David Smerdon The Complete Chess Swindler How to Save Points from Lost Positions New In Chess 2020 Contents Explanation of symbols . 6 Acknowledgements . 7 Introduction . 9 Part I What is a swindle? . 17 Chapter 1 When to enter ‘Swindle Mode’ . 30 Part II The Psychology of Swindles . 35 Chapter 2 Impatience . 38 Chapter 3 Hubris . 42 Chapter 4 Fear . 45 Chapter 5 Kontrollzwang . 50 Chapter 6 The Swindler’s Mind . 57 Chapter 7 Grit . 58 Chapter 8 Optimism . 62 Chapter 9 Training Your Mind . 68 Part III The Swindler’s Toolbox . 79 Chapter 10 Trojan Horse . 80 Chapter 11 Decoy Trap . 86 Chapter 12 Berserk Attack . 92 Chapter 13 Window-Ledging . 100 Chapter 14 Play the Player . 108 Part IV Core Skills . 121 Chapter 15 Endgames . 123 Chapter 16 Fortresses . .144 Chapter 17 Stalemate . 160 Chapter 18 Perpetual Check . 168 Chapter 19 Creativity . 183 Chapter 20 Gamesmanship . 195 Part V Swindles in Practice . 207 Chapter 21 Master Swindles . 208 Chapter 22 Amateur Swindles . 254 Chapter 23 My Favourite Swindle . 273 5 The Complete Chess Swindler Part VI Exercises . 277 Test 1 . 278 Test 2 . 289 Test 3 . 299 Solutions to exercises . 309 Epilogue . 349 Index of names . 355 Bibliography . 361 Explanation of symbols The chessboard with its coordinates: 8 TsLdMlSt 7 jJjJjJjJ 6 ._._._._ 5 _._._._. 4 ._._._._ 䩲 White stands slightly better 3 _._._._. 䩱 Black stands slightly better 2 IiIiIiIi White stands better 1 rNbQkBnR Black stands better a b c d e f g h White has a decisive advantage Black has a decisive advantage q White to move balanced position n Black to move ! good move ♔ King !! excellent move ♕ Queen ? bad move ♖ Rook ?? blunder ♗ Bishop !? interesting move ♘ Knight ?! dubious move 6 Introduction Chess is in the last resort a battle of wits, not an exercise in mathematics. Theory helps you; but you have to fight. Hence our contempt for the stupid word ‘swindle’ in chess. – C.J.S. Purdy At the strong Tallinn tournament the board after the game’s end and of 1971, the game between the asked Smejkal, ‘What would you grandmasters Furman and Smejkal have done after 91.♘b3 ?’ ‘Why, was drawing to a close. White had pawn to a2 of course!’ was the reply. already mentally given up and was ‘Ah,’ said the Magician from Riga, simply going through the motions with a twinkle in his eye. ‘Then to conclude proceedings: you would only have drawn.’ And with his trademark nonchalance, he Semyon Furman pushed a few pieces: Jan Smejkal 91.♘b3 a2?? 92.♘c1!! Tallinn 1971 ._._._._ _._._._. ._._._._ ._._._._ _._._._. _.l._._J ._._._._ ._._._._ _.l._._J _._._.m. ._._._._ J_._._._ j._._.m. _.n._._K ._.n._._ _._._._K A fantastic drawing idea is revealed, no doubt to both players’ horror. Position after 90...a3 Promotion to a queen or rook is 91.♘e4+ ♔f3 92.♘xc5 a2 and stalemate, while getting a new Furman soon resigned. For most of bishop is no help with a rook’s pawn, the spectators, the finish was rather even without the white knight. As dull. Tal started to walk away, Smejkal For most spectators, that is, except waved him back, announcing ‘Aha! for one: Mikhail Tal. The former I can still win! Pawn to a1 equals World Champion was watching knight!’ Unphased, Tal reached back on. As the British writer Leonard and played Barden recounts, Tal approached 92...a1♘ 93.♘b3!! 9 The Complete Chess Swindler ._._._._ myself among them, the result _._._._. seemed clear on both players’ faces. ._._._._ The white player had his head in _.l._._J his hands, looking completely ._._._._ dejected as his final seconds ticked _N_._.m. down. From the sidelines, I spotted ._._._._ a cute swindling motif. Yi is a s._._._K pretty good tactician, and I briefly thought his expressions were all leaving the grandmasters aghast. part of some sort of theatrical A picturesque swindle that, alas, bluff he was pulling on his older never made it onto the scoresheets. opponent. Alas, the gestures were legitimate angst. As I was trying I’ll never be able to play like Tal. to evaluate a complicated queen But let me share with you the endgame, Yi let his clock run down closest I’ve come to imitating him to zero and resigned in the same as a spectator. Fast-forward almost motion. The spectators began to 50 years to 2017 and the game disperse. that inspired this book, at a less Allowing a respectful pause, as I esteemed tournament with less assumed Tal had done, I approached esteemed players and certainly a and asked Aleks what he would less esteemed kibitzer: have played if Yi had continued with Yi Liu 38.h7!! Aleksandar Wohl Aleks looked at me as if I had Gold Coast 2017 suggested the moon was made of cheese, and reached out his hand ._._.m.k for the b-pawn. But the Australian _._._J_. veteran had known me long enough ._._._.i to appreciate my swindling ways, _.t._.i. and he paused to take a second look .j._._._ at the position. _.j._._. ._._.m.k ._R_._._ _._._J_I _._._._. ._._._._ _.t._.i. Wohl, a legendary Australian IM, .j._._._ had been steadily outplaying his _.j._._. young opponent in this endgame and had assumed complete control. ._R_._._ As a crowd of spectators watched, _._._._. 10 Introduction ‘Ahh!’, he exclaimed. It was then that both players realised the game ._T_.r._ was far from over, and that White _._._.kI has some serious self-stalemate ._._._J_ chances: 38...b3?? 39.♖xc3! ♖xc3 _._M_._. 40.g6! is immediately a draw, for ._._._._ example. Another pretty line is _Jj._._. 38...♖b5? 39.♖xc3 (anyway!) 39... ._._._._ bxc3 40.g6! c2 41.gxf7 and there _._._._. is still no way to avoid the draw. After a few minutes, Wohl cleverly With an endgame that we agreed suggested gave White excellent practical 38...♖c8!, chances. It is notoriously more which is the only try for Black to difficult to calculate how to escape keep winning chances. However, the checks than to give them in White’s not out of tricks yet: these sorts of queen endgames, 39.♖f2!1 especially in time trouble. In fact, with the help of tablebases, it turns ._T_.m.k out that White can hold the draw _._._J_I even against best play: ._._._._ 44...♖c7+ 45.♖f7 ♖xf7+ 46.♔xf7 c2 _._._.i. 47.h8♕ c1♕ 48.♕d8+! .j._._._ with, apparently, a theoretical draw. _.j._._. Perhaps Yi would have held the ._._.r._ draw from here, or perhaps not _._._._. – perhaps it would be lost ninety percent of the time. But this isn’t Now g5-g6 is an unstoppable threat. the point. The lesson here is that 39...b3 with a little more grit and a dash 39...c2 40.♖xc2 ♖xc2 41.g6! leads to of optimism, White could have a draw, while 39...♔e7+ 40.♔g7 b3 deployed a fiendishly cunning 41.♖xf7+ ♔e6 42.♖f6+! ♔d5 43.♖f8 defensive resource that, at worst, ♖c7+ 44.♖f7 ♖xf7+ 45.♔xf7 c2 would have made Black sweat 46.h8♕ c1♕ also splits the point. hard for the full point, and at best 40.g6 ♔e7+ 41.♔g7 fxg6 42.♖f7+! would have secured an immediate ♔e6 43.♖f6+! ♔d5 44.♖f8 draw. Ten percent is better than 1 At the time I suggested the inverted move-order 39.g6 ♔e7+ 40.♔g7 fxg6 41.♖e2+ ♔d6 42.♖f2, but the irrepressibly thorough Belgium FM Helmut Froeyman, who often comments on my blog, later pointed out that the ending after 42...g5!! 43.♖f8 ♖xf8 44.♔xf8 c2 45.h8♕ c1♕ leads to mate in 57 moves! 11 The Complete Chess Swindler zero, which is all you can get from chess. Make no mistake: computers resigning. have drastically improved chess training, and today’s players *** advance faster and are much more That evening, I wondered whether likely to reach their full potential today’s energetic young talents, thanks to technological tools. But even with – or perhaps because of – an unexpected side effect of these their use of computer engines and advancements is that we have vast online materials, are somehow forgotten the practical nature of less motivated to look for swindles the battle. We are obsessed with than players of former generations. engine evaluations, treating them After the wide research I conducted as gospel (which, incidentally, has for this book, I am surprised at how led to the rise of armchair critics – little attention has been paid to but that’s another story). And that swindles in modern chess training. influences our own games, in which This is especially strange given that we strive to always play the ‘best’ this is a part of our game where move as evaluated on the screen, improvement yields immediate to the exclusion of almost all other dividends.