Your chess questions answered 9780713484069, 0713484063

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1 L

Susan Lalic

Your Chess Questions Answered WGM Susan Lalic

B.T. Batsford Ltd, London

First publ ished in 1 999 © Susan Lalic 1 999

ISBN 0 7 1 34 8406 3 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, by any means, without prior permission 'of the publisher. Printed in Great Britain by Polestar Wheatons Ltd, Exeter for the publishers, B.T. Batsford Ltd, 5 83 Fulham Road, London SW6 5BY

A BATSFORD CHESS BOOK General Manager: Nigel Davies Advisors: Mark Dvoretsky, Raymond Keene OBE, Daniel King, Jon Speelman, Chris Ward

Contents Introduction Getting Started

5 7

2 Advanced Rules

16

3 Mating

26

4 Jargon

32

5 Children

43

6 Tournaments and matches

49

7 Chess Clock

60

8 Improvement

64

9 Grading

76

1 0 Openings

79

1 1 Computers

98

1 2 Puzzles

1 09

1 3 General Information

1 16

Solutions

1 25

Introduction Many years ago, I remember learning chess at about the age of I 0 and spending hours moving pieces around the board without really knowing what I was doing. Now I am teaching all levels from beginners up to secondary school pupils and it is relatively easy to spot what each person needs to do to improve their game. Once a player has learnt the moves the key to improvement is quick, friendly games, while trying to implement basic principles. One needs gradually to obtain recognition of the possibilities on the board. Practice and repetition, like most things being fundamental, the pattern of progress is normally something like this: ,

step 1: learning the rules. step 2: long uncertain games while carefully checking what each piece can do.

step 3: within weeks or months the penny usually drops and the games speed up as the player is more able to spot checkmates and see captures in a shorter space of time. The quality of games will still be low at this stage as much is overlooked. step 4: games lengthen as the best moves are searched for and some strategy and openings come into play. Finally a player is ready for serious chess ... This book is designed to help you from step 1 , right through as a beginner to beyond "minor" tournament level. I have also put together many of the questions I have been asked over the years to guide player or parent alike through the different aspects of chess. I hope it will help to make the chess scene enjoyable and perhaps whet the appetite of many to start on the road to realising their chess potential.

1

Getting Started

Is it difficult to learn how to play chess? Chess is recognised as one of the most complex, yet popular games ever invented. I will not pretend that you can master the game in a few hours, but certainly it should be possible to begin challenging relatives and friends after a few days of going over this opening chapter.

Why play chess? Good question. I think that only a certain amount of people will be drawn even to learn the rules, but there can be all sorts of social occasions when it is useful to be able to play. For example, visiting in hospital, playing in a chess team at work or school and teaching your children if they ask!

What is the object of the game of chess?

Everybody will have seen people playing a game of chess even if it was just on an advert or film. It is for two people, one has the white side and the other black. Both sides begin with 1 6 men and they are set up on a board opposite each other. The players take it in turns to move and the game is decisive when one of the players ' kings is going to

be captured and cannot escape. While all other pieces can be captured, it is tradition for the kings to remain on the board.

How are the pieces set up? 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

On many sets, you will find that the files and ranks are lettered "a to h" and numbered " I to 8" respectively on the edge of the board. It is a good idea to get into the habit of setting up the white rooks on a l and h l and the black pieces on the eighth rank as this will be important for recording games later.

I have seen many chess sets in the shops-can I learn on any? Yes, but practically it is wise to stick with one set that is used in 99% of tournaments which is the standard plastic "Staunton set" that any chess supplier would sell.

8 Your Chess Questions Answered

Once when abroad playing in a tournament , I was surprised at how difficult I found it to play with a slightly different set and I insisted that the regulation pieces replace them. Therefore, I recommend that you do not make chess any harder than it is already by playing with a "Batman" or "Simpson" chess set, that my pupils boast of owning!

What common mistakes are made by beginners in starting out? Setting up the board the wrong way round is typical. The way to remember is to note that "white is on the right" i.e. that a white square must be on the right hand corner of the board when set up in front of you. The queen goes on her own colour, so that a white queen starts on a white square and the black queen on a black square. Also the board must be correctly positioned in the first place. I also occasionally spot people tossing for colour and then starting with the black pieces rather than turning the board round, but please note that White always starts first and that is not negotiable.

How does a queen move? The queen is the most powerful piece and she can move in a straight line or a diagonal line in any direction as shown.

How does a rook move?

How does a king move? A king can move one square in any direction and the following diagram shows the choice of squares he can move to. Remember that two kings can never be on adjacent squares since they will be attacking each other. This is explained in more detail on page 1 0, under "what is check?".

The rook is known as the second most valuable piece and moves in a

Getting Started 9

straight line in any direction. For obvious reasons, this piece is often 1 cl 'erred to as a "castle" by amateur players.

llow does a bishop move? There are two bishops and they hcgin on opposite coloured squares. They are able to move on diagonals in any direction, but are confined to t he colour of the square they begin on. If you suddenly find you have 1 wo dark squared bishops, the chances are one of them was nudged accidentally. You may have noticed that, in combination, the rook and bishop move in the same way as the queen, covenng the same lines and diagonals.

How does a knight move? The knight is the only piece that is able to jump over other pieces. It moves in the shape of a capital "L" and you can expect the general public to call this piece a "horse".

How does a pawn move? The pawn has a few features that are unusual. First, it is the only piece which cannot move backwards. A pawn moves one square forward, but, on its very first go, is able to move two squares. The three pawns illustrate the different ways a pawn can move. Pawns are also unique by being able to promote to a piece if they reach the eighth rank. This is discussed further in Chapter 2.

1 0 Your Chess Questions Answered

How is a capture made? A piece can move to a vacant square as described previously, or it can capture an enemy piece by landing on its square, removing the piece and taking its place. The pawn however operates under different guidelines as explained in the next question. No piece except the knight is able to jump over its own or enemy pieces and there can never be more than one piece on any square at one time. You cannot capture your own pieces and kings do not . get captured. Instead the game ends with "checkmate" when a king is destined to be captured next move. The following is a simple diagram Qf a capture.

White to move is able to capture the enemy queen by moving the rook to take its place and removing it from the board.

How does a pawn capture differ from other pieces? Whereas all the other pieces capture in the same way as they move, pawns cannot capture in the direction that· they move. Instead

they are able to capture one square diagonally forward, north-east or north-west. In the following position, the pawn is able to capture either the black pawn or the bishop.

What is check? "Check" is the word that describes when a king is attacked by an enemy piece.

The white king is in check from the opposing queen. It is often denoted by a "+" sign in notation, which is covered on page 19. It is illegal to put your king into check and if you are in check you must escape. If you cannot, it is checkmate.

Getting Starll'd 11

is useful to remember that there three ways out of check, as discussed in the next paragraph. 11

an.:

What is checkmate? Checkmate is when a king is in rhcck and it cannot escape, as .•;hown in the following diagram.

What if my opponent allows me to capture his king ? If your opponent makes a move that allows you to take his king, you must point this out. For this reason, beginners are encouraged to say "check" if they attack an opposing king, so the player will not accidentally remain in check.

What if we suddenly discover that a king has been in check for many moves?

Many beginners always respond to check with a king move, but don't forget that it is just as important to look to see if you can capture the opponent's piece which is giving check. It may also be possible to block the check. White has more than one way out of check in the next position. Make sure you are 1 00% confident of the answer before moving on.

If playing a tournament game you must call over an arbiter to sort out the situation. The rules state that you must return to the position where the illegal move was first made, and a time penalty might be awarded if applicable. It is easy to return to the relevant position if the game is being recorded but could prove more difficult if the moves have to be replaced from memory. A friendly game might as well be abandoned at this point!

What are the values of the pieces? This is a rough guide, but it is useful to work on the assumption that the relative strength of the pieces are as follows: Queen=9 Rook=5 Bishop=3 Knight=3 Pawn = l We do not give a value to the king as it cannot be captured in the same way as other pieces and is worth the whole game.

1 2 Your Chess Questions Answered

However, the value of each piece actually depends on the role it is playing in each game and if a knight is totally out of the game and on the sidelines it is obviously not worth its true potential.

I heard that a bishop is worth 3.1 points and is more valuable than a knight. Is this true? As it is possible to checkmate with two bishops and not with two knights (with best play), there are clear stages when it is better to have possession of bishops than knights. You could liken it to Scrabble-a C and "P" are both worth three points, but in each game it may be preferable to own one rather than the other. In chess you begin with two of each and as you progress in strength, you might think a bit harder which to exchange or retain according to the rest of the position. For example, if you are heading towards a closed position, a knight 1s more useful as it can jump around, while open positions generally favour bishops who operate best on long diagonals. As you may not know which course the game is taking in the early stages, it is a good principle not to exchange bishops for knights without good reason. However, I do stress that this is not particularly useful information to a beginner since they must first concentrate on not dropping pieces for free! The following example is a case of when a knight is superior to a bishop. "

The knight can land on different coloured squares while the black bishop is restricted to the light squares and is hemmed in by his own pawns.

"

The next case shows a typical situation when the bishop IS more powerful than the knight.

This is perhaps an extreme example since the knight is trapped and can be rounded up by the black king. However, even if the knight were on a more sensible square such as c5, Black would still be vastly better placed since a knight finds it much harder to cope with action on both sides of the board.

Getting Started 13

As with other sports, are there h•dmlques that I should adopt as n hl'j.!lnner? 1\ sensible guide to follow, that •,11ong players will do automatically, 1:., immediately your opponent has 111oved, to ask yourself: 1) "Can I capture anything?". It is ·.uqmsmg how many double blunders there are as someone can 111ake a terrible move in all lllllocence and the opponent not spot 11 because he assumes the move is ::ound. It is always useful to expect had moves so they can be taken advantage of when they appear. I I' you do have the misfortune of blundering and noticing your 111is1ake while your opponent is t hinking, do keep a poker face. There is a real chance that if a blunder is not spotted immediately, 11 may be overlooked. Gasping and going red will only alert your opponent to scan the board with a looth-comb for your error. ii) "What is the threat?". It is no good just conceiving your own plans and being unaware of any danger posed to your position by your opponent. It is possible there will be no immediate threat, but you must assess the risks and act accordingly. Thinking should be logical i.e. "Black threatens a pawn and so White defends it, also setting up the threat of mate which is met by . . . " A clinical approach can often be the best way to steer through an 1 � then made it imperative to suddenly have to move, press the I Ill k up the king first, or the king clock and write a move down, but if nnd rook simultaneously. you remember that there are three I once prided myself on knowing parts, it will become second nature lhl' rules and forced my opponent to after a while. 111akc an unwanted rook move when First, let us go over the names of IIH· poor man clearly intended to each square on the board: 1 u:;llc, but touched his rook first. I al is always in White's left hand won the game but remember it far corner and you will find that many 1norc for the fact that I behaved like boards are produced with the 11 hccl. lettering and numbering along the I would always advise touching side already. Otherwise a black lhl' king first, whatever rules FIDE felt-tip pen will do the trick-but do have in operation. ask the owner first! The principle is easy-we must What else is algebraic notation explain what piece moves and where it moves to. There are a IISl'd for? couple of ways to do this, although Tournament games and matches ultimately it is in the players interest llll' recorded on score sheets in to write as little as possible for the ul�cbraic notation-how else can sake of neatness and time. lhc games go down in history! I shall consider the longer system 1\lthough you may not be and shorter method together. planning a tournament just yet, you Next we will revise how to w i11 need to follow algebraic describe the pieces-remember that notation in order to play through the pawn is not called anything. So: King=K lulure games in this book. Queen=Q Rook=R l low do I record a game? Bishop=B Knight=N When playing for your school Notice that the pieces take capital league or in a tournament, it is dcsirable to have a copy of the letters while the square names take �ame. It is necessary to keep an l ittle letters for the a-h co-ordinates. I should also mention that chess accurate record of the number of moves played if there is a time columns and books are likely to rontrol in operation (see chess clock have chess figurines (pictures) of

18 Your Chess Questions Answered

the pieces as you will notice in this book. It is worth slowly going through a game here because it is difficult to move on without a strong grasp of this "algebraic" notation. As a trainer, I am constantly being handed games that are so badly annotated that it is impossible to reconstruct what happened. You should also know that castling kingside is written as 0-0 and castling queenside as 0-0-0.

2 c4 or 2 c2-c4

The following is one of the oldest tricks in an opening called the Budapest Gambit:

2 ... e5 or 2 ...e7-e5

This would be written as 1 d4 or 1 d2-d4 (pawns are not given a descriptive letter).

l.

.

.lt::lf6 or L.lt::lg8-f6

3 dxe5 or 3 d4xe5 Professionals might even cut this move down to 3 de, but in the early stages it is probably best to put in the capture sign "x" and remain consistent as much as possible.

Advanced Rules 1 9

.L.tt::lg4 or 3 .tt::lf6-g4 ..

4 �f4 or 4 �cl-f4

5 tt::lf3 or 5 tt::lgl-f3

5 ...�b4+ or 5 ...�f8-b4+ Notice the "+" which denotes check. Again, it is not necessary but common and generally helpful.

4...tt::lc6 or 4...tt::lb8-c6 6 tt::lbd2 or 6 tt::lbl-d2 An important factor here is that two knights could go to d2 and therefore it is necessary to identify

20 Your Chess Questions Answered

the correct knight. If instead, there were knights on bl and b3, obvious­ ly ltJbd2 would then not describe which knight moved and in this case ltJ3d2 or ltJ l d2 would have to be used. Make sure you fully under­ stand this point before you move on.

7 ...ltJgxe5 or 7 ...ltJg4xe5 Black does not save his bishop that was attacked on b4. A mistake or part of the plan?

8 axb4 or 8 a3xb4 6 .. .'ii'e7 or 6 . .'ii'd8-e7 .

7 a3 or 7 a2-a3

White cannot actually get away with this greed . . .

8 ..)ijd3# or 8 ...lt::J e5-d3# An unusual smothered mate but an opening trap that has caught out many an unwary opponent. It is also possible to write 8 lt::Jd3 mate. .•.

What is "en passant"? It is surprising how difficult people find this rule and grand­ masters have been known to forget about it, so it is well worth getting to grips with. There is actually a

Advanced Rules 2 1

wry

easy method for remembering

the rule.

the old days it was only to move a pawn one square 1111 its first move which meant Hllllles progressed very slowly. For , ..�umple, it was several moves hdiu·e exchanges began. The p,l'lll�ral consensus among players wus that the game was too slow and th,·relore it was speeded up by ullowing pawns to move two "'luures on their first g�. However, ' uusider the following diagram: 111

pu�sihle

If the white pawn moves to a4, 11111neone can rightly say that, in the old days, that pawn could have only �one one square when it could have he en captured on a3. Therefore, if the pawn moves two squares, it is ullowed to be captured exactly the sume as if it had been moved one square. The en passant rule only lusts for one move however.

Play out the following moves of a line in the French defence where an example ? f en passant occurs early

1 0 exf6e.p. This can also be written simply as 1 0 exf6.

10 Jhf6 ..

Is there equipment?

any

more

chess

You will probably not meet one until you begin some form of com­ petitive chess at a club or school, but you should know that chess clocks are used as a matter of course in tournaments. See chapter 7.

How many ways are there to finish a game of chess?

llll:

1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 lLlc3 Ji.b4 4 e5 li.)e7 5 a3 Ji.xc3+ 6 bxc3 c5 7 'ii'g4 0-0 8 Ji.d3 lLlbc6 9 lLlf3 f5

The decisive ones are checkmate and resignation, but there are ways for the game to end in a draw. Stale­ mate, perpetual check, the 50 move

22 Your Chess Questions Answered

rule, draw by threefold repetition, insufficient mating material and an agreed draw are all covered later in this chapter. It is an advantage if these are all understood before entering into a tournament. The arbiters are not there. to teach the players the finer points of chess.

game is drawn. This normally takes place with a lone king. Here is a simple example with Black to play.

If I have no chance, can I resign? Yes, you can always resign and therefore lose the game. It makes me laugh when a child tells me he doesn't want to play any more and so I tell him that is fine and to resign. "I can't" he says, "George won't let me". Your opponent may well be enjoying his excellent position and wish to continue to checkmate, but he cannot force you to play on ! At the top level of chess, material deficit of as little as a pawn may be enough to cause a player to resign. Newcomers to chess are more likely to play on to the bitter end. One grandmaster is famous for his habit of playing on in ridiculously lost positions. Some top opponents would take this behaviour as an in­ sult, but the grandmaster in question feels totally justified because he did once salvage a totally hopeless situ­ ation for his efforts.

As Black is unable to move, how­ ever painful, White must concede a ' draw. The next is a further example of stalemate. Although Black, to play, has several pieces, he cannot legally move anywhere and can proudly tell his friends that he didn't lose this time.

What is stalemate? This is probably the best reason to play on if you are materially disad­ vantaged and have precious little left on your side of the board. If your opponent puts you in a situ­ ation where you cannot move any­ thing and you are NOT in check, the

What is perpetual check? Exactly what it implies! If one player is determined to give check forever and the other player cannot prevent this, the draw is inevitable. Take the following example:

Advanced Rules 23

couldn't understand why a was playing on in such a hopeless position. White had just quL·cned a pawn when it became dear that l llc2+ 2 'it>b3 1Ic3+ 3 ·.£.·u2 llc2+ leads to perpetual check. I

once

l l lcnJ

...

What is threefold repetition? t\

player may claim a draw using

went on to lose an ending which had gone 70 moves without a pawn move or capture-there was no reason why his opponent was going to point it out. The real irony was that he claimed a draw by threefold repetition, but this was rejected as incorrect. Several years ago, FIDE, the world governing body of chess, extended some endings to 75 moves as it was felt that 50 moves was not sufficient to test the defender to the full, and in the days of adjourn­ ments (see page 57) I found myself playing out king, rook and bishop against king and rook for several days. Fortunately, adjournments have all but been abandoned in favour of quickplay finishes and the 50 move rule is back to a uniform figure for all positions.

llie threefold repetition rule if, with

llie same player to move on each m:casion, an identical position is 1 ep cated three times. To prove a draw the game must be recorded or an arbiter be present to witness the 1 el e v ant moves. Threefold repetition and perpetual since check are intertwined perpetual check will inevitably lead lo lhe position being repeated three limes anyway.

What is the 50 move rule? If there is no capture (involving pieces or pawns) or a pawn move over the period of 50 moves (each), a player is able to claim a draw. l lowever, it is obviously necessary lo have an up to date score sheet to prove the point. A well-known figure recently forgot about the rule in the British Championships and

Why would you wish to claim a draw? There are many reasons why you may wish to claim a draw. For example, if it secures victory for your team or if you are up against a substantially stronger player. Most commonly you will only be too pleased to claim a draw if you are losing the game.

What is the procedure claiming a draw?

for

The player wanting to claim a draw should inform his opponent, before moving, by making a statement of his intented next move and claim. This could be either to repeat the position for the third time for a threefold repetition claim or to

24 Your Chess Questions Answered

complete the fiftieth move for that particular rule. The opponent may immediately agree to this claim and therefore succumb to the draw. Alternatively, he may dispute the fact, then further investigation is required, often with the assistance of an arbiter.

Is there a penalty incorrect claim?

for

an

Yes, normally if the claim is incorrect a time penalty of no more than five minutes is awarded. Problems can occur if one or both players are in time trouble, say less than five minutes. In extreme cases, if the claim is incorrect, this could result in a player losing on time. To avoid losing unnecessary time, it is normal procedure for the clocks to be stopped whilst finding an arbiter who will examine the claim. Make sure your claim is correct if you do have less than five minutes, or it could cause you to overstep the time limit. ·

What would be classed insufficient mating material?

as

When there are just two kings left on the board, a king and knight ver­ sus a lone king or a king and bishop versus a king, the game is declared drawn as even with terrible mistakes there is no possibility of checkmate.

Is "offering a draw" as easy as it sounds? Yes, although you must time it correctly to abide by the rules. The correct process is to say "Do you want a draw?" or something similar as you make your move and before

you press the clock. It is extremely rude to offer a draw while your op­ ponent is thinking and if you offer one while it is your move, your opponent is allowed to force you to play a move before answering. Also, as a word of warning, be careful how you reply to a draw offer because a sarcastic response "Oh yeah, I really want a draw" has actually been made to stand on more than one occasion! I was sitting next to a game recently and was surprised to hear the conversation "Would you like a draw?" answered by "yes please, with two sugars". The outcome was that the second player got a cup of tea and enjoyed it while playing on. It is considered bad manners for the weaker player to offer a draw in an atrocious position, although a well timed draw offer can act as the stronger player's salvation if his reputation is such that his opponent lacks the confidence to see his advantage through. It is also rude to consistently offer draws throughout a game-two is more than enough. There is a new rule in international tournaments which obliges players to register when draw offers are made (an "=" sign next to the move in question) which is interesting for the public to know as the game is circulated and can be important for the arbiter if a complaint ts made against an individual.

When I get a pawn to the eighth rank, do I have to promote to a queen? No, when a pawn reaches the end of the board it can be exchanged for any piece, although invariably a

Advanced Rules 25

qul'l'll is chosen because it 111osl powerful piece. Some

is the people 11 " ' under the impression that, if you ,dll'ady have a queen, you are not i'''llnilled another, but in fact y�u , 1u1 have up to nine queens and will huve lo ask the arbiter to bring you •uune spares. Hemember though, don't mess uhoul by queening as many pawns 11'1 possible for the sake of it. You will annoy your opponent at the ,.,.,y least and perhaps run the risk ol �lalemate if there are only a few l'lll'lllY pieces left. An upside down 1 ook can serve as a queen if you only have one set. llere is a wonderful example of w here it is a mistake to promote to a queen:

1 c8�? .!:f.c4+ 2 �xc4 is stalemate and therefore White must look at other possibilities. The key to the solution is to underpromote with l c8.!:f.! when l .. ..!:f.c4+ 2 .!:f.xc4 is no stalemate. longer White immediately threatens 2 .!:f.a8+ and therefore l....!:f.a4 is forced and now 2 'it>b3! finally causes Black's position to crack under the strain due to the threats of 3 'it>xa4 and 3 .!:f.c l mate.

3

Mating

Which m1mmum amount of pieces is it possible to checkmate with? The basic answer is two, but it is worth discussing which pieces and which combination of pieces are able to do the business. Novices often enquire whethte2 t\1 this point there is no way for 1111' queen to force a smaller cage 1111d therefore it is time to bring in IIH· aid of the king . 'it>e5 .\ �f3 _. 'it>f2 'iVe4+ � �f4 'it>gl I low would you tie the black king d�twn to two squares on the back

but with less dangers o f stalemate. Let us first establish a mating position.

z

Ill Ilk?

'ii'e2 (, This is the best square as there is 1u1 danger of stalemate when the white king steps forward next move. The black king must now resort to moving between the squares gl and hi. 6

'it>hl 'it>gl 7 'it>g3 'ir'el mate. 8 How many different mates are you able to find on move 8? How do I checkmate with king nnd rook against a king? Mating with rook and king versus king is similar to queen and king,

You will notice that these checkmates invariably occur at the side or edge of the board. This is for the simple reason that a king has 8 squares to go to in the centre of the board, only 5 possible squares at the edge and 3 at the corner of the board. Towards the end of the game, the attacking side may not have many pieces left himself. Delivering checkmate on one of the edges is much easier and with fewer pieces may prove a necessity. Now let us set up a position where we must force the king to the edge of the board in order to deliver checkmate. White to play.

28 Your Chess Questions A nswered

The first job is to cut the king off.

1 2 3

�e1 'it>dS �e4

The black king is in a cage of 3x3 already. 'itf3 3 'itg3 'itd4 4 'ite3 'itg2 5 'itg3 6 �f4 This is an important point that confuses some people since there is no move to make the cage smaller and no move to bring the king forward either. This calls for a waiting move since Black will have to give ground next move. 'itg2 7 'ite4 'ith2 �f3 8 'itg2 9 'itf4 'ith2 10 'itg4 �f2+ 11 Be careful not to play 1 1 �g3 'ith 1 12 'ith3 stalemate here as you must never let the cage get down to one square since then your opponent cannot move at all and you will have thrown away half a point. 'itg1 1 1 ... 12 'itg3 'it>h1 . �fl mate. 13

How do I checkmate with king and two bishops against a king? First it is worth looking at the final mate and then discussing how to force it from any situation to avoid falling foul of the 50 move rule.

Now we will start from the next position and drive the black king to the corner in order to deliver the checkmate.

Our job is first to drive the king to the vicinity of the back of the board and as he is three squares away at the moment, our initial aim is to push him back to two squares from the edge. Don't forget that there are four sides to consider and any one will do. .i.d3 1

Mating 29

simple centralising move es the black king to give 111111111d as he must move and cannot ll lltllill on a central square. 1 'it>cs Z 'iti>e4 Wtthout the use of your king, 1\'hll'h is a powerful piece in the o•tullng, you will get nowhere. z 'it>d6 .I �c4 11

1s

thotl

a

l·a u s

'

Nolice how the bishops combine a solid l ine through which thl· king cannot cross . .I 'it>cs 4 i..a2 This ts a set up worth ll'tm:mbering because the king ,·nnnot even approach the bishops to hurass them while they guard each ulhcr's territory. 4 'it>d6 �d4 'it>c6 'it>d6 �c4 �dS /\nother important manoeuvre as lhc bishops and king work in perfect harmony to drive the enemy monarch to its downfall. 7 'it>d7 �c7 �cS K 9 'it>d7 �es �d6 'it>d8 10

�e6 11 'it>e8 The first step has been completed and now that the king is confined to the back rank, we must nudge him into a corner. Let us choose the one on h8, and therefore we must pre­ vent the king heading the other way. 12 �c7 'it>f8 13 'it>f6 'it>e8 14 �c6+ 'it>f8 1S �d6+ �g8 16 'it>g6 'it>h8

tu l orm '

With the job all but completed there are two things to watch out for. One, stalemate is always a possibility and that is why 17 �d5? must be rejected; secondly, you might be tempted to start checking here with 17 �e5+ �g8 18 �d5+ which unfortunately allows the king to escape. If the king were on g8, it is evident that we could check on d5 and then on e5 with mate, so we must play a "waiting" move in order to force the king to a worse square, otherwise known as placing the black king in "zugzwang" (see page 3 8). �g8 17 �cS 'it>h8 18 �dS+ �d4 mate. 19

30 Your Chess Questions A nswered

A helpful point is to remember that the attacking king is best positioned on g6, fl, g3 , f2, etc. depending on the corner used. If you can achieve this mate within 30 moves from any position or with 5 minutes on the clock, it should pose no problem if you are faced with it m a senous game.

Is it possible to checkmate with king, bishop and knight against a king?

match and it took me 48 moves (2 away from a draw) so I am not an authority on the technique!

Is it possible to checkmate with king and two knights against a king? It is possible to set up a position where two knights mate, but only if the opponent walks into the mate by himself as it cannot be achieved by force against the best defence.

Yes, but this one is incredibly difficult and one that can take more than 30 moves, even with best play. Again, certain techniques are vital here. Notice from the diagram that the mate occurs in the corner of the same colour as the bishop and in fact it is not possible to force mate in the other corner. Therefore, if you are the one defending, you know which corner to run to if you have the choice! However, you may be interested in the fact that if Black had a pawn, it may be possible to force checkmate. Sounds perverse, let me expand. Set up this position with a pawn blockaded by a knight.

The method of mating here has no place in a beginner's book because it requires such perfect coordination between the pieces and therefore I will not burden you with the method. To be honest, to date I have only ever had to do it once in a

Mating 31

I he pawn must be safely lolurkaded and preferably as far '"""Y from the queening square as l""':;ihlc for which reason it will I nTomc clear soon. It takes a lot of do·liratc manoeuvring, but gradually Wl11lc can squeeze his opponent's 1, 111g into the corner. I lnlinarily the other knight would hoiVl' no time to move in for the 11111lc due to stalemate, but now we ' 1111 see how the pawn changes the p�o·turc. The knight, which has been '"' patiently guarding the enemy 1111W1l is now able to finish the job

off and find the quickest route to mate before the pawn queens. For example 1 ltJc5 aS 2 ltJd7 a4 3 ltJf6+ �h8 4 ltJg5 a3 (this is the point that stalemate would have occurred without the pawn) 5 ltJfl mate. There has been extensive study on this ending but it is extremely rare in tournament practice and normally takes more than 50 moves to execute so please don't waste too much time on it as it does not hold much value to the ordinary chess player.

4

Jargon

Can I ask about all the jargon because it can be off putting? As with most fields, there are a lot of chess terms that will mean nothing to the general public, but are often spouted in chess circles. I remember being confused by the word "birdie" in golf and thinking it meant that a ball hit a poor low flying bird, so it is important not to assume that everyone knows exactly what you are talking about. I guess we will never achieve total uniformity however, because I know at least two pupils who have their own little j argon which they cannot be shaken from and for all I know their whole school talks in the same way. For example, one young boy always says "castle-up" for the act of castling and another will not budge from referring to "taking" or "capturing" as "cutting" the piece.

What is a TN? This stands for "Theoretical Novelty". More recently, a single "N" is more commonly used. A move that has never been published before can be claimed to be a "TN". The more successful and notable it is, the more important the novelty. A novelty can come as early as move 3 in obscure openings or as

late as around move 30 in well known lines. However, the move itself can have been played by a club player for years. This club player can be upset that he gets no credit for the idea, but that's life! I accidentally hit on a novelty many years ago just before a famous grandmaster used it in a top tournament. However, my game rightly went unnoticed as the follow up was totally unconvincing and it took place against a weak opponent. The relevance of a TN is that it is likely to change the course of an opening in favour of one side. The world's top players have to keep up with all the latest TN's in their openings so they are not caught out.

What is a "plus" or "minus" score? I didn't come across this phrase until I embarked on international tournaments, but you may well read it in a chess article or magazine. If a player has 50%, their score is "evens" while anything above or below will be a plus or minus score respectively. That is straightforward enough, but it is not so obvious to work out what is "plus one", "plus two" or "minus three" for example.

Jargon 33

" Plus one" means that a player hns won one more game than he has lost. Therefore, to be on "plus one" ,,ner 9 rounds means that the player hns 5 points. This could be made up "r X draws and one win, or 5 wins ,,ud 4 losses. So "plus one" means half a point 11111re than a 50% score. " Plus two" means two more wins 1han losses, so after 4 rounds the ·.rore would be 3 . "Minus three" means three more losses than wins which equates to 0 1 r only three rounds have been played.

S imilarly, a plus score against a particular opponent means that you have won more times than you have lost.

someone heard "j 'adoube"-why?

saying

Once the ruleo of "touch a p.iece, move a piece", which is explained on page 53, is ingrained into you, t he thought of touching a piece that you do not intend to move will fill you with horror in case your opponent insists on you moving it. Therefore, what happens if a piece is misaligned and it begins to bug you that it is off-centre? Here you must carefully adjust the piece and instead of explaining "I'm just adjusting the piece", most players prefer to announce "j 'adoube" as the short and sweet French equivalent. You must forgive players for appearing to shout it out, but woe betide if there is a misunderstanding and an argument breaks out over the person's intention for touching the piece. Likewise, .you are able to adjust your opponent's piece, but make

sure this is always when it is your turn to move so you do not interfere with your opponent's train of thought. Remember that if you touch an opponent's piece without any explanation and it is your turn to move, you are expected to take it if possible.

What does "en prise" mean? I have always thought this phrase was a rather unnecessarily complicated way to point out that a piece could be taken for nothing. You may hear people discussing a position and the remark "your knight is en prise" means nothing more than that the knight IS undefended, often implying a blunder or oversight.

What is a tempo? This refers to time taken, in moves, for a useful manoeuvre. If you have lost a tempo or some tempi, the plural, then you have lost or wasted a move or some moves. For example, in a king and pawn ending, if some kind of pawn race is taking place; then you may like to count how many tempi (moves) it will take until the pawn promotes. To put it simply, 1 e3 e5 2 e4 would be a blatant waste of a tempo as White had the opportunity to play 1 e4 at once.

What is material? I once gave a puzzle to a senior school chess club and said "White to play and win material". They all looked at me with a blank face until I rephrased the question to "White

34 Your Chess Questions Answered

to play and win a piece or pieces". Material is just another way to de­ scribe some amount of pieces, and in this particular case I was looking for a solution that won a bishop. Pawns are sometimes referred to as pieces, although if a player claims to have won a piece, the im­ plication is more than just a pawn.

big centre development.

or

rapid

piece

1 d4 dS 2 c4

What is being the "exchange up or down"? This is a phrase that beginners hardly use but experienced players don't think twice about. It can actually cause some confusion because a straight "exchange" implies two pieces of equal status being swapped off while an "exchange down" in this context refers to a piece count of bishop or a knight for a rook. Therefore, being the "exchange up" will mean you have a rook for a minor piece. There again, a bit of jargon crept in as a "minor" piece refers to a knight or a bishop while the "major" or "heavy" pieces are the queens and rooks. So don't be put off by hearing comments such as "Whoops, there goes an exchange ! " or "I'm only an exchange down but if I can exchange queens I should be okay in the ending". Of course this ex­ change (of conversation) could not take place during a game since one is not allowed to discuss one's posi­ tion while a match is in progress.

What is a Gambit? A gambit is when a player gives up a pawn in the opening for some compensation· which may lie in a

. . . is the most well known gambit when it is further categorised into the Queen's Gambit Accepted with 2 . . . dxc4 and the Queen's Gambit Declined with 2 . . e6. The pawn might be regained in a couple of moves or not even taken in the first place. However, the opening will still be referred to as a "gambit" if a pawn is offered. .

What is a Swiss Gambit? This is nothing to do with the actual moves played in a game of chess. This is occasionally what strong (but lazy!) players do in a tournament. Let's say there are 6 rounds and Mr.X realises that it will be hard work to win all his games. The best players will no doubt win their early games and be on a 1 00% score. In order to avoid playing them, Mr.X might draw his first game and will therefore be playing just below the top boards. The idea is that the top players will take points off each other and Mr.X ends up on the top board in

Jargon 35

lhc last round, not as tired as his ',pponent who has had to deal with ull lhe tough competitors. Mr.X. drawing the first game and winning his last 5 to take first prize would be a classic example of a "Swiss Gambit". l lowever, the term is used far 111orc as a feeble excuse for a good player messing up his first seeded 1 ound against a weak opponent, pre­ ll'llding it was intentional. It is very rare to be able to predict results and pa irings where a lost half a point ran ever work to one's advantage. "Swiss" refers to the type of lournament and is discussed further 1 11 chapter 6.

What does "fianchetto" mean? This describes a method of developing a bishop on the wing to h2 or g2 as White and b7 or g7 as Black, instead of the more common route via the centre, as shown in the l'o llowing diagram.

known that rooks are useful on open files since there are no pawns to re­ strict their firing power. An example of this is on the e-file below.

What is a semi-open file? A semi-open file refers to a file that has one pawn or pawns of one colour blocking it. This time the example occurs on the c and d-files:

What is a closed file? What is an open file? This describes a file which has no pawns blocking it at all. It is well

A closed file will have at least one pawn of each colour along the way. The following diagram clearly shows an example of this on the e-file.

l f1

Your ( 'lrcs.1· Questions Answered

What are doubled pawns? This is a term used to describe two pawns of the same colour which have made it onto the same file. They can be extremely weak and are generally considered bad, although some openings encourage such a structure in order to aim for rapid piece development or to open an important file. For example, the first diagram clearly shows that White is worse due to the fact that his c­ pawns will be picked off eventually.

The next example comes after several moves in the Caro-Kann opening where Black willingly receives the doubled pawns: 1 e4 c6 2 d4 dS 3 tt'lc3 dxe4 4 tt'lxe4 tt'lf6 5 tt'lxf6+ gxf6 which leads us to the position:

Black prepares to castle queenside and intends to use the open g-file for attacking purposes. The f-pawns are not really much of a liability here since the trio of pawns can defend each other well enough on f7, e6 and f5 later.

What is a backward pawn? Again this is something that normally suggests a negative quality. Backward pawns cannot be defended by another pawn and therefore a piece could have to waste itself supporting the pawn in question. The following diagram illustrates an example of a backward pawn on d6

It is generally a good idea to re­ lieve oneself of a backward pawn if

Jargon 37

possible, because it might turn out lo be awkward to defend, but just like in the case of doubled pawns, there are one or two openings that a rc happy to be saddled with a backward pawn. One of the most notable is the Kalashnikov Sicilian where the opening moves run:

1 e4 c5 2 lLlf3 lLlc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 tilxd4 e5 5 lbb5 d6

The black pawns on c5 and d5 are hanging. Note that they cannot be defended by any other pawns.

What is an I.Q.P?

Practice has shown that Black gets plenty of piece activity to compen­ sate for his backward d-pawn.

This stands for isolated queen's pawn. It is also called an isolated d-pawn, since the queen's file and d-file are one and the same. An isolated pawn is simply a pawn that has no neighbouring pawns, while an I.Q.P. is a queen's pawn that is bereft of a mate on either side. The I.Q.P. position is one that can occur from many openings. An example can be found in chapter 7.

What are hanging pawns? These describe two pawns standing alone, abreast of each other. They are normally associated with fourth rank pawns on the c and d-files. A typical example of an opening leading to the possibility of hanging pawns is the Tartakower variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined: 1 d4 dS 2 c4 e6 3 lbf3 lLlf6 4 lLlc3 !ii..e7 5 !ii..g5 h6 6 !ii.. h4 0-0 7 e3 b6 8 cxd5 lbxd5 9 !ii..xe7 'ii'xe7 10 lbxd5 exd5 11 .l:tcl !ii.. e6 12 !ii.. e2 c5 13 dxc5 bxc5

This diagram illustrates the pawn structure that often arises with an I.Q.P. Notice how White has a weak d-pawn but has the half open e-file

38 Your Chess Questions Answered

and the e5-square can often serve as a springboard with which to launch an attack. The golden rule in I.Q.P positions is for Black to blockade the d5-square to prevent White pushing forward in the centre in favourable circumstances. Black also wishes to exchange pieces in order to reach an ending. The onus is definitely on White to attack.

What is an outpost? An outpost is a square which a piece is able to occupy and be supported by a pawn without the possibility of being ousted by an enemy pawn. For example, in the following diagram, the white knight on d5 is settled in an outpost whilst the opposing knight on d4 cannot claim an outpost since it can be removed by the pawn push c3.

However, as we know a player is not permitted this way out and therefore he must relinquish the best square and will lose without a fight after the enemy king invades and then shepherds his pawn home to make a queen. When a player must move and in doing so worsen his position, we say he Is m "zugzwang". Here is a further example of "zugzwang".

Black has no other possibility than to move his king, thus leaving his knight on f8 without defence.

What is "zugzwang"? What is a fork? If a player was allowed to say "pass" and forfeit his go, the following ending would be drawn as nothing could budge the black king from the e6-square.

Just as a road forks in two directions, so a piece can attack two things at once. Knight forks are the most common but it can be

Jargon 39

associated with any piece. See if you can spot the various forks quickly here: Q8) Here it is White to play with two possible knight forks, although one is clearly superior to the other.

Qll) And now one that is a bit deeper as White can cause devastation with a queen fork.

Q9) Now a more complex form of the same theme: Again it is White to play and win material.

Q12) Here I have chosen a typical method of picking up a piece. It is always necessary to be extra careful when exposing your king to a check. White to play.

QJ O) White has a simple bishop fork to pick up the enemy queen.

I f / l'u111 ( '/t , ·,\',1'

(h�t•stion1· Answered

QJ3) Pawn forks should be watched out for especially in the opening when the board is crowded with pieces. The following is a typical example with White to play:

Ql5) Rook fork. Two bishops are generally stronger than a rook, as long as they are not about to be forked ! White to play:

Answers on page 124.

King forks are decidedly uncommon as very often a king will not even enter into the battle, but the same principle applies and a king can certainly attack two pieces at once: Ql4) White is a pawn down, but can he safely capture the pawn on f7 this move?

What is a skewer? This is where you attack along a line with the potential to pick up some material behind another piece. Again, the same trick can be done with several different pieces and I leave you to solve them:

Ql6) White is threatening checkmate with .1:1£8 but Black, to play, is able to turn the tables with a bishop skewer.

Jargon 41

Q 1 7) Both sides have just queened and now Black, to play, is nhlc to make use of a queen skewer in a combination two moves deep which rounds up the enemy queen.

What is a pin? This means that a piece 1s "pinned" down and either cannot move due to check or it is not wise to move it due to the loss of material, such as a queen. For instance the knight on f6 is pinned in the following diagram:

Q 1 8) A simple one move rook skewer that ensures White (to play) a winning ending. Here are some examples of how to take advantage of a pin.

Q19) Black is threatening mate on g2, but White to play, can disable his opponent's forces with a timely pm.

Answers on page 1 24.

42 Your Chess Questions Answered

Q20) White has just castled, and so the question is whether Black is able safely to snaffle the pawn on e4?

Q21) White to play and wm material.

Answers on page 1 24 . .

5

Children

Should I want my child to learn dtcss? Evidence suggests that it ts beneficial for every child to be taught the rules of chess as it encourages concentration and discipline skills. For example, it is important for a child to learn how to take it in turns to move and how to cope with adversities such as being checkmated or losing their queen during a game. I actually teach all the year twos (aged 6-7) in a school a nd it is interesting to watch their different approaches. Even at that early age, some children are more than happy to resign their game in favour of a peaceful, contented and unambitious l i fe while others fight on to the death or even try a spot of cheating to secure the point. It is clear that about one third will never want to play a game of chess again but more than half pick it up quickly and enj oy the endless complexities. Another school in the area does not believe in competition for the children and, although chess is taught, matches are not played and a school champion is not sought. Ad­ mittedly I have not heard the rel­ evant arguments for the other side but I cannot understand the concept of protecting children in this way as we live in such a competitive world.

I have found nearly every child to relish the prospect of entering a chess tournament and, while I would not dream of forcing someone to play against their will, I would never deprive the children of a chance to excel at something they enjoy. We must not forget that every child is different and a taste of chess might be just the right medicine for endless hours of constructive fun.

What age should my child start playing chess? This is a difficult question to answer because it is different for every child. For example, you will hear stories about Fischer (eccentric former World Champion) and Kasparov (the current World no. 1 ) picking u p the moves and playing from the early age of 4, but I know at least one grand master who learnt the rules at the ripe old age of 1 5 ! Of course the sooner the better is a logical rule to apply, but not all children will take to it until their powers of concentration develop and premature pressure could have an adverse effect. I was intrigued to hear from the renowned junior coach Richard James that starting at 1 1 can bear equal fruits to someone who learns much earlier. He explained that it is easier for most

44 Your Chess Questions Answered

older children to pick up the lost time by studying themselves, whereas younger children often constant need and attention stimulation from a parent or teacher. He advocates that if a parent is able and willing to put in the time, and this could include ferrying a child to a club and/or playing at home, all well and good, but in fact the age is not as critical as you could imagine. I myself did not participate in my first tournament until the age of 1 0, and it was quite rewarding to gradually overtake those rated higher, who had been playing for several years already. I don't believe in forcing a child to learn unless they show interest, and this could well happen when they want to be included in a family game of chess or if, for example, their grandpa challenges them. If you don't play yourself, perhaps there is a beginner's club at school, but there is no point sending your child to a club at school or otherwise until the rules are well known. There are occasionally chess workshops set up during the school holidays, particularly in London. These are designed to prepare children for a club and normally last about 5 days but are admittedly few and far between. If the worst comes to the worst, learn from a book, but make sure it is understood and expect it to take at least 1 0 hours to master the rules. If your child shows an unusual passion for the game at a young age (4-7) and picks up the rules and ideas with uncanny speed, you owe it to him or her to search out a club and find competitions because you could well have a champion in the

making. Don't worry, there are chess millionaires, the money is excellent at the top !

If my child proves to be talented at chess, is it my job to push him/her? The answer is definitely a resounding NO! Ideally your role is only to be an encourager, a funder and a chauffeur. I noticed that a father was always telling off his son when he lost and when I was privy to give private les­ sons to the boy, the most important advice I could give was for the father to leave him alone concerning chess. I can relate many stories of extremely talented youngsters who have left the chess scene due to the miseries encountered by loud, angry parents that seem to take it personally when their child loses a game. If only the parent could take a minute to realise that their child is upset at the result and that the best course of action is to build up their child for the next game instead. I am grateful for the chess books that my father used to bring home and for the coaching he arranged for me, but the well meant advice of suggesting that I should try concentrating during my games was incredibly annoying as we both knew he had not played a serious game of chess in his life. It was a source of amusement when he told the English soccer team how to play from his armchair but they had the advantage of not being able to hear the hot air.

How do I find out where my local club is situated?

Children 45

The library or the local paper m ight have information, but the British Chess Federation should be able to put anyone in touch with their nearest club: British Chess Federation 9a Grand Parade St. Leonards-on-Sea East Sussex TN3 8 ODD tel: 0 1 424-442500 fax: 01 424 7 1 8373 e-mail: [email protected]

What should I look for in a club? From an adult point of vie;w this could be whether or not the premises are licensed while perhaps parents are more interested in the distance from home and the meeting times. Surprisingly enough, children are not always welcome at a chess club as they nearly always meet in an evening and nobody wants to encounter a group of over-excited schoolkids on their late night out. Therefore I recommend that you seek out a club that has special facilities for juniors. For example, Ashtead Chess Club in Surrey specializes in a junior section that meets one hour before the main session while Richmond Junior Chess Club meets on Saturdays, a lower group in the morning and the top set in the afternoon. Not all, areas have such luxuries and there might only be one club for miles around which gives you little choice. My brother and I had an excellent club that we attended from the age of about 1 2 which consisted

of about 10 members. They actually welcomed some young blood into the gathering and we were given special attention for this reason. People wondered why we didn't nip round the corner to the local club of 60 odd members but we never considered leaving the struggling village club, even when we missed the last bus home and had to walk 4 miles.

What opportunities are there for talented youngsters? Firstly, there are many regional junior events and national events that you can find out about through your school or the British Chess Federation. You can take part in those events, either as part of a team, or the events are there to enter independently. Then there are the world junior events which now take place over all the age groups starting at under-9 and going up to under-20 for which most countries normally send a representative and a special invitation must be issued. Selections are made by a body of about six involved in chess throughout the country and there are also European junior events to which different children are sent if possible. The latest successful venture in England was to compile a national squad of under- 1 1 children who are trained and given the chance to experience tournaments abroad. There are several events that are held throughout the year which enable a player to qualify for the squad and it has proved an immense incentive and goal for the children.

46 Your Chess Questions Answered

How do I know if my child is exceptionally talented? As a junior it is especially important to keep track of your progress in relation to other juniors as this is largely how selections are made. As a guide, if your BCF grade is your age x 10 + 40, you are a contender for the national squad and will be ranked high in the country for your age. There are similar selections made separately for girls. Here the achievement guide is less at (your age x I 0). For example, a boy of I 0 rated 140 is a rare achievement and a girl aged 1 0 rated 1 00 will also be noticed. That is not to say that some girls do not attain the same standard as the boys however. Gradings are discussed in chapter 8.

How d o I g o about setting up a school chess club? This may be a relevant for a pupil in a secondary school, a parent or a teacher and it is actually not as difficult as it sounds. The equipment required is perhaps 10 chess sets to allow for 20 children, a demonstration board if any teaching is to take place and a vacant room once a week with the blessing of the school. I have attended many school clubs and was interested in all the different approaches possible. For example, one school might have a beginner's course for years 2 or 3 at lunch-time and then a chess club after school for those already able to play.

A coach may be used for chess training and parents may help to supervise chess matches against other schools. Each child pays in the region of £25 for a term and this covers the coach's fees, although siblings are often given a discount. Other schools might be lucky enough to have a strong chess teacher or parent who is willing to give their time free, but make sure this person really can play properly. I took over a school where a teacher had got the numbers up to about 80, but in fact the children had been taught incorrectly and would resign when they lost all their pieces, or incorrectly talk of stalemate if they happened to reach king against king. Castling was a mystery to them and checkmate that something occasionally happened by accident. It is extremely difficult to re-educate children when they have been taught badly as old habits die hard. Teaching beginners is a relatively straightforward proposition and often a teacher with no understanding of chess can convey the rules from a book in about 1 0 sessions o f one hour each. However, there should be an advanced chess teacher to help the children progress once they have mastered the moves.

Is it possible to mix a range of abilities in a school chess club? It is best avoided if at all possible. Certainly total beginners cannot mix with more experienced players as both sets are likely to be put off. The ideal situation is to have about 20 children who can be divided into roughly equal sized groups, depending on age and

Children 4 7

ability, and run an all-play-all event. This means that you play everyone in your group. It may be suitable to play everybody once only with an equal share of whites and blacks. Alternatively, if the group is small, everyone can play each other twice, once with each colour and the final total can be totted up at the end. A chart can be made up for any amount of players but looks like this.

1 I Terry 2 Linda 3 David 4 Yvonne

X

•h 0

0 5 Michael 0

2

3

•h

I

I

I

3 1h

X

I

I I

•h I

3 2

0

X

0 0 •h 0

4

5 Total

X

I

I

0

X

'h

The results allow relegation, and promotion. Prizes can be awarded as incentives and the tournaments can serve as a way to determine who the best players are. It will then be easier to construct the strongest school team. I have found the senior schools to be more informal but structured events are again necessary to keep interest going.

What other activities can I run in a school chess club? Ladders are also popular where the children are placed on rungs and are allowed to challenge people ahead of them to take their place and try to move up to the top of the ladder.

The rules are harder to ascertain here as you have to decide how many places above is permissible to challenge, what happens if someone is absent and which challenge takes priority. Children are excellent at taking advantage of unclear rules so a clear set of guidelines are necessary here. One interesting activity that is ideal for large or small numbers is called "circle chess" and carried out as follows: Two equally balanced teams are formed and sit opposite each other in a circle. One team gets white on every board for the whole session but this can be reversed the following week. Games begin and any player who gets checkmate puts up their hand and scores a point for themselves and their team. Finished games restart and every 10 minutes or so all the games will be stopped and both teams will move one place to their left, carefully having noted whose turn it is to move on each board. Now everyone is faced with a new opponent and a position they have never seen before. At this stage it is important for the participants to study each game for at least a minute and assess the situation before continuing with the game (as a rule kids move far too fast without checking all the possibilities). It is of course bad luck if someone has passed on a diabolical position to you but there is no penalty for being checkmated in this game, there are only rewards for spotting the win. The team angle adds excitement to this activity. Puzzles are popular too, but in order to make a fair contest, harder

48 Your Chess Questions Answered

puzzles can be given to the stronger players, or the same puzzles can be handed out with clues for the younger children. For example, take the following puzzle which can be announced as mate in two: For the stronger players this will pose no problem but it is possible to give 1 l:tb_ for White's first move, and then � _ _ for Black and finally 2 l:t 8 mate for the weaker players. The missing letters and numbers should be filled in. For obvious _

reasons, this is "hangman" puzzles.

known

as

6

Tournaments and matches

What is the shortest game of chess? Two moves is the quickest way to give checkmate, although one's opponent must be pretty obliging. It has been named "Fool 's Mate" and it comes about when White plays a couple of crazy moves on the kingside and allows Black to deliver mate on his second move. 1

g4 eS 2 f3 1i'h4 mate

At this point someone might touch their king by mistake (if it is intentional, the situation is extreme­ ly sad!) and be obliged to move it. There is only one square: 2 .c$;e7 and there follows 3 'ir'xeS mate ..

Which quick methods of checkmate do I need to be aware of? The above is most unlikely to happen but there is an unusual mate in three that occasionally happens in school chess. 1 e4 eS 2 1i'h5

Far more common is the "Four Move Checkmate" or "Scholar's Mate". While supervising junior school matches, I have often wit­ nessed one or two games invariably

50 Your Chess Questions Answered

ending in a couple of minutes in this way. 1 e4 e5 2 'iVhS tbc6 It is useful to develop a piece and defend the e5-pawn. At this point many games take a turn for the worse with 2 . . . g6 when 3 'iVxe5+ followed by 4 'iVxh8 is disastrous for Black. 3 i..c4

White is now threatening mate with 4 'iVxf7. 3 . . . lbh6 is not a particularly effective way to defend f7 since White can continue with 4 d3 and undermine the knight by threatening 5 i..xh6 followed by 6 'iVxf7 mate. 3 . . . g6 4 'iVf3 tbf6 is one of the best methods to counter the system. 3 . . .'iVe7 is sensible enough but has the drawback that it blocks the development of Black's dark squared bishop. However, you would be surprised at how many times games end in the following way: 3 tbf6 4 'iVxti mate. There is an easy way to recall the checkmate. First White should pinpoint the pawn in Black's camp that is only defended by his king.

The weak square is f7 and then White's job is to target it with his bishop and queen, first by moving the e-pawn to let both pieces out. Black can also try to do some damage on White's f2-square but is slightly handicapped as he moves second. Having said all this, the quickest game I witnessed was during an international tournament in Ostend between two international masters. The game began: 1 d4 d5 and at this point the player with the black pieces said "would you like a draw?". There was only a second of hesitation before White replied :with his move 2 c4 and declined the offer. At this point Black resigned with the comments that he didn't feel like playing today. Rumours blamed a tiff with the wife!

How do I know when I am ready for a tournament?

...

When you are confident that you know all the rules about castling, "en passant" and the various ways a game can end, and have an instant

Tournaments and matches 51

recognition of how the pieces move, you are ready to enter a tournament.

victory. The pairings are seeded top half against bottom half so it is always comfortable to be rated near Does everybody take part in one the top as you are likely to play big tournament? nearly everyone rated lower than yourself. The drawback of this is No, not necessarily. It is by far the that people will concentrate doubly more normal for the tournaments to hard against you because you are be divided up into three or four one of the best players and their separate events. In that way sense of danger might mean they everyone will meet an opponent of a put up a hell of a fight. This is similar calibre as they are placed in especially fatal if you are prone to sections according to grade (see overconfidence because without chapter 9) or age. your brain on full alert, it is possible It can be very confusing because to lose to anyone. there is no standard pattern for how On the other hand, some players to divide players up by grade. Each ambition is simply to become congress is different and can set stronger and therefore they tend to their own limits. For example, one opt for tournaments with a higher tournament might have a novice grade upper limit so they will meet event for those ungraded and under tougher opposition. Normally a 1 00 grade, while another team of mixture of the two is best for moral organisers may wish to be less and general improvement. And of course I must mention the insulting and call an event of under hustlers who keep their grade low 80 grade a minor tournament. Meanwhile, the congress which on purpose in order to clean up in has a novice event will undoubtedly certain tournaments. Their clubs can call the next group up the "minor" find that they lose every game for while the one which has already them, playing like a total idiot (how used "minor" must call theirs to keep the grade low) and can't "intermediate" and so on. To this understand how they win rich day I never know if "intermediate or pickings at a tournament the "major" is the higher classified following weekend. I am pleased to tell you that these event as it varies from city to city! The "Open" is the main event and scoundrels are few and far between, this will often have higher prize but probably only because the prize money than the other sections in money has diminished considerably order to tempt the professionals to over the past 10 years. Another problem is with unrated put in an appearance. As the groups are divided by players as it is difficult for grades, you will not be surprised to organisers to know if they really are hear that people choose their events ungraded or if they have just carefully as if your grade is 99, it disappeared off the national list due makes sense to hunt out the under to inactivity over recent years. They 1 00 tournaments if you are after a could even be strong foreigners. For

52 Your Chess Questions A nswered

one-day quickplay or week-end congress there would generally be 5 or 6 rounds whilst an International event, where there tends to be only one round a day, normally What format does a chess comprises of 9 rounds. (The reason tournament take? International tournaments are nearly always at least 9 rounds is because The answer is many different that is the minimum number of formats, but the very first schools rounds for players to achieve title tournament I played in was a requirements on their quest to knock-out competition where only become an international master or a the winners went through to the next grandmaster but we shall come to round until only one person was that later). If you win your first game you left. This works quite well if one game is played a week for example, will be paired against someone who but is hopeless for a one day event is also on 1 point in round 2, while as you have no idea what time you if you lose the first game your next opponent will also be on 0 points. will finish. Another type of competition that Obviously the ideal situation is for is useful in clubs and schools is an there to be two people to reach 5 out all-play-all event (already discussed of 5 and battling it out in round 6 on page 4 1 ) where everyone plays for an overall winner, but of course against each other. It is possible to it hardly ever works out like that as play everyone once or to swap there are draws to be taken into colours and play everybody twice, account which could force half and the winner is clearly found as point floats up and down and if the person with the most points at there are only about 20 entrants, it is the end of all the encounters. This is possible for the winner to score the fairest tournament by far as it much less than a 1 00% score. All tournaments beyond the junior cannot come down to who you had to play along the way as everyone's school stage, and sometimes even opponents are identical. However, then, will be played with clocks. due to time constraints, it is unwise The normal schedule for one day to run such a competition if you events is for each player to have 30 have a large number of participants. minutes with which to complete As a rough guide, 10 or 1 2 IS an each round and then about 20 ideal number. minutes break in between games. Weekend congresses tend to play Therefore it is the swiss tournament rules, which combines under time limits of about 36 moves the concept of both knock-out and in the first hour and a half (on each all-play-all that have become by far clock) with the rest of the game to the most popular. It is used on the be completed in about twenty min­ week-end chess circuit as well as in utes each.· This particular scenario international competitions. Basically would make a maximum total poss­ everyone plays all the games. In a ible time of three hours and forty

this reason it is not uncommon for ungraded players to be restricted to only receiving half of the advertised prize if they are successful.

Tournaments and matches 53

minutes for each game. A break of at least an hour is customary and after one game on Friday evening, two or three on Saturday, finishing with two on Sunday, there is generally about half an hour break until the prizegiving. If you have never been to a chess tournament that is open to all ages, you may be interested to know that there are money prizes which can range from peanuts to an average weekly wage for all th.e levels of ability. Once you are on the chess circuit it is easy to find out details of future events because there is nearly always a large display of other entry forms and you will be on a mailing list. As I write this book, Ceefax and Teletext have an informative chess section that advertises tournaments too.

A fairly standard procedure to most people, but one man got very upset at an event when his opponent "Mr.Bye" never showed up!

If I touch a piece, do I have to move it? Yes, absolutely. Likewise, if you touch one of your opponent's pieces you must take it if you can. If you touch two pieces, the one you fin­ gered first takes priority. An acci­ dental brush or knock over should not count and even if your opponent is blue in the face insisting that you must resign because your king was toppled, a calm explanation to the arbiter should sort out the problem. As discussed in chapter 4 about jargons, you are able to adjust pieces by saying "j 'adoube" or some such colloquialism, but pre­ ferably in your own time so as not to disturb your opponent.

What do I score for a win? Can I eat during a game? In tournaments and matches you score one point for a win, half a point for a draw and nothing for a loss. It is extremely rare for any other point system to be used but there is enormous nationwide an tournament, run by the imaginative international master Mike Basman, and now involving 35,000 children through schools that scores 3 points for a win, two for a draw, one for aloss and zero for an absence.

What i!$ a bye? If there is an odd number of players in a tournament, the person at the bottom of the list will be given a point bye.

This is on a par with reading a noisy newspaper in your seat while your opponent is thinking. I know that a few people resort to these methods to put their adversary off, but if you wish to remain popu­ lar, both habits are best avoided. Of course if you happen to be rav­ enous, there is no rule that says you cannot eat at the board, but please limit the munching to when your clock is ticking and avoid crisps, ap­ ples and carrots which will disturb the neighbouring players too.

What is descriptive notation? Up until about 20 years ago, the recognised method of recording

54 Your Chess Questions Answered

games and the standard form in nearly all chess books was descriptive notation. Although extremely cumbersome, one or two people have hung onto the system, refusing to change with the times. Here the squares are named according to where the pieces are set up at the start of a game. 1 e4 would be 1 P-K4 (this time pawn is written as P) and 1 . . .e5 would also be l . . .P-K4. 2 Nf3 is written as 2 N-KB3 and so on. . . It is really not necessary to familiarize yourself with this notation. Any good, old book will have been rewritten in algebraic notation. The only danger is if a grand­ father was to declare "I have some excellent chess books in my library" to his enthusiastic grandchild, only to hand over some antique chess books in descriptive notation that will quite frankly scare off anyone. Of course the need for an interna­ tional chess language became more urgent with increased technology and freedom of knowledge. The world-wide publication Informator, which is a selection of annotated, top games, uses no letters for pieces but only figurines.

Why is it necessary to have separate tournaments and titles for women? I should immediately point out that it is far more common for women to compete in mixed events, often with special prizes, than for single sex tournaments. However, there is a totally separate Women's cycle. World Championship Additionally, there are special titles for women which are set at a lower

level than the male equivalent. Despite the fact that many women are able to attain a "male" (open) title, the system looks set to remain. The hard and fast women's libbers will scream that it is lack of opportunities and years of repression that has led to chess being male dominated, but I am embarrassed to admit that as a female I have had more opportunities than most and still lag behind the top men. It is interesting that girls and boys are quite equally matched in junior schools, but as the hormones start to shape us in our teens, there is a remarkable drop out rate amongst girls. I am convinced that men are more likely to become dedicated or even obsessed with a project, while women are generally more involved with several interests and tend not to specialize as much. Perhaps women are not so competitive and do not wish to waste their life on a board game, but I think few would doubt that the difference between the sexes is a real thing that is mental as well as physical. Some would say that there should be no special events and prizes for women in order to encourage them to improve, but then I would question whether any women would play at all ! I will get into trouble for that one, but I definitely only stuck with chess due to the wonderful opportunities to represent England and travel around the world. There are of course a handful of women in the world who are able to compete against the men in their own right and I sincerely hope that the situation continues to improve.

Tournaments and matches 55

Is there any protocol I should be aware of? You should shake hands before the game and the loser should offer his hand afterwards. Some people get infuriated if you tell your oppo­ nent he was "lucky". I am afraid it is etiquette to hide your feelings about what a bad game you played and don't rub it in if you win! Your opponent may want to invite you to "analyse" the game (normally there is a room set aside for this purpose) which you do not have to accept. A polite excuse about being starving or having to make a phone call should make them leave you alone, but it can be interesting to find out just what your opponent did spot during your encounter and you might pick up some tips on the opening. The player who wins, or the player with the white pieces if it is a draw, should hand in the result immediately after the game finishes. This will help the arbiters who must fill in the results and prepare for the next round pairings.

What if I think that the arbiters pairings the done have incorrectly? Sometimes the organizers make mistakes doing the pairings and they should be made aware if you are paired to play someone for the sec­ ond time that tournament. Also if your next round opponent has a to­ tally different score to you, unless it is a legitimate float because no-one else is available on that score group. I remember a group of elderly chess enthusiasts who ran a

tournament in the Midlands, Eng­ land every year. The main arbiter who had passed the various tests suddenly died and the rest decided to continue to run the event with no outside help as they had "watched" the deceased doing the pairings for the past 20 years. However, they did the cards correctly but forgot to re­ verse them at the crucial stage meaning that it was always the top players paired against each other and the bottom players paired to meet. Imagine seeds one and two meeting in the first round at the Wimbledon tennis Championships? This is how it was and no amount of complaining would budge their opinion. This contributed to one of the lowest graded participants walk­ ing away with first prize. The only thing you can do in that situation is to boycott the event the following year as the controller's word is final.

Do I have to take my own board and clock to tournaments? This sounds like a silly question in England and Europe where all the sets and clocks are supplied by the organizers, but in America it is ap­ parently normal to supply your own. I don't know if it is insisted that there are only regulation (i.e. Staun­ ton) pieces and who gets to choose which set and clock is used but it must be a bit clumsy. Foreigners must also turn up blissfully unaware of this rule-I guess the chess stall does a roaring trade. There are several suppliers in England and as far as I know, only one event was sent into chaos by the non-arrival of all the equipment. There are few instances of chess

56 Your Chess Questions Answered

equipment being stolen but one organizser asked customs in Guernsey to look out for 10 little metal buttons in a suitcase going through x-ray as 5 chess clocks had been stolen during the event!

Which tie-breaks are used if scores are equal? Chess is nothing like tennis or Formula One when the winner of the race is clearly defined. It is possible for a tournament to end in a mass tie on, for example 5 out of 7 . It i s impossible to separate players in an all-play-all (otherwise known as a round robin event) where everybody plays each other, but in swiss tournaments tie-breaks are possible. Normally prize money is shared but if there is one trophy to be awarded, various tie-breaks may come into force. The most common is "sum of progressive scores" (or S.O.P.S.) as the theory is that the person who scored the points early on will come up against harder opposition and therefore had the more difficult route. Let us take player a and b and their results round by round: a) 1/z, 0, 1 , I , 1/z, 0, 1 , 1 . On the score chart which displays scores from the whole tournament, the running total will appear as: 1/z , 1/z, 1 11z, 2 11z, 3, 3, 4, 5 . add these u p and the sum o f the progressive scores totals 221/z. b) I, I, I, I, I, 0, 0, 0.

the score chart, which should be updated after every round, displays the running total as: I,

2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5

making the progressive score a total the above set of figures as 30. So b) wins on sum of progressive scores. In the event of S.O.P.S. being equal, a second popular system is to split players on "sum of opponent's scores" which involves totalling the final scores of all the opponents. The higher your opponents score, the better for you since it suggests you played stronger opposition and therefore should be rewarded for that fact. The drawbacks come if one of your opponents withdraws ill, or goes off in a huff if things were going badly, and you find that he delivers a low score to your tally that is not truly representative. The entry form should explain exactly which, if any, tie breaks will be in force, although weekend tournaments with solely money prizes will just split the prizes equally in the case of a tie. The confusions there can arise from special prizes which are often awarded in addition to the mam prizes. For example, there might be three main prizes of £300, £200 and £ I 00 with £75 for the top female and £50 for the top junior. Normally one player is not able to win more than one prize. So if you are a talented female, still under 1 8 and win the event, you will not be able to go home with more than the £300 first prize. But what if you finish third

Tournaments and matches 5 7

with one other player who is not eligible for a special prize? If you take the share of third place, you get £50. If you get your women's prize, it is worth more at £75, but that leaves the lucky man who shared th ird place to get a full £ 1 00, and the junior who finished next to take £50 when he might have already gone home expecting nothing! It takes a mathematician to work out the correct permutation so no-one loses out, but there are no hard and fast rules as different organisers interpret the sharing of these prizes in different ways. In order to eliminate the problems, I prefer the option of a player being able to win more than one prize but I understand the organisers wish to spread the gains round as much as possible.

What is an adjournment? An adjournment is fairly rare nowadays, but it used to be common practice to adjourn unfinished games and continue after a break, the next day or even later. It was permissible to study the positions during the break and there would be frantic searching for the best player available to help out. I recall players having to be sworn to secrecy in case they gave away a crucial move to the opponent before the restart of the game. Further adjournments of the same or later games during a tournament were possible and it was indeed difficult for the arbiters to make fair pairings without the correct result being known. It was also tiring for players and arbiters alike who were involved in endless adjournments.

There did no appear t o b e an alternative without speeding up the time limit at the end of a game by adding a quickplay finish which would lead to lower quality games. The drawback of only having the one long session was that competi­ tors would have to go without food for longer than they are normally accustomed. It was with the influx of powerful chess computers which could no doubt influence the analysis of positions during adjournments that seven or eight hour session were firmly introduced. It is only in local amateur leagues held after work where it is perhaps only possible to fit in 35 moves in an hour and a half, totalling three hours of play, that adjournments are still practised. Even then the players are often able to opt for adjudication instead if they cannot spare a further evening to finish the match.

How do you adjourn? So, let's imagine you are faced with your first adjournment. When the session ·is over, the arbiter or team captain in the case of a match will bring round an envelope. The player whose turn it is to move will concentrate on deciding his next move, with his clock still ticking. Meanwhile the second player will write down the position on the diagram on the outside of the envelope. As soon as the move has been decided and discreetly written down so no-one can see, the first player is allowed to take the envelope, enter both scoresheets and lick the seal. Only then will his

58 Your Chess Questions Answered

clock be stopped and the times What is an adjudication? registered on the envelope. That only leaves the details of Some leagues prefer adjudication adjournments to resolve who will look after the envelope. to Normally the player who has sealed unfinished games. This involves will give the envelope to his making a record of the position at opponent. This avoids the the end of the playing session and possibility of the first being sorely sending it off to an independent, and tempted to boil his kettle up and hopefully very strong player, to judge the outcome of the game. change his move. The · adjudicator must assess Finally, players adjourning must arrange another date to finish. Be extremely complicated situations sure you are aware of the finer and assume best play from both details because sometimes if a sides. There is then an appeals player elects to adjourn rather than procedure for those dissatisfied with adjudicate, he has the inconvenience the result which causes further to travel to the opposing club to delays as the position must then be complete the game. sent of to another body. Match If the sealed move is illegal or results often hinge on the discretion even ambiguous, the player could of the adjudicator and this is most well be defaulted. Another excellent unsatisfactory if the person in ·reason for making sure your question is not of at least algebraic notation is in order. international master strength. Some primary school matches A grandmaster (still playing in the English team as I write) who had the stop their unfinished games after displeasure of finding himself in a one hour when a minimum of thirty lost position against an arch rival moves (using a chess clock if one evening, (the adjourned games necessary) have been made. At this were scheduled for the following point anyone with two or more day) once sealed his move as "good points ahead is awarded a · win morning a . . . . . . . ". Fortunately he unless the opponent can prove factors such as bragged of his misdeed and also of over-riding his intention not to turn up at the imminent mate. the This system is designed to cater hall for tournament adjournment. Even with a legal for matches where a teacher or sealed move, this in itself is rude parent may be in charge who does since it leaves the opponent having not even play chess. If there is any to hang around for an hour until the difficulty reaching a decision, there person who doesn't show is given a is a back-up possibility to send the loss on time. Fortunately the captain position off to an adjudicator. No procedure will satisfy managed to get there in time to grab the envelope and hide the offending everyone but the argument in favour score sheet whilst resigning for his of adjudications is that the quality of player and avoided what could have games will be ruined with rapid time limits to complete games in a been an international incident! relatively short space of time.

Tournaments and matches 59

As a youngster I was faced with an adjudication in a winning position and my opponent informed me in no uncertain terms "I offer the young lady a draw but if she turns me down I will claim a win". This was designed into scaring me to accept a draw, but I stuck to my guns and thought the adjudicator might be amused as we both claimed a win. Generally, the player (or club) who claims incorrectly must pay for the service but it is

currently only running at about £4 per position. I now have to adjudicate games myself and, while some positions are clearly able to be analysed as they have reached an ending with forced continuations or recognisable structures, others seem to have only just entered a middle-game with a level but huge amount of pieces and possibilities. Then the only answer is to label the game as drawn.

7

Chess Clock

What is a chess clock? In case you have not come across one, chess clocks are designed to make sure the game is over in an allotted time. This may be a 1 hour game in which the players have 1/z-hour each on the clock or up to 8 international an m hours competition. The longer games will normally be divided up into separate time limits such as 40 moves in the first 2 hours (each), then 20 moves for the next hour and then perhaps 1/z-hour to complete the remaining moves. However, the vast majority of matches are finished by 60 moves. If any of the time controls are not reached the player will lose on time, although there are special cases in the final time control where a win cannot be awarded to the defender who has no mating material left. The clocks consist of two faces and a button that you must press after each move in order to stop your own clock and start your opponent's. Naturally enough, digital clocks are replacing the traditional ones, which has the bonus of eliminating the possibility of faulty flags falling early and any disputes of which flag fell first. Remember that the clocks are not particularly robust and need careful

handling. I remember vtsttlng a school club and was impressed to notice that they possessed four chess clocks. However, they were totally lifeless as they had been stored at the bottom of a large box that housed all the chess sets. So be es­ pecially alert when you are playing blitz (a rather wild time limit of be­ tween 1 and 5 minutes each on the clock) and avoid both buttons being pressed simultaneously by force. Also, get used to making your move and pressing the clock button with the same hand as it is illegal to do otherwise.

How can I make best use of the clock? It is important to use your allotted time effectively. At first the clock will be a major worry and beginners tend to play too fast to avoid any danger of losing on time. It is also common for beginners to forget to press the clock at all as they become wrapped up in the game, so if your opponent is spending an excessive amount of time thinking, check that you pressed your clock and he is not just watching your time ticking away! Remembering to press the clock will gradually become second nature. You will be less aware of the

Chess Clock 61

dock's presence. In fact, when I play without a clock, I always reach 1 1 1 1 the imaginary clock button Instinctively after moving. Using your time to the full, but not getting 1 1 1to time trouble is a harder skill to 1 1 1aster. I would advise no-one to willingly 1 1 1 11 into time trouble, although if you have a lost position it may be your best chance to make your opponent nervous when he may hl under. I don't know w_hy it is, but the game takes on a terrible tension when one or both of the players is in severe time trouble, and sometimes 1t is the player with bags of time who cracks under the pressure. Again, there are people who would ignore my advice about avoiding time pressure because they thrive on the adrenaline and excitement caused by a massive time scramble and their opponents are doing themselves no favours by being dragged into time trouble too, as is so often the case. By the way, time trouble is normally considered to be anything worse than a move a minute but I have known the real addicts to get down to as little as 2 minutes for 25 moves and this is a real crowd puller. I try and apply the rule to always stay ahead of my opponent on the dock, which is an extremely satisfy­ ing feeling although it is helpful to know your openings in depth if you are going to get off to a head start. Many games become totally random , in time trouble and therefore if you want to keep control of the position, you should avoid running short at all costs.

Are there any tips if my opponent is in time trouble? If your opponent insists on creating a crisis as he is poised to make about 20 moves in 2 minutes, your job is to remain calm (which is surprisingly difficult if he is twitching away and breathing at twice the normal rate) and carefully analyse the variations. Don't forget that you must write down your moves as they happen until you have less than 5 minutes left on your clock and don't fall into the trap of playing quickly because you don't want to give your opponent time to think. Basically he is functioning on a different level to you as he is geared up for the impending action and so you must wear him out as it is harder to keep the level of alertness up indefinitely. The famous player and trainer Bob Wade once told me how his opponent was in ridiculous time trouble and so he got a cup of coffee and stirred it very slowly and only moved when he sensed that his opponent had relaxed a bit and was not ready to answer at once. Also, unless you are confident that it is your best option, there is absolutely no point in entering a line with a forcing variation if you are trying to win on time as it will be simplicity itself for your opponent to reply instantly. It is wiser to attack squares where your opponent is likely to have planned his next move, or create a threat that is perhaps not even the best move as it will be unexpected.

62 Your Chess Questions Answered

What is a "Fischer" clock? You may come across certain tournaments where Fischer clocks are used. Named after the great Bobby Fischer, his concept is interesting but chess players have enough to worry about without a new style of clock being introduced. Basically the Fischer clock is a digital clock able to be set with many different functions but his main aim was to create a time limit where no-one should actually lose on time at the end. The idea is that when a player makes a move he gets an extra minute or 30 seconds on his clock. So, as a minimum, a player will have 30 seconds (or however much time is added) for one move. Less fun for time trouble addicts who revel in making 20 moves in a couple of minutes! This may apply from move one, or it can be used after an original time control at move 40 for example. An organiser commented that, despite the theoretical possibility of a game going on indefinitely with the Fischer time limit, he had never experienced this and games have always been over within the allotted time. A time limit like this was used at team latest European the Championships. After move 60, as soon as one player's three hours of time expired, both players were then given an extra 30 seconds of time on each subsequent move. From that moment, one player could have the luxury of, for example, an hour plus lots of extra half minutes thrown in while the other player is reduced to a stressful situation of having 30

seconds to make each move thereafter. It is possible to build up time by making obvious moves quickly, but even storing up a couple of minutes will not feel comfortable to face a difficult decision later. Before the event began, our women's team captain suggested that this would cause a problem for someone to visit the lavatory after move 60 since, if her opponent's flag fell first, she would have precisely 30 seconds from the moment her opponent made her next move to get to the ladies and back (+ reply !) before forfeiting the game on time. The arbiters dismissed this as an "English problem" and the decision to use the clocks went ahead. However, two incidents cast grave doubt on the effectiveness of the new time control. Two world class grandmasters, on separate days, were unaware that they had reached zero time on the clock because this occurred well after move 60 when they would ordinarily have no sense of danger regarding the clock. Normally at this point we are used to an extra half or full hour to complete the game. However, when they did see the clock ticking to zero, they wrongly assumed that this was the first occasion and they would soon be entering the Fischer mode and receiving 30 seconds a move. Instead, both clocks had already counted down once and the fact that they had already had the extra 30 seconds added on meant that they were obliged to make a move within the next half minute. Oblivious to this fact, the players calmly watched .

Chess Clock 63

seconds tick away and were flabbergasted that they had the f!,n mcs awarded against them. One f!.a m e should have ended in a draw w h ile the other was particularly poignant for me as it was the 1 :uglish board one, Nigel Short, who lost a winning ending. It took !;l·vcral days before the English l·amp was back to normal spirits. I should add that they recovered udmirably and went on to take the l ·: uropean team gold medals. So, make sure that you understand the time limit and the workings of l h c clock before you sit down to a �ame, but I do think that it is in l' vcry chess player's interest to have I IH:ir holh

a standard mechanism to get used to. Is it possible to hold a series of quick matches without the use of a chess clock? "Lightning chess" is a popular way to hold a tournament over one evening. Instead of using clocks, a buzzer is sounded every ten seconds to indicate when the next player must move. If someone consistently fails to move on the buzzer they will be disqualified. Games would normally be over within 1 5 minutes when the next pairings can be made. They are certainly amusing events to watch and participate in.

8

Improvement

What is the best way to improve early on? You must play and play and play. It is like learning the piano or .driving. At first it is nigh to impossible as you must concentrate on every little aspect, but gradually it becomes easier and easier until it becomes natural (perhaps after one year) and then the time is ripe to learn more advanced tunes, manoeuvres and ideas. Bill Hartston used to relate that the Polgar sisters had learnt chess as their "mother tongue" and it was second nature to them. That really is the key at the beginning because until someone can spot the squares that the pieces are attacking with a degree of speed and confidence, there is certainly no point trying to understand deeper concepts. What player?

makes

a

successful

Of all the criteria, I think the ability to analyse, or to see far ahead, is the most important. If you cannot calculate what will happen in a complex variation, you will not be able to assess whether it is correct to enter the complications. There are of course different types of players and Karpov (the ex-World Champion) and Kasparov (the present World Champion) illustrate the point perfectly.

Karpov prefers technical positions with few tactics, although that is not to say that he cannot calculate accu­ rately. He has a fantastic feel for where the pieces belong and is quite happy to grind down a position in the endgame where he is able to convert the smallest of advantages. A weak pawn of his opponent's or a superior placed king is all that Kar­ pov needs to smell victory. Let me give you an example.

Anatoly Karpov White R. Debarnot Black French Defence 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 lt:Jd2 Karpov, who was World Cham­ pion at the time of this encounter in 1977 chooses the most solid option against the French Defence. Note that 3 lt:Jc3 is not at all the same as it allows 3 ...il.b4 and the exciting Winawer variation. 3 ... c5 Now we have entered the Tar­ rasch variation as Black is happy to be saddled with an isolated d-pawn in return for some activity. How­ ever, this is playing into Karpov's hands as he will already be planning for his opponent's pawn weaknesses to prove fatal in the ending. 4 exd5 exd5 5 lt:Jgf3 lt:Jc6 6 iLb5 il.d6 7 dxc5 il.xc5 8 0-0 lt:Je7 9 lt:Jb3 i..d6 10 .l:te1 0-0 1 1 iLg5 iLg4 12 i..e2 'ikc7 13 h3 il.d7 14 lt:Jfd4

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27 .l:txe8+ .l:txe8 28 .l:tal .l:te7 29 g3 ltJeS 30 i..e2 .l:tc7 31 'it>g2 'it>e7 32 f4 ltJd7 33 .l:tdl lLlb6 34 'it>f3 cS 35 bxcS .l:txcS 36 'it>e3 .l:taS 37 .l:td4 .l:tal 38 .l:tb4 'itd6 39 h4 .l:tgl 40 'it>f3 .l:tal 41 i..d3 .l:tdl 42 i..bS .l:tbl 43 .l:tb3 .l:tal 44 'it>g4 g6 45 fS 'it>eS 46 fxg6 fxg6 47 .l:tb4 .l:tel 48 i..d3 'iii>f6 49 .l:tf4+ '>tg7 50 'it>f3 .l:teS 51 .l:tb4 .l:te7 52 .l:tbS .l:tc7 53 'it>e3 'iii>f6 54 'it>d4 It is nearly always useful to blockade an isolated pawn in order to prevent it advancing, and d4 makes an excellent square for a white piece in this case since no enemy pawn can dislodge it. 14 ... ltJxd4 15 ltJxd4 h6 16 i..e3 i..h2+ 17 'iii>h l i.. f4 18 i..f3 .l:tfe8 19 c3 .l:tad8 20 'iVb3 iLxe3 21 .l:txe3 'i¥b6 22 .l:teS i..c6 23 .l:tael 'ii'xb3 24 axb3 'it>f8 25 b4 ltJg6 26 ltJxc6 bxc6

Karpov has changed one weakness for another as he seeks to harrass the vulnerable a7 and c6-pawns. He is also relying on the fact that a bishop is generally stronger than a knight when there are pawns on both wings since a bishop, unlike a knight, can exert power over opposite sides of the board at once.

Kings are powerful pieces in the ending and the pawn structure is still one of the most relevant factors as White's pawn formation is made up of two pawn islands while Black has to worry about defending three pawn islands.. 54 ... g5 55 hxgS+ hxgS 56 .l:taS 'it>e6 57 b3 'itf6 58 .l:tal ltJd7 59 .l:taS ltJb6 60 g4 '>te6 61 c4 dxc4 62 bxc4 .l:td7+ 63 '>tc3 .l:tg7 64 iLfS+ 'iii>f6 65 'itd4 .l:te7 66 cS .l:teS 67 iLe4 ltJd7 68 .l:ta6+ .l:te6 69 .l:txe6+! 'it>xe6 70 .ifS+ 'it>e7 71 c6 1-0 Black resigns on account of 7 1 . . .lLlb6 72 c7 etc. Now test your technique and make sure you are satisfied that you could convert this position against any grandmaster.

66 Your Chess Questions Answered

Meanwhile, Kasparov is aggress­ ively minded and often sacrifices pieces in order to expose and then attack his opponent's king. He has an excellent feel for the initiative and has carefully chosen his openings to suit his style. One such "defence" is the King's Indian which has served Kasparov well over the years and brings out the best in his ability to king hunt.

9 ...tt:ld7 10 il.d3 tt:lc5 1 1 il.c2 a6 12 tt:lge2 b5 13 b4 tt:ld7 14 cxb5 axb5 15 tt:lxb5 �xa2

Jan Timman White Garry Kasparov Black King 's Indian Defence 1 d4 tt:lf6 2 c4 g6 3 tt:lc3 il.g7 4 e4 d6 5 f3 0-0 6 i.e3

White has chosen the Saemisch variation against the King's Indian Defence which is designed to set up a strong pawn formation and bolster up the e4-pawn as Black invariably tries the f5-break to seek counterplay. 6 ... e5 7 d5 tt:lh5 8 'ir'd2 f5 9 0-0-0 Timman has no desire to castle in the direction of the world cham­ pion's attack and therefore settles his king on the opposite wing. How­ ever, this policy is always extremely double-edged as both sides try to blow open their opponent's king.

We can see that Kasparov has succeeded in opening the position on the queenside which is the first step. Now he must direct his forces to threaten the white monarch be­ fore his own king comes under fire. 16 tt:lec3 �aS 17 'it>b2 tt:ldf6 18 tt:la7 fxe4 19 tt:lc6 'ii'd7 20 g4 tt:lf4 2 1 g5

The complications are already relentless as pawns are offered for the initiative left, right and centre. Timrnan hopes for 2 1 . ..tt:l6h5 when 22 i.xe4 gives him a sturdy position and time to challenge the a-file with a later �a l . However, Kasparov rejects that continuation and spots an amazing sequence that

Improvement 67

leaves White floundering as his centre collapses around him. 21 ...lLl6xd5! ! 22 lLlxd5 lLld3+ I hope you weren't tempted by 22 .. .'ihc6?? which falls foul to 23 4'Je7+ picking up the queen. 23 �xd3 exd3 Notice how the fianchettoed bishop on g7 is gradually coming to life. 24 lLlce7+ 'it>h8 25 lLlxc8

Determination and confidence will also play a major part, as with other sports.

What is the m1mmum amount of time that I should spend on chess if l want to remain in trim? It is actually rather uncomfortable playing in a serious tournament after a few months of not touching a chess board, but of course these things cannot be helped if exams or job commitments take over. As a minimum guideline, I would recommend at least one weekend tournament a month, perhaps 4 club games and a couple of hours study a week.

How should I study?

25 ...e4+ 0-1 At this point Timman called it a day as the forcing variations clearly lead to painful consequences, i.e. a) 26 'it>b3 'it'a4+ 27 'it>c4 'i!Vc6+ 28 'it>b3 'iix d5#. b) 26 lLlc3 'it'a4 27 'it>c l 'iia l + 28 lLlb l .l:ra2. c) 26 lLlf6 .l:rxf6 27 �d4 .l:rxf3 28 �xg7 �xg7+. To sum up, it is a mixture of hard work which enables you to study and learn the openings, experience which is gained from playing tournaments and the ability to calculate long variations in order to choose the most favourable path that all contribute to being a successful player.

This study can take many forms but as with most things; a variety is probably the most interesting approach. This might take the form of puzzles, playing through games, studying books on planning or endings or just playing. The Evening Standard and other newspapers often contain a puzzle which is normally aimed at club players and are worth a look. However, a straight game between two top players without notes can be more off putting than constructive.

How can I learn from my losses? The most important study to do is psychological as well as practical because if you lose a game, it is imperative to have something else to do next time if the game followed the same path. There is nothing

68 Your Chess Questions Answered

worse that losing twice in the same way and it is totally pathetic to sit down opposite your opponent and "pray" that he doesn't open with certain moves because you don't know how to meet them (I speak from experience). You may have to resort to a "system" while working out your repertoire, but as you im­ prove and meet stronger opposition, the greater the urgency not to have holes in your opening knowledge.

What magazines should I take? There is a wide range to choose from. The most popular in England is CHESS Monthly which tries to cater for all levels. It is colouful and chatty with a useful guide to future events and is connected to a large supply of chess books from its outlet in Euston. Its ownership was in doubt for a period following the death of Robert Maxwell but it was taken over by a group including the energetic and likeable businessman I.M. Malcolm Pein, who also runs the chess column in the Daily Telegraph. The British Chess Magazine is more high powered with in-depth reports on elite events and long technical articles that are more suited to the professional. The British Chess Magazine has a long and respected history and G .M. Murray Chandler continues to guarantee its high quality of chess. Kingpin is the magazine I most enjoy. There chess players look at the lighter side of life and dig up anything connected with chess or chess players worth sharing. As with "Have I got News for you", a satirical news quiz on T.V. people

must be careful about libel, but until now I believe the magazine has got away with its frankness. You may not have heard of all the players mentioned if you have not been on the chess scene for long, but Garry Lane's agony column is a must for all chess addicts. For serious players who like to get hold of as much information as possible, there are others. Several countries have one or two leading magazines. For example, The Netherlands has New in Chess, U.S.A. has Chess Life, Germany has Rochade, Switzerland Schach­ woche, France has Europe Echecs while Spain operates Jaque and Ocho par Ocho (Eight by eight). Teletext and Ceefax may also be useful with tournament dates and results, but it is sporadic and depends on the information received and updated.

What are the basic principles in chess? You will come across the term "basic principles" in books and conversations when it can often be assumed that you are well acquainted with them. As they are so important I must at least mention them as a reminder. a) What should I concentrate on in the Opening? i) Develop your Pieces. I liken the pieces to an army or a football team and which army commander leaves his men at home and goes into battle with a couple of heroic but senseless soldiers? The illustration is perhaps even better with the football team because

Improvement 69

children will be learning that it is good to watch from the side-lines and it is equally crazy to all go chasing wildly after the ball. Positioning the players to the best points is the way to maximise t�e forces and this is exactly the same m chess. There is a best square for each piece and experience and knowledge will tell you how to co-ordinate them ready for action. I mpatience plays a large part in the desire to go for chec�ate from the word go and this can result in a player only developing a couple of pieces. It is fundamental to remember that a game of chess does not really start until all the pieces are out and only then will you be able to keep control of the position. Of course beginners chess involves many quick wins, but once a player has learnt to spot and meet any threats, the games will last longer. There are also some basic openings that I will cover in chapter I 0 to avoid any of the typical tricks and early accidents. not

ii) Control the Centre. The most effective way to develop your pieces is to have some control in the centre and I generally recommend that you should make 2-3 pawn moves in the opening stages until all the pieces are out. Of course it is the d and e-pawns which will allow your bishops out and the other pawn that may move, perhaps to bolster up your centre, is the c-pawn. The f-pawn is very dangerou� to move in the beginning as illustrated from the following example:

1 e4 e5 2 t'Llf3 f6 3 t'LlxeS fxeS 4 'ii' hS+ 1;e7 5 'iVxeS+ 'i;f7 6 ..ic4+ 'i;g6 7 'ii'fS+ 'ith6 8 d4+ g5

Q22) And now I want you to find a strong move for White that will win in a few moves. Answer on page 1 24. iii) Castle. Castling is the best way to protect your king and it also brings a rook to the centre of the board. Castling kingside protects the weak f2 and f7-squares (as the rook lands on f1 or f8 depending on whether you are black or white) where a vast maj ority of the early checkmates occur, and it hides the king away from any potential checks. One of the most common and safest castled king position is as follows:

70 Your Chess Questions Answered

Note that the f2 and h2-squares are protected and later on it is also worth thinking about moving the h2 pawn to h3 in order to prevent a back rank checkmate. And now my favourite illustration of a king caught in the middle of the board.

to be a further reason behind the move. A basic illustration will make this point clearer:

Q23) White to play and force checkmate in 3 moves. Answer on page 1 24.

1 b3 This appears to simply attack the knight, but if you look further, White is also now threatening 2 i.a3, skewering the black queen and rook on f8.

b) What should I concentrate on in the middlegame? This is a harder subject to pin down as it largely depends on the position but there are some hard and fast rules that are useful to apply. However, the most important factor by far is to avoid losing material as the game can be immediately over if your queen falls by the wayside. Whenever your opponent moves, you must be aware of the threat, if there is one. For example, a pawn move could be opening diagonals and ranks, as well as attacking something directly and therefore the most common blunder is made when you think you have understood the threat, only for there

i) Forming a Plan Easier said than done but here are some ideas. I remember when I was graded about 1 20 and would be stumped as how to proceed in a relatively lifeless position. I would waste precious time looking at many possibilities but could not choose between them. However, a practical decision must be taken as time should be saved (assuming a clock is being used) until it is needed in handling later complications. The first words of advice that helped enormously was to consider what I would play if I had several moves in a row. For example, is there a way to round up a pawn or is there a checkmate to set up? Okay, I am not allowed to have these moves consecutively but I have formed a plan and can strive to carry it out.

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Take the following position:

It is White to play, but there are no direct threats to analyse. White could consider the two move sequence of c3 and then d4 to liven up the position or even the three move sequence of tt:lh4, tt:lf5 and 'iVg4 which sets up a threat of mate on g7. It is helpful to be able to formulate a plan in this manner. ii) I can't think of anything to do. If you are still stuck, a golden rule that will help on many occasions is to improve the position of your worst placed piece. Search around the board for a misplaced knight or an undefended bishop or an unde­ veloped rook and then it is clear how to better your position. When the tactics begin, you need your pieces ready for action and if there is a loose piece around, you can be sure that it will enter the equations!

different games. It is worth going over a few of the most common. Before embarking on a tournament it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with how the mate with king and queen against king, then rook and king against king and finally two bishops and king against king which is a great aid in piece co-ordination. Just watch out for stalemate as it is about the only way to mess it up and of course you have 50 moves to complete the checkmate from the last moment that a pawn is moved or a capture takes place. In all these cases just mentioned a capture will no longer permit a checkmate and therefore the 50 move rule comes into effect immediately. The following are more advanced endings that anyone above 80 BCF grade should be able to grasp.

What is the opposition? As the king often plays an impor­ tant role in endings, the "opposi­ tion" is the term given to two kings opposing each other when one must give way. Here is a useful example.

What should I concentrate on in the ending? Now we are back in territory similar to openings as we are likely to experience identical positions that can be learnt and . applied in

If it were White to move, 1 'it>d4 gains the opposition, and with no

72 Your Chess Questions Answered

"waiting" move such as a decent pawn advance, the black king must give way allowing the white king to infiltrate. For example, l ...'it>c6 is answered by 2 'it>e5 and the white king heads for the h and g-pawns, while l...'it>e6 is no improvement for Black on account of 2 �c5 when the a-pawn will drop. To show just how important the opposition can be, imagine it is Black to play from the diagrammed position. Again, l . . .'it>e5 is the move that forces the enemy king to step to one side and this time White is on the defensive.

Rook and pawn against rook. I was shown this particular ending prematurely and did not understand the point at all until I was faced with how to defend the position in a tournament game. Thereafter it has cropped up regularly and I would recommend that you get to grips with this one. Take the diagrammed position:

with 2 . . �b6+, 3 e6 wins and if he tries to check from behind with l ...�b l , 2 'it>f6 �fl+, the white king can make use of his pawn to shield him from the checks with 3 'it>e6 when a standard winning position is reached. This is the last moment to set up the "third rank defence" with l...�b6 which crucially prevents 2 'it>f6. Now if White wishes to make progress he must play 2 e6 and the threat becomes 3 'it>f6 again. Now the second critical moment as the rook has served its purpose on the third rank and has to re-route with 2 . �bl so 3 'it>f6 can be met by an annoying set of checks from behind starting with 3 ... �fl +. This time there is no refuge on e6 and so the game is drawn with correct play. Don't worry if White tries to bring his rook back to block the checks with 3 �aS as 3 . .�fl + 4 �f5 �xf5+ 5 'it>xf5 'it>e7 brings us to another relatively simple draw, which comes next. .

..

.

King and pawn against king. Another common ending essential knowledge for tournament player.

White is threatening 2 'it>f6 and then pawn forward with devastating effect. The problem for Black is that if he does nothing, and meets 2 'it>f6

and the

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This position is in fact drawn whoever it is to move, but let us lind out how Black does in fact draw the above. l . 'it>e6 2 'it>d4 'it>d6 Another example of taking the opposition which reduces the scope of White's king. 3 eS+ 'it>e6 4 'it>e4 'it>e7 5 'it>dS 'it>d7 6 e6+ 'it>e7 Remember to stay directly in front of the pawn as much as possible. 7 'it>eS .

.

Black could have made various moves to eventually reach this position, but now he is on a tight-rope as one slip can cost him the game. The way to "remember" how to draw is that you have two moves that lose and only one that saves you. 7 ... 'it>d8 8 'it>d6 'it>e8 9 e7 'it>fl 10 'it>d7 and similarly 7 . . . 'it>f8 8 'it>f6 are situations that permit White the opposition and a safe passage for the pawn to become a queen. Therefore, Black must ensure that it is he who is able to take the opposition at the critical stage. 7 ... 'it>e8 8 'it>d6 'it>d8 9 e7+ 'it>e8 And White's pawn must drop or else 10 'it>e6 is stalemate.

It used to be said of British chess that endings were played weakly in comparison with the rest of the game. Our chess books, especially literature on openings lead the world market, but perhaps due to the fact that so many club games used to end in adjudications, our endgame technique is not nearly so impressive. When entering an endgame, it is worth bearing in mind the following guidelines i) Rooks behind passed pawns. ii) Use your king in the ending.

This diagram can serve to illustrate the first two examples as Black, to move, should place his rook behind the a-pawn with l.. ..l:f.a2 before White can turn his weak a-pawn into a strength. .l:f.a3 would leave Black in the unfortunate situation of having to run back passively to stop his opponent's a-pawn queening, but having the black rook behind the passed pawn will leave White tied up defending the a-pawn and enable Black to remain actively posted. Play might continue 2 .l:f.c4 'it>hS 3 'it>n 'it>g4 and suddenly we can see the power of the king in the ending.

74 Your Chess Questions Answered

iii) Outside passed pawns. At the risk of generalising, because each position you face is likely to be unique, it is only sometimes in rook and pawn endings, such as the above that an outside passed pawn can prove to be more of a liability than an asset. The following is a definite example of the outside passed pawn being a winner.

White just has to shepherd the a-pawn up the board while keeping an eye on the f2-pawn. Knights are especially bad at dealing with outside passed pawns, even if they are in the vicinity.

1 a6! and the pawn cannot be stopped. If t ..:�c8 2 a7 queens.

What does a good chess library consist of? I look at my chess library and I never know where to start as I · have 6 bookcases full of every chess subject under the sun. However, these have been built up over 20 years and here we are interested in an essential backbone of books to equip the novice and mmor tournament player. You will need one opening ency­ clopaedia that covers all openings as it will be a valuable reference book. When you have recorded a game, or even from memory, it is intriguing and extremely helpful to go and follow the moves and see how previous top class games have gone. You may find that you followed Kasparov for 8 moves or that you fell for an opening trap that a previous champion also experienced and of course the encyclopaedia will give and assessments recommendations for your next encounter with the same opening. You might meet an opening that you have never seen before and it will be listed in the pages unless it is a ridiculous choice of moves by your opponent and is not classed as a worthy opening! mass1ve 5 There are Encyclopaedias of Chess Openings A-E that are necessary for the professional but I recommend the Batsford Chess Openings 2 as an excellent starter which should serve you until grade BCF 160. As you become acquainted with various openings and develop your repertoire, you will want to obtain more information on specific open­ ings and you will find an excellent ·

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range of up to date books from Batsford. A selection of a player's best annotated games or selected master­ pieces is one of the most enjoyable ways to help your middle-game play as it will include explanatory comments and a variety of openings. The only problem is not choosing a book that is analysed too deeply for your level and therefore I suggest the following books as suitable for players up to 1 30.

The Daily Telegraph Puzzles by Norwood

Chess

There are far fewer books published on the ending for the obvious reason that not all games go the distance to an end-game and the possibilities are less far-reaching. However, one comprehensive ending book that seeks to cover all essential knowledge with practical examples is a wise investment. One such book that is highly acclaimed IS:

My 60 Memorable Games by Bobby Fischer The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chemev My System by Nimzovitch Simple Chess by Michael Stean Another necessary accessory is a book of combinations and tactics that illustrate recurring themes of sacrifices or unusual continuations that force mate or win material. There are many books on the market that deal with this topic, such as:

Simple Chess A.J.Gillam

Tactics

by

Practical Chess Endings by Paul Keres. Something I was glad to have done from an early age was to keep scorebooks of my games, copied up after the match with records of the date and result. It is interesting to play over the early games years later and an effective way to keep track of your progress. There is often also a place to put comments and so a quick message of how to improve on the game next time can be invaluable. The books, soft or hard bound can be bought from all the major chess suppliers and normally contain room for I 00 games.

9

Grading

What is a British grading? It is a figure that illustrates your chess strength and the higher the number, the better you are. Typically English, unlike the rest of the world, we have adopted a three figure rather than a four figure grading system. The general standards are as follows: beginner: 40-80 low club player: 80- 1 20 average club player: 1 20- 1 50 strong club player: 1 50- 1 90 1 st team county player: 1 70+ International player 220+ Top 1 00 in the world: 250+

What is an Elo rating? There is an International body of chess called FIDE (Federation International des Echecs) that takes care of the Elo (named after Professor Arpad Elo who invented the system) rating list that covers the whole world. This however only begins at elo 2000 which is the equivalent of 1 75 in English terms or first team county player level. To put it in perspective, there are about 30,000 players on the British grading list with less than 2% of these having achieved an Elo rating. Therefore countries all adopt their own internal list too, almost always

following the Elo style, in order to cater for the masses of lower rated players that do not have an international rating. It can be very confusing that the Elo list is also called the "international rating list" or the "FIDE rating list" as these are all one and the same. Don't be fooled by the fact that we call our list the BCF (British Chess Federation) ratings because the Scots, Welsh and Irish in fact use the Elo system to calculate their own ratings. They are not part of the British Chess Federation and their list is independent of the international list. It is noticeable on the USCF (United States Chess Federation) rating list that most players are about 1 00 points higher than their FIDE rating but this does not matter as you can only compare ratings in the same list. Again, it is an interesting statistic that there are about 80,000 USCF players on their internal Elo-based rating list with only about 1 % of these also on the Elo or international list.

How do grading?

I

obtain

a

BCF

You must play 12 games against other officially graded players dur­ ing the period of one year in order

Grading 7 7

to obtain a grading, although I doubt one would be published if you lost all relevant encounters!

Can I keep track of my grading once it is published? Once you have a grading, if you know the basic way to calculate a grading performance, it is possible to keep track of changes before a new grade is published the following year. . You will get 50 points more than your opponent's grade if you win and have 50 points deducted off his grade if you lose. Obviously a draw will mean the performance for the game will be you taking. each other's grade, and the performance is the average result over the year. (The maximum range of plus or minus for one game is 90 points meaning that no-one counts more than 40 points above or below your own grade for each match). So let us assume your grade is 1 00 and you play a 6 round tournament with the following results: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

1 V 95 0 V 120 1/2 V 50 0 v ungraded 1 v40 1v87

Now we have to do the sums fo-r each round: 1 . 145 2. 70 3 . 60 (cannot be more than a 40 point range)

4. This will not count since the opponent was ungraded. 5. 1 1 0 (must take player as 60 using same rule as round 3) 6. 1 3 7 Total=522 which must b e divided by 5 graded (don't forget the ungraded does not go forward to the calculation) opponents= 1 04.4

Do all games get sent off for grading? Absolutely not. It depends largely on the organizers to make the effort to send the results for grading and while most are extremely efficient some results will always slip by the wayside. The problems also come when there are political interferences. For example, you may have an excellent result somewhere but if the tournament is connected to a county association that has fallen out with the BCF there may well be no co-operation between the event and the national graders and therefore you will never be rewarded for your efforts. Specifically Yorkshire and a few other counties up north split away from the BCF about a decade ago. Conversely you might be lucky enough to get away with your grading being protected from a disastrous performance, but of course about 80% of all tournament and club games will make it on to the grading list. There are actually two grading lists as quickplay events (half an hour per person on the clock) and slow play games are calculated separately.

78 Your Chess Questions Answered

Are there any changes proposed to the grading list?

How do I correlate BCF and Elo grades?

Yes. There is talk of amalgamating the separate slow play and rapid play grading lists. Also, there may be a conversion of the current grading structure to an ELO (four figure) system but this has still to be finalised in the ranks of the British Chess Federation.

It is useful to be able to change one to the other but there are some easy markers to remember for the round numbers: Elo BCF 225 2400 200 2200 2000 1 75 1 50 1 800 1 25 1 600 Basically, 25 BCF points is equivalent to 200 Elo points. If you have a rating like 2 1 30 and wish to convert it to a BCF grade the sum to do is as follows: Subtract 600 and divide by 8. i.e. 2 1 30---600 1 530. 1 530/8 1 9 1 rounded to the nearest whole number. To get from BCF to Elo, you must reverse the process and therefore you multiply by 8 and add 600. i.e. (200 x 8) 1 600 + 600 2200.

How I obtain do International rating?

an

This time you must have a performance over 9 games of at least 2000 against other Elo rated players. As this is unlikely to happen in one event, the rules state that it can be achieved over two or three stages called "norms" or "part ratings" where the Elo rating must be achieved over a minimum of 4 games. The beauty of this system is that you can try many times and eventually the best result will count towards your first elo rating, suiting erratic players. However, perhaps a serious cause of inflation as ultimately some unworthy players will immediately lose their points into the system as others strip them of their rating when they venture into future tournaments.

How often is the International rating list updated? Every six months the new list is published along with the number of games played in that period. The deadline of games for the July list is May 30th while the January list in­ cludes games up to November 30th.

=

=

=

=

The Elo system cannot be an exact science, but the hardest thing to determine is whether the overall rise in ratings is due solely to inflation or to the fact that chess players are stronger. For example, in 1988, the top rated was Kasparov at 2775 and second Karpov at 2750. Ten years later in 1 998, Kasparov still leads the way at 2825 with next Kramnik 2790 and Anand at 2770. I actually believe that the added strength is spread across the whole board as I feel that today a 2200 player is far stronger than a 2200 of ten years ago and that inflation is minimal.

10

Openings

What openings should I start with? This is not so easy to answer since there are a few totally different schools of thought. The famous Richmond junior chess club which is well-known for its ability to chum out masses of strong juniors is strict about the children sticking to the classical opening 1 e4 e5 until they have mastered certain aspects of the game. At this stage other openings are not allowed to be practiced in coaching sessions. On reaching a specific standard (BCF 50/Elo 1000) they are then invited up to the next group which is enlightened with practically every opening that exists. Individually, they are then able to decide which opening they feel at home with and make a choice when they come to play their own tournament games. The alternative approaches are to experiment at an early stage with unusual openings or to learn just one opening and stick to it for many years. The dangers here are being put off openings that are just too subtle for a beginner to understand in the first case or to limit your repertoire and never find the perfect opening that suits you in the latter. I read an article where Steve Davis was complaining that he was put off chess at a relatively early

stage because he felt bored by the stagnant positions that can arise after the standard 1 e4 e5 opening:

1 e4 e5 2 ti::lf3 tt::lc6 3 ..ic4 ..ic5 4 tt::lc3 ti::l f6 5 0-0 0-0 6 d3 d6 etc.

I know how he felt, but in fact a more advanced player could find plenty of ways to liven up the posi­ tion with, for example 4 c3 . I think it is a sensible idea for any player to experiment with new openings (especially the mainstream ones) but I can't deny that the Richmond policy works well for them.

Do I need repertoire?

an

opening

You won't get far without one. There is not much point fishing in the dark in every game when it is so easy to look up the first few moves to set you on your way.

80 Your Chess Questions Answered

You would be surprised how 2 tZ'lO many traps there are to fall into in Attacking a pawn and following the early stages and therefore it is basic principles by developing a necessary to know a safe route into piece. the middlegame. We have not compromised our It is possible that someone with position at all and already we can no opening knowledge can get by hope for Black to go wrong. For blissfully unaware of his inaccurate example, 2 . . . f6? defends the pawn play if he is up against people of the and allows 3 tZ'lxe5 fxe5 (3 ...'ii'e7 same standard who are unable to escapes the worst) 4 'ii'h 5+ g6 5 take advantage of the mistakes, but "ir'e5+ and 6 "ir'xh8 as already under the heading he could suddenly experience great discussed difficulties when entering tourna­ "Control the Centre" in chapter 6. 3 ments with stronger opposition. d4 is also extremely sensible. 2 . . . tZ'lf6 is actually called the There is nothing worse than being beaten straight from the opening Petroff Defence, but it is often "out of a book" and your opponent misplayed by beginners as they tend kindly informs you "Yes, I have to play it to copy their opponent' s caught 47 people in exactly the moves. I f this i s the case, 3 tZ'lxe5 same way. Excuse me if I don't tell tZ'lxe4 (as you will soon see, it is you what you should play but I necessary to kick the knight back mustn't let the cat out of the bag from the powerful square on e5 with 3 . . . d6 and only then can Black must I?" The best part of having some safely regain the pawn with 4 tZ'lf3 knowledge of the opening moves is tZ'lxe4) 4 'ii'e2 tZ'lf6 (4 . . . d5 5 d3 tZ'lf6 that it gives you immense will lead to the same) confidence because you can always reassure yourself that some grandmaster played it and therefore it must be okay. However, if you are making it up, you cannot be sure if there is a trap waiting for you round the corner and you can waste far too much time checking every possibility.

How do I commence building an opening repertoire? Let us assume that you have chosen 1 e4 as your first move. e5 e4 1 This is by far the most popular defence and one that beginners should get to grips with before branching out to other defences.

Q24) And now White can win hefty material. Can you work out how? Answer on page 1 24. 2 tZ'lc6 And so our repertoire is forming with various branches along the way. Here we have a further choice

Openings 81

of learning 3 .ic4 which is the

"Italian Game" (also known as the "G iuoco Piano") or 3 i.b5 which is named the "Spanish" or the "Ruy Lopez". There is absolutely no sense in studying both openings in depth to begin with as you only have to choose one here from White's point of view. 3 i.c4 As with "Scholar's Mate", it is the 17-square that is vulnerable and that is why the bishop develops to this square. 3 tiJf6 Here we have a major crossroads as Black can also play 3 ... i.c5 . You will also want to know the beautiful line that can occur after 3 . . . d6 as you can set up an opening trap without compromising your position: 4 tLlc3 i.g4 5 h3 i.h5

. . . and now you can win at least a pawn with 6 lLlxe5! (now the point of driving the bishop back to h5 with 5 h3 can be seen because with the bishop still on g4, 5 lLlxe5 would have been simply met by 5 . . . ltJxe5, defending the bishop) 6 . . . i.xdl (6 . . .ltJxe5 7 'ir'xh5 lLlxc4 8 'i!Vb5+ is worth remembering because it is not easy to calculate so far ahead at the board)

Q25) And now I leave it to you to work out the forced mate in 2. Answer on page 1 24. ltJgS 4 Normally you would not move a piece more than once until you have fully developed but Kasparov has given this move his seal of approval and it sets a dangerous trap. If you do not like dangerous and tactical positions, you should consider a continuation such as 4 d3 or 4 tLlc3 instead and form a more docile repertoire. 4 dS There is no other way to defend the f7-pawn. 5 exdS ltJxdS?

A mistake that anyone could easily find himself playing as it appears to regain the pawn, and

82 Your Chess Questions Answered

simultaneously open a line of attack on the knight at g5. The next move is one that you would never find over the board but is a real killer and catches thousands of unsuspecting victims every year, especially during school matches and in novice tournaments. About 5 minutes of studying is all it takes to notch up wins for the rest of your life. I find it especially useful to reduce the number of boards at a simultaneous as my opponents rarely last longer than 10 moves. tt:lxf7! 6 I will be criticised if I do not mention that 6 d4 is supposed to be potent here. I have always been satisfied with 6 tt:lx£7 but have been assured by colleagues that 6 d4 may be even stronger. 6 �xf7 Black has no choice as his queen and rook were forked. 7 'ir'f3+ �e6 The only way to hang onto his extra piece. You will be surprised at how many people try to run their king into "safety" with 7 ... 'it>g8 when 8 i..xd5+ leads to mate. 8 tt:lc3 It is important that White keeps up the pressure. 8 tt:lb4 At this point some players may try and set up a solid defence with 8 ... tt:lce7 but White will always get a dangerous attack by ripping open the centre with d4. 1i'e4 9 A duel purpose move that defends c2 and now threatens 1 0 a3 , driving the defence of the knight on d5 away, and setting up threats along the e-file. 9 c6

10 a3 tt:la6 11 d4 Preventing the knight regrouping to c5. 11 'i¥d6 i.. f4 ! ! 12

I think i t i s White having all the fun here and you should learn and understand this sequence of moves and practice finishing Black off while testing out earlier deviations to make sure it suits your style. Once you have accepted this as one of the main lines of your repertoire, you must fill in the alternative 5th moves, which can be found in any good encyclopaedia. In this case, you can expect 5 ... tt:la5 about 50% of the time and a mixture of 5 ... tt:ld4, 5 . . . b5 and 5 . . . tt:lxd5? the rest. As Black, let us set about preparing you against the most common opening move 1 e4. You have a wide choice on the first move, as there is the solid French defence (l...e6), the safe Caro-Kann defence (l ...c6), the en­ ergetic Sicilian defence (l. . c5), the stubborn and popular l. ..e5 reply, the flexible Modem defence (1 ... g6) or provocative Alekhine defence .

Openings 83

( l . . lt:lf6), to name a few. These are .

discussed in more depth in later in the chapter. Let us suppose you go for the normal choice for beginners, l . ..e5. Now you must have some idea of how to prevent Scholar's Mate with 2 �h5, 3 �c4 and 4 �xf7 mate. I suggest 1 e4 e5 2 �h5 lt:lc6 3 �c4 g6 4 �f3 lt:lf6 5 d3 lt:ld4 etc. but there are many other ways to avoid the instant humiliation of losing in four moves. Generally speaking, nobody in a tournament will have the audacity or the optimism to attempt the four move checkmate, since it is serious time wasting of the queen if it does not come off. Instead, Black can expect to meet continuations such as 1 e4 e5 2 lt:lf3 or the King's Gambit with 1 e4 e5 2 f4. Against the Queen's Gambit 1 d4 d5 2 c4, I recommend that my pupils bolster up the centre with 2 .. e6, since capturing the pawn with 2 ... dxc4 can lead to White obtaining a formidable centre with 3 e4 and attempts to hold onto the pawn with 3 ... b5 backfire to 4 a4 c6 5 axb5 cxb5 6 b3 cxb3 7 �xb5+ �d7 8 �xb3 when White 's lead in development guarantee him a pleasant edge. I cannot do the whole repertoire for you, but I wanted to give you and idea of how to go about it. Much of it will depend on your style. .

What if someone plays an opening I have never seen before? I was sitting next to the well known "inventor", international master Mike Basman, whose

opponent had not yet arrived for the start of the game. Basman opened 1 a3 and pressed the clock. Five minutes later his opponent rushed in, sat down and immediately pressed the clock without making a move with the black pieces. Basman then returned the action, much to the dismay of the young man who hit the clock button with some force and declared "You haven't moved". The likeable master replied calmly "oh, but I have" and waved in the direction of his a-pawn. So, there are some weird openings that you will come across, but by and large, the stranger they look the worse they are. It is worth brushing over a couple of examples that you are likely to meet once or twice over your chess career, but if yotl remember the golden rules of two or three pawn moves, piece development and to castle, you cannot go far wrong.

1 b4. The Sokolsky Opening. This move is not as crazy as it looks as its aim is to exchange a wing pawn for a more central pawn. White would then be able to cover more key squares. Therefore, after 1 b4 e5, White generally continues 2 �b2, in order to meet 2 ... �xb4 with 3 �xe5 and he has succeeded in eliminating one of his opponent's central pawns . This opening is rather irrelevant to beginners, who must first and foremost on concentrate not dropping material. A simple way to meet this obscure opening lies in l ...d5 2 �b2 �d6 (threatening the pawn on b4) 3 a3

84 Your Chess Questions A nswered

eS and Black has succeeded in ob­ taining a solid centre. It is not often that one is able, as Black, to occupy the centre with two pawns, so make the most of it when you can. 1 g4. The Grob Opening. Surprisingly enough, this inventor was Michael Basman, as mentioned above. One is almost obliged to follow up with l. . eS, just in case your opponent has a brain storm and decides to move his f-pawn, allowing an instant mate on h4 ! The secret is not to be too ambitious for Black here as grabbing the g-pawn with l. . dS 2 �g2 �xg4 runs into some pressure from 3 c4 and perhaps 'ifb3 later. Instead, the reason the Grob is not seen at the highest level is because sensible moves should show it up to be weakening. .

systems for White and one for Black. The most popular systems for White include: a) The London System. 1 d4, 2 lt:'lf3 and 3 �f4. These are three of the early moves and class the opening as a London System. About the only thing you should know is that it is often a good idea to play h3 at some stage in case the bishop on f4 is attacked by . . . lt:'lh5 when it can retreat from f4 to h2 in order to avoid being exchanged. Let us now consider the London System in practice:

.

Larry Christiansen White Dmitri Gurevich Black London System 1 d4 lZ'lf6 2 lt:'lf3 e6 3 �f4 cS 4 e3

I hate learning theory. Can you suggest an alternative? There are certain openings regarded as "systems" and the idea is that White or Black will play more or less the same moves against anything and therefore guarantee solid and safe development. The games may well start on a quiet footing as the openings are early designed to avoid complications and sharp tactics but this does not mean that they will not explode into fireworks later. However, while systems works perfectly well with White, it is not so easy with Black as there are very few decent combinations that will be possible against 1 c4, 1 d4 and 1 e4. We shall consider three such

Once the dark squared bishop is carefully White developed, completes the pawn chain and allows his second bishop to emerge into the game. There is no question on embarking on any heroics until all the pieces are developed. 4...b6 5 �d3 �b7 6 c3 �e7 7 h3 0-0 8 0-0 d6

Openings 85

Black must make a small concession here for either he plays 8 .. d5, which prevents a later e4 by White but permits White to land a knight on the e5-square or he continues as in the game where White will soon be able to claim an extra stake in the centre with e4. 9 'ii'e2 li:Jbd7 10 e4 cxd4 11 cxd4 �e8 12 li:Jc3 .ifS 13 �fd1 g6 14 �acl a6 15 a4 .

It is not easy to understand the complex manoeuvring of the grand­ masters but neither side is giving anything away materially or posi­ tionally a� White prevents pis oppo­ nent's plan of expanding with ...b5. 15 ...�a7 16 e5 dxe5 17 dxe5 li:Jd5 1 8 li:Jxd5 exd5

The more natural 1 8 ... ..ixd5 is not wise due to the loose pawn on a6. 19 'ii'd2 d4 Black seeks to activate his bishop on b7 by tactical means as if White captures the pawn with 20 li:lxd4, Black then regains the pawn with 20 ...li:Jxe5. 20 e6 �xe6 21 li:Jxd4 �e8 22 li:Jb5!

White has obviously been calculating the tactics and is seeking to take advantage of the pin along the d-file. It is justice that White has this powerful continuation since all his pieces are activated and well-placed. 22 ... axb5 23 ..ixb5 ..ic8 24 �xc8 'ii'xc8 25 ..ixd7 �xd7 26 'ii'xd7 'ii'xd7 27 �xd7

86

Your Chess Questions Answered

The smoke has cleared and White is now entering the ending a clear pawn ahead and goes on to win in 43 moves. Notice that 7 h3 also turned out to be useful because it allows an escape square after 27 . . l:te I + . In fact there is a valuable lesson here because it is important not to get carried away with board-clearing tactics if there is a serious detail of back rank mate at the end. .

b) The Stonewall Attack. (d4, e3 and f4). This is an opening I recommend to many pupils who are starting out in tournaments as there is a definite and concise plan from move one. It is not played much at the highest level for the reason that it is relatively easy for Black to equalise if he knows what he is doing, but against your average minor or major tournament player (i.e. BCF grade 80- 1 50) it can be a most effective weapon. Our first job is to aim the light squared bishop in the direction of the kingside. 1 d4 dS 2 e3 lLlf6 3 .td3

The obvious drawback is that the bishop on c 1 is shut out of the game for some ·time to come, but it is a small price to pay for what is to follow. 3 ... e6 4 f4 It is important to prevent 4 . . . e5 and the d and f-pawns are preparing to support a knight on the e5-square. The golden rule of this opening is that the light squared bishop is the key to the whole system and you do not want it to be driven from its potent diagonal. 4 ...lt::Jc6 5 c3 To prevent 5 . . . lt::lb4 . s ... .td6 6 tt::Jo o-o 7 o-o .td7 s �el !

I t will only b e now that a player with no experience of this line will

Openings 87

realise what White is up to. The queen intends to commence a vicious attack with 9 �h4 and White also has the e5-square on which to post a knight. Black might have to also contend with an aggressive rook which can enter the attack via the f3-square and the knight on b 1 could suddenly come alive via d2-f3-e5 . 8 ... I!e8 9 �h4 h6 10 li:Jbd2 'ike7 1 1 li:Je5 ii..xe5 12 fxe5 White captured the correct way since this opens the f-file for the white rooks. Also, as a general rule, it is normally best to capture towards the centre since more of the vital central squares are controlled by doing this. 12 li:Jh7 13 �g3 Again, a useful general rule is seen here. The attacking side wishes to avoid exchanging as many pieces as possible and certainly to retain the queens, the most powerful piece of all. 13 ...li:Jg5 14 li:Jf3 li:Jxf3+ 1 5 I!xf3 ..•

15 ... li:Jd8 16 e4 dxe4 17 ii..x h6 g6 18 ii..xe4 ii..c6 Can you see a strong continuation now?

19 ii..xg6 ii..xf3 19 . . . fxg6 20 'ir'xg6+ 'it>h8 2 1 l!h3 will win. 20 ii.. h7++ Double check must be answered by a king move. 21. .. '1t>xh7 22 �g7 mate. Obviously Black could have put up better resistance earlier on, but the game illustrates the main points of the system. I should mention that after 1 d4 d5 2 e3, once someone has exper­ ienced the Stonewall, some players are determined to throw a spanner in the works with 2 ... ii..f5, preventing you developing next with 3 ii..d 3. Instead, it is worth knowing that you can then transpose to an excellent version of the Queen's Gambit with 3 c4 since you can quickly follow up with moves such as 4 li:Jc3 and 5 �3 which targets both d5 and the weak pawn at b7. c) The Colle System. (d4, li:Jf3 and e3). This opening is flexible but often characterised by developing ii..d 3, 0-0, li:Jbd2, c3 (if necessary to bolster up the centre) and White will hope to open the e-file later. It is also popular to fianchetto the dark

88

Your Chess Questions Answered

squared bishop which may support an eventual lt:\e5 . Our illustrative game sees the elder of the famous Polgar sister trio defeating a leading grandmaster with the Colle.

Zsusza Polgar White: Leonid Yudasin Black Colle System 1 d4 lt:\f6 2 lt:\f3 e6 3 e3 c5 4 �d3 lt:\c6 5 0-0 d5 6 b3 �d6 7 ..ib2 0-0 8 a3 "iVc7 9 c4 cxd4 10 exd4 e5

Oops, that tactic must have been overlooked by Black who would have assumed that his opponent must move her queen. However, 25 . . .l:txd4 loses instantly to the undefended back rank with 26 l:te8 mate. The rest is relatively easy. I am especially drawn to this example of the Colle as simple development and logical piece placement made everything flow smoothly from White's point of view. 25 ... gxf6 26 "iVxf6 c3 27 lt:\e4 c2 28 "iVh6 ..ig6 29 lt:\f6+ 'it>h8 30 lt:\e8! 1-0. And now, as system for Black.

White was ready to follow up with lt:\bd2, l:te l and lt:\e5 with excellent prospects so Black does his best to mix things up. 1 1 dxe5 lt:\xe5 12 lt:\xe5 �xe5 13 i.xe5 ifxe5 14 lt:\d2 �g4 1 5 l:te1 "iVd6 16 "iVc2 l:tac8 17 h3 �h5 18 i.f5 .!:r.c7 19 "iVd3 .!:r.d8 20 "iVd4 b6 21 l:te5 .!:r.e7 22 f4 "iVc7 23 l:tae1 l:txe5 24 fxe5 dxc4 25 exf6!

promised,

one

The "Double Fianchetto" system allows you to carry out a familiar set-up against any move order from White. For example: 1 d4 b6 2 e4 �b7 3 lt:\c3 g6 4 lt:\f3 ..ig7 5 ..id3 e6 6 i.f4 d6 7 0-0 lt:\d7 8 .!:r.e1 lt:\e7

Black is solid and is ready to react to anything White may conjure up. Black may also consider ... c5 when he is fully developed to liven up the position.

Openings 89

What are the more common openings? When people have exhausted I e4 e5 or begun playing tournaments, they normally become hungry for knowledge of alternative openings they may face or wish to experiment with themselves. However, it is extremely difficult to pick up a book and expect to understand and remember the moves and therefore it is invaluable to have some explanations of the ideas alongside. l t is worth going through some of the more well known openings and defences that are popular at club level. First we shall examine some defences to e4.

I always advise pupils to take the centre with two pawns if permitted and therefore 2 d4 is the common reply. 2 d4 d5 Black challenges the centre and already White must decide how to defend the e-pawn. a) 3 e5

French Defence I

e4 e6

Black makes sure that he is not going to fall foul to anything on the t7-square as can happen in I e4 e5 openings when a bishop plants itself on c4, firing at f7. Now it is pointless White continuing 2 i.c4 as 2 . . . d5 gains time and allows Black a foothold in the centre with tempo. However, you would be surprised at how many beginners will play just that.

Classified as the "Advance French", White hopes to set up an attack against the castled king position with help from more space and a well positioned bishop on d3 . Meanwhile, Black's best is to the centre and pressurize specifically the d4-pawn in order to undermine the strong point on e5. Play therefore often continues along the lines of: 3 . . . c5 4 c3 l2Jc6 5 liJf3 'ifb6 and it is debatable whether White is now able to play the natural 6 i.d3 since 6 . . . cxd4 7 cxd4 l2Jxd4? 8 l2Jxd4 'ili'xd4 wins the queen with 9 i.b5+ but 6 . . . ..td7 threatens simply to win the pawn on d4. More aggressive minded players are indeed perfectly happy to sacrifice the pawn in order to secure an attack and rapid development.

90 Your Chess Questions Answered

b) 3 exd5 exd5

with 3 . . .tDf6 4 e5 tiJfd7 5 f4 c5 or the exciting 3 . . ...ib4 which also renews the threat on the e4-pawn. The main line of the latter runs 4 e5 c5 5 a3 ..ixc3+ 6 bxc3 tDe7 7 'ii'g4, although there are a lot of dangerous sidelines that also need to be checked. d) 3 tiJd2

Rather tedious, the blocked position leads to a drawish situation with a symmetrical pawn structure but there have been one or two grandmasters who have adopted the opening to play for a win. It is more normal for a weaker player to include it into his repertoire to gain a solid draw against a stronger opponent, but it is well worth being aware that the position can be livened up by castling opposite sides which nearly always spells time for a pawn storm on both wings. c) 3 liJc3

The Winawer variation is a lively choice as White goes for piece development. Here Black can choose betwe.en the Classical lines

Known as the Tarrasch variation, White bolsters up his centre and keeps the option of playing c3 without allowing the pin as in the Winawer variation above. If you know anything about Karpov and Kasparov, it would not be difficult to guess that the Winawer is a favourite of Kasparov while. Karpov scored well with the Tarrasch. Again, Black has two distinct paths to take here. 3 . . . c5 leads to an I.Q.P. (Isolated Queen Pawn) position which enables Black to have free lines to attack. This can lead to a bad ending with a weak pawn if the pieces are exchanged. Meanwhile 3 . . . tiJf6 encourages White to advance with 4 e5 tiJfd7 where again Black hopes to break up the centre with moves like ... c5 and perhaps a later , .. f6.

Openings 91

A lot of this will mean nothing until you actually play out the opening but some guidelines should help. If you confront a move that �ou arc not aware is possible, there IS a chance that it is dubious. For example, 3 f3 certainly defends the c4-pawn, but would you know how lo respond? Answer on page 1 24.

Sicilian Defence 1

e4 cS

A typical move order of the Closed Sicilian where White makes no pawn breaks in the centre and generally plays for a kingside attack aided by an f-pawn advance after all his pieces are developed. b) 2 tt:lf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 tt:lxd4

Here Black stakes a claim in the centre and retains a flexible structure that allows his pieces to be developed in a number of ways . He . also avoids any tricks on fl smce i.c4 can be met by ... e6, which blunts the power of the bishop. White must now choose which type of position to enter as there is a vast difference between Closed and Open Sicilians. a) 2 tt:lc3 tt:lc6 3 g3 g6 4 ..tg2 i.g7 5 d3 d6 6 f4

There are heaps of off-shoots from the Open Sicilian but it is relatively easy to take up as Black as you just have to choose one of the many set-ups. Don't be put off by all the variations such as the Najdorf, Sveshnikov, Kan, Dragon, Taimanov, Scheveningen etc. as they only refer to the different opening moves. The Dragon is perhaps the most well-known of all and is characterised by the following moves:

92 Your Chess Questions Answered

1 e4 c5 2 tt:lf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 tt:lxd4 tt:lf6 5 tt:lc3 g6 6 .i.e3 .i.g7

. . . when there can be incredibly sharp attacking possibilities after 7 f3 0-0 8 'ifd2 tt:lc6 9 .i.c4 which is referred to as the "Yugoslav attack". The Najdorf is often in the limelight as one of Kasparov's weapons and therefore you may wish to become familiar with the opening moves of 1 e4 c5 2 tt:lf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 tt:lxd4 tt:lf6 5 tt:lc3 a6. To the untrained eye, 5 . . . a6 will make no sense but in fact Black may wish to expand on the queenside (place a bishop on b7 and then run up the b-pawn to harrass the knight on c3 which is busy defending the e4-pawn) and 5 . . . a6 serves to prevent any annoying .i.b5+.

With the 2 c3 Sicilian, White wishes to follow up with 3 d4 and after 3 . . . cxd4, recapture on d4 with the c-pawn and have two nicely posted pawns in the centre. This response can be rather off-putting for a seasoned Sicilian player who is booked up on his pet Dragon variation, only to find White here is looking for a safe and solid opening position. 2 . . .tt:lf6 3 e5 tt:ld5 4 d4 cxd4 5 tt:lf3 e6 6 cxd4 or 2 ... d5 3 exd5 'ifxd5 4 d4 are the two sharpest continuations that prevent White securing pawns at d4 and e4, nevertheless, White has easy development and central control. Meanwhile, 2 ... e6 3 d4 d5 4 e5 is a transposition into the Advanced French which has already been discussed. d) 2 d4 cxd4 3 c3 dxc3 4 tt:lxc3

c) 2 c3 It is worth mentioning the Smith-Morra Gambit here as White is happy to shed a pawn to obtain rapid development. It is probably unsound at the highest level but extremely dangerous to face and therefore players often opt to cop out with 3 . . .tt:lf6 4 e5 tt:ld5 which actually transposes to a line from the 2.c3 Sicilian above.

Openings 93

Caro-Kann Defence I

e4 c6

Here Black plans to challenge the centre with 2 . . . d5 while not shutting in his light squared bishop as' in the French Defence. 2 d4 d5 Again we reach some crossroads: a) 3 tt:'!c3 dxe4 4 tt:'!xe4

. . . when Black now often develops with 4 . . .il.f5 5 tt:'!g3 il.g6, known as the Classical variation or adopts ' Karpov's pet line of the solid 4 ...tt:'!d7 5 tt:'!f3 tt:'!gf6 to chase the central white knight away. b) 3 e5

The Advance variation gets its title for obvious reasons as White goes for more space, and as in the Advance variation of the French, Black's counterplay lies on the queenside. The key differences to each other are that Black's light squared bishop is able to enter the game directly, but Black will have to waste a tempo with . . . c5 since the pawn first went to c6. c) 3 exd5 cxd5 4 il.d3 tt:'!c6 5 c3

The exchange variation, with a later c3 , rather than c4, is the one that beginners tend to play auto­ matically if they haven't seen the Caro-Kann before. A pupil of mine had a nasty experience recently as Black after 4 tt:'!f3 il.g4 5 c3 e6 6 'i!Va4+ tt:'!c6 7 tt:'!e5 when everything was hanging. Therefore Black

94 Your Chess Questions A nswered

should consider 4 lL\f3 lL\c6 5 c3 g6 6 .id3 .ig7 and then think about where to place his light squared bishop. d) 3 exd5 cxd5 4 c4

Although relatively unusual, this provocative defence has stood the test of time. Black encourages his opponent to push forward in the centre in the hope to undermine the advanced pawns later. 2 e5 lL\d5 3 d4 d6 4 c4 tZ:lb6 5 f4 boasts a formidable pawn structure but the question is if it is stable or not. Players are suspicious about the viability of White's strategy and for this reason, most prefer the more sedate option of 4 tZ:lf3 .

Pirc/Modern Defence 1 e4 d6 2 d4 g6 The Panov-Botvinnik Attack sees White willing to saddle himself with an I.Q.P in exchange for the initiative and attacking possibilities while the key for Black is to hang onto control of the central d5-square and a typical continuation runs 4 . . . lL\f6 5 lL\c3 e6 6 lL\f3 iJ..e7 7 .id3 dxc4 8 iJ..xc4 when Black need not worry about shutting in the bishop at c8 since it can develop via the b7-square later.

Alekhine Defence 1 e4 lLlf6

I lump these two openings to­ gether as they often transpose. Here, Black wishes to adopt a flexible set-up, normally with d6, g6, tZ:lf6, iJ..g 7, 0-0 and then plays for ... c5, . . . e5 or even ... d5. White also has a number of options, but the Classical with 1 e4 d6 2 d4 lL\f6 3 tZ:lc3 g6 4 tZ:lf3 iJ..g7 5 iJ.. e2 (this may look odd, but is designed to take the sting out of ... .ig4 and anyway, 5 iJ..c4 allows 5 ...lL\xe4 6 lL\xe4 d5) 5 ... 0-0 6 0-0 is a sensible way to react. For those of you seeking a more aggressive approach, the Austrian Attack with 4 f4 .ig7 5 lL\f3 will probably be just the ticket.

Openings 95

Scandinavian/Centre-Counter I

e4 d5

While the Queen's Gambit is White's choice of opening, Black must now decide whether to accept the gambit with 2 . .dxc4 or decline the pawn with 2 . . e6. The reason White is happy to give away the pawn is to guarantee himself a strong centre and it is also a safe bet that he will regain the pawn. For example, the backbone of the line runs 2 . dxc4 3 e4 and if Black attempts to hang on to the pawn with 3 ...b5?, White has 4 a4! c6 (note that 4 . . . a6? allows 5 axb5 axb5?? 6 l:txa8) 5 axb5 cxb5 6 b3 cxb3 7 ..i.xb5+ ..i.d7 8 'ii'xb3 with an advantage due to superior development. 2 . . e6, the Queen's Gambit Declined is a safer option as Black seeks to maintain a pawn in the centre. For this reason 2 . tbf6 is not favoured due to the continuation 3 cxd5 tbxd5 4 e4 etc. .

.

..

2 exd5 'ii'xd5 We are all taught not to bring our queen out too early, but it is not so clear that White can use this particularly to his advantage here. 3 tbc3 'ii'a5 4 d4 tbf6 This is all very normal, but it is surprising that natural developing moves can lead White nowhere. Black is extremely solid and should remember that he might need to play . . . c6 to run back with his queen at a later date. Defences to 1 d4 Queen's Gambit 1 d4 d5 2 c4

.

..

Queen's Nimzo, Bogo-lndian Defences.

and

1 d4 tbf6 Also a logical response as Black prevents his opponent following up with 2 e4 and two pawns in the centre. 2 c4 e6

96 Your Chess Questions Answered

White has many deviations here, but most common are the development of a knight. 3 ltJc3 , renewing the possibility of 4 e4, is often met by 3 . . . i.b4 which is the Nimzo-Indian defence, while 3 ltJf3 tends to lead to the Queen's Indian after 3 ...b6 or the Bogo-Indian with 3 . . . i.b4+. These three openings are closely intertwined as they sometimes transpose into each other, but the key strategy continues to revolve around control of the e4-square.

King's Indian Defence 1 d4 ltJf6 2 c4 g6 3 ltJc3 i.g7 4 e4 d6

Hang on a minute, White has three pawns in the centre. Does this mean he already has a big advantage due to extra space? Some people, would touch neither side of the King's Indian as it has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the most complex and aggressive systems.

Graham Burgess, author of The Mammoth Book of Chess remarks of the opening "This, to me, is real chess. The King's Indian is a cross between all-out-warfare and a fairyland where incredible sacrifices and sensational brilliances are possible". It is true to say that when a player takes up the King's Indian. it seems to become their pet defence for life and for many years Kasparov has been one of the greatest authorities on the opening. Black will first strike at his opponent's centre, normally with ... e5, and when the pawns are fixed, attack on the kingside. Meanwhile, White is doing his best to break through on the queenside, but of course when Black's attack breaks through it will be mate! The following illustrates the typical pawn structure that arises when the centre becomes fixed. Notice how White expands with c5 and Black tries to launch an attack by pushing his f and g-pawns.

Openings 97

Dutch Defence 1 d4 f5

The Dutch is not regarded as a solid weapon, but rather as a ambitious fighting and counterattacking system. Black is prepared to saddle himself with permanent weaknesses on the kingside. The intention is to launch a dangerous attack later._

2 e4 (The Staunton Gambit) and 2 ..i.g5 are both lively ways for White to meet the Dutch, although the main line has established itself as 2 g3 tiJf6 3 ..i.g2 after which Black has the choice of "The Stonewall" with 3 ... e6 and then ... d5 or "the Leningrad" with 3 ... g6 and . . . ..tg7. Remember that these set-ups have taken years to take shape and I am sure that nearly everything worthwhile in the early stages of a chess game has been discovered. However, I am amazed by how many aspiring pupils in the school chess teams attempt to make up their own openings It is not clear if they are trying to avoid doing any book work or if they hope to produce the discovery of the decade. An enormous amount of time and grief (especially for the teacher) would be saved by looking up an opening first.

11

Computers

Do I need a computer? Quite frankly, no. However, in this age of computers it is easy to believe that you can't keep up without one. I would also answer that you don't need a cup to enjoy a drink of water, but that extra expense for a mug or glass does make life easier. I remember being asked to try out a computer in their early days of manufacture. It was an electronic one where you had to push the square you were moving from and then push the square where the piece landed. The lights and beeping noises were an added irritation and I remember that few games were finished as I always managed to spoil the game by leaning on an irrelevant square and lighting up the whole board or purposely destroying the game when I blundered. The main factor in playing against computers is that the better ones don't make tactical oversights and therefore you have to use a slightly different approach than if you are playing a human.

How can a chess computer help you? For those players who wish to reach the highest levels in the

shortest time possible and who are fortunate in having the time to both study and play chess on a daily basis, a chess playing program will be a tireless opponent being more than willing to play you for as long as you desire; whether it is for a half hour game or for eight hours a day! Although it is a frequently made comment that there is no substitute for playing human opponents, there are a number of advantages in playing computers: I . Humans of greater strength may be reluctant to play you on a regular basis as although it may be a great challenge and very instructive for you to play them, they are unlikely to feel the same way. 2. One useful purpose that the computer can serve is to acquaint you with many different openings as nowadays their repertoire is extens­ ive and varied. For example, you can get machines and programmes where you can select their style of play and each will react differently to your opening moves. This is a far cry from when I was young and there was a tendency for them to follow exactly the same game. 3 . It is possible to set up positions from books, newspapers or your own games and either play the position out yourself or get the computer to analyse the position for you.

Computers 99

What are the Limitations? As of yet, no machine has any understanding of the psychology of chess. A computer is not capable of judgements either and bases its "decisions" on calculation. It could never assess whether a sacrifice is correct in return for long term pressure. The problem can be highlighted by the following position:

the player. It is generally accepted that to improve it is useful to play opponents that are stronger than oneself, so to this end you should look to purchase a machine stronger than yourself. How much stronger than yourself depends on who the computer is for; whether the user is an up and coming junior or someone who is retiring and keen to renew their interest in chess. Although they may be of similar strength, the former's grade may double in five years, whereas in the latter's case this is unlikely.

Where can I purchase a chess computer?

A human can quickly spot that the position is drawn despite the fact that White is two rooks ahead. As long as Black is not tempted to capture the rook on a4, the white pieces will never be able to infiltrate. However, a computer is more than likely to play l . . .bxa4, resulting in an eventual loss.

What should I take into account when selecting a chess computer? When choosing a chess computer, often the main constraint is price, and the question: 'How much do I need to spend?' often arises. The main factor in deciding how much is necessary to spend is the strength of

Countrywide are the main British distributors for Kasparov, Mephisto and Novag chess computers. They have a large Showroom at their premises in Wilburton, England. All of the recommended models as well as many others, and all types of chess playing, tutorial and database software, are available. Visitors are always welcome, and there is plenty of free parking space. They also specialise in Mail Order purchases for those unable to visit, and can supply helpful free Catalogues and Fact Sheets of all of the main models. Further information can be obtained from: Countrywide Computers Victoria House 1 High Street Wilburton Cambs. CB6 3RB tel: 0 1 353-740323 fax: 0 1 3 53-74 1 439

100 Your Chess Questions A nswered

If a machine advertises itself as a certain playing strength, does it always play to that standard? No, the grading represents the BEST level that the machine can attain on one of its tournament levels normally moving at around a move a minute.

Would it be a waste of money buying one of the best machines when the person it is intended for is not very strong? No, these days the machines invariably have a beginner of practice level at which they will deliberately play below their top strength, down to around BCF grade 40-50 or Elo 800- 1 000. So if you anticipate fast improvement, it may well be worthwhile opting for a stronger model from the word go. It is possible to buy cheaper (and therefore weaker! ) models than those listed here. However I do not believe that really weak models below BCF 50/Elo 1 000 at their best, with little or no chess knowledge and using simple brute force search techniques can actually teach users how to play good chess. It is also possible to buy models playing up to BCF 2 1 2/Eio 2300these however cannot always be "turned down" to play at levels very much weaker. Invariably models can give "good move" hints to the user, and allow moves to be taken back to let the user experiment and learn from their mistakes.

What are the different types of Portable chess computers? There are five main types of portable computer: i) Plug-in press sensory boards. Here the pieces fit into a hole in the square fitted with a sensor to detect the move. There is a system of lights to indicate the reply. This is a little fiddly and not really suitable for young children but handy to play while travelling on a train or plane since the pieces are secure and the board specially designed small. ii) Press sensory flat boards. This system is most suited to table-top computers and you get a real feeling of playing a real opponent as the size of the board is a standard size. A small amount of pressure on the square is enough to signal the move to the computer and then the computer's reply, although it is a delicate procedure. iii) Magnetised press sensory. This is where magnetized pieces sit on the board and convey the move to the machines. This is handy for a travel size set for stability of pieces, but otherwise very similar to the other press sensory devices. Again, lights on the corners of the squares indicate the computer's reply. iv) Auto-sensory boards. Here the board will detect the piece automatically so the players only job is to move to the correct square. Again, for use on a table-top, easy to use but obviously

Computers 101

a luxury compared to the altern­ atives and reflected in the price. The wooden auto sensory sets can come in beautiful wood with felted soft bases, making a show piece as well as a formidable opponent! v) LCD Liquid Crystal Displays. This relies on a different system which relates the moves played in algebraic notation on a visual display and the moves have to be entered using the keys. . Also referred to as a portable calculator when there is a separate board and pieces. RECOMMENDED BEST BUYS (listed in increasing strength) . . N.B. Saitek products are available at Harrods, Hamleys and Selfridges in London or through "Chess and Bridge". Chess and Bridge 369 Euston Road London NW 1 3AR tel: 0 1 7 1-388 2404 fax: 0 1 7 1 -388 2407.

However, on its 64th and top playing level it will give a decent game and prepare you for more challenging competition. Chess Man is small for travelling and also has a useful rack for storing captured pieces. It requires 2 x AAA batteries. The Novag Topaz at £ 1 9.99 and BCF 1 00/ELO 1400 also· comes highly recommended for beginners, although I have not tried out a model myself.

Saitek Portable Talking Coach £49 (max. BCF 1 00/Elo 1 400). The next step up in the price range and ability level. Again, it is plug-in sensory and chiefly designed for beginners. There is a voice coach that warns of attacked pieces and even praises a good move (Don't use this on public transport!). The top level of BCF 1 00 suggests it would win a novice tournament or be a useful competitor in a minor event-in other words the best player at an average school or a reasonable club player.

Saitek Electronic Chess Man £ 1 9.99 (for beginners max. BCF 40/Elo 820).

Kasparov Bullet £49 (max. BCF 1 05/Elo 1440).

An ideal beginner product at a very reasonable price. The Chess Man is plug-in sensory and is both a tutor and an opponent designed to teach yo1,1 how to play and then challenge you. It is useful if you have a bad memory of how the pieces move and is a conveniently weak opponent on its weakest level.

Portable plug-in sensory with a size of 9"x6" overall and a play area of 4.5"x4.5". It talks, teaches and travels. A good size and with a folding lid. With a relatively small opening library, it is ideal for a beginner who requires a voice coach and help options. Runs off batteries only.

1 02 Your Chess Questions Answered

Novag Opal Plus £50 (max. BCF 1 1 0/Elo 1480). Portable magnetised press sensory with a size of 1 0.5"x 1 2" overall and a playing area of 5"x5" with stand up pieces. The opening repertoire is extensive with 8,500 different lines (known as "Opening Book") and it comes with a teaching mode. It can solve mates up to 8 and runs off the mains or battery.

Novag Aquamarine Premier £49 (max. BCF 120/Elo 1 5 60). In the same price range is this popular plug-in sensory model from Hong Kong. It omits many of the tutorial facilities but instead plays to a higher level and therefore is more suited to club and tournament players. The top level boasts a grade of 1 560 (BCF 1 20). If you don't mind the off-beat title, it is a sound investment.

Novag Agate Plus £69 (max. BCF 1 35/Elo 1 680). An attractive and efficient machine. Press sensory with an 8"x8" playing area. 8,500 Opening Book. It has the popular teaching mode facility and solves mates up to 8 moves deep. The moves are displayed and the machine runs off the mains and takes batteries.

Kasparov Chess Academy £149 (max BCF 1 60/Eio 1 880). A good size at 1 5 "x 1 0" overall, with an 8"x8" press sensory playing

area. Always a strong opponent with 1 00 levels of play, 6,000 Opening Book and multi-information display. interactive voice 1 00 PLUS commentary lessons incorporating many 'Teaching Topics' including the Rules, Openings, Tactics, Endgames, Pawn structure, Mating methods, Famous chess games and more! Mains or battery.

Saitek Executive £99 (max. BCF 1 70/Eio 1 960). This is one of the best buys for under £ 1 00. The 64 levels of the press sensory table top computer are enough to keep an ambitious player busy for many years and the top strength would ensure most county players a decent opponent. The Executive has a large display which can be set up to show a variety of information, including time taken, an evaluation of the position and the moves being considered by the computer. The openings are varied and the choice of playing styles an interesting bonus. It works off batteries or mains on a neat compact board. ·

Saitek President BCF 1 70/Eio 1 960).

£299

(max.

A similar strength to the Executive model, the President is set in a hand crafted wooden board with an auto-sensory playing area and matching wooden felted pieces. A show piece in its own right but also an extremely versatile and powerful opponent with its multiple levels and county standard strength.

Computers 1 03

Kasparov Cosmos £99 (max. BCF 1 80/Elo 2040 range).

What about programmes for P.C.s?

A stylish portable plug-in sensory in a good size at 9"x7" overall and a 4. 5"x4.5" playing area. Analysis + evaluation display. 35,000 Opening Book. Runs off batteries only. If it is a strong machine that you are after for under £ 1 00, you cannot go wrong here.

If you have a P.C. then there is lots of choice with excellent playing programmes for all levels. There are also databases such as "Chessbase" and "Chess Assistant" that allow you to save all your games (or just your wins if you like!) and come with a package of about a quarter of a million top class games which can be categorised into openings. For example, if you had a game that started 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 lbc3 .ib4 4 a3 and you did not possess an encyclopeadia to look it up, you could enter the moves on chessbase and press "compare" which would come up with all the games that also arrived at the identical position. An additional programme called "Fritz" works alongside the Chessbase and can analyse your games or can play any speed of chess game against you.

Kasparov Cougar £ 1 29 (max. BCF 1 80/Elo 2040) A similar strength to the Kasparov Cosmos, the Cougar differs with its press sensory board and larger size of 1 6"x l l " with an 8"x8" playing area. The powerful 32K program creates a strong machine with fun levels and coaching. There is also an analysis and evaluation display as well as holding a 35 ,000 Opening Book. Runs off mains or battery.

Novag Sapphire I! £249.99 (max. BCF 2 1 0/ELO 2280). If you are looking for a press sensory and strongest possible portable chess computer, this is for you. The Sapphire has a 32Mhz Rise type micro processor and an excellent rating which is not far off top board of a county team. Any beginner will of course not stand a chance against such a machine, but it is an excellent way to learn as you can spend any amount of time on your moves. Alternatively, use it for setting up original positions or puzzles or trying out new openings.

Are there any tips for beating a computer? I'm glad you asked this question because I wish I had known the answer instead of always refusing to play against computers in tournaments when it was asked in the past on an entry form. I spent a fascinating afternoon watching Paul Lamford, a Welsh International, annihilate Fritz. Previously I had only seen various titled players cursing the strength of the programme, especially at 5 minute chess where I had incorrectly heard that it never lost on time. There were two treatments that Paul had in store for it.

1 04 Your Chess Questions Answered

One was to play a totally tactic-free game where poor old Fritz had no calculations to get his microchips into and the other was to set up the famous Greek Gift sacrifice as Fritz seems unable to realise when mate is looming on the horizon. Of course Paul had "prepared" the games before but it is worth remembering the techniques (or even the exact moves if you wish to show off against Fritz to your friends) for handling a computer and Kasparov could pick up a few tricks here. Sometimes it pays to play quietly! The following examples all took place with 5 minutes each on the clock.

his remammg bishop. This deep opening does not suit tacticians as it is more to do with seeking out the right squares for one's pieces rather than developing rapidly with aggressive possibilities. 9 h3 e5 10 d5 lt:Jb8 11 'ii'h3 lt:Jbd7 12 0-0 lt:Jc5 13 'ii'e3 a5 14 b4 lt:Ja6 15 bxa5 lt:Jc5 16 'ii'c3 ne8 17 nad1 .td7 1 8 'ii'b4 na7 19 lt:Jb3 tt:Jxb3 20 'ii'xb3 nea8 21 nre1 .tc8 22 nd2 nxa5 23 na1 b6 24 .nb2 .td7 25 e3 na4 26 'ii'c3 .tf5 27 nb4 n4a5

Fritz 4 White Paul Lamford Black Bogo-Indian Defence 1 d4 lt:Jf6 2 c4 e6 3 lt:Jf3 i.b4+ i.d2 "ike7 5 g3 "o-0 6 i.g2 lt:Jc6 7 a3 .txd2+ 8 lt:Jbxd2 d6

This is called the Bogo-lndian and is extremely positional as Black first exchanges his dark squared bishop and then seeks to place his pawns on dark squares to fulfil the potential of

The position is a dream for Black. The c5-square is his and White's bishop is uncomfortably restricted due to the fact that the pawns on c4 and d5 are fixed on squares of the same colour. A further bonus for Black is that there is a lonely and vulnerable pawn for him to pile up against on a3 . 28 lt:Jh4 i.g6 29 lt:Jxg6 hxg6 30 .nb5 na4 31 .nb3 lt:Jd7 32 nb4 n4a5 33 .nb5 na4 34 na2 lt:Jc5 35 nb4 n4a5 36 nh1 The computer is stumped as he doesn't know what to do. A human would never admit so pathetically that it was at a loss for an idea, but without clear calculations Fritz can only wait.

Computers 1 05

36 .'ii'f6 37 e4 'ii'gS 38 .l:.bS .l:.a4 39 .l:.bl 1i'd8 40 .l:.aal 'iWb8 41 .l:.el 'ii'a7 42 .l:.e3 'ii'aS 43 'ii'c 2 'ii'a6 44 .l:.c3 'ii'c8 45 t3 'ii'd8 46 'ii'd2 'ii'f6 47 'ii'e3 'ifi>f8 48 .l:.bl 1;;e7 49 .l:.b4 .l:.4aS SO .l:.bS .l:.Sa7 51 1;;h l .l:.h8 Also here Paul has succeeded in gaining a lot of time and some of his moves are to cement his advantage on the clock as well as over the board. 52 .l:.b1 .l:.hS 53 .l:.b4 'ii'gS 54 'ii'e l :as SS .l:.e3 .l:.ah8 56 .l:.b2 'ii'h6 57 'ii'g l f6 58 nbe2 gS 59 .l:.b2 .l:.a8 60 'ii'e l 'ii'h8 61 .l:.be2 .l:.aS 62 .l:.c2 'ii'a8 63 'ii'c3 'ii'a7 64 .l:.cl nhs 65 nbl .l:.a8 66 .l:.al .l:.a4 67 na2 'ii'a s 68 �fl 'ii'xc3 69 nxc3 .l:.SaS 70 �e2 .l:.a8 71 �fl .l:.4aS .•

Not a great deal has happened between this and the last diagram. However, the exchange of queens and Black's light squared bishop for his opponent's knight has cut out any chance of counterplay from White's point of view. The ending is a nightmare for White as he can only sit and wait for Black to infiltrate on the dark squares over which he has no control. This is the kind of long term judgement that is at the root of chess technique and something that (I hope) will always set us apart from computers.

72 �d3 lLib7 73 �c2 .l:.cS 74 .l:.b2 ltJaS 75 .l:.b4 .l:.h8 76 �g2 lt:\b7 77 .l:.bS .l:.a8 78 �gl .l:.aS 79 a4 .l:.a8 80 �g2 .l:.h8 81 .l:.b4 .l:.aS 82 .l:.e3 .l:.ha8 83 rt;;n ltJcS 84 .l:.a3 1;;d7 85 .l:.al 1;;e8 86 1;;e3 rj;;f7 87 nbS .l:.Sa7 88 .l:.b4 1;;g6 89 1;;e2 nhs 90 .l:.hl .l:.aa8 91 1;;e3 .l:.h6 92 h4 gxh4 93 gxh4 nah8 94 nbs .l:.xh4 95 nxh4 nxh4 96 aS bxaS Most of this lengthy sequence has been useful for Black to gain a massive lead in time. 97 .l:.xaS nh2 98 �dl .l:.b2 99 .l:.a7 .l:.b7 100 .l:.xb7 lt:\xb7 101 f4 lt:\cs 102 �c2 rt;; hs 103 �dl+ 'ifi>h4 104 fS 'iti>gS 105 �c2 g6 106 fxg6 1;;xg6 107 1;;e2 �gS 108 �0 �h4 109 1;;e3 1;;g3 1 1 0 �dl lt:\d7 1 1 1 ..tc2 lt:\b6 1 1 2 �d3 lt:\c8 1 13 �c2 lt:\e7 1 1 4 �a4 lt:\g6 1 1 5 �d7 lt:\f4 1 1 6 �fS lt:\g2+ 117 1;;d3 1;;f4 1 18 ..td7 lt:\h4

The rest is easy as Black can mop up is several ways. In the end it went to 172 moves which means they used an average of about 3 seconds a move and Fritz was down to 2 seconds when he was eventually mated. Paul commented after the game " 1 72 moves without a single tactic!".

1 06 Your Chess Questions A nswered

Now for a more interesting way to put Fritz in his place, as both the following examples make use of the sacrifice on h7 to force mate. The problem seems to be that the computer can only see so many moves ahead and when mate takes more than that number to execute, it can find itself having entered a catastrophic variation. On the contrary, humans can sense danger a mile off and are unlikely to allow a lethal sacrifice whether or not we can calculate it accurately to the end. However, you must be very careful when sacrificing against a computer, for if there is a defence you can bet your bottom dollar that it will find it ! All the games here took place in "blitz" conditions, and it is possible that Fritz would come up with some better calculations if given more time, but the general themes of course do not change.

7 ..ixh7+'it>xh7 8 lt::lg5+ 'it>g6 9 h4 ..ixc3+ 10 bxc3 'ii'e8 11 'ii'g4 f5 12 h5+ 'itth6 13 lt::lxe6+ 'itth7 14 'ii'xg7# 1-0 That is the "Greek Gift" sacrifice for those who have not seen it before. The point is that after 8 lt::lg5+ 'ittg 8 9 'ir'h5 is too strong. The next game is a similar theme of inevitable mate ahead.

Paul Lamford White Fritz 4 Black French Defence 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 lt::lc3 ..ib4 4 e5 c5 5 dxc5 'ilic7 6 lt::lf3 lt::le7 7 ..id3 lt::lec6 8 0-0 ..ixc3 9 bxc3 0-0 1 0 �e1 �d8 1 1 lt::ld4 'ii'aS Here 1 1 . . .lt::lx e5? fails to 12 lt::lb 5 'ii'xc5 13 �xe5 winning. 12 ..ig5 �e8 13 i.f6!

Paul Lamford White Fritz 4 Black French Defence 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 lt::lc3 ..ib4 4 e5 lt::le7 5 ..id3 0-0 6 lt::lf3 c5 13 ...lt::le7 1 3 . . . gxf6?? is the first move that Fritz rejected since 14 exf6 cannot be satisfactorily met i.e. a) 14 ... 'itth 8 1 5 'ii'h5 with mate on h7. b) 14 ...'ii'x c5? 1 5 'ii'g4+ 'it>h8 1 6 'fig?# 14 ..ixh7+ 'ittx h7 15 'ii'hS+ 'ittg8 16 �e3! 'ilixa2

Computers I 07

Fritz now analyses 1 6 . ..ltJg6 1 7 l:th3 ! gxf6 1 8 'ir'h7+ 'iti> f8 1 9 exf6 l:f.d8 20 'ir'h8+ lt:Jxh8 2 1 l:txh8# and so staves off mate for one more move. Again, a strange quirk that only a computer could carry out with such satisfaction. 17 l:f.xa2 lt:Jg6 18 l:th3 gxf6 19 exf6 l:f.d8 20 'ir'h7+ 'iti>f8 21 'ir'h8+! lt:Jxh8 22 l:f.xh8# 1-0 Kasparov stated that he could detect when he was up against a computer solely from the moves it made. He therefore disqualified a group of 4 competitors who were sharing one board in a London simultaneous in late 1 997 and accused them of cheating by having access to a machine. Let's hope he was correct or he is guilty of both slander and bad sportsmanship. Perhaps it was all too soon after his defeat by "Deeper Blue" and he was still seeing red. I now have to watch my questions at school chess clubs because when I enquire who is the world chess champion, it is difficult to explain why "Deeper Blue" is not the correct answer. The final game is back to the Bogo-Indian and a technical victory as Fritz was unable to see far enough ahead to realise that his rook was likely to be trapped after 23 l:th4.

Fritz 4 White Paul Lamford Black Bogo-Indian Defence 1 d4 lt:Jf6 2 c4 e6 3 lt:Jf3 ..tb4+ 4 ..td2 'ir'e7 5 g3 lt:Jc6 6 ..tg2 ..txd2+ 7 lt:Jbxd2 0-0 8 0-0 d6 9 l:f.c1 eS 10 d5 lt:Jb8

It can sometimes be fatal to lose time by moving pieces twice in the opening, but here in this blocked position tempi are not so important. Black is more than happy to have secured control of the c5-square and to have fixed his opponent's pawns on the same colour square as his remaining bishop. White has extra space but Black's position is very comfortable. 11 b4 aS 12 'ir'a4 b6 13 bS? lt:Jbd7 14 l:f.cd1 lt:Jcs 15 'ir'c2 g6 16 a3 ..trs 17 'ir'c3 a4 18 l:f.fe1 ..tc8 19 'i!i'e3 lt:Jfd7 20 lt:Je4 fS 21 lt:JxcS lt:JxcS 22 l:f.d4 'ir'f6 It is not wise to grab the rook since 22 ... exd4? leaves the black queen hanging on e7. 23 l:th4?! ..td7 24 l:f.d1 l:f.ae8 25 'ir'h6 'ir'g7 26 lt:JgS 'ir'xh6 27 l:txh6 l:f.e7 28 h4 ..te8 29 lt:Jf3? 'iti>g7

1 08 Your Chess Questions Answered

There goes the rook as a consequence of 6 moves earlier. However, this is not so much of a computer error as I have done similar things myself!

30 .l:r.xh7+ 'itr>xh7 31 li::lg5+ 'itr>g7 32 li::lf3 e4 and Black won in 7 1 moves. 0-1

12

Puzzles

I like unusual puzzles to solve-­ what different types are there? There is in fact a whole area devoted to chess problem solving and indeed composing. As we are supposed to be in a book devoted to chess playing, I will only graze this subject, but some people are immediately fascinated by this "alternative medicine". Let us examine the different types of puzzles. For convenience, White moves first unless stated otherwise. i) Checkmate in a certain number of moves. It will be written as "White mates in two" (or three etc.) The positions are totally unique and by tradition unlike ones that appear during a normal game. Let us take a mate in 2: the object of the exercise is to take a move, and whatever Black replies he will be mated on the following move (no. 2). For a mate in three, he will be mated on the third move etc. It may sound easy but the composer makes sure there are many red herrings and only one solution, which is always the most

unnatural looking move on the board. The best defence must always be assumed in these type of mates. The well known composer and solver, Brian Stephenson, once explained to me that the real beauty of these puzzles is that no piece is an accessory, but each one is there for a special reason and contributes to the beauty of the solution. It is time for an example and the following appeared in GM Jonathan Levitt's most entertaining and challenging book Genius in Chess. All the answers to the following puzzles can be found on pages 1 24-5.

Q26) White mates in two

1 1 0 Your Chess Questions Answered

Q2 7) White mates in three

The next example is helpmate in two and there are two solutions.

Q29) Black to move and help White mate him in two moves.

ii) Helpmates Helpmates are an interesting alternative. Black moves first and helps White deliver mate in a certain number of moves. In the following case it is a helpmate in 7.

Q28) Black helps White mate him in seven moves.

iii) Serieshelpmates Serieshelpmates are not as frightening as they sound. This time Black makes a series of moves to reach a position where White can play mate in one. I used to consider these as a waste of time (mainly because I couldn't solve them!) as they appear to differ violently from the basic rule of chess that players take turns to move. However, spotting checkmates in unusual situations is a fundamental key to improvement and therefore I think all these puzzles can in fact benefit one's chess overall.

Puzzles

The next is serieshelpmate in 10. Don't forget that Black must make ten moves in a row before White delivers the mate.

Q30) Serieshelpmate to the black king in ten moves.

Finally, the following example was used as an introduction to the Batsford Schools Problem Solving Championship.

Q31) White to play and mate in two moves.

As a clue, the first move does not threaten checkmate, but rather places Black in zugzwang as mate will follow each response.

Ill

Are puzzles beneficial? Sharpening up one's tactics is a sure way to improve. Certain mating patterns are repeated time and time again, but don't be put off if you cannot solve a mate in three, for example, because it is necessary to build up the amount of moves ahead you can see. Puzzles can be equally stimulating if they occurred in a real game or are simply made up to illustrate a point, but often involve a beautiful sacrifice. For the beginners I shall now include 6 mates in one move, increasing in difficulty, leading up to mates in three for the more advanced player. Beforehand, let us just go over the famous Philidor's mate which is always a joy to carry off. The following diagram is actually mate in 5 moves but the forcing nature of the moves makes it possible for anyone to work out as it is check with each white move.

1 �d5+ 1 �3+ leads to the same. l ...'it'h8

1 12 Your Chess Questions Answered

l . . .'iti>fE 2 'ir'f7 is mate. There are no alternative variations to analyse. 2 lL\ti+ 'it>g8 3 lLih6++ This is not an obvious move as we are taught to look for a piece to grab with a discovered check. For this reason many people would opt for 3 liJd6+, picking up the rook on e8. Even repeating the position and settling for perpetual check with 3 lLig5+ would tempt some players. After all, there is potential back rank mate threat from Black in this particular position. However, the key to this spectacular mate is to cover the g8-square as you will soon see ... 3 ...'it>h8 Again, 3 . . .'it>fE gives White an immediate mate. 4 'ir'g8+!! �xg8 The rook has to capture leaving the smothered mate open to White's remaining piece. S liJti mate

Q32) White to play and mate in o

Q33) White to play and mate i n o

Q34) White to play and mate in o

Mate in One. Unless it says otherwise, White shall move first in every puzzle and mate in one move. Answers on page 1 25 .

Puzzles 1 13

Q35) White to play and mate in one

Q38) White to play and mate in two

Q36) White to play and mate in one

Q39) White to play and mate in two

Q3 7) White to play and mate in one

Q40) White to play and mate in two

Mate in Two. In the following positions White mates in two moves.

1 1 4 Your Chess Questions Answered

Q41) White to play and mate in two

Q44) White to play and mate in three

Q42) White to play and mate in two Q45) White to play and mate in three

Q43) Black to play and mate in two Q46) Black to play and mate in three

Mate in Three. Now the object is to mate in three.

Puzzles 1 15

Q4 7) Black to play and mate in three

Q48) White to play and mate in three

Q49) White to play and mate in three

13

General Information

How is chess as a profession? Judging by the amount of professionals there are, it is possible to assume that there is a lot of money to go round, but the truth is actually far different. About 20 years ago it was enough to be an international master to make a decent living from chess playing. One could receive fees in tournaments and winning prizes. However, as sponsorship dried up and more international masters arrived on the scene, orgamzers became only interested m grandmasters. Soon afterwards the fall of the Iron Curtain saw a mass exodus of grandmasters from eastern Europe who were willing to play for smaller fees. Nowadays only GMs consistently above 2600 can expect to make a decent living at solely chess playing. However, on the plus side there are many opportunities for the average titled player. One can juggle teaching both in schools and privately with writing books and articles. However, this is little consolation to the players drawn to the life of tournaments and travelling. When I first appeared on the international tournament scene, I was quite shocked by the amount of

eastern European "gangs" who used to work in "company" and arrange games during a tournament in order to maximise the amount of prize money they would win between them. This was their "business" but one had to pity their efforts as they might resort to sleeping in cars or sharing 5 to a room to save money while waiting for the customary hotel to be provided by the organisers during the next tournament.

With the amount of books and the use of computers, surely all the games of chess have been worked out? This is a total misconception which is better fired at noughts and crosses or draughts ! As Graham Burgess states in his Mammoth Book of Chess, "There are far more possible games of chess than there are particles in the known universe, and the number of possible chess positions, although far fewer, is still astronomical". Since one of his friends, Dr. Nunn is one of the greatest mathematicians and chess players of all time, I feel extremely safe passing on this quote. I may have an immense library that would no doubt aid in beating 99% of the chess playing

General Information 1 1 7

community, but without a photographic memory it is not much use during a game. The top players commonly know theory to between 20 and 30 moves deep, but sometimes this is only to achieve equality with Black and then they are on their own. In all my thousands of games, only about 5 have been complete repetitions of previous games played. Either my opponent or myself fell prey to a trap that had already been published of which one of us was blissfully unaware. There are so many side-lines and obscure openings that are still to be tested and many forgotten moves that can be dug up to surprise the younger generation that we can never know all the possibilities in chess. The unknown territory of the computers is more worrying, but then again they only work if humans are there to plug them in.

Are there variations of chess for light amusement? Let me share some of the most popular: i) Flick chess. This is when you set up the pieces normally and White goes first. He flicks one of his own men, like in Subuteo, and tries to annihilate the enemy pieces by sending them flying. The winner is the one who knocks the opposition down first. Not to be tried in a, crowded chess club or at home. ii) Name a Piece. This is an entertaining exercise if one player is superior to the other. The stronger

player writes down secretly on a piece of paper the name of a piece which he intends to checkmate the opponent with. He can then only be declared the winner if he succeeds in this task. A checkmate with a queen when "bishop" is written on the paper is obviously no good. iii) Suicide chess. This time the winner is the person who loses all his pieces and if you can take something, you must. If there is a choice of two or three captures you may choose which piece to take and in this game the king is also captured. It is so popular amongst young people that opening sequences have been developed and it is the one time when I always lose to my pupils! iv) Progressive chess. This game can perhaps even benefit beginners (unlike the rest!) as it is vaguely similar to real chess. This time the players have one move each and then two moves each and so on. Check ends a sequence so if you are on 4 moves and give a check on move 2, you forfeit the right to your remaining two moves. The person to first deliver checkmate wins the game. Alternatively, White can commence the game by moving once, then Black has two moves, White has three and so on. Again, check will end a sequence. v) Exchange chess. This is a team game which can be played with many people but is easier to explain as two groups of two. You sit next to your partner, who has a different colour to you, and opposite your

1 18 Your Chess Questions Answered

opponent. Whenever a piece is captured on your board it is passed along to the partners and they will give you any of theirs. You are allowed to place this extra material on your board, but the rules normally disallow you to put them on with checkmate. It 1s an interesting, but much more aggressive version if the pieces are allowed to come on the board giving check, but obviously the rules have to be established before the battle begins. The team wins who first delivers checkmate on one of the boards.

What is Postal Chess? Although have never got involved in postal chess, it opens a whole new area to many players. There are separate titles and ratings in this field and I have heard that it is unusual to excel in both over the board and postal chess. The idea is to spend a couple of days replying to each move and access to books is permitted which often leads to obscure and tactical variations being tried. I have no idea whether computers are influencing the postal chess scene, but the temptation for a weak player to plug in the "board" must be difficult to resist. As you can imagine, tournaments take years rather than days to complete, but friendly postal games can be an interesting way of keeping in touch with a chess playing friend. There are also some strange stories: I heard that one man managed not to have to buy a new stamp for a year since he constantly readdressed the envelope for his

reply. Eventually his opponent complained and said that he should share in the costs as it is the window envelope that should be re-used and not the stamp! Another incident occurred when a university player told his girlfriend to enter the British Women's Postal Chess Championships and then he promptly won it for her. They confessed rather than accept the trophy, but it does highlight the difficulties to enforce rules. And what if the letter gets lost in the post? (Happens to the tax man all the time!).

Is there chess on the Internet? What isn't on the Internet? Yes, it is possible to play chess on the Internet, receive tournament latest the information and grandmaster games if you so desire. There are two excellent chess sites that I use: i) The New In Chess site: http://nic.net4U .nl Chess Cafe ii) site: http://www .chesscafe.com and both will give you more information on other sites, the latter being under the "Links" section. A recent advert was recently drawn to my attention that may also prove useful. F.I.C.S. stands for Free Internet Chess Server under http://www . freechess.org and was set up by chess enthusiasts in 1 995 who wished to create a free service for people to play and access information 24 hours a day. The Internet chess club is proving to be a real time consumer for chess

General Information I I 9

enthusiasts. Games are played every day and ratings are updated immediately. Time limits range from three minutes each for the whole game to a couple of days per move. The idea is that you challenge other users and one aspect seems to be to try and guess the identity of some of the strange names with massive ratings. Apparently Kasparov was one of the users and anonymous grandmasters regularly spend some spare hours at the site.

In fact it was Wilhelm Steinitz who became the first world champion and held the post from 1 886- 1 894. The Championship cycle was not structured as we know it today, but rather players had to challenge each other until the powers that be were satisfied that there was no-one else in the picture. The second world champion, Emanuel Lasker, was crowned in 1 894 on defeating Steinitz and holds the longest reign to date at a length of 27 years. It was the Cuban, Jose Raoul who eventually Who are the past World Capablanca, dethroned the ageing Lasker in 1921 Champions? and held the title until 1 927 when I have to admit that I am asking the determined Alexander Alekhine this as much for my benefit as realised his ambition. Alekhine was well known for his inexhaustible yours. I was once on a train returning energy for travelling and blindfold an important simultaneous displays, and he did home after International Open in Hastings and a not let the major setback of a pleasant man began asking me how surprise defeat for the world title by I had got on in the tournament. I the Dutchman Dr Max Euwe in replied and felt a bit guilty that I 1935 put him off as he regained the didn't recognize him. Perhaps he title two years later, and this time was playing in one of the lower held it until his premature death in events, so I enquired politely in 1 946. The World Chess Federation which section he had participated. Embarrassingly, it transpired he had organised a match to determine won the Open, was a famous Alekhine's successor and by now International Master and in future I the Soviet Union was dominating vowed to take a bit more of an the chess scene. Mikhail Botvinnik interest in the chess world as a was awarded the title in 1 948 and whole, rather than just my own after fighting off a couple of challenges from fellow Soviets games ! Paul Morphy l ived from 1 837-84 during his reign, he succumbed to and is regarded as one of the most Smyslov in 1 957, only to regain the talented players of all time as he title the following year. Following the same trend, the influenced the chess world greatly with his attacking style. Had there tactician Latvian Mikhail Tal was to been a World Championship title at rob Botvinnik of his crown in 1 960 the time, the crown would have only to find the mighty Botvinnik bounce back with a vengeance the belonged to Morphy. ·

120 Your Chess Questions Answered

very next year. It was the Armenian, Tigran Petrosian who finally disposed of Botvinnik for good in 1 963 . Boris Spassky was tipped as the tenth world champion, but failed to deliver against Petrosian until 1969. Spassky was a popular figure to head the chess world and regarded as an accomplished player, but his passion for tennis and lack of devotion for chess should have been a sign of things to come. By now there were knock-out tournaments to determine who should challenge the World Champion and Spassky was set to face the first post-war western challenge. This came from the American Bobby Fischer in Reykjavik in 1 972. If the Russians minded that the match was outside Moscow and the prize money was ridiculously more than what they were used to supplying, it was nothing compared to the outrage that must have been felt as Fischer crushed Spassk)r. Despite Fischer defaulting a challenge match in 1 975 against Karpov, international interest in chess grew to record proportions. Nowadays Iceland has the greatest number of grandmasters per capita thanks to the intrigue of the infamous match in its capital city. Karpov held his title until 1 985 when it was time for 22 year old Garry Kasparov to come storming onto the scene as the youngest title holder. He is still the present day champion and highest rated player, despite political scrapes with the world body of chess who nominally stripped him of his title a few years ago.

Who are the big names on the scene today? It can be confusing when arriving on the chess scene to know who is who and frustrating to hear names that mean nothing. I will try to fill you in on some of the strongest players in the world today and characters that hold a lot of influence. Garry Kasparov, the World champion, is currently rated 2825 and at only 35 years of age, he could have enough energy to remain at the heights for at least another decade. His distractions include being outspoken in politics and an avid sportsman. Despite the fact that he took Russian nationality it is largely believed that the Russian chess federation was never I 00% behind the World Champion due to his Jewish roots and birthplace Baku (Azerbaidjan). In his excellent autobiography Child of Change Kasparov is frank about the way he was treated unfairly by the authorities. It was therefore hardly surprising in 1 993 when Kasparov and other players formed a breakaway group from FIDE (Federation Internationale des called the Echecs) PCA (Professional Chess Association). Kasparov had never forgiven Campomanes, the head of FIDE for prematurely ending the World Championship match between himself and Karpov in 1 985. Karpov was suffering from exhaustion and the rules were conveniently changed in order to give him a chance to recover. Kasparov clearly believed the

General Information 121

Russian Federation and Campomanes to be working together against him and at the time the whole incident was shrouded in mystery. As we know, Kasparov eventually won the encounter, but not until after a lot of bitter accusations and a rescheduling of the match. The battle between FIDE and the PCA was fierce with both groups claiming to have the authority to crown a World Champion. FIDE and the PCA. have now come together to amalgamate their agendas of separate world championships that created chaos for some time. FIDE stubbornly announced Karpov as World Champion in February 1 998, although no-one in the chess world took the news seriously. It could only be good news that Campomanes was concluding his term of office m 1 995 but unfortunately the new President who took over is just as controversial. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is not only President of FIDE but also President of Kalmykia, a remote Russian Republic hidden away m the Russian Steppes. The Chess Olympiads, which take place every two years, was held there at the end of 1 998 in the capital Elista, but there was a lot of dissent and calls for countries to boycott the event. The claims are that Kirsan, by robbing his impoverished citizens of their rightful wealth, has much money to throw around. It is true that he has already contributed a lot of prize money to chess tournaments. In mid- 1 998 rumours that Kirsan was no more than a

violent dictator were fuelled by the murder of the editor of the opposition newspaper. The uncertainty of the Olympic village that was still being built while the competitors anived did not help his reputation. However, eventually the event was staged successfully and it no doubt aided the President's ambitions. Anatoly Karpov, the slight Russian and previous World Champion has slipped to sixth in the January 1998 rating list while the biggest challenge to Kasparov is likely to come from the youthful Vladimir Russian Kramnik, currently ranked second in the world. Viswanathan Anand from India achieved fame in 1995 by being Kasparov's challenger for the World Championship and at 28 has an excellent future as a popular and practical player. Despite Anand clinching the first win after 8 draws in his tussle with Kasparov, he failed to score another victory and went down with a creditable 7- 1 0 score. The fact that Anand i s the only player in the top 1 4 who did not originate from Eastern Europe already ensures him plenty of support among the chess playing public. It is actually rather confusing to know who originates from where, because since the fall of the Iron Curtain there has been a mass exodus of Russians to the West. For example, Gata Kamsky acquired U.S. citizenship and represented America for a few years but then famously gave up chess at the height of his career at no. 7 in the world to pursue a medical career.

122 Your Chess Questions A nswered

Also in the top ten, Latvian Alexei Shirov took advantage of the opportunity to play under the Spanish flag and move to a warmer climate. The most famous case was when Victor Korchnoi defected to Switzerland in the 1 970s. However, the gentle giant, Arthur Yusupov set the recent trend by recelVmg German nationality in the early 1990s, but this was more motivated by the fact that he was robbed and shot in the stomach at his flat in Moscow, rather than simply seeking a more prosperous life in western Europe. Alexander Beliavsky, Alex Yermolinsky and Mikhail Gurevich are three further well known Russian names high on the rating list who are now residing in and representing Slovenia, America and Belgium Other respectively. grandmasters live abroad, obtain a new passport but still play for their country of birth. It is becoming more and more unusual for a national team to consist of pure patriots, and England is definitely one of the only countries m western Europe (perhaps because of strict immigration laws and lack of high class chess events) that can boast a true English team. Nigel Short has led the way in British chess for a decade but is now joined by Michael Adams and Matthew Sadler in the World's top 30, with Luke McShane following in their footsteps with a grandmaster norm at the tender age of 15. Women's chess is very different with only one female, the young Hungarian Judith Polgar (recently

she took Israeli citizenship!), rated amongst the World's top 1 00 men. In fact the trio of Polgar sisters revolutionized the chess scene for women as they emerged one · at a time, ready to do battle with men, which was virtually unheard of just over a decade ago. Previously the strongest women tended to participate in female only tournaments and the separate rating list was headed by the Georgian Women's World Champion Maia Chiburdanidze. It was the oldest sister, Zsusza who took the title away from Russian and Georgian domination and is the current holder today, despite a temporary seizing in between by the talented Chinese player Xie Jun. About a decade ago, it was felt that the women' s rating list had suffered deflation compared to the men's list and somehow FIDE was persuaded to amalgamate the two separate lists, add I 00 Elo points to every women except Zsusza Polgar who clearly played against men, thus causing Chiburdanidze to re-emerge as no. l . on the rating list. Of course these ratings did not last long, but was an annoying example of FIDE bowing to pressure from its Soviet Union delegation. Even the middle sister, Sofia, who never struck me as being particularly obsessed with chess is with her Hungarian sisters in the top ten female list, and with two Chinese and two Georgians featured in the top ten, the battle for supremacy is definitely between those three countries. However, in the Olympiads, only once did all three sisters compete under the

General Information 123

Hungarian flag for the Women's gold medals. Normally it is left to Sophia and other talents to represent

Hungary, while Judith and Zsusza make up part of the larger 6-man team in the "Open" Olympiads.

14

Answers

Ql) No, the pawn cannot move as the bishop would be putting the king into check Q2) Yes, with .. .'iVxf6 . . Q3J 1 ..tn . Q4) l .. .'ii'x f8. Q5) checkmate. Q6) No, White cannot castle kingside due to the bishop covering the fl -square (it is not possible to castle through check) and cannot castle queenside due to the rook on d8. Q7) Yes, White can castle either side. Q8) 1 ltJf7+ wins the queen. Q9) 1 'ii'xc8 'ii'xc8 2 ltJe7+ nets a rook.

QI4) No, 1 l:txf7+ e6 wins a piece.) 1 l:tb5 attacks two .bishops simultaneously. Ql6) 1 . . . i.b7+ picks up the rook on f3 . Ql 7) l . . .'ii'a 1 + 2 'it>b3 'ifb l + wins the queen. QI8) 1 l:tb5+. Ql9) 1 ..td4. Q20) No, l . . .'ii'xe4 is too greedy on account of2 l:te l . Q2 1) 1 e5. Q22) 1 h4! Q23) 1 'ii'd8+! ! xd8 2 ..tg5+ 'iti>f8 3 l:td8 mate. Q24) 1 ltJc6++ (double check) Q25) 1 ..txf7+ e7 2 ltJd5 mate.

QIO) l ..td4+ Ql l) 1 ..tc4. Don't forget that the black rook on d5 cannot move. Q 12) 1 ' 'ii'b 3+ picks up the loose rook on c2. Q13) 1 d5 attacks two pieces.

Q26) 1 'ii'd5+! ! and now: i) l . ....txd5 2 ltJxd3 mate ii) 1 . . .-l:txdS 2 ltJe4 mate iii) l .. .xd5 2 l:tb5 mate. Q2 7) 1 l:tb8+! (the red herring 1 l:th 1 allows Black to escape with 1 .. .0-0-0) l . . .l:txb8 (the alternative

126 Your Chess Questions Answered

l .. ..i.xb8 2 l:txa8 'it>f8 3 l:txb8 is mate) 2 l:th I ..td4 3 l:th8 mate.

Q3 7) I 'ii'xg6 mate. Q38) 1 l:th l + �g8 2 l:th8 mate.

Q28) I .. .'it>b2 2 f4 'it>c3 3 f5 �d4 4 f6 'it>e5 5 fl 'it>f6 6 'it>e8 'it>g7 7 lt:\g5 �h8 8 f8=1i". A total of 7 moves each have taken place. Q29) l . . ...tf2 2 ..te5 'it>e3 .i.c3 mate or l . ....tb4 2 l:te5 'it>c3 3 l:te2 mate.

Q39) 1 'ii'xc6+! bxc6 2 .i.a6 mate. Q40) mate. Q41)

I

I

1i"xh7+! 'it>xh7 2 l:th3

'ii'g8+ ! l:txg8 2 lLlf7 mate.

Q42) I l:th6+ ! xh6 2 l:th8 mate. Q30) 1 a5 2 a4 3 a3 4 a2 5 a i B (promote to a bishop) 6 ..td4 7 ..tb6 8 'it>b7 9 'it>a8 1 0 ..ta7 ..tf3 mate. Q3 1) 1 1Wb7 and now: i) l . ..l:tcxb7 2 l:tc l mate ii) l . . .l:tbxb7 2 l:th6 mate iii) l .. .lLlxd3 2 1i"xf3 mate iv) l . . .l:txc4 2 1i"h7 mate v) l . . .l:tb2 2 l:th6 mate vi) l . ..l:txg6 2 1rh 1 mate.

Q43) I ...'ii'x g3+! 2 hxg3 i.xg3 mate. Q44) 1 1i"xh7+! lt:lxh7 2 l:txh7+ 'it>f8 3 lt:\g6 mate. Q45) 1 1i"a8+ 'it>h7 2 'iih8+ ! lt:\xh8 3 l:tg7 mate. Q46) l ...lt:lfl + 2 'it>h1 'ii'h 2+! 3 lt:lxh2 lt:\g3 mate.

Q32) I iVfl mate. Q33)

I

l:th8 mate.

Q34) I lt:\g6 mate. Q35) 1 l:th7 mate. Q36)

I

1i"h8 mate.

Q47) l . ..lt:ld3+! 2 exd3 1i"xg3+ 3 'it>e2 lt:ld4 mate. Q48) 1 l:txh6+! 'ifxh6 2 'ifxh6+ ..txh6 3 l:th7 mate. Q49) 1 lt:le7+ �h8 2 'iVxh7+!