The Inner Game of Chess
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THE INNER GAME OF CHESS HOW TO CALCULATE AND WIN ANDREW SOLTIS . ··-- �····"·"-" . ......... f7k INNER-- !!/-- GAME CHESS B HOW TO CALCULATE AND WIN Andrew Soltis I}M DAVID MCKAY COMPANY.INC. Copyright © 1994 by Andrew Soltis All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by David McKay Company, Inc., a subsidiary of Random House, Inc., New York. Distributed by Random House, Inc., New York, and Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Library of CongressCataloging -in-Publication Data Soltis, Andy The inner game of chess :how to calculate and win / Andrew Soltis.-1st ed. p. em. Published simultaneously in Canada. ISBN 0-8129-2291-3 I. Chess-Psychologicalaspects. L Tttle. GV1448.S65 1994 794.1 '2--dc20 94-2784 Designed by Michael Mendelsohn ofMM Design 2000, Inc. Manufactured in the United States of America 98765432 First Edition Contents One. What Calculation Is-and Isn't 3 Two. Ideas 28 Three. Tr ees and Ho w to Build Them 67 Four. Force 95 Five. Counting Out 125 Six. Choice 186 Seven. Monkey Wrenches 207 Eight. Oversights 251 Nine. Rechecking 277 Ten. The Practical Calculator 319 Index 347 INNER GAME !!/ CHESS One WHAT CALCULATION IS-AND ISN'T [@] "We think in generalities, we live in details." -AlfredNorch Whitehead ike the rest of us, chess players think in generalities-the value of centralizing pieces, the way to exploit doubled pawnsL and bad bishops, the strength of a rook or knight. But they also live in the details of a game-the "if I move my bishop there, he plays knight takes pawn check" details. Entire libraries have been devoted to teaching the gener alities of chess. These books use specific examples, of course, to illustrate when files should be opened or passed pawns pushed or queens exchanged. But then, in a real game, when you have to apply several of those general principles to a very specific situation, you may find that they contradict each other. In a typical middlegame position there may be two or three solid principles recommending, say 23 Rc6, and a cou ple more endorsing 23 exf5 , and still others that seem to urge you to play 23 Nf6+. And the only way to figure out which is best is to wade into the details. Ask a master what he actually does during a game and, if truthful, he'll answer: "I calculate variations." He looks a few moves ahead and makes a judgment about the various possi bilities at his disposal. 3 4 THE INNER GAME OF CHESS He knows the old saying that "Chess is 99 percent tactics," but he also knows it's inaccurate. Chess is really 99 percent calculation-the inner game of chess. Piket-Sosonko, Dutch Championship 1993 White to play An amateur looking at this position will recognize the ba sic elements: White is attacking on the kingside, Black on the queenside. There are potentially weak White pawns at f3 and d5 and Black ones at e 7 and h 7. White would love to occupy the holes at c6 and e6. Black is looking forward to the endgame where his two bishops and outside passed pawn ( ...h5 !) will be trumps. There is a lot to notice here. But the master notices quite a bit more than the amateur does. The master recognizes an idea for White-the attack on h7-and begins calculating varia tions. He sees quickly that 1 Rhl and 2 Rdhl is one method, but it involves the sacrifice 1 . ..Qxd5 and a Black capture on d4, with unclear results. He also sees another method of ex ploiting that idea, and quickly calculates the basic winning line: 1 Rxh7!! WharCalculation l�nd lsn'r 5 The master knows this is what a winning combination "feels" like. 1 ••• Kxh7 2 Rhl+ Kg? Or 2 ... Kg8 3 Qxg6+ and 4 Bh6+ with mate to follow. 3 Rh6! The master will have also worked out the various side variations, such as 3 . Be8, 3 . .. Kf8, and 3 . Bf5 ! ?, coming to a favorable conclusion after a few further moves of analysis. The actual game saw White emerge with a winning advantage after 3 ...Rg8 4 Rxg6+ Kh7 5 Rh6+ Kg8 6 Ne6+! Bxe6 7 dxe6 and a decisive entrance of the queen. Calculation may well be the most important skill a chess player can master. Yet more misinformation is circulated about calculating than about any other aspect of chess. It is widely believed, for example, that you are borneit her with or without calculating ability, that it cannot be taught. Almost everyone agrees, furthermore, that computers cal culate much better than humans. And it is stated with the utmost authority that there is one and only one correct method of counting out variations, which all masters follow rigorously. None of these statements is true. Calculation is a skill that can be studied, learned, and sharpened A player can calculate much more efficiently than any machine. And masters select moves and visualize and evaluate their consequences using a wide variety of methods. We'll examine these claims in subsequent chapters, but right now let's consider a few more myths: 6 I THE INNER GAME OF CHESS THE MYTH OF THE LONG VARIATIONS A popular view among amateurs is that grandmasters are grand masters because they routinely see 10 moves ahead. There are, of course, examples of this by OMs, but they are relatively rare. Much more common is the kind of calculation that calls for seeing not more than two moves into the future. And most of the time these two-move variations lead only to minor improve ments in the position. But these improvements can add up. When Mikhail Botvinnik lost on first board during the 1955 Soviet-American match, the world champion explained the result simply: "It shows I need to perfect my play of two move variations." Let's see what Botvinnik meant: Reshevsky-Botvinnik, U.S.-U.S.S.R. Match Moscow 1955 1 d4 e6 2 c4d5 3 Nc3 c6 4 e3 Nf6 5 Nf3 Nbd7 6 Bd3 dxc4 7 Bxc4 b5 8 Bd3 a6 9 e4 c5 10 e5 cxd4 11 Nxb5 Nxe5 12 Nxe5 axb5 13 Qf3 Qa5+ 14 Ke2 Bd6 15 Qc6+ Ke7 16 Bd2 b4 17 Qxd6+!? Kxd6 18 Nc4+ Kd7 19 Nxa5 Rxa5 20 Rhcl Ba6 21 Bxa6 Rxa6 22 Rc4 Nd5 23 Rxd4 Rb8 24 Kd3 h5 25 ·Kc4 b3 26 a4 Rc6+ 2 7 Kd3 Rc2 28 Rb 1 What Calculation b---<Jnd lsn 'r / 7 .ft:fr:fr Because it was played in the depths of the Cold War, this game drew enormous attention and the news accounts made much of White's queen sacrifice at move 17. Actually, it was just a three-move combination designed to trade down to an equal-material endgame. What do we have now? White has a passed a-pawn, a some what better positioned king, and a minor piece, the bishop, with greater scope. But his pieces are temporarily tied to the defense of his second-rank pawns. Black's rooks and central ized knight should give him enough counterplay. Here, for ex ample, Black has good winning chances with 28 ... Rb6!, threatening 29 . ..Rd6 , 30 ... e5, and a powerful discovered check once the d4-rook moves. 28 ••• Rbc8? 8 I THE INNER GAME OF CHESS Botvinnik saw 28 ...Rb6 but talked himself out ofit, think ing that 29 Rc4, threatening 30 Rxc2, was a strong reply. What he overlooked was 29 ...Rc6 ! after which White's position is precarious (30 Rxc2 Rxc2 31 a5 Kc6 and White begins to run out of moves). So Black prepares ... Rbc8-c6-d6, stopping 29 Rc4 but costing himself a vital tempo. Black is not losing now, he's just not winning. 29 a5 R8c6 30 Ke2 Rd6 31 Ke 1 Now we see why the lost tempo is important. If White's pawn were still on a4, Black would be close to scoring with 31 ...Nb6 ! 3 2 Rxd6+ Kxd6 33 a5 Nd5 followed eventually by ...Kc5 and ...Nb4. 31 ... Nc7? A second miscalculation of a two-move variation. Botvin· nik said he was in a rush to exchange rooks, overlooking that 31 ... e5 32 Rd3 Nc7! reaches the same position as in the game but with an extra ...e6-e 5 thrown in (33 Rxb3 loses the d2-bishop). 32 Rxd6+ Kxd6 33 Bc3 WhatCalculation 15-<lnd lsn 't / 9 33 ••• f6? Strike three, and this one is fatal. Black wanted to play 33 ... Nd5 but dismissed it because his g-pawn was hanging. Actually, 33 ...Nd5 .34 Bxg7 f6 ! should enable Black to draw easily be cause White's bishop is locked out and moves like 35 ... Nf4 and 35 ... Nd3+ are threatened. Another two-mover missed. 34 Ral Na6 No time for 34 ...Nd5 now because of 35 a6. 35 Ra3! And this is the fourth two-move variation the world cham pion overlooked. He saw that 34 Ral threatens to ram the a pawn but didn't realize that 35 Ra3, winning the b-pawn, was also threatened. 10 I THE INNER GAME OF CHESS The game was over as soon as Black sealed his 41st move: 35 ••• Kc7 36 Rxb3 NcS 37 RbS Na4 38 Bd4 e5 39 Kdl! Rc4 40 Be3 Kc6 41 Rb8 Kc7 and Black re signed this adjourned position. Notice that the cost of each little slip by Black was minor: He didn't lose rooks or pawns but only an extra tempo (3 1 ... Nc 7?) or a chance for improved coordination of his pieces (28 ...Rbc8 ? and 33 ...f6 ?).