Category Archives: Chess Opening

Chess Strategy and Chess Tactics: Balancing Act?

7
Posted by ChessMaster on May 30, 2009 – 6:45 pm
Filed under Attacking tactics, Chess lessons, Chess Opening, Chess Strategy, Chess tactics
Tagged as ,

Many may continue on the same path for a distance, but you never know where they will end ultimately! We are talking of chess games.

This divergence becomes more prominent when one game is controlled by a player who follows the dictates of chess strategy (should we say sanity?) and the other by one who could not care less, a maverick who cannot let go of any opportunity to shock his opponent (and the world at large)!

Before we open the ‘show’, here is a brief introduction to the ‘actors’ in the ‘plays’.

The first game was played in 1961 between Bobby Fischer and Sam Reshevsky, the second one in 1962 between Rashid Nezhmetdinov and Oleg Chernikov.

Bobby Fischer (1943-2008) certainly does not need any introduction. The World Champion in 1972, he was a master in all areas of chess games – be it chess strategy, chess openings, chess tactics in attack and defense and chess endgames.

Sam Reshevsky (1911-1992) is a well-known Grandmaster who started as a child prodigy in Poland where he was born. He later moved to USA and won US Chess Championship no less than eight times. He was a superb positional player but also capable of brilliant chess tactics.

I presume you have already gone through the “Importance of Chess Strategy” and know about Rashid Nezhmetdinov and his playing style.

Oleg Chernikov (1936- ) was a Soviet National Master when this game was played, but went on to become a Grandmaster in year 2000.

The opening in these games follows the Accelerated Fianchetto variation of Sicilian Defense with Black’s 8. … Ng4 introduced by Reshevsky during the fourth game of his match with Fischer in 1961 (the present diagram was taken from the 6th game of that series).

Al Horowitz remarked in his book on Chess Openings: “This move (8. … Ng4) gained popularity as after this move, White can hardly avoid the exchange of minor pieces which eases Black’s game considerably”. The result of the first game vindicates Reshevsky, but you be the judge how easy it made for Chernikov in the second game!

In the second game, both players followed the same theoretical lines and subsequent variations in the footsteps of players in the first game. It is possible that Nezhmetdinov did not like the way the first game ended after Fischer’s response to Black’s 11th move and decided to chart his own path thereafter in the only way he knew, the way of a sacrifice!

Position after 11. … Bf6:

start on same footing

Can you guess what Nezhmetdinov saw in this position that Fischer did not? Was it a sudden intuition/imagination or a speculation or a pre-calculated move?

This is how the games proceeded.

  12. Qg4 d6   12. Qxf6 Ne2+ White starts on his new path with a Queen sacrifice!
  13. Qd1 Nc6   13. Nxe2 exf6  
  14. Qd3 b6   14. Nc3 Re8  
  15. Qd2 Ba6   15. Nd5 Re6  
  16. Rfd1 Bxc3   16. Bd4 Kg7  
  17. bxc3 Ne5   17. Rad1 d6  
  18. Bd4 Nc6   18. Rd3 Bd7  
  19. Qh6 Nxd4   19. Rf3 Bb5  
  20. cxd4 Rac8   20. Bc3 Qd8  

 

In game 2, Black has the materials, White has all the space and moves. What follows will make you understand Averbakh’s warning about Nezhmetdinov in “Importance of Chess Strategy”.

Positions after 20 moves just for comparison of the two games and to show that Nezhmetdinov was not yet done with sacrifices!

the position mid-way

  21. Re1 e5   21. Nxf6 Be2 For 21. … Bxf1 22. Ng4+ Kg8 23. Bxe6 Qg5 24. Bxf7+ Kf8 25. Bxg6+ Ke7 26. Bf6+ Qxf6 27. Nxf6 hxg6 28. Kxf1, White wins back everything and then some
 
  22. dxe5 Qxe5   22. Nxh7+ Kg8 22. … Kxh7 23. Rxf7+ Kh6 24. Bxe6 Bxf1 25. Bd2+ g5 26. Bf5 Qh8 27. h4 wins for White
  23. Rad1 Bc4   23. Rh3 Re5  
  24. Qd2 Bxb3   24. f4 Bxf1  
  25. cxb3 Rc6 Drawn 25. Kxf1 Rc8  
    26. Bd4 b5  
    27. Ng5 Rc7  
    28. Bxf7+ Rxf7  
    29. Rh8+ Kxh8  
    30. Nxf7+ Kh7  
    31. Nxd8 Rxe4  
    32. Nc6 Rxf4+  
    33. Ke2 Resigns  

 

Chess Games: Amateurs can also produce gems!

0
Posted by ChessMaster on May 1, 2009 – 9:30 am
Filed under Attacking tactics, Chess lessons, Chess Opening, Chess tactics, Chess Tutorials
Tagged as , ,

Captain W. Evans, a player of moderate skills, introduced a gambit in 1824 where White sacrificed a pawn to get a strong center. This gambit obviously came to be known as Evans Gambit! In 1838, he played his gambit against Alexander MacDonnell, the greatest English player of his time, and managed to win the game and the gambit drew a lot of public attention. Subsequently, players of much greater standing like Morphy, Anderssen and Chigorin created gems with this gambit.

But with the progress in the theory of the game, this gambit went out of vogue and appears rarely in modern games as defenders are now well aware of the variations and how to handle those.

The opening moves go something like this:

1. e4 e5  
2. Nf3 Nc6  
3. Bc4 Bc5  
4. b4   This offer of QNP constitute the gambit. White follows it up by c3 and d4

 

Our idea of telling all these is not to sell you Evans Gambit but only to create a background! You can take it as one of the many interesting stories behind chess games that make chess and chess history so fascinating! But what we intend to show is that given any set up, brilliant ideas are not the prerogatives of chess masters. Even amateurs like you can have a flight of imagination to produce little gems like the following one, incidentally produced with Evans Gambit in a game played in 1862 between two amateur players (White was 16 year old)!

1. e4 e5  
2. Nf3 Nc6  
3. Bc4 Bc5  
4. b4 Bxb4  
5. c3 Bc5  
6. d4 exd4  
7. cxd4 Bb6  
8. 0-0 d6  
9. Nc3 Bd7   9. … Na5 or 9. … Bg4 is better
10. e5 dxe5  
11. Re1 Nge7  
12. Ng5 Be6   12. … 0-0 would be disastrous after 13. Qh5
13. Bxe6 fxe6  
14. Nxe6 Qd6  
15. Nxg7+ Kf8  
16. Qg4 Bxd4  
17. Ne4 Qb4   Attacking the other White Rook and threat of checkmate may look good but 17. … Qg6 was needed for defense
18. Ne6+ Ke8   Most players would play 18. Bd2 to neutralize Black’s threats, but White saw better possibilities in this position
19. Nf6+ Kf7  
20. Ng5+ Kf8   These were the possibilities:
20. … Kxf6 21. Qe6+ Kg7 22. Qf7+ Kh6 23. Ne4+ with mate to follow
20. … Kg6 21. Qh5+ Kf5 22. g4+ Kxf6 23. Qf7#
20. … Kg7 21. Nh5+ Kf8 22. Qf3+ Ke8 23. Nf6+ Kd8
(if 23. … Kc8 24. Nd5+ wins Black’s Q)
24. Nf7+ Kc8 25. Qh3+ Kb8 26. Nd7+ Kc8 27. Nb6+ Kb8 28. Qc8+ Rxc8 29. Nd7#

 

Position after move 20

exasperating knights

21. Ba3 Qxa3   White moved QB to clear the mating threat. If Black tries 21. … Qc4 to prevent Qe6 by White, then 22. Rc1 drives away the Q and makes Qe6 possible
22. Qe6 Nd8   22. … Kg7 23. Nh5+ Kf8 24. Qf7#
23. Qf7+ Nxf7  
24. Ne6#  

 

You have to go a long, long way to see a more beautiful checkmate! Do you have any hesitation in calling this a masterpiece though produced as ‘amateurpiece’!?

This game gives an excellent example of tactical play using a Knight pair!

If you needed some convincing to follow our advice for raising your game, in particular the necessity to keep records, this game should be an incentive for you to do that! You never know when a future chess historian will discover a gold nugget in the archives of the games you played!

Chess Trivia: The best pawn move for opening?

4
Posted by ChessMaster on April 24, 2009 – 9:46 am
Filed under Beginner Chess Tips, Chess Basics, Chess Opening, Chess Strategy
Tagged as

Beginners often ask about what opening move is best! It is like asking which of your legs should be put forward first when you start a walk! But from general principle of controlling the center, you should choose one of the four central pawns namely KP, QP, KBP, and QBP. Your choice depends on the style of play you like (more strategic or more tactical), the types of openings that go with it and so the first pawn move that is required by that opening theory! But since transposition is possible quite often, the first pawn move need not be a rigid requirement even for the opening strategy adopted by you.

In this respect, you may like to know opinions of some of the past masters. Emanuel Lasker, a world champion and one of the greatest chess players of all time, in talking about common sense in chess forbade using any opening move other than d4 and e4!

It seems that Paul Morphy, another all-time great and a chess genius, never used d4. On the other hand, Gruenfeld who was a GM and authority on opening play, used e4 only once in his tournament career (against Mark Taimanov in 1950 and lost the game)! When asked about the reason for not using e4, he stated that he never made a mistake in the opening! Probably once was enough!

Ruy Lopez opening Basic Moves

0
Posted by on April 16, 2009 – 7:39 am
Filed under Chess Opening
Tagged as , , , , , , ,

rulopez

One of the oldest chess openings is the Ruy Lopez opening. Also referred to as a Spanish Game, the Ruy Lopez opening is a very complicated opening and is usually more favorable to the person using white pieces in the initial stages, as the developments and plots can cramp the movement of some black pieces either temporarily or permanently. If one can learn and gain mastery over this Spanish opening, then he or she can develop as a very good chess player.

Without going more in to the other trivia of Ruy Lopez opening, let me go ahead and discuss the very basic moves of this very fascinating opening.

The Ruy Lopez opening is part of the open games, where the first move from White would be the king pawn moving two squares to “e4” in an effort to have control over the central part of the game – the important 4 central squares, e4, e5, d4 and d5. The black responds with the similar move to “e5” in an effort to gain a fair share of the central field.

In response to black’s move to have a fair control over the centre, White opens up the kingside knight to f3, or simply Nf3, attacking the black pawn at e5 seeing that there is no support for the black pawn at e5.

The black, visualizing threat for his king pawn at e5, which is immobile due to block at the front and no pieces to capture on the diagonals, offers to support the pawn at e5 by placing the Queenside knight at c6, or simply Nc6.

Now, White tries to put pressure on Black’s queen side knight placed at c6 by moving its kingside bishop, or White bishop from “f1” to “b5” – written as Bb5 in chess notation. The primary idea of the White in this move is to force the Black’s knight to move away from that place so that the White Knight at “f3” can attack the Black pawn at “e5”.

However, this is not the only intention of the White. There is one more motive or indirect pressure on Black. Can you visualize that?

The pawn in front of the Black Queen, which is at “d7”, cannot be moved before the threat from the White bishop at “b5” is averted. If, per chance, the pawn in front of the Black queen, or simply queen pawn, is moved a square up to “d6” to offer support to the king pawn at “e5”, then the queen knight will become a pinned piece for the Black King.

The above-mentioned five moves are the very basic moves, which can be categorized under the general Ruy Lopez opening in chess parlance. The black has many alternative means to counter the moves by either counterattacking the White Bishop or attacking the white pawn in “e4”. Each of those moves are categorized under different variations leading to a fascinating middle game that calls for strategical planning by both the players.

In Chess Opening basics: Ruy Lopez, some more steps beyond the basic moves have been shown for Classical Variation of Closed Defense, explaining the moves step by step graphically.

Classical Opening Principles in Chess

0
Posted by on April 15, 2009 – 3:05 am
Filed under Chess Opening
Tagged as , , , , , ,

chess-opening-principles

The game of Chess, said to have been invented as early as 600 A.D. in India, is said to have been characterized by attacks against the enemy King. Nevertheless, since the popularization of the game since the past 3 centuries, a number of principles have been evolved by the erstwhile masters of the game, which have been tried and tested over a prolonged period.

One of such principles related to the opening moves of a chess game, initiated and advocated by Francois-Andre Philidor in the year 1749. Unfortunately, the importance of the principles of Philidor was realized much later than he expired, in the nineteenth century, and is commonly referred to as Classical Opening Principles of Chess.

Philidor moved away from the general notion of attacking the enemy king at every possible opportunity in the game of chess. Philidor insisted that the attacks should be more properly planned and executed to win over the enemy. He also laid emphasis on minor objectives in the game. You may have known by now that the major objective of chess game is to attack the enemy king. Philidor emphasized that apart from the major objective, minor objectives such as conquering the centre from the enemy and controlling the conquered centre, should be pursued as part of the development of the game. With this concept getting popular among the chess players, the art of defending against attacks gained more prominence and the games challenge and fascination was taken to a new level.

Without dwelling more on Philidor, let me explain the classical opening principles.

Well, the centre of the chessboard refers to the four vital squares in the central part – the four squares commonly referred to as e4, e5, d4 and d5.

The four major aspects of Classical Opening Principles are —

  • Centralization
  • Quick Development
  • Early castling
  • Knights before Bishops

Centralization: The most important part in the chessboard is the centre. It is but obvious that pieces placed in the centre attack more squares than those positioned on either sides of the board. For example, a knight placed in “d4” can effectively attack eight squares. Do you know what they are? They are c2, b3, b5, c6, e6, f5, f3, and e2. Assuming that the same knight is not in d4, but in h1 – then the knight can attack only two squares – f2 and g3.

If you do not control or possess a fair share of the centre, then it might be difficult to maneuver pieces from one side of the board to the other side of the board.

Quick Development: The second important part of Classical Opening Principles is Quick Development. You might know that pawns are of the lowest cadre. The minor pieces such as bishops and knights are the next cadre. The Queen and the rooks are the major pieces in the chessboard while the ultimate superior is the King.

According to classical principles, developing minor pieces is considered important before developing major pieces such as rooks and the queen. It should be ensured that pawn movements are restricted to the minimum. The knights can jump over other pieces in the board and as such, pawn movement is not necessary for developing the knights. If you open up the pawns in front of the King and the Queen, then the two bishops are opened up, and so are the Queen and the King.

Early castling: Castling, as you all know, is one of the special moves in chess, where the king is allowed to move two squares in a single move. In addition, two pieces are moved in a single move, the King and the Rook.

The two rooks are in the two corners. In line with the concept of quick development, both the minor pieces such as bishops and knights can be moved out after the pawns in front of the queen and the king are opened. Now there will be no pieces in between the King and the Rook at the kingside, while queen will be there in the queenside. You can take up castling on the kingside, thereby opening up the rook to combine with the Queen and the other rook. In addition, the King in the first row will be guarded by the Queen and two rooks.

Knights before Bishop: Another part of the classical opening principles is to move the knights before the bishop. As already stated, the knights can be moved without waiting for the pawns to leave way, as they are capable of jumping over pieces lying in between the original square and the destination square of the knight. As such, it is suggested that knights are moved into the front before opening up the bishops.

These classical opening principles, if employed effectively, can open up to fascinating contests in the middle game, as the art of defense and attack needs to be mastered to enhance the level of knowledge in the game of chess.