ISSUE 9

MODERN CHESS
MAGAZINE

Understand
Understand the Positions with
Closed Center - Part 1
How to Fight
for an Open
File

Endgame Series -
Part 9

Mar Del Plata Structure - Attacking

Manual for Black

Typical Middlegame Combinations -

Bishop Sacrifice on "h7"
Table of contents
Typical Tactical Ideas in the Middlegame - Bishop Sacrifice on "h7"
3 (GM Grigor Grigorov)
3 Greco,Gioacchino - NN / Europe Europe, 1620
4 Pestalozzi,Max - Duhm,Hans / Bern Bern, 1908
5 Paulsen,Louis - Schwarz,Adolf / Leipzig m Leipzig (3), 1879
8 Shirov,Alexei (2726) - Reinderman,Dimitri (2542)
10 Spassky,Boris V - Geller,Efim P / Candidates sf2 Riga (6), 1965
11 Szabo,Laszlo - Bisguier,Arthur Bernard / Buenos Aires CA Buenos Aires (10), 1955
12 Kudrin,Sergey (2545) - Machado,Hermes Amilcar (2340)
14 TEST POSITIONS

16 Methods of Playing in Positions with Closed Center - Part 1 (GM GrigorGrigorov)

16 Grigorov,Grigor (2497) - Georgiev,Krum (2410)
21 Gelfand,Boris (2777) - Jones,Gawain C (2654)
33 TEST

35 Attacking Manual for Black - Mar Del Plata Structure (GM Petar G. Arnaudov)
35 Taimanov,Mark E - Najdorf,Miguel / Zuerich ct Zuerich (4), 1953
38 Kortschnoj,Viktor (2602) - Cheparinov,Ivan (2687)
40 So,Wesley (2779) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2814)
42 Ziegler,Ari (2402) - Hillarp Persson,Tiger (2482)
44 Piket,Jeroen (2540) - Kasparov,Garry (2775)
47 TEST

48 Methods of Fighting for an Open File (GM Vladimir Georgiev)

48 Capablanca,Jose Raul - Alekhine,Alexander
50 Kramnik,Vladimir (2797) - Aronian,Levon (2816)
51 Melkumyan,H (2650) - Vignesh,N R (2423)
54 Botvinnik,Mikhail - Chekhover,Vitaly
55 Steinitz - Sellman 1885
57 TEST

Endgame Series - Part 9 (GM Davorin Kuljasevic)

58
58 Distant opposition 1-3
62 Side opposition
62 Mehaj,Driton (2204) - Swiercz,D (2656)
65 Diagonal opposition 1-2
67 Knight opposition 1-2
69 Opposition battle 1
70 TEST
 Typical Tactical Ideas in the
Middlegame - Bishop Sacrifice on
"h7"
GM Grigor Grigorov (materials are prepared
together with GM Viktor Gavrikov)
Dear Readers,
This article marks the beginning of a new course
which is designed to improve your tactical
understanding. Within the framework of these
series, we will mainly focus on some typical
tactical ideas in the middlegame. I am fully
convinced that the improvement of your tactical
vision will enable you to better understand our
educational materials on the typical pawn
structures in the middlegame. Our first article
features one of the most important middlegame
combinations - bishop sacrifice on "h7". Before
we start dealing with this topic, I would like to
mention that I have worked on this subject in
collaboration with my trainer GM Viktor
Gavrikov who passed away in April of this year.
To my knowledge, this combination occurred for
the first time in a game played by the old Italian
master Gioacchino Greco in 1620. Even though
his opponent's play is far from optimal, this
game perfectly illustrates the idea of White's
combination. Let's take a look at it.
Greco,Gioacchino - NN
Europe Europe, 1620
 Of course,
nowadays, it is not difficult to see that Black's
play is in a deep contradiction with the classical
positional principles - the opponent of Greco
ignores the fight for the center. Nevertheless, it
is pointless to put a question mark after Black's
move since when the game was played, there
was no structured education concerning the
positional play.
Greco is already preparing his famous
sacrifice. With his last move, he introduces an
interesting trap. The opponent runs into it
immediately.
 After this move, Black's position is
completely lost.

This is the point behind the move  By
playing , White opens up the d1–h5
diagonal for his queen. It is not difficult to see
that this sacrifice is based on one very simple
rule - when attacking, we should always try to
find a way to bring our queen into the attack.
3

This move opens up the h-file for the rook, but it
is already impossible to save the game.
To mate leads  in view of  with
mate to follow.; Also bad is  when White's
most simple way to win is  Followed by
 or 





And Black was mated in the center of the board.
Of course, nowadays, such a game is hardly
possible, but the tactical ideas are the same.
1–0
Pestalozzi,Max - Duhm,Hans
Bern Bern, 1908
In the following simple example, the sacrifice of
bishop was realized without the help of the h-
pawn because white queen was already on the
kingside.
This
exchange is favorable for Black.
Correct continuation is 


After Black obtains a pleasant
position b 

 1/2 Richter,K-Stahlberg,G/Munich
1936/(45)
 Now
everything is ready for the sacrifice on h7.



Black`s first mistake in the game and at the same
time a decisive one.
Also here was necessary to play
 and Black`s
prospects are preferable since he has active
pieces and strong pawn center. Note that the f7–
f5 advance is quite typical for positions in which
our opponent has a pawn on e5. In this way, we
could eliminate his space advantage.
4

 Leipzig m Leipzig (3), 1879
  The main alternative is 
Of course! This typical sacrifice is possible
because white queen controls the important g5–
square. By now, the reader should have noted
that this bishop sacrifice works exceptionally
well in positions in which there is a pawn on e5.
This pawn not only secures a space advantage,
but at the same time, makes it difficult for the
opponent to bring his pieces into the defence.

 White
This move is leading to a forced mate.
The only possibility to avoid mate was




1–0
Paulsen,Louis - Schwarz,Adolf
Not always can the exposed position of
opponent`s king be so easily exploited after
sacrifice on h7 - sometimes the attacking side
must find the correct continuation.
 The
most popular continuation.
 The plan with b2–b4 is usual in modern
practice, but was played for the first time in this
game.
(after the known mistake is
in view of 1–0 Illescas
Cordoba,M (2555)-Jussupow,A (2655)/Linares
1992/(70))


 It is interesting that
the next game where the position after 
occurred was played 95 years later, where
continued with

1–0 Grefe,J (2506)-Bender,H (1785)/New York
1974/(42)
 Threatening to win
the d5–pawn by means of 


5
Correct was  after which the combination

 is
sufficient only for a draw - 
a)
 attack. For example:
Very typical idea for this kind of positions. In
order to provoke the opponent's king to come
closer to the center, White is ready to sacrifice
his knight. You should remember that the d3–
square is the optimal position of the queen.
From here, the queen could go to h7 or attack
the king via third rank. () If Black takes
the knight by  then White could mate
him. For example: 

b)

As the reader probably remembers, this typical
defensive idea was seen in the previous game,
too. In this position, however, there is no forced
mate since the black king could escape via d8.
Always look at this square when you are
calculating variations in this kind of positions.
After  White
has only three pawns for the sacrificed rook, but
Black couldn't coordinate his pieces. White has
enough time to castle and bring his rook into the



Black is helpless. The threat is  followed
by 
 (But not 
because of the typical )
 (dangerous for Black looks


 (white queen will be trapped in case of
)

 


The best defence.
6
After  White
is winning by using an idea we are already
familiar with  As it happens very often
is such positions, this rook lift decides the
outcome of the game.; The move 
doesn't help either 


This move is missing the win.
White should continue the attack by 
We have already pointed out that d3 is the best
square for the queen in such positions. In this
concrete situation, it is very important to
provoke the f7–f5 advance, preventing Black
from playing the flexible f7–f6 later. The
following variations illustrate very well White's
attacking ideas in such positions.



This is another very instructive moment. Now
the black rook is forced to occupy the h8–
square. As we are going to see later, this is an
important concession.  (In response to
 White could react with the typical
 Remember this move. First of all, we
should cut off the way back of Black's king.)
 This is the point! With a black
rook on f8, this move wouldn't be possible.
 (The move  doesn't help either.
 With the threat of h4–h5. White is winning.
Sometimes, when the black king is on g6, the
advance of the h-pawn is an important
additional attacking resource.) 
 We shouldn't forget this rook transfer
along third rank.  
Now, all the pieces are participating in the
attack. Of course, all the complications will be in
White's favor. For example: 








7

Black misses his chance and loses.
Was necessary to play 
 and White is only
slightly better.
 Of course White increases
the attacking potential instead of winning back
the material by

 Otherwise White will play  and 



 

1–0
Shirov,Alexei (2726) - Reinderman,Dimitri
(2542)
Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee (11), 29.01.1999
As the reader already knows, in the vast
majority of positions, the idea of Greco doesn't
decide the game immediately. Very often, we
should keep finding the most precise
continuations and show skills in the attack.
When it comes to attacking masterpieces, one of
the names that come to mind is Alexei Shirov.
Let's take a look at his game against Dmitri
Reinderman played in Wijk aan Zee, 1999. On
the diagram, we see a typical French position in
which White could proceed with the idea of
Greco. Of course, Shirov grabs the bull by the
horns.
 All white pieces are ready for action
and the attack begins.
g8 This time, the move
 is impossible because of  (or even
 

The most tenacious. We already know that in
such positions, the d8–square belongs to the
king.
Weak is  At this point,
White's most convincing continuation is 
Opening up the position. 
 And White is winning.
 Threatening .
Less clear is the continuation  since
Black king could escape via d8. For example,
8
after 
 White's win is not so obvious.

The idea to escape via f8, doesn't work here. For
example, after  White has the
powerful  when Black couldn't escape from
the cage.  With a
mate to follow.
  allows Black to defend his
king.

In order to create decisive threats, White needs
to open the position of the black king.
 Shirov continues to play
energetically. With his last move, he removes an
important defender of the king - the f7–pawn. Of
course, in such position, the pawns shouldn't be
taken into consideration.
 Bad is  in view of 



Also bad was 
 (stronger than 
or



  transposes to the
game.
 Very elegant solution! Shirov makes the
most of the restricted mobility of Black's king.
Black should somehow prevent the threat of



To a forced mate leads 
9
 A little
bit more tenacious was  
after which White should follow with

After this blow, White is winning in all the
variations. For example: 




Simpler was 

 square, thus making possible the combination of
Forces the win of queen.




and Black resigned.

1–0
Spassky,Boris V - Geller,Efim P
Candidates sf2 Riga (6), 1965
In some positions, the idea of Greco could
appear quite by surprise. That is why you should
learn to recognize the typical patterns. Let’s take
a look at the following example. The diagram
position was reached in the game between
Spassky and Geller played in 1965. It looks like
White should take the d4–pawn, thus entering a
slightly better position. Nevertheless, the well-
trained eye could spot some interesting
patterns. For example, it is obvious that there
are no pieces around the black king. In order to
make use of Black's vulnerable kingside, White
should open diagonals and free squares for his
pieces. In the game, Boris Spassky found a very
original tactical possibility
White's idea is just to open the b1–h7
diagonal for his bishop
Black loses the control over the g5–
Greco.
The weakened position of black king gives White
sufficient compensation for the pawn after
 but the game move is
10
a blunder which leads to a loss.


This is the point. White frees the g5–square for
his knight. Later on, he should find a way to
bring his queen into the attack.
Less clear is the continuation



This is the only way to prolong the resistance.





In case of  was possible 





 and Black resigned in view of

1–0
Szabo,Laszlo - Bisguier,Arthur Bernard
Buenos Aires CA Buenos Aires (10), 1955
So far, we have studied only examples where
after the sacrifice on h7, we bring our knight and
queen into the attack. Sometimes, however, it is
quite possible to attack in a different way. For
example, in a number of situations, the typical
bishop sacrifice is followed by the inclusion of
major pieces. Let's take a look at the following
11
instructive example: The diagram position was 
reached in the game Szabo - Bisguier played in 
1955. When looking at this position, it is not
difficult to understand that White is clearly
better. He is ahead in the development, the e5–
knight is very strong and the d1–rook controls
the only open file in the position. Furthermore,
the white c2–bishop creates a direct pressure
against the black king. The only defender of the
black king is the f6–knight. That is why Szabo
decides to chase it away by playing

 This move prepares the

sacrifice on h7 after g4–g5. At the same time,
White could bring his rook into the game via the
g4–square.
Black could not prevent the threat of .
 Was necessary  That is why he resigned.
 with some play for the
1–0
pawn.
Kudrin,Sergey (2545) - Machado,Hermes
 Overlooking White`s idea. Amilcar (2340)
 Thessaloniki ol (Men) Thessaloniki (5), 1988




Before finishing the current topic, I would like to

After  wins or




 into the defence by advancing his f7–pawn. That


deal with one additional idea - bishop sacrifice
on "h7" followed by a tactical blockade on the
f6–square. What do we mean by "tactical
blockade on the f6–square"? Very often, after a
bishop sacrifice on h7, our opponent tries to
evacuate his king or to bring his major pieces
is why in a number of positions we try to block

12
the f7–pawn, even at the price of a piece 
sacrifice. By doing it, we not only restrict the 
mobility of our opponent's king, but at the same
time we isolate his pieces so they couldn't
participate in the defence. In order to illustrate
this idea, I would like to provide you with a very
interesting example. The diagram position was
reached in the game Kudrin - Machado, played
in Thessaloniki 1988. It is obvious that the black
kingside is extremely vulnerable. Of course,
different ideas based on the h7 bishop sacrifice
come to mind. In the game, Black followed with
the careless

 underestimating White`s attacking

possibilities.
This is the point! White blockades the f7–pawn
Perhaps the best move was  when the
threatening  or . Now the black king is
typical 
Could be met by  By advancing his f-pawn, restricted, while the other pieces are isolated.
Black prepares the evacuation of his king.
 This is the best defence. Black is trying
 to bring his queen into the defence.

Very bad is With

mate to follow.; Also weak, but a little bit more
stubborn is 

Very strong intermediate move. White is already

preparing the blockade sacrifice on the f6–
square. It turns out that Black has no good
defence.

Only to a draw leads  White is winning after the following forced

sequence 

 After  White continues


 with decisive threats.

13
The advance of the f-pawn is again the key 
defensive resource. Nevertheless, in this  when White
concrete position, this idea turns out to be maintains the advantage by 
insufficient. White could follow with the 
powerful  When Black is 
losing by force. For example:  
 
 
White is winning. 

 Black resigned because of mate after
 
 
1-0
TEST POSITIONS
1. White to move

This loses immediately.

Also bad is  because of  The e5-pawn gives White a considerable space
 With mate.; The only defence was advantage. How could he proceed with the
 attack?

14
 2. White to move
White has a space advantage and his pieces are
dominating the board. How to develop the
initiative?
3. White to move
White enjoys a considerable space advantage on
the kingside while the h7-pawn is vulnerable. In
order to win, however, he should open files for
his major pieces. How would you continue the
attack?
4. White to move
Again, the e5-pawn gives us a lot of attacking
possibilities on the kingside. Furthermore, the
mobility of Black's king is restricted. How should
White start an attack?
5. White to move
Black has just taken White's e5-pawn with the
knight. Despite of being a pawn dawn, White has
open diagonals for his bishops. How could White
develop the initiative?
15
 Methods of Playing in Positions
with Closed Center - Part 1
GM Grigor Ggrigorov
Dear Reader,
We are about to start dealing with an extremely
complex and important type of middlegame
positions - closed center. In my role as chess
trainer, I have come to realize that closed
positions are something of a nightmare for
inexperienced chess players. The reason is
rather simple - in such positions, the ability to
create the right plan is much more important
than the calculation of concrete variations. In
order to find the right plan, however, we need a
lot of knowledge and experience. That is why
everyone who wants to progress in the field of
chess should spend a considerable amount of
time studying closed positions.
There is also another factor in support of the
importance of the current topic that I would like
to bring to your attention. Knowledge of the
subtleties of closed positions will improve your
understanding of a number of openings which
lead to positions with closed center. To mention
just a few: King's Indian Defence, Ruy Lopez,
Classical Benoni, French Defence and many
others. As we have mentioned on many
occasions, it is not possible to build a reliable
opening repertoire without understanding the
typical middlegames. In my first article
dedicated to the closed center, I will discuss the
following pawn structure: c4, d5 and e4 against
c5, d6 and e5. This pawn structure is quite
typical for King's Indian Defence and Classical
Benoni. Despite the fact that I have always
played this structure as White, within the
framework of the current article, I will present
the ideas of both sides. I hope that at the end of
this course you will have a higher chess
understanding. I would like to start with one of
my recent games in which I played against the
Bulgarian GM Krum Georgiev. My opponent
played his favourite King's Indian Defence which
was met by the solid Fianchetto System. After
the first 11 moves, the position on the diagram
was reached.
Grigorov,Grigor (2497) - Georgiev,Krum
(2410)
GRE-chT 44th Achaea, 09.07.2016
Since it is White to move, I was obliged to create
a long-term plan. As the reader could see,
White's d5–pawn gives him a space advantage
on the queenside. In order to establish his plan,
White could refer to one of the classical
16
positional principles which says that we should
play on the wing where we have a space
advantage. That is why White should try to build
an activity on the queenside. In the game, I
played
 Very typical move. In closed positions, we
must find a way to bring our major pieces into
play. In order to achieve that, we should open
files by means of different pawn contacts. With
his last move, White starts preparing the –
pawn advance. Later on, he could go for 
followed by – and . After opening the b-
file, White’s major pieces will try to invade
Black's camp. Nevertheless, what will happen if
Black sticks to a passive strategy by playing
moves like –, , – and . Later on,
White's  could be answered by means of
 followed by massive exchanges along the -
file. Will White retain his advantage? In order to
answer this question, we should know the
concept of "space advantage". In general, when
we have space advantage, we shouldn't
exchange pieces, because our opponent will
have the same number of squares for fewer
pieces. Nevertheless, this rule is valid when it
comes to the minor pieces. Usually, the
exchanges of major pieces favor the side with
space advantage. Why? When looking at the
current position, it is easy to understand that
White's space advantage is defined by the pawn
structure. White's central pawn chain takes
important squares from Black's minor pieces.
That is why Black has difficulties to find reliable
squares for his bishops and knights. Black's only
chance to create counterplay consists in opening
a file for his major pieces (for example the –
break comes into consideration). If White
manages to exchange all the major pieces,
however, Black will be left with his restricted
knights and bishops. It becomes clear that by
exchanging rooks and queens White could
restrict Black's counterplay.
 Black's intention is obvious. Since he
wants to put his queen on , by playing –,
he prevents White from playing  in the
future. Nevertheless, to a certain extent, the
move – is a concession. At this point, there
are two important structural drawbacks in
Black's position. If we suppose that the b-file is
open, in some cases White’s major pieces could
invade Black's camp via the weakened –
square. Another important drawback consists in
the fact that the structure , .  against , ,
 is favorable for White since he has additional
pawn contact - ––, thus breaking Black's
queenside defence. Long story short, it is always
dangerous to move your pawns on the wing
where your opponent is stronger.
 Another important move.
Before playing –, White should protect the
–pawn. At the same time, with his last move,
White discourages his opponent to go for ideas
based on the – break.



It becomes clear that Black has coordination
problems in his camp. In order to connect his
rooks by playing , he should bring his knight
to the unfavorable –square. We could see that
3 minor black pieces dispute the –square!
As I have already pointed out, in such kind of
positions, Black's counterplay is often based on
the – break which allows him to activate the
rook by attacking the "base" of White's central
pawn chain. Nevertheless, this idea hardly
works in the concrete position. For example,
after White could
just play followed by doubling the rooks
along the b-file and eventually . Note that
17
Black still couldn't play because White
could play making use of the weakened
e6–square. If Black wants to prepare – by
means of –, then his kingside pawn
structure will be weakened.
 Black has managed to
connect his rooks but now it is very difficult to
realize the ––idea. Additionally, the –knight
doesn't have any squares.
 White directs his pieces to the queenside
and overprotects the important –pawn. Also,
in some cases, in order to restrict Black's
counterplay, he could bring his queen to the
kingside.


Black starts preparing his kingside counterplay.
The idea behind his last move is to play 
followed by – After figuring out what my
opponent intends to do, I started to look for
ways to restrict his counterplay. Before playing
, I knew that in some cases, my queen
could occupy the –square but after Black's
, this idea started getting clearer. After
putting his queen on , White prevents Black
from playing  since the –pawn is hanging.
Despite the fact that I have decided to go for this
prophylactic idea, I knew I was not forced to do
it immediately. White could first obtain some
achievements on the queenside. I played
 This strong positional idea was mentioned
in my comments to the move . White
wants to spoil Black's queenside structure by
playing –. With a black pawn on a7 (instead
of ), this idea wouldn't be very powerful.
Normally, Black should avoid this move which
weakens the –square. In this concrete
position, however, my opponent was forced to
go for it. Otherwise, White just plays –.
 Worse is  when White could
follow with  and
Black couldn't defend his –pawn.



Played with the obvious idea to keep the b-file
closed. Of course, this move has some
drawbacks. Black could apply such an approach
in positions where he could easily transfer one
of his knights to d6 and later go for –. Since
his rook is on e8–square, in order to execute
such a transfer, he should spend at least 3
moves. For example, a possible idea would be
 followed by –. Nevertheless, such a
plan is rather time-consuming. Another
important factor is the weakness of the –
pawn. In the future, Black major pieces will be
tied to the defence of this pawn. Additionally, I
would like to point out another drawback of
Black's last move. Given the fact that there is no
black pawn on , White already enjoys
considerable superiority in the center. That is
why in the future it will be possible to consider
the – break.
18
It is also interesting to see how White should
deal with the positions arising after 
Now the b-file is open, but white rooks couldn't
invade Black's camp. I was intending to follow
with 
To my understanding, this is the best square for
the queen in this position. With his last move,
White establishes a connection between the
rooks, protects the important e4–pawn and
prevents the opponent from playing 
followed by f7–f5 since the f7– pawn is hanging.
Later on, I had two ideas in mind:1) double the
rooks on the b-file and prepare a possible
invasion. If White manages to tie black major
pieces to the defence of the b-file, then it is
possible to gain some space on the kingside by
playing g3–g4–g5 followed by h4–h5. Later for
White will be easier to transfer his major pieces
to the kingside. When we have space advantage,
the communication lines between our major
pieces are always better.2) create pressure
against the a5–pawn by means of  followed
by . Later on it is possible to double the
rooks along the b-file and increase the pressure
against a5 by playing –. I should say that
both plans look very promising and Black will
certainly have a hard time dealing with them.


I have already explained the idea behind this
move - White wants to stop for a while the idea
 followed by f7–f5. It is really amazing that
Black doesn't have a comfortable way to defend
the f7–pawn. This is very often the case when
one of the sides is short on space.
 Black overprotects the b6–pawn and
frees the e8–square for his knight. At this point, I
had two main ideas - engage black major pieces
with the defence of the b6–pawn and prevent
Black from moving his f6–knight to e8 or g8.
I saw that after Black
couldn't trap the queen because of
followed by 
with a huge advantage for White.
 The idea of this move is clear. White
wants to tie Black's queen to the defence of the
f6–knight.
 This seems to be the only move. For
now, White could stop worrying about the ideas
connected with different knight moves. It is time
to create some pressure against the b6–pawn.
The idea to protect the knight by means of
 is clearly worse since White could
follow with And white
knight comes to the ideal c4–square.
19

 along the h2–b8 diagonal, discouraging his opponent
Black managed to cover his weaknesses on "b6"
and "f6". Nevertheless, there is absolutely no
coordination between his major pieces. That is
why I started considering some ideas allowing
me to attack Black's center. The first move that
came to my mind was  followed by f2–f4. In
that case, however, I should pay attention to the
construction  -  which at some moment
could be used by Black's dark-squared bishop
Another important point is that the immediate
could be met by 24...Qc8 (attacking the
h3–pawn) followed by –. So, I needed to
protect the h3–pawn and escape and remove my
king from the a7–g1 diagonal.
Very important prophylactic move.
White defends the h3–pawn and prepares
. In positions in which your opponent has
no counterplay, you shouldn't rush. Before going
for our active plan, we should play all the useful
moves that come to mind. Maybe the inclusion
of these moves will decide the outcome of the
game later.
Black makes room for the maneuver

White is already prepared to go for f2–f4
advance under favorable circumstances.
Nevertheless, White's last move has one
important disadvantage - Black's f6–knight is no
longer under attack and Black could play with
his queen.
With his move, Black creates an opposition
from playing the immediate f2–f4. The disadvantage
of this move could be explained by the fact that black
queen goes far away from the kingside. This
circumstance could tell in the future.
After this precise move, black queen is
practically forced to go to the unfavorable b8–
square. Besides the fact that the opposition along the
b-file could be very annoying, Black has difficulties to
bring his a6–rook into play.
 In case of I was planning to react
with intending to follow up
with f2–f3, h3–h4 and , thus supporting the
further advance of the d-pawn. Note that Black has
no comfortable way to block White's central passed
pawn.

This was one of the most difficult moves in the
game. Despite the fact that White's advantage is
out of question, it's still difficult to proceed with
concrete actions. That is why I decided to make
one more useful move. White's last move has
two main ideas. Given the fact that now the b1–
square is free, White could increase the pressure
against the b6–pawn by transferring his queen
to b1. The second idea is even more important.
It is quite obvious that sooner or later White will
go for the f2–f4 advance. Being on b2, White
rook could be easily transferred to the kingside.
As I have already mentioned, the space
advantage gives us the possibility to easily
20
transfer our major pieces from one wing to
another.
Quite a natural move. Black not only
intends to block White's d-pawn by means of
, but at the same time, he is planning to
make use of the restricted mobility of the g5–
bishop by playing f7–f6. I decided to prevent
both ideas.
My opponent was happy to make this
move since Black exchanges minor pieces
(which is favorable in positions where our
opponent has space advantage) and gets rid of
his passive dark-squared bishop. Nevertheless,
we should also consider the dynamic aspects of
the position. It seems that after the exchange of
the dark-squared bishops, Black king becomes
quite vulnerable. The game continued

Now, in order to transfer his rook to the
kingside and free the d7–square for one of the
knights, Black is forced to part with his light-
squared bishop. Otherwise, White could go f4–f5
or fxe5 followed by .
 Black is ready to parry the
threat of fxe5 followed by . Nevertheless,
White has another natural way to develop his
kingside initiative.
Of course, wrong is because
of  winning a piece.
White knight has finally reached his
dream square. Now White is ready to transfer
his rooks to the kingside after which the game
will be over.
As the reader probably
remembers, this move was one of the main
points behind Now Black has no
counterplay at all. White is simply planning to
expand on the kingside by playing g3–g4–g5.

In this completely hopeless
position, my opponent lost on time. Anyway, it is
impossible to find defence against White's
numerous threats. Moves like  or 
followed by  are only some of White's
possibilities.
1–0
Gelfand,Boris (2777) - Jones,Gawain C
(2654)
London Classic Gp-C 5th London (2.1),
11.12.2013
In the previous game, we have seen how White
first stopped Black's active options on the
kingside and only then started active actions on
the queenside. Now I am going to show you
another instructive example in which White
uses the same strategy. The diagram position
arose in the game Boris Gelfand - Jones Gawain
played in 2013. By now, the reader should be
familiar with the typical plans in this structure.
While White's long-term plan consists in playing
on the queenside by means of a2–a3 followed by
b2–b4. Black will be trying to realize the f7–f5
advance. Given the fact that Black has already
played h7–h6, his next move could be 
followed by f7–f5. Note that in this case, the
move  couldn't be met by the standard
 Of course,  is not the only move
which allows Black to execute the desired f7–f5
advance - moves like ,  or  are
always an option. In this game, Gelfand used a
typical approach to parry Black's kingisde play
before it had started.
21
This classical way to fight against Black's
kingside play is introduced by the Soviet master
Borisenko. At first sight, White's last move looks
paradoxical. He is advancing his pawns on the
wing where his opponent is planning to build an
attack. Strangely enough, by playing , White
is actually fighting against f7–f5 since he is
ready to play . From h4, the knight
controls the f5–square and keeps an eye on the
g6–pawn. In this line of thought, we could say
that the move h7–h6 has some obvious
drawbacks. Had the pawn been on h7 instead of
h6, it would have been much easier to carry out
the f7–f5 advance.
Black intends to make use of the
weakened light-squares by playing . In
this way he finishes the development and
establishes a connection between the rooks.
This solution, however, is far from being
optimal. It's clear that Black's h3–bishop will not
be supported by other pieces. Furthermore, this
bishop could be easily exchanged by means of
 at an appropriate moment. In this pawn
structure, the exchange of the light-squared
bishops is usually favorable for White. This
could be explained by the fact that White's e2–
bishop is restricted by the c4–d5–e4 pawn
chain. On the other hand, Black is trying to
exchange the dark-squared bishops.
In the game Gelfand - Smirin played in 2005,
Black opted for 
Given the fact that White is planning to follow
with , with his last move, Black wants to
make use of the g5–square. In the game, White
played which was met by means of 
Later on, Black could use the weakened light-
squares by playing –. Nevertheless, in his
comments to the game, Gelfand points out
White's strongest reaction ! Attacking the
h6–pawn and stopping the move Ng5. After this
move, Black is forced to play when a
possible continuation is   It is
not clear how Black could develop his kingside
initiative. With a pawn on h5, it is much more
difficult to realize f7–f5. Furthermore, given the
fact that White has a firm control over the g5–
square, the h7–knight is rather misplaced. White
is ready to proceed with his expansion on the
queenside.; 
Black not only clears the way of the f-pawn, but
at the same time is ready to meet  by
means of  Nevertheless, in a number of
variations, the position of Black's h5–knight
seems to be rather awkward. At this point,
White should play  White is planning to
prevent his opponent from playing f7–f5 by
means of , thus keeping an eye on the h5–
knight. Black's most logical continuation is
 (Bad is  in view of  and
Black couldn't protect his kingside pawns. Also,
Black should reckon with his weakness on d6.
For example, after 
Black's position is completely hopeless.)

22

I have the feeling that d2 is the best square for
the bishop. With this move, White keeps the
door open for moves like  (creating pressure
against the h6–pawn) or  (preparing the
move b2–b4). (In the game Gladyszev,O -
Onishchuk,V, played in 2012, White preferred
Black managed to create a sufficient
counterplay after (It turns out that
the move is very well met by
Had the white bishop been on d2 in this
position, White could have played . Now it
seems that White couldn't find a suitable square
for his queen.)  In this
highly unclear position, Black's attack fully
compensates the missing piece.)

(As we have already pointed out, now the move
 is very well met by  when
Black's minor pieces are placed very awkwardly.
White could already consider moves like f2–f3
followed by g3–g4.)  Another subtle
positional move. White creates a dangerous
opposition along the e-file and intends to strike
in the centre by playing f2–f4. Note that the f2–
f4 advance not only allows White to bring his
rooks into play, but at the same time restricts
the f8–rook and the c8–bishop. That is why
Black's most natural reply is the immediate
 It seems that Black's kingside initiative
could become dangerous, but White could go for
an extremely favorable ending after

It turns out that if the black knight goes back to
f6, White is just winning a piece by means of
. The game could continue  (The
move  doesn't help either. For example,

Followed by  followed by  when
White enjoys a healthy pawn up.)

/+– White is almost winning. He has two knights
for a rook while Black has passive dark-squared
bishop and weak pawn on d6.
23

I suppose that at this point, Black was quite
happy with the outcome of the opening. He
managed to connect his rooks and develop his
minor pieces. It is important to point out that
Black intends to meet the move – by
means of  followed by . White,
however, has an important positional resource
 The reader already knows that the
exchange of the light-squared bishops favors
White. As we are going to see later, after this
exchange, Black has great difficulties to carry
out the desired f7–f5 advance.


I am inclined to believe that this seemingly
accurate move is not precise. With a white
bishop on e2, the black knight's jump to f4
would have been much more dangerous. After
the exchange of the light-squared bishops,
however, the move  seems to be
meaningless. Since Black has no chance to play
f7–f5, White could start his queenside play. It
becomes clear that Black's h5–knight will
remain out of play. Let's try to improve Black's
play in this position. I think that there is no ideal
set-up here.
The move  is similar to the game. Indeed,
Black could transfer his knight to g5, but this
maneuver is sound only when it is supported by
the move f7–f5.; Maybe the best try for Black is
 intending to bring the knight to the
queenside by playing . Later on, Black could
consider moves like  followed by –,
intending to exchange the dark-squared bishops.
Nevertheless, this plan is rather time-consuming
and White has a free hand on the queenside.

Maybe this move is a little bit premature.
As we have already pointed out, Black's main
positional idea in this structure consists in
exchanging the dark-squared bishops. In this
concrete position, this idea could be realized by
means of the maneuver – That is the
reason why it makes sense to play  Now
 is impossible because the h6–pawn is
hanging. Of course, Black could prepare it by
playing  Despite the fact that his move is
logical, it seems to be too slow. Furthermore, the
opposition along the b1–h7 diagonal could be
24
rather annoying. (It is possible that Gelfand bold  With the idea to sacrifice an
rejected the move  in view of  exchange after  (Better is 
Strangely enough, this move turns out to be allowing Black to exchange the dark-squared
impossible even here. This could be explained
bishops after  I think that White should
by the bad position of Black's minor pieces.
White could play  accept the position arising after 
White makes use of the opposition along the f-  (The aggressive 
file in order to create pressure against the f- Is very well met by  Followed
pawn. In case of  White could react with by  and g3–g4. It turns out that Black
the simple  attacking the awkwardly couldn't create a kingside activity since his
placed h5–knight. If Black goes for  , then pieces are not well coordinated.) 
White could follow with  when it is
And here, I like  
impossible to defend the weak d6–pawn.) 
White is already preparing the typical b2–b4
advance.  This is the point. Given
the fact that white knight is not on h4, White has
time to meet  by means of ,
avoiding the exchange of the dark-squared
bishops.  After preserving his
strong dark-squared bishop, White has a free
hand on the queenside. Now the thread of b2–b4
is rather real. On the other hand, Black has no
counterplay on the kingside. For example, the
typical  is always well met by
 It turns out that when the
light-squared bishops are exchanged, the f7–f5
advance is not that threatening.

White is planning to transfer his knight to d3 via
f2. It is important to remember that d3 is the
perfect square for our knight in this structure.
From that position, the knight controls the
important squares "c5" and "e5" and supports
the breaks b2–b4 and f3–f4. Normally, we go for
the f3–f4 advance when the black pieces are
concentrated on the queenside and Black
doesn't have a firm control over the e5–square.
Despite the fact that the exchange of the dark-
squared bishops is definitely an achievement for
Black, he has no active options and should play
for equality.)
This move seems to be too slow. Black misses an
excellent opportunity to create a kingside
counterplay.
At this point, Gawain should have preferred the

25

Black has managed to create some kind of
counterplay. White has a weak king and
structural damages. So far, he couldn't make use
of the extra exchange since there are no open
files for the rooks. On the other hand, Black
could continue to develop his initiative by
means of simple moves like ,  and 
Even though White is still objectively better, I
doubt if Gelfand would prefer to enter such kind
of position.
 Of course, it was not late for .
 Black's only idea is to carry
out the f7–f5 break. As we have already seen,
however, this break is not so dangerous when
the light-squared bishops are exchanged and
Black's knight is placed on h5. Of course, White
could even prevent this idea.
Black should have gone for
 When we reach a
position which was discussed above.


Very strong prophylactic move. White not only
prevents Black's f7–f5 idea, but at the same
time, improves the position of his queen. In
order to create indirect pressure against the c4–
pawn, one of the black rooks will come to c8,
creating an annoying opposition along the c-file.
With his last move, White avoids the opposition
and protects the important c4–pawn.

This move is designed to provoke further
weakening of Black's queenside. For example, in
this concrete position, the move  could
be met by  followed by  thus
invading Black's camp.
 Black protects the a7–pawn and
intends to meet  by means of 
 It is important to point out that black
knight is actually not so badly placed on the a6–
square. From that position, the knight not only
creates pressure against b4, but at the same
time is ready to occupy the c5–square in case of

 Very useful move. White is
planning to play  on the next move in order
to overprotect the c4–pawn. Additionally, under
favorable circumstances, White could even
consider move like  (the h5–knight is
vulnerable) or  (after a possible exchange of
the queens, Black will have problems to defend
26
his pawns on d6 and a7).
 With this move,
Black shows that he is not ready to accept the
passive defence. Now, his counterplay is mainly
based on the h5–h4 advance. Depending on the
situation, Black could also insert moves like 
 and  As a drawback of the move 
we could mention the fact that this pawn
advance further weakens Black's kingside.

 could counter White's central expansion by
Played in the style of Petrosian! Gelfand doesn't
allow even the slightest idea of counterplay. If
we look deeper into the position, it becomes
clear that Black has run out of constructive
ideas. On the other hand, White has a number of
useful moves which allow him to further
improve his position. For example, he could
consider playing  followed by the maneuver
–
The idea of this move is quite obvious -
Black wants to exchange the annoying b5–
knight by playing  We already know that
when our opponent has space advantage, we
should exchange minor pieces.
By protecting the e4–pawn,
White introduces the threat of f3–f4. Taking into
consideration the bad coordination between
Black's pieces ( and  are practically out of
play), we could say that this advance is perfectly
possible.
 White wants to win some time
before executing his real idea.
The attempt to realize f3–f4 after the exchange
of a pair of knights gives Black sufficient
counterplay. For example, after
 Black
means of Black sacrifices a pawn in
order to open the c-file for his major pieces. For
instance, could be answered by
followed by .
 White chooses the
right moment to open a file on the queenside
since Black couldn't take with the knight. Also,
taking with the d-pawn is pointless here,
because the black knights are far away from the
d6–square.
 I am entirely sure
that this is the optimal continuation. As I have
already pointed out in my comments to my
game with Krum Georgiev, when we have a
space advantage, we should avoid the exchanges
of minor pieces. On the other hand, we should
exchange major pieces in order to restrict our
opponent's counterplay.
Maybe White should have preferred 
followed by massive exchanges of major pieces
along the b-file. When looking at this position, it
is not difficult to see that black minor pieces lack
space.
 Gelfand goes for the right
strategy. He is ready to exchange all the major
pieces. As the reader is going to see later, Black
has considerable difficulties in the arising
endgame. The game followed with
27


I consider this move to be an important
strategical mistake. Maybe, at this point, Black
was convinced that the endgame after the
exchange of the queens is an easy draw. In fact,
after this exchange, Black runs out of
counterplay. In this position, Black's activity is
based on the presence of the queens.
Gawain should have preferred  followed
by moves like  or even – in some
cases. In such kind of positions, White couldn't
easily attack the opponent's weak pawns with
the queen since we should keep an eye on the
possible invasions of the black queen.
 This is an extremely strong positional
move. Gelfand is ready to exchange the queens
but he wants to define the structure. The game
continued
 This is the critical position for
the evaluation of Gelfand's idea. Despite the fact
that Black has a protected passed pawn on c5,
he couldn't support by any means. On the other
hand, White is planning to create a distant
passed pawn on the queenside. Furthermore,
the c4–square is an excellent blockading
position for White's knight. White's dream here
is to play a4–a5 followed by – supporting
b5–b6 and attacking the d6–pawn.


Before playing  Gelfand was obliged to
evaluate this endgame. A long time ago, the
founder of the Soviet chess school Mikhail
Botvinnik used to say: "Knight endings are really
pawn endings". This consideration is the key
factor in the evaluation of the current endgame.
As we know, the distant passed pawns are an
extremely important factor in the pawn
endgames. That is why we could conclude that
in this position, White is fighting for a win. His
idea is very simple - the king goes to b3, while
the knight occupies the e3–square. Later on,
White could push away the black knight by
means of a4–a5. If White manages to achieve
that, the black king will be tied to White's
queenside passed pawn. In order to win the
game, White should create an additional
weakness on the kingside.


28
This move is against the basic endgame rule that
we should always look for an activity. Given the
fact that White is planning to transfer his king to
the queenside, Black should have tried to create
counterplay on the opposite wing.

This precise move is preparing the activation of

the black king via g5. Later on, Black could
follow with f7–f5. 

In this position, the c4–pawn gives Black serious

winning chances. White should be very precise
in order to save the day.) 

(After Black could play If White

plays passively here, Black will just take the h4–
pawn, entering a position with a better pawn
structure on the kingside and active king. That is
why, White should play energetically The
idea of this move is to deflect the Black knight in
order to play  Nevertheless, this approach
seems to be insufficient. After 

The position is draw since Black's c5–pawn In this position, White is the one who should try
gives him enough counterplay. White's doubled
to keep the balance. Black's active king and the
pawns on the h-file are not dangerous at all.)
This active move is c4–pawn could be very dangerous. On the other
again White's best try. (The idea which was used hand, White's queenside pawns are completely
by Gelfand in the game is already not working. neutralized by the knight.) 
For example, after preparing  After this move, Black's counterplay
, Black is just in time to proceed with is more than sufficient for equality. For example,
It turns out that White
I provide you with the following sequence:
chooses between two positions which are
 This is the
extremely dangerous from a practical point of
view. (After the concrete , Black right reaction. In order to activate his king, Black
could go for the following forced sequence: is giving the a7–pawn.




29
After  Since Black is doomed to passivity, we shouldn't
 hurry. Before proceeding with our general plan,
 it is often useful to improve our position to a
maximum. By playing h2–h4, White gains space
on the kingside and fixes the opponent's h5–
pawn. As we have already mentioned, once the
black king is tied to the queenside, White should
open a second front on the kingside. In the
current structure, this idea could be realized by
means of the advance g3–g4. The obvious idea of
this move is to follow with gxh5 creating a
weakness on h5. If Black meets the move g3–g4
by means of hxg4, then White reacts with fxg4
followed by h4–h5, creating a distant passed
pawn on the kingside. In both cases, the move
h2–h4 is useful. Note that the advance g3–g4 is
The draw is obvious. very effective when both kings are on the
 queenside (for example, on b3 and b7).

 Despite
the fact, that this move doesn't spoil the
advantage, I think that from a technical point of
view, this is not the optimal continuation. Before
going for this advance, White could have further
improved his position. For example, moves like
 or  are always useful.




Gelfand is following his plan. Despite the fact

that this move is quite normal, I think that White
has even better continuation.


After this move, Black's position is completely

lost since White could create a weakness on the
kingside.

30
More tenacious was !
Black's idea is to prevent White from creating a
distant passed pawn by playing h2–h4. This
move would have never been possible, if White
had played h2–h4 earlier. Even though White
should still be able to win, he should play in an
extremely precise way. First of all, it is necessary
to force Black's pieces to occupy passive
positions. (The move  allows 
White is ready to sacrifice his central e4–pawn
in order to create a distant passed pawn.
 (The idea to keep the knight
on f6, by playing  doesn't help either.
White could play  White is preparing the
move  with the obvious idea to grab the
important d6–pawn. 
(The passive  allows White to make use
of his space advantage to a maximal extent.
 In such endings, it is always
important to force opponent’s pieces into
passive positions.  White
continues to apply the same strategy.
Furthermore, with his last move, he is fixing the
f7–pawn.  (The attempt to
create a fortress by means of  simply doesn't
work since after  White
focuses on the other weakness in Black's camp -
the f7–pawn. At this point, he is planning to the
transfer the knight to h6 via the g4–square.
 With the
obvious idea to play  followed by 
or  White is winning since Black couldn't
protect his weaknesses.) 
With the idea to transfer the king to a5 followed
by b5–b6. Black is helpless.) 

 And White's
connected passed pawns should decide the
outcome of the game.) White's main idea
is to tie Black's knight to his passed pawn. In
such kind of positions the quantity of the pawns
is not important. We should care only about the
quality! 
 Final trick. White is
planning to deflect the opponent's king by
playing 
White wins.)
31

The first stage of White's plan is over. Black's
pieces are tied to the defence of the weaknesses
on "f6" and "d6". Now it is time to gain space on
the queenside by means of a4–a5. Later on,
white king will go to c4, while the knight will be
transferred to the f5–square in order to keep an
eye on the d6–pawn. This construction being
achieved, White could create a distant passed
pawn by means of b5–b6+. In this situation, the
move axb6, will be answered by a7–a6 followed
by . It is not difficult to understand that the
a6–pawn decides the outcome of the game.
 This is the most stubborn defence.
Black is trying to prevent his opponent from
playing a4–a5. At the same time, Black is
planning to play a7–a5 himself, thus creating a
fortress. (In case of the passive  White
could apply the plan which was discussed above.

 White is
winning.) 
Very strong move. White not only prepares the
move  with the idea to provoke , but at
the same time, he prevents Black from playing
a7–a5. Black is desperately seeking for
an activity. I think that this move is a necessity
since other options are losing. (In case of
White is winning in the way we are
familiar with 
idea 
doesn't work in view of 
and White is winning.) 
 Before taking the pawn it is necessary to
force Black king to a passive position.
This is the point of Black's
previous play. Now the black knight is active
while the e4–pawn is under attack. Still a lot of
precision is required from White.

In order to convert his advantage, White should
apply the following plan:1) deflect black king by
means of the sacrificial b7–b6 in order to take
the d6–pawn; 2) attack the f6–pawn with a
knight in order to force black knight to a passive
position; 3) create zugzwang and penetrate
Black's camp with the king 
a) The attempt to keep the knight on e4 by
playing waiting moves with the king doesn't
help, either. For example 
Taking the c7–square from
the king. Now White is winning the d6 pawn
and the game. 

b) Also, insufficient is the idea to attack White's
kingside pawns by playing In such kind
of endings, the number of the pawns is not that
32
important. Usually, we are winning when our
pawns are advanced further. That is why White
is easily winning after taking the d6–pawn.

With an easy
win.;


This is the point! Now the black knight is tied to
the f6–pawn. Now the space advantage allows
white king to invade Black's camp.
 Zugzwang!
Black king should go back. 
 This is the last
precise move. Now Black is forced to allow the
white king to go to f7.

White is winning. After analysing this endgame,
I have managed to draw the following
conclusions concerning the knight endings:
1) You should always try to overtake the initiative
by activating your pieces. In order to achieve that,
you should be ready to sacrifice material
2) The space advantage is a very important factor
in the knight endgames.
3) Always try to create a distant passed pawn
4) Try to advance your pawns as further as
possible

Fixing the f7–pawn. The weakness could be
easily attacked by means of the manoeuvre
. Now the game is over. The rest of
the game is a matter of a simple technique. That
is why I leave the remaining moves without
comments.









1–0
Closed Centre - Part 1 - Test 1
White to move.
Despite the fact that White enjoys a considerable
space advantage, Black's position seems to be
fairly solid. How could White break through?
33
 Test 2
White to move
By playing a2–a3,  and b2–b4, White started
active actions on the queenside, but it looks like
Black managed to obtain a solid position. How
could White develop his queenside play?
Test 3
White to move
In response to , Black played
keeping the b-file closed. Later on, Black
intends to block the d5–pawn by means of .
What should White do in this position?
Test 4
White to move
It seems that the inclusion of the moves a7–a6
and a2–a4 is in Black's favour since White
couldn't execute his main idea based on a2–a3
followed by b2–b4. Nevertheless, White has
another thematic idea. Could you find it?
Test 5
White to move.
The legendary World Champion Mikhail
Botvinnik used to say that there is no difference
between the knight endgames and the pawn
endgames. In the pawn endgames, there are
some key factors like space, distant passed
pawn, further advanced pawns and zugzwang.
Taking into consideration all these factors, how
are you going to proceed?
34
 Attacking Manual for Black –
Mar Del Plata Structure
GM Petar G. Arnaudov
Dear Readers of Modern Chess,
In this article, I will examine the tactical and
strategical ideas for both colors in the most
popular system in King's Indian Defense - Mar
del Plata. This system became popular around
60 years ago, in the early 50s, mainly because of
the efforts of Mark Taimanov for White and the
Serbian (Yugoslavian) legendary player
Svetlozar Gligoric for Black. Its popularity
increased after one particular game (see below)
which has become a model game showing how
to play the KID with Black and serving as a
learning resource for many generations of
strong players. There are hundreds of games,
books and videos giving long forced lines here,
but my idea is not to provide you with an
opening repertoire – instead, I would like to
teach you how to handle the arising positions. In
these positions, computer evaluations are
irrelevant, since the computer always gives a big
advantage for White even after the first ten
moves, mainly because of the space advantage.
This is not an objective evaluation and a number
of players have lost their games as a result of
their reliance on engines. What really matters
here is the understanding. Usually, the outcome
is favorable for the side which manages to
execute his plan first. I enthusiastically
recommend that you learn how to play this line
for both sides, as it is one of those fundamental,
must-know structures in chess.
Taimanov,Mark E - Najdorf,Miguel
Zuerich ct Zuerich (4), 1953

This is the so-called Classical system which is
the most popular weapon against KID.

Let me pause here and briefly explain the plans
for both sides. White has space advantage and
his main plan is to open a file on the queenside
and invade the opponent's camp. Black's plan is
to organize an attack on the kingside by means
f7–f5–f4 followed by the advance of "g" and "h".
Later on, he could regroup his pieces and attack
White's king by opening the g-file or by pushing
g4–g3. Black does not have much space and
should play precisely, in order not to find
himself doomed to passivity. He should know
exactly how to arrange his pieces in the best
way. White now has a choice on how to arrange
his pieces: to stay with the Knight on f3 - square
(systems with or ) and to meet
eventual f7–f5 by means  or to play –,
–maneuvers with an idea to meet f7–f5 by
playing f2–f3. In the first part of this article, we
will see a classical approach of handling this
position: White plays  followed by  and
35
. This set-up seems very natural. White puts all
his pawns on the light squares and uses his
dark-squared bishop to cover the dark squares.
In this setup, the game becomes pretty sharp
because Black's hope is to organize a successful
attack against White's king and sometimes
sacrifices a lot of material, giving White a free
hand on the queenside.
There is a discussion where to put the
knight - on e8 or on d7. The game move was
always much more popular and flexible because
being on d7, the knight covers c5 square and
gives Black the chance to play  - h6 followed
by  - .
The move is also possible, but this
is a matter of discussion in the next games.

Remember that this move is good only after f2–
f3 If the pawn is on f2, White can answer it with
, followed by an exchange of the light-
squared bishops. Without them, Black's attack is
not so dangerous anymore and White's position
becomes almost strategically winning. This
position was always a topic of discussion for
players at all levels, from World Champions to
club players. My opinion is that it is too risky to
play like this with White - even If your
strategical ideas are realized, one small mistake
can lead to a disaster. On the other hand, Black's
play is much easier and straightforward. It is
always more pleasant to attack the opponent's
King than his queenside.
 The bishop seems to be perfectly placed
here. The drawback is that Black won a tempo
with his previous move and is now ready to
start an attack.

I should mention that instead of this move, Gary
Kasparov advocates . The idea is to
prevent the opponent from closing the kingside
by –. Still, most of the King's Indian
specialists prefer the move in the text, because it
is more flexible and allow the plan – which
we will see in the game Korchnoi - Cheparinov.
 After years of investigation, theory has
come to the conclusion that this move is not
very accurate.
 this move is Victor Korchnoi's patent and
he has a lot of spectacular wins with it. The idea
is to win space on a queenside and to give White
an option to develop the rook via a3, from where
it can defend the kingside;  followed by
pawn sacrifice  is invented by Croatian GM
Zdenko Kozul and has since become a main line.
 Black is preparing g5–g4!
 This is another setup for Black which we
should discuss in later games.
36


This is the way to regroup your pieces! Every
KID - player should know this plan. Rook is
coming on g7 to support the g5–g4 - break and
to cover the very important c7 - square. The
bishop is coming to f8 to protect the d6 - pawn.
Logical, but slow move which gives Black
a chance to continue with the attack.
 Another slow move
the idea of which is to prepare doubling the
rooks on the c - file. Now the queen no longer
covers the g4–square and Black is the first to
start concrete actions.

Black should play g4 at the first possible
moment.
White's pieces look "ideally placed". If
Black takes on f3 then the white king will have
the nice h1–square. Later on, the possible
invasion on the queenside could decide the
game. Black had something else in mind.


Very nice positional sacrifice. Now Black opens
files and diagonals for his pieces. White's king
will be much weaker and the Black's Knight has
the wonderful f4–square. Also, the diagonal h6–
c1 would be a very nice place for dark-squared
bishop. This pawn sacrifice is the key motif and
the most common attacking idea for Black.
this should be played.
If followed by  decides the game
quickly in Black's favor
The bishop is coming either
on g5 or on h4
With an idea to meet by .
One of the main advantages of the KID
defense is that engines always evaluate the
position in White's favor. For example, after this
move, the computer gives almost +1. I should
disagree with this evaluation. A piece of advice:
Always continue analyzing a little bit deeper.
Here for example, after followed by ,
the engines start liking Black's position more
and more after each move.
One more piece is joining
the attack.
37
Her majesty is also  White
coming. sacrifices his queen, but still can't stop the mate
coming.
The last of Black's pieces come into
play. 

According to Bronstein, this move is the
last mistake in the game and White's position is
lost after it.

 Is the best move here, but not changing

much theevaluation of the position.
With an exchange up and
attack.




After  White has no defense from the

mate. This win impressed a lot the chess world
at that time. One of the best KID players for
White was smashed without making any visible
mistake. I suggest to every KID player to
remember every single move of this game,
because it is the main reason that this opening is
so popular today.
0–1

Kortschnoj,Viktor (2602) - Cheparinov,Ivan

Covers the c4–square.
(2687)
Amsterdam NH Hotels 3rd Amsterdam (3),
 White finally invades
22.08.2008
the queenside, but there is nothing there.
In this game, we will see the plan with  - ,
 Black is preparing  with multiple –
threats.


  this ends the
 The first 12 moves are the
game immediately 
same as in the previous game. In this game, the
 Nice finish.
legendary Victor Kortschnoj decides to avoid his
 When you attack with 7 pieces, always
favorite  and to play the modern line .
the combination should exist.
His opponent is the strong Bulgarian GM Ivan
Cheparinov who manages to crush his much
 With the
more experienced opponent in style.
deadly threat of 

38
 doesn't care about his queenside and completely

abandons it.
The idea to protect the a7–pawn with  is a
typical mistake. Now, in many variations, the
 is hanging.

 The light-squared bishop is Black's

most important attacking piece and we should
avoid exchanging it. The rule says that if White
manages to exchange it, then the attack on the
kingside will be less effective and in most of the
cases, White is better.

The idea that we mentioned before. Black  White exchanges the defender of the c7
doesn't hide his intention to go for a direct pawn, but now he has problems to cover the
attack. The idea is pretty simple. –– with extremely important g4–square.
– and it is not easy for White to defend the
h2–pawn  It is impossible to protect c7
 An important nuance is that  is
not very accurate here, because allows c4–c5! 
 White's attack seems to be faster.; Black 
should start with 
 White is sacrificing material, in order to
win some tempos and open the c-file.
 This is necessary.

Unfortunately,  is bad in view of

 which is the point of White's idea.




Black leaves the queenside, but organizes a

strong attack on the other side of the board.

is also possible This is a very

instructive moment. Black should play
not immediately.  Looks
tempting, but White has a wonderful defense.

39

1–0 (30) Zhao,X (2506)-Ju,W (2558) Huaian
2016
 White wants to bring his
major pieces into the defence via the second
rank. Nevertheless, this move weakens the king
even more.
was better with the idea
to meet 
 And White manages to survive,
will be well met by .
Nice idea! Black wants to execute
another typical manoeuvre -  -  - 
The drawback of this move is
that e4 pawn is desperately weak.
Black increases the
pressure - g3 and e4 - pawns are very weak.
 It is not difficult to spot that White's
pieces on the queenside are completely useless.
Trying to make some threats, but
Black has a simple solution.
And White resigns due to
the following variation.


with an easily winning position. It was
interesting to see how so experienced a player
as Viktor Korthcnoi was outplayed so easily.
0–1
So,Wesley (2779) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2814)
Sinquefield Cup 3rd Saint Louis (6), 28.08.2015
In this game, we will see the interesting idea of
keeping the bishop on g7 and playing 
instead. This gives Black a chance for another
regrouping starting with .


Again, we have reached our
main position. This time, I want to show you one
recent game between two American superstars.
Just a couple of days ago, Wesley So won
Sinquefield 2016, in contrast to last year when
the tournament did not leave him with many
good memories. One of his losses was this one.
40
 
 

As we mentioned before, this is the best square

for the Knight. From this position, the knight not
only supports the c4–c5 advance, but at the
same time could participate either in the
defence (by playing ) or in the attack (by
means of ).
 Starting the famous
Naidorf's maneuver.
 is the most common move in
this position, but Black has something else in
mind.
Both players blitzed the moves until now, but it
seems to me that Black evaluates the position
much better. Black is ready for an active play on
the kingside, while White can't do anything on
the queenside.
 Here we can see the idea of
 instead of .
  makes more sense
here, but Black's position is still easy to play.

 the threat is h3

 After this move Black plays very

Engines like this move a lot,
energetically, sacrificing a lot of material.
but I can't see the point. It looks like this is just a
waste of time, which is proven later in the game.



 Black stops the idea –

followed by the exchange of Black's light-
squared bishop. Now c6–square is available, but
the problem for White is that only one knight
can go there.

41
Opens new files and diagonals for his pieces.
The move  just leads to the exchange
of some pieces. 
 White is at least OK here.

Another spectacular move.
 this loses on the spot, but it is hard to
come up with something better for White.
 ruins to 
 With a winning position for Black.
 Nice move
which introduces the deadly threat of 
 White's position
collapsed.


So can resign even here because there is a forced
mate.
 Nice move, now  is
the threat.
 One final
sacrifice.

Spectacular win for Black, which shows us how
careful we should be when we analyze this
position with engines. My computer likes a lot
White's position after move 20, but it failed to
offer improvement for White after that.
0–1
Ziegler,Ari (2402) - Hillarp Persson,Tiger
(2482)
Excelsior Cup Goteborg (9), 15.01.1999
In this game we will see the other very
interesting plan for Black:  -  - 


I would like to show you one more plan for
Black. Even If it is not so popular, it is always
useful to have in your arsenal of weapons.
42
 Why does White wants to lose so many

tempos?!
make sense here.


 Black accepts the challenge. Now
the queenside is missing and the game will be
decided on the other side of the board.

 White doesn't want to

allow  but the immediate g4 is also strong.
 with the same ideas as in the game

 Finally the attack begins, Black's

Beginning of the plan with the idea to play ,
followed by  and later close the position.
White is in a hurry to open the queenside
which is the right plan in this position.
plan is simple: to activate his pieces and open
the kingside by taking on f3 or playing g4–g3
 White equalizes the material, but can't
make any threats in the center or on the
queenside. At this point, Black regroups his
pieces for a dangerous attack.

  the rook is much more useful on the g-

 White file
manages to open the queenside before Black's
attack becomes serious. 1–0 (59) Swayams,M 
(2444)-Hillarp Persson,T (2546) Douglas 2015

 White is stopping the exchange

of the dark-squared bishops, but the queen is
not standing very well on the d2–square.

Black closed the kingside and switched to

the classical plan with pushing g and h pawns.

If  then deserves

consideration

Strange maneuver. If White

wants to provoke a7–a6, then it makes sense to
play with the idea to provoke further
weaknesses such as b7–b5.
The Knight is protecting d6 and can come to g5.
One more tempo should be lost
 We can see how hopeless is White's
here. It is funny that the engines give almost +1
position. He can't make a single threat
for White here. In my opinion, the game is pretty
complex and Black has his chances.
 After:  Black could follow
with   And
Obviously with the idea to meet
White's position collapsed
by means of b5

43
 White's hopes are
based on this resource. Now the king can come
to safety on f1 and the bishop will return to g1.
 Black is the first to improve all his
pieces.
The most

straightforward move. White's position will
collapse quickly after h4–h3


White resigns
0–1
Piket,Jeroen (2540) - Kasparov,Garry (2775)
Interpolis Tilburg (8), 24.09.1989
This is a model game for Black. He played in an
extremely aggressive style without losing a
single tempo.




This move has a dubious reputation now, but
back in the day, it has been tested by some very
strong players including J.Picket. The idea is
obvious - White is preparing c4–c5.
 The idea c4–c5 is played, but
somehow, the move b2–b4 looks like a loss of a
tempo. As we already know, the time is the most
significant factor in this structure.
 White is playing the
most natural moves. His idea is to go for ,
after taking the control over the c-file.
! This is the right plan. Again, I insist on
the fact that any moves on the queenside like
 just provoke weaknesses and lose time for
the attack. Also, h5 is possible, but Kasparov
wants to leave this square free for his f6–knight.
 
 White makes use of the
fact that the c7–square is available now, but
leaves e4 pawn without protection.
44
 interesting to observe how much energy has in
 every move of Kasparov's.



 The game becomes very concrete. White

is ready to meet  by means of  when
Black would be in trouble. That's why it is time
for our typical attacking move. Nice finish. Black wins a piece so White resigns.
Fabulous game for Black and extremely
 Of course, critical was: instructive. This is how Black should handle the
 there is no way back, position - energetic play without losing any time
the rook on a8 is not important at all.  and without hesitation to sacrifice material.
again Black simply activates his pieces 0–1
  This is the
final blow - Black is a rook down, but his attack Epishin,Vladimir (2570) - Cvitan,Ognjen
is unstoppable, (2570)
Switzerland Switzerland, 1997
 clearing the path for the queen.
In this game, we will see one of the most
 very strong move beautiful combinations in this structure.
again. White can't take the knight. 

 


With the idea to activate the queen via a7. In this game we will discuss a different system -
Black's position is already winning, but it is  This system is connected with . The

45
idea is that after the advance c4–c5, the knight 

will have the wonderful c4–square. Black has a
number of choices:
 This move is Nakamura's favorite. The
game is very sharp. As in previous games. Black
almost abandoned the queenside and pushed all
his efforts on the Kingside.
 The most popular is – which leads to
a more positional game. Black is trying to slow
down White's play on the queenside and little by
little to prepare his counterplay with f7–f5.

 1/2 (28) Beliavsky,A (2623) -Bacrot,E
(2711) Jerusalem 2015; 
 This move is a horrible mistake, but you should
 1/2 (31) Gurevich,M (2688) -Hebden,M agree that the following combination is very
(2560) Clichy 2001)  beautiful and it is easy to be missed over the
 1–0 (45) Harikrishna, P (2725)-Socko,B board.
(2614) Doha 2014
 This looks very dangerous, but
  As we already know, White has a very powerful defensive resource.
this move is a huge positional blunder. It allows ( is just bad here 
an exchange of the light-squared bishops with And the King is absolutely safe on h1) 
an almost winning position for White. The only move, but it is enough for an
 advantage.  Black has no attack
 1–0 (32) and White's pieces are much better placed.
Marin,M (2583)-Fernandez Rubio,R (2019)
Benasque 2009  Black gives a forced mate in 6 moves.

 Again, we

have this well-known maneuver. Black is ready
to defend d6–pawn by means of .
  This is another continuation
which also deserved consideration.

 White is planning to play b5–b6

followed by 
 There is no time for defence.
Black should hurry with the attack.
 Clever move played with the idea to meet
an eventual  with 
 ? is well met by 
And Black wins an important tempo  h4 The point of the combination.
with an idea h4–h3 
With a winning position. + this knight which seemed very
passive on the h7–square gives mate at the end.
  was probably
better with the idea 

46
 3. How should Black continue here?


Absolutely brilliant finish. This game shows us

that even in the positions where White is clearly
better, every single mistake could be fatal.
4. What is Black's best move here?
0–1
TEST
1. How should Black continue the attack?

5. How should Black regroup his pieces?

Black to move.
2. How could Black seize the initiative here?

47
 Methods of Fighting for an Open File Capablanca,Jose Raul - Alekhine,Alexander
GM Vladimir Georgiev World Championship 13th Buenos Aires (5),
27.09.1927

Dear Readers of Modern Chess,

In the following article, I will explain one of the
main strategical weapons that each chess player
 How to fight for the open file: 1.
should have in his "strategical repertoire": How
You should double or triple on the file and do
to fight for an open file and how to exploit it
not allow massive exchanges. 2. When you take
after you win it. A full overview of the ways of
the control over the open file, the best place for
fighting for an open file and what to do next will
the rook is 7th rank. From there, White's rook
be offered in the examples. We will start with
will be very active and Black should misplace his
one classical game between the 3rd and the 4rd
rook to passive position to protect his pawns. 3.
World Champions Capablanca and Alekhine.
Start pushing pawns in order to win more space.
Let's evaluate the position: On the board, we
4. Activate the king. 5. Try to make new
have only major pieces with an equal material,
weaknesses in Black's position. 6. Collect
both kings are completely safe for the moment.
material. 7.Convert the material advantage.
Black has 3 against 2 pawns on the queenside
and White has 4 against 3 on the kingside. So the
 Black wants to fight for the open file by
plan for Black is to push his pawns on the
means of 
queenside and for White to push his kingside
majority. Usually, these positions are slightly  with this move, White wins a tempo and
better for the side which has 3 against 2 because now he has time to get the full control over the
it is easier to create passed pawns and also d-file.
because you shouldn't push the pawns which
are in front of your king. In this particular  The rooks are already doubled.
position, it is very important to know which is
the side to move. If it is Black to move, he will  Black realizes that there is nothing
continue with Rfd8 with eventual massive more important than the d-file.
exchanges on the d-file and probable draw, but if
it is White to move, he can take control on the  White makes use of the
only open file, which is the most important weakness of the 8th rank and wins with a typical
factor in the position. Remember that in the trick
endgames, the side which controls the open file
has a significant advantage.

48
 just activate his king and start pushing his f and
 e-pawns.

 White makes the wrong

decision here. He ignores the main rule in this
type of positions. The right idea is to activate the
king and start pushing pawns on the kingside.




The back rank is not weak anymore and White

threatens to win the b7–pawn.

 In order to save his

queenside pawns, Black should allow the
opponent to take the control over the d-file.;
 With
a winning endgame.
 with e4 and f4 to follow. 
 In the variation 

 Now Black is safe.
Now we can see why h3 was a good move.
 White wins a pawn
 The battle for the open file is over. Now,
White should try to invade the opponent's camp.  with a draw


 
 
White wins one pawn. 

 Of course! As the reader already knows,

the 7th rank is the best place for our rook.

 is just bad 

 Good decision. It is good for White to

exchange queens and to enter a rook endgame
with an active rook against a passive one.

 White wins a pawn.;

 and c6–pawn will be lost.

 Then White can

49
The rest is just irrelevant to our topic. White is
not better anymore.



1/2
Kramnik,Vladimir (2797) - Aronian,Levon
(2816)
Olympiad 1:01.54–0:00.02 (6), 03.09.2012
 In Exchange Slav,
very often the decisive factor for the outcome of
the game is the control of the open file.
 This move has
a bad reputation. The bishop is badly placed
here.
 The point of Black's idea is that he can
exchange the light-squared bishops.

Let's take a closer look at this position. It
appears absolutely symmetrical with one open
c-file. So the idea of both sides is to occupy this
open file. And while White can simply double on
the c-file, for Black this is not so easy because
the c7–square is not available. This fact gives
White an advantage. Vladimir Kramnik manages
to convert this small plus to a full point.
 Typical move. White is going to
occupy the weakened dark squares.
 Maybe, at first
sight, the position seems equal, but White
definitely has a big advantage here. He controls
the open file while Black's bishop is just
misplaced on g7.


Prophylactic against 
 Trying to cover the e5 square.
If  then  With
pressure on the c-file.  Black is in
trouble.
 First part of the plan is over. White is
trying to bring more pieces into the fight for the
open file. The f3–knight is doing nothing at the
moment and it is a good idea to transfer it on the
queenside.
 White stands
better here. Black does finally threaten to play
. This would not fully equalize the
position, but White's advantage would then be
reduced. White must now find a tactical move,
exploiting the fact that his rooks are already
doubled on the c-file.
 Nice idea and not a very obvious one.
50

White sacrifices a piece, but completely ties up
Black's pieces and gains connected passed
pawns. His advantage is practically decisive.
 Black is completely
paralyzed and White can simply push his pawns
on the queenside.
Do not allow any exchanges.
A great counter-resource,
but it is not sufficient because White's b-pawn is
too far advanced.
this was Black's idea,
but White has a nice refutation

There is no need to take back the piece because
b-pawn is just unstoppable.
Perfectly
played game by White.
1–0
Melkumyan,H (2650) - Vignesh,N R (2423)
23rd Abu Dhabi Masters Abu Dhabi UAE (4.15),
23.08.2016
Let's have a look at this position. The position is
closed. White has an idea to push c5, but the d5–
pawn is hanging. White can try to play 
followed by e4, but this can be met by f4 with a
typical pawn sacrifice and attack for Black. So
the only logical plan is to try to fight for the open
file which is under Black's control for the
moment.
Black is ready to exchange rooks on
the a - file.
51
 unstoppable. If Black's rook leaves the 8th rank,
 White will win a piece by 



Very strong idea. White has closed the a-file

with the help of his minor piece and will double
the rooks behind it. This idea is well-known
from Spassky and Karpov's games when they Perfectly played game by Melkumian, who
played the move  with the similar idea. introduces the very interesting idea to close the
Melkumian's version is even stronger because open file with a knight and then to double the
now White takes under control the important rooks behind it.
c6–square.
1–0
 White is executing his main plan.
Study Position
 The counterplay with h5–h4 is
slow.

 White exchanges queens and prepares



 strange move, probably

played with the idea of 

 this move leads

only to troubles for Black

 better was the passive defence

 Black is paralyzed and
White can improve his position and try to open
diagonals for his bishops.
We have no open files yet. The position looks
  Black can't take equal, but White has a clear plan to open the a-
the pawn because of:  followed file and to get the control over it.
by 
 very important way of gaining
 The threat of  is control over the file. First, double the rooks and

52
then open the file! Remember it.
 and Black
survives.
 If  then White achieves a winning
endgame by playing 
Followed by b5


White already has a big advantage.
 First step is over. White is
controlling the a-file. Which is the next step?
Enter the enemy's camp and destroy it!

 If  then  And Black holds.
 with the idea
to take the control over the squares "a1" and
"a2".
is premature because of 




waiting.
 is bad, because with this move White
loses control over the a-file! 
now, Black is controlling the only open file!; If
 then good is 
 Another option is 
but then  and now Black can't double the
rooks on the a-file. We can see now how useful
is the king on b2.
 with a
winning endgame.; If  then White wins a
pawn  (the
pawn endgame after:  is lost
 Black
should resign)  The king comes into play.
The rest is a simple endgame technique.



53
Black will lose a second pawn. White's position  A typical prophylactic move.
is absolutely winning.
Stronger was 
1–0

Botvinnik,Mikhail - Chekhover,Vitaly
URS-ch sf Leningrad, 1938

Now  leads to the blockade of

White`s passed pawn when Black is out of
The theme of this game is how to create and
danger.
seize the open file. The position looks very safe
for Black, due to his better pawn structure.
 Black tries to prevent , but missed
White`s maneuver.
 The 5th world champion finds a way
how to fight for the advantage and how to make
Was correct 
use of his doubled pawns. The idea is to open d-

file and to double the rooks by using the d5
 With a win for White.)
square as an outpost.
 with sufficient counterplay
 And Black has enough
 This is the typical
counterplay to hold the position.
motif that you should remember. White is
doubling the rook by using the fact that the c4–
 This tricky move decides the game. In
pawn protects the d5–square. It is not good for
order to evaluate the position correctly, we can
Black to exchange on d5, it is impossible to
compare the activity of Black's knight and
prevent White's idea.
White's bishop.

 Wrong is  in view of 

 (If  then 
 And White collects a pawn.)
 this d6 pawn is extremely
dangerous and gives White an advantage.; better
was 

54
 
 

 Is just bad here.  It is time for the King to join the battle.



 White's pawns are unstoppable.

Very nice game played by


Botvinnik. We can learn from it how to fight for
the open file and how to exploit it when we
manage to take control of it.

1–0

Steinitz - Sellman
1885

An important tactical finesse.

 The bishop is

coming to d5 from where it will control the
entire board.
 More tenacious was 
 when White continues with


 As we already know, now the

What can we say about this position: White
plan is to push our f and e-pawns.
definitely has a slight advantage, but how to
convert it and what plan to choose? The first
 Black is trying to organize a
World champion found a very interesting
counterplay.

55
resource. Since all White's pieces except the
knight on c3 and the rook on f1 seem to be at
their perfect positions, he decides to improve
them.

 The Knight is aiming for the a5–square

which will give him a chance to take full control
over the open c-file.

 is very slow

 fails to equalize  White returns to c3

and now the b5–pawn is in danger.;  with
the idea – was much better. After 
White still keeps an advantage.
With the very unpleasant threat of .
 The bishop can't
 was better
protect c8 and c6 squares at the same time
 was the last chance. But after
anymore.
the correct  (after


  Black can still fight)

 Black's position is hopeless.

 White is winning.



Finally, White succeeds with his plan. The c-file

is under total control and the invasion  will
cause a lot of trouble.

White eliminates the defender of

the c7–square.
Complete domination of White's pieces. Black

resigns.

1–0

56
 TEST How should White continue?

White to move?

White to move?
White to move

How White can fight for the open file?

57
 Endgame Series - Part 9 Distant opposition 1
GM Davorin Kuljasevic

In this basic pawn endgame Black can hold a

draw only with a precise:
Hello, Dear Chess Friends!  We can see that both kings are on the
In the previous issue of Endgame series, we dark squares, 3 squares apart. Therefore, Black
explained fundamental endgame concepts: key holds distant opposition.
squares and short opposition. Today, we will
expand our understanding of these concepts by Of course, it would be naive to play  as
examining other types of opposition, namely: White gets the short opposition with  and
after  takes under control key
distant opposition, diagonal opposition, side
square f4.
opposition, and knight opposition. Once we
understand all the possible ways to hold the  Now black king approaches to hold
opposition, we will be ready to analyze the final the short opposition.
example, which I called "Opposition battle". In
He would be mistaken to try to keep the long
this position, kings are fighting for key squares opposition since White would win according to
using various types of opposition. One step on a another endgame principle: 
wrong square brings the inglorious end of the Black still holds the opposition, but the problem
battle for the defender. It is a subtle fight and, in is that White has a "saved pawn tempo": 
a way, an aesthetic dance of the kings as they are
exchanging attacks from a distance in a
harmonious fashion. But first, we need to make
sure we know our oppositions! We start with:
Distant opposition
Whereas the short opposition happens when
two kings are on squares of the same color one
square apart, distant opposition is the one
where they are three or even five squares
apart. It is apparently a more sophisticated
method, though essentially the same as the short
opposition. Let us see examples:

58
which turns the tables and forces the opposition
upon black king.
 We also know very well that White does
not accomplish anything by pushing the pawn in
front of his king: 
 etc.


and we have reached the well-known pawn
endgame where Black holds the opposition, so
White can't make progress.
Distant opposition 2
Black seems to be in a hopeless position as he
can not defend his last pawn and his king is
badly placed. However, he has a sort of a
"desperado" idea:
 It is important to give up this pawn so that
White does not have a saved pawn tempo as in
the variation below.
Following distant opposition rule blindly with
 does not end well for him because of
 is now answered with
 and White wins
thanks to a saved pawn tempo: 


Holding the distant opposition!
Of course, we know that  is wrong due to

 With the pawn on 4th rank White
does not have a valuable pawn tempo in reserve,
so after
 black king can safely switch to the short
opposition.

Finally, we will examine a slightly more complex
endgame which illustrates the concept of distant
opposition perfectly.
59
Distant opposition 3 When black king goes too far from his d-pawn,
White can create a passed pawn with
 Opposition
is the key! 
 and White
wins.) 
and White wins.

 Black king holds his ground with

diagonal opposition.

Keeping the short one with  is wrong as

it neglects another basic rule of pawn endgames
- the square rule. In fact, black king should never
step on the h-file in this endgame because White
uses the breakthrough:  to create a
White is a pawn up, but in order to win he will
passed pawn  which is too fast for black
need to maneuvre with his king closer to Black's
d-pawn. If he could do that, he would surely win king.
as Black's active defense (attacking the e4

pawn) is not sufficient, as we will see. This

means that Black needs to stick to the passive
defense and distant opposition is perfect for
that!

 Active  is a poor choice due to

 (Returning to  allows White to
achieve triangulation with  so we have the
same position as in the beginning, but with
Black to move. This means White will break
through after either  (or 

Switching to distant opposition is the only

correct way to hold the delicate balance.

Instead, short opposition  fails to 

when White holds the so-called "knight
opposition" (more on that later as well) on black
king. The point is that it can not keep on holding
short opposition from f5 square as it is
controlled by the e4–pawn. Black loses because
of the lack of maneuvering space and that is
exactly why he had to drop back to the
Diagonal opposition! We will see more examples
later. 
background - to g7.

60


Now White takes over the opposition.
 is another failed
try 
because White catches black king on the wrong
foot. Black should always bear in mind that
White can also try to penetrate from the
queenside!  Final
precision. Black king is kicked away from the
penetration square e5.  would be very
careless as after 
even Black wins!)  Here Black can
try to defend actively with  (or passively
with 

but ultimately both attempts fail.

Black catches the most distant opposition
possible. Again, this is better than the shorter
one on g6 as Black has more maneuvering space
in the background.
In case of  White would have a
dangerous resource  which prevents
Black from keeping the distant opposition from
e6. Black could still hold a draw with
 since now it is White who
can't hold the opposition with , but it is not
necessary for Black to go for such a defense
when he could simply keep the distant
opposition with 
 White also falls back to the background,
trying to catch black king wrong-footed.
White had an interesting attempt in  when
the only drawing move is  loses
to the well-known breakthrough
 and now White has a defended
passed pawn which makes all the difference.



 Of course, Black needs to stick to his
distant opposition policy.
Otherwise he loses. For example, after
 White is the one who catches the
distant opposition. 


61
 that it is horizontal opposition, rather than
vertical one (kings are aligned along a rank,
not a file). For that reason, some endgame books
omit it, but I think it should be mentioned and
classified in endgame theory. An excellent
practical example of side opposition is the
following game:

Mehaj,Driton (2204) - Swiercz,D (2656)

17th ch-EUR Indiv 2016 Gjakova KOS (1.28),
12.05.2016

Black is consistent with his defense method.

White will have no passage into his position
even on the queenside:


 Consistent and simple.

 draws as well, but there is

no need to complicate matters.


After a hard-fought game players reached this
position. It is obvious that Black's rook is placed
passively and it can not shield his king from
checks of active white rook. This gives White a
drawing chance, but, as we will see, he needs to
thread carefully.

The only serious winning attempt. Black

sacrifices his passed pawn, hoping to use a
better position of his king to win the f3–pawn.

does not amount to much after

 and black
rook
remains stuck on a1, while his king is still
without a shield.

and White finally has to admit that Black's drew as well, as we will see in
fortress is impenetrable. the main line commentary.

Side opposition In the game, White played

Side opposition is basically the same as the short and after 
or distant opposition, the only difference being heresigned. Black king marches toward b1,

62
after which comes  shield and Black on the h-file.
promotes the a-pawn.
 Tricky, but
Transposing into the pawn endgame
seems like a good idea given black king's 
superior position. 

The other attempt is but Black has his

weaknesses, too: 

and White should draw
altering taking on h5 without much trouble. For
instance:




 Can White defend this pawn

endgame? There is only one way:



keeps White’s fortress safe.

 of course, loses after



0–1

Side opposition is essential in the following

interesting endgame:

Side opposition 1

using the distant side-opposition.

"Natural" loses to when Black

takes the knight opposition against White king,
using the fact that  is impossible. White is
lost as the continuation shows:
Again,
knight opposition. or White
got rid of f3 weakness, but now e4 is without
protection.
etc.

This is the difference compared Black is down a full piece, but he can hold a
to  - White has enough maneuvering space draw with precise king maneuvering:

63
 Black keeps the contact with g4–pawn.  In principle it is better to hold the
White knight and pawn should not move, so this opposition while keeping contact with the g-
is basically a battle of kings. pawn.

Neither ; nor  However,  draws as well, Black just needs
would accomplish Black's goal as his king would to be careful in event of 
be cut away from g4–pawn.  and it's still a draw.

 This is the trickiest possible king move. 

We saw many times before how such innocent- 
looking moves can be deadly if the opponent
goes wrong.



For instance, here Black draws only with

 Diagonal opposition is the key!

Putting the king on a dark square loses:

 Side-opposition! 
 and here
White sacrifices his knight for the greater good:
 Similar thing
happens in the event of  Now
White is the one taking diagonal opposition...  Knight sacrifice to activate the king is the
and then transposing into last attempt to win the game. We saw in a
short opposition:  Black will lose the previous commentary that a similar position
pawn endgame precisely because of this move, with black pawn on g5 is winning for White. As
which is now, sadly, necessary. usual, the devil is in the detail.

and finally with pawn on g5 Black loses the Instead  also
pawn endgame.  leads White nowhere.

but now White does not have
(as with black pawn on g5), so in an attempt
to win black g-pawn, he also loses his own.

is a typical beginners' mistake:

 Black even wins thanks to
zugzwang. What an unexpected turn of events!

and naked kings can agree to a

peace treaty.

After analyzing different types of straight-

forward opposition, let us look at two other
 and the g5 pawn falls. types: diagonal and knight opposition.

64
Diagonal opposition
As its name suggests, diagonal opposition is a
type of opposition where the kings are on
squares of the same color, only one square apart
diagonally. To illustrate, we will begin with a
simple, yet practically important example:
Diagonal opposition 1
Being two pawns up in a pawn endgame,
especially with connected pawns, is usually a
piece of cake. However, this particular endgame
is not that trivial, that is, if you don't know about
diagonal opposition. The trick is that White can
defend with a stalemate motif. Black wins only
with:
Other attempts fail: 
or as in both cases white king
gets stalemated.
Black takes the diagonal opposition.
with checkmate soon
follow.
In a similar example, only with extra knight for
the defender, we see the same idea.
Diagonal opposition 2
In one of the previous issues we already dealt
with knight vs. 3 connected passed pawns type
of endgame. The conclusion was that defender
should not let all three pawns cross the middle
of the board. Here, obviously the pawns have
advanced very far, so the evaluation of the
position is clear - White is winning.
 The alternatives do not save Black,
either:
Knight sacrifice  does not
work as White takes the key square  An
attempt at stalemate  is also refuted:
   and
only now we take the knight
 and if  White uses
the same idea as in the previous example:
 Diagonal
opposition.  
 tempting White with a
to
"free" knight.
If  White wins as in the
previous example: 
 etc.
65
  and  The most precise.
 less precise as it allows Black to
defend with side opposition 
 but even here White can win with
 achieving knight opposition as
in the main line.) 
 with transposition into the
main line.



 Stalemate!

 and White

wins.

Knight opposition is much rarer than other

types of opposition in the practice, yet it is good
to know about it to have a complete picture. It
can be clearly seen how it works in the following
position:
This is the winning knight opposition. Black's
Knight opposition 1 own pawn on g6 restricts his king's movement,
so he is forced to abandon it:




Pawns of both sides are immobile, so it is a king

battle again. White to move wins with:

 Black has two choices: and White promotes the pawn in a few moves.

66
The next position is more complex because  Let us see what happens if
White has an important saved pawn tempo. White uses up his saved pawn tempo:  then
Black defends with knight opposition, which Black has to take the regular opposition, in this
seems to be counter-intuitive at first, but the case distant as short one is not available: 
point is that White can use this saved tempo in
case Black attempts to defend with short
opposition.

Knight opposition 2

(It would be a mistake to go for the knight

White's position looks close to winning. He has a
better king and an extra passed pawn. Yet, none
of his winning attempts are successful if Black
defends correctly. The key is in knight
opposition.
opposition  as in
the lines where White did not play a4–a5
because of the following beautiful winning plan
by White:  stops White’s by-
passing maneuver, but creates a gaping hole on
b6 which White can take advantage of if he
returns with his king 

 In case of  Black should also hold the

knight opposition with  (but not the short
one because White uses his saved pawn tempo
 and now forced Black
into the lost position that we will analyze after
 beginning the
winning by-passing maneuver that would end
on b8! (see the variation below)) None of
White’s tries work. For example, if he uses up
his saved pawn tempo   is fruitless
because it takes up maneuvering space for white
king:

 also leads White nowhere  Does this position look
 then Black can familiar? It should! We analyzed it thoroughly in
comfortably hold the short opposition with a previous Endgame series article when we
 and discussed triangulation. Here is a small recap of
then switch to side-opposition: White’s winning plan:  The
key background move. 

67
Triangulation completed, Black is in zugzwang. 
 
 Another saved pawn tempo,
giving White the opposition against black king.
All continuations lose for Black: 

a) 

b)  This "body-check"

is absolutely necessary for White to win the
game. (Half-hearted  would allow Black to
corner white king just in time:

 but here Black is one move too
short and White wins with
 Black defends with knight opposition until
 (Naturally, allowing White to gain the White pushes his a-pawn; then he switches to
key square after  is not going to short opposition.
save Black either: 
  would be a big mistake, as we saw
White continues to go around black king, setting previously: 
his eyes on the a7 pawn.  
 Black did the best he could denying
white king the access to his pawn, but here 
comes the dagger:  The last saved pawn  Same position with black pawn on a6 is
tempo decides the game! Black is forced to lost, but this one is drawn as White can not
either abandon his a-pawn or allow free passage penetrate via b6.; As we said before, once White
to the enemy's c-pawn. uses up his crucial pawn tempo  Black
 switches to regular opposition: 
 and White finally wins. A
beautiful and instructive endgame!)   We saw that a
Now the short one works too as White cannot similar position with white pawn on a6 is
use his saved pawn tempo a4–a5 anymore. winning, but with pawn on a5 it will prove to be
 He could try to achieve the same drawn as White misses that one tempo:
winning plan with  but
the difference is that Black can hold his ground Just not

with:   and here White lacks
that a5–a6 pawn tempo, so he can only try the
same thing with c-pawn 
 but it ultimately leads to a draw after


68

Now that we are well-versed in all types of
opposition, let us see how to use our knowledge
in a position where opposition is all that
matters. Once you become fluent in king battles,
there is nothing to be afraid of in the pawn
endgames.
Opposition battle 1
Normally the positions with a defended outside
passed pawn are won for the stronger side. This
one is an exception as White's passed pawn has
not crossed the center of the board, so black
king has just enough maneuvring space to keep
white king at bay with opposition and stay in the
square a4–a8–e8–e4 of the white pawn. Let us
see:
 Short opposition first.
 White is trying to stretch black
king out of a-pawn's square, but Black switches
to:
 diagonal opposition!
Short opposition  is losing because of
 and the pawn is suddenly too quick for
black king.
 Now switching to side-opposition!
as diagonal opposition  does not work
any more due to  and White wins by
closing in on black e4 pawn.
 White again tries to stretch
black king.


Distant opposition saves the day!
We already know that stepping on the f-file puts
black king out of the a-pawn's square, so short
opposition  loses to 
69
  a pawn sacrifice in order to distract black
king and win the b4 pawn. However, after the
forced:



Black king is still within the square, thus it can

keep the short opposition.

In fact, keeping the long one with Black achieves the familiar short-opposition and
 would be losing because of in the absence of saved pawn tempi the position
 and Black gets out of opposition as  is drawn. A beautiful example where Black
is not possible!  Now White takes defends with all types of opposition!
the opposition and it is all over. 
 And there you have it, dear Reader – we covered
all types of opposition in this article. It is an
 Interaction of kings essential endgame tool for a chess player, so we
leaves an aesthetic impression. hope you read it carefully. To test your
knowledge, please find exercises below.

 In the next issue of Endgame series, we will talk
about zugzwang and mutual zugzwang.

Test 1
Black to move and draw

and Black created an invisible wall that White

can not breach with his king. He can try one
more thing:

70
 Test 2 Test 4
White to move and win Black to move and draw

Test 3 Test 5
White to move and win Black to move and draw

71