Sharpen Your Chess Tactics in 7 Days E-Book

Gary Lane

• Herausgeber: Batsford
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 239

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

A follow-up to the bestselling 'Improve Your Chess in 7 Days', this essential chess instructor is perfect for players who are desperate to brush up on their tactics but don''t have time to devote to long hours of study. Handily arranged day by day, it is full of easy-to-follow advice on developing nifty tricks that will confound your opponent and help you win the game. It includes all the basic tactical skills such as pins, decoys, deflections, double attacks etc, then delves deeper, showing you how to harness them at various points of the game. It also contains a sprinkling of chess cartoons to keep you smiling as you read. Day 1: So You Want to Improve Your Tactics? Day 2: Understanding Tactics Day 3: Develop Your Creativity Day 4: Tactics in the Opening Day Day 5: Tactics in the Middlegame Day 6: Tactics in the Endgame Day 7: Blunders and Brilliancies Packed with tips and tricks, this book''s clear, no-nonsense style makes it the ideal companion for sharpening your tactics - quickly.

Leseprobe

Sharpen Your Chess Tactics in 7 Days

Gary Lane

Contents

Introduction

Day 1 – So you want to improve your tactics?

Day 2 – Understanding tactics

Day 3 – How to develop your creativity

Day 4 – Tactics in the opening

Day 5 – Tactics in the middlegame

Day 6 – Tactics in the endgame

Day 7 – Blunders and brilliancies

Moving on

Glossary of chess terms

Dedication For Nancy; Ryan and Jasmine

Acknowledgements:

With thanks to illustrator Gerrard Oswald, Bill Frost and François Mertens for their help in providing material for this book.

Introduction

The chessboard consists of 64 squares on an 8x8 board. You should make sure that the board is set up correctly by checking that the square on the bottom right hand corner (looking at it from the White player’s point of view) is light-coloured, which tends to mean white, yellow or beige on most sets.

In chess publications each piece is represented by a figurine (as in this book) or an initial letter.

♙ – Pawn or P

♘ – Knight or N or Kt

♗ – Bishop or B

♖ – Rook or R

♕ – Queen or Q

♔ – King or K

The move of a piece is recorded by the symbol/letter of that piece followed by the square to which it moves. Thus ♗f3 means that the bishop has moved to the f3 square. In case of a pawn move only the square on which it lands needs to be recorded, for example e4 means a pawn has moved from somewhere to the e4 square. A capture is denoted by an ‘x’. Thus ♕xb7 means the queen has taken something on the b7 square – and fxe5 means that the f-pawn has captured something on e5.

Characters that have a special meaning in chess

?!

A dubious move

?

A poor move

??

A blunder that loses material or allows a change in the position such as from winning to losing.

!?

Interesting move

!

Excellent move

!!

Brilliant move

+

Check. At the end of the move. For instance: ♕e2+

0-0

Castling kingside

0-0-0

Castling queenside

½-½

Draw agreed

1-0

White wins

0-1

Black wins

Day 1 So you want to improve your chess tactics?

Chess Trivia: A 1958 edition of the British magazine ‘Chess’ announced a bold, new venture by John Almond of San Francisco who had revealed plans for the very first world under-water chess championship.

“In a local swimming pool, one of those with a plate-glass side-window which enables people to sip coffee whilst watching the bathers’ antics broadside-on, a metal chess board is to be sunk in a vertical position. The contestants will be timed, and dive down alternately to make moves with metal pieces. To date, entries consist of John Almond and a friend.”

Of the watching masters, only Steve had anticipated White’s dambuster sacrifice

The intention of this book is to present a lively course on chess tactics that will enable a casual player with limited time for study to make significant advances in the game within 7 days. The prevailing message here is Chess is fun but it is even more fun when you win!

The three basic goals of this book are:

1 To improve your chess knowledge.

2 To increase your specific knowledge of tactical tricks and traps.

3 To learn to identify tactics when they occur in your own game.

The assumption being that with limited time for study you need a helping hand to get you on the road to winning more games – and winning them in style. It is all very well to glance at a newspaper column and spot the checkmate in two – in reality such opportunities seldom seem to arise in your own games. This book points out practical ways to sharpen your tactics by improving the positions of your pieces when building up an attack, avoiding time-pressure and spotting recurring combinational themes.

Computers and tactics

There is a generation of new players who use their computers to improve at chess. However the computer should be used as a tool and not as an answer to everything. Take the advice of Fabiano Caruana who in 2007 at the age of just 14 became a grandmaster. He holds dual nationality, so although he was born in Florida he is not only the youngest ever American grandmaster but also the youngest ever Italian grandmaster thanks to his family ties. In a radio interview the new world record holder had this to say about learning tactics: “...avoid using the computer too much since it dulls your tactical ability – during the game you are forced to think on your own without the computer to help you”.

I think he makes a good point – in fact after a game I am reluctant to discuss tactical lines with my opponent because we both agree that the computer will find something amazing that we have missed.

A casual approach to competitive play can lead to complacency and defeat. Even when you are carefully defending against an attack you are at risk of making an oversight. A good way of reducing such risks is to keep a look out for tactical ideas. If you just take a cursory glance at the board for a combination there is a likelihood that you will miss something – but if you are alert to combinational motifs like pins, forks and back rank checkmates you have a much better chance of success.

Positional chess

It may sound strange, but while you are looking for that fabulous queen sacrifice leading to checkmate you should also keep in mind how to improve the positions of your pieces. Tactics are certainly crucial but for most of the time you will have no combinations at your fingertips and you may even have to give priority to defending against threats coming your way.

In the following annotated games I offer you some tips on effective piece deployment so that you might create the right conditions for a combination.

Predict-a-move

Predict-a-move – so often overlooked by improving players – is a proven method of winning more games. Quite simply you try to anticipate what your opponent is about to do next and then find a move that conceals a deadly trap if he just blindly carries on with his plan.

You can often catch someone out by finding a move that looks like it is merely improving your position – but which in reality introduces a tactical trap. For instance:

Lane – Fell Sydney 2001

I wanted to pursue my attack with 17 ♘h5 but noticed that 17...♔h7 puts up resistance because 18 ♕g3 is met by 18...♖g8 when the struggle continues. This persuaded me to look for a short-cut to victory and I used the predict-a-move method to set a trap.

17 a4!

The idea is to push the knight back into a passive position by a4-a5 and I guessed he would make the obvious reply.

17...a5?

I encouraged this move so my trick would work. The key difference now is that the knight on b6 is no longer protected by a pawn.

18 ♘h5 ♗f8

Or 18...♔h7 19 ♕g8 ♖g8 20 ♗c7 winning a piece.

19 ♕g3

It suddenly becomes clear that the advance of the a-pawn has left Black having to cope simultaneously with the prospect of 20 ♗c7 winning a piece and 20 ♗xh6 wrecking his defensive pawn shield.

19...♖c8 20 ♗xh6 g5 21 fxg6 ♗xh6

Black grabs the piece and hopes he can hang on, but...

22 gxf7+ ♔xf7 23 ♕g6+ ♔e7

Or 23...♔f8 24 ♕xh6+ ♔f7 25 ♖xf6+ ♕xf6 26 ♕xf6+ ♔g8 27 ♕g7 finishing off the black king.

24 ♕xf6 mate

I think this idea is second nature to some players but will come as a revelation to others.

Borovikov – Areshchenko Rivne 2005

Here White might consider resigning because he is the exchange down and facing a strong Ukrainian grandmaster. But he suspects that Black is contemplating 46...♕c8 to exchange queens and then convert his material advantage in the ending.

46 ♕e6

The predict-a-move method! Now Black can’t resist carrying on with his plan to force an exchange of queens.

46...♕c8??

A terrible blunder but you can’t take anything away from White’s cunning. After 46...♗e7 Black would have remained on top.

47 ♘f5+!

A brilliant tactical idea which converts a losing position into a winning one. The knight eliminates the pin on White’s queen which can now exploit a potential mating net.

47...♔g5

On 47...gxf5 White wins with 48 ♕xf6+ ♔h5 49 ♗e2 checkmate.

48 ♘xd6 ♕xe6+

Black has no choice but to exchange queens in what are now unfavourable circumstances. If instead the queen moves, for instance to c7, then White wins by 49 ♘f7+ ♔h5 50 g4 checkmate.

49 dxe6

Now suddenly the e-pawn becomes a powerful force and its advance will gain White a quick victory.

49...f5 50 e7 fxe4 51 e8=♕♖xe8 52 ♘xe8 h5 1-0

Motifs

You may think there is no need to keep on red alert at every move for standard tactical tricks because you will automatically notice them as and when they crop up on the board. But practice has shown that your results will improve greatly if you adopt the routine habit of move by move scanning of the board to identify typical tactics – such as the skewer...

Tupy – Svatos Czech Team Championship 1995

37 ♕f8+ ♔f6 38 ♕h8+ 1-0

It may seem easy to see such a short winning line but once again, unless you train yourself to keep a constant lookout for these typical motifs, it is possible to go wrong. This can be the only explanation for one of the world’s top players missing a skewer.

Karjakin – Gelfand Moscow Blitz 2008

87 ♕f5+ ♔g7 88 ♕f2 ♕xf2 89 e8=♕ ½-½

A draw seems to be the natural result but White could have won with 87 ♕h5+!! ♕xh5 88 e8=♕+ and the skewer will win a queen. Such examples give us all hope that we can improve our game.

Perhaps you are wondering whether after a while you will forget some of these useful tactical motifs. But in fact when a similar opportunity arises on the board there is a good chance your subconscious mind will remind you of the essential characteristics of the motif and you can then use it to deliver a winning combination.

Why remember unusual tactics?

I think everyone believes they have enough tactical tricks to get by – but you will improve your standard of play by systematically remembering the various basic combinational themes. The first time you see a queen sacrifice in a chess puzzle you find it amazing, the second time still impressive but by the third and fourth time it becomes predictable. That is because you have remembered the tactical theme and thereby increased your chess expertise. You may not get the opportunity to make stylish sacrifices as often as you would like, but you won’t miss a trick when you do get the chance – and just as importantly you will know what to do when you are defending against the same sort of tricks.

The key factors in the successful delivery of unusual tactics are:

1 Always look for threatening moves for both sides.

2 Learn the various combinational motifs.

3 Learn how to think at the board.

All this might sound obvious but these maxims will help you to improve your game by recognising basic tactical themes.

Krivoborodov – Shishkin

Voronezh 2004

1 e4 e6

Known as the French Defence, this pawn move prepares a challenge to White’s pawn centre by 2...d5. The name of the opening dates from 1834 when a Parisian team successfully used this line of play to defeat London in a correspondence match.

2 d4 d5 3 ♘c3

After 3 ♘d2 dxe4 4 ♘xe4 the position would be identical to that reached in the game.

3...dxe4 4 ♘xe4 ♗d7

It is worth knowing that this development of the bishop on the a8-h1 diagonal also occurs after the sequence 4...b6 and 5...♗b7.

5 ♘f3 ♗c6

It might seem strange to move the bishop twice in the opening but Black is aiming to exchange it for a knight and then play c6, with a Caro-Kann pawn structure. The leading exponent of this method of play is former World Champion Anatoly Karpov – a renowned expert in the Caro-Kann Defence.

6 ♗d3 ♘f6?!

A more logical way to handle the opening is to continue 6...♘d7 and ...♘gf6 so that if the knight on f6 is taken then Black can recapture with his queen’s knight.

7 ♘xf6+

7...♕xf6?

Black realises that his queen can be attacked by 8 ♗g5 but has calculated that 8...♗xf3 is a satisfactory response since 9 ♕xf3 ♕xf3 (or 9...♕xg5? 10 ♕xb7 ♕d5 11 ♗e4! and White wins) 10 gxf3 ♘c6 offers equal chances while 9 ♗xf6? ♗xd1 10 ♖xd1 gxf6 would actually win. There is an alternative in 7...gxf6 but this leaves Black with a weakened pawn structure and a slight lag in development.

8 ♗g5! ♗xf3

The move that Black is relying on to get him out of trouble.

9 ♕d2!

This is the sensational idea which allows White to trap the black queen. I think it is difficult to spot because the natural reaction is simply to recapture when one of your pieces is taken.

9...♗xg2

Of course 9...♕xd4? allows a discovered check which would quickly bring the game to a halt upon 10 ♗b5+ c6 11 ♕xd4, which incidentally threatens ♕d8 checkmate.

10 ♗xf6 ♗xh1 11 ♗e5

11...♘c6

It is a sign of how often Black is caught out in this line that 11...c5 has been repeatedly tried and refuted by 12 f3! – a clever way of exploiting the badly placed bishop on h1. For instance: 12...♘c6 (or 12...♗xf3 13 ♕f4! ♗d5 14 ♗xb8 winning) 13 ♔f2 ♗xf3 14 ♔xf3 (White has a big material advantage and soon extinguishes any hope for Black) 14...f6 15 ♗g3 cxd4 16 ♗b5 ♗c5 17 ♕e2 ♔f7 18 ♗xc6 bxc6 19 ♕c4 ♗b6 20 a4 ♖ac8 21 a5 1-0 Gelashvili-Patuzzo, World University Championship 2000.

12 0-0-0 ♘xe5 13 dxe5 ♗c6 14 ♗e4 1-0

Black resigned in view of 14...♗xe4 (instead 14...♗b5 falls victim to 15 c4! deflecting the bishop from its defence of the d7 square since 15..♗a4 16 b3 would win a piece) 15 ♕d7 checkmate.

Now you might be thinking this is just a one-off and there is no need to remember such a sneaky sequence. You might even be telling yourself “I play 1 d4 and I’m not likely to get the chance to play such a combination.” However this would be the wrong attitude since the wider array of tricks and traps you stockpile in your mind the greater the chance you will have of unloading them in all sorts of situations. For example, in the following game an experienced Russian grandmaster plays the opening abysmally and overlooks an unusual tactic – which most certainly came as a shock to him but by now you should find the motif quite easily.

Lugovoi – Balashov

Krasnoyarsk 2003

1 d4 ♘f6 2 c4 e6 3 ♘c3 ♗b4

The normally reliable Nimzo-Indian Defence – which is a perennial favourite among the world’s top players.

4 e3 0-0 5 ♗d3 d5 6 ♘f3 b6 7 a3 ♗d6

I prefer 7...♗xc3+ when 8 bxc3 dxc4 9 ♗xc4 offers roughly equal chances.

8 e4 dxe4 9 ♘xe4 ♗b7?! 10 ♘xf6+ ♕xf6?

At this point it is time to switch to puzzle book mode: “White to play and win”.

11 ♗g5 ♗xf3 12 ♕d2! 1-0

Once again the smart idea of not recapturing the bishop on f3 leads to immediate victory. Black resigned due to 12...♕xd4 (or 12...♗xg2 13 ♗xf6 ♗xh1 14 ♕g5! g6 15 ♕h6 leading to checkmate) 13 ♗xh7+ ♔xh7 14 ♕xd4 with decisive material gain.

These opening traps demonstrate that anyone can be caught out, especially when the perpetrator has prior knowledge of the trick. The same motif can even crop up in the middlegame.

O.Cooley – Povah British Team Championship (4NCL) 2008

The experienced English international master playing Black sees the danger to his queen but nevertheless elects for an active and trappy continuation against his lower rated opponent.

15...f5?

Now White might have thought long and hard had he not known the theme of the previous two examples.

16 ♗g5!

Suddenly Black is busted.

16...♖xd4

A forlorn attempt to create complications. By now it had dawned on Black that 16...fxe4 falls victim to 17 ♕e3 when his queen is lost.

17 ♕b3 ♖xd1 18 ♖xd1 ♘d4 19 ♗xh4 fxe4

Yes, 19...♘xb3 even allows 20 ♖d8 checkmate.

20 ♖xd4 ♗c5 21 ♕xe6+ ♔b8 22 ♕xe4 1-0

Time-trouble

I used to know a player who claimed he played the opening like a champion and the middlegame like a maestro – but he kept losing because he was an absolute zombie when it came to coping with time-pressure. However you will not get any sympathy by telling everyone you played marvellously and were beaten only by the clock. The reply would most likely be “Play more quickly and stop complaining!”.

I can offer a few ideas to avoid time trouble – but addicts can at least take some comfort in the fact that the curse of playing too slowly has been around for a long time.

An 1887 issue of the Columbia Chess Chronicle reported the following story: ‘The brothers L. and W. Paulsen were always known to be remarkably slow players. At an international tournament, before clocks were introduced to regulate the number of moves to be made in an hour, W.Paulsen consumed just 70 minutes in making a move in a game which he was playing with Zukertort. Z., who was conversely known as a remarkably rapid player, to pass the tedious time engaged in conversation with an amiable lady sitting near the table, and who had followed the development of the game with more than common interest. At last Paulsen moved his queen from g2-f3.

The lady, unable to conceal her surprise, exclaimed: “So short a move after so long a deliberation”.’

Develop your creativity

It is all very well to rely on a smart tactic to spook your opponent and be rewarded with victory – but you have to prepare the groundwork first. The pre-requisites for a successful attack and combinations in full flow also include activation of the pieces and positive positional play.

Lane – Miles

Le Touquet 1991

1 e4 d6

This pawn move introduces the Pirc Defence, named after the Yugoslav player Vasja Pirc who popularised it in the 1940s. White is allowed to create a pawn centre, only for Black to attack it later on with blows from his own pawns – in co-operation with his dark-squared fianchettoed bishop bearing down on the d4 and e5 squares.

2 d4 ♘f6 3 ♘c3 g6 4 ♗e3 ♗g7 5 ♕d2

Leaving no doubt as to my intention to attack on the kingside. Firstly I want to play ♗e3-h6 to exchange the important dark-squared bishop on g7 which is so useful for both attack and defence. This will be followed by queenside castling and h4-h5 to lever open the h-file for action by my king’s rook.

5...♘c6 6 f3 0-0 7 0-0-0 e5 8 ♘ge2 ♗d7 9 ♔b1 ♕b8?!

Tony Miles, formerly one of the world’s best players, had a maverick approach to opening theory, either choosing offbeat lines or finding innovations in well known openings that suited his own particular style. Then again, he cheerfully admitted after our game that his move here was perhaps not the best choice in the circumstances. He smiled ruefully when pointing out that such a queen manoeuvre works well in the Sicilian Dragon – but there the c-file is open and that probably helps.

10 g4 b5 11 ♗h6 ♗xh6 12 ♕xh6 ♘xd4 13 g5!

With my queen so well placed for the attack and reinforcements on the way, it was perhaps not surprising that I had already spotted a checkmating combination. Miles had assumed I would continue with the obvious 13 ♘xd4 exd4 14 ♖xd4 when 14...♕b6 offers some counterplay and justifies his odd-looking ninth move.

13...♘e8

Black has little choice but to retreat his knight. If 13...♘h5 then 14 ♘d5 is fatal because of the threat 15 ♘f6+ forcing checkmate. Then 14...♕d8 (or 14...♔h8 15 ♘g3 ♘xg3 16 ♘f6 wins) 15 ♘g3 ♘xg3 16 ♘f6+ ♕xf6 17 gxf6 is fantastic for White. Of course 13...♘xe2 runs into 14 gxf6 and checkmate will follow on g7.

14 ♘xd4 exd4 15 ♘d5

It was only now, after a long think, that Black realised he is completely lost after just 15 moves. The attacking stance of my forces right from the very start of the game has helped create the perfect situation for an onslaught – not to mention the fact that Black has not paid proper attention to defence. Thus 15...♕d8, to stop a white knight safely landing on e7 or f6, is countered by 16 h4! when he cannot do anything constructive against the plan of h4-h5-hxg6 with checkmate to follow on the h-file.

15...f5 16 ♘e7+ ♔f7

The king cannot hide in the corner with 16...♔h8 because then 17 ♕xf8 is checkmate.

17 ♕xh7+ ♘g7

Or 17...♔e6 18 exf5+ ♔e5 19 ♖el+ ♔f4 20 ♕h4+ ♔xf3 21 ♕g3 checkmate.

18 exf5 ♗xf5 19 ♘xf5 gxf5 20 g6+

Black’s exposed king and uncoordinated pieces spell disaster and provide a graphic illustration of an opening gone wrong.

20...♔f6 21 ♕h4+ ♔xg6 22 ♖g1+ ♔f7 23 ♕h7 ♖g8 24 ♕g6+

The strongest move here has to be 24 ♖e1 as it prevents the black king from running away from the checks. However, I was content with just winning a piece.

24...♔e7 25 ♖e1+ ♔d7 26 ♕f7+ ♔c6 27 ♖xg7

Though I am a piece up Black carries on for a while longer just in case I should get over-confident. But as I had plenty of time on my clock and a simple line of play available, Miles soon accepted the inevitable and gracefully resigned.

27...♖xg7 28 ♕xg7 ♕h8 29 ♕xh8 ♖xh8 30 ♗d3 f4 31 ♖h1 ♖h3 32 ♗f5 ♖h4 33 h3 d5 34 b4 1-0

Openings

How ideal it would be if your opening repertoire could be tailor made to suit your own personal style of play, so you could remember the variations and transpositions by heart. But the truth of the matter is that the majority of players pick up openings as they go along – taking up recommendations of friends, being influenced by the world champion or by abandoning an opening altogether after suffering a heavy defeat. I remember having some success with the Advance French, 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 e5, and was asked whether I chose it for its tactical possibilities or its extended pawn formation which promoted kingside attacking chances. However in fact my sole reason for playing this anti-French variation was because it was the shortest line published in Modern Chess Openings.

Nowadays your opponents can look up your opening repertoire on a computer database so it pays to tweak your favourite variations with a different move or two – just to keep them guessing.

It is essential to know the typical traps in your favoured opening variations so that you can unload them when given the chance.

Lane – Rudd

British Championship 2002

1 e4 e5 2 ♘f3 ♘c6 3 ♗b5 a6 4 ♗a4 ♘f6 5 0-0 ♗e7 6 ♕e2 b5 7 ♗b3 d6 8 a4

8...b4??

This has been played before but surprisingly some players have not noticed the big flaw and have serenely carried on with 9 0-0 0-0 transposing to standard lines.

9 ♕c4!

The threat to the knight on c6 and the pawn on f7 is disastrous for Black.

9...♕d7 10 ♕xf7+ ♔d8 11 ♕xg7 with an advantage of two pawns and a much better position.

The middlegame

After the opening comes the middlegame – where developed pieces are deployed for active duty. In this stage of the game you have the opportunity to carry out combinations, initiate attacks and threaten checkmate. But you may also find yourself having to defend your position against enemy tactics as there is no point going on a wild offensive while leaving yourself wide open to a counterattack and losing in 20 moves.

A game with lots of tactical possibilities is usually the result of one of the opponents having better placed pieces – probably as a consequence of superior positional play, even if it is of the subconscious variety.

Count the pieces

I once asked English grandmaster Julian Hodgson why he had made a speculative sacrifice to promote an attack which I simply couldn’t fathom out. He just replied “I counted the pieces and knew it would work”. Now that sounds a bit odd coming from one of the world’s best players who was renowned for his attacking prowess. So I investigated further. He had made his usual calculations, couldn’t see a finishing blow but did note that the defender had very few defensive pieces – whereas he himself had a variety of ways to reinforce the attack. That was good enough.

Now for a chance to play brilliantly by counting the pieces.

Bologan – Heberla European Championship, Plovdiv 2008

Here is the first test of the ‘count-the-pieces’ method. On the kingside the black king is defended by a wall of pawns and a solitary rook. However the key factor is the inability of the poorly placed queen on a7 to respond quickly to an attack. By contrast, White already has a bishop and a rook on the kingside as well as a well-placed knight and queen ready for rapid redeployment. Therefore we might justifiably say that it is four pieces against one – and with odds like that a combination will surely appear.

20 ♘f6+!

The first wave of the attack will wreck the castle walls of the black king.

20...gxf6

Instead 20...♔h8 runs into 21 ♕d3! threatening checkmate on h7: 21...g6 (or 21...gxf6 22 ♗xf6+ ♔g8 23 ♕g3 checkmate) 22 ♕xc4 winning.

21 ♕g3

The queen joins in the attack which at the very least will secure a perpetual check, so even if White couldn’t calculate to the end he had the chance to bail out if it all went wrong.

21...fxg5

The knight can defend against the checkmate but not against the devastating discovered check 21...♘4e5 22 ♗e3+, when 22...♘g6 23 ♗xa7 decides the game.

22 ♕xg5+ ♔h8 23 ♕f6+ ♔g8 24 ♖d5!

Now that the g-pawn has been eradicated the black king is left exposed and the white rook prepares to swing across to g5 to deliver checkmate. By counting the pieces White knew that Black only had his king’s rook to defend his king because the rest of his pieces remained cut off and denied access to the kingside.

24...♘4e5

There is no escape with 24...h6 because 25 ♖h5! forces checkmate after 25...♕d4 26 ♕xh6 ♕g7 27 ♖g5 ♕xg5 28 ♕xg5+ ♔h8 29 ♖e4 ♖ad8 30 ♖h4.

25 ♖dxe5 ♘xe5 26 ♖xe5 ♖fe8

Black creates an escape square for the king but now White can force checkmate. The only line that enables him to survive longer is 26...h6 but even then 27 ♕xh6 ♕b6 28 ♖g5+ ♕g6 29 ♖xg6+ fxg6 30 ♕xg6+ gives White a winning advantage.

27 ♖g5+ ♔f8 28 ♖f5 1-0

What I find fascinating is how masters can create all the right conditions for a checkmate only to fail to spot the knockout blow. The ‘missed opportunity’ syndrome might at first seem difficult to overcome but by way of encouragement here are some clues as to how to play better than the master.

Gavriel – Crouch Sutton 1999

After 42...♖fg8 White forced checkmate with 43 ♕xh7+ 1-0

This idea of a snap checkmate on h7 can be refined to help find a solution in a more complex mating net.

Montheard – Steininger Metz 2005

Knowledge of the theme will make the solution easier to find.

27 ♗g7+! ♖xg7

If 27...♔xg7 then 28 ♕xh7+ ♗xh7 29 ♖xh7 checkmates.

28 ♕xh7+ ♖xh7 29 ♖xh7 mate.

Missed opportunity

So these examples demonstrate that once you have recognised the presence of a tactical theme, what you once considered fantastic now becomes almost routine. Take this next game where a top player fails to spot the winning combination.

Sliwa – Doda Lodz 1967

In this position White overlooked a win by 1 ♖1f2. Now, with the knowledge gained from the previous games, I guess that you can do better than the master by playing 1 ♕xh7+! ♖xh7 2 ♖xh7 checkmate. If you understand a tactical theme you can implement it if the occasion arises or prevent it if it is coming your way.

Tactical endings

The ending has a reputation for being rather tedious and players are often poorly equipped and knowing little more than the assertion that all endings with rooks or bishops of opposite colours are drawn – even if the defending side has a material deficit of one or more pawns. However, despite its reputation, the ending is not usually a slow strategic phase but an opportunity to unleash a variety of tactics. This demands continual vigilance as there is always the possibility of a checkmate – or stalemate and perpetual check which are perfect ways to escape from a lost position.

I.Sokolov – Hulak Portoroz 1987

I think this position offers a stark warning to watch out for tactics in the ending. Thanks to his extra pawn, the Croatian grandmaster assumed it was just a matter of time before he won and so played 67...♔a4?? – whereupon White created a surprising mating net: 68 ♖a1+ ♔b4 69 ♖ea5! 1-0