% BOOKTITLE = Chess Secrets: Giants of Power Play
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "About this Publication"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

{'Chess Secrets' is a series of books which uncover the mysteries of the most
important aspects of chess: strategy, attack, opening play and gambits,
classical play, endgames and preparation. In each book the author studies a
number of great players from chess history who have excelled in a particular
field of the game and who have undeniably influenced those who have followed.
--- In 'The Giants of Power Play', Neil McDonald selects five players who have
excelled in the field of 'power play' - the art of putting opponents under
constant pressure. The methods of doing so are numerous, including gaining
rapid development in return for material to build up an initiative, preparing
powerful opening ideas in advance, or even developing completely new opening
systems. McDonald examines the contributions made by each player, their
differences in approach and style, and from Morphy to Topalov, how they
followed in each other's footsteps. A study of this book will help you to
enhance your skills in one of the most crucial elements of the game.} 1. -- {
English Grandmaster Neil McDonald has firmly established himself as one of the
world's leading chess writers, with many outstanding works to his name. He is
also a respected chess coach, who has trained many of the UK's strongest
junior players.} *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Introduction"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

{Chess players might be divided into strategists and power players. The battle
for supremacy between these two styles of play has led to creative struggles
such as Capablanca versus Alekhine, Botvinnik versus Bronstein, and Kramnik
versus Topalov. --- The purpose of this book is to examine and celebrate the
ideas of five famous players who have contributed to the development of the
power play style. I hope you find the games exciting and enjoyable. With luck,
a tiny bit of the genius and magic of these five giants might reappear in your
own chess. --- But first, here is an example of the strategical style in
action (see Kramnik-Carlsen).} 1. -- {I have always loved the apparent
effortlessness of such games, which are perfect examples of the phrase 'art
that conceals art'. At their peak of performance, Capablanca, Karpov, Kramnik
and all the other great strategists make chess look easy. In reality it is
terribly hard to keep control in such games, as a first-class opponent is
always looking for ways to slip out of the bind. --- The power play style
doesn't make chess look easy, but it is full of profound, unexpected ideas and
stresses the human side of the game. We are reminded that chess is a fight
between two creative minds rather than the solving of a logical theorem.} (1.
-- {Features of the power play style: The power play style can be summed up in
three words as a blend of preparation, psychology and dynamism. Here is a list
of specific features: -- 1) Playing aggressively with Black as well as White.
This requires the acceptance of risk. -- 2) A big attempt is made to win the
theoretical battle by surprising the opponent with a new move or a new way of
handling a sharp opening system. -- 3) The stakes are set high, with the enemy
king often being the target, rather than a weak pawn or square. A pawn
sacrifice is often used to accelerate the attacking process. -- 4) Threats to
the king are combined with threats to another piece or pieces in order to
overstretch the defence. -- 5) Rather than a drive towards clarity, there is
an active search for tactical blows hidden at the end of variations.}) (1. -- {
Whereas strategical play is a step by step process, power play might be
divided into two distinct parts: -- 6) The first is a dynamic strategy that,
if it outwits the opponent, creates situations where combinations are likely;
-- 7) The second is the use of tactics to exploit the edge that has been
gained. -- 8) Playing the man as well as the board. For example, an opponent
who dislikes messy tactics is forced into a double-edged fight, even if
objectively they should turn out well for him. -- 9) Time trouble isn't
regarded as a nuisance but rather as the chance to confront the opponent with
problems he will struggle to solve. -- 10) Above all, the byword of power play
is imbalance. A position with mutual weaknesses and a disrupted pawn structure
contains room for creativity - and blunders by the opponent.}) (1. -- {
Of course, a strong player is capable of handling every situation that arises
with a high level of competence. Kramnik can play great attacking chess, while
Topalov is capable of winning smooth positional games. --- Nonetheless, the
fact remains that every player has a preference for one or other of these
methods of play. For example, when confronted with the chance to introduce
favourable-looking complications or go for a tiny advantage with no risk, a
player will habitually choose one path or the other. A player's opening
repertoire will also tell you a lot about his aims when he sits down at the
board.}) (1. -- {Neil McDonald, Gravesend, June 2009.}) *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "The book's heroes"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

{It is time for me to introduce you to the heroes of this book. Have fun going
through their games and expanding your own chess mind! --- Here are brief
biographies of our heroes.} {Chess players might be divided into strategists
and power players. The battle for supremacy between these two styles of play
has led to creative struggles such as Capablanca versus Alekhine, Botvinnik
versus Bronstein, and Kramnik versus Topalov. --- The purpose of this book is
to examine and celebrate the ideas of five famous players who have contributed
to the development of the power play style. I hope you find the games exciting
and enjoyable. With luck, a tiny bit of the genius and magic of these five
giants might reappear in your own chess. --- But first, here is an example of
the strategical style in action (see Kramnik-Carlsen).} 1. -- (1. -- {
Paul Morphy (1837-1884): The American chess genius was born in New Orleans in
1837. Whilst still a child he showed an astounding natural feel for the game.
On graduation from the University of Louisiana he focused for a couple of
years on chess. He took part in the first American chess Congress which was
being held in New York in 1857 and won the first three of his knockout matches,
conceding only one draw, before beating Louis Paulsen in the final with a
score of +5=2-1. --- Having established himself as the best player in the USA,
Morphy set off in 1858 for London and Paris to prove himself the best player
in the world. Besides making a big plus score in unofficial games against
strong opponents, he won set matches against three leading lights of the game:
Löwenthal (+9=2-3), Harrwitz (+5=1-2), and Anderssen (+7=2-2). He was, however,
unable to persuade Staunton, regarded by many as his chief rival, to enter the
lists. --- After his great exploits in 1858 and 1859, Morphy effectively
retired from competitive chess. After a troubled life he died in 1884.}) (1. --
{Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946): Alekhine was born the son of a rich landowner
in Moscow in 1892. He won the first Soviet Championship in 1920, but during
the 1920s moved abroad. Thereafter all ties with his homeland were broken in
1928 when he made a speech denouncing its Communist rulers. --- Along with
José Raúl Capablanca and Emanuel Lasker, Alekhine was one of the 'big three'
players who dominated the first half of 20th century chess. To the surprise of
many he beat Capablanca in a gruelling match in Buenos Aires in 1927 (+6=25-3)
to become the fourth World Champion. Thereafter he successfully defended his
title against Bogoljubow in 1929 (+11=9-5) and in 1934 (+8=15-3), before a
shock defeat in 1935 against Euwe (+8=13-9). Alekhine regained his title from
the Dutchman in 1937 (+10=11-4), and held it until his death in 1946. --- As
World Champion, Alekhine's two best tournament results were at San Remo 1930
where he scored an astonishing 14/15, with Nimzowitsch in second place on 10;
and Bled 1931, where he came five points ahead of the field with 20/26.
(Nimzowitsch, who came third this time, complained bitterly 'he is playing
with us as though with children'.) --- Alekhine was a fine annotator whose
writings include two collections of his own games and a study of the New York
1924 tournament. He was also a profound theoretician who helped to popularize
1...Nf6 in reply to 1 e4, an opening that now bears his name.}) (1. -- {
David Bronstein (1924-2006): Bronstein was born in Bila Tserkva in the Ukraine
in 1924 and learnt his chess in Kiev. He was twice USSR Champion, sharing the
title with Kotov in 1948 and with Smyslov in 1949. He finished equal first in
the Budapest 1950 Candidates tournament, and won the play-off with Boleslavsky
+3=9-2 to earn the right to challenge Botvinnik for the World Championship.
Their 'best of 24 games' match finished tied at +5=14-5 which meant that
Bronstein had come within an ace of winning the title. It was particularly
galling as he was leading with two games to go, before losing the fateful 23rd
game. --- Bronstein remained one of the top players in the world for the rest
of the 1950s without ever managing to get another crack at the title. In
Candidates tournaments he came equal 2nd-4th at Zurich in 1953 (the winner
Smyslov went on to draw with Botvinnik in a World Championship match), and
equal third at Amsterdam 1956. --- During his peak years Bronstein was a
wonderful openings analyst. Notably, his research with his friend and tournament
rival Isaac Boleslavsky proved to a sceptical world that the King's Indian
Defence was playable. Bronstein was also a fine writer. His account of the
Zurich 1953 Candidates tournament is regarded as one of the best ever books on
chess, perhaps the very best.}) (1. -- {Efim Geller (1925-1998): Geller was
born in Odessa in the Ukraine in 1925. He won the USSR Championship in 1955
after beating Smyslov in a play-off match, and then won it for a second time
24 years later in 1979. He also shared second or third place seven times. ---
Geller was among the top players in the world for over 20 years without ever
having the two or three year spell of brilliance (and good fortune) that is
necessary to earn a World Championship match. The closest he came in
Candidates tournaments was equal second with Keres at Curacao 1962 - he was
half a point behind Petrosian, who went on to successfully challenge the
veteran Botvinnik for the world title. As Geller had a +4=7-1 life-time record
against Botvinnik, another point at Curacao would have given him an excellent
chance of achieving the highest honour. --- In 1965, when the Candidates
tournaments had been replaced by matches, Geller beat Smyslov but then lost to
Spassky in their semi-final match. In the first round stage of the 1968 and
1971 series his progress was halted by Spassky (again) and Korchnoi,
respectively. --- Geller was well known for being a scourge of past, future
and former World Champions. For example, besides his record against Botvinnik,
he had (excluding draws) an 11-9 plus score against Smyslov, 5-3 against both
Fischer and Petrosian, and was level at 6-6 with Tal. --- Because of his fine
qualities as an opening analyst, Geller acted as the trainer of Boris Spassky
in 1972 and Anatoly Karpov through the 1975 qualifying cycle. --- Geller
annotated a fine collection of his own games entitled 'The Application of
Chess Theory'.}) (1. -- {Veselin Topalov (1975-): Topalov was born in Rousse,
Bulgaria in 1975. He became a Grandmaster in 1992 and broke through to the
world elite in 1996. He reached the final of the Candidates matches in 2002 to
decide a challenger for Vladimir Kramnik's 'Classical World Champion's' (that
is, non-FIDE) title, but lost to Peter Leko. --- It was only in 2005 that
Topalov started to show the power that would dominate world-class events. A
sign of things to come was his win over Kasparov in the last round of Linares
early that year, which allowed him to share first place with the Russian chess
genius. This was Kasparov's final game before his retirement from serious play,
and it was as if he had handed the baton of dynamic chess to his opponent. ---
Later in 2005, Topalov played in the FIDE World Championship tournament in San
Luis, Argentina. He stormed through the first half of the double round event
with 61/2/7 before cruising to first place with draws in the second cycle.
This made him FIDE World Champion. The chess world, however, was split with
both a FIDE and 'Classical Chess' World Champion, so in 2006 Topalov played a
reunification match with Kramnik to resolve the matter. The Russian
Grandmaster won (in rapid tie-break games) a match marred by off the board
incidents. --- In 2009 Topalov beat Gata Kamsky in a match to decide a
challenger to Viswanathan Anand, who in the mean time had wrested the world
title from Kramnik. --- At the time of writing, Topalov has achieved the
second highest Elo rating ever after those of Kasparov, peaking at 2813. He is
greatly respected (and feared!) as an uncompromising fighter with fantastic
opening knowledge.}) *

[Event "Dortmund"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2007.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kramnik, V."]
[Black "Carlsen, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E05"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2007.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. d4 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. Qxc4
b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Nc6 11. e3 Nb4 12. Bxb4 Bxb4 13. a3 Be7 14. Nbd2 Rc8 15.
b4 a5 16. Ne5 Nd5 17. Nb3 $1 axb4 18. Na5 Ba8 19. Nac6 Bxc6 20. Nxc6 Qd7 21.
Bxd5 exd5 22. axb4 Rfe8 23. Ra5 Bf8 24. Ne5 Qe6 25. Rxb5 Rb8 26. Rxb8 Rxb8 27.
Qxc7 Bd6 28. Qa5 Bxb4 29. Rb1 Qd6 30. Qa4 {. Kramnik played a solid opening
which reduced to a minimum the risk of any unpleasant surprises. The battle
was exclusively on the queenside - king safety was never an issue. --- The
Russian Grandmaster focused on the weakness on c6 and spent the whole game
manoeuvring against it. With the help of a clever temporary pawn sacrifice he
finally managed to land a knight on the square, after which Black's pawn on b5
became defenceless. Kramnik was careful to leave no weaknesses in his own pawn
structure, so that Black's attempt at counterplay towards the end was easily
defeated.} 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "1. The Dynamic Element"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

{As described in the Introduction, I regard power play as a fusion of dynamism,
psychology and forceful opening preparation. To some extent this is an ideal,
as by no means all the games in this book contain the second and third of
these elements to a marked degree. Almost without exception, however, they
witness a dynamic fight.} 1. -- (1. -- {So what is dynamism? -- Arturo Pomar
was a famous chess prodigy (and future Champion of Spain) who had achieved a
winning position against Alekhine in their encounter at Gijon 1944. That game
had ended in a draw, which was a fabulous result for a 12-year-old boy against
a reigning World Champion. In the following game, played a year later,
Alekhine had felt obliged to take some risks to create winning chances as
Black in the French Exchange. (See Pomar Salamanca-Alekhine.)}) (1. -- {
Genuine dynamism versus one-move threats: -- (See Morphy-Anderssen, 7th
matchgame, Paris 1858).}) (1. -- {What is a combination? -- The clue is in the
word itself - it involves combining the action of our pieces to change in a
violent manner the energy balance between the two armies. Alternatively, we
might talk about a combination as exposing in dramatic fashion the lack of
coordination among the opponent's pieces. --- Both definitions will help us in
our task of discovering combinations. We need to notice when there is a lack
of harmony in the enemy camp, and where the energy level of our own pieces is
particularly concentrated, and then ask: are there any 'crazy' moves or ideas
that can exaggerate both of these factors, our own energy and the opponent's
lack of it? --- Combinations are an essential part of power play - an
explosive way of exploiting dynamism, as it were. (See Bronstein-Korchnoi.)}) (
1. -- {Promising-looking moves deserve to be calculated: -- (See
Topalov-Kramnik, Linares 1994).}) (1. -- {There are positions in which a
combination is obligatory: -- Here is an example of Alekhine following his own
advice in a game played near the end of his career. Incidentally, it shows
that the fourth World Champion was still playing with flair and imagination
just a couple of years before his death. If Alekhine had managed to survive
beyond 1946 in reasonable health, he might have given Botvinnik a hard time in
their projected match for the World Championship. (See Alekhine-Podgorny.)}) (
1. -- {Even without queens, you can't rely on natural moves: -- The following
game appears, at first glance, to be of a positional rather than a dynamic
nature. But a little analysis soon reveals that Geller would have got nowhere
if he had relied on 'natural', 'strategical' moves. On the contrary, he had to
be ready to calculate and discover important tactical nuances, or else his
highly resourceful opponent would have escaped his grasp. (See Geller-Keres.)})
(1. -- {Dynamism and psychology: -- In the following game, Alekhine manages to
introduce a dynamic element that is highly disagreeable to his opponent. ---
Richard Réti was at least the equal of Alekhine in the field of strategy when
he was playing White and had the chance to adopt one of his beloved flank
openings. It needs only be recalled that he used the opening that now bears
his name to beat Capablanca at New York in 1924 - the Cuban's first loss in
eight years. If the Hungarian born Grandmaster had a weakness, it was in the
field of tactics. He seemed to underestimate the importance of dynamism and
calculation. He did so well with the Réti and English Openings because they
not only gave scope for him to demonstrate his strategic mastery, they also
helped to mask his tactical deficiencies. --- It has often been asserted that
Alekhine indulged in 'post-game rationalization'. That is to say, after
winning a game with a complex attack that involved judgment and intuition as
well as calculation, he would work out all the variations in the quiet of his
study and then claim to have seen everything to a clear conclusion during the
game itself. Playing through his game against Réti, you might like to ask
yourself: what did Black actually need to see at various points in his attack?
(See Réti-Alekhine.)}) (1. -- {Sometimes you have to rely on intuition: --
Here I wish to return to the Bronstein-Korchnoi game given earlier in the
chapter.}) (1. -- {A game saved by combinative power: -- In the following game
Alekhine is positionally busted after 18 moves. But rather than tamely submit
to the loss of a pawn he makes an unsound, but tricky knight sacrifice. This
heaped a lot of psychological pressure on his opponent, who of course didn't
know whether or not the World Champion was bluffing. --- The result was the
proverbial triumph of spirit over matter - the force of Alekhine's personality
breathed an unstoppable power into his pieces. (See Opocensky-Alekhine.)}) *

[Event "Madrid"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1945.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Pomar Salamanca, A."]
[Black "Alekhine, A."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C01"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "1945.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Bd6 6. Nf3 Nge7 7. O-O Bg4 8.
Re1 Qd7 9. Bg5 f6 10. Bh4 O-O-O 11. Nbd2 h5 12. Bg3 h4 13. Bxd6 Qxd6 14. h3 Bh5
15. Qe2 Bf7 16. Nb3 Rde8 17. Nc5 Nd8 18. Qc2 b6 {
Here Pomar retreated his knight with...} 19. Nb3 {...which led Alekhine in his
annotations to give him a wonderful piece of advice: --- "There are positions
in which a combination is obligatory. In order to evade the necessary mental
effort the player lets slip his chances and little by little finds himself
reduced to the defensive and ends up by suffering a defeat which, logically,
is well merited." ('107 Great Chess Battles', Edward Winter 1980) --- The game
actually continued as follows:} ({The World Champion recommended} 19. b4 $1 {
, when} bxc5 ({Alekhine says he was going to decline the knight offer with} 
19... Kb8 {, when after} 20. Reb1 Ka8 21. Na6 c6 {Black can defend okay but
won't find it so easy to carry out his attack on the kingside}) 20. bxc5 Qc6
21. Rab1 {intending 22 Bb5 etc would give White a very dangerous attack. ---
We might say that 19 b4 is the only way to preserve the energy of the white
position. Once the opportunity is lost, Pomar can carry on making moves, some
of them quite good, but there is no dynamism, no spark of life in his set-up.
It is all dull, plodding defence.}) 19... g5 20. Nh2 Ne6 21. c4 {Pomar becomes
worried about Black's kingside advance and so seeks activity in the centre,
but now he is saddled with a permanently weak d-pawn.} dxc4 22. Bxc4 Kb8 23.
Rac1 Nd8 24. Bxf7 Nxf7 25. Qc4 Nd5 {
And now the World Champion gradually outplayed his young adversary:} 26. Qb5
Rxe1+ 27. Rxe1 c6 28. Qe2 Nh6 29. Nd2 Nf4 30. Qe4 Qd5 31. Nhf3 Nf5 32. Kh1 Rd8
33. Rc1 Kb7 34. b3 Qxe4 35. Nxe4 Nd5 36. Re1 Kc7 37. Ned2 Nb4 38. Re6 Rd6 39.
Re8 Nxa2 40. Ne4 Rd8 41. Rxd8 Kxd8 42. Nxf6 Nc1 43. b4 Nd3 44. d5 Ke7 45. Nh7
cxd5 46. b5 g4 47. hxg4 Nxf2+ 48. Kg1 Nxg4 {. --- Knowing how to play in a
dynamic style isn't a luxury. It is essential, as situations like that after
18...b6 occur all the time during chess games. If you think you understand
strategy and see tactics pretty well, but still there seems to be something
missing from your chess, maybe it is this dynamic element.} 0-1

[Event "7th matchgame, Paris"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1858.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morphy, P."]
[Black "Anderssen, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "1858.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 e5 5. dxe5 Qxe5+ 6. Be2 Bb4 7. Nf3 Bxc3+
8. bxc3 Qxc3+ 9. Bd2 Qc5 10. Rb1 Nc6 11. O-O Nf6 12. Bf4 O-O 13. Bxc7 Nd4 14.
Qxd4 Qxc7 15. Bd3 {Here 15...b6 followed by 16...Bb7 would put the bishop on
its optimal diagonal and, at the same time, solve the problem of the loose
pawn on b7. In that case, Black would have the better game in view of the
disfigurement of the white pawn structure on the queenside. --- Instead, there
followed:} Bg4 {Adolf Anderssen couldn't escape from the mentality that said
developing with gain of time must be a good thing.} ({The celebrated German
master could perform magical tricks with the pieces, calculate 15 moves deep,
create an Evergreen Game and an Immortal Game, but he couldn't play} 15... b6 {
and 16...Bb7, something that any average master can do these days.}) 16. Ng5 $1
{Rather than being ensconced on b7, controlling the long diagonal from a safe
distance, the bishop finds itself poorly placed on g4 and already the subject
of a tactical threat, namely 17 Nxh7! Nxh7 18 Qxg4.} Rfd8 $2 {Here we have
another useless attacking move. The rook is brought into play with gain of
time by hitting the white queen. But so what? The queen runs away to a better
square than d4 and then what does the rook do on d8? There's nothing to attack.
And meanwhile it has given up its defence of f7, the most vulnerable square in
the black camp.} ({An interesting alternative was} 16... Bd7 {which aims to
put the bishop on the long diagonal after all with 17...Bc6. This would secure
both the bishop itself and the b7-pawn from attack.}) 17. Qb4 $1 {Here the white queen attacks b7, supports the threat of 18 Nxh7! Nxh7 19 Qxg4, and controls
a possible invasion square for a rook on e7.} Bc8 {When we think of the fine
combinations that Anderssen has made, this is a rather sad retreat.} 18. Rfe1 {
Despite Black's loss of time with the bishop, if nothing happens fast he will
develop his pieces and emerge with the better game after all, as White has
broken queenside pawns. Therefore Morphy has to ensure that he overwhelms the
black defence and wins at least a pawn before his opponent is able to mobilize.
This means it is vital for White to attack immediately without wasting any
time. --- I'm sure you can see why the force of Morphy's looming initiative is
of a magnitude several times greater than Anderssen's one-move threats 15...
Bg4 and 16...Rfd8. The American has every piece developed and beautifully
coordinated, whereas his opponent has indulged in isolated attacks.} a5 {
Insufficient, but he can't just allow 19 Re7.} ({If instead} 18... Rd7 {
it is mate in three, with either} 19. Re8+ $1 ({or} 19. Bxh7+ Nxh7 20. Re8+ {
etc}) 19... Nxe8 20. Bxh7+ Kh8 21. Qf8# {.}) 19. Qe7 $1 {Morphy, despite being
an acclaimed master of the mating attack, doesn't hesitate to exchange queens,
as he sees that the f7-pawn will become indefensible.} Qxe7 ({Of course if} 
19... Rd7 {,} 20. Qe8+ {will mate.}) 20. Rxe7 Nd5 {
A clever attempt to create counterplay, as you would expect from Anderssen.} ({
Hopeless is} 20... Rf8 21. Bc4 {
, when the f7-pawn is attacked three times and must drop.}) 21. Bxh7+ Kh8 22.
Rxf7 Nc3 23. Re1 Nxa2 {This is Anderssen's idea. He has created a queenside
passed pawn which, if nothing happens on the kingside, could well win the game.
--- Therefore Morphy must quickly conclude the attack. And the omens are good,
as he has two rooks, a bishop and a knight assailing the black king, whereas
there are only two black pieces that are even faintly concerned with defence -
the bishop on c8, which is covering some light squares, and the rook on d8,
which is dissuading 24 Ree7?? or 24 Re4?? in view of 24...Rd1+ mating. This
isn't going to be enough to save Black despite the exchange of queens.} 24. Rf4
$1 ({The rook is well placed on the seventh rank, but is even better if it can
go to the h-file. Thus if} 24. Rf4 a4 25. Bg6 {contains the winning threat of}
-- 26. Rh4+ Kg8 27. Bf7+ Kf8 28. Rh8# {. --- If you have a piece that is well
placed, nevertheless ask yourself: would it be better coordinated with the
rest of the pieces if transferred elsewhere? In chess there is no cult of the
individual - the important thing is how all the pieces work best together.})
24... Ra6 {Once again we can see that Anderssen is a player who knows how to
get the maximum out of every piece. He brings the rook into the fight in an
unconventional way and hopes to tempt his opponent into 25 Nf7+ Kxh7 26 Nxd8,
when he can fight on, though White would surely have won even in that case.
But Morphy knew by instinct one of the golden rules of chess: if you see a
good move, look for an even better one!} 25. Bd3 $1 {. Now Black's most lethal
problem is that the rook on d8 has to remain defending the back rank, but has
no safe squares. With the white bishop removed from h7, 26 Nf7+ and 27 Nxd8
threatens to win a whole rook.} ({The only safe square is g8, but} 25. Bd3 Rg8
({if} 25... Rxd3 {, which deals with the threat of 26 Nf7+ (or 26 Bxa6) in the
most economical way, White can mate with} 26. Re8# ({or} 26. Rf8#)) 26. Nf7# {
is also mate. --- Tip: When your best moves allow mate in one, it's time to
resign. --- Was Anderssen out-calculated here? Did Morphy pulverize him with a
brilliant sacrifice? No. The American's superiority was in coordinating his
pieces and choosing the right moment to switch to an all-out attack. Anderssen
could perform feats of calculation just as well or better, and find imaginative
things to do with any individual piece. Morphy's greatness was that he knew
how to combine all his pieces into a mighty juggernaut and then set it rolling
at just the right moment. His understanding of the ideas of force and the
tempo of the struggle were way ahead of his era.}) 1-0

[Event "Moscow vs Leningrad match"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1962.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bronstein, D."]
[Black "Korchnoi, V."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C83"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "1962.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5
Be6 9. c3 Be7 10. Bc2 O-O 11. Qe2 f5 12. exf6 Bxf6 13. Nbd2 Bf5 14. Nxe4 Bxe4
15. Bxe4 dxe4 16. Qxe4 Qd7 17. Bf4 Rae8 18. Qc2 Bh4 19. Bg3 Bxg3 20. hxg3 Ne5
21. Nxe5 Rxe5 22. Rfe1 Rd5 23. Rad1 c5 24. a4 Rd8 25. Rxd5 Qxd5 26. axb5 axb5
27. Qe2 b4 28. cxb4 cxb4 29. Qg4 b3 30. Kh2 Qf7 31. Qg5 Rd7 32. f3 h6 33. Qe3
Rd8 34. g4 Kh8 {Korchnoi had been under pressure a long time, not just a pawn
down but with a weakness on b3 to defend. But in time pressure he thought he
saw his salvation when Bronstein played:} 35. Qb6 {The reply came in a flash:}
Rd2 {Suddenly there is a double threat of 36...Rxb2 and 36...Qxf3. Has our
hero blundered?} 36. Qb8+ Kh7 37. Re8 $1 {Letting Black carry out his threat.}
Qxf3 ({We shall return to consider} 37... Rxb2 {later in the chapter.}) 38.
Rh8+ Kg6 {With mate on g2 and the b2-pawn hanging, it seems that Bronstein is
going to have to find a queen check to hold the draw. Instead, there came:} 39.
Rxh6+ $3 ({Black loses his queen after} 39. Rxh6+ gxh6 ({or} 39... Kxh6 40.
Qh8+ Kg5 ({or} 40... Kg6 41. Qh5+ Kf6 42. g5+ {followed by 43 Qxf3}) 41. Qh5+
Kf4 ({or} 41... Kf6 42. g5+) 42. Qf5+ Ke3 43. Qxf3+) 40. Qg8+ Kf6 41. Qf8+ Kg6
42. Qxf3 {. --- White's combination had to be planned before playing 35 Qb6 or
else he would have thrown away his advantage and also jeopardized the draw.
The question is, how can we teach ourselves to see ideas such as 39 Rxh6+.
Here's a general rule that might be useful: if you are attacking the enemy
king with a queen and rook, and there are no defenders in sight, just a bit of
pawn cover, don't trust the pawn cover to save the king. Look for 'crazy'
moves to break through it! --- We might elaborate the rule by adding that a
king hates being checked 'close up' by the enemy queen. So if you are
attacking the opponent's king with a queen and rook, try to find a way to give
a close-up check with your queen, no matter how crazy it looks. And once you
have found a way to give the check, look for a second check that might follow
it. So 39 Rxh6+ is a crazy move, but it gives us 40 Qg8+ and 41 Qf8+, two
close-up checks following each other, or 40 Qh8+ and 41 Qh5+ another two
close-up checks. Once we have seen that the first two close-up checks win the
opponent's queen, we get excited and notice the power of 42 g5+ after the
second close-up check, which also wins the opponent's queen. Bingo! Here the
key to the position is the pawn on g4. White wins because he is able to
coordinate the action of his queen with this pawn - it is a vital pivot for
her. --- As we said above, Bronstein had to see 39 Rxh6+ before 35 Qb6. That
might seem a long way ahead, but don't forget that the position is pretty
empty of pieces. White only had to examine forcing moves with the queen and
rook, nothing else. The real difficulty is in seeing that 39 Rxh6+ exists as
an option.}) 1-0

[Event "Linares"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1994.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Topalov, V."]
[Black "Kramnik, V."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B56"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "1994.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. f3 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Be3
Be6 9. Nd5 Bxd5 10. exd5 Nb4 11. c4 a5 12. Nd2 Nd7 13. Ne4 f5 14. Nc3 O-O 15.
Be2 Bg5 16. Bf2 Qf6 17. O-O Na6 18. Bd3 Qh6 19. Qe2 Rae8 20. Bc2 Nac5 21. g3 e4
22. f4 Bd8 23. a3 Nf6 24. Kg2 Bb6 25. Bg1 Ncd7 26. Nb5 Bxg1 27. Rxg1 Qg6 28. b4
({White would like very much to take on d6, but} 28. Nxd6 $2 {
meets with the riposte} Nxd5 $1 {
, threatening 29...Nxf4+ winning the queen, when after} 29. cxd5 Qxd6 {
Black has a good position thanks to the weakness of the d5-pawn and the
strength of his own protected passed pawn on e4. So Topalov had to settle for
gaining some space on the queenside.}) 28... Rc8 {
Once again offering the pawn on d6.} ({
Now a tactical theme appears, because after} 28... Rc8 29. Nxd6 {, not only
ld the rook on c8 be hanging, but beyond that a fork of the black queen and
king on e7 would be on the cards: namely Nxd6, Nxc8 and Ne7+ and Nxg6. That's
a lot of material White would be grabbing! --- On the other hand Black can
still retaliate with} Nxd5 {and if White persists with Nxc8 he has ...Nxf4+
and ...Nxe2, grabbing the white queen. --- So far it is: for White, Nxd6, Nxc8,
Ne7+ and Nxg6; versus for Black, ...Nxd5, ...Nxf4+ and ...Nxe2. --- Surely a
good deal for White? He picks up in sequence a pawn, rook, and queen, while
Black only gains two pawns and the queen. If we look even further ahead, we'll
see that the white knight which ends up on g6 after Nxg6 will be attacking the
black rook on f8, while the black knight on e2 will be attacking the white
rook on g1. That more or less cancels itself out - both sides will have a
knight hanging, and both knights will be attacking a rook. We should add that ...Nxf4+ should be met by Kf1, so that the black knight does indeed hang on e2
to Kxe2. --- Therefore, after the series of retaliatory blows, White will
emerge with about an extra rook for a couple of pawns. Let's imagine this
sequence:} 30. Nxc8 Nxf4+ 31. Kf1 Nxe2 32. Ne7+ Kf7 33. Nxg6 {
and you can easily verify that after} Kxg6 ({or} 33... Nxg1 34. Nxf8 Nxf8 35.
Kxg1) 34. Kxe2 {White has an extra rook. Therefore Black has to come up with a
nuance in this sequence, or else he will lose. --- Having seen this much,
Topalov knows that 29 Nxd6 has the capacity to be a very good move. It is
therefore worth him devoting considerable energy to working out whether it
really is a good move. After all, the reward is evident - if Black loses the
vital d6-pawn without sufficient compensation, his game is ruined. The
Bulgarian will get to beat one of the most promising young players in the
world.}) {So let's see what happened in the game. For a few moves it followed
the above analysis:} 29. Nxd6 $1 Nxd5 $1 30. Nxc8 Nxf4+ 31. Kf1 Qf6 ({
Seeing that he loses as discussed after} 31... Nxe2 32. Ne7+ Kf7 33. Nxg6 {
, Kramnik sidesteps this sequence by counterattacking against a1.}) 32. Ne7+ $1
{The knight saves itself from capture with vital gain of time.} Kh8 ({If} 32...
Qxe7 33. gxf4 {leaves White with an extra rook.}) 33. Qd1 $1 {
The queen moves to safety and guards a1, leaving both black knights hanging.}
Nh3 {Nonetheless, the position remains tense as e7 and g1 are both en prise.}
34. Nd5 $1 {The white knight completes its escape from enemy territory. Now
Black has no time to capture on g1 as his queen is hanging.} Qb2 35. Rg2 f4 {
Being a rook down, Kramnik's last throw of the dice is a direct attack on the
rather exposed white king.} 36. gxf4 Qe5 $5 37. Ra2 $1 {
As we shall see, this prepares a highly resourceful defensive idea.} Nb6 38.
Qa1 $1 {The possibility of Qxg7 mate means that Black has no good way to avoid
the exchange of queens, after which all hope is at an end.} ({
Black would get the attack he wants after} 38. Nxb6 $2 Qxf4+ {
, but White's reply kills his initiative.}) 38... Rxf4+ 39. Ke1 $1 1-0

[Event "Prague"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1943.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alekhine, A."]
[Black "Podgorny, J."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B22"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "1943.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2 cxd4 7. cxd4 e6 8.
Nc3 Bb4 9. O-O Qa5 {If White now satisfies himself in defending c3 with the
quiet 10 Bd2, then Black would catch up in development with 10...Nf6 and 11...
0-0, whereupon White would not only have failed to gain any opening advantage,
he would even have the worst of it due to the isolated pawn on d4. --- And so
Alekhine made the 'necessary mental effort' and, after a thorough analysis of
the position, produced one of the best combinations of his life.} 10. a3 $3 {
At first it seems bizarre to attack the bishop, as the a3-pawn is pinned. But
Alekhine's keen tactical eye has seen a chance to trap the black queen.} Nf6 ({
After} 10... Bxc3 11. bxc3 Qxc3 12. Rb1 O-O-O ({
alternatively, if instead of castling Black gives back the pawn with} 12...
Nge7 {, then} 13. Rxb7 O-O 14. Qa4 $1 {
still leaves him in deep trouble; one threat of many is} -- 15. Bb2 Qa5 {
(there are no other safe squares for the queen)} 16. Qxa5 Nxa5 17. Rxe7 {
and White has won a piece}) {either} 13. Qa4 ({or} 13. Be3 {
gives White a very dangerous attack on the black king.})) 11. d5 $1 {The military genius Alexander the Great often chose to attack a hostile army at its
strongest, rather than weakest, point on the battlefield. He reasoned that the
enemy general and his close advisers were likely to have stationed themselves
behind their soundest defences. Therefore a rapid breakthrough in that sector,
even at huge cost, might quickly decide matters by cutting off the head of the
enemy army - both literally and figuratively. --- We chess players are less
bloodthirsty than Macedonian warrior kings, but we can still learn from their
techniques. Here Alexander the Chess Player has chosen to strike his opponent
on the most well-defended square in his centre. Black has three units - the
queen, knight on f6 and pawn on e6 - all directly opposing this breakthrough,
along with the latent possibilities of ...Rd8 (or ...0-0-0), and ...Bxc3,
removing the pawn's defender, to deter it further. And yet such is the
explosive power of Alekhine's combination that the pawn nevertheless charges
forward. He plans to cause maximum trouble for the enemy monarch, who is
sitting uneasily on e8, and also for his 'close adviser' the queen, who is
going to be obliged to make a hazardous journey to a1.} exd5 ({
Let's look at some of the variations the World Champion must have examined. If
} 11... Rd8 {(or 11...0-0-0),} 12. Qb3 $1 {is very strong, as} Bxc3 13. dxc6 $1
{leaves both c3 and b7 hanging. Nothing too difficult to see so far.}) ({
Harder to calculate is} 11... Nxd5 {when we discover one of the main points of
Alekhine's combination, namely the trapping of the black queen on a1:} 12. Nxd5
exd5 13. axb4 $1 Qxa1 14. Qb3 $1 {(getting his own queen out of the way so
that a bishop move, say 15 Bd2, would pocket her opposite number)} Bxf3 15. Bg5
$1 Qxf1+ 16. Bxf1 Be4 17. f3 {, and the black king will be caught under attack
in the centre, with his pieces unable to provide an adequate defence. In the
game Podgorny managed to avoid losing his queen and also got to castle, but he
lost too much material in the process.}) 12. axb4 $1 Qxa1 13. Nd2 $1 {
Threatening both 14 Bxg4 and 14 Nb3! when the black queen has no safe squares.}
Bxe2 14. Qxe2+ Ne7 ({If instead} 14... Kf8 {White continues} 15. Nb3 Qa6 16. b5
{and wins the knight, leading to a material balance similar to the game, but
with the black king stuck in the centre.}) 15. Re1 $1 O-O {It turns out Black
had no good way to defend e7, but if now 16 Qxe7?? Rfe8 and Black is suddenly
winning. So has White's combination failed? No, Alekhine had seen a bit
further:} 16. Nb3 $1 Qa6 {
The only move, but now White can safely grab the knight.} 17. Qxa6 bxa6 18.
Rxe7 {The dust has settled. Alekhine has two pieces for a rook and pawn, which
doesn't sound like an overwhelming advantage. However, his minor pieces are
safe and compact and have some nice central squares, especially d4, whereas
the black rooks don't have any attractive open files, nor any strong passed
pawns to support.} Rab8 19. b5 $1 {
Not letting the knight on b3 be molested by the black rook.} axb5 20. Rxa7 b4
21. Ne2 Rfc8 22. f3 Ra8 23. Rxa8 Rxa8 24. Kf2 Nd7 25. Nf4 Nb6 26. Ke3 Rc8 27.
Kd3 g5 28. Nh5 {. Black despairs of defending his collection of weak pawns.
--- A fantastic display of dynamic chess from Alekhine.} 1-0

[Event "USSR Championship, Moscow"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1952.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Geller, E."]
[Black "Keres, P."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E52"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "1952.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 O-O 6. Nf3 d5 7. O-O Bb7 8. Bd2
dxc4 9. Bxc4 c5 10. a3 cxd4 11. axb4 dxc3 12. Bxc3 Ne4 13. Qxd8 Rxd8 14. Rfd1
Rc8 {White has three small advantages in this position: -- 1) The bishop pair.
-- 2) Pressure on the a7-pawn. -- 3) Control of the d-file, which deters ...Nc6 in view of Rd7. --- All these advantages seem on the point of vanishing
over the next couple of moves, but let's see how Geller preserved them.} 15.
Be1 $1 {Well, you might think that's a strange way to begin an attack! In fact
Geller is storing energy in his position by preventing the exchange 15...Nxc3,
which would also clear the way for a second exchange with 16...Bxf3. It's good
for White to keep the black knight on e4 and bishop on b7 on the board, as he
can gain time by harassing them. Similarly, Geller needs to preserve his own
pieces for the forthcoming attack.} Kf8 ({Of course if Black plays} 15... Rxc4
$4 {he is mated. So Keres rushes his king to the centre and makes the threat
to the white bishop real.}) 16. Rd4 {The Ukrainian Grandmaster defends his
bishop, attacks the knight on e4 and prepares to double rooks on the d-file.}
Ke7 {In principle it is handy for Black to have the king bolster his defences
along the d-file, but he always has to watch out for a sudden b4-b5 and Bb4+.
At the moment this isn't dangerous as Black can reply ...Nc5, blocking out the
bishop; but if the knight leaves e4 or is eliminated, the check might be very
painful.} 17. Rad1 {The entrance of the black king hasn't solved the problem
of his queenside development, as 17...Nc6 would allow either 18 Rxe4 or 18
Rd7+.} Rc7 {
Now, however, Black is on the point of playing 18...Nd7 with equality.} ({
It looks as if White can't prevent this with} 17... Rc7 18. Ne5 $4 {because} f6
19. Nf3 e5 {wins material (moving the white rook away from d4 drops the bishop
on c4). But Geller made a habit of playing 'impossible' moves throughout his
career.}) 18. Ne5 $1 {The only way to keep his advantage. If White had been a
lazy fellow and looked no further than 18...f6 before rejecting this move as a
howler, Keres would have escaped. Instead, he is stopped from playing 18...Nd7
and remains bunged up. But the question remains - what does happen if Black
plays to win material? The answer came in the game:} f6 19. Bd3 $1 Nd6 ({If} 
19... fxe5 {Geller intended to exploit Black's lack of development with a
couple of pins, diagonal and frontal:} 20. Rxe4 Bxe4 {
(not forced, but otherwise he is just left with ugly e-pawns)} 21. Bxe4 Nc6 22.
b5 Rd8 23. Rc1 $1 {and White will end up with two pieces for a rook.}) ({
After the text,} 19... Nd6 {, Geller has to back off with} 20. Nc4 ({
Keres is ready to answer} 20. Bxh7 $2 fxe5 21. Rxd6 {with} Bd5 $1 {
trapping the white rook on d6 and winning the exchange}) 20... Nxc4 21. Bxc4 {
, when Black can equalize with} Nc6 {. A pity that, but it was a precise
defence by the Estonian Grandmaster. A draw was agreed at this point. --- But
no, that's not how the game ended. Geller once again played an 'impossible'
move:}) 20. Bxh7 $1 fxe5 21. Rxd6 Bd5 {The rook is indeed trapped on d6, but
Geller has foreseen that it can be sacrificed to reach an endgame in which
White has excellent chances.} 22. R6xd5 $1 exd5 23. Rxd5 Rc1 24. Kf1 Nc6 25.
Ke2 Rd8 26. Rxd8 Nxd8 27. Bc3 Ke6 {So Black has completed his development and,
despite everything, the players are equal on points: White has two pawns for
the exchange. However, there isn't much that the black rook can attack, as b2
and b4 are securely defended. Meanwhile, White's bishop pair can exert
enormous pressure on the fragile black kingside pawns. In only a couple of
moves the g7-pawn drops off the board, whereupon White has three connected
passed pawns. --- With the position in front of us it isn't too difficult to
see that White has excellent chances. But don't forget that Geller had to
persuade himself a long way in advance that this simplified endgame would be
good for him. He had to use both his powers of calculation and his judgment.
--- Here is the conclusion of the game:} 28. Bg8+ Kd6 29. f4 exf4 30. exf4 Ne6
31. Be5+ Kd5 32. Bxg7 Rc8 33. Bxe6+ Kxe6 34. Kf3 Rc4 35. Bc3 Kd5 36. h4 a5 37.
bxa5 Rxc3+ 38. bxc3 bxa5 39. h5 Ke6 40. Ke3 {. After his analytical feats
earlier in the game, it's no surprise that Geller has been able to work out
that his king is in time to stop Black's passed pawn. A splendid effort.} 1-0

[Event "Baden-Baden"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1925.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Réti, R."]
[Black "Alekhine, A."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "1925.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. g3 e5 2. Nf3 e4 3. Nd4 d5 4. d3 exd3 5. Qxd3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Bxd2+ 8.
Nxd2 O-O 9. c4 Na6 10. cxd5 Nb4 11. Qc4 Nbxd5 12. N2b3 c6 13. O-O Re8 14. Rfd1
Bg4 15. Rd2 Qc8 16. Nc5 Bh3 17. Bf3 Bg4 18. Bg2 Bh3 19. Bf3 Bg4 {Here Alekhine
wrongly claimed a draw by three-fold repetition. It has been suggested that
this was a psychological ruse to persuade his opponent to put his bishop on an
inferior square. After all, having protested his right to continue the game,
it was somehow embarrassing for Réti to agree to a draw with 20 Bg2.} 20. Bh1
h5 $1 {Alekhine pre-empts White's queenside push with a pawn advance of his
own on the kingside. As we shall see, the retreat of White's bishop to h1 and
the softening up of the g3-pawn increase the latent energy of the black pieces.
} 21. b4 a6 22. Rc1 h4 23. a4 hxg3 24. hxg3 Qc7 25. b5 {
Réti begins an immediate attack on the queenside.} ({Instead, the preliminary} 
25. e4 {would drive the black knight from the centre and avoid all the
unwelcome tactics that follow. On the other hand, Réti loved to hold back his
centre pawns, and doesn't want to obstruct his bishop's view of the c6-square.}
) 25... axb5 26. axb5 Re3 $1 {Psychology and dynamism! Alekhine doesn't give
his opponent a second chance to dislodge the knight from d5 with 27 e4.
Therefore Réti is denied a quiet, 'neat' game where he can demonstrate his
talent for strategy. --- How did Alekhine find this idea? Well, remember what
we said in the Bronstein extract above: --- If you are attacking the
opponent's king with a queen and rook, try to find a way to give a close-up
check with your queen, no matter how crazy it looks.} ({Here the black queen
is staring at the g3-square which has been undermined by both 20 Bh1 and 23...
hxg3. A crazy rook move to attack it is} 26... Re3 {
, which opens the way for a close-up check after} 27. fxe3 Qxg3+ {
. Once we start looking at this, we don't have to see beyond} 28. Bg2 Nxe3 {
to realize that White is being mated on g2. The fact that the white queen is
hanging after 28...Nxe3 is of no objective relevance, but it is a great
confidence booster: 'If I'm dreaming and it isn't forced mate on g2, no matter
as White won't have time to save his queen!'}) 27. Nf3 $2 {Réti loses his
composure and immediately makes a serious blunder. It is often the case that
rushing defenders towards an endangered king causes more trouble than the
original threat. The knight was performing an important role on d4, guarding
both the b5- and e2-pawns. Even worse, retreating it to f3 shuts in the bishop
on h1, which loses influence over the centre. This reduction in the energy of
the white pieces allows Alekhine to begin a series of tactical operations.} ({
The logical move was} 27. Bf3 $1 {, challenging the black bishop and
strengthening, rather than weakening, White's hold over the e2-square.}) 27...
cxb5 {White has lost control and is hit by wave after wave of attacks, with
never a moment to catch his breath.} 28. Qxb5 {If Réti had kept his knight on
d4 he could have replied 28 Nxb5, and so avoided all the grief that follows.}
Nc3 $1 {Alekhine aims first of all to conquer the pawn on e2. It is a perfect
target for the following reasons: -- 1) It is on a tactically sensitive square,
being the distance of a knight's fork from the rook on c1 and king on g1. -- 2)
It is performing a vital defensive role in guarding f3 against the attack of
the black rook and bishop. -- 3) It can be attacked with gain of time by
simultaneously hitting the white queen. --- Black still has a rook hanging on
e3, but he knows that, after White saves his queen, he will get in first with ...Nxe2+ attacking the white rook on c1. Therefore no variations needed to be
calculated here. It was only necessary to notice that after 29 Qc4 b5! the
white queen has to give up her defence of e2.} 29. Qxb7 Qxb7 30. Nxb7 Nxe2+ 31.
Kh2 ({Up until here,} 31. Kh2 {, Alekhine hasn't needed to calculate much.} --
({. He has always had the luxury of knowing that} 31... Nxc1 {will be at least
okay for him. In fact, this would give him a tiny, but meaningless, advantage
after} 32. fxe3 {.}) ({. Therefore at this point Black needs to start looking
at other moves. He gets nowhere special with} 31... Bxf3 32. Bxf3 Nxc1 ({or} 
32... Rxf3 33. Rxe2) 33. fxe3 {etc.}) ({. Instead,} 31... Rxf3 32. Rxe2 Rxg3
33. Kxg3 Bxe2 {leaves him with an extra pawn. That's better, but still it is
virtually impossible to win. So what other moves are there? If you examine the
position enough, you should be able to come across Alekhine's actual move.}))
31... Ne4 $1 {Black attacks both the rook on d2 and the pawn on f2.} ({
It is worth repeating that he is risking absolutely nothing with} 31... Ne4 {
in leaving the rook hanging on e3.} 32. -- ({. After} 32. fxe3 Nxd2 {material is equal, but with both the white rook on c1 and the knight on f3 hanging.
Therefore Black is bound to get in first when it comes to grabbing material.
And so it proves after} 33. Nxd2 ({or} 33. Rc2 Nxf3+ 34. Bxf3 Bxf3 {
winning a piece}) 33... Nxc1 {when he wins the exchange.}) ({. Instead,} 32.
Rd8+ Rxd8 33. fxe3 {has been suggested as the best chance for White, but this
is entirely hopeless after} Rd5 $1 34. Rc4 N2xg3 {. White not only loses a
pawn but will drop more material as his king is so badly placed; for example,}
35. Bg2 Nf1+ $1 36. Bxf1 ({if} 36. Kg1 Rd1 37. Bxf1 Bxf3 {
and wins with 38...Nd2 due to the pin on f1}) 36... Bxf3 {
and there is no good answer to the threat of} 37. -- Rh5+ 38. Bh3 ({as} 38. Kg1
Rh1# {is mate}) 38... Ng5 {winning a piece. Alekhine didn't need to see all
this - it was quite sufficient to get as far as 34...N2xg3 and conclude that
Black is a pawn up with a strong initiative.})) 32. Rc4 $1 {
Réti tries to confuse matters with his clever rook move.} Nxf2 {Alekhine's
has been hanging on e3 since move 26! But now he removes the threat, winning a
pawn and leaving g3 weaker.} ({If} 32... Bxf3 33. Rxe4 $3 {
is a move worthy of one of Réti's endgame studies. Then} Bxe4 ({after} 33...
Rxe4 34. Bxf3 {equalizes}) 34. fxe3 Bxh1 35. Kxh1 Nxg3+ 36. Kg2 {
gives White a survivable endgame.}) 33. Bg2 Be6 $1 {Beginning a regrouping of
his pieces. He attacks the rook on c4 and wins time for his next move which
obliges the white king to walk into a discovered attack.} ({
White was hoping for} 33... Bxf3 34. Bxf3 Rxf3 35. Rxe2 {with good drawing
chances. Unfortunately for Réti, not only is he a pawn down but his opponent
can also target his king.}) 34. Rcc2 {Réti attacks e2.} ({If he tries} 34. Rc5
{then} Raa3 $1 {is crushing.}) 34... Ng4+ 35. Kh3 Ne5+ {I suspect it was at
this point that Alekhine conceived his final combination. Everything could be
worked out due to the small number of pieces on the board and the forcing
nature of the play - as you will see, White has hardly any choice with his
moves.} 36. Kh2 Rxf3 $1 37. Rxe2 Ng4+ 38. Kh3 Ne3+ $1 (38... Rf6 $5 {
was an interesting alternative, threatening mate on h6. Then after} 39. Rxe6 ({
however, White could fight on in a losing position with} 39. Kh4 $1) 39... fxe6
40. Kxg4 Ra4+ {White is mated by} 41. Kh3 ({or} 41. Kg5 Rf5+ 42. Kg6 Rg4#)
41... Rh6# {.}) 39. Kh2 Nxc2 40. Bxf3 Nd4 41. Rf2 Nxf3+ 42. Rxf3 Bd5 $1 {
. The white knight is lost. --- A brilliant display of power play by Alekhine.
Once he had been given his chance with 26...Re3!! he kept Réti under relentless
pressure. --- William Hartston makes an interesting comment on this game in
'The Kings of Chess': --- "From the 26th move (...) a sequence of
mind-boggling combinations take over the board, eventually involving all the
pieces. Such chess, even at the highest level, is not calculable; it is
intuition backed up by the calculation of the essential variations at each
stage. The human mind is capable of no more. Yet Alekhine's notes give no
indication of the unfathomable nature of such play, of the doubt that must
have existed in his mind while playing the game." --- I would qualify this
slightly by adding that, although Alekhine might have doubted if his advantage
would be enough to win, he was always in a position to bail out with a slight,
if unrealizable, advantage. There was never a stage in the complications in
which he didn't have an obvious way to remove the tension and therefore all
danger. What I find most enthralling about the game is how close it came to
burning out to a draw, but Alekhine always found a way to maintain the dynamic
element. As Hartston himself remarks, "as a triumph of imagination and
judgment in conditions of obscure visibility, it is quite magnificent."
Alekhine considered it to be one of his two most brilliant tournament games,
the other being against Bogoljubow (see Chapter Four).} 0-1

[Event "Moscow vs Leningrad match"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1962.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Returning to"]
[Black "Bronstein-Korchnoi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1Q2R3/5qpk/7p/8/6P1/1p3P2/1P1r2PK/8 b - - 0 37"]
[PlyCount "12"]
[EventDate "1962.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

{At move 37 let's see what would have happened if Korchnoi had avoided the
bait on f3 and instead captured on b2. After} 37... Rxb2 {
there might now follow} 38. Rh8+ Kg6 39. Qd6+ {. Black has to play} Qf6 $1 {.}
({If} 39... Kg5 $2 {
a nice computer might tell you it is mate in eight moves beginning with} 40.
Rf8 $1 {.} {If Black does the sensible thing and saves his queen with} Qc4 {
it is a much quicker mate:} 41. Rf5+ {and 42 Rh5,} ({or} 41. Qe5+ {
and mate on f5 or h4 as Black prefers.})) ({But Bronstein didn't have to see
that in advance - it was quite enough to spot that} 39... Kg5 $2 40. Qe5+ {
and 41 Qxb2 picks up the rook.}) 40. Qd3+ {is the checking reply. In his
earlier calculations, I suspect that Bronstein stopped about here as his
intuition told him that there would almost certainly be a way to exploit the
exposed black king. In contrast to the game, in which Black was always
threatening ...Qxg2 mate, White can afford the luxury of a quiet move or two
to pick off either the black rook, queen, or king. And as a 'safety valve'
White always has a draw if he keeps on checking the black king.} ({Analysis confirms that Bronstein's intuition was correct. Black loses his queen after} 40.
Qd3+ Kf7 41. Qd5+ Ke7 ({if} 41... Kg6 42. Qh5# {,}) ({or} 41... Qe6 42. Rf8+ $1
Ke7 43. Re8+ {etc}) 42. Qd8+ Ke6 43. Re8+ Kf7 44. Rf8+ {and wins.}) 40... Kg5 {
is a harder nut to crack.} ({After} 40... Kg5 {White would like to play} 41.
Qd5+ $6 Kf4 ({if} 41... Kg6 {it's mate on h5}) 42. Re8 $4 {when the threat of
43 Re4 means it is checkmate to the black king in nine moves - unless Black
plays} Qh4+ $1 {when it is checkmate to the white king in three moves.}) {
Instead, the quiet} 41. Kh3 $3 {, stopping ...Qh4 ideas, leaves Black with no
good answer to the threat of 42 Qd5+ Kf4 43 Re8. For example, after} Qe5 42.
Rf8 g6 {(to stop the killer check on f5), White has} 43. f4+ {
winning the queen;} ({or, better still,} 43. Qd8+ {forcing mate. --- I doubt
very much - nay, it is impossible! - that Bronstein had seen 41 Kh3!! when he
played 35 Qb6. In the actual game, it was essential after 37...Qxf3 to have
noticed 39 Rxh6+!! in advance as Black was threatening mate in one. In
contrast, Bronstein had to trust his intuition that a move like 41 Kh3!! would
exist in the position after 37...Rxb2. In any case, he wasn't taking a risk as
he could take a draw as he pleased. --- Hence we have seen that when making a
combination, some tactics must be seen in advance (39 Rxh6+!!), whereas in
other cases we have to rely on our intuition and cross bridges as we come to
them (41 Kh3!!).}) 1-0

[Event "Prague"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1942.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Opocensky, K."]
[Black "Alekhine, A."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A54"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "1942.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. Nf3 e5 5. g3 c6 6. Bg2 Be7 {Here we see
Alekhine's antipathy to the kingside fianchetto. Having played 5...c6 he
doesn't want to weaken the d6-pawn any further and so keeps the bishop
defending it.} ({No doubt Bronstein would have played} 6... g6 {, when} 7. O-O
Bg7 8. e4 O-O {
is similar to his games with Zita and Reshevsky - see Chapter Eight.}) 7. O-O
O-O 8. Qc2 exd4 $2 ({A modern player would trust in the c6/d6/e5 pawn centre,
and stand his ground with, say,} 8... Qc7) ({or} 8... Re8 {. We shall also
discuss this topic in Chapter Eight. --- Instead, Alekhine reasons that "the
pawn on d6 is weak, I should get rid of it with ...d6-d5 in the style of the
Grünfeld. Hence taking on d4 followed by ...Nb6 and ...d6-d5 is the way to
proceed." Such false logic will lead him close to defeat.}) 9. Nxd4 Nb6 10. b3
d5 11. Rd1 $1 Qd7 $2 ({Black would be busted after} 11... dxc4 12. Nxc6 Qe8 13.
Nb5 $1 {threatening 14 Nc7 trapping the queen.}) ({
Even so, Alekhine should make do with} 11... Bd7 {
, though he remains in an uncomfortable position after} 12. cxd5 Nfxd5 13. Nxd5
Nxd5 14. Bb2 {.}) 12. cxd5 Nbxd5 13. Nxd5 cxd5 14. Bb2 Re8 15. Rac1 {White has 
a perfect development, a game free of weaknesses and the chance to attack d5.
Meanwhile the black queen on d7 and bishop on c8 make a horrid impression.} Bd8
{The bishop stops an invasion on c7 and seeks activity on b6. Of course, it
would have been much simpler to have put the bishop on g7 in the opening...}
16. e3 $1 {If Black does nothing then the simple plan of 17 Ne2 and 18 Nf4
will win the d5-pawn whilst keeping a crushing positional superiority.
Therefore Alekhine has to employ all his tactical ingenuity to set his
opponent problems.} Ne4 $1 17. Ne2 Bb6 18. Nf4 Nxf2 $1 {One can imagine how
Karel Opocensky must have been feeling at this moment. He has all his pieces
on excellent squares, while Black's rook on a8 and bishop on c8 are shut out
of the game. So the complications must work out in White's favour. But how
nerve-wracking it must be when the greatest tactical genius of the age
(perhaps of any age) sacrifices a piece to attack your king!} 19. Qxf2 $2 {
Opocensky feels he has the win of a lifetime in his grasp, and believes he can
achieve it with a positional queen sacrifice.} ({The win was to be had with} 
19. Rxd5 $1 {.} -- ({. After} 19... Qg4 $2 {
the knight can be captured with the queen:} 20. Qxf2 Bxe3 21. Qxe3 Rxe3 22.
Rd8+ {and mates.}) ({. If} 19... Qe7 {the e3-point can be shielded with} 20.
Re5 {, followed again by taking on f2, unless Black gives up his queen with}
Qxe5 {, which fails to} 21. Bxe5 Rxe5 22. Qxc8+ $1 Re8 {
(taking the queen allows another back rank mate)} 23. Qxa8 {(simplest)} Rxa8
24. Kxf2 {and Black must resign.}) ({
. Perhaps Alekhine was planning to give up his queen at once with} 19... Bxe3
20. Rxd7 {.} -- ({. If now} 20... Bxd7 21. Bxb7 {is objectively best,} ({
but, personally, playing Alekhine I would simplify with} 21. Qxf2 Bxf2+ 22.
Kxf2 {with an easily won endgame (} Rac8 23. Bxb7 $1 {).})) ({
. Alternatively Black might try} 20... Ng4+ 21. Kh1 Bxd7 ({if} 21... Nf2+ 22.
Qxf2 {simplifies and stays a piece up}) 22. Rf1 Bb5 23. Qf5 Bxf1 ({or} 23...
Nf2+ 24. Rxf2) 24. Qxg4 {and wins. --- As you can see, Opocensky had to find
the unusual manoeuvre Rxd5 and Re5 in the variation with 19...Qe7 and also
notice the back rank trick with Qxc8+. If Alekhine had chosen the variation
with 19...Bxe3 the Czech master would have had to convince himself that Black
could achieve nothing after the discovered check on his king with 20...Ng4+.
This isn't at all easy with a ticking clock and the World Champion sitting
opposite you. --- Even though objectively he should have lost, Alekhine was
entirely correct to gamble in this fashion. If he had quietly accepted the
loss of a pawn he would most likely have been ground down in the endgame, if
he had survived that long. Certainly he would have had zero winning chances.
Whereas after the sacrifice all three results are possible: win, loss or draw.}
))) 19... Bxe3 20. Qxe3 Rxe3 21. Nxd5 {The white rooks control open files and
the knight threatens to pick up an enemy rook in one move (22 Nxe3) or two
moves (22 Nc7 and 23 Nxa8). Alekhine sees that the second threat can be
ignored.} Re2 $1 {As we shall see this is a counterattack against both white
bishops, not just the one or b2.} 22. Nc7 ({
White is obliged to go ahead with his combination as} 22. Nf6+ gxf6 23. Rxd7
Bxd7 {just leaves him material down.}) 22... Qe7 23. Nxa8 {Opocensky has a
rook, bishop and knight for the queen and a one-move threat in 24 Rxc8+. But
he has lost control as Black can draw with 23...Rxg2+ 24 Kxg2 Qe2+, when the
white king can't evade the checks. Alekhine finds something even stronger.} Bh3
$3 {The World Champion has achieved a beautiful coordination amongst his three
remaining pieces. The miserable bishop that spent almost half the game shut in
behind the queen delivers the killer blow.} 24. Rd8+ ({If White replies} 24.
Bxh3 {he is mated in four moves beginning} Qe3+ 25. Kh1 Qf3+ {.}) ({If} 24. Be4
{(a desperate attempt to block the e-file), my computer program wants to reply
with the rather surreal} h5 $1 {,} ({rather than} 24... Rxe4 25. Ba3 Qg5 $5 {
. I'll leave you to work that out!})) 24... Qxd8 25. Bxh3 Qxa8 ({
White wins the queen but loses the battle after} 25... Qxa8 26. Rc8+ Qxc8 27.
Bxc8 Rxb2 {. --- The next time you mess up the opening, remember this game and
come out fighting!}) 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "2. Catching King in Centre"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

{Leaving the king too long in the centre is an occupational hazard for chess
players. There are many reasons why we might gamble with the safety of our
most important piece, including incompetence, lack of a sense of danger, and
subtle miscalculation. Although it may appear a self-inflicted fault, power
players have employed various techniques to persuade their opponents into
taking unnecessary risks with the king. --- So let's imagine we have provoked
the opponent into leaving his king in the centre. What is the best way to
punish him? A classic power play method is to bring the rooks with all
possible speed into the attack. The opponent is unlikely to be able to respond
by calling up his own rooks into the defence, if only because his king is
getting in the way. Therefore, even if you make a heavy material sacrifice to
involve your rooks in the onslaught, you are still likely to have too much
firepower for the defence to resist. --- In the first games in this chapter,
Paul Morphy has a head start in activating his rooks as there is no knight on
b1 to get in the way of the rook on a1!} 1. -- (1. -- {Rapid development
crushes an inferior defence: -- Players of the mid 19th century were all too
ready to indulge in pawn and piece grabbing, even when judicious development
and the sober refusal to open lines was required. --- In contrast, Morphy
first and foremost aimed for a rapid and harmonious development of his pieces.
He wasn't interested in the overall size of his army, but rather how well it
functioned as an attacking unit. His willingness to make sacrifices to
increase the power and range of his pieces often caught his inexperienced
opponents out, who found their king slain before he had even put his boots on.
--- We'll begin by looking at a couple of the American's games played at odds,
in which a tiny, but well-drilled force outwits a disorganized horde.
Certainly the opposition was weak, but no one else has punished bad opening
play with such elegance and panache as Morphy. (See Morphy-Maurian.) --- The
fact that Morphy was playing according to a preconceived system against the
odds-receiver is shown by the following game, which is won in almost identical
style: (See Morphy-Worrall.)}) (1. -- {Next we see the attacking scheme of the
Evans Gambit in its purest form. Once again Morphy uses the absence of the
knight to good effect. (See Morphy-Lichtenhein.). --- Here is Morphy's most
famous game, played in an opera box in Paris during a performance of The
Barber of Seville. Its most pleasing quality is the way Morphy blends the
formal requirements of development with vigorous attacking play. Of course to
achieve this feat needed some considerable help from his (non-chess) titled
opponents, the Duke and the Count. (See Morphy-Duke of Brunswick & Count
Isouard.) --- At this point we'll get in our time machine and go forwards 80
years to see how Alekhine carried out a similar type of attack, though in a
far more sophisticated manner.}) (1. -- {A premature bid for counterplay
refuted: -- In the games so far we have seen a vastly inferior defence crushed
by direct, vigorous developing moves. In the next game the loser is a strong
player who received the IM title when it was first conferred by FIDE in 1950.
His errors are of such a subtle nature that it requires his World Champion
opponent to exert himself to the maximum. Not many players would be prepared
to remain a rook down for a long sequence of moves! (See Alekhine-Böök.)}) (1.
-- {A sacrifice turns a blocked position into an open one: -- Black began the
next game with six consecutive pawn moves - how often does that happen? No one
could play like that against Morphy after 1 e4 e5 and live more than 15 moves,
but such liberties with development are possible in the closed games.
Naturally Efim Geller wants to open lines, dreaming of a quick massacre in the
style of Morphy versus the proverbial 'NN' or 'Amateur' all over again. And as
we shall see, such games are still possible, even in the modern age between
strong Grandmasters. (See Geller-Dreev.)}) (1. -- {An appeal to good
old-fashioned greed: -- In case this is all getting too complex, let me remind
you that dangling a pawn under the opponent's nose still works wonders. (See
Geller-Stean.)}) (1. -- {The strength of a threatened attack: -- Another way
to inveigle the opponent into keeping his king in the centre is to make the
prospect of castling appear more dangerous. (See Topalov-Rozentalis.)}) (1. --
{A trap worthy of Tal: -- We have seen various 'explosive' methods of
detaining the opponent's king in the centre. In contrast David Bronstein sets
a trap in such a treacherously peaceful-looking position that even
arch-tactician Mikhail Tal (albeit partially) falls into it. (See
Bronstein-Tal.)}) *

[Event "New Orleans"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morphy, P."]
[Black "Maurian, C."]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "33"]
[EventDate "1857.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

{Remember this is an odds game - so please remove the white knight from b1!} 1.
e4 e5 ({With an extra knight against Morphy, the priority is to survive long
enough to bring all your pieces into the game. Therefore} 1... e6 $1 {
would be a good way to start, shielding the f7-square.}) 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5
4. Bc4 g4 $2 {Evidently Maurian has a different view of the situation: it's
nice to be one knight up, but even better to be two knights up!} 5. d4 $1 {
Despite the smaller size of his army, Morphy doesn't hesitate to sacrifice a
minor piece. He realizes that he will have a superiority in numbers in the
only place where it matters, which is in the vicinity of the black king.} gxf3
6. Qxf3 d5 7. Bxd5 c6 $2 {Such pettiness when already two pieces up.} ({
He should develop with} 7... Nf6 $1 {.}) 8. Bxf7+ $1 {
The black king is driven into the firing line of the white queen and rooks.}
Kxf7 9. Qh5+ Kg7 10. Bxf4 Be7 11. O-O Qxd4+ 12. Kh1 Qxe4 {It seems Black is
doing everything he can to help White's attack by wasting moves with the queen
and opening the e-file.} 13. Rae1 {Reinforcements arrive from the queenside to
complete the coordination of the white pieces. Imagine if White hadn't given
piece odds. In that case he would still have a knight sitting unmoved on b1.
This would have blocked in the rook on a1 and so prevented the game move,
which prepares a decisive sacrifice on e7. --- Therefore Morphy would have had
to develop the piece, say with 12 Nc3, thus giving the defence an important
breathing space. In other words, the fact that there is a knight missing from
b1 has proved to be to White's advantage, not Black's! It has given his attack
a dynamism that outweighs the material value of the knight.} Qg6 14. Rxe7+ $1
Kf8 ({If} 14... Nxe7 15. Bh6+ $1 {and mates.}) 15. Bd6+ Nf6 16. Rxf6+ Qxf6 17.
Qe8# {
. --- An extremely attractive demolition of some outrageously greedy play.} 1-0

[Event "New Orleans"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morphy, P."]
[Black "Worrall, T."]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "43"]
[EventDate "1857.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

{(remove the white knight from b1)} 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 g4 5.
d4 gxf3 6. O-O $1 Bh6 7. Qxf3 Nc6 {Black is beginning to get the right idea in
developing his pieces, so Morphy has to act fast.} 8. Bxf7+ $1 Kxf7 9. Qh5+ Kg7
10. Bxf4 Bxf4 11. Rxf4 Nh6 {
Stopping mate on f7 and also guarding the g4-square.} 12. Raf1 $1 {Once again Morphy can rejoice that there is no knight on b1 to get in the way of his
rook's deployment to the battlefield.} Qe8 ({The immediate threat was} 12... --
13. Rg4+ Nxg4 14. Qxg4+ Kh6 15. Rf5 $1 {
and Black has no good way to stop mate on h5, as if} Qe8 16. Qg5# {.}) 13. Qh4
d6 14. Qf6+ Kg8 15. Qxh6 {Morphy is pleased not so much at regaining a piece,
but rather at removing an obstruction to his attack.} Bd7 16. R1f3 Ne7 {
The other black horse rushes over to g6 to bolster the defence.} 17. h4 $1 {
Even in the middle of an attack with heavy pieces Morphy doesn't forget that
he needs the help of pawns to remove obstacles.} Ng6 18. h5 $1 {
Immediately ousting the black knight.} Bg4 $2 {For the first time in the game
Worrall refuses to grab material, and it is a fatal mistake.} ({If} 18... Nxf4
19. Rg3+ Ng6 20. hxg6 hxg6 21. Rxg6+ Qxg6 22. Qxg6+ {and Morphy has perpetual
check if he wants it, but having nabbed the queen he should be able to find a
way to win against a knight-odds player.}) 19. hxg6 hxg6 ({After} 19... Bxf3
20. g7 $1 Be2 21. Qf6 $3 {there is an unstoppable mate by queening on h8. Have
you ever seen a rook caught like this in the corner? In the game another
pretty mate appears:}) 20. Rf8+ $1 Qxf8 21. Rxf8+ Rxf8 22. Qxg6# {. The defeated king is blocked in by two defenders on his flanks, giving us an epaulette
mate.} 1-0

[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1859.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morphy, P."]
[Black "Lichtenhein, T."]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "1859.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

{(remove the white knight from b1)} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4
5. c3 {Incidentally, one of the drawbacks of the Evans' Gambit is that this
pawn move takes away the c3-square from the knight on b1. Well, there are no
complaints here as there ain't no knight on b1!} Bc5 6. O-O Nf6 7. d4 exd4 8.
cxd4 Bb6 9. Ba3 {The first stage of the winning scheme. One bishop goes to c4
to attack f7, the other goes to a3 to cut off the black king's escape.} d6 10.
e5 {The second stage: White blasts open the centre with gain of time by
attacking the knight on f6.} dxe5 11. Qb3 $1 {The third stage, in which the
white queen joins in the battle. Already mate is threatened by 12 Bxf7+ and 13
Qe6.} Be6 12. Bxe6 fxe6 13. Qxe6+ Ne7 14. Nxe5 Rf8 15. Rfe1 {The fourth stage:
pressure along the e-file, culminating in e7 being attacked four times.} Nfd5
16. Qg4 g6 17. Qh4 a5 18. Qxh7 Bxd4 19. Nxg6 c5 20. Nxf8 Kxf8 {The fifth stage.
Black has survived a disaster on e7 with the manoeuvre 18...Bxd4 and 19...c5,
but at the cost of opening the d-file for the other rook.} 21. Rad1 $1 {
Once again Morphy can be happy that there is no knight on b1 boxing in his
queen's rook. What follows now is a tactical demolition.} Ke8 22. Bxc5 $1 Bxc5
23. Qg8+ Kd7 24. Rxd5+ Nxd5 25. Qxd5+ Bd6 26. Qxb7+ Qc7 27. Qxa8 1-0

[Event "Paris"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1858.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morphy, P."]
[Black "Brunswick & Isouard"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C41"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "33"]
[EventDate "1858.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 $6 {Morphy's straightforward development has
already provoked a less than noble reaction from his illustrious opponents,
who contrive to hand over the bishop pair and let the white queen reach an
active post.} 4. dxe5 Bxf3 ({Of course} 4... dxe5 5. Qxd8+ Kxd8 6. Nxe5 {
is unacceptable for Black.}) 5. Qxf3 dxe5 6. Bc4 {
The bishop is developed and at the same time menaces f7.} Nf6 7. Qb3 $1 {
Attacking both b7 and f7. Here we see that Morphy was quite prepared to break
the rule of rapid development if he saw a tactical chance to cause his
opponent problems.} Qe7 8. Nc3 $1 ({The alternative was to grab the pawn with} 
8. Qxb7 {and then slowly grind out the win in the endgame after} Qb4+ 9. Qxb4
Bxb4+ 10. c3 {etc. That would be the classical way of handling the position.
Instead, Morphy realizes that keeping the tension leaves his opponents with a
serious difficulties in developing their game. This is the typical power play
approach to a position. --- These two approaches are by no means mutually
exclusive: Morphy could decide in a couple of moves time to go pawn grabbing
after all if it's the only correct path. He simply believes that for the
moment he can gain most benefit through patiently mobilizing his pieces and
leaving the Count and Duke to stew in their predicament. Or perhaps Morphy, an
opera fan, wanted to get the game over with as quickly as possible so that he
could enjoy the rest of the performance!?}) ({
It is also worth noting that Morphy had an immediate tactical opportunity with
} 8. Bxf7+ {, deflecting the black queen, so that after} Qxf7 9. Qxb7 {
the rook on a8 perishes as there is no 9...Qb4+ defence. However, Black would
then be able to build up pressure on the kingside with} Bc5 10. Qxa8 O-O {
when the f2-pawn is very vulnerable. Morphy always preferred to be the player
offering material for the initiative.}) 8... c6 9. Bg5 b5 $2 {This move has
been ridiculed for more than 150 years. Indeed, the American's pieces are all
dressed up and ready for action, so the chance to sacrifice to open lines is
heaven-sent. On the other hand, there is no obvious way for Black to mobilize
his pieces.} ({If he plays} 9... Qc7 {then after} 10. O-O-O {
he still can't develop with} Nbd7 {because f7 drops.}) ({
Of all Black's possible moves,} 9... b6 {looks most solid; for example,} 10.
O-O-O Nbd7 {.} 11. -- ({. Now} 11. Nb5 {misses the mark because after} cxb5 12.
Bxb5 {Black has the important defensive resource} O-O-O $1 {, whisking the
king away from the pin on d7 and getting his queen's rook involved in the
centre battle.}) ({. Morphy would have had to settle for} 11. Bxf6 $1 {
. If then} Nxf6 $2 ({meanwhile Black would lose a pawn after} 11... Qxf6 12.
Bxf7+ Qxf7 13. Qxf7+ Kxf7 14. Rxd7+) ({or similarly} 11... gxf6 12. Bxf7+ Qxf7
13. Qxf7+ Kxf7 14. Rxd7+) 12. Nb5 $1 {
breaks through in the style of the game, e.g.} Nxe4 13. Qf3 $1 {
and the black king won't survive long.})) 10. Nxb5 $1 {A forcing phase now
begins. Until the end of the game Black is hit by one threat after another -
he has lost his independence of decision and can only react to White's moves.}
cxb5 11. Bxb5+ Nbd7 12. O-O-O $3 {Development with concrete threats against f7.
} Rd8 ({If now} 12... O-O-O 13. Ba6+ {and mate next move.}) 13. Rxd7 $1 Rxd7
14. Rd1 {Morphy completes the coordination of his pieces. It doesn't matter
that he is a rook down as Black is bound to suffer a catastrophe on the d-file.
} Qe6 15. Bxd7+ ({Instead,} 15. Bxf6 Qxb3 16. Bxd7# {
would be rather quaint, but Morphy finds an even more elegant finish.}) 15...
Nxd7 16. Qb8+ $1 Nxb8 17. Rd8# {. --- A wonderful, if lightweight game.} 1-0

[Event "Margate"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1938.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alekhine, A."]
[Black "Böök, E."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D28"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "1938.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O Nc6 {The reason why
we have to study opening theory is that natural moves don't always work. You
would imagine that there could be no possible objection to a move that
develops and centralizes a knight on its best square. Or at least if such a
move failed it would be for tactical, rather than strategical, reasons.} ({
Here Black should play} 6... a6 {
, aiming to gain space with 7...b5 and then put his bishop on b7. After} 7. a4
({or} 7. Bb3) {
, showing respect for the ...b7-b5 advance, Black can develop with} 7... Nc6 {
and 8...Be7, as White has renounced the idea of quick action in the centre.}) (
{In contrast after} 6... a6 {, if White tried to break open the centre with
Qe2 and Rd1, the black knight is better deployed to d7, where it blocks the
d-file and lends support to the c5-pawn. For example,} 7. Qe2 b5 8. Bd3 Bb7 9.
Rd1 Nbd7 {etc.}) 7. Qe2 $1 a6 ({It was safer to forget all about expansion on
the queenside and just develop the kingside with} 7... cxd4 8. Rd1 Be7 9. exd4
O-O {, when White has only a small advantage.}) 8. Nc3 b5 {
The second step of the queenside pawns is decidedly risky.} ({
He had to take measures against White's pressure down the d-file with} 8...
cxd4) ({or} 8... Qc7 $5 {.}) ({For instance, after} 8... cxd4 9. Rd1 Be7 10.
exd4 Nb4 11. Ne5 O-O {
White has promising pressure, but the black position is still intact.}) 9. Bb3
b4 $2 {The third pawn advance on the queenside, and this time it is fatal.
White is allowed to blast open the centre before Black is able to evacuate his
king.} 10. d5 $1 Na5 ({White regains his piece with a big attack after} 10...
exd5 11. Nxd5 $1 Nxd5 12. Rd1 {and then 13 e4 if necessary.}) 11. Ba4+ Bd7 12.
dxe6 $1 {Gaining a vital tempo to open the d-file.} fxe6 13. Rd1 $1 ({
If White lost his nerve with} 13. Bxd7+ $2 {, then after} Qxd7 14. Rd1 Qc6 {
he would have nothing better than the dismal retreat} 15. Nb1 {. In that case
Black would have achieved a decent game despite all his chess sins in the
opening. Such an outcome would be entirely illogical. And so, having examined
the position carefully, Alekhine sets out to punish his opponent.}) 13... bxc3
{In such situations you can only take the material and hope for the best.} 14.
Rxd7 $1 Nxd7 15. Ne5 Ra7 16. bxc3 $3 {Played with wonderful insouciance. A
rook down, Alekhine calmly recaptures the pawn, and asks his opponent: how are
you going to get out of your tangle? --- It must be asserted that we are
witnessing no supreme feat of calculation by Alekhine, with the position being
solved like a mathematical theorem. It was impossible for him to work out all
the variations to an end. He had to examine a certain number of defensive
tries by Black to make sure there was no obvious refutation of the sacrifice
and then trust his positional judgment to do the rest. --- Not that it takes
any fine strategical sense to notice that there is a lack of harmony among
Black's pieces. It will take a long time for the rook on h8 to get into the
game, and meanwhile one of the black knights is literally paralysed by the pin,
while the other knight is sitting uselessly on the edge of the board with no
safe moves. The greatness of Alekhine's achievement is not that he saw Black
would be awkwardly placed, but rather that he realized it was worth investing
a whole rook to cause this discomfort. --- As we saw above, when Morphy gave
odds of the knight on b1, he often succeeded in turning its absence to his
advantage by swinging his rook from a1 into the attack with greater speed.
Here Alekhine might well wish that his bishop on c1 would accidentally be
knocked off the board as then he would be able to strengthen decisively the
attack on d7 with Rd1! But there is a bishop on c1, and the need to move it
out of the way gives Black a little time before disaster (in the shape of Rd1)
strikes. Besides the pin on d7, White has a second string to his bow: the
possibility of a queen check on h5, which would weaken the defences around the
black king and win at least some material back.} Ke7 {Böök rules out the check
on h5 and breaks the pin on the knight, but it is horrendous for the black
king to be blocking in his bishop.} ({A better try is} 16... Be7 {, but then}
17. Qh5+ g6 18. Nxg6 hxg6 19. Qxh8+ Bf8 20. e4 {
gives White two pawns and a continuing attack for the piece.}) ({
After the game the Finnish IM came up with the important variation} 16... g6 {
(to rule out a check on h5)} 17. Qd3 $1 Ke7 ({if} 17... Qe7 18. Ba3 Qd6 19. Qe4
Qd5 20. Qf4 {intending 21 Qf7+ keeps up the onslaught}) 18. e4 Nf6 19. Qf3 Bg7
20. Bg5 Rf8 21. Rd1 Qa8 ({better than Böök's} 21... Qc7 $2 22. Nd7 $1 {
and White wins}) 22. Nd7 {and Black remains under severe pressure. --- If you
give the position after 16 bxc3 to a computer program it will keep offering
brilliant defences for Black. But during a game a human player has to rely on
judgments and assessments, as it is impossible to see everything in precise
terms. This means that key moves and defensive ideas are certain to be missed.
Böök was never going to be able to resist the flair and attacking energy of
his opponent. Chess remains a battle between two minds, even in this computer
age.}) 17. e4 $1 Nf6 18. Bg5 Qc7 19. Bf4 ({Good enough to win, but} 19. Qh5 $3
{was more spectacular:} Qxe5 ({or} 19... g6 20. Nxg6+ hxg6 21. Qxh8 Qe5 {
(otherwise f6 drops)} 22. Qh7+ Kd6 23. Qxa7 {and wins}) 20. Qe8+ Kd6 21. Rd1+
Kc7 22. Qd8+ Kb7 23. Rb1+ {and mates.}) 19... Qb6 20. Rd1 {White has achieved
a harmonious development which makes a striking contrast with the inept state
of Black's kingside pieces.} g6 {Böök is desperate to free his bishop, but he
fatally undermines the knight on f6. In fact he had no good move, in view of
the threat of 21 Bg5 and 22 Qh5 etc.} 21. Bg5 Bg7 22. Nd7 $1 {
Now Black has no good way to stop 23 e5.} Rxd7 23. Rxd7+ Kf8 24. Bxf6 Bxf6 25.
e5 ({For if} 25. e5 Be7 26. Qf3+ Kg8 27. Rxe7 {wins. --- A brilliant display
by Alekhine who elaborated and refined Morphy's attacking conception.}) 1-0

[Event "New York Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1990.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Geller, E."]
[Black "Dreev, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C08"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "1990.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 a6 4. Ngf3 c5 5. exd5 exd5 6. Be2 c4 7. O-O Bd6 8. b3
b5 9. a4 Bb7 $2 ({If Black had kept his nerve with} 9... c3 $1 {(another pawn
move) the position would remain unclear. It is ironic that as soon as Dreev
gives into his guilty conscience about being a laggard with his development he
falls under a big attack.}) 10. bxc4 bxc4 11. Bxc4 $3 {It's often difficult to
judge which piece to sacrifice in such scenarios. Here Geller 'leads with the
bishop' as he has seen the possibility of a knight fork which will add a vital
impetus to the white attack.} dxc4 12. Nxc4 Be7 ({After} 12... Ne7 {the white pieces join the attack in Morphy style, creating threats on every move:} 13.
Nxd6+ Qxd6 14. Ba3 Qc7 15. Re1 Nbc6 16. d5 $1 {.}) 13. Re1 Qc7 {Still, things
don't appear that bad for Black. The white d-pawn is quiescent and the knight
on c4 is hanging. Given time, Dreev is ready to play 14...Nc6 and then answer
15 d5 with 15...0-0-0, pinning the d-pawn. It looks a little risky for the
black king to be on the queenside, but an extra piece is a lot of consolation
for such hardship. Geller's next move destroys this daydream.} 14. Rb1 $1 Qxc4
({Here we see why 9...Bb7 was a poor move: if} 14... Nc6 {
- or any other developing move - Black is hit by the tactic} 15. Rxb7 $1 Qxb7
16. Nd6+ {winning the queen. Dreev therefore has nothing better than to take
the white knight, but this invites the white rook to the seventh rank.}) 15.
Rxb7 {It is often worth investing material to get your rooks into the game
while those of the opponent are still curled up fast asleep in the corners of
the board. We saw in the odds games above how Morphy would overwhelm the enemy
defence by getting the rook on a1 into the attack tout de suite.} Nc6 {
The key to finishing off the attack is to energize the centre pawns. Unfortunately, if 16 d5? then 16...0-0-0! attacks both b7 and d5. Geller finds a superb
alternative.} 16. Nd2 $1 Qxd4 {Dreev decides to eliminate the pesky pawn, but
now his queen is subjected to a string of tempo-gaining prods.} ({If instead} 
16... Qd5 17. c4 {and the pawns conquer the d5-point,}) ({while after} 16...
Qxa4 17. d5 {the pawn is rolling and, crucially, there is no pin on the d-file
to justify Black castling queenside.}) 17. Bb2 Qxa4 18. Re4 Qa2 19. Bxg7 O-O-O
20. Rb3 $1 {
A calm retreat which introduces threats such as 21 Rc4 followed by 22 Qf3.} Bf6
21. Qg4+ {Geller regains his piece while keeping a decisive attack.} Kc7 22.
Qf4+ Kc8 23. Bxf6 Nxf6 24. Qxf6 Qxc2 {It says something for the state of
Black's position that a computer program will tell you that blundering his
queen in this fashion is by far his best move.} 25. Qf5+ $1 {. A rook check on
e8 or e7 will win the black queen next move. --- At the age of 65 Geller
displayed great energy to beat a bright young player in a topical variation.
The moral: while it is perfectly acceptable to leave your king in the centre
if the position is sufficiently blocked - if you have got it wrong you will
pay a heavy price.} 1-0

[Event "Teesside"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1975.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Geller, E."]
[Black "Stean, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B36"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[EventDate "1975.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. e4 Nf6 6. Nc3 d6 7. Be2 Nxd4 8.
Qxd4 Bg7 9. Bg5 Be6 10. Rc1 Qa5 11. Qd2 Rc8 12. f3 {
Here Black could simply have castled, but he decided to swipe the pawn:} Bxc4
$2 {A player should always believe in his ideas and trust his powers of
calculation. If he thinks a move is good, he should make it without hesitation,
according to the advice of Capablanca (and true to his own words, didn't the
Cuban take the Marshall Gambit pawn when it was first offered, and win in
brilliant style?). --- But even so, to grab a pawn from one of the greatest
analysts in the world, a Soviet Super-Grandmaster and the trainer of Spassky
and Karpov...does such a player really blunder pawns after 12 moves?} 13. Nd5
$1 Qxa2 ({The pin on the c-file costs Black a piece after} 13... Qxd2+ 14. Kxd2
b5 15. b3 {.}) 14. O-O $1 {Seldom is castling of such fearful strength.} Nxd5 (
{Black has no good move, as} 14... O-O 15. Nxe7+) ({or} 14... Rc6 15. Nb4 {
are hopeless.}) 15. Rxc4 $3 (15. exd5 {is the move Stean relied on, seeing that
} O-O $1 16. Bxe7 Rfe8 {
is excellent for Black. But not surprisingly Geller has a trick up his sleeve.}
) 15... Rxc4 ({The best chance was} 15... Nb6 {
, though White has a big initiative for his pawn after} 16. Rxc8+ Nxc8 17. Bb5+
Kd8 18. Rc1 {etc.}) 16. Qxd5 Ra4 17. Bb5+ Kf8 ({Black gets mated after} 17...
Kd8 18. Qxd6+ Kc8 19. Bd7+ Kd8 20. Bxe7# {
...shades of the Evergreen Game Anderssen-Dufresne.}) 18. Rc1 $1 {
. There's no good way to prevent a back rank disaster.} ({
A pity that Stean didn't allow the pretty finish} 18. Rc1 Bd4+ 19. Qxd4 $1 Rxd4
20. Bh6+ Kg8 21. Rc8# {.}) 1-0

[Event "European Team Championship, Batumi"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1999.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Topalov, V."]
[Black "Rozentalis, E."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A18"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "1999.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4 d5 4. e5 Ne4 5. Nf3 Be7 6. h4 $1 Nxc3 ({
Topalov dissuades Black from castling, as after} 6... O-O $2 7. Bd3 $1 Nxc3 $2
({the knight has to stand its ground with} 7... f5 $1 {
, though White can still attack with} 8. exf6 Nxf6 9. Ng5 $5) 8. Bxh7+ $1 Kxh7
9. Ng5+ {we have the famous Greek Gift Sacrifice:} Kg6 ({
it is a quick mate upon} 9... Kg8 {with} 10. Qh5 Bxg5 11. hxg5 f6 12. g6 {etc,}
) ({and if} 9... Kh6 10. dxc3 {threatens a killer discovered check}) 10. dxc3
Bxg5 ({Black loses the queen after} 10... f5 11. h5+ Kh6 12. Nxe6+) 11. hxg5 {
leaves Black with no answer to the twin threats of 12 Qh5+ and 12 Qd3+, in
either case with a decisive attack. --- You will see from these variations how
much attacking energy was generated by 6 h4. Rozentalis therefore decides to
leave his king in the centre and eliminate the 'Greek Gift' knight on f3 as
quickly as possible.}) 7. dxc3 dxc4 8. Qa4+ $1 {
Naturally Topalov activates his queen rather than allowing it to be exchanged.}
Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Qg4 Bxf3 11. gxf3 $1 ({Much more dynamic than} 11. Qxf3 {
'keeping the pawns neat', because} Qd5 $1 {
offers an unwelcome exchange of queens}) ({
and unfortunately the even more dynamic} 11. Qxg7 $2 {allows mate on d1.}) ({
After} 11. gxf3 {the attacking knight has vanished, but in return White has
the open g-file. Therefore Black cannot contemplate castling kingside:} O-O $2
12. Bh6 g6 {
and White wouldn't even bother taking the exchange - he could build up with}
13. Rd1 Qc8 14. h5 $1 {: for example,} Rd8 15. Rxd8+ Qxd8 16. hxg6 hxg6 ({or} 
16... fxg6 17. Qxe6+) 17. Qh3 {and Black is soon mated down the h-file. ---
Rozentalis is mesmerized by these possible attacks on the kingside, and thinks
that they are the only danger that he faces. As a result he notices the open
g-file but he doesn't notice the white pawn on f3. He dismisses it as part of
White's fractured pawn structure, and doesn't realize it is going to become
the chief enemy of his king. --- Rozentalis is a very strong Grandmaster and
only this can explain his next move.}) 11... Bf8 $2 {It's not a good idea to
undevelop your only developed piece when you are playing Topalov!} ({
He should play} 11... g6 {, aiming to answer} 12. h5 {with} Qd5 $1 {, counterattacking against e5, when "Black is OK" according to Rozentalis' own notes to
the game. In fact Black certainly isn't out of the woods even then, as White
can gambit the e5-pawn with} 13. hxg6 fxg6 14. Be3 $5 ({or} 14. Bc4 {, with Topalov's customary two bishop pressure play. Nevertheless, this would be a real
fight, as compared to the massacre in the game.})) 12. f4 $1 {The 'weak' pawn
on f3 begins to flex its muscles. As we shall see, White's pawns have actually
gained dynamism, rather than losing it, in being broken up. It's not how
pretty a pawn structure looks, but how much work it does.} Nd7 ({
There's no time for} 12... g6 {, guarding the f5-square, because of} 13. h5 {
intending 14 hxg6, when there is no safe way for Black to recapture the pawn.})
13. Be3 c6 14. O-O-O Qa5 {Despite our criticism of Black's play, he is only
one move from 15...0-0-0 with a perfectly safe game. It appears that his
queen's attack on the a2-pawn will win him the necessary time for this. In
reality the game has reached its most critical point. Black will either be
fine or he will come under a big attack depending on the energy of White's
next move.} 15. f5 $3 {Not a second is to be wasted!} Qxa2 ({If} 15... O-O-O
16. fxe6 Nxe5 ({or} 16... fxe6 17. Bc4 $1 {, planning a pin on d7 with 18 Bxe6}
) 17. Rxd8+ Kxd8 18. Qf5 {and White wins a pawn whilst keeping his attack.}) ({
Or} 15... Qxe5 16. fxe6 Qxe6 ({if} 16... fxe6 17. Bc4) 17. Qf4 $1 {
planning Bh3 or Bc4 in the style of the game.}) 16. fxe6 Qxe6 17. Qf4 $1 {
Delicately played; the white queen shuffles one square to create some deadly
threats. The key to the white attack is the bishop biding its time on f1. It
proves that a chess piece is sometimes best 'developed' on its starting square.
Thus, without stirring, the bishop has achieved maximum flexibility, sitting
astride two important diagonals. It can go to h3 to terrorize the black queen
and knight, or it can choose to join the queen in assailing f7 as occurs in
the game after 18 Bc4. Rozentalis' defence is made all the harder as he
doesn't know from which direction the terrible bishop is going to strike him.}
Rd8 ({If} 17... Qxe5 {White's bishop chooses} 18. Bh3 $1 {, when} Qxf4 19.
Bxd7+ {wins a piece.}) ({More resistant is} 17... Nxe5 18. Bh3 Qe7 {, but} 19.
Qg3 $1 {clears the way for 20 f4 whereupon the black knight is ousted from e5,
and Bd7+ etc becomes decisive. The game might continue} Rd8 20. Rxd8+ Kxd8 21.
Rd1+ Ke8 ({if} 21... Kc7 22. Rd7+ $1) 22. Bxa7 {and Black is defenceless
against 23 f4 or 23 Bb6 etc. This variation shows us how the queen sometimes
has to play second fiddle to the pawn - here she has to step out of the way of
the f-pawn.}) 18. Bc4 {As the black king is going to be staying in the centre,
the bishop turns its attention to an attack on the f7-square.} Qe7 {Black's box
ed-in bishop on f8 makes a pitiful contrast to its powerful opposite number on
c4.} 19. Rhe1 {White completes the mobilization of his pieces, after which the
black queen faces being impaled against her king by the battering ram e5-e6.}
h5 20. Qg3 $1 {
Simple and completely decisive: Topalov clears the way for 21 Bg5.} ({
The immediate} 20. e6 {was also possible; for example,} fxe6 21. Qe4 $1 {
threatening} -- 22. Bg5 Nf6 {(what else?)} 23. Qg6+ Qf7 24. Rxe6+ {.}) 20...
Nxe5 21. Rxd8+ Kxd8 22. Bf4 Nxc4 ({Or} 22... f6 23. Rxe5 fxe5 24. Bg5 {
and the black queen is lost for even less.}) 23. Rxe7 Kxe7 24. Qd3 {. Materially speaking, it's not all that bad for Black: he has a rook, knight and two
pawns for the queen. Unfortunately two of his pieces are shut out of the game.}
({After} 24. Qd3 Nb6 ({or} 24... b5 25. b3) 25. Qd6+ Ke8 26. Qb8+ {
White can start by massacring the black queenside pawns.}) 1-0

[Event "USSR Team Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1968.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bronstein, D."]
[Black "Tal, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C32"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "1968.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 {When Bronstein played the King's Gambit, it wasn't merely as a
homage to the shades of Anderssen and Spielmann. It was also a carefully honed,
thoroughly studied weapon that he used to win points in tournaments.
Nonetheless, it's hard not to get emotional about Bronstein playing the
swashbuckling King's Gambit against Tal.} d5 {
Already a small victory for White.} ({The critical reply is} 2... exf4 {
, but Tal evidently hadn't been spending much time studying 19th century
theory and so selected a 'safe' alternative.}) 3. exd5 e4 4. d3 Nf6 5. dxe4
Nxe4 6. Nf3 Bc5 7. Qe2 Bf5 8. Nc3 Qe7 9. Be3 $1 {All these moves are well
known to theory. Black has sacrificed a pawn to gain a temporary initiative
which White quells with this precise bishop move.} Nxc3 ({
A solid alternative is} 9... Bxe3 10. Qxe3 Nxc3 11. Qxe7+ Kxe7 12. bxc3 Bxc2 {
that leaves Black only slightly worse.}) 10. Bxc5 Nxe2 11. Bxe7 Nxf4 12. Ba3 $1
Nd7 $2 ({Having come this far he should have tried to tough it out with} 12...
Nxd5 13. O-O-O Be6 14. Bc4 c6 {.}) 13. O-O-O ({Here Tal was about to castle
queenside when he suddenly saw the devilish gleam in Bronstein's eyes:} 13.
O-O-O O-O-O $4 14. Rd4 $1 {and Black loses a piece after either} Nh5 ({or} 
14... Ng6 15. g4) 15. g4 {. Over the last thirty years at least nine players
have fallen for this insidious trap, with only one surviving because the
opponent missed the strength of 14 Rd4. It takes the tactical radar of a Tal
to avoid being snared, although it began to bleep a little too late. If Black
can't castle queenside here, he is in serious trouble, as White is about to
play 14 Re1+, catching his king in the centre, while also ensuring that the
rook on a8 remains shut out of the game.}) 13... Be4 {According to Paul Keres,
an eye-witness, Tal had become agitated and spent an hour on the clock trying
to find a way out of the 'ambush'. The move he selected is a good fighting
chance, since it saves the bishop from the trap and at the same time blocks
the check on the e-file. --- Here we might say that the preparation element of
power play has fulfilled its role. Bronstein has succeeded in catching his
opponent's king in the centre and needs to find a forceful dynamic sequence to
exploit the advantage.} 14. Ng5 $5 {Gambiting the d5-pawn.} ({Instead,} 14. Re1
$1 f5 15. Ng5 {looks a simpler way to punish Black.}) 14... Bxd5 15. g3 $5 {
A pretty amazing move. White simply invites the black bishop to take his rook!}
({In fact an intermediate rook check on e1 looks much stronger: for example,} 
15. Re1+ Kd8 ({also bad for Black is} 15... Be6 16. g3) ({or} 15... Ne6 16. c4
{as White will break through on e6}) 16. g3 $1 {
and Black dare not take on h1 as} Bxh1 ({if instead} 16... f6 17. gxf4 fxg5 18.
Rg1 gxf4 19. Rxg7 {
gives White a decisive initiative with moves like Ree7 and Bh3 looming}) 17.
Nxf7+ Kc8 18. Nxh8 {is fatal. Of course in this variation 16 g3 has none of
the artistic appeal of 15 g3 as White would be regaining his rook at once if
Black had taken on h1. --- After the game Keres asked our hero why he didn't
play 15 Re1+ first. He records that Bronstein "looked at me as if I could not
understand anything about the position, and said 'I could not miss the
opportunity to play a move like 15 g3 against Tal, which I may not have again
in my whole life.'"}) 15... Bxh1 16. gxf4 {In return for his sacrifice White
has two attacking bishops, a strong knight, an active rook and the chance to
target both the black king and bishop on h1.} ({Bronstein hoped that the
powerful coordination of his pieces would be enough to finish the game in the
next five or so moves, as if} 16. gxf4 O-O-O {then} 17. Bh3 Bc6 18. Nxf7 {
and White will regain his material leaving Black under severe pressure. ---
Nevertheless, White's advantage isn't as great as that in Morphy vs Brunswick
& Isouard for one simple reason: the queens are no longer on the board. As Tal
now demonstrates, Black has a lot of defensive resources.}) 16... c5 $1 {
An excellent blocking move. The energy level of the white position drops
dramatically with the bishop on a3 shut out of the game. It took a lot of
sangfroid as well as good judgment to allow the other white bishop to conquer
the f7-square.} 17. Bc4 Bc6 18. Nxf7 {It looks as if the white attack is going
to triumph quickly as 18...Rf8 loses to 19 Re1+. But once again Tal rises to
the occasion.} b5 $1 {Continuing to harass the bishops with a direct threat to
one and a latent threat of trapping the other with ...b5-b4. If now 19 Nxh8
bxc4 and the knight on h8 is trapped in the corner. --- You will notice how
Bronstein is striving to maintain the attacking power of his pieces, while Tal
is doing his utmost to wreck their coordination. He is willing to return his
extra material for this purpose.} 19. Nd6+ Ke7 20. Nxb5 Rhf8 $2 {
Missing the reply, after which Black is losing again.} ({
He had to play the cold-blooded} 20... Bxb5 $1 21. Bxb5 Rhd8 {
with good survival chances.}) 21. Nd4 $1 {White's knight, which was 'knocked
off course' to b5, returns to the centre with gain of time on both this move
and the next. The pressure soon becomes irresistible.} Bg2 22. Ne6 Rf5 23. Rg1
Be4 24. Nc7 $2 ({A pity, as Tal would probably have resigned upon} 24. Re1 Nf6
25. Nxc5 {, just in time to make it a miniature game.}) 24... Rd8 25. Rxg7+ Kf6
26. Rf7+ {After the game Bronstein was candid enough to admit that in his
earlier calculations he had thought this was not only check but also mate, as
he had overlooked Black's reply.} Kg6 {And so the battle continued, with both
players getting into bad time pressure. As Keres remarked, we shouldn't really
scrutinize moves that were being bashed out instantly. It's enough to see that
Black is still under severe pressure, and when the dust settled Bronstein had
done enough for the full point.} 27. Re7 Nf6 28. Ne6 Rc8 29. b3 Rh5 30. Ng5 Bd5
31. Bd3+ Kh6 32. Bb2 c4 33. Bf5 c3 34. Bxc8 cxb2+ 35. Kxb2 Rxh2 36. Rxa7 Rf2
37. Ra4 Kg6 38. Rd4 h5 39. a4 h4 40. a5 Bg2 41. a6 Nh5 42. Bb7 Nxf4 43. Rxf4 {
. --- An enthralling fight between two players who brought so much tactical
vigour into the chess world.} 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "3. Opening Old and New Wounds"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

{The question of open/closed positions is one of the most difficult in chess
strategy. It's very easy for a player to imagine that he is freeing his game
by advancing a pawn, when in reality he is opening lines for the benefit of
the opponent's pieces. In this chapter we shall examine how the energy balance
between the two armies is affected by a sudden unblocking of the pawn
formation.} 1. -- (1. -- {Two stunning examples of line clearance: --
Sometimes it can be worth sacrificing the queen to unblock a vital line of
attack. Here is a striking example from one of Geller's later games. --- In
the Bronstein-Korchnoi game a rook sacrificed itself to clear the way for the
queen to strike a deadly blow. Here the compliment is returned: (see
Delekta-Geller). --- Alekhine thought that the concept of checkmate elevated
chess above all other board games, in which victory went to the player who
captured the opponent's men or gained the most terrain. In chess your opponent
can have more time, space, material, but all this means absolutely nothing if
you have control of one square, as long as you can use that square to
checkmate his king! Alekhine saw the quest to checkmate as a noble one, as it
leads to a spirit of self-sacrifice among the attacking army. (See
Topalov-Ponomariov, Sofia 2006.)}) (1. -- {The opponent foolishly opens lines:
-- Sometimes it's fun being a genius thirty years ahead of your time: you let
your opponent make a positional blunder and then you watch as your hands play
all the right moves to checkmate him. (See Morphy-Amateur.)}) (1. -- {
A pawn sacrifice opens the centre: -- see Schulten-Morphy.}) (1. -- {A pawn sacrifice prevents the centre being blocked: -- In his great work 'Grandmaster
Preparation' Polugaevsky gives an assessment of the style of World Champion
Tigran Petrosian, including the following lines: --- "In those rare instances
when he did lose, or obtained an inferior position, it was when his opponents
played directly and sharply, because Petrosian, at times fearing something at
the board, would avoid a critical dispute in the opening." --- In the
following game Geller found just the opening line to upset the great
strategist. (See Geller-Petrosian.)}) (1. -- {Smashing a blockade with an
exchange sacrifice: -- In the next game Topalov is willing to invest the
exchange and a pawn to prevent his bishop pair from being shut out of the game.
He has no immediate win, but can exert continuous pressure on Kamsky's broken
kingside. (See Topalov-Kamsky.)}) (1. -- {Catching a rook in a terrible pin:
-- In the following game Geller, at the cost of a rook, opens lines for his
queen and bishop to exert a stranglehold on the black kingside. An amazing
conception. (See Geller-Velimirovic.)}) (1. -- {The never-ending attack on h7:
-- Castling has a surprisingly long history, having already been given in its
modern form in a book by Ruy Lopez in 1561. Therefore players have had around
500 years to refute it. They have arrived at two conclusions: namely that if
Black castles kingside his weakest square is on h7, while if White castles
kingside his weakest square is h2. The obvious way to prove this is by putting
a white bishop on c2, the queen on d3, and - Geronimo! - Qh7 mates the black
king. --- After a couple of hundred years Black realized what was happening to
him and started to put a knight on f6. Just try mating on h7 after that! And
so White replied by eliminating the knight with Bg5 and Bxf6, after which
Black was mated all the same with Qh7. And then Black tried playing ...h7-h6
to stop Bg5. So White started opening the f-file and then playing Rxf6 and Qh7
mate. After that Black made sure he played his other knight via d7 to f8 to
guard h7 before White had time to open the f-file. And then White started a
diversionary action on the queenside to stop the knight ever reaching f8. He
found the passed pawn he acquired there so wonderful that he forgot all about
his plan of attacking h7 ... and so positional chess was born. --- We still
can't answer the question: should Black be mated on h7? But I can tell you
that if he lets Topalov aim his queen and bishop at that square with impunity
it is very likely to happen. --- After the following game, Ruslan Ponomariov,
a former FIDE World Champion who is consistently rated over 2700 Elo, remarked:
"I thought that I made all normal moves, but then I found myself in a bad
position." Yes, even the absolutely best players in the world can completely
misunderstand the needs of a position. As we shall see, Ponomariov made a lot
of moves that were in perfect accordance with general ideas about how the
opening he had chosen should be played. Unfortunately for him, he was up
against an opponent who knew about the h7-square... (See Topalov-Ponomariov,
Sofia 2005.)}) (1. -- {A freeing move that fails: -- Alekhine's opponents
often thought that they were freeing their game by breaking open the centre,
when in fact they were falling into a positional trap. They were giving the
World Champion's pieces just enough freedom and dynamism to allow him to
strike one of his famous tactical blows against their king. --- The play of
Akiba Rubinstein (1882-1961) has been described as the perfect embodiment of
Steinitz's theories. He knew all about the steady accumulation of positional
advantages; for example, the benefits in acquiring the two bishops, or control
of an open file, or a more compact pawn structure, and so on. In game after
game we see him inflicting a slight structural weakness on his opponent and
then gradually increasing the pressure with a methodical, step by step plan.
Rubinstein always strived for solid positional domination - he was content to
have a slight advantage with White from the opening and with Black a shade of
positional disadvantage, which he could gradually iron out with some precise
defensive moves. For this reason Rubinstein was a genius of the Queen's Gambit
Declined - with White he would give his opponent a slight queenside weakness
and gradually wear it down, always keeping his opponent at arm's length; while
with Black he would get somewhat the worst of it but gradually soften up his
opponent. --- It was this formidable player that Alekhine had to face as White
at Carlsbad 1923. He could be sure that Rubinstein would counter 1 d4 with the
Queen's Gambit, and seek to equalize by a series of accurate exchanges and, in
time, the standard freeing move ...c7-c5. The Polish Grandmaster would also
seize every opportunity to accumulate small advantages, such as those just
mentioned: weakening the white centre and grabbing the bishop pair. --- So how
could Alekhine use power play against such an opponent? --- Well, the game was
played in 1923, which was rather a long time after Rubinstein's finest results
in the run-up to World War One (in 1912 he won five international tournaments!)
. He was still positionally very strong, but his tactical eye was perhaps
rather blunted. In any case, in 1923 very few opponents could compete with
Alekhine in an exchange of tactical blows. --- So the 'second half' of the
power play method is straightforward enough: once Rubinstein has been forced
into a tactically sharp position, our hero is likely to outwit him. But how
can such a position be reached? Rubinstein isn't going to allow any unclear,
messy positions! --- Alekhine found an ingenious solution to his problem: he
discovered a position in which he could use the supposed accumulation of small
advantages as 'bait' to lure Rubinstein into a double-edged battle. (See
Alekhine-Rubinstein.)}) (1. -- {Coordinating the pieces across the whole board:
-- In the following game, White's rooks on the queenside are unexpectedly
coordinated with his other pieces in the centre and on the kingside in an
attacking finale. It shows that even the greatest players in the history of
chess can go badly wrong if their judgment of a position is too far away from
its reality. (See Bronstein-Botvinnik.)}) *

[Event "Cappelle la Grande"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1992.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Delekta, P."]
[Black "Geller, E."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C28"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "36"]
[EventDate "1992.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nc6 4. d3 Na5 5. Nge2 Nxc4 6. dxc4 Bc5 7. O-O d6 8.
Bg5 Be6 9. Nd5 Bxd5 10. Bxf6 Qxf6 11. Qxd5 O-O 12. Rab1 c6 13. Qd3 a5 14. Kh1
Rfe8 15. f3 Re6 16. Ng3 Qg5 17. Nf5 {
Evidently time hadn't dimmed Geller's tactical eye as the game finished:} g6 $1
18. Ng3 Qxg3 $3 ({White is mated after} 18... Qxg3 19. hxg3 g5 {, followed by
20...Rh6. --- I find the double advance of the g-pawn a very attractive theme.}
) 0-1

[Event "Sofia"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2006.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Topalov, V."]
[Black "Ponomariov, R."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C88"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "129"]
[EventDate "2006.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3
Bb7 9. d3 d6 10. a4 Na5 11. Ba2 c5 12. Nbd2 Nd7 13. Nf1 Nb6 14. Bd2 b4 15. c3
bxc3 16. Bxc3 Nc6 17. a5 Nc8 18. Ne3 N8a7 19. Nf5 Bc8 20. Nd2 Rb8 21. f4 Bxf5
22. exf5 exf4 23. Qg4 Nd4 24. Ne4 Nab5 25. Bd2 Nc2 26. Bxf4 Kh8 27. Qh5 Nxe1
28. Rxe1 Qxa5 29. Ra1 Rbd8 30. f6 gxf6 31. Kh2 d5 {The situation in this
position looks absolutely hopeless for White: he is the exchange and two pawns
down, his knight is hanging and his bishop on a2 is pinned against his rook.
However, Topalov defied materialistic considerations in a manner that would
have delighted Alekhine.} 32. Nxf6 $3 Bxf6 33. d4 $3 {You only need control of
one square to win a game of chess, and here that square is h7. White threatens
34 Bb1 with unstoppable mate.} ({Black can defend against} 33. d4 {with} Rg8 {
, but then} 34. Bb1 Rg7 35. Rxa5 {grabs the queen. The fact that there is a
discovered attack on the black queen with 34 Bb1 is integral to the
combination. --- Well, so much for a spirit of self-sacrifice when we end up
nabbing the queen. In fact the conflict between materialism and sacrifice
makes chess a rich and exciting game, even when materialism triumphs!}) 33...
Qxa2 {The black queen ends up sacrificing herself to save her distant consort.
The material balance now changes sharply in White's favour, and Ponomariov was
unable to save himself despite a long and tough rearguard action:} 34. Rxa2
Nxd4 35. b4 Ne6 36. Be5 Bg7 37. bxc5 Rc8 38. Bd6 Rfd8 39. Ra5 Kg8 40. Rxa6 Rd7
41. Qxd5 Bf8 42. Qf3 Bxd6+ 43. cxd6 Rcd8 44. Qd5 Ng7 45. Ra8 Ne6 46. Rxd8+ Rxd8
47. g4 h6 48. h4 Rb8 49. Kg3 Re8 50. Kf3 Nf8 51. Qd2 Kg7 52. Qd4+ Kg8 53. Qf6
Re6 54. Qe7 Kg7 55. Qc7 Kg8 56. d7 Nxd7 57. Qxd7 Kg7 58. Qd4+ Kg8 59. Kf4 Rg6
60. Kf5 Re6 61. Qd7 Rg6 62. h5 Rg5+ ({If White didn't have an h-pawn the game
would be a draw as the black rook could shuttle between e6 and g6, keeping the
white king at bay. Whereas if now} 62... Re6 63. Qxe6 fxe6+ 64. Kxe6 {
is a winning pawn endgame for White.}) 63. Kf6 Kh8 64. Qe8+ Rg8 65. Kxf7 1-0

[Event "New Orleans simul"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1858.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morphy, P."]
[Black "Amateur"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C52"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "1858.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O dxc3 8.
Ba3 d6 9. Qb3 Nh6 10. Nxc3 Bxc3 11. Qxc3 O-O 12. Rad1 Ng4 13. h3 Nge5 14. Nxe5
Nxe5 15. Be2 {Morphy has played in typically belligerent style. In return for
his sacrificed pawns he has the two bishops and a lead in development - the
white queen and rook on d1 strike an aggressive pose, while the black bishop
on c8 has yet to enter the game. --- Nevertheless, when it comes to triumphing
with power play, bringing your pieces into the game before the opponent is
only half the battle. The other half is to have open lines that they can
exploit. --- Here Morphy is ready to open the necessary avenues of attack with
gain of tempo by 16 f4, hitting the black knight, and then 17 e5. If the
d6-point collapses, the white rook on d1 and bishop on a3 gain considerable
energy through embarrassing the black queen and rook on f8.} ({
A modern player might well play} 15. Be2 f6 {
here in order to increase his control of e5. Then the game might continue} 16.
f4 Nf7 17. e5 fxe5 18. fxe5 {
, whereupon Morphy's opponent would probably fall for the pretty combination}
Nxe5 $2 ({however,} 18... Be6 $1 {, a sensible developing move, would give
Black good chances of escaping with at least one extra pawn}) 19. Rxf8+ Qxf8
20. Qxe5 $1 dxe5 21. Bc4+ Kh8 ({not} 21... Qf7 22. Rd8#) 22. Bxf8 {and White has an extra piece. --- But you can be sure that a strong modern player wouldn't
have played the actual game move:}) 15... f5 $2 {A typical decision of the mid
19th century. Black hopes that by challenging the e4-pawn he will activate his
rook on f8 and create more scope for the bishop on c8. In reality he is
opening the position just when his opponent's pieces are fully deployed and
crying out for some lines of attack. In other words, he is doing Morphy's work
for him. Nowadays every strong player accepts as a basic principle that
opening lines favours the better-developed player. In his games collection
Geller mentions a more refined precept: "don't open the position when the
opponent has the two bishops!" --- Still, Morphy has to be accurate in his
reply. If Black is allowed one free move he will cement the knight on e5 with
16...f4!, ruling out f2-f4 forever, whereupon he will have a winning attack
after a subsequent 17...f3 or 17...Qg5.} 16. f4 $1 {
Now Morphy begins to breathe his tactical ingenuity into his pieces.} Nc6 17.
Bc4+ {The bishop returns to a post that has become even more powerful after
the weakening 15...f5. At the same time it prevents Black developing with ...Be6.} Kh8 18. Bb2 $1 ({Here} 18. e5 {looks tremendously strong, but Morphy has
seen that he can go after bigger game in the shape of the black king.}) 18...
Qe7 {The queen is obliged to defend g7. How much less trouble Black would have
if he had played 15...f6!.} 19. Rde1 $1 {The pressure becomes overwhelming, as
if 19...fxe4 20 Rxe4 and the black queen is hanging and can't give up the
defence of g7.} ({
Note that Morphy elects to play his queen's rook to the open file rather than} 
19. Rfe1 {. The game will be decided on the kingside and it might be useful to
have the rook on f1 to support the f4-pawn.}) 19... Rf6 20. exf5 Qf8 ({If now} 
20... Qf8 21. Qg3 {Black can reply} Bxf5 $1 ({White was hoping for} 21... Rxf5
$2 22. Qxg7+ $1 Qxg7 23. Re8+ {and mate next move}) {
, giving up the exchange to gain a secure position after} 22. Bxf6 Qxf6 {
. Morphy came up with something far more spectacular:}) 21. Re8 $3 {Power play
requires a sharp tactical eye to exploit the opponent's false ideas about a
position.} Qxe8 22. Qxf6 Qe7 23. Qxg7+ $1 ({More elegant than the routine} 23.
Qxe7 Nxe7 24. f6 Nf5 25. Re1 {.}) 23... Qxg7 24. f6 {Black has an extra queen,
but none of his other pieces are contributing to the kingside fight.} Qxg2+ ({
If his queen moves to a safe square then the advance of the f6-pawn is lethal;
e.g.} 24... Qf8 25. f7+ Ne5 26. fxe5 Kg7 27. e6+ Kh6 28. e7 {is butchery.}) 25.
Kxg2 Bxh3+ 26. Kxh3 h5 27. Rg1 {. And White won after some further pointless
(and unrecorded) moves. --- A marvellous game by Morphy. I hope you can see
why 15...f5? is so against the spirit of positional play. --- It seems the
principle that opening lines favours the better-developed player was little
known in Morphy's day. Modern players also sometimes act against this
principle when they hope to achieve some other advantage - in other words they
believe they have found an exception to the rule. And sometimes they are right,
and win the game as a result. But in 19th century games you get the impression
that most players didn't even know there was a rule they were breaking. They
wanted to attack, to activate their pieces, and it never crossed their minds
that the opponent's pieces might be gaining the most from their plucky
adventure.} 1-0

[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Schulten, J."]
[Black "Morphy, P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C31"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "40"]
[EventDate "1857.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 e4 4. Nc3 ({In Chapter Two we saw Bronstein's
superior treatment of the opening in his game against Tal. With} 4. d3 $1 {
White would avoid having his knight pinned by the black bishop.}) 4... Nf6 5.
d3 Bb4 6. Bd2 e3 $1 {Classic Morphy: a second pawn is offered to open the
e-file and restore the pin on c3. In power play terms, Black's pieces gain
energy - ...Re8 will come with gain of time - while White's pieces lose energy
- the knight on c3 is paralysed again, meaning ...Nxd5 is on the cards.} 7.
Bxe3 O-O 8. Bd2 {
Removing the bishop from the danger zone and reviving his knight.} Bxc3 $1 ({If
} 8... Re8+ {White could try} 9. Nce2 $5 {
using the horse to counter the pressure down the e-file. In that scenario}
Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 {would ease White's game as he might even castle queenside.
Morphy comes up with a more astute decision: exchange the bishop immediately
for the knight on c3.}) 9. bxc3 Re8+ 10. Be2 Bg4 {Not only increasing the
pressure on e2, but also deterring White's natural developing move 11 Nf3, as
11...Bxf3 12 gxf3 would leave him with horrendous pawns.} ({
Nonetheless, objectively speaking, the immediate} 10... Nxd5 {looks stronger.})
11. c4 $1 {I'm certain that Schulten made this move out of greed, as he wanted
to hang on to his extra pawn. In fact it also has a dynamic value since it
denies the black queen and knight the use of the d5-square as an attacking
base.} ({Alternatively, the heroic} 11. Kf2 $5 {
would lead to an interesting fight; for example, after} Bxe2 12. Nxe2 Ng4+ 13.
Kg3 {. The king looks in terrible danger on the third rank, but don't forget
that Black hasn't yet found time to bring his queen's knight or rook into the
game, so his firepower isn't as yet overwhelming.}) 11... c6 12. dxc6 $2 {
Here we have the proof that White was merely counting pawns, not thinking
about the relative power of the two armies.} ({
Rather than speed up the development of Black's knight, he should have tried} 
12. h3 $1 {, when after} Bxe2 13. Nxe2 cxd5 14. cxd5 Qxd5 15. O-O {, White has
managed to escape the pressure along the e-file and is fully developed, albeit
with rather awkwardly-placed minor pieces. Black has an active game after} Nc6
{with full compensation for the missing pawn, but that's not the same as
smashing his opponent in the centre. --- Of course, Schulten was an amateur
player of the Romantic age. He played 11 c4 on materialistic rather than
dynamic grounds, which meant that he was always going to grab the pawn on c6
and lose horribly. The move 12 h3, if he had even considered it, would have
been instantly rejected on the grounds "I can't weaken my kingside like that
when I'm being attacked!" --- Back in the 19th century the defensive power of
White's position after 12 h3 was inevitably going to be underestimated. The
art of a calm, clinical defence, returning a pawn to blunt the opponent's
initiative, was little practised. Steinitz was the first great player to put
the emphasis on defence. Nowadays, especially since the advent of strong
computer programs, players are aware of latent defensive possibilities even in
the most dubious-looking positions.}) 12... Nxc6 {
Now the threat of 13...Nd4 wins the game.} 13. Kf1 ({
If the white king runs to the third rank we might have this delightful finish:
} 13. Kf2 Qb6+ 14. Kg3 Rxe2 $1 15. Nxe2 Nd4 16. Re1 Nf5# {!}) ({
Also hopeless are} 13. c3 Qxd3) ({or} 13. Bc3 Nd4 14. Bxd4 Qxd4 {intending} 15.
-- Rxe2+ $1 16. Nxe2 Re8 $1 {. We see how the arrival of Black's two queenside
pieces has overwhelmed White's defence.}) 13... Rxe2 14. Nxe2 Nd4 {
Winning material while maintaining a decisive attack.} 15. Qb1 Bxe2+ 16. Kf2
Ng4+ 17. Kg1 Nf3+ $1 {Easy, but elegant nevertheless.} 18. gxf3 Qd4+ 19. Kg2
Qf2+ 20. Kh3 Qxf3+ ({After} 20... Qxf3+ 21. Kh4 {
it is mate in three; for example,} Ne3 22. Rg1 {(to stop mate on g4)} Nf5+ 23.
Kg5 Qh5# {.}) 0-1

[Event "Moscow"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1963.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Geller, E."]
[Black "Petrosian, T."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C16"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "1963.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 ({Geller avoids his usual} 3. Nd2 {
. He remarks that Petrosian was very comfortable in IQP positions after} c5 4.
exd5 exd5 {, so he decided to choose a sharper variation.}) 3... Bb4 4. e5 b6
5. Nf3 Qd7 6. Bd2 Bf8 7. a4 $5 {Geller realizes that his World Champion
opponent intends to develop with ...Nc6, ...Bb7 and ...0-0-0 and so, to quote
his own words in the 'Application of Chess Theory', "White decides to
'frighten' him with a possible attack on the king."} Nc6 8. Be2 Nge7 9. O-O f6
({Finding the idea of immediate queenside castling with} 9... Bb7 {and 10...0-0
-0 suddenly unappealing, Petrosian switches to a different plan: he will
attack the white centre at once, and only after he has gained counterplay
there will he castle queenside, when his opponent will be distracted from
carrying out a direct attack on his king. --- The problem is that Black isn't
able to stabilize the centre, as Geller soon demonstrates.}) 10. Re1 fxe5 $2 ({
He should have blocked the centre with} 10... f5 {, but even if Petrosian had
sensed the danger it would have been psychologically difficult for him to make
such a move. It would have meant admitting to his opponent, and even worse to
himself, that his last move was a mistake, seeing that 9...f5 was possible at
once. Incidentally, this refusal to admit we have chosen the wrong plan often
overwhelms common sense. It makes us pursue a bad idea even when our gut
instinct is telling us to stop, or our tactical radar is sending out
unmistakable warning signs. The Russians even have a proverb: "once you have
said 'A', you have to say 'B'". Chess might be defined as the tragedy of
misspent energy.}) 11. Bb5 $1 ({With this alert move Geller dashes his
opponent's hopes of playing a slow-moving closed game after} 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12.
dxe5 {. Instead, a cut and thrust battle begins in the centre, in which
White's lead in development and the parlous situation of the black king on e8
become decisive factors.}) 11... Ng6 ({After} 11... exd4 12. Nxd4 {
all the lines are opening for White's pieces}) ({
while the attempt to keep it blocked with} 11... e4 {is gruesome after} 12. Ne5
Qd6 13. Bf4 $1 {
, when there will be a killing discovered attack on the black queen.}) 12. Nxe5
Ngxe5 13. Rxe5 a6 ({There is no way to escape the pressure, as if} 13... Bd6
14. Rxe6+ $1 Qxe6 15. Bxc6+ {and 16 Bxa8 wins.}) 14. Bxc6 Qxc6 15. Nxd5 {
Now Geller has both an extra pawn and the initiative.} Bd7 16. Bg5 $1 {
There is a tendency for players once they have gained material to back off and
admire the plunder. Geller was never a player of this type, despite the fact
that the initial stage of his game-plan normally involved exerting pressure on
his opponent's pawns. He was always ready to return material if the initiative
required it.} ({Here a lazy move such as} 16. Nc3 {
would let Black back into the game with} O-O-O {. Beating a World Champion
once is hard enough, but doing it twice in one game is near-impossible. Hence
Geller can't afford to let the tempo of his attack slacken for even a move.})
16... Bd6 17. Qh5+ Kf8 18. Qf3+ Kg8 19. Rxe6 $1 Rf8 ({A second pawn drops, as} 
19... Bxe6 20. Ne7+ {wins the black queen.}) 20. Ne7+ Bxe7 21. Qxc6 Bxc6 22.
Rxe7 Rf7 23. Rae1 Bxa4 24. b3 Bc6 {Petrosian has defended brilliantly to reach
an endgame where he is only one pawn down. However, Geller has correctly
judged that the passive rook on h8 will mean that Black won't be able to hold
on to c7, when the pawn deficit will increase to two again. It is a hopeless
state of affairs for Black, despite the opposite-coloured bishops.} 25. R1e6
Bd5 26. Re8+ Rf8 27. R6e7 h6 28. Rxf8+ Kxf8 29. Rxc7 Kg8 30. Bf4 g5 31. Be5 Rh7
32. Rc8+ Kf7 33. c4 Bb7 34. Rd8 Ke6 35. Rd6+ Kf5 36. f3 g4 37. Rf6+ Kg5 38. f4+
Kh5 39. Rxb6 Be4 40. Kf2 Rb7 41. Rxb7 Bxb7 42. d5 1-0

[Event "Sofia"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2006.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Topalov, V."]
[Black "Kamsky, G."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D15"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2006.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. c5 Nbd7 6. Bf4 Nh5 7. Bd2 Nhf6 8. Rc1
g6 9. h3 Qc7 10. g3 Bg7 11. Bf4 Qd8 12. Bg2 Nh5 13. Bg5 h6 14. Bd2 O-O 15. e4
dxe4 16. Nxe4 Nhf6 17. Nc3 Re8 18. O-O Nf8 19. Qb3 Ne6 20. Be3 Nc7 21. Ne5 Nfd5
22. Nxd5 Nxd5 23. Bd2 {White's knight is excellently placed, so Kamsky took
the drastic step of exchanging off his important dark-squared bishop.} Bxe5 $2
{You have to admire the American Grandmaster's original approach to chess
strategy, even though in this instance it leads him to defeat. How many other
players would have contemplated this capture for even a second?} ({
Even so, careful defence with} 23... Qc7 $1 {was to be preferred.}) 24. dxe5 h5
{This is the idea: Black hopes to establish a blockade on the light squares.
It comes very close to working.} 25. Rfe1 {Topalov has seen through his
opponent's plan and so makes an important preparatory move.} Qc7 {Having defended the b7-pawn, Kamsky is now ready to complete the final link of his blockade
with 26...Be6, when after 27...Rad8 he will be excellently centralized. In
that scenario it is hard to see how White would be able to create any play for
his bishop pair. In fact, we have reached the critical moment in the game. If
White doesn't find a way to prevent Black's plan the energy will drain from
his position.} 26. e6 $1 {Topalov rises to the occasion. This exchange
sacrifice isn't a luxury which White can make according to his style of play
or mood that day - it is vital to safeguard his position.} Bxe6 27. Rxe6 fxe6
28. Re1 Qd7 29. Qd3 Kh7 30. Re5 $1 {Threatening 31 Rxh5+.} Nf6 31. Qe3 $3 {
In putting the rook on e5 and the queen on e3, White is following two important 
rules of dynamic chess: Firstly, when you attack with queen and rook, it is
usually better to have the rook in front and the queen behind it. The rook can
then be a battering ram that breaks through barriers with the support of the
queen. In contrast, if the queen were in front she would be too important to
throw herself at any defended point, and always vulnerable to attack. ---
Secondly, when attacking with queen and bishop it usually better to have the
queen in front and the bishop behind. This is because a queen invasion,
especially with check, has an effect on all the squares around the enemy king,
whereas a bishop check has far less power. --- In this specific instance, we
can see that White has the devastating threat of 32 Qh6+ followed by 33 Qxg6+
tearing up the black kingside - if the bishop and queen were the other way
round there would be no threat at all. Similarly, White's rook can chomp on e6
at an appropriate moment, keeping up the pressure, whereas if the white queen
were in front then capturing the pawn would lead to an unwelcome exchange of
queens.} Kg7 32. Be4 $3 {Topalov shows his tactical flair.} ({Rather than} 32.
Rxe6 {, which would allow Black the breathing space for centralization with}
Rad8 $1 {, he targets the much more important g6-pawn.}) ({He isn't precious
about the bishop pair, as the black knight is a vital defensive piece and
after} 32. Be4 Nxe4 33. Rxe4 {
the threats of 34 Qh6+ and 34 Bc3+ are devastating.}) 32... Kf7 ({
Black has no time for} 32... Rad8 {because of} 33. Qh6+ {
, when g6 drops with a quick mate.}) 33. Bc2 {The bishop, which was staring
idly at the c6-pawn, has become a fearsome attacking piece. It is well known
that two bishops are particularly strong when they control neighbouring
diagonals which rake fire on the enemy defences.} Rad8 34. Qh6 $1 Rg8 ({If} 
34... Qxd2 35. Bxg6+ Kg8 36. Rg5 $1 {
, when Black has nothing better than to give up his queen with} Qxg5 {.}) 35.
Ba5 $1 {Combining attacks on enemy pieces with an assault on their king is an
important facet of power play. Topalov saves his bishop from capture and
forces his opponent to deal with two threats: the obvious 36 Bxd8 and the
quiet but lethal 36 Rg5.} Qd4 {Kamsky tries to complicate, but now White's
bishop gets to c3 with gain of time.} 36. Bc3 Qc4 {Black has managed to ward
off the evil of 37 Rg5 which can be answered by 37...Ne4. However, disaster
now strikes from a different direction.} 37. Bb3 $1 {The bishop attacks e6
through the black queen. --- When you are convinced that you have a strong
initiative and the opponent blocks your chosen line of attack, don't become
disillusioned. Instead, look around for some other route into his position. If
chess is a logical game and your judgment is right, there is sure to be one
right under your nose.} Qd3 38. Bxe6+ Ke8 39. Kg2 {White doesn't need to hurry.
He safeguards his king and, by cutting out the queen check on b1, introduces
the threat of 40 Re3 followed by 41 Bxf6. Hence Kamsky defends f6 again with
his rook, but this allows the white queen to invade on g7.} Rf8 40. Qg7 {
Now Black has no good defence against White's next move.} Rd5 41. Bf5 $1 {
An extreme form of a well-known power play device: the threat of mate on e7 is
combined with an attack on the black queen.} Rf7 42. Rxe7+ $1 ({
The power of the white bishops is such that after} 42. Rxe7+ Rxe7 43. Qh8+ Kf7
{White doesn't even need to take the black queen, as it is mate with} 44. Qxf6+
Ke8 ({the same move answers} 44... Kg8) 45. Qh8+ Kf7 46. Qg7+ Ke8 47. Qg8# {
. --- A fine example of power play.}) 1-0

[Event "Havana"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1971.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Geller, E."]
[Black "Velimirovic, D."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E66"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "1971.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O c5 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. d5
Na5 9. Nd2 e5 10. e4 Ng4 11. b3 f5 12. exf5 {Black could recapture with 12...
gxf5, but Velimirovic decided first of all to activate his bishop with...} e4
$2 13. f6 $1 {The first point of this move is obvious: White wants to capture
on e4 with his knight without allowing 13...gxf5 in reply. The second point is
much deeper and more brilliant: over the board Geller has had to calculate and
assess a rook sacrifice.} ({Otherwise,} 13. Qxg4 Bxc3 {favours Black}) ({while
} 13. Ndxe4 gxf5 {leaves the white knights in trouble.}) ({
If Geller plays a passive move, say,} 13. Bb2 {
, the game resumes its natural course with} gxf5 {, and his opponent has
active play. But the Ukrainian Grandmaster is always on the watch for tactical
opportunities, and manages to throw a spanner (or f-pawn) into the works.})
13... Nxf6 14. Ndxe4 $3 Nxe4 15. Nxe4 Bxa1 16. Bg5 Bf6 {The only move, as
otherwise 17 Qxa1 gives White a decisive attack in view of the dark square
weaknesses in the black kingside.} 17. Nxf6+ Rxf6 18. Qa1 $1 {
Strengthening the pin on the rook.} Kf7 {The forcing line has come to an end.
This is the position that Geller had to weigh up before 13 f6. White is a rook
down for a pawn, with no mating attack in sight. Normally this would mean it
is time to resign, but here the pressure on f6 is very awkward for Black.
Furthermore, the knight on a5 is paralysed, and it's hard to see how it can
ever join in the defence. The other black pieces on the queenside will also
take time to mobilize. Still, if White doesn't do something fairly fast,
Velimirovic will coordinate his scattered forces, in which case he will
undoubtedly win.} ({An important tactical point is that} 18... Kg7 {
, hoping to play 19...h6, can be met by} 19. Re1 h6 20. Bxf6+ Qxf6 21. Re7+ $1
{winning the black queen.}) 19. Re1 $1 {My favourite move of the game. Geller
calmly develops his rook with the plan of 20 Re3 and 21 Rf3 to attack f6 a
third time. It seems terribly slow but in fact Black can't organize a good
defence against it.} Rb8 {
Velimirovic seems resigned to giving back his extra material.} ({Instead,} 
19... h6 {doesn't help much, as after} 20. Bxh6 {
White can restore the pin next move with 21 Bg5, seeing that} Rf5 $2 {
allows mate on g7.}) 20. Re3 b6 ({One of the recurring themes of this book is
that an attack always needs the help of pawns at some point. If} 20... Bf5 {
, sheltering f6, Geller gives the variation} 21. h3 $1 {
(planning to drive the bishop away with 22 g4)} h5 22. g4 $1 {(anyway)} hxg4
23. hxg4 Bxg4 24. Re4 $1 {and the bishop can't do two jobs: if} Bf5 ({or} 24...
Bh5 25. Re6) 25. Rh4 {, when the white rook will give a killer check on h7.})
21. Rf3 Bf5 {
Here, too, the attack of the white pieces needs to be crowned with a pawn stab:
} 22. g4 $1 Qh8 23. Bxf6 Qxf6 24. Qxf6+ Kxf6 25. gxf5 gxf5 {So Black has
avoided a disaster on f6, but he hasn't been able to keep any of his booty. In
the endgame that follows his pieces can't compete with the activity of the
white rook and bishop.} 26. Re3 $1 {The game move plans to tie Black's knight
down to the d6-pawn and then push his king back with the bishop. Velimirovic
fights hard, but he isn't able to save the game. The remaining moves were:} ({
Not} 26. Bh3 {which allows} Rg8+ {and 27...Rg5.}) 26... Nb7 27. Re6+ Kf7 28.
Bf3 Rg8+ 29. Kf1 Kf8 30. Bh5 Rg5 31. Re8+ Kg7 32. Re7+ Kh6 33. Rxb7 Rxh5 34.
Rxa7 Rxh2 35. Rd7 Kg5 36. Rxd6 Kf4 37. Ke2 b5 38. cxb5 Ke5 39. Rd7 Rh4 40. a3
Rh3 41. f3 Kd4 42. b6 Rh2+ 43. Ke1 Rh1+ 44. Kf2 Rh2+ 45. Ke1 Rh1+ 46. Kf2 Rh2+
47. Kg3 Rb2 48. b7 Rxb3 49. a4 c4 50. a5 c3 51. a6 Rb6 52. Rc7 1-0

[Event "Sofia"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2005.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Topalov, V."]
[Black "Ponomariov, R."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E15"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Rc1
c6 {This allows White to seize space in the centre.} ({
Instead, no-nonsense development of the queenside with} 8... Bb7 9. Bg2 d5 10.
Ne5 Na6 {had proved safe enough for Black in a Topalov-Kramnik encounter.}) 9.
e4 d5 10. e5 $1 Ne4 11. Bd3 Nxc3 $2 ({Hindsight is a wonderful thing: I can
drink my tea and calmly point out that Black should eliminate the more
dangerous white piece with} 11... Nxd2 $1 {.}) 12. Rxc3 $1 c5 {Ponomariov
the standard freeing move. And why not? The white pieces are ill deployed to
support their own pawn centre, let alone cause grief to the advancing black
pawns. --- Indeed, there appears to be a distinct clutter in the white camp.
The queen has lost influence over the d4-square, as two bishops block her view.
A clumsy-looking rook is sitting on c3 which Black can gain time by attacking
with ...c5xd4. And finally, the white bishop has 'stupidly' gone to d3 rather
than to g2, where it could put pressure on the long diagonal by attacking d5.
--- Hence we see that the three main enemies of the black pawn centre are
either misplaced (the bishop on d3), blocked in (the queen), or off the board
(the knight has vanished from c3). --- It's no wonder that Ponomariov was
optimistic under these circumstances. His plan is clear: a quick ...Nc6 will
be coupled with the exchange of pawns on the c-file and d-file, when he will
have completed his development with the chance to attack the loose pawn on e5.
It seems that he is going to emerge with an easy and safe game. --- The above
assessment of the position is completely logical; in most games of this type
Black equalizes - or more - when he has avoided trouble down the c-file or the
h1-a8 diagonal. But before we jump to conclusions let's see what actually
happened in the game:} 13. dxc5 bxc5 14. h4 $3 {Exactly. What Ponomariov has
missed is that the white pieces, so ineffectually bunched for a centre
struggle, are splendidly placed for an attack on the black king.} ({Yes, all the white pieces can be directly or indirectly involved in the onslaught. That
includes the rook on h1. Thus if} 14. h4 Nc6 {
, Black gets hit by the famous Greek Gift Sacrifice:} 15. Bxh7+ $1 Kxh7 16.
Ng5+ Kg8 (16... Bxg5 17. hxg5+ Kg8 18. Qh5 {comes to the same thing}) 17. Qh5
Bxg5 18. hxg5 f5 19. g6 {and there is no good way to stop mate on h8. --- Such
is the dynamism in the white set-up that Black never finds a spare moment for
the developing ...Nc6 - a quite remarkable fact. Another turnabout in the
position is that the black bishop on a6, which looked like it was doing a
pretty good job putting pressure on c4, is suddenly shut out of the main
battle. --- The Ukrainian Grandmaster's logic was impeccable, but he was, as
it were, fighting the wrong war. Positional factors often compete for
attention in a game of chess, and the ones which govern a specific situation
can often only be deduced by a sceptical attitude towards 'natural moves'.})
14... h6 {Meeting the threat of the Greek Gift, but creating a kingside
weakness that Topalov immediately pounces on.} 15. Bb1 $1 {Played according to
the golden rule described at move 31 in Topalov-Kamsky above. The Bulgarian
Grandmaster loses no time in maximizing the pressure on the black kingside.
The threat of 16 Qc2 and then mate on h7 means that Ponomariov has to
compromise the structural integrity of his kingside further, as 16...g6 allows
17 Bxh6.} f5 16. exf6 Bxf6 17. Qc2 $1 {Topalov mustn't back off even for a
moment, as moving the rook from c3 would allow the vital developing move 17...
Nc6.} d4 {Keeping the bishop on f6 for defence;} ({as} 17... Bxc3 18. Bxc3 {
intending 19 Qh7+ is crushing. One possible finish is} Rxf3 19. Qh7+ Kf8 20.
Qxg7+ Ke8 21. Bg6+ {and mate next move. --- Ponomariov hopes his pawn move
will either eliminate the rook on c3 and so stop it joining in the attack, or
better still persuade his opponent to spend a precious tempo saving it from
capture.}) 18. Ng5 $1 {Power play involves outwitting an opponent in a sharp
battle, which requires tactical prowess and courage.} ({
Here White could lose his nerve and save the rook, by} 18. Qh7+ Kf7 19. Rc1 {
, for example, whereupon} Bb7 $1 {pins the white knight and generates
counterplay. Topalov realizes he has to strike at once, not giving his
opponent any time to bring his queenside pieces into action. With the game
move he cuts off the black king's flight to f7 and threatens mate in one on h7,
thereby compelling his opponent to take the knight.}) 18... hxg5 ({
The rook on c3 shows it isn't just bait for the black pawn after} 18... Bxg5
19. Qh7+ Kf7 20. Bxg5 hxg5 21. Rf3+ {
, when White picks up the rook on f8 and wins on material, e.g.} Ke8 22. Bg6+
Kd7 23. Qxg7+ Qe7 24. Qxf8 {.}) 19. hxg5 dxc3 {As indicated by the variation
above, this isn't the wanton capture of irrelevant material while his king's
residence is on fire: Black eliminates the rook before it can join the attack,
and hopes the threat to d2 will slow down White's initiative.} 20. Bf4 $1 {
Calm and collected.} ({The flashy} 20. Rh8+ {
would lead to an attack in the style of the game after} Kf7 ({not} 20... Kxh8
$2 21. Qh7#) 21. Qg6+ {, but as we soon see, it's better to keep the rook
check hanging over Black's head.}) 20... Kf7 ({
There is no time for Black to save the bishop on f6, as if} 20... Bd4 21. Qg6
$1 {denies the king the f7-square, when 22 Rh8+ is a winning threat.}) 21. Qg6+
Ke7 22. gxf6+ {The black king loses the only minor piece that has tried to
protect it. Now the attack from the white queen, two bishops and rook is
clearly lethal.} Rxf6 23. Qxg7+ Rf7 24. Bg5+ Kd6 25. Qxf7 Qxg5 {Ponomariov fights to the bitter end. He is a piece up and has a couple of interesting checks
looming, so White has to be forceful.} 26. Rh7 $1 {Threatening mate on c7.}
Qe5+ ({The black king has no escape, whereas his counterpart slips away into a
safe haven after} 26... Qc1+ 27. Ke2 Qd2+ 28. Kf3 Qd1+ 29. Kg2 {.}) 27. Kf1 Kc6
28. Qe8+ Kb6 29. Qd8+ Kc6 30. Be4+ $1 ({It is mate upon} 30. Be4+ Qxe4 31. Qc7#
{. --- Black was defeated without moving either his queenside rook or knight!
Due to their absence from the struggle, Topalov was able to conduct a
Morphy-like attack.}) 1-0

[Event "Carlsbad"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1923.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alekhine, A."]
[Black "Rubinstein, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D64"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "1923.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 O-O 7. Rc1 c6 8. Qc2
a6 9. a4 Re8 {A theoretical battleground of the 1920s: Black wants to play a
freeing manoeuvre with ...d5xc4 and ...Nd5, but he wants to wait until White
plays Bd3 so that he gains a tempo. Hence he dallies with moves like 8...a6
and 9...Re8, and similarly White puts his queen and rook on the c-file and
plays 9 a4. But now Alekhine decides he needs to develop his bishop.} 10. Bd3
dxc4 11. Bxc4 Nd5 {Rubinstein goes about his business. Now after 12 Bxe7 Qxe7,
followed by the exchange of knights on c3, he would be ready to attack the
white centre with ...e6-e5. After this simplification he would be well on his
way to complete equalization.} 12. Bf4 $3 {You may recall above that we talked
about accumulating small advantages such as the bishop pair and inflicting a
weakness in the opponent's centre. Well, with just one move Alekhine hands
over the two bishops and allows his pawns to be broken up. Surely he is just
playing into Rubinstein's hands? Let's see what happens:} Nxf4 13. exf4 {
Alekhine has flouting standard Queen's Gambit 'rules', but we should remember
that such rules often serve as no more than very educated guesses about what
should be good or bad in a position. --- So we should consider the situation
with unprejudiced eyes. If White's pawns are left unchallenged on d4 and f4,
then the pawn ram f4-f5 is a permanent menace to the black kingside. Furthermore
, the pawns support the move Ne5, putting the knight on an excellent central
square where it can't be kicked away by ...f7-f6 without creating a weakness
on e6. The knight's attack on f7 would be complemented by the enormous
pressure that White would be able to exert on e6, the pawn that shelters it.
--- On the other hand, if Black removed the knight with ...Nxe5, White could
recapture d4xe5, regrouping his pawns with a space advantage. --- So there is
method in Alekhine's madness. But can't Rubinstein just dissolve the centre
pawns, with a good game?} c5 {The two bishops, a split white centre, and now
an unopposed freeing move ...c6-c5 - Rubinstein must have been delighted by
all these 'presents'. However, Alekhine has seen that Black is violating a
positional rule himself by immediately attacking d4. Let's see the fourth
World Champion comment on the position: --- "This move (13...c5), which goes
against the general principle of not opening up fresh lines to a
better-developed opponent, is dictated by the wish to eliminate White's
troublesome pawn on f4. White, who has not yet castled, can scarcely oppose
this plan, and the game speedily assumes a most animated appearance."
(Alekhine's italics) --- In other words, Rubinstein feels obliged to punish
Alekhine's positional 'blunder' 12 Bf4 with a positional 'blunder' of his own.
Who prospers the most from this state of affairs? Objectively speaking,
neither player: the game has gone from being solidly balanced to being
dynamically balanced, with White maintaining the slight edge he had on move
one. --- Still, to borrow Alekhine's phrase, it has become "most animated".
This change in the nature of the game undoubtedly favours the power player
Alekhine over the classical player Rubinstein. As you would expect, he quickly
gains the upper hand in the sharp tactical battle.} 14. dxc5 Qc7 15. O-O Qxf4 {
Black removes the more dangerous pawn, the one that could ram him with f4-f5
or support Ne5. He also hopes to gain time by attacking the c4-bishop.} 16. Ne4
$1 {With this temporary pawn sacrifice White meets the threat to the bishop
and maintains the initiative.} ({Instead, the pusillanimous} 16. Ne2 $2 {
leaves White without enough energy to combat the weakness of his queenside
pawns after} Qc7 17. b4 a5 $1 {.}) 16... Nxc5 ({Here Kotov recommends} 16...
Bxc5 17. Neg5 Nf8 $1 {
"with a fully defensible position", but it isn't that easy for Black after} 18.
Bd3 {, with pressure similar to that in the game.}) 17. Nxc5 Bxc5 18. Bd3 {
The discovered attack on c5 ensures that the black king will be disturbed.} b6
19. Bxh7+ Kh8 $2 {A routine move; the black king is checked and it hides in
the corner, as the centre is a big bad world.} ({
In fact, his majesty would be much safer after} 19... Kf8 $1 {
. The reasons why are discussed after the next move.}) 20. Be4 Ra7 $2 {
Another serious mistake. --- At this point we might talk about 'power play,
part two' beginning. This is the phase of the game in which Alekhine is given
the chance to show off his brilliant control of the initiative and eye for
tactics. He can build on four strands: -- 1) The black king can be attacked
along the open h-file. -- 2) The f7-pawn is undefended by the black king. -- 3)
The black rook on e8 is undefended. -- 4) Back rank mates are possible with
Qxc8! if the black bishop is forced from c5. --- You will notice that none of
these four themes would have applied if Black had played 19...Kf8! rather than
the 'obvious' 19...Kh8. Routine is the enemy of every chess player, no matter
how strong.} ({Instead,} 20... Rb8 {would have made Alekhine work much harder
for his win. In his own notes he claims it can be achieved in the variation}
21. g3 Qf6 22. b4 $1 Bd6 {
(or else 23 Qc7 traps the rook on b8, winning at least a piece)} 23. Rfd1 Qe7
24. Bc6 Rd8 25. Rd4 $1 {, but here Kotov says that Black can still resist with}
Kg8 $1 {.}) 21. b4 $1 {The bishop is forced to retreat, allowing the white
queen to infiltrate down the c-file.} Bf8 {The only move;} ({as if} 21... Bxb4
22. Qxc8 $1 Rxc8 23. Rxc8+ {and mate next move.}) 22. Qc6 $1 {
And now White wins more time by hitting b6 and the rook on e8.} Rd7 ({
There's no joy in} 22... Bd7 23. Qxb6 {.}) 23. g3 ({Not of course} 23. Qxb6 $2
Qxe4 {. But now the black queen is forced to retreat, when her vital defensive
power is removed from the kingside.}) 23... Qb8 ({If} 23... Qd6 {
Alekhine intended to combine threats to the black king and pieces with} 24. Qc4
$1 {, planning 25 Bc6 Rc7 26 Qh4+ followed by 27 Bxe8. Black is helpless; e.g.}
Kg8 25. Bc6 Rc7 26. Rfd1 Qe7 27. Qd3 $1 {and the rook on e8 is trapped.}) 24.
Ng5 $1 {With all the black pieces wrong-footed on the queenside, Alekhine
suddenly switches to a direct attack on the kingside.} Red8 25. Bg6 $1 {
Exploiting the weakness of f7 to get the white queen to the h-file with gain
of time.} Qe5 {The black queen returns to the centre, but only at the cost of
an exchange and pawn.} ({If instead} 25... fxg6 26. Qe4 {
threatens mate in two with 27 Qh4+, when} Rd4 27. Qxg6 {wouldn't help Black.})
({Or if} 25... Kg8 26. Qc4 Rd4 27. Bxf7+ Kh8 28. Qc2 Rd3 29. Qe2 {
and the mate threat on h7 decides the game.}) 26. Nxf7+ Rxf7 27. Bxf7 Qf5 28.
Rfd1 $1 {Scotching any hopes Black might have had of picking up the f7-bishop.}
Rxd1+ 29. Rxd1 Qxf7 30. Qxc8 Kh7 31. Qxa6 Qf3 32. Qd3+ 1-0

[Event "22nd matchgame, Moscow"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1951.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bronstein, D."]
[Black "Botvinnik, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A91"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "1951.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 e6 2. c4 f5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. e3 d5 7. Nge2 c6 8. b3 Ne4
9. O-O Nd7 10. Bb2 Ndf6 11. Qd3 g5 12. cxd5 exd5 13. f3 Nxc3 14. Bxc3 g4 15.
fxg4 Nxg4 16. Bh3 Nh6 17. Nf4 Bd6 18. b4 a6 19. a4 Qe7 20. Rab1 b5 21. Bg2 Ng4
22. Bd2 Nf6 23. Rb2 {With his last move Bronstein has signalled his intention
of doubling rooks on the a-file with the sequence of moves Ra1, Qb3, to add a
defender to b4, and then Rba2. The game actually continued:} ({
Botvinnik could counter} 23. Rb2 {with} Ne4 $1 {, as after} 24. Be1 {
the plan of Ra1 would be obstructed.} ({Or if White presses ahead with} 24. Ra1
{he can exchange off with} Nxd2 25. Qxd2 {followed by} Bd7 {. In the absence
of White's dark square guardian, Black can use his pressure against b4 and e3
for counterplay.})) 23... Bd7 $2 24. Ra1 Ne4 25. Be1 $1 {It seems that the
World Champion got the relative value of his knight on e4 and his opponent's
bishop on e1 completely wrong. It was an easy to make such a misassessment as
the black horse is sitting on an impressive outpost square in the centre,
while the white bishop is doing nothing much at the moment except defending b4.
Indeed, it looks as if it has been put on e1 solely to avoid getting in the
way of the work of the 'more important' pieces down the a-file. --- I think
most of us would fall for Bronstein's positional trap. Only later do we see
the role that the 'harmless' bishop on e1 is going to play in mating the black
king.} Rfe8 26. Qb3 Kh8 27. Rba2 Qf8 $2 {Botvinnik adds a defender to a8 as he
needs to be able to answer 28 axb5 with 28...axb5. But once again he makes a
misjudgment in avoiding an exchange of pieces. --- Botvinnik has failed to see
the damage that the white knight is going to do to him once he spares its life.
He is thinking in the following terms: "my bishop on d6 is more valuable than
the white knight as it guards the dark squares and attacks b4. And besides,
after ...Bxf4 and White recaptures g3xf4, his bishop might become active with
Bh4. Why should I allows that? Anyway, I can play ...Bxf4 any time I want."} ({
He should play} 27... Bxf4 $1 {. Then after} 28. exf4 {
he has for counterplay the e-file and the chance to attack d4.} ({Instead,} 28.
gxf4 {looks the better recapture, but} Qe6 $5 {intending} 29. axb5 cxb5 {
and then 30...Rg8 looks more or less satisfactory for Black.})) 28. Nd3 $1 {
On the contrary, Bronstein understands that he shouldn't give his opponent a
second chance to exchange on f4. Now he is all set for a 29 axb5 axb5 30 Ra7
breakthrough, so Botvinnik voluntarily concedes the fight for the a-file.} Rab8
29. axb5 axb5 30. Ra7 {Horrible things often happen to the opponent's king
when Bronstein's rook reaches the seventh rank.} Re7 31. Ne5 $1 {We can easily
see why 31...Bxe5 32 dxe5 would leave Black in a much worse way than if he had
swapped on f4 with 27...Bxf4 28 gxf4. The passed pawn White acquires on e5 is
a danger in itself, or it could be sacrificed to open up an attack on the
black king with a sequence such as Qd3, Qd4, Bxe4, Bc3 and e5-e6, when the
white queen and bishop are deadly on the dark squares.} Be8 32. g4 $1 {
A second great move, after which the black position begins to totter. The
g-pawn undermines e4, breaks open the f-file for the rook, and clears the way
for the bishop on e1 to enter the attack. Note that if Black had played 27...
Bxf4 then, after 28 gxf4, there wouldn't have been a white g-pawn on the board
to cause havoc.} fxg4 33. Bxe4 dxe4 34. Bh4 $1 {The dark-squared bishop joins
the attack to complete the coordination of the white pieces.} Rxe5 ({
Here's a possible finish after} 34... Rxa7 {:} 35. Rxa7 Qh6 36. Qc3 $1 Qxh4 ({
or similarly} 36... Bxe5 37. dxe5 Qxh4 38. e6+) 37. Ng6+ $1 Bxg6 38. d5+ Kg8
39. Qg7# {.}) 35. dxe5 Bxe5 36. Rf1 Qg8 37. Bg3 $1 Bg7 ({If} 37... Bxg3 38.
Qc3+ {and mates}) ({or} 37... Qxb3 38. Rf8+ Qg8 39. Bxe5# {, when the bishop
that Botvinnik sneered at back at move 23 has checkmated his king.}) 38. Qxg8+
{. The rook on b8 drops. --- This is perhaps Bronstein's best game: he shows
enormous strategic vision in combining pressure on the queenside with action
in the centre and on the kingside. Not many players succeeded in outwitting
Botvinnik in a positional struggle. The World Champion's sins - namely the
avoidance of key exchanges - were dealt with in ruthless style.} 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "4. Life History of a Knight"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

{In this chapter we'll take a look at the vicissitudes of fortune that a
knight might endure on the chess board. We'll start with his happiest moments,
when he can add his unique power to that of the queen in a combination. Then
we shall see him surveying the whole battlefield from an outpost square,
delighted not fearful to be in the front line of the attack. After this, the
mood darkens, when the knight finds himself caught up in an assault that fails.
And finally to his utter shame the horse is hamstrung by the actions of mere
pawns.} 1. -- (1. -- {Combinations with the knight: -- As you will be aware
from reading this book, Morphy had a stronger grasp of strategy than any of
his contemporaries. Nonetheless, he has gone down in popular legend as a
brilliant, swashbuckling tactician, not unlike Anderssen. Certainly when the
American was playing relatively weak opponents in unofficial games he gave his
astonishing tactical powers full expression. Here is my favourite example of
his genius for a combination. (See Barnes-Morphy, Philidor Defence and
Bronstein-Geller.)}) (1. -- {The power of an outpost: -- Knights love being
situated on centre squares where they are supported by a friendly pawn and
can't be evicted by an enemy pawn. If a horse can be securely established on
such an outpost deep in enemy territory then the game is often strategically
won. Paul Morphy understood this long before such ideas were codified into the
laws of positional chess by the teachings of Steinitz and other great thinkers.
Morphy knew intuitively what others had to discover through hard work and deep
analysis. (See Morphy-Paulsen.)}) (1. -- {The power of a knight on f5: --
Bronstein once said that what prompted him to start his investigations into
the King's Indian Defence was the powerful urge to deny the white knight the
f5-square with a quick ...g7-g6. The next two games show us why, as an
unchallenged horse hovers like one of the Valkyries over the battlefield. (See
Geller-Kotov.) --- Next up is a game between two of the greatest forces in the
history of chess. Emanuel Lasker became World Champion in 1894, and Alekhine's
reign ended in 1946. Once again the knight on f5 is a vital attacking force.
(See Alekhine-Lasker.)}) (1. -- {
Sometimes you have to retreat to go forwards: -- see Geller-Gligoric.}) (1. --
{A battle between potential outposts: -- see Bronstein-Gligoric.}) (1. -- {
An attack with knights doesn't always win! -- If the defender has avoided any
chess sins, such as allowing a piece to be shut out of the game or gratuitously
weakening his defences, there is no reason why he should fall victim to a pair
of marauding knights. Here for the sake of balance is a fine defensive/
counterattacking effort by Veselin Topalov against an over-eager attack. (See
Morozevich-Topalov.)}) (1. -- {The weakness of a knight denied centre squares:
-- Having praised the knight for most of this chapter, we shall now attempt to
bury it. Its chief weakness, compared to the bishop, is that it can't control
squares from a distance. Therefore it can be a feeble piece if it is denied a
safe post in or near the centre. --- Topalov had studied Gata Kamsky's games
in the Poisoned Pawn Variation and seen a chance to disrupt the harmony
between the American's pieces and pawns. (See Kamsky-Topalov.)}) (1. -- {
The weakness of a knight against a passed pawn: -- Compared to the bishop, the
knight is notoriously poor at dealing with an advancing passed pawn. We shall
see how Alekhine exploited this to score a famous victory. (See Bogoljubow-Alekhine.)}) *

[Event "London"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1858.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Barnes, T."]
[Black "Morphy, P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C41"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "1858.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 f5 4. dxe5 fxe4 5. Ng5 d5 6. e6 Bc5 7. Nf7 Qf6 8. Be3
d4 9. Bg5 Qf5 10. Nxh8 Qxg5 11. Bc4 Qxg2 12. Rf1 Nc6 13. Nf7 Nf6 14. f3 Nb4 15.
Na3 {This position was reached after a messy tactical fight. Both kings are
trapped in the centre. You would imagine that Morphy has enough compensation
for the exchange, but a tough, double-edged battle still seems to lie ahead.
Instead, Morphy's tactical vision cut through all the complications and gave
Black a decisive advantage in just two moves:} Bxe6 $1 16. Bxe6 Nd3+ $3 {
It's all over, as White will be mated upon 17 cxd3 Bb4+. Unbelievable but true.
White perishes because of the weakness of the b4-square, despite Black only
having two pieces - the queen and bishop - involved in the attack. --- Barnes
gives up his queen, but it's beyond hope against Morphy.} 17. Qxd3 exd3 18.
O-O-O {The double threat of mate on e2 and the bishop check on b4 oblige White
to part with a knight as well.} Bxa3 19. Bb3 {To stop mate on b3.} d2+ $1 {
Not even letting the white rooks use the e-file.} 20. Kb1 Bc5 21. Ne5 Kf8 22.
Nd3 Re8 $1 {Morphy is tactically sharp right until the end of the game.} 23.
Nxc5 Qxf1 24. Ne6+ {He is mated on the back rank if he takes the queen.} Rxe6
0-1

[Event "USSR Championship, Moscow"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1961.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bronstein, D."]
[Black "Geller, E."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E27"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "39"]
[EventDate "1961.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 O-O 6. f3 d5 7. cxd5 exd5 8.
e3 Bf5 9. Ne2 Nbd7 10. Nf4 c5 11. Bd3 Bxd3 12. Qxd3 Re8 13. O-O Rc8 14. Rb1 Qa5
15. Rxb7 Nb6 16. g4 h6 17. h4 cxd4 18. g5 dxe3 19. gxf6 Rxc3 {Our two giants
evidently assessed this position in contrasting fashions. Let's tune into
their thoughts: --- Geller: I really don't understand why Bronstein let his
rook be shut out of the game on b7. He practically invited me to give up a
piece for two central passed pawns. It looks promising for me as none of
White's pieces are coordinated with each other - his rooks are widely
separated, the bishop on c1 is passive, the knight is doing nothing much on f4
and, best of all, I'm attacking the white queen. --- Bronstein: I agree with
my opponent's assessment. But I have the most powerful weapon in chess: the
next move!} 20. Qg6 $3 ({Black had to resign as after} 20. Qg6 fxg6 {the reply}
21. Rxg7+ {and 22 Nxg6 mate follows. --- It turns out that the white queen and
rook on b7, which appear to be cut off from each other, can join forces in
mating the black king, along with the pawn on f6 and our hero the knight on f4.
}) 1-0

[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morphy, P."]
[Black "Paulsen, L."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B40"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "1857.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. Nf3 {Morphy plays a prototype Morra Gambit.} e6 ({After
} 3... e5 4. c3 $1 {White will gain an initiative for the pawn, so Paulsen
leads play into the main line,} ({but not} 4. Nxe5 $2 Qa5+ {.})) 4. Nxd4 Bc5 ({
A modern interpretation of this idea would be} 4... a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Ba7 {
. With the white bishop on d3 blocking the queen's view of the d6-square, Bf4
could be met by seizing centre ground with ...d7-d6 and ...e6-e5, assuming
that Black didn't have an even better tactical response.}) 5. Nb3 Bb6 6. Nc3
Ne7 7. Bf4 O-O $2 ({It was imperative to free his game with} 7... d5 $1 {
, even though it meant being saddled with an isolated pawn.}) 8. Bd6 $1 {
A very simple example of removing the energy from the opponent's position. If
you stop your opponent from moving his d-pawn, you stop him developing his
bishop on c8, which in turn stops him developing his rook on a8. While Black
is concerned with extricating these pieces from the bind, he is going to be
outgunned in the struggle for control of the centre. Morphy can use his extra
power either to begin a direct attack on the black king or to assail the
backward pawn on d7. --- In the game things happen rather differently. Paulsen
makes no effort to free his queenside pieces, but instead starts a kingside
attack. This is doomed to failure against a resourceful opponent.} f5 9. e5 a6
10. Be2 Nbc6 11. O-O Rf7 12. Kh1 f4 $2 {
An aggressive gesture that very kindly gives the white knight the e4-square.}
13. Ne4 Nf5 14. Bh5 $1 {Provoking Black's reply, after which an even better
post for the white knight appears on f6.} g6 15. Bg4 Ng7 16. Qf3 h5 {The 'attack' continues. It can have no positional justification when Black has a rook
and bishop entombed on the queenside, but Morphy nevertheless has to be
vigilant.} 17. Bh3 Qh4 18. Nf6+ Kh8 19. Qe4 $1 {When you have achieved
ascendancy on the dark squares, you should always look for a winning
breakthrough on a light square. Here White has d6, e5 and f6 in his grasp, so
Morphy tries to conquer g6. If he is allowed to play 20 Qxg6 the game would
end at once due to the threat of mate on the h-file and the attack on the
black rook.} Qg5 {Being tied to the defence of a weak pawn is seldom a good
role for a self-respecting queen.} 20. g3 $1 {An excellent move. Morphy plans
to open the f-file for his rooks with 20...fxg3 21 fxg3!. You can see that the
logic of the position is against Paulsen. It is White, not Black, who is bound
to prosper from the German Master's ill conceived plan of throwing forward his
pawns on the kingside. How could it be otherwise when Black is minus the
services of a rook and bishop?} f3 {Paulsen tries to keep the kingside closed.}
21. Nd2 $3 {Brilliant. Instead of capturing on f3 with his queen, which would
have lost energy, Morphy intends to take on f3 with the knight, adding new
power to his kingside attack.} ({Black hoped to deflect the white queen so that
} 21. Qxf3 Nxe5 {allows him to loosen some of the bind (though even here} 22.
Qc3 $1 {is still excellent for White).}) 21... Bd8 ({You won't ever see a
better example of the adage that tactics should support strategy. Only one
white minor piece wasn't contributing to the harmony of the white position,
and that was the knight on b3. So Morphy brings it into action through the
'forbidden' d2-square, as after} 21... Qxd2 22. Qxg6 Rxf6 {(what else?)} 23.
exf6 {Black has to resign.}) 22. Nxf3 Qh6 23. Rg1 {Planning 24 g4 when if 24...
h4 25 g5 traps the queen. It makes sense for Black to keep the g-file blocked,
but 24...h4 is an example of strategy not being supported by tactics!} Bxf6 {
Paulsen succeeds in eliminating the white knight, but the opening of lines
soon proves fatal.} 24. exf6 Ne8 $2 ({He should fight it out with} 24... Rxf6 {
, even though} 25. Ne5 {looks entirely gruesome - he would soon be mated by
Raf1 etc if he took the pawn on f2.}) 25. Bf4 Nxf6 (25... Qh7 26. Ng5 {
etc is no better.}) 26. Qxc6 $1 {Nowadays the desperado is a familiar tactical
motif, but Paulsen appears to have overlooked it.} Qxf4 27. Qxc8+ {
A vital zwischenzug.} Rxc8 28. gxf4 Rxc2 29. Rac1 {Black is a piece down and,
in trying to get some more pawns as compensation, he permits Morphy to finish
the game with a mating attack.} Rxf2 30. Rc8+ Ng8 31. Ne5 Rg7 32. Nxg6+ Kh7 33.
Nf8+ Kh6 34. Nxd7 $1 {This is all very elegantly played. It is impossible not
to love Morphy's energy, even when we are sometimes made rather unpleasantly
aware of the weakness of his opponents.} Rxd7 35. Rcxg8 Rxf4 36. Bxe6 Re7 37.
R8g6+ Kh7 38. Bg8+ Kh8 39. Rh6+ Rh7 {If this was a game played in the 20th
century I would be tempted to say that Paulsen must have been in such
desperate time pressure that he didn't have the chance to resign.} 40. Rxh7#
1-0

[Event "USSR Championship, Moscow"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1955.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Geller, E."]
[Black "Kotov, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C90"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "1955.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. d3
{Geller's restrained approach to the opening has been used with success by
both Fischer and Kasparov.} ({Notably, the Marshall Gambit theory fest after} 
8. c3 d5 {is avoided.}) 8... d6 9. c3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. Nbd2 Qc7 $6 {
This is a standard move if White has committed himself to d2-d4, when Black
can exert pressure along the c-file after ...c5xd4 etc. Here, however, Geller
is able to manoeuvre quietly with the aim of embarrassing the queen with a
future Nd5.} ({Instead, Black managed to hold on after} 11... Nc6 12. Nf1 Re8
13. h3 h6 14. d4 cxd4 15. cxd4 exd4 16. Nxd4 Nxd4 17. Qxd4 Bb7 {
in G.Kasparov-P.Svidler, Linares 1999.}) 12. Nf1 Nc6 13. Ne3 Re8 $6 ({
The immediate} 13... Be6 {to control the d5-square looks more sensible, though
White can get a slight edge with} 14. Ng5 $5 {intending 15 Qf3, and then if
permitted 16 Nxe6 fxe6 17 Qh3! with some pressure on the e6-pawn.}) 14. d4 (14.
Nd5 $5 {looks quite strong.}) 14... exd4 15. cxd4 Bf8 $6 {
Kotov plays to win a pawn.} ({He should prefer} 15... cxd4 16. Nxd4 Nxd4 17.
Qxd4 {with some advantage to White.}) 16. b3 $1 Nb4 {
A necessary preliminary to pawn grabbing;} ({as if} 16... Nxe4 $4 17. Nd5 {
and Black loses a piece.}) 17. Bb1 Nxe4 {
Consistent with his previous moves, but it leads to a lot of trouble.} 18. Bb2
{I like the nonchalance of the moves 16 b3 and 18 Bb2: White calmly deploys
his bishop and leaves Black to figure out how to meet the threat of 19 a3 Nc6
20 Nd5.} Bb7 {Kotov develops and prepares to answer 19 a3 with 19...Nd5.} 19.
d5 $3 {A successful attack depends on obstructing the action of the defender's
pieces as well as opening lines for your own pieces. Geller's move closes the
diagonal of Black's bishop on b7 and prevents his knight returning to the
centre with 19...Nd5. The consequences of 19 d5 will be felt right until the
end of the game. The knight on b4 will never be involved in the defence of the
black king, either directly or indirectly, and when the bishop on b7 tries to
help the defence it ends up blocking the vital action of its own rook. ---
Geller's move also introduces the threat of 20 a3, trapping the black knight,
which means that Kotov doesn't have the chance to reinforce his kingside
defences before the storm breaks.} c4 20. bxc4 ({Black's idea is that} 20. a3
c3 $1 ({better than} 20... Nd3) 21. Bc1 c2 $1 {is a nuisance for White.}) 20...
bxc4 21. Bxe4 $1 {White has to overcome a psychological barrier in making this
move, as the light-squared bishop is a wonderful attacking piece. On the other
hand, the exchange on e4 wins vital time to bring his queen and knights into
the attack. --- Here 'power play, part two' has begun: the sharp, tactical
exploitation of the advantage that has been gained in the preparatory phase.
From now on Kotov is hit by one threat after another.} Rxe4 22. Ng5 {If Black had left his queen on d8 back at move 11 this knight move would have been ruled
out.} Re7 23. Qh5 h6 24. Nf5 $3 {Black's pieces are allowed no respite.} Rxe1+
25. Rxe1 hxg5 ({If} 25... Bxd5 {
White is nevertheless able to exploit the weakness of the f7-square:} 26. Bxg7
$1 Bxg7 27. Re7 Qc8 28. Nxf7 $1 {with decisive threats, such as 29 N7xh6+ or
the quiet 29 Qg6! aiming to mate on g7.}) 26. Re3 $1 {
The white rook prepares to swing to h3 to finish matters.} Bc8 ({If} 26... Bxd5
27. Rh3 f6 28. Qg6 {with the winning threat of} -- 29. Nh6+ Kh8 30. Nf7+ Kg8
31. Rh8# {.}) ({Instead, after} 26... f6 27. Qg6 Bc8 28. Nh6+ Kh8 {Black has kept the rook out of h3, but it can strike lethally from another direction:} 29.
Bxf6 $1 Nxd5 30. Re8 {and again White wins.}) 27. Bxg7 $1 {One of Geller's
favourite techniques is to combine a frontal attack down an open file with
pressure along a key diagonal. Here the diversionary sacrifice on g7 will win
time for an invasion on e8.} Bxg7 28. Re8+ Bf8 29. Rxf8+ $1 {
. It's mate on h8 next move.} 1-0

[Event "Zürich"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1934.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alekhine, A."]
[Black "Lasker, Em"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D67"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "1934.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 O-O 7. Rc1 c6 8. Bd3
dxc4 9. Bxc4 Nd5 {Lasker plays the Capablanca freeing manoeuvre.} 10. Bxe7 Qxe7
11. Ne4 {This was something of an Alekhine speciality. He used it eight times
in his 1927 match with Capablanca, but his score of eight draws wasn't
entirely satisfactory. On the other hand he managed four wins and two draws
with it in tournament games.} ({
White retains the knight which is usually exchanged off after} 11. O-O Nxc3 12.
Rxc3 e5 {.}) 11... N5f6 {The correct way to challenge White's knight;} ({
as after} 11... N7f6 12. Ng3 {Black can't play} e5 {.}) 12. Ng3 e5 13. O-O exd4
14. Nf5 {White attacks the black queen at once;} ({as after} 14. Nxd4 Ne5 15.
Ngf5 {he has the c7-square available to her - a better square than d8, as will
be seen.}) 14... Qd8 15. N3xd4 Ne5 16. Bb3 Bxf5 17. Nxf5 {So the exchange of
minor pieces that Alekhine avoided with 11 Ne4 has occurred after all, but
with the difference that White's knight has been swapped for the black bishop
rather than knight. In situations such as this, the white bishop on b3 is
always going to be slightly superior to a black knight. Hence Lasker doesn't
find the endgame with 17...Qxd1 18 Rfxd1 very appealing, especially as Nd6 is
looming.} Qb6 $2 {In avoiding the slightly worse endgame Lasker unexpectedly
falls under a direct attack. Alekhine's play from now on is superb. He knows
that if he is lazy for even one move his opponent, perhaps the most
resourceful defender in the history of chess, will slip out. For example, if
left in peace Black completely equalizes with 18...Rad8. Therefore White has
to keep hitting the black position with direct threats.} 18. Qd6 $1 {As we shall discuss in the next chapter, Alekhine was unsurpassed in the art of finding
attacking squares for his queen. It isn't an easy skill to learn - if the
queen is kept a little too far from the battle an attack often fails for want
of energy; if she is put a little too much into the melée she can be either
exchanged off for the enemy queen or hounded by the other enemy pieces.
Alekhine normally aimed to stick his queen somewhere on the third rank, where
she could boss the battlefield whilst keeping out of range of the enemy's fire.
Here he has seen that the g3-square will become available after Black's reply.}
Ned7 ({If} 18... Rfe8 $2 19. Ne7+) ({or} 18... Nfd7 $2 19. f4 {
and Black drops material.}) ({
Ideally he would like to use his knight to shield the g-file, but} 18... Ng6 {
allows} 19. Nh6+ gxh6 ({the pressure on f7 from White's bishop rules out} 19...
Kh8 $2) 20. Qxf6 {etc, when his pawns have been smashed up.}) 19. Rfd1 Rad8 $2
{A routine move that loses the game.} ({
The last chance Black had to save himself was to correct his 17th move with} 
19... Qa5 $1) ({or} 19... Qb5 $1 {, when his queen rejoins the fight. Besides
attacking the white knight she would be in a position to swing over to e5,
challenging the dominance of the white queen.}) 20. Qg3 g6 {Black is still
only one move from being perfectly okay, as 21...Nc5 would exchange off
White's strong bishop and begin simplification down the d-file with ...Rxd1
and ...Rd8 etc. In that case, Lasker's queen would be in the thick of the
action, while her white counterpart would be rather isolated on g3. With his
next move Alekhine ensures that the focus of events is on the kingside, so
that it is his queen rather than Lasker's that is full of energy.} 21. Qg5 $1 {
The black knight on d7 is paralysed by the need to keep f6 defended, and so
the vital freeing move 21...Nc5 is prevented.} Kh8 22. Nd6 Kg7 {White has all
his pieces on excellent attacking squares, but he still needs to find extra
power to overcome the defence. As so often this is supplied by a humble foot
soldier.} 23. e4 $1 {There are two ideas behind this move. The first is to
advance 24 e5, which would drive the knight back from f6 and introduce tactics,
such as a piece sacrifice on f7 followed by a fork with e5-e6. The other idea
is to clear the way for a white rook to join the queen in a direct attack on
the kingside. --- Lasker is so preoccupied with taking measures against the
first idea that he completely misses the strength of the second one.} Ng8 24.
Rd3 {Alekhine is in no rush to play 24 e5. He prepares to double rooks on the
d-file, while also giving his opponent the chance to fall for a trap.} f6 $2 {
The black knight has retreated to g8 to avoid being hit by e4-e5, and now a
barrier is put up against the white pawn advance. Evidently Lasker felt he had
survived the worst, and would even be able to use the e5-point as a base for
his knight with 25...Ne5. --- Alas for him, he should have been looking
towards the right of the board, rather than the centre.} ({
In any case, after say} 24... Qc7 25. Rcd1 {, Black is under severe pressure
and would have little chance of holding out against an Alekhine.}) 25. Nf5+ Kh8
26. Qxg6 $3 ({A beautiful end to the game, for if} 26. Qxg6 hxg6 27. Rh3+ Nh6
28. Rxh6# {. It is fitting that Alekhine's fine manoeuvres with his queen were
capped with her sacrifice.}) 1-0

[Event "USSR vs Rest of World match, Belgrade"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1970.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Geller, E."]
[Black "Gligoric, S."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C93"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "1970.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3
O-O 9. h3 h6 10. d4 Re8 11. Nbd2 Bf8 12. Nf1 Bb7 13. Ng3 Na5 14. Bc2 Nc4 15. b3
Nb6 16. Bb2 Nbd7 17. Qd2 c5 18. Rad1 Qa5 19. dxc5 dxc5 20. c4 b4 21. a4 Qc7 22.
Nf5 {Here Gligoric played:} Nb8 {He intends the manoeuvre ...Nc6 and ...Nd4.
This is a great positional idea, but for the space of one move it puts the
knight out of the game and leaves Black's centre under-defended. --- In chess
as well as life, you have to strike while the iron is hot. Geller has one
fleeting moment to carry out his attack or it will be too late. He seized his
chance with:} 23. Nxe5 $1 Rxe5 24. Bxe5 Qxe5 25. f4 Qe6 26. e5 Ne8 {In return for two minor pieces, Geller has a rook and a mobile centre pawn. He has
succeeded in pushing back the black knight from f6, but how is he to continue
his initiative? If nothing happens fast Gligoric will be able to organize his
pieces and come out on top. Once again Geller found the way to give his pieces
vital energy.} 27. Nh4 $3 {We all admire 'loud' moves such as 23 Nxe5!, but it
is often an unobtrusive, quiet move of this kind which wins a game. Its
paradoxical nature means that it catches the opponent off guard, as he has
only been looking out for obvious 'body blows'. --- It seems that Philidor was
right after all when he claimed that the pieces were the servants of the pawns.
The knight is ordered to retreat from its dream outpost on f5, as the f-pawn
wants to use the square.} Nc6 {If Geller had shown any indecision on the
previous move, the Serbian Grandmaster would be in a position to complete his
development with 28...Rd8. Instead, he is overwhelmed by a series of forcing
moves.} 28. Qd3 $1 {The threat of mate on h7 compels Black to make a 'hook' on
g6 for White's f4-f5 advance. Bronstein once said of a similar situation:
"along with the witty and subtle finesses aimed at provoking weakenings of the
king's pawn cover, one should not forget such things as one-move mate threats.
"} g6 29. f5 $1 gxf5 30. Nxf5 {
Threatening 31 Ne7+! Bxe7 32 Qh7+ and mate next move.} Qg6 31. Qe2 $1 {
Now it's the black queen's turn to be menaced by the knight check on e7. In
running away she falls into a more insidious trap.} Qg5 $2 ({Necessary was} 
31... Qe6 {. Then Geller gives a variation which is characteristic of his
power play style:} 32. Qe4 $1 {(notice the way he gets his queen from d3 to e4
with gain of time so that his rook can use the open d-file)} Qg6 33. Rd7 $1 {
(one of the Ukrainian Grandmaster's favourite tactical devices is the combination of diagonal pressure against the enemy king with the utilization of an open
file in the centre)} Bc8 34. e6 $1 {(and here is another feature of his style:
the pawn ram! - both c6 and f7 are now attacked, so Black has no choice but to
give White a passed pawn)} Bxd7 35. exd7 Ng7 36. Nxg7 Kxg7 37. Qxg6+ fxg6 38.
Be4 $1 {and White regains his piece with 39 Bxc6, when the d-pawn wins the
game for him.}) 32. h4 Qf4 33. g3 $1 {
The white pawns have succeeded in bagging the black queen.} Qxe5 34. Qg4+ Qg7
35. Nxg7 Nf6 36. Qf4 Bxg7 37. Qc7 $1 {As I remark elsewhere, players tend to
'back off' once they have won material. Not so Geller: he keeps on harassing
the black pieces and concludes the game in the quickest way.} Rb8 38. Rd6 Ng4
39. Rxc6 Bd4+ 40. Kf1 1-0

[Event "Moscow"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1967.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bronstein, D."]
[Black "Gligoric, S."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C85"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "1967.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. d3 Nd7 8.
Nbd2 O-O 9. Nc4 f6 10. Nh4 Nc5 11. Nf5 Bxf5 12. exf5 Re8 13. b3 Qd5 14. Bb2 e4
15. Ne3 Qf7 16. d4 Nd7 17. Qg4 c5 18. Qxe4 cxd4 19. Bxd4 c6 20. Rad1 Nc5 21.
Qg4 Bf8 22. Nc4 Rad8 23. Be3 b5 24. Nd2 Rd5 25. c4 Rdd8 26. cxb5 cxb5 27. Nf3
Rd5 28. Nd4 Ree5 29. Rd2 Qd7 30. Rc1 b4 31. h3 $1 {Making a hole on h2 to
escape back rank threats, but also giving his opponent the chance to err.} ({
Bronstein might have retreated his knight with} 31. Nf3 {
, when he has some edge after} Re4 32. Qh3 {. Admittedly his queen would be
rather out of things, but he could hope to build up pressure against the
rather loose black queenside while his opponent was preoccupied with regaining
his pawn. However, Bronstein saw a clever tactical trap that allows him to
pursue a far more powerful strategy.}) 31... Ne4 {Both sides have advanced
pawns that provide outposts for their knights in enemy territory. White's pawn
on f5 supports Ne6; the black pawn on b4 supports ...Nc3.} ({If now} 31... Re4
32. Qd1 $1 {and this time the white queen stays in the thick of the action.})
32. Rdc2 $1 ({Gligoric hopes to seize his own base after} 32. Rd3 $2 Nc3 {
, when the pin on the d-file means that Bronstein can't reply Ne6. In fact the
pressure on d4 would be so great that he would have to try to save himself
with the exchange sacrifice} 33. Rdxc3 {.}) 32... Rxd4 {Gligoric is jubilant as
he has eliminated the threat of Ne6 and expects to gain two pieces for a rook.}
({Instead, he should have modestly taken control of his own outpost with} 32...
Nc3 {, when the white rooks are shut out. --- Not that this would have given
him an easy life, as White can then jump into e6. After} 33. Ne6 $1 {
Black has no time for} Rxf5 ({if Black supported his outpost with} 33... Bd6 {
White can break open a new line for his rooks with} 34. a3 $1 a5 35. axb4 axb4
36. Ra2 $3 {; if now} Nxa2 37. Rc8+ $1 {
and, thanks to the power of the knight on e6, Black is mated,}) ({or similarly
} 33... a5 34. a3 $1) {
, as White can return the compliment in the severest style with} 34. Nxf8 Kxf8
35. Qxb4+ {, not only dismantling the outpost but winning the knight as well!
--- These variations demonstrate an important rule of dynamic strategy: an
outpost near the opponent's king is more valuable than an outpost on the other
wing. Or as a great player once remarked: "when you put a knight on e6 you can
go to sleep - the game will win itself!"}) 33. Rc7 $1 {Black has avoided the
danger from the white knight, but at the cost of the rooks infiltrating into
his position.} Qd5 ({The outpost on c3 wouldn't save Black any longer, as after
} 33... Nc3 34. Rxd7 Rxd7 {he lacks the one move needed for consolidating with
...a6-a5, which gives White the chance to create a passed pawn with} 35. Qc4+
Rf7 36. Qxa6 Rxf5 37. a4 $1 {.}) 34. Bxd4 Qxd4 35. Rxg7+ $3 {
Bronstein had to foresee this mating move before he played 31 h3.} Bxg7 36.
Rc8+ Kf7 37. Qh5+ Ke7 38. Qe8+ Kd6 39. Rc6+ ({
Evidently White was enjoying himself too much to play} 39. Qd8# {.}) 39... Kd5
40. Qd7+ {. It is mate in two moves.} 1-0

[Event "Dortmund"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2001.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morozevich, A."]
[Black "Topalov, V."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C42"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2001.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {The modern elite player with the style closest to that of
Adolf Anderssen is Alexander Morozevich. He tries to generate double-edged,
obscure positions which suit his combinative flair and keen eye for tactical
chances. Most players try to push their opponent over the cliff's edge while
avoiding the drop themselves. In contrast, Morozevich is willing to plummet
earthwards whilst grappling with his opponent, confident that he will find an
outlying branch to grab at the last moment. --- Against such a dangerous
adversary, Topalov decides he should quietly centralize his pieces. He wants
solid ground under his feet when the complications start. The dull Petroff is
the perfect way to provoke his restless opponent into premature action.} 3.
Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Bd3 {
Aha! The bishop is already dreaming of mating the black king on h7...} Nf6 6.
h3 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. c3 c5 9. Bc2 Nc6 10. d4 Be6 11. Re1 h6 12. Be3 Re8 13.
Nbd2 Bf8 14. Ne4 Nd5 {Topalov sees the chance to grab his beloved bishop pair.
Morozevich isn't too concerned as it allows his heavy pieces to take up an
aggressive posture along the e-file.} 15. dxc5 Nxe3 16. Rxe3 dxc5 17. Qe2 Qc7
18. Re1 Rad8 19. Neg5 $5 {The first probe.} Rd6 $1 {
Rebuffing White's attack with the power of centralization.} ({
Black was given two chances to go wrong: --- If} 19... Bd7 $2 20. Qd3 $1 {
when the queen and bishop battery against h7 is triumphant. Morozevich needed
to calculate} g6 21. Nxf7 $1 Bf5 {(it's mate in one if the knight is captured)}
22. Nxd8 $1 Bxd3 23. Rxe8 Bxc2 $2 {(he is losing too much material anyhow)} 24.
Rxf8+ $1 Kxf8 25. Ne6+ {and the black queen is lost.}) ({Or:} 19... hxg5 $2 20.
Nxg5 g6 ({Black's king won't survive long after} 20... Bd6 21. Qh5) 21. Bxg6 $1
fxg6 22. Nxe6 Qf7 23. Nxd8 Rxd8 {
and White has a rook and two pawns plus attacking chances for two pieces.}) 20.
Ne4 {Back again - no harm has been done in seeing if Black would falter.} Rdd8
21. Nfg5 $1 {White tries again with his other knight. Now 21...hxg5 22 Nxg5
would transpose to variation 'b' in the note above. You can see that Black
doesn't have the ...Rd6 defence that he used at move 19, as the rook would
hang to the knight still on e4. But on the positive side, unlike after 19 Neg5,
there is no pin on the e-file, so Topalov can activate his bishop.} Bd5 $1 22.
Qh5 $2 {White is too ambitious.} ({He should make do with the quirky} 22. Nh7
$1 {.} -- ({. Then the knight is taboo because if} 22... Kxh7 $2 23. Nf6+ Kh8
24. Rxe8 $1 ({even better than} 24. Nxe8 {, winning the exchange}) 24... gxf6
$2 25. Qd3 {and the attack on h7 comes up trumps.}) ({. Instead, after} 22...
Be7 23. Nxc5 $1 {the tactics work out in White's favour, the simplest being}
Bxc5 $4 ({the attack on h7 wins again after} 23... Kh8 24. Nf6 $1 gxf6 25. Qd3
{etc}) 24. Rxe8+ {and mates.}) ({
. So Black would have to respond with the simplifying} 22... Bxe4 $1 23. Rxe4
Re7 $1 ({
not giving White the chance to set up the queen and bishop battery with} 23...
Rxe4 $2 24. Qxe4) 24. Nxf8 ({now after} 24. Nf6+ $2 gxf6 {White has no good
follow-up to his attack, as Black can defend with ...Bg7 as necessary}) 24...
Kxf8 {with about equal chances.})) 22... Re5 $3 {A classic example of the
power of centralization defeating a premature attack. Topalov pins the knight
and so threatens the simple 23...Bxe4 24 Bxe4 Rxg5. Therefore White's reply is
forced.} 23. f4 Rf5 $1 {Intending to get maximum value from having his rook on
his fourth rank. White's position would start to crumble if he allows the
f4-pawn to fall to the black queen.} 24. g3 g6 25. Qh4 c4 $3 {
The value of this pawn push becomes clear at move 29.} ({
Black could already go for the line} 25... hxg5 26. Nxg5 Rxg5 27. Qxg5 {
, but with the white pieces in a tangle there is no need to rush.}) 26. Kh2 ({
Morozevich can't extricate his knight with} 26. Nf3 {, as after} Be7 $1 27.
Qxh6 Bxe4 $1 ({but not} 27... Rh5 $4 28. Nf6+ $1 {
when Black is mated in two moves - you can never be too careful!}) 28. Bxe4 Rh5
{the white queen's reckless adventure on the h-file has led to her being
trapped.}) 26... Kg7 27. Qg4 hxg5 {
At last it is the right moment to take the material.} 28. Nxg5 Rxg5 29. Qxg5
Qb6 $1 {Topalov's defence against White's attack is made all the easier thanks
to his 25th move which allows his queen to engage in a counterattack.} 30. f5 {
White has many successes in this book through thrusting his f-pawn at the
black defences. Indeed, it looks highly menacing here as both 31 f6+ followed
by Bxg6! and 31 fxg6 are looming. But Topalov has prepared well for this move
with 25...c4! and 29...Qb6!.} Be7 $1 {
A complete answer to White's threats, for if 31 Rxe7 Black mates in one move!}
31. Qf4 Qxb2 {Topalov's attack gets in first as Morozevich lacks time to play
32 Rxe7 and 33 f6+.} 32. Rxe7 Qxc2+ 33. R1e2 Qxf5 {The disappearance of the
f-pawn robs White of any way to cause problems for the black king. His
continued resistance smacks of time trouble.} 34. Qxf5 gxf5 35. Re8 Rd7 36. Rd2
Kf6 37. Kg1 Ne5 38. Kf2 Nd3+ 39. Ke3 Bc6 40. Rb8 Re7+ ({
White's final ignominy is that his king is mated after} 40... Re7+ 41. Kd4 Re4#
{.}) 0-1

[Event "Sofia"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2006.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kamsky, G."]
[Black "Topalov, V."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B97"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2006.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Nb3
{White wants a more positional fight and so declines to offer the pawn.} Be7 9.
Qf3 Nbd7 10. O-O-O Qc7 11. Bd3 b5 12. Rhe1 Bb7 13. Qh3 $2 {
A poor move that allows his knight on c3 to be driven out of the game.} ({
More circumspect was} 13. Kb1 {, when if} b4 14. Ne2 {keeps the knight
centralized. But Kamsky was still following one of his earlier games...}) 13...
b4 $1 14. Nb1 ({After} 14. Ne2 {the white queen is no longer defending e4, so
Black can fairly safely snaffle a pawn with} Nxe4 15. Bxe7 Kxe7 {. Naturally,
if Kamsky had wanted to play a double-edged pawn sacrifice he would have given
up the poisoned pawn on move eight!}) 14... e5 $1 {
With his last two pawn moves Topalov wins the opening battle.} ({In an earlier
game G.Kamsky-I.Smirin, FIDE World Cup, Khanty Mansiysk 2005, Black had played
the immediate} 14... a5 $6 {
, which had allowed White's knight to become active with} 15. Nd4 $1 {
. From this central square it introduced ideas of both Nb5 and the sacrifice
Nxe6. What's more, Black could no longer play ...e6-e5 without allowing the
dangerous Nf5 move, which meant that the pawn ram e4-e5 was always a latent
threat. White's game was therefore dynamic.}) ({
Now let's examine the situation after} 14... e5 {. Firstly, the white knight
has been denied a central post on d4. Secondly, Black has ruled out the pawn
ram e4-e5 without allowing any Nf5 attack. And thirdly, with ideas such as
e4-e5, Nb5 or Nxe6 all gone out of the window, the white queen is looking
rather shut out of things on h3. --- This brief assessment shows us how 14...
e5! has sapped most of the energy out of the white position. Topalov's
queenside pawns are mobile, and can be supported in their advance by the black
pieces, whereas Kamsky's pieces and pawns are no longer cooperating together
to generate active play. In other words, White's game is passive.}) 15. N1d2 a5
$1 {This pawn thrust is all the better for being delayed a move. Good moves
need to be played at the right moment!} 16. Kb1 a4 17. Nc1 O-O $1 ({
It is interesting that Topalov doesn't rush into} 17... a3 {, forcing} 18. b3 {
. If then} Qc3 $2 19. Nc4 {and the white knights have the last laugh after all
with the threat of 20 Ne2 trapping the queen. --- The black pawn thrust 17...
a3 looks tremendously strong at first glance, but should be held back unless
there is a convincing follow-up. After all, if Black is unable to exploit the
hole on c3, all he has done is renounce the potentially more useful plan of
opening lines with ...b4-b3.}) 18. Ne2 Rfc8 19. Ng3 {The white knight has
taken three moves to get in range of the f5-square, whereas it could have got
there in one move after 14...a5?! 15 Nd4. Even worse, its journey proves a
waste of time as it is once again thwarted by a pawn move.} g6 $1 {The white queen is now a pitiful sight, boxed in by her knight in the corner of the board.
She can't cause the black king any problems because her kingside pawns are
passive. In contrast, the black pawns are working hard with their pieces to
assail the white king.} 20. Nc4 Ba6 21. b3 ({If} 21. Ne3 a3 {
and White can no longer play} 22. b3 {because} Qc3 {wins at once. It would
also be hopeless to allow a breakthrough with 22...axb2. Therefore Kamsky is
obliged to defend his knight on c4 with the game move, which does Black's work
for him by opening the a-file. --- Here we see the excellence of Topalov's
judgment in holding back the ...a4-a3 pawn thrust at move 17.}) 21... axb3 22.
cxb3 Nc5 {If now 23 Bf1 Qa7 etc is soon overwhelming. Therefore Kamsky tries
to confuse matters by offering the e4-pawn.} 23. Ne2 Nfxe4 $1 {Topalov foresees
that he will drop the exchange but gain an irresistible attack.} 24. Bxe7 Qxe7
25. Bxe4 Nxe4 26. Nb6 Qa7 $1 27. Nxa8 ({If} 27. Nxc8 Bd3+ $1 28. Qxd3 Qxa2+ 29.
Kc1 Qa1+ $1 30. Qb1 Rxc8+ {and Black mates.}) 27... Rxa8 28. a4 Bxe2 29. Rc1 ({
Or} 29. Rxe2 Nc3+ {when Black will be a piece up.}) 29... Qf2 $1 {. Two pieces
and a pawn down for a rook and facing a decisive attack, Kamsky called it a
day.} 0-1

[Event "Hastings"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1922.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bogoljubow, E."]
[Black "Alekhine, A."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A90"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "106"]
[EventDate "1922.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 f5 {Like Morphy and the young Topalov, Alekhine found the Dutch Defence
a useful way to generate double-edged positions with the black pieces.} 2. c4
Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Bxd2+ 6. Nxd2 $6 {Already an error.} ({
White should recapture} 6. Qxd2 {and then play 7 Nc3. The knight is passively
placed on d2 and also lessens the white queen's influence over the centre.})
6... Nc6 7. Ngf3 O-O 8. O-O d6 {
Already Black is poised to seize a space advantage with ...e6-e5.} 9. Qb3 Kh8
10. Qc3 e5 $1 {A simple example of tactics supporting strategy.} 11. e3 ({
White hasn't succeeded in holding back his opponent's expansion in the centre,
since if} 11. dxe5 dxe5 12. Nxe5 $2 Nxe5 13. Qxe5 Qxd2 {
and Black has won a piece.}) 11... a5 $1 {Not only restraining any counterplay
with b2-b4, but also preparing to take the initiative on the queenside.} 12. b3
Qe8 $1 {Normally we see Alekhine indulge in manoeuvres on the queenside as a
prelude to a direct attack on the enemy king. Here the situation is reversed.
Black wants to fix the situation on the kingside in the most favourable manner
before switching to action in the centre.} 13. a3 Qh5 ({
Once again tactical means are used to preserve the e5-pawn, for if} 13... Qh5
14. dxe5 dxe5 15. Nxe5 $2 Nxe5 16. Qxe5 Ng4 {
and the threat of man on h2 costs White his queen.}) 14. h4 {Evidently White
was afraid of a possible ...f5-f4 advance followed by ...Bh3 and ...Ng4.} Ng4
15. Ng5 Bd7 16. f3 Nf6 17. f4 e4 18. Rfd1 h6 19. Nh3 {Bogoljubow has responded
to his opponent's threats by blocking the kingside. If this were one of
Morphy's games, Black would no doubt aim to engineer a breakthrough involving ...Rg8 and ...g7-g5. A lot of misplaced ingenuity would be spent trying to make
it work. In fact, playing through Morphy's games is always a pleasure until
you reach an encounter with a blocked centre. Then it is distressing to see
how the whole of strategy seems to be reduced to a mantra "If I'm White, I'll
play Rg1 and g2-g4; if I'm Black I'll play Rg8 and ...g7-g5". --- For example,
Morphy himself lost game 10 of his match with Anderssen through making a ...g7-g5 move that Steinitz rightly deemed "a bad strategical error". --- Unlike
Morphy, Alekhine has had the benefit of Steinitz's games and teachings on how
to play in closed positions. Therefore he comes up with a superior strategy,
which involves gaining control of a light square complex of pawns. We never
see such a sophisticated approach in Morphy's games - the closest we come are
his games as Black with Harrwitz (see Chapter Nine). --- You might be
wondering why Alekhine went to the trouble of 13...Qh5 etc when he intends to
switch the weight of the struggle to the other wing. The point is that White
has been provoked into the twin advances h2-h4 and f2-f4 which have drained
all expansive power from his kingside pawns. This has deprived the knight on
h3 and bishop on g2 of any active role. In contrast, their black opposite
numbers on f6 and d7 are much more flexibly placed for a battle on the
queenside and in the centre. --- I would suggest that 13...Qh5! goaded
Bogoljubow into closing lines on the kingside partly out of fear of his
adversary's reputation as an attacker par excellence. It is ironic that it is
precisely these lines that the white pieces might have used for counterplay
once Alekhine's real assault begins on the queenside.} d5 $1 20. Nf1 {
I've no idea why this knight slinks away from the queenside struggle. With
three minor pieces passively placed on the kingside, it's no wonder things
begin to fall apart for White on the other wing.} Ne7 {With the positional
threat of 21...a4!, when if 22 b4 dxc4 and the d5-square becomes a beautiful
base for the black knights.} 21. a4 ({White has no wish to play} 21. c5 {as}
Bb5 {brings the black bishop to life.}) 21... Nc6 $1 {Flexible thinking: the
knight goes back to c6 as the b4-square has become available.} 22. Rd2 Nb4 23.
Bh1 Qe8 $1 {The black queen returns to the centre and increases the pressure
on the a4-square.} 24. Rg2 dxc4 25. bxc4 ({White had the highly disagreeable
choice between giving up the a4-pawn or surrendering the light squares with} 
25. Qxc4 {, when} Nfd5 {followed by 26...b5! is horrible for him.}) 25... Bxa4
26. Nf2 Bd7 27. Nd2 b5 $1 {Alekhine wants the d5-square for his knight.
Bogoljubow buys him off, but at a terrible cost.} 28. Nd1 Nd3 $1 29. Rxa5 b4 $1
30. Rxa8 bxc3 $3 ({The straightforward} 30... Qxa8 31. Qb3 Qa1 {, threatening
32...Ba4, would probably finish the game in a couple of moves - White's bishop
on h1 and rook on g2 are a sorry sight. But Alekhine was an artist, not just a
collector of points, and he couldn't resist a once in a lifetime chance to
sacrifice two rooks and a queen for the sake of a pawn.}) 31. Rxe8 c2 {
The plucky pawn sneaks past all the defenders. This is one of the extremely
rare instances of a study-like theme appearing in a tournament game.} 32. Rxf8+
Kh7 33. Nf2 c1=Q+ 34. Nf1 Ne1 35. Rh2 Qxc4 ({
He could have gone after e3 at once with} 35... Nc2 $5 {
to create another passed pawn.}) 36. Rb8 Bb5 {White's pieces are in such a
tangle that he has to give up the exchange, after which he is losing on
material as well as position.} 37. Rxb5 Qxb5 38. g4 Nf3+ 39. Bxf3 exf3 40. gxf5
Qe2 $1 {Paralysing the white pieces.} 41. d5 ({If} 41. Nh3 Ng4 $1 42. Rxe2 fxe2
{and Black will get another new queen.}) 41... Kg8 42. h5 Kh7 43. e4 Nxe4 44.
Nxe4 Qxe4 45. d6 cxd6 46. f6 gxf6 47. Rd2 Qe2 48. Rxe2 fxe2 49. Kf2 exf1=Q+ 50.
Kxf1 Kg7 51. Kf2 Kf7 52. Ke3 Ke6 53. Ke4 d5+ {
. --- A most original and creative game.} 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "5. The Goldilocks Queen"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

{The queen is by far the strongest piece on the board, and so exceptional care
has to be taken with her deployment. In the vast majority of power play games,
it is the presence or absence of the queen that is the deciding factor in
whether an attack breaks through or the defence triumphs. --- This creates a
positional dilemma, as if she stands too far away from the action, the chances
of a successful outcome are reduced. On the other hand, if she strays too
close to the frontline the defenders will gain time by harassing her with
threats from which she must always flee (the only exceptions are those
glorious, mind over matter moments called 'queen sacrifices'). --- The
solution is to find her a place amid the skirmish which, like the porridge in
Goldilocks, is neither too hot nor too cold. This is by no means easy, and
skill in the use of the queen remains one of the hallmarks of chess mastery.} 
1. -- (1. -- {The queen radiates energy on the third rank: -- Alexander
Alekhine was particularly adept at finding secure but powerful posts for his
queen on the third rank. From such a vantage point she could survey the whole
board, and conduct an attack without being in any great danger. I have always
been impressed by his subtle handling of the queen in the two games that
follow. In both examples a simple manoeuvre led to a massive shift in the
energy balance between the two armies. (See Alekhine-Marshall.)}) (1. -- {
Frightening the opponent: -- see Alekhine-Junge.}) (1. -- {The queen bosses
the show on both wings: -- The next game illustrates the tremendous power of
an unfettered queen. First of all she prevents the enemy queenside pieces from
developing properly. Then she quickly switches to the kingside to orchestrate
an attack. And finally she sacrifices herself in the centre to force checkmate.
(See Topalov-Naiditsch.) --- This magnificent display reminds me of a similar
effort by Morphy's queen, who also obstructed the enemy pieces before
sacrificing herself to decide the battle.}) (1. -- {
The queen as blockader: -- see Paulsen-Morphy.}) (1. -- {The art of the quiet
queen move: -- After having our senses stunned by a couple of queen sacrifices,
it's probably a good idea to look at something a bit more peaceful. I have to
confess to the reader that I find Morphy's 18th move more attractive than any
of the violent queen moves above. (See Morphy-Anderssen, 3rd matchgame, Paris
1858.)}) (1. -- {A cowardly queen: -- The energy level in our position will
rise sharply if we can persuade our opponent's queen to flee the battle. In
the following encounter she takes fright at the first sign of trouble. (See
Spiridonov-Geller.)}) (1. -- {A daredevil queen: -- Sometimes the problem is
that the queen is too reckless rather than too timid. (See Strikovic-Topalov.)}
) (1. -- {Using psychology to make the enemy queen desert her post: -- "To
lose one's objective attitude to a position nearly always means ruining your
game," observed David Bronstein. Following in the footsteps of Emanuel Lasker,
Bronstein was a shrewd psychologist who often 'egged on' his opponents into
choosing over-ambitious plans. Here, for example, Stahlberg is cajoled into
thinking that he stands better, which leads to a loss of objectivity and a
sharp defeat. (See Stahlberg-Bronstein.) --- White was also lured into an
inappropriate adventure with his queen in the following game.}) (1. -- {
Knowing when to switch from defence to counterattack: -- Bronstein was a
versatile and dangerous counterattacker who was adept at choosing the right
moment to abandon a weak point and carry the fight to another sector of the
board. Such a strategy, or series of tactical operations, is particularly
effective against an opponent with a cautious, ultra-logical style of play. In
the example given here, Bronstein was facing the Hungarian Grandmaster Barcza
who was noted for being a very solid, 'nervous' player, with no appetite for
tactical complications. Barcza had many draws to his name, but when given the
chance to improve his position in a strictly logical manner he was highly
formidable. A good example is his win as White versus Smyslov at the Moscow
Olympiad in 1956, where he ground down a World Champion by utilizing his
queenside pawn majority. --- Playing for a win as Black against such an
opponent requires a mixture of patience and tactical alertness. Missiles
thrown too early are going to bounce off his solid armour. Instead, Bronstein
offers some 'bait' on the queenside, which lures his opponent out of his solid
defensive shell. (See Barcza-Bronstein.)}) (1. -- {Exploiting a misplaced
queen with direct threats: -- So far we have looked at examples in which the
enemy queen abandoned the main scene of action either voluntarily or after
some 'gentle prodding'. Geller treats her in a far more brutal manner. (See
Geller-Portisch.)}) (1. -- {A beautiful loss for Alekhine: -- When David
Bronstein visited England in the 1990s I asked him what was his favourite game.
After a brief pause he said he loved Euwe's queen manoeuvres at the end of the
following game from the 1935 World Championship match. Apparently his
hesitation in recommending the game was because Euwe had had the luxury of
finding the winning manoeuvre during the adjournment of the game, whereas
Bronstein always championed spontaneous creativity at the board. --- My
apologies to fans of Alekhine, but any combination good enough to impress
Bronstein can't be ignored! (See Euwe-Alekhine.)}) *

[Event "Baden-Baden"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1925.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alekhine, A."]
[Black "Marshall, F."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D06"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "1925.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. e4 Nf6 5. Bd3 e5 6. dxe5 Ng4 7. Nf3 Nc6 8.
Bg5 Be7 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Nc3 Ncxe5 11. Nxe5 Qxe5 {
An attractive recapture that Alekhine will punish very severely.} ({Instead,} 
11... Nxe5 12. O-O O-O {is about equal.}) 12. h3 Nf6 {Here the obvious move is
13 0-0 which develops with a view to 14 f4, when the black queen is pushed
from her fine central post and White's centre becomes mobile. However, Black
has the excellent reply 13...g5!, cementing the queen on the e5-square. The
white pawns would be deprived of expansive energy, which in turn would cast
gloom over the white pieces. And if all that wasn't bad enough, Black might
castle queenside and then use the g-pawn as a battering ram against the white
king's position, which has been weakened by h2-h3. --- At this point I would
like to remind you of Grandmaster Rudolf Spielmann's famous comment that he
could have made any of Alekhine's combinations, but he couldn't get the
positions from which the combinations started. You are about to witness some
of the dynamic play that created the fertile ground from which Alekhine's
combinations flowered.} 13. Qd2 $1 Bd7 ({After} 13... g5 {the reply} 14. h4 {
looks very strong. For example,} g4 15. Qg5 $1 {evicts the queen from e5, as}
Qxg5 16. hxg5 Nd7 17. Be2 Ne5 18. Nd5 {is horrible for Black.}) 14. Qe3 $1 {
It is better to deny the black queen any dark squares in the centre before
pushing her backwards.} ({
Hence the second white queen move generates more energy than} 14. f4 {
at once which would allow} Qc5 {.}) 14... Bc6 {An equally important point of
Alekhine's manoeuvre is that Black is unable to castle queenside due to the
attack on a7. This persuades Marshall to send his king to the kingside, where
it is in range of White's mobile centre pawns.} ({If instead} 14... g5 {
, the reply} 15. h4 {still looks very strong.} ({Or else White could simply
castle queenside and ask his opponent: where are you going to put your king?
Black can't stomach} 15. O-O-O O-O-O $2 ({while} 15... O-O 16. h4 {
isn't the sort of position you want against someone called A.Alekhine}) 16.
Qxa7 {.})) 15. O-O-O O-O 16. f4 Qe6 17. e5 {White's central pawns are bursting
with energy. Marshall tries to fight against them using his pieces, but
without the restraining influence of any black pawns there's no way he can
hold them back.} Rfe8 18. Rhe1 Rad8 19. f5 {It's almost too easy. The pawns
sweep forwards without meeting any resistance at all.} Qe7 20. Qg5 Nd5 21. f6 {
Notice how the white pawns advanced in unison. At every step of the way
forwards they keep abreast of each other, with one pawn advancing and then the
other moving up alongside it. First of all they sat next to each other on the
fourth rank; then they sprinted forward to the fifth rank; and now one pawn
has reached the sixth rank. Positionally speaking, the next step is therefore
to arrange e5-e6. Alekhine engineers it with his next move.} Qf8 22. Bc4 $1 {
Try removing the black pawn from c7 and putting it on e6, and you'll see that
we have a real fight on our hands. Put the pawn back on c7 and there's nothing
to stop White powering through with e5-e6 at the appropriate moment.} Nxc3 23.
Rxd8 Rxd8 24. fxg7 $1 ({Instead,} 24. e6 {threatens} -- 25. exf7+ Kh8 26. fxg7+
Qxg7 27. Qxd8+ {mating.}) ({Alekhine says he avoided} 24. e6 {because of} Rd5 {
, but} 25. Bxd5 Nxd5 26. e7 Nxe7 {(if the queen moves, it's 27 Qxg7 mate)} 27.
fxe7 {wins very easily with the passed pawn. This was the way to win the game
without giving the opponent any glimmer of counterplay, although it would
still take a couple of moves to oust the black queen from e8. --- On the other
hand, the move actually chosen is the quickest and most efficient way for a
player with a complete mastery of tactics to finish the game. Alekhine isn't
afraid to let Marshall try for one of his famous swindles as he sees the
attempt can easily be defeated.}) 24... Nxa2+ 25. Kb1 $1 ({
Black is alive and kicking after} 25. Bxa2 Qc5+ 26. Kb1 Rd7 $1 {(and if} 27. e6
$4 Qxg5 {).}) 25... Qe8 26. e6 Be4+ {Tricky to the last, but I wonder what
odds you would get on Alekhine falling for 27 Kxa2?? Qa4 mate.} 27. Ka1 $1 (27.
Rxe4 {is also good enough, but it's simpler to avoid the rook check on d1.})
27... f5 28. e7+ Rd5 29. Qf6 {Threatening a decisive check on f8.} Qf7 30.
e8=Q+ ({After} 30. e8=Q+ Qxe8 31. Bxd5+ {it's mate next move. --- Thanks to
his fine queen manoeuvre, Alekhine was able to energize his pawns, which in
turn gave extra power to his pieces. It is one of the rules of positional
chess that pieces that are actively supported by their pawns will almost
always triumph over pieces acting on their own.}) 1-0

[Event "Poland"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1942.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alekhine, A."]
[Black "Junge, K."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C86"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "1942.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Qe2 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3
d5 9. d3 dxe4 10. dxe4 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. Bg5 Ne8 13. Bxe7 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Nxe7
15. Rd1 Nd6 16. Nd2 c6 17. Nf1 Qc7 18. a4 Rad8 19. Ng3 Nec8 20. axb5 axb5 21.
Nf5 Nb6 {Alekhine has all his pieces posted on aggressive squares, but is
suffering from the fact that the fixed centre denies him any pawn breaks. As
we know, almost any attack requires the use of pawns at some point. Alekhine
found a clever way to tighten the pressure on his opponent.} 22. Qe3 $3 {
A quiet little move, but it gives Black a lot to think about. The queen
radiates power along two important diagonals.} ({After} 22. Qe3 {
on the queenside there is the immediate threat of} -- 23. Nxd6 ({
and on the kingside Black has to worry about sacrifices such as} 23. Nxg7 Kxg7
24. Qg5+) ({or} 23. Rxd6 Rxd6 24. Qg5) 23... Rxd6 24. Rxd6 Qxd6 25. Qxb6 {
winning a piece. Junge is unnerved, and decides to remove the knight that is
tormenting him.}) 22... Nxf5 $2 ({He should have played} 22... Nbc4 $1 {
with chances of a successful defence.}) 23. exf5 {Now we can see what Alekhine
has achieved with his little queen move - the pawn break that his position
needed has appeared on the board.} c5 ({
Black can't stop the forward advance of White's pawn, because} 23... Qe7 {
would leave his knight en prise}) ({while after} 23... Nd7 {, hoping to block
with 24...Nf6, the white rook can invade on the queenside with} 24. Ra7 $1 {
. In this variation we see how important it was for White to find time for 18
a4, opening the a-file. He needed to squeeze every piece of dynamism he could
out of his pieces, or else 23...Nd7 would have been perfectly okay for Black.})
24. f6 $1 {A pawn throwing itself at the opponent's defences will be a
familiar sight to readers of this book.} gxf6 25. Qh6 {Another benefit of 22
Qe3 - the white queen jumps into the hole in the opponent's pawn wall. Now
White threatens both 26 Qxf6 and 26 Bc2.} f5 26. Bxf7+ $1 {The tactical
alertness of an Alekhine. He immediately seizes on the fact that Black's last
move left the g5-square undefended.} Qxf7 ({If} 26... Kh8 27. Qf6#) ({or} 26...
Kxf7 27. Qxh7+ {winning the queen}) ({or finally} 26... Rxf7 27. Qg5+ {
and 28 Rxd8+ wins.}) 27. Rxd8 Na4 ({Of course if} 27... Rxd8 28. Qg5+ {etc.})
28. b3 1-0

[Event "Dortmund"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2005.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Topalov, V."]
[Black "Naiditsch, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D39"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bg5 c5 7. e5 cxd4 8. Nxd4
Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Qa5 10. exf6 Qxg5 11. fxg7 Qxg7 12. Qd2 O-O 13. Bxc4 a6 14. O-O
Rd8 $2 ({The immediate} 14... b5 {was correct, when} 15. Be2 ({of course Topalov would have found a way to keep the tension, probably with the sharper} 15.
Bb3) 15... Bb7 16. Bf3 Bxf3 17. Nxf3 {led to a quick draw in O.Almeida
Quintana-A.Kolev, La Roda 2008. In any case, Naiditsch should have gone down
this road. The attempt to profit from the pin along the d-file instantly leads
him into trouble.}) 15. Qf4 $1 {The alert Bulgarian Grandmaster intends to
exploit the undefended state of the rook on d8 to hinder Black's development.}
b5 ({Instead,} 15... e5 {
weakens Black's central squares without winning any material after} 16. Qh4 $1
{. For example,} Rf8 17. Nc2 {
, when the plan of 18 Rae1 and 19 Re3 is awkward to meet.}) 16. Qc7 $1 {
Stopping Black from playing 16...Bb7, when the threat of mate on g2 would buy
him time for ...Nc6 with equality.} Qf8 {The queen retreat is a significant
concession, as ...Bb7 won't come with a mate threat on g2, and ...e6-e5 is no
longer possible to evict the knight from d4.} ({However,} 16... Rf8 {allows}
17. Nf5 $1 exf5 ({if} 17... Qxc3 18. Rac1 {
and then 19 Ne7+ wins the bishop on c8}) 18. Bd5 {
, trapping the rook on a8 and emerging the exchange up.}) 17. Bd3 {
Now the terrible threat of 18 Be4 forces Black to achieve ...Bb7 at all costs.}
Rd7 18. Qf4 Bb7 {It seems that White's plan has failed as his queen has been
driven back from c7 and Black is ready for 19...Nc6. In reality, Topalov has
been using his queenside pressure to entice the black pieces away from their
defensive roles on the kingside. Thus the black queen is on f8 rather than g7,
where she guarded h7 and prevented any queen checks on the g-file. The black
bishop has gone to b7, which is an impressive-looking diagonal, but it has
stopped defending the e6-pawn against a possible breakthrough sacrifice. And
thirdly, the black rook on d7 no longer protects the back rank. It is also
keeping the knight from being brought quickly to the defence of the kingside
via d7. --- As we shall see, without his preliminary operations on the
queenside, Topalov's final attack wouldn't have succeeded, as it culminates in
a sacrifice on e6 and the exploitation of Black's weak back rank.} 19. Rae1 {
The rook threatens to decide matters with 20 Re3 and 21 Rg3+.} Qg7 20. Be4 {
Meeting the mate threat on g2.} Kh8 ({If now} 20... e5 21. Bxb7 exf4 22. Re8+
Qf8 23. Rxf8+ Kxf8 24. Bxa8 {and White has won a rook.}) 21. Re3 Bxe4 22. Qxe4
Rd5 ({Or} 22... Raa7 23. Qf4 {(attacking b8)} Rac7 24. Rg3 e5 25. Qf5 Qh6 26.
Qxe5+ {and White mates.}) 23. Nxe6 $1 {Beginning a finish that is worthy of a
game by Morphy. White can afford a sacrifice as he will still have superior
firepower where it matters on the kingside.} fxe6 24. Qxe6 Rd7 ({If} 24... Rg5
25. Qc8+ Qg8 26. Re8 {wins the queen.}) 25. Rg3 Qf8 26. Re1 Raa7 27. Qf6+ $3 ({
It's mate after} 27. Qf6+ Qxf6 28. Re8+ {.}) 1-0

[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Paulsen, L."]
[Black "Morphy, P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C48"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "1857.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bc5 5. O-O O-O 6. Nxe5 Re8 7. Nxc6 dxc6
8. Bc4 b5 9. Be2 Nxe4 10. Nxe4 Rxe4 11. Bf3 Re6 12. c3 $2 ({
White could have played} 12. d3 {, but instead he aims to expand in the centre
with 13 d4. Morphy blocked this off with:}) 12... Qd3 $1 {The black queen is
not only powerful in herself, but is also affecting the energy level of other
pieces. Thus she shuts in the white bishop on c1 and prevents d2-d4, which
would curb the scope of the black bishop on c5. As will be seen, in a general
sense all of Black's pieces are vitalized by her presence on a commanding
square. --- An intriguing positional battle now begins. Paulsen strives to
evict the black queen from her dominant position, when he hopes to emerge with
the better game thanks to his superior pawn structure. In contrast, Morphy
wants to use the energy of his queen to generate decisive tactical threats
against the white king before she can be driven away.} 13. b4 Bb6 14. a4 {
Threatening to trap the bishop with 15 a5 and so forcing Black to weaken his
pawns.} bxa4 15. Qxa4 Bd7 $2 {
A surprising error for the supreme tactician Morphy.} ({He should have played} 
15... Bb7 $1 {, keeping the white queen out of a6. If then} 16. Ra2 {
, planning to challenge the queen with 17 Qc2, there follows} Rae8 $1 {
. This developing move contains an important tactical threat, for if} 17. Qc2
$2 ({therefore White's plan is defeated as he must submit to} 17. Qd1 {
, whereupon} Ba6 $1 {wins the exchange}) {Black wins at once with} 17... Qxf1+
$1 18. Kxf1 Re1# {.}) 16. Ra2 $2 ({White misses his chance for} 16. Qa6 $1 {
. After} Qxa6 ({Morphy might have replied} 16... Qg6 17. d4 Rae8 {
maintaining the tension, though his bishop on b6 is now boxed in}) 17. Rxa6
Rae8 18. Ra1 $1 {
(avoiding any tricks based on ...c6-c5 and ...Bb5), White has some advantage.})
16... Rae8 17. Qa6 ({I assume that Paulsen was planning} 17. Qc2 {, but saw}
Qxf1+ $1 {at the last moment. Hence he puts his queen on a6, where she defends
f1 'through' the black queen. --- Tartakower once described chess as "the
tragedy of one tempo". The queen has delayed for one move going to a6, and as
a consequence the verdict changes from "after 16 Qa6 White is slightly better"
to "after 17 Qa6 White will be crushed in beautiful style". As long as Morphy
sees the winning move of course...}) 17... Qxf3 $3 {According to William
Hartston in 'The Kings of Chess', "Mr Stanley, one of the bystanders, remarked
of Morphy, on making this seemingly rash move, that he should be confined to a
lunatic asylum." --- I'm sure that Morphy had no problem in discovering the
queen sacrifice - most likely he had seen the possibility some moves earlier.
The difficulty of the move is that the resulting variations can't be
calculated to a forced win. There are simply too many of them. Therefore,
having looked at a limited number of possibilities, and satisfied himself that
they offered winning chances, Morphy had to break off his analysis. He had to
trust his intuition that told him Black must have a good answer to all White's
defensive tries. Nowadays, when combinations have become standardized and
classified in books, many players would have the courage to make the sacrifice,
despite being unable to see everything to a winning conclusion. But back in
1857 the queen sacrifice seemed like magic, or at least the creation of a
genius (or a madman, as Stanley quipped). --- Morphy himself thought for 12
minutes before taking the plunge, which doesn't sound very long, but it was in
fact the most time he spent on any move at the New York tournament. Paulsen
thought for even longer before he captured the queen (now what on earth could
he have been thinking about?).} 18. gxf3 Rg6+ 19. Kh1 Bh3 {
Threatening 20...Bg2+ 21 Kg1 Bxf3 mate.} 20. Rd1 ({If} 20. Rg1 Rxg1+ 21. Kxg1
Re1+ {and mates.}) ({A tougher defence is} 20. Qd3 {
, aiming to sacrifice the queen on g6 as required. But} f5 $1 {
rules this out, after which Black has a winning initiative. For example,} 21.
Rd1 Bg2+ 22. Kg1 Bxf3+ 23. Kf1 Bxd1 24. Ra1 ({or} 24. Qc4+ Kf8 25. d4 Bf3 {
when 26...Bg2+ is lethal}) 24... Rge6 {(threatening 25...Be2+)} 25. Kg2 Be2 26.
Qh3 Rg6+ 27. Kh1 Bf3+ 28. Qxf3 Re1# {.}) 20... Bg2+ 21. Kg1 Bxf3+ 22. Kf1 Bg2+
23. Kg1 Bh3+ {Good enough to win;} ({
but Morphy could have crowned his attack with mate in four moves:} 23... Be4+
$1 24. Kf1 Bf5 $1 {(this quiet move, which threatens mate on h3, was very
difficult to visualise in advance)} 25. Qe2 Bh3+ 26. Ke1 Rg1# {.}) 24. Kh1 Bxf2
{Now Paulsen has to give back the queen to avoid mate on g2, leaving him three
pawns down and still facing a massive attack.} 25. Qf1 Bxf1 26. Rxf1 Re2 27.
Ra1 Rh6 28. d4 Be3 ({If} 28... Be3 29. Bxe3 Rhxh2+ {and mate next move.}) 0-1

[Event "3rd matchgame, Paris"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1858.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morphy, P."]
[Black "Anderssen, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C65"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "39"]
[EventDate "1858.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d4 Nxd4 5. Nxd4 exd4 6. e5 c6 7. O-O cxb5 8.
Bg5 Be7 9. exf6 Bxf6 10. Re1+ Kf8 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 {
There followed a typical Morphy move:} 12. c3 $1 {
An improvement on opening theory at move 12.} ({
Rather than try to attack at once with the direct} 12. Qe2) ({
or aim to regain the pawn with a laborious manoeuvre} 12. Nd2 {, 13 Nb3 and 14
Nxd4, the American master finds a middle ground: not too fast and not too slow.
}) ({In his own annotations to the game, Morphy mentions an earlier game by
the German master Max Lange which featured} 12. Na3 {, when} a6 {leaves the knight shut out of things. The American certainly knew his theory, and after the
debacle in the present game, Anderssen never dared venture 1...e5 against him
again.}) 12... d5 ({If} 12... dxc3 13. Nxc3 {White has a very dangerous
initiative so, unsurprisingly, Anderssen returns the pawn at once.}) 13. cxd4
Be6 14. Nc3 a6 15. Re5 Rd8 {Morphy is still a pawn down, and there is no
mating attack or strong tactical blow in sight. On the other hand he has
several positional advantages: superiority over the dark squares, an
aggressive rook on the e-file, and the black king badly placed on f8, where he
interferes with the connection of the rooks. Morphy now improves the
coordination of his pieces by bringing the rook on a1 into the game:} 16. Qb3
Qe7 {So that 17 Nxd5 can be met by 17...Qd6, winning the knight.} 17. Rae1 g5 {
Anderssen intends to bring his rook on h8 into the game via g8.} ({
A safer approach was} 17... g6 {
and 18...Kg7, when the rook could be centralized.}) 18. Qd1 $3 {I love the
of prejudice shown by this retreat - having made way for the rook to go to e1,
the queen has no qualms about returning back home to d1. In an age when almost
all his opponents were trying to play 'loud', overtly aggressive moves,
Morphy's genius whispered to him that sometimes it is the quietest move on the
whole board that contains the most power.} Qf6 19. R1e3 Rg8 $4 {Anderssen can't
stand the slow torture any longer. He hopes next move to put his rook on the
third rank and start to generate combinative play, but he has made a grisly
oversight.} ({The consistent move was} 19... g4 {, which avoids the disaster
that follows. In that case we might imagine that Morphy would have replied} 20.
g3 $1 {, intending 21 Ne2 and 22 Nf4 to increase the pressure on e6.}) 20. Rxe6
({The game ends abruptly as if} 20. Rxe6 fxe6 21. Rf3 {wins the queen. ---
Anderssen was kept boxed in throughout the whole game and wasn't given the
slightest chance to show his tactical genius.}) 1-0

[Event "Novi Sad"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1978.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Spiridonov, N."]
[Black "Geller, E."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E05"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "1978.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. d4 dxc4 7. Ne5 Nc6 {
Good psychology against the type of player who favours the super-solid Catalan;
Black is willing to suffer a broken pawn structure in return for active play.}
8. Bxc6 {Spiridonov sees he can win a pawn and so goes the whole hog in giving
up his Catalan bishop.} ({The alternative was} 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Bxc6 Rb8 {
which is unclear.}) 8... bxc6 9. Nxc6 Qe8 10. Nxe7+ Qxe7 11. Qa4 e5 $5 {
Black is doomed to lose the c4-pawn and so needs to generate counterplay by
breaking open lines in the centre.} ({The alternative was} 11... c5 {, aiming to put the light-squared bishop on b7. Geller prefers to create a role for it
along its other diagonal.}) 12. dxe5 Qxe5 13. Qxc4 Be6 14. Qa6 $2 {The white queen runs away from the fight. Instead, she might have retreated to c2, to help
defend her second rank.} ({Another approach is} 14. Qd3 $5 Rad8 15. Qe3 Qh5 16.
f3 {. Then she has evicted her opposite number from the centre, though she
herself remains a possible target. A person who likes the initiative would
prefer to be on the black side of the argument, whereas a player who prefers
being a pawn up albeit facing some 'aggro' would choose White. ---
Incidentally, Georgiev used this line as White to beat Karpov at the Dubai
rapid tournament of 2002. The Bulgarian Grandmaster rightly assumed that the
former World Champion, who isn't renowned for slashing attacks with the black
pieces, wouldn't be entirely happy with having the role of aggressor thrust
upon him. Sure enough, Karpov allowed simplification in return for getting his
pawn back, but eventually perished because of the weakness of the c7-pawn.})
14... Bh3 {The bishop attacks g2 from one direction...} 15. Re1 Qd5 {...and the
queen attacks it from another. White is compelled to loosen the pawn cover
around his king.} 16. f3 Ng4 $1 {The next stage in Black's strategy is to
force e2-e3 so that White's f3-pawn becomes very weak. He needs to use his
queen and knight to carry out the task.} 17. Nc3 Qc5+ 18. e3 {The only move,
but White can't rejoice at d3 and f3 both losing pawn protection.} Ne5 19. Qe2
Rad8 {Stopping White developing his queenside, as the game would end abruptly
after 20 Bd2 Rxd2! with a fork on f3.} 20. Rd1 h6 21. Bd2 f5 $1 {As we have
n so often in this book, the pieces acting on their own can't overwhelm a
defence. At some point the help of a pawn is always required.} 22. Be1 Qc6 23.
Rxd8 Rxd8 24. Kf2 {Spiridonov appears to have strengthened his defensive line,
and only needs one free move to bring up his reinforcements with 25 Rd1.} ({
Now the best that piece play can offer Geller is a draw with} 24. Kf2 Nd3+ 25.
Kg1 Ne5 {etc. But what about pawn play?}) 24... f4 $3 {A thunderbolt.} 25. Bd2
({Let's look at some variations:} 25. gxf4 Qg6 {
and White has no good answer to the threat of 26...Qg2 mate, for if} 26. e4 Rd3
{(simplest)} 27. Bd2 Qg2+ 28. Ke1 Qg1+ {and mate next move.}) (25. exf4 Qc5+
26. Qe3 Nd3+ 27. Ke2 Bf1+ $1 28. Kxf1 ({or} 28. Kd2 Nxe1+) 28... Qxe3 {
and wins.}) (25. Rd1 fxe3+ 26. Qxe3 ({there's no joy in} 26. Kxe3 Qb6+) 26...
Ng4+ $1 27. fxg4 Qg2# {.}) 25... Nxf3 $1 26. Rd1 ({If} 26. Qxf3 Rxd2+ 27. Ne2
fxe3+ 28. Qxe3 ({or} 28. Kxe3 Rd3+ $1) 28... Qg2+ 29. Ke1 Rxb2 30. Qe8+ Kh7 {
and wins.}) 26... Nd4 $1 ({Spiridonov called it a day as it is checkmate after
} 26... Nd4 27. exd4 Qg2+ 28. Ke1 Qg1+ {.}) 0-1

[Event "Forli"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1988.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Strikovic, A."]
[Black "Topalov, V."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B22"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "1988.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nf3 b6 6. Nxd4 e6 7. c4 Nc7 8. Qf3
Bc5 9. Be3 O-O 10. Bd3 d5 11. exd6 Qxd6 {After a sharp opening struggle,
Strikovic thought he could safely win the exchange with:} 12. Nb5 Nxb5 13. Bxc5
Qxc5 14. Qxa8 {It appears that Black has no time to close the trap on the
white queen with ...Nc6 as his other knight on b5 is hanging. But Topalov
nevertheless played:} Nc6 $1 15. Be4 {The knight on b5 is inviolable, and to
make matters even worse for White it threatens 15...Nc7, trapping the queen.
--- Thus the black horse either mates the white king or traps the queen. If
there was only a threat to the white king, it could be defended against, while
the white queen could be saved if she were the only target. But the
combination of the two threats is fatal. --- In the game Strikovic couldn't
avoid a massive loss of material:} ({If} 15. cxb5 $2 {it is mate in two:} Qc1+
16. Ke2 Nd4# {!} ({Perhaps in his earlier calculations Strikovic had only seen
} 16... Qxh1 $2 17. Qxc6 {when White is winning.})) 15... Nbd4 16. Bxc6 Nxc6
17. O-O Ba6 18. b4 Qxc4 19. Na3 Rxa8 ({
It's a dismal state of affairs when the best you can hope for is} 19... Qxf1+
20. Rxf1 Rxa8 21. b5 Bb7 22. bxc6 Bxc6 {- two pawns down in an endgame against
Topalov. The young Bulgarian chooses an even surer path to victory.}) 20. Nxc4
Bxc4 21. Rfc1 Bd5 22. a3 Kf8 23. f3 Ke8 24. Kf2 Kd7 25. Ke3 a5 26. b5 Ne7 27.
Rc2 Rc8 28. Rac1 Rxc2 29. Rxc2 Nf5+ 30. Kd3 Nd6 31. a4 Nb7 0-1

[Event "Candidates, Budapest"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1950.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Stahlberg, G."]
[Black "Bronstein, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A10"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "1950.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. c4 f5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. Nc3 c6 7. d3 d6 8. e4
fxe4 9. dxe4 e5 10. c5 Na6 11. cxd6 Bxd6 12. Be3 Kh8 13. Qe2 Bg4 14. h3 Bh5 15.
Rfd1 Qe7 16. g4 Bf7 17. Nh4 Bc5 18. Nf5 Qc7 19. Bf1 g6 20. Ng3 Be6 21. Rac1 Qe7
22. Bxc5 Nxc5 23. b4 Ncd7 24. Qd2 Qf7 25. Rc2 a6 26. Qg5 Rae8 27. Rcd2 Re7 28.
Qe3 {White has his queen excellently centralized on the 'Alekhine' square e3.
She not only helps bolster the slightly compromised kingside pawns but also
puts pressure on the black queenside. --- Bronstein's next move shows that he
is deeply alarmed by the threat of an invasion with 29 Qa7, or at least he
wants to pretend as much to his opponent.} Ra8 29. Na4 {Black's passive move
has made Stahlberg optimistic about his chances on the queenside and so he
launches an immediate attack.} Rf8 $1 {Back again.} ({
Stahlberg has seen that after} 29... Bxa2 {
he can simplify to a favourable endgame with} 30. g5 {; for example,} Nh5 ({or
} 30... Ne8 31. Rxd7 Rxd7 32. Rxd7 Qxd7 33. Nb6 Qd8 34. Nxa8 Qxa8 35. Qc5 {
, when the mate threat on f8 means that White regains his pawn}) 31. Rxd7 Rxd7
32. Rxd7 Qxd7 33. Nb6 Qe8 34. Nxh5 gxh5 35. Nxa8 Qxa8 36. Qc3 Qe8 37. f4 Qe7
38. h4 {
and White's mobile pawns far outweigh Black's lifeless queenside majority.})
30. Nc5 ({If} 30. Qa7 {, the pawn grab} Bxa2 $1 {
is now strong, as with the knight on a4} 31. Qxb7 $2 {runs into} Bb3 32. Ra1
Bxa4 33. Rxa4 Nc5 {when White loses material.}) ({
Once again Stahlberg had the chance to repeat moves with} 30. Nc3 {
, but he presses ahead with his attack.}) 30... Nxc5 31. Qxc5 Nd7 $1 {
Defending the e5-pawn and kicking the white queen away from c5. --- But now
psychology comes into play: having been offered three chances to agree a draw
by repetition, Stahlberg has become oblivious to any danger the position might
contain.} ({If she retreats back to e3, Black can safely pick up a pawn with} 
31... Nd7 32. Qe3 ({while if she counterattacks against b7 with} 32. Qa7 {
, then} Nf6 $1 {contains threats such as 33...Bxa2 and 33...h5!, which means
that White would have nothing better than to repeat moves with} 33. Qc5 Nd7 {
etc}) 32... Bxa2 {.}) 32. Qc2 $2 {This amounts to a vital loss of energy for
White's position as the queen loses contact with the dark squares in the
centre and on the kingside. It is never a good sign when the strongest piece
is moved to a passive square simply to meet a threat like 32...Bxa2.} ({
As stated above, White should repeat moves to draw with} 32. Qa7 Nf6 33. Qc5
Nd7 34. Qa7 {etc. Of course Bronstein might have avoided this sequence, but
then he would be the one taking the risk, not Stahlberg.}) 32... h5 $1 {
If the white queen were still sitting on e3, this pawn advance could be
countered by an invasion with Qh6+. Instead, her self-inflicted exile means
that the flimsy white pawn cover on the g-file collapses as soon as the first
blow is struck.} 33. gxh5 gxh5 34. Nf5 {The knight jumps before it is pinned
with 34...Rg8, when 35...h4 would be on the cards.} Bxf5 35. exf5 Rg8+ 36. Bg2
Qg7 {The black queen takes advantage of her unchallenged dominance of the
g-file to compel White to shut in his bishop and further weaken his dark
squares.} 37. f3 Nf6 $1 {
White can't prevent the knight from reaching its dream outpost on f4.} 38. Rd8
Nd5 39. Rxg8+ Qxg8 40. Qd2 {The queen finally returns to the dark squares that
she so unpardonably abandoned with 32 Qc2.} Nf4 41. Kh2 $6 ({
Here Stahlberg resigned in view of the strength of} 41. Kh2 Rd7 $1 {, when taking the rook is taboo because of mate on g2, while if the queen moves away 42...
Rxd1 wins.}) ({If instead} 41. Qd8 {, White gets a lost pawn endgame after} Rg7
42. Qxg8+ Rxg8 43. Rd2 Rxg2+ 44. Rxg2 Nxg2 45. Kxg2 Kg7 46. Kg3 Kf6 47. Kh4
Kxf5 48. Kxh5 b6 $1 49. h4 c5 {etc.}) 0-1

[Event "Budapest vs Moscow match"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1949.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Barcza, G."]
[Black "Bronstein, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A20"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "1949.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. c4 e5 2. a3 Nf6 3. d3 a5 4. Nc3 d6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. e3 g6 7. Bd2 Bg7 8. b4
axb4 9. axb4 Rxa1 10. Qxa1 O-O 11. Qa7 Qe7 12. e4 c6 13. Be2 d5 14. cxd5 cxd5
15. Qa4 b6 16. O-O Bb7 17. exd5 Nxd5 18. Nxd5 Bxd5 19. Qb5 Qd6 20. Rc1 h6 21.
Ne1 Rd8 22. Bf3 Nf6 23. Bxd5 Nxd5 24. Rc6 Qd7 25. Qc4 Ra8 26. Qc1 b5 27. h3 ({
Here Black could target the b4-pawn with} 27. h3 Bf8 {, but after} 28. Nf3 f6 {
it would get draughty around his king. And so Bronstein played the simple...})
27... Kh7 $1 {...and challenged his opponent to go after the b5-pawn. The
whole point of the Réti Opening is to capture a weak pawn on the queenside so,
morally speaking, Barcza can hardly refuse.} 28. Qc5 {Indeed, this seems very
powerful as Black has to watch out for not only 29 Qxb5, but also 29 Rd6,
winning a piece.} Nf4 $1 {Dealing with both threats.} 29. Rc7 (29. Qxb5 $2 {
falls for the fork} Ne2+ 30. Kf1 Nd4 {.}) ({And} 29. Bxf4 $2 {
would be foolish as it brings the bishop on g7 to life:} exf4 30. Qxb5 $2 Ra1
31. Kf1 Qe7 {and the pin on e1 is fatal.}) 29... Qf5 $1 ({
Much better than the passive} 29... Qe8 {. Bronstein has decided it is the
right moment to give up the defence of b5 and seek to counterattack. In this
task his queen is excellently supported by the well-posted knight and also by
the rook, which can cause problems for the white bishop or knight by swooping
down to a2 or a1 respectively. Meanwhile, the bishop on g7 is performing 'fire
brigade duties' by sheltering the king, and also deters White from removing
the pesky knight with Bxf4, as we saw in the previous note.}) 30. Qc6 $2 ({
The game might have ended in a draw after} 30. Qxb5 $1 Ne2+ ({
perhaps Barcza was afraid of} 30... Ra2 {, but he has the excellent reply} 31.
Qb7 $1 {, when Black had better force the draw again with} Ne2+ ({as} 31...
Rxd2 $2 {allows} 32. Rxf7 {attacking both f5 and g7; then the queen sacrifice}
Qxf7 {fails after} 33. Qxf7 Rd1 34. Kf1 Nxd3 35. Ke2 $1 {
, when Black won't get more than a rook and bishop for his queen}) 32. Kf1 Ng3+
{etc}) 31. Kf1 Ng3+ 32. Kg1 Ne2+ {with a repetition. --- As we have discussed
above, Barcza wasn't the type of player who liked being inveigled into
complications. Perhaps he saw 31 Qb7! but only calculated as far as 33...Rd1
and concluded that Black would get too much for the queen. However, it is most
likely that the Hungarian Grandmaster made the game move purely on intuitive
grounds. His plan is to put the queen on e4 to quieten down the position and
then try to pick off Black's pawn on b5 or f7.}) 30... Ra1 31. Qe4 Nxd3 $1 ({
Barcza is hoping for} 31... Qxe4 32. dxe4 Nd3 33. Kf1 {
with some advantage to White. Unfortunately Bronstein has other ideas.}) 32.
Qxf5 {So that if 32...gxf5 33 Kf1, when White will regain his pawn either on
f7 or by attacking b5 with Rb7.} Nxe1 $3 {Now Barcza has no time to save his
queen as 33 Qxf7 Nf3 is discovered check mate!} 33. Kf1 {It still seems that
all is not lost for White, as 33...gxf5 34 Bxe1 is about equal. But
Bronstein's combination hasn't finished yet.} Nc2+ $1 34. Bc1 ({If} 34. Ke2 {
there is a final zwischenzug to save the black knight before capturing the
white queen:} Nd4+ $1 35. Kd3 gxf5 {and Black keeps his extra piece.}) 34...
Rxc1+ 35. Ke2 {
As Alekhine once remarked, sometimes a player is too short of time to resign.}
Nd4+ ({Of course} 35... gxf5 {
is entirely winning, despite the fact that White can get back one piece with}
36. Kd2 {. But Bronstein prefers to be two pieces up rather than one.}) 36. Kd2
Nb3+ 0-1

[Event "Moscow"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1967.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Geller, E."]
[Black "Portisch, L."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C93"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "1967.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3
O-O 9. h3 h6 10. d4 Re8 11. Nbd2 Bf8 12. Nf1 Bb7 13. Ng3 {It is amazing how
much hot water Portisch got into after the innocent-looking move...} Qd7 $2 {
Now Geller was able to take advantage of the poor placement of the black queen
to generate a fierce attack on her king that ended the game after only 23
moves. Let's see how it was done:} 14. dxe5 dxe5 $2 ({The lesser evil was} 
14... Nxe5 {
, though White nonetheless has the makings of a kingside attack after} 15. Nxe5
dxe5 16. Qf3 {, as threats like 17 Bxh6 are already looming.}) 15. Nh5 $1 {
Harassing the defender of the black queen. One of the lesser known rules of
chess strategy is: if you want to win in 25 moves, act as if you are willing
to play a game that lasts 100 moves.} ({
Here Black could take play into an endgame with} 15. Nh5 Qxd1 16. Nxf6+ gxf6
17. Rxd1 {. But this doesn't happen as Portisch has no wish to endure a
gruelling defence with broken pawns. He prefers to take his chance in the
middlegame. --- Incidentally, this explains why world-class players often lose
in sharp style on the rare occasions that things go wrong for them in the
opening. They realize that, rather than endure an endgame which is a technical
procedure for their opponent, it is better to gamble with their king's safety.
This forces the opponent to work harder, which means he has more chances of
going wrong. The problem for Portisch is that his opponent in this case is a
sublime master of power play.}) 15... Qe7 16. Nh4 $1 Nxh5 ({
Portisch has no time for} 16... Rad8 {, as} 17. Nf5 $1 {is a crushing reply.
If Black then takes on d1, he loses the exchange, while if he moves his queen
to safety 18 Nxf6+ begins a wipe-out. Therefore he has nothing better than the
game move, which brings the white queen into the attack.}) 17. Qxh5 Na5 {
The Hungarian Grandmaster is understandably desperate to ease the pressure on
f7 with 18...Nxb3;} ({as even the natural move} 17... Qf6 {
leads to disaster after} 18. Bg5 $1 hxg5 ({or} 18... Qxg5 19. Qxf7+ {
and mate next move}) 19. Ng6 $1 {
, when he must part with his queen to avoid mate on h8.}) 18. Bg5 $1 {
So that if 18...Qxg5 19 Qxf7+ or 18...hxg5 19 Ng6 and White wins as in the
previous note.} Qd7 19. Rad1 $1 {Now Black's bishop has to go to d6 to block
the attack on the queen, after which his kingside loses a vital defender.} Bd6
20. Bxh6 $1 gxh6 21. Qg6+ Kf8 22. Qf6 {Threatening 23 Ng6+ Kg8 24 Qh8 mate.}
Kg8 23. Re3 ({The black king is about to be butchered; for example,} 23. Re3
Kh7 {(to avoid the check on g3)} 24. Bxf7 Rg8 25. Bg6+ Rxg6 26. Qxg6+ Kh8 27.
Rg3 {etc. --- Geller's relentless punishment of 13...Qd7 might seem out of all
proportion to the crime. Did Portisch really deserve to be crushed just
because he misplaced the queen? On the other hand, the refutation had to be
severe and rapid or there would have been no refutation at all. A little quiet
spell and Black would have avoided danger with ...Na5 and ...Nxb3. And would
'chess justice' have been better served if Portisch had escaped scot-free
after a blunder, rather than be beaten in 23 moves?}) 1-0

[Event "2nd matchgame, Netherlands"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1935.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Euwe, M."]
[Black "Alekhine, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D81"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "1935.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Qb3 dxc4 5. Qxc4 Be6 6. Qb5+ Nc6 7. Nf3 Rb8 8.
Ne5 Bd7 9. Nxd7 Qxd7 10. d5 Nd4 11. Qd3 e5 12. e3 Nf5 13. e4 Nd6 14. f4 Qe7 15.
Be3 Ng4 16. Bxa7 Ra8 17. h3 Rxa7 18. hxg4 Bg7 19. Qe3 Ra5 20. f5 Bf6 21. a4
Bh4+ 22. g3 Bg5 23. Qf3 O-O 24. b4 Raa8 25. Ra2 Ne8 26. Rb2 Nf6 27. Be2 c6 28.
dxc6 bxc6 29. O-O Rad8 30. Kg2 Rd4 31. b5 cxb5 32. axb5 Rb8 33. fxg6 fxg6 34.
b6 Qb7 35. Kh3 Rd6 36. Nd5 Kg7 37. Rc2 Nxd5 38. exd5 Rxb6 39. Rc6 Rxc6 40. dxc6
Qe7 {The sealed move was:} 41. Bc4 $1 {Planning to check on f7 and then push
through the passed pawn with c6-c7 and Be6.} Kh6 {
The king looks very safe here, but Euwe found a clever retreat:} 42. Qh1 $1 {
Menacing a discovered check and then Rf7+.} Rb2 {Alekhine stalemates the white
king to prevent the threat, but now his rook is no longer fighting the passed
pawn.} 43. Rf7 Qe8 44. c7 {
The intention is 45 Qd5 and 46 Qe6, forcing the pawn home.} Rc2 45. Qb7 $3 ({
White wins after} 45. Qb7 Rxc4 46. Rxh7+ $1 ({but not} 46. c8=Q {
, threatening mate on h7, as Black escapes with} Qxf7 $1 47. Qxf7 Rxc8) 46...
Kxh7 47. c8=Q+ Qe7 48. Qxe7+ Bxe7 49. Qxc4 {. --- The paradoxical retreat 42
Qh1!, followed by the 'ambush' 45 Qb7!, would have greatly appealed to the
'maverick' chess mentality of Bronstein.}) 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "6. Energizing the Pawns"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

{A sure way to measure the energy level of a position is to ask: "how well do
the pieces and pawns cooperate?" In this chapter our giants demonstrate that a
pawn, or a group of pawns, can have an effect on the game that is out of all
proportion to their nominal value.} 1. -- (1. -- {Creating a passed pawn in
the centre: -- The following game is trademark Geller: a positional threat
involving pawns - in this instance the passed pawn's "lust to expand" - is
combined with tactical threats against the enemy king. (See Geller-Pribyl.)}) (
1. -- {Setting the centre pawns rolling: -- Here is evidence that a mobile
pawn centre, supported by the pieces, can be worth a serious material
investment, even when the enemy king isn't a direct target. (See
Topalov-Aronian.)}) (1. -- {Bringing a pawn mass back to life: -- In the game
above, Topalov's centre pawns were a sleeping giant that he awakened with an
exchange sacrifice. In the next example Bronstein's queenside pawns are a
giant sliced in half, which he glues back together at the cost of a knight.
(See Bronstein-Smyslov.)}) (1. -- {Bronstein magic: -- Bronstein isn't just
willing to give up a knight for the sake of his pawns. In the next game he
sacrifices a rook to keep them intact. --- "Bronstein and Ljubojevic are
representatives of different generations, but their styles have common
elements: sharp, rich in ideas, and with a tendency towards the bizarre." -
Jan Timman, 'The Art of Chess Analysis'. (See Bronstein-Ljubojevic.)}) (1. -- {
A dynamic build-up versus an anti-positional attack: -- In the following game,
Morphy and Anderssen make 'mirror image' advances on the kingside, but only
one player was improving his piece/pawn harmony. (See Morphy-Anderssen, 5th
matchgame, Paris 1858.)}) (1. -- {
A wing pawn adds vital energy to an attack: -- see Radjabov-Topalov.}) (1. -- {
The 'berserker' pawn: -- Every once in a while one of Alekhine's pawns is mad
enough to challenge the whole of the opponent's army. The reckless pawn met
with sensational success in his game with Bogoljubow. In the following example
it has its career sadly cut short, though not before it manages to terrorize
the enemy pieces. (See Znosko-Borovsky - Alekhine.)}) (1. -- {
Destroying piece/pawn coordination: -- see Polugaevsky-Bronstein.}) (1. -- {
Preventing a freeing pawn move: -- see Topalov-Lutz.}) *

[Event "Sochi"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1984.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Geller, E."]
[Black "Pribyl, J."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B08"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "1984.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Be2 O-O 6. O-O Bg4 7. Be3 {
A restrained opening system that became popular in the early 1980s after it
was used many times by the reigning World Champion Karpov. Nevertheless, we
can't say that Geller was copying fashion, as he probably taught Karpov the
opening in the first place.} Nc6 8. Qd2 Re8 9. Rfe1 a6 10. Rad1 e5 11. dxe5
dxe5 12. Qc1 Qe7 $2 {
The quiet course of the game seems to have put Black to sleep.} ({
He should play} 12... Qc8 {with good chances of equalizing, for if} 13. Nd5 $2
{in reply he could capture on e4.}) 13. Nd5 $1 {At last Geller decides it is
time to stop playing all the 'Karpov' moves and switch to direct aggression.
One of our giant's great strengths was his ability to transform the game in an
instant from quiet manoeuvring to a dynamic struggle. Here he sees that he can
use the unfortunate position of the black queen to gain time to create and
utilize a central pawn ram.} Nxd5 14. exd5 Nd8 15. c4 f5 16. c5 Nf7 17. d6 $1 {
The Ukrainian Grandmaster always aimed to get full benefit from any error he
thought his opponent had perpetrated in the opening. Sometimes this led him to
overpress, but almost always he was right in his judgment, as is the case here.
Black has gone wrong with 12...Qe7 and must be punished!} cxd6 18. cxd6 Qd7 ({If
} 18... Nxd6 19. Bc5 Rad8 20. Bc4+ Kh8 21. Rxd6 $1 Rxd6 22. Ng5 {
looks very awkward for Black.}) 19. Qc7 $1 {Just in time before 19...Rac8.}
Rad8 ({After} 19... Qxc7 20. dxc7 {Black can't challenge for control of the
open d-file, whereas White can build up with moves like Rd7 or Bc4 or Bb6 etc.}
) 20. Bc4 h6 {Pribyl thinks he is safe as he has prevented both 21 Ng5
(attacking f7) and 21 Bg5, which by threatening d8 would have caused the
blockade of the passed pawn to fall apart. But Geller has a surprise for him.}
21. Bg5 $3 {Anyway!} Qxc7 ({The bishop offer can't be accepted, for if} 21...
hxg5 22. Nxg5 Rf8 ({also hopeless are} 22... Bxd1 23. Bxf7+ Kh8 24. Qxd7 Rxd7
25. Bxe8 Rxd6 26. Nf7+ Kh7 27. Nxd6) ({and} 22... Qxc7 23. dxc7 Rxd1 24. Bxf7+
Kf8 25. Rxd1 Bxd1 26. Bxe8) 23. f3 $1 Bh5 24. Be6 $1 Qxc7 25. dxc7 Rc8 26. Rd7
{and White wins.}) 22. dxc7 Rxd1 23. Rxd1 f4 ({Upon} 23... hxg5 24. Rd8 $1 {
the passed pawn will queen.}) 24. h3 ({More precise than} 24. Rd8 Kf8 25. Nh4 {
, when Black can linger on for a while with} Nh8 {. Geller wants to keep the
pin on f7 a bit longer to avoid any ...Nh8 defence; hence he arranges to play
Nh4 before Rd8.}) 24... Bc8 25. Nh4 $1 ({Geller wins a miniature game, as if} 
25. Nh4 hxg5 26. Rd8 Kf8 27. Nxg6+ {is decisive.}) 1-0

[Event "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2006.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Topalov, V."]
[Black "Aronian, L."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E15"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2006.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Bg2 c6 8. Bc3
d5 9. Ne5 Nfd7 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. Nd2 O-O 12. O-O Nf6 ({
The previous year Anand had played} 12... Rc8 {against Topalov at the World
Championship tournament in San Luis, which led to a sharp struggle after} 13.
e4 c5 {
etc. Lev Aronian chooses another method of challenging White's space advantage.
}) 13. e4 b5 14. exd5 {As we shall soon see, the Bulgarian Grandmaster intends
to borrow the idea of a sacrifice to create an invincible centre and apply it
to the White side of the position. Let's see how it's done:} ({Upon} 14. Re1 {
Black can achieve dynamic equality with a well-established positional piece
sacrifice:} dxe4 15. Qc2 Rc8 16. Rad1 Nd5 $3 {
. Now the game A.Karpov-J.Polgar, Buenos Aires 2000, went} 17. Bb2 ({
getting the bishop out of the way so that it isn't pinned, as occurs after} 17.
cxd5 cxd5) 17... f5 18. cxd5 cxd5 19. Qb1 b4 {. Judit Polgar has transformed
her rather lumpy pawn structure into a solid central mass. The game continued
in eventful fashion:} 20. Nf1 Qb6 21. f3 Bf6 22. Ne3 Rc3 $1 {
(giving up more material in order to get the centre pawns rolling)} 23. Bxc3
bxc3 24. Nc2 e5 25. Ne3 exd4 26. Nxd5 Qc5 27. Nxf6+ Rxf6 28. b4 Qc4 29. Qb3 d3
30. Qxc4+ Bxc4 {(despite his extra rook, the former World Champion has to
battle to stem the flood of black pawns)} 31. Bf1 Rc6 32. fxe4 d2 33. b5 Rc5
34. Bxc4+ Rxc4 35. exf5 dxe1=Q+ 36. Rxe1 Kf7 37. Rc1 Kf6 38. Kf2 Ra4 39. Rc2
Ra5 40. Ke3 Kxf5 {1/2-1/2.}) 14... exd5 15. Re1 Rb8 16. c5 Bc8 17. Nf3 Ne4 {
Aronian confidently attacks the white bishop, planning next move to complete
the manoeuvre of his bishop from a6 to the kingside. Instead, there came a
shocker:} 18. Rxe4 $3 dxe4 19. Ne5 {Topalov had prepared this sacrifice for
his game with Anand at the San Luis tournament, but the Indian Grandmaster
diverged in time with 12...Rc8 (see the note to 12...Nf6). Sometimes you have
to wait for years or even decades to use an opening improvement, but as Geller
wrote, "sooner or later mines always explode, and the more of them a player
has in his arsenal, the better." --- The preliminary stage in White's plan is
to draw the energy from the black pawns and make them targets that have to be
defended by the big pieces. Then, once Aronian's attempt at an initiative has
been quelled, the white pawns will march forward in the same style as Polgar's.
It sounds simple, but nothing is easy when you are playing a modern elite
Grandmaster.} Qd5 {
A self-respecting queen never enjoys the role of nursing a sick pawn.} ({
Nonetheless, Black mustn't give up the e4-pawn without a fight, as after} 19...
Qc7 20. Bxe4 {he faces an endless defence of c6 with no counterplay.}) 20. Qe1
$1 ({The white centre pawns are actually quite fragile, and so care is needed
to prevent Black from breaking out with a counter sacrifice on c5. For example,
the plausible} 20. Qc2 f5 21. f3 $2 {allows} Bxc5 $1 22. dxc5 Qxc5+ 23. Kh1 b4
{and White has lost his bishop due to the pin on the queen.}) 20... Bf5 ({Now} 
20... f5 {can be answered safely with} 21. f3 {
, when the defence of c6 will become a horrible chore for the black pieces})
21. g4 $1 {The black bishop is forced to retreat to g6, after which White can
exchange with Nxg6 at an appropriate moment - a useful option if the knight's
base on e5 is undermined.} Bg6 22. f3 {All these moves had been carefully
analysed and tested using computers by Topalov and his trainers. For example,
the Bulgarian Grandmaster says that 21 g4 was found by Cheparinov. Meanwhile
Aronian has been on his own, having to discover all the important moves and
ideas under the pressure of a racing clock. If you add to this the unpleasant
psychological burden of knowing that you have fallen into a prepared variation,
it is no wonder that the Armenian finally cracks.} b4 $2 {If the c6-pawn drops
it is a positional catastrophe for Black, as his opponent would have connected
passed pawns. Therefore Aronian decides his best chance is to allow a white
pawn to occupy e4, as this will block the attack of the bishop on g2 against
c6. However, as we shall soon see, this doesn't save the life of the c6-pawn,
which means that the white centre has merely been broadened and strengthened.}
({Instead, he should have broken up the white pawns with} 22... Bxc5 $1 23.
dxc5 Qxc5+ 24. Kh1 b4 {. Thereafter he could aim to activate his rooks along
the open files in the centre and try to take advantage of the rather flimsy
pawn cover around the white king. White's two pieces would have the edge over
a rook and a couple of pawns, but it would be a hard fight.}) 23. fxe4 Qe6 24.
Bb2 Bf6 {
Aronian is in for a big surprise if he thinks he has stabilized the centre.}
25. Nxc6 $1 {There goes the key pawn.} Qxc6 26. e5 Qa6 27. exf6 {Now White's
passed pawns will undoubtedly win the game, unless something drastic happens
on the kingside.} Rfe8 {White still has to play carefully to neutralize
Black's counterplay. Remember one of the rules of dynamic play is: if you are
attacking with a queen and rook, it is better to have the rook in front,
backed up by the queen. With a deft manoeuvre Topalov makes sure his
opponent's pieces end up the wrong way round!} 28. Qf1 $1 Qe2 ({Not} 28... Re2
$2 29. Bf3 {with a fatal pin.}) 29. Qf2 $1 {Very finely played. If Topalov had
put his queen on f2 straightaway with 28 Qf2, the black rook would have
invaded with 28...Re2. Therefore he waited until the black queen was blocking
the e2-square.} Qxg4 30. h3 Qg5 31. Bc1 $1 {The bishop will reach the
f4-square with gain of tempi by hitting the black queen and rook on b8, after
which it can help shepherd home the passed pawns.} Qh5 32. Bf4 Rbd8 33. c6 {
Finally the pawns start to roll.} Be4 34. c7 Rc8 35. Re1 Qg6 36. Rxe4 $1 {
Topalov probably didn't need much calculation to persuade himself to make this
sacrifice. If nothing dramatic happens, the passed pawns are going to steam-roller everything in their way. And it would be very strange indeed if the black
rooks should cause any trouble for the white king when one of them has to
watch out for the c7-pawn promoting.} Rxe4 37. d5 Rce8 38. d6 Re1+ 39. Kh2 Qf5
{Of course 40 d7 had to be prevented.} 40. Qg3 $1 {
The threat of mate on g7 wins time to force the exchange of queens.} g6 41. Qg5
Qxg5 ({If} 41... Qe6 42. d7 $1 Qxd7 43. Qh6 {and mates on g7.}) 42. Bxg5 Rd1
43. Bc6 Re2+ 44. Kg3 {. The checks will run out and then the pawn promotes.}
1-0

[Event "Candidates, Budapest"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1950.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bronstein, D."]
[Black "Smyslov, V."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E26"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "1950.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 c5 6. e3 Nc6 7. Bd3 e5 8. Ne2
d6 {Here the usual move order for White is 9 0-0 and if 9...0-0 10 e4, but
Bronstein first played...} 9. e4 {...after which Smyslov took advantage of his
inadvertent transposition of moves:} Nh5 $5 10. O-O g5 $3 {White has been
denied his natural f2-f4 advance, as the preparatory move 11 g3? leaves too
many holes in his kingside after 11...Bh3. Of course, Black has no intention
of castling kingside himself. --- The upshot is that Bronstein can't find a
way to energize his game, and he is gradually outplayed by his formidable
opponent. We shall rejoin the action 24 moves later:} 11. Bc2 Nf4 12. Ba4 Bd7
13. Ng3 Qf6 14. d5 Ne7 15. Bxd7+ Kxd7 16. Rb1 Rhb8 17. Qa4+ Kd8 18. Qc2 h5 19.
Nf5 Nfg6 20. Ne3 Qh8 21. a4 f6 22. a5 Qe8 23. Qd1 Nf8 24. Qf3 Qg6 25. Nc2 Nd7
26. Na3 a6 27. Qe3 Kc7 28. Bd2 b6 29. axb6+ Nxb6 30. Qd3 Nd7 31. Ra1 Rb6 32.
Nc2 f5 33. f3 f4 34. Ra5 g4 {Smyslov's mobile kingside pawns have been
steadily advancing, while Bronstein has nothing similar to throw at the black
king. Our hero's plight is all the more unpleasant as, even if he manages to
survive the direct attack on his king, an endgame would be hopeless for him
due to Black's passed pawn on a6, which is virtually an extra pawn due to
White's doubled c-pawns. --- The stakes were very high in this game, since if
Bronstein lost he would for all purposes be out of the running for first place
in the tournament, which would have meant no World Championship match with
Botvinnik. He therefore dug deep into his creativity and came up with an
imaginative idea:} 35. Nb4 $3 {This knight move contains no threats at all,
but it upsets Smyslov. For a couple of moves he ignores it, but at last he
can't resist the temptation of being a piece up.} gxf3 36. Qxf3 Qg4 37. Qf2
cxb4 $4 {Morphy would have approved of Bronstein's piece offer, but it's
strange to see Smyslov react with the greed of one of Morphy's opponents.
There was no compulsion to take the piece. But in the heat of battle strange
decisions are made.} 38. cxb4 {The moribund white pawns are suddenly full of
life again. With the support of their pieces they are able to ram their way
through the black defences and get at the most important target of all: the
black king. And all this at the cost of a mere knight! --- In short, the white
pieces and pawns have fallen in love with each other again. The force of
White's pawn juggernaut soon compels Smyslov to return the piece, after which
he can't survive with all the lines open on the queenside. In particular, the
black queen has been left stranded by the action on the other wing.} Rbb8 39.
c5 Nc8 40. Rc1 Kd8 41. c6 Rb5 42. h3 Qg6 43. cxd7 Kxd7 44. Qe2 Rxa5 45. bxa5
Ne7 46. Be1 Qg5 47. Rc3 Rb8 {Black doesn't achieve adequate counterplay, but
if he just waited White could take the a6-pawn from him with 48 Rb3 and 49 Rb6.
} 48. Qxa6 Rb1 49. Qe2 Ng6 50. Qf2 Ke8 51. a6 f3 52. g3 Ra1 53. a7 Kd7 54. Kh2
h4 55. Rxf3 hxg3+ 56. Rxg3 Qf4 57. Qxf4 Nxf4 58. Rg8 {. --- We can see from
this game that, when it comes to the subject of working and non-working pawn
majorities, even the best players in the world can get it wrong. Bronstein let
his pawns be crippled by 10...g5, and then Smyslov allowed them to be restored
to full health with 37...cxb4.} 1-0

[Event "Petropolis Interzonal"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1973.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bronstein, D."]
[Black "Ljubojevic, L."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B03"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "1973.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 Nf6 {The Alekhine Defence. We shall see how the fourth World Champion
handles his pet opening later in the chapter. Bronstein responds with the Four
Pawns Attack which indicates he is looking for a full-blooded struggle.} 2. e5
Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. f4 dxe5 6. fxe5 c5 {Taking the philosophy of the
Alekhine to an extreme: White is allowed an imposing mobile centre which Black
aims to demolish with blows from the wings.} 7. d5 e6 8. Nc3 exd5 9. cxd5 c4
10. Nf3 Bg4 {The question is whether the far advanced pawns can be held
together against the pressure about to be exerted on them. The answer is yes -
as long as White is prepared to give up a rook!} 11. Qd4 $1 {
Attacking one black bishop and preventing the other one from going to c5.} Bxf3
12. gxf3 Bb4 13. Bxc4 {The only good way to meet the threat to d5.} O-O {
White is a pawn up, but his centre is looking vulnerable and his king is still
stuck in the centre. But never mind: Bronstein is going to attack the black
king.} 14. Rg1 $1 {Threatening both 15 e6 and 15 Bh6.} g6 ({
Now Ljubojevic is poised to play either} 14... g6 15. -- Nc6 $1 ({or} 15... Qc7
{with the double threat of 16...Nxc4 or 16...Bc5, skewering the rook on g1})
16. Qe4 Nxe5 {, when the white centre crumbles. Therefore no time is to be
lost by White: he has to do or die with a kingside onslaught.}) 15. Bg5 $3 {
It wasn't possible to calculate the consequences of the following sacrifice
over the board. Instead, Bronstein relied on his intuition which told him the
cramping effect of his central pawns would give him the chance to exploit the
dark square holes around the black king. --- Where does the ability to make
such fine judgments originate? We might mention that our hero was a big fan of
Morphy and other players of the 19th century, and his deep study of their
games amplified his attacking flair. His perception had also been sharpened by
more than three decades of deep research and fierce tactical battles by the
time he sat down to play Ljubojevic. --- But there is an inexplicable quality
to Bronstein's talent which we can only describe in three words, no more and
no less: genius for chess.} Qc7 16. Bb3 Bc5 17. Qf4 $1 (17. Qg4 $2 Qxe5+ {
is hopeless for White. Keeping the pawn centre alive is far more important
than the rook on g1.}) 17... Bxg1 {Now White could crown his attack with 18
Bf6, followed by 19 Qh6 and inevitable mate on h6, were it not for Black's one
and only defence: 18...Qc5!, when the threat of exchanging queens with 19...
Qe3+ ruins the white initiative.} 18. d6 Qc8 $2 ({Both Jan Timman, in 'The Art
of Chess Analysis', and Jon Speelman, in 'Best Chess Games 1970-1980',
annotate this game to death. Building on the Dutchman's analysis, Speelman
considers that correct play is} 18... Qc5 19. Ne4 Qd4 20. Rd1 Qxb2 21. Rd2 {
, after which there is a draw by repetition with} Qa1+ ({
or a likely conclusion with a draw by perpetual if Black plays to win, e.g.} 
21... Qc1+ 22. Ke2 N8d7 23. Bf6 Nxf6 24. Nxf6+ Kg7 25. Nh5+ gxh5 26. Qg5+ Kh8
27. Qf6+ {etc}) 22. Rd1 Qb2 {etc.}) 19. Ke2 $2 {
Bronstein's plan is to utilize the c-file and so he avoids castling queenside.}
({In fact} 19. O-O-O $1 {, planning to break through in the centre with e5-e6,
was the winning move. For example,} Qc5 ({if} 19... Bc5 20. e6 $1 fxe6 21. Qe5
Re8 22. Bh6 Qd7 23. Ne4 {and wins - Bronstein}) 20. e6 N8d7 21. exf7+ Kg7 22.
Kb1 $1 {and there is no good answer to 23 Bh6+.}) 19... Bc5 $2 ({
Black would have the advantage after} 19... Qc5 $1 {: for example,} 20. e6 ({or
} 20. Ne4 Qb5+ 21. Kd2 Nc4+ 22. Ke1 Ne3 $1 {- Speelman}) 20... N8d7 $1 {
, aiming to give back some material to neutralize the attack.}) 20. Ne4 N8d7
21. Rc1 Qc6 22. Rxc5 $1 {A sacrifice reminiscent of Alekhine's stratagem of
drawing away defenders of the opponent's king as a prelude to an all-out
attack. It was prepared by 19 Ke2, persuading Black to retreat the bishop to
c5 (as we saw above, he should have refused with 19...Qc5!); then the c-file
was cleared with 20 Ne4, making possible 21 Rc1; and finally the blow itself
was struck with 22 Rxc5. --- It is a pity that the three consecutive question
marks - 18...Qc8? 19 Ke2? and 19...Bc5? - tend to obscure the brilliance of
Bronstein's conception. It's not often that the king plays a key part in the
preparation of an attack; normally he is regarded as a nuisance, a piece that
gets in the way and uses up defensive resources that could have been spent on
the attack. Artistically speaking, the move 19 Ke2 is much finer than the
'correct' 19 0-0-0. It also proved good enough to beat Ljubojevic, who was
leading the tournament at the time of this game.} Nxc5 23. Nf6+ Kh8 24. Qh4
Qb5+ 25. Ke3 $3 {Preventing the knight on c5 from joining in a counterattack.}
({Putting the king on the third rank is much more accurate than} 25. Kf2 {
, when Black can fight on after} Nd3+ 26. Kg2 $1 h5 27. Nxh5 Qb4 $1 {.}) 25...
h5 26. Nxh5 Qxb3+ {Ljubojevic could resign here, but his opponent was
desperately short of time and so he plays on to the time control at move 40.} (
{Black is mated after} 26... gxh5 27. Bf6+ $1 Kg8 28. Qg5+ {etc}) ({
while he would run out of decent checks after} 26... Qd3+ 27. Kf2 Ne4+ 28. fxe4
Qd4+ 29. Kg2 Qxb2+ 30. Kh3 {, as if} Qc3+ 31. Ng3+ Kg8 32. Bf6 {
and mates on h8.}) 27. axb3 Nd5+ 28. Kd4 Ne6+ 29. Kxd5 Nxg5 30. Nf6+ Kg7 31.
Qxg5 Rfd8 32. e6 fxe6+ 33. Kxe6 Rf8 34. d7 a5 35. Ng4 Ra6+ 36. Ke5 Rf5+ 37.
Qxf5 gxf5 38. d8=Q fxg4 39. Qd7+ Kh6 40. Qxb7 Rg6 41. f4 1-0

[Event "5th matchgame, Paris"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1858.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morphy, P."]
[Black "Anderssen, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "1858.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 d5 {Anderssen was so impressed by Morphy's knowledge of theory that he
decided to play unconventional openings. On the whole he achieved reasonable
positions in the early middlegame, but was subsequently outplayed. That's the
problem with meeting a genius on territory that is unknown to both players:
his inspiration will provide him with safe passage through all the swamps and
pitfalls, leaving his opponent, who lacks any strategic signposts, floundering
in the quicksand.} 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Nxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bf5 6. Nf3 e6 7. Be3
Bb4 8. Qb3 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Be4 10. Nd2 Bc6 11. Bd3 Nbd7 12. Qc2 h6 13. O-O O-O
14. Rae1 b6 {
A good move, though Anderssen didn't play it with the correct plan in mind.}
15. h3 Qc8 $2 ({Here the simple} 15... Bb7 $1 {
would clear the way for a positional attack on the white centre; e.g.} 16. Kh2
{(not a good move but the one Morphy chose in the game)} c5 {and Black is
ready for 17...Rc8 etc. In that case Black's pressure along the c-file would
hamper any attempt by White to build up an initiative on the kingside. Leaving
the queen on d8 also sets a nasty trap (though Morphy would never have fallen
for it!):} 17. g4 $2 Nxg4+ $1 {when if} 18. hxg4 $2 Qh4+ {mates next move. ---
It's rather harsh to criticize Anderssen for failing to grasp the need to
prepare ...c7-c5. A positional plan to undermine a pair of doubled pawns isn't
part of the Romantic school of chess. Such an idea belongs in the games of
later masters such as Steinitz, Rubinstein and Capablanca. --- Instead, we get
a tactical confrontation on the kingside typical of the style of mid 19th
century chess. Morphy builds up with Kh2, Rg1, g2-g4 etc - and Anderssen
responds in kind with ...Kh8, ...Rg8 and ...g7-g5. Both players try to attack
and strike a knockout blow against the enemy king. --- If that's how both
players agree to contest the game, there is only going to be one winner, and
that is White. In particular, Morphy has a bishop on e3 that is going to
become very menacing once Black compromises his kingside with ...g7-g5. ---
Players such as Steinitz, with their advanced understanding of positional
chess, would have caused Morphy a lot of problems with ...Bb7 and ...c7-c5.
But Anderssen, the brilliant tactician, has no choice but to trust his own
more limited strategic ideas, even though they lead him to defeat. --- Note
that I couldn't help describing 15...Bb7, the move that eluded Anderssen, as
"simple"! I guess by simple I mean "calm and positional, not trying to force
matters". It's only simple to find such moves when you have seen the games of
Petrosian and other chess artists, who were born many years after the death of
Anderssen. --- Now let's return to the game and see how the battle unfolds.})
16. Kh2 {Morphy prepares a direct attack down the g-file as described above...}
Kh8 {...and Anderssen copies him.} ({After} 16... Qb7 {
Black would run out of ideas, as he can't get in ...c7-c5 attacking d4.}) ({
However, it was still possible to play} 16... Bb7 $1 {and after} 17. Rg1 c5 {.}
) 17. Rg1 Rg8 18. g4 g5 {The only consistent move, though highly regrettable.}
19. f4 {Both players have made aggressive pawn advances on the kingside, but
Morphy has a tremendous trump in the dark-squared bishop, which can be used to
undermine the black pawns on g5 and h6. Furthermore, White has already been
able to coordinate his rooks on the first rank, whereas Black needs to get his
queen out of their way.} Qf8 {Anderssen finds a good post for the queen on d6.
If he loses this game it isn't because of his lack of imagination: it is
simply that the underlining logic of the position is against him. He has
dislocated his kingside pawn structure, breaking rules of thumb such as "don't
open the position when your opponent has the two bishops" and "don't move
pawns on the side of the board where your opponent has the initiative". And
above all, he has omitted the vital attack on d4 with ...c7-c5.} 20. Rg3 Rd8
21. Nf3 Bxf3 {Safeguarding the g5-point; and, besides, the knight mustn't be
allowed to go to e5. However, the white rooks gain freedom of action on the
f-file, and unless something drastic happens, the weakness of f6 or f7 is sure
to tell against Black.} 22. Rxf3 Qd6 23. Kg2 Nh5 {Once again we can't help but
admire the energy and inventiveness of Anderssen's play, even if it is
ultimately doomed. He cannot wait, as White will bulldozer down the f-file
with 24 Ref1 and then 25 Qf2, if necessary, when f4xg5 will either win the
knight on f6, or if it flees, the pawn on f7. Note that playing ...g5xf4 won't
do Black any good in this sequence, as the weaknesses on the f-file will
remain and a new one will be created on h6. And so Anderssen seeks counterplay
with a knight sacrifice.} 24. fxg5 ({Not of course} 24. gxh5 $2 gxf4+ {
when Black regains his piece.}) 24... hxg5 25. gxh5 g4 26. hxg4 Rxg4+ 27. Kf1
f5 28. Qf2 {There is no logical reason why White should lose to a combination,
no matter how ingenious, when he has all his pieces, in particular the queen,
supporting his king. Anderssen has one more try at upsetting his illustrious
opponent.} Ne5 29. dxe5 ({Perhaps the cleanest way for White to win is} 29. Bf4
$1 {, when if} Rxf4 ({or} 29... Nxd3 30. Bxd6 Nxf2 31. Be5+ Kh7 32. Kxf2 {etc})
30. Rxe5 $1 {.}) 29... Qxd3+ 30. Qe2 Qe4 31. Bf2 Qc6 32. Rd1 Rxd1+ 33. Qxd1
Qxc4+ 34. Qd3 Qxa2 35. Rg3 Qc4 {With a heavy heart the tactical maestro is
compelled to swap off queens, as otherwise his king would come under a deadly
attack.} 36. Qxc4 Rxc4 37. Rg6 Rc6 38. c4 $1 {Morphy takes measures against
the advance of Black's passed a-pawn, which can be met with Bd4 if necessary.}
a5 39. Ke2 Rxc4 {Rather than wait for 40 Kd3, when his rook would have no safe
move, Anderssen concedes the e6-pawn and makes one last attempt to save
himself on the queenside.} 40. Rxe6 Rc2+ 41. Kf3 a4 42. Rg6 {
Morphy makes rather heavy weather of the endgame.} ({
The simplest way to win was to utilize the passed e-pawn with} 42. Re8+ Kg7 43.
e6 {. For example, if} Rc4 ({or} 43... a3 44. Bd4+ Kh6 45. e7) 44. e7 {when}
Kf7 ({while} 44... Re4 45. Bh4 a3 46. Rf8 a2 $6 47. Bf6+ Kh6 48. Rh8# {is mate}
) {allows the neat finish} 45. h6 $1 Kxe8 46. h7 {and the h-pawn queens.})
42... Rc4 43. Rg1 a3 44. e6 a2 45. Ra1 Re4 46. Rxa2 Rxe6 47. Kf4 Rd6 48. Kxf5
Rd5+ 49. Kg4 b5 50. Ra8+ Kh7 51. Ra7 Rd7 52. Bg3 Rg7+ 53. Kh3 {. Because his
bishop controls the queening square of the h-pawn, White can happily exchange
rooks, blockade the passed queenside pawns and then advance his king, putting
Black in zugzwang.} ({For example,} 53. Kh3 c5 54. Rxg7+ Kxg7 55. Bd6 c4 56.
Bb4 Kh6 57. Kg4 Kh7 58. Kg5 Kg7 59. h6+ Kh7 60. Kh5 Kg8 61. Kg6 Kh8 62. Bc3+ {
and wins.}) 1-0

[Event "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2003.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Radjabov, T."]
[Black "Topalov, V."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E06"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "122"]
[EventDate "2008.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Qc2
b6 9. Bf4 Ba6 10. Nbd2 Nbd7 11. Rfd1 Rc8 12. Rac1 Nh5 13. e4 Nxf4 14. gxf4 Nf6
15. Ne5 Nh5 16. Qa4 Bxc4 17. Nxc6 b5 18. Qa6 Rxc6 19. Qxc6 Nxf4 20. Nxc4 bxc4
21. exd5 exd5 22. Rc3 Bh4 23. Rg3 Re8 24. Rg4 Re6 25. Qc5 Nxg2 26. Rxg2 a6 27.
Qa3 g6 28. Qc3 Qe7 29. b3 Qa3 30. Qc2 Qe7 31. Kf1 cxb3 32. Qxb3 Qd6 33. Qd3 Qf4
34. Qd2 Qf5 35. Qd3 Re4 36. Qb3 Kg7 37. Qd3 {In this position the Bulgarian
Grandmaster has sacrificed the exchange for a pawn. He has succeeded in tying
down the white pieces to the pawns on d4 and f2, but it isn't clear how he can
increase his initiative. For example, if he plays ...Bf6 at some point, to put
pressure on d4, White will be able to reply Rg3!, followed by Rf3 if necessary,
to activate his rook. Besides, the a6-pawn is hanging. --- Topalov realized
that manoeuvres by his pieces on their own would get him nowhere. Therefore he
needed to tap an unused source of energy in the black position: his pawns.} h5
$1 38. Qb3 ({It turns out that} 38. Qxa6 $2 {allows} Bxf2 $1 39. Rxf2 Qh3+ 40.
Kg1 (40. Rg2 Qf3+ 41. Kg1 Qxd1+ {is even worse for White}) 40... Qg4+ 41. Kh1
Qxd1+ 42. Rf1 Qxd4 {and Black wins.}) 38... Bf6 39. Rg3 Rf4 $1 ({Better than} 
39... Bxd4 40. Rf3 {. Black wants to keep the white rook boxed in on g2, not
allowed the freedom of the f-file. There will be time later on to capture the
d4-pawn.}) 40. Qe3 h4 41. Rg2 {Black's h-pawn, with the help of his queen and
rook on the f-file, has succeeded in pushing the white rook back on to its
passive square. In other words, it has taken over guard duty from the black
bishop, which is now free to attack d4 without worrying about the white rook
slipping out via g3. This amounts to a significant change in the energy
balance between the two armies: basically the black bishop has gained power of
movement without allowing the white rook on g2 to gain any reciprocal power of
movement.} Rf3 42. Qe2 a5 $1 43. Kg1 Rf4 44. Kh1 Re4 45. Qf1 a4 {Black's a-pawn
has edged forwards. The further it advances, the more dangerous it will be as
a potential passed pawn if White's a2-pawn drops. The game never reaches such
a scenario as the white position quickly fragments in the centre and on the
kingside. Nevertheless, you should always be looking out for ways to improve
your position 'for free' with pawn moves like 42...a5 and 45...a4. They can't
do any harm, and might make a crucial difference.} 46. Rd2 Bxd4 {
At last Topalov decides to nab the d4-pawn.} 47. Qd1 Be5 48. f3 ({
Black's h-pawn is seen in a more aggressive role after} 48. Rxd5 h3 49. Rg1 ({
or} 49. Rg3 $2 Qxf2) 49... Qf4 {
, when the best way for White to stop mate on h2 is with} 50. Rxe5 {
, leaving him a pawn down and still menaced by the pawn on h3 after} Rxe5 {
. With the game move Radjabov at last gets to bring his rook from g2 into the
centre.}) 48... Rb4 {Threatening the queen with 49...Rb1.} 49. Rd3 h3 50. Re2
d4 {The black pawns on a4, d4 and h3 have the white pieces in a stranglehold.}
51. Rf2 Bf4 52. Qe2 Rb1+ 53. Rd1 ({The passed d-pawn has to be allowed to
advance, as thanks to its comrade on h3, the white back rank collapses after} 
53. Rf1 Qe6 $1 54. Qf2 Qxa2 $1 {.}) 53... d3 54. Qf1 Rxd1 55. Qxd1 d2 56. Re2
Qd3 57. Rf2 Be3 58. Rf1 Bd4 59. a3 Kg8 $1 {
Zugzwang is the quickest way to end the game.} 60. f4 ({If} 60. Qb1 Qe2 {
threatens mate on g2.}) 60... Qe4+ 61. Rf3 Bf2 $1 {. Disaster follows on e1.
--- As you can see, pawns are a vital part of the power play style.} 0-1

[Event "Paris"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1925.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Znosko-Borovsky, E."]
[Black "Alekhine, A."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B03"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "1925.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 Nf6 {A little over a hundred years after it was rejected as inferior by
Allgaier (in 1819), the opening now known as Alekhine's Defence had a
resurgence at the Budapest 1921 tournament. It was played in four games,
including a win and a draw by Alekhine himself as Black versus Steiner and
Sämisch respectively. Thereafter it was seen in the games of chess notables
such as Réti and Emanuel Lasker. (Another big fan was the famous artist and
chess maniac Marcel Duchamp.)} 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 ({
Nowadays White usually responds with} 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Be2 {, keeping a
slight but solid edge. In contrast, Alekhine often got the upper hand in the
opening, because his opponents either declined the chance to build a pawn
centre or, having done so, failed to consolidate their space advantage
properly. Znosko-Borovsky certainly isn't dazzled by 1...Nf6 in the current
game.}) 3... Nb6 4. d4 d6 5. f4 dxe5 6. fxe5 Nc6 7. Be3 Bf5 8. Nf3 e6 9. Nc3
Nb4 $6 {Alekhine wants to attack the white centre without any more ado.} ({
However, the developing} 9... Be7 {was to be preferred, and only after} 10. d5
{then} Nb4 {with a sharp game.}) 10. Rc1 c5 11. a3 $2 {
A slow move which justifies Black's ninth move adventure.} ({Instead, the quiet
} 11. Be2 $1 {is awkward for Black, as after} cxd4 12. Nxd4 {
the centre is becoming open, leaving his knight poorly placed on b4.}) 11...
cxd4 {Now chances after 12 Nxd4 Nc6 are about equal. White tries for more and
is hit by an Alekhine combination:} 12. Bg5 $2 dxc3 $1 13. Bxd8 Rxd8 $2 ({
Alekhine should have recalled his masterpiece against Bogoljubow where the
rampant pawn single-handedly defeated the white pieces. After} 13... cxb2 $1 14.
Bxb6 ({Alekhine gives} 14. Bg5 {as a better chance, but even then, after}
bxc1=Q 15. Bxc1 Nc2+ 16. Kf2 Rd8 17. Qe2 Bc5+ 18. Kg3 O-O {, White is being
crushed: the threats include 19...Bd3 or 19...Na4 followed by 20...Nc3
trapping the white queen}) 14... bxc1=Q 15. Qxc1 Nc2+ 16. Kf2 axb6 {, intending
17...Bc5+ etc, Black has a decisive positional advantage. Despite his material
advantage, Znosko-Borovsky is being pushed around, as all the action is
happening without any input from his rook on h1.}) 14. Qb3 cxb2 15. Qxb2 Na4
16. Qa1 $1 {
Alekhine admitted after the game that he had missed this crafty retreat.} ({
He is winning after other moves; for example,} 16. Qb3 $2 Nc5 $1 17. Qxb4 Nd3+
18. Bxd3 Bxb4+ 19. axb4 Rxd3 {and Black is a pawn up,}) ({or} 16. Qf2 Bc5 17.
Qg3 Nc2+ 18. Rxc2 Bxc2 {
with a rook and bishop for the queen and a continuing attack.}) 16... Nc2+ $2 {
Another slip.} ({Here} 16... Nd3+ 17. Bxd3 Rxd3 {, threatening to trap the
white queen with 18...Rxa3, is much stronger - Alekhine.}) 17. Rxc2 Bxc2 18.
Nd4 $1 {The beginning of a spirited fightback. The Russian master exploits the
hanging black bishop to improve the coordination of his pieces.} Bg6 19. c5 $1
{A slower move would have been answered by 19...Bc5 and 20...0-0.} Nxc5 ({
By sacrificing a pawn White frees his bishop and succeeds in disrupting his
opponent's build-up, as} 19... Bxc5 $2 20. Bb5+ Kf8 21. Nb3 $1 {
would embarrass the black knight and bishop on c5.}) 20. Bb5+ Nd7 21. Qc3 $1 {
Preventing 21...Bc5.} a6 $2 ({The future World Champion became anxious about
22 Qc7, increasing the pressure on d7, but, as he demonstrated after the game,
it was harmless:} 21... Be7 $1 22. Qc7 a6 23. Ba4 Be4 $1 {
(it's important to rule out Nc6 by White before playing his next move)} 24. O-O
b5 25. Bc2 Bc5 {"and Black easily disentangles himself" - Alekhine. --- Going
two moves further, after} 26. Bxe4 Bxd4+ 27. Kh1 O-O {Black still has only a
rook and knight for the queen, but he is going to capture a third pawn on e5,
giving him a significant material advantage. Meanwhile White is lacking one of
the saving graces when the opponent makes a positional sacrifice of the queen:
either a passed pawn or an attack on an unsafe king. Even if White picks up
Black's two queenside pawns in return for his own pawns on e5 and a3, he is
probably going to lose the endgame due to Black's passed pawn on the e-file.})
22. Bxd7+ Rxd7 23. Qc8+ Rd8 24. Qxb7 $1 {
The piece sacrifice guarantees White at least a draw.} Rxd4 25. Qc6+ Rd7 26.
O-O $1 {Threatening to win at once with 27 Rd1, so Alekhine has to tread very
carefully.} Bd3 ({Black would only create losing chances for himself if he
moved his king, as White could at worst force a draw by perpetual or repeating
moves after} 26... Ke7 27. Qc5+ {etc.}) 27. Rxf7 Bc5+ 28. Kh1 Bb5 $1 {
The only move;} ({as Black loses a piece after} 28... Kxf7 $2 29. Qxd7+ {
and 30 Qxd3.}) 29. Qxe6+ Re7 ({Alekhine has to acquiesce to a draw, as after} 
29... Kd8 30. Rxd7+ Bxd7 31. Qd5 {
the double threat of 32 Qxc5 and 32 e6 wins for White.}) 30. Rxe7+ Bxe7 31.
Qc8+ Bd8 32. Qe6+ Be7 33. Qc8+ Bd8 34. Qe6+ {. --- Eugene Znosko-Borovsky
(1884-1954) must have been a very popular player. Despite being annoyed at
failing to win, Alekhine was generous enough to say that his opponent had
"faultlessly exploited all possibilities for saving the game and demonstrated
admirable tactical acuity". Similarly, when Capablanca lost to Znosko-Borovsky
from a winning position and so failed to receive a gold cup, the Cuban wrote
that he deserved "great credit for the way he conducted his exceedingly
difficult defence". --- Znosko-Borovsky was only a minor chess master, but he
had qualities that impressed two of the giants of the game. Whereas most
players of his era would cave in under pressure, Znosko understood how to turn
a defence into a counterattack. This gives the above game a very 'modern' feel,
with both players striving their hardest to gain the initiative.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "USSR Championship, Leningrad"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1971.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Polugaevsky, L."]
[Black "Bronstein, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A34"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "1971.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. g3 g6 6. Qb3 Nb4 7. Ne4 ({
Lev Polugaevsky relates how he had used this variation with success in an
earlier game against Furman, which had continued} 7. Ne4 b6 8. Bg2 Be6 9. Qc3 f6
10. a3 {etc. Bronstein had studied that game and was waiting to ambush Polu
with an amazing improvement:}) 7... Bg7 $5 {Black ignores the attack on c5. He
takes away the c3-square from the white queen and threatens 8...Be6, gaining
more time, so White has no choice but to accept the offer.} 8. Nxc5 Qa5 9. a3
N4c6 ({If} 9... N8c6 10. Qc4 $1 {threatens 11 Nb3 and then 12 axb4. The reply}
b5 {would fail to} 11. Qe4 f5 12. axb4 $1 {
- Polugaevsky. Therefore Bronstein feels obliged to retreat his knight.}) 10.
Qc4 b5 $1 {Forcing the white queen to run away along the fourth rank, as after
11 Qc2 she might become a target to one of three ideas: ...Rc8; or ...Bg4 and ...Bxf3 followed by ...Nd4; or ...Bf5, when White has no wish to loosen himself
with e2-e4 in reply.} 11. Qh4 {Now Black is minus a centre pawn, with no lead
in development or attack in sight. It seems that Bronstein has been crazy to
try to smash the solid armour of the English Opening. --- But here is a
paradox: the white armour is so solid that, apart from along the c-file, which
will soon fall into Black's hands, there is little room for the white pieces
to manoeuvre behind it. And the white queen, who is caught outside the armour,
can't find a way to get back inside it! --- In other words, we have an extreme
example of pawns and pieces not working together. Black's pawn on b4 will
contain more dynamic energy than the whole white pawn structure. We might add
that the open c-file is made all the more valuable to the black pieces because
the 'beautiful' white pawn structure doesn't contain any outlets for its own
pieces. --- It took the genius of Bronstein to comprehend that, after 7...Bg7,
the imperviousness of the white pawns is no joy but rather a hindrance to the
white pieces.} b4 12. Nd3 Na6 13. Bg2 Bd7 14. O-O Rc8 15. Nde1 Nc5 $1 {
The black knight has discovered a great square on b3.} 16. Nc2 Nb3 17. Rb1 Qc5
18. Ne3 ({White has so little space that he drops the rook on b1 after} 18.
Nxb4 Nxb4 19. axb4 Qc2 {.}) 18... Ncd4 {A pawn structure that loses its
mobility stifles its own pieces, which in turn become less able to defend it
from attack. Here Bronstein focuses his assault on the e2-square.} 19. Nxd4
Nxd4 20. Re1 Bb5 21. axb4 Qd6 {Black is in no hurry to recapture on b4, as if
22 d3 then 22...Qxb4 comes with greater force as it attacks e1.} 22. Bf1 O-O
23. Qe4 e6 24. b3 f5 25. Qf4 e5 26. Qg5 {White's queen is being pushed around,
without any means to escape her confinement on the kingside. Meanwhile the
bishop is still stuck on c1, breaking one of the golden rules of development:
the minor pieces should remove themselves from the first rank as soon as
possible, so that the rooks can coordinate their action and mutually defend
one another. --- Given this disharmony it's no wonder a combination suddenly
occurs:} Bxe2 $1 27. Bg2 ({If} 27. Rxe2 Nf3+ {wins the queen,}) ({while} 27.
Bxe2 Nxe2+ 28. Rxe2 Qd3 {forks two rooks.}) 27... Bd3 {The loss of the e2-pawn
has wrecked White's centre, leaving him with big holes on d3 and f3.
Polugaevsky makes a valiant bid to free his game by sacrificing the exchange,
but it proved futile. The remaining moves were:} 28. Ra1 e4 29. Nc4 Qd7 30. Bb2
Bxc4 31. Bxd4 Bxd4 32. bxc4 Bxa1 33. Rxa1 Rxc4 34. Bf1 Rd4 35. Ra6 Kg7 36. b5
Rxd2 37. Rxa7 Qxa7 38. Qxd2 Qb6 39. Qc3+ Qf6 40. Qc5 Rd8 41. b6 Qd6 42. Qc3+
Qd4 43. Qc6 Rd6 44. Qc7+ Rd7 45. Qc6 Qd6 46. Qc3+ Qf6 47. Qc5 Rb7 48. Qb5 Qxb6
49. Qe5+ Qf6 0-1

[Event "Candidates Tournament, Dortmund"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Topalov, V."]
[Black "Lutz, C."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B48"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qd2 Nf6 8.
O-O-O Bb4 9. f3 Ne5 10. Nb3 b5 11. Kb1 Nc4 12. Bxc4 bxc4 13. Nc1 Qb7 ({
Black is understandably keen to attack down the b-file, but it was better to
try the alternative} 13... Rb8 {, when the continuation} 14. Bf4 e5 15. Bg5 {
leads to interesting play. Moving the queen to b7 weakens his hold on the dark
squares in the centre, a fact that Topalov soon pounces upon.}) 14. N1e2 Rb8
15. b3 O-O 16. Bf4 $1 {Driving the black rook back into the corner.} Ra8 17.
Bd6 {A blocking technique also employed by Morphy in his game with Schulten in
Chapter Ten. The bishop plugs the d6-square before Black can free his game
with ...d7-d5.} Bxd6 18. Qxd6 {And now in the style of Paulsen-Morphy in
Chapter Five, the queen takes up the role of blockader.} cxb3 19. axb3 a5 20.
Rd4 $1 {Disarming the pawn ram 20...a4.} Ra6 21. Qa3 d5 {So Lutz has succeeded
in breaking the hold on d6, but the episode will leave him with a deathly sick
pawn on d5.} 22. exd5 exd5 23. Nf4 Be6 24. Rhd1 h6 ({
Black decides to give up the pawn, as} 24... Rd8 25. Ne4 $1 Nxe4 26. fxe4 {
is highly unpleasant.}) 25. Ncxd5 Nxd5 26. Nxd5 Rb8 $2 {After the game move it
looks like Black has the makings of a strong attack with 27...a4, but Topalov
gets in first with an unexpected combination:} ({The simplifying} 26... Bxd5
27. Rxd5 a4 {was the last chance.}) 27. Nf6+ $3 gxf6 28. Rd8+ Rxd8 29. Rxd8+
Kh7 30. Qf8 Kg6 ({It takes longer but Black is also mated after} 30... h5 {
: i.e.} 31. g4 $1 hxg4 32. fxg4 Kg6 ({or} 32... Bxg4 33. Qg8+ Kh6 34. Qxg4 Ra8
35. Rd3 {intending 36 Rh3 mate}) 33. Qg8+ Kh6 34. Qh8+ Kg5 35. Qg7+ Kf4 36.
Qxf6+ Ke4 37. Rd4+ Ke3 38. Qf4+ Ke2 39. Rd2+ Ke1 40. Qf2# {.}) 31. Qg8+ Kh5 32.
Qg7 $1 {This quiet move is a very neat way to end the game.} f5 ({If} 32... Ra8
33. g4+ Kh4 34. Qxh6# {.}) 33. Rd4 $1 {Intending 34 Rh4+! Kxh4 35 Qxh6 mate.}
Bc8 34. g3 $1 {. The only way to stop mate on h4 is by giving up the queen, so
Black preferred to resign. --- Topalov played like Morphy in both a positional
and tactical way!} 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "7. Battering Ram on the f-file"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

{On the way to his World Championship match in 1951, Bronstein excelled his
opponents in all three components of power play: psychology, opening
preparation and the understanding of dynamics. As a result, he won important
games against Najdorf and Keres by infusing his f-pawn with attacking energy.
--- In this chapter we shall examine these games and also look at how our
other four giants have used the f-pawn as a 'magician's wand'.} 1. -- (1. -- {
Bronstein's mastery of power play: -- In the following game, Miguel Najdorf,
one of the very best players outside the USSR at the time, is going to be
crushed in 21 moves. Here are the power play factors that make this inevitable:
-- 1) Opening preparation of forcing variations. Bronstein had come to the
1950 Candidates tournament having studied sharp lines in the 4 a3 Nimzo-Indian
in great detail. -- 2) Understanding of dynamics. Najdorf is undone by the
power of the f4-f5 pawn ram. It would seem it took a long time for the chess
world to wake up to the power of this advance. -- 3) Psychology. Najdorf had
been watching Bronstein's game with Szabo in the Nimzo-Indian earlier in the
tournament and had said to Bronstein's trainer and mentor, Boris Weinstein,
"Your David is bluffing." Not surprisingly, Weinstein didn't try to change his
mind. After the Szabo game, which Bronstein won, Najdorf had begun suggesting
improvements for Black. Evidently the Argentine Grandmaster regarded himself
as a great Nimzo-Indian expert. --- Feeling over-confident and facing a new
opening idea from Bronstein is not the healthiest combination! (See Bronstein-Najdorf.)}) (1. -- {Bronstein's trusty f-pawn performed the same trick in the
last round of the tournament against Keres. Bronstein needed to win this game
to catch up with Boleslavsky and force a play-off match to decide who faced
Botvinnik. No easy task when you are playing one of the all-time chess greats!
Once again power play came to his rescue: -- 1) Opening preparation of forcing
variations. Bronstein was armed with an interesting new pawn sacrifice against
Keres' habitual Ruy Lopez. -- 2) Understanding of dynamics. Like Najdorf,
Keres falters before the advance of White's f-pawn. It seems he just didn't
appreciate the strength of the threat he faced. Otherwise, no matter how short
of time or otherwise distracted, his chess instinct wouldn't have permitted
the abysmal 26th move that decides the game. -- 3) Psychology. Keres wasn't
the sort of player to collapse before a double-edged pawn sacrifice.
Nevertheless, the opening surprise could be expected to get him short of time,
which is exactly what happened. Furthermore, it was the last round of the
tournament, and the Estonian Grandmaster had no chance of qualifying to play
Botvinnik. Therefore in a hard fight he wouldn't have the same incentive as
Bronstein, for whom this was the most important game of his life. If pushed
hard enough, Keres might just crack... (See Bronstein-Keres.)}) (1. -- {
A slow burning attack beats a temporary initiative: -- It is a hallmark of
Topalov's games that his pieces often seem to have less energy than those of
the opponent in the early middlegame, but move by move they steadily increase
their power. Meanwhile the opponent can't do anything 'real' with his visually
impressive position and eventually finds himself flattened by a steam-roller.
The same might be said about Morphy's games. The American genius would develop
his pieces in a calm and patient manner and then punish his opponents for
indulging in time-wasting and uncoordinated excursions with the pieces. --- In
the following game we see that Geller is also a master of this strategy. He is
willing to play slow, unpretentious moves while letting his opponent enjoy a
temporary activity, sure in the knowledge that Truth and Righteousness (a
player whose opponent has a knight shut out on a5) will triumph in the end.
(See Geller-Smyslov.)}) (1. -- {
No time is to be lost preparing the pawn ram! -- see Geller-Korchnoi.}) (1. --
{A double pawn ram: -- After his opponent failed to keep the position closed,
Alekhine was able to combine pawn breaks on d5 and f5. (See Alekhine-Selezniev.
)}) (1. -- {The pawn ram outweighs a 'perfect' knight: -- see Topalov-Ivanchuk.
}) (1. -- {Morphy softens up the black defences: -- Finally, we see that
Morphy knew all about the f-pawn ram 92 years before Bronstein sat down to
play Najdorf. (See Morphy-Bird.)}) *

[Event "Candidates Tournament, Budapest"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1950.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bronstein, D."]
[Black "Najdorf, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E29"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "1950.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 c5 ({Szabo had played} 5...
O-O {in the aforementioned game.}) 6. e3 Nc6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. Ne2 d6 9. e4 Ne8 ({
Alternatively he could grab space in the centre with} 9... e5 $5 {.}) 10. O-O
b6 11. f4 Ba6 $4 {The losing move. Black is convinced that his opponent's
kingside advance is "all bluff" and goes straight after the pawn on c4.} ({
The only move was} 11... f5 $1 {, blocking the white f-pawn.}) 12. f5 $1 ({
Perhaps Najdorf had only considered} 12. e5 {, opening the diagonal for the
bishop on d3, which is fairly harmless. In any case, at this point the
Argentine Grandmaster realized the danger he was in, but it was one move too
late. He thought for an hour without finding a way to escape.}) 12... e5 ({
And no wonder Najdorf thought so: the threat is 13 f6 and the attempt to block
it with ...f7-f6 leads to catastrophe after} 12... exf5 13. exf5 f6 14. Be4 $1
Qd7 15. Bd5+ Kh8 16. Nf4 {, when White will have the pleasant choice between
the positional 17 Ne6, or 17 Qh5 threatening 18 Ng6 mate, or even 17 Ng6+!.})
13. f6 $1 Kh8 ({If} 13... Nxf6 14. Bg5 {
puts Black in a horrible pin, with 15 Ng3 and 16 Nh5 looming.}) ({
Alternatively, after} 13... g6 14. Bh6 {
he loses the exchange whilst keeping a rotten position.}) 14. d5 Na5 15. Ng3
gxf6 16. Nf5 {So what has White gained with the f-pawn battering ram? Well,
his dark-squared bishop has an open diagonal, the knight has the f5-square,
and his queen and rook on f1 can quickly be brought into the attack. And on
the Black side, the prevention of his own ...f7-f6 move means that the queen
and rooks are unable to defend their king along the second rank. Furthermore,
the pawn on h7 is a ready target for the white pieces. --- Black is absolutely
lost. Why then did Najdorf, one of the best players in the world, miss that 12
f5 is so lethal? As we discussed above, over-confidence, lack of opening
research, and no 'feel' for the strength of the f-pawn ram all contributed
their part.} Bc8 17. Qh5 {So simple: the white queen intends to mate on h7.}
Bxf5 18. exf5 Rg8 19. Rf3 Rg7 20. Bh6 Rg8 21. Rh3 ({If} 21. Rh3 Ng7 22. Qh4 Ne8
{(otherwise 23 Bg5 wins)} 23. Bf8 {and wins.}) 1-0

[Event "Candidates Tournament, Budapest"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1950.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bronstein, D."]
[Black "Keres, P."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C91"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "1950.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. d4
d6 9. c3 Bg4 {On principle Keres had to pin the knight, as otherwise White has
got d2-d4 in without wasting a move on h2-h3. But now Bronstein gets to
demonstrate his preparation.} 10. h3 $5 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 exd4 12. Qd1 $1 {
A paradoxical move typical of Bronstein's chess art. The white queen retreats
to her starting square in order to further the white attack. Or perhaps our
hero was remembering the Morphy-Anderssen game with Qd1! from Chapter Five...}
dxc3 13. Nxc3 {In return for his pawn, White has more freedom of action than
his opponent: that is, the two bishops and the chance to gain space with an
eventual f2-f4. On the other hand, Black has all his pieces developed, a safe
king and no serious structural weaknesses to worry about. Objectively we have
to state that White doesn't have enough for the pawn. --- But when we consider
the psychological circumstances White's chances are much enhanced. There is an
old saying that no matter how dubious they look in the laboratory or post
mortem, "all gambits are sound in practical play". --- Furthermore, Keres has
failed in his aim in the tournament, it is the last round, he is tired and fed
up, and he wants to go home! And Bronstein sacrifices a pawn against him...
there's no chance to have a snooze, not even in the opening! --- In what
follows, White makes no attempt to launch a quick attack on the black king.
Instead, he keeps the tension, so that Keres has problems to solve on every
move, and is pushed further and further into time trouble. We should jump
ahead to move 20:} Na5 14. Bc2 Re8 15. f4 b4 16. Nd5 Nxd5 17. Qxd5 c6 18. Qd3
g6 19. Kh1 Bf8 20. Rf1 Bg7 {The first sign of uncertainty from Black.} ({
Here the centralizing} 20... d5 $5 21. e5 Nc4 {
was a better way of handling the position.}) 21. Bd2 c5 {Nonetheless, things
are starting to look ominous for Bronstein, as his opponent is beginning to
utilize his pawn majority on the queenside. However, he refuses to panic and
finds a manoeuvre to reduce the effectiveness of the black pieces in
countering the advance f4-f5.} 22. Ba4 {In order to prevent the black knight
returning to the centre via c6. At the same time the rook on e8 is driven to a
more passive square.} Rf8 23. Rab1 {A calm defensive move of the type that
pushes the opponent closer to time trouble.} Qb6 {Keres' queen joins his
queenside attack, but now she is no longer opposing the advance of White's
f-pawn. Our giant decides he should wait no longer:} 24. f5 Bd4 {
Naturally he doesn't want the bishop entombed by 25 f6.} 25. Qg3 Nc4 ({
Here Pachman suggests} 25... c4 26. Bh6 Nb7 $1 {
as an efficient way to offer the exchange to break White's attack.}) 26. Bh6 ({
Objectively it was better to keep the tension with} 26. Bc1 $1 {, preparing 27
Bb3 etc, to increase the pressure on f7. But did Bronstein sense his opponent
was beginning to feel hazy?}) 26... Bg7 $4 {The 'inexplicable' collapse occurs.
In reality, Keres has been befuddled by his opponent's deadly brew of dynamism,
psychology and preparation. In encroaching time pressure, the Estonian
Grandmaster sees a ghost, panics, and makes a ruinous blunder.} ({
The only move consistent with his queenside build-up was the exchange sacrifice
} 26... Nxb2 $1 {, when after} 27. Bxf8 Rxf8 {Black is unlikely to be mated
and meanwhile can advance with ...c5-c4 etc. I'm sure that Bronstein would
have found various ways to irritate his opponent in time trouble. Still, I
can't help thinking that after 26...Nxb2! there would have been no
Bronstein-Boleslavsky or Bronstein-Botvinnik matches. How narrow is the
difference between success and failure in chess! --- We may talk about the
heartbreak of losing game 23 of the Botvinnik match, but at various points in
the 1950 Candidates Bronstein might have been denied the life-long glory of
playing a World Championship match, albeit one he could 'only' draw. --- On
the other hand, our hero created his own luck by preparing the imaginative
pawn sacrifice before the game, and then having the courage to actually play
it. Bronstein deserved a tilt at Botvinnik's crown more than anyone else in
the world in 1951.}) 27. Bxg7 Kxg7 28. f6+ Kh8 29. Qg5 {It is sometimes said
that tactical imagination can't be taught, that it is "a gift from the gods".
On the contrary, its effects can be studied and systematized in the same way
as positional ideas. Thus the general mating pattern that follows is very
familiar to all strong players. The 'formula' is: pawn on f6 + queen on h6 +
rook that can go to the h-file = Qxh7+! and mates.} b3 30. axb3 Qb4 31. bxc4
Qxa4 32. Rf4 Qc2 33. Qh6 ({If} 33. Qh6 Qxb1+ 34. Kh2 Rg8 35. Qxh7+ $1 {
and mate next move.}) 1-0

[Event "5th matchgame, Moscow"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1965.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Geller, E."]
[Black "Smyslov, V."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D87"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "1965.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8.
Ne2 O-O 9. O-O Nc6 10. Be3 Qc7 11. Rc1 Rd8 12. f4 e6 13. Kh1 b6 $2 ({
A safe way to handle the position was} 13... Na5 14. Bd3 f5 $1 {, blocking the
white f-pawn. Instead, Smyslov welcomes the further advance of the enemy pawn,
hoping to profit from the resulting open lines for his pieces.}) 14. f5 $1 {
Geller never needs a second invitation to charge at the enemy kingside!} Na5 {
Smyslov drives the white bishop away from its post on c4, so that he can put
his own bishop on the highly attractive b7-square without worrying about the
e6- or f7-pawn dropping off. --- It is obvious that the former World Champion
is thinking optimistically in terms of "what can I do to improve the energy of
my pieces?", rather than "what can I do to restrain the energy of the white
pieces?" According to the logic which he believes governs the position, he is
playing correctly, but as we shall see the logic itself is faulty. That is why
13...Na5, intending ...f7-f5 as part of a preventive strategy, was good,
whereas one move later exactly the same knight move, intending ...Bb7, is a
positional error.} 15. Bd3 exf5 16. exf5 Bb7 17. Qd2 Re8 18. Ng3 Qc6 {
Black is first with a tactical threat: 19...Rxe3! 20 Qxe3 Qxg2 mate.} 19. Rf2
Rad8 {At first glance it seems that Smyslov has coordinated his pieces in
exemplary style. Both his rooks are deployed on central files, while both
bishops enjoy open diagonals, with one supporting the queen in an attack on
White's tender spot on g2 and the other staring at the remnants of the white
centre on d4. Meanwhile Geller has played some slow-looking moves: namely Bd3
retreating one bishop, Qd2 guarding the other bishop, and Rf2 to reinforce the
vulnerable g2-square. --- Nevertheless, if we think in terms of potential
energy, some serious doubts begin to creep in about Smyslov's set-up. Will the
knight on a5 be able to return to the centre? And if not, won't the black army
be outnumbered when the tactical battle begins? --- In contrast, the white
position has plenty of scope for improvement. Step by step Geller will be able
to deploy his forces against the black kingside, and in the long term he is
always going to have superior firepower for the simple reason that his knight
on g3 can join in the battle, while Black's knight on a5 is out on a limb. ---
We are entering the second phase of power play, with direct threats replacing
dynamic strategy.} 20. Bh6 $1 {The first sign of an energy build-up is that
the white bishop, which was previously a target on e3, threatens to exchange
itself for the vital defender of Black's dark squares.} Bh8 21. Qf4 $1 {
And now the queen comes to life with unmistakable intentions down the f-file
after 22 fxg6. Less obvious is the support she is giving to White's next move.}
Rd7 22. Ne4 $1 c4 {Smyslov kicks the bishop back so that White won't have Bf1
as an option to defend his back rank.} ({If} 22... Rxe4 23. Bxe4 Qxe4 24. Qb8+
{and Black is suddenly mated on the back rank! The fact that he can no longer
keep the white knight out of the e4-square shows that the energy is fast
draining away from his game.}) 23. Bc2 Rde7 {It appears that Black's pressure
down the e-file might save him after all, as the impetuous 24 Nd6? runs into
24...Re1+ and White will be mated on the g2-square.} 24. Rcf1 $3 {Geller gets
maximum benefit from his 'extra' knight by offering it as a sacrifice.} Rxe4 ({
Black has little choice but to accept, as with ...Re1+ no longer an option if
the white knight moves, he is facing destruction on f7after} 24... -- 25. fxg6
hxg6 ({or} 25... fxg6 26. Qf8+ $1 {and mates}) 26. Nd6 {etc.}) 25. fxg6 $1 {
The first point behind the sacrifice is that if 25...Rxf4 26 gxh7 is mate!} f6
{The only move;} ({as after} 25... Qxg6 26. Bxe4 Bxe4 27. Qxf7+ Qxf7 28. Rxf7 {
Black has no good defence against mate on f8.}) 26. Qg5 $5 {
Geller can't resist a second queen offer.} ({Armed with a computer engine it
is easy to criticize a player for making inaccuracies in what is a highly
complex position. Suffice to say that} 26. Qg3 $1 {looks simpler, with the
same threat of 27 g7, wiping out the bishop on h8. If then} Qd7 {
(there is no real choice)} 27. gxh7+ Kxh7 (27... Kf7 28. Rxf6+ $1 Bxf6 29. Qg7+
Ke6 30. Rxf6+ {is too ghastly for words}) 28. Rf4 $1 {
gives White a decisive attack, as} Kxh6 ({Black lingers on longer after} 28...
Rg8 29. Qh4 Rge8 30. Bxe4+ Bxe4 31. Rxe4 Rxe4 32. Qxe4+ Kxh6 33. Rf3 $1 Kg7 34.
Rh3 {
, but would still have to resign, as he has no answer to a killing check on h7:
} Kg8 35. Qa8+ {wins the bishop and then the house}) {allows mate in two with}
29. Rh4+ $1 Rxh4 30. Qg6# {.}) 26... Qd7 {
It is mate in two with the familiar 27 Rf8+ if Black touches the queen.} 27.
Kg1 $1 ({Geller says he moved his king as he saw that, after the tempting} 27.
Rxf6 Bxf6 28. Qxf6 hxg6 (28... Qe7 29. Qf7+ $1) 29. Qxg6+ Kh8 30. Bg5 R4e6 31.
Bf6+ Rxf6 32. Rxf6 {, Black's king is defenceless and would be mated by 33
Qh6+ and 34 Rg6+, but unfortunately the white king gets mated first after} Re1+
$1 {. Therefore Geller put his king on g1 to avoid this scenario, as he had
calculated that Black couldn't do anything meaningful with his extra tempo.})
27... Bg7 ({After} 27... R8e6 {one strong reply would be} 28. Rf3 $5 {
simply planning 29 Rg3 with decisive threats.}) 28. Rxf6 Rg4 ({Upon} 28... Bxf6
{Geller would have played as in the note to 27 Kg1, when ...Re1+ would now be
a mere spite check after Kf2.}) 29. gxh7+ Kh8 30. Bxg7+ Qxg7 31. Qxg4 $1 ({
White will get the double delight of a new queen and an instant mate after} 31.
Qxg4 Qxg4 32. Rf8+ Rxf8 33. Rxf8+ {etc. --- A fine display by Geller. It took
courage, tactical calculation and subtle judgment to triumph in the attack.})
1-0

[Event "Havana"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1963.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Geller, E."]
[Black "Korchnoi, V."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C88"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "1963.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4
Bb7 9. d3 d6 10. Bd2 Qd7 11. Nc3 Nd4 12. Nxd4 exd4 13. Ne2 c5 14. Ng3 g6 15. c3
dxc3 16. bxc3 d5 17. e5 Ne8 18. axb5 axb5 19. Rxa8 Bxa8 20. Bh6 Ng7 21. d4 Rc8
{Now White sounded the charge:} 22. f4 $1 {If Black could close the position
with 22...f5 and 23...Ne6 he would have an excellent game: White's 4-3 pawn
majority on the kingside would be frozen by the blockading knight on e6, and
meanwhile the 3-2 black majority on the queenside can easily be converted into
a passed pawn.} ({Alas, for Black he doesn't have time for this manoeuvre after
} 22. f4 {.} -- ({. After} 22... Ne6 $2 {he is hit by} 23. f5) ({, while if} 
22... f5 {White exploits a tactical opportunity to break open all the lines
around the black king:} 23. exf6 Bxf6 24. Ne4 $1 {
(a powerful entrance by the white knight)} Be7 25. Bxg7 Kxg7 26. Nxc5 {
and Black is busted as} Bxc5 $2 {(he had better just accept the loss of a pawn)
} 27. dxc5 Rxc5 $2 28. Qd4+ {is fatal.}) ({. Nor does} 22... Nf5 {
hold back the tide of white pawns after} 23. Nxf5 Qxf5 24. Bc2 Qd7 25. f5 $1 {
etc.}) ({. Finally, an attempt to lessen the impact of a breakthrough by
exchanging off pieces fails after} 22... Bh4 23. Bxg7 Kxg7 24. f5 $1 Bxg3 (
24... gxf5 25. Qf3 Bxg3 26. Qxg3+ {is also pretty ghastly}) 25. f6+ Kh8 26.
hxg3 {and the white pawns are as menacing as in the game. --- Why are things
so thoroughly bad for Black in all variations? The simple answer is that he is
playing minus any help from the bishop on a8. This piece hardly registers in
any of the variations listed above - it might as well be back in the box for
all the help it gives Black in fending off the kingside attack.})) 22... cxd4 {
Korchnoi realizes his only chance is to create a counter demonstration on the
queenside, but Geller completely ignores it.} 23. Bxg7 Kxg7 24. f5 $3 {
You must strike while the iron is hot. Just one moment of hesitation can be
fatal against a resourceful opponent.} ({If Geller had played the 'lazy'} 24.
cxd4 {, then} f5 $1 {would remove most of the attacking energy from his
kingside pawns. In that case Black's queenside passed pawn and strong
dark-squared bishop would give him at least equal chances.}) 24... Bd8 ({
With the damage already done on the f-file, White could answer} 24... gxf5 {
with the simple} 25. cxd4 {, followed by 26 Qf3 etc, with a huge attack.}) 25.
cxd4 Qc6 ({The f-pawn can't be eliminated, as after} 25... gxf5 26. Qh5 ({or} 
26. Bc2 {White's knight lands on f5 heralding a mating attack.})) 26. f6+ {
A committal move of this nature should only be made if there is a clear
follow-up. The pawn looks very imposing on f6, but it also blocks the f-file,
and this can reduce the energy of the other white pieces. Normally, putting
the pawn on f6 can be justified, as with the black king on g8 it leads to a
mating attack of the Qd2 and Qh6 kind, as we saw in Bronstein-Keres above.
Here Geller has another plan in mind.} Kf8 27. Ne2 $3 {I don't know what the
reader thinks, but I'm always impressed by regrouping moves of this kind.
Perhaps it's because they reflect a patience I lack as a player! Geller
intends a breakthrough with Nf4 and e5-e6 and there is nothing that Black can
do about it.} Ba5 28. Rf1 Qd7 29. Nf4 Kg8 {Korchnoi is a great defender and
has done all he can to brace for impact. But you only have to take one look at
the bishop on a8 to know who is going to win the central struggle.} 30. e6 $1
fxe6 31. Qg4 Qf7 32. Nxe6 {Threatening 33 Ng5.} h5 33. Qf4 $1 Bd2 ({If} 33...
Qxe6 34. f7+ Kf8 35. Qh6+ {and the pawn goes through.}) 34. Qxd2 Qxe6 35. Bc2
Kh7 36. Qg5 $1 {Black no longer has any defence, as the queen is threatening
the h5-pawn as well as the g6-pawn.} Rxc2 37. f7 Rc8 38. f8=Q Rxf8 39. Rxf8 Bc6
{The bishop has joined the party rather late, don't you think?} 40. h4 Kg7 41.
Rf3 1-0

[Event "Bad Pistyan"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1922.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alekhine, A."]
[Black "Selezniev, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D67"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "1922.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 O-O 7. Rc1 c6 8. Bd3
dxc4 9. Bxc4 Nd5 10. Bf4 {Another version of the central treatment we saw in
Alekhine's game with Rubinstein in Chapter Three.} Nxf4 11. exf4 Nb6 12. Bb3
Nd5 13. Qd2 Qd6 14. Ne5 Nxc3 15. bxc3 c5 16. O-O b5 17. Bc2 Ba6 18. Rfe1 Rad8
19. Rcd1 {Here Black made an obvious exchange:} cxd4 $2 {But he had overlooked
that his c-pawn was needed to block a white attempt to storm his kingside.
After 19...cxd4 White's bishop becomes a monster, even supporting a queen
sacrifice.} ({Instead, he should have played} 19... g6 $1 {, which curbs the
power of the white bishop on c2 and deters a f4-f5 pawn ram. If then} 20. Bb3 {
, with combinational possibilities of the 21 Nxf7 Rxf7 22 Rxe6 type, Black can
slam the door in the bishop's face with} c4 $1 {.}) 20. cxd4 g6 21. Bb3 $1 {
Of course he wasn't going to miss the chance to put pressure on the e6- and
f7-pawns. Power play, part two has begun. Until the end of the game Alekhine
will make one forcing move after another, hitting the black pieces with a
series of attacking waves.} Bc8 {
Selezniev is reduced to passive defensive moves.} ({
He would love to be able to challenge White's bishop with} 21... Bb7 {
and then 22...Bd5, but there isn't time:} 22. Qd3 $1 {(a typical Alekhine
queen move: the lady unpretentiously steps forward one square and introduces
threats on both sides of the board)} a6 {(or else b5 drops)} 23. Nxg6 $3 hxg6
24. Rxe6 $1 fxe6 25. Qxg6+ Kh8 {. In his notes Alekhine says "} 26. Bc2 {
and mates in a few moves"} ({instead,} 26. Qh6+ Kg8 27. Bxe6+ {
gives excellent winning chances, as Black must part with his queen, seeing that
} Rf7 28. Rd3 $1 {would soon make him part with his king}) {
, but this allows the riposte} 26... Rf5 $1 {
, when the defence somehow holds together.}) 22. Qe2 $1 {As in the variation
at move 21, the quiet realignment of the white queen is the prelude to a
violent attack. Black must deal with the threat to b5, whereupon the pawn ram
comes with great impact.} ({Not} 22. d5 $2 exd5 23. Bxd5 Be6 $1 {
when White has fallen into a pin.}) 22... a6 ({
Even so, Selezniev should get his queen out of danger with} 22... Qb6 {.}) 23.
d5 $1 {No rest for the opponent's pieces!} Qb6 ({After} 23... exd5 24. Bxd5 {
the unblocking of the e-file and the bishop's approach to f7 mean that Black
is terrorized by 25 Bxf7+ or 25 Nxf7, not to mention the prosaic 25 Nc6,
hitting both d8 and e7.}) 24. Nc6 $1 {Alekhine sees that, in order to increase
the energy of his attack, he has to eliminate the piece that is guarding the
dark squares around the black king.} Rde8 25. Nxe7+ Rxe7 26. f5 $3 {
The second prong of the pawn ram.} Rb7 ({If Black accepts the offer with} 26...
gxf5 {his king becomes fatally exposed: the white queen and rooks can launch a
quick attack while the black queen is shut off on the queenside. For example,}
27. Qh5 {(threatening to pick up a rook with a check on g5)} Kh8 ({or} 27... f6
28. dxe6 Bxe6 {
when White has the same pretty winning move as occurs in the game:} 29. Rd7 $3
Rxd7 30. Rxe6 {followed by a killer discovered check}) 28. Qh6 Rfe8 29. Qf6+
Kg8 30. Rd3 f4 31. Re5 {and Black is defenceless along the g-file.}) ({Or if} 
26... Rfe8 27. d6 Rb7 28. Qe5 $1 {with massive pressure.}) 27. dxe6 fxe6 28.
fxe6 Re7 {If Black had hoped to blockade and finally win the passed pawn he is
instantly disillusioned.} 29. Rd7 $1 Rfe8 ({Alternatively,} 29... Bxd7 30.
exd7+ Kh8 ({after} 30... Ref7 31. Bxf7+ Rxf7 32. Qd2 Rf8 33. Re8 {
the passed pawn rolls through}) {and White could lose most embarrassingly with}
31. Qxe7 $4 ({however, the neat alternative} 31. d8=Q $1 {would deflect one of
the black pieces from the attack on f2, whereupon White could safely capture
on e7, remaining with an extra piece}) 31... Qxf2+ {
when his king is mated in two moves!}) 30. Qf3 $1 {Infiltrating with the queen
down the f-file in order to attack the rook on e7 is the final part of White's
winning strategy.} Qc5 31. Qf7+ $1 {
A spectacular way to get the queen to f6 with gain of time.} ({
Black was hoping for} 31. Qf6 $2 Rf8 $1 32. Qxe7 $4 (32. Qb2 $1) 32... Qxf2+ {
and mates.}) 31... Kh8 ({
If the queen is captured then the most precise way to win is} 31... Rxf7 32.
exf7+ Kg7 33. f8=Q+ Kxf8 34. Rf7+ Kg8 35. Rxe8+ {and mates.}) 32. Qf6+ Kg8 33.
h4 $1 ({So that after} 33. h4 Rf8 ({if} 33... a5 {
, White could conclude the game with} 34. Red1 a4 35. Rd8 axb3 36. Rxe8+ Rxe8
37. Qf7+ Kh8 38. Qxe8+ Kg7 39. e7 {
, threatening mate on f8 to add to all Black's other miseries}) {
White can safely take on e7; i.e.} 34. Qxe7 Qxf2+ 35. Kh2 Qf4+ 36. Kh1 {
and wins. Seeing his last hope gone, Selezniev surrendered. --- A very
impressive attack by Alekhine, who hounded the black pieces mercilessly after
his opponent gave him the chance with 19...cxd4?.}) 1-0

[Event "Nanjing"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2008.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Topalov, V."]
[Black "Ivanchuk, V."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B45"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "2008.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Ndb5 Bb4 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8.
Nxc3 d5 9. exd5 exd5 10. Bd3 O-O 11. O-O d4 12. Ne2 Bg4 {Ivanchuk provokes
White's reply, after which a hole appears on the e3-square. This will be an
excellent base for the black knight, which can be supported by both the pawn
on d4 and a rook on e8.} 13. f3 $1 {Topalov accepts the challenge. The black
horse gets its dream square, but in return White will gain the two bishops and
the chance to attack with f4-f5.} Bh5 14. Nf4 Re8 {
The Ukrainian Grandmaster carries on with his plan.} ({
He prefers to hand over the bishop on the h5-square rather than with} 14... Bg6
15. Nxg6 hxg6 {, as he doesn't want to have a pawn on g6 providing a 'hook'
for an f4-f5 advance by White.}) 15. Nxh5 Nxh5 16. f4 Nf6 17. Qf3 $1 {
The queen heads to h3 to attack h7. Why is this, when the pawn is soundly
defended by the knight on f6? One of the secrets of chess strategy is to
anticipate the plan of the opponent. Ivanchuk believes in his ideas and always
plays to win, and so it is reasonable to assume that he is intending ...Nd5
and ...Ne3. Therefore the pawn on h7 is going to lose its defender, without
White needing to apply the slightest 'persuasion'. Some squares become weak as
a matter of course when both players carry out their plans.} Nd5 {As predicted,
the knight goes off to seek its fortune and the h7-pawn becomes a target.} 18.
Qh3 g6 $2 {Weakening his dark squares and presenting a hook after all for the
advance of White's f-pawn. --- As we said above, Ivanchuk is a very creative
Grandmaster who always tries to gain the maximum from any position. He trusts
that the strong knight he will land on e3 will cover a multitude of sins on
the kingside. Unfortunately for him he is being over optimistic, though it
takes a player of Topalov's skill to prove it.} ({He should play} 18... h6 $1 {
. If then} 19. Qf5 Nf6 $1 {keeps everything solid. Black has apparently wasted
time with his knight, but the white queen isn't so hot either on f5, where she
gets in the way of the might end as a bizarre draw by repetition after} 20. Qh3
Nd5 21. Qf5 Nf6 {etc.}) 19. f5 $1 {All power players love a pawn ram,
especially when aimed at the enemy king. It opens up lines of attack for their
own pieces and loosens the pawn defences.} Ne3 {It seems that the attack on f1
will give Black a vital move to consolidate his kingside defences.} 20. Qh6 $1
{Remember Alekhine's dictum in Chapter One: "there are positions in which a
combination is obligatory". When both players are trying to impose their will
on their opponent, a single tempo can make all the difference. By refusing to
yield before the threat to his rook, Topalov gives his kingside attack vital
energy.} Qe7 ({If} 20... Nxf1 21. -- ({, White can win the black queen with} 
21. fxg6 hxg6 22. Bxg6 fxg6 23. Qxg6+ Kh8 24. Bg5 Ne3 25. Bxd8 Raxd8 {
. Then he has a draw in hand by perpetual and the chance to play for more with}
26. Qh6+ Kg8 27. Re1 $1 {, planning 28 c3 to undermine the defence of the
black knight on e3, when the white rook can join in the attack on the black
king.}) ({. However, I expect that Topalov would have kept the tension with} 
21. Bg5 $1 {, when if} f6 $2 ({Black must reply with} 21... Qd6 {
, when the simple} 22. Rxf1 {
maintains strong pressure, the immediate threat being} -- 23. fxg6 hxg6 ({
again if} 23... fxg6 24. Bc4+ {is the killer move}) 24. Bf6 {and wins}) 22.
Bc4+ Kh8 23. fxg6 {
forces mate in a couple of moves, disaster striking on f6 or h7.})) 21. Rf4 {
Now to avoid 22 Rh4 f6 23 fxg6 Ivanchuk must mess up his own pawns.} gxf5 22.
Bd2 {In contrast to move 20, White doesn't have to hurry here as the f5-pawn
can't run away.} Rad8 23. Bxf5 Nxf5 24. Rxf5 Rd6 {The black rook arrives on
the third rank just in time to prevent a disaster on the g-file.} 25. Qf4 Rg6
26. Rf1 Qe2 27. g3 Rf8 28. Rf2 Qe6 {Topalov has all his pieces on excellent
attacking squares, but as usual it needs the intervention of a pawn to add the
extra bit of power to break through the defence.} 29. h4 $1 Ne7 30. Re5 Qd7 31.
h5 Rg7 32. Rg5 ({Having dislodged the black rook from g6, the threat after} 32.
Rg5 {is} -- 33. Rxg7+ Kxg7 34. h6+ Kg8 35. Qg5+ Ng6 36. Qf6 {
and mate next move.}) 32... f5 $1 {Ivanchuk manages to hold everything
together by clearing the way for his queen to defend the second rank.} 33.
Rxg7+ Kxg7 34. Qe5+ Kg8 35. Bh6 Nc6 36. Qf4 Rf7 {Our giant has used a full
range of kingside pawns to prosecute his attack. First of all he sent forward
his f-pawn to split up the black defences. He then drove the black rook from
g6 with the help of his h-pawn. And now it is time to attack the obstacle on
f5, which requires the use of his g-pawn.} 37. g4 $1 d3 {Ivanchuk has to part
with the f5-pawn, after which he is soon forced to enter a hopeless endgame in
order to avoid losing to a direct attack. The remaining moves were:} ({
Black is defenceless after} 37... Ne7 38. Rg2 $1) ({while if} 37... fxg4 38.
Qg5+ Kh8 39. Bg7+ $1 Kg8 ({or} 39... Rxg7 40. Rf8+ {and mate next move}) 40.
Be5+ Kf8 41. Qg7+ Ke8 42. Qg8+ {and wins.}) 38. cxd3 Kh8 39. gxf5 Qxd3 40. Kg2
Qd5+ 41. Qf3 Ne7 42. Qxd5 Nxd5 43. Rc2 Rc7 44. Rxc7 Nxc7 45. Kf3 Kg8 46. Ke4
Ne8 47. Ke5 Kf7 48. Bg5 Nc7 49. h6 Nb5 50. Be3 b6 51. a4 Nc7 52. Kd6 Na6 53.
Kc6 Nb4+ 54. Kb7 Nd5 55. Bg5 a5 56. Kc6 Nb4+ 57. Kxb6 Nd3 58. b3 1-0

[Event "London"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1858.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morphy, P."]
[Black "Bird, H."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C51"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "1858.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Bc5 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 Bb6 8.
O-O d6 9. d5 Na5 10. e5 Nxc4 11. Qa4+ Bd7 12. Qxc4 {To modern eyes the obvious
move here is 12...Ne7, developing the kingside and preparing to castle, whilst
keeping the centre blocked. Instead, Bird set out on a tactical adventure with:
} dxe5 $2 13. Nxe5 Qf6 {The black queen attacks the knight and has designs
against the rook on a1. At the same time she puts pressure on the f2-square to
rule out 14 Re1, and clears the way for queenside castling, which would secure
her king. Morphy must therefore act fast to disrupt Black's game.} 14. Nxd7
Kxd7 ({After} 14... Qxa1 15. Nxb6 axb6 {White has a crushing attack with} 16.
Qxc7 {,} ({or he could simply trap the queen with} 16. Nc3 Ne7 17. Qb3 {
and 18 Ba3.})) 15. Qg4+ Ke8 16. Bg5 $1 Qg6 ({
The bid to upset White's build-up by attacking a1 has failed, as if} 16... Qxa1
17. Re1+ Ne7 $1 ({after} 17... Kf8 18. Qb4+ Ne7 19. Qxe7+ {
Black will be mated on the back rank}) {, and now White should remember the
dynamic rule that when you attack with a queen and rook, the queen should lead
from the front. Thus} 18. Rxe7+ $2 {would leave a mate hanging on b1,} ({
whereas} 18. Qb4 $1 {is decisive; e.g.} Kd8 ({
remember that Black has already moved his king so he can't castle!, and} 18...
c5 19. dxc6 {is hopeless}) 19. Qxe7+ Kc8 20. Qxf7 {, and Black has no good way
to meet the threat of 21 Re8+ with a back rank mate.})) ({After} 16... Qg6 {
Bird is ready to answer} 17. Re1+ Kf8 18. Qb4+ {with the blocking} Qd6 {.}) 17.
Nc3 $1 {Once again the American maestro pointedly ignores any attempt by the
black queen to disrupt his build-up.} ({Thus after} 17. Nc3 h6 {
, pinning the bishop, he could play} 18. Rae1+ Kf8 19. Qb4+ Qd6 {
, and now not the energy-sapping exchange of queens, but rather} 20. Qh4 $1 {
keeps up the initiative with a counter pin against the pawn on h6.}) 17... Nf6
18. Rae1+ Kf8 19. Qb4+ Kg8 20. Bxf6 Qxf6 21. Ne4 Qg6 {Morphy has completed the
development of his pieces, while Bird has problems both with his king and
getting his rook on h8 into the game. On the other hand, it looks as if no
combinations are possible down the e-file and there are no weaknesses in the
black king's pawn cover. Given a couple of moves Bird will be able to
consolidate and think about how to exploit his extra pawn. --- So has our
giant played it all wrong?} 22. Kh1 $3 {This quiet move is the way to add
fresh impetus to the white attack. It breaks the pin on f2, after which a
fearsome new weapon is added to White's arsenal: the line-breaking f-pawn.
Incidentally, we see here why Morphy preferred 18 Rae1+ to 18 Rfe1+. Keeping
the rook on f1 to back up the f-pawn gives more energy to the white set-up
than would have been gained by trying to use the queen's rook for an attack
down the d-file or c-file.} h5 {Bird responds with a pawn advance of his own,
but at best it can be supported by the queen and rook on h8, while all White's
pieces are at hand to support the f-pawn.} 23. f4 h4 24. f5 Qh5 25. Rf4 $1 f6
$2 {Perhaps Bird saw the danger in 26 a4 etc, and so was in a hurry to return
his queen to the centre via f7. If so this is a classic example of a
positionally well-motivated move failing for a tactical reason.} ({If} 25... h3
{White has} 26. Nf6+ $1 gxf6 27. Rg4+ Kh7 28. Rh4 {, winning the black queen.})
({Instead, Black's best defence is} 25... Rh6 $1 {, bringing his rook forwards
to bolster the third rank. In that case Morphy could have exploited the fact
that his opponent's queen is 'stalemated' on h5 by widening the struggle with
a second pawn ram on the queenside:} 26. a4 $1 {
threatens 27 a5 trapping the bishop. Then} a5 27. Qb5 {intends a third pawn
stab with 28 d6! to undermine the bishop and keeps up the initiative. Here,
White's pawn ram on the kingside could be seen as a holding operation to keep
the black queen shut in, whilst further breakthroughs take place on the
queenside and in the centre. --- It's a great pity that Bird blundered, as
there would have been a highly interesting fight after 25...Rh6.}) 26. Nxf6+ $1
gxf6 27. Rg4+ Qxg4 {If the black king staggers away then a queen check on e7
will mate him in at most three moves.} 28. Qxg4+ Kf8 29. Re6 Rh6 30. Qf4 Kg7
31. Re7+ {. --- One of the tragedies for fans of Morphy is that his opponents
frequently collapsed before his tactical powers, thereby denying us the chance
to see the full expression of his genius for strategy.} 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "8. Backward Ps + Indian Bs"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

{Back in the 1920s both Lasker and Capablanca feared that the best players in
the world would soon perfect their opening and strategic knowledge. All the
games among players with this knowledge would inevitably end in draws and as a
result competitive chess at the highest level would come to an end. This was
described as "draw death". --- It should be mentioned that Capablanca
expressed his concerns while he was still World Champion, so they were by no
means the grumblings of a defeated man. Furthermore, the Cuban himself managed
to avoid losing between February 10, 1916 and March 21, 1924 so it was
reasonable for him to assume that other players among the elite would in time
develop a similar invincibility. --- This prophecy was, thankfully, never
fulfilled for two reasons. Firstly, there is an inherent dynamism in positions
reached from even the most symmetrical or classical openings - that is, games
beginning 1 d4 d5 or 1 e4 e5. This means that not everything can be worked out
by logic and common sense alone. It is necessary to calculate variations and
make decisions based on intuition, which allows space for human creativity,
poor judgment and good old-fashioned luck - and therefore wins and losses. How
did Capa go eight years without losing? Well, he was a genius. His astonishing
intuition guided him in obscure positions which defied exact calculation. It
didn't follow that 'ordinary' elite players were going to follow in his
footsteps. --- Nevertheless, imagine if 150 years of testing had demonstrated
that the only openings that were okay for Black were the Queen's Gambit
Declined and the Ruy Lopez. In that case the prophecy of draw death might have
come much closer to hitting the mark. You might recall the 40 draws from the
first Karpov-Kasparov match in 1984/85, where neither player could make much
headway in classical games starting 1 d4 d5. In fact it could be argued that
'draw death' triumphed in that match, as it was called off after 48 games
without a result (the score being at the time 5-3 to Karpov with 40 draws in a
"first to win six games" match). --- But what really banished the spectre of
draw death was the discovery that non-classical openings were playable for
Black. For this we have to thank Nimzowitsch and the other so-called
Hypermoderns, who proved to the chess world in the 1920s and 1930s that Black
doesn't need to answer 1 d4 with 1...d5 and 1 e4 with 1...e5. As soon as
symmetry is avoided, we have an imbalanced position, with the promise of a
double-edged struggle.} 1. -- (1. -- {Introducing the Indian bishop: One of
the greatest generators of dynamism is the 'Indian' bishop - that is, a bishop
fianchettoed in the opening on g7. We can see the power it might exert on the
a1-h8 diagonal in the conclusion to a game by Morphy. (See Barnes-Morphy, Ruy
Lopez.)}) (1. -- {The perils of pawnless play: -- The Morphy game above
demonstrates the power of the Indian bishop, and so it is no surprise that
Hypermodern players in the 1920s and 1930s experimented with putting the
bishop on g7 in the opening. Their successes were mainly with the Grünfeld, as
they didn't know how to handle the King's Indian set-up properly. (See
Alekhine-Sämisch.)}) (1. -- {Enter Bronstein and Boleslavsky: -- By the end of
the 1930s, the Nimzo-Indian and Grünfeld were well established against 1 d4.
Versus 1 e4 the Sicilian was just starting to get into gear (Capablanca even
tried the Sicilian Dragon - just imagine!). The Caro-Kann was seen more
frequently and Alekhine was playing a lot of French Defences as Black, as well
as lending his name to 1 e4 Nf6. Alekhine was quick to stress that he wasn't a
Hypermodern player, but in reality any world-class player of that era who was
receptive to new, successful ideas couldn't help but become in part a
Hypermodern. --- Bronstein and his close friend, competitor, and training
partner Isaac Boleslavsky (1919-1977) added a significant new weapon to the
arsenal of dynamic chess by proving in the 1940s that the King's Indian
Defence was playable for Black. Once this had been achieved, all the ground
work for modern chess was in place - a vibrant game which was in no danger of
suffering a draw death. (See Zita-Bronstein.)}) (1. -- {What about the
backward pawn on d6? -- Bronstein got away with his queenside adventure in the
game above, but if White had replied carefully, would he have suffered because
of the weakness on d6? A backward pawn on an open file is surely a serious
structural defect. It was this consideration that was behind Sämisch's
pathological refusal to play ...c7-c6 in the game above. --- In fact Bronstein
and Boleslavsky had discovered through concrete analysis that White doesn't
have the luxury of focusing on the d6-pawn - such is the force of Black's
potential queenside initiative. --- In the next game a world-class player
disrupts the coordination of his pieces in order to get at the backward pawn.
The Swedish Grandmaster Ulf Andersson memorably described it as "a duel
between two equal giants, but the one standing on rock and the other on
quicksand." (See Reshevsky-Bronstein.)}) (1. -- {Geller joins in the act: --
Following the example of Bronstein, Geller became a great fan of the King's
Indian Defence. He loved the opportunity it gave him to play dynamic chess
with the black pieces. As you would expect, he gives the set-up a creative
twist by deploying his queen to the kingside. (See Germek-Geller.) --- Thus a
defence that Alekhine rejected as unsound became fully established in the
ranks of modern chess openings. Still, we have no right to criticize the
fourth World Champion. One of Alekhine's greatest qualities was his
unremitting search for improvements in opening theory. When he annotates one
of his games he often explains his choice of move by a phrase of the kind "I
wanted to test this recommendation by X" or "I wanted to confirm my opinion of
variation Y". His curiosity and urge to understand meant he was willing to try
out most openings, except those as Black involving a fianchetto on g7. --- It
is simply the case that Alekhine was born too early to appreciate the merits
of the King's Indian Defence. In tournaments he always played for a win with
Black, unless a draw was required to achieve the sporting aim. This meant he
sometimes pushed too hard to unbalance the position. If he had played his
chess in a later age he would undoubtedly have followed Fischer and the young
Kasparov in making the King's Indian Defence fundamental to his repertoire. It
is the perfect way to achieve winning chances with Black without taking
unacceptable risks. All lovers of fighting chess owe a debt of gratitude to
Bronstein and Boleslavsky for their pioneering work.}) (1. -- {Living with a
backward pawn: -- Bronstein and Boleslavsky's research also had an influence
beyond the confines of the King's Indian Defence. The idea that a structural
or static weakness is acceptable in return for active play has a bearing on
openings with no Indian bishop in sight. For example, nowadays no one blinks
an eye if a player accepts a backward pawn in the Sveshnikov Sicilian. (See
Karjakin-Topalov.)}) *

[Event "London"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1858.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Barnes, T."]
[Black "Morphy, P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C65"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "1858.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 ({The reader who plays (or plays against) the Grünfeld might be aware
that a black passed a-pawn, supported by the dark-squared bishop on g7, can be
a particularly potent force. For example,} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3
Bg7 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qa5+ 11.
Bd2 Qxa2 12. O-O Bg4 13. Bg5 h6 14. Be3 Nc6 15. d5 Bxf3 16. Bxf3 Ne5 17. Rxb7 {
and here, rather than defend e7, Black can play} a5 $1 {, putting his trust in
the passed pawn to give him enough counterplay. Compare this to the situation
after move 36 below.}) 1... e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 Ne4 6.
O-O a6 7. Ba4 Nc5 8. Bxc6 dxc6 9. Nxd4 Be7 10. Nc3 O-O 11. Be3 f6 12. exf6 Rxf6
13. Qe2 Rg6 14. Kh1 Bd6 15. Rad1 Qh4 16. f4 Bg4 17. Nf3 Qh5 18. Bxc5 Bxc5 19.
Ne4 Bb6 20. Neg5 h6 21. Qc4+ Kh8 22. Nf7+ Kh7 23. N7e5 Rf6 24. Nxg4 Qxg4 25.
Ne5 Qe6 26. Qe4+ Qf5 27. Qxf5+ Rxf5 28. g4 Rf6 29. f5 Re8 30. Ng6 ({Black has the inferior pawn structure due to his doubled pawns. Therefore White should
neutralize any possible counterplay with} 30. Rde1 {; for example,} Rd8 ({not} 
30... Bd4 $2 31. Nd7 $1 {winning the exchange}) 31. Nf3 $1 {etc, keeping the
black rook out of the seventh rank. Then he could try to exploit his 3-2
majority of pawns on the kingside. If Morphy had been playing White this is
the course the game might well have taken. But Thomas Wilson Barnes is a
'Romantic' player - he isn't interested in all this nonsense about preventive
play and exploiting a pawn majority in the endgame. Instead, he goes straight
for the jugular and falls prey to an excellent exchange sac by the American:})
30... Re2 $1 {Barnes thought he had deterred this move.} 31. Rd8 Rxg6 {
The only way to stop mate.} 32. fxg6+ Kxg6 33. Rd7 {He could have tried to
save some of his queenside pawns, but the English master is wrapped up in his
attack.} Rxc2 34. Rff7 {Now White seems close to victory as 35 Rxg7+ looks
unstoppable, when his kingside pawns outweigh Black's queenside mass.} Bd4 $1 {
An excellent move that turns the tables, as 35 Rxd4? allows 35...Kxf7. The
bishop defends g7 and can be supported by ...c6-c5 if necessary. Hence the
black pieces and pawns are helping each other - a healthy state of affairs for
any position.} 35. Rxc7 {Too obvious. If Barnes had realized the danger he
wouldn't have allowed Black a passed pawn on the a-file.} ({
A safer approach was} 35. b3 {; for example,} Be5 36. Rfe7 Rxh2+ 37. Kg1 Re2
38. Rxc7 {etc.}) 35... Rxb2 36. Rxb7 Rxa2 {It is often well worth the
sacrifice of the exchange to acquire the bishop plus passed pawn scenario.
Naturally neither Barnes nor Morphy had ever heard of the Grünfeld, so they
couldn't use this comparison as a 'strategical signpost'. But most of the time
Morphy was able to fill the gaps in his knowledge with accurate calculation
and built-in positional genius.} 37. h4 {Barnes has awoken to the danger and
activates his own pawns in the search for counterplay.} a5 38. h5+ Kg5 $1 ({
It would be a terrible mistake to try to shelter the king with} 38... Kh7 $4 {
, as that allows White to decide the game with mating threats:} 39. Rf8 a4 40.
Rbb8 g6 41. Rf7+ Bg7 42. Rbb7 {, winning the bishop. In any case, the king
needs to be activated in the endgame.}) 39. Rxg7+ {
He can't just wait for his opponent to advance his pawns.} Kh4 {Morphy spurns
the capture on g7 as his king is planning a rendezvous with his opposite
number...} 40. Rge7 $2 ({The way to resist was} 40. Rgd7 c5 41. g5 $1 {
, trying to use his own pawns.}) 40... a4 $1 {. An unexpectedly sudden ending.
There is no good defence to ...Kg3 or ...Kh3 and then mate on either h2 or a1.}
0-1

[Event "1st matchgame, Berlin"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1921.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alekhine, A."]
[Black "Sämisch, F."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A24"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "1921.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. c4 ({In contrast to the position discussed in the notes to Black's 11th,
below, nowadays it seems that Black went to absurd lengths to avoid ...c7-c6
in some of these pre-Bronstein/Boleslavsky King's Indian games. Here, for
example, is the opening of A.Alekhine-E.Spencer from a simultaneous display in
Great Britain, 1923:} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. e4 e5 {
("a strategic error" says Alekhine - quite wrongly, of course)} 5. Nf3 g6 6. h3
Bg7 7. Be3 Qe7 8. Qc2 {. Now what could be more natural than} c6 {
, guarding the d5-square?} ({
But Spencer doesn't want to give himself the backward pawn on d6, and so played
} 8... Nf8 {. Alekhine broke open the c-file with} 9. Nd5 $1 Nxd5 10. cxd5 {
and had an excellent game after} Nd7 11. Bg5 f6 12. Be3 {etc.})) 1... e5 2. Nc3
Nf6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 d6 6. d4 exd4 $2 {Already Sämisch shows his
lack of surety with the opening by prematurely conceding the centre.} ({
Instead, he should wait until White has created a potential target by playing
e2-e4 himself before carrying out this exchange. Therefore holding his ground
with} 6... Nbd7 {was required.}) 7. Nxd4 O-O 8. O-O Nbd7 9. b3 $1 ({
Note that Alekhine is shrewd enough not to rush to play} 9. e4 {
, when Black could attack the pawn with ...Nc5 and ...Re8 etc.}) 9... Nc5 10.
Bb2 Re8 11. Qc2 Ne6 $2 {Sämisch is unable to find a good plan.} ({Jumping ahead
more than thirty years, the Bronstein/Boleslavsky approach to the position
would be} 11... a5 {, stopping the knight being evicted from c5. Then after}
12. Rad1 {, which threatens to establish a bind on the queenside with 13 Ndb5,
followed in time by Nd5, Black should guard the b5- and d5-squares with} c6 $3
{. Black then has a tough solid, position. Should White play} 13. e4 {
(a move he should hold back in favour of probing along the d-file) we would be
well into the territory of the Bronstein and Geller games given later in the
chapter. --- It is hard for modern players to appreciate just how anti-positional the move 12...c6 would have appeared to players in 1921. White plays 12 Rad1
and how does Black respond? Why, by giving himself a backward pawn on d6 with
12...c6. It seems a ridiculous, absurd decision.}) 12. Rad1 Qe7 13. Rfe1 Rb8 {
Alekhine is building up his game as much as possible before committing himself
to the e4-e5 push in the centre. Meanwhile, Black's pieces are thrashing
around aimlessly because they aren't getting any help from their pawns. You
should compare this situation with Bronstein's aforementioned games with Zita
and Pachman, where Black has pawn breaks available to him on both sides of the
board. One of the rules of dynamic chess is that a loose pawn structure that
energizes the pieces is always to be preferred to a neat and lifeless one.} 14.
Nf3 {An exchange of pieces is welcome to a player with a cramped game, and so
Alekhine retreats his knight.} Qf8 15. e4 {
At last it is time for decisive action in the centre.} Nd7 16. Ba3 $1 Ne5 ({
White has two threats:} 16... -- {the strategic} 17. e5 {
, exploiting the pin on d6,} ({and the tactical} 17. Nb5 a6 18. Nxc7 $1 Nxc7
19. Bxd6 Re7 20. Bxc7 {, when White has won two pawns. Here we see that the
black knight should never have left its post on c5.})) 17. Nxe5 Bxe5 18. f4 $1
Bd4+ 19. Kh1 Qg7 20. Nd5 {Sämisch's pawnless play has proved catastrophic. The
threat is 21 f5 when if the knight retreats, 22 Nxc7 wins a pawn, or even
better 22 Rxd4 Qxd4 23 Bb2 and then 24 Nf6+ etc with a decisive attack.} Bf6
21. Nxf6+ {The exchange of his dark-squared bishop is the death knell for the
black position.} Qxf6 22. Bb2 Qe7 23. Qc3 {
The threat of checkmate on h8 forces the German master to give up a pawn.} f6
24. Qxf6 Qxf6 25. Bxf6 b5 26. cxb5 Rxb5 27. e5 dxe5 28. Bxe5 ({But not} 28. Bc6
$2 Bb7 {. The rest is very easy for an Alekhine.}) 28... Bb7 29. Bxb7 Rxb7 30.
Rd7 h5 31. Red1 Kf8 32. Rf1 Re7 33. f5 $1 {
A neat use of the pawn ram to win a second pawn.} gxf5 ({If} 33... Rxd7 34.
fxe6+ {wins a piece.}) 34. Rxf5+ Ke8 35. Rxe7+ Kxe7 36. Rxh5 {. --- It's no
wonder that in the 1930s the King's Indian had a bad press. From move seven
onwards Sämisch makes 16 consecutive moves with his pieces without once using
his pawns. This is a sure sign of a lack of harmony in his camp. As Bronstein
once remarked, "how can you win games if you never advance any pawns?"} 1-0

[Event "Moscow vs Prague match"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1946.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Zita, F."]
[Black "Bronstein, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E68"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "1946.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 d6 4. d4 Nbd7 $1 {Bronstein has no intention of
conceding the centre until White has loosened his own position with e2-e4.} 5.
g3 g6 6. Bg2 Bg7 7. O-O O-O {The first step towards a dynamic game is to
choose a counterattacking opening. It helps if the opponent has no idea how to
play against it.} 8. b3 Re8 9. Bb2 $2 {It is no surprise that Zita reacts with
the entirely plausible plan of putting the bishop on b2. In fact this is a
fundamental mistake. The bishop should be placed on e3 where it bolsters d4,
strengthens the f2-pawn (yes, this pawn will become a target) and deters
Black's queen from going to the b6-square.} ({Therefore White should play} 9.
e4 c6 10. h3 {, when} Qb6 $2 {can be countered by} 11. Be3 {.}) 9... c6 $3 {
A vital contrast to the Sämisch game. Bronstein fearlessly weakens his pawns
in order to increase the energy level of his pieces. Furthermore, the white
knight is kept out of the b5- and d5-squares, which means there will be no Nd5
disaster of the kind suffered by Black in the two Alekhine games discussed
above.} 10. e4 exd4 11. Nxd4 Qb6 $3 {Here we see the second purpose of ...c7-c6: the way has been opened for the black queen to take up an active post
on the queenside. Instead of wandering around aimlessly, we might say she is
settled on an 'Alekhine' square - as we have seen in Chapter Five and
elsewhere in this book, the fourth World Champion often found a way to place
his queen on a safe and powerful square on the third rank.} 12. Qd2 Nc5 13.
Rfe1 a5 $1 14. Rab1 a4 {Beginning a frontal attack against White's queenside
pawn structure. This is the prelude to a combination that exploits the
diagonal pressure exerted by both the black queen and bishop on g7.} 15. Ba1 ({
Black would regain his pawn having broken up the white queenside after} 15.
Nxa4 Nxa4 16. bxa4 Qa6 {
. But as we shall see, the bishop will prove a target on a1.}) 15... axb3 16.
axb3 Ng4 17. h3 Rxa1 $3 {An exchange sacrifice to remove the energy from the
white position by destroying the only rival to the Indian bishop.} 18. Rxa1
Nxf2 $3 {Active play on one wing followed by a surprise attack on the other
wing is one of the hallmarks of Bronstein's style. And haven't the games of
Morphy shown us that White's f2, along with Black's f7, is the weakest square
on the board?} 19. Re3 ({After either} 19. Qxf2 Nd3) ({or} 19. Kxf2 Nxb3 {
, White's position collapses: first of all his knight on d4 drops, leaving the
one on c3 hanging as well, and meanwhile a rook is attacked on either a1 or e1.
}) 19... Nxh3+ 20. Kh2 ({Upon} 20. Bxh3 Bxh3 {White's dark squares are left
far too flimsy - not that he can boast much about his light squares either.})
20... Nf2 $1 21. Rf3 ({Or} 21. Qxf2 Bxd4 {.}) 21... Ncxe4 22. Qf4 Ng4+ 23. Kh1
f5 $1 {Threatening to trap the queen with 24...Bh6. Meanwhile d4 is still
hanging. This relentless harassing of two or more enemy pieces was a distinct
feature of Morphy's style.} 24. Nxe4 Rxe4 25. Qxd6 Rxd4 {The knight has
finally fallen, leaving White a lot of material down and still facing an
attack.} 26. Qb8 Rd8 27. Ra8 Be5 28. Qa7 Qb4 29. Qa2 Qf8 30. Bh3 Qh6 {
. --- An explosive way for the modern King's Indian to arrive on the scene.}
0-1

[Event "Candidates Tournament, Zürich"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1953.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Reshevsky, S."]
[Black "Bronstein, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E68"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "130"]
[EventDate "1953.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nc3 d6 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. O-O e5 8. e4
Re8 9. h3 exd4 10. Nxd4 Nc5 11. Re1 a5 12. Qc2 ({If Reshevsky had been aware
of the strength of Black's counterplay, he might have played} 12. Rb1 $1 {
. The idea would be to 'tidy up' things on the queenside before commencing
operations in the centre. Play might go} a4 13. b4 $1 axb3 14. axb3 c6 ({
if Black avoids this move then he falls into a bind after} 14... h6 15. Ndb5 $1
{, when ...c7-c6 is ruled out}) 15. b4 {and the black knight is driven back.
--- This is G.Kasparov-R.Gerber from a simultaneous display in Cannes 1988.
You will notice that: a) Black doesn't get a strong pawn on a3; b) he doesn't
get an active and safe square for his queen on a5; and c) he doesn't get
brilliant outposts for his knights on b4 and c5 either. The white queenside
pawns are living, mobile, and not just props on which Black can rest his
pieces.}) 12... c6 $1 {All according to plan.} ({
With his previous move the American Grandmaster had set a little trap:} 12...
Nfxe4 $2 13. Nxe4 Bxd4 14. Bg5 Qd7 (14... f6 $2 {loses at once to} 15. Bxf6 $1)
15. Nf6+ Bxf6 16. Bxf6 {
and the disappearance of the dark-squared bishop is grievous for Black.}) 13.
Be3 {Reshevsky prepares to round up the 'criminal' on d6 as quickly as
possible with the plan of Rad1, Nde2 and Rxd6. If Black chooses to defend the
pawn with ...Qc7, a little more pressure will do the trick: Rd2 followed by
Red1 and then Rxd6.} Nfd7 14. Rad1 a4 15. Nde2 $2 {Reshevsky seems obsessed
with the d-file and remains oblivious to events on the queenside.} ({
It wasn't too late to prevent his queenside becoming dead wood with} 15. b4 $1
{; for example,} axb3 16. axb3 Qa5 17. Rb1 Na6 18. Ra1 Qc7 19. Qd2 Ndc5 20.
Reb1 Bd7 21. b4 {as in A.Greenfeld-J.Hjartarson, Lucerne Olympiad 1982.}) 15...
Qa5 $1 {
This activity is all very well, but has the d6-pawn been abandoned to its fate?
} ({No, because} 15... Qa5 16. Rxd6 {meets with a 'global' combination that
harasses the white pieces on the queenside, centre and kingside:} Ne5 $1 17. b3
{(to defend c4)} axb3 18. axb3 Bxh3 $1 19. Bxh3 Nf3+ 20. Kf1 Nxe1 21. Kxe1 Nxe4
22. Rd3 Nxc3 $1 23. Nxc3 Qa1+ 24. Nd1 Ra2 {with a huge initiative to Black.})
16. Bf1 {A poor square for the bishop.} ({
Actually, having gone this far, Reshevsky should probably have tried} 16. Rxd6
{anyway but, after} Ne5 {, returned the pawn with} 17. Rdd1 $1 Nxc4 18. Bd4 $1
{, as played by Smyslov. White can't rejoice at having exchanged his c-pawn
for the d6-pawn, but at least he gets rid of Black's strong dark-squared
bishop.}) 16... Ne5 17. Nd4 {The fact that the knight returns to d4 shows that
the plan to attack d6 has ended in fiasco.} a3 {As we saw in the extracts from
modern games above, Kasparov and others are careful not to let Black get a
pawn to a3. Here it paralyses Reshevsky's queenside, making b4 an excellent
outpost for a black knight, and casts a blight over his endgame chances.} 18.
f4 Ned7 19. b3 Na6 $1 {The black knights take the b4- and c5-squares.} 20. Bf2
Ndc5 21. Re3 Nb4 22. Qe2 Bd7 {White's queenside is in a dark square
stranglehold. If he does nothing fast the pressure will spread to the kingside
after 23...Re7 and 24...Rae8. A strong player knows that a passive position
usually declines into a lost position, and so Reshevsky tries a central
breakthrough:} 23. e5 $5 dxe5 24. fxe5 Rad8 25. g4 $1 {A fine move that clears
the way for the dark-squared bishop to enter the fray via h4.} Ne6 $1 {
Bronstein sees the danger and starts an immediate counteraction against d4.}
26. Bh4 Nxd4 27. Rxd4 {It looks as if Black is about to lose the exchange, but
our hero has everything under control.} Qc5 $1 28. Rde4 Bh6 $1 29. Kh1 Be6 30.
g5 ({The strength of the a3-pawn is seen in the variation} 30. Bxd8 Rxd8 $1 31.
Rf3 $6 Rd2 32. Qe1 Nxa2 {.}) 30... Bg7 31. Rf4 Bf5 {White's attack is running
out of steam and the e5-pawn is very weak. Therefore he tries again to mix
things up:} 32. Ne4 Bxe4+ $1 (32... Qxe5 $2 {was very tempting} 33. -- ({, as} 
33. Nf6+ $2 Bxf6 34. Rxe5 Bxe5 {is a very powerful queen sacrifice.}) ({
. But Reshevsky had prepared the marvellous trap} 33. Rxf5 $1 gxf5 ({or} 33...
Qxf5 34. Nf6+ Bxf6 35. Rxe8+ Rxe8 36. Qxe8+ Kg7 37. gxf6+ {and wins}) 34. Nf6+
Bxf6 35. gxf6 $3 {(he doesn't want the black queen!)} Qxe3 36. Qg2+ Kh8 37.
Qg7# {.})) 33. Rfxe4 Na6 $1 {Threatening to paralyse the white centre with 33..
.Nc7 and 34...Ne6, so White must press forwards, even though his position is
becoming very loose.} 34. e6 fxe6 35. Rxe6 Rf8 $1 {Bronstein keeps the rooks
on the board to further his initiative. You only need to look at White's two
rotten bishops to realize that he won't be able to create any dynamic chances
on the e-file.} 36. Re7 Bd4 37. R3e6 Qf5 38. Re8 (38. Bg2 Nc5 {traps the rook
on e6, so Reshevsky has no choice but to enter a horrible endgame.}) 38... Nc5
39. Rxd8 Nxe6 $1 {The best recapture;} ({as White has counterplay after} 39...
Rxd8 40. Re8+ {.}) 40. Rxf8+ Kxf8 41. Bg3 {Reshevsky decides to give up the
g-pawn at once and put his trust in the opposite-coloured bishops.} ({
If instead} 41. Qg2 Bc5 {leaves White in zugzwang; for example,} 42. Be2 Nf4
43. Qg4 Nxe2 44. Qxe2 Qxh3+ 45. Qh2 Qf1+ {and mates.}) 41... Qxg5 42. Qxe6 Qxg3
43. Qc8+ Ke7 44. Qg4 ({In a strange reversal of their usual roles, the white
queen gets shoved into the corner by the black king after} 44. Qxb7+ Kd8 45.
Qa8+ Kc7 {
, when there are no more good checks and the white king is mated; for example,}
46. Bg2 Qe1+ 47. Kh2 Be5# {.}) 44... Qc3 45. Kg2 Qb2+ 46. Qe2+ Kd6 47. Kf3 Bc5
$1 {Bronstein plays the endgame with great skill, gradually pushing the white
king back and then putting him in zugzwang. Of course, the exchange of queens
doesn't help White, as the recapture creates a passed pawn on b2.} 48. Ke4 Qd4+
49. Kf3 Qf6+ 50. Kg2 Kc7 51. Qf3 Qb2+ 52. Qe2 Qd4 53. Kf3 h5 54. Kg2 g5 55. Kg3
Qf4+ 56. Kg2 g4 57. hxg4 hxg4 58. Kh1 Kb6 59. Kg2 Kc7 60. Kh1 Bd6 61. Kg1 Kb6
62. Qg2 Bc5+ 63. Kh1 Qh6+ 64. Qh2 Qe3 65. b4 Bd4 $1 ({After} 65... Bd4 66. Qg2
g3 {White will run out of pawn moves on the queenside, when he is in zugzwang.
If his queen moves from g2, it is mate on g1, while if the bishop leaves f1 it
no longer supports Qh3, so the reply ...Qh6+ forces mate. --- An epic battle.
After his poor opening the American Grandmaster played with great verve, but
he couldn't overcome the superior coordination of the black pieces and pawns.})
0-1

[Event "Bled"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1961.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Germek, M."]
[Black "Geller, E."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E60"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "1961.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nf3 d6 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2 e5 8. Rd1
Re8 9. e4 c6 10. Nc3 exd4 11. Nxd4 Qe7 {White has played a quick Rd1, so
Geller removes his queen from the danger file, at the same time adding a
defender to d6 and counterattacking against e4.} 12. b3 Nc5 13. f3 {Germek bolsters his e4-pawn, but on the other hand his central dark squares are slightly
weakened.} a5 $1 {As we have already seen, the a-pawn not only prevents the
knight from being evicted by b3-b4 but also prepares to ram White's queenside
structure.} 14. Ba3 $2 {Having already compromised his dark squares with 13 f3,
Germek moves their natural defender to the edge of the board. To make matters
worse, the bishop will become a target after ...a5-a4.} ({Better is} 14. Be3 {
planning 15 Rd2 and 16 Rad1 to try to prove that the pawn on d6-pawn is weak
after all. Incidentally, that is how Korchnoi handled the white position in a
later game.}) 14... Nfd7 $1 {By now the reader will be fully aware that one of
the keys to conducting a dynamic game is finding a strong and safe square for
the queen. Here Geller has seen that he can significantly increase the
pressure on the white pawn structure by vacating f6 for her; an 'Alekhine'
square on the third rank.} 15. Qf2 {Whereas the black queen is about to take
control of an attacking post, her opposite number has assumed a defensive role
by overprotecting d4 and f3.} Ne5 ({Now after} 15... a4 16. Nce2 Ne5 17. Nf4 {
White would manage to keep everything solid.}) 16. Bf1 {
Keeping the black knights out of d3, but now f3 has lost one of its defenders.}
Qf6 $1 {One of the characteristics of Geller's style is that he is always
looking for ways to combine frontal pressure against a pawn structure with
diagonal pressure against a vulnerable piece (preferably the king!). Here his
queen performs both tasks: she attacks f3 in combination with the knight on e5,
and at the same time makes things uncomfortable for the white pieces along the
a1-h8 diagonal.} 17. Rac1 ({Once a pawn structure loses its mobility it tends
to become a target. We get a demonstration of the black queen's power if White
tries to free himself with} 17. f4 {:} Ng4 18. Qf3 ({he just loses a pawn after
} 18. Qd2 Nxe4) 18... Qxd4+ $1 19. Rxd4 Bxd4+ 20. Kg2 ({even worse is} 20. Kh1
Nf2+ 21. Kg1 ({or} 21. Kg2 Bh3+ {etc}) 21... Nd1+ {picking up c3}) 20... Ne3+
21. Kh1 Bg4 22. Qf2 Bxc3 23. Qxe3 Bxa1 {and Black wins 'on points'.}) 17... a4
$1 {Black's pieces are on active squares, but his attack won't get anywhere
without the help of pawns. Finding a dynamic harmony between the pieces and
pawns is the ideal of power play. When the pawns and pieces refuse to work
together, the energy drains out of even the most promising-looking position.}
18. b4 {Now the bishop on a3 is boxed in and the c4-pawn becomes vulnerable.}
Ne6 19. Nce2 h5 $1 {Geller is playing on both sides of the board. He intends
to loosen the white kingside even more with a pawn exchange on g3. Jumping a
long way ahead, the opening of the h-file will allow a direct attack on the
white king.} 20. Nxe6 Bxe6 21. Nd4 {One of the techniques of dynamic chess is
indirect defence of a weak point. The white rook finally has the pawn on d6 in
his sights, but he can't take it as f3 hangs.} h4 22. Be2 hxg3 23. hxg3 Rad8
24. Kg2 {Germek appears to have covered his pawn weaknesses quite well, but a
third pawn ram uncovers all the deficiencies in his position.} d5 $1 25. exd5
cxd5 26. Nxe6 ({Upon} 26. c5 {we see a striking example of the conversion of
advantages: the weak pawn on c4 has vanished but is replaced by a strong
outpost for the black knight with} Nc4 {
, which in turn becomes a strong passed pawn after} 27. Bxc4 dxc4 28. Nxe6 Qxe6
{etc. It's important to see how one advantage 'flows' into another - in the
context of power play we could say that one form of (attacking) energy is
converted into another. --- You can see in this variation that 24...d5
wouldn't have had the same energy without the preliminary softening up of c4
with the ...a5-a4 pawn ram: a white pawn on b3 would have kept the black
knight out of c4.}) 26... Qxe6 27. cxd5 Rxd5 28. f4 $2 {White has a miserable
position, with one bishop shut out of the game on a3 and the other a target on
e2. Nevertheless, giving away all the light squares isn't the way to save
himself.} ({He should try} 28. Rxd5 Qxd5 29. Rc2 {, as} Ng4 {
doesn't yet hit the mark due to} 30. Bc4 $1 {.}) 28... Rxd1 29. Rxd1 Nc4 30.
Bxc4 Qxc4 31. Rd2 Bc3 $1 {It appears that Geller is playing to win the b4-pawn,
but in fact he is preparing an unexpected finish on the other wing.} 32. Rc2
Qe4+ 33. Kh2 Kg7 $1 {Here is the concealed idea. If White takes the bishop he
is mated in two moves with 33...Rh8+.} 34. g4 Rh8+ ({
White loses his queen after} 34... Rh8+ 35. Kg3 Qd3+ 36. Qf3 Rh3+ {.}) 0-1

[Event "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2006.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Karjakin, S."]
[Black "Topalov, V."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B33"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2006.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8.
Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 Bg5 12. Nc2 O-O 13. a4 bxa4 14. Rxa4 a5
15. Bc4 Rb8 16. Ra2 Kh8 17. Nce3 Bxe3 18. Nxe3 Ne7 19. b3 f5 20. exf5 Nxf5 21.
Nd5 Bb7 22. O-O Rc8 23. Qd3 Nh4 24. Rd1 h6 25. Qg3 Nf5 26. Qg4 Rc5 27. Rad2 Bc8
28. Qe4 Bb7 {White's pieces are overprotecting the knight on d5 in a manner
that would have made Nimzowitsch shed tears of gratitude. On the other hand,
what Karjakin would really like to do is apply direct pressure with his rooks
and queen against the backward d6-pawn. An exchange of knights would clear the
way for an eventual Rxd6 breakthrough. --- There are a lot of obstacles in the
way of such a plan: one of the most important is the fact that White's knight
is pinned by the black bishop, and if he moves his queen to g4, the bishop
follows with ...Bc8! (this happened at move 27). And even if Karjakin's queen
escapes the attentions of the bishop, and he manages to exchange off knights,
there is still the danger of a combinative blow against his vulnerable
g2-square. Black may have a backward pawn on d6, but his queen, rooks and
bishops are all ready for action. --- You may have noticed how similar the
dynamic considerations here are to those in Bronstein's King's Indian set-up.
In both cases there is a white knight sitting in front of a backward pawn on
d6. It would seem a simple business to move the knight away and get at the
pawn, but the horse can't abandon its post without allowing Black to make an
important dynamic gain in another sector of the board.} 29. h3 $6 ({
Karjakin doesn't want to give the game up as a draw with} 29. Qg4 Bc8 {
etc, so he decides to goad the black pieces into an attack on the kingside, in
the hope that he will have the last laugh with a Rxd6 breakthrough in the
centre.}) 29... Nh4 $1 {
The Bulgarian Grandmaster needs no second invitation to initiate dynamic play.}
30. Bd3 $6 {Of course Karjakin doesn't imagine that he will succeed in mating
the black king with 31 Qh7, but he is using the threat to try to get the black
pieces into a tangle. In reality every step White takes with his plan does
more damage to the coordination of his own pieces. Thus it would have been
better to have left the bishop on c4.} Rf5 $1 {Shades of Topalov's game with
Morozevich in Chapter Four, where our hero beat off White's impetuous attack
with 23...Rf5! etc.} 31. Bb1 $2 {The young Grandmaster offers the c3-pawn as
the next stage in his campaign of discomforting the black pieces.} ({
Instead, he had to play} 31. c4) ({or} 31. Bc4 {
, though his position has already deteriorated.}) 31... Rxc3 {
Topalov demonstrates that he can safely grab the pawn.} 32. Qg4 ({
Now it looks as if Black is in trouble, as after} 32. Qg4 Rg5 $2 33. Nxc3 ({
but not} 33. Qxh4 $2 Rxg2+ {and 34...Qxh4}) 33... Rxg4 34. hxg4 {Karjakin is
about to achieve his aim of crashing through the d-file with 35 Rxd6. Note
that a subsequent Rd8+ is always going to be a mating threat, as the white
bishop on b1 denies the black king the h7-square. However...}) 32... h5 $3 {
This pawn move ruins his opponent's strategy. The white queen is forced to
retreat to a markedly inferior square, after which it is the black queen who
becomes the dominant attacking force on the kingside. --- Despite all the
manoeuvres and threats by the big pieces, what decides the game is the energy
given to the black position - or you could say drained from the white position
- by a pawn.} 33. Qe2 Qg5 34. f4 {Karjakin keeps on fighting and might still
have tricked a lesser player than Topalov. He stops the mate on g2 with a pawn
attack of his own on the enemy queen. In fact all three of Black's heavy
pieces are now en prise!} Rxf4 $1 {But this bankrupts White's position, as
taking either rook allows his king to come under a crushing attack.} 35. Kh1 ({
If} 35. Nxc3 $2 Nf3+ 36. Kh1 Qg3 37. gxf3 {(or mate on h2)} Bxf3+ {and wins}) (
{or} 35. Nxf4 Nf3+ 36. Kf2 Nxd2 37. Qxd2 Qg3+ 38. Kf1 exf4 {when White is
mated in two moves if he takes the pawn on d6. You will notice that after
White plays 35 Nxc3 or 35 Nxf4 he is tantalizingly close to carrying out his
aim of Rxd6, threatening to mate the black king. Alas for him, he never has
the free move he needs. It's no wonder that Tartakower described chess as "the
tragedy of one tempo".}) 35... Nxg2 36. Qxg2 ({
I imagine that if he was in time trouble White didn't give much thought to} 36.
Nxc3 {, which exposes his king to a discovered check. In fact GM Rogozenko
gives the non-checking} Qh4 {as the strongest response:} 37. Kh2 Ne3 38. Qxe3
Rf3 39. Qxf3 Bxf3 {and Black wins.}) 36... Rg3 ({According to Rogozenko,} 36...
Qh4 {is still the quickest way to win.}) 37. Nxf4 Bxg2+ 38. Nxg2 Rxh3+ 39. Kg1
Rg3 {White has only a shade worse of it if we count the material on the board:
a rook and two minor pieces versus a queen and four pawns. Unfortunately for
him, his king has no pawn cover and so the advance of Black's h-pawn is going
to cost him dear.} 40. Rf2 Kg8 {It would be a shame to fall for a mate on f8.}
41. Rxd6 h4 $1 {This pawn only makes two moves but it has been an absolute
hero in Black's cause.} 42. Rc6 Qg4 ({It wasn't too late to lose with} 42... h3
43. Rc8+ {
. After White's reply Topalov is able to force a decisive simplification.}) 43.
Bf5 Rxg2+ $1 44. Rxg2 Qxf5 45. Rcg6 Qf7 46. R6g4 Qf6 47. Kh2 Kf7 48. Kh3 e4 49.
Rg5 e3 50. Kxh4 {It seems that Karjakin wasn't prepared to resign until he had
revenge on the pawn that ruined all his hopes.} g6 ({After} 50... g6 51. Ra2 {
Black could play to the gallery with} Qf2+ $1 52. Rxf2+ exf2 {and queens.}) 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "9. Psychology of Preparation"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

{Our five giants have had mixed fortunes in the quest to be recognized as the
best player in the world. Morphy was born before the World Championship was
invented; Alekhine died as World Champion; Bronstein proved himself equal to
the reigning World Champion but never gained the accolade; Geller beat umpteen
World Champions in tournaments without achieving a match for the title; and
Topalov won the World Championship in a tournament and at the time of writing
may yet win it in a match. --- In this chapter I wish to examine how
psychological preparation, which includes a deep appraisal of the opponent's
style of play, has played a role in our five players achieving an optimal
performance.} 1. -- (1. -- {The Morphy-Harrwitz match: -- Daniel Harrwitz
(1823-1884) had become the resident chess professional at the Café de la
Régence in Paris following the death of Kieseritzky. He was therefore one of
the most formidable opponents that Morphy had to face during his conquest of
Europe in 1858. A match was arranged with the rules stating that the victor
would be the first player to reach seven wins. --- The omens weren't good for
the American. In their pre-match warm-up game, Harrwitz had won when Morphy
sacrificed too much material. Evidently Harrwitz had no wish to disclose his
opening ideas in a 'friendly' encounter, opening 1 e4, whereas he played 1 d4
in the official match games. In the first of these, Morphy was impressively
outplayed as Black in a Queen's Gambit. The static position that arose from
the opening gave him no chance to show either his positional or his tactical
creativity. He was soon forced into an unpleasant endgame: -- see
Harrwitz-Morphy (1st matchgame) and Morphy-Harrwitz (2nd matchgame) --- The
score: 2-0 to Harrwitz in the match, 3-0 overall if you include the friendly
game.}) (1. -- {At this point the American must have paused to reflect on the
situation. As we saw above, he had been comprehensively outplayed with Black
in the Queen's Gambit. Evidently Harrwitz's strength was the ability to grind
an opponent down in simple, 'dull' 1 d4 d5 type positions. At the same time,
Morphy's attempt to attack had ended in fiasco in game two, as well as the
warm-up game. You might call it luck, but how many other players were
fortunate enough to beat off two consecutive Morphy onslaughts? No, there is
no doubt that Harrwitz was a good defender against a direct attack. --- One of
the defining features of Morphy's genius was how quickly he learnt from
experience. He was a very clear-headed, shrewd judge of his opponents. So
let's imagine what he might have thought to himself when he retired to his
Parisian lodgings the night after the second game. --- "As Black, it's obvious
I should avoid a fixed centre pawn structure like that in the Queen's Gambit.
Harrwitz mustn't be allowed a clear plan. He should be engaged in a complex
battle over the whole board, which means combining threats to his king and his
pawns. --- "As White, I should build up in the centre in my usual style. But
once I have gained a positional advantage, I need to target more than just his
king. The struggle must be as wide as possible, to wrong-foot his pieces. I
should only sacrifice when the outcome is entirely clear." --- In the
remaining games of the match, we see Morphy employ the perfect 'anti-Harrwitz'
strategy. Let's look at what happened in game three. See Harrwitz-Morphy (3rd
matchgame) and Morphy-Harrwitz (4th matchgame). --- The match had completely
turned around. Morphy had won two games in a row, playing the best positional
chess that had ever been seen up to that time. Our giant then added games five
and six to his tally, drew game seven after being very close to a win, and won
game eight. The score was thus 5-2 with one draw. Although the rules
prescribed that the victor would be the first player to gain seven wins,
Harrwitz resigned the match as he knew he had no answer to the American's
sublime play.}) (1. -- {Why Alekhine beat Capablanca: -- In 1927 Alekhine
finally got the chance to play a World Championship match. Despite his
brilliant play and outstanding results, few experts thought that he could
unseat the champion, José Raúl Capablanca (1888-1942). There was an aura of
invincibility around the Cuban, who had lost only a handful of games in the
previous ten years. Moreover Capa had just won the New York 1927 tournament in
crushing style, no less than 21/2 points ahead of the second-placed Alekhine.
--- Capablanca's genius allowed him to play pawn structures that his
contemporaries had yet to master. In an age dominated by 1 d4 d5 and 1 e4 e5,
here are three examples of the Cuban's positional creativity: against Corzo at
Havana in 1913 he opened as Black with 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 d6 3 Nc3 Nbd7 4 e4 e5,
and went on to win the best game prize; against Nimzowitsch at St Petersburg
in 1914 he played a strategic pawn sacrifice that anticipated by many decades
the ideas of the Benko Gambit; and versus Alekhine himself at the
aforementioned New York tournament he won crushingly as Black in a Benoni pawn
structure. --- When things went wrong for the Cuban, both his admirers and his
detractors put it down to carelessness and a lack of application at the board.
He seemed to treat chess as a hobby, and sometimes appeared a little lazy. It
was hard to imagine that in a World Championship match Capablanca would show
the same carelessness. But Alekhine was given cause for hope by a game they
played at New York in 1924. His majestic opponent was desperate for a win as
he was trailing Lasker in the fight for first place. Capa outplayed Alekhine
and reached a winning endgame, but then made some imprecise moves and only
drew. This was a revelation to Alekhine, who recorded his thoughts in his book
'On the road to the World Championship': --- "I had finally detected a slight
weakness in my future opponent: increasing uncertainty when confronted with a
stubborn resistance! Of course I had already noticed Capablanca committing
occasional slight inaccuracies, but I should not have thought he would be
unable to rid himself of this failing even when he tried his utmost."}) (1. --
{So let's imagine Alekhine lounging on the deck of the liner taking him to
Buenos Aires in 1927 and scribbling down his match strategy on the ship's note
paper: -- 1) Capa plays unusual pawn structures brilliantly, but his opening
repertoire doesn't explicitly aim for such positions. -- 2) He gets weary and
careless in a protracted fight; but... -- 3) His battle lust and genius is
aroused if his opponent 'insults' him by trying a direct, not entirely sound,
attack right from the opening. --- Conclusion: I must keep the openings as
narrow and solid as possible, and wait for my opponent to grow careless. I
mustn't awaken the lion inside him! --- In other words he had to restrain
Capablanca's positional genius, and the way to do that was to play classical
openings which Alekhine had analysed in great detail. How can you show your
special understanding of pawn structures in endless games starting with the
Queen's Gambit? --- Capablanca's laziness meant that he hadn't broadened his
opening repertoire to give scope to his genius. If his opponent made an
interesting attempt to win he could exploit it in brilliant style. But he
lacked the ability to be the instigator of a strategically complex battle.}) (
1. -- {The match was a long, hard struggle, with many colourless draws. It's
difficult not to agree with Golombek that, on playing through the games, "one
tends to wish that the Orthodox Defence to the Queen's Gambit had never been
invented". But being prepared for a long, boring match was an essential part
of Alekhine's strategy. He also had to overcome one of his own character
faults, which was the tendency to overpress with the black pieces. --- In the
end Alekhine's restraint of his opponent's genius and exploitation of his
small errors proved triumphant. He won the match 6-3 with 25 draws. ---
Alekhine wanted the world title as the aim of his life, and we can only
applaud his achievement. It is still considered to be one of the greatest ever
upsets in the history of the World Championship, as Capablanca was far from
being a spent force in 1927. --- As an example of Alekhine's match strategy
and the careless errors it provoked in his opponent, here is the 21st game.
(See Capablanca-Alekhine.)}) (1. -- {The Bronstein-Botvinnik match: -- In the
World Championship match of 1951 David Bronstein didn't quite manage to unseat
the incumbent Mikhail Botvinnik (1911-1995), but he came mightily close. He
was leading by a point after 22 of the 24 stipulated games, but lost in game
23 and drew in game 24 to 'only' tie the series 12-12. A little more belief in
his positional skills and a little less fear of his opponent's adjournment
analysis might well have made Bronstein the seventh World Champion. (See
Botvinnik-Bronstein.)}) (1. -- {Geller, slayer of World Champions: -- Efim
Geller was justly proud of his fine record against World Champions. In his
book 'The Application of Chess Theory' he gives every game bar one in which he
won against them (the game omitted was against Tal, round 20 at Curacao 1962,
which was marred by errors in time pressure). Excluding draws, Geller's record
includes a 4-1 plus score against Botvinnik and 5-3 against Fischer. --- Alas
for the Ukrainian Grandmaster, he never managed to get over all the hurdles to
playing a match for the highest title. One of the toughest of these barriers
was Boris Spassky, who twice beat him in qualifying matches.}) (1. -- {
How to beat Bobby Fischer: -- There has never been a perfect chess player.
Perhaps the very idea is a logical absurdity: after all, if you adapt your
style to make it harder for your opponents to beat you, the harder it becomes
for you to win against them. So whatever you gain in 'armour' and solidity,
the same amount is being lost in flair and vitality. --- In fact, as soon as
someone can be said to have a 'style', you can also be sure that they have
weaknesses. --- During the years 1969-1972 Bobby Fischer was streets ahead of
all opposition. But he also had his weaknesses - or perhaps we should say
"less brilliant aspects of his game when compared to other world-class
players". Notably he didn't always shine in obscure, 'random' positions.
Here's what Geller had to say about this: --- "...it was clear to me that the
vulnerable point of the American Grandmaster was in double-edged, 'hanging',
irrational positions. When the play was of this nature, Fischer often failed
to find a win even in a won position." (Geller, 'The Application of Chess
Theory'). --- Geller managed to win twice as Black against the mature Fischer
from lost positions. In both cases he played a sharp, counterattacking
Sicilian variation, and in both cases Fischer became confused at the point of
victory. --- One of the two games, Fischer-Geller, Skopje 1967, is given as
Game 58 in Fischer's My Sixty Memorable Games. Here is the other game. (See
Fischer-Geller.)}) (1. -- {How to beat Anatoly Karpov: -- Once again we see
Geller employing all three facets of power play: he wins the psychological
battle as early as the third move, the preparation battle at move nine, and
caps his dynamic middlegame victory with a marvellous queen sacrifice. As a
fan of the French Defence, I've always been impressed by Geller's achievement.
Just imagine: Black plays 1...e6, and what does Geller do? He takes the pawn
with Qxe6!!, even when it is still defended by the f7-pawn... (See
Geller-Karpov.)}) (1. -- {Steel versus armour: -- The World Championship match
between Kramnik and Topalov in 2006 pitched a profound strategist of the
Botvinnik school against a very well-prepared, imaginative player of the
Bronstein mould. We got to see some fascinating clashes. --- With the black
pieces, Kramnik adopted very sound match tactics: he aimed to develop sensibly
and solidly, keeping on the watch for counter-chances if his opponent
over-pressed, but content to simplify and draw. --- In the following game
Topalov managed to catch his opponent in a positional trap. Black seemed to
stand well, but he couldn't improve his position or force any simplification.
Meanwhile, from a slow beginning Topalov was able to build up an attack by
utilizing the latent dynamism of his pieces. --- This fine feel for the energy
concealed in a position is one of the keys to the success of the Bulgarian
Grandmaster. He prepares opening variations which his opponents are very happy
to go down because their computer programs tell them that they are doing fine.
Maybe they have attacking chances, or a lead in development, or more space.
But Topalov has noticed that his position contains a latent energy that the
computer program has failed to grasp, despite its absolute mastery of tactics.
The opponent thinks he is doing well, but he can't achieve anything definite,
and so the game gradually turns against him. And the main reason for this is
that his pawns don't contribute enough to the actions of his pieces. (See
Topalov-Kramnik, 15th matchgame, Elista 2006.)}) *

[Event "1st matchgame, Paris"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1858.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Harrwitz, D."]
[Black "Morphy, P."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D35"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "1858.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bf4 a6 5. e3 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. a3 cxd4 8. exd4
dxc4 9. Bxc4 b5 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. O-O Be7 12. Be5 O-O 13. Qe2 Nd5 14. Bg3 Kh8 15.
Rfe1 Bf6 16. Qe4 g6 17. Nxd5 Qxd5 18. Qxd5 exd5 19. Ne5 Rad8 20. Nxc6 Bxc6 21.
Rac1 Rc8 22. Bd6 Rg8 23. Be5 Kg7 {
Here Harrwitz centralizes his king and increases his grip on the dark squares:}
24. f4 $1 Bd7 25. Kf2 h6 26. Ke3 Rxc1 27. Rxc1 Rc8 28. Rc5 $1 Bxe5 29. fxe5 Be6
30. a4 $6 {Typical 19th century impatience in the endgame.} ({More exact was} 
30. Be2 {, intending 31 Bf3 to force 31...Rd8. Then the black rook is tied
down to d5, leaving the white rook free to probe the queenside. And if Black
tries} f6 {,} 31. a4 $1 {is all the stronger.}) 30... bxa4 31. Bxa6 Rb8 $2 ({
Black could save himself with} 31... Ra8 $1 32. Bb7 Rb8 33. Rc7 g5 $1 {
followed by 34...Kg6. If White's king heads to the queenside, the black king
can counterattack with ...Kf5 and ...Ke4 etc.}) 32. Rb5 $1 Rd8 33. Rb6 Ra8 34.
Kd2 {The threatened intervention by the white king on the queenside persuades
Morphy to give up a pawn at once.} Bc8 35. Bxc8 Rxc8 36. Rb5 Ra8 37. Rxd5 a3
38. bxa3 Rxa3 39. Rc5 $1 {So that if 39...Ra2+ 40 Rc2. Morphy is now slowly
ground down, the remaining moves being:} Kf8 40. Ke2 Ke7 41. d5 Kd7 42. Rc6 h5
43. Rf6 Ke7 44. d6+ Ke8 45. e6 fxe6 46. Rxe6+ Kf7 47. d7 Ra8 48. Rd6 Ke7 49.
Rxg6 Kxd7 50. Rg5 Rh8 51. Kf3 Ke6 52. Kg3 h4+ 53. Kg4 h3 54. g3 Kf6 55. Rh5 {
. --- Despite his impetuous 30th move, this was a fine positional display by
Harrwitz. It shows that not all of Morphy's opponent's were dedicated tacticians
.} 1-0

[Event "2nd matchgame, Paris"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1858.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morphy, P."]
[Black "Harrwitz, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C62"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "1858.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

{In this, game two of the match, Morphy was thirsting for revenge. He built up
strong pressure but gradually lost the thread - and a knight! - in the face of
his opponent's tough defence.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Bb5
Bd7 6. Bxc6 Bxc6 7. Bg5 Nf6 8. Nc3 Be7 9. O-O-O O-O 10. Rhe1 h6 11. Bh4 Ne8 12.
Bxe7 Qxe7 13. e5 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Qg5+ 15. Kb1 dxe5 16. Rxe5 Qg2 17. Nd5 Qxh2 18.
Ree1 Qd6 19. Rg1 Kh7 20. Qe3 f5 21. Nf4 Qb6 22. Qe2 Rf7 23. Qc4 Qf6 24. Nh5 Qe7
25. Rde1 Qd7 26. a3 Nd6 27. Qd4 Rg8 28. Rg2 Ne8 29. Qc3 f4 {
Here Morphy went wrong with:} 30. Rh1 $2 (30. Rg4 $1 {is the best chance.})
30... g6 31. Rhg1 Qd5 $1 {The knight has been cornered.} 32. Qe1 Qxh5 33. Rg5
Qxf3 34. Qe6 Rf6 35. Qe7+ Rg7 36. Qxe8 hxg5 37. Qe1 Qc6 0-1

[Event "3rd matchgame, Paris"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1858.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Harrwitz, D."]
[Black "Morphy, P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A85"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "108"]
[EventDate "1858.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 f5 $1 {So there will be no 'classical' Queen's Gambit. How does Harrwitz
like the imbalanced pawn structure that arises from the Dutch? Not very much,
as we shall see.} 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 ({Unluckily for White the kingside
fianchetto was little known in the 19th century, so the response generally
considered best by modern theory -} 3. Nf3 {and 4 g3,}) ({or} 3. g3 {
at once - couldn't be part of his technique.}) 3... Nf6 ({Naturally he avoids} 
3... d5 {, as this would give his opponent a more familiar type of pawn centre.
We shall jump ahead to the key position at move 18:}) 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. Qb3 c5 6.
d5 e5 7. e3 O-O 8. Bd3 d6 9. Nge2 h6 10. Bxf6 Qxf6 11. a3 Bxc3+ 12. Qxc3 Nd7
13. O-O Qg6 14. b4 b6 15. f3 h5 16. Bc2 Bb7 17. Ba4 Qf7 {This was the moment
when the course of the match suddenly turned in Morphy's favour.} 18. Bxd7 $2 (
{The German master should play} 18. Bc6 $1 Rab8 19. Rab1 {, just maintaining
the tension. But Harrwitz needs a clear plan, and the best he could come up
with was to open the b-file at once.}) 18... Qxd7 19. bxc5 bxc5 20. f4 e4 21.
Rab1 $2 ({He should have kept the black queen out of a4 with} 21. a4 $1 {.})
21... Ba6 22. Rfc1 Qa4 $1 {The upshot of Harrwitz's incorrect strategy is that
he has a queen and one rook tied down to the c4-pawn, while the other rook
can't do a jot down the open b-file.} 23. Ng3 h4 $1 {White is deprived of any
counterplay on the kingside, so that Morphy can focus on building up his
queenside pressure.} 24. Nf1 Rab8 25. Nd2 {
Now what is the move that adds the most power to the black position?} Rb6 $3 {
I would also award this move two exclamation marks if it had been played by
Topalov against Kramnik. White is given a frightful choice: either he must
concede control of the b-file or else exchange on b6, when Black is given a
lever with which to prise open the white centre pawn structure.} 26. Rxb6 axb6
27. Qb3 {The exchange of queens doesn't help much, but if Harrwitz had just
waited he could be assailed with ...Ra8 and ...b6-b5, when the a3-pawn would
be a target for the black queen.} Qxb3 28. Nxb3 b5 29. cxb5 Bxb5 30. Na5 {
The attempt to counterattack against d6 is defeated by the arrival of the
black king.} Ra8 31. Nb7 Ra6 32. Rc3 Kf8 $1 33. Nd8 Bd7 34. Rb3 ({
The knight is denied an exit via e6, as} 34. Ne6+ Bxe6 35. dxe6 Ke7 {
is hopeless for White.}) 34... Ke7 35. Rb8 c4 $1 {Harrwitz's pieces are in
disorder and cannot prevent the loss of a couple of pawns.} 36. Kf2 c3 37. Ke2
Rxa3 38. Nc6+ Bxc6 39. dxc6 c2 40. Kd2 Rc3 $1 {A neat touch that ensures very
different fortunes for the passed c-pawns. The rest is easy for Morphy.} 41.
Kc1 Rxc6 42. Rb3 Kf6 43. Ra3 g5 44. g3 hxg3 45. hxg3 gxf4 46. gxf4 Kg6 47. Ra5
Rc5 48. Ra6 Rc3 49. Rxd6+ Kh5 50. Rd2 Kg4 51. Rg2+ Kf3 52. Rg5 Rc5 53. Rh5 Kxe3
54. Rh4 Kf3 {. --- Morphy's genius was able to supply him with a complete
understanding of the little-known pawn structure, whereas Harrwitz had no such
aid to call upon. As soon as he was removed from his Queen's Gambit comfort
zone, he was helpless. --- If the above attack on c4 had been carried out in
similar circumstances by Alekhine, I would probably have classified it as of a
positional, rather than power play, nature. The gap of 50 or so years between
the careers of these two giants meant that the Russian learnt his chess in an
age that had models of technique, including Harrwitz-Morphy, already available
to it. --- In contrast, when Morphy put his queen on a4 and the bishop on a6,
he was being guided by his genius, with no prior model on which to base his
technique. The idea of entering into this unknown territory was a decision
made before the game, with the aim of energizing the struggle - that is,
escaping from the Queen's Gambit centre. Hence it involved preparation,
psychology and dynamism, making it a power play game.} 0-1

[Event "4th matchgame, Paris"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1858.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morphy, P."]
[Black "Harrwitz, D."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C62"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "1858.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

{We have already seen Morphy's drab performance in his first game as White
against Harrwitz. In the second such encounter he produced one of the best
games of his life.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Bb5 {
Giving up the bishop pair but ensuring that his queen gets to stay on its
strong central post.} Bd7 6. Bxc6 Bxc6 7. Bg5 f6 ({Harrwitz varies from} 7...
Nf6 {as he played in the second game of the match (see above), but Morphy will
make him pay for the weakness created on e6.}) 8. Bh4 Nh6 9. Nc3 Qd7 10. O-O
Be7 11. Rad1 O-O 12. Qc4+ Rf7 ({The simple} 12... Kh8 {was more solid.}) ({
However, Harrwitz is also trying to use psychology. In his first game as Black
against Morphy, the German master had profited from the rather loose attacking
play of his opponent. --- And so he hopes to cajole his opponent into more
premature action with} 12... Rf7 13. e5 $2 {
, which on the face of it looks good, as 14 e6 is a threat,} -- ({, and} 13...
fxe5 $2 {loses the exchange.}) ({. But after} 13... Qg4 $1 14. Qxg4 ({or} 14.
Rd4 Qg6 {and f3 is hanging}) 14... Nxg4 15. e6 {, White wouldn't have much to
show for his initiative beyond a rather vulnerable pawn on e6.})) 13. Nd4 $1 {
Morphy has learnt that you shouldn't rush things against Harrwitz, and instead
continues his positional build-up.} Ng4 14. h3 Ne5 15. Qe2 g5 $2 {A truly dreadful move which is the only indication in the whole game that it was played a
couple of centuries ago. Black wants to cement his horse on the e5-square, but
in doing so he hands over an even more powerful centre post on f5 to the white
knight. At the same time he exposes his pawn structure to being fractured by
f2-f4, which opens lines for the white rooks.} ({No modern master would play
such a move. He would submit to the knight being pushed back from e5 with a
consolidating move such as} 15... Re8 {, and then if} 16. f4 {
(possibly premature)} Ng6 {
, try to put pressure on the e4-pawn after ...Bf8 etc.}) 16. Bg3 Rg7 17. Nf5
Rg6 18. f4 gxf4 19. Rxf4 Kh8 20. Rh4 $1 {
Just in time to thwart any hopes of a black attack down the g-file.} Bf8 (20...
Rag8 {, which looks a logical and strong move, allows} 21. Rxh7+ $1 Kxh7 22.
Qh5+ {and mates.}) 21. Bxe5 $1 {An astute exchange. The semi-blocked nature of
the position favours White's knights, as there aren't any good pawn breaks
that Black can utilize to enliven his bishop pair - if he tries to arrange ...d6-d5 his position would soon fall apart. Another good point of the exchange
is that White's rook gets the open f-file.} fxe5 22. Rf1 Qe6 {Harrwitz is
ready to answer 23 Qh5 with 23...Qg8, with the type of solid defensive line
that smashed Morphy's attack in game two of the match. But as we discussed
above, the American was always quick to learn from his mistakes. He was a
great psychologist and knew how to lead the game into paths uncongenial to his
opponent. And so, rather than launch a quick attack, Morphy switched his
attention to the other side of the board:} 23. Nb5 $3 {An unpleasant surprise
for Harrwitz. If he returns his queen to d7 to guard c7, then 24 Qh5!
threatening 25 Qxg6 is strong. Besides, no one likes to change a plan halfway
through.} ({Meanwhile if} 23. Nb5 Bxb5 24. Qxb5 b6 {, Black is deprived of the
natural guardian of his light squares. The remaining bishop on f8 is a useful
defensive piece in the event of an all-out kingside attack by White, but it
can't do much else as it is shut in by its pawns. Morphy would no doubt have
probed away on the queenside, in time advancing his pawns there, to emphasize
the feebleness of the bishop.}) 23... Qg8 {
Harrwitz sees he can put his queen on g8 after all, and relaxes.} ({For if} 
23... Qg8 24. Nxc7 $2 Rc8 25. Nd5 {, Black has the devilish trap} Bb5 $3 {
which wins the exchange, as White would be mated on g2 after} 26. Qxb5 Rxg2+
27. Kh1 Rh2+ $1 28. Kxh2 Rxc2+ {etc.}) 24. Rf2 $1 {Morphy sees through his
opponent's combination and adds a defender to g2. Now Black has no good way of
meeting the attack on c7, as 24...Bxb5 25 Qxb5 is a worse version of 23...Bxb5
- the black queen is less able to aid her queenside on g8 than on e6. Harrwitz
decides to sacrifice the c-pawn in order to activate his queen's rook, but he
fails to get any compensation.} a6 25. Nxc7 Rc8 26. Nd5 {It is a positional
catastrophe for Black whether he lets the knight enjoy a great outpost on d5
or removes it at the cost of his vital bishop.} Bxd5 27. exd5 Rc7 ({
It seems likely that, in his earlier calculations, Harrwitz had missed that} 
27... Qxd5 {loses to the combination} 28. Rxh7+ $1 Kxh7 29. Qh5+ Bh6 ({or} 
29... Rh6 30. Nxh6 Bxh6 31. Rf7+ Kg8 32. Qg6+ {and mates}) 30. Ne7 $1 Qe6 31.
Nxg6 {and Black is defenceless, as} Qxg6 ({the attempts at consolidating with} 
31... Re8) ({or} 31... Rg8 {drop the exchange to} 32. Nf8+) 32. Rf7+ {
costs him the queen.}) 28. c4 {It's already game over, as Black is a pawn down
and hopelessly weak on the light squares, but the method of execution is still
delightful.} Be7 29. Rh5 Qe8 30. c5 $3 {Crowning his positional and
psychological achievement. Morphy knew that Harrwitz couldn't be beaten by
launching a direct attack on his king right from the opening. Therefore the
struggle had to be on both sides of the board. A pawn ram on the queenside
that lays the groundwork for a mating combination is the perfect emblem of
this successful strategy.} Rxc5 ({Or} 30... dxc5 31. Qxe5+) 31. Rxh7+ $1 Kxh7
32. Qh5+ Kg8 33. Nxe7+ Kg7 (33... Qxe7 34. Qxg6+ {is easy for White.}) 34. Nf5+
Kg8 35. Nxd6 $1 {. A pretty finish.} ({Of course, after} 35. Nxd6 Rxg2+ $5 {
we can safely assume that Morphy would have taken on g2 with the right piece...
--- Rarely is there such a fantastic blend of tactics and strategy in one game.
It's hard to see how a modern great such as Topalov or Kasparov could have
improved on Morphy's play.}) 1-0

[Event "21st matchgame, Buenos Aires"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1927.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Capablanca, J."]
[Black "Alekhine, A."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D63"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "1927.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 Be7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Rc1 a6 8. a3
$2 {As in Alekhine's game with Rubinstein (see Chapter Three) White tries to
benefit from delaying Bd3.} ({
Instead, he could have kept a small advantage with} 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bd3 {.})
8... h6 9. Bh4 dxc4 $1 10. Bxc4 b5 11. Be2 Bb7 {Here we see that ...a7-a6 has
proved much more useful than a2-a3, as it has allowed the b7-square to be
cleared with gain of time. Black might already be said to have a slight
advantage as his light-squared bishop on b7 is better placed than its opposite
number on the e2-square.} 12. O-O c5 {Thanks to his superior handling of the
opening, Alekhine achieves the standard freeing move without any risk
whatsoever. Indeed, it is Capablanca who has to be wary of the active black
pieces.} 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. Nd4 $6 {The first sign that Capablanca is restless.}
({He could exchange off with} 14. Qxd8 Rfxd8 15. Rfd1 {, thereby avoiding any
danger. But it seems he didn't want to admit so early on in the game that he
had lost his opening advantage.}) 14... Rc8 15. b4 $2 {Another careless move,
and this time it is of a serious nature. It needlessly creates a hole on c4
which Alekhine will exploit in perfect style.} ({
He should have offered the exchange of bishops with} 15. Bf3 {.}) 15... Ncd7 $1
16. Bg3 Nb6 17. Qb3 Nfd5 18. Bf3 Rc4 $1 {
Black begins to get a grip on the light squares in the centre.} 19. Ne4 Qc8 20.
Rxc4 $2 {
The third careless move, after which White's game heads inexorably downhill.} (
{Alekhine points out that he should play} 20. Qb1 $1 {
with the aim of easing his game by exchanging with 21 Nd6 or 21 Bd6. Then after
} Rd8 21. Nd2 $1 {(evicting the rook from the outpost square)} Rxc1 22. Rxc1
Qa8 23. Bc7 {, further simplification keeps the balance.}) 20... Nxc4 21. Rc1
Qa8 $1 {
Alekhine breaks the pin on c4 and increases his dominance of the light squares.
} 22. Nc3 Rc8 23. Nxd5 Bxd5 24. Bxd5 Qxd5 {At first sight it looks pretty
equal, as there is a symmetrical pawn structure, both sides have all their
pieces developed, and neither king is facing an attack. So we should pause and
consider the nature of Black's advantage. It will tell us a lot about the
concept of energy which is central to a power play strategy. --- The white
queenside pawns are on dark squares, and so can be targeted by Black's bishop.
In contrast, the white bishop is staring into space - it can neither attack
the black pawns nor defend its own pawns. Black's knight is also far superior
to its opposite number. It is invincible on c4, whereas the white horse can be
driven back from its centre post, as we shall see next move. --- As his minor
pieces aren't up to the job, White's queen and rook are tied to the defence of
the queenside pawns. This means that the black queen and rook have more
freedom of action. In other words, the superiority of Black's minor pieces
confers extra power on all his pieces. And not just the pieces - the black
pawns have been energized, and this will be the proverbial straw that breaks
the camel's (or Capa's) back.} 25. a4 {This makes Alekhine's task easier.
Generally speaking, getting rid of a pair of pawns should give more chances of
escape, but Black's b5-pawn never becomes a target, whereas the white b4-pawn
remains constantly under pressure from the black bishop. Therefore it was
better to endure patiently the weak pawn on a3.} Bf6 26. Nf3 Bb2 $1 {Alekhine explains that he was intending the ...e6-e5 pawn push, and so wanted to avoid
any danger that his bishop might be cut off from the queenside by the reply
e3-e4. The move also has the virtue of forcing the white rook to a more
passive square.} 27. Re1 ({After} 27. Rd1 bxa4 $1 28. Qxa4 Nb6 29. Rxd5 Nxa4
30. Rd1 Ba3 $1 {, White has no good way of saving his b-pawn in view of his
weak back rank, as if} 31. Bd6 ({or} 31. Rb1 Bxb4) 31... Rd8 {with a fatal pin.
}) 27... Rd8 28. axb5 axb5 29. h3 e5 $1 {As in Alekhine's game with his other
great rival Lasker (see Chapter Four), the advance of a central pawn to drive
back a knight proves too much for an already shaky defence.} 30. Rb1 e4 31. Nd4
$6 {Tactical blunders come easily in bad positions.} ({
The text move and his next just save White a lot of unnecessary suffering, as} 
31. Ne1 Qd2 $1 {leaves him in a hopeless mess; for example,} 32. Qc2 Qxc2 33.
Nxc2 Rd2 34. Ne1 Na3 {and the white rook has suffocated.}) 31... Bxd4 32. Rd1
$6 Nxe3 $1 ({White's rook drops off after} 32... Nxe3 33. Qxd5 Rxd5 34. fxe3
Bxe3+ {.}) 0-1

[Event "5th matchgame, Moscow"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1951.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Botvinnik, M."]
[Black "Bronstein, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E43"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "1951.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 c5 6. Nf3 b6 7. O-O Bb7 8. Na4
cxd4 9. a3 Be7 10. exd4 Qc7 11. b4 Ng4 12. g3 f5 13. Nc3 a6 14. Re1 Nc6 15. Bf1
Nd8 16. Bf4 Bd6 17. Bxd6 Qxd6 18. Bg2 Nf7 19. c5 Qc7 20. Rc1 Rae8 21. Na4 b5
22. Nc3 f4 23. d5 fxg3 24. fxg3 exd5 25. Qd4 Nf6 26. Nh4 Re5 27. Rxe5 Qxe5 28.
Qxe5 Nxe5 29. Nf5 Nc4 {Botvinnik liked to play according to a clear strategic
model. He would prepare an opening system that gave his opponent a weak pawn
or a weak square, and then keep hammering away at it until his opponent's
position fell to pieces. He won many brilliant technical games in this fashion.
--- In their World Championship match, Bronstein did his best to avoid the
positional 'bear hug' of his opponent. One psychological method was to play
Botvinnik's own openings against him. In the very first game after his
opponent's 1 d4, Bronstein replied 1...e6. He showed he was willing to play
either the French after 2 e4 d5 or the Dutch after 2 c4 f5, both of which were
at the time Botvinnik's favourite defences. --- The World Champion believed in
the strategic soundness of his defences when playing Black, so it was an
unpleasant task for him to have to prove they were unsound when playing White.
The ploy worked as Botvinnik lost no less than four times with the white
pieces, and didn't produce a single smooth game of the '1 d4 and wins' type.
--- In the above diagram Botvinnik has managed to catch his wily opponent in a
technical game. He could regain his pawn at once with 30 Ne7+ and 31 Nexd5,
with a slight plus due to the isolated pawn on d7. But the 'Iron Logician'
wants to do things properly. First of all the rook should be put on d1, so
that after the pawn has been recaptured it will be attacking d7. --- The game
continued:} 30. Rd1 Kh8 $3 {A nasty surprise for White.} ({
It turns out that after he takes on d5 after} 30... Kh8 {
he wins the positional battle but loses the game:} 31. Nxd5 $2 Nxd5 32. Bxd5
Bxd5 33. Rxd5 g6 $1 34. Nd6 Ne3 $1 {and the threat of 35...Rf1 mate wins a
rook. --- Whereas the World Champion was thinking in general terms about pawn
weaknesses and open files, Bronstein's mind was focused on the specific
tactical features of the position. --- Botvinnik still has several chances to
save himself, but he is confused by the 'bizarre' failure of his plan and soon
ruins his position. So it could be said that the quietest imaginable move on a
chessboard, namely ...Kh8, won the game for Black. I'm sure that Bronstein
would have enjoyed the paradox.}) 31. Re1 ({Safer was} 31. Rd3 {.}) 31... Nxa3
32. Nd6 $2 {Botvinnik still thinks he is attacking, and so puts his knight on
the 'excellent' d6-square.} ({
Instead, he should have been satisfied with blockading the d5-pawn with} 32.
Nd4 {.}) 32... Bc6 33. Ra1 Nc2 34. Rxa6 d4 $1 ({
Much more promising than the materialistic} 34... Nxb4 {. With the white rook
and the knight on d6 no longer restraining its advance, the weak, doubled,
contemptible d-pawn is full of energy. It sets White problems that are very
difficult to meet, especially in time trouble.}) 35. Ncxb5 Bxg2 36. Kxg2 Ng4
37. Nf5 ({The best chance was} 37. Ne4 {.}) 37... d3 38. Rd6 Rxf5 39. Rxd3
Nge3+ {. The white king will be mated by the rook on f1 or h5.} 0-1

[Event "Monte Carlo"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1967.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Fischer, R."]
[Black "Geller, E."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B97"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "1967.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 $5 {
They always tell you in books not to grab poisoned pawns, but Fischer, Geller,
Kasparov, Anand and Topalov are just some of the idiots who don't heed this
advice!} 8. Qd2 Qxb2 {Black is obviously taking risks, but removing the
b2-pawn prevents White from achieving a smooth attacking development with 9
0-0-0. It is therefore the best way for Geller to disrupt the logical flow of
the game.} 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. f5 Nc6 11. fxe6 fxe6 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. e5 Nd5 $6 {
This is consistent with the Ukrainian Grandmaster's plan to choose the most
risky moves;} ({but} 13... dxe5 {
was objectively safer and better, as later played by Kasparov and Anand.}) 14.
Nxd5 cxd5 15. Be2 $6 ({An in-depth investigation of the Poisoned Pawn is
beyond the scope of this book. Suffice to say that} 15. Bd3 $5 dxe5 16. O-O {
is the modern approach to the position, which was used by the young Magnus
Carlsen to score a crushing victory in 2004.}) 15... dxe5 16. O-O Bc5+ $2 {
It is ironic that Geller played this wild opening line to upset Fischer, but
he himself is the first to lose his nerve. He has made a lot of 'crazy' moves
and feels that it is time for a couple of 'sane' developing moves: namely
bringing out the bishop with check, and then putting the rook on f8. But
normal moves don't work in crazy positions.} ({
And so he should play the 'odd' but strong} 16... Ra7 $1 {, which keeps the
c5-square free for the black queen to return to the defence. The tempo she
might have gained by checking the white king from c5 is the difference between
life and death in such situations.}) 17. Kh1 Rf8 18. c4 $1 {
Not only attacking d5, but also opening up the c2-square to the white queen.}
Rxf1+ 19. Rxf1 Bb7 20. Bg4 $2 {Despite thinking for more than twenty minutes,
Fischer misses the win and as a consequence loses the game. Not that the
winning line was at all easy to find - after the game there was an hour long
post mortem in the tournament hall involving Geller, Fischer and other
intrigued competitors without the decisive continuation being discovered. ---
The American genius had exclaimed angrily that "it was a crushing position!"
and he was right. But whereas Fischer would win almost every time with a tiny
advantage and a clear plan to improve his position, here he falters as he has
a huge advantage but no strategic signposts to guide him. And it was a lack of
inspiration in such situations that was Fischer's Achilles' heel. It should be
added that only a handful of players were equipped with the necessary
qualities to take advantage of it, and none of them managed to successfully
compete with Fischer during his peak years. They were almost always defeated
by Fischer's tactical and strategical mastery without ever being able to
confuse the position.} ({The correct move was} 20. Qc2 $1 {
, as played by Tal a couple of months after the present game. Upon} e4 {
, to meet the threat of invasion by the white queen on h7, the move} 21. Bg4 $1
{is suddenly decisive. The difference with 20 Bg4? one move earlier is that
Black can't use his queen in the centre to hinder the white attack as ...Qd3
would allow White the killer check Qa4+!. --- Fischer missed this subtlety and
so ends up losing in 25 moves with White.}) 20... dxc4 21. Bxe6 {At first glance it looks as if White's attack is about to succeed, as mate on d7 is
threatened.} Qd3 $1 {However, Geller is able to block the d-file and threaten
a mate of his own on f1. As we discussed above, this counterattack by the
black queen would have been impossible if White had taken the chance to play
21 Qc2.} 22. Qe1 Be4 $3 {A tremendous move. The bishop shuts out the white
queen's attack on e5 and clears the way for 23...Rb8, followed either by 24...
Rb1 with a winning simplification, or 24...Rb2 with a lethal counterattack
against g2.} 23. Bg4 Rb8 24. Bd1 {White's last hope is a bishop check on a4.
Geller scotches this with a fine king manoeuvre.} Kd7 $1 {
It turns out that the safest place for the black king is on the third rank.}
25. Rf7+ Ke6 ({After} 25... Ke6 26. Rf1 Rb2 27. Bg4+ Kd5 {
the black king is delighted on d5, and the white king is in despair on h1.})
0-1

[Event "USSR Championship, Moscow"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1976.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Geller, E."]
[Black "Karpov, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C16"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "1976.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 $1 ({Karpov rarely plays the French and so must have
prepared something special against his opponent's usual} 3. Nd2 {move. Therefore Geller decide to get his surprise in first. This was an astute decision, as
the young World Champion is distinctly uncomfortable in the unfamiliar pawn
structure.}) 3... Bb4 4. e5 Qd7 5. Nf3 b6 6. Bd2 Ba6 7. Bxa6 Nxa6 8. O-O Nb8 9.
Ne2 $1 {Clearing the way for the plan of Rc1 and c2-c4, when a line of attack
is opened against the c7-pawn.} Be7 $2 {Up until here Karpov has played a
competent, if rather uninspired, defence in the style of Petrosian. But now he
puts the bishop on a square where it blocks in the knight on g8. Just how is
the poor horse meant to get into the game, seeing that ...Nh6 can always be
answered by Bxh6 breaking up Black's kingside pawns?} ({Experienced French
players realize that in this type of scenario you either have to go right back
with the bishop to f8, which is risky here as White is poised for a quick Rc1
and c2-c4, or else exchange with} 9... Bxd2 {, which looks like the best idea.
Karpov tries to keep his 'good' bishop without undeveloping it - but he wants
more than the position is willing to give him. As a result, he will end up
being horribly mangled. --- If you have ever wondered how a player like Morphy
would fare in a modern chess tournament, with no knowledge of the development
of the game since his own time, then Karpov's play in the present game makes
for a pessimistic forecast. Karpov was the reigning World Champion, young,
fresh, gifted with a fine grasp of strategy, in short on top of his game. Yet
when he is forced into a pawn structure that is unfamiliar to him, with no
theoretical knowledge to fill in the gaps in his understanding, he is
completely at sea. If Morphy faced a modern player, he would be confronted
with pawn structures and technical riddles that he couldn't solve over the
board. The American was undoubtedly a genius in the field of chess. But if he
were playing a modern elite player, his genius would be overwhelmed by a host
of genii from later ages: the ideas of Steinitz, Rubinstein, Capablanca,
Fischer, Kasparov and many others would be showing his opponent how to outwit
him in the opening and middlegame. --- On the other hand, Morphy had a
fantastic capacity for assimilating the ideas of players he met and using them
to refine his own understanding of the game. If Morphy were given a year to
study modern theory he would undoubtedly emerge as one of the best players in
the world.}) 10. Rc1 b5 {Karpov does his best to mute the power of the c2-c4
breakthrough, but it can't be prevented forever.} 11. Nf4 {
With ideas of 12 Nh5.} h5 ({Black is still unable to develop his knight, as} 
11... Nh6 {runs into} 12. Nh5 Nf5 13. g4 $1 {.}) 12. b3 Ba3 13. Rb1 a5 14. c4
c6 15. c5 $1 {Geller shows his excellent judgment. It seems paradoxical that
he closes the queenside, but he is about to give his opponent an ultimatum: if
you don't open lines for me I'm going to trap your bishop.} Bb4 {A World Champion quickly learns from experience. Six moves earlier Karpov spurned an
exchange on d2, but now he is desperate for it to happen.} 16. Bc1 $1 {
Opportunity only knocks once. Now 17 a3 Bc3 18 b4 is looming, when the bishop
is encased in a coffin of white pawns.} a4 {White achieves his aim of opening
lines, as Karpov is obliged to make a retreat square for his hapless cleric,
even though it costs him a pawn.} 17. Nd3 Ba5 18. bxa4 bxa4 19. Qxa4 Qa7 20.
Bg5 Bc7 21. Rxb8+ $1 {Pure Geller. Our hero has won the positional battle on
the queenside, but he has no intention of pursuing victory in a mean-spirited
way by grasping tightly to his extra pawn. Instead, he aims at a direct
assault on the enemy king who has been caught in the centre.} Qxb8 22. Qxc6+
Kf8 23. Nf4 Ra7 {Black defends his bishop again so that his queen is free to
challenge her opposite number. Therefore White has to act fast or all his
advantage will disappear.} 24. Nh4 $1 Qe8 25. Qxe6 $3 {The most brilliant move
Geller ever played. In his games we often see the subtle undermining of a pawn
structure followed by an imaginative attack, but here in one move we have a
tactical explosion that uproots a pawn structure. --- It turns out that the
only part the rook on h8 is going to play in the game is as victim of the
marauding white knights.} fxe6 ({Or similarly} 25... Qxe6 26. Nxe6+ fxe6 27.
Ng6+ Ke8 28. Nxh8 {.}) 26. Nhg6+ Qxg6 ({With a heavy heart Black gives back
the queen at once, as she is removed by force after} 26... Kf7 27. Nxh8+ Kf8
28. Nfg6+ {.}) 27. Nxg6+ Ke8 28. Nxh8 Ra4 {Karpov is a host of pawns to the
bad, but he fights on grimly in the endgame. Geller has to play carefully to
subdue him, but eventually adds another name to the list of World Champions he
has beaten.} 29. Rd1 Ne7 30. Bxe7 Kxe7 31. Ng6+ Kf7 32. Nf4 Bxe5 33. dxe5 Rxf4
34. Rc1 Ke8 35. c6 Kd8 36. c7+ Kc8 37. g3 Ra4 38. Rc6 Rxa2 39. Rxe6 g5 40. Rd6
Rd2 41. e6 Kxc7 42. e7 1-0

[Event "15th matchgame, Elista"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2006.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Topalov, V."]
[Black "Kramnik, V."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D12"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "99"]
[EventDate "2006.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 Bg6 7. Be2 Nbd7 8. O-O
Bd6 9. g3 {Here Kramnik made the momentous decision to concede the pawn centre.
He hopes that a well-timed ...e6-e5 will give him compensating piece play.
With hindsight we can conclude that he should hold his ground, say with 9...
0-0.} dxc4 $2 10. Bxc4 Nb6 11. Be2 O-O 12. Nxg6 hxg6 {White has the two
bishops and a slight space advantage, but the black position looks very
compact. Topalov utilized his kingside majority at once.} 13. e4 e5 {Blocking the white advance and breaking open the d-file. You would imagine that this
would give his opponent pause for thought, but Topalov presses on.} 14. f4 $1 {
It takes a very fine feeling for the dynamics of a position to realize that
White can live with Black's initiative down the d-file.} exd4 15. Qxd4 Qe7 {
Saving the bishop from the 16 e5 fork by threatening 16...Bc5.} 16. Kg2 Bc5 17.
Qd3 Rad8 18. Qc2 {Black has gained two tempi by harassing the white queen. The
question is whether he can make anything out of this burst of activity. If he
can't, then White will be able to exploit his latent advantage of the two
bishops and mobile kingside pawns. Hence Kramnik realizes he has to act as
forcefully as possible down the d-file. He begins with an indirect attack on
e4 which wins his knights the d5-square.} Bd4 19. e5 Nfd5 (19... Nfd5 {intends}
20. -- Ne3+ 21. Bxe3 Bxe3 {, when White's bishop pair has vanished and the
threat of an invasion with 22...Rd2 means that Topalov has to agree to a
double exchange of rooks with} 22. Rad1 Rxd1 23. Rxd1 Rd8 {etc. This massive
simplification would take all the energy out of any advance by White's
kingside pawns.}) 20. Rf3 $1 {An awkward-looking move, but it does the
business. Topalov doesn't mind having to make a series of defensive moves if
they maintain the dynamic potential of his set-up.} Nxc3 {Thwarted in his
attempt to simplify, Kramnik switches to Plan B: he clears the way for his
rooks to strike down the d-file.} 21. bxc3 Bc5 22. Bd2 Rd7 23. Re1 Rfd8 {
Black's pressure on the d-file is looking serious. Has Topalov lost control of
the position?} 24. Bd3 $1 {There is something rather ungainly about the bishop
flinging its body in front of its comrade on d2. But as we saw with 20 Rf3,
the white pieces are prepared to sacrifice their dignity to keep the enemy
shut out.} Qe6 {
Intending 25...Nc4 or perhaps even the heroic 25...Qc4!? in some cases.} 25.
Bc1 $1 {After all his retreating moves, Topalov is ready to strike with 26 f5!.
Then the advantages he has carefully hoarded - the bishop pair and mobile
centre pawns - will rip away the black kingside pawns and leave his king
defenceless.} f5 {Kramnik takes the chance afforded to him by White's last
move to block, at least temporarily, the advance of the f4-pawn, as 26 exf6?
would leave e1 hanging. Still, this is a massive positional concession, as the
black pawn on f5 can be undermined both directly with a well-timed g3-g4, and
indirectly with h4-h5 to remove its pawn support from g6.} 26. Qe2 {
Topalov refuses to be hurried. His queen move rules out 26...Nc4.} Kf8 {
Fearing White's light-squared bishop, Kramnik puts his king on to a dark square.
} 27. Rd1 {Another patient move. The bishop on d3 is overprotected so that the
white queen is freed for action.} Qe7 28. h4 $1 {At long last the Bulgarian
Grandmaster begins to utilize his kingside pawns. The idea is to break through
with Rh1 and h4-h5, followed by conquering the f5-pawn. Then nothing would
hold back the white rooks and bishops from their assault on the black king.}
Rd5 29. Qc2 {Now that the black queen has abandoned e6, Topalov is less afraid
of ...Nc4 ideas and so puts his queen on her optimum square, where she backs
up the bishop's attack on the f5-pawn.} Nc4 30. Rh1 {The white attack is about
to crash through with 31 h5, but Kramnik delays the victory celebration by
dragging the rook back to the defence of d1. It should be recalled that this
was one of the rapid tiebreak games played at the end of the Topalov-Kramnik
match, and under these circumstances you can't always expect the most precise
moves.} Na3 31. Qe2 Qd7 32. Rd1 b5 33. g4 $3 {White's major pieces are tied
down to the defence of d3, but it turns out that his pawns are able to stage a
breakthrough anyway.} fxg4 34. Rg3 (34. Rg3 {intends} -- 35. e6 Qe7 ({or if} 
35... Qd6 36. Qxg4 $1 {, when} Rxd3 37. Rgxd3 Qxd3 38. Rxd3 Rxd3 39. Qxg6 {
threatens both the rook and mate on f7}) 36. Rxg4 {.}) 34... Ke7 35. f5 $1 gxf5
36. Bg5+ Ke8 37. e6 $1 {All the latent energy that was stored in the white
bishops and kingside pawns is released against the beleaguered black king.} Qd6
38. Bxf5 $1 Rxd1 39. Bg6+ Kf8 40. e7+ Qxe7 41. Bxe7+ Bxe7 42. Bd3 {Giving up the queen won't save Black, as his king is still at the mercy of White's
light-squared bishop.} Ra1 43. Qb2 Rd1 44. Qe2 Ra1 45. Qxg4 Rxa2+ 46. Kh3 Bf6
47. Qe6 Rd2 48. Bg6 R2d7 49. Rf3 b4 50. h5 $1 {. It is fitting that White's
one remaining kingside pawn gets to have the last word. Black is helpless
against 51 h6 and then either 52 hxg7+ or 52 h7. --- This was a remarkable
struggle between the power of a temporary initiative and a defence that
contained latent dynamism. Why did Kramnik lose? It was because his pieces on
their own didn't have enough power to break White's defensive line on the
d-file. They were given no help from their pawns. In contrast, as soon as
Topalov was able to consolidate against his opponent's threats, his lively
kingside pawns and the bishop pair meant that he came out trumps.} 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "10. The Art of Surprise"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

{A 'forcing variation' is a (long) sequence of moves in the opening that
involves a sharp collision between the two armies. Even in Morphy's day many
forcing variations were well established as part of theory, though mainly
after 1 e4 e5. --- A power player enjoys the challenge of finding new moves
either during or at the end of a forcing variation. Needless to say, the
expression "all's new that is forgotten" applies here. The discovery doesn't
necessarily have to be a good move, but it must set the opponent enough
problems that, on the balance of probability, it will yield a better result
than the usual move. --- In some ways a power player reminds me of the monster
in the film 'Forbidden Planet'. This fearsome creature is impossible to
destroy as it is being recreated millisecond by millisecond by the evil dreams
of Dr Morbius and powered by an underground nuclear plant of unimaginable
dimensions. In the same way, the power player is recreating his style game by
game, always staying a step ahead of the blows of his opponents, and has his
own secret 'laboratory' where his opening novelties are created and tested.
--- In his later years Bobby Fischer came to regard forcing variations as a
blight upon chess, which is why he wanted to shuffle the pieces at the start
of the game. This dislike of established opening lines is no modern phenomenon.
As we have seen, after some unpleasant experiences in his match against Morphy,
Anderssen decided to avoid forcing variations with openings such as 1 e4 d5
and 1 e4 c5 as Black - in those days the Scandinavian and Sicilian were far
less studied - and the extreme 1 a3 as White. The German tactical genius
generally emerged from these openings with promising positions, but Morphy was
still too good for him in the middlegame.} 1. -- (1. -- {Morphy plays a
novelty: -- Here is an example of the opening preparation that the German
master was keen to avoid. (See Morphy-Schulten.)}) (1. -- {Surprise outweighs
soundness: -- Alekhine had been planning his revenge on Euwe for two years
after losing his world title to him in 1935. Here is the sixth game from the
return match, in which our hero had a little surprise waiting for the Dutchman
on move five. (See Alekhine-Euwe.)}) (1. -- {Surprising the opponent with a
brand new (old) opening: -- Dr Siegbert Tarrasch (1862-1934) had an excellent
grasp of positional chess, perhaps the best in the world during his peak years
in the early 1890s, but was somewhat lacking in tactical ability and tended to
underestimate the importance of dynamism. Lasker had taken advantage of these
slight deficiencies to defeat Tarrasch in their World Championship match of
1908. --- When the following game was played, the German master was already in
his 60th year. It is evident that Alekhine wanted to engage him in a hard
tactical fight, whilst avoiding a 'classical' pawn structure, as Tarrasch grew
up in an age when 1 d4 d5 and 1 e4 e5 were de rigueur. A modern player might
reach for the King's Indian, but this defence was little known in 1922, and
even less respected. Instead, Alekhine decided to introduce into top-level
chess an idea of the Russian master Blumenfeld. It is the just the type of
'modern', counterattacking opening to upset Tarrasch. (See Tarrasch-Alekhine.)}
) (1. -- {In the footsteps of Morphy: -- see Bronstein-Rojahn.}) (1. -- {
A novelty that transforms a positional squeeze into a power play fight: -- It
might seem surprising that Geller, who was always looking for active play with
the black pieces, should be a great fan of the 'solid' Queen's Gambit. In fact
it suited his style very well. At the start of the game he was always looking
for ways of softening up the opponent's pawn structure, and he liked to do
this from a sound base. Furthermore, Geller loved to utilize a pawn as a
battering ram if he felt his opponent's had transgressed the 'laws' of good
strategy. The Queen's Gambit affords Black the chance to use his so-called
'hanging pawns' in this fashion, as his following game against Timman illustrates. --- But first of all, take a quick look at this game from the most famous
match of all time: (see Fischer-Spassky). --- Now let's see how, in the same
opening variation Geller not only maintains the dynamism of Black's set-up,
but even uses its energy to smash up the white position. --- All three facets
of power play are revealed. Firstly, there is preparation - Geller has found
an excellent improvement in the opening for Black. Secondly, there is
psychology. The young Timman has been dazzled by Fischer's effortless
achievement in the game above, and can't believe that the American's opening
can possibly contain any flaws. And thirdly, there is dynamism. The 'solid'
Queen's Gambit reveals a wonderful latent energy. (See Timman-Geller.)}) (1. --
{Preparation in the 21st century: -- Nowadays players such as Kramnik and
Aronian frequently, but by no means always, try to avoid forcing variations.
They are satisfied with a restrained development of their pieces and chances
to outmanoeuvre their opponent. There is nothing wrong with this approach,
which often leads to beautiful, creative chess. --- For a power player, the
necessity of finding new, interesting moves in the opening is more acute than
ever. In an age of instant information, Topalov's rivals know about a new
opening idea he has concocted within hours of him revealing it on the board.
Indeed, they may start preparing against it the very second he moves a piece
or pawn to a new square, if they happen to be following the game live on an
internet transmission! --- For this reason the novelty may only be good for
one game, but a win in a world-class tournament is so extraordinarily
difficult to achieve that Topalov is satisfied if he gets one precious point
in return for his analytical labours. --- In the following game the Bulgarian
Grandmaster applies the three facets of power play: preparation, psychology
and dynamism. He was facing his long-time trainer and fellow Bulgarian Ivan
Cheparinov, a very strong and imaginative player in his own right. As an
'insider' Cheparinov not only knew all Topalov's secret opening ideas, he had
even suggested a lot of them in the first place! It's interesting to see how
our hero overcame this awkward situation. (See Topalov-Cheparinov.)}) (1. -- {
A clash of chess styles: -- A good place to end our study of power play is
with a sharp battle between Topalov and one of the greatest strategists of his
era. The Bulgarian Grandmaster managed to impose a dynamic struggle on his
opponent with a remarkable piece sacrifice. (See Topalov-Kramnik, Wijk aan Zee
2008.)}) (1. -- {The battle between power play and positional chess continues
into the future, but it's time to say goodbye to the reader. Let me wish you
the best of luck and enjoyment of your chess, whatever your preferred manner
of play!}) *

[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morphy, P."]
[Black "Schulten, J."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C64"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "1857.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 Nge7 5. O-O O-O $2 ({
Black should retreat his bishop with} 5... Bb6 {, so that} 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 {
can be answered by} d5 {, keeping a pawn foothold in the centre.}) 6. d4 exd4
7. cxd4 Bb6 8. d5 Nb8 9. d6 cxd6 10. Bf4 $1 {Morphy himself described his 10th
move as "an improvement on that given in the leading treatises of the day".
According to Sergeant he was referring to Hanstein-Von der Lasa, given in
Staunton's 'Handbook', in which White made the obvious capture on d6.} ({
However, after} 10. Qxd6 {Black can free himself with} Bc7 11. Qd3 d5 $1 {
, which also gets rid of the weak pawn on d7. Morphy's move not only develops
but also keeps his opponent's pieces bunged up.}) 10... Bc7 $2 {
Opening novelties have always attracted bad replies.} ({
Black should play the freeing move} 10... d5 {anyway, though after} 11. exd5 d6
{White has more advantage than he would have gained with 10 Qxd6.}) 11. Nc3 a6
12. Bc4 b5 13. Bb3 Bb7 14. Bxd6 Bxd6 15. Qxd6 {Schulten has managed to develop
his bishop from c8, but his knight remains sadly stuck on b8, for if 15...Nbc6
16 Rad1 gangs up on the d7-pawn.} h6 16. Rad1 Nc8 17. Qf4 Nb6 18. Ne5 $1 {
All Black's minor pieces are a long way from his king, sitting passively on
the b-file. So it is no surprise that the attack on f7 wins material, no
matter how Black plays.} Qf6 ({If} 18... Qe8) ({or} 18... Qe7 {then} 19. Ng6 $1
{.}) 19. Qxf6 gxf6 20. Ng4 Kg7 21. Nxf6 $1 {One of the characteristics of
Morphy's play is that he doesn't just shut his opponent's pieces out of the
game, he actively targets them.} Bc6 ({If} 21... Kxf6 22. Rd6+ Kg7 23. Rxb6 {
is hopeless for Black.}) 22. e5 a5 23. Rd3 Rh8 24. Ncd5 Nc4 {He should have
exchanged off a couple of pieces on d5. The attempt to gain counterplay on the
queenside leads to another weak pawn on c4.} 25. Bxc4 bxc4 26. Rg3+ Kf8 27. Nb6
Ra7 28. Rd1 {In his non-match games, we often see Morphy looking for a mating
attack long after a modern master would be content to win slowly and surely
with his extra pawns. The American knew that, against amateur opponents, this
was the fastest and therefore most efficient way to end the game. Schulten
wasn't suddenly going to start defending his king like Korchnoi!} Bb5 29. Rd4
Rc7 $2 ({He should try} 29... Ke7 {.}) 30. Rdg4 ({Morphy has saved himself the
trouble of a laborious endgame. Black resigned as the threat after} 30. Rdg4 {
is} -- ({and if} 30... Ke7 31. Nbd5+ {is lethal}) 31. Rg8+ ({
or even more efficiently} 31. Nbd5 $1 {and 32 Rg8}) 31... Rxg8 32. Rxg8+ Ke7
33. Re8# {.}) 1-0

[Event "6th matchgame, Netherlands"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1937.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alekhine, A."]
[Black "Euwe, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D10"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "1937.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 dxc4 4. e4 e5 5. Bxc4 {Actually Dr Euwe's confusion
must have begun here. Why had he been allowed to take on d4? He didn't have to
wait long for an answer.} exd4 ({After} 5... Qxd4 6. Qb3 Qd7 7. Bg5 $1 {
, threatening 8 Rd1, we have an attack reminiscent of Morphy vs Brunswick &
Isouard in Chapter Two.}) 6. Nf3 $5 {A startling reply. Eighty years (and
eight chapters) earlier, Paul Morphy had shown the world that he could give
his opponents knight odds, and Alekhine wants to do the same...} b5 $2 ({
A year after this game was played, analysis by Goncharov showed the correct
path for Black:} 6... dxc3 7. Bxf7+ Ke7 8. Qb3 {
(the only way to keep up the attack)} cxb2 $3 {(it seems bizarre to develop
White's bishop for him, but in fact it is being deflected from giving a
powerful check on g5 and will be a target on b2 after Black's next move)} 9.
Bxb2 Qb6 10. Ba3+ c5 11. Bxg8 Rxg8 12. Bxc5+ $2 ({or} 12. Qxg8 Qa5+ 13. Nd2
Qxa3 {
with better chances for Black, though this is the way White should play it})
12... Qxc5 13. O-O ({if} 13. Qxg8 Qc3+ 14. Ke2 Be6 15. Qxh7 Bc4+ {
and Black wins}) 13... Qh5 $3 {(another fine move; it sidesteps 14 Rac1 and
helps to trap the white queen on h8)} 14. Qxg8 Be6 15. Qh8 Nc6 {with a clear
advantage for Black as the white queen is shut in. --- So we must conclude
that Alekhine's sacrifice isn't sound. But then with his clock ticking, how on
earth could Euwe ever have found a move like 8...cxb2!!, which is completely
counter-intuitive? And how could he possibly have seen that a further five
moves after that his queen should go to h5? --- I guess there was a very small
chance that Euwe might have stumbled on these moves, so to speak, 'by
accident'. But it was always far more likely that he would go wrong, as in
fact occurred in the game. Euwe looks around for a move that his opponent
might have analysed less and comes up with something pretty awful.}) 7. Nxb5 $1
{White regains his pawn, as if 7...cxb5 8 Bd5 traps the rook on a8. That means
there is equal material, with White a long way ahead in development and Black
saddled with a very weak pawn on d4.} Ba6 8. Qb3 $1 Qe7 ({Or} 8... Bxb5 $2 9.
Bxf7+ Kd7 10. Nxd4 $1 {with a winning attack for White,} ({but not} 10. Bxg8 $2
Rxg8 $1 11. Qxg8 Bb4+ {when he loses his queen.})) 9. O-O Bxb5 10. Bxb5 Nf6 ({
He still can't play} 10... cxb5 {, as the rook perishes after} 11. Qd5 {.}) 11.
Bc4 Nbd7 12. Nxd4 {Euwe is utterly lost and could quite reasonably throw in
the towel here. But I guess he wants to get to a respectful number of moves
before resigning. "World Champion loses in 12 moves" wouldn't be a very nice
headline to read at breakfast the next day, especially if you had to go out
and play Alekhine again...} Rb8 13. Qc2 Qc5 14. Nf5 Ne5 15. Bf4 Nh5 16. Bxf7+
$1 {Picking up a second pawn and forcing decisive simplification.} Kxf7 17.
Qxc5 Bxc5 18. Bxe5 Rb5 19. Bd6 Bb6 20. b4 Rd8 21. Rad1 c5 22. bxc5 Bxc5 23. Rd5
{. --- As we said above, a novelty doesn't have to be objectively sound. If
Alekhine hit Euwe with ten different novelties of this type, I would expect
him to win seven or eight, draw one or two, and totally mess up and lose the
other one. In other words he would make a very big plus score by playing ten
interesting and complex, but 'bad' moves! On the other hand, if he had
repeated 5 Bxc4 against Euwe the next time he played White, he would have been
lucky to get away with a draw. Naturally, if a move is objectively good or at
least a decent 'try', it can be repeated quite safely, but it won't have the
same effect as when it was played for the first time. It ceases to be a
novelty, but is still a useful addition to our knowledge of the game. ---
Alekhine gave a radio interview to the BBC in 1938 and quotes this game as
evidence that there is always something new to learn in chess, since Dr Euwe,
a great openings expert, had a lost position after only six moves. The
recording has been preserved and is available on internet sites such as
YouTube. When I first heard Alekhine's rather reedy voice it reminded me that
his contemporaries described him as a nervous man, whereas his aggressive
chess style and the colourful path of his life made me expect to hear someone
more like Marlon Brando in the Godfather.} 1-0

[Event "Bad Pistyan"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1922.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tarrasch, S."]
[Black "Alekhine, A."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E10"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "1922.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 ({The Blumenfeld Counter-Gambit, as seen here, is a
forerunner of the Benko Gambit:} 2... c5 3. d5 b5 {. A key difference in the
Benko is that, rather than try to seize the centre with pawns, Black is
satisfied to fianchetto on g7 and maintain a solid position while exerting
pressure from the wings; for example,} 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bxa6 7. Nf3
Bg7 8. g3 d6 {etc.}) 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 b5 $5 {Even in the modern age the
Blumenfeld has its Grandmaster supporters, but probably isn't quite sound. I
suspect Alekhine might have thought so at the time. But remember we are
playing the man as well as the board; and what does the good Doctor make of
all this?} 5. dxe6 ({
Instead of accepting the pawn, White could have gambited as pawn himself with} 
5. Bg5 $5 {, when if} bxc4 (5... exd5 6. cxd5 d6 {is safer}) 6. Nc3 {, he is ready to expand in the centre with 7 e4. In other words, White's pawns would be
working harder than the black pawns. In the game the situation is soon
reversed.}) 5... fxe6 6. cxb5 d5 {By deflecting the white pawn from c4, Black
has succeeded in building a broad pawn centre. Morphy would have been fully
conversant with the idea from playing the King's Gambit, where White deflects
the pawn from e5 with 1 e4 e5 2 f4 exf4, so that after 3 Nf3 (to rule out 3...
Qh4+) he is ready to seize the centre with 4 d4.} 7. e3 $2 {
Alekhine's choice of opening is vindicated.} ({You can imagine that Capablanca
would have shrugged his shoulders and then fianchettoed with} 7. g3 $1 {
without giving it too much thought. But Tarrasch learnt his chess in an age
when the fianchetto was a rarity so, on being surprised, his intuition or
common sense wasn't going to tell him to put the bishop on g2. Here's what
might happen after 7 g3:} Bd6 8. Bg2 O-O 9. O-O Nbd7 ({
the b5-pawn is a nuisance to Black as it rules out the natural} 9... Nc6) 10.
Nbd2 {.} -- ({. Should Black try to expand with} 10... e5 $2 {
, he can be hit by the pawn ram} 11. e4 $1 {. After} dxe4 $2 ({if instead} 
11... d4 {the black centre has congealed on the dark squares, losing all its
expansive energy and leaving massive light square holes}) 12. Ng5 {
White will regain his pawn on e4 having smashed up the black centre.}) ({
. So rather than 10...e5? Black should continue to develop with} 10... Bb7 {
, when the game might continue} 11. b3 Qe7 12. Bb2 {. Now an attempt to attack
with the pieces allows White to advance his own centre pawns:} Ng4 (12... e5 {
still meets with} 13. e4 $1) 13. h3 Nge5 14. Nxe5 Nxe5 15. f4 Nf7 16. e4 $1 {
and White's pawns gave him the initiative in the game P.Nikolic-F.Izeta
Txabarri, Oviedo (rapid) 1993. Seeing these variations, which flow naturally
out of the position after 7 g3, it is easy to understand why the Blumenfeld
was superseded by the Benko Gambit. In the latter opening Black also gambits a
pawn with ...b7-b5 to disrupt the white centre, but he doesn't then expose his
centre pawns to attack. --- If you look at the variations given above and
compare them with what happens in the Tarrasch-Alekhine game, you will learn
virtually all you need to know about the dynamic use of pawns in chess. As we
saw in Chapter Six, a game is often decided by the difference in energy
between a working pawn structure and an inert one.})) 7... Bd6 8. Nc3 O-O 9.
Be2 Bb7 10. b3 Nbd7 11. Bb2 Qe7 12. O-O {The bishop on e2 is on a passive
square where it can't support an e3-e4 counterattack in the centre. There is
also a serious defensive drawback to White's avoidance of a fianchetto: he is
deprived of the g2-g3 pawn move which would block the action of the black
bishop on d6 against the h2-square, and shield the g2-square against a future
attack by the black queen. Naturally, without the fianchetto the move g2-g3
would weaken too many of the light squares around the white king.} Rad8 13. Qc2
e5 14. Rfe1 $2 ({For better or worse White must make a stand in the centre with
} 14. e4 {; for example,} d4 15. Bc4+ Kh8 16. Nd5 {creating some counterplay.
Once he allows Alekhine's next move the black centre is untouchable, and all
hope is gone.}) 14... e4 {The fourth World Champion opens the diagonal for his
bishop, clears the e5-square for his knight, and drives the white horse away
from f3, after which the f2- and h2-squares are open to attack.} 15. Nd2 Ne5
16. Nd1 Nfg4 17. Bxg4 Nxg4 18. Nf1 {Tarrasch plays according to Steinitz's
defensive model, which requires the knights to be placed where they can't
easily be assailed by enemy pieces. He succeeds in covering the f2- and
h2-squares, but the g2-square remains vulnerable. If only White had
fianchettoed!} Qg5 $1 {Alekhine knows that you should always attack the
weakest point in the enemy camp.} 19. h3 Nh6 20. Kh1 Nf5 {An excellent
redeployment of the knight. It both supports a pawn advance in the centre and
threatens 21...Nh4.} 21. Nh2 {So that 21...Nh4 can be met by 22 Rg1 without
weakening his pawn front. On the other hand, White's control of the g3-square
is lessened which allows Black to engineer a knight sacrifice there.} d4 $1 {
Alekhine's pawns are rushing through the centre, taking away vital squares
from the white pieces. Meanwhile White has a 3-1 pawn majority on the two
outer files of the queenside that is entirely irrelevant.} 22. Bc1 {
Taking on d4 would allow the bishop on b7 to join in the attack after ...e4-e3.
} d3 23. Qc4+ Kh8 24. Bb2 Ng3+ $1 25. Kg1 ({If} 25. fxg3 Qxg3 26. Nf1 Rxf1+ {
and 27...Qh2 mate.}) 25... Bd5 $1 ({Black could cash in at once with} 25... d2
{winning the exchange, but Alekhine prefers to keep up his initiative. He is
right, of course!}) 26. Qa4 Ne2+ 27. Kh1 Rf7 28. Qa6 h5 $1 29. b6 ({If} 29. Nf1
Be6 $1 {, intending} 30. -- Bxh3 $1 31. gxh3 Qg1# {
is entirely hopeless for White.}) 29... Ng3+ 30. Kg1 axb6 31. Qxb6 d2 32. Rf1
Nxf1 {Compare the situation here with that at move 25. Only now does Alekhine
take the exchange, having in the meantime driven the white queen further from
the defence and played useful attacking moves such as ...Bd5 and ...h7-h5.} 33.
Nxf1 Be6 34. Kh1 Bxh3 $1 {Beginning the final onslaught.} 35. gxh3 Rf3 36. Ng3
h4 {Now we see the value of 28...h5. If the knight runs away, his king is
mated on the h-file.} 37. Bf6 $5 Qxf6 38. Nxe4 Rxh3+ ({After} 38... Rxh3+ 39.
Kg1 ({while after} 39. Kg2 Qf3+ {he loses his king}) 39... Bh2+ {
White loses his queen.}) 0-1

[Event "Moscow Olympiad"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1956.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bronstein, D."]
[Black "Rojahn, E."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C58"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "1956.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. d3 h6 7. Nf3 e4 8. dxe4
$5 {Bronstein relates that he had always wondered how Morphy intended to
answer 7...e4. The American had played the black side of this variation on
several occasions, but none of his opponents had ever dared play 7...e4 when
he was White. The usual reply is 8 Qe2, but it suddenly struck Bronstein: had
Morphy intended 8 dxe4, giving up a piece for a mobile pawn centre? ---
Bronstein was due to play the Norwegian Master Rojahn at the 1956 Olympiad
being held in Moscow, and decided to test 8 dxe4 against him. But first of all,
in his own words, "I got permission from my team colleagues". I would like you
to try and imagine Kasparov, Anand or Topalov having to get permission from
their Olympiad team-mates to play a sacrifice. I guess this shows how
carefully a Soviet player in the 1950s had to guard his reputation against any
accusation that he wasn't taking seriously the task of representing his
country. --- In any case, Bronstein got permission and this is the result:}
Nxc4 9. Qd4 Nb6 $2 {An obvious retreat;} ({but} 9... Nd6 $1 {looks better,
despite the fact that it seems to invite a pawn fork. However, White has no
wish to see his centre dissolve away after} 10. e5 $2 Nf5 {
, when both his queen and d5 are hanging}) ({For his sacrifice to work,
Bronstein needs to broaden and maintain his pawns as a solid wedge in the
centre until he has brought up all his pieces to support them. This is
something he can't do after} 9... Nd6 {, as the natural reply} 10. Nc3 {
robs him of the chance to play c2-c4. Hence, by making a concerted attack on
e4, Rojahn could have denied his opponent the time he needed to make his idea
work. --- On the other hand, it's no surprise the Norwegian played the
'natural' move 9...Nb6: he thought that Bronstein had simply blundered a piece
with 8 dxe4. This gave our hero a huge psychological advantage, as Rojahn
wasn't looking for nuances like 9...Nd6; he was expecting to win the game with
some straightforward developing moves.}) 10. c4 $1 {
Bronstein takes the chance to increase the size and power of his centre.} c5 $2
{Not a good decision, as Black will no longer have any means to challenge the
white centre with his pawns.} ({Instead,} 10... c6 {has been recommended.}) 11.
Qd3 {Now Bronstein is able to develop all his pieces and then steam-roller
through the centre. Rojahn still has his extra knight, but his pieces aren't
going to get any help from their pawns. Black's queenside pawns remain passive
until the end of the game, while the ones on the kingside only manage the move
27...f6, which concedes connected passed pawns to the opponent.} Bg4 12. Nbd2
Be7 13. O-O O-O $2 ({As his bishop is going to end up entombed on h7, Black
should have taken the chance to exchange it off with} 13... Bxf3 {.}) 14. Ne5
Bh5 15. b3 $1 Nbd7 16. Bb2 {This is very smooth play: the bishop gets to b2
just in time to support the knight.} Nxe5 17. Bxe5 Nd7 18. Bc3 Bf6 19. Rae1
Bxc3 20. Qxc3 {The exchange of a couple of pieces hasn't helped Black, as
there are now fewer defenders who can be called upon to give up their lives to
break the power of the white pawns. As we saw above, the piece Rojahn really
needed to get rid of is still sitting on h5.} Qf6 21. e5 Qf5 22. f4 {
White's pawns are now magnificent.} Bg6 23. Ne4 Rab8 24. Qf3 Bh7 25. g4 $1 {
Widening the pawn front even further. The relentless pressure exerted on the
black pieces is very Morphy-like. The white pieces are all comfortably placed,
with no gaps in their pawn centre, whereas the black pieces have nowhere to
settle and are being continually harassed.} Qg6 26. f5 Qb6 27. Qg3 f6 {
Rojahn is desperate. He gains the e5-square for his knight, but at the cost of
removing any restraint on the white centre pawns.} 28. e6 Ne5 29. h4 $1 {
Yet more pawns join in the charge.} Kh8 30. g5 Rbc8 31. Kh1 Qd8 32. g6 Bxg6 33.
fxg6 b5 34. d6 Qb6 35. d7 Nxd7 36. exd7 Rcd8 37. Nxf6 Qc6+ 38. Qg2 {. --- The advance of White's pawns reminds me of a Roman legion using their shields not
just as defensive weapons, but as bludgeons to smash their way through the
enemy lines.} 1-0

[Event "6th matchgame, Reykjavik"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1972.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Fischer, R."]
[Black "Spassky, B."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D59"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "1972.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 b6 8. cxd5
Nxd5 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Nxd5 exd5 11. Rc1 Be6 12. Qa4 c5 13. Qa3 Rc8 14. Bb5 a6
15. dxc5 bxc5 16. O-O Ra7 17. Be2 Nd7 18. Nd4 Qf8 19. Nxe6 fxe6 20. e4 d4 21.
f4 Qe7 22. e5 Rb8 23. Bc4 Kh8 24. Qh3 Nf8 25. b3 a5 26. f5 exf5 27. Rxf5 Nh7
28. Rcf1 Qd8 29. Qg3 Re7 30. h4 Rbb7 31. e6 Rbc7 32. Qe5 Qe8 33. a4 Qd8 34.
R1f2 Qe8 35. R2f3 Qd8 36. Bd3 Qe8 37. Qe4 Nf6 38. Rxf6 gxf6 39. Rxf6 Kg8 40.
Bc4 Kh8 41. Qf4 {. --- Black was absolutely crushed in strict positional style.
His pawns on c5 and d4 became dead wood in the centre, with no expansive
energy at all. Meanwhile Fischer could use his mobile kingside pawns to smash
through the black position with 26 f5. --- Fischer was playing the best chess
ever seen on planet earth between 1970 and 1972, but Spassky didn't put up
much resistance in the game above. He just let all the energy drain away from
the black centre.} 1-0

[Event "Hilversum"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1973.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Timman, J."]
[Black "Geller, E."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D59"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "1973.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 b6 8. cxd5
Nxd5 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Nxd5 exd5 11. Rc1 Be6 12. Qa4 c5 13. Qa3 Rc8 14. Bb5 {
So far, so Fischer. After all, what reason could the Dutchman possibly have
for not following in the great man's footsteps?} ({
Hindsight is more powerful than genius, and so modern chess prefers} 14. Be2 {
here.}) 14... Qb7 $1 {This is Geller's improvement. There is a positional
threat of 15...c4, cutting off the retreat of White's bishop, after which it
can be used as a target to mobilize the black queenside pawns with 16...a6 17
Ba4 b5.} 15. dxc5 bxc5 16. Rxc5 Rxc5 17. Qxc5 Na6 {The point of the pawn
sacrifice. White's queen can't stay defending the bishop, and after the
capture on a6, his king finds himself trapped in the centre.} 18. Bxa6 Qxa6 19.
Qa3 {Getting his queen out of the way of 19...Rc8 with gain of time.} Qc4 20.
Kd2 {Now after the obvious 20...Rc8 White would be able to consolidate with 21
Nd4, shutting the black queen out of the c2-square. Timman would have a
completely winning position: an extra pawn, a grip on the dark squares and a
safe king. We might say that all the energy would have drained from the black
position. --- It is instructive to see how Geller maintains his essential
dynamism.} Qg4 $1 21. Rg1 d4 $1 {
The second pawn sacrifice prevents any Nd4 shut out.} 22. Nxd4 Qh4 23. Re1 ({
An attack on the enemy pawn structure is a key feature of Geller's style. It
persuades his opponent to give up the f2-pawn,as} 23. Rf1 {allows} Bc4) ({
while after} 23. Ke1 {both} Qxh2 ({and} 23... Rc8 {
leave White wondering how he is going to extricate his king from the centre.}))
23... Qxf2+ 24. Re2 Qf1 {Now the black bishop threatens to strike in two
directions: 25...Bc4 or 25...Bg4. It therefore has to be eliminated, even
though the disappearance of White's knight leaves his king terribly exposed.}
25. Nxe6 fxe6 26. Qd6 Kh8 27. e4 Rc8 28. Ke3 Rf8 29. Rd2 e5 $1 30. Qxe5 {
A computer might tell you that this is the losing blunder, but in reality it
has long been a hopeless struggle for White. It is scarcely possible to defend
with 100% accuracy when your king is floating around in the centre. If every
move you have to make is an 'only' move, sooner or later there will be a fatal
slip. For this reason it is easier to attack than to defend.} Qe1+ 31. Re2 Qg1+
32. Kd3 Rd8+ 33. Kc3 Qd1 34. Qb5 Qd4+ 35. Kc2 {But now what? Remember that the
pieces acting on their own can't overwhelm a defence. At some point the help
of a pawn is always required!} a6 $1 {
Now the white queen can't stay defending both her rook and the c5-square.} 36.
Qxa6 Qc5+ ({It is mate upon} 36... Qc5+ 37. Kb1 ({or} 37. Kb3 Rb8+ 38. Ka4 Qb4#
) 37... Rd1# {.}) 0-1

[Event "Sofia"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2008.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Topalov, V."]
[Black "Cheparinov, I."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D85"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2008.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bd2 {The first sign that Topalov
is eager to avoid a theoretical battle against his young trainer.} Nb6 6. Nf3
Bg7 7. e3 ({
Since the black knight has retired to b6, White might activate his bishop with
} 7. Bf4) ({or} 7. Rc1 O-O 8. Bg5 {. Instead, he shuts it in with a move that
seems too quiet to have attracted much attention from the theorists - which is
exactly why Topalov played it.}) 7... O-O 8. Rc1 {It should be recalled that,
although a brilliant analyst, Cheparinov was only 21 years old. He hadn't
played enough games to fully develop his positional awareness, as becomes
clear with his next move.} N8d7 $2 {Expecting to equalize after 9 Be2 e5, but
he meets with an unpleasant surprise. As will be seen, the knight is misplaced
on d7. --- Topalov's opening strategy has worked perfectly. If he had played
down a long theoretical line, his opponent would have been his equal. By
diverging at an early point from mainline theory, he gave him the chance to
make a strategical mistake.} ({Correct was} 8... Nc6 {, when after} 9. Bb5 Bd7
{Black can prepare ...e7-e5 with reasonable play.}) 9. a4 $1 {Threatening to
win a piece with 10 a5 and so provoking Black's reply. Of course, if Black had
played 8...Nc6 this move would be pointless.} a5 {This may not appear to be a
major concession but, as we shall see, Topalov plans to target both the
a5-pawn itself and the knight on b6. The fact that Black can no longer play ...a7-a6 to cover the b5-square is also significant.} 10. e4 $1 {White expands in
the centre before his opponent has time to play ...e7-e5, so that he can
establish a pawn on d5.} e5 ({
Cheparinov has to challenge the white centre, and the other pawn stab with} 
10... c5 {leaves a very ugly hole on b5 after} 11. d5 {.}) 11. d5 c6 {
The knight on b6 loses its remaining pawn support, but he had to deal with the
threat of 12 Nb5, pocketing the c7-pawn.} 12. Bg5 $1 {The next step in White's
plan is to put the bishop on e3 to apply direct pressure on the beleaguered
black knight. But first of all Topalov provokes his opponent into either
weakening his kingside pawns with 12...f6 or else misplacing his bishop on f6.}
Bf6 13. Be3 Qe7 {The need to defend b6 ties down the knight on d7, which
blocks in the bishop on c8, who in turn shuts in the rook on a8. With so many
black pieces paralysed on the queenside, Topalov decides to fix the central
situation and then start an attack on the kingside.} 14. d6 {Killing off any
hopes that Cheparinov might have entertained of activating his game with 14...
cxd5 or 14...Qb4. Normally this advance would be risky, as the pawn is cut off
from its support, but here the black pieces are too tied up to trouble it.} Qe6
15. b3 $1 {And now he rules out any chance that Black might get rid of his bad
knight with 15...Nc4.} Bg7 16. h4 $1 {His opponent has two knights, a rook and
bishop hemmed in on the other wing, so an attack on the extreme edge of the
kingside is eminently logical.} f5 {Normally this is a good counterattacking
move, but here it leads to a speedy collapse. On the other hand, he couldn't
just wait for the white attack to steam-roller him.} 17. Ng5 Qf6 18. b4 $1 {
Highly flexible thinking. Topalov switches his attention back to the queenside
and threatens 19 bxa5 Rxa5 20 Qb3+, winning a piece.} f4 (18... axb4 19. Qb3+
Kh8 20. Qxb4 c5 21. Qb5 $1 {is also horrid for Black.}) 19. Bxb6 Nxb6 20. bxa5
Nd7 {Saving the knight from 21 Qb3+.} 21. a6 $1 ({
Not wanting to give Black any counterplay after} 21. Bc4+ Kh8 22. Ne6 Rxa5 $1
23. Nxf8 Bxf8 {etc. Cheparinov's reply avoids losing the exchange, but he ends
up a sound passed pawn down and still facing an attack.}) 21... Kh8 22. Nb1 $1
{The knight retreat to b1 boosts the energy of the white position - a paradox
which would have delighted Bronstein.} Bh6 23. Nf3 bxa6 24. Rxc6 Bb7 25. Rc7
Bxe4 26. Rxd7 Qf5 {Black hits both b1 and d7. It appears that Cheparinov might
be getting some counterplay, but Topalov quickly crushes the 'revolt'.} 27. Rc7
Bxb1 28. Ng5 $1 Bg7 ({After} 28... Bxg5 29. hxg5 {
the rook on h1 attacks h7 with lethal effect.}) 29. Bc4 Bc2 30. Qd5 $1 {
A powerful centralization. The white queen's first move of the game not only
helps the white pieces gang up on f7, but also introduces combinational motifs
against a8 and e5.} h6 31. Rf7 $1 {If you are wondering why Black is so
outgunned in the melée, take a look at how hard White's rook is working on the
seventh rank. His rook on h1 also played an important role by supporting 28
Ng5!. In contrast, the black rooks only made half of one move in the whole
game, when Black castled.} Qc8 ({If} 31... Rxf7 32. Nxf7+ {and a8 is hanging.})
32. Rxg7 $1 ({Black is mated after} 32. Rxg7 Kxg7 33. Qxe5+ Rf6 34. Qe7+ {
etc. --- A wonderful power play game. Topalov handled all three elements of
psychology, preparation and dynamism with great skill.}) 1-0

[Event "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2008.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Topalov, V."]
[Black "Kramnik, V."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D43"]
[Annotator "Neil McDonald"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2008.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2012.04.23"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5
9. Be2 Bb7 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Ne5 Bg7 12. Nxf7 $3 {A massive shock for Kramnik.}
({It wouldn't surprise me if the Russian Grandmaster had already started to
write the 'normal' move} 12. Nxd7 {
on his scoresheet when Topalov picked up his knight. In that case} Nxd7 13. Bd6
{leads to a double-edged but 'well-rehearsed' variation which Kramnik had
played with both White and Black. --- Instead, Topalov's knight landed on f7
and he removed the black pawn from the board - the Bulgarian had caught his
long-term rival in a prepared variation!}) 12... Kxf7 13. e5 Nd5 14. Ne4 {
Threatening a knight fork on d6. The last two moves have been forced for Black,
but now he has to make an important decision: should the king go to e7 org8?}
Ke7 $1 {The black king stays in the centre, as he hopes in time to be able to
slip away to the queenside, where he will find shelter behind the large clump
of black pawns.} ({Besides, after} 14... Kg8 {the rook on h8 is shut in. White
would be able to prepare an f2-f4 breakthrough in the style of the Morphy
knight-odds games we have seen in Chapter Two. --- One of the hardest calls to
make in chess is how much the safety of the king should be jeopardized in
order to achieve a strategic aim, such as the win of a pawn or a more fluid
development. Very strong players sometimes suffer a sharp defeat because they
take slightly too great a risk with their king - whereas inexperienced players
miss opportunities to improve their game because they become alarmed at the
slightest sign of danger to his majesty's health. --- Kramnik has come through
the first 'test', but I wonder how much time on the clock and mental energy
this cost?}) 15. Nd6 Qb6 {The queen defends the bishop, clears the way for the
rook on a8 to come to f8 to bolster the defence, and frees the retreat square
on d8 for her king. --- This position has arisen as a natural consequence of
the sacrifice on move 12. We should therefore pause and consider what Topalov
has gained for his piece. A quick look tells us that he has won time to get
his knight to d6 and the black king is stuck in the centre. However, this
hardly seems enough compensation. In contrast to a Morphy knight-odds game,
all the black pieces are engaged, or ready to be engaged, in the fight.
Furthermore, the centre is still blocked, making it difficult for the white
pieces to get at the king. It is considerations of this kind which prevented
players ever seriously investigating the sacrifice on f7. Until, that is,
Topalov and his team set to work. --- So what did they notice about the
position that had been missed by other theorists? Crucially, that the
sacrifice 12 Nxf7 has not only displaced the black king, it has also removed
the support of the e6-pawn. It is a curious feature that, despite Black having
so many pieces in the centre, the e6-square is hard to defend. Thus the king
on e7 gets in the way of ...Re8, the knight on d7 blocks ...Bc8, and the enemy
knight on d6 stops the queen defending along the third rank after ...c6-c5.
The pawn can be bolstered with ...Nc7, but Black doesn't want to retreat his
well-placed knight; while the alternative ...Nf8 has the drawback that it
rules out the move ...Raf8 and so makes a white breakthrough with f2-f4 all
the stronger. --- Of course, a weakness is only a weakness if it can be
attacked, and here, too, 12 Nxf7 shows its value. The removal of the f7-pawn
has opened the g6-square for the white queen, where she can join forces with
her light-squared bishop on g4 to assail the e6-point. --- Therefore Topalov
has a clear plan to improve the coordination of his pieces - namely an assault
on e6 - and enough energy to compensate for the missing knight.} 16. Bg4 Raf8 (
{In a later game against Shirov, the forearmed Karjakin played} 16... h5 $5 {
deflecting the bishop from the attack on e6, which led to a hard fight and
eventual draw after} 17. Bxh5 Raf8 18. Qg4 Bh6 {etc.}) 17. Qc2 Qxd4 $2 {
Kramnik aims to disrupt White's build-up by hitting the bishop on g4. He also
undermines the defence of e5, and should that pawn be captured as well, the
white knight will lose its centre base. Unfortunately for him, the fact that
he has left b7 undefended means that, after White's reply, he is going to drop
both of his bishops.} ({The critical move was} 17... Rhg8 $1 {
, defending g7. If then} 18. Qg6 ({another sharp line begins} 18. Rad1 c5 $5) {
, keeping to his original plan, after} 18... Nc7 {the threat of a discovered
attack by 19...Bxe5 means that the white queen has to run away. Thereafter
White managed to outwit his opponent with} 19. Qe4 Ba8 20. f4 {in V.Kiselev-B.Gundavaa, Moscow 2008. --- But Kramnik couldn't investigate all this with a
ticking clock! The psychological pressure and the sheer complexity of the
problems he faced made it virtually impossible for the former World Champion
to find a good defence over the board. Topalov would have been bitterly
disappointed if he had failed to win after 'using up' his novelty.}) 18. Qg6 $1
{The main threat is 19 Qxe6+.} Qxg4 19. Qxg7+ Kd8 20. Nxb7+ Kc8 21. a4 $1 {
If now 21...Kxb7 22 Qxd7+ wins. So Topalov has got all his material back bar
one pawn, which means he has a strong attack on the black king almost 'for
free'.} b4 22. Rac1 c3 23. bxc3 b3 {Kramnik strives to keep lines closed on
the queenside and also hopes for counterplay with his passed pawn.} 24. c4 Rfg8
25. Nd6+ Kc7 26. Qf7 Rf8 27. cxd5 $2 {In the heat of battle it's difficult for
even the strongest players to keep a cool head.} ({After} 27. h3 $1 {
the queen exchange} Rxf7 ({while if} 27... Qe2 28. Qxe6 {
the white attack is soon decisive; for example,} Nf4 29. Bxf4 Rxf4 30. Nb5+ $1
cxb5 31. cxb5+ Kd8 32. Rfd1 $1 {and Black has no good way to defend d7, as} Rh7
{loses at once to} 33. Qg8+) 28. hxg4 {
leaves Black's knight and rook on f7 both hanging.}) 27... Rxf7 28. Rxc6+ Kb8
29. Nxf7 Re8 ({According to Scherbakov} 29... Nb6 $1 30. Nxh8 Nxd5 {would give
Black good chances to survive, due to the strength of the passed pawn.}) 30.
Nd6 Rh8 31. Rc4 Qe2 32. dxe6 Nb6 33. Rb4 Ka8 {Now Topalov is able to exchange
his front e-pawn for Black's passed pawn. Thereafter his beautiful piece
coordination, safe king and remaining passed pawn all add up to a win.} 34. e7
Nd5 35. Rxb3 Nxe7 36. Rfb1 Nd5 37. h3 h5 38. Nf7 Rc8 39. e6 a6 40. Nxg5 h4 41.
Bd6 Rg8 42. R3b2 Qd3 43. e7 Nf6 44. Be5 Nd7 45. Ne6 1-0

