The Chessmaster Checklist E-Book

Andrew Soltis

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

Seitenzahl: 230

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

An instructional book about the crucial questions that masters ask themselves before committing to a move – a checklist for all players to ask themselves before making their own moves. Beginners learn to ask themselves the key questions. As they improve, they ask more sophisticated questions: 'What did my opponent's last move allow me to do?", 'Where is his position weakest?", 'Should I take an irrevocable step now or wait?', 'What does my opponent want me to do?'. For chess master players these are almost subconscious checklist. Andy Soltis runs through the checklist of things to ask before making a move with fascinating and illuminating examples of real chess games,  from Karpov to Judith Polgar, from Magnus Carlsen to Fabiano Caruana.  A key to improving is to ask all of these questions and find the right answers, for players looking to improve. The advice of Chess Masters is good advice for all chess players and the best way to take your play to the next level.

Leseprobe

The Chessmaster Checklist

Andrew Soltis

Contents

Introduction

Chapter One What Is He Threatening?

Chapter Two What Are the Tactical Ideas?

Chapter Three What Is Wrong With His Move?

Chapter Four What Is the Principled Move?

Chapter Five What Is His Weakest Point?

Chapter Six What Does He Want?

Chapter Seven How Can I Improve My Pieces? 164

Chapter Eight Will My Position Get Better?

Chapter Nine Finishing Up

Quiz Answers

Introduction

“If I move my queen to d5, can it be captured?”

Beginners ask themselves questions like this. They learn the hard way. If they don’t ask, they lose a lot of queens.

But even strong players fail to ask.

Daulyte – Socko

Sochi 2015

White to move

No, the diagram is not wrong – 57 b6 is indeed mate.

Yet White played 57 ♕a5+??? and immediately resigned. And this was a world championship event.

Newcomers to chess are shocked by this. How can one of the world’s best players make the worst of blunders?

But tournament veterans know how, from personal experience:

You want to make a forcing move. You see the check on a5. You pick up the queen and put it there. You only see 57…♕xa5! when your hand lets go of it.

Beginners learn to protect themselves, in a beginner way. They grab the piece they want to move and place it on the desired square. They know the touch-move rule so they hold it there, often with one finger, until they have scouted the rest of the board to see if the piece can be captured.

It’s a clumsy procedure. But even grandmasters have used it – badly.

Morozevich – Svetushkin

European Team Championship 2011

Black to move

White’s only real winning chance lies in capturing the b3-pawn and then outplaying Black in a drawable ♔+♖+♗-vs.- ♔+♖ ending.

Of course, he might also win if Black blunders horribly. But Black was not only a grandmaster but an experienced teacher of young players. He taught them the paramount value of rechecking the move you want to play before you make it on the board.

He picked up his rook, placed it on a new square and held it there. He looked about the board and then let go of the rook, 76…♖g2??.

He resigned immediately after 77 ♖xg2!.

Chess Adolescence

When you were a beginner you learned to do a lot of things. You probably didn’t realize it, but some were things you did subconsciously.

When you decided on a move, you didn’t think about how to make it on the board. You didn’t ask yourself “Should I slide the piece or pick it up? If I pick it up, should I use two fingers or three? Or all five?”

No, moving a piece had become as natural as any everyday routine, like putting on your shoes.

You learn more good routines in your chess adolescence. After your opponent moves, you wonder “Does he threaten something?”

At first, you had to remind yourself to do that. But as you improve, you look for a threat without prompting. You may do it instantly.

Nakamura – Carlsen

Internet 2020

White to move

When Hikaru Nakamura played 30 ♗b6, Magnus Carlsen didn’t have to ask himself if there was a threat. He saw 31 ♗xd8.

But he did not stop there. He also spotted 31 ♗f5!.

He immediately replied 30…♗xg5!.

He was worse after 31 ♗f5! ♗g6! 32 ♗xh3 ♗xd3 33 ♗xc8 ♖xc8 but managed to draw.

Carlsen knew to look for more than one threat. After all, he was once a chess adolescent, 20 years before.

Habit Building

You get better at chess by acquiring other good habits. You won’t get much better until you can perform those habits without thinking.

For example, you will not only ask yourself “What does his last move threaten?” but also “What does it allow me to do?”

You may ask specific questions such as “Which of my pieces can I improve” but also general questions such as “What is his weakest point?” and “What is his goal in the next few moves?”

Masters are masters because they ask themselves these and other questions. They form a checklist.

In the heyday of postal chess, many correspondence players used an actual written list of do’s and don’ts. Consulting it was their final step before they sent their next move off in the mail.

But you can’t comfortably play chess, over the board or on the Internet, by trying to remember these questions. It is awkward, wasteful and often just confusing.

Instead, you should internalize these questions, to use a fancy word:

1 What Does He Threaten?

2 What Are The Tactical Ideas?

3 What Is Wrong With His Move?

4 What Is The Principled Move?

5 What Is His Weakest Point?

6 What Does He Want?

7 How Can I Improve My Pieces?

8 Will My Position Get Better?

9 Is There A Better Move?

10 How Can My Move Be A Blunder?

Asking these questions should become effortless and automatic. It should be as comfortable as … well, putting on your shoes.

Chapter One:

What Does He Threaten?

This is one of the first questions players learn to ask themselves – and one of the first they forget.

Even grandmasters forget it. They forget because they are busy asking other questions.

Karjakin – Anton Guijarro

Internet 2020

White to move

White understood that Black’s best chance for survival lay in perpetual check (46 g4 ♕e2+ 47 ♔g3 ♕e1+).

He met that threat with 46 ♗e3 so that 46…♕e2+ 47 ♗f2.

This defeats all of Black’s possible moves – except for the winning 46…♗h3+!. It was Black’s second and stronger threat.

White is either mated (47 ♔f2 ♕f1 mate and 47 ♔h2 ♕f1) or loses his queen (47 ♔xh3 ♕h1+ 48 ♔g4 ♕h5+ 49 ♔f4 g5+ and …♕xf7).

Sergey Karjakin, who had played a world championship match four years before, was the victim in that game. He was the beneficiary in this one:

Wei Yi – Karjakin

Internet 2020

Black to move

White threatens ♖xc6+. He would win after 38…♘xc5?? 39 ♖xc6+.

He also planned to meet 38…♔d5 with 39 ♖d7+!.

Then he would be winning after 39…♔e6?? 40 ♖xd3 or 39…♔c4 40 ♖d4+! and ♖xh4.

So, when Karjakin moved 38…♔f5, White didn’t have to ask “Why?” He had figured out that it was the only safe Black move.

White replied 39 ♖f7+. His idea was to meet 39…♔e5 with 40 ♖h7 and ♖xh4.

Karjakin chose 39…♔g6 and the position was repeated after 40 ♖c7! ♔f5.

White to move

Of course, White can continue 41 ♖f7+. But even with only seconds left he wanted more than a draw by repetition.

He was careful enough to look for a trap. He spotted one: 41 ♖xc6 would lose to 41…♘e5+.

He set his own trap with 41 ♖h7. Then 41…♘xc5? would lose a piece to 42 ♖h5+.

But the game ended with 41…♘e1 mate!.

Wrong Question

In your chess adolescence you asked “What is his threat?” after your opponent moved. You learned to do this instinctively. But this is the wrong question.

It is wrong because once you spot an opponent’s threat you may let your guard down. This is what White did when he saw 41 ♖xc6? ♘e5+. He didn’t look for another tactic, the mating threat.

Players are particularly vulnerable to this pitfall when they see more than one way to avert a threat. They focus on finding the best defense to it. Once they feel they have found it, they think their work is done.

Ding Liren – Nakamura

Internet 2020

White to move

White saw the threat of 28…♕e4+ followed by 29 ♕xe4 fxe4+ and 30….♖xd5.

He can avert that in several ways:

He can trade rooks, 28 ♖xd8.

That would work well after 28…♖xd8 29 ♗b6 ♖e8 30 ♕d5! – but less so after 29…♖d7.

Alternatively, he can move his king out of checking range. But 28 ♔e2 gets into a pin that Black can try to exploit with 28…♗h6, or 28…b5 first.

There is also a benefit – but also a drawback – to putting one of his rooks on d2.

In the end, White chose 28 ♔g2.

Black to move

It had none of the drawbacks of the alternatives and one major benefit.

The ♗b6 idea is stronger. For example, 29 ♗b6! ♖c8? 30 ♕xc8 or 29…♖xd5 30 ♕xd5 and ♖c7.

But 28 ♔g2?? was a blunder. White forgot to look for a second threat.

He resigned after 28…b5! 29 ♕b3 ♕b7! cost him a rook.

Near Term

“What is his threat?” is the wrong question. The right one is “What does he threaten?” The answer may be a plural.

When there is more than one threat, there are two very different ways to blunder.

A young player will see the obvious threat, such as a threat to mate next move. But he may not detect a long-term threat, such as to win a piece in two or three moves.

Experienced players develop a sense of danger that often alerts them to a long-term threat. But this foresight can work against them. It can blind them to a near-term threat.

Carlsen – Ding Liren

Internet 2020

Black to move

Black has just captured on e1. There is no immediate threat to his knight. But having an unprotected piece on a distant square triggered his sense of danger.

He could protect the knight with 31…♕e7. The added benefit is that 32 ♕xe7+? would hand Black a winning endgame.

But 32 ♕a6! would win either the a-pawn or d-pawn. On top of that, Black’s knight would remain endangered, by 32…♘f3 33 ♗e6! and ♗xd5.

This explains 31…♘f3. Black wanted to safeguard the knight well before it is threatened.

White to move

But he missed White’s near-term threat, a mate after 32 ♗g6! and ♕f7.

For example, 32…♕e6 33 ♕b4+ and mates. Or 32…♔g8 33 ♕f7+ ♔h8 35 ♕e8+.

Black’s best defense was 31…♕e7 after all. Then he could continue 32 ♕a6! ♔f7! and …g6, e.g. 33 ♕b5 g6 34 ♕xd5+ ♔g7 (35 ♗e6 a3!).

Dealing with the long-term threat, 31…♘f3??, was fatal.

Alarm Shut-Off

Even if you have a good sense of danger you can inadvertently turn this alarm system off. This often happens when you cannot imagine how your unprotected pieces can be attacked.

Carlsen – Giri

Internet 2020

White to move

White has a fairly wide choice of what we call candidate moves. Candidates are the most appealing moves you can consider playing.

For example, White might pick 25 ♘e3, which improves the placement of his knight. Another candidate is the safety-minded 25 ♗b1, which denies Black his only forcing move, …♘xd3+.

But why does White need safety? All of his pieces are protected except his rooks. And they can’t be attacked, can they?

This led the world champion to play 25 f3. It gave him options such as launching a kingside attack with ♖f2, fxg4 and ♗e2.

But he didn’t look for a threat. He was lost after 25…♘xd3+ 26 ♕xd3 ♕c1+ and 27…♕xb2.

False Security

Carlsen’s sense of security misled him because Black’s pieces seemed too far way. Your feeling of danger can be blunted in another way – when you believe you are making progress. Here is a typical scenario:

You make a threat. Your opponent parries it, by dodging, protecting or retreating. Then you make another threat. You begin to feel you command an initiative. You are the only one capable of forcing moves.

Nakamura – Carlsen

Internet 2020

White to move

Hikaru Nakamaura had been forcing matters for the previous eight moves.

Feeling optimistic, he was unwilling to accept a drawish trade of rooks, 26 ♖xd8+ ♖xd8 27 ♖xd8+ ♕xd8.

Instead, he sought additional forcing moves, 26 ♖d7 and then 26…♖xd7 27 ♖xd7.

Good things can happen after 27…♕e8 28 a4 and better ones after 27…♖h1+ 28 ♔c2. This is the kind of thing that happens when your initiative continues.

Carlsen replied 27…♕b4!.

White to move

Black threatened mate on b2 but also …♕xg4. This forced 28 ♗d4!.

Nakamura still had reason to feel hopeful about his winning chances because there were ways he could win immediately (28…♗xd4?? 29 ♕xc7+ and mates).

On the other hand, he would have no more than a draw after 28…♕e1+ 29 ♔c2 ♕e2+.

When Carlsen replied 28…♗d6, it should have set off an alarm. Why would he retreat when he could make unlimited queen checks?

White to move

Nakamura began to appreciate why. If he moves his attacked bishop, Carlsen would play …♕xg4.

In addition, Nakamura could not play 29 ♕c3 because of 29…♖h1+! 30 ♔c2 ♕a4+ and…♕xd7.

But 29 ♕e4 looked safe.

The truth was revealed by 29…♕a4!. The threats of 30…♕d1 mate and 30…♕xd7 prompted resignation.

Why did White collapse so quickly? The illusion of making progress earlier in the game concealed the dangers that led to 26 ♖d7? and 29 ♕e4??.

Threat Blindness

This illustrates one of the many ironies of chess. The player who can quickly see how to make threats can become myopic when his opponent surprises him with a threat.

Wade – Gligorić

Saltsjöbaden 1952

White to move

White should be feeling very good about his position. He has an extra pawn and a potential mating attack with 36 ♖d2!, threatening 37 ♖d7!.

He preferred 36 ♖f2. Then he could activate his knight. For example, 36…♗g7 37 ♘f5! gets him close to a win.

He didn’t have to worry about 36…♗xh4 because 37 gxh4 would open the g-file for a strong queen or rook check.

Black played the somewhat surprising 36…♕g5.

White to move

White’s advantage looks decisive. He naturally searched for a forcing move.

Instead of the move he intended, 37 ♘f5!, he attacked the queen with 37 ♖f5.

It made tactical sense: 37…♕xg3 38 ♖xf6. But it was a false thread because after 37…♕g7 his rook occupied the best square for his knight.

Nevertheless, he was still winning. His position has been so good that he could retrace his steps with 38 ♖f2! and ♘f5!.

Computers have no problem recommending this. Humans want to make progress. White chose 38 ♘f3 with the idea of ♘d2-c4.

Black to move

White didn’t realize it, but his winning advantage had vanished after 38…♖c6!.

By protecting the bishop, Black threatened 39…♕xg3!. He also set a trap, 39 ♘xe5? ♖c5! and wins.

When your opponent can suddenly make a threat or set a trap, it should warn you that his tactical energy is growing. Here White should have looked for a second threat.

He would have spotted the potential mating attack begun by 39…♕d7! and …♕d1.

White could defend with 39 ♘d2 or 39 ♘e1 and 40 ♘d3. Chances would be roughly even after 39…♕xg3.

But his sense of danger was failing when he stopped the first threat, …♕xg3, with 39 g4.

He needed to refocus after 39…♕d7!.

White to move

White was not prepared to think of the abject defensive steps 40 ♖h5! and 41 ♖h2.

He tried one more forcing move, 40 g5. His idea was 40…hxg5 41 ♖xf6! ♖xf6 42 ♘xg5, when anything can happen.

But he overlooked, 40…♕d1!. He resigned after 41 ♘d4 ♕c1+ in view of 42 ♔a2 ♕d2+ 43 ♔a3 ♗e7+.

Each of White’s earlier moves looked positive, even 38 ♘f3??. This was the problem.

What to Remember

“What does he threaten?” is the first checklist question because threats account for the greatest number of the critical moments of a chess game.

“What is his threat?” is the wrong question because there may be more than one. And you can’t always count on a sense of security because it fails when you feel your opponent’s pieces are too far away or when you are forcing matters and making progress.

When you spot a threat, a good procedure is: First, see if you have a defense. If the answer is yes, look for a second threat. If there is none, you can go back to the first threat and see if there are better ways of meeting it.

Quiz

Let’s elaborate on the themes of this question with quiz positions. The answers can be found beginning on here.

1.

Firouzja – Giri

Internet 2020

Black to move

Black’s 58…♖f2 threatened …♖xf3+. What was wrong with this?

2.

Vaganian – Adorján

Thessaloniki 1984

White to move

Black’s queen is trapped but he is not ready to resign. What should White do?

3.

Santos Latasa – Shirov

Leon 2020

Black to move

Black’s earlier advantage was gone. What was wrong with 45…♗e6 ?

4.

Warmerdam – Eljanov

Wijk aan Zee 2020

Black to move

What did 18…♖c4 threaten?

5.

Adams – Harikrishna

Biel 2020

White to move

White averted …♕xd3 with 40 d4. Was this wrong?

6.

Saduakassova – Smirnov

Wijk aan Zee 2020

White to move

What should White do?

Chapter Two:

What Are The Tactical Ideas?

If the answer to “What does he threaten?” is “Nothing,” this is good news. But it usually means you will have a harder time choosing your next move.

It will be harder because you are freed to consider more candidate moves.

The task of evaluating them begins with tactics. Whether you are a Petrosian fan or a would-be Tal, you are likely to look first at any move that threatens mate or gives check.

Carlsen – Xiong

Internet 2020

Black to move

Magnus Carlsen’s last move, 34 g4, threatened the Black rook. Rather than move it to g5 or take on e5, Black chose 34…♖f3.

A natural reply is 35 ♔g2 – natural because it threatens the rook again. But Carlsen instantly replied 35 g5!.

He knew the game was over because of checkmate (36 ♖h4 or 36 ♖cc8 and 37 ♖h8).

If the enemy king is not a factor, the best tactic is one that attacks two undefended pieces at once. The more pieces your opponent leaves unguarded, the more likely that you have a chance for a winning double attack.

There are uncounted examples of this at the lowest levels of competitive chess. Here is one at the highest.

Caruana – Nakamura

Internet 2020

White to move

In a lost endgame, White played 41 ♘xd6?.

When an experienced player examines a position, he looks for unprotected pieces. Good tacticians have trained themselves to do this subconsciously.

The better the tactician, the quicker he will find a double attack.

It only took Black seconds to prompt resignation with 41…♖f6!.

Quick Sight

It took him only seconds because of his “quick sight.” This is a rapid awareness of where the unprotected pieces are and how they can be attacked.

Hellers – Bareev

Gausdal 1986

1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 ♘c3 ♘f6 4 ♗g5 ♗e7 5 e5 ♘fd7 6 h4 h6 7 ♗e3 c5 8 ♕g4 g6 9 ♘f3 ♘c6 10 dxc5 ♘xc5 11 0-0-0 a6 12 ♗xc5 ♗xc5 13 ♘e4 ♗e7 14 ♕f4 b5 15 ♘d6+ ♗xd6 16 exd6 ♖a7

White to move

Black anticipated ♘e5/♕xf7 mate with his last move. But it served as an unintended hint for 17 ♘d4!.

White threatens Black’s unprotected knight. The second and more important point of 17 ♘d4 is that the unprotected Black rooks would be forked after 17…♘xd4 18 ♕xd4. Or after 17…♗d7 18 ♘xc6 ♗xc6 19 ♕d4.

Black tried the desperate 17…♔d7 but resigned after 18 ♗xb5! axb5 19 ♕xf7+ in view of 19…♔xd6 20 ♘xb5+ and ♘xa7.

Quick sight is a way of speed-reading the position. You can train yourself to do it by examining each new position you see and finding the pieces that are unprotected. Then see if those pieces can be attacked. Once you feel comfortable doing that you may find you do it subconsciously.

Pattern Recognition

If there are few or no unprotected enemy pieces, you have to search for a tactical shot. The search is easier if the position contains a tactical pattern.

Aronian – Nepomniachtchi

Internet 2020

Black to move

White has prepared 40 ♖f6. Black quickly played the winning 39…♕d5!.

The rook on f3 is attacked and cannot be defended (40 ♔g2 g4). Once it moves, 40…♖a1! sets up mate on h1.

One of the myths of chess is that it takes imagination to find tactics. Not true.

Recognizing tactical patterns is one of the very few skills that can come from rote learning – that is, repetition and memorization.

Memorization is possible because only a few pieces and pawns make up a pattern. In the last example, the pattern consisted of the Black queen at d5 and rook a1, the White king at h2 and the pawns at f2 and g3. Once Black recognized that there was a mate on h1 he just had to make sure the other White pieces did not prevent the mate.

In the pre-Internet days, diligent players would collect quiz-like positions to drill themselves over and over, to see what patterns they remembered. The father of the Polgar sisters regularly challenged his daughters with some 200,000 diagrams, many of them cut out of magazines he had collected.

Today you don’t need a pair of scissors for this kind of training. There are quiz positions on various Web sites and in many books to train you. It can be a form of daily exercise. Even when Vishy Anand was world champion he tested himself on half a dozen quiz diagrams each day.

Combination Patterns

Tactics are the building blocks of combinations. It should not be a surprise, therefore, that most combinations are based on patterns.

Nguyen – Samadashvili

St. Louis 2020

Black to move

Black can reason her way to finding the best move. But recognizing a basic pattern is faster: 1…♘f3+! wins.

We call it “recognizing” – in the original sense of “to recognize,” to recall to mind. Once Black recalled the pattern, the hardest part was over.

As combinations go, the main line was relatively simple to work out, 2 gxf3 ♕g5+ 3 ♔h1 ♕h5 and …♗xf3+ (4.e4 ♗c7).

The only side line to calculate is 2 ♔h1, which allows 2…♕d6! 3 gxf3 ♗c7! and mates.

Students may feel overwhelmed by the number of patterns that can be committed to memory. But you don’t need to know them all. A pioneering program, Hitech, played at 2100 strength. Then it was “taught” 40 basic tactical patterns and gained 200 points to become a strong master.

What students should be surprised by is how few original combinations there are. The combinations that grandmasters play today – and have played for decades – are usually variations on familiar themes. The masters’ greatest task is recognizing a pattern of four or five pieces that is hidden amid many extraneous pieces and pawns.

Uhlmann – Smyslov

Moscow 1956

Black to move

No pattern is evident. But imagine that the d4-knight was gone and the caption read, “Black to move and win.”

Then most experienced players would see 15…♗xf2+!.

The main line is one of the oldest tactical patterns, using just queen and knight checks – 16 ♔xf2 ♘g4+ 17 ♔g1 ♕e3+ 18 ♔h1 ♘f2+.

There is even a mating pattern at the end: 19 ♔g1 ♘h3+! is better than 19…♘xd1+ because of the smothered mate 20 ♔h1 ♕g1+! 21 ♖xg1 ♘f2.

Once Black recognized the pattern of queen and knight checks, he realized he needed to get rid of the knight in the diagram.

Armed with those clues he found 15…♘c2! based on 16 ♕xc2 ♗xf2+ 17 ♔xf2 ♘g4+. Or 17 ♔h1 ♗xe1 18 ♖xe1 d4!.

Of course, the more patterns you know, the greater your tactical armory. The Deep Blue program that defeated Garry Kasparov in 1997 “knew” several times the patterns that Hitech did two decades before. But to compete with masters you need to know only a fraction of that.

Opened Line

If there is no detectable pattern, a tactical opportunity will leave clues in the position for you to find. One is the opening of a diagonal, rank or file. When a line is cleared of obstacles, a good tactician’s eyes light up.

Ivanchuk – Seirawan

Groningen 1997

White to move

Black has only one active piece, his rook. But it can become dangerous after 29 ♕b1 ♕a7! and …♖a1/…♘e5.

White took what seemed like a natural precaution. He safeguarded his first rank with 29 ♗f1.

What he overlooked was this exposed his second rank after 29…d5!.

The threat of 30…♕xh2 mate conferred on Black a big advantage, e.g. 30 ♗f2? ♕f4, and wins (31 ♕e1 ♘e5 and …♘f3+).

Note how innocuous 29 ♗f1?? looked before 29…d5. This is often the case with moves that fatally open a toxic line. Here is how two of the world’s best players overlooked this factor.

Nakamura – Carlsen

Internet 2020

White to move

Nakamura’s 12 f4 was a typical Sicilian Defense idea. He prepared 13 e5, so that 13…dxe5 would allow 14 ♗xh7+ and 15 ♖xd8.

Carlsen answered 12…e5, a typical defense in similar positions.

Only after the game did they realize they had both blundered. Black could have won material with 12…♗xe3+! 13 ♕xe3 ♘g4!.

White’s queen must abandon the opened a7-g1 diagonal and allow 14…♕a7+ and 15…♘e3!.

Double Edged

Only Black could benefit from the opened diagonal in the last example. But when lines are cleared they often provide opportunities for both players.

Groszpeter – Tal

Sochi 1984

Black to move