How to Play Chess like a Champion

by Fred Reinfeld

  “See?” said the master encouragingly. “You’re getting better with every lesson. Now that you’re too strong for queen odds, I can only give you odds of a rook.”

  So they went through the same rigmarole at rook odds, and after three more sessions, the banker was “able” to win at these odds. As a result, the odds were progressively reduced, until at last the master confessed that his pupil had improved so much that giving him odds was now “impossible.” They would have to play on even terms. Once more they went through the whole ritual until the banker “succeeded” in beating the master on even terms.

  “Well,” said the master, “from now on we can continue the lessons playing without odds.”

  But at this point the banker’s canny commercial instincts asserted themselves. “Now that I’ve beaten you playing even, I don’t need any more lessons.”

  “Is that so?” the enraged master bellowed, “Just sit down and I’ll give you queen odds all over again and beat the pants off you!”

  The moral of this story is that we mustn’t underestimate the difficulties of improving. And yet it would be wrong to go to the other extreme and conclude that improvement is altogether beyond our reach. What’s important above all is method – some notion of what you want to achieve and how to go about it. Here are some helpful hints:

  Thoughtful Development

  The amateur brings out his pieces any old way in the opening, giving little or no thought to the problem. Then, after the opening stage, he’s disheartened or baffled to find that his prospects are slim because his pieces are not very efficient.

  What’s good development and what’s bad development. This is not a technical treatise, and in any event I know from experience that examples are more useful than abstract definitions. Go back once more to Chapter Three and see how badly the players develop their pieces, unaware of the middle game tasks those pieces will have to perform.

  Or turn to Chapter Four and see how the amateurs mishandle the opening so badly they lose in twelve moves or even less. That’s bad development. As you review these games, you will see how bad development leads to disaster. When you played these games over for the first time, you followed the play for amusement. Go over it now with a purpose – the desire to observe, to study, to foresee, to draw conclusions.

  To play the opening thoughtfully means to play with a purpose, to play for the future.

  But general principles are not enough: let’s look at the game which shows how bad development is punished. The comments will not only show why the bad moves are bad; they’ll also indicate what should have been played.

  This game is one of the most famous in chess history. It was won by the great Paul Morphy against the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard in a box at the Paris Opera during a performance of The Barber of Seville.

  Morphy – Allies Philidor Defense

  1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 (D)

  First wrong move: he neglects to develop a piece. The right way was 2...Nc6, defending his e-pawn by developing a piece. Another acceptable method is 2...Nf6, counterattacking against White’s e-pawn by developing a piece.

  3.d4 ...

  White opens up the diagonal for his queen bishop and at the same time threatens to win a pawn. (D)

  A good reply for Black is 3...Nf6, developing a piece with counterattack against the e-pawn. Another valuable feature of the knight’s development is that it helps to prepare for Black’s castling. As you’ve seen in several games in this book, neglecting to castle leads to serious trouble.

  3...Bg4 (D)

  Black’s last move was a developing move, but not a good one. He thinks that by pinning White’s knight he avoids the loss of a pawn. This is correct as far as it goes but it doesn’t go far enough. Now watch the perfectly simple but convincing way that Morphy demonstrates the faulty character of 3...Bg4.

  4.d×e5! ...

  If now 4...d×e5 5.Q×d8+ K×d8 6.N×e5 and White has won a pawn. So Black must exchange his bishop.

  4...B×f3 5.Q×f3 d×e5 6.Bc4! ... (D)

  Developing a new piece and threatening Q×f7 mate. White has seized the lead in development and maintains it to the end.

  6...Nf6

  At last he develops the knight – but too late to avoid trouble.

  7.Qb3! ... (D)

  Double attack: he threatens 8.B×f7+ K-moves 9.Qe6 mate. And he also threatens 8.Q×b7. Black must lose a pawn.

  7...Qe7

  A defense of sorts. At first sight the reply 8.Q×b7 looks devastating, but Black replies 8...Qb4+, saving his threatened rook by swapping queens.

  8.Nc3! ...

  Winning the pawn was good enough, but Morphy prefers to keep developing.

  8...c6 (D)

  Losing more valuable time to protect his b-pawn. Meanwhile, Black has only two pieces developed to White’s three. Worse yet, the development of his bishop is blocked by his queen. Charge this up to Black’s faulty 3...Bg4.

  9.Bg5! ...

  A powerful pinning move. Now Black would like to play ...Nbd7, but this would lose his b-pawn. So he plays a preparatory move.

  9...b5 (D)

  Most players would be content to retreat the attacked bishop. Morphy prefers to sacrifice.

  10.N×b5! c×b5 11.B×b5+ Nbd7 12.0-0-0! ...

  By castling queenside, White brings his al-rook directly to the d1-square. White threatens a quick win with 13.R×d7 or 13.B×d7+ or even 13.B×f6. White’s pin must be decisive.

  12...Rd8 (D)

  Black does his pitiable best to hold the fort. But Morphy has more sacrifices up his sleeve.

  13.R×d7! R×d7 14.Rd1 Qe6 (D)

  This seems to be about the only move, enabling Black to answer 15.B×d7+ with 15...N×d7 without losing his queen. But Morphy doesn’t mind.

  15.B×d7+ N×d7 (D)

  Now comes a witty finish.

  16.Qb8+!! N×d8 17.Rd8 mate! (D)

  No wonder this pretty little game is regarded as the classic triumph of good development over bad development!

  Consecutive Thinking

  Suppose you do develop your pieces efficiently. What then? You need ideas, plans, possibilities. The excellent placement of your pieces needs to be exploited in some fashion.

  Here the amateur goes badly astray. He plays from move to move. And so every time it’s his turn to move, the situation that confronts him is brand new, unrelated to what has happened and what is about to happen. Continuity of thought can add much to your playing strength – and to your enjoyment of the game.

  To drive home the point, let’s observe a characteristic simple but very effective Capablanca endgame. (D)

  Capablanca – Yates

  White to move

  By a series of clever knight moves White wins a pawn by force. He begins with:

  1.Nc3! ... (D)

  Black cannot reply l...N×c3? for then 2.R×d7+ wins a piece. He has only one move to guard his knight, as his rook is also attacked – not to mention his a-pawn.

  1...Rc5

  The only move to save his rook and also guard his knight and a-pawn.

  2.Ne4! Rb5

  The only move to save his rook and guard his a-pawn.

  3.Ned6! ... (D)

  Note how White keeps hammering away at the weaknesses in Black’s game. Again there is only one reply if Black is to preserve the a-pawn.

  3...Rc5

  But now White achieves his objective.

  4.Nb7! ... (D)

  By means of a series of superb knight moves, White has succeeded in forcing the win of the a-pawn, which is now doubly attacked.

  4...Rc7 5.Nb×a5 ...

  And thanks to his material advantage, White eventually won the endgame.

  Surprise Moves

  Surprise moves, in chess as in war, often paralyze the enemy’s fighting spirit. One conclusion I’ve reached from examining thousands of games is that the possibilities for surprise moves are much greater than we imagine.

  A fresh approach, a willingness to look below the surface, will often work
wonders in chess. The player who finds surprise moves is the one who has refused to take things for granted; he has looked a little deeper into the position and thought a bit more about it.

  The player who misses the surprise moves is the one who drifts along placidly or else is content to play routine chess. When playing over the games of amateurs I’m taken aback not only by the number of mistakes but also by the number of opportunities missed to play a surprise move.

  Well, how do you look for surprise moves? What is the clue to their existence? Here again concrete example is more useful than abstract definition. The guide to surprise moves is some quality of imbalance in the position. When you come across a situation which contains elements distinctly out of the ordinary, it’s very likely that you can play moves which are likewise distinctly out of the ordinary. Take this example from a game between two amateurs: (D)

  Donisthorpe – Mundell

  White to move

  Black’s king is exposed to attack and he has lost the castling privilege. White is way ahead in development and his pieces are powerfully poised for attack. This is surely a situation out of the ordinary and what happens is consequently out of the ordinary:

  1.Q×e5+!! ... (D)

  1...d×e5

  Or 1...f×e5 2.Bg5 mate!

  2.Bc5 mate! (D)

  Don’t you agree that most players would miss this brilliant bit of play right in the opening stage? And yet with a little thought, a little imagination, and I suppose, a touch of the killer instinct, White finds an exquisite queen sacrifice with two beautiful variations. (D)

  How would you proceed if you were playing the Black pieces? Very likely you would continue 1...Rh6 threatening mate and hoping for 2.h3? when 2...N×h3! breaks up White’s position and wins for Black. [Even stronger is 2...Q×h3+ 3.g×h3 R×h3 mate. Editor]

  Hermann – Hussong

  Black to move

  However, on l...Rh6 White plays 2.Nf1, guarding against the threatened mate and at the same time avoiding any weakening of his pawn position in the vicinity of his king.

  So apparently Black is stymied. But...let’s think this thing through. Black’s queen is aggressively placed, White’s queen is far away from the critical zone. Black has a knight and a rook which are well posted for attack.

  On the other hand White’s king has little support. The white rook at g1 is no great help, as it wedges the king tightly into the corner and leaves no room for escape.

  Does this give you an idea? Can it be that...? Yes it can! Here goes:

  1...Q×h2+!!

  Absolutely sound and leading to a forced mate! The method as you will see is highly ingenious.

  2.K×h2 ... (D)

  Black’s next move is obvious.

  2...Rh6+

  Driving the unescorted white king out into the open.

  3.Kg3 ...

  Can White’s king be taken for a ride? Black’s next move, also obvious, drives the white king further out into the open.

  3...Ne2+ 4.Kg4 ... (D)

  Now Black’s other rook gets into the act. The fact that Black is giving check after check and exposing White’s king more and more is a hint that Black is on the right road. He’d better be, for with a queen down, the escape of his prey means utter ruin for Black.

  4...Rf4+ 5.Kg5 ... (D)

  And now what? Should Black keep checking? If he plays 5...Rg6+ White answers 6.Kh5. Then after 6...Rh6+ White plays 7.Kg5 and Black has a perpetual check by driving the king back and forth.

  But Black doesn’t want a draw; he wants to win. He must therefore do something very daring; dispense with checks, and play quiet but menacing moves. This isn’t an easy thing to do when you’re a queen down!

  5...Rh2!! (D)

  A powerful, imaginative move worthy of a great master. The threat – believe it or not – is 6...h6 mate!

  6.Q×f8+ K×f8 7.Nf3 ...

  White’s helplessness against the coming winning maneuver is truly pathetic.

  7...h6+ 8.Kg6 ... (D)

  It was in order to be able to play this move that White gave up his queen for Black’s knight on move 6. Now 8...Rf6+ looks tempting, but then the white king slyly slips away to h7. But Black is too sharp to let this happen.

  8...Kg8!!

  Blocking the white king’s flight and thus threatening 9...Rf6 mate. But what about the black rook that is attacked by White’s knight? By capturing this rook, White will create an escape hatch for his king.

  9.N×h2 ... (D)

  Now it seems that Black has overreached himself. The fact is though, that he has provided for everything. Having sacrificed his queen and rook he now sacrifices the remaining rook.

  9...Rf5!!

  Threatening two mates. One is ...Rg5 mate; the other is ...Nf4 mate. White can’t stop both.

  10.e×f5 Nf4 mate! (D)

  With a mere knight against two rooks and two knights, Black has nevertheless forced checkmate. One of the most poetic masterpieces ever achieved on the chessboard! [Besides 5...Rh2 there are also 5...Rff6 6.Kg4 Rfg6+ 7.Kf3 N×g1 mate and 5...Rfh4 6.g4 N×g 1 and 7...N×h3 mate. Editor].

  Don’t Get Rattled

  Just as it’s important to look for surprise moves, it’s equally important not to get rattled in desperate situations. The sad fact is that most of us lose hope all too readily in such situations.

  But there’s more to chess than we can see in a glance. A second look, and a third, will often unearth resources that we didn’t dream of. Here the player’s basic attitude is all-important. Faith moves mountains, and on the chessboard it salvages many a position that at first sight looks absolutely hopeless. Learn to distrust those first impressions.

  Losing isn’t so important as it seems. What really matters is how you lose. Some players have been known to get so upset by a powerful-looking move that they resigned on the spot, without realizing they had a hidden resource that would have turned the tables. Look below the surface, and remember that “skimmed milk often masquerades as cream.” (D)

  Duras – Cohn

  White to move

  Black threatens ...Qg2 mate. White can defend himself with Rd2, but this prosaic defense would still involve him in many difficulties. So he improvises a marvelous winning method:

  1.R×h7+!! K×h7

  The only move to save his queen.

  2.Qe7+ ...

  Forcing Black’s reply since 2...Kh6 loses to 3.Rh8+.

  2...Kg6 3.Rg8+ ... (D)

  After 3.Rg8+

  Again Black’s reply is forced as his king dare not move to the h-file.

  3...Kf5 (D)

  Now another sacrifice with his remaining rook:

  4.R×g5+!... (D)

  If 4...f×g5 in reply, then 5.Qd7+ wins Black’s queen!

  4...K×g5 5.Qg7+ ...

  And now 5...Kh5 is answered by 6.Qh7+ winning Black’s queen.

  5...Kf5 6.Qd7+ Resigns (D)

  For White wins the black queen. A splendid example of resourceful play in a difficult situation. How many players in the position of the initial diagram would have realized that White could attack instead of abjectly defending?

  Read!

  There’s no quicker way to improve at chess than to read chess books and magazines. Chess is too ramified a subject to be mastered by mere practice. Playing is important, but it’s not enough. It has to be backed up by study.

  It’s a mistake to think of study as drudgery. What could be more enjoyable than playing over the masterpieces of the great players and appreciating their brilliant combinations and refined technique? And while you’re having fun, you’re improving your game as well, picking up ideas that you can use advantageously in your own games.

  Playing over master games enriches your fund of ideas, strengthens your knowledge of the openings, shows you how to plan the middlegame, how to carry through an attack, how to exploit your advantage in material. By study you can learn in a matter of hours what might otherwise not be acquired in a lifetime of practice.

  To illustrate this point, h
ere’s a very beautiful series of attacking moves in a game between two amateurs. The basic idea of Black’s attack is based on a checkmating idea which has appeared more than once in master chess. Once you have grasped the idea you can use it in your own games, just as Black did in this one: (D)

  Gestaldi – Guisti

  Black to move

  Black is a piece down but he has a winning attack. The winning idea is hard to see, but it’s based on a standard motif which is fairly familiar.

  1...Qb6!! (D)

  An unpleasant surprise for White. If now 2.R×b6 Black replies 2...Ra8+ 3.B×a8 R×a8+ 4.Ra6 R×a6 mate. The key to the win is the fact that White’s king is held in a vise by Black’s knight.

  After 1...Qb6!!

  2.Ra3 ...

  White has no choice: his rook must run away.

  2...b4 (D)

  If now 3.Rd3 Qa5+ 4.Ra3 (forced) 4...b×a3 and Black wins easily.

  3.Ra4 Qd4 (D)