The Chesscafe Puzzle Book 3: Test and Improve Your Defensive Skill! (Chesscafe Puzzle Books)

By Karsten Müller

Defend to the End! One of the most important skills a chessplayer needs is the ability to defend a position that is under siege. In this third volume in the highly acclaimed, best-selling ChessCafe Puzzle Book series, International Grandmaster Karsten Maller along with International Master Merij van Delft examine and expound upon the vital defensive concepts and techniques used to repulse enemy attacks. Major topics include (1) Principles and methods of defending; (2) Defending against a direct attack on the king; (3) Countering the initiative; (4) Saving the draw; (5) Passive versus active defense; and (6) Use and development of counterplay. Many of the world s greatest players Steinitz, Lasker, Petrosian were famous for their legendary defensive skills. Now International Grandmaster Karsten Maller along with International Master Merijn van Delft will show you how you can Test and Improve Your Defensive Skill.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Russell Enterprises, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 4, 2015
• ISBN: 9781936490172

Book preview

The

ChessCafe

Puzzle Book 3

Test and Improve

Your Defensive Skill

by

Karsten Müller

and

Merijn van Delft

2010

Russell Enterprises, Inc.

Milford, CT USA

The ChessCafe Puzzle Book 3

Test and Improve Your Defensive Skill

by

Karsten Müller

Merijn van Delft

ISBN: 978-1-888690-66-8

© Copyright 2010

Karsten Müller, Merijn van Delft

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be used, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any manner or form whatsoever or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Published by:

Russell Enterprises, Inc.

P.O. Box 5460

Milford, CT 06460 USA

http://www.russell-enterprises.com

[e-mail]

Cover design by Janel Lowrance

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Signs and Symbols

Introduction

1. Principles and Methods of the Defender

1a) Chess is not Checkers

1b) Intermediate Moves

1c) Calculate to the End

1d) The Elimination Method

1e) Prophylaxis

1f) Structural Weaknesses

1g) Do Not Panic

1h) Being instead of Doing

2. Defending against an Attack on the King

2a) Counterattack

2b) Exchange Attacking Potential

2c) Bringing in More Defenders

2d) A Spanner in the Works

2e) Evacuating the King from the Danger Zone

2f) Destroying the Harmony of the Attacking Army

2g) Closing Inroads

2h) The King as an Important Defender

3. Fighting against the Initiative

3a) Counterplay

3b) Tactical Defense

3c) Wresting the Initiative from the Opponent

3d) Neutralizing the Initiative

4. Perpetual Check

5. Stalemate

5a) In the Endgame

5a1) Second-rank Defense: Rook+Bishop vs. Rook

5a2) Bishop versus Rook

5a3) Queen versus Rook

5b) In the Middlegame

6. The Right Exchange

6a) A Very Problematic Rule of Thumb

6b) Exchanging Pieces and Changing the Character of the Position

6c) An Active Rook Should Be Exchanged

6d) A Rook Fighting a Minor Piece Welcomes Exchanges

7. Exchange Sacrifices

7a) Russian Exchange Sacrifices

7b) Blockade

7c) Opposite-color Bishops

7d) A Strong Unopposed Bishop

7e) The Initiative

7f) Typical Exchange Sacrifices

7f1) The Sicilian Exchange Sacrifice

7f2) The French Exchange Sacrifice

8. Defense against a Minority Attack

8a) White’s Objectives

8b) Defensive Motifs against the Minority Attack

9. Defending Inferior Endgames

9a) Activate the Rook

9b) The Defender Exchanges Pawns

9c) The Mighty Passed Pawn

9d) Fortresses

10. The Great Tigran Petrosian

11. Easy Exercises

12. Tests

Solutions

Chapter Exercises

Easy Exercises

Test Solutions

Bibliography

List of Other eBooks

Signs and Symbols

1-0       White wins

0-1       Black wins

½-½     Draw agreed

+          check

#          mate

!          a strong move

!!         a brilliant or unobvious move

?         a weak move, an error

??       a grave error

!?        a move worth consideration

=         an equal position

+=        White stands slightly better

±        White has a clear advantage

+–       White has a winning position

=+       Black stands slightly better

∓       Black has a clear advantage

–+      Black has a winning position

∞       an unclear position

∞̿       with compensation

ol       Olympiad

m       match

ch      championship

wch    world championship

corr    correspondence game

[W]     White to move

[B]      Black to move

(D)      see the next diagram

Introduction

I just tried not to make my position worse – and, more importantly, not to make it better. World Champion Contender David Bronstein

The book is finally ready! What you are holding in your hands is Part 3 of the ChessCafe Puzzle Book series. Originally this book was planned to come out a bit earlier, but since both authors have been involved with a multitude of chess projects, things have been somewhat delayed. In this regard (and at the risk of being viewed as immodest) we would like to take particular note of Karsten’s bestseller, Bobby Fischer: The Career and Complete Games of the American World Champion, and Merijn’s new book (co-authored with his father), Developing Chess Talent. Chess enthusiasts will find both of considerable interest and they should both be available at chess dealers worldwide.

Both authors you say? The ChessCafe Puzzle Books 1 and 2 were written by Karsten Müller alone. But fans of the ChessCafe Puzzle Book series need not be worried: basically nothing has changed – you are still looking at a good old Karsten Müller product, since he was responsible for the selection of at least 90% of the positions and came up with the basic concept. The expected who did what question is easy to answer: Karsten focused on the variations and Merijn on the text. This should not be taken too literally, however. We both checked every move and every word in the book, and even switched roles at times, so it really was a coproduction. The underlying concept was that Karsten’s mathematical background and Merijn’s psychological background would complement each other nicely. While this should not be taken out of perspective either, we think it worked out well. That we both live in Hamburg, Germany was not essential, in view of modern communication options, but it also did not hurt.

So what is this book about? As you may know the first book in this series was about tactics, and the second about strategy. This third book is about defense. It is in fact an area in which Karsten himself felt he could use some improvement. One of the best reasons for writing a book is because you would like to read it yourself.

Defense is a special subject. Of course, we all like to attack and win. Who wants to be under pressure, defending, suffering and then lose? Nobody, naturally, but the first step is to realize that defending has many faces. If your opponent has played a desperate, incorrect piece sacrifice for instance, you may have no choice but to defend. And the reward is usually fitting: not just a draw, but a win. There are many more scenarios when coldblooded defense is rewarded with a full point. The world’s strongest players are, without exception, phenomenal defenders and legendary fighters.

That brings us to our next point: it is all about choosing the right mindset. You need to learn to enjoy defense, to take pleasure from putting up the most stubborn resistance possible. Chess is a game of mistakes; don’t worry if something goes wrong, just keep on fighting. A positive attitude is essential. Throughout this book, you will encounter positions that appear difficult to solve unless you have an optimistic approach. And that difficulty gets turned up a notch in a real game situation, as there is nobody tapping on your shoulder during the game motivating you to find an unexpected brilliant defensive move!

There are two types of defenses – (a) Heroic, i.e., saving lost positions; and (b) Casual, i.e., basic defensive technique. Both are of vital importance. For the former you should have enough energy and mental strength to fight hard at the board to make the conversion of the winning advantage as difficult as possible for your opponent, while still enjoying yourself. We hope to give you reasons for this in the present volume by showing how tenacious defense is often rewarded. To be able to master this difficult art fully, you should know the basic defensive techniques and themes, and that is where we start.

Principles like Do not panic and unforced thinking (sometimes also described by the phrase Chess is not Checkers) play a significant role. If you violate them, then you may pay the price. Instead, you should keep a clear head, try to put the pressure on your opponent and try to enjoy the defensive task at hand. This does not mean, for example, trying to draw by making mass exchanges just for the sake of exchanging. This is not the way the game works. You end up assisting your opponent, and your opponent may sense that you are scared. The art of defense is connected more to concepts like prophylaxis, calm calculation, maintaining confidence and a clear head, as well as elimination (or removal) methods, counterattacking at the right moment and the exchange of attacking or winning potential.

Because of the strong influence of computers, chess has become much more concrete and now players are willing to take higher risks when grabbing material. You should participate in this trend and improve your defensive skills and your confidence when playing passive positions. Of course, we all want to win attractive attacking games, but when this approach does not work or is not available, then adjust to the circumstances and defend.

The best way to train your defensive skills is to play inferior positions against strong opponents and to analyze the games later. The next best is probably to study the concepts of defense and to solve a lot of exercises. And that is what this book is all about. A final word about the difficulty of the exercises: different readers will experience different degrees of difficulty for the same problems. Not to worry. Do not be concerned if you cannot solve an exercise, if you make mistakes or generally suffer through the solving process. It is not the test results but the training effort that counts and that will help you to become a stronger player. Good luck!

Karsten Müller

Merijn van Delft

Hamburg, April 2010

Chapter 1

Principles and Methods of the Defender

1a) Chess is not Checkers

The first important principle of the defender is that you are not forced to take pieces as in checkers. Always have a fresh look at the position and consider your options. In the example below the legendary Garry Kasparov found himself in the unusual role of defender, as he is of course known for his irresistible attacks. He either miscalculated something, or maybe forgot about the chess is not checkers principle?

01.01 G.Kasparov (2775) – V.Kramnik (2775)

Dos Hermanas 1996 [B]

24...R×f3! 25.R×f3? This automatic recapture is surprisingly a mistake. Kasparov had to think in an unforcing way and bring new forces to the defense: 25.Ra2!! would have been a fantastic second rank defense. The prototype of this defense is a black queen on c7 in the Sicilian, taking care of defending the soft spots on g7 and h7. Black now has nothing better than 25...R×f1+ 26.Q×f1 Q×f1+ 27.K×f1 Rc8 28.Be3 Bf4! and after 29.B×f4 R×c5 30.Ra4 a5 31.Bd6 Rc3 32.R×a5 and the opposite-color bishops give White excellent chances for a draw. 25...Q×h2+ 26.Kf1 Bc6! The bishop switches diagonals with deadly effect.

27.Bg5 The most stubborn defense would have been 27.Ra5! forcing Black to find 27...Bc7!. 27...Bb5+ 28.Nd3 Re8! While Black brings his last piece into play, White is completely helpless although a rook up. 29.Ra2 Qh1+ There was even a forced mate available: 29...B×d3+! 30.R×d3 (30.Q×d3 Qh1+ 31.Ke2 Qe1#) 30...Qh1+ 31.Ke2 Qg2+ 32.Ke3 R×e4#. 30.Ke2 R×e4+ 31.Kd2 Qg2+ 32.Kc1 Q×a2 33.R×g3 Qa1+ 34.Kc2 Qc3+ 35.Kb1 Rd4 0-1 White resigned because of 36.Bf6 B×d3+ 37.Ka2 Bb1+! and mate follows.

In line with the chess is not checkers principle, you have to free yourself from stereotypical thinking. In the following example White was in a somewhat dogmatic positional thinking mode, whereas the position was asking for highly dynamic solutions.

01.02 V.Shishkin (2463) – A.Areshchenko (2575)

73. UKR-ch Kharkov 2004 [W]

29.Rae1? This is too slow. It seems that the knight must go to the beautiful blockading square e4. But there are no such forced automatisms in chess. Instead there is a big battle for the initiative going on. 29.Ng4! would have been strong and only after 29...e4 is there is time for 30.Rae1. The calm 30.Rab1 also comes into consideration. Now after neutral moves, White can continue with the disturbing Nf6. If Black continues to attack on the queenside, a nasty surprise awaits: 30...a×b3 31.a×b3 b×c4 (31...Ra3 32.B×c5!! d×c5 33.d6 is similar) 32.b×c4 Ra4.

33.B×c5!! d×c5 34.d6 and the strong d-pawn combined with threats against the black king provide White with nice compensation for the piece, for example: 34...Ne6 (34...Ne8 35.d7 Ra8 36.R×e4! Nd6 37.Re6 Rd3 38.Nf6) 35.R×e4 Nf8 36.Re8 Rf7 37.Nf6. 29...a×b3 30.a×b3 Ra3 31.Kg2

31...R×e3! Now it’s Black who lands the first tactical blow. 32.R×e3 b×c4 33.Rd1 c×b3 34.Ne4 Nb5 The knight does an excellent job in defending both d6 and a3. 35.Nd2? The last chance for counterplay was 35.N×c5! d×c5 36.d6 N×d6 37.R×d6 since the direct 37...b2?! 38.R×a3 b1Q 39.Ra8+ Bf8 40.R×f8+ Kg7 41.Rff6! only leads to a draw. 35...b2 36.Kf2 36.R×a3 N×a3 37.Nb1 N×b1 38.R×b1 e4 and Black is winning. 36...Nc3 37.Ke1 e4 38.Nb1 N×b1 0-1

1b) Intermediate Moves

This principle logically follows from the previous one: always be on the lookout for intermediate moves. Both sides can at any point decide to interrupt a seemingly forced variation with an intermediate move (a/k/a a zwischenzug).

01.03 J.Speelman (2597) – P.Ricardi (2474)

FIDE-WCh k.o. Las Vegas 1999 [B]

28...B×h2+? Black couldn’t resist the temptation to execute the classical double bishop sacrifice. Instead he should have settled for the modest 28...Qe7 29.K×h2 B×g2 The standard procedure 29...Qh4+ 30.Kg1 B×g2 doesn’t work because the rook is hanging. 30.Rd1! A strong zwischenzug. White refuses to be victim of Black’s brilliant attacking play. 30.K×g2? only leads to a draw after 30...Qg5+ 31.Kf3 Qh5+ 32.Kg3 while Black should stay clear of 32...Re5? since after 33.B×f7+! all tactics neatly work in White’s favor. 30...Qh4+ 31.K×g2 Qg4+ 32.Kf1 Q×c4+ 33.Ke1 Qc3+ 34.Rd2 b5 Perhaps Black missed that 34...Rd8 is refuted by the strong 35.Qc2!. 35.Qb3 Now White simply is a piece up. 35...Qa1+ 36.Rd1 Qe5 37.Bb2 Qh2 38.Qd5 Qg1+ 39.Ke2 Qg4+ 40.Kf1 Qh3+ 41.Qg2 Qf5 42.Qc6 Qh3+ 43.Ke1 1-0

In the following fascinating example both sides have intermediate moves at their disposal.

01.04 S.Bromberger (2505) – J.Timman (2565)

German Bundesliga 2006 [B]

30...B×b2!? The intermediate move 30...Bc3!? is met by 31.Re7! and now after 31...B×b2 White can take back with 32.K×b2! (In this case 32.Bb5?? allows 32...Qc1#) 32...R×b7+ 33.R×b7 and as Oliver Reeh has pointed out, Black can’t win because of his imprisoned king. 31.Bb5! An intermediate move in both a timely and spatial sense. It not only interrupts the nice tactical flow of moves Black initiated, but also physically blocks the b-file. 31.Q×b2? loses to 31...R×b2+ 32.K×b2 Qb4+. 31...Bd4 32.Q×b8+! The point of White’s previous move: an emergency exit into the ending. 32...Q×b8 33.Re8+ Q×e8 34.B×e8 B×f2 35.h5 The endgame is easily drawn because of the presence of opposite-color bishops. 35...Be3 36.c3 f2 37.Bb5 Kg8 38.Kc2 Kf8 39.Kd1 Ke7 40.Ke2 Bc5 41.Bc6 Kd6 42.Bb7 Ke5 43.Bc6 a5 44.a4 Be3 45.Bb7 d4 46.c×d4+ B×d4 47.Kf1 ½–½

A special kind of intermediate move is the desperado: a piece that will be lost anyway grabs some material along the way.

01.05 A.Miles – Computer Deep Thought

Long Beach 1989 [B]

1...N×e4 2.B×d8?! The stunning desperado 2.Q×h6!? would have been more tenacious: 2...g×h6 3.B×d8 N×f2 4.Rhg1+ Kh7 5.Bf6 (5.R×d6!? c×d6 6.Bh4 is an interesting try to confuse the issue) even when 5...Rg8! (5...Bf4+? 6.Kc2 Bg5 7.Nd5 N×d1 8.Bd3+ Kg8 9.B×g5 h×g5 10.R×g5+ Kh8 11.Rh5+ Kg8 12.Rg5+=, Aagaard) 6.Rdf1 R×g1 7.R×g1 Rg8 reduces White’s attacking potential. 2...N×d2 3.B×c7 B×h2 4.B×h2 N×c4 and Black went on to win.

1c) Calculate to the End

A very important tactical device is to always calculate to the end. Even when it seems that the tactics are over, you have to look one step further. This takes a lot of discipline, but can be very rewarding. Of course, this principle is universal, but especially when on defense, there is little room for mistakes. A related psychological pitfall is when, under pressure, one tends to look for a forced draw. Blinded by the wish to end the game, one may forget to calculate to the end.

01.06 F.Vallejo Pons (2686) – G.Kasparov (2804)

Linares 2005 [W]

27.Ra5? When entering complications, you must be sure to calculate correctly, especially if you have safer alternatives in reserve, such as 27.Ra4 Rd8!? 28.h3 (but not 28.Qh4?? g5 29.Q×e4 [29.Qg3 Rd3 wins] 29...Q×f2+! mating) and 27.Ra2. 27...B×f2+ 28.Q×f2 Q×a5 29.N×e6

Vallejo probably stopped his calculations here and concluded that he had a draw. But Kasparov had seen one move further: 29...B×g2! 0-1 29...Bd3? 30.N×f8 B×f1 31.Q×f1 K×f8 is indeed a draw, but 29...B×g2! 30.N×f8 (30.Q×g2 Qb6+; 30.K×g2 Qd5+) 30...B×f1 31.N×h7 Bh3 wins immediately.

Even the very best players sometimes calculate one move too short:

V.Kramnik (2772) – V.Anand (2783) World Championship Bonn 2008 [W]

Kramnik started a forced sequence with 29.N×d4? (29.Qg8 was the best chance to fight) 29...Q×d4 30.Rd1 Nf6 31.R×d4 N×g4 32.Rd7+ Kf6 33.R×b7 Rc1+ 34.Bf1

Kramnik had most probably stopped his calculations here. But Anand had seen one move further: 34...Ne3!! 35.f×e3 f×e3 0–1

1d) The Elimination Method

Sometimes the easiest way of finding the best move is by eliminating the bad ones. To paraphrase Sherlock Holmes, if you eliminate the impossible, whatever is left, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. Be careful though. When all eliminated moves seem to lead to a draw, make sure the remaining move isn’t losing instead of winning.

01.07 End of a Study by Grigoriev [B]

1...Ke1! All other moves lose by force: 1...Kc3? 2.Qd4+ Kb3 3.Qa1+–; 1...Ke3? 2.Qg2 c1Q 3.Qg5+–; 1...Ke2? 2.Qa2 Kd1 3.Kd4 c1Q 4.Kd3+–; 1...Kc1? 2.Qa2 Kd1 3.Kd4 c1Q 4.Kd3+–. 2.Qa5+ Kd1 3.Qa4 Kd2 4.Qa2 Kc3!!= A bodycheck against the king and the queen simultaneously, a rarity indeed.

The following example is from The Magic of Chess Tactics and analysis of the German trainer and analyst Claus Dieter Meyer is used:

01.08 Analysis of A.Shirov (2670) – J.Lautier (2635)

Munich 1993 [B]