ReViewing Chess: English, Symmetrical, 1...e6, 2.Nc3 d5, Vol. 47.1

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He always used to write his move in short notation, and always before executing it on the board. In rare instances, when his opponent became very curious and looked openly at his scoresheet, he would cover it with his pen. If he did not like the move, he would cross it out and write a new one. In his later years he used to say increasingly often: That, f or example, is what happened during his match with Kortchnoi, and I realised that at such moments it was better not to disturb him. We ate in various places - this was a long time before the matches where everything was regulated to the nearest minute and calorie.

It goes without saying that he adored everything that was bad for him: Misha always smoked heavily, nor- mally packets a day - he preferred Kent - but when he was playing a further two could be added. The last time I saw him was in Tilburg in the autumn of Misha had travelled from Germany, where he had latterly been living with his 28 wife and his daughter Zhanna, whom he loved very much. He looked terri- ble, much older than his age, but he was still the same Misha. Replying to a greeting by one of his acquaintances, he said 'Thank you. Thank you for recognising me.

He livened up a little when in his customary manner he showed an audience at the Max Euwe Academy one of his latest games: The young people of the early nineties looked at him as if he were Staunton or Zukertort. It was a miracle not that he was alive, but that he did not die sooner. He also played in the last USSR Championship, and later wrote a big arti- cle for New In Chess together with Vaganian, with whom he was especially close in his last years. In February , when I was in Cannes, I was asked to phone him. It wasn't like that, it was all different.

Come and see me, and we'll write something together. But for various reasons it kept getting put off and put off Misha played his last tournament in Barcelona. There were some young and promising players. He used to joke in his time about those that showed promise: In the last game, assum- ing that it would be a quick draw, he played 3. Bb5 in the Sicilian, offered a draw, and received a refusal. In a lost position, already under attack, his young opponent himself offered a draw.

This was the last tournament game won by Misha. We spoke by telephone quite often, and a couple of days before my departure to the Olympiad in Manila I received a letter from him. Unfortunately, I have not finished the promised account of the tournament - 1 have been feeling very unwell. On Monday I am flying to Moscow for another appointment with the doctors.

There will most probably be an operation. All the same, there will be plenty of free time as well as writing materials In any case, I wish every success to you and all your least Russified let's put it that way team. Before going into hos- pital he played in a blitz-tournament in Moscow, where he won against 29 Kasparov and took third place behind Kasparov and Bareev, but ahead of Smyslov, Dolmatov, Vyzhmanavin and Beliavsky. A few days later, on 28th June , Misha Tal died in hospital in Moscow. The official cause of his death was given as a haemorrhage in the oesophagus, but effectively his entire organism had ceased to function.

He was buried in Riga, the city where he was born, in a Jewish cemetery alongside the graves of his rela- tives. He was 55 years old. In his last years he looked older than his age, but I never associated him with being an old man - he always remained Misha. Once I asked myself: Where is the secret here? A few years before his death, Wilhelm Steinitz said: He was in Hol- land to buy a new, stronger computer that he needed for his work, and I was with him all the time. There were, of course, both photographers and television cam- eras.

At some point the director of the television broadcast asked: You yourself know television; they won't leave you in peace. I decided not to try anything original and advanced my queen's pawn. There was a whirring of the TV camera, and somewhere the voices of children.

Botvinnik did not reply for some time and I looked enquiringly at him. His entire appearance had changed. He had drawn himself erect and stiffened on his chair. Finally, looking at the board, he adjusted his glasses and his tie, and made his reply. Unfortunately, neither then, in the bustle of the moment, nor later, in the drag of daily life, did I record the game, although I remember its course very well.

He played the Dutch, an old-fashioned Stonewall with the bishop at e7. I made all the well-known moves and Botvinnik replied unhurriedly, al- ways stopping to think. But after about fifteen moves for some strange rea- son my position had lost its flexibility, the general plan had been lost. I stood rather worse. Botvinnik was thinking over his move. Finally he raised his head. Not blinking, he looked harshly at me with his blue, already discoloured eyes, with their astigmatically arranged pupils, which had also looked into the eyes of Lasker, Capablanca and Alekhine, and he knew well the evalua- tion of the position on the board - and he knew that I also knew.

Henceforth we met regularly during his frequent visits to Amsterdam or Brussels. Or in Moscow, the last time dur- ing the Olympiad in December , six months before his death. I now regret that I did not have the foresight of an Eckermann and did not write down all my conversations with Botvinnik, but much is still fresh in my memory and, fortunately, I recorded a good deal on tape. On one of his first visits to Amsterdam, when he was a guest at some- one's house, a woman, a Muscovite, already somewhere in her mids, on seeing before her the living Botvinnik, introduced herself in her confu- sion as 'Olya'.

A few minutes later I said jokingly to him: That is how we addressed each other for a few days, but the joke did not grow into a habit and we soon reverted to Mikhail Moiseevich and Gennady Borisovich. Only on a few occasions did he return to Genna, when he wanted to say something confidential or special. I used to call him 'Misha' when parting, and when I tried, always unsuccessfully, to remove the coating of many Soviet decades, or to get behind his established con- cepts, to get something When saying good-bye to him during his last visit to Tilburg in Septem- ber something faltered in the old man, in his intonation, in his eyes.

After the usual words, I said, bending down very close: He interrupted with a severe 'What do you mean? You, Genna, can perhaps come to Moscow Once again, all the best. I still can see the grandmaster room in the Central Chess Club on Gogol Boule- vard, fifteen-year-old Alexey Shirov with his trainer Vladimir Bagirov, who also attended the lessons, and Mikhail Moiseevich himself, who always thought a little before asking a question or making a comment. One thing that sticks in my memory was the essential rule, for some reason formu- lated by him almost religiously, to make the first fifteen moves in a game within half an hour, in order to avoid time trouble.

A rule which for a rea- son unknown to me he always referred to as 'the Chinese rule'. I also remember his 'Stop' during analysis, and a question to Piket: And as a teacher he was, of course, excellent. It was a hot July month, and in a neighbouring room, playing endless training games, was a very small, thin lad, to whom Botvinnik advised that we pay particular attention. His name was Volodya Kramnik. On his last visit to Holland, where he gave a lecture to students at the Eco- nomics Faculty in Tilburg, we had lengthy talks, and not only about chess.

I would even say not so much about chess, as about his parents, his wife, books and music, Stalin and Molotov, always nevertheless returning to chess. He spoke in a precise, concise language, often banal in its simplicity, slightly guttural, and of course, with his own Botvinnik interpretation and way of seeing events and facts.

His father, my grandfather, was a tenant farmer. In general it was rare for a Jew to work in agriculture, but that's how it was. All his sons, and he had five, including my father, worked for him. My father was born in He possessed enormous physical strength - he would seize by the horns a bull out of a herd and throw it onto the ground. He had a 33 severe character and if something seemed just to him, he would stand up for it to the end. Probably both my constitution and my character traits come from him. He spoke Russian without any accent and he wrote very well. I remember that he had beautiful handwriting.

Of course, he also spoke Yiddish. I don't know if he went to a Jewish school, but at home we were forbidden to talk in Yiddish, only in Russian. At the age of twenty-five he left for Minsk, then the Revolution of began, and he worked in an underground press. There, on account of poisoning, he lost his teeth, and he decided to become a dental mechanic. But she left later, in I remem- ber how she came to say good-bye to us in St Petersburg.

I was very small, and I was standing up in my cot, waving a wooden sabre. And I hit my aunt Raisa on the head with it when she came up to me. After my victory in Nottingham she sent me a congratulatory postcard from America. I, of course, did not reply, at that time this was terribly dangerous. It was no ac- cident that she sent the congratulations not in a letter, but on a postcard, so that everyone could see that there were no secrets.

He became a pupil to the dental mechanic Vasily Efremov. I saw him at my father's funeral, a small man, with an enormous grey beard. My father studied with him and received his diploma and the right to live in St Pe- tersburg. At first he rented a flat on Pushkin Street, and there he met my mother Serafima Samoilovna Rabinovich.

She was a dentist. She also had a very interesting life. She originated from Kreslavka, Vitebsk Province, in Belarus. My grandfather on my mother's side was a private charge d'affaires for Baron Klyapel. He had a large house on the banks of the Dvina. I remember this house from a photograph, it was burnt down during the war. My mother told me that when the oldest son of my grandfather Isaac, in honour of whom my older brother, who was killed in the war, was named, arrived in Kreslavka, they would spend all night long playing chess, but at what standard they played is not known.

Then in Dvinsk my mother received her dentist's diploma. She also participated in the Revolution, and was even in the Russian So- cial Democratic Workers' Party, but she belonged to the Mensheviks Then she came to St Petersburg and worked in the dispensary at the Obukhov factory. At the time a little steam train used to run there from the 34 Nikolayev Station. I remember it very well. She used to travel on it and place orders with the dental mechanic on Pushkin Street.

That was how she met my father. They got married, she left the factory and went to live at his place. It was there that my elder brother Isaac was born. We had a large, sunny flat of seven rooms on the third floor. There was a lift, and on the ground floor there was a door-keeper. There was a cook, and a maid, and one time my brother and I even had a nursery governess. Then came , the February Revolution.

I was six years old and I remember it very well. When there was shooting on the street mother would put us behind a wardrobe. We were, after all, living on the Nevsky in the very centre of the city. He got married to a noblewoman. He had another family, two daughters. With one of them, who is ten years younger than me, I now have close re- lations.

I was twelve years old. He lived in the next courtyard of the same block on the Nevsky. The par- ents of this Lyonya had a small grocery shop also on the Nevsky. Do you remember that block where the Khronika cinema is now? Altogether I have been only twice to a synagogue. The first time was with Lyonya and his parents. There was some Jewish festival and they took me with them. On Troitsky Street there was a large choral synagogue, but I didn't like it there.

In general, although I saw my maternal grandfather wearing a skull-cap, my father and mother were internationalists. The second time was in after the Olympiad in Israel, when we had an excursion to Jerusalem. I made an appearance at a kibbutz not far from the Lebanese border. There I was asked about my Jewishness. This came later, from above. Well, of course, there was a veiled intrigue when I played against Smyslov, Jew against Russian. There were no anti-Semitic exclamations from the audience - my hearing is very good, but there were telephone calls, especially during the return match, and there was anti-Semitic abuse.

Of course, I phoned the militia from the neighbour's, and the calls ceased. No, my father and mother no longer saw each other, although they maintained relations. My mother was frequently ill and when she was in hospital my brother did the housework. When I became a student in , he used to give me a rouble a day for travelling to the institute, din- ner and supper. There were some excellent teachers and I owe much to the school. Books were very cheap. War and Peace, Tolstoy put everything into this, but Anna Karenina and the rest are weaker. But above them all is Pushkin, of course.

I don't know when he will be surpassed, if ever. After all, he was so full of life, so optimistic, and so laconic. He never wrote anything uninteresting or verbose, whereas other writers did. He looked very sad. He said something surprising to me: I also rate Yevgeny Schwartz very highly. Have I read Solzhenitsyn? Ivan Denisovich is plagiarism. He has taken it all from Tolstoy, from War and Peace. It is Platon Karataev, trans- ferred to modern times. It is cleverly written, of course, but you also have to give some content, while Matryona's Home is an appeal to the reactionary peasant past of Russia.

I haven't read anything more of him - everything was clear to me. Firstly, music lessons at school, and secondly my wife. At school there were no singing lessons, such as there are now. There were lessons of listening to music, and either the teacher herself played or else she invited students from the Conserva- tory.

We learned to listen to and to understand music. Therefore I know Russian and international music quite well. Gayane Davidovna and I used to go to the opera, although rarely, and much more often to the ballet. I remember that day very well. My wife's maiden name was Ananova. She was one hundred per cent Arme- nian, but was born in St Petersburg. She was three years younger than me. Her father was from the Rostov Region, and her mother was from Eisk. In the family they spoke only Russian, although, when the parents wanted the 36 children not to understand, they spoke to each other in Armenian.

She was amazingly friendly, kind, and very religious. This faith was a great support to her. Slava Ragozin remarked about her: In everything that I did, she supported me. By profession she was a ballerina; she studied with the famous Vaganova. She danced first in the Mariinsky, the Kirov Theatre, then after the war in the Bolshoy. In total she was a dancer for twenty-four years, right up to 1 In the Bolshoy she performed in figure dances, but also sometimes in indi- vidual parts, for example, in the Gypsy Dance in La Traviata or in Gay ant, where she danced in a four.

She had a phenomenal memory. After all, there were no videos,' but she remembered nearly all the productions. I al- ways went, of course, when she was dancing. Well, then a daughter, grand-children, great grand-children - she devoted all her life to them, and she also looked after my mother. Now my great grand-daughter Mashenka, she is five, is very much like her, just as friendly and likeable, and she calls me grandad Mish!

And sociable too, whereas Gayane Davidovna was al- ways a little sad He was a fantastic singer, with a brilliant voice, and I rate him higher than the Italians. The following year I heard him in Rigoletto. At that time I often went to the theatre. Leningrad was simply stag- gered by my successes, and I had a free pass to the directors' box in all the threatres. And also with the conductor Khaikin. We were both elected deputies to the Leningrad City Council, and it was incredibly te- dious, so we sat next to each other and chatted about this and that. Later I also used to see him in Moscow.

I met Prokofiev in Moscow during the third International Tournament. He liked chess very much. He played him- self and he was a friend of Capablanca. I was then half a point behind Capa, after losing to him in a completely won position. Do you remember this game? I was playing very well. Levenfish spread a provocative rumour, that he was being forced to lose to me, and he informed Capablanca of this.

Prokofiev also heard about this. He was a hot-tempered person, and he severed all relations with me. Capa won easily against Eliskases, while I gained an advantage in the Dragon and even won a pawn, but because of the opposite-coloured bishops it ended 37 in a draw. Prokofiev understood everything, and when Capa and I shared first place in Nottingham, he sent congratulatory telegrams to us both.

Then we were friends, but in the 1 Championship he nevertheless sup- ported Keres, and not me. I remember back in school his piece Despair being played, and I liked it very much. When he died, I was asked to write about him. The musical experts were very surprised, since they had never heard of this piece. This is a very strong work, but in general his music was somehow artificial. In his memoirs he states that you must write music in a way that has not been done before you. But what did Capa teach? That you should always play by position.

But, of course, Prokofiev has some very strong works. Now Shostakovich is somehow closer to me, his music is more lively, mischievous. No, the King's Gambit, sacrifices, every- thing forward, and so Oistrakh easily won against him when they played a match in Oistrakh had a waiting style, the main thing was not to make any mistakes. He and I were also very friendly. But in general I prefer the piano.

There you can express more. Yes, of course, in that little notebook which I think is now with Baturinsky. I also recorded some simultaneous games by Lasker, and the games from the second championship of my school, where I took first place. All the games are recorded, with notes to nearly all of them. I remember walking with my father along Vladimir Prospekt past the gambling club, where on the top floor the Petrograd Chess Assembly occupied two rooms, and saying to him: He was terribly worried that I would pass through all the rooms of this gambling den.

He thought that it would drag me down, but gambling did not interest me at all. I was aiming for the top floor, where I could play chess. When in I needed to travel for the first time to play in Stockholm, my mother rushed to the school and spoke to the teacher of our class. And he said ironically to her: He said to her: They had been against it 38 for the reason that chess was not a profession.

But I, I could not avoid playing No, I didn't have any trainer, I learned everything from books and I analysed a lot myself. At that time everyone in Leningrad was a pupil of Romanovsky, but I did not go to that club, for which Romano vsky hated me. In general, relations with him were difficult, but of course outwardly this did not show.

We greeted each other, and observed all the normal decencies. In the auditorium, directly opposite the stage, was the box of the KGB, where all his supporters from his Dinamo club were sitting. So when he sacrificed something or won a pawn, they all applauded. He would make a move and quickly go behind the stage, then he would suddenly dart out and disappear again. In the auditorium there was laughter, and this hindered my playing. And regarding the fact that he claimed that during the 23rd game he was thinking more about the fate of his father, he was prompted to say this by Weinstein, his evil genius.

Weinstein was a dreadful man, simply dreadful. He hated me, and he did not want me to become World Champion. When my match with Alekhine was being discussed he used his position as head of the financial planning department of the KGB, despite Stalin's decision. He used all his connec- tions to hinder my discussions with Alekhine. During the war he cam- paigned f or Alekhine to be declared a criminal and f or him to be deprived of his title of World Champion. He put pressure on me to be the initiator of this. Clearly this was the simplest, that Alekhine would altogether not play the match.

After my match with Bronstein, although he and I contin- ued to say hello, he ceased to exist for me. During the last few years I have begun to relate normally to him, but he still hates me. In general he was a very in- telligent man; before the Revolution he studied at a Technological Institute in Petersburg. As a chess player he was very talented, but he did not devote all his time to chess, although he possessed a great knowledge of the game.

He was always a lone wolf. In he was already grown up, and I was still a child, but no, I don't think, as you say, that we perceived in different ways what was happening. I do not think that he was anti-Soviet. In the end he did not live so badly in the Soviet Union. As for the fact that he could not travel abroad, I am not sure that it was so important.

Likewise, I remember that I talked to Gulko and his wife when they applied for a visa 39 in , and I told them that I could also have remained in Stockholm in , but that I didn't, and that it did not turn out badly. Whereas Bogatyrchuk hated So- viet power. No, I have not read his book, but I know him well. He was tal- ented. He understood positions well, calculated well, and used Lasker's principle: But as a person he was unscrupulous.

I lost a game to him in , and later two more, but what can you do? There was a forestry worker in Siberia called Izmailov, and I also lost two games against him, one in Odessa in , and the other in the semi-final in , so that I only just got into the final. We had to sign the regulations for the match and he did not like some trifling point, I don't remember which, and he would not sign.

I said, very well, I'll phone Rogard 1. They told me in the Federation to wait a couple of days. Then he again raised his objections. And this occurred several times. It was clear that they had decided to fray my nerves. When Petrosian climbed the stairs of the Estrada Theatre, the Armenians in front of him scattered sacred earth from Echmiadzin.

Well, what a way to go on But he regarded this as being right and proper. If in front of me they had scattered sacred earth from Je- rusalem, what would I have done? Sweep it up, and I can walk on, I would have said. Now Vasily Vasilievich and I get on normally. With Euwe too there were strained relations, when we were rivals, for example, in Groningen in , when it was clear that, if he were to win this tournament, there would be no match-tournament in But later, when the competitive element was no longer there, we were the best of friends. And later, when he began oppressing Kasparov, I took Kasparov's side, since I considered that they should be in equal conditions.

And this terrible episode when their match was terminated. When it was closed, the two of us simply kept meeting. I did everything I could to support him. I did the same for the tournament in Banja Luka, where he became a grandmaster. He used to play like Capablanca, as I taught him, by position, but a few years ago I noticed that in the interest of safety he was going in for simplifications, and after the position had been simplified, he would em- ploy his tactical talent.

No, I don't think that it is a matter of age, he has simply realised that his first aim should be not to lose. You know that every tenor can hit a certain number of high C's in his career. Perhaps also in chess a player can play only a certain number of good games, and for the rest of the time he simply moves the pieces. I think the only thing that can save him as a chess player is to give up all this rubbish that he is now occu- pied with. But I am used to people turning their backs on me.

In the end I helped Kasparov not because of his personal qualities, but because he is such a wonderful player. Of course, they are both outstanding talents, but the one with the more versatile talent is Kar- pov. Have you seen my book AnatoJy Karpov: His Road to the World Championship? He played fantastically in these matches. How he won against Spassky! Spassky was still very strong. And what a Championship! Nevertheless in their match Karpov simply crushed him.

But then Karpov stopped playing at full strength. Perhaps in the money-chess combina- tion, money became more important. But what he showed recently at the tournament in Linares indicates that he has retained his talent. I would say this: I now have quite good relations with Karpov. But if I had to choose between Karpov the champion and Kasparov the champion, I would prefer to remain alone on this desert island.

What about the young? I remember, when Kramnik was twelve, he played very cautiously, very correctly. He very quickly grew stronger and he now plays more boldly, but he simply shows a lack of respect for him- self. He is fat, he drinks and he smokes. He lost shamefully to Kamsky, and also to Gelfand. And now he avoids me, goes the other way. But, I think, his nervous system is not in order.

With him things are first good, and then bad. He is sharp and impulsive, and he is capable of criticising anyone. No, I don't see him as a World Champion. Before we talk about a future champion, order has to be restored in the chess world. Everything is bash, bash, it's a mockery of chess. Did you see how Kasparov lost to a computer? The computer played insipidly, but Kasparov was simply dreadful. But I understood this even before the match in London. When I was speaking to his mother I realised that for them money was everything. This is all fairy-tales, for young children. It is only that the initial information is now easier to obtain, but the process of analysis has remained the same.

A chess player should himself analyse, and a lot, and nothing can replace analysis. The best of my analytical works? In 1 I wrote to Molotov that I was losing my chess strength. And so he drew up a resolution: I remember Bykhovsky bringing Beliavsky to me when he was seventeen to ask my opinion on his play. It was evident that he was talented, but he knew nothing, and he simply played slap-dash. Therefore I gave him this book, so that he should learn to analyse.

A few months later he returned it and said that he had looked for at least one mistake in the analyses, but had failed to find one. Well, of course, in 1 I played well. I prepared with all my heart and I showed what I was capable of. Yes, and in the return match with Tal, although by then I was already fifty. I prepared very well, and surprised everyone, including Tal. You wrote a nice article about Tal, but you defined his style incorrectly. In our second match I showed how to play against him. When his pieces were leaping about the board, he had no equals, but when there was a solid pawn structure in the centre, then positionally he was weak.

He had to be restricted, restricted. I remember that in Munich in there was a tram stop Talstrasse. We all joked that it had been named in Misha's honour. He was ill, you say? But he was ill all his life. And what in fact happened? Romanov 1 called me to say that the match was to be postponed - Tal was ill. Is there an official doctor's statement? What doctor's state- ment? He says, he is ill. In the evening Romanov phoned me to say that the match was on. He had called Tal in Riga, to say that he should be officially examined, and Tal had refused.

I am to blame for this, since it was I who unclosed them, and then everyone understood how to play against them. I used to eat one and a half hours be- fore a game, then I would lie down, but not sleep, simply lie down, be- cause when you are lying down, no one bothers you with idle conversation. At first I used to take black currant juice with lemon with me to a game. My wife herself used to squeeze it, then I took to drinking cof- fee. At one time I used to eat chocolate during play.

Not a bad idea, I think. For myself I noticed the following: But if I was exhausted, then everything was in or- der. After my game with Capablanca in Amsterdam I couldn't get up from my chair. What did Spassky say to you regarding sleep? But he was a great player, great! He was a continuation of Lasker's line. It was of little interest to him what others were doing, he had his own opinion. In his first match with Petrosian he played very well, but I think that Bondarevsky misled him.

In the second match with Petrosian he was simply splendid. I think that he lost to Fischer through stupidity. And what happened to him afterwards You know that creativity and money accompany each other. Either money in order to play chess, or chess in order to earn money.

Full text of "64 Great Chess Games"

Well, he switched to the second system and lost inter- est in chess. And it was lucky for him that he played that idiotic second match with Fischer in Yugoslavia and secured himself financially. I always used to sleep very well up to the time of the third Moscow tournament of It was terribly hot, there was a con- stant noise on the street, and I was unable to sleep. But I was young and despite my insomnia I played well.

I forced myself to play. Then my sleep was somehow restored, but not completely. Chess will become more popular. After all, people run in stadia, although the bicycle and especially the car 43 are much quicker. No, here there is no need to fear, but writing such a program is not a simple matter.

Do you know what I realised yesterday at the lecture? That to write a program for managing the economy is easier than for chess, because chess is a two-sided game, antagonistic. The players hinder each other, and the devil knows what that means, whereas in eco- nomics this is not the case, and everything is simpler. I talked on the telephone with Poskryobyshev, his assistant, but I never saw Stalin. But I have a telegram. I received it in January after I had sent Molotov a letter regarding my match with Alekhine.

The rest is not difficult to ensure. Then I have hanging on the wall in the chess centre a decree with Stalin's signature. Stalin, after all, was not only a negative figure, he played a dual role. He strengthened the state, and al- though people lived in poverty, the majority supported him. You know, I do not really believe this.

There were camps, of course, but many returned from the camps, very many, including some of my friends. I do not really believe these fig- ures. Although Stalin very skilfully camouflaged his evil deeds. The first time I sensed that he was a liar was in , when the trial of the doc- tor-murderers was announced. I also remember a reception at Vyshinsky's 1. Even before the war I had championed the idea that chess tournaments should be conducted like musical competitions, that chess was not inferior to the violin.

Vyshinsky said that there was no money. So I asked him if there was money for music competitions? He made no reply Vyshinsky adapted himself to circumstances, but he was a capable person. He was a good lawyer, talented, but unprincipled. With Krylenko, it was a different matter. He was kind, just, principled and he loved chess madly, but, of course, Party discipline and directions of the Central Committee were the law for him.

He had an enormous stomach, and the photographers were shouting to him: And there they were on the photograph together. In Brezhnev 1 A. Vyshinsky 1 Soviet General Prosecutor at that time. He spoke very warmly, and in general I must say that I liked him. It was only later, when he became ill, that things went wrong with him I made some mistakes, but did not repeat them. Well, it is difficult to say Sometimes in small matters I made stupid decisions, but this taught me, and so in general, no, I have no regrets.

It was evident that he was tired. Smyslov, for instance said An article from which it was clear that al- ready then he was in favour of democracy. He told me directly that my cells are ageing. True, he offered to do an operation, but I declined. His senile hands, the astigmatic look from behind the thick glass of his spectacles, the white, neatly combed hair. He spoke about people, the majority of whom were dead, as if he, in his ninth de- cade, was not concerned by the concepts of time and age.

His lecture to the economics faculty in Tilburg and a press conference devoted to chess showed essentially one and the same fervent, passionate attempt to assert his correctness, often sharp and impatient, disregarding the opinion of his companion or opponent. Very often he would take as the basis a fact that was by no means evident, and sometimes even highly dubious, and from this fact he would draw conclusions with iron consistency and merciless logic.

At the lecture the faces of the students dropped when he said: These judgements of- 45 ten looked naive and banal, and sometimes even absurd. However, I have no doubt about his sincerity and his absolute belief in what he said. It is evident that part of the explanation was the country in which he spent his entire conscientious life, a country which held only one idea to be correct, and the rest to be reactionary or erroneous. His evaluations of people and events often combined into a deep penetration into the character of a per- son and a dogmatic obstinacy in explaining his motives and intentions.

One has to give him his due: However, all is vanity, vanity of vanities, vanity and vexation of spirit, and Mikhail Moiseevich does not even have vexation of spirit. It is when your friends depart, new ones do not appear, and all that remains is to remember those who have departed. I think that this quality, this belief in yourself and in the correct- ness of the chosen plan, of your own idea, is extremely important for a top-class chess player. In some way this confidence is transferred to the chess pieces.

All the world champions who I have seen at close quarters have possessed this quality to some degree. After working out the varia- tions and playing g2-g4, you have to believe only in the direct attack, and not in the fact that the f4 square is conceded for ever, and what will hap- pen if a black knight reaches there.

Doubts, which accumulate, alas, with experience, generate a lack of confidence and cause only harm. Once, in a conversation, in order to see his reaction, I recalled what Napo- leon had said: When did he say this, was it after perhaps? Once in Brussels, in the press centre at one of the GMA tournaments, discussing some opening position, I said to him that I thought this was an idea of Dzindzichashvili.

Well now, I remember. A man to disturb your dreams. At the Spartakiad names the year and the month I had a completely won posi- 46 tion, then I relaxed, allowed a tactical stroke, and did not even manage to draw He always ana- lysed blind, in the last years almost literally. His grey head, bending low, sometimes rocking from side to side, as he asked: In chess there were many splendid foxes in the 30s, 40s and 50s, but he, of course, belonged to the hedgehogs.

About chess he knew something that others did not know. In his final tournament at Leiden in he was close to a win in many games, but, after sharing last place for the first time in his life, he realised that it was not just a matter of chess. He understood perfectly well that in chess there applies that same cruel custom that existed for the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego: Remembering that in his time he had written both about Einstein and about Spinoza, I asked: The same day Einstein, also by telegraph, replied: I believe in the God of Spinoza, which manifests itself in the harmony of everything real, but not in a God that concerns itself with the fates and actions of people.

He did not be- lieve, either in the God of Spinoza, and even less so in the God of the Brooklyn rabbi, although without himself suspecting it, he lived by the wisdom of the Talmud: Life is not suffering and not pleasure, but a matter which must be carried through. His religion became the philosophy of the young new state, together with which he had grown up. His creed became the slogans and ideals of this state. To these ideals, so beautiful on paper and unrealizable in prac- tice, which have now been rejected together with the state itself, he has remained true, with some self-evident corrections, to the end.

Rejecting them would have meant deleting his entire life. It was the same in chess: He devoted to it all his time and energy, and upheld it passionately. Once in a conversation he let slip: He was a living relic, part of an epoch, and it is impossible to separate or examine him outside of this epoch or outside of its context. Just as it is im- possible to understand certain actions of Shostakovich or Pasternak, for ex- ample, outside of those times in which they lived and outside of that amazing, cruel country, so different from any other. But there was also a difference. From the age of twenty, when he first became USSR Champion, his name became not simply popular, it became a symbol of chess in the country of the Soviets, just like the name of Mayakovsky in poetry, Ulanova in ballet, or Sholokhov in literature.

Photographs and articles in newspa- pers, autographs and the admiring looks of fans, his direct links to the powers that be - all this, together with his innate qualities, character and talent made up the phenomenon of Mikhail Botvinnik. I should like to recount two instances which I consider very typical of him.

Like the majority of World Chess Champions, Botvinnik grew up without a father. From childhood he was trained to a formula, which be- came for him a formula for life. Which can be gleaned from the following. Botvinnik celebrated his 80th birthday, which coincided with the end of the Candidates Matches, in Brussels. There was a big banquet, and he himself made a speech. I translated it as best I could, and when, to the ap- plause of those present, he began descending the staircase, even though he could see virtually nothing, I took him by the arm. All that he did in chess and in life, all the decisions that he took, he took himself, and having taken them once he followed them unbendingly.

The other instance was in Tilburg, when he decided to buy several pens for his staff and asked me to help him. Mikhail Moiseevich lis- tened to our conversation, which of course was conducted in Dutch, and 48 then suddenly, pushing me aside, in order to clarify things once and for all, he determinedly said: It was a typical snowy Moscow day, it was the birthday of one of his staff, there were tea and cakes, and it all seemed that it would be like that for ever, that nothing could happen to him, and that he would outlive us all.

He, with his constant temperature of It appeared that he was eternal. And indeed, he was strong physically. After receiving Muller's book as a present in childhood, he all his life followed his system of gym- nastics. I remember how in Brussels, in , on our very first acquain- tance, in the hotel lift he asked: But then one day he fell ill, and was taken to hospital, which he posi- tively disliked. The last time had been exactly fifty years earlier on account of appendicitis. But his organism would not accept the gamma-globulin, and he got worse. But even in this condition he re- mained Botvinnik.

He told the doctors which preparations were needed to neutralise the reaction. All the conditions in his organism began to develop and the ultimate cause of his death was cancer of the pancreas. He died bravely, realising perfectly well that he was dying, with a clear mind and a firm memory, his Botvinnik mind and his Botvinnik memory. There al- ready is a place. Few can say when they are dying: He was at home surrounded by his loved ones, and with undiminished clarity of mind he gave the final directions about the morgue, the crema- tion, and stressed the pointlessness of splendid funerals.

In recent years Kasparov had quarrelled with his former teacher. They had different views on the future of chess, and on life in general. But how dif- ferent they were, they were also similar in their implacability, in their be- 49 lief that only they were right. A few days after Botvinnik's death, Kasparov was playing in a tournament in Amsterdam. However, variations characterized by opposite castling are not rare, and in these cases the predominate concern is the attack on the king.

In the past, at this point either 5. Depending on the circumstances, White keeps the possibility of the d4 pawn advance, with or without a preparatory c2-d, or the option of simply plonking the pawn solidly on d3. If we can trust the statistics, the results with at least five alternative variations are more or less the same. We will ignore the minor lines that appear to be of doubtful merit. The following variations are in ascending order of popularity: In addition, the knight is ready to go to the excellent square g6, or at times to c6.

In the event of 6. Black would be in a crlSlS situation But now it is time for White to play energetically avoid 1O. It seems logical but after to pin the f3 -knight, With this move, White seeks to exploit his lead in development, effectively threatening to take the bishop on g4 for example, However, chess theory is constantly evolving: If this proves to be true, the S An interesting way to try and exploit the exposed position of the queen on d6 is 6.

Black tries to maintain the outpost on eS. At this stage White can choose to simplify with 7. However, this small plus is difficult to exploit. Alternatively, he could continue more ambitiously with 7. GerinanyWchm 1 1.

ReViewing Chess: English, 1.Nf6, 2.Nc3, Anglo-Indian, Vol. 39.1

Lasker;s idea ' was to exploit Chess Opening Essentials - Volume I ,. Teimour " Harikrishna,Pentala Cap d'Agde rapid 2 1. Ruy Lopez - Minor Variat io ns af te r 4. When White continues with the normal 4. Against what is in effect a Jaenisch Deferred, we have the following very strong continuation: Along the lines of the Falkbeer with reversed colours see King's Gambit in which Black has difficulty undermining the eS -pawn. Moscow Candidates' final 19 74 2 0 '1. Ruy lopez Steinitz Defence Deferred 1.

Not Found (#404)

Unlike in the normal Steinitz with Black here has a sly tactical motif at his disposal that changes the strategic direction of the whole system. If White continues with the normaI5. He does not need to fear the weakening of the light squares, as he is the one with the light-squared bishop. This is why White usually proceeds with 5. Now Black has two continuations that are of a very different nature: A he will be forced to sacrifice a pawn with 8. Ruy Lopez - Steinitz Defence Deferred 6. White can frustrate Black's plan with the annoying h4-h5. The other option is to change the nature of the position with 7.

Aioriian,Levon ; Yandemirov,Valery '. Sochi tt 4 ;1. Otherwise, he can continue with the classical 6. Jose Raul Budapest 6.


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Wh1 85 Chess Open inn Essentials - Volume Victor Varna 01 8 1. However, the immediate The two variations are similar, in that they both aim for more active play, even if by nature this involves taking more risks than with the Closed Spanish. Both bishop moves have good and bad points, and it is therefore difficult to decide which of the two is better: The bishop on b7 allows This robs the b 7-bishop of much of its effectiveness and avoids a lot of theory.

However, the critical line remains 7. White's centre is impressive, but it also runs the risk of collapsing. For this reason White usually reinforces the centre. The problem is that White, not having played: The modern treatment involves a direct 6. At this point the most popular move is S. Now Black sacrifices a pawn with A strategically and tactically rich position for both sides: Leipzig m 4 gS l'4.

Adolf Paulsen,Louis " " Fischer. Schlechter,CarI Buenos Airei 12 " ;"1. White is better off. In view of the weak e4-pawn and his more active pieces it is safe to say that Whlte's two minor pieces are stronger than Black's rook and two pawns. Siegbert Tarrasch dogmatically declared it to be the only way for Black to obtain a good position. However, though it has always had many supporters, the Open Spanish has never been as popular as the Closed.


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    5. Its most illustrious modern advocate is the Russo-Swiss champion Viktor Kortchnoi. Attempting to open the e-fUe is without doubt a good idea with an adversary's knight on e4. The Riga Variation, though sometimes played, is undoubtedly favourable for White: Wxh2 90 So Black is virtually forced to weaken his queenside. The d4-square is often occupied by the f3 -knight. In addition the move lLlf3-d4 clears the way for White's kingside pawn majority and the pawn advance f4-fs can be devastating.

    Needless to say, Black has his resources. His pieces are active, the eS-pawn is weak, and his counter play against f2 could become unpleasant, especially after.. At this point White can choose between three main alternatives: White does not vacate the c2-square for his bishop for now, but instead immediately attacks the outpost on e4. As a result, the thematic move has always been considered to be d5-d41? White clears the d I-square for his rook in order to apply immediate pressure on the dS -pawn. It received its most famous seal of approval with Kasparov's famous victory over Anand in the World Championship.

    The idea is to vacate the f3-square for the white queen, with the threat of tLlxf7. Taking the undefended knight with ';lYd8xg5 The line previously thought to be safer, Now Black, as is often the case in the Spanish, has to decide whether to place the bishop solidly on e7 or aggressively oneS. Ruy Lopez - Open Variation C1 i. This is the most played, and probably the move which is most in the spirit of the Open Spanish, even if it is not necessarily the strongest reply. The price you pay to apply pressure on f2 and have an active position, is that it facilitates the common white manoeuvre tbbl-d2-b3: Black can only obtain adequate counterplay by opening the f-file: Black's pressure is such that White usually concedes a pawn to open up the game with Wg 1, and now the endgame that follows after This is presumably because it is easier to push a mass of passed pawns forward than to achieve a harmonious coordination of White's minor pieces.

    The most played of the three alternatives in modern times. Black does not fear conceding the loss of his dark-squared bishop. It pays not to be too dogmatic. At times it is okay to give up the dark-squared bishop. I, after which there is no further counterplay on a lDb3, leaves White with the advantage after Nowadays it is very rare, but this is a question of fashion, not objective inferiority, given that there are no known refutations. At this pOint, in the past the critical variation, which contains an incredible hidden Black sacrifice, was IS.

    Black, who must play actively, threatens White occupies this square first with The question now is: The answer is The strange make-up of the opposing forc es is something that you do not see every day: Who is better off? This line was first played in , and no one is really any the wiser after more than 60 years! There is an interesting story relating to this variation: The theory until the move However, Isaac Boleslavsky was the first to appreciate the potential of Two years later in , a radio match was organized as part of the end-of-war celebrations: The convincing win by the Soviets came as a great surprise: On second board Vasily Smyslov found himself facing Samuel Reshevsky.

    In their first game Smyslov had the white pieces, and Reshevsky allowed him to employ this very variation, which was so well known to the Soviet players and completely unknown to the Americans. As a result Smyslov was able to beat his formidable opponent with unusual ease. This demonstrates how slowly news of chess developments spread in the days before the Internet.

    It is understandable that White would want to seek an advantage without all these fireworks. Nova Gorica ] 2S Alexander Ponomariov,Ruslan ,'; Metger,Johannes. Grischuk-Anand, Wijk aan Zee 2S. Ac2 " f5 Wg1 b4 ' 37JU In addition to the main continuation 6. The game is characterized by a slow positional struggle with opportunities for both sides; at times transposing to the Anti-Archangel, or the Anti-Marshall, in which White plays the solid d3. White defends e4 with the queen so the rook can have the dl-square, thus making the pawn moves to c3 and d4 more effective.

    This plan is highly logical and dangerous, and Black's best way to counter would seem to be to play in the spirit of the Marshall: At this point, 9. Therefore White falls back on 9. White has some kingside prospects, while Black has good central control. It seems to go against common sense to take on c6 after having lost a tempo with the retreat to a4. However, in comparison with the exchange on the 4th move, the situation is different. The consequence of this is that Black also has to lose tempi in order to harmonize his position.

    It should be stressed that the percentage of draws with this variation is unusually high, and thus it could be an optimal choice for white players against stronger opponents. Apart from the rare I To head into the so-called Closed Spanish with Black sacriHces the eS-pawn for a strong attack against the white king. The story goes that Marshall kept the idea of this pawn sacriHce secret for years, saving it up for a future encounter with Capablanca. He played it against him New York in the hope of ruining the young Cuban's growing reputation.

    However, Capablanca met the prepared variation with sangfroid. He found the best moves over the board, 'refuting' the surprise weapon and winning. The refutation was so convincing that the original move of the American player II Almost one hundred years of attempting to refute the Marshall have not borne fruit. Indeed, the results of hundreds of games demonstrate that the Marshall Attack is one of Black's best systems. Certainly the fordng nature of the line, in which a good memory is more important than creative play, is not to all black players' tastes.

    It also does not appeal to some because there are various lines in which White can force an early draw. As a consequence, this aggressive gambit is ironically seen by many professional players as a good way to get a draw against players of their own strength, while preferring the Closed Spanish when looking for a win against weaker players. However, we should take one step back: Among these is Garry Kasparov, who after The most traditional Anti-Marshall line begins with 8.

    During the s, the most popular response to the a4 pawn advance was If instead Black prefers the positions ariSing from the closed systems and does not like the Anti-Marshall systems, he will usually play Kasparov's move White's win rate was good.

    However, also in this case opinions have changed, and the alternative move Another quick look at some of the subtle psychology that occurs in practical modern chess: However, if Black likes the pOSitions that arise by employing Anti-Marshall lines , he can set off a smokescreen by beginning with The dS-knight is en prise and needs to be either moved or defended, after which the white rook will be exposed, which facilitates Black's counterplay. When the variation was first introduced, Ruy Lopez - Marshall Attack It has been used since the end of the s - after Marshall first played his attack it took some twenty years to find the best move!

    In our age of the Internet and Fritz it could take as little as 20 minutes! This is not often played, but the results with it are encouraging. For years, at this point people have almost exclusively played White seeks counterplay on the queenside, and now, after However, the general opinion is that the positions are dynamically balanced. Recently, in the diagrammed position the move The idea is to get rid of the intruder on h3 with the follow-up.!: Black prevents this with This pawn cannot be captured, because after Here White makes an energetic exchange sacrifice with Black can either accept this or refuse with After either of these options the position is difficult to assess.

    Even after this short introduction you have probably already realized that the Marshall is alive and kicking. It is therefore fully understandable why many white players try to avoid it altogether. New York 19 I 8 1. O-O Ae7 6Jle1 bS Viswanathan Cap d'Agde rapid 3 1. Vasily Sudak 9 1. Ruslan Anand, Viswanathan Linares 14 1. Let's stop to look at the real reasons for White's last move, given the worrying fact that so many opening books do not explain the thinking behind it. However, the real reason is highly tactical. The most natural would appear to be the immediate 8. So as not to lose the bishop, the gambit continuation lO.

    It gives some compensation, but probably not enough. Now we can understand in what sense 8. It is worth mentioning the interesting possibility to get off the beaten path by proceeding to a direct occupation of the centre with 9. Black already threatens 1O However, White has resources with which he can liven up the game.

    This can be done in two ways: At this point Black concedes the centre, in order to attack it next with It gains space and closes the centre, giving Black a free hand on the flanks. This is the most solid and the most popular move: White wishes to prevent This is the initial position of the Closed Spanish, the most popular system of all the open games and a chapter of fundamental importance in the history of chess openings. The number of arrows in the diagram shows the unusually high number of moves which can be played by Black, which is testimony to how flexible his position is.

    The subsequent game is usually characterized by heavy manoeuvring, with possible complications being played out at a later stage in the game. Now we will have a quick look at Black's options, in ascending order of popularity: White cannot support the pawn chain widl c3-c4, as he can in other variations, and must therefore take on c6. D Black's intention is gaining space on the queenside and also exchanging off White's light-squared bishop.

    Here also, the idea is to play Sometimes the knight goes to b6 with The knight is certainly better placed on b6 than on as. Black's two last moves were non-developing and White profits from this with the thematic At this point Black usually responds with U8-e8 but if the truth be told, White's mobile centre seems to be more of a strength than a weakness. Here we have a set-up which tries to prevent the manoeuvre li: It should now be noted that if White plays If Black does not want the draw that would occur if he repeats the move After the usual Black usually responds with the violent Here, White can choose between two very different plans: White defends the e4-pawn, but above all prepares d4-d5 followed by b2-b3 and c3-d, to keep the pawn chain intact when Black attacks its head with White's centre will collapse, after which the b7 -bishop becomes active and Black's mass of centre pawns can begin to march down.

    Black's problem is the safety of his king: The manoeuvre tLlh2-g4, the l:! Some of the best examples are to be found in the historic Kasparov-Karpov matches. We are yet to hear the last word on these variations, but OIl the whole the results favour White. The knight is heading for d7 to give support to the eS-pawn and if the bishop is developed to b7, it will be immediately active. Furthermore, the way is cleared for the c-pawn.

    Breyer's move is not as popular now as it was in the s, when it was played at the highest level by the likes of Spassky and Karpov. However, it still has its supporters: Kramnik, Beliavsky and Mamedyarov, just to name some notable advocates. That said, Black's position is both solid and flexible and tournament results have been satisfactory for the second player. However, it is not necessarily the best. Black immediately begins to become active on the queenside, which would appear to be the most natural plan. But on as, the knight remains sidelined for a while and more often than not Black's pieces are less harmoniously coordinated in comparison to other variations of the Closed Spanish.

    Black cannot take twice on b4, because after For the simple reason you would lose a pawn, as after the exchanges on d4 the bishop on c2 is unprotected. Ab1-d3 tLlcS-a5 Noteworthy is the 'knight's tour' made by this black knight: Leon Ech-tt 9 , 1. Semi-Open Games Minor defences after 1. A word of warning: This is a lesson learnt the hard way by a World Champion, Anatoly Karpov, in a game against the late Tony Miles in The English grandmaster was an aficionado of minor systems, and to the dismay of Karpov as well as purists the world over, he won their encounter using the following minor defence: In addition, with the pawn advance a2-a4, there are also attacking possibilities on the queenside.

    However, the solidity of Black's position should not be underestimated. Even more provocative is Basman's idea 1. In general it pays not to be dogmatic. However, the lost tempo and, more importantly, the weakening of the kingside seems to be a bit beyond the pale. Therefore, with correct play, these defects should guarantee White a clear advantage. M, the position quickly transposes to the English Defence. This defence was champio ned by the great Aaron Nimzowitsch, and thus carries his name.

    Its ambitious objective is to apply pressure to White's d4-pawn, but in practice this doesn't usually happen. Placing the two centre pawns side by side is the most natural and ambitious response for White. However, the type of player who opts for The orthodox continuation is d7-d5 You should note that Minor Defences after l. However, a good move would be S. Here, however, things are not so simple: M, White gets a nice centre with prospects of further expansion with c2-c4.

    At least, that is what opening manuals have blindly repeated for years and years. However, recent practice has demonstrated that this assessment is a little superficial and that there are structural elements present which are favourable for Black: In addition, we have a 4: It is no surprise that you have the same pawn structure as in the Caro-Kann and the Rubinstein Variation of the French - which are both solid positions par excellence. However, this plan seems too ambitious to be realistic. Another choice is S This waiting move is generally preferred.

    It reserves the options of moving the queen's bishop to f5 or g4 and opens an escape route for the queen. The position is now practically that of a Caro-Kann where Black has lost some tempi, and he will lose ano ther with a further queen move. On the other hand, White's knight is more passive on c3 than on e4. Moreover, by following this virtually forced sequence Black has avoided the dangerous Advance Variation oftheCaro-Kann.

    With the idea of d4-d5. White has the adva IItage. Gata Wijkaan Zee 1 " 1. A f4 gS First made famous by the later World Champion Alexander Alekhine in , it is based on a startling concept, which at the time bordered on heresy: Jc6, the d4-pawn becomes the target. Now White must decide whether to gain further space in the centre or content himself with a quieter approach. It should be noted that instead of supporting the centre with the f-pawn, it has recently become very popular for White to adopt the quiet alternative 5. But let's return to 5. How do we evaluate such a position?

    Is White, with his imposing centre, ready to start a mating attack? Or is his centre a house of cards that is about to collapse? In practice, both of these events occur, and this is why we are looking at some of the most complex and exciting variations in opening literature. Usually Black aims to put d4 under immediate pressure with S. Play in this line is quiet and the variations are characterized by slow manoeuvring. Now Black can choose from the following alternatives: This is ambitious but premature. This line is not forced, but it gives an idea of the complexity of these variations.

    This being the case, it is not a surprise that the percentage of draws in these lines is very low. Nonetheless, years of practical experience, as well as statistics produced by hundreds of games, show that White wins more or less the same percentage of games as he would by employing any other opening. This line was very fashionable in the Os following its adoption by Fischer in his World Championship match against Spas sky. Today, however, it is seldom used.

    And now, White gains a promising position with either the aggressive 7. At this point Therefore recently, Black has shown a preference to prepare Ie 1 S But it leaves the door open to the complications that ensue after 6. White can also choose not to play h3, but it is generally a useful move. But, aware of this , White replies Alekhine Defence However, the doubling of the f-pawns makes it difficult to break with f4-f5, and Black's position usually proves surprisingly robust.

    Af4 ' Nakamura,Hikarn e6 lS. However, the difference is that in the Modern the knight is absent from f6, or it develops to this square later on. When White pushes his pawn to c4, the game resembles the Qneen's Pawn Opening: Here we have a very elastic defence. Black almost ignores what White does and develops on his own account with a wide number of plans to choose from. This makes the Modern an ideal defence for those among you that don't want a system for which you need to learn a lot of established theory.

    Black sometimes chooses not to make the classical pawn move ". However, usually Black does proceed with He can push his pawns to eS or to cS, or otherwise to c6-bS or a6-bS. Black may decide to develop the b8 -knight to d7 or to c6, and the g8-knight to f6 or e7. White is not urgently required to defend e4 as in the Pire, and therefore, he too has a wide variety of approaches available to him. As a result of all this, it is very diffIcult to systematically examine this chameleonic defence.

    However, it is more common to play 3. White supports the centre and takes the bite out of a possible However, this is not a developing move and White must content himself with a minuscule advantage in the centre. However, for players who enjoy a slow manoeuvring struggle it could be the right choice. Or otherwise to continue in a less directly challenging way. The only drawback of the natural development of the knight to c3 is that it facilitates a counterattack by Black with However, he usually opts for the interesting plan 4.

    The following line is not forced, but reveals a lot about the position: Usually Black postpones castling short, which could lead to a re-entry in the Pirc. This would not be a bad thing, if it did not give White the chance to use a simple plan of attack: For this reason, Black prefers to respond with c7-c6 Now Black can play 4. In these variations, more so than in the others, the player with the better strategic skill will win. Not counting tactical mishap along the way, of course. Barcelona 9 1. O-O-O tZld7 " Jb1-c3 g7-g6 gressively, or he can instead opt to begin with slow manoeuvring.

    In ascending order of popularity, the most common options are: Now White solidly develops: However, first Black plays This is not to suggest that the Pirc has proved itself to be superior to the King's Indian: It should be said that White can also choose not to play 3. In both these cases Black can decide not to fianchetto his f8 -bishop and instead respond in the centre with As in the Modern Defence, Black concedes the centre in hopes of undermining it at a later stage. Therefore this is an ambitious defence and, as a result, rather demanding to play.

    For his part, White can react ag If Black now takes on d4, h e allows his opponent active piece play. Therefore this is a position which inspires differing assessments, depending on the taste of the commentator and ranging from equality to a small advantage for White. On the other hand, this takes a tempo, and it is not clear if all this is worth it. Black, who may not appreciate the presence of the bishop on gS, can give it a kick with However, here it is not clear either if this is positive or negative, given the lost tempi and the weaknesses on the kingside.

    White can now continue with: It is difficult to judge which is more dangerous: White's kings ide attack, or Black's on the queenside. JfS-h5 By chasing the bishop we are heading for a complex middlegame, e. Here also, it is better to postpone castling. Wg1-h1 White has a good centre, but Black has sufficient counterplay. The Austrian Attack 0 c7-c6! Black is correct to immediately seek counterplay on the queenside.

    The resulting positions are complicated and they offer both sides chances. This plan is very dangerous and Black must respond by advancing a pawn to e5 or c5: This pawn advance is inspired by tactical considerations: If White wants to play more aggressively, he chooses S. Weakening Black's control of the e6-square. If White takes the queen, Black gives perpetual check on f2 and e3. Therefore White usually relies on At this point there are two variations to consider: Black maintains equality notwithstanding his exposed king.

    For years this was thought to be a simple error because of 9. The king is safer here than on f8! Let's return to 6. As a result, Black usually prepares for the first with For his part, Black can move his c6-knight to b4 or to d4; in both cases with satisfactory results. In Benoni fashion, Black now seeks counterplay on the queenside, which is Pire Defence facilitated by the absence of the white pawn on c4 and because the knight on b4 harasses the bishop on d3. Yet at the same time, the manoeuvre 'fVel-h4 with the idea offS, jLh6 and liJgS can be very dangerous and practical results would appear to favour White.

    Classical Variation E 4. The latter tends to lead to the 4. However, a specific line exists in which White chooses a solid plan that starts with h 2-h3. An example is the variation S These generally involve putting White's centre under pressure either with.. Alternatively, Black can search for play on the queens ide with The variations below are indicative for each of the three different approaches. Thus we arrive at positions which are typical of the Franco-Benoni. White doesn't have any immediate threats, so Black can choose b etween iit.

    With the idea of 'ub3, leaving White with a small but insidious initiative, E3 c7-c6 Iadl with that small advantage which is always nice to have, but against correct play does not guarantee anything substantial. Black could react with A h3 dS Robert ReykjavikWchm 17 1. And if we look a little closer, w e notice that the e4-pawn is the strategic linchpin around which all semi-open openings are based.

    Let's have a look at the various starting pOSitions. When Nimzowitsch wrote during the s that the Caro-Kann Defence is the refutation of l. Nimzowitsch knew that if you want to rock the boat you need to exaggerate somewhat. The proof that Nimzowitsch did not fully believe his pronouncement is demonstrated by the fact that he continued playing l.

    What he really meant was that it isn't compulsory to answer l. In this sense I.. The e4-pawn, unlike its colleague to the immediate left, is unpro with I However, now White often advances the pawn to e5, keeping the centre closed. In the Closed French, it is a good thing that the c8-bishop cannot speak, as it has plenty to grumbleabout; after I.. Presented in this light, the Caro-Kann appears to be a perfect defence.

    Here White's options are limited by the fact that the e4-pawn is threatened. In the Caro-Kann, after The remaining option is to defend the Chess Opening Essentials - Volume 1 pawn with 3. In real life, things are not so simple: Furthermore, in the main line, even though the absence of the e-pawn takes some of the sting out of White's play, it is also true that in the ensuing long positional battle White obtains a spatial advantage anyhow, and a comfortable position.

    This might not be so easy to convert into a win, but it is also true that the risks oflosing are minimal. As a result, the Caro-Kann has gained a reputation as a very solid defence suitable for positional players. All this is true, but beware if your opponent chooses 3. A Here White intends, after the thematic 2. If Black plays the more accurate 4. This is not as academic as it may seem: A1 You will be dealing with one of the sharpest and most complex lines found in all opening theory!

    In order to avoid the risk of not being able to recoup the pawn, Black usually captures on d5 right away. For as much as we study or prepare for a particular type of game, sooner or later we will be confronted with unpredictable and ever-changing situations which require us to think for ourselves. Specialized preparation is all very fine, but by cultivating a more general awareness we develop mental. Once we admit that it is impossible to know everything about everything, we can reach a suitable compromise by learning a little about everything, and everything about a little.

    However, Black could also play the solid 7. All of this should suffice to convince us that opening theory is a coherent whole and not a group of segmented compartments, as is commonly believed. It is for this reason that, in order to have a full grasp of what you are doing, you should have a general understanding of ope- 2. But more frequently it features in 1. Jf3 followed by a kingside fianchetto and e4: The game assumes the character of a Chess Opening Essentials - Volume 1 slow positional battle with chances for both sides, and tactics are postponed until the middlegame.

    The idea behind White's move order is that if Black mechanically plays along the lines of the main line Caro-Kann with This move implicates that Black is completely willing to give up the two bishops, as White often plays the equally natural 4. Black has a solid centre and has freed himself of the bad light-squared bishop. A slow strategic battle will follow with chances for both players. So we have finally come to the most common line, which, as we said, is 2. However, Black is better off profiting from the knight's placement on f3 by playing the natural developing move Caro-Kann Defence White must decide what to do about his e-pawn.

    Ignoring the curious 3. Gothenburg Ech-tt 6 1. Let's return to Now White can play several moves. However, this has been revealed to be a somewhat blinkered analysis. Recently we have come to realize that the loss of two tempi With this poisonous move, White gains space on the kingside and threatens to seriously harass the f5-bishop. Caro-Kann - Advance Variatian Black's most common move is h7-h5 At this point White responds with the committal 5. If Black now takes on c4, he gains control of the key dS-square, but at the same time he gives White the important e4-square.

    If Black dithers, White will have the usual initiative on the queenside. White's results are fairly good and it is strange that this variation is not played more often, especially considering that there is not too much theory to study. At this stage, all sorts of moves have been tried, among which However, the most popular move by far is still e7-e6 4. White seeks to harass the g6-bishop with tt: However, this takes several tempi and Black responds thematically in the centre: Now Black gives the bishop some breathing space by advancing his h-pawn, or by capturing on d4.

    To give you an idea of the complexity of the variations that ensue, you only need to look at this line: Even if the 4. Fugen tt 5 Speaking of uncharted waters, this was played in by Garry Kasparov. His distinguished patronage is reason in itself to take this strange move seriously. Predictably, in the following years this variation became very fashionable and many of the top players in the world are now exploring its deeper mysteries.

    The idea of 4. Leko,Peter Brissago Wch m Recapturing with the c-pawn usually leads to the Panov-Botvinnik Attack. However, we would like to make note of the move which helped Fischer obtain his famous victory against Petrosian in the USSR vs Rest of the World match in The diagrammed pOSition has the characteristics of a Queen's Gambit, with the difference that there is no black pawn on c7 and no white pawn one2.

    It is difficult to say Results are similar to those of the Queen's Gambit. White has the slightly better statistical performance that is his colour's privilege. It is true that the This subtle delaying strategy is common in many lines of the Rubinstein Variation 4. It is, therefore, no surprise that there are many transpositions from the Panov-Botvinnik Attack to the NimzoIndian when Black plays As said, a common transposition is to the Semi-Tarrasch l.

    ItJb1-c3 Here Black has three options: White seeks to exploit his queenside pawn majority - a typical but risky approach in many lines of the PanovBotvinnik Attack. White has achieved his strategic objective, but his delayed development gives Black excellent chances of counterplay based on an This reserves the greatest amount of options. Black applies pressure to the centre and leaves the diagonal open for the bishop on c8. Each option results in a complicated game for both players. Paradoxically for such an aggressive line, after the almost forced sequence 7.

    This opinion held sway in spite of the doubled pawn on f3, because of White's queenside majority and Black's badly coordinated pieces not to mention the isolated pawns on d5 and a7. In reality, hundreds of games have demonstrated that Black equalizes easily. The percentage of draws is unusually high: A f3 'iWbS A e1 l2'lxe5 Amsterdam 3 ' Vladimir Moscow 9 , 1t. Id2 cS Smeets,Jan ' WcS w g5 Jd4 h d4 1S. Ve4 " ': The aggressive continuation Over the last 20 years the pseudo refinement 3. Given that nine times out of ten Black continues by taking on e4, this move does not make a big difference.

    Unless, of course, Black intends to play one of the In that case ttJd2 proves to be more precise than ttJc3 given that, as in some lines of the Modern Defence, White keeps the option of supporting the centre with c3. However, you need to contemplate the wisdom of discouraging a variation Its reputation oscillates from 'dubious' to 'interesting'; B ItJgS-f6 Black allows the creation of an ugly doubled pawn, which has the virtue of controlling e5, the usual outpost for White's pieces in the Caro-Kann.

    Yet, it does have the advantage of being solid: There is a very high percentage of draws with this line and for Black, it is difficult to win. White can continue quietly, aiming for a slightly favourable endgame. Or he can play the more aggressive 6. Black enjoys better control of the centre, he has his eye on the g-file, and in some variations he succeeds in advancing his e-pawn to es.

    Black will usually develop the cS-bishop to fs or, less often, to g4; the knight goes to d7 and the queen is moved to c7 or as.

    However, Black's real problem is not his pawn structure - the active placement of his pieces makes this academic - but the much more urgent dilemma of his king's future. Kingside castling without the g7 -pawn seems unsafe; and after Black castles queenside, White's pawn advance there should be quicker than Black's pawn march on the kingside.

    White has several different plans. However, the most common, and probably also the strongest, has proved to be the waiting move 6. White delays tUf3, as he does not wish to encourage He waits for 6. It is true that after As a result, the plan of preparing for the kings ide fianchetto 7.

    Caro-Kann - Main line By doing this White aims to consolidate his king after castling, and in the case of opposite-side castling the g2-bishop becomes a dangerous weapon. This has recently been called the Smyslov Variation, while in some of the older manuals it is referred to as the Nimzowitsch Variation. Besides Smyslov, anotller famous and devoted practitioner was, and still is, Anatoly Karpov.

    For many, his continued support is the reason why this variation enjoys its current popularity. Black does not directly attack the knight on e4, but it 'threatens to threaten' on the next move with.. Now White has to decide what to do with his knight on e4 in the next two moves. Practice has shown that neither to defend it, nor to exchange it with the one on f6, nor to m ove it to g3, gives White any serious opportunities to gain an advantage. Strangely, the best square has proven to be g5 1, and the knight can be moved there either immediately or after the preliminary 5.

    Black cannot try to rid himself of the knight's ominous presence here right away because of various tactical resources centred around e6 or f7. First he must continue to develop, and after the knight - depending on the variation - returns from g5 to f3 or to e4, White maintains an unpleasant initiative. However, the system is a hard nut to crack and it is well suited to black players who are not worried about the prospect of defending cramped but solid positions.

    Black first defends the e6-pawn. Instead, the move However, things are not as terrible as was thought before the advent of chess computer programs. For example, after As a result, many variations that had been uncritically accepted for decades have had to be subsequently re-evaluated. Here Black's c8-bishop looks ugly However, the g I-knight is hardly happy to find his fellow knight sitting onn.

    Black attempts to free his game. With time, the main line has become Iadl b6, Black concludes his development and the game is balanced. In prac- tice White's attack proves to be winning. To take on e4 with the queen. To make this p ossible, Black must defend c6 or force the white queen to leave e4. For this reason, Black usually prefers the alternative