Same test as in previous one. Setup the position and concentrate for 15 minutes as if you are playing on the board. Then suggest the move/plan and we will discuss it in comments. In both games it is White to move.
(I got the second one correct but completely failed in first game)
Solutions posted
Finally, what else can I say. Thank you everyone for patiently waiting for the promised article, just now I had time to complete it. It’s probably far from perfect but I will be improving over time.
So the first extended lesson was emailed to registered users. If you have problems opening the file or you haven’t received it, do let me know. Feel free to drop a comment, feedback will be appreciated.
Topic is “The Exchange”, one of the most important elements of chess strategy. To get more information, see also old posts from the archive:
Which pieces to trade?
Which pieces to trade? (Part 2)
Which pieces to trade? (Part 3)
Exchange of Fianchettoed Bishop
Spanish Structure
Kasparov in action
Studying chess, reading books and browsing websites is one thing, but playing actual game is completely different experience. The knowledge you receive (or not) from Chess Strategy blog, is not enough by itself. Very often, practical game kicks us off from our established system. In my opinion, best suggestion to fight this problem is given by GM Jonathan Rowson. He advised setting random position from strong players’ game and giving yourself 15 minutes to find the plan and suggest a move. Then, compare it to how the actual game continued. Believe me, it’s not easy as it sounds!
In the spirit, here is position from the game between two Grandmasters. It is Black to move, use your 15 minutes and suggest the plan. We can discuss it in comments and later I will post the solution.
Hi everyone. It’s been a busy time for me, sorry about the delay with extended lessons. I will try to complete the first one asap. In the meantime, here is a post about pawn majority.
In his book “Chess lessons”, Max Euwe has mentioned pawn majority on queenside as one of the elements for evaluation. According to him, the player with queenside majority can count it as small additional plus.
Euwe’s recommendation can be considered when both kings are castled short. Players with pawn majorities on different sizes of the board will naturally aim to create passed pawns which can be important factor for positional advantage. The problem with kingside majority is that any kind of advance is connected with the certain risk for king’s safety.
In the game Smyslov-Gligoric white has pawn majority on the queenside. He would be happy to play b4, earning tempo on Nc5, with next c5-b5, getting really close to creating the passer while black pawns on kingside are still standing in the base. The thing is that it’s black to move and he has to figure out how to obstruct white’s plan.
1…Bb3!
White’s advance is prevented and he cannot challenge Rd8 because Black is firmly controlling important d1 square. Gligoric’s plan is to double rooks on d-file and support blockade with a5-a4. Read the rest of this entry »
After seeing an old TV show produced during Belgrade 1989 tournament, I decided to show excerpt from the last round’s Garry Kasparov - Predrag Nikolic. Our main strategical topic is exchange. By the way, this was the first tournament where Kasparov broke magical border of 2800 elo points.
In the starting position white has better pawn structure because black pawns d5, f7 and h6 are weak. White pieces are also better placed, holding higher dynamic potential. There are certain short-term limitations, Ra1 has to defend a3 pawn and Ne2 has to cover nasty Rc3 check. We will see how Kasparov solved these slight problems convincingly. On the other hand, black pieces are rather passive, Rg8 is out of play, Nb6 is fairly limited (thanks to b3 pawn!). The black’s only active soldier is Rc6, controlling c-file and 6-th rank.
27. Rhc1!!
Vladimir Makagonov - Mikhail Botvinnik
Russia, 1943
While I was active, all of my students, no matter what strength, had to see this example. The most important feature in white’s position is weakness of entire complex of light squares. One of the possible strategies in exploiting the weakness is exchange. Particularly, exchanging pieces that are defenders of the weak complex.
In the given position, white is still somehow covering light squares - with Queen and Bishop. The natural plan would be to trade off light bishops. But looking closer, we can notice wonderful e4 outpost for the Nc5. The only problem are two defenders - Nc3 and Bc2. Therefore, first remove the Nc3:
13… Bxc3! 14. bxc3 Bf5!
And now Bishops. Exchanges are forced as white can’t avoid them. When thinking about combinations that include trade of one or more pairs of pieces, we should always correctly evaluate the arising positions in regard of pieces’ relative value. Relative value is connected with piece’s “influence” and potential (possibilities). In our game, white will have queen and dark-squared bishop fighting against queen and knight on outpost e4. Notice that Ne4 is on “permanent” outpost ie. white can’t push it away with the piece of same or lesser value. We didn’t take rooks into this account, since all of them are on starting positions.
