Вы находитесь на странице: 1из 257

CH ESS

F U ND A M E NT A L S

BY

JO S E R C A P A B L A NC A
.

CHESS CHAM PION OF THE WORLD

NE W Y OR K
HAR COURT B RA CE
,
AND COM PANY
L O ND ON : G . BELL AND S ON S ,
LT D .
CO PY RI GHT , 1 9 2 1 , BY

H AR C O U R T , BRACE A ND CO M P ANY , INC .

All rig h t s rese rve d . No p ar t of t his b o ok m ay b e re pro duc e d in a ny fo rm , by

PRINTED IN THE U . S . A .
PR E F A C E

CIzess F und a m entals was fi rst pu b lishe d thirteen y ears


ago S in ce then there have appeared at differen t times
.

a n u mber o f articles dealin g with the so called Hyper -

modern Theory Those who have read the articles


.

may well have thou ght that something new o f vital ,

importance had been discovered The fact is that the


,
.

Hypermodern Theory is merely the application du r in g ,

the open ing stages gen erally o f the same o ld pr inciples


,

thr ou gh the medium o f somewhat new tactics There .

h as been no change in the fun damen tals The change .

has been only a change o f form and not always for the
,

best at that .

In chess the tactics may chan g e b ut the strateg ic


fundamental principles are always the same s o that ,

Ch ess Fu nda m en t als is as g ood now as it was thir teen


years ago It will b e as good a hun dred years fr om now ;
.

as lon g in fact as the laws an d rules of the g ame remain


what they are at present The r eader may therefore
.

g o over the contents o f the book with the assurance


that there is in it everyth in g he needs an d that there,

is nothin g to b e added an d nothing to b e chan g ed .

Ch ess F u nd a m ent als was the o n e stan dard work of its


kind thirteen years ago an d the author fi rmly believes
that it is the o ne standard work o f i ts kin d now .

J
. R . C AP AB LAN CA

New Yor k
S ep t . 1 , 1 934
L IS T O F C O NT E NT S

PART 1

C HA PT E R I

FIR ST PRINCIPLE S : E NDING S , M ID D L E -


G AME AND O PE NING S

S O M E S IM P L E M A T E S .

PAWN PR O M O TIO N
PAWN END I N G S
SO M E WINNI N G P O S ITIO N S IN THE M IDD L E G A M E -

RE LA TIVE VAL UE O F THE PIECE S


G ENE RAL S T RA T EG Y O F THE O PENING
C O N T R O L O E TH E C E N T R E
T RAP S

C HA PT E R II
F U
R TH E R P RIN CIPLE S IN E ND -
G AM E P LA Y
A CARDIN A L PRIN CIP L E
A C LA S SIC AL E NDIN G
O B T AINI NG A P A S S ED P A WN
HO W To FIN D O U T WHI CH PA WN WI L L BE THE F RST
I

ToQ UE EN
THE O PP O S I TI O N
N
.

THE R E L A T IVE VA L UE O F K IG H T AND BI S H O P


H O W To M A T E WI T H KNI G H T A ND BIS H O P .

Q UE E N A G AIN ST R OO K

C HAPTE R III

PLANNI NG A WIN IN M ID D L EG AME P LA Y


-

ATT A C KI N G WITH o U T THE AID o r K NI G H TS .

ATTACKIN G WITH KNI GHTS A s A PR O MINE N T F O R CE .

WINNING B Y IND IRE CT ATTA CK


LI ST O F C ON TENT S

C HA PT ER IV

G ENE RA L THE O RY

THE I NI TIA TI VE
D IRE C T A TTA C K S EN M A S SE
TH E F O R C E O F TH E TH R E A T E N E D A TTA CK
R E LI N Q UI S HI NG TH E INI TIA TI VE
C U TTING O FF PI ECE S F R O M TH E S CENE O F AC TI O N
A PLAY ER s M O TIVE S CRI TICI S ED IN A S PE CIM EN G A M E

C HAP TE R V

END -
GAM E S TRAT EG Y

THE S U EN
DD A CK FR OM A D IFFE RENT SID E
A TT .

THE D ANGE R O F A S AF E P O S ITI O N


END IN G S WI TH O NE R OOK AND PA WN S .

A D IFFIC UL T END ING T WO R OO K S AND PA WN S


:

R OO K BI S H O P A ND PA WN S v R OO K KNI G H T AND PA WN S
,
.
,

( A F i nal E xam ple o f p re se rvin g Fre e do m Whil s t


i m pos i ng re s t ra in t ) .

CH APTER VI

F URTHE R O PENI NG S AND M IDD LE- G AME S

SO M E S A LIE N T POIN TS AB O U T PAWN S


SO ME P O SS IB L E D E V E L O PM EN T S F R O M A R UY L O PEZ
( Sh o wi ng t h e we ak ne ss o f a b a c kw ard Q B P ; t h e
p o w e r o f a P awn a t K 5 e t c ), .

THE INF L U E N CE O F A H O LE
“ ”
.
LI ST O F C O N TEN TS
P ART II
ILLU S TRATIVE G AM E S
G AM E
Q UE EN S G AMB IT ECLINED ( M A TCH

1 . D ,

Wh i t e : F J M a r s h all B la c k : J R C ap a bl anca
. . . . . .

Q UE EN S G AM B IT D E CLINED ( SAN S EB A ST IAN



2 .
,

Whi te : A K R u bins t e in B la c k : J R C a pa blanca


. . . . . .

3 . IRR EG ULAR D E F E N C E ( HA VAN A 1 9 1 3 ) ,

Whi t e : D J ano wski B la ck : J R C a p ab lanc a


. . . . .

4 . FR EN CH D E FEN C E ( ST PE T ER S B UR G 1 9 1 3 ) .
,

Wh it e z J R Ca pab lan a B la c k : E A Sno s k O B o ro vs ki


. . . . .
-
.

5 . R UY L OP E Z ( ST P E T E R S B UR G 1 9 1 4 ) .
,

Whit e : D r E La s ke r B la c k : J R C ap abla nca


. . . . . .

6 . F RE N CH D E FEN CE ( R IC E M EM OR IAL T O UR NAM ENT 1 9 1 6 ) ,

Whi te : 0 C h aj e s B l a c k : J R C a p a b la nc a
. . . . .

7 . R UY LO PEZ ( SAN S EB A ST IAN 1 9 1 1 ) ,

Whi t e : J R C a pa blanc a B la c k : A B u rn
. . . . .

8 . CENTRE G AM E ( BERLIN 1 9 1 3 ) ,

White : J M ie se s B la c k : J R C a p ablanc a
. . . . .

Q UE EN S G AM B IT D E CLINED ( B E RLIN

9 .
,

Wh i te : J R C apa blanc a B la ck : R Te i chmann


. . . . .

Io . PET R O FF D E F E N C E ( S T P E T E R S B U R G 1 9 1 4 ) .
,

Whit e : J R C a pa b lanc a B la c k : F J M ars h all


. . . . . .

II. R UY LO PE Z ( ST PET E R S B UR G 1 9 1 4 ) .
,

White : J R C ap a b lan c a B lac k : D J ano wski


. . . . .

12 . FRE N CH D EF E NCE ( NE W Y O RK ,

Whi t e : J R C a p ablan ca B l a c k : 0 C h aj e s
. . . . .

13 . R UY L OPEZ ( NEW Y O RK 1 9 1 8 ) ,

Whit e : J S M o rr iso n B lac k : J R Ca pab l an ca


. . . . . .

14 .
Q UE E N’
S G AM B IT D E CL IN E D ( NE W Y O RK ,

Whit e : F J M arsh all B l ac k : J R C a pa b lanc a


. . . . . .
C H ESS FU ND A M ENT A LS

PA R T I

C HAP TER I
F IR ST P R INCIP LE S : END INGS , M ID D LE GAM E
-

AND OP E NING S
T H E fi rstthing a student Should do is to familiarise ,

himself With the power O f the pieces This can .

b est be done b y learning how to accomplish qui ckly


some o f the simple mates .

1
. S O M E S IM P LE M AT E S

Exam fle 1 . The en din g Roo k and Kin g aga inst

Th e principle is to dr ive t h e o pp os ing King t o t he


las t line a ny s ide o f t he board .
4 S OME S IM P L E MATE S
In t h i s position the po wer o f the Rook is demon
s t ra t e d by the fi rst move R R 7 whi ch immediately , ,

confin es the Black Kin g t o the last rank and the ,

mate is quickly accomplished b y : I R R 7 ,

K — Kt I ; 2 K — Kt 2 .

The combined action O f King and Roo k is


need ed t o arrive at a position in which mate can be
forced The general principle for a b eginner t o
.

foll ow is to
k ee p h is K ing as mu ch as p os s ible on th e s am e

r ank , or , a s in t h is ca s e , fi le ,
as t h e opp os ing K ing .

When in this case the King has been brought t o


, ,

the Sixth rank it is better t o place it not o n the same


, ,

fil e b ut o n the o ne next t o it towards the centre


, .

—B I ; 3 K — B 3 K — K I ; 4 K — K , 4,
K — I
Q ; 5 K — — —
Q 5 K B I; 6 K Q 6
, .

o —
N t K B 6 b ecause then the Black Kin g w ill
,

go b ack to Q I and it will take much longer to mate .

If no w the King moves back t o Q I R R 8 mates ,

at once .

— Kt I ; 7 R — Q B 7 K — R I ; 8 K — B 6 , ,

K — K t I ; 9 K — Kt 6 K — R 1 ; I O R — B 8 mate ,
.

It has taken exactly ten moves to mate from the


ori g inal position O n move 5 Black could have played
.

K K I and accor ding to prin ciple Wh ite would


, , ,

have c ontinued 6 K Q 6 K B I ( the Black King ,

will ultimately b e forced to move in front O f t h e Wh i te


Kin g and b e mated b y R R —
7 K
— K 6 ,

K — K t I ; 8 K — B 6 K — R I ; 9 K — Kt 6 , ,

K — Kt 1 ; I O R — R 8 mate .
S O M E S IM P L E MATE S 5
Exam fl e 2 .

S ince the Black Kin g is in the centre o f the b oard ,

the b est way to proceed is to advance your o wn Kin g


— —
thus : I K K 2 K Q 4 ; 2 K K 3 As the,
— .

Rook has not yet come into play it is better to ,

a dva n ce t h e King straight into the centre o f the board


not in front b u t to o ne si de O f the other King S ho ul d


,
.

now the Black King move to K 4 the Rook drives ,

it back by R — R 5 ch On the other hand if 2


.
, .

K — B 5 instead then also 3 R


,
— R 5 If no w
.

K — K t 5 there foll ows 4 K


,
— Q 3 ; but if instead
— B 6
; then 4 R
— R 4 keeping the Kin g
,

confined to as few squares as possible .

Now the endin g may continue : 4 K — B 7;


. .

R — B ch K — K t 6 6 K — Q K — K t 7;
5 4 , ; 3 ,

R — K t ch K — R 6 8 K — B K — R 7 It
7 4 , ; 3 ,
.

shoul d b e noticed how O f ten the Wh ite King has moved


next to the Ro ok no t only to defend it b ut also to
, ,

reduce the mo b ili ty o f the O pposin g Kin g No w .


6 S OME S IM P L E MATE S
Wh ite mates in three moves thus : 9 R — R 4 ch ,

K — Kt 8 ; I O R — any square o n the Rook s fil e ’


,

forcin g the B lack Kin g in front o f the White K B 8 ; ,

I I R R I mate It has taken eleven moves to mate


.
,

and un der any conditions I believe it Shoul d b e done


, ,

in under twenty Wh ile it may be monoto nous it


.
,

is worth while for the beginner to p r actice such


things as it will teach h im the proper handl ing o f
,

his pieces .

Exam m3 e . No w we come to two Bishops an d


Kin g against King .

S ince
the Black King is in the corner can ,

play I B — Q 3 K — Kt 2 ; 2 B — K Kt 5 K — B 2 ;
, ,

3 B B 5 and already the Black King is confi ned


,

to a few squares If the Black King in the original


.
,

position had b een in the centre o f the b oar d or away


, ,

from the last row Wh ite should have advan ced his
,

King and then wi th the aid of his Bishops restricte d


, , ,
SO M E S IM P L E MA TE S 7

the Blac k Kin g s movements to as few squa res as


possible .

We might now continue : 3 K Kt 2 ; 4 K — B 2 . . .

In this ending the Black King must not o n ly b e driven


to the ed g e Of the boa rd but he must also b e fo r ced ,

into a corner a nd before a mate can be g iven the


, , ,

White King must be brought to the Sixth r ank and ,

at the same time in o ne o f the last two files ; in this


,

c a s e e it h e r K R 6, K Kt 6 , K B 7 , K B 8 , a nd a s KR 6
and K Kt 6 are the nearest squares it is to eithe r O f ,

these squares that the King ought t o go 4 K . . .

B K — Kt , K — Kt 2 ; 6 K — R 4 , K — B
2 ; 5 3 2 ;
7 K — R 5, K — Kt 2 ; 8 B — Kt 6 , K — Kt I ;
9 K R B I White must no w mark time and
6, K .

move o ne O f the Bishops SO a s to force the Black ,

King o g
t o back ; To B — R 5 K —K t I ; I I B — K 7 , ,

K R I NO W the White Bi s hop must take up a


.

position from which it can give check next move


alon g the White diagonal when the Black King ,

moves back to Kt I I 2 B K Kt 4 — K — Kt 1 ;
.
,

I 3 B — K 6 ch K — R I ; I 4 B — B 6 mate
,
.

It h a s take n fo u r teen move s to fo r ce the mate


and in a ny po s itio n it sho ul d be do n e in under
, ,

In all endings o f this kind care must be taken ,

not to drift into a s tale mate .

In thi s particul ar ending one Sho ul d remember that


the King must no t only be d riven t o the edge Of the
board but also into a corne r In all such en dings
,
.
,

however it is immaterial Whether the King is forced


,
8 S O M E S IM P LE MATE S
on to the last rank ,
or to an outside file , e .
g . KR 5
OI Q R 4, K I OI Q 8 .

Exam pl e 4 We now come t o Queen and King


.

again st King As the Queen combines the powe r o f


.

the Ro ok and the Bishop it is the easiest mate Of a ll ,

and Sho ul d always b e accomplished in under ten moves .

Take the following position :

A good way t o b e g in is t o make the fi rst move with


the Queen t rying to limit the B lack King s mobility
,

as much as pos s ible Thus : I Q B — 6 K — Q 5;


.
,

2 K Q 2 Al ready
. the Black King has o n ly o ne

availab le square — K 4; 3 K — K 3 K — B 4; ,

4 Q Q 6 K Kt 4 ( S hould Black play K Kt 5


, .
,

— —
then Q Kt 6 ch ) ; 5 Q K 6 K R 5 ( if —
,

K R 4 K — B 4 and mate next move ) ;


,

6 Q — K Kt 6 K — R 6; 7 K
,
— B 3 K moves ; ,

8 Q mates .

In this en ding as in the case Of the Roo k the Black


, ,

King must be forced t o the edge Of the board ; only


Io P AWN P R O M OT I O N
The position is drawn and the way to proceed i s ,

for Black to keep the King always directly in front


o f the Pawn and w hen it ca nnot be done
, as for in ,

stance in this position because of the White King ,

then the Black King must be kept in front Of the


White King The play would p roceed thus I P K 3
. : ,

K— K 4 ; 2 K— Q 3 K— Q 4 This is a very,
.

importan t move Any other move would lose as


.
,

will be shown later AS the Black King cannot be


.

kept close up to the Pawn it must be b rought as far ,

forward as possible an d a t the same time in fr ont , ,

o f the White Ki n g .

P —K 4 ch K — K 4 K — K K — K
3 ; 4
, 3 3; ,

K — B 4 K— B Again the ame case A the


5 , 3 s . S .

White King comes up the Black Ki ng must be kept


,

in front o f it since it cannot be brought up to the


,

Pawn .

6 P — K 5 ch K — K 3; 7 K
,
— K 4 K — K 2; ,

8 K —
Q 5 ,
K — Q ; 9
2 P — K 6 ch K — K 2 ; ,

IO K — K 5, K — K I ; II K— Q 6, K — Q I . K no w

White advances the Pawn the Black King g ets in ,

front Of it an d White must either give up the Pawn


o r play K K 6 a n d a stale mate results If instead
,
.

Of advan cing the Pawn White withdraws his Kin g ,

Black b rings his King up to the Pawn and when ,

forced to go b ack he moves to K in front of the Pawn


,

ready to come up again or to move in front o f the


White Kin g as before Should the latter advance
, ,
.

The whole mode Of procedure is very important


and the student should b ecome thoroughly conversant
P AWN P R O M OT I O N II
wi th it s details ; fo r it involves principles to b e taken
up later o n and because many a beginner h a s lost
,

identica l positions from lack o f proper knowledge At .

this sta ge o f the book I cannot lay t o o much stress o n


its importance .

Exam ple 6 In this position Wh ite wins as the


.
,

King is in fro n t o f hi s Pawn and there is one intervening


square .

The method to follow is to


ad va n ce t h e K ing as f a r a s is com p a tible with th e s afety
of t h e P a wn a nd n eve r to ad va n ce t h e P a wn u nt il it is
es s e nt ia l to it s own f
s a e ty .

Thus
I . K— K 4, K —K 3 .

Black does not allow the White King to advance ,

therefore White is now compell ed to advance h is Pawn


S O as to fo r ce Black to move away He is then able .

t o advance his o wn King .

2 P — K 3 K — B 3 ; 3 K — Q 5 K —K 2
.
,
.
,
.
12 P AWN P R O M OT I O N
If Black had played 3 K B 4 then Wh ite would . .
,

be forced to advance the Pawn to K 4 since he could ,

not advance his Kin g without leavin g Black the


Opportunity to play K K 5 winn in g the Pawn , .

S ince he has not done SO it is better for Wh ite not ,

to advance the Pawn yet Since its o wn safety does ,

not r equire it but to try to b ring the King still fur


,

ther forward Thus : .

4 . K — K 5, K —Q 2 ; 5 . K — B 6, K — K I .

N ow the White Pawn is t o o far back and it may b e


b rought up within protection of the Kin g .

6 P — K 4 K —Q 2 .
,
.

N ow it would not do to play K — B 7 , b ecause


Black would play K Q 3 and , White would h ave
to b ring back his King to protect the Pawn . Th ere
fore he must continue .

7 . P — K 5, K — K 1 .

Had he moved any where else White could have played ,

K B 7 followed b y the advance Of the Pawn to


,

K 6 K 7 K 8 ; all these squares being protecte d b y


, ,

the King AS Black tries to prevent that White must


.
,

now force him to move away at the same time always ,

keeping the King in front Of the Pawn Th us .

8 . K— K 6 .

P K would make it a d r aw as Black would then


6 ,

play K B and we would have a position Similar


,

to t h e one explained in connection with Example 5 .

—B I ; 9 K
—Q 7 .
P AWN E NDIN G S 13

Kin g moves and the Whi te Pawn advances to K 8 ,

b ecomes a Queen and it is all over


,
.

This ending is like the p revio us o ne and for the ,

same reaso n s shoul d be tho r oug hly understood before


proceedin g any further .

3 . PAWN ING S EN D

I shall now give a couple o f S imple e n dings of two


Pawns against o ne o r th ree against two that the
, ,

reader may se e h o w they ca n be w o n F ewer explan a


.

tions Will be given as it is up t o the studen t to wo r k


,

thin g s o u t fo r himself F urthermo r e nobody can


.
,

learn h o w t o play we ll me r ely fro m the study Of a


book ; it can only serve a s a guide a n d the rest must
be done by the teacher if the studen t h a s o n e ; if
,

no t
,
the stude n t must realise by lo n g and bitter ex
p e rie n c e the practical application of the many things
explained in the b ook .

Exam pl e 7 .
I4 PAWN END IN G S

In th i s position W h i te cannot w in b y p la yin g


I P — B 6 b ecause Black plays
,
no t P X P which , ,

woul d lose b ut I,
K — K t I and i f then 2 P x P
. .
, ,

K x P an d draws as shown in a previous case If


, , .

2 P — B 7 ch K B I and Wh ite will never b e


,
-
,

able to Queen his Pawn without losing it If .

2 K— K 7 P X P ; 3 K X P K — B I and draws
, , , .

White however can win the position given in the


, ,

diagram b y playing
I K—Q 7, K — Kt I ; 2 K — K 7, K —R I ;
3 P
-
Kt I ; 4 P — B 7 ch ,

K — R I ; 5 P — B 8 ( Q) mate .

4 K
— B 7, P — B 4; 5 P — Kt 7 ch , K — R 2 ;
6 P — Kt 8 ( Q) ch , K — R 3; 7 Q — Kt 6 mate .

E xam pl e 8 In the above position White can t win


.

by I P B 5 Black s best answer would be P Kt 3


.

dr aws.
( The studen t Should work this o u t ) He .

— —
cannot win by I P K t 5 because P K t 3 draws .
,

( This b ecause o f the principle o f the opp os ition


“ ”
,
P AWN END ING S 15

which g overns t his ending as well as all the Pawn


endings a lready given and which will be explained
,

more fully later on ) .

W hite can win howeve r by playing :


,
I K — K 4 , ,

K — K 3 ( If
.
— K t 3; 2 K — Q 4 K — K 3; ,

s K — B s K — B 3 ; 4 K,
— Q 6 K — B Z ; 5 P — K t 5 , ,

K — Kt 2 ; 6 K — K 7 K — K t I ; 7 K — B 6 , ,

K — R 2 ; 8 K — B 7 and White wins the Pawn ) .

2 P — B 5 ch K — B 3 ; 3 K — B 4 P — Kt 3
, ,
.

( If this Pawn is kept b ack we arrive at the end ing


shown in E xample 4 P
— K t 5 ch , K — B 2 ;

5 P — B 6 ,
K — K 3; 6 K —K 4 ,
K — B 2 ; 7 K — K 5,
K—B I White cannot force his Bishop s Pawn

.

into Q (find o u t why) b ut b y giving hi s Pawn up he


,

can win the other Pawn and the game Thus : .

8 P — B 6, K — —Q
B I ; IO K — K 6,
K — Kt 2 ; — — —
I I K K 7 , K Kt I ; I 2 K B 6 ,
K— R 2 ; 13 K B 7, K — R I ; 14 K x P,
K Kt I .

There is still some resistance in Black s position ’


.

In fact the o nl y way to win is the o ne given here


, ,

as will easily be see n by experiment .

1 5 K — R 6 ( if K — B 6 K — R 2 ; and in order ,

to win White must get back to the actual position ,

as against 1 6 P — Kt 6 ch K R I draws ) K — R I ; ,
-
,

I6 P — Kt 6, K — Kt I ; I 7 P — Kt 7 , K— B 2 ;
I8 K— R 7, and Whi te queens t he Pawn and
wins .

This endin g apparently so Simple sho ul d show the


, ,

student the enormous diffi cul ties to b e surmounted ,


I6 P AWN END IN GS

even when there are hardly any pieces left when ,

playin g against an adve r sary who knows how to u se


the resour ces at his disposal and it should Show the ,

student also the necessity o f paying strict attention


, ,

to these elemen tary things which form the b asis Of


true mastership in Chess .

Exam pl e 9 . In this endin g

can win by advancin g any o f the three Pawns


o n the fi rst move but it is convenient to follow the
,

general rule whenever there is no good reason against


,

it o f advancing th e P awn t h a t has no P awn opposing


,

it
. T hus we b e g in b y
I . P — B 5, K — K 2 .

If P Kt 3 P B 6 ; and we have a Similar ending


,

to o ne o f those Shown above If 1 P — R 3 ; 2 . . .

P — Kt 5 .

2 . K — K 5, K
—B 2 ; 3 . P — Kt 5 K — K ,
2 .
18 P AWN E ND IN GS

It is g enerally advisa b le to advance the Pawn th at is


free from opposition .

I . P — Q R 4 .

Black makes an advance o n the other side ,


and now
Whi te conside r s whether o r not he Should stop the
advance In this case either way wins but
.
,
generally
the advance should b e stopped when the opposin g
King is far away .

2 . P— Q R 4 , K —B 3 ; 3 P — R 4 , K .
—K 3 .

If 3 K Kt 3 then Simple countin g will Show that


. .
,

White g oes to the other Side with his King wins the ,

P at Q R 4 a nd the n Queens his Sin gle Pawn long


,

b efore Black can do the same .

4 P
.
— Kt 5 K — B ,
2 ; 5
. K — B 5, K — Kt 2 ;
6 . P — R 5 K — B 2 , .

If R 3; 7 6 and then the two


-
P — Kt ,

Pawns defend themselves and Wh ite can g o to the


other Side with his Kin g t o win the other Pawn ,
.

K — K 5
7 . .

N ow it is time to go to the other s id e wi th the King ,

win the Black Pawn and Queen t h e single Pawn .

This is typical o f all such endings and should b e worked


out by the student in this case and in Similar cases
which he can put up ,
S O M E WINNING POS I T I O N S 19

4 . S OM E WINNING P O SITIO N S IN T HE M I DDLE


GAM E

By the tim e the student has dig ested all that has
b een previously explained he no d o ubt is anx ious
, , ,

to get to the actual game and play with all the pieces .

However before considering the Ope n ings we Shall


, ,

devote a little time to some comb inatio ns that often


a rise durin g the game and which will give the reader
,

some idea o f the beauty o f the game once he b ecomes ,

b etter acquainted with it .

Exam pl e 11 .

It is Black s move a n d thinkin g that White merely



,

th reatens to play Q R 6 a n d to mate at K Kt 7 ,

Black plays I R K I th reaten ing mate by way


. .
,

Of R K 8 White now uncovers hi s real and most


.

e ff ective thr eat viz ,

— K I ; 2 Q >< P ch K X Q ; 3 R — R 3 ch , ,

K — K t I ; 4 R — R 8 mate .
20 S O M E WINNING POS IT I O N S
This same typ e o f combination may come as the
result o f a somewhat more complicated position .

is a piece b ehin d and un less he can


,

b ack quickl y he will lose ; he therefore plays


I . Kt t B — Kt 4

He cannot take the Kt b ecause White threatens mate


by Q X P ch followed b y R — R 3 ch .

2 . Kt — K 7 e h Q X Kt

Ag ain i f B X Kt ; Q >< P ch , K X Q ; R —R 3 ch ,

King moves ; R —R 8 mate .

3 R xQ E x R

4 ~

Q Q 7
and White wins o ne o f the two Bish ops remains ,

with a Q and a B against a R and B and Should ,

therefore win eas ily These two examples Show the


.
IN T HE MIDDL E GAM E -
21

danger o f advancing the K Kt P one square afte r


,

havin g Castled o n that Side .

This is another ve ry interesting typ e O f combina


tion Black has a R fo r a Kt and Shoul d therefore
.

win unless White is able to Obtain some compensa


,

tion immediately Wh ite in fact mates in a few


.
, ,

moves thus :
I . Kt — B 6 ch P X Kt

F orced , otherwise Q X P mates .

Q Kt 3 ch K RI
3 . B X P mate .

Exam pl e 14 The same type o f combinat i on o c


.

curs in a more complicated form in the foll owin g


.

position .
22 S O ME WINNIN G POS I T I O N S

I . B
Kt X QXB .

If B
. x Kt ; Q B 3 th reaten s mate an d th ere ,

fore the Q which is al ready attacked


,
.

2 Kt
. B 6 ch P X Kt
-

R — K t 3 ch K— R I
3 .

4 . B X P m at e .

Exam fle 15 A very frequent type O f combin a


.

tion is shown in the followin g position .


IN T H E D —
MI DLE GAM E 23

Here Wh ite is the exchange and a Pawn b ehind ,

b ut he can win quickly thus : I B x P ch K x B , .

( If — R I ; 2 Q — K R P — K Kt 3 ;
5 ,

3 Q — R 6 and wins
, ) .

2 Q — R 5 ch K — K t I ; 3 K t
,
— Kt 5 and Black ,

cann ot stop mate at K R 7 except by sac ri fi cing the


Queen by Q K 5 which wo ul d leave White with a
,

Q for a R .

This same type Of comb ination is


16 .

seen in a more complica ted form in the following


position
.

proceeds as follows : I Kt Kt ch ( this


clears the line fo r the B ) ; B x Kt ( to stop the Kt
from moving to Kt 5 after the sacrifi ce Of the B ) ;
2 R X B K t X R b est ; 3 E X P ch K X B
, ( If ,
.

—R I ; 4 Q — R 5, P — K K t 3 5
; B X P c h ,

K —Kt 2 ; 6 Q — R 7 ch , K — B 3 ; 7 P — K t 5 ch ,
K —K 3 ; 8 B >< P ch , R X B ; 9 Q — K 4 mate )

.

4 Q R 5 ch K — Kt I , ; 5 Kt — Kt 5, R —B I ;
24 RE LAT IVE VAL UE OF T HE P IE CE S
6 Q — R 7 ch K — B I ; 7 Q — R 8 ch Kt — Kt I
, ,

8 Kt — R 7 ch K — K 2 ; 9 R
,
— K I ch K Q 1; ,
-

I O Q x Kt mate .

This combination is rather long and has many vari


a t io ns therefo r e a begi nner will hardly be able to
,

fathom it ; but knowing the type o f combi nation


, ,

he might under similar circumstances u n dertake and


carry o u t a b r illiant attack which he would otherwise
never think Of It will be seen that all the comb ina
.

tions Shown have for a foundation the proper co ordi -

natio n of the pieces which have all b een b rought to


,

b ear against a weak point .

5 . I
R ELA T VE VA L UE O F T HE P IE CE S
Be fore going o n to the general principles o f the
openings it is advisable to give the student an idea
,

o f the proper relative value Of the p l e c e s Th ere is .

no complete and accurate table fo r all Of them and ,

the only thin g to do is to compare the pieces se p


a r a t e ly .

F or general theoretical purposes the Bish op and


a ll

the Knight have to b e considered as O f the same value ,

though it is my Opinion that the Bishop will prove the


mo re valuable piece in most cases ; and it is well known
that two Bishops are almost always better than two
Knights .

T h e Bishop will b e stronger against Pawns than


the Kn ight and in comb ination with Pawns will also
,

b e stron g er a g ai nst the Rook than the Knight


26 G ENERAL S T RATE GY
Exam ple 17 . S uppose we b eg in
I . P — K 4 P— K 4
2 . Kt — K B 3

This is b oth an attacking and a developin g move .

Black can now eithe r reply with the identical move o r


Play
Kt Q B 3

Th is d evelopin g move at the same time de fen d s


the King s Pawn ’
.

3 . Kt B 3 Kt B 3

These moves are Of a purely developing nature .

4 . B Kt 5

I t is genera lly advisa ble not t o br ing this B is h op


ou t u ntil on e Knigh t is ou t , preferably the King s

Knight The B ishop could also have been played


.

to B 4 b ut it is advisable whenever possible to combine


,

development and attack .

4 . B — Kt 5

B lack replies in the same manner threatenin g a pos ,

sible exchange o f Bishop fo r Knight with Kt P f t o


follow .

5 . 0—0

an in di rect way o f preventin g 5 B X Kt whi ch . .


,

more experience o r study will Show to be bad At .

the same time th e R ook is br ou gh t into a ction in th e


c entr e , a very imp or t ant p oint .
OF THE OP E NING 27

5 O 0
Blac k foll ows the same line o f reasonin g .

6 P Q3 . P Q3
These moves have a two fold object viZ : to pro
-
,
.

t e c t the King s Pawn and to open the di a g onal for the


development o f the Queen s Bishop ’


.

7 . B — Kt 5

A very powerful move which brin gs us to the mi d dle


,

game stage as there is already in view a combin ation


,

to win quickly by K t Q 5 This threat makes it .

impossible fo r Black to cont inue the same co u rse .

(There is a long analysis sho w in g that Black sho ul d


lose if he also plays B Kt He is no w forced t o
play 7 B X Kt as experience has shown thus
. .
, ,

b r inging up to notice three thin gs .

F irst the complete development Of the Open ing


,

has taken o nly seven moves (This varies up to ten .

o r twelve moves in some very exceptional cases As .

a rule eight Sho u ld be enough ) S econd B lack h as


,
.
,
28 C ON T R O L OF T HE CE N TRE
been compelled to exchange a Bishop for a Kn ight ,

but as a compe n sation he has isolated White s Q R P ’

and doubled a Pawn (This at such an early stage o f .


,

the game is rather an advan tage for White as the Pawn


, ,

is doubled towa r ds the centre Of the board ) Thi r d .


,

White by the exchange brings up a Pawn to co n trol


the square Q 4 puts Black o n the defensive as e xpe ri
, ,

ence will Show and thus keeps th e initia tive an un q u e s


, ,

t io n ab le advantage .
1

The st r ategical p r inciples expounded above are the


same fo r all the o penings o n ly their tactical appli ,

cation varies acco r din g t o the circumstances .

Before proceeding further I wish t o lay s tress o n


the following po int which the studen t should bear in
mind .

B ef or e developm ent h a s be en com pl e t e d no piece s h ou ld

be moved m or e t h a n on ce , u nless it is ess en tia l in or de r

to o bt a in e it h er m a ter ia l a dva n t a ge or to s ecu r e fr e edom


f
o ac t ion .

The beginner would do well to remember this as ,

well as what h as already been stated : viz br ing .


,

ou t the K nigh ts bef or e br inging ou t t h e Bis h o ps .

7 . C O NT R O L O F T HE C ENT R E
The four squares K 4 and Q 4 o n each side re spe c
,

t ive ly are the cent r e squares and co n trol O f these


, ,

squar es is call ed control Of the centre The control of .

the c entr e is of gr ea t im p or t a nce N O viole n t attack .

can succeed without co n t rolling at lea s t two O f these


1
Th e u
va l e o f t h e init ia t ive is e xpla ine d in se ct ion 20, p 77 . .
C O N TR O L OF THE C EN TRE 29

squares and possibly three Many a manoeuvre in


,
.

the Opening has for its sole Object the control o f the
centre which invariably e nsures the initiative It is
, .

well always to bear this in min d S ince it will Often be ,

the reaso n Of a series Of moves which could no t other


wise be properly understood As this book progresses .

I shall dwell more f ully o n these different points At .

present I shall devote some time to openings taken


at random a nd explain the moves according to general
principles The stude n t wi ll in that way train h is
.

mind in the proper di rection and will thus have less ,

trouble in fin d ing a way out when confronted with a


new and diffi cul t situation .

K4 I . PP K4
2 Kt KB3 . P Q3
A timid move Black assumes a defen sive attitude
.

at once O n p r in ciple the move is wrong In the


. .

ope nings whe neve r possible pieces s h ould be m oved in


, ,

pr efer enc e t o P a wn s .

Q4 3 P

White takes the Offensive immediately and strives


to control the centre so as to have ample room to
deploy his forces .

3 . Kt Q 2

Black does not wish to relinquish the centre and also



prefe r s the text move to K t Q B 3 which w ould ,

be the more natural square for the Kt But o n prin .


3 9 C ON T RO L O F T HE C ENTRE
c iplethe move is wron g b ecause it blocks the action ,

of the Queen s Bishop and instead of facilitatin g the



,

action Of Black s pieces te nds on the contrary to



, , ,

cramp them .

4 . B — Q B 4 P — K R 3

Black is forced to pay the penalty o f his previous


move S uch a move o n Black s part condemns by
.

itself any form O f Openi ng that makes it necessary .

White th r eatened Kt Kt 5 an d Black could no t stop


it with K 2 because O f 5 P X P K t >< P


-
, ,


( if 6 Q Q 6 Kt t P t ; ,

7 Q R 5 a n d White wins a Pawn and has b esides a


,

perfectly safe po sitio n


5 . Kt — B 3 K Kt — B 3
6 . B— K 3 B— K 2
— K
7 .
Q 2

It shoul d be noticed that White does not Castle yet .

The reason is that he wants to deploy his forces fir st ,

and through the last move force Black to play


P — Q B 3 to make room for the Queen as gWh it e
threatens R Q I to be followed by P X P B l ack s
, .

other alternatives would fi nally force h im to play


P x P thus abando n ing the centre to Wh ite
, .

7 . P— B 3
8 . R — Q I Q —B 2

9 . 0 — 0

With this last move White completes his development ,

while Black is evidently somewhat hampered A Simple .

examination will suffice to Show that White s position ’


C O NT R O L OF T H E CEN TRE 3 :

i s un assailab le There are no weak Spots in his armour


.
,

and his pieces are ready for any manoeuvre that he


may wish to carry out in o rder to b e gin the attack o n
the enemy s p o sition The student Should carefully

.

study this example It will Show him that it is some


.

times co nvenient to delay Castling I have give n the .

moves as they come to my mi n d without following


any standard b ook o n O pe ni ngs Wh ethe r t h e moves.

given by me ag ree or no t with the standa rd works I ,

do not kn ow b ut at the prese n t stage o f this book


,

it is no t conve n ient to enter into discussions Of me r e


technicalities which the student will b e able t o under
stand when he has b ecome more pro fi cient .

I . P -
K 4 P — K 4
Kt — K B 3 P—
2 .
Q 3
3 . P— Q 4 B — Kt 5

A bad move which violates o ne o f the p r in ciples set


,

down accord ing to which at lea s t one Kn ight Shoul d


,

be developed b e fo r e the Bi s hop s are b ro ught o u t a n d ,

also b ecause it exchanges a Bishop for a Kn ight which ,

in the Opening is generally b ad u nless there is some ,

compensation .

4 . P >< P B X Kt

loses a Pawn .

5 .
Q >< B P >< P
B— — B
6 .
QB4 Q 3

I f Kt B 3;

Q Q Kt 3 wins a Pawn .
32 T RAP S

7 .
Q — Q K t 3 P— Q Kt 3
8 . Kt — B 3 P— Q B 3

To prevent Kt Q 5 .

Black h owever has no pieces o u t except his Queen


, , ,

a n d White with a Bishop and a Knight already devel


,

Oped has a chance of Obtai n ing a n advantage quickly


,

by playing Kt Q 5 anyway T he student is left .

to wo rk o u t the many variations ari sing from this


position .

These examples will Show t h e practical application


Of the p r inciples previously enu n ciated The student .

is warned against playing Pawns in preference to pieces


n —
at the beginni g Of the game especially P K R 3 ,

and P Q R 3 which are moves very commonly in


,

d ulg e d in by b eginners .

8 . TR AP S

I shall now give a few positions o r traps to b e avoided


in the ope n i ngs a n d in which ( practice has Shown )
,

b eginners are Often caught .


34 T RAP S
Black havin g the move S houl d play P —K 3 B ut
, , .

suppose he plays Kt K B 3 in stead then comes ,

I . B X P Ch

Kt K 5 would also give W h ite the advanta g e the ,

threat b eing O f course i f B X Q ; 2 B X P mate No r


.

does B R 5 help matters because Of 2 Q x B I


, ,
.

B K 3 leaves Black with the i nferior position But .

White s move in the text secures an immediate material


advanta ge and the b eginn er at any rate should never


,

miss such an oppo rtunity for the sake Of a speculative


a d vantage in position .

I . KxB
2 Kt K 5 ch
. K moves
3 Kt X B .

an d Wh ite has w o n a Pawn b esi des h avin g t h e b etter


position .

There a re a good many other traps in fact there ,

is a book written o n traps o n the chess b oard ; b ut


the type g iven a b ove is the most common Of all .
CHAPTER II
F UR T HE R P RIN C IP LE S m END -
GAM E P LA Y
WE shall now go back to the endings in search O f a
few more principles then again to the middl e game
,
-
,

and finally to the Openings o n ce more SO that the a d ,

vance may no t only be gradual but homogeneous In .

this way the fou ndation o n which we expect to b uild


t h e structure wil l b e fi r m and solid .

9 . A CA R D INAL PRINCIP LE

In thepos i ti on sh own ab ove White can draw b y


,

playin g P Kt 4 accordin g to the g eneral rul e that


governs such cases i e to adva nce th e P a wn th at is
,
. .

free from opp os ition But suppose that Wh ite either


.
,

b ecause he does not know this principle or because he


35
3 6 A CARD INAL P RINCI P L E
does not in this case suffi ciently appreciate the va l ue
, ,

o f its application ; suppose we say that he plays , ,

I P Q R 4 Then Black can win b y playin g I


. .

P Q R 4 applyin g,
one of the cardinal p rinciples of

the high strategy Of chess


A u nit t h a t h olds two .

In this case one Pawn would hold two o f the o p


p o n e n t s Pawns

The student cannot
. lay too much
stress o n this principle It can b e applied in many .

ways and it constitutes o ne o f the prin cipal weapons


,

in the hands Of a master .

Ex am pl e 22 The example given should b e sufh


.

cient proof . We give a f ew moves o f the main vari


ation
I . P R4 P QR4
2 . K Kt 2 K — B 5

( Best ; s e e why ) .

3 . P Kt 4 PXP
( Best ) .

4 . P R5 P Kt 6
5 . P R6 P Kt 7
6 . P— R 7 P — Kt 8 ( Q)
7 . P—R 8 ( Q) —
Q K 5 ch
Qx Q8 . Kx Q
T his b rings the game to a position which is won b y
Black and which constitutes o ne o f the classical
,

endings Of King and Pawns I Shall t ry t o explain the .

g ui din g i dea o f it to those not familiar with it .


CLA SS ICAL E ND IN G 37

10 . A CLA SS I CA L E ND IN G

23 this po s ition Wh ite s b est line


.
-
In

o f defence co n sists in keep ing his Pawn where it stands

at R 2 As soon as the Pawn is advan ced it becomes


.

easier for Black to win On the other hand Black s


.
,

plan to win ( supposing that White does no t advan ce


his Pawn ) may be divided into th r ee parts The first .

part will be to get his King to K R 6 at the same time ,

keeping intact the position o f his Pawns (This is .

all importan t sin ce in order to win the game it is


, , ,

essential at the e nd that Black may be able t o advance


his rearmost Pawn one o r two squa res acco r din g t o
the position of the Wh ite Kin g ) .

I . K — Kt 3 K—K 6 -

2 . K — Kt 2

If 2 K — Kt 4 , K — B 7 ; 3 P — R 4 , P — Kt 3 will
38 A CLA SS ICAL ENDIN G

z K—B 5
3 . K ~
B 2 K — Kt 5
4 K— fi 2 K— R 5

5 K — m 1 K— R 6
part h as b een completed .

The second part will b e short and will consist


advancing the R P up the K .

6 K — R I

7 H— m 1
Th i s en d s the second part .
A CLA S S ICAL E ND IN G 39

The th i rd part will consist in timin g the a dvance of


the Kt P so as to play P Kt 6 when the White
King is at R I It now becomes evident how meces
.

sary it is to be able to move the Kt P either o ne o r


two squares accordin g to the position o f the White
King as indicated p reviously In this case as it is
,
.
1
,

White s move the Pawn will be advanced two squares



,

since the White King will be in the corner but if it ,

were now Black s move the Kt P should only b e a d


va nce d o ne square since the Wh i te Kin g is at


Kt I .

8 . K— R I

9 . K — Kt I
m . K—R I
II . P X P

If K Kt I ,
P — Kt 7 .

12 . K — Kt I
g . K — B 2

and wins .

It is in this an alytical way that the student shoul d


try to learn He will thus train his mind t o follow a
.

logical sequence in reason ing o u t any position Thi s .

example is excelle n t t r aining since it is easy to divide ,

it into three stag es and to exp lain the main point O f


each part .

The next sub ject we shall study is the S imple oppo


1
Se e p a ge 37 .
40 OB TAIN IN G A P A S S E D P AWN
b ut b e fore we d e vote
Sit ion, ou r time to it I wi sh t o
call attention to two thing s .

11. O BTAIN IN G A PA SSE D PAWN


Wh en th ree o r more Pawn s are Oppose d to each
other in some such position as the o ne in Example 2 4 ,

there i s always a chance for o ne Side o r the oth er O f


O b tainin g a passed Pawn .

In the ab ove position the way o f


24 .

obtaining a passed Pawn i s to advance the centre

I . P — Kt 6 R PX P

If B P X P ; P — R 6,

2 . P—B 6 PX B P

3 . P—R 6

and as in this case t h e Wh ite Pawn i s nearer t o


Queen than any o f the Black Pawns White wi ll ,
42 WH ICH P AWN F IR ST T O QUEEN
T he fi rst
thin g is to fin d o u t b y countin g whethe r , ,

the opposing King can be in time to stop the passe d


Pawn from Queening When as in this case it cannot
.
, ,

be done the po int is to count whi ch Pawn comes in


,

fi rst In this case the time is the same but the Pawn
.
,

that reaches the eighth square fi rst and b ecomes a


Queen is in a position t o capture the adversa ry s ’

Queen when he makes one Thus .

I . P — R 4 P — KR 4
2 . P — R 5 P — R 5
3 . P — Kt 6 P >< P

N ow comes a little calculation Wh ite can capture .

the Pawn but if he does so he will not when Queen


, , ,

ing command the square where Black w il l also Queen


,

his Pawn Therefore instead O f taking he p l ays


.
, ,

4 . P — R 6 P — R 6
P — R 7 P — R 7
5 .

6( Q.
) P— R 8
and wins ,
.

The student would do well t o acquain t him self


with various simple endings o f this sort so as to a c ,

qu ire the habit O f counting and thus be able to know


,

with ease when he can o r cannot get there fi rst O nce .

again I must call attention to t h e fact that a b oo k


cannot by itself teach how to play I t can only serve .

as a g uide and the rest must b e learne d b y exp eri ence


, ,

and if a teacher can b e had at the same time s o much ,

the f aster will the student b e ab le to learn .


T HE O PPOS I T I O N 43

13 . T HE O PP O S ITIO N

Wh en King s have to be moved a n d one player can , ,

b y force b r ing his King into a position S im ilar to the


,

o ne Shown in the follo w in g dia g r am s o that his a dve r ,

sary is forced to move and make way for him the ,

player Ob ta inin g that advantage is sai d t o have the


o ppos it ion .

Exam pl e 26 . S uppose in the a b ove position Whi te


plays
IQ4 . K

N ow Black h a s the option o f either opposing the


passage o f the Wh i te King b y playin g K Q 3
or if he pre fers he can p as s with his o w n Kin g
, ,

b y replying K B 4 N otice that the Kings are .

directly oppo sed to each other an d the n u mber of ,


interven in g squares b etween them is odd one in
this case .

The opposition can take the form sho wn ab ove ,


44 T HE O PPOS I T I O N
which can b e called actual or close frontal opposi tion ;
or this form

which can b e called actual o r close diagonal opposition ,

0 1 again th i s f orm
, ,

which can b e called actual o r close lateral opposition .

In pract i ce they are all o ne and the same The .

Kings are always o n squares o f the same colour there ,

is only o ne intervening square b etween the Kin g s ,

and the player who has moved last h as th e opp osition


“ ”
.
T HE OPPOS I T I O N 43

Now , i f the student will take the trouble o f moving


each Kin g backwards a s in a game in the same frontal ,

diagonal o r lateral line respectively shown in the dia


g rams we shall have what may be ca lled dis tant frontal
, ,

diago n al a nd lateral Opposition respectively .

The matter of the Opposition is highly importan t ,

and takes at times somewhat complicated forms a ll ,

Of which c an be solved mathematically ; b ut fo r the ,

prese n t the stude n t Should o n ly co n sider the most


,

Simple forms ( An examination o f some of the examples


.

O f King a n d Paw n s end ings al r eady given will Sho w

several cases o f close Oppositio n ) .

In all simple fo r ms Of Oppositio n ,

wh en t h e K ings ar e on the s am e lin e a nd t h e nu m ber

f
o in t er ve n ing s qu a r e s be tween t h e m is even , t he p lay e r
wh o h as t h e m ove h a s t h e o pp os ition .

27The above position Shows to advan


tage the e no rm o us value O f the oppositio n The .
46 T HE O PP O S I T I O N
position is very simple Ve ry little is left on t h e
.

boa rd and the position to a beginn er probably looks


, , ,

absolutely even It is no t the case however Wh o


.
,
.

ever h a s t h e move wins N otice that the Kings are


.

dir ectly in fr on t of o ne another and that t h e number


,

Of intervening squares is even .

N ow a s to the p r ocedure to win such a po sition



.

Th e proper way to b egin is to move straight up .

Thus
I . K — K 2

2 . K— K 3

3 . K — K 4

NOW White can exercise the option o f either playin g


K Q5 and thus pass in g with his Kin g or O f playing ,

K B 4 and prevent the Black Kin g from passin g ,

the r eb y keeping the opposition Mere counting will


.

Show that the fo rmer course wil l o n ly lead to a


draw the r efore White takes the latter course and
,

plays
4 K — B 4 K Kt
.
3

If —K
3; 5 K — Kt 5 w il l win .

5 . K K 5 K Kt 2

N ow b y cou ntin g it will b e seen that Wh ite wi ns by


capturing B lack s Kn ight Pawn

.

The p rocess has been compa r atively simple in the


variation g iven above b ut Black h a s other lines O f
,
T HE OPPOS I T I O N 47

de fence more diffi cul t to overcome . Le t us b e gin


anew .

1 . K — K 2 K— Q I

No w if z K — Q 3, K —
Q 2 , or if 2 K — K 3, K — K 2,
and Black Ob t ains the opposition in both cases ( Wh en
.

the Kings are directly in f ro nt Of o n e a nother and the ,

num ber of intervening squares between the Kings


is odd the player who has moved last has the
,

oppositio n ) .

N ow in order to win the White Ki ng must advance, .

There is only o ne other square whe r e he can go B 3 , ,

and that is the right place Therefo r e it is seen that .

in such cases when the Oppo n e n t makes a SO called -

waiting move you must advance leaving a rank


, ,

or file f r ee b etween the Kings Therefore we .

have
2 . K — B 3 K—K 2

N ow i t wo ul d b e bad to advance ; because then Black


, ,

b y bringing up his Kin g in fro n t Of you r Kin g woul d ,

Obtain the opposition It is Wh ite s turn to play a


.

similar move to Black s fir st move viz : ’


,
.

K — K 3
3 .

which b rings the positio n b ack to the fi rst variation


sho w n The studen t would do well to familia rise him
.

self with the ha ndling O i the Kin g in all examples Of


opposition It often means the winning o r losin g o f
.

a game .
48 T HE O PPOS I T I O N
Exam ple 28 The following position is an excellent
.

proof o f the value o f the Opposition as a means o f


defence.

White is a Pawn b ehind and apparently lost y et , he


can manage to draw as follows
I . K — R I !

The position o f the Pawns does not permit White


to draw by means o f the actual or close opposition ,

he n ce he takes the distant opposition : in effect i f


1 K — B I ( actual o r close opposition ) K — Q 7 ; ,

2 K— B 2 ,
K Q 6 and Wh ite cannot continue t o
keep the lateral opposition essential to h is safety ,

because o f his o wn Pawn at B 3 O n the other hand


.
,

after the text move if ,

2 . K — R 2

3 . K — R 3!
50 T HE RE LA T IVE VAL U E

14 . I O F K NI GH T A N D BI S H O P
T HE R EL A T VE VAL U E

Before turning o u r attention to this matter it is


we ll to state n o w that two K nigh ts a lone cannot m ate ,

but under certai n co n ditions o f course they can do


, ,

so i f the opponent has o ne o r more Pawns .

Exam pl e 29 In the ab ove position Wh ite cannot


.

win although the Black Kin g is cornered but in the


, ,

followin g position in which B lack has a Pawn


, ,

wins wi th o r without the move . Th u s


I Kt Kt 6
. P R 5
OF KNIGH T AND B I S H OP 51

White ca nnot take the Pawn b ecause the game will


be dra wn as expla ined before
,
.

2 . Kt — K 5 P — R 6
Kt — B 6 P — R 7
3 .

4 . Kt — Kt 5 P — R 8 ( Q)

5 . Kt — B 7 mate
The reason for this peculiarity in chess is evi d ent .

White with th e two Knigh ts can only stalem a te t he


King , u nle ss B la ck h a s a P a wn wh ich ca n be m ove d .

Exam pl e 30 —Although
he is a Bi s hop an d a Pawn
.

ahead the following position cannot be won b y

It is the greatest weakness o f the Bish op that when ,

the Rook s Pawn Queens o n a squa re of oppo site colour


and the oppos ing Kin g is in fro n t o f the Pawn the ,

Bishop is ab solutely worthless All that Black has t o


.

do is t o k eep moving his King close to the corner


square .
52 T HE RE LAT IVE VAL U E

31. In the ab ove pos i t ion Wh ite wi th o r


wi thout t h e move can win Take the most difii cult
.

variation .

Kt — K t 4 ch
K—B I
K—B 2
Kt — K 3
Kt — B I
'

Kt X P mate

N ow that we have seen these exceptional cases we ,

can analyse the differen t merits and the relative


value of the Knight an d the Bishop .

It is generally thought b y amateurs that t h e Kn ight


is the mo re valuable piece o f the two the chief reason ,

be ing that un like the Bishop the Kn ight c an c om m and


, ,

both Black and White squares However the fact is .


,

g enerally overlooked that the Knight at any o ne time .


,
OF K NIGH T AND B I S H OP 53

h asthe cho ice o f o ne colour only It takes much longer


.

to b ring a Kn ight from o ne wing to the other Al so .


,

as shown in the followi ng Example a Bishop can ,

stalemate a Knight ; a compliment which the Kn ight


is unable to return .

Example 32 .

Th e weaker the player the more terrible the Knight


is to him b ut as a playe r increases in strengt h the
,

value o f the Bishop becomes more evident to him and ,

of course there is o r should be a co r respo ndin g decrease


, ,

in his estimation Of the value Of the Kn ight as compared


to the Bishop In this respect as in ma ny othe r s the
.
, ,

masters o f to d ay are far ahead O f the masters Of fo rmer


-

generatio n s While not SO long ago some o f the very


.

best amon g st them l ike Pillsbury a nd T ch ig o rin pre


, ,

ferred Knights to Bishops the re is hardly a m a ste r o f


,

to day who would no t completely a g ree with the state


-

ments made above .


54 T HE RE LATIVE VAL UE

Exampl e 33 This is a b out the only ca se wh e n the


.

Knig ht is more valuable than the Bishop .

It is what is call ed a block p os ition and all the


,

Pawn s are o n o n e Side Of the boa rd ( If there were Pawns


.

o n both sides Of the board there would be no advantage

in having a Knight ) In such a position Black h as


.

excellen t chances Of w inning Of course there is an


.
,

extra source Of weakness fo r Whi te in having h is Pawns


o n the same colou r — squares as his Bi s hop This is a
. .

mi s take Often made b y p l ayers The proper way


.
9

generally in an end in g is to have your Pawn s o n


, ,

squares Of opposite colour t o that of your own Bishop .

Whe n y o u have your Pawns o n squar es o f the same


colour the action o f your own Bisho p is limited by
them and consequently the value Of the Bi s hop is
,

diminished Since the value Of a piece can Often be


,

measured by the numb er Of squar es it comm ands .

While o n this subject I Shall also call attention to the


,
OF KNIGHT AND B I S H O P 55

f act that it is g enerally preferable to keep your Pawns


o n squares of the same colour as that o f the oppo sin g

Bishop particularly if they are passed Pawns s up


,

ported by the King The principles might b e stated


.

thus :
Whe n the oppone nt ha s a Bis ho p k ee p your P a wns ,


on s q ua r e s o
f t he sa m e colour as you r o pp one nt s

Bis ho p .

Whe n ever you ha ve a Bis ho p , whe t her t he o ppone nt


ha s a ls o on e or no t , k e e p you r P a wns on s qua re s f
o t he
o pp os ite colou r to t h a t of you r own Bis ho p .

N aturally these p r inciples have sometimes


,
to be
modified to suit the e xigencies of the position .

Exam pl e 34 In the foll owing po s ition the Pawns


.

are o n one Side O f the boa rd a nd there is no advantage


,

in having either a Knight o r a Bishop The game .

Should surely e nd in a d r aw .
56 TH E RELAT IVE VAL UE

Example 35 —
. Now let us add three Pawns o n
each side to the above position S O that there are
,

Pawns o n b oth sides of the board .

It is now preferable to have the Bishop thou gh


,

the position if properly played o u t should end in a


, ,

d r aw The advantage o f havin g the Bishop lies as


.

much in i ts abi lity to command at long range b oth


, ,

Sides o f the b oar d fr om a central position as in its


ability to move quickly from one side o f the b oard
to the other.
5 8 VAL UE OF KNIGHT AND B I S H OP

Exam pl e 38 Again Black would have great


.

cul ty in drawin g this posit i on .

Th e student Should carefully consider these posi


tions I hope that the many examples will help him
.

to understand in the i r true value the relative merits


, ,

o f the Knight and Bishop As t o the general method


.

Of procedure a teacher o r practical experience will


, , ,

b e b est I might say generally however that the


.
, ,

proper course in these endi ngs as in all Similar end


,

ings is : Advance o f the King to the centre o f the


,

b oard o r towards the passed Pawns o r Pawns that ,

are susceptib le o f b eing attacked and rapid advance ,

o f the passed Pawn o r Pawns as f ar as is consistent

wi th their safety .

T O g i ve a fix ed line of play would be foll y E ach .

endin g i s different an d requires different handlin g


, ,

accord ing to what the adversary proposes to do .

Calculation by visualisin g the future positions is wh at


will count .
MATE WI T H KNIGH T AND B I S H OP 59

15 . HOW T O M A T E WIT H A K N I GH T AN D A B I S HO P
N ow b efore going b ack again to the middl e game
,
-

and the openings let u s se e how to mate with Knight


,

and B ishop and then how to win with a Queen


, , ,

again st a Rook .

With a Knight and a Bishop th e m a te can only be


g ive n in t h e corners o f th e s a m e colo u
r as th e Bis h op .

Exam fle 39 In this example we must mate either


.

at Q R I o r K R 8 The ending can be divided into


.

two parts Part o ne consists in drivin g the Black


.

King to the last lin e We might b egin as is generally


.
,

done in all such cases by advanc in g t h e Kin g t o the


,

centre o f the b oard :


I K K2 . K Q 2

B lack in order to make it more difficult goes towards


, ,

t h e wh i te squared corner
-

2 . K — Q3
3 . B — B 4
60 H OW T O MATE WI TH
4 . Kt — K 2 K —B 4
5 . Kt — B 3 K — Kt 5
6 . K —Q 4 K —R 4

7 . K—B 5 K—R 3
8 . K — B 6 K — R 2

9 . Kt —Q 5 K—R I

The first part is now over ; the Black Ki n g In t he


white squared corner
-
.

The second an d last part will consist in drivin g


Bla ck King no w f ro m Q R 8 to Q R I OI K R 8 in
order to mate him .
Q R I wi l l b e the q ui ckest i n t his ,

position .

10 . Kt -
Kt 6 ch K — R 2

II . B—B 7 K — R 3
12 . B — Kt 8 K — R 4
I3 . Kt — Q 5 K — R 5

Black tries to make for K R I with his Kin g White .

has two ways to prevent that o ne by 1 4 B K 5 , ,


A KNIGH T AND B I SHOP 61

K —Kt 6; —
and the other which I give
I 5 Kt K 3,
as the text and which I consider better for the student
,

t o learn because it is more methodical and more in


,

accord with the spirit Of all these endings by using ,

t he King as m uch as p ossible .

14 K.
— B 5! K — Kt 6
I5 Kt
.
— Kt 4 K — B 6
16 B.
— B 4 K — Kt 6
17 B— K 5
. K—R 5
18 K—B 4
. K—R 4
19 B — B 7 ch
. K — R 5
20 Kt
.
— Q3 K — R 6
2 1 B.
— Kt 6 K— R 5
2 2 K.t — K t 2 ch K— R 6
23 . K— B 3 K—R 7
24 . K — B 2 K — R 6
25 B — B ch K — R 7
.
5
26 . Kt — Q3 K— R 8
27 . B — Kt 4 K—R 7
28 . K t — B I ch K — R 8
29 . B — B 3 mate

It b e seen that the en din g i s rather lab ori ous .

Th ere are two outstanding featu res : the close follow


ing by the King and the controll ing o f the squa r es o f
,

opposite colou r to the Bishop b y the comb ined action


O f the Knight and King The student would do we ll
.

to exercise himself methodically in this end ing as it ,

gi ves a very good idea o f the actual power of the pieces ,

and it requires foresight in order to accomp lish the


62 QUEE N AGAIN S T R OO K
mate with in the fif ty moves which are g ranted b y
the rul es .

16 .
Q UEE N AGAI N S T R OO K

This is one O f the most d ifificu lt end in g s without


Pawns The resources o f the defence are many and
.
,

when used sk il q y only a very good player will prevail


within the limit O f fi fty moves allowed by the rules .

( The rule is that at any moment you may dema n d


that your opponent mate y o u within fi fty moves .

However every time a piece is exchanged o r a Pawn


,

a dvanced the count in g must b egin afresh ) .

Exam ple 40 . T his i s


the standard positions
o ne o f

which Black can Often b ring ab out No w it is White s


.
,

move If it w ere Black s move it would b e Simple as


.

,

he would have to move his Rook away from the Kin g


( d o u t why ) and then the Rook would b e compara
fi n ,
QUEE N AGAIN ST R O OK 63

easy to win We deduce from the ab ove that


t ive ly .

the main Object is to force the Black Rook away


from the defendin g King and that in order to compel
, ,

Black to do SO we must bring about the position in


,

the diagram with Black to move O nce we know .

what is required the way to proceed b ecomes easier to


,

fin d .Thus :
— K ch
Q 5

No t —
I Q R 6 because
,
R — B 2 ch ; 2 K — Kt 6 ,

R — B 3 ch ; 3 K x R S talemate
.
( The b e ginner .

will invariably fall into this trap ) .

1 . K tO R I OI tO R 2

2 .

Q R I Ch K — Kt I

3

Q R s

In a few moves we have accomplishe d o ur Ob ject .

The fi rst part is concluded No w we come to the


.

second part The Rook can only g o t o a Wh ite square


.
,

otherwise the fi rst check with the Queen will win it .

Therefore
R Kt 6
Q — K ch
5 K—R I b es t
— R 8 ch K— R
5 .
Q 2

6 .
Q — Kt
7 c h K — R I

7 .
Q — K t 8 c h R — Kt I
— R 2 m at e
8 .
Q

(The stu dent should fin d ou t b y himself how to w in


when —K t 8; 4

Q K 5 ch ,
K— R
64 QUEE N A G AIN S T R OO K

41 The procedure here is very Similar


. .

The thin gs to bear in mind are that the Rook must


be prevented fr om interposing at Kt I because Of an
imme diate mate a nd in the same way the Kin g must
,

b e prevented from going either to R 3 or B I .

We shall no w examine a more


cul t position .
66 QUEE N AGAIN S T R OO K
and w e have the position of Example 4 0 wi th Black
to move .

Let us g o b ack ag ain .

Q — K t 5 c h K — B I

2 .
Q — Q 8 c h K — K t z

3 . K — K t 5 R — B 6

The b est placethe Rook away from the King


fo r .

— R 2 ; 4 Q — Q 4 R — K t 2 ch ; 5 K — B 6 ,

would lead to positions Similar t o those already seen .

4 .

Q Q 4 ch K— B I
5 K— m 6

5 Q
— Q 6 ch K — K t 2 ;,
6 Q — K 5 ch K — B 1 ,

7 K Kt 6 would also win the Rook The text move .


,

however is given to Show the fi nesse o f such ending s


, .

White now threatens mate at Q 8 .

5 . R — Kt 6 e h
6 . K—B 6 R —B 6 ch
7 . K— K 6 R —K R 6

White threatened mate KR 8 .

8 .
Q B 4 ch

and the Rook is lost .

N ote in these examples that the check s at l on g


, ,

range along the diago n als have Often been the key to
all the winning man oeuvres . Also that the Queen and
QUEE N AGAIN S T R OO K 67

Kin g are O ften kept o n diff erent lines The student


.

Should carefully go over these po sitions and consider


all the possib ilities no t given in the text
.

He should once more go through everyth in g already


written b efore proceeding f urther with the b ook
.
CHA PTE R III
P LANNING A Wm m M m DLE -
G AM E P LA Y
I SHA LL now g ive a few win n ing positions taken from
my o w n games I have selected those that I believe
.

can be considered as typ es i e positions that may


,
. .

easily occur aga in in a somewhat Similar form A .

knowledge O f such positions is Of great help ; in fact ,

o n e cannot know t o o many It Often may help the


.

player to find with little e ffort the right move which


, , ,

he might not b e able t o fin d at all without such


k n owled g e .

17 . A TTA C KIN G WI T H O U T T HE AID

O F K N I GH T S
ATTAC K IN G WI T H OUT KNIGHTS 69

Exam pl e 43 —
is Black s move and as he is a
.It

,

Kt and P beh ind he must win quickl y if at all He ,


.

plays :
I .

Q R Kt I !
2 . R —B 2

If Q >< Q R >< P ch ; K R — and mate


, ,
1, B Q 4
follows in a few moves .

2 . R X P ch

3 . K — B I B— B 5 ch
4 . Kt R — Kt 8 m at e

44 —
B lack s last move was P K 6
.

,

played with the object Of stopping what he thought


was White s threat viz r R — Q R 5 to which he
i


.
, ,

would have a n swe red Q B 5 ch a n d drawn the game


by perpetual check White howeve r has a more
.
, ,

forceful move and h e mates in thr ee moves as


,

follow s
7 0 ATT AC K ING WIT H O UT
I . R x P Ch QXR
2 . R QR5 B lack moves
3 . Wh i te mates

45 .Wh ite h as a b eautiful position b ut ,

st ill he had b etter g ain some material if he can before


, ,

Black conso li dates his de fensive position He th ere .

fore play s
1 R X Kt !
. PXR
2 B X P ch
. K K2
If Kt x B ; R X Kt and Black would b e h elpless .

3 Q.
— R 7 eh K — K I
4 Q . X K t Ch K — Q 2

5 Q

. R 7 c h Q — K 2

6 B —
. B 8 Q x Q
7 . R >< Q ch K— K I

8 . R X R Resigns
In
these few examples the attacking has b een done,

b y Roo k s an d Bishops in comb ination with the Queen .


T HE AID OF KNIGHTS 7 1

T herehave b een no Knights to take part in the attack .

We Sha ll now give some examples in which the Kn ights


play a prominent part as an attacking force .

18 . A TTA C KI NG WIT H K NI GH T S AS A
P R O M I NE N T F O R C E

Exam pl e —
White is two Pawns behind He
46 . .

must there fore press o n his attack The game con .

t inu e s
I . Kt (B 5 ) X Kt P Kt — B 4

Evi d ently
an error which made the winn in g easier
for White as he simply took the Rook with the Knight
,

and kept up the attac k Black should have played .

I . Kt Kt Then would have fo llowed : 2 Kt


. .

B 6 ch K — Kt 3 ; 3 Kt X B P — B 3 (best ) ; 4 P
, ,

K 5 K—B ,
2 ; 5 K t >< P , R — K 2 ; 6 Kt
—K 4,
and Black should lose .
l

ull s co re and no t e s
1
F are g ive n in M y C hess C aree r, by J R
. .

C apablanca ( G ame No .
7 2 ATTAC K IN G WI TH KNI G HT S

The student Should carefully ex


47 .

a m ine the position as the sacrifi ce o f the Bishop in ,

Similar situations is typical a n d the chance for it is ,

of frequent occurrence in actual play The game .

continues
1 . B >< P ch

2 . Kt — K t 5 ch

B est . If 2 . . K— R 3 ; 3 Kt X P ch wins the Queen ,

a nd if 2 . . K Kt I ; 3

Q R 5 with an irresistible
,

attack .

— Kt 4
3 Q
— Kt
4 .
Q 3

Wh ite fin ally w o n .
1

1
This po si io n is t l b
e a o ra e t d u nde r Exam ple 50 (p
74 WINNING BY INDIRE C T ATTAC K
consider this position and the subsequent moves It .

is a very g ood example o f proper c o ordination in the -

manag ement o f forces The g ame continues : .

1 . R — R I

2 . P — Q R 4

Wh i te s b est move was P Q Kt 3 when would



,

f ollow Kt X B 3 Q X Kt R R 6 and Black would ,

ultimately wi n the Q R P always keeping a Slight ,

advantage in position The text move makes matters


.

easier .

2 Kt X B
.

X Kt — B
3 .
Q Q 5
4 . K R — Q I K R — Kt I

Blac k co ul d have re g ained the Pawn b y playing


B X Kt b ut h e sees that there is more to be had
, ,

and therefore increases the pressure against W h ite s ’

Queen side He now th reatens amon g other thin g s


.
, ,

R X Kt P .

5 .
Q — K 3 R — Kt 5

Th reatenin g to w in the exch ang e b y B Q 5 .

6 .
Q — Kt
5 B— Q 5 ch
7 . K— R I Q R — Kt 1

Th is threatens t o w in the Kt , and thus forces White


to give up t h e exchan g e .

a R x B Q x R

9 . R —Q I —
Q B 5

N ow Black wi ll recover his Pawn .


WINNING BY IND IRE C T ATTAC K 75

49 An examin ation O f this position


.

Show that Black s main weakness lies in the exposed


position o f his King and in the fact that his Q R ,

has not yet come into the game Indeed i f it were .


,

Black s move we might conclude that he would have



,

the better game o n acco u nt Of havin g three Pawns to


,

two o n the Queen s side and his Bish op comm andin g



,

the long diagonal .

It is however White s move and he has two courses


, ,

,

t o choose fr om The Obvious move B — B 4 might


.
, ,


b e g ood enough since after I B B 4 Q R Q I ;
,
— ,

2 P Q Kt 4 would make it d iffi cult fo r Black But .

there is another move which completely upsets Black s ’

position a n d wins a Pawn b esides O b tain ing the ,

better position That move is Kt Q 4 ! The g ame


.

continues as follows
I . Kt — Q 4 !
2 . R X B
76 WINNING BY IND IRE C T ATTAC K

T here is nothin g b etter as Wh ite threatened B


, B 4 .

3 B — .B 4 ch K — R I

4 R — .K 6 P — Q6
5 . R >< P

An d Wh i te wi th ,
the b etter position i s a Pawn
,

ahead .

These po sitions have b een g iven with the idea O f


acquaintin g the student with diff erent types of com
b ina t io ns I hope they w ill also help t o develop his
.

imagination a very necessary quality in a good player


, .

The student should note in all these middl e g ame ,


-

positions that ,

on ce t h e opp or tu nity is offer ed all t h e pieces ar e t hr own


!

“ ”
into a ction e n m a ss e wh en necess ary; an d t h at a ll
t h e p ieces s m oot hly c o- ordina t e th eir a ction with m a chine
l ik e pr e cis ion .

That at least is what the ideal middle game play


, ,
-

should b e if it is no t S O alto g ether in these examples


, .
C HAPTER IV
G E NE RA L T HE O R Y

B E F O RE we revert to the technique o f the Openings


it w ill b e advisable to dwell a little o n general theory ,

SO that the Openings in the ir relation to the rest O f the


g ame may be better understood .

20 . T HE INIT IAT VE I
As the pieces are se t o n the b oard b oth sides have
the same position and the same amount Of mate r ial .

White however has the move and the move in this


, , ,

case means th e initia t ive an d the initiative other , ,

things b ein g equal is an advantage No w this a d


,
.

vantage must b e kept as long as possible an d should ,

only be given up if some other adva n tage material ,

o r positional is Obtained in its place


, Wh ite accordin g .
,

to the principles already laid down develops his pieces ,

as fast as possible but in s o doing he al s o t r ies to


,

hinder his opponent s development by applyin g pres



,

sure wherever possible He tries fi rst Of all to control


.

the centre and failing this to obtain some positional


,

on harassing
— 0
the -‘ n “
He
m.
o nly relinquishes the
A

initiative when he gets for it so me material advantag e


M u r ab le conditions as to make him feel
78 D IRE C T A TTAC KS EN M AS S E

assured that he will in turn be able to withstand his


, ,

adver sary s t h rfIs t ; and fi nally throug h h is superi



,

o rit y o f material once more resu me the initiative


, ,

which alone can give him the victory This last .

assertion is self evident since in o der to win the


-
, ,
r

game the opposin g King must be driven to a position


,

where he is attacked without having any way Of escape .

O nce the pieces have b een properly developed the


resul ting positions may vary in character It may .

be that a direct attack against the King is in order ;


o r that it is a case Of improving a position already

advantag eous ; o r fi nally that some material can be


, ,

gained at the cost o f relinquishin g the initiative fo r


a more o r less prolonged period .

21 . D IR E C T A TT A C KS E N M A SS E

In the fi rst case the attack must be carried on with


sufficient force to guarantee its success U nde r nO .
z

consideration must a direct attack against the Kin g


be carried o n a ou trance unless there is absolute cer
tainty in one s o wn mind that it will succeed s ince

,

failure in such cases means disaster .

Exam ple 50 A g ood example o f a success ful direct


.

attack against the Ki n g is Sho wn in the follow in g


diag ram :
In this position Wh ite could simply play B B 2
and still have the b etter position but instead he pre ,

fers an immediate attack o n the King s side with ’


,
DIRE C T A TT AC KS EN M AS S E 79

the certainty in his mind that the attack lead to


a T h e game continues thus
1

12 . B x P ch KXB
13 . Kt — Kt 5 ch K — Kt 3
I4 .
Q — Kt 4 P— B 4

Best . P wo d have been immediately fata l


K 4 ul .

Thus : I 5 K t — K 6 ch
— K
4 ; K— B 3; ,

16 P — B 4 ! P — K 5 ; I7 Q — K t 5 ch K X K t ; ,

— K 5 ch K — Q ; 9 K R —
18 Q 2 ,
1 Q 1 ch K t ,

— if — —
Q 6; 2 0 K t >< P K B 3 (
,
K K I K t Q 6 ch ,

wins the Queen ) ; 2 1 R X Kt Q >< R ; 2 2 R — B 1 ch, ,

— K t 3 ( if K — mate in two —
K Q 2 ) ; 3 Q B 7 ch
2

a n d mate in fi ve moves .

1
We gi ve f ro m no w o n ga mes a nd no t e s SO th a t t h e s tu de nt
, , ,

m ay f a milia ri se h i ms e lf wi th t h e m a ny a nd va ri e d c o ns id e ra t i o ns
th a t co ns t antly a re b o rne in mi nd by t h e C h e ss M as t e r We mus t
.

t ak e i t for g ra nt e d th at t h e s tu d e nt h as alre a dy r e ach e d a s t age


w h e re w hil e no t b e in g able full y t o u nde rs t a nd e ve ry m ove y e t h e
, ,

ca n d e ri ve b e ne fi t f ro m a ny di s cu s s i o n wi th re g ar d t o th e m .
80 DIRE C T A TTAC KS EN M ASS E

I5 —
Q Kt 3. K— R 3
16 .

Q R 4 ch K — Kt 3
I 7 .
Q — R 7 c h K — B 3
If K x Kt ; Q >< Kt P ch and mate in a few moves .

I 8 . P— K 4 K t — Kt 3
19 . P X P
20 .
Q R—Q I Kt — Q 6
21 .

Q R 3 Kt ( Q 6) — B 5
22 .

Q Kt 3 —
Q B 2

23 . K R—K I K t — K 7 ch
This b lunder loses at once b ut the game could not ,

b e saved in a ny case ; e g 2 3 B — K 3 ; 24 R x B
. . . .

,

ch Kt >< R ; 2 5 K t Q 5 mate .

24 . R X Kt Q X Q
25 . Kt —R 7 ch K— B 2

26 . R P X Q R— R I

27 . Kt — Kt 5 ch K—B 3
28 . P — B 4 Resigns
51 . An oth er example of this
82 T HE F O RC E OF T HE

and that O ften as in some o f the variations pointe d


,

o ut it is the comin g into action o f the last available


,

p iece that fi nally overthrows the enem y It demon .

strates the prin ciple already stated


D irect a nd viole nt a t t a ck s a g a ins t th e King mus t be
ca rr ied en masse ,
wit h fu ll for ce ,
to e ns ur e t h eir s ucces s .

Th e o pp os it ion m u s t be over com e a t a ll cos t ; th e a t t a ck

ca nnot be br ok en f
o , s ince in a ll s u ch cas es t ha t m ea ns

22. T HE F OR C E O F T HE T H REATE NE D
A TTA C K

F ai ling an Opportunity in the second case fo r , ,

di rect attack o ne must attempt to increase whatever


,

weakness there may b e in the opponent s position ; ’

o r if there is none o ne o r more must be created


, ,
It .

is always an advantage to threaten somethin g b ut


-
,

such threats must be carried into effect only if some


thing i s to b e gained immediately F or holding the .
,

threat in hand forces the opponent to pro vide against


,

its execution a n d to keep material in readin ess to meet


it Thus he may more easily overlook o r b e unable
.
,

to parry a thrust at another point But once the


,
.

threat is carried into e ff ect it exists no longer and , ,

your oppo nent can devote his atten tion to his o wn


schemes O ne o f the b est and most successful ma
.

moeuvres in this type of game is to make a demon


s t r a t io n o n o ne side SO as to d raw the forces O f your
,

O pponent to that Side then through the greater ,

mobility o f your pieces to Shift your forces quickly


T HRE ATE NE D AT TAC K 83

to the other side a n d break through before your ,

opponent has had the t ime to brin g over the ne ce s


sary forces for the defence .

A good example of positional play is Sho wn in the


followin g g ame

Exam pl e Played at the Havana Int e m a


52 .

t io na l Masters Tournament 1 9 1 3 ( F rench Defence )


,
. .

J R Capab lanca Black : R Blanco


. . . . .

P— K 4 P— K 3
. P —
Q4 P— Q 4
Kt — QB 3 P X P
K t >< P Kt —Q 2

Kt — K B 3 K Kt -
B 3
. K t X Kt ch Kt X Kt
Kt — K 5

Th i s
move was fir st shown to me by the talented
Venezuelan amateur M Ayala The Object is t o
,
. .
84 T HE F O RC E OF T H E

prevent the development Of Black s Queen s B i shop ’ ’

via Q Kt 2 after P Q Kt 3 which is Black s u sual



, ,

development in this variation G enerally it is bad .

to move the same piece twice in an Opening b efore


the other pieces are o u t an d the violation o f that
,

principle is the only Objection that can b e made t o


this move which otherwise has everything to re co m
,

mend it .

7 B— Q s
— B
8 .
Q 3

B K Kt 5 migh t b e b etter The text move g ives.

Black an opportunity of which he does not avail


himself
P — B 3

P B 4 wa s the righ t move It woul d h ave le d t o


.

complications in which Black might have held h is


,

o wn ; at least White s play would be very diffi cult


,

.

Th e text move accomplishes nothin g and puts Blac k ,


T HRE ATENE D A TTAC K 85

in an alto gether defensive position The veil ed threa t


.

B Kt ; followed by — R ch ; is easil y met


x Q 4 .

9 . P— B 3 0 — 0
10 . B — K Kt 5 B — K 2

The f act that Black has now to move his Bishop


b ac k clearly demonstrates that Black s plan Of devel ’

o pm e n t is f a ul ty He has lost too much time and


.
,

White b rin gs his pieces into their most attack ing


position without hi ndr ance Of any sort .

II . B— Q 3 Kt — K I

The alte rnative was Q 4 O therwi se White


Kt — .


would play Q R 3 and Black would be forced to
,

play P — K Kt 3 (no t P — K R 3 because of the ,

sacrifi ce B x P ) seriously weake n ing his King s Side


,

.

.

Q R 3 P — K B 4

Wh ite has no lo nger an attack but he has compelled ,

Black to create a ma rked weakness N ow Wh ite s .


whole plan wil l be to exploit this weakness ( the weak


K P ) a nd the student can now see how the principles
,

expo un ded previou s ly a re applied in this game Eve ry .

move is di rected to make the weak Ki ng s Pawn u n ’


~

te n able o r to pro fi t b y the inactivity O f the Black


,

piece s defe n di n g the Pawn in o r der to improve the


,

position O f W hite at other points .


13 . B >< B Q X B
14 . 0 — 0 R— B 3
15 . K R—K I Kt —Q 3
16 . R —K 2 B —Q 2
86 T HE F O RC E OF T HE

At last the Bishop comes o u t not as an active attack ,

ing piece b ut merely to make way for the Rook


, .

17 .
QR — K I R —K I
I 8 . P — QB4 Kt — B 2

A very clever move tendin g to prevent P — B 5 , ,

and temptin g White to play Kt x B followed b y ,

B x P which would b e bad as the following varia


, ,

tion shows : 1 9 K t >< B Q x Kt ; 2 0 B x P Kt , ,

Kt 4 ; 2 1 Q — Kt 4 R X B ; 2 2 P K R 4 P
, ,

K R 4 ; 23 2 4 R >< R c h K R 2 ; ,
-

2 5 P x Kt Q x P But it always happens in such


,
.

cases that if o ne line o f attack is anticipated there


, ,

is anoth er ; and this is no exception to the rule as


b e seen .

19 . P— Q 5 ! Kt X K t

Apparently the b est way to meet t h e man ifold threats


of White B P X P would make matters worse a s
.
,

the Whi te B ishop would finally b ear o n t h e weak


Kin g s Pawn via Q B 4

.
T HRE A TE N E D A TT AC K 87

20 . R t P — K Kt 3
21 .

Q R 4 K — Kt 2

m .

Q Q 4 P — B 4

F orced , as White threatened P X K P and also Q X P ,

23 .

:Q B 3 P — Kt 3

Q Q 3 was better But Black w.ants to tempt


White to play P x P thin kin g that he will soon after
,

regain his Pawn with a safe position S uch however .


, ,

is not the case as White quickly demonstrates I


, .

must add that in any case B lack s position is in my ’


,

Opinion untenable Since a ll his pieces are tied up for


, ,

the defence o f a Pawn while White s pieces are f ree


,

t o act.

24 . PX P B—B I

25 . B — K 2 !

The deciding and timely manoeuvre All the Black .

pieces are useless after this Bishop reaches Q 5 .


88 F O RC E OF THRE A TE NE D ATTAC K
25 . B X P
26 . B — B 3 K — B 2
2 7 B — Q s

Q QS
No w it is evident that all the Black pieces are tie d
up and it only remains for White to find the quickest
,

way to force the issue White will now try to place


.

his Queen at K R 6 and then advance the K R P


,

to R 5 in order to break up the B lack Pawns defend


ing the King .

28 Q K3 . R K2
If B 5; 9 Q
2 — K —
R 3 P K R 4; ,

30

Q R 4 ,
R —K 2 ; 3 1 Q — Kt
5, K
— Kt 2 ;
32 P — K R 4, Q —
Q 2 ; 33 P — K Kt

34 P B 4 and Black will soon be helpless as he has


, ,

to mark time wi th his pieces while White prepares


to advance P R 5 and fi nally at the proper time
,

to play R x B winning ,
.

29 .

Q R 6 K — Kt r

30 . P — K R 4 P — R 3
3 1 . P—R 5 P— B 5

3 2 . P >< P P X P

33 R X B . Resigns .

Comm enting o n White s play in this game Dr E ’


,
. .

Lasker said at the time that if White s play we r e ’

properly analysed it might be found that there was


no way to im prove upon it .

These appa r ently simple games are Often of the most


difficult nature Perfection in such cases is much
.

more diffi cul t t o Ob tain than in those positions calling


90 RELIN QU I S HIN G T HE INI T IATIVE
Black O ff ers the exchange in order to g ain time an d
to obtain an attack Without co n siderin g at all .

whether o r not such a course w as justifi ed on the part


O f Black it is evident that a s far as White is concerned
,

there is o n ly o ne thing to do viz to win the exchan g e ,


.

and then prepare to weather the storm Then once .


,

it is passed to act quickly with a ll forces to d er ive


,

the b enefi t o f numerical superiority .

13 B —R 6 K t —B 4
—Q
.

14 . R 2 R —Kt I

I 5 . Kt — Q I R —K t 5
TO force White to play P Q B 4 and thus create a ,

hole at Q 5 fo r his Knight S uch grand tactics Show .


1

the hand Of a master .

16 P QB4 .

17 BXR .

18 Kt K3 .

Kt K B 3 was b etter .

I8 . Kt Q 5
19 Q Q I . P QB4
In order to prevent R X Kt giving b ack the exchang e ,

but win n ing a Pawn and relieving the position .

20 . P —Q Kt 3 R —K t r

In order to play B Kt 2 without b locking h is Rook .

l
A hole in ch e ss pa rlance h as co me t o me an a d e fe ct in P awn

form a t i o n w hi c h allo w s t h e o ppo ne nt t o e s t ablis h h is fo r ce s in we dge


f orm a t ion o r o th e rwi se wi th o ut t h e poss ibil i t y o f di slo d ging him
b y P a wn move s Thu s in t h e fo ll o wi ng di a gra m B la ck h as t wo
.
, ,

h ol es at K B 3 a nd K R 3 w h e re Wh i t e fo r ce s e g a Kt o r B

, ,
. .
,

co uld es t abli sh th e m se lve s s u ppo rt e d by pi e ces o r P awns


, .
RE LINQU ISH ING T H E INIT IAT IVE 9 I
Black s man oeuvr ing for positional advantage is a d

mirable th roughout this game and if he loses it is


,

due ent irely to the fact that the sacri fi ce of the exchan g e ,

w ithout even a Pawn for it could not succee d against


,

sound d e fensive play .

21 .
—B
Kt 3
22 . PXP

The position b egins to look really dangerous for White .

In reality Black s attack is reaching its maximum


force Very soon it will reach the apex a nd then


.
,
92 RELIN QU I S HIN G T HE INIT IATIVE
Wh ite who is well prepared will begin his counter
, ,

action and through his superiority in material o b tain


,

an undoubted advantage .

23 . Kt —B I P — B 5
24 . Kt t B P X Kt
25 .

Q R 5 B — Kt 2

26 . R —K I P— B 4

He co ul d not play R K I b ecause o f R X Q P Be .

sides he wants to b e ready to play P K 5 At pres


,
.

ent White cannot with safety play R x K P b ut ,

h e w ill soon prepare the way fo r it Then by giving .


,

up a Rook for a Bishop and a Pawn he will completely ,

upset B lack s attack and come o u t a Pawn ahead



.

It is o n this b asis that White s whole defensive ma ’

noeu vre is founded .

27 P—B 3
. R —K I
28 . R (Q 2 —
) K 2 R —K 3

Now the Black Rook enters into the game but White ,

is prepared It is now time to give back the exchange


. .
94 C UTT IN G OFF P IE CE S F R O M

P —Q Kt 4 !
R >< P
R —KR 3
R X P ch
R >< P
K — B 3
R -
R 5 ch

R —R 4
R x P
P —R 4 ch

R —B 5 ch
P —Kt 4

I h ave passe d over t h e g ame lightly b ecause o f


it s diffi cul t nature and b ecause we are at present
,

concerned more with the opening and the middle


game than we are wi th the endin g s which will b e ,

treated separately .

24 . C U TTING O FF P IE C E S F R O M THE S C E NE
O F A C T IO N

Very Often in a game a master only plays to cut


o ff SO to speak
,
o ne of the pieces from the scene O f
,

actual conflict O ften a Bishop o r a Knight is com


.

ple t e ly put o u t Of action In such cases we might


.

say that from that moment the game is wo n because ,

for all practical purposes there will be o ne more piece


o n o ne side than o n the other A very good illustration
.

is furnished by the fo ll owin g game .


T HE S C E N E OF AC T I O N 95

Ex am pl e Played at the Hastings


54 .
-

Tournament 1 9 1 9 ( Four Kni g hts )


,
. .

Winter Black : J R Capablanca


. . . .

1 . P —K 4 P —K 4
2 Kt —K B 3 Kt —Q B 3
—B 3
.

3 . Kt —B 3 Kt
4 . B — Kt 5 B — Kt 5
5 . 0 — 0 0 — 0
6 . B X Kt

Nie m z o wit ch variation which I have played suc



s ,

ce ss full y in many a game It g ives White a very solid .

g ame Nie m z owit ch s idea is that White will in due


.

time be able to play P K B 4 openin g a line fo r h is ,

Rooks which in comb ination with the posting O f a


, ,

Knight at K B 5 Sho ul d be s uffi cient to win He


,
.

thinks that Should Black attempt to stop the Kn ight


from going to K B 5 he will have to weaken his game ,

in some other way Whether this is true o r not r emains


.

to be proved but in my op inion the move is perfectly


,

good O n the other hand there is no question that


.
,

Black ca n easily develop his pieces But it must b e .

considered that in this variation White does not


attempt to hin der Black s developme n t he Sim ply ’
,

attempts to b uild up a position which he conside r s


im pregnab le and from which he can start an attack
in d ue course .

Q P x B
96 C UTT IN G OFF P IE C E S F R O M

The alternative Kt P x B ; g ives Wh ite the b est


, of

the g ame without doub t


,
.
1

7 P —Q s B —Q 3

Thi s move is not at all in accordance with the nature


O f this variation The general strategical plan fo r
.

White is to play P K R 3 to be followed in time ,

by the advance o f the K Kt P to Kt 4 and the bringing ,

Of the Q Kt tO K B 5 via K 2 a nd K Kt 3 or Q I a nd

K 3 Then .
,
if possi ble , the
K Kt is linked with the
other Kt by placing it at either K R 4 K Kt 3 o r K 3 , ,

as the occasion deman ds The White King sometim es .

remains at Kt I a n d other times it is placed at K Kt 2


, ,

but mostly at K R I F inally in most cases comes .


,

P K B 4 and the n the real attack begins S ome


,
.

times it is a direct assault again st the Ki ng and at ,


2

other times it comes simply to fi ne ss ing for positional


advantage in the e n d game after most Of the pieces -
,

have b een exchanged .


3

8 . P —K R 3

9 . B —R 4 P -
B 4

1
Se e ga me C a p ablan ca Kupchi ck f ro m H ava na Int e rna t ional
-
,

M as t e rs To u rna me n t B o o k 1 9 1 3 by J R C ap a bla nca ; o r a ga me


, , . .

in t h e C a rl sb a d T o u rn a m e n t o f 1 9 1 1 Vid m a r pl a yi ng B l a c k a ga i ns t
,

Al e c hin .

2
Se e Nie m z o wit ch g a me in t h e All R u ssi an M a s t e rs To u m a

s

m e nt 1 9 1 4 a t St P e t e rs b u rg a gai ns t Le vit z ki I b e li e ve
, ,
.
, ,
.

3
Se e C a p a bl anc a J a no w s ki g a m e Ne w Y o r k M as t e rs To u rna
-
,

m e nt , 1 913 .
98 C UTT ING OFF P IE C E S F R O M

Af ter this move White s game is lost Wh ite cannot



.

play Kt X Kt P because Kt x Kt will win a piece


, .

Therefore he must play B Kt 3 either b efore o r ,

after Kt Kt with disastrous results in either case


, ,

as b e seen .

Kt t ch

B — Kt 3
P —
K R 3
Q >< B
P >< Q

A Simple examination will Show that Wh ite is minus


a Bishop for all p r actical purposes He can only free
.

it b y sacrifi cing o ne Pawn and possibly not even


,

then At least it would lose time besides the Pawn


. .

Black now devotes all his energy to the Queen s Side ’


,

and havin g practically a Bishop more the result


, ,

cannot b e in doubt The rest o f the game is given


. ,

s o that the student may s e e how simple it is to win

such a game .
T HE S CE N E OF AC T I O N 99

I6 . K — Kt 2 P— Q R 4
17 P —Q R 4 K —B 2

R —R
.

I8 . I K —K 3
19 . P —R 4 K R — Q Kt I

There is no necessity to pay any atte n tion to the


King s Side b ecause White gains nothing b y e xch ang

,

in g Pawn s a nd opening the Kin g s Rook fil e ’


.

20 . P >< P R P >< P
21 P — Kt 3 P —B 3

.

22 . R QR 2 P — Kt 4
23 . K R — R I P—B 5

I f White takes the pro ffered Pawn Black re g a ins i t ,

immediately by R Kt 5 after P x B P , .

24 . R P X P P X P ( Kt 6)
25 . B P >< P R >< P
26 . R —R 4 R X P
2 7 . P —Q 4 R — Kt 4
28 . R —B 4 R —K t 5
29 . R X B P R X P
Resigns

25 . A P L AY ER S M O TIVE S C R ITI C I S E D IN A

S P E C IM E N GA M E
N ow that a few of my games wi th my own notes
have been given I o ff er for close perusal and stu dy
,

a very fin e game played b y S ir G eorge Thomas one ,

O f E ngland s foremost players against Mr F F L



. . . .
,

Alexander in the championship o f the City O f London


,


Chess Club in the winter o f 1 9 1 9 1 92 0 It has the .
1 00 A P LAYE R S M O TIVE S CRI T ICI S ED

interesting feature the student that S ir G eorg e


fo r
Thomas kindly wrote the notes t o the g ame for me at
my request and with the understanding that I would
,

make the comm ents o n them that I co n side red ap


p p
r o r ia t e Si
.r G eo r ge Thomas notes a r e in brackets

and thus will b e distinguished fr om my o wn comments .

Exam pl e 55 . Queen s ’
G amb it Declined .
( Th e
not es wit h in br a ck e ts by S ir Ge or g e Th om as Wh ite .
)
Mr . F F
. . L Al exander Black : S ir G eorge Th omas
. . .

I - P -
Q 4 P —Q 4
2 . Kt — K B 3 Kt — K B 3

3 . P —B 4 P —K 3
4 Kt —B 3 Q Kt — Q 2

—B 3
.

5 . B — Kt 5 P
6 . P -K 3 —
Q R 4

( One the O b jects o f Black s method o f d e fence is ’


Of
to attack White s Q Kt doubly b y Kt K 5 followed

,

b y P x P But 7 Kt .
Q 2 is probably a stron g way
10 2 A P LAYE R ’
S M OT IVE S CRI T ICI S ED
violent attack against the King This is a turnin g .

point in the g ame and it is in such positions that


,

the temperament and style o f the player decide the


course o f the g ame .

13 .

14 . P —K 4

I 5 . P — Q 5

( W h ite might play 15 K R Q I k eepin g the Option,

o f b rea k in g up the centre later o n I wanted him .

to advan ce this P as there is now a fine post fo r my


B at Q B By this move White shows that he does
not un derstand the t rue value o f his position His .

only advanta g e consisted in the undeveloped condition


o f Black s Q B He should there fore have made a

.

plan to prevent the B f rom coming o u t o r if that ,

were not possib le then he shoul d try to force Black


,

to weaken h is Pawn position in order t o come o u t with


the B There were three moves t o consider : fi rst
.
,
I N A SPE CIM E N G AM E 1 03

P Q R 4 in order to maintain the White B in the


,

dominating position that it now occupies This .

would have b een met b y Q B 2 ; seco nd either O f ,

the Rooks to Q I in order to threaten 1 6 P x P B x P ,

1 7 Kt X B Q x
,
Kt ; 1 8 B X P ch This woul d have .

b een met by B Kt 5 ; a n d third P K R 3 to p re ,

vent B Kt 5 and by playing either R to Q I followed ,

up as previ ously stated to force Black t o play


Q Kt 4 which woul d weaken his Quee n s Side

P ,

Pawns Thus b y playing P — K R 3 White would


.

have attained the desir ed Object The text move .

blocks the action o f the White B a n d facili tates Black s ’

developme n t Hereafter White will act on the de fe n


.

sive and the interest throughout the rest o f the game


,

wi ll centre mainly o n Black s play and the manner in ’

which he carries o u t the attack .

15 .

Q B 2

16 . B —Q 3
( Th is seems wrong as it makes the development O
, f
Black s Queen wing easier At p rese n t he ca nn ot

.

play P Q Kt 3 because O f the reply P x P followed


—Q
,

by B s) .

I6 . P — Q Kt 3
I 7 P —B 4 B — Kt 2
—B
.

I8 . K R 1

( With the idea o f Q R Kt I and P —B 5 . But it


only compels Black to bring h is B to Q B 4, which he
would do in any case ) .
1 04 A P LAYER S M OT IVE S CRI T ICI S E D

18 B —K 2
—B
.

19 . R z B —B 4
20 .

Q Kt a P —B 3

( It wo ul d have been better pro b ably to play , ,

20 . K R. K I wit h the idea o f P B 4 presently )


, .

Black s play hereabout is weak ; it lacks force and



,

there seems to be no well de fin e d plan o f attack It -


.

is true that these are the most d ifiic u l t positions to


han dle in a game In such cases a player must co n ceive
.

a plan o n a la rge scale which promises chances Of ,

success an d with it all it must b e a plan that can be


, ,

carried o u t with the means at his disposal F r om .

the lo ok of the positio n it seems that Black s best ’

cha n ce would be to mass his forces for an attack


against White s centre to b e followed by a direct

,

attack again st the Ki ng He should therefore play .


, ,

Q R K I thr eatening P K B 4 If White is able


,
.

to defeat this plan o r rather to preven t it then o n ce


, , ,

he has fi xed some Of the White pieces on the King s ’

Side he Should quickly shift his attack to the Queen s


,

side a n d ope n a line for his Rooks which o n ce they


, , ,

e n ter in action should produce a n adva n tage on a c


,

coun t O f the great power Of the two Bishops .


'

2L Q R — K M Q R — Q I
n . R —Q R 4 B—R 3

Q123 . R

( White has clearly lost time with his Rook s moves


23 . K R K I
24 Q Kt 3 .
106 A P LAYE R S M OTIVE S CRI T ICI S E D

posted Kn ig ht and o n the fact that in such pos i


,

tions as the above the Bishop is invariably stronger


,

than the Knight He could and Sho ul d have pre


. ~

vented all that b y playing B B I as had White


, , ,

then rep lied with Q Kt 3 he could then play ,

P X P and White would not have b een able to retake


,

w ith the B P on account O f B X P ch winning the


exchan g e.

w . KPX P
28 . P —Kt 3

I do not lik e this move It wou l d have b een b etter


.

to hold it in reserve and to have playe d P B 4 t o ,

b e followed in due time by P K Kt 4 and P B 5 ,

after having placed the Q at Q 2 K B 2 o r some other , ,

square as the occasion demanded Th e text m o ve


i

blocks the action O f the power ful B at Q B 4 an d ,

tends to make White s position safer than it Shoul d


have b een The move in itself is a very strong attack


.

ing move b ut it is isolated and there is no effective


, ,

continuation S uch advan ces as a rule Should only


.

be made when they can b e followed b y a concerte d


action o f the pieces .

B —B I

B —B 4
R —K 5

Q B I

P —K Kt 4
IN A SP E CIM E N GAM E 19 7

( I f now 3 4 B — B 3,P >< P ; 3 5 B X R , B >< B ch ,

with a winning attack ) .

35 . R —K B I P — Kt 5

R —R 3 was the alter n ative Wh ite s only move .


would have been K R I The position no w is evi .

de nt ly wo n for Black a nd it is o n ly a question of


,

findi ng the right cou r se The fin al attack is now


carri ed o n b y S ir G eorge Thomas in an irreproachable
manner .

w - B—Q s

37 . Kt —K 2

( Again preventing B R b y the masked attack


x ,

o n White s Rook

White the refo re p rotects his Rook )
. .

If Kt B 4 P — K

39 Kt >< P
,
R X Kt ch ; ,

4 0 R >< R B — ,
K 5 4 1 B X B best R X R and , ,

Wh ite is lost If howeve r agai n st 3 8 Kt B 4 Black


.
, , ,

plays Q R 3 and White 39 Q B 2 I take pleasure


, ,
108 A P LAYE R S M O T IVE S CRI T ICI S E D

in O ff ering the positio n to my readers as a most be au


tiful and extrao r din ary win for Black b eginnin g with ,

39. .
Q — R 6 ch I leave the var i ations for the
student t o work o u t .

3 8 R.
( K t 2 ) —K t 1 Q — R 3
39 .
Q -
B 2

( Making a double attack on —


the Rook which still
cannot be —
taken a n d
preparing to defend the K R P ) .

If either the Rook o r Bishop are taken Wh ite would


be mated in a few moves .

39

Q R 6 ch

—R
.

40 . K I R X P '!

( If R 3; 4 1 K t
- —K t 1 Q >< K t P ; 4 2 Q ,

K Kt 2 Black therefore tries to get the Queen away


.

from the defence ) A very beautiful move and the


.
,

best way to car ry o n the attack .

“ .
Q X R
C HA P TE R V

END -GAM E S TRA TE GY

WE must now revert once more to the endings Their .

importance will have become evident to the student


who has taken the troub le to study my game with
Janowski ( Example After an uneventful openin g

a Ruy Lopez in o ne o f its normal variations ,

my opponent suddenly made things interesting b y


O ffering the exchange ; an o ffer which Of course I , ,

accepted Then foll owed a very hard arduous struggle


.
, ,

in which I had to defend myself against a very dan g er


o u s attack made possible by the excellent m a n oeu

vring o f my adversary . F inally there came the t ime


,

when I could give back the material and change O ff


most of the pieces and come to an ending in which
,

I clearly had the advantage B ut yet the e n din g


.

itself was not as Sim ple as it at fi rst appeared and ,

fi nall y perhaps through o ne weak move o n my part


it b ecame a very diffi cul t matter to fin d a win .

Had I b een a weak end g ame player the game would


-

pro b ab ly have ended in a draw and all my previous


,

efforts would have been in vain Unfortun ately that


.
,

is very Often the case among the large majority o f


players ; they are weak in the e n dings ; a failing from
which masters o f the fi rst rank are at times not free .

1 10

END GAM E ST RA TE G Y 1 I1
Incidentally I might call attention to the fact that
,

all the world s champions o f the last sixty y ears have


been exceedin g ly stron g in the endings : Mo rphy ,

S teinitz and Dr Lasker had no superiors in this


,
.

departmen t O f the game while they held their titles .

26 . T HE S UDD EN A TT A C K F R O M A
D IFFE R EN T S ID E
I have previously stated when speakin g ab out
,

g eneral theory that at times the way to win consists


,

in attacking fi rst o n o ne Side then granted greater, ,

mo b ility of the pieces to transfer the attack quickly


,

from o ne side to the other breaking through before


,

your O ppone n t has been able to brin g up s uffi cient


forces to withstand the attack This principle Of the
.

middl e game can somet imes b e applied in the en din g s


-

in somewhat s imilar ma nner .

Exam ple 5 6 .
112 THE S U DD E N ATT AC K
In the a b ove position I with the Black , p ieces ,

p la y ed :

I . R —K 5 ch

2 . R —K 2 R —Q R 5
3 . R —R 2 P —K R 4

The idea as wi ll be seen very soon is to play P R 5


, ,

in order to fix White s King s side Pawns with a view ’ ’

to the futur e It is evident to Black that Wh ite


.

wants to brin g his Kin g to Q Kt 3 to support his


t w o wea k isolated Pawns a n d thus to free his Rooks ,
.

B lack therefore makes a plan to Shift the attack t o


, ,

the King s Side at the proper tim e in order to Obtain



,

some advantag e from the greater mobility o f his


Rooks .

4 . R —Q I R (Q 4 ) -
Q R 4

in order to force the Rook to Rook s square keeping



,

b oth Rooks tied up .

5 . R (Q ) I -
R I P —R 5
6 . K Q 2 K Kt 2
7 . K B 2 R K Kt 4

Bla ck begins to transfer his attack to the King s Side ’


.

8 R K Kt I.

A serious mi stake which loses qui ckly Wh ite should


,
.

have p l aye d 8 K Kt 3 when Black would have ,

answered 8 R ( R 5) R 4 ; 9
. . P —B 3 and Black -
,

woul d have Ob tained an Opening at K Kt 6 for his


Kin g which in the end might gi ve him t h e vi ctory
,
.

R —K B 5
1 14 T HE SUDD E N A TTAC K
proper course as in the previous endin g is t o b rin g
, ,

the Rooks forward s o that at least o ne Of them may


,

be able to shift from o ne Side Of the b oard to the


other and thus keep B lack s Rooks from moving
,

freely What this means in gene r al theory has been


.

stated already ; it really means : k ee p h arassing th e


e ne my; for ce h im to us e his big p ieces t o defend P a wns .

If h e h as a wea k p oin t ,
tr y t o m a k e it wea k er , or cr e a t e

a noth er we a kne ss s om ewh er e e ls e a nd his p osition will


c oll a pse s oon er or l a t er . If h e h a s a wea k nes s , a nd he
ca n g e t r id o f it , m a k e su r e t h a t you cr ea te a not h er we a k
n ess s om ewh er e e ls e .

F rom the position in question the g ame continued


thus
I . R —K 4 K R —K I

with the O b ject O f repeating Wh ite s manoeuvre and ’


,

also not to allow Whi te the control o f the Open fil e


2 .
Q R—K I R —K 3
3 .
Q R —K 3 R (B I ) —K I

4 . K—B I K —B I

Black wants to bring his King to the centre o f the


board in order to b é nearer to whatever point White
'

decides to attack The move is justifi ed at least o n


.

the general rule that in such endin g s the King Should


be in the middle o f the b oard He does nothing after .

all but follow Wh ite s footsteps Besides it is hard



.
,

to po int o u t anything b etter I f 4 P Q 4 ; 5 R . . .

Kt 4 ch f ollowed by K
,
K 2 would leave Black in ,

a ve ry disagreeable position If 4 P K B 4 ; 5 R . . .
FROM A DI FFE RE N T S ID E 11
5

Q 4 ! R X R? 6 P X R, R X P ; 7 K — B 2, R —K 2 ;
8 R —Q R winnin g the Q R
4, would prac P , which
tically leave White with a passed Pawn ahead on the
Queen s side as the three Pawns Of Black on the

,

King s side would be held by the two of White



.

5 . K—K 2 K—K 2
6 . R—Q R 4 R —Q R I

The studen t should note that through the same ma ~

n oe u vr e Black is fo r ced into a position S imilar to the

o ne Shown in the p r evious e n din g .

7 . R —R 5 !

This move has a manifold Object It practicall y fix es .

all o f Black s Pawn s except the Q P which is the onl y


one that can advance two squa res It specially p re .

ve n ts the advance o f Black s K B Pawn s and at the



,

s ame time th r eate n s the adva n ce of Wh ite s K B


Pawn s to B 4 a nd B 5 By this th reat it p r actically .

forces Black to play P Q 4 which is a ll White desires , ,

for reasons that will soo n become evident .

r P —Q 4
8 . P —Q B 4 ! K —Q 3

Evidently forced as the o nly other move to save a


,

Paw n would have been P X P which would have left ,

all Black s Pawn s isolated and weak I f 8 P Q 5



. . .

9 R —K 4 K — Q 3;
, I O P — Q Kt 4 ! R — K 4;
I I R R 6 and Black s g ame is hopeless
,

.

9 . P —B 5 ch K—Q 2

m . P —Q 4 P —B 4
I 16 T HE SUDD E N ATTAC K
Apparently ve ry strong si n ce it forces the exchan ge
,

o f Rooks because o f the threat R R 3 b ut in reality


it leads to nothing The b est chance was to play
.

R —K K I .

I I . R X R P X R
m . P—B 4

Up to now White had played with but this fi nesse ,


last move is weak R R 6 was the prope r way to
.

contin ue SO as to force Black to give up hi s Q R P


,

or Q B P .

12 . K —B I

m . K —Q 2

Again a b ad move 3 was the proper c o n


—R
T

. I3 R
t inu a t io n a n d if then 1 3
,
R —K t I ; 1 4 P — K t 3
. .
,

K —K t 2 ; I 5 P —K t 4 K —R 1 ; I 6 R — Q Kt 3 , ,

with excell ent winning chances ; in fact I b elieve a , ,

w on g ame .

13 K Kt 2

Black misses his only chance . R Kt 1 would have


1 18 TH E SU DD E N ATT AC K

28 . P — Kt 5

A weak move which gives Black a fighting chance


, .

In t hi s end ing as is O f ten the case with most players


, ,

Wh i te plays the b est moves whenever the Situation


i s difficult and requires careful han dl ing b ut once ,

hi s position seems to be overwhelmin g he relaxes hi s


eff orts and the result is nothi ng t o be proud of Th e .

ri g ht move was 2 8 R — Kt 7 .

28 R PX P

” . P X P R —B I !

3 0 . R — Kt 7 R —R I c h
3 1 . K — Kt 4 P X P

3 2 . KX P R —R 7
33 . P—B 6 ch K — Kt I
34 . R X R P R — K t 7 ch

35 . K—R 5 R —R 7 ch

36 . K — Kt 4 R X P

Black misses his last chance : R Kt 7 ch forcing ,

the King to B 3 in order t o avoid the perpetual


, ,
FROM A DI FF ERE N T S ID E 1 19

woul d probably draw The reader must b ear in m ind


.

that my oppo nent was then a very young and in e x


pe rie n c e d player and consequently deserves a g reat
,

deal of cre di t for the fig ht he put up .

y . R —K 7 R X P

R Kt 7 ch ; fo llowed b y R —K R 7, o ff ered b etter


chances .

P—R 6 ! R X P ch

K — Kt 5 R —Q 8
P —R 7 R — Kt 8 ch

K—B 5 R —B 8 m
K—Q 4 R—Q 8 ch

K —K 5 R —K 8 m
K—B 6 R —K R S
R — K 8 ch K—R 2

P—R 8 ( Q) R >< Q
R X R K — Kt 3
K >< P K >< P
K X P K —B 4
K—K 5 Resign s .

Th i se n ding shows how easy it is to make weak moves


and how Often even in master play mistakes a re
,
-
,

made and Opportunities are lost It shows that SO .


,

lon g as there is no great advant age o f material even ,

with a good po s it io n a player no matter how strong


, , ,

cannot a fford to relax h i s attention even fo r o ne


move .
1 20 T HE DANG E R OF

27 . THE D ANGER OF A S A F E P O S IT I O N
Exam m e A
58g ood .proof o f the previous state

ment is Shown in the fo llowin g ending between Mar


shall and K u pch ick in o ne o f their t wo g ames in t h e
same Tournament ( Havana ,

It is evident that Marshall ( Whi te) is under great


d ifficulties in the above position N ot only is he .

bound to lose a Pawn b ut his position is rather poor


, .

The best he coul d hope for was a draw unless some


!

thing altogether unexpected happened as it did N O , .

reason can be give n for Black s loss of the game except


that he felt SO certain of having the b est O f it with a


Pawn more and what he considered a safe position ,

that he became exceedingly careless and did not con


sider the dan g er that actually existed Let us se e .

how it happened .

1 . P —Kt 4 R X R P
122 END IN G S WIT H ONE

R X P ; 8 R X R, K X R ; 9 R —R 8 Ch , K —Kt 3 ;
10 P —R 5 mate .

28 . E ND IN G S W IT H O N E R OO K A N D PAWN S
The reader has probably realised by this time that
en dings o f t wo Rooks and Pawns are very diffi cul t ,

and that the same holds true for endings o f one Rook
and Pawns E ndin g s o f two Rooks and Pawns are
.

not very comm on in actual play ; but endin g s of o ne


Rook and Pawns are about the most common sort
Of en d ings arising o n the chess board Yet thoug h .

they do occur so often few have mastered them thor


,

oughly They are Often Of a very diffi cult nature and


.
,

sometim es while apparently very Simple they are in


reality extremely intricate Here is an example fro m
.

a g ame b etween Marshall and Rosenthal in the Man


hattan Chess Club Championship Tour nament of
1 90 9- 1 9 1 0 .

Exam ple 59 .
R OO K AND P AWN S 1 23

In this position Marshall had a simple Win by


R — B 7 ch but played
,
P — B 6 and thereby gave ,

Black a chance to dr aw Luckily for him Black did.

not s e e the drawing move played poorly and lost , ,


.

Had Black b een up to the situation he wo uld have


drawn by playing R Q 3 .

1 . P —B 6 R —Q 3!

N O W White has two continuations either ( a ) ,


P B 7,
or ( b) R — B 7 ch We have therefore.

( )
a 2 . P—B 7 R—Q I !

3 . R _R 5 m K—B 5

and White will fi nally have to sac rifi ce the Roo k fo r


Black s Pawn 01

.

( b) 2 R —B 7 ch K—Q 5 !
—B
.

3 . P 7 R — Kt 3 ch !

a ve ry important move as against R ,


KB 3, R K 7
wins .

4 K B I .

5 R Kt 7.

and White will finall y have to sacri fi ce the Rook


for the Pawn o r d raw by perpetual check
, .

If there we re nothi ng mo re in the e ndi ng it woul d


not be of a ny g reat value but there are other ,

very int e r e St ing features Now suppose that after.

I P — B 6 R — Q 3 ; 2 P — B 7 Black did not


, ,

realise that R — Q 1 was the only move to draw .


1 24 ENDIN GS WI T H O NE

We would th en have the following position

N ow th ere woul d b e t wo other moves t o try : eithe r


—Kt ch r ( b) R —K B 3 Let us exa m ine
( )
a R 3 o ,
.

them .

( )
a 1 . R — Kt 3 ch

2 . K —B 3 R —B 3 ch
3 . K —K 3 R —K 3 ch

I f P — Kt 6 ; R —R 5 ch wins b ecause if the Kin g ,

goes back then R R 6 and if the King goes up then


, , ,

R — R 4 ch followed b y
,
R — K B 4 w ins .

4 . K —Q 3 R —K B 3

I f R —Q 3 ch ; K —K 4 wins .

5 . R -
R 5 ch K moves
6 . R R 6 wins
( b) I . R —B 3
2 . R -
Kt 7 ! K —B 5
I f P K t 6 ; R Kt 3 and White will either capture
,

the Pawn 01 g o t o K B 3 and come out with a winnin g


,

endin g .
1 26 END ING S WIT H ONE

Best If K — B 5 ; both P —R 4 and K —K 3


. wi ll
the last named move particul arly would
-

with ease .

R —K 3 P — Kt 7 ( b e st )
R Q Kt 3 RXP
R X P R —K R 2

. R —Q 2 R X P
K —K 3

position we have arri ved at is won by


b ecause there are two fi les between the opposing
Kin g and the Pawn from whi ch the Kin g is cut O ff
by the Rook and besides the Pawn can advance to
, ,

the fourth rank b efore the opponent s Rook can b e g in


to check o n the file Th i s l ast condition is very im


.

portan t b ecause i f i n stead O f t h e position o n the


, ,

diagram the Black Roo k were at K R I and Black


, ,

had the move h e could d raw b y preventin g the a d


,
R OOK AND P AWN S 127

vance o f t h e Pawn either through constant checks,

o r by playin g R K B I at t h e proper time .

N ow that we have explained the reasons why this


p osition is w o n we leave it to the student
,
to work
o u t the correct solution .

The fact that o u t o f o ne apparently simple ending


we have been able to work o u t several most unusual
and ( llfil CU lt endings Should be suff i cient to im press
upon the student s mind the necessity Of becoming

well acqua inted with a ll kinds o f e n dings and espe ,

c ia lly with endings of Rook and Pawns .

29
. A D IFF I C UL T E ND IN G : T WO
R OO KS A N D PAWN S

F oll owing idea that the b est way to learn end


ou r

in g s as well as Ope n ings is to study the games o f the


masters we give two more endings o f two Rooks and
,

Pawns These endings as already stated are not


.
, ,

very common and the author is fort u nate in having


,

himself played more o f these endings than is gene rall y


the case By carefull y compa ri ng and studying the
.

e n dings alr eady given ( Examples 5 6 a nd 5 7) with


the followi ng the student no doubt can Obtain an idea
,

of the proper method to be followed in such cases .

The way o f procedure is somewhat s imilar in all O f


them .

Exampl e 60 a g ame Capab lanca Kre ym


. F rom ,
-

b org in the N ew York S tate Championship Tourna


,

ment o f 1 9 1 0 .
1 28 A D I FF IC UL T E ND ING :

It is Black s move and no doub t thinki n g th at



,

drawing such a position ( that w a s a ll B lack played


for) wo u ld b e easy he conte n ted himself with a waiting
,

policy S uch conduct must always be c r iticised It


. .

often leads to disaster Th e bes t way to defend s uch


.

p os it ions is to ass um e t h e initia tive a nd k ee p th e o pp onent


on t h e defe ns ive .

Q R—K I

T h e fi rst move is already wron g T here is nothing .

to g ain b y this move Black Should play P Q R 4 ;


.

to be fo llowed b y P Q R 5 ; unless White plays


Q Kt 3 That would fix the Queen s Side After

P . .

that he co ul d decide what demonstratio n he could


make with his Rooks to keep the opponent s Rooks ’

at b ay .

2 . R —Q 4

T his move not only prevents P B 5 wh ich Black


intended b ut threatens P Kt 3 fo llowed after
, , ,
1 30 A D I FF I C ULT E NDIN G :

left his g ame completely paralysed Black now finally


(
.

awakens to the danger and tries to save the day by


,

the counter—demonst r atio n o n the King s side which ’


,

he Sho ul d have sta r ted before O f course Wh i te


.
,

ca nn ot play R X R P because o f R X R fo ll owed


, ,

b y R — R 3 recovering the Pawn with advantage


, .

9 . P—K R 4 ! P — Kt 5

B lack is now in a very disagreeab le position I f he .

played X P ; I O R X P wo ul d leave him in a


very awkwar d Situatio n as he could not go b ack
,

with the King no r coul d he do much with either


,

Rook He p r acticall y wo ul d have t o play 1 0 P


. . .

K R 3 when White would an s wer 1 1 P Kt 4 threat


, ,

e n in g to w in a Pawn by P — K t 5 or if that were


, ,

not enough he might play K Q 4 to be foll owe d


, ,

by the en try Of the King at B 5 o r K 5 .

m . K—K 2
T WO R OOKS AND P AWN S 131

P X P ch

A g ain he cannot play P K R 4 because P K B 4 ,

wo ul d leave h im pa raly sed The advance o f his K R P .

woul d make Whi te s K R P safe and co n s equently



,

his K R wo uld h ave to retire to K B 2 to defend the


Q R P .That wou l d make it impossible fo r his Kin g


to g o t o Q 2 because O f the Q R P n o r could he advance
, ,

a Single o ne o f his Pawns O n the othe r hand Wh ite .


,

woul d play P Kt 4 threate n ing to win a Pawn by ,

P — K t 5 or he might fi rst play K — Q 4 a n d then


, ,

at t h e proper t ime P Kt 5 i f there was nothing better , .

Black meanwhil e co ul d rea lly do nothi ng but mark


time with o ne o f his Rooks Compa r e this bottling .

u p system with the e n din g in E xample 5 7 and it ,

wil l b e seen that it is very Similar .

II . K X P R ( 3)
B -
B 2

m . K—K 2

Probably wrong P — Kt 4 at once was the ri ght


.

move The text move g ives Black good chances o f


.

dr awin g .

12 . K —Q 3
I3 . P — Kt 4 R — Q Kt 2

This co ul d n ever have happened had Wh i te played


12 P Kt 4 as h e could have followe d it up by
,

P — K t 5 a fter B l ac k s K — Q 3 ’
°

m . P —R S

Not good P — K B 4 o ffered the b est chances o f


.

winning by force If then — Kt 2 ; 1 5 P


.
132 A DI FF IC UL T E NDIN G '

R 5 , R —K t 7 c h ; I 6 K — Q 3 , R — K R 7 ; 1 7 R X P ,
R X R ; 1 8 R X R , R X P ; 1 9 R — R 6, wit h winning
chances .

P —R 3

Black misses his last chan ce P — B 5 would d raw


If then 1 5 P X P R ( Kt 2 ) — K 2 ch ! ; 1 6 K —B I
.
.

, ,

R X P; I 7 R X P ,
R —K 6!

I5 . P —K B 4 R — Kt 2

I6 . K —Q 3 R (K Kt 2 ) -
K 2

1 7 . R—R I R — Kt 2

18 . K —Q 4 R — Kt 7
( —
) R — Kt
19 . R R 6 2 R ( t
K 2 ) 2

R ( Kt 7) Kt 2 would have o ffered greater resistance ,

but the position is lost in any case ( I leave the st u


.

dent t o w or k this o u t ) .

m . K —Q 3 !
fl . R X R
1 34 A D I FF IC UL T E NDIN G :

advance b ecause as soon as Black plays P Q K t 3


, ,

Whi te replies P Q Kt 4 It is o n this fact that


,

White builds his plans He will stop B lack s Queen s .


’ ’

side Pawns from advancin g and will then bring his ,

o wn King to K 3 Then in due time he will play


.

P — Q 4 and,
fi n ally P — K 5 o r P — K Kt 5 thus , ,

forcin g an exchan g e Of Pawns and Obtain ing in that


way a clear passed Pawn on the King s fil e It will ’
.

be seen that this plan was carried o u t during the course


o f the g ame a n d that White Obtained his winning
,

advantage in that way The play w as based through .

o u t o n the cha n ce of Obtaining a passed Paw n o n the

Ki ng s fil e with which Wh ite exp ected to win



.
,

1 . P — K Kt 4

already preparin g to play P K Kt 5 when the t ime


comes .

P Q Kt 3

Black wants to play P QB 4, b ut White ,


of course ,

p r events it .

2 . P —Kt 4 ! K — Kt 2

This King Should come to the Ki ng s side where the



,

danger lurks .

3 . K—B 2 P —Q Kt 4

With the Ob ject o f playing K Kt 3 and P Q R 4 ,

foll owed b y P X P a n d thus have an O pen file for


,

his Rook and b e able to make a counter demonstration -


T wo RO OKS AND P AWN S 13 5

on the Queen s side in order to stop Wh ite s advance


’ ’

on the right White however also prevents this


.
, , .

4 . P —Q R 4 ! R —Q s

Of course if P X P ; Black will have all his Pawns on


the Queen s side dis rupted and isolated and White

,

can easily regain the lost Pawn by playin g either


Rook o n t h e Q R fil e .

5 . R —Q Kt I R —K 4
He stil l wants to play P — Q B 4 but as it is easy ,

to foresee that White will again p r eve n t it the text ,

move is really a serious loss o f time Black sho ul d .

bring his King over to the other side immediately .

6 . K —K 3 R —Q 2

7 . P —R 5

The fi rst part o f White s strategic plan is now acco m


p lis h.e d Black s Pawns o n the Queen s Si d e are fixed


’ ’

for all practical purposes .

R—K 3

If R X R ; Kt P X R wo u ld have gi ven White a very


powerful centre Yet it might have b ee n the b est
.

chance for Black .

8 . R ( Kt ) —K B 1 R —
(Q ) K
2 2

9 . P —K t 5 PX P
10 . R X P
136 A DI FF IC UL T E NDIN G :

The second part o f Wh ite s strategical plan is no w


accomplished It remain s to fin d o u t if the advantage


.

obtained is sufficient to win White no t only has a .

passed Pawn but his Kin g is In a commanding position


!

in the centre o f the b oard ready to support the advance


o f White s Pawns o r i f necessary to go to Q B 5 o r

, , , ,

to move to the right wing in case Of danger Besides .


,

White holds the Open file with o ne Of his Rooks Al .

together Wh ite s position is superior and his chances


o f winning are excellent .

m . R—R 3
11 . R — Kt 3 R (R 3) — K 3

to prevent P Q 4 Also Black fears t o


.

Rook in fr ont o f his two King s Side Pawns ’

may want to utilise later .

12 . P —R 4 P —K t 3
13 . R —K t 5 P —R 3
138 R OOK B I S H OP AN D P AWN S
,
v
.

m . K —Q 2

2 f I QP X P
fi . P —Q 5

The winning tactics in all these endings have m erely


consisted in keeping the opponent s Rooks tied to the ’

defence o f o ne o r mo r e Pawn s leavi ng my o wn Rooks


,

f ree fo r actio n This is a ge n eral principle which


.

can be equally applied to any par t of the game It .

means in general terms


K ee p fr e e dom f
o ma noeu vr e wh ile h a mp ering your
o pp onent .

There is o ne mo r e thing Of great importance an d ,

that is that the winnin g Side has always had a gen eral
strategical plan capable o f being carr ied o u t with the
means at his di sposal whil e o f ten the lo sing side had
,

no plan at all b ut Simply moved accord ing t o the


,

needs o f the moment .

30. R OO K , B S H O P I AN D PAWN S v
. R OO K ,
K NI GH T A N D PAWN S

We shall now examine an ending of Rook Bishop ,

and Pa wns against Rook Knight and Pawns where , ,

it will b e seen that the Rook at times is used in the


same way as in the end ings alrea dy g iven .

Exam pl e 62 the fi rst game o f


. F rom the Lask er
Marshall Ch ampionship Match in 1 90 7 .
R O OK KNI G H T AN D P AWN S
,
1 39

In this po s iti o n it is Black s move To a b eginn er



.

the po s itio n may look lik e a dr aw but the advanced


,

player wi ll reali s e immediately that there a re g reat


possibili ties for Black to win no t o nly because he has
,

t h e initiative but beca use of White s un developed


,

Quee n s s ide a nd the fact that a Bishop in such a posi


tio n is bette r than a Knight ( see S ectio n It wil l


take so me time fo r White to brin g h is Ro ok and Kn ight
i n to the fray a nd Black c an util ise it to Obtain a n
,

adva n tage The re a re two cou r ses Ope n t o h im The


. .

most evide n t a nd the o ne that mo s t playe r s wo ul d


,

take is t o advan ce the Pawn to Q B 4 a nd Q B 5


,

imme di ately in co njun cti o n with the Bi s hop check


at R 3 a nd a ny o the r mo ve that might be n ece s s a ry
with the Black Ro ok The o the r a n d m o re s u btle
.
, ,

course was taken by Black It co ns i s ts in ut ili s ing


.

his Roo k in the same w ay as Shown in the previous


end ings forcin g Wh ite to defen d somethin g a ll the
,

t ime restricting the action o f White s Knig ht and



,
140 R OOK B I S H OP ,
AND P AWN S 2 .

Wh i te s Roo k whil e at the same time keep ing freedom



,

o f act i on for his o wn Rook and Bishop .

R — Kt I

Th is forces P Q Kt 3, which blocks th at s quare


for the White Knight .

2 . P — Kt 3 R — Kt 4

b ringing the Rook to attack the King s Side Pawn s ’

s o as to force the King to that Side t o de fen d them ,

and thus indirectly making more secure the position


o f B l ac k s Queen s s id e Pawns
’ ’
.

3 . P —B 4 R —K R 4
4 . K — Kt I P —B 4

N ote that Wh ite Kn ight s Sphere o f act ion is


the

very limited an d th at a f ter Kt Q 2 Whi te s own


,

Pawns are in his way .

5 . Kt —Q 2 K —B 2

6 . R —B 1 ch
This check accomp lishes nothin g I t merely d ri ves .

Black s King where it wants to go Consequently



.

it is a very bad move P Q R 3 at once w as the .

best move .

6 . K—K 2

7 . P—Q R 3 R —R 3

G ettin grea dy to shi f t t h e attack t o t h e Queen s side ’


,

where h e h as t h e a dvantag e in materi al and positio n .

8 . P —K R 4 R —R 3
14 2 R OO K B I S H O P
,
AND P AWN S

Kt — R 4 P —B 5

25 .

26 . Kt X P P —B 6
2 7 . Kt —K 4 eh K —B 5

way to win . Wh ite sho ul d


28 . Kt — Q 6 P —B 4
29 . P — Kt 4 P x P

3 0 . P —B 5 P — Kt 6

3 1 . Kt —B
~

4 K — Kt 6
3 2 . Kt — K 3 P — Kt 7

A very good example on B l ack ’


s part of h ow t o co n

duct such an endin g .


CHAP TER V I
F UR THE R O PE NING S AND M m D LE -
GAM ES
31 . S O M E S ALIE N T P O IN T S ABO UT PAWN S
B EF ORE goin g back the di scussion O f Openin g s and
to

middle game po sitions it mi ght be well to bear in


-

mind a few facts concerning Pawn positions which


will no doubt help to understand ce r tain moves and ,

sometim es even the Object o f certain va riations in


the O pen ings and o f some manoeuvres in the middl e
,

g ames .

Exam pl e 63 the position o f the diag ram we


.
-
In
h ave an exceedingly bad Pawn formation o n B lack s

side Black s Q B P is altogether bac kward and


.

,

White coul d by means o f the Open file concentrate


1 43
1 44 S O M E S ALIE N T PO INT S
h is forces against that weak point
There is also the .

square at White s Q B 5 which is controlled by White



, ,

and from where a Wh ite piece once established could


no t b e dislodged In order to get rid O f it Black
.
,

would have to exchange it which is not always an ,

easy matter a nd Often when possib le not at all co n


,

ve nie nt The same holds true with regard to B lack s


.

K P K B P and K Kt P which create what is called


, ,

a hole at Black s K B 3 S uch Pawn formations


“ ’
.

invariably lead to disaster and consequently must ,

b e avoided .

In this position we might say that


64 .

the Wh ite ce n tre Pawns have the attacking position ,

while the Black centre Pawns have the de fensive


position S uch a formation o f Pawn occurs in the
.

F rench Defence In such positions White most Often


.

attempts b y means Of P K B 4 and K B 5 to Obtain


, ,

a crushing attack against Black s King which is gen ’


,

e rally Castled o n the Kin g s Side To prevent that ’


.
,
146 S O M E POSS IB LE D EVEL OP M ENT S
Having all this clear in mind we will now revert
,

t o the open ings a n d mi ddle game We will analyse


-
.

g ames caref ull y from beginning to end accordin g to


g eneral principles I Shall whenever possible u se
.
, ,

my o wn g ames not because they will better illustrate


,

the po int b ut b ecause kno wing them thoroughly I


, , ,

shall be able to explain them more authoritatively


than the games o f others .

32 . SO M E P O SS IBLE D EVELO P M ENT S FR O M


A R UY L O PEZ
That some Of the variations in the openings and
the man oeuvres in the middl e game are often based -

on some o f the elementary p r inciples just expounded


ca n b e easily seen in the following case

. P—K 4
. I fi— K B 3
B — Ki 5
B—R 4
O — O
. P—Q 4
B — K ug
. P X P
P —B 3
. R —K I
. B —B 2
.
Q KL — Q z

Kt — K t 3 Kt — K 3
F R O M A R UY L OPEZ 14 7

S O far a very well —kn own variation o f the Ruy


Lopez In fact they are the moves o f the Ja nowski
.
,

Lasker game in Paris 1 9 1 2 ,


.

14 Q Q3 . P Kt 3
Let us suppose the game went o n a nd that in some ,

wa y White by playing o ne o f the Knights to Q 4


,

at the p roper time forced the excha nge o f both Knights


, ,

and then after wards both the Bishops were exchanged ,

and we arr ived at some such position as shown in the


following diag ram ( I Obtai ned such a position in a
.

very Similar way once at Lodz in Poland I w as play .

in g the White pieces against a consult in g team heade d


b y S alwe ) .

Now we wo ul d have here the case o f the b ackwar d


Q B P which will in no way be able to advance to
,

Q B 4 S uch a position may be said to be theoreticall y


.

lost and in practice a fi rs t class master will invariably


,
-

win it from Black (If I may be excused the reference


.
,

I will say that I won the game above re ferred to ) .

After a few moves the position may b e easily thus


148 S O M E P OSS I B L E D EVEL O P M EN T S

T he Black pieces can b e said to b e fixed I f White


.

plays Q Q B 3 Black must answer Q Q 2 other


, ,

wise he will lose a Pawn and if Wh ite returns with


,

the Queen to Q R 3 Black wi ll have again to return


to Q Kt 2 with the Queen o r lose a Pawn Thus Black
.

can onl y move accordin g to White s lead and under



,

such conditions White can easily advance with his


Pawns to K B 4 and K Kt 4 until Black will b e forced
,

to stop P B 5 by playin g P K B 4 an d we mi ght


,

fin all y have some such position as this

Ex am pl e 66 .
1 50 S O M E P O SS I B L E D E VE L OP M EN T S
Black would now be forced to play R B I an d ,

White could then play Q B 2 and foll ow it up with ,

K B 3 an d thus fo r ce Black to play P X P which


, ,

would give Whi te a gr eater advan tag e .

A care ful exam ination o f all these positions will


reveal that b esides the advan tage o f fr eedom o f
,

man oeuvre on White s part the power o f the Pawn



,

at K 5 is en ormous a n d that it is the comman ding


,

position O f t hi s Pawn and the f act that it is free t o


,

a dvance once all the pieces are exchan g e d th at con


, ,

s t it u t e the pivot o f a ll White s manoeuvres



.

I have purposely given positio n s without t h e moves


whi ch lead to them s o that the student may b ecome
accustomed to b uild up in his o w n mind possible
positions that may arise ( o u t of any given situation ) .

Thus he will learn to make strategical plan s and be o n


his way to the master class The s tuden t can derive
.

enormous b en efi t by further practice of this k ind .

33 . T HE IN F L U E N C E O F A H O LE

The in fluence o f a s o called hole in a g ame has


-

already been illustrated in my game against Blanco


( page where has been Shown the i nfluen ce e x e r
c is e d by the different pieces posted in the hole created

at Wh i te s K 5

.
TH E IN FL UENCE OF A “
HO LE ”
151

Example 67 .
— In order to further illustrate this
point ,I no w give a g ame played in the Havana Inter
national Masters Tournament o f 1 9 1 3 ( Queen s .

G amb it Declined ) Wh i te : D Janows ki B lack


. . .

A Kupchick
. .

1 . P— Q4 P — Q 4
2 . P— Q B 4 P— K 3
Kt — Q B 3 Kt — K B 3
3 .

4 . B — Kt 5 B— K 2

5 . P — K 3 Q Kt — Q 2

6 B — Q P X P
.
3
7 . B X P Kt — Kt 3

Of course the idea is to post a Kn ight at Q 4 b ut as ,

it is the other Knight which will be posted the r e t h is


man oeuvre does not seem log ical The Knight at .

Kt 3 does nothin g except to preve n t the development


o f his own Q B The normal cou r se 0 0 followed
.
,


by P Q B 4 is mo r e reasonab le F or a beautiful
,
.

ill ustration o f how to play White in that va r iation ,

s e e the Ja n owski Rubinstein game o f the S t Peters


-
.

burg Tournament O f 1 9 1 4 .

8 B Q3 .

B Kt 3 has some poi n ts in its favour in this position ,

the most important b ein g t h e possibility o f adva ncing


the King s Pawn imm ediately a f ter 8 K Kt Q 4 ;

. .

9 B >< B , Q x B .

8 . K Kt — Q 4

9 . BX B Q X B
10 . Kt —B 3
1 52 TH E INF L UE NC E OF A HO LE
Had White s Bishop been at Q Kt 3 he coul d now play

P K 4 as indicated in the previous note a move ,

which h e cannot make in the present position b ecause ,

o f K t — K B 5 threatening no t o n ly the K Kt P
, ,

b ut also Kt X B ch As White s King s Bishop should


’ ’
.

never be exchanged in this Open ing without a very


g ood reason White therefore cann ot play P K 4 .

m . O—O
n . O — O B — Q 2

m . R — B I

i s perfectly developed and now threatens t o


,

win a Pawn as follows : K t X Kt Kt X Kt ; P —K 4 , ,

followed b y R X P .

12 . P QB3
The fact that Black is practically f orced to make
this m o ve i n order to avoid the loss O f a Pawn is suffi
cient reason in itsel f to condemn the whole system
of development on Black s part In e ffect he plays

.
,

B Q 2 and now he has to shut o ff the action of h is


,

1 54 T HE IN F L UE NCE OF A H OLE ”

15 . R — Kt I

There is no O b ject in this move unless it is to b e fol


,

owed by K t Q 2 As that is not the case he might


.
,

have gone with the Rook to B 1 as he does later ,


.

16 —K I
. R R—B 3
I7 —
Q B3
. R—R 3
18 —
Q Kt 3
. R —B I

threatened to win the exchan g e b y p l ayin g



either Kt B 7 or Kt — Kt 4 .

19 . P—B 3
20 . P — Q R 3
21 . P—R 3

Perh aps all these precaut ions are unnecessary b ut ,

White feels that he has more than enough time to


prepare his attack and wants to b e secure in every
,

way b efore he b e gins .


T HE IN F L U ENC E OF A HOL E 1 55

21 . P — Kt 4
22 . P —K 4 P—B 5
23 .

Q B 2 Kt — K 6

He h ad b etter have played Kt B 3 an d tri e d later


on to g et rid o f Whi te s Kni ghts b y means of K t Q 2

.

24 . R X Kt
with this sacr ifi ce o f the Rook for a Kn ight and Pa wn
Wh ite Obtains an overwhelmin g position .

24 . R P X

25 Q X
. P K t B I
Kt Q 2 was b etter in order to get rid Of o ne O f the

two White Knights There were however any number


.
, ,

o f good replies to it among them the following


,

Kt ( B 5 ) X K t B X Kt ; Q; K t — B 7 ch ,
,

K — K t 2 ; K t X Q and with two Pawns for the


,

exchange and the position s o much in his favour


, ,

White should have no trouble in winnin g .


1 56 TH E IN F L UENC E OF A H OLE
26 4 .

Kt —
Kt 3
Kt R
27 P K5 . R Kt 2
28 B B4 . B B2
All these moves are practically forced and as it is ,

easily seen they tie up B lack s pos i t ion more and ’

more White s man oeuvres from move 2 4 onwards


.

are highly instructive .

29 . Kt —B 6 Kt — Kt 3
This wanderin g Knight has done nothin g through out
the g ame .

3 0 Kt B
( 5) — K
.
4 P — K R 3
31 . P— K R 4 Kt —Q 4

32 .

Q Q 2 R — Kt 3
33 . PXP —
Q B I
If P X P ; K — B 2, and Black would b e helpless .

34 . P —B 4 Kt —K 2

35 . P — K Kt 4 PXP
PXP 36 . Resigns .

There is nothing t o b e done If B — Kt I ; Q — R 2 ch .


,

K Kt 2 ; B X P .

The student Should notice that apart f rom other ,

things White throughout the game has had control


,

o f the Black squares principally those at K 5 and


,

Q B S :

F rom no w o n en d o f t h e b oo k I shall g ive a


to the
collection o f my games b oth lost an d wo n chosen so ,

as to serve as illustrat i ons o f t h e genera l principles


lai d d o wn in the fore goin g pages .

PA RT II

GAM E Q UE EN S GAM BIT D E CL INE D



1
.

( Match , )
1 90 9

F .
J Marshal
. l . Black : J R Capab lanca
. . .

1 . P — Q4 P— Q 4
— P — K 3
2 . P QB4
3 . Kt — Q B 3 Kt — K B 3
4 . B — Kt 5 B—K 2

5 . P— K 3 Kt — K 5

I had played this defence twice before in the match


with good resul ts and although I lost this game I
,

still played it until the very last game when I changed ,

my tactics The r eason was my total lack o f kn owl


.

edge O f the diffe rent variations in this Openin g coupled ,

with the fact that I knew that D r E Lasker had b een . .

successfu l with it aga inst Marshall him self in 1 90 7 .

I thought that since Dr Lasker had played it SO O ften


.
,

it should be good The O b ject is to exchange a couple


.

of pieces and at the same time to b ring ab out a position


full Of possib il ities and wi th promis ing chances o f
success once the end game stage is reached O n
-
.

general principles it Should be wrong because the ,

159
1 60 G AM E 1

same Kni ght is moved th ree times in t h e o pen in g ,

although it involves the ex c hange o f two pieces In .

reality the diffi cul ty in thi s va riation as well as in ,

nearly all the variations O f the Queen s g ambit lies ’


,

in the slow development o f Black s Queen Bishop ’


.

However whether this variatio n can or cannot be


,

safely played is a question still to be decided and it ,

is outside the scope o f this book I may add that at .

present my preference is for a d ifferent system of devel


O pm e n t but it is not unlikely that I Shoul d some
,

t ime come back to this variation .

6 . B >< B

r B— Q s

P X P is preferab le fo r reasons that we shall soon se e .

K t X Kt
Kt —Q 2

N ow P X P would be a b etter way to d evelop the


g ame The idea is that after 8 P X P ; 9 B X B P
. . .
,

P Q Kt 3 fo llowed b y B Kt 2 woul d g ive Black s


, ,

Bishop a powerful range Fo r this variation see the.

eleventh game of the match .

Kt — B 3 —
'

9 . O O

N O longer would 9 . . P X P ; 1 0 B X P P — Q Kt 3 ,

b e good because 1 1 B
, Kt 5 would prevent B Kt 2
on account Of Kt K 5 .
1 62 GAM E 1

B l ac ks posi t i on was b ad and perhaps lost in


Ca se b ut t h e text move makes matters worse As a


,
.

matter o f fact I never s aw White s reply B — B 5 ’


.

It never even passed through my mind that this was


threatened Black s best move would have b een
.

16. K R . Kt 1 If that loses then any other move


.
,

wo ul d lose as well .

17 B B 5 . KR B 1
F rom b ad to worse Kt B 3 Offered the only hope
. .

BX 18 . Kt QXB
19 P . R6 B B3
20 P . P PxP
21 QX . P Q R Kt I
T he g ame was lost . O ne move was as g ood a s another .

22 . RXR RXR
23 . Kt — K 5 —
Q B 4
24 . P— K B 4 R — Kt 3
25 .
Q X R! Resigns .
QUEE N S G AM B I T D E CLIN ED
'

1 63

Of course if 2 5 Kt X B
,
—K t 8 ch would have ,
R
drawn The text move is pretty a n d fi nishes quickly
. .

A well played game on Marshall s part


-

.

GA M E 2 .
Q UEE N

S GA M BIT D E C L IN ED

( Sa n S ebastia n ,
1 91 1 )
A K Rubinstein
. . . Black : J R Capablanca . . .

1 . P— Q 4 P— Q 4
2 . Kt — K B 3 P— Q B 4

3 . P—B 4 P — K 3
4 . P ><QP K P >< P
5 . Kt — B 3 Kt — B Q 3
6 . P K Kt 3 B— K 3

Kt B 3 is the normal move in this va r iation White s .


development was fi rst in t roduced by S chlechter a nd


elabo rated later o n by Rubin stein It aims at the .

isolation o f Black s Q P against which the White



,

pieces are gradually co n cent r ated In makin g the .

text move I w a s t rying to avoid the beate n t r ack .

Bei ng a developing move there should be no Objection


to it in the way O f ge ne ral prin ciples except that the ,

Knights ought to come o u t before the B ishops .

7 . B — Kt 2 B— K 2

— R— B
i

8 . 0 0 I

In pursuan ce of the idea of chan ging the norm al


1 64 GAM E 2

cour se o f th i s vari ation b ut with very poor success


,
.

The move in theory ought t o b e unso un d Since Black s


,

K Kt is yet undeveloped I had not yet learned o f


.

the attack founde d o n K t Kt 5 and the exchan g e


o f the B at K 3 . E ither K t — B 3 or P — K R 3;
to prevent either B o r Kt K Kt 5 was right ,
.

P >< P
. Kt — K Kt 5
. Kt X B
. B — R 3
B — Kt 5

a mistake The right move was R Q 1 in


Th is i s .

order to get the Rook away from the line o f the B ishop
at R 3 and at the same time to support the Q P Inci .

dentally it shows that Wh ite failed to take proper


advantage O f Black s weak openin g moves Against

.

the text move White makes a very fine comb ination


1 66 GAME 2

16 . K — Kt 2 !

Th isis the move which I had not cons i dere d I thought .

that Rubinstein wo ul d have to play B Kt 2 w hen ,

I had in mind the followin g winning combination :


16 B
— Kt 2 K t — K ,4 ! I 7 K t — B 4 (if R
— B 1 ,

Q X R Q X Q B X P ch,
wins ) K t — K t 5; ,

18 P — K R 3 ( i f Kt — R 3 B X P ch wi n s the ex ,

change ) K t X P ; 1 9 R X Kt B X R ch ; 2 0 K X B
, , ,

P K Kt 4 and B lack Should w in It is curious that


, .

this combination has been overlooked It has b een .

taken for granted that I did no t s e e the 1 7 th


move Q B 1 .


QR Q I

After White s last move there was nothing for me



to
do but submit t o the inevitab le .

— B
Q I !

.
Q x B

Q — K t s
.

Q Q s
. P x Q
B — Kt 4

This gives Black a chance He should have played .

K R— K I I f then Kt — B 7 ; R X R ch R X R ;
.
,

R — — —
Q B I R K 7 ; K B I Kt
,
— Q 5 ( if R — Q7; ,

B — K 6 ch K B I ; B X P w ou d
,
l-
w in ); R — B 8 ch ,

K — B 2 ; R — B 7 ch R — K 2 ; R —B 5 wi ns ,
.
QUEEN S GAM B IT D E CL INED

1 67

R — Q 3
K R — K I R X R

R X R R Q Kt 3
R — K 5 R x P
. R X P Kt — B 3
B—K 6 ch K — B I
. R B — 5 ch K— K I

B— B 7 ch K— Q 2

B— B 4

P —Q R 3

A b ad move which g ives away any legitim ate


,

chance Black had to draw It loses a very importa n t


.

move In fact as the course o f the game wil l Show


.
, ,

it loses several moves The proper way was to play


.

K— Q 3 . I f then R — Q Kt 5 R X R ; B X R
, ,

Kt — Q 5 ; followed b y P — Q Kt 4 ; and White


would have an exceedingly difli cult game to draw o n
acco unt o f the dominatin g position of the Knight at
1 68 GAM E 2

Q5 in conjunction with the extra Pawn o n the Queen s ’

side and the awkward position o f White s ( S ee


how this is so ) .

3 1 R — B
.
7 ch K — Q3
3 2 . R X K Kt P P — Kt 4

33 . B — Kt 8 P —
QR 4
34 . RXP P R5
35 . P R4 P Kt 5
36 . R — R 6 eh K — B 4

37 . R— R 5 ch K — Kt 3

N .
Q s B—

With these last three moves White again gives Black


a chan ce Even before the last move B B 4 would
.

have won with comparative ease but the text move ,

is a downright b lunder Of which fortunately for h im


, , ,

Black does not avail himself .

3 8 . P — Kt 6

R X P would make it practically impossib le for


White to win if he can win at all White s b est con
,
.

1 70 G AM E 3

At last Black is on his way to o b tain f ull develop


ment The idea o f this irr egul ar Openin g is mainly
.

to thr ow White o n his o wn resources At the time .

the g ame was played the system o f defence was no t


,

as well known as the re g ul ar forms of the Queen s ’

Pawn ope n ings Whether it is sound o r no t remains


.

yet to be proved Its good featu res are that it keeps


.

the centre intact without creating any particular weak


ness a nd that it gives plenty O f opportunity fo r deep
,

and concealed man oeuvring The drawback is the


.

lo ng time it takes Black to develop his game It is .

natural t o suppose that Wh ite will employ that time


to prepare a we ll conceived attack o r that he will use
-
,

the advantage o f his developmen t actually t o prevent


Black s complete developme n t o r failing that t o

, ,

O b tain some defin ite mate r ial advantage .

Io . P— K R 3 B— R 4
11 . P X P P X P
12 . Kt —K 4
IRRE GUL AR D E FE NC E 1 71

Kt X Kt
A very serious mistake I considered castlin g which
.
,

was the right move but desisted because I was afraid


,

that by playin g 1 3 B X Kt P X B ; 1 4 K t — Kt 3 , ,

B — K t 3 ; I 5 K t — B 5 White would obtain a win,

ning position for the end game Wh ether right o r .

wrong this Shows how closely related are all parts of


the game and consequently how one will in fluence
,

the other .

13 . B X B

14 . B X Kt

N ot good The natural and proper move woul d have


.

b een Kt K 3 in order to b r ing all the Black pieces


,

into play B X Kt at once was also good as it woul d


.
,

have re lieved the pressure against Black s King s Pawn ’ ’

and at the same t ime have Simplifi ed the game .

Here it is see n how fa ilure to comply with the ele


mentary logical reasons that govern any given posi
,

tio n Often brings the player into trouble I was no


,
.

doubt influenced in my choice O f moves by the fear


of B — B 5 which was a very threatening move
,
.

— Kt — K 3
15 Q B 4

16 P— Q Kt 4 Q— B 2

1 7 B X B R P X B
1 72 GAM E 3

19 . R—Q 3

P K R 4 to be followed b y P Kt 4 might have


, ,

been a more vigorous way t o carry o n the attack .

Black s weak point is unquestionably the Pawn at


K 4 which he is compelled to defend with the Kin g


,
.

The text move aims at doublin g the Rooks with the ,

ultimate Object O f placing o ne o f them at Q 6 sup ,

ported by a Pawn at Q B 5 Black could only stop ,

this by playing P B 4 which would create a hole


,

at Q 5 ; or by playing P Kt 3 which would tie the ,

Black Queen t o the defence o f the Q B P as well as


the K P which sh e already de fends B lack h ow
, .
,

ever can meet all this by o fferin g the exchange Of


,

Rooks which destroys Wh ite s plans F or th i s reason


,

.

P K R 4 appears the proper way to carry o n the


attack .

19 .
Q R —Q I

20 .

QR Q I P — K Kt 4

Th i s move is preparatory to P K Kt 3 ,
which woul d
1 74 G AM E 4

24 P X P
25 .
Q X P ch K —K 3
26 .
Q — Kt 4 ch K —B 3
27 .
Q — Kt
5 ch K — K 3
28 .
QXP —
Q Q3
29 P— B S —
Q Q4
30 . P — K 4 !

Q Q 8 ch
3 1 . K—R 2 P — B 3
— Kt 4 c h ! K — K 2
32 .
Q
33 . Kt X P Q QX

34 . Kt X Q Kt — K 3
35 . P — K 5 P X P

36 . Kt X P Kt —Q 5

Th e game went o n for a few more moves and , ,

there b ein g no way to counteract the advance o f


Wh ite s two passed Pawns Black resigned

, .

GAM E 4 . F R EN C H D E F E N C E
( S t Petersbu r g
.
,
1 91 3 )
White : J R Capablanca Black : E A
. . . . . SnO Sk O -
Borovski .

I . P — Q 4 P— K 3
2 . P— K 4 P— Q4
3 . Kt —Q B 3 Kt — K B 3
4 . B — Kt 5 B — Kt 5

Th isconstitutes the M cCu tche on Varia tion . It aims


at takin g the initiative away from White . Instead
F RE NCH D E FENCE 1 75

of defending Black makes a counter demonstration


,

o n the Queen s Side I t leads to hi ghl y interest ing



.

games .

5 P X P .

At the time this g ame w as played the variation 5 P


K 5 was in vogue b ut I considered then a s I do now , , ,

the text move to be the stron g er .

Q X P

This is considered superior to P X P It has for it s .

object as I said before to take the initiative away


, ,

from Wh ite by disrupt ing White s Quee n s side Wh ite ’ ’


.
,

however has more than ample compensation through


,

his breaking up Black s Kin g s side It might be ’ ’


.

laid down as a principle o f the Opening that t he br ea king


t h e K ing s m or e im p or ta nc e t h a n

u p fo s id e is f
o a s im i

l ar

occu rre n ce on t he Q u een s s id e .

6 . B X Kt B X Kt Ch

7 . P X B P X B

8 . Kt — B 3 P— Q Kt 3

The plan o f Black in this variatio n is to post his


Bishop on the lo n g diago n al s o as to be able later on ,

in co njunctio n with the action of his Rooks along


the Open K K t s file to make a violent attack against

,

White s Ki ng It is Of course expected that White



.
, ,

will Castle o n the Ki ng s side because o f the broken up ’


-

con di tion of his Quee n s Side Pawns ’


.
1 76 GAM E 4

9

Q Q z

IO . B — K 2

11 . P — B 4
—0—0

An original idea I believe played for the first t ime


, ,

in a sim ilar position in a game against Mr Walter .

Penn S hipley o f Ph iladelphia My idea is that


,
.

as there is no Black Bishop and because Black s ’

pieces have been developed with a view to an attack


o n the Ki n g s Side it wi ll be impossible for B lack to

,

take advan tage O f the appare n tly unprotected posi


tio n of White s King Two possibilities must be con

.

s id e r e d F i r stly : If Black Castles on the Queen s


.

side as in this game it is evident that there is no danger


, ,

Of an attack S eco n dly : If Black Castles on the Kin g s


.

side Whi te begin s the attack fi rst taking advantage o f


, ,

the awkward position O f Black s Queen In addition ’


.

to the attacking p robabilities of the text move White ,

in o ne move b r ings his King into safety a nd b r ings


o n e Of hi s Rooks into play Thus he gains several.

moves tempi as they are called which will serve


,
“ ”
,

him to develop whatever plan he may wish to


evolve .

O — O — O
K R — Kt r


Q Q R 4

Unquestionably a mistake ove r looking Wh ite s ,



1 78 G AM E 4

In such positions it is generally very advant ageou s


to get rid o f the B lack Bishop controlling his Q R 3
and Q B 3 which form holes for White s pieces
“ ” ’
.
,

The Bishop in such positions is of very great defensive


value hence the advantag e o f g ett ing rid o f it
,
.

19 . K R—K I

20 . B X B K X B
21 . P —
Q B 5! P — B 3

White threatene d P —B 6 ch .

22 . Kt — B 3 —
Q B 1

To prevent the Knight fro m moving t o Q 6 via Q 2


and K 4 o r Q B 4 It is self evident that White has a
.
-

g reat advantage Of position .

23 . Kt Q 2?

I had considered R Kt 3 which was the right ,

move but gave it up because it seemed too Slow an d


, ,
F RE NCH D E F ENC E 1 79

that in such a position there had to be some quicker


way o f winning .

Kt — K 4

or Kt Kt would have brought a b out
3
an ending advantageous to White .

24 . K t — Kt 3
25 . Kt — R 5 ch K— R I
Kt —
26 . P X P Q4
2 7 .

Q Q 4 R — B 1

If R — Kt 1 ; 28 Kt X P , R ( Kt 1 ) —B 1 ; 29 Kt X
P w ould win .

28 . P — B 4

Kt B 4 was the right move I was however st ill .


, ,

lookin g fo r the grand com b ination and thought



,

that the Pawn I would later on have at Q 6 would


Win the game Black deserves great credit for the
.

way in which he conducted this exc e edingly diffi cul t


1 80 GAM E 4

defence He could ea sily have gone wron g any num


.

b er o f times but from move 2 2 on wards he always


,

play ed the best move .


Q Kt I

P X Kt
P—Q 6
P—Q r
K — Kt I

Kt — Kt 3

35 . R X P

The position is most interesting I b elieve I lost


.

h ere my last chance t o win the game and if that is ,

true it would vi ndicate my judgment when on move ,

2 8 I played P
, B 4 The student can find out what
.

would happen if White plays Q — Q 4 ! at once I .

have gone over the followi ng variations : 3 5 Q Q 4 ,

R X K R P ( of course if R X B P P — Q 8 wins) ; ,
182 G AM E 5

has four Pawns t o three o n the Kin g s side while ’


,

Black s supe r iority o f Pawns o n the other Side is


somewh at b alanced by the fact that o ne o f B lack s ’

Pawn s is doubled O n the other hand Black h as


.

the a dvantage o f r emainin g with t wo B i shops wh il e


Wh ite has o n ly one .

4 .
Q P X B

5 . P— Q 4 P X P

o P Q Q
X

7 . Kt X Q B — Q 3

Black s idea is to Castle o n the Kin g s Side His


’ ’
.

reaso n is that the King ought to remain on the weaker


side to oppose later the advan ce o f White s Pawns ’
.

Theoretically the r e is very much to be said in favour


of this reasoning but whethe r in p r actice that would
,

be the best system would be rather diffi cult to prove .

The student should n o tice that if n o w all the pieces


we r e exchanged Wh ite would p r actically be a Pawn
ah ead,
and would therefore have a won ending .

8 . Kt — QB 3 Kt — K 2

A per fectly so u nd form Of development In an y other .

form adopted the Black Kt could not be developed


either as quickly o r a s well K 2 is the natural position
.

fo r the Black Kt in this variation in order not to ,

obstruct Black s Pawns and also in some event



, ,

u a lit ie s
,
in order to g o t o K Kt 3 There is .
R UY L O P EZ 1 83

also the possib ility of its g oin g to Q 5 Via QB 3 after


P QB4 .

9 . O O O O
10 . P B 4

This move I considered weak at the time and I do ,

s till
. It leaves the K P weak unless it advances to ,

K 5 and it also makes it possible for Black to pin the


,

Kt by B Q B 4 .

R —K I

Best .

It threatens B B 4 ; B — K 3 , Kt —Q 4 .

It also prevents B K 3 because o f K t Q4 or B 4 .

11 . Kt — Kt 3 P — B 3

Preparatory to P Q Kt 3 followed b y P — Q B 4 ,

and B Kt 2 in co n junction with Kt Kt 3 which ,

would put White in great diflicul t ie s to meet the


comb ined attack against the two centre Pawn s .

12 P — B 5 .
1 84 G AM E 5

It has b een wrongly claimed that thi s wins the g ame ,

b ut I woul d lik e nothin g better than to have s uch a


position a g ain It required several mistakes on my
.

part finally to Obtain a lost position .

12 . P — Q Kt 3
13 . B —B 4

B — Kt 2

Playe d a g ain st my b etter ju dgment The right move .

o f course was B X B D r Lasker gives the follow


. .

ing variation : X B; 4 RX B
1 P — B 4 ; ,

15 Q R — Q I B — Kt 2 ; I 6 R — B 2 Q R — Q 1 ;
, ,

17 R X R, R X R ; I8 R —Q 2, R X R ; 19 Kt X R ,
and he claims that Wh ite has the b est o f it But .
,

as Nie m z o vit ch pointed ou t immediately after the


game , R — Q 1 given in Dr La sk e r s var ia .

tion is not the b est If


, . R—B I ! then
Wh i te will h ave g reat diffi cul ty in drawin g the game ,
1 86 G AM E 5

I no w the point o f playing P — B 4 t o b e


was on ,

followed by P Q 4 which I thought would give me ,

a draw but sudden ly I became ambitious an d thou ght


,

that I could play the text move 1 7 Kt B 1 ,


. .
,

and later o n sacrifi ce the exchange fo r the Knight


at K 6 wi nning a Pawn for it and leaving White s
, ,

K P still weaker I intended to carry this plan either


.

before o r afte r playing P K Kt 4 as the circumstances


demanded N ow let us analyse : 1 7 P B 4 If
.
— . . .

— —
1 8 Kt Q 5 B X Kt ; 1 9 P X B P Q Kt 4 ; and a
, ,

careful analysis will show that Black has nothing to


fear Black s plan in this case would b e to wo r k his
.

Kt around to K 4 via Q B 1 Q Kt 3 and Q B 5 o r , , ,

Again — B 8 R — B P — Q 4;
Q 2 .
, 4 ; 1 2 ,

1 9 P X P B X P ; 2 O K t >< B ( best s in c e if R ( B 2 )
, ,

Q 2 B X
,
Kt give Black the advantage ) R X Kt ; ,

21 R X R Kt X R ; an d there is no good reason why


,

Black should lose .

17 . Kt B I
18 . R — B 2 P— Q Kt 4
RUY L OPEZ 18 7

19 . KR — Q2 R —
(Q ) K 2 2

20 . P — Q Kt 4 K— B 2

21 . P—Q R 3 B — R I

O nce more chan g in g my plan and this time without


any good reason Ha d I now played R X Kt ; P X R ch
.
,

R X P ; as I inte n ded to do when I went b ack with


the Knight to B 1 I doub t very much if White woul d
,

have b een able to win the game At least it woul d .

have been extremely diffi cult .

. K—B 2 R—R 2
P — Kt 4 P—R 3
R — Q 3 P— Q R 4
P — K R 4 PX P
P X P R (R 2 —
) K 2

This of course has no o b ject now Black with a


, ,
.
,

b ad g ame flo un de rs aroun d for a move It wo uld


,
.

have been b etter t o play R — R 6 to keep the Open


fil e and at the same time to threaten to come o u t
,

with the Kn ight at Kt 3 and B 5 .

27 . K—B 3 R — Kt I

28 . K — B 4 P — Kt 3

Again bad White s last two moves were weak s ince


.

,

the White Ki ng does n othing he re He should have .

playe d h is Rook to Kt 3 o n the 2 7t h move Black .

now should have played P Kt 4 ch Af ter missin g .

this chance White has it all his o wn way and fin ishes ,

the g ame most accurately and Black becomes more


,
1 88 G AME 5

helpless wi th ea ch move The g ame needs no furt h e r


.

comment exceptin g that my p l ay throug hout w as o f


,

an alto g ether irresolute character When a plan is .

made it must be ca rr ied o u t if at all possible Reg ard


,
.

in g the play O f Wh ite I consider his 1 0 t h and 1 2 th


,

moves were very weak ; he played well after that up


to the 2 7t h move which was b ad as well as his 2 8t h
, ,

move The rest o f h is play was g ood pro b ably


.
,

perf ect .

R — Kt 3 P — Kt 4 ch

K —B 3 Kt — Kt 3
P X P R P X P

R—R 3 R —
Q 2

K — Kt 3 ! K — K I

Q R— K R I B — Kt 2

P—K 5 Q P X P

Kt — K 4 Kt — Q 4

Kt ( K 6) —B 5 B— B I

Kt X R B X Kt

R — R 7 R— B I

R—R I K — Q I

R — R 8 ch B—B I

Kt B 5 Resig ns .
1 90 GAM E 6

9 . B —B I P —Q B 4

Threatenin g Q R 4 and stoppin g there by Wh ite s ’

threat o f B — R 3 It demonstrates that White s


.

last move was a complete loss o f time and merely


weakened his position .

. B— Q 3
Kt — K 2

. O — O
B X Kt

Q X P

Black has come o ut O f the opening with a Pawn


to the good His development however has suffered
.
, ,

somewhat and there are B ishops o f Opposite colour


, ,

SO that it cannot b e sai d as yet th at Black has a ,

wo n game ; b ut he has certainly the b est o f the posi

tion b ecause besides being a Pawn to the good he


, , ,

threatens White s K P which must o f course b e de



,
F RE NCH D E FE NC E 1 91

fended and this in turn will g ive him the O pportuni ty


,

to post his Kni ght at Q 4 Via K 2 When the Black .

Knig ht is posted at Q 4 the Bishop wi ll be developed to ,

B 3 vi a Q 2 as soon as the Opportunity presents itself


, ,

and it will be Black that will then have the initiative ,

and can consequently decide the course o f the game .

15 . R —Q 1

TO prevent K t K 2 ; which wo uld b e answered b y


Kt X P o r still b etter b y B R 3 The move how
,
.
,

ever is strategically wrong Since by bringing his


, ,

pieces to the Queen s Side Whi te loses any chance ’


,

he might have o f makin g a dete r mined attack on the


King s side before Black is thoroughly prepared for it

.

15 . P — K Kt 3
16 . P— B 4 K — Kt z

I 7 . B—K 3

B etter would have been P Q R 4 in order to play ,

B R 3 The White B would b e much better posted


.

o n the ope n diagonal than here where it acts purely ,

o n the defensive .

1 7 . Kt —K z
18 . B—B 2 Kt — Q 4

This Kn ight completely paralyses the attack as it ,

dominates the whole situation and there is no way ,

to dislodg e it Beh ind it Black can quietly develop


.

his pieces The game can now b e said to b e won


.

fo r Blac k strategically .
1 92 GAM E 6

19 . R —Q 3 B —Q 2

20 . Kt—Q 4 QR — QB I

21 . R — Kt 3 K —R 2
22 . P — KR 4 K R — Kt I

23 . P — R 5 Q — Kt
5

In order to pin the Knight and b e ready to come back


to either K 2 o r B I Also to prevent Q R — Kt 1
. .

In reality near ly all these precautions are un n ecessary ,

Since White s attack amoun ts to nothing Probably



.

Black Should have left aside all these considerations ,

a n d played Q R 5 now in order to follow it up with


,

P B 4 as he did later but under less favourable


, ,

c ircumstances .

24 . R — R 3

24 . P — B 4

No t the White will soon prove Q B 1


b est ,
as .

would have avoided e verything but Black wants to ,

assume the initi ative at once and plunges into co m


1 94 G AM E 6

The position looks most interest ing I t h ough t i t .

would b e possib le to get up such an attack ag ainst


the White King as t o make it impossib le for him t o
hold o ut much longer b ut I was wron g unless i t , ,

could have b een done b y playin g B B 3 fi rst forcin g ,

P — Kt 3 and then playing K — R 4 I followed a .

similar plan b ut lost a very important move b y play


,

in g Q R K Kt 1 ; which g ave White time to play


R — Q 1 I am. convinced however that B — B , 3 ,

at once was the right move White would b e forced .

to play P Kt 3 and Black would reply with either


,

K R 4 ; as already indicated which looks the b est ,

( the plan o f course


,
is t o play R K ,
R 1 and fo llow
it up wi th K Kt 5 ; threatenin g mate o r some ,

other move according to circumstances In some .

ca ses o f course i t wi ll b e b etter fi rst to play K Kt


, ,

or Kt K 5 which wi ll at least g ive h im a


,

draw There are s o many possibilities in this posi


.

tion that i t would b e impossible to g ive them


all It will b e worth the reader s time to g o
.

care fu lly through the lines o f play indicated ab ove .

29 .
QR -
K Kt I

AS stated B B 3 was the b est move .

3 0 . P — Kt 3 B—B 3

3 1 . R —Q I K — R 4

The plan o f course as explained ab ove is to go to


, , ,

K t 5 in due time an d th reaten mate at K R 8 b ut ,

i t i s no w t oo l ate the White Roo k h avin g come in


,
F R ENCH D E F ENC E 1 95

t ime to prevent the manoeuvre Instead o f the text .

move therefore Black Should have played Kt K 5 ;


, ,

which wo uld have given him a draw at the very least .

Af ter the text moves the tables are turned It is now .

Wh ite who has the upper hand and Black who has ,

t o fight for a draw .

3 2 . R—Q 6 B — K 5

Kt K 5 was still the right move and prob ab ly ,

the last chance Black had to draw against White s ’

b est play
.

33 .
Q X B P Kt — Q4
34 . R X R K X R

Kt X Q ; R X R Kt X P was no better
,
.

35 .

Q K 5 K—B 2

36 P—B 4 R —K I

37 .

Q Kt 2 Kt — B 3

38 . B — Q4 R — K R I
39 .

Q Kt 5 R — R 8 ch

m . K—B 2 P—R 3
4 1 .

Q Kt 6 R— R 7 Ch

42 . K —K I Kt — Q 2

— —
43 Q Q 6 B B S
44 . P — Kt 4 P X P
45 . P — K B 5 R — R 8 ch

46 . K— Q 2 K — K I

47 . P— B 6 R -
R 2

48 .

Q K 6 ch K— B I

49 . B -
K 3 R — B 2

50 . B —R 6 ch K — Kt I
1 96 GAM E 6

Most players wi ll b e wondering as the spectators ,

did why I did no t resig n The reason is that while


,
.

I knew the g ame to be lost I was hoping for the fo l


,

lowing variation which Ch aj e s came very near playin g


,

ch K — R Q — R R P B
5 Q
1 X P ,
2 ; 5 2 5 X ; 53 ,

K t 5 ch K — K t 2 ; 5 4 B X R ch K X B ; and wh ile ,
,

White has a won game it is by no means easy If .

the reader does not believe it let him take the White ,

pieces against a master and see what happens My .

O ppo n e n t who decided t o take no chances played


, ,

5 1 B — Kt 7 and fi nally won a s shown b elow


, .

5 1 . B — Kt 7 P — Kt 6

5 2 . K — K 2 P — Kt 7

53 . K — B 2 Kt — R I

54 .

Q Kt 4 Kt — Q 2
55 . K — Kt r P—R 4

56 . P— R 4 B X P

57 .

Q R 3 R X P

58 . E X R Kt X B
59 .
Q X P ch K — B I

60 .
Q X P

and after a very few more moves Black resigne d .

A ve ry fi ne game o n Ch a je s part from move 2 5 ’

on, for while B lack having the b est o f the position


, ,

missed several chances White o n the other hand


, , ,

missed none .
1 98 G AM E 7

No w it is no t so e ffective b ecause Wh ite s Q B i s o ut


,

,

and the Kni ght in g oin g to K 3 t o defend the square


,

Q B 4 does
,
not b loc k the Q B .

13 Kt —. K 3 R — K I

14 0 — .0 —
Q K2
Th i s i s b a dBlack s game w as already not good

. .

He pro b ab ly had no choice b ut to take the Knight


with the Bishop b e fore making this move .

15 .
Q5Kt B X Kt
16 PXB . Kt Kt 1
in order t o bring it to Q 2 t o support the other Kni g ht
,

and also his Kin g s Pawn Wh ite however does no t



.
, ,

all ow time fo r this and b y taking advantag e o f h is


,

superior position is ab le to wi n a Pawn .

17 P — Q
. R 4 P — K t s

S incehe had no way t o prevent the loss of a Pawn ,

he Sho ul d have given it up where it is and played ,

Q K t Q 2 in
, ! order to make hi s position more so li d .
R UY L OP EZ 1 99

Th e text move not only loses a Pawn ,


l eaves
B lack s g ame very much weakened

.

18 . P X P E X P
19 . B X Kt Q X B

20 .
Q — K 4 B— Q 3
21 .
Q X P Ch K—B I

With a Pawn more and all his pieces ready for action ,

while Black is still backward in development it only ,

remains for White to drive home his advan tage b efore


Black can come o u t with his pieces in which case , ,

b y usin g the Open K R fil e Black might be able to


,

start a strong attack against Wh ite s Kin g Wh ite ’


.

is able by his next move to eliminate all dang er .

22 . Kt — R 4 Q — R
3

This is practically forced Black could not play


.

P — Kt 3 b ecause o f B X P and White meanwh ile


,

threatened Q — R 8 ch followed b y Kt — B 5 ch an d
Q X P.
200 GAM E 7

23 .
QXQ :
PX Q
24 Kt — B 5 P —K R 4
—Q
.

25 . B — Q I Kt 2

26 . B X P Kt —B 3
27 . B — K 2 Kt X P
28 . K R—Q I Kt — B 5
29 . B—B 4 K R— Q I

3 0 . P—R 4 P —R
~

Black must lose time assurin g the safety Of this Pawn .

31 . P — K Kt 3 Kt —K 3
32 . B X Kt P X B

33 . Kt — K 3 K R — Kt I

34 . Kt — B 4 K — K 2

Black fights a hopeless b attle He is two Pawns down .

for a ll practical purposes a nd the Pawn s he has are


,

isolated a nd have t o be defended by pieces .

35 .
Q R— B 1 R —R 2


threatened Kt X B foll owed b y R B , 7 Ch .

36 . R —K 1 K— B 3 ,

37 . R— K 4 R — Kt 5

38 . P — Kt 4 R— R 3

If R X R P ; Kt X B of course would win a piece

39 . R —B 3 B—B 4
40 . R — B 3 ch K — Kt z
4 1 . P — Kt 3 B— Q 5
42 . K — Kt z R — R I
20 2 GAM E 8


Q B 3

Wh ite s threat to regain the Pawn was merely with


the idea o f gaining time to develop his pieces Black .

could have played P Q 3 ; Opening the way fo r his


Q B when would have followed 1 1 B Q 3 R K I ;
, , ,

1 2 Kt B 3 and White woul d soon start a powerful


,

direct attack a g ainst Black s King With the text move



.

Black aims at takin g the initiative away from White


in accordance with the principles lai d d o wn in this
b ook .

11 Kt R 3.

If B X P Q 3 ; an d White s Bish op woul d b e


P—

,

completely shut o ff and coul d only b e extricated


, ,

if at all with se rious l oss o f position


, Th e text .

move a ims at qu i ck development t o k eep t h e i ni ti at ive .

P —Q 3

This now is not only a developin g move b ut i t a l so ,

threatens to win a piece b y B X Kt .


C EN T RE GAM E 203

12 . B Q3 Kt Q 5

compli cates the g ame unnecessarily .

s impl e an d perfectly safe


,
.

13 B — K 3 .

13 . B — Kt 5

Th i s i sa serious mistake The position was most .

interesting and though in appearance dangerous for


,

Black not SO in reality The right move wo ul d have


,
.

been 1 3 R Kt 5 when we would have 1 4 B X Kt


. .
, ,

R X B; 15 P -
QB 3, B X P ; 16 P X B, R — K Kt 5;
I7 Q — K 3 ( b est ) Q X P ch ; 1 8 B — B,
2 QX Q; ,

1 9 P X Q R X P and Black has the best Of the game


, ,

with fo u r Pawns for a Kn ight besides the fact that ,

all the Wh ite Pawns are isolated .

14 . Kt — Kt 5! R X B

T h ere was nothing better .

15 .
Q X B ! Kt — K 7 ch
2 04 GAME 8

B X Kt ! R X B
Kt —K 4 ! R X Kt

Q X R —
Q Kt 4 ch

P— K B 4 —
Q Kt 4

P—B 3 B—B 4

K R — K I —
Q B 3
R—Q S

Q X Q wo ul d h ave given Wh ite a decided a dvan


tage enou gh to win with proper play Mieses however
,
.
, ,

feared the difficulties of an ending where while h aving ,

the exchan g e he would b e a Pawn minus He pre


,
.

ferred to keep the Queens on the b oard and keep up


the attack At fi rst si ght and even after careful
.
,

though t there seems to b e no o b jection to his plan ;


,

but in truth such is no t t h e case F rom t h is point


.

the g ame will g radually improve in Black s favour ’

un til with the exch an g e a h ead Whi te is lost


, ,
.
206 G AM E 8

To prevent P K R 4 whi ch I woul d answer wi th ,

P — K Kt 3 winning the Queen ,


It can now be .

considered that my Kin g is safe from attack Wh ite .

will have to withdraw his Queen via R 3 and Black ,

can use the t ime to be g in his advance on the Queen s ’

side .

29 K Kt 1 .R Q1
30 . R — Q I P—B 4

N otice that assuming the defensive Wh ite has


,
on ,

placed his Rooks correctly from the point o f view o f


strate gy They are both o n white squares free fro m
.

the possib le attack o f the Black Bishop .

3 1 .
Q — R
3

Q R s
Th i s g ain s time b y attacking the Roo k and holdin g
the White Q at R 3 for the moment on account o f ,

the K Kt P Besides the Queen must b e in the middle


.
,

O f the fray no w that the attac k has to b e brou g ht

home Wh ite has actually more value in material


.
,

and therefore Black must utilise everythin g at his


command in order to succee d .

3 2 . R (K 2 ) —
Q 2 —
Q K 5 ch
33 . K— R I P — Q Kt 4
th reatenin g P Kt 5 ; which would open the line
of action o f the Bishop and also secure a passed Pawn .

34

Q Kt Q — R
. 2
S

in directly de fending the Q P which Wh i te cannot ,

take o n account O f Q X R ch .
C EN T RE GAM E 207

35 . K — Kt I P — Kt 5

The attack increases in force as it is graduall y b rou gh t


home directly a g ainst the King The position now .

is most interestin g and extremely diffi cult It i s .

doubtful if there is any valid defence against Black s ’

b est play The variations are num erous and d iffi cult
. .

36 . P X P Q X P

Black h as now a passed Pawn and his Bishop exert s ,

g reat pressure Whi te cann ot very well play now


.

3 7 R X P because O f R X R ; 3 8 R X R B X P ; ,

an d Wh ite coul d not ta k e the Bishop because Q


K 5 ch woul d win the Roo k leaving Black a clear ,

passed Pawn ahead .

— —
Q R S!
37 . P Q R 3

3 8 . R X P R — Q Kt I

39 . R I —
(Q ) Q 2 P -
B s
— Kt R — Kt 6
40 .
Q 3
M .
Q ~

Q 6
20 8 G AM E 8

P — B 6

B X P woul d also win which shows that Wh ite s


,

game is altogether g one In these cases however


.
, ,

it is not the prettiest move that should b e played ,

but the most effective o ne the move that will make


,

your Opponent resign soonest .

42 . R—Q B 2

43 . R—Q s
M . R*Q I

Resi gns
Of course Wh i te must p lay Q Q 2, an d B l ack th en
plays R X P .
2 10 G AM E 9

text move is that it leaves Black s Q P i solate d ’


, and

consequently weak and subject t o attack .

14 . K R — Q I Kt X B

Th e alternative would have b een . P — Kt 4 ;


15 B — B 2 P — K t 5;,
1 6 K t — Q R 4, Kt ( B 4 )
K 5 .

15 . Kt X Kt P — Kt 4
16 . R X R Qx R
17 . Kt — B 3 —
Q B5
Black aims at the exchan g e o f Queens in order t o
remain with t wo Bishops for the ending b ut in this ,

position such a course is a mistake b ecause the Bishop ,

at Kt 2 is inactive and cannot come into the game


by an y means unless Black gives up the isolated
,

Queen s Pawn which the B ishop must defend



.

18 . Kt — Q 4

No t , o f course R Q 4 b ecause o f Q X Q ; Kt X Q
, , ,

R B I and there would b e no good way t o p revent


R B 7 .

18 .

19 . Kt (B 3) X Q !
Notice t h e or dination o f the Kni g hts moves ’
co - .

Th ey are man oeuvre d chain l ik e s o to Speak in order -


, ,

to ma inta in one o f them either at Q 4 o r ready to g o


,

there Now Wh i te threatens t o tak e t h e open fil e


. ,

and therefore forces Black s next move ’


.

R — B I
QUEEN S GAM B I T D E CLIN ED

211

The student should examine this position care fully .

There seems to b e no particular danger yet as Wh ite , ,

will demonstrate Black may be said to be lost If


,
.

the game is not altogether lost the defence is at least ,

o f the most diffi cult kind ; i n deed I must confess ,

that I can se e no adequate defence against White s ’

next move .

20 . Kt —B 5! K—B I

—Q 1 ; 21 Kt —
Q ,
6 R — B 2 ; 22 Kt X B ,
R X Kt ; 23 B X Kt , B X B ; 24 R X P, R —B 2 ;
2 5 R — Q and White is a Pawn ahead If 2 0 B
2, . . .

moves anywhere else then B X Kt doub ling the, ,

K B P and isolating all o f Black s King s side Pawns ’ ’


.

21 . Kt X B K X Kt
22 . Kt —Q 4 P — Kt 3

This is practically forced a s White threatened K t ,

B 5 ch N otice that the Black Knight is p inned in


.

such a way that no relief can be a ff orded except b y


g i vin g up the K R P o r abandoning the open fil e
212 GAM E 9

with t h e Rook which would b e di sastrous as Wh i te


, ,

wo uld immediately sieze it .

% . P — B 3!

P — R 3

Black could do nothin g else except mark tim e wi th


h is Rook along the open fi le sin ce as soon a s he moved
,

away White would take it Wh ite o n the other .


,

hand threatens to ma r ch up with his Kin g t o K 5


,

via K B 2 K Kt 3 K B 4 after havin g o f course


, , , , ,

prepared the way Hence Black s best chance was


.
,

to g i ve up a Pawn a s in the text in order to free his


, ,

Kn ight .

Kt —
24 . B X P Q 2

25 P —
. K R4 Kt B -
4
26 B— B 4
. Kt — K 3

B lac k exchang es Knights to remain with B i shops of


G AM E 9

31 . K —B 2

31 . P —Q 5

Practically forced O therwise the White Kin g would


.

march up to Q 4 and then to B 5 and win Black s ’

Queen s side Pawns If Black attempted to stop



.

this b y putt in g his Kin g at Q B 3 then the White Kin g


would enter through K 5 into Black s King s Side ’ ’

and win just as easil y .

3 2 . P X P K— Q 4
33 . K— K 3 B — K 3
34 . K—Q 3 K — B s
35 . P— Q R 3 B — B 5 ch

36 . K — K 3 B — K3
37 . B—R 6

It is b etter not to hurry P K Kt 4 b ecause O f P B 4


for although White could win in any case it would ,

take longer Now the White Ki ng threatens to help


.

b y g oin g in through K B 4 after postin g the Bishop


QUEE N S GAM B I T D E CLIN ED

2 15

at Kt 7,
where it not only protects the Q P b ut in di ,

re c t ly also the Q Kt P .

38 . B Kt 7 Resig ns .

The student ought to have realised b y this time


the enormous impo r tance of playing we ll every kind
O f en din g In this game again practica lly from the
.
,

Opening White aimed at nothing but the isolation


,

Of Black s Q P Once he Obtained that he tried for



.
,

and obtained fortunately another advantage O f posi


, ,

tion elsewhere which translated itself into the ma


t e ria l advantage o f a Pawn Then by accurate playing .

in the en ding he gradually forced home his advantage


This ending has the merit of having been played a g ainst
o ne o f the fi nest players in the wo r ld .

GA M E 10 . P ET R O FF D E F E N C E

( S t Petersburg
.
,
1 91 4 )

J R Capablanca
. . . Black : F .
J.Marshall .

1 . P— K 4 P— K 4

2 . Kt — K B 3 Kt — K B 3

3 . Kt X P P— Q 3

4 . Kt — KB 3 Kt X P

5 Q

. K 2 —
Q K 2

6 P —
.
Q3 Kt — KB 3

7 . B — Kt 5
2 16 GAM E 10

Played b y Morphy and a ve ry fine move T he po int


, .

is that Should Black exchange Queens he will be a


move behind in development and consequently wil l
g et a cramped game if Wh ite plays accurately .

B—K 3

Marshall thought at the time that this was the b est


move and consequently played it in preference t o
Q X Q ch .

Kt B3
B X Kt
- P— Q 4

Q Kt 5
B Q3 !

It is now t ime to examine t h e resu l t o f t h e openin g


.

O n White s Side we fin d the minor pieces well posted


and the Queen o u t in a somewhat o dd place it is true


, ,

b ut safe from attack and actually attackin g a Pawn .


2 18 GAM E 10

14 .
Q X P Q R — Kt
I

I5 .
Q — K 4 —
Q Kt z
16 . P —
Q Kt 3 P— Q B 4

In order to break up Wh ite s centre and brin g his


Knig ht to B 4 and thus lay the fou n dation for a violent


attack against White s King The plan however

.
, ,

fails as it always must in such cases because Black s


, ,

development is backward and consequently his pieces


,

are not prope r ly placed .

O —O P X P
1 7 .

18 . Kt — Q 5!
A simple move which destroys Black s plan utterly
,

,

Black will no w have no concerted action of his pieces ,

and as his Pawns are all weak he will sooner o r later


, ,

lo se them .
P ET R O F F D E FENC E 2 19

T he fact
that he has to exchan g e Queens when he
a Pawn be h ind shows that Black s g ame is lost ’
,

2L Kt B X Kt
22 . B X B B— B 3
23 .
QR — Q I B X Kt

The Knight was t o o threatening But now the .

ending brought ab out is o ne in whi ch the Bishop


i s stron ger than the Knight ; whi ch makes Black s ’

plight a desperate one The ga me has no further


.

i n terest and it is o nly b ecause Of its value as a study


,

o f thi s variation o f the Petro ff that I have given it .

B lack was able to fi ght it o u t until the Sixtieth move


o n accou n t o f some poor play o n White s part The ’
.

rest o f the moves are given merely as a matter of fo rm .

24 . R X B K — Kt 2
25 . B— B 4 R — Kt 3
26 . R— K I K—B 3
27 P — B 4 Kt — K
.
3
28 . P X P ch P X P
29 . R — B I ch K— K 2

3 0 . R — Kt 4 R — K Kt I

3 1 . R—B 5 R — B 3

3 2 . P— K R 4 K R —
QB I

P X P R — B 4
33 .

34 . B X Kt P X B

35 . R X R R X R

36 . P — Kt 6 K — B I

R — Q B 4 R —Q R 4
M
2 20 GAM E IO

K — K 5 K Q 2

P Kt 5 K K 2

P — Kt 6 K B 1

K X P K K 1

P — Kt 7 R X P
P — R 7 R — Kt 3 ch

Bj 5 Resigns

K - .
222 GAM E 11

Kt —R 3

The prob lem for White no w is to advance his Q Kt P


to Kt 5 as fast as he c an If he plays P — Q Kt 4 .

at once Black Simply takes it If he plays fi rst P


,
.

Q R 3 and then P Q Kt 4 he will still have to protect


,

his Q Kt P before he can go o n and play P Q R 4


a n d P — Kt 5 As a matter o f fact White played a
.

rather unusual move but o ne which under the cir


, ,

cu m s t an ce s
,
was the best Since after it he could at
,

once play P — Q Kt 4 and then P — Q R 4 and P


Kt 5 .

11 . R — Kt I ! P—B 3
12 . P — Kt 4 Kt — B 2
13 . P— Q R 4 B X Kt

He Simpli fies h O ping to lighten White s attack which


,

,

will have t o be conducted practically with onl y the


heavy pieces o n the board He may have also d one .

it in order to play Kt Kt 4 and K 3 .


R UY L OP EZ 2 23

14 . RXB
T a k ing with the Pawn would have opened a possi
b ilit y for a co unter attack .

P— Q Kt 3

He is forced to this in o rder to avoid the b reaking up


Of his Queen s side Pawn s The only alte rnative

.

would have b ee n P Q Kt 4 ; which o n the face o f


it looks b ad .

15 P .Kt 5 BPXP
16 . P X P P— Q R 4
17 . Kt — Q 5

Q B
18 . P — B 4

The White Kn ight is no w a t o we r o f strength Be .

hind it White will be able to p repa r e an attack ,

whi ch will b egi n with P — Q 4 to d r ive away the ,

Black Queen and thus leave him self free to play P


B 5 There is only o ne thing to take care of an d that
.
2 24 GAM E 11

is to prevent B l ack from sacrifi cin g the Roo k fo r t h e


Knight and a Pawn .

18 . Kt — Kt 4
19 . R— B 2 Kt -
K 3
20 .
Q — B
3 R— Q 2

Ha d Wh i te o n h is 1 9t h move play ed K R B I in
stead o f R B 2 Black coul d h ave p layed
,

instead of the text move R X Kt ; K P X R Q X P ch ;


, ,

foll owed b y Kt B 4 with a winnin g game .

21 . R— Q I K — Kt 2

It would h ave b een b etter fo r Black to p l ay K Q 1.

The text move loses very rapi dl y .

22 . P — Q4 —
Q Qs
23 . R— B 2 P X P
24 . P X P Kt — B 5
25 . P —B 5 K t X Kt
26 . P X Kt Q X Q P
27 . P— B 6 ch K — Kt I

28 . P x R
29 . P — Q 5 R — K I

30 . P — Q 6 P X P

3 1 .

Q B 6 Resigns .
2 26 G AM E 12

Q8 .K 2

This is played t o prevent P Q Kt 3 follo we d b y ,

B Kt 2 which is the general form of development


,

for Black in this variation If Black now plays 8 P


. . .

Q Kt 3; 9 B — K t 5 ch B —
Q 2 ; 1 0 K,
t — K 5 and
White O b tains a considerable advantag e in position .

8 . O O
9 . B—K Kt 5 P — K R 3

Of course B lack could not play P Q Kt 3 b eca use


o f B X Kt followed by Q
,
K4 .

10 B X Kt . BXB
11 .
Q — K 4 P — K Kt 3

This weakens Black s King s Side ’ ’


. R K I w as
the right move .

12 P — K R 4 .

12 . P —K 4
Thi s is merely giving up a Pawn in order to come
ou t quickly with his Q B But as he does not Obtain
.
F RE NCH D E FE NC E 227

any compensation for his Pawn the move is bad , .

He Should have played Q — Q 4 and t ried to fight


the g ame o u t that way It might have cont inued
.


thus : I 3 Q B 4 B — Kt 2 ; 1 4 Q X B P B X P ;
, ,

1 5 Kt X B Q X Kt ; 1 6 O
,
O O with considerable
advantage O f position for White The text move .

mi ght be considered a mild form of suicide .

In order to keep the Black Queen from coming


the game.

17 .
QR Q1
18 KR Q1 .

A b etter plan would have b een to play R —K 1,

threaten ing P K 6 .

fi . R X R
19 . R X R R— K I

20 . P— B 3 P— Q B 3

Of course if B X P ; Kt Q X Kt ; R ,
K 3 .

Black with a Pawn minus fights very hard .

21 . R —K 3

The Pawn had now to b e defended after Black s ’

last move beca use after B X P ; Kt X B Q X Kt ;


, ,
2 28 GAM E 12

R — K 3 Black coul d now play Q — K t


, 1 de fen din g
the Rook .

M . P— Q B 4
22 . K — B 2 P — Kt 3
23 . P —R 4

Whi te s plan now is to fi x the Queen s Side in or der


’ ’

to b e able to manoeuvre freely o n the other Side where ,

he has the advanta g e o f material .

23 .

24 . R — Q 3

Q K4
2 5 .

m —
. R Q 5
27 . P —B 4

Blac k sees that he now stands in his best defensive


position and therefore waits for White to Show how
,

he intends to break through He notices Of course


.
, ,

that the White Knight is in the way o f the K B P ,

which cannot advan ce to K B 4 to defend o r support ,

rather the Pawn at K 5


,
.
2 30 G AM E 12

No w that h e has completed his march wi th the Ki n g ,


i s ready to advance .

P —K R 5

39 . P X P

K Kt 4 would b e answered b y Q B 5,
with a winnin g g ame .

40 . P X P —
Q K 2

A g ainst K Kt 1 White would play Q K t 4 ,

practically forcing the exchange o f Queens a fter ,

which White would have little trouble in winning the


ending si n ce Black s B ishop could not do much d amage
,

in the resul ting position .

41 .

Q B5 K — Kt I

B l ack overlooks the force O f 4 2 R Q 7 H i s b est .

d efence was R Q 1 ; ag ainst which Wh ite could


h —
e i t er advance the Kin g or play Kt R 4 t h reaten ,

i n g Kt Kt 6 ch .

42 . R — Q7 B X P ch
F RE NCH D E FENC E 231

This loses a piece b ut B lack s position


,

w as alto gether
ho peless .

43 K Kt 4 .
Q B 3
Kt X B — Kt 2 ch
44 .
Q
45 . K B 4 Resig ns .

The interest o f this g ame centres mainly o n the


opening and o n the march o f the White King during
the final stage o f the game It is an instance o f the .

King becoming a fig htin g piece even while the Queens ,

are still o n the b oard .

GAM E 13 . R UY L O P EZ

( N ew York ,
1 918 )
Wh i te : J . S . Morrison . B lack : J R
. . C apa b lanca .

1 . P — K 4 P —K 4
2 . Kt — K B 3 Kt —Q B3

3 . B — Kt 5 P— Q3
4 . Kt — B 3 B— Q 2

5 . P — Q4 P X P
6 . Kt X P P — K Kt 3

In th i s form o f defence O f the Ruy Lopez the devel


O pm e nt o f the K B via Kt 2 is I think o f great im , ,

portance The Bishop at Kt 2 exerts great pressure


.

alon g the lon g diagonal At the same tim e the posi .

tion of the B ishop and Pawns in front o f the King ,

once it is Castled is o ne o f great defensive strength


,
.

There fore in t h is fo rm o f development t h e Bi shop


, , ,
2 32 G AM E 13

we mi ght say exerts it s maxim um stren g th ( Compare


,

this note with the o ne in the Capablanca Burn g ame -

at S an S ebastian pag e ,

7 . Kt — B 3
8 . B — Kt 5

Of —
course not K Kt K 2 ; because — Q 5 o f Kt .

The alternative would have b een P B 3 ; to b e


fo llowed by K Kt K 2 ; b ut in this position it is
preferab le to have the Kt at K B 3 .

9 .

Q Q 2 P — KR 3
10 . B —K R 4

An error o f judgment Wh ite wants to keep the .

Kn ight pinned but it was more important to prevent


,

Black from Castlin g immediately B K B 4 would .

have done this .

10 . 0 —0
11 . O O 0

Bold play b ut again faulty jud gment un less he in


, ,

tended to play to win o r lose throwing safety t o ,

the winds The Black Bishop at Kt 2 becomes a


.

very powerful attacking piece The strateg ical dis .

position Of the Black pieces is now far superior t o


White s therefore it will b e Black wh o wi ll take t h e

,

Offensive .

11 . R —K I
2 34 GAM E 13

15 . B — Q 3 B — K 3

Preparin g the onslaught Black s pieces .


a g ainst the Kin g s position ’


.

16 . P —B 3

With the last move Wh ite no t only b locks the action


o f Black s K B but he also aim s at placing his Bishop

,

at Q Kt 1 and his Queen at Q B 2 and then advancing ,

his K P t o check at K R 7
, .

I6 . P— B 4 !

In itiating
an attack t o wh ich there is no reply and ,

which has for its ultimate Object either the winning


o f the Wh ite Q B o r cuttin g it O ff f r o m the game .

( Compare this game with the Winter Capablanca -

g ame at Hastin g s ) .

1 7 . P—K R 4 P—B 5

The B ishop is now o u t o f action White naturally .

coun ter attacks violently ag ainst the see mingly ex


R UY L OP EZ 2 35

posed positio n o f the Black King and with very g oo d


, ,

judgment even Offers the Bishop


,
.

w . PX P! P X P!

Taking the Bishop would be dange r ous if not actually ,

b ad while the text move accomplishes B lack s Object


, ,

which is to put the B ishop o u t o f action .

19 . R— R I B—B 2

20 . K — Kt I

This move unquestionably loses time S ince he wo uld .

have to retire his B ishop to R 2 sooner o r late r he ,

might have done it imm ediately It is doubtful how


.
,

ever if at this stage o f the game it would b e possible


,

fo r White to save the game .

20 . Kt — K 4
21 . Kt X Kt R x Kt
It w as diffi cul t to decide which way to retake . l
2 36 G AM E 13

took with the Rook in order t o have i t prepare d for


a possible attack against the Kin g .

22 . B—R 2 Kt — B 3

N ow that the Wh ite B ishop has b een driven b ack ,

Black wants to get rid o f White s strongly posted ’

Knight at Q 5 which b locks the attack o f the Bishop


,

at B 2 It may be said that the Kn i ght at Q 5 i s


.

the key t o White s defence ’


.

23 . P — K Kt 3

strives not only to have play for his Bishop ,

b ut also he wants to break up Black s Pawns in order ’

to counter attack The alternative would have b een


-
.

2 3 Kt X Kt ch Q X Kt ; and Black would b e threat


,

e ning R R 4 and also Q K 3 The stu d ent sh ould


, .

notice that B lack s drawb ack in all this is the f act


that he is playing minus the services o f his Q R It .

is this fact that makes it possib le fo r White t o h o ld


o u t lon g er
.
2 38 G AM E 14

3 1 R — K 8 ch
32 R X R R X R ch

K — R 2 B — B 2
33
w K — Kt s P— Q 4

the quickest way to fi nish the game .

35 . B X P P X P ch

3 6 . K — Kt 4 P -
B 6

37 . P X P R — K 5 ch

38 . P — B 4 R X P Ch

39 . K—R 5 R X B

40 . R —Q 8 eh K — R 2

41 . R —Q 7 B —K 3
Resigns .

A very game .

GA M E Q UEE N S GA M BIT D E CLI N ED



14 .

( N ew York ,
1 91 8 )
F .
J Marshal
. l . Black : J R Capab lanca
. . .

1 P —Q 4 P— Q4
2 . Kt — K B 3 Kt — K B 3
3 . P — B 4 P—K 3
4 . Kt — B 3 Q Kt — Q z

5 . B — Kt 5 B — K 2
6 . P—K 3 0 — 0
7 . R —B I P — B 3
This is one of the oldest systems o f d e fence a g a inst
the Queen s G ambit I had played it before in this

.

Tournament against Kostic and no dou b t Marshall ,

expecte d it At times I chan g e my defences


.
,
QUEEN S GAM B I T D E CLIN E D

2 39

or rather systems O f defence ; o n the other hand ,

durin g a Tournament if o n e o f them has given me


,

g ood results I generally play it all the time


,
.

— B
8 .
Q 2 P X P
Kt —
9 . B X P Q4
10 . B X B Q X B
11 . 0 — 0 Kt X Kt
12 .
Q X Kt P — Q Kt 3
This is the key to this system Of defence Having .

Simplified the game considerably by a series o f ex


changes Black will no w develop his Q B along the
,

long diagonal without havin g created a ny apparent


weakness The proper development o f the Q B is
.

Black s greatest problem in the Queen s G amb it


’ ’
.

13 P K4 . B Kt 2
14 . K R —K I K R —Q I

Th e d eve lopin g stage can now b e said to b e complete


on b oth sides The opening is over and the middle
.

g ame be g ins White as is g enerally the case has


.
, ,
2 40 G AM E 14

O b ta ine d t h e
centre Black o n the oth er h an d i s
.
, ,

entrenched in hi s fi rst three ranks and if g iven time ,

will post his Q R at Q B I and his Knight at K B 3 ,



and fi nally play P Q B 4 in order to break up ,

Whi te s centre and give full action t o the Black Bishop


posted at Q Kt 2 In this g ame White attempts t o


.

anticipate that plan by initiatin g an advance on the


centre which when carefully a n alysed is truly an
, , ,

attac k against Black s K P ’


.

15 . P— Q 5 Kt —B 4 !

Against Kostic in a previous game I had playe d


Kt B 1 It was carelessness o n my part but Mar
.
,

shall b elieved d iffere n tly otherwise he would not have


,

played this va r iation since had he analysed this move


, , ,

he would I think have realised that Black would


, ,

O b tain an excellent game B lack now threatens no t


.

only B P X P ; b ut also Kt X P followed by B P X P .

T he position is ve ry interestin g and full o f possi b ilities .


24 2 GAM E 14

A very serious error o f jud gment White i s un der .

the impression that he h as the b etter g ame b ecause ,

he is a Pawn ahead but that is not so The power


, .

ful position o f the Black Rook at Q 7 fully com


pe ns a t e s B lack fo r the Pawn minus Besides the .
,

B ishop is b etter with Rooks than the Knight ( see page s


4 8 5 6 where the relative values o f the Knight and
-
,

B ishop are compared) a n d as already stated with


, , ,

Pawns o n b oth sides of the b oard the Bishop is superior


because Of its long range Incidentall y this end
.
,

ing will demonstrate the great power of the B ishop .

White s best chance was to take a draw at once thus



,
.

2 1 Kt
— K 7 ch K — B I ; 22 R — B 7 R — K I
not B X P because P — B would give W hite the
( ; 3
b est Of it ) ; 2 3 R X B ( best ; not Kt Kt 6 ch b e ,

cause O f B P X Kt ; followed b y R X K P ) R X Kt ; ,

24 R — K t 8 ch R K 1 ; 2 5 R X R ch K X R , ,
,

and with proper play White will draw .

I t is curious that although a Pawn ahead White


, ,

is the o ne wh o is always in d an ger It is onl y now .


,

a f ter seeing this analysis that the value o f Black s


,

1 8 t h move Q K 4 can b e fully appreciated .

R K 1

With this powerful move Black be g ins aga inst Wh ite s ,


centre an assault wh ich will soon b e Shifted against


,
QUEEN ’
S GAMB IT D E CLIN ED 24 3
the Kin g itself White is afraid to play 2 2
. P —B 3
b ecause o f P B 4 .

22 . P —K 5 P — K Kt 4

TO prevent P B 4 The White Kn ight is practically


.

pinned because he does not dare move o n acco unt


,

Of R X K P .

23 . P — KR 4

is a sequel to the previous move Wh ite expects .

to di srupt Black s Pawns and thus make them weak



,
.

23 P X P

Th ough doub led and i solated this Pawn exercises


enormous pressure Black now threatens R K 3 ;
.


to b e followed by R Kt 3 and P — R 6 and R 7 at
the proper time .

24 . R -
K 1

Wh i te cannot stand the slow death any lon ger


2 44 GAM E 14

He sees dan ger everywhere an d wants t o ave rt i t ,

b y givin g up his Queen s side Pawns exp ecting t o



,

regain his fo r tunes later o n b y taking the initiative


o n the Kin g s side

.

24 .
R — K 3!

Much better than takin g Pawns This forces Wh ite


,
.

to defend the Knight with the Rook a t K 1 b ecause ,

O f the threat R — Kt 3 .

25 . R (K I ) —
Q B 1 K — Kt 2

Preparatory to R Kt 3 The g ame is going to b e.

decided o n the King s side and it is the isolated doub le



,

Pawn that will supply the finishing touch .

26 . P— Q Kt 4 P — Kt 4

To prevent P Kt 5, de fendin g the Kni ght an d


e ra t ing the Rooks .

P — R 3
fi . K—B 1
246 G AM E 14

R Q3
Kt — K 7 R —
( Q 3) Q 7
Kt — B 5 ch K B 3
Kt — R 4 K — Kt 4
Kt — B 5 R — Kt 7 ch
K—B I
P — B 4 ch KX BP

ve ry care fu l stu dy .
Uni ve rs it y o f Ca lifo rnia
S O UTHERN REG IO NAL LIBRARY FAC ILITY
3 05 De Ne ve Dri ve Pa rk i ng Lo t 17 0 Bo x 9 5 13 8 8
LO S ANG ELES , CALIFO RNIA 90095 -13 8 8
Re t urn t h is mate rial t o t h e li b rary from wh ic h it was bo rrowe d .

Вам также может понравиться