Chess For Beginners Archives - Chessentials https://chessentials.com/category/learn-chess/chess-for-beginners/ Chess blog about chess tactics, chess games and chess books Sun, 12 May 2019 13:59:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://chessentials.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/cropped-vjeks2-2-1-32x32.png Chess For Beginners Archives - Chessentials https://chessentials.com/category/learn-chess/chess-for-beginners/ 32 32 7 Checkmate Patterns Every Chess Player Should Know https://chessentials.com/checkmate-patterns/ https://chessentials.com/checkmate-patterns/#respond Sat, 11 May 2019 19:50:28 +0000 https://chessentials.com/?p=9540 Initially, this was imagined as a single post. Due to its length, we have decided to split it into two parts. The second part titled Another 7 Checkmate Patterns Every Chess Player Should Know can...

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]]> Initially, this was imagined as a single post. Due to its length, we have decided to split it into two parts.

The second part titled Another 7 Checkmate Patterns Every Chess Player Should Know can be found here.

A couple of days ago, as I was browsing through my Quora feed, I stumbled on the following question:

„I am a beginner chess player but find that I always struggle to find a checkmate position and the end game becomes long and tedious even when it should be easy to finish – how can I improve this?“

Guided by the rule that if one person asked this question, there are probably others, I realized beginners 1 often struggle with checkmating the opponent’s king in a middlegame.

I also realized there is a gap in the chess literature when it comes to this topic. From the top of my head, I could quote only two good books:2 The Art Of The Checkmate by Georges Renaud and Victor Kahn and Art Of Attack by Vladimir Vuković, who are entirely devoted to attacking and checkmating the king.

Considering our previous post, 10 Endgames Every Chess Player Should Know, got a good reception, the blogger and click-baiter inside of me saw another opportunity. Since I was lucky enough to stumble on The Art Of Checkmate in my youth, I learned the value of explaining and learning essential checkmate patterns. 3

(Fun fact – I just realized the same book has two names. The earlier version was titled The Art Of The Checkmate. The newer one, translated into algebraic notation, omitted „the“ and became The Art Of Checkmate)

That is how I got the idea to write a post on the topic. On the list below, you can find 14 checkmate patterns every chess player should know. Apart from the checkmate pattern itself, I have also provided an annotated sample game featuring it, so the reader can see the attacking moves that led to it and get an overall picture of how to apply the pattern in his own game.

Hope you will find it helpful!

Back rank (corridor) mate

Let’s start with an easy one. Back rank or corridor mate utilizes the fact that a castled king (on the kingside) is blocked by its own pawns. Any check down the 8th (1st) rank that can’t be blocked is, therefore, a checkmate.

A famous example is Capablanca’s game against Bernstein from Moscow Tournament 1914:

Of course, back rank mate rarely appears in its most primitive form. There are several variations on the theme:

If you think this is too naive, bear in mind that even World Champions are prone to becoming victims to this checkmate pattern:

Smothered (Lucena’s) mate

All chess players enjoy delivering the smothered mate. There is something aesthetically pleasing in deciding the outcome with a single piece.

Out of all variations of the smothered mate, the one discovered by Lolli in 1497 is most common:

Juan Ramirez Lucena (source: Wikipedia)

This pattern often appears in practice. Even the author of these lines delivered it several times (alas, mostly in blitz games). The following game by Paul Morphy is a good example because the checkmate is executed slightly differently:

Greco’s mate

Gioachino Greco is a famous Italian chess player from the beginning of the 16th century. He discovered numerous principles of the game (who doesn’t know his Bxh7 sacrifice).

Gioachino Greco( source Arves.org)

He was also the discoverer of the following checkmate pattern:

My favorite game featuring Greco’s mate is the game between Max Lange – the inventor of the Max Lange Attack – and Adolf Anderssen, one of the strongest player of the 19th century and the creator of the famous „Evergreen“ and „Immortal“ games.

Anastasia’s mate

The following checkmate pattern, in which a knight plays the crucial role, was named after a novel from the beginning of the 18th century:

There is no better example of this checkmate than the game between Milan Vidmar and Max Euwe from Karlsbad Tournament 1929.

Even Arya Stark would be proud of this last-minute save. 4

Boden’s mate

Every chess player knows about the power of two bishops. Their ultimate potential was discovered by Samuel Boden in the 19th century:

Samuel Boden (source: Chesshistory)

Boden’s mate is often utilized as a threat. But sometimes, it can appear on the board, usually following a major blunder:

Blackburne’s mate

James Henry Blackburne was a strong player from the 19th century, known for his attacking and romantic style. He was also the first to execute the following combination:

James Henry Blackburne (source: Wikipedia)

I already showed the stem game of the Blackburne’s mate in my review of the Art Of The Checkmate. Since I am very fond of that game (Jerome’s Gambit!), I am going to reproduce it here:

Lolli’s mate

We are taught that a pawn on the 6th rank in the vicinity of the king is an important asset.  Lolli’s checkmate patterns is the best evidence of its potential:

The following beautiful attacking game, played by Vera Menchik – the strongest female player from the first half of the 20th century – is a great example of Lolli’s mate in practice:

Vera Menchik (source: Pinterest)

Allow me to repeat once again in case you missed it – this is the first part of the article devoted to checkmate patterns. The second part, titled Another 7 Checkmate Patterns Every Chess Player Should Know, is available here.

 

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]]> https://chessentials.com/checkmate-patterns/feed/ 0 Best chess beginner books https://chessentials.com/best-chess-beginner-books/ https://chessentials.com/best-chess-beginner-books/#respond Mon, 05 Jun 2017 19:24:14 +0000 https://chessentials.com/?p=2141 Best chess beginner books Everybody knows how confusing and difficult it is to learn something from the scratch. Chess, being the rich and complicated game it is, is by no means an exception. More experienced...

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]]> Best chess beginner books

Everybody knows how confusing and difficult it is to learn something from the scratch.

Chess, being the rich and complicated game it is, is by no means an exception. More experienced players often tend to forget that they were once complete newbies as well. Things that they understand easily (such as en passant or castling rules) can be terra incognita for someone who is only making the first baby steps in the world of chess.

This shortcoming of the chess players manifests itself in the chess literature domain.

In contrast to other, more advanced chess topics (such as tactics, middlegame or endgame), books for beginners are rather scarce, both in quantity and in quality.

However, that doesn’t mean that they are non-existent at all. That’s why I decided to do some research, combined that with my own personal experience and memories and assembled this list of best chess books most suitable for beginners.

I have tried to ensure that the recommended books get progressively harder as you go down the list.

Hope you will enjoy it.

B. Pandolfini – Let’s Play Chess

Let’s Play Chess written by USCF National Master and renowned chess author Bruce Pandolfini is basically a very advanced “for dummies” chess book.

Over the 140 pages, he covers the basic chess rules, basic mating mechanisms, secrets of chess notation and everything else you need to know to be able to play in a chess tournament without causing any major controversies.

The author also starts introducing you to chess strategy and chess tactics.

Therefore, if you don’t have the slightest idea about what chess actually is, this book is probably for you.

J. Coakley – Winning Chess Strategy for Kids

Another book whose target audience are beginners is the Winning Chess Strategy for Kids, by Jeff Coakley.

However, the title of this books is slightly misleading. Compared to the previous book, Winning Chess Strategy for Kids is definitely more advanced.

Apart from covering the most basic aspects such as piece movement, notation and basic strategy, the author also introduces more complex strategical and tactical ideas, such as rook lift or x-ray.

Most reviews claim that most of the material is definitely too complicated for an average kid (unless your surname is Pragnanandhaa – cf. this article about chess titles).

However constant juvenile jokes and illustrations make this book a very good handbook for someone younger and newer to chess as well.

R.J. Fischer, S. Margulies and D. Mosenfelder – Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess

The most intriguing, controversial and interesting book on this list is definitely the book Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess.

The two main authors, S. Margulies and D. Mosenfelder are not primarily chess player, but psychologists. In this book, they decided to apply the concept of “programmed learning”.

Programmed learning is basically the question-answer principle. The authors ask you questions throughout the whole book. If your answer is wrong, they ask you to go back, revise the material and try answering the question again when you are ready.

The book is similar to the Winning Chess Strategy for Kids to an extent. Basic chess rules are briefly covered, and already from the chapter number two, the authors start introducing most common tactical patterns, such as back rank mate.

The controversy part is once again inevitably connected with the name of the Robert James Fischer. It is not completely clear whether he participated in writing the book himself, or if the authors merely “used” his name for advertising purposes mainly.

Alas, we will never know. He did write the introduction though, and with or without him, this book is one of the classics in the books-for-beginners domain.

G. Renaud, V. Kahn – The Art of The Checkmate

The Art of Checkmate is a book that definitely deserves a place on this list. Because I can’t think of another book that explains the basic mating patterns better than this one.

Over the course of 32 chapters, the French Champions Georges Renaud and Victor Kahn explain more than 20 mating patterns.

After reading this book, it will be much more clear what you are trying to do when you are starting an attack on the enemy king.

I have actually written a lengthy review of this one, so I don’t have anything particularly smart to add here.

Except for a little remark: If it weren’t for this book, I probably wouldn’t be a player I am today.

I. Chernev – Logical Chess: Move by Move

After learning the chess rules and acquiring basic ideas about chess strategy and tactics, it is time to take another “small step for a chess player” and start expanding on that knowledge.

I have already mentioned the name and the opus of Irving Chernev in my earlier post about chess middlegame books. There I have written that Chernev is one of the best authors for beginners, and I still haven’t changed my opinion.

In his book Logical Chess: Move by Move, Chernev covers 33 classical games, while commenting on every single move.

It is important to mention that comments mainly explain the point of a certain move; Irving refuses to bore the reader with an endless stream of lengthy variations.

Although some stronger players have criticised Chernev’s approach (most notably another famous chess person, Dr John Nunn – see this link for more details), I have learnt a lot from his books and would recommend them without hesitation.

I. Chernev – The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played

The second classic by Irving Chernev, The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Player, also deserves a mention on this list.

The style of writing is similar to the Logical Chess: Move by Move. It is true that here comments don’t necessarily follow after EVERY move, but the style of the annotations is pretty much the same. Ideas instead of variations.

(In order not to repeat myself, I refer the readers to this post, where I have already written about this book).

J. Silman – The Complete Book of Chess Strategy

Finally, the last book I am going to mention here is The Complete Book of Chess Strategy, by renowned chess author, International Master Jeremy Silman.

This book could have well been titled My First Chess Dictionary. The author explains frequently encountered chess terms in dictionary style.

The terms are listed alphabetically, but in contrast to traditional dictionaries, the explanations are not neccessarily brief; the author doesn’t hesitate to extend his explanation where he feels it would be handy.

For a beginner it may be confusing to remember the names of various tactical patterns, opening lines or endgame manoeuvres. This is where this book might come handy.

However, it has to be emphasised that it should be used primarily as a reminder, not as a learning book.

In order to get the feeling about how the book looks like, you can also check the free sample pages on the Amazon site.

 

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]]> https://chessentials.com/best-chess-beginner-books/feed/ 0 The Legal Trap https://chessentials.com/the-legal-trap/ https://chessentials.com/the-legal-trap/#respond Thu, 01 Jun 2017 17:08:56 +0000 https://chessentials.com/?p=2199 INTRODUCTION On the road toward chess mastery, a chess player acquires knowledge about numerous attacking mechanism and mating patterns. For instance, every strong player is familiar with the typical sacrifice of the bishop on h7,...

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]]> INTRODUCTION

On the road toward chess mastery, a chess player acquires knowledge about numerous attacking mechanism and mating patterns.

For instance, every strong player is familiar with the typical sacrifice of the bishop on h7, typical exchange sacrifice on h5 and other similar attacking manoeuvres.

However, one attacking pattern, in particular, has become especially famous throughout the centuries. It is rather well known because it was named after the player who originally played it in the 18th century.

Probably any Russian schoolboy could tell you the name of this manoeuvre even if you woke him up in the middle of the night.

Therefore, if you ever dreamt about travelling to Russia and waking up Russian schoolchildren in the middle of the night, it is probably time that you too get acquainted with Legal trap.

LEGAL MATE?

Legal trap is an attacking trap with which a player sacrifices his queen in order to deliver mate to the enemy king (or to gain a decisive advantage; more details in the subsequent section).

Legal trap was discovered in the 17th century by the strongest chess player of those times, the French virtuoso Francois Antoine de Legall de Kermeru (also known as Sire de Legal).

Sire de Legal

During this period, Paris was the chess capital of the world and the strongest players of the world gathered regularly at the famous Cafe de la Regence and played against each other.

In one of those games, against an unknown opponent,  Legal discovered a fantastic idea which would later become an integral part of the chess heritage.

Let us take a look at the moves and the key point of the game. Legal was playing with the White pieces.

1 e2-e4 e7-e5

2 Ng1-Nf3 d7-d6

3 Bf1-c4 Bc8-g4

4 Nb1-c3 g7-g6

Let us pause and take a look at the diagram position. Black has already violated two important opening principles; he moved his pawns instead of pieces on moves 2 and 4, and he developed his bishop prematurely.

Legal1

White is able to punish these mistakes with the help of a great move that Legal discovered:

5 Ng3xe5!!

An amazing discovery. White simply allows Black to take his queen in a move. Naturally, the offer is too attractive not to be accepted:

5… Bg4xd1

But in fact this allows White to deliver a checkmate in two moves:

6 Bc4xf7+ Ke8-Ke7

7 Nc3-Nd5 mate

Legal2

Very picturesque. White mates the Black king in the middle of the board and proves that in chess, mind often triumphs over matter.

LEGAL MATE OR LEGAL TRAP?

The above diagram represents the basic position of the Legal trap. However, stronger players might have noticed that Black is by no means forced to grab the White lady when the opportunity arises.

Let’s once again take Legal game as an example. His opponent could have refused the queen offer on move five, and captured the knight on e5 instead:

5… d6xe5

This would have allowed Legal to demonstrate another point behind his idea. The jump of the White knight, apart from threatening mate, also discovers the attack on the Black’s bishop. Therefore, White can now simply take the bishop with his queen:

6 Qf1xg4

Legal3

In the resulting position, White is a pawn up and has a large lead in development, as he already has three pieces in play in contrast to Black’s none.

Therefore, from the practical point of view, the diagram position should also be technically won. But even so, it is better for Black to enter such a position then to allow immediate checkmate.

Technically speaking, it is not fully correct to call the manoeuvre Legal mate, because Black can refuse to take the queen. Therefore, it is more precise to refer to the queen sacrifice as to the Legal sacrifice. Some authors also call it Legal Pseudo Sacrifice, because Black can’t really accept it, as demonstrated above.

Strictly speaking, whenever one mentions Legal name it should be clear what he refers to. All the terminology aside. For this reason, for the remainder of this article, we will stick to the Legal trap expression.

DIFFERENT VARIATIONS OF LEGAL TRAP

Ever since Legal ventured the queen sacrifice, many players have followed his footsteps and provided us with numerous examples of Legal trap in practical play.

Although the basic idea always remains the same, the features of every position are slightly different and the resulting consequences are not always identical.

Therefore, there are many different forms in which Legal trap can appear. We will examine four main variations of Legal trap on a number of model games.

Knight delivers the checkmate

The first variation of Legal trap was already demonstrated in it’s most primitive form in the Legal original game.

However, that game was a predecessor for many subsequent games in which knight delivered the checkmate after slightly more complicated opening phase.

As an example, let’s take a look at the game between two British amateurs, A. G. Essery and F.H. Warren, from the year 1912.

The game started with the Danish Gambit:

1 e2-e4 e7-e5

2 d2-d4 e5xd4

3 c2-c3 dxc3

4 Bf1-c4 d7-d6

Legal4

This gambit is not fully correct but is very dangerous. If Black takes on b2, White gets a large lead in development.

5 Nb1xc3 Ng8-f6

6 Ng1-f3 Bc8-g4

7 0-0 Nb8-c6

8 Bc1-g5 Nc6-e5?

Legal5

White’s last move has set a trap into which Black falls. The knight move allows Legal mate.

9 Nf3xe5! Bg4xd1

It has to be mentioned that Black’s best response is declining the Greek Gift with 9… d6xe5, but then White captures the bishop on g4 and remains a piece up.

The text move allows the mate:

10 Bc4xf7+ Ke8-e7

11 Nc3-d5 mate

Legal6

Thus, Legal mating picture occurs. It is noticeable that the diagram position is different from the position that occurred in the original Legal game; the key role is played by the bishop on g5 which pins the Black knight on f6 and hinders it from capturing back the knight on d5.

Bishop delivers the checkmate

Instead of merely pinning the knight on f6, on some occasion the bishop can have a much more glorious career on the square g5 and actually deliver the checkmate to the Black’s king.

Such a scenario usually happens when the Black knight from f6 gets exchanged for the White knight on c3.

For instance, the game by Jean Taubenhaus, a Polish master from the end of 19th and beginning of the 20th century, played in simultaneous exhibition in 1887, features this theme:

1 e2-e4 e7-e5

2 f2-f4

The King’s gambit was definitely the most popular opening in the 19th century. Nowadays, many antidotes have been discovered, but it is still used sometimes as a surprise weapon on the highest level.

2… d7-d6

3 Ng1-Nf3 Bc8-Bg4

4 Bf1-Bc4 Ng8-Nf6

5 f4xe5 Nf6xe4

6 Nb1-Nc3 Ne4xc3

7 d2xc3

Legal7

The exchange of the knights takes place. White loses an important attacker and is unable to deliver mate on d5, but on the other hand, Black loses an even more important defender.

7 … Nb8-Nc6

8 0-0 Nxe5?

Legal8

Fatal mistake. Now all the prerequisites for Legal mate are met:

9 Nxe5! Bxd1

Once again, declining the sacrifice loses a piece for Black, but it was his best option.

10 Bxf7+ Ke7

11 Bg5 mate

Legal9

The hitherto bishop, which has been sleeping on c1 until now, wakes up and delivers the fatal blow.

Legal mate leads to decisive material gains

Finally, we will examine the third variation of Legal trap.

In this variation, the idea of the Legal manoeuvre is the gain of material. When Black’s king is hemmed in by his own pawns, pieces and queen, a check by the bishop might force him to give up his queen in order to prevent the checkmate.

If this sounds too complicated, perhaps it is best to examine a trendy opening line of the Queen’s Gambit Declined in which this form of Legal trap can appear. (Note: In this game, it is Black who takes the advantage of the queen sacrifice).

1 d2-d4 d7-d5

2 c2-c4 e7-e6

3 Nb1-Nc3 Ng8-Nf6

4 c4xd5 e6xd5

5 Bc1-Bg5 Nb8-Nd7

Legal10

This variation is known as the Orthodox variation of the Blackburne’s variation of the Queen’s gambit declined (quite a long name for mere 5 moves, don’t you think).

It has been played a million times, but it is not immediately clear what happens if White simply takes the knight on d5.

Let’s take a look:

6 Nc3xd5? Nf6xd5

7 Bg5xd8 Bf8-Bb4+

Legal11

The point of Black’s play. White is unable to do anything about the check and has to interfere with his queen.

9 Qd2 Bb4xd2+

10 Ke1xd2 Ke8xd8

Legal12

At the end, Black has won the piece and with he should also win the game.

DON’T GET CARRIED AWAY WITH LEGAL TRAP

We will conclude this article with a word of caution.

Legal trap is the attacking pattern that every chess player should know because it teaches us the dangers of prematurely pinning the knight toward the queen in the opening and of disobeying basic opening principles.

Sometimes, you will get the opportunity to deliver it in the real game, but most often more experienced opponent will not allow it because he will play healthy, logical chess, against which winning with the help of the quick tricks won’t be possible

Not only that; blindly and intentionally going for Legal mate can bring you serious trouble.

For instance, consider the following diagram for the moment.

Legal13

In this position, if White tries the move Nf3xe5, Black doesn’t capture the queen, but replies Nc6xe5, defending the bishop on g4 and winning the piece for Black.

Therefore, I hope you will remember the name of Sire de Legal, appreciate the greatness of his brilliant queen sacrifice and use the opportunity to employ it if you ever get one.

Nothing more, nothing less.

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]]> https://chessentials.com/the-legal-trap/feed/ 0 Fast checkmates https://chessentials.com/fast-checkmates/ https://chessentials.com/fast-checkmates/#respond Fri, 26 May 2017 16:43:58 +0000 https://chessentials.com/?p=1972 Introduction We human tend to get obsessed with the superlatives in any field of human activity. We are constantly trying to determine who is the biggest, the strongest, the most intelligent, the greatest ever, etc.....

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]]> Introduction

We human tend to get obsessed with the superlatives in any field of human activity.

We are constantly trying to determine who is the biggest, the strongest, the most intelligent, the greatest ever, etc..

Heck, our obsession went so far that a separate body was created that publishes an annual book which documents all the unnecessary achievements of the humanity.

Chess players are not an exception. For instance, when we are playing the game, we are searching for the best move; we are willingly entering lengthy discussions about the comparative greatness of Fischer and Kasparov, etc.

However, I would like to focus on answering one particular question that often fascinates the minds of beginners and novice players.

That question regards the least amounts of moves required to checkmate the adversary King right out of the opening.

Therefore, fast checkmates are the main theme of this article. And we are going to start with the fastest of them all – The two move checkmate or the Fool’s mate.

The two move checkmate – The Fool’s mate

Only the player playing the White pieces can become a  victim of the two move checkmate.

Considering that such a checkmate arises only after a terrible play on White’s part, this checkmate is also known as the Fool’s mate.

An example game featuring the Fool’s mate is shown below.

We can observe that there are several conditions that need to be for the Fool’s mate to happen:

  • White’s g pawn has to be on g4, in order not to be able to block the check of the Black Queen.
  • White’s f pawn has to be on f3 or f4, in order for the e1-h4 diagonal to be clear.
  • White’s king has to be hemmed in by his own pieces. For instance, if there was no queen or d1 or pawn d2, there would be no checkmate as the king would be able to flee via one of those squares.

Naturally, White’s moves with the f and the g pawn are both terrible.

Therefore, it is fully justified to start singing to your opponent in the style of Amy Lee if you ever deliver the Fool’s mate over the board.

The three move checkmate – The Fool’s mate reversed

Compared to the two move checkmate, that is unique, there are multiple ways of checkmating the enemy king in three moves.

In this part of the article, we will focus on the basic instance, which is basically the Fool’s mate reversed.

(Other types of various three move checkmates are covered in a later part of this article)

An example game featuring the three move checkmate is shown below.

Similarities between the two move checkmate and the three move checkmate are quite obvious.

The only main difference is that White has to lose a tempo and wait for Black to weaken himself along the e8-h5 diagonal.

But if you allow yourself to be checkmated in this fashion, you still deserve to be called a Fool!

chess_dummies

We have already pointed out that only complete beginners will move their f and g pawns early in the opening.

Considering that there is a very low probability of encountering the Fool’s mate over the board, one might wonder if there is any point of getting familiar with it, whatsoever.

Well, if there is one thing one should remember from the example games above, that is the danger of weakening the h4-e1 (h5-e8) diagonal too early in the game.

Whenever you are contemplating about pushing your g and f pawns, you should make sure that your king isn’t going to suffer as a consequence.

Because even if punishment doesn’t come as quickly as in the Fool’s mate, you still might fall into a tactical trap and lose the game relatively quickly.

The following game should illustrate my point.

The four move checkmate – The Scholar’s mate

Another fast checkmate that is encountered rather often in the practice is the four move checkmate.

The f7(f2) is generally recognised as the weakest point in the pawn structure in the opening because the King is the only piece defending it.

Four move checkmate occurs when the White Queen, supported by the light squared bishop, checkmates the Black king precisely on the f7 square.

Due to its educational value (this pattern is often used to teach the beginners the basic combination elements) the four move checkmate is also widely known as the Scholar’s mate. 

An example game featuring the Scholar’s mate is given below.

Compared to the Fool’s mate, the Scholar’s mate is more often encountered in practice. Many beginners are attracted to the idea of a quick win and they try to catch their opponent of the guard with the Parham opening.

And not only beginners. The 2 Qh5!? was tried against arguably the greatest player ever, Garry Kasparov.

Apart from that, a top 10 player Hikaru Nakamura also played the White side of that opening.

These two games, however, demonstrate the drawbacks of the early queen sortie.

Once Black has defended against the immediate threats, he can gain time by harassing the White lady and end up in a superior position.

For this reason, a word of caution is required. Although you might win some games with the help of the Scholar’s mate, you are relying on a mistake by your opponent, which is hard an advisable strategy in chess.

Therefore, don’t become fixated on the Scholar’s mate. Any experienced player will be glad to take advantage of your suboptimal opening play.

A personal note

I would like to conclude this article with two anecdotes connected with fast checkmates.

I have been a victim of a couple of three move checkmates myself. However, as will soon become apparent, it was never my fault (I am pretty good in excuses, aren’t I?).

The first instance it happened was a friendly game against a family member, who tried the above-mentioned Parham attack against me:

After this debacle, one would expect that I have learnt the lesson and that I would never fall for something similar.

However, many years after the game above, I was playing in the Split open 2013 tournament. 

There I have spent quite some time playing blitz against IM Leon Livaić (who was “only” a 2050 Candidate Master at a time).

However, already then I got crushed in blitz quite badly. Out of desperation, I started playing some nonsense openings and simply hope for the miracle.

Then the following game happened:

” Don’t trust International Masters even when they are suggesting the theory.”

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]]> https://chessentials.com/fast-checkmates/feed/ 0 Chess endgames – Pawn endgames principles https://chessentials.com/chess-endgame-basics-pawn-endgames/ https://chessentials.com/chess-endgame-basics-pawn-endgames/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2017 21:56:54 +0000 https://chessentials.com/?p=1253 “ENDGAMES TEACH YOU CHESS” Last year I have had the pleasure of playing in the 2016 edition of the Zalakaros Chess tournament.  In the first round I have had the opportunity to play the Israeli...

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]]> “ENDGAMES TEACH YOU CHESS”

Last year I have had the pleasure of playing in the 2016 edition of the Zalakaros Chess tournament. 

In the first round I have had the opportunity to play the Israeli International Master, Ben Artzi Ido.

In the game, he wasn’t very familiar with the opening. Also, he probably underestimated me a bit and for the most of the opening and the middle game I have had the upper hand.

Unfortunately, I haven’t capitalized on those chances. And managed only to reach an equal endgame.

An equal endgame, in which I got completely trashed.

After the game, I was completely furious and unobjective, and kept blaming my opponent for playing such a tedious, boring chess.

Afterwards, after he won two rook endgames against Grandmasters in the same tournament, I was amazed.

Because I realized that winning in the endgame yields as many tournament and rating points as winning in a brilliant attack.

And considering that majority of players don’t like to play simple and dry positions, perhaps such an approach is even more effective.

Therefore, understanding the quote from the title by Stephan Gerzadowicz is one of the more useful lessons I have learnt throughout my chess career.

Or perhaps I should say, “career”.

Ben Artzi Ido
The Israeli International Master Ben Artzi Ido, from which I got free “Importance of endgame play” lesson

PAWN ENDGAMES

At this point a natural question, written multiple times on this blog already, arises. What is the best way for a beginner to start?

Apart from resisting saying “In the beginning” for the umpteeth time, I will also suggest that starting out with pawn endgames is the most common approach.

I have often seen trainers seting up the chessboard and removing all the major and minor pieces from their starting positions before letting the students play.

Some players might question such an approach considering that pure pawn endgames don’t arise that often in actual chess games, compared to for instance rook endgames.

However, I still think that starting with the pawn endgames is perfectly reasonable because of the following two factors:

  • SIMPLICITY – because of reduced material, pawn endgames are considered as the simplest endgames. The king becomes a major factor which makes learning his typical maneuvres much easier. And those typical maneuvres are applicable for any type of endgame in general. (As Reuben Fine once remarked : “The king is a strong piece. Use it!”)
  • COSTLY MISTAKES – in a typical pawn endgame, playing one bad move usually means the difference between a draw or a win, or even a loss or a win. Additionaly, due to simplicity, learning key maneuvres is less complicated task compared to other types of endgames.

Therefore, I thought it might be a good idea to cover basics of pawn endgames before proceeding to more complicated chess endgames.

Quotefancy-1562543-3840x2160
I have no idea what the background has to do with chess… but I like the photo nevertheless 😀

One final remark has to be added to complete the picture. The simplicity of the pawn endgames is sometimes double edged. Because often chessplayers fall in the complacency trap and don’t bother to calculate variations in pawn endgames, thinking that everything is self evident and playing on autopilot.

Personally, I don’t know how many games, especially in blitz, I have lost in various tournaments in such a fashion. Which led to the inevitable destruction of the whole inventory of the hotel room I was staying in.

I am just joking though.

I don’t have money for hotels.

THE BASIC POSITION

Firstly, let’s look at the “simplest” chess position of all times.

This position is very common and indicates that sometimes, being a pawn up might not be enough to win a chess game.

In the diagram position it is clear that if it is Black to move, the game ends immediately with a stalemate (if you forgot what a stalemate is, here is a reminder).

The point is obvious now. White first promotes his pawn, then proceeds to checkmate the adversary king. Since the queen checkmate is the fastest and the easiest, it makes sense to promote to a queen, although a rook will also do, as we have also seen on this blog already.

Therefore, the aim of the stronger side is to achieve a position where he is able to win, and avoid all those stalemate draws along the way.

That is why it’s important to be familiar with the typical king maneuvres that constitute the basic pawn endgame principles.

PAWN ENDGAMES PRINCIPLES

The King Opposition

The opposition of the kings is a position when there is a only one square between them and they restrict each other’s movement.

A typical example of the opposition is shown on diagram below.

This is an example of the so called vertical opposition. We see that the side on the move can’t move it’s king on the squares c5,d5 or e5, and therefore has to move back.

One can also encounter horizontal…

…and diagonal opposition.

The importance of the opposition in the endgame play can never be overemphasized. The opposition is a recurring theme in almost any endgame that appears on the board. And as already mentioned, with limited material on the board, it is probably the key maneuvre in many positions.

As an illustration, take a look at an elementary position shown on diagram below:

Finally, more complex, but still rather understandable type of opposition is the so – called distant opposition.

Consider the following position:

The Square Rule

The square rule is a rule that gives the answer to the “Can my king catch a pawn” question.

Consider the most primitive position:

We see that even in the final position Black’s king is inside the square.

It has to be mentioned that some of the most beautiful chess studies try to defy the square rule by proving that king can sometimes catch a pawn even when it seems impossible.

The famous Richard Reti study is the most prominent example, but there are others, of course.

The Triangulation

The final principle we will examine is the paradoxical triangulation king maneuvre.

The triangulation refers to the situation where king moves in the “triangle” shape with the intention of losing a tempo. This is typicaly done in endgame positions in order to achieve the same position, only with the opposite side to move.

And before you start bashing me with all kind of “Why the hell would i gief anything to opponent, I am hir to play” questions, take a cookie and take a look at the following position:

CONCLUSION

We have arrived to the end of this post. I hope that some of the basic pawn endgame principles are more clear now. In the future posts we will focus on the more complex endgames.

Try not to break any hotel rooms until then 🙂

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]]> https://chessentials.com/chess-endgame-basics-pawn-endgames/feed/ 4 Chess middle game principles https://chessentials.com/chess-middle-game-principles/ https://chessentials.com/chess-middle-game-principles/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2017 22:25:22 +0000 https://chessentials.com/?p=1203 WHY IS THE MIDDLE GAME SO HARD? The course of a typical chess game can be divided into three phases: the opening, the middle game and the endgame. In order to become a strong chess...

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The post Chess middle game principles appeared first on Chessentials.

]]> WHY IS THE MIDDLE GAME SO HARD?

The course of a typical chess game can be divided into three phases: the opening, the middle game and the endgame. In order to become a strong chess player, one should obtain a certain level in all three phases of the game.

However, one of the most common dilemmas every chess player encounters is working on and improving his middle game.

What is it that makes studying middle games so confusing, compared to the other phases of the game? In my opinion, there are  various reasons:

  • Improving your opening or endgame phase is much  more straightforward. Having trouble with the French defence? Grab the book about the French, go through your chessbase and see a couple of grandmaster games, learn 15 moves by hearth and.. voila. Your rook endgames are terrible? Grab the  Dvoretsky’s endgame manual, analyze some rook endgames and bingo. You should immediately notice improvement in your playing strength.
  • On the other hand, the middle game is much more diverse and there are less clear guidelines that indicate how to improve. For instance, you might solve tactical puzzles like Mikhail Tal in his best days, and then never get the chance to employ that skill as you get strangled positionally in a trendy variation of a boring London System.
  • In the opening, opponent’s choices don’t have that much of an impact as in the middle game. There are many strong players who play only a couple of systems, know them to a certain degree and never bothered to expand their opening repertoire. In the middle game, the course of the game is much more dependant on the choice of your opponent. For instance, your opponent can make an incorrect sacrifice which suddenly forces you to switch from positional to highly tactical play. Sure, it is not always a must to accept such a sacrifice, but often it is unavoidable.
  • On the sub-grandmaster level most of the games don’t even reach the endgame and are decided in the middle game. The most often comment about strong young players is that their endgame play is seriously lacking. Personally, I have been able to reach almost 2200 ELO with truly attrocious endgame play.

Or if you remember the famous Tarrasch quote:

” Before the endgame, the gods have placed the middle game.”

gods

Therefore,  it makes a lot of sense to disassemble something as complex as middle game, into something simpler and more understandable. That’s why chess players have introduced a multitude of rules of thumb or chess middle game principles.  Learning this principles and having them in mind during the game should hopefully make navigating the middle game slightly easier.

In the remainder of the post we have covered some of the most common middle game principles.

It has to be mentioned that in chess no truth is absolute and that you will often find exceptions that go against these principles.

But let me retort with the saying I have never ever understood:

“Exception proves the rule.”

1. DEVELOP YOUR PIECES

It is debatable whether piece development belongs to the opening or the middle game phase of the game, but it’s importance can’t be overemphasized.

Already as beginners, we are all taught not to undertake any actions (for instance opening the position),  while insufficiently developed.

However, it is amazing how often strong players violate that rule. Naturally, sometimes there is a specific reason for that (for instance, our opponent has hindered our developement). But more often than not, we get impatient and start concrete play while forgetting about a certain piece.. or two..

The move 6… Nh5? from our first Featured Sundays game is a nice example of ignoring your development. And keep in mind that Black was not some patzer of the street, but a player with ELO rating above 2000.

And for those who think that only amateur players ignore such basic rules, perhaps the game between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Wesley So from the recently finished Tata Steel chess tournament is well worth checking.

nepo-pain-of-thought

2. TAKE CARE OF HIS MAJESTY

Although this clause might be superfluous because we have just mentioned the importance of piece development, I think it is worth mentioning king safety nevertheless. There are numerous games and whole opening variations revolving about the idea of keeping the enemy king in the centre of the board.

And although there are numerous exceptions where king was safer behind the pawns in the centre, or even went up the board, they are exceptions for a reason.

Generally, once you get the opportunity to castle, you might want to do it. Better sooner than never.

A very nice example of punishing the delay of castling is the following game.

king dead
The king is dead, long live the king

3. EXPLOIT OPPONENT’S WEAKNESSES

The term “weakness” most often refers to a weak pawn. In the lower spheres of the ELO rating system your opponents will inevitably leave some weak points in their positions.

It is important to identify those weaknesses as soon as possible and to take advantage of them.

How does a typical weakness look like? It can be one of the following:

  • A backward pawn left without the support of the other pawns
  • An isolated pawn left without the support of the other pawns
  • A doubled or  tripled pawns whose mobility is severely restricted
  • An advanced pawn in front of the king that is prone to pawn/piece attacks
  • A pawn too far advanced and left without the support of the remaining pieces, etc.

The following game is very nice example of exploiting a weak pawn. Note how the whole action revolved around weak c6 pawn and how the need to defend it tied the Black pieces.

weak pawn

4. EXCHANGE PIECES WHEN AHEAD IN MATERIAL

In general, once you win material, further exchanges should be in your favour. This rule shouldn’t come as a surprise. Consider the following position:

 

Also,  our Features Sundays game is once again a vivid example. If White had played 23 Rxc6, forcing the queen exchange, his task would have been simpler and there would be less chance to blunder something, which actually happened in the game.

5. PAWNS DON’T MOVE BACKWARDS

This principle is very important. Most beginners throw the kitchen sink at their opponent and unleash pawn advances without proper thinking. And once they attack fails miserably, they are left with plenty of weaknesses for their opponent to exploit. Therefore, whenever you are considering a pawn advance, keep in mind that he, unlike Frodo and Samwise, might never return.

frodo_sam
The only instance of the pawns moving backward in the history

6. AN ATTACK ON THE FLANK IS BEST COUNTERED BY ACTION IN THE CENTRE

One of the very important principle about attack and defence. Every chess player has at least once experienced the h and g pawns rushing toward his king. It is useful to have the ground idea about countering such escapades.

And also, if you are contemplating a flank attack, it is good to know that it is most efficient when the pawn structure in the centre is closed (or static, if you wish).

The Sicilian defence is an opening where the above described scenario often occurs.

The following game should really belong to “learning from the best” category, since we see the Najdorf virtuoso, Robert James Fischer in action.

7. OCCUPY OPEN FILES WITH HEAVY PIECES

A file is open when there are no pawns of either colour on it. Utilizing open files is self evident for any strong player, but it is worth mentioning nevertheless.

Once you place your heavy pieces (most often rooks) on an open file, you maximize their potential. This mechanism is particularly effective when there is only a single file open on the board, and control of open files becomes more important as the number of the pieces is reduced on the board.

A rook on an open file can infiltrate the enemy position and threaten the pawns on the 2nd/7th rank, or in some scenarios, introduce a mating threat on the 1st/8th rank.

The most vidvid example of open file control is surely the famous Alekhine – Yates encounter. Note how Black was completely paralyzed with the strongly positioned white rooks on the c-file.

Also, the final combination is well worth remembering.

8. PLAY WITH A PLAN

Another very common principle taught to beginners is to always have a plan. Often it is said that it is better to play with a bad plan, then without a plan whatsoever.

In his book Think like a grandmaster, grandmaster Alexandar Kotov claims that every strong player has a clear plan already around move eight or nine. In the modern, computer era, the move number is probably even lower.

So how does playing with a plan look like? I know I have struggled for quite some time to understand how exactly a plan in chess is executed.

We have already mentioned some points that might be defined as a plan.

Some possible plans might include the following (you will notice that some of the clauses were already mentioned in the article):

  • Attacking a weak pawn
  • Preparing to attack the king
  • Utilizing a weak square
  • Undermining the opponent’s centre, etc..

NOplan

For instance, on move 15 in the afore mentioned Alekhine – Yates game, White’s position is better. His plan includes either invading the sevent rank via 15 Qc7 or start the maneovre to put his knight on the c5 square.

We see from including the word either in the previous sentence that often one’s plan may be highly dependant on the opponent’s moves. Therefore, it is important to remain flexible with your plans, and to be able to adapt your plan according to the circumstance.

Furthermore, we see that Black was unable to prevent both White plans in the aforementioned game. However, there are instances where that is not necessarily so. Which brings us to the next point.

9. PREVENT YOUR OPPONENT’S PLAN(S)

You should always keep track about your opponen’ts plans, as well as your own. And if it is possible, you should do your best to prevent your opponent’s plan.

A practical example? Take the following position into consideration:

 

10. IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO,  IMPROVE YOUR WORST PIECE

Finally,  there are certain positions when it is not possible/easy to devise a constructive plan. For instance, sometimes a position is just dead equal no matter what you do or try to do. Other times, finding a plan can be extremely hard and you sometimes simply don’t know how to proceed in a certain position.

In such instances, it is useful to remember the chess evergreen : “If you don’t know what to do, improve your worst piece.”

Sometimes such an approach might not alter the evaluation of a position. But since playing equal positions is also a very important skill to master, with such an approach one can hardly ever go wrong.

As an example, take the following position into consideration:

What should White do here? Double the rooks? Advance the pawns?

Generally, this position should be around equal. But there is still some play left in the position.

Here for instance White can probably try to improve his knight on f3 which is doing nothing and bring it over to the queenside. Therefore, a move like 1 Ne1 is legitimate here, heading for the d3-c5 or maybe d3-b4 route.

Black can prevent this maneovre with a move like 1… Bb5. But this is an indication that there is still some play left in the position.

With this, we have come to the end of this article. I hope you have found some of this principles useful. Naturally, we haven’t included every possible middlegame principle out there, so if you want to add anything, feel free to comment below, or contact us on continents.obp@gmail.com.

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