kingside. I don' t see a satisfactory defence for White; even so he puts up little resis­ tance over the following moves.

19 1i'h5 20 1i'xh6

i.xh6! .:taf8

48

Practical Middlegame Tips

ltif4 21 %4 �h8 22 1i'g5+ h6 23 .:r.e3 .:r.g8 (D) 24 1i'g3 White 's wayward queen has been trapped. The concluding moves of the game were: 25 .:tfel .:r.xg3 26 hxg3 ltig6 ltixh4 27 f4 28 gxh4 'iig7 29 g4 fxg4 30 fxeS .:e6 31 exd6 l:f.xe3 32 .lhe3 'i:'kd4 33 'ifi>f2 'ilf4+

'ilxd6 'ilf4

34 'ifi>e2 35 'ifi>d2 0-1

Game 9

I M Ya n n i ck Pel letier

-

GM Anatoly Ka rpov

Biel 199 7 Q u e e n ' s I n d i a n D efe n ce , Petros i a n Va riation 1 2 3 4 5

d4 c4 lllf3 a3 tll c3 (D)

lllf6 e6 b6 i. b7

There are two sophisticated points behind GM Petrosian's naive-appearing 4 a3 : 1) by preventing the pin on the queen's knight White makes it hard for Black to achieve smooth counter­ p lay in the centre as 5 . . . c5 ? ! is bad be­ cause of 6 d5 ; and 2) because 3 . . . b6 brought about a slight weakening of the queenside, the normal 5 . . . d5 leaves additional weak­ nesses in its wake. 5 d5 i.e7 6 i.g5 i.c6 ! ? 7 'tlt'a4+

-

E12

G M Karpov, writing i n the Novem­ ber 1 997 issue of Chess Life, charac­ terizes the text-move as a "sharp method of fighting for the initiative" . It has come to the fore because the tra­ ditional approaches have led to posi­ tions that, though only somewhat inferior for Black in theory, have been unpleasant to defend in practice. The four reasonable alternatives are: a) 7 . . . tll b d7 ? ! 8 llle 5 ! , threatening 9 tllc 6. b) 7 . . . tll fd7? ! 8 i.f4 ! with Black having difficulties in efficiently devel­ oping the queenside. c) 7 . . . c6 8 cxd5 tll x d5 9 i.xe7, when 9 . . . 'ii'xe7 1 0 tll x d5 exd5 1 1 e3 leads to a superior middlegame and 9 . . . lll x c3 10 'if'xc6+ ! achieves a supe­ rior endgame. d) 7 . . . 'ii'd7 8 'ii'x d7+ lll bxd7 9 tll b5 necessitates laborious defending by Black. 8 �b3 Solid and harmless. Harmlessness comes from the awkward l ocation of the queen on c4, which will lead to a loss of time. 'Solidity' is gained by not sacrificing the c-pawn. Nevertheless, the only challenge to Black comes from 8 'ii'c2 ! dxc4 9 e3 b5 10 a4 ! , when analysis by GM R.Dautov con­ tinues with 10 . . . b4 1 1 i.xf6 ! bxc3 1 2 i.xe7 cxb2 1 3 ..Wxb2 'ii'xe7 1 4 i.xc4

50

Practical Middlegame Tips

ll'id7 15 0-0 �xf3 16 gxf3 0-0 17 � b5 ! with a slight advantage to White due to the potential weakness of the isolated c-pawn. 8 dxc4 9 'i*'xc4 0-0 10 e3 �b7 a6! 1 1 �e2 12 l:f.cl White's play is too routine in the first part of the game and foolhardy in the second part. There is no point in rushing the queen' s rook to the c-file. The perceptive move-order is 12 0-0 ll'ibd7 1 3 %lfd l !, making it harder for Black to play . . . c5 in comfort. ll'ibd7 12 bS 13 0-0 14 'iia2 cS 15 l:f.fdl ll'idS ! (D) ,

White misevaluates this ' boring' position. While it is true that only White has his rooks well developed (i.e. along the two central files that can be opened), what actually matters is that Black has the more active minor pieces and a bit more space on the

queenside. White therefore should be aiming for a routine exchange of pieces. Instead IM Pelletier thinks that since his position is safe and solid there is little risk in going for more. 'i*'xe7 16 �xe7 ll'ixc5 17 dxcS 18 b4? ! White, with gain of time, estab­ lishes as much space on the queenside as Black has done . However, the cost is too great: a permanent weakening of c3 and increasing the range of Black' s bishop. Instead 1 8 ll'id4, followed by 19 �f3 , is appropriate. 18 ll'ixc3 19 l:r.xc3 ll'ie4 20 l:.cd3? ! (D) There are no preconditions for suc­ cessful activity by White along the d­ file. He should be looking at the whole board and retain the rook on the c-file with 20 lkc 1 . There is no question that with a modicum of care White can defend, for example 20 . . . l:.ac8 2 1 'ii' b 3.

20

�d5!

Solid does not Mean Safe GM Karpov describes this move as follows: "This move appeals to my sense of maximization as thanks to my control of the d5-square, one bishop and one pawn is able to neutralize two rooks and attack one queen". Very nicely put ! 21 'jWb2 l:.ac8 lbd6 ! (D) 22 lbd2

Black wants no routine exchanges . White on his part should strive for that with 23 i.f3 . However, under the con­ tinuous misjudgement that he is ' solid and safe ' , IM Pelletier decides to gain central space and decrease the scope of Black's bishop. Yet again the cost is much too great: the weakening of e3 and in general the dark squares on the kingside. i.c4! 23 f3? lbxc4 24 lbxc4 lbb6 ! 25 tr'b3 Black has turned the advantage of the superior bishop into the advantage of the superior minor piece, since in the existing pawn-structure White's bis hop has little scope . The text and

51

the next move are preventive : the at­ tempt at simplification with an a4 break is prevented, as are back-rank mates. h6! 26 i.fl 27 l:.d6? (D) The definitive losing move. White keeps thinking that his king must be safe, because he will have the queen, rook, bishop and four sound pawns to protect him. GM Karpov - with ex­ ceptional accuracy - shows that it is not so. Fairly soon it becomes clear that Black is attacking with the advan­ tage of a whole rook since the sidelined rook on a6 is not able to par­ ticipate in the defence. White's position is unpleasant, of course. However, 27 l:r.c3 or 27 e4 of­ fered chances for resistance.

27 lbd5! l:.c3 28 l:.xa6 .l:tfc8 ! 29 �b2 Establishing a total bind on the po­ sition before starting definitive action. There is nothing satisfactory for White. 30 e4

52

Practical Middlegame Tips

IM Richard Forster provides the following analysis of two alternatives: a) 30 i.d3 'il'b7 ! 3 1 l:d6 'il'c7 ! 32 l:.a6 lLixe3 33 l:.d2 l:.c l + 34 � lLi x g l 'it'd l + 40 'it>h2 'ii'f l ) 38 . . . �h7 ! 39 'it>h2 J:.xg l 40 �xg l 'ii'd l + 4 1 �h2 'il'fl 42 'ii'g 3 J:.c l 43 'it'e5 'il'g l+ 44 'it>g3 l:.c2. 34 ... J:.dd2 'iii>h 7 35 'iWb8+ 'iWd7 ! (D) 36 'iWg3

It is over since the weaknesses of the back rank as well as the gl -a7 and fl -a6 diagonals are immediately deci­ sive, e.g. 37 h3 'il'd4+ 38 'iii> h 2 't1Vd3 . 3 7 :as 'iWd4+ 38 'iii>h l J:.dl 0-1

Section 7 : S peculative Sacrifi ces S o far all the sacrifices presented have been sound ones. They either could be cal­ culated accurately to the end and led to an assured advantage or the position re­ sulting after the sacrifice just 'had to be good' - see Games 5 and 6. Of course, there would be much less excitement in chess if there was no genu­ ine risk-taking. The objective of this section is to give some 'tips' on the subject of speculative sacrifices . Looking up the word ' speculative' in Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary we see two definitions which are applicable to our sit­ uation. The first deals with "assumption of business risk in the hope of gain"; the second refers to "marked by questioning curiosity". Linking these definitions we can come up with: "a speculative sacrifice combines the elements of questioning curiosity and the willingness to take a substantial risk in the hope of winning the game". ' Substantial risk' does not refer to sacrificing a pawn for some reasonable compensation. It means risking a lot of material - sufficient to lose the game if the sacrifice is not successful. Moreover, a speculative sacrifice is not to be con­ fused with a foolhardy one. If you sacrifice a rook and your calculation shows that one response by your opponent gives you the win, yet the other nine continu­ ations refute your sacrifice, then obviously it is stupid to risk such a sacrifice. Your odds of success - based on your objective evaluation - should be at least 50% that the sacrifice is either inherently sound or that your opponent will lose his way. The most successful practitioner of speculative sacrifices was GM Mikhail Tai . I used to joke that in his prime GM Tai would sacrifice a rook for three checks and his queen for five checks. Of course, only a tactical attacking genius can create the kind of positions where the odds are so overwhelmingly in his fa­ vour. Many of his fantastic combinations were eventually found not to be 1 00% sound, but the refutations took days, weeks or months to be discovered. No won­ der his opponents did not find them over-the-board. I shall present two games where substantial risk is taken on. Game 10 is a fail­ ure; Game 1 1 is a success. In my analysis I will give guidelines to explain why this was so.

I M Boris Kre i m a n

Game 1 0 -

G M Al exa n der S h a ba l ov

World Open, Philadelphia 19 9 7 Fre n c h D efe n ce , Wi n awe r Va ri ati o n e6 1 e4 d5 2 d4 i.b4 3 tl:ic3 c5 4 e5 i.xc3+ 5 a3 tl:ie7 6 bxc3 7 'ii'g4 The position after Black's 6th shows the characteristic landscape of the Winawer: Black has permanently damaged White's pawn formation but at the cost of the bishop-pair and weak­ nesses on the dark squares. Moreover, White has a clear spatial advantage. Nevertheless, the situation on the board is most unbalanced and historically Black has obtained good opportunities for counterplay. Also, historically, White's favourite plan has been first to complete minor-piece development, e.g. 7 tl:if3 tl:ibc6 8 a4 °ii'a5 9 i.d2 i.d7 10 i.e2 . However, immediate action via the text-move has been preferred by aggressive attackers . IM Kreiman is very much in that camp. 7 0-0 Some twenty years ago, the only acceptable way for Black was consid­ ered to be giving up the kingside pawns : 7 . . . 'ii'c 7 8 'ii'x g7 l::t g 8 9 'ii'x h7 cxd4 10 tl:ie2 tl:ibc6 1 1 f4 �d7 12 'ilid3

-

C18

players are opting for castling and thereby risking White' s wrath. tl:ibc6 8 �d3 tl:irs 9 'tli'hs There is nothing sly about White's approach. Black must interpose the knight - the only question is whether on g6 or f5 . The way with the better reputation is 9 . . tl:ig6, though unques­ tionably White has a strong attack af­ ter 1 0 tl:if3 'ilic7 1 1 h4 ! . 10 tl:if3 (D) The immediate 10 g4 is parried eas­ ily by 10 . 'ilih4 . .

..

...

dxc3 1 3 tl:ixc3 a6. The resulting posi­ tion is thought to be satisfactory for Black. Nevertheless, more and more

However, after the text-move 1 1 g4 is a major threat and, additionally, White 's knight is ideally placed for joining the attack via g5 . There is much experience with the positions after 1 0 . . . f6 . The present

Speculative Sacrifices status is bad for Black: 1 1 g4 c4 1 2 gxf5 cxd3 1 3 l:.gl t'/Je7 ? ! 14 exf6 l:.xf6 1 5 l:.xg7+ ! ! �xg7 1 6 'i*'g5+ t'/Jg6 1 7 fxg6 hxg6 1 8 i.f4 ! with a murderous attack by White, Kruppa-Komarov, Kherson 1 99 1 . c4 ! ? 10 GM Shabalov's novelty makes good sense. Rather than losing a tempo while also weakening his kingside with 10 . . . f6, Black immediately aims to chase away the attacking bishop. White's normal, risk-free way is now 1 1 g4 cxd3 12 gxf5 , when 12 . . . f6 1 3 l:.gl transposes to the start of Kruppa­ Komarov above. GM Boris Gulko considers Black's best to be 1 2 . . . exf5 , though after 1 3 l:. g l White has a dan­ gerous attack at little investment in material. Yet IM Kreiman wants more excite­ ment and plays . . . 1 1 i.gS ? ! (D) ...

The dubious mark is attached be­ cause we know - thanks to hindsight that it will fail. White's thematic plan is to create a mating net on the dark

55

squares of the type : 'i*'h6, i.f6, and Black' s pawn on g6 . There are three reasons why it will not work out: 1) White is forced to sacrifice two rooks - an inordinate amount. In the game White will get back most of the material, but this will not be sufficient; 2) White 's attack is strictly one­ dimensional : dark squares with mate on g7 ; 3) carelessness in calculating the position after the intended 1 6 i.h3 . When we consider all these factors in an objective manner, we can see that the odds of White 's creative, brave, speculative sacrifice being successful were not good. 11 'i*'aS 12 i.xfS 'i*'xc3+ 13 i.d2 'ilfxal+ 14 �e2 g6 (D)

15 'ii'h4 White's first problem is that he must protect the d-pawn since after 1 5 'i*'h6 t'/Jxd4+ 1 6 t'/Jxd4 'i*'xd4 there is no reasonable follow-up since Black

56

Practical Middlegame Tips

threatens both 1 7 . . . exf5 and to capture on e5 with check. 15 ... 'ii'x hl (D)

and Black only has a draw. The text­ move deflects the knight from g5 and leaves Black too much material up.

A most frustrating situation for White. He has available for attack queen, knight and two bishops. More­ over, Black's kingside has permanent weaknesses on f6 and h6. Yet nothing works. GM Gulko provides the fol­ lowing proof: a) 1 6 .th3 f6 ! 17 exf6 e5 ! 1 8 tLlg5 tLlxd4+ 1 9 �e3 h5 . b) 1 6 .th6 'if xg2 1 7 .th3 tLlxd4+ ! 1 8 tLlxd4 'ife4+. c) 16 °ifh6 'ifxg2 17 .th3 tLlxd4+ ! 1 8 lLixd4 'ii'e4+ 1 9 .te3 'ii'xe5 . d) 1 6 c3 exf5 1 7 'ii'f6 tiJd8 1 8 .th6 tLle6 19 tLlg5 ( 19 h3 'ii'x g2 20 tLlg5 'i\Vxg5 ! ) 19 . . . 'ii'xh2 20 .txf8 'ii'h 5+. 16 'i\Vf6 Realizing that there is no win, White now goes for a drawing combination, but will again be foiled. 'ii'xg2 16 ... 17 .th6 tiJxd4+! (D) The hope had been 1 7 . . . gxf5 ? ! 1 8 tLlg5 tLlxd4+ 1 9 �e3 tLlxc2+ 20 �e2

18 tLlxd4 gxf5 19 .txf8 .td7! (D) White has perpetual check after 1 9 . . . �xf8? 20 °ifd8+ cJ;g7 2 1 'ii'f6+. Now that Black's bishop and rook can j oin the action and the queen par­ ticipates in the defence, the material advantage of the exchange and three pawns is easily decisive.

20 .th6

'ir'g6

Speculative Sacrifices

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

t2Jf3 t2Jd4 f4 c3 t2Jf3 'i'h4 axb4

.ia4 :es a5 .id7 b5 b4 axb4

28 29 30 31 32 33

57

cxb4 �d3 t2Jd4 lZJxc2 '1te3 �d2

c3 .l:.c8 c2 .ibS+ 'i'gl+ 'i'g2+ 0-1

Game 1 1

G M Ed m a r M ed n is - G M Laszlo Vadasz

B udapest 1 9 76 Pi rc D efe n ce , A u stri a n Atta c k d6 1 e4 tLlf6 2 d4 g6 3 tLlc3 .tg7 4 f4 0-0 5 tLlf3 tLla6 (D) 6 .td3 Within the main line of the Austrian Attack (4 f4), this is the sharper of the two high-quality variations, the other being 6 . . . tLlc6. The idea of the text­ move is to start to challenge White's centre with 7 . . c5 and to be able to re­ capture on c5 with the knight. The problem with the immediate 6 . . . c5 ? ! is that after 7 dxc5 dxc5 8 e5 lLld5 9 tLlxd5 'ir'xd5 1 0 'ir'e2 White has con­ siderably more space and Black lacks a satisfactory plan for developing counterplay. .

809

White has to decide how to react to Black's plan. With the text-move he is the first to start central activity. The sound alternative is to prepare for kingside action after 7 0-0 c5 8 d5 . At the time of this game 7 e5 and 7 0-0 were equivalent in popularity. At pres­ ent the latter is more frequent because White's attack is tough to cope with. lLld7 7 ... 8 tLle4 ! ? This was a new move a t the time. I had analysed it some 1 8 months ear­ lier. There are two ideas associated with it: 1 ) play on the kingside with the thematic 9 e6 ! ? fxe6 1 0 tLleg5 ; and 2) safeguarding d4 while cramping the a6-knight with 9 c3. Subsequently the solid 8 .ie3 be­ came frequent in tournament play. tLlb4 ? ! 8 . When doing m y earlier research I had thought that this was Black's most thematic response. After this game we know that this is incorrect. The critical continuation remains 8 . . . c5 ! ?. During the game GM Vadasz was afraid of 9 e6 ! ? fxe6 1 0 tLleg5 lLlf6 1 1 'ir'e2 . In· deed after 1 1 . . . tLlc7 12 dxc5 ! dxc5 1 3 tLle5 White has excellent compensa­ tion for the pawn. However, I believe that instead of 1 1 . . . tLlc7 , Black can do better with 1 1 . . .tLlb4 ! , giving back the .

7 e5

-

.

Speculative Sacrifices pawn. After 1 2 lll x e6 lllx d3+ 1 3 cxd3 i.xe6 14 'ii'x e6+ 'ii> h 8 the position is unclear. On the other hand, White can sharpen the play with 1 1 h4 ! ? instead of 1 1 'ii'e 2. I am not aware that these ideas have been explored in actual play. Of course, White can also select the safe 9 c3, but I doubt whether that can lead to an advantage. lll b 6 9 .i.e2 10 c3 .i.fS (D) Hindsight tells us that Black should play 10 . . . lll c 6 and accept a cramped position. However, in my preparation and play the text was the only move that I considered.

dS? ! 11 lllfgS ! Consistent with the previous play, though in fact 1 1 . . .lllc 6 is necessary. White then has a nice risk-free posi­ ti on where his secure centre and spa­ tial advantage mean a clear edge - but that is all. After the 'thematic ' text-move my ho me analysis had continued 1 2 cxb4 dx e4 13 g4 followed by capturing the e 4-pawn. At the board this did not

59

seem all that clear, particularly if Black plays 13 . . . f6 ! ?. Therefore, I started looking for something better and after half an hour of thought ( 'questioning curiosity ' ) decided on . . . 1 2 lllg3! ! (D)

When I hit on this idea, my com­ forting thought was : "Well, the worst that can happen is that I lose. On the other hand, if it works I'll have a nice game to my credit." It is truly a specu­ lative sacrifice, because there is no ob­ viously decisive follow-up, nor are there specific variations to trust in. I shall leave further comments on this subject to the note after White 's 15th move. 12 lllc2+ 13 'ii>f2 lllx al 14 lllxfS gxfS This is not quite an automatic re­ capture as Black has the option of 1 4 . . . h6. I was then planning 1 5 lll x t7! l:hf7 1 6 lll x g7 ! :xg7 1 7 .i.d3 . Indeed White already has gained a ' good pawn' and Black's kingside is very vulnerable.

60

Practical Middlegame Tips

The text-move is therefore better. At the board I was first tempted by 1 5 e6 since 1 5 . . . f6? ! allows 1 6 tl:lxh7 ! ! �xh7 1 7 i.d3 when White's attack is strong enough for at least perpetual check. However, my reason for reject­ ing 1 5 e6 was that Black can simply capture 15 .. .fxe6. After 16 tl:lxe6 White wins the exchange and will soon cap­ ture the al -knight, thereby establish­ ing material equality. I judged the resulting position to be approximately equal, but said to myself: "Why sacri­ fice a rook to be satisfied with a draw?''. 15 i.d3 ! ! (D)

This is the position I had in mind when considering 12 tl:lg3 ! ! . The odds that the sacrifice will be sound are based on the following factors: 1 ) Even though White has sacri­ ficed a rook, the chances are good that it will only wind up as a sacrifice of the exchange since the a l -knight looks doomed; 2) The al -knight is no danger at all to White's plans (note that Black's

queen on h 1 was quite a problem for White in Game 1 0); 3 ) White has a powerful , stable centre; 4) Black's kingside is seriously weakened due to the doubled f-pawns; 5) Black's pieces are in no position to menace White, nor efficiently lo­ cated to protect the king. During the game I considered the main line to be 15 . . . e6 16 g4 h6 1 7 gxf5 ! ! when Black has two choices: a) 17 . . . hxg5 18 f6 ! ! i.xf6 19 �h5 l:te8 20 fxg5 ! i.g7 21 �e2 and there will be no way for Black to defend his king against the combined force of White's queen, rook and two bishops. One typical example : 2 1 . . J:te7 22 :n �f8 23 g6 �e8 24 i.g5 �d7 25 i.xe7 fxg6 26 �xg6 �h8 27 h4 ! . In effect, White is also now material up to go with the crushing position. b) 17 . . . exf5 has the disadvantage that it opens up the position a lot more. One thematic continuation for White is: 1 8 �h5 hxg5 1 9 i.xf5 .l:!.e8 20 l:tg l ! f6 (or 20 . . . .:1e6 21 �h7+ �f8 22 .l:!.xg5 l:tg6 23 i.xg6 fxg6 24 .l:l'.xg6 �e7 25 f5 , etc . ; or 20 . . . 'ili>f8 2 1 l:.xg5 'ii; e 7 22 .l:l'.xg7 .:r.f8 23 i.g4 ! followed by f5) 2 1 e6 �e7 22 fxg5 tl:lc4 23 gxf6 �xf6 24 �h7+ �f8 25 .l:!.xg7 ! �xg7 26 i.h6, winning. In each and every case White car­ ries out the attack down a rook or more. Black turns out to be defenceless. 15 h6 This move lets White immediately get a pawn for his rook, but sort of par­ adoxically gives Black time to ward off the immediate mating threats. ...

Speculative Sacrifices e6 1 6 J.xfS ! The mate is easy and swift after 1 6 . . . hxgS ? : 1 7 'ii'h 5 .l:te8 1 8 e6 ! f6 1 9 J.h7+ �h8 2 0 J.g6+ �g8 2 1 J.f7+ �f8 22 'ii'h 7 followed by 23 1i'g8#. �h8 17 J.h7+ 18 J.bl ! (D)

After this long retreat White threat­ ens mate starting with 1 9 1i'd3 . Black's only chance is 18 . . . 1i'e7, when 1 9 lDh7 l:tfd8 20 'ii'd 3 is not so clear after 20 . . . lDd? ! ( 2 1 iDf6 iDf8). I would have taken a second pawn with 1 9 1i'd3 f5 20 exf6 J.xf6 2 1 lDxe6. There is little question that White's position must be considered winning, yet in a practical game Black has a few hopes. Instead, as so often happens in posi­ tions under great pressure, Black col­ lapses immediately. 18 fS? 'flle7 19 lDxe6 .l:txf8 20 lDxf8

61

21 J.d3 (D)

Black's king is finally safe, yet the situation is hopeless as after losing the al -knight, Black will be two pawns down in an inferior position. cs 21 22 J.e3 cxd4 23 cxd4! By keeping a strong centre White minimizes Black's counterplay. lDc4 23 24 'ii'x al lDxe3 bS 25 �xe3 26 'it'dl ! First White consolidates his forces and then will start exploiting Black's weaknesses on d5 and f5 . a6 26 27 g3 'ikf7 28 'ii'c2 hS 29 .!:tel h4 30 'ii'g2 hxg3 31 hxg3 1-0

Section 8 : Necessary Sacrifices A necessary sacrifice is one that you would prefer not to make but your best chess judgement tells you is needed to realize your objective . It may be a follow-up pawn sacrifice to previous pawn sacrifices to open up further lines or a pawn sac­ rifice to liberate your piece(s) which are cooped up behind your pawn(s). A ' nec­ essary ' sacrifice is of relatively small material value and is of the order of the equivalent of one or two pawns. Larger sacrifices fall into the categories of cor­ rect/sound or speculative sacrifices . In our illustrative game, two world-class players demonstrate what to them are necessary sacrifices.

Game 1 2

G M Alexei S h i rov - G M Ga rry Kas pa rov

Ti/burg 199 7 S i c i l i a n D efe n ce , N a j d o rf Va ri ation 1 e4 c5 2 lLlf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 lLlf6 4 lLlxd4 5 lLlc3 a6 6 i.e3 (D) This move was introduced into in­ ternational play by GM Robert Byrne and the variation justly carries his name. Its tactical point is that 6 . . . lLlg4 is met by 7 i.g5 , when it is unclear whether Black has an effective follow­ up. The deeper strategic consideration is to make it less comfortable for Black to continue with the thematic 6 . . . e5 because in a number of potential variations the development of the queen's bishop to e3 is more useful for White than the early development of the king 's bishop to e2, which occurs in the 6 i.e2 e5 variation .

-

890

6 e5 ! The exclamation mark is to ac­ knowledge that as long as he feels that he is sufficiently well prepared, GM Kasparov never shirks from a princi­ pled battle. The positives of the move are to chase away White's knight from the excellent central square as well as to control the d4- and f4-squares. There also is the inevitable negative : d5 is permanently weakened. Sound alternatives are the previ­ ously mentioned 6 . . . lLlg4 (which is also part of GM Kasparov's reper­ toire) and 6 . . . e6, transposing into the Scheveningen Variation. During the next series of moves both sides develop their pieces and be­ gin active play on the side characteris­ tic for this specific variation: White on the kingside, Black on the queenside. 7 lLlb3 i.e6 8 f3 i.e7 9 'it'd2 lLlbd7 h6 10 g4 b5 1 1 0-0-0 12 h4 lLlb6 b4 (D) 13 �bl Up to here each player was doing 'his thing ' , yet now White has to de­ cide how to proceed further. The care­ ful way is 14 'i!ff2 .l:.b8 15 i.xb6 'ir'xb6 16 'i!fxb6 lbb6 17 lLld5 lLlxd5 1 8 exd5 i.d7 1 9 i.d3 h5 20 g5 f5 2 1 gxf6 ...

Practical Middlegame Tips

64

i.xf6, with rough equality, Z.Almasi­ J.Lautier, Tilburg 1 996. Characteristically, GM Shirov wants more and keeps the queens on. 'iixb6 14 i.xb6 i.xd5 15 lLid5 a5 16 exd5 17 'ii'd3 White frees the d2-square for the knight and lines up the queen on the b l -h7 diagonal for a potential attack on the soon-to-be-castled king. 17 i.h3 was previously known, when Z.Lanka­ G . Peshina, Vilnius 1 993 continued 17 . . . a4 1 8 tLic 1 l:ta5 1 9 g5 lLixd5 20 lLie2 ltc5 2 1 �al 'ir'c6 22 i.f5 and the players agreed a draw in this most un­ clear position. GM Lanka works as a part-time trainer with GM Shirov and confirmed after the game that GM Shirov was prepared for this variation . Neverthe­ less - prepared or not - White did not gain any advantage. a4 17 0-0 18 lLid2 As a general principle Black would prefer not to castle kingside because ...

of the fundamental structural weak­ ness in having the h-pawn on h6 (see Game 3 !). Yet there is no other way to bring the king' s rook into the game. At his moment Black does not have to fear the immediate 1 9 g5 because of 19 . . . lLih5 20 gxh6 g6 ! (GM Lanka), when the kingside is sufficiently de­ fensible for the foreseeable future. Therefore, White moves to exchange off Black's knight and will set up the queen & bishop battery on the b l -h7 diagonal . 19 lLie4 (D)

ltfc8 ! 19 i.xf6 20 lLixf6+ 21 'ii'e 4 White took thirty minutes to decide on the text-move. His problem is that after 2 1 g5? the necessary sacrifice 2 1 . . .e4 ! is also demonstrably good. GM Shirov provides the following analysis: 22 'ir'xe4 b3 ! 23 cxb3 axb3 24 a3 i.xb2 ! (25 �xb2 l:tc2+ ). Instead of 24 a3 , no better is 24 gxf6 due to 24 . . . l:.xa2 25 'i!Vg4 l:l.al + ! 26 'it>xal 'i!Va5+ . The ambitious 21 'iff5 is also

65

Necessary Sacrifices met by the same necessary and good 2 1 . . .e4 ! . 'ii'c5 2 1 ... A normal enhancement of the pres­ sure. However, Black also had the tac­ tical possibility 2 1 . . .b3 22 cxb3 axb3 23 a3 i.xh4 ! (24 lhh4? loses to 24 . . . 'ii'f2 ). GM Kasparov was aware of this, but expected to achieve more with the text-move (as related by IM Dirk Poldauf in the November 1 997 issue of Schach). 22 i.d3 White now has a winning combina­ tion in view : 23 g5 ! hxg5 24 hxg5 i.xg5 25 .r!h8+ ! �xh8 26 'ii' h 7#. Therefore Black's king must flee. 22 �f8 23 g5! (D)

Truly a 'necessary' sacrifice. White must open lines and create attacking chances as otherwise Black will have the necessary time to break through on the queenside. hxg5 23 i.xg5 24 hxg5 25 'ii'f5! i.h6

A most unpleasant necessity for Black. The problem is that after the 'normal ' 25 . . . i.f6?, GM Shirov had prepared 26 i.b5 ! ! . White then threat­ ens mate by 27 l:.h8+ �e7 28 'ii'd 7#; Black cannot take the bishop because 27 l:th8+ wins the exchange and the game. Therefore, Black has to resort to defensive resources such as 26 . . . 'ii'c 7 or 26 . . . l:.d8 . In either case White can capture the a-pawn and thereby end Black's queenside dreams (26 . . . 'ii'c 7 27 i.xa4 ! ; 26 . . . l:.d8 27 .r!h8+ �e7 28 .r!xd8 l:.xd8 29 i.xa4). 26 .r!h4! �e7 ! ! (D) White gets a dangerous attack after 26 . . . 'ii'x d5 27 l:txb4 'ii'e 6 28 'ii' h7 something that GM Kasparov is obvi­ ously not interested in experiencing. Instead he prefers to sacrifice his queen, both stopping White's attack and keeping his own going. Clearly to him the sacrifice was a ' necessary ' one.

27 l:.c4 28 i.xc4 29 'ii'd3

'ii'xc4 l:.xc4 l:.ac8

Practical Middlegame Tips

66

30 .l:r.el

i.f4 (D)

In terms of a pure material balance, rook, bishop and pawn is equivalent to a queen. In a majority of middlegame situations the side with the queen will nevertheless have the advantage. In our case the chances are in dynamic bal­ ance due to the active placement of Black's rooks and bishop, as well as the lack of weak points in his position. After the game GM Shirov demon­ strated that a drawn endgame would result after 3 1 b3 axb3 32 axb3 .l:r.xc2 33 �xc2 .l:r.xc2 34 'it>xc2 g5 35 'it>d3 f5 . But in aiming for a 'safe' plan with winning chances he plays something atrocious. 3 1 1:.. e4?? (D) There are two things wrong with the move. In the first place White vio­ lates the strategic principle that even though the queen is by far the stron­ gest piece, nevertheless its power is enhanced if it has a helper. In our sit­ uation the rook is a useful helper both for defending and for attacking if Black is careless.

The other problem is the specific one: White has no satisfactory way of recapturing on e4 ! 31 1:..x e4 32 fxe4 After the text-move Black's passed g-pawn becomes unstoppable. White's original plan had been to recapture with the queen, 32 'ii'xe4, but that is unsatisfactory because after 32 . . . .l:r.h8 ! 33 a3 b3 ! 34 cxb3 axb3 35 'ii'e l 1:.. c 8 36 a4 l:r.c 1 + the king & pawn endgame is lost. 32 g5! (D) ...

...

Necessary Sacrifices bxa3 33 a3 l:.d8 34 'ii'a6 35 °ii'b6 g4 36 c4 g3! GM Kasparov selects an elegant se­ ries of moves to promote the g-pawn. Ordinary efforts also would have been good enough.

67

c5 g2 cxd6+ l:.xd6 �f6! 'iic7+ 'iixd6+ �g7 0-1 The conclusion could be 41 1i'c5 i.h2 42 d6 gl 'ii'+ 43 'ir'xg l + i.xgl 44 d7 i.b6. 37 38 39 40

Part Two : Defe n din g the Kin g

Section 9 : Kee pin g the Castled Kin g Safe To have and retain king safety, the following must exist: 1) pieces nearby for protection; 2) sound pawn-cover; 3) a minimum of lines able to be opened against the king. Of course, intuitively we can recognize that there must be some pieces near enough to ward off attackers. The important question, however is: 'How many?' Former World Champion J.R.Capablanca gave this elegant answer: "As few as possible, so that you have more material available to attack the enemy in another area." I do want to caution the reader: err on the side of king safety ! The chance that a Capablanca will get the number of defenders exactly right is considerably greater than you or I will do so. The strongest pawn-cover is when the pawns in front of the king are on their original squares. For castling on the kingside this means the f-, g- and h-pawns have not moved; for castling queenside the corresponding pawns are the a-, b­ and c-pawns. The most common applications of violent attacks occur when White attacks Black on the kingside and when Black attacks White on the queenside. Game 1 3 will deal with White as the attacker; in Game 1 4 Black will attempt tr• storm the white king castled on the queenside. An integral part of the proper defensive technique will require keeping lines against one's king as closed as possible.

Game 1 3

G M Sa m u e l Reshevsky

-

G M B u rkha rd M a l ich

Siegen Olympiad 19 70 S i c i l i a n D efe n ce , S c h eve n i nge n Va riation 1 e4 cS e6 2 lLif3 3 d4 cxd4 lLif6 4 lLixd4 5 lLic3 d6 6 i.c4 It is my opinion that in the 'pure ' Scheveningen, i.e. the position after Black's 5th move, the development of the king's bishop to c4 is not theoreti­ cally dangerous for Black. The reason is that because Black's queen's knight is undeveloped, he can get it effec­ tively to c5 via the manoeuvre shown in the game. Nevertheless, the text­ move continues to be a popular line in tournament play. 6 i.e7 7 i.b3 0-0 8 i.e3 lLia6! 9 f3 Safeguarding the centre makes good sense, yet we have learned that it is insufficient for an advantage. There is common agreement currently that the active 9 f4 is necessary to hope to get at Black. Yet in the thematic varia­ tions after 9 . . . lLic5 1 0 'iff3 a5 ! Black is holding his own. 9 lLicS 10 'ii'd2 a6 1 1 g4 'ii'c7 (D) A characteristic moment in this variation: Black brings the queen to its

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886

best location and is ready to start queenside activities with 1 2 . . . b5 . At the same time Black has no vulnerable point in his part of the board. His kingside pawn-cover is impeccable. Of course, it would have been crimi­ nal to play 1 l . . .h6??, as after 1 2 h4 followed by 1 3 g5 or the immediate 1 2 g5, White would get an open file for nothing. White will have to make two im­ portant decisions . The first is: where to put the king? Castling queenside connects the rooks, yet makes Black's counterplay on that side more danger­ ous - in particular due to the position of the king 's bishop on b 3 . However, leaving the king in the middle may make the king more uncomfortable later on when Black's development has been completed. White also must

Keeping the Castled King Safe decide exactly how to carry out the kingside pawn-storm and how much material to risk in that operation. Indeed an exciting game is in pros­ pect. 12 gS White could wait with this advance and instead start with 1 2 h4 . This worked out well in D .Minic-Van der Weide, Amsterdam II 1 97 1 : 1 2 . . . b5 1 3 a3 .!iJfd7 1 4 g5 .!iJb6 1 5 h5 .l:.b8 1 6 g6 ! hxg6? 1 7 hxg6 fxg6 1 8 'ii'g 2, when White had two files open against the black king and won on move 27. Of course, Black should have used the same approach as in our game to mini­ mize the opening of lines : 1 6 . . . liJc4 ! 17 i.xc4 bxc4 1 8 .l:.bl i.f6. IM Minic evaluates the resulting position as 'un­ clear' . Needless to say, White could im­ mediately castle queenside and then continue as in the game, e.g. 12 0-0-0 b5 1 3 g5 .!iJfd7 14 g6 ! ? . This position is also 'unclear' . 12 .!iJfd7 (D)

71

Already a disadvantage of White's uncastled king can be seen, i.e. the im­ mediate 13 g6? ! is ineffective after 1 3 ... i.h4+ ! (blocking the h-file) 14 i.f2 i.xf2+ 1 5 'ii'xf2 hxg6 1 6 h4 liJxb3 1 7 axb3 .!iJf6 ! and Black i s u p a sound pawn in a safe enough position. 13 bS liJeS! ! 14 g6! ? Only so ! Instead 1 4 . . . fxg6? drops the e-pawn, while 1 4 . . . hxg6? ! 15 h5 will yield two open lines for White. 15 gxh7+ �h8! (D) ...

...

13 h4

Again the only way. Black wants to use the forward h-pawn as a shield for his king. After the text-move it is too late for White to castle since after 1 6 0-0-0? ! b4 1 7 liJce2 a5 White's king's bishop is in major trouble. 16 a3 l:.b8! i.b7 17 �f2 18 l:tagl fS ! (D) A multi-purpose advance : Black will be able defend the g-pawn in comfort while starting counterplay against White's king, which is stuck in the centre. As a matter of fact, White's

72

Practical Middlegame Tips

king has to move back to the centre since B lack threatens the decisive 1 9 . . . fxe4, while White can ' t afford to capture on f5 : 1 9 exf5 ? i.xf3 ! 20 lllxf3 (20 i.h6 ! ? is parri ed by 20 . . . lll g4+ ! ) 2 0. . . :Z.xf5 2 1 :Z.g3 l::tbf8 2 2 l::thh3 i.xh4 ! 23 .l:.xh4 :Z.xf3+ 24 :Z.xf3 l2Jxf3 ! , win­ ning (analysis by IM Milic). fxe4 19 �el 20 ii'g2 i.f6 21 fxe4 l::t b e8! (D) A lovely situation for Black: every one of his pieces is in its optimum lo­ cation performing both defensive and offensive tasks. Moreover, his king is about as secure as can be expected on the black side of the Sicilian. What is White to do? There is noth­ ing that inspires much confidence, so the famous GM - without making a move - offered his strong opponent a draw. It was quickly accepted . After the game, GM Malich explained his

decision very simply : "There is no reason to refuse the draw if GM Reshevsky offers it." If GM Malich had refused the draw what would have happened? No one can foretell the result, of course. I ex­ pect that the great fighter would have played 22 h5 and fought on with all the skill and energy in his possession. lf2 .lf2

Game 1 4

G M Ed m a r M ed n is - G M J a n Ti m ma n

Sambor 1 9 74 S i c i l i a n Defe n ce , Scheve n i n ge n Va riat i o n c5 1 e4 2 c!Df3 e6 cxd4 3 d4 c!Df6 4 c!Dxd4 d6 5 c!Dc3 6 g4 The Keres Attack was introduced into tournament play by the brilliant Estonian in the early 1 940s, yet re­ quired another thirty years to become popular. Its point and purpose is dis­ armingly clear: because Black has chosen an inherently passive (though sound) set-up, White can gain valu­ able space on the kingside, at a mini­ mum risk to himself, by thrusting the g-pawn forward. GM Anatoly Karpov has been a very successful lifelong ad­ herent of it. In Game 1 of the 1 984/5 World Championship match, GM Kas­ parov landed in such a passive posi­ tion that he has not allowed the Keres Attack since. He nevertheless man­ ages to reach Scheveningen positions by using the Najdorf Variation move­ order ( 1 e4 c5 2 tDf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 c!Dxd4 c!Df6 5 c!Dc3 a6) and switches into . . . e6 if, e.g., White plays 6 �e2 or 6 �c4. 6 ... c!Dc6 On the face of it this is a logical de­ veloping move. Another historically popular choice has been 6 . . . a6, avoid­ ing any surprises on b5 and preparing

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88 1

an eventual . . . b5 advance. However, at present everything else has been sup­ planted by 6 . . . h6. Black has learned that it is not advisable to allow the en­ croaching g5 .

7 g5 c!Dd7 8 �e3 c!Dc5 Also this knight move looks better than it is. Though from c5 the knight covers valuable ground on the queen­ side and the centre, its role is never significant. Through experience we have discovered that completing king­ side development with 8 . . . �e7 fol­ lowed by 9 . . . 0-0 offers Black more hopeful vistas in the coming middlegame. a6 9 'ii'd2 10 0-0-0 �d7 b5 (D) 11 f4

Practical Middlegame Tips

74

In the vast majority of cases the castled king is safer on bl than on cl. Therefore, if the position can af­ ford such a loss of time, it is good practice to move the king over.

Now we can clearly see what Black intended with 8 . . lllc 5 : he wants to ex­ ert pressure on White's e-pawn while also attacking on the queenside. But fundamentally there is little chance for success, because White has no struc­ tural weaknesses on the queenside, his pieces are well coordinated for both defensive and attacking functions and, moreover, an attack without utilizing the kingside pieces lacks sufficient power. 12 i.g2! It is imperative that White smoothly protects the e-pawn. However, there is no particular need for the queen's knight to do this j ob. 1 2 a3? is wrong, as that would compromise the pawn­ formation in front of the king. b4? ! 12 ... Here and in the future Black per­ sists with his plan. Yet - especially thanks to hindsight - IM Craig Prit­ chett's suggestion of taking time out for 12 . . i.e7 and 1 3 . . . 0-0 appears more promising. .:tbs 13 lllce2 14 'it>bl ! (D) .

.

14 ... 'ilic7 15 h4 White has completed his develop­ ment, safeguarded his king as much as possible and now starts to aim at Black's king. White's attack is the more dangerous since all of his pieces are participating in the action, while Black's king's rook and king's bishop are bystanders. 15 as 16 hS a4 17 g6 b3? ! It is imperative to keep as many lines closed as possible on the king­ side. Therefore 17 .. .fxg6 18 hxg6 h6 is required. 'iii>xf7 18 gxf7+ 19 cxb3 axb3 20 a3! h6 Black prevents the additional line­ opening threatened by 21 h6, but he

Keeping the Castled King S afe already has too many weaknesses on the kingside and the text-move creates another one on g6. Note how White on his part - has in effect kept the a­ and b-files closed. 21 .l:hfl ! (D)

Because Black's counterplay has been stymied, White can concentrate on going after Black's king. Black's position is inherently indefensible. tlJxd4 21 ... �es 22 tlJxd4 23 °iif2 ! I had been feeling pretty good al­ ready and Black's last move - which seemed almost like an admission of defeat - gave me additional confi­ dence. The queen is now ready either for action along the f-file or to head for g6. i.c8 23 ... 24 e5 .l:b6 (D) Black succeeds in guarding c6, but can' t prevent White from opening more lines with decisive effect. The at­ tempt to dislodge White' s king's rook with 24 . . . i. a6 loses to 25 i.c6+ tlJd7

75

26 'ii'g 3 ! i.xfl 27 'ii' g 6+ �e7 28 'ii'x e6+ �d8 29 .l:xfl , when Black is absolutely defenceless against the threats along the c-, d-, f- and g-files as well as knight forks on c6 and e6.

25 f5! i.b7 dxe5 26 fxe6 27 '*i'g3! (D) Pinning the e-pawn and threatening the killing 28 'it'g6+.

i.xg2 27 ... felt that the only reasonable try at defence was 27 . . . g5, after which I had I

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Practical Middlegame Tips

prepared 28 hx g6 ! .txg 2 29 'ii'x g 2 exd4 30 .txd4 l:tg 8 3 1 g7 ! (3 1 . . . i.x g7 32 'ii'g6+), winnin g . i;jfd8 28 'itg6+ 29 .!Db5+ ! (D)

The definitive end for Black. After 29 . . . 'it>c8 Black loses th e queen .· 30 'ii'e8+ i;jf b 7 3 1 .!Dxc7 '· 29 . . . .a. � d6 drops the rook on b6 after 30 .!D xc7 .te4+ 3 1

�xe4 .!Dxe4 3 2 .txb6. Therefore Black p ayed . . . 29 30 ..xg2 (D) .•.

l:td6

1-0 Af�er 30 . . . 'ii' b 6, one of many simple . ns is 3 � 'ii'a 8+. The second half of �ame is. also a demonstration about the msecunty of the uncastled ki ng.

;�

Section 1 0 : Cop i n g with E n emy Sacrifi ces Your opponent i s throwing the proverbial 'everything but the kitchen sink' at your king. What should you do? The single most important principle is to remain cool, calm and collected. Of course, if your position is poor and the sacrifices are correct ones, you will lose. What this section is about is coping with sacrifices when your position is healthy. Then the chances are that the sacrifices will not be quite theoretically sound. Keep in mind that your opponent is to a great extent counting on the psycho­ logical factor when he starts sacrificing. Use the following approach in your de­ cision-making: 1 ) Don ' t be afraid. S ay to yourself: "I' ll do my best, but the worst that can happen is that I will lose". 2) Do not get into ridiculous time-pressure. It is likely that everything cannot be calculated with 1 00% certainty, anyway. Thus such an attempt will leave you ill-prepared for the complications that will inevitably follow. 3) However, do not go to the other extreme either. Playing without think­ ing/calculation will also lead to errors. 4) Aim for a sensible middle ground. Be careful, but do not demand 1 00% certainty. If you keep in mind the principles of the following paragraphs, your odds of success will be at least 90% . 5) Have confidence in the value of the extra material that your opponent's sacrifices have enriched you with. 6) Make sure to use the extra piece(s). Otherwise you will not have the advan­ tage(s) that the material superiority 'entitles' you to. 7) Look for opportunities to simplify by exchanging pieces. 8) Do not be a pig. If you are far ahead on material, give some of it back to break the attacking power by removing - at reasonable cost to you - some of the opp onent's pieces. These principles are wonderfully demonstrated in our illustrative game. WGM Zhu Chen of China was only 20 years old and had a FIDE rating of 2420 when she defeated Israeli GM Ilia Smirin (2625 rating ! ) .

Game 1 5

WG M Z h u Chen

-

G M I lia Smirin

Beijing 1 996 Ki ng's l nd i a n/Be n o n i 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

d4 c4 d5 .!llc3 .!llf3 e4 J.d3 h3 (D)

.!llf6 c5 g6 J.g7 0-0 e6 d6

.!lla6 8 Though the order of moves is un­ usual, the result is that a theoretically well-known position has arisen after White's 8th move. If Black had con­ tinued with the normal 8 . . . exd5 the game would have entered channels re­ sembling both the King's Indian and Benoni defences. Instead, GM Smirin with his 8th and 9th moves decides to transform the game into one where the characteristics are markedly King's

-

E90

Indian: Black will be attacking on the kingside, White on the queenside. e5 9 0-0 Black has got what he wants. Yet the cost is a full tempo since the e­ pawn has taken two moves to get to e5 . Moreover, the a6-knight will never be of use for kingside play. I must admit that I am sceptical regarding the prom­ ise of Black's plans. But - as we shall see - it will require exceptional play on White's part to thwart Black' s at­ tack. .!libs 10 a3 h6 (D) 11 l:tel

12 J.n WGM Zhu has annotated this game in full in Informator 68 (game 5 1 7). There she suggests that 12 J.e3 would have been better. The text-move seems

Coping with Enemy Sacrifices just fine to me : the king' s bishop re­ treats from its ineffective location on d3 to protect the kingside and play on the queenside will start. 12 tllf4 gS 13 b4 14 tll h 2! rs 'iif6 (D) 15 .J::.b l Throughout Black uses the fastest and most direct approach for getting at White's king. He never bothers to try to fasten the queenside with . . . b6. WGM Zhu here draws attention to 15 . . . b6 and evaluates the position after 1 6 exf5 .i.xf5 1 7 tlle4 as slightly supe­ rior for White.

'iig6? ! 16 .i.e3 Here too 1 6 . . . b 6 i s more solid, but Black's call remains : 'Give me your king ! ' . tllxcS 1 7 bxcS! dxcS 18 .i.xcS 19 g3! (D) In terms of long-range benefits White has a powerful protected passed d-pawn and on a near-term basis the queen 's rook is well posted along the

79

b-file. Noting that Black has not yet completed the development of his queenside, WGM Zhu throws down the gauntlet to Black: I am ready to win material because of your precari­ ously placed king ' s knight and you will not obtain sufficient compensa­ tion for it. GM Smirin accepts the challenge.

fxe4! ? 19 ... There are no realistic prospects in 19 . . . tll hS ? ! 20 exf5 .i.xf5 (20 . . . 'ifxf5 ? 2 1 'ii' x h5 'ii'x f2+ 22 'ifi>h l 'ii'x g3 23 tll e4 is hopeless because of the weak­ nesses in Black's position and the non­ functioning g7-bishop) 21 g4 .i.xbl 22 gxh5 °ii'f5 23 'ii'x bl 'ii' x f2+ 24 �h l . White dominates the light squares and Black's king's bishop continues to be a non-participant. 20 gxf4 e3! Analysis by WGM Zhu has shown that after the routine 20 . . . gxf4+ 21 'ifi>h l e3, White repulses the attack by 22 .i.d3 ! . Note that the open g-file then can be useful for an attack by White.

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Practical Middlegame Tips

21 i.d3! Starting to use the extra piece to disrupt Black's attacking plans. There is no win after 2 1 fxe3 gxf4+ 22 �h l , due to 2 2 . . . f3 ! 23 lLixf3 e4 ! 2 4 lLixe4 'ii'xe4 25 i.g2 i.xh3 ! 26 i.xh3 .l:.xf3 27 i.g2 'ii' h 4+ 28 �g l 'ii'f2+ 29 �h l 'ii' h 4+, when Black has perpetual check (analysis by WGM Zhu). 21 exf2+ 22 �xf2 (D)

At this moment White is up a minor piece for a pawn and her king's bishop is attacking Black's queen. The only black piece that is immediately in­ volved in the attack is the king' s rook. That obviously will not be enough. Therefore 22 . . . l:hf4+? ! is insufficient, as that just chases the king to relative safety : 23 �gl e4 (there is even less potential after 23 . . . 'ii'f7 24 i.fl ) 24 i.xe4 'ii'f6 (worse is 24 . . . 'ii'f7 25 d6 ! �h8 26 lLid5) 25 .l:.b3 i.xh3 26 d6 ! . White threatens 27 lLid5 , al l her pieces are well-placed and White's position is a theoretical win (analysis by WGM Zhu).

To have genuine attacking chances Black needs to get his king ' s bishop into the game. 22 ... e4! 23 lLixe4! I believe that - according to our principles - it is easy to select this cap­ ture. After all, the king's bishop stood well enough and it is in White's inter­ est to bring the c3-knight to a prime central square. Moreover, the knight comes closer to the king to assist in its defence and removes itself from the gaze of Black's king 's bishop. In fact, the alternative, 23 i.xe4?, allows Black sufficient counterplay. WGM Zhu illustrates this with the following variation, which represents best play for both sides: 23 . . . 'ii'f6 24 lLie2 i.xh3 25 l:txb7 g4 ! 26 l:tgl 'ii' h4+ 27 �e3 ! .l:.ae8 ! . 23 ... i.xh3 (D)

24 �g3 ! ! Unpinning the f-pawn and gaining a tempo by attacking Black' s bishop. The text-move conforms fully to the advice: don ' t be afraid ! All of White's

Coping with Enemy Sacrifices pi eces are i n play, whereas Black' s queen ' s rook is still undeveloped and he is a piece down. .trs 24 25 fxgS (D)

81

Black remains a piece down with nothing to show for it after 27 . . . 'ifxf5 28 gxf6 11fxf6 29 �g2 ! 'iff2+ 30 �h l .

•.•

l:ae8 25 Finally bringing the last piece into play. Yet now White starts an instruc­ tive simplifying sequence. In any case, an alternative such as 25 . . . .ie5+ 26 '1i>g2 .ixe4+ 27 .ixe4 11f xg5+ is rou­ tinely parried by 28 1i'g4. 26 liJf6+ ! .ixf6 Or 26 . . . l:xf6 27 l:xe8+ �h7 (White wins after 27 . . . 11fxe8 28 gxf6 11fg6+ 29 ltJg4 .ixd3 30 l:xb7 .ixf6 3 1 'ife l ! .if5 32 1i'e8+ !) 28 liJg4 ! .ixd3 29 gxf6 i.xbl 30 l:.e7 and White wins (main­ line analysis by WGM Zhu). Do not feel that you must calculate all such variations to the very end when choos­ ing 26 ltJf6+. The odds are over 99% that there will be something good for White. Just leave enough time on the clock to be able to look for the definite wins. .i eS+ (D) 27 .ixfS .••

28 l:xeS! The start of the final phase: White returns some material to eliminate Black's attackers. The text-move is, of course, an integral part of the simplifi­ cation procedure initiated with 26 ltJf6+ ! . 28 'ii'xgS+ 29 'ii'g4! l:xeS 30 'ii'xgS+ hxgS (D) •••

Practical Middlegame Tips

82

�g7 31 .ie6+ 32 .l:txb7+ White has the significant material advantage of two minor pieces vs rook and the strategic advantage of a dangerous passed pawn, and now has the technical task of preventing meaningful counterplay while coordinating her forces for the mobilization of the dpawn. WGM Zhu performs this task well. I' II say no more. �g6 32 ...

33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44

lllg4 .l:tb3 llle3 lllc2 �fl llle3 d6! l:tb8 �f3 d7 .if5+! l:.e8

.l:tel l:.f4 .l:td4 .l:tgl+ l:tddl .l:tal .l:thl l:.a2+ l:.xa3 .l:tel rj;f7 1-0

Section 1 1 : Strategic Sacrifices to Stop Attacks Most of the time the person doing the attacking is the one who does the sacrific­ ing. However, the defender should not close his eyes to such a happening either. There are plenty of times when the attacker has sacrificed a pawn (or more) and/or taken on some strategic deficiency to get his attack going as quickly as possible. Under such circumstances it is often advisable for the defender to look for an opportunity to sacrifice some material himself. Not only can this serve as an ob­ jectively valid way to brake the attack, but often enough this also has psychologi­ cal ramifications. The attacker may be unprepared for the maj or change on the board and cannot cope with the need to look for the new truth in the position. The next game illustrates these various aspects very well.

Game 1 6

G M Gyu la Sax - G M Ed m a r M ed n is

Budapest 1 9 76 Fre n c h Defe n ce , Wi n awer Va riation - C l 7 e6 1 e4 d5 2 d4 i. b4 3 tL'l c3 c5 4 e5 5 'fi'g4 The main line in the Winawer has always been 5 a3 - see Game 1 0. Al­ though that can lead to unfathomable complications, for some players it is not sharp enough. GM S ax is an ex­ ceptional attacker and thus 'naturally' prefers the text-move. Black is forced to respond aggressively since ' normal' moves such as 5 . . . �f8 ? ! and 5 . . . g6? ! saddle Black with kingside problems for which there is no compensation. 5 ... tL'le7! 6 tL'lf3 One of the two quality lines . The at­ tempt to transpose back into Game 1 0 with 6 a 3 ? ! i s foiled b y 6 . . . °iia5 ! . After 6 'iix g7 ? ! .l:.g8, 7 'ii x h7 ? loses to 7 . . . cxd4 8 a3 °iia5 9 .l:.bl dxc3 1 0 axb4 'iia2 ! , while the required 7 °iih 6 leads, after 7 . . . cxd4 8 a3 i.xc3+ 9 bxc3 'iic7 ! 1 0 tL'le2 dxc3, to situations similar to that in the main line (5 a3 i.xc3+ 6 bxc3 tL'le7 7 °iig4 'iic7 8 'iix g7 l:.g8 9 °ii x h7) except that Black still has the h-pawn - something obviously in his favour. The other quality variation is 6 dxc5 tL'lbc6 7 i.d2 0-0 8 tL'lf3 f5 with approximately equal chances.

6 ... tL'lbc6 (D) Perhaps 6 . . . cxd4 is playable, but the text-move seems more thematic to me since the point of 4 . . . c5 is to apply pressure on White's centre and this pressure should not be dissolved pre­ maturely.

7 i.d2 Preparing to castle queenside while breaking the pin. Valid alternatives are: a) 7 'iix g7 l:tg8 8 'ii' h 6 (again re­ quired) 8 . . . cxd4 is without danger to Black. b) 7 dxc5 d4 ! 8 i.b5 °iia5 9 i.xc6+ bxc6 ! 10 'it'xd4 tL'lf5 1 1 'ii'c 4 i.a6 1 2 °ii b 3 'ii' b5 ! gives Black a very strong attack for the sacrificed material , B a­ nal-Prandstetter, Czechoslovak Ch 1 978.

Strategic Sacrifices to Stop Attacks

c) 7 a3 , when GM Malaniuk con­ siders both 7 . . .'ika5 8 i.d2 h5 9 'ikxg7 l:lg8 1 0 'ikh7 lLlxd4 and 7 . . . i.a5 ! ? 8 °iix g7 ltg8 9 'ikxh7 cxd4 1 0 b4 lLlxb4 ! ? to be 'unclear' . 7 0-0 fS! 8 i.d3 9 exf6 White must open the position, as otherwise his attacking chances are nil and Black will start annihilating White's centre. 9 ... ltxf6 (D)

A position which in theory is fully satisfactory for Black: White's centre is still under considerable pressure, Black threatens to mobilize his centre with 1 0 . . . e5 and fundamentally his king should be no less safe than White's. Yet in real life, in a practical game, it is clear that Black must be the one more careful regarding potential danger to his king - after all, White ha s four pieces pointing in that direc­ tion. h6 10 'ir'hS i.aS 11 a3

85

Also 1 1 . . .i.xc3 is fine, but retain­ ing the quasi-pin offers more opportu­ nities for active play. 12 0-0-0 The only viable course . Instead 1 2 dxc5 ? ! allows Black's central phalanx to move forward ( 1 2 . . . e5 ! 1 3 lLlxe5 ?? lLlxe5 1 4 'ikxe5 :e6). 12 0-0? ! means the end of the attacking prospects while his centre will crumble after l 2 . . . cxd4. 12 . cxd4 ! ? (D) Black's 'problem' here is that he has a number of promising plans: 1 2 . . . c4 followed by a queenside pawn ad­ vance; 12 . . . i.xc3 1 3 i.xc3 c4 also fol­ lowed by a queenside pawn advance, 12 . . . lLlxd4, and the text-move. I chose the text because it seemed to lead to the most complicated and 'full' play. However, I took too long to decide. ..

i.b6 ! ? 13 lLle2 Here too I select the most compli­ cated of the three irreproachable moves : 13 . . . i.xd2+, 1 3 . . . i.c7 and the text-move. Again I spent too much time on the decision. When there is no objective basis for making a

86

Practical Middlegame Tips

decision, decide quickly. The time saved can be very valuable later on. 14 h4! ? GM S ax starts his attack. White did have an unusual way to force a draw : 14 .ig5 ! ? hxg5 1 5 'iih 7+ �f8 1 6 'ifh8+ tt'lg8 1 7 .ih7 tt'lce7 1 8 tt'lxg5 e5 ! 19 .ixg8 tt'lxg8 20 tt'lh7+ Wf7 2 1 tt'lg5 + ! �f8 . It is most dangerous for either side to go for more. Of course, it is understandable that at this stage White is not satisfied with a draw. .id7! 14 ... Completing Black's minor-piece de­ velopment and threatening 1 5 . . . .ie8 16 'ir'g4 e5 . 15 .ig5 ! ? (D)

White's attack is in full swing. Af­ ter 1 5 . . . hxg5 ? ! 1 6 hxg5 Black's king is sure to come under the most intense pressure. What to do? 15 ... 'i\Ve8 ! ! The response that I had envisaged when making my previous move. Af­ ter 1 6 'iWxe8+ .l:txe8 1 7 .ixf6 gxf6 Black has for the exchange one pawn, the bishop-pair and a strong centre

that he can mobilize immediately . I was not sure that I stood better, but felt confident that I would not be worse ei­ ther. In practice such positions are of­ ten easier to play for Black. During our post-mortem Black was winning in all the early analysis. Finally a method was found which keeps the chances dynamically balanced: 1 8 .ib5 ! e5 1 9 g4 ! �f7 2 0 .:r.dg l (20 g5 ? .ig4 ! ) 20 . . . d3 ! 2 1 cxd3 .ixf2 22 l:tg2 .ie3+ 23 �b l ltg8 . Soviet GM and noted author Alexei Suetin was also playing in the tourna­ ment. After the game he told me that the text-move had been an excellent psychological stroke. He was right. Af­ ter 1 5 .ig5 ! ? White was looking for­ ward to playing an enjoyable attack, but in the position just discussed, White must defend very accurately not to stand worse. GM S ax told me that my move came as a 'big surprise' to him. 16 'ir'g4? White made this move with the kind of motion of the head and hand that showed clear disappointment. Of course, the text-move is a serious error because White will not have an attack and will be rolled up in the centre . Therefore, 1 6 'iWxe8+ was mandatory. e5 16 ... 17 'i\Vg3 l:te6! What is the score? Black has safe­ guarded everything, is a healthy cen­ tral pawn up, and threatens 1 8 . . . e4. Objectively, White is lost and can only rely on some swindling tries . dxc3 1 8 c4 19 tt'lxc3 e4 20 tt'lxe4 lllf5 !

Strategic Sacrifices to Stop Attacks From now on there is unquestion­ ably more than one way to win. As I was somewhat short of time (I had two minutes left when my opponent re­ signed), my approach throughout was to select that move/plan which mini­ mizes White's practical ( ' swindling' ) chances. 21 'ii'f4 l:txe4 It seemed safer to remove White's light-squared bishop than to allow 2 1 . . .dxe4 22 .i.c4 . dxe4 22 .i.xe4 I was tempted by 22 . . . �xe4 23 ..Wxe4 dxe4 24 .l:.xd7 exf3 . Yet the text­ move looked 'even better' . Both are good and winning. tiJfd4 23 g4 tDxd4 24 tDxd4 25 �bl (D) Theoretically speaking it should be OK to play 25 . . . hxg5 , but I already had enough material and it was time that I was short of. So . . . 25 .tc6! 'ii'g6 26 l:th3 tiJf3 27 'ii'e3 'ii'f7 ! 28 'ii' b3+ 29 'ii'xf7+ c8 45 f3 'it>b7 l:r.cd6 46 i.e3 i.d3 47 i.f4 48 'ir'el l:r.b6 ! 0-1

Pa rt Three : The Ce ntre Whether i t i s basketball, ice hockey, football (American o r Rest-of-World type ! ) or chess, the centre i s where the action starts. I n chess the centre i s paramount in the opening and middlegame. As pieces are exchanged off, the importance of the centre decreases. When an endgame is reached and few pieces are left, the centre loses its fundamental importance and becomes just another part of the board. The primary central squares are d4, d5 , e4 and e5 . Secondary central squares are c3, c4, c5, c6, d3, d6, e3, e6, f3 , f4, f5, and f6. For ease of visualization please see the following diagram.

Primary and Secondary Central Squares In fact, because the centre is so important, two of the three principles of sound opening play are about the centre: 1 ) Develop your pieces toward the centre so that they are ready for middlegame action; and 2) Control the centre, by either (a) actual possession or (b) short-range or long-range action of pieces or pawns. (The third principle is: Bring your king to safety by castling.) Because White opens first, it is far easier for him to establish the superior cen­ tre. Therefore, I shall discuss the subject both from White's and Black's point of view.

Section 1 3 : White has the Superior Centre B ecause both 1 e4 and 1 d4 start off by placing a primary central pawn on a pri­ mary central square, as long as White selects a high-quality variation against Black's response on move one, he is sure of keeping some central superiority. If White chooses the equally perfect yet less pressing opening moves 1 c4, 1 llJf3, 1 g3, then the question of who has the superior centre is still left up in the air. For instance, White can aim for the hypermodern set-up known as King's Indian Re­ versed. In this case, White has given preference to playing a high-quality open­ ing (King's Indian Defence) with a move in hand. In early opening play being up one tempo is a meaningful advantage. In Game 1 8 , I present a traditional situation : White starts off with a small, nor­ mal central superiority, Black intentionally enhances White's centre in the hope of counterplay, the counterplay is snuffed out and White builds on the superior centre to create a decisive kingside attack. A truly hypermodern demonstration is seen from Game 1 9 . Black seems secure enough, yet when White finally is able to mobilize his potentially superior centre, the pawn-mass just runs all over Black.

Game 1 8

G M Ga rry Ka spa rov - G M Anato ly Ka rpov

World Championship ma tch (game 2) New York 1990 Ruy Lo pez , Za itsev Va ri ation - C92 es 1 e4 lbc6 2 l2Jf3 a6 3 i.bS lbf6 4 i.a4 i.e7 5 0-0 bS 6 l:.el d6 7 i.b3 0-0 8 c3 9 h3 For nearly one hundred years this has been the main-line starting posi­ tion of the Closed Ruy Lopez. Be­ cause in the Ruy Lopez the early fight revolves around e5 , White will have to attack Black's e-pawn with the advance d4. However, the immediate 9 d4 al­ lows the annoying 9 . . . i.g4 . Therefore in the overwhelming majority of cases White prefers to prevent that with the preparatory text-move. Black now has to decide how to re­ act to the coming 10 d4 . For most of the century the preferred approach was 9 . . . lba5 1 0 i.c2 c5 1 1 d4 'ikc7 - the Chigorin Variation. This has the stra­ tegic disadvantage of misplacing the queen's knight on the edge of the board. Other variations of varying popularity have included 9 . . . i.e6, 9 . . . lbd7, 9 . . . h6 and 9 . . . lbb8 10 d4 lbbd7 . I believe that Black's most theoretically reliable way is . . . 9 ... i.b7!

Though in principle a most logical developing move (the bishop is placed efficiently on its central diagonal), only over the past twenty years has it be­ come recognized as high-class. What was missing previously was the cor­ rect follow-up. It is my opinion that the ultimate soundness of the Closed Ruy Lopez depends on the soundness of 9 . . . i.b7 . I think it is sound. 10 d4 (D)

This is the characteristic central pawn structure of the Closed Ruy Lo­ pez. Obviously White has the superior centre. Yet how 'superior' is it? Let us arbitrarily (yet reasonably soundly) assign a value of two to a central pawn on the four primary central squares

White has the Superior Centre and a value of one to a central pawn on a secondary central square. Thus White has a value of 4 (i.e. 2 + 2) and Black a value of 3 (i.e. 2 + 1) for cen­ tral influence. On an arithmetic basis White is ahead by one unit (i.e. 4 - 3) and on a relative or geometric scale he is ahead 1 . 33 (i.e. 4 7 3 ) . Either way, White is ahead, but in each case by a small amount. 10 ... .:te8 ! 1 1 tt:'ibd2 .tf8! (D) Black's last two moves are the rea­ son why the logical 9 . . . .tb7 has been rehabilitated. Since Black has quickly lined up on White's e-pawn, White c annot smoothly complete the devel­ opment of his queenside, i.e. 12 tt:'ifl ? drops the e-pawn after 1 2 . . . exd4 1 3 cxd4 tt:'ixe4.

h6 12 a4 exd4 13 .tc2 This variation became popular in the mid- 1 980s as a way of seeking counterplay. However, it carries grave strategic risks for Black. We shall see why in a moment.

97

tt:'ib4 14 cxd4 15 .t bl What is the central value count now? White is still at 4 , but Black is down to 1 ! Arithmetically White is ahead by 3 and geometrically by 4. These are huge numbers . That is why we refer to moves such as 1 3 . . . exd4 as 'giving up the centre ' . Black simply risks obliteration in the centre. Do not give up the centre unless you have no choice or get sufficient compen­ sation. bxa4? 15 ... The losing move. GM Karpov had had success with it previously and thus felt confident enough to use it also at the start of this match. Still, normally we could expect him to be the first one to appreciate its draw­ backs : after giving up the centre Black ruins his queenside pawn formation and all without any apparent immedi­ ate compensation. Of course, the plan does have a point: Black expects to keep White off-balance by continually exerting pressure against White's e­ pawn . As we shall see Black's dreams are not to become reality. The thematic way to handle the po­ sition after 15 .t b l is 15 . . . c5 ! 1 6 d5 tt:'id7 . GM Karpov returned to this in Games 4, 20 and 22. This variation re­ mains viable today. Black does have to reckon with a dangerous kingside at­ tack by White, yet has a useful queen­ side majority, control of e5 and chances to undermine White ' s centre with a potential . . . f5 . Black is in danger but has a future. In the game he has none. a5 16 .:txa4

98

Practical Middlegame Tips

l:.a6 17 l:.a3 18 ti:Jh2 Not a new idea, but in conjunction with the next, the correct plan. Previ­ ously it had been played with the idea of quick kingside action with f4 and/or tt:Jg4 . Black has sufficient resources against that. 18 ... g6 19 f3 ! ! (D) The refutation of 1 5 . . . bxa4?. After the game GM Kasparov admitted that he had prepared this for an unwary opponent as early as 1 984. By safe­ guarding the key e4-square, White de­ nies Black any compensation for his busted queenside and central impo­ tence. Black's prospects are so poor that - to my knowledge - no one who was familiar with this game has ever ventured 1 5 . . . bxa4? again. GM Karpov was no doubt looking forward to something similar to a re­ peat of V.lvanchuk-A.Karpov, Linares 1 989: 1 9 f4 d5 ! 20 e5 tt:Je4 21 ti:Jg4 c5 ! 22 tLlxe4 dxe4 23 dxc5 .i.xc5+ 24 .i.e3 .i.f8 25 ti:Jf6+ l:txf6 26 'ii'x d8 l:txd8 27 exf6 ti:Jd3 28 l:td l .i.xa3 29 bxa3 .i.d5 1h- 1h .

After the text-move GM Karpov was on his own. Despite taking a lot of time he never was able to come up with a piece configuration that offers reasonable prospects for either de­ fending or counter-attacking. In fact I believe that Black has no satisfactory options . 19 °iWd7 'ir'b5 20 tt:Jc4 21 l:k3 .i.c8 �h7 22 .i.e3

23 'Wei With the completion of queenside development White already threatens ' simple ' things like 24 ti:Ja3 followed by 25 l:hc7 . Black should try to keep the status quo as much as possible and select 23 . . . 'ii' b 8. Of course, it was un­ attractive to shunt the queen to such a 'demeaning square' . So . . . 23 c6? ! The c-file is closed and d 5 guarded at, however, too great a cost: d6 is weakened, the way back for the b4knight is shut off and any hopes for the queen's rook to join the fray are snuffed out. 24 tt:J g4! ti:Jg8 25 .i.xh6 ! ! The mark o f a great champion and an attacking virtuoso who always strives for the initiative. GM Kasparov took 1 6 minutes for the move . The 'problem' in the combination is that White's knight gets trapped on e8 and therefore he does not gain any mate­ rial . Therefore, the decision must be made on the basis of whether the posi­ tion that results after White's 3 1 st ...

White has the Superior Centre mo ve offers better winning chances the risk-free strengthening of the position after, e.g., 25 i.f4 . GM Kas­ paro v votes for activity. i.xh6 2S ... lllxh6 26 lllxh6 27 lllxd6 'iib6 'ti'xd4+ 28 lllxe8 'ti'd8 29 q;,hl 'iixe8 30 .l:. d l 31 'ti'gS (D) than

The guideposts that GM Kasparov used in evaluating this position are as follows: 1 ) Black's kingside is seriously weakened as a result of the missing h­ pawn and dark-squared bishop. White can be expected to take advantage of this by advancing the f-pawn to f5 , thereby also activating his bishop; 2) White's e-pawn (the only pri­ mary central pawn) takes away the key d5- and f5-squares from Black's mi­ nor pieces; 3) Black's queen's knight on b4 l acks a viable route to get back to pro­ tect its king;

99

4) White has control of the only open central file. 3 1 ... l:ta7 GM Kasparov points out that the at­ tempt to stabilize the d-file with 3 l . . .i.d7 fails to 32 f4 f5 33 .l:.c5 ! . 'iie 6 32 .l:.d8 33 f4 i.a6 Not a great square for the bishop, but at least the queen is no longer chained to protecting it. Two alterna­ tives are: 33 . . . :td7 34 f5 ! gxf5 35 exf5 'ili'e l + 36 q;,h2 'ili'xb l (36 . . . 'ti'e5+ 37 l:.g3) 37 l:th8+ ! �xh8 3 8 'ii'xh6+ q;,g8 39 l:tg3# and 33 . . . f6 34 'ti'c5 ! (Kas­ parov) 34 . . . .l:.d7 35 .l:.xd7+ 'ii'x d7 36 'ti'xa5 'ii'd l + 37 �h2 'ii'x bl 38 'ili'xb4 . 34 rs 'ike7 (DJ

'ties (DJ 3S 'fi'd2! Again there is nothing satisfactory. GM Kasparov presents the following proof: a) 35 . . . llld5 36 fxg6+ fxg6 37 exd5 'ti'xd8 38 i.xg6+ ! �xg6 39 lhc6+. b) 35 . . . lll g 8 36 'ii'd4 l:tc7 37 e5 llld 5 38 fxg6+ fxg6 39 i.xg6+ ! 'l;g7 40 l:txd5 cxd5 4 1 l:tg3 .

100

Practical Middlegame Tips

'iWe7 36 'iWf2! The nice variation after 36 . . . ne7 is 37 ncs "flc7 38 fxg6+ fxg6 39 �f8

ti:Jfl 40 l:.h5+ ! ! gxh5 4 1 e5+ i.d3 42 l:.xd3 ti:Jxd3 43 i.xd3#. 37 'ii'd4 ti:Jg8 ti:Jd5 38 e 5 fxg6 39 fxg6+ 40 l:r.xc6 Simple and strong. During the New York part of the match I was working in the pressroom. The 'pressroom' pre­ ferred the more complicated 40 i.xg6+ �g7 41 .l:[g3 . 40 ... 'iWxd8 41 'iWxa7+ ti:Jde7 42 nxa6 °iWdl+ 43 'iWgl °iWd2 44 'iWfl 1-0

Game 1 9

G M Vi kto r Korc h noi

-

I M Benoit Lepe l l etier

Ma tch of Genera tions, Cannes 1 996 Engl i s h O pe n i ng, M i ke n a s Va riation tLlf6 1 c4 2 tLlc3 e6 3 e4 The Mikenas Variation is White's most ambitious attempt to present im­ mediate challenges to Black in the tra­ ditionally strategic English Opening. White threatens to build an over­ whelming centre with 4 d4 and at his convenience can pressure the king's knight with e5 . Of course, there is a cost to such ambition: White can wind up with weak squares (e .g. d4) or shaky pawns. Still, because of the dy­ namic possibilities present, it is not surprising that this variation is a part of GM Korchnoi's repertoire. d5 3 It is clear that Black must react to White's plans and the text-move is the counterplay approach to doing so. The alternative is 3 . . . c5 , whereupon the critical variation is the pawn sacrifice after 4 e5 tLlg8 5 tLlf3 tLlc6 6 d4 cxd4 7 tLlxd4 tLlxe5 8 tLldb5 a6 9 tLld6+ i.xd6 10 �xd6 f6 1 1 i.e3 tLle7 12 i.b6 tLlf5 . Handled perfectly, Black will be OK, but this is only possible if Black is ex­ ceptionally well prepared. My opinion is that 3 . . . c5 is the better way to go for equality, but requires a lot of knowl­ e dge. d4 4 e5 dxc3 5 exf6

-

Al8

6 bxc3 Because the position after 6 fxg7 cxd2+ 7 i.xd2 (or 7 'it'xd2) 7 . . . i.xg7 is fully satisfactory for Black, White must acquiesce to doubled pawns if he wants more than equality. 6 ... 'i*'xf6 (D)

...

7 tLlf3 In conjunction with the next, this is a relatively new concept. Standard is 7 d4 e5 8 tLlf3 exd4 9 i.g5 ! (9 cxd4 i.b4+ 10 i.d2 i.xd2+ 1 1 �xd2 0-0 is very comfortable for Black) 9 . 'ii'e 6+ 10 i.e2 f6 (unfortunately for Black the 'clever' 1 0 . . . d3 ? ! is foiled by 1 1 0-0 ! , when 1 l . . .dxe2?? allows 1 2 'i*'d8# and otherwise after 12 i.xd3 White has a huge development advantage) 1 1 tLlxd4 'ii'f7 . This position is as yet ' un­ clear' . White has a nice development . .

102

Practical Middlegame Tips

advantage as compensation for the doubled isolated c-pawns. e5 7 ... 8 .i.d3 ! ? This i s it: rather than rushing with the d4 central advance White will first complete the development of his pieces so that a later advance will have much more power behind it. .i.d6 8 ... tiJc6 9 0-0 This central development looks ir­ reproachable to me; however, in the game G.Milos-M .Tal, B uenos Aires 1 99 1 , Black played 9 . . . tba6, eventu­ ally equalized and drew. 0-0 10 ll.'.el h6 11 �c2 .i.d7 12 .i.e4 Black is correctly careful here. Af­ ter 1 2 . . . .i.g4 ? ! White applies strong pressure with 13 l:r.bl (IM Lepelletier). 13 .i.b2 (D)

The crucial moment in the game. White is ready for 14 d4 and Black must act against that with 1 3 . . . .i.g4 ! since with the b-file closed, 1 4 l:t ab l

would not have a threat. If 1 4 h3 .i.h5 1 5 l:r.ad l Black has 1 5 . . . .i.c5 ! fol­ lowed by 1 6 . . . l:tad8 when "Black is comfortable" (IM Lepelletier). Instead, Black thinks he has time for counter­ play and runs into a one-two punch: tba5? 13 ... 14 c5 ! ! .i.xc5 If 14 . . . .i.e?, simply 15 tbxe5 . 15 d4! exd4 16 cxd4 .i.b6 (D) After 16 . . . .i.d6 1 7 d5 'ii'd 8 1 8 'if'c3 'ii'f6 19 'ii'xf6 White regains the pawn with an endgame advantage.

17 d5 The central picture is: 1) For White : queen, king's rook and minor pieces are centrally ori­ ented and the d-pawn takes away the important c6- and e6-squares from Black's pieces. 2) For Black: only the queen and king's bishop have any central influ­ ence. The knight on the edge is even in danger of being trapped and lost. Moreover, Black has no central pawns at all.

White has the Superior Centre Is it any wonder that Black's posi­ tion is untenable? 17 ... 'ii'f4? (D) This loses the queen, but little better is 17 . . . 'ii'd 6? ! , when 1 8 'ii'c 3 'ii'f6 (Black loses the knight after 1 8 . . .f6 1 9 J. a3 'ili'f4 2 0 .i.b4) 1 9 'ii'xf6 gxf6 20 J.xf6 is awful for Black. However, even the required 17 . . . 'ii'd 8 will not last long after 18 llle 5 with total dom­ ination. One sample line: 1 8 . . . .i.b5 1 9 a4 .i.a6 2 0 l:.a3, followed b y 2 1 l:.g3 . 'ii'g4 18 .i.e5 �h8 19 .i.h7+ 'ii'xf3 20 .l:.e4 Or 20 . . . 'ii' h5 2 1 l:.h4; or 20 . . . .i.f5 2 1 .l:.xg4 .i.xc2 22 .i.xc2.

103

�xh7 21 gxf3 1-0 22 .i.c3 The knight is lost after 22 . . . .i.f5 23 'ili'a4, etc.

Section 1 4: Blac k has the Supe rior Ce ntre There are three scenarios in which Black can wind u p with the superior centre. The simplest situation is where White has played badly in the opening and al­ lowed Black to have the superior centre, at no cost at all to him. In effect, the colours have been reversed and Black then has a slight opening advantage. The second type is where Black is overeager and rushes his central pawns forward even though White has played perfectly well. Black's strength will turn out to be a mirage and either his centre will be demolished and/or there will be giant ' Swiss cheese' holes remaining in his once proud centre. The important case is the third one. White selects a build-up where his pawns are somewhat laid back, thereby giving Black the choice of advancing his centre pawns forward farther than if White had been more aggressive in his pawn play. In these situations Black's price involves giving up some squares and he has to be very objective in his analysis to make sure that the losses are fully balanced by the gains. These kind of evaluations are well demonstrated by our illustrative game.

Game 2 0

I M T h i erry M a nouck - GM Ed mar M ed n i s

Ostend 1 993 Cata l a n/Reti O pe n i ng 1 c4 tt:lf6 2 g3 e6 3 tt:lf3 d5 c5 4 b3 The French IM is known for favour­ ing solid double-fianchetto systems, something which is a hard nut to crack when trying to win with Black. There­ fore, I decided to use an ambitious central approach, aiming for a posi­ tion reached in E.Lobron-Zsu .Polgar, B iel 1 987. I had been very impressed by GM Polgar's handling of the posi­ tion and had stored the information in my ' memory bank' for use in a situa­ tion such as this one. 5 J. g2 tt:lc6 6 0-0 J.e7 7 e3 The main lines now arise after 7 . . 0-0 8 �b2 b6 9 'ii'e 2 J.b7 10 d3 followed by 1 1 tt:lc3 . These are well analysed and somewhat more comfortable for White. Therefore . . . 7 d4! ? I n her annotations to the above game i n Informator 44 (game 1 0) GM Polgar aw ards the text-move an exclamation mark. Knowing of the professionalism of the Polgars , I took this evaluation very seriously. However, I feel that the ! ? evaluation is more appropriate for me to use as there is still a lot to learn about the resulting positions. .

...

-

Al3

White should now capture, as after, e . g . , 8 J.b2? ! e5 9 exd4 exd4 ! White has no compensation for his spatial in­ feriority. cxd4 (D) 8 exd4

This extremely unbalanced posi­ tion is what Black is aiming for. Being in White's territory, the advanced d­ pawn can be both a strength (because it cramps White) and a potential liabil­ ity (in case of being undermined it can easily be lost) . To protect his outpost Black will have to get in . . . e5 while keeping good piece coordination. This will 'lengthen ' White's king's bishop's diagonal and White will also attempt to activate his queenside maj ority with a3 and b4. All in all, an unbalanced strategic struggle is in the offing. Nev­ ertheless, in my opinion - unless White

106

Practical Middlegame Tips

is extremely well steeped in the fine points of the position - the play is eas­ ier for Black than for White because Black ' s central/spatial superiority is here, whereas White ' s prospects are in the future. E.Lobron-Zsu.Polgar now contin­ ued 9 d3 lbd7 10 .ia3 a5 1 1 .ixe7 "i!/xe7 1 2 lbbd2 0-0, when instead of the game' s 1 3 a3? ! , GM Polgar sug­ gests 1 3 'ii'e 2 lbc5 1 4 lbe4. A correct evaluation of this position is difficult to come up with. My best guess is that chances should be approximately equal after 14 . . . lbxe4 15 'ii'xe4 l:t d8 ! . 9 :tel 0-0 9 . . . ltJd7 seems more accurate, aim­ ing for . . . lbc5 - the perfect square for the king's knight in this variation. 10 d3 The critical move is 10 .ib2, pre­ venting 1 0 . . . lbd7 and by transposition reaching the position which usually occurs after 1 c4 lbf6 2 g3 e6 3 .ig2 d5 4 lbf3 .ie7 5 0-0 0-0 6 b3 c5 7 e3 lbc6 8 .ib2 d4 9 exd4 cxd4 10 :tel . To me Black's best then is 10 . . . lbe8, with the key game being A .Rotshtein-G.Flear, Paris 1 992: 1 1 d3 f6 1 2 .ia3 e5 1 3 .ixe7 'ii'xe7 1 4 a3 a5 1 5 lbbd2 lbc7 1 6 lbe4. Now, instead o f the game's 16 . . ..id7, GM Rotshtein suggests as better 1 6 . . . c.t>h8 with the idea of reply­ ing to 17 h4 with 17 . . . .ig4 . I think that then Black is at or close to equality. 10 lbd7 ! (D) a5 11 .ia3 'ii'xe7 12 .ixe7 13 a3? ! Often played in similar positions : White guards b 4 and gets ready to

execute the b4 advance at some point. Yet that goal is in the nebulous future and the deficiencies are immediate : one development tempo is lost and b3 is weakened. White has nothing better than 1 3 lbbd2, when 1 3 . . . ltJc5 gives B lack full equality. 13 . lbc5 14 l:ta2 The fact that White took 50 minutes here underscores his difficulty in com­ ing up with a promising plan. Aiming to develop the rook along the second rank doesn' t bring any laurels. The modest 14 'ii'c 2 followed by 15 lbbd2, acquiescing to a slight inferiority, ap­ pears the best that White has. 14 ... f6! 15 l:tb2? ! The hope of getting in b4 remains just a hope . Therefore the immediate 15 l:tae2 is better. :td8! 15 ... 16 J:tbe2 With Black' s d-pawn additionally protected, 16 b4? just loses a pawn: 1 6 ... axb4 1 7 axb4 tl:la4 18 l:ta2 ( 1 8 ltb3 tl:lxb4) 1 8 . . . 'ii'xb4. .

.

Black has the Superior Centre 16 11 .:n

e5 i.g4 (D)

Black now is threatening 1 8 . . . 'iii'd7, completely tying down White's pieces. Therefore White is forced to weaken his kingside to chase away Black's an­ noying bishop. Note how White - with­ out having done anything stupid - has found himself in an unpalatable situation. 18 h3 i.h5 i.g6 19 g4 20 tDel 'ir'd6 21 i.d5+ Because normal moves won ' t do (for example 2 1 'ii'c 2?, hoping to get in 22 tiJd2, is refuted by 2 1 . . .e4 ! ) , White has t o rejigger his kingside mi­ nor pieces . �h8 21 ... t2Je7! 22 f3 White is trying to set up a blockade of the central squares. Therefore Black, to exploit his space advantage and su­ perior piece placement, wants to open up the position as quickly as possible. The ultimate vulnerable point is the

1 07

d3-pawn and that is what Black will be aiming for. 23 b4 axb4 24 axb4 tiJd7 25 i.xb7 .:tab8 26 i.e4 26 c5 ? 'ii'e6 27 i.e4 .:txb4 just ensures the end of the c-pawn. 26 'ii'x b4 ltJxg6 27 i.xg6 ltJc5 28 ltJg2 'ii'b 3! 29 h4! ? 30 .:td2 'it'xdl 31 .:tfxdl .:tb3 32 h5 tiJf8 (D)

As so often happens in inferior po­ sitions, coping with the protection of one weakness leaves other parts de­ fenceless. Thus Black is already threat­ ening 3 3 . . . l:db8 winning the undevel­ oped queen 's knight for nothing. To save the knight, White must ditch the d-pawn. 33 l:a2 l:db8 The strategic part of the game has been won and now it is important to ensure that White doesn ' t get some

1 08

Practical Middlegame Tips

attacking chances based on the cramp­ ing effect that White ' s h-pawn has on the black king position. Therefore 33 . . . .l:txd3 was safest, but I didn' t want to allow White ' s queen ' s knight the good blockading square d2 after 34 .l:txd3 tt::l x d3 35 tt::l d 2. tt::lxd3 34 tt::l a3 With the queen's knight away from d2, 34 . . . .l:txd3 ! has no drawbacks . tt::lc5 35 tt::l b 5 36 f4 d3 With White starting potentially dan­ gerous counterplay, Black must ener­ gize his strength, the d-pawn. 37 .l:ta7 tt::lfd7 exf4 38 g5 tt::lxf6 39 gxf6 The paradoxical-seeming 39 . . . gxf6 ! is stronger, liberating Black's king and

opening up the g-file for an attack by the b8-rook. 40 tt::lxf4 tt::lfe4! 41 .l:te7 The black knights control so many key squares that White tries to break their bind, but Black now has a forced win . A bit better was 4 1 .l:[da l , though after 4 1 . . .d2 ! 42 'it>g2 (42 .l:ta8 d l 'i:f'+ wins) 42 . . . .l:td8 ! 43 tt::l d 5 h6 Black's win looks rather certain. 41 ... d2! .l:te3 ! 42 tt::le6 Since 43 tt::l x c5 loses to 43 . . . .l:te l + 4 4 'it>g2 .l:txd l 4 5 tt::l xe4 .l:t g l + 46 'it>xg l dl 'i:f'+, White tries a couple of jokes before resigning. 43 tt::l d8 .l:txd8 44 .l:txd2 .l:tel+ 0-1

Section 1 5 : Counterplay in the Ce ntre B ecause in the course of normal opening play White will have achieved at least some central superiority, Black needs to generate at least a modicum of counter­ play in the centre. Otherwise he will be left in a situation where he is limited to striving just to prevent White from increasing his advantage. Since the two primary central squares in White's part of the board are d4 and e4, these are the preferred points for Black to aim at. For instance, in the King 's Indian Defence Black should aim at d4, with the usual weapons being the ad­ vances . . . c5 and . . . e5 . In the Sicilian Defence the rule of thumb is that if Black can get in - at no cost - the . . . d5 advance, then he is assured of at least equality. At present Black's most unbalancing method in closed openings where White has delayed d4 and played an early c4 is the Hedgehog. The Hedgehog is a for­ mation used only by Black. Its characteristic pawn structure is shown in the fol­ lowing diagram.

•

•

•

The main features of it are: Black's c-pawn has been exchanged for White's d-pawn. Not one of Black's pawns is beyond the third rank. Even though Black's pawns are ' laid back' , they cover all the important squares in Black's position right across the board. This makes it exceedingly difficult for White to ' get at Black' .

Practical Middlegame Tips

1 10

The white c-pawn on c4 is an inherent part of the formation. However, White's e-pawn can be either on e4 (as shown) or, less frequently, on e2 or e3. Black's thematic prospects for counterplay come from a properly prepared and executed . . . b5 and/or . . . d5 break. The single most important middlegame tip to give to Black is: always look for the opportunity to get in the ... d5 advance. Conversely the tip for White is: al­ ways look out for the . . d5 advance. Our illustrative game shows off Black's opportunities very well. •

•

•

.

Game 2 1

G M Alex Yermol i nsky - G M Va lery Sa l ov

Wijk aan Zee 1 99 7 Engl i s h O pe n i ng, H ed ge h og Fo rm ati o n 1 lbf3 lbf6 2 c4 c5 3 lbc3 e6 b6 4 g3 5 .i.g2 .i.b7 6 0-0 .i.e7 cxd4 7 d4 0-0 8 ..Wxd4 White's set-up is the traditional one, whereas Black has recently switched to fast-development mode starting with the text-move. Historically Black has preferred first to build the Hedgehog with 8 . . . d6, 9 . . . a6 and then 1 0 . . . lbbd7, leaving the diagonal of the queen's bishop open . However, the early at­ tack on d6 with 9 b3 followed by 1 0 .i.a3 has been difficult to cope with. 9 l:[dl lbc6 10 ..Wf4 ..Wb8 1 1 e4 Playable, yet not particularly per­ ceptive. More exact is 1 1 b3 ! , safe­ guarding the c-pawn and enabling the queen 's bishop to go to a3 in case Black plays an early . . . d6. 11 ... d6! (D) The endgame after 1 1 . . . 'ir'xf4? ! 1 2 .ltxf4 l:.fd8 1 3 e5 ! i s poor for Black, as demonstrated in T.Petrosian-L.Portisch, Candidates match (game 5), Palma de Mallorca 1 974. After the text-move B l ack reaches a satisfactory Hedge­ hog middlegame: d6 is secure enough,

-

A30

White ' s queen on f4 is somewhat un­ comfortable and the advanced e-pawn a bit of a pain for White to defend.

lbe5 12 b3 13 ..We3 Again, playable but not particularly perceptive. Strategically faulty is 1 3 lbxe5 ? ! since after 1 3 . . . dxe5 Black's massive control of the central dark squares gives him a clear edge. The­ matic and best is 1 3 .i.a3 ! , preventing the convenient regrouping of the queen's knight to d7 . In A . Khuzman­ L.Yudasin, Haifa 1 996, White re­ tained some advantage after 1 3 . . . lbg6 14 'ilr'e3 l:.e8 15 .i.b2 ! . lbed7! 1 3 ... 14 'iie2 What's the hurry ? Apparently White gives a high priority to developing the

1 12

Practical Middlegame Tips

queen' s bishop to e3 and thus frees this square. However, the normal square for the queen' s bishop is b2 and thus 14 �b2 ! looks like the right move to me. a6 14 'iic7 15 tlld4 16 �d2? ! White's single-mindedness regard­ ing getting in �e3 is difficult to fathom. The immediate 1 6 �e3 ? is re­ futed by the thematic counter 1 6 . . . b5 ! . Thus White loses a whole tempo s o as to place the bishop exactly where he wants it. Unfortunately, the proper square is b2 and correct is 1 6 �b2, with approximate equality. .l:tfe8 16 .l:tac8 17 .l:tacl 'iib8 18 �e3 19 f3 d5! (D)

While White has doodled his time away and not even once challenged Black anywhere, GM Salov has placed all his pieces on the most flexible squares for the Hedgehog formation. It is hardly surprising that Black is

already able to execute his thematic central break. White will be lucky to maintain equality. exd5 20 cxd5 21 exd5? To play such a move, opening up all of Black' s files and diagonals, is sui­ cidal unless you have calculated all Black's reasonable possibilities ex­ tremely accurately. The game course shows that White has not done so. GM Salov points out that 2 1 �f4 ! �d6 22 i.xd6 'ti'xd6 23 'ii'f2 ! is necessary, when "White can defend" after both 23 . . . 'i!Va3 24 exd5 tll x d5 25 tll d e2 ! and 23 . . . dxe4 24 tll d b5 'ii' b4 25 tll d 6 exf3 26 tll x e8 ! .l:txe8 27 �xf3 �xf3 28 'i!Vxf3 tlle 5 29 'i!Vg2 ! . 21 �a3! 22 .l:tc2 J:txc3 ! 23 .l:txc3 tllxd5 24 .l:tcd3 tllc5 White 's centre has been demol­ ished and it is Black's pieces that con­ trol the area. In a poor position it is not surprising that attempts at counter­ tactics fail, e.g. 25 tll c 6? loses to 25 . . . i.xc6 26 .l:txd5 �xd5 27 .l:txd5 i. c l ! . White does the best he can by bringing back to life his long-buried king's bishop. 25 f4 tllx d3 26 .l:txd3 �cs 27 i.xd5 �xd5 28 tllf5 ! White's king position is so draughty that any attempts at strictly defensive efforts must fail. GM Salov in Infor­ mator 68 (game 30) provides the vari­ ation 28 'ii'f2 'ii'c 8 ! 29 tll f3 'i!Vf5 30 :c3 �b4 31 :c l 'ti'e4 ! , winning.

Counterplay in the Centre

i.e4 28 .i.xd3 29 .i.xc5 bxc5 30 'iYxd3 f6 31 'Yi'c3 'iii>h 8 32 'iYc4+ 33 'iYf7 l:tg8 34 h4 White has done his best to create some counterplay on the kingside. Nevertheless, his open king location and the ability of Black's queen and rook to control the central files will eventually be decisive. 34 'iYe8! 'Yi'el + 35 'i!Vd5 'Yi'e2+ 36 'iii> g2 37 'iii> h 3 h5 After the game, GM Salov worked out the following forcing win for Black: 37 . . . °ir'fl + ! 38 'iit g4 h5+ ! 39 'iii> x h5 'il'e2+ 40