20.Nxd6+!+−
20.Rg8+ Rxg8 21.Qxg8+ Kd7 and Black is OK; 20.Qe6 cxb5 21.Rg7 Qc7 and Black holds. I’ll just mention a few other moves, which should be taken into consideration only if the first three are all inefficient. The program offers two other winning ideas4:
The move 20.Rg7 is less forcing, and there is a defence that complicates the task of the attacker: 20…d5, when three white pieces are attacked simultaneously, and White has one only move to keep the advantage: 21.Rxd5!! cxd5 22.Nc7+ Kd8 (22…Kf8 23.Ne6+ Ke8 24.Qb5# is a surprising checkmate) 23.Qxd5+ Kxc7 24.Rxe7+ Kb6 25.Qb5+ Ka7 26.Qxa5#.
Another computer suggestion is 20.Rxd6, when after 20…cxb5 21.Rg8+ checkmates. Upon 20…Bxd6 White has to find the cold-blooded 21.Rg7! with unavoidable checkmate.
20…Kf8 is the best defensive try. Again, the best reply is not obvious: 21.Qc5! (with the idea Rxf6+) 21…Bxd6 22.Nxd6 Qa7 23.Qc4 b5 24.Qxc6! Rg8 25.Rxg8+ Kxg8 26.axb5 Rb8 27.Nf5 and White is winning.
20…Kd7
20…Bxd6 21.Qe6+ Be7 22.Rg7 and White will checkmate quickly.
21.Rd3
1-0
21…Bxd6 22.Rg7+ Kd8 23.Qe6 and the game is over.
Phases of reflection in practice (2)
Vallejo Pons,Francisco
Ponomariov,Ruslan
Spain tt 2011 (3)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.Be2 Ne4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Nxd2 10.Nbxd2 0-0 11.0-0 f6 12.a3 Ba5 13.Bb5 Ne7 14.Qc2 Bf5 15.Bd3 Bxd3 16.Qxd3 Ng6 17.g3 c5 18.b4 cxb4 19.Nb3 bxa3 20.Nxa5 Qxa5
21.Qb3 fxe5 22.Rxa3 Qd8 23.dxe5 Qd7 24.e6 Qxe6 25.Qxb7 a5 26.Nd4 Qe4 27.Rd1 Rab8 28.Qa6 Rb1 29.Rd3 Rxd1+ 30.Rxd1 Ne5 31.Qxa5 Ng4 32.Nc6
32.Qe1 should hold for White: 32…Qxe1+ 33.Rxe1 Rxf2 34.Re7.
What is our first impression here? White’s pieces are scattered all over the board while Black’s men are coordinated and clearly aimed at the enemy king. The second phase, analysis, shows us that material is equal, and that White is threatening to take on d5 with a quick draw to follow.
Then we look for signals, and we can find several:
- the undefended white rook (Chapter 2, page 34);
- the weakness of White’s fortress, and of his king (Chapter 1, page 27).
The third phase of looking for a theme should convince us that the many weak points on White’s side could be exploited with a double attack.
The fourth phase (examining candidate moves) tells us to first examine checks (33…Qg2+ is not good) and mating patterns. 32…Ne3 creates a mate threat.
Phase 5: So we calculate and select the winning:
32…Ne3! 33.fxe3
33.Ne7+ changes nothing after 33…Kh8−+ as the knight protects d5 from e3.
33…Qxe3+34.Kg2
34.Kh1 is no better because of 34…Qf3+.
34…Rf2+
34…Qe2+ 35.Kh3 Qxd1 also wins, as the ending after 36.Qxd5+ Qxd5 37.Ne7+ Kf7 38.Nxd5 is lost for White.
35.Kh3 Qh6+36.Kg4 Qg6+
0-1
C. Principles of calculation
The calculation of variations is the most difficult part of chess, and arguably the most important. If you learn a chimpanzee to play chess and give him abilities in every part of the game but no calculating strength, he will remain a poor player. If you don’t learn him anything, but give him the calculating ability of, say, a 2600 Elo grandmaster, then he will be around master level (2400). By the way, we don’t use chimpanzees, but machines, who don’t have any intelligence at all. Yet, by mainly using calculation (to make it even more unfair, they are also given huge opening knowledge) they are able to beat the best players, however stupid they may be!
Let’s just look at the basic technics of calculation. When dealing with combinations, we usually don’t need to calculate very deep, but we must be able to consider every plausible move and to calculate it at two or three moves ‘ depth. How to do this?
Firstly, in calculation, we need to consider the best moves. We don’t deal with mistakes by the opponent. So the method is simple: you are White, you consider an attacking move and then in order to find the best possible answer, you mentally turn the board, and as Black you look for the best defence. Then, again as White, you consider the second move, and so on.
Secondly, now that you already have a good feeling about the position (steps 1, 2 and 3), what do you calculate first? You calculate the most forcing moves, i.e. those that are the most demanding for the opponent, leaving him with the narrowest number of possible answers. In doing so you are considerably easing your task by restricting the number of lines that you have to calculate.
Checks
The first moves to consider are checks, of course. Let’s try some calculation in practice with an old game:
Barnes
NN
1876 (place unknown)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Nc3 Nxc3 5.dxc3 d6
5…f6! is the official refutation of this interesting gambit: 6.Nh4 g6 7.f4 Qe7 8.f5 (if 8.0-0 Qc5+ wins the exposed c4-bishop) 8…Qg7 9.fxg6 hxg6 10.Qg4 Kd8 11.Qg3 (11…d5 was threatened) 11…g5 12.Nf5 Qh7 13.0-0 d5! with an advantage for Black (not the slow 13…c6 due to 14.Bd3 with a lot of play for White. Black was crushed after 14…d5 (14…Qf7 or 14…Qh5 were safer) 15.Nd6 e4 (on 15…Qc7 16.Bxg5! wins; or 15…Qe7 16.Rxf6!) 16.Rxf6 exd3 17.Bxg5 Be7 18.Nf7+ 1-0 Rublevsky-Scetinin, Pardubice 1992) 14.Bxd5 Bxf5 and Black eventually won in Krnjovsek-Pavasovic, Slovenia ch-U18, 1993.
6.Nxe5 Qe7 7.Bxf7+ Kd8 8.0-0 Qxe5 9.Re1 Qf6
White to play and give mate. In the actual game, Barnes announced mate in 11, but there are shorter solutions. Our job is to find checks, and, where we have several possibilities, to find the most restricting ones for the opponent.
10.Re8+
This one is not difficult. Nearly the only possible check (Qxd6 is not so attractive), and there is only one answer.
10…Kd7 11.Qg4+Kc6
This is the only move because the two alternatives lose immediately, so we won’t take them into account. Here, in the book, we have a diagram, but during the game you won’t have one before you! So I advise you to use a ‘step-by-step’ method: after calculating two or three relatively forced moves, try to visualize the position in your head, just as if you had it in front of you, on the board.
This method is used by all strong players and it is based on a photographic memory. Every two or three moves, you ‘take a picture’ and try to fix the new image so that you know where all the pieces are. Only then do you continue with your calculation.
This method explains why the majority of the best players often don’t look at the board. Most of the time they are ‘building’ their own position on the board – the one they are currently analysing.
This method takes time, because you need time to shift and replace many pieces when you go further in your calculation, but in the end it is considerably safer. If you calculate while looking at the actual board, you run the risk of mixing up the actual position on the board with the result of your calculations.
For example, there is the phenomenon of the ‘residual image’ that remains in your calculations: ‘seeing’ a piece on a square that is not there any more because it has been captured, or displaced. You should not calculate 11 …Qf5 because it is not a good move, but anyway it also leads to mate: 12.Qxf5+ Kc6. Can you see how, as an exercise5?
Here we have a problem, because if we play the logical sequence the game is more complicated.
12.Bd5+!
This is a very forcing move. 12.Qc4+ Kb6 13.Be3+ is ‘normal’, but now Black can interpose 13…c5 In a ‘real game’, we can stop here because White is winning. He has a small material and a huge positional advantage after the simple 14.Rxc8.
12…Kxd5
Practically forced. After the alternatives, Qb4 and Bc4 will mate immediately.
13.Qe4+ Kc5
Only move.
14.Be3+
A very pleasant move for White, because it introduces a new attacker with tempo. Black’s answer is virtually forced.
&nbs
p; 14…Kb5
The black king is cornered thanks to the joint forces of the queen along the light-squared diagonal (h1-a8) and the e3-bishop along the dark-squared diagonal (g1-a7), so that he has only few available squares (b5, a5, a6) and no help from the rest of his army. The finish is quick:
15.a4+! Ka6
15…Ka5 16.Qb4+ Ka6 17.Qb5# makes no difference.
16.QC4+ Ka5 17.Qb5#
1-0
Mate patterns
Andruet,Gilles
Spassky,Boris
Germany Bundesliga 1987/88 (8.2)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Bxd2+ 5.Qxd2 d5 6.Nc3 0-0 7.e3 Qe7 8.Rc1 Rd8 9.Qc2 Nbd7 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Bd3 Nf8 12.0-0 Ng6 13.Ne2 c6 14.Ng3 Re8 15.Qc5 Qd8 16.Nd2 Nh4 17.b4 a6 18.a4 Bd7 19.Rb1 Ng4 20.Qc2 g6 21.b5 axb5 22.axb5 h5 23.bxc6 bxc6 24.Rfe1 Qf6 25.Ndf1?!
25.Nb3 was preferable, because the knight on f1 hampers the coordination of White’s pieces. It restricts the available space of notably the king, the d3-bishop (which cannot retreat to f1 now) and the rooks (which are cut off from the kingside). We can notice that in order to defend, White had to give some breathing space to his army, and instead of regrouping hedgehog-like, it would have been better to take the knight to the queenside.
25…Ra3!
Intending to overload the queen with the defence of d3 and f2.
26.Re2
White’s pieces are hurting each other, and thanks to some energetic play, Black is now able to seize his chance:
26…C5!
Threatening 27…c4, trapping White’s bishop.
27.dxc5
Not 27.Qxc5 Rxd3.
27…Ne5!
A very nice move, which contains two threats. One is apparent: to take the d3-bishop. Can you see the second threat?
28.Bb5
Anyway there was no defence. What are the candidate moves for Black?
28…Qf3!
Of course it is logical to begin with the examination of possible checks, but as they do not lead to a forced mate (if 28…Nef3+, 29.Kh1!), you should then continue by calculating the threat of giving mate on the next move.
White has simply no defence against the mate on g2. So he resigned. 29.gxf3 is the only try, and then 29…Nexf3+ 30.Kh1 Bh3 renews the threat of mating on g2. As White, lacking coordination, is unable to control this square, checkmate cannot be prevented.
Captures
Material is so important that when a player takes a piece, the recapture is nearly automatic – and if he cannot recapture, then we have gained material. Every possible capture should be checked by a serious player.
Bolboclian, Julio
Cruz,Walter Oswaldo
Rio de Janeiro 1952 (IS)
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.0-0 0-0 5.d4 d5 6.c4 c5 7.dxc5 dxc4 8.Nc3 Qxd1 9.Rxd1 Nc6 10.h3 h6 11.Be3 Be6 12.Nd4 Bd7 13.Nxc6 Bxc6 14.Rd4 e6 15.Rxc4 Rfd8 16.Bd4 a5 17.a3 Rd718.e3 Re8 19.Be5 Rd2
In this game, steps one (Global vision) and two (Analysis) helped us to determine that the aggressive black rook on d2 is in a somewhat dangerous position as the white knight may attack it at some point.
There are no checks, nor mating threats, so let’s consider the available captures. White can either take the bishop on c6 or the knight on f6.
20.Bxc6
The most logical move, because Black’s answer is forced. If we begin with the capture on f6, we will have to deal with two variations (20…Bxf6 or 20…Bxg2)6.
20…bxc6 21.Bxf6 Bxf6
22.Ne4!
After the two forced exchanges, a knight fork wins on the spot.
22…Bxb2
The only try is a counterattack against White’s undeveloped rook. It also starts with a capture.
23.Rb1
Now, in order to keep the bishop defended, Black has to play 23…Re2. But then the rook is dominated and trapped after 24.Kf1! and White is winning.
Piece attacks
For the same reasons as piece captures, piece attacks are the last category of so-called ‘forced moves’. The defender has to do something concrete against the threat, so it reduces the number of variations that we have to deal with.
Not all attacks are good, but we always have to check them carefully.
Külaots,Kaido
Chuchelov,Vladimir
Istanbul Ech 2003 (1)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Bc5 6.Nb3 Ba7 7.0-0 Nc6 8.Qg4 Nf6 9.Qxg7 Rg8 10.Qh6 Ne5 11.Be2 Neg4 12.Bxg4 Rg6 13.Qh3 Nxg4 14.Be3 Bb8 15.f4
Now Black has a straightforward win, thanks to a forced variation based on a capture and direct attacks.
15…Nxe3! 16.Qxe3 Ba7
Attacking the queen with a pin along the a7-g1 diagonal. White’s answer is forced:
17.Nd4
17.Nc5 d6 is basically game over.
17…e5!
An attack on the knight follows. Even if it is easily parried, it again forces White’s answer.
18.fxe5
18…Qg5!
A new attack to follow up with. There is also a mating threat on g2. White’s answer is once more forced if he wants to keep the knight alive.
19.Kf2
19.Qxg5 loses a piece after 19…Bxd4+ 20.Kh1 Rxg5.
19…d6!
0-1
19…Qxg2+ was not so strong, even if it was clearly in Black’s favour.
19…d6 is a beautiful move that threatens to take on e5. There is no defence to this simple threat: 20.Qxg5 (on 20.e6 Rf6+! is the point. Black’s takes everything in the amusing variation 21.Ke2 Qxg2+ 22.Rf2 Rxf2+ 23.Qxf2 Qxf2+ 24.Kxf2 (material is still equal, but not for long…) 24…Bxd4+ 25.Ke2 Bxb2 grabs everything; and if 20.c3 dxe5) 20…Rxg5 21.c3dxe5.
We saw the different moves that have to be considered first. In practice, when he has enough thinking time, a strong player will, at every move, automatically check all those forced moves.
Of course, in a book about combinations, you will be dealing mainly with this kind of moves, because they present extracts of the crucial part of a game. Therefore, in this book, we will give the moves that lead to the crucial position where possible, to get closer to the actual game situation.
We are now ready to tackle our subject. We will begin by studying the different signals, and to use them as a general tool to identify the tactical chances. If you see one signal, then your antenna should be in alarm mode: at any time, there may be a combinative possibility. For example, your opponent has one unprotected piece. If you can’t exploit this right away, don’t attack it. You have identified one weakness, and as soon as he will concede a second, you will have serious chances to strike! When you see two weaknesses (or more), you should start calculating.
This book is aimed at various levels of readers. Some basics of tactical play are dealt with further on in the book. If you are a beginner, or you lack experience in this aspect of the game, I strongly suggest you begin with the introduction of Part II: A. Standard Combination Themes (page 71) and B. Basic Checkmates (page 75).
Many thanks for their help to Nicolas Devaux, who kindly accepted to read the manuscript, give corrections and advices, Yochanan Afek, who gave me precious help upon a rare topic, and Stephanie Ménasé, whose help during the ‘finishing days’ of the manuscript proved invaluable.
In order to find fresh examples for this book, I mainly browsed Mr. Baburin’s Chess Today, which was of great help. I warmly recommend this digital newspaper to every reader for the daily training that it offers. I have also used examples from the ChessBase News articles, especially from Oliver Reeh’s chronicles.
Many books have been written on our subject. I have used examples and ideas from several of them, and gave a short list of the (to me) most memorable in the Bibliography in the back of the book.
Footnotes
2 See Valeri Beim’s The Enigma of Chess Intuition for a very similar explanation (he seems to involve more work in the first step, but the rest is nearly the same). The term ‘examining a position’ is also used by Beim.
3 Thanks to D.J.t.G. and A.H. for this quotation.
4 I give these variations because they are nice and interesting. You should not calculate them in practice, the main thing is to be able to check if 20.Nxd6 is winning.
5 13.Qd5+ Kb6 14.Qb3+ Kc6 15.Qc4+ (15.Rd8 is the computer move, enabling the quickest mate. It is of course completely impossible for a human to find such a move: 15…b5 16.Be3. 15.c4 is also quicker, nevertheless I prefer the straightforward way) 15…Kb6 (15…Kd7 16.Rxc8! Na6 17.Be6+ Ke7 18.Bg5#) 16.Qb4+ Kc6 17.Bd5+ Kd7 18.Qg4+ Kxe8 19.Qxc8+ Ke7 20.Bg5#.
6 By the way, 20.Bxf6 is just as good.
Part I - The Seven Signals
Chapter 1: King Position
Chapter 2: Unprotected Pieces
Chapter 3: Alignment
Chapter 4: Knight Fork Distance
Chapter 5: Trapped Pieces
Chapter 6: Crucial Defender/Overloaded Defender
Chapter 7: Impotent Defence/Defence Too Far Away
Chapter 1
King position
This first of our signals is obviously the most important, as any attack against the king might immediately end the game. We will see that often, a lone motif is not enough to signal a forced win. But this is not the case as soon as the position of the king is at stake. This factor is in itself, without regard to any other weakness, enough to enable the opponent to force a win. Why? Because the other signals point to ways of gaining material. We cannot sacrifice more than what we hope to get back, while in order to deliver checkmate, we can afford to give anything.
Tune Your Chess Tactics Antenna Page 2