Winning With Reverse Chess Strategy [Paperback ed.] 0938650955, 9780938650959

Citation preview

R E u

T E R WILLIAM REUTER SENIOR MASTER

Winning with

REVERSE CHESS STRATEGY

by WILLIAM

REUTER

USCF Senior Master

THINKERS' PRESS, INC. DAVENPORT, lowA 1998

Winning with Reverse Chess Strategy

Copyright © 1998 By William Reuter All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechani­ cal, including photocopying, recording or by any information stor­ age and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act, such as reviews, or in writing from the publisher. First Printing: October 1998 ISBN: 0-938650-95-5 Requests for permission and republication rights (whether as an article or book) in a foreign language, or a catalog of our chess publications, should be addressed in writing to: Thinkers' Press, Inc. Senior Editor P.O. Box 8 Davenport Iowa 52805-0008

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Winning with Reverse Chess Strategy

CONTENTS

Introduction .................................................................... iv 1. William Steinitz-A Man of Controversy! . 8 2. Redeployment in the Opening .................................... 16 3. Exploring Redeployment in the Middlegame 28 .

..................

...........

Redeploy and then Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Maneuvering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1 .

Defense and then Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 .

.

Forced Redeployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Redeployment in the Heat of Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 .

The Back Rank Lineup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Long Range Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 The Rook Lift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 7 .

Redeployment and Setting Traps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Unusual Redeployments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Moving Backward in the Endgame ............................. 53 Backward to Victory ..................................................... 57 Exercises in Redeployment ....................................... 109 Chess Programs and Redeployment ......................... 127 A Backward View of Kasparov vs. Deeper Blue ..... 134 Chess Style and Redeployment .. ............................... 143 .

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

.

.

About the Author .......... .............................................. Bibliography ................................................................ Index of Complete Games ......................................... Index of Openings ...................................................... Colophon

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146 147 148 149 150

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Winning with Reverse Chess Strategy

Explanation of Symbols x =captures t =check +- =White has a winning advantage -+ = Black has a winning advantage ± =White has a definite advantage + = Black has a definite advantage ;!; =White has the better game + = Black has the better game co =Unclear N/f3 =Knight on f3 (for example ) ! =A good move ! ! =A very fine move ! ? =Worth trying ? =A questionable move ? ? =A very bad move ? ! =A dubious move

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Winning with Reverse Chess Strategy

INTRODUCTION

What do Nimzovich's Nhl!!, Capablanca's Bd7!!, Keres' Bb8!!, and Spassky's Nbl!! have in common? To begin, they are all exceptional redeployment maneuvers that played an instrumental role in obtaining a victory for each of these grandmasters. Secondly, these moves were all recognized as outstanding and were accordingly awarded two exclamation points. However, these fine back­ ward moves also share one common thread. Succinctly put, annotators and G Ms have been so impressed with these remarkable moves that they could not resist making commentary. Read Raymond Keene's Becoming a Grandmaster and you will find that he was both amazed and captivated by Nimzovich's Nhl!! and his bizarre ideas. He wrote an entire book entitled Aron Nim,zowitsch: a Reappraisal, which any serious student of chess should read. Pick up Irving Chemev's classic book Capablanca's Chess Endings and one can't help but think that Capa's Bd7!! was anything less than one of the most profound moves ever to grace the sixty four squares. Review Hans Kmoch's comments in Keres' Best Games of Chess on the beautiful Bb8!! redeployment and the strength of the redeployment maneuver is attested. Consider Gligoric's remarks on Spassky's absurd Nbl!! in his treatise on the "Match of the Century." The tremendous importance and disturbing effect of this mind-boggling move becomes apparent. At any rate, the comments of chess authorities regarding spectacular redeployment schemes are a treasure to behold. If, as a connoisseur of chess, you should take a minute to consult your library about this subject you will likely be quite satisfied. The redeployment maneuver is a veritable annotator's paradise. Some of the words authors have used to describe the redeployment maneuver include: beautiful, strange, simple, eccentric, sophisticated ... and of course, Steinitzian. A redeployment or backward move is an unnatural one for many chessplayers as the human mind is trained to think forward. Consider Cafferty's Spassky 's 100 Best Games of Chess regarding backward moves. "Psychologists who have studied chess players' thought patterns point out that the most difficult moves to envisage are those which retreat a well-placed piece. Forward towards the enemy is the obvious path, but the real master is aware of all the possibilities." Thus, aggressive moves, such as using a Bishop to pin a Knight to a Queen or placing a Rook on the seventh rank, come naturally to most chessplayers. However, strong unprovoked retreating moves are not to be -v

Winning with Reverse Chess Strategy expected from a mere amateur. Fortunately, skill in moving the chess pieces backward can be learned, and is necessary if one expects to rise to the rank of master. From a historical perspective one of the earliest mentions of the concept of backward moves in chess literature is included in a collection of Steinitz's games by Steinitz and Devide

(1974).

Steinitz's encounter with Lasker from the

Hastings tournament in which he experiments with moving some of his pieces backward has been included in this text as it is especially illustrative of the redeployment concept. Chapter One is a retrospective on the life and chess career of William Steinitz. Steinitz was the first world champion, and held the title from

1894.

1886

to

He was a controversial figure in the chess world because he was one of

the first chess masters to employ redeployment maneuvers in chess strategy. Thus, no study on redeployment would be complete without a review of his play. Steinitz's games provide some excellent examples of successful redeploy­ ment strategy on the chessboard. As far as modem grandmaster chess goes, the games of ex-world champi­ ons Bobby Fischer and Anatoly Karpov contain many excellent examples of redeployment maneuvers. The uncanny ability of these players to find surpris­ ing backward moves is a distinct characteristic of their play. Some of the backward moves in this text may strike you as bizarre, surprising, and even incomprehensible! However, with study and practice you should be able to find the logic hidden behind even the most complex of redeployment maneuvers. In Chapter Two the underlying logic behind redeployment maneuvers is revealed. Common redeployment maneuvers in the standard chess openings are discussed. In addition, the famous backward moves of great players such as Steinitz, Capablanca, Rubinstein, Smyslov, and Larsen are mentioned. In Chapter Three rniddlegame positions have been selected from master play which are especially illustrative of the redeployment concept. Complete game scores have been provided so the reader can follow the action. Com­ ments related to the games have been confined for the most part to the redeployment maneuvers. To facilitate learning, the games are divided into separate categories such as: redeploy and then attack; maneuvering; defense and then attack; forced redeployment; redeployment in the heat of battle; the back rank lineup, long range planning; redeployment and setting traps; and unusual redeployments. In Chapter Four the question of redeployment maneuvers in the endgame is breached. Selected studies of Reti, Dedrle, and Kling and Horwitz are used to demonstrate that even in the endgame situations may arise where moving a piece or pawn forward is not the best course of action. In Chapter Five the author shares with you some of his personal experi­ ences with redeployment maneuvers. Games which illustrate a variety of rede­ ployment themes have been carefully selected. Each game is accompanied by vi-

Winning with Reverse Chess Strategy a story line and is fully annotated. Among these games are encounters against the following competition: a two-time U.S. champion, a few State Champions, a man who can claim he once beat Bobby Fischer, and many more! In Chapter Six the reader is given an opportunity to match wits with the masters. Sixty practice exercises are provided so one can get first-hand experi­ ence in finding redeployment maneuvers. The test positions chosen were se­ lected primarily from actual grandmaster play. In Chapter Seven a computer chess program was given an opportunity to find the recommended redeployment for the above sixty exercises. An analysis of the program's responses is conducted and results of the study are quite interesting. The reader is encouraged to try some of these exercises on their own chess program. Chapter Eight contains all the games of the spectacular "Man vs. Ma­ chine" match between world champion Garry Kasparov and IBM's super­ computer Deeper Blue. This battle between icons generated a tremendous amount of interest among both chess players and the general public. Each game in the match is reviewed from the perspective of the important redeploy­ ment maneuvers that occur. A discussion of chess style and redeployment is contained in Chapter Nine. The primary focus of this chapter is on the following question: Do most masters and grandmasters employ strange and curious redeployment maneu­ vers or is the use of these backward moves relegated to the hands of a few eccentric chess masters? When you finish reading this book I sincerely hope that you develop a great deal of appreciation for redeployment maneuvers because knowledge about this one type of move will strengthen your overall game considerably. Paying a little extra attention to backward oriented moves will also make you a much more difficult opponent at the chess board. Keep on checking! William Reuter September

1998

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Winning with Reverse Chess Strategy

CHAPTER ONE William Steinitz-A Man of Controversy! William Steinitz was born in Prague, Bohemia on May 14, 1836. Like many other famous chess players Steinitz learned how to play the game at an early age. His woodpushing days commenced when he was just twelve years old. Steinitz's first major accomplishment in the chess world came in 1861 when he earned the title of champion of Austria. The next year he placed 6th in a strong international tournament held in London. Among the participants who fin­ ished ahead of him were Anderssen, Paulsen, Owen, MacDonnell, and Dubois. It was at this event that Steinitz received the nickname of the ''Austrian Morphy" because of his brilliant play against MacDonnell. Though Steinitz performed well in many strong events he was a better match player than a tournament player. In 1866 Steinitz defeated Anderssen in a fourteen game match and some recognized him as chess cham­ pion of the world; the official title was ·: declared in 1886. In defending his title over this period Steinitz faced some outstanding competition which included: Bird, Blackburne, Zukertort, Gunsberg, Chigorin, and Lasker. Steinitz was dethroned in a 1894 title bout against the youthful Emanuel Lasker but was never able to regain the crown. Steinitz activities in the chess world were not solely restricted to over the board competition. Steinitz's contributed to the litera·

·

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Redeployment in the Opening

ture of the game by serving as a chess editor for both The Field and the International Chess Maga­