Winning Pawn Play in the Indian Defenses 1936277344, 9781936277346

Table of contents :
Front
Contents
Setting the Stage
The Qualitative Majority In Nimzowitsch's Career
Part I General Theory of the Qualitative Majority
Part II General Theory of the King's Indian Structure
Part III White's Play in the King's Indian Structure
Part IV Black's Play in the King's Indian Structure
Part V The Samisch in the King's Indian Structure
Part VI The Modern Benoni Structure: Theory and Practice
Part VII The Benoni Structure: Theory and Practice
Appendix Qualitative Majorities In the Ruy Lopez
Glossary
Bibliography
Player Index
Back

Citation preview

Henrique Marinho

WINNING PAWN PLAY IN THE INDIAN DEFENSES

© 20 1 1 Henrique Marinho English translation© 20 1 1 Mongoose Press All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording , or by an information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the Publisher.

Publisher: Mongoose Press 1 005 Boylston Street, Suite 324 Newton Highlands, MA 0246 1 [email protected] www. MongoosePress.com ISBN 978- 1 -936277-34-6 Library of Congress Control Number: 20 1 1 940334 Distributed to the trade by National Book Network [email protected], 800-462-6420 For all other sales inquiries please contact the publisher. Translated and edited by Jorge Amador Layout: Andrey Elkov Cover Design: Kaloyan Nachev Printed in China First English edition 0 9 8 7 6 54 3 2 1

CONTENTS

Setting the Stage

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The Qualitative Majority in Nimzowitsch's Career ................................. 11

PART I General Theory of the Q u alitative Majority .

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PART II General Theory of the King's Indian Structure .......................................43 PART III White's Play in the King ' s Indian Structure

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PART IV Black's Play in the King's Indian Structure .. . .

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PARTY The Samisch in t he King's Indian Structure

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162

PART VI The Modem Benoni Structure: Theory and Practice ............................ 205

PART VII The Benoni Structure: Theory and Practice ......................................... 249 APPENDIX Qualitative Majorities in the Ruy Lopez .

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27 5

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302

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Glossary

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Bibliography ........................................................................................ 308 Player Index . . . . ..

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To my dear wife, Rosi Klimpovuz

Setting the Stage

he qualitative pawn majorities occurring in the Indian defenses may be stud­ ied either from the standpoint of opening theory or using a "typical positions" method. I prefer the typical-positions approach, as the basics of the qualitative ma­ jority (a set of pawns enjoying greater offensive potential than a numerically equal opposing set) have yet to be fully developed in the chess literature , although both Kmoch ("Benoni Structures , " 1 954) and Euwe and Kramer ("Closed Oblique Structures, " 1 964) have tried something along these lines.

T

By working with typical positions, we firmly establish the qualitative majority as a strategic weapon in the chessplayer's arsenal which can help to guide his decisions at the board. I believe this is the best approach for our dear reader who- after master­ ing the art of the qualitative majority - can then apply it to opening theory, where it can come into its own.

A BRIEF HISTORY I was first exposed to Nimzowitsch in 1 960, with the five-volume Argentinean translation of My System. I still remem­ ber how impressed I was with Nim­ zowitsch's practice of giving a name to the theoretical concepts he discussed, and particularly the term, "pawn ava­ lanche. "

majority was already treated as a distinct aspect of the pawn chain in relation to pawn offensives, here are the opening lines: Nimzowitsch's term [the pawn ava­ lanche I itself defi nes the concept that is, a pawn advance with an under­ lying purpose. The pawn avalanche is the dominant strategic theme in many games , and therefore it is important to

With a beginner's enthusiasm ( I got my start in chess in 1958 ) , in the same year 1 960 I prepared a study under the title of, "The Pawn Avalanche , " which however was never published. To give an idea of this text, in which the qualitative

come to know the subject. There are four kinds of pawn avalanches: aggres­ sive

minority,

quantitative

qualitative majority,

majority,

and simple pawn

attack. Every pawn attack falls into one of these categories, and each will be

5

Winning Pawn Play in the Indian Defenses treated in its own section. [Emphasis added]

Four years later, I took the next step and removed the qualitative majority from the context ofthe pawn avalanche , turn­ ing it into its own self-contained theme in a new manuscript, ''A Study of the El­ ements of the Qualitative Majority." As my chess improved, so did my appre­ ciation of the importance of the qualita­ tive majority, particularly in the Indian defenses. Actually, by 1 964 I no longer approached the qualitative majority in tenns of the French Defense (as I had learned in My System), but in tenns of its typical manifestations in the Indian defenses.

My increasing specialization in the top­ ic persisted, reaching its zenith in 1970 when I rewrote the manuscript as The Qualitative Majority in the Indian De­ fenses. The qualitative majority now fea­ tured fully in the context of the Indian defenses and their three typical fonna­ tions: the King's I ndian, Modern Beno­ ni, and Benoni Structures. Thus, taking 1 960 as the starting point, I have been acquainted with the tenn, " qualitative majority," for more than a half-century, and with its strategic significance in the Indian complex for over forty years. All of these versions were handwritten and remained unpublished. However, one of the pre- 1 970 versions, already focusing substantially on the Indian de­ fenses and their typical fonnations, was seen by a remarkable chessplayer, Dr. Paulo Cesar Laubenstein Bruno ( 1 9376

2001) . Excited by what he saw, and moved by our discussions at his home, Paulo Cesar eventually started using the concept in his correspondence play. In return for his friendship, for being my first and only reader - and for his gener­ osity in listening to me - I wish to repay Paulo Cesar in memoriam by showing, as the first game of this work, one of his perfonnances applying the qualitative majority: Paulo Cesar L. Bruno Jovany L.A. de Medeiros corr. (Brazil) 1 98 2 1.d4 tiJf6 2.tiJf3 g 6 3.c4 il.g7 4.tLlc3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.ii.e2 e5 7.0-0 tiJc6 8.d5 tiJe7 9.CLJd2 CLJe8 10.b4 f5 ll.c5 8f6 12.f3 f4 13.CiJc4 a6 14.a4 g5 15.cxd6 cxd6 16.ii.d2 0'lg6 17.l':l:cl l':l:t7 18.ii.el ii.f8 I9.iif2 M g 7 20.tiJb6:

20...l':l:b8 2l.b5 a5 22.tiJxc8 Mxc8 23.b6 ii.e7 24.8b5 h5 25.tiJc7 tiJf8 26.iiel g4 27.ii.b5 gxf3 28.�xf3 CZJg4 29.iixa5 tiJe3 30.:tf2 iih4 3l.Me2 �g5 32.iid2 CZJg4 33.'{;1Uh3 '{;1Ud8 34.a5 f3 35.'{;1Uxf3 CZ'lxh2 36.'{;1Uh3 tLlg4 37.�fl l':l:cxc7 38.bxc7 '{;1Uxc7 39.'{;1Uxh4 �c5+ 40.l':l:ef2 1 -0

Setting the Stage

Not long after starting the 1970 version,

qualitative majority would serve as the

"real life" got in the way and I aban­

basis for a theory of the Indian defenses

doned the project, limiting myself to

in all their branches, lines, and varia­

gathering additional material for pos­

tions. In v iew of this and of the magni­

sible future use. By 1974 I had stopped

tude of the work for which I lack both

thinking about the subject.

time and skill, as I've said before I leave it to a future reader to undertake the im­

And so, fifty-one years have come and

mense task of expanding upon or even

gone from that long-ago 1960. Half a

revolutionizing the idea of the qualita­

century - incredible! But despite the

tive majority in all openings to which the

passage of time, it was only at the end of

concept may be applicable.

2002, when I was invited to write a seri­ ous book for publication by the Brazilian

Manual Style

Academy of Chess and Culture, that I thought of reviving those ancient studies,

I would like this book to become a ref­

now (as suggested by IM Rubens Alberto

erence work inspiring the reader to fly

Filguth) renamed in the plural as, Quali­

higher. To make it easier to read and

tative Majorities in the Indian Defenses.

absorb, the text is broken up into many short chapters. To the point and cross­

METHOD

referenced, this way they might make for more attractive reading and improved

Earlier, the reader was informed of our

understanding.

decision to use the "typical formations" method. Now I'll describe the other

This structure - inspired by the remark­

elements of the method, and the reasons

able work The Art of Worldly Wisdom

for adopting them.

by the Spanish Jesuit priest Baltasar

Audience

the club player and chess fan to start

Gracian (1601-1658)- will also enable reading at whatever chapter might look T he first task was to decide for whom

most interesting at the moment. Every

the book was intended. Despite my lim­

chapter is part of a thread leading in

itations, I could envision being able to

every direction!

write this book for the benefit of "club players" and chess fans generally. Nor

New Terms

could it be otherwise, as the author is himself a former club player and a die­

The reader may assert, understandably,

hard fan. Thus, we can say that this book

that the author has introduced too many

was aimed at amateurs possessing a me­

new words, old labels in new clothes.

dium level of chess knowledge and skill.

No doubt, there are a lot of new terms here (please do consult the glossary at

However, a greater talent could rework

the back of the book), but I firmly be­

it for professionals, in which case the

lieve that the lack of names and con-

7

Winning Pawn Play in the I ndian Defenses cepts would be a greater evil. Playing along with this would only contribute to carelessness in chess instruction, in total disregard of Plato 's aphorism that, "the knowledge of words leads to the knowl­ edge of things!" This is what happened with the idea of the qualitative majority. Conceived by Nimzowitsch prior to the 1 907 Ostend tournament (as he discussed in Block­ ade), it was already in use at the end of the nineteenth century but remained unarticulated in chess theory. All too of­ ten, nothing comes of a new idea, artic­ ulated or otherwise. This seems to have been true of the qualitative majority up till then: "In chess, as in other endeav­ ors, the exposition of well known ideas using new terms is often viewed as a new doctrine" (Winkelman 82) . We are prone to naming, concetvmg, formulating, and creating doctrines, as Nimzowitsch himself did (but only in­ completely so) with the qualitative ma­ jority. Coined and partially developed by Nimzowitsch, it's only recently that the phrase has gained acceptance as a real technical chess term. Even Hans Kmoch (Pawn Power in Chess, 1954), Max Euwe and Haije Kramer (The Middlegame, 1 964), Ludek Pachman (Modern Chess Strategy, 1966 ) , and, more recently, John Watson (Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy, 1 998) failed to touch on the qualitative majority as an independent concept, although they did come dangerously close to it! Following Nimzowitsch's example, Pachrnan and Watson focused on the pawn chain al­ most exclusively in terms of the French 8

Defense. Kmoch and Euwe, though in­ corporating it into their classification of "formations, " still ignored the qualita­ tive majority as a separate strategic term and theoretical concept In light of this failure , I reject the charge of committing the sin of neologism. If this terminology is an evil, it's a neces­ sary evil! By trying to apply these new concepts with the utmost rigor, we be­ come soldiers on the methodological front line , helping to move forward the art, science , sport, and culture of chess. Illustrative Games The handling of illustrative games for each sub-theme was another methodo­ logical decision point: Would the anno­ tations include the tactical rationale for the moves? Should they go deeply into variations, sub-variations, branches, and sidelines, or should they be limited to discussing tactical, operational, and strategic ideas to help guide players in their own games? I decided in favor of the near-total abo­ lition of tactical analysis. Comments will focus almost exclusively on what I believe to be the ideas behind the moves. Tactical analysis in general - and partic­ ularly an excess of it - disrupts the har­ mony of the lessons to be gleaned from a game , and makes it harder both to get the ideas across and to apply them in the reader's own play. After all, the actual and interesting part is the match itself. I'm not interested in the virtual game taking place in the

Setting the Stage variations - the game resulting from the perennial, "What if?" which would have led to a different game altogether. But, if it's actually the "analysis game" that we 're interested in, we may then ask, Why not delve into the new analysis game stemming from the analysis game? Therefore, rather than sliding down this endless spiral, I chose to stick to the actual, living struggle resulting from the players' physical and psychological exertions. This was my thinking when selecting the dozens of actual, complete games included in this book. Frugality in annotation was thus a delib­ erate decision, even though this policy might invite complaints from those who judge a book's quality by the lushness of the trees of variations. To them, but es­ pecially to my readers, I hasten to point out that the purpose of this book is to set forth the strategic (or, at most, the oper­ ational) variations relevant to qualitative majorities, shedding light on the players' choices in the illustrative games. For the reader wishing to get at the tac­ tical truth of a given position, though, I recommend analyzing it himself or loading it into a chess engine . That's what computers are for! Why waste time and space adding a mass of variations and sub-variations, if these can all be accessed quickly through our Fritz and Rybka software?! Besides which - and this is our basic premise - it doesn't help to lure the student into deep tactical analysis without first providing an ac­ curate strategic understanding of what's going on. Insisting on analysis will only make the student tread water in his pur-

suit of improvement. Nor do I have any desire to include this sort of analytical pollution that, in addition to raising the price of the book, would also serve as a deterrent to its study. Therefore , I be­ lieve that those who need and love deep tactical analysis will fmd it more profit­ able to pursue tactical certitude by their own and their chess engines' efforts. Experience tells us that, when it comes to learning strategy, amateurs are mostly interested in explanations of general concepts and of the ideas that derive from these . Inform ant -style tactical ex­ ceptions will not readily interest club players or amateurs. These players want to go deeper into interesting positions and find the tactical rationale behind a move only after absorbing the relevant strategic ideas; this will, of course, help to deepen their theoretical and practi­ cal understanding. Over time, this indi­ vidualized approach will enrich opening theory in light of discoveries associated with the qualitative majority. .. but that's another story! Engine Games

I make a distinction between "basic" and "advanced" study. In the former (the player's initial exposure to the subject) , we examine complete games illustrating the idea. Only then can the player use­ fully dig deeper by analyzing the tactical details of a given game. This book undertakes a basic-level study of qualitative pawn majorities as they arise in the Indian defenses, and there­ fore offers complete games discussed in 9

Winning Pawn Play in the Indian Defenses terms of their associated ideas. No par­ ticular attention is given to the behavior of qualitative majorities in the various In­ dian branches, variations, and sidelines, a focus on which would lead to advanced learning. A deep a nalysis of qualitative majorities in the Indian comple x is both feasible and desirable , but this would require the opposite approach to wh at I have done here: focusing on a detailed analysis of complete games, and then drawing conclusions for opening theory based on that analysis. But there is a middle ground. Having abolished tactical analysis, I deci ded to use - when called for, and with re­ straint - what we might call "engine games. " These are whole games played by the strong , modem chess engines Deep Rybka 3 and Stockfish against

10

themselves, that is, Rybka playing both White and Black in a given game, and Stockfish playing both W hite and Black. These engine games may of course start at move 1, but they may also start from specific positions selected for the pur­ pose of exploring the implications of particular moves with instructional val­ ue in the conte xt of developments in the main game , and not simply as position analysis . The point of the engine game , which is normally given to the end, is to come to understand the strategic or op­ erational idea of a given possible move at a critical stage in the main game. Tactical justifications having been removed from the engine game also, words remain to explain the reasoning behind the moves in the main game .

The Qualitative Majority In Nimzowitsch's Career have always admired Nimzowitsch for his discoveries in the realm of position play generally, and particularly in that relating to the qualitative majority (QM) . How­ ever, as I got deeper into the topic , I was surprised (not to say disappointed) to see him draw back from defining and developing the various types of qualitative majori­ ties parading before our eyes. Neglecting the qualitative majority as a concept is i n­ compatible with the important position it occupies in the chessplayer's toolkit. Why did Nimzowitsch treat our dear qualitative majorities so badly?

I

Any attempt to unravel the mystery must start with the facts we might glean from his books My System, Chess Praxis, and Blockade, and then move on from there to search for additional sources and for­ mulate new theories as to why. Few have noticed, and many ignored , the hard fact that the teacher of the Hy­ permodern School established a close connection between the concept of the pawn chain and the idea of the qualita­ tive majority, based on two considera­ tions: a) He did not use the terms "pawn chain" and "qualitative majority" inter­ changeably, but offered ample justifica­ tion for this distinction and their con­ ceptual near-independence; b) Nimzowitsch's reasoning usually moves from pawn chains to qualitative majorities, almost never the other way. This seemingly trivial fact is actually sig­ nificant , as had he persisted in walking in the latter direction (from qualitative rna­ jorities to pawn chains), the process that brings about this conceptual distinction would have led him to identify other in-

stances of qualitative majorities unrelated to pawn chains. As we consider these facts, we should first take into account that his greatest work, My System, is a two-part study. In the preface to his book, we come across the idea of analyzing "one by one . . . the different elements of chess strategy; " then (also in the preface) "part I I . . goes into positional play, especially in its neo­ Romantic form" (My System 5). .

The pawn chain was considered an "ele­ ment," in fact the eighth element of chess strategy. Still in the preface, having assert­ ed that the study of the elements demands getting into the details, he states that "the same" applies to "the pawn chain and the other elements of strategy. " All this serves to assure us that the pawn chain is an ele­ ment and therefore belongs in Part I of My System. The qualitative majority, on the other hand, is addressed under "posi­ tion play" and not as an element of chess strategy, and so it comes on stage in Part I I . These facts would be enough in and of themselves to show that, despite their close connection, the pawn chain and the 11

Winning Pawn Play in the Indian Defenses qualitative majority are distinct concepts reflecting the inner workings ofNimzow­ itsch's thinking. The first statement backing up this con­ ceptual distinction is that , "every black­ white pawn chain. . . divides the board into two halves, which are diagonall y opposite each other" (My System 149). This means that something exists and takes place outside the pawn chain in the respective halves of the board. Nimzowitsch explic­ itly states that, "If you know our thoughts on pawn chains, it is easy to assimilate the concept of the qualitative majority: a wing which is advancing in the direction of the opponent's base pawn" (My System 2 1 6 ) . This shows the conceptual distinction be­ tween the pawn chain and the QM. Yet, as regards (b) above, we fmd the following title for Part I I , section 3, of Nimzowitsch's Chess Praxis: " Restraint of a Qualitative Majority (Especially a Chain Majority). " With these words, Nimzowitsch hints strongly at an aware­ ness that a qualitative majority could exist outside the context of the pawn chain. Having focused, in this specific section of the book, on restricting QMs "especially" in pawn chains, it follows that there would also be qualitative ma­ jorities not in pawn chains. In any event, this conceptual dualism - pawn chains on the one hand, quali­ tative majorities on the other - clearly sets the QM as a distinct theme in prac­ tical chess, and not simply as an adjunct or special case of the pawn chain as the chess literature has treated it histori­ cally. 12

THE NIMZOWITSCHIAN ENIGMA

Every time I read My System or Chess Praxis, I ' m again surprised by the mys­ tery of why Nimzowitsch never devel­ oped a systematic treatment of the con­ cept of qualitative majorities in the Indi­ an pawn chains. What in Nimzowitsch's thinking could have deterred him from moving forward on this project, after giving so many tantalizing hints of the road ahead? This is b oth surprising and frightening. Even so, we offer three possible reasons to explain this failure: a) the theoretical irrelevance of the I ndian defenses; b) secret preparation for a world champi­ onship match; and c) anti-Tarrasch ob­ stinacy.

A) Irrelevance of the Indian Defenses Could it be that the Indian defenses were too irrelevant in Nimzowitsch' s time , too little known or poorly developed to merit the master's attention? If so, then obviously there would be no question of qualitative majorities in the Indian de­ fenses passing through Nimzowitsch's hands. However, this theory fails because it doesn't fit the facts. A review of the available chess literature indicates that the Indian defenses - featuring pawn chains and QMs - were already in regular use in the first third of the 20th century, when Nirnzowitsch was most active. Adding to that the fact that the Indian defenses were already showing up in tournament practice as early as the

The Qualitative Majority in Nimzowitsch's Career end of the 1 9th century, we must con­ clude that the Indian defenses were just too common in Nimzowitsch's time to be passed over.

Indian defenses in Nimzowitsch � games. By way of demonstration, I tum to www. chessgames.com, a free online database offering more than 500,000 games. A search of Nimzowitsch's games (playing either White or Black) in the Indian de­ fenses shows the following result:

establish qualitative majorities in the po­ sition) 9...exd4 (having once allowed d4d5, Nimzowitsch now runs away from the I ndian QM) lO.lZ'lxd4 lZ'lge5 II.ii.e3 0-0 IHWc2 lZ'lb6 l3.b3 f5 l4.exf5 gxf5 l5Jie2 �f6 16.0-0 ii.d7 17Jhdl �ae8 18.lZ'ldb5 lZ'lc6 19.lZ'ld5 lZ'lxd5 20.cxd5 Wle7 2l.dxc6 bxc6 22.ii.c4+ d5 23Jixa7 ii.e6 24.b4 dxc4 25.ii.c5 Wif7 26.ii.xf8 �xf8 27.lZ'ld4 ii.d5 28.lZ'le2 �a8 29.lZ'lf4

R.Teichmann- A.Nimzowitsch

ECO A43-A44: Old Benoni ECO A48-A49: King's I ndian ECO A53-A55: Old Indian ECO A60-A 79: Modem Benoni ECO E60-E99: King's I ndian

Ogames 0 games 4 games 1 game 5 games

Over a 25-year period (1907-1931), Nimzowitsch played only ten games in any of the openings classified as I ndian defenses. Thus we can easily conclude that, at the very least, Nimzow itsch did not care for this type of p lay. If this is true, then we could hardly expect to find his own invention in the body ofln­ dian theory that was then starting to gain traction in master practice. I now p resent these games - in chrono­ logical order and with the briefest of an­ notations - to allow the reader to reach his own conclusions. W.John - A.Nimzowitsch

Ostend 1 907 A53

l.d4 lZ'lf6 2.c4 d6 3.lZ'lc3 lZ'lbd7 4.e4 e5 5.lZ'lge2 g6 6.ii.g5 h6 7.ii.e3lZ'lg4 8.ii.cl ii.g7 9.f3 (9.d5 would have sufficed to

Ostend 1907 E61

l.d4 lZ'lf6 2.c4 d6 3.lZ'lc3 lZ'lbd7 4.lZ'lf3 e5 5.e3 g6 6.ii.e2 ii.g7 7. 0 0 0-0 8 . b3 � e8 9.ii. b2 exd4 (though not a pe rfect I ndian formation due to White's e3pawn, still this trade shows a ce rtain p re fe rence by N imzowitsch) 10.exd4 lZ'lf8 ll.�el ii.g4 12.h3 ii.f5 13.ii.f1 Wid7 14.Wid2 (all we need is . . . c7-c5 and d4-d5, and we have o ur thematic position) 14 . . . lZ'le4 15.lZ'lxe4 ii.xe4 16.lZ'lh2 d5 17.lZ'lg4 c6 18.lZ'le5 Wid8 19.l:!:ad1 l:!:c8 20.lZ'lg4 Wid7 2I.Wif4 ii.c2 22.l:!:cl �xel 23 .�xel l:!:e8 24.l:tcl ii.f5 25.lZ'lh6+ ii.xh6 26.Wixh6 ii.e6 27.ii.c3 f6 28.Wif4 Wif7 29.l:!:el l:!:d8 3 0.l:!:e3 xf6 37.itd4+ � f5 38.b4 a6 39.a4 g5 40.b5 axb5 4l.axb5 gxf4+ 42.gxf4 Me7+ 43 . .i.e5 1-0 .

E.Griinfeld- F.D.Yates Karlsbad 1923 E60

l .d4 lllf6 2.ti:Jf3 g6 3.c4 .i.g7 4.d5 d6 5.CiJc3 0-0 6.g3 e5 7 . .i.g2 LZ:lbd7 8.0-0 a5 9. g8 68.�g6+ W f8 69.tLl e6# 1-0

Tertiary contact by White depends on Black's adopting a wait-and-see stance ( Chapter 43) in the face of White 's pri­ mary contact. It leads to the opening of additional exterior lines of communi­ cation, wrecking the existing d efense s erected to meet the former situation. V.Korchnoi

M. Udovcic Rovinj/Zagreb 1 970 -

l.d4 lll f6 2.c4 g6 3.lll c3 � g7 4.e4 d6 S.� e2 0-0 6.lll f3 eS 7.0-0 lll c6 8.d5 CiJ e7 9.lll d2 lll d7

This move is more useful than 9 . lll e8 in promoting Black's kingside QM at­ tack, as it restrains White's c4-c5 con­ tact. However, the drawback is that it al­ lows tertiary contact with c5 -c6, forking the d7-knight and the b7-pawn and thus e nabli ng White to ope n lines. . .

White 's c5-c6 tertiary contact in t he King's Indian Structure is a modem al­ ternative to the white QM's traditional target position. 10.b4 rs l l.f3 f4 12.a4 gs 13.� a3 lll g6

Black's pieces are all scattered. 7 1 . Tertiary Contact Our investigation ofWhite's tertiary con­ tact (Chapter 34) starts with the proviso that the concept of " secondary contact" (Chapters 29.B and 58) is Black's alone.

Diagram 62 77

PART

Since neither player has taken de­ fensive measures of any kind (we ' re not counting . . . L'Ll f6-d7) , both Black (Chapter 40) and White ( Chapter 5 7 ) have adopted a total wait-and-see de­ fense . Thus we might see this game exclusively as a case of mutual all-out attacks, where each side relies more on his own QM attack than on traditional defensive methods. Of a "wait-and-see defense " and the "all-out attack" only the former term is viable, since (as we have already seen) it's the defender who determines the operational variations - leaving the lat­ ter term as simply as a tool for the verbal description of possible situations. 14.c5 l:t7 15.c6

The classical alternative would be to achieve the target position ( Diagram 23) with 1 5.cxd6 cxd6 I 6J:Ic l . But the freedom of action that the wait-and-see defense gives the attacker (White) , in combination with the presence of the knight on d7 , leads White to pass up this classical objective in favor of the newfangled tertiary contact on c6. Note that, if the knight were not on d7, then Black could close up the queenside with the inversion . . . b7 -b6 , in which case c5c6 would constitute a base shift rather than contact.

III The pawn capture was investigat­ ed in a computer test game Rybka 3-Rybka 3 : 1 5 . . . bxc6 1 6 . dxc6 L'Ll df8 l 7 .b5 lb e 6 1 8 . i.. c4 lb e7 1 9 . � b3 l:t f6 20. lb d l fl � xd7 44 lb xd7 l: c 6 45 . lb xe 5 :1:i: xc3 46. :1:i: xf4 \t>g7 47.I.tg4 g5 5 I . l: h3 :1:i: c2 52.f4+ \t> g6 5 3 . :1:i: g3+ \t> f7 54. :1:i: g2 l: c4 55. M e2 lb g4 5 6 . 'it' g2 lb f6 5 7 . \t> f3 \t> e6 5 8 . l: e l l: c3+ 5 9 . I.t e 3 M e l 60. l: a3 M fl + 6 1 . \t> e 3 M e l + 62. \t> f3 lb xe4 63.Ma6 + 'it'f7 64 . \t> g4 L'Ll c5 6 5 . M d6 L'Ll e6 66.\t> f5 'it' e7 67. M d3 lb g7+ 6 8 . \t> g4 l:":t g l + 69. l:":t g3 l:t xg3 + 70. \t> xg3 g4 lb f5 7 2 . W f3 lb d6 7 3 . f5 \t> e 5 74. f6 lb e4 7 5 . f7 lb g5 + 76.\t>e2 L'Ll xf7 Yz- Yz. .

16.cxb7 il. xb7 17.lb c4 i.. c8 18.lb a5 h5 19.lb b5 a6

Except (possibly) for 9 . lb d7 , this is the first defensive move played on the queen­ side . It's forced in view of the threat of lb c6 and lbxa7 , winning a pawn. .

.

As a supplement to this, I refer th e read­ er to an unusual alternative type of terti­ ary contact for White, with a pawn on b6 instead of c6 (Chapter 75, l4. i.. a3) .

By analogy with one traditional way to study Go - using maxims - we can ap­ proach this game as an example of a hy­ pothetical desistanc e aphorism" : the first one to abandon the wait-and-see defense is the first one to y ie ld !

15 CLl f6

20.lb a7 Jl d7

...

78

"

White's Play in the King's Indian Structure 20 . .lha7 2 1 .tll c6 wins the exchange in a petite combinaison accelerating White's game plan. .

2Vi'l 7c6 '@' eS 22.b5 axb5 23.axb5 � f8 24.ll'lc4

Pressuring d6 due to the threat of b5-b6 . On the other hand , the text move allows 24 .1t xc6 when, after 25 .bxc6 , we would have the tertiary contact target position.

This pawn sacrifice eliminates Black's light-squared bishop (see Chapter 69, 2 l .L'll b6) and diverts the black queen from the kingside. Both of these factors severely weaken the second player's QM attack. 26 ... � xc6 27.dxc6 '@' xc6 28.�b3 � h8 29.b7

. . .

Regarding the idea of the base of the pawn chain, N imzowitsch would say that the d6-pawn is the base of Black's pawn chain, and not the c7-pawn because it "is not bound into the black-white pawn chain" as there is no white counterpart on c6, and therefore the d6-pawn is the one subject to attack by c2-c4-c5 (My System 1 54).

The pawn' s arrival on the seventh rank brings to mind Nimzowitsch's quip that, "the passed pawn is a criminal who must be kept under lock and key, " or that the blocked pawn is a pawn whose lust to expand has been checked. The sight of this passed pawn leads us to view this game as a series of actions aimed at enabling the b-pawn's expan­ sion from b2 to b7. 29.. J,Ib8 30.M.abl L'll h4 31.L'll a5 �d7 32.'@'b5

Nimzowitsch's explanation reaffirms the fact that the d6-pawn in fact constitutes the base of the pawn chain , rejecting the modern but incorrect supposition that the "real base" (Watson 43) is at c7.

Now that the black queen is trying to return to the kingside , White seeks to trade it off.

24...ng7 2s.� ht

32 ... gxf3 33.� xf3

Just as we didn't view 9 . ..Cll d7 as a de­ fensive move, so too for the natural 1 1 .0 . This leads us to declare that it's only now - on move 25 - that White makes his first defensive move on the kingside. Note that, except for this small prophylactic measure, White maintains his wait-and-see defense, saving tempi for his offensive operations on the other flank.

If 33.gxf3 (replacing the base) , then 33 . . . '@'h3 and the queen reports back to duty on the kingside, attacking g2 unop­ posed. Instead 3 3 . � xf3 (base substitu­ tion) holds g2 and denies Black access to h 3 . It does allow a piece trade , which however works as passive defense by whittling down Black's attacking force and preventing a convergence of hostile units on the critical square g2.

25 ...g4 26.b6

33 ...c6 34.'i¥e2 tll xf3 35.gxf3

79

PART I I I Although 3S .gxf3 also makes h 3 avail­ able to Black, now 3S . . . � h3 is ineffec­ tive thanks to White ' s defensive deploy­ ment with 34.�e2 and the elimination of Black's h4-knight.

mann 1 1 ) . Thus, " (a)ccording to Shirov, in order to accelerate his initiative White should use the typical sacrifice of a pawn 1 4.c5 dxc5 1 5 .bxc5 lZJxc5 1 6.a4 etc . " (Minev 1 00 ) .

3S ... �c7 36.�a6 � g8 37.lZJ xc6 lZJ d7 38.tLl xb8 lZJ xb8 39.'1j'd3 il. e7 40.�fcl �d7 41J:Ic8 1-0

A.Chemin M.Marin Odorheiu Secuiesc 1 993

White's decisive final move is also a consequence of the operational clearing of Black's kingside contingent, which dashed all hopes of a saving counterat­ tack. Black's position collapses due to the strong pressure on the d6-pawn and the b8-knight.

-

l.d4 lLl f6 2.lLl f3 g6 3.c4 il.. g7 4.lZJ c3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.ii e2 e5 7.0-0 lZJ c6 8.d5 lZJ e7 9.lLl d2 aS

Black's last move hinders b2-b4, which would support White 's desired contact on eS. 10.a3

72. Sacrificial Contact Primary contact by White 's QM at c5 takes place following careful prepara­ tion in light of the defensive measures taken to prevent it (Chapter 2 8 , A. l to A.4) .

White prepares b2-b4, but his QM is de­ layed somewhat as the a l -rook is loose - which the Petrosian System (Chapter 69, 8.il.g5) is intended to avoid.

The basic alternative to lO lZJ d7 (a re­ straining move) is 1 0 . . lZJ e 8 , aimed at holding both the base at d6 and the in­ vasion square at c7. ...

In order to accelerate the c4-c5 push and compensate better for Black's . . . f7-fS primary contact on the opposite wing, in our day and age this contact at cS is increasingly being carried out as a sacrifice - either a real sacrifice or a "sham" one , as Rudolf Spielmann termed it.

.

1 O ... il. d7 also serves a restraining pur­ pose, as it threatens l l . . . a4 (see Chapter 70, 15 . . . il.. d 7) enabling Black to capture en passant should White push b2-b4. After 10 . . il.. d7 White would play l l .b 3 , with the well-known tempo loss that justifies the whole restraint/obstruction complex. .

73. Contact Involving a Sham Sacrifice White 's contact at c5 can be executed as a temporary or sham sacrifice in which the "material given up is regained subse­ quently, frequently with interest" ( Spiel80

l l .�bl rs 12.b4 \t> h8 13.f3 lLl g8 14.�c2 lZJ gf6 15.il.. d3 f4 16.il.. e2 h5 17.c5

White's Play in the King's Indian Structure

Diagram 6 3 : Contact o n c S with a sham sacrifice

White makes contact at cS even though Black can win a pawn with 1 7 . . . dxc5 1 8 .bxc5 ll'l xc5 , reasoning that declining the offer would lead to tertiary contact at c6 and additional open lines. After regaining the pawn, the effect would amount to direct unblocking (Chapter 42) . Another way to look at the sacrifice is this: just as the . . . c7 -c 6 break against the front of White's pawn chain has gained in popularity for Black as an alterna­ tive to the Nimzowitschian attack on the base, here comes the sacrifice on c5 as compensation for White. The idea is to make a more direct link between the creation of the Q M and its correspond­ ing contact (Chapter 2 6 ) , skipping steps in the normal three-stage structure.

puter game Rybka 3-Rybka 3 , which continued 1 7 .. J:tt7 1 8 .c 6 ll'l b 6 19 .bxa5 l:: xaS 20.cxb7 .11i. xb7 2 l .a4 l::!: a8 22. ll'l b3 h4 (given White's pressure on the queen­ side , an interesting attempt by Black to speed up his QM attack with an unu­ sual kind of contact on h3 instead of the classical . . . g5 -g4) 23 . .ii.. b5 CiJ c8 24. l:: d l (24.h3, preventing the coming unusual type of contact, is an important alterna­ tive) 24 . . . h3 25 . .11i. a3 � g8 2 6 .gxh3 CiJ a7 27 . .11i. c4 .i. c8 28 .h4 � h7 29. � f2 CiJ d7 30. ll'l d2 .i. f6 3 1 . l:: b3 .ii.. xh4 32. � g2 ll'l f6 3 3 . l:: db l g5 34.h3 (White 's small edge disappears and we have dynamic bal­ ance on the board) 34 . . . .ii.. e 1 35 . .ii.. fl (35. l::i: b 8 , maintaining equality, should be considered; Black is better after the text move) 35 . . . � h4 3 6 . � e2 .i. xd2 37. � xd2 g4 3 8 . fxg4 CiJ xg4 39. �'e l � hS 40 . llJ e2 CiJ e 3 4 1 . 'it' h2 � f3 42. ll'l g l CiJ xfl + 43. � xfl � xe4 44. � f3 .ii.. fS 45. l:: b8+ .M xb8 46 . .M xb8 + 'it' g7 47 . ll a8 � xa4 48. � g2+ .i. g 6 49 . .i. c l � d l 50 . .ii.. d2 ll'l b5 5 1 . llJ f3 l:: f6 5 2 . l::i: d8 � c2 5 3 . 8 g5 CiJ d4 54. l:: d7+ 'it' g8 5 5 . h4 l:l:f8 5 6 . .ii.. e l � xg2 + 57. W xg2 .i. t7 5 8 Jhc7 .t xdS+ 59. 'iil h3 .ii.. e 6 + 6 0. 'it' g2 .t g4 6 1 . 'it' g l l:: b8 6 2 . .M e7 l::I b2 6 3 . l:: a7 d5 6 4 . .i. f2 ll'l e2+ 6 5 . 'iil fl e4 66 . .M a4 'it' g7 6 7. W e l l:: b l + 6 8 . W d2 l'Ifl 6 9 . .ii.. c5 8 g3 70. l'I a7+ W g 6 7 1 . l'I e7 l'I h l 72. 'it' c2 l'I xh4 7 3 . ll'l f7 W f6 74. l: c7 l::t h 2+ 75. 'it' b3 e3 7 6 . .ii.. d4+ W e 6 77. ll'l e5 e2 78. ll'l d3 f3 79. l'I c l M h l 80. l:: x h l llJ xh l 8 1 . llJ e l f2 8 2 . .i. xf2 tL'l xf2 0- 1 .

17 .dxc5 ..

18.bxc5 tL:l xcS 19.llJ b5 b6 20.a4 g5

Direct unblocking of the front of the white pawn chain (dS) . Declining the sacrifice in spite of White 's possible ter­ tiary contact at c 6 was tested in a com-

Passive defense (Chapter 75) with the idea of hanging onto the extra material was tested in another Rybka 3 computer 81

PART I I I game: 20 ... li:J fd7 2 l .�a3 �f6 22:1J c4 c6 23.dxc6 � xc6 24. l:Hd l VJ!i e7 (Black uses Nimzowitsch's " overprotection" con­ cept around its c5 strongpoint) 25.l:Id5 h4 (another attempted unorthodox QM contact to expedite the offensive, this time unsuccessfully) 26.� fl h3 27.l:Ibd l � h7 28.tll xb6 l:txb6 29.�xd7 � xd7 30.�xc5 VJ!i d8 3 1 . l:I xd7 VJ!i xd7 32.�xb6 (White is winning and the rest is a mat­ ter of technique) 32 . . . � c8 3 3 .tll c7 VJ!i d6 34.� xa5 VJ!i d4+ 35. VJ!i f2 VJ!i xa4 36. VJ!i h4+ �g8 37."fi/ e7 I:tb8 3 8 .VJ!ie6+ � h7 39.�b6 hxg2 40.W xg2 VJ!i c2+ 4 l .� h l 'lW e i 42.�h3+ Wg8 4 3 . li:J d5 � f8 44.'1Wg2 W f7 45.h4 � f6 46. � g l VJ!i a3 47.�f2 VJ!i d6 48.� e l � b l 49. VJ!i f2 �g7 50.�c3 l::t b 7 5 l .� h2 � h6 52.�c4 � h7 53. VJ!i gl VJ!i c6 54.� fl � b l 55. VJ!i a7+ � h6 56.�g2 � xh4 57. VJ!i a2 � c l 58. VJ!i d2 Mxc3 59. VJ!i xc 3 VJ!i xc3 60.li:J xc3 � e7 6 l . � f2 �g5 62.li:Jd5 � c5+ 63 . 'it' e2 'it' h4 64.W e l � d4 65.li:Jf6 �g3 66.� e2 �c3+ 67.� d l �f2 68.tll g 4+ �g2 69. � c2 � a l 70.�d3 � d4 7 l . � c4 � g l 72.�d5 � c3 7 3 . W d6 � a l 74.ilhl iL. xh3 19.gxh3 'i'W xh3

Black has already won a pawn and main­ tains his kingside attacking force, mov­ ing on to the invasion and attack on the white king. 20.il g2 '@h4 21.ilg5 l:Ixfl+ 22.� xfl 'iVf2 23.� g2l::te8 24.'@f3 CZ'le4 25.� h6 'i'W xb2

After fending offWhite 's feeble reaction, Black nets a second pawn and prepares to strike the final blow. 26.l::t e l CZ'lf2+ 27.'� xf2 iL.xf2 28.l:. xe8+ r;i) f7 29.l:If8+ '>ile7 30.il f3 sle3 0-1 9 7. Fighting for Space

The unequal effect ofWhite 's post-con­ tact break on each side's kingside space leads to a hard fight. Because this imbal1 15

PART IV ance favors Black in principle, White

will be trying to gain space there so as to prevent Black from invading; only then

Not only is the bishop restricted, but by

can he start thinking in more aggres­

coming back to c8 it also cuts off the aS­

sive terms. Black, of course, is thinking

rook from the kingside.

strictly in terms of the attack.

15.lLl b5 S.Mill i - M.Prangers Haarlem (Netherlands) 1997

With the clear intention of lZ:ld4 and lLlfe6.

l.d 4 ti:lf6 2.c4 g6 3.lLlc3 :il.g7 4.e4 d6 5.tZ'lf3 0-0 6.Jl e 2 e5 7.0-0 tZ'lc6 8.d 5 ti:le7 9.lLlel tZ:ld7 lO.ctJd 3 f5 l l.f4 exf4 1 2.tZ'l xf4 lLle5

15 ... g5 T his move closes off the queen's access to h4 and plays along with White's aim

Black played 1 2. .lLlc5 in the previous

of hindering Black's invasion. On the

game.

other hand, it challenges White to in­

.

vade on e6 before the supporting knight

13.exf5 il. xfS 14.g4

gets to d4.

16.tZ'le6 it xe6 17.d xe6 l:t xfl+ 18.� xfl c6 19.lLld 4 �b6 Black finds a way to sidle up to the white king. After

20.�f2 l:tf8 2 l.lLlf5 'i!f xf2+ 22.W xf2 lZ:l xfS 23.gxf5 l:t xf5+ Black trades queens, leaving White's position overextended and finally win­ Diagram87

ning a pawn. He will also capture the e6-pawn, now unsupported by pieces and unable to continue the invasion.

A more conservative choice in the fight for kingside space would be 14.g3, stop­ ping ...�d8-h4. T he text move is more

24.W g3 h6 25.e7 W f7 26.i.e3 b6 27.:il.g4 tZ'l xg4 28.W xg4 :tieS 29.Mfl+ � xe7

ambitious and seeks to increase White's space while decreasing Black's by block­

Two extra pawns are the fruit of Black's

ing his lines of communication. Black's

blistering counterattack.

invasion is hampered and his own (start­ ing with lLle6) facilitated.

116

30.itcl l::t e4+ 31.'.t'h5 l:te2 32.� g6

Black's Play in the King's Indian Structure i xb2 33. 'it' x h6 l:r xh2+ 34. \ii x gS .il xcl + 35.l:"1xcl l:r xa2

pawn on e4, which is somewhat analo­ gous to White's getting a pawn to e6 fol­ lowing lLl e6 and a trade on that square.

Black emerges three pawns up in the wake of White's attempts at counterplay.

13.bxc3 fxe4 14.lt:lb4tzlf5 15.g4

36.l:"1el+ 'it'd7 37.'it'f6l:rf2+ 3 8. 'it'g7l::I f4 39.llal aS 40.l:r bl 'it' c7 41.l:rel l:r xc4 42.t1e7+ � d8 43.®17 l:rf4+ 44.\t>e6 l'l:e4+ 0-1 98. Sacrificing for Space

Sacrificing material to gain kingside space did not work out for White , either -he still failed to contain Black's coun­ terattack.

R.G.Wade - J.Penrose Hastings 1 962 l.c4 g6 2.lt:l c3 i.g7 3.d4 d6 4.e4 tzlf6 5 il, e2 0- 0 6.tzl f3 e5 7.0-0 lt:lc6 8.d5 CiJe7 9.lt:lel lt:ld7 10.lt:ld3 f5 l l.f4 exf4 12.Jlxf4 .

In the last two games, White played 12.tzlxf4 intending lt:le6 . Here, White sacrifices a pawn to weaken the dark squares around the black monarch, in­ creasing his effective space on that wing. Note how the d3-knight is used to hold the b2-pawn, freeing the c3-knight to move.

Diagram 88

As in the previous game! In this case, 1 5 .g3 (to stop . . . 'i¥h4) followed by h2h4-h5 is not feasible. 15.g3 would be an­ swered by 1 5 . .. g5 , and White has failed to equalize the space on the kingside. 15 ... lt:lh4 16.�d2 �e8 17.l:rael lt:leS 18.Jl xe5 �xfl+ 19 .� xfl � xeS 20.�h6

White's forces are inadequately massed, and so his attack cannot force a decisive outcome. Looked at this way, White's move represents a serious dispersal of forces, as Black goes on to prove . 20 ... lZl f3+ 2l.Jl xf3 exf3 22.l:r xf3 i. xg4 23.�e3 'iYf6 24.M. el �f8 0- 1

1 2 ... lt, xc3

Black takes the offer, judging that the weakening of his dark squares will be made up for not just by the extra pawn, but also by the presence of a piece or

99. Fighting for Space by Reinforcing the Position

White has a more cautious approach to contesting Black's kingside space in the 117

PART IV

wake of the post-contact break: first and foremost, avoiding the dispersal of hls forces as with 20. �h6 in the last game, and then bolstering his position. With a lucky bit of "help" from Black, he can win. M.Z ingler- N.Bu�ic Weilburg 1998 l .d4 �f6 2."tJf3 g6 3.c4 ft g7 4.tllc3 0-0 5.e 4 d6 6.ite 2 e 5 7.0-0 tll c6 8.d5 tll e7 9.lt:lel lt:ld7 10.lt:ld3 f5 l l.f4 fxe4 12.0 xe 4 exf4 13.lt:l xf4

1 4.lt:lxc5 dxc5 1 5.g4 ii.d4+ 1 6.'it>h l c6 17. ii. f3 �d6 1 8.I'Ie l l':tf6 1 9. dxc6 bxc6 20.itg2 ii. f2 2 l. � xd6 ::ixd6 22.�e3 itxe l 23Jhel l:tf6 24.h3 ii.a6 25.b3 l:te8 26.'it>g l W fl 27. W h2 tllc 8 28.tll d3 l:tfe6 29.Mfl + I:i:f6 30.l:txf6+ hl 'ti'd8 26.a5

White seeks salvation in a counterattack starting with this queen trade, followed by a pawn sacrifice and invasion by the rook. 36 ...� xfS 37 .exfS CiJ xg4 38.i. xg4 J:t xg4 39.l:::r h3 r:t/ g7 40.l:te7+ 'it' f6 41.Me6+

121

PART IV 'it' xf5 42.l::!. h)(h6 l::!. f8 43.�h5+ l::!. gs 44.l::t xg5+ 'it' )(g5 45.c5

White 's QM at long last makes contact on c5, but at this stage of the game the point would be simply to put the rook be­ hind the passed pawn: 45 ... dxc5 46.l::t a 6. 45 ...a4 46.cxd6 cxd6 47.� xd6 �aS 48.l'� e6 a3 49.l:tel 'it' f5 50.h4 f3 51.d6 a2 52.Ii:al 'it'f4 53.'it'h2 f2 54.d7 W f3 55.l::t fl at'tW 0- 1

102. White Breaks on f4 after Direct Unblocking We have already looked at the f2-f4 break in the context of Black' s contact on f5 (Chapters 95-99) . Now we 'll see what happens when it follows direct un­ blocking by White .

In our previous game , the f3 -pawn was already in place and White had the op­ tion to play for restraint/obstruction. In this game , White has directly unblocked Black's e-pawn with e4xf5 and opened the g-file, so he plays for the f2-f4 break instead. This push has a dual purpose in mind: a) to enable his queenside pawns to ad­ vance, particularly the d5-pawn; b) to trade pieces to empty out the kingside, diminishing Blac k ' s attack there and facilitating his own counter­ attack. From Black's viewpoint, the break on f4 frees up his e- and f-pawns to advance toward promotion or for an attack on the white king. 12 ... tt::l g6 13.il. e3 tt::l f6 14.'tWc2 Ues 15.fxe5 dxe5

P.Brandts - R.J. Fischer

New York 1 97 1 l.d4 g6 2.c4 il. g7 3.tt::l c3 tt::l f6 4.e4 d6 5..i. e2 0-0 6.tt::l f3 e5 7.0-0 tt::l c6 8.d5 tt::l e7 9.tf.J el tf.J d7 1 0.tt::l d3 f5 l l.exf5 g)(fS 1 2.f4

The pawn chain disappears and all we have left now is unhindered pawns for both sides, ready to march forward. 16.il. g5 h6 17.Ji xf6 'tW xf6 18.'tWb3 e4

On the other hand , as the pawns ad­ vance they make holes for the enemy's pieces to mount a blockade - such as on f4 after 1 8 . . e4. .

19.tt::l f4 tt::l xf4

Diagram 93 : Post-contact break with f2-f4 122

Now we can see that the point of 1 2 . . . tt::l g6 was to trade the blockader off with . . . e5 -e4 in sight. A better blockader (the knight) is replaced by a less efficient one (the rook) , which is subject to harass­ ment from the g7-bishop.

Black's Play in the King's Indian Structure 9.LLl el tLl d7 lO.tiJ d3 fS l l.exfS gxfS 12.f4 Ci:l g6 13.i. e3 Ci:l f6

20.l"�xf4 'iWgS 21.�40

The threat of . . . if. e5 is enough to persuade the rook to give up the blockade on f4. 21...�e3+ 22.� hl �gs 23.c5

Both sides' QMs having turned into quantitative majorities from the un­ blocking trades and pawn breaks, now they start advancing. The difference is that, whereas White embarks on a flank attack that could net him material, Black is playing for checkmate . Diagram 94: Position after 1 4 . � d2 23...\t' hS 24.�adl i. es 26.Ci'l bl f4 27J�gl f3

2S.g3

l::l: gs

The black pawns' movements put an at­ tack on the king together with the pros­ pect of promotion.

The previous game featured 14.�c2, putting the queen out reach of a black knight on e4. The text move allows Black to seize the initiative by forcing the un­ blocking of his center pawns.

28.i.c4 �h5

14 LLl e4 lS.�cl .1t. d7 16.fxeS

Preparing a beautiful combination.

The possibility of this line-opening trade means that f2-f4 is a break rather than a blockade of f5.

29.�e3 � xg3 30.� xe4 'iW xh2+ 0- 1

103. White Breaks on f4 and Black's Pawns are Unblocked

.•.

16 ... tLl xc3 17.� xc3 dxe5 18.LLl c5 i. c8 19.'iWd2 b6 20.Ci:l b3 f4 21.i. f2 e4

When White directly unblocks the e5-pawn, then breaks with f2-f4 and takes on e5 , Black gets two unopposed pawns.

Black gains a significant amount of space, which he can use either to mass his forces for a kingside assault or to sup­ port the pawns' advance to the queening square - or both.

E. Schmid - G.Reis Nuremberg 1 98 8

22..i. d4 �gs 23.i. xg7 i. h3 24.i.dl e3 25.�e2 � xg7 26.� hl f3

1.1Zl t3 LLl f6 2.c4 g 6 3.LLl c3 i. g7 4.e4 d6 5.d4 0-0 6.J!L e2 e5 7.0-0 1Zl c6 8.d5 LLl e7

As Nimzowitsch might have said, the now-liberated pawns get to indulge their 123

PART IV lust to expand , working to open lines against the white king or else promote. 27.I:t xf3 CiJ f4

The pawns' advance and Black's force concentration speak for themselves. 28.Il xf4 I:t xf4 29.gxh3 M at'S 30. .Iil c2 Uf2 31.�g4 � xg4 32.hxg4 M fl+ 33.� g2 e2 34.CLl d4 M8f2+ 35.� g3 U xal 0- 1

104. White's f2-f4 Advance to Blockade the f5-Pawn Direct unblocking with e4xf5 (Chap­ ter 1 00) may be viewed as the transfor­ mation of the Nimzowitschian (pawn chain) queenside QM into a (non­ chain) blockader-pawn QM (Diagram 1 1) . In that case , a knight on e4, in ad­ dition to its blockading function and central pressure , would support White 's QM contact on c5 and future invasion of the queenside . The f4-pawn can be used not just to open lines with f4xe5 , but also (by not captur­ ing) to blockade Black's f5 -pawn. G .Kiuger - D. Bronstein

Diagram 95: B lockading B lack's f-pawn with f2-f4 Thus the f2-f4 push can help either to open up the position (pawn break) or to shut it down (blockade) . 12 11J g6 1 3.il. e3 tiJ f6 14.Ilcl � h8 .•.

15.c5 .lil h6 16.g3

Supporting the f4-pawn confirms its blockading purpose . 16 � e7 17 .cxd6 cxd6 ••.

White achieves what would seem to be his QM's target position. Next comes the invasion - but how? 18.� h1 j)_ d7 19.Ue1 b6

Budapest 1 96 1 l.d4 til f6 2.c4 g6 3.CLl c3 j)_ g7 4.e4 d6

A preventive move aimed at fxe5 . Instead . . . dxc5 would meet with .lil xc 5 .

s.Cil f3 0-0 6 .1il e2 e5 7.0-0 CLl c6 8.d5 •

til e7 9.tLl e1 tiJ d7 10.tiJ d3 f5 l l .exf5

20.i!. h5 tiJ xhS 21.� xh5 .lil g7 22.�d1

gxf5 12.f4

(see Diagram 95) In contrast to the two previous games, where White played f4xe5 , here White plays 1 2 .f4 to stop B lack's f5 -pawn. 124

Thanks to . . . b7 -b6, 23.fxe5 dxe5 24.il. xc5 is no longer a threat. Meanwhile, B lack makes use of the lines White opened on the queenside to hit alternative targets, leaving the kingside in standby mode.

Black's Play in the King's Indian Structure ing game , where the theme of blocking and unblocking is shown in all its glory.

22...�ac8 23JWd2 Wlif1

Threatening . . . 'i'xd5+.

...

l:l:xc3

followed

by P.Struner - A.Medina Garcia Brunnen 1 966

24.\t gl Mg8 25.Mcdl e4

Exposing a new line of communica­ tion towards White 's queenside, but also opening a window to the kingside. Black plays on the whole board, switch­ ing from target to target to keep his op­ ponent off-balance.

l.d4 Li'l f6 2.c4 g6 3.C2J c3 1l.. g7 4.e4 d6 5.C2Jf3 0-0 6 . 1l.. e2 e5 7.0-0 Li'l c6 8.d5 Li'l e7 9.Li'l el Li'l d7 10.Lt:l d3 f5 l l.exf5 gxf5 12.f4 8 g6 13.1l.. e3 Li'l f6 14.W hl W h8 15.it h5

26.Cll b4 CiJ h4

Because 27

is not possible due to winning the queen, Black gets in . . . CiJ f3+, netting the exchange. .

g xh4

27 . . Ji xc3+

27.Mfl CiJ f3+ 28. l:l: xf3 exf3 29.M fl aS 30.tll c2 b5 31.a3 l:l:c4 32.M xf3 b4 33.axb4 a xb4 34.CtJ e2 n xc2

Diagram 96 Black offers the rook to lure White 's queen away from defending d5, which has been under fire ever since 23 . . . Wii t7 . 35J!:Y xc2 Wli xd5 36.Mf2 � c6 37.W fl ge8 38.8 d4 Wlihl+ 0- 1

White wants to exchange the light­ squared bishop for the much more mo­ bile g6-knight. This trade would also de­ crease Black's kingside attacking forces. 15 ...e4

Mainly by utilizing the long diagonal, Black managed to get around the block­ ade on his f5 -pawn, which stayed put to the end. 105. Blocking and Unblocking

we 've seen before, N imzowitsch's QMs are a prime example ofthe concept of the blockade (see Chapters 18 and 23). This is shown clearly in the follow-

As

After the last two moves, the fight turns into an extensive blockading process en­ compassing the entire chessboard. White currently has a queenside QM and hopes to make contact with c4-c5. 16.Li'l f2 c5

This inversion prevents the c4-c5 push and gives Black the queenside QM with 125

PART IV a kind of Modern Benoni Structure. Apart from its defensive worth, Black's new QM would give him a second stra­ tegic objective , enhancing the value of his prospective kingside attack. White does best not to accept the in­ version, keeping the center open for a counterattack in response to Black's kingside operations.

order to gain a Q M on the queenside, at the cost of giving Black two passed pawns in the center. White trusts in his ability to blockade these pawns on d4, e 3 , and f4 (plus, eventually, on g5) . At the same time, he knows that this is critical to his plans to advance on the queenside. 22... tt:'l h5 23.tt:'l h3 i. f6 24 .1fl d4 I:tae8 •

l7.dxc6 bxc6 l8.i. xg6 hxg6

25.�a3 .t cs 26.tt:'l g5 \t> gs 27 .t xf6 •

tt:'l xf6 28.l::i d4

Bit by bit, White locks up the whole board. After this trade , he can put the brakes on . . . g6-g5 by placing pawns on h4 and g3 and blockading the e4-pawn with a piece. Black will naturally try to break the blockade and crack the game open with . . . d6-d5-d4. l9.�a4 �c7 20.lladl .lfl e6 2l.tt:'le2

Subtly inviting . . . d6-d5. 2l. ..d5 22.c5

Blockading the d5-pawn . However, the ideal blockade would have the knights stationed on e3 and d4, where they would also serve an offensive purpose. 28 ... l:e7 29.lla4

"The crippling effect which results from a blockade is by no means 'local ' in its nature " (My System 80) - so much so that White is already attracted by the prospect of booty on a7. However, lift­ ing the blockade with this rook move distracts from what Nimzowitsch called the blockader's " main function" ( ibid. 80) and betrays a certain impatience for a decisive outcome . White should main­ tain the blockade and keep maneuver­ ing behind the lines to consolidate the blockade. With the text move , he goes in for offensive operations instead, but this needs to be weighed carefully as Black's passed pawns are extremely dangerous.

Diagram 97 29...�fe8 30.�c3 tt:'l h7 31.tt:'l xh7 l':txh7

The position is as interesting as it is in­ structive. White has allowed ... d6-d5 in 1 26

32.�g3 \t>f7 33.\t> gl �e7 34.�e3 'it> gs 35.b4

Black' s Play in the King's Indian Structure Because the bishop can defend the a­ pawn with . . . a7 -a6, the rook sortie turns out to be innocuous, unless the opportu­ nity for an exchange sacrifice crops up. In this light, 35 .b4 can't be good, as it cuts White's own lines of communica­ tion and leaves the rook isolated. Better would be 3 5 .g3 , followed by h2-h4 and the blockade on d4 and e3.

while hitting the c6 -pawn and forcing Black to defend it.

3S...�h4 36.h3

50 �h5

Considering that the best blockading ar­ rangement would be g3-h4, and adding to that the rook's useless location on a4, we may conclude that Black has made some operational progress.

White 's condition is approaching criti­ cal in view of the threat of . . . � h5-g4, . . . l:!. e7-h7 , and . . . g6-g5 with a sacrifice to open the file and invade with . . . �h3 + . The defensive maneuver M d l - h l is im­ possible due to the black queen's control of d 1 , a typical case of cutting the en­ emy's interior lines of communication.

36 . �f6 37.tt:J d4 �b7 38.�d1 :C:g7 39.Mfl l:!.ee7 40.�h2 .l':!.h7 41.l:!.a3 l:!. e8 42.Md1 a6 43.g3 l:!.ee7 44.W g2 l:!.a7 45.Ma5 . .

47 l:!.gc7 48.l:!.d2 �h8 49.l2l b3 'f}. e7 •••

soJ� d4

This change ofblockader frees up the black pieces because the rook doesn't strike at the root of Black's pawn formation. .••

5 1 .CtJ c1 g5 52.'� e2 �h8 53.tt:l b3 gxf4 54.gxf4 � xh4 55.�e3 l:!. g7+ 56.� fl

Black threatened to play . . . a6-a5 with a diversionary action on the queen­ side to distract White from the real of­ fensive over on the kingside. White's move quashes that possibility. Each side is maneuvering behind the lines to strengthen its own blockade and smash the opponent's.

�h1+ 0- 1 106. Opening the f-File

The f-file comes open when Black re­ plies to White's direct unblocking e4xf5 by retaking with a piece:

45 ... :C:hb7 46.a3

Cutting off the aS -rook's retreat. White is now playing practically a rook down. 46 :C:g7 47.h4 .•.

At long last, White puts a stop to Black's ... g6-g5 break. Note that the knight is the ideal blockader, stopping the dS-pawn

Diagram 98: Opening the f-file 127

PART IV Two obseiVations: a) the typical King's Indian Structure pawn-chain QMs disappear, leaving a white blockader-pawn QM (see Chapter 15 ); b) this opening of the f-file (see Chapter 50) is structurally identical to what we have designated as indirect unblocking followed by a change of blockader (see Chapter 52) . Opening the f-file is an alternative to opening the g-file (Chapter 1 0 1 ) .

By recapturing with the knight, Black leaves the f-file open for his pieces. The knight can jump to d4 and wait for tacti­ cal opportunities. 12.f3

Seeking to consolidate around e4 (CiJd3f2-e4) and then advance the queenside QM. 12 J�'h4 •.

13.CZJ e4 h6

14.ii, d2

CZJ d4

15J� cl CZJ f6 1 6.ii, et

107. Direct Attack o n the White King With the f-file open, Black can aspire to a direct attack on White 's king if White slips up. In the first of two games in this chapter, White tries to go after Black's queen when instead he should have con­ solidated around the e4 square , giving rise to an onslaught culminating in a winning sacrifice.

Instead 1 6 . CZJ df2 and 1 7 .ii,d3 solidifies White 's position, leaving it up to Black whether to undertake heroic measures to pursue the attack on the white king. With the text move , White tries to cap­ ture the black queen or force a sacrifice . 16 ... �h5 17.g4 CZJ xg4

A

R.Goldner H.P. von Jiichen corr. (East Germany) 1973 -

l.d4 CZJf6 2.c4 g6 3.CZJc3 ii.gJ 4.e4 d6 5.CZJf3 0-4) 6.it. e2 e5 7.0-4) CZJc6 8.d5 CZJ e7 9.CZJet CZJd7 10.CZJd3 f5 ll.exf5 CZJ xrs

decisive

sacrifice .

If

17 . . �h3 .

18.CZJ xf6+ .t xf6 19.CZJ f2 �h4 20.CZJ e4

�h3 2 l . .t g3 , and the queen is trapped. 18.fxg4 J::t xfl+ 19.W xfl 20.W g l �e3+. 20... CZJ xe2 0- 1

In the second game, White circles the wagons around the blockading square e4, but a combination opens the way for Black's attack. Teuchert - Urankar Germany 1 98 1 Diagram 99 1 28

l .d4 CZJ f6 2.CZJf3 g6 3.c4 ii, gJ 4.CZJc3 d6

Black's Play in the King's Indian Structure 5.e4 0-0 6.ii e2 e5 7.0-0 CZ'lc6 8.d5 CZ'le7 9.CZ'l el CZ'l d7 10.Ci:l d3 f5 l l.exf5 CZ'l xf5 12.f3 Ci:l f6 13.CZ'l f2

But the text move allows a combination to make way for Black's pieces. 18 ...Ci:l xg2 19.\i7 xg2 �h3+ 20.'� hl �xh4 21.Ci:l b5 Ji. h3 22.�f2 l::t f4

Threatening . . . � xe4. 23.CZ'lg3 �af8 24.CZ'l xd 4 l::t xd4

Black's pieces circulate freely, making use of the blockading square on f4, but they have yet to solve the problem of how to develop the g7 -bishop. Diagram 1 00 : Consolidating around the e 4 square White fortifies e4 in order to advance on the queenside. Note , too , that the direct unblocking action yields Black two squares (d4 and f4) where he can plant his pieces and pressure the white king.

25.�e2 � df4 26.�gl g5 27.� c2 e4

This pawn push opens the diagonal for the bishop, which now threatens . . .� d4.

Black is the exchange to the good and regroups for the final offensive.

13... Ci:l d4 14.CZ'l fe4 The alternative, 14. CZ'l ce4, would leave the d5-pawn undefended, hindering White's advance to contact on c 5 .

30 ... ii f5 31.'.il g2 �h5 32.ii xfS l::t 4xf5 33.CZ'l g4 �g6 34.�e7 l::t s t7 35.�e3 l::t g7 36.�c3 h5 37.Ci:l f2 �f5 38.CZ'l e4 g4 39.'.il gl g 8f7 0- 1

14...Ci:l h5 15.� g5

Preventing Black from increasing his forces on the kingside with . . . �h4 as in the previous game . 1S ... �d7

16.!:tc1

CZ'lf4

17.� d 3

h6

18.� h4

If 1 8 . ii xf4, then 1 8 . . . exf4 and we have a blockader-pawn Q M on the kingside.

108. White's QM: Influence and Distractive Val ue

White ' s blockader-pawn QM (Chapter 1 5 ) , created on the queenside follow­ ing the direct unblocking action e4xf5 , plays a role in the course of this game. To this end, prior to launching kingside operations Black takes defensive meas­ ures with an inversion. 129

PART IV F.Giese L.Karwatt Germany 1 992 -

l .d4 L'Ll f6 2.c4 g6 3.L'Ll c3 il. g7 4.e4

White reacts at once to prepare the b2b4 break, turning . . . c7-c5 into a diver­ sionary action as Black gets to pursue his kingside objectives unimpeded.

d6 5.il. e2 0-0 6.L'Ll f3 e5 7.0-0 L'Ll c6 8.d5 L'Ll e7 9.L'Ll el L'Ll d7 1 0.L'Ll d3 f5

18 �e7 19.b4 b6 20.k:tf2 Il:t7 21.bxc5

l l .exf5 L'Ll xf5 12.f3 L'Ll f6 1 3. L'Ll f2 GD d4

bxc5 22.�a4

•••

14.il. d3

Showing an intention to consolidate on e4 before pushing the Q M on the queen­ side.

Getting ready to invade on b7, but White still needs to play �a6 and l:::t fb 2b7 in order to win the a7-pawn. All this gives Black more time to build up on the kingside.

14 il. f5 15.Si e4 L'Ll xe4 16.L'Ll fxe4 h6 •..

17.1i e3

22 g5 •.•

23J� a6

�d8

24.k::t fb2

il. c8

25.�a5 l::t dt8 26.L'Ll b5 L'Ll xb5 27.cxb5

Playing 2 7 . ;g, xb5 would preclude the classical invasion. On the other hand, establishing the quantitative pawn ma­ jority shuts otT the file and frees up the c8-bishop . 27 g4 •••

28.fxg4

iL xg4

29.k::t c l

Jus

30.L'Ll g3 il. d3

Diagram 1 0 1 17 . . c5 .

Focusing on f1 creates a direct threat to the white king. 31.l':l:d2 e4 32.L'Ll e2 �h4 33.g3 �g4 34.L'Ll f4

Tactically, this holds the attacked piece ; operationally, it 's a defensive method (inversion) against White ' s blockad­ er-pawn Q M . Strategically, it serves as a diversionary maneuver, spurring White on to attack the queenside and shift pieces to that sector, while Black masses his forces to attack the white king. 18.l::t b l

1 30

With his last two moves, White aims at cutting Black's lines of communication and plugging up the invasion points as in the strategic wall. 34 M xf4 ••.

This sacrifice knocks down the wall, opening new lines of communica­ tion .

Black' s Play in the King's Indian Structure 35.� xf4 M Xf4 36.�d8+ l:If8 0-1

White's queen has been a spectator all through this contest. However, coming back to the kingside now with 37.�h4 would lead to 37 . � d4+ 38.�hl � f3+ 39.Mg2 e3, winning, and still the queen did nothing. .

.

109. Opening the g-File

Although we' ve been studying the di­ rect unblocking action with the open­ ing of the f-file , it ' s entirely possible for that file to close back up with the opening of the g-file . In that case we ' re back to the central black pawn roller, with or without other consequences stemming from the previous opening of the f-file .

R. Stejskal - D.Wildenrath corr. ( East Germany) 1 979 l.c4 ibf6 2.tb c3 g6 3.d4 �g7 4.e4 d6 s.ti'lf3 0-0 6.� e2 eS 7.0-0 tb c6 8.d5 t:iJe7 9.tb e l ib d7 10.tbd3 fS l l .exf5 t:iJ xfS 12.f3 ib f6 13.t2J f2 ib d4 14.l2Jfe4

Diagram 1 02: I nversion

This inversion has a dual purpose when played after direct unblocking. As we saw in the previous game, should White wish to break with b2-b4 so as to invade on the queenside, Black may treat this whole flank attack as a diversion from his mounting kingside offensive. On the other hand, ifWhite takes a wait­ and-see approach, then Black can launch his QM on that wing in the attempt to distract White from the k.ingside. 18.�d2 a6 19.tb g3 �ae8 20.ik xfS gxfS

Now the g-ftle is opened and the idea of central black pawn roller comes back to life, on top ofthe diversionary QM at­ tack on the queenside. a

White proceeds cautiously, rallying around the e4 square and inviting a change of blockader there .

21.tb e2 b5

14 ..tb xe4 1S.tb xe4 ik f5 16.ik g5 .

Black's QM makes contact. As we've seen before, this is to prevent Black's queen from deploying to the kingside. 16 �d7 17 .t d3 cS ...

•

22.ib xd4 cxd4 23.b3 e4 24.fxe4 fxe4

Black combines the passed pawns' ad­ vance with an attack on White ' s king. 13 1

PART IV 25.Mae1 M Xfl+ 26.\t> xfl 'iV g4

There always seems to be a decisive queen strike: blocked from reaching h4, it pops up on g4! 27.h3 'iVhS 28.g4

If 28.2U4, then 28 'i'f5 followed by ...

. . .e4-e3 . 28... 'iV xh3+ 0- 1

Diagram 1 0 3

1 10. Operational Clearance after the f-File Comes Open

Black's QM attack can be diminished by piece trades. This tends to favor White, as his own QM attack is positional in na­ ture, whereas Black's offensive aims at the opposing king and the queen is es­ sential to the attack. In such situations, White 's QM attack on the opposite wing becomes increas­ ingly serious and Black must change tack in order to win. R.Cruz E.Cafure Buenos Aires 1 965 -

1 .d4 ti:lf6 2.c4 g6 3.ti:l c3 Ji.. g7 4.e4 d6 5.ti:lf3 0-0 6.Ji.. e2 e5 7.0-0 ti:l c6 8.d5 ti:le7 9.ti:l e1 ti:l d7 10.ti:l d3 f5 1 1.exf5 ttJ xfS 12.f3 �h4

(see Diagram 103)

these possibilities. This operation, how­ ever, leads to trades clearing the king­ side of attackers and setting the stage for White's Q M attack over on the queen­ side. This operational description, though unfavorable to Black, isn't the end of the matter. Black finds a new strategic ap­ proach to bring his position back to life in a different phase of the game. The key to this contest, it seems to me , lies in the interplay between the oppos­ ing players' goals for the game : a) 1 2 'iVh4 shows that Black is playing to win; b) by clearing out the kingside, White shows his desire to win using the queen­ side Q M ; c ) realizing this, Black allows White to mobilize on the queenside and then ex­ ploits the weaknesses left in their wake. . . .

As we've seen before , the . . . � h4 inva­

sion can be decisive and so White some­ times prevents it with Ji.. g5 (possibly pinning the knight) or g2-g3 . Here the black queen sorties early to pre-empt 132

13.ti:l e4 Ji.. h6 14.Ji.. xh6 � xh6 15.�c1 � xcl 16J:� fxcl b6

Black's Play in the King's I ndian Structure 19 ... l:I xf6 20.c5 ..ltrs 21.cxd6 cxd6

White exposes the base pawn and gains the invasion point at c7, as in the normal Nimzowitschian QM attack.

Diagram 1 04

The last few moves (piece trades and . . . b7-b6) make us think that Black is pursuing the above plan. Looking at the position, we see that Black will have to proceed subtly and indirectly, paying close attention to how White's pieces are deployed to find weak spots.

Thus, both the bishop and queen trades and now 1 6 . . . b6 are intended to restrain c4-c5 and spur White on to shift his forces to the queenside in order to en­ force the pawn push. 17.b4 Cll d4 1 8 ...11i. fl tll f6

Hitting d5 makes it harder to make con­ tact on c5. In order to get it in, White must trade knights, further clearing Black's wing on the kingside and in­ creasing White 's confidence with re­ spect to his queenside activity.

We should note the presence of the d4knight (a consequence of our direct unblocking with a piece recapture on f5) , which serves an important func­ tion defending the d6-pawn. Basically, White needs to take a roundabout route (l:I c l -c7-d7) to get at the pawn. In co­ ordination with the rooks on the f-file , the d4-knight also plays a dangerous of­ fensive role eyeing the f3 square , which White apparently didn't take seriously enough. 22.tll f2 gaf8 23.I'!c7 �6t7 24.1::l. acl gxc7 25.l:I xc7 gf7 26.g c3

Because gc8-d8 is no longer possible , White decides he needs to eliminate the f5-bishop so that he can get at the d6pawn. This means White is playing to win. Black can exploit this intention by making drawish moves (such as offering rook trades) which White can avoid only by making concessions that give Black some hopes of winning. 26 ... c;t> f8

To defend d6. 27.Cll e4

19J�j xf6+

A logical move , relieving the pressure on d5 and leaving the blockader-pawn Q M free t o advance.

Hitting d6 and forcing the trade , making c8 available to the rook. 27 ..lt xe4 28.fxe4 •••

133

PART IV 30 .. � g5 .

Making use of the rook' s absence , the black king threatens to enter the oppos­ ing camp with . . . � f4-e3.

The base pawn on d6 falls to the classic enveloping action described by Nim­ zowitsch. Diagram 105: Exposed bases

This last exchange led to the target po­ sition for each side 's QM attack in the King's Indian Structure. Each side' s base pawn i s exposed (see Diagram 82), and White can carry out an enveloping maneuver to reach the d6-pawn. 28 ... cb g7

Moving the king away from d6 and giv­ ing White time both to restrict the d4knight and to carry out the long-sought encirclement. But this is precisely the kind of dispersal of the white army that Black himself has been trying to bring about.

32... l:t c3 33.2£. fl c;i/ f4

The rook's far-off deployment is now revealed as a serious dispersal of forces. 34.l:l:f6+ � xe4 35.d6

Black's passed pawn is supported by its king, White 's on d6 is not, and this spells the difference . 35 l:t c8 36.d7 �d8 37.l::t t7 h5 38.2£. a6 ..•

� d5 39.�c8 � e6 40J::t g 7

Drops the rook, but instead 40.l::t f2 tll c6 4 l .a3 tll b8 and both the pawn and the game are lost. 40 ... 'it' f6 41.� h7 tll e6 0- 1

29.2£. d3

1 1 1. Reinforcing the Base The knight now has no moves into White 's territory, and the rook is free to go after d6. 29...� h6 30.l::t c8

White needed to play g2-g3 and 'it' g2 first, denying access to Black's pieces, and only then ll c3-c8. 134

Once contact is made on f5 , White can base his play on reinforcing the base with l .f3 (see Chapter 5 1 ) . (see Diagram 106) Note that White can delay reinforcing the base by playing other moves first, and also that he can even "pre-reinforce" the base by

Black's Play in the King's Indian Structure Indirect unblocking occurs when Black takes on e4 and White recaptures with a piece (usually a knight ) , unblocking the e4-pawn.

Diagram 106: Reinforcing the base with f2-f3 pushing to f3 before Black pushes to 5, as in the Siimisch Variation (see Chapter 129). Black has three ways to proceed after White bolsters his base on e4: a) he can execute indirect unblocking with l . . .fxe4 (Chapter 52) ; b) he can shift the base with 1 . . .f4 (Chap­ ter 53) , the most important option; or c) he can adopt a wait-and-see stance (Chapter 43) by doing nothing on the kingside (tenuki), basically letting White decide what to do next. 1 12. Indirect Unblocking

The indirect unblocking action is an at­ tempt to free up Black's e5-pawn. I call it " indirect" unblocking by analogy to the direct unblocking action ( Diagram 36) carried out by White 's blockading pawn on e4 capturing the contact pawn on f5 . There are two ways for White to reply to indirect unblocking by B lack: a) changing blockaders by retaking with a piece , usually a knight ; and b) replacing the base pawn with f3xe4 , giving us the target position for Black's Q M attack. 1 13. Indirect Unblocking: Immediate Opening of Lines

In the following game , we see indirect unblocking with the idea of opening lines at once. A queenside i nvasion is carried out in conjunction with plans for the liberated e 5 -pawn's expan­ sion. B.Malich - N.Minev East Germany-Bulgaria Match 1 958 l.c4 lll f6 2.lll c3 g6 3.d4 i. g7 4.e4 d6 s.i. e2 0-0 6.ll:l f3 c6

A "pre-break" in anticipation of d4d5 , also setting up the . . . c6-c5 inversion (Chapter 1 2 1 ) .

Diagram 1 07: Indirect unblocking with ... f5xe4

7.0-0 a6 8.d5 eS 1 35

PART lY We have arrived at the King's Indian Structure with the . . . c7 -c6 break already in place.

In the face ofBlack's break, this amounts to a wait-and-see stance. 9 cxd5 ••.

Taking the front pawn makes use of the fact that White can 't retake with the knight as the e4-pawn would drop. Black could also execute an inversion with . . . c6-c5.

Taking advantage of the c3- kn ight's loose position following b2-b4, Black makes it the focus of his queenside counterplay. This shows, incidentally, that while the break . . . c7 -c6xd5 may let White achieve his target position in fewer moves, this isn't always good for White. In this case , we should take into account the fact that the changed move order (including an alternative deploy­ ment for the knights) allowed Black to leverage the consequences of the . . . c7c6 break. 16 .t d2 �b6+ 17.lil f2 � d4 18.�el fxe4 •

lO.cxdS

And so White achieves his target posi­ tion in fewer moves, as we saw in Chap­ ter 79 ( 1 3 . . . cxd5). 10...li:Je8 l l.til d3 Li'l d7 12.b4 f5 13. .l::!: b l til df6 14.f3

Reinforcing the base. 14 ... i. d7 15.a4 .l::!: c8

Diagram 1 09 With the disruption of White's queen­ side , Black adopts indirect unblock­ ing to open lines. This goes along with success on the queenside - Black now aims to bring forces over from both the kingside and the queenside to bear on the white king. 19.fxe4 .t xa4

Diagram 108: Position after 1 5 . . . .l::!: c 8 1 36

A sacrifice to pry open the c-file.

Black's Play in the King's I ndian Structure 2M'l xa4 CiJ xe4 21.�dl � c2 Black's invasion of the queenside could be hailed by Watson as a triumphant ex­ ample of the modem treatment of the pawn chain.

V.Korchnoi S . Giigoric La Habana 1 969 -

l.d4 CiJ f6 2.c4 g6 3.CiJ c3 il. g7 4.e4 d6 5.CiJ f3 0-0 6.il. e2 e5 7.0-0 CiJ c6 8.d5 CiJ e7 9.CiJ d2 CiJ d7 10.b4 f5 l l.CiJ b3

22.�cl VJJ/ a7 23.CiJ b2 CiJ xf2 24. � xf2 e4

The e5-pawn's advance (the result of indirect unblocking) sets the g7 -bishop free. 25.tll c4 U xcl

Winning a pawn and leading to victory. 26.� xcl .t d4 27.'it' h l .t xf2 28.VJJ/ c 3

Diagram 1 1 0

'i'd4 Black would like to trade queens , as that

l l ... fxe4

would give a pawn-up ending.

29.�h3 VJJf f6 30.�0 VJJ/ e7 3t..t g4 e3 32.� e6+ h3 �h6+ 54.Wg3 �f4+ 5 5 . W h 3 �-�. .

It's also interesting to see how Stockfish handles this position. After 2 1 . . . CZJ h7 , a s Rybka played, Stockfish goes for the queen trade with 22 .�xa8 and after 2 2 . . . l'::l: xa8 23 . CZJ d3 Wf7 24.CZJb4 �e8 2 5 . CZJ a6 W d8 , Black sets up a veritable strategic wall.There followed tedious 156

play with 26 � a l i.c8 2 7 . � g2 hxg4 2 8 . hxg4 CZJg5 29.Ma3 �b7 30.CZJa2 W d7 3 I .ii. c3 CZJg8 32.CZJ 2b4 Wc8 3 3 . CZJ c6 il. f6 34.ii. d l CZJ e7 3 5 . CZJ cb4 CZJg8 36.CZJd3 il. e7 3 7 . M a l Lll h6 3 8 .� c2 CZJ hf7 39. CZJ db4 Wd7 40 . CZJ c6 Ji. f6 4 l .ii. d l � c 8 42 . � f2 � h3 + 4 3 . W fl CZJ hg5 44. W g2 g2 il. f6 8 1 .Lll a6 W d8 8 2 . Ji. c2 W d7 8 3 .CZJb8+ �e8 84.CZJc6 CZJf7 8 5 .� e l CZJ hg5 86.CZJcb4 rt; d7 87.il. d l CZJ h6 8 8 . CZJ c6 W e8 89.il. c3 Lll h7 90. CZJ cb4 CZJf7 9 l .ii. e l il. c 8 9 2 . CZJ c6 Jib7 9 3 . il. c 3 Lll h6 94.il. a4 CZJ f7 . Now Stockfish makes its one and only real attempt to break through Black' s stra­ tegic wall , though to no end. A draw ensued after the c4-c5 break: 95.c5 dxc5 96.ii.xe5 il. xe5 97.CZJ cxe5 CZJ xe5 98.CZJxe5 g5 99 .Jib3 CZJ f6 l OO . CZJ c4 W d 7 1 0 l .W f2 c;!; e7 1 02 . CZJ e 5 CZJ e8 1 03. c;!; e2 CZJ d6 1 04.il. a4 � f6 1 0 5 . CZJ d7+ '>t> e7 l06.CZJe5 � f6 1 07.CZJ d7+ 'it> e7 1 0 8 . CZJ e5 \12-�. .

.

14.hxg3

This pawn trade exposes the base pawn, as we saw from the other side in Chapter

Black's Play in the King's Indian Structure 38 (letter "a"). Here it gives the white king some scope , bringing to mind the concept of "chess Shogi" we'll be dis­ cussing in Diagram 208 . 1 4. ..tiJ h5 15.� g2 8 f4+ A long- range positional sacrifice. As of now we have basically a whole new game , where Black' s QM persists as but a dim memory of what came be­ fore. 16.gxf4 exf4 17.e5 ..t xe5 1 8.Cb ge4 Ci:l f5

Black really doesn't have enough pieces to mount a mating attack, partly be­ cause the white king has an open escape route. Black therefore brings up the re­ serves - basically, the extra kingside pawns , in the attempt to promote one of them. 2s.J1 n

Removing the final obstacle ; now the queenside is wide open! 28... g4+ 29.� e2 f3+ 30.\t d3 g3 31 ..t xh3 'i¥ xh3 32.�d2 'i¥g4 33.�f2 g2 34.l::t a el � ae8 35.� c2 gf4 36.'it' b3 •

The king concludes his run. White is banking on his pieces (including the extra bishop) to stop the black pawns' march. 36 gfxe4 37.� xe4 � xe4 38.'i¥ xa7 'i¥g6 39.�f2 'i¥g4 40.'� a7 .l:ii: e8 41.Jl. el 'i¥e4 42.Jl. f2 'i¥d3+ 43.� b4 �d2+ 44.\t> b3 b6 0- l ••.

Diagram 1 25 19.l::t g l

White is now defending against the re­ sulting quantitative majority. 19 ...Ci:l g3 20. ..t d2 si xc3 21...t xc3 8 xe4 22.fxe4 'iY g5+ 23. \tn

A surprising cut in the white queen's lines of communication. On top of that, with the removal of the f2-bishop the e3 square is now available for the e8-rook to come in with check. White resigns, as his king's race to the queenside failed to stop Black from pursuing it. 126. Invasion by Black

White lays the groundwork for his king's flight from the battle zone. 23 ... Jl. h3+ 24.'it>f2 'i¥h4+ 25.\t f3 'i¥h5+ 26.'it'f2 'i¥h4+ 27.'it' f3 g5

The QM attack opens the lines that our pieces need to invade the enemy camp (see Chapter 1 2) . Invasion is the whole point of the QM attack, and a primary medium-range objective . Barring the in157

PART IV vasion (see Chapter 27) , the QM attack is little more than a rhetorical device . The game Petrosian- Lutikov (Chap­ ter 69) is a classic example of an inva­ sion made possible by the QM attack, a model of the flank attack where the in­ vasion sets the stage for new operations aimed at winning material or launching a winning assault on the king. On the other hand, in Everard-Camara (Chap­ ter 1 1 8), the invasion is mixed together with a direct attack on the king. Looking more broadly at the concept of the invasion, in the next game the inva­ sion takes the shape of a counterattack on the same wing after White's attack peters out.

S.Giigoric - L.Stein Moscow 1 967 l.d4 etJ f6 2.c4 g6 3.etJc3 il.. g7 4.e4 d6 5.etJf3 0-0 6.il.. e2 eS 7.d5 aS 8.0-0 etJ a6 9.il.. g5

Diagram 1 26

The situation on the kingside is rela­ tively quiet for the time being, but the potential remains for the black pawns to resume their march with tempo gain on the white bishops. 14 c6 •..

With everything under control on the kingside, Black goes for this break and the capture of the front pawn. 15."�c2

The accurate timing of White 's castling is one of the main themes of the Petro­ sian System (Chapter 69, 1 2 . . . f5) . But here this move is ineffective, as White has already castled short. 9 ...h6 to .t h4 gs etJf4 .

n ..t g3

tt:J hs t2.tt:J d2

White wants to control d3, which is cur­ rently at the mercy of the black knights, but this puts the queen on the soon-to­ be -opened ftle. Little by little , Black will gain additional tempi to carry out his queenside plan. 15 ... cxd5

By blocking the 0-pawn, the f4-knight serves the same offensive function as a pawn, setting the stage for the black QM's advance. 13.il.. g4 etJ c5 14.f3

1 58

By initiating the pawn trade , Black can bring about (with tempo) the target po ­ sition of White's QM attack. This is a risky proposition which must be consid­ ered carefully beforehand. In favorable

Black's Play in the King's Indian Structure conditions (like here) , this action could win the queenside for Black, turning it into a second theater of operations. In such cases, taking the front pawn - nor­ mally a way to defend against White's QM - quickly gives rise to a counterof­ fensive . Ultimately, Black hopes to ex­ ecute a pincer attack on the white king, with the direct QM assault and the later­ al action coming in from the queenside as the two prongs. Diagram 1 2 7

16.cxd5 b5 17.a4

1 7 .tll xb5 �b6 and . . tZ:l xe4+ with dis­ covered check - an important detail enabling Black to seize the initiative on the queenside.

22.LZJ xeS leads t o a n unstoppable inva­ sion of White 's queenside: 22 . . . l::t xc5 23 .�d2 l:Ib8 24 . .iH2 �c7 25 . ® h l l::t b 3 26.Mfc l tZ:l d3.

17 ... bxa4

22 .tZ:l cd3

.

..

Black avoids 1 7 . b4 due to a future b2b3 , reinforcing c4 for the knight. See Chapter 79, 1 5 . b4 and 23.tZ:l c4. .

.

. .

18.tll c4 h5

Another detail: In addition to advancing the kingside Q M , this move forces the trade on c8 and brings the a8-rook to the c-file without loss of time.

Black wants to get rid of the f2-bishop. 23.�d2 CZJ xf2 24.l::t xf2 g4

This secondary contact joins the king­ side QM attack to the queenside action made possible by the opening of lines starting with 14 c6. . . .

19.i. xc8 l::t xc8 20.tZ:l xa4 Wic7 21.tZ:l e3

Despite the presence of the target posi­ tion, White never does find the time to mobilize for the queenside invasion. 21. Wia7 22 .t f2 .•

•

Diagram 1 2 8 15 9

PART IV 25.0fS

25 .fxg4 it h6 26. l:t e l hxg4 27 . h l f5 (contact on f5 !) 28.0 xf5 l:'l xf5 29.exf5 ctJ h3 . Better is 25 . h l .lk h6 26. ctJ f5 .lk g5 27. 1: 2fl .

trades, as it is directed at static objectives which remain even as both sides' forces are decreased; on the other hand, trad­ ing pieces on the kingside tends to di­ minish the ferocity of Black's attack .

M.Bluvshtein - Y.Vaingorten Toronto 2002

25 ... gxf3 26.'tt> h1

1.d4 ctJ f6 2.c4 g6 3 .0 c3 .lt g7 4.e4 d6

26.gxf3 fails to 26 . . ctJ h3+. .

5.0 t3 0-0 6.ii.e2 e5 7.0-0 Lt:l c6 8.d5 0 e7 9.0 e1 0 d7 10.i. e3 f5 l l .t3 f4

26.. .'+W xf2

12 .lk f2 g5 •

A combination to break the queenside wide open. 27.'+W xf2 fxg2+ 28.'+W xg2

28. \t> g l ctJ h3+ 29. W xg2 0 xf2 30 . ctJ e 7+ h7 3 1 . 0 xc8 0 xe4. 28 ..iLl xg2 29 :;.t> xg2 .

Or 29. ctJ e7+ h7 3 1 . \t xg2 l:I c2+.

30.0 xc8

l:::t xc8

Diagram 1 29 29...l:Ic2+ 30.\t t3 l:Ib8 31.\t e3 :b3+ 13.:tcl

A brutal invasion of the queenside . 32.ctJ c3 l:!:3xb2 33.l:t a3 l:t xh2 34. d3 Mh3+ 35.0 e3 i.h6 36.ctJ cd1 M b 1 0 - 1

127. Th e Wing Attack and Operational Clearing

One of the main differences between White 's wing attack on the queenside and Black's direct assault on the king has to do with the question of opera­ tional clearing. White's queenside QM attack allows for some number of piece 160

Theory recommends 1 3.ctJb5 b6 ( 1 3 ... a6 14.0a7 l: xa7 1 5 . .lk xa7 b6 1 6.b4 .1i.b7 1 7.c5 dxc5 1 8.l:!:cl tt:l c8 19.bxc5 .li aS 20.c6 ctJ f6 2 l ..it xb6 Lt:l xb6 22 ..lk xa6, V.Korchnoi-K. Hulak, Zagreb 1987) 14.b4 a6 1 5 .Lt:lc3 l:!:f6 16.ctJd3 l:t h6 1 7 .\t el ctJf6 18.Lll t2 l:t g6 1 9.a4 h5, P.van der Ster­ ren-R.Douven, Netherlands 1 987. .

Also 13 . . Lll g6 1 4 . b4 Lt:lf6 1 5 .c5 �f7 1 6 .cxd6 cxd6 1 7.a4 h5 1 8 .a5 . .

Black's Play in the King's Indian Structure 14.c5 a6 1S.lll a4

contact (Chapter 62), intensifying the kingside attack.

A theoretical novelty. The alternative would have been tertiary contact with 1 5 .c6 bxc6 1 6.dxc6 t'll f8 (not 1 6 . t'll xc6 17.'i¥d5+) 1 7 t'll d5 t'll xd5 1 8 .exd5 'i¥e8 1 9.Whl 'i¥h5 20 . .il. g l lll g6 2 l .t'll d3 lLlh4 22.lll f2 etJ f5 23 .t'll e4 l:th6 (�- � . 5 8 ) as in O.Zierke-D.Sebastian, Ger­ many 1 999.

23 g3 24 .t gl tLl d7 •.•

•

..

.

1S �h6 16.'i¥b3 W h8 17.cxd6 cxd6 •••

The game is at a critical stage . White has achieved the target position and is poised to invade. 18.etJb6 Q'\ xb6 19.'i¥ xb6

Here's the difference. White doesn't mind trading queens because his inva­ sian continues unabated, as his objec­ tives are of a lesser, intermediate nature . For Black, a similar clearance on the kingside would cripple his prospects for a successful attack on White's king.

Black threatens . . . � x h2 + .

to

sacrifice

with

2S.tZ'l xd6

White tries to trade queens - the last hope - but fails.

26.h3 l:I xh3+ 27 . .il. h2 (27.gxh3 g2+ 28.�h2 'i¥ g3#) 27 .. J::!: xh2+ 28.W g l l::l: h l + 29.� xh l 'i¥h6+ 30.'1t> g l 'i¥h2#. Or 26. M xc8 + l::i: xc8 with the better game in view of 27.1i:l xc8 l:t xh2+. 26. .tt:J f8 27.'i¥e8 .

27.LLl f5 � xf5 , or 27.LLlc4 I! xh2+ followed by mate. Finally, if 27.� xc8 l:I xh2+. 27 ...'i¥ xd6 28.M xc8 l:t xh2+ 0- 1

19 'i¥e8 20.Whl lll g8 21.Lll c2 LLl f6 22.LLla3 g4 23.LLlc4 •..

Better would be direct unblocking (see Chapter 50) with 23 .fxg4 tZ'l xe4 24Ji'l c4 . The text move not only doesn't threat­ en d6, it also facilitates Black's tertiary

Mate follows after 29.i. xh2 'i¥h6 . Three times White tried to trade queens - the first time for positional purposes, in pur­ suit of his flank attack on the queenside ; the last two , trying to relieve the assault on his king.

161

Part V

The Samisch in the King's Indian Structure

128. The Siimisch Variation

Let's review the starting moves in one of the first games featuring this variation - played by the inventor himself. F. Siimisch - F. D.Yates Marienbad 1 925 l.d4 tZ'lf6 2.c4 g6 3.tZ'l c3 Ji.. g7 4.e4 d6 5.13

a) it controls g4, preventing . . . Ltl g4; b) after ... c7-c5 or ... e7-e5 , White can either maintain the central tension or lock up the center with d4-d5 , creating mutual QMs; c) following the d4-d5 push , he can de­ ploy aggressively with 1L e3, �d2, 0-0-0, and 1L e3 -h6; d) White can launch a pawn storm on Black's king with g2-g4 and h2-h4. Given the d4-d5 push, 5.0 may be viewed as a base pre-reinforcement ( Dia­ gram 52). Before the QMs come on­ stage , we may call £2-0 a center pre-re­ inforcement ( Diagram 1 3 1 ) . 5 ... 0-0 6.1L e3 tZ'l c6 7.� d2 e5

Diagram 1 30: The Siimisch Variation The primary idea of 5 . 0 , establishing the Siimisch, is to reinforce the center and leave White ready to take on anything Black might throw at him in the course of the game . But other considerations come into play with this move: 162

This central advance forces White to decide whether to maintain the d4/e5 tension, making use of the reinforcing pawn on 0 ; or to establish primary QMs with d4-d5 . 8.tZ'l ge2 tZ'l d7 9.d5 tZ'l e7

Besides queenside castling, one of the fundamental ideas in this opening is to play g2-g4 and tZ'l g3 , restraining Black's

The Samisch in the King's Indian Structure . . . 17-f5 contact and setting the condi­ tions for a withering attack on the black king. The so-called " Benoni Leap " with Ci'lg3 -f5 , involving a piece sacrifice , is one thematic idea.

Let's leave Samisch-Yates to speak for it­ self as the best introduction to the subject: 1 0.g3 a5 l l ..it g2 b6 1 2.0-0 CL:lc5 13.b3 Jtd7 14.CL:lcl f5 15 ..ith6 l:l:f7 1 6 ..it xg7 l:ixg7 1 7.f4 exf4 1 8.:t'!xf4 fxe4 19.CL:l xe4 ti:lf5 20.tb e2 'VJ/ie7 2 l .CLJ xc5 bxc5 22.l:e4 'i'f8 23.:t'!f1 :t'!f7 24.:t'!el 'VJ/ig7 25.ti:lf4 'VJ!if6 26.'iid h l a4 27.b4 cxb4 28.'VJ/ixb4 c5 29.dxc6 Jtxc6 30.CL:ld5 'VJ/ig7 3 1 .g4 l:b7 32.'VJ/ia3 Jt xd5 33.cxd5 CL:lh4 34.'VJ/ixd6 :t'!f8 35 .l:e8 ti:l xg2 36.'VJ/ie6+ 'VJ!if7 37Sfl xg2 l:b2+ 38. Wg3 l: xe8 39.�xe8+ � xe8 40.l:l:xe8+ Wf7 41 .l:h8 :!':!xa2 42.l:l:xh7+ �f6 43.Wf4 g5+ 44.�e4 l:l: e2+ 45.�d4 a3 46.:1':!116+ We7 47.l:a6 a2 48.h3 �d7 49.� d3 l:e5 50.'iid d4 l: e2 5 l .�d3 l:e5 52.�c4 :t'!e2 53.�c5 l:Ic2+ 54.\t>d4 l:e2 55.\t>d3 l::t e5 56. J::i xa2 l:xd5+ 57.\t>e4 :t'!b5 58.h4 gxh4 Y2-Y:z. 129. Pre-Reinforcement

There are two kinds of pre-reinforce­ ment: base pre - reinforcement and cent­ er pre-reinforcement.

In this skeleton position showing only each side 's castling and center disposi­ tions, White has just played l .f3 . We call this "pre-reinforcing" the center since the center is not yet actually under at­ tack. l . .. e5 2.d5

Diagram 1 32 : Base pre-reinforcement With the primary QMs now established, the f3-pawn serves as a second, different type of support. This is a "base pre-rein­ forcement" because now the base pawn on e4 is propped up in anticipation of the f7-pawn's charge to f5 . This is not the same as the simple "base reinforcement" (Chapter 29, A. 3 ) which only takes place once Black makes contact on f5 . Whether played as a "base " or a "cent­ er" reinforcement, f2-f3 serves an emi­ nently logical deterrent purpose: White bolsters his position in order to better meet an enemy attack or, barring that, in order to launch his own attack.

Diagram 1 3 1 : Pre-reinforcing the center

We're especially interested in f2-f3 as a base pre-reinforcement since the focus of this book is on pawn chains and Q Ms. 163

PART Y In the characteristic Siimisch situation where White's g- and h-pawns attack Black's f- , g- , and h-pawns, this is more of a "minority counter-movement" (Chapter 38) than a QM attack. But, due to the presence of important non­ Siimisch motifs, the Samisch and its as­ sociated base pre-reinforcement should be examined in a QM context. 1 30. The Siimisch Structure

The base pre-reinforcement motif takes one of two forms: A. Classical A. l . Chapter 28 structures A.2. Chapter 29 structures B. Siimisch B . l . Pre-contact restraint (Siimisch Counteroffensive) B.2. Post-contact restraint (Siimisch Blockade) We might think of "pre-contact re­ straint" as a redundancy, since " re­ straint" by definition must occur prior to the action it's intended to stop. Here the term is used as a qualifier for a type of restraint that can lead to the Siimisch Counteroffensive. By the same token, the term "post-con­ tact restraint" would seem to make no sense, as since contact has already oc­ curred we can't speak of restraining it. We use the term to describe the restraint or blockade of Black's QM attack, in general , after the initial . .f7- f5 contact takes place. .

tact" and "post-contact" restraint can help us to understand the ideas in­ volved, and how to use them. 1 3 1 . Classical Pre- Reinforcement

All the theoretical concepts and practi­ cal methods we've already seen for the King's Indian Structure - as well as others we shall see in our survey of the Benoni and Modern Benoni Structures - are equally applicable to the Siimisch Variation.

In any case, we 'll be borrowing liberally from the King' s Indian Structure ideas we have already examined. Siimisch­ type ideas in the Modern Benoni will be studied in that section. 132. Shifting Black's Base

In the following game , despite White's long castling, both players attack in typi­ cal QM style. H.Abdul S.Khor Malaysia 1 996 -

l .d4 lll f6 2.c4 g6 3.CLJ c3 j_ g7 4.e4 0-0 s.j. e3 d6

After this move, Black already threatens . . tll g4. .

6.f3

White thwarts Black's idea and enters the Siimisch Variation. 6 e5 7.d5 tll bd7 8."iVd2 lbe8 9.g4 f5 .••

Comparing and contrasting " pre-con164

lO.gxfS

The Samisch in the King's Indian Structure This capture gives Black the chance to set up a typical kingside base-shift position.

22.b5 axbS 23.llJ xbS

Hitting the base pawn at d6 and forcing the following trade.

lO gxfS l Ui gS il. f6 1 2 .ii xf6 � xf6 •••

•

23 ... itxbS 24.il. xbS �h3

13.0-0-0 tlJ cS 14.tlJ ge2 f4

Curiously, although White was late in mobilizing his Q M , he ' s already implemented every phase of his QM attack, while Black only now gets to pressure the base of White ' s pawn chain on f3 . 2SJ:tdgl+ 'it> t7 26.�f2 l:ttb8

Diagram 1 3 3 With the base shift, the position i s remi­ niscent of the Mar del Plata Variation - the crucial difference being opposite ­ side castling. Functionally, castling long here works much like delayed castling in the Petrosian System (Chapter 69, 1 2 . f5) or the king's flight (Chapter 1 25 ) . .

Having attained his QM target position, Black now gets ready to invade. White still has to get his own QM moving.

White finally makes contact.

27.l:tcl

Eyeing the invasion squares c6 and c7.

.

lS.'it> bl a6 16.tlJ c l il. d7 17.tlJ d3 tlJ xd3 18.il. xd3 �h4

19.b4 b6 20.cS

Black has not given up on invading the kingside - he can still carry out a pincer maneuver with ... l:ta3 . Were it not for his weaknesses on b6 and d6, Black could try operational clearing with ... l:!. g8.

27 J:ta3 28.Mhfl l:!. ba8 29.l:tc7+ .•

Concluding the final stage of his QM attack, White invades to decisive effect. 29 'it> g6 30.l:tgl+ •.•

Now it's White who executes a pincer action in pursuit of the black monarch. Note how White switches between alter­ native targets - a basic strategic tech­ nique.

20 tlJf6 21.cxd6 cxd6 ..•

30 'it> h6 31.Mf7 I:!. xf3 32.l::I xf6+ h5 33.il. e2 l:t a3 34.l:t x d6 •..

White achieves his QM target position.

1 65

PART Y The base at d6 falls, highlighting the general collapse of Black's position. Black's own invasion managed to win f3, but remained in the nature of a flank attack. White 's invasion has swiftly met­ amorphosed from a flank attack into a direct assault on the king. 34 ...l!:!:e3 35.l!:!: xb6 l!:!:c3 36.l!:!:b7 \it h6 37.'1Wb6+ l -0

How did this disaster come about? In my view, the main factor was White 's queenside castling, which put the king out of reach of the black pieces which were set to attack the kingside . White was able to advance worry-free on the queenside because Black's forces were deployed far away on the opposite wing. The upshot was a massive inva­ sion of Black's territory, starting as a flank attack and then turning into a di­ rect attack on the king, while the black invaders on the kingside never got past the flank-attack stage .

133. Head-to-Head Fight on the Kingside

Diagram 1 34

White desists from his QM attack, and mobilizes on the kingside to meet Black's offensive concentration there. In this head-to-head confrontation, the battle revolves around the only open line - the g-file . This single-minded approach, lack­ ing in alternative objectives, recalls the strategy of the First World War, where - barring a tactical blunder - the fight bogged down into an indecisive war of attrition. Here the players are wrestling over the only trench. 12 l2l df6 1 3 . ii.. d3 tLl hS 14.l2l ge2 ii.. h3 •••

Following queenside castling by White and Black's base shift with . . .f5-f4, both sides mass on the kingside . A tactical subtlety decides the game. L.Szab6 - F.Koberl Budapest 1952

lSJ:tdgl

Leaving the queenside QM untouched, White turns to the kingside . As there is nothing to defend against on the queen­ side , Black adopts a wait-and-see de­ fense there - omitting, for example , the classical restraint with . . . a7 -a5 .

l.d4 l2l f6 2.c4 g6 3.l2l c3 ii.. g7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.ii.. e3 l2l bd7 7.'1Wd2 e5 8.d5

15 \it hS 16.'1Wel ii.. f6 17 W b l l2l eg7

l2le8 9.g4 f5 lO.gxfS gxfS 1 1.0-0-0 f4

18.t2l cl a6

12.ii.. f2

166

•.•

.

The Sarnisch in the King's Indian Structure Black seeks somehow to exploit White 's one-sided play on the kingside by creat­ ing new possibilities on the queenside. 19.1Ul .,t d7 20.h4 �c8 2 1 .�g2 � g8 22.1'Zld3

Creating the formal threat of making contact on c5, but this is a moot issue as that would mean a total change in strat­ egy now that White 's pieces are com­ mitted to playing on the kingside.

Diagram 1 35

22...b6 23.tt'l e2 �d8 24.1:!:2gl �e7 25.ii. h3 .,t xh3 26.l':!: xh3 l:!: af8

34J:f:g2

Both sides are ready for hand-to-hand combat, which will clear out the posi­ tion. From Black's perspective there is some sense to this, as ultimately the h4pawn might fall.

Correct is 34. � g l � g8 3 5 . � xg8+ li:J xg8 36. li:J c 3 .,t g7 37. li:J b5 .,t f6 3 8 . 'iV fl li:J 37 39. li:J xe7 .,t xe7 40. 'iV g2 with a massive clearing-out of forces. White's move is a tactical mistake, which Black exploits at once .

At the immediate, game level, Black's ac­ tions might be justified, but at the tourna­ ment level (where the fmal standings are of paramount importance) you can't count on winning based on a plan like this. 27.�h2 li:J e8 28.�hg2 �g7 29.� xg7

34...tt'l xe4 35 .,t e l •

35.fxe4 f3 36 � g l fxe2 and Black gets the piece back, coming out with an extra pawn and the initiative to boot, highlight­ ing the sad state of White's position. .

j, xg7 30.li:J b4 a5 31.li:Jc6 35... tt'l eg3

With the idea of tt'l d8-e6. However, trading a pair of rooks seriously weakens White's offensive, as we will see.

Black doesn't even have to reset the pre­ vious position a pawn up with ... I'Zl ef6, as he can keep moving forward.

31 ... �d7 32.l':!:g5 li:J ef6 33.'?Wh l 36 .,t xg3 'iVf5+ 37.�al fxg3 38.a3 •

White has erected hi s strategic wall on the g-ftle (the only invasion route), prevent­ ing the normal course of Black's attack.

If 38.li:J xg3 , then 38 � xf3 threatening both a recapture on g3 and check on fl . ...

38 ...� xf3 39.� a2 li:Jf4

1 67

PART Y

Black's pieces now break into White's position, assisted by passed pawns. 40.tll xf4 exf4 4l.tll d4 �e4 42.tll e6

Black in turn adopts restraint/obstruc­ tion (Chapter 36) against White 's QM. Here , though, he intends to perform in­ direct unblocking on the kingside .

l:tg8 43.lll g5 � xc4+ 44.� al � xdS 45.�cl ii.. xgS 46.l::t d 2 f3 47.hxg5 � xgS 48.�c3+ �g7 0 - 1

134. Indirect Unblocking b y Black The problem with Black's base shift in the Samisch, where White castles long, is that only the g-ftle is opened to the invading forces. To get around this operational lim­ itation, Black can try indirect unblocking ( ... fxe4, Chapter 52) with an immediate but double-edged opening of lines. P.Gual - Garcia Barbera 1 993 l.d4 tll f6 2.c4 g6 3.lll c3 .ii g7 4.e4 d6

10.h4

Black's last move gave White time to make this move , useful for both block­ ading and attacking purposes. 10 ... f5 l l.gxf5 gxfS 13.2i h3 fxe4

12.0-0-0 tll cS

Indirect unblocking, in contrast to the base shift we saw in the last two games. Black's plan is relatively reasonable: to­ gether with the obstruction of White's queenside QM, it opens an additional file on "his" side of the board. 14.fxe4 b6

S.f3 0-0 6. .ii e3 e5 7.d5 lll e8 8.�d2

Putting the fmal touches on the queen­ side restraint strategy. Had Black shifted the base on the kingside , White could now choose between overcoming the obstruction and forging ahead with the Q M or (as in the previous game) forcing events along the g-ftle exclusively. But af­ ter indirect unblocking and replacement of the base, White now has two files to work with. In addition, he's castled away from the action and there's already a pawn on h4. He rightly opts for an attack on Black's king. It's all as if Black had de­ liberately opened lines to help White!

lll d7 9.g4

Diagram 1 36 White essays pre-contact (Chapter 1 30, B. l ) . 9 ...a5

168

restraint

15 .ii xc8 l::t xc8 16.lll h3 lll f6 1 7.l::t d g l •

Starting to mass forces against the black king.

The Samisch in the King's Indian Structure 17 � h8

Maginot Line bypassed around the kingside.

.•.

1 7 . ./L'l hS , to halt the h-pawn's ad­ vance, would be met by 1 8.Mg5 . At the same time, l 7 . . . h6 to prevent h4-h5-h6 is impossible due to the c 1 -h6 diago­ nal, which remained open when Black declined to shift the base with . . . f5 -f4. Thus, Black's entire conception starting with 1 3 . . . fxe4 is suspect.

18.h5 lLl fd7 19.tLl g5 WJ/e7 20.tLl xh7

Not just opening new lines to get at the king, but also increasing the h-pawn's value .

135. Dispersing Forces to the Queenside

White 's queenside QM attack involves deploying the white pieces to that side of the board, but it carries the danger of a force dispersal not unlike what we will see in Chapters 1 78 and 20 1 . I n this case it becomes clear that the quality of White 's invasion is the deter­ mining factor in the outcome . C. Maderna - E. Eliskases

Mar del Plata 1953 20 ... � )(h7 21.h6 .li f6 22.I:tg7+ .lt xg7 23.hxg7+ W xg7 24.�g2+ W f7 25.Ilh7+

1.d4 ttJ f6 2.c4 g6 3 .lLlc3 k g7 4.e4 0-0 5.f3

�e8 26.l: xe7+ � xe7

d6 6 .lte3 e5 7.d5 lLl h5 8.g4 liJ f4 9:8 ge2 •

f5 IO.gxf5 gxf5 l l.ttJg3 fxe4 12.ttJ cxe4

White has given up two rooks for B lack's queen. In compensation, the initia­ tive persists and the attacking lanes stay open.

liJ d7 13.WJ/d2 liJ f6 14.0-0-0 lLJ xe4 15.tLl xe4 ..t rs 16 .l:tg1 ..t )(e4 17.f)(e4 •

27 ..lt g5+ �f7 28.lLl e2

White must mobilize the reserves to continue the offensive , but this always implies a certain slowdown in opera­ tions. However, there is no risk to that here because Black doesn't manage to shore up his defenses. 28 ... .l:th8 29.�f3+ � g7 30.liJ g3 .l:tcf8

Diagram 1 37: Position after 1 7.fxe4

31.WJ/g4 Mf7 32 .lt e7+ � h7 33.lLl f5 lZJf8 •

34. .if6 1-0

White has massed his forces to the fullest, with decisive effect. Black's queenside forces stand uselessly, like a static

After all the trades on e4, Black's QM target position has arisen. The next step is to invade. White has two ways to go from here: 169

PART Y

a) he can engage in a head-to-head con­ frontation on the kingside, as in Dia­ gram 1 3 3 ; or b) he can attack with his own Q M on the queenside .

The a6-bishop gives visual evidence of White's scattered army. 33. a2 � g2 34.I!.c2 � xgl 35.� xe4 � d4

36.�f3

l':ld2

37.l':l xd2

� xd2

38.�b3 � xh2 0- 1 17 �h4 18.c5 .•.

White prefers to mobilize his QM. 18... l':lf6 19.W bl �h5 20.cxd6 cxd6

The target position achieved, the next step now is to invade Black' s position.

Sometimes (as in this game), insisting on the QM attack can lead to a force dis­ persal. This can happen when our invasian turns out to be ineffective, or when our opponent's invasion comes in first and more threateningly. 136. The Strategic Wall

21.]:';(cl l:i g6 22.�b4 b6 23 .1Ti a6 •

White will shortly be able to attack the base at d6 and possibly even invade on c7. This move prepares � c8+, when (after the rook trade) the bishop will re­ deploy to the h3-c8 diagonal for action against the black king. The move also prevents . . . l::t c8 to contest the c-ftle.

Here we see a different approach: Black utilizes indirect unblocking to quickly reach his QM attack's target position. White starts his own QM attack, but suddenly puts the brakes on it to erect a strategic wall on the kingside. M.Botvinnik - L.SzabO Hamburg 1 965

However, this entire maneuver turns out to be a dangerous force dispersal.

l.c4 g6 2.d4 CLl f6 3.CL:lc3 Si g7 4.e4 d6

23 ... �f8 24.l':l xg6 hxg6 25.� xd6

CL:l e7 9.�d2 CLJ d7

5.f3 0-0 6 . .1Ti e3 CL:l c6 7.CL:l ge2 e5 8.d5

White has captured Black's base pawn, but his pieces are inadequately arrayed to meet the invading enemy forces. 25 ... �f3 26 .1Ti d2 � xe4+ 27. al h7 •

28.a3 � xd5

Black is already up a pawn, while White's invasion i s at a standstill . 29.�b4 l::t d8 30. .1Ti e3 �f3 31..\Ti g l i::l: d l 32.�c4 e4

170

Diagram 1 38

The Samisch in the King's Indian Structure 10.g3

On the surface, a more consetvative ap­ proach than pre-contact restraint with 10.g4, but 1 0.g3 has its subtle aspects. It setves as a precaution against Black's . f5f4 base shift, and it prepares the two-move bypass inversion (see Chapter 1 2 1 ) . .

.

Another point i s that 1 0 .g3 makes way for the bishop to go to g2, holding the e4-pawn in case Black plays . . . f5-x4 (in­ direct unblocking) .

thanks to the open f-flle there was always the possibility of a quick clearing of pieces that would have drained forces away from the queenside Q M attack. To get around all these contingencies, Botvinnik builds a strategic wall on his kingside, preventing both Black's inva­ sion and massive piece trades. Then he could slowly resume his queenside QM operations. 23... lZ'l f4 24.lZ'l g3 �f6 25J1f2 lZ'l eg6 26.�n lZ'l h4 27.'tWdl �e7 28.M lb2 Mf7

lO ...fS l l ..Ji g2 fxe4 1 2.fxe4 a6

29.lZ'l f5

Since White can still castle queenside, this prepares the . . . b7 -b5 break, opening lines to the white king.

The strategic wall is now complete - op­ tically, at least. 29 ...� xf5

13.h3 Mb8 14. .Ji a7 M aS 15 .Ji f2 h6 •

We will never know if Botvinnik would have taken the draw with 1 6.� a7 had Szabo repeated with 1 5 . . . Mb8.

This surprising shot cracks open the stra­ tegic wall and, by creating a quantitative pawn majority on the kingside , renews Black' s attack on that wing.

16.0-0 lZ'l f6 17.� e3 � h7 18.c5 � d7

30.gxf5

19.b4 gs 20.a4

White's decision to castle short and launch the queenside QM attack is per­ fectly acceptable. More difficult to assess is the state of Botvinnik's fighting spirit - as we'll see, this move practically marks the end of his offensive aspirations. 20 . .'�e8 21.�el �g6 22.Mbl lZ'l hS .

23.g4

White probably judged that insisting on queenside action would only lead his forces away from the real battle zone. Moreover,

With this recapture, White maintains his pawn chain while creating a protected passed pawn. In addition, the prospect of a queenside QM attack leading to an invasion in that sector remains alive; a successful invasion could make the sev­ enth and eighth ranks available to sup­ port the passed pawn and even to attack the black king. But there is a serious drawback to all this: Black has obtained a quantitative majority, and it starts marching without delay. 30... h5 31.Mh2

171

PART Y Botvinnik makes a Nimzowitsch-type "mysterious rook move. "

43.l::t c2 liJ xf2+ 44.l::t xf2 l::t xe4 4S.l::t b2 l::t c4 46.liJ e2 � g7 47.W g2 � f6 48.� f3 e4+ 49.�g4 e3+ SO.Wf3 W xf5

31. .. $i. h6 32.'it' hl Mg8 33.$i.f2

Though this is hardly noticeable at the moment, White's move obstructs the second rank - an important interior line of communication for the first player.

Black's positional advantage yields rna­ terial fruit. 5l.cxd6 cxd6 52.:Ibl ..lt gS 53.a5 � eS 54.l::t g l $i. f6 55.l::t b l � xdS 56.� xe3 � c6 57.�d3 � b5 58.l:I fl

33... Mfg7 34.liJ e2 g4

Like any other pawn break, this push is aimed at opening new lines for the black attackers. The attack develops in Phi­ lidor style (see Chapter 1 2) . 35.hxg4 l::t xg4 36.liJ gl Wifg7 37.$i. h3

Looking for one final way to save the game somehow. 58 ... ..\t eS

59.M f7

l::t xb4

60.M xb7+

W xaS 61.l:ta7 'it> b6 62.l:ta8 � b7 63.l::t f8 aS 64.l::t f7+ � a6 65.l::t f8 � a7 66.l::t c8 � b7 67.l::t f8 l::t b3+ 68. � c2

liJ xh3 38.l: xh3 ltJ g2 39.l::t xh5 liJ f4

l::t h3 69.lD cl a4 70.liJ d3 l::t h2+ 7 1 . � b l

40.Mh4 lD d3 41.l::t xg4 � xg4 42.Wifxg4

..lt c3 72.l::t f3 � b6 73.ltJ f4 ..lt d4 74.l::t d3

Mxg4

$i. e5 75.ltJ g6 � c5 76.l:::t e3 ..lt d4 77.l:tf3 \t' c4 0 - l

We have looked at the classical handling ofthe Sii.misch (see Chapter 1 30, A) , but we don't need to dwell on it further since these techniques do show up in other contexts. Nor will we examine Modern Benoni structures here , as they are cov­ ered in Part VI .

Diagram 1 39: Position after 42 . . . l:txg4 The smoke clears. White is up a pawn, but Black's pieces have broken into his camp. The e4-pawn is lost, so the fS-pawn will be left weak and hanging. On top of every­ thing, White's QM still has not achieved its target position, so the whole plan de­ scribed after move 30 is moot. 1 72

What most interests u s at this point is the Sii.misch-type pre-reinforcement (Chapter 1 30, B) from a purely posi­ tional angle. 137. Castling Long in the King's Indian Structure The Sii.misch offers a wide range of choices. White can even castle long and still set his queenside QM in motion.

The Samisch in the King's Indian Structure 14.tt'l cl .:'Ll a6 15 . .1t d3 .lt d7 16.Mfl

T.Petrosian B. Milic Belgrade 1 954 -

l.d4 tt'l f6 2.c4 g6 3.tt'l c3 i. g7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.i. e3 e5 7.d5 .:'Ll hS 8.'iVd2 f5 9.0-0-0

If the idea is to attack on the queenside, why then did Petrosian play this? Petro­ sian alone could provide the answer this question, as it depends on the player's strategic philosophy. However, we may speculate as follows: I . The position is closed and the situa­ tion stable. Therefore , technically this move can't be considered a wasted tem­ po. 2. With this deliberately obscure move , he tries to make things as unclear as pos­ sible and (by "playing second") to make his opponent wonder what's going on: Where , generally speaking, does the ad­

Diagram 140

vantage of playing second lie? Ifwe know nothing about the enemy's dispositions,

Were it not for White's castling queen­ side, this would be a normal King's In­ dian Structure. An important nuance is White 's d2-queen and d l -rook: looking past the d5-pawn to d6, they help to de­ ter both the . . . c7 -c6 break and the . . . c7c5 inversion by Black. 9 f4 10 ..It f2 .lt f6 l l ..:'Ll ge2 .lt h4 12 .\t gl ..•

•

Like White's, Black's QM action is a flank-type attack, since each side is op­ erating on the wing where the opposing king is not. 12 b6 13.'ii;;> bl aS

we can only make our own dispositions according to principles and general les­ sons derived from particular cases. On the other hand , when we do know the enemy's dispositions, we can adapt our own to his. Therefore , the reciprocity of action develops as follows: the attacker knows the defender's dispositions taken in peacetime , and modifies his own dis­ positions accordingly. When operations begi n , in theory the attacker is playing second . (Aron 4 1 2) .

If this i s applicable here , then we can appreciate the depth of the great Petro­ sian's thinking.

•••

Black employs a restraint/obstruction strategy against White's QM (Chapter 36) . Each side must try to enforce his QM advance as in any normal King's Indian Structure.

3 . With this in mind, now we can see that White's demonstration on the king­ side gives Black the chance to do some­ thing, enabling the first player to "play second. " 173

PART Y 16 .'iVe7 17.�c2 tt'l c5 •.

After this move , "playing second " starts to bear fruit. 18.� xc5

Petrosian 's strategy has managed to keep Black's QM quiet. If previously he seemed to want to open up the king­ side - to that end playing 9.0-0-0 and then 16J ' Ul - now he opens the b-file to his own king, luring Black over to the queenside with hopes for attack but leaving his kingside QM at a standstill. 18 ... bxc5 19.il. a4

We saw a similar move before (Chapter 1 1 6, 20.� a4) . White doesn't want sim­ ply to get rid of his bad bishop; more importantly, he wants to access the light squares on the queenside. 19 ii. xa4 20.lb xa4 �fb8 .•.

After this rook redeploys to the queen­ side, White can stop worrying about Black's QM for a good long time. 21.a3 tt'l f6 22.tt'l e2 tt'l d7 23.'�'c2 tt'l b6 24.tt'l xb6

Just as there are tactically risky moves, this is a strategically risky move.

b) on b2-b4 he could open the a-file to the aS-rook's benefit; c) he could continue his Q M attack on the kingside unmolested. This is the strategic risk involved in play­ ing 24. tt'l xb6. But 24 . . . :!::l: xb6, persisting in activity down the open b-file, looked very appealing. This is the move White must have been hoping for. The proper handling of critical points in the game such as this requires full com­ mand of a wide range of factors - tech­ nical, training, philosophical, and psy­ chological - all of which go into formu­ lating our strategy. 25.tLl c3 �d7 26.tLl b5 a4 27.'1t> a2 �bb8 28.� bl �a6 29.�hdl

Deterrring Black's . . . c7 -c6 break. 29 ... � ba8 30J:t d3 'lt>g7 31.b4 axb3+ 32.�d xb3 �a4

Due to the white king's presence on a2, Black's pieces seem to have taken aggres­ sive positions, but in fact they are passive because uncoordinated. For the biggest sign of White's strategic victory, we only need to look at Black's paralyzed Q M . 33.�e2 h 5 34.tLl c3 �4a5 35.'1t> b2 �c8 36.�al � a6 37.'1t> c2 Ji. dS 38.'1t> d3 �c8

24...l! xb6

With 24 .. cxb6 Black would be "playing second, " because: a) he would mount an obstruction arrangement on the queenside; .

1 74

White's moves are purposeful , whereas B lack's are aimless and tied to the needs ofthe moment. 39.�b2 �5a6 40.l:tb l �b6

The Samisch in the King's Indian Structure Black appears to remember his dreams of attack and tries to put together a strategic wall on the queenside, but it's too late. 41.l:tb5 �d7 42.a4 �e7 43.Mal I:tab8 44.a5 l:I xb5 45.l'Ll xb5 W h6 46.a6 �h4 47.a7 :t a8 48.ctJ c3 c6 49.�b8 cxd5 50.� xa8 d4 1-0 138. The Samisch Approach

The Samisch approaches (Chapter 1 30, B) involve techniques for playing with or against QMs and the positions deriving from these in the Samisch framework. They include pre-contact restraint ( 1 30, B. l ) and post-contact restraint ( 1 30, B.2). 139. Pre-Contact Restraint

( Samisch Counteroffensive) In the King's Indian Structure, Black has a natural right to attack on the king­ side thanks to his primary QM. It falls to White to defend on that wing, or (condi­ tions permitting) to launch a counterat­ tack. Pre-contact restraint with g2-g4 stems from White 's base pre-reinforcement with f2-f3 (Chapter 1 29) . First and fore­ most a defensive move aimed against Black's primary Q M , when successful in preventing . . . f7-f5 it can give rise to the Samisch Counteroffensive starting with h2-h4 . This counteroffensive is not a minority counter-movement (see Chapter 3 8 ) , but more like a "quanti­ tative minority" counterattack - white g- and h-pawns vs. black f- ,g- , and h­ pawns.

Diagram 1 4 1

The diagram position contains the fol­ lowing features: a) Opposite-side castling, indicating the possibility of competing pawn storms against both kings; b) in a pawn storm, White 's pawns will advance g2-g4 (pre-contact restraint) and h2-h4; c) by this point White needs to have de­ ployed his rooks to the kingside and a knight to g3 to be sacrificed on fS (the " Benoni Leap" ) ; d ) the h-pawn keeps marching t o open the h-ftle (h4-h5xg6) , so that the rooks can penetrate following a bishop trade on g7; e) in the meantime , Black attacks the white king with his secondary QM (fol­ lowing the . . . c7-c5 inversion) or with a pawn storm ( . . . b7-b5) .

140. Classical Planning in Pre-Contact Restraint

The two games in this chapter are classic encounters featuring the Samisch which every chess fan should know. 175

PART Y

J.R. Capablanca - V.Menchik

Moscow 1 935 l.d4 ®f6 2.c4 g6 3.® c3 Ji.. g7 4.e4 d6 5.£3 0-0 6.Ji.. e3 e5 7.® ge2 a6

Supporting . . . b7-b5 in the event of White 's queenside castling, typical for this variation. In V. Menchik­ G .Thomas , London 1 93 2 , Black chose 7 . . . b6 (preparing to restrain White's QM once it comes about with d4-d5) 8 ."iY d2 tll c6 9.d5 ® e7 1 O.g4 (pre-con­ tact restraint) 10 ... ® d7 l l .� g l a5 (es­ tablishing the obstruction of White 's QM):

fxg6 24. � xh7 + 1 -0 . A model game, il­ lustrating the basic idea of the Samisch and showing all the good things that can come White 's way when she gets to ap· ply it. 8.�d2 Ji.. d7 9.d5 ® e8

Diagram 1 43 10.g4

Not merely a defensive move , as we just saw. 10 ...h6 l l .h4 W h7 12.® g3

Diagram 1 42 Even knowing the great likelihood of White's castling long, Black's queen­ side obstruction strategy is justified only if kingside QM action has been pre­ pared. The game continued 1 2.0-0-0 ® c5 1 3 .® g3 (typical knight placement) 1 3 . . . Ji.. d7 l 4.h4 a4 1 5.h5 (to open the h­ ftle) 1 5 . . . �b8 1 6.Ji.. h6 (a thematic bishop trade) 1 6 . . . � a7 1 7 .ii.. xg7 � xg7 1 8 .® f5+ (the " Benoni Leap , " as Kmoch dubbed it) l 8 . . . tll xf5 1 9.gxf5 a3 20.f6+ W h8 2 l .�h6 axb2+ 22. W b l � g 8 2 3 .hxg6 1 76

The knight is ready to jump to f5 , but note that Capablanca has yet to castle queenside. 12 .. . c5

Since contact with . . . t7 -f5 is restrained, Black should prefer to break with . . . c7c6 followed by ... cxd5 or even ... b7 -b5 to counteract White's kingside operations. In any case , White 's omission of castling has a certain effect, like castling kingside in the Petrosian System (Chapter 69, 1 2 . . . f5) .

The Samisch in the King's Indian Structure 13.2i. d3 �as 14.�e2 �hS 1S.a3 �dS 16.b4

"The true purpose of strategy is to di­ minish the possibility of resistance . And from this follows another axiom that to ensure attaining an obj ective one should have alternative objectives. An attack that converges on one point should threaten , and be able to d iverge against another. Only by this flexibil­ ity of aim can strategy be attuned to the uncertainty of war" ( Liddell Hart 299). With 1 6 .b4, Capablanca - master of the art of alternative objectives - seeks to create some on the queenside before advancing on the kingside, thus guaran­ teeing the success of his project. 16...b6 17.�b2 2i. c8 18.� e2

Keeping the king in the center turns out to be the most flexible option, allowing uninhibited play on both wings. 18 tt:J d7 19.�agl l:t bS 20.bS aS .•.

The blocked-up queenside makes it pos­ sible to march the king in that direction, assuring its safety as offensive operations unfold on the kingside. Should Black's base pawns on b6 and d6 fall , then the d l -a4 diagonal gains in importance for the king to attack alternative objectives in that sector.

Diagram 1 44

All these preparations remind us of the Normandy invasion in World War I I . In this game, D-Day starts with an assault on Black's kingside wall. 24.gS fxgS 2S.hxgS hS 26.tZ:l fS

The Benoni Leap again, as Menchik herself played three years earlier. 26 .. 'iii t7 27.lll h4 '¥ii e7 28.�h2 .

Looking ahead to hitting d6 after break­ ing with f3-f4. 28 tt:J c7 29.l':tn W e8 30.f4 .••

Following up with another pawn break to open additional lines leading to the enemy king. 30 exf4 31.2i. xf4 'iii d7 32.2i. xd6 1-0 .•.

A fatal blow: 32 . � xd6 3 3 .Mt7+. An in­ structive use of alternative objectives in the attack on the king. ..

21.'iii d t 'iii gs 22.�d2 tt:J rs 23.W c2 f6

1 77

PART Y 141. A Miniature Illustrating JYpical Themes The following miniature shows some typical ideas we hadn't seen yet.

ness of Black's play. Black's last move is a popular defensive method which makes the seventh rank available for the black pieces to come to their king's defense . . . and enabling the king to run away.

B. Spassky - J.van Oosterom

Antwerp 1 955

14.h5

l.d4 CLJf6 2.c4 g6 3.lb c3 il. g7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.il.e3 e5 7.lb ge2 lb c6 8.�d2

CLJ d7 9.0-0-0 a6

Diagram 1 46 14 �e7 •.•

Diagram 145 10.d5

Establishing both sides' primary QMs. 10 lb a7 •..

An original move that fits in well with . . . a7-a6 and 0-0-0 - it supports the . . . b7b5 break with attack. l l .g4 b5 12/Ll g3 bxc4 13.h4 f6

White played the last three moves (all of them typical in the Samisch) with­ out taking the time to hold the c-pawn , a decision dictated by the purposeful178

It would be interesting to see how White would meet a " stonewall" defense with . . .g6-g5 .To this end, I played the engine game Rybka 3-Rybka 3: 14 . . . g5 (the only benefit to setting up the stone­ wall defense is to prevent the opening of the h-file, as happened in the game) 1 5 . h6 (but it allows White to play this move, leaving the dark-squared bishop badly placed) 1 5 . . . il. h8 1 6. il. xc4 lb b6 1 7.il. e2 il. b7 1 8 . il. f2 :tt7 1 9 .b3 (to re­ strict the b6-knight and keep Black's pieces highly uncoordinated. White 's queenside advantage is so great that the game unfolds automatically) 1 9 . . . lb ac8 20. W b l lb e7 2 1 . l:I c l il. c8 22.l:.tc2 lb g6 23 J::t hc l lb f4 24.lb d l CLJ h3 2 5 . il. e3 CLJ f4 26.CLJb2 � d7 27.CLJ f5 l:b8 28 .\t fl .

The Samisch in the King's Indian Structure �f7 29J � c6 ii. xf5 30.gxf5 li:J a8 3 l . ii. xa6 '@'d7 3 2 . ii. a7 i:e8 3 3 . a4 Vj'd8 34.a5 l:l:ee7 3 5 . li:J d3 li:J xd3 36.ii.xd3 � f8 37.a6 �e8 38.'�lV h2 l::t e f7 39.�b2 �d7 40.ii. e3 � ft7 4 l a7 : rn 42.ii. a6 VJ/it7 43.ii.b7 �e8 44 . .l::i 6c3 .l::i f8 45.ii. c6 .l::i fd8 46.�c2 g4 47 . ii. xd7 .l::i x d7 48 .fxg4 'f:!.e7 49.ii. b6 'f:!.e8 50.�xc7 li:J xc7 5 l .�xc7 l:l:a8 52.VJ/ic8+ 1 -0. In light of this sam­ ple , it might be safer not to move the kingside pawns, awaiting developments there while cooking up queenside counterplay. .

15.hxg6 hxg6 16.�h2 'id f7

Played to reopen an escape route ( . . . Wf8-�e7), but i t runs right into check­ mate. In any case, 2 l . . . � f8 also loses, this time to 2 2 .'1:!. x g7 � e 8 (22 . . . .l::i xg 7 23 .ii.h6 [threatening 24.M g l ] 23 . . . 'lt> g8 24.fi. xg7 � xg7 (24 . fi. d7 25.fi.h6) 25 .VJ/ie8+) 23 .VJ/ig6, with a decisive edge . ..

22.VJ/ih8# 1 -0 142. Attack and Defense: A Schematic

To better understand how to attack and defend Black's castled position, let's take a look at the following skeleton position:

In light o f White's heavy concentration of forces, Black sends the king away.

Here the Benoni Leap thwarts the royal escape. 17 ... gxf5 18.�h5+

White forces the king back to his own wing. 18 � g8 19.gxf5 •••

The knight sacrifice also opened the g­ file for White 's pieces to get at Black's monarch. 19...�f7

The king's flight prevented, ... f7-f6 serves its other purpose: to allow Black's pieces to come to the king's aid. 20.ii. e2 li:J c5 21.�dgl 'ifd7

Diagram 1 47 What is the essence of this position? First, we note the �d2-ii. e3 battery, set up so as to play ii. h6, trading bishops and making the h6 square available to the white queen. The h i -rook envisions supporting the h6-queen's attack on h7. For this, the h4-pawn must advance and trade itself off to open the h-ftle. The knight stands on g3 , ready to give up its life on f5 to open new attacking lines 1 79

PART Y or cut off the black king's escape, as we saw in the previous chapter. Thus, White ideally aims to give mate follows :

as

l.ii. h6 tenuki 2.h5 tenuki 3.ii. xg7 � xg7

Even in the Samisch, this inversion turns the position from a King's In­ dian Structure to a Benoni Structure. So we get the Samisch treatment in the Benoni. 10.g4 a6 l l .tll g3

4.hxg6 hxg6 5.�h6+ � g8 6.�h8#.

Now let's look at the diagram from the defender's viewpoint. Given the attack­ ing pattern above , we can envision the following defense for Black: l. Me8 2 ...t h6 ii. hS .•

White 's attack is stymied, even if we give White several moves : Diagram 1 48

3.h5 tenuki 4.hxg6 hxg6 sJi,gs tenuki 6.ii. xf6 ii. xf6 7.�h6 tenuki 8.�h7+ �f8

So we can see that Black's first move, l .. .Me8 , serves a double purpose: to save the dark- squared bishop and stop mate on h8, and to create an escape square for the king . 143. Indecision and Imposition

Even if the road to the kingside attack is well paved, White still can't impose his will with inconsistent moves, nor can he afford to hesitate when executing the at­ tack. M.Setkar - M.Dobrotka Trencin ( Slovakia) 1 995 l.c4 Lll f6 2.tll c3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.d4 ii. g7

In this game , Black looks ahead to the ideas in our previous chapter and gets an early start on preparing an escape route for the king. ll Lll es 12.h4 f6 ••.

Here we see that, in case of ii. h6xg7 , Black can recapture with the knight , making f7 and e8 available for the king to run away. 13.ii. d3 l:t b8 14.0-0-0

Is White luring Black into a queenside attack, judging that any deployment of enemy forces in that direction will leave him well positioned to break on the kingside?

5.f3 0-0 6.ii. e3 e5 7.tll ge2 tll c6 8.d5 tll e7 9.�d2 c5

1 80

14 . . .ii. d7 15.�e2

The Samisch in the King's Indian Structure The answer to our question appears to be in the negative! 1 5 .�e2 restrains Black's QM from making contact, but it shows a certain indecisiveness with respect to iL.e3 -h6 and the attacking sequence we described in Diagram 147. 15 .�a5 16.h5 :It7 17.hxg6 18.l::t h3 b5 19.l':l:dhl 'it> f8 ..

Conversely, a concentration followed by a dispersal is simply a force dispersal. Which one a particular piece configura­ tion ultimately constitutes, depends on the army's operational force (see Chap­ ter 5 ) .

bxg6

Note how the g7-bishop hinders White 's invasion, even after the h-file comes open. Even so, Black stays alert to the Benoni Leap, playing the knight to g8 on the next move to make e7 available to the king. 20.i. bl iLl g8 21J�h8

Diagram 1 49 White feels the looming presence of Black's secondary QM and makes a defensive move, but now plays extrava­ gantly on the kingside - neither action being a harbinger of success. 21. .. bxc4 22.�h2 i. a4

This game illustrates the special rela­ tionship between " concentration" and "dispersal" of forces that's worth dis­ cussing. When the game develops into com­ peting QM attacks on opposite wings, each side tries to mass his forces for a decisive attack before the opponent can do the same. But there are other factors at play, complicating matters tremen­ dously. A force dispersal followed by a concen­ tration is simply a force concentration.

In the position above (after 22 . i. a4 ) , White has tripled on the h-file. Looked at in isolation, these pieces appear to constitute an offensive concentration of forces against the black king. How­ ever, thanks to Black' s defensive meas­ ures, this concentration is unlikely to tip the game in White's favor. If this is confirmed, then we have a classic case of concentration -dispersal (a concentra­ tion functioning as a d ispersal) favor­ ing Black, who in tum has massed on the opposite wing with good chances for a tactical decision. In short, because White's force concentration is harmless (incapable of forcing a decision) , his piece configuration is actually a force dispersal. ..

Looking at the queenside, we see that Black has gained something from " play­ ing second" (see Chapter 1 37 , 1 6.l:l:fl ) . 181

PART Y Being aware of White 's kingside attack­ ing pattern (and knowing it was com­ ing) , Black could play second and pre­ pare for it with 1 2 . . . f6 , only then starting his secondary QM attack on the queen­ side. Black's operations probably looked to White like a concentration-dispersal (a harmless deployment that ultimately would be exposed as a dispersal) , to the point that he castled queenside .

White withdraws from the kingside to try to regroup on the queenside. 29...c3 30.b3 c4 31.�c2 �a3+ 32.W dl � xa2 0 - 1

I f 3 3 .bxc4, then 3 3 . . . l::r b 2 threatening . . . �a l + .

144. Cutting off the King's Escape As we'll see in the game, Black's opera­

tions on the queenside turn out to be so effective as to count as a " dispersal-con­ centration" (a concentration which at first looks like a dispersal) .

In this game, the Benoni Leap cuts off the opposing king's escape route , turn­ ing White ' s deployment into a true con­ centration of forces.

23.l::r xg8+

H.Ree P.Nikolic Smederevska Palanka 1980 -

Continuing his extravagant play, White sacs the rook to try to keep the black king stuck on the kingside . Since it lacks sufficient force to decide the game in White 's favor, we see that White 's con­ centration works as a dispersal away from the queenside , as it offers no resist­ ance to Black's offensive there.

1.d4 g6 2.c4 � g7 3.Ci'l c3 d6 4.e4 Ci'l c6 5.� e3 Ci'l f6 6.f3 a6 7.'ii' d 2 0-0 8.Ci'l ge2 eS 9.d5 Ci'l e7 10.g4 cS ll.Ci'lg3 Ci'l e8 12.h4

23...\t> xgS 24.Ci'l xa4 � xa4 25.�h7+ \t>f8 26.� h6

A thematic move - but too late to change the assessment ofWhite's concentration as a dispersal.

;:_,/

26...�b4 27.� xg7+ J::r xg7 28.�h8 \t> t7

Black's interior lines are open, and so he defends easily. 29.�h2 182

Diagram 1 50 The position is the same as Seckar-Do­ brotka (Chapter 1 43, 1 2 . h4) , where Black played 1 2 . . . f6 and opened the b­ flle with . . b7-b5 and .. bxc4. .

The Samisch in the King's Indian Structure 12 ..t d7 13.h5 'iVa5 14.'iVh2

24.l::t xh8 .,t xh8 25.'iVh3 CiJ eg7

White plays more resolutely than in the previous game. Each player masses forc­ es in his sector of the board.

Black makes arrangements for the king's flight, but White's pieces will cut off the sovereign's escape path.

14...f6 15.hxg6 hxg6 16 .,t e2

26.l::t g t l::t e8

In the previous chapter, White played .lt fl -d3-.,t b 1 to hold the a2-pawn.

Preparing the e7 -d8 route.

•••

•

27 . .,t xd6 16. b5 17.0-0-0 b4 ..

To win the a2-pawn, but this has the drawback of keeping the b-file closed. Black then cannot achieve an effective concentration of forces, leading to a concentration -dispersal. 18.tt'l b1 d 5 60. W d3 tb e6 6 l . W e2 e4 62. W d2 t:b c5 63. t:b fl � e5 64. tb g3 � f4 65. t:b e2+ �t1 0- 1 .

24.g5 t:bg8 25J!Vg7 �c1

Although Black has no other pieces to at­ tack with on the queenside, a queen inva­ sion like this is always worrisome. In ad­ dition, Black maintains a defensive link to the kingside via the c 1 - h6 diagonal. 26.Mh7 � d8 27.'11/i xn t:b e7 28.�e6 �xg5 29.t:b fl � c7

Thanks to the white queen's far-off po­ sition, Black can think about counterat­ tacking.

The king continues on its way and, in passing, holds the base pawn at d6.

Given the white queen's absence , by taking over the c-file Black seeks to co­ ordinate with the knights for an attack on the white king's precarious position.

30.�h2 t:b c5 3t.:c2 l:td8 32.t:b de3 'it' b7 33.�h3

41.� h2 t:b c4+ 42.� d1 t:b d3 43.�c2 t:bdxb2+

The first wave of the attack having failed due to the king's escape, White tries to regroup for a new assault.

Black's lightning counterattack has al­ ready netted a pawn.

33 ... t:b d3+ 34.� d2 t:b f4 35.�h2 J:t c8 36.M xc8 t:b xc8 37.� h7+

44. W e2 �c5 45.t:b xc4 t:b xc4 46.'11ii d3 W b6 47.t:b d2 t:b xd2 48.'11ii xd2 �c4+ 0-1

White renews his force dispersal.

1 5 1 . Post-Contact Restraint

37 � a6 38.�d7 t:b b6 39.� g4

This Sarnisch motif differs from pre­ contact restraint (Chapter 1 30, B . l ) in that this is mainly a defensive measure. For that reason , we might also call it the " S amisch Blockade . "

•..

Once again, the queen comes back. To illustrate White's force dispersal, if now 39. � xd6, we have the following Rybka 3 engine game: 39 . . . � h4 40. t:b d l �h5 4 I . t:b fe3 � xf3 42.�c6 �xe4 43. � c2 � d4+ 44. � e l t:b bxd5 45. t:b xd5 '1/ii g l + 46.� d2 � g2+ 47.W c l 'llii xd5 48. '11ii c8+ �b5 49. '11ii b 8+ W c5 50. tb e3 t:b e2+ 5 1 . 'tt> c2 t:b d4+ 52. W d2 t:b c6+ 53. t:b xd5 192

White's post-contact restraint with g2g4 is intended to lock up the kingside, or at least to claim space in that sector so that he can stop Black's QM attack and resume his own on the queenside.

The Siimisch in the King's Indian Structure as Black has already carried out the contact move . . . f7-f5 . Looked at more broadly, though, on the whole it does hinder the normal course of Black's QM attack. It is in this sense that we can call it "post -contact restraint. " 152. Post-Contact Restraint: General Structures

Diagram 1 58 Diagram 1 58 shows the typical Sfunisch pawn configuration, with the f3-pawn prop­ ping up the base of White 's pawn chain. Differently from Diagram 1 3 2 , here both sides have castled short. Post-con­ tact restraint works like this:

In Diagram 1 59 , the players have the following possible structures to pick from: a) 2 . f4 3 . h4 (Siimisch Blockade), or 2 . f4 3 . tenuki g5 (Siimisch inversion) ; b) 2 . . tenuki 3 .g5 , or 3.h4 to support g4g5 (Siimisch Blockade), or 2 . . . tenuki 3 .gxf5 (Siimisch unblocking); c) 2 . h5 3 .g5 (Siimisch Blockade ) , or 3 .gxh5/xf5 (Siimisch unblocking) ; d) 2 . fxg4 (Siimisch unblocking) ; e) 2 . . fxe4 (indirect unblocking) . .

.

.

.

.

. .

. .

.

l...f5 Black makes contact. 2.g4

Continuing our descriptive analysis of Diagram 1 59: 2 . f4 .

.

Alternatives include 2 . . . fxg4 and 2 . . fxe4, unblocking the position. This would steer the game away from the Siimisch Blockade, opening lines and sharing the available space on the kingside . .

In addition, Black can " pass" with 2 . . tenuki, giving White the chance to fol­ low up on the Siimisch Blockade with either 3 .g5 or 3 . h4. .

Diagram 1 59 Post-contact restraint. Despite the label, this is not actually a case of "restraint, "

As for 2 . . . h5, this could lead either to a Siimisch Blockade with 3 .g5, or to the opening of lines with 3.gxh5 or 3 .gxf5 . 1 93

PART Y After 2 . . .f4 (the typical move in this line) , the 2.g4 post-contact restraint in effect becomes an inversion (Chapter 55). 3.h4

B.Larsen - M.Tal Bled 1 965 l .d4 li:l f6 2.c4 g6 3.tll c3 j;_ g7 4.e4 0-0 S.ll:l f3 d6 6.i. e2 eS 7.0-0 li:l c6 8.d5 li:l e7 9.li:l el li:l d7 10.f3 fS l l.g4

Preparing to bring about the classical Siimisch Blockade with 3 . . . h5 4.g5 , or 3 . . . g5 4.h5. If White passes with 2 . . . f4 3 .tenuki, then Black can play 3 . . . g5 , reaching the aforementioned inversion, which is now designated the Siimisch inversion. White 's aim in locking up the kingside is to attack with his queenside QM without worrying about Black's actions around his king. However, if Black assesses the resulting situation as too constricting, he can avoid the blockade by answering 2.g4 with 2 . . . fxg4 (Siimisch unblocking), when after 3 . fxg4 space is about even on the kingside and the situation is more fluid. Black has the possibility of . . . '@ h4, although the open f-file could empty out the position. Despite the name , the Siimisch Block­ ade comes up lJ.Uite often in non­ Siimisch King's Indian variations - the difference is that, in the Samisch, White retains the possibility of queenside cas­ tling, which is very rare in other King's Indian lines.

Diagram 1 60 The moves 1 0 . . . f5 l l .g4 signal the Samisch Blockade (post -contact re­ straint) . I first came across it watching GM Pal Benko , and thought it was won­ derful! This is due to the fact that White has castled kingside (normal in the Mar del Plata) and the classical approach to the position is for White to launch his queenside Q M , avoiding weakening pawn moves in front of his king. Any kingside weaknesses must be created on Black's time. l l . bS ..

This move leads to interesting branches (see Chapter 1 5 2 , item c) . 153. Paralyzing the Kingside 12.g5

Post-contact restraint is very common in the Mar del Plata Variation, more so even than in the Sarnisch. 194

1 2 .gxh5 gxh5 leads to the Sarnisch un­ blocking, opening up the kingside and

The Samisch in the King's Indian Structure putting an end to all ideas of shutting it down. Due to White 's short castling, the situation here is very different from what we saw in Chapter 1 48 (with the base shift 1 3 . . . f4). The text move seeks to keep alive the idea of the Samisch Bloc kade: White isn 't interested in attacking the black king , he wants to neutralize Black's QM so that he can freely pursue his own QM attack on the queenside. On the other hand, this also gives Black the chance to bolster his queenside defenses. The risk with this approach is that White may be left with no alternative objectives to increase the effectiveness of his QM attack. 12... h4

Clearly, if Black allows h2-h4 - sup­ porting the g5 -pawn and stabilizing the situation on the kingside - this could constitute a threat to Black, given White's enhanced freedom of action on the queenside. With 1 2 . . . h4 , the g5- and h4-pawns are both loose and overextended, destabilizing the whole sector. This favors Black, who needs to find coun­ terplay. However, in order to develop this counterplay, Black needs to send units to that side. I f unsuccessful , this operation runs the risk of leading to a harmful dispersal of forces away from the queenside and to the creation of new alternative objectives for White to hone in on.

13.lll d3 f4

The base shift now leaves the g 5 - and h4-pawns isolated , while Black's Q M is at a standstil l . B lack has two choices: 1 . He can adopt "watchful waiting" (see Chapter 67) on the kingside and take on a defensive posture on the queenside . In this case , White could respond by aim­ ing for the h4-pawn (alternative objec­ tive). 2 . Or he can pursue the kingside offen­ sive, focusing on capturing the g5-pawn with no heed to the time lost in doing so . White in tum can: 2.a. Use the time Black invests on the kingside to pursue his own QM attack on the queenside. 2.b. Exploit the black pieces' absence from the queenside to enforce his offen­ sive there . 2 . c . Play h2-h3 to obstruct Black's ad­ vance. Should the g5-pawn fall , this would then be a case of qualitative supe­ riority (see Chapter 4) . 14.� h l �r7 15.c5

Sacrificial primary contact (see Chapter 72) to speed up his queenside plan. 15 l:'l:h8 •••

In addition to defending the h-pawn, this sets up the threat of . . . h4-h3 to pre­ vent White from establishing qualitative superiority with h2-h3 . 16.�b3 b6 17.cxd6 cxd6

1 95

PART Y to relieve his position with some piece trades. The achievement of this or that limited objective will be of paramount impor­ tance to the game 's outcome, as Black's QM attack has taken a back seat to White ' s queenside offensive . 2 1 ...� h3

Diagram 1 6 1

White achieves his target position, while Black is stymied on the kingside . This illustrates the effectiveness of the post­ contact restraint method (the Samisch Blockade) . On the other hand, Larsen - aware that passive defense is not Tal's style - tries to expedite his QM attack while keeping h2-h3 in reserve to put an end to Black's advance . There's nothing left for Black to do, save to win the g5 -pawn and resume the QM advance, even though this will cost at least three moves to accomplish. 18J�'a3 L'Ll cS

A strategic wall. Besides delaying White 's invasion, the idea is to open the b- and c-files and to free up the h3-c8 diagonal for the c8 -bishop, supporting . . . h4-h3 and preventing h2-h3 . 19.L'Ll xc5 bxcS 20.b4 cxb4 21.� xb4

The opening of the b- and c-files ben­ efits both sides: White finds it easier to carry out the invasion , while Black gets 1 96

Stopping h2-h3. If White challenges with �fl , then Black can capture on f1 and follow up with . . . h4-h3 . 22.� gl �b8 23.L'Ll b5 L'Ll c8 24 .1t a3 � f8 25.�c4 � e7 26.�c7 •

Forcing the exchange of queens. This shows excellent judgment by Larsen, as taking pieces off the board hurts the owner of the QM that's aimed at the op­ posing king more than it does the player developing a flank attack. 26 � xc7 27.L'Ll xc7 � hS •..

Finally getting to take the g5-pawn. Black envisions a pawn-up ending , as the attack on the king went up in smoke with the queen trade. However, White's queenside invasion continues unabated. 28.� fl � xfl 29.i:t gxfl i:t xgS 30.L'Ll e6 Mh5 31.� acl

White , no longer worried about Black's Q M attack, focuses on his invasion plans and is happy to allow . . . h4-h3. Obstructing Black's pawns with 3 l .h3 would be meaningful in an ending. O nly

The Samisch in the King's Indian Structure in such circumstances would White spend a tempo on this move. As the say­ ing goes, " Masters waste no time ! "

The game was probably adjourned and Black resigned after analyzing the position. 1 54. Restoring the Kingside's Mobility

3 1 � f6 .•.

3 l . . . h3 32.;g:c7 g5 33.lZJ d8+ � f6 34.lZJc6 Ma8 35.lZJ xe7 lZJ xe7 36.Md7. 32.;g:c7

Black can use the Samisch (or indirect) unblocking technique (Chapter 1 52, items c, d, and e) , trading pawns on the kingside, to prevent the obstruction of his Q M as happened in the game just concluded.

The typical invasion out of the queen­ side QM attack. White also threatens lZJ d8-c6. 32...Mb8 33.;g:fcl gs

H.Ader - E.GeUer Santiago de Chile 1 965 l.d4 lZJ f6 2.c4 g6 3.lZJ c3 j)_ g7 4.e4 0-0 S .t e2 d6 6.lZJ f3 eS 7.0-0 lZJ c6 8.d5 lZJ e7 9.lZ'l el Li:J d7 10.f3 fS l l .g4 tiJ f6 •

It would be interesting to see how Larsen would have won after 33 . . . h3, as the sac­ rifice 34.lZJ xf4 e:xf4 35.e5 + meets with 35 . . . � xe5 . Looking more closely at the situation on the kingside, we see that, even with the queens off the board, the value of . . . g5-g4 would still be unclear. 34.b3

Obstruction of Black's former Q M , now an actual quantitative majority. White's two pawns stop Black's trio, so here we have a case of qualitative superiority (Chapter 4) .

In the last game, Black played I I . . .h5 leading to the Samisch Blockade. In terms of pawn structures, the text move is equivalent to tenuki. Black retains the possibility of unblocking the kingside and avoiding the kind of cramped posi­ tion he received in Larsen-Tal. 12.j)_ e3 b6 13.Li:J d3 � h8 14.c5 Li:J eg8 1S.cxd6 cxd6 16.Li:Jf2 fxg4 17.fxg4

34.. J�!g8 35.M7c6 � t7 36.W g2 � f6 37.� 0 l::!. b S 38.'it' e2 :gs

Having reached the best possible defen­ sive arrangement, Black has no further useful moves to make. 39.� d3 M h8 40J::!: c7 lZJ b6 41.M lc6 Mhg8 1-0

Diagram 1 62 1 97

PART Y Following the Samisch unblocking (Chapter 1 52 , d), the players fight for kingside space (see Chapter 97) with the possibility of ... �h4 as we saw in Gold­ ner-von Juchen (Chapter 1 07) .

1 55. Classical Samisch Blockade White 's post-contact restraint with g2g4 aims to defend by locking up the kingside .

17 .. .li'l h7 18J:tcl it. d7 19.�b3 �h4

A thematic move , highlighting Black's force concentration in the enemy king's direction.

A.Gipslis - G.Kluger Lublin 1 972 l.tiJ f3 tLl f6 2.c4 g6 3.11J c3 it. g7 4.e4 d6 5.d4 0-0 6.it.e2 e5 7.0-0 ti'l c6 8.d5 ti'l e7 9.ti'l el ti'l d7 10.f3 f5 l l .g4 f4

20.�a3 l:If6 21.ti'l cdl h5 22.gxh5 tb g5 23.l:Ic7

White carries out the standard queen­ side invasion, but in this case it works as a force dispersal as Black is very active elsewhere. 23 ... .1k b5 24.11Jd3

Accepting the sacrifice would lead to a fatal dispersal: 24.it. xb5 tiJ f3+ and mate follows.

Maximum force concentration. 27.tiJ3f2 �g4 28.it. xb5 �xdl+ 29.� g2 �gl + 0- 1 30.� xa3 Mf3+ 3 l � h4 it. f6+#. .

White's queen on a3, bishop on b5, and rook on c7 are poised to invade, but the operation never got off the ground. A true concentration-dispersal, as the white pieces are too far away to deal with Black's decisive concentration of forces on the kingside. 198

Diagram 163 If Black shifts the base right away, we get a chance to see the classical Siirnisch Blockade. 12.h4

The idea of the Siimisch Blockade is to answer . . . h7-h5 with g4-g5 , and . . .g6-g5 with h4-h5 - either way, sealing off the kingside completely. 1 2 ... � 17 13.ti'l g2

White must be ready to hold h4 , even with the maneuver it. c l -it. d2-it. e l and, if necessary, � d l -�e l .

The Samisch in the King's Indian Structure 13 ... i. f6 14.i. d2 c6

Here Black chooses to break with . . . c7c6, but either the . . . c7 -c5 inversion or a restraint/obstruction strategy with . . . a7aS, etc. , would also be legitimate.

26 i. xe6 27.dxe6 g g7 28.a4 i. t8 29.a5 � xc1 30.� xc1 Ci::l c8 31.'@c3 Ci::l ge7 32.i. bS .••

Due to White 's initiative , Black doesn't get the chance to round up the e6-pawn. Yet Black must do something to defend.

15.� b1 cxd5 16.cxd5 Ci::l g8 17.i. e1 h5 3 2 d 5 33.'@ xe5 dxe4 34.'@ xe4 Ci::l d6 3S.'@d3 '@ b8 36.i. d7 ••.

Now the kingside is blocked, as would be the case with 1 7 . . . g5 1 8 .h5. Black's move leaves open the possibility of sac­ rificing on g5.

Holding the e6-pawn, supporting � c l ­ c 8 to restrict the black knights, and get­ ting ready to take the weak f4-pawn.

18.g5 jl e7 36 ... Ci::l ef5 37.� g1 a6 38.Ci:J xf4 Ci::l b5 39.Ci::l xh5 '@e5 40.Ci::l f6+ � h8 41.k:t c8 l:. g8 42.Ci:J xg8 � xg8 43.i. xbS axbS 44.'@d8 '@a1+ 45.� g2 '@g7 46.'@f6 1-0 156. Black Imposes the Samisch Inversion

Diagram 1 64

This is an alternative to the Samisch Blockade , which either side may im­ plement. In the following game , Black denies White the chance to block up the position.

Having consolidated the kingside, White now embarks on the queenside invasion. 19.b4 Ci:J b6 20.'@b3 � g7 21.i. f2 � h7 22.�fcl .it h3 23.� h2 i. d7 24.Ci::l b5 gfi 25.Ci::l c7 � c8 26.Ci:J e6

White demonstrates the risks of the . . . c7 -c6xd5 maneuver, in which Black helps his opponent to achieve the target position. Next comes pressure on d6 and the queenside pawns.

L.Portisch - L. Stein Yerevan 1 965 1.d4 Ci:J f6 2.c4 g6 3.Ci::l c3 i. g7 4.e4 0-0 5.Ci:J f3 d6 6 . .it e2 e5 7.0-0 Ci::l c6 8.d5 Ci::l e7 9.Ci:J e1 Ci::l d7 10.f3 f5 l l .g4 � f6 12.Ci::l g2 c6 13.g b 1 cxd5 14.cxd5 .it d7 15 .it e3 •

The table is set. 15 f4 .••

199

PARTY Played with tempo - the one "extra" move Black needs to prevent the Sa­ rnisch Blockade (h2-h4) .

25.�f2 b6

Note that Black already has perpetual check with . ."iV g3+. .

16 .tf2 g5 •

26."iVc6l:tac8 27."iV xd6

The base of the pawn chain at d6 falls, but Black can always take a draw. 27 M xc7 28."iV xc7 •..

Threatening the often decisive d5-d6 push, and showing the value of the queenside invasion. However, Black still has the draw in hand. Diagram 1 65

28 t1Jf xd5 ..•

Things have turned out as if White had tried an inversion (g2-g4) and Black had accepted it (by refraining from . f4xg3 ).

Playing to win, Black sacrifices a knight. 29. "iVc4

. .

29.exd5 e4 30.fxe4 2i.d4+ and mate next. If White tries to run away with (for in­ stance) 29 . .t c4, Black can win the piece back with 29 . . "iVg3+ 30.�e2 "iVxg2+.

17. "iVd3 h5

Opening the h-ftle comes next.

.

18.h3 hxg4 19.hxg4 �f7 20.CZlb5 2i. xb5 2 1 .i'i' xb5 Mh8 22 .Mbcl "iVgS 2 3 .te1 •

Making way for the king to escape, should the need arise. 23 "iVh7 24. '/Jc7 •..

29 "iV g3+ 30.�g1 "iVh2 + 31.�f2 b5 32."iVb3 "iVg3+ 33.'it'g1 "iVh2+ 34.�12 � g6 .•.

Once again going for the full point. 35.exd5 "iVg3+ 36.�g1 "iVh2+ 37.Wt2 e4

White invades. 24.. i'i'h2+ .

And Black replies in kind. The position is very sharp. 200

Preferable was a draw by perpetual check, as White now swings over to the counterattack. 38.2i. xb5

The Samisch in the King's In dian Structure This mu ltipu rpo se move opens an escape route for the king, returns the piece, wins a pawn, and threatens to advance the d pawn -

.

38 e3+ 39.�e2 'ii xg2+ 40.�dl �d8 •.•

S.Bemtsen K.Mrunalini Mamai a 1 99 1 -

l.d4 lilf6 2.c4 g6 3.lilc3 1i.g7 4.e4 d6 5.1i.e2 0-0 6.lilf3 e5 7.0-0 lllc6 8.d5 llle7 9.t'Llel t'Ll d7 1 0.f3 f5 l l .g4 f4

Though apparently still attac king White's king, Black is switching to de­ fense. 4l...td3+ �h6 42.�c2 �h3

42 . . . � xc2 43. �xc2, and ifnow 43 . . � xd5 there follows 44. � hl #. .

Diagram 1 66

Using a rook to blockade a passed pawn is an admi ssi on of defeat. 44.1i.b4 �g2 45:�Vc2 � xc2+ 46.�xc2 .te5 47.Ilh1+ Wg7 48.l:th7+ Wf8 49.1i. xd 6

If now 1 2.h4, we have the Samisch Blockade. White consents to the inver­ sion instead. 12.t'Lld3 g5

As t hey say, the rest is a matter of tech­ nique.

49 1i.xd6 50.�h6 ..tcs 5 1 .te4 rJJg7 52.�h7+ �f6 53.�d3 �e5 54.�h5 rJJf6 55.l:ih6+ �g7 56.:l:ta6lil g8 57 .l:tc6 .tb6 58.:l:tg6+ �f7 59.l::t xg5 �f6 60.J::If5+ 1-0 •••

•

157. White Chooses the Simisch Inversion

In some variations, White executes post ­ contact restraint and then allows the Sa­ rnisch inve rsion as an alternative to the Sarnisch Blockade.

The game co me s back around to a nor­ mal-type kingside inversion (see Chap­ ter 55). Due to its implications for this King's Indian variation, however, we la­ bel it the "Samisch" inversion. 13.b4 t'Llg6 14.c5 t'Llf6 15 ..id2 b5 16 h3 Mf7 17.Mcl ..tf8 18.� c2 l:Ih7 19.2i.el a6 20.cxd6 cxd6 21...tf2 b5 .

White has achieved his QM target pos i tion, and hopes to invade. Black, mean­ while , prepares to ope n the h-file with . . . h5xg4. First, th ough he hides his true int e ntio ns by offering up the b-pawn as a diversion. ­

,

201

PARTY 22.a4 Jtd7 23.axb5 axb5 24.tLlel � e8 25.'iYd3 Jte7 26.tLlxb5 hxg4

Black opens the h-file just when the b­ pawn is captured. 27/i'Jc7 'iYf8 28.fxg4

White's defense was based on this re­ capture. The idea is to hold the h3-pawn with the queen, and after Black takes it the queens get traded, severely weaken­ ing Black's attack.

Diagram 167

c ombination to shatter Wh ite s plan to hold the h3-pawn with the queen.

by . . h 7- h5. In this game, Black refrains from forcing g4-g5 and adopts a waiting, tenuki strategy, leaving it up to White whether to stand or advance.

31.� xc7 Jtxb5 32.'�f3 Jtxe2 33.'iYxe2

12.tLl g2 c6 13.M bl cxd5 14.cxd5 Jtd7

'!Wxh3

15.Jtd2 M c8 16.a4 '!Wb6+ 17.Jte3 '!Wb4

28 J:tc8 29.tLlg2 �h6 30.b5 �xc7 .•

A

'

.

18.g5

The threat of . tLl xg4 is deadly. ..

34.tLlh4 tL\xh4 35.�el tiJf3+ 0-1

158. Tenuki and the Samisch Blockade

Black adopts tenuki and waits to see what White does on the kingside to justify his post -contact restraint.

At last, White goes for the Samisch Blockade - mainly to relieve the pressu re on e4, but probably also relying on the expectation of furthering his queenside play with gain of tempo on the queen, while the kingside is safely blocked up. 18 ... tLlh5 19.Jtb5 JtxbS 20.axb5 lLlf4 21.'1Wd2 lLlh3+ 22.W h l b6 23Jlal '!Wc4

A.Nikitin - L . Stein Kislovodsk 1 966 l.d4 lLlf6 2.c4 g 6 3.tLlc3 Jtg7 4.e4 d6 5.Jte2 0-0 6.tLlf3 e5 7.0-0 tLlc6 8.d5

24.'1Wd1 '!Wc7

Arriving just in time to hold the pawn and start redeploying Her Majesty over to the kingside.

tLle7 9.tLlel tiJd7 10.f3 f5 l l .g4 tiJf6

(see Diagram 167) We saw before (Chapter 153) how White was prodded into the Samisch Blockade

202

25.'1Wa4 f4 26.Jtd2 � aS 27.tLla2

Thinking of invading with LLlb4-LLla6 and Mcl-c7.

The Samisch in the King's Indian Structure 27. . .tZ:l xgS

Necessaty to keep advancing the pawns, now constituting a quantitative majority. 28.LZ:lb4 lli'd7 29.�acl LZ:lt7 30.�c4 gs 31.�fc1 LZ:lg6 32.LZ:la6 'I!!Hh 3

As in so many other games, the queen penetrates White's camp, this time threatening the f3-pawn.

44. \t> xfl tZ:l xdS + 45. \t> e2 � xc3+ 46.bxc3 �c8 47.\t>d3 \t>f7 48.LZ:lb4 \t>e6 49.i. e3 i.f6 SO.LLldS l:rg8 0-1

159. Samisch Unblocking

In some cases, White starts out intend­ ing to set up the Samisch Blockade, but ultimately chooses what we call "Sa­ misch unblocking."

33.1\i'd1 g4 34.fxg4 LZ:lh6 35.�4c3

White takes some time to defend, in order to hold the kingside together and then invade on the queenside. 35 .. .f3 36.LZ:le3 LZ:lxg4 37.lli'g1 f2

That "dangerous criminal" -the passed pawn - disturbs the peace and wreaks havoc in W hite's camp. 38.lli'g2

Black concludes his plan with a combi­ nation. 38... LZ:lxe3 39.1\i'xh3 fllli'+ M xfl + 41.1\i' xfl QJ xfl

Lim Chuing Hoong - W.Theerapabpaisit Kuala Lumpur 200 1 l.d4 l2lf6 2.c4 g6 3.0c3 i. g7 4.e4 d6 S.t2Jf3 0-0 6.i.e2 CZ'lc6 7.0-0 eS 8.d5 CZ'le7 9.CZ'le1 LZ:le8 10.f3 f5 ll.g4 \t>h8 12.LZ:lg2 LZ:lgs 13.i. e3 c5

We have an inversion on the queen­ side, and pawn tension on the kingside. The base shift with ... f5-f4, followed by ... g6-g5 setting up the Siimisch inver­ sion, would resolve the tension but risk a draw.

40.� xfl

The second player comes out a piece ahead. As the fl-knight is relatively im­ prisoned, Black counts on . . . LZ:lxd2 or, if need be, on ... LZ:lxh2. As it turns out, the game is decided in a few moves and nei­ ther capture is needed. 42.i.cl �f8 43.\t>gl LZ:lf4

With the threat of...LZ:le2+.

Diagram 168

203

PARTY Restraining White's queenside break for the purpose of exploiting the a-file that's about to come open. 1S.a3 b6 16.b4 axb4 17.axb4 �d7 18.�c2 {jjc7 19.b5

base shift that makes it harder for White to carry out the invasion. Playing it might mean White is planning some sort of opening-up on the kingside, oth­ erwise practically the whole board is blocked. A

19...Ma7 20.Mal �b8 21.gxfS

204

Samisch unblocking (Chapter 152, b). As with any sort of unblocking, this too is done to open lines in the search for al­ ternative objectives. 21 ...gxf5 22.exfS �xf5 23.{jj e4 {jje8 24.�d3 �xe4 2S.�xe4 {jjef6 26.Mxa7 �xa7 27.�f5 MaS 28.f4 exf4 29.�xf4

White has plenty of alternative objec­ tives: h7, d6, b6 . 29 ....ltf8 30.�e6 �a2 31.�xa2 Mxa2 32.{jje3 {jje4 33.�e5+ .ltg7 34.Mf8 1-0

Part VI

The Modern Benoni Structure: Theory and Practice

160. Modem Benoni Structure:

General Scheme

The pawn structure that determines the Modern Benoni Structure centers around the pawn chain constituted by the opposition of White 's pawns on c4 and d5, to Black's on c5 and d6:

variations in what is designated in Eng­ lish-speaking countries as the " Modern Benoni" feature an early . . . e7-e6xd5, followed by White 's c4xd5 recapture. Because the resulting pawn configura­ tion involves rival numerical pawn ma­ jorites on opposite wings, rather than qualitative majorities (the focus of this book) , these variations fall outside the scope of our work. 1 6 1. Target Position

Contact with the base of the oppos­ ing pawn chain takes place on e5 (for White) and b5 ( Black) , as in the follow­ ing diagram:

Diagram 1 69: Modern Benoni Structure The birth of this pawn chain gives White a QM on the kingside, and Black his own on the queenside - the opposite of what we saw in the King's Indian Structure . This formation is known in Brazil and Portugal as the " I ndo- Benoni . " Many

Diagram 1 70: QM contacts 205

PART VI For either side, the purpose of these contacts is to achieve their respective target positions once the base pawns are traded off:

1 63. White's Play

Things are a bit more complicated from White's side of the board, although we can say that contact on e5 is usually sup­ ported by a piece (i.e., a bishop on f4) , seldom by a pawn. After making con­ tact, White can keep the tension, as in the diagram below:

Diagram 17 1 : Target positions The base pawns at e4 and d6 are exposed and subject to attack in the middlegame and ending. In addition, assuming both parties castle kingside, White's space advantage on the kingside in principle turns his pawns there into a qualitative majority with no blockader pawn (see Chapter 14). 162. Black's Play

Basically, Black's QM play (Diagram 1 69) consists of the .. . b7 -b5 advance to contact following due preparation with . . . a7-a6, . . . �b8 , . ..Ci'Jc7, and the like. Contact can also be executed sacrifi­ cially by playing . .. b7-b5 with no prior preparation, as in the Benko Gambit. Either way, the next step is to invade White 's territory, attacking the base at c4 and some other alternative objective , culminating in a tum toward the white king's position. 206

Diagram 172: Central tension Even after Black's attack is completed on the queenside, White can keep the e5 -d6 tension, waiting for Black to choose one ofthe four following courses of action there : a) . . . dxe5 (indirect unblocking); b) ... e7 -e6 (post-contact break); c) .. . f7-f6 (counter-contact); d) . . . f7-f5 (flank expansion). At this point it' s worth noting why White holds back from initiating the creation ofhls QM target position with the e5xd6 exchange . After the moves l.d4 liJf6 2.c4 g6 3.liJc3 !il.. g7 4.e4 d6 5.!ii..e 2 0-0 6 .!ii.. g5 h6 7.!ii.e . 3 c5 8.d5 e6, we arrive at the fol­ lowing position:

The Modem Benoni Structure: Theory and Practice 164. Modern Benoni Structure: Strategic Concepts The richness of positional possibilities in the Modem Benoni Structure lies most­ ly on White's side - to the point where our outline is sketched out from White's viewpoint.

Diagram 173: Black's . . . e7 -e6 break

This break is very common in the Mod­ em Benoni Structure. The point is to play . . . exdS: 8.h3 exdS 9.exd5:

Everything starts with the creation of both sides ' QMs once White plays d4d5. Now White can play for primary contact with e4-e5 or flank contact with f2-f4-f5 . On the queenside, he can ei­ ther try restraint/obstruction on Black's Q M, or break against it. A. Creating the Qualitative Majorities with l .dS AI. The l.. .e6 break A. l .a. Watchful waiting: 2. tenuki A .l.a.i. Capturing the front pawn with 2 ... exd5 A. l.a.ii. Post-break inversion: 2 ... e5 A. l .b. Frontal base exposure : 2.dxe6 A. 2. The l . . e5 inversion A.2.a. Declined en passant: 2.dxe5 A.2.b. Accepted in the Benoni Structure: 2.tenuki A.3. Contact with l.. .b5 A. 3.a. Reinforcing the base: 2.b3 A . 3 .a.i. Indirect unblocking: 2 . . . bxc4 A. 3.a.ii. Shifting the base: 2. . . b4 A. 3.b. Direct unblocking: 2 .cxb4 A. 3.c. Watchful waiting: 2 .tenuki A.3.c .i. Indirect unblocking: 2 . . .bxc4 A.4. Flank expansion with l . ..fS AS. Watchful waiting: l . . .tenuki .

Diagram 174: Target position for White's QM And so White gets his target position, having spent no time preparing the e4e5 contact: Black did all the work for him. If Black plays into this, it's because it suits him somehow; White wastes no moves on it and he would rather keep the tension in the center.

207

PART VI B . Contact with 2 .e5 B . l . Direct unblocking: 2 . . . dxe5 8.2. Post - contact break: 2 . . . e6 B.3. Counter-contact: 2 . . . f6 B.4. Flank expansion with 2 . . . f5 B . S . Wait-and-see defense: 2. . . tenuki B . 5 .a. Ind ire ct unblocking 3 .exd6 B.5.a.i. Base replacement: 3 . . . exd6 B.5 .a.ii. Changing blockaders: 3 . . . (piece)xd6 B . 5 .b. Tertiary contac t with 3 .e6 C. Flank Contact 2.f5 D. Restraint/Obstruction: 2.a4 E. The 2.b4 break

165. White's Target Position in the

Modern Benoni Structure

White's target position may come about as a re sult of White 's own actions with e4-e5 (Chapter 1 64, B) followed by indi­ rect unblocking with e5xd6 ( 1 64, B. 5 . a) and base replacement with .. . e7xd6 ( 1 64, B.5.a.i) . More often, however, it's the product of Black's activity. Before White gets in e4-e5, Black plays the .. . e7-e6 break (Chapter 1 64, A. 1 ) . lf White doesn't do anything about it (watchful wait i ng ; 1 64, A. l .a), Black then follows with . . . e6xd5, capturing the front pawn ( 1 64, A. l .a . i), and White retakes e4xd5 - reaching the target position in less time , as we already saw in the King's I n di an Structure (see Chapter 79) . A brief glance at Modern Benoni opening theory is enough to show just how rare is the "classical" kings id e 208

QM attack by White invo lving contact with e4- e 5 , the trade on d6 t o ach i eve t he targ e t p o si t ion , and invas ion on e7. No matter how the target posi­ tion comes about, Wh i t e obtains a QM with no blockader pawn (see Cha pt e r 14) and must advanc e it, especially the f- p aw n to f5 (flank contact; Chapter 1 64, C) . Failing this, he run s the risk of Black ' s kingside pawns themselves turning into a QM with no blockader pawn.

166. Stubbornness in the Center

The opening of the e-file is one of the main effects ofthe Modem Benoni QM t arge t position (Diagram 1 7 1 ) . Because this is a center file, the center itself is involved in th e fight for the file, a nd indeed this is the primary focus of that fight. This struggle can end up clearing out the board via massive piece trades, particularly of the rooks and qu ee ns. This explains why. . . e7-e6 and ... e6xd5 is one of Black's most common ways to achieve equality in the Modern Beno n i Structure, rega rd less of whether it helps White to attain his QM target position. V.Hort- S.Gligoric Bugojno 1 978 l.d4 tt:lf6 2.c4 g6 3.tt:lc3 Si..g7 4. e4 d6 5.ii.e2 0-0 6.1i..g5 c5 7.d5 a6 8.a4 e6 9.tt:lf3 h6 10.1i..d2 exd5 ll.exd5 �g4 12.0-0 tt:lbd7 13.h3 �xf3 1 4.1i.. xf3 l::1:e8

The Modem Benoni Structure : Theory and Practice trol of the center, help to explain why both players jump in head first despite the possibility of the board's emptying out. 16 ... h5 17.�xe8+ � xeS 18� d l �d8 19.f4 Si. d4+ 20.�h2 f5

Black fights tooth-and-nail for the avail­ able operational space, so vital to the success of attacker and defender both. Diagram 1 75: Open e-file With the target position on the board, the next phase is to invade the enemy camp ( Chapter 27). White's prospective invasion in the Mod­ em Benoni Structure would take place up the e-file, including the e7 square. This is very difficult to achieve, though, as it ties in with the struggle for the center, and insisting on it leads to massive piece trades. When open and disputed, the e­ file is a real vacuum cleaner, sweeping up all manner of pieces. Black's interest in opening the file lies in the strategic need to first achieve equality before active operations can be launched. Black's need to equalize - even if it means clearing out the position - is a strategic threat to White's natural ambi­ tion for victory. This detail is the source of much speculative play to increase the likelihood of a decisive outcome.

21.g3

Though needlessly so at the moment, this denies h4 to the black queen. 21. .. l2ldf8 22.�d3 24.Si.f3 �e7

b6 23.� el � a7

Offering another rook trade , robbing all further decisions of meaning. 25.l:xe7 � xe7 26Jj'e2

Neither player lets the other control the e-fil.e (and, therefore, the center) , nor do they care that the position is clear­ ing out. 26...'�xe2+ 27.1i.. x e2 l2lf6 28.1i.. d3 �f7 29.a5 bxaS 30.b3 h4 31.gxh4 .lii.f2 32.h5 t2lxh5 33.l2l e2 l2l d7 34.� g2 .lth4 35.Si.xa5 � e8 36.�f3 .lii. d8 37 .\tel a5 38/i'l c3 tLl b8 VI-VI •

B.Voronkov- M.Tal Tbilisi 1 956

15.�c2 l2lh7 16.l::t ael l.c4 tt'lf6 2.tt'lc3 g6 3.d4 Si. g7 4.e4 d6

The stubborn opposition of the rooks along the e-file, and the fight for con-

s.Si.e2 0-0 6.1i.. gs c5 7.dS e6 8.'iV d2 exd5 9.exd5 Wifc7 209

PART VI Hitting the queen with 1 0.ll:lb5 is point­ less: Black will move it away and then play ... a7-a6. lO.CZJf3 ius 1 1 .0-0 a6 12.il.d3 il.xd3 13Ji'xd3ll:lbd7 14.h3 �ab8 15.a4

6 ...c5 7.d5 e6 8 .�d2 exd5 9.exd5 �e8

This move is the reason why the light­ squared bishop is placed better on e2 than on d3. 1 0.ll:lf3 ii.g4 11.0-0 ll:lbd7 12.h3 Ji.xf3 13.Ji. xf3 � e7

Simply a defensive measure, with the clear intention to trade pieces along the e-file , i.e. 14.�el �f8.

Diagram 1 76 White's last move clamps down on Black's QM advance, to the point that even the great Mikhail Tal gives up. In any case , a wing attack would be met by a counter in the center up the e-file. 1S...�be8 16.�fel ll:lh5 17.b3 ll:le5 18.CZJxeS �xeS 19.�xeS ii.xe5 20.�el �e8 21.il.d2 �-� W.Uhlmann

O.Jakobsen Kapfenberg (Austria) 1 970 -

l.d4 ll:lf6 2.c4 g6 3.ll:lc3 Ji.g7 4.e4 d6 5.il.e2

Diagram 1 77 14.a3

Given the possibility of Black's queen's going to the kingside , White wants to force matters with the b2-b4 break (Chapter 1 64, E) , banking on the queen's absence leading to a relative force dispersal on the queenside. 14...'�18 15.ll:lb5 �ec8 1 6.�fel

5.il.g5 leads to the Bronstein System. s . . 0-0 6.il.g5 .

On move 6, it's called the Averbakh Sys­ tem. 210

White's last two moves were intended to occupy the abandoned ftle, but this has no positive effect on the course ofthe game. 16... a6 17.ll:lc3 �e8

The Modem Benoni Structure: Theory and Practice Neutralizing White's pretensions to the e-file and preparing the typical piece trades there.

pieces coming up from behind to exploit whatever breaches the pawns managed to create.

18J€Uc2 h5

28.ild3 f5

Looking at the kingside, White can still play f2-f4 to try the flank contact f4-f5 (Chapter 1 64 , C); in effect this would be a non-blockader pawn QM attack (Chapter 1 4) .

The restrictive , stonewall-type forma­ tion arises. 29. g2 tll c7 23.tll e4 �aS •••

The Modern Benoni Structure: Theory and Practice 24.�d1 tll c4 25 . .lt xc4 bxc4 26..lt xd6 l:i: xb2

Both sides invade, but Black's invasion decides because White's pieces are kept away from the black king by a solid wall of pawns.

Everything goes right for Black - even this detail! As Machiavelli might have put it, Black play s on the side of the god­ dess Fortuna. 35.l: xd3 �a1 36.l:d8+ � g7 37.�d4+

� xd4 38.l:xd4 l:tf3+ 0-1

173. Black's Base Shift

Black's base shift in the King's Indian Structure (see Chapter 53) sharpens the game considerably. In the Modem Benoni, the analogous base shift . . . b5b4 is accompanied instead by difficulties in carrying out the invasion. W.Gorjatchkin M.Held Nuremberg 1 990 -

Diagram 192

1.d4 tll f6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 .lt g7 4..lt g2 0-0 5.tll f3 d6 6.0-0 tll c6 7.tll c3 l:Ib8 8.d5 tll a5 9.tll d2 c5 10.�c2 a6 l l.b3 b5

The desperate attack 27. � g5 fails to 27...h6 28.tll f6+ .lt xf6 29.� xf6 tll xd5 30.� xb2 tll e3+ 3 l . � g3 � g2+ 32.� f4 tll xdl 33.� b8+ � h7, and Black wins. Everything goes the way of the play er who's more in sy nc with the realities of the position. 27 ... tll xd5 28.� g1 .lt d4 29 .lt xc5 .lt xc5 •

30.tll xc5 tll f4

Black's invasion unfolds naturally in the context of material equality. His pieces are well coordinated and no extraordi­ nary measures are needed. 31.�e4 tZl xh3+ 32. � g2 � xf2+ 33.�xh3 � xa3+ 34.tll d3 cxd3

Diagram 1 9 3 Black has made contact with a certain swiftness, which could be viewed as a good thing. However, White hasn't committed to the kingside, so if Black 225

PART VI now performs indirect unblocking to reach his target position, White could deploy to the queenside and beat back the invasion.

Shifting the base , like c5-c6 in the King's Indian (Chapter 70) . It's not tertiary contact, as there is no fork ena­ bling White to open lines (see Chapter 7 1 , 1 5 .c6) .

12.ii.b2 b4

Shifting the base so as to avoid the con­ sequences of our earlier reasoning. Be­ cause it's difficult to execute an invasion on the heels of any new contact on a4, White is relatively free to proceed with his own QM attack on the kingside.

However, with the pawn advancing all the way to e6 , White enjoys more king­ side space and we may view his f4-g3- h2 pawns as a QM with no blockader pawn, relative to Black's f6-g6-h7 pawns. 24 lil a8 25.h4 lil c7 26.h5 gxh5 27.lil f5 �e8 28.lil g5 lil aS ••.

13.lil dl lil b7 14.e4 aS 15.f4

Supporting contact on e5 with this pawn is perfectly logical here , given the almost complete locking-up of the queenside. 15 .. .CiJd7 16.ii. xg7 W xg7 17.�b2+ f6

Restraint/obstruction against e4-e5 , in the same mold as on the queenside in the King's Indian Structure .

Black finally gets his wish, but this has zero effect on the outcome. 29.lil t7 � xt7 30.ext7+ W xf7 31 .l::!. xe7+ •

Another invasion at the most difficult point in the Modern Benoni Structure. 31 .. .� xe7 32.l'Ll xe7 W xe7 33.l:tel+ Wf7

34.�e2 W g6 3S.�e7 1 - 0

18.lil f3 �a8 1 74. Reinforcing the Base

With the idea of . . . a5-a4xb3, then (af­ ter axb3) . . . l:I a3 c.nd . . . lil a5 to capture White's base pawn on b3 - a plan lack­ ing alternative objectives, and therefore difficult to achieve.

with Indirect Unblocking M. Udov�ic - A.Suetin Leningrad 1 967 l.c4 g6 2.lil f3 ii. g7 3.g3 lil f6 4.ii. g2 0-0

19.e5 a4 20.Mbl axb3 21 .axb3

5.0-0 d6 6.lil c3 lil c6 7.d4 a6 8.d5 l'Ll aS 9.lil d2 c5 10.�c2 :l:!. b8 l l.b3 bS

Black attains his target position, but - how to invade? 21 ... W g8 22.l'Lle3 lil b6 23.:!:i:fel �a3

The same position as in Diagram 1 9 3 . Here, though, Black will prove that the speed of his attack really is a good thing!

24.e6 12.ii. b2 bxc4 226

The Modem Benoni Structure: Theory and Practice Bringing about the target position by indirect unblocking is the right thing to do. White has a hard time deploying to the queenside to defend against Black's QM attack and invasion threats.

the kingside is just what Black was hop­ ing for.

13.bxc4 Jl h6

Bringing the dark-squared bishop back in touch with the queenside.

19 . . Ji'l g4 20.l::t ae1 22.tZ'l abl exf4

i.. g7 21 .h3 tZ'l f6

23.a3 l::tb8 24.Jl al '@b6 25.I:l: xf4 tZ'l hS 26.Jl xg7 W xg7

The bishop trade helps Black - now the queen can invade on b2. 27.I:l:f3 � b2

Diagram 1 94 The threat to the base pawn on c4 forces the white pieces to go into contortions. 14.Li:J cbl i.. d7 15.i.. c3 e5

Black plays this inversion simply to slow down any possible QM attack by White . 16.tLl a3 llb4 17.e3 Ita4 18.Jlb2 �c7

Diagram 1 9 5

Black continues the queenside buildup in preparation for the invasion. But the Jack of working space leaves little room for alternative objectives .

" Reciprocal action of con duct follows the reciprocal action of pl ans . The plan cannot encompass everything on either side. Past a certain point [i.e. , the inva­ sion] , the plan gives way to command" (Aron 45 5).

1 9 .f4

28.�d3 �e5 29.g4 tLl g3

White decides to do something before Black can get in . . . I:ifb8-b4 besieging the base pawn on c4. But this deployment to

Black's invasion keeps rolling forward. 30. e4 .C:b2 31.l:t xg3 tZ'l xc4 227

PART VI Now the base on c4 falls. 32.tZ'l xc4 � xc4 33.� f3 l::i. cc2 34.M g3 � bS 35.'�f3 �d4+ 36. hl � c4

Sacrificial contact on b5 can of course also take place in non-theoretical situations, as in the following game . M.!:;uba K. Spraggett Dortmund 1984 -

l.c4 g6 2.d4 � g7 3.lZ:l c3 lZ:l f6 4.e4 d6 S.h3 o-o 6.ii. gs c5 7.d5 h6 8.� e3 e6 9.� d3 exd5 10.exd5 l:!:e8 1 t .'{ird2

Diagram 1 96 Black threatens to recover the sacrificed piece with . . � a2 . White 's position is completely overrun. .

Diagram 197

37.g5 �f2 38.'�c3 � a2 39.'{ir xd4+ cxd4 40.e5 �xg2 41.l:txg2 � xd5 42.exd6 � xg2+ 43, gl � xh3 0- 1 175. Sacrificial Contact

Black's contact on b5 in the Mod­ ern Benoni, like White' s on c5 in the King's Indian, can be played either as a sacrifice or following adequate prepa­ ration .

White is positioned to play for flank contact with f4-f5 as the immediate ob­ jective of his QM attack. On the other hand, due to the somewhat careless placing � d3 - ii. e3 he suffers some dis­ comfort along the e-file, which would not be the case were the ldng's bishop on e2 as in the Averbakh Variation. ll ...bS

The game we just saw is an example of well- prepared contact. Black's sacrificial contact on b5 in the Modern Benoni is much more important to opening theory than White 's on c5 in the King's Indian, giving rise to two well-analyzed lines in the Benoni family - the Benko Gambit and the Blumenfeld Countergambit. 228

This QM contact is a true sacrifice - Black doesn' t know when (or even if) he will get his pawn back. But the move comes at a good time, as it exploits White's negligence on the e-file. 12.lZ:l xbS lZJe4 1 3.Ji. xe4 l::t xe4

The Modern Benoni Structure: Theory and Practice About this sacrificial contact, our first conclusion is that Black takes over the initiative and White ' s QM activity is stillborn.

lated - but the power of Black's invasion grows.

In addition to the effects involving the e-file , such as the delay in White ' s cas­ tling, we have an unusual attack coming from the center out to White's base pawn on c4. This highlights the significance of controlling the e-file .

Black gets his pawn back. Meanwhile, White doesn't manage even to contest the e-file .

14.tt'l e2

3t.g4 Mbb2

White could hold the c4-pawn with ei­ ther � c l or tt'l a3 , but this would leave him on defense as he would have to deal with . .t d4 and the trade on e3, leaving a weak pawn there as an alternative objec­ tive for Black to focus on. With the text move, White tries to fight for the initia­ tive by trading his base pawn for Black's h6-pawn, which turns out no better.

Now the b-file (which came open as a result of Black's sacrifice) serves as a new avenue for invasion.

20 .. Ji he3 21.fxe3 � xb2

22.tt'l f4 � e8 23.a4 tt'l f6 24.h4 � e7 25.l::!: a3 �b4 26.g3 tt'l g4 27.e4 liJ e5 28.M cl � b2 29.liJ dl l':td2 30.liJ f2 l':tb7

.

.

32.liJ dl � a2 33.�g3 M xa4

Black has gone from a pawn down to a pawn up. 34.liJ c3 M a3 35.g5

14... � xc4 Mc2

.t xh6

15 ..t xh6

16.� xh6

An unusual invasion, hitting the b2pawn and still stopping White from cas­ tling. 17.tt'l bc3 .t a6 18.Vjie3 tt'l d7 19.0-0

White finally gets to castle , but the e2knight is pinned and will be subjected to strong pressure down the e-ftle.

White advances his former QM - use­ lessly, as it turns out, since Black's activ­ ities in the center and on the queenside are the dominant theme. 35 ... .t d3 36.h5 � b3 37.hxg6 38.liJ e6 M bb2 39.liJ f4 c4

fxg6

Now White has to watch Black's front pawn march into his territory. 40.Mal Mf2 0- 1

19.. ,Vjie8 20.Mfel If 20. � xe8 , then 20 . .l�: xe8 winning ei­ ther a piece or the exchange. The text move is a lesser evil - a pawn is left iso.

The black rooks' maneuvers down the e­ file and on the queenside, made possible by White 's careless play, were remark­ able. 229

PART VI 176. Direct Unblocking by White

10.0-0 Ci'J b6

1 1 .L'Ll d2

0-0

1 2.�c2

� b7

White's acceptance of the sacrificial bS-pawn (as in the Benko Gambit) is a case of direct unblocking. In this game , White never gets to carry out his Q M at­ tack due to Black's vigorous and effec­ tive operations on the queenside. V.Pacheco - J.Litvinchuk

Gausdal 1 986 1 .d4 L'Ll f6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5

With strong pressure on White's front pawn. 13.e4

� a6

VJ/ic7

16.� f4

14.� d 1 �tb8

L'Ll g4

15.L'Ll b3

17J:!:ab1

L'Ll eS

Black has achieved a concentration of forces on the queenside , which hasn't yet reached the status of invasion as they have yet to cross the border. I considered classifying this type of post­ contact, pre-invasion concentration as a new stage in the management of the QM . The idea was never developed, and if the reader wishes to do so, the field is wide open to new investigations. 18.� fl L'Ll f3+ 19.c;t> h1 Ci'Jd4 20.�d2 L'Ll xb3 21.axb3 � xfl 22.l::t xfl L'Ll d7

Diagram 1 98 Black makes contact on bS right away, even before finishing his pawn chain ( . . . d7-d6) and with n o preparation what­ ever. If White accepts the offer, Black's play is based on invading White 's posi­ tion. White is put on defense, but his QM always lurks in the background. 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 � xa6 6.L'Ll f3 d6

The pawn structure in the center is evi­ dently a vestige of Black's QM target position. 7.L'Llc3 g6 8.g3 � g7 9.� g2 Ci'J bd7 230

From a strictly positional standpoint , we see that in effect White no longer enjoys a material edge, as Black's cS­ pawn stands in qualitative superiority and cancels out the material difference. We're back to the basic issue: in order to win, Black must invade. 23.�c2 �a6 24.�a1 l:Iab6 25.l:!.a3 L'Ll eS 26.�cl �b7 27.l:!.cal �c8 2S.c;t> g2 c4

A typical move in the Modern Benoni as in the Benko, creating a support point for pieces on b3 and d3 as well as a pas­ sageway for the invading forces on cS. 29.Ci'J e2 L'Ll d3 30.� xc4 � xc4 31.bxc4 Ci'J xf4+ 32.Ci'J xf4 � xb2

The Modem Benoni Structure: Theory and Practice Black finally gets to invade, winning the exchange immediately. 33.l:r 1a2 � xa3 34.l:rxa3 � b3 35.l::t a7 I't8b7

36J�: as+

I't bS

37.'f:J. a7

l::t 3b7

sure on White's queenside pawns - to the point where Black was reduced to hitting the front pawn at dS. After the text move , Black gets to trade bishops and use both the a- and b-files.

38.'t:J.a4 l:tc7 39.t2'l d3 'f:J.b3 40.'f:J.a8+ W g7 41.0 cl 'f:J.b1 42.LL'l e2 'f:J. xc4

7 ... ii. xfl 8.W xfl g6 9.g3 ii. g7 10.'tl g2 0-0 u.CZJ f3 LL'l bd7 12.J:'t e 1 CZJ g4 13.

With this pawn's capture and the extra exchange, the rest is simple .

l: b 1

43.'f:J.a2 'f:J.b3 44.f3 'f:J. cb4 45.�f2 l:rb2 46.'f:J. xb2 l: xb2 47.h4 l:ra2 48.� e3 � f6 49.LL'l f4 'f:J. a3+ SO.tZ:l d3 e6 51.dxe6 fxe6

Following Nimzowitsch's formula, cre­ ating the candidate pawn on d6 . 52.e5+ dxe5 53.'.t e4 l:t a2 54.W e3 l:ta3 55.'1t/e4 I:tas 56.LL'l f2 'tl e7 57.tZ:l g4 �d6 58.tZ:l f6 l:a7 59.g4 hS 60.gxh5 l:tf7

Diagram 1 99

61.tZ:l e8+ � d7 62.hxg6 0- 1 177. Competing QM Attacks

When both sides launch their respective QMs in the Benko Gambit , for White this means returning the sacrificed pawn. In such cases - as in the game below the question of whose QM is mobilized more effectively returns to the fore . C.Augustin T. Thmer Bad Diirkheim 1 993 -

White offers to give the pawn back (af­ ter 1 3 . . . ii. xc3 1 4 .bxc3 'f:J. xa2) in return for weakening Black's kingside dark squares, which would facilitate his QM attack. Black declines the offer. 13 �b6 14..,t d2 l:tb8 15.'t�!fc2 �a6 ••.

16.a3 l: a7 17.LL'l d1 'f:J. ab7 18.ii c3 LL\ ge5

White now goes in for a direct QM at­ tack on the kingside , setting up oppo­ site-wing offensives.

l.d4 tZ:l f6 2.c4 cS 3.d5 bS 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 � xa6 6.tZ:l c3 d6 7.e4

19.tZ:l xe5 tZ:l xeS 20.ii. xe5 ii. xe5 21.f4 2t. d4 22.l:e2 l:::t b3

In the previous game, White fianchet­

toed with g2-g3 and ii. fl -g2. One ben­ efit of this is that it leaves the a6-bishop blocking the a8-rook, relieving the pres-

Two black pieces have now crossed the border. White replies by making contact on eS. 23 1

PART V I 23.e5 Wg7 24.exd6 exd6 25.f5

48.W d 1 c3 49.W cl f5 so.ClJ xfS .it. eS 5 1 .h7 c2

By the use of indirect unblocking, White changes the nature of his QM from one featuring a blockader pawn to one lack­ ing a blockader pawn. Now he plans to establish new, flank contact on f5 (see Chapter 164, C) .

The bishop covers both sides of the board, as ifthere were two pieces oppos­ ing the single knight. This is the basis for the bishop's superiority over the knight on an open board.

2S ...l: xa3

52.'i£i d2

Recovering the pawn with the threat of checkmate (26.bxa3 :t xb l 27.� xb l

Or 52.tt'le3 .it. f4 5 3 .h8� .1l xe3# .

�xe2+).

52... W b2 0 - 1

26.fxg6 hxg6 27.l:e7

178. Development and Dispersal

White, too , invades, threatening the a3rook. The question now is whose inva­ sion will be the more effective .

In contrast to the last two games, in the following contest White makes use of Black's queenside operations to launch a QM attack on the kingside.

27.. .'t!b'd3 28.� xd3 l: xd3 29.l:e2

The rook's return to a defensive role indicates that Black's invasion is the more menacing. 29 ... .it. f6 30.tt'le3 .it.gs 31.tt'l g4 l: xd5

Winning a pawn; the rest is a mop-up operation.

There' s nothing unusual about this, of course - the real question is whose at­ tack will bear fruit first. Here , Black' s at­ tacking mass on the queenside turns into a force dispersal relative to the k:ingside, where White 's army shatters the thin en­ emy defenses. W.Taeger - P.Schaffarth

Oberursel 1 972 32.h4 Md2 33.:t xd2 jL xd2 34.tt'l f2 .Ji. c3 35.Cbe4 l: xb2+ 36.l: xb2 .it. xb2 37.tt'l xd6

1 .d4 tt'lf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6

.1ld4 38.Wf3 tt r6 39.tt'lc4 We6 40.g4 .1l f6 41.h5 gxh5 42.gxh5

5.bxa6 .1l xa6 6.Q.J f3 d6 7.g3 g6 8 .1l g2 •

.1l g7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Q.J c3 lt:J bd7 1 1 .�c2 'W/c7 12.Me1 Mtb8

In addition to the material edge , Black's bishop is better than White's knight. 42... W d5 43.tb e3+ Wd4 44.W e2 c4

45.h6 .1l h8 46.tt'l f5+ W c3 47.tt'l e3 � b3 232

As we've seen before , this is a typical development of the king's rook in the Benko Gambit. Black builds up for the queenside invasion, but note that the

The Modem Benoni Structure: Theory and Practice a6-bishop stays on the board , getting in the rooks' way. 13.e4 ll: g4 14.l:'!:dl �b7 15.h3 li:l geS 16.li:l xe5 tt:l xeS 17.f4 tt:l c4

25.exd6 � f8 26.i. xg7+ � xg7 27.�c3+ tt:l f6 28.�e7 1-0

Once again, invasion of the critical square e7 is the decisive stroke in the Modern Benoni. At least three black pieces sit uselessly on the queenside , do­ ing nothing to impede White 's attack. The next contest also illustrates the way in which reciprocal actions can trans­ form normal piece development into a sterile force dispersal. B.Ivkov - W.Posthumus

corr. (Netherlands) 1973 Diagram 200 Marking the start of Black's invasion operation.

l .d4 li:l f6 2.c4 cS 3.d5 bS 4.cxb5 a6 S.bxa6 i. xa6 6.li:l c3 d6 7.e4 i. xfl S.� xfl g6 9.g3 1J.. g7 10.� g2

This type of "king's fianchetto" never ceases to amaze!

18.e5

White replies by advancing his QM to contact. White can flirt with the idea of d5-d6 in case of direct unblocking with . . . dxe5.

10 ... 0-0 l l.tt:lf3 tt:l bd7 12.l:'!: el li:lg4 13.li:l g5 tt:l geS 14.f4 tt:l c4

18...l:'!:ba7 19.b3 tt:l b6 20.1l b2 l:'!: c8 21.�el dxeS 22.fxe5

The a6-bishop and b6-knight block the other black pieces' access to the white queenside. Given White's progress on the opposite wing, Black's queenside concentration works as a force dispersal. Such changes in the relative value of an army detachment are easily overlooked in the heat of battle. 22 ... tt:l d7

23.d6 exd6 24.li:l d5 �d8

Diagram 20 1 A knight invades on c4, as in the previous game. Here, though, it's a harmless 233

PART VI solo operation, and White exploits this to win time for his QM attack.

hopes of trading a lot of pieces and making a draw.

15.�d3 tt:l cb6 16.$. e3 VJilc7 17.i':Ie2

27.fxg6 hxg6 28.!o!f6 VJile1 29J::!: e 2

Mfb8 18.l::!: fl c4 19.�dl tt:l c5

Black's queenside deployment has crystallized into a concentration for the invasion. Very shortly, however, White turns this into a concentration-disper­ sal.

Allowing a single rook trade, but imple­ menting a decisive invasion. 29...VJif xf6 30.l::l: xe8+ hS

25.\\'Hh6

� gs

26.h5

� e5

27.� xg6 1-0

Black barely got his queenside QM moving. 180. Counterattack in the Center

In the Sicilian Defense, Black often waits for the white kingside pawns to advance before playing the central counterthrust . . . d7(6)-d5 , even as a sacrifice.

Diagram 202

Black tries to trade off some pieces ( op­ erational clearing) . 13.� b2 ti:J a6 14.f4

The same can happen in the Modem Benoni Structure, when White tries to engineer the f4-f5 flank contact. L. Polugaevsky - E.Gufeld

Tbilisi 1 966 The drawback is that White gets this move in with tempo .

1.c4 ti:Jf6 2.ti:Jc3 g6 3.d4 � g7 4.e4 d6 s ..t e2 0-0 6Ji. g5 c5 7.d5 e6 8.'iil d2 exd5

14 i. xe2 15.\\'H xe2 ti::l d7 16.� ae1 ti::l c7

9.exd5 �e8 10.ti:J f3 � g4 11.0-0 ti::l bd7

Black is already out of moves. If 1 6 . . � e8, then 17.ti:Je4 threatening the base at d6 and a bishop trade on the long diagonal, in addition to the thematic f4-f5 contact.

The variation with . . � g4 and . . ti:J bd7 has the merit of wasting no time in de­ veloping the pieces to meet White ' s QM attack.

.•.

.

17.ti::l e4 ti:J f6 18.f5 ti::l xe4 19.� xe4 \\'Hg5

.

.

12.h3 ii. xf3 13 .t xf3 a6 14.a4 'iii c7 •

15.'iil c2

This will only facilitate White's QM advance .

22.h4 'iYdS 23.'iil d2 \t> g7 24.f6+

Although formally we have a restraint/ obstruction setup against Black's QM, there is no real desire to stop it from ad­ vancing. In fact, White would love for Black to focus on this advance while he continued to make preparations for his own QM action over on the kingside .

This one little pawn turns White 's concentration into a decisive one.

From Black's perspective, this reasoning is inverted: he'd rather not mobilize the

20.W h2 i. xb2 2 1 .'iil xb2 l:ae8

Trying for more piece trades.

235

PART VI

queenside, so as to avoid turning this de­ ployment into a force dispersal relative to the real battleground over on the kingside. 15 .Me7 ••.

He waits for White to commit himself more fully to the pawn storm, when he can fight back along the e-file and on d5, and then pivot toward the unpro­ tected white king. 24.i.d3 tt:J c7

Keeping one eye on the d5-pawn and another on the b5 contact, aimed at un­ dermining White' s front pawn. White may be caught off-guard if he takes these maneuvers as a simple case of Black's classical Q M attack. 25.g5 hxgS 26.f5 b5

Diagram 203 Black hopes to steer the game into a fight over the e-file, meanwhile centralizing his pieces to stop White 's flank attack. 16.l::t ael l::t ae8 17.M> h7 15.ti:ld3 gs

(see Diagram 211) Black' s pawns take another step in their transformation. Right now . . . f5-f4, win­ ning the e3-bishop, is obviously threat­ ened. 16.f4

The Modem Benoni Structure: Theory and Practice

pansion, Black's QM keeps moving for­ ward.

27.h3 tiJ ef6 28.'1t> h l � e7 29.it.. e2 tlJ e4 30.'�' d3 tjJ hf6 " Superfluous

pieces"

is

what

Mark

Dvoretsky calls this configuration where two knights defend each other, based on the idea that, " only one of the op­ ponent's pieces will be able to occupy Diagram 2 1 1

the 'important high ground, ' and the others will tum out to be , so to speak, superfluous" (quoted in Watson 1 60 ) . In

Remarkably, this move already shows a

this case , the f6 -knight is "superfluous"

defensive tum in White 's strategy, work­

since the outpost on e4 is already occu­

ing as if a flank expansion to stop the

pied by its comrade .

further march of the black pawns.

31.it.. t3 it.. a6 32.it.. gl 'li'd7 33.tiJ de3 16 g4 17.�abl

�ae8 34.�b3 it.. cS

Assuming the loss of his kingside Q M ,

Black concedes b8, but frees the rook for

White prepares t o break o n the opposite

reassignment to the kingside .

•••

wing.

35.�b8 'I:Wc7 36.�b5 h 5 37.it xe4 tiJ xe4 17 it.. d7 18.a3 tlJ c7 19.b4 b6 20.bxc5 .••

bxcS 21.it.. f2 tlJ ceS 22.tiJ el tiJ hS 23.it.. e3

We should note that, so long as an out­

it.. cS

post piece may be traded on that square, the piece that would take its place can­

The black bishop holds the invasion

not really be considered superfluous. It's

squares (a6 and b7) , but the a8-rook

only superfluous if White (unlike here)

is cut off from the kingside (dispersal) .

refrains from exchanging it.

However, ifWhite wants to force matters on the queenside , he 'll need to deploy

White now goes on to sacrifice the ex­

more pieces to that sector to overcome

change in the attempt to relieve the pres­

the rook's defensive power, so in a way

sure exerted on his kingside by Black's

this piece still contributes to Black's

QM.

kingside operations.

38.'1i'e2 tiJ c3 39.1/:W xhS tiJ xbS 40.cxb5 24.tiJ c2 �17 25.it.. d3 'it>g8 26.tiJ dl g3

'I:Wd7 4l.'li'g6 kte4 42.1/:W xg3

'I:W xb5

43.�13 Though hobbled by White 's flank ex-

24 1

PART VI Now it's White who tries a kingside counterattack. This sector has become a kind of Alsace-Lorraine, falling by turns to each side as the tides of war sway back and forth. 43 ...�d7 44.�g6 �e7 45.� f2 � f6 46 .l:tg3 � xg6 47 .l:t xg6 l: xf4 48.� el Wf7 49 . .l:t xd6 •

•

This enveloping maneuver to capture the base pawn (see Chapter 27) surely must rank as one of the widest operations of this kind ever! 49 ... l::t fe4 50.� d2 f4 5 V1'l n l::t e 2

The typical invasion resulting from Black's QM attack. 52.J::[ c6 f3 53.gxf3 � xh3 54.i:t'l ce3 .t d4 55Jl c7+ Wf8 56.d6 0- 1

White resigned without waiting to see 56 . . . i. xe3 .

184. Taking Space on the Kingside

Botvinnik won this game quickly be­ cause (among other things) his oppo­ nent carelessly kept giving away kingside space. In the end, the capture of the se­ verely limited dark-squared bishop de­ cides the game. M.Botvinnik Leipzig 1 960

M.Tamburini -

Diagram 2 1 2

Comparing this position with Diagrams 205 and 206, we see that here White has placed his f-pawn on f3 and not f4. A more defensive posture as it inhibits the f6-knight, it's a signal for Black to send his kingside pawns forward, turn­ ing them into a QM with no blockader pawn. l l .. . tZl bd7 12.tZl g3

White appears to have the wrong sense of the position, adopting a wholly de­ fensive posture instead of activating his kingside QM. 12... l::t e8 13.0-0 tZl g4 14.� g5

Despite f2-f3, Black manages to mobi­ lize his knight: on 14.fxg4, there follows 14 . . . .l:t xe3 . The existence of combina­ tions like this is a good indicator of a strong position. 14...f6 15.i. f4 tZl geS 1 6.i. e2

1.d4 tZl f6 2.c4 g6 3.tZl c3 i. g7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.i. e3 b6 7.i. d3 a6 8.�d2 c5 9.d5 e6 10.tZl ge2 exdS ll.exd5 242

White appears to be excessively pre­ occupied with the rule about keeping

The Modern Benoni Structure: Theory and Practice the bishop pair. He should try to trade pieces, clear out the position, and then contest the e-file.

tent to which White compromised his position. J.Pi'ibyl - V.Hort Prague 1 966

16...f5

Black starts taking space on the kingside and his pawns attain QM status. 17 ...1i g5 lll f6 1 8 ..1i h6 •

1.d4 lll f6 2.c4 g6 3.tiJc3 ..li g7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 0-0 6.tll f3 c5 7.d5 e6 8 ..1i e2 exdS 9.exd5 �e8 10.0-0 tll g4 1 1 .� d3 liJ e3 12 ...1i xe3 � xe3 13.�d2 � e8 14.f5 .

Lacking a dynamic understanding of the position, White is at a loss as to what to do. He seems to know static princi­ ples only - keep the bishop pair, trade a bishop only for a bishop, etc. - and shows no awareness of the concept of operational clearing and its direct effect on Black's Q M . 18.....1i h8 19.�fd 1 tll r7 2 0 ..Ii e3 h5 •

Botvinnik knew that 1 2.tll g 3 would fa­ cilitate his pawns' march down the kingside. 21 . ..1ifl h4 22.tll ge2 lll h5 23.tll f4

The final, tactical error; but the game is lost in any case. 23 tll xf4 24...1i xf4 ..li d4+ 0- l •••

25 . h l g 5 wins a piece.

185. Chess Shogi

In contrast to the last two games, here White handles his kingside QM ex­ travagantly. Black runs some risk but defends coolly, finally showing the ex-

Diagram 2 1 3 This kind of immediate contact is less than ideal, as Black is well placed to refute it. 14 lll d7 15.tll e4 lll f6 16.fxg6 hxg6 ..•

Besides giving up the e6 square, 16 . . . fxg6 would quickly drain the position of its dy­ namic potential by erasing the positional and psychological imbalances required for winning . This move was tested in a Rybka 3-Rybka 3 chess engine game: 1 7 .tll eg5 tll hS 1 8 .tll e6 ..lixe6 1 9.dxe6 �f6 20 . ..Ii e4 lll f4 2 l .hl �xe6 22 . ..1i d5 tll xd5 23.tll g5 �d4 24.'ihd4 cxd4 25.tll xe6 tll e3 26.�f3 �c8 27.tll xg7 xg7 28.b3 b5 29.�c l bxc4 30.bxc4 g5 3 l .g l �cS 32.Mt2 h5 33.l:Id2 lll fS 34.�bl f6 35.l:Ib4 e5 36J:tb7 243

PART VI aS 37.�e2+ 'it> f4 38.�e8 �xc4 39.'it>f2 h4 40.�f7 d3 4 1 .\t> e l �c2 42.\t> d l h3 43.gxh3 :txa2 44.Iief8 'it>e3 45J�!:e8+ 'it>f4 46J:'tef8 e7 34.h3 �d7 3S.W e2 � c 1 36.Wf3 .t gs 37.d6+ 'it> xd6 38.� xb7 W eS 39.g4 W d4 40.� e4 W c3 41.W g3 W b2 42.h4 � d2 43.� f5 � e8 44.g5 \t> xa2 4S.W g4 W xb3 46.h5 � xhS+ 47.W xh5 aS 48.g6 � c3 0-1

18...'it> xt7 19.t2l g5+ 'it> g8 20.� xg6

We have yet to examine Black's . . . b7b5 sacrifice outside a Benko Gambit setting, played instead to counteract White 's kingside QM advance .

Black's king is stripped of its pawn shield, but he can play chess Shogi. 20...�e7 21.�f4 � es 22.tLl t7 V/ii e7

186. Decision in the Endgame

G.Forintos - L. Szollosi

Jr.

Budapest 1 962 An excellent defensive move: Black gives up the exchange , but gets a pawn and the initiative for it, coming out with bishop and knight for a rook and two pawns. 23.Cil xe5 dxeS 24.�ffl e4 2S.l:ae1 V/ii eS 26.b3 �f8 27.VIii f4

Like capturing the rook with 23.t2l xe5 , this proposed queen trade exposes White 's attack as premature, insuf­ ficient, and false. He will soon have to agree to Black's proffers in order to re­ lieve his compromised situation.

l.d4 t2l f6 2.c4 g6 3.t2l c3 cS 4.d5 d6 S.e4 � g7 6.f4

This deferred Four Pawns' Attack car­ ries a greater degree of aggression than the normal treatment. 6 ...0-0 7.t2l f3 e6 8 . .t e2 exdS 9.exd5 �e8 10.0-0 t2l g4 l l .� d3 t2l h6

This implies allowing the white QM pawns to advance. 12.h3 tZl rs 13.g4 t2l d4 I4.W g2

27.. 3W xf4 28.l:I xf4 � h6 29.�ffl � d2 30.� xe4 244

White's kingside situation would qualify

The Modem Benoni Structure : Theory and Practice as chess Shogi only if it were defensive in nature. It's not applicable in attacking situations. 14 ... CZJ d7 1S.IiJ e4 i.{J f8 16.1iJ xd4 il. xd4 17.f5 bS

� d2-h6, threatening mate, is a viable idea only because the f7 -pawn keeps the seventh rank closed - a problem that Black's queenside counterattack cannot overcome. 22...1iJ h7 23.il. xg6

A typical sacrifice in this kind of posi­ tion. As with any sacrifice, the fight turns even sharper, and White should take into account the fact that the seventh rank now comes open for Black's pieces. 23 ...fxg6 24.�h6 �e2+

Diagram 2 1 4 Simultaneous contact, presaging a sharp thrust-and-counterthrust battle. The main idea behind Black' s move is to undermine d5 and then (after capturing the pawn) launch a dangerous attack on the white king, as Gufeld demonstrated in Chapter 1 80 . 18.fxg6 hxg6

Recapturing with the h-pawn is always a possibility. In the Modem Benoni as in the King's Indian, the prospect ofWhite's invading on the e6 square ( 8 f3-g5-e6) makes . . . hxg6, keeping control of e6, a reasonable option. The drawback is that the seventh rank stays closed to Black's pieces (especially the rooks) for the pur­ poses of both offense and defense. 19.il. g5 �c7 20.t"Ll f6+ il. xf6 2t.il. xf6 bxc4 22.�d2

With the queen able to defend across the seventh rank, Black can take the oppor­ tunity to counterattack. 25.® gt iL fS 26.il. c3 il. e4 27.� f4 l::t g2+ 28.'€t> fl l:tg3 29.l':tel l':txc3 30.bxc3 il. d3+ 3t.'it> gt J:l:rs

Trying to clear out the position . 32.�e6 � b 7 33.� xf8+ 8 xf8 34.l:if6 tt::l h7 3S.l:i xd6 �f7 36.l:id8+ tt::l f8 37.�e3 �g7 38.d6 �xc3 39.�e6+ '€t> h7 40.'iYf7+ 'iV g7 41J:!:xf8 c3 42.'iV xg7+ 1-0

42 ... ® xg7 43. � f2 c2 44. � xc2 .

187. Winning Even After the Position Clears Out

At the beginning of this part of the book, we saw some examples of the danger of reaching a dead-drawn position as a re­ sult of piece trades along the e- file , and 245

PART VI that these trades are unavoidable be­ cause control of the center is at stake . Nonetheless, in the game that follows we see precisely the opposite: White exploits Black's desire to clear out the board. Given a hook to hang his hopes on, White can play to win even on an empty board. L.Polugaevsky W. Uhlmann Amsterdam 1 970 -

l.c4 Cl:J f6 2.Cl:l c3 g6 3. e4

Played to prevent the Griin feld Defense . Why? The obvious answer is that White probably wanted to play a King' s Indi­ an. (Uhlmann was a Grii n feld special­ ist at the time - Ed. ) This might even be correct at the single-game level, but it might be a much more complicated matter involving tournament strategy or even White's general approach to the openings. Clearly, the best person to comment on 3 .e4 would have been Polugaevsky himself.

Diagram 2 1 5 Many pieces have been traded off, and the risk of drawing is great. White will only enter into this kind of line if a draw is acceptable from a competi­ tive standpoint. Only on this strategic and psychological basis can the bishop pair be counted on to provide the deci­ sive imbalance . " Play to win, but don't force matters - a draw is OK! " This was likely White's rnindset at the start of this game , then monitoring developments after winning the bishop pair following 1 2 . . !il. xf3 . .

3...d6 4.d4 !il. g7 S.!il. e2 0-0 6.!il. g5 cS 7.d5 e6 8.�d2 exd5 9.exd5 �e8 10.Cl:l f3 !il.g4

19.!il. c2 Cl:l b6 20.b3 LLl bd7 21.!il. f4 �e7 22.�e2

Starting a new round of trades.

Offering to trade queens. We can as­ sume that White doesn't mind drawing, but is happy to try to use his tiny edge to win the endgame. Thus he keeps playing normally - without the stress of needing to win , yet also without fear of losing as he has the better position and trusts in his ability to avoid making a blunder.

16...I::!: xel 17.� xel l:Ie8 18.� xe8 � xeS

22 ... � f8 23.� xe7+ � xe7 24.a5

Black's last two moves accelerate his de­ velopment, and may be part of a strategy to attain equality by emptying out the position before trying for more. 11.0-0 Ci:J bd7 12.h3 !il. xf3 13.!il. xf3 a6 l4.a4 �e7 lSJ:!:ael �fS 16.!il.dl

246

The Modern Benoni Structure: Theory and Practice In principle , this move restricts the knights on the queenside. This is a typi­ cal technique when playing with the bishop pair against two knights or bishop + knight. The only way for Black to free up his knights is to advance the b-pawn, but this would leave the a6-pawn unde­ fended - and , incredibly, subject to the white king's attentions! Strategically speaking , this has the ef­ fect of creating the essential alternative objectives. Philosophically speaking, it' s an example of letting yourself be guided by the potential in a given situ­ ation as it arises, and staying flexible enough to adjust to changing circum­ stances. 24 h5 2S.i. d2 f1 'Jii d8 58.'Jii b2 Vi' aS 59.�b4 l{W a6+ 60. el l{Wb7 61.13 Vi'e7 62.l:Ic7 ••.

Phase 12: A rook trade to free up the king to advance, avoiding checks and escorting the passed pawn to the promo­ tion square. 62...l{Wh4+ 63. fl hS 23.c:JJ e2

39.cxbS

Added to Black's kingside Q M , the se­ curity provided by the Lasker- Rubin­ stein setup justifies an offensive in that sector - particularly this non-standard type o f contact that IM Watson would appreciate . The whit e monarch's flight from the kingside is of course a de­ fensive measure , but it could also turn counterattacking there into a viable idea.

A good decision - White needs to have

alternative objectives to focus on besides the black king. 39 .. J:Iel+ 40.'it' f3 axbS 41 .ldg2 � f6 42.t2J c2 l:dl 43.� e2 Jld2 44.t2J a3 :l:t xa2 4SSL xb5 .i xb5 46.t2J xb5 tl:b2 47.CiJ xd6 tl: xb3 48.W g4 l:. b6 49.CiJ c8

The passed, protected front pawn is ready to move forward.

23 it d7 24.l: gl hxg4 2S.hxg4 ld h3 •..

26.Mhl l:'I xhl 27.'�V xhl

49 .. J�b2 50.l:.g3 .i e l Sl.:!:'l:f3+

Clearing the kingside ensures the white king's safety. In order to continue his kingside operations , Black would need to bring pieces over from the other wing, but this would give White attacking chances on the queenside , even in the face of Black's Q M .

A typical check to prevent the black king from he lp ing to stop the d5-pawn. Sl ... '.£l g7 52.d6 c4 53.d7 2, a5 54.t2J d6

c3 SS.tl: xc3 tl: xf2 56.llc5 JiL dS 57.l::t xeS

White 's efforts finally pay off material ­ wise .

27 Mh8 28.'� gl � C 8 29.'®' g2 j,)o d8 .•.

30.l:gl Vli!c7 31.J:al V1il a5 296

57 ... l: d2

58.l:te6

�d3

59.e5

ll d4+

Qualitative Majorities in the Ruy Lopez 60.�f3 � d l 61.�e8 � gs 62.W e4 gd2 63.d8'%V

White is winning. 63 .\i xdS 64. .:r xd8 �e2+ 65.� d5 gS ..•

66.e6 g4 67.e7 l:t xe7 68.lll f5+ l-0

222. White's Flank Attack: The a2-a4 Break

Given Black's possibilities for a flank QM attack, it might be advisable for White to j ump ahead of Black (i.e . , Diagram 26 1 , item 3 ) . A.Karpov - S.Giigoric Leningrad I nterzonal 1 97 3 l.e4 e 5 2.tLl f3 tLl c6 3.� b5 a 6 4. .,t a4 LLl f6 5.0-0 � e7 6J:l,et b5 7.:k b3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 LLl b8

This variation has the major drawback of ruling out the . . . f7-f6 and . . . GZ:l c6-d8-f7 portions of the Lasker- Rubinstein rein­ forcement scheme. 10.d4 LLl bd7 l l.LLlbd2 Ji. b7 12.� c2 c5 13.d5 tLl e8 14.LLl fl g6

The purpose of playing . f7 - f6 and . . . tLl c6-d8-f7 (not possible in this line) before . . . g7-g6 is to prevent � c l -h6. .

.

Diagram 272: The a2-a4 break

While Black deals with the kingside , White takes the opportunity to get in a2-a4 before Black can turn his atten­ tion back to the queenside. I n some lines (especially the Chigorin Defense), although the knight reaches f7 to rein­ force the black king's position, the aS­ rook is loose , allowing White to win at least one tempo. 17 ... 'it> h8

18.b3

Mb8

19.'i¥e2

:k c8

20.axb5 axbS 2 1 .l:l:a7

Strictly speaking, Black still enjoys his queenside QM with no blockader pawn . However, White 's break has made this invasion possible. All this has taken place while Black was busy dealing with the h6 -bishop . 21...tLl g8

22.� xg7+

'it> xg7

23.�eal

� d7 24.� d3 LLl f6 25.�a2 lt'l e8 26.�a6 15.� h6 tLl g7 16.lil e3 LLl f6

� b6 27.� a5 LLl f6 28.tLl g4 �b8

Black intends . � h8 and . . . tLl g8 to force the bishop to declare its intentions.

28 tLl xg4 29.hxg4 � xg4 30. l:t xe7 takes advantage of the overloaded queen hold­ ing the b6-rook. Black still can't advance either of his Q Ms.

. .

17.a4

...

297

APPENDIX 29.tt'l xf6 £L xf6 30.�c7 � xc7 31.� xc7 �fd8 32.M aa7

223. White's Flank Attack: The b2-b4 Break

White 's relatively effortless invasion is the remarkable result of a subtle insight associating the break against a station­ ary QM with the diversionary maneuver £L c l -h6.

The idea of seizing the queenside initiative when Black ' s QM fails to get rolling (see D i agram 26 1 , item 3 ) c a n propel White to play t h e b2-b4 break :

32.. .£L e8 33.� ab7 \ii gs 34.g4 h6 35.h4 :g: xb7 36.� xb7 c4 37.bxc4 bxc4 38.i, e2 Black seems to have managed to hold his pawn at the cost of overextending it - which means that its capture is only delayed and not prevented. 38 �a8 39.£L xc4 •••

But now Karpov realizes he can take the pawn because 39 . . . � c8 fails to 40.i.e2 � xc3 4 l .Mb8 � f8 42.� g2 � c7 43.i,b5 � e7 44.�g3 followed by GtJ f3 -d2-c4. 39...i. a4 40.i. b3 i. xb3 41.M xb3 ticS 42.� g2 h5 43.gxh5 An essential trade , creating an alterna­ tive objective (the h5-pawn) to be ex­ ploited as needed.

Diagram 273: The b2-b4 break This break is a striking kind of flank at­ tack for White. Like any QM-related break, while the initial purpose may be to prevent the classical QM attack, it can take on a completely offensive char­ acter. For example , Black might reply l . . .cxb4 2.cxb4:

43 gxh5 44J:tb6 g xc3 45.f:I xd6 � g7 46.Mc6 l:i:d3 47.l':Ic7 � g6 48.l:t c8 i, g7 49.�c6+ � h7 50.tt'l g5+ W g8 51.l:c8+ i.f8 52.�c7 f6 53.tb e6 i. h6 54.�d7 Md2 ss.�n l:::t d t+ 56.W e2 �d2+ 57.� el Mc2 58.d6 Mel+ 59.W e2 l:c2+ 60.� fl Mc6 61.W g2 � b6 62.tt'l c7 l:I b7 63.tt'l d5 1-0 •..

Diagram 274 298

Qualitative Majorities in the Ruy LOpez The pawn trade leaves on the board the target position for White 's Q M attack from the King's Indian. Here , though, White's pieces are hardly ready to ex­ ecute the invasion, and indeed Black is the one better placed to invade his op­ ponent's queenside .

A search of the Chess Assistant database yielded but one junior game in the posi­ tion after l .e4 e 5 2.L:Zl f3 tll c6 3 . � b5 a6 4.� a4 tll f6 5 .0-0 iL. e7 6.�el b5 7.iL.b3 0-0 8 .c3 d6 9.h3 tll a5 I O.iL.c2 c5 l l .d4 Wlic7 1 2 . 0 bd2 0 c6 1 3 .d5 tll d8 14.b4 cxb4 1 5.cxb4, which may be a bad sign for White. Therefore I turned to Rybka 3 to provide play for both sides: 1 5 . . . a5 1 6. 0 b3 axb4 1 7 . � d2 tll b 7 1 8 . g c l Wli b6 1 9. iL. b l l:!: a4 20. l:!: e3 h6 2 I . Wii e l iL. d7 22. iL. xb4 iL. d8 23 .a3 tll hS 24. Wii fl tll f4 25. � ec3 M e8 26. iL. d3 0 xd3 27. Wii x d3 M a8 28. M l c2 Wii a7 29. � d2 � b6 ( Black might try 29 . . .f5 but, since almost all its pieces are on the queenside, this contact could be bad after 30.Mc7 i-L xc7 3 l . M xc7 fxe4 32. l:!: xd7 exf3 3 3 . 0 a5 M ab8 34. 0 c6, when White is winning) 30. 0 h4 M ec8 3 1 . tll f5 l hc3 32. l:!: xc3 iL. xf5 33.exf5 tZl c5 34. 'iY c2 Wli a4 35.f6 g6 36.g3 W h7 37. W g2 M d8 3 8 .h4 h5 39.f3 0 a6 40. 0 d2 iL. d4 4 1 . M c6 0 xb4 42.axb4 'iY a 1 43 . 0 e4 iL. e3 44. M c3 Wli g l + 45. \t> h3 iL. h6 46 . � e2 'iY hl + 47. Wii h2 '@'fl + 48. Wii g 2 Wlid 1 49. Wii f2 l: a8 50. 0 xd6 Wli xd5 5 1 . 0 e4 W g8 52.l:l c5 1!i e6+ 53. W g2 iL. f8 54. M c2 iL. xb4 5 5 . � e2 Wli b6 56. 0 g5 l::!: a l 57. Wii x e5 '@' g l + 58. 'it' h3 'iY fl + 59. M g2 ii. f8 60. 'i¥ e8 Wli c4 6 I . W h2 M a6 62. M d2 M a2 63. l:!: xa2 � xa2+ 64. W h3 Wii d 5 65. W g2 b4 66. tz:l h7 Wli a2+ 67 . W fl W xh7 68. 'i¥ xf8 � b l + 69. W e2 Wii b 2+ 70. W e3 'i¥ c3+ 7 l . W e4 � xf6 72. � xb4 Yl:Yl.

Based on this example, one suspects that the Diagram 274 position may be unfavo­ rable to White, but the field is wide open for investigation.

224. Double Pawn Chains Staying with the b2-b4 break, let's look at this hypothetical example: l .e4 e5 2.0f3 Ci'l c6 3. ii. b5 a6 4.il. a4 Ci'l f6 5 .0-0 li. e7 6. M e l b5 7.ii. b3 � 8 .c3 d6 9.h3 til a5 IO.iL.c2 c 5 l l .d4 VJJ/ c7 1 2.tz:lbd2 �c6 1 3.d5 tll d8 1 4.b4. ( Diagram 273) . What if Black pushes past instead of trading pawns? 14... c4

Diagram 2 7 5 : Double pawn chains The position features double pawn chains, a curious situation highlighting the Ruy's richness with respect to the QM. The pawn chains are: 1 . Primary: e4-d5/e5-d6; 2. Secondary: c3 -b4jc4-b5 . The secondary pawn chain might be viewed in effect as a way to permanently stop White 's contact on c 5 , which is called for by the primary pawn chain. On the other hand, White may decide 299

APPEN DIX that his contact operation has simply shifted closer to the edge (a2-a4) . 15.a4 l:b8 16.axb5 axbS

With 1 4.a4, as in the game against Gligoric, Karpov still wishes to arrive at the double pawn chain, but cutting down on Black's possibilities compared to 1 4.b4 cxb4. By playing a2-a4 before b2-b4, Karpov uses the fact that the a8-rook is unguarded and gets Black to spend a move on that situation. 14.. J-1b8 15.axb5 axb5 16.b4 By changing the move order, Karpov steers the game away from the Chap­ ter 223 scheme and closer to Chapter 222.

Diagram 276: Exposing the bases

16. . .tll b7 17.tll fl .it d7 18 ..it e3 l:aS 19.Vfid2 l::r fc8 20 ..it d3 g6

This diagram shows an extraordinary position featuring complex (even exotic) structures, with the base pawns on b5 , c 3 , and d6 exposed .

Something like the Lasker-Rubinstein reinforcement cannot be ruled out prior to . f7-f5 and a kingside QM attack.

225. Karpov and Double Pawn Chains

21.tll g3 .itf8 22.l::r a2

The great Anatoly Karpov turned out a monumental game involving these dou­ ble pawn chains.

The rooks' deployment to the a-file leads the game into Chapter 222 territory.

.

.

22... c4 A.Karpov - W. Unzicker Nice 1 974

l.e4 e5 2.liJ f3 tLl c6 3 . .it b5 a6 4 . .it a4 Li.J f6 5.0-0 .it e7 6.l: el b5 7 .it b3 d6 8.h3 0-0 9.c3 tll as 10 ..it c2 c5 l l .d4 Vfic7 12.li:l bd2 tll c6 13.d5 CLl d8 14.a4 •

In our theoretical exposition of the dou­ ble pawn chains, we had White playing 1 4.b4 and Black replying with 1 4 . . . c4 and 1 5 . gb8 to reach the desired posi­ tion (see Diagrams 275 and 276). ..

300

Diagram 277

Q ua l it at ive M aj orit ies in the Ruy Lopez M eeti ng only sl ight resistance, Black fi nally creates the second pawn chain with . . . c5-c4 with tempo . In addition to cutti ng off an imp orta nt interior line of c ommu ni cat ion , retreating the d3bishop stops the rooks from joining up on the a-file to great effect as we saw in Karpov- Gligoric.

White a different set of alternative ob­ jectives, and is worse than opening it up with 3 l . . . fxg5 . Karpov finds the so­ lution, ope rati ng on the weak kings ide l ight squares. 32 .il c2 ]i. t7 33.tt'l g3 tt'l b7 34.i:. dl h6 35.£i. h5 �e8 36.�dl tt'l d8 37J�a3 \t f8 38.l:t la2 •

23.]i. bl �d8 24.]i. a7

Preparing � d i -a l in case it's n e eded . With this remarkable maneuver, Karpov makes it p oss ib le for his rooks to double on the a-file . 24 ... tt'l e8 25.]i. c2 tt'l c7 26J;!eal �e7 27.]i. bl i. es 28.tt'l e2 tt'l d8 29.tt'l h2 Jl g7 30.f4 "With the paralysis of Black's queen­ side c omp lete , White ' s c areful ly pre­ pared advance is n ow ready to proceed against Bl ac k 's kingside" ( M ed n i s 3 3 3 ) . In other wo rds , White i s probi ng fo r al ­ ternat ive obj e ctives , whereas Black is all tied up. 30... f6

38 ... � g8 39.tt'l g4 � f8 40.tt'l e3 �g8 41 . .\fl. xt7+ tt:l xt7 42.�h5 tt:l d8 43.�g6 \t h8 44.tt'l h5 1 -0

226. Epilogue

This brief, hardly exhaustive t reatme nt of th e QM in the Ruy Lopez served our basic purpose of following up on an ex­ cellent suggestion by t h e Champion of the state of Parana, Ernesto Pereira, while retaining its supp l eme ntary char­ acter to our m a i n work on the QM in the Indian de fenses .

31.f5 g5

The field is immense , eve r - cha nging , ex­ traordinarily fertile , and barely touched upon. Who knows if t his appendix might spur others on to new investigations of the QM - this time from an opening theory pe rspect ive , and inc lu di ng not just the Ruy and the Indian defenses, but the French Defense itself?

" Sensible was 3 1 .. . gxf5 3 1 .exf5 tt'l f7 , and now if 33 . .il e3 then 33 . . . � f8 " (Kar­ pov 2 1 8). " There is nothing good to sug­ gest, but weake n i ng the l ight squares will speed up the ult imate death" (Mednis 3 3 3 ) . Closing the po si t ion merely gives

We hope that the general ideas present­ ed in this work may inspire the reader to d eve lop the th e ory ofthe qualit ative ma­ jority, e nric h ing it w ith new treatments and knowledge that will help to enhance and deepen our unde rsta n di ng of chess.

"30 . . . exf4 3 1 .tt'l xf4 (3 1 . . . .il h6 32.tt'l x g6) was no better. Thus Black will have to await developme nts passively" ( Karpov 2 1 8) .

30 1

GLOS SARY OF TERMS

base of the pawn chain - 1 . In a pawn chain, the pawn located closest to its player's territory. 2. The "bottom link in the chain, which supports all the other links" (Nim­ zowitsch My System 1 49). base pre-reinforcement - 1 . Buttressing White' s base pawn at e4 with f2-f3 prior to Black's contact with . . .f7-f5 . 2. The Samisch structure. base replacement - Substituting a (captured) blockading pawn with another pawn. base shift - An advance by the contact pawn, bringing the base of the opposing pawn chain closer to the opponent' s edge of the board. base substitution - Substituting a (captured) blockading pawn with a bishop. blockade - Mechanical interruption of an opposing pawn's advance by placing a friendly pawn or piece in its path. blockade, primary - Mechanical interruption of a pawn's primary expansion. blockade, secondary - Mechanical interruption of a pawn's secondary expansion. blockaded pawn - A pawn mechanically obstructed from advancing by a piece or another pawn. blockader pawn - 1 . Any pawn blockading another pawn. 2. The front pawn in a pawn chain. 3 . The pawn establishing a blockader-pawn Q M . border - An imaginary line separating the fourth and fifth ranks, theoretically split­ ting the chessboard into White 's and Black's territories. break - I. Any attack by a pawn on another pawn, for the purpose of opening lines. 2. A type of defense against the opposing QM, based on attacking the front of the chain. 3. A " minority counter-movement" (Nimzowitsch Blockade 28) . changing blockaders - Substituting a (captured) blockading pawn with a piece, usu­ ally a knight. chess Shogi - Defending the king by making use of the empty space around it. 302

Glossary of Terms

concentration-dispersal - 1 . A concentration of forces lacking enough operation­ al power to force a tactical decision. 2. An intended concentration which actually works as a dispersal. 3. A harmless force concentration, in which the pieces behave as if they were dispersed. 4. A relative dispersal of forces. concentration offorces - The process of massing pieces for a given purpose . contact - l . Second stage of the QM attack. 2. Pawn break leading to the opening of lines. 3 . Line-opening attack by a QM pawn on the opposing base pawn. contact pawn - In a QM, the pawn attacking the base of the opposing pawn chain. defensive concentration - Selective massing of pieces to resist an attack. defensive force dispersal - The distancing or cutting-off of a piece from its defensive function in a given operational zone. defensive power - The degree of resistance provided by the available moves and piece coordination. dispersal-concentration - l . Concentrating forces in order to "play second. " 2. An intended dispersal which actually works as a force concentration. dynamic balance - A situation in which the positional and psychological imbalances facing the players cancel each other out, reaching a stable state of mutual deterrence. economy offorce - Using the least amount of forces necessary to achieve a given objective. flank attack - An attack on the wing opposite from where the enemy king is located. force dispersal - The distancing or cutting-off of a piece from the area of operations. freedom ofaction

-

Mobility with a range of choice.

front ofthe (pawn) chain

-

The furthest -advanced member of a pawn chain.

front pawn - 1. The most advanced pawn in a pawn chain. 2. The blockader pawn in a pawn chain. 3. The lead pawn in a QM. 4. The pawn establishing a blockader-pawn QM. invasion - l . The third and final stage of the QM attack. 2. Piece penetration into enemy territory.

303

Winning Pawn Play in the Indian Defenses

inversion (direct inversion) - A pawn advance to blockade the opposing QM's pro­ spective contact pawn (i. e . , White 's c-pawn in the King's Indian Defense ) , achiev­ ing a secondary QM in the process. line of communication

-

The set of squares used by a piece when moving.

line of communication, exterior - A line of communication linking a friendly piece to an objective in the opposing player's camp . line of communication, interior - A line of communication linking a friendly piece to a point within its own camp. mobility - A piece's ability to act in pursuit of an objective . Nimzowitsch QM - A QM involving the presence o f a pawn chain. objective, alternative - A subsidiary objective, independent of the main objective. objective, intermediate phase in the game.

-

An objective whose achievement leads to a new strategic

objective, limited - 1. Operational objective. 2 . An objective whose achievement fur­ thers the game plan, yet without leading to a new strategic phase. obstruction - 1 . Complete restraint. 2. The final stage of restraint. 3 . The collection of measures taken to prevent pawns from advancing. offensive concentration conquering it.

-

The massing of forces around a given objective , aimed at

offensive force dispersal - The distancing or cutting-off of a piece from its offensive function in a given operational zone . offensive potential (F mP) - The relationship between F (an army' s operational capability or force ) , m (a numerical quantification of the pieces' and pawns' mobil­ ity) , and P (a factor representing the initiative and coordination among the pieces) in the execution of offensive operations. =

offensive power - The degree of pressure provided by the available moves and piece coordination. offensive prophylaxis - 1 . Pre-emptive attack. 2. A set of localized offensive measures 304

Glossary of Terms in the context of a general defensive posture in the face of the opposing army's natu­ ral offensive potential.

operational chunks - The strategic phases and major maneuvers taking place within a given game.

operational clearing - A type of passive defense , based on the idea of trading pieces in order to prevent a piece deployment from becoming a force concentration .

operational power - The sum of the initiative (pressure + resistance) and piece co­ ordination .

operational capability - 1 . An army's capacity to achieve an objective. 2. Offensive power. 3. Sufficient offensive force to bring about a decision .

operationalforce - 1 . The product of mobility and operational power (F). 2. An ar­ my' s capacity to bring about a decisive outcome as a result of F.

operational space - Lines of communication and their intersections, taken as a whole . operational zone - The sector of the board where mutual action (in the execution of a plan or pursuit of an objective) is taking place.

overextended pawn -

A

pawn lacking support from friendly pawns due to its exces­

sive advance into enemy territory.

passive defense - 1 . A defensive method consisting of absorbing the enemy attack until it reaches the point of exhaustion, at which point a counterattack may be launched. 2. Reliance on the strategic wall and on clearing out the position (opera­ tional clearing) to prevent the enemy invasion.

pawn chain - l . A formation of diagonally connected pawns. 2. ''A diagonal line of pawns of the same color" (Seirawan 1 94) . 3. A diagonal formation of mutually blockading white and black pawns.

pawn formation - 1 . An array of pawns of the same color. Philidor QM- A Q M not involving a pawn chain. It may include a blockading pawn , or if not then a generalized restraint of the opposing pawn array.

piece coordination - Harmonious cooperation of the pieces and pawns with respect to an objective or a course of events.

305

Winning Pawn Play in the Indian Defenses

piece mobility - The sum of the individual pieces' and pawns' freedom of action. playing second - Making decisions with knowledge of the opponent's capabilities and intentions. post-break inversion - An inversion which takes place after offering a pawn break (i.e. , in the King's Indian, l .d5 c6 2.tenuki c5) . post-contact restraint - The Siimisch Blockade (g2-g4 in response to . . . fl -f5 ) . pre-break inversion - A two-step inversion adopted in anticipation of the opposing QM's advance or base shift (i.e. , in the King's Indian Defense, l . . .c6 2 . d5 c 5 , or l .g3 f4 2.g4) . pre-contact restraint - The Siimisch Counteroffe nsive (g2-g4 before . . . f7-f5 ) . pressure - The aggressive quality o f a move o r maneuver requiring a response from the defender. primary contact - Contact by the primary Q M . primary expansion - The center pawns' tendency t o advance s o a s t o occupy the squares in the center. primary QM - The QMs arising in the King's I ndian, Modem Benoni , and Benoni Structures. prophylaxis - Defensive measures aimed at preventing potential threats and other developments. qualitative majority (QM) - I . A set ofpawns possessing greater freedom of action than a numerically equal opposing set, enabling it to undertake offensive operations. qualitative superiority - A pawn configuration in which the " pawns are blocked (also doubled) so that two pawns are held in check by one" ( Fine 48) . resistance - A defensive move or maneuver requiring a response from the attacker. restraint - 1 . A defensive move or maneuver intended to monitor and hinder a given move by the opponent. 2. A collection of preventive measures aimed at mitigat­ ing, hindering, or precluding the Q M attack. 3. A collection of preventive measures aimed against the opposing pieces' and pawns' freedom of action. 306

Glossary of Terms

restraint/obstruction to contact.

-

A defensive system aimed particularly at the QM's advance

Siimisch structure - Pre-reinforcement ofWhite 's base (e4-) pawn in the King's In­ dian Structure. secondary contact - Contact by the secondary QM. secondary expansion - The pawns' tendency to advance toward promotion. secondary QM - A QM arising from an inversion or base shift. strategic wall - The interdiction (cutting) of the opponent's exterior lines of com­ munication by plugging up his invasion points. target position - 1 . The QM attack's objective, exposing the base of the opponent's pawn chain and opening the lines of communication needed to carry out the inva­ sion. 2. The position resulting from replacing the base in response to an opponent' s indirect unblocking. 3 . The position arising from replacing the front of the pawn chain in response to its capture. tenuki - A Japanese word used in Go to indicate that the last move was played out­ side the current operational zone of interest. tertiary contact - A base shift featuring the opening of lines. two-step inversion

-

An inversion action achieved over two moves.

wait-and-see defense - A method of indirect resistance to the opposing QM advance involving the advance of one 's own QM on the opposite wing. unblocking, direct - This occurs when the blockading (base) pawn of the attacked chain captures the contact (attacking) pawn. unblocking, indirect - This occurs when the contact (attacking) pawn captures the blockading (base) pawn of the attacked chain.

307

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aron, Raymond. Penser la Guerre, C/ausewitz, volume 1 (Paris : Gallimard, 1 976). Beaufre , Andre. Introducci6n a Ia Estrategia ( " I ntroduction to St rat egy ; Buenos "

Aires: Editorial Struhart, 1 982).

Becker, I . Manual de Xadrez ( " Chess Manual; " Sao Paulo: Livraria Nobel Editora, 1 982) . Capablanca, Jose Raul. Chess Fundamentals ( Harcourt, Brace and Co. , 1 92 1 ) . Capablanca, Jose Raul . Lecciones Elementares de Ajedrez ( Madrid: Edit orial Fun­ damentos, 1 9 8 7 ) . English translation: Last Lectures ( S im on and Schuster, 1 966) . Cherta, Pedro. Defensa India de Rey ( " King's Indian Defense ; " Barcelona: Edi­ ciones Martinez Roca, 1 968) .

Chess Assistant 1 0 database www.chessgames.com

www. chessbase.com Coria, V. F. , and Palau , L. Las Grandes Partidas de Emanuel Lasker ( E m an u e l Lasker's Greatest Ga m e s ; Buenos Aires: Editorial Sopena Argentina, 1 95 3 ) . "

"

Euwe, M ax. Defensa Benoni (Barcelona: Ediciones Limitadas Catalan, 1 974) . Euwe, Max, and Kramer, Haije. The Middlegame, Book One (Hays Publishing,

1 994) . Fauber, R.E. Impact of Genius (Seattle: I nternational Chess E nterprises, 1 992) .

Fine , Reuben. Basic Chess Endings ( David McKay Company, 1 94 1 ) . Clube de Xadrez Epistolar Brasileiro ( Brazilian Correspondence Chess Club). " Results Sheet Number 80" ( Sao Salvador, 1 982).

308

Bibliography G racian, Baltasar. Ordculo Manual e Arte de Prudencia (" The Art of Worldly Wis­ dom ; " Rio de Janeiro: Editora Tecnoprint, 1 979). Grau, Ram6n. Tratado General de Ajedrez, volume I I I ( " General Treatise on Chess; " Buenos Aires: Editorial Sapena Argentina, 1 982). Kasparov, Garry. My Great Predecessors, volume I ( Everyman Chess, 2003). Karpov, Anatoly. Partidas Selectas ( " Selected Games; " Madrid: Editorial Aguilera/ Akal Editor, 1 979). Kmoch, Hans. Pawn Power in Chess (Dover Publications, 1 990). Jomini , A. H . The Art of War ( Lippincott, 1 862). Liddell Hart, B . H . The Strategy of Indirect Approach ( London: Faber and Faber, 1 954). Marinho, Henrique . Avalanche de Peoes ( " The Pawn Avalanche " ) , ms. , Campinas, Brazil 1 960. Marinho , Henrique . " U rn Estudo Sobre os Elementos da Maioria Qualitativa" ( "A Study of the Elements of the Qualitative Majority" ) , ms. , Campinas, 1 964. Mednis, Edmar. How Karpov Wins (Dover Publications, 1 994) . Minev, Nikolay. King 's Indian Defense ( Seattle : International Chess Enterprises, 1 993). Nagahara, Y. Strategic Concepts of Go (Tokyo: The Ishi Press , 1 976) . Nimzowitsch, Aron. Blockade (Chess Enterprises, 1 980). Nimzowitsch , Aron. Chess Praxis (Dover Publications, 1 962) . Nimzowitsch , Aron. My System (David McKay Company, 1 930; and Quality Chess, 2007) . Also consulted was the five-volume Argentinean edition, translated directly from the German ( Buenos Aires: Editorial Grabo, 1 94 1 ) . Pachman, Ludek. Estrategia Modema e n Ajedrez ( " Modern Chess Strategy; " Bar­ celona: Ediciones Martinez Roca, 1 966) .

30 9

Winning Pawn Play in the Indian Defenses

Pachman, Ludek. Partidas Decisivas ( " Decisive Games; " Barcelona: Ediciones Martinez Roca, 1 973). Pachman, Ludek. Teorfa Moderna en Ajedrez (" Modem Chess Theory " ) , Aperturas Cerradas ( " Closed Games; " Barcelona: Ediciones Martinez Roca, 1 969) . Palau, L. Tratado Completo de Aperturas, volume I ("Complete Openings Treatise; " Buenos Aires: Editorial Sopena Argentina, 1 949 . Van Reek, Jan. Hypermodern Strategy, Revision of Nimzowitsch s 'My System ' (Chess Digest, 1 996) . Reti, Richard. Masters of the Chessboard (London: Bell , 1 93 3 ). Rocha, A . and Oliveira, P. S . Essencias da Estrategia Superior ( " Elements of Higher Strategy; " Rio Grande , Brazil: Ponto Gnifico, 200 1 ) . Seirawan, Yasser, and Silman, Jeremy. Play Winning Chess ( Redmond, Wash. : Tempus Books, 1 990) . Sergeant, P. H . Morphy s Games of Chess (Dover Publications, 1 957). Schneider, Femand. Hist6ria das Doutrinas Militares ( The History of Military Doctrine s ; " Sao Paulo: Difusao Editorial, 1 975) . "

Spielmann, Rudolf. The Art ofSacrifice in Chess ( David McKay Company, 1 95 1 ) . Tartakower, Savielly, and Du Mont , Julius. 500 Master Games of Chess ( Dover Pub­ lications, 1975). Watson, John. Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy (Gambit Publications, 1 99 8 ) . Winkelman, Bamie F. Modern Chess: A n Introduction to the A rt of Chess as Played by the Modern Chess Master (David McKay Company, 1935). Zlotnik, B.A. Fundamentos Estrategicos del Ajedrez ("The Strategic Underpi nnings of Chess; " Barcelona: Ediciones Martinez Roca, 1 9 8 1 ) .

310

PLAYER INDEX (numbers reference the page; main games only; boldface indicates player had Black)

Abdul - 1 64

Cohn - 1 8

Ader - 1 97

Cruz - 1 3 2

Ahues - 1 5

Camara - 1 4 1

Akopian, V. - 106

Davidson - 21 De Visser - 266

Alapin

-

14, 18

Alcazar - 292

Dobrotka - 180

Anagnostopoulos - 1 9 1

Dolmatov - 186

Anderssen - 17

Dreev - 1 44

Antoshin - 224

Duchhardt - 1 5 3

Antze - 14

Eliskases 169 EHrich - 2 14

Augustin - 23 1

-

Bachmann - 1 52 B auer - 18 Benitez - 289 Bernstein - 65 Berntsen - 20 1

Euwe - 20

Bertok - 238

Forintos - 244 Ftacnik - 95

Bischoff - 263

Everard - 1 4 1 Filip - 35 Fischer - 122, 2 1 6 Flohr - 16

Blackburne - 19

Furman - 237

Blau - 284

Garcia - 168 Garcia Ilundain - 1 49 Gelfand - 94, 105, 138

Bluvshtein - 1 60 Bogdanovski - 270 Boonstra - 266 Botvinnik - 1 70 , 242 Brandts - 1 22 Brenninkmeijer - 1 46 Bronstein - 1 24

Geller - 197 Geruse1 - 234

Giese - 1 30 Gilg - 2 1 Giorgadze - 90

Bruno - 6

Gipslis - 1 98

Burn - 1 8 Busic - 1 18 Byrne R. - 3 5 , 99, 220 Cafure - 132 Cantero - 2 1 7 Capablanca - 1 76 , 275 Castagna - 1 1 5 Chernin - 8 0 Chiang - 1 5 1 Ciocattea - 267

Gligoric - 137, 1 58 , 208, 297

Goldner - 1 28 Goode - 2 1 2 G01jatchkin - 225 Grau - 3 2 Grebenschikova - 272 G rogan - 2 1 2 Grondman - 20 Gri.infeld - 20 Gual - 1 68 311

Winning Pawn Play in the Indian Defences

Gufeld - 95, 155, 235 Guimard 264 Hartman - 189 Held - 225 Hellers - 89 Hertneck - 1 03 Holzwarth - 1 8 Hoang - 203 Horowitz 257 Hart - 208 , 243 , 267 Ivanchuk - 83 Ivkov - 233 -

Marin - 80, 94 Marinelli - 1 9 1 Marinho - 92 Marshall - 15, 16, 1 9 Mar6czy - 1 8 Mason - 1 7 Medeiros - 6

13 20 Jurga - 1 53 Karpov - 1 86, 282, 297 , 300 Karwatt - 1 3 0 Kasparov - 1 06, 120 Kazakov - 272 Khalifman - 97

Medina Garcia - 125 Menchik - 176 M estel - 100 M eyer - 1 5 1 Michel - 2 1 M ieses - 20 M ilic - 173 Milli - 1 1 6 Minev - 1 35 Mrunalini - 20 1 M ader - 234 Najdorf - 97, 140, 2 1 7 Nikitin - 202 Ni kol i c P. - 182

Khor - 1 64

N imzowitsch - 13, 13, 14, 1 4, 14, 1 5 ,

-

Jakobsen - 210

Joh n

-

Jahner -

Kiltti - 294 Kluge r -

1 24 , 198

Koberl - 1 66

Kolishkin - 282 Koiste - 27

Korchnoi - 36, 7 5 , 7 7 , 99, 1 07 , 1 09 , 1 20, 1 37 220, 269 ' Kotronia s - 184 Kriige r - 240 Larsen - 194 Lasker - 275 Liberzon - 224 Litvinchuk - 230 Lobron - 1 3 8 Lok:venc - 188 Lutikov - 7 1

Machaj - 292 Maderna - 1 69 Magrin - 222 Matich - 1 3 5 312

,

1 5 , 1 5 , 1 6 , 1 6 , 32, 65 Nunn - 1 07

Obando - 2 5 5 Pacheco - 2 3 0 Pachman - 3 6 , 28 4 Paulsen - 1 7 Penrose - 1 17, 2 6 1 Pesch - 15 2 Petrosian - 7 1 , 1 7 3 , 2 12, 257, 259 Pfleger - 2 1 4 Pietzsch - 1 8 8 Piket - 8 3 , 146 Pilnick - 259 Po lgar J . - 75, 1 09, 149 Po1ugaevsky - 89, 100, 23 5 , 246 Portisch - 1 99 Post - 20 Posthumus - 233 Prangers - 1 1 6 Petursson - 263

Player Index

Pribyl - 243 Quiroga - 253 Ree - 1 82 Reis - 123 Rellstab - 1 1 5 Ricardi - 85 Riemann - 1 7 Rossetto - 140, 264 Reti - 20, 27 Saastamoinen 294 Schaffarth - 232 Schmid - 1 2 3 Schweber - 2 3 8 Seckar - 1 80 Shaked - 90 Shaw - 289 Shirov - 144 Sjodahl - 1 89 Skembris - 270 Soley - 85 Spassky - 1 7 8 , 26 1 Spraggett - 228 Stefansson - 1 84 Stein - 1 58, 199, 202, 255 Stejskal - 1 3 1 Struner - 1 25 Suba - 228 Suetin - 226, 240 Szabo - 1 66, 170, 2 1 6 -

Szollosi Jr. - 244 Samisch - 1 62 Taeger - 232 Taimanov 1 5 5 Tal - 194, 209 Tamburini - 242 Tartakower - 15 Tatai - 222 Teichmann 1 3 Tempone - 253 Teuchert - 1 28 Theerapabpaisit - 203 Thomas - 14 Trois - 92 Turner - 23 1 Udovci