Monthly Archives: November 2009

Chess Games featuring David vs. Goliath

2
Posted by ChessMaster on November 29, 2009 – 9:17 am
Filed under Attacking tactics, Chess tactics, General Chess
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Continuing with our theme in Beginners may take heart from these games, we bring three more games where a player rated much lower than his opponent shows that how you play over the board is more important than what elo rating you hold.

At the time the first game (Fouts-Firman, Philadelphia, 2003) was played, White’s elo rating was about 800 points less than Black’s. But that did not daunt him and he kept on seizing the initiative at every step. White had to capitualate ultimately under the relentless pressure.

The figure below shows the position after 20 moves.

 

david_vs_goliath_case1

21. Ne4 Nd5
22. Nf4 Nxf4
23. Nxf6 Bh5
24. Nxg8 Rxg8
25. Rxg8+ Kxg8
26. Rg1+ Ng6
27. Kb1 Resigns A quiet move after some hectic activities! But it raises the threat 28. Qxh5 besides the inevitable capture of the Knight.

 

The following position was reached after 14 moves in the game (Spielmann-Van den Bosch, 1935). Johannes Van den Bosch is relatively unknown whereas you must have heard of Rudolf Spielmann as one of the best chess tacticians ever. But here the master tactician gets outsmarted pretty thoroughly!

 

david_vs_goliath_case2

15. Nf3 Qf7 Black threatens 16. … Qxa2 with mate to follow.
16. Ng5 Bf5
17. Qxb7 Rxc2+
18. Kb1 Rc1+ After White’s 18th move, Black seemed to be heading for trouble as both his Queen and Rook are under attack. But his reply shows the power of double check which dooms White now as the subsequent moves are almost forcing on White.
19. Kxc1 Qc4+
20. Kd2 Qd3+
21. Ke1 Qe3+
22. Kf1 Rf8

 

White resigned as he has no adequate defense to the threat of 23. … Bh3#. Both 23. Qb3+ Be6+ and 23. Kg2 Qe2+ 24. Kg1 Be6 lead to mate.

The next game (Tarrasch-Yates, Hamburg, 1910) had a piquant background. It seems that Dr. Tarrasch, a stalwart of his time, objected to the entry of Yates in that tournament considering him to be below par in comparison to other participants. Yates had only one win in that tournament but he possibly kept it in reserve as a fitting reply to his redoubtable opponent!

The position after 18 moves stands as below.

 

david_vs_goliath_case3

19. Rc1 Nxe3 This sacrifice turns the game in favor of Black.
 
20. fxe3 Qg5 Black threatens 21. … Qxg2# or 21. … Qxe3+ with a strong attack in coordination with his Bishop pair.
21. Kf2 Qxg2+
22. Ke1 Bxh2 Black has got three pawns for his Knight, an adequate compensation, besides ruining White’s castle and opening lines for his Bishops. White cannot play 23. Nxe6 because of 23. … Bg3+ 24. Kd1 Bf3+ leading to mate.
23. Be2 e5
24. Ne6 Bg3+
25. Kd1 Bf3
26. Bxf3 Qxf3+
27. Kc2 Qe4+
28. Kd2 Qd5+
29. Nd4 exd4
30. Bxd4 f4
31. e4 Qxe4
32. Rc4 Rd8 Black’s move puts paid to all hopes of White for saving the Bishop due to coming 33. … Bf2
33. a4 Bf2

White resigned as he cannot avoid losing his Bishop and the game.

The final position:

 

david_vs_goliath_case3_final

Do you still have doubt in yourself?

 

Beginners may take heart from these games

3
Posted by ChessMaster on November 28, 2009 – 12:12 pm
Filed under Attacking tactics, Chess tactics, General Chess
Tagged as , ,

Many beginners have a natural talent in chess, but it comes to light (to others and also to themselves) only when they start on the game. There is no limitation on the age at which you can take it up, though the process becomes easier if you start at a younger age.

Unfortunately, many people tend to stay away thinking wrongly that they are not up to what it takes to become a good player. No one likes to be a loser and this fear of failure often works at the back of their mind, preventing them from taking the initial steps.

At this site we have been trying to encourage beginners by showing them how they can improve upon their game, taking a look at chess from different angles. In 10 steps to raise your game, we pointed out the importance of having confidence in yourself. Is this how world champions adopt winning strategy? in Morning shows the day? showed how a player of Karpov’s standing could make mistakes a novice might avoid. Take your defeats in your stride, treating those as opportunities to learn from your mistakes.

To bring home further the message to beginners, we showed you Chess Games: Amateurs can also produce gems. If a beginner follows the basic strategies and tactics discussed in many articles here, there is no reason why he cannot take the measure of a more established opponent. You have seen such example in Chess Tactics: how a mouse challenged a lion and to prove that this was not a rarity, we put before you two more games where the weaker player successfully challenged a stronger one.

In the first game (Korchnoi-Djurasevic, Belgrade, 1956), Black was not yet an IM (he earned the title in 1957) whereas White became an IM in 1954 and a GM in 1956. Besides, Korchnoi had the slight advantage of playing with the white pieces. We show you the position after White’s 13th move (13. a3).

 

Black_outmaneuvers_White

Follow the subsequent moves to see how Black outmaneuvers his famous opponent.

13. … Ba5
14. b4 g5
15. Bg3 Rc8
16. bxa5 Rxc3
17. Qd2 Nxe4
18. Qxd4 Qxa5
19. Qb4 Qxb4
20. axb4 Re8
21. f3 Re3+
22. Kd1 Bb3+
23. Kc1 Rc8+
24. Kb2 Rc2+
25. Ka3 Nd2

 

White resigned in view of the threat 26. … Nb1+ 27. Rxb1 Ra2#.

Here is another one (Dementiev-Karpov, Riga, 1970) with the position after 27 moves. See how White disposes of Karpov who was to become World Champion in another five years.

 

trapping_a_world_champion

28. Nxa6 Bxa6
29. Rc7 Qa8
30. Qxb6 Rb8
31. Qc5 Rxb3
32. Rxe7 Bd3
33. Qxd5 Resigns 33. … Qxd5 34. Rxe8#. Because of the threat of 34. Qxf7+ leading to mate, Black cannot avoid losing a piece.

 

Types of Centers and How to Deal with Those

2
Posted by ChessMaster on November 10, 2009 – 11:30 am
Filed under Beginner Chess Tips, Chess Strategy, Chess Tutorials, Chess lessons, Chess tactics
Tagged as , ,

The article on Center Control in Chess tried to show the importance of this aspect in any chess game. But the type of chess strategy and chess tactics used for wresting control of the game varies with the different types of centers that may arise during the middle game. In one of his books, Russian GM Alexander Kotov wrote in detail about this issue with a large number of examples and I liked the way he explained the methods to deal with different center formations.

For the sake of beginners who may find it difficult to go through all the details, I am trying to summarize in a single article the discussions which needed a pretty long chapter by the GM. Obviously, it has been possible to touch only the salient points. I hope that the beginners can benefit from the ideas to try to apply the principles in their games without getting bogged in details. Those who are so inclined can go for the in-depth study by going through the Master’s treatment of the subject.

The types of centers that can arise have been broadly divided into five categories.

  • Closed center
  • Fixed center
  • Open center
  • Mobile center
  • Dynamic center

Closed center:

This is characterized by:

  • Pawns of both sides face each other with none able to advance or to capture opponent’s pawns.
  • No files are open for Rooks to operate or even if there is one file open, neither side is able to take advantage of it.
  • Diagonals are blocked by own or enemy pawns, restricting Bishop movements.
  • There is no immediate prospect of opening a line or diagonal.

How to deal with such centers

  • Start actions on the flanks through maneuvering of pieces and advancing pawns.
  • This is usually started by the player who has the greater advantage in terms of space or availability of pieces on that flank.
  • The defending side either waits to see the action and then try to counter it, or start his own action often on the other flank.
  • Under favorable situations, try to break open the center. This is usually done through sacrifices to utilize the breached positionn.

Fixed center:

The central pawn(s) of both sides face each other and their positions cannot be changed without application of significant forces. This type of center may seem to be same as Closed center discussed above. But unlike Closed centers, all files and diagonals are not blocked and pieces can be moved around the pawn center.

How to deal with such centers

  • Attacking side will try to achieve superiority of forces around the center, forcing opponent’s forces to retreat.
  • Gaining this advantage enables attack on the flanks.
  • Defending side will oppose the above plan and try to neutralize the attack by exchange of pieces, if necessary. If this is successful, counter-attack can be planned on the wings.

Open center:

There are none or only a few pawns in the center files and those which may be present are not playing any important role.

How to deal with such centers

  • Instead of flank attack and attempt to surround enemy position as used in Closed centers, Open centers call for direct attack by using the pieces.
  • This is initiated by the player who has the greater advantage.
  • Identify and exploit weak positions or create weakness in enemy position and then attack those positions.
  • Pawn storming is usually avoided as the resultant weaknesses in the King’s position makes it very vulnerable with an open center.
  • The defense lies in warding off such attacks and trying to launch one’s own attack if the opponent overstretches his resources.

Mobile center:

When one player has a pawn chain at center with at least two united pawns whereas the opponent has none or only one pawn facing the pawn chain, it becomes a Mobile center.

How to deal with such centers

  • The player who has the strong center pawns should advance his pawns with aim to create a passed pawn.
  • If the above is not possible, then he should use his pawns to drive away enemy pieces from key positions to facilitate an attack on the flanks.
  • The tactics of the defending player is to block the center and to try to decimate it.

Dynamic center:

This is the situation when the pawn positions in the center have not yet stabilized into one of the aforesaid types. The position remains unclear till the moves by the players transpose it to a more definitive type. It behoves each player to assess the type of center that will be favorable to his position and try to achieve it by moving his pieces and pawns to that end. Once the center formation crystallizes, appropriate tactics can be followed as described above.