Train Like a Grandmaster

LIBRARY T H E C L U BP L A Y E R ' S

Trainlikea Grandmaster ALEXANDER KOTOV Translatedby BernardCafferty

B.T. Batsford Ltd, London

Firstpubtished 1981 Reprinted 1984,1986,1990 Kotov,1981 @ Alexander ISBN0 713436093 (limp) Typesetby W.Turner & SonLimited, Halifax andPrintedin GreatBritainby Billing & SonsLtd,Worcester forthepublishers B. T. Batsford Limited 4 Fitzhardinge Street,LondonW1H OAH

A BATSFORD CHESSBOOK Adviser:GM R.D.KeeneOBE TechnicalEditor:lan Kingston

Contents

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

SymbolsandAcknowledgements Preface A littlehistory Howthe Openingis Studied Objectivity in the Ending Competitive or Creative Element? Studyingthe MiddleGame Annotating Games A Philosophy of Chess Schoolsof Chess Botvinnik's ChessSchool Kart'sChessSchool Karseladze's ChessSchool Withouta School

6 7 9 1' ] 24 za 41

63 68 70 84 102 112 117

_=!l-F'-F_

Symbols

Preface

+

'What a strangestateof aifairsyou have in chessnowadays; a friendof mine.Hedoesnot knowthefinerpointsof the remarked Defence,but he takes note of all the resultsof Indian Kings and matches. tournaments 'Whatdo you havein mind?' 'AlmosteveryVearthereare reportsaboutthe emergence oTa the Yugoslavia, Britain, In Moscow, talent. chess outstanding new USAl 'lt'sthe naturalprogression of the generationsl 'Progression! Matchesfor overa decade in the Candidates' Yet have almostalwaysbeenthe world title for the challengers theeig6t'old selfsame men" 'WhataboutKarpov?' 'Karpovhasbeenchampion Wherearethe for fiveyearsalready. series of 1965 Candidates' to the young Compared talents? other in the 1980 serieshasgoneup of the challengers the averageage youngerthanthirty,yet by almosttwo years.Thereis no challenger andsomeof fifty-one, is already o; theotherhandTigranPetrosian ' . . half century. getting to their close the othersare 'lt sometimes thatway haPPens 'sometimeslThenagain YefimGellerat the age of fifty-four outplaysall the youngmenand takesthe goldmedalin the 1979 - anotherexample to youthi SovietChamoionship thistopic.and laterI reflecteda greatdealtryingto We discussed of many whichtroublesthe chessorganisations answera question countries.Aecentlyin Moscowtherewasa gatheringof experienced grandmastersand young talentedplayers.There were notes of alarm soundedin the speechesof famouschessexpertssucfi as Taimanovand-othersEven grandmasters Smyslov,Polugayevsky, We in an articleby Petrosian claimswereexpressed 5arlier, serious we can here but later, thoughts his interesting shallget to know lor me givea resum6:'lt is easyto playagainstthe youngplayers; theyarean openbooki What are the reasonsfor the slowingdown in the development

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Check Goodmove Very strongmove Doubtfulmove Blunder Whiteto move Blackto move

Acknowledgements NOTE:Some minor corrections were made to the text at editonat sf€ge- R.G.W.

-.-....-tr-

I

Preface

of younggrandmasters both in our countryand in others?The authorcameto the conclusion that an answercan onlv be oiven aftera carefulanalysis of the presentstateof chesstheory.Ho-wdo we play?Whatis the foundation of modernchess? What plavsthe leading rolein our creative efforts?Whatarethe chiefprinciples of modernchesstheory? My latefriendand trainer,grandmaster Simagin,usedto stress the needto discussthe philosophy of presentdav chess,how for example \^€ regardthe advantage of Whjtemovingfirst,whatare the mainguidelinesfor our research work. Theauthorhasto overcome somediffidence in tacklinothismost difficulttopic,in tryingto filla gap left by theoreticians: I console myselfwith the thoughtthatthe traveller who penetrates the thick forestmayhavea sadfate,but no worsethanthat of the irresolute who hesitate at thefirstclearing In examining thecurrentstateof chessthe authorhasno choice but to copewith anothertask- to talkaboutmodernmethodsof chesscoaching,and naturallyof the modernSovietSchoolof Chess. lt canhardlybedeniedthatmodernchessisto a considerable extentSovietchess.By a carefulexamination of chesscoachinqin the USSRthe Westernplayercan learna lot,and useit in hisoiwn attemptsto improve.For examplehow usefulit is to become famlliar with the organisation and teachingmethodsof Botvinnik's famousschool,the SovietTV schoolandothers. Thuswe getthe mainaimof thisbook: To describethe featuresof the modernattitudeto chess,as largelyworked out by the Soviet School,to try and revealtne philosophy of modernchess,andto indicate howchessisstudiedrn the strongest of the Schoolsof Chess- the SovietSchool. ln the lightof thistheauthorhasdividedthe bookintotwo basrc parts: 1 How chess theory is studied. 2 Chess schools in the Soviet Union.

1

A littlehistory

who devotetheirtimeto the greatandancientgame Chessplayers The firstsimplyplayin can be dividedinto two basiccategories. to theirstrength.The secondtry to find appropnate tournaments sensein chess,to createchesstheory,whichin somephilosophical The first becomeworld our dayshasbecomea genuinescience. the winnersof top tourchampionsand leadinggrandmasters, Thesecondwritebookson thetheoryof thethreestages naments. and f igurescombinebothactivities leadirig of the game.Sometimes personin the worldof chess. thenwe getan outstanding by of chesstheorywerediscovered Thefirst guidingprinciples the inventorsof openingsand gambits.Amongsttheseprinciples is the simplestone: bring out your pieces the best established quickly,seizefie centreand go for the enemyking with all your forces.Such 'blitzkrieg'aimsare servedby the EvansGambit,the the DanishGambit,the KingsGambitand others.Evennowadays area cornerseizureof the centreand speedypiecedevelopment stoneof modernstrategy. postulate to yetanotherimportant And16Philidor drewattention 'Thepawnisthe soulof chess'he stated,andeverybody concurred centrepawn in devotingcarefulstudyto pawnchains,the isolated pawns. of a groupof andtheweakness A significantevent in the developmentof theory was the teachingof WilhelmSteinitzwith his stresson avoidingweak and of temporary.slightadvantages squares,the accumulation into permanentones. With the arrivalof their transformation theorybecamea realforce;hewasthe onewho originated Steinitz to chesswhichis now so welldeveloped. aooroach the scientrfic The proponentsof Steinitz'stheory - Tarraschand his teachingin the form of supporters- tried to expressSteinitz's theywenttoo far. in suchcases, laconicrules,andasoftenhappens and chess beganto lose dogmatic, The laconictendedto become andcharm. itsfreshness, originality Theyoungof that timeroseup againstthis.In the earlypartof and R6tiin theirpolemicbooksand the 20th centuryNimzowitsch

10

A little history

articlesand Alekhinein his practicalplaystartedpropagandising moreand morethe creativeprinciples to be foundevenearlierin the gamesof Chigorin. Theirmainpostulates were:Getawayfrom dogma,playinventively, evenoriginally, andas Blackdo not go for equality, astheTarrasch schooltaught,but fromthefirstmovestry to createyourown planof counterplay.Theseaims,an immediate counterattackby pieceson a seemingly pawncentre, impregnable were servedby the inventionof their openings- the Alekhine Defence, the Gr0nfeldDefence, the Nimzowitsch Defenceand so on. Morethan halfa centuryhasgoneby sincethe appearance of R6ti'sModern ldeas in Chessand Nimzowitsch'sMy Systemin whichthe principles of theseinnovators are laiddown (theycalled themselves the hypermoderns). Sincethenchesshasgrownintoa massively-popular artandthenumberof chessbooksandmagazines in the variouslanguages of the worldcannotbe counted.Yetyou will look in vain on the bookshelves for a work devotedto qeneral questionsof chessdevelopment. for an accountof thd main postulatesof modern chessthought. The bookshelves are piled high insteadwith bookson the openings, tournamentbooksand biographies of the greatplayers. In thisbookwe try to dealwith a numberof importantpointsof modern chesstheory. What is chessnowadays?How is theory studiedby a leading school? Howaremodernviewson thisancient gameformed?The readerwill alsolearnhow a generaltheoryof chessdevelopsand how the theoryof the threestagesof the game is studiedin the SovietUnion.

2

H o w t h e O p e n i n gi s S t u d i e d

playthe first stageof the game? How do presentday grandmasters What principlesdo they follow?lf we can answerthesequestlons allmoderntheory. in understanding we shallmakerealprogress moveChessexpertswho first of the all the advantage Firstof are seemto allegethatWhitehasno advanbgein theinitialposition sportsthe startingsidenearlyalwavs wrong.Evenin quick-moving the rightto evenif veryslight- for example hass6meadvantage, lt ls always In chess hockey. in off to bully serveat tennis,or preferable to be White.The questionthen ariseswhat sort.of the strategicplanBlackshouldchoosein an attemptto neutrallse right "lt to movefirst and to seizethe initiative. standsto reasonthatthe methodsof playfor Whiteand Black in the initialoositionare different,so we shallconsiderthem separately. White in the mlnd Threemaincurrentsof thoughtmaybe distinguished playingWhitein a tournament-.game: of a moderngrandmaster ol lrrstmove of theadvantage 1)Themethodof quietmaintenance strike. swift 2) The methodof the 'coiled spring: 3) Themethodof the doesnothaveto winat allcostshe 1) In caseswhena grandmaster tendsto avoidsharalinesin the openingandsticksio clearsensible lines.Thismethodis alsoadoptedwhenthe opponentis a definite to'keep him in protagonist of sharpplayand it is advantageous check: of quletplayareobvious- pawnexcnanges' Thecharacteristics White'saimis simple- the the formationof rigidpawnstructures. of th-oseadmittedlysllghtbenefitsconferredby the maintenance natureof chessin beingWhite.lam not aimingfor too much,but what I haveI hold is White'smotto as t were of the of suchplaywith Whiteare manyformations Examples (Diagram 1), the Declined Gambit Oueen's of ihe variation Carlsbad

12

White 13

How the Openingis Studied

SlavDefence, the Caro-Kann andso on.

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2) A sharpcomparisonis providedby the methodof the swift strike,of brisk'cavalry raidslThismethodtoo waswidelvadopted in the old days,and keepsits placenowadays. Who will express surprisenowadays at the sharppawnadvanceg2-94-g5and even on to 96?lt occursin the SicilianDefence1 e4 c5 2 lf3 d6 3 d4 cd 4 axd4lf6 5 lc3 e6 6 s4!?

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?) Jl ,)." e 4'11 5 .'jxx e 4 66 N > e4 6 fe :\ x c6 lt worrldbe evenworseto play 15 carlrlot klng pressure whlleBlack's fi o Lal and f7 comesL,rlder qo f,*av irom the cerltreTherewouldalsobe anotl"er'srmpler' move 16 i"u" oi tLtrt,'to 15 . . a,re4, namelythe intermediate "ormation' collapse would cb when Black;s

16 Axf6+ sf 17 -Sd3! 23

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itseligfjl:Tir',.g iia" aiewejkanda bi'nopestablishes una'on demands and The static black Pawn massin the cerltreis useless

26

Objectivityin the Ending

constantdefence.Karpovmakesthe simpleaccurateolan of simplifying theposition furtherintoan endjngwheretheweaknesses oecomemoreaooarent. 17 . . . O-O.O 18 trhdl gc7 19 c3 h5 20 AfSt Threatening rookto the seventh.Blackhaslo concedea fresh - the retreatof his knightto the very edgeof the disadvantage board. 20 . . . Hxd221 E xd2 Ab8 22 h4 Ah6 23 Axh6 tr xh6

24

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ry ry%%"/.& & %^% & 'H, "/zft

Summingup the resultsachievedby White in strivingfor rne endingfrommove13 onwardswe noteBlack,s fixedpawi massin the centreandWhite'sg-sidemajoritywhichhe isaboutto exploit. MeanwhileBlack'spiecesare badlyplacedand Karpovforcesa win. ouack 24-a4 flh8 25 b4 bG 26 bb trg8 27 @c2 abS 28 ab5 fie8 _ 29 c4 1-O. Transpositionto the middlegamefrom the opening AS Kan remarkedIn his book From the Openingto the Middte Gamea playernormallystrivesto create niiaOte'gamepositions which suit his personaltastesand style,but sincethe opponent fights. againstthrsit is not alwayspossible to getone,sway andir ts usetutto havereseTve objectives if the opponentavoidswhat one hasin mindor considers themainline. to playthetransitional phaseis highlyrated , Thatiswhy theabilrty by specialists. Botvinnikcommented on hisopponentin the 1951 worldtitlematchthatin thetransition fromopeningto middlegame Bronstein hadno equal. sightwhena playerstartsto presson the $-srde . It is a hopeless In tne mtddlegamewherthrswholeconductol the openinqhas beendtrected towardsburldirrg up hisforceson theopposire sideot the board.Thissoundsexaggerated. butit givesan ideaof whatthe player's taskis at the momentof transition. ln the middlegamehe mustfollowup and builduponthosefeatures whichhave"evolved In the opening,he must be absolutely consistent and accuratein usinghis plusses and denyinghis opponentthe chanceto exploit nrsmtnuses.

Transpositionto the middtegame from the opening

27

Theanswermust-again How doesone studysuchconsistency? of one's good andanalysis notes games with of examination bethe own oamesfromthisPointof view. the stage No-wthe timehascometo dealwith the middlegame, place The takes part the struggle of important wnen the most a will Include This of chess the theory is middlegame the of theorv USSR' in the that hasbeencarriedout i"iiript'o'i of the re5earch from a correct Firsthoweverwe haveto mentloncertaindeviations players certaln by made mistakes the of o{ chess, understanding these indicated Having general approach. in their retiss *ho ar" to will lead path which errors rt will be easierto-depictthe correct of chess' the art progressand a freshfloweringof

7 Competitive or Creative Element?

29

David Bronstetnwrites that he has to state that the sporting of everythingelse -F\€rv in modern chessis choklngthe li{eout -a.i,eni papers dav I qo down to the grol,nd floor and collectthe l-find when day letter ""i 'i-r"q"ii;'l"Jtrommy mail b6x lt is a red '64'

4

Competitive o r C r e a t i v eE l e m e n t?

We startwith a quotation from petrosian. I admitthat I choosehrm particularly because this calmand solidplayercannotpossiblybe regarded asa playerof thesharply-combinative, Tal-like, sort.As he once commentedof the criticswho examinedhis sportinoand creative achievements They knockme for my draws.tbr my"styte, theyknockme for everything I do: Well player then this who was woridchampion for sixyearswho . hasnot lost his hopesof winningbackthe tiflewrote i; 1g7g as follows: tendencyin modernchessis the predominance of . A noticeable the sportingelementoverthe creative. Thefactthat nowadays the resultts more imporiantthan the contentis our misfortune, a misfortunewhich the indiscriminating publicapplauds.I cannot thinkthata playergenuinely lo\argthe gamecan get pleasure just Tromme numberot porntsscoredno matterhow impressive the total.I wili not speakof myself,but for the mastersof the older generation, from whosegameswe learned, the aesthetic sidewas the mostimportant. Theytoo wantedto win, but they didn,tiust thilrkabouthow to win a game.bur how to win it worthity. .. When I startedmy careerthereweTefar fewer chessplayers thannowadays.Nobodywent jnto chessfor the sakeof woilory benefits. Nowadays chesshasbecomea popularactivity, whichhas led not onlyto a devaluation of tjfles,but alsoto a proiessionalism of no greatqualrty. Chessis goingthrougha difficultperiod.Onthe onenar]dtt hasreached a hrghlevel,on theotherit hasgivennseto a coldpragmatism. Peoplehaveto learnto distingursh r6alart from a s!bstitutefor it, Todisringuish creativitV trom hack_work. And it is notjustwordsyou . t-rettystrongwordsfrom Petrosian! hear,.dear.reader, buta cry fromthe heartof a manwho hasgiven hrswholelifeto theart. Youmightthinkthatthiswastheopinionof oneman,andthat othersdon'tagree.Yetthe factis thatsuchcallsto rid ourselves of heartless professionalism can be heardfrom many authorrtatjve grandmasters. Letusquoteiustone.

or the rrewspaper I ini" ir,Z:ut".aissueol a chessmagazrne the chessrtemsYordessertl pers leaw pa and reialniorgh tne other the latestgamesin the at look and out set chess i1"*'f o"i.v orlceI me urilou.1n".r'tources Thosewhich interest especially on in detail through worked are ni"" }e.4 through'themmentally the " chessboard Y;f;hui. sadstateof affairsappliesnow ln recentyearsferver and {ewer qamesreallycatch my attentionGamestrom even in deepstrategvand logic'and rt is Iirono iounir."nts arelackirrg combrrratlor'ls deeplVcalculated find to a uer\, ,a.e occurrence play precedlng the aI by 'orepared to atterrtiolr in" o,uqruntirtihe chesi pressdraw the reader's illustrations are impte tacticalstrokesandsometimes iust mistat<ei, of - ratherboring PlaY. "irr Tnlrr again an attempt to keep up ,the ,reader'sir'lterest askingthe readerto tlnd aor"ho*ih"r" *ill be a pageof dragrams aTe numberthe answeTs next wayto victoryln the a combinational our in early time played some game was i uu'l.lno,".tingthit the evenir'lthe 1gth sometimes 6enturv, -At timesyoucanlookthrough N&"r. tina booksandmagazines of aiournamentandstillnotfindanything *noie out". coitections ;"li ittractive,or realart Lookthrough'.forexample' il;i;."r;;;id bookChessis Chess of recentyearsor Matanovi6's -ii lr|eInformators the best of recent as games regarded of a iollection *nilf, w[n comblnatrons EventhereyouwillrarelycomeacToss decades. finale. a sparkling ts grvenby genuineworksof art, Who Yet how muchpleasure Dlows bVthe serils-ofcomblnatlve delighted to be couldnot fail Skople,1976 playedin Reshevsky-Vaganian.

25

/t^7./t &.t h'',.//.tl&z:./..'.: /.///ti7, ',/:/'2,,,

.,& tfu "",/,

:,'zl:tA7lD& 7,2,/,D"/./2t.& Y

1 4 . . . e 5 ! 1 5 f x e s ,-,a> es-r o a > .s Ah4 + !! 17-32 h4 ol the open BXf3 18 Ef1 g'b4+ fiith energeticexploitation positionof the enemyking.

--

30

Competitiveor CreativeElement?

19 1[f4 $e7+ 2O1f,g5ge6l21 Afs E xfs andWhitesoon gaveup the hopeless struggle. How muchpraisethe playerfrom Erevanheardfor this game, possiblymuch more praisethan for winning an international tournament of average strength.Yes,it is pleasant to playthrough sucha combination, but how rarelyonecannowadays. Thatiswhy we arehearingmoreand morethe commentof expertsthatchess nowadays is losingits creativecontent,that few consistent games are beingplayed,that deeplycalculated impressive sacrifices and combinations arerare. As V.Baturinskywrote in Pravda just before the start of the 'Theparticipants 1979 Spartakiad of the Spartakiad will takenote of the criticalcomments, addressed in particular at someyounger masters,aboutexcessive pragmatism which impoverishes chess. They will play gameswhich will give aestheticsatisfaction to connoisseurs o{ the ancientgamel An Attempt at Analysis Before trying to determinethe reasonfor a certain creatrve deterioration in modernchesswe haveto formulatean accurate definition of chess.lt has long beenheldin the chessworld that chessis a game,a science and an art. Chesscontestscan be very sharpandtheircompetitive naturecannotbe denied. In orderto provethe scientific aspects of chessit is sufficient to bear in mind how many bookson chesstheory are publisheo throughoutthe world,how manymagazines thereare in various languages. Art is inextricably linkedwiththe production of worksof art whichremainin the memoryof mankindfor centurjes. ls it not 'Evergreen the casethat Anderssen's Game'againstKiezeritsky contrnues to enthusethe modernchessfan? One must be fair and admitthat the variousaspectsof chess attractvaryingcontingents of fans,both in quantityand quality. Comparatively few peoplego in for chessscience; as an art chess has more recognition.Yet it is the competiti\€side which attracts peoplein their millions.lt is sufficientto rememberthe interesr generated throughoutthe world by the recentworldtiflematchin Baguio, evenamongstthosewho don'tevenknowwhatthe Kino,a cahbit is. So the three aspectsof chessdraw supportersin unequal number,but doesit followfrom this that we haveto judgeihe worth of eachaspecton numerical criteriaalone?Obvi6usl-y first pnzewtnnersaTeknownto many,butonemustnot ignorethe fact thatoutstanding gamesenjoygreatpopularity too. lhustheremustbefew realfanswho cannotremember a finish such as that jn Botvinnik-Capablanca, AVRO, 'j939. I trust the readerwill notjudgeme a braggart, but in variouscountries of tne

An Attemptat AnalYsis

31

to me peoplehavesaid'Whatinteresting worldon beingintroduced againstAverbakh,queen ;2mesvou plaved:that queetlsacrifice Or the game Tournament. irtes n3, check.rnthe 1953Candidates 19521 aoainstBarczaat Stockholm, -"ihe in chess,is highlyratedby fans' artisticsideisveryrmportant chessis an art, ald jts best that recognised been always It has lhus Rubrnstein artists.Thus describedas artlsts have been be-endescribed practitioners oractrtionershave was grandmaster grand this this arts arts and and finest of as the fir]est iescribed it as described Tartakower contemporariesgreat by artist a considered ,was 'the-rebellious artistiwhilewe alsohavethe words of inristened 'l chessan art,andacceptallthoseresponsibilities Apmine consider art placesuponits devotees: which 'Alrioht.chessis ratedas an art, and as a scienceithe sceptic miqht;etort'yetit'sthesportlngsidethatdrawsthecrowdslf I win firsi prizein a tournamentI am f6ted,the paperswrite about.me with praise,the ians greetme with applause-Sowhy shouldI go andcomplisidewith riskycomplications c.ealiue chasinqafter'|'',e with the helpof quiet fashion, calmly, win in | can cateOiacritices? 'baretechnique': and masters And that is how we got a'tribe'of grandmasters butevenrun in chess, works of art fine for strive who notonlydon't 'Why go for unnecessary logic' Accuracy, stress? them down -the things which will bring successand i".hniqu", those aie g: well-bein andconsequently recognition, How This Arose the 2fth centuryto the endof the of'grandmaster' irom aboutthe beginning was never formally Thirtiesthe iop chesstitle awardedto anyone.' lf some mastertook first prize in a tournamentwith the participation of the strongestplayersof the time the press,would iutomaticallyadd grandriasterto his name.Alongwrth this the best qamesof thi event would be noted, and the strategic then,but on o{ the play.Therewerefew grandmasters sionifiiance the holder whether ralsed about never weTe doubts in-eotf'erhand the idea 195O onwards about it. From deserved really title such a of tournament the aroseof ratingand gradinglistsin orderto assess performanceiof th-eworld's best plaversin numertcalfashton Various methodsof calculationwere suggestedin dltterent "oun1ii".,and suchdifferentsystemslargelystillholdswaytoday' regularlycalcuElocoefficients levelthe so-called At international Nowadays norm set the lui"J uy tr''" Americanprofessorbecame ,Translatar,s Note Thls seems tO gnorF the use of the trtle.b,V^thc ast-Tsar' - LasKer' t'l"i olu. tf. ot tne fLnaists of the St Petersburgtournamentof 1914 Alekhne, Ta.raschand MarshaI Capablanca.

-I

-

32

Competitiveor CreativeElement?

all the world'sstrongestplayersare ratedin their order by Elo, everybodyknowshis place,who ts aheadof him, who behind. not Naturally everyone strivesto moveup the ladderand certainly to fallback.Topeventsaremadeup on theseratings- if you have a highEloyouarein,if you don'tthenwaityourturn in the queuel present-day worldthe Elo As in everyaspectof our complicated ratingsystemhasits prosand cons.The prosare clear- some order has beenbroughtinto being,and at any momentpeople knowwheretheystand.Theplayersgetorientedfor a tournament knowingin advancehow manypointsthey haveto maketo raise what they their rating,or in the eventof the absence of success needto keeoit at oar. Yet,in our view,the drawbackto this'overall spiritof arithmetic' cancelsout all theseadvantages. The people'waiting theirturn in the queue'try to improvetheir standingby the most practical methods. Thereis littleplaceherefor the beautyand nobilityof the game.Getasmanypointsaspossible, go up thelist,thatisthemain concernof the majorityof modernplayersand the qualityot the gamestakesecondplaceor is evenforgottencompletely. pragmatism Yetwho willcriticise a grandmaster for hisexcessive sincehispointsscore,hisrating,determines hisstandardof living, his invibtionto the next tournamentdependson it, as do the simultaneous exhibition engagements. Nowadaysin the West thereare sometalentedgrandmasters who wanderfromcountryto countryen routefromonetournament to another.Theyplay'athalfthrottle'withoutgivingtheirall.lf they do badlyin onetournament theywillgo off to the nextone hoping to do betterthere.Theyplayin SwissSystemeventsandallsortsof weekendtournaments. Thereis no time left for analysis of their games,sinceit is alreadytimeto be off to the nextevent. As a resultthe top title of grandmaster has beensignificantly devalued. OnceI introduced to Max Euwea grandmaster who had heldthe titlefor overa decade. 'Who was that?' askedthe then President of FIDEwhen the grandmaster had left us. lAn international grandmaster'; was my reply,"youyourselfawardedhimthe title: RealHarm One could becomereconciled to all this if the arithmeticthat drivesout creativity did not do realharmto chess.Alekhine wrote thatto achieve success in chessyou hadto makea thoroughstudy yourself of andyouropponent, but mostimportant of allyouhadto 'havea higher purposethan the satisfaction of the moment.This purposelsee in scientific and creativeachievements whichplace chesson a parwith otherartsl The path to the highestachievements is the path of creative

RealHarm

33

Alekhineis saying.Onlythe playerwho setshimself achievement the taskof creatinggameswith realcontentcan reachthe top The a gamethat glves Dlaverwho makeschessa gameof arithmetic' peak of Mount the reach will never living, irim a reasonable Olympus.Lookaroundand you wlll seethat the top echelonof by combining by thoseplayerswho scoresuccesses cfrbssis titteO improvement Follow the the competitiveelementwith the creative. He hasa Karpov Anatoly holder present world title by the achieveC naturalgift of accuracyand an abilityto thinkclearlyand logically and in hisyouthoften beatopponentsby purelytechnicalmethods' and combinative thoughan elementof romanticism No\Madays 'fillino-oui' of contentThe qames full and striking more his makei go for tactics and positional to methods oi master a trend of strikesis becomingeveTmoremarkedThisis shown combinative ikhailT€1,it witn the'chessmagician'-M friendship by hisincreasing ices madeby pawn sacrif exchange and sacrifices ii'shownbv thi match Baguio games his of Karpovin the ihere is an6thersideto all this, perhapsthe most important of a certain thetop officials Onceduringthe 1972SkopjeOlympiad help would give that advice to askedBotvinnik ChessFede-ration player' talented certainly one of improvement alonqthe the playerif he wrote notesto his gamesThe B6winnitasked 'Perhaps but for y-ourown not for a magazine, answerwas no. Thenthe his collocutor' on leading nenetitZ'persistedBowinnik games my to notes write I don't no decisively, camemore answer 'ln thatcaseit is too earlyfor usto talkaboutimprovementLet us returnto that in a few Yearstime: many The misfortuneof young peoplein chess,including. This work analy'trcal neglect qrandmasters cohpletely is that they of analvsis the mean not we do pioperly understood. il ;;;k ili Into penetration thL or that vai'iatbn,we are talkingabouta deep Jis"nce oi the chessstruggle,about the {ormationof il;;"tt posslplans,about seekingthe most deeplyhiddencombinative 'homework'whichall the kingsot chessnaveoone bilities.Such qivesone the chanceto discoverthe faultsin one'splay'to go of the gameandto widenone'seruditionin ieeoerintothe secrets cheis. ability'but wasresearch inln eartierperiodthe basisof success as We.must' whole game as a a to is no approach there nowadays -matt"l ot urgency,bring backthe analyticalapproachto chess: . {M.Botvinnik). 'l never And hereis anotherquotefrom Botvinnik personally to had I always because contemporaries, my stoodout amongst example is an there hand, the other Tal, on haro"wort. by ;;;;;";. who did not have10work at it: ot - someone iperionaltycannotagreewiththe secondhalfof thatstatemeni'

34

Competitiveor CreativeElement?

sinceI haveoftenhadoccasion to seehow hardTaldoeswork.You onlyhaveto lookat hisnotesto gamesto seehow muchefforthe putsin.Thesevariations, fullof a webof complicated combinations, couldonlybe producedby manyhoursof studyat home. Let us sum up our reflections. Our belovedart is becoming unfortunately a more'arithmetical' game,notjust in the reckoning up of the full and half points,but in its very essence- in the processof thinkingaboutmoves.Thisarithmeticis clearlykilling creativity and thai leadsto sad results.Onlya few grandmasters havebeenableto avoidthisriskytrend,andtheyfindtheirreward in the achievement of the highes.tresults,in becomingwortd champions andchallengers for thistitle.Themajority, alas,including manyyounggrandmasters, havecompletely rejected theanalytical Forthisiheyarebeingpunished approach. bychess, thepunishment beingtheir gradualtransformation into hacks,destroyingall the brightprospects dueto theirnaturaltalent. Thisfailingis intensified by the Elo systemin the form it now takessinceit supresses the creativesideof talentand forcesthe playerto chaseafterpointsin ordernot to havehisratingfall. We haveto answerthisquestionhere:is it alwayspossible for a playerto restricthischoiceof movesto safeones,andplavwithout rask,restricting himselfto purelytechnical manoeuvring? lf you studythe gamesof the greatclassicplayersyou must concludethat the combinative method,the searchfor beauWin chess,the riskypath,not onlyenhance chessbutalsogivechances of victoryin positions wherethe technical approachwould most likelyleadto a colourless draw.

26

tu

r7:r,.t'

7t 7t 'tt,^ ft'il4

zWn,/:/it/:,,. /7:.,,

2 & A4 AA - In his well-knowngameagainstR6ti,Alekhinecould haveplayed 26 .. Ea3 restrictinghrmselfto purely technicalplay. lt is not clearwhether he would havewon in this case.Yet what a meteor, like progressthe beautifulgame made throughout the world of chessafter the moves26 . . . fie3! 27 g1l3 cb 28 gXbE lc3!

29 g',xb7 gxbT 30 AxbT axe2+ 31 gh2 Ae4! 92 trc4l aXf2 33 1!g2 andnowthesbrtlingtenmo\€deepcombinaton 99 . . . -4"01A flc2 fls4+ 35 €h3 6e5+ 36 €)h2 E xf3t 37 flxe2 ls4+ 39 €h3 Ae3+ 39 €/h2 Axc2 40Axf3

What ShouldBe Done?

35

Dd4 41 Hf2 axf3 42 trXf3 Adsland Blackremainsapieceup. What Should be Done? trendwe havedescribed so Howcanwe put rightthedangerous of the gameinto one of as to preventthe furtherdeterioration such as arithmetic.Some peoplesuggestextrememeasuTes, gettingrid of the Elosystem.Thisis no solution,sincethe ratings comparative strengthwhen havea part to play in determining are filledwith playersof aboutequal arrangingthat tournaments a lot strength.In the Sovietpresswherethe questionhasreceived of somenewsystem of attentiontherehaveevenbeensuggestions Thiswouldonly leadto moreconfusion, of ratingsfor creativity. wth each playerhavingtwo numbersto his name.Yet if we generalise from the views alreadyexpressedwe can suggest variousmeasures. deviationis the Firstof all the liquidation of the 'arithmetical' a duty theyowe themselves socialduty of the playersthemselves, andafterall wishesto get the bestresults, as wellas us.Everyone 'Thecriterionof realstrengthis a deeppenetrationinto the secrets a positionl(T.Petrosian). of 'How lose?'wasthe questionor is it that your Karpovcameto '1979 My reply Spartakiad. to me duringthe commentaddressed unbeatable, losseventhenormally wasthatno-oneis insured against went on to playsome and that afterthisfirst lossthe champron games.Thiswasmy shortanswerto notveryknowledgefirst-class ablespectators, and it was onlyto a few of the peopletherethat I on the veryinteresting went intogreaterdetailovermy reflections lossby the world championto the talentedmasterl.lvanovin the Uzbekista n-Leningrad match. did not alwaysanalysethe It is well known that Capablanca to thosehe gameshe won,but healwaysdevoteda lot of attention alwayshada lost.Thisis proofof the factthatthe greatestplayers criticalattitudeto theirolavand triedto root out errorsand make hardwork on hisnotesis well theirolavmoreuniversal. Alekhine's known and every annotatedgame by Fischergivesthe same hisplaywas firstplayedin tournament impression. WhenBotvinnik he beat ratherdry. Then,whenin the 1933 SovietChampionship who wasalwai-shard Botvinnik Rauzerwith Black,the demanding play,statlng, on himselfgavehimselfpraisefor his combinative 'FinallyI haveplayedthe sort of gameI havebeenwantrngto play for a longtime: In tellingthe patientfans of all this I then claimedthat in the gamewe had seenin a cedtalnsensea new and lvanov-Karpov that the specialsort of Karpov.I feelI am not mistakenin alleging world championtriedto playthis gamein a mannerhe had not adoptedbeforeagainsttop classopposttion.

36

Competitiveor CreativeElement) E

27

% %tryitu t '",& %t2 t z% % % %'^a%H% %t'''&^ Vlz + & ^%8?Z,i

Canyou creditit that this positionwasreachedas Blackby the perfectKarpov?Ratherdoes normallyrestrained and technically the positionremindme of openingsplayedby Tolushwith his famouswar-cry'Forward,Kazimirovichl'or by Tal.I would have if Blackhad takena draw by perpetual check easilyunderstood after 15 Sd2, but Karpovmixedthingsevenmoreby 15 . . . 96 16 traf1 ge7 17 a3t5. A weird positionlBlack'sking is stuckin the centre,he hasno saferefugeon the flank.Blackplayedstubbornlyto defendthis positionin what followedand it tookall of White'sheroicfighting spiritto overcomeBlack'sdefence. Theworldchampion's attemptto try out sharptacticalmethods. with someslightinfringement of strategicprinciples can only be welcomed. We seeherea clearstrivingto adopta moreuniversal of riskand sharpness style,an obviousdesireto bringin elements ro nrsgame. Thisshouldnot be takenas meaningthat Karpovformerlywas slow in spottingtacticalchances.Ouitethe reverse.His teamof helpershaveoften been surprisedby the way he can hit upon unexpected moves,oftenmuchmorequicklythan it tooka player of sharDcombinative stvleto find them. I havefound this swift grasptoo whenI haveshownhimcomplicated positions. The pointto note is this: when playersof a sharpstylespot combinations or tacticalstrokesthevflareuo at once.anddescribe them in joy'fulemotional tones.'l'vefoundit!' Karpovwouldreact differently,speakingof such possibilities without any great enthusiasm. Onegainsthe impression that for him the searchfor tacticallinesisa Derfectlv normalstateof affairs.Thismeansthathe principle worksthroughsuchlines,butthenactson thewell-known whv shouldone win bv a ten-movecombination whenthereis a win bv a ouietlineand in a shorternumberof moves. justfor rollicking So letnotthe readerthinkthatwe areappealing complications. The beautyof chessis not exhausted by suchan approach, but is to be foundtoo in theconsistent, logical, technical thingssuchas we tendto associate with Karpov.

Help from ChessFederations

37

Help '-bietfrom ChessFederations tany yearsI havenotedthe samepatternin a numberof qulcklyto the front A y6ungman of talentprogresses countries. goeson to further title and national the wins nis country, in iink levelHe is writtenaboutenthusiastically .r"cess". at international in the in the pap"tt, and the most radianthopesare expressed fhese Karpov new Fischer, or a him our describe worasusdOto the reflect thev as outright condemned not to be are "ornt"nt, of thatcountry. of the chessplayers hrddendesires Vetthe yearsgo by, the talentedplayeris an lM andthen-aGM, or Karpov but then . . stop!He doesnotturn intoa newFischer qualify Candldates for the who eight the last make even doesn't He M"t.n".. Insteadhe merelyfiguiesin the middleechelonof GM's chess. of the also'rans'of and soonbecomes'one up a failureto measure First of all for this? reasons Whatarethe The'star' Federation native Chess his towards responsibilities to his iiarts to'have a carelessattitudetowardsthe interestsof his nationalteam,and also stops playlngin internaltournaments, champlonshlp' in thenatlonal carryingthisasfaras non-participation going is tough the very high, prizes not are he? The Why s6ould to playin an international andfar morepleasant Farmoreprofitable Thishabitof avotdtng strength. eventof averageor evenmediocre meatleads.toa for easy looking and the reallytoughencounters therebyto a and oneself, upon made the lemands drop in of PlaY. worsenedstandard Thatis why in the SovietUnionit hasbecomea ruleto applya to pressure on all our grandmaslers certainamountof disciplinary or titles their of irrespective Championship part in the.USSR take recentachievements. of foreignfederations I haveraisedthistopicthe officials When'lt's get helpfrom the players you. Your declare all very well for to it. Nothingworks subordinate and are SovietChessFederation players: our likethat on Nothingof the sortl Thisis onlyan excuse.lf you examinethe youwillfindthat in anycountryanygrandmaster positions6riously He not onlyplayschess, to someextenton hisfederation. depends and is keen to get column, a chess runs he writes books, for whichhe is paid.Thechessrulingbody exhibitions simultaneous of a countrycan certainlyhavea say in decidingsuch matters tne What is neededis a firm handin this matter,i{ only because Out of grandmaster himself the of interests outcomewill be in the championshlp' national player the may avoid the weakness character but it shouldnot be difficultto proveto himthat suchparticipation of youngtalent for the encouragement is essential pointing the fingerat torergnplaye's Do not thinkthat I am only in the SovietUnron'even this like quite few examples a Thereare

-

38

Help from ChessFederations

Competitiveor CreativeElement?

thoughwe try and make our grandmasters play in the Soviet Champronshrp. Usrngvarrolrs excuses some.star, of our playersqei -heout oTlnls oDttgatton, andthisgoeson untiJthe findsthat can no,tongerget rntothe SuperLeagueof the USSBChampionship, andhasto startin the FirstDivision or at an evenlowerstaqe. grandmasteis _ Thereis no doubtthatsuchtalented is Suutn"nO Kuzminhavenot realised theirpotentraiBoleslavsky e"ptain"O tne lrregularpatternof successof the latter Ov pointinirouiinat "rnoli plav chessat anv trme ano uny II:TIl-YT lo condfttons, but:eadv considered thatsittingat the boardby oneself wasa boringbusiness. Thisis a seriousm'istake as prlvateitujv covers not only the mechanical memorisation of openingvariations, Out alsoconsrderarion ot mrddlegameproblemswhi6h helpsone to Trnonewapproaches in actualplay. borvlnntknas hts commentson this too: ,Along with my retirement fromchessanalytrcal work seemsto haveqo;e to;: *as nrssad commentat one lecture.We do not aqretentirelvwith thesepessimistic words,but therersan element; truth in ihem.lt is the duty of playersof the older generationto follow the development of theirsuccessors andto eicou.agJtf,emto justas thistaskalsofallsuponthe game:srulinq 6"cornu erudite. bodies. I often have occasionto hear from ,i, cofflaqrei il;;;"", comptaint that the youngergeneration are totallyiqnoraniJ tn" gamesoT tormer times.po,ugayevsky once enthisedover rne pleasure he got fromanalysing'some gamesof the Hastinqs-ig95 "voun.,.. you don'thearcommentslikethat tournament. from the generation. Ratherdoesonetendto hearthissortoi tnro fi-t tX"i I quoteit from a senseof beingoffended.uut ii .f.,uiX.i"iuii"f , Oneplayeronceaddressed me."clearly *inting io ;r; ;;;;fi "g pleasant to me, thus:- ,Alexander Alexandrovich, i,joi io r.no* yesterday thatyoutoo area grandmaste r'. r-1 ,r,. quryof the youngptayerto knowthe historyof chess and __ garnes ot the past.justasrt rstnedutyo;tne-oiOer 9^:!:9l-thgtobesr Se:9!91'9n encourage suchstudyof the gtoriouspast. rossrbty the readercancomeup with betterideas,but hereis a land my coileagues Har" in rninO.lurn :ummgryoflhe proposals FIDE.now led by the grearcnessconnorsseur FridnK :yi,. Jh"twr gr.ve due,weight y'u-trlonl to thecomments of thosewho aspare to seea betterfuturefor chess,a morecreative aporoach. 'i gothoffjcial ) We mustchangeattitudes. accounts of tournaments and reportsin the pressshoulddealmorewith the leadingiole of creatrvtty and shouldcrjticise,those unfortunate peopte*tio iiit to noticethe harmdoneby the purelycompetitive [oini of view 2) We mustput on a regularfoot,ngthe awardof recognition tor

39

l5ebesteamej:l*1"".'"'l"T::l"tT"?"J:*'.%."1Jiil.".*: - ,,a ^hass L/sud,

most aftractiv€ S?iit'i.:;;;yl*,"::":":l'-ff [:,ftfthe.nade :';i3,*.",."["'JJ oua"a with curI rur''' ''Y''" :.' " ,':-; crrikrnq In this this start,n liiiii'ng,"o,no'n"t':# -*^in ustart a I Y / r, Fl6E Corrqress l ne r'3#;rB"i'binq';rr;.0" rntheir planlllngfi: best the-best 'iY^^+;,",l for, the oe awardeh annuallyfor would Gold medals Gold

:"#;,Fi;;:;.*:,t'.:,9::"i::,?:*?::.;:f ?"""""1i 3[::f ;;:'il;";!;giiis:l'::::"P::if.'^":'f :n i:'ffi :[T;i:fl o: -i::iJ,fl *' il:'' ::#iffi ff.::,:il"r#"ii , Ti:::"j."":! 3:":ll 3?"[l,1;,i,i"?;i,."qli,;lqsllT^q';^?":.:*:u",:t;Tjl ?;;,?:;i;i:;i9i1..,i:":!:"^::!:"**:#f :h,il13ff hT: :i.'::H"':ilil,;;i;;;"b"'1s';"-g:,::,':.d-:n:fii':;"':il:l theother

iiection

then prize' 3Hffi11 iJ"#"ri,:"tt'."iv"ai. it notrirst mainPrlzes

q#i+111"*;ir :{iirq+illh nni5i35 iffit';l +rsF events.WhY not.lay qualifying

#;: li[:.:"#1i,trigx**.'ii::':r:T"';::&",1 arising to the benefits compared *o"ufJO"insignificant

.li:J[,t::::liij,iti ::!i::"13:s:fi :iT:i;3:'f fliJ*?ff Hm""Hhli:*ru::g..::::x.:J:3';:l',fJ

"i?':"l}3$""'!"JJ:L"""lE: :lJ,[X]:]",::::"J,ir'3;:fi

TIilxl:,S""3i"." n*l*i"*,lkT;glul""iT:ilsi::*ffi

;:m:i';19 B##*:#:,E"u**' {'}{A:::"*

i::"r",i'#q.#i:i'=!li*g:*'*" '"iffiil:[Ti,l?"',*i:I5:i:s:tril#f r#f

l*t+'fiJ"'tJ : tx*:,yi$tH.l$:19:':tiu*;:"3':rl','.$

of the scientificapproacnro currentchamPion

to.same "oproach ii"ii]."' i',."'5"Y' i"1:'l: -::?::?i:1"*?: theircontents in makins puni"'tiont

o"il"illJii'ifi"L'iffJl"s;

'#"'IJfn:HiJ':'i'',jE[il"Yi"*ti-swliehlgY:,!-eTi=::

moreattractiveand interesting'

if;:;ffi;";;i-"G: f"'.'ff# l):,:J'.:'fi :glll.::* ::;.:9 J?il3J these carry thatwecan riii,-.iu' n"ped li',i'iil! 6?,1,".i'r.j"[i.

Competitiveor CreativeElement? the numbersof thoseinterested ideasthroughandtherebyincrease will thismovement in the creative to chess.lf it succeeds aooroach younggrandmasters who arewastingtheirgiftsin turnthetalented sportsmen endlessSwissSystemtournamentsinto outstanding art of chess. and passionate supporters of the creative

S t u d y i n gt h e M i d d l eG a m e

5

gameis tly!]:-q.i" We now turn to the questionot how the middle

"J iJ't9I. _*i,h gilil'i :'.".'J:T in"usbi.asrnlaid i; $ "3i;'&5',I:ltif; sleln bY down especially elements summarise-th,e iii-u" tb""o in otherbooks,we merely assessrng and in analysing i.it,i"n.giuno.rstertakesintoaccount 'ti'"''"t"u a posltlon. I elements' 9putt,,1!o ';."Jimportant positiona i -Tu^t:']:l

b.il;""":

;#fi;;";-;;;ri

and point''op"nrines'the-centre

pi'""?g-".i-s: n...noniou, liiii.iZoili,,iii"'uii .r:1,^1Pi*s""^?:l: these of ti" point 'v sDatialadvantage ano natlrlerrruu5r' rw' Prov"

il:il;;l;;;

[o""ni*"r]n.

.view,or 1"""1"j:.::9-"ljT,::T:9 queition which tormentsthe playerat everymove:

wH"'jllt"::Tfl;UTir"!r?'"*l-er isrormed atapran arrived for future attackand defence

ri$i;"fi;"": ;i: ".iv'i',"a assessment-have 9:'l 9:"-l"Y:: themostItp?ry:l-f:.1Yj:

f"r";"*T";";;;t"iv"o*-r" o" oav nce importa )lhP sl# :1o;""i;# ii i. Jig'"*;l TlTi^"jy:tYll classificatron andftheir gariepositions' ilil:;;;i

tvticalmid"dle

factors' iccordingto variousidentifying

chess n". v"Yi"ni!-*"* nasnoi beenp operlv..ct1l::d^,i s and will haveerrors

rit#tule. uJ it'i. po.tiut"that my attempt

in sucha case "omissions, 'W;ft inevitable canbe ptetis" thai allmiddlegamepositions i;;inl dividedintotwo basicgrouPs:a)PositionsWhichcannotoeresolvedbyanalysisbutbyintuitive decisions. or logic by meansof variations iiiostiont resolvable Positions requiring intuitive decisions worked out' bV Thereare caseswhen a posii'oncannot be. mind,We human the les baff massof poisibilities *ri"'t*.lt"Jif'e (of sort we the computer chess an advanced ;;.-|ff;;inJr;en task, ""i u"i nu"ui"uilable)couldcopewith sucha is ii""i;;;;i" a sharpcnange there that be to tends this for ieason

-

42

Studying the Middle Game '

in the materialbalanceas the attackingsidesacrifices a pieceor pawn,afterwhichthe normalmethodsof assessment recedeinto thebackground. roleis playedin suchcasesbythe'iaste'ofa player,by A decisive his likingor antipathyfor 'unclear'positions. In suchpositions the variations movesare madenot on the basisof calculating but on Lntu rtron. positions Therecognised virtuoso of intuitive Talwrites'Calculation is only one side of it. In chessno less lmportantis intuition, inspiration, or if you prefer,mood. lfor examplecannotalways thismoveis good,and in anotherbad. explainwhy in one position found a combination intuitively ln my gamesI havesometimes simplyfeelingthat it mustbe there.Yet I was not ableto translate my thoughtprocesses intonormalhumanlanguage: Hereis an example Moscow,1967: of hisfantasyin Tal-Filip,

2B

'/&.t V;: & w %r.%1b

7' ffi % ry 7A% * 2 2 Vzt "N1 ft7/t '&+ %zH% Seeingthat slowmethodswould leadto the peteringout of his initiative Whitewent for the intuitivesacrifice19 Axf/!? €)Xf7 20 gXh7. Obviously Tal had calculated the first few movesand weighedup the chances of bringingup hisreserves. g x d g i sb a d 2 2O ... e521 EXdB EXdS (21 , 2 ghS)

22 ghs g€6. WhathasWhiteachieved? Blackthreatensto liquidateall the

hr, ?? $94, but Tal had seena way to keepthe initiative. 23 h3! Simpleandconvincing. Whiteprevents the queenexchange and giveshiskinga flightsquare. 23 ... AcS It is not possible for the finestchessmind to calculate all the possibilities in this position.Blackfinds it difficultto 'unwind'his piecesand get his king into safety.The possibilities may be illustrated 23 by the followingvariation HdO24 fie 1 $fB 25 tre3 6fa 26 $xes SxeS 27 pxeS fld1+ 28 €)h2 AdO 29 AXd6 EXd6 30 trf3+ trf6 31 Ec3 andWhitegetsa material aovanrage. 24 €)h1

Positionsrequiring intuitive decisions

43

in theqosilrof'' Whitecarrieson asif therewasnothingspecial 9: t^*l

lt istheneed!9I19l .",."]T.: a piece'. r n" nia "ot iiCri.riceo thepsvcholosical gllylll":i::

i.irivlii r"ti"", tharcreates P-"ll voluntarilyagreeto iakeon suchdiificulties'

oi "t".von" *ill [..'lfNot sides. . . 24 . lLd4?! 24 Hd6l would leavebetterdefensive i-aufioilto*. eI 26 .n"n"es Wh'tu could continue25 14, but aIler 25 clear' far from pos;tron is the 27 ;"""!-gxe+ Etxd6 Axh3l galns detlnlte White would br;ng line attacking froweveianother 25 Ee 1 Ada 26 c3 fic5 27 c4 25 H.d1..Ed6 Not"zs Ab6 26 E x dg AXdB 27 I4l wirh dangerous White. for threats 26 Aa3 Ea6 in"-8""isG error, vet the alternative26 ' trd8 27 c3 Ab6 Brackin trouble' 29 qxdS AxdB 29 f4 alsoleaves -"fr

n*Tq

to Q7 .

ed 28 Ad5 trxa3 29 g'fs+

it). finishes in hts likethisinTal'splay'especiallY Onecanfindmanvexamples to Koblenz' A trainer' his led that ieature uounq"|.;"rioO lt wasthis 'Never mind about Misha being positions, ir"h iJilri"ni-oi rut"iiir oo*n. lrthere is iust one open lineon the boardhe will mate!' force sooneror later riis cui,ousto notethatnearlyeverygrandmaster to Judgeare all ot difficult most posltions. The intuitive hasto olav sawruns:if just pawn As,the a of if.ror""if',i6ni"torvJihe sacrifice orolnary on piece sacrlllce vou can weiqhJp the chancesaflera the consequences to measure scales ieles vou ndd the most.sensitve of - a oawnsacriftce. attract that theysometimes aTeso Interestlng iniuitiueoos,tions or Karpov players Anatoly as the attentronof evensuch ratiorlal TigranPetrosian.

nroccrrro

29

hAitt , r gtt r "..X ::1 6

Nfr///./.

/.'t 'l.l:".

tKt?8''&'

.:."1 i$,E,.'a"'r.,. A'/a' Thrsrs KarpovDorfnan, SovretCh Top Leagle'.1-9-76-

l caasj69l sa*92.F99,il6 * ^* l#l?.t" 30 ",""1 ,nJI"t meet to ;;'rtended ;;; 3H:"'XAlXl:"il'':?Y;;;;; ..il'iiil35

44

Resolvableposttions

Studying the Middle Game

l-7 : Ab6 by 18 fle1 AxdS 19 pg2, and 17 . lc5 by 18 amusinqfinishtt. . . gf8 fie1 fla7 19 llh3 with the possibte

20 SxcS Axf6 21 ge8+ Ss7 22 sf+-@ha23 gxsE+

flxg8 24 fle8 mate. - 1.8Qxe5 de 19 f4 Afs 20 Ah3 Axh3 21 flxh3 pc8 22 fe $c4! Whitehastwo centralpawnsfor the pieceandan extraoneon the flank.So, material equality,but the positionis hardto assess. Black'spiecesarefairlyactive,thereareno whitemjnorpiecesleft, and it is hardto forcea penetration with maiorpiecesalone. 23 E1d3 srf4+ 24 Sb1 ftc4l Blackmakesa confidentcounter-attack, puttinghis pieceson excellent yet Karpovmanages squares. to provethe superiority of ntsposEon. 25d6 8e426 trhe3 Exe32z flxe3gxh428gf3! 30

'L//' @"'/l"tH "'..&t//Lt /.,.4./,-a 21. /&, t ''/r& ..rt '''.fu,

...e, ,t

2 'H,47 t/t 2

t

Forcingpenetrationby the queen,so that White now gets concretethreats. 29 . . . ts' 95 29 [e1 u,g2 30 E1fs Es6 31 Efl g'ds 32 de €xe7

Nowthematerial islevel, butWhite's initiative forcesa win. gf4l gh4+ 39 a5 34 €eB 35 gxhT gf3 36 gh8+ Se7 37 "" ghl+ g€ 38 gc4t glb7 3s b3 tre6 40 Esl trxe5 41 fl98- $e7 42 g"n4+ &d7 43 gf6t fie7 44 gr5+*d6 45 #!9-tr.gs 46 gdsr €e6 47 €b2! f6 48 flf8 gs7 49 &c8+ BdS 50 *c4+ 1-O

Resolvable positions Thisisa largesection whichinciudes almost positjons. allchess lr canbedivided furtherinto:1) Positions resolvable _ logical plansandprecedents by logrcal

pos/t|ons 2) P_ositions - calculable resolvable by calculation positions 3) Positionsresolvable by'tacking to and fro, - manoeuvring posltrons.

45

Loqicalpositions by Leadinqplayershavelearnedhow to resolvemanypositions carryingthrough a logicalplan basedon exact analysisand factorin a given Afterworkingout the mainpositional assessment. to enhancethis designed positron the playercarriesout operatlor'ts letshim'crush'hisopponentor iactoruntilthe growingadvantage play a combinative blow that leadsto mate or great materlal advantage. plans was The great specialistin working out such logacal after 15 movesin Hereis his positionagainstLilrenthal Botvinnik. (seediagram20) the Moscow,1936,tournament. placedpiecesand Whitehascontrolof the centre,harmoniously to followthrougha used These factors are morespace. occupies planof 'sutfocating' the opponent. 16 trfd1 Axd4 17 Axd4 d5 18 a4l PreGntingto the maximumdegreethe freeingadvance b6b5, which is Black'sonly way of gettingany sort of activeplay Botvinnikcontinuesto preventthis, and only permitsit when it leadsto a quickwin for White. 18 . .. fe8 19 Ads Hc6 20 pxsT Qlxg7 21 h4 Anotherlinkin the plan.Blackis giventhe choiceof playing of line of his€-side anda laterpossibility h7-h5with a weakening knightaway openingbyWhitethere,or of movinghisdecentralised but to temporlse, from 97 andso permittingh4-h5.Blackdecides thisis no improvement. 21 . . . Ee8 22 Ec3 ahs 23 gfd4 bs Thislookslikesomefreedomat last,but it hasallbeentakencare 23 . . AJ6 when 24 Therewas the alternative of by Botvinnik. of 25 .. d5! but White flxf6 exf6 25 gxf6 is bad because on by not takingon f6. After couldinstead lust keepthe pressure 24 . . . Axdb 25 exdS followedby h4-h5Whitewouldstarta winningattackon the €-side. 24Cbab 25 Edcl ! trxc3 26 flxc3 ba 27 HcTl J I

''&, t vH ',/z ',/t

/& '/t6/z 7t wfr/t t 7 7 * 2 7:.,,

to the 7th rankand The crowningof the planwith penetratlon gx b3? then 28 dlrect threatsio the enemy king. lt 27 f XeT+ flxe7 29 flc8+ mating.

46

Resolvablepositions

Studying the Middle Game

27 . . . g'bs 28 ba $e2+ 29 gd2 g/xf2+ 30 €xf2

Black has avoided mate but the suoer-activewhite Dieces combinedwith the unstoppablepawn at a4 makesit a simplewin for White. lt must be noted that the possibilityof such an ending arose logicallyin the plan of using his spaceadvantage,and rt is possiblethat rt evenwas envisagedin preparationbeforethe game.

3 O. . . e 6 ( N o 3t 0 . E a B3 1 E c B +S x c S 3 2 N x e T + ) 31 Ab6 AfO32a5flb8 33 fic8+ PXcB34 NxcS le8 35 a6 fc7 36 a7 tlla837 Axd6 gf8 38 e5 $e7 39 $e3 f6 40 &44h641 Ac9+ &17a2&e4 $97 43 Sd4 Nc7 44 $c5 1-0

This gamewon first prizefor the best playedgame.ldraw attentionto the fact that in Soviettraditionthe bestgameprizeis awardednotjustfor a cascade of bnllia nt sacrifices butalsofor iron logrc. J ustsucha fineimpression of ironconsistency comesfrom thrs effort by a pupilof Botvinnikin the gameKarpov'Unzicker, Nice Olvmoiad. 1974.

32

and Black will establisha knight on the fine square e5. White's of a knighton c6 via d4 could be neutralised possibleestablishment sy'lnNd7-bB. that caseWhite would probablyhaveto defer f4 until he had preparedit by g3, so as to meetef by gf. Eventhen though Black's concentrationof forceson e5 would give him a chanceto conduct a most stubborndefence,whereasnow he graduallyslidesdownhill

25 Ac2 t)c7 26 Heal $e7 27 $b1 Ae8 28 Ae2 Ad8 29 Ag7 30 f4 6h2 -White thefactthatan exploiting getsthisin assoonaspossible,

enemyknrghlcannotcometo e5. 3 0 . . .f 6 anythingWhitenow of his inabilityto undertake A confession presses the enemyforcesbackto the lasttwo or threeranksand Blackcanonlywait. 31 f5 s5 Blackstillhadsomeslightchancesif he Thisis totalcapitulation. keptup the tensionon the €-side.

%

33

',ft 2i ft2 t< ',&

"&,

/,

t7 ffit

',,fu %)

Thegeneralimpression is thatWhitemerelystandsslightly'freer' with hiscentrepawnon the Sth rankgivinghimrathermorespace. YetBlackhasno weaknesses andis readyto repelan assault at any partof the board. Karpovformsa planof strengthening hispositionfudherwhich maybe summarised thus:Block ti,e a-fileby $a7 to preventrook exchanges and a simplification of the position.Underthe protectionof this bishop concentrate the majorpieceson thea'file,thenat anv momentthe retreatof the bishopwill threatento dominatethat file.However this is not enoughby itselfto win. lt willhaveto be combined wrth threatson the€-sideanda general crampingof theenemyforces. Thepossibility playon the$-sideandon thea-filewill of alternating stretchBlack'sdetensive resources. 24 Aa7! Ae8 Notecarefully that Blackfailsto forma counterplanhere.lt was obviousthatWhite's$-side threatsinvolved the advance f4, since he had no otherway of makingprogress. So Blackshouldhave planned theformationAe8, dd7,,t&e7,whenf4 canbe metby ef

47

ru

32 Ac2

^"r/&

% %

ry^

With the simpleplan of usingh5 as a transferpointfor first bishopand then queento get closeto the enemyking.These manoeuvreswould probablynot be so effectiveif Blackwere not tied down all the time by White's threat to switch back to the g-side. 32 . . . Af/ 3:] 6g3 4lb7 3a Adl h6 35 q h5l g'e8 36 $d1 Ad8 37 Ea3 €f8 38 E1a2 €g8 39 Aga gf8 of the knight Blackcannotbke tvviceon h5 because Obviously willtell. white squares the weakened later fork on f6. Sooneror 40 Ae3 €g8 41 Axfl+ Axf/ 42 g'hs ld8 43 $s6!-Capturinglhequeenis badas the whiteknightson h5 andi5 tn with the pawnat gOwillcreategravethreats conjunction 43 . .. €/f8 44 Ahs! 1-0 Theonlychanceof holdingthef 6 pawnis 44 . . gf 7, but then envisaged 45 Qga 6eB 46 Ab6 wouldleadto the idealsituation plan. in Karoov's

48

Studying the Middle Game

34

'.&7 &2 t 2t& *,

t7t & 2 7 2 remindsthe player At timesduringa gamethe positionsuddenly the likethis before.Thisis frequently that he hasseensomething frequently eruditeplayer,and occursparticularly casewith the more positions. whenplaying'logical' with the Thisis quitelogical;whenwe havetoughcloseconflicts 'mixingit'andgivingblowfor blowit is practically pieces impossible for the concretepositionbeforeone.On to findan exactprecedent on the mind the otherhandlogicalplansmakea deepimpression work one doesthe moresuchprecedents and the moreanalytical Theusefulness of sucha storageof arefixedin the consciousness. in its economyof time and knowledge cannotbe over-estimated mentaleffort. gamesand his game Thisapproachis oftenseenin Botvinnik's notesoftendraw attentionto the feature.Thusin his 1Othgameof the world titlereturnmatchwith Talin 1961 he writes'Obviouslv

35

t%a%i"'& ruh'lzi% %ir& 7

%/& vz "'& %

r u 7 & d%w

Blackdoes not go for the pawn win by 12 .. ab4 13 €d2 Exa2 14 flxa2 $1xa2, sinqethiswouldhandoverthe initiative to White.Blackhurriesto advancehis b-pawnin imitationof the game,New York, plandemonstrated in the Janowski-Capablanca 19161 That gamehad opened1 d4 Af6 2 Af3 dS 3 c4 c6 4 lc3 Afs 5 g/b3 gb6 6 g/xb6 ab 7 cd lxdb I AxdE cd 9 e3 planlc6 1O$d2and nowcame10 . . . AdTllwith Capablanca ningto ad\€nce. . . b6-b5and thentransferhisknightto c4. So with this gamein mind Botvinniktreatshis positionin the

Resolvablepositions

49

manner. Capablanca 12 . . . aa5 13 Ac3 b5 14 Afl b4 ls Abs €d8 16 Af3 irc4 -Capablanca's planhasbeenfollowedand has broughtBlacka advantage. definite 17 Axc4 dc 18 Ad6 AxdG 19 exd6 Ac6 20 AeS AXhl 21 axf7+ &ea 22 Axhg Ae4 23 d5 ed 24 Ad4 Af6 2s @d2 &d7 and Blackexploitedthe extra pawn without much trouble. in the 13thgameof the samematch. Anotherexample

37

%i"N

% 'zr. ft:/& 2

%ft%t:., 'r,&t.t 2 % t H2' Botvinnik wasWhiteandwrote'lt is not hardto finda planhere. It was successfully usedin a similarpositiontn a traininggame Boleslavsky-Botvinnik, Voronovo, 1952. and consistsof the undermining of Black'spawn chain by b2-b3 and a2'a4. lt is surprisingthat althoughWhite openlywent for this plan my opponent,in essence, did not try to counterit: 14 Sc2! Ad7 15 6e2 Af8 15 Aca a6 17 b3 HacB 18 Ad3 Ab6 19 Ae2 trd6 20 &b2 f5 21 fldcl fi16 22 a4 ba 23 b a a 5 2 4 & c 2 c 42 5 H c b l p b a 2 6 l a 2 S c S 2 7 p x c S f i x c S 28 lc3. White'sadvantage is obvious.Whitecouldhavewon bV 28 f 4, but he decidedto achievevictoryby positional methodsand duly did so. Yet anotherexampleof this in Botvinnik's notesto Spassky'1966:Botvinnik, SovietTeamCh. 1 e4 cG2 d4 d5 3 lc3 de 4 Nxe4 SfS 5 Ag3 Ag6 6 h4 h6 7 Af3 AbdT 8 h5 Ah7 I Ad3 Axd3 10 gxd3 Of6 'This welfknown variation of the Caro-Kannis a favourite weaponof Spassky's. . . . unfortunately for my opponentthe wholevariation waswellknownto me,sinceas longagoas 1928 | hadoccasion to writenotesto a gameGrigoriyev-Pa nov,wherethts sameopeningwasplayed!' Commentis superf luous. One may find similarexamplesof the exploitationof past precedents by suchspecialists and of planning as Karpov,Petrosian Keresamongstothers.A care{ulexamination of such examples

50

Resolwbleposilons

Studying the Middle Game

shouldconvince thereaderof the needto getto knowthegamesof the past.As the proverbputs it'Why inventthe bicycleall over again?'Another argumentin favourof thisis the needto avoidthe dangers of timetrouble.lf peoplearegoingto devoteso muchtime to thestudyand memorisation of openinglinesletthemdevotejust as greata zealto the studyand buildingup of a memorybankof plans. logjcal Calculablepositions positions, positions Thishasthreeaspects:combinational with forcedvariations withalternating and positions blows. After quiet manoeuvring or tacticalplay there often arisesa positionin which a decisioncan be forced by a sacrifice. The outcomemaybe eitherforcedmateor extensive win of material.

38

,&i 2 '/rX '.& '.tt2 7.:.,,; &'lH 2 t " .'H ft;x "/t7,,"'N ft',,&tt

^ 7..., 7.zA

.t1.

Thisis Agadzhanya n-Farbisovrch, USSBCh 1977,SwissSystem qualifier. Blackexploitstheopenpositionof the king. 1 ... g'h2+ 2&xh2EXfl+ 3 gh3 Ehs+ 4$sa Sf4+ 5 gg3 trffs+ 6 $94 flfgs mate. Thefollowingf inishf rom Westin-Karlsson, Stockholm,1973 is alsostriking.

39

71,.'2 H

tu2

it6:tt;:

t t.,/l: tllt ;,,.,.:. 7t^

^,fuzw'

Blackmadethe shatteringmove 1 SfTl! runninginto a knightfork,but after2 AXd6+ Se7 3 gxbb camethe fresh blow3 Af4+ forcingmatenextmove. Thesecasesarewellcoveredin existinoliterature. so we do not needto laboJrthepornt. Wins can often be forced bv forcinomanoeuvres wherethe

5l

is that the elementof essentialdifferencefrom combinations is missing. sacrifice 40

../;:,:a t 7.zt,,& .,/t '/;2.

^

7 t /:., './t.N i'& ,/a )\ ,,/az JI '& ./.H

mar, NewYork,1924. FromAlekhine-Vid on eS wouldleavethe g-side too 12 Deb gXc3 (Capturing by White'spieces)13 AXdT in the face of attack weakened g'b1 14 axdT notjusth7, but alsoA-e7-b4irappingthequeen, Thisthreatens give backthe pawnat once. so Blackhasto . . . 15 14 fle8 AxhT+ €h8 16 Ac2! With ihe doublethreatg-d 1-h5and $a4 winninga pawn. 16 . . . lf8 17 Qa4 fle6 18 g/bs and Whitewon a pawn. by this play blowscan be illustrated Positions with alternating 1937. from the 1gthmatchoame.Alekhine-Euwe,

+t

lHi".ry, 7 7 t tl,fl'24 Vz

?/z

A.%d%z,

7t /&n

13 ... ab4 14 Ab5+ Bf8 15 8e2 Ac5 16 Ad1 Afs 17 h3 hs 18 Ag5 8bG 19 Ah4 Ae4 20 hg Ac2 growin bafflingfashion.. . With everymovethecomplexities 21 fc3 ad4 22 r&fi \22 gd2 would wtn)22 .. hg! 23 Aa+ 8cZ Zq Hxeq de 25 $c4 flac8 26 Hacl bG2.7 f]xcS oi ze gao gxes 29 pxcS gxgS 3o $xcs+ $xcs 31 ExcS EXh432 fic4 le2+ 33€/f1 Af434gg1 g3landthe gamefinallyendedin a draw. justa no forcingmanoeuvres, Heretherewereno combinations, move by move all seriesof threats,counters, andcounter-threats, Manoeuvringpositions consistof? Obviouslynot comblnative What do manoeuvTes hlows nor deep,lonq-termplansWe rarelyget forcinqvariattons

52

Resolwbleposittons

Studying the Middle Game

of tackingto either.Insteadthe playis quitedifferentand consists and fro move by move,often combinedwith separatequickly plans. example. Thisisbestseenfroma concrete changing short-term 42

t % "&artt %t/& 'lfr , t%& &% rr yy2 7 '&ffia%a%tt w &t1/, 2 Tlt\tg

Kemeri,1937) A deepanalysis of the position(Alekhine-Fergrn, will indicate that it is a levelposition.Fromvariouspointsof view, weaknesses, occupationof open lines,space,the centre,piece placing,the sidesare aboutequallyplaced.As a resultthereare with the aim of achievingsomeslightbenefit. long regroupings Short term plansare mixedin with playmoveby move - one playerattacksa bishop,the opponentmovesit away,one player thisby puttinga rookon occupies an openfile,theopponentresists thatfiletoo. This cat and mousegame goes on until one side gets the playanda slipby theopponent. advantage asa resultof hisexcellent 15 Hfel gd7 16 Ah2 the knightfromc3 to f4. Thefirstshorttermplan- transferring in this,but you haveto make Notthat I canseeany realadvantage movesof somesort or other. 16 . . . Afds 17 6e2 trfd8 18 Af4 Af5 19 Axds couldhavebeenmadewiththe It seemsto methatthisexchange is sameeffectwith the knightfrom c3, but playin levelpositions logic. subjectto suchcommentssinceit cannotbe of an absolute 19 . . . AxdS 20 Ac4l Ae6 21 a4 HacS 22 Ab3 8c7 23 a5 White has achieveda littlebut not enoughto bring abouta as level.Whatfollowsis minorregrouping changein theassessment levelpositionsoften involveswaiting and simplywaiting.Playin wrote'Whenyoucan'tseewhatto do it is best moves.As Tarrasch to give the opponenta chanceto move and you wait for his mistake: 23 . . . ,Wd7 24 Al4 $e7 25 Ag3 Hc7 26 Ab3 '{gd7 27 Ah4 Eb8 28 Sa4 Sc8 29 flacl Onceagaina seriesof movesand nothingchangedin essence. What boring play might be the comment,yet chessis not just prettycombinations andlogicalplans.lt isalsohardwork,realgraft and grind,whenyou haveto work overmanytonsof ore in order

53

advantage. io findthe speckof goldthat makesup a positional 29 .. . Hc4? givesout and he makesa bad slip.By 29 Black'spatience b5 30 Ab3 flbb7. or 30 ab trxb6 Blackcould maintaina position.Nowhe getsintodifficulties reasonable 'nerfectly 30 As3 llfg 31 h4! AfG 32 Ab3 E xcl 33 fl xcl $d7 34 d5!

43

2tllg121'7r;t t'//2,.&.AXt "& 7::.,tt7 7 '.& ''/;/:

t 'w7at& &.ft.::

to andfro for almost20 movesto Whitehashadto manouevre makethis slightadvancewhichcrampsthe enemyminorpieces. boththedifficulties concreteillustrates Thislongwaiifor something of playin levelposltions. features andspecial 34 . . . Afs 35 g/b4 Ae4 This too is not best.35 . . . Ae4 would offer betterchances. as White's a dangerousinitiative Now a pawn sacrificedevelops piecesgetsomerealscope. 36 gd4l Eds 37 Ad2 Axds 38 Axd5 Axds 39 Ae4! The point. The threat of 40 $xds and 41 Nf6+ allows penetration of theenemycamP. 39 . . . Ss7 40 Axd6 8e6 41 *d2 AfG 42 t8c2 b6? -. and find Leadsto --quickloss.Blackhadto showinventiveness the variation42 . . . Ah.< 43 Ah2 b:-cl44 6xI7 trfB 45 Ad6 Ad4 46 Ef 1 ge7 with somecounterchances. 43 $c7! Whiteforceshisway in to the 7th rankand it is alongthis line thatWhitewins. gixfT 45 Hd1 etc.)45 € . . . ad7 M axfTl HlB 144 Adg grf6 46 Edl l 1-0 I must return here to the questionof the dangeroustrend marked whichI havealreadymentioned, towardspurepragmatism but lackingallotherpositive in tournaments by regularparticip;tion factoissuchas studyof the creativeheritageof the pastand the tend writingof notesto one'sgames.Thepointis that suchplayers play in of move'style move by to drif-tintothe'tackingtb and fro, for is only appropriate practically positions, method whereas the all lt criticised levelpositions. Nor is thisa newfeature,sinceBotvinnik in an articlewrittenin 1951 aboutthe SovietSchoolof Chess. of suchdry practical the helplessness ln orderto demonstrate

54

DeeoAnalvsis

Studying the Middle Game

grandmaster we may againstan experienced playwhenemployed from the semifinalof quotethis example- Sokolsky'Botvinnik, the 1938SovietChamoionshrP. 1 c4 {lf6 2 i1c3 d5 3 d4 s6 4 Nf3 Ag7 5 e3 Noi tbad move in itself,but here it is the precursorof play. and stereotyped straightforward passive 5... O-O6 Ae2 e6 7 O-Ob6 8 cd ed 9 b3 Ab7 10 Ab2 White developshis pieceson naturalsquares,but he has no planreadyfor the middlegame. consistent 2 1 O. . . A b d T1 1 8 c 'Gradually lt becomes clearthatWhitehas Botvinnik commented 'developing' his pieces merely plan with is occupied and no real Possibly onecouldplaylikethat50 or 60 yearsago,but in ourtrme wheneverymasterformsa planfor the middlegamefrom about the 6th to 8th moveonwardsthereis no'better'wayto get Intoa crampedand passivepositionthan by just strivingfor better development.' 'At this pointWhitecouldoccupythe centralpointe5 with his knightwhichwouldleadto a fight with chancesfor both sidesA and control coupleof moveslaterthis no longerprovesfeasible passes overto Blackl overthecentralsquares 11 . . . a6 12 Hacl flac8 13 Efdl ge7 14 s.b1 EfdS 15

af1

but thatis whatloseshim White'smovesaresimpleandobvious, game! the (44\ 15 . .. c5 15 dc bc 17 QSe2 44

aw,t/&t 'qfri"lt

7i

t z 2

2 ',&aVZ ,.t2 atr& E A €

17 .. . Ah6! of the most A concreteattackbasedon exactconsideration At this pointthe attackis directed minorfeaturesof the position. againstthe weakpointat f2. 18Sa3 ls4 19Stl3AdeS20 lxes$xes21 Ag3gf6!

22 ah1

Hereis the sort of abnormalmovethat Whiteis forcedinto.22 bad. Ec2 tha 23 h3 Axe3 is clearly 22 ... d4t 23 8 e2 €)e5 24 ed cd 25 lxcS $xc8 26 Edel d3 27 8d1 Ag4 28 $al d2 and Whitesoonresigned.

55

-DeePAnalysis to the readerto what Ai this point we wish to demonstrate pleasure it can give l go, what and can heiqhtsthe art of analysis downto a to settle quote the reader wrll rnspire I truit theexamples the leading games those of or of his own of analysis deep really olayers. ' for a at alltimes,in preparing arecalleduponto analyse Plavers of all playing bu't most the session, whole of the qame.throughout period has one of time Then in a short game rs adjourned. a irhen deeplyinto effortin an attemptto penetrate to put in an immense variations. manypossible the positionandexamine the most analysis adjournment of Amongstthe variouscases is no There games in team events is of analysis interesting on the numberof peopleinvolvedin the work,you can restriction of theteam as youlike,andwiththe interests haveas manyhelpers his contribution keen to make is everyteammember beinginvolved in quantityin it haslongbeenknownthat the increase Fl6wever leadto improved doesnot necessarily of analysis the participants canmake organisation qualitv,ofienthe reverse. Howeversensible suchgroupeffort very effective how the taskwas on variousoccasions I havealreadydescribed tackledby the SovietOlympiadside.Our trainerlsaakBoleslavsky the playing nevervisitedthe tournamenthall; he slept during 'witha clearhead' (he and then session wasalwavskeenon sleep) who broughthim theiradiourned he would meet his colleagues posrtrons. forgive Please are pastmastersof analysis. ManySovietplayers but I canshowthatthisisthecaseby takingthe methishighpraise, whenthe Karpovexamined theforestof variations readerthr-ough in thts was adjourned Spartakiad game 1979 from the Romanishin posrtron.

45

7r%

''//lfr7Lz.'t

7/tt.,z

7t 7::"z:.1,.1 7z) 7zH'"&ft ":'a"a'/a team the chancesseenby the anal}tical lgor Zaitsevdescribes position he is where in a tryingto f inda \ /infor theworldchampion procedure Black's candlwith established a oawnuo.Inaccordance 'Edttar's Nate The E,rgrshtearl DrocedLrre s that ro more tharr t\\'o peooe togethei shoud analysaan aolourrrm(]rrt

56

Studying the Middle Game

datemovesin thispositionwereestablished. Therearethree:- a) 4 3 . . S f 4 + ; b ) 4 3 . . E a 1 a n d c ) 4 3 . . . S g 7 w h i c hw e Inturn. examrne a) 4il . . . Af4+ 44 s3 Sc7 45 e7+ $h8 It was established that 45 . . €S7 is worse in view of 46 Qlxc7 pxe2 47 lXeS+ $h6 48 SdS withan easywhite wn. 46 lc6 (46 Af7 Qxa5 47 SxeS lf,b7 with the matethreat at h1 is no good)46. . . c4 Beforeit was decidedthat this movewas Black'sbestdefence othermoveswereexamined e.g.46 . . . Ab7 47 1}dSand White should wine.g.47 . . . Ab648Ad6 lxd649e8g+ Axe850 fi xe8+ Sg7 51 Ee7+ winningboth bishops,or 47 . . . Ab6 48 ld6 Qxc6 49 Sxc6 AxdO 50 PeOand Blackcanresisn. 46 . . . c4leadsto a sharpstruggle, but it is not hardfor Whiteto realise hisadvantage. 47 axcT AxcT 48 Ac2! Thisstrongmovewasadoptedonlyaftertheanalytical teamhad established that the obvious48 e8g+ getsnowhere- 48 OxeS 49 ExeS+ gg7 50 Sc2 [xc2 51 Ab4 HxI2+ 52 Sg 1 [f3 53 Bg2 fla3 54 Nxa6 E xa4 and it is practicay impossible for Whiteto win. 48 ... Ae8 (a8 . . $97 49 e8g lxeS 50 lb4! is worse for Black)49 Ad4! Ab7 50 f3 Whitehasnow builta soundfortressout of hisminoroieces and hisrookwill penetrate the enemyrearwhichmustdecide. b) Thencamethe turn of 43 . . . Hal threatening 44 . . AXbS. It was established that White has three ways of realisinghis - b 1) 44 Ac6, b2)44 A)2 andb3) 44 Ha2 whichwe advantage lookat in turn. b1)44 ac6 Ab7 45 Ad5 Hxaa {a5 €97 46 Hb2\ 46 f e 7 + S f 8 4 7 N x g 6 + h g 4 8 e 7 + g g 7 4 9 S x b 7 . H o w e v ei tr soonbecameclear that 44 Ac6 can be stronglymetby 44 . . . c4l Theattemptedimprovement 44 e7+ @g7 45 lc4 is met by the quietmove45 . . . Ab7 with White'skingin a criticalposition4q f3 Af4+ 47 s3 pxf3 48 sf Sxe2 49 lbd6 Qxca. b2) 5o,44 1\a2 c4l (44 . . . trd 1 45 e7+ is weaker)4b Sxc4 EXc4 or 45 lXc4 l}b7 and Blackhasunpleasant threats. b3) Thenthe declsionwas madethat Whiteshouldmeet43 Ha3 by 44 [a2 goingintoa minorpieceendgame of thesortthat actuallyoccurredin the game.lt is curiousthat the Ukrainian sioe did not expectKarpovto go intosucha minorpieceendgame. c) Of coursetheWhiteteamdid not knowwhichmoveRomanishin had sealedand had to considerall possibilities. The move that causedthemmosttroublewas4il . . . $g7.

DeepAnalysis

57

45 pc6) 44 . . Eal !rts Ac6 frxa4 46 44 Sd5 (threatening xaS 47 e7 flxb5. -$xe8 fl Thisisan obviousline,andit wastheonelookedat in greatdetall Firstof alltherewasthe straightforward rtg Axbs AxbS 49 e88 AxeS 50 trxe8 €f7 51 trcg (51 $f8, or H hB h 07! 52 HxnT q5! is bad)51 "+e gxes. casesWhite'swrn is In both 49 e6g TlO trbg doubtful. 'We managedto find a remarkable Then as Zaitsevputs it in the diagrami resource zl8 Axg6!! HbB 49 Eb2 winninga vitaltempo.Nowif 49 . . trS8 50 eegr H xee 51 AxeS c4 52 $a4 and wins without muchtrouble. Blackalso losesafter 49 . . tr xb2 50 e88 Sfa+ 51 93 Hxt2+ 52 €g 1 tr{ 1+ 53 Sg2 hg whenthereis the simple54 qf " andalso54 ge7+ €2hO55 C/f6. Havinqdealtwith 45 . E xa4 in answerto 45 $c6 theteam and were almost startediookinqat other defensivepossibilities . 46 e7 by 45-. . AfOl fixa4. stymied 'someone 47 He6, but Karpovquicklyrefutedthisby suggesfed - 47 &47t148 fl xf6-$xe7 somesurprisinjlacticalstroTes and neitherknightcan come to the helpof the rook e g-^49 flrc7 E xas 50 Ads+ Af4+ {not wnit Wnitehopedfor e.g.49 49 or si Hxeot), 6og lc3 fid4! On thJ point o{ decidrngthat 47 HeO did not wtn an for Whitewas fbundafter46 1}c6 E xa4, namelY imorovement 4j abTl Doesit forcea win?Theansweris givenby thisanalytical treei,hich is basedon two candidatemoves.47 . flb4 and47 too:Thenwe haveotherpossibilities 47 . . . Hb4 48 tre6 €f7 49 ld8+ with an easywn.

50 -trIf6+ 49 tre6 +a gxns tre6€rZ €f7 _59 47 47 ... exbs Eb4 4e axbS Eb4 exbs 48 q3 Ac7 53 Hc6 Ab8 54 5a $a6 and g xe7 51 Ebo HbO Af4t52 Ai4+ 52 g3

hitewins. 47 ... AxbT 48 AxbT Eb4 49 treO €rf7 50. EYf6+ Ata+ 52 g3 SxeT 51EuO anothe rookis now sate(51 5 4 Ac753A7c7 Hxb6 Ads+). -The arlseafter47 . . . Ee4' Thepersistent cralestcomplications else analystsfound a surewin heretoo by 48 fl xe4 (an!'thing fighting pieces, main his minor White's leadsto the lossof one of forcein thisoosition). le 49 Ad8! (49 A7d6 is weaker.49 Thencomes48 + 51 AxeS-u €{8 SZAxnS Af4+, 53 eef SO lxeS A"nS F A"a 54 &-g2 A 55 €f 1a3). A{terthe text,however.Black victoryfor i^rittGu"to lo-sJa piecewhichmustresultin eventual White.

_..F 58

TheX-ravEve

Studying the Middle Game

Yetin theeventKarpovpreferred anotheriine A superbanalysisl was of play. Doesthat meanthat the whole night of analysas wasted?By no meanswastedlTheworldchampiongaineda clear insightintothe possibilities of the position and thishelpedhimfind hismovesin theadjourned Thegameendedthus:session. 43 . . . €97 44 93 (goingintothe minorpieceending)44 . . . Hal 45 Ha2t flxa2 46 Sxa2 $f6 47 Nc6 pc8 48 a5 Sd2 49Ac4 h5 50€g1 f4 51 gxf4Axf4 52 gf 1 Aa6 53€e2 g5 5413 Q1c755 e7 Ae8 56 €7d3Ab7 57 $1ba7Ah2 58 a6 Aa8 59 Ads As 1 60 Ac8 c4+ 61 Sxc4 Q1c762 Q1b41-O. Masteryof analysisby the SovietSchoolis developed by all possible means.Thisvitalfeatureis impartedin the chesscirclesin the PioneerPalaces In thechesspressthereare by chesscoaches. regularcompetitions set- findthe bestwayto win or drawin this or that position. The positions set are not just solvable by combinational means,someincludeplanning andanalysis. A featureworthyof noteisthatsparksof genuineinspiration and anal!,tical talentare seennot only in the centraltownsand cities, but also in the most isolatedsettlements. The editorsof chess publications receivestacksof mailfrom suchdistantspots,some refutingwell-known combinations, othersfindingnew pathsin the mostestablished for analysis openinglines.With suchenthusiasm amongstwide sectionsof the public it is considereda very worthwhileundertaklng. Here are some examplesof the fine madeby suchanalysts discoveries The X-ray Eye ln the earlydays of its development the SovietSchoolwent through a seriouscreativecrisis.At the start of the 1930's, apparentlyunderthe influenceof Capablanca who had lost his worldtitlematchto Alekhineand subseouentlv somewhatlosthis interestin chess,some Sovietmastersdabbledin stereotyped methods,whilesomewoefultheoreticians evensupportedCapablancain his viewson the 'drawdeath'of chessand the needto changethegameby introducing newpieces on an enlarged board. Suchtrendswere bitterlyresistedby true loversof the art of chess.A numberof articles in the magazine appeared Shakhmatny Lrbfokin whichthe harmdoneto chessby suchviewswasshown. War was declaredagainstpot-hunting, arrogance and superficial, 'reformslThis battlewas taken up by the young ill-thought-out Sovietmastersof the time who showedin theirgamesthat they were supportersof the creativeprinciples of the natve school proclaimed by Chigorin andAlekhine. The movementfor a creativeboost in the contentof chess recerved masssupport,andlettersstartedcoming1nfrom themost distantpartswith openinganalyses, strikingnew ideasandstartling

59

blows. combinative ln ShakhmatnyL/stok number 12' 1931' P Romanovsky, an articleX-raysin Chessin HonouredMasterof Sport,published quoted of a little known Leningrad the analysis which he B.Baskovconcerninghis discoveryof fantastic mathematician New possibilities in the gameTartakower-Alekhine, combinative York,1924. a that Baskovhadachieved admiringly commented Romanovsky which by puttingin entirelydifferentlighta positlon greatsuccess of bv a numberof authoritiesTheconclusion 6ad beenassessed put in doubt. Alekhinehimselfwas \^/estressthat suchpositionswherelong Alongwith Romanovsky dubiousor totallyrefutedare arerendered conclusions established of suchcrucial not rarecasesbut comein droves.Theexamination freedfrom thetyrannyof positions in the lightof concreteanalysis of a creative development leadsto enhanced I considerations oenera In chess. course 47

,ft,8%i ,2t. 'w

t /# t+ w 7t

2t 2 Wlz7.2 /1,/.,. zt/t 7 % 2 2rl '1 mark, an exclamation HereWhiteplayed $e4 and appended keep the and advantage his maintain move to as beingthe only that 1 $94 wouldleadto pressur6 on Black.Hef urthercomments a quickdraw. anotherlineof attackstartingwith the Vet Baskovdiscovered when the reply 1 stupid c6! apparently to win a pawnis met by 2 fle7ll a) f . . . gxc6 seeming callsthe X-ray move, Here is the move which Romanovsky position. The variations penetrating into the very essenceof the exceptionally White are win for a which no,,ifollowand leadto pretty.Obviously Blackcannotcaptureon e7 with rook or klng, gSq since'helosesthe queen.Whitegetsa simplewin after2 4 rules out 3 Ef XfTl *c1+ 4 Sh2 andthe matethreaton 97

E xe7.

163 HxsTtt (48) Thearticlegoeson with the keyline2 If 3 The rook siillcannotbe takenfor the samereasons.

h6+ Wgtt a, nO-1)+ SxgT tj'g'+-1€sB o6 gs41 E)xg/ 5 E xds then4 H xf6+

Thereremains3 . trd6, but then comesthe fresh blow 4 queen rook 14 . . €xS8 5 $94+ 4 or Eg8+ ! winning

60

TheX-ray Eye

Studying the Middle Game

48

ru

EI t %.,&

Vt

% %t:,,.

i.%

2 7Z t& ,'%l:., & /r&. %,//Z 7 $" .€-i it&

% ..2% % % %2,,. %t;,, 7lz.,H

gr7 5 dc). gxc6 losesBaskovgoes on to Havingprovedthat 1 winningmethodsagainstthe threecandidate moves demonstrate withthe rook. b) 1 Ee7 2 HxeT €xe7 3 8e5+ €fB 4 $xc7 $e3+ 5 $h 1 $e7 6 $f ! andthetwo unitedpassedpawnsensurethe win. c) 1 . EdO 2 grb4! Not onlypinningthe rook,but creatingthe powerful threat3 $b7. Black's bestdefenceis 2 . . Ec8, to meet HoweverWhitehas with a defence. 3 9b7 by 3 sound trdd8! g e 7 f a i l s t oy e ta n o t h e r a w i nb y 3 H e 6 l8 g 5 4 f l x d 6 c d ( 4 . . finetouch- 5 E Xf 7+ ll seediagram49). 49

Thewinafter2 $h6 is shownby thesevariations, 2 . . . f 6 3 E X f 6 a n nd o w a) 3 ... Exf6 4 gxf6 h5 5 th6! Ag6 6 trf1 gxeS 7 gxg6+ Bg7 8 Ae6+ €/hg I gixh5+ €,h7 10$e5+ $97 1 1t r f 6 . b )3 . . . 6 g 6 4 A e 6 + € h 8 5 t r c f1 t r x f 6 6 t r x f 6 l x e 5 7 cxd4l pc2 B dXeS]196t h4withthewinning threat10h5. c)3 . . . €h8 a flcf 'l andBlackhasnowhere to gowithhisrook. d)3 . . . Ac4! 4 flc2! Ng6 5 Se6+ @hB6 ficf2 dxc3! 5t

'g'i

&.t "'H 2 7z 7t frvlz 2+ 7 iM, E 2 % z vl,z.,. 7 2 7tZ"/:aatH 7 2

and now 5 gbTl ge3+ 6 q7h1 ge8 7 flxf7+ SgB 8 flxs7+ €fg 9 trg3!grxhs+ 10 trh3 g/d1+ 11 $h2 Ss4 12 Ef3+ winning thequeen. d) 1 2 EdB trefs Hacg12 f6?3 E xf6+ etc.)3 E xfT+ 4 aTeno improvement) 5 fl xf B-rr €g8 8e5 EfB {Othermoves ExfB 6 EXfS+ €xf8 7 $f5+l $e7 I C.d7+€lf8 I grdS+

w;nnrng. quotesyet anotheranalysis In the samearticleRomanovsky by BaskovwhoseX-rayeye enabledhim to find a win in the game Mieses'Bogoljubow, BadKissingen. 1928.(50) Miesesplaved 1 cd which led to a draw after Black'sbest defence1 Ac4. Yet the startlingline 1 Ef 5l Ne7 2 $h6!l wouldgiveWhitethe chanceto successfully crown hisattackon the king.Othersecondmovesareweakere.g.2 e6 AXf5 3 AXfs f xe6 4 Axe6 Ef7 5 Hf 1 fldd7 andBlackis safe.

ol

''//:;t 7 7 7 2AH.A& tzt& 7 2A % 27 & 7 &

7/:... 2 ,ru ,ft

7 [xg6 (not7 ExfS+ g,xfg 8 trxt8+ Exf8) 7 . ge7 I E x f S + E X f S I E f 6 ! H x f 6 1 0e x f 6 $ c 5 + 1 1S h 1 a n d mates. OtherBaskovanalyses appearedlater.For examplehe founda win for Blackin Rubinstein'Yates. BadKrssinoen. 1928.

52

'ffit &t% '%i/& % 2 2 t"'&86 7 % /&.t7/.r ' N 2,&tr W

Here Blackhad the chance 1 Axf4 2 HxI4 fl xe3 which Baskovbackedup with a largenumberof complicated variations.

62

Studytng the Middle Game

53

/,t

',

./.,

:l ":zt ,.:@ ,.,t,: tr.../: n /.::'',,.

/;/,; /., fu' t fu, /:/,; t8ta"'/,;., . t ,:tt l:..:, /./,8 '.r,

';ft.t

..al/.",./t 7..,€)''2..t

Paris,1929,in which Blacktried 1 Thisis Koltanowski-Lazard, . 9g3 and got nowhereafler2 $14 gc3 3 gxfT+ gh6 4 gf8+. YetBaskov's1 . . $c3! wouldforcea win. refutationof a studv bV the Then there was the sensational Platovbrotherswho normallycomposedimpeccablyaccurate studies.

z

54

% 2 ///t '/z 71,2, 2 t .a//, 2 7 7:,, ',fc 6 2 1 - l - f 5 H g 8 22 *ths Wh]ie would have a winn'rg attack so the knrght

1OB

Iosif Dodman

Kart's Chesskhool

could not be captured.PossiblyBlack would still have some chancesby 'muddyingthe waters'in the variation17 aI5 dxe4 18 fixeT+ AxeT 19g/d4 d5 20 grxf6 d4 etc. 17 .. . Axd4 18 \9xd4 trde8 19 f5! The only way. 19 94 would barehis own king too muchand Blackcouldthenplay19 . . . $aB 20 95 QxdS+ 21 cd gxds+ with unclearconseouences. 19 . . . Ad8 20 Sh4 Ees It is hardto breakthroughagainstsucha defender as Petrosian. By blockingthe maindiagonalBlackcan start lookingforward confidently. 21 th6 8c7? 'Eventhe wisestcan makemistakes!' Thatdefensive specialist Petrosian slipsup here.Thecorrectmove21 . . . fl94 wouldgive if he wantedto avoidthedraw Whitea lotto thinkabout,especially by repetition229f4 aI6 23 th6 Ag . After the text the attack breaksthrough.

22 fls3 ScB

Blackhasnotonlyto defendthepoint97, but h7 aswell,andthe movesdemandsgreataccuracy. Fhus22 . choiceof defensive Ae8 wouldloseat onceafter23 Ef 1 Af6 24 tr 3. 23 Qxe5 de24ls fxs6 25 $xg6 lg4 Thiscleverattemptwillnot helpastheknightrstoo vulnerable on the openfile. 26 Ahs Ht6 27 Wd2 trf4 28 d6! Showingthat White hasyei anotherattackingresourcein hrs passed formidable d-pawn.White'smastery enabledhimto foresee whichchangethe direction suchresources of theattack. 24...*s729d7A:b7 Or 29 . AxdT 30 Qxga ,{xg4 31 Hxg4 gxg4 32 fld 1 winninga piece,whileWhitealsowinsafter29 . . WxdT

30 g/xd7AxdT 31 $xs4 fixs4 32 Ed1Ah4 33 trxd7 $xg3 3ahs fl xs3 35 trd6. ef 3 1 q x g 4 A g 5 3 2 E d 1 i s a 30 g'xf4 1-O(30 simple win).

losif Dorfman Whatcanyou sayaboutthe playof grandmaster losifDorfman wasa questionI onceput to my friendSaloFlohr.Hisanswerwas that this was an interesting, tough player,who had somehow recentlytallenback. He had sharedthe gold medalof Soviet Champion andthenbegunto playunconvincingly. Well such thingsdo happenfrom time to time with younger (andwitholderonestoo,the readermayadd).Onecanonly players hopethat this talentedpupilof Kartwill be ableto overcomethe temporarycrisisand will regainhis best form. Evidenceof his

l Og

abilitiesis Provided by the followirrg game, Dodman-Chekhov, M i n s k ,1 9 7 6 .

73

i

2

z+ 7.2.,

..,.e, 7 7llr.,

+

with a seriesot simpleclearmoves. Whiteexploitshisadvantages gfdg 18 c5l $e6 17 b4! '18. . . dc 19 bc and the knightgetsan excellent outposton Or b6 hemminqin the enemyrook. .gxa2 el 23 19 Af4 Ac4 2O Ecl Axa2 21 Sa4 e5 22 Hfdl ! layoutof pieces.Black'sforces an ideallyharmonious Achreving pressure aresolitandcannotcopewith the 23 . . . lg 24 hg d5 25 sxds! 5rg5 26 =.c4! this pieceto the f-file transferring manoeuvre Anotherexcellent as part of a massedattackon f7 --

56-.. . H.ie'zznAg.t za trd3 a529 trd{3 ad8 30 b5

Ec8 31 c6 bc 32 bc [c7 33 H,c4Se5 34 ficS E/d6 35

gxaS!

74

t t E 'Ut"%z.t 'HA7z, % 7 7 % % %HW, % 72fr/&

basedotraccuratecalculation operation A finalsacrificial 35 . . . ab7 36 ib tr xc5 37 AxfT+ ! €g7 38 gra1 + g'es 39 SXe5 trxe5 4O AdS! (to ruleout Eb5). Alittle trickbasedon line-closing 40 ... trb841 trf7+ €lhg 42e4 Hee843 Ss2 1-O Adrian Mikhalchishin has like Dorfmanmixed Yet anotherKart pupil,Mikhalchishin' in hiseffons goodresultswithfailures. Onemustwishhimsuccess to reducehisvariability. tn areshownby thlsgameagainstTimoshchenko Hiscapabilities

v| 10

Marta Litinskaya

Kart'sChesskhool

at Tbilisi. the 1978Top League 75

"/'&t%%i"'&

x ' 2 % %

1 / Z% t 7

%i

'7w % 2 4 7 ffi %a''& pawngivesthe chanceto havethe passed White'sdangerous useof this accurate for a longtime,andhemakes initiative was . . . better\?3 6)e7+ 2. 21 dOEcg Ec4 adb Hc2 122 24 8e4 trc4 €hB - 25 6gb i5 26 AS6+ 24 .. flxa2 wouldlosequickly 27 8e6+. €98 2s g'xoz g'd7 26 g,xd7 AxdT 27 Htel trcS 28 6d4 -AfO 29 Ab3 trc230 Ad5 Axds 31 Exds EXa2h4 is fatal.31 materral equality Thishasteto re-establish chances. betterdefensive leaves 32 Acs Ag4 33 d7 pawnwhichhasserved asthebasisof White's Thislormidable manoeuvresnow becomesunstoppaDle.

33 . . . tre2 34 fl xe2 Sxe2 35 Ab7 h4 36 sh 4xh4 37 d8g/ axdS 38 AidS €lg7 39 Ac6 a6 40 bd4 Qc4 41 flcS A€ 42 Hc3 -tg6 zl(t 6c6 Ae8 zl4 [a3 fle1 + 45 €lh2 Ee2 won. 46€93 flc2 47 6e5 AfS 48 E xa6 and \y'Vhite Marta Litinskaya of seeingthisladypupil havehadtheopportunity Manycountries of Kartin action.Shehaswon a numberof titles,but ot latewe table. haverarelyseenhernameat theveryheadof thetournament She had seemedto havemissedout on the chanceof qualifying Matchesafter her fourth placein the for the women'sCandidate but took the chanceof comingin as in Alicante, 1979 Interzonal withdrew,andshewon a whenoneof theoriginalqualifiers reserve after dramaticmatchagainstthe West GermanGiselleFischdick being3-Odown! the a signthat sheis overcoming Suchfightingspiritis perhaps crisisand startingto playat herold strength. Litinskaya, is seenin thrsgame,LysenkoHertacticalawaTeness from the 1979 USSRZonaltournament. titlefor women Litinskaya Heregrandmaster {thegrandmaster playerswas introducedby FIDEin 1976) carriedout a mating attack.

1I

.rx, 2t

x.../lLt, '',,& 'z 7 ft7:.,

26 ... Hxa2l27 c3 leadslo 27 @xa2 $aB+ 28 of the rook sacrifice Acceptance mate on a 1.Thetextis no better and 29 bxc3 1 SXc3 €b Ac3+ sinceBlack'snextmoveblocksthe exitof the whitekingfrom the firstrankand thendoublingrookson thea-filedecides. 27 . . . b3t 18 Qxcs lxcs 29 A1d2 Ad3 O-1

Karseladze s ChessSchool

113

of position,all reinforcedby tactical excellentunderstanding we now gtvefrom Thisis confirmedin theexamples inventiveness. theirgames.

11

KarseladzeC ' sh e s sS c h o o l

:&,t"'..& 296t'/Z 7 t

natureof the Kart We havealreadymentionedthe remarkable a schoolin that a playerwithouteventhe mastertitledeveloped is the otherchess wholeseriesof grandmasters. No lesssurprising schoolwhichwe now dealwith, this tme in Georgia.Thisis the schoolof V.Karseladze. republichasnot We mustbe honestand saythat the Caucasian yet produced a singleplayerof worldclass,thoughtheyhavewellin T.Georgadze, B.Gurgenidze and E.Gufeld knowngrandmasters {wholearnedhischessin the Ukraine). ChessFederation Yetin the ranksof the players of the Georgian we findmanyof thebestplayers in theworldamongstwomen,and by a the women'sworldtitlehasbeenheldfor almosttwo decades won the world Georgian. ln 1962thefamousNonaGaprindashvili titleboth title.As yet sheis the onlyplayerto holdthe grandmaster for playagainstmenandagainstwomen.Recently shehasnot had for the an easytime of it amongstwomenand her challengers worldtitlehavebeenherfellowGeorgians. In 1975shebeatoff the challenge of NanaAlexandria, but three yearslatershe had to surrender thetitleto thethensixteenvearold MavaChiburdanidze. What liesin the future?Thepresentchampionis Chiburdanidze whilehereightchallengers in the 1980series matches of knock-out includeno less than four representatjves of Georgia- the legendary Gaprrndashvili, NanaAle>endria and the youngplayers Nanaloselani and NiniGurieli, allfour of themgrandmasters! How can one explainthis floweringof femaletalent in the Caucasus republic, and the unevendevelopment as regardsmen and womenolaversthere?Thereseemto be two reasons- the activeand dedicated work of the lateVakhtangKarseladze who broughton NonaGaprindashvili andthentheexample of theworld championherselfon the next generation. She is \€ry popularIn her nativeIand,and it is no surprisethat from theirearliestyears girlstry to followherexample. Georgian Connoisseurs note the specialfeaturesof the style of the Georgian ladyplayers- thedepthof theirstrategic concepts, therr

tt

nidze,4th matchgame, 1978 This is Gaprindashvili-Chiburda pawnsacrifice to exploit (Black) plays an interesting Maya Teenager the central weakness of poor piece placement the and White'! squares. 20 . . . Ab4l21 Axb4 cb 22 Efel Refusalof the sacrificemakesWhite'spositionevenweaker' White shouldaccepteventhoughshewould stillstandworsein thatevent. 22 ... AdTl bringingthe knightto c5 from wherett manoeuvTe, An excellent pressure White'scentre. great on willexert 23 $c2 lcS 24 b3 a6! whichis now decisiveBy driving manoeuvre A frJshstrategical bringstotal Chiburdanidze the whiteknightf rom itsstrongposition disorderto White'sranks. 25 Ac3 b5 26 at]'ab 27 $1e3 Q1a41 whereasthe Blackwins the exchange, Simpleand convincing. atter28 obvious27 tlxd3i wouldgiveWhitecounter-plaY -H Xd3.

2a $la2€lc329 gas axd 1 30 H xd 1 glb3 31 gt)