The fine art of swindling 9781857441055, 1857441052

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CADOGAN CHESS BOOKS

The Fine Art of Swindling

CADOGAN CHESS SERIES Chίef Advίsor:

Garry Kasparov Andrew Kinsman Russίan Serίes Edίtor: Ken Neat Edίtor:

Other tίtles for the ίmproνίng player include:

LEV ALBURT Test and Improve Your Chess YURI ΑVERBAΚH Chess Endings: EssentialΚnowledge JULIAN HODGSON Chess Travellers Quiz Book DANIELΚING How Good is Υour Chess? DANIEL KOPEC et al Mastering Chess NEIL McDONALD Modem Chess Miniatures Positional Sacrifices NIGELPOVAH Chess Training SIMON WEBB Chess for Tigers For a complete catalogue of CADOGAN CHESS books (which includes the Pergamon Chess and Maxwell Macmillan Chess lists) please write to: Cadogan Chess, London House, Parkgate Road, London SWI1 4NQ Tel: (0171) 738 1961 Fax: (0171) 924 5491

The Fine Art of Swindling Ali Mortazavi

CADOGAN LONDON, NEW YORK

CADOGAN BOOKS DISTRIBUTION UΚ/EUROPE/AUSTRALASIA/ASIA/AFRICA Distribution: Cadogan Books plc, c/o Β. Τ. Batsford Ltd, Ι Bradbury Drive, Springwood Industrial Estate, Braintree, Essex CM7 2QY Tel: (01376) 321276 Fax: (01376) 552845 USA/CANADA/LAτΙΝ AMERICA/JAPAN Distribution: Paramount Distribution Center, Front aι:ιct.:βr.ρ�n Streets, Riverside, New Jersey 08075, USA Tel: (609) 461 6500 Fax: (609) 764 9122

First published 1996 by Cadogan Books plc,\ Road, London SWII 4NQ Copyright © 1996 Ali Mortazavi Α// rights reserved. Νο part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in α retrieνal system or transmitted in any form or by any means, e/ectronic, e/ectrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanica/, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing.from the publishers.

Bήtish Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Α CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 85744 105 2

Cover design and illustration by Brian Robins Typeset by Β.Β. Enterprises Printed in Great Britain by BPC Wheatons Ltd, Exeter

Contents

Preface

6

Introduction: Understanding Compensation

7

τime Trouble

25

The Endgame

35

Attack is the Best Form of Defence

54

Emanuel Lasker: The Master Swindler

70

Capablanca and Alekhine

89

Don 't get Swindled

106

Preface

Although the cover or the title may not necessaήly suggest it, there are some seήous points in this book. Probably the most important factor to consider is that blunders, bad moves and 'imperfection' as a whole are what makes the modem game of chess. The harsh reality is that if both players were to play the best moves, the result of each game would be a draw. It is only because human beings are 'imperfect' that we can appreciate masterpieces such as the Immortal Game and the attacking genius of Kasparov and Tal. Perhaps this is the reason that many top chess players dislike the emergence of the computer. It is not so much that the silicon monster can beat them but more the fact that computers take the fantasy and the absurd out of chess. Ι agreed to wήte this book in September 1993, since when there have been enormous changes in chess. Ι find that knowledge of openings is even more important than it was in 1993. Most players hark back to the mid 1 980's to talk of the good old days when 'chess players were real chess players' but even in three short years, the extra computational power of the PC has changed the nature of chess. Many players hardly make it to an even middlegame and this book is in many ways dedicated to them. Ι would like to thank lM Neil McDonald, lM Byron Jacobs and Mauήce Johnson for their valuable contήbutions to this book. Ι hope that the book has struck the ήght balance between the seήous and not so seήous aspects of the game and wish all the readers the best of swindling ! Ali Mortazavi London 1 996

1

lntroduction: Understanding Compensation

Although you may well think that swindling an opponent requires some kind of below the belt tactic during a game, fιrst of all it is important to understand chess strategy. The reasons for this are simple. Α good swindle still re­ quires the same patience, tenac­ ity, positional understanding, etc., as a 'normal' game of chess. One of the most important weapons that a strong chess player has is a very precise gauge of how much compensation he or she has for sacήficed mateήal. This weapon is especially important when one is in a lost position: an honest assessment of how bad things are is an important stepping stone to swindling yourself out of trouble. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to descήbe 'good compen­ sation' or 'insufficient compen­ sation' as there are far too many exceptions to the rule. We can however, through real game ex­ amples, build up a lmowledge of the different types of positions that can aήse. Before launching into a seήes of examples of vaή­ ous sacήfices around the king, exchange sacήfices, etc., the best starting point is a good under­ standing of pawn structures.

Pawn Structures As a general rule, the hardest de­

fences to broach are ones where your opponent has made very few concessions in his pawn structure. The simple reason for this is that the pawn is by defιnition the best defender available to the chess player as it is only worth 1 point. This generalisation is a good rule to remember and is well illus­ trated by the following example: if you were descήbed in words a position where White has a queen, a king and three pawns and Black has only a rook and three pawns (both sides of course also have kings!), your natural conclusion would be that White should win relatively easily thanks to his mateήal supeήoήty:

8

The Fine Art of Swindling

In the above position, White would simply push his a-pawn up the board and Black would eventually have to sacήfice his rook for the a-pawn in order to prevent White from creating a second queen. The same mateήal situation in the following position has an entirely different com­ plexion:

Α more complex example of a solid pawn structure with a lot of pieces on the board is the fol­ lowing World Championship game between Short and Kas­ parov, London 1993:

Here, the game continued: 25 . . :xc3 ! 26 bxc3 and White's ruined pawn structure gave Black enough compensation for the sac­ ήficed exchange. An interesting point which is also relevant to our discussion arose on move 37: .

Here, although White has a large mateήal advantage, he has no way of making any progress as Black has a classic fortress position. The reason for this is that Black's pawn structure is at its Όptimum' and White's has lost its flexibility by the moves f4 and h4. Somewhere in the above game, White has made a conces­ sion in his pawn structure and at this late stage, is paying for it dearly. Of course, there are many more winning Queen + 3 Pawns ν Rook + 3 Pawns positions than there are drawn ones but the pήn­ ciple of a solid pawn structure still applies.

Here, Short played 37 g4?, a large concession in terms of pawn structures as White then had no

Introduction: Understanding Compensation

pawn breaks available to try and win the game. All commentators later agreed that the more flexible 37 g3 ! , with the idea of creating a passed pawn with h3-h4, was White's only chance to play for a win. Though it is hard to believe, even White's most popular first move ι e4 is a slight concession in his pawn structure. With ι e4, White immediately surrenders some control over the squares d3, d4, f3 and f4 in that the e-pawn can never defend these squares for the rest of the game. Of course, this ι:eason alone is not a justification to avoid playing 1 e4 but the fact still remains White has made a concession. Α more realistic example of an equally innocuous pawn move can be seen here:

·

ι g4 ! , with the idea of simply opening the g-file for his rooks with g4-g5 . Notice, however, that had Black refrained from ... h6 and instead left the pawn on h7, White's idea of g4-g5 would be extremely slow to have any effect on Black's kingside. The point of the last few ex­ amples has not been to deter you from playing, say, the Four Pawns Attack against the King's Indian Defence, but to show every pawn move has a possible consequence, which you can use to your advantage. The next stage is to incorporate this knowledge along with minor and major pieces and to build a good under­ standing of compensation. It is also useful to show the dif­ ferent types of pawn structures that can arise, their strengths and weaknesses . Υou will notice that further discussion of compensa­ tion will nearly always relate back to these pawn structures. lsolated Pawns

In this 'normal' position, probably arising from some sort of Τοπe Attack, Black has in fact played an extremely bad move with . . . h7-h6. White now has the option of launching an attack by

9

10

τhe Fine Art of Swindling

The diagram above is a good example of why an isolated pawn is to be avoided. Mateήal is equal but Black has a clear advantage thanks to the target on c4 which White has to continually defend with his major and minor pieces. Note that if White had a pawn on b3 defending the pawn on c4, White's pieces would be free to play a more active role. The best policy against an isolated pawn is to deny it the opportunity to ad­ vance. An isolated pawn can be an as­ set in some situations. Certain fashionable opening lines, such as the c3 Sicilian or the Panov­ Botvinnik Attack against the Caro-Kann Defence, promote the use of an isolated pawn as an at­ tacking tool.

lt is clear form the above dia­ gram that White has not achieved anything in his attack against the black king and is now simply left with a weak and isolated d-pawn which is firmly bloackaded. In practice, however, White has a host of tήcks which Black must be careful to avoid if he is to ex­ ploit his structural advantage. Pawn lslands

One of the tools that the grand­ master uses for a snap assessment on a given position is to see how many pawn islands each side has.

In the above diagram, White will simply ignore his weak d­ pawn and play for an attack against the black king. Black should stήve to steer the game to the following type of position:

Introduction: Understanding Compensation

Here, mateήal is equal but theoretίcally speaking Black has a structural advantage as he has less pawn islands. White has three pawn islands as the pawns on a2 and c4 are isolated from each other. Black, however, only has two pawn islands and the pawn on b6 supports the pawn on c5, thereby giving him a favour­ able structure. Of course, a final decision on the position can only be given with the exact position­ ing of the minor and major pieces, but assuming 'normal' circumstances, Black is said to have a positional advantage.

11

structure ίη return for the two bίshops (note that this is a form of compensation). In general, however, doubled pawns are to be avoided as ίη many endgames you are ίη effect playing wίth a pawn deficit. When playing agaίnst doubled pawns, the gen­ eral rule is to blockade them so that they cannot be exchanged for a more favourable structure. In the above posίtίon, Black's best policy is to blockade the doubled pawns with ... c7-c5.

Doubled and Tripled Pawns

Nearly every chess player has been warned some tίme during his career that ίη general double and trίpled pawns are to be avoided. The most famous exam­ ple of a doubled pawn structure can be seen ίη the Nimzo-Indian Defence:

Here, White has voluntarily taken on the doubled pawn

Here, ίη the game Roma­ novsky-Levenfish, USSR Ch. 1 920, ίη an already difficult posi­ tion for White, Black played the thematίc sacήfice: 27 ... f4! to which Whίte was forced to play 28 gxf4 as 28 .i.xf4 would have left the impor­ tant d4 pawn en pήse. Black went οη to play the aggressίve 28 ... i.f6 though 'wasting' one move with the more thematic 28 ... f5 ! (see following diagram) was also pos­ sible as White's position was truly wίthout hope.

12

The Fίne Λrt of Swίndlίng

liver checkmate, Black will be clearly better. Tripled pawns are extremely unusual and very rarely advanta­ geous in practice. The simplest explanation of why tήpled pawns are to be avoided can be seen in the following diagram:

Although Ι have shown that occasionally doubled pawns are useful, in the majoήty of cases they are nothing short of a long­ tenn liability. If we take the ex­ ample of the positon after 1 d4 lΔf6 2 c4 e6 3 lΔc3 .i.b4 4 a3 .i.xc3+ 5 bxc3, White has al­ ready, by move 5, made two ma­ jor structural concessions. The a4 square, although not a terribly important location at this stage, is now weakened beyond repair. Should a black piece land on a4, White no longer has the option of playing b2-b3. The second con­ cession is that White has pur­ posely taken on two pawn is­ lands. Even though the above seήes of moves is a well known opening (the Samisch vaήation against the Nimzo Indian), Ι would advise any club player to avoid this type of opening as the positional concessions mean that White has only one way forward - to play for mate. In effect, against a strong player, White is implying that if he does not de-

Here, White is two clear pawns up in a king and pawn endgame. Under nonnal circumstances, this kind of mateήal advantage in this type of endgame would mean an easy victory for White. However, the tήpled c-pawns (sometimes known as Ίήsh Pawns') have cost White the game and a draw would soon be agreed. Also note that all the disadvantages associ­ ated with doubled pawns apply to tήpled pawns. Backward Pawns

Backward pawns, unable to ad­ vance easily, are again a liability rather than an asset. In the next diagram, Black's pawn on d6 is a backward pawn as it cannot advance to d5 (notice

13

Introduction: Understanding Compensation

that d 5 is Όverprσtected' by White ίη σrder tσ stσp this ad­ vaηce). Similar tσ the isσlated pawn example, Black's majσr aηd mίησr pieces are ησw tied tσ its defeηce and cannσt play an active rσle ίη the game.

it is tσ predict what may happeη in the future, in the abσve dia­ gram, fσrmer Wσrld Champiση Anatσly Karpσv was playiηg Black. Here, thanks tσ the pawn mσves ... c5 aηd . . . e5, White has established a huge pσsitiσηal ad­ vantage because σf the weakness σf the d5 square. Of cσurse, Kar­ pσv was ησt tσ knσw that these pawn mσves wσuld cause him such prσblems. Nσte hσw as the game cσηtin­ ues, Karpσv is reduced tσ waiting fσr Kasparσv tσ reach an σpti­ mωn setup befσre cσming crash­ ing thrσugh ση the kingside. The reasση fσr this is that Black had ησ cσnstructive means tσ imprσve his pσsitiση.

Weak Squares due to Pawn Moves

As I've already explained, yσu

shσuld cσnsider every pawn mσve as a pσteηtial liability. Per­ haps the greatest prσblem arising as a result σf pawn mσves is the weak squares that can arise:

Kasparov-Karpov Seville 1987 29 30

�g5

31 32 33 34

:le2 'ifc2 �! �d5

37 38

11a2

�h6

11tl8 Of cσurse Black cannσt capture this knight as after 30 . . . �xg5 3 1 hxg5, White can than place his knight ση f6 thanks tσ the suppσrt leηt by the g5 pawn. J.g7

11de8 J.b6 �g7

Again 34 .. J.xg5 35 hxg5 wσuld be futile as White wσuld have a clear edge after f4 h6 35 'ti'dl 1Wd8 36 � In σrder tσ shσw just hσw hard

Μ!

J.c8 h5

14

τhe Fine Art of Swindling

Another major concession which 'unguards' the g5 square. l.te6 39 .i.e4 40 liJcdS .i.h6 41 l2Jg2 'it>g7? ! f4 42

Finally, Kasparov plays his pawn break after reaching the best setup for his minor pieces. exf4 42 42 . . . 1Σee8 43 l.taf2 with the idea of f5 would be crushing. 43 l2Jgxf4 .fιteS 44 l2Jxg6! :xn 1:ιχe4 45 'ii'xfl 46 dxe4 �xg6 Black has managed to get two minor pieces for a rook but at the cost of his kingside being blown wide open. In any case, the knight on a5 is a completely re­ dundant piece. 'ife8 47 :n dxeS 48 eS! If 48 . . . 'ii'xe5, 49 .:.e2 wins. 49 1:ιf6+ �g7 1-0 J:ιd6 50 Α crushing victory for the World Champion.

Assessing Compensation

It is important to remember that assessing a winning position as 'good compensation' does not necessarily mean that you have a good feel for compensation. There are many positions when a piece sacήfice simply wins within a few moves. These are not the type of positions that we shall be discussing here. Α good feel for compensation can only be used in positions which are basically un­ clear which side has the advan­ tage. At that point, you will need to assess the position as: 1) Good compensation 2) Enough compensation 3) Not enough compensation

For the rest of this chapter, Ι have tried to categoήse into posi­ tional and tactical forms compen­ sation though invariably you will come across many positions which do not fit into any of these ήgid categoήes. Long-term and Positional Compensation

It was tempting to create two separate sections for long-term and positional compensation but, having gone through various ex­ amples, Ι soon realised that long­ term compensation is nearly al­ ways based on a positional motif. Long-term compensation is per­ haps the hardest of all the various forms of compensation to evalu­ ate. The reason for this being that

Introduction: Understanding Compensation

very rarely is there a cσηcrete retum fσr yσur iηvestmeηt. In geηeral, wheη a lσηg-tenn sacή­ fice is made, a winning pσsitiση is reached lσηg after the σήginal sacήfice was made. In practice, many players are reluctant tσ sac­ rifice mateήal fσr sσmething which will ησt mateήalise imme­ diately. By the same tσkeη, hσwever, pσsitiσηal sacήfices are the hard­ est tσ defeηd against, as althσugh yσur game is ησt withσut hσpe, the rσad tσ victσry will always be difficult thanks tσ the lσηg-tenn ηature σf the sacήfice. Α gσσd example σf lσηg-tenn cσmpensatiση is the fσllσwing pσsitiση frσm the game betweeη Nick de Firmian and Kiril Geσr­ giev, ίη the New Yσrk PCA Opeη 1994. ·

Ιη aη already difficult pσsitiση White ησw allσwed a pσsitiσηal sacήfice after 15 g4? 1 5 l'Δd5 1:ιfe8 1 6 c3 l'Δxb3 17 axb3 l'Δf6 was better thσugh

15

Black still has a slight edge. 15 1:ιχc3! 16 bxc3 l'Δg3 17 :ο Or 17 I;lfe 1 l'Δxe4 18 .i.c 1 l'Δxc3 19 1ld3 l'Δxb3 20 axb3 1le8 with a clear advaηtage tσ Black. l'Δxe4 17 18 .i.c1 1:ιc8 19 .i.b2 White has averted further ma­ teήal lσss but his pσsitiση is ίη ruins. The best way tσ assess the cσmpensatiση fσr the sacήficed mateήal is tσ ask yσurself the fσllσwing: 1) What is the exact material situation? In this case, Black has sacή­ ficed the exchange fσr a pawn. Therefσre, strictly speakiηg and withσut taking the pσsίtίση ίηtσ cσnsideratiση, he is very ηearly equal ση mateήal. 2) What compensation ίs there for the sacrίficed materίal? The mσst impσrtant fσnn σf cσmpensatiση ίη the abσve pσsi­ tiση is White's ruined pawn structure. White has three pawn islaηds tσ Black's twσ, White has dσubled c-pawns aηd Black has extremely active pieces. In addi­ tiση, even if White were tσ sσme­ hσw weather the current stσnn and alleviate the pressure ση his pσsίtίση, Black's sσlid aηd flexi­ ble pawn structure wσuld mean that he has very little chance σf lσsing, 3) What could go wrong? The wσrst case sceηaήσ fσr

16

The Fίne Art of Swίndlίng

Black is that White escapes and the position stabilises with White being an exchange for a pawn ahead. Even in this extreme case, however, Black would have little chance of losing thanks to the reasons outlined in point 2. 4) Does Black haνe enough compensatίon? The answer is that Black has 'good compensation' for the sac­ ήficed mateήal. ι9 llJc4 j.xc4 20 20 j.a 1 ! ? was, perhaps, a better try. 20 .:txc4 2ι :r.e3 fS 22 gxfS gxfS 'it>h2 23 Φr1 And Black soon won. Α more complicated example of a positional sacήfice is the following:

In this position from Gutman­ Pavlov, Netanya 1983, White invited Black to 'win' the ex­ change with

ι b3!? Black accepted the challenge with ι cS 2 llJc2 .ixaι 3 llJxaι f6 In contrast to the previous ex­ ample, White has no mateήal compensation for the exchange, e.g. an extra pawn. The only form of compensation seems to be in the shape of his dark-squared bishop which can now harass the black king along the weakened a 1 -g7 diagonal. Note that the main reason why the sacήfice was even possible was that Black has played the 'weakening' pawn move . . . g7-g6. If the g-pawn was on g7 instead of g6, the sacήfice would not be anything like as potent. Has White got enough compensation for the exchange? This is a far more difficult as­ sessment to make than the previ­ ous example. Although White's dark-squared bishop will be a continual menace, Black may very well simplify into an end­ game and convert his mateήal advantage to a win. Α further look at the position, however, shows that by playing the move 1 . . . c5, Black has seή­ ously weakened the d5 square whereas with the pawn on c6, his pawn structure was more flexible. Hence the white knights can tar­ get d5 as well as the dark-squared bishop harassing Black along the diagonal. The overall conclusion must then be that White certainly

Introductίon: Understandίng Compensatίon

has enough compensation for the sacήficed mateήal, though is probably a little short on 'good compensation' . The game continued: 4 lΔc2 lΔe5 5 f4 lΔf7 6 lΔc3 i.e6 lΔc7 7 i.b2 'ifa5 8 lΔe3 9 a4 1Σad8 10 lΔcd5 i.xd5 11 cxd5 lΔe8 lΔb6 12 h4 13 g4 lΔg7 14 g5 and White soon won. Tactical Compensation

By contrast to long-term or posi­ tional compensation, tactical compensation is easier to evalu­ ate and also much easier to play. The target of most tactical sacή­ fices is very often the enemy king and the returns can be immediate.

The diagram is taken from the game Hennigan-Norwood, Lon­ don (Lloyds Bank Masters) 1993.

17

White now played e5? ! 10 lΔd5 11 e6 fxe6 12 lΔg5 which seemingly seems to put Black in difficulties. However, with the help of an exchange sac­ rifice, Black completely turned the tables. 12 cxd4 13 lΔxe6 'ilc8 14 lΔxf8 Φχf8 15 c4 lΔe5! Again, we can ask ourselves the same questions as before. The mateήal situation is slightly in White's favour (he is an ex­ change for a pawn up). Black's compensation, however, is im­ mense. He has two well placed bishops (especially the bishop on b7 which is beaήng down on the white king on g2), a passed d­ pawn, excellently placed knights and in addition, White is seή­ ously underdeveloped. In this type of position, Black's compen­ sation is also long-term as even if White was to untangle, there would still be enough play well into an endgame. However, when the opponent is lagging behind in development, speed is of the es­ sence to finish the game off quickly. 16 'i'b3 lΔf4 The attack on g2 begins. 11 i.n d3! Notice how White cannot even move his knight from d2 as both f3 and e4 are attacked by Black's pieces.

18

The Fίne Art of Swίndlίng

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

11e3 h3 'ifdl 'ifel f3 lbe4 lΔg3 fxg4 h4 lΔe4 J:xe4 'ife3 �xe2 'ifxf2 1:ιχe5 1Σg5 'iti>f2 'iti>xel 'iti>f1

'iffS Φg8 .1%f8 g5 h5 g4 'i'g6 hxg4 .i.f6 .i.xe4 .i.xh4 lΔe2+ .i.f2+ 1lxf2 %lxe2 :el+ 'iWxg5 'ife5+ 0-1

retum opens the position up for his bishops and gets rid of his doubled c-pawns.

6 7

.i.a3

dxc5 'ii'd6

Again, this was a slightly bi­ ased example as Black probably had a winning position when he sacήficed the exchange. Α closer contest is seen in the next exam­ ple where the issue of speed is more relevant: Hodgson-Psakhis Metz Open 1994 Englίsh Openίng ι e5 c4 2 lΔc3 .i.b4 .i.xc3 3 g3 bxc3 d6 4 5 .i.g2 f5 6 c5! Α very imaginative pawn sacή­ fice which Black could hardly have expected ση move six! White sacήfices a pawn but in

8 d4! exd4 9 cxd4 'ii'xd4 10 'iWcl Α further pawn sacήfice by White. Exactly how much and what type of compensation does White have for his two pawns? Although White has secured the two bishops, which can be con­ strued as a positional advantage, his compensation can only be

Introductίon: Understandίng Compensatίon

fully realised b y playing tacti­ cally against the black king and harassing the badly placed black queen. As a result, Black must not be allowed to develop his queenside without some major concessions as the two sacrificed pawns would not be enough to justify the two bishops. 10 'ilff6 11 tiJd7 tiJh3 0-0 12 liJe7 13 'ilft7 �b2

19

20 h6 �e4 21 tl)f3 /004 22 'ii'c2 liJxb2 liJe7 23 liJd4! 24 'ii'xb2 'ii't7 25 liJxf5 li:Jxf5 26 �c2 c5 27 'it'b5 �e6 28 'it'xc5 %:ιc8 29 'i'xc8+ �xc8 Black resigned before White could play 30 .ib3 regaining the queen. Assess Your Compensation

In order to improve your under­ standing of compensation, here are a series of puzzles. 1)

14 e4! Note that although White has developed all of his pieces to at­ tacking positions, it is still not enough to crack Black's de­ fences. With this move, White opens another front in the shape of an open e-file to harass Black further. 14 Ο-Ο 15 liJg5 'ifg6 16 exf5 .:xr5 17 1:te1 tiJd5 18 tiJ7b6 h4! 19 c6 'ii'xc5

Spassky-Tal Moscow 1 97 1

Black to play. The obvious move is l li:Jfd7 but White would then have a free hand and would prepare a kingside attack with g2-g4 and f4-f5. Find an­ other altemative for Black and jot down the components of Black's ...

20

τhe Fίne Art of Swίndlίng

compensation. 2)

Polugayevsky-Petrosian Moscow 1983

4)

Gross-Mortazavi Cappelle la Grande 199 1

Black to play. Black could quite happily play l. . . tbc5 and look forward to an equal game. Fonner World Champion τigran Petrosian, however, played l. . . llxe3 ! ?. How much compen­ sation has Black got for the sacή­ ficed mateήal and can you iden­ tify what fonn this compensation takes? 3)

Smyslov-Botvinnik Moscow 1 958

The players actually agreed a draw in the following position. Ex-World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik, however, had a strong continuation with the sacήfice l. . . .:Xf3 ! . What is Black's com­ pensation after this positional sacrifice?

Black has already sacήficed a pawn and can claim some com­ pensation in his two bishops. The game continued 1 . . . b5 2 'ii'xb5 iι.d3. Does Black have enough play. Explain why or why not?

5) Levitt-Mortazavi London (Lloyds Bank) 1992 From the following diagram, the game continued: 1 e6! .txe6.

Introduction: Understanding Compensation

What is White's compensation and how should the game con­ tinue?

6) - Mortazavi-Regan Oakham 1 990

8)

White to move. Only six moves have been played and Black has doubled pawns. Does Black have any compensation?

7) The next two diagrams show backward pawns. What is the dif­ ference between them, if any?

Botvinnik-Pachman Oberhausen 1 96 1

21

22

The Fίne Λrt of Swίndlίng

Black has just played . . . fϊ-f5 with the idea of 1 exf5 l2Jxd4 2 �xd4 i. xf5 with a fully playable position. Botvinnik, however, played a different move. What was it and how would you assess the position after this move? Answers

1) Black's best try is l . . . d4 ! ? when after 2 l2Jxd4 l2Jd5 Black has more than enough compensa­ tion for the sacήficed pawn: i) The most important effect of the . . . d4 sacήfice is that Black has liberated his b7 bishop along the dangerous a8-g2 diagonal. ii) White's extra pawn on d3 is not particulary dangerous. It can eventually advance to d4 but will find itself finnly bloackaded by Black's pieces which have Όverprotected' the d5-square. iii) Black also has the two bishops which in general can roughly be equated to a sacήficed pawn. 2) Black has more than enough long-tenn compensation for the exchange. i) By sacήficing on e3, Black has forced White into an infeήor pan structure. Note that the e5 square now 'belongs' to Black. White can no longer play f4. ii) Black has also netted the all important dark-squared white bishop which means that his own dark-squared bishop controls the black squares. iii) White's weak pawns on c4

and e3 are a pennanent weakness. 3) Black's compensation consists of the following: i) White has three pawn islands as well as a set of doubled pawns. ii) Black has the two bishops and light square domination. iii) White has not castled and Black can launch an attack against the king. 4) Νο. Black has insufficient re­ ward for his investment for the following reasons: i) Black has sacήficed one pawn too many for little or no compeήsation. White's pawn structure is far too solid for Black to claim any long-tenn compen­ sation. ii) Black has no immediate and obvious ways to exploit the his development advantage. The game actually continued: 18 'ii'hS i.g6 i.fS 19 'i'h3 'ii'd7 20 'ife3 1he8 21 lbfl 22 'i'd2 i.d3 1Σχe8 23 1Σχe8 cS 24 lbe3 and White had solved all his problems and is simply two pawns up. 5) 1 8 e6 is a good sacήfice: i) After 19 l2Jxe6 %Σχe6, White has compensation in the fonn of two bishops and Black's weak light squares. ii) In addition, Black has

Introductίon: Understandίng Compensatίon

weakened his king with the moves . . .f6 and . . . g5. iii) In any case, the game con­ tinuation showed that White has in fact a winning position with the spectacular: .:xe4! dxe4 19 :.xe6 20 lt:Jxe6 21 1i'b6 it.c4 %Σae8 22 'ίi'xe4 23 11e1 rJ;f7 24 g4! ! Denying Black the opportunity to play . . . f5 . 24 1Wc6 25 'ίi'xc6 bxc6 The fmal position is worthy of another diagram!

23

threatens the maneouvre lt:Jc3-e4d6. iii) ln addition, if Black plays . . . d7-d6 or . . . d7-d5, White simply captures the d-pawn resulting in the following pawn structure:

From the diagram, it is clear that Black has a seήous structural disadvantage. He has a set of doubled pawns, two isolated c­ pawns as well as three pawn is­ lands.

26 .td6 1-0 Black runs out of pawn moves and will eventually lose a piece. 6) Black is positionally lost. i) Although Black has the two bishops, White's knights are clearly supeήor to the bishops. ii) With White to move, 7 e5 ! gains a huge positional advan­ tage. White then immediately

7) In the first diagram, Black has very little chance to ήd himself of the his weak backward pawn on d6. In the second diagram, how­ ever, Black is firstly much more active and can also play the the­ matic break with l ... d5. (This occurred in the game Unzicker­ Taimanov, Stockholm lnterzonal ι952.) 8) ι lt:Jxf5 ! and now the game continued ι . . . gxf5 2 exf5 lt:Jg7 3 g4. i) White has sacήficed a knight with full compensation. He al-

24

The Fίne Art of Swίndling

ready has two pawns for the piece, one of which is a protected passed pawn on f5. ii) His massive pawn wedge on the kingside can be used as an attacking force against the black king; Black also has a very weak d6 pawn. iii) White's pawns also manage to play a containing role in that the black knights on g7 and e6, the bishops on f8 and d7 are all denied vital squares, thus making manoeuvring difficult.

Conclusion

There will no doubt be many po­ sitions that will inevitably aήse in your games which do not exactly fall into the categoήes descήbed here. Υou will perhaps have to apply some concepts seen in positional compensation and some in tactical compensation to get an overall feel of the position. Nevertheless, an understanding of compensation is an essential weapon in every swindler's rep­ ertoire.

2

Time Trouble

Time is perhaps the greatest eη­ emy σf the mσdern day chess player. There is simply ησt eησugh time tσ evaluate every pσssible vaήatiση that can aήse ίη a game σf chess. Eveη thσugh a mσdern day grandmaster σηly has tσ Ισσk at a few vaήatiσns at a time thanks tσ his excelleηt pσsitiσηal understanding, there are still tσσ many σptiσns tσ ana­ lyse everything ίη twσ hσurs. Fσr this reasση, tσday's prσfessiσηal chess player ηeeds mσre than just σpeηiηg knσwledge, gσσd tech­ nique and understaηding. There cσmes a pσiηt ίη every game wheη yσu have tσ be prepared tσ live by yσur iηtuitiση. Here a gσσd analσgy can be drawn be­ tweeη the prσfessiσηal bσxer aηd the prσfessiσηal chess player. Ιη bσxiηg, every fighter must at sσme stage σf a Ισηg fight rely purely ση his instinct. Uηfσrtunately, wheη the clσck is ticking and time is pressing, a player's intuitiση is mσst likely tσ let him dσwn, and this is where the swiηdler will get his σppσrtu­ nity. The fσllσwing eηtertaining game demσnstrates time-trσuble, swindliηg and intuitiση at their best.

Mortazavi-Miles Lσηdση (Llσyds Bank Masters) 1994 Vίenna Game l'Δc6 ι e4 Ι must admit that already at this early stage, Ι was thinking σf a 'swindle' . Ι had seeη Τσηy Miles play this mσve against 1 e4 sσ successfully that there was ησ way Ι cσuld 'imprσve' ση his previσus games. Α frieηd σf mine theη ησticed that after the slightly strange 2 l'Δc3, Τσηy replied 2 . . . e5, which is a perfectly rea­ sσηable mσve but σηe that al­ lσwed me tσ charter the game ίηtσ a black hσle ίη σpeniηg the­ σry ! eS 2 l'Δc3 f4! 3 The pσiηt. Υσu may well ask what it is that Ι have actually achieved, as the game has ησw transpσsed tσ a Vienna Game. Well, it has, but the differeηce is that Black ησrmally plays 2 .. l'Δf6 against the Vienna, and after 3 f4, replies with 3 ... d5 . Here, hσw­ ever, Black must take the pawn ση f4 at sσme time and play a dangerσus vaήatiση σf the King's Gambit. .

26

The Fine Art of Swindling

3 exf4 lbf3 gS 4 5 d4 g4 6 Ji.c4 Spectacular stuff but not new at this stage. This kind of sacή­ fice is often seen in vaήations of the King 's Gambit. 6 gxf3

7 'ii'xf3 ! The fιrst new move, though Miles claimed after the game that he had found a reference in ECO which dated back to the 1 820's. Ι didn 't tell him that a fήend of mine had played this move in a quickplay the week before in Golders Green! My only other knowledge of this opening was that after 7 . . . lbxd4, White has a draw with 8 ii.xf7+ d7 22 lbf6+ 'it>e6 23 lbxg8 c5 24 J.f6 'it>f7 25 !:tg3 :es 1-0 Soltis-Meetei, Calcutta 1 986. dS! 7 Played after nearly an hour's thought. During this hour Ι had become convinced that Miles would go for the draw with ... lbxd4. An hour and a full piece later, Ι sank into thought. It is not often that one gives a piece head start to a 2600 rated player on move seven. Ι considered 8 0-0?! dxc4 9 ifxf4 and gave up after finding nothing useful against the simple 9 ... lbh6. 8 exd5 seemed like a bad move as it blocked the a2-g8 diagonal, so after an hour of thought, Ι went for the obvious ... 8 lLJxdS lbxd4 9 'i'xf4? ! Ji.d6 9 ... lLJxc2+ 10 'it>d l lLJxa l 1 1 J.d2 was my intention and though my gut feeling was that Ι was going slightly over the top, Ι was sure that Miles wouldn 't ήsk this position. White has sacrificed a rook and a piece but Black has yet to develop a single piece.

τime Trouble

However Frίtz4 tells me that White is completely lost and in all honesty, Ι believe it!

10 'ii'f2 ! Far better than 10 e5, which gains a useless tempo and under­ mines the knight on d5. Again, Ι 'felt' this rather than analysed it, partly because Ι only had 45 min­ utes left on my clock and was sure that Ι would need these later on in the game and partly because Ι simply was not able to fathom out all the complications. After the game, Miles said he also felt it! 10 �c6 11 �f4! Α slightly strange move as White should really be avoiding the exchange of pieces when he is a piece down. However, the bishop on d6 is Black's best piece and must be removed. Both play­ ers were down to the last twenty minutes or so by this stage and I'm sure that apart from avoiding the numerous cheapos which ex­ ist in the position, all analysis had

27

come to a complete halt. 11 �es �xc4 12 0-0! 13 'ii'd4 f6 1 3 ... j_xf4 14 'ii'xh8 j,xh2+ 15 Φχh2 'i'h4+ 16 Φg 1 �f8 17 :xf7+ �xf7 1 8 :η+ is danger­ ous for Black. 14 'ii'xc4 j,xf4? Tony insisted after the game that he had intended 14 ... c6 in­ stead of 15 ... c6. He thought that White's compensation would come to an end after 14 . . . c6. 15 �xf4 c6

eS! ! 16 And fmally White has achieved full compensation! Although he is a piece for a pawn down and a seήes of exchanges have taken place, he is fully developed in contrast to Black's stationary army. fS 16 The only move as 16 ... fxe5 would open too many lines. 1lad1 'iie7 17 �h6 1Wc3 18 19 'iih3 'iigS

28

τhe Fίne Art of Swίndlίng

20

IΣd6

lLig4

21 1:tg6?! Failing tσ adjust tσ the changes iη the pσsitiση. My initial cσm­ pensatiση in this game was a tac­ tical σηe with seήσus threats against the black king but after 16 e5! ! , the pσsitiση had 'turned' and my cσmpensatiση was mσre pσsitiσηal than tactical. 2 1 1Σg6?! lσσks gσσd but is in fact a cheap shσt. Ι had by ησw reached the dreaded five minute mark. Miles, meanwhile, was slightly ahead ση the clσck with seveη σr eight minutes. 21 'ife7! 'iib5 22 hxg6 23 1i'xh8+ I've fmally managed tσ 'get at' the black king but in dσing sσ Ι am fσrcing it tσ a safe haveη ση the queenside. 23 e5 1-0 And everything became crystal clear to both players. White has a simple winning plan: Win the e6pawn, dήve the black king to h8 and achieve the following posi­ tion with Black to move:

The black king is in stalemate but because of the doubled g­ pawns, Black can still play the unfortunate 1 . . . g3 2 hxg3 which gives White the much needed g­ pawn to win the endgame. Worse still, if Black did not have a pawn on g5, the position would be a draw by stalemate but after 2 hxg3, Black still has one more left in 2 ... g4 to which White would reply 3 .te8 ! , 'un-stale­ mating' the black king with a simple win. If the above example was not enough to convince you, here is an even better example with the

111

Don 't get Swindled

same opponents:

In the above diagram from the game Hebden-Mortazavi, London (Lloyds Bank Masters) 1989, Black is a clear exchange and a pawn up. In addition, White's kingside pawns are shattered and . his king is in some trouble. Rightly or wrongly, Ι really did think that Ι was winning. In fact, Ι also thought that Hebden might resign at any moment. 19 :xd3 Probably not strictly necessary but it is debatable if White's po­ sition improves even with some sort of mateήal balance. Note that White has four pawn islands, four isolated pawns and a set of dou­ bled pawns. He is also a pawn down. 20 cxd3 Wc5 21 We6+ �b8 22 :g1 b6 23 i.b2 Φb7 24 d4 'ifb5 25 d5?! Losing a piece with only a modicum of activity as compen-

sation.

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34

•xe7 d6 1ίg7 �g1 Φf2 Φg3 �h4 :t7 :xf6

lbd8 'ii'xb2 'ίi'c3 'ίi'xf3+ ...d1+ Wc2+ Wb3+ liJe6! :gs ...f3?

The fιrst shaky move. 34 . . . h5 ! would have threatened mate with ... :g4 and 'iί'h3, to which White has no answer. 35 Wxe6 'i'f2+

The Fίne Art of Swίndlίng

ι 12

36 Φh3 1i'g2+ 'iff2+ 37