1.Qb4!! ... (D)
This was the move that baffled me. If Black plays 1...Q×b4 there follows 2.B×e5+ K×h7 3.Rh3+ Kg6 4.Rg3+ Kh6 (all other possible king moves lose more rapidly) 5.Rf6+ Kh5 6.Rf5+ Kh6 7.Bf4+ Kh7 8.Rh5 mate.
In the above, if Black tries 5...Kh7 there follows 6.Rf7+ Kh6 7.Bf4+ Kh5 8.Rh7 mate.
1...R8c5 (D)
At this point Blackburne realized that White had a brilliant reply, and to relieve the tension he started to stroll through the tournament room.
This is what happened, according to his own rueful account:
“Presently I heard a crash as though a piece were being slapped down with all the emphasis a man’s muscles could give it, and presently there came a tap on my shoulder.
“Your clock is going; I have made my move,” he said, and from the expression of his face, and the manner in which he drew himself up to his full height, I felt that I might remark as the writer did when the audience damned his play, “He has found it out has he?”
2.Rf8+!! ... (D)
A move worthy of a crash! Steinitz, Zukertort’s bitterest rival, commented: “In conjunction with White’s previous play, this forms one of the most notable combinations ever conceived over the chessboard.”
2...K×h7
The alternative is 2...Q×f8 3.B×e5+ K×h7 4.Q×e4+ Kh6 5.Qh4+ Now White is bound to force checkmate, for example 5...Kg6 6.Qg4+ Kf7 7.Qe6 mate.
3.Q×e4+ Kg7 (D)
Now Zukertort is ready for more sacrifices.
4.B×e5+!! K×f8 5.Bg7+!! ... (D)
The glorious point of the previous sacrifice. If 5...Q×g7 6.Qe8 mate.
5...Kg8 6.Q×e7 Resigns
White’s material and attacking advantage is overwhelming.
Explanation: This time Black’s king was not stranded in the middle of the board. Nevertheless, his king’s castled position had been ripped up completely, and with all White’s forces in action Black couldn’t hold out.
What made the conclusion all the more inevitable was the fact that only Black’s queen took part in the defense. Hence White’s brilliant tactic of playing to deflect the black queen from the defense.
If you had ever met Akiba Rubinstein, you would never have thought of him as the artistic type. He was short, thickset, broad-shouldered, with undistinguished features and conservative clothes. Yet Rubinstein was famous for his uncanny mastery of the most delicate technical details as well as for his exceptional skill in playing beautiful combinations.
Many years ago I played in a simultaneous exhibition against Rubinstein. Knowing his fame as a player of great artistry, I naïvely expected him to have long tapering fingers. Instead they turned out to be short and stubby. I was disappointed, but not for long, as I noticed Rubinstein’s peculiar way of moving the knights. Instead of lifting them from square to square, as most players do, Rubinstein would push them ahead with his index finger and ring finger close together. This sounds awkward; but actually it was very graceful and quietly menacing, giving an impression of dynamic stored-up power which might explode at any moment.
A curious feature of Rubinstein’s personality was that unlike most chess masters, he was strangely inarticulate. He wrote very little, and the secrets of this strangely aloof figure have remained an enigma to this day. Without being unfriendly he remained taciturn and withdrawn.
And so Rubinstein speaks to us only through his masterpieces. But this is no small achievement, for few masters have equaled the artistry the lights up Rubinstein’s games. (D)
Rotlevi – Rubinstein
Black to move
Black’s queen is attacked, but White has troubles too. His queen must remain on it’s present square to guard against the threat of ...Q×h2 mate.
This is Rubinstein’s point of departure for an amazing sacrifice of the queen:
1...R×c3!!! (D)
This brusque surprise leaves White with very little choice. Thus if 2.B×c3 B×e4+ and White gets mated, 3.Q×e4 Q×h2 mate. On the other hand if White tries 2.B×b7, then 2...R×g3 (threatening ...Rh3) wins easily for Black.
So White captures the queen – not that he isn’t quite willing, for who could foresee what is to come?
2.g×h4 ...
Now how does Black continue the attack?
2...Rd2!! (D)
Again one of those moves to which no adjective can do justice. White is caught in a vise, and no matter how he squirms, he cannot refute Black’s sacrifices.
Thus if 3.Q×g4 B×e4+ 4.Rf3 R×f3 and the threat of 5...Rf1 mate is decisive.
Or consider 3.B×b7 R×e2 (threatening mate) 4.Bg2 Rh3!! and White will succumb to ...R×h2 mate.
Finally, if 3.B×c3 R×e2 with the double, irresistible menace of 4...R×h2 mate or 4...B×e4+ followed mate. So White, willingly or not, takes the biggest bait of all.
3.Q×d2 ...
But now his vital bishop at e4 is left unguarded. This is the chief point of Rubinstein’s wonderful combination. (D)
3...B×e4+ 4.Qg2 Rh3! Resigns (D)
For Black is about to play 5...R×h2 mate. Some enthusiasts consider this the finest chess combination ever played. And no wonder!
Explanation: Black has a tremendous advantage in the starting position. All his pieces take part in the attack on White’s kingside. White has no threats at all, being limited purely to defense.
Note one significant factor: White’s rooks play no role, while Black’s rooks are in the thick of the fight. They have a double job: they knock out the valuable defensive pieces and harry the white queen. They are so strong if fact, that their combined operations more than make up for the absence of the black queen.
Chapter Two
Lightning From a Clear Sky—or Slow Torture
More Gems of Master Chess Play
In 1930 a brash young man who lived in Portland, Oregon, read that world champion Alexander Alekhine was slated to give a simultaneous exhibition in Los Angeles. The little matter of distance didn’t trouble the young man at all. A three-hour plane trip brought him to Los Angeles well in time for the exhibition.
Once he was seated to play against the world champion, the young man disregarded all the other opponents and played move on move against Alekhine. (Courtesy, as well as efficiency, requires that one move be made at a time at each board so that everyone present gets a chance to play frequently.) Alekhine had met many a hot blood in his time, so he took the young man’s impetuosity in his stride. Bang-bang-bang went the pieces and pawns until, after eleven moves, the young man found he was checkmated.
He had flown more than a thousand miles to play a game in which the world champion had checkmated him in thirteen seconds.
That sort of thing is very common in master chess – a sudden stab of lightning in what appears to be clear sky, and the game is abruptly over. The ordinary player may look at such a position and find it harmless, colorless, lacking in every kind of possibility. But a master, almost as a mater of routine, will at once sense the hidden finesse.
Sudden Lightning
Adolf Anderssen, a great German master of the nineteenth century, had a wonderful gift for unearthing the tactical resources in any position. By profession he was a schoolteacher, and by temperament he was timid – a “milquetoast.”
At the chessboard, however, Anderssen was a raging lion. His play was aggressive and spiced with a thousand attractive ideas. To this day his games are a delight to play over, for he never missed a chance to create fascinating complications. When he was in an inspired mood, material meant nothing to him: he sacrificed right and left to get the beautiful attacking positions that to him were the very essence of chess.
Here is Anderssen in action against one of his favorite disciples, Schallopp. With one brusque move Anderssen makes Schallopp look as ingloriously inept as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. (D)
Anderssen – Schallopp
White to move
Anderssen has sacrificed a pawn right in the opening to nail down Black’s king in the center. (Black cannot castle because
his king cannot pass over a square – f8 – which is commanded by White’s queen bishop.)
But in the position of the diagram, Black threatens ...N×c5. Most players would retreat the attacked bishop, or perhaps play N×e4. Few would see the magnificent retort dreamed up by Anderssen:
1.Q×e4+!! Resigns (D)
Black does well to give up the ghost. If he plays 1...N×e4 then we get 2.B×f7 mate!
This little variation is well worth dwelling on, because it sums up so incisively the superiority of a great master. In return for his sacrificed pawn, Anderssen got an enormous lead in development – note how many pieces he has working as opposed to Black’s two developed knights.
The master, you see, strives for such a lead in development almost automatically, without thought. He knows from past experience that such a great lead in development is very likely to lead to a dramatic smashup – just what happened here.
But the average inexperienced player knows nothing of the sort, and so, time and again, he will make the mistake of neglecting to bring out his pieces quickly or readily accepting those glamorous pawns which the master hands away so generously.
Now here’s a confusing state of affairs: the master – any master – appears to you as more than life-size. You’re impressed by his foresight, his technique, his knowledge, his resourcefulness, his intimidating air of seeing all your little traps and tricks. Yet this same almighty master may be mowed down with the greatest ease by an even greater master. (Hence Marshall’s plaintive comment on some of his worst lickings: “He beat me like a child!:”)
So it was with the immortal Anderssen, who had the bitter experience of being routed in a match with Paul Morphy, a “beardless” youth who was half Anderssen’s age. Morphy was just as brilliant as Anderssen, but he had more on the ball; Morphy’s theoretical understanding of the game was deeper.
Though Morphy’s tournament and match playing career lasted only three short years, he became the most famous of all the chess masters. To this day his name is still the best known in the field. When a great new master makes his mark, chessplayers want to know if he’s as good as Morphy.
Chess fans who don’t keep abreast of the times simply dismiss all modern masters as inferior to Morphy. To them Morphy is more than a master: he’s the brand name for “chess master.”
The Morphy legend is one of the golden legends of chess, and it deserves to be. The youth, good looks, and easy successes of Morphy make up an epic that is irresistible. But more important than Morphy’s victories is the way he won them: by straight-forward and elegant play.
And remember this too: since the techniques of attacking and defensive play were not so well understood a century ago as they are today, Morphy’s lightning-like attacks had a mysterious and tantalizing quality which fascinated the players of his day. They went into raptures over combinations like this one: (D)
Morphy – Baucher
White to move
Morphy is playing eight games blindfold simultaneously. Don’t feel sorry for him – it’s his opponent who needs your sympathy. Black has avoided losing any material, but his prospects are slim just the same. For his pieces take up cramped positions, and his king is awkwardly wedged in the corner. Morphy takes a good hard “look” at that king and plays:
1.Rh3! ... (D)
Suddenly lightning is about to strike on the chessboard. White threatens 2.R×h7+ K×h7 3.Qh5 mate.
Here are some of the possibilities:
(a) 1...Re8 (to give the king elbow room) 2.Qh5 h6 3.N×g7! K×g7 4.Q×h6+ and White forces checkmate; (b) 1...g6 (to keep White’s queen away) 2.f×g6 R×g6 3.R×h7+! K×h7 4.Qh5+ Rh6 5.Qf7+ Kh8 6.Qg7 mate.
1...h6
Black tries a different way.
2.Qd2! ... (D)
A tremendous move – especially in blindfold chess! White threatens 3.Q×d7 – even a blind man can “see” that. But look at his other threat: 3.R×h6+! g×h6 4.Q×h6 mate.
2...Kh7
Black can’t save himself. He must guard against the mate. There is simply no time to save the bishop.
3.Q×d7 ...
And White won easily with his material advantage.
Few – perhaps none – of the other masters have had José Raúl Capablanca’s phenomenal gift for the game. At the age of four he was criticizing his father’s chess – and none too gently.
At the age of twelve, Capablanca was champion of Cuba. And at the age of twenty, without ever having taken part in a master tournament, Capablanca defeated the great Marshall in a match by the overwhelming score of 8-1! And only twelve years later he won the world championship by defeating Emanuel Lasker in a match for the title.
Capablanca’s secret was utter simplicity. He played moves that were quite “obvious.” Yet their power was crushing. He played by instinct – yet he achieved more than others did by the closest kind of calculation. Sometimes his chess seemed to be dry and uninspired, but it certainly got results.
The amazing paradox of Capablanca’s play was that, although he avoided complications, the quality of lightning surprise was always present in his games. You expect sudden surprise moves in complicated positions, but who expects them in deceptively quiet situations? Here is a good example of a stunning surprise move. (D)
Capablanca – Rossolimo
White to move
White attacks the knight, while his bishop is doubly attacked. Most players handling the white pieces would be content with 1.R×e5 R×a6 2.R×a6 R×a6 3.K×b3 and White, with a pawn ahead, will eventually win the rook and pawn ending.
Now Capablanca was a fabulous endgame technician, so this just what we would expect him to play. But he sees more in the position. He gets the weird-looking notion of moving his bishop, which is pinned! If he moves his bishop, he loses his rook at a1. And yet this is just what Capablanca does! Who would dream that the bishop can move?
1.Bd3!! ... (D)
And what does Black do? He resigns! No wonder master play is incomprehensible to the average player. And yet there is method in the apparent madness of these masters.
Here’s the point: when the bishop moves to d3 it prevents a possible ...Kh7 by Black. Therefore, after 1.Bd3!! Black cannot play 1...R×a1? because of 2.Rc8 mate.
But meanwhile Black’s knight remains attacked and his rook at a8 is attacked. What to do? Suppose he tries 1...Re8 getting his rook out of danger? In that case White wins a piece with 2.R×e5! for if 2...R×e5? 3.Ra8+ and White checkmates in two moves – Black’s king has no flight square!
And so Black resigns, as any attempt to avoid the loss of a piece will result in his being checkmated!
The method used here by Capablanca is of the greatest importance in modern play. For the great masters are too skillful and too careful, as a rule, to let themselves be exposed to powerful attacks. They are more vulnerable to subtle surprise moves in apparently quiet positions – lightning from a clear sky.
Amazing Resources
So far you’ve seen – and I hope, have admired – the energy and brilliance with which the masters exploit tactical opportunities in favorable situations. But the situation is not always favorable.
There are times when even the greatest master is brought to the thin edge of defeat. Confronted with disaster, you and I are likely to crack under the strain, to lose hope, to give up without a fight. But it is in just such situations that the masters have displayed their attacking abilities in the most favorable light. See how they unearth resources that are diabolical in their ingenuity. (D)
Schmid – Udovcic
White to move
In the diagram we see a highly complicated position. White’s pieces are strongly posted for attack on the kingside, but Black is hardly twiddling his fingers.
Note that Black is attacking one of White’s rooks. In addition he seems to be threatening 1...Q×b3 2.a×b3 Rd1 mate!
What should White do in this critical situation? Certainly 1.B×c4?? is not the answer, for Black replies 1...Rd1 mate.
Le
t me give you a hint here. This is not the sort of position in which halfway measures can be successful. White needs a blockbuster, and he finds it in:
1.Rh8+!! ... (D)
What a move! With one rook attacked, he offers the other one as well. But White has the germ of a superb idea. He wants to be able to play Qh7+ – an idea so powerful that it’s well worth a rook.
1...B×h8 2.Qh7+ Kf8 3.Bc5+!! ... (D)
Another inspiration! First he offers a rook and now a bishop. Black resigns. Why?
If he plays 3...Q×c5 then 4.R×f7+ and Black gets mated. Likewise after 3...Ke8 as White has 4.Qg8 mate or 4.Q×h8 mate. Finally, if 3...Rd6 4.R×f7+ forces mate.
In the next diagram Black’s situation is much more critical. With White just on the point of queening his far-advanced pawn, most players handling the black pieces wouldn’t be ashamed to resign.
However, there’s a saving clause for Black, in very fine print, to be sure. (D)
Amateur – Krogius
Black to play
How can Black save himself. Hardly with the spineless 1...Re8? For then 2.g8/Q R×g8 3.R×g8 leaves Black a rook down with nothing to live for.
If there is a way for Black to hold out it must be on the basis of his passed pawns, which are on the third rank – pretty far advanced. If only White’s bishop were not at hand to defend White’s king against the advance of the black pawns...Now there’s an idea! Let’s try it.
How to Play Chess like a Champion Page 3