Chess Strategy

Hanging pawns are, alongside with isolated d-pawn and Karlsbad, one of the most complex pawn structures that demands careful study. In this post, we will see some basic examples. For deeper exploration, I suggest reading “Pawn Structure Chess” by GM Andrew Soltis and “Understanding Pawn Play in Chess” by GM Drazen Marovic.

Let’s mention some of the main characteristics of hanging pawns. The pawns are standing on c4 and d4 (or c5 and d5 for Black), without friendly pawns on adjacent files and without opponent’s pawns on the “c” and “d” files.

The advantage of having hanging pawns is the control over large number of important central squares and certain limitation of opponent’s pieces. They give wonderful e5 (e4) outpost and ability to create strong heavy pieces’ pressure along the “b” file. The hanging pawns’ advance can carry huge energy and rip off the opponent’s center and castle after opening of files and diagonals. But be careful, the pawns’ advance can be double-edge (next paragraph).

The main problem with having hanging pawns is that they have no support from the other pawns and the pieces might be tied for constant defence, which is seriously limiting mobility. Moving any of the hanging pawns might create serious weaknesses in the center, by giving good outposts for opponent’s pieces and allowing him to block the pawns. In addition, the backward pawn can be vulnerable to attack. Very often, opponent doesn’t have to wait for pawns’ advance, he can provoke it by pushing and even sacrificing “b” or “e” pawn. This plan is usually connected with the wonderful pieces’ play over the freshly available squares.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dear readers, I apologize for the hibernation over the past two weeks. I was preparing for my trip to Bulgaria, and here I am now, typing from downtown Sofia. The city is really nice, people are very friendly and I’m enjoying the stay. The 2007 Mtel Masters is starting in few days, I will be working with the Chessdom team.

Once the tournament starts, the pace will be incredibly fast, as we will try to present as much info as possible. I’m hoping to spare some hour here and there to update the Chess Strategy blog. Please have patience with me

Update: Here is the handshake with Mamedyarov (english subtitles soon)

In unbalanced positions when one of the players has a Queen, simple evaluation by counting material is mostly useless. Factors that are more important are Queen’s activity and how well can other player coordinate his Rooks and/or pieces.

Chiburdanidze - Dudkova, USSR 1976

Material units are giving slight advantage to White. On the other hand, Black has passed pawn threatening to promote soon and active King - something that would be counted as very important in dynamic evaluation. Some authors even tend to count active King in the endgame as 5 units, or equal to the Rook!

Still, White Rook and minor pieces are coordinating extremely well. Not only that this coordination is dramatically increasing their battle power, but follow-up will prove that seemingly active Black King and Queen and actually very clumsy.

Offtopic: Unrelated to this example, but it can be useful in different situations - Knight is King’s best defender when it comes to declining direct attacks. Nf1-Kg1 (or Nf8-Kg8) is strong resisting setup where Knight is controlling large number of important squares.

Read the rest of this entry »

We have mentioned zugzwang as one of three methods for winning problem endings (according to GM Nikolai Krogius). Let’s see some examples.

Flohr - Loevenfish

In Bishop vs Knight endings, Bishop can be used for both protecting our own weaknesses and support King’s breach by controlling large number of key squares. The diagram sees pawns on both flanks, which usually favors Bishop. One of the important advantages in this position is that Black King or Knight will be tied for f6 pawn. Straightforward elimination of the weakness with 1. Ke3 f5 2. Kd4 Kd6 3. Bb4 is letting White King in.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is a thread for readers to post questions, feedback and suggestions. Don’t be shy, ask about anything you want and I will try to answer as soon as possible.

Please be advised that comment moderation is “on” for the first time posters. There is couple of spamming bots around trying to leave messages you really wouldn’t like to see. I will approve all human comments, thank you for understanding.

Happy Holidays,

Goran

Rubinstein - Miezis

Black’s last move was 14… Qe7. He has clear plan of attacking against e4 pawn while White pieces are still undeveloped. The problem is that Black underestimates importance of “time” as factor. Rubinstein will not only complete the development while Black is busy taking that pawn, but he will also gain other positional advantages.

15. Nc3 Nh5

Read the rest of this entry »

To keep the continuity with the 2nd video lesson and More on Flexibility, we will examine another game of Anatoly Karpov. This time he started fight for open a-file and then suddenly struck on the other flank to win the game.

Anatoly Karpov - Wolfgang Unziker

After the Ruy Lopez was played in the opening, both players are fighting for the open a-file. For now, Nb7 and Bc2 are bad pieces being blocked by their own pawns, but Black has bigger problem. Nb7 is obstructing Black from doubling/tripling heavy pieces on the a-file. On the other hand, White can simply move Bd3 and proceed with Qd2-Ra1-Rea1.

19. Qd2 Rfc8

Read the rest of this entry »

In the 2nd video lesson we have seen Bobby Fischer skillfully transferring the advantage from one shape into another. Now example by his successor Anatoly Karpov.

White has space advantage and the only real weakness to press against is c5 pawn. To get more from this position, Karpov has to regroup his pieces and provide them greater mobility.

Anatoly Karpov - Svetozar Gligoric

42. Qg1!

Here is how Karpov elaborated his plan:
- Black’s only weakness is c5 and White should press against it in order to tie in defence as many units as possible.
- Best place for King is f3. Checks are not possible, Bg4 is being over-protected, g1-a7 diagonal is cleared for pressing on c5 and 2nd rank is available for fast Rooks’ transfer.
- White has to fight for h-file and kingside initiative. H-file cannot be taken after Black regroups his pieces to oppose the threat, but then White will suddenly strike on queenside using excellent mobility of pieces.

Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to the second video lesson. Featured game is Addison-Fischer.

Click To Play

Download Flash Video (Right click and Save)
Download Windows Media (Right click and Save)

Typical positions with Karlsbad pawn structure involve the following arrangement of pawns: white - a2, b2, d4, e3, f2, g2, h2, and black - a7, b7, c6, d5, f7, g7, h7. The variation got its name from the Karlsbad Tournament in 1923, where some of the participants wanted to avoid the sharper Cambridge-Springs opening. If we examine the arrangement of pawns, we see that a symmetrical pawn balance in the center does not exist. The pawn structure is dynamic and can develop into positions with isolated pawns or into positions with hanging pawns. Karlsbad pawn structures occur mainly from Queen’s Gambits, but they can also arise from Nimzo-Indian, Gruenfeld and Caro-Kan as well.1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5

After 4…Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 white obtains a full center, which is typical for the Half-Tarrasch Defense.

5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3

6.Nxd5 isn’t good, because of 6.Nxd5 Nxd5 7.Bxd8 Bb4+ 8.Qd2 Bxd2+ 9.Kxd2 Kxd8 and black has an extra piece.

6…Be7 7.Bd3 c6 8.Qc2 0-0 9.Nf3

One of the greatest chess players of all time, Mikhail Botvinnik, used to play this line with 9.Nge2 and, after 9…Re8 10.0-0 Nf8 11.f3, white tries to create a position in which he opens the center, with e4. There are many positions with pawn structures other than the Karlsbad which fit in with Botvinnik’s line. Many modern chess players play 9.Nge2 with much success. Such players as Gary Kasparov and Evgeny Bareev have had successful results with it. We will elaborate on 9.Nge2 variations later.

Read the rest of this entry »