Study Chess with Tal E-Book

Mikhail Tal

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

Seitenzahl: 315

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

Mikhail Tal is one of the all-time chess greats. In 1960 he became the youngest champion in world history at the age of 23, sweeping to victory at his first attempt. His extraordinary tactical ability has never been bettered, and his reputation goes from strength to strength.This absorbing book, first published in the early 1980s, is based on diaries kept by Tal's coach from their training sessions, and this unique perspective makes it a fascinating and effective chess instructor, written in engaging language and suitable for teenagers as well as older readers. It shows how Tal achieved greatness through hard work, application and the influence of a world-class coach, and through this book modern readers can catch a glimpse of the development of a true chess genius. The book is fully updated and converted to algebraic format.>

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To the Reader

The raw material for this book was gleaned from my training diaries, which contain the output from every training session with the ex-world champion Mikhail Tal. They are mainly made up of his game analyses, carried out immediately after the games whilst the chess and psychological impressions were still fresh and clear. We also used annotations done either by Tal or myself, which appeared in the Soviet press.

I did not find it easy to make a selection from over two thousand of Tal’s games. However, I think I have succeeded in illustrating the most important strategical and tactical problems that will be of benefit to practical players. If the majority of the book is given to methods of attack on the king, it is not only because Tal excels at this but also for the simple reason that attacking the king is the most effective way to realise a positional advantage quickly. Indeed, it should never be forgotten that the ultimate aim of every chess game is to mate the enemy king, but as combinations do not just appear out of thin air I have also given special attention to the positional preparation which a successful combination requires.

You have the opportunity here, along with Tal, to explore the intellectual apparatus of a grandmaster and to become acquainted with his style of play. Tal is placed most prominently in the ranks of modern Soviet players and in the opinion of the ex-world champion Dr Euwe he has already assured himself of an honourable position in the list of world champions.

Aided by these full-blooded games of Tal, I have tried to produce a book for the practising player in which I systematically outline the analytical/theoretical basis of Tal’s ability to breathe life into the wooden pieces.

This book, then, is intended to teach — thus the most important question for the reader is how best to use it. Before I trouble you with the didactic hints I should like to include a thought from Goethe, which dates from 25 January 1830, ‘People just do not realise how much time and trouble it takes to read and to make use of what is read; I have needed eighty years for it’.

Perhaps you may understand the poet’s insight rather more clearly if you consider this book as one to be worked through slowly, in your own time — it is not bed-time reading. In this way, the book can help you to develop your chess thinking (i.e. your analytical skills). In order to do this, I have inserted questions in the text which give you the opportunity to discover, by your own analysis, more than two hundred of Tal’s moves. One word of practical advice — play through the games slowly and use a book-mark to cover up the line after you see six asterisks like this

* * * * * *

and then make an honest attempt to find out the next move. It is also useful to make up a training partnership with a friend, then sometimes one player can follow the game from the book and the analysis can be done independently.

Finally, it only remains for me to wish you pleasure and success as you work through this book.

Alexander Koblencs

[Editor’s note: In order to involve the reader even further, I have replaced a good many of the asterisks by questions, ranging from elementary to advanced, and transferred the answers to the end of the book.]

In Lieu of a Foreword

‘Which chess book has most impressed you and perhaps played a role in forming your style of play?’ This was one of the questions put to the grandmasters by the chess magazine Shakhmaty during a tournament in 1967. My reply was: ‘The book Šaha Skola (Chess School) by Alexander Koblencs had a great influence upon me — and this statement is not simply meant as a mark of respect for my trainer of long standing’.

In his book, which is appearing in Russian, Latvian, German, Italian, French, Spanish and Serbo-Croat, he has succeeded in explaining clearly the most important strategic and tactical principles. In this, his new work, my trainer intends to go further by showing the learner how to apply this knowledge to practical games. In this way, the learner will be helped to solve over-the-board problems independently and efficiently. In order to establish some uniformity as to the mental processes used in grandmaster play, the author has based his work on my chess. This is understandable, for who knows me better than my own second?

I have declared myself ready to contribute my best to this undertaking, openly and without any frills, and perhaps this may be pioneer work in the sphere of chess methodology.

Mikhail Tal

Contents

To the Reader

In Lieu of a Foreword

The Uncastled King — a Pawn Cocktail

War Is About Communication

A Surprising Knight Move

The Rook in Ambush

The Battering Ram

Errors in Opening Strategy

Invasion Squares

The Knight Fork

I Need to Use Force, do I?

By Hook or by Crook

The Trouble-Maker

The Highest Ideal

The Trojan Horse

A Relatively Weak Point

Boomerang

Threats from Beneath the Surface

Misjudging the Character of a Game

Transgressing an Opening Principle

Castling on Opposite Sides

The Elements of an Attacking Game

Three Eggs in One Basket

First Come, First Served

On the Edge of the Precipice

A Whole Bishop for an Attacking Tempo!

Both Players Castle Short

The Bewitched Square f2

Correct or Incorrect? — That is the Question

Preventing Simplification

Explosion on g7

The Problem of the Spanish Bishop

Vertical, Horizontal, Diagonal!

Bloody Revenge

Pawn Chain Strategy

A Thorn in the Flesh

On All Fronts

An Exploding Centre

From Poetry to Prose

A Combinative Counterattack

Saved in the Nick of Time

With Open Visors

A Difficult Draw

A Positional Struggle

Answers to Questions

Index of Opponents

Index of Openings

The Uncastled King — a Pawn Cocktail

I have no need to discover America — good old Columbus has already done so. Just as America is well known, so nowadays is the basic principle of opening strategy that one should develop one’s pieces as quickly as possible and make it maximally difficult for one’s opponent to do the same. As well known as America, and yet even grandmasters often ignore this fundamental chess truth or they seem to forget it in the heat of battle. How can this phenomenon be explained?

Principles of development seem to be ignored mostly when an opponent offers a pawn sacrifice. Then one feverishly begins to weigh up the pros and cons; should it be snapped up or should it be rejected as too dangerous a gift? On the one hand, the defender hears the warning whisper that if it is accepted he will be behind in development. On the other, a common human failing comes into play, the desire to have more, and this is when principles are rather obstinately cast aside.

One thinks, ‘Oh well, I’ll snap it up and let my opponent bear the onus of justifying the sacrifice’. When there are no visible, concrete threats and the future seems to be nebulous, the offer is heartily accepted. After all, a pawn is a pawn! With this theme in mind, we shall begin our quest.

Game No. 1 Tal — Tringov

Interzonal tournament, Amsterdam 1964King’s Fianchetto Defence

1 e4 g6 2 d4g7 3c3 d6 4f3 c6 5g5b6

Here Black could have transposed into a variation of the Pirc-Ufimtsev defence by 5 … f6. With his text move he wants to capitalise immediately upon the absence of White’s queen’s bishop and to attack the unprotected b-pawn. 6d2xb2 7b1a3 8c4a5 No doubt intending to prepare … e5 and to protect d8 after the possible opening of the d-file. 9 0-0 White takes no notice and continues his normal development. 9 … e6? This proves to be a loss of time.

10fe1! a6 11f4 e5 This is already the decisive mistake. Now the position will be opened up, which is usually to the advantage of the better developed side. Black should have kept the position closed with 11 … d8, but it is never easy to turn tail. 12 dxe5 dxe5

* * * * * *

13 d6!

A tremendous move! The queen is particularly devastating on this square and White now threatens the decisive ed1.

13 … xc3

Desperation. Yet to try to dislodge White’s powerful queen with 13 … d8 does not work because of 14 xf7+.

Question 1 What would happen after 13 … exf4?

14 ed1

Whilst Black’s queenside pieces are still enjoying their beauty sleep, the white forces are involved in vigorous activity. A chastening example of what happens when development is neglected.

14 … d7

* * * * * *

15 xf7+

This sacrifice makes it possible for the knight to come into the attack with a gain of tempo. The interplay which follows, between queen and knight, is particularly dangerous as these two pieces embody the operational possibilities of all the other pieces. 15 … xf7 16g5+e8 17e6+ Resigns. After 17 … e7 18 f7+ d8 19 e6, and after 17 … d8 18 f7+ c7 19 d6 Black suffers a similar fate.

War is about Communication

These words of Napoleon stress the need for good lines of communication in successful military operations. This applies equally well to chess, and the words ‘communication lines’ can help us to understand the significance of the ‘centre’ (the squares e4, e5, d4, d5).

Why should we strive, in the main, to deploy our forces around the centre? The two main reasons are that firstly, a piece which is posted in the centre contests more squares than one which is placed at the side of the board and, secondly, pieces can be moved more quickly for attack or defence from central positions (communication!). Communications which create possibilities for attacking weak points or even penetrating the enemy position are particularly valuable in a strategic sense.

The great Max Euwe once emphasised, with good reason, that the most difficult strategic exercise in the opening and especially in the middlegame is to activate the rooks. Indeed, the problem which emerges time after time in actual play is how to get open lines for these dormant yet powerful pieces.

In the following game the central rooks pressurise Black’s pawn structure in a most effective manner.

Game No. 2 Tal — Klaman

USSR Championship, Moscow 1957Sicilian Defence

1 e4 c5 2f3c6 3 d4 cxd4 4xd4f6 5c3 d6 6g5d7

From this pawn structure in the Sicilian game, the half-open c-file forms the base from which Black’s major pieces will operate. Black’s last move underlines this basic idea and he begins with the immediate development of the queenside. Naturally this procedure has its drawbacks — the development of the kingside is neglected, the king remains tied down to its original square and the king’s rook is consequently committed to a passive role. 7d2 This move is part of a little stratagem. In the tournament bulletin, Tal and I made the following comment on this idea: ‘… leads to a loss of time, but White deliberately wanted to lure his opponent into exploiting this loss, in order to obtain attacking chances in the centre and on the kingside after the exchange on d4’. Of course, simply either 7 xf6 or e2 were also playable. 7 … xd4 8xd4a5 9xf6 gxf6 10 0-0-0c8 11 f4g8 12 g3 e6 13h3 A move like 13 xf6 is quickly rejected by the experienced campaigner because, after 13 … g7, Black gets a dangerous hold on the long diagonal. 13 … c5 The white queen on d4 is too strongly placed, so she has to be driven away. Moreover, White threatens the attacking manoeuvre 14 he1 followed by 15 d5. 14d2 b5

By moving White’s knight from c3, Black wishes to increase the pressure on the c-file. Also the move contains a tactical threat, which does not in fact work. 15he1 b4 16e2c4 17b1xe4 A typical psychological error. When one has systematically worked out an idea, it is difficult to check through again and alter the plan before putting it into operation — one almost becomes bewitched by the original idea. Black ought to have realised that after the capture of the pawn on e4, the e-file is opened for the rook. 18d4b7 19d3! Simple and strong. The queen occupies a communication line (d3-h7) which makes it possible to penetrate into the opposing camp. 19 … e7 20xh7f8

* * * * * *

21 g4!

In this type of position one must try to prevent the enemy king’s escape from the danger zone. After the text move White can answer 21 … d8 with 22 h5 and, if 22 … e8, Tal had prepared a beautiful mating combination.

Question 2 Can you find it?

This gives us the opportunity to outline the theoretically essential components of a combination. They are motive, aim and means, and may be described as follows:

(1) Motive — the positional prerequisites which make a combination possible; in this case it is clearly the unsafe position of the king.

(2) Aim — the final position after the combination has been carried out; again this is clear — the position after 27 e6 mate.

(3) Means — the moves by which the end position is reached. In such combinations, the attacker must constantly pressurise his opponent with threats and compel him to make forced moves.

Now back to the game! 21 … c7 22a1! Enticing his opponent into a nasty hidden trap. 22 … f5 Stronger was 22 … a5, but Black obviously wanted to provoke the following sacrifice.

* * * * * *

23 xf5!

A decoy sacrifice! The removal of the pawn on e6 opens the file for the white rook and gives it a direct route into the enemy camp. 23 … exf5

* * * * * *

24 xe7+!

Now we see an elimination sacrifice — so called because it eliminates important defenders around the king and thus weakens his position. 24 … xe7 25e1+d8 If the white king had been on b1, Black could simply have played 25 … e6 as 26 xe6 would lose to 26 … xc2+. 26h4+ f6 27h6a5 Black had pinned his hopes on this move when he played 22 … f5. What is to happen now?

* * * * * *

28 b3!

This ‘zwischenzug’ completely upsets Black’s calculations. Black had only reckoned with the incorrect 28 xf8+. After 28 … c7, 29 xf6 loses to 29 … b3 and also after 29 e7 e8 30 e6+ c8 31 xd6 the thrust with 31 … b3 still decides the issue; whilst after 29 b3 Black can intervene with check, 29 … xa2+, win a pawn, and go into the endgame. After the text move White finally has two more pawns and wins easily. These were the remaining moves: 28 … d5 29xf8+c7 30xf6e8 31c1a4 32d4b7 33d1e6 34c4+ Resigns.

A Surprising Knight Move

In the following game White succeeds in engineering a lead in development by a typical, yet highly instructive method. Black gobbled up a pawn and thought that he could keep the position closed. White, however, found a surprising knight move (12 f5) and Black’s forced capture of the piece led to the e-file being opened. From this Tal got a dangerous initiative and, by continuous threats, never gave his opponent any breathing space whatsoever. Finally White penetrated Black’s position on the diagonal a3-f8 and decided the issue conclusively. A vital role was played by the weakness of the black squares after the capture of the pawn. Let us look at these dramatic events as they unfolded in the game itself.

Game No. 3 Tal — Uhlmann

Alekhine Memorial, Moscow 1971French Defence

1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3d2 c5 4gf3c6 5b5 Normal here is 5 exd5. Tal strikes home by playing the text move, recommended by Alekhine. Usually Uhlmann, who is an acknowledged expert of the French Defence, plays the opening very quickly. However after this move he sank into deep thought for twenty minutes. Often a little surprise like this serves to confuse and to disconcert. Perhaps this unpleasant surprise in the opening is the psychological explanation for Uhlmann’s later unfortunate play. 5 … dxe4 6xe4d7

7g5! After this move Tal made the following pertinent remark, ‘Speed of development is the first priority and the open position renders each extra tempo especially valuable’. 7 …a5+ 8c3 cxd4 9xd4b4 More logical may have been 9 … e7, after which Tal did not intend to play the theoretically equalising line 10 e3 c7 but to go in for the sharper 10 d2 f6 11 0-0-0. Black now goes pawn-grabbing but he does not sufficiently consider that after … xc3 his own black squares become weak and defenceless. 10 0-0xc3 11 bxc3

11 … xc3

Question 3 However, what could Tal have played after 11 … a6?

The usual psychological chain-reaction — in for a penny, in for a pound.

* * * * * *

12 f5!

Obviously Uhlmann had overlooked this strong move, and we now see the idea that was mentioned in the introductory remarks. The knight taunts Black menacingly — it must be taken and, when it is, the game is opened up and new gaps and weaknesses appear. Above all, the e-file is open.

12 … exf5 13e1+e6 14d6 a6

* * * * * *

15 d2!

I once happened to be present at a short chess talk given by Tal, at which he told a beginner, ‘it is most important to clear a path into the enemy camp and then penetrate with your forces’. In this game, Tal does not need to clear a path — Uhlmann has already done it for him by weakening his own black squares, and the surprising bishop move will now capitalise upon this — in particular, White has his eye on f8. 15 …xc2 16b4 Again, nothing new. It is well known that a queen alone can achieve nothing — she needs support. In the game Tal — Tringov, we saw the combination of queen and knight; now we see the duet of queen and bishop. 16 … axb5 17f8+d7 18ed1+c7 19xa8 Resigns.

The Rook in Ambush

The following game is similar to the previous one. Again, a knight is sacrificed to open the e-file upon the centralised king. In the previous game the knight sacrifice on f5 led to the complete opening of the centre, as there was no pawn on the e-file, and the combined invasion of the rooks brought about a swift end. In the following game the possible opening of the e-file is less obvious, as there is a black pawn on his e6 and another white pawn on e4, and the potential of the rook on e1 seems to be restricted. Yet White’s d5 looks inviting and once more we see that the rook comes into its own after the sacrifice is accepted.

Game No. 4 Tal — Mukhin

USSR Championship, Baku 1972Sicilian Defence

1 e4 c5 2f3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4xd4f6 5c3 a6 6c4 e6 7b3 b5 8 0-0b7 The Sicilian game with a vengeance. Black immediately builds up an attacking position on the queenside and leaves the king in the centre. We have already met this strategy in Game No. 2. 9e1bd7 10g5c5 When Mukhin played this move, he was undoubtedly thinking of a Fischer — Rubinetti game. After the alternative 10 … e7 he feared the blow 11 xe6 (see Tal — Polugayevsky).

* * * * * *

11 d5!

In the Fischer — Rubinetti game, mentioned above, the bishop was sacrificed after 10 … h6 11 h4 c5 12 d5 exd5 13 exd5+ d7 14 b4 a4 15 xa4 bxa4 16 c4 c8 17 xa4 d7 18 b3 g5 19 g3 h5 20 c5 dxc5 21 bxc5 xd5 22 e8+ d7 23 a4+ c6 24 xc6, Black resigned. Perhaps Black ought to have declined the offer of the bishop by playing 12 … e7.

Question 4 How would White react to that?

11 … b4

Mukhin goes his own way but he cannot save the game either. In the analysis after the game, both players agreed that Black is now hopelessly lost. In their opinion, instead of 10 … c5?, the continuation 10 … h6 11 h4 g5 12 g3 e5 would have led to a double-edged game.

12 xb7 xb7

* * * * * *

13 d5!

You had, I trust, foreseen this move? 13 … exd5 Clearly, it is psychologically unbearable to allow a knight to taunt one openly, in such a manner, for very long. Moreover, a knight placed on the fifth rank is a source of dynamic power because it threatens from just outside the enemy camp, and thus restricts the mobility of his forces.

Question 5 More specifically, what happens after, say, 13 …c5??

We should now like to take these positions and use them as subjects for some theoretical considerations. Have you ever really thought about how the basic elements of every chess game interact (power, space and time).

1. Power

The pieces and pawns symbolise power. So much is clear. When one loses pieces without any compensation, one’s fighting potential is lessened and the opponent can ultimately force mate with his greater strength.

Many strategic principles can be derived from the basic concept of power, in which the main aim is to force the win of material. At the beginning of the game it is often unavoidable to exchange pieces. In order not to become too short of pieces, the chess player has to consider the worth of the exchanges in terms of his strategy and tactics. He must know, for example, that a bishop or a knight is worth about three pawns, that two rooks or three minor pieces are usually slightly stronger than the queen and that one needs to get a minor piece and a pawn for a rook.

Of course, the player soon comes to realise that this scale of values can vary in practice, especially when specific threats are present. For example, in the previous games, if Tal had dangerous mating threats he would naturally not count the pieces in absolute terms. However, Tal also belongs to the school of grandmasters who gamble, who sacrifice without concrete evidence of imminent compensation, but who are content with the gain of a lasting initiative. This will be shown in Game No. 23, ‘On the Edge of the Precipice’.

2. Space

This is our chessboard which represents the battlefield where the armies clash. You will have already grasped the importance of central control. The last diagram exemplifies this well enough.

The more space your own pieces and pawns control, the more easily and dangerous are you able to attack your opponent’s position, because his pieces are restricted to a few ranks and thus suffer from a lack of mobility. This was mentioned previously in the annotation to move 13 … exd5.

3. Time

Whilst power is symbolised by the pieces and pawns, and space is clearly visible in the black and white squares of the chessboard, we have to imagine the abstract concept of time because it comes into being as each move is played.

By playing through the Tal games, you can see that from the outset there began an exciting race for time. You will have noticed how Tal attempted to develop his own pieces as quickly as possible and to outstrip his opponent in this respect. If one wastes too many moves with one piece, this is called ‘losing tempi’. In Game No. 1, Tal tempted his opponent Tringov to win a pawn, which involved many queen moves and gave White a lead in development. A short glance at the diagrammed position will also illustrate White’s lead in piece mobility. The game continued: 14 exd5+ The file is open and now the rook has its say. At this point, Tal carefully considered the continuation 14 e5 dxe5 15 xe5+ d7 16 c4. He decided upon the text move because he had seen an amusing mating variation later on. 14 …d7 The first consequence is that the king is drawn into an uncomfortable position. 15 c3! An unpretentious but highly powerful move — now a route is open for the queen to enter the play. 15 … b3 At least he keeps the c-file closed. 16xb3c5 17c4

17 …c8 Tal had visualised this position.

Question 6 What had he in mind after 17 …c8?

Instead of either 17 … c8 or 17 … c8, 17 … b6 might have been relatively stronger, but White could then just have simplified into a won endgame with 18 xf6 gxf6 19 b4 b7 (19 … a4 20 b3) 20 c6+ xc6 21 dxc6+ c7 22 cxb7. 18c6 h6 19xf6 gxf6

* * * * * *

20 e3!

Threatening 21 ael and penetrating onto the seventh rank. 20 …c7 21 b4g8 and Black resigned without waiting for Tal’s next move.

I trust that you have played through the previous games carefully and picked out Tal’s best moves. Let us now try to trace the path which Tal’s thoughts must have taken and to discover the principles which govern his moves — for the power of these moves does not just appear of its own accord, it is derived from certain precepts. This creative path was paved initially by the conception of the basic idea, followed by the appropriate strategic plan and tactical execution.

Every strong player has come across the situation where his opponent is behind in development and has not got his king safely castled. Our chess sense then gives us a certain ‘feeling’ about the position; firstly, we should hinder or prevent the king’s escape from the centre and then immediately exploit the king’s precarious position — for a lead in development, unlike the creation of pawn weaknesses, is not a lasting positional advantage. This is the outline of the basic idea and from this highly important cornerstone springs the later strategic plan.

Tal had offset his opponent’s basic idea (that of a quick queenside break) by centralising his own pieces in preparation for sacrifices if necessary. Next, the strategic plan was to attack the uncastled king — yet the success of the strategy depended upon tactical aid.

You will have already realised the importance which has been attached to good lines of communication. These are the channels which permit our pieces to attack with maximum force and thus to penetrate into an opponent’s territory. Tal maintained the initiative by a series of continual threats and, as we have already stressed, he never gave his opponent any breathing space. Let us remind ourselves once more of this style, from an earlier example (see Tal — Tringov).

By playing 15 xf7+, Tal struck the first decisive blow. Turn back once again, if you will, to this game (No. 1) and consider the winning method in theoretical terms.

(1) The final position was reached by getting the knight into the attack with a gain of tempo.

(2) Queen and knight were then able to combine harmoniously.

(3) After the knight’s appearance, White had a preponderance of forces in the critical battle area.

(4) The direct assault on the king permitted heavy material sacrifice — no price is too great for the scalp of the enemy king.

(5) The prerequisite for a successful tactical manoeuvre (i.e. a forced combination) is that the attacker should have acquired certain positional advantages — ‘a combination doesn’t just fall from heaven’ (M. Botvinnik).

These, then, are the most important principles of such attacks. They form the foundations for various scintillating attacks, which, in turn, are closely related to the unique features of individual pieces and the possibilities resulting from their interaction.

The Battering Ram

The pawn is the smallest weapon. Yet in this scant material significance lies its own peculiar strength. The most powerful of pieces fears its double-pronged attack, and material loss results when a piece is captured by a pawn. If the pawn successfully runs the gauntlet and reaches the back rank, it gets its reward by being changed into a proud queen or another piece (except the king, of course).

However, it is particularly valuable as a battering ram. It deviates from its straightforward movement in order to capture diagonally and, in so doing, it can open routes into the enemy camp for the other pieces to enter. As the smallest unit of worth, it requires least consideration, thus it is often sacrificed in order to break up an opposing pawn front.

Small, indeed, is its material value, but great is its strategic importance. It restricts the freedom of the opposing pieces, protects important strategic squares and hinders the advance of pieces and pawns. The steamroller effect of a widely strung pawn chain is dangerous and it is able to tie up the whole enemy force.

We shall now look at how pawns can increase the dynamic potential of the pieces.

Game No. 5 Tal — Larsen

Interzonal tournament, Portoroz 1958Sicilian Defence

1 e4 c5 2f3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4xd4f6 5c3 a6 6g5bd7 7c4

The development of the bishop on c4 is not without malice, as an unsuspecting player found out during the following game in 1951, 7 … e6 8 0-0 b5? 9 xe6 fxe6 10 xe6 b6 11 d5 xd5 12 xd5 b7 13 c7+! followed by mate in two. 7 …a5 8d2 e6 9 0-0 Larsen undoubtedly expected 9 0-0-0, as Tal had played in a game against Kolarov. As was stressed earlier, it is often psychologically advisable to play lines which are not expected by an opponent. 9 … h6 10h4e7 11ad1e5 I trust that you can see what happens after 11 … 0-0.

* * * * * *

If 11 … 0-0, then 12 d5!

12b3 g5 This is, of course, a double-edged move, but after the more ‘normal’ continuation 12 … g6 13 g3 d7 14 ce2! Black would have got into trouble. Pawn advances of this type are double-edged mainly because they offer means of opening files for the opposition.

13 g3 d7 14 f4!

Wilhelm Steinitz, the first world champion, taught us that ‘the chess master’s plan must always be based upon an assessment of the position’ — ‘Yet assessment requires critical hunches to be followed,’ writes Dr Lasker, ‘as a consequence of which the composition of a plan is not founded upon the master’s exact knowledge but upon positional understanding, which requires ability to evaluate the relative importance of various factors’.

The difficulty of assessing the move 14 f4 consists in that on the one hand this move opens the f-file for White, but on the other hand it grants Black permanent control over the focal point e5. One needs a deep positional understanding here, in order to decide which is worth the more. 14 … gxf4 15xf4h5? He should have been satisfied with dropping the queen back by playing 15 … c7. 16xe5! Not 16 xh6 because of … g4. The move played keeps the black king in the centre for some time.

16 …xe5 This seems logical. Black wants to control e5. Moreover, Larsen did not like the alternative 16 … dxe5 as much.

Question 7 Why do you think that was?

17 h1

This is a favourite move of Tal’s in positions like this. He wants to eliminate any embarrassing checks on the open diagonal. 17 …f6 The knight is misplaced at the side of the board and its position must be speedily improved. 18f3

18 …h5? What was somewhat better than this? Can White really exploit this queen move?

* * * * * *

18 … c5 would have been relatively better, although Black would still have to contend with difficulties after 19 e5 dxe5 20 e4 c7 21 xe5. However, after the text move, not only does the king get into trouble but also the queen is completely misplaced.

19 e5

The battering ram! It opens the queen file and frees e4 for the knight. Black’s position now collapses like a house of cards. 19 … dxe5 20e4!

20 … 0-0-0

Question 8 Could Black try to castle on the kingside after 20 …c6?

21 g3 g4 22 xe5 h4

Still hoping to complicate matters after 23 xf7. However … 23c3+!b8

24 xd7+ Resigns.

After 24 … xd7 25 xd7! it transpires that the rook on d8 is overworked — it cannot defend d7 and h8 at the same time. This is the typical result of a combinative attack. The game perhaps lacks brilliance but nevertheless it is instructive from beginning to end.

Errors in Opening Strategy

In the next game, it is worth noting the mistakes which Black makes in building up his position. Firstly Black lost time on an awkward knight manoeuvre, then his black-squared bishop disappeared from the scene, which consequently left the black squares defenceless, and finally he made a mechanical move with the queen which led to his downfall.

The most emphatic aspect of Tal’s attacking strategy was the typical pawn march up the f-file. This is the simplest way to activate the rook on f1, after having castled on the kingside. Tal also managed to give his queen a threatening outpost to place his queen’s rook on the half-open d-file and to activate his knight. After these unobtrusive preparations, he was able to capitalise upon the mistakes of his opponent with compact, effective tactics.

Game No. 6 Tal — Suetin

Tbilisi 1969Sicilian Defence

1 e4 c5 2f3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4xd4 a6 5d3e7

The beginning of a somewhat bizarre knight manoeuvre — the knight is to go to g6. What is one to make of this? Siegbert Tarrasch, that great German chess teacher, once declared that a knight on g6 is misplaced and belongs on the ‘normal’ square f6. Tarrasch was criticised at the time for making such dogmatic statements. Of course it was perfectly clear to Tarrasch, a very strong over-the-board player, that such rules can only serve as guidelines and that one needs to look at the realities of the position, and to consider the concrete requirements.

As I see it, Tarrasch wanted to give learners the idea that fundamentally one ought to place pieces actively, so that their work potential is at its maximum. Hence also his proverbial saying, ‘knight at the side brings trouble and strife’. It is really not too difficult to see that a knight in the centre controls eight squares, whereas on h5 it only controls four and on g3 only six.