How to Be a Winner at Chess
Page 8
White to play
Black’s king and queen stand on the same diagonal. Note that this is a lightsquared diagonal, and that White has a bishop traveling on the light squares.
Do these three features mean something to you? Perhaps not. Then note another factor: White can play bishop to f5 (Bf5). (D)
After Be4-f5
The bishop is guarded by the white rook at f1. The bishop sets up a pin! Black cannot save the queen because moving the queen away would expose the black king to attack – and that is strictly forbidden.
So, no matter how Black plays, he loses his queen for only a bishop. White’s gain of material gives him a winning advantage.
The pin in our next diagram is already in existence. (D)
Black to play
Black pins the white knight, which cannot move lest it expose the white king to attack. Black attacks the knight, White defends it with his rook. Black’s problem is this: can he strengthen his attack on the helpless pinned piece? Indeed he can. By playing ...pawn to e5 (...e5) Black wins a whole piece. (D)
After ...e6-e5
The pinned knight, attacked by a mere pawn, cannot retreat and must go lost. Again the pin has led to a winning material advantage.
Such examples by no means exhaust the winning possibilities of pinning moves. Our next position offers a refined example of what the pin can accomplish. (D)
White to play
Of course White can pin the black queen by playing rook to d4 (Rd4). As in a previous position (second diagram on page 78), this move would win Black’s queen – if only White’s rook were protected! It seems that we must regretfully give up the pin.
Must we forget about the pin – or do we have a hidden resource. Suppose White tries rook to d4 (Rd4) and Black replies ...queen takes rook (...Q×d4). (D)
After ...Qd5×d4
Now comes White’s sly surprise – a check! He plays pawn to e6 check (e5-e6+), leading to the next position. (D)
After e5-e6+
Black is lost! The deadly check has incidentally opened up a diagonal of attack by the white queen against the black queen. Black must take care of the check. In so doing he is helpless against White’s coming queen takes queen (Q×d4). This capture leaves White with a winning material advantage of queen versus rook.
There you have a splendid example of how pins are invented if they don’t already exist. Here’s another fascinating example which if anything is even more tricky. (D)
White to play
White is a piece down; he has just given up a piece to arrive at this position. Just why did he do that?
True, White can regain the piece by exchanging queens, and then playing rook takes bishop check (R×f8+). But this listless line certainly offers no hope of winning. Whatever White has in mind must be a lot more forceful than this.
We want something forceful and we want a pin. The most forceful move of all is a check, so the answer is: rook takes bishop check (R×f8+). (D)
After Rb8×f8+
Black has no choice: he must answer ...king takes rook (...K×f8). (D)
After ...Kf7×f8
White is now a rook down. Ordinarily this would be a hopeless material disadvantage, but here White knows what he is doing. He has produced the pin he was looking for: Black’s knight is pinned!
White plays queen takes queen check (Qb1×f5+) and Black cannot recapture! So White has the winning material advantage of queen versus rook.
Double Play
When you combine the pin with a fork, then your opponent is headed for real trouble.
The forks (as shown in the diagram on page 45) is a double attack generally carried out by a knight. This type of attack is difficult to parry at the best of times. But when the two types of attack are combined in one nasty threat, the pressure is generally irresistible.
The next diagram is a prelude to havoc. (D)
White to play
Black’s king and queen are pitiably vulnerable to a fork. Or at least they would be if Black’s king pawn at e6 did not protect him against knight to f5 check (Nf5+).
But is the work of the e6-pawn really effective, or is its protection only a fake? After all the pawn is pinned by the white rook at e1.
Therefore White’s winning move is knight to f5 check (Ng3-f5+). (D)
After Ng3-f5+
If Black captures the knight, then he loses by rook takes queen (Re1×e7) If Black does not capture the knight, then he loses by knight takes queen (Nf5×e7). Either way, Black’s loss of material is fatal.
In the next position the pin and the fork are combined with blunderbuss effect. (D)
White to play
White has two pins here: his bishop at a3 pins Black’s rook at e7. Secondly, Black’s f-pawn at f7 is pinned on the open file by the white rook at f1.
White takes advantage of the double pin by giving the forking check, knight to e6 check (Ne6+).
Our next diagram pictures the resulting extraordinary situation: (D)
After Ng5-e6+
The checking knight cannot be captured by the black rook, which is helpless because it is pinned.
Neither can the checking knight be captured by Black’s f7-pawn, which is also pinned.
And so Black is condemned to look on helplessly and let his queen be captured by the galloping knight.
From these examples you can gain a convincing idea of the strong, persistent pressure that pins exert. Once you start making use of pins, you will find endless opportunities to win games with them. Pinning chess is winning chess.
Chapter Eleven
“Give Till It Hurts!”
Winning by Sacrificing
Perhaps you have heard what happened when St. Peter and St. Paul come down from heaven to play a round of golf. After both saints had shot several amazing holes-in-one, St. Peter was fed up. “That’s enough,” he muttered; “let’s cut out the miracles and play golf.”
Chess isn’t like that at all. Miracles are an ordinary, everyday occurrence in chess. What could be more miraculous than winning games by deliberately losing material?
How Sacrifices Win
This notion is paradoxical and puzzling. Again and again you have seen emphasized the idea that you must avoid losing material. Sacrificing material – offering it or allowing it to be captured – seems to be without rhyme or reason.
Still, we’re told that sacrificing material can win games. There can be only one way to explain this riddle.
The only way to justify intentionally losing material is that you expect to gain something of greater value than the value of the material sacrificed.
There is the idea that clears up the mystery; the gain of greater value. For example, to give up your queen is a cheap price to pay for an immediate checkmate. To give up your knight is certainly no blunder if in return you win your opponent’s queen.
Let’s try a very simple example, as shown in the following diagram: (D)
White to play
When we’re told that White plays knight to g6 check (Ng6+) in this position, we wonder whether he’s out of his mind. (D)
After Ne5-g6+
After all, the knight can be captured in two different ways. But have you noticed this – that in the act of giving check White uncovers a discovered attack by the white queen against the black queen? Black must of course pay heed to the check.
The result is that after Black has cleared the offending knight out of the way, White plays queen takes queen (Q×c7) with a crushing advantage in material. The sacrifice has proved profitable.
In our next diagram the sacrificing is much more subtle and much more expensive. But in due time it leads to checkmate, justifying all of White’s strenuous efforts. (D)
White to play
There are two key factors in this situation: Black’s forces are scattered and do not cooperate. Worse yet, as far as Black is concerned, his queen is out of play.
Yet at the moment White does not seem to be making headway, for his queen is
attacked and the pawn fork ...pawn to c4 (...c5-c4) is threatened.
Summing up the plus and minus features, we see that time is of the essence. How can White press home his attack?
White starts with a sacrifice: knight to f5 check (Nf5+).
Black must capture the obstreperous knight with his king knight pawn at g6 (...g6×f5). But now a line of attack has been opened up against Black’s king. (D)
After ...g6×f5
White immediately seizes the line with rook to g3 check (Rd3-g3+). Note that White is operating with checks – forcing moves par excellence. His queen is still attacked, but Black must get out of check.
Black plays king to f8 (...Kg7-f8). Now White can simply capture the bishop and win, but he has another fine sacrifice. (D)
After ...Kg7-g8
Now White’s most forceful move is rook to g8 check (Rg3-g8+). (D)
After Rg3-g8+
It takes imagination to find such a move, which looks absurd on the face of it. But it is a check and therefore forces Black’s hand.
Black plays ...king takes rook (...K×g8) which of course is forced. But now White has checkmate in three moves. He plays queen to e8 check (Qe8+), leaving Black only one reply: ...king to g7 (...Kg7).
White’s next move is queen takes f-pawn at f7 check (Q×f7+) and now it is mate next move. (D)
After Qe8×f7+
Thus if Black plays ...king to h6 (...Kh6), White answers queen takes bishop mate (Qf7×f6#). And if Black tries ...king to h8 (...Kh8) instead, White mates by queen to g8 or even queen to f8 (Qg8# or Qf8#).
All this is beautifully played and calculated, but what makes it possible? The scattered position of Black’s forces, and the black queen’s leave of absence.
Sacrificing the Queen
The two previous examples show how it is possible to give up substantial material in the right kind of situation and still win the game.
But now we come to a really sensational theme – sacrificing the queen. It seems unbelievable that a player can part with the most powerful of all chess pieces and still win the game.
This is playing for high stakes and the occasion is nothing less than forcing checkmate. In all such cases, there has to be some overriding reason that makes the sacrifice feasible.
In the next diagram the sacrifice is feasible because Black’s king is not properly protected. In fact, the timely escape of the king is blocked by Black’s own pieces. (D)
White to play
White’s first move comes as a shock: queen takes king rook pawn at h7 check (Q×h7+). Black must take: ...king takes queen (...K×h7). (D)
After ...Kh8×h7
Here, too, White operates exclusively with checks. After giving up the most powerful piece on the board, he has to rely on the most forcing type of move – the check.
White’s next is rook to h5 check (Rf5-h5+). This forces ...king to g7 (...Kg7). Note that Black’s king is strictly on its own; it gets no help from the other black pieces, which now stand helplessly.
Now comes another check: bishop to h6 check (Bc1-h6+). (D)
After Bc1-h6+
Black plays ...king to h7 (...Kh7). The retreat with the king to h8 would lead to the same finish.
Now White plays bishop to f8 discovered check (Bh6-f8#) and Black is checkmated! (D)
After Bh6-f8#
A very beautiful line of play! Again we must emphasize that the queen sacrifice paid off because Black’s pieces did not cooperate and because Black’s king was not protected.
In our next diagram there is again a logical basis for a queen sacrifice. (D)
White to play
Black’s king is in the center and White is very considerably ahead in development. Again Black’s forces do not cooperate and the black king will have to fend for himself. Only by this type of analysis can we perceive that the miracle of the queen sacrifice has a reasonable and logical basis.
What actually inspires White’s queen sacrifice is the realization that Black’s bishop on c6 has the choice of stopping a very nasty discovered check against the black king. But this black bishop also has the job of protecting the black knight. This gives White the winning idea.
He plays queen takes knight (Q×e4). If Black is not to remain a piece down, he must play ...bishop takes queen, ...Bc6×e4). But now that Black’s bishop has left the c6-square, White has a devastating double check.
The only way for White to find compensation for his sacrificed queen is in peremptory checks that leave Black no avenue of escape.
White proceeds with a check – a double check, in fact. His next move is knight to c7 double check (Nb5-c7+), giving our next diagram. (D)
After Nb5-c7+
You may recall from the discussion of the positions on page 35 that you can’t interpose a piece to a double check. There is only one reply, and that is to move your king.
And so Black has only one move: ...king to e7 (...Ke7). White now continues rook to d7 check (Rd7+) (D)
After Rd1-d7#
and Black is checkmated! A very beautiful line of play.
And in the following position too, Black has a sound reason for his miraculous queen sacrifice. (D)
Black to play
In this case it is the white king that is vulnerable in the center of the board. And once again we find magnificently cooperating pieces fighting against scattered forces.
Black begins with the startling capture ...queen takes bishop check (...Q×f4+). (D)
After ...Qh4×f4+
White replies king takes queen (K×f4).
As in the previous examples, the sacrifice of the queen must be followed by forthright checks. And so Black continues with ...bishop to h6 check (...Bh6+)
The check forces White’s reply: king to f5 (Kf5). From move to move the white king has become more exposed. A glance at the position reveals the critical state of the white king. (D)
After Kf4-f5
In this curious position Black can force checkmate by giving a discovered check with his knight. Any move of his knight discovers check and gives checkmate!
With these examples we conclude our study of how to be a winner at chess. Sacrificing material – losing it for a purpose – is the hardest but most enjoyable form of winning chess.
In reading this book you have seen what it takes to be a winner at chess. Checkmate is always our goal, but we need to know the most effective ways of reaching that goal.
We need to concentrate on the three strongest kinds of moves – checks, captures, and pawn promotions. In regarding the game as a whole, we want to develop our pieces rapidly and effectively. We want to put them to good use in the middlegame. And in the endgame we want to reap the fruits of our previous good play.
The lesson of the last two chapters is that there are two winning techniques we can use in any part of the game. One of these is the pinning attack, the most frequent and one of the most effective of all types of attack. The other technique is that of sacrificing material in order to win back even more than was sacrificed.
These are the ways to become a winner at chess. May this book help you to get more victories out of your chess – and more fun too.
A Chess Refresher
The Basic Rules of Chess
Most readers of this book are familiar with the basic rules for playing chess. For the benefit of those who do not know the rules or may have forgotten some of them, here is a summary of the essentials.
A game of chess is played on a board made up of 64 squares in eight vertical and eight horizontal rows.
Each player has sixteen chessmen. The player of the light-colored pieces is called “White.” The player of the darkcolored pieces is called “Black.”
Here is the opening position: (D)
Each side has eight pawns – these are in the second and seventh rows (“ranks”).
Each side has two rooks – these are in the corners.
Each side has two knights – these are next to the rooks.
Each side h
as two bishops – these are next to the knights, proceeding toward the center of the board.
We have left the king and the queen. The king has a small cross on his crown. The queen is to the immediate left of the king in the diagram, the opening position of a game of chess.
Note that the white queen is on a light square. The black queen is on a dark square.
White always moves first.
How the Pieces Move
The king can be moved to a square adjoining the square he occupies.
The king can never move to a square which is under attack by a hostile piece. The reason for this will be explained a little later on. (D)
The King
In the diagram the king can move to any square next to the one on which he is now placed. That gives him a choice of eight moves.
The queen can move vertically, horizontally, or diagonally – in eight different directions. The queen’s move along one of these lines is limited only by occupation of other pieces of some squares along the given line.
In the diagram, believe it or not, the queen has 27 possible moves! (D)