Chess Secrets The Giants of Power Play - Neil McDonald, 2009.pdf - _SZACHY.pdf - dariusz.marcinkowski

First published in 2009 by Gloucester Publishers plc (formerly Everyman Publishers

plc), Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London EC1 V OAT

The right of Neil McDonald to be identified as the author of this work has been

assert ed in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

The Giants of Power Play

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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Librarv.

ISBN: 978 1 85744 597 8

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Neil McDonald

EVERYMAN CHESS SERIES

Chief advisor: Byron Jacobs

Commissioning editor: John Emms

Assistant editor: Richard Palliser

Typeset and edited by First Rank Publishing, Brighton.

Cover design by Horatio Monteverde.

Printed and bound in the US by Versa Press.

www.every manchess.com

Contents I

Introduction I

Introduction

Chess players might be divided into

strategists and power players. The bat

tle for supremacy between these two

styles of play has led to creative strug

gles such as Capablanca versus

Alekhine, Botvinnik versus Bronstein,

and Kramnik versus Topalov.

The purpose of this book is to exam

ine and celebrate the ideas of five fa

mous 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 gi

ants might reappear in your own chess.

But first, here is an example of the

strategical sty Ie in action:

Lg2 0-0 6 0-0 dxe4 7 h2 a6 S ¥'xe4

b5 9 Ve2 Lb7 10 Ld2 Je6 11 e3 Jb4

12 Lxb4 Lxb4 13 a3 Le7 14 Jbd2

MeS 15 b4 as 16 Je5 Jd5 17 Jb3!

1 The Dynamic Element

2 Catching the King in the Centre

3 Opening Old (and New) Wounds

4 The Life History of a Knight

5 The Goldilocks Queen

107

6 Energizing the Pawns

129

7 A Battering Ram on the f-file

153

8 Backward Pawns and Indian Bishops

172

17 ... axb4 lSja5 �aS 19 Jae6 �xe6

20 Jxe6 '�d7 21 txd5 exd5 22 axb4

'feS 23 �a5 �fS 24 Je5 �e6 25 lxb5

�bS 26 'xbS �xbS 27 '�xe7 �d6 2S

·a5.xb4 29 :bl '�'d6 30 '�a4 1-0

9 The Psychology of Preparation

191

10 The Art of Surprise

215

Gamel

V.Kramnik-M.Carlsen

Dortmund 2007

Catalan Opening

Index of Openings

235

Kramnik played a solid opening

which reduced to a minimum the risk

of any unpleasant surprises. The battle

Index of Players

237

1 Jf3 Jf6 2 e4 e6 3 g3 d5 4 d4 Le7 5

Chess Secrets: The Giants of Power Play

Introduction

was exclusively on the queens ide -

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 weak

nesses in his own pawn structure, so

that Black's attempt at counterplay to

wards the end was easily defeated.

I have always loved the apparent ef

fortlessness of such games, which are

perfect examples of the phrase' art that

conceals art'. At their peak of perform

ance, 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 pro

found, 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.

ceptance of risk.

2) A big attempt is made to win the

theoretical battle by surprising the op

ponent 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 acceler

ate 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 clar

ity, there is an active search for tactical

blows hidden at the end of variations.

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 win

ning smooth positional games.

Nonetheless, the fact remains that

every pla�'er 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 advan

tage \vith no risk, a player will habitu

ally choose one path or the other. A

player's opening repertoire will also

tell vou a lot about his aims when he

sits dovvn at the board.

It is time for me to introduce you to

the heroes of this book. Have fun going

through their games and expanding

vour own chess mind!

Here are brief biographies of our

heroes.

in 1858 for London and Paris to prove

himself the best player in the world.

Besides making a big plus score in unof

ficial games against strong opponents,

he won set matches against three lead

ing lights of the game: Lowenthal (+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.

Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946)

Whereas strategical play is a step by

step process, power play might be di

vided into two distinct parts:

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 rul

ers.

6) The first is a dynamic strategy that,

if it outwits the opponent, creates situa

tions 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 ill/balmlec. A position with mu

tual weaknesses and a disrupted pawn

structure contains room for creativity

and blunders by the opponent.

Paul Morphy (1837-1884)

The American chess genius was born in

New Orleans in 1837. Whilst still a

child he shovved an astounding natural

feel for the game. On graduation from

the Universitv of Louisiana he focused

for a couple of years on chess. He took

part in the first American chess Con

gress 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

Along with Jose Raul Capablanca

and Emanuel Lasker, Alekhine was one

of the 'big three' players who domi

nated 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 be

come 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.

Features of the power play style

The power play style can be summed

up in three words as a blend of prepa

ration, psychology and dynamism. Here

is a list of specific features:

1) Playing aggressively with Black

as well as White. This requires the ac-

Chess Secrets: The Giants o j Power Play

Introduction

As World Champion, Alekhine's

two best tournament results were at

San Remo 1930 where he scored an

astonishing 14(15, \·vith Nimzowitsch

in second place on l; and Bled] 931,

where he came five points ahead of the

field with 20/26. (Nimzowitsch, who

came third this time, complained bit

terly '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 tounament. He was

also a profound theoretician who

helped to popularize 1... 1f6 in reply to

1 e4, an opening that no w bears his

name.

another crack at the title. In Clndidates

tournaments he came equal 2nd-4th at

Zurich in 1953 (the winner Smyslm'

went on to draw with Bot\'innik in a

World Championship match), and

equal third at Amsterdam 1956.

During his peak years Bronstein

was a wonderful openings analyst. No

tably, his research with his friend and

tournament rival Isaac Bolesla\'skv

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

tounament is regarded as one of the

best ever books on chess, perhaps the

very best.

racao \\'ould ha\'e gi\'en him an excel

lent chance of achieving the highest

honour.

In 1965, when the Candidates tour

naments had been replaced by

matches, Geller beat Smyslo\' but then

lost to Spassky in their semi-final

match. In the first round stage of the

1968 and 1971 series his progress \vas

halted b�' Spassky (again) and

Korchnoi, respectively,

Geller was well known for being a

scourge of past, future and former

World Champions. For example, be

sides 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

Anatolv Karpov through the 1975

qualifying cycle.

Geller annotated a fine collection of

his own games entitled The AppliCiltioll

or Chess lCory.

dominate \vorld-class events. A sign of

things to come was his win over Kas

parol' in the last round of Linares early

that year. which allowed him to share

first place with the Russian chess gen

ius. This was Kasparov's final game

before his retirement from serious play,

and it was as if he had handed the ba

ton of dynamic chess to his opponent.

Later in 2005, Topalov played in the

FJDE World Championship touna

ment in San Luis, Argentina. He

stormed through the first half of the

double round event with 61/2/7 before

cruising to fi rst place with draws in the

second cycle. This made him FIDE

World Champion. The chess world,

however, was split vvith both a FIDE

and 'Classical Chess' World Champion,

so in 2006 T opalov played a reunifica

tion match vvith 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

Vis\vanathan 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.

Efim Geller (1925-1998)

David Bronstein (1924-2006)

Geller was born in Odessa in the

Ukraine in 1925. He \von 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 Champion

ship match. The closest he came in

Cand idates tounaments was equal

second with Keres at Curacao 1962 - he

was half a point behind Petros ian, who

went on to successfully challenge the

veteran Botvinnik for the world title.

As Geller had a +4=7-1 life-time record

1950s without ever managing to get against Botvinnik, another point at Cu-

Veselin Topalov (1975-)

T opalov 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

challenge r for Vladimir Kramnik's

'Classical World Champion's' (that is,

non-FIDE) title, but lost to Peter Leko.

It was onl\' in 2005 that Topalov

started to show the power that would

Neil McDonald,

Gravesend

June 2009

Bronstein was born in Bila Tserkva in

the Ukraine in 1924 and learnt his chess

in Kiev. He was twice USSR Cham

pion, sharing the title with Kotov in

1948 and with Smyslov in 1949. He fin

ished equal first in the Budapest 1950

Candidates tournament, and won the

play-off with Boleslavsky +3=9-2 to

ean the right to challenge Botvinnik

[\1r the World Championship. Their

�'?-t e1f 24 games' match finished tied

.': -;= 14-5 \\hich meant that Bronstein

: ' ."� Cl�Ille \\'ithin an ace of winning the

::\..'. It I\'as particularly galling as he

'.'.," leading with two games to go, be

;,,1'' k 1 � i n g the fateful 23rd game.

Bronstein remained one of the top

pla\'ers in the world for the rest of the

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