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english Translation Copyright © 1996 Ken Neat First published 1996 by Cadogan Books ple, London House, Parkzate Road, London SWI ANQ. Distributed in North Ameria by Simon and Schuster, Paramount Publishing, 200 Old Tappan Road, Old Tappan, New Jersey 07675, USA. At right reserved. No part ofthis publication may be reproduced stored in “Grewievl sytem or transmitted nay form or by any means: electronic ‘lectrantate, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or there, without prior permission in writing from the publishers British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data [ACP catalogue record fortis Book is aailable fom the British Library ISBN 1 85748 1257 Cover design by Brian Robins Typeset by Ken Neat, Durham Prined in Great Britain by BPC Wheatons Lid, Exeter Contents Inarodction A Lisle about Strategy and Tactics Elementary Contets ‘tack and Defense Tying and Pianing Combined Antack Second Wave of the Atack Double Atack ‘One piece simultaneously attacks two enemy pieces Tyo pieces simultaneously attack one enemy ieee “Two pices simultaneously attack two enemy pees Reciprocal Double Attack Double Blow How a Double Blow Ariss Attack on the King Mating Attack Mechanisms Combinations and Sacrifices (Cassifcation of Combinations ‘Winning Combinations ‘Combinations against the king Combinations to win material Combinations to promese a pawn Draseing Combinations Perpetual check Sialemate Blockade Perpetual pursuit Fortress Drawing balance of forces Chess Aesthetics ‘ (Chess Middtegames: Essential Knowledge 19 Strategy of Anack “Attack on the uncasted king “Attack on the kingside “Attack afte astling on opposite sides ‘tack onthe queenside Inder of Players and Analysts Introduction ‘The middlegame isthe most dffcalt and complicated phase of chess, but also undoubtedly the most fascinating and interesting, Many major works have been devoted toi and in varcus books one can find hundreds of ‘cxamples from the middlogame, but it seems tO me that such a mass of atrial is most likey to frighten the average chess enthusiast, wishing 10 improve his ply in this stage of the game in order to achieve certain so ‘ene ad, more important, obtain the maximum pleasure from playing Ewa for this reason that the autor had the idea of writing a sal book devoted to the middlegame, and ieluding ia it only that which is most ‘important, ost essential. so that subsequently the eader would be able independently and competent to solve many problems arising during the sHruggle on the chess board ‘Since the middlgaine isthe most complicated phase of chess, as with, ‘any complicated phenomenon various appreaches can be made 10 it. Since the main am ofthe game iso give mate othe enemy king, which demands {certain coordination of the oeces, I consider that particular attention ‘Should be devoted tothe problems of concerted piece ation. Tn this book | hve tried 1 reveal to the reader the deep signitieance of these important concels, and have aimed 1 show how the coordination of the pisces arises during pay. My main conclusion, which will make it much fesser fo understand the basic struggle on the chessboard, i that, despite the countess multitude of differen stations arising in the midlegame, there are only two effective attacking procedures leading to suceass the ‘combined atlack andthe double blow. A mastery of these techniques and inability o prepare them grat 'And one more thing, Since i the middlegame the mai target of atack is his majesty the king inthis Book great attention has been paid to the attack fon the king. Typical mating mechanisms, offensive techniques, and ways of Conducting an attack areal considered "The tsk ofthis small book ito help the reader to find is way through the boundless ocean of chess, n which, according tothe dian saying: ‘gat may dink and an cleat may bathe “Yuri Avera November 1995 1 ALittle about Strategy and Tactics ing the course of @ game a layer" repeatedly has (0. find Enswers fo two questions — what to do, and howto doi. The answer to the first question is piven by chess strategy, and to. the second by ie wellknown that, in warfare, strategy is assigned the leading role, fd tactics a subordinate one. ‘But onthe chess board everything is different. Although ‘here 100 tactics re largely. subordinate 10 ‘Sategy, their role is extremely nporiant. Afterall, on the chess bard, except When pawn is promoted, thee are no reserves, and {his means there ean be no adtton tovthe existing forces, which them Selves are very limited. Therefore it iS not surprising. that even “one Tactical “mistake, oversight "or blunder may lead to defeat And on the contrary, «successful tactical fperation may immediately decide the outcome ofa game. During play, specially in complicated, unclear postions, you have t be extremel tative Otherwise unpleasant sur ses will avait you at evry step, ‘Remember that, however suocess- ful your statepical plan, a tactical mistake can completly ruin it, Not Without reason i sad that, win 1 game, forty moves oF more ma be required, but Io lose itis sul cent fo make one bad one! You Yourself wil no doubt have several fines encountered this paradox. AS frandmaster Richard “Teichmann ‘pce aptly put it ‘cess i 890 per tent tactics! Every player, from tegimer to World Champion, has experienced this at frst hand bimselt. Tn order to gain an impression of the connection between strategy and tactics on the ches board, we will ‘examine a shor, but highly instoe- tive game, played by two Moscow masters of roughly the same strength. This game, incidentally, slso demonstrates certain ideas and ‘of the midle- Leos 2 Se Instead of defending his eS pawn, Back in tum attacks the opponent pave, This opening, developed by Rassian masters in the 19th century, is called the Petro? Defence It shouldbe known that iF 3 Sixes Black should first play 3.6, and A Lite abou Seategy and Tactics 9 only then take the ef pawn, The point is that" onthe immediate BU Bixed White has the strong reply 4°We2, shen the Knight cannot move on account of 5 D6, ‘winning the queen, nae White, withthe advantage ofthe opening move, is the fst 1 begin play in the cent, simultancously pening lines Tor the develop ofhis pices 3 nex aS Bee 5 Wxas 6 eas Deas 7 fas Wert Experience has shown 7.826 8 WH 6 is more accurate here, With the move in the game Black plans to answer 8 e3 with 8.095, “exchanging knight for bishop But as we will oe ltr, this operation leads to a loss of time, and to Black delaying the develo: ‘ment of his pices Bed Os Ie was not yet too late for Blak to ‘eject his ital plan, By playing EonktS 9 Gc} Ooo 10 Wad devas Ine would have gained an acceptable positon, whereas now be encour {ers significant problems, oats as 10 Gest Te wanspires tat taking the pawn ig extremely” dangerous: on 10. ‘xed there follows 1 Hel Océ (11 ts 12 ds) 12 We, Iistrue that here Black has 12.4%, bat ‘White calmly ropes 13.001, and if 13..243 Ld Wed Oxel 15" Brel, when the bishop cannot move on sczount of 16 OAs. “Therefore with his. next_move Black switches his queen 10" the aqueensie, to where, all tances, the opponent's Kings Intending to ake shelter. a ee x aaa Wane Ww Bo ue a & a as ae a @ os wo. abe 11 these (OF course, there is no point in White exchanging queens. His lead in development is best explited in sn atack Tn es 2 ooo Bee In the hope of mounting an attack along the el, Black wes to buy is opponent off with a pave, 13 Wc? Bet wwe Ww 1s West By offering the exchange (now that he isa pawn up), White 0 Chess Middtegames: Essential Knowledge wishes his qusen t0 an ase baton wth ano tempo 1 ae 16 het A pictrese poston, White's pice! folly obiied ad are Rady fir powive, ston, we Back hs ope reohod he {hstion of saeguarding his king therefore he decdcs on despre coutrack as) 0 Bi ie [Nalvely assuming that this exchange sacrifice will lead t0 ‘raw. For example: 18 buss a2 10 dd heed 20 sexs} bs? 2 xbt Wes 22 as Wars with perpetual check, But White had seen Feterehand that after the capture on the opponent's back rank woul bbe weakened, Which allows him 10 ‘trike a devisive tactial Blow 1 abr “Truly abo from the blue! Beads 19 Oxe6+ Against sucha check, called a double check, there is only one ‘defence — the King has tole, bat shee? Iig et 20a ae, Wile 19. ef is met by 20 Seg? Bag? 20 gst et 22 as mate ‘That only leaves 67, but thee too {he hing doesnot in safety ise ae 20 gst Its importa aot to let the king escape 106, 20 a1 Base BE jaa @ 42 \w as ere Black admitted deat: there is no defence aginst mate in to Tn this game we see a clash of ‘wo ideas of fo strategic plans. Relying on his lead in development, ‘Winte concentrated his pieces in the centre, preparing an attack on the cy King that bad not managed 10 isle Black, after sacrificing. a pen, was hoping for a counter A Lite about Sirauegy and Tactics " attack on the queenside, where the Ute king had casted. But every thing was decided by tacts ~ by Sucrfcing his. queen, White was able to refte Black's plan and to ‘onelude the game bility "Note that in the final” mating anack all the white pieces took part (nth the exception, of course, of the king) And the actions of his pieces were excellently coordinated in the final postion the rook at dl takes avay the black king's squares fon the defile and defends the knight fatd8. The knight, in tum, deprives the king ofthe 7 square, the bishop has depived it ofthe 6 sue, nd ths foo are ands he Bl fw {Te shop at and pos at nt nly lp, but tay Ndr thet King, ty depriving of the tal squres f8 nd 16. ANd the Kings ook ike the rmlnng bine pices and pwn proms the eer role of petro he Stesuon of toon monarch This "gomedemonttesthe importance of signing ries onthe CRE tou Andi te following chapter we wil Begin by tng 8 tndertand how the peces and pave coda one whan, 2 Elementary Contacts ‘The aim in a game of chess is 10 checkmate the opponents king. But fone ofthe pests i able to achieve this on its own. As we know, 10 do this even the all-powerful queen ‘eds help For succes in operations carried ‘out on the chess board the hat tmonious, esordinaed sction of the pieces is required. It i extremely {important toundrstand how this aries. We wil ty to disclose what Ties behind these exceptionally ‘important concepts Tet us consider the initial rangement o the pieces. xasVeta jhe ARALA ABARAAALN DLWe eos) ‘Te two sides ar bot ined up in two" ranks facing each other Between them is a large soul zone, Alls calm and quiet ~ no one {threatening “anyone else, and indeed noone sable to do so. However, already in the initial disposition in each camp one can ‘discern a number of contacts and links between the picces and pawns, tnd that means, tei coordination. The pawns cover the pices standing. behind them from attack ofthe enemy pieces, andthe pieces, in tum, defend. (supper) ese pans, each at least once, ‘while simultaneously defending onc nother. However, the. sta fant defect ~ apart from the Knights, none ofthe pieces is able to move, io say nothing of attacking the opponents pieces: they are prevented fom doing so by their town pieces and pawns, which restric! one another's freedom of "Thus in the inital postion we discern three pes OF contacts botween the pieces (and also. be tween the pieces and pawns) ofeach fide ~ three forms of elementary ordination 1 Support ~ 2 piece (or pawn) support (dafends) anther pie (or pawn) 7. Covering ~ a piece (or pawn) covers. another piece (or) pawn) against attack ‘3. Restriction apiece (or pawn) resis ether the movement, 0 the ‘ope of another piece (r pawn) Blementary Contacts 3 Whereas the fist two contacts say be considered useful alouh fot always necesary (fir all ih the inital positon there areas yet to threats at all), the third contact emonstates an adverse, lack of oorination inthe ations of the picces, when they not only do not Feip. but esenialy hinder” one father ‘Now lt ws ase how the station on the board changes aller some {nial opening moves. Let ws pay 1 4: White immediately takes control of the squares d3-and fin the Sep tana a the Straight away removed ~ his qucen, bishop and even his king gain the ‘pporinity to move forward. But ‘pawn hat immediately broken away. fom is camp. and, Tacking support by the piees. is defended And hore we noe the fisingof «fourth contact ~ the Ahreat ofan attack on by aback night rom ‘Aer the reply LneS Black takes contol of the 4 and F4 squares in the opponent's territory. In addon, the hte pawn is blocked. Tey halted ested ints movements But the 5 pawn that has broken away fom bose snow ise heat feed by an atack. And, by 2 0, ‘White cris ut this tat, tae King the black pawn and creating the th contact attack, Note that {roo 1 the knight also creates the threat of tacking the 7 pawn ‘We came to the imporan com clan tha betwen the pes the opposing snes here sit ree Dope comet the Oper oF Interaction Fs, resaton as mmenionedcriet) Secondy the threat of an atacand td the Mack ancl He sel fo mention tat an sack ~ by one (ese on auuer~ does no ate Sladen, but gral tet thre mire ret Dy png 2-26, Black defense pow combs the dt Sauare and crn the teat of an Mack one? If we witht, we can (eying on elementary contacts), deserbe any Stunioe that act on the chest ‘or Stseqenty {is Burhere our ows in the course of play, between {be pies ofthe two sds cerain Cones and Tinks aie, Figur Snel peaking an the ces fhe fo ides take up their ighting. postions, between the warring ceptible w the naked eye ike Very Fine wies they eames the field oF wate "These lines of force — we call them elementary contacts and links, fase both between the pieces, and between pieces and cern squares, To repeat these elementary inks are ‘support covering, restriction, the threat of an attack, and the attack tl. 4 ‘Chess Middlegames: Essential Knowledge Stritly speaking, inthe endgame another contact arses ~ the sixth land avery distinctive one ~ the link Detween a passed pawn and its promotion square. [ike a magne fhe pawn is drawn towards. this ‘quate andthe closer it st tthe ‘Songer the thteat of it Being promoted toa queen. This threat is po Tess song that a attack on this sauare However, the promotion of a pawn isnot typial of the Imiddlegame, snd here we will touch fom this theme only biel In concsion it should be mentioned. that all other, more Complicated types of tactical inter ction are formed out ofthese si flementary contacts that we have discovered. 3 = Attack and Defence In the course ofa game the wari sides endeavour to init material fosses on each other, and with this fim they make aachs with hele pieces and pans onthe pews and prvens ofthe opponent. Tet us Took again at the intial postion, xatWera JAhRARA‘A i ABARABAS DLWSLAE) sh th eis not difficult to est fiom gl the white knight can neither stack, no threaten to attack any of the enemy pieses. But from 3 treating an attack, and from gS for e5 i is already’ altacking the 17 pawn. Begining an attack onthe £7 pawn fom gl, the knight moves ax though by steps. Silly speaking, even from gl the knight ‘reatening to atack the 17 pawn, fonly for this it requtes not one move, as from f3, but two. Ther fore it canbe sid that from gl the ‘ight creates a threat ofthe second cofder. Depending on the number of ‘moves that ave needed 10 sccomplish a aac, these threats an be of various orders (stronger oF weaker. ‘We thus come tothe conclusion that, before making. an atack, a piece moves as though by steps fradually intensifying the threat ‘Attacks and threats (moreover, 35 ‘we have established, teats can be fof various orders)" consttute flementary means of attack. And there fs another extremely important conclusion. Whereas attacks and Areas ofthe first order are easly Aiscemible, threats of the second, third and" subsequent orders are often "concealed fom the experienced eye and are not easy 10 Spot “Thus, an attack has been made on ‘piece But how effective i? Is effective only af the opponent Sisrepards this threat or doesnot notice it But ithe sees the threat he ‘sll try to vod material loss, and theoretically he will have five possible ways of defending. Let us Examine them in rm withthe aid of 2 schematc position (see diagram ext page). ‘Lets Suppose that White as just, played 1 fal, stacking the “unprotected bishop a d6 16 (Chess Middlegames: Essential Knowledge 1, Withdrawal. ‘The attacked piece moves out ofthe Firing line. {This method of ‘defence can be ther passive or active in nature. IF the piece simply moves, leaving the fatacked square, this will Be. 8 passive defence here for example, Tam ‘But if, in moving, it in turn attacks an opponent's pice, such 3 defence willbe ative, Here such an ‘opportunity is provided by the move rake, 2 Support. The attacked piece remains in place, but, in order to defend it, another piece is rou tip to ite defence. This method slows an exchange, therefore Support is normally possible oaly ‘when the attacking ieee i of equal for superior stength and importance to the atacked piece: otherwise the ‘exchange will lead to material loss for the defending side. In our ‘example the attacked bishop can be Supported, for instance, by 1 ad8, 3. Covering, If the attacking piece is of long-range action, then nother pce can be moved into the Tine of attack, drawing the fre on isl This method also allows an exchange, therefore the covering Piece should normaly be equa to oF ‘weaker tan the atacking pice, In [dition it should. be. supported ther by the attacked piece isl, or by some other piece. Here the attack ‘nthe bishop can be covered by Was. “k Answering attack (counter: attack). I this ease the stack is Simply disregarded, the ‘attacked pieve is Te undefended, and in Feply an attack image on a Stronger or at least equal piece of the opponent. In our positon this might be done by 1.-h6 ‘8. Capture. I the attacking piece ison a square that in tur is eacked by one of the opponent's pieces, it stack and defence. In the event of the attacked piece withdrawing (110), oF the stacking pece boeing. captured (hdbxdl) the situated is relieved. But inthe other three cases the situation becomes more aggravated and, complicated into the conflict are drawn not just ‘to, but a minimum of thee (i the ase of support or covering) or even four pices (in the event of a counterattack). "AS we have seen, the defensive Autack and Defence 7 possibilities are very diverse. But fer employment is often ‘etermined by the type of atacking fand_defending pieces. Thus, for ‘example, ira piace is atacked by a pwn it normally has to save itseit ty running away. apnnst a alla by ight itis impossible to defend by covering, while if the Kings tacked in this ease neither suppor nor counteratack are possible. In shor, the choice of Gefensve methods depends on the 4 Tying and Pinning ‘Let us suppose that some piese has tacked an equivalent or weaker piece of the opponent, and that nother pice has come tit ai, by Sefending it It would seem thatthe balance has been resared. A, no! Compared with the inital situation, iu has significantly changed: be tween these three pieces a cern tension has. arisen — invisible tacking and defensive lines of force are now in pace Ta this ease it may prove thatthe rd, supporting piece significantly loses in sength® its mobility and ability to atack will be resticted. tars out that by tg it possible to neutralise signiicant Imaterial advantage. Let us consider, for example, the conclusion to study by V.Chekhover (1949). [ae al A » oh In this, amusing position Black cannot win, even if it his tn 10 move, If he plays 1.26, then alter 2 7, sn order not To ose a Piece, the knight has 1 go back (0 Fr while if Toned, then 2 97 ‘Bibs 3071 and the kniehts, which ae tied to eachother, are crippled "AS we See, here the king on is own successfully opposes three fnemy minor pieces. And this ‘veut thanks fo ying. T's pve fs atacked by a long range pecs, it ean be defended by covering =a second pee as though fakes the fie upon itself, covering the line of action of the sacking piece. In ding soi itself tums out fo be pinned it moves this will lead fo the lose of the. attacked piece. Tn other words, after covering, the satack onthe aacked pce ‘isappear, but the threat of an fatach sill remains. And the pinned Pieve loses oth in mobility nd in ctv, ‘och a situation, in which, as in tying. @ minimum of three peces ‘take par is called « pin. By means (see diagram nex page) Here Black is # 00k up, but he Thing and Pinning 19 is knight is pinned, and (since under normal circumstances. king fd rook cannot win against king fnd bishop) his king and rook are forced to defend t= they ae ted 10 HC White achieves a draw by ‘moving his bishop between 3 and w. “The following postion is perhaps ‘even more amazing Black has an enormous material advantage ~ Wo TOOks against & bishop, but ere 100 his attmpts to swim come to noting. These to exampies demonstrate that a pin is especially important, if the pinned. pie is covering. the king inthis casei completely loses is svength! This fetur ofa pin Sometimes forgoten even” by ‘masters. Here is. ypical example “Makogonov-Chekhover “ii 1937 White ad aimed for this position fom a long way off. He was not raid of 100, since he assumed that by 2 Ba8 he in tum would pin fe Gnemy rook. But the. ex perionced. master had not taken ecount ofthe fact that is pinned «queen had lost his strength and that Zhe! as possible after which he’ was immediately obliged to capitulate. “The defects of pinned pieces, covering their king, are also Strikingly “demonstrated "by “the Following ancient study ‘The queen at f5 is under attack by four black pieces — king. queen, rook and pawa, but not one of them fam take ft The king, because the ‘queen i supported by its own king, fd the remaining three pieces because they are pied, the black King being Behind them. Tt thas twanspites thatthe four-fold defence ofthe 5 square isin fat illusory. Itit isthe queen or some other piece, apart from the king, of Course that is behind the proned 20 (Chess Middlegames: Essential Knowledge EL) we “2 a8 - Ske & 2 ow | Ae L a Citbert, 1877 White to play a mate bn 090 By playing. 1 WEE White does rot appear to threaten anything: all the approtches fo the enemy king fare securely defended. But the problem is that iti Black 1 ply, find a move by anyof his paces d= rupts the defence. Thus on & knight ‘move there follows 2 WS mate, on rook move, 2 WEE mate, and finally, if Lasbxe6r 2 WES mate ‘This final position merit a diagram a | ean ax we | w pice, then in certain circumstances {cha pin can be disregarded ‘A classe example of such an “ithaory" pins povided bythe ancient miniature game Legall de Kermeur-St Brie, played in Pats int 730. Leb eS 2 et d6 3 0 Spd 4 Dea g6 bey weta® mam 42 a Sy a4 BOB k a nana faa Ik ewes 2 The right at 1 is pinned, but it expectedly releases sell 'S2axes! xd Black's greed is his undoing. OF course, he sould have replied Tying an Pinning 2 S.dee, losing only a pawn. But now he fe mated in two moves. “6 dix eT 7 08 mate, This spectacular finish became snow a5 “Legal's mate’ "And here te another example of pinning that has become a cassie (see diagram nex column) [Not seeing how he could save his pinned bishop. Black resigned. But fhe could have not only saved the game, but even won withthe spec facular move 1-gt? Atacking the queen with is rook, Black simul: taneously threatens mate at h2. And bere it White who would have had to resign? iW can be stid that a pin is “illusory, ithe pinned piece Is able to release itself, by creating some strong tvea, such as the tveat of imate the threat to win a stronger pecs, and soon “Monte Carlo 1902 5 Combined Attack simple ‘enemy piece rarely proves effective. For this to happen ie has to be incapable of being de ended or covered by is ow pieces, and of moving out ofthe atack, ‘Quite different matter is a combined attack, normally cared fot by. several pieces oF pawns, ‘when one of them attacks the ‘pponent’s piece, and the others prevent it from. moving or being Sefended. In such situations i often happen thatthe withdrawal squares of the pve are cutoff by its o¥m Pieces or pawns. Averbakb-Boudi-Bueno PPolanica Zire) 1975 In, this poston White played 1 441'Wret 2 Hel, and i ranapced thac the black quoen was tapped. ‘Aer 2.06 3 af Black resigned sa 2 8 a a og @ Oo [Nimzowitsch-Alekbine "ied 1931, Here all White's hopes rest on his attack onthe rook at af, ut Black found a reftation of his plan: 1 2a a di, IS+ 2 a? WD6 3 land the white queen is. tapped ‘Aller 40.0.0 27 5 Bus Oaat 6 st 196 2xb6 Black won. Combined Attack In this positon, the conclusion to 1 study by L-Kubbel (1940), Black does nt Took to be in any particular anger But there follows 1 Wa8! b2 2 ‘a8, and White manages to deprive the queen of all eight fee squares, Andersson-E-Torre Biel 1977 Wiite played 1 Eb, reckoning a retaining his pan bt afer buat as B64 hs bt fis ook mas tapped, By continuing Seb followed by aking hs king toot Black won Inthe flowing positon White's fist move 1 Wel looks incompre ene and Black decided to in the, opponent's central pawns by Teeouae 2 bas Wes Bu Wie tad ealelated gece 3 Wee caret 23 6 xeS, and the black knight had no ev . aw Aa a aad & a& was A eh Matulovie-Cvetkovie Varna 1965 In one of the variations of the Ruy Lopez aftr I ef eS 2 AS 6 Sins as 4hat d6S dd bs 6 03, Badd 7 Dada exd4 the following position i reached x aWegay a aks ak a as a ABA. BAR EOaWe 2 Here 8 Wad would bea mistake fon account of BueS 9 WAS eG 10 u (Chess Middlepames: Essential Knowledge Weer a7 11 WaS ef, when the “white bishop is trapped Inthe examples considered the targets of the combined attack were the queen, rook, knight and bishop. But aking can iso be subjected toa combined attack. We will give ‘Several typical instances ofan attack fon the King, where the decisive blow landed by various pieces. ‘Of couse, the strongest piace in ‘an attack onthe king is the queen, ¢ Eat a Wea & kW a | && ‘Tarjan-Karpov ‘Stopje 1976 White as erated the threat of imate into moves, bu i ie Black {0 ply, and ins by Lele 2 fses We mate By pong the rook a (ee next dagram), Black assed tht ead defended agaist all the threat But afer 1 Bgat i tone pire thatthe rook gould not be {Ben om secout of 2 Wx male fd meanwhile 2 Wak? xh? 3 Epo mate wae thestened Be! itanbiew-Colle Lidge 1926 a a NN-Pillsbury ‘Blindfold Exhibition 1899 In this position Black gives m with Tone bishop, only ist he has to reste the enemy king: 1 A= 2 Bel and now 2.80861 3 2x0 ‘Bx mate ’As we see, in the final mating positon the task of resting the King is fuliled by pieces of the Combined Auack 2 same colour. Pcturesquely speak: ing, they as though go over to the ‘opponent's sid, by hindering their own King "A similar situation arises when imate is given by alone knight. A lassi. example. is the soled “smothered mate’, which has. been Known since the ite Ith century, the dawn of modern chess. = Te oz aa Ww eee we 1 We6s hE 2 ON hes 3 Dnor dens 4 Wyse! Bags 57 Mate by @ pawn occurs most ‘often inthe endgame, but here we Bive one of the rare examples of Spectacular mate ofthis type inthe middlegame bhp eer ee be Georgadze-Kuindzht Toile 1973 In this unusual postion both kings ate in danger and in fot White is threatening mate in. one ‘move. But itis Black to play, and in twos moves he isthe fit to give mate: IW! 2 Wa RRS#! 3 Exhs 28 mate 1 hope that you will have Understood that in the event of & ombined attack on enemy poses incloding the king, itis extemely important nt only to oordinate the tection of your own pieces, but also to be able to exploit the restricting role. played by the opponents Pieces! 6 Second Wave of the Attack Let us suppose thatthe first attack fas “boot” pariod: an adequate defence agus as teen found. ‘The atacked piace has Been sp pred or cveTed agaist ack by roe pice oily, a coumer- ‘ack ha been employes Tiowever, the bate aot yet over Ihe atacker has resevea~ nce ocrapying atv postions — thew second wave of he atack i {ie posible anew atack If the atacked pice has Been supported then here there e thebetilly two possible stacking opens [x e A RHabe aa & 2D & AS BA Po 1. A. second_attack om the defended piece. Since iti cared ‘ut by a new pices, this will already bea double tack, in which to pieces atack ove. In such situations fhe atacked piece most offen has to fete by running aay. Thus inthe above. schematic postion White may attack the black Eshop at d7 with 1 Ha. If Black defends it by 1-Zd8, then White ‘an attack the bishop a second time ‘with 2 es, forcing cto move. 2. An attack on the supporting piece. This attack is even: more angerows. than the previous ‘one ‘After alli not so simple forthe “Supporting piece simply to leave is post, without abandoning its “ward fois fate Here oo there isa double Some thr plee or pawn, is Se defers consnetion Sellape ke a house of er nthe face othe secon tack Tn our schematic postion afer 1 1Rd1 as this could be cared out ya be Ifthe defence is cared out by covering. then again thee ae Aheoeally two atacking ops TA second attack on the covered pese,ony this time rom a ‘Seren andended ie in te following schematic postion Black might answer 123, The Second Wave of the Attack 2 atucking his rook, with the covering move 1.4345. Then 2 ait would be a new atack onthe covered piece £3, so that two white pieces are now threatened. Since 3 2b ag7 docs not help White he is bound to Tose atria &&S& ae | x We Aaah d A kk a A mad as swe Kg mata) Bam Baul 2. A new attack om the covering piece. This will be an atack oF 0 Pieces on one, which here could be fade after Ibs Das by 2 Had Ifthe defence i carried out by a counterattack, a second attack on the attacked picce is now pointless ‘The most effective form of atack here Wil be one where, in moving ut ofthe line of ire, the attacked Piece itself strikes 2 low at some fem pice. In this case to of the ‘opponent's pieces wil now be Under stack, "A practical example is provided bythe following position, Black atachs the white knight with Lae6. If White ignores ths nd! makes the counterattacking move 2 ZO? then Black replies 2.848, not only defending his {7 pawn, but also attacking the rook at Maciewski-Averbakh Polanca Zire) 1976 hus, nthe second wave of the attack the defending pieces drawn Into the skirmish may themselves become is target, and in many eases double stack situation arises on the board Every chess enthusiast i fii With the "foc" a dangerous tacking procedure, "when two Pieces simultaneously come under Snack by a piece or pawn. As you have probably already realised, the “Yok is merely a particular instance cof 1 double attack. But 2 double latack is much more dangerous and effective than a simple ne, and in tactical operations "on the chess bourd it plays an extremely important role 7 Double Attack “The fact tht the double attack is 9 highly effective attacking method twas clear fo our ancestors ack at the dawn of modem cess. Thus, or ‘example, in one of the Test chess books that of the Portuguese author Damiano (Rome 1512 ‘hapter devoted. to subtleties of ‘out of a couple of doze ‘Examples no less than half comprise ‘Various forms of double atack ‘And this is what was writen, for ‘example, inthe ancient book ofthe first Russian master Alexander Petro (St Petersburg 1824: “iti nesdful to endeavour to ‘make such moves that would have @ double aim’, and “One must also fendeavour’ io" carry out double stacks Let us consider the most com- monly "occuring. instanceof a ‘double stack (One piece simaltancousy attacks ‘oro enemy pieces This is our familiar “ork, Usually itis assumed that a “for” is made tithe by a knight, o¢ By a pawn, bt infact such an atack can be made by any piece, including his majesty the king ‘But ft us begin with the queen the double atack comes” into its assona, ofcourse Te a a 4 a a & weal aA w g ured Uana-Averakh ‘Drntn 1956 By 1.06 Black forces his ‘opponen o give up rook for knight, fd then by 4 double attack he also ‘is the second rook If, for example, Whi ekg? 3 EAD, there follows BW 4 dh? Wyse 5 tht Wise Gabel Wapst and 7 Wes White in fact played 2 Wass bg? 3a Want ana Wise 5 ‘bg2 Wag and bere he resigned. Gn 5. Waele there could have followed 6 2 Wile 7 he2 Wrel Was Wed+ 9 ie} Wes 10 West Wise. IAs togards the character of the atigek, inno way diferent from the ork” is the double attack on some enemy. pieces by a bishop oF ‘The only” difference is. that, seplies 2 nw Double tack » bishop atacks along diagonals, and Here Black is dveatoning_ the the rok along ranks and les. tan” Ke] jaa aaa & ack OW & ~ Bad is B48 a We & Krogius-Gautfin Helsinki 1987 By 1 eT White temporarily sa fiices apiece, in order ahr ‘x07 2 Bres to cary out a double ‘mtack on queen and bishop and 19 wwina paw a ma gz 2 Smyslov-Zita Prague 1946 goed hak (ES a sc het eagle bxg? Wa2+ and 3. Wise But Wl, “cing ieutin te nig er 8 dove fet ts amen Tbs Wa2 2 Wass! Woe 3 nucle esas dich a Sey A Be Averbak-Taimanoy Zurich 1953, In this curious postion White is thremening to” eaptre on 8S followed y the for 2a? "The hight annot eres o£ on scout of 2-24, wining. he fucen and 6 tions ta ete Of ding en he Se He payed tooBe, and ater 2 Wang Wsks 3 ing? a7 4 "BANS he was two pawns down, an, ofcourse, went on os. 30 Chess Middegames: Essential Knowledge Alwes-Kurpun (Germany 1938 By the exchange sacrifice 1 xd6t White succeeds in carrying ‘outa pawn fork. After (-xd6 oF TWh there follows 2 eS, since 2 WyeS allows the decisive 30, a KA mK —& After FSackmann, 1910 Here. Black has an enormous smatrial advantage, but afer 1d, ‘witht double attack onthe rooks, it transpires that he is unable realise his advantage. The promotion of ‘one ofthe pains i threatened, and Tied is met by 2 eS, with the thveat of 3 eR while Tided 2 be, ith the threat of 3 cf-W*. Black has nothing beter ian to give perpetual check “Two piocessimultancously attack ‘one enemy piece “The most effective xample of soch sin attack isthe double check, when both pises simultaneously lack the king, and here is nothing ese for it do to bu move. The following famous old study vividly demon- strates the power of the double check A.White, 1919 Forced 1 run from the attacks of the ‘white pices, the black king fends up i the comer of the boar, ‘where is mated TED! ded 2 Bee det 3 Bes edd d Bett as 5 Base ses 6 Double Atack 3 Base hes 7 Hest hs 8 Bost (G07 9 Koos a? 10 Hb7> seas 11 Hays ibe 12 Has mate ‘A mating attack, involving the tse ofthe double check, was eared fut by White inthe” following ample Fridstein-Aronin "Moscow 1949, “Tings don't seem to be so bad for Black: he is trating both Migkes, and Zing But ow ame the unexpected double check Tanse! én W transpires thatthe rook is Immune if | ain 2 a6 mate 2 got dit (2g? 3 dd) 3 afer Wed 4 ke Siw Cah? would have been answered by 5 eet and 6 aks mats) 5 eee ‘GET 6 Hrs, and White gives mate Invooo moves 6.808 7 p80 A Best ate Aftask in the opening om 2 oF £7 ‘fen involve a double stack. Here an instructive example, which has occurred many times even in master ames, Tel eS 2 O68 d6 3.48 Oa7 4 et Ber? 1 ie hard to believe that this Feat Square which iso less important, The cores reply was 4. 66. ‘dees dxeS? 6 WAS! 2 (Chess Middiegames: Essential Knowledge Cnty six moves have oscue, sd the atack_ on is aleady iesistble After 6.286 7 3h Blac eta piece down (Ofcourse, instead of 5.8 it would have een much beter 10 aye ut even inthis esse Biesces hes 7 Wh i possi rth double attack byte queen (nes and 17, Black has ony one fmove -7.g6, and aftr 8 WreS White wine pase, ‘An aack by" (60 pcees i especialy dangerous ihe atacked pose i pinned We hoo that a Pinned pce loses significant in Inobty and strength, especially 1 its covering the king. fet ta Should never be forgston x ie jae aaa a wv n eningrad 1927 In. reply to Taadsed White decided to oat himself toa knight fnd played 2 xed, after which Black atacked the white bishop ‘with the spectacular move 2S! “The qume continued 3 Het Zae8 4 e3 Het! § Ded Be8, and Black Two pieces simaltancousy attack ‘oro enemy pieces Kea ¥] ie Raa a a & wv as ehh) BS BE) Isakov-Nikitin Correspondence 1947 Black's poston looks erica he jis threatened withthe captor on 7 followed by mate withthe rook a DE. Bot by’ exploiting a discovered check, he not only neutralise the flveat, but also tps the sales in his favour "tas For an instant Black gives up his queen, but in so doing he lures the Opponents king ine eoeoveed hook On 2 ‘xd3 there follows Deixeot with stack om king and queen, and then Giaixad. I istead tho white king moves to el, Black» replies Double Atack a 2.83, and there is no longer a ‘reat of mate x | | Wa jth 2k je Ak a jw = 1 S&S & Furman-Smyslov Moscow 1949 Here White found the deadly ‘move 1 Wb2! By placing his queen in ambush he erates the threat of 2 y+ hes 3 ERD mate, or 2..Wyp6 3 Hei and mate next. iow ‘an this be paried? If, for example, 1.6, then 2 HeT! and if 2 Wb? 3 Bixee mate ‘After the comparatively best et 2 Saggr Wage 3 Zacks Wg7 4 Wags Sag? SET White pained a won ending. Discovered check the driving mechanism —of the complicated I operation “known asthe indmill, a. classic example of which is provided by the following fame (sce diagram next column). ‘By 1 Aft! White gave up his queen, but alee 1. ahS 2 Heg7> the "ingmill” went ito operation: Dobe SAAT? igh 4 Ege om ‘SExb7+ digh 6 Rgr+ hs 7 Bgs+, and. White gained winning ‘atrial advantage K.Torre-Em.Lasker ‘Moscow 1925 The following swdy demonstrates 4 somewhat different constuction ‘ofthe "windmill, which night wel becaled a "meat grinder" a a a £m) a am sda’ 2 wh W.Mees, 1973 White has only theee pieces, whereas Black has four times more, u (Chess Middlegames but the ‘mestgrinder esis to MT beeas er 2 Abs+ es 3 must he | Bact Sl sets Bie 6 ddd ed? aed Sel Sager en 93 ‘ARG diposng of «fai umber ofthe eneny pies with series oF Ghssveed cece, White begin playing formate Atiugh the Eonctson tothe sy oes mo ‘seo our theme, we never 1 Ret with inevitable mate We eonelude our demonstration cof the strength of the discovered check with the spectacular finish 10 the following sty 2 f+ Bie 2 wi) Saeed, 1973, Black has queen for rook, and it appears that Whit is simply obliged {ortake the opponents queen, and be Satisfied with a draw, Bute ejects the capture and. makes the pars toxical move 1-27! Essential Knowledge 1 tanspites that White intends, exploiting the threat ofa discovered ‘heck, inthe queen for nothin. Diack’ has nothing beter than to ‘gain place his quoen en prise the bichon =, but thon 2 BIS ibd 3 He is possible, when a Aiscovered chock tga leads to the ‘win of the enemy queen. An an ‘Using postion, wouldnt you ares? "Nowe that here the black it played negative ole, in helping White to wap the quoen. Had it ot been there, Black would have had the saving reply 1. -WNT? "Az we have already mentioned, a double attack can ako arse if in reply to anatack, in moving ot of the line of fie the attacked piece In umm atacks some opposing piece ‘The following game shows that even the stoagest players in the ‘world ean 'sometimes overlook the possibility of such an attack ” Skae mam hha) Thomas-Eawe Notingham 1936 Double Auack 3 By playing here 15+ 2 ht £2e6, Black would have achieved a perfectly acepable positon But be repied 1 De assuming thatthe bishop at 36 ould not be taken on acount of 2 Bd6 ud 3 ‘do HaB. However, in he pe liminary calculations he overlaid the fact that Wate ean rely ‘Bart and ater 4-ad6 $ kde the move 58 is refuted by 6 Biot. als dos not help it nly beats of 6 Bes “The mos intresting thing is hat White btioved Back, tat the piece oul tbe take, and replied. (ee diagram nex column) White played 1 dxe6, not fearing possible double attacks, since he had “accurately "caleulted the possible continuations. The game Continued 1. 4e2 Black ha attacked all hee of the prams hay pees, bt afer a8 eds White srck an answering double blow with 3 Gxt, which afer 3.807 4 ‘Wxez fei two pawns up, Marocey-Bogoljubow "Dresden 1936 Had Black ist played 1. xd+ 2 Bxdl and only then 2.-axc2, White's stongest reply would have teen 3 Wal, and if 3 E08 GoBua? 4 Bas mare) 4 die WAT GET SUS mate) 5 8 Reciprocal Double Attack Aleady in the preceding example ‘ve saw that the situation on the board Becomes sharper. when there isa reciprocal double tack. Heres nother example of the same type x eo a & ja & Fy Shh be , &@& is & 5) Simagin-Zagoryansky ‘ranovo 1948 Black's postion looks dlficut White is reatoning a decisive invasion with is. second rook However, he had planned an eresting defence, "based on ‘counteratack Tal? 2 Ess a A" reciprocal double attack has arisen. All Tout fooks are en prise Captures lead only to exchanges, ‘bu White finds a clever way out of the situation. Chr ci > he bee > La i» i | 3.ae6t [A paradoxical move! It turns out that mone of the three pieses ca take the bishop, 3.Bec6 is met by 4 Bail, aibnc6 by 4 Hes and then § EXIT and, finally, if 3. neo White has the devisive 4 Hxi7+ Black is blige to move his king ‘Bebe 4 h6r HGS Rd7+! ‘Tite decisive move, based on the same double stack, White wins the exchange, “The reciprocal double attack de ‘mands attentiveness, tactical vison find precise ealeultin, otherwise it fan ead instantly 10) loss of materia. Here are two instructive examples fom master practice, Reciprocal Double Atack ” ta WAS a it Hee | a Alatortsey-Konstantinopolsky “rile 1937 In this sharp position White is a pwn up, ut his ingside is Wweakened and 1.8 i threatened A the threats "could have been parvied by 1 52!, in order t0 answer 1-3 with 2" a2. But White wanied immediately to solve ll his problems, by exchanging the dangerous bishop, and here is What ised, 1 Bet Raed? Wares Bat+! Exploiting the fact the white rook is tied tothe queen, Black creates 4 reciprocal double atach, which he fans to bis advantage, Aer 3g? Wact 4 Hyet Brat he isa ook up In the following position Black was tempted by the a2 pawa, rely ing on the possibility of a counter double atack (Chekhover-Kan Leningrad 1933 After 1.Waa2 and the reply 2 al he played 2nd, TNote that 2."We2- would have boon bad on account of 3 et, When the queen no longer has an et 0 2, However, he had not taken into account White's subtle reply 3 Wes! "Note that, in moving out ofthe Fring Tine, the queen has not only ‘maintained the double atk, but has itself also tacked the black bishop. Here Blak had ben relying fon the new attack 3.16. but only row did he notice the “counter Bossibilty ofa double atack by 4 Was! Baas $ ndst and 6 Bad with decisive advantage, He had reply 3.2, and afer -4A0S White went on to win 9 Double Blow “xcuse me’, may ask the metic- lous teader” who has attentively cqusined himself with the pe feding pages of this book. “Isnot the double attack, which you have described in such det the same as the double blow” "Yes, iis but the double blow i broader concept than the double attack: We define a double blow as being a. combination of any two stacks and teats ‘We will now consider various instances of such blows. z aa awa axaw ad woe ABA Af Se Chigorin-Janowshi Pars 1900, Afler 1 (St x65 White struck a double blow with 2 Wes. He is threatening mate at 8, end simul: taneously the. bishop is attacked lack resigned This is 4 pica instance of a double blow, consisting ofan attack fon an enemy piece and th imate. After al the threat of rate is even more dangerous an atack ‘Av similar, although slightly ferent situation is depicted im the white queen, supported by the bishop, attacks h? ‘vesting mate. Simulaneously it Keeps under fre, i atacs, the Bishop at 16, although for the moment it is defended. But this is the problem In-onder to. defend ‘agains the mat, Black i obliged to advance his paw 10.26, thereby ‘depriving the bishop of sts defence ‘Thus here too we have double blow, consisting of an attack on a piece and a threat of Double Blow 8 alashov-Biyiasis Mani 1976. White played 1 Wes, creating a threat wih to pieces, queen and Knight, to give mate ai g7. AC the same time he i threatening (0 give heck with the knight at, ith 3 double attack om the opponent's king land queen Ii not difficult to guess that Wwe have here a double blow. consisting of two threats a threat ff mate and threat of a double stuck (ee diagram next colunn) With 1-87 Black stacked the white rock, White could neither ‘move his rook, not take the queen He had to reply 2 2d after which Back ed his second Ens Bg 4 De2 Late, wien White resigned. Here the double threat ‘consisted ofan attack and the threat ‘of a double stack Kiyatskla-Yadovich Moscow 1937 ‘An intresting case is represented in the following diagram ‘x ie aa 2% 4&4) asWis a a sa Keres-Sliwa, Gothenburg 1955 By playing 1 WDS White attacked ne Spawn, ting the ten xfs of reguining the piece by 3 ‘0 (Chess Mddlegames: Essential Knowledge ‘Exed, exploiting the pin, This here twe have t double blow inthe Form ff an atack. and the threat of Second order attack, Tis clear that the threat of promoting & pawn to a queen may be no less strong than an tack. ‘Afterall they both have the aim of fchieving material gain. Although the treat of queening a. pawn ‘oeure most often in the endgame, ‘we give a rare example from the imidalegame. x @ 8 a Aa A bal pe Me we ae a me awe waa (By ore Engels-Maroery ‘Dresden 1936 In this position White unexpectedly played 1 Hxb2 Wub2 2 Wrecks! Deh 3 7, We again have here @ typical instance of a double Blow ~ onthe ‘one hand: Whites threatening 10 ‘queen his pawn by 4 dB-We~ and on the other hand, by taking the Knight with 4 dxeBW I is tot hard 10 See that agains these two queening, threats Black has no defence kis time to sum. up. The expanded concept of the. double blow. a combination both of attacks, find of the most varied thes, ‘cables ut to make the following, fexemely broad classification, “encompsesing all possible instances ‘fattack Double attack 2. Combination of simple stack and double tack. “Combination of simple atack and threat of various order. Patioe ‘ve showed that, depending on how many moves were needed for the tchievement of the sete fan be distinguished a5 threats of the Fist second, hid onde te. “4 Combination ofa double attack and thats of various orders. '. Combination of two threats of various orders. ‘Such an expanded concept ofthe doable "blow enables us to Understand the entre diversity of tactical operations carried out om the hess board, both simple, and the ‘most compliated, and to disclose the mechanisms operating in them Note that thrents can have the most diverse aims, signiiant and insignificant. Thee cam be a that to give mate, but there can alo be tveat to occupy some statepicaly inmportane square witha piece, and tne ty also fry not to allow an fnemy piece onto such’ a square ‘One can threaten to ive stalemate, five perpetual check, or construct Sn impregnable fortes. And a Double Blow a these and similar heats can wel be combined in a double bow TT hope that you will, have understood that in thes the double Bow is an effective. and tly Universal device, Bah in atack and indefece T"ohould once again remind you that itis. necessary to distngssh between the double atch, which i merely patclar instanceof the double blow, and he double wn its compen. The point that ‘with double stack everthing Sep Seong are tvs, But withthe double blow, Cspecay with heat of higher ‘orders (stcond, tid et) stuntions aise that resemble an ceberg = he tacks ae immediately evident, but the threats “of higher orders are concealed, being as it were "under svater, They have fo be sought and ound Tt should also be understood that double blows donot arise out of rothingTnially threats must fappeat, and only then the double Bow self arises, The ability to foresee and to sense the possibilty of double blow arising. and 10 prepare i is 9 eat skill It an Important’ component. inthe so- called combinational. vision “of a ‘hess player. And itis to help the feader to develop his combinational Vision that the authoe as st as his task, 10 Defence against a Double Blow However strong, however danger: fous a double Biow, in exceptional ‘tuations a defence ean be found. We will now tur to an examination of such ase, (we g & We have here an ancient position by Kling (1849). It shows a typical double blow situation ~ the black King, has attacked the op ponents rook, and simoltaneodsly fhe queen is threstening mate White's position looks ertial, woulda you agree? But there is a. defence. White finds the fantastic move 1 ad! Ti moving hisrook away fom the snack, he atthe same time covers the al square defending aginst the ‘mate and in turn attacks the queen Ie is tue that the sook is undefer ddd, but it cannot be taken: on TreWead there follows 2 Zhi? det 3h, winning the queen However, the most. important ‘hig is that, while attacking. the ‘queen, at the same time White has ‘read the treat of mate by 2 Eh, lack has only" one. defence, 1.8, but then al the same there follows’ 2 Hhs+ Wahs) 3 Base, ‘wining the queen with the help of the double bow. "We advise the render to study this postion caeflly: it constitutes a ‘ettble eulogy fo the double blow, Since the entre play f Boh sides i ‘based one “The above example enables a simple tule to be established: a Souble low may not bring the desired effect, if in avoiding the blow, one ofthe tacked poses is capable, in tum, of ereting some Strong threat such a5 mate et A dotence agains a double blow may tlso be" provided by a counter double blow ‘Therefore, when carrying out a double blow, one must look faefully 30 a5 not t0 FUN into a counter” double blow, such 3s feeurred, for example, "in the following game. | Defence against a Double Blow a oa « me bop » cs rs Be & e>Eerr a & & se ® Fischer-Shocroa Mar del Plata 1959 After 1 e6 Black should have replied 1.947, when, as shown by. Fischer, White cannot play 2 Zxet because of 2-5, withthe threat of) Instead Black payed 1.88, hoping to catch it opponent ins double bow ‘White went along with this ~ 2 Bxe6 Wes, “This was the move that Black was relying on (2.f206 3 West and 4 Wes" is hopeless. for him. but ‘White had soon lite further ‘3a Te transpites that Black has fallen Vietim to his own plan: 3x7 is met by the double bow 4 Zxy6+! ‘Therefore he conceded dees Here is anotier example, in ‘which the salvation from a double bow is, similarly provided by a double blow. SKaminer, 1935 White has a queen for a bishop, but Black begins" dangerous mating stack Tang shat Le?! Tine deadly double blow 3. 26+ is threatened. Events now develop swift 308 A 16+ 4 Des 07 As yet it snot clear what White has achieved. We have 8 typical 8 “4 (Chess Midaegames: Aouble blow situation — the bishop fa 15 is attacking the queen and Simultaneously theatening mate. It shard to imagine a worse positon! ‘But nevertheless White wins Here bythe fanantic move $ Wha! By pinning the bishop, he paves the threatened capture on ¢5 and Smutaneously intends f0 take the #4 pave, to defend the knight. And ater Sdahd the formerly pinned Knight slr lands double blow 6 Sixgb and 7 abd, To. prevent the double blow ‘White exploited a pin, but it was 8 "fork that led to victory, again double blow. Te such positions, ich in tactical possbilites, the seemingly most Incredible moves are possible x Xr @ aaw a & a a Ww Aa be oe AA x & Alekthine-Vertinsky ‘Odea 1918 Black fas atacked both of the ‘opponent's rooks with his queen, sitich White cannot ake on assount Essential Krowledge of mate with the ook a 1 1F he plays I Hod, then all the same Ta Wxd6 follows. 1 Get does nat help on account of 1..txe4, and Tally after | dd) Black takes the ight at 5. It appears that White Ini nothing better than T Dg6= gs 2 Wh seg (ths 3 Baer) 3) Wess with perpetual check But Alekhine had foreseen in advance a. brilliant reply hich oh all Whites problems, while Keeping his extra piece He played 1 wat IL adh, then 2 Bre? is now possible. “The game concluded 1..WaS 2 Wer 2 Was was also good) 2. Wes 3 BdS, and Black resigned x ie 2m bk wa ADL a & aw &&h a Ee This position could have ozcured in the game Reshersky-Euwe (The Hague 195) ‘We have here typical double blow station White ' Defence against a Double Blow 4s threatening mate ath? ands simultaneously. atacking Black's Knight with is own knight It fppears that the simplest way of defending is by 1-6, moving the Knight cut of the ine of fire and defending b7. But this would be a decisive, misiake: Whites the diverting double blow 2 a7, leading tothe win ofthe queen. The core reply, paying the attack, is Ilbed! 2 Oxed Black tings. up his rook with gain of tempo by 2.28, while if? Wred he plays 2. 2,6, defending h7 and Simutaneously tacking the queen. oN 11 How a Double Blow Arises In the overwhelming majority of ‘examples considered caller, we ‘encountered the double blo situa. tions after they had already arisen [A double blow is especially danger- ‘ous, if it appears lke abot from the bu. ut” thie suddenness is a consequence of the fact that nse ficient afention was paid to the threat of the double blow, and that ot taken inte Bolestavsky-Flohe Budapest 1950 Black played 1-%e8, in order to release his Knight from the defence ofthe 6 pawn. But in so doing he Tet the a6 pawn undefended, which allowed White, by carrying out a euble blow, to win a pawn 2 wast ‘A subtle move. First White must provoke --gT-R6, weakening the 16 uate. The immediate 2 Wa8 does not achieve anything afer 2.6 28633 Was ‘Nowa double bow situation has risen, White is threatening both Exh? and'4 Waa6s And if 3.6 he wins the exchange by 4 87! Black replied 3.2.6, and ater & aes fe6'S Waa he ost pas Here is another example of the same pe This 1937 Here Black was pinning all his hopes on Tn fid4, clearly under. estimating the following retreat by Whit: How a Double Blow Ariss a aw Now the bishop has to retreat, since 2.-Oxt3+ 3 axP3 leads tothe loss ofa piece. Banke? [AS we will ce ltr, his move is ‘a mistake that in the end allows White to carry out a double blow. ‘The ony comect move was 2.20% when ater 3 es Wys 4 14 We? Black avoids loss of material. But ‘ow evens develop by force. ‘3 Odd Badd 4 Ret ‘An excellent move; it transpires that on acount of 5 219 Black ‘cannot capture one “ud § Wad ys 6 m4 W16 7.05 Wg6 8 WaT, and White wins piece Very often the emergence of a double blow is. accompanied. by sacrifices, demanding. precise, and sometimes deep calculation. a Ye Woakaaa) a a BAL & AG WAS 2 ea Larsen-Matanovie Zagreb 1965 White intends to seize control of the csfileby placing his queen at 3 tnd therefore the move Leh Tooks perfectly natura, but iis in fact a decisive mistake. allowing White 1 carty outa doubie bow: 22x The Knight cannot be taken on account of 3 We3, but Black can {ake the rook 2. ined 3 ONG Tis final Blow had to be antici- pated in advance. Afer 3.-gxh6 4 Was Black is mated, and therefore be resigned ‘The serfices accompanying the double blow ean be the most varied For example, by means of a sac rice the opponent's pieces can be forcibly drawn onto the necessary squares, on which immediately oF within "a few moves. they come Under a double blow “The following. examples demon- strate such situations * aa wv & Aa & bh fa we Horberg-Averbakh Siockhotm 1984 “ (Chess Middlegames: Essential Knowledge ‘The awkward placing of White's «queen, rook and bishop suggested 10 Bisck's rook serfie withthe aim of inflicting a double blow. Eel! an inant, by giving up the se Tures the opponent's queen inorder after 2 Wxel (0 ly win it = 2-424 3 cls. The remainder was Simple: 42 ag 5 a3 Waal 6 ‘Bxa6 Wal, and White resigned ‘Such serifies, leading 10a double low, are essentially stan- ‘dard techniques, with which every Strong player should be familiar ‘A-classc example of sacrifices with “the aim of luring the ‘opponent's pieces into a. double blow f provided by this positon by Emanvel Lasker: eX aso w ie 24 A a | to lure the rook to 8, White If Tsbxb? 2 Bxd8, and the el squat is defended ‘Then, to lure the king t0 27, the queen s given up: That! daa ‘And now White regains with intrest the sacrificed materi ‘Sbxeb-2ytit (Otten a double blow is preceded by a secre with the aim of eliminating a defender x re awa aaa re a Oa 6 sy as B& BAW it (Ee Kepper-Olasen “rch 139 Aflr 1 Bag? shag? White exploited the unfortunate placing of Black's king and queen by the rook sacrifice 2 Hxf?#t "After 2-7 he_ immediately caries out the double Blow by. 3 Best, while if 2.48 he has the decisive 3 g7e! hk (3. Big 4 Wah mate) 4 sh sys 5 Bar hE 6g, In the following position White's pieces are dangerously impending fver the opponents king, but the ‘opposition or the queens allows Back to cary out a double blow. How a Double Blow Aries ” In this poston itis only the £2 re at a ® i canbe stimiatd? — Se ae tien - 2 BBS Be NIT ame ate be el Seren ZS Tolush—Antost x "aoa se at 4 4 nepali hie eee wa 1edixd3! 2 2ad3, “ ga oucerae ow seeemsensivmennns |, OE aaa 2Belt 3.2 Bett 4 dred se — Lybenty-Szepaneh ra Wr Rg BA Ee Rabinovich-Chekhover (variation) ‘Leningrad 1932 White has just landed a double blow ~ he has attacked the knight t 4 ith bis ook and is Simultaneously theatening mate With the rook at af. Of cot Black could’ have ‘withdrawn igh o 6, inorder to block the K check 2 Kast with 2.95 after some thought, he found a Tf for example, Black plays Wea, then afer 2 el he 0 (Chess Middlegames: Essential Knowledge cannot land double blow with 2.120, on account ofthe fact that ‘is square is guarded by the g2 pve, But perhape thre isa way of ‘iminating this pawn? Tt tums out ‘king cannot move to either ‘one sie ofthe other on account of mate in one. move (2.-Wel_ ot 2Be2), while afer 2 gxf8 there fers 3 hel Oxi, achieved his aim, A classic example of such a sacrifice is "provided by the ‘onelusion tothe following game, x jae 4 a ry 2 aaa Bogoljubow-Capablanca New York 1928 Fret Black sacrificed his knight 1.Oxdd 2 exdd, and. then he regnined it with 2-2283e8, when it transpired that 3 axe allows the double blow 3..WeS, winning the rook atl ‘White therefore resigned, Alster-Betak Prague 1956 Black's positon looks | said enough, wouldn't you agree? And yet this outwardly quiet situation Sonceals the threat of 2” double bow, and White can win a pawn with ant “The point is that Black cannot take the bishop: the opening of the file after ..gxh6 allows White 10 move his queen onto the same diagonals the epponent's, geen ‘with gain of tempo 2 Wa3*, and fer 2.78 (if 2.ceh8 3 Ot7 ‘mate) be can land the double blow 3 ‘Bagot, winning the queen, ‘Such opportunities for 2 double bow are not always noticed even by asters, The following example i igh instructive How a Double Blow Aries st White's knight is atacked, and without much thought he retested i fo gh. And yet he had the ‘ppertunity to cfeate a double blow sation by strifiing the knight 16+ gx 2 ext In this position White has «wo threats: One isto give mate in to moves by 3 We and 4 We7, and the other is 10 give mate in «wo moves by 3 Walks xfs 4 ‘And against these two threats there ‘sno defence The destuction of the enemy king's position, with the aim of ‘opening’ lines andthe subsequent landing of a double blow, devided ‘the outcome ofthe following ame Black's Knight was at o6, and he has just played it ro ba, attack the a2 pat. He only considered reply 1 He?, om which 1..a2 is possible, when 2-236" isnot Sangerous on account of 2.6 But the way that subsequent events developed was not ata how the commander of the black pieces had assumed a ad a al * ae ia A & eone = a “ ae 1046 puts The knight has to be taken, but this exposes the king erating the rounds forthe subsequent mating aes Hers 0c2.. sigs 3 Wao. Swart We have here a double blow situation ~ White atscks the ook, dnd a the sume ime threatens mate from gt Black therefore resigned Most often sacrifices ae. mult purpose. Thus inthe following example the sacrifice is made both {o open lines, and to eliminate a defender and set up a pin. ut is Ultimate aim isa double Blow 2 (Chess Middlegames: Essential Knowledge Stolyar-Averbakh Leningrad 1938 “There followed Ionxg2* By this temporary sacrifice of a piece, Black opens the defile fora subsequent rook strife. At the Same time, after the queen akes the bishop is pinned, and is unable to defend the’ 12 square, against ‘double blow by the knight 2 Wag? Bal! ‘A. “Teciprocal double _ blow situation has now arisen, so. that White’ does not have time for 3 Wxeb on secount of 3 BNel 3 Beat n+ 4 der Wages 5 bag? Dal 6 Mads Hec2+ 7 el ‘Zubr, and Black was awarded a win on adjudication. ‘With this we conclude our discussion of sacrifices, leading to the emergence of a double blow ‘uation, but we will cating i in Inter chapters where the question of rating attacks will be covered. 12 Attack on the King Inthe intial position the king is covered from the front by a rank of pawns. But as soon as the ceaual was advance, im order to allow the plces tobe developed, the king is deprived of its pawn protection, Which is potentially dangerous Therefore, as a rule, at the Tist ‘opportunity ‘easling is cared and the king is taken into safety. "And, of course, there is no point in the king coming out ahead of it troops: it will immediately be ‘salle by the opponent's pieces. "To. checkmate a. king inthe middle of the board, iti is not covered by ks own pieces and pawns is nota dificult task. Let us considera single, but very typical cecample Alone, without his retinue, his majesty as gone out into the middle of the board. However, he ‘vas bold not through his own free ‘will. White sactificed tree minor Pieces to bring him out iat “cleat ‘water and now he quickly finishes him of 1 Bact! Undoubiedly the strongest move White restricts the movements of the black monarch. thas availble fnly” a narow lithe strip of the boards which in fact becomes the King’s grave. ‘Mate on the move by 2 Wal is etened Tf the king tries o run back home with Tad, there fllows 2 <6 (or 2 Wir hes 3 Wor das « Wal mate) 2s 2 sha 3 Wes sate) 3 Wxi5) de 4edl + be7 5 WIP mate. And 11S does not help on account of 3 Whi 45 3 Wed mate ven in the event of cating by the hing its safety 1 not always guaranteed: Even though covered by Pieces ad pawns, itmay also come tinder tack "We will consider several typical pattems of mating stacks against the casted postion. ‘Don't be surprised tha on thi and the fllowing diagrams you will not see the white king. These are hot postions from games, but pattems, They show only the pieces that land he fal, mating blows se (Chess Middegames: Essential Knowledge ike aaa Aw Here White plays 1 16, attacking the #7 pawn with both Queen and pawn, and threatening to give mate ‘a this square. Black has no choice: Tike it of not he has to reply 1a ‘opening the gates and alloxting the fqueen fo go to HG. After 2 WH the fortes is transformed into a dune joon for the king from which there ‘Sno escape, anon the next move he is mated by 3 Wa x * aaa g B This shows the pate of a succesful storming of the king's fortes, but not by a frontal assault, 5 in the preceding diagram, but fom the side 1 els ne 2 ae mate ‘Again we se a familiar picture — the king's flight is cutoff by his foe pins just one ofthe pans had advanced, the king would have had more freedom, and there would have Been no mate on the bok rank, "The ie nat is it not worth square beforehand, removing the threat of mate onthe tack rank? No, i isnot. Any pawn vance weakens the king's Tore ress, and may’ allow the opponent's Pieces to attack the ing. hiding Fechind the pawns. We will show this in some schematic examples Xe a B da 2 8 Here Blick has made an escape square in an unfortunate way by 17-15, This allows White to carry tout a mating attack with his rooks fiom the sie 1 BxgT+ ihe 2 Bahr des 3 bg? mate “Two rooks are capable of gene rating enormous energy. eapesaly if they have broken though onto the penultimate rank. Atack on the King ss xe ga eA% tnd bishop: Bxt6 mate Here we see an example of a combined mating attack with Fook 1 Hg? she 2 Egos M6 3 x a ot bee 1 206+ bas The king cannot escape: 1s {is answered by 2 Zh4 mate, bui now tog afer: 2 ibd” Black’ has no defence against 3 EAB mate ‘This is an example of a mating tack. with bishop and” knight. White forces mate in two moves 1 Dagér hgh 2 Oe7 mate Also possible fe 1 xt? dog 2 Dh mate ‘And now let us examine some ‘mating attacks “on the eased position with ook and knight oa a a a 56 Chess Middlegomes: Essential Knowledge Here White lands 2 double blow ona? 1 eG shat 2 xa? mate 1 Det+ $h7 2 Bhs mate Inthe final position (See diagram reat column) White first aps. the King by 18+, and afer 1g? he shits it in with 2 206. afer ‘hich mate by 3) Bg8 cannot be voided om om OF course, there are mumerous possible mating finishes, and. we have given only the most elementary, which you would do ‘well remember: éhey will occur time and again in your games, and ‘will serves reliable guides when carrying outa mating atack on the ‘enemy king 13 Mating Attack Mechanisms ‘The coordination of the farses becomes clearly’ apparent ina mating atack, and $0 let us try 10 tsablish how a mating mechanism [s created and how it works. We Will egin with the following Schematic poston The black pieces are huddled sound ther leader, and seem to be ready to parry any attack on 4 A heck von the diagonal can be blocked by rook. bishop or knight anv. check on the fe also by rook, bishop or knight But by 1 EhS+ White puts the black King in double check, and st tanspires thatthe king has 19 move BBut whee 1? The numerous Jfen- ders, crowding around the king, are boecupying the g7 and g8 squares, to where it might retreat, And it tums fut that White's rook and bishop, by coordinating their actions into a double blow, aimed at the black monarch, give. mate, wheteas the army of blac pieces, and ther ‘do not help, but even prevent the ng fom moving out ofthe Fring Tine But_what if inthe previous positon there was no knight at 8 And this square wee fre? Wiel aE z 2 & ln this case 100 Black cannot defend agains the attack, Aller 1 Enst dig8 White pives mate by 2 Any ‘OF course these two positions present exceptional situations, in ‘hich the black "pieces "are ss Chess Midalegames: Essential Knowledge panicularly uncoordinated, but sucessful implementation of 4 Sometimes ia the course of 4 game double blow. this lack of coordination among the Let vs consider another schematic ‘opponent's ores ean be created, as position. inthe following position CChodinovshikh-Zhuraviey Black's forces _are_ elegant Ormos-Betaiki Budapest 1951 Here Black's position tooks critial, but Hf we notice that King does not have single move, ‘we esiy finda series of serfces Tcading to stalemate and a dra ble 2 Wh? Hits! 3 abt The knight has to be taken, ‘otherwise the queen wil be los. 4 g3 Wg?! The final sacrifice, which puts everyting, in its place, Aer § ‘dng? Black is stalemate! 66 (Chess Middlegames: Essential Knowledge the. aim both of disorganising or liminating the opponent's defen- fxs, as well as, On the comtary, ‘assisting the ecordinaion of our ‘own forces, These sarifices can be very varied, ‘We have established that there are ive basic types of saciies: 1. The decoy sacrtie, when the ‘opponent's pieces of pawns are luted onto some definite squares, 12. The diverting sacrifice, when the opponent's paces or pawns ae siverted from Tulling some important functions. ‘3. The destructive sacrifie, ‘when pieces or pawns destroy the ‘opponent's defences "E The vacating sacrifice, when pieces or pawns are sacificed to ‘aeate Squares or fines, needed for the ations of our pieces, ‘The selfeliminating sacrifice, when pices or pawns are simply Unnecessary or Supertiuous. They preven the atainment of sme aim, find mist be removed fom the board Tn practice, all these types of sacrifices occur in pure form, but it is more usual for a. sacifice 10 pursue simultaneously several aims Ta the following’ position, by sscriticing his queen White given 1 Woot! dacs Or laine 22 a6 mate This sacrifice, firstly, lures the pawn (or bishop) 10 e6, depriving the "king "of this square, and secondly, it simultaneously vacates the a6 square forthe Knight fo land the mating bow. Thus this isan example of the combination of @ diverting. and ‘acating sacrifice. PRomanovsky, 1950 Here too White gives mat in two ‘moves by sacrificing his queen, Combinations and Sacrifices o 1, Weve! xm 2 De7 mate, or sex 2 HRS mate By this saciice White cither lures the rook 10 1%, diverting it from the defence of e7, of lures the King to the sme squat, diverting i fiom the control of h8. Ths means that this i an example of a decoy and diverting sacrifice, Alekhine Yates London 1922 Here White caries out an operation involving a ight sterile: 1 a7 ew 2 O46! Hel 3 Bag?! BY giving up his knight, White estoys the opponent's defences. ‘while simutancously uring the black rook to 6 ‘SoBNf 4 eS! This king move crowns mates 4. aff or 4a allows mate i to moves by $ Zh7+ and 6 cg? Black therefore resigned ‘Gogolev-Varshavsky ‘alse 1967 ‘Things look hopeless for Black, but he saves the game withthe help of two sacrifies| a3! 2 Wad Tike acceptance ofthe saritie is forced: ater 2 Sig4 Wal White ven loses ‘Wes! 3 We3 ~ stalemate! What kind of sacrifices. were these? The frst By the 10k at. twas of course sel-liminating, but atthe same time i kept the white {queen inthe vicinity of the ©} uae, ve. was also effectively 3 decoy saci, The second sacrifice is especially ‘interesting By giving up his queen ‘lack not only eliminates it but Simultaneodsly” lures the white ‘queen toe, thereby pinning the 5 pwn and ‘creating. the fortunate possibility. of a stalemate. This means that” here we ‘have an 6 (Chess Midategames: ‘example combining decoy and set liminating sarfices. Te should be mentioned that in 2 single combination, albeit fairly complicated one, virualy all types fof succes may sometimes ‘be ‘encountered Korchmar-Polyake ‘Kiev 1937 All the white pies are thvcateniagly impending over the fnemy king, Black's postion hangs by a thvead, and i isnot surprising that White finds a spectacular ‘combination, — demonstrating the veracity of an old saying ~ a chain Isa strong as its weakest ink! Let us. ty to find. this com bination. Kis aot hard t0 se that Black's central defender is his night at d6, Were it not forthe eight, White would give mate three moves ty I eS Hi 2 Eagv+ and 3 Bx. Th tur, if the white knight were rot at dS, 1 Wd6 would be Essential Knowledge posible, eliminating the important Black hight. Therefore the inti roves of the combination are easy toi 1 Db axba 2 Was! Wa7 Le aaW Ka x Wa a g AKA Bas aS a a ‘The first wave of the attack is over, and Black's last move is is only defene. But how is White {0 Continue the aaek? Exploiting the fact that the black queen is tied (0 the defence ofthe ef square, White finds a second queen soerifie: ‘swastt ‘The qucen cannot be taken on sccount of eB, and meanwhile ‘Whites threatening to capture on 7, since the rook a¢ 171s pinned. Black has nothing beter than 2, but then White forthe third time sacrifices his queen: 4 Bg?! eas, and now he nevertheless ves mate: S EgRe! dixgh 6 Heb 087 Ean mate Let us investigate what happened here. By | bs White eliminated his knight. This was a vacating Combinations and Sacrifices o sacrifice, opening the delle for his queen, 2 Wade was a destructive Sette: an important defender of the Black King had to be removed. "The preiest move in the combination was “undoubtedly 3 Was, This ~ diverting sacrifice — isan attempt to diver the black queen Irom the defence of 8 Incidentally f Black had replied to this aot with 3.7, but 3-26, then 4 Hge3, with the unavoidable penetration ofthe rook to e8, would fave been dovsive "The rook capture ong? is & sombination of # destuctve and a decoy sarifice: aftr eT the reply 5 Wid becomes possible. Finally, the lst sacrifice, 5 Be, is am example of a decoy-dverting ‘Strife: the black king that slated {og is diverted from the defence of thee square. Thus in this combination four typer of sacrifice are present — ‘aeatng, destructive, diverting and ‘eco. Tn studying the different pes of| sacrifices we have large ined only those that comprise pars fof 3 combination. Such saeiies iy temporary, Bring an advantage at the Gnish of the combination Cera authors altogether regard them as “pseudo- Sotifices'= afterall, inthe end they see lly repaid However there are sacrifices that are of a completely different harater, and which ae repak! by fo. means immediately. In par teular, these are sacifies for the initiative, fora lead in developmen, inorder to hinder the development ‘ofthe opponent's pve, and 80 on Such mcifices "are cstomatly called “real, All tha they give are Some advaniags, which only later, fand by no means by force, may bring some appreciable gains. Real series are. most often of 2 Stategical nature’ they ave sormally sociated with the subsequent plan, Although they may lead fo tactical ‘ompliations and combinations. Real sacifices occur most frequently at an early stage of the game. For example, in the King's mbit, Evans Gambit. the CChatard-Atekhine tack against the French Defence, the | Morra Gambit agnint the Sian Defence, the Soteh Gambit ad in ‘many ser sharp opening es. n (Chess Middtegames: Essential Knowledge Combinations to win any’ of the ‘ther pieses can logically be Alivided ino. two sub-groups, The Fist covers those, at the finish of ‘which the win of material saccom= plished by a combined attack, te when the piece is attacked and simultaneously it isnot allowed to scape “The second sub-group covers double blow combinations in which fan attck on a piace is combined ‘wih some other thes or artacks, par, of course, ffom attacks of threats tthe King, “The arrangement of combinations to win mater is aso presented in the table ‘Combinations to promote a pawn ‘ean be divided in similar fashion. In fone group will be combinations, in Which the threat of promoting. pawn leads either ro the appearance of a mew queen, oF to decisive material losses forthe opponent ‘And in the other sub-group will be ‘combinations in which the tea of promoting a pawa is combined with ‘ther song tveas 10 oF attacks on apiece, ‘All these types of winning combinations are given inthe table as are drawing combinations, which fan he divided into six sub-groups. Combinations leading to perpetal check on the king) and to perpetual pursuit (on any other piece) are typical of the midlepame, whereas ‘combinations leading to salemate, the’ blockade of some. important ‘enemy pie, the construction of fontess, or the reduction "10.4 drawing Balance of forces are more typical of the endgame, but are nevertheless worth knowing. 16 Winning Combinations ‘Thus, as regards the target of the tak, winning combinations have ben divided into three groups. The first covers combinations. directed against the king. the second covers ‘combinations agninst the other Pieces and pawns, andthe thicd ‘overs combinations to promote 8 pawn. ‘We will now separately examine combinations in each "of these oups. Combinations against the king The fist in this group are mating combinations, atthe conclsion of ‘hich & mating mechanism operates nd mates given. ke 7 & a tha Wa 24 a & & 2 WE A DAA ae Radulor-Sederborg “Helsinks 1961 White's queen, rook and two) bishops are aiming thesteningly at the Kingsde, Tn order to get atthe enemy king, he needs to deprive i ‘ofits pawn screen, This is achieved by a rook sacrifice, which here both destroys the opponent's defences tnd also res hie king int pin. 1 Bag?! ag? ‘The Took has to be taken: 2 Exh? or? af was threatened. 2 gts ne 3 Wks oe es Nate should be made of a highly significant subtlety ~ the moves by the queen to. g4” and hS became possible, only because Black's king tras luted nto the diagonal ofthe bishop at eS. The mating mechan- Jim = quen, supported by the other bishop, atacking h? has already been created, The bishop at e316 leo indiretly participating ini, by ” Chess Midategames: Essential Knowledge paralysing the knight at 6. Mate fannot be prevented: on 3. shy there follows 4 2x6 68 5 Wih?+ SEAR 6 WHS mate e 2 © a » a a Kopayev-Averbakh “Leningrad 1946 Here the white king has come out in from of Hs pawn screen, and in tition its defenders sre" 00 the opposite wing. Not surprisingly. it Immediately comes under a strong tack, since Black can quickly open the fil Vand? Wess a7 3 WeS ‘At lll seam the white quoon fastens to the aid of her sovereign, bt is already too late righ 4 xg’ Hh rook is sacrificed inorder to set up a. mating. mechanism, The King ts Tred tthe fatal 3 square and diverted fom the defence of 8, for where the Back queen is aiming ‘Sbah3 WOS+ 6 Bp2+ and 4.3 “Taking the paw with 1. sh? allowed Taimanov the possibility of fn elegant salemating combination 2 Hag8 dag 3 Bes! This decoy sacrifice, which is simultaneously set Drives the white King: ‘After the forced 3.-Wg3 the king is salemated, and White only needs to get rid of his queen WHS bg? § Wess! witha draw Blockade {ts wellknown that nan attack the pieces should support one another, fo that thoir actions aginst the fem king are coordinated. There fore when there i 2 small number fof attacking pices. a system of defence is posible, based on shutting one of these pieces out of play (see digram nex page) The black pawn cannot be prevented from qucening. but it {ens out that even this apparently ‘quite hopeless position White has a Possbity a saving the game 2 (Chess Middtegames: Essential Knowledge V.Chekhover, 1984 (conclusion ofa study) He plays 1 Age ‘This move constitutes @ typical double Blow. On the one hand White anacks the pawn, and, if Black takes the bishop — 1..xes, then after 2 (3+ and 3 22 the king Stops the pawn and. the draw ‘becomes completely abvious ‘An in reply 10 Laet=W White caries out hs second teat — by 2 I3t he completely shuts the black King at hf aller sich the queen alone i unable to do anything Tes ot only the king that can be blockaded. but any other pie, even the queen, Thus in the fllowing pesiton Biack’s king, together with fis bishop is securely shut in the comer, Bu his queen is threatening to breakout to ffeedom, ater which the white pawns, like ripe spples, ‘wil fall one. after another But White succeeds in blocking in the queen, after F-Simlhovih, 1924 White to play and draw 1 441 Was 2 hs, and, despite Black's enoemous material ava tage (extra queen), he is unable t0 ‘Sach a method of defence is not often encountered, but it is never: ‘theless worth knowing. Perpetua pursuit With perpetual check its the king ‘ati pursued, but eter pieces too can be subjected f0 such acon timiows attack. Although this theme ie"one that has been thoroughly ‘developed by study composers, i fso occas oceasionally im peetce The following position shows one sich example Backs pieces are scared, and his queen Is practically shutout of the game. In addition, oles Is threatened, However, the congested placing of the white pieces on the Drawing Combinations 8 ingside allows Black carry out a combination "onthe theme of perpetual pursuit pieces are unable to penetrate, i an important strategical method of defence [x ¥ a a& oe ow & a x * aa ma woe 4 : AWD A ‘aa PRU __& “arahow-Bukdman lbe-Ltenta Mie 967 udopest 980 tet? net White has sen for ok and her 2 WR xed 3 xed WaI2 Black has nothing 0 fear. 2..2ixg6 3 Efel| Since the hl. square is defended by the knight, the attack by queen and knight aginst the white King i rot $0 dangerous. But what proves decisive here is the fact tat the ‘white queen is very restricted in is movements, and Blick i able 10 begin a pursuit oft 3.22! 4W Des 8 WO The only moves after 5 Wl White mated ‘3k? wih a daw Fortress “The construction ofan impregnable fortes, into which the opponent's pawn. but the play is all om one tring andthe "result depends on ther ce not he can take the nts fares by stem Phere flowed L232 lobe thouaht that afer this change he would easily win with is ossed pane, out the resling Penton conten an impreanable Forevt 2 Wt wan stronger. 3 thon to try to break up ilek's tenses ‘by ‘the advance ofthe Iepawn guts 3 hy? 14 4 hd sth7 5 sw ess 6 date ee es Bye 8 she oes ‘White's pisces ave approached rat up (the opponents defences, but hey are onble to penetrate Itside the forres. “ (Chess Middlegames: Essential Knowledge 9.26 10 Was g7 ‘Thus se can conclude that the ‘Thee queen cannot be allowed to lass of even one. pawn on the sot Kings wil signify defeat 11 Wass h7 12 Wes he 13 Whos g7 14 Wo Hes drawn The vides of constricting a foraess isnot always obvious, Sometimes it" canbe highly camouflaged, x js a aks . 8 aA & & Bay V.chekhover, 1987 Wheto ply and draw White has three pawns for the exchange, and his task does not Ssppeardiffeult But outward impressions ean often be deceptive. Black has the dangerous threat of invading. the opponent’ position and -capuring 2 couple of pawns, fier which i wil not be dificult or him to win, For example: | $e? Bho 2 a Ex} dd} By2, or | 2 Eee 2 dl Ber 3 pf Hig? 4 er 2g3, Bd, by taking his King too, Black ‘What then can White do? Does he have any possibilty of avoiding the loss of any pavins? I tus out that Ihe has and avery unusual one — he ‘must give up his bishop! Thitally this idea looks pointless, but the paradox is tha, thanks 10 this seemingly quite incomprehen- sible” piece” “sacrifice, White Succeeds in evicting the rook from his postion and in sting up an impregnable fortress Tal! hz 2 det (or 2 e2) 2..Bsg? 3 fl Zn? 4 digi Bhs S Hee 6n wer7 oe. A unique position has. arisen, Black’ is a rok up, but here it proves impossible to exploit this vantage. White has st up a pawn buriade, and his kings securely {guarding all he entrances and exits ‘And in conclusion = hurnorous study onthe theme of the fortes, Drawing Combinations 8s ‘A.Rudotph, 1912 Wheto play and draw ‘The task of making a draw may ‘eause perplexity: White's poston looks Completely hopeless. ‘But he ‘does nt lose he: Tantei ‘What nonsense! As itis, White has so litle force, and he gives up ‘nother piece. buat 2 b3+ DS 3 ott 6-4 ast aT cor dua the pavns are disregarded, the white “King hss 10 baile alone against a hugely superior enemy force, but afer 6 (8, permanently locking the fortes, Bia is power less to invade the enemy position land unable to realise his enor: tous material advantage. Therefore raw Drawing balance of forees Suet combinations, tke. the pre ceding ones, cecur most often in the cndgame. The following ancient ‘xample i typical G.Greco, 193, ‘Blak to play and draw Back is two pawns down, but he nevertheless saves the game by an exchanging combination Taal 2 RA Hefl+ 3 batt ans In this way, by giving up his bishop for the g-pawn (orto trans form the. g-pawn into an h-pawa alter 4 exh), Black achieves a ‘wellknown theoretical postion. in hich’ White's extra bishop. does ot give him a win mh the following. more compl ated example. White achieves a rang balance of forces by means ‘ofa double blo. (ee diagram nest page) White is ook down, In order to fina draw he must save his knight nd wn the enemy bishop 86 (Chess Middlegames: Essential Knowledge aS bo * & un 2 Perelman, 1955 White to play and draw 1.7 Rett 2 tt Bes 3 7! txe7 Das! ‘An extremely effective move, hich constitues double blow The Knight attacks the rook” and simultaneously cartes the threat of f double stack on King and rook. ‘Therefore the black rook cannot move 10,6 or of tes ‘Tite only move. But now White caries a second order threat, 3S Ofte det 6 Od3, with a double attack on rook and bishop, ~ 18 Chess Aesthetics For anyone who knows. nothing bout chess, the litle. pices are hothing more thin wooden “oF Plastic knikcknacks. Hie hard 10 frieve that they are capable of living complicated life. fall of dangers. But man’s thinking end imagination inspite these pieces, and they. ike real "actors are capable of giving. wonderfl per formance. These may be tragedies, dramas, or even comedies. And what is most interesting i thatthe person’ moving these pieces, and Blso any spectator present, himself becomes direct participant inthe performance, He does not know ‘shat the outcome of the spectacle Will be, and he experiences excite ‘ment, suprise, delight, fretation find despair, since the seemingly Unpretentous pieces are capable, as itor out of touching the most Sensitive and innermost parts ofthe human soul, And it then that @ tame of chest i ansformed into 2 Work of art which not only Eladdens the min, But alo warms the hear. “Among the feelings accompany: {ng the struggle on the chess Boar the strongest and most profound Is ‘undoubtedly the feeling of Beaty ~ beauty of idea, beauty. of human thought. This Beauty aets with un sul tensity on eur imagination. [No one is suprise therefore by the enthusiastic applause of the spec ators, when” some game is ‘onclided by a spectaculy, deeply ‘alulated combination ‘And. it becomes understandable wy, inthe: majority of chess events, special prizes are awarded {or beliney,” and "the most ‘beaut games and combinations Find. their way into publications ‘throughout dhe Word But what In order to answer this question, wwe wil acquaint you with 9 few ‘combinations Irom the treasiry of ‘hess atthe most stking maser- Pieces of chess creativity ‘Zukertort-Blackburne ‘London 1883 : a (Chess Middlegames: Essential Knowledge Black's Ringside is weakened, but hes pinning all is hopes on is Knight move to et, Homener, White simply distepards this heat, having Seen that he wil ater gain excellent tacking possiblities. Test When playing this, Zukerort would” have” had 10 caleulate accurately al he consequences Tae 2 xed dred 3 fg Piayed with Olympian’ calm White not afraid of 32 SoeZ pub ht § dS 05 x jac WwW A a EY o& am @ A2ew AB aoe cxtablsh that, afer bringing is Second rook into play, White ives mate ina few moves. But the move played also des not save Black. A ew sacrifice follows 7 get exh 168A 8 xest dosh? 9 Waot' hs 10 HHS with a quick Waeds sig7 9 LxeSt! (another rook sacrifice) 9x08 10 7+! ‘A spectacular concluding stroke! og? allows 11 We8 mat hile 10. x47 11 Wye? Black ‘hereto resigned “The beauty of Zukeron's com- bination consists the series of spectacular sacrifices ~ queen, rook (vice) and bishop. but the" mest beautiful move, of course, was the intial and quite unexpected queen ‘move to bs No less portant he Tact thatthe combination arse a8 3 result ofa clash of ideas. White's attack appears to have ‘ome fo an end. That, at any event, isevidenly what the commander of the black pieces thought but i i here that the fll depth and beauty of Zokertort's idea revealed. He Sacrifices his queen! ‘6 What! Zves Alas, the acceptance of the ste: fice Teads to forced mate ~ 6, Was Takes xh? 8 HhS+ oes 9 Hg3+, and the reader himself can Steinite-Rardeleben Hastings 1895 Chess Aesthetics 9 ‘The situation looks rather complicated and unclear: Black is Davin up, and is threatening. after {exchanging roks, to win the knight Teis tru that White har available 9 Aiscovered chock ith his. Knight, ‘but what does it ead to? 1 Gigs eB 2 Hest Te begins! Iti bad for Black to take the rook with his. queen on sccount of the obvious 2. Wye? 3 Exctt kot 4 Wxc8*, wile if he {akes it with the king then 22x07 3 elt dds 4 White ser (i es 5 He6r) § Sess dhs 6 Wiss He? 7 Oixc7 Wye? # BoB mate Soch a combination is not dif ficult calculate, and if that was a thre wast i it would hardly merit Aistinction. But the fact tht White's took a el has been lft undefended lls Black to make a paradoxical move, prepared beforchand. In this Way 'e was oping to. refute White's idea ane [AN guite worthy reply. “Go ahead.” the black ‘monarch seems to Be saying, smiling ironical. "take my {queen if you want, and jou will be hated onthe back sank!” ‘Surely ‘White wasn't ike the hunter in the old Russian fy tae, who caught a bear, but the trouble ‘asthe Bear wouldn't let him go! However it transpires that ‘Stentz had also atsipate this Sar+ Very clever: the rook is. till Say 4 Bg Nothing short of miraculous! The rampant rook fel perfectly at home in the enemy poston. eerie} ‘Tiere is simply nothing. else 4.c00R is decisively met by 5 Benne ‘Sx what's more, rather une Realising that he was lost stunned Bardeleben could ot hide his Telings, and was so upset that he got up from the board Heft the playing fall, and. id. not return He was, ofcourse, awarded os, The unsporting behaviour of is pene didnot allow Stein 10 conclude his brilliant combination. the finish to. which he" promptly ‘demonstrated Seabes 6 Hg? ne 7 Whs+! shag? White's efforts have been crowned by success — he has finally 0 (Chess Middtegames: forced his opponent to accept the ook sacrifice But now the lack King comes under a series of deadly blows bythe queen and knight PWyre ie 9 WHEY e710 Wer hee ‘Afr 10.6 11 Wxl6+ White ives mate next move Tr West bey 12 Wr7+ seas 13 wre Wes 14 27+ a7 15 B46 xx Ww jae dD) W ee | a Ag @ BAB x se ‘The beauty ofthis tly grandiose ‘combination les not only tn the fac that it extends for 14 moves, involves the repeated sacrifice of 2 rook, and end ina spectacular tate. Perhaps the most important ‘hing is that Steinit anteipated the paradoxical king move, on which fis opponent was pinning all is hopes. In the ftlowing positon White's defences in the centre, under fre fiom al sides by Blacks long-range pieces, Took decidedly shaky. The _veston i, how to demolish them’? Chess Aesthetics o sen Knowledge \ i e tw st aaa ae oa (lag oa maa ak A ms! A gama je a x a awe ax 4 Possible here was the_prossic 1..@xk2 2 WS" Bnet 3” Dxet Giant, or 2 xb) Dell with the threat of 3..0g3+. But the line chosen by Black is, of course, far ‘more Betta and spectacular Wns 93 ‘Stumbling into the main variation ‘combination. Now the Black wolves pee 1 fantastic post aiven up his queen and four of his pices are en prise, but the cape fof any of them leads to mate oF 10 replaceable loss of material Ted xcs net 5 Wel Exh? mate, ot Wag axed 5 BE Ext Wy? Eire 7 Haft xg? mate Finally, 4 ixb7 is met by 4,-Bxed 5g? hi! 6 dxhd eho mat ‘That only leaves the Tine chosen by White 4x2 sett 5 Wg? Ths White resigns, since there is no defence against the mate at Here, of course, the queen sacrifice was Very fine, and the position arising. after it extremely Striking, but all the play was in one direction: White could do nothing (0 ‘opps the powerful enemy blows. incidentally, itis worth soving how Black's" tack ‘would have developed, if White had dofended ‘with 23 instead of g3 Here Black even has two ways to win. One is combinational, where ns te not 50 spectacle 2", although they are convincing enough 2 died 3 xc} “Tire best reply, A forced mate results from 3. Weed Bxh3-t 4 Wand Wide! 5 pxhs dacs 6 sen Ba ebxet 4 Way After 4 Bred Wg)! 5 hugs Wt White fs mated 4..Whgs 5 ng Ba 6 eh? “The only defence against 6.223 “6. xc3, and with two bishops for a ook ‘Black mist: win ths ending. lowever, the second, totally prostic way, is even simpler ~ 2 Boot 3 Gres Bes! 4 Bel there is to ther defence against 4..e2) 4x6, witha material advantage xX ¢é a a b& HEBAA a2 Adams-Torre New Orleans 1920 2 (Chess Middtegames: COutwardly the postion looks quiet, and so after 1x16, without specially considering the conse: ‘quences, Black replied 1.86, Although 1..gx"6 came inio con sideration, The point i that inthis tase 2 Exe? does not work on ecount of 2-WxeT! (but ot 2. Bhe7 3 Bye? Wre7 4 Witt and Sires) ‘Aer the capture withthe bishop, Black's queen sted to the defence of the rook at 8, which allows White to cary out a wonderful combination, 2 West Ws! 1 tls out that Black 100 has powder left in his hex! In moving fut of the attack, the queen in ten treats the thea of eaptring one 3a 'A worthy reply! The queen is untouchable I ot only defends the rook at e2, But itself threatens 10 ‘queen, which Essential Knowledge Miraculous! The queen again coffers itself, but due to the mate threat it cannot be taken in either way “Ws 5 at ‘This move ~ the sacrifice of an insignificant pawn — is 0. less strong than the preceding queen Sacrifices. In a combination every- ‘hing. idenially” important sacrifices, atfacks, and “even the ‘most simple moves Tncidemtally, without this impor- tant move White’ combination ‘Would not have ‘worked: on the immediate 5 Wsb7 Black can reply sie ‘5. Was 6 ett WS 7 Wxb7! ‘The triumph of the attack! The black queen perishes on the field of bute, Black resigns Tn this combination the four queen sacrifices are spectacular, of ours, but T think thatthe subtle ‘move 6 Het! is no less prety. ARer Allin combination with the paven Sacrifice at a its ony this move {hat makes the entre combination ‘sorrect and fea toa win. (ee diagram next page) Black has jst captured a white ‘night at, assuming that after | WHS 15 he would have time 10 fect a delensive line. Therefore, ‘sithout losing ime om regaining the piece, White immediately destroys the focifcations in the vicinity of the opponent's king. (Chess Aesthetics 93 1 ah 7+t soah7 2 WakSt gh S ugh! deg ‘The second stcrifice has 19 be accepted 13 f6 thon 423 We8 5 Wage Br 6 wh 4 Wipe 207 SEG es Only” inthis way” can Black prevent he threatened mae (6Hh3+ Who 7 KahGr Sxh6 For the moment Black has quite adequate compensation for the ‘queen a rook and two bishops. But the following move, which had to be sean in advance, puts everything in is place: White wins further Piece, ‘8 WATE £16 9 Wxb7, and White 2's combination, involving the sacrifice of both bishops, Be fame a classic, and has been re- peated many’ times in practice. The Bishop ‘sariices are" spectacular tot their efectiveness depended on the final double blow. ‘You have seen just afew ofthe dazzling ancient combinations from ‘he treasury of ehess art I hope tht you liked them. tv Tact, the golden find of chess contains many more, find modem tourmaments are Constantly adding fresh examples ‘Al the given. combinations are characterised by. originality “of thought, spectacular, deeply calcu lated. sacifices, and paradoxical moves thit ae dificullt0 find — tverything that in chess constittes beauty. But 1 should like to emphasise one furter important feature ofthe hess combination. A game of chess {s-a clash of two personales, and this means two intellects and two character, and an artistic chess production i created in the course Df the tga Between them. For this reason, even a spectacular” combination that is tuexpeced for one of the sides, ‘where the play ial in one direction and one ofthe players i given the fole of a whipping-boy. by the Tavs ff chews beauty musi be valued th fess than one where there is 8 "lan of eas, when both players go Infor one and the same position, but tome soos hile further, when’ one ces a combination, an the her Secs its refutation, If from. this ‘Viewpoint we examine the examples fgven, the combinations. in the Zakeron:-Blakburne and Sti 9% Chess Middlegames: Bardeleben games should be rated more highly than, say the combi tions in the Rotlewi-Rubinsein and Lasker-Bauer games. "As an example of sucha clash of ideas, T should like 1 give the fl lowing ending: Averbaki-Zita Ssczawno Zdroj 1950 As ean bo seen, the position is extremely sharp. Black's king has fo pawns covering it but as yt its fot evident how it canbe stacked ‘White's king is comparatively safe, but the conral black pawns are ready to nish forward. Who will be the ito create real threats? 1WFSd3 2 Bes d2+ tal oS Just thee moves have been made, andthe white king isin moral danger there appears 10 be no ‘defence aginst e2 Thus 4 Red Essential Knowledge ig met by the decisive 422+ 5 Hx? Wxe2+! 6 dine? d1=i¥ and wins. And on 4 gt my opponent had prepared the spectacular reply 4.6, when afer 5 Sxg6+ hago 6 Wager (6 hor hy) 6, Black isa 00k up, ‘Why then did White nevertheless ‘gn fortis continuation? Because fhe saw in advance a refutation of the opponent's combination! The game concluded: gtr ges hor! ‘This modest pawn move radically changes the situation, by opening the hfe for an tack by the white ‘acen, Black has only on reply Susbuhe 6 Hager huge 7 Wh3H1 Now it all becomes else. Aer both 7.5 8 Whi, and 7.7 & Wh8 there is only one outcome — Black is mated 19 Strategy of Attack Up till now we have been cxamining situations in which the ‘warring forces have already made contac, and tates have come to the fore. We will now turn ‘stud of postions in which the ma feature is sategy, where if the forces of the two sides have come into contact, then only inthe conte, land the subsequent ations demand the drawing up ofa corect pan that, corresponds mest closely 10 the features ofthese positions, It should bbe mentioned thatthe choice of plan depends to. certain exten on the pawn structures of the two sides, but to an even greater degree its determined by where. the mai target ofthe atack is located ~the enemy king, ‘Depending on the placing ofthe kings four eypical situations can be distinguished! (@)- One or both kings are Aepeived ofthe right to castle or are tunable to castle 1) Both kings have casted on the kingside 16) The ings have casted on coppesite sides a) The Kings have both casted ‘on the kngside, but the offensive ‘mounted onthe queensde "We will now examine what will be the sategy of attack in each of these eas, Attack on th casted king At the very stat of @ game the players have to solve the problem of the safety of their kings Since in the majority "of openings the postion i usually opened. in the en, they aim 10 take their kings 88 far avay as possible from the fighting that bepine in the centre, find castle either on the kingsie, of fn the qusensie. Only in excep ional efser, when the centre is blocked, and play is conducted on the Manks, may a player try to gain time for developing his initiate, {vonomise on casting and nt hurry fo evacuate his king rom the centre Tn certain openings a player wll ‘endeavour to deny the opponent's King the right to castle, an for this will be prepaed to sacrifice Imateris Here we will examine Several instances, where for seme reason ome of he ings Is eaught in the cene and becomes 2 target foe stack ‘Or task is to extablish how in such potions the offensive actions fe planned, and how the attack is conducted ‘Asa rl, in open positions with an upcasled king itis extreme dangerous to begin active play. The following “example convincingly demonstrates this. 96 (Chess Mudategames: Essential Knowledge White has a clear lead in develop- ment. yt, tempted by the win of pawn, Black risks bepinaing active ay: nixed 2 Weed ned He dacs not fear 3 AbS+ on sccount of 3. 26, But ‘2s es Black assumed thatthe atack on £2 would gain time forthe defence @Gagt Em's Bho Wade 6 wan od? x 2 ok sem Ah a 2 i a s&s wad & x) ‘Thus both kings have lost the right to castle. But White's forces ae fully mobilised, and this allows, him to make an immediate assault ‘on the enemy monarch, whereas his ‘own king inthe mide ofthe board Feels completly safe Tiel! Less clear is 7 e+ eds Daas West, with two threats — 9..Wct and 9. EMD 1.Del6 Hf 7.Becs, defending. the 06 fa against atack, then & eS! Wt 9 Bade, winning the queen, Axes! Wah? The bishop cannot be taken on account of mat in two moves, ‘ier What can Black do now? 9. Wabs" is met by 10 ett, and rmeanvhile White is threatening 10, eave xa? 1 HoT as 12 ‘Wei, mating. There is no defence gains! his, ad so Black resigned x * x aaw aad ase a) a BS AB & AKA We bo 5 TaL-Fuster Strategy of tack or Black his delayed evacuating bis king from the vente, and now aqueenside casting can be answered bhy2 Oat, and kingside easing by 25. He therefore played If, having decided first to. drive” away” the Knight, and. then nevertheless 10 fastle qucensde. The loss of the 6 pwn didnot worry him: in ret fe was intending 1 pickup the @3 pawn. However in otde to held the fpponent’s King in the ceive, White ‘rificed a plese 2 Bxe6! fees 3 dxeS Re ‘After 3..dixe5 4 Khel. White's atiack is” too dangerous. For fxample: 4. lbxg3 3 kd7+ with a (quick mate, or 4-865 Set 07 G Wess ee 7 hse ys 8 Wee ‘with mate fallow, ‘¢zhnt “Thretening $ 817+ 8 6 Lest p87 Wet mate CEA S Dati 8 6 WES! Blacks ied hand and foot For ‘example, he camat play. 6,08 Because ofthe simple 7 NAB ‘oe? 703) Tinestening 8 207+ Waa? 9 dT dad? 10 Wxb7+ and 11 ‘Prat, tbs? This loses quickly. The toughest defence was 7.-b8, eg, 8 d7* ‘Wad? 9 Zxd7 xd? 10 WH Be? Trobe side 12 Wag? bed 13 Who B48, and Black can il hod on ‘8 Lave! Wxa7 9 Daa shud 10 Wr7+ eT 1 6+ sas H..sed6 would ave been answered by 12 Wf44, winning the rook 12 Wag? Black resigns. After 12.04 13, ‘Wes he loves hin bishop, “The possibility of opening up the position is an important factor in valuting.“postons with an ‘neasled king. (x We x| A & MAbs a S 45 é& a A A BAA x2 x Flohr-Simagin ‘Moscow 1985 Black did ot lke the fat that. if he este, his opponent would pi his bishop to al and a ronk to ef Winning @ pawn and retaining the Iniative. Therefore be played To. ‘Hay. thinking that his) powerful pawn group in the centre. would ‘Seguard his king against attacks, But with energetic blows White eseays the Black Torte. Det deed 3 48! This pawn sacrifice, which Block is obliged to accep, completely exposes his king * (Chess Middtegames: Essential Knowledge 30x05 4 at The position has radically changed: only fragments remain of Black's pawn defences, and 5 [Hxds+ is treatened, His next move is practically forced, bu, faced by the opponent's heavy pieces, is king. strolling abou in the centre of the board, immediatly finds itself Tee 5 Wacse a6 6 Wet ad 6-6 is decisively met by 7. eg 7.7 8 Weir and mate follows in two more moves. 7 Wit de? 8 Wg a? The king tries 10 fee from its pursuers, ati vain 9 ps Zam 10 Wad o6 11 4 was Wes Black resigns: if 12.28 thee follows 13 BxdS+ exdS 14 Weds Bek 5 Rel ete, & aa Bad if ow Bd Averbakh-Goldberg Tula 1955, ‘The weakening ofthe opponent's pawn sructure allows White to pen lines by apiece sacrifice and to begin an immediate attack onthe Fiat and foremost the king must rot be allowed fo caste, 3.6 ‘There is nothing beter. 1 3.6, defending. against + gS, there ‘would have followed 4 t3 Wd8 5 Bus Ods 6 Wass Oe 7 dxds with &devsive attack, 3. also foes not help on account of 4 ket 5 Duds dS 6 oxdS. Finally, 3.8 can be met by 4 Hve7i Exe 5 ips with numerous theeats Thas das ert date 5 Excis, while i417 § Os. ‘Buc! Wxe 6 as Zixds Black gives up his queen, but this oes ot delay the end for fon 7 dixeT+ 2ixe7 # Wrd6? al ‘curious postion! Black has no way “of defending against the ‘7 ater which “he wes material Suligh 10 stab7 go 11 Wad 06 12 W6r Geb 13 Leb Black resigns Attack om the kingside By casting on the kingside, the king comes under the pratetion of its pawns, But even behind sich a pawn seeen it may be subjected (0 Sn attack, if the opponent succeeds Strategy of Atack 9 in creating a significant advantage in force onthe Kingside Averbakh-Fridstela Vii 1946 Here White played 1 a3, intending to swing the rook across to B3 oF hi, to atack the enemy. King. Black should have foresalled the opponear's plan by. Le5, Forcing the queen 10 800 63. Instead ofthis he replied 1b, beginning an attack om the qucen- side, which, however, came 00 lle ‘There followed 12 gs (threatening to take on £6) cn 3 HAs “The most vulnerable target for White's atack i the h? pawn, The Knight that is defending "itis attacked by the bishop at 35, and so fer the success ofthe operation its salient for him to ack h7 ‘Second time. The decisive #e5 dxeS 5 Wiis already threatened. 3.8067 lack pies the tte with 9 double attack on g2. Now 45 is fefuted by gb sep] Bans “The postion has become sharper, and" combinations aren the. ae ‘White Incas his Sevond rook in the atack ‘sn Tetum out hat e does not have to fear 45 he replies 8 Bh ind it Seexdt ‘kx with inevitable mate What can Blick do now? The hanging positions of the opponent's pees tages 0 hin counter pace This unexpected continuation sets White diteuit problems. To. 3 Brel Black was fending to reply Subset, attaching 2 and ining tie for the defence: 6 xe? there Tllows 6.83247 Esl ‘Aus, tetening mate Hf instead 5 Axe7, Black was intending to play 8.23, thea ching "to. win” the gucen by ehB eat rie vers ‘And yet White fe in with his ests plans! Why? EB Oued Tie reson was that in his calculations he “had forcieen 8 Spectacular way of immediately Se? She7+ v6 12 x8 mate If the attacker is able to con- is threatened, ‘OF course, in the position just considerad’ Black han couse: play. and the white pieces were able {o stom the king's fortress without hindrance. This is By” no means always the case.” Often the al 4 Strategy of ack 101 opponent's defences have tobe broken up, which may demand considerable efor (x & iv aa Waa aa’ A aa A Ww AAA \s x Alekdhine-Colle ‘led 1931 |, Wie isos ae aimed ate king, which eet he nese | Say pezondons fran tack Se hain ede bain thn positon hic hs saci 8 {Yon xan Defending aesins’ the teat of 2 abt | “ames {yg Berk ready 0 suing scons toss } 2.063 Wer If immediately 3. gS. she 5.05 4 at Dt 3.Rb7 4 gS 28 Tipe exchanging combination 4.2Bxd3 5, Wad (stronger than 5 AG, which is also possible) S.allet does not work om account of 6 Bag?! sexs? (6.8 7 Wp3) 7 Wes, with a decisive advantage However, 4-ac8 was Back incoretly goes totally onto the defensive which makes things Imakedy ease for White Siiet Ste Wb2! White exploits the opponents he by proving an smportant ‘seakening of his pawn tocar nf Abd 268 ged 7 Weavesoe 9 107 10 Wert Simulianeously creating two threats = 1? Bxe6 and. 11 Wiss followed by the penetration of the ‘quent the enemy positon Th Zed 11 Whst dogh 12 We (5 15 disdg Wade 14 axf5 Ws 15 Wart kim 6 ge Was 17 ref xe8 18 WM and Block resigned The ish could have been 19 was! G17 20"Whet= dues 21 Exot Averbakh-Fuchs ‘Dresden 1986 voz (Chess Midaegames: ‘An attack on the kingsde may arise suddenly, asa result of events ‘ccurrng inthe centre or even on the queenside, “Thus here the rok at a3 is ina position to swing. across the Kingside, but as yeti not clear how this can be cared out At the same time Black i threatening (0 attack “the queenside pawns by 1.Be5 oF 1. Ws, Incidentally, be js" also “inviting the’ opponent to begin complications after |e? es. But White has quite different plans. Test saliency te, bck quem inst feel uncomfortable: 2d? Sitter, In sion be ds pawn is hanging. Against 1.25 White had prepared the following combination, in which the decisive tole is played by the rook at a3 2 Wis! Anes 3 Ofer Avie 4 ANTS {al (otherwise there iso defence aginst the threat of 5 Who) 5 jhTo! exh 6 3+, and mate 1.ch 2 Wh! We7 3 Wh ek ‘There is nothing beter. IF. 4 hS HS 5 dahs gs 6 Anes axhs 7 06 Ws 8 xg? Sexg7 9 wth decisive attack, HRS AS 53 White has no reason to bury. and so he prepares the sacrifice on hS. The immediate 5 AxhS would not have succeeded on account of Siixet! 6 Wret gas 7 ahs Bim Essential Knowledge 5.018 6 Saks xb 1F6..gxh3 7 Dah Og6 8 O64 ate 9 hts Dh 10 Sah with, inevitabie mate 7 ahs! xk TK Black takes the knight — Tose, then 86 xf 9 WRF is sible, and if 9..WeT 10 Bx! i711 EHS mate 8 R16 ge 9 Wys DeeT 10 ‘q6+ dew AT dkxb2 Black resigns ‘To. launch an attack onthe ingsde one often has to resort 108 pawn stom, the aim of which is to ‘pen lines for stacks by the heavy pleces Botvinnik-Zagoryanshy Sherdloee 1983, ‘The forces of both sides. are grouped around the isolated black awa White's pieces are attacking and Black's are defending i Exploiting the fact that the ‘opponent's pieces are markedly resected, Botvinnik begins a pawn ‘tack on the kingsde. The fac that, Strategy of tack vos in so doing. he exposes his own tags dens tot on, bis he op pores pices afl oxic She fe Tat co gS gs 3 Wags 16 4 wear he capare on BY would have boon o fay. se # would bane Iigwed Whe guckly to swith hi foaugio heh Ses 6M Weo7 HT A ihe sont of reign veahneses ie 1 pwn) Bick sr clded ht” goeen in the {fence a forthe moment prevented “White frm doubling Rance om th ie Bat no fcr thcan Whe asthe pil sites 8 Hal His 9 Wh bs ee Wiite has afer all achieved sion is quem ponte Be Torii Wass e812 Ze A'S of fe The rok has helped he quan 10 invade the prone foesy and now efi besiung he 5 pan Taber Bock cover. in advance his vance gine Dep do't ins The ung of Whit’ sn He tas hated the opponents king Side dfmces, ro mt hs pos ttn fring the ack pce tvake Spence poston and thn lacked th weak pw th 5 pevor foes Trcanot be defended, Ite gue does not lone 14.cWals 15 h2 96 16 Wrg6 n717 Wa6r HbeT 18 Was Black resigns the opponents pizces ae fatty active, am attack by the pawns fom in front of the king. may peove double-edged, by opening lines for the invasion oF the enemy pieces. In sch cases, before begining. the pawn storm, the player should try to vacuate is ing fo a safer plac, “sualyon the opposite wing Attack afer casting on ‘opposite sides [As we have seen, if the kings have ‘easled onthe same side, an atack {= mainly cried. out using. the pieces, Pawns take past compara cy rarely in such a attack, more asan exception. isa uite diffrent matter after casing on oppsite sides. Hete the ‘offensive is mainly earied out by is normally they that are for the sake of opening nes for the Reavy pieces or with the aim of breaking up the enemy forgess.Since bath sides can engage ia sch a pawa storm, it 18 ‘ery importa o be ale to outpace ‘he wpponent inorder Be the ist to reach the main target of the stack ~the enemy king Tt shouldbe mentioned that iFany ofthe pawas in font ofthe eased King Have moved, this makes. it tse to storm the king and to open Tines" And pieces too, standing in tow (Chess Middlegames: Essential Knowledge the path ofthe pawns, can fila their advance ‘We will begin with an example where White caried out 4 pen Sloe without any diet x Ke sad aaa i & a2w AA BA eres Alekhine- Marshall ‘Baden Baden 1925 a 3] 14 es TFL Was 2, and 2.045 can be met by'3 xd nds 4 xh? uh? § Was and 6 Ws 25 Hfes 3 Hhel ads wis rena the pn oem, Bett oon swe sss 6 “Te feta acl ight and cen wee th pth ofthe pe Acton fit Whie's at ave cay come in cota with Srponnts pos fe ‘The postion tas become sare. and Whit find sal slon “wach 8 Sua Bad 9 ett uaa toe ‘This isthe whole point! ARer 10 Baa?’ Black ‘would -have bad 3 ‘Saving check ate. 10. Wed 11 6! Simpler than 11 ixf7+, which ‘would alo have won Met 12 bat 6 ‘There is no Way Of saving the game. 12.16 i met by 13 Brest aes 14 Wadd Se? 15 Was and 16 vet, 1h et) Has 14 WH Wer 1S of lack resigns xe ae] at aaa” al ie Daa 20 ms SAW Aa e Be Spasshy-Petrosian Moscow 1969) Black is ready to play ..b7-65, but White is the first 10 begin’ a pen storm, Ted! Sage T1085 there could have followed 2 gS fxg5 3 fxg5 hs 4 6! figs 5 WES. In onder 10 ‘mainain his pawn screen, Ptrosian decides to accept the pawn saerfice 2 Wer O06 3 Bgl ad? 4! ths Strategy of Attack vos By allowing lines to be opened, Black goes down without @ Fight. 4ceS was the leser ev. ‘szan Was Returning the queen 1 the defence, but S.es wat the toughest defence. Now, however, ‘White's stack develops swiftly 6 faeb fae 7 eS! des # Ded ‘ons Probably the only move. 8 .exd can be met by 9 xf g5 10 03 e711 Bag5 witha decisive anack ‘An cbvious mistake. More ten acos was 9.24, and if 10 Ett ext 11 5 W6, planning ater 12 £6 to give up queen for rook. In this case White would have had t0 find the decisive move 12 gs! 10Zigs! Black resigns Ie 0chxgs 11 WahS+ Sgt 12 WIT Sing 13 EB and there 6 no defence against the mate (x W ie ht BRbba Ae on & As BA & 4 ASAW Sn 2 8) Fischer-Spassky Belgrade 1992 In order to outpace the opponent in the development of his tack, Black is offering the bs pawn, reckoning on | Wabs to reply 1 Hee followed by 2.268, with ‘active play. on” the queenside However, "Fischer = finds the "Achiles hel” in Black's setup. 1 bs Te is exemely important for White to exchange his Badly placed igh Tbs L2ixbs would have been met by 2 Wat, and i245 3 Wxb6 WAS 4 x6, when ddyed ts bad on account of 5 a7, winning apiece 2'Dxa7 Wad 3 oI We? 4 as dea Sas ‘Afler completing. his_develop- ‘ment and placing his pieces onthe fequited squares, White begins. 3 pan storm, ‘Sie8 6 ed Se6 7 Hal a5 8 6 lbs mety the decisive 9H ge nge 10 aps BITTY bg? Bhgr 2 Whats Bx ct We iscad 6 9 Bag hae shen ae 10 We ww Wi is a very stag atch, eaten 0 dys Nita. White sims to cachange 2 oponaat defender of the royal forse ‘oie? The qe huis, o the id of the bison but 10. Rag 11 Bags {6 would perhaps have eee a tougher defence 106 (Chess Middlegames: Essential Knowledge 11 Bigs Stags 12 Zags WH 13 Eng! Wa Ih search of counter-chancss Cnhervise afer 1 We? thee? pawn all the. same cannot be Sotende 14 Bg? 16 156 04 16 03, Forestalling possible atempts at counterplay TsaxhS 17 axb3 EfQ8 18 We? 150s 19 gs! ‘White's task isa simple ome — he needs to. eliminate both of is Iepawns, which are covering the ‘opponent's king agaist checks on the le 19.7 20 Rg7+ dens 20 7! Black resigns. There is no de- fence against the tveat of 22 Eg8+ igh? 25 + Who 24 Wy mate xa wx +a A kd amAS Averbakh-Petrosian Moscow 1967 In this position White can regain his pawn ith 1 Wot, but he con- sidered it more important Begin a pawn storm immediately. 1 ge na 2 14a 36 Tnpostons sch ashes pts dono have to be cowed =e Stn tings Be able to expose TTeopponating. Aer 3-00 4 tis Sock Whe was ending 5 Beene Gen and toca? Tyan wean 7 wee reining the pec eon oon ms at al cos og coumerlay, "andthe station Becomes exec sha “ngs ages Eaha ter Sede 6 We! the game would hive guiky conc, Rete now Wie mast defend {hua avo i tm, coming tir rshing ack pee ‘nor Wao Zbs Black answers 7 iat wide des whi ed wing the qeon by 7 Mae 8 Boke Eis 7 hea as 8 Bact g6 Tiveneing 9 Dee o'Eus pee io eat as 11 ‘1 12 We? Sia xed nes 14 Was he 1S Seer dye (isk te det Boer 17 Bagh was quick mt) To cos ahh 17 ang dag? Wor Sag 19 Weds, and White 1 Wr 0413 Wel Black resigns Iriewstl to bnow he flowing standard stack pede wick ae ccued. ny tines in practice 3 Siravegy of Attack 107 Black appears to have been the fit to begin his atack, but this impression ones: hi offen five ha no specie aim, wheres ‘White's paw storm involves concrete tia blo. Tees Abr 2 gt aS 3 Bagh a 4 aS KS Sabah his i the point! ‘This sacrifice wine by fre. ‘Shah? 66 xg67 Wag Unexpesey, four white piers, head By the ven, have ended up close to Black's morarch He has only one reply Ee 8 wr the TP 8.3N7 the following pty ‘arian wan posible: 9 Hg6! Beh JO Bagh ag? 1 Wy and 12 Oy wee 9 Hag?! Ong? 10 Zt Os 11 ge Wag 12 Baas 306 13 46+ Eh 14 had Black resigns Attack on the queenside The targets of an atack on the queenside will primarily be weak pawns, but the aim of such an bfensive may also be the invasion ff the heavy pieces, usually the fooks, into the enemy poston Sometimes thie invasion i trane- formed into an attack on the king, Sheltering on the other side of the board. ‘We will begin with 2 classic example x ie a haba a 2h wa a BAB AB Baan RW BS Robinstcin-Salwe “ne 1908 Black has a weak pawn ate instractive to follow bow com Sisently the commander "ofthe tahitepigces “mounts on allack zainst it Ves Bees 2 Eat Preparing. 60 switch the rook eros the queenside Bad7 3 yet BaeT 4 Was! tos Chess Mudategames: Essential Knowledge White maintains contol over the 5 square Aotlees 5 £61 Rec8 6 3 Wo7 7 (ye DixeSW HneS eT 9 ted 6 ops, Now the black pawns are completly paralysed, Wea 11 Has, White avoide the trap 11 xd?! xd 12 Was Hse? with counter. iy THedb6 12 a3 Ba Tvs no longer posible to avoid the loss oF pawn 13 Hxe6 Wace 14 Wea as 15 Wes WH7 16:6 hs 17 ed 96 18 ‘Wa Wes 19 Zes ‘Afler winning @ pawn, White oes not hurry. The main thing is not to allow at counteplay on the Part ofthe opponent, 19-8720 ba a5 A desperate attempt t open up the positon 1 BcT Wo 22 bS a8 23 b6 Has aur Bock resigns, 25 HcBi is Aveatened and 24.97 is met by h certain pawn structures, an offensive on the queenside has the Sin of eating weaknesses in the Spponent’s pass, and then aching them. Apical example of such a storm is the so-called minority attack, hen one oF more Usually wo pawns advance against the opponent's pawn chain In the folowing example White began a minority stack ‘x Wrae™ aa Raha a a aD 22 & Daa & saw BA = ne Averbakh-Ravinsky "Moscow 1950 14462 a6 gh 3 Rac? Wee? 4 Dagd ag 8S axbS 6 axb5 i845 7 i aan 8 bacs ace He two sides have consistently cari ut thei respective plans = White bas ‘opened ies the Cheese and fas created weak Fan inthe opponents positon at Tere Black has swiched his Soon to the. Ringside and is threatening the rook manoewre aches Whie ‘must play very Sarefuly, wo wold eoming under 2 Sreshing atch ‘ed Ba 10 m6 6 Black gives pa pan, 10 gain tine Tor his aah” However Tord wan comet, resning the pan fr the momen To, which White as itending to reply Dp and Teas. 12 Asst, combining, tack with defence ‘After [2M he has the move 13 Rinreene Sirategy of Atack 108 11 Bxc6 D6 Black has two threats— 11.874, vwith an afta on h2, and 11.24, could have been an- swered by 1313 "Now on 13 HAN6 Black was planning the spectacular reply 13. Bast 4 Bens Ww 13 Wess Her White has only one defence, but a perfectly adequate one 1314 Bes Black is rtled and toses without a fight. After 13-Whs 14 Zah6 {WxH6 Wie would stil have faced the problem of how to realise his extra pawn 14 ab T+ soem 1S fg Bae? 16 uct ans 17 C4 was threatened. 17 3) and White won. Kotov-Ragozin Moscow 1949 White's heavy pieces are con cena om the efile, bat forthe ‘moment the 6 pan is adequately Aetended, and “on 1 b5 Black appears o have the reply I-cS Yet Kotor nevertheless played 1 st tums ou that eS can be met by 2 dyes! Wyes 3 exbs Heed f ba? Hye? $ Hye? then the ot fan promotes to. queen al a8! played diferent. ToBiacT 2 buco sig? 2 Bet is met by 3s. 3 WoI! Sxc6 4 Webs Eos S Wabst Debs 6 HeeT Wiad 7 Sage! “The fr is immediatly switched voihekingside TaPice 8 Hixe6! Bxc6 9 Sats ne Or 9.s2h8 107 with the threat of 10 26 nate 10 C4 WaeS> 11 a2 WreS 12 ‘ue and Black resigned. a. Bike a a a ar a bad & Petrosian-Bronstein ‘Moscow 1967 110 Chess Midilegames: Essential Kowledge Black's Kingide is weakened, but cannot eaily be atacked, Whit, on the other Rand, has a queenside pwn majority ad the ebvious plan GF BE-DEDS. Black, for his part threatening a pawn offensive in the conte with 76 and 65. Vit agi 2 HbI! ‘Aecurately played? White needs to open the bile as soon a8 pos Sibi to ivade with his ook ab. 2 Black i in too much of hurry. He should have played 2..We, combining tack with defene. dd AT 4 BS WeT 5 bras a6 Se mha6. 6 Abs and 7 D6 is npigasant for Black ‘6 Hb eS Blacks eosistent, although this astempt to inate play inthe centre fmects with a. tatical refutation Tlowever, White's plan would also have bor fait afer 6. fe8 7 Wa eS Esa. 17 dues 05 8 eS! Wee Th Be bses 9 Oxds Waxes (01.5 10 WydS+) 10 Bae, with the threat of LT D6: ‘96 WaT “The toughest defence was 9, Was 0. 2ixf7 EXIT, and it 11 Was Weds (oot 1 Axed 12 gs) 12 Bhads S284, when White sil faces the problem of realising his ext, pawn Wage! The “rook, together with, the Jenght, actively join the attack on the kngside 10.08 ‘Afer 10.85 “pi while if 10,5 1 dishe 12 Wins WxD+ 13h Wael 14 Exhe with a decisive atc TH Dane 8 12 Exes Watt 13,02 HaxeB 14 WHS Wel 15 Shape 8 16 xg? BAT 17 Wed Black resigns Index of Players and Analysts Adams 91 ‘Abues 30 Alatorsev 37 ‘Alekhine 2 79,101,108 Alser 50 ‘Andersson 23 ‘Antoshin 49 ‘Aronia 31 ‘Avetbakh 22, 27, 28, 29, 47, 52, 74. 95, 54, 96, 98, 99, 101, 106, 107, 18 44,67, Balashov 39 Baranov 8 Barera 60 Bardeleben 88 Bauer 93 Betak 50 Betatski 65 Biyiasis 39 Blackbume 87 Bogolubow 35,50 Boleslvaky 46 Boneh Osmolovsky 8 Borwinnik 75, 76, 102, Bouditiveno 22 Bronstein 109 Bukhman 13 Capablanca 50 CChekhover 18, 99,82, 84 CChigorin 38 CChatinovakikh 58 Colle 24,101 Crom Gretkovic 23 Engels 40 Estrin 96 awe 34,44 Evans 80 Fischer 43,63, 108 Flohr 46, 83,97 Fridtein'31, 99 Fuchs 101 Ferman 33 Fuster 96 Gauttin 29 Geller 81 Georgadze 25 Gilbert 20 ric 63 Gogol 67 Goldberg 98 Greco 85 Haiabedian 65 Hoch 34 Hofman 59 Horberg 47 Isakow 32 Wanoy 59 Janowski 38 Kaminer 43 Kan 37, 46 Karpov'24. 64 Kasper 51 Keres 39 2 Kivatshin 39 Konstatinoposky 37 Kopayev 74 Korchmae 68 Kotor 100, 108 Krogus 29 Kubbel 25 Kunde 25 Kupper 48 Kurpun 30, Larsen 49,77 Vasher Em. 33, 48 79.93 Legal de Kesmeour 20 Levenfish 26,51 tie #3 yubensky 49 Maciewski 27 ‘Magogonov 19 Manov 65 Marco 21 Marosey 35,40 Marshall 108 Matanovie 47 12 (Chess Middtegames: Essential Knowledge Matulovie 25 Mees 33 Menchle 75 Miles 59 Nedobora 60 Nikitin 32 Nimzowitseh 22 N26 NNovoltenov 76 Oafeson 48 Onmos 65 Osoukhov 60 Pare 74 Perelman 86 Petrosian, A. 59 Prosi. T. 104,106 108 Pillsbury 24 Polugayeysky 78 Polyak 68 Rabinovich 49 Radulow 73 Ragozia 109 Ravinsky 108 Reshevsky 44, 80 Richter 51 Romanovsky 66 Rotlew! 90 Rovner 76 Rubinstein 90,107 Rudolph 85 Ryumin $1, 80 Sackmann 30 StBrie 20 Salve 107 Sanvarov 107 Schmid 59 Sederborg 73, Shocron 3 Simagin 36,97 Simkhovich 82 Sliwa 39 Smal 29, 33,79 Solovyey 75 Soultanbiey 24 Spassky 77, 104, 108 nite 88 Stepanov 76 Stolyar 52 zepanck 49 Taimanov 29,81 Tal 96 ‘Tarjan 246 ‘Tamowski 60 ‘Thomas 34 Tiechler 32 Tosh 49 Torte, E. 23 Torte, K. 33,91, Unimann 28, 59 Unsicker 106 Varshavsky 67 Vasyukoy 79 Verlinsky. 43,80 von Popiet 2i Welimander 78 Wheater 74 white 30 Yates 67 Yodovich 39 Yorev 32 Zagoryansky 36,102 Zhuravev 58 Zita 29,94 ‘Zakerort 87 Zurakhov 83

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