Chess Strategy

by GM Alex Finkel

In this post I would like to show you that learning and analyzing the games of top players isn’t just very useful to enrich your opening knowledge and expand the horizons, but it has a great practical value too!

Quite a few years ago, I analyzed game Leko-Khalifman for one of the issues of Chessbase magazines…

I guess it’s worth mentioning that many chess fans consider Peter Leko rather “boring player”. Indeed, his games very rarely include sharp tactical battles, unbalanced positions with most of pieces hanging in the air and amazing sacrifices - kind of chess most chess fans enjoy to see (not that he is incapable of providing that kind of stuff, it’s just he prefers a different approach to the game…).

However if we are inclined to learn about deep positional play and carrying out complex strategic plans I can’t think of player whose games are more suitable and comprehensive for this purpose than Peter Leko!

Speaking of above-mentioned encounter Leko-Khalifman, I consider it a classic example of good knight versus bad bishop play in French defense. Due to my exposure to this game back in 2000 (!), I had a very easy life in one of my rare tournament games more than 5 years afterwards!

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Article by GM Alex Finkel

Hey guys. Some time ago Goran talked me into writing some stuff for his blog and frankly speaking I’m quite thankful to him that he did! Some of you might know me from WCN, others might know me from Chessbase, most of you probably never heard about me In any case this column isn’t about me, it’s about improving your understanding of chess and providing you some tools to do that!

I keep saying all the time that in order to become a decent player all you have to do is to learn basic strategic rules and to follow them (not a very easy task by itself!), however if you want to become a really good player it’s not enough just to follow the rules - it’s even more important to know how to break them at the right moment!

This statement is especially true at the era of “computer chess”, when most top players have adapted a very concrete approach to the game, based mostly on a very deep calculation rather than on a pure positional play. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not calling to neglect learning of basic chess strategy, it’s an absolutely vital part of chess education, but you have to remain open-minded and remember that none of strategic rules stands above the Game…

One of the cornerstones of chess strategy is a fast development of the pieces and a quick castle - in most cases it’s highly recommended (I’d even say necessary) to accomplish development of the pieces and put a king in the safe place before starting any active operations. There are countless examples of severe punishment in case one of the sides had left his king in the center for the middlegame. However, under right circumstances, delaying castle and starting an active piece play could be very rewarding. The next game perfectly illustrates what I mean…Enjoy it!

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