50 Ways to Win at Chess Steve Giddins rHAI��IBIITI First published in the UK by Gambit Publications Ltd 2007 Copyright © Steve Giddins 2007 The right of Steve Giddins to be identifiedas the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. ISBN- 13: 978-1-904600-85-5 ISBN- I0: 1-904600-85-9 DISTRIBUTION: Worldwide (except USA): Central Books Ltd, 99 Wallis Rd, London E9 5LN, England. Tel +44 (0)20 8986 4854 Fax +44 (0)20 8533 5821. E-mail: [email protected] Gambit Publications Ltd, 99 Wallis Rd, London E9 5LN, England. E-mail: [email protected] Website (regularly updated): www.gambitbooks.com Edited by Graham Burgess Typeset by John Nunn Cover image by WolffMorrow Printed in Great Britain by The Cromwell Press, Trowbridge, Wilts. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Gambit Publications Ltd Managing Director: Murray Chandler GM Chess Director: Dr John Nunn GM Editorial Director: Graham Burgess FM GermanEditor: Petra Nunn WFM Webmaster: Dr Helen Milligan WFM Contents Symbols 5 Preface 6 1 Attack and Defence 7 1 : Hodgson - Hebden, London 1986 Trompowsky 8 2: Gheorghiu - W. Watson, Londo n 1980 King's Indian 11 3: Vasiukov - Van Wely, Moscow 2002 Sicilian, 4 'iVxd4 14 4: Adams - Topalov, Wijk aan Zee 2006 Sicilian, Scheveningen 17 5: Wells - Emms, Southend 2000 English 20 6: Topalov - Kasparov, Amsterdam 1995 Sicilian, English Attack 23 7: Gelfand - Short, Brussels Ct. (8) 1991 QGD, Exchange 26 8: Lilienthal - V. Ragozin, Moscow 1935 Nimzo-Indian 31 2 Opening Play 35 9: Salov - M. Gurevich, Leningrad 1987 Nimzo-Indian 36 10: Aronian - I. Sokolov, Wijk aan Zee 2006 Slav 39 11: Ribli - Pomar, Buenos Aires 01. 1978 Reti 43 12: J. Littlewood - Horner, Manchester 1980 King's Indian Attack 45 3 Structures 48 13: I. Watson - Nunn, British Ch 1980 Modem Benoni 49 14: Penrose - Tal, Leipzig 01. 1960 Modem Benoni 52 15: G. Kuzmin - T. Georgadze, Odessa 1972 Benko 55 16: Browne - Alburt, USA Ch 1983 Benko 59 17: R. O'Kelly - Penrose, England 1978 Czech Benoni 62 18: Summerscale- Snape, Coulsdon 2002 King's Indian 64 19: Cheparinov - Stellwagen, Amsterdam 2005 King's Indian 67 20: Timman - Tal, Tallinn 1973 King's IndianlBenoni 70 21: Ehlvest - Novik, St Petersburg 1994 King's Indian 73 22: Pilnik - Geller, Interzonal, Gothenburg 1955 Sicilian, Boleslavsky 76 23: Sokolsky - N.P. Andreev, USSR corr. Ch 1960-3 Sokolsky 79 24: Stanec - Beliavsky, Graz 1996 Nirnzo-Indian 82 25: I. Sokolov - Khalifman, Pardubice 1994 Semi-Slav 84 26: Chernin- Van der Sterren, Amsterdam 1980 English 87 27: Andersson - Seirawan, London 1982 English 90 28: Nikolic - Paunovic, Yugoslav Ch 1983 Semi-Slav 94 4 Thematic Endings 97 29: Ribli - Karpov, Amsterdam 1980 Catalan 98 30: Uhlmann - Gligoric, Hastings 197011 King's Indian 101 4 50 WA YS TO WIN AT CHESS 31: D. Howell- Kramnik, London 2002 Ruy Lopez 104 32: Kosteniuk - P.H. Nielsen, Hastings 2002/3 Caro-Kann 108 33: Sveshnikov - Novikov, USSR Rapid Cup 1988 Sicilian, 2 c3 112 5 Other Aspects of Strategy 115 34: Fischer - Uhlmann, Buenos Aires 1960 French 116 35: Dorfman - Bronstein, USSR Ch1975 Old Indian 120 36: Mamedyarov - Brodsky, Russian Clubs Ch 2006 Queen's Pawn 123 37: T. Bennett- Keene, England1970 Modern 126 38: Kramnik - Vaganian, Horgen 1995 Queen's Indian 128 39: Lilienthal - Botvinnik, USSR Ch1940 Queen's Indian 131 40: P. Johansson - Giddins, Gausdal1995 Bogo-Indian 134 41: Petrosian - Gheorghiu, Moscow 1967 English Opening 137 42: Carlsen - Vescovi, Wijk aan Zee 2006 Sicilian, Taimanov 140 43: Stein - Spassky, USSR Ch1962 Ruy Lopez 143 6 Endgame Themes 146 44: Miles - Larsen, Tilburg 1978 Queen's Indian 147 45: L'Ami - Mamedyarov, World Junior Ch 2005 Ruy Lopez 150 46: Kramnik - Leko, Dortmund 2006 Nirnzo-Indian 155 47: Djurhuus- Sargissian, Turin 01. 2006 Ruy Lopez 158 48: Bronstein - Alexander, Hastings 1953/4 Dutch 161 7 Psychology in Action 166 49: M. Gurevich - Short, Interzonal, Manila 1990 French 167 50: Kasparov - Karpov, Seville World Ch (24) 1987 Reti 170 Index of Players 174 Index of Openings 175 Symbols + check ++ double check # checkmate !! brilliant move good move !? interesting move ?! dubious move ? bad move ?? blunder Ch championship corr. correspondence game 1-0 the game ends in a win for White liz-liz the game ends in a draw 0-1 the game ends in a win for Black (D) see next diagram Preface My book 50 Essential Chess Lessons (henceforth referred to as '50ECL') was published by Gambit Publications in January 2006. As the Preface to that book explains, it was modelled on Irving Chernev's old classic The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played, and aimed to present a more modem selection of highly instructive positional games, annotated primarily with words, rather than variations. I felt that such a book would appeal to the average club player, and prove a useful positional handbook. The overall reaction to 50ECL was very positive, and the present volume is effectivelya follow­ up. As with its predecessor volume, this book presents 50 highly instructive games, illustrating var­ ious aspects of positional play. Once again, the games are grouped in chapters dealing with specific subjects, which I hope will make it easier for readers who wish to study a specific aspect of the game to do so. The subjects covered are in some cases the same as those in 50ECL, such as attack and defence, pawn-structures, etc. However, in this volume, I have in most cases concentrated on different as­ pects of each of those subjects, so that the two books will complement each other, rather than cov­ ering the same ground. In the Pawn Structure chapter, for example, 50ECL gave three examples of the King's Indian Defence, each covering a different type of pawn-structure reached from that opening. The present volume includes another half-dozen examples, each of which shows a slightly differentstructure. I hope that the reader who goes in detail through all of the King's Indian games from the two books, should by the end have a good grasp of the basics of King's Indian pawn-structures. This book also deals with some subjects which were not covered in 50ECL, such as opening play, and the psychological issues involved in playing games where a specificre sult is important. Inevitably, there is only sufficient space to scratch the surface of such topics, but I hope that the ma­ terial presented will nonetheless prove useful and instructive. Finally, just as with 50ECL, I have again tried to avoid presenting too many very well known games, so I hope that the reader will findmany highly interesting and unfamiliar masterpieces in this book. Steve Giddins Rochester September 2007 Acknowledgements As always, thanks are due to Graham Burgess and the Gambit team, for their excellent production work. This book is dedicated to John B, for 20 years of beer, curry, music, and loyal friendship. 1 Attack and Defence Attacking the king is the most obvious and fundamental way to win a game of chess. In 50ECL, we looked at three examples of kingside attacks, one with the defending kingin the centre, one with same-side castling, and one with opposite-side castling. In the present volume, we look at six more successful kingsideatta cks. As emphasized in 50ECL, the essential element in any successful attack is to bring more fIre­ power to the relevant sector of the board, so as to overwhelm the defences. Frequently, this involves the attacker exploiting an advantage in development, as we see in Games I and 2 here. Having caught the defender napping as it were, it is vital to maintain the initiative, operating the whole time with new threats, so as to deprive the defender of chances to bring more pieces into the defence. Where the kings have castled on opposite sides, speed is also of the essence. The game typically develops into a race between the opposing attacks, so it is vital to prosecute one's own attack with maximum speed, although this does not mean totally ignoring essential defensive steps on the other flank. The ability to blend attack and defence in the correct measure is frequently what makes the difference between success and failure in such positions. The corollary to attack is defence. The latter tends to receive much less attention, chieflybe­ cause most players understandably prefer to attack than defend. Nonetheless, good defence is an essential part of being a strong player, and all of the great players have been finedef enders. In the two examples of successful defence presented here, we see Black survive positions which are ob­ jectively inferior, even demonstrably lost. In such cases, the defender must just concentrate on making his opponent's task as difficultas possible, in the hope that the pressure of findingthe best way to fInishthe game offwill eventually induce an error. 8 50 WA YS TO WIN AT CHESS Game 1 Julian Hodgson - Mark Hebden Lloyds Bank Masters, London 1986 Trompowsky Attack This is an illustration of the dangers involved in getting one's king trapped in the centre of the board. Having gained the bishop-pair early on, Black seeks to open the position, but neglects his development in the process.