Broinstein On The King Indian - by David Broistein PDF

or
RONSTEIN
on the King's Indian
BRONSTEIN
by David Bronstein
with Ken Neat
EVERYMAN CHESS
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Contents
Introduction 4
1 A brief journey into the past 6
2 The basic functions of the two armies 18
3 Standard moves in the King’s Indian 22

36 standard moves of the black pieces 22
24 standard moves of the black pawns 32
36 standard moves of the white pieces 39
24 standard moves of the white pawns 49
4 Test positions 57
5 The King’s Indian in action 64

Restrained set-up by White 65
White exchanges d4xe5 82
Black captures ... e5xd4 91
White closes the centre with d4-d5 112
Black keeps his pawn at c7 112
Black opens the c-file 128
Black pawns at e5 and c5 138
The central tension is maintained 147
Benoni set-ups 152
White castles queenside 164
6 64 additional games 174
Solutions to the test positions 202
Postscript 206
Bibliography 206
Index of other players 207

Introduction
Chess is a friendly game, which is why it was invented. The main idea of
each player is to capture the chief of the opposing chess army, which
according to the rules of the game leads to the surrender of the opposing
forces. This rule was introduced because it was thought more beautiful for a
lesser army to be able to outplay and force the surrender of a superior force.
If you can understand the spirit of chess in this way, then you will see that
the fewer men that are captured, the more noble is the victory, and this
reflects a peculiarly human way of thinking.
So, winning or losing is not the main idea of chess at all. A chess game is
in fact a friendly exchange of intentions, hidden in individual moves. You
always have the choice either of putting into action your planned move, or
of first calmly preventing the intended move of the friend with whom you
are playing chess in this brief, finite moment of your life.
When chess is considered in this way, there is no better opening than the
King’s Indian Defence, for both players - White and Black, of every age,
from beginners to masters. The King’s Indian gives you the maximum
opportunity to test your ability to make reasonable decisions in situations on
the chess board that are always complex and uncertain. Now let us begin to
look at the moves which introduce this beautiful chess opening.
1 d4
Black brings out his knight to a good square, preventing the white pawn
from immediately occupying the e4 square, and makes the first step in
preparing a residence for his king.
2 c4 g6
While the white pawns are occupying the centre, Black prepares a post for
his bishop at g7.
3 £>c3 ±g7
The bishop occupies the prepared post, and the residence is now ready for
occupation by the black king.
4 e4 d<>
Black is careful to forestall the advance of the white pawn to e5. He is now
ready to take his king into safety by castling, and then to strike at the white
centre by advancing his own pawn to e5.
Introduction 5
This, basically, is what constitutes the King Indian’s Defence! Of course,

White is not obliged to choose this particular move order, but, as will be
seen from the examples in the book, a King’s Indian set-up can be adopted
against a wide variety of opening moves.
At this point we consider it appropriate to make a brief journey into
history, to see how this opening was played by some of the great players
from the past.
How this book was compiled
In the course of many meetings, telephone discussions and exchanges of

correspondence, David Bronstein provided me with a wealth of analyses and
ideas relating to the King’s Indian Defence, which I have endeavoured to
arrange in a coherent and instructive form. On his suggestion I have also
included a few of my own games, and although it may seem incongruous to
have these appearing alongside battles between world-class players, they do
have the merit of highlighting certain basic errors which one would not
encounter in grandmaster games. Considerable assistance in the compilation of
the material was made in Moscow by Sergey Rosenberg, and the two authors
are deeply grateful to him for his contribution to the book.
Ken Neat
Durham, June 1999
1 A brief journey into the past
White: Berthold Englisch Dr Tarrasch could have struck at

Black: Dr Siegbert Tarrasch the centre with 6...c5, but he is not
Hamburg 1885 afraid of White’s imposing array of
pawns, and he even invites 7 e5 £ie8,
To begin our invitation to the King’s when he is ready for 8...c5, and the
Indian Defence, we would like to white centre collapses.
show you not a recent game, but one 7 Ae2 e5
that occurred more than 100 years This is why Black avoided 6...c5.
ago. With this move he attacks two pawns.
It may come as a surprise to the 8 dxe5
reader to see this opening being If 8 d5 exf4 9 Axf4 £>g4 followed
played by Dr Tarrasch, who was soon by 10...£>ge5, and Black gains an
to become one of the strongest players excellent post for his knight at e5.
in the world, as the chess views he 8.. .dxe5 9 fxe5
expressed in both his play and his Or 9 îxe5 ^xe5 10 fxe5 £kl7 11
writings were generally classical, 0-0 £}xe5, and again the black knight
straightforward, and at times dog¬ occupies the weak square in front of
matic. His Austrian opponent in this White’s isolated e-pawn.
game was also among the world’s 9.. .£>g4 10 Ag5
leading players at that time. If 10 e6 fxe6 11 £>g5 £tf2, with a
knight fork on the weak f2 square.
1 d4 £if6 2 c4 g6 3 £>c3 Ag7 4 e4 d6 10.JHfe8
5 f4 0-0 6 £ibd7 This move, which is fully in the
spirit of the King’s Indian, offers a
challenge to White, inviting him to go
for a win of material, while Black
gains time to organise an attack on the
white king. (The white knight makes a
fork, but in so doing it takes three
moves to capture a rook that has not
made a single move.) In the meantime
the white king remains in the centre.
10.. .f6 is also fully possible (the
white king has not castled), e.g. 11
exf6 Axf6 12 Axf6 Wxf6, and
because White has advanced his
A briefjourney into the past 1
pawns too early, he has left knight at g4 is strongly placed (it has
weaknesses in his position. A possible crossed the chess equator), so why
continuation is 13 0-0 £ie3 14 tbd5 exchange it? Therefore ll...£idxe5
£>xdl 15 £>xf6+ £>xf6 16 flaxdl looks more natural, e.g. 12 £>xc7 (a
£}xe4 with easy play for Black, but fork) 12...^xf3+ 13 gxf3 (attacking
this would not have been very the knight) 13...®e5.
interesting for Dr Tarrasch - there is The position has been opened up,
too much simplification! White has not yet castled, and his
11 ^d5 rooks are still on their original
squares. Meanwhile, Black’s bishops
(especially the one at g7) are very
strong, and his queen occupies the key
square in the King’s Indian Defence -
e5. If White were to try to take his
king to safety by castling, he would in
fact be mated: 17 0-0? Wxh2 mate.
Rather as in cricket, where as a result
of a single mistake a batsman can be
out, so in chess the loss of the king
signifies the end of the game.
After 14 £ixa8 (this is not such a
great achievement as it might seem to
Better than 11 £>b5 (which only a beginner: it often happens when you
attacks c7), as it also threatens take such a piece, that your own piece
possible checks at e7 and f6, as well ends up on a bad square; Black’s rook
as preparing Ae7. Now Black seems is in the nature of a ‘bait’) 14...®xg5
to be in trouble, as if ll...c6 12 £>c7 we reach the following position:
winning the queen. But if you find
yourself in such a situation, don’t lose
heart - such unexpected moves occur
constantly in chess.
Il...£}gxe5
Here Dr Tarrasch was lazy: after
ll...£Mxe5 12 thxcl £>xf3+ 13 gxf3
he terminated his analysis, as it
appears that Black has too many
pieces (queen, rook and knight!) en
prise. In fact the game has become
very tense, and this was the time to
bring up the reserves. The black
8 Bronstein on the King’s Indian
This is an ideal King’s Indian Or 12 &xc7 £ixf3+ 13 AxO We5

position for Black. His queen, bishops (with a double attack) 14 £>xa8 ®xg5,
and rook are all very active, and his and if White tries to rescue his errant
king is ideally covered. Meanwhile knight by 15 £ic7, then Black has the
the white bishop is obstructed by its fork 15...«ra5+.
own pawns - compare it with the However, this would have been a
black bishop at g7. After 15 fxg4 convenient moment to safeguard the
White seems to be winning (he is now king: 12 0-0, and if 12...c6 13 £}e7+
a rook up), but it is the second player &h8 14 Wd6, when 14...&xf3+ 15
(as they expressed it in the 19th Axf3 Ae5? loses to 16 Wxe5+ £>xe5
century) to move, and he plays 17 Af6 mate! This is another illus¬
15.. .Wh4+ 16 <4d2. tration of why it was wrong to block
More tenacious is 16 ^fl, although in the black bishop with 1 l...^gxe5 -
after 16...2d8 17 ®b3 Axg4 (the after ll...£klxe5 in this position
bishop has been patiently awaiting 14.. Jte6 would be possible.
such an opportunity to come into But instead of safeguarding his
play) 18 JLxg4 Wxg4 White’s king is king, White goes to win a ‘dead’ rook
still exposed to the cross-fire of the with his strong bishop - an ‘illiterate’
black pieces, and he has to defend move. On the scale of pieces a rook is
precisely, e.g. 19 We3 Ad4 20 h3 stronger than a bishop, but in the
®e6 21 ®e2 »f5+ 22 4>g2 %5+ 23 given concrete position the bishop is
<4fl Wf4+ and it will be a relief to more valuable. Tarrasch gives 12 Ae7
White that his opponent has no more an exclamation mark, which is
than a perpetual check. strange, as he was a strong player and
After 16 4>d2 Black plays the move loses time. Incidentally, it is
16.. .2.8+, and if White tries to avoid the kind of move that a modem
the loss of his queen by playing 17 computer would play...
Ad3, he runs into 17...*£2+ 18 We2 12...£kf3+
(or 18 &c\ Wxb2 mate) 18...2xd3+! Dr Tarrasch wants to clear the
(a typical King’s Indian stroke) 19 board. There was also the possibility
&xd3 »d4+ 20 <4c2 ®xb2+ (note the of 12...c6, for example:
powerful coordination of Black’s (a) 13 ^xe5 cxd5 14 Axf8 (or 14
queen and bishop on the long dark- Zhxdl Wxe7 15 £>xf8 Axb2 16 flbl
square diagonal) 21 &dl (or 21 4^3 Ac3+ 17 *fl dxe4) 14...^xf8 15
Wc3 mate) 21.JHrxal+ 22 4>d2, and £>f3 dxe4 with more than sufficient
after picking up the rook Black has a compensation for the exchange;
winning material advantage, although (b) 13 Axf8 Wxf8 14 £ic3 £>g4
he can also play for a direct mate by and Black is certainly not losing - he
22.. .®c3+. has fine chances of penetrating on the
12 Ae7?! dark squares, and he has one rook
remaining, which is sufficient for one

open file, whereas White can never
regain his dark-square bishop.
13 Axf3
16...£te5
The natural square for this knight,
although Dr Tarrasch himself sug¬
gested 16...£\b6 (even though this
13.. .c6 moves the knight towards the edge of
13.. .1txb2! would have been the board) and then ...Ae6. This could
strong, preventing the return of the have led to similar continuations as in
white knight to c3 (but not in order to the game, expect that Black’s b7
win the rook in the comer!), for pawn would be covered (see the note
example 14 0-0 c6 15 Axf8 Wxf8 16 to Black’s 17th move).
2b 1 Ag7 with a wealth of possi¬ But why not I6..JU16, preventing
bilities for Black (strong play on the White from castling queenside? We
dark squares, plus a wonderful knight would suggest that you can learn
outpost at e5). Dr Tarrasch was a much by analysing this type of
genius - playing an opening that was position, with your friends, if you
not to become fashionable for more like, but try to analyse without
than another 60 years, he had moving the pieces, and don’t use a
achieved a winning position... computer for assistance! A possible
14 Axf8 Wx« 15 £>c3 Wc5 continuation would be 17 £>a4 Wa5+
Black still has a strong position for 18 <4>e2 £ie5 19 Wc3 Wxa4 (or
his slight material deficit - for the 19...Wc7, when the slow-moving
moment he prevents 16 0-0. white king is in difficulties in the
16Wb3 middle of the board) 20 b3 (to prevent
Aiming to castle queenside. After ...Wc2+) 20...®a3 21 Wxe5 Ae6 22
16 »e2 £>e5 17 0-0-0 Ae6 Black Wc3 Ag7, and Black regains the
immediately regains a pawn with sacrificed material with the better
strong pressure. position - he has the superior bishop,
as well as the possibility of attacking 20 fixa8 Wg5+ 21 <&bl £id2+ 22

White’s queenside pawn chain by fixd2 &xb3 23 Sdd8
...a5-a4.
17 0-0-0
Dr Tarrasch had overlooked this

move. It is not difficult to find this
17.. .£>xc4 variation in the quiet of the study, but
17.. .JLe6 looks more natural, but easy to overlook in the heat of battle.
perhaps Dr Tarrasch was afraid of Perhaps Black had forgotten about the
losing more material after 18 Wxbl king’s rook, which had so far not
(compare the comment regarding participated in the game.
16...£ib6). However, this opens a file The remainder of the game was not
for the black rook, and after 18...Wf8! of any interest for our theme: after
(a hard move to find) the pawn at c6 capturing the bishop at f8 White had a
guards the b5 and d5 squares, and it is big material advantage (knight and
very difficult for White, with his two rooks against queen and pawn),
passive pieces, to parry the attack and Black’s queen, though active, was
against b2. Alternatively, 17...We7 unable to achieve anything without
followed by 18...Ae6 was quite support. White won some 20 moves
possible. later.
With the move played Black begins But let us return to the position
a combination aimed at winning the after White’s 19th move.
opponent’s queen, but unfortunately Instead of his faulty combination,
he has overlooked something. Black could have unravelled his
18 fid8+ Af8 19 flhdl Ae6? forces by 19...b5 (supporting the
Giving up the inactive rook, which knight and intending ...<4,g7,
was very much in the spirit of the unpinning the bishop, followed by
times. ... Ae7).
opening, if he is able to get rid of the

opponent’s dark-square bishop. His
own King’s Indian bishop may then
become immensely strong, giving him
domination of the dark squares.
Our second game is one of the finest

ever won by an Englishman, against a
legendary figure who was to become
Champion of the World just four
years later.
White: Alexander Alekhine

If White tries to forestall this by 20 Black: Frederick Yates
JSe8 &g7 21 2dd8 (doubling rooks on Carlsbad 1923
the 8th rank), then 21...Ae7 (also
possible is 21...®g5+ 22 <4>c2 Ae6 23 1 d4 ^f6 2 c4 g6 3 g3 Ag7 4 Ag2
Hxa8 £ie3+ 24 <&bl Axb3, with a 0-0 5 £k3 d6 6 £>c6
superior version of the combination in 6...^bd7 followed by ...e7-e5 is the
the game, as Black retains his knight) more ‘classical’ approach, although
22 Hg8+ <&h6 23 Sxc8 We3+ 24 <&c2 this was only established a couple of
Wd2+ 25 <&bl Sxc8 26 Hxc8 Wd7!, decades later!
and to parry the threat of 27...£\d2+ 7 d5 £ib8
White has to part with his rook,
leaving Black a sound pawn up.
What have we learned from this

game?
1. In the first few moves Black
creates a strong house for his king, in
which it is normally very safe.
2. Black need not be afraid of
White creating a strong pawn centre,
provided that he attacks it at the right
time, normally with ...e7-e5.
3. When the centre is opened up,
the e5 square often becomes a vital And here 7...£ia5 followed by ...c7-
transit point for the black pieces. c5 and the preparation of ...b7-b5 is
4. Black can sometimes afford to the usual plan adopted nowadays.
give up a little material in the Yates’s provocative idea is rather
different: at the cost of a couple of £tf3+ 15 Axf3 Axd4+ with a

tempi he entices the advance of the d- perfectly good position for Black.
pawn, in order to open the diagonal 13...dxc5 14 Axc5 b6 15 Ad4
for his King’s Indian bishop and also Aa6
to gain the c5 square for his knight. In the majority of cases in the
8 e4 King’s Indian this bishop is employed
After this move Black’s idea on the c8-h3 diagonal. Here we have
proves justified, as White blocks the an exception: Black wants to exploit
diagonal of his own king’s bishop and the weak d3 square in White’s
also weakens his control of d3 and f3. position.
8.. .^bd7 9 0-0 a5 16 lei Wd6
As we will see in the chapter on
standard moves, this advance has the
aim of securing c5 as a possible post
for the black knight.
10 Ae3
A further inaccuracy, after which
Black gains the opportunity to use e5
(a key point in the King’s Indian!) as
a transit square. 10 h3 would have
prevented the next move.
10.. .£ig4 11 Ad4 £ige5 12 ^xe5
£}xe5
17 Afl
The last comment is demonstrated
by the variation 17 f4 £>d3 18 e5
(after 18 Axg7 ®c5+ Black’s queen
and knight combine to give a
‘smothered’ mate) 18...Wb4 and the
b-pawn cannot be defended. White
therefore offers the exchange of
bishops, but this weakens the light
squares in the vicinity of his king.
17.. .£xfl 18 Ixfl c5 19 Axe5
After 19 dxc6?? the weakness on f3
13 c5 is immediately felt: 19...®xd4! 20
If 13 f4 Ag4 (13...£ixc4? loses to Wxd4 £>f3+.
14 &xg7 <4>xg7 15 ®d4+) 14 Wb3 19.. .Wxe5 20 Wb3 lab8 21 Wb5
If now 25 Wxe7 Black wins simply

by driving away the queen - 25.. Jlfe8
26 Wb7 - and then 25...Ae5. There¬
fore White has to defend his h2 pawn
along the rank.
25 We6+ &h8 26 f3 Wg5+ 27 <&hl
Now Black uses his control of the
dark squares to move his pieces into
attacking positions.
27...Hd6 28 Wh3 Ae5 29 Se2 Sf6
30 thdl lf4 31 ê3 Sh4 32 We6
Wh5
With threats against both the h2
and f3 pawns. White sets up a last line
21.. .f5 of defence.
White has taken his queen to the 33 £ig4
queenside in order to block the oppon¬
ent’s pawn majority there, and so
Black quite logically begins play on
the kingside.
22 Sael
Or 22 exf5 Wxf5 followed by
23...Ad4, with strong pressure on f2.
The d5 pawn would also be
vulnerable.
22.. .f4 23 Wd7 Hbd8 24 gxf4 Wxf4
33..JSxg4! 34 fxg4 2xfl+ 35 &g2

Wxh2+ 36 &xfl Whl+ 37 <4>C Ad4+
38 &g3 Wgl+ 39 &h3 Wfl+ 40 Hg2
Whl+ 41 <4>g3 Wel+ 42 <&h3 g5!
A beautiful quiet move after the
series of checks. The threat of mate at
h4 forces the white rook to abandon
its close defence of the king, and with
some further precise checks Black sets
up a mating net.
2. The advance of Black’s f-pawn

can be a very powerful attacking
weapon.
3. Control over e5 and other neigh¬
bouring dark squares can allow Black
to swing his forces over to attack the
white king.
Our final game in this chapter is

aimed at demonstrating how resilient
Black’s position can be in the King’s
Indian Defence, when all does not go
to plan in the opening.
43 lc2 «fl+ 44 &h2 «gl+ 45 White: Reuben Fine

&h3 ®hl+ 46 <4>g3 Wdl 47 Sc3 Black: Isaac Boleslavsky
Wgl+ 48 <4>h3 »fl+ 49 <4>g3 AI2+ USA v. USSR Radio Match 1945
50 <&f3 &gl+
1 d4 £>f6 2 c4 d6 3 g3 g6 4 Ag2 Ag7
5 e4 0-0 6 £ie2 e5 7 0-0
White resigns, as he is checkmated

in two more moves.
7...exd4
Some conclusions: With this move Black gives up his
1. It is not essential for Black to set strong-point in the centre, with the
up a pawn centre. The occupation of aim of gaining free play for his pieces.
the central squares by his pieces can 8 £>xd4 £k6 9 £>c2 Ae6 10 £>e3
be very effective. £>e5 11 £>a3 £>fg4
The attack on the c4 pawn has

forced the white knights to take up
somewhat awkward positions, and
now Black intends to attack the white
centre by advancing his f-pawn.
12 ^d5 c6 13 &f4 Ac8 14 Ad2 f5
15 Wb3 fxe4 16 Axe4
20.. .£tf7 21 g4 Ad7 22 «k2

The tempting 22 Axd6 £>xd6 23
Sxd6 (so that if 23...®xd6? 24 c5+)
allows Black good counterplay with
23...£>e8.
Now Black makes a desperate
attempt to gain some play on the
16...^f6 queenside, but at the cost of weak¬
A pity. After the game Boleslavsky ening his position in the centre.
showed that with 16. ..£M7 (a 22.. .a5 23 Ael a4 24 Wb4 b5 25
typically King’s Indian move), aiming cxb5 Wb6+ 26 Af2 c5 27 Sfel Sfb8
for the fine post at c5, Black could 28 ttd2 Ab5
have fully justified his opening
strategy. The point is that 17 £ie6, for
example, can be answered by
17...»e7 18 ^xf8 £>c5 19 Wdl
Wxe4 20 f3 Wd4+ 21 <4>g2 ê5, when
the white knight is lost, and Black’s
two minor pieces are much superior to
White’s rook and pawn.
17 Ag2 Wc7 18 Sadi Ag4 19 f3
Af5 20 Ab4
Now White centralises his pieces,
and with the attack on the weak d6
pawn he forces Black onto the
defensive.
Black has play against the b2 pawn, 41...Sb4 42 Wh5 AeS 43 &hl
but White is very strong on the central Sd4 44 fixd4 cxd4 45 Jtf4
files.
29 g5
Impatiently played. White could
have increased the positional pressure
with 29 h4 followed by 30 g5 and 31
£ld5, or 29 <£)e6 iLh8 30 g5 followed
by 31 £ie3 and 32 £sd5, in each case
occupying the weak d5 square.
29...<£)xg5 30 £3xg6 hxg6 31 ®xg5
Ae8 32 f4 Ha7 33 £>e3 Af7 34 f5
Black’s position looks critical, but
his king’s defences, with the g7
bishop playing a major role, prove
surprisingly resilient. 45...d3!
This tactical resource saves the
game. Black’s defences hold after 46
Exe5 dxe5 47 Axe5+ Sg7 48 ®f7
WfB, while after 46 Jtxe5+ dxe5 47
Sxe5 Ee7 48 Wxh4 d2 he even wins.
46 f6 (12 47 Axd2 ttxffi 48 ficl
©IS 49 ®xh4 Sc7 50 Sgl Hg7
34...&h7! 35 Wg4 g5 36 £>d5 ®d8

37 h4 Hxb2
Black’s plan of counterplay has
succeeded, and the worst for him is
now over.
38 Ae3 gxh4 39 &h6 Ad5 40
Axd5+ <&h8 41 Acl
Black’s defences also hold after 41
Wh5 (threatening 42 fie8+) 41...Sb8, Here, in view of the elimination of
e.g. 42 ±c6 Wg8 43 *hl Axh6 44 virtually all the material, a draw was
®xh6 Wg4. agreed.
From this game we have learned: After these introductory games,

1. In the opening Black may have which we hope have whetted the
to look for non-routine manoeuvres reader’s appetite, we will move on to
(16...£>d7!) in order to activate his a description of the standard moves in
forces. the King’s Indian Defence, of which
2. If he does not manage to activate there are one hundred and twenty in
his forces, an attack on his d6 pawn total - sixty for Black and sixty for
may force him onto the defensive. White. Once the ideas behind these
3. In the event of threats to his standard moves have been grasped,
king, Black’s defences can prove the reader may find it useful to return
surprisingly resilient, a key role being to these three games, in order to see
played by his dark-square bishop. these moves being applied.
2 The basic functions of the two armies
Before we move on to a description of the 120 standard moves, we consider it
worthwhile explaining the basic roles of the members of the black and white
armies.
In very general terms, as the reader may already know, rooks should aim for
open lines, bishops for open diagonals, and knights for strong points. The queen
likes space (which is why normally it is best not brought out too early in the
game, when the board is crowded), pawns like to advance together, opening
lines for the pieces, and the king seeks a shelter, from where it can command the
battle from the rear.
In the King’s Indian Defence these general aims take the following more
concrete form:
Functions of the black pieces
la8
• To wait at its post and support the advance of the a-pawn.
• To move to b8 to support the advance of the b-pawn.
• To move to d8 or e8 to be ready for action in the centre.
£>b8
• To move to d7 (or c6) to support the e5 pawn.
• To manoeuvre via b8-d7-c5 (or b8-a6-c5) to the c5 square, if there is no
longer a white pawn at d4.
Ac8
• To wait at its post, controlling the c8-h3 diagonal.
Wd8
• To wait at its post until the pawn formation is determined.
• Then to move out on the d8-a5 diagonal, or onto the e-file.
&e8
• To castle (as soon as the king’s bishop and king’s knight clear the way),
helping the king’s rook to move closer to the centre, and vacating the e8
square for possible manoeuvres of the queen, rook and knight.
The basic functions of the two armies 19
Af8
• To move to g7, where together with the pawns it protects the king’s position
after castling.
^g8
• To move to f6, making way for the king to castle.
Sh8
• To move to f8 (when the king castles), from where it supports the advance
of the f-pawn.
• To move on to e8, to attack the e4 pawn.
Functions of the black pawns
Aa7
• To advance to a5, controlling the b4 square and hindering b2-b4.
• To attack the b3 pawn by .. .a7-a5-a4.
• To move to a6, to support the advance of the b-pawn.
Ab7
• To stand at its post, defending the c6 pawn.
• To move to b6, defending c5.
• To advance to b5, attacking the c4 pawn.
Ac7
• To stand at its post, defending the d6 pawn.
• To move to c6, controlling the b5 and d5 squares.
• To advance to c5, attacking the d4 pawn.
Ad7
• To move to d6, to assist.. .e7-e5 or .. .c7-c5.
Ae7
• To attack the d4 pawn by .. .e7-e5.
ACT
• To attack the e4 pawn by .. .CT-f5.
Ag7
• To move to g6, making way for the bishop to go to g7.
&h7
• To wait at its post, defending the g6 pawn.
• To attack the g5 square by .. .h7-h6.
• To attack a pawn at g4 by .. ,h7-h5, or a pawn at g3 by .. .h7-h5-h4.
Functions of the white pieces
Sal
• To move to dl, defending the d4 pawn.
• To move to bl, supporting the advance of the b-pawn to b4.
£ibl
• To move to c3, defending the e4 pawn.
Act
• To move to e3, defending the d4 pawn.
• To move to g5, pinning the black knight on f6.
#dl
• To move to c2, d2 or e2, vacating its square for the rook.
<S=?el
• To wait in the centre until the pawn chains are stabilised, and then to decide
which side to castle.
Afl
• To wait at its post, develop at e2, or move into a shelter at g2.
• To defend the d4 pawn by moving to f3 (or e2).
Shi
• To move to fl in the event of kingside castling.
• To wait at its post and support the advance of the h-pawn.
The basic functions of the two armies 21
Functions of the white pawns
Aa2
• To move to a3 to assist b2-b4.
• To move to a4, attacking the b5 square.
Ab2
• To move to b3 to support the c4 pawn.
• To move to b4 to attack the c5 square.
Ac2
• To move to c4 to attack the d5 square.
Ad2
• To move to d4 to attack the squares e5 and c5.
• To advance to d5 to block the pawn at d6.
Ae2
• To move to e4 to attack the d5 square.
AD
• To wait at its post, defending the castled position.
• To move to f3 to defend the e4 pawn.
• To move to f4 to attack the e5 square.
Ag2
• To move to g3 to allow the development of the bishop at g2.
• To move to g4 to attack the squares f5 and h5.
Ah2
• To move to h3 to defend the g4 square.
• To advance h2-h4-h5 to attack the g6 pawn.
3 Standard moves in the King’s Indian
In this chapter we have first selected the thirty-six moves of the black pieces
that occur most often in the opening stage of the King’s Indian Defence. It is
useful to know the essential point of each of these moves. This is much easier
than trying to learn by heart thousands of complicated variations, and besides,
all these variations will inevitably include a selection of our ‘36 moves’, only
each time in a different order.
We then give the twenty-four most frequently occurring moves of the black
pawns, making a total of 60 moves. The point behind a particular move is
usually the same whatever the actual position on the board, although, of course,
exceptions occur. Therefore careful consideration must be given to the other
side’s moves, and logical decisions taken. If in addition to this you try to
remember the 60 standard moves of the white pawns and pieces, you will have
information of in total the 120 most frequently-occurring moves in the King’s
Indian Defence.
In the following sections we have given examples of many of these standard
moves, taken from the annotated games in Chapter 5 (Games 1-50), or from the
additional games in Chapter 6 (Games A1-A64).
36 standard moves of the black pieces
£sg8-f6 £if6-h5 £>f6-d7 £tf6-h7 <2df6-e8 £tf6-g4

£>b8-d7 £>b8-c6 £>b8-a6 £M7-f8 £>d7-c5 £>d7-e5
4}a6-c5 £\a6-c7 Af8-g7 Af8-e7 i.g7-f8 i.c8-d7
iLc8-e6 i.c8-f5 Ac8-h3 Ac8-g4 fif8-e8 Ef8-g8

Sf8-f7 fia8-b8 SaS-dS Sa8-e8 Wd8-a5 Wd8-b6
Wd8-c7 lU8-e8 Wd8-e7 0-0 &g8-h7 ‘i’gS-hs
£lg8-f6 opened for the queen, the dark-square

bishop, and the f-pawn.
The knight attacks the e4 square,
where there is often a white pawn, and
vacates g8, allowing the black king to
castle.
£>f6-h5
This move simultaneously clears three

lines - for the queen, bishop, and f-
pawn. At the same time the knight
aims for the outpost at f4 and attacks
the g3 square.
(position after 10 0-0)
In many King’s Indian positions there

is no need for Black to hurry with the
development of his queen’s bishop
and rook. Here he played 10...£if6-
d7, with the specific idea of not
allowing White to fianchetto his
queen’s bishop after b2-b3. Later the
knight took up a good post at c5
(Game 19).
(position after 10 §Lh4-g3)

^f6-h7
Black plays 10...<S^f6-h5, with the
intention of occupying the f4 outpost. This prepares ...£ih7-g5 and clears
He does not fear the discovered attack the way for a possible .. .f7-f5.
11 £lxe5 (or 11 <£)xg5) in view of
11.. .£>xg3 (Game A39).
£if6-e8
&f6-d7
This move clears three lines, for the
From here the knight attacks the c5 queen, king’s bishop and f-pawn, and
and e5 squares, and can also move on at the same time it defends the d6 and
to b6 or f8. At the same time lines are c7 squares.
White’s last move invited 9...£>f6-g4,

attacking the bishop. After 10 Ag5 f6
11 Acl Black was able to make the
thematic advance 11 ...f5 (Game 12).
^b8-d7
From here the knight attacks the c5

and e5 squares; it may also move on
to b6, f6 or f8.
(position after 10 Q\f3-d2)
Black wants to advance his f-pawn.

He prepares this with 10...£tf“6-e8, at
the same time protecting his d6 pawn
in anticipation of White’s £M2-c4
(Game A9).
^f6-g4
This knight move attacks the squares

e3? f2 and h2, and clears the way for
the f-pawn to advance.
(position after 7 d4-d5)
With 7...^b8-d7 followed by ...a7-

a5 Black secures the c5 square for his
knight (Game 34). A modem way of
achieving the same aim is by 7...a5
and .. .£>a6 (Game 30).
£>b8-c6
This defends the e5 square and attacks

(position after 9 $Lcl-e3) the white pawn on d4.
^b8-a6
This prepares ...£}a6-c5, or in some

cases ...£ia6-c7.
(position after 11 £icl-b2)
Black plays Il...£id7-c5, attacking

the e4 pawn, and also planning a
queenside offensive with ...a7-a5-a4.
(position after 7 §3gl-f3)
Black’s position is cramped. With

7...£rt>8-a6 he begins an original
manoeuvre aimed at exchanging his
passive dark-square bishop: ...Ad7,
...Wc8 and ... Ad8-b6 (Game A47).
£fcd7-f8
This may be a good defensive post for

the knight, from where it can also be
brought into the action via h7 or e6.
(position after 201%d3-c2)
£>d7-c5 Several moves later in the same game,

Black’s second knight moves to the
When the white d-pawn has advanced same square - 20...£>d7-c5. White
or been exchanged, c5 is often a good drives away the knight by 21 b4, but
post for the knight, from where it this leaves his c4 pawn weakened
attacks e4, d3, b3 and a4. (Game 17).
£id7-e5
Normally played when Black has ex¬

changed pawns ...e5xd4, this knight
move attacks the squares g4, f3? d3
and c4 .
(position after 8 $Lfl-e2)
Black’s standard plan in this type of

position is to advance his pawn to b5.
He prepares this with 8...£>a6-c7
followed by ...a7-a6 and ...2b8
(position after 17 Zhc2-e3) (Game 41).
Earlier Black’s queen’s knight

occupied c5, but was driven back by
b3-b4. Now by 17...£>d7-e5 it attacks Af8-g7
the weakened pawn at c4 (Game A5).
The characteristic move of the King’s
Indian Defence. The bishop is
£>a6-c5 developed on the long diagonal h8-al.
This is also one of the stages in
When the white pawn has moved building the ‘house’ for the king.
from d4 this can be a good post for
the knight, from where it attacks the
squares e4, d3, b3 and a4.
Af8-e7
£ia6-c7 This less aggressive development of

the bishop, which also prepares
From here the knight defends the e6 castling, characterises the Old Indian
square and attacks d5 and b5. Defence.
The King’s Indian bishop’s main

diagonal is blocked, so with
24...Ag7-f8 Black switches it to the
f8-a3 diagonal, where it later takes up
a powerful post at c5 (Game 8).
Ac8-d7
This covers the squares on the e8-a4

diagonal and enables Black to connect
his rooks.

Ac8-e6
Black opts for 6...Af8-e7. Later, after
castling and ...2e8, the bishop This move attacks the opponent’s
retreats to f8, creating pressure on the queenside (often, in particular, a pawn
e-file (Game A63). at c4) and enables Black to connect
his rooks.
Ag7-f8
With this move Black covers the

squares on the f8-a3 diagonal, and in
some cases allows his rook to come
into action on the g- or h-file.
(position after 14 %3d4-c2)
White’s last move was aimed at

countering the threat of ...a5-a4, but
after 14...Ac8-e6 15 Aal a4 16 b4
£}cd7 he was unable to defend his c4
(position after 24 §3b3-d2) pawn (Game A5).
Ac8-f5
This covers the h7-bl diagonal, in

particular the important central e4
square.
(position after 8 a2-a4)
In this type of Benoni position the c4

square is potentially a strong post for
White’s king’s knight. Therefore
(position after 12 $Lcl-a3) Black plays 8...Ac8-g4, being ready
to follow up with ...Axf3 (Game 42).
With 12...Ac8-f5 Black developed
his bishop with gain of tempo (Game Sf8-e8
1). White should have replied 13
®d2, temporarily preventing 13...e4 The rook supports the e5 pawn, and
because of the tactical trick 14 thxe4. makes a direct or potential attack on
the white e4 pawn.
Ac8-h3
This move, attacking the g2 square,

can be the culmination of an attack by
Black on the kingside.
Ac8-g4
The bishop attacks the squares on the

h5-dl diagonal, in particular f3, where
it may pin the white knight against the
queen. (position after 8 Zal-bl)
To force White to resolve the central Ha8-b8

pawn tension, Black plays 8...fif8-e8.
The drawback is that after 9 d5 the From here the rook supports the
rook may have to return to fi8, to advance of the b-pawn.
support ...f7-f5 (Game A44).
If8-g8
From here the rook aids Black’s

kingside pawn offensive by suppor¬
ting the advance of the g-pawn.
Hf8-f7
From here the rook defends the 7th

rank, and is ready to move to g7 to (position after 13 a2-a3)
support the advance of the g-pawn.
Black does not wish to exchange
...e5xd4, and ...f7-f5 is also ruled
out. He therefore plays 13...Ha8-b8,
to initiate play on the queenside by
...b7-b5 (Game 40).
Ha8-d8
When the rook is no longer required

on the a-file, Black makes it ready for
possible action in the centre.
(position after 18 U.al-cl)
To guard against a possible invasion

on cl. Black plays 18...2f8-f7. The Ha8-e8
rook might later have supported the
kingside offensive, although in fact it With this move Black completes his
found employment by doubling on the development and lends added support
c-file (Game A57). to his e-pawn.
With 15...®d8-a5 Black posts his

queen actively, exploiting the fact that
his d6 pawn is invulnerable: 16 JSxd6
£le5 17 b3 allows the surprise
combination 17...Axh3 (Game 20).
Wd8-h6
Another active post for the queen,

from where it puts pressure on the b-
file and the a7-gl diagonal.
(position after 15 h2-h3)
After his last move White is ready to

advance g2-g4. Black plays 15...2a8-
e8 to prepare the dynamic counter
.. .e5-e4 (Game A43).
Wd8-a5
From here the queen attacks White’s

queenside, and also in some cases can
switch to the kingside along the 5th
rank.
(position after 15 a2xb3)
After 15...Wd8-b6 the black queen’s

influence extended not only to the b3
pawn, but also along the diagonal to
the white king (Game 15).
Wd8-c7
A modest post for the queen, from

where it maintains protection of the
(position after 15 §5d4-e2) d6 pawn.
Moving out of the pin by 8...Wd8-e8,

Black creates the immediate threat of
9...e4 (Game 8).
Wd8-e7
From here the queen is ready for

action on the e-file, as well as the two
dark-square diagonals.
(position after 9 Rfl-dl)
Black is cramped. With 9...Wd8-c7

he moves his queen out of the line of
the white rook, and prepares the
regrouping ...£tf8-g6 (Game A21).
Wd8-e8
Often played to avoid a pin or attack

by the white bishop on the h4-d8
diagonal. The queen may later come {position after 10 $Lcl-e3)
into play on the kingside.
After the development of the white
bishop at e3 there is no longer any
threat of a pin on the a3-f8 diagonal,
and the queen can be comfortably
posted by 10...Wd8-e7 (Game 40).
0-0
With this move the king takes up

residence in its ‘house’, at the same
(position after 8 c2-c3) time making the rook ready for action.
32 Bronstein on the King's Indian
4>g8-h7 &g8-h8
From here the king lends added The king moves off the g-file and
support to the h6 square, moves off vacates the g8 square for possible
the g-file, and vacates g8 for possible manoeuvres of the black pieces.
manoeuvres of the black pieces.
{position after 14 Zal-cl)

(position after 12 Mdl-d2)
14...<4g8-h8. Moving the king into
With 12...4^8-117 Black defends his the comer allows Black’s other pieces
h6 pawn and prepares a regrouping of more manoeuvring space. Later his
his cramped forces by ...£}g8 and rook was able to make use of the g-
...£tf8 (Game 36). file (Game A41).
24 standard moves of the black pawns
a7-a6 a7-a5 a5-a4 b7-b6 b7-b5 c7-c6

c7-c5 c6xd5 d7-d6 d6xe5 d6-d5 e7-e6
e7-e5 e5-e4 e5xd4 f7-f5 f5xe4 f5-f4
g7-g6 g6xf5 g6-g5 h7-h6 h7-h5 h5-h4
a7-a6
This prevents a white knight from

going to b5 and prepares the possible
advance of the b-pawn to b5.
a7-a5
This move attacks the b4 square. The

pawn may move on to a4, to attack a
pawn at b3.
Black sets up a blockade on the

queenside with 14...a5-a4 (Game 31).
White can win a pawn by 15 Axc5
bxc5 16 £>xa4, but then 16...Ah6
gives Black active play.
b7-b6
This defends c5. Against restrained

set-ups it can prepare the development
of the light-square bishop at b7 or a6.
(position after 9 $Lg5-h4)
Black plays 9...a7-a5, to safeguard

his knight outpost at c5 (Game 34).
a5-a4
With this move Black either attacks

the white b-pawn, or fixes the b3
square after the opponent has played
a2-a3. (position after 5 f2-f3)
Black plays 5...b7-b6? to support the

advance of his c-pawn (Game 43).
But after 6 Ad3 he must beware of
6...c5?, which loses material to 7 e5.
b7-b5
With this move Black attacks the c4

pawn.
(position after 10 $Le3xd4)
After White’s time-consuming knight

manoeuvre £}gl-e2-cl it makes sense
for Black to break open the centre. He
plays 10...c7-c6, planning to follow
up with ...d6-d5 (Game A34).
c7-c5
(position after 5 e2-e4)
This move attacks the d4 pawn and
Not wishing to defend passively, allows the development of the black
Black sacrifices a pawn by 5...b7-b5, queen, usually at a5.
After 6 cxb5 and a subsequent pawn
exchange on a6 he gains active play
on the two open files against White’s
a- and b-pawns (Games A10 and
A17). This idea was a forerunner of
the Benko Gambit, in which the
sacrifice is made even earlier (1 d4
2 c4 c5 3 d5 b5).
c7-c6
This move defends the d5 and b5

squares, and allows the development
of the queen at a5, b6 or c7. (position after 6 ^hgl-f3)
With 6...c7-c5 Black strikes at the

white centre. He will answer 7 dxc5
with 7...®a5 (Game 45).
c6xd5
After the normal recapture c4xd5, this

leads to the opening of the c-file.
{position after 12 d4xeS)
Black recaptures 12...d6xe5, main¬

taining his strongpoint in the centre.
When White makes this pawn
exchange there is always the long¬
term danger of him being left with a
bad light-square bishop (Game A15).
(position after 9 d4-d5) d6-d5
To justify his experimental queen The normal aim of this move is to

development at a5, Black plays attack the c4 and e4 pawns.
9...c6xd5 10 cxd5 in order to
continue 10...b5 (Game 35).
d7-d6
With this move Black defends the e5

and c5 squares.
d6xe5
Normally played in reply to d4xe5,

this leads to an open d-file, with Black
maintaining his pawn at e5. (position after 14 b2-b3)
With 14...d6-d5 Black breaks open

the centre. White must aim to castle as
quickly as possible (Game A34).
e7-e6
This move attacks the d5 square and

allows the possible development of
the queen on the d8-h4 diagonal.
With 9...e5-e4 Black sets up a central

pawn wedge, gaining space for his
pieces on the kingside (Game A6).
e5xd4
Black removes the white d-pawn,

{position after 9 c2-c4) opening lines for his bishop on the
long diagonal and his rook on the e-
The modest-looking 9...e7-e6 is a file, as well as creating posts for his
flexible move that gives the queen a knights at e5 and c5.
comfortable post at e7. After further
preparation the pawn later advanced
to e5 (Game A33).
e7-e5
This standard King’s Indian move

attacks the d4 pawn.
e5-e4
With this move Black gains space on

the kingside, attacking the f3 and d3
squares. (position after 9 g2-g4)
White has embarked on a wing attack

before first securing his centre. With
9...e5xd4 10 ^xd4 c5 Black obtains
dynamic play for his pieces (Game
47).
f7-f5
This move attacks the e4 pawn and

threatens in some cases to advance to
f4. It can be said, without
exaggeration, that the pawn break
...f7-f5 is Black’s main threat in the
King’s Indian Defence. (position after 13 g2-g3)
13...f5xe4 was an interesting

decision, allowing White to occupy e4
with his knight. Black’s plan was to
eliminate the white d-pawn and
finally advance ...d6-d5, gaining
control of the centre (Game 27).
f5-f4
This move gains space on the kingside

and attacks the squares e3 and g3.
(position after 16 'SLfl-hl)
White is threatening to press on the

kingside with 2-g3 followed by the
advance of his h-pawn. Black makes a
bid for freedom by 16...f7-f5 17 gxf5
gxf5 18 exf5 e4, sacrificing a pawn to
activate his bishop (Game 38).
f5xe4
Black eliminates the white pawn on

e4. (position after 20 !Lf4-f2)
Fine play by the opponent has left g6-g5

Black with chronically weakened
pawns. His only chance of counter¬ With this move Black attacks the h4
play is 20...f5-f4 followed by ...g5- and f4 squares and plans the possible
g4-g3 (Game 24). follow-up ...g5-g4, attacking a pawn
at f3.
g7-g6
h7-h6
The standard King’s Indian move,
preparing the development of the With this move Black either defends
bishop at g7. the g5 square or attacks a white
bishop there.
1 g6xf5
Normally played in reply to a capture

by White on f5, this move attacks the
e4 and g4 squares.
(position after 8 Ac7-g5)
With 8...h7-h6 Black drives the

bishop back to h4, so that he always
has the option of breaking the pin on
his knight by a later ...g6-g5 (Game
A34).
(position after 11 e4xf5)
Black recaptures 16...g6xf5, main¬ h7-h5

taining control of the e4 square. He
later regrouped his knights to g6 and This move attacks the g4 square and
f6 and used the open g-file for his in some cases threatens the further
rook (Game A41). advance to h4 and h3.
h5-h4
The pawn attacks the g3 square, and

threatens in some cases to advance
further to h3, attacking the g2 pawn.
With 19...h7-h5 Black began the

advance of his pawn to h3, weakening
the light squares in the vicinity of the
white king. Later his knight from f8 (position after 14 %dl-c2)
came into play via h7 and g5 (Game
2). Black advances 14...h5-h4 followed
by 15...h3, weakening the white
king’s position (Game A6).
36 standard moves of the white pieces
£>bl-c3 £>bl-d2 £>gl-f3 £>gl-e2 &gl-h3 £if3-d2

&e2-g3 £tf3-el £\c3-e4 £>d2-b3 Afl-e2 Afl-g2
Afl-d3 Ag2-n Acl-d2 jtcl-e3 Acl-f4 Acl-g5
&cl-b2 Acl-a3 Ae3xc5 Shl-gl Sfl-el flfl-dl
fial-bl Sal-cl Sal-dl Hal-el «til-c2 •dl-d2
•dl-e2 0-0 0-0-0 êl-fl *gl-hl <&gl-h2
£>bl-c3
From here the knight defends the e4

pawn and attacks the d5 square.
^bl-d2

and c4 squares.
(position after 7...^ha6-c7)
Rather than develop his knight at f3,

White plays 8 £>gl-e2, leaving his f-
pawn free to advance later to f4
(Game A18).
£>gl-h3
This clears the way for kingside

(position after 4... 0-0) castling, the knight normally aiming
for the f2 square.
White plays 5 £d>l-d2, as he plans to
over-protect his d4 pawn by c2-c3
(Game 7).
^gl-f3
This move defends the d4 pawn,

attacks the e5 square, and clears the
way for kingside castling.
&gl-e2
This move defends the d4 pawn and

clears the way for kingside castling. (position after 6...^hb8-d7)
White has to decide on how best to

develop his kingside. Taking advan¬
tage of Black’s last move, he plays 7
£>gl-h3, planning to move the knight
the good post f2, where it covers the
e4 pawn and also g4 (Game A37).
£if3-d2
This move defends e4 and c4 and may

allow the f-pawn to advance.
(position after 11 ..Md8-a5)
White defends his attacked e4 pawn

by 12 £>e2-g3, at the same time
preparing g4-g5 without allowing the
black knight to go to h5 (Game A19).
£rf3-el
This move is normally part of a

regrouping manoeuvre that takes the
knight to d3 (or c2). It also frees the f-
pawn.
{position after 8...^hc6-a5)
White defends his attacked c-pawn by

9 £tf3-d2. He will develop his
queenside by Wc2, b2-b3 and Ab2
(Game A26).
ê2-g3

pawn and attacks the squares f5 and
h5. (position after 8...Zhc6-e7)
White plays 9 £tf3-el, switching his Afl-e2

knight to the effective central square
d3, and (in anticipation of Black’s The bishop moves to a modest square,
...f7-f5) allowing his f-pawn to preparing kingside castling.
advance (Game A41).
Afl-g2
£k3-e4
The bishop moves to a ready-made
From here the knight blocks the e5 post on the long diagonal, preparing
pawn and attacks the d6 pawn and kingside castling.
several of the dark squares in the
opponent’s position (the same applies Afl-d3
to £M2-e4 and to the capture by the
knight on e4). This defends the e4 pawn and
prepares kingside castling.
£id2-b3
From here the knight defends the

squares d4 and c5.
(position after 6...b7-b6)
White played 7 Afl-d3, when Black’s

planned 7...c5 encountered the
unexpected 8 e5, winning material
(position after 12...f7-f5) (Game A36).
With 13 ^d2-b3 White supports the Ag2-fl

advance of his pawn to c5, while also
incidentally allowing his bishop to Normally played to switch the bishop
retreat in the event of ...f5-f4 (Game to a more promising post if the long
29). diagonal is blocked.
Developing the bishop at e3 would

invite an attack on it by ...f7-f5-f4.
White therefore plays 11 Acl-d2
(Game 37).
Acl-e3
This defends the d4 pawn and in some

cases prepares queenside castling.
Acl-f4
(position after 15...Q$b8-a6) From here the bishop attacks the e5

and d6 squares.
At g2 White’s bishop is blocked by
his own central pawns. He plays 16
Ag2-fl to bring it into action on the
queenside, where the main battle is
about to develop (Game 35).
&cl-d2
A modest post for the bishop, but one

from where it covers two diagonals.
(position after 11 ...c7-c6)
White’s strategy is aimed at removing

the strong knight from c5. He plays 12
Acl-f4, threatening 13 £>b3 (Game
18).
Acl-g5
This attacks (and often pins) the

knight on f6 and in some cases
(position after 10...§5f6-h5) prepares queenside castling.
With 4 Acl-b2 White makes an

additional attack on the e5 square,
although this did not prevent Black
from later advancing his e-pawn
(Game A6).
ikcl-a3
From here the bishop attacks the

squares on the a3-f8 diagonal.
(position after 5... 0-0)
6 Acl-g5 tries to inhibit Black’s

counterplay by the potential pin on his
knight. Thus 6...e5? loses material
after 7 dxe5 dxe5 8 Wxd8 3Sxd8 9
(Game A23).
Acl-b2
The bishop defends the d4 pawn and (position after 15...b6xa5)

puts pressure on the long diagonal.
A bishop is normally a slightly better
piece than a knight, but sometimes
one has to make the exchange. White
plays 16 Acl-a3 ^c5 17 Axc5 dxc5,
when he obtains a strong pawn in the
centre that is constantly threatening to
advance (Game A28).
Ae3xc5
This exchange (normally of a black

knight) is aimed at increasing White’s
(position after 3...g7-g6) control of the central light squares.
With 20 Shl-gl White occupies the

open file directly opposite the black
king (Game 46).
Sfl-el
From here the rook defends the e4

pawn.
(position after 21 ...fl/Sx/5)
With 22 Ae3xc5 2xc5 23 £>de4

White takes control of the e4 square,
leaving the black bishop boxed in
(Game 49).
Bhl-gl
(position after 12...tkc8-b7)
This move is normally made to
occupy an open file. White completes his development
with 13 Sfl-el while maintaining the
tension, leaving Black in an
uncomfortable position (Game A49).
Sfl-dl
This defends the d4 pawn and exerts

pressure on the d-file.
fial-bl
From here the rook supports the

(position after 19...h7-h6) advance of the pawn to b4.
White plays 14 Sal-cl, with the

intention of later advancing his pawn
to c5 and opening the c-file (Game
A41).
Sal-dl
With this move White defends his d4

pawn and exerts pressure on the d-
file.
(position after 7...0-0)
With 8 Sal-bl White moves his rook

off the diagonal of the black bishop,
planning to expand later on the
queenside by b2-b4 (Game A44).
Sal-cl
From here the rook occupies an open

file or supports the advance of the
pawn to c5. (position after 14...^hd7-c5)
With 15 Sal-dl (threatening 16

Axc5 dxc5 17 d6) 15...£>a6 16 £ia4
White forces the opponent to block
the queenside by 16...c5, after which
his hands are freed for manoeuvres on
the kingside (Game 39).
Sal-el
From here the rook defends the e4

pawn and prepares for action in the
(position after 13...Q\d7-f6) centre.
With 9 Wdl-c2 White adds support to

his e4 pawn and allows his queen’s
rook to come into play at dl (Game
A25).
Wdl-d2
The queen supports the dark-square

bishop, allows the rooks to become
connected, and prepares for possible
queenside castling.
(position after 14...$Lg4-d7)

Wdl-e2
In anticipation of the opening of lines
on the kingside after his planned f2- The queen moves off the back rank,
f4, White brings his last piece into allowing the rooks to become
play - 15 Sal-el (Game 24). connected, and defends the c4 and e4
pawns.
Wdl-c2
The queen moves off the back rank,

defending the e4 pawn.
(position after 8... 0-0)
White needs to take his king into

safety. He plays 9 Wdl-e2, planning
Ae3, after which he can castle
{position after 8... 0-0) kingside (Game A20).
0-0
The king moves into a safer position

and allows the king’s rook comes into
play.
0 0-0
-
The king moves to a safer position

and brings the queen’s rook into play
on a central file.
(position after 19...Qse8-c7)
White wants to connect his rooks, but

without moving his rook off the h-file.
He therefore plays 20 ‘i’el-fl, and
later moves his king to g2 (Game
A19).
&gl-hl
The king moves off the gl-a7

diagonal.
(position after 16...^hb8-d7)
To bring his queen’s rook into the

attack, White plays 17 0-0-0. The
possible opening of the c-file does not
concern him, as his king will be safe
enough at bl (Game A42).
The king moves away from possible

threats on the a5-el diagonal or the e-
file. (position after 10...'Sif8-e8)
White plans to advance his f-pawn.

To avoid a possible pin on the dark-
square diagonal, he first plays 11
<4>gl-hl (Game 21).
&gl-h2
The king moves off the gl-a7

diagonal, normally lending added
protection to a pawn on h3.
White consolidates his king’s position

by 21 &gl-h2 (Game A3). (position after 20...O\d5-f6)
24 standard moves of the white pawns
a2-a3 a2-a4 b2-b3 b2-b4 c2-c4 c4-c5

c4xd5 d2-d4 d4-d5 d4xc5 d4xe5 e2-e4
e2-e3 e4-e5 e4xd5 e4xf5 f2-f3 f2-f4
g2-g3 g2-g4 g4xf5 h2-h3 h2-h4 h4-h5
a2-a3
This prepares the advance of the fa-

pawn to b4.
To make progress on the queenside

White has to evict the black knight
from c5. He does this with 12 a2-a3
followed by b3-b4 (Game A44).
(position after 11 ...h7-h5)

a2-a4
With this move White gains space on

the queenside and attacks the b5
square.
(position after 18...&g7-f6)
With the temporary pawn sacrifice 19

b2-b4 White breaks open the queen¬
side and invades there (Game A64).
(position after 6...a7-a6) c2-c4
To prevent Black’s queenside This attacks the d5 square.

expansion by ...b7-b5 White plays 7
a2-a4, even though this concedes c4-c5
control of the b4 square after 7...a5
(Game A45). This advance attacks the d6 pawn.
b2-b3
This move protects the c4 pawn and

allows the development of the bishop
at b2 or a3.
b2-b4
This move attacks the c5 square and

in some cases supports the advance of
the pawn to c5. (position after 15...^hc6-e7)
White plays 16 c4-c5, with the idea of

opening the c-file for his rooks. In the
endgame his bishops may become a
powerful force (Game A31).
c4xd5
White captures a pawn on d5.
(position after 6...e7-e5)
As in similar positions, taking on e5

does not bring White any benefit. He
plays 7 d4-d5, gaining space and
stabilising the pawn structure (Game
49).
(position after 9...d6-d5) d4xc5
With his king not yet castled, White White captures a pawn on c5.
prefers to block the e-file with 10
c4xd5 cxd5 11 e5, rather than to open
it by 10 exd5 (Game 22).
d2-d4
This pawn move occupies a central

square and attacks the e5 and c5
squares.
d4-d5
This blocks the d6 pawn and gains

White space on the queenside. (position after 6...c7-c5)
White accepts the pawn offer with 7

d4xc5 dxc5 8 Wxd8 Hxd8 9 &xc5.
He must continue energetically,
otherwise Black’s initiative may
become dangerous (Game A52).
d4xe5
White captures a pawn on e5, usually

with the aim of opening the d-file.
(position after 7...0-0)
White’s standard plan is to occupy the

centre with 8 e2-e4, even though it
blocks the main diagonal of his king’s
bishop (Games A13 and A14).
e2-e3
With this move White supports his d4

pawn.
(position after 14...b7-b5)
The opponent’s queenside activity is

of little concern to White, as the black
kingside pieces are passively placed.
With 15 d4xe5 followed by the
exchange of the dark-square bishops
he gains an advantage in the centre
(Game Al).
e2-e4
The pawn occupies a central square

and attacks the d5 and f5 squares. (position after 5...£Lf8-e7)
A difficult variation for Black. White

supports his d4 pawn by 6 e2-e3, and
maintains control of e4 with his pieces
(Game A50).
e4-e5
This attacks the d6 pawn and the f6

square, and vacates the e4 square for
the white pieces.
(position after 14...$Lg7-f8)
White has to find the best way of

resolving the central tension. He plays
15 e4xd5 cxd5 16 £>cb5, when his
minor pieces on the queenside are
actively placed, and Black has still to
complete his development (Game 21).
e4xf5
White captures a pawn on f5.

(position after 25..Mc7-d8)
White has strong pressure on the d-

and f-files. With 26 e4-e5 he releases
his knight and light-square bishop,
which quickly forces a decision
(Game 18).
e4xd5
With this move White normally

captures a pawn on d5. (position after 13...^he8-c7)
After covering the e6 square, Black is

threatening to expand on the kingside
with ...f5-f4. White plays 14 e4xf5,
with the idea after 14...gxf5 15 f4 e4
of blockading the passed e-pawn
(Game A27).
£2-f3
This defends the e4 pawn and the g4

square.
(position after 16...b6xc5)
Despite the opponent’s two bishops,

White is not afraid of opening the
position by 17 £2-f4, as all his pieces
are excellently placed (Game 24).
g2-g3
This defends the f4 square and allows

the development of the bishop at g2.
{position after 5...&f8-g7)
White has a wide choice of plans. He

opts for 6 f2-f3 0-0 7 Ag5, securing
his centre and deferring for the
moment the decision of how to
develop his kingside (Game A46).
G-f4
With this move White attacks the e5

square. (position after 7...Zhf6-h5)
White takes away the black knight’s

outpost at f4 by 8 g2-g3, planning to
leave his king in the centre and attack
on the kingside by h2-h4 (Game 33).
g2-g4
With this move White attacks the f5

and h5 squares (g3-g4 has similar
aims).
(position after 16...f7-f5)
White plays 17 g4xf5 gxf5 18 exf5,

opening the g-file against the
opposing king, although this also
allows Black to activate his pieces
(Game 46).
h2-h3
This move defends the g4 square.
(position after 7...^hb8-d7)
In accordance with his plan, White

continues 8 g2-g4, preventing ...£>h5
and cramping Black on the kingside
(Game A19).
g4xf5
White captures a pawn on f5, with the

aim of opening the g-file. (position after 11...&.c8-d7)
White is planning to cramp Black still begins a direct storming of the

further with f2-f4. He precedes this kingside by 9 h2-h4 (Game A35).
with 12 h2-h3, denying the black
pieces access to g4 (Game A18).
h4-h5
h2-h4 With this move White attacks the g6

pawn.
The pawn attacks the g5 square and
may move on further to h5.
(position after 14...a7-a5)
{position after 8... 0-0) Supported by his rook, White plays 15

h4-h5, planning to weaken the black
Black’s artificial opening play has left king’s defences by a later hxg6 (Game
him in a difficult position. White 33).
4 Test positions
To test your understanding of Black’s standard King’s Indian moves, we present
here a number of test positions. The solutions are to be found on pages 202-205.
Test 1 focuses on an important moment in the opening - the advance of the

black e-pawn, and when it is, or is not, possible.
Test 2 gives a number of more general positions, from the opening to the
middlegame. We must emphasise that these are not ‘Black to play and win’
positions; in each case you are required to find one of the 60 standard black
moves explained in the previous chapter.
Test 1 Is ...e7-e5 possible? (1.1-1.8)
After Black has prepared a shelter for his king, his next important problem is to
contest the centre. Usually (but not always) the best way of doing this will be by
advancing his pawn to e5. Here are eight opening positions where it is Black to
move, and he has to decide: is .. .e7-e5 possible?
1.1 1.2
1 d4 £>f6 2 c4 g6 3 £>c3 Ag7 4 e4 d6 1 d4 2 c4 g6 3 £ic3 Ag7 4 e4 d6

5 £tf3 0-0 6 Ae2 5 Ae2 0-0 6 Ag5
1.3 1.5
1 d4 2 c4 g6 3 £>c3 Ag7 4 e4 d6 1 £>D £>f6 2 g3 g6 3 b3 Ag7 4 Ab2

5 f3 0-0 6 Ae3 £>c6 7 £>ge2 a6 8 Wd2 0-0 5 i.g2 d6 6 d4 c6 7 c4 £>bd7 8
Hb8 9 i.h6 0-0
1.4 1.6
1 £lf3 £tf6 2 b4 d6 3 d4 g6 4 c4 Ag7 1 d4 £>f6 2 ^lf3 g6 3 Ag5 i.g7 4

5 Ab2 0-0 6 £3bd2 a5 7 a3 £>bd2 d6 5 e3 0-0 6 i.d3 <S3bd7 7 0-0
h6 8 Ah4
Test positions 59
1.7 1.8
1 d4 £)f6 2 c4 g6 3 £>c3 Lgl 4 e4 d6 1 d4 £>f6 2 c4 d6 3 £>c3

5f3
Test 2 Find the typical manoeuvre (2.1 -2.18)
2.1 2.2
(position after 8 d4-d5) {position after 10 ^h/3-el)
How should Black react to the How does Black activate his game?
blocking of the centre?
2.3 2.5
(position after 25 f2-f3) (position after 28 Zhc3-dl)
Black clearly has the initiative on Black’s blockade is so strong that

the queenside. How does he make up till now he has not required the
further progress? use of his queenside pieces...
2.4 2.6
(position after 9 §5e2-cl) (position after 11 £ig2-hl)
White is planning to play his knight White has just declined the ex¬
to b3 and then complete the change of bishops. How does Black
development of his kingside. But maintain his forces in their
doesn’t this all look rather slow? attacking positions?
Test positions 61
2.7 2.9
(position after 22 ^hf3-h2) (position after 10 b2-b3)
Black’s pieces are compactly White’s last move has left him
arranged, rather like a compressed vulnerable on the long diagonal.
spring. Does the exotic position of How best does Black take advan¬
the white king suggest a way to tage of this?
uncoil it?
2.10
2.8
(position after 8 t&gl-e2)

(position after 16 h3-h4)
White has mobilised all his minor
White has begun a kingside pawn pieces. Is there any drawback to
storm. How should Black react? such an ideal development?
2.11 2.13
(position after 19 Mc2xd3) (position after 15 §5d4-e2)
Black’s d-pawn is under fire. With his last move White made a
Should he passively defend it, or is discovered attack on the backward
there some other, more active d6 pawn. Does Black have to
option? defend it?
2.12 2.14
(position after 15 §5e2-g3) (position after 13 &e2-fl)
Black’s forces are fully mobilised. Black’s position is cramped. Is

How does he give them more there any way for him to relieve the
scope? pressure?
Test positions 63
2.15 2.17
(position after 12 b2-b3) (position after 8 d4-d5)
Black’s h-pawn is attacked. Should White has set up an imposing pawn

he defend it, or is there something centre, but at the expense of his
more positive he can undertake? development. How can Black best
take advantage of this?
2.16 2.18
(position after 12 0-0-0) (position after 15 g4-g5)
Has White won the battle for the d4 Black’s knight is attacked. How
square? should he respond to this threat?
5 The King’s Indian in action
Presented here are fifty King’s Indian games played by David Bronstein, played
over a time-span of more than half a century. Many of these games, as well as
those in the following chapter of 64 additional games, are fairly old. However,
this is by no means a bad thing: such games demonstrate the basic ideas more
clearly, whereas present-day grandmasters are well familiar with the plans
available, and so their games turn out to be much more complex. Therefore for
beginners it is better to study old games, even if to modem experts they may
seem somewhat primitive.
To facilitate the assimilation of the material, we have divided up the games into
seven sections, depending on the central pawn formation and on the relative
placing of the kings:
• Restrained set-up by White (p.65)

• White exchanges d4xe5 (p.82)
• Black captures .. .e5xd4 (p.91)
• White closes the centre with d4-d5 (p. 112)
• The central tension in maintained (p. 147)
• Benoni set-ups (p. 152)
• White castles queenside (p. 164)
A familiarity with the standard King’s Indian moves, and the ideas behind them,
which were explained in Chapter 3, will make it easier for the reader to follow
these games. Basically every game (at least in the opening stage) is made up of
the standard moves, performed in various orders. The difficulty in playing the
King’s Indian, or indeed any other opening, is the fact that you have an
opponent with his own ideas, which you are trying to counter.
Restrained set-up by White
In this section we will examine several games where White adopts a restrained
set-up, i.e. without an early occupation of the centre with e2-e4. Black’s
successes in this type of position led to the adoption of a similar King’s Indian
set-up by White, and an example of the so-called King’s Indian Attack is
provided by the last game in this chapter.
Game 1
White: Sergey Belavenets
Black: David Bronstein
USSR Championship Semi-Final
Rostov-on-Don 1941
This game with Sergey Belavenets -

one of the most talented Soviet play¬
ers and a wonderful man -1 give with
a heavy heart. At the very time when
the participants in the Rostov Semi-
Final of the USSR Championship
were sitting at the chess board and
considering their moves, on the 13 Wb2
Western borders of our State the A poor move, after which White’s
German soldiers were awaiting the kingside is tom to pieces. He should
order to invade. And it followed very have played 13 Wd2, after which the
soon... That war cost many more advance ...e5-e4 would have been
lives than are recorded in the history hindered (13...e4? 14 ^xe4), and he
books. My partner never again return¬ could then have continued d4-d5 with
ed to the chess board. He perished in a roughly equal game.
battle in the first year of the War. 13...Had8 14 Ifdl e4
With this move Black splits the
1 d4 £if6 2 c4 d6 3 £>c3 e5 4 *hf3 board in two, and he takes on the
&bd7 5 g3 g6 6 ±g2 7 0-0 0-0 8 obligation to mate the opposing king.
b3 Ie8 9 e3 c6 10 Wc2 tta5 11 a4 White in turn concentrates all his
SMB 12 Aa3 Jtf5 forces on the queenside. The question
White has employed a quiet system is: who will get there first?
of development, which does not claim 15 ^d2 16 b4 Wc7 17 Idbl
to ‘refute’ the King’s Indian. mi
21...&g4 22 4M1 White holds on) 22

Ag2 Af3 23 &xD exG 24 Afl £>h3+
25 *hl Wh5! 26 Hcl £>g4 27 Sc2
£>f4 28 h4 Af6! followed by ...Axh4
and wins.
21...£tal5 22 b5 Ag4
With this strong move Black
creates a double threat: an attack on
the knight and a knight check at h3.
23 <&fl
Since the planned defence 23 £}f4
would have been refuted by 23...^xf4
24 exf4 (24 gxf4 Ah3) 24...e3 25 fxe3
Black dutifully repeats a lesson that £>h3+ 26 &g2 Hxe3 27 Sel Wd5+,
he had learned. I had many times seen my partner made an altogether un¬
such a set-up in games from tourna¬ fortunate move with his king, which
ments in Kiev. In my opinion, that was equivalent to resigning the game.
evening White was thinking about 23.J2>xe3+ 24 &el £tf3+
something more important than a
game of chess.
18 c5 £>g5 19 cxd6 Ah3 20 Ahl
WB
The description of this game stirred

in my memory some personal recol¬
lections of those distant years. In the
Ukrainian Championship of 1940 I
21 ê2 finished second, achieved the master
This move evidently involved an norm, and should have become the
oversight, but even after 21 b5 youngest (at that time) chess master in
Black’s attack would clearly have got the USSR. But the procedure of awar¬
there first, e.g. 21..Jtg4! (after ding titles was not then a formality.
The Supreme Qualification Commis¬ master Henry Bird. What is interest¬

sion headed by Belavenets (his deputy ing is that I thought I was playing
was Vasily Smyslov) made a serious alone that evening. Recently, brows¬
study of my games and came to a ing through the tournament bulletin, I
positive decision. And here, as Sergey was pleasantly surprised to discover
Belavenets sat with his head in his that Grigory Ravinsky, playing along¬
hands, surveying his wrecked posi¬ side, had also employed Bird’s
tion, he suddenly exclaimed: ‘Yes, we Defence. An amazing coincidence in
were right to award you the master the choice of opening!
title!’, and he stopped the clocks.
1 d4 £if6 2 c4 d6 3 £>c3 e5 4 e3
Game 2 £>bd7 5 £>f3 g6 6 Ae2 Ag7 7 b3 0-0
White: Alexander Tolush 8 Ab2 Se8 9 Wc2 c6 10 0-0 Wa5 11
Black: David Bronstein Hfdl £>«
13th USSR Championship
Moscow 1944
Beginning in 1944 and right up to

1975 I played in many of the USSR
Championships. This first-round game
with Alexander Tolush marked my
debut in these important events. This
tournament was held in the October
Hall of the House of Soviets. Every
evening the auditorium was full, and
among the spectators were many in
uniform with indications that they
were injured. They had come from the
hospital with the desire for one 12 a3
evening of being involved in the for¬ White is preparing a pawn offen¬
gotten world of peace. I sensed their sive on the queenside. To counter this,
mood and every evening I did my Black begins an attack on the king-
utmost to create sharp combinative side. White could have cleared the
games, so that it would be interesting situation in the centre by exchanging
for the spectators. pawns 12 dxe5 dxe5 and then playing
On 7th June, when it was announ¬ 13 £}g5 with the intention of 4}g5-e4-
ced on the radio that the second front d6. But then Black has the tactical
had been opened, I did my utmost, in trick 13...e4, and the pawn cannot be
my game against Smyslov, by taken by either knight in view of the
employing the defence of the English loss of a piece. It is interesting to see
68 Bronstein on the King }s Indian
whose attack will prove more always the threat of ...Axh3 or

effective. What is important is speedy ...£}xh3, to say nothing of the pawn
and decisive action. attack ...g6-g5-g4.
12...e4 13 £>d2 Af5 14 b4 Wc7 15 27 Ae7 Axe2 28 Wxe2 Hdc8 29
fofl d5 16 cxd5 cxd5 17 Wb3 Sed8 &xf6 Axf6 30 £ic5 b6
18 Sdcl We7 19 a4
31 axb6
19...h5 Black was not afraid of 31 g4 in
In three successive moves the black view of the variation 31...£rf3+ 32
h-pawn advances to h3, creating Wxf3 Wxf3 33 £>xf3 bxc5 34
weaknesses in the light squares in the Axe5 35 dxe5 c4.
vicinity of the white king. The 31...axb6 32 Sxa8 Sxa8 33 £ia6
advance of the h-pawn is also useful Ae7 34 &fl Sc8 35 Wdl Sxcl 36
in providing a convenient escape Wxcl
square for the black king, and at the
same time in such positions the h7
square can serve as a transit point for
the knight at f8.
20 a5 h4 21 Aa3 h3 22 g3 £>8h7
23 ^d2 £ig5 24 b5 We6 25 £>a4 Ag4
26 Wdl Wf5
The black queen is aiming to
penetrate to the g2 square. White, in
turn, is hoping to win the battle on the
queenside. Perhaps he should not have
allowed the black h-pawn to advance
so far, but after h2-h3 there was
36...&g7 Game 3
Both players were in severe time White: Grigory Ravinsky
trouble, and Black was unable to cal¬ Black: David Bronstein
culate the consequences of 36...£lf3 Moscow Championship 1946
37 £lxf3 #xD 38 #c8+ &g7 39
#xh3. He saw 39.. JTdl+ and White’s Some incidental facts may be of
reply 40 <A’g2. At the same time Black interest: In May 1941 Ravinsky and I
had the possibility of giving check simultaneously received the master
from the other side - 39...#111+, after title. We also have the same
which there is a forcing variation: 40 patronymic (Ionovich). The game
<4>e2 #bl 41 #d7 #d3+ 42 &el Aa3 Ravinsky-Panov (Moscow 1943)
and there is no defence against the appears in Reuben Fine’s book The
manoeuvre ...Jla3-b2-c3. Including Middle Game in Chess.
the white queen in the defence does The present game is a good demon¬
not help: 43 #g4 Ab2 44 #e2 #bl+ stration of piece coordination.
45 #dl Ac3+ 46 <&'e2 #xb5+ and
mate next move. 1 d4 £if6 2 c4 d6 3 g6 4 £>c3
37 #c7 Af6 38 $\b4 39 ^xf3 Ag7 5 Af4 £>bd7 6 e3 0-0 7 Wc2 c6
#xf3 40 &el #hl+ 8 Ae2 Se8 9Hdl Wa5 10 0-0
Here the game was adjourned.

White sealed 41 &e2 but resigned 10...£tfi5 11 Ag5 £rf8 12 a3 h6 13
without resuming. b4 Wc7 14 Ah4 Af5
After 41...#xh2 42 £lxd5 #g2 43 Provoking e3-e4, when Black
#f4 Ad8 44 #e5+ f6 the h3 pawn would have the f4 square for his
promotes unhindered. There is also a knight.
quieter variation: 41...#bl 42 #c3 15 Wb3 g5 16 ^d2 Ag6 17 Ag3
Ae7 43 &c2 #xb5+, winning a pawn. f5 18 c5+ &h8
24 e4
White is attacking the pawn on d6.
He now begins an offensive in the
centre, and Black replies on the
kingside.
What is typical for this type of
position? The moves ...f5-f4 and ...g5-
g4 are typical (it is unusual, however,
that the black pawn remains at e7).
Later, exploiting the fact that his king
has moved into the comer, Black
transfers his rook to a more active
position - g8, from where, as though
by X-ray, it begins probing the g2
Black succeeds in exchanging one square.
of the white bishops for his knight, 24...f4 25 Jtf2 g4 26 £>e2 Sg8
and this subsequently helps him to
carry out a fine attack. White decides
to exchange his e2 bishop and leave
his g3 bishop in place, to counter the
bishop at g7.
19 &xh5 &xh5 20 Scl Wd7 21
£>c4 SLH 22 Sfdl £>g6 23 f3 Sad8
Black has advanced the pawns in

front of his king, but his minor pieces
have moved into their place.
27 d5 cxd5 28 exd5 dxc5 29 Axc5
gxf3 30 Wxf3 Axd5 31 £>xf4
White was not obliged to take on f4
(instead he could have played his
Black has concentrated his rooks in queen to h5), but he quickly carried
the centre (as has White), and his out a combinative series of moves,
bishops are very well placed. leading to what he thought was a
favourable position. He may have Game 4

thought that 31 £ixf4 would be a White: Andrey Batuyev
surprise. Black: David Bronstein
Leningrad 1947
My partner in this game was a man of

varied interests. Apart from being a
chess master and trainer, he was a
singer, and also wrote several popular
books about animals.
1 d4 £>f6 2 g6 3 ±f4 ±g7 4 e3

0-0 5 h3 b6 6 ^bd2 Ab7 7 Ad3 d6 8
0-0 &bd7
31.. .Axf3 32 £ixg6+ &h7 33 Sxd7

Sxd7 34 £>xe7
It appears that White cut short his
calculations at this point, but Black
had seen a little further.
34.. .2xe7 35 Axe7 Ad4+ 36 &fl
Hxg2 (at last!) 37 <i?el Ee2+
Neither side is in a hurry. Note the

typical situation: White has occupied
four ranks, Black has occupied three,
and there is a separation zone, free of
pieces and pawns. Who will be the
first to begin an attack?
9 We2 a6 10 e4 £>h5 11 Ah2 e5 12
c3 13 Axf4 exf4 14 g4
White has deliberately provoked
White resigns the manoeuvre ...£>f6-h5-f4 and with
14 g4 he decides to block the position.
He then creates a strong pawn chain (a 22 Af5

la Philidor!), but unexpectedly in this Perhaps this move was not the best,
closed position there began some but as the great Paul Morphy once
amazing combinations, which demon¬ replied, when asked about a not
strate the beauty of chess. altogether correct combination that he
had carried out: ‘Gentlemen, but I had
to do something! ’
22...gxf5 23 gxf5 <£ixd4 24 ^xd4
Axe5
14...Se8 15 Sfel £>f8 16 fiadl

Wd7 17 ®fl £se6 18 ttg2 !ad8
It will be noted that Black
centralises his rooks before the storm
breaks. 25 Hxe5
19 Wh2 d5 20 e5 c5 21 &c6 Here White failed to exploit a good
opportunity - 25 <2}xc6 Wxc6 26
Wg2+ &h8 27 <4?hl followed by Wfi
and ^h2 with an unclear game. In the
heat of the battle he captured on e5,
and was lured into a pretty combin¬
ation with an exchange of blows.
What told in the end was his weak¬
ness on the long light-square diagonal.
25...Hxe5 26 lrxf4 f6 27 £\e6
lxe6 28 Wg4+ &h8 29 fxe6 ®d6 30
<5^g3 Sg8 31 We2 d4 32 c4 Hxg3+ 33
fxg3 Wxg3+ 34 &fl i.f3
White resigns
7...c6 8 Ad2 Se8 9 Scl h6 10 Wc2

â6 11 Sfdl £k5 12 b4 £ie6 13 e3
^h7 14 d4
Game 5
White: Vitaly Chekhover
Black: David Bronstein 14...£ieg5
USSR Championship Semi-Final Exploiting White’s rather passive
Leningrad 1947 play, Black has carried out the plan of
manoeuvring his queen’s knight to g5
Although this game begins life as an (£ib8-a6-c5-e6-g5).
English Opening, the position reached 15 &xg5 ^xg5 16 d5 cxd5 17
after White’s 14th move is un¬ cxd5 Ag4 18 Sfl £tf3+
mistakably a King’s Indian.
1 c4 £if6 2 £k3 e5 3 £>f3 d6 4 g3 g6

5 Ag2 Ag7 6 0-0 0-0 7 d3
A rare instance of Black being able

to exploit the weakness of the f3
square. As a result, I was able to
exchange the opponent’s dark-square
74 Bronstein on the Kings Indian
bishop (Chekhover did not want to

give up his light-square bishop).
19 &hl £}xd2 20 ®xd2 Wb6 21
a3 Ad7 22 lc2 Sac8 23 flfcl lc7 24
&gl fiec8 25 Afl f5 26 £>e2 a6 27
Hxc7 Sxc7 28 Hxc7 Wxc7
The result is an ending in which
Black has two bishops, and White a
bishop and knight.
29 e4 *f7 30 We3 Wc8
43...b5
Another precise move, fixing the
weakness of the white pawn at b4 and
the a8-hl diagonal. White is forced to
allow the black king forward, and he
proves to be completely helpless.
44 axb5 axb5 45 Ad3 e4 46 Ac2
&e5 47 Ab3 ®xd6 48 4tf4 Wd2+ 49
&h3 Wcl 50 Adi Axf4 51 gxf4+
<&d6 52 We2 Wxf4 53 Wh2 ®xh2+
Looking at this position, you gain 54 &xh2 &e5 55 h5 &f6 56 4>g3
the impression that White is alright. *g5 57 *f2 f4 58 &g2 Ae8 59 Ac2
But this is deceptive. Black is Ac6 60 Adi e3+
pressing on the light squares, he has
the open c-file, and most important,
his dark-square bishop, which has no
opponent, is capable of developing
great energy.
31 h4 h5 32 exf5 gxf5 33 ®f3 <&g6
34 &h2 Ah6 35 Wd3 Ab5 36 Wdl
<&f6 37 a4 Ae8 38 f4 Wc4 39 fxe5+
dxe5 40 d6 Ad7 41 £sf4
The sealed move, after which Black
carries out a very strong manoeuvre -
check with the queen at a2 followed
by 42...frd2.
41...1ra2+ 42 £>g2 Wd2 43 Wxh5 White resigns
Game 6 for having been delayed until the early

White: A tanas Kolarov middlegame.
Olympiad, Moscow 1956
Black’s win in this game helped him

to achieve the overall best score at the
Moscow Olympiad - 11 points from
13 games.
1 d4 £if6 2 g6 3 g3 Ag7 4 Ag2

0-0 5 0-0 d6 6 b3 Ag4 7 Ab2 Wc8
White has employed the double
fianchetto against Black’s King’s
Indian. In reply Black has not hurried
to play ...e7-e5, but has employed the
unusual plan of gaining control of the 14 dxe5 dxe5 15 ^fd2 We6 16
c8-h3 diagonal to exploit the weak¬ ê4 b6 17 f3 f5 18 fxg4 fxe4 19
ness of the h3 square. Axe4 Ead8 20 We3
White has won a pawn and at first
sight he appears to have a good
position. However, with his control of
the centre and the d- and f-files, Black
quickly seizes the initiative and soon
all his pieces are impending over the
white king.
20...£id4 21 Sadi Wxg4
8 Eel a5 9 a4 £>c6 10 £>bd2 Ah3

11 Ahl h6
An essential move, not allowing
the opponent’s knight to attack the
bishop from g5.
12 Wcl g4 13 ^c4 e5
This thematic move is no weaker
The strong position of the black

knight forces White to give up his
dark-square bishop for it, but after this
the e-file is opened, the bishop at g7
begins operating at full strength, and
Black’s attack aimed at f2 and fl
becomes even more dangerous.
22 Axd4 exd4 23 Wd3 Sde8 24
£id2 &h8 25 Af3 We6 26 We4 Wf6
27 Wc6 Wg5 28 £te4 We3+ 29 £>f2
He6 30 Wd5 c6
8...£a6
White has played the quiet London
Variation, a favourite of Capablanca.
Here the impression is that Black has
a good light-square bishop, which can
move between his pawns. However,
its white opposite number is also cap¬
able of carrying out similar functions,
and so Black decides to exchange the
bishops - this was the correct decis¬
ion. It turns out that White’s dark-
Now if 31 Wc4 Black has a forced square bishop does not stand as well
win by 31...2xf3 32 exf3 Wxel+ 33 as its opponent - it runs up against the
Sxel lixel+ 34 Wfl Sxfl mate. d6 pawn, which is well defended. This
Therefore White resigned. factor ensures me a pleasant game.
9 Axa6 £ixa6 10 0-0 Wd7 11 We2
Game 7 £k7
White: Igor Bondarevsky Black is now preparing to exchange
Black: David Bronstein pawns on d4, and after the recapture
31st USSR Championship e3xd4 to play a knight to d5 followed
Leningrad 1963 by ...b6-b5, obtaining a very good
game. And in the event of c3xd4 the
This game was awarded the prize for c-file would have been opened to his
the best game of the Championship. advantage. Therefore Bondarevsky
employs a new plan: he exchanges
1 d4 ^f6 2 £rf3 g6 3 Af4 Ag7 4 e3 pawns on c5 and begins an offensive
0-0 5 £ibd2 b6 6 c3 c5 7 h3 d6 8 ±e2 in the centre.
12 dxc5 bxc5 13 e4 e5 14 Ae3 Four black pawns have reached the

Sab8 15 b3 Wc6 equator. White decides to exchange
The queen vacates d7 for the on d5, but then both black knights
knight, so that I can carry out my gain the chance to penetrate to f4.
standard manoeuvre of ...£rf6-d7, and 22 exd5 £ixd5 23 £>c4 £>ef4 24
then on to b6. 2f2 ^xe3 25 £ixe3 Sxdl+ 26 Wxdl
16 Wc4 &d7 17 ^h2 £ib6 18 Wd3 e4 27 Wc2
The critical position of the game. 27...&h6

The knight at h2 is out of play, and Black’s most effective move in the
Black advances ...d6-d5, after which game, after which White’s position
one of his knights ends up on f4. collapses in just a few moves.
18...d5 19 f3 Hbd8 20 Wc2 f5 21 28 thhfl thd3 29 Hd2 c4 30 £>xc4
fiadl the6 Wc5+ 31 &h2 Af4+ 32 g3 êl
White resigns 9 c3 We8 10 &el d5

White’s unpretentious development
invites Black to play ...e5-e4.
However, he prefers instead to switch
Game 8 to a position more in the spirit of the
White: Oleg Moiseyev Queen’s Gambit.
Black: David Bronstein 11 £>b3 a5 12 a4
Moscow Championship 1968
In his report on this Championship (in

which the winner of this game shared
first place with the then World
Champion Tigran Petrosian), Salo
Flohr made the following comment:
‘Bronstein is happy when he is able to
make an original move, one that was
not easy to find.’
1 d4 £>f6 2 g6 3 Ag5 Ag7 4

£>bd2 d6 5 e3 0-0 6 Ad3 ^bd7 7 0-0
h6 8 Ah4 e5
The game has followed the usual 12...£ib6
King’s Indian scenario - Black has With this crafty move Black makes
constructed a house for his king, then out that he wants to take a pawn, but
played ...d7-d6, and now begun in fact he is aiming to undermine the
attacking the centre by ...e7-e5. white centre.
13 £k5 £>fd7 14 Wb3 £>xc5 15 Black has excellent prospects.

dxc5 *hc4 16 Axc4 dxc4 17 Wxc4 White’s bishop has been driven to the
edge of the board and his knight has
no manoeuvring prospects, whereas
the black bishops, after returning to
their initial positions, are again ready
to display activity.
Chess bishops are not to be trifled
with.
25 b3 Ab7 26 g4 g5 27 Ag3 lad8
28 Sfdl Wd7 29 h3 Ac5 30 Wei
Wd3 31 Wf3
White’s attempt to counter the

opponent’s plan has been met by a
pawn sacrifice, for which Black has
gained the two bishops. The process
for converting this advantage consists
in transferring the bishops to active
diagonals.
17...£e6 18 We2 Wc6 19 e4 Wxc5
20 £id3 Wc6 21 We3 Sfe8 22 £ic5
&c8 23 ^b3 b6 24 £id2 Af8
White resigns, as there is no

defence against the threat of
32... Axe4.
Game 9
White: David Bronstein
Black: Ignacy Nowak
Sandomierz 1976
As was mentioned earlier, Black’s

successes with the King’s Indian led
to players adopting the same set-up
with White. Moreover, as the present

game shows, this is possible even
after White has begun the game with
1 e4.
This tournament was organised by
a well-known glass factory. My
opponent here, Ignacy Nowak - a
talented master - was the trainer of
the Polish ladies’ team.
Here I adopted an interesting set¬
up. At some point in time I had
thought up the idea of undermining
the centre by c2-c4. Once with this
variation, in a simultaneous display of
Pioneers’ Palaces, I won against the 9 c4 £idb8 10 ^c3 d4 11 ê4 h6
future grandmaster Alexander 12 h4 Ab7 13 Af4 £id7 14 h5 ^f8
Kochiev in 15 moves. 15 g4 £>h7 16 ±g3 Wd7 17 £>fd2 0-0
Nowak closed the position, and, in 18 f4 f5 19 exf6 gxf6 20 f5 e5 21 £>f3
order to ‘unseal’ it, I had to sacrifice a £>d8
pawn on the kingside and create a
transit point at g4.
The concluding attack with the
sacrifice of a piece evoked memories
of the 7th game of the Lasker-Steinitz
World Championship Match, New
York 1894. Lasker won when a knight
down, and everyone was amazed at
how he had achieved this. But
Steinitz’s knight stood in a comer
square and was worse than a pawn. In
an issue of the newspaper Izvestia, for
which I wrote a regular column, I
published an analysis of the critical
position, and showed that Lasker had
deservedly won this game.
22 g5 hxg5 23 ^h2 £>17 24 h6
1 e4 c5 2 e6 3 d3 £ic6 4 g3 Ae7 Sab8 25 Wh5 ^h8 26 £>g4 Ad6 27
5 Ag2 £if6 6 0-0 d5 7 We2 b6 8 e5 Sael Wd8 28 £>exf6+ Hxf6 29 J.xe5
&d7 Axe5 30 Sxe5 Axg2
31 Sfel Hf7 32 <£>xg2 <&>f8 33 &gl

Wc7 34 tth2 Sd8 35 2le4 ®c8 36 Black resigns
White exchanges d4xe5
When White takes on e5 with his d-pawn, Black will normally recapture
...d6xe5. What does White achieve by this exchange? He no longer has the
possibility of cramping Black by d4-d5, but on the other hand he has the d-file,
on which he can concentrate his heavy pieces and aim to invade at d6 with a
knight, supported if possible by a pawn on c5. Black must be careful. He should
endeavour to control the c5 square, so as not to allow c4-c5, and should then
oppose rooks on the d-file, or aim for an attack on the kingside.
Game 10 Not a popular move, as it allows

White: Alexander Kotov Black to harass the bishop with his
Black: David Bronstein knight. Therefore the development of
13th USSR Championship the bishop is usually prepared by 9 h3
Moscow 1944 (cf., for example, Games 18 and 20).
9...£ig4 10Ag5f6
This is an example of the dangers I replied 10...f6 without thinking.
Black faces when the centre is opened At that time I greatly valued every
up, and his queenside pieces (rook tempo, and so I hurried to advance
and bishop) are still undeveloped. ...f6-f5 as quickly as possible. Later, in
one of his matches against Botvinnik,
1 d4 £>f6 2 c4 d6 3 ^c3 e5 4 GX3 Vasily Smyslov showed that 10...®b6
£>bd7 5 g3 g6 6 ±g2 Ag7 7 0-0 0-0 8 can also be successfully played.
e4 c6 II Acl f5 12 Ag5 We8 13 dxe5
dxe5 14 exf5 gxf5
9 Jie3
Black has obtained two strong

central pawns, demonstrating that it is
quite feasible for him to play
...f7(-f6)-f5 without waiting for
White to block the centre by d4-d5.
15Sel e4 16 ^h4 £ige5
Here I carried out an interesting
manoeuvre, with the threat of occupy¬
ing the d3 square. I provoked Kotov
into a combination (essentially, forced
him to carry it out).
17 f4 h6 18 £ixf5 Sxf5 19 £>xe4
Wf8 20 £>d6
26 Sxf6 <4>xg7 27 Sfl Ae6 28 2
Sh8 29 h3 £>e3 30 b4 ®e5 31 flael
20...Sxg5
I thought that I was winning, e.g.
20...hxg5 21 thx£5 gxf4 22 tbxgl f3, Black resigns
but in this case Black’s entire
queenside does not take part in the Game 11
play, and all is not so simple. White: Anthony Santasiere
21 fxg5 hxg5 22 Sfl ife7 23 &f5 Black: David Bronstein
Wc5+ 24 &hl ^f6 25 £>xg7 êg4 USA v. USSR Radio Match 1945
Black lost because his d8 square
was undefended. One has to give the This game was played in the Radio
opponent his due - Kotov played Match arranged immediately after the
prettily. Even so, I like this game, end of the War. I was still a young,
because I was able to carry out the raw player. I had taken 3rd place in
advance of my central pawns. the 14th USSR Championship, and for
this they included me in the team on 8 dxe5 £>fd7 9 e3 £>c6 10 Wb3

board 10. Each game lasted about 15 axb4 11 axb4 2xal+ 12 Axal
hours. The radio connection was £kxe5 13 Ac3 c5 14 Ae2 Wf6
good, but took a long time. We were
fed, and we dozed - this was in the
Central House of Art Workers. It was
a grand event, with an opening cere¬
mony. I, of course, was nervous, I was
still naive, and I wanted to show that I
could play the King’s Indian with
Black. Santasiere was a strong and
talented player; he played the King’s
Gambit, wrote verse, and was evident¬
ly the last American chess romantic.
1 4M3 £if6 2 b4 d6 3 d4 g6 4 c4
Here I was happy - the move b2-b4 A rather unusual square for Black’s
had given me a target to attack, and I queen. He attacks the c4 pawn, and is
thought that if I were to make the not concerned about his b7 pawn.
correct King’s Indian moves, I should 15 £ie4 We7 16 Axe5 £ixe5 17
mate the enemy king. bxc5 dxc5 18 0-0 Ag4 19 £ied2 £>c6
4...&g7 5 Ab2 0-0 6 £>bd2 a5 7 a3 20 Sdl £>b4 21 QSbl Wf6 22 â3
e5 la8 23 ^d4
Everything has followed the 23...Axe2

standard course - Black has made the Black does not need to exchange
house for his king and then struck at bishops. Nowadays I would have
the centre with ...e7-e5. retreated it to d7 without thinking.
24 £>xe2 Wb2 25 ®xb2 Axb2 26

&b5 &c6 27 Sbl
41 £ie4 c4 42 g4
42 g3 would have offered better
chances of saving the game.
27...Ea4 28 £>g3 Ae5 29 f4 Ag7
42...Af4 43 &g2 b5 44 &13 b4 45
30 <£id6 Sb4 31 ficl f5 32 e4 Ad4+
h4 c3 46 hxg5 c2 47 &xf4 cl=W+ 48
&f5 Wc8+ 49 l4>f4 b3 50 g6 b2
Black’s main trumps in this end¬

game are his dark-square bishop,
which has no opponent, and the White resigns
opponent’s insecure queenside.
33 &hl Ae3 34 Sfl â5 35 exf5
^xc4 36 £>xc4 Hxc4 37 fxg6 hxg6 38
f5 g5 39 f6 gel 40 Hxcl Axel
Game 12
White: Jaroslav Sajtar
Prague v. Moscow (round 4)
Prague 1946
This encounter is from that remark¬

able (for me) match in Prague and
Moscow, where I was able to play
several thematic games with the
King’s Indian (cf. also Games 15, 16,
25 and A6).
1 d4 £>f6 2 c4 d6 3 £>c3 e5 4 £>13

^bd7 5 g3 g6 6 Ag2 Ag7 7 0-0 0-0 8 Exploiting a number of poor moves
e4 c6 9 Ae3 ^g4 10 Ag5 f6 11 Acl (in particular, the exchange of the
f5 central pawns and 15 £>h4), I have
been able to occupy with my knight
the weakened d3 square (weakened,
because in the King’s Indian the white
pawns usually move from c2 and e2).
18 Sadi Ae6 19 b3 e4 20 £ie2
£Mi5 21 f3 f4
Here too (as against Kotov, Game

10) in reply to a kingside fianchetto
by White, Black has replied ...c7-c6
and then played ...f6-f5 as quickly as
possible.
12 exf5 gxf5 13 dxe5 dxe5 14 h3 Here I was able to carry out the
£>gf6 15 £>h4 £ic5 16 Wxd8 Sxd8 17 rather rare, almost simultaneous ad¬
Ae3 ^d3 vance of my e- and f-pawns, and to
win a piece. The rest of the game was Game 13

a question of technique. White: David Bronstein
22 gxf4 Af6 23 M.xf5 24 fxe4 Black: Oscar Panno
Ag6 25 e5 Ah4 26 f5 Ae8 27 e6 Olympiad’ Amsterdam 1954
£\b4 28 Af3 Ixdl 29 Sxdl £>g7 30
£>d4 &f6 31 a3 â6 32 Ae4 Sd8 33 In this Olympiad the Argentine team,
Sd2 ^c5 34 Ac2 b6 35 2xd2 36 led by Miguel Najdorf, turned out to
£ixd2 ^b7 37 £ie4 be our nearest rivals. My partner in
the present game was making his
Olympiad debut at the age of 19.
1 d4 £>f6 2 c4 d6 3 £>c3 e5
As has been explained elsewhere,
this move order has the aim of
avoiding variations such as the
Samisch, but Black does have to
reckon with the immediate exchange
of queens, as in the present game.
4 dxe5 dxe5 5 Wxd8+ &xd8 6
Ihbdl
37...&b2 38 c5 ^xf5 39 cxb6

axb6 40 Axb6 <4,g7 41 Ac7 Ad4+ 42
&h2 ê3 43 Ad3 £id5 44 Ag3 Ag6
45 &a6 ^d8 46 £>g5 Af6 47 £tf3
4^xe6
Once, in a USSR Team Champion¬

ship, this exchange variation occurred
in a game of mine with Artur
Yusupov. After making my last move
I got up to walk about. On returning
White resigns to the board, I saw to my surprise that
my clock was going, but that White 13 £>c5 1413 $c7 15 Eacl a5
had not made a move. For several 16 &g2 ±e6 17 £>g7 Axg7 18 JLxc5
minutes I looked in silence and could £id7 19 Jtxe6 Hxe6 20 1.121.18
not understand - all the pieces and
pawns were on their old squares. I
looked and looked... and it was awk¬
ward for me to ask. Then I suddenly
saw that the white rook was at gl. I
did not know this move, although the
variation was very familiar to me -
we had analysed it in detail in 1952, at
a training session before the
Olympiad in Helsinki. Since the move
threatens g2-g4, I replied 7...h5! and
the game soon ended in a draw.
The point of Black’s sixth move is
that, if he plays the old 6...£rfd7, then 21 £ld5+ &d8 22 £ib6 £ixb6 23
White has the good reply 7 g4. But l.xb6+ &e8 24 c5 Ae7 25 Hcdl f6
Panno, despite his youth, already 26 e4 l.d8 27 l.xd8 5xd8 28 Hxd8+
knew the latest achievements of chess ixil8 29 Sdl+ <4-e8 30 h4 Se7
theory. White has the advantage, but Black
7 g3 c6 8 &h3 Ad6 9 Ae3 h6 10 should play 30...gxh4 31 g4 h5!
0-0 Se8 11 ^h4 Af8 12 b3 31 Sd6 ^17 32 h5 g4 33 fxg4 le6
12...g5 When, in severe time trouble, there

Of course this is a risky move, and is the possibility of going into a pawn
the weakening of the light squares ending, doubts always arise. Suppose
later told. that... With his last move Black set a
psychological trap, and I took him at 41 a4 ê6 42 g5 fxg5 43 a5 2f8+

his word. 44 &g4 Hf7 45 Sb6 2c7 46 a6 bxa6
34 Sd8 47 5xa6 4?f6 48 Sa8
In fact after the exchange of rooks
the white king goes to c4 - at this
point the black king is at a7 (34 2xe6
&xe6 35 <£>d7 36 &e3 *c7 37
^?d3 <&>b8 38 &c4 *a7).
Now there is no defence against the

decisive invasion of the white pieces.
Black resigns.
Now White plays 39 b4 axb4 40 Game 14

<&xb4 &a6, and here both 41 a3 and White: Rafael Vaganian
41 &a4 win. Black: David Bronstein
34...2e8 35 2d2 &e7 36 &13 Hg8 Moscow Open Championship 1981
37 Sdl 2g7 38 2bl 2g8 39 b4 axb4
40 2xb4 2b8 This game is from one of the Moscow
Championships, in which I played
more or less regularly for many years,
even though on occasions I was the
only grandmaster. However, this open
event was a very strong one, with no
less than 12 grandmasters among the
18 competitors.
1 d4 £sf6 2 c4 g6 3 &£3 i.g7 4 g3 0-0

5 Ag2 d6 6 0-0 £lbd7 7 ttc2 e5 8
Hdl He8 9 dxe5 dxe5 10 e4 c6 11 h3
£ih5 12 Ae3 #e7 13 a3 £if8
to c4, attacking the e5 pawn, exploit¬

ing Black’s ...f7-f5.
18...Sxdl+ 19 Wxdl £ixc5 20
£kxe5 We8 21 exf5 Axf5 22 Ae3
Sd8
Then he offered a piece sacrifice
(21 exf5), and, when I attacked his
queen, he sacrificed his queen for
rook and bishop.
23 Axc5 Hxdl+ 24 Sxdl £if6 25
Axa7 Ae4 26 Ac5 Ad5
The most curious thing was that,
when after this move I offered a draw,
14 c5 f5 15 Ag5 Wf7 16 Acl ê6 Vaganian was terribly upset. ‘Why a
17 £>bd2 Sd8 18 £>c4 draw, why aren’t you playing for a
win?’ He evidently wanted me to lose
this position, and could not under¬
stand that I also understand something
about chess!
27 Sel ê4
Vaganian has played the opening in

very interesting fashion. He exchang¬
ed on e5 and then played his pawn to
e4. Then he subtly played his bishop
to g5, then back to cl, then brought
out his knight at d2 (blocking his
bishop and rook!), and transferred it Draw agreed
Black captures ...e5xd4
Let us suppose that Black has played ...e7-e5. If White maintains the central
tension by keeping his pawn at d4, as soon as Black has safeguarded his king he
has the option of opening the centre himself by ...e5xd4. He now has the c5
square for his knight (supported by ...a7-a5) and by playing ...He8 he will
intensify the pressure on the e4 pawn. After this he can play ...c7-c6 and find a
suitable post for his queen on the queenside. In the resulting tense position
Black has reasonable manoeuvring possibilities, but success is normally
possible only in the event of passive play by White. Therefore he sometimes
chooses another option - he does not hurry with ...e5xd4, but provokes White
into playing d4-d5.
Game 15 as 4 e4 allows Black a lead in dev¬

White: Ludek Pachman elopment by 4.. .exd4 5 Wxd4
Prague v. Moscow (round 2)
Prague 1946
This is perhaps my most famous

King’s Indian game, a ‘gift from the
gods’, so to speak. After it, and the
game with Zita, from being a ‘losing’
opening the King’s Indian was trans¬
formed virtually into a winning one,
and this made a great impression in
the West. Thanks to these games I
was included in the FIDE list for the
first Interzonal Tournament. 4 4M3 £ibd7 5 g3 g6 6 k.gl Ag7 7
0-0 0-0 8 b3
1 d4 &f6 2 c4 d6 3 £ic3 e5 Later White learned to avoid this
Why this move order, instead of move, which creates a potential
first developing the bishop at g7, and tactical weakness on the long diag¬
only then ...d7-d6 and ...e7-e5? Well, onal, in favour of the immediate 8 e4.
the point is that in those days we were 8...He8 9 e4
very afraid of the Samisch Variation Black was threatening ...e5-e4-e3. 9
(2...g6 3 £>c3 Ag7 4 e4 d6 5 f3), and e3 was possible. The text move allows
the chosen move order rules this out, Black, after exchanging pawns in the
centre, to deploy his pieces comfort¬ my first games King’s Indian games. I
ably and to take the initiative. remembered that Dr Lasker advised
9...exd4 10 £>xd4 11 Eel putting the king’s knight on f8, so that
it should not get in the way. That was
how a new idea in this variation arose:
...£tf6-d7-f8!
11.. .a5 12 Ab2

Perhaps 12 a3 should have been
played, to answer 12...a4 with 13 b4.
Now, however, after 12...a4 White has 16...£tfd7
a weakness at b3. White would like to It is curious that, when I played
exploit the weakening of the b5 this, the participants and spectators
square by £idb5 (I am always afraid thought that the knight was aiming for
of this manoeuvre in the King’s e5 and then d3. From this point Black
Indian), but on this and the next move required only three moves to prepare
it is not possible because of the decisive combination.
12...£rfxe4, and then Black will play 17 Ebl £>« 18 <&h2
...c7-c6.
12.. .a4 13 Eel
If 13 b4 Black was planning the
sharp move 13...a3.
13.. .c6 14 Aal axb3 15 axb3 Wb6
16 h3
A classic position, where I have
done everything possible: played my
pawn to c6, knight to c5 and queen to
b6, while the other two queenside
pieces are waiting.
Now I had to play something, but I
did not know what - this was one of
18.. .h5
A notable feature of this game is
Black’s attack with his rook’s pawns
on both sides of the board, with the
aim of breaking up the white position.
19fle2
If 19 f4 there would have followed
19...h4 20 g4 ^ce6, when Black pen¬
etrates on the opponent’s weakened
squares on the kingside. White im¬
proves the position of his rook, by
playing it to d2, where it defends the
second rank against the invasion of
the a8 rook, and will simultaneously 23.. .Wxf2
threaten the d6 pawn. The crux of Black’s combination!
19.. .h4 20 Sd2 He does not play 23...^xal, in view
When he made this move, White of the counter-combination 24 thd5
anticipated the opponent’s reply. He Wxf2 25 £>f6+ and £>xe8.
thought that he would win the game 24la2
by refuting Black’s combination, but If 24 Wxb3, then 24...hxg3+ 25
he had miscalculated. ^hl Axh3 (the decisive intrusion of
the ‘undeveloped’ bishop) 26 Sgl
Axg2+ 27 Hxg2 «fl+ 28 Sgl Wh3
mate.
24.. .Wxg3+ 25 &hl Wxc3 26 la3
Or 26 3Sd3 Wcl, and the knight at
b3 is invulnerable.
26.. .Axh3 27 lxb3 Axg2+ 28
<4,xg2 Wxc4 29 Sd4 We6 30 lxb7
Ha8 31 We2 h3+
White resigns, as he is powerless
against the mating attack.
In this game Black employed an
innovative way of using space. Five
20...Hxal of his pieces - king, knight at f8,
Black carries out his planned rooks at e8 and a8, and bishop at c8 -
combination, after which a very stood on the back rank undeveloped,
interesting tactical skirmish develops. and yet at the same time these pieces
21 Hxal Axd4 22 Hxd4 £}xb3 23 were very active.
Sxd6
94 Bronstein on the King *s Indian
16...^g4 17 h3
In this game the reader can see that
the King’s Indian Defence is full of
tactical nuances. One must have the
Game 16 ability to see two to three moves
White: Frantisek Zita ahead. Here there was the unpleasant
Black: David Bronstein threat of ...£>g4-e5-d3, and in some
Prague v. Moscow (round 6) cases ...f7-f5. Incidentally, the im¬
Prague 1946 mediate ...£M3 was also threatened.
The d3 square is often a weakness, as
This was played just a few days after both White’s c- and e-pawns have
my game with Pachman. As regards moved from their original squares.
demonstrating the activity of the black
pieces in the King’s Indian Defence, it
is hard to find a better example. The
secret of playing such positions is to
alternate attack and defence.
1 c4 e5 2 £ic3 £if6 3 £>13 d6 4 d4

^bd7 5 g3 g6 6 Ag2 Ag7 7 0-0 0-0 8
b3
The same position as in the game
with Pachman has been reached, but
now Black varies slightly.
8...c6 9 Ab2 Se8 10 e4 exd4 11
£ixd4 Wb6 12 Wd2 £k5 13 Sfel a5 To avoid the coming combination,
14 Sabi a4 15 Aal axb3 16 axb3 White should have played 17 £kil.
Black captures ...e5xd4 95
17...fixal 23...f5 24 £>xe4 Sxe4 25 ®xd6

The comer-stone of White’s posit¬ Sxd4 26 tfb8 ld8 27 Sa8 Ae5 28
ion is his bishop at al. By exchanging ©a7 Wb4 29 Wgl Wf8 30 Ah3 tth6
his rook for this bishop, Black
strengthens the role of his g7 bishop.
18 fixal
White resigns
18...£ixf2 Game 17
Black’s combination is based on White: William Winter
geometry. If now 19 &xf2 £xb3, or Black: David Bronstein
19 ®xf2 £d3, in each case with Great Britain v. USSR Radio Match
decisive threats. 1946
19 He3 £>xh3+ 20 &h2 £>f2 21
Sf3 £>cxe4 22 Wf4 £>g4+ 23 &hl My opponent, a highly intelligent
man, was at that time my main
admirer in England. In the first round
of this double-round event on twelve
boards he had defeated me with the
black pieces (in fact this was the only
loss by the Soviet side), so naturally
there was considerable pressure on me
to even the score.
1 d4 £>f6 2 c4 d6 3 £c3 £>bd7 4 £>13

e5 5 g3 g6 6 Ag2 Ag7 7 0-0 0-0 8 e4
c6 9 b3 exd4 10 £>xd4 2e8 11 Ab2
£>c5 12 ttc2 a5
16 Aal Ag4 17 Sd2 £tfxe4, but this

would have led to rapid simplifi¬
cation, which naturally did not attract
me. Therefore for the moment I
decided to defend my weak pawn.
Again we see a similar picture to

the two previous games. It is worth
reiterating the method of play that
Black adopts after the pawn exchange
on d4. His rook goes to e8, inten¬
sifying the pressure on the e4 pawn,
and his a-pawn, which appears to be 16 Sfel axb3 17 axb3 Ae6
defending the knight against attack, is But this move is probably not the
in reality ready to engage the white b- best. Perhaps Black should first have
pawn. provoked f2-f3 by 17...Ag4 18 f3 and
In many cases Black’s d6 pawn is then played 18...Ae6.
left undefended; this is very impor¬ 18 £>d3
tant, as during this time he is able to White exchanges his passive knight
develop an initiative elsewhere on the for the strongly placed knight at c5.
board. But sometimes it has to be However, he did not take account of
defended. the fact that soon a second black
It is significant in many variations knight would appear at c5, and in the
of the King’s Indian that both the rook meantime the b3 pawn would have
at a8 and the bishop at c8 remain on lost its defender.
these squares, but still participate in Instead White could have played 18
the play. This is one of Black’s main f4, initiating a kingside pawn storm,
trumps. but there was something he did not
13 Sadi Wb6 14 ^de2 a4 15 £>cl like. Most probably it was the fact that
Wc7 Black could intensify the pressure on
It is not clear whether the d6 pawn e4 by 18...Ag4 19 ld2 Wb6 20 *hl
should be defended. One possibility Af5.
recommended at the time was 15...a3 18...^xd3 19 Wxd3
22 £ia4
With this unfortunate manoeuvre
(22 £ibl would have been better),
White allows the opponent’s rook to
go to a3, which is also a standard
manoeuvre for Black.
22...Axb2 23 £>xb2 Sa3 24 Sal
Sea8 25 Sxa3 Sxa3 26 Wd2 £>e5 27
Scl Sb3
19...£id7
In the King’s Indian Defence the d6
pawn is often left without any direct
defence. In this case White avoids the
capture 20 Wxd6, as Black does not
exchange queens, but plays 20...Wb6,
after which he easily regains his
pawn.
20 Wc2 £ic5 21 b4 ^d7
Another typical idea: the black
knight moves to and fro (d7-c5-d7), 28 c5
provoking a weakening of White’s Black’s last move had the draw¬
queenside pawns. back of relinquishing control of the
open file, and White should have
taken advantage of this by 28 Sal.
After the move played his c5 pawn is
left irrevocably weak.
28.. .dxc5 29 bxc5 Wd7 30 Wc2
After the exchange of queens
White would lose his c5 pawn, but
now he has to concede control of the
d-file.
30.. .Wd4
Forcing the white pieces to retreat
still further.
31 £>dl £id3 32 Sbl £>el 33 Wa2
which White is able to prevent the

opponent from achieving his desired
set-up of.. .a7-a5-a4 and ...Wa5.
11 lei c6
White resigns
The weakness of the entire varia¬
tion with the fianchetto of the fl
bishop is that, if White does not
achieve good play in the centre, his 12 Af4
king, three pawns and bishop are in At that time this move seemed very
danger of being left out of the game. strong to me - ^b3 is threatened.
White’s strategy is aimed at removing
the knight from c5.
Game 18 12...^h5 13 Ae3 £>f6 14 Wc2 a5
White: David Bronstein 15 ladl Wc7 16 f4
Black: Arpad Vajda
Moscow v. Budapest Match 1949
In this game I had to play with White

against my favourite variation. Here,
profiting from my experiences with
Black, I avoided my previous oppon¬
ents’ mistake of playing 8 b3, and as a
result I was able to develop my bishop
more actively than at b2.
1 d4 ^f6 2 c4 d6 3 £ic3 e5 4
£ibd7 5 g3 g6 6 Ag2 Ag7 7 0-0 0-0 8
e4 le8 9 h3 exd4 10 ^xd4 £k5 16...£d7
A slight inaccuracy (10...c6 is Missing the opportunity for 16...a4,
better, and if 11 Af4 £ê5), after after which White is able to exchange
the pride of Black’s position - his

knight at c5.
17 $Sb3 b6 18 ^xc5 bxc5 19 Wd2
Af8
Black has perhaps played too
cautiously - he has clung on to the d6
pawn, which he should not especially
begrudge. As a result, White has
acquired all that he can dream of in
this opening - space, and pressure on
the d- and f-files. He now begins a
pawn attack on the kingside and soon
transforms his positional advantage
into a material one. Black resigns
20 f5 Sad8 21 &g5 Ae7 22 Sfl
Hf8 23 g4 Ac8 24 We 1 Sd7 25 Wh4
Wd8 Game 19
White: Miguel Najdorf
Candidates Tournament
Budapest 1950
In the search for fresh ideas I have

always employed a wide range of
openings. Thus out of my nine black
games in this tournament, this was
one of only two King’s Indians.
1 d4 £if6 2 c4 g6 3 £>c3 Ag7 4 e4 d6

5 g3 0-0 6 Ag2 e5 7 £ige2
The plan of developing the knight
The offensive by the white pawns at e2 is a good one for White. This
is a standard technique. Now a was the first time I had encountered it,
temporary pawn sacrifice brings the and I did not know exactly how to
white knight into play. react.
26 e5 dxe5 27 2xd7 Axd7 28 £>e4 7...exd4 8 ^xd4 £ic6
4^xe4 29 JLxe7 g5 30 Axd8 gxh4 31 After the exchange on d4 the point
Axh4 £id2 32 fldl £>xc4 33 Sxd7 of the knight move to c6 is that, as an
£>xb2 34 Af6 ^c4 35 Axc6 Hb8 36 admirer of Anderssen, Morphy and
Ae4 LaBourdonnais, I always thought that
the opponent’s king should be

attacked, as long as it has not castled.
10...^d7
Here there is a concrete aim -
Black is trying not to allow b2-b3 and
9 £ixc6 Ab2.
9 0-0 demanded calculation be¬ 11 Wc2 Wf6 12 £ie2 Se8 13 Sbl
cause of the possible 9...^xe4, but if We7 14 Ad2 £k5 15 Sbel a5 16 b3
White wants a draw, the variation 10 Ag4 17 ftf4 Seb8 18 Ae3 We5 19 h3
£ixc6 £ixc3 11 ^xd8 ^xdl 12 ^xb7 Ad7 20 Sdl a4
Jhtb7 13 Sxdl is quite suitable.
9...bxc6
It used to be thought that the
doubled c-pawns were passive and
that this variation favoured White, but
I believed (and this was mentioned by
Fine in one of his books) that all
attacks on the king must be begun
directly from the opening. In earlier
times this was not so - they comple¬
ted their development, prepared a
plan, and only then began an attack.
10 0-0
For example, in this position they Black squeezes himself up into a
would play as Black 10...flb8, ...Ae6, ball, like a hedgehog, and waits. Here
...£)d7 etc. But in such positions I there are no variations, that commen¬
often employed the manoeuvre ...£rf6- tators so like. This is one of those
d7, while my queen’s rook and queen’s positions of equilibrium which, as
bishop remained in their places. Lasker once wrote, are the most
difficult to play in chess. Look at this

position. Black has done everything:
queen in the centre, rooks on the
queenside, bishop on the long
diagonal, good knight at c5 - all his
pieces are active. But when I am
asked the stupid question: ‘Can you
win from this position?’, it infuriates
me. The subsequent play depends on
the skill of the two players, their
staying-power in maintaining the
tension, and many other factors. In
this game I managed to win an almost
drawn ending, literally ‘by a thread’.
21 £>d3 axb3 22 axb3 £>xd3 23 52...f6 53 exf6+ &xf6 54 g4 Sxd6
Sxd3 c5 24 i.f4 We8 25 Ad2 ±c6 26 55 gxh5 gxh5 56 Sc4 Sd5 57 l4>e2
Ac3 JLxc3 27 Wxc3 We5 28 Wd2 Se6 58 &e3 &d6 59 Sa4 &c6 60
le8 29 &h2 Wg7 30 Sel Sal 31 Sal Sd4 61 Shi <&d5 62 -4>e2 c4 63
Sde3 fixel 32 Ixel We5 33 f4 &e3 &c5 64 Sh2 c3 65 Sa2 Sxh4 66
Sa8 Sh3+ 67 <&e2 &c4 68 &dl
Shl+ 69 &c2 Sh2+ 70 &cl h4 71
Sc8+ &d4 72 Sd8+ &e4 73 Se8+
74 S18+ &g3 75 Sc8 Sf2 76
Sxc3+ &g2 77 i’dl h3 78 Sc8 h2 79
Sg8+ &fl 80 Sh8 &gl 81 &el Sg2
33...Wd4 34 Wxd4 cxd4 35 Sdl

Sb8 36 Sxd4 Sxb3 37 Afl h5 38 h4
Sb4 39 &g2 <&18 40 &£2 ê7 41
&e3 Ibl 42 $C lei 43 e5 dxe5 44
fxe5 Ad7 45 Ag2 Sc2+ 46 &fl c5 47
Sf4 i.e6 48 Ad5 Axd5 49 cxd5 ld2
50 d6+ &e6 51 Sc4 ld5 52 Se4 White resigns
Game 20 A position typical of my King’s

White: Samuel Reshevsky Indians has arisen, where for a very
Black: David Bronstein long time my queen’s bishop and rook
Candidates Tournament are ‘dozing’ - they come into play
Zurich 1953 only on the 22nd and 24th moves res¬
pectively. Theoreticians cannot agree
Usually with Black I endeavoured in with this approach - they demand the
the first instance not to lose to Samuel development of all the pieces. But I
Reshevsky, one of the strongest (if not consider that the board is small and
THE strongest!) players from the West. that it is better to wait a little, so as
As is now well known, Soviet players then to bring them out directly to the
were put in a difficult psychological most needed squares.
position. There could be no question 15.. .Wa5 16 Afl
of uninhibited play. Your every move White has attacked the d6 pawn,
was scrutinised not only by strict fans, but after Black’s reply he sees that the
but also by officials of every rank. pawn can be advantageously regained
Mistakes were not forgiven. On the by 16 2xd6 £>e5, and 17 b3 would
result of one game could depend, to only makes things worse in view of
put it mildly, your entire well-being. the surprising stroke 17.. Jtxh3, when
And here I had received an ultra- taking the bishop allows a check at f3,
difficult order -1 had to win! for example: 18 Axh3 £rf3+ 19 &fl
£}xel 20 ^xel axb3 21 axb3 £>xe4
1 d4 £hf6 2 c4 g6 3 g3 Ag7 4 Ag2 0-0 22 Sd3 Wal+ 23 £>dl 2a2 24 »cl
5 £k3 d6 6 4M3 ^bd7 7 0-0 e5 8 e4 &x£2 25 <&xf2 2xe2+.
He8 9 h3 exd4 10 £>xd4 £>c5 11 Sel 16.. . £ie5 17 £id4 a3 18 f4
a5 12 Wc2 c6 13 Ae3 £>fd7 14 Hadl
a4 15 £ide2
After making this active move,

Reshevsky offered a draw, although to
all appearances he was in a fighting

mood, and would have been upset if I
had accepted the offer. His question
‘Are you playing for a win?’ was
more of a probe against an opponent
whom he wanted to egg on into
making some rash step.
18...êd7 19 b3 £>a6 20 Af2
£idc5 21 Se3 £ib4 22 We2 Ad7 23
e5 dxe5 24 fxe5 2ad8 25 g4 26
Ah4 £ixd4 27 Sxd4 Wc5
A key move, on which Black’s
entire strategy in this phase of the
game is based. It is very important not 32...Axe4+
to allow the white knight to go to f6. White offers to sacrifice his e5
He could not take the e5 pawn with pawn. It is tempting to take it, and on
his bishop, as White would reply 28 the obvious knight check to sacrifice
Hxe5 and only then take the rook at the queen for rook, knight and pawn,
d8; now, however, White must give when Black’s pieces are very active
serious consideration to the defence of and he has good prospects of further
his e5 pawn. strengthening his position. But in the
28 Sde4 Ah6 event of the pawn being taken, Resh-
evsky had prepared a devilish com¬
bination: 32...Wxe5? 33 Hxf5 when
there can follow: 33...gxf5 (33...Wxf5
34 £}f6+ Axf6 35 jSxe8+ 2xe8 36
Wxe8+ <&g7 37 gxf6+) 34 £>f8+ Axf6
35 gxf6!! Wxe3 36 Wg2+. The beauty
of the combination is revealed in the
second variation, when on the 35th
move, White, who is already a rook
down, does not take the queen, but
takes the bishop with the pawn,
creating an irresistible mating threat.
33 2fxe4 £>a6 34 e6 fxe6
29 &hl Ae6 30 g5 Here, for the second time, Reshev-
The start of a combination. Resh- sky offered a draw; on this occasion
evsky vacates f4 for his rook, which seriously, I think. Black’s position is
in turn makes way for the knight. better thanks to his strong a3 pawn,
30...&g7 31 Sf4 Jfcf5 32 £>e4 the exposed position of the white
king, and the superiority of his knight attacked and mate at gl is threatened.
over the bad light-square bishop. Even so, the previous check was
35 Sxe6 Sf8 36 Se7 Ad4 37 I3e6 useful for White. He has enticed the
WC king to e7, and now the black queen
cannot go to f2 in view of 45 ®e2+,
exchanging queens with an obvious
draw.
38 Se8 £ic5 39 Sxd8 £ixe6 40

Sxf8+ <&xf8 41 Ag3 Wxg5
At the adjournment Reshevsky
thought for a long time and decided to
give up his doomed pawn immed¬ 44.. .Wc3 45 <&g2 Wb2+ 46 We2+
iately, in the hope that the capture &d6 47 &f3 Ac5 48 <&e4 Wd4+ 49
with the queen would lead to an Wf6+ 50 <4>g2 <4>c7 51 Wf3
ending with opposite-colour bishops, Wb2+ 52 We2 Wd4 53
and the capture with the knight to Neither player can take the initia¬
perpetual check: 41...£>xg5 42 Ad6+ tive as regards exchanging queens. If
^g7 43 We7+. Meanwhile, had he White takes on b2, for Black to win it
managed to defend his g5 pawn by is sufficient for him to create another
h3-h4, he would have significantly passed pawn on the kingside. If Black
improved his position. takes on e2, the maximum that he can
42 ®xe6 Wxg3 43 Wc8+ <4>e7 44 achieve is to win the a2 pawn, but this
%4 fails to win the game, as at this point
White would very much like to take the white king goes to c2 and does not
the b7 pawn, but unexpectedly this allow its opposite number to escape.
leads to his immediate defeat, as this 53.. .h5
is a rare case of a king forcing back a The last reserves join the battle.
queen: 44 Wxb7+ &d8 45 ®a8+ <4>c7 54 &g2 g5 55 <±>g3 ®f4+ 56 <4>g2
46 Wa5+ Ab6 when the queen is g4 57 hxg4 hxg4 58 &hl
Game 21
Black: Max Blau
Olympiad, Munich 1958
In this game we see an instructive

example of the fact that a delay in
developing the queen’s rook and
bishop is permissible only when the
centre is closed or semi-closed. But if
the centre is open you must play in
accordance with the principles of open
games!
At this point it appeared, not only
to the spectators but also for an instant 1 d4 £if6 2 c4 d6 3 £>c3 £>bd7 4 e4
to the players, that Black would be e5 5 £ige2
unable to break his opponent’s White develops his knight at e2;
resourceful and stout resistance. If, for nowadays 5 £}f3 is more usual.
example, he advances his pawn to g3, 5...c6 6 g3 g6 7 Ag2 Ag7 8 0-0 0-0
then 59 JLh3, and it is not clear how
Black can strengthen his position. The
winning idea is based on zugzwang.
58...&b6 59 <&g2 <&c7 60 &hl
Ad6 61 <&gl <&b6 62 Wg2 Ac5+ 63
&hl Wh6+ 64 Wh2 We3 65 b4 &d4
9 Hbl
This move is to escape from the pin
on the long diagonal. I remembered
well my games with Pachman and
Zita, where White had problems on
the al-h8 and a7-gl diagonals, and
White resigns, as after 66 c5+ â7 safeguarded myself beforehand (cf.
67 Wg2 g3 he runs out of moves. also 11 ^hl).
9...exd4 10 £lxd4 Se8 his queen’s bishop and rook - in an

open position!
18 !.b2 Ag7 19 £ib3 fld3
11 &hl
Avoiding the geometry of the
Pachman and Zita games. 20 c5
11...&C5 12 13 a5 13 b3 d5 I was able to carry out a combin¬
White has allowed his opponent to ation with a queen sacrifice, thanks to
play ...d6-d5, but has obtained the the weakness of the d8 square.
strong square b5 for his knight. 20...Sxdl 21 Sbxdl We7 22 Aa3
14 Aa3 1.18 15 exd5 cxd5 16 Ae6
£scb5 dxc4 17 bxc4
23 £>xe6
17...Se3 However, here I missed a simple
Instead of this premature activity, win - 23 Hfel Hd8 24 flbl, when a
Black should have played 17...!.d7. possible finish is 24...'i,e8 25 <£\c7
He is punished for failing to develop Wc6 26 <£i7xe6 fxe6 27 f4 Wc8 28
Axb7 ®b8 29 £>a6 Wa7 30 Ac5, and

the black queen is trapped.
23...Wxe6 24 £>c7 Wc8
Black in turn missed a good
defence - 24...We3 25 jfccl ®a7.
25 £ixa8 Wxa8 26 Ae7
9...d5
Now White gains a space advan¬
tage. Perhaps Black should preface
this advance with 9...2e8, in order to
prevent e4-e5.
10 cxd5 cxd5 11 e5 ê8 12 f4 f6
Black resigns 13 Ab5 fxe5 14 fxe5 Wh4+ 15 g3
Wh5
Game 22
Black: Yuri Sakharov
USSR Team Championship
Moscow 1960
Not content with opening the position

by exchanging pawns on d4, Black
sometimes follows up with ...c7-c6
and ...d6-d5, with the intention of
completely destroying White’s pawn
centre. And if the white king has not
yet castled, this can lead to very sharp Team events have their own special
play. flavour - the result of a game is of
value not just to the player, but to his
1 d4 £if6 2 c4 g6 3 4k3 Ag7 4 e4 0-0 team. Black played his first 15 moves
5 Ae3 d6 6 f3 e5 7 £ige2 c6 8 ®d2 at lightning speed, but after 16 e6 he
exd4 9 £sxd4 realised that he had been wrong to
allow this pawn advance. And 15...Wh5, he thought that he had pre¬
although he thought for a long time, vented the white king from castling on
he was unable to find a defence. My either side. But it turns out that the
opponent was a good theoretician, and king feels perfectly happy at d2.
all these moves were made in roughly 20 &d2 Wh3 21 lael Ae6 22
one minute. Sakharov knew my game â4 Af7 23 &cl Sb8 24 Ad2 £>f6
with Vasyukov from the 1956 Mos¬ 25 £>c5 Wg4
cow Championship (Game A30),
where I thought up the strange move
13 Ab5, although it always seemed to
me that White should be able to use
his lead in development. Therefore,
when my opponent checked on h4 and
then quickly played his queen to h5, I
was somewhat surprised, as I had
never looked at this continuation, but
I immediately realised that I had to
advance my e-pawn.
16 e6
Apparently Black had completely
failed to take this move into account, The conclusion of the game did not
and he replied only after long thought. present any difficulties.
16...Axd4 17 e7 Bf5 18 Wxd4 26 Af4 Sb5 27 h3 28 Ihfl
£>c6 19 JLxc6 bxc6 Wg2 29 g4 Hxc5+ 30 Wxc5 ê4 31
Wxc6 Sxf4 32 Wc8+ <4>g7 33 Wf8+
<&f6 34 Sxf4+ <&g5 35 Sfxe4
After these obvious moves came a

highly interesting moment. The point
is that when Sakharov played Black resigns
Game 23 and ...b7-b5. It seemed to me that I

White: Rafael Vaganian had introduced a new method in the
Black: David Bronstein King’s Indian: earlier Black used to
USSR Zonal Tournament play only on the kingside, and thought
Vilnius 1975 that on the queenside his pawns
should stand still. But I began playing
In the present game Black succeeded also with these pawns.
with all the ideas of the King’s Indian 9 lei
Defence. I recommend that you also The standard move 9 h3 can be met
look at the game Kotov-Geller, 17th by 9...b5, with play against the e4
USSR Championship, Moscow 1949 pawn.
(Game All), where Black gained 9...c6 10 b3 exd4 11 £>xd4 £}g4
similar play on the queenside, and he This move is not new, but in this
had the opportunity for a similar position I played it only once - in the
queen sacrifice. present game. This manoeuvre has
1 £>f6 2 c4 g6 3 £>c3 Ag7 4 g3 become possible, because White has
0-0 5 Ag2 d6 6 0-0 e5 7 d4 £ibd7 8 not managed to play h2-h3. Now the
e4 black knights occupy the key squares
in the centre.
12 M.b2 £k5 13 h3 £ie5 14 le3
Wb6 15We2 a5 16ldl
8...a6
This move has an interesting
history. By that time I was tired of
always playing 8...c6.1 made a similar 16... a 4
move back in 1947 against Flohr, The bold advance of the white f-
although in a different variation with pawn had to be supported by an accu¬
the development of the white bishop rate calculation of the main variation
at f4. There I played ...c7-c6, ...a7-a6 17...axb3. This is what White did,
preparing a pretty stroke two moves

later where his knight was placed en
prise to a black pawn. Black’s actions
were forced - a counter-sacrifice of
his queen led to an interesting
combinative battle.
Instead of 16...a4 it was more
correct to bring the king’s rook into
play by 16...2e8. It should be said
that, with regard to so-called ‘correct
play’, there are two points of view: for
example, the present generation
always looks at the diagram and
evaluates the position on the basis of 23...Wxal+
various indicators, forgetting that, This queen sacrifice is not only
when you are playing, it is not a forced, but also desirable. At this
diagram that you see, but the pieces point I was happy, as out of a dull
and your opponent. Moreover, your initial position I had managed to
pieces are close to you, whereas the create some obscure complications.
opponent’s are a little further away, 24 Axal 2xal+
and the position in his brain looks Again the rook has come directly
completely different. into play from its initial square a8.
For some reason I did not want to 25 &h2 exd4 26 exd5
retreat the knight to d7 after 17 f4.
Now I would have retreated the knight
without thinking. But at the time I saw
the opportunity for a stunning
combination - this is the essence of
the King’s Indian Defence, a variety
of combinations that you are unable to
calculate exactly.
17 f4 axb3 18 axb3
After 18 fxe5 bxa2 19 exd6 Axd4
20 Hxd4 Wxb2 21 Wxb2 alW+ 22
Wxal 2xal+ Black would have
regained the piece, with equal
chances. Black has an ideal king, defended
18...^xb3 19 £>d5 cxd5 20 Sxb3 by bishop and pawns, as well as the
Wc5 21 Sb5 Wa7 22 fxe5 dxe5 23 two bishops and a strong passed
Hal pawn, whereas White’s pieces are
passive and his king is insecure. And here Black should have taken
Incidentally, in the Moscow Cham¬ with the pawn: 31.. .dxe2 32 Bbl Ac3
pionship, in a Dutch Defence against 33 Bel Axel 34 Wxel Ad7.
Balashov, I once sacrificed my queen 31...Hxe2 32 Wxe2 dxe2 33 &f2
in very similar fashion. And many Ae6 34 Bxb7 Af6 35 c5 Ac4 36 d7
years later Balashov praised me: ‘what <&g7 37 Bbl Ad3 38 Bel Ad4+ 39
a fine game you won against me! ’ <&f3 Ab2 40 d8Axel 41 #d4+
Here Black’s position was easily &g8 42 ®d8+ *g7 43 tta5 Ag5 44
won, and in various ways, but due to &f2 Af6 45 c6 h5 46 h4 Ad4+ 47
shortage of time he messed it up. &el Af5 48 WxfS gxf5 49 c7
26...Ba3 (thus 26...Af5 was very
strong) 27 d6 He3 28 Wf2 Hfe8 29
Af3 d3 30 *g2 Be2 31 Axe2
Black resigns
White closes the centre with d4-d5
With d4-d5 White cramps his opponent, but also restricts his own possibilities:
for example, his knight can no longer go to d5. With this pawn advance he fixes
the d6 pawn and after suitable preparation he is ready to attack it by c4-c5.
Black has a choice:
(a) Leaving his c7 pawn on its initial square, he can reply with an immediate
counterattack: ...£rf6-h5 (...£tf6-d7, ...£tf6-e8) and ...f7-f5-f4, or first play
.. .a7-a5, for the moment preventing b2-b4.
(b) He can play .. .c7-c6 and then exchange pawns with .. .c6xd5 at a moment
when it is unfavourable for White to recapture with his knight (e.g. because the
e4 pawn is lost), or with his e4 pawn (because of the possible attack ...f7-f5 and
...e5-e4). After c4xd5 the threat of the c4-c5 attack has been eliminated. On the
other hand, Black now has other problems: the c-file has been opened and White
may double rooks with the aim of invading at c7.
(c) He can physically prevent the advance of the white c-pawn by playing
.. .c7-c5, before proceeding with his counterattack on the kingside.
Black keeps his pawn at c7
Game 24 earlier, but when the white bishop is

White: Georgy Lisitsyn developed at e2 I do not like to take
Black: David Bronstein on d4.
Moscow 1944
This game demonstrates one of the

ways for Black to play against the
closed centre.
1 £>f6 2 c4 d6 3 d4 £>bd7 4 £ic3

e5 5 e4 g6 6 Ae2 Ag7 7 0-0 0-0 8 d5
a5
Black prepares ...^c5 by for the
moment preventing b2-b4. White, in
turn, is ready to evict the knight from
c5 by £tel-d3, or to exchange it. Of 9 &el £>c5
course, I could have exchanged on d4 It used to be thought that, when
Black’s knight reached c5, he

achieved a good position. After all, I
was not the first and not the tenth
person to play the King’s Indian. It
was employed by Capablanca and the
English Champion Yates, and it was
played by Reti, Euwe, Chigorin and
even Tarrasch. But it should be real¬
ised that this is a good position only
compared with the Queen’s Gambit,
where you are down on your knees,
awaiting the invasion of a knight at
e5, the doubling of rooks, and so on.
10 Wc2 b6 11 Ag5 h6 12 Ae3 16 Axc5 bxc5 17 f4
£ig4 A brilliant decision by White - he
captured with his bishop (!) on c5 and
then played f2-f4. I found myself in a
very difficult position, and did not
know what to do. In general, at that
time I was not afraid of ending up in
difficulties, as I always believed that I
would find something! That was also
the case in the present game.
17...exf4 18 Sxf4 Ae5 19 ^xe5
dxe5 20 Sf2 f4 21 £ie2 g5 22 Wc3
We7 23 £>cl g4 24 £id3
Georgy Lisitsyn was a very strong

player, who wrote three excellent
books - on the opening, middlegame
and endgame. I confidently played
12...£}g4, and was very surprised by
the exchange of first one bishop for a
knight, and then the other.
13 Axg4 Axg4 14 £>d3 Ml
Today, of course, I would have
taken the knight at d3 and then played
...Ad7.
15 Sael f5 24. ..g3
The only way to gain some play. Idl Axdl 42 ®xdl ttxb2 43 #xh5
25 hxg3 fxg3 26 2xf8+ 2xf8 27 WQ+ 44 'idl ®d4+ 45 ie2 lfe4+
£>xe5 Wh4 28 2xf3 29 Wxf3 46 id2 ®d4+
29.. .h5 Draw agreed

We were both in severe time
trouble, with about a minute each for
our last fifteen moves. At the time I Game 25
was very proud of this move. White: Cenek Kottnauer
30 Ito Ag4 31 e5 Af5 32 Sdl Black: David Bronstein
«h2+ 33 ifl ®hl+ 34 ttgl tth4 35 Prague v. Moscow (round 11)
Wxc5 *hl+ 36 tfgl Moscow 1946
This game is from our historic match

with the Czechoslovak team, which
took place half in Prague and half in
Moscow.
My opponent, an intelligent, clever,
athletic man, also played water polo.
Then at some point he travelled to a
tournament in England, fell in love
with a beautiful Englishwoman, and
decided to settle down there.
1 £if6 2 c4 d6 3 g3 g6 4 Ag2
36...tth4 37 ld4 Ag4 38 Sd2 Ag7 5 0-0 £>bd7 6 d4 e5 7 £>c3 0-0 8
ttg5 39 ttd4 Wf5+ 40 iel Wbl+ 41 d5
White closes the centre and aims 13 £k2 Aa6 14 £>a3 £if6 15 exf5
later to build up an attack against gxf5 16 f3 We7 17 Sael h5 18 £>ab5
Black’s queenside. Kottnauer had of ^h7 19 Ah3
course seen my games with Pachman
and Zita, and therefore he did not
want to play e2-e4, which allows a
possible ...e5xd4.
After the immediate closing of the
centre Black’s only feasible reply is
...a7-a5 and ...£ic5.
8...a5 9 e4 £>c5 10 &el ^fd7
Black’s plan is to advance ...f7-f5,
and then possibly ...f5-f4 with an
attack on the kingside. A nuance of
the given variation is that, as long as
the white queen is at dl, Black cannot
play ...£Mi5, since after the thematic 19.. .Hae8
...f7-f5, e4xf5 he cannot reply 19.. .Wf7 is bad because of 20 f4
...g6xf5. Therefore he has to retreat and if 20...e4 21 Axc5 bxc5 22 2xe4.
his knight to d7 or e8, play ...f7-f5 and 20 Wc2 Ac8 21 â7
then return the knight to f6. Kottnauer thought that 21 a3
11 Ae3 f5 12 Wd2 b6 followed by b2-b4 would have been
With the aim of answering Axc5 better. However, Black would have
with ...b6xc5, but this is an unnecessary replied 21...Wf7 22 b4 £>b7.
move that conclusively weakens the 21.. .£d7 22 £k6
light squares on the queenside, and If 22 £>cb5 Black has the good
Kottnauer later exploits this factor. reply 22...â6.
22...®f7 30la7
Brilliantly played.
30.. .£lg5 31 i.c8 £lge6
Time trouble, time trouble. And, of
course, fatigue. It is not easy
constantly to maintain the tension of a
combinative game. After 31...fxe3 32
2xc7 £)xf3+ 33 &hl Wxc7 34 £lxc7
£id4 35 2xf8+ (35 Wd3 Hxfl + 36
tbtfl lf8 37 Wei e2 38 Ah3 i.h6)
35...Hxf8 36 Wd3 e2 Black would
have emerged unscathed. But where
to find the seconds needed to calculate
these variations? Accepting the
23 b3 £xc6 24 dxc6 4le6 25 £kI5 sacrifice (31...fxe3) would have led to
White sacrifices his c6 pawn, ob¬ undesirable complications, and so
taining a strong position for his knight Black chooses a quieter continuation,
at d5 and a dangerous attack on the by which he maintains some initiative.
queenside. 32 £xe6 £>xe6 33 Axb6 2a8 34
25...£>d8 26 a3 £}xc6 27 b4 axb4 Hxa8 Bxa8 35 $Lf2 fxg3
28 axb4 4kI8 35.. .Ha3 came into consideration.
Not 28...<SM4 in view of 29 Axd4 36 ±xg3 £id4 37 Wg2 c6 38 £ib6
exd4 30 Axf5 Sa6 39 c5 Ha2 40 ®h3 d5 41 <&hl
29 Sal f4 2a3 42 f4 e4 43 <2k8 e3 44 £id6 Wg6
If 29...ê6 30 Sa7 with the threat
of JLxb6. Now White cannot play 30
gxf4 because of 30...exf4.
45 b5
A clever idea. White defends very
resourcefully and causes his opponent
the utmost difficulty in achieving any

real gains.
45...£>xb5
Not 45...cxb5 in view of 46 f5 Wg4
47 Wg2. With the text move Black
forces a favourable ending.
46 f5 #g4 47 ttxg4 hxg4 48 f6
Af8 49 £>xb5 cxb5 50 f7+ <4'h7
This is the idea - the pawns are

immune.
55 Bxd5
Now White loses quickly. The best
defence was 55 ^g2 b2 56 &fl, but
after 56...^6 57 l4>e2 'A’xf/ 58 'ixe3
4?e6 Black should in the end win with
51 c6 his extra pawn.
Although this ending appears to be 55.. .e2 56 Bb5
a simple win, it contains many latent 56 Ed2 also fails to save the game
possibilities, and demands of Black after 56...Bxc7 57 Bxe2 Exf7.
very careful play and precise calcula¬ 56.. .Exc7 57 Sxb3 Ecl+ 58 &g2
tion. The win for him is not hard after Ac5
51 Ad6, e.g. 51...*g7 52 i.e5+ &g6
53 Ad6 e2 54 Hel ±xd6 55 cxd6
*xf7 56 Exe2 Ha6 57 Hb2 Hxd6 58
Sxb5 d4, but 51 Eel sets more
difficult problems. Here after 51...d4
52 c6 d3 53 c7 Ea8 54 c&W Exc8 55
Sxc8 d2 56 Ed8 b4 57 &g2 b3 it is
unexpectedly White who wins: 58
Sxf8 dll' 59 Hh8+. Therefore after
51 Bel Black would have continued
51...b4 52 c6 Ea8 as in the game.
51...b4 52 Eel Ha8 53 c7 Ec8 54
Sdlb3
A pretty concluding manoeuvre, in 9...a6 10 £idl Sb8 11 ^c2 ®e7

a position where White was still After the closing of the centre
hoping to draw. If instead 58...el® 59 Black appeared to be preparing play
Axel Sxel 60 h3 and Black’s extra on the b-file. But when White made
bishop is unlikely to help him to win. preparations to oppose this, Black
But now after 59 h3 there follows began large-scale manoeuvres on the
59..JSgl+ 60 <S?h2 JSxg3 and wins, other side of the board. Why did I
while if 59 Af2 Axf2 60 f8« Sgl+ avoid playing 1 l...b5? Because White
61 &xf2 el® mate. would have replied 12 cxb5 axb5 13
White resigns £}b4, when Black is left with a weak
b5 pawn and a paralysed queenside.
Game 26 12 b4 lf8 13 ê3 £ie8 14 ®c2
White: Alexander Kotov £idf6 15 a4 a5
Black: David Bronstein An important move, otherwise
Candidates Tournament White himself would have advanced
Zurich 1953 his a-pawn, and then opened one of
the queenside files (b- or c-).
A game abounding in various 16 bxa5 Sa8 17 Aa3 £>d7 18 Ah3
strategic and tactical motifs, where h5
White persistently aims to break
through on the queenside, and Black
equally persistently strives for an
attack on the king.
1 d4 £if6 2 c4 g6 3 g3 Ag7 4 Ag2 0-0

5 £k3 d6 6 ^bd7 7 0-0 e5 8 e4
He8 9 d5
The advance of this pawn enabled

me to include my knight in the play
on the kingside via the route ...£te8-
f6-h7-g5.
19 £>cdl Sa5 20 ^b2 êf6 21
Ab4 la6 22 a5 £>h7 23 Ag2 h4 24
&d3 Qsdf6
34 £lg4
The immediate 34 Wxb7 would
have allowed the knight sacrifice
34.. .<£)xg3 35 fxg3 Axe3+ and
36.. .Wfl+, closing in on the white
king.
34...itxg4 35 JLxh6 Efc8 36
®xb7 Ecb8 37 a6 g5
A sharp, dynamic battle has

developed, with approximate equil¬
ibrium. But, as is known, ideally
correct play in chess does not happen!
Here, carried away by my manoeuvres
on the kingside, I allow White to
break though on the queenside, which
24...£lc5 would have prevented.
25 c5 £lg5 26 ®c4 Ah6 27 &d2
Ea8 28 Ifcl £th5 29 cxd6 cxd6 30 38 Wxb8+
»c7 1T6 31 £>el hxg3 32 hxg3 I have given too much freedom to
£>h3+ 33 Axh3 Axh3 the white a-pawn, and here I could
have lost to a pretty combination: 38
Hcbl Hxb7 39 axb7 Ib8 40 Sa8 Wd8
41 Axg5 f6 42 Ixb8 Wxb8 43 -&,e3
i.c8 44 Aa7 Wxb7 45 Sxb7 Axb7 46
Ab8, attacking the pawns from the
rear.
38...Exb8 39 a7 Ea8 40 Scbl &h7
41 Eb8 Exa7 42 Exa7 £>xh6
After Kotov failed to take his
chance and the game was adjourned,
on the resumption Black several times
missed a win. However, he cannot
make any progress without sacrificing
one of his minor pieces.
43 Sbb7 &g6 44 B i.c8 45 Sc7 Draw agreed

®d8 46 g4 £lf6 47 4>g2 Ad7 48 £>c2
Axg4 49 fxg4 £ixg4 50 Sxf7 Wb6 51
Hg7+ &h5 52 Hh7+ £sh6 53 2ac7
®b3 54 &f2 Game 27
White: Harry Golombek
Great Britain v. USSR
London 1954
This game was played on board two

in the second round of this double¬
round match, one of a series of
meetings between the USSR and
foreign teams during 1954.
1 c4 £sf6 2 d4 g6 3 £>c3 kgl 4 e4 d6

5 £>B 0-0 6 Ae2 e5 7 0-0 £>c6 8 d5
Zhtl
54...g4 A modem variation played in a
Here, for example: 54...'i,d3 55 game nearly half a century ago.
<£le3 'H,d2+ would have won. 9 &g5 h6 10 Ad2
55 £ie3 Wd3 White deliberately forced a weak¬
And here 55...&g5 56 Hcg7+ &f4 ening of the castled position (9...h6),
57 £>g2+ 4>xe4 58 Hxh6 g3+. considering it useful for him.
56 £lf5 WB+ 57 &gl Wdl+ 58 10...£>d7 11 ttd &h7 12 £>el f5
&fl <&g5 59 ^xh6 Wd2+ 13 g3
Here Black has to play very accur¬

ately. He begins dislodging the knight
from e4 by ...c7-c6 and ...d6-d5.
I often employed the procedure
seen in the present game - that of
hiding my king behind a bishop and
two pawns (for the king two pawns
are enough!). One rook operates on
the open f-file, and again the queen’s
rook and queen’s bishop do not come
into play for a long time.
16 dxc6
With 15...c6 Black invited 16 g4,
13...fxe4 but after 16...£M4 17 £>xd4 exd4 18
It is interesting that here Black ^xd6 d3 19 Adi £>e5 White’s
plays somewhat against the rules - he position is hard to defend.
allows the white knight to occupy the 16...bxc6 17 Ab4 £if6 18 Af3 a5
blockading square e4, but on the other 19 Aa3 Wc7 20 Wd2
hand he also transfers his own knight
to the centre. This occurred for the
first time in the present game. It had
happened before that White himself
captured on f5 and Black took with
the knight, but this is not exactly the
same thing.
14 £ixe4 15 £>c2
20...Hd8
The battle is proceeding as follows:
White attacks the d6 pawn (Black’s
main weakness in the King’s Indian!),
and Black accurately defends it.
Hence this very unusual move.
21 Had Ae6 22 We2 «I7 23 b3
15...C6 £}xe4 24 Axe4 d5
With this move Black seizes the White resigns

initiative and successfully makes use
of his central pawns, and thereby Game 28
(with ...e5-e4) shuts the opponent’s White: Boris Spassky
light-square bishop out of the game. Black: David Bronstein
25 cxd5 cxd5 26 Ag2 Sac8 27 Candidates Tournament
Wa6 e4 28 ê3 £>d4 29 Sxc8 Sxc8 Amsterdam 1956
30 Wxa5 £te2+ 31 <&hl d4
In this game I was able to introduce
an original queen sacrifice. Asked at
the time about my evaluation of the
resulting position, I replied that I con¬
sidered the sacrifice to be correct, and
that subsequently there would be
players willing to take the side of
either White or Black. I myself played
the variation again nearly 40 years
later in a simultaneous (Game A62).
1 d4 ^f6 2 c4 g6 3 £k3 Ag7 4 e4 d6

5 f3 e5 6 d5 ^h5 7 Ae3 £ia6
The culmination of Black’s strategy I do not like moving my knights to
- like an ice-breaker the central pawns the edge of the board, but in this game
split White’s position in two. I exceeded the norm - in the space of
32 £idl Ag4 33 h3 Af3 34 We 1 two moves both knights have ended
Sc2 35 <&h2 Axg2 36 &xg2 Wf3+ 37 up there.
&h2 Ae5 38 Sgl £>xg3 8 Wd2 Wh4+
13 b3 ^b6 14 £ige2 f5 15 Ihgl

0-0 16 <£>g2 Ad7 17 a4 Af6 18 Wg3
19 a5 £>c8
Here I expected any move by
White (e.g., 20 <£hl or 20 ladl),
apart from the capture on f5. When
Spassky in fact played this, I became
nervous and took with the bishop.
20 exf5
After this move I was convinced

that White should play either 9 Wf2 or
9 Af2. But Spassky confidently
advanced his g-pawn, which I took
with my knight.
9 g3 £}xg3
In many magazines this move was
proclaimed as virtually the move of
the century. I wanted to demonstrate
that the two bishops are a great force. 20.. .Axf5
It seems to me that subsequently But Black had available a very
Spassky did not play very well. powerful move - 20...£}e7!, with the
10 Wf2 £>xfl 11 Wxh4 £ixe3 12 possible sequel 21 ê4 (or 21 fxg6
&f2 c4 £tf5 22 Wei thc2) 21...£>xf5 22
^xf6+ Sxf6 23 Wg5 Saf8 when he
has a very strong position. There is a
mass of threats - ...£>d4, ...£>c2 and
...£kl3. It seems to me that here
Black’s position is considerably
better, as his pieces are dominant.
21 Ha4
I became further rattled after this
move - subsequently I could have
played much better.
21.. .£>d3
Thus either 21...£ic2 or else the
immediate 21.. .£>a6 was preferable.
22 Sc4 ^c5 23 £>e4 £>a6 24 Black resigns.

&xf6+ lxf6 25 f4 e4 26 £>c3 £ie7 27 Black lost this game, but the idea
Sel 2af8 28 b4 c6 29 ^xe4 JLxe4+ of the queen sacrifice remains viable
30 Hcxe4 ^xd5 31 2e8 £iac7 to this day.
And here the obvious 31...£>xf4+
and 32...£M>4 would have offered
better chances of resisting.
Game 29
Black: Albert Kapengut
Baku 1972
My opponent had already established

something of a reputation as a
theoretician, but in this game a basic
opening error led eventually to his
defeat.
1 c4 ^f6 2 £M3 g6 3 £ic3 Ag7 4 e4

32 Sxf8+ &xf8 33 &hl Sf5 34 0-0 5 d4 d6 6 h3 e5 7 d5 £ia6 8 Ag5
Wh4 ^f6 35 Wf2 ^b5 36 We2 ^d5 h6 9 Ae3 £k5 10 ^d2
37 a6 bxa6 38 We8+ <&g7 39 Wxc6
<£>h6 40 Wxa6 £ixb4 41 Wb7 £id3 42
2e7 ^xf4 43 3Sxh7+ <4^5 44 We7+
4>g4 45 We3 4>g5 46 h4+ <4g4 47
&h2 ^h5 48 Hh6
10...^h7 11b4 â6

This game illustrates how a piece
can be shut out of the game. In the
given case it was the black knight at
a6. Essentially for the entire game in the centre, but the white rooks are
White was playing with an extra able to outflank and eliminate them,
piece. Black could have prevented this because Black is playing a piece
by the standard move 10.. ,a5. down.
12 a3 f5 13 £\b3 £>f6 14 c5 £ixe4 27 Efcl £>b8 28 £k5 Axc5 29
15 £\xe4 fxe4 16 Ac4 We8 Sxc5 Hf5 30 Sel 2ef6 31 lxe4 Sxf2
32 &xh6 d3 33 Sd5 le2
17 c6 bxc6 18 dxc6+ Jte6 19

±xe6+ Wxe6 20 £ia5 d5 21 Wb3 2f6 34 Sexe5 ^xc6 35 bxc6 fixe5 36
22 0-0 Sd8 23 £>b7 Se8 24 b5 d4 25 Sxe5 Sxc6 37 Ae3 Hc3 38 &f2 *f7
#xe6+ Sexe6 26 Ad2 Af8 39 a4 fic2+ 40 &f3 &f6 41 2d5
Here there was another important Black resigns

point: Black has obtained three pawns
Game 30 square c4. The difference between this

White: Olafur Thorsson variation, and the one with the
Black: David Bronstein fianchetto of the bishop at g2, is that
Reykjavik Open 1996 there it is harder for White to establish
his knight at c4.
This game went unnoticed by the 7...a5
theoreticians, although Black employ¬ In chess there is always a slight air
ed a rare manoeuvre with his king’s of uncertainty - you never know
knight: ...£>g8-f6-d7-c5. Usually it is whether you are losing a move, or
his queen’s knight that goes to c5. gaining one. Thus here 7...a5 is either
a competent move, or it is a waste of
1 d4 £if6 2 g6 3 c4 Ag7 4 £ic3 time - suppose that the knight does
0-0 5 e4 d6 6 Ae2 e5 7 d5 not go to c5, suppose that it is not
needed there? Perhaps the immediate
7.. .ê8 would be better? In undeter¬
mined positions such as this one
(White has not yet castled) I have
always harboured doubts: you play
7.. .£te8, and the opponent unexpect¬
edly advances his h-pawn. Then you
have to play ...h7-h6, to avoid the
opening of the h-file.
8 Ag5 We8 9 £>d2 £>fd7 10 g4
^c5 11 Sgl £>ba6
When White closes the centre, you

as Black have several options,
depending on your mood and your
imagination. You can play 7...^bd7
then ...£te5, and wait, to see what
White will play. You can even make
the quiet move 7...We7 or the
aggressive 7...£>h5. You do not close
the centre by 7...c5, as you want to
keep open the option of the under¬
mining move ...c7-c6. But if you play
7...c6 immediately, then after the 12 a3
inevitable exchange ...c6xd5, c4xd5 Here White made a typical mistake.
the white knight acquires the good He did not play 12 b3, as evidently he
did not care for 12...a4 13 2b 1 axb3 bishop has left there, aiming for the
14 axb3 £ib4, but in this line he had a queenside.
much stronger move - 13 Wbl! 23 Adi
Now the black knights begin to I had foreseen the possibility of the
take up dominant posts on the unexpected knight leap on move 24,
queenside. but if White had played 23 Afl Ab6
12...a4 13 h4 Ad7 14 h5 h6 15 24 Ag2 it is probable that nothing
Ae3 g5 16 £>b5 terrible for him would have occurred.
23...Ab6 24 Ae2
16...Wb8 17 Wc2 c6 18 £k3 Wd8

19 f3 Wa5 20 *12 2fb8 212gdl Af6 24.. .£te6 25 Axb6
22 2dcl Ad8 Or 25 dxe6 Axe3+, when 26 *xe3
allows 26...Wc5+ 27 *d3 Wd4 mate.
25.. .Wxb6+ 26 27 £>xa4
We3 28 £>c3 ^c5 29 2el
A most unusual occurrence - on

Black’s kingside the only piece
remaining is his king. His dark-square
29... Axg4 30 fxg4 Wg3 31 Af3

$Sh3 32 <4>e2 ®h2+ 33 &dl &f2+ 34
<4>e2 ^xg4+ 35 <£dl £>f2+ 36 <£e2
£>fxe4+ 37 <&dl ^f2+ 38 <&e2 e4 39
Axe4 (see diagram)
White resigns
Black opens the c-file
Game 31
White: Andrei Lilienthal
Baku 1944
In this and the following game I was

able to demonstrate the viability of a
new system of play for Black in the
King’s Indian, in particular the
exchange of pawns on d5, opening the
c-file. Previously it had been
considered obligatory to keep the In this game the following elements
pawn on c7. are of interest: after the standard
...c7-c6, ...4kl7-c5 and ...a7-a5, Black
1 d4 £if6 2 c4 d6 3 £ic3 e5 4 then advanced his pawn to a4 and
£ibd7 5 g3 g6 6 Ag2 Ag7 7 0-0 0-0 8 tried to force White to take it in return
e4 c6 9 d5 £>c5 10 £>el cxd5 11 cxd5 for the exchange of his dark-square
(see diagram) bishop. I have always believed in the
U...a5 12 f3 b6 13 Ae3 ^h5 14 a3 strength of the two bishops, which
a4 15 Sf2 successfully operate at a distance. In
the event of 15 Axc5 Black would But at the time I was more interested
have replied 15...bxc5 and then 16 in playing my rook to b3.
£>xa4 Ah6 with active play.
15...f5
23 Hxf8+ Wxf8 24 We2 Sa5 25

£ic2 Sxd5
A textbook example: Black’s a7 Instead of taking the pawn, I should
pawn has advanced to a4, his knights have played 25...Wf3.
have taken up position at c5 and h5, 26 £ib4
and his f7 pawn has gone onto the
attack. What more could he dream of
in this complicated opening?
16 exf5 gxf5 17 f4 ^f6
Here I should have taken on f4 and
only then played ...£}f6, opening the
long diagonal. At that time I did not
yet have sufficient experience.
18 h3 ^fe4 19 £ixe4 £ixe4
I was trying at all costs to deprive
White of his two bishops, and in this I
succeeded - Lilienthal gave up his
light-square bishop, and in addition he
had to sacrifice a pawn at f5. 26...Hb5
20 Axe4 fxe4 21 f5 Axf5 22 g4 Another important moment. Here it
Ad7 was essential for Black to play
But instead of this I should, of 26...2d3, and if the knight takes this
course, have retreated my bishop to impudent rook, then 27 £>xd3 Ab5
g6. Then I could have played ...JLf7 with a reasonable game.
and perhaps picked up the d5 pawn. 27 Sfl Wa8 28 Wd2 Af8 29 Ah6
Ae7 30 Ag5 Wd8 31 &xe7 Wxe7 32 41 Wf6 Jtf7 42 2f4 We8 43 2f5 e3
£id5 44 Se5 Wa8 45 Wf3 Wd8 46 Wxe3
d4 47 Wd2 Wd6 48 Wf4 Wd7 49 2e2
d3 50 SC Wd5+ 51 &h2 Wd7 52 h4
We8 53 Wd6 We4 54 Wb8+ <&g7 55
Wf4 Wd5 56 h5 Wd7 57 Wf6+ &f8
58 g6
This was one of the first games

where Black showed that the white
centre could be completely destroyed.
Later, through inexperience, I even
lost, trying to extricate myself by
tactics. Of course, Lilienthal then was Black resigns
much more experienced than me, and
what told was the badly placed black
rook -1 had to give up the exchange.
32...2xd5 33 Wxd5+ Ae6 34 Wxe4 Game 32
Sun 35 We3 b5 36 g5 d5 37 2f5 e4 White: Mikhail Botvinnik
38 Wd4 Wc7 39 <4>g2 Ae6 40 SO Wd7 Black: David Bronstein
Moscow 1945
I had made my USSR Championship

debut the previous year, when I
finished 15th out of 17 players, but
was one of only two to defeat the
runaway winner, Botvinnik. Here
Botvinnik’s domination was even
more marked, but I was able to
improve to gain third place.
1 £if6 2 d4 d6 3 c4 £ibd7 4 g3
g6 5 Ag2 Ag7 6 ^c3 e5 7 0-0 0-0 8

e4 c6
14...£kd7
Here I had a choice: to exchange
When I played this move, without knights, and after 14...£>xb3 15 Wxb3
thinking for a second Mikhail £}d7 16 Ae3 to go onto the defensive,
Moiseevich replied 9 d5, but when or to avoid exchanges and maintain
after 9...cxd5 I obtained a good the tension, in so doing trying to play
position, he never played 9 d5 again. on the kingside, while abandoning the
However, during this game he decided opposite wing to its fate. I chose the
to punish me. ‘This young man has latter plan, and the course of the game
made a mistake, and now I will show demonstrated its viability.
him how one should play.’ 15 a4 Hc8 16 Ah3 Sc7 17 Ae3 h5
The following moves are typical of 18 &g5 We8 19 f3 ^h7 20 Ae3 We7
this variation: White supports his 21 Aft ±xfl 22 Ixfl
centre, while Black develops his
queenside. White’s intentions include
exchanging as many pieces as
possible, since he has occupied more
space.
9 d5 cxd5 10 cxd5 £>c5 11 Wc2 a5
12 £>d2 b6
This supports the knight and opens
the diagonal for the bishop to a6, but
such a development is not in the spirit
of the King’s Indian. 12...4Mi5
followed by ...f7-f5 was more
thematic.
13 £>b3 &a6 14 Sdl
22...f5 23 tte2 f4 24 £>b5 Ecc8 25

gxf4 exf4 26 Ad4 £ihf6 27 £>a7
Ece8 28 ®g2 *h7 29 Eaci £>c5 30
&c6 Wd7
36...g5 37 ±xg7 ®xg7 38 &hl

£ie5 39 Egl &h6 40 £ixe5 ®xe5 41
«h3 Bf6 42 Hg2 Hg8 43 Edgl «d4
44 Eel Efg6 45 WfS Wd3 46 Ef2
Black’s position seems critical: Wd4 47 Eg2 Ef6 48 Ed2 Exf5 49
White’s pieces have not only increas¬ Exd4 Ee5 50 Ed3
ed their scope, but have seized control
of the light squares on the queenside
and the dark squares in the centre.
Evidently at heart my opponent was
already celebrating a quick win,
especially since by force he now wins
the important a5 pawn. But here a
typical ‘King’s Indian miracle’
occurred: Black’s kingside pawns
began advancing and he imperceptibly
gained control of the long diagonal.
Botvinnik decided to go into an
inferior rook ending. Perhaps
somewhere I could have exploited my
chances better, but even so this game 50...Eb8 51 b3 g4 52 &g2 &g5 53
was a blow to the lovers of ‘closed’ a5 Ea8 54 fial Ee7 55 Ea3 Eea7 56
strategy. e5 dxe5 57 d6 &f5 58 Ed5 Ed8 59
31 £>xc5 bxc5 32 ±c3 Ah6 33 Ea2 &e6 60 Exc5 Exd6 61 Eac2
ficdl ®f7 34 Efel Ag7 35 ±xa5 fld5 62 Exd5 &xd5 63 b4 Ea8 64
£ld7 36 Ac3 &f2Eb8
1950) White risked winning such a

pawn, but ran into problems (cf.
Game A12). Here after 10 Axh5 gxh5
11 ®xh5 £>b4 followed by ...f7-f5 it
would have been hard for him to
defend the light squares.
Draw agreed
Game 33
Black: Anatoly Lutikov
USSR Spartakiad 10...£if6 11 h4 cxd5 12 cxd5 b6 13
Moscow 1959 Ag5 £k5 14 £>d2 a5
For Black ...f7-f5 is a standard

offensive move in the King’s Indian,
but it also weakens his control of e6.
1 d4 £>f6 2 c4 g6 3 £>c3 Ag7 4 e4 d6

5 0-0 6 Ae2 e5 7 d5 ^h5
Black creates a weakening of the
opponent’s kingside, as the knight
cannot be allowed to go to f4.
8 g3 £>a6 9 ^d2 c6 10 ^b3
White in reply employs an unusual
idea - he leaves his king in the centre
and plans an attack on the kingside. 15 h5
Of course, he does not intend to take See also the game Bronstein-
on h5, as it is bad in such positions to Gligoric, Zurich 1953 (A 19) for this
give up the light-square bishop. In the manoeuvre.
well-known game Szabo-Boleslavsky 15...Wc7 16 a4 Ad7 17 &fl Ac8
(Candidates Tournament, Budapest 18^>g2
are higher - the h-file, more space and

the light squares. As a result the black
king is exposed, whereas the two
pawns are sufficient for White’s.
23 fxg6 Af5 24 4M3 Axg6 25 ^g5
MS 26 Sh4 fiac8 27 We2 Wb7 28
Idl Sc7 29 &gl Wc8
Here a standard King’s Indian idea

is strikingly displayed - one white
rook has remained at hi, the king has
gone to g2, and then the other rook
from al is free to move to the h-file.
All this has been done without the
slightest loss of time, which would
not have been so if White had castled. 30 Axc5
18...ê8 19 Ab5 f6 20 Ae3 f5 21 Eliminating one of the defenders of
hxg6 hxg6 22 exf5 £>f6 the e6 square, which is now protected
only by bishop and queen.
30...bxc5 31 Ad3 e4 32 Aa6 We8
33 £ie6 Se7 34 Ac4 Sff7 35 ^b5
ld7 36 Wd2 Sfe7 37 Wg5
Each side has carried out his plan.

Black avoids recapturing with the
bishop and sacrifices a pawn. A sharp
game develops, but White’s trumps
And in this difficult position Black 11 0-0 c6 12 Ebl Ad7 13 b3

lost on time. The black g-pawn restricts the
white bishop. Play now switches to
the queenside and then once again to
Game 34 the kingside, culminating in an inter¬
White: Alexander Tolush esting attack by the black pieces in the
Black: David Bronstein vicinity of the f2 and g2 squares.
Leningrad v. Moscow Match 13...g5 14 Ag3 cxd5 15 cxd5
Moscow 1960
These matches, usually double-round

events on 40 boards, were invariably
closely fought. Our game was played
on board 2 (the top board pairing was
Botvinnik-Korchnoi).
1 d4 2 c4 g6 3 £ic3 Ag7 4 e4 d6
5 £>13 0-0 6 Ae2 e5 7 d5 £bd7 8
Ag5 h6 9 Ah4 a5 10 £d2 £c5
In this game, after White had
closed the centre, Black gained a good
post for his knight - c5. White played 15...1)5 16 b4 axb4 17 Hxb4 '#a5
inaccurately; he should have played 18 Wbl £a6 19 Hb3 £c5 20 Hb4
f2-f3 earlier, in order to free his £a6 21 2b3 2fc8 22 ttb2 b4 23
knight at d2. The game also demon¬ £cbl £c5 24 2xb4 Wxa2
strates that it is not essential for Black
to play ...f7-f5.
A position of dynamic balance -

the black bishop at g7 can merely
defend the d6 pawn. White dreams of 32...ê2 33 lxe2 Sxe2 34 £>bd2

regrouping (2b6, £ic4 etc.), while h5 35 lb3 ftf4 36 &gl lg2+ 37
Black transfers his knight to f4. &hl ê2 38 Ibl h4 39 Axe5 Sf2
25 O £>h5 26 Wxa2 Sxa2 27 Sdl
$M4 28 Ac4
Instead of this risky move, White
would have done better to retreat his
bishop to f1.
28...£kd3
A typical manoeuvre.
The culmination of Black’s attack

in this queenless middlegame.
White resigns
Game 35
White: Dietmar Kolbus
29 Sb7 Sxc4 30 £>xc4 Hastings Open 1994/5
This decision to win the exchange
is bad. White should play 30 2xd7. My first appearance in Hastings was
30...Hxg2+ 31 <&hl Ah3 32 Hd2 back in 1953/4, when Alexander
Tolush and I became the first Soviet
players after the War to compete in
the Premier Tournament.
1 c4 £>f6 2 £k3 e5 3 g3 c6 4 d6
5 Ag2 g6 6 0-0 Ag7 7 e4 0-0 8 d4
Wa5 9 d5 cxd5 10 cxd5
In this game Black exploited a
chance opportunity. He experiment¬
ally brought out his queen to a5
before developing his knight at c5.
Having started, he had to continue in
the same vein, and so there followed
A tense situation has arisen - White

has a weak pawn at b3, and Black has
one at a5, which is harder to defend.
19...1fb8 20 Ad2
10.. .b5 11 lei

White should have played 11 £id2
b4 12 £lb3, which ensures him a
slight advantage.
11.. .1.d7 20...£\e8 21 ttc2 f5 22 13 £lf6 23
But here Black ‘returns the leal fxe4 24 fxe4 la7 25 h3
compliment’. He could have equalised
immediately by ll...b4, e.g. 12 ®a4
Wxa4 13 £ixa4 Ad7 14 b3 Hc8 15
Ad2 Axa4 16 bxa4 £sa6, or 12 £ta4
&d7 13 b3 Ab5.
12 a3 b4 13 £ia2 bxa3 14 £sc3
Wb6 15 lxa3 £>a6 16 Afl £>c5
This covers the g4 square, but on

the other hand it weakens the g3
pawn.
25...1ab7
Each side has his trumps. White
was clearly in too much of a hurry to
win the a5 pawn, and as a conse¬
17 *hf\2 a5 18 £sc4 Wc7 19 b3 quence he came under a strong attack.
138 Bronstein on the King s Indian
26 £>xa5 £scxe4 27 &el Wc5+ 28 36...h5 37 &hl H12 38 Axf2 exf2

£>h2 Sc7 29 Ac4 4lxc3 30 Wic3 e4 39 WO ±xh3 40 £\c6 £>xg3+ 41
31 ttd2 e3 32 Wg2 Wd4 33 flcl £le4 &h2 Wh4 42 Hxf2 £le2+ 43 £lxe5
34 5a2 518 35 Ab4 Ae5 36 Ael £fl+
White resigns
Black pawns at e5 and c5
Game 36 I have annotated in my book The

White: Gerald Abrahams Modern Chess Self-Tutor. Tragically,
Black: David Bronstein this highly talented young player was
Great Britain v. USSR Match to die only a few weeks later, during a
London 1947 routine hospital operation.
One of the highlights of this double- 1 £if3 <2lf6 2 c4 g6 3 £lc3 jLg7 4 e4

round event was the fine first round d6 5 d4 0-0 6 Ae2 £lbd7 7 0-0 e5 8
win by the 18-year-old Gordon Crown Ag5 h6 9 Jte3 c6 10 h3 5e8 11 d5
over Alexander Kotov, a game which c5
set-up resembling a coiled spring.

20 h4
This advance is premature - White
clearly overrated his position. The
spring uncoils; with a knight sacrifice
at g4 Black releases his pawns, and
his f-pawn advances decisively.
20...We7 21 Wc2 £>hf6 22 £>h2
12 Wd2 <4>h7 13 g4 £ig8 14 <£h2

15 Ad3 <±>h8 16 Sgl ^h7 17
Sg2 M.d7 18 the! Wf6 19 <&g3 Sf8
22...£hxg4 23 £ixg4 f5 24 £>xe5

dxe5 25 f4 £>f6 26 Shi fxe4 27 &xe4
^xe4+ 28 Wxe4 exf4+ 29
Wxe4+ 30 <4,xe4 Sae8+ 31 ^d3
AC+ 32 Si?d2fxe3+
A game typical of the King’s

Indian, when White tries to attack not
on the queenside, but on the kingside.
He has closed the centre and set up a
pawn chain: c4-d5-e4-f2-g4-h3. In
reply Black has regrouped his pieces
in unusual fashion (I think that at the
time this was an innovation). He has
made very economical use of the nine
squares on the kingside, which are
solidly occupied by pieces, the whole White resigns
Game 37 Black and Ae3, ®d2 f2-f3 etc. by

White: Georgy Ravinsky White. Therefore I decided to play
Black: David Bronstein 10...£>h5 immediately.
Moscow Championship 1953 11 Ad2 f5 12 f3 f4
This game was from one of the

Moscow Championships, where I
played almost without a break for
some 25-30 years. The present event
was held in the summer before the
Zurich Candidates Tournament.
1 d4 £>f6 2 c4 d6 3 £>c3 g6 4 g3 Ag7

5 Ag2 0-0 6 e4 e5 7 d5 c5
13 g4
An important moment. White has
allowed ...f5-f4, which is psychologic¬
ally unpleasant for him. He could
have played 13 Ael, but Ravinsky
made the reasonable move 13 g4.
True, it allows Black to carry out the
classic blow ...h7-h5.
13.. .^hf6 14 Ael h5 15 g5
Why did White play this, rather
In the opening I played differently than leave this pawn where it is, or
from usual - after the closing of the else capture on h5?
centre I immediately replied 7...c5. I If he leaves the pawn at g4, then he
was interested to see what would has to defend it by 15 h3. Then after
happen in this case. 15.. .hxg4 16 hxg4 Black is free to
8 £>ge2 £ibd7 9 0-0 a6 play ...£ih7, ..Mg5, ...£klf6 and
This move is necessary, to prevent ...Axg4.
the possible leap by the white knight And after 15 gxh5 he replies
to b5. 15.. .g5 16 h3 (forced, in view of the
10 a3 £>h5 threat of 16...g4) 16...®e8, followed
The white knight at e2 for a long by ...Wxh5, ...£ih7, ...4klf6 and
time prevents ...f5-f4 in the event of ...Axh3.
the standard piece set-up: ...£ie8 by 15.. .^g4
The most difficult move in the

game was this one by the king,
making way for the rook.
20 Wd3 Sh8 21 b4 £>f6 22 &gl
cxb4 23 axb4 Axh3 24 £>xh3 Wg4
25 lf3 £>h7
But I myself like most of all this
final knight move.
It is a good thing in chess that not

all the pieces move in straight lines.
The knight, for example, has the
ability to perform pirouettes. Here we
have just such a situation.
16 fxg4 hxg4
Black has made a piece sacrifice to
launch a pawn attack ‘a la Philidor’.
Of course, White could several times White resigns
have defended better, but I always had
compensation for the piece.
17 h4 gxh3 18 Axh3 Wxg5+ 19
<&hl
Game 38
White: Gideon Stahlberg
Played by Telegraph 1955
One feature of the King’s Indian

Defence both for White, and for
Black, as I understand it, is that the
two players normally develop their
kingside and then castle, but do not
move the rook from the a-file until the
last moment. Also the bishops at cl
and c8 do not hurry to come into the
19...<4,f7 game.
1 £>G ^f6 2 c4 g6 3 g3 Ag7 4 Ag2 premature - Black was getting

d6 5 (14 0-0 6 0-0 Ag4 nervous. Perhaps it would have been
better to advance the c-pawn: 12...c5.
This game is interesting for the fact

that Black developed his bishop early 13 d5 c5 14 &g2 £ie8 15 g4
and confidently exchanged it for a A curious situation has arisen. The
knight. Do you know my theory of light-square bishop is temporarily
how Capablanca played? He always obstructed, but after Black plays ...f7-
tried to exchange one bishop, so that f5 it will be freed. On the other hand,
he should have no problems about he cannot stand still, as White will
how to arrange his pawn chain. Then play his knight to g3 (^c3-e2-g3), his
he exchanged one rook, if possible - rook to the h-file, and begin pressing
then he had no problems about which on the kingside.
rook to place on the only open file.
And it only remained to exchange one
knight, so that the remaining knight
knew which weak square to control in
the centre. Here I played like Capa¬
blanca, but taking account of my
theory - in chess White occupies four
ranks, Black sets up a defensive wall
on three, and the 5th rank always
remains free (a kind of neutral, no¬
man’s-land).
7 £k3 c6 8 h3 Axf3 9 Axf3 e6 10
e4 &bd7 11 Ae3 We7 12 Wd2 e5
The point of chess is to cross the 15...a6 16 Ihl f5 17 gxf5 gxf5 18
equator. This move is somewhat exf5
was at a tournament in Hungary; they

would phone me from the editorial
office of Vechernaya Moskva (the
daily Moscow evening paper) and I
had to make a move at once, in order
to be in time for the next issue. When
the game ended, I sent a telegram
expressing my thanks to the Stock¬
holm newspaper and received one in
reply.
18...e4
An important and typical idea in
the King’s Indian - Black temporarily
sacrifices two pawns, but his g7
bishop comes into play.
19 £>xe4 £>e5 20 We2 £>xf3 21
Wxf3 b5 22 cxb5 axb5 23 ^g3 Axb2
24 Hael Ae5 25 Af4 £>g7 26 &xe5
dxe5 27 Se4 Wf6 28 Ihel
Draw agreed
Game 39
White: Tigran Petrosian
Moscow 1974
This very tense and difficult game is

one of the best strategic achievements
of Tigran Petrosian. It shows how
28...^xf5 29 £>xf5 #xf5 30 ®xf5 hard it can be for Black to gain
BxfS 31 Iixe5 HxeS 32 Iixe5 Hxa2 counterplay, if White does not hurry
33 d6 ld2 34 Sxc5 lxd6 35 lxb5 and observes necessary prophylaxis.
This game was played by telegraph, Petrosian seemed to anticipate all my
and we made two moves a week. I attempts to sharpen the play.
1 c4 £>f6 2 4lc3 g6 3 e4 d6 4 d4 Ag7 This is followed by the exchange of

5 f3 e5 6 £>ge2 c6 7 Ag5 £ibd7 8 d5 the light-square bishops, which Black
is unable to avoid.
18...£xh3 19 £ixh3 2b8 20 4k3
#d7 21 Wg2 thecl 22 a4
8...0-0 9 ttd2 ®b6 10 i.e3 Wc7

11 g4 h5 12 g5 £>e8 13 h4 a5 14 b3
£te5 15 2dl
With this subtle move White nails 22...Hbe8
down the backward d6 pawn, However, the question arises: ‘If
immobilises the knight at e8, and Black had included in good time his
practically forces Black to block the knights in the defence of the kingside,
position on the queenside by 16...c5. would White’s plan of attack
After this White begins ‘large-scale succeeded?’ Let us carry out a little
manoeuvres’ on the kingside. analysis. Instead of the insignificant
22...Hbe8 Black should have immed¬
iately embarked on a defensive re¬
grouping: 22...<£le8!, with the possible
variation 23 £le2 £lac7 24 <5lg3 2b7
25 £>f2 Ha7 26 Hgl 2b7 27 £ifhl
Ha7 28 £Mi5 gxh5 29 £lg3 f5 30
gxf6 £>xf6! 31 £>f5 £>ce8 32 Ah6
^h8 and the attack is parried, as 33
Wg6 £lg8 34 Wxh5 Axh6 35 £>xh6 is
not dangerous in view of 35...®h7 36
2g6 £>g7 37 %5 2xf3. Thus,
although it is a dangerous and difficult
defence, the King’s Indian never¬
15...£ia6 16 £sa4 c5 17 £igl b6 18 theless holds!
Ah3 23 £>e2 £>b8 24 £ig3 2e7
28 £ixh5 gxh5 29 £ig3 f5 30 gxf6

Axf6 31 £>xh5+ 2g7 32 ^xg7 Axg7
A noteworthy position. Black’s

defences appear to be holding: the
pawns are blocked right across the
board, there are no invasion points in 33 Ah6
my position, and f3-f4 is clearly White has a winning attack, but
unfavourable for White. There is only here, instead of the obvious advance
one vulnerable point in the black of his pawn - 33 h5 &h8 34 Ag5 and
fortress, its “Achilles’ heel” - this is wins, he begins intensifying the
the h5 pawn. It is there that the wise pressure on g7. This allows me to
Tigran directs his actions: he transfers bring up my reserves.
his knight from h3 to hi, after which 33...2f7 34 2d2 £ic7 35 Wg6 £ie8
comes the sacrifice on h5. 36 2dg2 Wh3 37 &xg7 £ixg7
25 0X2 2fe8 26 Sgl £ka6 27
£tfhlSf8
38 Wxf7+
Even so, instead of this queen 44...1?hl+ 45 &C Wh2+ 46 2g2

sacrifice, made just a couple of moves ®f4 47 &e2 Wcl 48 Igg7 ®c2+ 49
before the time control. White could &fi ®di+ 50 &a ®d2+ 5i &fi
have won by 38 Wxdd, as 38...£M7 is WdH- 52 i-f2 Wd2+ 53 <&g3 Wel+
simply answered by 39 ®h6. 54 4?g2 ®e2+ 55 &g3 «fel+ 56 <&g2
38...&xf7 39 2xg7+ &f8 40 Ig8+ We2+ 57 &g3 Wel+
*f7 41 2lg7+ <&f6 42 2g6+ <&f7 43
H6g7+ &f6 44 Hh7
Draw agreed
The central tension is maintained
Game 40 1 d4 £hf6 2 c4 d6
White: Mikhail Botvinnik At last! Twenty games of the match
Black: David Bronstein had gone by, and I had not once
World Championship (game 21) employed my favourite weapon - the
Moscow 1951 King’s Indian Defence, as I feared
that Botvinnik would be well prepared
This game appealed to Max Euwe, for it.
and in a Dutch magazine he praised 3 £k3 e5 4 £>bd7 5 g3 g6 6
me for the moves 9...£>h5, 10...®e7, &g2 Ag7 7 0-0 0-0 8 e4 c6
H...&I18 and 12...a6. I think that it
was I who first employed this new
plan of play on the queenside, back in
1947 in a game with Flohr (Game
A7). Now everyone plays this way.
This game is unique for the fact
that Black succeeded in carrying out
the attack ...b7-b5-b4, for perhaps the
only time ever. Neither before this
game, nor since, have I seen anyone
playing this way. Black succeeded
with his attack on the b2 pawn, thanks
to the possibility of controlling the
light squares on the queenside.
It seems to me that my opponent All these moves had already
made one mistake - he thought for a occurred in the game between the
long time after ...£ih5, evidently same players from the 14th USSR
recalling our game in 1945, in which I Championship, Moscow 1945 (cf.
had obtained good play. Game 32). There Botvinnik played 9
In this game there was also an d5 but did not gain any advantage. On
interesting psychological context. this occasion the World Champion
When you simply look at a position chooses a different method of
and evaluate it, you can play in development.
several different ways, but if the fate 9 h3 £ih5
of the historical development of chess An interesting idea. Here Black
can depend on your every move, you usually plays 9...exd4 10 ^xd4 %5c5
feel a terrible oppression, which followed by 1 l...a5.
greatly hinders your play. 10 Ae3
Scl, preventing 13...b5, when there

can follow 14 cxb5 axb5 15 d5.
Instead of this, 10 b3 came into

consideration, in order after lO.-We?
to develop the bishop at a3, and after
other continuations - at b2. 13...Eb8 14 AH £lhf6
10.. .1fe7 Preparing ...b7-b5, which if played
After the development of the immediately would have been met by
bishop at e3, the queen is very 14...b5 15 cxb5 axb5 16 d5.
comfortably placed at e7. 15 Wd2 b5 16 cxb5 axb5 17 Hadl
Il£ih2 £ib6
White prevents ...f7-f5, but at h2
the knight is very passively placed. 11
Hel looks more natural, in order to
continue developing with 12 Wd2 and
13 Sadi. It is very dangerous for
Black to play ...f7-f5.
11.. .6h8 12 Sel a6
Having decided against exchanging
on d4, Black avoids play in the centre.
White has also forestalled the
opponent’s attacking ideas on the
kingside. Only one possibility for
Black remains - an offensive on the
queenside.
13 a3 18 Ah6
A bad move. White weakens his b3 The bishop at g7 is passively
and c4 squares, which Black placed, and there is no point in
energetically exploits. Correct was 13 exchanging the e3 bishop for it. White
still does not have a bad position. He 27.. .£>b6 28 Wbl

should have played 18 dxe5 dxe5 19 Another knight aims for c4. White
Wd6 immediately or after the pre¬ cannot exchange the queens, as after
paratory 19 b4 4ifd7. After the move 28 dxe5 dxe5 29 Wd6 Wxd6 30 Hxd6
in the game the initiative passes Black wins a pawn by 30...£ibc4.
completely to Black. 28.. .^bc4 29 lde2 b4 30 axb4
18...i.xh6 19 Wxh6 Ae6 20 £lf3 Sxb4
Ab3 21 Id2 £>fd7
Preventing 22 £lg5, after which
Black’s pieces on the kingside would
have been tied down.
22 We3 Ac4
31 h4
In search of counterplay, Botvinnik
tries to weaken the opponent’s king-
side.
23 Ag2 31.. .^b6
A poor move, since on g2 the 31.. .2fb8 was even stronger.
bishop is passively placed. Botvinnik 32 £ia2 Axa2 33 Wxa2 ^bc4 34
has just exchanged his active bishop h5 Sfb8 35 hxg6 hxg6 36 Wbl
for the passive one at g7, and now he 36 Sbl is bad because of 36...Wb7,
does not want to exchange his ‘bad’ when Black threatens 37...£>b3
fl bishop for the dangerous bishop at followed by 38...2a8.
c4. He would have done better to play 36.. .6g7 37 dxe5 fxe5 38 Wcl
his rook to dl orc2. £>xb2 39 Wc3 â4 40 Wcl Hc4
23...f6 24 Sc2 Ab3 25 Sce2 £>c4 Both players were in time severe
26 Wd3 â5 27 Sd2 trouble, and this explains their
There is nothing that White can do. inaccuracies. With 40...c5 Black could
If 27 £>d2 there could have followed have won much more easily.
27...Ac4 28 £>xc4 bxc4 29 Wdl ^b3 At this point the game was
with advantage to Black. adjourned.
the two black knights successfully

support the advance of the c-pawn.
46.. .£id3 47 Se3
This makes things easier for Black.
Better defensive chances were offered
by 47 Sfl, e.g. 47...Sc2 48 Sdl (but
not 48 f5 Sf2), threatening if the
knight moves from d3 to play 49 Sal.
After 47 Sfl Black would have to
reckon with the threat of f4-f5,
whereas after the text move none of
the white pieces has any future.
47.. .5.3
41 Wg5 Threatening to consolidate the
The sealed move. White’s alter¬ knight’s position at d3 by ...c6-c5-c4.
natives were 41 Wa3 and 41 Sc2. White’s reply is forced.
After 41 Sc2 the strongest reply is the 48 Aft Sc2+ 49 <&h3
exchange on c2, as if 41...Scb4 White No better is 49 &gl ^cl 50 Sa3
creates dangerous threats with 42 £}ce2+, winning another pawn.
£}h2. After 41 Wa3 Black could have 49.. .£if2+ 50 &h4 Scl 51 Ag2
played 41...c5 and then transferred his Sgl 52 Ah3
knight from a5 to d4. In general, it is
easier for Black to realise his
advantage with the queens on, and
therefore the exchange of queens
carried out by Botvinnik is the
strongest continuation.
41.. .Wxg5 42 £>xg5 £ib3 43 f4
Now there is the danger of a white
rook breaking through onto the 7th
rank.
43.. .£id4 44 Sa2 Sb2
Black accurately realises his
advantage. By exchanging rooks he
simultaneously parries two threats: 45 52...Shi
Seal and 45 Afl followed by 46 The white king is in danger. Black
Sh2. is threatening, after moving his king,
45 Sxb2 £>xb2 46 &h2 to play ...£ie6, winning a piece,
The ending after 46 Sal Scl+ 47 against which White has no defence.
Sxcl £ie2+ is hopeless for White, as 53 fxe5 dxe5 54 Sa3 &f6 55
£sh7+ *e7 56 £>g5 &d6

On the last move before the time
control Black overlooks the immed¬
iate win by 56...£le6, but a move
later, having noticed it, he tries to
return to the same position.
57 £tf7+ &e7 58 &g5
Since the piece cannot be saved,
Botvinnik gives it up voluntarily.
58...&xf7 59 2a7+ &e8 60 i.d7+
id8 61 &xg6 £>xe4 62 g4 2fl
Not 62...£sb5 63 2b7 £>c5 64
jk,xc6 £lxb7 65 jtxhl.
63 i.f5 £>xf5 64 gxf5 White resigns
Benoni set-ups
In this section we have grouped together a few games that are quite diverse in
nature, but are characterised by the following pawn formation: Black plays
...c7-c5 and White replies d4-d5.
Game 41
Black: Oscar Panno
Interzonal Tournament
Gothenburg 1955
This is a curious game. Panno was a

very good King’s Indian player. I lost
many King’s Indians as White,
because I did not want to reveal the
strongest way to play against it. I
varied my play a great deal, and as a
consequence I often ended up in 9 0-0 fib8 10 a4 a6 11 Ah4
inferior positions. Instead I should have played 11 a5.
Things are quite different now - the Il...b5 12 £id2 Ml
top players compete in tournament
after tournament and they invariably
employ the best variations. But we
were obliged to finish well up in
every event, and the value of each
point was very high.
1 d4 £>f6 2 c4 g6 3 £>c3 Ag7 4 £>f3

0-0 5 Ag5 d6 6 e3 c5 7 d5 £ia6 8
Ae2
White has employed a quiet
variation. I thought that, with my
pawn at d5, I should be guaranteed a
slight advantage.
8...&C7 13 la2
A typical knight manoeuvre to At the time I was very pleased with
prepare ...b7-b5. this move, but what I should have
Benoni set-ups 153
played was 13 Wc2. In fact White

blundered away a pawn (a pure
blunder!), although many thought that
it was a sacrifice.
13...bxa4 14 <£)xa4 ixa4 15 Vxa4
Hb4 16 Wdl £tfxd5 17 cxd5 Hxh4
18 £>c4
On the whole the chances are

equal, but Black underestimated the
power of the white bishop in an open
game.
31 Ag2 f6 32 He3 Wa7 33 Hfel a5
34 2c3 2b8 35 Wd3 2f7 36 Seel
&g7 37 Ah3 Wb6 38 Hxc5 £>xb3 39
2c6
When the situation had clarified, I
realised that, despite the loss of the
pawn, White’s position was not so
bad - Black’s rook is cut off and his
light squares are weak. Later there
was a kind of double play - I did not
want to lose, and at the same time I
had hopes of retaining winning
chances.
18...g5 19 g3 lh6 20 e4 Jui4 21
£ia5 Wd7 22 Ag4 Wb5 23 £>c6 &f6
24 b3 2g6 25 2e2 2g7
A most unusual position for the
queen’s rook!
26 2e3 Wb7 27 Af3 &b5 28 e5 39...^4
dxe5 29 <£)xe5 Axe5 30 2xe5 £ld4 From move 35 onwards there was a
White has allowed first the bishop, time scramble.
and now the knight to reach d4, but he Of course, by now I would have
is aiming at the e7 pawn. been happy with a draw, but Panno
wrongly avoided 39...^xcl, as he was Game 42

evidently relying on the strength of White: Bernardo Wexler
his a-pawn. Black: David Bronstein
40 Sdl a4 41 Ae6 Sff8 42 Hc7 Mar del Plata 1960
&h8 43 £f5 Sb7
This game is noteworthy for the fact
that before it began I incautiously
promised that I would sacrifice my
queen, i.e. I wanted to say that I
intended to play an interesting game.
This was my first experience with the
given variation.
1 d4 £if6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 e6 4 £k3 exd5

5 cxd5 d6 6 e4 g6 7 a6 8 a4 Ag4
9 Ae2
44 d6 exd6 45 Sxb7 Wxb7 46

Wxd6 <4,g7 47 h4 h6 48 h5 Hf7 49
Ae6 Se7 50 Wd3 Sxe6 51 Wg6+ &f8
52 ld8+
9...Axf3
I was loathe to give up my light-
square bishop, but at that time I was
very much under the influence of the
well-known game Nimzowitsch-
Marshall, New York 1927, and I
thought that it was essential to
Black resigns eliminate as soon as possible the f3
knight, which on no account should
be allowed to go to c4.
Benoni set-ups 155
10 Axf3 ^bd7 11 0-0 Ag7 12 Af4 has a tactical opportunity: 19...^c5 20

Iixc4 £texe4. White’s best was 19
JLh4 with the threat of Iia4.
12...Wb8
During the game this seemed to me
to be a natural move, but then I read 19...Sc5 20 Sa4 Sxa5 21 Sxc4 b5
somewhere that it was a very impor¬ 22 Sb4 Wb6 23 Af3 Wc5 24 lb3
tant innovation. It turned out that in As the game went, Black acquired
previous games Black had played some play, but with the strong move
..Mcl or ...We7, but after e4-e5 he 24 Wb3 White had the opportunity to
had ended up in a bad position. threaten the e4-e5 breakthrough. I
At that time Bernardo Wexler was would have had to play 24...£}h5 with
the Champion of Argentina; he was a tense position.
40 years old, a strong and experienced 24.Jttc4
player. White chose the correct plan - This move, with several threats
that of exploiting the strength of his (...£W5, ...£ic5 and others), proved
central pawns. I did not care for the to be decisive.
prospect of him playing e4-e5, and as 25 ±e2
a reserve possibility I planned to play After this natural reply I was able
my knight to h5, in order to relieve to fulfil my promise to the USSR
the tension at the cost of spoiled Ambassador in Argentina, Nikolai
pawns. Borisovich Alekseev - to sacrifice my
13 Ae2 0-0 14 Ag3 le8 15 Wc2 queen! Fifteen years later, when we
Wc7 16 f4 c4 17 &hl Sac8 18 a5 accidentally met in Moscow, the first
ms 19 Sfel thing he asked me was: ‘Look here,
This was the most interesting David, just how did that miracle
moment. The crafty retreat to d8 happen?’, and it was only then that he
provokes White into playing 19 2a4, greeted me. He was very fond of
winning the c4 pawn, but then Black chess.
castled on the queenside! I was also

very pleased with the final
combination.
1 c4 g6 2 d4 £if6 3 £k3 Ag7 4 e4 d6

5 f3 b6 6 Ad3
25...£ixe4 26 Axc4 £ixg3+ 27

hxg3 lxel+ 28 &h2 Saal 29 g4
Had 30 Wf2 bxc4 31 Hb7 &xc3 32
bxc3 Hhl+
6...£b7
The move 6 Ad3 is my invention.
The point is that, if now Black
routinely plays to undermine the
white centre by 6...c5, then after 7 e5
he loses material. The first time this
occurred was in a game of mine with
Lutikov (A36), with the difference
that Black castled on move 5 and only
after 6 JLe3 played 6...b6. That was
White resigns back in 1959. More than 10 years later
Leonid Shamkovich was trying to test
Game 43 my memory, about which I have no
White: Leonid Shamkovich complaints even now!
Black: David Bronstein 7 £ige2 c5 8 d5 £>bd7 9 0-0 £ie5
39th USSR Championship 10 Abl a6
Leningrad 1971 At first sight it seems that Black
was wrong not to castle - now he
This game is unique, for the fact that would have been able to take the c4
in a King’s Indian Defence Black pawn.
Benoni set-ups 157
In fact, right from the start I had

decided to try an innovative idea for
Black - castling on the queenside.
This has not been played either
before, or since, although the plan is
quite logical - on the queenside the
pawns block the position, and on the
kingside there is the chance of a
breakthrough. In the present game that
is what happened.
The question arises: can White, by

going completely onto the defensive,
defend against the mounting threats of
the black pieces? However reluctant
he was to do so, Shamkovich should
have exchanged pawns on e6. It is
true that this would have opened the f-
file for Black, but later there would
have been some hopes of opening up
the black king.
20 Abl £ig6 21 Wc2 £>hf4 22
llWb3 Wd2 h5 23 b3 Ah6 24 &hl h4 25
A poor move: White has no Axf4 gxf4 26 ^g4 h3 27 gxh3 Ag5
suspicion of his opponent’s plans and 28 ^gl e5 29 Sf2 ^>c7
makes it easier for him to carry them
out. There is a very old truth in chess:
each of the players must be able to
hide his intentions and to guess those
of his opponent.
11.. .b5 12 a4
Of course, the line 12 cxb5 c4 13
Wdl ®b6+ 14 Wd4 £>xd5! 15 £>xd5
£>xf3+ 16 <£hl £>xd4 17 £>xb6 £>xe2
18 £}xa8 itxa8 did not satisfy White.
12.. .b4 13 £>dl a5 14 M.g5 h6 15
Ah4 g5 16 Ag3 £>h5 17 £ie3 e6 18
Ac2 We7 19 Sadi 0-0-0
From this point White is White’s last hope was this desper¬
completely obliged to ‘swim with the ate attempt to defend the h3 pawn
tide’ - he can only wait. with both of his knights, which serve
30 Ad3 Ah4 31 Sg2 Ac8 32 £se2 as a kind of armour-plating on the h-
Ih5 33 £>gl Hdh8 34 We2 Ag5 35 file. Black managed to solve this
#c2 Ah6 36 Hfl Ag7 37 He2 £>h4 problem with the help of the elegant
38 Sef2 15 manoeuvre ...Ag5-h4-g3, after which
the h2 pawn could not be defended.
45...2gh8 46 £e4 Ah4 47 Edl
S5h6 48 We2 Af5 49 Sd2 &b6 50
#d3 #d7 51 Hde2
With his pieces completely mobil¬

ised, Black lands a blow in the centre
(this would not have happened if
White had exchanged on e6).
39 exf5 £\xf5 40 #d2 &h6 41
£xf5 Axf5 42 Se2 2g8 43 flfel Ad7 51.. Ag3 52 #02 Axh3 53 <£xh3
44 Hg2 i.g5 45 £>£2 #xh3 54 £f2
Benoni set-ups 159
54...#xh2+ 55 2xh2 2xh2+ 56

&gl ^.x£2+
7 a4 g6 8 Ag5 h6 9 ±h4 Ag7

A significant element in this system
is the development of Black’s light-
White resigns square bishop. The point is that the
white d5 pawn seriously restricts this
bishop, and so it aims to break out to
g4, in order at any moment to
exchange itself for the knight at f3.
Therefore, when I play this system as
White, I try not to allow Black’s
Game 44 bishop to go to g4, and I play h2-h3.
White: William Hartston
Tallinn 1979
The moral of this game is that, when

White in a semi-open position plays
passively, his pieces may gradually
become uncoordinated.
1 d4 £>f6 2 e6 3 c4 c5 4 d5 exd5
5 cxd5 d6 6 ^c3 a6
I am not convinced that this is the
most correct move. Black hopes that
White will weaken his b4 square, and 10 e3 Ag4 11 Wc2
also that at the necessary moment he If 11 Ae2 I would have immediate¬
will not have the move a2-a3. ly exchanged on f3, otherwise *hd2-
c4. 11 Wc2 is slightly dubious; per¬ because of 18...£lb6.

haps 11 Wb3 would have been better. 17...C4
Il...i.xf3 12 gxf3 <£\bd7 The critical moment came after this
move. White should not have be¬
grudged giving up his dark-square
bishop, and should have exchanged on
f6. From this point the initiative
passed completely to Black.
18 0-0 £>c5 19 Idl 2fc8 20 Afl
2ab8 21 13 £>h5 22 i.el f5 23 &hl
5e8 24 Wf2 #b3 25 Sdal
13 a5
A second element is that White was
in too much of a hurry to make this
move. It allowed his opponent to
advance his b-pawn and open the file,
which is usually to Black’s advantage.
13...0-0 14 f4 b5 15 axb61^6 16
2a2 #1)4 17 Ag2
25...£>d3 26 i.xd3 cxd3 27 e4
<£\xf4 28 i.d2 the2 29 #g2 £>xc3 30
bxc3
The curious move 16...'#b4 was

made in the hope of 17 Ha4 Wb7,
when White cannot play 18 Ac4
Benoni set-ups 161
30...Wxa2 31 Sxa2 Ibl+ 32 tfgl Then the Moscow Sports Committee,

3Ixgl+ 33 ^xgl fxe4 34 fxe4 2xe4 and ‘Dynamo’, and the Yaroslavl tyre
35 Sxa6 Se2 36 Sa2 g5 37 c4 *f7 38 factory, in which we played, all
h3 <4’g6 solicited on my behalf, but never¬
theless I was not admitted. At that
time in the USSR the spirit of com¬
petitive promise dominated, and a
young (sometimes not very skilled)
player was preferred to a distin¬
guished veteran with an interesting
creative style that appealed to the
general public.
1 d4 ^f6 2 c4 g6 3 £ic3 Ag7 4 e4 d6

5 f4 0-0 6
This position seems to be an ideal
one for White - he controls the 5th
White resigns rank (the line beyond the equator),
and has brought out his knights
towards the centre.
6.. .C5 7 d5
The undermining move ...c7-c5 is
the natural reaction, but White is not
obliged to close the centre. 7 Ae2
cxd4 8 <2^xd4 £k6 9 Ae3 etc. is
Game 45 satisfactory for him.
White: Alexander Cherepkov 7.. .e6
Yaroslavl 1982
This game was played in the ancient

Russian town of Yaroslavl, in a USSR
Championship Semi-Final, where I
played, on the whole, not badly,
winning eight games. But I was
slightly unlucky - I had an absolutely
won position against Alexander
Belyavsky, and in the event of a win I
would have qualified for the final.
8 dxe6 14...£>h5 15 ®g4 a6 16 a4 Wf6 17

Here there was a curious nuance: Idl Ah6 18 *be2 2ad8 19 Ha3
perhaps my opponent did not like 8
Ae2 because of 8...exd5 (there was
also a new idea - to play 8...b5!?
immediately) 9 cxd5 He8.
The main drawback for White of
the exchange on e6 is that now
Black’s queen’s knight acquires the
good square c6.
8...i.xe6 9 ±d3 Ag4 10 0-0 <5k6
11 Wei le8 12 ®h4 ' th4 13 i.bl
iLxf3 14 gxf3
19...b5 20 axb5 axb5 21 cxb5 d5

22 e5 ®b6 23 &g3 <^xg3 24 hxg3
®xb5 25 <&T2 £k6 26 ®h4 Ag7 27
Ihl h6 28 lei c4
If 14 2xf3, then Black would have

had both 14...d5!? with a sharp and
roughly equal game, as well as the
complicated 14...b5, e.g. 15 cxb5 (or
the even more fantastic variation 15 f5
£sd7 16 ®xd8 laxd8 17 4ixb5 ê5
18 Hfl £ixc4 19 f6 ±h8) 15...d5 16
e5 d4 17 exf6 Axf6. There was
probably a more real explanation for 29 e6 ®b6+ 30 &fl <^d4 31 f5 g5
why Cherepkov avoided taking on f3 32 exf7+ <&xf7 33 ®h5+ &f8 34
with his rook. Black could have lae3 lxe3 35 Axe3 Wf6 36 g4 &xf3
replied 14...5M7! in order then to 37 Ac5+ *g8 38 le6 ®f7 39 ®xf7+
calmly put pressure on White’s &xf7
central pawns (...<2^6 etc.).
Benoni set-ups 163
48...£>f3+ 49 &c2 Se2+ 50 &bl

*f7 51 2h7+ Ag7 52 Ag4 2el+ 53
<4>c2 £\e5 54 Adi &g6 55 2h2 £>d3
56 Aa3 Ae5 57 2g2 2hl 58 2e2
&f5
40 2e7+ &g8 41 &e2 <^h2 42 f6

Axf6 43 Hb7 <£ixg4 44 Ah7+ &h8
45 Af5 2e8+ 46 &d2 £>e5 47 2h7+
Sg8 48 2xh6
White resigns
The events that developed in this
game after the 14th move were essen¬
tially merely a textbook illustration of
how to convert a positional advan¬
tage: (a) weakened white pawns; (b)
complete control by Black of the h8-
al diagonal; (c) passive, uncoor¬
dinated white pieces. Of course,
careful, efficient and strong play was
still required of Black, but this is
precisely what distinguishes a grand¬
master from an ordinary amateur.
White castles queenside
As regards the play in the middlegame, the relative placing of the kings is an
even more important factor than the pawn formation. This section covers games
where White castles on the queenside, and Black on the kingside, a situation
which often leads to a fierce battle with mutual attacks on the kings.
Game 46 Now, in order to make the planned

White: Vladimir Makogonov advance of his pawn to g4, White has
Black: David Bronstein to go in for some rather unwieldy
Bolshevik Sports Society manoeuvres.
Kiev 1944 10 g3 £>d7 11 Ae3 a6 12 &e2 b5
13 &d2 £>hf6 14 a3 £ib6
This game is interesting for the fact A notable feature of the opening is
that Black tried to find a defence that, rather unusually, Black has
against the very strong system that obtained a strong-point for his knight
Vladimir Makogonov often played - at c4.
and to some extent he succeeded. 15 g4 &fd7 16 h4
1 d4 £if6 2 c4 g6 3 Ag7 4 £>c3

(16 5 e4 0-0 6 h3
16...f5
Black is not afraid of opening the
It is this move that characterises the g-file for the opponent. It is more
variation named after Makogonov. important to try and activate his
6...c6 7 Ad3 e5 8 d5 cxd5 9 cxd5 pieces.
£>h5 17 gxf5 gxf5 18 exf5 ^f6 19 h5
Makogonov thought this was not White’s threats while maintaining his
the best move, because Black was own, and would easily realise his
able to play his light-square bishop to advantage.
h7 and gain counterplay.
19...h6 20 Sgl &h8 21 £>fl Axf5
22 Wd2 £ig8 23 £ig3 Ah7 24 Ad3
£>c4 25 Axc4 bxc4
The enormous number of opening

guides helps modem grandmasters to
make some 15-20 theoretical moves
within the space of a few minutes,
White has eliminated the strong leaving them a great reserve of time
black knight, but now the b-file has for the rest of the game. But at the
been opened for the black rooks, and time when this game was played only
if he moves his knight from c3, he the Queen’s Gambit and the Ruy
always has to reckon with the Lopez had been thoroughly studied,
breakthrough ...c4-c3. and in all the other openings the
26 0-0-0 Sb8 27 £>ge4 Hf7 28 Sg3 correct plans had to be sought during
£if6 29 foxf6 Wxf6 30 Idgl the game itself. Thus the time allotted
The intentions of the two sides are for 40 moves hardly sufficed for the
clear - White is attacking the g7 opening alone, and in major tour¬
bishop, and Black the b2 pawn. naments it was a normal occurrence
31 f3 Sb3 for players to have perhaps only a
In time trouble Black plays rather quarter of an hour left for their last
recklessly. The quiet 31..JSfb7 would 10-15 moves, or sometimes even less
have been better. than 5 minutes.
32 £>e4 c3 33 bxc3 Sfb7 34 Wc2 34... 2xa3 35 2xg7 Wxf3
Were this position to occur in a With a few more seconds on his
modem game, any grandmaster with clock, Black would surely have found
Black would play 34...Af8, parrying 35...2al+ 36 &d2, when 36...2xg7 37
jSxg7 &xg7 38 Wb2 ®xf3 39 ®xal Game 47

Wxe4 40 Wxa6 ®xd5+ 41 &q\ leads White: Izak Aloni
to a draw, but he can also play more Black: David Bronstein
strongly: 36...2xgl 37 Sxgl ®xf3, _Olympiad, Moscow 1956_
retaining the initiative.
When the reader plays through this
game, he may find it hard to under¬
stand the enormous tension of the
occasion. Black’s opening play was in
the nature of an experiment, based on
the simple belief that open lines are
more important than material, and
soon after the opening he found
himself in desperate time trouble. All
this took place in the World (Team)
Championship, where a loss by one of
the Soviet players was considered a
disgrace.
36 Sxb7 Wxe3+ 37 &b2 Ae4 38 1 d4 Qsf6 2 c4 g6 3 £k3 Ag7 4 e4 d6

Wcl 2xc3 39 Wxc3 Wxgl 40 Wc8+ 5 f3 e5 6 thgel 0-0 7 Ae3 £>bd7 8
Wg8 41 Wc7 Wg2+ 42 <4>a3 ©d2 a6
With the idea that 9 0-0-0 can be
met by 9...b5. However, if the op¬
ponent had replied 9 d5 and only then
g2-g4, Black would have found it
hard to obtain any play...
Black resigns
9g4 assume that you are playing an ideal

But this wing attack, made before opponent, as in a correspondence
the centre is stabilised, is premature. game. But in a practical game there is
9...exd4 10 £>xd4 c5 the clock ticking away, and the
A typical King’s Indian move: opponent is nervous, you are
Black believes that the dynamic play nervous...
he gains for his pieces will outweigh 18 ±d4 lfc8
the static weaknesses he creates on the Now all the black pieces, without
d-file. exception, are actively placed.
11 £ic2 £>e5 12 Ae2 Ae6 13 &a3 White’s forces are scattered, and are
£>fd7 14 0-0-0 unable to organise a defence.
19 Ac3
14.. .b5
All Black’s actions are standard
King’s Indian moves! The advance of 19.. .^d3+ 20 &xd3 Axc3 21
the queenside pawns has the aim of £ixc3 cxd3 22 Sxd3 £>e5
opening lines, setting White difficult Would 22...£>c5 have been better?
problems. After 23 Sb3 â4 24 £>abl it is a pity
15 cxb5 axb5 16 £>cxb5 c4 17 that 24...£>xb2 25 &xb2 Wxa2+ does
Wxd6 Wa5 not work because of 26 ^cl, but on
17.. .c3 18 ^xc3 Wa5 would have the other hand 24...Axa2 leaves
been better, as now White could have White hard-pushed to find a defence.
played 18 Jtd2, e.g. 18...c3 19 JLxc3 23 Se3 Sd8 24 We7 Sd7 25 Wf6
2fc8 20 ^bl and it is not clear how Wc5 26 £k2 ^d3+ 27 Sxd3 Sxd3 28
Black continues the attack. a3
This was the one doubtful moment Instead of this, 28 Hdl would have
when Black might have lost the game. given White some drawing chances.
This is how the analysts reason - they 28.. Mf2 29 flel Sd2
...£>a6, ...c7-c6, ...Ae7, ...0-0, ...Se8

and ...Af8 (cf., for example, Game
A25). At the same time, if Black plays
4...£>bd7, then 5 Ag5 is unpleasant,
as it is hard to get rid of the pin (cf.
Game A50).
White resigns
Game 48
White: Arthur Bisguier
Black: David Bronstein The move played by me is slightly
Budapest 1961 risky; the white knight could also
have gone to d2 or g5.
This game does not follow a strict 5&gl
King’s Indian move order, but the In the first case Black can sacrifice
position reached after a dozen moves a pawn - 5 £>d2 e3 with unclear
is very much in keeping with our consequences. If instead 5 £>g5 Af5,
theme. then White has the interesting move 6
g4 when he has the more attractive
1 d4 ^f6 2 c4 d6 3 £ic3 e5 4 £>13 e4 position, with more space in the
With his fourth move White centre.
granted his opponent the possibility of 5.. .h6 6 Af4 g5 7 Ad2 Ag7 8 e3
advancing his central pawn with Jfcf5 9 £>ge2 Ag6 10 Wb3
tempo, which is what I did. However, In this unusual position I very
the well-known Yugoslav player much wanted to give up my b7 pawn,
Andrija Fuderer - he later gave up and it was with difficulty that I
chess and became a professor of restrained myself from doing so.
Chemistry in Antwerp - usually 10.. .b6 11 £>g3 0-0 12 Ae2
played the very interesting move White is ready to castle, so now is
4...£>fd7. He would then continue the moment to strike at the centre.
impossible to work out the variations,

Arthur Bisguier, a highly intelligent
man with a good sense of humour,
decided to take everything that was
going, and he was soon three (!)
pawns up.
23 &e2 He7 24 Wxc5 leb7 25 b3
Wa8
This is the move that I like best in
this game. Some analyst may be able
to find a defence, but during the game
it was difficult even to understand
what was threatened.
12...C5 13 dxc5 bxc5 14 f3 d5 15 26 <4>c2
cxd5 exf3 16 gxf3 £ibd7 17 e4 Sb8
18 Wa3 Se8 19 0-0-0 g4 20 Ihgl
Sb4 21 Wxa7 gxf3 22 Axf3 ê5
Black’s heavy pieces are'trained

directly on the white king’s position,
and simultaneously the two bishops
are mounting a latent attack. The next
An outwardly very complicated move of the black rook immediately
position has arisen, but note that decides the outcome.
Black’s pieces are more usefully 26...Hxe4 27 £>gxe4 £>xe4 28
placed - his knights have posts in the Hxg6 £ixc5 29 jSg2 2a7 30 a4 ^g6
centre, his bishops are trained on 31 Ac4 lfc8 32 Ifl Wh3 33 2ff2
White’s weak points, and his rooks ê5 34 Afl Wh4 35 Hf4 Wd8 36
have half-open files. Sb4 &h7 37 £ib5 Hd7 38 d6 iff6
Somewhere around the 20-move 39 Sf4 We6 40 £id4 Wd5 41 Ac3
mark, when it became quite £}g6
Makogonov, as a rule, begrudged

giving up this bishop, and preferred to
give up his light-square bishop, for
example, after the manoeuvre ...&b8-
d7-b6-c4).
White resigns
Game 49
Black: Viktor Kupreichik 13 Ac2 a5 14 a3 cxd5 15 cxd5
USSR Championship Semi-Final Sc8 16 a4 Wd8 17 We2 £>e8 18 h4 f5
Minsk 1983 19 gxf5 gxf5 20 exf5 &xf5 21 Axf5
Sxf5
A difficult game for both sides. It is
sufficient to say that White castled
only on the 24th move - before that
he simply did not have time. I
employed, if it can be so expressed,
the improved Makogonov Variation’.
1 £>D £if6 2 c4 d6 3 £ic3 g6 4 d4

Ag7 5 e4 0-0 6 h3 e5 7 d5 £ia6 8
M.g5 h6 9 &e3 We8 10 g4 Ad7 11
Ad3 c6 12 ^d2 ^c5
The point is that Black, after
posting his knight at c5, began a battle
for the centre. White kept his king in
the centre, and at the necessary 22 Axc5 Hxc5 23 ^de4
moment exchanged his dark-square The white knight has taken up a
bishop for this knight (Vladimir strong post at e4, and the bishop at g7,
which usually plays an important role

in Black’s counterplay, in this case
proves to be a passive piece.
23 ..Hc8 24 0-0-0 Sf4 25 h5 £>f6
Strategically this game was con¬
ducted almost ideally by White, but at
this point Black was obliged to play
better than in the game: 25...b5 26
axb5 a4 with definite counterplay.
26 &bl Wd7 27 D Wf5
34...&h8 35 Wc2 We5 36 Wc8+

We8
Black is forced to block with his
queen, as otherwise disaster awaits
him: 36...<4,h7 37 Iixg7+ &xgl 38
2gl+ and wins.
37 Scl b6 38 lc7 Af8 39 Wf5
Iel+ 40 Sxel Wxel+ 41 â2
The white knight at e4 is holding

up the advance of the black e-pawn.
The black bishop at g7 is restricted by
its own pawns and is passively placed.
At the same time, the white rooks are
ready to begin an attack on the g-file.
28 <4>a2 Sxc3
This exchange sacrifice does not
help.
29 £>xc3 Sb4 30 Wd3 e4 31 fxe4
£}xe4 32 £>xe4 2xa4+ 33 &bl 2xe4
34 Shgl
The decisive move, by which Black resigns
White nips in the bud the opponent’s
attacking pretensions, and himself
launches a decisive attack.
Game 50 The following year he repeated his

White: Malcolm Pein success, and he did not stop until
Black: David Bronstein 1960, when he became World Cham¬
London League 1997 pion by defeating the great Botvinnik.
Players with White liked playing
This short game is very instructive. In this position against the young
the Samisch Variation Black must Fischer. Once 9 d5 was played against
play very energetically. However, him and White gained the advantage.
White in turn has learned to mount an After this Bobby refrained from
attack with minimum risk. ...£MxT7 and in a game with Pachman
he played 8...Wa5, but after 9 d5 cxd5
1 d4 thf6 2 c4 g6 3 £ic3 Ag7 4 e4 d6 10 ^xd5! he ended up in an inferior
5 f3 0-0 6 &ge2 e5 7 Ag5 c6 8 Wd2 position. This happened in 1958 at
^bd7 Portoroz. Many years later the Czech
grandmaster was not averse to
repeating this very variation in a game
with me in 1994 at the Donner
Memorial Tournament. However, I
quickly exchanged on d4 and
organised a break in the centre (cf.
Game A61).
9...®a5
This position has occurred on many

occasions.
9 0-0-0
One of the most famous games in
the history of Soviet chess continued
9 d5 c5 10 g4 a6 11 ^g3 Se8 12 h4
®a5 13 Ah6 £tf8 14 h5 ®c7 15 Ad3
b5 16 0-0-0 bxc4 17 Abl Ah8 18
fldgl Hb8 19 £tf5!! (Tal-Tolush, My present opponent, Malcolm
Moscow 1957). By winning it, the Pein, preferred to castle long. One of
then 20-year-old student from Riga his games had continued 9...a6 10
became the Champion of the USSR. 44)1 b5. I decided to be a little crafty
and play 9...Wa5 immediately.

Reckoning that for the moment the
advance of the b-pawn was not
threatened, White quickly replied
10 Ah6
Of course, the move 10 ^bl was
obligatory.
10...b5
This move nevertheless followed,
and Black seized the initiative.
11 Axg7 <4>xg7 12 £>g3 b4 13 fobl
exd4 14 Wxd4 Wg5+
This pretty, long queen check had
already occurred in a similar position 22...£kf4
in the game Stoltz-Petrosian, Buch¬ My opponent had been hoping to
arest 1953 (cf. Game A16). trap my queen, but this reply, planned
15 £id2 £>e5 16 £>e2 in advance, made everything clear.
23 Wxf4 Wxg2 24 Igl ®xe2 25
Sxg4 Sae8 26 h5 Se5
16...c5 17 h4 Wxg2 18 Wxe5 Wxhi

19 Wg3 ^h5 20 Wf2 &g8 21 f4 Ag4
22 Ag2 White resigns
6 64 additional games
All these games feature either in the chapter on standard moves or in the tests,
or are mentioned in the commentaries in the previous chapter. They are
arranged in chronological order and numbered A1-A64.
A1 B.Goldenov-D.Bronstein A2 A.Koblents-D.Bronstein
Ukrainian Championship USSR Championship Semi-Final
Dnepropetrovsk 1939 Baku 1944
This early attempt with the Old Indian 1 d4 £sf6 2 c4 d6 3 £sf3 &bd7 4 £sc3
Defence, against a regular competitor in e5 5 g3 g6 6 Lg2 Lgl 7 0-0 0-0 8 e4 c6
Ukrainian Championships, was played 9 h3 £te8 10 Le3 Wei 11 Wd2 f5 12 d5
when the author was just 15 years old. £to6 13 b3
1 d4 £sf6 2 c4 d6 3 £ic3 e5 4 £>G
£fod7 5 g3 Lei 6 Lg2 c6 7 0-0 0-0 8
e4 1Tc7 9 b3 Sd8 10 La3 £tf8 11 h3 a6
12 Wc2 £>g6 13 Sadi Le6 14 Sd2 b5
15 dxe5 dxe5 16 i.xe7 Wxel 17 cxb5
Sxd2 18 Wxd2 Sd8 19 We3 cxb5 20
£>g5 LcS
13...f4 14 gxf4 exf4 15 Ad4 c5 16

i.xg7 Wxgl 17 e5 dxe5 18 Sfel Wh6
19 <ih2 g5 20 £sxe5 g4 21 &e4 i.f5 22
Sadi £ig7 23 ^xc5 Sac8 24 £>cd3
Axd3 25 £)xd3 fodl 26 Se4 Wd6 21 D
£tf6 28 Se5 b5 29 Scl bxc4 30 bxc4
$3dl 31 Sg5 Wh6 32 Sxg4 &fS 33
21 ®d5 &xd5 22 exd5 f5 23 Sdl e4 24 Sxf4 <£gh5 34 Sc2 £ixf4 35 Wxf4 Wg6
h4 Wd6 25 a4 vl\el 26 axb5 axb5 27 36 Wd4 £ih5 37 Wg4 £tf6 38 Wxg6+
Afl £ixd5 28 Wal Le6 29 &xb5 e3 30 hxg6 39 f4 Sfd8 40 <£e5 ^xd5 41
4^xe6 Wxe6 31 .&c4 <4’f8 32 ®xe3 1-0 £ixg6 <4>g7 42 Axd5 'A’xg6 43 Se2 Sc5
64 additional games 175
44 <4>g3 Ed6 45 &g4 *f6 46 f5 5a5 47 47 ,&xa4 C)x‘d3 48 gxf4 gxf4 49 ^.b4
*f4 Sa4 48 <4-e4 Eda6 49 2g2 Exa2 50 £fol 50 M2 Aa2 51 c6 £3d2 52 c7
5g6+ *e7 51 Sg7+ <4>f6 52 Eg6+ Ml M6 53 ±xd2 ±xd6 54 Ab3 Mcl 55
53 Exa6 Exa6 54 ^>e5 Eh6 55 M6 a5 ±xe6+ &g7 56 &g2 &f6 57 Ml Ms
56 c5 a4 57 c6 V2-V2 58 &f3 &g5 59 M\ &d6 60 h4+ &h6
61 &g4 <4>g6 62 h5+ &h6 63 i.h4 M5
A3 A.Kotov-D.Bronstein 64 ±g5+ <4>g7 65 *f5 Ml 66 h6+ &h7
14th USSR Championship 67 ±e8 Ad8 68 &g6+ 1-0
Moscow 1945
A4 Yu.Solntsev-D.Bronstein
1 d4 £tf6 2 c4 d6 3 £lc3 e5 4 Moscow Championship 1946
£ibd7 5 g3 g6 6 Ag2 k.gl 7 0-0 0-0 8
e4 c6 9 h3 exd4 10 £^xd4 £fo6 11 b3 d5 1 d4 £lf6 2 £>f3 g6 3 c4 £g7 4 4ic3 d6
12 cxd5 cxd5 13 exd5 ®bxd5 14 £lxd5 5 e4 <53bd7 6 h3 e5 7 i.e3 exd4 8 &xd4
£lxd5 15 Ml #a5 16 #f3 Ed8 17 0-0 9 £lde2 2e8 10 #02 ^c5 11 13
Sfdl h5 18 a3 Wb6 19 Ed2 h4 20 Sadi Wei 12 0-0-0 c6 13 Af4 2d8 14 g4
&f6 21 <S?h2 Ee8 22 Ee2 Exe2 23 M6 15 £sg3 d5 16 g5
#xe2 Ml 24 #f3 Ee8 25 #xb7 #d6
26 #f3 #e5 27 Ed2 hxg3+ 28 fxg3
#g5 29 i.cl
16...d4 17 £3a4
Or 17 gxf6 #xf6 18 £>ce2 d3, with a
decisive breakthrough.
29...&e4 (29...^g4+ 30 hxg4 i.xg4 17...£sxa4 18 #xa4 <£d7 19 #a5 b6
followed by 31.. ,#h6+ would have 20 #a4 <S3e5 21 i.d3 b5 22 cxb5 cxb5
been stronger) 30 Sdl #d5 31 £3c2 23 ±xb5 #c5+ 24 *bl 2ab8
#c6 32 £)b4 #c8 33 #d3 Af5 34 #c4 This is an ideal position for Black,
#xc4 35 bxc4 a5 36 £sc6 <53f2 37 Sd8 with all his pieces displaying great
2xd8 38 £ixd8 <^d3 39 i.e3 a4 40 c5 energy.
i.f8 41 £>b7 M6 42 §366 f5 43 M6 g5 25 &xe5 ±.xe5 26 f4 2xb5 27 ê2
44 &b5 f4 45 ±d4 £sel 46 M3 £\c2 2db8 28 2d2 2a5 0-1
A5 V.Baturinsky-D.Bronstein Sael h3 16 g3 £8h7 17 f4 exO 18

Moscow Championship 1946 £12x0 £g4 19 £ie6
1 d4 £f6 2 c4 d6 3 £G £bd7 4 g3 g6 5
£g2 i.g7 6 0-0 0-0 7 £c3 e5 8 e4 c6 9
b3 Se8 10 i.b2 exd4 11 £xd4 Wb6 12
»d2 £c5 13 Sael a5 14 £c2 Ae6 15
ik,al a4
19...£xe3 20 «d3 Axe6 21 Axg7 &f5

22 Wc3 f6 23 i.h6 £xfl 24 <4>xfl Wd7
25 £d4 £g5 0-1
A7 S.Flohr—D.Bronstein
Standard play by Black. The d6 pawn is _Leningrad 1947_
invulnerable. It can be taken, of course,
but in return Black develops an irresist¬ 1 d4 £f6 2 c4 d6 3 £0 £bd7 4 Af4 g6
ible attack. After ...a4-a3 he acquired a 5 £c3 kgl 6 h3 0-0 7 e3 c6 8 Ae2
new target - the a2 pawn.
16 b4 £cd7 17 £e3 £e5 18 Sbl
£xc4 19 £xc4 Axc4 20 Sfcl a3 21
Wxdb Sed8 22 Wc5 Wxc5 23 bxc5 £d7
24 Eb4 ±e6 25 Exb7 £xc5 26 Ebbl
£d3 27 Sc2 2ab8 28 Exb8 Sxb8 29
&fl £b4 30 Sd2 £xa2 31 £xa2 Axal
32 ±d3 Sd8 33 Edl ±b2 0-1
A6 K.Opo£ensky-D.Bronstein
Prague v. Moscow 1946
1 £0 £f6 2 b3 d6 3 d4 g6 4 i.b2 Agl

5 £bd2 £bd7 6 e3 0-0 7 c4 e5 8 &e2
Se8 9 0-0 e4 10 £el £f8 11 £c2 ±f5 8...a6 9 0-0 b5 10 £d2 £b6 11 £h2
12 d5 h5 13 £d4 i.d7 14 Wc2 h4 15 Ae6 12 b3 h6 13 »c2 £fd7 14 a4 b4
15 £la2 a5 16 fiadl lc8 17 2d8 15 i.d4 &df6 16 2c 1 ±dl 17 1133 b6

18 £rf3 £tf8 19 i.d3 lb7 20 £le2 £d7 18 la3 b5 19 *be3 £>c7 20 la5 2fc8
21 e4 £e8 22 lei <£bd7 23 &f4 <£h7 21 2fdl ld8 22 g3 £tfe8 23 &xg7
24 ±c2 e5 25 dxe5 dxe5 26 i.e3 <ê6 thxgl 24 ±fl a6 25 ê2
27 2d6 ®dc5 28 2fdl Wei 29 2xd8
Sxd8 30 2xd8 lxd8 'A-'A
A8 D.Bronstein-I.Boleslavsky
Training Tournament, Parnu 1947
1 c4 £lf6 2 £d3 g6 3 &c3 i.g7 4 e4 d6

5 d4 0-0 6 i.g5 h6 7 ±h4 g5 8 £g3
<53h5 9 d5 c6 10 iLe2 ^xg3 11 hxg3
1136 12 ld2 &d7 13 £fo2 £sc5 14 G f5
15 0-0-0 a5 16 e5 dxe5 17 f4 exf4 18
gxf4 a4 19 f'xg5
25...£ke8 26 lxd8 2xd8 27 £ld4 <if7

28 &h3 <4>f6 29 <4>f2 h5 30 i.fl 2dc8
31 &e2 <Ml 32 h3 £sf6 'A-'A
A10 D.Bronstein-E.Lundin
_Salsjobaden 1948_
1 d4 £tf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 d6 4 ®c3 g6 5 e4
b5 (cf. also Game A17).
19...a3 20 -ibl lxb2+ 21 lxb2 axb2

22 &C2 hxg5 23 £>e4 24 £sbl g4
25 £>h4 i.d7 26 ^g6 cxd5 27 £sxe7+
■if7 28 2h7 £.a4+ 0-1
A9 S.Flohr-D.Bronstein
Training Tournament, Parnu 1947
1 d4 £tf6 2 c4 d6 3 &G &bd7 4 £)c3

e5 5 e4 c6 6 ±e2 g6 7 0-0 i.g7 8 d5
cxd5 9 cxd5 0-0 10 £k!2 &e8 11 &c4
!e7 12 i.e3 f5 13 exf5 gxf5 14 f4 e4
6 cxb5 Ag7 1 Ae2 a6 8 <4iG 0-0 9 bxa6 <i>g8 35 Sa6 h5 36 Sa5 h4 37 Axg6
Axa6 10 Axa6 4sxa6 11 0-0 43d7 12 Sxh2+ 38 <4’xh2 Axg3+ 39 #xg3
Ag5 Sb8 13 Wd2 Se8 14 Sabi Wa5 15 hxg3+ 40 ci?xg3 fxg6 0-1
Sfcl 4te7 16 Ah6 Af6 17 a3 Sb3 18
Wc2 Seb8 19 4sd2 S3b7 20 £ic4 Wa6 A12 L.Szabo-I.BoIeslav$ky
21 Wa4 Wxa4 22 £)xa4 £ib5 23 b4 4id4 Candidates Tournament
24 ^fl Ag7 25 Ae3 Sa8 26 bxc5 Sxbl Budapest 1950
27 Sxbl dxc5 28 4iab6 Sb8 29 a4
4kb6 30 Sxb6 Sxb6 31 4kb6 4sb3 32 1 c4 ®f6 2 <4ic3 g6 3 43G Ag7 4 d4 0-0
&e2 &c3 33 &d3 &a5 34 <4>c4 1-0 5 e4 d6 6 Ae2 e5 7 d5 4ih5 8 43gl
All A.Kotov-E.GeIler
Moscow 1949
1 d4 4tf6 2 c4 g6 3 &c3 Ag7 4 g3 0-0 5

Ag2 d6 6 4iG 4>bd7 7 0-0 e5 8 e4 exd4
9 4ixd4 4sc5 10 G 4>fd7 11 Ae3 c6 12
1ird2 a5 13 Sadi 4ie5 14 b3 a4 15
43de2
8...4>d7 9 Axh5 gxh5 10 Wxh5 4ic5 11

4>G f5 12 0-0 f4 13 b4 4kl7 14 Ab2
Wei 15 *hg5 4>f6 16 Hi4 h6 17 4rf3
WfJ 18 &d2 43g4 19 G 4>e3 20 Sfcl
15...axb3 16 Axc5 43xc4 17 Wcl bxa2

(17...b2 18 Wc2 dxc5 19 Sxd8 Sxd8
was possible) 18 43xa2 Wa5 19 #xc4
Ae6 20 »cl dxc5 21 4iac3 b5 22 43bl
b4 23 fcf4 Ab3 24 Sd6 c4 25 Sxc6 c3
26 4>d5 Axd5 27 exd5 *xd5 28 f4
*d4+ 29 &hl Sa2 30 AG Sb2 31 f5
Ae5 32 Wei Sd8 33 Ae4 <4>g7 34 f6+
20...&h7 21 fcdl Af6 22 lf2 2g8 23 It is tempting to take the black pawn,
£ixe3 fxe3 24 lxe3 JLg5 25 le2 Axd2 but after 43 2xd6 2xd6 44 lxd6 c4 it
26 lxd2 Ah3 27 g3 1x0 28 Sc3 is hardly possible to parry both threats -
lxe4 29 c5 Sg7 30 lc2 lxc2 31 2xc2 ...£ig4 and the pawn advance ...c4-c3-
5f8 32 5f2 2gf7 33 2xf7+ 2xf7 34 c2-cl=l.
cxd6 cxd6 35 Bel 20 36 Acl 2d3 37 43 Ae2 ld7 44 lb3 lc6 45 2d5 c4
±e3 a6 38 *£2 2xd5 39 2c 1 <4>g6 40 46 lc3 1136 47 <&g2 2a8 48 ld2 lc6
2c7 2b5 41 2c4 ±e6 42 2h4 h5 43 a4 49 2xd6 lxe4+ 50 O 1137 51 lf4
2d5 44 h3 ±d7 45 a5 2d3 46 &e2 0-1 le7 52 2d2 c3 53 2c2 lc5 54 le4
2c8 55 f4 £sg4 56 Axg4 hxg4 57 !e6
A13 D.Bronstein-LBoleslavsky 2b8 58 lxg4 2b2 59 le2 lc6+ 60
Candidates Play-Off Match (11) <4>f2 lb6+ 61 *G 1137+ 62 &e3 lb3
Moscow 1950 63 &d3 lb5+ 64 <4>e3 lxe2+ 65 2xe2
c2 0-1
1 d4 £tf6 2 c4 d6 3 ^c3 e5 4 £sO
&bd7 5 g3 g6 6 Ag2 Ag7 7 0-0 0-0 8 A14 D.Bronstein-I.Boleslavsky
e4 2e8 9 Ae3 &g4 10 Ag5 ffi 11 Ad2 Candidates Play-Off Match (13)
£ih6 12 2c 1 £tf8 13 b4 <53f7 14 Ae3 Moscow 1950
Ag4 15 h3 Ax 13 16 Axl3 a5 17 a3
exd4 18 Axd4 axb4 19 axb4 Ah6 20 1 d4 4tf6 2 c4 d6 3 £ic3 e5 4 &0
&d5 foe5 21 Ae3 ±xe3 22 &xe3 c6 23 £ibd7 5 g3 g6 6 ±.g2 i.g7 7 0-0 0-0 8
±g2 2a3 24 ld2 2d3 25 la2 la8 26 e4 2e8 9 A.e3 &g4 10 A.g5 f6 11 A.d2
le2 la3 27 £ig4 £ixg4 28 lxg4 £ih6 12 h3 thfl 13 A.e3 £if8 14 ld2
lxb4 29 2b 1 2b3 30 2bdl <4>g7 31 h4 the6 15 d5 £if8 16 2ael c5 17 a3 A.d7
h5 32 le2 £id7 33 2d4 ê5 34 Idl 18 b4 lc8 19 bxc5 dxc5 20 *h2 &d6
2d8 35 c5 lxc5 36 lxb3 lxd4 37 21 ld3, lc7 22 thd2 f5 23 f4 h5 24
lxb7+ 2d7 38 lc8 la7 39 ±.h3 2f7 ■±>hl £ih7 25 &b5 A.xb5 26 cxb5 c4 27
40 2dl 2f8 41 le6 c5 42 A.fl 2d8 lc2 c3 28 ex£5 gxf5 29 £}f3 e4 30 ^d4
£lf8 31 a4 2ac8 32 2cl lf7 33 2fdl
±f6 34 !b3 <ih8 35 Afl 2c7 36 A.e2
lg6 37 2gl 2ec8 38 Idl lf7 39 lb3
lg7 40 £ic2 £ic4 41 ±.xc4 2xc4 42 d6
After 42 d6 the game was adjourned
for one and a half hours. On the
resumption I found the only way, which
was to allow two black pawns to queen.
In a time scramble, with three queens on
the board (and two had already been
exchanged!), the game ended in a draw.
I no longer remember for what reason
the good move 43 Ab6 did not appeal
to me.
11...b5 12 dxe5 dxe5 13 Ae3 #e7 14

cxb5 axb5 15 a4 .§Lb7 16 £ld2 b4 17
Zha2 i.f8 18 £ic4 #e6 19 £kl i.a6 20
b3 .&xc4 21 bxc4 Ac5 22 .&.xc5 ®xc5
23 a5 2eb8 24 &b3 £tfd7 25 f4 #e7 26
f5 2b7 27 &h2 2ba7 28 2dbl 2b7 29
#d2 â6 30 2b2 &dc5 31 £ixc5 #xc5
32 f6 $5c7 33 2a4 â6 34 #h6 #f8 35
#g5 £ic5 36 2a 1 h6 37 #e3 &h7 38
2d2 £te6 39 a6 2ba7 40 2da2 c5 41 h4
#d6 42 h5 g5 43 #f2 £id4 44 2d2
45 2da2 2xa6 0-1
A16 LStoltz-T.Petrosian
42...a5 43 ±.a7 #h7 44 £ie3 2b4 45 Bucharest 1953
#d5 2xa4 46 2c2 2b4 47 £sxf5 a4 48
2dl a3 49 ±d4 ±xd4 50 2xd4 a2 51 1 d4 %5f6 2 c4 d6 3 <£c3 g6 4 e4 £gl 5
#e5+ £g8 52 2xb4 31#+ 53 <4>h2 G e5 6 £>ge2 0-0 7 ±e3 £ibd7 8 #d2
#dl 54 2g2 c2 55 ®e7+ #xe7 56 dxe7 c6 9 0-0-0 a6 10 i.h6 b5 11 $Lxg7
cl# 57 exf8#+ 2xf8 58 #g5+ '/i-'/a l4,xg7 12 g4 #a5 13 £ig3 exd4 14
#xd4 b4 15&bl
A15 E.Terpugov-D.Bronstein
Moscow 1951
1 d4 £sf6 2 c4 g6 3 d6 4 g3 Ag7 5
±g2 0-0 6 0-0 ^bd7 7 #c2 e5 8 2dl
2e8 9^c3 c6 10e4a6 11 h3
15...#g5+ 16 #d2 #xd2+ 17 2xd2

&e8 18 f4 £sc5 19 Ae2 a5 20 £dl 2a7
21 h3 2e7 22 i.c2 a4 23 b3 axb3 24
axb3 f5 25 gxf5 gxf5 26 2g2 fxe4 27
£sxe4+ <4>h8 28 £ixc5 dxc5 29 2g5
2xf4 30 2hgl 2g7 31 <^d2 Axh3 32
&xh7 2xg5 33 2xg5 &xh7 34 2h5+
<4>g6 35 2xh3 £>d6 36 2e3 -£>f6 37 SO 2xc4 Zbd5 41 £tf3 2xg2+ 42 *hl 2f2
<&e5 38 2e3+ &f6 39 2f3 <4>f5 40 2h3 0-1
*e5 41 *c2 42 &d3 2g4 43 2f3
2d4+ 44 &e2 2d8 45 2h3 £id4+ 46 A18 D.Bronstein-IVLNajdorf
<4>e3 £sf5+ 47 &e2 d?f4 48 20+ <£g4 Candidates Tournament
49 2d3 ®d4+ 50 <S?f2 2f8+ 51 <S?el Zurich 1953
2e8+ 52 *f2 &f4 53 *fl 2e3 54 2xe3
■ixeS 55 'A’el &d3 0-1 1 d4 4tf6 2 c4 g6 3 £k3 ±gl 4 e4 d6 5
±g5 c5 6 d5 <£a6 7 Ad3 £te7 8 <£ge2
A17 M.Taimanov-D.Bronstein a6 9 a4 2b8 10 0-0 0-0 11 Wc2 Ad7 12
Candidates Tournament h3 b5 13 f4 £ife8 14 axb5 axb5 15 2a7
Zurich 1953 bxc4 16 JLxc4 2a8 17 2xa8 ?3xa8 18
Wb3 f6 19 i.h4 m>6 20 Wa3 êc7 21
1 d4 2 c4 c5 3 d5 g6 4 £te3 d6 5 e4 b3 4ib5 22 £lxb5 i.xb5 23 f5 &h6 24
b5 (see also game A10, where the fxg6 hxg6
author had White in this position) 6
cxb5 JLg7 7 £sB 0-0 8 iLe2 a6 9 bxa6
±xa6 10 0-0 Wcl 11 2el £sbd7 12
&xa6 2xa6 13 tte2 2fa8 14 h3 <^b6 15
JLg5 £ie8 16 Ad2 4ia4 17 ?3xa4 2xa4
18 ±.c3 i.xc3 19 bxc3 Wa5 20 Wd3
25 e5 ±xc4 26 bxc4 dxe5 27 Wd3 *h7

28 £te3 Wo3 29 Sbl e4 30 Sxb3 exd3
31 Sb7 £g8 32 <4>f2 M4 33 *0 Sb8
34 Sxb8+ &xb8 35 £te4 Ad6 36 Af2
*f7 37 &e3 <£c7 38 &xd3 £>a6 39 <4>e4
£5+ 40 -£>0 e6 41 £ib6 V2-V2
20...1^6 21 Wd2 2xa2 22 2xa2 #xa2
23 e5 ®xd2 24 $3xd2 dxe5 25 2xe5 A19 D.Bronstein-S.Gligoric
<^>f8 26 £>b3 c4 27 £sc5 2al+ 28 4h2 Candidates Tournament
£>f6 29 £ie4 <SM7 30 2g5 2a2 31 2g4 Zurich 1953
f5 32 2f4 <£b6 33 £\g5 &xd5 34 2d4
£ib6 35 2d8+ &g7 36 f4 h6 37 ê6+ 1 d4 £rf6 2 c4 g6 3 4k3 kgl 4 e4 d6 5
*f7 38 4id4 £ia4 39 2c8 £ixc3 40 h3 0-0 6 &e3 e5 7 d5 ®bd7 8 g4 £te5 9
Wc2 c6 10 ^ge2 cxd5 11 cxd5 #a5 12

&g3 Ad7 13 Ad2 Sfc8 14 Sbl 1U8 15
Wdl a5 16 #f3 2ab8 17 g5 £ie8 18 h4
f6 19 Ae2 Zhcl 20 *fl »e7 21 gxf6
®xf6 22 *xf6 Axf6 23 h5 5f8 24 hxg6
hxg6 25 -4>g2 Ag7 26 Ae3 b5 27 Sbcl
7a6 28 £idl 5fc8 29 £ic3 a4 30 Scdl
b4 31 <53bl Ab5 32 Axb5 2xb5 33 £f3
2b7 34 <&e2 2bc7 35 2cl £id7 36
2xc7 2xc7 37 2c 1 2xcl 38 Axel
£sac5 39 Ae3 *f7 40 <£d2 £ib6
15... ®b4 (although this puts the queen

in a dangerous position, it is the only
way to maintain the balance) 16 Ae3
£ib6 17 £ld5 Wxb2 18 Wxb2 Axb2 19
£ixb6 axb6 20 2f2 V4-14
A21 M.Najdorf-D.Bronstein
Match Argentina v. USSR
Buenos Aires 1954
1 d4 £if6 2 c4 d6 3 £ic3 £ibd7 4 &f3

41 Axc5 dxc5 42 £d3 &f6 43 &c4 c6 5 e4 e5 6 Ae2 Ae7 7 0-0 0-0 8 Wc2
&d7 44 &fl £g5 45 <4>e3 Ah6 46 £sh2 2e8 9 2dl »c7 10 b3 £tf8 11 h3 4ig6
&f6+ 47 <4>e2 Af4 48 £sg4+ &e7 49 12 Ae3 h6 13 Afl £ih7 14 4ie2 £ig5
£d3 £d8 50 £id6 *c7 51 a3 52
bxa3 bxa3 53 &c4 <4'b6 54 ^b3 &a5 55
&d6 Acl 56 £ic4+ <4>b5 57 £igxe5 1-0
A20 P.Keres-D.Bronstein
Zurich 1953
1 d4 £lf6 2 c4 g6 3 £ic3 Ag7 4 e4 d6 5

f4 c5 6 dxc5 #a5 7 Ad3 lTxc5 8 £lf3
0-0 9 ®e2 £k6 10 Ae3 #h5 11 h3
£ig4 12 Ad2 £tf6 13 0-0 &d7 14 2adl
#35 15 Abl
15 £sxg5 hxg5 16 £sg3 c5 17 dxc5 dxc5 <S?f2 Sbl 52 &xc5 l4>d4 53 ^b7 Sxb3
18 £te2 19 Zbc3 ttc6 20 <&d5 &d8 54 £id6 f6 55 &e8 Sb2+ 56 &g3 &e5
21 ±e2 %3e6 22 ±g4 &d4 23 ld2 57 £sc7 Sc2 58 &d5 Sxc4 59 &h2 Scl
&xg4 24 hxg4 lh6 25 b4 b6 26 bxc5 60 £se3 &d4 61 £kl5 f5 62 gxf5 gxf5
bxc5 27 Sabi Se6 28 G 1114 63 &e7 fxe4 64 £tf5+ *e5 65 fee4 Sc3
66 Z&g3 Sd3 67 4M g4 68 &g3 *f4
69 &h5+ 'A’xe4 70 £>g3+ <&e5 71 4te2
Se3 72 £ig3 *f4 73 £ih5+ &g5 74
&g3 Bel 75 £lhl <S?f4 76 &g3 Se5 77
£tfl Sh5+ 78 &gl g3 79 £kl2 Sd5 80
£>fl Sdl 81 *hl Sxfl# 0-1
A22 A.Dake-D.Bronstein
Match USA v. USSR
New York 1954
1 d4 £tf6 2 c4 d6 3 £ic3 g6 4 ^G £g7

5 g3 0-0 6 kg2 Zhb&l 1 0-0 e5 8 lc2
exd4 9 ®xd4 4}b6 10 b3
29 !f2 (29 £f2!) 29...1xf2+ 30 &xf2
Sa6 31 Sb2 Sa4 32 Scl ®e6 33 *e2
Sc8 34 <4>d3 g6 35 Sc3 *g7 36 Scb3
±a5 37 Sb7
10...c5 11 £kib5 a6 12 £&3 Af5 13

ld2 d5 14 i.b2 d4 15 4kll <23e4 16
la5 Se8 17 £>bl lc7 18 £id2 £sxd2
19 lxd2 Sad8 20 Bel £sc8 21 i.d5
37...&b6 38 &c3 £ld4 39 <4>d2 ±a5+ %3e7 22 ±g2 c6 23 G £ib4 24 g4
40 <4>dl Sh8 41 ±xd4 exd4 42 Sxa7 d3 &e6 25 a3 £ic6 26 Sbl b5 27 *hf2 bxc4
43 Sxa5 Sxa5 44 <id2 Shi 45 £>c3 28 bxc4 &a5 29 £>e4 &xc4 30 lg5
Sa3 46 Sb3 Sxb3 47 axb3 &f6 48 £ia4 ^xb2 31 Sxb2 c4 32 £sf6+ ±.xf6 33
<4>e5 49 '4’xd3 Sdl+ 50 *e3 Sel+ 51 lxf6 la5 34 Sebl lxa3 35 Sb7
#e3+ 36 &hl d3 37 exd3 cxd3 38 #c3 46 Sa8 Ba6 47 Bal 2a3 48 Slxa3 bxa3
Ad5 0-1 49 Sxa3 #b6 50 #a2 Sb7 51 Sb8
52 Adi #b4 53 Ad2 #bl 54 #xbl
A23 D.Bronstein-H.Pilnik Bxbl 55 £e2 &f7 56 Ae3 Sb8 57
Belgrade 1954 Axc5 Bc8 58 Sa5 &e8 59 &d3 e6 60
Axf8 exf5 61 gxf5 &xf8 62 c5 Ae8 63
1 d4 £if6 2 c4 g6 3 £k3 Ag7 4 e4 d6 5 ■S?c4 Sb8 64 Aa4 Axh5 65 c6 g4 66 c7
Ae2 0-0 6 Ag5 c5 7 d5 a6 8 a4 ®bd7 9 Bc8 67 d6 g3 68 Ab5 Ae8 69 Ba3 1-0
£sf3 4le8 10 0-0 &e5 11 £sd2 f6 12
Ae3 2b8 13 f4 £}f7 14 Wc2 b6 15 Sfbl A24 L.Szabo-D. Bronstein
a5 16 £tf3 £sc7 17 Bel £te6 18 #d2 Hungary v. USSR
£lb4 19 &a2 <£xa2 20 5xa2 Ad7 21 b3 Budapest 1955
#c7 22 Ad3 Sbe8 23 f5 4le5 24 &xe5
dxe5 25 h4 &f7 26 #f2 2a8 27 Ae2 1 d4 £tf6 2 c4 g6 3 <^c3 Ag7 4 e4 d6 5
Sg8 28 ^hl *f8 29 g4 #d6 30 Baal f3 e5 6 d5 &h5 7 Ae3 0-0 8 #d2 f5 9
Ae8 31 Bgl h6 32 Ad3 g5 33 h5 <i>f7 exf5 gxf5 10 0-0-0 a6 11 Ag5 #e8 12
£ih3 thdl 13 g4 fxg4 14 fxg4 &f4
This game should not really have been

included in the book, except as a text¬ The black bishop at g7 is blocked by the
book example of a breakthrough on the e5 pawn, but it is helped by the strong
queenside. Black accidentally played position of the knight at f4. White will
his knight to e5 and promptly realised have to exchange the knight, and then
that he had shut his bishop out of the the bishop will begin to display its foil
game. So that in the diagram position power.
White effectively has an extra piece. 15 £te4 b5 16 Axf4 exf4 17 £ihg5
34 b4 axb4 35 a5 Sc8 36 axb6 #xb6 £se5 18 #c2 Axg4 19 Bgl Af5 20 £ie6
37 #32 Ad7 38 #a7 #d6 39 Bgbl Sc7 Axe6 21 dxe6 #xe6 22 cxb5 axb5 23
40 #a6 2b8 41 Ac2 Af8 42 Ab3 &g7 &g5 #g6 24 Ad3 4^xd3+ 25 Sxd3 Ba4
43 5&g2 Ac8 44 #a2 Ad7 45 #f2 Sb6 26 #b3+ Sc4+ 27 4d2 c5 28 a3 <i>h8
29 £sf3 le8 30 Bel Se4 31 2xd6 c4 32 A26 D.Bronstein-B.Spassky

Idl i.xb2 33 &c2 i.g7 34 2d8 lg6 Candidates Tournament
35 2xf8+ ±xf8 36 *b2 c3+ 37 &al Amsterdam 1956
2a4 38 2e2 2xa3+ 39 2a2 c2 0-1
1 d4 £tf6 2 c4 g6 3 g3 kgl 4 ±g2 0-0 5
A25 D.Bronstein-A.Fuderer Z&c3 d6 6 <£c6 7 0-0 a6 8 d5 4la5 9
Interzonal Tournament &d2 c5 10 lc2 2b8 11 b3 e5 12 dxe6
Gothenburg 1955 fxe6 13 ik,b2 b5 14 cxb5 axb5 15 £ice4
±b7 16 i.xf6 i.xf6 17 2adl Ag7 18
1 d4 £tf6 2 c4 d6 3 &c3 e5 4 £if3 £tfd7 £if3 i.d5 19 £tfg5 £lc6 20 e3 le7 21
(a favourite idea of my opponent in this h4 c4 22 bxc4 bxc4 23 a3 2b2 24 la4
variation) 5 e4 c6 6 .§Lc2 Ae7 7 0-0 0-0 &e5
8 ±e3 a5 9 lc2 £ia6 10 2adl lc7 11
b3 2e8 12 h3 ±f8 13 d5 <S3dc5 14 £>h2
a4 15 bxa4 <^b4 16 Ibl la5 17 &d2
£sba6 18 lc2 4ib8 19 2b 1 £sxa4 20
£>dl ld8 21 Ag4 £id7 22 £te3 £if6 23
JLxc8 lxc8 24 4ihg4 £kl7 25 £b4 2a6
26 2fdl h5 27 $A\2 £iac5 28 <£f3 la8
29 a3 la7 30 £sf5 4tf6 31 ±xc5 lxc5
32 2xb7 cxd5 33 exd5 g6 34 £ig3 2xa3
35 2b5 lc7 36 £sg5 2c8 37 c5 dxc5 38
£>3e4
25 2xd5 exd5 26 ^c3 <ih8 27 ^xd5

le8 28 lxe8 Sxe8 29 f4 &g4 30
£tf7+ -£>g8 31 &xd6 Sxe3 32 £lxc4
Sxg3 33 4ixb2 Axb2 34 Sf3 'A-'A
A21 D.Bronstein-T.Petrosian
Amsterdam 1956
1 c4 g6 2 <S3c3 i.g7 3 £if3 d6 4 d4 4tf6

5 e4 0-0 6 i.e2 e5 7 0-0 <£bd7 8 Sel c6
38...£te8 39 1152 c4 40 d6 £sxd6 41 9 d5 c5 10 a3 £>e8 11 £g5 f6 12 ±A2
2c5 le7 42 2xc8 &xc8 43 2d7 c3 44 f5 13 £ig5 £lc7 14 exf5 gxf5 15 f4 e4
lc2 f5 45 2xe7 i.xe7 46 ®xc3 ±xg5 16 ±e3 h6 17 £)h3
47 £sbl 2a8 48 !b3+ 1-0 Here Black came up with an original
decision.
blockading of the queenside. Black

should have played 9.. .a5.
10 a5 e5 11 d5 £te7 12 e4 b6 13 axb6
cxb6 14 b4 a5 15 bxa5 bxa5 16 Jta3
£>c5 17 Axc5 dxc5 18 Wa4 Sb4 19
®xa5 Sxc4 20 Sfcl #xa5 21 Sxa5 f5
22 Afl Sb4 23 d6 ^c6 24 Sxc5 i.h6
25 Sxc6 ±xcl 26 <£d5 Sb8 27 Sxcl
fxe4 28 £ie7+ &g7 29 ®g5 £d7 30
?3xe4 1-0
A29 D.Bronstein-O.Panno
Amsterdam 1956
17...JLxc3 18 bxc3 £tf6 19 a4 &h8 20
£tf2 Sg8 21 &hl #e8 22 Sgl #g6 23 1 c4 £tf6 2 ^c3 g6 3 d4 Ag7 4 e4 d6 5
«d2 Ad7 24 g3 Sae8 25 a5 Se7 26 f3 e5 6 ^ge2 c6 7 i.e3 0-0 8 Wfd2 Wa5
Sabi i.c8 27 Sg2 Seg7 28 Sbgl <^ce8 9 0-0-0 b5 10 cxb5 cxb5 11 dxe5 dxe5
29 h3 h5 '/.-'A
A28 D.Bronstein—H.Pilnik
Amsterdam 1956
1 £if3 4lf6 2 c4 g6 3 £lc3 &g7 4 d4 d6

5 g3 0-0 6 ±g2 ^c6 7 0-0 Sb8 8 h3 a6
9 a4 £id7
12 ?3d5 1irxd2+ 13 Sxd2 £>xd5 14 exd5

b4 15 £lg3 f5 16 ±g5 ®d7 17 ±.b5
Sb8 18 ^.c6 <*f7 19 Sc2 ±f6 20 ±xf6
<4>xf6 21 Sdl Sd8 22 £ifl 23 Sc5
i.b7 24 £ie3 Sbc8 25 £ic2 i.xc6 26
dxc6 Sxdl+ 27 &xdl &a4 28 Sa5
£ixb2+ 29 &cl 4kl3+ 30 *d2 e4 31
fxe4 <£e5 32 Sxa7 ^xc6 33 Sa6 &e5
34 exf5 gxf5 35 Sb6 f4 36 <4>e2 <S?e4 37
A typical mistake, allowing the &f2 Sc7 38 h3 &d5 39 £ixb4+ £ixb4
40 Exb4 2c2+ 41 &G Exa2 42 Exf4 13 ib5 fxe5 14 fxe5 Axe5 15 <53G
<4>e6 43 Eh4 Ag7 16 0-0 &c7 17 ±c5 2f5 18 ±d3
2f6 19 ±c4 £to6 20 £sxd5 £ixd5 21
&g5 Af5 22 g4 £d3 23 i.xd3 &b6 24
#63 2xfl+ 25 2xfl &d4 26 i.xd4
#xd4 27 #xd4 &xd4 28 ±e4 2b8 29
*g2 £sc6 30 2c 1 2d8 31 &xc6 2d2+
32 *g3 bxc6 33 2xc6 2xb2 34 2c7 h6
35 Zbe6 2xa2 36 2g7+ &h8 37 2xg6
*h7 38 2g7+ <ih8 39 2b7 ^d5 40 h4
2a3+ 41 *£2 <£rf6 42 2b8+ &h7 43
Eb7+ <ih8 '/2-1/2
A31 V.Korchnoi-D.Bronstein
Moscow 1957
43...Ea7 44 5h6+ <4>f5 45 h4 Ea3+ 46
<4>f2 &f4 47 2xh7 2a2+ 48 *fl Eal+ 1 d4 £tf6 2 £rf3 g6 3 g3 ±gl 4 ±g2 0-0
49 <ie2 2a2+ 50 <4>d3 2xg2 51 Ef7+ 5 c4 d6 6 0-0 i.d7 7 £sc3 #c8 8 e4
'/2-'/2 Ag4 9 i.e3 £te6 10 #d2 ±xG 11
±xG h5 12 ^d5 <SMi7 13 ±g2 e6 14
A30 D.Bronstein-E.Vasyukov £te3 e5 15 d5 £se7 16 c5 h4 17 cxd6
Moscow Championship 1956 cxd6 18 Efcl hxg3 19 hxg3 #d7 20
2c2 f5 21 ±.h3 £>f6 22 G <4>f7 23 2acl
1 d4 £tf6 2 c4 g6 3 ®c3 Agl 4 e4 d6 5 2h8 24 ±g2 a6 25 £idl 2ac8
G e5 6 &ge2 c6 7 £e3 0-0 8 #d2 exd4
9 £ixd4 d5 10 cxd5 cxd5 11 e5 £>e8 12
f4f6
Although presently quiet, the white

bishops require the closest attention. If
all the heavy pieces are exchanged, the
light-square bishop may find a way A3 3 F.Zita-D.Bronstein

through to the c8 square. European Team Ch, Vienna 1957
26 2xc2 27 2xc2 2c8 28 &h3
&h7 29 2xc8 <^xc8 30 Wb4 Af6 31 1 £tf6 2 b3 d6 3 d4 g6 4 Ab2 Ag7
Afl <£e7 32 <4>g2 &g7 33 Wc4 It8 34 5 e3 0-0 6 Ae2 b6 7 0-0 Ab7 8 £sbd2
®xc8 £ixc8 35 Ad3 fxe4 36 fxe4 Ad8 £ibd7 9 c4 e6 10 ft2 lt7 11 2fdl a5
37 Ae2 *hb6 38 b3 £id7 39 Ag4 Ab6 12 £fol £ie4 13 £ifd2 4ixd2 14 &xd2
40 &xd7 i.xe3 41 <iO Acl 42 i.c8 e5 15 dxe5 ®xe5 16 ?3G ?3xB+ 17
&g5 + Vv'A AxB AxG 18 gxf3 ®g5+ 19&hl Wi5
20 &g2 Axb2 21 Wxb2 2ae8 22 2d5 f5
A32 V.Tarasov-D.Bronstein 23 h3 Be6 24 a3 lTi4 25 f4 g5 26 fxg5
24th USSR Championship #xg5+ 27 £fl Hi5 28 «t2 lfxh3+ 29
Moscow 1957 <4>el f4 30 *d2 %2 31 &d3 fxe3 32
fxe3 %6+ 33 -£>d2 Bef6 34 Wd3 Wg2+
I d4 ®f6 2 c4 d6 3 £sc3 e5 4 dxe5 dxe5 35 &c3 #g7 36 Bdl
5 #xd8+ &xd8 6 £\bdl 1 g3 &c5
8 £ig5 l4>e7 9 kg2 h6 10 £sge4 <£xe4
II £sxe4 Ab4+ 12 Ad2
36...c6 37 2d4 c5 0-1
A34 M.Udovcic-D.Bronstein
12...a5 13 £ic3 c6 14 0-0 £sb6 15 b3 Gotha 1957
2d8 16 Ael Ac5 17 £se4 Ad4 18 Bel
Af5 19 e3 Ab2 20 2b 1 Aa3 21 Ac3 f6 1 d4 $3f6 2 c4 d6 3 £ic3 g6 4 e4 Ag7 5
22 2bdl 2xdl 23 2xdl &d7 24 f4 Ag4 O e5 6 £ige2 £sbd7 7 Ae3 a6 8 ft2 0-0
25 Bel Ab4 26 Bel Axc3 27 Bxc3 9 fccl exd4 10 Axd4 c6 11 ®b3 a5 12
Af5 28 c5 Axe4 29 Axe4 exf4 30 gxf4 Ae3 a4 13 £id4 a3 14 b3 d5 15 exd5
&e6 31 <A’f2 g5 32 a3 f5 33 AG %3f6 34 cxd5 16 Ae2 dxc4 17 bxc4 $2>e5 18 0-0
Bd3 &e7 35 2d2 Bd8 36 <S?e2 g4 37 &c6 19 Bfdl Be8 20 Af2 ^xd4 21
Ag2 2xd2+ 38 <ixd2 &e6 39 <4>d3 h5 Axd4 Ae6 22 £rt>5 ft7 23 Afl Bec8
40 &d4 h4 41 h3 0-1 24 Bacl
9 h4 c5 10 d5 2e8 11 g4 53a6 12 g5
Agl 13 53g3 53c7 14 ±e3 £3f8 15 Wc2
2b8 16 a3 b6 17 b4 f5 18 gxf6 AxflS 19
«h2 h5 20 b5 &h7 21 2a2 4>h8 22 2f2
Wei 23 £d3 i.d7 24 &d2 2g8 25
£sge2 2be8 26 2hfl Wfl 21 <£>c2 i.c8
28 53c 1 2ef8 29 ±.e2 ±.dl 30 £d2 Wei
31 53d3±e8
The naive move 7... .&.h6 put Black
in a difficult position, and all his efforts
to repair the damage have been in vain.
With logical play White has prepared,
and now carries out, a decisive storming
of the citadel at e5.
24...&h5 25 ±xg7 53xg7 26 2c3 £rf5
27 Wcl #c5+ 28 ‘ihl 2a5 29 2b3 Wf2
30 2d2 «h4 31 <4>gl h5 32 Wc3 b6 33
53xa3 2ca8 34 g3 Wei 35 2d3 h4 36 g4
Wc5+ 37 &hl £3d6 38 «d4 53xc4 39
Wxc5 bxc5 40 53b5 53c5 0-1
A3 5 D.Bronstein—N.Krogius
Riga 1958
1 d4 £3f6 2 c4 g6 3 £sc3 ±g7 4 e4 d6 5

f3 e5 6 53ge2 £tfd7 7 ±e3 £h6 8 ±f2
0-0
32 f4 ±fl 33 fxe5 dxe5 34 £idl a6 35
Ac3 2e8 36 a4 2gf8 37 2gl Agl 38
ibch5 axb5 39 axb5 53xb5 40 cxb5 c4
41 53b4 gxh5 42 2xg7 <S?xg7 43 53c6
Wd6 44 53xe5 53f6 45 2xf6 W\f6 46
53d7 1-0
A36 D.Bronstein—A.Lutikov
Tbilisi 1959
1 d4 53fS 2 c4 g6 3 53c3 Lgl 4 e4 d6 5

f3 0-0 6 ke3 b6 7 ±.d3 c5
b3 Sf5 36 Se7 Sf7 37 Se5 Sf5 38 Se7

Sf7 14-14
A37 D.Bronstein-I.Boleslavsky
Moscow 1961
1 d4 £sf6 2 c4 g6 3 £>c3 Ag7 4 e4 d6 5

f3 0-0 6 Ae3 &bd7 7 £ih3 c5 8 d5 £se5
9 £>£2 e6 10 Ae2 exd5 11 cxd5 a6 12 0-0
b5 13 a4 b4 14 £fol Se8 15 a5 Ab7 16
Sel Sc8 17 £id2 c4 18 f4 c3 19 fxe5
cxd2 20 lxd2 Sxe5 21 lxb4 Se7 22
Af3 ld7 23 Af4 Sd8 24 Sacl h6 25
8 e5 £ie8 9 Ae4 ®c7 10 Axa8 &xa8 h4 h5 26 Ag5 Bee8 27 Adi 1135 28
11 £ige2 cxd4 12 &xd4 dxe5 13 ^b3 !xb5 axb5 29 Ae2 Sa8 30 b4 Aa6
le8 14 Scl Aa6 15 <^d5 <£ic6 16 ld2
e4 17 fxe4 <S3e5 18 Ad4 e6 19 <S3b4
Ab7 20 £id3 &xd3+ 21 lxd3 ld7 22
le3 e5 23 Ac3 lg4 24 0-0 Axe4 25
lg3 We6 26 Seel f5 27 £k!2 f4 28
Wh4 Af6 29 Wh6 Ag7
31 Sc6 ^xe4 32 Sxa6 Ad4 33 Sxa8

Axf2+ 34 &fl Sxa8 35 Axb5 Axel 36
*xel £>xg5 37 hxg5 &f8 38 Ac6 Sa7
39 <4>d2 &e7 40 &c3 f6 41 gxf6+ &xf6
42 *c4 *e5 43 <4>b5 g5 44 &b6 Sf7 45
a6 g4 46 a7 Sf8 47 Ad7 *f4 48 b5 h4
After Black had mistakenly given up 49 Axg4 <ixg4 50 &c6 1-0
rook for bishop. White decided to return
the gift. His next move looks strong, but A38 P.Hoad-K.Neat
Black defended splendidly. National Club Championship 1961
30 lxg7+ &xg7 31 Sxe4 &g8 32
2xe5 lc6 33 £>e4 £sc7 34 Sdl £>e8 35 1 c4 &f6 2 £k3 g6 3 e4 d6 4 d4 Ag7 5
JLe2 0-0 6 Ag5 e5? 7 dxe5 dxe5 8

#xd8 Sxd8 9 £kl5 ®bd7 10 fidl Sf8
11 £ixc7 Sb8 12 h6 13 ,&e3 b6 14
<SM5 £ic5 15 £>xf6+ i.xf6 16 ±xh6
Se8 17 £)g5 i.xg5 18 i.xg5 &xe4 19
&e3 &e6 20 f3 £sc5 21 b3 a5 22 *£2
2ec8 23 2c 1 &f8 24 h4 f5 25 Ag5 e4
26 &e3 Se8 27 f4
24...b5 25 cxb5 2b8 26 2ahl £ixd3+

27 #xd3 ±xb5 28 #63 i.d3+ 0-1
A40 D.Bronstein-V.Korchnoi
_Budapest 1961_
1 d4 £tf6 2 <^13 g6 3 c3 £g7 4 ±f4 d6

5 h3 0-0 6 £\bd2 c5
27...a4 28 b4 &d3 29 i.xd3 exd3 30 It is better to preface this with 6.. ,b6,
&xd3 2b7 31 h5 2d7+ 32 &c3 2c8 33 or to play 6...$2c6 and ...#e8 followed
*b2 2d2+ 34 2c2 2xc2+ 35 &xc2 by ...e7-e5.
5xc4+ 36 <&d3 gxh5 37 a3 b5 38 2xh5
5e4 39 2h3 ±c4+ 40 4*c3 2e2 'A-'A
A39 A.Slomson-K.Neat
British Under-18 Championship
Aberystwyth 1961
1 d4 £tf6 2 c4 g6 3 <^c3 ±g7 4 e4 d6 5

i.e2 0-0 6 £>f3 e5 7 d5 £sbd7 8 i.g5 h6
9 &h4 g5 10 ±g3 ^h5 11 £ke5?
&xg3 12 &xf7 2xf7 13 hxg3 #f6 14
2fl £)c5 15 #c2 #e7 16 i.d3 i.xc3+
17 bxc3 &d7 18 #e2 2e8 19 f3 #e5 20
&d2 #xg3 21 2hl Wf4+ 22 14>c2 #f6 7 dxc5 dxc5 8 e4 b6 9 Ac4 &c6 10 0-0
23 2h5 i.a4+ 24 <&>b2 £sa5 11 Ae2 &b7 12 #c2 2c8 13 2adl
#e8 14 ®e5 £)c6 15 &g4 ®xg4 16
&xg4 2d8 17 Ac7 2a8 18 £ic4 &c8 19 A42 D.Bronstein-Yu.Kots

±.e2 ±e6 20 Ag3 2c8 21 a4 Sd8 22 29th USSR Championship
Sxd8 #xd8 23 Sdl WcS 24 £te3 #b7 Baku 1961
25 &d5 2c8 26 1U3 2d8 27 #a6 ®xa6
28 ±xa6 &£8 29 ±c7 2d7 30 ±b5 1 d4 £tf6 2 g6 3 c3 £g7 4 Af4 0-0
Axd5 31 exd5 2xc7 32 dxc6 e6 33 5 £3bd2 ?2h5 6 Ae5 f6 7 g4 fxe5 8 gxh5
2d8+ *e7 34 2a8 i.h6 V2-V2 exd4 9 cxd4 gxh5
It is dangerous to expose the king in
A41 G.Kluger-D.Bronstein this way.
_Budapest 1961_ 10 e3 d5 11 £d3 ±f5 12 Axf5 2xf5
13 £ih4 2f6 14 ®xh5 e6 15 2gl c5 16
1 d4 £sf6 2 c4 g6 3 £k3 ±g7 4 e4 d6 5 £sdf3 £id7 17 0-0-0 Sc8 18 <*bl 2c7
£sf3 0-0 6 ±e2 e5 7 0-0 £ic6 8 d5 <£e7
9 £tel &d7 10 £id3 f5 11 exf5 gxf5 12
f4 £ig6 13 &e3 £tf6 14 2cl ^>h8 15 c5
±h6 16 g3 We7 17 cxd6 cxd6 18 &hl
&d7 19 2el b6 20 ±h5 &xh5 21 ®xh5
±g7 22 Wdl 2ac8 23 ®d2 Wf7 24
■igl 2g8 25 2cdl
Note Black’s economic use of space
on the kingside. He has avoided
advancing the e-pawn until there is a
concrete threat.
19 2xg7+ <4>xg7 20 2gl+ £h8 21 £te5

&xe5 22 dxe5 Sf5 23 £ixf5 exf5 24
®xf5 2g7 25 2dl 2g5 26 Wf4 2g6 27
h4 2b6 28 WfJ d4 29 e6 1^8 30 #f6+
Wg7 31 #d8+ Wg8 32 e7 2e6 33 2gl
1-0
A43 M.Haygarth-K.Neat
National Club Championship 1962
1 d4 £tf6 2 c4 g6 3 £ic3 &g7 4 e4 d6 5

25...e4 26 £)b4 &h4 27 2fl £sf3+ 28 f3 0-0 6 Ae3 e5 7 d5 £ih5 8 Wd2 Wh4+
2xf3 exf3 29 2fl a5 30 £k2 2c4 31 a3 9 #£2 #e7 10 ±d3 £sa6 11 0-0-0 ±d7
b5 32 2xf3 b4 33 axb4 axb4 34 £k2 12 &ge2 f5 13 exf5 gxf5 14 Wgl £if6
2xc2 35 «xc2 Wxd5 36 2f2 i.c6 37 15 h3 2ae8 16 ±g5 &c5 17 ±c2 Wfl
<4fl 2e8 38£sd4lrhl+0-l 18 g4
12...Ah6 13 Wc2 b6 14 b4 &b7 15

£>b3 Axel 16 #xcl a4 17 <S3al 18
%3c2 Sf8 'A-'A
A45 D.Bronstein—L.Evans
Amsterdam 1964
1 d4 2 c4 g6 3 £3c3 Ag7 4 e4 d6 5
f3 c6 6 Ae3 a6 7 a4 a5 8 Ad 3 e5 9
&ge2 <53a6 10 «d2 £ft>4 11 Edl #e7
12 Abl 0-0 13 0-0 exd4 14 Axd4 Ae6
15 b3 d5 16 cxd5 cxd5 17 e5 &d7 18
»e3 f6 19 exf6 Axf6 20 £tf4 Af7 21
18...e4 19 gxf5 Axf5 20 <^g3 Ag6 21 »xe7 Axe7 22 Sfel Efe8 23 Af2 Ac5
fxe4 <S3fxe4 22 fifl £sf2 23 £ke4? 24 £sb5 Axf2+ 25 <4>xf2 &c5 26 Exe8+
?3cxe4 24 £bce4 Axe4 25 Ah 6 Axhl Sxe8 27 £3d4 <ig7 28 Eel b6 29 h4 h6
26fixf2 Sel+0-1 30 Edl <4f6 31 g4 Se5 32 £ig2 Ee8 33
£>f4 Se5 34 £tfe2 Ee8 35 £}g3 4te6 36
£kle2 *53c5
A44 V.Antoshin-D.Bronstein
Moscow 1963
1 d4 2 c4 g6 3 £sc3 Ag7 4 e4 d6 5
Ae2 thbdl 6 e5 7 0-0 0-0 8 Sbl
Ee8 9 d5 £>c5 10 £id2 a5 11 b3 h5 12
a3
37 f4 £3xb3 38 g5+ hxg5 39 hxg5+ &e7

40 f5 gxf5 41 £ixf5+ &d7 42 £tf4 &c5
43 £fo6 £te4+ 44 Axe4 Sxe4 45 4?f3
■£>e8 46 £tf5 <4>d7 47 4te3 'ice 48 Ehl
&c5 49 £sf5 b5 50 axb5 a4 51 b6 &xb6
52 £sd6 Ag8 53 £3xe4 dxe4+ 54 <4’xe4
a3 55 &d4 a2 56 &c3 &c5 57 g6 £ic6
1-0
A46 D.Bronstein-B.Larsen 30 i.e2 2f8 31 i.f4 £if7 32 #02 i.d4+

_Belgrade 1964_ ■33&g2 £ie5 34 h4 2f7 35 2a3 WeS 36
2aal #d7 37 2ael 2c8 38 b3 *h7 39
1 d4 £tf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 d6 4 £ic3 g6 5 e4 Wd2 &g4 40 Ad3 2e8 41 b4 2ef8 42
k.gl 6 0 0-0 7 i.g5 e6 8 #d2 exd5 9 bxc5 ^.xc5 43 §Le2 ?3e5 44 2a 1 £3g4
cxd5 a6 10 a4 #a5 11 2a3 Zhbdl 12 45 2acl kal 46 AO &g8 47 #62
£lge2 2e8 13 &cl £le5 14 &e2 h5 15 2xf4 48 gxf4 2xf4 49 &g3 Ad4 50
0-0 #d2 &.e5 51 #xf4 &xf4+ 52 4’xf4
<S3e5 53 £g3 £sxO 54 &xO #h3+ 55
*e2 #xh4 56 <4>e3 #d8 57 e5 #g5+ 0-1
A47 V.Mikenas-D.Bronstein
33rd USSR Championship
Tallinn 1965
1 d4 £T6 2 c4 d6 3 £te3 c6 4 e4 e5 5 d5
&.el 6 £e2 0-0 7 £iO &a6 8 0-0 Ad7 9
&el #c8 10 <S3d3 ±AS
The manoeuvre ...#08 and ...Ad8
looks rather awkward, but Black has
time for this, as White has played pass¬
ively. The finish is well known.
15.,.£lh7 16 £e3 f5 17 £sb3 #c7 18 11 f4 cxd5 12 cxd5 £>c5 13 fxe5
#el fxe4 19 £>xe4 M5 20 ®bd2 &fxe4 14 £ixe4 £ixe4 15 i.e3 £b6 16
21 2b3 £tf6 22 £sxf6+ ±xf6 23 £te4 Axb6 axb6 17 2f4 £>c5 18 exd6 £3xd3
i.e5 24 a5 i.xe4 25 fice4 Wei 26 Wd2 19 #xd3 #c5+ 20 &hl #xd6 21 2h4
2ac8 27 &0 &f6 28 #dl 2c7 29 g3 h6 22 a3 2fe8 23 AO We5 24 2b4
&e5
24...2xa3 0-1
A48 L.Szabo-D.Bronstein
Krems 1967
1 c4 g6 2 d4 Ag7 3 53c3 d6 4 e4 53f6 5

O c6 6 Ag5 a6 7 Ad3 b5 8 5}ge2 53bd7
9 0-0 0-0 10 Wd2
26 Sxb7 Sxb7 27 53e7+ £f8 28 i.xb7

■ixe7 29 «e3 53c7 30 #g5+ &e8 31
Ad5 h6 32 «F4 &e7 33 530 g5 34 #e3
®g6 35 h4 Sb8 36 hxg5 hxg5 3 7 53xg5
Sbl 38 Sxbl ®xbl+ 39 £h2 53xd5 40
cxd5 #a2+ 41 <4>h3 'A-'A
10...e5 11 d5 b4 12 &dl cxd5 13 cxd5
53c5 14 53f2 Sb8 15 £c4 a5 16 53c 1 A50 I.PIatonov-D.Bronstein
®e8 17 53b3 53b7 18 53c 1 53c5 19 53b3 39th USSR Championship
53b7 20 53c 1 'A-Vi _Leningrad 1971_
A49 D.Marovic—D.Bronstein 1 c4 53f6 2 53c3 e5 3 530 d6 4 d4

Amsterdam 1968 53bd7 5 £g5 &e7 6 e3 c6 7 Wc2 Wa5 8
£d3 h6 9 i.h4 0-0 10 0-0 Se8 11 a3
When asked after the game how I had
managed to save myself in such severe
time trouble, I replied that it was very
easy: firstly, I tried not to worsen my
position, and secondly, more important,
I did not endeavour to improve it.
1 d4 53f6 2 c4 g6 3 g3 kgl 4 i.g2 0-0
5 53f3 d6 6 0-0 53bd7 7 53c3 e5 8 e4 c6
9 h3 a6 10 Wc2 b6 11 Ae3 ®e7 12
Sadi £b7 13 Sfel Sfe8 14 a3 Sad8 15
b4 exd4 16 .&xd4 c5 17 bxc5 bxc5 18
53d5 WfS 19 i.c3 Sb8 20 53d2 Sec8 21
Sbl 53e8 22 f4 ±xc3 23 W\c3 Sd8 24
e5 dxe5 25 fxe5 Wgl
11...#07 12 b4 b6 13 Sadi a5 14 b5 5 e5 £ie8 6 i.f4 d6 7 h3 ®d7 8 £>f3 c5

±b7 15 &d2 Sad8 16 Sfel cxb5 17 9 dxc5 dxe5 10 .&xe5 ,&xe5 11 £}xe5
£ixb5 #b8 18 &e4 exd4 19 ®xf6+ #c7 12 <£xd7 &xd7 13 #d4 i.c6 14
±xf6 20 i.g3 dxe3 21 ±h7+ &h8 22 £ld5 i.xd5 15 cxd5 ®g7 16 i.e2 Sfd8
<53xd6 exf2+ 17 Scl £sf5 18 #e4 e6 19 dxe6 Sd4 20
exf7+ *f8 21 #e6 Sd2 22 *xd2 Sd8+
23 &el #f4 24 Sdl £sd4 25 g3 1-0
A52 D.Bronstein-M.Dvoretsky
USSR Zonal Tournament
Vilnius 1975
1 d4 £tf6 2 c4 g6 3 £sc3 kgl 4 e4 d6 5

f3 0-0 6 ik,e3 c5 7 dxc5 dxc5 8 #xd8
Sxd8 9 ±xc5 4te6 10 <£d5 îxd5 11
cxd5 b6 12 i.a3 £id4 13 0-0-0 e6 14
£te2 ®b5 15 i.e7 Sd7 16 i.h4 exd5 17
£if4 ®c7 18 ^xd5 ^xd5 19 Sxd5
23 &xf2 Sf8 24 £>xf7+ Sxf7 25 Axb8 Sxd5 20 exd5 Ab7 21 d6 i.f8 22 d7
±h4+ 26 *gl Axel 27 Sxel Sxb8 28
iLg6 Sf6 29 Se8+ Sxe8 30 JLxe8 £sc5
31 £g6 Ac8 32 #d2 Sxg6 'A-'A
A51 D.Bronstein-B.Rytov
Tallinn 1973
1 c4 £tf6 2 &c3 g6 3 d4 kgl 4 e4 0-0
This theoretical duel drew the attention

of all the participants in the tournament,
who left their games and gathered
around the board. The two players made
their moves instantly, and it was only
around move 30, after spending just a
minute each, that they came to a halt.
White supposedly employed a new
move, but I do not remember which it A54 E.Larusson-K.Neat

was. Durham Co. Team Tournament 1977
22...Ah6+ 23 'A’bl g5 24 Af2 Ac6
25 Ae3 Axd7 26 Ad3 2e8 27 Acl 5e6 1 d4 £sf6 2 c4 g6 3 £ic3 Ag7 4 e4 d6 5
28 Af5 2d6 29 Axd7 2xd7 30 h4 2e7 C 0-0 6 Ae3 £te6 7 Ad3 e5 8 £sge2
31 hxg5 Af8 32 Sdl 2e2 33 2d8 2xg2
34 Af4 *g7 35 Ae5+ f6 36 Axf6+ &f7
37 f4 h5 38 gxh6 Axh6 39 Ae5 2g4 40
2d6 2h4 41 <ic2 £e7 42 f5 Af4 43 f6+
1-0
A53 B.Cafferty-K.Neat
British Championship
Morecambe 1975
1 £rf3 £tf6 2 g3 g6 3 b3 Ag7 4 Ab2 0-0

5 Ag2 d6 6 d4 c6 7 c4 ^bd7 8 0-0 e5?
9 dxe5 &g4 10 #xd6 ®dxe5 11 #xd8
2xd8 12 £ic3 <£xf3+ 13 exf3 £te5 14 8...£sg4 9 Ad2 exd4 10 £\d5 <^ce5 11
2adl Af5 15 £sa4 Ac2 16 2c 1 2d2 17 #b3 &xd3+ 12 #xd3 £te5 13 #b3 c6
Ac3 14 £W4 d3 15 £sg3 a5 16 £ixd3 a4 17
#c2 a3 18 £ixe5 axb2 19 #xb2 Axe5
20 Ac3 Ae6 21 #b4 2a4 22 #xa4
JLxc3+ 23 '4,e2
17...2ad8!? 18 Axd2 2xd2 19 £ic5 f5

20 h3 Af8 21 f4 £ixc4 22 £lxb7 <£b2
23 Axc6 £id3 24 Ad5+ <ih8 25 2xc2
2xc2 26 a4 Ag7 27 Ac4? <£xf2 28 23...b5 24 cxb5 cxb5 25 #a7 Ac4+ 26
£id8 £ixh3+ 29 £hl Ad4 30 2b 1 *£2 Aa5 27 #b7 Ab6+ 28 <4>el Ad4
£rf2+ 31 &g2 &g4+ 32 &fl 2f2+ 0-1 29 2c 1 #35+ 30 'idl #a4+ 31 £el
#b4+ 32 &dl i.e3 33 £tfl Axfl 34 b6 18 Scl &e6 19 &xe6 Exe6 20 *e2
#d5 ±xg2 0-1 53d7 21 53b3 f5 22 Sc7 £tf6 23 exf5
gxf5 24 Ehcl 53d5 25 2d7 53xe3 26
A55 N.Littlewood-K.Neat <A’xe3 h5 27 5cc7 ±h6+ 28 &f2 a6 29
British Championship Qualifier 1979 Se7 Exe7 30 2xe7 £g7 31 Ec7
1 d4 £3f6 2 c4 g6 3 53c3 £g7 4 e4 d6 5

G 0-0 6 £e3 £3c6 7 £3ge2 a6 8 #d2
Sb8 9 ik,h6 JLxh6 10 #xh6 e5 11 d5
53d4 12 0-0-0 c5 13 dxc6 bxc6 14
53xd4 exd4 15 Sxd4
31...e4 32 fxe4 i.xb2 33 Ec6 fxe4 34

Exb6 Ec8 35 2xa6 Ec2+ 36 *g3 ±.e5+
37 <i>h3 *f7 38 2a5 &f6 39 Ea4 e3 40
53d4 ±xd4 41 2xd4 Exa2 42 *g3 e2
43 Ee4 h4+ 44 &G h3 45 g4 el# 46
Exel Exh2 47 <ig3 2a2 48 <&xh3 2a6
15...Sxb2 16 c5 Sb8 17 cxd6 #a5 18 49 <4>h4 &g6 50 2e8 2b6 51 2g8+ <4>h7
#d2 #a3+ 19 <£dl Eb2 20 #cl i.e6 52 2g5 &h6 53 2a5 *g6 54 2a4 2c6
21 ±d3 Efb8 22 53a4 c5 23 #xc5 55 *g3 Bb6 56 £f4 2c6 'A-'A
#xa2 24 <S3xb2 Exb2 25 i.c2 #al+ 26
&e2 #xhl 27 5d2 #xg2+ 28 &d3
#xO+ 29 #63 #fl+ 30 #e2 #al 31 A57 D.Vasiljevic-D.Bronstein
&e3#gl+32 -£>d3 #c5 0-1 Pancevo 1987
1 d4 53f6 2 c4 d6 3 53G g6 4 &c3 &g7

A56 M.Petursson-K.Neat 5 e4 Ag4 6 ±.e2 0-0 7 ±e3 £sfd7 8
Manchester 1979 53gl i.xe2 9 53gxe2 e5 10 0-0 53c6 11
G f5 12 d5 £se7 13 53c 1 f4 14 i.f2 g5
1 53G £sf6 2 c4 g6 3 ®c3 ±g7 4 e4 d6 15 53d3 53f6 16 c5 53g6 17 cxd6 cxd6
5 d4 0-0 6 Ae2 e5 7 dxe5 dxe5 8 #xd8 18 2c 1 2f7 19 a4 h5 20 h3 ±h6 21 2el
2xd8 9 i.g5 Ee8 10 £3d5 53xd5 11 g4 22 hxg4 hxg4 23 ^fl &.g5 24 <4>e2
cxd5 c6 12 .&c4 cxd5 13 .&.xd5 ^d7 14 i.h4 25 #b3 ±xf2 26 53xf2 53h4 27
53d2 h6 15 i.e3 53f6 16 i.b3 &f8 17 G Egl Ec8 28 #b4 2fc7 29 fxg4 2c4 30
lb3 lc7 31 g5 &h5 32 &d3 &g3+ 33 20 2xf6 2xf6 21 ®ef4 ±c6 22 &h5
■£>d2 #h7 34 &f2 2d4+ 35 £id3 2f7 23 £W6+ lxf6 24 <^xf6+ 2xf6 25
2fl 2xfl+ 26 i.xfl i.xe4 271114 M5
28 le7 29 a3 c4 30 lb7 2d8 31
lxb5 d5 32 a4 Ae4 33 a5 £)d6 34 lb6
2d7 35 a6 £ic8 36 le6+ 1-0
A59 Deep Thought II-D.Bronstein

1992
A game against a computer program,

for which each side had 20 minutes.
1 d4 $MBS 2 c4 g6 3 £te3 kgl 4 e4 d6
5 f4 0-0 6 c5 7 d5 e6 8 M2 exd5 9
cxd5 2e8 10 e5 dxe5 11 fxe5 ®g4 12
ig5 !b6 13 0-0 ^xe5 14 £bce5 2xe5
35...£tf3+ 36 &c2 £>xgl 37 Sxgl 15 ld2 i.f5 16 M4 £)d7 17 2acl
?3xe4 0-1 2ae8 18 Af4 a6 19 ^.xe5 4^xe5 20
2fel ld8 21 Ml «h4 22 2al 2d8 23
A58 E.Stuart-K.Neat h3 £>g4 24 hxg4 ±d4+ 25 2e3 i.xg4
Durham Co. Team Tournament 1987 26 lf2 lxf2+ 27 &xf2 2e8 28 &g3
2xe3+ 29 &xg4
1 d4 £tf6 2 c4 g6 3 ^c3 ±.g7 4 e4 d6 5
Ag5 h6 6 Ah4 0-0 7 f4 c5 8 d5 tta5
(8...b5!) 9 Hrd2 e6 10 dxe6 ±xe6 11
&d3 £sc6 12 &ge2 a6 13 0-0 b5 14
cxb5 axb5 15 £5 ild7 16 jk,xf6 Axf6 17
lxh6 ê5 18 &d5 ld8 19 fxg6 fxg6
29...£5+ (29..JLe5!) 30 <S?f4 <4f7 31 d6

&e6 32 2dl h6 33 M4+ &xd6 34 i.17
g5+ 35 <ixf5 b5 36 £>e4+ £e7 37 M5
2e2 38 b4 2xg2 39 bxc5 M3 40 2el
±d4 41 &xg5+ &d7 42 c6+ <&d6 43
&xg2 hxg5 44 2dl 1-0
A60 M.Henriksen-D.Bronstein
Gausdal 1994
1 d4 £rf6 2 c4 g6 3 i.g7 4 e4 d6 5
£tf3 0-0 6 &e2 e5 7 ±e3 £ig4 8 i.g5
#e8 9 d5 £5 10 &d2 §M6 11 f3 c5 12 0-0
£A5 13 a3 £f6 14 Ae3 Ah4 15 g3 f4
16 gxf4 exf4 17 Ml Af6 18 «c2 #e5
19 ^hl #g5 20 Sgl £sg3+ 21 ±xg3
fxg3 22 2xg3 «Ti6 23 &b5 &e5 24
2g2 2f7 25 ^b3 a6 26 £te3 2f4 27
®d2 1114 28 £kll i.h3 29 2gl i.g4 30
fxg4
24...d3 25 &dl £sa6 26 a3 c5 27 b5

<S3c7 28 a4 ±e6 29 le3 2d4 30 ±b3
2fd8 31 2fdl IfB 32 &d2 ±d5 33
±xd5 ^xd5 34 lg5 £tf4 35 2c4 28d5
36 lf6 le8 37 2xd4 le3+ 38 &hl
2xd4 39 £te4 d2 40 lh4 £lh5 41 h3 c4
0-1
A62 C.Smith—D.Bronstein
Simultaneous, Pittington 1995
A repetition of the well-known queen

30...1xh2+ 31 &xh2 2f2+ 32 &h3 sacrifice against Spassky, almost 40
2h2# 0-1 years later, although in a rather less
important competition.
1 d4 4rf6 2 c4 g6 3 £ic3 ±.g7 4 e4 d6
A61 L.Pachman-D.Bronstein 5G0-0 6 ±e3 e5 7 d5 £ih5 8 ®d2
Donner Memorial, Amsterdam 1994 Hi4+ 9 g3 £sxg3 10 #f2 ®xfl 11
’fxltf £ixe3 12 '4’e2 &c2 13 £rt>5 £ia6
1 d4 d6 2 c4 g6 3 <?k3 &gl 4 e4 £tf6 5 14 2c 1 £kl4+ 15 foxd4 exd4 16 <£h3
f3 e5 6 £lge2 0-0 7 i.g5 exd4 8 £lxd4 &d7 17 2hgl b5 18 b3 bxc4 19 bxc4
£te6 9 lbc2 h6 10 ±e3 i.e6 11 ld2 &c5 20 £>f4 f5 21 &xg6 hxg6 22 2xg6
4ie5 12 b3 c6 13 Ae2 d5 14 exd5 cxd5 2f7 23 2cgl 2b8 24 2lg5 2b2+ 25
15 c5 £>c6 16 £id4 £>d7 17 0-0 We7 18 *fl fxe4 26 f4 e3
?3xc6 bxc6 19 2acl 2ad8 20 Axh6 Here White missed an opportunity to
&xh6 21 lxh6 £ixc5 22 ld2 AtS 23 force a draw by perpetual check by 27
£fol d4 24 b4 2xg7+.
16...c4 17 fxe5 #xe5 18 &f4 #c5+ 19

&h2 cxb3 20 #xb3 ±e6 21 #b2 g5 22
&d2 ±g7 23 Sacl 2ad8 24 #c2 h6 25
i.el b4 26 2xd8 2xd8 27 £ia4 #xc2
28 Sxc2 b3 29 axb3 ±xb3 30 2xc6
&xa4 31 2a6 Vi-'A
A64 K.Neat-J.Walton
Durham Co. Team Tournament 1998
1 d4 £tf6 2 c4 g6 3 £sc3 Ag7 4 e4 0-0 5

£e3 d6 6 O £sc6 7 &ge2 a6 8 #d2
2b8 9 £tel e5 10 d5 £ki4 11 4}b3
27 Sh5 2xf4+ 28 #xf4 e2+ 0-1 &xb3 12 axb3 c5 13 b4 b6 14 bxc5
bxc5 15 ±e2 &h5 16 0-0 f5 17 2fbl f4
A63 G.Schebler-D.Bronstein 18 Af2 Af6
Belgian Team Tournament 1997
1 Zh% 2 g3 d6 3 d4 £>bd7 4 £g2

e5 5 c4 c6 6 0-0 £e7 7 £k3 0-0 8 #02
#c7 9 2dl 2e8 10 b3 i.f8 11 e4 b5 12
c5 dxc5 13 dxe5 ^g4 14 h3 £sgxe5 15
thxeS foxe5 16 f4
19 b4 cxb4 20 £ia4 i.h4 21 i.xh4

#xh4 22 2xb4 ±d7 23 £ib6 a5 24
2bbl #d8 25 #xa5 #c7 26 c5 dxc5 27
&c4 2xbl+ 28 2xbl #xa5 29 ®xa5
2a8 30 ®c4 1-0
Solutions to the test positions
Test 1 Is ...e7-e5 possible? (pages 57-59)
1.1 6...e5 is perfectly possible, and indeed is considered the best move.
After 7 dxe5 dxe5 8 Wxd8 2xd8 White is not able to win a pawn (9 £>xe5 is
met by 9...£ixe4, uncovering the King’s Indian bishop, when Black regains the
pawn with the better position) and he can answer 9 Ag5 (threatening 10 £M5)
with 9...2e8 (Game A56).
1.2 Here the immediate 6...e5? is bad: after 7 dxe5 dxe5 8 ®xd8 2xd8 9
thd5 White wins material, as the knight at f6 is attacked, and thxcl also
threatened (Game A38). Black should either prepare ...e7-e5 by playing
6.. .£}bd7, or else switch instead to 6...c5.
1.3 The immediate 9...e5 can be met by 10 Axg7 &xg7 11 d5, when the
knight has to retreat and Black is badly cramped. Therefore he plays 9...Axh6
10 Wxh6 and only now 10...e7-e5, when after 11 d5 he has the possibility of
11.. .£>d4 (Game A55).
1.4 White looks to have too many pieces covering e5, but 7...e5 is
nevertheless possible, as 8 dxe5 is answered by 8...£}fd7 (a typical manoeuvre
when there is a white bishop at b2), uncovering a pin by the King’s Indian
bishop and enabling Black to regain his pawn. Game 11 continued 9 e3 £ic6 10
Wb3 axb4 11 axb4 2xal+ 12 Axal ^cxe5 with a good game for Black.
1.5 In contrast to position 1.4, here 8...e5 is a blunder which simply loses a
pawn after 9 dxe5 £}g4 (if 9...4te8 White can simply play 10 ®d2, when
because of the pin on the d-file Black cannot regain his pawn: 10...dxe5 11
£}xe5, and 11.. .^xe5 is not possible) 10 Wxd6 (Game A53).
1.6 8...e5 is quite opportune. After 9 c3 Black unpinned his queen with the
typical (in this line) move 9...We8, when he was already threatening 10...e4
(Game 8).
1.7 5...0-0 is the usual move, but 5...e5 is quite playable (Games 28, 39
and 47). As in similar positions, Black need not fear the exchange of queens
after 6 dxe5 dxe5 7 Wxd8+ ^xd8.
1.8 In fact Black has not yet prepared his king’s shelter, but 3...e5 is
perfectly possible. This move order, which is seldom seen nowadays, was
widely used some fifty years ago in the earlier days of the King’s Indian
Defence, as it enables Black to avoid some variations which were then
considered dangerous for him, and which can arise after the move order 1 d4
£>f6 2 c4 g6 3 £k3 jtg7 4 e4 d6, such as the Samisch Variation (5 f3) and the
Four Pawns Attack (5 f4). Black is not afraid of the ending after 4 dxe5 dxe5 5
®xd8+ &xd8, as his king will find a secure shelter at c7 or e7, and meanwhile
his strong pawn at e5 gives him control of the central dark squares (Games 13
and A32).
Test 2 Find the typical manoeuvre (pages 59-63)
2.1 There is now an outpost for Black’s knight at c5, and he plays 9...a7-
a5, in order to safeguard it (Game 24).
2.2 Black needs to make the traditional King’s Indian advance of his f-
pawn, but is unsatisfactory, as he will be unable to recapture on f5
with his g-pawn. He therefore plays 10...<£)f6-d7 and follows up with 11...£5
next move (Game 25).
2.3 It is time for Black to switch his sights to the kingside with 25...<£tf6-
h5, aiming for the outpost at f4. White cannot capture the knight there with his
dark-square bishop, as after ...e5xf4 the hitherto inactive bishop at g7 would
become murderously strong (Game 34).
2.4 It is hard to understand White’s manoeuvre <£le2-cl-b3, other than as a

product of fashion. If he did not want to close the centre by 9 d5, then would not
9 g3, Ag2 and 0-0 have been simpler? Black takes advantage of the opponent’s
retarded development by 9...e5xd4 10 Axd4 c6, striving to open the centre as
quickly as possible with ...d6-d5 (Game A34).
2.5 Now is the time to make use of the queen’s bishop, and its entry into
the fray by 28... J.c8-h3 decides matters within a few moves (Game A60).
2.6 Black plays Il...h7-h6, preventing 12 £lg5, and follows up with

...<2^4 and ...e7-e5 (Game 6).
2.7 With 22...^f6xg4 23 £>xg4 f5 Black releases the pent-up energy of his
pieces, and the white king quickly succumbs (Game 36).
2.8 Passive play by Black in the King’s Indian is usually fatal in the long
run. Here he activates his game with 16...f7-f5, not fearing the opening of the g-
file (Game 46).
2.9 Taking advantage of White’s last move (10 Hdl was possible, and if
10.. .£lxc4 11 £)cb5). Black plays 10...c7-c5, gaining an advantage in the
centre after the forcing sequence 11 <2Mb5 a6 12 £la3 Af5 13 ^2 d5 (Game
A22).
2.10 Taking advantage of White’s faulty move order, Black seizes the
initiative with 8...£tf6-g4, so that if 9 fxg4 exd4, when he regains his piece and
the white pawns are broken (Game A54).
2.11 Black is not concerned about the attack on his d6 pawn. With 19...4}f6-
d7 he prepares to attack White’s queenside by ...£>c5 (Game 17). He will
answer 20 Wxd6 with 20...®b6, when the white b-pawn falls, and the c-pawn is
left without support.
2.12 To release the energy of his well-developed pieces. Black plays

15.. .d6-d5. He is ready to answer 16 g5 with 16...d4, and if 17 gxf6 Wxf6 18
£>ce2 d3, making a decisive breakthrough (Game A4).
2.13 Black ignores the threat to his d-pawn and plays lS.-.WdS-aS (Game
20). The point is that after 16 flxd6 ê5 17 b3 he has 17..JLxh3, when 18
jLxh3 allows 18...£ft3+, with the possible sequel 19 “ifl £>xel 20 ixel axb3
21 axb3 £>xe4 22 2d3 Wal+ 23 £»dl Sa2 24 Wcl ^xf2 25 &xf2 Sxe2+ and
Black wins.
2.14 The best way to ease a cramped position is normally by exchanging

pieces. Here Black does this with 13...£tf6-h7 followed by ...£)g5 (Game
A21). A similar manoeuvre by White (true, with more offensive aims) is often
seen in the Ruy Lopez.
2.15 With the white king still uncastled, Black hurries to prepare a break in
the centre with 12...c7-c6 followed by ...d6-d5. He does fear 13 jLxh6, which
can be met by the typical tactical stroke 13...£\xe4 and 14...'i,h4+ (Game
A61).
2.16 After 12...c7-c5 13 dxc6 bxc6 14 £lxd4 exd4 15 Bxd4 White conquers
the d4 square, but only at a price - his pieces are uncoordinated, and Black
exploits this by 15...Bxb2, with highly favourable complications (Game A55).
2.17 With White’s dark-square bishop committed to the kingside, this would
have been a good moment for the typical sacrifice 8...b7-b5 9 cxb5 a6 10 bxa6
Wa5, with fine play for the pawn. Black’s actual continuation 8...®a5 9 Wd2 e6
proved less successful (Game A58).
2.18 White would desperately like to keep the kingside blocked (e.g. after
15...4MV7 16 h4), but Black forestalls him by 15...£lf6-g4 16 fxg4 hxg4 (and if
17 JLh4 JUi6), when all his pieces pour into the action behind his mobile pawns
(Game 37).
Postscript
On the occasion of David Bronstein’s 75th birthday in February 1999, Garry
Kasparov published a tribute on his web site in which he described him as ‘the
most enigmatic figure in the chess world’, and mentioned that in the 1970s and
even the 1980s he used to follow with interest Bronstein’s games, in each of
which some new and surprising idea could be found. This striving for
originality, as opposed to mere competitive results, has been David’s
distinguishing feature throughout his career, yet despite this he has an enviable
record of success, for details of which the reader is referred to The Sorcerer’s
Apprentice by David Bronstein and Tom Furstenberg (Cadogan 1995).
Bibliography
Apart from numerous Russian periodicals, particular use has been made of the
following publications:
One-Hundred-and-One of my Best Games of Chess by F.D. Yates (Printing-Craft

1934)
A Treasury of British Chess Masterpieces by Fred Reinfeld (Chatto & Windus
1950)
Mezhdunarodny Turnir Grossmeisterov by David Bronstein (Fizkultura i Sport
1956)
Grossmeister Boleslavsky by A.S.Suetin (Fizkultura i Sport 1981)
David Bronstein: Chess Improviser by B.S.Vainstein (Pergamon 1983)
The Sorcerer's Apprentice by David Bronstein and Tom Furstenberg (Cadogan
1995)
Index of other players
(numbers refer to pages)
Abrahams 138 Hartston 159

Alekhine 11 Hay garth 192
Aloni 166 Henriksen 200
Antoshin 193 Hoad 190
Balashov Kapengut 124

Baturinsky 176 Keres 182
Batuyev 71 Kluger 192
Belavenets 65 Koblents 174
Bisguier 168 Kolarov 75
Blau 105 Kolbus 136
Boleslavsky 14, 177, 178, 179(2), Korchnoi 187, 191
190 Kotov 82, 118, 175, 178
Bondarevsky 76 Kots 192
Botvinnik 130, 147 Kottnauer 114
Krogius 189
Cafferty 197 Kupreichik 170
Chekhover 73
Cherepkov 161 Larsen 194
Larusson 197
Dake 183 Lilienthal 128
Deep Thought II 199 Lisitsyn 112
Dvoretsky 196 Littlewood, N. 198
Lundin 177
Englisch 6 Lutikov 133, 189
Evans 193
Makogonov 164
Fine 14 Marovic 195
Flohr 176, 177 Mikenas 194
Fuderer 185 Moiseyev 78
Geller 178 Najdorf 99, 181, 182

Gligoric 181 Neat 190, 191, 192, 197(2), 198(2),
Goldenov 174 199, 201
Golombek 120 Nowak 79
Opocensky 176 Stuart 199

Szabo 178,184,195
Pachman 91, 200
Panno 87, 152, 186 Taimanov 181
Pein 172 Tarasov 188
Petrosian 143, 180, 185 Tarrasch 6
Petursson 198 Terpugov 180
Pilnik 184, 186 Thorsson 126
Platonov 195 Tolush 67, 135
Ravinsky 69,140 Udovcic 188

Reshevsky 102
Rytov 196 Vaganian 89, 109
Vajda 98
Sajtar 86 Vasiljevic 198
Sakharov 107 Vasyukov 187
Santasiere 83
Schebler 201 Walton 201
Shamkovich 156 Wexler 154
Slomson 191 Winter 95
Smith 200
Solntsev 175 Yates 11
Spassky 122, 185
Stahlberg 141 Zita 94, 188
Stoltz 180
BRONSTEIN
This book demonstrates that the King's
Indian is not a difficult opening to play or
master, showing that it leads to rich and
interesting positions in which both sides can
enjoy a complicated struggle. The emphasis
is on understanding the typical moves and
manoeuvres and the overall ‘spirit’ of the
defence, not on memorizing reams of theory.
The book also contains fifty of Russian

grandmaster David Bronstein’s favourite
games that he has played with the King’s
Indian, not all with Black, and not all ending in
wins, but games that demonstrate the wide
variety of ideas and positions that can arise
in this exciting defence.
David Bronstein was one of the two

creators of the King's Indian Defence and
is also the co-author of the highly acclaimed
The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
EVERYMAN CHESS
www.everyman.uk.com
Published in the UK by Everyman Publishers Pic
Distributed in the US by the Globe Pequot Press

Broinstein On The King Indian - by David Broistein PDF

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Copyright © 1999 David Bronstein, Ken Neat

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

ISBN 1 85744 265 2

Distributed in North America by The Globe Pequot Press, 6 Business Park

All other sales enquiries should be directed to Everyman Chess, Gloucester

EVERYMAN CHESS SERIES (formerly Cadogan Chess)

Typeset by Ken Neat, Durham

Printed in Great Britain by Cromwell Press Ltd, Trowbridge, Wilts.

1 A brief journey into the past 6

2 The basic functions of the two armies 18

3 Standard moves in the King’s Indian 22

5 The King’s Indian in action 64

6 64 additional games 174

Solutions to the test positions 202

Index of other players 207

This, basically, is what constitutes the King Indian’s Defence! Of course,

How this book was compiled

In the course of many meetings, telephone discussions and exchanges of

White: Berthold Englisch Dr Tarrasch could have struck at

This is an ideal King’s Indian Or 12 &xc7 £ixf3+ 13 AxO We5

remaining, which is sufficient for one

as well as the possibility of attacking 20 fixa8 Wg5+ 21 <&bl £id2+ 22

Dr Tarrasch had overlooked this

opening, if he is able to get rid of the

Our second game is one of the finest

White: Alexander Alekhine

What have we learned from this

different: at the cost of a couple of £tf3+ 15 Axf3 Axd4+ with a

If now 25 Wxe7 Black wins simply

33..JSxg4! 34 fxg4 2xfl+ 35 &g2

2. The advance of Black’s f-pawn

Our final game in this chapter is

43 lc2 «fl+ 44 &h2 «gl+ 45 White: Reuben Fine

White resigns, as he is checkmated

The attack on the c4 pawn has

20.. .£tf7 21 g4 Ad7 22 «k2

34...&h7! 35 Wg4 g5 36 £>d5 ®d8

From this game we have learned: After these introductory games,

Functions of the black pieces

Functions of the black pawns

Functions of the white pieces

• To defend the d4 pawn by moving to f3 (or e2).

Functions of the white pawns

36 standard moves of the black pieces

£sg8-f6 £if6-h5 £>f6-d7 £tf6-h7 <2df6-e8 £tf6-g4

iLc8-e6 i.c8-f5 Ac8-h3 Ac8-g4 fif8-e8 Ef8-g8

£lg8-f6 opened for the queen, the dark-square

This move simultaneously clears three

(position after 10 0-0)

In many King’s Indian positions there

(position after 10 §Lh4-g3)

White’s last move invited 9...£>f6-g4,

From here the knight attacks the c5

(position after 10 Q\f3-d2)

Black wants to advance his f-pawn.

This knight move attacks the squares

With 7...^b8-d7 followed by ...a7-

This defends the e5 square and attacks

This prepares ...£}a6-c5, or in some

(position after 11 £icl-b2)

Black plays Il...£id7-c5, attacking