1. hobbies and interests
2. games
3. chess

LIBRARY
T H E C L U BP L A Y E R ' S
Trainlikea Grandmaster
ALEXANDER
KOTOV
Translatedby BernardCafferty
B.T. Batsford Ltd, London
Firstpubtished
1981
Reprinted
1984,1986,1990
Kotov,1981
@ Alexander
ISBN0 713436093 (limp)
Typesetby
W.Turner
& SonLimited,
Halifax
andPrintedin GreatBritainby
Billing
& SonsLtd,Worcester
forthepublishers
B. T. Batsford
Limited
4 Fitzhardinge
Street,LondonW1H OAH
A BATSFORD
CHESSBOOK
Adviser:GM
R.D.KeeneOBE
TechnicalEditor:lan Kingston
Contents
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
SymbolsandAcknowledgements
Preface
A littlehistory
Howthe Openingis Studied
Objectivity
in the Ending
Competitive
or Creative
Element?
Studyingthe MiddleGame
Annotating
Games
A Philosophy
of Chess
Schoolsof Chess
Botvinnik's
ChessSchool
Kart'sChessSchool
Karseladze's
ChessSchool
Withouta School
6
7
9
1' ]
24
za
41
63
68
70
84
102
112
117
_=!l-F'-F_
Symbols
Preface
+
'What a strangestateof aifairsyou have in chessnowadays;
a friendof mine.Hedoesnot knowthefinerpointsof the
remarked
Defence,but he takes note of all the resultsof
Indian
Kings
and matches.
tournaments
'Whatdo you havein mind?'
'AlmosteveryVearthereare reportsaboutthe emergence
oTa
the
Yugoslavia,
Britain,
In
Moscow,
talent.
chess
outstanding
new
USAl
'lt'sthe naturalprogression
of the generationsl
'Progression!
Matchesfor overa decade
in
the
Candidates'
Yet
have
almostalwaysbeenthe
world
title
for
the
challengers
theeig6t'old
selfsame men"
'WhataboutKarpov?'
'Karpovhasbeenchampion
Wherearethe
for fiveyearsalready.
series
of 1965
Candidates'
to
the
young
Compared
talents?
other
in the 1980 serieshasgoneup
of the challengers
the averageage
youngerthanthirty,yet
by almosttwo years.Thereis no challenger
andsomeof
fifty-one,
is
already
o; theotherhandTigranPetrosian
'
.
.
half
century.
getting
to
their
close
the othersare
'lt sometimes
thatway
haPPens
'sometimeslThenagain YefimGellerat the age of fifty-four
outplaysall the youngmenand takesthe goldmedalin the 1979
- anotherexample
to youthi
SovietChamoionship
thistopic.and laterI reflecteda greatdealtryingto
We discussed
of many
whichtroublesthe chessorganisations
answera question
countries.Aecentlyin Moscowtherewasa gatheringof experienced
grandmastersand young talentedplayers.There were notes of
alarm soundedin the speechesof famouschessexpertssucfi as
Taimanovand-othersEven
grandmasters
Smyslov,Polugayevsky,
We
in an articleby Petrosian
claimswereexpressed
5arlier,
serious
we
can
here
but
later,
thoughts
his interesting
shallget to know
lor me
givea resum6:'lt is easyto playagainstthe youngplayers;
theyarean openbooki
What are the reasonsfor the slowingdown in the development
tl
;
??
B
Check
Goodmove
Very strongmove
Doubtfulmove
Blunder
Whiteto move
Blackto move
Acknowledgements
NOTE:Some minor corrections were made to the text at editonat
sf€ge- R.G.W.
-.-....-tr-
I
Preface
of younggrandmasters
both in our countryand in others?The
authorcameto the conclusion
that an answercan onlv be oiven
aftera carefulanalysis
of the presentstateof chesstheory.Ho-wdo
we play?Whatis the foundation
of modernchess?
What plavsthe
leading
rolein our creative
efforts?Whatarethe chiefprinciples
of
modernchesstheory?
My latefriendand trainer,grandmaster
Simagin,usedto stress
the needto discussthe philosophy
of presentdav chess,how for
example
\^€ regardthe advantage
of Whjtemovingfirst,whatare
the mainguidelinesfor our research
work.
Theauthorhasto overcome
somediffidence
in tacklinothismost
difficulttopic,in tryingto filla gap left by theoreticians:
I console
myselfwith the thoughtthatthe traveller
who penetrates
the thick
forestmayhavea sadfate,but no worsethanthat of the irresolute
who hesitate
at thefirstclearing
In examining
thecurrentstateof chessthe authorhasno choice
but to copewith anothertask- to talkaboutmodernmethodsof
chesscoaching,and naturallyof the modernSovietSchoolof
Chess.
lt canhardlybedeniedthatmodernchessisto a considerable
extentSovietchess.By a carefulexamination
of chesscoachinqin
the USSRthe Westernplayercan learna lot,and useit in hisoiwn
attemptsto improve.For examplehow usefulit is to become
famlliar
with the organisation
and teachingmethodsof Botvinnik's
famousschool,the SovietTV schoolandothers.
Thuswe getthe mainaimof thisbook:
To describethe featuresof the modernattitudeto chess,as
largelyworked out by the Soviet School,to try and revealtne
philosophy
of modernchess,andto indicate
howchessisstudiedrn
the strongest
of the Schoolsof Chess- the SovietSchool.
ln the lightof thistheauthorhasdividedthe bookintotwo basrc
parts:
1 How chess theory is studied.
2 Chess schools in the Soviet Union.
1
A littlehistory
who devotetheirtimeto the greatandancientgame
Chessplayers
The firstsimplyplayin
can be dividedinto two basiccategories.
to theirstrength.The secondtry to find
appropnate
tournaments
sensein chess,to createchesstheory,whichin
somephilosophical
The first becomeworld
our dayshasbecomea genuinescience.
the winnersof top tourchampionsand leadinggrandmasters,
Thesecondwritebookson thetheoryof thethreestages
naments.
and
f igurescombinebothactivities
leadirig
of the game.Sometimes
personin the worldof chess.
thenwe getan outstanding
by
of chesstheorywerediscovered
Thefirst guidingprinciples
the inventorsof openingsand gambits.Amongsttheseprinciples
is the simplestone: bring out your pieces
the best established
quickly,seizefie centreand go for the enemyking with all your
forces.Such 'blitzkrieg'aimsare servedby the EvansGambit,the
the
DanishGambit,the KingsGambitand others.Evennowadays
area cornerseizureof the centreand speedypiecedevelopment
stoneof modernstrategy.
postulate
to yetanotherimportant
And16Philidor
drewattention
'Thepawnisthe soulof chess'he stated,andeverybody
concurred
centrepawn
in devotingcarefulstudyto pawnchains,the isolated
pawns.
of a groupof
andtheweakness
A significantevent in the developmentof theory was the
teachingof WilhelmSteinitzwith his stresson avoidingweak
and
of temporary.slightadvantages
squares,the accumulation
into permanentones. With the arrivalof
their transformation
theorybecamea realforce;hewasthe onewho originated
Steinitz
to chesswhichis now so welldeveloped.
aooroach
the scientrfic
The proponentsof Steinitz'stheory - Tarraschand his
teachingin the form of
supporters- tried to expressSteinitz's
theywenttoo far.
in suchcases,
laconicrules,andasoftenhappens
and
chess
beganto lose
dogmatic,
The laconictendedto become
andcharm.
itsfreshness,
originality
Theyoungof that timeroseup againstthis.In the earlypartof
and R6tiin theirpolemicbooksand
the 20th centuryNimzowitsch
10
A little history
articlesand Alekhinein his practicalplaystartedpropagandising
moreand morethe creativeprinciples
to be foundevenearlierin
the gamesof Chigorin.
Theirmainpostulates
were:Getawayfrom
dogma,playinventively,
evenoriginally,
andas Blackdo not go for
equality,
astheTarrasch
schooltaught,but fromthefirstmovestry
to createyourown planof counterplay.Theseaims,an immediate
counterattackby pieceson a seemingly
pawncentre,
impregnable
were servedby the inventionof their openings- the Alekhine
Defence,
the Gr0nfeldDefence,
the Nimzowitsch
Defenceand so
on.
Morethan halfa centuryhasgoneby sincethe appearance
of
R6ti'sModern ldeas in Chessand Nimzowitsch'sMy Systemin
whichthe principles
of theseinnovators
are laiddown (theycalled
themselves
the hypermoderns).
Sincethenchesshasgrownintoa
massively-popular
artandthenumberof chessbooksandmagazines
in the variouslanguages
of the worldcannotbe counted.Yetyou
will look in vain on the bookshelves
for a work devotedto qeneral
questionsof chessdevelopment.
for an accountof thd main
postulatesof modern chessthought. The bookshelves
are piled
high insteadwith bookson the openings,
tournamentbooksand
biographies
of the greatplayers.
In thisbookwe try to dealwith a numberof importantpointsof
modern chesstheory. What is chessnowadays?How is theory
studiedby a leading
school?
Howaremodernviewson thisancient
gameformed?The readerwill alsolearnhow a generaltheoryof
chessdevelopsand how the theoryof the threestagesof the game
is studiedin the SovietUnion.
2
H o w t h e O p e n i n gi s S t u d i e d
playthe first stageof the game?
How do presentday grandmasters
What principlesdo they follow?lf we can answerthesequestlons
allmoderntheory.
in understanding
we shallmakerealprogress
moveChessexpertswho
first
of
the
all
the
advantage
Firstof
are
seemto allegethatWhitehasno advanbgein theinitialposition
sportsthe startingsidenearlyalwavs
wrong.Evenin quick-moving
the rightto
evenif veryslight- for example
hass6meadvantage,
lt
ls always
In
chess
hockey.
in
off
to
bully
serveat tennis,or
preferable
to be White.The questionthen ariseswhat sort.of
the
strategicplanBlackshouldchoosein an attemptto neutrallse
right
"lt to movefirst and to seizethe initiative.
standsto reasonthatthe methodsof playfor Whiteand Black
in the initialoositionare different,so we shallconsiderthem
separately.
White
in the mlnd
Threemaincurrentsof thoughtmaybe distinguished
playingWhitein a tournament-.game:
of a moderngrandmaster
ol lrrstmove
of theadvantage
1)Themethodof quietmaintenance
strike.
swift
2) The methodof the 'coiled
spring:
3) Themethodof the
doesnothaveto winat allcostshe
1) In caseswhena grandmaster
tendsto avoidsharalinesin the openingandsticksio clearsensible
lines.Thismethodis alsoadoptedwhenthe opponentis a definite
to'keep him in
protagonist
of sharpplayand it is advantageous
check:
of quletplayareobvious- pawnexcnanges'
Thecharacteristics
White'saimis simple- the
the formationof rigidpawnstructures.
of th-oseadmittedlysllghtbenefitsconferredby the
maintenance
natureof chessin beingWhite.lam not aimingfor too much,but
what I haveI hold is White'smotto as t were
of the
of suchplaywith Whiteare manyformations
Examples
(Diagram
1), the
Declined
Gambit
Oueen's
of
ihe
variation
Carlsbad
12
White 13
How the Openingis Studied
SlavDefence,
the Caro-Kann
andso on.
"'/z.xg,E
t2 ',.&
2t"'../1,
'.:L2.,
7i/Z
''&.
t "ilat&
t
2) A sharpcomparisonis providedby the methodof the swift
strike,of brisk'cavalry
raidslThismethodtoo waswidelvadopted
in the old days,and keepsits placenowadays.
Who will express
surprisenowadays
at the sharppawnadvanceg2-94-g5and even
on to 96?lt occursin the SicilianDefence1 e4 c5 2 lf3 d6 3 d4
cd 4 axd4lf6
5 lc3 e6 6 s4!?
i"/&
tui ,
',:1.:aa.
2
2 2
7t
//al
?) Jl
,)."<(
2)
A A
play by White in a Kingslrldianopenlrlg.
3
It is peaceful
peaceful
in the centre,comparatjvely
on the flanks.
Thesmoothness
of the pawnchains,the limitedavailabiliw
of open
lines.theabsence
of a directclashis evident:
Sucha methodof playcomesfrom the previouscentury,and
onemightmakethemusical
comparison
thatsuchpositions
arenot
the shakeandthe twist,but ratherthe monotonous
waltz,or even
the minuetof chess.
t7:.,
'1,11
pawnadvanceby Black
hereis apparentsiucejust otreincautious
great
force
andinflictdamageon
pieces
will
uncoilwith
White's
atrd
the erremy.
the gamesof recelttyears.Youwillfind apparentslow
Examine
z
Havewe not seensuchearlystrikesIn gamesby Botvinnik
in the
Carlsbad
variation
of the OGDand in the Caro-Kann?
Othertvpical
attemptsto breachthe defensive
ramparts
at an earlystagearethe
bishopsacrifice
and variousintuitivekniqht
AflXb5 in the Sicilian
sacrifices
in the sameopeningsuchas Ac3-d5 or {d4J5 (witha
blackpawnat e6).
3) Sometimes
grandmasters
willdecideto avoidthe deeplv-studied
booklinesby usinga methodthat remindsone of a coiledsprrng.
They makejust one pawn advanceto the centrefianchetto
the
bishopsand allowthe opponentto occupythe centre.The calm
"&t
%
^&a%i.,x
'"&t%
2
%"'.2'ut'//h
7 %t%6ru
t'&ft' /&a
sinceWhite'sbunchedpieces
Yet this slownessis deceptive,
often unrolland developarl activitythat can bringWhitearrearly
carefulwhen
win. Orrecanoulyadvisethe readerto be particularly
hisforcesalongthelirresof a coiledspring.'
hisopponentdevelops
Black
The advantageof the first moveby his opponentforcesBlackto
to the opening.Onedistrllguishes
adoptratherdifferentapproaches
in modernpraxisthreemethodsfor Black.
1) Playfor equality.
plarr'
2) Themethodof carryingout an irldeper]derlt
method.
3) Thecoiledspring
'1
) We have alreadynoted that ill the olden days White often
proceededquietlystrivirrgto maitrtainthe advantageof the move
just as calmlytryingto keep
Blackin thosedaysusedto matroeuvre
todaytoo at the highestlevel.
it level.Thisancientmethodis applied
sinceBlackdoesnot haveto go for a
Thisis easilyunderstandable
win in everygame,often beirrgsatisfiedwith a draw. lrl suchcases
manoeuwe( . '
simplifying
one hasthe OGOwitn Capablallca's
in
the
sameopenrtrg
Defence
or
Lasker's
d5Xc4 and
Af6-d5)
The same purposetends to be servedby the Oueensh.ldian
' Translators Nate ;
PetrosEnPachman,Bled 1961 is a partcularly
slnKrnaelar|ple I ff 3 c5 2 93 - c6 3 Jg2 96 a
O O-gq7 5d3e6 6e4 Aqe77 Ee I GO8e5d6 9ed
12-U1&bq
g r a 6 t o ) b o z { 9 c l ' 1 r r b 3 lrd 4 ?
t g , e 5 l o 3 l a l c 4 l g b 5 1 5d b a 5 6 A d 6
5ft17 t!43 &a7 lseedtaaam/ 18 He4 t18
s1'6+ r' gxt6-r9 '9
ae5- €)g5 20 Ag/ lorces
gt '{6+r g'f6 20 Aes+
;atc) 18
:ldg
gss 21As7 1o.
14
How the Openingis Studied
Black 15
'w &t
I
"'/l:z;
",iy.
"'//./lt
i
7t
t 7t"..&,ft&
i , 6 .././Z
7*
7 ta./:
fr"'////7
^&
% %i
%t % %
%,t<.t &,4
'/l:,,t
ru
+ /,&,"/l /.N.
+&
:,/.1,,q l t
%
Defencetoo.
lf our
reasons.
Suchopeninglinesarealsousedfor psychological
is
attacks
artd
is
supporter
of
combinational
opponent a confirmed
it paysto givehimthe
easilyinducedto go irrfor dubioussacrifices
to attackformations
so soundthat he will stubhistoe
opportunity
and will
againstthem.Sucha methodhasalwaysbeenadvisable
continueto be so.
by the
2) Thismethodwas first adoptedby Chigorin,developed
hypermoderns
and haslostits air of noveltyso widelyis it practiced
nowadays.Black simply pays no attentiollto the advantage
conferredby the moveand doesnot striveto equalise.
His objectiveis to carryout his own planof activeplayby his
piecesand force his opponentto adopt measuresto repulsethe
Thisin itselfshouldtakecareof the problem
threatsso generated.
Thepopularity
contemporary
of equalising.
of the methodamor'rgst
grandmasters
is explained
considerations:
Black
by psychological
gets out of beirrgunderconstraint,
acts independently
and can
partlyigrrorewhat his opponentis doing.Such independence
is
highlyvaluedin modernchess.
Moderrrtheory notestwo typesof independentplan.The first is
to counter-attack
White'spawncentreas in the GrunfeldDeferrce,
theAlekhineDeferrce.
the Nimzo-lrrdian
andso or'r.Thesecondisto
work indeoerrdentlv
orr the flankand is bestseenirrthe Siciliarr
Defence,
especially
whenBlackgoes. . . a6 arrd. . . b5,andin the
ModernBenorriDefencewherethe samemovesirrvolve
a pawn
sacrificeby Blackirr the BenkoGambitarrdthe Benoni.Such
features
areseenin Diagrams
5 and6.
3) lf the coiledspringmethodbringsbenefitto White then this
ratherequivocalmethodcan buildup poterrtial
energyfor Black
too. lt can be successful,
but the risksinvolvedhaveto be clearly
bonrein mind.
in the hopeof a subsequent
By goingin for volunbrypassiVty
Blackmay exceedthe boundsof the feasible
and
counter-stroke
with no remedyfor the cramp.One
firrishup irra crampedposition
/../,i,
t-I
shouldnote that this methodis most trequerrtly
adoptedby the
playersof the oldergerreratiorr.
Theyare experienced
arrdcareful
and do not go beyondthe line bety/eenvoluntaryand forced
passivity.
Alsothismethodis oftencausedbytheirlackof familiarity
with 'the very latestword in theoryl
Openings
of thissort arethe variousformsof the PircDefence,
arrdthe KingsIndianDeferrce
involving
the wing play . . a6,
c 6 , . . . E a b S a n d .. b 5 .
Thenexttwo diagrams
showtypicalsituations
whichthenarise.
zt
t7
7 tt<.
ffifr
t7#.
%iry q.xi7.4t
t%
%,
%^ru,2 /lz
fr%
vzt&
Letus moveon to openingquestions
fromanotherpointof view
and in particular
how openings
arestudiedin the SovietUnion.
players,
Thiswork involves
experienced
andthroughthenetwork
of magazines
bringsin theordinaryplayertoo in thesearchfor new
moves,new systems,new ideas.
The searchfor rrew moveshas alwaysbeengoingon, when
preparingfor games,at the board,in mutualar.lalysis
with the
opponentafterthe gamearrdirrsubsequerrt
analysis
at home.lt is
oftenthe casethat a movelongheldto be strongestis laterrelected
in favourof another.Thisis a process
thathasno errd,an irrevitable
processirrthe ongoingdevelopment
of chesstheory.
Theory.however,contair'ls
manyvariations
in whichthe initial
moveshavebeencheckedthroughso frequently
that it hasbeen
shown that deviationsat the earlierstagesare definitelynot
advar.rtageous.
As a resulttheywill be playedout with machinegun
-likespeedin grandmaster
games.For example
somevariations
of
-
16
How the Opning is Studied
the Chigorinsystemfor Blackin the Ruy Lopez,and of the ooen
systemof defence(5
AXe4) havebeerrworkedout almost
twentv movesdeeo.
Therearesimilarlonglinesin the 8 . . . gXb2 Poisoned
Pawn
lineof the Najdorfdefenceirrthe Sicilian
(seediagram14),and in
the Panov-Botvinnik
Atbck againsttheCaro-Kann.
Letus takeau example
of the development
of a longfoicingline
in the Siciliarr
Defence.
After1e4c52lf3d63d4cxd44lxd4
l f 6 5 N c 3 a 66
suggested
the move7 ... b5. The
AS5 e6 7 f4, Polugayevsky
ramifications
of the linehavebeenworkedout irrdepthand have
Iedto the adoptionof the namethe Polugayevsky
Variation.
In fact
thereis an immenseamountof literature
on the subjectcoveritrg
variousbooksand manymagazirre
articles
Themainline,of course,arisesfromtheenerqetic
g
corrtinuatlon
e5 de 9 fe arrdrrowtheflextble
courrter9 . 8c7
Variousattemptshavebeenmadeat the hiqhestlevelto refute
Black'srisky-looking
play. 10 lf3 was triedl when Btackoets
sat,sfactoryplay by 10 . . . b4. After that most attentionivas
devotedto Simagin's
move1O$e2 andfor a lor.lgtimeit washeto
thatthiswasWhite'sstrongest
colttinuatiot.r.
lr'rvariouseventsWhitetendedto scorequickwirrswrththisand
otherlitlesinvolving10 ef, but fromtimeto timethe supporters
of
the variationas Blackshowedthat the suggested
improvements
were not too formidablefor White.The processof r*assessment
carried.or't
with it remaining
ur.tclear
whatwasWhite,sbest.
r
ne
taresr
devetopments
came
in
1979.In the USSRSpartakiad
_
of that yearthe questionof first placewas decidedin the match
betweenthe Ukraineand the RSFSR.polugayevsky
adoptedhis
lrneexpectinghis opponentBelyavsky
to adopt 10 $e2, but
instead
the grandmaster
from Lvovcontirrued
1Oef *eS 1 I A e2
12 O-OEe5 and rrow13 Af3.
5tXgS
'Thismove
and the subsequent
planwas specially
prepared
for
., game
with
Polugayevsky'
writes
Belyavsky.
Theqame
lhe
-AfsSwenton
O-O17
13.. . .. i"9.1 14 €h1 E,xf6 1s )e4 E/e7 t6
?_)xtl! and Whttereafised
his positiorral
advantage
withouttoo
muchtrouble.
leter_thatyear Polugayevsky
ot]ceagainadoptedhis variation
againstGrL.infeld
in the Rigalnterzonal.
Hewasexpecting
€ newline
lrom nrsopponer'tt,
butgot in firstwith hisown inuovation
involvino
a remarkable
tacticalstrokefoundby the lvloscowgrandmaster
ii
the quietof hisstudy.
The game went 10 8e2 6fd7 1 1 O-GO4\c6 12 4t xc6
ts_x":919
E{g h6 14Ah4 Ab7 151f,e2s'c7 16 trhef)cs
17
€rh3 b4 18 Ab5!7
This movemeetswith a refutationof the sort that can be found
Black | 7
onlvaftermarryhoursof study Strikingplaynow follows:
18 . . . ab! 19 Axbs+ A-cG20 9f3
'rlztlft
t%
'r&
7
7:r..
7)87../lz'
2t
blow.21 cb Axbs withcheck
20 ... ab3+l! A phetromenal
preferred
to movehiskingwith
piece
Gr0rrfeld
up
so
Blac[a
leaves
21 &b1 6a5 22 Ed4 trc823 [ed1 9524$xc5+
thesequel
extrapiecesoonled
gxc6 25 gd3 Ae7 26 Qel O-OandBlack's
to a win.
r11
cotlceptbecomesappaTerlt
The grandeurof Polugayevsky's
the line;hich he pointedout straightawayafterthe game:2 1 ab
Ha1+ 22 €d2 g'd7+ 23 Se3 ScS+ 2a @14g5+ 25 €g3
elle losing.as th-e!e1*)r.can
I xat tl tne ontyhove,every'thing
gf6
8'n""itor"himseli26 Axco Ex;1 27 AxdT+ €i8 28
He3+ 29 &12 E xe5t3o €743[e3+ 3 1€f2 trea+ 32 €g3
Ad6+ 33 €h3 Er.ha T9]9-
/o
7/:A i 7/,;
',,:&
;/L;
A
7,2,,1
5
...&7//.::,"'/..ttt
.//,1
* 7r,/:,'
'',.1t
'./.N
t7/t
n
You mustconcedethat this is a fineexampleof the methodof
irrto
studyingan openingby mearrsof ever deeperpetletrationihis exampleshowsthe great practicalbeneiitof
forcino"lines.
or just beforea game Therearea
prepa;ngbeforea tournamerrt,
history
of a gamebeitrgwotrwithoutany
nrmb"t 6f casesitrchess
his oppoller]twlth a new move
amazed
play.
researcher
The
real
psychologically
sirrcethe
ai',a*oi with it. Thisis easilyurrderstood
well
known'
is
in the opening
ir]r'lovatiorr
effectof arrurrexpected
side
to the openinghasits negative
io*"u"r suchatrapproach
to
krlowrr
vour
lir'les
becomes
forcing
use
of
too. The frequertt
rll tnelT ttlrr'l
oDDoner]ts.Thev remember yoLl' favourite lilles alld
today may
ot
prepare convincing rejortrders.As a result the hunter
18
How the Openingis Studied
Black
wellbecomethe preyof tomorrow.arrdVoumavfallvictimto such
a lightning
strokeasyou havebeenaccustomed
to w ] bv.
So the playerwho goesin for forcingvarrations
hasto be botd
and confidentin himself,and mostof all mustconstantly
work at
theory.Therearesuchplayers
who havecontributed
manylinesto
the Ruy Lopez, the Slav Defence.the Tarrasch Defence,tne
Oueen'sGambitAccepted,the King'sIndianDefer]ce
and other
open[]gs.
As eachtourrrament
goesby theselinesbecomemorecomplicated,and likean oil drill borirrgeverdeeperinto the geological
stratachessthoughtpenetrates
ever deeperinto the unknowr].
Suchstudy,we r]ote,is |rot rrew.Onceagainwe havetakenit over
from greatfiguresof the past,o'tlytheiranalyses
dealtwith other
openings
suchasthe GiuocoPiarro
andthe Kinq'sGambit.
By analogywith the linesjustdescribed
there-are
manvstandard
positions
knownwhichdo rrotarisefromforcingvariations
but into
which the modernplayerwill regularlyentei without any real
thought.Examples
are the next two diagramsarisingfrom the
Nimzelndian
and King'slndianDefences.
11
&./z
^ /2i
%ix
7,,.rr& ,.2
2
ft#.
t "'.&
A ',.&
2
%t
ftl&t7
%. % t7 t
a2 /z
/&. 7,4&fr
waltHrg,
are takerras the startingpointby theoreticians
_ Thesepositions
for their further researches.
Thereare qiriiea numberof such
positions
(tabiyato usetheArabwordto describe
themjr.tat.lcient
chess-_'battle array').For example.one may quote various
positions
from the ChrgorinSystemin the Ruy Lopez(13),ot the
l-OlSOlledPawr] Variatior] in the Sicrlian/ /4/.
I J
'. -J!-..////./. .zE
,
'''/..,/.'
g /&t'Lt'..,
t;...,,.
.,:. ''L,'1A ./t".::
i.*
""/:/,
..&ft/r '/./,12
"." ,& z\7r.tfr
..ftft /:..2:
ft .fu.A.,:.,:
-
14
or the star]dardmain line position r the Caro-Kar'l')
(15). or the 4
t9
gc2 d5 variation
Deferrce
irrthe Nimzo-lndian
//6/.
15
t*h7zt/,L
7t7l,,t'fi,
'a/t
'/tt
77tz,
7.
'/fu,a7t
7z::t7.'
'/zl 71.2826''//,..
t',&.t'l& ,&ft'/t
"'/t:;l
ib\7../.2,?H
E,AAg. ....frt o
'&,t':e,
7:.2;.;
,t..,tt
7,2. ,'..,/.
t^
';l
7tia.&
t /1,2.,
7t"'.&ft':&,
'tlV
't;l:
"//,,, '
7
^t&Wz
2t
l!
afterotrlya
gameswill reachsuchpositions
Oftengrandmaster
players
for a long
play
will
down
settle
the
and
then
mirrules
few
thereis a jokemadeto the judgethat he should
think.Sometimes
otr the boardwithoutfurtheradoas the actual
set up the positiorr
point
of the game.
starting
lf we concedethat the threemethodsof playin the opelllllgwere
employedas earlyas the 19th centurythe methodof looking
with middlegameor
forwardfromthe openingto plansconnected
of the
an irrvention
even endgamestagesmust be considered
presenttime.
to tryingfor a
doesnot confinehimself
Themoderrrgrar.tdmaster
glancelooksforward
good build-upin the opening,his far-seeing
the layoutof
fntothe middlegameatrdeventheending.In plantring
o{ the
pieces
pawris
in
the
later
stages
his
actions
he
anticipates
and
oame.
mustbecollsidered
To lookrightto the endingfromtheoperrirrg
well klrownaphorlsm
There is Tarrasch's
a rare phenomenon.
'betweenopeningarrd endingthe gods have madethe middle
at sucharlearlystagemust
game:Yetthe envisaging
of the endirrg
to a new
ascends
surelybe a methodof thefuturewherltechrrique
more
becomes
arrdthe mindof a grandmaster
levelof achievement
quote
some
examples
We
can
already
developed
andfar reaching.
of thisforesightlookingtowardsthe elrding.
SanAntonio,1972andafterthe moves1 c4
ln Karpov-Browne,
c5 2 b3 Af6 3 Ab2 g6?
17
77,,,
t& .'xt
t7z
%
/& %2,a,l,
+ /,/lt 72,
7L::7:,,
7.:/
'/.ft.ft
20
How the Opening is Studied
Black
White unexpectedly
played4 AXf6 ef. How can one explainthe
excnangeot what is normallya strong bishop for a kniqht?
The
calculationis simpte: White gets totai control *";
Jb %;i; .""
use€ g-srde pawn superiorityin the ending.By accurate
:l?lt1".l
wortd champion managed to expioit these
l]:y_ T: 9oT'nS.
glt t../.&,
t&i
./t
.,fr
t & a7 f f i i ' . / t
tl 2 7/2 ?
2 ,:/,,
't 2 t
+ +
& a&,
xt'"'/t:'.'.
c','t"l'?:i[:3]'8?;l:%i3E::?;,o,'f.*K,g??Aji3
.,./;rL.Zt
sas 14 f,fdl EabsG
,/
I\A
Lz)
A,
aas sxuzTe n'x-d z-ano
l^9
Fd2
vvnrTewoft the endgame
wjthout too much trouble.
petrosian-Botvinnik
srgntftcar]t
game
is
from the 1963 world
.A
titlematch.After1 c4 96 2 d4
3 lc3 aS a-afg Hgi7'!"e3
-_Af6
;.".2 dc 7 [x {4 c5 8 d5 e6,WhitewentE a;gl jr +
9^o
9
1O€)Ydl Axe6 t 1 A xe6 fe.
18
t
A
r
"/./z
/lr:.t,8t
'//tttt"
7tfu"..rt7/
tf
a ra,
Petrosian,relates
c , o r e r that
u r d Lin
r r preparrng
nts p
posittorr
o s l t r o r .wjih
tlth his trainer
I J r e p a T l l grthts
'atmostw
,, 1"."-,",,
tney assessedthe diagrampositiorras
*If,. "b.^v
r.ishd"d;
*on, lrot
noi"in"
one
"6,.;;;irnuij
"X'il
l:ll9:*R:l
:"1,
lyl thesptittrrris
practrce
Whire
exptcted
ot Er"cii;;;;;;;i;"il;""
rslands.
On"
that if playingfor a. wirrg pawn superiority
-,
T.r.l. note
occurred
in the past- rn oartjcutirEm.Laskei;;; i" J;;;,g"
onc6 irrthe BuyLopezInorderto get an "*ti" p.*n
Eilsiae
- yet ptayingfor rne opponer.rt i,'lir.r"
to have,jstands,
rs
Il^lT.:']_d]iq
creaflya productof our davs.
the,opening
with the middlegamein mindis a powerful
_-Playing
weapon
in the hands of modern giandmasters.
Tne ieading
repres€ntatives
of the scientific
planniigstyle,.r"i "rr, Loi)ii,.rr
and Karpov,have demonstrated
impr:essive
u"urpf". ?".ran
strategy.
|I ""lu oJten,both as Whiteand Btack.usedthe
,^-?_o^Y1ll
oawrr
Tormatror't
seerrirrhisgamewith Lisitsin
in the Vosco* l,ltenia[i,,raf
tounramer'rt
oI 1935.-(/ 9)
manouevres
clearlyplanneol.t advancehe exploited
- ,With
this
the
stratesy
wasrepeated
in
tnu
.are
JuJniJr
ir.l"
:9y.:ill1g";Jh9f
null y"gf rhlstimeas Whrieagairsittl;ent"a rbo)
l U - r t h e b o a r d rround
, r d tt6e
pawn
he o
a w n lto.ry.tat,or.r
o r m a t r a r r,is
, rder,:rcat.
Here
?oard o u r r d aard
tooIuoll !h-e_
Botv I t rk won elegar]ly.
JI
Hr;.:
.4t
most often arisil'lgfrom the
Sincethat time the key positrorl,
by Sovietplayers,
has beenstudiediniensively
EnglishOperring,
advice,who alsosoughtthe bestmethodof
followingBotvinnik's
playagainstthe pawn'cliff'in the cerltre.The bestmethodis to
of the pawns- theoneat e4 (eb).
the mostformidable
undermine
KotovFurman,USSRCh 1948went 1 c4 6)t6 2 Nc.3 c5 3 93
d5 4 cd AxdS 5 Ag2 4lba 6 Af3 6c6 7 O-Oe5 8 d3 Se7 9
Ad2 hd4 10 Ac4 f6
21
.tt
N
+ '/l/zd& ,/t&lL
.4i
+J&
i 2 "t'./r.t,r.&.
t ' ",.//,/,r.
t
7 .,.i
"'t/'/t'
^ '"'/:a..,
:AAx
,\A
7r/,,,'
7:2,,
.,.,&
,.fu '"'/:.,t',
n
'/,/r.'tTI
thecentre.After11 . . ef 12 gf 0-0
arrdrrowl 1 f4! underminirrg
13 a3 Aec6 14 e3 Adfs 15 Ads+ Whitehadfullcontrolof the
cer'rtre.
game
of the openirrg/middle
Onecanfind matrysuchexamples
games,and the sameappliesto KarpovThusin
linkin Botvinnik's
easyvictoriesby
the RuvLooezhe hasoftenscoredcomparatively
orrbothflanksandinthe
theoppolrent
thesameplanof suffocating
cer'rtre.
how
lam often askedorr my travelsto differentcour'ltrles
operrings
arestudiedin the SovietUtrionatrdwhetherit is truethat
Then
researchor.lopenir.lgs
compuiersare usedin systematising
files
on
question,
matry
card-index
posed
how
the
againlam often
in
the
USSR.
there
are
operrirrgs
on which these
lcan say straightaway that the irrformation
questior'rs
are based is exaggerated.We do not yet have,
Thereis a cardirrdexir'lthe
computers.
anyopenit'tg
unfortur]ately,
to my mind,is clearly
its
scope,
in
Moscow,
but
CentralChessClub
inadequate.
-
22
How the Openingis Studied
The study_of openingsin the USSB is mainlyan indjviduar
undenakrng.
We publish
various
monographs
olr individual
openrngs
'reservoir
and maltymagazine
yet them-airr
artjcles,
ot innovations.
rs strlll(eptsecret- jn [-e homesof the leadjnqqrandmasters.
Theseinnovations
are discovered
in therrhomei"i"ir.f, .nJ "t
trajningget-togethers.
Sometimes
they are the discoveiyof one
man,sometimes
of a orouo.
helpi"s given by the hundredsof thousandsof
. Corrstderable
chesstanswho sendthetrideasto a chessmagazine
or stratqht
to a
grandmaster.
Sometimes
thesediscovenes
a"reremartaUiS.
ifrrs
for a.longtimethe knightsacrifice
madeUVAfetfrinein nriieturn
matchwtth Euwe,1937,wasconsidered
to be correct:_
-1 d4 ds
2 c4 c6 3 lc3 dc 4 e4 e5 S Axc4 ed S at3.
22
In:].1*
by
llul
9.
:tz
%i'&
Zt7.z, %
% % . %
72A1&
t%
',*?
2_1
',..,&, %a:'./z
% ,&ft
untit-the
amateuiIrGoiihSi6vldt hs anatysis
showing
dc7 AyrT+ €e7 8 gb3 cblreb"kt.i,il i"i;iE
AteKntnes ldea.
Suchexamples
couldbe multiplied
andtheyshowthat research
in the USSBrs conductedby a whotearrv oi-*Lir_quarltiJj1r,,..
yer rne marnresearchers
must be considered
the leadinqqrand_
ma_sters,
who canbe classitied
intovariousgroups.
Firstof all
,
.onemust pointto the greatiheoiistswho knewor
Know
everythtng(or more accuratelynearlyeverything)that
appearedin openingarticlesin all the world,schess'magizi;es,
followedup everyinnovrtionin gamestneytaw, *J""l"ri"oi,
.'ii iio
an rmmense
amountof privatestudyon theirown or with a few
closefriends.
_ ThesetheoristswereVsevolodRauzer,lsaakBojeslavsky.
Semvon
FurmanandVtadimir
Simagin.
No,,mdays
our rea-d;idiilr[il;;ih"
openingis YefimGeller.All-theseprayersvreredeepthankers
'"irjiii-""'
whose
significance
is a product of their greai irre"i
,]"r0
knowledge.
Thentherearethoseplayerswho havecontributed
to proqress
, reTatntng
oy
Inthetrmemoryeverything
valuable
that hasaooeireo
so raT,tnpnntor rnactualgames.As examples
of these,comouter
mrnos we may quoteyevgenyVasyukov.yuri Balashov,
bavid
Bronstein,
MarkTaimanov
a-ndieveratot tne youn! ge,,eiiii;:'
Black
23
How many
and mastersstudyopenings?
How do grandmasters
doesoneneedto know?Thisremindsmeof
^.ot inot an-dsvstems
oi my student days when the same questionwas
irio.ais"outes
is the
conclusion
studies.The final
ooieAiUout our professiotral
'You haveto know
of
old
wisdom
the
from
Ine oorro*eo
lApplied
anda littleabouteverything
aboutsomething,
Jverything
about
you
everything
to
know
have
io tness t-nisaOvicemeansihat
know
and
also
regularlv,
going
to
use
you
which
are
if'Jopenings
in
mtnd
has
to
bear
One
qbnetriioeat
t6e
openings
all
behrnd
ii.i"
you
cannot
things,
and
with
strange
some
up
come
can
inat"praxis
comeup agalnstan openlng
that you will not suddenly
ouarantee
not
studied.
and
ihat you havergnored
'Everygreatmaster
haswritten
luthority Botvinnik
Thatleading
which
will find it usefulto havehis own theoryon the openings,
plans
with
linked
is
only he himselfknows,a theorywhich closely
game:
for the middle
--tF-'AlmostCertain Wins'
25
in rook
2) Four pawnsagainstthree orl one sideoi the board
endings.
bishop
with krrrghtagairrst
Sl n |.;ng"of positrons
3
O b j e c t i v i t yi n t h e E n d i n g
The concludingpart of the gameis the moststableof the three
stages.rhemarnmethodsof playln theendgame
varylitflewiththe
passage
of time,so the grandmasters
use the methods,on the
whote,ot the past,andthe samewillapplyIn the future.
What doeschangewith time is the technicalarmamentof an
irrdividual,
hisknowtedge
of thewaysto achieve
victoryin a varjety
of elemerrtary
endrngs
andplansfor exploitjng
ad\€ntagetn typical
complicated
ones.We drawattention
to theaahievemerits
of Soviet
researchers
in thisfieldwhileincluding
the work doneby Western
analysts.
'Computer
Endgames'
Thisheading
compris€s
thoseendings
wherethemeansof forcrng
'to
a win or achieving
a drawhavebeenestablished
theveryend'so
thattheycouldbe put,if required,
intoa computerprogramme.
lt is
noteworthythat jn somecasescomputershaveactuall-y
beenused
in determining
the outcomeof certainendings,for examplethe
endingqueenandNPagainst
queen.
Here
is
the
list:
'l
) Two kniqhtsaqainstoawn.
2) Bishopand RP-aoa'nst
pa*n
'conjugate
3) P€wnendingsrnvolvrng
squares:
4, uueenandpawnaqatnslqueen.
5) Rookandpawnaqainstrook.
6) Bishop
andpawnlgainstbishop.
7) Knightandpawnagarnst
kn,ghi.
u) Hookano otshopagatnstrook
Of coursethe numberof such computerendingswill keep
increasing
astimegoeson.
Almost Certain Wins'
Theoreticalanalyseshave established
pretty accuratelythe
(win,sometimes
out_come
draw)in thesepositions:
1)RP+BPwithonerookeach.
engames
and syslernatising.
A qreatdealol work rn analysing
Soviet
by
books
set
of
volume
*rr Suiii"Oout in the multiple
on
carTled
being
This
is
of
Averbakh
wiitersunde,the editorship
contribution
the
significant
to
particular
attention
draw
*unt
to
,nJJ
made
endgames
of opposite-coloured
i; t'h; understanding
;;"
games'
remarkable
his
bv worldchampionKarpovin
"'One
in the research
of tf,e mainfeatureso{ endgamequestions
ls not an
endgame
proof
the
that
the
players
is
oi Soviet
gameand
mrddle
the
inO"p""J""i iiage out is drrectlvlinkedwith
poirltin
some
at
grand'naster
""i,i*im in" "d"ning.The modern
vlcrorv
way
to
qulckest
the
that
establishes
the earlierstagesoften
is
a
curious
Here
go
ending
for
the
to
so
as
ot
eicf'anges
is i ierres
'1979SovietSpartakiad
example
' from the
CentreCounter
Karpov-Lutikov,
grd6
g,ias
4 d4 A16 5 !f3 96-Ae3
3
Aca
1 e4 d5 2 ea
aio z eaZ AsZ 8 As5;5 e d5 Ab4 10 13Ar5 11 lge4
120-o-o
*d7
=
the basisof
eb.k n1i obviouslvplayedthe openingignoring
important'
but,,more,
in developmerrt
theoiy.not iustfalling'b;hind
is the
there
Now
system
wrthout
badly,
forcis
his
hui tjio oui
operl
become
simplethreat13 a3 and Blackhasto letthe centre
side
the betterdeveloped
whichalwaystavoLlrs
i - C . . . - t - s r g d c E x d 2 - 1 4 A t d 2 ' ! > e 4'11 5 .'jxx e 4
66
N > e4 6 fe
:\ x c6 lt worrldbe evenworseto play 15
carlrlot
klng
pressure
whlleBlack's
fi o Lal and f7 comesL,rlder
qo f,*av irom the cerltreTherewouldalsobe anotl"er'srmpler'
move 16
i"u" oi tLtrt,'to 15 . . a,re4, namelythe intermediate
"ormation'
collapse
would
cb when Black;s
16 Axf6+ sf 17 -Sd3!
23
,r.,./.,/.4
t t r;./.'.,.
,
lll':.t^
,l
A',,';,
t../:.'/;,
'L //:::t:.,.
.7"....
'1"/.t:,
'/t;:: 'l':..'
frt'22..,.
',../,,t'""e.
t
'/:zal&
z:t:z;
+ + lA H
'r'rlt
in.thecentre
ot-lnepost,onf ne whltesquares
A fineresolution
itseligfjl:Tir',.g iia" aiewejkanda bi'nopestablishes
una'on
demands
and
The static black Pawn massin the cerltreis useless
26
Objectivityin the Ending
constantdefence.Karpovmakesthe simpleaccurateolan of
simplifying
theposition
furtherintoan endjngwheretheweaknesses
oecomemoreaooarent.
17 . . . O-O.O
18 trhdl gc7 19 c3 h5 20 AfSt
Threatening
rookto the seventh.Blackhaslo concedea fresh
- the retreatof his knightto the very edgeof the
disadvantage
board.
20 . . . Hxd221 E xd2 Ab8 22 h4 Ah6 23 Axh6 tr xh6
24
t'Pff "'/Zz.'t"'/'
% % '&.4%t
" & " ' H
ry
ry%%"/.&
& %^%
& 'H, "/zft
Summingup the resultsachievedby White in strivingfor rne
endingfrommove13 onwardswe noteBlack,s
fixedpawi massin
the centreandWhite'sg-sidemajoritywhichhe isaboutto exploit.
MeanwhileBlack'spiecesare badlyplacedand Karpovforcesa
win.
ouack
24-a4
flh8 25 b4 bG 26 bb trg8 27 @c2 abS 28 ab5 fie8
_
29 c4 1-O.
Transpositionto the middlegamefrom the opening
AS Kan remarkedIn his book From the Openingto the Middte
Gamea playernormallystrivesto create niiaOte'gamepositions
which suit his personaltastesand style,but sincethe opponent
fights.
againstthrsit is not alwayspossible
to getone,sway andir ts
usetutto havereseTve
objectives
if the opponentavoidswhat one
hasin mindor considers
themainline.
to playthetransitional
phaseis highlyrated
, Thatiswhy theabilrty
by specialists.
Botvinnikcommented
on hisopponentin the 1951
worldtitlematchthatin thetransition
fromopeningto middlegame
Bronstein
hadno equal.
sightwhena playerstartsto presson the $-srde
. It is a hopeless
In tne mtddlegamewherthrswholeconductol the openinqhas
beendtrected
towardsburldirrg
up hisforceson theopposire
sideot
the board.Thissoundsexaggerated.
butit givesan ideaof whatthe
player's
taskis at the momentof transition.
ln the middlegamehe
mustfollowup and builduponthosefeatures
whichhave"evolved
In the opening,he must be absolutely
consistent
and accuratein
usinghis plusses
and denyinghis opponentthe chanceto exploit
nrsmtnuses.
Transpositionto the middtegame from the opening
27
Theanswermust-again
How doesone studysuchconsistency?
of one's
good
andanalysis
notes
games
with
of
examination
bethe
own
oamesfromthisPointof view.
the stage
No-wthe timehascometo dealwith the middlegame,
place
The
takes
part
the
struggle
of
important
wnen the most
a
will
Include
This
of
chess
the
theory
is
middlegame
the
of
theorv
USSR'
in
the
that hasbeencarriedout
i"iiript'o'i of the re5earch
from a correct
Firsthoweverwe haveto mentloncertaindeviations
players
certaln
by
made
mistakes
the
of
o{ chess,
understanding
these
indicated
Having
general
approach.
in
their
retiss
*ho ar"
to
will
lead
path
which
errors rt will be easierto-depictthe correct
of
chess'
the
art
progressand a freshfloweringof
7
Competitive or Creative Element?
29
David Bronstetnwrites that he has to state that the sporting
of everythingelse
-F\€rv in modern chessis choklngthe li{eout
-a.i,eni
papers
dav I qo down to the grol,nd floor and collectthe
l-find
when
day
letter
""i 'i-r"q"ii;'l"Jtrommy mail b6x lt is a red
'64'
4
Competitive
o r C r e a t i v eE l e m e n t?
We startwith a quotation
from petrosian.
I admitthat I choosehrm
particularly
because
this calmand solidplayercannotpossiblybe
regarded
asa playerof thesharply-combinative,
Tal-like,
sort.As he
once commentedof the criticswho examinedhis sportinoand
creative
achievements
They knockme for my draws.tbr my"styte,
theyknockme for everything
I do:
Well
player
then
this
who
was
woridchampion
for sixyearswho
.
hasnot lost his hopesof winningbackthe tiflewrote i; 1g7g as
follows:
tendencyin modernchessis the predominance
of
. A noticeable
the sportingelementoverthe creative.
Thefactthat nowadays
the
resultts more imporiantthan the contentis our misfortune,
a
misfortunewhich the indiscriminating
publicapplauds.I cannot
thinkthata playergenuinely
lo\argthe gamecan get pleasure
just
Tromme numberot porntsscoredno matterhow impressive
the
total.I wili not speakof myself,but for the mastersof the older
generation,
from whosegameswe learned,
the aesthetic
sidewas
the mostimportant.
Theytoo wantedto win, but they didn,tiust
thilrkabouthow to win a game.bur how to win it worthity.
.. When I startedmy careerthereweTefar fewer chessplayers
thannowadays.Nobodywent jnto chessfor the sakeof woilory
benefits.
Nowadays
chesshasbecomea popularactivity,
whichhas
led not onlyto a devaluation
of tjfles,but alsoto a proiessionalism
of no greatqualrty.
Chessis goingthrougha difficultperiod.Onthe
onenar]dtt hasreached
a hrghlevel,on theotherit hasgivennseto
a coldpragmatism.
Peoplehaveto learnto distingursh
r6alart from
a s!bstitutefor it, Todisringuish
creativitV
trom hack_work.
And it is notjustwordsyou
. t-rettystrongwordsfrom Petrosian!
hear,.dear.reader,
buta cry fromthe heartof a manwho hasgiven
hrswholelifeto theart.
Youmightthinkthatthiswastheopinionof oneman,andthat
othersdon'tagree.Yetthe factis thatsuchcallsto rid ourselves
of
heartless
professionalism
can be heardfrom many authorrtatjve
grandmasters.
Letusquoteiustone.
or the rrewspaper I
ini" ir,Z:ut".aissueol a chessmagazrne
the
chessrtemsYordessertl
pers
leaw
pa
and
reialniorgh tne other
the
latestgamesin the
at
look
and
out
set
chess
i1"*'f o"i.v
orlceI
me
urilou.1n".r'tources Thosewhich interest especially
on
in
detail
through
worked
are
ni"" }e.4 through'themmentally
the
" chessboard
Y;f;hui. sadstateof affairsappliesnow ln recentyearsferver
and {ewer qamesreallycatch my attentionGamestrom even
in deepstrategvand logic'and rt is
Iirono iounir."nts arelackirrg
combrrratlor'ls
deeplVcalculated
find
to
a uer\, ,a.e occurrence
play
precedlng
the
aI
by
'orepared
to
atterrtiolr
in" o,uqruntirtihe chesi pressdraw the reader's
illustrations
are
impte tacticalstrokesandsometimes iust
mistat<ei,
of
- ratherboring
PlaY.
"irr
Tnlrr again an attempt to keep up ,the ,reader'sir'lterest
askingthe readerto tlnd
aor"ho*ih"r" *ill be a pageof dragrams
aTe
numberthe answeTs
next
wayto victoryln the
a combinational
our
in
early
time
played
some
game
was
i uu'l.lno,".tingthit the
evenir'lthe 1gth
sometimes
6enturv,
-At timesyoucanlookthrough
N&"r. tina booksandmagazines
of aiournamentandstillnotfindanything
*noie out". coitections
;"li ittractive,or realart Lookthrough'.forexample'
il;i;."r;;;id
bookChessis Chess
of recentyearsor Matanovi6's
-ii
lr|eInformators
the best of recent
as
games
regarded
of
a
iollection
*nilf,
w[n
comblnatrons
EventhereyouwillrarelycomeacToss
decades.
finale.
a sparkling
ts grvenby genuineworksof art, Who
Yet how muchpleasure
Dlows
bVthe serils-ofcomblnatlve
delighted
to
be
couldnot fail
Skople,1976
playedin Reshevsky-Vaganian.
25
/t^7./t &.t
h'',.//.tl&z:./..'.:
/.///ti7, ',/:/'2,,,
.,& tfu "",/,
:,'zl:tA7lD&
7,2,/,D"/./2t.&
Y
1 4 . . . e 5 ! 1 5 f x e s ,-,a> es-r o a > .s Ah4 + !! 17-32 h4
ol the open
BXf3 18 Ef1 g'b4+ fiith energeticexploitation
positionof the enemyking.
--
30
Competitiveor CreativeElement?
19 1[f4 $e7+ 2O1f,g5ge6l21 Afs E xfs andWhitesoon
gaveup the hopeless
struggle.
How muchpraisethe playerfrom Erevanheardfor this game,
possiblymuch more praisethan for winning an international
tournament
of average
strength.Yes,it is pleasant
to playthrough
sucha combination,
but how rarelyonecannowadays.
Thatiswhy
we arehearingmoreand morethe commentof expertsthatchess
nowadays
is losingits creativecontent,that few consistent
games
are beingplayed,that deeplycalculated
impressive
sacrifices
and
combinations
arerare.
As V.Baturinskywrote in Pravda just before the start of the
'Theparticipants
1979 Spartakiad
of the Spartakiad
will takenote
of the criticalcomments,
addressed
in particular
at someyounger
masters,aboutexcessive
pragmatism
which impoverishes
chess.
They will play gameswhich will give aestheticsatisfaction
to
connoisseurs
o{ the ancientgamel
An Attempt at Analysis
Before trying to determinethe reasonfor a certain creatrve
deterioration
in modernchesswe haveto formulatean accurate
definition
of chess.lt has long beenheldin the chessworld that
chessis a game,a science
and an art. Chesscontestscan be very
sharpandtheircompetitive
naturecannotbe denied.
In orderto provethe scientific
aspects
of chessit is sufficient
to
bear in mind how many bookson chesstheory are publisheo
throughoutthe world,how manymagazines
thereare in various
languages.
Art is inextricably
linkedwiththe production
of worksof
art whichremainin the memoryof mankindfor centurjes.
ls it not
'Evergreen
the casethat Anderssen's
Game'againstKiezeritsky
contrnues
to enthusethe modernchessfan?
One must be fair and admitthat the variousaspectsof chess
attractvaryingcontingents
of fans,both in quantityand quality.
Comparatively
few peoplego in for chessscience;
as an art chess
has more recognition.Yet it is the competiti\€side which attracts
peoplein their millions.lt is sufficientto rememberthe interesr
generated
throughoutthe world by the recentworldtiflematchin
Baguio,
evenamongstthosewho don'tevenknowwhatthe Kino,a
cahbit is.
So the three aspectsof chessdraw supportersin unequal
number,but doesit followfrom this that we haveto judgeihe
worth of eachaspecton numerical
criteriaalone?Obvi6usl-y
first
pnzewtnnersaTeknownto many,butonemustnot ignorethe fact
thatoutstanding
gamesenjoygreatpopularity
too.
lhustheremustbefew realfanswho cannotremember
a finish
such as that jn Botvinnik-Capablanca,
AVRO, 'j939. I trust the
readerwill notjudgeme a braggart,
but in variouscountries
of tne
An Attemptat AnalYsis
31
to me peoplehavesaid'Whatinteresting
worldon beingintroduced
againstAverbakh,queen
;2mesvou plaved:that queetlsacrifice
Or the game
Tournament.
irtes n3, check.rnthe 1953Candidates
19521
aoainstBarczaat Stockholm,
-"ihe
in chess,is highlyratedby fans'
artisticsideisveryrmportant
chessis an art, ald jts best
that
recognised
been
always
It has
lhus Rubrnstein
artists.Thus
describedas artlsts
have been
be-endescribed
practitioners
oractrtionershave
was
grandmaster
grand
this
this
arts
arts
and
and
finest of
as the fir]est
iescribed it as
described
Tartakower
contemporariesgreat
by
artist
a
considered
,was
'the-rebellious
artistiwhilewe alsohavethe words of
inristened
'l
chessan art,andacceptallthoseresponsibilities
Apmine consider
art placesuponits devotees:
which
'Alrioht.chessis ratedas an art, and as a scienceithe sceptic
miqht;etort'yetit'sthesportlngsidethatdrawsthecrowdslf I win
firsi prizein a tournamentI am f6ted,the paperswrite about.me
with praise,the ians greetme with applause-Sowhy shouldI go
andcomplisidewith riskycomplications
c.ealiue
chasinqafter'|'',e
with
the helpof
quiet
fashion,
calmly,
win
in
|
can
cateOiacritices?
'baretechnique':
and masters
And that is how we got a'tribe'of grandmasters
butevenrun
in
chess,
works
of
art
fine
for
strive
who notonlydon't
'Why go for unnecessary
logic'
Accuracy,
stress?
them down
-the
things which will bring successand
i".hniqu", those aie
g:
well-bein
andconsequently
recognition,
How This Arose
the 2fth centuryto the endof the
of'grandmaster'
irom aboutthe beginning
was never formally
Thirtiesthe iop chesstitle
awardedto anyone.'
lf some mastertook first prize in a tournamentwith the
participation
of the strongestplayersof the time the press,would
iutomaticallyadd grandriasterto his name.Alongwrth this the
best qamesof thi event would be noted, and the strategic
then,but on
o{ the play.Therewerefew grandmasters
sionifiiance
the holder
whether
ralsed
about
never
weTe
doubts
in-eotf'erhand
the idea
195O
onwards
about
it.
From
deserved
really
title
such
a
of
tournament
the
aroseof ratingand gradinglistsin orderto assess
performanceiof th-eworld's best plaversin numertcalfashton
Various methodsof calculationwere suggestedin dltterent
"oun1ii".,and suchdifferentsystemslargelystillholdswaytoday'
regularlycalcuElocoefficients
levelthe so-called
At international
Nowadays
norm
set
the
lui"J uy tr''" Americanprofessorbecame
,Translatar,s Note Thls seems tO gnorF the use of the trtle.b,V^thc ast-Tsar'
- LasKer'
t'l"i olu. tf. ot tne fLnaists of the St Petersburgtournamentof 1914
Alekhne, Ta.raschand MarshaI
Capablanca.
-I
-
32
Competitiveor CreativeElement?
all the world'sstrongestplayersare ratedin their order by Elo,
everybodyknowshis place,who ts aheadof him, who behind.
not
Naturally
everyone
strivesto moveup the ladderand certainly
to fallback.Topeventsaremadeup on theseratings- if you have
a highEloyouarein,if you don'tthenwaityourturn in the queuel
present-day
worldthe Elo
As in everyaspectof our complicated
ratingsystemhasits prosand cons.The prosare clear- some
order has beenbroughtinto being,and at any momentpeople
knowwheretheystand.Theplayersgetorientedfor a tournament
knowingin advancehow manypointsthey haveto maketo raise
what they
their rating,or in the eventof the absence
of success
needto keeoit at oar.
Yet,in our view,the drawbackto this'overall
spiritof arithmetic'
cancelsout all theseadvantages.
The people'waiting
theirturn in
the queue'try to improvetheir standingby the most practical
methods.
Thereis littleplaceherefor the beautyand nobilityof the
game.Getasmanypointsaspossible,
go up thelist,thatisthemain
concernof the majorityof modernplayersand the qualityot the
gamestakesecondplaceor is evenforgottencompletely.
pragmatism
Yetwho willcriticise
a grandmaster
for hisexcessive
sincehispointsscore,hisrating,determines
hisstandardof living,
his invibtionto the next tournamentdependson it, as do the
simultaneous
exhibition
engagements.
Nowadaysin the West thereare sometalentedgrandmasters
who wanderfromcountryto countryen routefromonetournament
to another.Theyplay'athalfthrottle'withoutgivingtheirall.lf they
do badlyin onetournament
theywillgo off to the nextone hoping
to do betterthere.Theyplayin SwissSystemeventsandallsortsof
weekendtournaments.
Thereis no time left for analysis
of their
games,sinceit is alreadytimeto be off to the nextevent.
As a resultthe top title of grandmaster
has beensignificantly
devalued.
OnceI introduced
to Max Euwea grandmaster
who had
heldthe titlefor overa decade.
'Who was that?'
askedthe then President
of FIDEwhen the
grandmaster
had left us. lAn international
grandmaster';
was my
reply,"youyourselfawardedhimthe title:
RealHarm
One could becomereconciled
to all this if the arithmeticthat
drivesout creativity
did not do realharmto chess.Alekhine
wrote
thatto achieve
success
in chessyou hadto makea thoroughstudy
yourself
of
andyouropponent,
but mostimportant
of allyouhadto
'havea higher
purposethan the satisfaction
of the moment.This
purposelsee in scientific
and creativeachievements
whichplace
chesson a parwith otherartsl
The path to the highestachievements
is the path of creative
RealHarm
33
Alekhineis saying.Onlythe playerwho setshimself
achievement
the taskof creatinggameswith realcontentcan reachthe top The
a gamethat glves
Dlaverwho makeschessa gameof arithmetic'
peak of Mount
the
reach
will
never
living,
irim a reasonable
Olympus.Lookaroundand you wlll seethat the top echelonof
by combining
by thoseplayerswho scoresuccesses
cfrbssis titteO
improvement
Follow
the
the competitiveelementwith the creative.
He hasa
Karpov
Anatoly
holder
present
world
title
by the
achieveC
naturalgift of accuracyand an abilityto thinkclearlyand logically
and in hisyouthoften beatopponentsby purelytechnicalmethods'
and combinative
thoughan elementof romanticism
No\Madays
'fillino-oui'
of contentThe
qames
full
and
striking
more
his
makei
go
for tactics and
positional
to
methods
oi
master
a
trend of
strikesis becomingeveTmoremarkedThisis shown
combinative
ikhailT€1,it
witn the'chessmagician'-M
friendship
by hisincreasing
ices
madeby
pawn
sacrif
exchange
and
sacrifices
ii'shownbv thi
match
Baguio
games
his
of
Karpovin the
ihere is an6thersideto all this, perhapsthe most important
of a certain
thetop officials
Onceduringthe 1972SkopjeOlympiad
help
would
give
that
advice
to
askedBotvinnik
ChessFede-ration
player'
talented
certainly
one
of
improvement
alonqthe
the playerif he wrote notesto his gamesThe
B6winnitasked
'Perhaps
but for y-ourown
not for a magazine,
answerwas no.
Thenthe
his
collocutor'
on
leading
nenetitZ'persistedBowinnik
games
my
to
notes
write
I
don't
no
decisively,
camemore
answer
'ln thatcaseit is too earlyfor usto talkaboutimprovementLet
us returnto that in a few Yearstime:
many
The misfortuneof young peoplein chess,including.
This
work
analy'trcal
neglect
qrandmasters
cohpletely
is that they
of
analvsis
the
mean
not
we
do
pioperly
understood.
il
;;;k ili
Into
penetration
thL or that vai'iatbn,we are talkingabouta deep
Jis"nce oi the chessstruggle,about the {ormationof
il;;"tt
posslplans,about seekingthe most deeplyhiddencombinative
'homework'whichall the kingsot chessnaveoone
bilities.Such
qivesone the chanceto discoverthe faultsin one'splay'to go
of the gameandto widenone'seruditionin
ieeoerintothe secrets
cheis.
ability'but
wasresearch
inln eartierperiodthe basisof success
as
We.must'
whole
game
as
a
a
to
is
no
approach
there
nowadays
-matt"l
ot urgency,bring backthe analyticalapproachto chess:
.
{M.Botvinnik).
'l
never
And hereis anotherquotefrom Botvinnik personally
to
had
I
always
because
contemporaries,
my
stoodout amongst
example
is
an
there
hand,
the
other
Tal,
on
haro"wort.
by
;;;;;";.
who did not have10work at it:
ot
- someone
iperionaltycannotagreewiththe secondhalfof thatstatemeni'
34
Competitiveor CreativeElement?
sinceI haveoftenhadoccasion
to seehow hardTaldoeswork.You
onlyhaveto lookat hisnotesto gamesto seehow muchefforthe
putsin.Thesevariations,
fullof a webof complicated
combinations,
couldonlybe producedby manyhoursof studyat home.
Let us sum up our reflections.
Our belovedart is becoming
unfortunately
a more'arithmetical'
game,notjust in the reckoning
up of the full and half points,but in its very essence- in the
processof thinkingaboutmoves.Thisarithmeticis clearlykilling
creativity
and thai leadsto sad results.Onlya few grandmasters
havebeenableto avoidthisriskytrend,andtheyfindtheirreward
in the achievement
of the highes.tresults,in becomingwortd
champions
andchallengers
for thistitle.Themajority,
alas,including
manyyounggrandmasters,
havecompletely
rejected
theanalytical
Forthisiheyarebeingpunished
approach.
bychess,
thepunishment
beingtheir gradualtransformation
into hacks,destroyingall the
brightprospects
dueto theirnaturaltalent.
Thisfailingis intensified
by the Elo systemin the form it now
takessinceit supresses
the creativesideof talentand forcesthe
playerto chaseafterpointsin ordernot to havehisratingfall.
We haveto answerthisquestionhere:is it alwayspossible
for a
playerto restricthischoiceof movesto safeones,andplavwithout
rask,restricting
himselfto purelytechnical
manoeuvring?
lf you studythe gamesof the greatclassicplayersyou must
concludethat the combinative
method,the searchfor beauWin
chess,the riskypath,not onlyenhance
chessbutalsogivechances
of victoryin positions
wherethe technical
approachwould most
likelyleadto a colourless
draw.
26
tu
r7:r,.t'
7t 7t 'tt,^
ft'il4
zWn,/:/it/:,,.
/7:.,,
2 & A4 AA
- In his well-knowngameagainstR6ti,Alekhinecould haveplayed
26 .. Ea3 restrictinghrmselfto purely technicalplay. lt is not
clearwhether he would havewon in this case.Yet what a meteor,
like progressthe beautifulgame made throughout the world of
chessafter the moves26 . . . fie3! 27 g1l3 cb 28 gXbE lc3!
29 g',xb7 gxbT 30 AxbT axe2+ 31 gh2 Ae4! 92 trc4l
aXf2 33 1!g2 andnowthesbrtlingtenmo\€deepcombinaton
99 . . . -4"01A flc2 fls4+ 35 €h3 6e5+ 36 €)h2 E xf3t
37 flxe2 ls4+ 39 €h3 Ae3+ 39 €/h2 Axc2 40Axf3
What ShouldBe Done?
35
Dd4 41 Hf2 axf3 42 trXf3 Adsland Blackremainsapieceup.
What Should be Done?
trendwe havedescribed
so
Howcanwe put rightthedangerous
of the gameinto one of
as to preventthe furtherdeterioration
such as
arithmetic.Some peoplesuggestextrememeasuTes,
gettingrid of the Elosystem.Thisis no solution,sincethe ratings
comparative
strengthwhen
havea part to play in determining
are filledwith playersof aboutequal
arrangingthat tournaments
a lot
strength.In the Sovietpresswherethe questionhasreceived
of somenewsystem
of attentiontherehaveevenbeensuggestions
Thiswouldonly leadto moreconfusion,
of ratingsfor creativity.
wth each playerhavingtwo numbersto his name.Yet if we
generalise
from the views alreadyexpressedwe can suggest
variousmeasures.
deviationis the
Firstof all the liquidation
of the 'arithmetical'
a duty theyowe themselves
socialduty of the playersthemselves,
andafterall
wishesto get the bestresults,
as wellas us.Everyone
'Thecriterionof realstrengthis a deeppenetrationinto the secrets
a positionl(T.Petrosian).
of 'How
lose?'wasthe questionor
is it that your Karpovcameto '1979
My reply
Spartakiad.
to me duringthe
commentaddressed
unbeatable,
losseventhenormally
wasthatno-oneis insured
against
went on to playsome
and that afterthisfirst lossthe champron
games.Thiswasmy shortanswerto notveryknowledgefirst-class
ablespectators,
and it was onlyto a few of the peopletherethat I
on the veryinteresting
went intogreaterdetailovermy reflections
lossby the world championto the talentedmasterl.lvanovin the
Uzbekista
n-Leningrad
match.
did not alwaysanalysethe
It is well known that Capablanca
to thosehe
gameshe won,but healwaysdevoteda lot of attention
alwayshada
lost.Thisis proofof the factthatthe greatestplayers
criticalattitudeto theirolavand triedto root out errorsand make
hardwork on hisnotesis well
theirolavmoreuniversal.
Alekhine's
known and every annotatedgame by Fischergivesthe same
hisplaywas
firstplayedin tournament
impression.
WhenBotvinnik
he beat
ratherdry. Then,whenin the 1933 SovietChampionship
who wasalwai-shard
Botvinnik
Rauzerwith Black,the demanding
play,statlng,
on himselfgavehimselfpraisefor his combinative
'FinallyI haveplayedthe sort of gameI havebeenwantrngto play
for a longtime:
In tellingthe patientfans of all this I then claimedthat in the
gamewe had seenin a cedtalnsensea new and
lvanov-Karpov
that the
specialsort of Karpov.I feelI am not mistakenin alleging
world championtriedto playthis gamein a mannerhe had not
adoptedbeforeagainsttop classopposttion.
36
Competitiveor CreativeElement)
E
27
% %tryitu
t '",&
%t2
t
z%
% %
%'^a%H%
%t'''&^
Vlz
+ & ^%8?Z,i
Canyou creditit that this positionwasreachedas Blackby the
perfectKarpov?Ratherdoes
normallyrestrained
and technically
the positionremindme of openingsplayedby Tolushwith his
famouswar-cry'Forward,Kazimirovichl'or
by Tal.I would have
if Blackhad takena draw by perpetual
check
easilyunderstood
after 15 Sd2, but Karpovmixedthingsevenmoreby 15 . . . 96
16 traf1 ge7 17 a3t5.
A weird positionlBlack'sking is stuckin the centre,he hasno
saferefugeon the flank.Blackplayedstubbornlyto defendthis
positionin what followedand it tookall of White'sheroicfighting
spiritto overcomeBlack'sdefence.
Theworldchampion's
attemptto try out sharptacticalmethods.
with someslightinfringement
of strategicprinciples
can only be
welcomed.
We seeherea clearstrivingto adopta moreuniversal
of riskand sharpness
style,an obviousdesireto bringin elements
ro nrsgame.
Thisshouldnot be takenas meaningthat Karpovformerlywas
slow in spottingtacticalchances.Ouitethe reverse.His teamof
helpershaveoften been surprisedby the way he can hit upon
unexpected
moves,oftenmuchmorequicklythan it tooka player
of sharDcombinative
stvleto find them. I havefound this swift
grasptoo whenI haveshownhimcomplicated
positions.
The pointto note is this: when playersof a sharpstylespot
combinations
or tacticalstrokesthevflareuo at once.anddescribe
them in joy'fulemotional
tones.'l'vefoundit!' Karpovwouldreact
differently,speakingof such possibilities
without any great
enthusiasm.
Onegainsthe impression
that for him the searchfor
tacticallinesisa Derfectlv
normalstateof affairs.Thismeansthathe
principle
worksthroughsuchlines,butthenactson thewell-known
whv shouldone win bv a ten-movecombination
whenthereis a
win bv a ouietlineand in a shorternumberof moves.
justfor rollicking
So letnotthe readerthinkthatwe areappealing
complications.
The beautyof chessis not exhausted
by suchan
approach,
but is to be foundtoo in theconsistent,
logical,
technical
thingssuchas we tendto associate
with Karpov.
Help from ChessFederations
37
Help
'-bietfrom ChessFederations
tany yearsI havenotedthe samepatternin a numberof
qulcklyto the front
A y6ungman of talentprogresses
countries.
goeson to further
title
and
national
the
wins
nis
country,
in
iink
levelHe is writtenaboutenthusiastically
.r"cess". at international
in the
in the pap"tt, and the most radianthopesare expressed
fhese
Karpov
new
Fischer,
or
a
him
our
describe
worasusdOto
the
reflect
thev
as
outright
condemned
not
to
be
are
"ornt"nt,
of thatcountry.
of the chessplayers
hrddendesires
Vetthe yearsgo by, the talentedplayeris an lM andthen-aGM,
or Karpov
but then . . stop!He doesnotturn intoa newFischer
qualify
Candldates
for
the
who
eight
the
last
make
even
doesn't
He
M"t.n".. Insteadhe merelyfiguiesin the middleechelonof GM's
chess.
of the also'rans'of
and soonbecomes'one
up
a failureto measure
First
of
all
for
this?
reasons
Whatarethe
The'star'
Federation
native
Chess
his
towards
responsibilities
to his
iiarts to'have a carelessattitudetowardsthe interestsof his
nationalteam,and also stops playlngin internaltournaments,
champlonshlp'
in thenatlonal
carryingthisasfaras non-participation
going
is tough
the
very
high,
prizes
not
are
he?
The
Why s6ould
to playin an international
andfar morepleasant
Farmoreprofitable
Thishabitof avotdtng
strength.
eventof averageor evenmediocre
meatleads.toa
for
easy
looking
and
the reallytoughencounters
therebyto a
and
oneself,
upon
made
the
lemands
drop in
of PlaY.
worsenedstandard
Thatis why in the SovietUnionit hasbecomea ruleto applya
to
pressure
on all our grandmaslers
certainamountof disciplinary
or
titles
their
of
irrespective
Championship
part
in the.USSR
take
recentachievements.
of foreignfederations
I haveraisedthistopicthe officials
When'lt's
get helpfrom the
players
you.
Your
declare all very well for
to
it. Nothingworks
subordinate
and
are
SovietChessFederation
players:
our
likethat on
Nothingof the sortl Thisis onlyan excuse.lf you examinethe
youwillfindthat in anycountryanygrandmaster
positions6riously
He not onlyplayschess,
to someextenton hisfederation.
depends
and is keen to get
column,
a
chess
runs
he writes books,
for whichhe is paid.Thechessrulingbody
exhibitions
simultaneous
of a countrycan certainlyhavea say in decidingsuch matters
tne
What is neededis a firm handin this matter,i{ only because
Out
of
grandmaster
himself
the
of
interests
outcomewill be in the
championshlp'
national
player
the
may
avoid
the
weakness
character
but it shouldnot be difficultto proveto himthat suchparticipation
of youngtalent
for the encouragement
is essential
pointing
the fingerat torergnplaye's
Do not thinkthat I am only
in the SovietUnron'even
this
like
quite
few
examples
a
Thereare
-
38
Help from ChessFederations
Competitiveor CreativeElement?
thoughwe try and make our grandmasters
play in the Soviet
Champronshrp.
Usrngvarrolrs
excuses
some.star,
of our playersqei
-heout
oTlnls oDttgatton,
andthisgoeson untiJthe
findsthat can
no,tongerget rntothe SuperLeagueof the USSBChampionship,
andhasto startin the FirstDivision
or at an evenlowerstaqe.
grandmasteis
_ Thereis no doubtthatsuchtalented
is Suutn"nO
Kuzminhavenot realised
theirpotentraiBoleslavsky
e"ptain"O
tne
lrregularpatternof successof the latter Ov pointinirouiinat
"rnoli
plav chessat anv trme ano
uny
II:TIl-YT
lo
condfttons,
but:eadv
considered
thatsittingat the boardby oneself
wasa
boringbusiness.
Thisis a seriousm'istake
as prlvateitujv covers
not only the mechanical
memorisation
of openingvariations,
Out
alsoconsrderarion
ot mrddlegameproblemswhi6h helpsone to
Trnonewapproaches
in actualplay.
borvlnntknas hts commentson this too: ,Along with my
retirement
fromchessanalytrcal
work seemsto haveqo;e to;: *as
nrssad commentat one lecture.We do not aqretentirelvwith
thesepessimistic
words,but therersan element; truth in ihem.lt
is the duty of playersof the older generationto follow the
development
of theirsuccessors
andto eicou.agJtf,emto
justas thistaskalsofallsuponthe game:srulinq 6"cornu
erudite.
bodies.
I often have occasionto hear from ,i, cofflaqrei il;;;"",
comptaint
that the youngergeneration
are totallyiqnoraniJ tn"
gamesoT tormer times.po,ugayevsky
once enthisedover rne
pleasure
he got fromanalysing'some
gamesof the Hastinqs-ig95
"voun.,..
you don'thearcommentslikethat
tournament.
from the
generation.
Ratherdoesonetendto hearthissortoi tnro fi-t tX"i
I quoteit from a senseof beingoffended.uut ii .f.,uiX.i"iuii"f
,
Oneplayeronceaddressed
me."clearly
*inting
io
;r;
;;;;fi
"g
pleasant
to me, thus:- ,Alexander
Alexandrovich,
i,joi io r.no*
yesterday
thatyoutoo area grandmaste
r'.
r-1
,r,. quryof the youngptayerto knowthe historyof chess
and
__
garnes
ot the past.justasrt rstnedutyo;tne-oiOer
9^:!:9l-thgtobesr
Se:9!91'9n encourage
suchstudyof the gtoriouspast.
rossrbty
the readercancomeup with betterideas,but hereis a
land my coileagues
Har" in rninO.lurn
:ummgryoflhe proposals
FIDE.now led by the grearcnessconnorsseur
FridnK
:yi,. Jh"twr gr.ve
due,weight
y'u-trlonl
to thecomments
of thosewho aspare
to seea betterfuturefor chess,a morecreative
aporoach.
'i
gothoffjcial
) We mustchangeattitudes.
accounts
of tournaments
and reportsin the pressshoulddealmorewith the leadingiole
of
creatrvtty
and shouldcrjticise,those
unfortunate
peopte*tio iiit to
noticethe harmdoneby the purelycompetitive
[oini of view
2) We mustput on a regularfoot,ngthe awardof recognition
tor
39
l5ebesteamej:l*1"".'"'l"T::l"tT"?"J:*'.%."1Jiil.".*:
- ,,a
^hass L/sud,
most aftractiv€
S?iit'i.:;;;yl*,"::":":l'-ff
[:,ftfthe.nade
:';i3,*.",."["'JJ
oua"a with
curI rur''' ''Y''" :.' " ,':-;
crrikrnq
In this
this
start,n
liiiii'ng,"o,no'n"t':#
-*^in
ustart
a
I Y / r, Fl6E Corrqress
l ne r'3#;rB"i'binq';rr;.0"
rntheir planlllngfi:
best
the-best
'iY^^+;,",l
for, the
oe awardeh annuallyfor
would
Gold medals
Gold
:"#;,Fi;;:;.*:,t'.:,9::"i::,?:*?::.;:f
?"""""1i
3[::f
;;:'il;";!;giiis:l'::::"P::if.'^":'f
:n
i:'ffi
:[T;i:fl
o:
-i::iJ,fl
*'
il:''
::#iffi ff.::,:il"r#"ii
, Ti:::"j."":!
3:":ll
3?"[l,1;,i,i"?;i,."qli,;lqsllT^q';^?":.:*:u",:t;Tjl
?;;,?:;i;i:;i9i1..,i:":!:"^::!:"**:#f
:h,il13ff
hT:
:i.'::H"':ilil,;;i;;;"b"'1s';"-g:,::,':.d-:n:fii':;"':il:l
theother
iiection
then
prize'
3Hffi11 iJ"#"ri,:"tt'."iv"ai. it notrirst
mainPrlzes
q#i+111"*;ir
:{iirq+illh
nni5i35
iffit';l
+rsF
events.WhY not.lay
qualifying
#;:
li[:.:"#1i,trigx**.'ii::':r:T"';::&",1
arising
to the benefits
compared
*o"ufJO"insignificant
.li:J[,t::::liij,iti
::!i::"13:s:fi
:iT:i;3:'f
fliJ*?ff
Hm""Hhli:*ru::g..::::x.:J:3';:l',fJ
"i?':"l}3$""'!"JJ:L"""lE:
:lJ,[X]:]",::::"J,ir'3;:fi
TIilxl:,S""3i"."
n*l*i"*,lkT;glul""iT:ilsi::*ffi
;:m:i';19
B##*:#:,E"u**'
{'}{A:::"*
i::"r",i'#q.#i:i'=!li*g:*'*"
'"iffiil:[Ti,l?"',*i:I5:i:s:tril#f
r#f
l*t+'fiJ"'tJ
:
tx*:,yi$tH.l$:19:':tiu*;:"3':rl','.$
of the scientificapproacnro
currentchamPion
to.same
"oproach
ii"ii]."'
i',."'5"Y'
i"1:'l:
-::?::?i:1"*?:
theircontents
in makins
puni"'tiont
o"il"illJii'ifi"L'iffJl"s;
'#"'IJfn:HiJ':'i'',jE[il"Yi"*ti-swliehlgY:,!-eTi=::
moreattractiveand interesting'
if;:;ffi;";;i-"G:
f"'.'ff# l):,:J'.:'fi
:glll.::*
::;.:9
J?il3J
these
carry
thatwecan
riii,-.iu' n"ped
li',i'iil! 6?,1,".i'r.j"[i.
Competitiveor CreativeElement?
the numbersof thoseinterested
ideasthroughandtherebyincrease
will
thismovement
in the creative
to chess.lf it succeeds
aooroach
younggrandmasters
who arewastingtheirgiftsin
turnthetalented
sportsmen
endlessSwissSystemtournamentsinto outstanding
art of chess.
and passionate
supporters
of the creative
S t u d y i n gt h e M i d d l eG a m e
5
gameis tly!]:-q.i"
We now turn to the questionot how the middle
"J
iJ't9I. _*i,h
gilil'i :'.".'J:T
in"usbi.asrnlaid
i;
$
"3i;'&5',I:ltif;
sleln
bY
down
especially
elements
summarise-th,e
iii-u" tb""o in otherbooks,we merely
assessrng
and
in
analysing
i.it,i"n.giuno.rstertakesintoaccount
'ti'"''"t"u
a posltlon.
I elements' 9putt,,1!o
';."Jimportant positiona
i -Tu^t:']:l
b.il;""":
;#fi;;";-;;;ri
and
point''op"nrines'the-centre
pi'""?g-".i-s:
n...noniou,
liiii.iZoili,,iii"'uii
.r:1,^1Pi*s""^?:l:
these
of
ti" point
'v
sDatialadvantage ano natlrlerrruu5r' rw' Prov"
il:il;;l;;;
[o""ni*"r]n.
.view,or 1"""1"j:.::9-"ljT,::T:9
queition which tormentsthe playerat everymove:
wH"'jllt"::Tfl;UTir"!r?'"*l-er
isrormed
atapran
arrived
for future attackand defence
ri$i;"fi;"": ;i: ".iv'i',"a assessment-have
9:'l 9:"-l"Y::
themostItp?ry:l-f:.1Yj:
f"r";"*T";";;;t"iv"o*-r" o" oav
nce
importa
)lhP
sl# :1o;""i;# ii i. Jig'"*;l
TlTi^"jy:tYll
classificatron
andftheir
gariepositions'
ilil:;;;i
tvticalmid"dle
factors'
iccordingto variousidentifying
chess
n". v"Yi"ni!-*"* nasnoi beenp operlv..ct1l::d^,i
s and
will haveerrors
rit#tule. uJ it'i. po.tiut"that my attempt
in sucha case
"omissions,
'W;ft inevitable
canbe
ptetis" thai allmiddlegamepositions
i;;inl
dividedintotwo basicgrouPs:a)PositionsWhichcannotoeresolvedbyanalysisbutbyintuitive
decisions.
or logic
by meansof variations
iiiostiont resolvable
Positions requiring intuitive decisions
worked out' bV
Thereare caseswhen a posii'oncannot be.
mind,We
human
the
les
baff
massof poisibilities
*ri"'t*.lt"Jif'e
(of
sort we
the
computer
chess
an advanced
;;.-|ff;;inJr;en
task,
""i u"i nu"ui"uilable)couldcopewith sucha is
ii""i;;;;i"
a sharpcnange
there
that
be
to
tends
this
for
ieason
-
42
Studying the Middle Game '
in the materialbalanceas the attackingsidesacrifices
a pieceor
pawn,afterwhichthe normalmethodsof assessment
recedeinto
thebackground.
roleis playedin suchcasesbythe'iaste'ofa player,by
A decisive
his likingor antipathyfor 'unclear'positions.
In suchpositions
the
variations
movesare madenot on the basisof calculating
but on
Lntu
rtron.
positions
Therecognised
virtuoso
of intuitive
Talwrites'Calculation
is only one side of it. In chessno less lmportantis intuition,
inspiration,
or if you prefer,mood. lfor examplecannotalways
thismoveis good,and in anotherbad.
explainwhy in one position
found a combination
intuitively
ln my gamesI havesometimes
simplyfeelingthat it mustbe there.Yet I was not ableto translate
my thoughtprocesses
intonormalhumanlanguage:
Hereis an example
Moscow,1967:
of hisfantasyin Tal-Filip,
2B
'/&.t
V;: &
w %r.%1b
7' ffi %
ry
7A%
* 2 2
Vzt
"N1
ft7/t '&+
%zH%
Seeingthat slowmethodswould leadto the peteringout of his
initiative
Whitewent for the intuitivesacrifice19 Axf/!? €)Xf7
20 gXh7. Obviously
Tal had calculated
the first few movesand
weighedup the chances
of bringingup hisreserves.
g x d g i sb a d 2
2O ... e521 EXdB EXdS (21
, 2 ghS)
22 ghs g€6.
WhathasWhiteachieved?
Blackthreatensto liquidateall the
hr, ??
$94, but Tal had seena way to keepthe
initiative.
23 h3!
Simpleandconvincing.
Whiteprevents
the queenexchange
and
giveshiskinga flightsquare.
23 ... AcS
It is not possible
for the finestchessmind to calculate
all the
possibilities
in this position.Blackfinds it difficultto 'unwind'his
piecesand get his king into safety.The possibilities
may be
illustrated
23
by the followingvariation
HdO24 fie 1 $fB 25
tre3 6fa 26 $xes SxeS 27 pxeS fld1+ 28 €)h2 AdO 29
AXd6 EXd6 30 trf3+ trf6 31 Ec3 andWhitegetsa material
aovanrage.
24 €)h1
Positionsrequiring intuitive decisions
43
in theqosilrof''
Whitecarrieson asif therewasnothingspecial
9:
t^*l
lt istheneed!9I19l .",."]T.:
a piece'.
r n" nia "ot iiCri.riceo
thepsvcholosical
gllylll":i::
i.irivlii r"ti"", tharcreates
P-"ll
voluntarilyagreeto iakeon suchdiificulties'
oi "t".von" *ill
[..'lfNot
sides.
.
.
24 . lLd4?!
24
Hd6l would leavebetterdefensive
i-aufioilto*.
eI 26
.n"n"es Wh'tu could continue25 14, but aIler 25
clear'
far
from
pos;tron
is
the
27
;"""!-gxe+
Etxd6 Axh3l
galns
detlnlte
White
would
br;ng
line
attacking
froweveianother
25 Ee 1 Ada 26 c3 fic5 27 c4
25 H.d1..Ed6
Not"zs
Ab6 26 E x dg AXdB 27 I4l wirh dangerous
White.
for
threats
26 Aa3 Ea6
in"-8""isG error, vet the alternative26 ' trd8 27 c3 Ab6
Brackin trouble'
29 qxdS AxdB 29 f4 alsoleaves
-"fr
n*Tq
to Q7 .
ed 28 Ad5 trxa3 29 g'fs+
it).
finishes
in hts
likethisinTal'splay'especiallY
Onecanfindmanvexamples
to
Koblenz'
A
trainer'
his
led
that
ieature
uounq"|.;"rioO lt wasthis
'Never mind about Misha being
positions,
ir"h
iJilri"ni-oi
rut"iiir oo*n. lrthere is iust one open lineon the boardhe will
mate!'
force
sooneror later
riis cui,ousto notethatnearlyeverygrandmaster
to Judgeare
all
ot
difficult
most
posltions.
The
intuitive
hasto olav
sawruns:if
just
pawn
As,the
a
of
if.ror""if',i6ni"torvJihe sacrifice
orolnary
on
piece
sacrlllce
vou can weiqhJp the chancesaflera
the
consequences
to
measure
scales
ieles vou ndd the most.sensitve
of
- a oawnsacriftce.
attract
that theysometimes
aTeso Interestlng
iniuitiueoos,tions
or
Karpov
players
Anatoly
as
the attentronof evensuch ratiorlal
TigranPetrosian.
nroccrrro
29
hAitt
,
r gtt
r
"..X
::1 6
Nfr///./.
/.'t 'l.l:".
tKt?8''&'
.:."1 i$,E,.'a"'r.,.
A'/a'
Thrsrs KarpovDorfnan, SovretCh Top Leagle'.1-9-76-
l caasj69l sa*92.F99,il6
* ^*
l#l?.t" 30
",""1
,nJI"t
meet
to
;;'rtended
;;;
3H:"'XAlXl:"il'':?Y;;;;;
..il'iiil35
44
Resolvableposttions
Studying the Middle Game
l-7 : Ab6 by 18 fle1 AxdS 19 pg2, and 17 . lc5 by 18
amusinqfinishtt. . . gf8
fie1 fla7 19 llh3 with the possibte
20 SxcS Axf6 21 ge8+ Ss7 22 sf+-@ha23 gxsE+
flxg8 24 fle8 mate.
- 1.8Qxe5 de 19 f4 Afs 20 Ah3 Axh3 21 flxh3 pc8 22
fe $c4!
Whitehastwo centralpawnsfor the pieceandan extraoneon
the flank.So, material
equality,but the positionis hardto assess.
Black'spiecesarefairlyactive,thereareno whitemjnorpiecesleft,
and it is hardto forcea penetration
with maiorpiecesalone.
23 E1d3 srf4+ 24 Sb1 ftc4l
Blackmakesa confidentcounter-attack,
puttinghis pieceson
excellent
yet Karpovmanages
squares.
to provethe superiority
of
ntsposEon.
25d6 8e426 trhe3 Exe32z flxe3gxh428gf3!
30
'L//' @"'/l"tH
"'..&t//Lt
/.,.4./,-a
21. /&,
t ''/r&
..rt '''.fu,
...e,
,t
2
'H,47
t/t 2
t
Forcingpenetrationby the queen,so that White now gets
concretethreats.
29 . . . ts' 95 29 [e1 u,g2 30 E1fs Es6 31 Efl g'ds 32
de €xe7
Nowthematerial
islevel,
butWhite's
initiative
forcesa win.
gf4l
gh4+
39
a5
34
€eB 35 gxhT gf3 36 gh8+ Se7 37
""
ghl+ g€ 38 gc4t glb7 3s b3 tre6 40 Esl trxe5 41
fl98- $e7 42 g"n4+ &d7 43 gf6t fie7 44 gr5+*d6 45
#!9-tr.gs 46 gdsr €e6 47 €b2! f6 48 flf8 gs7 49 &c8+
BdS 50 *c4+ 1-O
Resolvable
positions
Thisisa largesection
whichinciudes
almost
positjons.
allchess
lr
canbedivided
furtherinto:1) Positions
resolvable
_ logical
plansandprecedents
by logrcal
pos/t|ons
2) P_ositions
- calculable
resolvable
by calculation
positions
3) Positionsresolvable
by'tacking to and fro, - manoeuvring
posltrons.
45
Loqicalpositions
by
Leadinqplayershavelearnedhow to resolvemanypositions
carryingthrough a logicalplan basedon exact analysisand
factorin a given
Afterworkingout the mainpositional
assessment.
to enhancethis
designed
positron
the playercarriesout operatlor'ts
letshim'crush'hisopponentor
iactoruntilthe growingadvantage
play a combinative
blow that leadsto mate or great materlal
advantage.
plans was
The great specialistin working out such logacal
after 15 movesin
Hereis his positionagainstLilrenthal
Botvinnik.
(seediagram20)
the Moscow,1936,tournament.
placedpiecesand
Whitehascontrolof the centre,harmoniously
to
followthrougha
used
These
factors
are
morespace.
occupies
planof 'sutfocating'
the opponent.
16 trfd1 Axd4 17 Axd4 d5 18 a4l
PreGntingto the maximumdegreethe freeingadvance b6b5, which is Black'sonly way of gettingany sort of activeplay
Botvinnikcontinuesto preventthis, and only permitsit when it
leadsto a quickwin for White.
18 . .. fe8 19 Ads Hc6 20 pxsT Qlxg7 21 h4
Anotherlinkin the plan.Blackis giventhe choiceof playing
of line
of his€-side anda laterpossibility
h7-h5with a weakening
knightaway
openingbyWhitethere,or of movinghisdecentralised
but
to temporlse,
from 97 andso permittingh4-h5.Blackdecides
thisis no improvement.
21 . . . Ee8 22 Ec3 ahs 23 gfd4 bs
Thislookslikesomefreedomat last,but it hasallbeentakencare
23 . . AJ6 when 24
Therewas the alternative
of by Botvinnik.
of 25 .. d5! but White
flxf6 exf6 25 gxf6 is bad because
on by not takingon f6. After
couldinstead
lust keepthe pressure
24 . . . Axdb 25 exdS followedby h4-h5Whitewouldstarta
winningattackon the €-side.
24Cbab 25 Edcl ! trxc3 26 flxc3 ba 27 HcTl
J I
''&,
t
vH
',/z ',/t
/&
'/t6/z
7t wfr/t
t 7 7 *
2 7:.,,
to the 7th rankand
The crowningof the planwith penetratlon
gx b3? then 28
dlrect threatsio the enemy king. lt 27
f XeT+ flxe7 29 flc8+ mating.
46
Resolvablepositions
Studying the Middle Game
27 . . . g'bs 28 ba $e2+ 29 gd2 g/xf2+ 30 €xf2
Black has avoided mate but the suoer-activewhite Dieces
combinedwith the unstoppablepawn at a4 makesit a simplewin
for White. lt must be noted that the possibilityof such an ending
arose logicallyin the plan of using his spaceadvantage,and rt is
possiblethat rt evenwas envisagedin preparationbeforethe game.
3 O. . . e 6 ( N o 3t 0 . E a B3 1 E c B +S x c S 3 2 N x e T + )
31 Ab6 AfO32a5flb8 33 fic8+ PXcB34 NxcS le8 35
a6 fc7 36 a7 tlla837 Axd6 gf8 38 e5 $e7 39 $e3 f6 40
&44h641 Ac9+ &17a2&e4 $97 43 Sd4 Nc7 44 $c5 1-0
This gamewon first prizefor the best playedgame.ldraw
attentionto the fact that in Soviettraditionthe bestgameprizeis
awardednotjustfor a cascade
of bnllia
nt sacrifices
butalsofor iron
logrc.
J ustsucha fineimpression
of ironconsistency
comesfrom thrs
effort by a pupilof Botvinnikin the gameKarpov'Unzicker,
Nice
Olvmoiad.
1974.
32
and Black will establisha knight on the fine square e5. White's
of a knighton c6 via d4 could be neutralised
possibleestablishment
sy'lnNd7-bB.
that caseWhite would probablyhaveto defer f4 until he had
preparedit by g3, so as to meetef by gf. Eventhen though Black's
concentrationof forceson e5 would give him a chanceto conduct
a most stubborndefence,whereasnow he graduallyslidesdownhill
25 Ac2 t)c7 26 Heal $e7 27 $b1 Ae8 28 Ae2 Ad8 29
Ag7 30 f4
6h2
-White
thefactthatan
exploiting
getsthisin assoonaspossible,
enemyknrghlcannotcometo e5.
3 0 . . .f 6
anythingWhitenow
of his inabilityto undertake
A confession
presses
the enemyforcesbackto the lasttwo or threeranksand
Blackcanonlywait.
31 f5 s5
Blackstillhadsomeslightchancesif he
Thisis totalcapitulation.
keptup the tensionon the €-side.
%
33
',ft 2i
ft2 t<
',&
"&,
/,
t7
ffit
',,fu
%)
Thegeneralimpression
is thatWhitemerelystandsslightly'freer'
with hiscentrepawnon the Sth rankgivinghimrathermorespace.
YetBlackhasno weaknesses
andis readyto repelan assault
at any
partof the board.
Karpovformsa planof strengthening
hispositionfudherwhich
maybe summarised
thus:Block ti,e a-fileby $a7 to preventrook exchanges
and a
simplification
of the position.Underthe protectionof this bishop
concentrate
the majorpieceson thea'file,thenat anv momentthe
retreatof the bishopwill threatento dominatethat file.However
this is not enoughby itselfto win. lt willhaveto be combined
wrth
threatson the€-sideanda general
crampingof theenemyforces.
Thepossibility
playon the$-sideandon thea-filewill
of alternating
stretchBlack'sdetensive
resources.
24 Aa7! Ae8
Notecarefully
that Blackfailsto forma counterplanhere.lt was
obviousthatWhite's$-side threatsinvolved
the advance
f4, since
he had no otherway of makingprogress.
So Blackshouldhave
planned
theformationAe8, dd7,,t&e7,whenf4 canbe metby ef
47
ru
32 Ac2
^"r/&
%
%
ry^
With the simpleplan of usingh5 as a transferpointfor first
bishopand then queento get closeto the enemyking.These
manoeuvreswould probablynot be so effectiveif Blackwere not
tied down all the time by White's threat to switch back to the
g-side.
32 . . . Af/ 3:] 6g3 4lb7 3a Adl h6 35 q h5l g'e8 36 $d1
Ad8 37 Ea3 €f8 38 E1a2 €g8 39 Aga gf8
of the knight
Blackcannotbke tvviceon h5 because
Obviously
willtell.
white
squares
the
weakened
later
fork on f6. Sooneror
40 Ae3 €g8 41 Axfl+ Axf/ 42 g'hs ld8 43 $s6!-Capturinglhequeenis badas the whiteknightson h5 andi5 tn
with the pawnat gOwillcreategravethreats
conjunction
43 . .. €/f8 44 Ahs! 1-0
Theonlychanceof holdingthef 6 pawnis 44 . . gf 7, but then
envisaged
45 Qga 6eB 46 Ab6 wouldleadto the idealsituation
plan.
in Karoov's
48
Studying the Middle Game
34
'.&7 &2
t 2t&
*,
t7t
& 2
7 2
remindsthe player
At timesduringa gamethe positionsuddenly
the
likethis before.Thisis frequently
that he hasseensomething
frequently
eruditeplayer,and occursparticularly
casewith the more
positions.
whenplaying'logical'
with the
Thisis quitelogical;whenwe havetoughcloseconflicts
'mixingit'andgivingblowfor blowit is practically
pieces
impossible
for the concretepositionbeforeone.On
to findan exactprecedent
on the mind
the otherhandlogicalplansmakea deepimpression
work one doesthe moresuchprecedents
and the moreanalytical
Theusefulness
of sucha storageof
arefixedin the consciousness.
in its economyof time and
knowledge
cannotbe over-estimated
mentaleffort.
gamesand his game
Thisapproachis oftenseenin Botvinnik's
notesoftendraw attentionto the feature.Thusin his 1Othgameof
the world titlereturnmatchwith Talin 1961 he writes'Obviouslv
35
t%a%i"'&
ruh'lzi%
%ir& 7
%/&
vz
"'&
%
r u 7 &
d%w
Blackdoes not go for the pawn win by 12 .. ab4 13 €d2
Exa2 14 flxa2 $1xa2, sinqethiswouldhandoverthe initiative
to White.Blackhurriesto advancehis b-pawnin imitationof the
game,New York,
plandemonstrated
in the Janowski-Capablanca
19161
That gamehad opened1 d4 Af6 2 Af3 dS 3 c4 c6 4 lc3
Afs 5 g/b3 gb6 6 g/xb6 ab 7 cd lxdb I AxdE cd 9 e3
planlc6 1O$d2and nowcame10 . . . AdTllwith Capablanca
ningto ad\€nce. . . b6-b5and thentransferhisknightto c4.
So with this gamein mind Botvinniktreatshis positionin the
Resolvablepositions
49
manner.
Capablanca
12 . . . aa5 13 Ac3 b5 14 Afl b4 ls Abs €d8 16 Af3
irc4
-Capablanca's
planhasbeenfollowedand has broughtBlacka
advantage.
definite
17 Axc4 dc 18 Ad6 AxdG 19 exd6 Ac6 20 AeS AXhl
21 axf7+ &ea 22 Axhg Ae4 23 d5 ed 24 Ad4 Af6 2s
@d2 &d7 and Blackexploitedthe extra pawn without much
trouble.
in the 13thgameof the samematch.
Anotherexample
37
%i"N
% 'zr.
ft:/& 2
%ft%t:.,
'r,&t.t
2 % t
H2'
Botvinnik
wasWhiteandwrote'lt is not hardto finda planhere.
It was successfully
usedin a similarpositiontn a traininggame
Boleslavsky-Botvinnik,
Voronovo, 1952. and consistsof the
undermining
of Black'spawn chain by b2-b3 and a2'a4. lt is
surprisingthat althoughWhite openlywent for this plan my
opponent,in essence,
did not try to counterit:
14 Sc2! Ad7 15 6e2 Af8 15 Aca a6 17 b3 HacB 18
Ad3 Ab6 19 Ae2 trd6 20 &b2 f5 21 fldcl fi16 22 a4 ba 23
b a a 5 2 4 & c 2 c 42 5 H c b l p b a 2 6 l a 2 S c S 2 7 p x c S f i x c S
28 lc3.
White'sadvantage
is obvious.Whitecouldhavewon bV 28 f 4,
but he decidedto achievevictoryby positional
methodsand duly
did so.
Yet anotherexampleof this in Botvinnik's
notesto Spassky'1966:Botvinnik,
SovietTeamCh.
1 e4 cG2 d4 d5 3 lc3 de 4 Nxe4 SfS 5 Ag3 Ag6 6 h4 h6
7 Af3 AbdT 8 h5 Ah7 I Ad3 Axd3 10 gxd3 Of6
'This welfknown variation
of the Caro-Kannis a favourite
weaponof Spassky's. . . . unfortunately
for my opponentthe
wholevariation
waswellknownto me,sinceas longagoas 1928 |
hadoccasion
to writenotesto a gameGrigoriyev-Pa
nov,wherethts
sameopeningwasplayed!'
Commentis superf
luous.
One may find similarexamplesof the exploitationof past
precedents
by suchspecialists
and
of planning
as Karpov,Petrosian
Keresamongstothers.A care{ulexamination
of such examples
50
Resolwbleposilons
Studying the Middle Game
shouldconvince
thereaderof the needto getto knowthegamesof
the past.As the proverbputs it'Why inventthe bicycleall over
again?'Another
argumentin favourof thisis the needto avoidthe
dangers
of timetrouble.lf peoplearegoingto devoteso muchtime
to thestudyand memorisation
of openinglinesletthemdevotejust
as greata zealto the studyand buildingup of a memorybankof
plans.
logjcal
Calculablepositions
positions,
positions
Thishasthreeaspects:combinational
with
forcedvariations
withalternating
and positions
blows.
After quiet manoeuvring
or tacticalplay there often arisesa
positionin which a decisioncan be forced by a sacrifice.
The
outcomemaybe eitherforcedmateor extensive
win of material.
38
,&i 2 '/rX
'.& '.tt2
7.:.,,;
&'lH
2 t " .'H
ft;x
"/t7,,"'N
ft',,&tt
^ 7...,
7.zA
.t1.
Thisis Agadzhanya
n-Farbisovrch,
USSBCh 1977,SwissSystem
qualifier.
Blackexploitstheopenpositionof the king.
1 ... g'h2+ 2&xh2EXfl+ 3 gh3 Ehs+ 4$sa Sf4+
5 gg3 trffs+ 6 $94 flfgs mate.
Thefollowingf inishf rom Westin-Karlsson,
Stockholm,1973 is
alsostriking.
39
71,.'2 H
tu2
it6:tt;:
t t.,/l: tllt
;,,.,.:.
7t^
^,fuzw'
Blackmadethe shatteringmove 1
SfTl! runninginto a
knightfork,but after2 AXd6+ Se7 3 gxbb camethe fresh
blow3
Af4+ forcingmatenextmove.
Thesecasesarewellcoveredin existinoliterature.
so we do not
needto laboJrthepornt.
Wins can often be forced bv forcinomanoeuvres
wherethe
5l
is that the elementof
essentialdifferencefrom combinations
is missing.
sacrifice
40
../;:,:a
t
7.zt,,&
.,/t
'/;2.
^
7 t /:., './t.N
i'& ,/a )\ ,,/az
JI
'& ./.H
mar, NewYork,1924.
FromAlekhine-Vid
on eS wouldleavethe g-side too
12 Deb gXc3 (Capturing
by White'spieces)13 AXdT
in
the
face
of
attack
weakened
g'b1
14
axdT
notjusth7, but alsoA-e7-b4irappingthequeen,
Thisthreatens
give
backthe pawnat once.
so Blackhasto
.
.
.
15
14
fle8
AxhT+ €h8 16 Ac2!
With ihe doublethreatg-d 1-h5and $a4 winninga pawn.
16 . . . lf8 17 Qa4 fle6 18 g/bs and Whitewon a pawn.
by this play
blowscan be illustrated
Positions
with alternating
1937.
from the 1gthmatchoame.Alekhine-Euwe,
+t
lHi".ry,
7 7 t
tl,fl'24
Vz
?/z
A.%d%z,
7t /&n
13 ... ab4 14 Ab5+ Bf8 15 8e2 Ac5 16 Ad1 Afs 17
h3 hs 18 Ag5 8bG 19 Ah4 Ae4 20 hg Ac2
growin bafflingfashion.. .
With everymovethecomplexities
21 fc3 ad4 22 r&fi \22 gd2 would wtn)22 .. hg! 23
Aa+ 8cZ Zq Hxeq de 25 $c4 flac8 26 Hacl bG2.7 f]xcS
oi ze gao gxes 29 pxcS gxgS 3o $xcs+ $xcs 31
ExcS EXh432 fic4 le2+ 33€/f1 Af434gg1 g3landthe
gamefinallyendedin a draw.
justa
no forcingmanoeuvres,
Heretherewereno combinations,
move
by
move
all
seriesof threats,counters,
andcounter-threats,
Manoeuvringpositions
consistof? Obviouslynot comblnative
What do manoeuvTes
hlows nor deep,lonq-termplansWe rarelyget forcinqvariattons
52
Resolwbleposittons
Studying the Middle Game
of tackingto
either.Insteadthe playis quitedifferentand consists
and fro move by move,often combinedwith separatequickly
plans.
example.
Thisisbestseenfroma concrete
changing
short-term
42
t % "&artt
%t/&
'lfr
, t%&
&%
rr yy2 7
'&ffia%a%tt
w &t1/,
2 Tlt\tg
Kemeri,1937)
A deepanalysis
of the position(Alekhine-Fergrn,
will indicate
that it is a levelposition.Fromvariouspointsof view,
weaknesses,
occupationof open lines,space,the centre,piece
placing,the sidesare aboutequallyplaced.As a resultthereare
with the aim of achievingsomeslightbenefit.
long regroupings
Short term plansare mixedin with playmoveby move - one
playerattacksa bishop,the opponentmovesit away,one player
thisby puttinga rookon
occupies
an openfile,theopponentresists
thatfiletoo.
This cat and mousegame goes on until one side gets the
playanda slipby theopponent.
advantage
asa resultof hisexcellent
15 Hfel gd7 16 Ah2
the knightfromc3 to f4.
Thefirstshorttermplan- transferring
in this,but you haveto make
Notthat I canseeany realadvantage
movesof somesort or other.
16 . . . Afds 17 6e2 trfd8 18 Af4 Af5 19 Axds
couldhavebeenmadewiththe
It seemsto methatthisexchange
is
sameeffectwith the knightfrom c3, but playin levelpositions
logic.
subjectto suchcommentssinceit cannotbe of an absolute
19 . . . AxdS 20 Ac4l Ae6 21 a4 HacS 22 Ab3 8c7
23 a5
White has achieveda littlebut not enoughto bring abouta
as level.Whatfollowsis minorregrouping
changein theassessment
levelpositionsoften involveswaiting
and simplywaiting.Playin
wrote'Whenyoucan'tseewhatto do it is best
moves.As Tarrasch
to give the opponenta chanceto move and you wait for his
mistake:
23 . . . ,Wd7 24 Al4 $e7 25 Ag3 Hc7 26 Ab3 '{gd7 27
Ah4 Eb8 28 Sa4 Sc8 29 flacl
Onceagaina seriesof movesand nothingchangedin essence.
What boring play might be the comment,yet chessis not just
prettycombinations
andlogicalplans.lt isalsohardwork,realgraft
and grind,whenyou haveto work overmanytonsof ore in order
53
advantage.
io findthe speckof goldthat makesup a positional
29 .. . Hc4?
givesout and he makesa bad slip.By 29
Black'spatience
b5 30 Ab3 flbb7. or 30 ab trxb6 Blackcould maintaina
position.Nowhe getsintodifficulties
reasonable
'nerfectly
30 As3 llfg 31 h4! AfG 32 Ab3 E xcl 33 fl xcl $d7 34
d5!
43
2tllg121'7r;t
t'//2,.&.AXt
"&
7::.,tt7
7 '.&
''/;/:
t
'w7at&
&.ft.::
to andfro for almost20 movesto
Whitehashadto manouevre
makethis slightadvancewhichcrampsthe enemyminorpieces.
boththedifficulties
concreteillustrates
Thislongwaiifor something
of playin levelposltions.
features
andspecial
34 . . . Afs 35 g/b4 Ae4
This too is not best.35 . . . Ae4 would offer betterchances.
as White's
a dangerousinitiative
Now a pawn sacrificedevelops
piecesgetsomerealscope.
36 gd4l Eds 37 Ad2 Axds 38 Axd5 Axds 39 Ae4!
The point. The threat of 40 $xds and 41 Nf6+ allows
penetration
of theenemycamP.
39 . . . Ss7 40 Axd6 8e6 41 *d2 AfG 42 t8c2 b6? -.
and find
Leadsto --quickloss.Blackhadto showinventiveness
the variation42 . . . Ah.< 43 Ah2 b:-cl44 6xI7 trfB 45 Ad6
Ad4 46 Ef 1 ge7 with somecounterchances.
43 $c7!
Whiteforceshisway in to the 7th rankand it is alongthis line
thatWhitewins.
gixfT 45 Hd1 etc.)45
€ . . . ad7 M axfTl HlB 144
Adg grf6 46 Edl l 1-0
I must return here to the questionof the dangeroustrend
marked
whichI havealreadymentioned,
towardspurepragmatism
but lackingallotherpositive
in tournaments
by regularparticip;tion
factoissuchas studyof the creativeheritageof the pastand the
tend
writingof notesto one'sgames.Thepointis that suchplayers
play
in
of
move'style
move
by
to drif-tintothe'tackingtb and fro,
for
is
only
appropriate
practically
positions,
method
whereas
the
all
lt
criticised
levelpositions.
Nor is thisa newfeature,sinceBotvinnik
in an articlewrittenin 1951 aboutthe SovietSchoolof Chess.
of suchdry practical
the helplessness
ln orderto demonstrate
54
DeeoAnalvsis
Studying the Middle Game
grandmaster
we may
againstan experienced
playwhenemployed
from the semifinalof
quotethis example- Sokolsky'Botvinnik,
the 1938SovietChamoionshrP.
1 c4 {lf6 2 i1c3 d5 3 d4 s6 4 Nf3 Ag7 5 e3
Noi tbad move in itself,but here it is the precursorof
play.
and stereotyped
straightforward passive
5... O-O6 Ae2 e6 7 O-Ob6 8 cd ed 9 b3 Ab7 10 Ab2
White developshis pieceson naturalsquares,but he has no
planreadyfor the middlegame.
consistent
2
1 O. . . A b d T1 1 8 c 'Gradually
lt becomes
clearthatWhitehas
Botvinnik
commented
'developing'
his pieces
merely
plan
with
is
occupied
and
no real
Possibly
onecouldplaylikethat50 or 60 yearsago,but in ourtrme
wheneverymasterformsa planfor the middlegamefrom about
the 6th to 8th moveonwardsthereis no'better'wayto get Intoa
crampedand passivepositionthan by just strivingfor better
development.'
'At this pointWhitecouldoccupythe centralpointe5 with his
knightwhichwouldleadto a fight with chancesfor both sidesA
and control
coupleof moveslaterthis no longerprovesfeasible
passes
overto Blackl
overthecentralsquares
11 . . . a6 12 Hacl flac8 13 Efdl ge7 14 s.b1 EfdS 15
af1
but thatis whatloseshim
White'smovesaresimpleandobvious,
game!
the
(44\
15 . .. c5 15 dc bc 17 QSe2
44
aw,t/&t
'qfri"lt
7i
t z 2
2 ',&aVZ
,.t2
atr&
E A €
17 .. . Ah6!
of the most
A concreteattackbasedon exactconsideration
At this pointthe attackis directed
minorfeaturesof the position.
againstthe weakpointat f2.
18Sa3 ls4 19Stl3AdeS20 lxes$xes21
Ag3gf6!
22 ah1
Hereis the sort of abnormalmovethat Whiteis forcedinto.22
bad.
Ec2 tha 23 h3 Axe3 is clearly
22 ... d4t 23 8 e2 €)e5 24 ed cd 25 lxcS $xc8 26
Edel d3 27 8d1 Ag4 28 $al d2 and Whitesoonresigned.
55
-DeePAnalysis
to the readerto what
Ai this point we wish to demonstrate
pleasure
it can give l
go,
what
and
can
heiqhtsthe art of analysis
downto a
to
settle
quote
the
reader
wrll
rnspire
I
truit theexamples
the
leading
games
those
of
or
of
his
own
of
analysis
deep
really
olayers.
'
for a
at alltimes,in preparing
arecalleduponto analyse
Plavers
of all
playing
bu't
most
the
session,
whole
of
the
qame.throughout
period
has
one
of
time
Then
in
a
short
game
rs
adjourned.
a
irhen
deeplyinto
effortin an attemptto penetrate
to put in an immense
variations.
manypossible
the positionandexamine
the most
analysis
adjournment
of
Amongstthe variouscases
is no
There
games
in
team
events
is
of
analysis
interesting
on the numberof peopleinvolvedin the work,you can
restriction
of theteam
as youlike,andwiththe interests
haveas manyhelpers
his
contribution
keen
to
make
is
everyteammember
beinginvolved
in quantityin
it haslongbeenknownthat the increase
Fl6wever
leadto improved
doesnot necessarily
of analysis
the participants
canmake
organisation
qualitv,ofienthe reverse.
Howeversensible
suchgroupeffort very effective
how the taskwas
on variousoccasions
I havealreadydescribed
tackledby the SovietOlympiadside.Our trainerlsaakBoleslavsky
the playing
nevervisitedthe tournamenthall; he slept during
'witha clearhead'
(he
and
then
session wasalwavskeenon sleep)
who broughthim theiradiourned
he would meet his colleagues
posrtrons.
forgive
Please
are pastmastersof analysis.
ManySovietplayers
but I canshowthatthisisthecaseby takingthe
methishighpraise,
whenthe Karpovexamined
theforestof variations
readerthr-ough
in thts
was
adjourned
Spartakiad
game
1979
from
the
Romanishin
posrtron.
45
7r%
''//lfr7Lz.'t
7/tt.,z
7t 7::"z:.1,.1
7z)
7zH'"&ft
":'a"a'/a
team
the chancesseenby the anal}tical
lgor Zaitsevdescribes
position
he is
where
in
a
tryingto f inda \ /infor theworldchampion
procedure
Black's
candlwith
established
a oawnuo.Inaccordance
'Edttar's Nate The E,rgrshtearl DrocedLrre
s that ro more tharr t\\'o peooe
togethei
shoud analysaan aolourrrm(]rrt
56
Studying the Middle Game
datemovesin thispositionwereestablished.
Therearethree:- a)
4 3 . . S f 4 + ; b ) 4 3 . . E a 1 a n d c ) 4 3 . . . S g 7 w h i c hw e
Inturn.
examrne
a) 4il . . . Af4+ 44 s3 Sc7 45 e7+ $h8
It was established
that 45 . . €S7 is worse in view of 46
Qlxc7 pxe2 47 lXeS+ $h6 48 SdS withan easywhite wn.
46 lc6 (46 Af7 Qxa5 47 SxeS lf,b7 with the matethreat
at h1 is no good)46. . . c4
Beforeit was decidedthat this movewas Black'sbestdefence
othermoveswereexamined
e.g.46 . . . Ab7 47 1}dSand White
should
wine.g.47 . . . Ab648Ad6 lxd649e8g+
Axe850
fi xe8+ Sg7 51 Ee7+ winningboth bishops,or 47 . . . Ab6
48 ld6 Qxc6 49 Sxc6 AxdO 50 PeOand Blackcanresisn.
46 . . . c4leadsto a sharpstruggle,
but it is not hardfor Whiteto
realise
hisadvantage.
47 axcT AxcT 48 Ac2!
Thisstrongmovewasadoptedonlyaftertheanalytical
teamhad
established
that the obvious48 e8g+ getsnowhere- 48
OxeS 49 ExeS+ gg7 50 Sc2 [xc2 51 Ab4 HxI2+ 52
Sg 1 [f3 53 Bg2 fla3 54 Nxa6 E xa4 and it is practicay
impossible
for Whiteto win.
48 ... Ae8 (a8 . . $97 49 e8g lxeS 50 lb4! is worse
for Black)49 Ad4! Ab7 50 f3
Whitehasnow builta soundfortressout of hisminoroieces
and
hisrookwill penetrate
the enemyrearwhichmustdecide.
b) Thencamethe turn of 43 . . . Hal threatening
44 . . AXbS.
It was established
that White has three ways of realisinghis
- b 1) 44 Ac6, b2)44 A)2 andb3) 44 Ha2 whichwe
advantage
lookat in turn.
b1)44 ac6 Ab7 45 Ad5 Hxaa {a5
€97 46 Hb2\ 46
f e 7 + S f 8 4 7 N x g 6 + h g 4 8 e 7 + g g 7 4 9 S x b 7 . H o w e v ei tr
soonbecameclear that 44 Ac6 can be stronglymetby 44 . . . c4l
Theattemptedimprovement
44 e7+ @g7 45 lc4 is met by the
quietmove45 . . . Ab7 with White'skingin a criticalposition4q f3 Af4+ 47 s3 pxf3 48 sf Sxe2 49 lbd6 Qxca.
b2) 5o,44 1\a2 c4l (44 . . . trd 1 45 e7+ is weaker)4b Sxc4
EXc4 or 45 lXc4 l}b7 and Blackhasunpleasant
threats.
b3) Thenthe declsionwas madethat Whiteshouldmeet43
Ha3 by 44 [a2 goingintoa minorpieceendgame
of thesortthat
actuallyoccurredin the game.lt is curiousthat the Ukrainian
sioe
did not expectKarpovto go intosucha minorpieceendgame.
c) Of coursetheWhiteteamdid not knowwhichmoveRomanishin
had sealedand had to considerall possibilities.
The move that
causedthemmosttroublewas4il . . . $g7.
DeepAnalysis
57
45 pc6) 44 . . Eal !rts Ac6 frxa4 46
44 Sd5 (threatening
xaS
47 e7 flxb5.
-$xe8 fl
Thisisan obviousline,andit wastheonelookedat in greatdetall
Firstof alltherewasthe straightforward
rtg Axbs AxbS 49 e88 AxeS 50 trxe8 €f7 51 trcg (51
$f8, or
H hB h 07! 52 HxnT q5! is bad)51
"+e
gxes.
casesWhite'swrn is
In
both
49
e6g
TlO trbg
doubtful.
'We managedto find a remarkable
Then as Zaitsevputs it
in the diagrami
resource
zl8 Axg6!! HbB 49 Eb2 winninga vitaltempo.Nowif 49 . .
trS8 50 eegr H xee 51 AxeS c4 52 $a4 and wins without
muchtrouble.
Blackalso losesafter 49 . . tr xb2 50 e88 Sfa+ 51 93
Hxt2+ 52 €g 1 tr{ 1+ 53 Sg2 hg whenthereis the simple54
qf
" andalso54 ge7+ €2hO55 C/f6.
Havinqdealtwith 45 . E xa4 in answerto 45 $c6 theteam
and were almost
startediookinqat other defensivepossibilities
.
46
e7
by 45-. . AfOl
fixa4.
stymied
'someone
47 He6, but Karpovquicklyrefutedthisby
suggesfed
- 47
&47t148 fl xf6-$xe7
somesurprisinjlacticalstroTes
and neitherknightcan come to the helpof the rook e g-^49 flrc7
E xas 50 Ads+
Af4+ {not wnit Wnitehopedfor e.g.49
49
or
si Hxeot),
6og
lc3 fid4!
On thJ point o{ decidrngthat 47 HeO did not wtn an
for Whitewas fbundafter46 1}c6 E xa4, namelY
imorovement
4j abTl Doesit forcea win?Theansweris givenby thisanalytical
treei,hich is basedon two candidatemoves.47 . flb4 and47
too:Thenwe haveotherpossibilities
47 . . . Hb4 48 tre6 €f7 49 ld8+ with an easywn.
50 -trIf6+
49 tre6
+a gxns
tre6€rZ
€f7 _59
47
47 ... exbs
Eb4 4e
axbS Eb4
exbs 48
q3 Ac7 53 Hc6 Ab8 54
5a $a6 and
g xe7 51 Ebo
HbO Af4t52
Ai4+ 52 g3
hitewins.
47 ... AxbT 48 AxbT Eb4 49 treO €rf7 50. EYf6+
Ata+ 52 g3
SxeT 51EuO anothe rookis now sate(51
5
4
Ac753A7c7 Hxb6
Ads+).
-The
arlseafter47 . . . Ee4' Thepersistent
cralestcomplications
else
analystsfound a surewin heretoo by 48 fl xe4 (an!'thing
fighting
pieces,
main
his
minor
White's
leadsto the lossof one of
forcein thisoosition).
le 49 Ad8! (49 A7d6 is weaker.49
Thencomes48
+
51 AxeS-u €{8 SZAxnS Af4+, 53
eef
SO
lxeS
A"nS
F A"a 54 &-g2 A 55 €f 1a3). A{terthe text,however.Black
victoryfor
i^rittGu"to lo-sJa piecewhichmustresultin eventual
White.
_..F
58
TheX-ravEve
Studying the Middle Game
Yetin theeventKarpovpreferred
anotheriine
A superbanalysisl
was
of play. Doesthat meanthat the whole night of analysas
wasted?By no meanswastedlTheworldchampiongaineda clear
insightintothe possibilities
of the position
and thishelpedhimfind
hismovesin theadjourned
Thegameendedthus:session.
43 . . . €97 44 93 (goingintothe minorpieceending)44 . . .
Hal 45 Ha2t flxa2 46 Sxa2 $f6 47 Nc6 pc8 48 a5 Sd2
49Ac4 h5 50€g1 f4 51 gxf4Axf4 52 gf 1 Aa6 53€e2 g5
5413 Q1c755 e7 Ae8 56 €7d3Ab7 57 $1ba7Ah2 58 a6 Aa8
59 Ads As 1 60 Ac8 c4+ 61 Sxc4 Q1c762 Q1b41-O.
Masteryof analysisby the SovietSchoolis developed
by all
possible
means.Thisvitalfeatureis impartedin the chesscirclesin
the PioneerPalaces
In thechesspressthereare
by chesscoaches.
regularcompetitions
set- findthe bestwayto win or drawin this
or that position.
The positions
set are not just solvable
by combinational
means,someincludeplanning
andanalysis.
A featureworthyof noteisthatsparksof genuineinspiration
and
anal!,tical
talentare seennot only in the centraltownsand cities,
but also in the most isolatedsettlements.
The editorsof chess
publications
receivestacksof mailfrom suchdistantspots,some
refutingwell-known
combinations,
othersfindingnew pathsin the
mostestablished
for analysis
openinglines.With suchenthusiasm
amongstwide sectionsof the public it is considereda very
worthwhileundertaklng.
Here are some examplesof the fine
madeby suchanalysts
discoveries
The X-ray Eye
ln the earlydays of its development
the SovietSchoolwent
through a seriouscreativecrisis.At the start of the 1930's,
apparentlyunderthe influenceof Capablanca
who had lost his
worldtitlematchto Alekhineand subseouentlv
somewhatlosthis
interestin chess,some Sovietmastersdabbledin stereotyped
methods,whilesomewoefultheoreticians
evensupportedCapablancain his viewson the 'drawdeath'of chessand the needto
changethegameby introducing
newpieces
on an enlarged
board.
Suchtrendswere bitterlyresistedby true loversof the art of
chess.A numberof articles
in the magazine
appeared
Shakhmatny
Lrbfokin whichthe harmdoneto chessby suchviewswasshown.
War was declaredagainstpot-hunting,
arrogance
and superficial,
'reformslThis battlewas taken up by the young
ill-thought-out
Sovietmastersof the time who showedin theirgamesthat they
were supportersof the creativeprinciples
of the natve school
proclaimed
by Chigorin
andAlekhine.
The movementfor a creativeboost in the contentof chess
recerved
masssupport,andlettersstartedcoming1nfrom themost
distantpartswith openinganalyses,
strikingnew ideasandstartling
59
blows.
combinative
ln ShakhmatnyL/stok number 12' 1931' P Romanovsky,
an articleX-raysin Chessin
HonouredMasterof Sport,published
quoted
of
a little known Leningrad
the
analysis
which he
B.Baskovconcerninghis discoveryof fantastic
mathematician
New
possibilities
in the gameTartakower-Alekhine,
combinative
York,1924.
a
that Baskovhadachieved
admiringly
commented
Romanovsky
which
by puttingin entirelydifferentlighta positlon
greatsuccess
of
bv a numberof authoritiesTheconclusion
6ad beenassessed
put
in doubt.
Alekhinehimselfwas
\^/estressthat suchpositionswherelong
Alongwith Romanovsky
dubiousor totallyrefutedare
arerendered
conclusions
established
of suchcrucial
not rarecasesbut comein droves.Theexamination
freedfrom thetyrannyof
positions
in the lightof concreteanalysis
of a creative
development
leadsto enhanced
I considerations
oenera
In
chess.
course
47
,ft,8%i ,2t.
'w
t /# t+ w 7t
2t
2 Wlz7.2 /1,/.,.
zt/t
7
% 2 2rl
'1
mark,
an exclamation
HereWhiteplayed $e4 and appended
keep
the
and
advantage
his
maintain
move
to
as beingthe only
that 1 $94 wouldleadto
pressur6
on Black.Hef urthercomments
a quickdraw.
anotherlineof attackstartingwith the
Vet Baskovdiscovered
when
the reply
1
stupid c6!
apparently
to win a pawnis met by 2 fle7ll
a) f . . . gxc6 seeming
callsthe X-ray move,
Here is the move which Romanovsky
position.
The variations
penetrating
into the very essenceof the
exceptionally
White
are
win
for
a
which no,,ifollowand leadto
pretty.Obviously
Blackcannotcaptureon e7 with rook or klng,
gSq
since'helosesthe queen.Whitegetsa simplewin after2
4
rules
out
3 Ef XfTl *c1+ 4 Sh2 andthe matethreaton 97
E xe7.
163 HxsTtt (48)
Thearticlegoeson with the keyline2
If 3
The rook siillcannotbe takenfor the samereasons.
h6+ Wgtt
a, nO-1)+ SxgT
tj'g'+-1€sB o6 gs41
E)xg/ 5
E xds then4 H xf6+
Thereremains3 .
trd6, but then comesthe fresh blow 4
queen
rook 14 . . €xS8 5 $94+ 4
or
Eg8+ ! winning
60
TheX-ray Eye
Studying the Middle Game
48
ru
EI t
%.,&
Vt
%
%t:,,.
i.%
2
7Z
t& ,'%l:.,
& /r&.
%,//Z
7 $" .€-i
it&
% ..2%
%
% %2,,.
%t;,,
7lz.,H
gr7 5 dc).
gxc6 losesBaskovgoes on to
Havingprovedthat 1
winningmethodsagainstthe threecandidate
moves
demonstrate
withthe rook.
b) 1
Ee7 2 HxeT €xe7 3 8e5+ €fB 4 $xc7 $e3+ 5
$h 1 $e7 6 $f ! andthetwo unitedpassedpawnsensurethe win.
c) 1 . EdO 2 grb4! Not onlypinningthe rook,but creatingthe
powerful threat3 $b7. Black's
bestdefenceis 2 . . Ec8, to meet
HoweverWhitehas
with
a
defence.
3 9b7 by 3
sound
trdd8!
g e 7 f a i l s t oy e ta n o t h e r
a w i nb y 3 H e 6 l8 g 5 4 f l x d 6 c d ( 4 . .
finetouch- 5 E Xf 7+ ll seediagram49).
49
Thewinafter2 $h6 is shownby thesevariations,
2 . . . f 6 3 E X f 6 a n nd o w
a) 3 ... Exf6 4 gxf6 h5 5 th6! Ag6 6 trf1 gxeS 7
gxg6+ Bg7 8 Ae6+ €/hg I gixh5+ €,h7 10$e5+ $97
1 1t r f 6 .
b )3 . . . 6 g 6 4 A e 6 + € h 8 5 t r c f1 t r x f 6 6 t r x f 6 l x e 5 7
cxd4l pc2 B dXeS]196t h4withthewinning
threat10h5.
c)3 . . . €h8 a flcf 'l andBlackhasnowhere
to gowithhisrook.
d)3 . . . Ac4! 4 flc2! Ng6 5 Se6+ @hB6 ficf2 dxc3!
5t
'g'i
&.t
"'H
2 7z
7t
frvlz
2+
7
iM,
E
2 % z
vl,z.,.
7
2 7tZ"/:aatH
7 2
and now 5 gbTl ge3+ 6 q7h1 ge8 7 flxf7+ SgB 8
flxs7+ €fg 9 trg3!grxhs+ 10 trh3 g/d1+ 11 $h2 Ss4
12 Ef3+ winning
thequeen.
d) 1
2
EdB trefs Hacg12 f6?3 E xf6+ etc.)3 E xfT+
4
aTeno improvement)
5 fl xf B-rr
€g8 8e5 EfB {Othermoves
ExfB 6 EXfS+ €xf8 7 $f5+l $e7 I C.d7+€lf8 I grdS+
w;nnrng.
quotesyet anotheranalysis
In the samearticleRomanovsky
by
BaskovwhoseX-rayeye enabledhim to find a win in the game
Mieses'Bogoljubow,
BadKissingen.
1928.(50)
Miesesplaved 1 cd which led to a draw after Black'sbest
defence1
Ac4. Yet the startlingline 1 Ef 5l Ne7 2 $h6!l
wouldgiveWhitethe chanceto successfully
crown hisattackon
the king.Othersecondmovesareweakere.g.2 e6 AXf5 3 AXfs
f xe6 4 Axe6 Ef7 5 Hf 1 fldd7 andBlackis safe.
ol
''//:;t
7 7
7 2AH.A&
tzt& 7
2A % 27
& 7 &
7/:...
2 ,ru ,ft
7 [xg6 (not7 ExfS+ g,xfg 8 trxt8+ Exf8) 7 . ge7
I E x f S + E X f S I E f 6 ! H x f 6 1 0e x f 6 $ c 5 + 1 1S h 1 a n d
mates.
OtherBaskovanalyses
appearedlater.For examplehe founda
win for Blackin Rubinstein'Yates.
BadKrssinoen.
1928.
52
'ffit
&t%
'%i/& %
2 2 t"'&86
7
%
/&.t7/.r
' N 2,&tr
W
Here Blackhad the chance 1
Axf4 2 HxI4 fl xe3 which
Baskovbackedup with a largenumberof complicated
variations.
62
Studytng the Middle Game
53
/,t
',
./.,
:l ":zt ,.:@
,.,t,: tr.../:
n /.::'',,.
/;/,;
/., fu'
t
fu, /:/,;
t8ta"'/,;.,
. t ,:tt l:..:, /./,8
'.r,
';ft.t
..al/.",./t 7..,€)''2..t
Paris,1929,in which Blacktried 1
Thisis Koltanowski-Lazard,
. 9g3 and got nowhereafler2 $14 gc3 3 gxfT+ gh6 4
gf8+. YetBaskov's1 . . $c3! wouldforcea win.
refutationof a studv bV the
Then there was the sensational
Platovbrotherswho normallycomposedimpeccablyaccurate
studies.
z
54
% 2 ///t '/z
71,2, 2 t
.a//, 2
7 7:,,
',f<,
"Z7lt ,z)./t 7
ffii. %
.g
+
7L"
Baskovfoundthat after 1 €d6 Ac8+ 2 €d7 Ab6+ 3 €c6
hc8 4 AfS gh7 5 gb7 €sO 6 Ah4+ €g5 7 Af3+ gra I
$xc8 $xf3 9 a4 Blackhasnot L . . h4?whenWhitequeens
w i t h c h e c k . b u t 9 . f S l 1 O a 5 f 41 1 a 6 $ e 2 1 2 a 7 1 31 3 a B S t 2
and no seriesof checkscanbe foundto breakBlack'sresistance.
The aulhor hopesthat the examplesquotedwill inducethe
I
readerto sitdown himselfto find suchdeeplvhiddenpossibilities.
the
can claimthat nothingelse is so effectivein encouraging
groMh of chessstrengthas suchindependent
analysis,
bothof the
gamesof the greatplayersand your own. Try this out and I can
assurevou that vou will soon feel the benefitof it, both in
understanding
chessand in resultsagainstyour peers.
Onealliedtopicis thewritingof notesto games* yourown and
isalsoverybeneficial
andwe nowturn
thatof others.Suchpractice
to how thisis donein the SovietUnion.
6
A n n o t a t i n gG a m e s
Your Own Games
part in chesscoachingin the USSRis playedby
A considerable
writingnotesto games.Thebestnotesare published
in magazines
and newspapers,
but thisis not the mainaim.A developing
player
hasto write notesto his gamesin orderto developthe habitof
havinga self-critical
approachto his play.By spottingthe flawsin
hisplayhe willmoreeasilyeradicate
them.
So we requireyoungplayersto write notesto their gamesin
theirworkingnotebooks.
lt is of no importance
thatthesenoteswill
be written'for the drawer'andnct seethe lightof day.Thefact
theytheywillnot be published
isevenan advantage
sincetheir'btte'
can be enhanced.
I can claimthat the notebooks
containingmy
game notesin my youth containvery sharpcommentsindeed.
Many of my colleagues
can say the sameand carriedthis out
regularly
aftera certainlapseof timewhensetbacks
forcedthemto
carry out an overalisurveyof their progress,in orderto devise
meansof rootingout persistent
failings.
Of coursetheseindividual
notesvaryaccording
to the character
of the writer,but thereis muchin commontoo.
Fourtypesof gameanno*€tions
maybe mentioned:
1) Descriptive
notes.
2) Analv,tical
comments.
3) Positional
comments.
4) Svnthetic
comments.
1l Descriptive,ofes. Here the commentatorwrites out all the
movesand then putsdown an extendedprosedescription
of the
courseof the game.He notesthe turningpointsin the battleand
assesses
the accuracyof the ideasshown.Sucha verbalaccount
devotesa lot of attentionto the psychology
of the struggleandthe
attitudesof the players.
Actualvariations
maybe totallyabsent,or
arerestricted
to justa few movesat certainpoints.Sucha method
is bestsuitedto the popularpresswherethe courseof the game
64
AnnotatingGames
who arenotfamiliarwiththe
for non-specialists
hasto be explained
employed
wassuccessfully
finerpointsof chess.Suchan approach
by its then
from time to time in the magazineShakhmatYv SS.S/q
Champion,the late
editor, former World Correspondence
Ragozin.
Vyacheslav
2\ Analvticalcomments In this case the stress is on actual
of a massof variations,
with all the notesconsisting
variations,
(or in the
some long,some short,which the playerconsidered
duringthe
shouldhaveconsidered)
opinionof the comment€tor
justof linksbetweenthe
game.Proseis veryslighthere,consisting
variations.
A supporterof such a styleof notesin the lastcenturywas
in Fischer's
Chigorin,and in our day this approachpredominates
Thismethodhasbecomeverypopularin recent
notesto hisgames.
abbreviated
style
and one may pointto the particularly
decades,
used in the Yugoslavlnformator,while observingthat here the
plans
in his opportunities
of describing
is restricted
commentator
I considerataons.
and positiona
It is hardto oblectto sucha stylesinceit is compactandenables
to quotea larger
spaceof a bookor magazine
one in the restrjcted
numberof games.HoweverGod helpthe playerwho triessucha
methodin trying to improve,or ratherrestrictshimselfto this
method.Thereis a graverisk that his play will dry up and the
variationshe analyseswill be short, formal and not reallya
in modern
reflection
of thecourseof an actualgame.Unfortunately
booksone tendsto find only such notesand this is one of the
reasons
for the 'fading'andpovertyof styleof a numberof modern
olaveTs.
3l Positionalcomments.This method,the mirror imageof the
previousone,hasa longhistory.Thecommentator
givesa limited
hisviewof the
numberof variations,
onlyusingthemto underline
gameandthevalueof theplansadopted.
reminiscent
lt is somewhat
of method1, but the proseis not collectedtogether,ratheris it
spreadout throughoutthe game.
Thiswasthe methodadoptedby manygreatplayers- Steinitz,
Nowadays
too it is a favoured
Tarrasch,Laskerand Capablanca.
whoseplayis markedby a
methodamongstthosegrandmasters
depthof strategyand logic,but who rarelyget involvedin bitter
'hand-to-hand'
struggles.
Naturally
enoughin viewof thedrametrically
opposed
of methods
2) and 3) there havebeenattemptsto bring them together,to
producea synthesis,
whichleadsusto whatis in our viewthe most
universal
and rationalmethod.
Yourown games
65
4) The Syntheticmethod. fhis method of explaininga game
of
and verbaldescriptions
combinesboth manydeepvariations
this
strategicideas.The world of chesshas come to recognise
methodas best,and it is no accidentthat its principalexponent,
in his time as the bestannotatorliving.
was recognised
Alekhine,
book
washistournament
Theworkwhichgainedthe mostplaudits
of NewYork, 1924.In our dayssuchpraiseis rightlygivento the
oamenoteswrittenby Botvinnikand Karpoy,both to theirown
lames and to the gamesof others.Anotherexampleof such
bookof the 1953 Candidates
excellentsyntheticwork is Bronstein's
in Switzerland,TheChessStrugglern Practice,
Match-Tournament
intoEnglish.
translated
Batsford1980,recently
Annotation Competitions
gamesas a meansof selfthe valueof annotating
Recognising
for the best
competitions
we
in
the
USSR
often
see
improvement
on a level
to putallthecompetitors
setof notesto games.Normally
from the past.A
examples
footingthe gamesset are little-known
as longagoas 1937.
goodexample
arranged
wasthecompetition
year
Trade
Unionschessclub
the
Soviet
At the end of that
a contestfor firstcategoryplayerslivingotherthan in
announced
werefurnished
All relevantorganisations
Moscowand Leningrad.
with the gamesof unknownplayerswith a setof tasksto be carried
out in the courseof annotatingthesegames.An authoritative
and Yudovichwas
consisting
of Ruymin,Blumenfeld
commission
whichwerethe best.
set up to monitorthe entriesand determine
Of coursethe demandsmade on the commentatorsls what
interestsus most. Thesebecomeclear from the report of the
from whichwe quote:
commission
'Commonfaultsamongstthe entriesincludea) unsubstantiated
without
allegations,
b) referenceto too generalconsiderations
by
c)justification
of the position,
reference
to concreteassessment
worked
out
Variations
should
be
variations.
meansof longabstract
carefully.and one shouldnot go too long down any variation
moves
withouthavingmadeabsolutely
surethat the introductory
are forcedf(Aswe put it in the book Thinklikea Grandmaster
You
have to decideon the candidatemovesand only then start
analysing
eachin turn.)
'1937
The
iury then went on to pointout that long unforced
but are
variationsnot only encumberthe courseof exposition,
oftenfaulty.A commonerrorwasto go in for suchlongvarlatrons
which were not all that relevant,so infringingthe principleof
economyof form andcontent.
was hailedas a new tool in self-improveThe 1937 exoeriment
ShakhmalyruSSS,Q,
mentand hasbeenusedsinceby the magaztne
of
chesstheoryand
quizzes
knowledge
to testreaders'
alongwith
66
AnnobtionCom@titrons 67
AnnotatingGames
givesthe moves
history.Nowadays
everysixmonthsthe magazine
The
whereor by whomit wasplayed.
of a gamewithoutindicating
the
task of the readeris to providenoteswhich will illuminate
turning point of the game,and to back this up by an overall
description
of itscourseand by variations
essentialto
thisaccount.
Feaders'lettersare workedover bv an exoerienced
masterwho
selectsthe bestentrjesand then the magazine
reprintsthe game
witha selection
of the bestand mostrelevant
comments.
aswellas
the notesof leading
As an example
authorities.
of sucha competition
we quotethe 1979 effortbv readersto annotatethe BlackburnSteinitzgameplayedin London,1863.The noteswerechecked
and synthesised
by A.Magergut.
1 e4 e5 2 Af3 AcG 3 {c4 ScS 4 b4 {Metlinfrom Gorky
comments'The
EvansGambithaslostitstopicalitv,
but it wouldbe
a mistaketo writeit off sinceall its attackingpossibilities
havenot
yet beenfullyrevealed.
lt is pla!€dvery rarelynowadays,
but not
it is unsound- in factmanyplayers
avoid3 . . . $c5, just
because
to avoidfacingitl.
4 .. . AXb4 (After4 . . Ab6 thereis the awkwardSokolsky
line5 a4 a6 6 lc3 intending
7 ld5)
5 c3 Ac5 {Nowadayspreferenceis givento the retreatto a5
withthefollow-up6 d4 d6 7 g/b3 grdT I de Ab6 - returning
the
extra pawn at the appropriate
momentis the bestantidoteto a
gambit- and if 9 ed theng . . Aa5 10 8b5 lXc4 witha level
game.
)
6 d4 ed7 O-O(7 cd Ab4+ I gf 1 is goodfor White.)
7 . . . dG8 cd4 1\b6 {Thenormalposition
of the EvansGambit.
played,
Whitecanpressforwardby 9 d5 asAnderssen
regularly
or
go 9 Ac3 as introducedby Morphy and then taken up by
Chigorin.)
- White is a pawn down,
9 A€ Aga (Syntheticassessment
but has betterdevelopment
and a strong centre.This central
from onewingto the other
controlmeansWhitecanswitchpieces
easily.Black'spieces.for examplethe bishopat b6, can be
transferred
lossof time.
to the€-side onlywith considerable
So Whitehasto try for an attackon the $-side,whileBlackhas
to createthreatsto the enemycentre.Moreover,
as is normalin a
crampedpositionBlack will strive for exchangesto ease his
position.
After this generalcommentthe annotators
subsequently
go overto variations.
)
1OAbs $f8 11 Qxc6 bc 12 Qa3 Axf3 13 gf $95+ 14
€hl Ae7 15 le2 Ag6 16 trsl gf6 17 grd3 €gB 18 Acl
h6 19 f4 €zh7 20 f5
To save spacewe do not quote shorter notes concerning
individual
moves.Forexample
at thispointonewriterindicated
that
gameby 20 ... dxeS 21
after 20 e5 Blackgetsa reasonable
gd8.
dxes
.
20 . . Ae7 21 Ab2 d5 2213 Ead823 6f4 trhg8 24 Ahs
.glh425t6tgxhs 26 f xe7 Ed7?
55
&H&.
'",82t%t:.,
/4r.2%
lz 'ffit %
+
',&%8%
% %
to
havebeengivingshortand longvariations
Thecommentators
theerrorof
backup theirviews.At thispointmanyof themindicate
Black'slast moveand expresstheir surprisethat Whitedid not
noticethe bcticalstroke27 flxg7+ @x 97 2a flg 1+ $95 29
g/h6+ €88
$e3 flxe7 3O flxg5+ hg 21 $xg5+ €f8 32
33 $xc6+ aridBlackis in a badway.
i ed+? g6 28 Eael Ee8 29 EeS gh4 20 [f5! $xe7
31 dc
of this
makea fresh assessment
The amateurcommentators
and pointout {for the first
position
sources*
comparedto exisiting
the errorof thispawncapture.Aftertheir
timein chessliterature)
the
outcomeis far f rom clear.Black'sbest
31 Aa3l
suggestion
move is givenas 31 . . Se3 which would leaveBlackwith
nces.
adequate
counter-cha
31 . . . EddS 32 Aa3 8e6 3:l Ef4 f5 34 trh4 !5! 35 Ab2
gb3 g&5 38 8c3 tre239 {4 trxd4
Eds!36 r&cz88.e237
40grf3g/dsO-1.
'Translatar's
Not-. See for example Rel s Masters of the ChessBoard 1933 ol
Neyshatadt's197 I book o|l Ste n tz Pervy ChempDn M/ra Ret m ssedboth tact ca
lil)es Nevshtadtgave the fi.st mprovement 27 Z/.97+. whlch had been
dscoveredLnthe West many yea.searler - See Bruce AaydensCabbageHeads
and Chess Ktngs
A Philosophvof Chess
A P h i l o s o p h yo f C h e s s
After our investigation
of featuresof modernchesstheoryvvehave
the chancenow to try to givean answerto the question'Whatrs
chesstoday?'Orin otherwordsto describe
a'philosophy'ofthe
chessof our tjme.Onethingis alreadyclear.You can no longer
restrict yourself to the sort of short formulationsthat vvere
'Thepawnis the soulof chess'or
accepbblein previous
centuries.
'Seizethe centre
get
your
pieces
and
out' - suchphrases
do not
playerhasin
express
a tenthof theaimsthata moderntournament
mindd uringa game.
A chesscontL.st
of ourdaysisa lery complicated
battleof minds,
plans,basedon extensi\r'e
preparation,
of strategical
eruditionand
deepknowledge
of chesstheory.In our belovedart we havethe
sameprocessof additional
complication
that appliesin lifeand in
science.Artificialintelligence,
for example,or the structureof
matteror cosmology
arethe productof knowledge
in manyfields.
In chesstwo thinkingbeingsarearmednow with a knowledge
of
theory,with the experience
of previoustournamentsand are
preparedspecially
for a givengameby concreteplansand even
tacticalconcepts.
lf we try to formulate
a 'philosophy'of
modernchesswe might
settleon thefollowingformulation:
A moderngameof chessis a logicalor tacticalclashof concepts
which ha\€ beenwidelystudiedand weighedup in preparation
made long beforethe actualgame.This preparation
takesinto
accountthe experience
of the best theoreticians
of the past,as
codifiedin textbooksandencyclopedras,
as wellas taktngaccount
of competitive
and psychological
aspectsdepending
upon speclal
teaturesof the opponent's
character.
Theopeningof the gameis
playedaccordingto one of threemethods:quietplayaimingfor
equality,headlong
attackor the coiledspring.Moreoverthe initial
stageof the gameis playedin conjunction
with plansfor the middle
gameor evenfor theendgame.
Themiddlegamestruggleiscarried
out by the method of logicalplans,of concreteanalysisof
combinations
andvariations,
or bv intuitive
oressuTe.
69
is it not? What can one do about that
Batherlong-winded,
possiblyour successors
will needwhole volumesto expressin
nature
of chessof theirtime!
fashlon
the
6ppropriate
-'Witn
intotheorywe hopethat we haveprepared
tnisexcursion
processIn
of theeducational
thereaderto moveon to thequestion
particular
chess
schools
with
existing
we deal
chessin the USSR.In
and
the
schools
in
such
study
between
and the relationship
player.
the
individual
work
of
independent
Everything Staftsfrom Childhood
S c h o o l so f C h e s s
Everything Starts from Childhood
'lt'salrightfor you.Youhavechesstaughtin the schoolson the
physics,geography.
That'swhy a
samefootingas mathematics,
youngsteronce leavingschool is ready to play in top class
tournamentsl
I haveoftenhad occasion
to hearsuchwordsfrom the lipsof
foreigners
who are keenon thedevelopment
of chessin theirown
country.We haveto disillusion
suchpeopleby pointingout that
they are mistakingthe desirable
for reality,that chessdoesnot
figureon our schooltimetables.
Our childrenbasically
havethe
sameschoolprogramme,
and studythe samegeneraleducational
subjects
as in schoolstheworldover.
Thenwe go on to tell how we do havespecialestablishments
which do immensegood work in coachingour young chess
players.
Thoseschoolboys
in the game
and girlswho get interested
get
whileat schoolandshowthe bestresultsin schooltournaments
the right to loin the specialchesscirclesin their local Pioneer
just in the samewayas theirclassmates
Palace,
enrollin circlesfor
sport,aircraftmodelling,
botanyor whathaveyou.In thesePioneer
Palaces
for studyas chess
the childrenhavethe rightconditions
mastersexperienced
in chesscoachingkeep an eye on their
Thechesscirclesof the PioneerPalaces
havebeen
development.
the workshopof our chessdevelopment
for manydecades.
Manyof our leadinggrandmasters
havestartedin thesecircles
rightdown to AnatolyKarpov,and havehappymemories
of them
evenwhen they havepassedon to highereducationand got a
qualificationor profession.
Obviously
our youngsters
areattractednotjustby thechanceto
to play in eventswhich will
study theory but by opportunities
developin them the correct qualitiesneededin a competition
player.
Aftera numberof experiments
andtrialswe haveestablished
a unifiedsystemof tournaments
for youngplayers,
andthissystem
hasnow beenin operation
for quitea longtime.
The startingpoint is the schooltournament.Here the best
71
and
tournaments
to take part in inter-school
^hversare selected
lpvel
naLlonal
localand
at
to
competitlons
inoll
oo on
" -ihire
ur" manysucheventsin the USSRThe mainone is the
.WniteRoot' competition.
Eachschoolf ieidsa teamof f our boys
ii e. in the age groupo{
and one gid from the 3rd to 7th classes
local
onesand the wlnner
other
meets
Thrs
team
;bout 1O:15).
and republic
regional
at
city,
levels
to
higher
going
forward
ieeps
centres.
--The
and
levelfor the'WhiteBook'prize,
finalis playedat national
wartlme
ot
hero-cltles
of
the
in
one
or
takesplacein the capital
five millionchildrena yearcompetein this
iime. npproximately
goes
without
sayingthat the roundsare playedin out-oflt
event.
ichool tifrreand during vacationsso as not to interferewlth
schoolwork.
for PioneerPalacesEachteam
Thenthereis the competition
girl
to theageof 18 andin thefinal
up
a
boys
and
of
seven
consists
theytakepart in a most unusualtype of event Eachteamhasa
masterand is
or stronginternational
who is a grandmaster
cap'tain
'graduate'-of
give-clock
The
captains
particular
Palace.
that
itso a
These
teams
remaining
the
all
against
exhibitions
iimultaieous
and the leadinggrandoamesaTealwaysverv sharplycontested
to droppointsrnthem.Thepointsscored
iiasterscanbe expected
areadoed
theothercaptarns
team
against
by
his
by thecaptainand
the winner.In suchan eventteamsplrltbeNveen
up to determine
membersand the captainplaysa big role,and useful
individual
The most
to.another'
on from onegeneration
is passed
experience
Pioneer
Chelyabinsk
the
heads
who
Karpov
popularcaptainsare
Faiaceteam, Petrosianfor Tbilisi,Tal for Riga, Smyslovfor
for Kievand so on.
Moscow,Bronstein
of the contestcan be shownby the fact that in
The sharpness
wascaptain)coming
1979the finalwinnerwas Kharkov(V.Savon
republics'
aheadof a numberof teamsfrom the largestcities.and
The next stageonwardsas the playersget olderis the USSR
for playersup to eighteenyearsold The
JuniorChampi6nship
qualifyfor thisevent,with the
champions
of the variousrepublics
furtherprospectof takingpartin the WorldJuniorand European
JunrorChampionships.
Finally
for ihe highestagegroup- up to twentyfive- therels
the annualtournamentof youngmasters.Thisis the eventlrom
theexperienced
whichwe get mostof thosewho go on to challenge
grandmasrers.
systemof coaching
controlled
and carefully
Thiswellorganised
gets
and competitiv!eventsensuresthat the youngergeneration
and
in
rough
get
play
experience
perfect
and
its
the chanceto
The whole system
tumble competitionagainstcontemporaries
of players,and the most talentedof
takesin a massivenu-mber
--F
72
Schoolsof Chess
them come under even more carefulcontrol,since they are
schoolswhosefamehasspread
enrolledin one of the theoretical
throughoutthe world. First placeamongstthese ls taken by
school.
Botvinnik's
TelevisionTuition
Morethana decadeagoa seniorfigurein theworldof SovtetTV
of chesstheory
lessons
ideaof startingsystematic
hadtheexcellent
programme
In every
popular
a
has
become
on TV. Sincethen it
leisure
in
their
chess
who
enloy
those
to
giving
entertainment
home
and a chanceto improvechessstatusfor
time. aindi-nstruction
thosewho takeit moreserlously.
the TV ChessSchool
After variouschangesand improvements
is threeyearsand
period
instruction
of
The
format.
has
a
set
now
anyonewho wantsto enrollfor formalinstructionhasto senda
and
details
postcardbeforethecoursebeginsgivingshortpersonal
etc)
category
(beginner,4th
3rd
category,
qualification
his chess
the degreeto which
This informationis neededin assessing
and alsoin orderto make
homeworkhasbeendonesuccessfully
qualification
ticket'
entryon the student's
theappropriate
in the school.Theyoungestviewersare
divisions
Therearefour
'WhiteRook'schoolunderthe directionof chess
enrolledin the
(daughterof the famousMoscow
masterLyudmillaBelavenets
lessons
applyfor
of the 1930's).Separate
masterand methodician
the
Of
course
is
in
charge
wheremasterBorisShashin
beginners
players
which
works
for
category
part
is
that
of the school
ma-in
- the endgamewlth YuryAverbakhand-the
undertwo headings
middlegamewitii Kotov.Thisis {or playersfrom 4th up to 2nd
category.
to lastthreeyearsand a personwho
Eaih courseis scheduled
for a coursemaycarryon in the nextthreeyearcycle.
hasenrolled
Averbakhdealswith simplepositionsand then goeson to the
in more
advantage
methodsof exploitingmaterialand positional
three
game
with
deals
course
complexexamples.The middle
position
the
and
of
assessment
and
analysis
topiis,combinations,
of variations.
calculation
for
One of the specialfeaturesis the use of tests.Positions
on
solvingare seton eachtopic.Thusthereare ten testpositions
is
the
ten
out
of
of
six
solver
the endoame.and the successful
awarded4th categorystatusby virtueof a specialdecisionof the
Thosewho sendin eightcorrectsolutlons
SovietChessFederation.
aregiven3rd categorystatusandthosewho solveallten correctly
grantingthese
- 2ndcategory.
At theendof eachyeardocuments
solvers
the
most
successful
of
and
some
sent
out
awardsare
certficatein the MoscowstudioThisfinal
theirqualification
receive
widelyon vartouschannels
awardceremonyrstransmitted
-_
TelevisionTuition
73
The TV school has attracted tens of thousandsof viewers.
Bykovawho answers
FormerWomen'sWorld ChampionYelizaveta
viewers'lettersand dealswith the answersto the homeworkalways
comesto the studiowith a huge casefull of readers'Ietters.
touchingare the lettersfrom invalidsand the bedParticularly
activelyin
riddenwho onceagainget the chanceto participate
status
chessandto try to raisetheirqualification
and at various
The programmegoesout overvariouschannels
differenttimesin orderto coverthe wholeof the vastcountrywith
its differenttime zones.The programmelastshalfan hour since
thatthisis the
we cameto theconclusion
aftervariousexperiments
programme.
for
such
a
optimumtime
are shownin turn, eachoncea
The four levelsof instruction
month.So each of the four goesout on differentchannelsat
differenttimesbut at the rateof oncea week.The showlastsall
vear roundwith the seriousstudycoveringthe nine monthsof
autumn,winterand springand the threesummermonthsglven
Thenthereisan attempt
I andrevision.
o\,/er
ratherlighter
liohtermaterial
to rather
over
elements
of theatre,humourand populartales.
at introducing
Averbakhhas often sharedwith
For examplegrandmaster
in the field of the historyof chessin
viewershis discoveries
particularthe historyof the chesspieces.He hasalso writtena
screenversionof an ancientchesspoem.
The author of this book has done severalprogrammeson
programme
combined
successful
humourin chess.Oneparticularly
by callingon actorsfrom the Gogol
instruction
and entertainment
Theatrein Moscow.Thiswasthetheatrewhichputon the play'The
on my longnovelof the samenameancj
WhiteandtheBlack'based
playerAlekhine.
An extract
great
Russian
the
devotedto the liteof
f rom the playwasshownon TV in summer.
exhibitionagainst
This depictsAlekhinegivinga simultaneous
Praquein
rtu Germanofficersof the GeneralStaffin occupiedPrague
thirty
Spak
game
is
Obersturbannfuhrer
1943.The last
to finish againsi
'l resignideclares
the Germanofficer,'Mypositionis hopelessl
Alekhineturns the board round,and takesthe black pieces
himself,and says'Playonl'Two movesfollowand the German
againdeclaresthat, believeit or not, he must resignas White's
gameis hopeless.
turnsthe boardroundand now announces
OnceagainAlekhine
matein threeon White'sbehalf
.
An amusingtouch - the championhaswon with both Whtte
for the
andBlack,but howcanthisbeexpressed
in chesslanguage
TV screen.I mustadmitit tookme two weeksto figureit out,but I
got therein the end./56l
It is Blackto playand he can seeno defenceagainstthe threat,
sinceafter 1
gO 2 .$h7+ gf8 3 gh8+ he is mated.When
74
Teleision Tuition
Schools of Chess
7:,27.:.,t
7:., A '
7:.2 7l/ra
Hr
''/.t .L7
tg, 2
.E;:
Alekhine
takesBlackhe makesthe re1oinder
1 ... flh4l when
White can only take the rook with knight- 2 fl Xh4? ge 1+
mates.So 2 4ixh4 $c3 and Whitecouldseeno defenceto mate
at b2, sinceif 3 $c1 $a 1* winningthe rookandthenthe pinned
knight.
OnceagainAlekhine
takesWhiteandgoes3 gh8+l gXhS 4
and
mate
next
move.
196+
Thewholevalueof thisexample
wasbroughtout aftertheactors
had performedthe scenewhen the play was examinedfrom a
pointof view.Thisis an excellent
technical
example
of combinative
playexploitingopen lines.The finalcombination
with the queen
sacrificeon h8 is a tvoical 'ambush'combination.Thus an
purposes.'
entertaining
episodeis usedfor instruction
Beforepassingon to the topicof sp€cialchessschoolsin the
USSRwe follow the path of ihe improvingplayer.When he
becomesan adulthe passes
on intoadultcompetitions
whichare
basedon strictcompet,tion
and qualification.
Only in very rare
casesdoesthe SovietChessFederation
makeso boldas to try to
correcttheconsequences
of badluckor misfortune.
The main event of the year for all playersis the Soviet
Championship.
No matterwhat a player's
highstandingmaybe a
grandmaster
can be authorisedto missthis event only by the
Praesidium
of the ChessFederation.
On the otherhandif the top
playersfind it hardto get out of competingin the championshrp,
aspirants
to takepartin it findit justas hardto get in.
Thequalification
systemworksas follows:The list of entrantsfor the Suoer Leaouestarts with tne
Otborochnii(Selection)
tournamentor from specialquarter-final
groups (The Chess Federationhas not yet come to a final
conclusionwhich tournamentsare better but more and more
protestsare being madeagainstthe 13-round.64-man Swiss
'Translatar's Nate A,254 page
book Chess Schoo/ was ssued n 1976 to
accompafy the TV course Apart from contrrbutonsby Kotov and Averbakhrt
contans an BO pageaccoulltby Yudovlchof the hrstoryof chessand the theoryof
the opef ngs
75
Systemusedfor the Otborochnii).
From here qualifiersmove on to the First Divisionof the
with only the winner of the Otborochniiseeded
Championship
directto the Top League.Then the leadingfew from the First
qualifyfor theTop League
heldat theendof theyear.Thus
Division
accordingto actual
a strictprincipleof promotionand relegation
resultsis observed.
programme
of
Duringthe restof the yearthereis an extensive
team.
The
chief
ones
are
the
Soviet
individual
and
both
events,
tournaments
the USSRCup and variousinternational
Soartakiad,
the
the ChigorinMemorlal,
suchas the CentralClubtournament,
in Tallinnand so on.
KeresMemorial
competein international
As is well known our grandmasters
that
throughouttheworldaswellas helpingcountries
tournaments
and
are backwardin chessby meansof lectures,exhibitions
coaching.
of our
affectedby the massiveness
Ourtop players
aredoubtless
thattheyservethe peopleand
and theconsciousness
organisation
Thescaleof Sovietchessis immense
obligations.
so havespecial
more than three millionorganisedplayers,one millionof them
and
categoryplayers,spreadthroughout 148,0OOcollectives
and
61 grandmasters
1.5OO
clubs.Thereare nearly7O0 masters,
the game
13 worldchampions
out of 18.Thework of popularising
a
in the outsideworld is alsoimmense- morethan 25 countries
yeararevisitedby our chessrepresentatives.
Different Nuancesof the Word 'School'
as a
ln art and literature
the word 'school'can be understood
definitecreative
trendwhichunitespeoplethroughoutthe worldin
their views on the subjectin question.Then there is also the
head,
meaningof a combined
havrngitsown building,
organisation
teaching
of studies.
staffand programme
In the period of the 192O'sto the 1940's there were no
organised
schoolswherechesswastaughtin someform or other,
yet from the very first stepsalongthe road to creatinga nattve
Schoolof Chessthreetrendsemergedas regardsunityof views
and principles.
Thesewere the Leningradschool,the Moscow
school
andtheUkrainian
school.
A leadingrole was playedat once by the Leningradschool,
althoughin assessing
matches,
of
the resultsof Leningrad-Moscow
tournament
performances
work
of the timeand evenin analytical
we notea prolonged
of
sharprivalrybetweenthe representatives
thecapitalcityand Leningrad.
maintained
its massot
After the OctoberRevolution
Leningrad
strongand theoretically
Thesegreatconnois'
experienced
masters.
seursand strongpracticians
work to a high
raisedtheir research
_-
76
'School'
Different Nuancesof the Word
Schoolsof Chess
sincetheircity was the placewherein thosedays
levelespecially
the only chess magazineShakhmatnyLr.slokwas published.A
who becameSovietChampions
iole wasplayedby players
leading
-number
of occasionsor took high placesin the national
on a
- Levenfish,
l.Rabinollyrn-Genevsky,
Romanovsky,
championship
vichand so on.
thereemerged
of suchpedagogues
with the presence
Naturallv
a wave of young talents headedby the leaderof Sovietchess
Lisitsyn
and
Chekhover,
Herewe find Ragozin,
MikhailBotvinnik.
others. Later on came a fresh generationof grandmasters,
graduatesof the LeningradPioneerPalacewho weretaughtby the
andothers.
Korchnoi
Spassky,
trainerZak - Taimanov,
After the October
in
Moscow.
is
seen
A simrlardevelopment
Grigorilev,and
Nenarokov,
by
Revolution
chess\6s supported
'193O's
of a
we havethe emergence
Then in the
A.Rabinovrch.
group of young talentedmasters- Ryumin.Kan, Belavenets,
Simaginand so on. They competed
Yudovich,the theoretician
with the Leningradplayersboth in matchesand
successfully
research.
theoretical
Herea
The Ukrainian
schoolprovidedmassivereinforcements.
who
Rauzer
played
theoretician
the
outstanding
by
rolewas
leading
inventedmany systemsin variousopeningsalong with another
Thesewerefollowedby new names
Konstantinopolsky.
theoretician
who were to makethe Ukrainefamousthroughoutthe world Bronstein,
Geller.Steinandothers.
Boleslavsky,
changesto the
War broughtsignificant
Fatherland
The Great
players.
By
the middleof
of
geographical
of
our
schools
location
-194O's
there had been a movementof peopleto Moscow
the
Bronstein,
from Leningrad,
and Romanovsky
Botvinnik,
Levenfish
This
rather
the
Ukraine
from
Geller
Konsta
ntinopolskvand
thoughtheystillput upa good
thetwo areasmentioned,
weakened
resistanceto the capitalin team matches.We must be honest
schoolhasfallenbackfrom the
thoughand saythatthe Leningrad
players.
leading
pointof the development
of
has playeda big part in
In our days The RussianFedeation
the late Bondarevsky,
producingsuch namesas Polugayevsky,
Krogiusand others Therehas beena
Sveshnikov,
Tseshkovsky,
wherethe namesof Taland
growthof talentin the BalticRepublics
laterto speak
have
occasion
We
shall
for
themselves.
keresspeak
schoolwith itsfloweringof
featuresof the Georgian
of the special
femaletalent.
fromthe pointof viewof
Thatis an outlineof thevariousschools
in
daystherehasbeenthe
top
of
this
our
On
distribution.
territorial
of schoolsin the propersenseof theword
development
favourable
withoutanyterritorial
'195O'slimitations.
onwardswe havehad certainschoolswhich
Fromthe
77
talent.ln this
amountof goodin developing
havedonean immense
reso€ctwe must namefirst of all the schoolsof Botvinnik,of
andof Kart.
Karseladze,
Soviet lmmortals
Beforedealingwith these schoolsof a new type and their
'oraduates'we
would liketo takea look in passingat the recent
of those playerswho may be calledveteransor
aihievements
'candidate-veteransl
who for almosta quarter
Thesearethe players
coloursand still
the
country's
defending
have
been
century
a
of
in
the
world.
best
lists
of
the
up
in
the
high
figure
-We
are interestedmoreover not so much in thetr sporting
themof
Age hasnot dulledtheirkeenthought,or deprived
results.
and fantasy.They play suchdeepconvincing
their inventiveness
oamesthat theirplaystillattractsthosewho esteemtheelementof
5rt in chess,for whom the questionof how a gamewas played
playsas greata partas what its resultwas.
will act asa compass
We trustthe gameswe now demonstrate
the bestthat thereis in
for the readerin his strivingto assimllate
chess,will stimulatehim to work at improvinghis play and
understanding.
MikhailTal remainsfull of force in his inventivethinking.His
gameshavealwaysbeenartisticand excitingwith theirrevelationof
{he struggleof the pieces,yet the keenstudentwill find other
notices
from
hisgamesstillgetrave
hiddenfacetsin them.Certainly
'Theex-world
wrote
Taimanov
once
As
his felloworandmasters.
influence
oftenexerta sort of paralysing
champion's=
combinations
play.lt wouldseemthat the elementof surprise
on the opponent's
playsa big partin this:
movesthereareln thisgamef romthe 1979
How minv surprise
Yuooslavia-USSR
match.
EnglishOpening
Tal-Velimirovi6
I c4 c5 2b3 Ac6 3 Pb2 e5 4I g3
93 d6 5 Ag2 AeG 6 Ac3
gxh3
I
8
7
Ads
€/d7 Al3 Ah3 Axh3
Black'sopeningplaycannotbe approvedof. Whiie hasa slight
but definiteadvantage.
9 . . . gd7 1Oe3 lceT 11 lc3!
superiordevelopment.
Avoidingexchanges
and maintaining
11 .. . af6 12O-Oe/.13 Ag5 d5 14cdW5 (57)
1 5A x r !
Talas everwas! When he hasthe chanceto makean intuitive
ptecesacrificehe neverretreats.
15...€)xf716f3
of theenemykingin the centre
Lineopening,
sothatthe position
becomesa primefactor.
78
Sovietlmmortals
Schoolsof Chess
t %'/12.,.
xtru
,x
%,&A
%v"il
% 7.*t %+)
4
.f\
t\ v)
_;(
JFt
./a,t
lY
ru
2H&
16 ... Aexds 17 fe lxc3 18 $xc3 gxe4 19 ghs+
€e6
.-Avoidinq
the nicefinish19 .. gSg 20 AxfO gf 21 flxf6
ge7 22 8$.d5+Sg7 23 $95 mate.
20 gh3+ €/d6 21 b4!
foreseenby Whitein assessing
A veiy cunningmovedoubtless
afteithe knightsacrificeNow filesareopenedon the
hischances
$-side andthe poorblackkingcanfind no refuge..
21 . . . &c7 22 trcl trcg 23 Efs!894 24 peS+ &d7 25
gfl
ge4
SpeiOsup the end,but therewere no realchancesof savingit
evenafterthe right move25 . . c4.
26 Ec4 8c6 27 th3 8e6 28 Axf6 gf 29 Ee4!
79
Petrosian
of threeislands.
considers
thisa considerable
consisting
oositionalplus and has frequentlyexploitedsuch an apparently
slightadvantage.
21 fic4 .{.gb222g9c2 gxc2 23 $xc2 Qd4 24 $fl e5 25
Ads
Ae €g7 26 flc2 PcdS 27 g3
'bad'bishop
againstWhite'sactive
After this Blackis leftwith a
knight.Why bad? Becausethe pawnson blacksquaresin the
centrerestrictBlack'sbishopwhileopeningup manywhitesquare
from
optionsfor the knight.Thisfactoris exploitedby Petrosian
now on which is why Blackwould havedone betterto retaina
knightfor thedefenceof theseweakwhitesquares.
28 Axds! H xds 29 Sg2 g16 30 Ad2 trb8 31 Ac4 trb4
32 Hdz Hb7
Black permitsa strikingfinish,but other moveswould not
prolongresistance
for long.
33 Ae3 trd734 Ag4+ gfs
34
$e6 35 Nxe5 {xeS 36 trde2trd5 37 f4 leaves
Whitea pawnup,whereasnow comesa strikingf inish.
59
t 7 t
'.//r/ t t 7
2 ....&,
"/&@'/.:t",:
/// './tt
t '.,/lt:.,.A,
76t/:..
'&,
7
ft L, H. 'r&&'/&
::lrt
H 2
.E-
58
/:/. f
%"r&
'/&t
7
%t,
A strikingfinishto a strtklnggame.
29 . . . $xa2 3O flxcS+ 1-0
lf MikhailTal makesthe fan ecstaticwith hisfine combinations
to impresswith
continues
TigranPetrosian,
theotherex-champion.
and his filigreetechniqueThe
the accuracyof his manbeuvres
game:
sawthefollowinginteresting
Yugoslavia
samematchagainst
Petrosian-lvkov SlavDefence
2
1 d4 d5 c4 c6 3 Af3 lf6 4 e3 eG5 Ads AbdT 6 Abd2
c5 7 b3 96 8 O-OAg7 9 Aa3 b5 10 cd axd5 11 Ae4 O-012
trcl 15 i3 AdG &t r+ Axcs EaxcS 15 He1.€2hB16 e4!
te tz Axea At+ te Ecz g'f5 19 dc lxcS 2o $xcS bc
in a splitpawnformationfor Black
haveresulted
TheExchanqes
./
35 Exd4! 1-0.Any recaptureat d4 allowsmatein two.
The performance
of 54-yearold YefimGellerin winningthe
Super Leagueof the Soviet Championship
at Minsk, 1979,
produceda real furore.The point was not just the easyand
convincing
victoryby the veteranin takingthe goldmedal,but the
possibilities.
strikingnatureof hisvictories,
mostlyfullof combinative
Hereis oneof thern.
Geller-Anikayev SicilianDefence
1 e4 cS 2l{3 e6 3 d4 cd 4 lxd4 lf6 5 lc3 d6 6 $e2
Ae7 7 O-OO-OI f4 Nc6 9 Se3 a6 10 a4
The well-knownScheveningen
wriation.White tries to slow
down Black'sexpansive
to
activities
on the g-side whilepreparing
stormthe g-side.
10... Ad7 11Sf3 las128e28c7 13g4!
The start of a bold stormingoperationwhich is playedwith
youthful vim. Gellerconsiders
that Blackmust now continue13
Ac4 14 95 le8 15 Afs Ad8. EventhenWhite'satbck looks
80
Sovietlmmorbls
Schoolsof Chess
Drettvforceful.
13 . . . [fc8 14 95 Qe8 15 f5 lc4 16 Ahs g6 17 fg fg 18
9f2 6e5
Thereis no otherwayof supporting
f7, but White'sinitiative
now
becomes
formidable.
19 Af3 Ag7 20 Axes trfg 21 Afl/ Axhs
A decisive
mistakeleading
to a stormyfinish.AIter21 . . . gh 22
White's
attack
remains
threatening,
but Blackhaschances
of
$d4
resrstrng.
60
ary
/&r.772,t
z
7.2., 2 AI
iw
7L2.,
t
2
7,2,
7.2..
7.,,ft
'.E-<
.,,N
72.,
Tl/.,
,z)
la a
f,
A A
z
d&
22 adsl
A piecesacrifice
clearing
thewayfor thebishopat e3 to takethe
longdiagonal.
Blackhasto takethe knight.
22 ... ed 23 Ah6+ &s7 24 947+! trxf7 25 HxrT+
€)h8 26 Ad4+ Af6 27 E xf6 1-0
LevPolugayevsky
too,alas,is a candidate
for thetitleof veteran.
In hisgamesyouwillnotfindthe intuitive
sacrifices
of a Tal,northe
fearsome
attacksof a Geller,but the truechessfan is won overby
the accuracyof his manoeuvres
and hisboldness
anddecisiveness
at the crucialstagesof his games.Thusthe lVoscowgrandmaster
managedto win this game at a key stageof the '1979 Riga
Interzonal
againstan opponentwith immenseexperience
of toplevelcontests.
Polugayevsky-Larsen SlavDefence
1 Af3 6f6 2 c4 cG3 d4 d5 4lc3 dc 5 a4 la6 5 e4 Sg4 7
10gf lc7 11 flsl lhS
Axc4e68Ae3Ab49grd3Axf3
12$.e2
playin the opening.
Boldand unusual
Thewhitepawn'fist'is
veryformidable
and sweepsawayall Black'sattemptsto get the
initiative
in thecentre.
1 2 . . . s 6 1 3d 5 !
Not fearingany shadowsWhiteopensfilesin the vicinityof his
king.Thisis Polugayevsky's
concreteassessment
at work.
13 . . . Ad6 14 dc bc 15 gd4 O-O16 trdgl Axh2
The Danishgrandmaster
himselfhurriesto exchangequeens
sincefurtherplayin the middlegamewouldbe riskyfor Black.
17gxdg EfxdS 18 trxd8 EXdS 19SxaT
BI
himselfthatthe
ludgmentWhitehassatisfied
Wth characteristic
in the endrng
advantage
give
him
definite
wrll
a4
ou.i"J pu*n at
is
advantage
slrght
apparently
how
this
admrration
witn
[OJrvd
cxolotted
"^i9 withamazlngaccuracY'
t 21 E'11ad2zz, --1at.-'a8-?3
.. ieS 2o as .;tc
'-c3
g"f8
25
a6
!d427-.1d1e52a
9526 -;a4
*ii =azAq
\
Yd8+
-e- d8 31 a7!
fi"S
""iniiou*n
naA 29 i..:'b3tl.b6 30 E
,snowalmosta queen,andf inallytiesdownallBlack's
In theoiflng
breakthrough
{orceswitha decisive
i 'a5!
xb6
33
lxb6
31 . . . ;b6 32;
ol
tlt 2t'17..,
'XL'/.tt/.
'/L,,,
71,,t& ./Y.
a th
t ,
,& ././r./r.
,&,
and accurateplayin the glqlorla1lon
Thetriumphof methodical
andwithltsfallall
pawn
is indefensible
The
c6
of slightadvantages.
disappear.
resistance
hopesof successful
5s . . . €"2 34 Axc6+ €/d6 3s ab4 ae6 36 Ad5 Aa8
37 af6 h5 38 $ds NecT 39 le8+ 1-0.
ChessTrainersand their Background
of everycountrysooneroTlatercomes
The chessorganisation
andthe trainersneeded
of chesscoaching
up againstthe q"uestion
got
from, what sort of
be
to rJn it. Where can thesetrainers
the trainerhaveto
Does
need?
they
do
qualifications
training
and
be a strongplayerwho-is now no longerplayingin top,,events
Oecauieof"tAeage factor?Can a youngmastercope.withsuch
ol Sovretchesswill be helpfJlin findrnglhe
*o*? tn" experiSnce
questions,
so we havedecidedto devotesome
answerto these
spaceto it.
Firstof all let us definetermsand restrictour taskto the proper
senseof coaching.During top class events,especiallythose
qualifyingcycleone seesthe
involvinqthe worl6 championship
or
well'knowngrandmaster
a
by
players
accompanied
iegularly
master.lnis persor]is the secondwhosetaskit ls to helptheplayer
beforethe eventand beforeeachgame'often
in-nisprepaiatior.r
advice
and-givrng
iar..i"q;ait ,n Lhecho:ceol openingvariations
rask
The-main
rinished
ana'ysed
rs
6erng
and
qame
is
"ltur""*n
gamesThe'period
of adjburned
i"nOs-toUeiitistingin theanalysis
of service'ofsuchsecondsis not longand duringthe llext such
-7--82
Trainerand PuPil
Schoolsof Chess
elseto be hissecondthistime.
eventthe playermayinvitesomeone
o{ a goodsecond,and is it reallyessential
Whatarethe qualities
it is betterto try to do it allon yourown?
to haveoneat all?Possibly
Doesa secondalwayshelp,or canhe actuallybe a hindrance?
The simpleanswermust be that if a potentialsecondnot only
knowsthe gamewellbut is a friendof yoursthenmakeuseof his
lf you can be surethat you can rely on him for good
services.
overnightanalysisof an adjournedgame while you get your
valuable
sleepthenit is worthhavinghim.
Howeverif you haveany fearsthat as soonas you go to bed
aftera quick
yoursecondwillnot be longin followingyourexample
form
and will
for
the
sake
of
lookthroughone or two variations
night,
then
the
through
he
has
slaved
morning
that
makeout next
sucha falsehelperis betterdonewithout.
Moreovercan sucha helperfor one eventbe calleda trainer?
Certainlynot! A traineris a personwho is concernedwith his
chargeday by day,and paysa lot of attentionto the work We
cerbinlyneedsecondsfor certaine\€nts but they must not be
confus€dwith trainers.
for
featureof chessthat the opportunities
It is an interesting
greater
in
personnel
than
other
group
are
training
of
buildingup a
a trainer
ln mostof the lattera personbecomes
sportingactivities.
hisactivecareerat sometimein histhirties
or coachafterfinishing
In chesson the other handa trainermay well continuehis own
results.For examplethereis
careerand carryon gettingexcellent
playat Madrid1973by the lateSemyonFurmanwho
theexcellent
competedthere along with his famous pupil Anatoly Karpov.
haveas trainerinternational
Several
of our youngergrandmasters
who is stillactivein tournamentplayand
masterl\4arkDvoretsky
titlefor himself.Botvinnikhad as
has hopesof the grandmaster
Bagozin
trainerfor a longtime that charmingpersonVyacheslav
in
asa competitor
who combined
a bigworkloadwith participation
tournament.
the 1948 Interzonal
'l
haswrittenthus:- feelthat it is no lessinteresting
Dvoretsky
I eventakegreaterdelightin the
to bea trainerthanto playoneself.
of my ladsthan I do in my own. HoweverI
tournament
successes
play,I enjoymeettng
strong
haveno intention
of givingup practical
playercan
playersat the boardand my impressions
as a practical
otherstrongplayersfrom
be oi useto me as a trainer.Possibly
wouldliketo combinethe
and masters
amongstour grandmasters
cleverand
two 'specialities'?
Afterallcreative
contactwith taiented,
curiousyoungsters
canbringgreatpleasure!'
charge
In-studyingopeningsit is harmfuland too much likerote learnlng
but it is alsowrongto restrictworkto
a]ttheopenings,
to consider
easvfor the opponentto
^-^.
.'. t*o
tr.ryo
or)entnos
whlch makes
makesit too easy
whtch
openlngs
one o.
to be givento typical
ought
ouqht
good deal of attention
attention
^.onare
prepare.A oood
'When.
recalls,
..dnames. As
Kasparov
As Kr
Snoiitu,
ole
I was pr,eryri.ns.19r
ierni's*ort in the BotvinnikschoolI hadto spenda lot of timeon
tlnq and pawnendingsso when I cameto a trickypositionin my
qamesI knewthe winningmethodl
ow-n
iet"it standsto reasonthatthe malnattentionmustbe focussed
phaseof the game ln suchstudy
on the middlegame,the principal
of all sortsof gamesand
it is usetutto riork throughthe analysis
games,
both one'sown and thoseof
and to annotate
oositions
others.
'ln chessas in any otherform of sportthe guarantee
of future
successis a prop€rlylaiddown trainingprogrammelnere are
such as the abilityto
manyhabitswhiih haveto be inculcated
position,theaccuraie
of
assessment
correct
the
variations,
calculate
choice of
psychological
the
correct
advantage,
of
iealisation
by specBl
All theseCanbe,and mustbe,developed
continuation.
traininql(Dvoretsky).
moredifficult,
pupilshistaskbecomes
Wh;n a trarnerhasseveral
A knowledge
to
each.
approach
individual
have
an
has
to
sincehe
in orderto be
is essential
and v\,€aknesses
of eachpupil'sstrengths
ableto buildon the oneandtry to reducethe other'
Here are some other commentsby Dvoretsky:- A player's
fixedon the backwardpartsof his
attentionshouldbe constantly
on thesethemesshouldbe constantly
play,and specialexercises
{rom my own pupilsI canpoint
Tb quotea few examples
i'epeated.
so I constantly
poor
in endgametechnique
was
out that Cheki-rov
ot endgame
methods
to
standard
his
attention
workedon drawing
piay in variedpositions.
As a resulthe madeswift and obvious
Drooress.
'
so he had
stamina,
T"hen
aoainDolmatovwaslackingin physical
so
on) and
and
(running,
swimming
foot6all,
to Ooa tot of sport
water treatment*in order to strengthenhis nervous
-.system
to lastout a tull tlvenour
Nowadays
he hasenoughstaying-power
playingsession
anda wholetournament.
sm
Water treatmerri A system ol strengthellrrg the or-ga|
arra
coo
wth
rs
rubbed
The
bodv
lterature
*,O"iv i"iorn'""nO"O rrrSovretsports
sw m'nlnq
latercoldwateaand spongeunt I rt becomesusedevento co d bathsand
i11the openarrdurrngirosty weatner
'Translatar's Nole
Trainerand Pupil
to help
in theSovietUnionhasgivensomeguidellnes
Experience
peopleunderh1s
with one (or several)
a trainerworkingregularly
-L-
Botvinniks ChessSchool
9
B o t v i n n i k ' sC h e s sS c h o o l
The chessorganisation
of SovietTradeUnionshad the excellent
ideain 1963of settingup a smallschoolthatwouldcoachsomeof
the mostgiftedyoungplayers
of thecountry.Formerworldchampion MikhailBotvinnik,our greatesttheoretician,
and a Doctorof
Technical
Science
expressed
thedesireto runthe schoolwherethe
studiestakeplaceby post.For nearlytwo decades
thisschoolhas
been turning out 'gfaduates'who havea fine grasp of chess
strategyand tactics,experience
of practicalplavand the routtne
neededfor this.Mostimportantof all they havehaddeveloped
in
themthe knackof workingindependently
at chessstudy.
Therecan be no doubtthat the mainfeatureof the schoolis its
head.Botvinnik's
name has figuredin the world of chess,and
outsideit too,for morethanhalfa centurv.The'oatriarch'of
Soviet
chess,as we lovinglycall him, has gone throughan tmmense
experience
of matchand tournamentplay.He took part in more
thanfiftytop-class
tournaments
in hisfortyyearsof activeplav,was
worldchampion
for thirteenyears,winningor defending
thetifleon
fiveseparate
occasions,
and playedfor our winningOlympiad
side
srxtrmes.
He isa playerwho to an unprecedented
extentpenetrated
deepiy
into the possibilities
of the game,more than all the remaining
grandmasters
of hisday.Anotherworldchampion
TigranPetrosian
haseloquently
described
theemotions
of a playerwho hadto siton
the othersideof the boardfrom Botuinnik.
He oncetoldhow hard
he found it to playagainstFischer,but thenwent on, 'Yetit was
harderto playagainstBotvinniklYou got a feelingthenof having
no wayout.Thisvr,as
a !€ry unpleasant
feeling.
Oncein conversation
with KeresI told himaboutthisand evendrewthe comparison
of
Botvinnikas a bulldozerclearingever!,thing
path.
away
from
its
'Justthinkwhat
Keressmiledand commented
it was likefor those
who hadto playhimwhenhe wasyounger':
No lessexpressive
arethewordsof Geler,describing
hisfeelings
as he satdownat the boardto playl\likhailMoiseyevich.
'Gamesaganst Botvtnnik,
as a rute, are a batfle aqainst
85
strategy.
Justasthevisiblepartof an icebergmakes
monmumental
up onlyonesixthof its height,so too in thisbattlethe greaterpart
of the ideasare not broughtout. ln sucha casethe consequences
misbkeare quiteconsiderablel
of the slightest
that the schoolof sucha greatexpert
It is easyto understand
attractedthe best talent from throughoutthe country.These
includedwhat are now very well-knownnamessuchas Anatoly
Yury
Karpovfrom Zlatoust,Yury Balashovfrom Schadrinsk,
from lvoscow.Lateron they were jcinedby Yelena
Flazuvayev
from Krasnoyarsk,
HarryKasparov
from Baku,Artur
Akmilovskaya
from Moscow.All partsof our
Yusupovand SergeiMakarichev
largecountrywererepresented.
lt
It did not takelongto settlehowtheworkshouldbeorganised.
two or three
wasdecidedto meetfaceto face in shortsessions
normallytook placein Moscow
timesa year.Theseget-togethers
at NewYearand in the spring,whilein
duringthe schoolholidays
the summerthe venuewasa holidayresortor healthcentre.The
how difficultit isto teachchess
of theschoolrealised
administration
on the basisof a correspondence
at a higher level,especially
to the individual
features
of
course.Thestudieshadto be adjusted
each student,his character,age, health,style of play and
preferences.
A greatdealhadto be takenintoaccountin particular
hisstrong
howto developa lovefor thegameandhow to stimulate
hisweakones.
oointsanderadicate
Whenhe
The standardstudymethodis simpleand convincing.
goeshomefrom a sessioneachstudentgets his own individual
assignment
which has beencarefullythoughtout by the coach.
Duringthe long breakbetweensessions
the studenthasto work
throughthisassignment.
he mustmakea
and at the nextsession
reporton what he hasdone.Theprinciple
is thusstrictlyfollowed
that the assignments
are individual
but the reportson them are
collective.
So the daysof the sessionfly by as the keenstudentsgivean
accountof theirprogress
of
and takepartin the groupassessment
theothersin turn,allthe whiletakingnoteof thecriticalcomments
by the coach.At the end of eachsession
is set
a freshassignment
whichmustbe carriedout beforethe nextmeeting.
Thestudents
of toughassignments,
but rather
arenotfrightened
welcomethem,knowingthat suchhardtasksare a freshstepon
the roadto p€rfection.
Duringhislifea pupilhasto learnfrom manyteachers.
He learns
his nativelanguage,
mathematics,
naturalsciences.
Oftenteachers
willtell how they learnedand studied.Yet in the chessschoolthe
pupilshavea teacherof the highestclasswho can passon the
lessons
playas wellas the secrets
learnedin top classtournament
of theoryworkedout by the mostoutstanding
in this
researchers
86
Botvinnik'sChessSchool
BotvinnikbChessSchool
field over the last half century.That is why the time spent in
Botvinnik's
schooland the counselhe givesis remembered
so
vividly
by hispupils.
AnatolyKarpovrecalls'Mystudieswith Botvinnikbroughtme
which
immensebenefit,particularly
the homeworkassignments
forcedme to referto chessbooksandto work indeoendentlv:
HarrikKasparov,
backshim up
a studentof the nextgeneration
'ln 1973whenI wasstilla boywho just likedplayingchessMikhal
Moiseyevich
invitedme to join hisschool.Thereis no priceI could
namefor thethingsI gotfrom it in thecourseof thefiveyearsI was
there.He doesnot usehisauthorityto beardown too hardon the
pupilsand to imposehis viewson them.Botvinnikis the person
chessis my sorttoo.
who confirmedin me theviewthatAlekhine's
At eachstagehe suggests
hisapproach.
At the beginning
ot 1977|
becameSovietJuniorChampionfor the secondtime scorlng8l/2
out of 9 and winningthe title with a roundto spare.I went to
for
Moscowwith the ideathat everything
was goingswimmingly
me on
me.Thereat the schoolMikhailMoiseyevich
congratulated
my victoryand suggested
that I go throughmy winninggames.
HereI wasseverely
at somepointsin themby hrm.yet to
criticised
hearfrom Botvinnik
that the qualityof my playin the recentevent
gavehimgreathopesfor me wasthe heightof happinessl
A point to note here is that the pupil is not automatically
permitted
Beforethisisdone
to makehisreporton theassignment.
his overallprofileand progressbetweensessions
is assessed
bv
experienced
teachers.
Theseaskthemselves
whatare hisresultsin
progress
tournaments,
whatare hisexamresultsand academic
at
school,is hefit,doeshetakepartin sport,doeshe knowthehistory
of chess?They also check up all his games,assessing
their
strndard.Onlyif all thesethingsare in good ordercan the pupil
aopearbeforehisfellowsand relatehow he hastackledthe tasks
assigned
to himby Botvinnik.
Thissuperbschoolis organised
by wise pedagogues.
lt is the
dreamof thousandsof boysand girlsto qualifyfor it. Boysare
admittedfrom the 11-18 age group.girlsf rom 13-18. Onlythe
mostpromising
talentsareadmitted.
In additionto theoretical
assignments
thereare practicaltrials
suchas simultaneousexhibitions.
Hereis an example
from onesuchexhibition
whichwillbe useful
for allchesscoaches
to workthrough.Thethoughtsattributed
here
to Botvinnikmaynot be exactlythosethoughtsthat he hadat the
time,but this is the directionin whichtheywill havegone,as he
bothtriedto discoverwhat hisopponentknewand triedto playin
sucha waythatthe pupilwouldextractthe maximumbenefitfrom
the encounter.
87
Karpov-Botvinnik Caro-KannDefence
playedNovember13th, 1963, in Moscow.
Clocksimultaneous
d5
3
e4c62d4
1
lc3 96
Let's get away from standardplay to see how he thinks
of theorY.
independentlv
6 ed cd 7 1\b5
4 at3 Lg7 5 ;f4;94
7 . . . Aa6. butwhatif we try to
is
the
defence
there
simple
Now
for an
oosemore difficultproblemsfor the lad. Go deliberately
an advantage.
to seehow he goesaboutexploiting
inferiorposition
7 . . . &8I h3 Axf3 9 g'xf3 lc6 1Oc3 Af6 11 Ad3 a6
12 ba3 Bb6 14 8e2 Ahs 14 Ae3 {9c7 15 O-OAf4 16 g'd2
AX€ 17$.xd3 h5 18lc2
Theknightat
well,as I havenoticedearlier.
Thisladmanoeuvres
a3 wasawayfrom the centre,so he bringsit overthereto the real
sceneof activity.
18 . . . Af6 19 f4 e5 20 6)e1 h4 21 4lfs Ae7 22 Aes Afs
23 Ac1 €97
now it is time to expelhis outpost
Artificialcastlingachieved,
.
.
f
6
.
knightby
23 Ht2 Ae7 25 gd3 b5 26 Ad2 b427 He2 a5 28 Eael
on e6, so
Aha! Karpikis gettingreadyto presswithallhis pieces
for the timebeingI do bestto avoid. . f6.
28 . . . Ea6 29 grd3 grbT 3O flcl fic8 31 Pel a4 32 c4?
What'she doing?Hedoesn'tseethe simpleknightcaptureat d4.
Possibly
I shouldn't
bke the pawn?l'd preferto playthegameon to
check his plav more deeply,yet that move would producea
position.
resignable
Well,there'snothingonecando aboutthat.The
lad makeselementaryoversights.l'll exploit it, and after the
exhibition
l'llgivehima tellingoff.A plaveraimingat masterymust
from hisplay.
ruleout allslipsandchanceoccurrences
32 ... Axd4
Thereare eventearsin his
Now he'sseenit and is perplexed.
eyes.Nevermind,he hastc toughenup.
33 Ed2 AfS 3a trdc2 Ne3 35 Ee2 dc 36 Axc4 Axc4 37
E xc4 Hd6 38 ge4
62
Well now, exchangingon e4 finishesit. lf he takeswith the e2
-V
88
Yuri Balashov
Botvinnik's ChessSchool
rook then a further exchangeon c4 and it is a purely technlcal
matter. What has he shown so far? Calm play in the opentng
without strivingfor too much, reasonablemanoeuvringplay, but
then a pawn givenaway.So the gameendsand I haven'tlearnedall
that much about him. PossiblyI should give him the chance to
show a bit more? What if I give up the queen?| could check his
techniquethen. So let'sseewhat the lad from the Uralscan do.
38 ... Exc4? g,xb7 Af640 Axb47
Oh, oh, yet anotherbad slip.He'slosingagain,and Tolyahas
tearsin his eyesagain.As soonas he got winningchanceshe
blundersaway a bishop.Obviouslyhe is still young and inexperienced
and hisnervesgiveway.
40 . .. AaA+ 41 €lh2 trb6 42 8e7 Ecxb4
a drawby
At thispointthe gamewasbrokenoff andadludicated
thirdpafi.
theappointed
go on yearafter year,and the staff
Such coachingsessions
of the schoolare
formerstudents
littleby little.Sometimes
changes
enrolledto be teachersthere.Nowadaysthereare quiteyoung
boysand girlsstudyingthere.Who knowswhat will becomeof
themin thecourseof time?
to seeingthereference
Ourchessfanshavebecomeaccustomed
'studiedin Botvinnik's
of the
theyreadaccounts
chessschool'when
performancees
of thisor that youngchesstalent.Yes,
tournament
his studentshavereachedthe top in variouseventsand someot
to reachthefinalstage- an attempt
themareexertingthemselves
studentof
to takethe chesscrown from the mostdistinguished
themall.AnatolvKarpov.
the readerto the leading'graduates'
So we shalltry to introduce
Perhaps
theirgamesand biographywjll
legendary
school.
of this
the readerto strivehimselito improvehis play.Youare
stimulate
whoselongyearsof
aboutto go througha picturegalleryof players
teacherfinally
hard studyunderthe guidanceof an experienced
paidoff in theirmasteryof thetheoryand practiceof chess.
Yuri Balashov
With the exceptionof Anatoly Karpov himseifthis calm,
restrained,
taciturnoupil of Botvinnikis the one with .thebest
tournament
recordoverthe Vears.
yingeventsfor theworld
Hehasa particularlyfinerecordin qualif
- in the lasttwo cycleshe tookfirstplacein special
championship
for the
to determine
our representatives
USSRZonetournaments
(in 1975 he was in a fourfoldtie for first place).
FIDEInterzonals
up in
Theannoyingthingis that he hasfollowedthesesuccesses
mediocrefashion,and so has neverqualifiedfor a placein the
lvlatchesthat his other resultswould indicateas a
Candidates'
leoatimate
outcome.
89
Then there are his resultsin the USSF Championshipwhere he
- enviable
was second in 1976 and equal third-fourthin 1979
stability.Finallyhe has often takenfirst placein stronginternational
tournaments.
of theory,and by thiswe dc not iust
He hasa fine knowledge
chose
Karpovchose
that Karpov
,an
for nothing
nothinqthat
was
not for
not
onenino
variations.
lt
variatlons
mean opening
i
Baguto
match
at
title
world
1978
in
the
his
chief
second
as
him
naa occasionmyselfto seehow hard he worksat this ln
nive
'1970| was headof the Sovietdelegation
Taimanov
at the Fischer
as
Vasylkov,
with
there,
along
was
Yuri
and
mitcn in Vancouver
Fischer's
all
him
almost
with
had
brought
He
second.
iii.rnou't
withallsorts
gamesandfor dayson endhe keptfillinghisnotebook
of analyses.
hisplay
thefinalhurdlein perfecting
So hb onlyhasto overcome
that
detail
is
this
slight
What
top.
very
it
to
the
make
to
in order
theanswerllesin thesewordsof
fromthis?Possibly
holdshimback
'YuriBalashov
studiedwith me for elghteenmonths I
Botvinnik:
feelthat the obstaclewhich is holdinghim back rsan Inadequte
To someextenthe hasovercomethrsby
naturalfeelfor position.
andwhrle
tactician
hardwork.On the otherhandhe is an excellent
I
conceptions:
his
tactlca
by
siillin the schoolhe amazedevervbodv
hasottenbeen
tactician
commentaboutan excellent
Botvinnik's
SuperLeague
1979
USSR
the
from
is
example
echoed.Here an
seriesof tacticalblows.
whichhasa firework-like
63
2 g, |&t
t a/L,ia
./t/z
7./r.7,',.,
,.//,
+
7./2,,.ft't&,
AANA
ft28'"'z.t/.:
'aat\
',,/t
in whichlt is levelfor the moment
Balashov,
Thisis Romanishin
play
go
on theg-sideandopensup files
for
active
to
Whitedecides
to helpthis.
13 a3 b4 14 Aa4 4)d7 15 c3 ba 16 b4
White'sideaiJcleai He hopesbv E xa3 and then Efa 1 to
attackthe a6 pawnoftenenoughto win it. HoweverBlackhasa
breathingspaceand whileWhitetakestwo movesto re-establish
material
6qualityBlackcancreateplayln thecentrelt is w€ll'known
that suchcentreplayis more importantthan playon tne wrngs
is that Blackcansoonextendhiscentralplayto
White'smisfortune
the $-side with threatsto the king
style'
thisin mostinventive
Balashov
demonstrates
90
YuriRazuwyev
Botuinnik'sChessSchool
16 . . . dsl 17 e5 96 18 942 f6! 19 ef $xf6 20 $a2 $h8
21 gxa3 e5!
whitepiecesare strandedon the othersideBlack
Sinceseveral
can hurryto playon the S-sideand usehis superiority
therenot
worryingaboutlossof material.
Someprettyplayis comingup.
22 fe Ncxe5 23 lxeS lxeS 24 fladl
A betterchanceof successful
defencewas24 ]\e2 whenBlack
wouldcontinue24
flae8 creatingmanyawkwardthreats.
24 . . . d4l25 cd lf3+ 26 tr xf3 Axf3
Whitehasto be verycarefulas the queenentryon 93 can be
decisive.
27 HrI Axg228€xg2
64
7 . 9 , 2 7 t
t/t:'.
t /&t7z
',1',
7
Z 7
'.".
alfu,
^/fu,fu 7 '/',,
W tr,tN1.&
zfr
/.:/.,t 7@"'/,1,/
H :;.t:'2tr2
28 ... Ah4!!
Annotatorsnormallycall such moves'quiet'sincethey do not
involvecapturesor check,yet,asthe quotegenerally
goeson.they
areoftenmorepowerfulfor allthat.Theabilityto find suchhidden
tacticalblows,especially
to foreseethem longbeforethe event,ts
grvento Tew.
29 $c1
Both29 Qf2 tr xf2+ 30 fi xf2 $93+ and29 Ef3 E xf3 30
€/xf3 g'h2! 31 b5 treB leavethe kingtoo exposed.
29 ... &g3+ 30 ghl g,xh3+ 31 €91 8g3+ 32 €/h1
Ef3!
playerknowsthat in such positionsthere is
Any experienced
pieceenloys
hardlyevera wayout for thedefender
astheattacking
suchgreatmobility.
33 Af3 g'h3+ 34 Ssl {$94+ 35 ghl Eh3+ 36 Ah2
t r x h 2 +0 - 1
Mateor lossof the queenis inevitable
after37 $xh2 l\g3+
Yuri Razuvayev
Whenstillveryyounghe hada strokeof luckthat manyothers
dreamof. Hewasfortunateenoughto turn out on theluniorboard
for the'Trud'teamin the champtonship
of the voluniary
sports
societies.*
Trud'stop boardwas Botvinnlkand soonyoungYurr
becamea studentin the school.thouohfor variousreasonsthrs
9l
oeriodof studv\&asnot very long.Many yearslaterRasurayev
To spendyearsin
becamethefriendandhelperof AnatolyKarpov.
the companyof two suchtitansof chessls the sortof thingothers
canonlydreamaboui.
is that he is
on Razuvayev
Thegeneralopinionof commentators
'baggage'was
an excellenttactician,but that his strategical
for a long time and this held him backfrom getting
inadequate
title.Howeverhard
goodtournament
resultsand the grandmaster
players
and
ranks
our
strongest
him
into
the
of
finally
brought
work
title
in Cubahe gainedthe long-awaited
in the 1976tournament
'Razuvayev
'Ratherbelated'was
getsthe
theviewof thesceptics,
yet
even
some
title at the age of thirty-one, in our day there are
sixteenyearold grandmastersl
for thosewho reallylovechess.
Howeverthereare no obstacles
to work hard.
continued
andcontinues
Thenew'old'grandmaster
he hasdevoted@rticularattentionto the playof the
ln particular
Theresultof his study
greatstrategistof the pastAkibaRubinstein.
i Sport'
in the Moscow'Fizkultura
is the new bookon Rubinstein
and so
series,but evenmoreimportantthe authoris stilllearning
in thefuture.Alongwithtournament
canreckonon freshsuccesses
asan assisbnt
himself
beencoaching
Yurihasrecently
appearances
to Smvslovin a soecialchessschool.So this is the third world
with whomhe hasworked.
champion
impressthe true chessfan.The
Not just tournament
successes
which
Razu\€yevproducesenthuses
attack
sort of finecombinative
him and induceshim to spend hours working through their
ramificatons.Here is an examplefrom the game RazulayevFrunze,1979:
Lputvan,FirstDivision,
SovietChampionship,
65
a.//
% "&,.
%2,,.
tn
%
AI\
n
%)
i2
z../, 2 /.&
l\ .?)
2 H ,//
H
playerwillnotea
Black'spositionlookssolid,but theexperienced
whole set of weak squaresin Black'scamp. This enablesthe
attackinvolving
to carry out a combinative
energeticRazuvayev
moves.
someunexpected
2O lfS! gf
'Trcnslator's &ote.
These Inc ude the bettef kno$,rr names of Dlfamo Spartak
k who f e d teams n ai competrtve actrvtles
Lokomotrv.BLrrevestn
92
Artur Yusupov
Bouinnik'sChessSchool
Blackis forcedto acceptthe offer.Perhapshe thoughtWhite
check,but he is soondisabused.
\ €s goingfor perpetLral
21gxfs trcs
Therookis badlyplacedhere.Movingit to d8 wouldgivebetter
chances.
defensive
22$95+ €h7 23 &f5+ €98 24b4 Hc7 25 gss+ gh7
26 g'fs+
himselfwillforgiveWhite
Th! plaverwho hashadsuchpositions
to
keep
away the spectreof
which
helps
this repetitionof moves
him
astrayas he could
leads
the
repetitton
However
trouble.
time
alreadydecidethe gamein a few movestry 26 6S4l hg 27 fldS
thisslip?
andth; threatof 28 gh4+ is killing.Shouldwe deprecate
an
to
admire
gives
the
opportunity
No, sincethe inaccuracy
f inetinish.
exceotionallv
26 . . . €gB 27 $s5+ &h7 2A 9f5+ €g8 29 trd6!
Anotherline stroke.lf the rook is capturedwe get a quickwin
f rom the linewe alreadyknow - 29
$xd6 3O $94! So
of the attacking
to this strengthening
Blackhasto be reconciled
forces.
29 . . . Ac8 30 gss+ €h7
66
/t@
t 2
, f r H ', x
X
2 f f i'2 wr.
.,&t.,/tzlt7
?r..lt
'2 '2 ,.fu
'.& 2 &,
A / I . t
31 Ad7!!
yet cannotbe
Theknightis put en priseto four differentpieces,
whichshowsthe immense
takenby any of them!A fine position,
placedwhitepieces.
forceof the harmoniously
31 . .. gtxdT
by a queensacrifice.lf 31
Tryingto prolongresistance
E Xd7 then 32 E Xf6 AXf6 33 AxfG with forcedmate.lt is
easyto seethe win againstother movese.S.?2 , Eg8 33
Axf6+ Axf6 34 gxh5+ gs7 35 Axf 6+ el8 36 g'h6+
32 EXdT!
Avoidingthe trap 32 flxf6 whichlooksa simplewin, but then
comes32
AxfO 33 Qxf6 $g4l
32 . . . AxdT 33 Axf6 Axf6 34 $xf6 fl xc4 35 ge7 1'O
Artur Yusupov
more
The MoscowplayerYusupovcan probablybe considered
93
Bowinnik's pupil than anyoneelse.He worked directlyunder
years,and then the rest of his
Botvinnikfor three consecutive
Mark
Dvoretsky,
but you haveto bearin
then
under
since
career
isalsoa pupilof Botvinnik,
masterDvoretsky
mindthatrnternational
to hisoldcoach.
andin recentyearshasbeenassistant
givesgreat
co-operation
of Yusupovand Dvoretsky
Thecreative
what
has
often
said
a fine
and
the
coach
to
both
of
them,
oleasure
We
bupilhe hasand what loy he geis from their get-togethers.
of thesetwo, but we reallyshould
havespokenof the friendship
speakof three,sinceanotherBotvinnikpupilSergeiDolmatovhas
of their
beena regularcompanionto Yusupov.The closeness
canbe gaugedfrom thefactthatat the l9TBWorldJunior
careers
the gold medalwent to Dolmatovand the silverto
Championship
whilein the previouseventin 1977 Yusupovhad been
Yusupov,
recipientof the gold medal.So the threeplayersare olten seen
the
togetherandthecoachcangivethemthesametasks,especjally
- to playin boldfashionand to continueto learn
keyassignment
allfacetsof chessmastery.
Yusupovbeganquiteearlyandhasonlyrecentlylefthisteensln
Moscowin theall-Union
1973at theageof thirteenhe represented
Youth Gamesand four years later he took the World Junior
master.Ouitesoon
so becomingan international
Championship
push
go
he scoredhis first
to
further
and
afterthat he beganhis
in Holland.
grandmaster
normin a tournament
at
A realtriumohcamehisway in the 1979 USSRSuperLeague
for the
werein contention
Minskwhereninefamousgrandmasters
Soviettitle,amongstthemTaland Geller.YoungYusupovkepton
fine playjust
leveltermswith them throughoutand only Geller's
madeon
outdistanced
his rrvalwho camesecond.Theimpresston
and they notedln
was immense,
his teachersand commentators
particular
hisfineendgameplay
in hiswin overTal:
Hereisan example
67
White'sadvantage
does r]ot seemso greatand you can only
plus.
admirehow Yusupovmadeuseof thisinsignificant
g/b7
23
21 Edl ! h6 22 $c4!
l9ds!
Onecannotbut markthe threepartsof the queenmanoeuvre
94
Botvinnik's ChessSchool
with exclamationmarks.White intendsto exchangequeenssincert
is in the rook ending that he can best exploit his positional
advantage.Black cannot give way with his queen, say to b8, as
then White'spieceswill occupy the 7th rank with greateffect.
23 . . . grxds 24 E xds f6 25 Hd7 a5 26 a4 e4
the e-pawn,but Taldecidec
Thereis no doubtthatthisweakens
of this difficuLt
only after a long assessment
on this concession
position.
To leavethe pawnon e5 wouldletthewhitekingcomeIn
furtheron
to e4 and thenceeitherpenetrate
viathe whitesquares
the €-side or go overto win the a5 pawnso forminga winning
Dassedoawn.
27 trds Bf7 28 g4 g5 29 €g2 €96 30 h4!
Onceagainaccurateplay.Thethreatis to forcethe enemyking
backto the lastrankand havea strongcrampingpawnat h5. So
Blackhas to captureat onceand so weakenhis $-side pawns
further.
3 0 . . . s h 3 1g h 3 E b g
With heavyheartTal decidesto surrenderan importantpawn
but he had no choicebut to go for an activerook position.lf he
passive
Whitetakeson h4 andthenplaysthe kingroundto
remains
f4 to {orcethe win of thee-pawn.
32 €xh4 Ebl 33 EXaS trh1 + 34 €s3 trsl + 35 €)h3
trhl+ 36€g2 tra1 37€h2 Ha238€g3 Eal 39€g2 Ea2
40 €g3 Eal 41 tra8!
Thiswas the sealedmove.Analysisof the adjournedposition
his
enabledWhiteto find a winningplan.Firstof all he advances
passedpawnasfar as possible
to reducethe mobilityof theenemy
kingand rookby the threatof queening.
41 ... f5
Tal realised
that passiveplaywtli
After manyhoursof analysis
Whiteadvances
the pawnto a6
lose.Thusif Blackremainspassive
with the threatof a7 followedby Eg8+ queening.Thisforces
Blackto keephis king on 96 or 97. ThenWhite will go $f4,
with hisking
exchange
hisf2 pawnfor the e4 prawn
and penetrate
ertheron the S-sideor by gorngoverto theaOpawn.
42 gf+ $xf5 zlil a5 fl91 + 44 gh3 Ehl + 45 €g2 Ea1
46 a6 $94
win (say
lf the kingretreatsto 97 or h7 to preventthe standard
with Black'sking on f7 or e7J oI a7 followedby fih8 fi xa7
thea6 pawnfor thee4 one
Eh7+, thenWhitesimplyexchanges
passed
pawns
united
ensure
an easywin.
andthe two
47 a7 @h44aftl
winningmethod.lf now 48 . ef+
In thispositionthe simplest
andtorcea win.
thenthee3 pawnwillsoonadvance
zl8 . . . fla2+ 49 $1 flal+ 50 €e2 Ea2+ 51 €dl tra6
52 f5 Hd6+
Arthur Yusupov
95
pawnsunder
Thischangeof frontby the rookto keepthe passed
Whitesimply
controlfrom thesidebringsno easingof thesituation.
playshisfreedkingto supportthe passed
a-pawn.
53 €c2 Hd7 54 Sc3 h5 55 €c4 gh3 56 f6 h4 57 $cb
€h2 58 Eh8 1-O
Althoughthrsendgamedoesnot containany strikingmovesor
manoeuvresit is an eloquenttribute to Yusupov'sexcellent
technique.
Harry Kasparov.
Flohrhadthe quizzical
comment'Asfar as I can understand
this
gameif Kasparov
yet the title
cannotyet be calledan Academician
is certainly
hisalreadyl
of professor
Thiscommentreferredto a playerwho was onlysixteenat the
an impressive
listof tournament
timeyet hadalready
successes.
Tal
claimedthat any successby the lad in the 1979 SuperLeague
ln the eventhe shared3rd-4thplacewith
wouldbe a sensation.
Balashov,yet it is no secretthat somepeopleexpectedevenmoTe
from him,esoeciallv
afterhis threewinsat the start of the event.
Howeverthe youngman hasnot yet learnedfullyhow to control
hisemotions
and makesslipsoccasionally.
Botvinnik's
commenton this is that evervonemakesslipsfrom
timeto time.ThehardworkingYusupovoftenhasthem,so Harry's
occasional
he will matureand
onesshouldnot worry usespecially,
theywilldisappear.
playhasalreadymadesuchan impression
ln fact Kasparov's
that
hisstyleandhisvictories
area talkingpointnotjusiin the USSRbut
alsoabroad.
His greatestsuccess
abroadwas the spring1979 BanjaLuka
tournamentwherehe took first placeaheadof a fieldof strong
grandmasters
Petrosian,
Andersson
and Browne.Hisplay
including
was the high spot of tne eventand the spectatorscrowdedin to
watchhim.We shalldoubtless
readmanybooksandarticlesin the
futureabouthisplay.A guarantee
friendly
of that is thecontinuing
contactwhichKasparov
with BoWinnik.
He worked
is maintaining
formallyin the schoolfor five years,and stillregardshimselfas a
pupil,in the sensethat after nearlyeverygame he phonesup
Botvinnik
hopingto hearhismentor'spraise,
butalsoreadyto hear
with gratitude
anycriticalcommentsthat maycome.
Flohrpointsout that the youngmanis full of concentration
and
preferto walkroundwhenit is
seriousin hisattitude.Someplayers
theopponent's
turn to move,andevenchat(thoughnotaboutthe
gamein progress,
Kasparov
of course)wth friendsandcolleagues.
'franslatar's
gve the frsl name as Gary or Gark. but
ryole RussLal]
soL-rrces
(asparovhassgned h msef Harry n ettefswf tte \ n Erg sh to a Westerrrpublsher.
Kasprov
Harry KasProv
Harry
Botvinnik'sChessSchool
sitsat the boardand thinksin the way that Botvinnikusedto. Only
when he has a clear advantagedoes he permit himselfto get up
and takea quick strollround the stage.Then it is noticeablethat he
is nervousand excitedand he has not yet learnedhow to hidethis
The expertshave someadmiringcommentsto makeabout him
though tinged at times with exp€ctation.Petrosian,for example
'Harry is greattalent.In terms of talentI would comparehim wlth
a
A
Tal,buttalentalonedoesnot guaranteethe highestachievements.
how he reactsto
greatdealwill dependupon his reaction,especially
'tria
I by fame".
the
Despitehis youth Kasparovhasalreadyplayedmany fine games.
We selectone of the latestfrom the 1979 Spartakiadwhere his
'marble'
stylewas shown to perfection.
Kasparov-Butnorius,
Aueen's lndian Defence
1 d4 af6 2 c4 eG3 Af3 Ab4+ 4 Abd2O-o 5 e3 bG6 Ad3
Ab7 7 O-Od5 8 a3 Sxd2 9 Axd2 AbdT lO cd Axds 11 b4
c5 12 flacl cd 13lxd4
nicely
achieving
Whitehas playedthe openingunpretentiously,
placedpieceswithout any noticeablead\€ntage.One senses
White'sdesireto makethe middlegamethe sceneof the real
struggle.Well, that is a normalapproachby playerswho aTe
ability.White'sconfidenceis soon
consciousof their strategical
justified
clashes.
strategical
aftersomecomplicated
13 . . . AeS 14 Sa5 [e4 15 Ael 8g5 16 f4l
pawn thrust.White therebylifts the
An accuratelycalculated
piecepressure
against92.
16 . . . 8g6 17 fe lcS 18 Ag3 6xa6 19 Afs!
Black'schosenlinecannotbe approved- he hasforcedhis
knightto theedgeof theboardfromwhereit doesnot getintoplay
to the very end of the game.PossiblyBlackassumedthat the
for the distant
spoiledwhite pawn formationwas compensation
the positionmoredeeply.Apart
knight.Yet Kasparov
hasassessed
from the knightat a6 thereis the slightlyawkwardplacingof the
queenand the generallack of co operationof the blackpieces
initiative.
In tact
meansthat Whiteis ableto developa threatening
weakpawnswhich
is the apparently
the basisof White'spressure
createsoundsupporttor White'spieces.
in variousways,oneof which
hispressure
Whitecouldgenerate
to act in
theyoungmasterdecides
wouldbealongthec-file.Instead
thevicinityof the kingand movesall hispiecesin thatdirection.
19... flae8
Capturing
on f5 wouldgiveWhiteall the centreand put the a6
knightin a criticalposition.The text preparesto retirethe poor
horseto b8.
20 Ad6 fie7 21 flr4!
97
Now the queenhasto be savedf rom the threatof 22 HSa'gho
"r*tl*dlt'1#ifrI*uor
25*tl '.c726
24 Eczts'h6
Hc€
o6
'&x E
'ili2 i&,
7Z /&,
& ""///tt
/E.
1
7l'r.z7,/t13
7,/..2:,t:
% :,//t:..
Whitehasbuilta threetoldbatteryon thef'tileand Blackhas.no
counterto this.White hasachievedthis with simplemovesthat
strong impressiontaken singly With hls
a"f." no particularly
schemerefutedBlackhasto losematerlal'
deiensive
26 ... t5 27 ell
ihe simolest
-i;;6asthepassedpawnwillcosta greatdealof material'
ii.
..
td i+ &n 2e Ae7 es ao gxta er st
AxdG g/xd6 32 gd3l
-The
his
Whiteimproves
hisadvantage
wayof realising
siirplest
forces
enemy
the
to
placinq,
contrast
in
stark
are
which
'oiece
i,".: . S"i ss gc4 €?h694 svt4 )e6 35 ercSE/do35
gtg-+ €,g"e-iire5+ Srfs 38 ijxrg Ed1 + 39 $f2;5d2-r
aO€s3 $e1 + 41 gh3 1-O
Serqei Dolmatov
wasaskedabout
Dvoretsky
Aiterthe 1979SovietChampionship
Yusupovand
charges,
his
two
performances
of
the comparative
'Recently
hard.,at
wo-rking
been
has
Artur
rebly
His
Ooftitot.
Ine
tnal
confldenl
thewideninqof hrsopeningrepertoireand I was
he
that
say
I
cannot
i"iurti*ouio show.As io-rSergerDolmatov
were
ev€nt
thls
to
up
his
results
though
hasworkedas hard,even
pornt
oooO"nOhe hadjusttakenfirstplaceInthe FirstLeagJeThe
is that for the Super Leaguehls theoretlcalbaggage was
inadeouate:
-iri"l"
"otrn.nts are valuablein their stresson independent
work,the sortof criticalcommentthatyou rarelyhearin theWest
Of courseDolmalov's
.ii.i .'i.irri" by one of theirgrandmasters
.n'"r"0 i+in- r sin' placein thiTop Leagueevenif sharedwith Tal
resultfor him
wasan unpleasant
studied
gotu,nnithasthiscommenton hisformerpupil,'Dolmatov
poor
a
ha,s,
but
good
iactician
is
a
year'
He
for
a
*,tii rrl"
onl
hard
work
to
neoLgnt
of pos'ton,andthisl-swhal
understandtnq
thrs
overcome
will
that the talentedMuscovite
o;;;;;t"h"&
98
SergeiDolmatov
Botvtnnik's Chess School
Whiteplaysaccuratelyand scoresa convincingvictory.
34 h4! Ac6 35 hs trhB 36 Sh2 a5 37 s4 a4 38 Ad3 €rds
39 Ef' a3 40 Ef1 e5
AlthoughBlack has some play the split pawnsare not as
as White'sunitedones.
formidable
41 €?93 e4 42 Ae2 Ea8 z|il g5 Aa4 44 g6 Axc2 45 97 a2
6 hGe3 47 Hf8! trxf8 48 gxfS$ al$ 49 Sf3+
off by the combined
atbck of two pieces
Thefight is finished
on
the enemyking in the centre.Dolmatovhas workedout all the
consequences.
49 . .. ge6
lf 49 . . . gc4 then 50 gb4+ forcesmatenext move.
5O Ag4+ €d5 51 grdS+ €c6 52 Af3+ gbs 53 grds+
$a4 54 $c4+ 1-O
recentfailureand get backto hisformer form, an exampleof which
is this gameagainstAnikayevin the 1979 First League.
69
//tt2 "'..&t',&
i///ta%tz"ry
w 2h&
",&
ftz
99
l,
z/&t2
xa%7'Z
Obviouslythe blackqueenis well away from the $-side ano
cannot help in the defencethere.This factorjustifiesWhite in
playinga sacrificial
attackstartingwitha rooksacrifice.
2O trf6!€g8
It is not hardto establish
that the rook could not be captured
withoutswiftfatalconsequences.
in his
but thatverypiecepersists
destructiveoperations.
21 Hxh6!
Later on analysisshowed that the strongestmove \Masthe
preparatory
21 Ae4 whichwouldhaverendered
the rooksacrifice
at h6 evenstronger,but one cannotreallycriticiseWhitefor his
boldlineof play.
21 ... gh22g/xh6f523ef flxf624Ah7+
At firstsightit seemssimplerto takethe rookby 24 gh7+ €XB
25 gh8+ Sf7 26 8xa8, but then Blackwould get excellent
by 26 . Ac5.
counter-chances
24 . . . W 25 Axf6 Axf6 26 Efl Bc5+ 27 €,hl g{8 28
Ss6+ Se7 29 Bh7+ 8g7
With his king underseverepTessuTe
it is easyto understand
Black'sdesireto simplifyintoan endgame.
but thisis a badchoice
for him.He hadto try hischancesin
is hopeless
sincetheendgame
variation29 . . . €dg 30 Ae4 8e7 31 Sg8+
the complicated
@c7 32 Sxag gg7. Wouldthis savehim?Hardly.sinceWhite
gx96 34
couldcontinuetheattackby 33 Axf6 Axf6 (33
good
with
Then34
is
for
White)
34
1
unpleasant
threats.
$g8l
fid
€b6 is metby 35 a5+ €xas 36 grdS+,while34 . . lds
35 Ae4 isalsobadfor Black.Thebestdefenceis 34 . . . Ad5 (not
34
$xg2+ 35 $x92 $xg6 36 €f 1 g'fs+ 37 $e1 and
the king escapesthe checks)when after 35 E xds White has
for hopingfor a win.
everyjustification
3O $xg7+ $xg7 31 Hf/+ €d6 32 flxg7 lxc3 33 bc
lXxa4
Black's
counter-chances
on the$-sideareclearlyinadequate
tor
the struggleagainsttwo unitedpassedpawnson the otherside.
YelenaAkhmilovskaya
Botvinnikhas had a numberof girl pupilsas we havealready
Hereis whatoneof our strongest
ladyplayers
hasto say
indicated.
'l am veryfondof classical
music,and listening
to it is
aboutherself,
for meduringa tournament.
lt isa realdelightfor me
realrelaxation
to visitthe ballet'Giselle:
I am alsoverykeento playtennis,whichI
playat a highleveland loveno lessthanchess.I regretthefactthat
lbecame familiarwith this form of sport so late on. Generally
speakingI devotea lot of attentionto physicalpreparation,
and this
helpsme to playbetter:
players,
Lenais now oneof our strongest
andcompetes
notonly
againstwomen,in whichfieldshehaswon the grandmaster
title,
but alsoagainstmen.Sheseemsto havethe ambitionto emulate
NonaGaprindashvili
who hasthe grandmaster
titlenotjustfor her
longtenureof women'sworld championbut alsofor playagainst
men.
Lena'scomment on this, 'l have plaved in severalmen's
tournaments.
lam not satisfied
with my resultsthere,but I enjoyed
playing.Men rarelymakejust good simplemoves- they try to
makemoveswhich,whileperhapsnot beingthe verybestthenat
Eastare reallygoodones.Playing
with menis excellent
trainingl
Go
game
through
this
against
Petrovich
in
the
1979
USSR._
Yugoslavia
matchand in everyone of White'smovesyou will see
the triumphof strategicthought,accurateexploitation
of insigniTrcant
advantages
in attack.
and inventiveness
'the hand of
^ In some of the movesyou are sure to detect
uotvinnrk'
at work.
* 1 e4 c6 2 6f3 g6 3 d4 $97 4 Nc3 d6 5 Ae2 af6 5 O-OO-O
/ a4 abdT 8 a5 e5 9 ge3 $e7 1Ofie1 h6 11 Afl Ag4 12 d5
Whitehasformedthe longterm planof blockade
of the white
squares
on the$-side,andin orderto carrythisout is readyto give
_L-
lOO
YelenaAkhmilovskaw
BotvinnikbChessSchool
up thevaluable
black-square
bishopfor a knight.Closingthecentre
is partof the plansincethereis the consideration
that theattacker
on thewing mustalwaysfeara counter-stroke
in the centre.
Thisplanof $-side pressure.
of course,was regularly
adopted
by Botvinnik
againstthe bestplayers
in theworld.
12 ... Axe3 13 flxe3 c5 14 a6 b6 15 abs AfO 16 h3
le8 17 c3!
For the successof the operationby White'spieceson the g-side
an
nnon
{ilo
ic ^aa.la.l
17 . . . Q1c718 b4 Axbs 19 AxbS flb8 2O bc bc 21 Sc4
Bc7
70
'4t:..'&.%t:.,t"&
72,'
r y tr u , %
7Aryrtry
/&, Ha%
7 % AA
lA
A.
22ad2l
The knightaimsto get to c6, so that whenexchanged
on that
squarefurtherlineswillbe opened,
alongwhichWhite'spieceswjll
developwinningpressure.
Playagainstweakenedsquareswas a
speciality
of Botuinnik's.
and his pupilscarryon thismethod.
22 . . . Ad7 23 Ab3 Hb6 24 Aas Hfbs 2s Ac6!
Bold and decisivelThe posltionalgains resultingfrom the
exchange
pawn:- the bishopat
on c6 far outweighthe sacrificed
c4 has its scopeincreasedtowards f7, the rook at d3 qets the
chanceto attackd6 as wellas f7. Blackavoidsthisfor on6 move.
but then realises
that the intrusive
knightcannotlongbe tolerated
at c6.
25 . . . trfg 26 flb1 Sxc6 27 dc gxc6 28 tr xb6 gxb6
29 Ed3 Ed8 30 8g4!
White'spiecesstrikeat the opponent'sfortifications
from all
directions.
Thereis the threatof gxg6, whileif 30 . . . gf8 the
31 flf3 wins since31 . . . Hd7 is now not possible.
The only
defensive
chancewasthereturnof theextraoawnbv 30 . . d5 so
that the queencan be broughtto bear in the defenceof the
beleagured
$-side.
30...9h831 Hf3!
Nowthef7 pawnfallsin sucha waythatalltheavenues
of attack
on the kingareopento White.
3 1 . . . t r f 8 3 2t r x f / E x f 7 3 3 A x r /
Theexchange
of rookshasnot easedBlack'staskas the queen
and bishopare sufficientmatingforce,especialiy
as the bishopat
I Ol
07
- cannot defendthe white squares.
33 . . . *d8 34 Axg6 8e7 35 $c8+ AtB 36 .!}fs &g7 37
g,b7 hs 38 h4 €f6 39 gGAh6 40 -Ad7Bh7 41 Ae8 t9gs 42
AxhsAf443 8/a7 1o
onaB.
A{ter43
Pt9344 gf7+ Wh,tequeens
Thisgamehasa greatlogicaboutit, and leadsto theconclusion
in abilitybetweenmen
tuitionthe ditference
that underBotvinnik's
andwomenplayersis reducedto nil.
Kart'sChessSchool
10
Kart'sChessSchool
ViktorEmmanuelovich
Kartis nowadays
a well-known
chesstrainer
a surprising
and uniquephenomenon
and mustbe considered
in
chess,the likeof which we havenot seenbefore.and may be just
as rarein the future.The point is that he is a playerwho never
scoreda victory in strong tournaments,nevereven approached
grandmaster
levelin his playingstandardand doesnot evenhave
the mastertitle.Yet he developed
a wholegroupof outstanding
grandmasters
who havecarriedthe fame of the Lvov schoolto all
Dartsof the world.
Hispupilsspeakof him with suchadmiration.
OlegRomanishin
\ rasonceaskedwho coachedhim now that he hadthe grandmaster
in the
title.Hisreply:'My attitudein chessand my wholeupbringing
gameare the productof HonouredTrainerof the SovretUnion
Viktor Emmanuelovich
Kart,and if thereare any failingsin this
upbringing
thenthefaultliesin the pupils,not in the teacherwho is
pedagogue:
generous
a marvellous.
andoutstanding
Finewordsof the sortthateveryteacherwouldliketo hearfrom
hischarges,yet theydo not explainfullythe fruitfulresultsof his
work overthe years.Afterall he hasproducedin the lastdecadea
whole set of outsbndingplayers,namelygrandmasters
Oleg
Romanishin,
AlexanderBelyavsky,
losif Dorfman,AdrianMikhalchishin,MarthaLitinskaya
and manyotheryoungmasters.What
arehismethods,
whatdoeshe concentrate
on?
His answer:'The mainfeatureof our work is verv likelvthe
development
of characterand love of hard work. Only strong
charactersare capableof producingtop competitiveresultsl
Confirmation
of this is seenin the attitudeof tough competition
betweenthe two mosttalentedpupilsof his OlegRomanishin
and
SashaBelyavsky.
When the slightlyyoungerOleg gainedthe
mastertiile his achievement
was soon matchedby the then
fourteen year old Belyavsky.Later on the same pattern was
followed,as the h,vo vied for varioustitlesand too olacesln
tournaments.
Yet the spiritof competition
betweenthem did not
preventthem remaining
friendsand workingon chesstogether.
103
is a markedfeature
betweenthemselves
Thiscreativecompetition
Kart's
PuPils.
of all
to Kart'ssuccess
Dvoretsky
hasdrawnattention
Juniorcolleague
the best sidesto his pupilsdespitetheir different
in developing
and stylesof play.
nersonalities
'
for the spirit
thisand mustexpressmy admiration
confirm
I can
respect
which
appliesin
mutual
and
understanding
friendship,
of
Whentalkingto Kari'spupilsI am invariably
thisfamouscollective.
struckby the feelingof love,clearlymutual,whichis so noticeable
amongthemwith regardto theircoach.
Let us now examinesomeof the betterknownof Kart'spupils,
who in recent years have joined the ranks of the strongest
in the world.
grandmasters
Alexander Belyavsky
YoungSashafeelsthat he was luckyin his childhoodsincehe
was only eightin 1961 when he learnedhow to playchessand
joinedthe chesscirclein the Lvov Palaceof Pioneersrun by
and
weresoondeveloped
chessabilities
Theyoungster's
V.L.Kart.
the typical spirit of competitionin the circle led to considerable
in eventsat cityand republiclevel..
success
School
Lateron he became a pupilat the Number2 Specialist
whereKartwason the staff,and then he startedscoringsuccesses
at nationallevel.
becameWorld JuniorChampionat
ln 1973 SashaBelyavsky
whichnormallypresages
a greatachievement
Teesside,
England,
tournaments.
Sashasoon
international
too
circle
of
entrv to the
as an outsbndingtalentby sharingfirst
confirmedhis reputation
placein the 1974 SovietChampionship
with Tal so winningthe
grandmaster
title.
sincethen have been numerousand can be
His successes
hard
attributedfirst of all to hls nativetalentand his scrupulous
whichmight
workat chess.He knowsthatto lastout a tournament
last getting on for a month you have to have good healthand
skiingin winter
strongnerves.
Thatis why hisdailyroutineincludes
that he
and tennisor swimmingin summer.lt is no coincidence
graduated
Culture.
from the Lvovlnstituteof Physical
Possiblyhis studiesin highereducationput a brakeon his
advancement
as a plaversincefrom 1974 he hashad his upsand
downs.This declinehas recentlybeenhaltedand he has some
suchas
recentsuccesses
whichcanonlvbe calledrecord-breaking
the perfectsccreof 13 pointsout of 13 at the 1978 Alicante
tournament
in Soain,fiveclearpointsaheadof the nextplayer!
'franslator's
Po and).
Note
Lvov s the largestc ty tn the Westerrr Ukra ne (formerlypart of
104
Kart'sChessSchool
Belyavsky
spendsa greatdealof timeon privatestudy,so it wrll
be interestingto hear his opinionabout this aspectof chess
as it is a weak point in manyof the world's
training,especially
juniorsand youngerplayers.
He has exoressedhis opinionthus: 'The differencebetween
workingat chessin the quietof your studyand duringan actual
gameis very significant.
lt is hardlyever the casethat you wrll
achievethe levelof concentration
at homethat appliesduringa
game.This is becauseof the absenceof the powerfulstimulus
of
suppliedby the playingfactor.As a resultthe greatadvantage
homestudy- theavailability
of a lotof time- is largelynullified.
In
any event,whetherit is a questionof an actualgameor home
analysis,
it is not usefulto work at it morethanfiveto six hoursa
day.Afterthatthe productivity
of extratimeput in is too low.Also
what mighttakeyoua dayin a tournament
to work out takestwo
or threedaysat home:
Thiscommentis very interesting.
Let us developthis line of
thoughtfurther.Hasthe reader,I wcnder,everhadto playgames
in theabsence
of an opponent,
that is playagainsthimself,making
movesf irstfor Whiteandthenfor Black?
Circumstances
havebeen
suchthat I haveoftenfoundthisthe onlymethodof trainingthat I
could use.How did it work out? No matterhow I tried to be
objective
andforcedmyselfto thinkas muchfor onesideasfor the
otherI couldnot easilymaintain
the rightsortof attitude.
Belvavskvhas a commenton this too: 'The absenceof a
'rejoinder'from
an opponentoftenleadsyou intoassuming
things
overthe bestmovein homeanalysrs.
A chessplayeris hardlyever
impartial.
Evenin analysis
he is tryingto find a win for Whiteor a
drawfor Black.In thecourseof analysis
hissympathies
for oneside
may change,but will not disappear- impartiality
is foreignto
research.
Thereis a greatdealof interestin thesecommentsand they
revealBelyavsky's
commonsense.yet he seemsto missthe most
importantpoint.No matterhow you try in joint analysiswith a
favouredhelp€ror experienced
coachyouwillalwaysseemoreand
figurethingsout betteron your own, thanwith the besthelpers.
Thereare many reasonsfor this, the greaterconcentration
of
thoughtby an individual,
the natureof thoughtand perception
in
the humanbrain.Thenthereis the factorof resoonsibilitv.
How
manyerroTshaveoccurredin the analysis
of adjournedgames,
evenat the highestlevel,because
the analysthasassumedthat if
therewasanlthingspecial
ina gjvenposition
it wouldbe spottedby
you reduce
hiscollaborator.
By restingyourfaithin a collaborator
the efficiency
of your own work,and you failto realise
the simple
factthathe is makingthe sameassumption
aboutyou,is relyingon
vou in the samefacilewav.
AbxanderBelyavsky
l05
liketo quotethisexample:- in 1967at the Palmade
I ah^/ays
Smyslovand l, always
threeof us, Botvinnik,
Majorcatournament
the adjournedgametogether,duringthe ninetyminute
analysed
break.Or rather that is how the first hour was spent Then
wouldaskusto leavehimand in the halfhourremaining
Botvinnik
himself
.
of playhe wouldcompletethe analysis
beforeresumption
went
into
by
comparlson
lines
he
How differentat timeswerethe
with what the threeof us had workedout!
by the fact that hisanalysis
doesnot get discouraged
Belyavsky
is not alwaysaccurateand that htstournamentresultsare not as
is the commentthat even
ooodas he wouldwish.Hisconsolation
how
to do properresearch
he
learned
that
once
said
Botvinnik
theageof aboutthirty So
workin chessonlywhenhe hadreached
stillhassometimeto go
at theageof twenty-six
Belyavsky
in his
play
is
Belyavsky probablymore universal
As to styleof
He
knows
how
to
conduct
a
colleagues.
than
his
other
aporoach
fierceattackon the king withoutcountingthe cost in sacrificed
then
then nextgamehe can put up a stubborndefence,
material,
again,as in the gamequotedbelow,he canshowgreatmasteryin
weavingtrickypatternsin a trickyendgame.
chev USSRSuperLeague1979
Belpvsky-Makary
Oueen'slndranDefence
1 d4 Af6 2 c4 e6 3 93 Ab4+ 4 i.}'d2c5 5 a4 Sxd2+ 6
gxd2 cd 7 Afs b5
bringsBlacksome
in thefinaianalysis
Thisstrivingfor originality
t r o u b l e . 7. . d 5 w a s s i m P l e r .
8 cb Sb7 9 $xd4 $a5+ 10 gb4!
An originaland accuratedecision.Black will have to make
considerable
effortsto recoverthe pawnin the endingand in the
advantages
certainpositional
interimWhitecanconsolidate
10 . . . grxb4+ 11 ab a6 12 ba Nxa6 13 Ad2 Ae4 14 b5
Ac7 15 E xa8+ $xa8 16 Ab4 A xbs 17 Ag2 4)gs
Blackhurriesto exchangeone of White'sbishopsbut thereby
by 17 : d6 1B
chances
losestime.Hecouldgetbetterdefensive
A d 2 f 5 1 9 l x e 4 f x e 4 2 C & d 2 & d 7 , o r 1 8 @ d 71 9 [ a 1 f 5
andthen20
trc8.
18 Ah4 j\xs2 19 lxg2 Ne4 20 f3 lif6 21 &d2 dG 22
tra1 €d7 23 Ae3 Eb8 24 €d3
so it is all the more
is insignificant,
advantage
Whiie'spositional
Belyavsky
duly exploitsthis
surprising
to seethe easewith which
plus.
minimal
24 ... Ag8
Hopingto drivethe bishopfrom its strongpositionby he7-c6.
25 q;4 r^e7 26 Hd1 f6 27 e4 d5 28 1-le3Nc6 29 Scs d4
on e4
move.lt lookssounderto exchange
A double-edqed
1OO
Kart'sChess
khool
OIegRomanishin
30 6c4 e5 31 f4 $e6 32 tral Ac7 33 Ad6 Eb3+ 34 €c2
Hb7 35 tra4 s5 36 fs fg
71
z?,x %
''/2t
zhrugz
lZ '..2 /,& '/&z
Efua'.&fi/t'fu2
7l:,.
%
37 b4l
preparedthis torcefuladranceof hrs
White has rnsidiously
passedpawnand now he forcesthedecision
in justa few moves.
37...h538€)b3d3
The threat of 39 $Xc7 ExcT 40 fla6 followed by a swrft
pushof theb-pawncannotbe met.Blackdecides
to try anddistract
the opponentfrom this by a pawnoffer.
39 SxcT fl xs7 40 $c3
Obviously
thisis srmpler
than40 HaGd2.
40 ... 4d441 €,xd3 Af3 42b5 1-O
Analysis
duringtheadjournment
indicated
thatit washopeless
to
DIavon.
Oleg Romanishin
A reallyembarrassing
stateof affairsoccurredat the sbrt of the
USSRSuperLeague,1975,in Yerevan.
A 23 yearold masterfrom
Lvovscoredsevenwinsagainstfamousplayers.
Thismasterwas
OlegRomanishin
the European
JuniorChampion
of 1973,andthe
listof hisvictimsis asfollows- Petrosian,
Furman,Polugayevsky,
Balashov,
Geller,
Alburtand Klovan.
Notjustthewinswerestriking,
but the mannerof theirachievement
broughtrepeatedburstsof
applause
from theaudience.
Romanishin
wasto givehisown reaction
later:A win givesonea
- a feelingof self-expression,
feelingof self-affirmation,
andsuccess
but onlya sensible
harmonisation
betweentheseurgescan bring
reallygreatachievements
in chessl
He has not alwaysmanagedto scorevictories.
His styletends
towardsthe combinational
and tact'cal,and it is welfknownthat
thispreference
doesnotalwaysresultin firstprizesin tournaments.
So we mustconcede
thathe hashisupsanddowns,greaterthanin
manycontemporary
leadingplayers,but his styleof playand the
contentwhichhe putsintoeverymovehasgainedthe admiration
of fans aroundthe world. He has that rich gift of fantasythat
enables
himto discover
fascinating
newpossibilities
in thedepthsof
1O7
chess.
- theyare
performanc€s
We willnot go throughhistournament
at
gravely
disappointed
were
supporters
,-- oreateuei thouoh-his
should
He
really
tournament.
Zonal
1979
Soviet
in
the
t'ir ?ulrrr"
by now. Howeverhe is sureto have
i.iar,egot into the Candidates
what
miny"au"""ta"ain the future,and hisfansareconfidentthat
play,
will
his
creative
all,
most
of
iiii'ult"vt delightedthem
contlnue.
'
i thoughta lot aboutwhichof his gamesto presentto readers,
simplyto ask him what was his favouritegame
-andthen-decided
at the Yerevan,1975,
his gameagainstPetrosian
J nominated
mentioned
have
already
we
thdt
SovietChampionship
Romanishin-Petrosian Oueen'slndian Defence
1 c4 Nf6 2lc3 e6 3 a]f3 b6 4 e4 Ab7 5 Ad3
Not a iew id&, but very effectivein this particularpositionThe
a Sin developing
*iff go laterto c2 frbmwhereit willassist
Olsnop
side
- attack.
S ... Ue 6 $c2 c5 7 d4 ed8 Sxd4 Se7 9 O'OO-O10 b3
6c6
.-On1 1 Ab2 a6 12 €hl Bc7 13 f4 flad8
thi-face of it White'tmovesjust look hkestraightforward
to get his.piece:.oyt
movesof the sort necessary
developing
lrom
hidesa trickyrdea
yet thisapparentsimplicity
theirinitiaisquares,
buildupsis one of the
natureof his combinative
ihe unexpecied
style.
Romanishin's
of
features
marked
14 trcl *b8 14 trf3 g6
pieceon theedgeof the boardat bB
BbcThaslut hisstrongest
the
whereit is unableto helpin actionwhichis aboutto takeplace
to decideon
on the €-side. This fictor inducesRomanishin
in hisS-sidepressure
extrememeasures
".&t
7./i:.:,.
A:'&tx
",./2
2
4l\+ +
)\ "z) t\
2!
D . H'::'.,
,4".r.':
16 Ads! ed 17 ed
himseliadmittedthis move is witnessto a
As F'omanishin
ice 17
In his opiniona secondknightsacrif
morieniof weakness.
'17
Thus
after
his
aim
be a quickerway of achieving
t
Af5l
- " q would
t e e d t r t e g r g H s g * € f ' s 2 0 d C J L >c 6 2 1 - l - f 5 H g 8
22 *ths Wh]ie would have a winn'rg attack so the knrght
1OB
Iosif Dodman
Kart's Chesskhool
could not be captured.PossiblyBlack would still have some
chancesby 'muddyingthe waters'in the variation17 aI5 dxe4
18 fixeT+ AxeT 19g/d4 d5 20 grxf6 d4 etc.
17 .. . Axd4 18 \9xd4 trde8 19 f5!
The only way. 19 94 would barehis own king too muchand
Blackcouldthenplay19 . . . $aB 20 95 QxdS+ 21 cd gxds+
with unclearconseouences.
19 . . . Ad8 20 Sh4 Ees
It is hardto breakthroughagainstsucha defender
as Petrosian.
By blockingthe maindiagonalBlackcan start lookingforward
confidently.
21 th6 8c7?
'Eventhe wisestcan makemistakes!'
Thatdefensive
specialist
Petrosian
slipsup here.Thecorrectmove21 . . . fl94 wouldgive
if he wantedto avoidthedraw
Whitea lotto thinkabout,especially
by repetition229f4 aI6 23 th6 Ag . After the text the attack
breaksthrough.
22 fls3 ScB
Blackhasnotonlyto defendthepoint97, but h7 aswell,andthe
movesdemandsgreataccuracy.
Fhus22 .
choiceof defensive
Ae8 wouldloseat onceafter23 Ef 1 Af6 24 tr 3.
23 Qxe5 de24ls fxs6 25 $xg6 lg4
Thiscleverattemptwillnot helpastheknightrstoo vulnerable
on
the openfile.
26 Ahs Ht6 27 Wd2 trf4 28 d6!
Showingthat White hasyei anotherattackingresourcein hrs
passed
formidable
d-pawn.White'smastery
enabledhimto foresee
whichchangethe direction
suchresources
of theattack.
24...*s729d7A:b7
Or 29 . AxdT 30 Qxga ,{xg4 31 Hxg4 gxg4 32
fld 1 winninga piece,whileWhitealsowinsafter29 . . WxdT
30 g/xd7AxdT 31 $xs4 fixs4 32 Ed1Ah4 33 trxd7
$xg3 3ahs fl xs3 35 trd6.
ef 3 1 q x g 4 A g 5 3 2 E d 1 i s a
30 g'xf4 1-O(30
simple
win).
losif Dorfman
Whatcanyou sayaboutthe playof grandmaster
losifDorfman
wasa questionI onceput to my friendSaloFlohr.Hisanswerwas
that this was an interesting,
tough player,who had somehow
recentlytallenback. He had sharedthe gold medalof Soviet
Champion
andthenbegunto playunconvincingly.
Well such thingsdo happenfrom time to time with younger
(andwitholderonestoo,the readermayadd).Onecanonly
players
hopethat this talentedpupilof Kartwill be ableto overcomethe
temporarycrisisand will regainhis best form. Evidenceof his
l Og
abilitiesis Provided by the followirrg game, Dodman-Chekhov,
M i n s k ,1 9 7 6 .
73
i
2
z+
7.2.,
..,.e,
7
7llr.,
+
with a seriesot simpleclearmoves.
Whiteexploitshisadvantages
gfdg 18 c5l $e6
17 b4!
'18. . . dc 19 bc and the knightgetsan excellent
outposton
Or
b6 hemminqin the enemyrook.
.gxa2 el 23
19 Af4 Ac4 2O Ecl Axa2 21 Sa4 e5 22
Hfdl !
layoutof pieces.Black'sforces
an ideallyharmonious
Achreving
pressure
aresolitandcannotcopewith the
23 . . . lg 24 hg d5 25 sxds! 5rg5 26 =.c4!
this pieceto the f-file
transferring
manoeuvre
Anotherexcellent
as part of a massedattackon f7
--
56-.. . H.ie'zznAg.t za trd3 a529 trd{3 ad8 30 b5
Ec8 31 c6 bc 32 bc [c7 33 H,c4Se5 34 ficS E/d6 35
gxaS!
74
t t
E
'Ut"%z.t
'HA7z,
%
7 7 %
% %HW,
% 72fr/&
basedotraccuratecalculation
operation
A finalsacrificial
35 . . . ab7 36 ib tr xc5 37 AxfT+ ! €g7 38 gra1 + g'es
39 SXe5 trxe5 4O AdS!
(to ruleout
Eb5).
Alittle trickbasedon line-closing
40 ... trb841 trf7+ €lhg 42e4 Hee843 Ss2 1-O
Adrian Mikhalchishin
has like Dorfmanmixed
Yet anotherKart pupil,Mikhalchishin'
in hiseffons
goodresultswithfailures.
Onemustwishhimsuccess
to reducehisvariability.
tn
areshownby thlsgameagainstTimoshchenko
Hiscapabilities
v| 10
Marta Litinskaya
Kart'sChesskhool
at Tbilisi.
the 1978Top League
75
"/'&t%%i"'&
x ' 2 % %
1 / Z% t 7
%i
'7w % 2 4 7
ffi %a''&
pawngivesthe chanceto havethe
passed
White'sdangerous
useof this
accurate
for a longtime,andhemakes
initiative
was
.
.
.
better\?3 6)e7+
2.
21 dOEcg
Ec4
adb Hc2 122
24
8e4 trc4
€hB
- 25 6gb i5 26 AS6+
24 .. flxa2 wouldlosequickly
27 8e6+.
€98
2s g'xoz g'd7 26 g,xd7 AxdT 27 Htel trcS 28 6d4
-AfO 29 Ab3 trc230 Ad5 Axds 31 Exds EXa2h4
is fatal.31
materral
equality
Thishasteto re-establish
chances.
betterdefensive
leaves
32 Acs Ag4 33 d7
pawnwhichhasserved
asthebasisof White's
Thislormidable
manoeuvresnow becomesunstoppaDle.
33 . . . tre2 34 fl xe2 Sxe2 35 Ab7 h4 36 sh 4xh4 37
d8g/ axdS 38 AidS €lg7 39 Ac6 a6 40 bd4 Qc4 41 flcS
A€ 42 Hc3 -tg6 zl(t 6c6 Ae8 zl4 [a3 fle1 + 45 €lh2 Ee2
won.
46€93 flc2 47 6e5 AfS 48 E xa6 and \y'Vhite
Marta Litinskaya
of seeingthisladypupil
havehadtheopportunity
Manycountries
of Kartin action.Shehaswon a numberof titles,but ot latewe
table.
haverarelyseenhernameat theveryheadof thetournament
She had seemedto havemissedout on the chanceof qualifying
Matchesafter her fourth placein the
for the women'sCandidate
but took the chanceof comingin as
in
Alicante,
1979 Interzonal
withdrew,andshewon a
whenoneof theoriginalqualifiers
reserve
after
dramaticmatchagainstthe West GermanGiselleFischdick
being3-Odown!
the
a signthat sheis overcoming
Suchfightingspiritis perhaps
crisisand startingto playat herold strength.
Litinskaya,
is seenin thrsgame,LysenkoHertacticalawaTeness
from the 1979 USSRZonaltournament.
titlefor women
Litinskaya
Heregrandmaster
{thegrandmaster
playerswas introducedby FIDEin 1976) carriedout a mating
attack.
1I
.rx, 2t
x.../lLt, '',,&
'z 7
ft7:.,
26 ... Hxa2l27 c3
leadslo 27 @xa2 $aB+ 28
of the rook sacrifice
Acceptance
mate
on a 1.Thetextis no better
and
29
bxc3
1
SXc3
€b Ac3+
sinceBlack'snextmoveblocksthe exitof the whitekingfrom the
firstrankand thendoublingrookson thea-filedecides.
27 . . . b3t 18 Qxcs lxcs 29 A1d2 Ad3 O-1
Karseladze
s ChessSchool
113
of position,all reinforcedby tactical
excellentunderstanding
we now gtvefrom
Thisis confirmedin theexamples
inventiveness.
theirgames.
11
KarseladzeC
' sh e s sS c h o o l
:&,t"'..&
296t'/Z
7
t
natureof the Kart
We havealreadymentionedthe remarkable
a
schoolin that a playerwithouteventhe mastertitledeveloped
is the otherchess
wholeseriesof grandmasters.
No lesssurprising
schoolwhichwe now dealwith, this tme in Georgia.Thisis the
schoolof V.Karseladze.
republichasnot
We mustbe honestand saythat the Caucasian
yet produced
a singleplayerof worldclass,thoughtheyhavewellin T.Georgadze,
B.Gurgenidze
and E.Gufeld
knowngrandmasters
{wholearnedhischessin the Ukraine).
ChessFederation
Yetin the ranksof the players
of the Georgian
we findmanyof thebestplayers
in theworldamongstwomen,and
by a
the women'sworldtitlehasbeenheldfor almosttwo decades
won the world
Georgian.
ln 1962thefamousNonaGaprindashvili
titleboth
title.As yet sheis the onlyplayerto holdthe grandmaster
for playagainstmenandagainstwomen.Recently
shehasnot had
for the
an easytime of it amongstwomenand her challengers
worldtitlehavebeenherfellowGeorgians.
In 1975shebeatoff the
challenge
of NanaAlexandria,
but three yearslatershe had to
surrender
thetitleto thethensixteenvearold MavaChiburdanidze.
What liesin the future?Thepresentchampionis Chiburdanidze
whilehereightchallengers
in the 1980series
matches
of knock-out
includeno less than four representatjves
of Georgia- the
legendary
Gaprrndashvili,
NanaAle>endria
and the youngplayers
Nanaloselani
and NiniGurieli,
allfour of themgrandmasters!
How can one explainthis floweringof femaletalent in the
Caucasus
republic,
and the unevendevelopment
as regardsmen
and womenolaversthere?Thereseemto be two reasons- the
activeand dedicated
work of the lateVakhtangKarseladze
who
broughton NonaGaprindashvili
andthentheexample
of theworld
championherselfon the next generation.
She is \€ry popularIn
her nativeIand,and it is no surprisethat from theirearliestyears
girlstry to followherexample.
Georgian
Connoisseurs
note the specialfeaturesof the style of the
Georgian
ladyplayers- thedepthof theirstrategic
concepts,
therr
tt
nidze,4th matchgame, 1978
This is Gaprindashvili-Chiburda
pawnsacrifice
to exploit
(Black)
plays
an interesting
Maya
Teenager
the
central
weakness
of
poor
piece
placement
the
and
White'!
squares.
20 . . . Ab4l21 Axb4 cb 22 Efel
Refusalof the sacrificemakesWhite'spositionevenweaker'
White shouldaccepteventhoughshewould stillstandworsein
thatevent.
22 ... AdTl
bringingthe knightto c5 from wherett
manoeuvTe,
An excellent
pressure
White'scentre.
great
on
willexert
23 $c2 lcS 24 b3 a6!
whichis now decisiveBy driving
manoeuvre
A frJshstrategical
bringstotal
Chiburdanidze
the whiteknightf rom itsstrongposition
disorderto White'sranks.
25 Ac3 b5 26 at]'ab 27 $1e3 Q1a41
whereasthe
Blackwins the exchange,
Simpleand convincing.
atter28
obvious27
tlxd3i wouldgiveWhitecounter-plaY
-H Xd3.
2a $la2€lc329 gas axd 1 30 H xd 1 glb3 31 gt)<bs
Hca3, glb7Ecxd333 H xd3 tr xd3 34Ads tr xf3 o-1
Nona Gaprindashvili
The 11thgameof the samematchsaw Nonatakeher revenge
with a fine alrack.(78)
Ac3+)27 $a1 flcs-!26 ... b4 (withthe [hrcat27
Thisrsa lreshpteceo[ cunntng.Thereis the prettvma!e 2q.
Ac3 29 bc bc 30 flb 1 $xa2+ | 31 € xa2 Eas in ,theottrng
a iemporarydefencebut the full extentof
tfrhit" onc" againfin-ds
cannotbe avoided.
threatened
the unpleasantness
28 Ebl 6b6 29 Sg3 EbcS 30 fibd1 lc4 31 f4
Thisallowsa simpleif eleganttacticalstroke,but other moves
would not saveWhite eithei.Thus 31 $f4 is met by 3 1
174
NanaAlexandria
Karsebdze'sChesskhool
E/t 72
7 VZi/&,
7,2.,t72
zry
%:.,
242 +
?fu,
%ft%
ft%.z.,.
%
Axb2t 32 gxb2 ga3+ 33 gb1 tras 34 gfd6 gxa2+ 3b
€c 1 trds! 36 tr xds ed37 Sf 5 b3 andBlackwins.
31 ... ad2! 32Hxd2b3! 3:tg'xb3€lxd2
materral
advanbge
combrned
witha neverendingseries
-Black's
of threatssoonforceWhiteto surrender.
3 4 f 5 € ' d 4 3l 5 f i e 1 f l e 5 3 6 S f 3 t r x c 2 !3 7 A x c 2 E x e 1 +
3 8 4 b 1 g d l 3 9g / x d 1 E X d l 4 0 f e f eO - 1
NanaAlexandria
ThecharmingNanahasalreadytriedonce,thoughunsucessfu|y,
to unseatNonaon the chessthrone.Her talentand caoacitvfor
hardworkgi\€ groundsfor hopingthatshewillscorebtgsuccesses
in thef utureand e\€n get to a worldtitlemabh again.Hertactcal
po\/ersare seenin thisgameagainstMnoginain the 1g7g USSB
Championshio
at Tbilisi.
79
i% 2t%
"zh
%a%
t r & 'ru,42
%"/.&t ' 2 %
)1,
m7t
&
(Black)now madethe interesting
- Alexahdria
- pieceoffer1g . . .
Ad4! 19 cd ed 20 Ah6+ gh8 21 QefS
It becomesclearthat othermovesaTeworse.Thus21 irdl is
met by 21 . . . €g7 22 gg4 fltea 23 €if I hS and Whitersin a
bad way.
21 . . . d3 22 Af3 b4 23 pxbT c3!!
A marvellous
position.
White'spiecesare unableto countertne
aggressive
spiritof theenemyfoot soldiers.
24 AxaS E xa8
Not onlydoestheextrarooknot offerWhitewinninqchances
rn
fact thereis no way for Whiteto savethisposition.
T6eGeoroian
115
basedon
olayershowedin ihts gamea rare gift of imagination
of positon.
anda rareunderstanding
Lxact
- ' z s analysis
o . u l z sa e 3S x e 32 T f e S g zt e a x n & x y ? 9 _ 2
34
dr30 e trd8 31 €e3 Ac4 32 Ehdl €/f6 33 a3 sb3
Efl+ €e635a5c2G1
Nana loselani
Thisyounggirl'scareeris onlyjust starting,but shealreadyhas
to her credit ln particularher resultin the
sJc6esses
sionificant
put her in the lasteightto contestthe
1579 Women'sInterzonal
Matches.
Candidate
in the 1979
Hereis thefinalparto{ hergameagainstL.Zaitseva
Moscow.
in
tournament
international
80
tTza%g%
%t%r.%t
ztv&t72,
l.t 6
t
f
l
,
Whitecarriesout a decisivepushon the €-side
17 h5 sh 18 6xh5 6g7 19 Af4 c5 2Oc3 cd 21 cd abA 22
Af3
-To 6c6 23 Ah4 Ad7 24€h2
transferthe rookto the importanth-file
24 ... gfc8 25 Ehl Ae8 26 Af3 Be7 27 &g2 gb4 28
4le2
4\a5 29 a3 *e7
-After
gtb3 30 grd2 the Black€-side is indefensible
29
30gd2 lxb3 31gxh6 }xal 3? Ax!91
-
ef 33 Axds+ Af7 34 g'h8
A {ine combination 32
gh8+
33
$f7 34 ShS mate'
mate,or 32 . . Axfs
32 . . . CdB 33 gthT+ &f7 34 $h5 mate'
Nino Gurieli
Theplayof thisyounggirl is markedby quitematuretechnlque
Thisis shownIn her game
inventiveness.
combinedwith tactical
'1979Alicanteinternational
tournamenl'(81)
rclain the
aoainstt|'l.Ga
""Whit"
on the
positional
advantage
useof her
-ir.", convincing
in{luence
cannot
{9-side
'iqiqt whichthe bishopat 97
AeE15 Hfdi trfue16assl axss 17Qxssf6 18
Ae3 b6 19 AxcT E(ac820 )d5 ic6
*Black
aftef2O
5"65 21 Hxds Hxc2
woutdlosequrcklv
resign'
Black
can
-22 flad1 Ec7 23 Af 1 and
2TA a?5 zz ffxosl ab23Axb6 6c6 24Axd8 trxd8
/ 76
Karsebdze'sChess*hool
truLxr."&r.
z %"'e,
%r.%
'ry
a%
T
2 t,&6&fi.
% 72
%
"&t% /&a2
25b41
passed
pawnsjust rollforwardunimpeded.
Theconnected
25 . . . €gg 26 a5 Q)a727 Afl €tr/ 28 tr<15€e8
The king hurriesover tryingto helpform a blockade,
but this
cannotbe achieved.
29 tradl Afg 30 b5 pe7 31 b6 Ac6 32 Abs Abg 33
ExdT 1-0
Whitefinishes
off elegantly.
meeting33 ... lXdT by 34
E x d 7 E x d 7 3 5a 6 .
12
Withouta School
the playof the'graduates'ofthe threemain
We havedescribed
Yetwe havetwo othersrgnificant
whichare
Sovietschools.
schools
remarkable
by wayof the f6meof theirheads.Someyearsagothe
Burevestnik
students'sports
association
organised
a schoolunder
the directionof ex-worldchampionVasilySmyslovand a similar
schoolfor youngtilents hasbeencreatedfor Sparbkheadedby
TigranPetrosian.
Both schoolswork on the
anotherex-champion
samesortof basisasthe Botuinnik
school,but whetherthissystem
will suitthemand what sort of 'product'weshallhavefrom their
endeavours
onlytimewill show.As yet theiractivityhasnot been
goingon longenoughtor usto judgethem.
Howeverthe obviousdesireof our leadingfiguresto passon
is there.In thisrespect
therrknowledge
to the youngergeneration
Petrosian's
thatin chessit
comments
areworthquoting:'l consider
is possible
to learneveMhing.ThatiswhatI belie\€andin my heart
of heartsI cherishthe dreamthat someday I will comeacrossa
pupilto whomI canpasson allthat I know,allthat I learned
by dint
who
of hardsearchaftertruth.I hopeto bringon sucha youngster
couldwork lointlywith me in variousresearches
and who could
then try theseout in actualplay.Yet thoughI havenot yet come
acrosssucha playerI am stilllivingin hopeand likethe work with
youngsters.
The schoolhasbeenworkingfor almostthreeyears
and thereare somesuccesses.
BorvaKantserfrom Frunzehas
becomeUSSRJ uniorChampion,
whiletwo lads,Kuporosov
and
Novikov,havereachedthe masternorm:
We can only wishour veteransgood luckin the passingon of
their immenseexperience
to the youngtherebymakinga serious
contribution
to the furtherdevelopment
and popularisation
of the
game.
Obviouslystudiesundersuch conditions
are a seriousway of
aimingfor the top, but thereare someof our playerswho have
managedwithoutlongformalschooling
and stillscoredtop-class
results.We devotethe remainingpart of the bookto someof these
independent
talentswho havedoneit allon theirown,or hadonly
-Y
llB
lrinaLevitina
WithoutaSchool
who arenot wellknown.
shortcontactwith teachers
In this respectprideof placeshouldprobablygo to the verv
talentedgirl from Leningradwho has three times been Sovtet
Ladies'Champion.
lrina Levitina
What seemedthe key game,againstworld title holderMaya
was lostby lrinain annoyingcircumsbnces,
Chiburdanidze,
by a
mistakein the adjournedsessionin what was a comparatively
simpleposition.
Thencamea 'reaction'* sixwinsin a row,and not
weakplayers
against
either.Thiswasthe 1979USSRChampionship
at Tbilisi,and brought Levitinaher third gold medalas USSB
Champion.
a remarkable
achievement
at the age of only twenty
five.Thefirstwincamein 197'1,the secondin 1978.Thereseems
littledoubtthat we shallseeher amongstthe challengers
one day
for theworldcrown.
Her style of play is markedby imagination,
bold energetic
approachand combinational
inventiveness.
Thesenaturalqualities
were partly developedby her long associationwith mentor Pavel
Kondratyev.To see them examinea positiontogether tn total
harmonyis to realise
whata futureliesbeforeher.
Thebestsideof herfightingqualities
is seenin thisgameagainst
LarisaMuchnikin the 1979SovietChamoionshio.
82
g&Lffi1,
% ' e 7
& z^%ft
2 % t % %
frfr4,/ f't
To startwith an energetic
blowagainstthe enemy$-side.
19 Afs! AXfs
Obviously
for the pawnto takewouldloseat onceto 20 8g5+
20 et Q1d721 h4b4z2h5!
White'spushcannotbe heldand Blackhasto openlineson the
S-side.
22 . .. 9h23l6l
And now the Lopezbishopat c2 is openedup.
23 .. . Axf6 24 6:g5 Afg 25 Axfs gxfS 26 axhT+
(&e7 27 Axf6 €xf6 28 gh6+ @e7
29 8g5+ €f8 30 Afs
flb8 31 flacI b3 32 ab Axb3 33 Hcdl I
Whitestationsherrooksin linewiththe enemvkinowhichmust
brinqbenefits
sooneror later.
119
33 . . . Ac5 34 Sh6+ Se7 35 fl xe5+ Ae6 36 E xe6+ fe
37 grxe6+ €fB 38 grf6+ €g8 39 Ed3 1-o
who
chessnames
various
otherwell-known
Onemightmention
with any school.The Yerevangrandmaster
are not a-ssociated
HafaelVaganyanis one exampleand we haveseenwhat he is
capableo1 in the fine combinationagainst Reshevsky(see
"'"r1r"o
ol-u"rr associatedwith the urals and Siberiaare grand(who sharedfirst placein the Soviet
mastersViialy Tseshkovsky
MikhailTalandjustfailedto getto the
with
of 1978
Chamoionship
lnterzonalof 1976) and Yevgeny
Manila
in
the
Candidates
playof bothmenhaswon themmany
Theaggressive
Sveshnikov.
suDDorters.
Vitaly Tseshkovsky
83
t"'n '& %t
i%
%t"'/zi.'%2,,
t"'&'/.&
%'/h8ry,
% ./&
%
/&,t
of the
fromthe 1978 FirstLeague
ThisisTseshkovskv-Belyavsky
a
conducted
from
Omsk
grandmaster
The
SovietChampionship.
difficultattackon the $-sidewith realflair'
22 ab ab 23 EaOl trbg 24 flae1 Af6 25 EaSl HcbT 26
Y.1a7|
A curiousposition.Blackwill find it hardto hit uponthe right
here.26 . fxaT allows27 trXb8+ and28 $xbS'
decision
26 . . . Hea27 H xb7 gxbT 28 Ea5 e4 29 gd1 gxds 30
AxbS Edg 31 ele2 \dte632 c4! d5 33 cd eieSl 34 g3
f4.
34
the threatened
Anticipating
36
.
.
35
34 . ;dl-6
we3! {+xdsl
ic3 wd1 + 37 €9214 38
gt thS S5-r;Lc4+8,fg 40 ies brf3+ 41 urxf3 ef + 42EYt3
Axb4 rFl Ea7 Ae7 44 €S4
*AlthoughThe
Whitestillhas
p-oiition
has6ecomemuchsimplified
pressure.
formidable
4a .. . tbe8 45 fla6 Ed2 45 f5! Af6+ 47 €{3! Ad7 48
*Ea8+ JdS 49 ic7 .if6 50;b5+ &f7 51 ;f4!
Whitfrxoloitslhe actiuivof his bishopsto the maximumBlack
hasa onm poslflon.
51 :. . Ad4 52 sa7'r E)f853 ie3 1'0
comesf rom thisbrshop(53
Ed 1 54 Ah6+
Thefinai-blow
Makarychev
€g8 55 Ac4+, and if 55 . . . €hB then56 l\g7 mate).
Yevgeny Sveshnikov
alas.has
from Chelyabinsk,
YevgenySveshnikov
Grandmaster
combinedperiodsof greatsuccesswith avvfultailures,yet thrs
cheerfulyoung man neverlosesheart.You will often hear him
his own playand himself.This is a good sign as selfcriticising
preliminary
to puttingmattersright
criticismis the necessary
of at hisbestis shownin thisgamefrom the
What he is capable
Top League,1978,at Ashkhabad.
84
h:&
/& '1
tr&
i&
2
n
t
7
%
+
2
Whitestartsa big pushon the €-side.
17 s4! $a6 ld trf2 {5 19 sf EXfs 20 h4! af8 21 ah3
Qc8! 22 le2!
A correctdecisionnot to take the exchangeas then Black's
white-square
bishopwouldbecometoo strong.
22 . . . trhs 23W1 e624 Eh2! Aa6 25 9f2 €'e7 26 6)g3
Eh6 27 fsl
Linesareopenedto enablethewhtte
breakthrough.
An excellent
piecesto get at the enemyking and this decidesmatterspretty
quickly.
2 7 . . . e t 2 8 S x f 5 ! g f 2 9 axh6 axh6 30 axfs 31
Es2+ €F/
Thekinghasno optionbut to comeout intothe open.lf 31
€hB then32 Axh6 g'xh6 33 lg5! wins.
SergeiMakarYchev
-Jhe
to conducta systematlc
abilityof the Moscowgrandmaster
p";it;;;vi;";;,wnicrrrscliarlcie;i:tic?i,hls^:b/,letls"s^?el[:ls
at Ashkhabad
in the 1978SuperLeasue
;;;;';:is;;;hnikov
./t ',/Zi'"..&t
:
AiA
g
85
a,t
:
tt
A
"'.&a'/t&,t',,8
gh3! de
2ob41521 6:;b6Ea722'grc2t329AIts d5! 24
27
Ads!
25Axe4
--ffiuof.r Ad4Z5 Axd4gxd4
hove thistacticalstrokewashaidto
*"t a com6iicated
foresee.
27 . . . Axds 28 Eadl Exb4
. Axs2 29 gbq+ Ad5 30
Blackwould do betteroY zd
hopeoTsurvrvrng - .
with
some
1
+
3 1 €2h €lh8
x d5 *q4
,\-ld"ni"as*ez3o
gTatwrz31we3 ' e732\e2ten33
s-x".e=ia-iaGia"s-se g-e2iix;8 36 EXds+ {epr-u37
F x"8-r gxeS 38 t7c4+ €h8 39 €fl ue7 40 Eic6+
Tomaz
- -tn Georqadze
studledunderhiswelfknowncountryman
frl voutfiCeorqadze
v.i".."riJi", oui tit"r. on workedentirelyon his own He is an
of calm A
;;;;;'i. il'fer1'nougn he givesan outwardappearance
is that
g-ames
orlginal
most
whose
playei
bf
one
very ingenious
Super
Soviet
1979
the earlYleaderin the
t<upreicl-rik
aoainst"V.
Leagueat Minsk.
86
32 Ag5+ $xss 33 trxgs Og634 h5 Ae8
(34
himselfto the inevitable
Reconiiling
Ne7 35 Ad6+, 34
thequeen).
. . AfB 35 Ag7+ winning
35 hg hg 36 g'h4!
AfG 37 th6! Ae4 38 th7+ 1-O
with
of modernSovietplayers
We conclude
our 'portraitgallery'
who shared5-7thplaces
gameextractsbytwo othergrandmasters
in the last SovietSuper League(December,1979) lust before
irr
Bothof themare'self-taught'
goingto Hastings
for the Premier.
by
the iense that though their early effortswere encouraged
teachers
theirmorerecentclimbto thetop isthe resultof individual
effort.
121
t.l
h i.t
t.t tEt
:
t
t''fu
t t "/aa/./'t.a&,
^
a surprlslng
White has given up the exchangebilt now makes
centre
in
the
breakthrouqh
"
g'de27
A;i;i
#5ias
acza bch425t4ter26ar3
Ac4 Ef, 28 leS f xg3 29 Ad4l
Without a khool
t7, /// 7t 7t 2
&,4m ^
7ZA&fr.%
% 7z
' H
Vlz.,
A marvelloussight, creatinga positionthat rs a tribute to
in
pieceplayandcentralisation.
Blackis quitehelpless
harmonious
pieces
the faceof sucha unifiedhostof minor
29 ... Ass 30 AxfT AXfT 31 trxb7 Ass 32 Hxn
€xf/ 33 Af4+ €e8 34 $xa4+ gd7 35 Abs axf4 36
AxdT+ @e737 el flc7 38 Sf6+ 1-0.
Indexof Players
Referenceis to page numbers for games and game extracts'
99
Akhmilovskaya
Alekhine22. 34, 51, 52, 59
Ale)6ndriya114
Anikayev79, 98
Balashov
89
16, 1O5,119
Bel)€vsky
60
Boooliubow
Boilnnik 20. 45. 48.54,87
Browne19
Butnorius96
48
Capablanca
Chekhov109
nidze 1 13
Chiburda
Dolmatov98
Dorfman43, 1O9
Eurue22
Flltp42
Furmanz I
113
Gaprindashvili
Karpov 19. 25, 43. 46,55,87
96
Kasparov
62
Koltanowski
Kotov2 1
121
Kupreichik
Larsen8O
Laard 62
LeMtina1 18
| 45'1O
Lilientha
1
Litinskaya
Lputyen91
Lutikov25
Lysenko110
121
Makarychev
Mieses60
11O
Mikhalchishin
M u c h n i1
k18
20,7A, 1O7
Petrosian
PetroVch99
Platov62
16.80
Polugalevsky
b uTre I rc
9'1
Razurayev
29
Reshevsky
Reti34
55, 89, 107
Romanishin
Rubinstein
6'1
ni 1 15
losela
lvkov78
Sokolsky54
tzv, tz I
S\r'esnnlKov
baTcE I rc
Geller79
121
Georgadze
Grtinfeld16
| 24
lndex of Players
Tal42, 48, 48.77, 33
Tartako\ ,er 59
Timoschenko
1 1O
Tseshkovsky
1 19
Vagania
n 29
Velimirovch
77
Vidmar51
Unzicker46
Yates61
Yusupov93
.!
i