Chess Middlegame Strategies Vol 2 - Ivan Sokolov (2018)

CHESS
MIDDLEGAME
STRATEGIES
Volume 2
Opening meets Middlegame
by
Ivan Sokolov
�
Thinkers Publishing
www.thinkerspublishing.com
Managing Editor
Romain Edouard
Assistant Editor
Daniel Vanheirzeele
Proofreading
Bernard Carpinter
Graphic Artist
Philippe Tonnard
Cover design
lwan Kerkhof
Typesetting
i-Press <www.i-press.ph
First edition 2018 by Thinkers Publishing
Chess middlegame strategies. Volume 2: Opening meets middlegame

Copyright © 2018 Ivan Sokolov
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retriev�l system
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise, without the prior written permission from the publisher.
ISBN 978-94-9251-020-4
o/2018/i3730/2
All sales or enquiries should be directed to Thinkers Publishing, 9000 Gent, Belgium.
e-mail: [email protected]
website: www.thinkerspublishing.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
KEY TO SYMBOLS 5
PREFACE 7
CHAPTER I. SI CI LI AN STRATEGIES 9
I.I. Rauzer Ideas 9
Game I. J. Klovans - M. Tal (1981) 10

Game 2. V. Anand - V. Kramnik (2000) 15
Game 3. T. Baron - Z. Kozul (2010) 20
Game 4. E. Prandstetter - Z. Kozul (1988) 29
Game 5. E. Geller - B. Larsen (1966) 35
1 .2 . Velimirovic Piece Sacrifice 38
Game 6. D. Velimirovic- U. Andersson (1982) 40

Game 7. D. Velimirovic - L. Gutman (1988) 48
Game 8. D. Velimirovic - M. Suba (1987) 65
1 . 3 . Fortified Knight on eS 69
Game 9. J. Polgar - V. Topalov (2006) 70

Game 10. D. Ghizdav u - B. Spassky (1974) 78
Game ll. A. Karpov- B. Spassky (1982) 82
CHAPTER I I. SPANISH PIECE SACRIFICE 87
Game 12. J. Polgar - B. Spassky (1993) 88

Game 13. H. Nakamura - V. Golod (2009) 93
Game 14. A. Rasmussen- I. Sokolov (2017) 96
Game 15. J. Polgar - 1 . Sokolov (2003) 109
CHAPTER 111. T HE CARO-KANN DOUBLED F-PAWN 121
Game 16. A. Khalifman - Y. Seirawan (1991) 122

Game 17. E. Torre-V. Kortschnoj (1978) 131
CHAPTER IV. BENONI S T RATEGIES 141
4.1. Positional Exchange Sacrifice 141
Game 18. T. Petrosian -N. Rashkovsky (1976) 142
4.2. Kingside Structure Transformations 150
Game 19. E. Magerramov- G. Kasparov (1979) 151

Game 20. E. Bukic-M. Tai (1967) 166
4. 3 . Two Typical Sacrifices 173
Game 21. L. Le Quang - Saleh Salem (2015) 174

Game 22. V. Kortschnoj - G. Kasparov (1982) 179
CHAPTERV. CATALAN SACRIFI CES 191
5 .1 . Knight Sacrifice on f7 191
Game 23. V. Mikhalevski -A. Rabinovich (1999) 192

Game 24. A. Giri - A. Morozevich (2012) 204
5.2. Pawn Chain Break with the b2-b 3 Push 208
Game 25. B. Spassky-L. Zinn (1962) 208

Game 26. Ding Liren-W. So (2016) 222
CHAPTER VI. KNIGHT TALES 233
Game 27. A. Karpov-J. Timman (1982) 234

Game 28. A. Karpov-Z. Azmaiparashvili (1983) 241
Game 29. A. Karpov-M. Taimanov (1977) 249
Game 30. I. Sokolov - A. Miles (1989) 256
KEY TO SYMBOLS
a good move
? a weak move
!! an excellent move
?? a blunder
!? an interesing move
?! a dubious move
D only move
= equality
oo unclear position
c;o with compensation for the sacrificed material
;:!;; White stands slightly better
+ Black stands slightly better
± White has a serious advantage
+ Black has a serious advantage
+- White has a decisive advantage
-+ Black has a decisive advantage
� with an attack
i with initiative
� with counterplay
� with the idea of
o better is
� worse is
N novelty
+ check
# mate
PREFACE
In modern chess practice, the theory of the opening often stretches into the
middlegame, sometimes quite deeply. When players choose particular opening
variations, they are in essence deciding on the type of middlegame in which
they would like to fight their opponents.
In this second volume of my "Chess Middlegame Strategies" series I have de

cided to focus on this connection between the opening and the middlegame.
I have selected different themes from popular openings and examined the
resulting middlegames, trying to offer a sort of user manual to guide readers
through these middlegames. I have also offered some ideas on the theory of the
different openings. The 30 games in this book cover a wide range of different
middlegame types, so I hope there is something for everyone and that study
ing this book will enhance readers' understanding of middlegame strategies.
Only one chapter in this book, "Knight Tales", is not related to a particular
opening. It concentrates on the middlegame theme of knights versus bishops.
Originally I had planned to present much more pure middlegame material,
but sometimes in the work process we adjust the original plan and, well... this
book is the product!
Naturally I still have this pure middlegame material in my work database and
I do not exclude the possibility that volume three may arrive around the end
of 2018. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this book and the game selection.
Ivan Sokolov
November 2017
CHA PTER I. SICILIAN STRATEGIES
In modern chess, openi ng theo 1.1. RAUZER IDEAS

ry meets the middlegame. When
choosi ng speci fic openi ng varia
tions, players aim for particular
types of middlegame positions in
"the hope of understanding these po
sitions better than their opponents.
Openi ng preparation will not usu

ally lead to a clear advantage for
either side. If the computer evalu
ation of the early middlegame is
not "o.oo" then it will usually be no
more than plus or minus "b .30" and Understanding this typical Sicilian
the computer will say "=". So know Richter-Rauzer position is a must
ing and understanding the typical for any i.e4 player, any Sicilian play
plans and motifs in the chosen type er and also any player keen to im
of middlegame comes to the fore prove his or her general level. I have
and will prove crucial in over-the focused on dynamic decisions, i n
board play. positions with an undefined or mo
bile pawn centre. Black has doubled
In thi s chapter I have selected f-pawns and potentially the more
a number of popular opening po exposed king, but as compensation
sitions, hoping to help readers im he has the advantage of the bishop
prove thei r understanding of such pair.
positions and ultimately become
better players. I have selected five games trying to
delve into the concepts involved in
this complex position. Different ide
as often combine with one another
here. The material is divided into
two parts.
10 CHESS M I DDLEGAM E STRATEGIES
king, then opening up the position

will only benefit the black bishop
pair. In the Baron-Kozul game we
see Black dominating in a pawn
down endgame! Endgames are gen
erally good for Black here.
1> J. Klovans
The first three games of this Sicil .,,.. M. Tai
ian subchapter examine the ideas Riga [g). 1981
related to Black having his f6-pawn
removed - in games one and three i.e4 c5 2.tz::lf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.tz::lxd4
even by the means of a pawn sacri tz::lf6 5.tz::lC3 tz::lc6 6. lt.g5 e6 7. ifd2 a6
fice - so that Black's dark-squared 8.0-0-0 h6 9. i.e3 tz::lxd4 io. i.xd4
bishop can take over the ai-h8 diago b5 11.f3 .ib7 12. 'i!tb1 .ie7 13. i.xf6
nal. In games one and two Black has gxf� 14. i.d3 ib'b6 15.f4
a mobile pawn centre, with the dark
squared bishop well placed on the
long diagonal, and he castles queen
side. Tai achieved this position by
sacrificing a pawn, while in Anand
Kramnik the material is equal.
Advice for White: exchange one of

the black bishops! Black's two bish
ops are superior to White's knight
plus bishop but once one of the black
bishops is traded, Black's initiative
will diminish or vanish altogether. Through a slightly unusual move or
der we have reached a typical Rich
Once the black king is safe (here on ter-Rauzer Sicilian pawn structure.
the queenside) Black is fine! White Opening theory is not our concern
needs to be energetic and catch the here so I will just mention that Black
black king in the centre, as in Kasp often keeps his king in the centre in
arov-Hracek or Sengupta-Edouard. these positions. Tai decides to castle
IfWhite cannot embarrass the black queenside.
CHAPTER I. SICILIAN STRATEGI ES 11
15...0-0-0 16.f5 18 ...f5!
White challenges Black to push The logical 18...d5, which is also the
... e6-e5 and surrender the d5-square, first choice of the computer en
a transaction which in this line is gines, leads to a balanced game after
often less beneficial for White than 19.exd5 .E:xd5 20. !!heL White threat
may initially appear the case. Tal ens 21.CZJ f4.
decides to keep his pawn structure
flexible. (20. .E:hf1 also looks about equal)
16... @bs 17.fxe6 fxe6 18.tl:le2 20 ... .E:g5 21.g3 es 22.tlJC3 with un
clear play. White will exchange the
light-squared bishops, making the
black king potentially vulnerable.
For the small price ofjust one pawn,

Black has gained a rolling pawn
centre and opened the h8-a1 diago
nal for his dark-squared bishop. In
such positions, for the defensive side
(in this case White) it is clever to ex
White plan's is clear. He wants to change one of the opponent's bishops
jump CLie2- tLlf4, hitting e6 and hop as quickly as possible, as Anand did
ing to provoke ...e6-e5. Then he would against Kramnik in our next game.
aim to dominate the light squares,
while the black bishop e7 would be
badly placed in such a scenario. Tal
decides to sacrifice a pawn in order The f6-square is a perfect spot for
to activate his dark-squared bishop Black's bishop that is now on e?, so
and get his central pawns rolling White hopes to prevent that move
forward. In a matter of just a couple by placing his knight on hs.
of moves Black is to unleash the dy
namic power of his bishop pair and 20...h5!
his central rolling pawns, obtaining
a winning attack. Tal's method is White here underestimates the dan
highly instructive and can be used ger, losing a couple of important
in a number of similar positions. tempi, to grab the irrelevant h-pawn.
12 CH ESS MI DDLEGAM E STRATEG I ES
[25. kfi E:dfs+ (25 ... d4?! 26. E:xe4!

ilxe4 2J.l!lf4+t)]
25 ... !:!:hgS
(25... 'BdfB 26. ilg4t)
26. l!fxh4 'Bxg2 Black definitely has

enough for his minimal material
deficit, however the position is start
ing to simplify and a draw is becom
ing the likely result.
As mentioned earlier, White needed

to exchange one of Black's bishops,
reducing the power of the enemy's
initiative. For example: 21. E:he1!
h4 22.t2J e4 d5 23.t2J g5 Black is now
forced to part with his bishop pair:
23 ... .txg5
(23 ... e4?! does keep the bishop pair,

but also sacrifices an exchange:
24.t2J f7 E:hg8 25 .tlJxdS .txd8
26. kfi .tf6 27.l!fh6 and Black does
not have enough compensation for
the sacrificed material.)
Black is getting a huge number

8 of tempi for the price of that little
7 pawn on h4!
6
5
4
3. It seems both sides got what they
wanted. White has collected his
a b c d e f g h pawn and is now two pawns up,
Black has advanced his central
25. ke2 pawns and placed his dark-squared
CHAPTER I. SICI LIAN STRATEG IES 13
bishop on a perfect position. By rook on hi are all perfectly mis

grabbing the h-pawn White has placed)
placed his knight totally out of play
and it will take quite some time and
effort for the knight on hs to enter
the fray. White's king has been left (30.l!¥e1 exd3 31. il.. xd3 i.xb2-+)
without defenders. The attackers
defenders ratio favours Black, who 30...e3 3i. l!fe1 !!d4! and Black wins
is ready to push ...d3 opening the h8- with a mating attack. Again, pay at
a1 diagonal for his queen-and-bish tention to the misplaced knight on
op battery to deliver a deadly blow. hs.
Sensing that his opponent has no

counter-play Tal takes his time in
finishing things off. The threat is
28...d3 29.cxd3 �b4.
The immediate 27...d3 28.cxd3 �d4
27. !!hf1?!
White keeps neglecting his king

position and gives Black a relative
ly easy kill. However, Black has too
many attacking motifs and White
simply does not have a good de was also winning as after 29. !!d2
fence. For example, 27.l!fe7, trying Black has plenty of time to bring
to bring the queen to the aid of its his remaining forces into the at
king, does not help either: 27... !!he8 tack: 29... !!c8 30. !!fd1 i.d5 31.a3 !!q
28.�b4 32.dxe4
(28.�a3 d3! 29.cxd3 l!¥f2! 30. i.g4 (32f6 'B.hcB 33.dxe4 �xd2-+)
!!xd3 31. !!xd3 exd3-+ and Black
wins in a few moves while white's 32 ... il.xe4+ 33. �a1
knight on hs, bishop on g4 and
14 CH ESS M I D D LEGAME STRATEGIES
(33.@a2 kds+-+)
33 ... :8.ci+-+.
28. :8.c1
28.l!ffa
a b c d e f g h
(or 34. kf3 :8.xhs! Black keeps his

bishops pair! 35. kxhs kds 36. 'i!fe2
a4-+)
a b c d e f g h
34 ... kds 35. l!Vd1 and now Black has
loses to 28... e3! 29.l!Vei. Black proba enough time to bring his rook into
bly has several ways to win this, but the attack and decide the battle. 35 ...
the following line nicely illustrates :8.h7-+ Black's queen-bishop battery
the domination of the black bishop is still operating at full force. 36.f6
pair and White's helplessness. Pushing the f-pawn is White only
counter-play. 36 ... :8.hq 37.f7 kxb3
(29. l!Vh4 d3 ! 3 0. :8.xd3 :8.xd3 38. 'i!fxb3 :8.c2 39. 'i!fxc2 :8.xc2 40.f8'i!f+
31.1l. xd3 or 31.cxd3 :8.c8 31 ...
- - :8.c8 4i. 'i!fxc8+ @xc8 42. !:i.ci+ @d8
:8.xhs 32.l!Vxh5 l!Vd4-+) 43. :8.c2 b3 44. :8.c3 l!Vh4-+.
(30. :8.xd3 :8.xd3 31.1l. xd3 and the The queen-bishop battery decides.
greedy knight on hs comes to
a sticky end: 31 ... E'.xhs-+)
30 ... !k8 3i. :8.c1 'i!fd4 32 . .E:c3 b4

33. :8.b3 as! The fu ll triumph of
Black's strategy that started with
18.. .f5! and made maximum use of
the h8-a1 diagonal. Not having any
counter-play, White is tied to an
electric chair waiting for the execu
tion!
CHAPTER I. SICILIAN STRATEGIES 15
0-1
Direct and radical! We will see
a similar decision in Geller-Larsen
2 later in this chapter.
1> V. Anand 12 ...d5 13. �bi

� V. Kramnik
Wijk aan Zee (4), 2000 This feels a bit timid ...
1.e4 c5 2.lZ:Jf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.lZ:Jxd4

�f6 5.lZJC3 lZ:Jc6 6. �g5 e6 7. �d2 a6
8.0-0-0 lZ:Jxd4 9. �xd4 �e7 10.f4
b5 11. �xf6 gxf6
a b c d e f g h
14 ... 0-0 (Black cannot play 14 ...

�f6 15 �g3 �b7 because White
.
did not waste time on 13. �b1 and

is now faster: 16fxe6fxe6 1J. �e2�.)
A typical Richter-Rauzer pawn 15.lZ:Je4 f6 16. �g3+ �h8 17.fxe6
structure. Once upon a time, this �xe6oo.
was a pet-line of Kramnik when
playing Black. Understanding the b) Improving the bishop with
dynamics of these positions helps 13. �e2 before opening the cen
players to understand other similar tre is probably a critical idea for
Sicilian positions. White is ahead in assessing this position: 13 ... �b7
development and eager to open files 14.f5! fxe5 15. �xe5 �f6 16. �g3.
towards the black king. To execute Now with the white bishop already
this strategy White often has to be developed on e2, Black cannot al
ready to sacrifice material. Black is low fxe6 so easily as in Kramnik's
banking on his bishop pair, should game, as �hs+ will be coming.
the position open up.
16 CH ESS M I D D LEGAME STRATEGIES
21.a3! A surprisingly calm move,

eliminating the ... !fb4 threat. The
black monarch cannot find shelter,
while White develops a winning
attack. Computer engines sup
port this evaluation. It is interest
ing that even without knights on
a b c d e f g h the board Black still does not have
a suitable defence! 21. .. h5 22. !!hfi
16 ... !fbS 17. !fh3 ! Keeping the Wlies 23. �d3 WD gs 24. !fd7+- �xg2
queens on the board is here 25. !!de1 �e7 26. �fs W!ih4 (26... .fi.h3
a consequent decision, involving 27. W!ie8+ l:!xe8 28fxe8W9+ rJJ xe8
a piece sacrifice. For such deci 29. !!xgs+-) 27. � fes !!ds 28.l!Vq
sions a player needs a brave heart !!xd3 29.cxd3 1-0 Sengupta,D
and a good feeling for the initia (2558)-Edouard,R (2636) Hastings
tive, or superb preparation! (17. 2011.
fxe6 leads to an ending that is fine
for Black: 17-.. wexg3 18. exf7+ rJJf8
19.hxg3 d4 20.tiJ b1 �xg2=) Now
17... d4 effectively forces White As in Sengupta-Edouard above,
to sacrifice a piece. [After 17...b4 Black is in a hurry to catch up in
Black probably did not like 18.�a4 development.
(The piece sacrifice played in the
game, 18fxe6, is now less effective 13 ...b4 actually chases the white
for White because the d-file is not knight away to a good square:
open: 18... W!if4+ 19. rJJ bi bxc3+.) 18... 14.�e2 as 15.tiJg3 fs 16.tiJhs
�c6 19.tiJc5 and White has good
attacking prospects.] 18.fxe6! W!if4+
19. rJJ b1 dxc3 20.exf7+ rJ;;fs
a b c d e f g h
A white knight is almost always

well placed on hs in those positions!
Kasparov,G (2785)-Hracek,Z (2625),
Yerevan i996, continued 16 ... !!b8
CHAPTER I. SICI LIAN STRATEGIES 17
17.g4! As usual the 13th World Cham

pion displays energetic play. This is
a standard white plan to open routes
to the black king in such positions.
17.. .fxg4 18.f5 :8.g8
(18... exfs loses to the simple 19.e6

:8.gB 20.exf7+ rtlxf7 21. ii.g2 and the
black position soon collapses.)
19.�f6+ �xf6 20.exf6 l!fd6 21. �g2

We have a situation similar to Klo
vans-Tal in terms of pawn structure
and Black's bishop pair, with the dif
ference that Black did not sacrifice
anything. Anand will quickly un
derstand the danger and will focus
on exchanging one of the black bish
a b c d e F g h ops! For the side fighting the bishop
pair in similar positions, it is usu
21. .. :8.gs ally very advisable to trade off one of
the opponent's bishops. Such a trade
(21 :8.bs! 22. :8.he1 rtidB was the
.•. usually causes the opponent's initi
only way for Black to struggle on.) ative to diminish, which is exactly
what Anand is trying to do!
18 ..ie2 h5!
•
(22... exds 23. l!Ve3+ rtld7 24. l!Vxgs+-)

Preventing the white bishop from
occupying the h3-C8 diagonal.
After 18 ...0-0-0 19. ii.g4! was un
14.f5 fxe5 15. l!Vxe5 ii.f6 16. l!Vg3 l!Ve7 pleasant for Black in Kasparov,G
17.fxe6 fxe6 (2825)-Ivanchuk,V (2740) Frank
furt 1998, as the position of his king
on c8 allowed White to pin the e6-
pawn and develop strong pressure
against it. 19 ...h5 20. ii.h3 h4 21. l!Vf4
ii.g7 22. :8.he1 :8.h6
18 CH ESS MIDDLEGAME STRATEG I ES
8 fice after 20 ... �h4 21. E!xe6 l!!!xe6

22. W/xh4. It is quite possible that af
ter 22 ... d4 Anand judged his com
4 pensation would have been of the
3. "fighting to keep the balance" type
2 8 and decided that the time had not
, •�•ia yet come to take such a committal
a b c d e f g h step.
23.a3! White prepares his tactical 20...b4 21.�e2 e5

blow.
(An immediate 23. �xe6+? does

not work for White due to 23 ...
E!xe6 24.l!!!g4 E!dd6 25. E!xe6 Wixe6
26. WIxg7 d4+.)
23 ... E!g6 24. �xe6+! E!xe6 25.W/g4

E!dd6 26. E!xe6 W/xe6 27.W/xg7 W/f6
28.W/g4+ �b8 29. E!d4+- 1-0.
19. �f3 0-0-0

Black has the initiative and the po
sition very much resembles the Tai
game. Exchanging one of the black
bishops is crucial for White's de
fence.
22.�Cl
White's knight is heading to b3, ei

ther to jump to as and trade off the
black bishop on b7 or to control the
d4 square and prevent the black
20.h4 pawn centre from rolling forward.
Anand's knight is in much better
White had the option of changing shape than Klovan's was - stranded
the run of play with 20. E!he1!? lead and pinned on hs - and this factor
ing to a positional exchange sacri- proves quite important.
CHAPTER I. SICI LIAN STRATEG I ES 19
22. �xh5? �b8 23. Ag6 Axh4+
22... �bs
Kramnik wants first to improve his

king's position.
The immediate 22 ... e4, sacrificing

a pawn, was definitely an option:
23.�xh5
23 ••• 'i!Uq
23 ... �a8 allows White to elimi

nate one of the black bishops with
a b c d e f g h 24./.2l a5! e4 25.l.2l xb7 �xb7 26. Ae2=
Black cannot achieve a queen plus

bishop battery on the long dark di
agonal, as Tal did, so he has to set Now Kramnik is not in a mood to
tle for "excellent compensation" but sacrifice a pawn, so he parts with his
perhaps no more than that: 23 ... .te5 "killer" bishop.
24. 'i!Ug5 'i!Ud6
(24... 'i!Uxgs 25.hxgs Ja dgB 26.g6 �q�

Black has excellent play, though he 24... a5, keeping more pieces on the
would have preferred to keep the board) was perhaps more princi
queens on the board.) pled, but the game remains unclear
after 25. Ja hfi Ae7 26. Ja f5 a4 27.l.2lci.
25 . .tg6 ..tf6 26. !fe300 Black keeps White has a pawn, Black has a bish
everything on the board, but since op pair and mobile pawn centre; the
Anand's knight on c1 is much bet engines' evaluation is around o.oo
ter placed than Klovans' strand but there are many possibilities for
ed knight on h5 it is difficult for both sides and a sharp fight lies
Black to successfully play as Tal did ahead.
against Klovans. The engines evalu
ate the position as o.oo.
20 CHESS M I D D LEGAM E STRATEGI ES
Black has the more active rook, but

the black king is far from the action
and the remaining material is too
limited to offer any winning chanc
es.
34. �c1 @e7 35. !!d3 !ie2 36. E:d2

!iei+ 37. !!d1 !!e2 38. !!d2 E:e4
39. !!d3 @e6 40.C3 1/2
White has enough counter-play to 3

keep the balance.
t> T. Baron
� Z. Kozul
Rijeka (4], 2010
27... Etfa can lead to a nice draw by
repetition: 28. E:h7 E:xg2 29. l!Vxg2 1.e4 c5 2.�f3 �c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.�xd4
llfxh7 30. l!fg5 l!fq 31.�C5 l!fd6 �f6 5.�c3 d6 6. it.g5 e6 7. l!Vd2 a6
32.�e4 W!/q 33.�c5=. 8.0-0-0 �d7 9.f4 b5 10. it.xf6 gxf6
11.�b1 l!fb6 12.�xc6 it.xc6 13.f5
This is the position of our interest.

Forcing a drawn rook endgame. Black will decide to sacrifice a pawn
in order to open diagonals for his
29 ... !!xe4 30. E:xc7 @xc7 31.�c5 bishops, especially the dark squared
!ie3 32.�e6+ @d7 33.�xd8 @xd8 one. The idea has some similarity to
·
the Klovans-Tal game.

13 ...h5 make tactical use of the d-, e- and

f-files: 15 ...b4
A standard move in those Rauzer
positions, taking space on the king [15 ... 0-0-0 16. B'.hfi Ae7 17.fZ:J e2
side, preparing ... Ah6, and also B'.de8 18.fZ:J f4 Ads Now White is
preventing White from placing his happy to jettison his e4-pawn in
bishop on h5. Black's king in the order to open the e-file. 19. Ae2!
middle of the board is less vul ner �xe4 20. i.xh5 B'.e7 21. .1t.f3 Axf3
able than it may seem. Here a strong move for White, and
more in the spirit of the position,
13 ... �c5 keeping the structure flex was 22. B'.xf3! (22.gxf3 B'.hh7� 1-0
ible is also a standard Rauzer move. Ivanchuk,V (2735)-Piket,J (2570)
Monte Carlo 1996) 22 ... B'. xh2
14.fxe6 fxe6 15. �f4 23. B'.e1 d5 24. B'.fe3±]
The critical position. Black now sac 16.CZJe2 Ah6 17.�e1 l!Vc5 has been
rifices his f6-pawn in order to open played in a little known open tour
diagonal(s) for his dark-squared nament game with interesting tacti
bishop. It is important to note that cal motifs:
Black, though being a pawn down,
does not mind a queen exchange
since his strong bishop pair ensures
long-term compensation.
Another main move for White is

15. Ad3,
a b c d e f g h
18.g3
(More dire ct is i8. B'.f1 as i9.b3! in

the spirit of Karjakin-Caruana,
Candidates 2016 - see Game 4,
a b c d e f g h note to White's 1ih move. This
l ooks good for White.)
advancing his development and
not being tempted by the f6-pawn. 18 ... a5 19.fZ:J f4 'i!tf7 20. E:fi B'.ag8 Here
Sharp play follows, as White tries White produced an interesting sac
rifice. 21.fZ:J xe6!?
22 CH ESS M I D DLEGAME STRATEGI ES
(A calmer option is 21.b3 planning Here the engines give a o.oo as
to place his bishop on c4 as in Kar sessment. White has various moves
jakin-Caruana.) here but I like the idea of sacrificing
a rook to further open files and di
21... @xe6 agonals! 25. !!es+! dxes
(25 .. fxes seems to lead to a forced

draw: 26.W!/f7+ @dB 27.W!/xg6
@q 28. W!f xd6+ @b6 29. i.ds 'i!.cB
30. i.xc6 !!xc6 31. W!ibB+ @a6
32.'i!faB+ @b6 33.W!ibB+=.)
a b c d e f g h 26.W!/f5
22.'i!.f5 A knight has been sacrificed

to open routes to the black king
and the position is dynamically
balanced. 22 ... W!/e3 23. i.C4+ @e7
24. W!/f1
(The game Collins,S (2448)-Vovk, a b c d e f g h

A (2637) Escaldes 2016 contin
ued 24. i.xgB? W!f xe1 25. 'i!.xe1 'i!.xgB Black now needs to find the only
26. 'i!.xhs i.d2! The white rook is defence: 26 ... l!fa7! ! 27. W!/e6+ @fs
forced to abandon its protection of 28.l!fxc6 i.d2! 29.b3 @g7 30. 'i!.xd2
the back rank. 2;. 'i!.e2 i.gs! 28.h4 @h6oo where White has at least
i.f4+ and Bl ack went on to win.) good compensation.
24 ... 'i!.g6
Another way to sacrifice a pawn,

with simil ar ideas in mind, is the
sl ightly paradoxical 15 ... @e7!? which
is actually a computer idea! Artifi
cial intelligence has definitely been
improving the engines' understand
a b c d e f g h ing of positional compensation con
cepts!
CHAPTER I . SICI LIAN STRATEG I ES 23
Black was by no means forced to

sacrifice a pawn, as he could have
had an unclear game after 15 ... ke700
since 16. 'Bxd6? it.xd6 17. �xf6? �d7
18. �g7+ ke7 19. ii.xb5 does not
work for White due to the simple
19... 'Bags 20. 'Bdi+ �e8-+.
a b c d e f g h
16.'i!fxd6+
(16. �e2 �cs l7- 'Bhf1 it.g7 is fine for

Black.)
16 ... �f7 Black gave away a pawn

with check, but gained in return
dark-squared diagonals for his bish
op. 17.�f4 �b8
'S �fm
8 .a. ill�,&
•• 16.'i!fxf6
••
7
6 ,
5 ., In one interesting game, White un
43 . derstood the dangers behind Black's
. positional pawn sacrifice and re
2 � �] frained from grabbing the pawn,
i R@a opting instead for 16. kd3 VWe5
a b c d e f g h
17.VWfa kg7 18. 'Bhe1 o-o The black
18. 1!fd2 queen on es is well placed but also
exposed, enabling White to use tac
(A queen swap leads to excellent tical motifs. 19.Cl:Jd5! 'Bf7 20.C3
play for Black: 18. �xbB 'BxbB+ It is
interesting that the engines' eval •
uations immediately start with
a minus!) 5
4
18.. . 1!fe5 Black has compensation for 3

sacrificed pawn, with a sharp fight
ahead. a b c d e f g h
24 CH ESS M I D DLEGAM E STRATEGIES
An important moment! 20 ... 'i!b8 (2640)-Galliamova,A (2505) Elista

now White shows a nice idea. 1998)
[Better was 20 ... f5! not giving 29 ... exf4 30. l!fa7!+- winning on the
White the time to execute the plan spot.
he used in the game. 2i. l!fb6 !ic8
Here the most consequent idea for 16 �e5
...
White looks to be a piece sacrifice.

22.exf5 (22.&i:Jb4 leads to a sharp, Black is happy to trade the queens,
probably balanced ending 22 ... believing in his bishop-pair power!
Axe4 23. 1i.xe4fxe4 24.1!¥xd6 WUxd6
25. 'i!xd6oo.) 22 ... l!fxd5 23.fxe6 'i!b7
24.l!fe3 l!fc5 25.l!fg3 �e8oo. The en
gines give o.oo, but this position is
difficult for a human to assess.]
2i.&i:Jb4! Ab7 22. Ac2! ± White is

coming with &i:Jd3 kicking out the
black queen and gaining a large ad
vantage as all the black pawns sud
denly become weak, 22 ... a5 23.&i:Jd3
l!fg5 24.h4 l!fg4 25.CiJ f4 Ah6 26.g3
Black is in terrible shape. 26 ... .ll fS Common sense usually advis
27. !!d2 e5 28. Ad1 l!fg7 es a queen swap for the side with
a material advantage, as it normally
�· helps neutralize the opponent's ini
tiative. In this particular case� how
ever, because of Black's centralized
king a queen swap does not relieve
White from Black's pressure. A cen
2
tralized king can become exposed
a b c d e f g h in the middlegame but is an asset
in an endgame. This is not the first
Even strong players often miss long time Kozul opted for this pawn sac
moves, and here White missed the rifice.
nice 29 . .ll b3!
Four years prior to this game, he
(The game itself went 29.CiJe6 went for 16 ... E:h6 17. l!fd4?!
1Wh7 30. Ac2± 1-0 Tiviakov, S
(White was better advised to keep er the a7-square, but now the pawn
the queens l'J.V!!if4! E!a7� with an on h5 hangs. 20. V!!ib 6 Ji.d7 (20... V!!!cs
unclear game.) now leads to White's advantage
21. V!!fq+ Ji.d7 22. V!!fxcs dxcs 23. Axhs
17. . V!!fxd4 18.E!xd4 @ei+:. Black
. Aes 24.h3 b4 29�:Je2 Abs;t) 21.E!xf8
was already slightly better and :!:!xf8 White has tactical opportu
went on to win in Svetushkin,D nities because of the vulnerable
(2557) -Kozul,Z (2600) Kusadasi black king. 22. Axh5 (22. V!!fxa6??
2006. b4-+) 22 ... V!!!xh2 23.V!!ixa6 Black is
fighting for a draw.]
17.1Wxe5
Again, keeping the queens on the

board would have led to an unclear [Entering an ending with 20. V!!ib6
game. 17.V!!ffa The black king can V!!lc5 21. V!!lq+ Ji.d7 22. V!!fxc5 dxc5
also be vulnerable and the game again turns out to be fine for Black.
looks balanced. 17...1'.g7 18. Ji.e2 @e7 23. :!:!xf8 E!xf8! 24. Axh5 E!h8 !
White needs to worry about keep
[In the event of 18...b4? White has ing the balance here. 25.1'.g4 (25.
tactics of his own: 19. :!:!hfi :l:!f8 g4 :!:!JB�) 25 ... 2:!xh2 26.1'.h3 Ae5�]
(19... bxc3 ? loses to 20. V!!ff1+ @dB
21.:B.xd6+ V!!fxd6 22.V!!!xg7 :SeB 20...1'.d7 21. V!!!xa6 b4 The vulnerable
23. :!:!d1 Ji.ds 24.V!!ixc3+-) 20.V!!ib6±] black king allows White a perpetual
check 22. Ab5 bxc3 23.1'.xd7 @xd7
24. V!!ib7+=.
Hmm ... which rook should Black

place on the f-file? 19 ... .:E!af8
[19... :!:!hf8 looks perhaps more logi

cal, allowing the other rook to cov-
26 CH ESS M I D D LEGAME STRATEG I ES
Baron here might have thought, when White created a passed pawn
"I am a pawn up, Black also has on the queenside and Black did not
doubled e-pawns and the queens manage to hold.)
are off! If Black has sufficient com
pensation, it should be a 'drawing
compensation' max!" A logical line
of thought but in reality the posi 18 ... i.c5 19.llJe2 B'.g8 20.g3 @e7
tion is rather tense. Black does have 21. B'.hf1 B'.af8 22.a3
sufficient compensation. Perhaps
a draw would objectively be a suit
able outcome, but the play remains
sharp. Black skilfully keeps the ten
sion, not being in any hurry to lev
el the material! Black's bishops will
become monsters. Black can pene
trate along the g- and h-files, while
White has a-pawn weakness on e4.
Baron cracks under pressure and
Kozul beautifully demonstrates the
power of the bishop pair!
Now Kozul uses a motif often seen
This ending is no stranger to Kozul. when a player is fighting to domi
He had a less pleasant experience in nate a file. Useful to remember!
Volokitin,A (2679)-Kozul, Z (2591)
Sarajevo 2005: 18.a3 1t.c5 19. �e2 22.. �fa!
.
8 .1 • � � �-
Black plans to double his rook� on
7 .. •
6 .1.•.t�r,' � • the f-file and then move this bishop
5 ":.1. � 1"1 .... when he is ready to achieve domina
4 -� £!, � tion of the file.
3n m
2 'p u.'
, .'�
a b c d e f g h
Probably a critical moment. It is ad

visable here for Black to take space
with 19... h4!
White had to keep Black busy and
(The game itself went i9 ... @e7 a draw would have been a likely
20.h4! 1t.d4 21. 1t.f3 1t.xc3 22.bxc3 result. 25.h5! At some stage Black
will be forced to lose time collect

ing this pawn. 25 ... E:h4 (25... E:gf4
26. li.e2 li.xe4 2;:liJd3 li.xd3 28. E:xd3
l!4 29. 'E!.h3 e3=) 26. E:d2 Ab6 27. E:xf8
�xf8 28. Ae2 r:J;; e7 29. Af3 Axe4
30. Axe4 E:xe4=
a b c d e F g h
The pin on the a2-g8 diagonal will

cost White an exchange. 34. !he5
E:bs 35. E:c3 rt;d6 36. E:xd5+
(or 36.E:hs A h4! Bishops domi

nate! 3;:E:d3 Af6 38. E:hxds+ exds+)
36...exd5+
Now Black skilfully uses his bish Also strong was 29 ...bxC4+ winning
ops! the e4-pawn by force: 30. AxC4 �h5
31. E:ee1 Af3 32. E:hf1 �xe4+ Black's
27... Ae8! 28.c4 Ab6 passed e-pawn becomes a force!
33.r:J;; a2 �b7 with a large, probably
White is in trouble here, the black winning, advantage for Black.
bishops are dominating.
30.liJc1 Ae3 31.liJa2 Ah6 32.r:J;; c2
29. E:fe1 also does not equalize for

White: 29 ... bxc4 30. A xc4 Ag6
3i. Axa6
(31. li.d3 also does not save the

white e4-pawn: 31 ... 'B.d8 32. Axa6
Af2 33. E:J1 Ah4+)
3i. .. Afa 32. l:!c1 Axe4+ 33.r:J;; a2 Ad5!

28 CHESS M I D DLEGAME STRATEGIES
32 lt. h5
..•
Black's bishops are swinging from

one side of the board to the other,
terrorizing White! Weaving the final part of the mating
net. 44 ... c3 45 . .:S g7+ @f6 46 . .:S dd7
e4-+ was also winning.
More precise was 34... lt.e8!-+ win

ning a piece (The threat is 35 ... a5.)
35. .:Sd1bxC436. �xc4�k837.b3E:xC4+!
38.bxq �a4+ 39. @b2 Axd1-+.
35.c5! X!xc5+ 36. @bi+ was the only

way to struggle.
35 bxc4-+ 36.lt.f1 X!f4 37.tL:l xa6

••.
�f3 38 .:Sg3 �xe4+ 39. @c3 Af5

•
Kozul played an interesting pawn

sacrifice in the transition from the
opening to the middlegame and fol
lowed it up with a beautiful ill� stra
tion of bishop-pair power. An im
pressive game!
0-1
White simply cannot neutralize the

black bishop pair and his king finds
itself in a mating net.
40. E'.d1 .:Sfa 41. X!g2 .:Sf3+ 42. @b4

.:Sb3+ 43. @a5
CHAPTER I. SICI LIAN STRATEGI ES 29
8.0-0-0 .id7 9.f4 b5 10. .ixf6 gxf6

11.f5 h5 12. �b1 �b6 13.�xc6 �xc6
13 ... .ixc6 transposes to T. Baron

Z. Kozul (Game 3).
Opening routes to the black king by

clearing away central pawns again
proves to be the correct decision! In
In the two games in the second part a practical game the biggest prob
of this subchapter we see the power lem in working out these central
of White's pieces being unleashed breaks is the timing. Now the time
by means of the e4-es central pawn is ripe and the break was well ex
break (see diagram above). The lines ecuted by a little known Czech IM
leading to open up the position of in the pre-computer era.
Bl ack's king and White develops
a powerful attack.
In the notes to Prandstetter-Kozul

please pay attention to the com
ments regarding the Karjakin
Caruana game. It is important for
White to remember that there is no
need to fear ghosts along the al-h8
diagonal. Very often White's best
plan will be the b2-b3 pawn push,
followed by .iC4!
4 In the 21st century a higher-profile

game, indeed one that decided the
t> E. Prandstetter 2016 Candidates tournament, saw
... Z. Kozul tournament winner Sergei Karjak
Tbilisi (6), 1988 in get his timing wrong. Karjakin,S
(2760)-Caruana,F (2794), Moscow
1.e4 c5 2.CLif3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.CLixd4 2016, continued with the logical
�'!Jf6 5.cz:Jq CZJc6 6. .ig5 e6 7.�d2 a6 seeming 17. :ShfI. In his comments
afterwards Karjakin does give 17.e5! there first with 25. 'il.dfi+-.) 20. 'il.xf4
as being stronger, but fails to men �e500 Given the absence of the
tion that it actually had been played white knight, the black queen can
in 1988 by a 2400 Czech IM! Kar not be easily chased away from this
jakin-Caruana is, I believe, very in dominant position.
structive for understanding these
positions and we will follow it here. 19... 'il.g8 20.g3
17... .li.h6 Just like in our Baron -Ko
zul game, Black does not mind sac
rificing his f6-pawn. 18. �el as
a b c d e f g h
20... 'i!te7
a b c d e f g h
[An immediate 20... a4, not both
What should White do? To grab ering to protect the f6-pawn, was
or not to grab the pawn? Karjakin also possible for Black: 21. it.c4 axb3
chooses a strategy similar to Geller (21 ... it.e3 can lead to an interesting
Larsen (Game 5). Not being afraid line ending with a repetition of
of any ghosts on the h8-a1 diagonal, moves: 22. !!xf6 �es 23.l0.f4 �xf6
Karjakin follows Geller's example 24.�xe3 aJ 25.l0.d3 l!¥c3! 26.l!fh6
and places his bishop on C4· 19.b3 �hB 2,7.�e3=) 22. it.xb3 Just like in
our main game the white bishop
a) 19. !ixf6, grabbing a pawn, leads is well placed on b3, where it helps
to good compensation for Black af protect the white king and com
ter 19 ... l!¥e5 20. !if3 .li.g7 21.C3 !!b8� . pensates for the damaged white
queenside pawn structure. 22 ...
b) 19.�f4 forces Black to give up 'i!te7 23.�d4 'il.gc8 24. 'il.d3 This po
his bishop pair: 19 ... kxf4 (The sition looks to me better for White,
active 19 ... a4? loses to 20.�g6 as the knight on d4 provides White
!igB and now our standard pawn with a number of sacrificial possi
break, again opening routes to the bilities, but my computer engines
black king, 21.es!+- dxes - or 21 ... disagree, evaluating it as o.oo.]
fxe5 22. �h4 22. 'il.xf6 it.e3 23. 'il.f3
-
it.d4 24. l!¥h4 b3 and White gets

25 ... a4 Worried about threats of ... a3

or ... �e5, White removes the black
a-pawn. 26.bxa4 �xa4 27.�d3 Black
is doing well, especial ly considering
that he needed to win this game. Af
ter the exchange of the white knight
there are not many tactical motifs
and the black king feels safe in the
middle of the board . Black also has
C aru an a was probably worried a good pawn structure which will
a.bout White moving his knight to be to his advantage in the case of
either f4, restricting the h6-bishop, a queen swap and an endgame. 27...
or d4 . 22. !!6 .ic6 28 . .ib3 !!gs
8 ·· � ·
7 •• , . .r
(22.liJf4! looks better for W hite,
forcing Black to either allow un 6 �• ••• �.
� 'M'': • � ••• � l;i'
pleasant kn ight jumps or part with s • � • ��A
his bishop, which would enable 4 • •8. �
3 Rj,RViR �·�
White to change the pawn struc
8R8• • . 0
, •\t •s• •
2
ture by recapturing gxf4 .)
a e f g h
b c d
22 ... !!g4 23. !ffi !!f8 24 .tiJ f4 This
knight gives White many tactical An interesting moment. Neither
options, so Caruana decides to re side has deadly threats. Black wants
move it. 24 ... �xf4 to place his rook on e5 and, at least
for the time being, remove White's
8 •• �- •
7 . •.t • • option of the e4-es break. 29.e5!
6 •• �tli:• �. A brilliant psychological decision !
·· ·�
: 0•�.:��ri Your computer engines are proba
bly not going to show you the mer
� !,!..io�r� its of this decision, but in a practi
i R\t•s•Vi• cal man-vs-man play this decision
is nothing short of brilliant! Yes,
a b c d e f g h
Karjakin did mention, in his com
ments on various media sites, that
in this crucial game he tried to make
(In the case of 25.gxf4 Black is decisions based on the needs of the
quick with g-file counter-play. 25... position rather than the fact that he
�fgB 26.es ds 2J.exf6+ @fB!"'°.) needed only a draw to win the tour-
32 CHESS M I D D LEGAME STRATEGIES
nament and qualify for a World will probably be favourite to win

Championship match with Magnus a pawn race.)
Carlsen. But this is easier said than
done. The character of the position 33. l!Vd3 1J.g2 Caruana is planning
changes and White gets not only ... d5 but does not want his bishop to
counter-play but also a psychologi be shut in.
cal edge. Practice shows that the side
initiating such a crisis usually plays (An immediate 33... d5 was an op
better for the rest of the game, and tion with a position not easy to as
this game will prove no exception. sess: 34. l!Vd2 l!Vc5 35.1!. xb400.)
Strong nerves are needed to play like
this. 29... !!xe5 30.'i!.c4 'i!.d5 3i. l!Ve2!
(31. l!Vxds l!Vxds 32. 'i!.xds 1J. xds

33. 'i!.xb4 1J.f3 leads to a pawn race,
•
with Black certainly not being an W�,.i
underdog.)
3i. .. l!fb6 32.'i!. h4

a b c d e f g h
35 ...'i!.e4?? A blunder that decides

the Candidates tournament.
(35... ke4 36. 'i!.xb4 l!Vc6 and the

C andidates outcome would still
a b c d e F g h have remained open!)
With his e4-e5 pawn break White 36.'i!. xd5 ! ! C aruana must have
has created tactical play against the thought that with the limited num
black king. White gets his sacri ber of white pieces left on the board
ficed pawn back, but Black has a fine such tactics would not work. It
game. 32 ...'i!.e5 turns out that the black pieces are
coordinating horribly, and his king
(32 ... !!xdi+ 33.l!Vxd1 !¥e3 34. 'i!.xb4 is weak. 36 ... exd5 37.l!Vxd5 l!Vq
1J. e4 looks okay for Black since
with fewer pieces are on the board, (3J. .. 'i!.d4 38.l!Vxd4 l!Vxd4 39. 'i!.xd4
the black king is more difficult 'i!.bB± hoping to salvage a draw was
to attack. In any ending Black Black's best hope)
38.!ff5+-
8 �
6
5
4
3
2
a b c d e f g h
23. 1i.g6
Allthe black pieces are now loose
and he cannot defend against the (23. V!!ixes @xf7 24.1!¥xhs+ @fB
multiple threats. 38 ... 'i!.f7 25.l!fh8+ @f7 26.V!!ih5+ @f8=)
(JB... l!fc6 39.l!Vh7+ @e8 40.l!fxhs+ And now a line given by Karjakin
@e7 41. 1i.d5 l!fd6 42. 1i.xe4+-) goes 23... @ds
39. 1i.xf7 l!fe5 40. !!d7+ @fs 4i. E:ds+ (23 ... cJild7 24. V!!ixes 'i!.f8 25.lfi)d4t,. or
and Black resigns. 24 ... :Sgs 25. 'i!fxh5)
a b c d e f g h
17••• l!fxe5?!
(27. V!!i xf6 1i. xf6 28. 'Bg8 @e7
Black's best was 17... fxe5 when White 29.axb4t,.)
gets a small but safe advantage.
18.l!fg5 1i.e7 19.l!fg7 E:fs 20. :Shfi 27... V!!/xd4 28./fi)xd4 @d7 29.axb4
�xf1 2i. 'Bxf1 1i.c6 22.'i!.f7 ds 1J.. xg6 30. 'i!.xg6 es 3i./fi)f3 e4 32.ll::le5+
cJ;;q 33.c3 with an advantageous
endgame.
34 CH ESS MIDDLEGAME STRATEG IES
i8. X!he1 2i. .. E:xb4 22. E:xe6+ Axe6 23.tt:Jc6+

Wd7 24.liJxb4±
White has got what he wanted. Jet

tisoning his e-pawn has opened
routes to the black king. tt:Jd4 or
tZJ f4 are terrible threats. Now White has a winning attack.
I assume both players were in ter
rible time pressure, as serious mis
takes now start to occur.
20 ... X!ab8! was the only way for
Black, leading to a pawn-down end 22 ... E:hb8 23. 'iWC3
game.
23.tt:Jf5+! 'i!?f7 24.tt:Jxd6+ 'i!?g7
25.liJb7+-
25 ... E:xb2+ 26. 'i!?xb2 it'b6+ 27. Wai

'i!fxd6 28. l!fxf6+ Wq±
a b c d e f g h
2i.X!xe5
(21 .l:iJfs+ wins an exchange, but is

less clear: 21 ... l!fxfs 22. l!fxbB X!xbB 26... !!b6 27.tt:Je4 'i!fd4 28. ifd2 Wc7
23. Axfs Af4 24. Ad3 .1' e5t) 29. t!fe2 f500 30.C3 t!fd5 31. Ac2
CHAPTER I . SICILIAN STRATEGIES 35
JL •• ·E:g8? 38... Axf;+ 39. l!fxf; !!c6±
.JL •. E:d8oo Black lost on time.
1-0
32.E:d1 l!fc6 33.CL:lf6 l!fxf6 34.ll¥C4+±

5
32 .•. l!fc6
1>E. Geller
32... l!fas+ .- B. Larsen
Copenhagen [2).1966
1.e4 c; 2.CL:lf3 CL:lc6 3.d4 cxd4

4.CL:lxd4 CL:lf6 ;.CLlCJ d6 6 .tg; e6
•
7. l!fd2 a6 8.0-0-0 .td7 9.f4 .te7

10.CL:lf3 b; n. .txf6 gxf6
35 ... E:bs�
38. .txf;?
36 CHESS MIDDLEGAME STRATEG I ES
An old main-line Rauzer. Personally An important moment. White's pie

I've always thought it was more logi ces are ready for action, while the
cal to keep the bishop on f8, as Ko black king is stuck in the middle
zul does, because (a) then the black of the board, deprived of both cas
bishop can be placed on h6 and (b) tling possibilities. IfWhite hesitates,
if White pushes f4-fs Black does not Black will push ... as and ... a4 creat
need to worry about �h6 by White. ing queenside threats. Geller tempo
rarily sacrifices a pawn in order to
open routes to the black king.
12.fs and 12. �b1 are also being

played.
An instructive (temporary) pawn
sacrifice typical for those positions.
Larsen will come to regret this at Your computer engine will like
tempt at activity, as now the black 17.fs ± with �h6 to follow, collect
h7-pawn is not being defended and ing the pawn on h7.
this factor will prove important.
17 dxe5 i8.fxe5 .tlxe5 i9 .tlxe5 fxe5
•.. •
14 ... �cs 1s.fs as 16 . .tlf4 was seen 20.�h6!

in an old classic: 16 ... a4 17. :ac1 :S.b8
18.c3 b3 19.a3 -ties 20. :ahfrt 1/2-1/2 White gets his pawn back, the black
Fischer,R (278s)-Spassky,B (2660) monarch is still mired in the centre.
Reykjavik 1972. Larsen pushes his central pawns.
20 fs 21. �xh7 !!fs

•••
Now, as in Karjakin-Caruana (seen Black is not in time to set up the

in the comments to Game 4, Prand queen-bishop battery with ... .if6
stetter-Kozul), Geller improves the because of some simple tactics.
position of his bishop.
24. 'i!fh5+ @d8 25. !! xe4+- lWC3
26.lL!e2
There is a general human tenden Black is now forced into a hopeless

cy in such positions to be afraid of endgame.
ghosts on the h8-a1 diagonal and,
lacking a dark-squared bishop, re 26... 'i!fh8 27.'i!fxh8 !!xh8 28. !!xe6
fu.Se to touch such a pawn! In reality !!xh2 29. !!g6
the white bishop comes to the excel
lent c4 square, while tactical factors White is a pawn up with a better
prevent Larsen from establishing position. The rest is easy. I assume
a queen-bishop battery on the long there was serious time-trouble here.
diagonal of the dark squares.
The king run 22... @ds 23 . .ic4 @cs

was arguably a better choice, though
it does not solve all the problems
after 24. !!xe5! l!fxe5 25.'i!fxe7± and
White will also collect the pawn on
b4, achieving a superior game.
32.lL!e6+?!
32. 13.xd7+ @xd7 33.lL!b5++-
32 ... @b6 33. �g6 AC3 34.lL!c5+

.ic6 35.lL!a4+ @q 36.lLlxCJ bxc3
37· !!g3+- @b6 38. !! XC3 .i xg2
39. !!d6+ @c5 40. l:!d2 @b4 41.@b2
i.e4 42.a3+ @a5 43. !!d6 1-0
38 CHESS M IDDLEGAM E STRATEGI ES
This position was extremely danger

1.2. VELIM IROVIC PIECE ous for Black and there I was with
SACRIFICE out any theoretical knowledge play
ing against an expert. No wonder
I got mated in all the games!
I was extremely worried that I had

failed the test and Velimirovic
would return to Belgrade, where
he lived, and tell my club, "Sorry,
your boy is not worth the time af
ter all." To my utter surprise the fa
mous grandmaster told me at the
end our session: "Ivan, we have es
tablished excellent bases for our fur
ther work!".
I met Dragoljub Velimirovic in 1986,
when I was the new Yugoslav jun Confused, I asked: "What kind of
ior champion and he was a fear bases, sir?" Dragoljub cheerfully re
less grandmaster famous for his sponded: "Well, you got mated in all
attacking style. Bosna, my club at the games so it is safe to say that you
that time, had arranged a training know nothing! So now we can start
weekend in my hometown of Saraje doing some work." Velimirovic told
vo, so that Velimirovic could evalu my club, "Your boy does not know
ate whether it was worth organizing anything but is somehow making
further training for me. At that time good moves, so next month send
Velimirovic was already famous for him to me in Belgrade!" It was the
his knight sacrifices on fs or ds in start of four beautiful years.
the Sicilian, especially in his own
system which became known as the Velimirovic, nicknamed "Gazda"
Velimirovic Attack. ("Boss" in Serbian), loved chess im
mensely and generously shared his
Our first workday was an interest own knowledge, and also knowl
ing experience for me. Velimirovic edge acquired through working
placed on the board one of the po with Gligoric (Gazda was Gligo's
sitions from his system, with the long-term second) and a few train
white knight being sacrificed on fs, ing sessions with Kortschnoj.
and said: "Let's play a few games.
I will attack and you will defend!"
Velimirovic was an excellent sto exist at the time. I was rather scepti
ry-teller and I will share one of his cal about the sacrifice and when Ve
tales with you here. At the Palma de limirovic played it against Portisch
Mallorca Interzonal in 1970, Bobby and lost, I was not at all surprised.
Fischer played the Velimirovic At The idea was certainly interesting
tack with White against Larsen and but pioneering efforts often fail at
lost. One year later, against Bukal, first. Undaunted, Gazda found an
Velimirovic instead of Fischer's improvement and shortly after
12.h4 sacrificed his knight with wards beat Gutman and Suba with
12.ll:lfs! - a novelty at the time and his sacrifice.
an amazing concept! I advise read
ers 'to dig in a database and find From my database research, it ap
those two games. pears that the ll::l e6 sacrificial idea
first appeared in Igor Zaitsev-De
Gligoric, a good friend of Fischer's, mentiev, played in 1970 (diagrammed
played in the same tournament. here at the top and included in the
Seeing Bobby losing to Larsen, Gli Velimirovic-Gutman comments).
go told Fischer: "My second Velim A renowned theoretician, Zaitsev
irovic has many ideas in that line, also pioneered a major branch in the
so maybe you should analyze with Spanish, which is now named after
him." Fischer apparently agreed and him. I have no idea whether the Za
the two started to analyze, having itsev game was known to Velimi
entered into a rather special agree rovic. White's sacrificial concept is
ment: when one player gets into based on keeping the black king in
a losing position, the other player the centre while Black cannot co
has the right to slap him hard on the ordinate his pieces. In Velimirovic
wrist! Larsen noticed this, went to Gutman we see this concept working
Gligo and said: "I have seen some even in the ending!
thing unbelievable! Fischer is ana
lyzing with some unknown man I hope readers will derive some in
and this man keeps slapping Fischer spiration from this sacrificial con
on his hands. Bobby's hands are red cept. In Velimirovic-Andersson
all over!". I also give some theoretical obser
vations about the opening.
In 1987 Velimirovic was prepar
ing for the Interzonal and was an
alyzing a rather unusual (at least
for me) knight sacrifice on e6. Of
course computer engines did not
40 CHESS M I DDLEGAME STRATEGIES
t> D. Velimirovic
� U. Andersson
M oscow, 1982
1.e4 c5 2.cz:Jf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.cz:Jxd4 a b c d e F g h

cz:Jf6 5.cz:Jq a6 6. i.q e6
9.Wihs! dxC4 10.0-0-0 Black is too
far behind in development and his
position soon collapses, for example
10... W/q 11. 'Bhe1 CZJc6 12.lZJxc6 W!xc6
13. figs i1.. d1 14. fi..f6! °fibs 1s.cz:Jgs g6
16.°f!f3+-; J. . bs 8. ilb3 transposes
.
to our main line and is considered

a drawback of 7. �e3, as after 7. iLb3
bs 8. i.e3!? is definitely not consid
ered to be one of the White's best
choices by opening theory.)
8.o-o This leads to new positions.
This is the main White move here (8f4 was played by Fischer: 8... bs
and 7... bs was for many decades 9. �b3 transposing to lines ana
Black's main theoretical line. Due lyzed below; 8. �xe6 is one of the
to Garry Kasparov's efforts 7... cz:Jbd7 computer's top choices, lea�ing to
became an alternative main line for messy positions. One logical line
Black in the early 1990s. may go 8.. fxe6 9.lZJxe6 Wias 10.0 - 0
rtif1 11.cz:Jgs+ rtig8 12f4
White can start with 7. i.e3!? aiming
to sidestep 7... cz:Jbd7 lines or at least
get fresh positions. 7...cz:Jbd7
(Trying to take advantage of

White's move order with J. . CZJxe4?
.
is a blunder and can lead to an

opening disaster for Black: 8.lZJxe4 a b c d e f g h
ds
White probably has compensa 9.e5! Direct and critical!

tion, but no more than that. 12 ...
h6 13.�e6 �xe4 14.�xe4 l!lf5 a) 9.0-0!? is a standard sacrifi
15.�q l!9xe4 16. !!e1 !!bB l'J. ii:.a7 cial idea that, three years after the
!fc6! 18. 'E.e3 l!lxq 19.Wld5+ @h7 London match, brought Topalov
20. l!lf5+= and a draw with perpet a flashing victory against the fa
ual check.) mous champion. 9 ...CL:lcxe4 Kasp
arov takes up the challenge!
(9. . . ii:.e7 10.e5 dxe5 11fxe5 CL:lfd7

(Here 8... b5?? obviously blunders was a calmer, definitely playable
into 9. ii:.xe6.) option for Black.)
9-!rf3! and it seems to me that White 10.CL:lxe4 CL:lxe4 11.f5 es 12.l!lh5

some advantage. 9...b5
a !. ,,,, .t'i' • .t A
has
7 " '' ., .i
"' .t: 'i},i,
(9. . . 'f/q 10.a4t,) 6 ,i '*' ,,
5 .i 8 'ii
4 - Cllii/'J\� i;@i
3 � :{$'
2 8 �8 88
, � ,JI,, •: �
a b c d e f g h
The alternative 7...CL:lbd7 gained
popularity after it became Garry A critical position! Black has
Kasparov's trusted weapon in his a pawn, White obvious leads in de
1993 World Championship match velopment. Such positions are not
against Nigel Short in London. In easy to play. White does not really
one of the games the challenger dis have any deadly threats but has
played some nice Sicilian sacrificial compensation "everywhere". 12 ...
ideas and came close to a brilliant l!le7 This allows White to execute
victory: 8.f4 �c5 a beautiful light-squares bind.
a � .t �lh1'L
.i .i .a.'
!. '.I
7 "4 (Topalov definitely trusted his
6 ,i ' .i i i.I\ � 9.0-0!? pawn sacrifice and re
5 ' I
'!I peated it two days later against
4 � {iJ 8 Jj Nigel Short in the same tourna
3 •�m" #.'?/
//
/
W
2 8 tl8 88 @
ment! That game continued 12...
d5! 13. !!e1 ii:.c5 14. �xe4 ii:.xd4+
, � m'fl'� z:t
15. ii:.e3! leading to a positional ex-
a b c d e f g h
change sacrifice: 15... 0-0 16. 'E!.xd4 17.l:ZJds f6 18.1£:lf7 'E!.gs 19. i.e3
exd4 l'J. ii.xd4 f6�. Though White
s a .t • •1t��•
later lost the game, at this stage
7 8 & � .Cl:J. i
he had adequate compensation 6 .1'P7 • •
5
for the sacrificed exchange in To .,, "' Ji
palov, V (2700)-Short,N (2665)
Amsterdam 1996)
13. 'iff3 1£:lc5 14.1£:lc6! 'ifq a b c d e f g h

8 .1• .t
7 &�
8 i�i The visual effect of the white d5-
6 i ·CZJ�.f i@� ;; bishop's domination is tremen
5 % � - ""l �
43 ;Jief'f},;VJtl'
((
;-.
dous! 19... g6 20.1£:lg5! Black now suf
'ff.
fers decisive material losses 20 ... E[g7
'i}'
2 � ri��
21.fxg6 'E!.xg6 22. i.f7+ 'ifxf7 23.1£:lxf7
� �n rtlxf7 24 . .1i.xc5 dxc5 25. 'E!.adi+
, g, � �� and White went on to win in 1-0
a b c d e f g h
Topalov,V (2700)-Kasparov,G (2775)
15 . .1i.d5! Though White still needs Amsterdam 1996.
a move or two to threaten a devas
tating blow, his knight on c6 is in b) 9.f5 i.e7 is fine for Black;
timidating. In practical play in such
positions a knight like this usually c) 9. 'iff3 was another try in the
gets on the defender's nerves and mentioned match, Black being
whether you are an amateur or okay after 9 ... b5 10.f5 i.d7= in
a World Champion it is difficult to Short,N (2655)-Kasparov,G (2805)
keep calm in these situations! 15 ... a5 London 1993.
(The strength of White's at

tacking potential is nicely illus
trated in the following line. 15...
il.. d7 16.ezJb4� as? l'J. ii.xf7+! rtlxf7
18.l:ZJds 'iVdB 19.'iVhs+ rtlgB 20f6+-)
16. i.g5 Here Black commits a cru

cial mistake. 16 ... �a6?
(16... il.. d7! was the best defence,

with an unclear game.)
CHAPTER I. SICILIAN STRATEGI ES 43
l!g4!? This aggressive move leads

12. Jixd7 19. �fJ l:fa7 And here, I as
to a sacrifice. Black takes up the sume, Kasparov simply could not
challenge! evaluate the position after 20. l:!hei.
My computer engine gives o.oo,
(12. 'i!fe2 il. b7 13.0-0-0 brought but in over-the-board play it seems
White success in 1-0 Topalov, to me easier to be White here. (20.
V (2700)-Anand,V (2725) Wijk aan lLids looks like leading to a draw:
Zee 1996.) 20 ... Jic6 21.lLif6+ �xf6 22.exf6
Jixf3 23. 'E!hei+ E!e; 24fxe7 il.xd1
12 h5 13.�g3 h4 14.�g4 Black, hav
••• 25.exfB�+ @xfB 26. @xd1=.)]
ing a number of options at his dis
posal, chooses the move that pushes 16.liJc6!!
White to the limit! 14 ... g5! Just be
cause a piece is attacked, that does
not mean it has to be moved! 15.0-
0-0!
a b c d e f g h
A brilliant piece sacrifice, definitely

overlooked by his opponent! Playing
a b c d e f g h such a move, White needed to ful
ly foresee and understand the pow
Black faces a difficult decision: er of his 20. E!d6! idea. 16...liJxb3+
whether or not to grab the bishop 17.axb3 �c5 18.liJe4! �xc6 19. Jixg5
on f4? After playing ... g5, it would The black king is in a mating net, 20.
be consequent to take ...gxf4 ... but E!d6 being a terrible threat. 19 ... Ab7
Kasparov trembles! 15 ... W!/e7? This 20.E!d6! Axd6
mistake could have cost Kasparov
dearly as White now seizes this op (20...lLixe5? runs into a mating var
portunity to display his attacking iation: 21.f£Jf6+ @e; 22. E!hd1! lLixg4
skills! 23. E!d7+ �xd7 24. E!xd7#)
[15 ...gxf4! was indeed Black's best 2i.liJxd6+ @fs 22. !'!fr liJxe5 23. �xe6
and the following computer line �d5
looks almost forced: 16.liJxe6!
liJxe6 17. Jixe6 �e7 18. Jixd7+
44 CH ESS M I D DLEGAM E STRATEGI ES
Here White missed the chance to

crown his excellent performance This was the old main line, where
with 24. l!ff6! it could be profitable to undertake
some new investigative work. 8...
(The actual game saw 24. 'axf7+ �b7 is the old main line here, Bob
CiJxf7 25. �q+ c:J;;g7 26. l!ff6+ c:J;; h7 by Fischer being a great expert with
2J.CiJxf7 lWh5± and Black escaped both colours!
with a draw in 1/2-1/2 Short,N
(2655)-Kasparov,G (2805) London [An immediate pawn grab 8... b4?!
1993.) 9.CiJa4 lZ:lxe4 has been seen in a fa
mous classic: 10.0-0 g6 11.f5! gxf5
24 ... E:h7 25. !!f5! and Black can 12./fJxf5 !!g8 (12... exfs? 13. lWds !!a7
not save the game by perpetual 14.lWd4+-) 13. �d5! .E:a7 14. �xe4
check, since the white king hap exf5 15. �xf5± with a clear White
pily runs away:. 25 ... l!fxg2 26. l!fxe5 advantage, though Tai managed to
l!fgi+ 27. c:J;;d2 l!fg2+ 28.c:J;;q l!fc6+ turn the tables and eventually even
29.c:J;;b4+-. win the game in Fischer,R-Tal,M
Candidates Bled-Zagreb-Be�grade
8.o-o 1959.]
This is a Velimirovic game featur

ing our knight sacrifice theme, so
I would like to start with Velimi
rovic's "darling" 8. �e3!? Later in
this chapter I will examine his
games against Gutman and Suba.
For the theoretically-minded reader
I will here also shed a light on some
other White options here.
This is a rarely-played move, tried by ably better. 11. l!!/h 5! (11.0-0 Acs
Nakamura some years ago, where 12. <tih1 0-0 13. il..f4 tZJb6!+) 11 ... g6
I think some serious investigation 12. l!!/h3 tl:Jc5 13. il.. e3 tZJbd7 The po
oould change current verdicts. sition is rather complicated, with
many possibilities. The following
[9.f5 e5 10.tl:Jde2 tl:Jbd7 11. .tg5 .te7 variation illustrates some of the
12.ll:Jg3 (12 . ..txf6 tl:J xf6 13. l!!/d3 tactical resources: 14.0-0 tl:J xe5
g,,s 14.0-0 o-o 15.tl:Jg3 !.tcs 16.tl:Jds 15. B'.ad1 l!!/q
Axds 1;7.exds as 18.a4 b4 19.tl:Je4 s i. • A i.
�xe4 20.l!!!xe4 l!!!b6= 1-0 Fischer, 7 j_ � ' '
R-Zuckerman,B New York 1965) 6 .&, ' '
5 ,. lj
4-:J
12. .. gcs 13.0-0 h5! + 0-1 Byrne,R
32 8 {3o� t;j8 � t?·,8 �l'!J

4
Fischer,R Sousse 1967. After Fis
cher's brilliant win in this game,
/
the whole 8.f4 line slowly disap
!!. !!. ®
peared from the top level.] a b c d e f g h
!)...dxe5 White has compensation, but

probably not more. Computer en
[9 ... b4? 10.exf6 (10.lLJa4? tZJe400 gines give a number of o.oo lines,
1/2-1/2 Minic,D -Bertok,M Za but I have tried to replicate the
greb 1961) 10 ...bxCJ 11.0-0 l!!/xf6 most human play: 16. il.. xe6! (16.
12.bxc3±] it.f4 lLJxb3! 1,7.lLJxe6 l!!!b6+ 18. <tih1
l!!!xe6 19.l!!!xe6+fxe6 20. ..txes 'Bg8
10.fxe5 21.axb3 'E.d8=) 16 ...tZJxe6 17.tl:Jxe6
fxe6 18.1!¥xe6+ l!!/e 7 19.ll:Jd5
'iit': � A §
?!" ' ' '
il.. xd5! 20. l!!/xd5 �d8 and a draw
�' "' ii is the most likely outcome of
r8 this mess, e.g. 21. l!¥e4 .tg7 (21...
t;j ,,
3
4
'E.xd1 22. 'E.xd1 JJ..g7 23. l!!!a8+ <tif7
·�'?25 � "' 24.l!!ids+ l!!!e6 25.l!!/b7+ l!!!e7=)
2 8� 8 8 'l!i
1 � j,, '§:� !!.
22. B'.xd8+ t!fxd8 23. kc5 l!!/c 8
a b c d e f g h 24. kd4 l!!/q 25. il.. xe5 il.. x e5
26. B'.e1 o-o 27.l!!/xe5 l!!/xc2=].
10... Ac5
11.ll:Jxe6! This could be an improve
[This move is favoured by theo ment as it seems to lead to a better
ry but theoretical attention may endgame for White.
turn to 10...ll:Jfd7! which is prob-
[A Nakamura game went 11. Ae3

.ft.xd4 12.1Wxd4 1Wxd4 13 . .ft.xd4
Black is fine in this ending. 13 ...
tlJ fd7 (13 ... itlc6 14.0-0-0 tlJxd4
15. E!.xd4 tlJd7+) 14.0-0-0 o-o
15. !!he1 Axg2 16. Afa l!c8 and
White won, though not because of
the opening, in 1-0 Nakamura,H
(2686)-Felecan,F (2377) Chicago
2008.] a b c d e f g h
11.e5! bxCJ 12.exf6 Axf6 13.bxCJ

o-o 14.1Wd2 l!Vc7 15. E:ad1 itld7
This allows Velimirovic to go for

his favorite knight jump! Black had
a reasonable option in 15 ...d5 16.f5 es
17.tlJe2 l!d8 18.tlJg3 tlJd7 19.tlJh500.
16.f5! es 17.itle6!
The white king may look exposed,

but there is no real way for Black to
take advantage of it. 13 ... gxf6
(13 ... .1t.xg2 14fxg7 l!.g8 15. E!.e1 .1t.f3+

16. @d2 tlJc6 l'J. l!.xe6+ @d7 18.itle4
Axe4 19. l!.xe4 E!.xg7 20.@c3;t)
14. E!.e1 es 15.itlds .ft.xds 16. Axds E!.a7

17.@e2;t;
The main line from move eight is 17... fxe6 18.fxe6

currently considered to be 8.1Wf3
lWq 9.0-0 Ae7 10.1Wg3 o-o n. Ah6, A cool head is needed here. At the
with many top level games. time this game was played by Ulf
Andersson, who was at the peak of
his career and widely recognized as
one of the best defensive players in
CHAPTER I. SICILIAN STRATEG IES 47
the history of chess, but he loses his 24. .ll xc5. White should win this op
way! posite colour bishops endgame.
11...�cs?
J8...d5! was the way for Black to go, 2i.V/Bxd6 !! xe7 22. Ab6 V!Bxd6
leading to a drawish endgame after 23. B:fxd6 itJa1;t looks drawish.
19-exd7
21 .•. @xf7
(19. il.xds? is a blunder due to 19. . .
.lt.xds 20. V!Bxds �b6+ and now if 21 ... tlJxd2 22.eSV/B+ !!xe8 23. !!xq+-
White takes the knight, Black re
captures with check.) 22.V!Bfa+
19--.!fxd7 20. Axds+ V!Bxds 2i.V/Bxd5+ Where to go with the black king?
Axds 22. !!xds !!fc8= White actually keeps an advantage
in both cases.
22 ... @xe7
Now Velimirovic carries out anoth-

erfavorite sacrifice, one which we And here White lets Black escape
see in a number of his games in this into a draw.
chapter.
22 ... wgs 23. Ags! h6
(23 ... tlJc5?? 24. B:fi+-)

20 gxf6 loses to 21. V/Bxd6 V/Bxd6
••.
22. � xd6 Wg7 23 . il.xf7 @xf7

48 CHESS MIDDLEGAM E STRATEGI ES
24. !! fi l!i'c6 25 . � xh6 l!fxg2+ ported this line. In most of the var
26. l!fxg2 it.xg2 27. 'i!txg2 ll:Jc5 28. it.e3 iations White sacrifices his pawn on
!!e8 29. E'.d1;;!;; e4 and I guess this is not to every
one's taste ...
8 ... it.b7
23.l!ih4+! would have kept the at
tack and made life difficult for Black: 8 ... lllq 9.f4!? Now we follow what
23 ... 'i!te8 24.cxb3 'i¥xc3 25. lllhs+ g6 is probably the first game where the
26. 'i!¥h3"'. unusual knight sacrifice on e6 hap
pened, Zaitsev,1-Dementiev,O Riga
23 ... B:f8 24. 'i!¥h4+ 'i!?e8 25. l!fxh7 1970. It would have been interest
1!Uxc3 26.1!Uh5+ !!f7 27.1!Uh8+ 1/2 ing to know whether this game was
known to Velimirovic and whether
he derived an inspiration from it!
7 9 ...b4 10.ll:Ja4 ll:Jbd7 (in the case of
10...ll:Jxe4 White may play familiar
1> D. Velimirovic tunes with 11.f5 es
... L. Gutman
M etz, 1988 [11 ... exfs 12.ll:Jxfs it.xfs 13.'i!¥d5±)
12.ll:Je6! (The "boring" 12.ll:Jfe also
1.e4 c5 2.ll:Jf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.ll:Jxd4 leads to an advantage: 12 ... it.b7
ll:Jf6 5.CZJC3 a6 6. �c4 e6 7. it.b3 b5 13.llJb6 llJd7 14.llJxa8 it.xa8 15.a3;;!;; .)
8. it.e3!? 12.. .fxe6 13.fxe6 ll:Jf6 14.o-o The sit
uation looks difficult for Black.]
11.fs es
8 .I .t . ... 1.i
'if-'JI j. ,,,:j.
'JI t;,'
7 ,
6 j. j.
5 J%j "• £::, � ;;,;
4
3 'l0
lb !, tfJ [:,,
�, ($ " •
/f/,
2 r::, � r::, 0 fr::, H

1 tt 'i' @ tt
a b c d e f g h
To the best of my knowledge Now comes "our" piece sacrifice!

Dragoljub Velimirovic was the only 12.ll:Je6! The main theme of this
strong GM who steadfastly sup- chapter. 12 .. .fxe6 13.fxe6 Just as in
CHAPTER I . SICILIAN STRATEGI ES 49
the Velimirovic games in this chap rifice Velimirovic loved! 17. 1:!xf6+!
ter, Black has terrible development After the removal ofthe f6-knight,
problems. 13 ...l'l::i c5 Black finds it difficult to control
the squares around his king - the
(13... !!.b8 14.exd7+ il.. xd715.o-o il.. q knight on f6 was an important
16.a3;t) defender. J7... il.. xf6 18.'i¥d5 �b7
19.'i¥q White is a full rook down,
14-�'Ll xc5 dxc5 15.0-0 but Black cannot coordinate his
pieces. 19 ... 1:!c8!
(19... il.. q 20. 1:!fi +! WgB 21. 1:!d1!

'i¥as 22. 1:!d7 'i¥xa4 23. 1:!xe7 'i¥bs
24. 'i¥xbs axbs 25. 1:!xb7±)
20. 1:!d1
a b c d e f g h
An amazing situation! White has

only one pawn for his sacrificed
piece and no immediate deadly
threats, as 16. !f.xf6 can be parried.
White's pawn on e6 is causing Black
terrible problems coordinating his a b c d e f g h
pieces, while also providing White
with a number of sacrificial ide White threatens a seventh-rank
as like 1:!xf6. This piece sacrifice is penetration, so Black is forced to
a positional idea! What White gets, give back part of his material ad
in most of the cases we will see in vantage. 20 ... il.. c 6 2i. 1:!d7! il.. xd7
this chapter, is domination! In the 22.exd7 We7 23.dxc8'i¥ 1:!xc8 The
actual game Black tried to close one storm has cleared, White has
of the diagonals, but there is a tacti light-squares dominance and good
cal refutation! compensation for the sacrificed ex
change.
15- q? Now comes our standard ex
••
change sacrifice in this line. b) in the case of 15 ... il.. d6 White

goes for his standard sacrifice
a) 15 ... iLe7 was probably Black's and gets a strong attack: 16. 1:!xf6!
best, leading to a dynamic balance. gxf6 17.'i¥h5+ Wd8 18. 1:!d1""'. Again
16. il.. a4+ Wf8 Now comes the sac- White dominates - Black is a full
so CHESS M I D DLEGAME STRATEGIES
rook up, but remains completely

uncoordinated and pinned.
19.e7! l!fxe7 20. l!&'xC4 and the black

king in the centre cannot escape
from the mating net so Black re
signed.
17.l!&'hs+
(More precise was 1J. li.. a4+! 'rtle7

18.11&'ds and Black loses his extra
rook, while White emerges a sound
pawn up. 18... li.. xe6 19.ll&'xa8 Ji.g7
20.11&'xa6±)
17... 'rtie7? This error brought the

game to an abrupt end.
was seen in one of Velimirovic's
[17... 'rtid8 was the correct defence games and interests us because of
and after 18. E'.di+ li.. d6 19. l!&'h6 the sacrificial theme we are deal
cxb3! 20. l!&'xf6+ 'rtie8 2i. l!fxh8+ ing with in this chapter. From the
li.. f8 22. 1i.. h6 l!&'cs+ 23.@h1 Ji.xe6! theoretical perspective Black's idea
(23 ... bxc2?? 24. 'E.fi+-) 24. !!fi @d7 to develop his bishop to d7, in or
25.cxb3 1i.. xh6 26. l!fxa8 White is der to menace the white knight on
better, but it looks to me as though a4 while at the same time protect
Black should survive.] ing the e6-square, somehow looks
clumsy. 10.0-0 lLlxe4? This pawn
18. l!&'f7+ @d6 grab looks really optimistic here
as Black is terribly behind in devel
opment. Velimirovic goes for his
standard sacrificial idea! 11.£4
[The "boring" n. �e1 does the White is not interested in the black
job here too, as Black cannot de- rook, as Black lacks any coordi
velop. 11 ... d5 (11 . .. ll:Jc6 12.ll:Jxe6 nation here. 19 ... l!!/xb4 (19... 'BdB?
fte6 13. i.. b6±; 11 ... ll:Jf6 12.ll:Jfs± or 20.ll:Jxes+-; 19... i.. xg2? 20.ll:Jxd6+-)
12.liJb6) 12.ll:Jb6! l!!/xb6 13.ll:Jxe6 20.a3 l!!/b7 2I.ll:Jxd6 i.. xd6 22.e7+
�xe6 14. i.. xd5+-] :Sf7 23. .E:xf6 gxf6 24.l!!/g4++-]
IL..liJf6 12.f5 e5 16. 'Bxf6! i.. xf6 17.ll:Jd5
a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h
And now, of course, comes Velimi 17... i.. xd5?

rovic's standard sacrifice! 13.ll:Je6!
fie6 14.Cl:lb6! i.. c6 15.fxe6 The same (17... 0-0! Sacrificing the queen
story again - domination! White was the only way for Black to con
is not interested at all in the black tinue to fight. 18.e; i.. xe7 19. i.. b6
rook on as, as Black simply cannot l!!/d7 20.ll:Jf6+ ctfhB 21.ll:Jxd7 ll:Jxd7
coordinate his pieces. 15 ... i.. e7 22 . .1i.. a5!±.)
�·
,� 18. l!fxd5 Black now loses a full rook,
while none of his problems have
been solved. 18 ... l!fq 19. l!fxa8 @e7
4 20. 'Bfi The language of our com
3 puter engine provides a perhaps
2
surprising reckoning of the terri
a b c d e f g h ble shape Black is in. Though ma
terial is equal and White does not
How does White break Black? Well, have an immediate threat the com
he uses a standard theme. puter evaluation is around +4.00!
White won soon in Velimirovic,D
[In the case of 15 ... l!!/q White Ilincic,Z Cetinje 1991.
uses the c-file. 16. �c1! i.. e7 17.CJ
o-o 18.cxb4 l!!/b7 19.ll:JC4! Again,
52 CH ESS M IDDLEGAME STRATEGI ES
In the following old game of Alburt's velopment, but it might not be the
we had a slightly unusual situation. most precise for Black here.
9.�e2!? lL:lbd7 10.o-o-o
a b c d e f g h
10... �as a b c d e f g h
For me the critical line looks to be

9...b4! and this perhaps just refutes
11.f4 b4 12.lL:la4 1J.. xe4 13. !!hf1 hs the 7. 1J.. e3 concept! 10.lL:la4
White goes for our standard sacri 8 K ie :i:•fe �I'
fice. 14.f5 es
7 11.t• • .t. �·,
6 , . �, •
•
,
5 . ·� • •
4 %&?CiJ7.
3 ';:'
i{ �'*·!'3:,�
,?� ?!'
?i iil 1 •
.•[!A
w�'"'"'
2 f'!:, ftf'!:, '� !'3:,,U
� �
1u it'� �.1:1
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h Here White has actually two prob

lems. 10... 1J.. e7 That's one of them!
15.lL:le6! Black, however, has the White enjoyed success in one grand
rare luxury of not being forced to master's game, but actually the po
take the knight! 15 ... d5! 16.lL:lg5 1J.. e7 sition is probably better for Black!
17.1�Jxe4 dxe4 18. 1J.. g5 �b5 19.�e1
o-o 20.h3 E'.fd8oo 1/2-1/2 Alburt,L [10 ... 1J.. xe4 is another problem -
Shmit,A Moscow 1970. even though the actual game was
a smashing success - as after 11.f5
Black made the mistake playing
11... e5?! (The computer is quick to
Quite a number ofvery strong play point out 11 . . . exfs! and after the
ers have opted for this knight de- forced looking 12.0-0 g6 13.lLlb6
9xb6 14.lLlxfs l!!!dB 15.lLlg3 Ji.c6 atively forced sequence 12 ... l!!icB
i6. 'Bxf6 l!!!xf6 l'J. Ji.d4 l!!!f4 Black is 13.lLlxg7+ 'i!tf7 14.lLlb6 l!!ic6 15.lLlfs
a pawn up, and White's compensa l!!!xe4 16. l!!!d3, leads to a position
tion looks definitely not sufficient where only Black can be better: 16...
for more than a draw.) 12.�f3! ± �g4 11�xa8 �xaB+.)
Axf5 (12 ... Ji.xf3 13. l!!!xf3 lLlbd7
14.0-0-0 Ji.q 15.g4±) 13.�xe5 Ji.e6 11 0-0?! This move did not go well
•••
14. Axe6 fxe6 15. ¥!96!+- for Black as White has a slightly un
usual knight sacrifice on e6 (usually
the white bishop is sacrificed there).
I promoted this line since the po
sitions are still very interesting for
our topic.
(Shirov, playing Black, opted

a b c d e f g h for a simple solution: 11 Ji.xe4!•.•
and this looks like a problem for

All the black pieces are on the White as Black easily gets a better
wrong squares. 15 ... lLlbd7 (15... d5 game: 12.fs es 13.�f3 0-0 14.lLlgs
i6.lLlb6 'Ba7 17.lLlxds+-) 16.�xd7 Ji.c6 15.lLlb6 lLlbd7! 16.lLlxaB l!!ixaB
�xd7 17.0-0 lLl f6 18. Ji.b6 l!!!b 8 11 'E.f2 ds+ 0-1 Casares Cabanas,C
19. E:ae1 e5 20. l!!!c 6+ 'i!tf7 21. WIC4+ (2188)-Shirov,A (2726) Leon 2008.)
'i!?e7 22. E:xe5+! dxe5 23. Ji.c5+ 'i!td8
24. E:di+ lLld7 25.Wle6 1-0 Lie,K 12.e5!
(2472)-Cheparinov,I (2634) Goth
enburg 2005.] [The immediate 12.lLlxe6!? is also
possible here for White since, as in
11.0-0 the Kobese-Georgiev game below,
a queen exchange does not dimin
ish White's compensation 12.. .fxe6
13. Ji.xe6+ 'i!th8 14.e5
a b c d e f g h
(The typical sacrifice 11. Ji.xe6 fxe6

12.lLlxe6 in this case, after the rel- a b c d e f g h
54 CH ESS M I DDLEGAM E STRATEGIES
14 ... �fd7 (14 ... dxes opting for tions to support this assessment. 13 ...
a queen trade was probably Black's fxe6 14 . .ft.xe6+ @h8 15.l!Hxd8 '!l.xd8
best, but even with limited ma happened in the actual game.
terial White keeps up the pres
sure! 15.l!Hxd8 .ft.xd8 16fxe5 �fd7 [15 ... .ft.xd8 16.fxe5 �fd7 17. '!l.ad1
17- �ad1 '!l.xfi+ 18. <ttxf1 .ft.c6 19.�b6! E: xfi+ 18. � xfi
.ft.xb6 20. .ft.xb6 White has only two
pawns for a piece, but Black has
difficulties in untangling his po
sition. Computer engines support
White.) 15.exd6 .ft.f6 16.a3 Now we
have material equality and White
quickly gains a clear advantage; his
white e6-bishop paralyzes Black. a b c d e f g h
16 ... '!l.e8 17.f5 .ft.e5 18 . .ft.f4 l!Ha5
19.axb4 l!Hxb4 20.c3 l!He4 2i. l!Hd2 18 ... h6 (18... .ft.c6? 19.�b6! ii.xb6
l!fc6 22.b3 '!l.d8 23. '!l.ae1 .ft.xf4 20. ii.xb6 as 21. 'f!.f7+-) 19. E: f7
24. '!l.xf4 �f8 25. �d4± and White .ft.c6 20. .ft. b3 @h7 21. i.d4 i. xa4
soon won in Grandelius,N (2515) 22. ii.. xa4 (22.e6 Now we have a nice
Van Kampen,R (2475) Wijk aan draw by perpetual check: 22... .ft.b6
Zee 2010] . 23. E:xg7+ <tih8 24. 'f!.g8+ @h7=.)
22 ... .ft.b6 23 . .ft.xb6 �xb6 24 . .ft.e8
12 ...dxe5 as 25.e6;t Black is fighting for sur
vival. Computer engines rate this
a E '4.
1 'tfi position around +0.65. Interest
6 .t. ing examples of domination with
a limited number of pieces.]
a b c d e f g h
13.�xe6! White opts for a piece sac

rifice, not fearing a queen swap! In
terestingly enough, it works and the
computer engines agree! With rela
tively limited material on the board a b c d e f g h
Black, though a piece up, is domi
nated! I will give a number ofvaria- 16... lL'lg8
fl6-lLle4 looks active, but the cen balance. Let's explore a number of
tral knight proves to be a liabil typical white sacrifices here.
il:y for Black: 17./£ib6 !!a7 18. 'B.ad1
�Id1 19. 'B.xd1 /£ic6 20. Af5 Ac5 io ... !!c8
(2o . !ilxe5? 21.1£id5± Acs 22. it.xe4
..
A.xe3+ 23.1£ixe3+-) 2i. Axc5 /£ixc5 10 ... Ae7 has been played by the
n. ad5 g6 23. Ah3 /£ie4 24. !!d7 great Najdorf expert Boris Gelfand,
�:xe5 25. 'B.e7±] a former World Championship
challenger. It is not a great decision
17-�b6 Black decides to give up an by Black as it allows the most stand
eschange hoping to simplify his ard Sicilian sacrifice, Axe6, to work
play.' 17... /£ic6 excellently for White! 11. �xe6! fxe6
12.lLlxe6 l!fc8 13.lLlxg7+ @f7 14.lLlf5
(17 . aa7 18. 'E.ad1 lLlc6 19. 'E.xd8
.. �f8
�xd8 20. il.b3� White still has
great compensation, despite the
limited number of pieces left on
the board.)
J8.�xa8 E:xa8 19. �d5± Black man

aged a draw in Kobese,W (2397)
-Georgiev,K (2645), Gibraltar 2006. a b c d e f g h
I0.0-0 And now Boris got lucky! 15. Ad4!

would have caused Black serious
problems.
(Gelfand's opponent blundered

with 15.e5? opening the al-h8 di
agonal for the black bishop on
b7. Gelfand did not need a sec
ond invitation! 15... !!g8! 16.1£ig3
l!Bc6! 17. l!Ve2 'E.e8 18. 'B.ad1 dxes
19.fxes E:xes-+ Black is a piece
up and White is under a devas
tating attack! Black won soon in
Sow White is, I think, in good Kobese,W (2400)-Gelfand,B (2717)
shape; anyway it looks to me that Khanty-Mansiysk 2005.)
Black is the one fighting to keep the
56 CHESS M I DDLEGAM E STRATEGI ES
15 ... �c6 16.tlJd5! The knight cannot 21. ilg5 'E!.h7 22.e5 dxe5 23.�c2 'i!tg8
be taken due to �h5+. 16 ... h5 It is in 24.f5± White is a sound pawn up as
teresting to note how in many cases well as having an excellent position!
White uses the c-file to great effect.
8 I. u.�e2
18
6 Pioneering attempts often go wrong,
5 and enthusiasm for a fresh "genius
4 idea" can sometimes blind people
3 to its possible defects. Velimirovic
2
was no exception - his first outing
a b c d e f g h with the tlJe6 idea finished horribly!
11.f5 e5
17.C4! bxC4 18.tlJfe3 Black is forced
to give back a full piece because of
White's devastating threat of E:c1
and °E!.XC4.18 ... 'E!.e8 19.tlJxf6!
(19. 'E!.c1 leads to a queen sacrifice

19... 'B.xe4! 20. °E!.XC4 �xc4 21.tlJxc4
ilxds 22.tlJe3 ilxa2f:+.)
19...tlJxf6 20. �xf6 12.tlJe6? Black will be quick to cas

tle and this sacrifice does not work
for White here at all! 12...fxe6 13.fxe6
ll:Jc5 14.tlJd5 ilxd5 15. ilxd5 ile7
White's best move here wouJd be g2-
g5 ... if only pawns could jump that
far! 16.g4 o-o 17.g5 tlJxd5 18.�xd5
�q 19. 'E!.f5 �b7-+ and Black won in
a b c d e f g h a couple of moves in Velimirovic,D
(2520)-Portisch,L (2615) Szirak 1987.
20... 'E!.h6
(20 . . . 'E!. xe4?? 21. il xhB 'E!. xe3

22. �xhs++-) This will ultimately lead to our
standard sacrifice.
For players interested in theoretical

research, here is another Velimi
rovic idea - a pawn sacrifice. 12.e5!?
dxe5 13.fxe5 ez:Jxe5
17... h6! 18. B'.f5 hxg5 19. B'.xe5 'ifiq

20. i1.. c 5 'ifixc5+ 21. B'.xc5 B'.xc5
a b c d e f g h 22. i1.. a4+ <it>f8-+ Black simply
has too much material for the
This idea definitely deserves at white queen and went on to win
tention as White looks like having in Ivanisevic,I (2641) -Brunner,N
great compensation for his minimal (2462) Germany 2017.
material investment. 14. B'.ad1?! This
was played in the stem game, but 12 ... W9a5
unfortunately it has a tactical flaw.
(14.liJa4! was the right way. 14 . . .

i1.. e7 15. B'.ad1""' White's compen
sation here is worth more than
a pawn.)
14 bxc3! This is the problem, as

...
Black fights off the attack!
(14 ... tz:Jed7?! was played in the

stem game and could have suf
fered a direct tactical refutation: The situation does not look great
15.ll:Jxe6! (15.tz:Ja4 'ifias 16.liJxe6 for White: his e4-pawn is hanging,
fxe6oo 0-1 Velimirovic,D (2510) while the li'Je6 sacrifice does not
Vaulin,A (2515) Belgrade 1993) 15 ... seem to work this time.
fxe6 16. i1.. xe6 bxc3 17. B'.xd7 'ifixd7
18. i1.. xd7+±]
13.f5?! e5 14.lL!e6?! now our sacrifice not have a convenient way to avoid
does not bring White the desired ef an exchange of queens.
fect. 14 .. .fxe6
(14 . .. �bs also looks good for

Black.) In the case of 15.lL!fJ Black gets an
excellent game after 15 ... i.e7 16.f5
15.fxe6 lL!c5 16.lL!xc5 !!xc5 The white 8 .
attack soon runs out of steam: 17.a3 1 W.t
5�,
6 ,
(17. r!xf6 now does not work, as
the black king has the vacant dS
square available. 1J. ..gxf6 18. �hs+
@dB-+)
a b c d e f g h
16...exf5!
(After the mutual exchange sacri

fices 16... e5 1J.lLic3 gxc3 18.bxc3 o-o
19. 'E!xa6! i.. xa6 20. t!fxa6 lLixe4
I would say the position somewhat
favours White.)
17.exf5 o-o If someone is better here,

it is definitely Black.
16.lL!xe6! fxe6 17. .txe6 lWq 18. i.d4�

and Black's king remains stuck in
the centre.
Most likely this is the crucial part of

Gutman's opening idea: White does
With queens off, the sacrifices rooks. White has long-term posi
should be finished, right? So Gut tional compensation in the form
man evidently thought. Time for of domination. I have checked this
White to face harsh reality defend position thoroughly with computer
ing an inferior endgame?... No! Even engines and will give variations that
without queens on the board, Ve illustrate best the nature of White's
limirovic goes for his favourite sac compensation. With perfect play,
rifice! And guess what? It works! the position looks balanced. White
Computer engine support the con has pressure, but apparently noth
cept once you give them enough ing conclusive. In a practical game
time. it is definitely not easy for Black to
understand that, despite his materi
al advantage, he is in serious danger.
The first practical question for Black
I assume Gutman simply could not is: "Where to go with the rook"? It
believe his eyes! seems Black picked the best move.
17_.fxe6
17 ll:Jhf6 leading to approximate

...
equality was perhaps something

for Black to consider: 18.tt::l xfS
�xf8 19.tt::lc3 ll:Jxe4 20.tt::l xe4 �xe4
21.!!xa6 We7=.
J8.fxe6 tt::ldf6
In the case of 18 ...tt::lc5?! White im

mediately gets his piece back and
has a better game after 19.ll:Jxc5 dxc5
20.e7! �. In the case of 19 ... !!bS White has
a number of promising plans, for
example 20.ll::id5 i.c8 21. i.a4+ @dB
22 . ..td2! tt::l xd5 23.exd5 The white
Even without queens, the situation pawn chain kills any black counter
is similar to our previous examples. play here.
J k has problems to coordinate
his pieces; in particular, he has ter
rible difficulties in connecting his
60 CHESS M IDDLEGAME STRATEGIES
a b c d e f g h
23 ... ll:lf6 Now White has a choice be

tween two promising plans. 24. .E'.afJ
(or 24 . .1i.a5+ rJile7 25. .E'.c3! White a b c d e f g h

is to sacrifice an exchange and
be a full rook down! 25... lLlxd5 Black now gives back his piece.
26. 'f!.xc8 'f!.xc8 2J. .1i.d7 'f!.q 28. 'Bf7+ 26... li.. xe6! Removing the white
rJild8 though Black is a rook up and pawn chain. 2;.dxe6 rJilxe6 28. 'f!.c8�
we have limited number of pieces The computer engine says o.oo;
left on the board White uses pins to Black is still suffering under pins
dominate Black. The black bishop and White definitely has sufficient
on fS and rook on h8 take ages to compensation.; 24 ... a5? Luring the
get into the game. Play could con bishop away is the computer's ini
tinue as follows. 29.g3 e4 30. .1i.c6 tial proposal, but after 25. .txa5+
"lJe; 31. li.. b7! d5 32. .txa6 rJile7 26. .E'.c3! "lJxd5 2;. 'f!.xc8 .E'.xc8
28. .1i.d7.E'.q 29. 'f!.f7+ rJild8 30.g3± it is
8
7 obvious that we have the 24 .ta5+ .
6 j;,, Zi line with the difference that Black

5� does not have his a-pawn.)
4 W;
a b c d e f g h
The white b-pawn can now march

forward, while Black remains
tied down by pins. 32 ... d4 33.b4
d3 34.cxd3 exd3 35. rJilf1 g6 36. rJile1
.1i.h6 3J. Jt.xd3 rJilc8 38. .txq rJilxq
39. !!xe7+ rJild6±)
CHAPTER I. SICILIAN STRATEG I ES 61
Black has a rook for only two pawns the ...CZJe2-d4 jump. 22... B'.c8 23.C4
but he simply cannot connect his We7 24. 11.a2 gs 25.g3 CZJxe6 26.dxe6
pieces. White definitely has the ad Wxe6 27. b4 White has enough
YaDtage here! White can for exam compensation.)
ple build up with 26 ... B'.b5 27.q il..e7
28.�f7 B'.c5 29. it.e3 as 30.b3 hs and 22 ... CZJe2+ 23. Wh1 CZJd4 24. i.a4+
now Black's problem is that he can Wd8 25.b3 This position is probably
not move! about equal. 25 ... .ie7
(Jo . B'.f8 31. B'.h7±)

.. (25 ...g6 26. B'.a2i)
31-g3 B'.f8 32. it.g5! B'.e8 26. i.d2 ii.f6!
(µ... .ixgs 33. B'.xf8+ We7 34. B'.e8+ [26... B'.c5 allows White to dominate
�6 35. ii.c6 i.a6 36.h4+ ) - the black rook in the middle of the
board! 27. B'.f7 i.xd5 28.cxd5 B'.xd5
n. i.xe8 i.xg5 34. i.a4 B'.q 35. B'.fS+ 29.b4! CZJxe6 30. �e3 CZJd4 (Jo... B'.f8?
� 36. B'.f5± 31. i.b6++-) 3i. B'.xg7 B'.fs 32. B'.a1 hs
33. B'.h7±]
20.ll:Jd5 CZJxd5 21.exd5
27. i.a5 Wc8
a b c d e f g h
21...ll:Jf6 (28. �xq leads to a drawish rook

endgame. 28... Wxq 29. B'.xf6 gxf6
21-.ll:Jf4 looks more active and prob 30.q i.c6 31. i.xc6 CZJxc6 32.dxc6
ably leads to equality. 22.q Wxc6 33. B'.xa6+ Wes=)
(White has an alternative in 28 ... B'.fs 29. B'.afa B'.e7 And it looks
22 JJ.. b6 in order to prevent Black like a positional draw: 30. it.b4 B'.d8
from "locking out" the bishop with - not 30... Wq? 31.c5± - 3i. iJ.. a5=.
62 CHESS MIDDLEGAME STRATEGIES
a) It is a pity Velimirovic did not

execute one of his favorite moves,
which would have won on the spot!
25. !!xf6! !
A tough call for Black! Where to go a b c d e f g h

with his king?
25 ... Axf6 (25...gxf6 runs into a pret
23 ... 'i!?fS? ty mate: 26. ii.h6 ii.f8 2,7. l'!g3+ 1f!g7
28. !J.e8 !!xg3 29. !J.f7#) 26.c5 Ae7
Better was 23 ... 'i!?d8! Giving up an 27.c6 and Black loses the house.
exchange is not bad for Black here, 27... Ac8 28. !!b8 g6 29. Ab6+-
as this removes one of White's
devastating bishops. 24. !J.b6 'i!?c8
25. !J.xq 'i!txq 26. !!g3 !!g8 It does
not look as though White can break
in with his rooks, so objectively
a draw should be an outcome here.
This runs into a mating net! a b c d e f g h
24 ...h6 taking away the h6-square also looks to be winning, with an
was necessary, though White is al other pretty mating net in the case
ready better. 25.c5! dxc5 26. !!b6 C4 of 25 ... JJ.xc6? (Better is 25... fi.c8 al
27. !!f5! though that does not hold either:
26. l'!b8 gs 2J.b4! 'i!tg1 28.bs axbs
(2,7. d6 !J.xd6 28. !!xd6 'i!te700) 29.cxbs+-.) 26. !!b8+ .1i.e8 27. !!xf6
gxf6
27... Ac8 28. !!xe5 Ac5 29. Axes+
!!xc5 30.e7+ 'i!?f7 31. !!d6;t
CHAPTER I. SICILIAN STRATEG IES 63
27... !!xq 28. il.. b3 !:\.b4 29. !:l.xc8+

<i!fg7 30. !:\.q !:l.xb3 31. !:l.xe7+ <i!fg6
32. !:\.f7 �xd5 33.e7 �xe7 34. !! 1f6+
<i!fh5 35. ii.fa �g6 36. !:l.xd6 !:l.xb2
37.h3 as 38.g4+ <i!th6 39. !:l.a6=.
28. il.. h6! ! A beautiful picture!

A rook and a piece up, Black can
not prevent mate. The end posi
tion resembles a study! 28 ... il.. fS
29. !:\.xe8 !:l.g7 White could here
claim an immediate win by 30. !:I.as
followed by e6-e7, or simply tease
Black till he runs out of moves
with something like 30.b4.
25... �fs?
25 .. i.c8! could have saved the game!

. Now Black's h8-rook is still in the
26. �bs gs! box and White is firmly in control.
29 h6 30. Axd6 �xd5 31. !:l.a7 �e3

••.
32. !:l. f3 �g4 33.h3 !:\.ai+ 34. !:I.ft

!:l.xfi+ 35. <i!fxf1 �e3+ 36. <i!te2
a b c d e f g h
with .. . <i!fg7 to follow, Black finally
gets out of the box! Play may con
tinue 27. il..b6
(27-CS <i!ig1 28. JJ.. b 6 !:\.xcs 29. il.xcs

dxcs 30. il.c6 il.d6 31. E:aB <i!fg6oo)
The limited number of pieces does (The simple 42. E:xg6+ @h7 43. l! a6
not stop White from dominating! also wins.)
The rook on h8 is out of play, the
knight on e3 is almost trapped! 42 ... @h7 43.h4 White threatens
44. E:a8 with a mating net.
40... @f7 41. E:xa6

37... @h7 38.b3 �a3 39. i.xes E:g8
40.@d3+- White now has to work again. The
rest of the game does not need
comments. Towards the end Black
played on for too long.
41 ... E:h8 42. 'i!?d3 E:c8 43. B'.a7+

'i!?e6 44. B'.xg7 �e5+ 45.@e4 �f7
46. E:g6+ 'i!?e7 47. i.e3 1£ld6+ 48. 'i!?d5
� f5 49. i.xh6 @f7 50. E:a6 E:c2
51.g4 �e7+ 52.'i!?e4 �g6 53. i.g5+-
40. E:a8+
The last move before the time con

trol is a mistake that prolongs the 53 ... E:C4+ 54. 'i!?d5 E:b4 55. E:a7+ 'i!?g8
game for a while. 56. i.h6 �h4 57. E:g7+ @h8 58. E:e7
E:b3 59. i.e3 'i!?g8 60. 'i!?e4 'i!?f8
40. E:xa6! was an easy win. 40...g6 61. l!d7 'i!?g8 62. E:d3 E:b4+ 63. i.d4
4i.@d3 B'.q Black's knight on C4 is �g2 64. E:d2 �h4 65. E:b2 E:a4
trapped "forever". 42.g4 and Black 66. E:b6 @h7 67.g5 'i!?g8 68. B'.f6 E:b4
loses his kingside pawns as in the 69. E:f4 �g6 70. E:f5 E:a4 71. E:f6
case of �h4 72. E:b6 @f7 73.g6+ �xg6
74. E:f6+ 'i!?g7 75• E:a6+ E:xd4+
[email protected] 'it>h6 77.'it>e4 'it>hs 78. !!as+ 17.fxg6 liJdf6 18.g7+ liJxh5 19. �a4+
i!?b.4 79.'it>fs lLle7+ 8o.'it>f6 1-o with mate to follow.) 13 ... e5 14.CLle6!
fxe6 15.fxe6
8
a ,;IB
t> D. Velimirovic
... M . Suba
Pinerolo, 1987
LC4 CS 2.llJf3 d6 3.d4 llJf6 4.llJq a b c d e F g h

ad.t s.lLlxd4 e6 6. �e3 a6 7. �c4
"5 8. �b3 �b7 9.f4 lLlbd7 10.0-0 Black decides to give his piece back
i14 11.lLla4 in order to bring his king to safety.
15 ...0-0 (15 . liJfB leads to messy po
. .
sitions where White has full com

pensation for his sacrificed piece
after 16.liJxc3 liJg6 17- �a4+ 'it>JB
18.liJds 'it>gB 19. !!c1 �xds 20.exd5�.
Again, it will take Black quite
some time to coordinate his pie
ces here.) 16.exd7+ 'it>hs 17.liJxc3
�xd7 18. �d3;t The smoke has
cleared, White probably had a very
small advantage in Velimirovic,D
(2520)-Cvetkovic,S (2470) Vrn
jacka Banja 1991.
Velinirovic now proceeds according b) The pawn grab 11 liJxe4?! leads

•..
to a prepared recipe. to a standard response: 12.f5 e5
a) 11 ... il..e7 can lead after 12.c3 bxC3

8 1.•
to a situation where Velimirovic
went again for his favourite sac 5
rllice 13.f5!? (13.CLlxCJ is perfectly 4
playable for White as 13 ... liJxe4? 3
2
is a blunder due to 14.f5 e5 -14 ...
-i:lxc3 15fxe6+- - 15.liJe6! and a b c d e F g h
White wins: 15 .. .fxe6 16. �h5+ g6
13.�e6! Now, as in the Alburt game

given earlier in the comments,
Black is in the rare situation of not
being forced to take the intrusive
knight. 13... °i!fa5 (13 .. .fxe6?? 14. 'i!Vhs+
g6 15.fxg6+-) 14.�xfS !!xf8 15.a3-+.
White's initiative is worth more
than a pawn. a b c d e f g h
12.f5! Black's king in the middle of the

board remains a problem and yes,
Black's pieces fail to coordinate!
17. °i!fe2! and Black faces unsur
mountable problems.
(But not 1;. i.xc5+? c;;t>xe6 18. i.b3+

i.ds-+.)
17... °i!fb6
12... e5 18. !!xf6! Again the standard ex

change sacrifice, removing the
And now, of course... strong defender, decides the game.
18...gxf6 19. °i!fC4 'i!fxe6 20. 'i!fxe4 :8.c8
13.lL:ie6! 21. °i!fb7++-
What else?
13 ... fxe6 14.fxe6
As usual, Black cannot coordinate

his pieces. He opted for
In the event of 14 ... lL:ic5 15.�xc5 dxc5

16. Aa4+! c;;t>e7
As in the previous examples, White precise, throwing the black queen

is essentially improving his knight off balance.
rather than chasing after the rook
on a8. Black does not have a good (20. ii.xa7 liJxa7 21.c3! bxc3 22. l!t'f3
defence, since his kingside develop �dB 23. bxc3±)
ment problems cannot be solved. In
the actual game Black hoped to cas 20... l!t°C4
tle and played
(20... lWgs 21. ii.xa7 liJxa7 22.c4!+-;
20. . W9e4 21. ii.xa7 liJxa7 22. Wlf1!+-)
.
15-.lfa7 16. ii.a4+ Ac6 17J�hf6! l!fxf6

J8.itld5 l!t°xe6 19. Axa7 l!t°d7 20. Axc6
�xc6 21. Ab6 leads to a large White
advantage.
15 Ac6 covers the a4-e8 diagonal

...
but does not solve Black's problems

either. White continues as usual!
I6.!Ixf6! l!fxf6 17. Ads �a7 a b c d e f g h
(1J. .. ii.xd5? 18.liJxds+-) 23. �fr! An immediate mating threat
like 24. Wlxf8+ is always good! 23 ...
J.8. �xc6+ liJxc6 19.liJd5 �h4 ii.e7 24.liJxe7 'i!fxe6 25. l!9a8+ liJc8
26.liJc6+ �q 27.liJxb4+-
a b c d e f g h
Despite his large material advan
tage, Black cannot save the game
as he cannot stop the white queen
from penetrating - Black's light
squares are weak. 20. ii.fa! The most
16... it..c6 19... il.xf6 20. l!fxd6+- with �q+ to

follow.
Forced. White aims to get his knight
to q, and earn the bonus of a rook 20. �c1 il.xf6 21. :Sxc2 'i!fb7 22. 'i!rxd6
along the way. il.e7 23.�c7+ �f8 24. :Sfa+
16 ... @fS loses to 17. l!fh5 it.. g 6 Mihai Suba was one of the world's
18.l!fh4 !!a7 19.ll:Jd5 @gs 20. :Sxf6 leading experts on the black side
it.. xf6 21.�xf6+ l!fxf6 22. l!fxf6 gxf6 of the Sicilian at the time and not
23. it.. xa7 �g7 24. �di+-. many people have trounced him
like this!
1-0
If 17... 0-0 White wins through ma
terial advantage after 18. .ll xc6 �xc6
19.�b6+-.
1.3. FORTIFIED KN IGHT
18. Ab6 l!fc8 ON ES
And naturally our standard sacri

fice just needed the right moment This diagrammed position, usually
to make its appearance! arising from the Scheveningen or
Najdorf variations, illustrates one of
19. :Sxf6! the common strategic themes in the
Sicilian. Black has arguably weak
An elegant finish! ened his kingside by the ... g7-g5
pawn push but on the other hand he
19... il.xc2 has safeguarded the dominant posi-
tion of his knight on es by prevent • Opening the h-file is usually

ing White from expelling it with fa good for White, as he can then
f4. I have given three games in this often disturb Black by placing his
subchapter, and a few extra games rook on h6 or h7.
in the comments. I think these • The transaction lfJxe5 dxe5 (if
games are instructive and will help Black has to take back with the
the reader to understand this type pawn) can be advantageous for
of position and the strategic aims of White, as seen in my loss to Ad
the two sides. ams.
• White should open the position
Black tries to maintain his strong in the centre and keep playing
knight's position on es, pushes actively. If the central position is
_b7-b5 and gets queenside play as static, Black finishes his develop
White always castles queenside in ment and-the black knight on es
these lines. Black castles queenside becomes a powerhouse!
or keeps his King in the centre, de
pending the situation. Keeping his In general, I am under the impres
King in the centre is a risky strategy sion that White is better in the re
fur Black. White often has a Knight sulting positions. It often turns out
sacrifice on fs, opening the e-file af that Black's knight on es is out
ter Black takes with ... exf5 and get weighed by White's having the in
ting a direct attack on the black itiative, better-coordinated pieces
King. Several examples of this sac and many attacking motifs. These
rifice are given in the game com positions are sharp and it is not sur
ments. prising that many great players have
opted for this combative strategy as
How is White supposed to break Black.
Black? I will give a number of
·ru1es" for White, illustrated in the
three games and the comments. 9
• White plays fa-f4 and after the t> J. Polgar

... gxf4 exchange White's knight � V. Topalov
travels to hs, usually a good post Hoogeveen Essent Crown, 2006
ing for the knight in these lines.
• White should keep an eye on the 1.e4 c5 2.liJf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.liJxd4
llJf5 sacrificial motifs as this sac l2Jf6 5.lfJC3 a6 6.h3 e6 7.g4 h6 8. ii.g2
rifice is often very strong. gs!?
70 CHESS M ID DLEGAM E STRATEGIES
ble for White. A knight exchange

on e5 - White plays tL:l xe5 and
Black recaptures dxe5 as my game
against Adams - is normally good
for White too (again, see the com
ment on 11 ... ii.xd7?!). However if
Black has counter-play as in Ghiz
davu-Spassky then the same trans
action is not clear and might even be
in Black's favour. White definitely
must be active and not a sitting duck
A well known Sicilian strategy. Black as he was in Dominguez-Kasparov
is creating a central e5-square out (see the comment on 12.h4, instead
post for his knight. This strategy in the text 12.f4) which, even in a blitz
this particular position brings back game, clearly shows what happens if
painful memories for me, as I once White is not active!
lost an instructive game to Michael
Adams. I will give that game here
later - see the notes to 11 ... ii.d7?!
instead of the text 11 ... tL:lfd7. Strate Polgar develops her pieces the most
gically the White players have been natural way. White players have also
using different methods as they aim tried different plans and here are
to push fa-f4, trade their f-pawn for two interesting examples I would
Black's pawn on g5 and then bring like to show. In both of those ex
a knight to h5. A white knight on h5 amples White aimed, like Polgar,
is usually well-placed in the result to trade his f-pawn for the black g5-
ing positions. Sometimes White can pawn and then transfer his. knight
break through Black's defences by to the h5-square. Let's see how it
a knight sacrifice on f5, as shown in went.
the notes after White's 151h move in
the next game, Ghizdavu-Spassky. a) 9.l!Ve2 tL:lbd7 10.tL:lb3 I am per
sonally not in favour of moving
The key for White is to be active! White's centralized knight to b3
The fa-f4 pawn push usually needs here, as White loses some tactical
to be played. The h2-h4 pawn push, possibilities. However an immedi
followed by the hxg5 hxg5 trade, ate 10.fa-f4? is not possible because
should give White control of the of 10...exf4 11. ii.xf4 e5 forking two
h-file since Black will be forced to pieces.
play ... !!g8, and this is also favora-
CHAPTER I . SICI LIAN STRATEGI ES 71
(A solution for White could be pretty much nothing else. White,

10. ii.d2!? tl:Jes 11f4! gxf4 12. ii.xf4 on the other hand, has a safe
with more tactical possibilities king - unlike his black counter
since the knight is still on d4.) part - and harmonious pieces.
The weak position of the black
10... tl:Je5 In Leko,P (2625)-Ivan king provides White with excel
chuk, V (2735) Wijk aan Zee 1996, lent compensation for the sacri
White now accomplished the first ficed pawn. 20... !!xh1
part of the plan: 11.f4 gxf4 12. i.xf4
(20... !!g4 21.tl:Jd4�)
2i. 1J.. xh1 tl:Jg6 22.tl:Jg7+
(22. ii.xd6 ii.xd6 23.es il.xes

24. 1J.. xb7 !! q 25. 1J.. x a6 'figs
26.'f!f3�)
a b c d e f g h
22 ... �fs 23. 1i.. h6
The white f-pawn has been suc
cessfully traded for the black (23.tl:Jxe6+ looks promising but
pawn on g5. 12 ... tl:Jfd7 13.0-0-0 fails to deliver a fatal blow. 23 ...
b5 Now comes the second part of fxe6 24.tl:Jd4 �g8 25.tl:Jxe6 'f!e8
the plan - the white knight trav 26. W!/g3 tl:Jdes This position is dif
els to h5. 14.'f!fa ii.b7 15.�b1 !k8 ficult for me to evaluate, but the
16.tl:Je2! h5 17.gxh5 !!xh5 To bring computer engine has no trouble
his knight to h5 here, White needs declaring o.oo.)
to sacrifice his h-pawn. 18.h4! ii.e7
19.tl:Jg3 !!xh4 20.tl:Jh5
Mission accomplished! White's 25.tl:Jxe7+

knight is excellently placed on h5!
Black has his knight on e5 and
72 CH ESS MIDDLEGAM E STRATEG IES
[25. !!g1 also looks promising for

White: 25 ... exf5 (25.. f6? now loses
to 26. JLf4.) 26.exf5 JLxh1 27.fxg6
fxg6 28. !!xh1 and Black's position
has many holes so White has ex
cellent attacking chances here.]
a b c d e f g h
(2J.tLJa5! would have led to a sub 13.f4! gxf4 14.tLJce2 iLe7 15.tLJxf4
stantial white advantage. 2J. .. Wf7 o-o-o 16.@b1 @b8 17. !!hfi JLc8
28. JLd2! i9q 29. JLb4 iLaB 30.a3 Now comes the second part of the
Black is a pawn up and has his ap plan - the white knight goes to hs.
parently "monster" knight on es, 18.C2Jde2! !!h7 19.C2Jg3 b6 20.lLlgh5
but he does not have any real play. C2Jfd7 21.CZJd3 JLb7 22.CZJxe5 lLlxe5
Black's king is vulnerable and he 23.lLlf6
has pawn weaknesses on f6 and
d6. Computer programs evalu
ate White's advantage as high as
+i.oo!)
27... <tlf7 28. JLgs !!h8 29. l:!fi lLld7

In this unclear position Leko and
Ivanchuk agreed a draw. a b c d e f g h
b) A plan to fianchetto White's Now Black hopes to get some play
queenside bishop may look by sacrificing a pawn. 23 ... !!g7
strange here, but the white king
will be safe, while White will try (After 23... l:!hhB 24. l!lf2 White
to achieve similar strategic objec has pressure.)
tives to those already mentioned.
This plan was introduced by Shi
rov. 9.b3 lLlbd7 10. JLb2 CZJe5 11. l!id2
JLd7 12.0-0-0 l!lq Now White is (24.lLid7+! is a nice move-missed
going for the strategic objectives by both players. White comes out
already outlined. a sound pawn up after 24 ... @aB
25.lLixes dxes 26.l!lxh6±.)
CHAPTER I . SICI LIAN STRATEGIES 73
24... E:g625. �h4 E:c8 26. E:d2 'i!fa7 I think that Black should try to es
27.g5 Black did not have enough cape with his king to the queen
compensation for his pawn and side with 15 ... E:h7 (instead of 15 ...
White went on to win in Shirov,A E:f8?!), but nevertheless those posi
(2700) -Akopian,V (2660) Gronin tions look to me easier to play with
gen 1997. White.
,_.ll:lbd7 10.�e2 cz:Jes 11.0-0-0 11...cz:Jfd7
This move aims to maintain

a knight on es and prevent the pawn
structure transformation seen in
my game with Adams.
My mentioned game with Adams

went as follows: 11 �d7?! 12.cz:Jf3
..•
�as?
(12 ... CLig6 preventing the game

transaction was, for better or
Let's take strategic stock again. worse, necessary for Black here.)
k should be careful not to allow
the central pawn-structure trans
i>rmation where White plays cz:Jf3
k>llowed by cz:Jxe5 forcing Black to (The immediate 13.CLixes dxes
recapture with his d-pawn. Such po 14.h4± similar to Adams' play was
sitions are difficult for Black, as my also possible.)
loss to Adams (see analysis of the
move 11 �d7?!) excellently illus
..• 13... il.e7
trates!
(13 ...ll:lg6 now does not produce the
Though a number of great play same result: 14.CLid2 �q 15.CZJC4±.)
ers - better than me - have trust
al the black position, I would opine
that White is better there because
(a) Black will end with the pawn (14 .. �xes? loses as the position
.
structure I got against Adams, or opens up in White's favour: 15. il.d4

(b) White would push f4 aiming �as 16.es+-.)
ID bring his knight to hs as in this
pme.
74 CHESS M IDDLEGAM E STRATEGIES
(or 2;r... !i'b5 28.C4 !Vas 29.cxb7 !i'q

30.!Vds+-)
(29... !i'q does not change any

thing: 30. !i'd5 lLJd7 31. :S.xa6+-.)
a b c d e f g h
30. :S.c6 it.d8 31. :S.c8 @e7 32. �c5+ 1-0
One of our rules is that the open Adams,M (2716)-Sokolov,I (2624)
h-file will clearly favour White Sarajevo 1999. Now Polgar follows
here! 15 ... :S.gs 16.hxg5 hxg5 17.:S.h6± the strategy outlined earlier.
Black is boxed in without any coun
ter-play; he should definitely avoid
such positions! 17... it.c6 18. if 6
lLJd7 19. .:Sh7 lLJf6 20. :S.h6 lLJd7 Now
White improves his bishop. 21. it.f1!
:S.d8 22. it.C4 ezJf8
a b c d e f g h
12.h4 was played in the blitz game
Black's king is stuck in the middle Dominguez-Kasparov, Saint Louis
of the board, which allows a tactical 2017. 12 ... �g8 13.hxg5 hxg5 The h
execution. 23.lLJd5!+- exd5 24.exd5 file control is definitely in White's
!i'b4 favour, but he still needs to contin
ue with active play. 14. @b1 b5 It is
(24... �bs 25. il.. xbs+ !Vxbs 26.d6+-) perhaps not fair to investigate much
this blitz game, but it is instructive
25.dxc6 :S.xdi+ 26. l!fxd1 ifxC4 27.b3! to see what happens if White does
The black queen runs out of good not play actively. Kasparov will
squares. 27... !i'b4 steadily improve his position and
simply outplay White. 15.a3
(White needed to play 15.f4 gxf4 s

16. Axf4 Ab7 l'J.KS obtaining an ac- 7
tive game.)
15 ... Ab7 16 . .tc1 l:ks 17. !!h3 CL!g6

18. Ah1 CL!de5 2
8 h
7 a b c d e f g
6
5 28. E:d2? A blunder in a difficult po
4 sition. Now White loses material.
• 3
(28.CL!a4 Ac8+ Now Black will

a b c d e f g h play ... Ad7 chasing the a4 knight
back to C3 and then proceed with
Black is getting a grip on the posi a ... Ab6 plan.)
tion, his knight controlling impor
tant squares. 19. l::i. g3 28 ... E:xd2 29. Axd2 Ab6-+ In order
to prevent an immediate pawn(s)
(19.CL!f3! trading one of the black loss, White has to part with his
knights made sense here.) bishop pair. 30. Axf4 gxf4 31.CL!ce2
d5 32.exd5 Axd5 33. Ag2 CL!xg4
19... Ae7 20.CL!a2 l:! hS Black is al
ready better. 21. !!c3 I!xc3 (33 ... Axd4 also wins 34.CL!xd4
CL!xg4-+)
(21 ...CL!f4 22. Axf4 gxf4+)
34.CL!xf4 CL!e3 White cannot keep
22.CL!xc3 l!fq 23. Ag2 ll¥C4 24. l!fxC4? his f-pawn. 35.CL!de2 CL!xg2 36.CL!xg2
In a higher sense this is a losing mis Axf3 and Black soon won.
take as the endgame will be very
bad for White. 12 ••• gxf4 13. Axf4
(24. l!fe3 keeping the queens on was Polgar has accomplished the first
a must.) part of the plan - she has traded
her f-pawn for the black g5-pawn.
24 . bXC4 25.f3 l::i. h 2 26. A fi CL!f4
.. Yes, Black does have a dominant
27.Ae3 Ads knight on e5, but roads to the black
king are now beginning to open.
76 CHESS M IDDLEGAME STRATEGI ES
13 b5
••• i5 !k8?
•..
i3 ... 1Wa5? allowed a nice piece sacri Probably, in a higher sense, a losing
fice, similar in a way to the llJf5! pos mistake! White's knight now travels
sibility missed by White in Ghiz to hs, while the black king remains
davu-Spassky or Karpov-Spassky, stuck in the centre. Polgar plays an
the two next games in this section. excellent and instructive game!
14.llJf5! exfs 15.exf5 l:!b8 16. <i!?b1
Black needed to run with his king to
the queenside. 15 ... !!h7! 16.<i!?b1 Ae7
17.lZ::l ce2 "Y!Hq
a b c d e f g h
Black cannot complete his develop
ment. 16...b5 17. Ac6 lWq 18. .fi.xd7+ a b c d e f g h
Axd7 19.lZ::l d5 1Wc4 20.1We3 �g7
21. Axes ii. xes 22.lZ::l f6+ <i!?ds 18.CZJc1
23.lZ::l xd7 Af4 24.1Wa7 !k8 25.lZ::l b 6
1Wxc2+ 26.<i!?a1 1-o Bruzon Batista,L (The white knight's mission to hs
(2641)-Suba,M (2451) La Roda 2010. 18.lZJg3 o-o-o 19.lZJhs <i!fbB leads
now to unclear consequences
while the black king has escaped
to the other side of the board.)
18 0-0 -000 with sharp play re

... However, White here also had an
sulting in a draw in Zhigalko,S immediate tactical resource in
(2562)-Sasikiran,K (2661) Khanty 2 0 l'Llf5! and the black position, just
.
Mansiysk 2007. as in a few other examples of such

sacrifices in this chapter, quickly
collapses. 20... exf5
Judit now goes for the second part (Ignoring White's knight with
ofthe plan, moving her knight to hs. 20... E:c6 loses to 21.l'Llhg7+ 1J.xg7
22.l'Llxg7+ E:xg7 23. �xes+-.)
2t. .ll xe5 1J.xe5 22. ifxfs+-

Mission accomplished. Black is in
deep trouble! Black has his knight
on es, White has everything else!
But the es-knight, however strong in This extra pawn that Black has
itself, simply cannot keep the black gained is not much of a value here.
position together on its own.
18.. .. Abs 19. 'i!?b1 ll:Jc5
23. �f6
Plan accomplished. The dark

Polgar improves her position and squared bishops are getting ex
gains a winning advantage. White changed and the white knight will
will place her bishop on f6, trade the leap from hs to f6 with devastating
dark-squared bishops off, and then consequences. It is interesting to no
the dark-square holes around the tice how little the black knight on es
black king will prove crucial. is really worth here!
78 CH ESS M IDDLEGAME STRATEG I ES
23 ... �g6 24. �xh8 �xh8 25.lL:lf6+

Wd8 26.h4 �C5 27.h5 �h7 28.�h4 10
�xc2+
1> D. Ghizdavu
Black cannot run with his king: 28 . .. ... B. Spassky
@q due to 29.lL:lxh7 .E:xh7 Nice [8). 1974
i.e4 c5 2.lL:lf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.lL:lxd4

lLlf6 5.lLJCJ e6 6.g4 h6 7. !lg1 lL:lc6
8. �e3
a b c d e f g h
30. !hf7+! �xf7 3 i lL:l xe6++ -
. .
29.lL:lxc2 �xc2+ 30. 'i!ia1
In a span of eight years Spassky had

two interesting games where he
chose the Sicilian knight on e5 set
up, so I give both of them in this
chapter. In this game he delayed for
two moves, the ... g5 pawn push, while
in the later game against Karpov he
went for an immediate ...g5 pawn
The game has been decided. White push. In the first game in this chap
has a winning king-chase attack. ter, Polgar-Topalov, and in the chap
ter's introductory text, I delved into
30 ... :Sc4 31.lL:le4+ @c7 32.lLlxd6 strategic explanations, while in this
�f4 33. �e7+ 'i!ib6 34. �b7+ 'i!ia5 game and the next one with Karpov
35. �a7! b4 36. .E!fe1 lLlf3 37. :Sc1 I would like to more focus on White's
lL:lxe1 38. B'.xc2 lL:lxc2+ 39.@b1 i-o tactical possibilities to break through
the black defences. Although missed
by White in both the games given,
these motifs are relatively standard tion opens up and Black is behind in
and knowing them should prove development.
useful in practical play.
However, White had at his disposal
another good move in 15.�f5! This
knight sacrifice works here too. For
A few years later, Spassky went for his sacrificed piece White will get
the move 8 ... g5 against Karpov - see a rolling pawn-mass and a large ad
the next game of this subchapter. vantage. 15 ... exf5 16.gxf5 b5 17.f4 tZJc4
18 . .ixc4 bxC4 19.1£ld5 (19fxgs is also
,_ Ji,e2 a6 10.�d2 gs 11.0-0-0 tZJd7 good.) 19 ... .ib7 20.fxg5+-
n.lbt .B:gs 13.hxgs hxgs 14.@b1
k has to place his knight to e5.

Which one?
This timid move gives Black the

break he needed.
14 . tZJde5? loses to 15.1£lf5! exf5
..
:t6.gxf5 with 17. f4 to follow and White should have continued 17.g5!
White breaks through the black de opening the corridor for his bishop
knces. to come from e2 to h5. Black simply
does not get the time to evacuate his
JS-4! king, and falls under a devastating
attack. White has a large advantage
These fa-f4 pawn pushes usually and a number of good options, so
work for White here - as the posi- long as he pursues a direct, aggres
sive approach. 17...b4
18.llJxe6! Direct and effective.
[18.llJa4 should also win for

White. 18 ... l!fa5 19.b3 j_b7 20. j_h5
llJg6 (20... 0-0-0 21.a3+-) 2i. .1i.xd6
J.xd6 22.llJxe6 l!fe5 23.lL\q+ @e7 a b c d e f g h
24.llJxa8 .1i.xa8 Black's problem

here is that routes to his king will 25. j_c5!
open up. 25.llJb2!+-]
(Precision is always important:
18 ...bxC3 19. llfxC3 fxe6 20. .1i.h5+ 25. i.. a3? allows 25... l!Vf6.)
25 ... E:xg5 26. l!fxf8+ and White gets

a won endgame: 26 ... @d7 27. l!Vd6+
<tfc8 28.l!fxe6+ @b8 29.l!Vd6++-.
a b c d e f g h
20 ...ll:Jg6
(20... <tffB? runs into mate: 21 . .1i.xe5

llJxe5 22. 'll,.gfi+ <tfg1 23. 'll,.f7++-)
21. �xd6 j_xd6 22 . .1i.xd6 Black has

a large material advantage but his
king has no place to hide. 22... j_b7
(or 22 ... lL\dfB 23. JLxfB+- <tfxf8 18 dxes!

...
24. 'Bfi+ <tfe8 25 . .1i. xg6+ and

Black loses everything: 25... �xg6 18 ... llJxe5? leaves the black king
26.l!VhB+ @q 2J.l!Vh7+.) exposed: 19.ll:Jxb5! axb5 20. .ft.xe5
dxe5 2i. .ixb5+ <tffB 22. l!fh6+ 'll,.g 7
23. j_xg6+ 13.xg6 24.l!fhs+ llJf8 23.g5!+-
19- Ae3 i.b7 20. i.d3 b4 21.ll::l e2

0-0-0
Spassky executes with precision!

Spassky has consolidated his posi The immediate 28... �c8 leads to no
tion and he now quickly outplays more than equality: 29. !!xg8 i.xc2+
his opponent. 30. 'i!i>a1 !!xg8 31. �c1 b3 32. �d2!=.
29.axb3 B'.c8 30. i.b6 i.xc2+ 31. 'i!i>a2

�c6
White has weak pawns on e4 and
gs to worry about, and an inferior Black has a material advantage and
position. the better game.
2.4-!!gf1 �g7+ 33. E'.dn
2.f-.!!:dfs 25.ll::l hs 33 ... �xdS 34. �xd8
White's knight has made it to h5

but this time it is not really effec
tive there.
ll::l xe4 26. i.xe4 i.xe4 27.ll::l f6

2S-
Ax((; 28.gxf6
••
34... .ixb3+! 35. �xb3 'i!Vd5+ 36. �a3 Black wants to immediately secure
'i!Vd6+ 37.b4 'i!Vxd8 38. 'i!Vc5 l!Vc7 his knight's central outpost and lat
39. l!Ve3 'i!Vd6 40. 'i!Ve2 a5! er decide on further development.
It is interesting to see that - at the
And White resigned as the pawn peak of his career - Karpov simply
ending is lost after 40... a5 4i. l!Vb5+ could not "feel the position" and in
�a7 42. l!Vxa5+ 'i!Va6-+. stead of taking forceful measures he
adopted a timid positional approach
0-1 and landed up in a worse position.
11
9.h4 immediately starting action
1> A. Karpov was played a year later by the fa
... B. Spassky mous theoretician Igor Zaitsev,
Turin (4) , 1982 Karpov's second at the time. Zait
sev handles the opening better than
1.e4 c5 2.ll:Jf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.ll:Jxd4 his boss! 9...ll:Jd7
ll:Jf6 5.ll:Jc3 d6 6.g4 h6 7. !!g1 ll:Jc6
8 . .ie3 (9...gxh4 is the kind of a move rare
ly played by humans, but frequent
Probably aware of the opportuni ly suggested by computers in these
ty that Ghizdavu had missed eight positions. Yes, Black temporarily
years earlier (our previous game in grabs a pawn, but surrenders his
this chapter), Spassky now opts for strategic aim of a strong knight on
an immediate g-pawn push. es. After the logical 10. l!Vd2 lLl xd4
11. i1.xd4 es 12 . .i e3 a6 13f3 White
8 ...g5 has a better game.)
10.hxg5 hxgs 11. l!Vd2 ll:Jde5 12.0-0-0

!!g8 13 . .ie2
CHAPTER I. SICI LIAN STRATEG IES 83
White has opened the h-file and is

now protecting his g4 pawn in order
to penetrate along the h-file with his
rook. As already mentioned a num
ber of times in this chapter, h-file
penetration is a regular plan for
White in these positions. 13...�xd4
i.t-Axd4 �c6 15. Ae3 a6 16. l:!h1 �d7 a b c d e f g h
20 ...b4
(20... l::! b8 21. l::! h 8 wins since now

Black cannot castle queenside;
while 20... �es runs into a tactical
refutation: 21. l::!g7! o-o-o 22. it.. xgs
a b c d e f g h l::! xg7 23. ii.xq l::! dg8 24. it.. xd6 �xg4
2sf3 �f2 26. l::! hs+-.)
.And now White could have played
the killing 17. l:!h7! which is White's
standard plan here. Indeed Black
then finds it difficult to develop and (21 ... Vxb4 22. l::! h 8 and now the
coordinate his pieces, for example pawn on a6 hangs, so again Black
cannot castle queenside.)
(17.li.Ja4 probably leads to a queen
swap and a better ending for White: and with the black knight away
J7. . W9a5 18.V!ixa5 �xa5 19.�b6 l::! d8
. from control of the e7-square White
20.a4 �c6 21.�c4 �c8 22.c3 White again has 22. l:!g7! and again (as in
has a risk-free advantage; in the 20 ... �e5 21. l:!g7!) the white rook
7.aitsev game 17. l::! hs �q led to cannot be taken. 22 ... l:!xg7 23. l:!h8+
a white advantage, though Black ii.f8 24.V!ixd6 o-o-o 25. l:!xfS Black
later handled the complications will lose tons of material.
better and won in Zaitsev,I (2445)
-Sokolov,A (2435) Moscow 1983.)
q_ 1J.e7 18. l:!dh1 V!la5 19.a3 b5 20. �b1 Now White first finishes his devel
White has a large advantage 11.ere opment, a correct decision. How
- Black can easily lose on the spot. ever White had an interesting tac
tical option to immediately open
files and diagonals using a stand-
84 CHESS MIDDLEGAME STRATEGI ES
ard method, this time connected to (13... fiJd7 14.exd6 i.xd6 15. 'Bxg5
a temporary pawn sacrifice. i.e7 16.h4 is excellent for White:
16... i.xg5? 1J.hxg5 'BgB 18.fiJe4+-.)
14. �b5+ i.d7 15.'i!fxe5 White will

castle queenside and his attack
looks devastating, but actually Black
can defend: 15 ... !!h4! 16.0-0-0 'i!fe7
17. E'.gfr !!f4! 18. 'i!fxg5 E'.xfr 19. !!xf1 a6
20. i.d3 fi:Jd5 21. 'i!fh5 o-o-o Thanks
to his bishop pair, Black has enough
counter-play to hold the game.
lO • • • fiJ g6 11.0-0-0 a6
10. i.e2
(10...gxf4 11. i.xf4 fiJfxg4? is bad for

Black due to 12. i.e2 fiJf6 13.fiJdb5 a6
14.0-0-0! and White wins: 14... axb5
15. i.xe5 b4 16.fiJb5 'Bxa2 1J.b3! Black
has run out of counter-play and
now White wins in a few moves.)
11.fxg5 0ixe3 12. 'i!fxe3 hxg5 13.e5

Here we have the critical p.osition.
Reigning World Champion Karpov
misses, just like Ghizdavu in our
previous game, the standard tacti
cal motif here!
a b c d e f g h
This move is the start of Karpov's
13 ...dxe5! timid play that ultimately lands him
in trouble. Just like Dominguez in
his blitz game with Kasparov (given
in the · Polgar-Topalov comments),
White gets nowhere here with slow

play. White needs to open the po
sition and routes to the black king, (14 ... E!.gB 15.hxgs hxgs 16. il.xgs+-)
which often requires him to sacri
fice material. Then Black's central 15.f4 lfJc6 16.g5 looks the most hu
ized knight alone will prove not to man and should be sufficient to win
be able to hold the black position to
gether. (16. �f2 is what computer engines
give as the strongest: 16... �e7 17-KS
u.l2lf5!! would have broken the with a winning advantage.)
black defences and decided the
game in White's favour. It is inter 16 ... hxgs 17.fxgs i;.xfs 18.gxf6 h3
esting how often this knight sacri 19. �f4 il.e6 20. Af3 The extra pawn
fice works for White in these posi on h3 is not enough compensation
tions - and also how often white for the trouble Black has got him
players miss these opportunities! self into!
12.. exfs 13.exfs
.
12 .•• ..td7 13. 'i!?b1 Y9/c7
Black has terrible problems with

his king stuck in the middle of the
board. White gets his piece back
and keeps his attack. White has
a large advantage here. I will give It is high time for White to unleash
a few sample lines: 13 ... lfJes an immediate attack, but again Kar
pov is not interested in direct play.
(13 .. li:Jf4 14. i;.xf4 gxf4 15.h4 �g7
.
16. !fxf4White first collects on f4

and protects his fs-pawn, before
pushing 17.g5 with a winning game, Another timid move, taking White
while 16... lfJd7 loses to 1J.lfJe4.) further from his goals.
86 CHESS M I D DLEGAME STRATEGI ES
14.h4! would have given White ex White now gets his pawn back but
cellent attacking possibilities. 14 ... lands in a worse ending
l:Lixh4 15.f4 gxf4 16. Axf4 l:Lig6
18. Axd6 Axd6 19.W9xd6 W9xd6
(16... e5?? 17. Ag3+-; 16 . . 0-0-0?
. 20. !!xd6 c:Jite7
l'J.gs l:Lig8 18. 'B.g3! with the terrible
threat of 19. l:Lid5 18... c:Jitb8 19.l:Lids! Black is better.
exds 20. .E:c3 and White wins 20... -
Yl9b6 21. !!b3 Yl9a7 22. Ae3) 21. 'B.d4 l:Lig6 22.l:Lia; l:Lie; 23.g; hxgs
24. 2:!xg; l:Lifd7
17.g5 White's initiative is probably
worth more than a pawn.
15.f4 was a better choice.
In this position with a risk-free ad

vantage for Black, the players agreed
to a draw.
CHA PTER II. S PA N ISH PIECE SA CRIFICE
em treatment of this complex mid

dlegame benefits from computer
analysis.
Black's piece sacrifice has a strategic

basis. In sacrificing the knight Black
removes White's two central pawns
and most often collects a third pawn
somewhere along the way as well.
a b c d e f g h The resulting positions are usual
ly materially balanced, with Black
In Budapest in 1993 the 10 th World having three pawns for a knight,
Champion, Boris Spassky, and the and strategically complicated.
Hungarian rising star Judit Pol
ga.r - only 16 at the time! - played The featured piece sacrifice can
a 10-game friendly match, won by come from one of the critical lines
Polgar. In the final game of the in the Breyer variation of the Span
match Spassky, playing Black, went ish, as in Polgar-Spassky, Nakamu
ix a piece sacrifice that had a strong ra-Golod and Rasmussen-Sokolov,
influence on me and I would like to so analyzing and understanding
share his idea in this book. this also has theoretical value. The
fourth game, Polgar-Sokolov, has no
I immediately liked the Spassky sac theoretical value as I left the theo
rifice and did not hesitate to follow retical paths quite early, but it is in
his strategy, so two games in the structive for understanding the re
chapter (games three and four) are sulting complex positions.
from my own practice - one even
against Judit! Game two in this As with the other chapters, I will try
chapter, Nakamura-Golod, deviates to give a set of rules or guidelines:
• move 22(!) when White chooses
22.. �ac1 instead of Polgar's 22.b4. • Collecting the white bishop pair
We see this game, and Shirov-Tar is good for Black.
jan, in the comments, as the mod-
• Pawns are there to be pushed! If Black's main move here.

possible Black should push them
and seize space. 15 ... a5!? is an interesting alternative
• Black's main problem is usu for Black, which I will deal with in
ally his king position, so White my coming book on the Classical
should use his extra piece as an Spanish. In this chapter we are aim
attacking force against the black ing to explore the thematic central
king. piece sacrifice.
16.d5
12
For readers interested in a bit of
t> J. Polgar opening information, we have an
... B. Spassky important move order situation
Budapest, 1993 here!
1.e4 es 2.lZ:Jf3 lZ:Jc6 3. i.b5 a6 4. i.a4 16 lZ:Jb6

..•
lZ:Jf6 5.0-0 il.. e7 6. !!e1 bs 7. il.. b3

0-0 8.CJ d6 9.h3 lZ:Jb8 10.d4 lZ:Jbd7 This was the move order for Spassky
11.�bd2 i.b7 12. i.c2 !!e8 13.lZ:JfI and Tal while 16... !!c8 has been seen
i.f8 14.lZ:Jg3 g6 15.b3 in more recent games, so I will give
some opening information here.
16 ... !!c8 is the modern move order

for Black and after 17. i.e3 c6 18.C4
lZ:Jb6 19.l!i°e2 cxd5 20.cxd5 �bxd5
2i.exd5 lZ:Jxd5 we reach our game
position.
a b c d e f g h This allows Black an important ex

tra option!
White's idea is clear - she wants to
push d4-d5 and then c3-C4, so the a) 17.l!i°e2?! c6 18.C4 is not a good
pawn on b3 will support her central way for White to build the central
pawn chain. pawn chain and it led to a quick
victory in an old Tal game: 18...
cxd5 19.cxd5
CHAPTER I I . SPANISH PIECE SACRIFICE 89
and White does not get to form the

pawn chain! Arguably the most log
ical course for White now is to grab
5
4
a pawn with 18.dxc6 �xc6 19 . .Jlxb6
3
2 (19. l!9d2 ds is definitely fine for
Black.)
a b c d e f g h
19 ... l!9xb6 20. l!9xd6 :S.ad8ii!i Black's
19. . . ll::l fxd5! 20.exd5 e4 21.ll:J xe4 bishop pair provides sufficient com
�xa1 22 . .Jlg5 f6+ 23 . .Jle3? (23.l!9d1! pensation here; computer analysis
would have kept practical chances agrees with this verdict.
in an exchange-down position.)
23...ll::l xd5 24. :S.xa1 ll:Jxe3 25.!Vxe3 1 8 . l!9e2
Axe4 26 . .Jlxe4 ds 0-1, Unzicker
Tal, FRG-USSR match 1960. 18.ll:ld2?! does not change much,
apart from the fact that Black now
b) The way for White to exploit sacrifices under better circumstanc
Black's move order is 17. :S.b1! c6 es! 18...c6 19.c4 cxd5 20.cxd5
18.C4;;!; White has had excellent
practical results from this position,
though there are not that many
games here and verdicts could be
re-examined.
r,... :S.c8
a b c d e F g h
Here Black has an important alter
native in 17...c6! 20... ll:Jbxd5! 21.exd5 tlJxd5 White's
pieces are rather uncoordinated
B J.. � ···· here. One high-level rapid game
1 8.t• .,_ !,I i
6 i r'<1 • • • •• went 22.ll:JfJ ll:Jxe3! Black correct
s i"i ly takes the bishop pair - one of
4 our rules here! 23.fxe3 ds Although
3
Black has only two pawns for
a piece, the white pieces are poorly
a b c d e f g h coordinated and Black has a strong
centre supported by his powerful
bishop pair. Black has the advan-
90 CHESS M I DDLEGAME STRATEG I ES
tage here and went on to win in ous. Computer engines evaluate the
McShane,L (2671)-Adams,M (2744) position around o.oo. We have quite
London 2016. a number of top games in this po
sition, so let's go through them. In
18. . .c6 19.c4 cxd5 20.cxd5 a more recent game Nakamura con
tinued 22. l:!aci. We will look into it
separately in Game 14 because of the
density of the analysis.
Young Judit Polgar senses that ac

tivity and piece coordination are
the key here and does not hesitate to
give up a pawn to achieve that aim!
Former World Championship chal

Now Black goes for our standard lenger Gata Kamsky decided to fur
Breyer piece sacrifice. ther alter the material imbalance by
playing 22. �e4?! and after 22 ...lLIC3
20 lL!bxd5! 21.exd5 lL!xd5
••• 23. �xb7 lL:lxe2+ 24.lL:lxe2
8 • • � .. .. .
Compared to Game 14, Rasmussen 7 ·�· · · � ·
Sokolov, one may argue that White 6 .I. , 'w 7� J'/,i W
is in much better shape here, be
cause (a) Black has, for the moment
sa •
4
,
,
/� , w
41
8
��,�-
3
anyway, only two pawns for a piece
instead of three, and (b) the white 2 8
i g
;� �
x "
� ,
knight is not stranded on as; it is a b c d e f g h
here on g3. Still, Black has a pow
erful pawn centre, supported by we have a kind of situation I de
a strong pair of bishops. Our rules scribed in volume one of this "Chess
apply here: (a) trading the knight Middlegame Strategies" series, the
for one of the white bishops is good chapter on material imbalance.
for Black, (b) Black should push his As described there, a queen often
central pawns, the further the better, fights better against a rook and two
and (c) Black should be careful about knights than against two knights
his king's position, as an attack by and a bishop. This applies espe
White can quickly become danger- cially if the side with the queen can
CHAPTER II. SPANISH PIECE SACRIFICE 91
take space by pushing his central

pawns, limiting the activity of the
opponent's knights. This is exactly
what Paul van der Sterren does here!
He happily gives up an exchange in
order to take space with his central
pawns. 24 ... d5! 25. ii.xc8 lWxc8 Black
was better and went on to win in
Kamsky,G (2695)-Van der Sterren,P
(2605) Wijk aan Zee 1994.
a b c d e f g h
tt:Jxe3! would again be interest

2.2.. •• 23 .td5
.••
ing for Black, this time with plen

ty of direct tactical possibilities. In general Black should not com
2J.fxe3 ii.xf3 24.gxf3 e4! plain about an exchange of light
squared bishops here. When he con
sidered 23 ...d5 Spassky probably did
not like positions like those arising
after 24. l!fd2 e4. In this particular
situation, this pawn push surren
ders an important square. 25.tl:Jd4
tl:Jd3 26. :Sed1 White looks better
a b c d e f g h here.
25.tl:Jxe4 Black can now force a draw 24. !!ed1

with 25 ... ii.xa1
24.a3!? .txb3 25.axb4 was an inter
(If unhappy with a draw, Black esting tactical solution.
should explore 25... ds or 25.. j5.)
26. �xa1 d5 27. l:!d1 l!fh4 28. !!xd5

�xe4 29 . .txe4 26 . .tc2! would have presented
Black with a difficult choice, as af
(or 29jxe4 '%!¥g3+=) ter 26 ... d5 27. .txd3 ii.xd3 28.l!:Vxd3 e4
29. l!fe2 ii.xa1 30. !!xa1 exf3 3i. '%!¥xf3
White has the advantage because of
g o +=. the weakened black king.
92 CH ESS M I DDLEGAM E STRATEGI ES
26 d5 27. �C2 lfJc5

•••
(32. l!!id2 fs!+)
32... WidS! +
3 1 i.xa2 32. i.b1 i.xb1 33. B'.xb1

• . .
tl:Ja4!
An important moment! Attacking

the black king is White's main aim
here and for that reason an impor
tant defender, the bishop on g?, had
to be eliminated!
28. B'.e1?
Forcing a queen exchange decides
Correct was 28. i.xg7 �xg7 29.a4. the battle.
White missed her chance for an ad
vantage with 26. i.c2! but the posi 34. Wixb6 tl:J xb6 35. i.e3 tl:Ja4
tion is still balanced as Black cannot 36.tl:Jd4 l;:Jq
push the central pawns without sur
rendering squares.
28... i.hS!
Polgar now tries to develop an at

tack, but with Black's dark-squared
bishop still alive, it does not work
well.
a b c d e f g h
Seeing no immediate threats on his The smoke has cleared. Black has
king, Spassky grabs another pawn. a material advantage and Spassky
ultimately brings it home. The rest puter's top choice and this became
ofthe game is not interesting for our the modern main line here.
chapter theme, so I have left it with
out comments. 22. B'.ac1
17. E'.bc1 B'.c4 38.lZJge2 CL:i xe2+

J9.�xe2 :Sds 40.g4 d4 41. B'.cd1
dJ 42.CL:lg3 .1l.c3 43 . .1l.d2 .1l. xd2
44. B'.xd2 B'.dd4 45.f3 exf3 46.\!?fa
"4 47. \!?xf) B'.d8 48. B'.e7 B'.bs
49. B'.d7 b3 50.R7xd3 as 51. B'.b2 a4
µ .� n \!?g7 53.\!?e3 B'.a8 54.CZJc3
� · 4 55.CL:lxa4 E'.axa4 56. E'.bxb3 !!f4
j7.'i!i>e2 \!?h6 58. B'. f3 \!?g5 59.\!?fa
�3+ 60. \!?xf3 \!?h4 61. \!?g2 B'.a2+
62.'i!i>g1 h5 63.gxh5 \!?xh5 64.1:H3
'5 65. B'.f4 B'.e2 66.\!?h1 B'.e4 67. B'.fa A critical position. Black is facing
�h4 68. @g2 B'.b4 69. @h2 E:e4 a difficult choice here! Trading his
70. 'i!i>g2 f4 71. \!?f3 B'.e5 72. B'.g2 gs knight for the white bishop on e3 is
73- �g4+ \!?xh3 74. !!g3+ \!?h4 0-1 recommended by one of our general
rules and is in itself definitely ad
visable. However, as in this game,
13 Black can also go for 22 . CZJq in
. .
order to collect a third pawn, the

1> H. Nakamura one on a2, which also make perfect
... V. Golod sense! Most Black players deciding
Gibraltar (8,s). 2009 between collecting the bishop pair
or a pawn allowed material greed to
Le4 es 2.CZJf3 CZJc6 3 . .1l.b5 a6 4 . .1l.a4 get the better of them . . .
�f6 5.0-0 .1l.e7 6. E'.e1 b5 7. .1l.b3 d6
l.c3 o-o 9.h3 tZ::l b S 10.d4 tZ::l bd7 22...CZJC)
IL�bd2 .1l.b7 12 . .1l.c2 B'.e8 13.tZ::l f1
Af8 14.lZJg3 g6 15.b3 �g7 16.d5 B'.c8 It is interesting to analyze what hap
17. Ae3 c6 18.c4 tZ::lb 6 19. �e2 cxd5 pens if Black suppresses his greed
20.Cid5 lZJbxd5 21.exd5 lZJxd5 and goes for the bishop pair: 22 ...
lZJxe3! 23.�xe3
Two great players Nakamura and
Shirov, both now opted for the corn- (23jxe3!? can be a problem for
Black, as White gets an option to
94 CHESS M ID DLEGAM E STRATEGI ES
break the black pawn centre with the black king! The position is very
an e3-e4 pawn push and get an at complicated and the better calcula
tack on the black king. One nice tor is likely to win. 25 ... �h8
line goes as follows: 23... d5 24.b4
�e7 25. �b3! �xb4?! 26.e4! Roads [In the event of 25 ... �f6!? 26. �xg7
to the black king are now opening (26.li'ih2? is not good due to 26...
up! 26... dxe4? 2J.li'igs �ds 28. �xds �xh6 2J,�xh6 �f4+; 26.b4 similar
�d4+ 29.�h2 �xds 30. 'i!.ed1 �b7 to the play by Nakamura or Polgar
31. 'i!.xcB 'i!.xcB 32. �g4 White has is an option.) 26 ... �xg7 27. 'i!.e3 b4
a winning attack.) 28. 'i!.ae1 White may get an attack
here.]
23 ... d5� White's main plan should be
an attack on the black king, which is 26.li'ih2 b4 27.li'ig4 d5 Shirov now
easier said than done. To me the po pushes his f-pawn aiming to weak
sition looks dynamically balanced. en the black king's defences. 28.f4!?
e4 29.f5 Black takes the correct de
cision to push his pawns. 29 ... d4
30. �g5
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h The critical moment! 30... �d5? Shi

rov now displays his famous attack
Nakamura goes for a similar idea to ing skills
Polgar's, shifting the bishop from c2
to the a2-g8 diagonal. [30 .. .f6! was needed and actually
White has unpleasant choices to
make as 3i.li'i h6+ (The alterna
tive 31. �h6 e3! 32.�d3 li'ie4 is bad
White takes some space. for White.) 3i... 'i!i>f8 looks okay for
Black: 32. �xe4 (32fxg6? e3+) 32...
25. �h6 was Shirov's choice. Again li'ixe4 33.li'ixe4 'i!.xe4 34. 'i!.xe4 �xe4
White aims for a direct attack on 35.lWxb4+ �e7 36. 'i!fxd4 'i!fc5+.]
JL/i)xe4! E:xe4 32. it.xe4 ll:Jxe4 I can easily imagine that Vitali
JJ.. .=:xe4 hs Golod was not in the mood to cal
culate 28 ... l!fxb4 29.ll:Jg4 l!fxb3
[n... l!fxe4 runs into a nice mate: 30.ll:Jh5.
J4.�e1 l!fd5 35. E:e8+! E:xe8 36.ll:Jh6+
� (or 36... <tlfB 3J.1Wxb4+) 37.f6+
$1£8 38.l!fxb4+]
J4-�h6+ <tlh7 35. E:e7 gxf5 36.ll:Jxf7

..-o Shirov,A (2674)-Tarjan,J (2447)
Helsingor 2016.
a b c d e f g h
Though the white attack looks

ait.c5!? can also be considered. menacing there is apparently no
devastating blow available. 30 ...
E:xei+ 3i. E:xe1 Cl:Je4 32. !I.xe4 dxe4
33.ll:Jhf6+ it.xf6 34.ll:J xf6+ <tlh8
35.Cl:Je8
(35. l!Vd1 e3! 36. it. xe3 <tlg7 37- it. d4

ll!!e6 38.ll:Jds+ <tlh6=)
35 ... l!fc3 36.lfxc3+ !! xc3 37. it.g7+

<tlgB 38. it.xc3 should be a draw.
a b c d e f g h
:Nakamura goes for an attack on

the black king, following one of our
rules here!
27. Ah6!
2].�c5?! E:xc5 28.bxc5 l!fxc5 was

something Black was hoping to see.
27 Ahs 28.ll:Jxe5! it.xe5

•••
Another critical moment! 41 ... �d8 42. �xc3 �b6+ 43. �c5
�xc5+ 44.bxc5 Ei.e7 45.ll:ld6 Ei.e5
46.c6 Ei.c5 47.�c8 'i!?f7 48.�a7 1-0
29 ... �h4! was holding the bal

ance: 30.fxe5 �xg3 31. �d4 (31. Ei.e3? 14
�h4+) 3i... Ei.e6 White, though two
pawns down, should now simplify 1> A. Rasmussen
to a likely draw with 32. Ei.e3 ll:le2+ � I. Sokolov
33 . .l:!xe2 �xb3 34. �a7! �c3 35. Ei.c1 Heisinger (?.?]. 2017
�xci+ 36 . .Jlxc1 Ei.xci+ 37. 'i!?h2 �c6
38.�xa6=. 1.e4 e5 2.�f3 �c6 3 .tb5 a6 4. .ta4
•
�f6 5.0-0 .te7 6. Ei.e1 b5 7. �b3 d6

30. Ei. xe4 dxe4 31.fxe5 �xe5 8.CJ 0-0 9.h3 ll:lb8 10.d4 ll:lbd7
32. Ei.fi+- 11.ll:lbd2 .tb7 12. i.c2 Ei.e8 13.a4
White aims to take space on the

queenside and later decides on the
future of his d2-knight.
Another option is a standard Span

ish knight transfer via fr to g3. For
13.�fi see Polgar-Spassky.
Black's problem is his king! White

has a devastating attack.
32 ... Ei.e7 33. Ei. xf7 Ei. xf7 34.�d7

�e8 35. �xb7 Ei.c4 36 . .txc4 bxc4
37. �xa6 Ei.c7 38. �d6 Ei.d7 39. �c5
c3 40. �c4+ Ei.f7 41.ll:lxe4+-
And White soon won: a b c d e f g h
15.b3 has been seen in many top

games.
CHAPTER I I . SPAN ISH PIECE SACRIFICE 97
JS-�b6!
A good positional move, pressing

White to determine his queenside
pawn structure. Once that structure
bas been set, Black will more easily
adjust his plans. Here 15 ... .l:!c8 or 15 ..
.
g6 are typical flexible Breyer moves

similar to 15 ... l!fq and have been
tried in practice by strong players.
In my previous game where a b c d e F g h

I reached this position, three years
earlier in the Spanish league, I al 20 ... �g7 this moves counters the
lowed White to keep his queenside white bishop on the al-h8 diagonal
pawn structure flexible and could and aims for the ...c6-c5 pawn break
have got into trouble. I think ana
lyzing this game will help readers (Another possibility was going for
understand the pros and cons of the another pawn break with 20... d5!?
position, so I will give it here. 15 ... 21.exds ti:Jxd5. During the game
9'q 16.l!fc2 .l:!ac8 17. �b2 g6 I did not feel comfortable about
this position, but in reality White
cannot really profit from the weak
ness of the al-h8 diagonal. The
white pawn on b4 is a target and
Black retains the possibility of the
... c6-c5 pawn break. The position
is balanced.)
a b c d e f g h
2i. .l:!ac1 Now it's time for Black to
The last three moves I made are make a pawn break. 2i. .. c5 22. Y!!fa2
standard Breyer moves.-Black keeps
ftexibility and is ready to open the •
centre. However White, not be
ing pressed to define the queenside
pawn structure, has an easier time
making his plans. White could con
tinue to keep his options open but
he decides that the time is right to a b c d e f g h
(22. Wib3 was another option. There 24... l!e7 25.lZJg5 l:!f8 The only move
is a dynamic balance but the posi for Black to stay in the game. (If
tion looks easier to play for White.) 25 ... lZJfB White has some different
options, but a nice win is 26. iJ.. xf7+
Not being able to work out the con �xf7 27.c6! it.as 28.lZJxf7 Wixf7
sequences of 22 ... 1£ld5, I went for 29.Wixf7+ @xf7 30.CZJC4! and Black
the central pawn break 22...d5? This will lose a piece and the game. 30...
pawn break is wrong and should 'i!tg8 31.� b6+-) 26.c6 (26.Wib2±)
have got Black in serious trouble! 26 ... il.. xc6 27. E'.ed1 Black is under
I terribly underestimated the tactics multiple pins and should collapse
related to the a2-g8 diagonal. here.]
[The placement of the white queen 24... lZJe5 now White is forced to part
on a2 has a tactical drawback and with one of his bishops and Black is
I could have equalized with 22 ... back in the game 25. il.. xe5
�ds! (23 ... lZJxb4-is a big threat,
gaining tempi.) 23 . .1i.c4 it.xd4 (25. .1i.C4 would still have kept
(23 ... cxd4 24. il.. xd5 il.. xd5 25.Wixd5 some advantage for White. 25...
Wixc1 26. E'.xc1 E'.xci+ 2J.@h2 lZJe5 to lZJxc4 26.CZJXC4 il.. d5 2J.Wid2 .1i.xC4
me looks risky for Black, but the 28. 1:!xC4i)
silicon brain pronounces o.oo.)
24.lZJxd4 lZJ7b6! 25. il.. xd5 lZJxds
26.exd5 �xei+ 27. l:!xe1 cxd4 and
a draw is the most likely result.]
White is now at risk of getting tan

gled in different pins and the tac
a b c d e f g h tics are starting to work for Black.
26.�gxe4 !ids 27.lZJxf6+
(27. Wic2! Wie; 28.lZJxf6+ il.. xf6

[24. il..C4! was the way for White to 29. �xe5 il.. xe5 30.c6 il.. xc6 31.Wixc6
continue and Black is in bad shape. 'E!xd3 32.�f3=)
27 Axf6 28. AC4? This blunders

•..
into deadly pins.
(28. VJ!!c2 was necessary, though

White is now on the defensive.)
16.axb5
In the event of 16.a5 tl:Jbd7 Black's

a b c d e f g h tempo loss is well compensated for
by the creation of a strong base to
The power of the black bishop pair the a6/b5 pawn chain. This posi
now rules! White will either get tional idea - often see it in similar
mated or suffer decisive material positions and well worth remem
losses. 30. !!e2 l!fc6! 3i.tl:Je4 bering - is the essential idea behind
the 15 ... tl:Jb6 move. With the black
(J1j3 loses a piece: 31 .. l!Vxcs+ . pawn on a6 firmly supporting its
32. @h1 �xd2 33 . Axf7+ @g7 colleague on b5, Black pushes ... c5
34. 'Bxd2 Axd2-+; 31. Axf7+ Wg7-+ next and gaining good play. 17. l!Vb3
only transposes to the line above.) c5 18.C4 d5!
33 . .ixf4+ 34.g3 l!fxc5! 35. Axf7+

..
�8 36. 'Bg2 Axe4 37. Ags Axg3+

0-1 Perez Candelario,M (2575) a b c d e f g h
Sokolov,I (2646) Linares 2014.
How often do you see a position like
this? Many pawn captures to calcu
late and many crazy lines, the sil
icon brain going as usual for o.oo
100 CHESS M I D DLEGAM E STRATEGIES
evaluations. One wild line might go games. 16...cxb5 appealed to me be

19.cxb5 cause it had been less played. It sets
the stage for our thematic piece sac
(19.exds cxd4 can be only better for rifice, which will soon appear, and
Black.) it demands more "outside the box"
decisions, a helpful scenario if one
19 ... c4 20.lLlxC4 dxe4 2i.bxa6 Ads is trying to win with Black. Make
22.dxe5 exd3 no mistake - 16... cxb5 is a position
ally sound idea, having received the
(22... exf3 23. Ab2-t looks promising Carlsen seal of approval on at least
for White.) two occasions!
23.l!fxd3 l!fq 24.ll:Jb6 �xf3 25. Af4=.

Only a silicon brain can calculate
those complications to a o.oo. In
a human fight some huge swindle
is likely to happen in such positions!
i6 cxb5!?
...
a b c d e f g h
22 ... ll:JC4 (It is a bit puzzling that

Magnus refrained from 22.. ll:Jxds ..
23.exds e4 when Black has excellent

a b c d e f g h play.) 23. AxC4 .B'.xc4 24.ll::ld2 :S.qoo
1/2-1/2 Anand,V (2800)-Carlsen,M
This positional decision sets the (2826) Bilbao 2010.
stage for the sacrificial theme we are
exploring in this chapter. b) 18.l!fb3 l!fq 19. Ab2 has been
tried by Shirov. Black now gets ac
16... axb5 is the main theoretical tive play based on the f7-f5 thrust,
move, played by many famous play which helps to activate his bishop
ers, Magnus Carlsen included. Black on b7. 19 ...ll:Jh5 20. .B'.ac1
held his own in the majority of the
CHAPTER I I. SPANISH PIECE SACRIFICE 101
20 . .f5 [20...lfJf4! was the right move

.
order! 2i. ii.fr f5! Black is probably

better. now. 22.C4 bxC4 23.lfJxc4
fxe4 and now 24.lfJxb6 (24.lfJcxes
leads to complications that are This was my idea, novel at the time.
good for Black: 24 ... iLxds 25.l!fe3 Black keeps his knight on f6 in or
otlxg2 26. Axg2 l!fb7 and White is der to maintain central sacrificial
fighting for survival.) 24 ... l!fxb6 ideas.
25. !!c6 simply does not work due
to 25 ... Axc6 26.dxc6+ d5+.] 21.C4! a) The type of play I definitely did
fxe4 (21 ... bxc4 22.lfJxC4 fxe4 now is not want to enter was 18 ... lfJa4?
not good for Black on account of
23.lfJxb6 l!fxb6
a b c d e f g h
A serious positional mistake.

a b c d e f g h 19. !!xa4! bxa4 20.l!fxa4 For a min
imal material investment White is
24. !!c6! Axc6 25. dxc6+ 'i!JhB ready to roll his queenside pawns,
26.lfJgs g6 2'J. il..xe4--+) 22.cxb5 l!fd7 while Black has no counter in sight!
23.lfJxe4 kxd5 (23 ... axbs 24. !!c6!i)
24.l!fd1 !!xc1 25. kxc1 axb5 26.lfJfg5 b) A standard Breyer-Zaitsev idea
with a messy game. White even is to push .. .f7-f5 in order to acti
tually won in Shirov,A (2730) vate the bishop on b7, as in Shirov
Baramidze,D (2532) Germany 2010. Baramidze above. 18 ... lfJh5 with
102 CHESS M I D D LEGAM E STRATEG IES
.. .fs to follow had been played some

years earlier by Carlsen against
Shirov, resulting in a tactical fire
works display. 19. Afr (19.CL\b3;;!;)
19 . .fs 20.CL!xes E!xes Now we get
.
a nice strategic lecture about the

importance of the central pawn
chain, and its destruction! 21.C4!
ltif6 22. Axes dxes 23.cs a b c d e f g h
Black can apply standard tactics for

these positions. 19 ... CL!bxds! 20.exds
(20. lti a5 CL\f4 21.CL\ xb7 'B xb7

22. E!xa6 d5+)
a b c d e f g h 20 ... e4 21.ltias!? White resorts to tac

tical play, but Black has enough re
The white pawn chain needs to be sources
destroyed! 23 ... fxe4! 24.d6! (24.cxb6
Axb4+) 24 ...CL\a4 (The other way (In the event of 21. Ae2 Black has
was 24 ... Axd6!? 25.cxd6 WIxd6oo ) different solutions, one being 21 ...
2s.CZJC4 (25. 'Bxa4!? bxa4 26.IJi'Jc4 exf3 22. Axf3 'Bxei+ 23. WIxe1 Axd5
would have maintained White's 24. Axd5 lti xd5 25. 1:!xa6 Wies
pawn chain, but perhaps sacrificed 26. E!a1 CL\xc3+.)
too much for the luxury!) 2s ... ltixcs!
removing the pawn chain after all! 21 ... Axds 22.C4 bxC4 23. A:�:f6 Wlxf6
26.bxcs E!xcsoo and this sharp game 24. Af1 �e6 2s. 'Bxe4 ds
ended as a draw after a long bat
tle in Shirov,A (2749)-Carlsen,M
(2826) Bilbao 2010.
White moves his bishop away from

central tactical tricks in order to en a b c d e f g h
able his knight to transfer from d2
to as. 26. E!e1
(26. �e2 leaves the ai-ro6k unpro ment on move 3i. Wlq below). Com
tected: 26... ii.xb4 2J.Wla4 'ii ec8+) pared to the 20... lL.'Ja4? line below,
the black bishop is no longer hang
26-.�b8! ing on b7, so White now also needs
to reckon with 2i. .. lL.'Ja4, should he
(26... .iLxb4? now does not work refrain from 2i.lL.'Jas.
well: 27.Wla4± 'ii b8 28. 'ii ab1 Wlq
29.�c6 WIe8 30. 'ii xb4 'ii xb4 31. WIxb4 a) The immediate sacrifice 20 ...
�xc6 32.lL.'Jd4 and the wonderfully lL.'Jxe4 21. 'ii xe4 lL.'Jxdsoo was defi
placed knight on d4 ensures White nitely possible and I seriously con
a clear advantage here.) sidered it, but finally I decided
I would be in a better situation
Z]'.�d4 �xb4 The future of White's with the white knight on as.
knight on as - whether or not it gets
ID jump to c6 - is crucial to assess b) 20 ... lL.'Ja4? still runs into 2i. 'ii xa4
this position. Now this knight re bxa4 22.lL.'Jas± and the black bishop
mains stranded on as. 28. 'ii e2 'ii b6+ hanging on b7 does not allow 22...
a3 23. i.a1 'ii xc3 because of the sim
19-.!fcs 20.lL.'Jb3 ple 24.lL.'Jxb7 'ii xf3 2s.Wlxf3 Wlxb7
26. Wlxa3 with a large White ad
vantage.
21.lL.'Ja5
20... �as
Preparing a central piece sacrifice

·on my terms" - with the white
knight placed on as. If the white
knight were still on b3 it could jump
immediately to cs when Black later The position I was aiming for. Black
advances his d-pawn (see the corn- gets three pawns for the piece. Fae-
104 CH ESS M I DDLEGAME STRATEGIES
tors in Black's favour include: Black crucial for White to get his knight
hopes that White's a5-knight will on a5 back into play and create tac
remain out of play; Black's bishop tical threats - tactical threats by the
on a8 should be strong; Black hopes side with the extra piece are danger
to roll his central pawns; and the ous, one of our guiding rules here.
White b-pawn will also be a weak If White gets to coordinate his pie
ness, after the pawn on c3 gets elim ces, Black may run into problems
inated next move. The future of with his king safety, another of the
White's knight on a5 - whether or general rules in those positions. In
not it enters the battle in time - will general it is a good idea for Black to
be an important factor. trade his knight for one of the white
bishops, if he can conveniently do
so. Let's see how it goes.
23.il"d2 CZJxc3 24. B:e3 CZJd5 25. !!:b3

was also possible, but it seems less
logical to me than the text since the The knight is heading for f4, creat
white knight on a5 now really looks ing threats on the hi-a8 diagonal
stranded. and also getting ready to roll the
central pawns.
a) 24 ... ii.d5?! 25.il"a3 (25.il"xc3 B:xc3

26. B:xc3 il"d7+) 25 ...CZJa4 26. B:d1;t
will strand the black knight on a4,
after White moves his bishop from
b2 to ai, for no obvious reason.
b) 24 ... CZJa4 wanting to exchange

the black knight for the white
bishop is a good idea, but the po
sition after 25. B:xa4 bxa4 26. t:Wxa4
was not clear to me, as I did not see
how to conveniently roll my cen
Let's take stock here. We have tral pawns.
a material balance. It is important
for Black to advance his d-pawn to 25. B:ee1
d4, as it will take space and unveil
the bishop on f8 to attack the white During the game I was optimistic
pawn weakness on b4. Again, it is here but actually the ensuing posi-
tions seem dynamically b alanced, 28. kd2 d5

the computer yet again saying o.oo.
Part of the mission has been accom
plished - the black central pawns
are on the move! However, it came
26_ �ee7 was definitely possible, but at a cost: White took over the c-file!
illooked a bit clumsy to me at the
time.
r]. �XCl
a b c d e f g h
30.ifc2
f-orcing Black to move his knight 30.h4!? was an interesting option

&om its active position. to disturb the black knight on g6.
I would have played 30 ... h5, which
r] llJg6
••• is also the computer's suggestion,
when it would not be clear who was
Zl-· !ff5? is the kind of mistake Black going to profit from the inclusion of
should avoid as the white pieces 30.h4 hs. In general it does fit into
DOW connect nicely with one anoth · White's strategy to weaken the black
er. 28.llJd4! iff6 29.llJdc6! A white king position.
knight on c6 is bad news for Black
here. 29 ... E:c8 30. �xf4 ifxf4
(Jo .. exf4 31. E:ci±)

. 3i.tlJb3 bringing the knight to c5
(and the reason why I included 20 ...
JLg3± with ll.. g2 to follow and Black Aas before sacrificing) was perhaps
can forget about rolling his central the best, leading to a dynamically
pawns. balanced position.
106 CHESS MIDDLEGAM E STRATEGIES
a b c d e f g h
3i. ..d3 32.'Llc5! .txc5 33. "f/xc5 e4
(33 ... ii.xf3 ? 34.gxf3 CL\ h4 favors

White: 35. .tg2 "flfs 36."f!c6±.)
34."f/d4! "f/e7 35 . .tc3

Being worried about losing the a6-
pawn and then having bs hanging
as well, I decided to create a direct
(35 .. .f6 36.CL\d2 with B'.e1 to follow threat. 32 ... d3! was the way to go.
and Black will need to push .. .f5 33. "flxa6 (33 . .te3 .txb4 34. "ffxa6
anyway.) .tfB+) 33 ... e4 34.'Lle1 it::l e5 Although
Black lost a pawn in the process,
36.'Lld2 'Llf4 with an unclear game, and now has only two for his sacri
both sides having something to ficed piece, he has domination here.
hope for - Black has advanced his The white knight on as is locked out,
pawns far and, for the time being at along with other pieces.
least, "killed" White's bishop on fi.
White has a monster dark-squared
bishop, a rook on the c-file, and con
trol of the dark squares... Believing in Black's threat will cost
White the game!
31 ... "f/d5
What was the drawback of Black's
31 ... "f/e6! + was a good move. Tem last move? His potentially weak
po-gaining moves like 32.it::l g 5?! king's position! White could have
made me nervous , but that knight turned the tables with 33.'Llc6!
would soon be forced to retreat: 32...
"f/d5 33.'Llc6 h6 34.'LlfJ !!e6+.
(38... 1!¥xd2? 39. l!9e6+ c;!;hB 40. 2:!c8

l!9xb4 41.l!9xa6 11.. xf3 42.l!9xb5 l!9e7
43. l!fbB+-)
a b c d e f g h
33. . ll:Jh4! is Black's best, and diffi

.
cult to find in such a sudden turn of

events! · Black is still not out of the
woods, as his weak king's position a b c d e f g h
again plays the crucial role!
White's king is safer than his black
(33... il.xc6? 34. 2:!xc6 e4? 35. 2:!xa6 counterpart. A line that illustrates
!Jc2 36. 2:!a2+-; while my planned the black king's weakness here can
33... e4? would have been hit by go 4i. .. 2:!a8?
a thunderbolt: 34. 1l.. xb5!! exf3
35. 1l.. C4 and Black gets mated!) (41... h5 42.1!¥xa6;!;)
34.ll:Je7+! 11.. xe7 35. l!fxe7 ll:Jxf3+ 42. l!fe6+ c;!;f8 43. l!fd7 hs
J6.gxf3 �f8 37. �g5!
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
44.h4! The bishop enters the fray
Mate in two - l!fxf8 followed by from fL 44 ... c;!;g8 45. 11.. h3 E:e8
�c8 - is generally a good threat! 46. 1l..e6+ c;!;h8
37 f6 38. 1l.. d 2! White has threats
...
against the weak black king along (46... !!! xe6 4;.l!Bxe6+ c;!;h7 48. l!9h3
the seventh and eighth ranks. 38 ... should ultimately win for White.)
Axf3
47. 1l..g 5! 1l.. g4 48. �c8+-
108 CHESS MIDDLEGAME STRATEGI ES
a b c d e F g h
37... l!fxfa is the way I would have

played
a b c d e f g h
(37... E: q is the computer way.
38.l!Vfs E!e6 39. !!xes To a human
it is not immediately obvious that
Now all the white pieces are bad, the this position is totally won for
white king weak and in order to pre Black 39... l!Va1!-+ 40. E!xe6 l!Vxfi+
vent mate White has to lose tons of 41. @h2 fxe6 42.l!Vxe6+ WhB and
pawns. White cannot make use of Black's
weak back rank. 43.l!Vf7 ii.d6+)
38. !!c1 !!e6 39. ii.g2 l:!g6 40. �d5 e4!

35. ii.g2 ge6-+ 41.l!Vxe4 :Se6 42. l!f6 :Sei+ 43. :Sxe1
�xei+ 44. ii.f1 l!Vxb4 45.ll:Jc6 �c3-+
35 ll:Jxf3+
•..
Black still needs to remain fo

cused - avoiding some back-rank
tricks -but the game has been de
cided. White's knight on as never
managed to enter the battle.
36. @h1 ll:Jxe1 37. !!xe1

JI... �g6+ 39. :!:!g4 :!:! f6 40.@h1 A novel idea of mine, not previously
!!Ih seen in grandmaster practice, to get
the game off well-trodden paths. My
.fO... �xfa-+ also wins. idea had not found any followers by
the time of writing, though. I guess
4L �g1 :!:!d6 42. 'i!Vb7 d3 43.Cl:Jc6 'i!Vf6 the positions coming after 1s.ds ll:Je7
44. �g2 d2 45. :!:!d1 e4! 46. i.xe4 16.C4 (see the comment on 1s. �a4
!fe6 47. �g2 ifei+ 48. <i!th2 :!:!e6 0-1 below) are a bit passive and there
fore do not appeal to Black players.
Now looking back from some dis
15 tance, I do admit that a reasonable
amount of wishful thinking had
1> J. Polgar come into my preparation! Fortu
� I. Sokolov nately for me, Judit did not react in
Hoogeveen [3). 2003 the best way and I secured good dy
namic play.
Le4 es 2.Cl:Jf3 ll:lc6 3. Abs a6 4. i.a4
�f6 5.0-0 i.e7 6. :!:!e1 b5 7. Ab3 The main line 13 ... exd4 14.cxd4 ll:Jb4
46 8.C3 o-o 9.h3 i.b7 10.d4 :!:!e8 1s. it.bi cs 16.ds ll:Jd7 was the subject
IL�bd2 i.f8 12.34 h6 of a fierce debate in the epic Kasp
arov-Karpov World Championship
In recent years 12 ... Cl:Jas has estab matches.
lished itself as an alternative main
line here.
One of the logical White responses.

White takes the as square from the
black knight on c6, gains the option
of i.a4 (which actually happened on
the next move) and in general takes
space on the queenside.
In the event of 14.ds bxc3 1s.bxc3

ll:Jas 16.C4 c6 was my idea at the
time, hoping to get a good version
of known positions.
a b c d e f g h
14 ... :!:!bS
110 CH ESS M IDDLEGAME STRATEGIES
A standard Spanish developing the central e4-d5-C4 pawn chain,

move, with prophylactic elements. which dooms Black to passive play!
Black is not really ready to open the
centre. 14...bxc3 15.bxc3
(15... bxc3 16.bxc3 1£la7 1;7.c4 cs is pas

sive for Black.)
(15 ... ds 16. :S.b1! 1£l xas 17.1£lxes
dxe4 18. :S.xb7! 1£l xb7 19.1£lxe4 16.q! was White's best. Black does
1£ld6 20.1£lc5-+ The white knights not have a dynamic way to deal
are dominating, Black is passive, with White's central e4-d5-C4 pawn
White has here considerably more chain and will have to endure pas
than just compensation.) sive defence. I guess this is the rea
son my idea did not find follow
16.cxd4 l£l b4 17. li.a4 :S.e7 18. 2:!b1 c5 ers: White has the space advantage,
19.d5 Black's pieces are not well co Black is passive.
ordinated and if he decides to grab
a pawn by 19 ... 1£ld3 20. :S.e3 1£lxc1 a) 16.1£lq c6 opens up the position,
21. �xc1 �xa5 22. �c2 with 1£lq to giving Black active play. .
follow, White has easy play and,
again, more than just compensa b) 16.cxb4 leads to fine, dynam
tion. ic play for Black. 16 ... c6 17. li.a4
(17. dxc6 1£lxc6 18. li.a4 ds Only
Black can be better here.) 17... cxd5
18. li.xe8 �xe8 leads to great play
A logical move, though probably for the sacrificed exchange and ac
not White's best. Black's rook on e7 tually is the type of play my wish
will be placed less clumsily than it ful-thinking preparation had been
appears. In this position it is crucial based on!
for White to take space by pushing
d4-d5; c3-c4 and then maintaining
a b c d e f g h
White's. as-pawn is now hanging,

and she does not have a convenient
way to close the centre. This allows Black to open up the
centre, obtaining active play. I now
The passive 15 ...tlJd7? 16.d5 CZJe7 17·C4 became very enthusiastic and went
leads to a clear White advantage. for the thematic piece sacrifice we
are dealing with in this chapter!
However, Black here has at his dis
posal other ways to open up the cen
16.d5 bxC3 17.dxc6 tre and generate active play. It is in
teresting that Judit refrained from
(If 1;:bxc3 Black grabs the white a 18.C4 with advantage to White,
pawn with 1;: �xa5.) .. along the lines ofthe 15.d5 tlJe7 16.C4
analysis above.
17 cxd2 18. ii.xd2 ii.c8 leads to the
•..
sort of sharp positions I was hop 18 bxq

•..
ing to get.
Preparing the stage for the themat
16 E:es
... ic central piece sacrifice. The white
pawn on c3 will be hanging and the
This allows White to conveniently b-file will be open. The traditional
dose the centre. way for Black to open up the centre
in similar Spanish positions is 18 ...
lack's best was to open up the cen c6. The centre now becomes open,
tre. 16 ...bxc3 17.bxc3 exd4 18.cxd4 play is rather dynamic with many
�b4 Black has active counter-play. tactical possibilities, and the chanc
19.e5 dxes 20.dxes tZJfds 2i.tlJe4 .l:!e8 es are probably balanced. I will give
(or 21 E:e6oo) The game is unclear.
... some possible lines. 19.dxc6
[19. ka4?! gives Black encourage (22.bxc3 ll:Jxd5+)

ment to sacrifice an exchange, the
kind ofwishful-thinking positions 22... cxb2 23 . .txb2 ll:Jc8!+ After ex
I had envisaged in my prepara changing the white knight on b6,
tion. Now 19 ... cxd5! leads to an ad Black will play ll:Je8-f6 and collect
vantage for Black. (19... bxc3 is not the white pawn on ds)
a precise move order as White is
not forced to recapture and can
just play 20. ke3!
lmJ .a.� 'B'.
B \Wf l!l �k � -
.J�- ... �
r.iml,: A fA?.
� f1 '" ��
5 r:� 1§1
43 � •
l:&i;,"i�LtJ
�M� 8
2 �. C�B ��
,,p'.,WJi � '� a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
This leads to sharp play, with Black
Now Black can choose between not being worse. 20... d5! This type
different material imbalances, but of liberating move, when it is possi
White's chances are probably to ble to play it, normally solves Black's
be preferred. 20...cxd5! Sacrificing problems in similar positions.
the queen is probably Black's best
(20... cxb2 2i. !!b1 ll:Jxe4 (21... cxds (20... bxc3 21. i.b6 !!lq 22.bxc3:t)
sacrifices the queen in an infe
rior version to 20 ... cxd5: 22. kb6 2i.exd5
dxC4 23. ii.. xd8 'Bexd8 24. 'Bxb2±.)
'
22. ii.. b 6 ¥!¥c8 23. 'B.xe4 ll:J xds (21. kb6? loses too much materi
24. ifb3 it is not going to be easy al for a queen: 21 ... dXC4 22. ..txd8
for Black to move his pawns, so 'Bexd8 23. !!lc2 cxbJ+.)
White has better chances here.)
21. ..tb6 dxq 22. i.xd8 'Bexd8 21 ... ll:Jxd5 leads to complications
23.bxCJ ll:Jxe4 It is not easy to and ultimately a likely draw.
assess this material imbalance,
but probably it is a bit better for [If 21 ... ¥!¥xd5 White needs to ex
White.] ploit tactical opportunities using
the a2-g8 diagonal, but Black has
20.exd5 bxc3 21. i. xe8 ll:J xe8 resources. 22.ll:Jcxe5 (22. kd4!? is
22.ll:Jb6 an interesting idea leading to nice
complications. 22 ... exd4 23.ll'.Jces

!lxes 24.ll'.Jxes l!Vxv+ 25. '\!ixg2
�xes+ 26. '\!if1 ll'.Jf3
c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
and the computer evaluation of
this crazy position is "equal"!)
22... l!fxd1 23. �xf7+ @h7 24. �g6+
cc!igS 25.!!exd1 ll'.Jxe5 26.ll'.Jxe5 !!xe5 The consequent follow up to the
27. �f4 !!bes 2S.cxb4 !!b5 29. �xeS previous move.
�xeS 30. !ids !!xb4 31. �e5 @f7
A draw looks like the probable out 19 ... c6 now does not achieve the
come here.] same aim as it did a move earli
er because of 20. �a3! ll'.Jg6 21.ll'.Jb6
n.�b6 ll'.Jxb6 23.axb6 e4 24.l!fxdS and White has a grip on the posi
ID>xdS 25.ll'.Jd4 tion. (The pawn grab 21. �xd6 �xd6
22.dxc6 �xc6 23.ll'.Jxd6 is not really
clear, as after 23 ... !if8 Black plays
... l!Vq with ... !!bdS to follow.)
20. !!xe4 ll'.Jxd5 21.l!fc2
a b c d e f g h
25...bxc3! The b4-square is needed

for the black rook. 26.ll'.Jxc6 cxb2!
and again tactics using the a2-gS
diagonal do not promise White
more than equality. 27.ll'.J 4e5 bx
aiIf 2S. �xf7+ @h7 29. !!xa1 �cs=
JO. �g6+ @gs 31. �f7+=.
114 CH ESS M IDDLEGAME STRATEGIES
This is the position I was aiming for Black's king is now much safer,
with the sacrifice, so it's a good mo compared to the game. Play is very
ment to take stock. As in our previ sharp and in human over-the-board
ous two examples Black has a for play it is very easy for both sides to
midable pawn centre and a strong err here. I will give some lines to il
bishop on b7 as compensation for lustrate the immense complications.
his sacrificed knight. 22. l:!e3 This is probably White's
best. Black now has a choice be
White's chances will be related tween expanding his pawn centre,
to the potential weakness of the a good thing to do according to our
black king, as outlined in our rules. set of rules here, or going for wild
Black at this particular moment is complications.
facing a serious practical dilem
ma - should he (a) grab the pawn [22. !!xf4 exf4 23. iLxf4 leads to
on c3, establishing material equal Black's advantage, as he conveni
ity and potentially three connected ently wins a pawn while damag
rolling pawns in the centre, or (b) ing the white pawn structure. 23 ...
focus on active play and maximum �f6 (After 23 ... iLxf3 24.gxf3 �h4
piece coordination. Unable to figure 25. iLg3 �xh3 26. iLa4 �e7 2J, iLc6
out the consequences of 2i...lL:lf4, hs the engines give o.oo, but Black
I decided to play it safe and estab looks better.) 24. iLg3 iLe4! 25. 'i!fd1
lish material equality by snatching iLxf3 26.gxf3 �xc3+]
the third pawn.
22 ... 'i!ff6 this leads to some sharp
21 . . .lLJXC3 computer-type lines where it is easy
for humans to blunder.
Taking the third pawn was defi
nitely not a mistake, but in practical (Expanding the pawn centre by
terms White would have been fac pushing his pawns 22 ... e4 23.lL:\d4
ing tougher decisions should Black ds is fine for Black as he gains
have gone for 2i. .. lLJ f4! space. 24.lL:\b2 cs 25.lLJe2 lLJe6� It
% -... �
is not easy for White to deal with
'. I. :>'.. - �
'tif
. 1
Black's rolling pawn centre here.)
5 23. iLa4 is probably White's best,

4 likely to lead to complications re
sulting in move repetitions.
a b c d e f g h
[23.lZJcd2 e4! 24.lZJ xe4 (24.liJe1 (31 ... llfgs+ 32.�f1 l!t'h4=)
ds+) 24 ... liJxh3+ 25. �h2 (25.gxh3
�xe4�) 25 ... !!xe4 26. !!xe4 it.xe4 32. !!b4 it.c5 33. !!xb7 and now Black
2]. l!fxe4 Now Black grabs the third has to force a draw: 33 ... l!fg5+ 34. �fi
pawn and is at least okay. 27... !!xb3 l!fci+=.
(2;. liJxf2 also looks fine.) 28. �xh3
..
1lxc3 29.l!t'a4 The only move for

White avoid losing material; only
Black can be better here.]
a b c d e f g h
Judit correctly senses that her focus
25-CZJfxe5! liJf4 26.liJc6 l!t'h4 27. �g1 should be on the black king. The
Now we have many hanging pieces position is razor-sharp, probably
and many tricks. 27... lZJxg2! 28. !!xe7 dynamically balanced, but I would
Axe7 29. l!fe2 say that in practical play it is easier
to be White here. White is develop
ing tactical threats against the black
king, and Black needs to neutralize
them by pushing his central pawns
and taking space.
22. !!e1 liJb5 would not target the

black king so Black has easy play.
a b c d e f g h White is starting to get too many

attackers on the kingside - liJ xe5
ideas are starting to surface - and
this knight needs to be eliminated.
116 CH ESS M I D D LEGAME STRATEG IES
22 ... CLib5 I did consider, but once 25 . .ll x h6+- and Black soon gets
I saw that White had at his dispos mated.]
al moves like 23 . .tg5! it instantly
killed any consideration of letting 24. .txh6!
the white knight on f3 live. Actu
ally, though, Black's situation is less (24.CLicxe5?! is now not effective
dramatic than I thought at the time. as the crucial f?-square is pro
tected by the black queen. 24 ...
a) 23. !ii..b 2 is also possible, as now :S.xe5 25.CLixe5 dxe5 26. iLxh6 tlJd4
23 ...c5? hoping to jump the knight f7 2;:l!¥a2 .txg2 28. i.xf7+ l!¥xf7
to d4 (23 ... i.xf3 24.gxf3t. is Black's 29.@xv :S.b3 30. i.e3 l!¥d5+ Now
only defence - but then why not Black is the one having the attack..)
eliminate the white knight on f3 at
once?) loses to 24.CLicxe5! 25 ... .td5 24 ... !ii.. x f3 25 .CLixe5! (This is the
26.CLixf7!+-. drawback of 23 ... l!¥d7!) 25 ... .txg4
b) 23. !ii.. xh6?? is a blunder due to (25... :S.xe5?? allows standard mating
23 ... .ll xfJ 24.gx[J CLid4 and Black theme 26. :S.xg7+ ii.xg7 2;:l!¥g6+-)
has a large advantage.
26.lfJxd7 .txd7 27. .te3 Technically
speaking, material is equal. White
probably has better chances as the
black king might be weak.
23.gxf3
a b c d e f g h
The only defence!
[23 ... l!¥c8? loses to 24.CLicxe5!

White has typical Spanish at
tacking themes here. 24 ... dxe5
(24 ... :S.xe5 25.lfJxe5 dxe5 26. !ii. xh6
lfJ d4 27. .txf7+ @xf7 28. l!¥g6+
WgB 29 . .txg7 l!¥f5 30. l!¥h6+-) White's bishop pair is strong and
one of the bishops needs to be re-
moved! Again, following our rule: the moment for 27... d5! 28.tl:Je3 c6!
trade a black knight for a white bish This restricts the white bishop on
op if you can. b3, but still White has the material
advantage and better chances here.
23 ... ezJe2+! 29.f4i In the event of 23 ... h5, trying
to follow the game plan but keep the
23 ... tl:Jb5 24 . .tb2 looks rather un h-pawn, I did not like the positions
pleasant for Black. He will still after 24. l:!g2 tl:Je2+ 25. l!fxe2 l:!xb300
need to eliminate the white bishop 26. i.g5 l!fd7 27.tl:Jd2! l:!b5 28.tl:Je4
pair, but under worse circumstances when White has an unpleasant at
than a move earlier. 24...h5 is Black's tack.
best, though nobody is really happy
to make such a pawn moves here.
25. l:!e4!
Black's pawn on h6 has been lost,
(25. l:!g3 tl:Jd4 26. .txd4 exd4 leads but White's monster light-squared
to positions that the computer de bishop has been destroyed. How
fends successfully, showing many ever White's attack is far from over
o.oo lines, but in human play is and Black must be in hurry to use
definitely desirable to be White.) his only asset - his central pawns!
So, Black should hurry to push the
White will bring his rook from ai central pawns and seize space.
to the g-file, while also pushing f3-
f4 to open diagonals for his bishops.
Black is forced to give up a pawn in
order to eliminate the white bish
op pair. 25 ... tl:Jd4 26. �xd4 exd4
27. l:!xd4
25 .•. W'f6
a b c d e f g h
The immediate 25 ...d5 does not work
Now Black is able, thanks to the that well after 26.tl:Je3 l:!b4 27. l:!g3
hanging white bishop on b2, to seize with White on the attack.
ed such lines, assuming that Black

gets mated and not trying to calcu
Now Black is just in time to push his late further. However, the position
central pawns! is probably equal. 33 ... !!xfa+
8 ••
28 ...d;! 29. !!ag1 !ha; 30.ll:Jf1 7
6
5
4
3
2
a b c d e f g h
34. !!g2 [34.'i!i>g3? is a losing blun

der: 34 ... exf4+! and Black wins
35. �xf4 (35. 'i!txf2 runs into mate:
35... l!!!a2+ 36. 'i!tf3 l!!!e2+ 37. 'i!txf4
�d6+ 38. 'i!txfs l!!!e6 mate.) 35 ...
A critical moment - which pawn to !!xf4! 36. !!xf4 �d6-+ and White
push? It seemed to me obvious that is the one getting mated here.] 34...
the d-pawn needs to be advanced, !!xg2+ 35. 'i!i>xg2
creating the ... !!a2 threat. About the
f-pawn I was not so sure, being re
luctant to touch pawns around my
king.
30...d4
a) Actually Black's best was prob a b c d e f g h

ably 30 .. .f5! with dynamic balance
and chances for both sides. 3i. !!h4 According to computer assessment
(31. !!4g2 f4! shows the point be this is an easy draw, with more
hind 30 .. .f5! - the white knight than one safe line. The human line
on fi is now well controlled, and is 35 ... �c5! bringing his bishop into
it takes White extra time to bring play. Black now threatens perpet
his knight into the attack. 32. �h4 ual check (35... exf4 36. l!!/h7+ 'i!tf7
l!!!d6foo Black is preparing ... !!e6 37- !!xf4 l!!!ds+ 38. 'i!tg1 !!es should
33. l!!!c2 !!e600.) 3i. .. d4 32.f4 �a2 also lead to equality.) 36. �f6 (36.
33.l!!/h5 During the game I reject- l!!!h1+ 'i!tf1 37. !!h6 l!!!ds+ 38. 'i!th2
-,a2+=) 36 ... l!fd5+ 37. @hi '%!fa2+ s

J8.�h1 l!fds+ ; =
7
6
b) 30 ... c5? is not a great pawn to
5
4
push because it does not restrict the 3
white knight and does not threaten 2
- �a2. 3i.l!Vd2 (31./':i)g3!? fs 32. '!!. h4
also looks promising for White.) a b c d e f g h
31... '!! a1 32. it.h6 g6 33. i.xfS @xf8

34. 'iWc3 '!! a2 35. l!fxc5+±. White apparently does not have
more than a draw. 34.f4 exf4 35. l!Vd3
c5! 36./f)g5 l!fg6 37./f)e4 l!fe6= Such
a cold-blooded defence is not easy
for humans!
In such positions Judit Polgar does

not need too many chances to
score - one defensive slip was usu
ally enough! Now White secures
a winning advantage.
32. . .fxg4
Another critical moment. Being
worried by the white pieces concen Trying second-rank counter-play
trating on the kingside, I finally de no longer works for Black. 32... '!! a2
cided to push my f-pawn - but now 33. '!! g 5 �b4 34, /f)xf5 and White
is the wrong moment! wins: 34... Axd2 35. '!! xg7+ @hs
31. . .f5? (or 35 . . . @fs 3 6. 'BgB+ l!Vxg8

3..7. B'.xg8+ @xg8 38. l!VC4++-)
The first real black mistake, missing
White's reply.
Correct was focusing on second 32 ...d3 33. l!fe1 fxg4 34. �xas gxf3
rank counter-play and the game 35./f)e4±
could have been saved. 3i. .. '!! a 2
32. �d2 '!!b 8! 33./f)e4 '!!bb2 33. i.xa5±
120 CH ESS M I D D LEGAM E STRATEG IES
33 ... l!Vd5
Panic in time trouble and a difficult

position.
36... l!fa2±
White has light-square control, and

the g-file attack continues. Black
could have offered better resistance, 38. l!Ve3+- also wins.
but White's advantage is becoming
decisive. 38 .E:xe2 39.@g2 �e5 40.Cl:Je4 @f7
.•.
41 . .E: f4+ @es 42.d6 �d5 43. Ac3

Axd6 44. !if5 1-0
CHA PTER Il l. THE CARO- KANN
DOUBLED F- PAWN
In the 2014-2016 period I lived in

Dubai, UAE, working as a national
coach, mainly being busy with Sa
lem AR Saleh, their best player. He
won the Asian continental individ
ual championship during my ten
ure.
At the Baku Olympiad, just after

concluding my UAE job, I met Sa
Understanding the strategic ideas lem again and he showed me his
ofthe Caro-Kann lines with 4 ... tl:Jf6 game against Bologan, played the
5.ll:Jxf6 exf6, when Black has dou previous day. Salem played Black
bled f-pawns, was rather a lengthy and the game was an interesting
process for me. I remember walk draw featuring the Caro-Kann 4 ...
ing around the tables at the Wijk tl:Jf6 5.tl:Jxf6 exf6 line we are consid
aan Zee A tournament in 1991, and ering here. Salem AR Saleh is a dy
being surprised when I saw Yasser namic player and any kind of pas
Serirawan playing this line as Black sive opening choice is a no go for
against Alexander Khalifman. him, so I was rather surprised by
his opening decision. Discussing his
·what is Black doing?" I wondered. opening choice, Salem mentioned
·who wants to voluntarily dam that the line had been used by the
age his pawn structure as early as great fighter Viktor Kortschnoj at
on move four, and not even get the the peak of his career!
Bishop pair for it?" The game itself
was a smashing success for Khalif This information made me research
man, winning in a mere 20 moves. the case and to my surprise I found
·Not entirely surprising against one of my favorite World Champi
such an opening line," I thought at ons, Alexander Alekhine, defend
the time. My general opinion had ing the Black side too! Studying
been formed and I did not think of Kortschnoj's games and the way he
this line again for the next 25 years. handled the resulting middlegames
122 CH ESS MIDDLEGAME STRATEGIES
in this line forced me to change my

opinion. The resulting middlegame 16
positions are complex and a viable
alternative to the regular lines for 1> A. Khalifman
Black. � Y. Seirawan
Wijk aan Zee (9). 1991
Giving a set of rules is never an
easy job, but I will try to give some 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.CZJC3 dxe4 4.ez:Jxe4
guidelines here to help the reader ez:Jf6 5.ez:Jxf6+ exf6
assess the pros and cons:
• Black has an extra pawn on the

kingside, but nevertheless the
position of the black king is not
always safe.
• White can aim at the position of
the black king by setting up the
..id3 and �c2 battery, in an at
tempt to provoke a weakness, or
following Khalifman's play. a b c d e f g h
• White finds difficulties to ad
vance his queenside majority in White has here three main plans: (a)
a convenient way. c3, �d3, 1£Je2 development, (b) ..ic4
• Exchanging Black's c6-pawn for or (c) 1£Jf3, �e2. In this game we will
White's d4-pawn, when Black deal with the (a) lines, while for (b)
pushes ... c6-c5, is in general fine and (c) please see Torre-Kortschnoj,
for Black as he gets extra coun the second game in the ch�pter.
ter-play options.
• If the position allows it, Black
can start advancing his king
side pawn majority against the White aims for a quick �d3, 1£Je2,
white king, as carried out by Ko �c2 hitting the black h7-pawn and
rtschnoj. asking Black to decide between the
...h6 and ...g6 pawn pushes.
I hope the two illustrative games in
this chapter will help the reader to 6 i.d6
••.
understand these plans and strate

gies. Black can stop the white plan by
playing 6... �f5!?
CHAPTER Ill. THE CARO- KANN DOUBLED F-PAWN 123
B'.eB 14. il.. d2 il.. q 15. B'.ae1 B'.xe1

16. B'.xe1 li:Jds 17- il.. c2 'fid7 18.h3 li:Jf6!
Aiming for the e4 square. 19. @h2
hs! The white knight on g3 can
be disturbed at any moment and
then the black knight jumps to e4.
Black's chances are better here and
a b c d e f g h he went on to win in Alsina Leal,D
(2531)-Salgado Lopez,! (2615) Lin
and it has been tried at a high level. ares 2015)
h looks to me that White has a plus
but Black has had good practical re
sults. I will give here two recent top
level examples. 7. i.d3
(The following line at first glance

clearly looks like causing problems
for Black. ]'.li:Je2 il.. d6 8.liJgJ Chas
ing the black bishop looks logical
for White and after 8... il..g6 9. il.. q a b c d e f g h
o-o 10.0-0 li:Jd7 11f4 the black bish-
op seems to be locked up, but fol- 9.li:Jf3
lowing 11... li:Jb6 12. il.. b3
[In a recent top-level example
White went for the queen swap:
9.'fie3+ 'fiq (I do not like the way
White handled this position and
think that he should have gone
for a dark-squared bishop trade,
for example 10. 'fixe7 with 11.li:Je2
a b c d e f g h and 12. i.f4 to follow.) 10.li:Jf3 li:Jd7
11.'fixq+ @xe7 12. il.. e3 li:Jb6 13.0-
Black has a computer-type solution 0-0 @d7 14. 'E!.he1 Black will now
in 12 .. fs! It looks a bit strange but secure his knight on the central
the computer engines say it's about d5 post. 14...li:Jds The threat is 15 ...
equal. I guess White's problem is l:Z:Jxe3, changing the pawn struc
that his knight on g3 is not great ture in Black's favour. 15. @c2
either. One grandmaster-level ex White gets away from a possi
ample went well for Black: 1J. 'fif3 ble pin on the h6-c1 diagonal, so
that he can recapture on e3 with 8.tl:Jn!

his rook. i5... b5! Now the black
knight is safely ensconced on ds. A sneaky move order by White and
i6. iL.c1 as 1J.K3 a4! i8.a3 hs Black's Black already has to be careful!
dominant knight on ds is safely
secured, while White's queenside 8. �c2 is the more common move
pawn majority is as good as dead order for White but it does not offer
and Black's kingside pawn major Black the possibility to go astray, as
ity is on the move. Black was better Seirawan did in this game. 8 ... E:e8+
in 1/2-1/2 Wei Yi (2707)-Rapport,R
(2717) Yancheng 2016.] (If Black is worried about the
11.tl:Jg3 line below, he could try 8...
9 ... 0-0 lo.o-o tl:Ja6 n. iJ.. d 2 E:e8 h6! 9.tlJe2 'ili'q The white knight
12. E:fe1 'i!i'd7 cannot move to g3 here because of
8 .I "
lO... l:!e8+ interfering with White's
7 .l .l
regular development, while lo.o-o
6� loses the h2-pawn with check. So
5 White has to play 10.h3 and this is
4 probably the best move order for
3 Black as it more or less forces h3
and so avoids lines where White's
a b c d e f g h knight moves to g3 with the pawn
still on h2.)
This type of position is, I think, crit
ical to assess for players willing to
try 6... iJ.. f5. White has a small plus.
7. iJ..d3 o-o
How should Black react? 9 ... h6
(9...g6?! looks logical for Black, but

is actually rather risky as White
a b c d e f g h is quick with his h-pawn push,
CHAPTER I l l . THE CARO-KANN DOUBLED F-PAWN 125
followed by castling queenside. 13.�a4.) 13.c4 The position looks

White's attack then looks faster, better for White.]
while the white king is safer than
Black's. 10.h4! Black's problem
here is that 10 hs? blunders into
••.
the simple 11. il.. xg6 so Black can

not stop White from pushing h4-
h5 next and opening the h-file. In
the subsequent attacks on opposite
wings White's chances are better.)
10.0-0 'fiiq a b c d e f g h
Again Black is following the rule that

exchanging the black c-pawn for the
white d-pawn is fine for Black. 13.d5
now leads to more dynamic play for
Black, compared to the line with
11.�g3, since the white pawn on h3
a b c d e f g h offers Black tactical ideas
11.h3 This is actually the most com

mon move here and we get to the
move order suggested by 8 ... h6! for
Black above. I recently had a game
of my own here
[n.�g3!? can be unpleasant for

Black here. Black can play 11 c5 •••
trying the follow the rule that it is

good for Black in these positions
to exchange his c-pawn for White's
pawn on d4, but with 12.d5! White a b c d e f g h
avoids the exchange. (12.dxcs i.xcs
is indeed okay for Black, for ex 16... i.. h2+! 17. <i!i>h1 il.. f4 with an ap
ample 13.�hs il..g4 14. i..f4 1i.d6 proximately equal game in Idani
15. il.. xd6 �xd6 16./!i)g3 �c6 looks Sokolov, Iran Stars 2017.]
about equal.) 12 ... �d7 (12 ... C4?
unfortunately fails tactically to 13...b5!
126 CHESS M I D DLEGAM E STRATEGI ES
hangs. Black gets his material back

with a large advantage)
16 ... Ji.. d 7!? is an interesting piece

sacrifice
(The "boring" 16... CiJxd3 lJ.ClJxbs

a b c d e f g h l!Nd7 18.l!Nxd3 Ji..g4 is also playable
for Black.)
(The inclusion of the moves 13 ...b5
14.b3 will prove very important in 17.fxe5 Axes
the subsequent tactical lines!) 14.b3
(14.cxbs CiJb6 leads here to unclear

play 15.CiJc3 Ji.. b7 16. Ji.. h7+ rtlh8
lJ. Ji.. e4 Ji.. h2+ 18. rtlh1 Ji.. e5iii.)
a b c d e f g h
Again the inclusion of the 13 ...b5

14.b3 moves proves important!
Black has good compensation here.
8 ... �e8
a b c d e f g h
Strange enough this logical move
Here Black has a nice tactical motif! spells the beginning of trouble for
15 ... .txh3! 16.f4 Black in this game!
(16.gxh3 leads to Black's advantage: 8 ... l!Vq! 9. l!fc2 h6 10.h3 transposing

16... CiJf3+ lJ. rtlg2 tiJ h4+ 18. rtlg1 l!Nd7 to the lines above was the correct
and White has to play 19. Ji.. h7+ move order for Black. Now White
rtlh8 20. W9d3 Ji..es 21. Ji.. d2 g6 Black gets an extra possibility!
gets his piece back with better play;
or 16. Ji.. h1+ 'itih8 17.f4 Ji.. d7! 18.fxes 9.0-0
Ji.. xes and again the inclusion of
13 ... b5 14.b3 proves crucial as the
white knight on c3 is pinned and
CHAPTER I l l . THE CARO-KANN DOUBLED F-PAWN 127
(2688)-Tomashevsky,E (2714) Sochi

2014.
The situation is already very un

pleasant for Black. White gets tacti
cal possibilities on the kingside, the
white queen quickly joins the attack
and different sacrifices become pos
sible, all of which leads us back to
9. . . 'iWcj'f one of our rules here: Black beware!
An extra pawn around your king
This is already definitely a mistake! does not mean that your king is al
Black hopes for 10.h3 leading to the ways safe!
positions we discussed above, but
Khalifman shows us different ideas 10.f4? is a positional mistake for
for White! White and an old game of Alekh
ine's illustrates it well. 10.. .f5! 11.ez:Jg3
9 . �d7! needed to be played and af
.. g6 12. Ad2 Alekhine now goes for
ter 10. Af4 �f8 it looks perhaps a bit our standard plan for Black here.
passive, but Black gradually equal 12 ... c5! White is already in seri
izes. 11.'iWd2 �g6 12. Axd6 'iWxd6 ous trouble. 13. .l::! c1 (13.dxcs Axes+
13 . .l::! fe1 Ae6 14.ez:Jg3 14. cr!th1 Ae6+) 13 ...ez:Jd7 14.Ete1 E:xei+
8 • • . .. • 15. l!Vxe1 ez:Jf6
7 rl .t.• ' � .t.
• 0%. .t W 1.ai
.t. ��I@' '• '
'
65 '""'
4 �.�r&r' ·v
• ��· j,' tLJ
� :n l:�8 �,�
1 �· �Jits r/:;
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
Black goes for our equalizing rule
here - trading the black c-pawn Please compare this position to the
for the white d-pawn is fine for lines arising after 6 ... Af5!? 7.ez:Je2
Black. 14 ... b6 15. 'iWc2 c5! 16.�e4 in the Alsina-Salgado game above.
'liq 17.dxc5 bxc5 with approxi Instead of his bishop on g6 Black
mate equality in 1-0 Inarkiev,E has a pawn, with Black's light-
squared bishop here getting devel a2) 13.ll:Jxg7!? looks terribly dan
oped to e6. The rest of the position gerous, but Black seems to be
is more or less the same! 16.lWfa able to defend. 13... 'i!i>xg7 14.1!¥g4+
it.e6+ and Black soon won in Perez 'i!i>h8 15.W!ih4 It takes Black a long
Alekhine,A Caracas 1939. time to develop his queenside,
but it looks as though White just
10 ••• .te6? does not have enough attacking
potential to finish Black off. 15 ...
This will prove a crucial mistake, al ll:Jfs (15.. f5? 16. .tg5+-) 16 . .th6
lowing White to demonstrate an in 'it>g8 17.f4
structive attacking plan here!
a) On 10 ... ll:Jd7 Seirawan probably

�6 "!$ �.i .£
'
�
feared the thematic pawn sacrifice 5
11.ll:Jf5! and he was right as White
would obtain a strong attack! 11 ...
.txh2+ 12. 'i!i>h1 .td6
Black needs to find what is proba

bly the only defence here. (1,7.11¥xJ6?
ll:Je6 1Sj4 lWq-+) 17... l:!e3! (1,7. ..
ll:Jg6 1S.W!ixJ6 it.JS 19. it.xJS llJxJS
20f5± Black's pieces remain ter
a b c d e f g h ribly boxed in.) 18. !!fJ .E:xd3! (1S...
'B.xf3? Giving White an open g-file
Black's king is without defenders is a suicide mission. 19.gxJ3 ll:Jg6
and White has numerous dan 20.'f!lxJ6 it.JS 21. it.xg6! and White
gerous-looking options. 13. it. h6! wins in a few moves. 21... hxg6 or -
probably causes Black the biggest 21 ... .txg6 22 .td3 - 22. it.xJS 'i!txJS
.
headache here, for example 23. l:!e1 it.e6 24. !!xe6+-) 19.1!¥xf6
ll:Je6 20. !!xd3 .txf4
a1) 13.1!¥g4 is probably not more
than a draw. 13 ... g6 14.ll:Jh6+
'it>g7 (14... @JS? 15.l1¥h4 and ll:Jxf7
is a terrible threat.) 15.ll:Jf5+=
(15. ll¥h4 here does not work for
White due to the simple 15...llJJS).
a b c d e f g h
CHAPTER Ill. THE CARO-KANN DOUBLED F-PAWN 129
And Black survives. 2i.d5 cxd5

22. �xd5 it.xh6 23. ifxh6 Black
has many moves here and the po
sition looks balanced.;
We now see the benefit White

gained by keeping his queen on di.
a b c d e f g h White's attacking plan is actually
rather simple: push the f-pawn to
Black has terrible development f5, jump ti:Jh5, move the queen to
problems. 15 ... ifd8! Black is trying g4 and ... mate! It's only move 11 and
to use the fact that the white king seemingly Black has made no obvi
is on hi, so in some lines ... ifh4+ ous mistakes but his position is al
will prove crucial. 16.g4! (16. �ae1 ready totally lost!
f5 1J,li1xf5 leads to a draw: lJ. . �xe1 .
18. �xe1 gxfs 19. ifhs it.fB 20. �eB 11 c5

•••
!BxeB 21.!Vgs+ @hB 22.!Vxfs ti1f6

23.!Vxf6+ ctlgB 24.'iWgs+=.) 16 ...ti:Jfs This common advice for Black no
17. �g1 with ideas of ti:Jf5 or ti:Jh5. longer works here, because the black
White's attack is worth more than king is too vulnerable.
a pawn.
12.d5
b) One of the standard recom
mendations for Black, 10... c5! was Khalifman takes definitely the best
probably the best way to struggle practical decision, playing it safe.
on: 11.dxc5 .ixc5 12. 'i!fh5 g6 13. 'i!fh4
�d7. Black has yet to develop his 12.f5 was also good but required
queenside, so the situation looks more calculation. 12 ... .ixg3
dangerous for him ... but I do not
see anything direct for White. (12 ... 1i.. d7 loses to the prosaic
13.ti:Jhs c!?hB 14. !Vg4 �gB 15. �f3 and
White wins with a mating attack:
15... cxd4 16. �h3 and White has dif-
ferent ways to win here, 17.ll::l xf6 16.a3 ll::l a6 17. it.d2 with �c3 to fol
being one of the deadly threats.) low and soon a mating attack.
13.fxe6 it.xh2+ 14.@h1 it.d6
a b c d e F g h
I assume Khalifman did not want

to bother calculating all those lines,
but in fact the tactics are working
for White. 15.d5 is perhaps the most Black has no counter-play and
human move here and it simply White can take his time to execute
looks good for White. the mating attack. White certainly
has different roads to Rome here.
(But 15. 'flxf6! is the most direct.
15... !!! xe6 16. B'.xe6 fxe6 17. 'feh5
g6 1B. it.xg6 hxg6 19.'fexg6+ @hB
20.'feeB+ @g7 21.l!9xe6 The open a) White has to be a bit careful here
position of the black king should not to allow counter-play based
lead to his defeat. on tactics utilizing the b6-g1 di
agonal, for example 17.f5?? ll::l xd5!!
since 18. l!9xd5?? it.c6 and the white
queen is trapped, while 18.cxd5 los
Khalifman has kept all the threats es to 18 ..C4+.
.
mentioned in the 12.f5 lines without

giving Black any counter-play. b) 17.ll::l h5 ll::l b5 would have also of
fered Black a glimpse of hope.
13 ll::l a6 14. !ff3
•••
c) 17. it.c2 with ll::l h5 to follow looks

14.ll::l h5 should be winning for White like an easy win for White too.
too. White's knight on hs is simply
a tremendous attacking piece here, 17... i.. xf5 18.ll::l xf5 B'.edS
for example 14 ...ll::lb4 15. it.bi 'fed8
18 ..g6 19.lLie3 fs
. 21. l:!xeS! �xe8 22.lLih6+! gxh6
(19 ii.g7 20fs is terrible for Black.)

... 22 ... @hS was allowing even a nicer
finish: 23.l!¥xf7 ii.d6 24.lWgS+! �xg8
20. �ad1 �ads 25.lLif7 mate.
And Black resigned, not being in

the mood to wait for 24. �xf6. Great
play by White, clearly showing the
nuances in the position, the impor
a b c d e f g h tance of move order, and the typical
plans involved!
loses to 21.g4!+- and White gets his
mating attack.
17
19. �ae1 tLies 20. l!¥h5
1> E. Torre
� V. Kortschnoj
Buenos Aires (11), 1978
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.lLic3 dxe4 4.lLixe4

lLif6 5.lLixf6+ exf6 6.lLif3
The text move is probably the least

played by White of the three main
plans.
a b c d e f g h
6. ii.C4 is often White's line of pref
20... l!¥a5 erence, and Karpov played it in his
1978 World Championship match
This allows a nice end, but 20... g6 against Kortschnoj. White's main
does not help either: 21.lLih6+ ii.xh6 idea here is to place his bishop in
an active position while keeping the
(21. . @g7 22. l1¥h4+- with 23. fs to
. option of l!¥e2+ to disrupt Black's
follow.) development if Black plays 6... ii.d6.
6...cz:Jd7 Kortschnoj waits for White 19 ... .txc5! 20.dxc5 a4 and Black
to develop his knight to e2, mak equalized in Lilienthal,A-Flohr,S
ing �e2+ impossible, so that he can Stockholm 1937, as Black is fine af
develop his dark-squared bishop to ter 2i. .tC4 l£lC7 22. .if4 �c8.
d6. He does not mind trading dark
squared bishops in the process be b) If 6... .td6 then 7.�e2+
cause then he would obtain satis
factory play. I will give two of his
games.
a) 6 ... iJ.. e7 looks modest but actual

ly is quite playable for Black. 7.cz:Je2
(In the event of 7-CZJf3 o-o 8.o-o a b c d e f g h

Black can go for the standard
strategic recipe 8. c5! equalizing
.. White's disruptive check causes
the game.) Black problems. 7... il.. e7
[7... @f8?! is an original way of

solving difficulties with cas
(Again 9... c5 looks equalizing.) tling, but it does not equalize as
Black does not manage to push
10.C3 1£lf6 11.cz:Jd3 cz:Jds 12.cz:Jf4 cz:Jf6 ... h5. 8. �h5! (8.lf:Jf3 lets the ad
Black is solid and it is not easy vantage slip, as Black is fine af
for White to prove an advantage. ter 8... hs 9.0-0 g6 10. �e1 'i!i>g7
13.cz:Jd3 cz:Jd5 14. �f3 .ie6 15. �e1 �e8 11. it.d2 CZJ a6oo.) Black is now
16. .td2 .tf8 17. .tb3 g6 18. �ad1 as forced to make a move he is not
19.cz:Jc5 happy with: 8 ... .ie6 9. ii.xe6 fxe6
10.cz:Je2 �e8 11. �h3 cz:Ja6 12.0-
0 · CZJq 13. kf4 and White had
a clear advantage in Jonkman,H loses to 18. :S.e4 i.gs 19.h4+-.)

(2424)-Miles,A (2584) Lisbon 18. ifxh6 :S.g8
2000.]
8.l2Jf3 o-o 9.0-0 i.d6 10. :S.e1 i.g4?!

Another nice example of Black be
ing negligent about his king's po
sition. 11. ife4 i.h5?! 12.l2Jh4! l2Jd7
White now removes an important
defender of the black king. 13. iff5! a b c d e f g h
(13.g4 12Jb6! is less clear as 14. i.b3? 19. :S.e8! i.f8! 20. :S.xd8 i.xh6
runs into 14 . . . ifd7 with the 2i. :S.xg8+ :S.xg8 22.l2Jxh6 l2Jxc2
... :S.ae8 threat and the tables have 23. :S.d1 White has a clear advan
turned!) tage, probably coming out a pawn
up, but still needs to do some
13... l'2Jb6 14. ifxh5 l'2JXC4 work.]
16. i.xv! Now the game is im

mediately over. 16 ... @xg7 17.l2Jf5+
@h8 18. :S.e4 i.xh2+ 19.@h1 1-0
Ragozin,V-Boleslavsky,I Sverd
3 lovsk 1942;
2
c d e f g h
There is a similarity to Khalifman (8.o-o o-o 9. i.f4 was Karpov's

Seirawan, with the black king be choice in the World Championship
ing left without defenders. 15. i.h6! match. 9... l2Jb6 10. i.d3 i.e6 11.c3
Facing an unexpected onslaught l2Jds 12. i.xd6 ifxd6 13.ifd2 :S. a d8
Boleslavsky now panics 15 ... ifd7?
[15 ... gxh6 was the only defence:

16.b3! (The black knight needs to
be kicked out of C4, as in the case
of 16.!2Jfs i.f4 1J. :S.e4 i.gs 18.h4
Black defends with 18... !2Jd6) 16 ...
l2Ja3 17.l2J f5 @h8 (17... i.f4 now
It is difficult for White to advance

his queenside pawn majority in
a convenient manner. 14. 'f!.fe1 g6
15. 'f!.ad1 <tfg7 16. 1i.. e4 f:iJq 17. b3
'fije8 18. 1i.. b1 Now, in order to
make it easier to manoeuvre his
pieces, Black trades his bishop
for a white knight. 18... 1i..g4 19.h3 a b c d e f g h
1i.. xe2 20. 'f!.xe2 and a pair of rooks
too 20... :Sxe2 21.ifxe2 t£Jds 22.ifd2 Black's king is safe, while White's
f:iJf4 23. 1i.. e4 fs it is still hard for weak kingside offers Black plenty
White to push his queenside pawn of tactical opportunities. 2i. .. c5 Ko
majority, while the black kingside rtschnoj goes for our standard cen
pawn majority can become a ma tral solution for Black and is fine.
jor strength. The position was
complex and balanced in Karpov [2i. .. h5! was also good for Black.
Kortschnoj, Baguio City 1978.) 22. B'.e3 (22.g4?? is an excellent way
for White to slaughter his own
8 ... l£Jb6 9. 1i..b3 0-0 10.0-0 1i.. g4 king: 22...l£Jg5-+) 22 ... B'.hs Thanks
to his safer king, Black has easier
play. 23. 'f!.de1? is for example wrong
on account of the simple 23 ... c5
24.d5 c4 25. li..a4 ifb7 26. 'ff. di bs-+.]
a b c d e f g h
As in his game with Karpov, Ko

rtschnoj is happy to trade his
light-squared bishop for the white
knight - which White now pre
vents, at the cost of causing some a b c d e f g h
weakness to his kingside. 11.f3 1i.. xf4
12.f:£Jxf4 li.. f5 13.c3 ifq 14.f:iJd3 'ff. ads 24 ... li.. d3? A strange mistake for
15. 'f!.e1 g6 16.f:iJc5 l£Jd5 17. ifd2 b6 Kortschnoj, in his prime years, to
18.f:iJe4 <r!:tg7 19. 'f!.ad1 l£Jf4 20.g3 f:£Je6 make.
2i.t£Jfa
CHAPTER Ill. THE CARO-KANN DOUBLED F- PAWN 135
(24 ... lL'id3! and White is the one

fighting for a draw: 25.lL'ixd3 '!! xds
26.'f!if4 '¥!ixf4 2;r.lL'ixf4 !!xbs with
a sound pawn up.)
25. Ac6
(The computer gives a nice line: a b c d e f g h

25.b4 a6 26.lL'ig4! playing against
the black king, bereft of defend Here Black used our regular strate
ers! 26...gs 2;r.lL'ixf6! �xf6 28. Axc4 gic solution. io... c5! 11.dxc5 Axes If
AxC4 29. '¥!id4+ �g6 30. '¥!iXC4± and someone is better here, it is Black!
White emerges in a pawn-up end 12. l:!e1 Ae6 13. Ae3 Axe3 14. '!! xe3
game. 30...lL'ie6?? 31. '!! xe6++-) lL'ic6 15. Ae4 lL'ie5 (The more ambi
tious 15 ... 'f!ib6! would have led to ad
vantage for Black.) 16. �xd8 E[axd8
with equality and later a draw in
Antipov,M (2580)-Yu,Y (2738) Gi
braltar 2017. Kortschnoj now pre
pares to manoeuvre his knight to e6.
7... lL'ia6 8.o-o lL'ic7 9.c4 o-o lo. Ae3

'!!e8 11. �d2 Af5 12. '!! ad1
a b c d e f g h
26.b4! lL'id7 27.lL'ixd3 cxd3 28. !!e7

and White went on to win in Libe
rzon,V (2515)-Kortschnoj,V (2695)
Lone Pine 1979.
6 Ad6 7. Ae2
..•
One recent example saw 7. Ad3 o-o

8.o-o '!! e8 9.lL'ih4 and the white
knight would end up stranded on
h4. 9 ... g6 io. Ah6
White has taken the centre with his

pawns but it is difficult for him to
push his queenside pawn majority

further.
In the event of 16.c5, trying to place
a his knight on the inviting square
of C4, Black can go for the rather di
Exchanging dark-squared bish rect 16... �xh2+
ops with 13. .tf4? gives Black a cen
tral pawn target. 13 ... tLle6! 14. �xd6 (Black also has the choice of fol
�xd6 This is better for Black, be lowing a relatively calm kingside
cause d4 is vulnerable. Kortschnoj pawn rolling strategy with 16.. it.f8 .
now embarks on a very interesting 17-tLlC4 gsoo.)

and aggressive plan which will be
useful to remember and put to use!
h6!
13 ...
7
6
13 ... tLle6= keeping the central dy 5
namic balance was approximately 4
equal. 3
a b c d e F g h
Black has a good game. White

should be concerned about his king
safety and not embark on pawn
grabbing efforts. 20.tZJd6?
(20.�d2 .B:q=)
20 ... .B:xe3 2i.tZ:lxb7 tLle6 22. �xc6?

.B:c8 Black gets winning attack.
23. �ds
Now it is obvious that Black means

business! His next move will be 16...
gs! and Black rolls his pawns. Sud
denly the position is razor-sharp!
24. . .fxe6 2s. :!:!fa b7 and c6 weaknesses, and (b) the

knight cannot be removed. There is
certainly logic in all this, but going
to as allows Black an important tac
tical resource!
a b c d e f g h Actually 17./f:lcs! was the way to go,

with dynamically balanced sharp
Now Black needs to remove an im play. 17... l!fcs
portant ·defender of the white king:
25 ... :!:!fS! 26. E:xf8+ @xf8 with ... l!fg3 (1;: ..g4?! 18. il.. e2 does not work here
and ... E:e2 to follow and White is for Black, as lf:lxb7 is a threat and
mated in a few moves. Kortschnoj now there is no move like 18 ... 1'.b4,
proceeds with his plan. while the exchange sacrifice 18...
E:xe3 19.1!¥xe3 f4
16 g5!
...
a b c d e f g h
with the white knight on cs in

stead of as also does not work so
a b c d e f g h well 20.1!¥d2!f3 21.gxf3 gxf3 22. li.xf3
1!¥h4 23. E:fe1 @h8 24. E:es il.. xes
It is obvious that White must im 25. dxes and the black attack is
mediately create threats of his own! a fight for a draw.)
White's chances are on the queen
side and Black's weak spot is his
b7-pawn, possibly the c6-pawn as
well. Should White jump with his (or 18... b6 19.lf:ld3 f4 transposing)
knight to cs or as? Most likely White
thought the as-jump looked more 19.gxf4 b6!
logical, since (a) it hits both the
(If 19... Axes 20.dxcs Vllfs 21. il.g2 Now we get a sharp position with
CLie6 22jxg5 hxgs 23.b4 Black does opposite-colour bishops. 22... �xd3
not quite have sufficient compen 23 . .E:xd3 CLi xf4 24. il.. xf4 il.. xf4
sation for his sacrificed pawn.) 25.1!9d1 'B.b8 26. V/lh5 1!9f5 27. 'B.a3
(27. 'E! h3 1!9f6 28. 1!9xh6 1!9xh6

29. 'B.xh6 'i!tg7=)
27... a5 28. V/lxh6 g4 29. V/lh4 1!9g6 The

white king position is also not per
fect. 30.h3
(30. 'B.g3 il.xg3 31jxg3 'B.f8 White

cannot improve, on account of
his weak king. 32. 'B.f4 1!9bi+ 33. 'B.f1
a b c d e f g h V!lg6=)
2i.d5! 30... 'Bes 3i.hxg4 'Bgs
[21.fxg5?! CLixgs (21... CLixd4 leads

to a draw: 22. il.xd4 V/lh3 23.CLies
il.xe5 - not 23 ... !!xe5? because of
24. il.g2 - 24. il.xe5 V!lxf3 25.V/lc3
il.e4 26. Vilxf3 il.xf3 27- 'B.de1 hxgs
28. 'B.e3=) 22. il..g2 il..e4 Black has
a strong attack. 23.f3 CLixf3+ 24. 'B.xf3 a b c d e F g h
(24. il. xf3 ? 1!9h3 -+) 24 . .. il.x[J
25. il..xf3 V/lh3 26. @fa 1!9xh2+ 27. 'i!i>fi
'B.e6 White is fighting to survive.]
(32f3? is the way to lose for White
21 ...cxds 22. il.. xds as Black gets a mating attack after
32 ... 'i!tg7-+)
32 ... 'i!i>g7 33. 'B. h3 'B.xg4 34.1!9xg4

1!9xg4 35. 'B.g1 1!9xgi+ 36. 'i!i>xg1 White
is technically a pawn up, but far
from being able to dream of victory
here. 36 ... il.. e5 37. 'B.f3 f6 38.b3 'B.h8
a b c d e F g h This looks like an easy draw.
(20.'f!c3 f3 21 . .txf3 gxf3 22.'f!xf3

E! b8oo; 20.'f!d2 f3 21.gxf3?? 'f!h4
22j4 and now thanks to the white
knight being on as Black has 22 ••.
�e6-+.)
20 .. .fxe3 21.�xdS exfa+ 22. !!xfa

!!xd8 23. i.. xg400
19.fZ::l xb7 'f!c8
18.fZ::l xb7? .txh2+ 19.@xh2 'f!h4+

20.@g1 gxf3-+
The best move, forcing White to

sacrifice a piece.
18 ... !!xe3!? was an interesting ex

change sacrifice leading to a mate White has different ways to be worse
rial imbalance. 19. 'f!xe3 and he loses his way; it always hard
in these situations.
20.fZ::lc5
20.a3 'f!xb7 (20... i..fB 21.fZJas f4

22.fZJxc6 fxe3 23jxe3 hs00) 21.axb4
f4+
20...f4 21. i.. xg4
21.fZ::l d3 i.. xd3 22. �xd3 fxe3 23.fxe3

a b c d e f g h �f8! (Otherwise 24.cs is unpleas
ant.) 24. ids fZ::l e6 2s. i.. xg4 'f/q also
20.fZ::l xb7 looks better for Black but, as with
the 20.a3 line, better for White than

what happened in the game.
21 �xg4 22. i.. xf4 '£\e6

.•.
The smoke has cleared, Black has

a won endgame and Kortschnoj
brings it home.
White technically still has three

pawns for a piece, but Black is well Or 3i. B'.d6 as 32. .ixh6 i.d5-+.
coordinated and White will lose at
least a pawn. 31... Ads 32.f4 tt:le6 33. i..e3 h5
White has only two pawns for

a piece, Black has light-square con
24 ... i.. xd3 25. B'. xd3 �e4 26. B'.dd1 trol and White has no counter-play.
(26. B'.fd1? blunders an exchange to
26... 1£\cs) 26 ... 1£lxd4 should also win 34.h3 !!b8 35. B'.d2 B'.b3 36.@fa h4
for Black. 37. B'.c2 i.. xg2 0-1
25.1£le5 i.xe5 26.dxe5 i.d3 27.{J

�xc4 28. �xc4 i.. xc4 29. B'. xd8
tt:lxd8
CHA PTER IV. BENONI STRATEGIES
The Benoni is a dynamic opening 4.1. POSITIONAL

that has been championed by many EXCHAN G E SACRIFICE
great players, and is suitable for club
players and for use in open tourna
ments. I would like to delve into the
basic id€as in one of this opening's
oldest main lines, the "Pirouette
Variation". This line earns its name
because a white Knight dances
a "pirouette" from f3 via d2 to the
q-square. The first four games in
this chapter are related to this vari
ation.
a b c d e f g h
The first three games in this chapter

are predominantly positional ones, Some readers may immediately rec
while games four and five have sac ognize the pawn structure as com
rificial themes. The fourth game il ing from the famous third game of
lustrates a sacrificial idea in the Pir the Spassky-Fischer World Cham
ouette Variation, and an important pionship match in 1972. Petrosian
one to learn - this game you will skilfully shows his visiting card, the
NOT find in any commercial data positional exchange sacrifice. This is
base! The fifth game is Kasparov's definitely a game to study for any
classic sacrifice in the fianchetto one wanting to understand this po
variation. sition.
Due to the fact that White started

18 with 8 . .te2, instead 8.CL:ld2, Black
here has an additional possibility
1> T. Petrosian in 9... .tg4. Exchanging the light
... N. Rashkovsky squared bishop for the white knight
Moscow [9] . 1976 on f3 is positionally sound for Black
in the Modern Benoni.
1.d4 CL:lf6 2.CL:lf3 e6 3.c4 c5 4.d5 exd5
5.cxd5 d6 6.CLlCJ g6 7.e4 .tg7
8. �e2
The other route, perhaps more com Petrosian enables his rook lift to a3
mon, for White to reach our main while still keeping his queen on dl,
position is via 8.�d2 �bd7 9 . .te2 preventing Black from immediate
o-o 10.0-0 :S.e8 ly going for the ...CL:lh5 plan. In this
position we have seen a number of
(10. a6?! 11.a4 has sometimes been
.. top-level-games having different
included by Black, even some transpositions but keeping the same
strong GMs. Given the fact that, general plans. Black will at some
as we are later to witness, White stage jump ... CL:lh5, White will take
plans the :S.a3 rook lift as an essen .txh5 and after gxh5 White will try
tial part of his strategy, the inclu to take advantage of Black's dam
sion of 10... a6?! 11.a4 looks to me to aged pawn structure. :S.a3, followed
be favouring White.) by CL:ld1, will be White's main plan.
8 o-o 9.0-0 :S.e8

..• In the 1972 World Championship
classk game Fischer for the first
CHAPTER IV. BENONI STRATEGIES 143
time executed the ... llJh5 plan, al white rook placed on a3, combined
lowing damage to his pawn struc with the llJd1 idea, enables White to
ture. It continued 11. "i!fc2 llJh5. swing his rook to the kingside, take
advantage ofBlack's damaged pawn
At the time Fischer came up with structure and begin an attack on the
this plan it was viewed as revolution black king. The game went well for
ary. It definitely produced a shock Fischer. 13...llJe5 14.llJe3 "ilfh4 15. .id2
effect on Spassky and worked excel llJg4! A knight swap will improve
lently in practice! In reality though, Black's pawn structure. 16.lLlxg4
Black's idea is not that great at all. hxg4 1;. .if4 "ilff6 18.g3 .idi+ Black
Black damages his pawn structure, had a great game and went on to
making his king's position vulnera win in Spassky,B (2660)-Fischer,R
ble, and also trading the black knight (2785) Reykjavik 1972)
for White's light squared bishop is
not bad for White at all. White can
see the weakness of the f5 square and
aim to use it for his knight through
the llJd1- lLle3- lLl f5 manoeuvre. In
essence it's a risky strategic concept
for Black! 12. .ixh5 gxh5
a b c d e f g h
14.llJd1 can transpose to our main

game via
a b c d e f g h (14. � a3 is also possible, probably

leading to a transposition)
(The Spassky-Fischer game went

13.eLJC4. Facing the position for the (14 . . "i!fh4 transposes to Gligoric
.
first time, needing to make an over Kavalek, Skopje 1972, given below:
the-board decision, Spassky did not 15.llJe3 lLlg4 16.lLlxg4 hxg4 17.eLJC4
initially grasp that the c3 knight "i!ff6 18. .id2)
needed to move to e3 and that acti
vating his rook on al via a rook lift to 15. �a3 .ia6 16. �h3! and we are in
a3 was essential for White here! The our main game.
144 CH ESS M ID DLEGAM E STRATEG I ES
11 ... li:Je5 18.li:Jf3 This was White's best, gain

ing an advantage.
11 a6 12.l!Vc2 White protects his e4-
••.
pawn, aiming for li:JC4. [18.li:J xg4?! White, just as in

Spassky-Fischer, corrects the black
(Another possibility was playing pawn structure. Yes, White is here
a useful move-that needed to be definitely in a much better shape
played anyway, i2. :S.a3, and then than Spassky as his knight is on
developing with l!Vc2, similar to d2 instead of c3 and can go to c4,
Petrosian's strategy in our main while the f-pawn is already on f4.
game.) However, with the improved black
kingside pawn structure, the game
12 ...li:Jh5 13. ii.xh5 gxh5 is unclear. 18 ... hxg4 19.li:JC4 �e700
20.e5 dxe5
a b c d e F g h
a b c d e F g h
Here White needs to execute what
is now established as the best plan 21.fxe5 (An interesting pawn sac
here: 14.li:Jd1! The knight goes from rifice here, quite a standard one,
c3 to e3, while the rook goes from was 21.d6 �h4 22j5�.) 2i. .. ii.xe5
ai to a3. Black's king can easily be 22.li:Jxe5 l!Vxe5 23. l!Vxc5 White does
come a target! 14 ... li:Je5 15.li:Je3 l!Vh4 not have enough pieces io exploit
16. E[a3! ii.d7 17.f4 li:Jg4 the black king's weakness. 23 ...
�ac8 24.�fa f5 (24... �xds! forces
White to go for a draw. 25. �d3
l!Vxd3 26. l!Vxf7+ c!thB 27. l!Vf6+
c!tgB=) 25.h3 :S.c4= Gligoric
Browne, San Antonio, 1972.]
a b c d e F g h
CHAPTER IV. BENONI STRATEGI ES 145
structive games on the white side

of the Modern Benoni. 15.1£le3
Again, just as in his game against
Browne, Gligoric does not mind
correcting his opponent's pawn
structure; he is banking on his fu
ture strong knight on C4 and the
a b c d e f g h advance of his f-pawn. (15. !!a3�
improving the rook first was defi
19.h3! 1£lxe3 20. !!xe3 Black needs to nitely possible.) 15 ... 1£lg4 16.1£lxg4
reckon with the e4-es pawn push. hxg4 17.lLlC4 !Vf6 18. �d2
The black king is vulnerable and
White has good attacking prospects.
12. !!a3
a b c d e f g h
Compared with Spassky-Fischer,

White - with his knight on C4 in
stead of c3 - is obviously in much
better shape! White will trade off
the dark-squared bishops and then
focus on attacking the weak black
a b c d e f g h king. 18...!Vg6 19. �c3 �xc3 20.bxc3
b6 2i. !!fe1 �a6 22.ll:ld2 !!e5
14.1£ld1! Now, thanks to the fact that
the black a-pawn is still on a7, Black
can move his bishop to a6. The ad
vantage of ... �a6 is that it hits the
white rook on f1; the disadvantage
is that it loses the control of the fs
square. 14 ...b6
a b c d e f g h
[14 ... !Vh4 was seen in an old Gli
goric game. The Yugoslav grand White will now prise open the
master Gligoric played many in- black pawn structure in a similar
146 CH ESS MIDDLEGAME STRATEGI ES
way to Magerramov-Kasparov, (15... 1'.a6 16. Eth3! transposes to our

our next game, and prove that the main game)
black king is vulnerable. 23.f4! gxfJ
24.ll:lxf3 ilh5 25.l!Nfa l!Nf6 26. !!e3± 16.exf5 ..ta6 Black is using tactics to
The black bishop a6 is hitting win an exchange. Should White re
empty squares and the black king ally mind?
is weak. White prepares a cru
cial central pawn break. 26... �e8
27. �ae1 l!Nf4
a b c d e f g h
17.ll:le4! No, White does not mind!

a b c d e f g h White happily sacrifices an ex
change and gets a strong kingside
28.e5! dxe5 29. �e4 l!Nf6 30. l!Ng3+ attack. Again, Black's damaged
@hs 3i.ll:lxe5+- :S.gs 32. �g4 !!xg4 pawn structure resulting from the
33.ll:lxg4 l!Ng6 34-C4! The attackers ... ll:lh5 plan plays a crucial role!
defenders ratio favours White, the
black bishop a6 not being of any
use. 34... !!f5 35.lZJh6! �f6 36. !!eS+
@g7 37. !!gS+ 'i!i>xh6 38.l!Nh4+ 1-0 17... �xfi 18. @xfi White has ex
Gligoric,S (2575)-Kavalek,L (2555) cellent attacking prospects for his
Skopje 1972.] small material investmen�. 18...ll:lf7
19. :S.g3 @h8 20.f6! ±
:· / .1 •
ii
,� ={o/'1 {
,;;;:{@d
�."%,
7
6 -
• •,
1
58 . 8
.
4 8. Wt ct:id �
3� �- �- �
2 Div� 08 �
1 �l2J�0�-
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
20 ... ..tfs
CHAPTER IV. BENONI STRATEG I ES 147
(20... i.xf6 21. 'B.f3 'B.xe4 22.1!¥xe4±) Black is hoping his active piece play
will compensate for his kingside
2I. 'B.h3! Now White probably is on pawn structure damage.
the way to victory.
(21. i.d2 l!ld7± with an advantage

for White, though Black ultimate Vintage Petrosian! White happily
ly survived in 1/2-1/2 Gligoric,S sacrifices an exchange, getting as
(2595)-Taimanov,M (2595) Lenin compensation the magnificent f5-
grad 1973.) square for his knight! Petrosian's
positional concept shows the stra
2I. .. 'B.e5 22. i.f4 'B.f5 23. �h4+- tegic risks of Fischer's ...ez:Jh5 idea.
16... .txfi
Black could have tried to take the

exchange in a smarter way, though
White would still have had great
compensation: 16 ... h4 17.ez:Je3 i.d3
a b c d e f g h 18.l!ld1 i.xfr 19.@xf1 (19.lLidxf1 lLig6
Now the e4-pawn hangs; this was
(White threatens 24.lL!e3.) 23 ... Ah6 the idea behind 17... �d3) 19 ... ez:Jg6
24. Axh6 ez:Jxh6 25.ez:Je3 :!:!e5 26.l!ld3 20.ez:Jf5ii5.
Threatening ez:Jq. 26...lL!f5 27.ez:Jxf5
�xf5 28.lL!xd6 :!:!xf6 29. 'B.xh5+-.
12 ... b6 13.l!lc2 ez:Jhs 14. i.xhs gxhs a) 17...h4 18.lL!de3 ez:Jg6 19.ez:Jf5 a6
15.ez:Jd1 i.a6 20.ez:J 1e3 b5 2I.lLlxg7 <it>xg7 22.ez:Jf5+
<it>g8 23.g3�
b) Perhaps Black should have con

sidered that depriving the white
knight of the f5-square was worth
a pawn and played 17.. .f5!? 18.exf5
h4 White would now need to bring
his knight to e4 (similar to Gligor
ic-Taimanov). White definitely has
strong compensation.
Petrosian was probably not cer

tain whether he needed to move his
knight from e3 to g4 or to C4, so he
first played...
24 ..tlC4 was also possible. 24... l!fb1
(24... WUa6 now leaves Black without

any counter-play after 25. 'i!tg2+-.)
25. W9d2 l!fa1 26..tlxe5

Petrosian is going for the kill!
18.axb5 was actually also possible,

as after 18... a600 Black does not re
ally get the desired counter-play af
ter 19.b6 l!Vxb6 20..tlde3 with .tlf5 to
follow.
a b c d e f g h
18...bxa4 19. .tlfs .tlg6 20. !!xhs �es
21.g3 !!b8 White is better, but he does not have
a mate. 26 ... lab1 27. 'it>g2 !!xc1 28 ..tlf3
White needs his last piece in the at J!h1 29. l!Vd3 laxe4 30 ..tlxd6 White
tack, so the knight on fr is heading is definitely better, but Black has
to g4. chances of survival.
This makes White's task easier.
24... W9a6! was a better defensive re

source as 25 ..tlg4, strangely enough,
does not seem to mate:
a b c d e f g h
CHAPTER IV. BENON I STRATEGI ES 149
a b c d e F g h
Now some fancy lines may follow, a b c d e f g h

for example 27.<t\xd6 ii.xd6 28."t:!fh6
l!fxe4+ 29.@h3 l!ff3! 30. .ig5 i.e5 Now, not in a hurry, Petrosian first
3i.d6 !!e6! and Black seems to be improves his king.
defending successfully. 32. l!fxh7+
(32.d7 !!d1 is a forced draw:

33. V:Wxh7+ @fs 34 . .t\ xes !!xes Petrosian takes by far the best prac
35.V:Wh6+ @g8 36."t:!fh7+.) tical decision! He improves his
king's position, retaining all the
32 ... @fs 33.<tl xe5 !!xe5 34. i.h6+ threats and by doing so he keeps the
�e8 35. !!xe5+ price of the move "low"! Keeping the
price of the move low means that no
strong calculating ability is needed
any longer; the player is cashing in
while minimizing the risk. Very of
ten people in their analyses follow
the top computer line when in prac
tice it is actually not a great line at
a b c d e f g h all, because in a human fight it un
necessarily increases the price of the
35 ... @d7! This is a strange position; move! This is well illustrated in the
there are plenty of tactics and mat comments to 26.<tlxd6 below.
ters are far from clear.
Computer programs make 26.<tlxd6
their top choice. Tigran Petrosian
definitely saw this move and yes it
should win for White, but White for
example needs to calculate the fol-
lowing line. 26... .txd6 27.lZJf6+ 'i:!tf8

28. E:xh7 'i:!te7
(28... WUf3 29. WUh6+ 'i:!te7 30. WUxg6+-)
29. WUg5 and now after 29 ... 'i:!td8
29.lZJh6+ 'i:!tf8 30. l:!xe5 ![xe5 31.lZJg4

l:!ee7
a b c d e f g h
Petrosian's positional sacrifice mas
White needs to find - and in terpiece!
fact needed to find while playing
26.lZJxd6! - that after the obvious 1-0
30.lZJxeS+ 'i:!txe8 the only clear-cut
win is 31. WUf5!
(31. WUJ6? 'l!.. d7 for example is better 4.2. KINGSIDE

for Black.) STRUCTURE
TRANSFORMATIONS
(31 ... WUb1 32. 'i:!tg2+-) Games two and three illustrate
pawn structure transformations
Here White already has different so which may occur on the kingside.
lutions, the prettiest being 32. ![xf7! Though these transformations in
![xf7 33.WUcs+ 'i:!te7 34 . .tg5+ E:f6 our particular case come from the
35. WUe6+ collecting all the black pie Pirouette Variation, similar po
ces. Bottom line: in a practical game sitions may come from different
the Petrosian approach is way way Benoni lines. Understanding the
better! basic pros and cons is a necessity
for anyone willing to play these po
26 . . . WUc4 27.lZJxe5 WUxe4+ 28.f3 sitions with either colour.
WUxe5
CHAPTER IV. BENONI STRATEG IES 151
In 2009 I had a rapid game with one

of the Benoni heroes, the late Vu
gar Gashimov. Through a different
opening line we came to the pawn
structure discussed here. The game
was dynamic and instructive, so
let's see it. 7.h3 �g7 8. �f4 o-o 9.e3
a b c d e f g h E:e8 10.ez:Jd2 ez:Jbd7 11. �e2 ez:Je5 12.0-
0 a6 13.a4 !!b8 14.e4 ez:Jfd7 15. �h2 gs
This .particular pawn structure is
quite often seen in different Benoni
lines. I think that Black's powerful
knight on es does not sufficiently
compensate for the potential weak
ness of the black king. Opinions dif
fer here; I prefer White!
a b c d e f g h
19 Black plans to play ... ez:Jf8 and ... ez:Jg6,

so White needs to push his f-pawn.
t> E. Magerramov 16.f4 gxf4 17. �xf4 We have reached
� G. Kasparov the pawn structure of our interest.
Baku, 1979 Black controls the important es
square and has posted a dominant
1.d4 lZ:Jf6 2.c4 c; 3.d; e6 4.CZJC3 exd; knight there; White has pressure
;.cxd; d6 6.CZJf3 g6 along the f-file and a potential out
post on fs, although it will not be
easy to manoeuvre a knight to that
square. Probably the position is dy
namically balanced. I have given
a number of different lines trying
to support the view that the game
is dynamically equal, with plenty of
opportunities for both sides to go
wrong! 17... ez:Jfs 18. !!fa ez:Jfg6
Black gets excellent compensation

for the sacrificed queen after 25...
l!Vxh3 26. Axcs dxcs 27- E:h2 Ae3+
28.@h1 Ad4�.) 25... Axe3 26.l!fxe3
E:xb2 27. E:xa6 E: 2b6=.]
24 ... E:xb2 25. E:xa6

a b c d e F g h
Black has dynamic play and White's

ll:Jf1- ll:Je3- ll:Jf5 or ll:J f1- ll:Jg3- ll:J f5
plan is difficult to achieve. 19. Ae3
Ad7 20.a5 b5 2i.axb6 E:xb6 22.1!¥c2
'i!fh4 23.ll:Jf1 The fr-square is a natu
ral place for the white knight here, a b c d e F g h
hoping to make its way to f5 via e3
or g3. Black's knight on e5 is domi
nant, but for the time being it can
not jump to anywhere useful. 23 ... Black now could have made a nice
2:!eb8 exchange sacrifice, one which Beno
ni aficionados will love. Indeed it is
a little strange that Gashimov did
not go for it. 25 ... E:xe2!
a) In rapid games, even the world's

best tacticians make blunders.
Gashimov now played . 25 ... Ah6?
a b c d e F g h after which Black soon ran out of
threats and White gained a mas
Now I played 24. l!fc1, wanting to sive advantage. 26. Axh6 Cl:Jd3
prevent ... Ah6 with a bishop ex (26... 'ffixj2+ 27-@Xj2 ll:Jd3+ 28.@g1
change and also threaten Ag5 trap ll:Jxc1 29. Axci+-) 27.!¥e3 (27-K3 was
ping the queen. also winning for White 2/7. .. ll:Jxci
28.gxh4 1:!c2 29. Ag4+-) 27... ll:Jxfa
[24. E:a2 leads to equality: 24... Ah6 28. Ag5! ll:Jxh3+ 29.gxh3 !¥xh3
This bishop trade is strategically 30. 2:!xd6 E:c2 31. Af6+-
good for Black here, as it underlines
the strong dark-squares control he
has in this position. 25.1!i'c1 (If 25.g3
8 [29 ... i.xh3!? can lead to a forced

7 draw 30.gxh3 �xh3+ 31. �xh3 (31.
6
@h1 ii.es 32. l!Vg2+ �gs+ 33. @g1
5
4
h6� with ... @h7, ... !!g8 to follow.)
3 31. .. l!Vxh3 32.�e2 l!Vg4+ 33.�eg3
2
a b c d e f g h
Black now has to trade queens,

which results in a lost endgame.
3i. .. l!Vxe3+ 32.�xe3 B:ci+ 33.@fa
i.e8 34.E'.a6 E'.h1 35. i. f3 E'.c1 36.d6 a b c d e f g h
h6 37.�cd5 @h7 38.l�fa7 � f8
39. l:!e7 !!as 40.e5 �g6 41. i.e4 Now it is important for Black to
i-o Sokolov,I (2655)-Gashimov, take away the white knight's option
V (2740) Mainz 2009. of jumping to the f5-square. 33 .. .f5!
(33 ... i.d4+ 34.@h1 Black can still
b) 25 ... E'. 2b3 26. l:!a3 23.xa3 27. l!Vxa3 play ...f5 here, but not 34 ... E'.b2??
is approximately equal. 35. 23.aB+ @g7 36.�fs++-) 34.exf5
i.d4+ 35.@h1 E'.b2 and White has
Back to the exchange sacrifice: to force a perpetual check 36. 23.aS+
26. Z!xe2 �d3 27.l!Vd2 �gf4 28. i.xf4 @f7 37. E'.a7+ @g8=.]
�xf4 29. l:!e3
30.'iffa
[White has no time for 30. E'.xd6?

as it loses to 30 ... i.xh3!
8
•
7 &
6
a b c d e f g h
5
4
3
With the white rook stuck on a6, 2
Black can use his momentum for at
tacking ideas on the kingside. 29... a b c d e f g h
i.d4
31.gxh3 �xh3+ 32.@h1 (32.@g2
�f4+ 33.@f3 hs-+) White is a rook
154 CH ESS M I D DLEGAME STRATEG I ES
up, but his extra rook is not doing gs in order to support his knight on
much on d6, while the white king es. This strategic plan leads to pawn
is being overwhelmed by black at structures similar to those in my
tackers. 32 ... 'i!th8! 33. ifh2 i.xe3 game with Gashimov, given above.
34. ife5+ (34.l£ixe3 ifei+ 35. 'i!tg2 This structure has its pros and cons
E:b2+-+) 34 ... 'i!tgS 35.1£ixe3 lZ:Jf4+ for Black. Here I will give two games
36.'i!tg1 ifg3+ 37.'i!tf1 iff3+-+] played as Black by famous World
Champions, hoping to help readers
30... iff6 to understand those positions bet
ter.
11...g5
This was played by the young Kasp

arov.
a b c d e f g h
Computer engines evaluate this po

sition around o.oo, but Black looks
good to me.
7...1£ibd7 8.e4 i.g7 9. i.e2 o-o 10.0-

0 E:e8 11.a4
a b c d e f g h
13.lZ:Jf3 In general, I would say that

an exchange of one pair of knights
In this well-known position of the should be to White's advantage
Benoni Pirouette variation, Black's here, because after the 'f4 gxf4'
main strategic plan is to push g6-
transaction White's f-file pressure 23. it.xgs+-) 20. i.d2± Black's

may become stronger. kingside is weak and White has
a clear advantage. I like Najdorf's
ai) Some similar strategic play 13. :8a3 idea!
was seen in Najdorf-Timman,
Bugojno 1982. 13. :8a3! A typical a2) 13.f4 was definitely possible
Benoni rook lift. White will now and after 13 ... gxf4 14. E:xf4 we
focus on transferring his knight have play similar to my game with
from d2 to g3, via fr. The knight Gashimov as in our main game.
will then target f5, weakened by
the ... g6-g5 pawn push. 13 ... W9e7
14. E:e� tLlfg4 15.tLlfi! tLlg6 16.W9d1
lLlh6 17.tLlg3 a6
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h Fischer decides to move his queen

to e5. 15 ... a6 (15... tlJd7 16. i.e2 lLles
Here White had to proceed with 17f4 gxf4 18. E:xf4 leads to positions
18.a5! White wants to send his similar to our main game; per
knight deep into enemy territory, sonally I prefer White's chances.)
via a4 to b6. (Najdorf, who was 16. i.e2 W9e7 17. E'.ae1 W9e5 18. 'i!?h1!
72 at the time, loses the thread. An intelligent prophylactic move.
18. il.e3? Blocking the third rank White is ready to push fa-f4, but
hems in the rook on a3. 18 .. fs first removes his king from possi
19.exfs tLlxfs 20.tLlxfs .iLxfs 21. W9d2 ble queen checks on d4. 18 ... W9d4
h6 22. E:aa1 W9f6 23. i.d3? tLies
.I •
24. i.e2 W9g6 25f3 g4 and Black 7 •
�
went on to win.) 18.. .f5 (18... i.d7 6 •• ;� ,if �
/
s •m ��.t.t 8 .•
8•mM�.
19.tlJa4) 19.exf5 Now it becomes
43 "8·��m
, "
obvious that 13. E'.a3! was a good

move, as the white rook can eas 2 ��•8 6
• w. •,,
ily swing across to the kingside.
19 ... i.xf5 (19 . . . tLixfs 20.tLlce4 a b c d
�en{m�
f g h
i.d4 21. i.hs tLixg3 22. E:xg3 i.fs
Here 19.f4! was both principled and ll:Je3 to follow, and White
and strong. (In the game self, wins with his kingside attack.
White first wavered and then blun
dered - I suspect people were sim a2) 19 ... li:Jxe4?! does not solve
ply terrified of Fischer! 19.f3?! ltihs black's problems due to 20. i.. d3
Now comes a strange white blun ltif6 (20.. fs 21jxgs+-) 21. !!xeS+
der. 20.li:Jbs? axbs 21. i.. xbs The liJ xe8 22.fxg5
black queen moves out of possi
ble trouble and defends the rook.
21 ... Wles 22. i.. c3 'fie; 23. i.. xeB
Wlxe8 24. i.. xg7 @xg7 25.b4 cxb4
26. Wlb2+ VJ!les 2;. WIxb4 li:Jf4 28. 'E!d1
b6 29. 'Bf2? ll:Jd3-+ 0-1 Gligoric,S
Fischer,R Palma de Mallorca 1970)
19 ... g4! This is likely Black's best, a b c d e f g h
resulting in a queen sacrifice after
White's coming move. Material is equal but White has
a strong attack and Black is in
ai) 19 ... gxf4? leads to positions bad shape. Play could continue
where White's f-file pressure 22 ... hxgs 23. i.. h7+ @fs (23 ... @hB
proves crucial. 20. !!xf4 i.. d7 24. '!J.xf7+-) 24. i.. g6 li:Jf6 25. i.. xg5
21. '!J.ef1 VJ!/e5 Wies 26. i.. xf6 i.. xf6 27. i.. xf7 @xf7
28.ll:Je4 i.. f5 29. '!J.xf5+-.
20.e5!
a b c d e f g h
Now White increases the f-file

pressure with 22. i..e 1! E'.f8 and a b c d e f g h
now comes a backward knight
move which is actually a standard 20...li:Jxd5 (White is also better in
idea for these Benoni positions. the case of 20... dxes 21jxe5 E'.xes
It enables White to destroy the 22. !!f4 i..fs 23. W!CI i.. e4 24. i.. xg4±.)
black defences. 23.Cl:Jd1! with i..C3 21. '!J.d1 dxe5 (21...lLJb4 22. Wlb1 trans
poses.) 22. i..c1 ltib4
13.e5!? dxe5 14.�xc4 �b6 (14... exf4

15. i.xf4t.) 15.fxe5
•
�
a b c d e f g h
23. �b1 Black objectively does not a b c d e f g h

get nearly enough for the sacri
ficed qaeen 23... i.e6 24. E:xd4 exd4 15 ...�g4!? (15... �fxd5 simplifies mat
25. i.d2! dxc3 26. i.xc3±. ters: 16.�xd5 �xd5 l'J.�xd5 �xd5
18. i.f3 i.e6 and this looks equal.)
16.�d6! White needs sharp calcu
lation to make such a move! 16 ...
i.xe5 17.�xeS! Should Black take
on h2 with a check? 17 .. �h4! No, he
.
should not! [17... �xh2+? was played

in the actual game and resulted in
a quick end. 18. 'i!? hi �h4
s :1• .t •••
7 ., . ,.,
6 l B m• • l•
a b c d e f g h
which is not often played, prob s m'

��· �� F''�7;
-r:��
ably because the black players do 43 ,.w" •�•a�fi.M
2 �fh %';, ;�·�·
·�·8·
not like Petrosian's 12. E:a3, when
�("� ��"·: -�
White simply gets a good version 1
of known lines. I would, however, a b c d e f g h
like to show you one interesting
Gligoric game, because it is enter Now comes the defence that Black
taining and also good for calcula missed. 19. i.g5! �xg5 20. i.xg4
tion training. 12.f4!? An ambitious i.e5 (20 . . . i.xg4 ? 21. �xg4+-)
move leading to nice complica 2i. �f3! f5 22. E:ae1 i.d4 23. �f4+
tions. (The typical Benoni move and White soon won in Gligoric,S
12. E:a3 was played by Petrosian, Nicevski,R Zagreb 1970] 18.h3 �g3
with success.) 12... C4! Now White 19. i.xg4 �h2+ 20.'i!?fa �g3+
goes for a typical Benoni reaction.
158 CH ESS M I DDLEGAM E STRATEG IES
a b c d e f g h
Can White play for a win? 2i. <i!i>e2!

Yes, he can. (21. <i!i>g1= and a draw
by perpetual check.) 21 ... i.xg4+ 12.f4 was also possible but White is
22.hxg4 E:xe8 23. <i!i>d2 i.xC3+ likely to play h2-h3 anyway, so Ma
24.@c2! (24.bxc3?? �xg2+-+) 24 ... gerramov decides to do it first and
i.g7 25. E:a3! �xg2+ 26. <i!i>b1 Black only then push fa-f4.
is the one fighting for a draw. The
following line is rather entertain 12 ...h6
ing: 26 ... E:e2 27. E:b3 lL'lxa4 (27...
lL!xds 28. E:Jh±) 28.d6! lL'lc5 29. E: ffJ The immediate 12 ... lL'le5 was also to
lL'lxb3 30.�xb3 be considered.
a b c d e f g h
30 ... �h1! 3Ld7 (31.�xf7+ <i!i>hB

32. E:c3 �e4+ 33.@a2 �a4+ 34.@bi
�e4+=) 31... E:xb2+ 32.�xb2 i.xb2
33.d8�+ @g7 34. E:xf7+ <i!i>xf7 a b c d e f g h
35. �d7+ <i!i>f8 36. <i!i>xb2;:t.
We reached to the pawn structure
12.h3 of our interest. White will keep
pressure along the f-file and Black's
king position will become endan
gered, while dynamic play con-
nected with the well-placed knight 19. �c6 was more direct. 19 ... B'.aa7 is
on es will prove insufficient to pro then arguably Black's best, enabling
vide Black with equality. Magerra the rook to swing over to the e-file.
mov improves his rook on a1, using
a standard Benoni move. [19 ... B'.b8 leads to a clear white
advantage: 20.tlJC4 tlJd7 (20... b5?
just sacrifices a pawn for nothing
21.axbs axbs 22. �xbs.) 21. �h1 (21.
Kasparov refrains from 17... �d7 �xd7 B'.xd7 22.tlJe3 aiming to capi
as after an exchange of the light talize on the fs weakness was also
squared bishops, Black will have promising for White. 22... bs 23.axbs
problems with his weakness on fs axbs 24.tlJe2 The white knights
- the perfect square for the white aim for the weak fs and hs squares,
knight on d2, for example. highlighting a clear deficiency of
Black's strategy with g6-g5.) White
has a clear advantage, thanks to the
black kingside weakness. 21 ... tlJde5
22.tlJxe5 tlJxe5 23.�h5 �f8
8 /l' j_'efl' 'i' • '
7 ,. r .1. ;t
G j. j. g j. j.
5 .i. � l.ll 'ii'
4� �
,
3 ' J/Jj "

,
2 iffc'Cf, Pi
"� #ii
, . m 0,•
a b c d e f g h
Now we see again the point behind

White now faces an interesting di the rook lift from a1 to a3 in these
lemma as to where to go with his Benoni positions, as the white
bishop on bs. Placing this bishop rook can easily swing across to the
to c6 would cripple Black's man kingside to attack the black king.
ouevring ability, but should the cen 24.tlJe2! tlJxc6 25.dxc6 B'.e5 (The
tre of action move to the kingside pawn grab 25... 'E!xe4? leads to dis
the bishop might become stuck on aster after 26. B'.g3+-.) 26. �6± The
the wrong side of the board. Mager black king's position is vulnerable
ramov finally decides to retreat to e2. and White has a large advantage.]
20.tlJC4
ficed exchange. White should still

be better, though.
a b c d e f g h
20... C2Je5
(In the event of 20 ... C2Jd7 it is

probably easiest for White to go
for a standard strategic decision
21. il.. xd7 'i!.axd7 22.CZJe3± and the
white knights will menace the f5
and hs squares) Known for his desire for active
play, young Kasparov - 16 at the
2i.C2Jxe5 .:S.xe5 22. j.f4 time - now correctly sacrifices
8 a pawn.
7
6 21...b5!?
5
4 2i...C2Jgs 22.!ffa;t (22.ii'hs;t)
22.axb5 axb5 23. E:xb5 C2J g5 24. !¥g3

a b c d e f g h
Now the best decision for Black is

to sacrifice an exchange - other
wise his position is terribly pas
sive. 22 ... CZJh7! Here indeed the
white bishop may get stuck on c6,
while the main action moves to the
kingside. Computer engines evalu
ate this as +i.20 which is, I think,
a typical case where we should not
trust computers blindly as Black in
practical human play definitely has An important decision for Black: to
some compensation for the sacri- exchange the rook or not?
24 ... l:!xb5 with a peaceful end after 29. l:!xf7
24... l:!aS! was probably a better de

cision. The position is rather messy
but Black definitely has his chances. 29 ... @xf7 30. �f3+ l:! f4 31. .txf4
CZ'.Jxf4 32. �xf4+ �f6=
26. . .tcs 27. �g3 it. a6

.
25.it.xb5! was a better move, pre-

venting ... it.c8- .fi.a6, and White White decides to play on.
would then have an advantage.
25 ... .t a6
Black has adequate compensation

here.
26. it.C4 looks like a forced draw:

26... it.xb5
(or 26 ... CZ'.Jxe4 27.CZ'.Jxe4 l:!xe4

28. l:!xj7 @xj7 29. �f3+ l:!f4 30. Axf4
it.xbs may transpose after 3i. .txb5 30 •.. it.xe2?
as there is no deadly discovered
check. 31. it. h2+ �f6 32. �xf6+ This releases the tension, playing
it.xf6 33. it.xbs it.es=.) into White's hands.
Much better was 30... �c8! keeping

the tension along the a6-f1 diagonal.
Then the position is dynamically
balanced and it is easy for both sides
to go wrong. 31. �d1
(31.CLJC4 AxC4 32. it.XC4 CZ'.Jxh3 and

Black is at least okay.)
a b' c d e f g h
31. .. tl'.Jh4 32. �xa6 'f!Vxa6 33. 'i!Vh5

tl'.Jg6
a b c d e f g h
31 . .. �g7 32. 'i!Vhs
a)34. 'i!.d1 tl'.Jf4 35.'i!Vxh6 f6 36.'i!Vh4 32. 'i!Vd3 preparing tl'.Jd2-tl'.JC4 would
�xg2 (36... �d3!?�) 37. �xg2 �xc3 have brought a large advantage
White has to be careful. 38. 'i!Vh5! for White. 32 ...�e5 33. 'i!Vg3 �g6
and most likely we get a draw by 34.tl'.JC4+-
perpetual check. 38 ... :S.h7 (or 38...
�es 39.h4 'i!.g7 40. 'i!VeB+=.) 39. 'f!Ve8+
�g7 40. 'i!Vd7+=.
33.tl'.JC4?! would have let Black off
b) 34. 'i!.e1?! 'i!Vd3 35.'i!Vxh6 'i!.e5 does the hook! 33 ... �xc3 34.bxC3 'i!.xe4
not look good for White as his pie 35.tl'.Je3 'i!.h4 36.'f!Ve2 tl'.Jxh3
ces are terribly uncoordinated.
34 ... �xe4 35.�cxe4 'i!.xe4 36. 'i!Vg5

The white pieces do not coordinate
well. Black definitely has sufficient
compensation, perhaps more.
31. 'i!Vxe2± a b c d e f g h
Now White's life is easy, as the black Now White needs a cool head!
kingside weaknesses start to tell. 37.'i!Vc2!
(White actually may decideto sim Here Magerramov could not re
ply ignore the black knight on h3 sist an artistic urge so he went for
and play for compensation with a queen sacrifice!
38.C4� and unclear play.)
38 ... �xh3+ 39. 'i!?g1 �hi+ 40. 'i!?fa

:Sh2+ 41. 'i!?g3 :Sh3+ 42. 'i.t>fa=. Simply 37. �g5+- would have left
White with a winning advantage.
White is a sound pawn up, while
the black king remains weak. This
33 ... i.xc3 now does not work due was the easy and practical solution...
to the simple 34. i.xg5 hxg5 35.bxq but then we would not have seen
:Sxe4 j 6.�xg5 :S h4 37. �e2 and White's beautiful 5oth move.
White is a sound pawn up.
37. . . :S xh6 3 8 . � xh 6 + 'i.t>h8
39.�xf7+ 'i.t>g7
36.�xd4! Move 40 is often not an easy one!

White decides to transfer his knight
White is most precise! to e6.
36.�g5 :S h4 37. :Sxf7 �xh3+ 38.gxh3 40.�g5

:Sxh6 39. :Sd7 �f8±
40. i.d2 was perhaps stronger. 40...
36... E:h4 �e7 41. i.c3+ 'i.t>g8 42. :Sf4 and Black
faces a difficult time.
40... �b5!
Black activates his queen. 50.'i!tft l1¥d3+ 51.'i!tf2 1Wd2+ 52.@g3

l!Ke3+=.)
41.�e6+ 'i!tgs 42. B:f6 l!fd3 43. Ags
�es 47... "i!Uxb2 and White has nothing
better than to force a draw: 48.�hS+
For the time being the black king is 'i!tg6 49. B:h6+ @f7 50. B:f6+ 'i!tg8
fighting alone, but it is difficult for 5i. .E:f8+=.
White to weave the mating net.
44. .E:fs+ @h7 45. Af6
Should White grab the knight with

To computer engines this position 47.gxf3 and settle for a draw by per
is an easy one offering many o.oo petual check after 47... l!ffa+? No
options. For a human in over-the way!
board play it is something different,
even if your name is Kasparov!
45... l!Vfi+ Magerramov plays, it seems to me,

the most logical human move.
Kasparov's play is logical, but allows
White a nice king run!
45 ... l!fdi+ was one of the o.oo op Mutual best play was the following
tions 46.@h2 l!fd2 47. Ag7 computer line 48.�f4 �e4+ 49.@g4
l!fdi+ 50.@f5 �xf6 5i. .E[xf6 °i!fbi+
(4J.b3 leads to perpetual check: 41-·· 52.@g4
�g4+ 48.hxg4 l!Vh6+ 49.@g1 l!Ve3+
49 ... l!fd1! could have saved the game

for Black: 50. !!f7+ 'i!?g8 51. !!g7+
'i!?h8 52. !!g5+ Cl::l xc3 53.bxc3 l!fei+
54. 'i!?h5 ifxc3
a b c d e f g h
White's knight on f4 is well placed,

preventing the perpetual check. 52 ...
!fxb2 5:3· !!xd6 c4 Both sides have a b c d e f g h
their passed pawns. 54. !!d7+ 'i!?h6
55. !!q c3 56. !!c6+ 'i!?h7 57.d6 c2 White is not in time to mate Black,
58.d7 ifg7+ 59.'i!?fJ !fxd7 60. !!xc2 as the black c-pawn starts to run.
Computer engines think that Black 55. 'i!?g6 l!fd3+ 56. 'i!?f6 c4 57. !!h5+
should survive this. In practical hu 'i!?g8 58. !!g5+ 'i!?h8 59.g4 c3 and
man play, I would definitely put my White has to force a draw 60. !!h5+=.
money on White winning it.
50.Cl::l g5+!! Cl::l xg5
51.'i!?h5
The black knight is protecting the

This allows Elmar Magerramov white king (after 5i. .. l!fd1 52.g4), and
a beautiful finish. now to avoid mate, Black is forced to
return his extra piece.
166 CHESS MIDDLEGAM E STRATEGI ES
Benoni, as the opinion has devel

oped that Black simply has kingside
weaknesses and a passive position.
White is better here and the black
players have generally stopped en
tering this structure. Tal's loss here
is, to my knowledge, the only loss
he ever suffered in the Benoni in his
entire career!
20
White will push his kingside pawns 1> E. Bukic

and ultimately win. Black is passive .,. M . Tal
with no counter-play, so we can per Budva [g) . 1967
fectly understand Garry not being
in the mood to continue. In those 1.d4 tlJf6 2.c4 cs 3.d5 e6 4.tlJC3 exds
days games were adjourned, so the 5.cxd5 d6 6.tlJf3 g6 7.e4 .ig7 8 . .ie2
torture would have continued into o-o 9.0-0 1:!e8 10.ttJd2
another day!
1-0
a b c d e f g h
Should Black not like his b8-knight

development to d7, than he opts for
10 tlJa6 11.f3 tlJc7 12.a4 tlJd7

.•.
This particular pawn structure is 12 . b6 is not precise for Black be

..
nowadays less often seen in the cause of 13.tlJq� stopping ... tlJd7.
13. Wh1 was played in another high

profile game where Fischer went for
the same pawn structure as Tal, and
almost got into trouble! Here we
will examine two options:
a b c d e f g h
18 ... !!f8
(18... !!e7 was probably a better

move, as 19. !!f3 tZJe8 is definitely
better for Black than what hap
pened in the game.)
19. !!f3 tZ::l e8 20 . .ixe8 l!¥xe8 21. !!g3

1i.. d7 22. 1i.. d2 !!f6 23. l!¥b3 !!g6 24. !!e1
a b c d e f g h
So, we have reached the pawn struc

ture we are dealing with in this
game. Black's basic problem is his
weak king as White can use a rook
lift to attack along the g-file, while a b c d e f g h
the black f5-pawn is also weak.
15.CZJC4 tZ::l e5 16.tZ::l xe5
(16. 1i.f4 also looks better for White, [24 ... l!¥f8 25. !!ge3 (25.l1¥xb7? !!xg3
but Gligoric sticks to the tradi 26.hxg3? ii.. d4-+) 25 ... l!¥c8 is com
tional plan - he will advance his puter play, but looks better for
f-pawn to f4, carry out a rook lift White as Black remains passive
to move his rook to the g-file and while White can regroup with the
transfer his bishop on c1 via d2 to backwards knight move 26.tZ::lb 1
C3, thus increasing the pressure followed by ii.. c3 and tZ::l a3-CZJC4 to
against the black king.) follow.]
25.tZ::l b5 ii..e8? This loses quickly.

1 68 CH ESS M I D D LEGAME STRATEG I ES
(25 ... b6! was a better defence,

though White is better after the
simple 26. j.c3 because the black
king is still weak and his position
is passive.)
a b c d e f g h
(15...h5! is a better move, played in

Le Quang-Salem, seen later in this
chapter under "Two Typical Sacri
a b c d e f g h fices".)
White has a winning attack, and 16.f4 CZJf7 17.exf5 gxf5 18. j_d3 '%!ff6
Gligoric plays it well: 29. '%!fh3!+-
5
29... .E:g4 4
3
2
(29. . j_J6 30. "flxf7 rt/xf7 31. '%!fxh7++-)
.
a b c d e f g h
Just like other players entering this

(30. 'fi.xf7 also wins for White: 30... pawn structure as Black, Fischer is
rtlxf7 31. '%!fhs+ "flg6 32.CZJe6 '%!ff6 also suffering from a weakened king
33. j.c3.) position, the f5-pawn weakness and
in general a passive position. Naj
30... j.f6 31.'%!fxf5 "flg6 32. "ild7 1-0 dorf transfers his knight to g3 to
Gligoric,S (2585)-Portisch,L (2645) target the black f5-pawn. 19.ez:Je2
Manila 1974.
(19. '%!fc2 eLlh6 20. j.d2 This plan,
b) 13 ...b6 was Fischer's choice. 14.ez:Jc4 keeping the g-file for the white
ez:Je5 15.CZJe3 Now Fischer goes for the rook, also looks good for White.
same pawn structure that got Tal and 20... j_d7 21. "ilf3 "ilq 22. "ilaf1 rtlh8
Portisch into trouble. and now White can go for the
CHAPTER IV. BENON I STRATEGIES 169
standard manoeuvre 23.li:Jcd1

with :!:!g3 and i.c3 to follow, seiz
ing the initiative.) This strategy again does not work
for Black.
19 ... li:Jh6 20.li:Jg3 l!Ug6 2i.l!Uc2 :!:!f8
22. i.d2 i.d7 Interestingly, playing the same po
sition two years later, Fischer was
not in a hurry to push .. .f5, not in
a hurry at all, and opted for 14...b6!
15. :!:!e1 :!:!b8 16.f4 li:Jd7 with compli
cated play. 17.liJC4
a b c d e f g h
Here White has a nice possibility

in 23. i.e2!
(The actual game went 23. :!:!ae1 a b c d e f g h

:!:!ae8 and White later lost his
way and the game in Najdorf, M
Fischer,R Havana 1966.)
[For readers interested in this
23... i.d4 24. i.C3 seizing the advan opening line, Fischer's play can
tage, as 24 ... i.xe3?? blunders the be improved on with 17... i.d4+!
queen to 25. i.h5. 18.@h1 (18. i.e3? i.xc3 i9.bxc3
:!:!xe4+) 18...li:Jf600]
18. i.f3 i.a6 19.li:Ja3 li:Jd7 20.li:Jab5

i.xb5 2i.axb5 :!:!as White now car
ries out the typical Benoni central
pawn break. 22.e5! dxe5 23.d6 li:Je6
24. i.xa8 �xa8 25.fxe5 (25.li:Jd5±)
25 ... li:J xe5;;!; 1/2-1/2 Kraidman,Y
Fischer,R Netanya 1968.
a b c d e f g h
Here 15.exf5! was the precise move ed, though the engines give many
order for White, as now Black will o.oo lines.
get tactical possibilities on move 16.
15 ...gxf5 16.f4 CL:lg6 17.@h1;t.
19.CL:lb5 This is the best move for

White, according to the computer,
but would not immediately spring to
a human mind. 19... �xe3+ 20. il.xe3
�xe3 2i.�d2
a b c d e f g h
.t �
7 ·� /
16 gxf5?!
•.• 6
5
Tal makes an unusual mistake and 4
3
goes for this pawn structure that 2
favours White. White now executes
his typical plan here: g-file pressure, a b c d e f g h
play against the black f-pawn, at
tacking the weak black king. From this complicated position,
play could develop as follows. 2i...
This is one of the rare games where CL:lf5
Mikhail Tal missed a tactical op
portunity to send the game into [2i. .. �e7 22.f5!? sacrificing a pawn
wild complications. He could have to open routes to the black king
achieved that with 16 ... �d4! Black 22 ... CL:lxb5! (If 22 ... CLixfs 23.CL:lxq
uses the a7-g1 diagonal pin, and the �xq 24. �d3 CL:ld4 25. �f2 White
game quickly spirals out of control: gets a serious attack on the black
17.fxg6 CL:lh6 18.gxh7+ @hs Black king.) 23.f6 (23.axbs �f8 is fine
has lost all his kingside pawns, but for Black 24j6 � es.) 23 ... �xh7
will collect a piece. The position 24.axb500]
looks mind-bogglingly complicat-
22.g4 CL:lxb5 23. �xb5
17
•.. lWf6
White first carries out the standard

rook lift.
a b c d e f g h Now he targets the black f-pawn.
23 ... lWf6! 24. Erae1
19. l'!g3 also looks good for White:

19 ... @hs 20. Ad2-+.
24 ... !!xe1 25. 1'!xe1 'l:Jg7 26.h3 a6
27. Ad3 Ad7 I do not know if Black
is better, but at least to me he does
not look worse.
The other way was 16... 'l:Jh6 17.fxg6

Ad4 transposing to the above.
a b c d e f g h
does not really work for Black after

20. Axa6!
(20. Axfs gives Black what he

wants: 20... Axfs 21.lWxfs 1'!xe3!
22. lWxf6 E.t xf3 23.lWxg7+ Wxg7
24.gxf3 tiJb4�.)
Now Black is in trouble. White is 20...bxa6 2I. Ad2± and White fol
well acquainted with the secrets of lows up with the standard plan of
the position and Tai does not escape 'l:Jcd1 and AC3.
his grip!
20. �d2
172 CHESS M IDDLEGAM E STRATEGI ES
In the event of 20 ... -t\a6 comes the Tai hopes to stir up complications,
familiar story: 21 . .1'.xa6 bxa6 22.h3 but now he falls under the kind of
E!ab8 23.-t\cd1! ±. Now White makes attack he usually inflicted upon oth
the move we have already seen er people.
countless times in this chapter!
Black's best defence was to go for
21.-t\cdi! -t\e8 an inferior endgame with 26 ...
.1'.XC3 27.llfXC3+ l!fd4 28.'iWxd4+
White has a rather direct idea in cxd4 29.-t\xf5 -t\xf5 30 . .1'.xf5 Axf5
mind and goes for 31. E!xf5 -tlg7;t.
22. E!g3 27. E! f4! ± l!ff6 28. A xd4 cxd4

29.-tlxf5 -tlxf5
White had a good alternative in
22.-t\C4 l!ff8 23.-t\de3±. 29 ... Axf5 loses to 30. Axf5 �ei+
31. �fa 'iWe7 32. Ae4 l:!e3 33. l:he3
22... l!fd4 23.-t\fa �h8 24. .1'.c3! dxe3+ 34. �e2 White's king is per
fectly safe, but his black counterpart
White follows the plan that started is under a mating attack. 34...-tlf6
with 22. E!g3. He temporarily sacri 35.l!fc3 -t\hg8 36.-t\g5+-
fices a pawn to open the f-file as an
extra route to the black king. 30. Axf5 �c8
The battle has been decided, all

Black has left are few checks before
the inevitable end.
4.3. TWO TYPICAL

White trusts his calculation. SACRIFI CES
3i. it.e6 wins too: 3i. .. !!xe6 (31 . .
.
1lxe6 32. !!xf6 tiJxf6 33. � d2+-)

32.�d2+-.
31 ... �xcS 32. �xcS !!ei+ 33.�fa

�e7 34. �e6
Black's problem is that his king is in

a mating net, while the white king is
safer than it may appear at first sight.
34 ... !!xe6 35.dxe6 tiJf6 36. !!gf3

tiJgS 37· !!£7 This is an important sacrificial mo
tif and indeed an important game
for the theoretical assessment of the
variation. This game is not in any
commercial database; I have this
game, because I have worked as Sa
lem's coach in the UAE. The posi
tions are razor-sharp. White should
look for an improvement along the
lines given in my comments.
174 CH ESS M I DDLEGAME STRATEGI ES
A novelty at the time! Black's main

21 counter-play idea is that after his
knight on e5 is hit by f3-f4 he may be
1> L. Le Quang able - often as a piece sacrifice - to
... Saleh Salem move his knight to g4.
Asian Nations Rapid, 2015
15 ... B'.b8?! allows White's typical
1.d4 tLl f6 2.c4 e6 3.tL:lf3 c5 4.d5 d6 Benoni central pawn break: 16.£4
5.�CJ exd5 6.cxd5 g6 7.e4 �g7 �d7
8 .ie2 o-o 9.tL:ld2 tLla6! 10.0-0
•
B'.e8 11.f3 tL:lq 12.a4 tL:ld7 13.@h1 b6

14.tL:lc4 tL:le5 15.�e3
a b c d e f g h
17.e5! dxe5 18.£5! A typical pawn sac

rifice in such positions. White sac
rifices his e-pawn in order to get
a passed d-pawn and take space by
advancing his f-pawn, while Black's
e-pawn is blocking the activity of
Here Black gets the interesting and his own pieces. 18 ... B'.f8! is arguably
novel idea of trying to avoid the in black's best, but White is better. Play
ferior pawn structures we have seen may continue
in Bukic-Tal. Black keeps the king
side tension, often being ready for [18 ... �f6 does not hold for Black:
a thematic piece sacrifice in the pro 19.d6 tLla6 20.fxg6 hxg6
cess. Though this was a rapid game,
Black's play has importance for the
theory and also for the general un
derstanding of the dynamic possi
bilities in the position.
a b c d e f g h
2i.tl:led5! Black will be tied up by 19...tl:lf6 20.d6 tl:lce8 2i.tl:lxe5 'i19xd6

multiple pins. I will give some lines 22. i.. f4 'i19xd1 23. :S.axd1 :S.b7 24. i.a6
to showcase some standard tacti :S.q 25 . .ixc8 :S.xc8 26.g4! White gets
cal motifs here. 2i. .. tl:lb4 (21...tl:lxds his material back, while keeping the
22.tl:lxds tl:lb4 loses to 23.tl:le7+ :S.xe7 advantage.
24. �gs!f6 25. :S.xf6 :S.f7 26. :S.xf7 'i19xgs
2'J. 'i19b3 <rtfh7 28.d7 it.b7 29. 'i19h3+ 'i19h6 15 .. .f5 leads to the pawn structure
Now a white rook lift - so often analyzed in Bukic-Tal in this chap
seen in this Benoni chapter - de ter. 16.f4 tl:lf7 17.exf5 gxf5 18. �d3;;t;
cides: 30. :S.a3! 'i19xh3 31. :S.xh3+ Wg8 Najdorf,M-Fischer,R Havana 1966,
32.d8'i19+ :S.xd8 33. :S.xb7+-.) 22. �g5 explained in the notes to Bukic-Tal.
tl:lbxd5 23.tl:lxd5 The pin on the h4-
d8 diagonal proves deadly for Black.
23 ... i.. f5 24.g4! �e4+ 25 . .ifJ .ixd5
26. .ixd5 :S.f8 White makes a logical move, aim
ing to renew his threat of the fJ-f4
pawn push to force the black knight
on e5 into retreat.
In the case of 16.f4 tl:lg4 17.tl:lxg4

i.xg4 18. �xg4 hxg4
a b c d e f g h
And once again the white rook on

ai executes a rook lift, and its en
try into the fray decides the bat
tle: 27. :S.a3! e4 28. 'i19d2 b5 29. i.. xf6
.ixf6 30.'i19h6 �g7 3i.'i19xg6+-.] a b c d e f g h
19.tl:lg4 The position is sharp, probably dy

namically balanced. There is plenty
of central tension and it's easy for
both sides to go wrong. 19.e5
(19f5 can lead to a temporary

pawn sacrifice: 19... i.xc3 20. bxc3
:S.xe4 21fxg6 fxg6 22.'il9c2 White
a b c d e f g h has some compensation for the
176 CH ESS M I D D LEGAME STRATEGI ES
sacrificed pawn, but it looks to me a sortie along the c8-h3 diagonal so

like enough compensation to keep the correct recapture is 20 .. .fxg4!
the balance and no more. 22... llDe8 and the white king cannot escape
23. c4 2:! e2 24. ii. d2 l19e4 25. llDxe4 the mating net, for example 21. Abs
1:!xe4 26. 1:!f6oo.) lL!xb5 22.lL! xb5 g3 23. 2:!f3 l!9h2+
24.<i!i>f1 llDhi+ (or 24 ... Ag4-+) 25.<i!i>e2
19 ... l!9d700 with unclear play. l!9xg2+ 26. <i!i>d3 2:!xe3+ 27.<i!i>xe3 Af5
(threatening 28 ... 2:!e8) 28.lL!xd6
(Taking on es 19... dxes? is again Ad4+.
a mistake, as White continues
20f5± getting a strong attack; 19. ..
fsf?oo ).
The other way for White was 17.exf5

gxf5 18.f4
a b c d e f g h
This piece grabbing will again send
The pawn structure is now similar the white king into a 111:ating net.
to Bukic-Tal, but Black can achieve White is clearly underestimating
a dynamic balance by using tacti the pins he is going to be tied up
cal motifs: 18 ... lL!g4! and the posi with!
tion is unclear since the piece grab
19.hxg4?? is a blunder - as it often is The only way for White was 18.e5!
in these lines - and loses to with sharp play. Readers interested
in theoretical verdicts should ana
lyze the resulting positions. I will
give here a couple of critical lines:
19 ... l!9h4+ 20.<i!i>g1 In this position 18 ... �h4 is probably Black's best.
it is important for Black to enable The resulting positions are razor
his light-squared bishop to make sharp.
[18 ... dxe5 19.d6 ll:Jxe3 20. i.xe3 ll:Je6

21.fxe5
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h Now the game looks like heading to

a forced draw: 20 ...gxh3 2i.g3 V!!!xg3
21 ... <i!t1:i7 (21... i.b7? allows White 22. �g1 V!!ifa 23.dxq i.xc3! 24. i.f3
to develop a mating attack. 22.d7 i.a6 25.d6!
�e7 23. i.c4 @h7 Now is the time
for White to storm the barri
cades! Tearing apart the enemy
king's pawn defences is a good 25 ... �e2 26. V!!!xe2 i.xe2 27. i.xa8
start. 24. �xfs! gxfs 25.V!!ixhs+ <i!tgB i.f3+ 28. i.xf3 l!¥xf3+ 29.@h2 V!!ifa+
26. � d1! and Black finds him 30.<i!txh3 11¥6+ 3i. <i!th2 'tifa+=.
self under deadly pins. 26... V!!ifB
27. i.gs+-.) 22. i.b5 i.b7 23.tt::l d5
leads to White's advantage: 23 ...
l!Vh4 24. V!!if3±]
a) 19.ll:Jb5!? is the computer's top

proposal: 19 ... ll:lxb5 20. i.xb5 �d8
(20... i.b7 21.as!) 21.e6 i.b7 with
unclear play.
b) 19.tt::l c 4 leads to unclear com a b c d e f g h

plications: 19 ...dxe5 20. V!!!e 1 1!¥xe1
2i. !!xe1 tt::l fa+ (or 21... exf4 22.hxg4 White has definitely underestimat
i.xc3 23.bxc3 tt:lxds 24.tt:ld6 i.a6oo.) ed the seriousness of his situation.
22. <i!tg1 ll:Je4 23.ll:Jxe4 fxe400 Black does not have an immedi
ate mating threat - it takes Black
19.. .fxg4 20.exd6 a move or two, but White's king
simply cannot get out of the trap.
178 CH ESS MIDDLEGAM E STRATEGI ES
Pins along the files and diagonals

prevent any attempt at escape by
the white king. Black has a winning
advantage here, and in most cases
more than one road to victory. I will
give some analysis to support this
conclusion. White is to suffer a ter
rible rout!
20. 'E.e1 g3 21. it.d3 a b c d e f g h
2i. it.b5 .id4 22. it.xeS fxe4 23.@fr
(23. it.bs it.g4-+) Or 24. l!Vxe4 it.£5-+.
23 ... .ia6+ 24. it.b5 it.xb5+ 25.axb5
(25.tiJxbs 'Wixf4+ 26. @g1 tLJxbs Black here also had the option of
2J,axb5 'fJ.fB!-+ The threat is ... 'Wlh4 24 ... it.a6, when White can stave off
and ... l!Vh2 mate.) mate only by giving up a full queen
with 25. l!Vxg3.
25 ... l!Vxf4+ 26. @g1 !!f8! Again there
is no way of countering the mating
threat of ... l!Vh4 and ... l!Vh2. 27.tiJxe4
(2J. 'E.f1 it.xe3+-+)
21... it.d4 22. l!Vf3
(23... it.a6 24. it.d3 'fJ.fB-+ also wins.) a b c d e f g h
24. it.f3 l!Vh2+ 25.@f1 l!Vhi+ 26.@e2

l!Vxg2+-+
White refrains from a knight ex

change, planning to kick Black's e5-
knight out of the centre by pushing
fa-f4. The point of Black's play is that
his e5-knight is not going to move
back, it will be sacrificed! Black sac
rifices one of his knights - some
times even both of them - in order
to open files and diagonals towards
the white king. White's temporar
ily out-of-play knight on a3 and the
A nice sacrificial motif in a re lack of defenders around the white
nowned game - a classic! monarch give Black a favourable at
tackers-versus-defenders ratio and
allow him to give free rein to his at
22 tacking imagination!
� V. Kortschnoj
� G. Kasparov
Luzern (10). 1982
1.d4 tlJf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Ag7 4. Ag2

cs 5.d5 d6 6.ll:lq o-o 7.ll:lf3 e6 8.o
o exds 9.cxd5 a6 10.a4 l:!e8 11.ttJd2
ll:lbd7 12.h3 !!bs 13.ll:lq ll:les
With this slightly unusual looking

move Black prepares to open the f
file and is happy to make sacrifices
in the process. If my database is cor
rect, the author of this dynamic idea
was Hungarian IM Tamas Horvath
in 1980 and in the same year Jan
Timman, who was in the world's top
10 at the time, also adopted it. Our
main game was played two years Now Black faces a dilemma: should
later and it is reasonable to assume he collect a pawn, which would
that Kortschnoj was familiar with allow an exchange of the dark
the sacrificial idea, but did not be squared bishops, or forget about
lieve Black had enough compensa the pawn and keep the bishop? 18 ...
tion. It was definitely a daring deci .1'.h8! (18... 1i.xh6? leads to a better
sion by Kortschnoj, 51 at the time, to game for White: 19. .1'.xh6 ¥Wxh6
enter this line against a very strong 20. ¥Wc1 gs 21. ¥We3±.) 19.ll:Je2? White
player 32 years younger than him is in a hurry to bring more de
self. Readers interested in the the fenders around his king, but here
ory of this line should be informed it was a better idea to bring the
that modern top players prefer 15 ... other white knight into play! (19.
.1'.d7, with which Black has had good ll:Jc2 leads to a sharp game, Black
practical results. having compensation for his sac
rificed piece: 19.. fs 20.¥We2 'E!beB�.)
16.@h2 19 .. .f5 20.exf5 'Eixf5 2i.ll:Jg3 'Eibf8!
Black is happy to sacrifice an ex
White defends his g3-pawn in order change in order to eliminate one of
to push fa-f4, hitting Black's knight the white king's defenders. 22.ll:Jxf5
on e5. 'Eixf5 Though White is a full rook
up, he cannot defend his king's po
....
a) Scheeren played 16.g4 against sition 23. ¥Wb3
Timman, Leeuwarden 1980, and 8
now the best for Black is the dash
ing piece sacrifice 16 ... ¥Wh4! 17.gxh5
.1'.xh3. At the moment Black has
only a pawn for his sacrificed
knight and he does not have any
killer threats. But the white king
has just a few defenders, the f
file will open and Black will get
a strong attack. 18.h6 Here Black missed a beautiful win
with: 23 ...ll:J[J+!! (The actual game
saw 23... il.xg2 24.@xg2 ¥We4+ 25f3
ll:Jxf3 26. ¥Wxf3 'E!xf3+ though
-
White got enough material for

his queen, his pieces are poorly
coordinated. Black is better here
and Timman went on to win.)
a b c d e f g h 24 . .1'.x[J .1'.d4 Now 25 ... ¥Wg3+ is
a deadly threat, while the white happily sacrifices his knight in or
bishop cannot move away from f3 der to open the b8-h2 diagonal to
because the fa-pawn hangs. Black wards the white king.
mates in a few moves here, for ex
ample 2s.Cl:Jc2 �g3+ 26. @h1 Ag2+
27. Axg2 Eihs+ 28. @g1 t!fh2 mate.
b) The stem game saw 16. !!e1?! Now

Black follows up on his plan to
open the f-file, and White quickly
gets massacred: 16 .. .fs 17.exfs Axfs
i7 b5! i8.axb5
..•
In the event of 18.fxes Black can go

a b c d e f g h for a double knight sacrifice! 18 ...
�xg3! 19. Wxg3 Axes+ 20.@fa �h4+
Not liking his position, White now 2i. Wg1 White is two knights up, but
gets the idea of collecting some his king has no defenders! Black has
more material: 18. !!xes? Axes 19.g4 full compensation. 21... l!t'g3 22. !!fJ
bs! 20.axbs axbs 21.Cl:Je2? White in �h2+ 23. <i!?fi Black is two knights
sists on collecting his piece. (The down and does not have a killer
lesser evil was 21.Cl:Jaxbs Ad7+.) blow. So, what should he do? Black
21 ... Axg4! 22.hxg4 �h4 23. Ae3 should play a calm developing move
Ah2+ 24. <i!?fi !!xfa+! 2s. Axfa connecting his rooks!
:Sf8 26.�e1 Cl:Jg3+ 27.Cl:Jxg3 Axg3
28.Cl:J xbs Eixfa+ 29.l!t'xfa Axfa
and Black soon won in Kovace
vic, V (2s10)-Horvath,T Virovitica
1980.
a b c d e f g h
Now comes the point behind Black's
1s ... laf8 idea - Black's es-knight
does not move anywhere! Black
182 CH ESS M I DDLEGAM E STRATEG I ES
23 ... iLd7! After this the only way (30... @xfB? is not a good idea:
for White to stay in the game was 31. B'.b1 l!!!a2 32.tiJxd4+-.)
24. iLh6!
31. iL xd6 l!!!c 3+ 32.@e2 A xe4
(24.tiJC4? White sacrifices one of 33.tiJxd4 cxd4 34. l!!!c1! l!!![J+ 35.@e1
his knights in order to bring his l!!!hi+ 36.@e2 l!!!g2+ 37.@e1 l!!!hi+=.
rook from ai to defend the third
rank, but this will not save him: 18 axb5
...
24 ... bXC4 25. B'. a3 fxe4 26.tiJxe4

iLxh3 27. iLxh3 l!!!xh3+ 28. @e2
l!!!v+ 29.ltJf2 Now with a small
move Black breaks the coordina
tion of the white rooks: 29... c3! and
Black soon won in Birnboim,N
(2460)-Arnason,J (2445) Randers
1982.)
24 .. .fxe4 25. B'.xf8+ B'.xf8+ 26. Axf8

iLd4&3 a b c d e f g h
A clever move! It not only elimi

nates Black's ... b5-b4 pawn-fork
threat, but also brings back to life
the knight that been languishing
a b c d e f g h on a3. After this move 20.tiJa7 is an
unpleasant move for Black to meet,
At the moment White is a rook and but meanwhile White has to hope
two pieces up but Black has full that his defences on the kingside
compensation, on account ofthe ex can hold.
posed white king and its lack of de
fenders. There are many possibilities It pays to know the classics! In
here, one example being 27.tiJxe4 the Wijk aan Zee super tourna
l!!!gi+ 28.@e2 l!!!xg2+ 29.@d3 l!!!xb2 ment 20 years after our main game,
30.tiJc2 30... i.f5! The white king is in Loek Van Wely, playing White, did
grave peril but manages to survive not know this sacrificial idea for
into a perpetual-check draw. Black, got caught off guard and suf
fered a massacre playing Timman!
Let's see this more recent example.

19.fxes Black now thematically sac
rifices his second knight in order to
open the b8-h2 diagonal towards
the white king. 19 ... tl:Jxg3!
8
7
•
6 a b c d e f g h
5
4
2
(Similar to Birnboim-Arnason,
a b c d e f g h given above, cutting the white
rook's kingside influence with 23...
White now decides to ignore Black's C4-+ was a relatively easy win for
g3-knight. 20. :Sf3? Black; White's position collapses
under the threats.)
[I would say that if White is to suf
fer anyway, it's better to collect Now Van Wely has an unexpected
one more knight, just like Birnbo chance to get back into the game.
im-Arnason above, with 20. 'i!?xg3 24. .l:!xf8+? No, this was definitely
�xes+ 2i.'i!?fa b4 (21 ... l!9h4+ fol not Loek's day!
lowing lines similar to Birnboim
Arnason above is definitely an op (24.tl:Jxe4! could have led to an
tion.) 22.tl:Jq bxc3 23.bxC3 �xc3 unclear material imbalance: 24 ...
Black definitely has enough com tZJxe4+ 25.\!fg1 .l:!xf3 26.l!9xf3 l!9ei+
pensation, but perhaps not more.] 2J.l!9f1 l!9g3 28. .l:!xe4 l!9h2+ 29.\!ff2
.l:!JB+ 30. 'i!fe2 .l:!xf1 31. 'i!fxf1 l!9g300.)
20... �xes 2i.tl:Jaxb5
24... .l:!xfS Now Black has a mating
(21 . .l:!xg3 hs+) attack. 25. 'i!?g1
2i. .. l!9h4 22.exfs Axfs White is ig

noring Black's g3-knight and all the
discovered checks it can deliver. It
takes quite some nerve to go for
such a strategy!
a b c d e f g h
Most likely Van Wely missed Black's remained: what did Kasparov have
next move. 25 ... liJe2+! 26. l!fxe2 in mind for 20.Cl::l xa7? This question
l!fg3 Two extra knights stranded kept puzzling me and I discussed
on the queenside do not help the it with the editor of this book, Ro
white king in this situation! 27. �f4 main Edouard. Our conclusion was
l!fxf4 28. �xe4 ifg3+! 29.@h1 E:fi+! that Kasparov planned the follow
30. l!fxfi l!¥h2 mate in Van Wely,L ing: 20 ... Cl::l f3+! The next couple of
(2697)-Timman,J (2605) Wijk aan moves are reasonably forced.
Zee 2002.
[Alburt's game continued 20 ... e3
21. l!fe2 (21.liJc6! looks like a big
advantage for White without
any real complications: 21 ... liJxc6
22.dxc6 Black does not have any
meaningful counter-play. 22 ...
'Bb4 23. 'BaB+-) Now Black goes for
a thematic knight sacrifice creating
counter-play 21. .. Cl::l xg3 22. @xg3 g5
23.f5 (The computer engines sug
gest 23.i¥xe3 and are rather con
fident that White can beat off the
a b c d e f g h attack and bring home his material
advantage.) 23 ... �xf5 24.l!fxe3
8 •
7 .&.
A new move at the time. 6
5
A couple of months prior to this 4
3
game White had played 20.liJa7! in 2
Alburt,L (2550)-0lafsson,H (2430)
Reykjavik 1982. White obtained a b c d e f g h
a clear advantage and carried on
to win. Now comes the interesting Black had many interesting pos
part! Kasparov (and probably Ko sibilities here, but he did not
rtschnoj too) definitely knew this choose the most fortunate one
game! We had no computer en 24 ... l!fd7? (24... h5, 24... @hB or 24 ...
gines at the time, but Kasparov's �d3 were all better moves, with
opening analyses were way way a complicated coffee-house game
ahead of his time! So, the question ahead.) 25.Cl::l c 6! The white knight
is now back in play! (If Black cap we were convinced that Kasparov's
tures ... ll:lxc6, White recaptures preparation was based on the fol
dxc6 with tempo and this is the lowing queen sacrifice. 25 ...h5!
drawback of 24 ... l!fd7?) 25 ... !!bes
26. l!fxg5+- Black did not have [25 ... !!eS leads to White's advan
nearly enough for the sacrificed tage and in general also easy play
piece and Alburt went on to win.] for White: 26. l:!xeS+ l!fxeS 27. l:!aS
White is a pawn up and has a pow
erfully placed rook, so the situa
tion is difficult for Black. 27... .ifs
2S. l!fe2 l!fxe2+ (28... °i!Nd7?! 29f5
gxfs 30.°i!Ne6+ Wlxe6 31.dxe6 .ixe6
32.lZJd8 !!q 33 . .igs+-) 29.lZJxe2
.id7 30.lZJq h5 (30 ... ll:l xd5??
a b c d e f g h 31.lLlas+-) Black does not get the
desired counter-play here due to
21. .ixf3 exf3 22.ll:lc6 l!fd7 23.g4 �b7 31.g5 ll:leS 32.f5! gxf5 33. E:ds .ig7
24. !!xf3 lLif6! 34.@g3±. Black is boxed in and
White has a large advantage.]
(24... ll:lxf4? loses to 25. .ixf4 !!xb2+
2 6. @g3 .ixc3 27. .i h 6! !!xf3+ 26. �e7 °i!Nxe7 27.ll:lxe7+ !!xe7ii5.
28. l!Ixf3 Black is now forced to
trade queens and will lose a bish
8 •
7
op from the resulting position: 28... 6
l!lf7 29.l!lxf7+ @xf7 30. !!a7++-) 5
4
3
a b c d e f g h
Computer engines somewhat pre

fer White, but in human over-the
board play, this position looks to us
to be quite double edged.
a b c d e f g h
20 ••• .id7 21. l!fe2
21.ll:la7!? was again a move to con

sider; while in the case of 21.lZJ xd6
186 CH ESS M ID DLEGAME STRATEGI ES
c) After 23.g4? l!fd8! the black

queen swings over to the kingside
and White is in trouble: 24. 't!tg2
tiJxg4 25.hxg4 Axc3-+ 26.bxq (26.
gxhs ..tfs-+) 26... l!fh4-+.
White has had enough and now

a b c d e f g h he finally collects Black's hanging
knight on es!
22. Ag2 (22. Z!a6 tiJC4) 22 ... tiJxg3!
23.@xg3 l!fxd6 and because of the
white weak king, Black's knight es
is taboo. 24.tiJe4 l!fb6ii5. This should have been the crucial
mistake as White now comes un
2.I ... l!fb6 2.2.tiJa3 :S.be8 der deadly threats.
24. l!fg2! Running away from the

oo
e-file pin would have led to an un

clear game.
a) 23. l!fg2, getting off the e-file pin,

made sense for White.
b) 23.fxe5? does not look like a good

idea for White after 23 ... Axes White is temporarily still a piece
24.tiJC4 ..txg3+ 25. 't!tg2 l!fds-+. up, but will be forced to give it back
and Black ultimately gains a deci
sive material advantage. Most likely
CHAPTER IV. BENONI STRATEG IES 187
with all those hanging pieces Ko

rtschnoj simply missed something
important when he grabbed the
knight.
25 ll:Jxg3! 26. !!xfs+ E:xfs 27.l!fe1

•.•
ll:Jxe4+ 28. Wg2
a b c d e f g h
Now White either gets mated or los

es his queen. 32 ... Ah3+! 33.@fJ
(33.@xh3 l1¥hi+ 34.@g4 l1¥h5 mate)
33 ... l!fdi+ 34.@e3 Ad4+-+ It is quite

easy to understand that in a prac
28.ll:Jxe5 ll:J xd2 +
- tical game Kasparov did not want
to bother calculating 28 ... E: fa and
28... l!fc2 opted for the simple, easily winning
28... l!fc2.
Black is two pawns up for the mo
ment and still has his attack. Hav
ing obtained a winning advantage,
though, Kasparov now starts to let
it slip.
A nice win for Black was 28 ... !!fa+!

29. l!fxfa i.xh3+! 30.@f3
(30.@g1? l!fxai+-+)
30... Ag4+!
(30... l!fxa1 also wins.)
29 .•• :Sfa+?
188 CHESS MIDDLEGAM E STRATEG I ES
This is a step in the wrong direction. 32. l!fxe5 l!ff5 33. 'B.a8+ @f7 34. l!fxf5+
Going for the queen, Black allows i.xf5 Black could have taken more
White to get counter-chances. out of the position, but nevertheless
this ending is still won.
A relatively easy win was 29...�xd2
and the game gets decided in a few 30... �xfa 31. 'B.a2 l!ff5 32.�xd7
moves. 30.�xd7
(30. B'.a2 �f3+ 31. B'.xc2 �xei+-+)
30... �fJ+ 3i. l!fe2 The only explana

tion for Kasparov refraining from
29 ... �xd2 is that he missed the fol
lowing check:
8 .
7. ,
6
5.ffdt �
..
43 . After missing a couple of direct
2
wins, Black now needs precision as
(a) White has threats on the black
a b c d e f g h king and (b) a material imbalance
usually brings some tactical tricks.
3i. ..�h4+! and the white king does
not have a good square. 32. 'it>g1
(32.@g3 '%Wxc3+ 33. @xh4 'B.f4+-+) Correct was 32 ... �xh3! . and after
33. 'B.a8+ 'it>g7 34. 'B.a7 g5 35.�xc5+
32 ...l!fxc3 33.�xfS l!fxai+-+ 'it>g6 Black's connected passed
pawns and the weak white king
30.l!fxfa should decide the battle in Black's
favour.
If 30. 'it>g1 Black gets a won endgame
after 30... 'B.xd2 31. l!fxe4 dxe5! 33. i.h6??
(31 ... 1!¥xc3 is not precise, since after A terrible time-pressure blunder!
32. B'.aB+ @g7 33.�f3 'B.di+ 34.@h2 Kortschnoj fails to grab a sudden
the black king proves vulnerable opportunity to save the game!
too.)
33. !!aS+! was the way to go and this and due to the poor position of his
wild game could have resulted in queen on d2, Black cannot escape
a draw by perpetual check after 33 ... perpetual check without getting
@g7 34. !!a7 1Wfa+ his queen forked: 36 ... @fs 37. !!as+
c:Jile7 38. !!a7+ @ds 39. !!aS+= with
(34 ...gs leads to an unclear game: a draw as 39 ... @q?? blunders horri
35.lLixcs+ c:Jilg6 36.llJ5e400.) bly into 40.llJbs+ @b7 41. !fa7+ c:Jitb6
42.lL!q+.
35. @h1 1Wxd2 36.lL!e5+!
33 ... 1Wxd7
White lost his d7-knight for noth

ing, bringing an abrupt end to this
dynamic game.
34. !!as+ c:Ji?f7 35. �hs c:Ji?f6 36.@f3

a b c d e F g h 1Wxh3+ 0-1
CHA PTER V. CATA LA N S ACRIFICES
I have divided this chapter into two white knight usually lands on e6.
subchapters: 5.1, Knight Sacrifice on Most of the time White does not
f7; and 5.2, Pawn Chain Break with have immediate deadly threats, but
the b2-b3 Push. Black has problems finishing his de
velopment while White is ready to
roll his central pawns. White has
achieved good practical results with
5.1. KN I G HT SACRIFICE this sacrificial idea.
ON F7
For theoretically minded players,
please pay attention to the com
ments on 7.<�:Je5! in Lysyj-Lupules
cu, instead of 7.a4 as played in the
game. White does not seem to need
to waste time on the a-pawn push
but can immediately get down to
"sacrificing business". I like the
9.b3! idea in this game, opening the
a2-g8-diagonal before sacrificing
with 1i.ll:Jxf7!
a b c d e f g h
In our second game in this chap

White's concept of sacrificing his ter Giri's play is in a way similar to
Knight on f7 in the Catalan first Lysyj-Lupulescu. Giri first opens the
caught my attention in the late a2-g8 diagonal and then sacrifices
1990s as Israeli GM Viktor Mikha his knight on f7. Complications fa
levski - known for his daring style vour White, but in such positions it
-won a couple of games using that is easy to err. Missed opportunities
idea. This sacrifice definitely has by both sides (White's 191h move and
a sound basis: the black king re Black's 2oth move) can serve as an ex
mains stuck in the centre, while cellent calculation exercise. Tactical
White usually gets two pawns for ly gifted players should get their in
his sacrificed piece and the other spiration here and see if they can use
it when fighting other set-ups such as For readers interested in opening

the Triangle. theory, I would recommend you to
analyze 7.CLie5!
23
1> V. Mikhalevski
� A. Rabinovich
Antwerp, 1999
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.CLif3 c6 4.g3 dxq a b c d e f g h

5. �g2
7... CLid7 White wants to speed up his
plans, unwilling to waste time with
playing 7.a4. In one recent top-level
game we saw our thematic knight
sacrifice on f7 working well for
White.
(J..f6 8.CLif3 forces the white knight

to retreat but cannot really be con
sidered a gain for Black, because
his pawn on f6 stands in the way
of the natural development of his
5 ...b5 g8-knight and the e6-square also
usually proves a weak spot in the
Black is delaying his g8-knight de black camp.)
velopment, in the spirit of the Tri
angle System. 8.CZJc3 Vies Now White (as in Giri
Morozevich, our next game) first
5 ... CLif6 - see the next game. opens the a2-g8 diagonal, antici
pating his coming knight sacrifice
on f7!
7.b3 leads to Spassky-Zinn, Game 25, [8 ... CLixe5 9.dxe5 is arguably safer for
and for the positional ideas related Black, but still leads to White's ad
to the b3 idea, please have a look at vantage as Black has problems fin
that game. ishing his development. Play could
continue 9... !Vq 10.a4 E:d8 11. !Vc2
CHAPTER V. CATALAN SACRIFICES 193
a6 12.�e4 and now if Black tries to Now the reason for including 9.b3!
be inventive with 12 ... !!d5?! (12 ... b4 axb3 becomes obvious. 13. �xb3
13.tiJd1 with ti:Je3 and tiJxC4 to follow White will soon take ti:Jxe6 and
should be better for White.) White though he has only one pawn for the
will take the exchange on d5 on his sacrificed piece, his knight on e6 has
own terms: 13.axb5 axb5 14.b3!±.] devastating power and as White's
mobile pawn centre advances Black
will have problems with his king
stuck in the middle of the board.
Computer engines also support
White. 13 ...ti:Jb6 14. Ah3
(14.tiJxe6 �d7 15.e4� is also good

for White)
a b c d e F g h 14 ... �q 15.ti:Jxe6 �f7 16.e4 Ac8

17. it.f4
Now with the a2-g8 diagonal open,
White goes for the kill! 10.ti:Je4!
ti:Jgf6 and now the sacrificial mo
ment has come
[10 ...ti:Jxe5 11.dxe5 does not help

Black here, as White has a huge
lead in development. 11...bxa2 (11...
cs 12.axb3±) 12.�d3 a6 13. !!xa2 c5 a b c d e F g h
14. !!d1 �d5 15J�fad2 and White will
soon penetrate along the cl-file with Not an easy situation for Black. The
devastating consequences for Black.] white knight on e6 threatens to
jump with check to q so Black takes
the logical and human decision to
eliminate the nightmare knight. 17...
it.xe6
[17... tiJC4 is a computer-like defence

but cannot really save Black. 18.d5
�h5 19.ti:Jq+ Now sacrificing the
rook on a8 is Black's best chance.
19... �f7! (19... �dB loses as the black
a b c d e F g h king remains stuck in the middle
of the board. 20. i.g2 gs 21.g4! �xg4 (21. 'B.xc4! killing Black in a violent
22. i.g3 'B.c8 23.dxc6 And White attack would have been a worthy
soon wins. 23 ... 'B.xq 24. V!!!xbs finish to this well-played game!
V!!!f7 25. 'B.adi+ WeB 26. il.. xq V!!!xq 21 ... 'B.c8 22.ds+- and Black will have
2J.V!!!xc4 The black king's weakness to throw in the towel.)
proves simply decisive. 2J. .. 1i.d6!
28. 'B.xd6 V!!!xd6 29. V!!!c3+-) 20. 1i.e6+ 21. .. V!!!d7 22. V!!!xc6 V!!!xc6 23. 'B.xc6
il.. xe6 2i.dxe6+ Wg8 22.tlJxa8 White was better in the end
8 ei game and went on to win in
7m Lysyj,I (2671)-Lupulescu,C (2626)
6 Baku 2015.
5
4
3
2
7... a6 8.CLJC3 tlJf6 can lead to interest
a b c d e f g h ing positions involving our standard
two themes here: (a) the tlJxf7 sacri
White is now the one with the fice or (b) White's voluntary loss of
material advantage, Black the one time with tlJe5 f6, knight back to f3.
with some immediate threats. 22 ... Let's see: 9.tlJe5 tlJd5 10.tlJe4!
g5 23. Ji.ci tlJg4 24.h4 gxh4 25. il.. f4
il.. e7 In this coffee-house battle
Black has practical chances.]
18. Ji.xe6 V!!!e7 19. 'B.aci Again the

black king weakness proves fatal.
19 ... ClJC4 20. il.. XC4 bXC4
a b c d e f g h
10...tlJd7 This can lead to our stand

ard knight sacrifice on f7 and a draw
by repetition.
[10 .. .f6 11.tlJf3 As this Shimanov

a b c d e f g h game shows, White's loss of time is
more than compensated for by the
Now White decides to play it safe. damage to the black pawn struc
21. V!!!xc4? ture which makes the e6-square
weak. 11 ... tlJd7 12. kh3! Attacking
the new weakness. 12... l!9e7 13. �d2 13 ... 'i:Jq 14. if6 !Ue8 15.axb5! How
h6 14.b3 fs 15.bxC4 fxe4 16.cxd5 should Black recapture?
[15. !Uf4 I!c8! 16. !Uh4 'i:Jf6 leads to

sharp play. 17.axb5 (If 17-es? fi:Jfds!
White has plenty of discovered
checks that do not achieve any
thing.) 17... cxb5 18.d5! h6 with
a coffee-house game.]
a b c d e f g h
16.:.exf3 (In the event of 16... cxds (15... axb5? 16. 'Bxa8 �xa8 17. !Uf4
White opens lines with l7-CLJh4 wins for White: 17-.. es 18.dxes h6
rtlf7 18f3±.) And now White should 19. 'Bd1 hxgs 20.!Uxgs+ fi:Jf6 21.!Ufs
have played 17.exf3! when the open 'Bhs 22. �gs+-; but 15... cxbs 16.ds
e- and c-files combined with the looks bad for Black too.)
light-square-weaknesses in the
black camp will prove decisive. (17- 16.'iWg4
dxe6 fi:Jb6oo led to a sharp game
with White emerging victorious (16.fi:Jxe6? 'iWf7+)
in Shimanov,A (2664)-Hudjakov,
A (2371) Pardubice 2013.) 17... !b'd6 16 ... 'iWg6 17.e5
(17... cxds 18. !!ei+-) 18. !Uc2+- Our
silicon friend's assessment of this
position is +4.70!]
11.'i:Jxf7! @xf7 12.'i:Jgs+ @e7 13.e4

White has compensation, but prob
ably not more than enough for
equality.
a b c d e f g h
Now 18. �e4 is the threat. 17... h5

18.'iWf4
(18. 'iWh4 fi:J b6 19. �e4 'iWe8 and it

is not easy to find a follow-up for
White. Again, discovered checks
a b c d e f g h lead nowhere.)
196 CHESS MIDDLEGAME STRATEG IES
And now Black saves himself by 10 .tiJes Ads? This allows our the
move repetition: 18... !ffs! matic sacrifice.
(18... tiJ b6 19. lLe4 !Ves 20.tiJxe6! (Black's situation was, however,
tiJ ds 21. !¥/3 !¥/7 22.tiJ/4 looks already difficult and an attempted
promising for White.) queen-trade escape with 10... tiJxes
11. dxes ifxd1 12. 'B.xd1 does not
quite work for him here: 12... il-ds
13. Ae3 Z!c8 14. !!aci± with tiJd2-
8.tiJ C3 tiJxC4 to follow.)
a b c d e f g h
8 . . . a6 11 ••• @xf7 12.tiJgs+ @es
As I mentioned in the introduction (If 12. . . 'itte; White simply rolls his
to this chapter, one of the pioneers central pawns: 13.e4 Ab7 14.d5 es
of the thematic knight sacrifice on 15.f4 tiJg/6 16.fxes tiJxes 1J. 'B.fs tiJd3
f7 in these Catalan positions is Is 18.e5+-.)
raeli GM Mikhalevski. Another of
his games in 1999 - also against
Rabinovich, but a couple of months
earlier- continued 8...b4?! 9.tiJe4 cs
(9 ... tiJg/6 10.tiJx/6+ gx/6 11.tiJd2

lLa6 12. !¥c2 with advantage to
White was seen in Shimanov,A
Yudin,S Khanty-Mansiysk 2012.)
a b c d e f g h
Again White has a big advan levski,V (2531)-Rabinovich,A (2437)

tage - computer evaluations are Israel 1999.
more than +3.00 here though White
has only one pawn for his sacrificed
piece and no immediate threats.
White's knight on e6 is a monster, 9.e4 can transpose to known sharp
and White's rolling pawns will sim lines. 9 ... tl:Jgf6 10.e5 tl:Jd5 11.tl:Jg5 h6
ply run Black over. 15 ... a5 16.e5 tl:Je7 12.tl:Jxe6
(16 tl:Jxes? 1,7. E!ei+-)

••.
a b c d e f g h
(1,7. CJ 18.bxc3 C4+ hoping to create

•• The computer initially likes White,
some counter-play was the only but things are very unclear. 12 .. .fxe6
way to struggle for Black.) 13. ifhs+ @e7 14.tl:Je4 ifes 15. �gs+
hxg5 16.!fxh8 @d8oo These posi
18.�e4 tl:Jh6 19.�e3 g6 20.!¥6 tl:Jf7 tions are in a way similar to those
21. .Etad1 �b8 22.d6 arising in one line of the Slav Bot
vinnik variation.
a) 9... ifc8!? occurred in a game in

which Alexander Grischuk played
our thematic lL!xf7 sacrifice. 10.tl:Je4
tl:Jgf6
a b c d e f g h
Black's situation is painful to see!

22... Ah6 23. Ads tl:Jds 24.tl:Jq+ @fs
25.f5 �xe3+ 26. ifxe3 h6 27.fxg6+
@g7 28 . .Etf7+ llJxf7 29.tl:Je6+ @gs
30.gxf7+ @xf7 3i.iff3+ 1-0 Mikha
a b c d e f g h
11.ll:Jxf7!? Grischuk is brave and 13. .ih3

principled!
7
a1) 11.ll:Jg5 ll:Jxe5 12.dxe5 ll:Jd5 leads 6
to messy positions. s
4
3
a2) 11.ll:Jxd7 !fxd7 (11 ... ll:Jxd7? al 2
lows a transaction that is good for
White: 12 . .if4 ll:Jf6 13.ll:Jd6+ i.xd6 a b c d e f g h
14. i.xd6±.) 12.ll:Jxf6+ gxf6 13.e4
Black's damaged pawn structure 13 ... g6? A losing mistake.
(doubled f-pawns) gives White suf
ficient compensation for the sacri (13... i.b4! Developing the bishop
ficed pawn, but probably not more: from fS was necessary. 14. Axe6+
13...h5 14.h4 .ie7 15. i.e3 e5 16.dxe5 <i!ff8 White will not have an easy
�xd1 17. !!fxd1 fxe5 1S . .ih3 AcS task to prove sufficient compensa
19. Axes !!xcS 20.axb5 axb5 2i. !!a7 tion here.)
!!dS=.
11... <i!?xf7 12.lf:Jg5+ There is however

a considerable difference here com (The immediate 14. i.xe6+, prob
pared to the favourable position of ably transposing to the game. was
White such as the Lysyj-Lupulescu also possible.)
sacrifice, because Black can get coun
ter-play by pushing ...c6-c5. 12... @gs 14...h6 15. Axe6+ @g7 Now Grischuk
is in the driving seat and he wraps
[12 ... @e7! aiming for a quick ...c6- up the game with a steady hand.
c5 push, counter-play looks fine for 16.e5! ll:Jd5 17.l!U[J 'i!Ue8 1S. Af7 Black
Black: 13. Ah3 c5! 14.ll:Jxe6 cxd4! now hopes the material imbalance
15.ll:Jxd4 (15.�xd4 allows a queen's of queen against light pieces will
exchange: 15... �c6 16f3 �b6+.) 15 ... save him. 1S ... hxg5
@f7! Black aims to develop the fS
bishop and stop the white rook (18... ll:Jxe5 loses to 19.dxe5 �xe5
lift. (15... �c5 16. !!a3!�) 16.e4 Ac5+ 20.lf:Je6+ @h7 21. i.e3 and Black
Black has a material advantage will start losing material.)
and - more importantly! - coun
ter-play.] 19. Axes !!xeS 20.axb5 cxb5
(or 14 . . . it. e7 15.� q+! l!:Vxq

16.�bs+-)
15. it.. f4 � fd5 16. �e5 f6 17.e4! fxe5

18.exd5 exd5 19.l!:Vh5+ g6 20.l!:Vxe5+
Wf7 2i.l!:Vxh8 1-0 Fominyh,A (2535)
-Filippov,V (2565) Elista 1996. Now
a b c d e f g h we again have our knight sacrifice
theme we are dealing with in this
White now goes for small tac chapter.
tics disconnecting the black pieces
and collecting most of the enemy
pawns. 21. E:xa6! it.. xa6 22. l!:Vxd5 it..c8
23. it.. xg5 it..e7 24.f4 E:hf8 25. l!:Vxb5
.ixg5 26.fxg5 E:xfi+ 27. Wxfi E:e6
28. Wg1 Wf7 29. l!:Vxq And with his
army of pawns White soon won
in Grischuk,A (2716)-Timofeev,
A (2664) Dagomys 2008.
b) In similar positions, Black some

times happily gives back his extra
pawn on c6 in order to speed up his
development. In this particular po
sition, however, it is a bad idea! 9 ...
�gf6?? 10. it.. xc6 it.. xc6 n.�xc6 l!:Vc8
The white knights will now turn Computer engines' evaluations of
Black's life into a true nightmare. these positions are around o.oo,
12.axb5 axb5 with a number of optional lines re
8 1.•t¥•• ceiving similar evaluations, so to
; •.!. ... .
enter this sacrifice as White, a player
has to believe in his compensation,
while to allow it as Black a player
5 • • �-
·" ii'? \ji
should not be nervous about his ex
posed king! I will give three games,
2 n
/��tx{""� two of them being Mikhalevski's,
a b c d e F g h and show some typical ideas in this
position.
200 CHESS M I DDLEGAME STRATEG I ES
11 ••• @gs b) A game of Mikhalevski from

2008 saw an interesting and rather
a) 11 ll:Jd5 12.ll:Jg5+ @e8 (12 ... @q
.•• original idea for Black to give his
can lead to lines similar to those extra piece back in order to trade
given above under 7... a6, instead of queens and simplify the position.
the text 7... ll:Jd7, and then 10 ... ll:Jd7. 11 ll:Jf5!? Black voluntarily places
•.•
Quite often we have move trans his knight where it can be hit by
position in these lines. 13.e4 ll:Jq e2-e4. 12.ll:Jg5+ @g8 13.e4
14. V!lf3 V!le8 15.axbs ll:Jxbs 16. V!lg4
V!9g6 And now we have reached the
move repetition mentioned earli
er: 17-es hs 18. V!lf4 V!9fs 19. V!9d2 V!9d3
20. V!9f4 V!9fs=.) 13.ll:Jxe6 V!9c8
a b c d e f g h
13 ... ll:Jxd4! The point behind 11 •.•
ll:J f5 is revealed. 14. V!9xd4 ll:Jc5

a b c d e f g h 15. V!9xd8 .E:xd8 After the tactical
exchanges we come to a tactical
White has probably more than ending that is not easy to evalu
sufficient compensation here as ate; computer engines give around
his standard trumps feature in the o.oo. 16. i.. e3 h6 (16... ll:Jxa4 leads
position: the strong knight on e6, to a positional exchange sacrifice
rolling pawns, the weakened posi by White: 1]'.ll:Jxe6 ,ije8 18.ll:Jxf8
tion of Black's monarch, etc. 14.e4 @xf8 19. E:xa4! bxa4 20. E:c1 and
(14.V!9c2 llJ7f6 15. 1i. h3 V!9d7 16.e4 due to Black's broken queenside
lZ:J b4 17-V!le2� also looks promis pawn structure, White definitely
ing for White.) 14 ... ll:Jq 15.ll:Jf4 has sufficient compensation here.)
g6 16.h4 (16.d5 cxds 1]'.exds @f7 17. i.. xc5 hxg5 18. ii.b6 .E:b8 19. .E:fd1�
18. i.. hJ�) 16 ... i.e7 (16... i..g7 was For his sacrificed pawn White
to be considered.) 17.d5 White had good compensation and
went on to win with an attack in went on to win in Mikhalevski,V
Miton,K (2604)-Berzina, I (2320) Vydeslaver,A Haifa 2008.
Warsaw 2008.
c) After 11 @g8 we have reached
. • •
a· critical position for assessing the

value of the lL!xf7 sacrifice. White

has to decide whether to jump to
gs, aiming directly at the black e6-
pawn, or jump to d6 removing the
black bishop on b7 and preparing
to attack the black e6-pawn with
�h3.
a b c d e f g h
12.lL!g5
Black prepares ... g6 with ... .1l.g7
Most probably better for White was to follow, so White needs to open
12.lL!d�! a route to the black king. 16.f4! E:ds
[16 ... g6 17.f5 gxf5 (1,7. it.g7? loses

••
to 18.fxg6+ lZJxg6 19. 'Bf7 as the

white rook now - unlike the 16...
'Bd8 lines - arrives on the seventh
rank with tempo gain and after
19... 'Bad8 White has the winning
a b c d e f g h 20. Wld2! with Wfxh6 to follow.)
18. 'Bxf5 lZ:Jxf5 19. Wfc2 looks dan
when White seems to have enough gerous for Black.]
compensation, though not more.
This is a good training position to
test calculation abilities. Comput
er engines will give you a number
of o.oo lines, some of which hardly
look logical to play or even find for
a human. I will give a few "human"
computer-assisted lines to show
how play might develop. 12 ... Wlq
13.lZ:Jxb7 lWxb7 14 . .1l.h3 h6 a b c d e f g h
(Black cannot protect his e6-pawn The open a-file is important for
in a good way as 14 ... risf7 15.e4 White here, as we will see. 19.axb5
with Wff3 to follow is good for
White - Black is tied up.) [The immediate 19.fxg6+ lZ:Jxg6
20 . .1l. f7 lZ:JdfS 21.h4 hs 22. 'B f5
15 . .1l.xe6+ rish7 .1t.xd4+ 23.e3 (23. rish2 earns a o.oo
evaluation by the engines and his sacrificed material and has

can lead to a draw by perpetual some advantage.]
check: 23... @g7 24. i..g5 'Bd6 25. 'B.d1
V9d7 26. r!.xd4 E!.xd4 2;. i..f6+ @h6
28. i..g5+=.) 23 ... i.. g7 24. 'B. xh5+
i.. h6 25. i.. xg6+ lDxg6 26.e4 With
a closed a-file this idea does not
work for White as Black here saves
his bishop on h6 and wins after
26 ... Vfib6+! 27.@g2 @g7 28. 'fBC3+
V9d4-+.]
a b c d e f g h
19 ... cxb5! This leads to a spectacular
draw! 2i. Vfixg6+! r!Jxg6 22. i.. f5+ The black
c6-pawn has been removed so the
[If 19... axb5 White, using the now king cannot cross the f-file, on ac
open a-file, regains his sacrificed count of i..e4+ collecting the black
piece and has some advantage queen on b7. 22... @h5 23. !!f4 Mate
after 20.fxg6+ lDxg6 21. i.. f7 (21. in one is always a powerful threat!
r!.f7? here does not work as it is not 23... @g5!
a tempo-gaining move and Black
has 21 ... 'Bhf8.) 2i. .. lDdf8 22.h4 (23 ... i..f6?? 24. 'E!h4+ i.. xh4 25.g4
mate)
24.h4+ @h5 25. i.. g4+ r!lg6 26. i.. f5+=

and this adventure comes to a peace
ful end.
12 lfJf6
•..
a b c d e f g h
12 ... lDf5 13.e4 /fJxd4 14. Vfixd4 lDc5
22... E:d7 (In the case of22... h5 23. 'B.f5! transposes to 11 ... /fJf5!?
i.. xd4+ 24.e3 i..g7 25. 'l!.xhs+ i.. h 6
26. i..xg6+ tiJxg6 2;.e4 now - with 13.axb5
the open a-file - White wins: 2;. ..
Vfib6+ 28.r!lg2 r!lg7 29.V9c3+ V9d4 Probably pressured by White's in
30. r!.a7++-) 23. i.. xg6+ lDxg6 24.h5 ventive play, Black will not find the
:Sd6 25. i.. f4 l:!e6 26.e3 The smoke best defences and his situation will
has cleared a little, White regains now quickly go downhill.
18.f4 g4 19.�fa with e4 to follow was

also good for White.
18 ... as 19. 'fl.e1 �a6 20. l:!c3 �c8
a b c d e f g h
13 ..·. �cS?
A strange move.
Logical was 13 ... l!fd7! and Black is

better: 14. �h3 �fs 15.bxa6 'fl.xa6 a b c d e f g h
16. 'fl.xa6 �xa6 17.e4 h6! 18.�xe6
l!fxe6 19. �xfs l!fes+. White simply rolls his pawns, Black
is powerless.
21.f4 looks to be winning: 21 ... g4

22.�fa �b4
(22 . hs 23.l!¥b3 'fl. hq 24. ds exds

..
25.es+-)
23.�xg4+-.
a b c d e f g h
White is now definitely in the driv

ing seat! White gets material equal
ity (three pawns for a piece) and 22. l!fxe6+ @hs 23.�xgs!+-
a better position. The rest of the
game does not need many com White gets an impressive army of
ments. pawns!
24
t> A. Giri
.- A. Morozevich
Beijing (2.5), 2012
1.d4 CL:lf6 2.c4 e6 3.ll:Jf3 ds 4.g3 dxc4

5. �g2 b5 6.a4 c6
24...hxg5 25. �xg5 !!af7 26.e5+-
25. l!fh3 !!g6 26.CL:le6
a b c d e f g h
This leads to a position where

I found two instructive games fea
turing our thematic knight sacrifice
on f7.
a b c d e f g h 7.CL:le5
Quite a picture! Look at the white 7.axb5 cxb5 8.CL:le5 ll:Jd5 9.ll:JCJ �b4
battalion of pawns! 10.0-0 �xc3 11.e4
26 l!feS 27.CL:lf4 E:gg7 28. l!fxh6+

••. (11.bxc3 CL:lxc3 12.l!fc2 lLlds 13. �a3
CL:lh7 29.e5 CL:le7 30. �e4 �c4 31.CL:lh5 looks promising for White.)
E:g6 32. l!fxh7+ 'i:!txh7 33.CL:lf6+ 'i:!th8
34.CL:lxeS !!g8 35.CL:lf6 1-0 11 ... �xb2 12. �xb2 CL:le7 White now
finds an original sacrificial idea!
Black does not have a suitable way

'ft(""'%
• •
7 .I. to keep his position together, the
6
5
• white bishop pair being a devastat
4
ing force. 17... 1Wc6
3
2 (1;. .. 'BbB loses to lB.ds hs 19.1Wd3!
exds 20. ii.xg7+-.)
a b c d e f g h
18.1Wb4 ll:lg6 19.d5 and White ob
1y�:Jxf7! Wxf7 14.1Wh5+ Wg8 15.1Wxb5 tains a winning advantage.
Excellent judgment by White! At
thi� moment Black is a full piece up 7. . . lZ:Jd5 8.o-o a6
with no immediate lethal threats
in sight! However, White's power In the event of 8 ... ii.b7 9.e4 lZ::l f6
ful bishops and mobile pawn cen White has a thematic central pawn
tre plus the weak black king provide break, often seen in similar posi
White with ample compensation for tions: io.d5! cxd5
his sacrificed piece! Computer en
gines support the white cause too. (10 ... ii.e7 11. axbs cxbs 12.lZJc3 a6
15 ... ll:Jd7 16.1WXC4 1Wb6 now White has a typical tactical
motif in lJ. ii.f4! o-o 14.lZJxc4 bxc4
15.d6 with a better game.)
11.exd5 lZ:Jxd5 i2.axb5 1Wq
7
6
5
a b c d e f g h
4
3
And here strong for White was
17. l:Hb1! ±
a b c d e f g h
(The game itself went 17. ii.c3 as
1B. 'Bfb1 1Wc6 19.1Wd3 when White The best for White now is to over
had strong compensation but come his conviction that he should
the game ended in a draw in keep the Catalan bishop and steel
Georgiev,K (2662)-Ninov,N (2524) himself to play 13. ii.xd5! Such de
Albena 2010.) cisions are not easy for humans
in over-the-board play! i3 ... �xd5
14. ii.f4 ifb7 15.lZJc3 and White is

clearly better due to his advantage
in development. 15 ... ii.g2 16. !!e1
(16.'fHhs!? ii.xf1 1;. !!xf1 also looks

promising for White.)
16... ii.b4 17.1!¥a4 ii.xc3 18.lZJxC4 o-o

19.1£ld6 1!¥f3 20.bxc3 Ah3 2i.l!fe4±.
9.axb5 cxbs
First comes a standard central
break.
13.d5! Ad6
Grabbing a pawn with 13 ... exd5?

14.exd5 Axd5 loses for Black as he
does not get to finish his devel
opment: 15. l!fe3 l!fe7 16. ii.a3 l!fe6
17. .:Se1 b4 18. Axd5 lZJxd5 19. l!fc1 Ae7
a b c d e f g h 20.lZJxf7 and Black either gets mat
ed or suffers decisive material losses.
It is interesting to compare this po Having diagonals open and his forc
sition to some seen in the 7.lZJe5! es ready, Giri now goes for a stand
line, analyzed in Lysyj-Lupulescu as ard knight sacrifice on f7!
part of the comments in Mikahlevs
ki-Rabinovich above, as White goes 14.lZJxf7! @xf7 15.dxe6 + <it>e8 16.e5
for a similar plan! Axg2 17.exf6 1!¥xf6 18. <it>xg2
10.b3! Black's only chance now is to grab

the white rook on ai.
White opens the a2-g8 diagonal, al
ready anticipating the 14.lZJxf7! sac 18 ... l!fxa1
rifice.
Black is a rook up but his pieces are
10 cxb3 11. l!fxb3 Ab7 12.e4 1£lf6
.•• totally disconnected and his king
comes under attack. ..
20 . !fa7
. .
Now Giri wraps it up with a nice

finish.
But 20 ... �c2! ! would have saved

Black! Needless to say, this is a com
puter defence, the main line going
2i.�f7+ 'i!i>d8 22 . .fi.xg7 �c6+ 23.f3
!!e8 24. !!d1 'i!i>c8 25. !! xd6 �xd6
26. �xe8+ 'i!i>b7 27. �f7+
(27. q?? loses 27 .. �e6 28.ll:Jc3

.
Curiously, this apparently logical ll:Jc6-+)

move throws away the advantage.
27... �q 28.e7 ll:Jc6 29. Af6 ll:Jxe7
19.ll:JC3! Preventing the black queen 30. .fi.xe7 !!c8 and the assessment of
from coming to a4 was stronger, this position is the familiar o.oo.
leading to a winning advantage:
19 ... ll:Jc6 20. .fi.b2 �as 2i.ll:Je4 �q 21. !!c1 'i!i>d8
22. �d5 !!d8 23. �h5+ 'i!i>f8 24. !!c1
and Black collapses under multiple
pins.
22 . .fi.f6+! .fi.e7 23. �ds+ ll:Jd7

24. Ad4 !!c7 25. �as+ 1-0
This position can also be used as

a good calculation exercise!
• Black is well advised, if he can, to

5.2. PAWN CHAIN BREAK (a) exchange the knights and (b)
WITH THE 82-83 PUSH push the liberating . . . c6-c5 even
if it means returning the extra
pawn in the process.
Spassky-Zinn from 1962 is a classic,

while Ding Liren-So from 2016 is
a modern example on the topic.
25
t> B. Spassky
� L. Zinn
M a rianske Lazne (8.1). 1962
White's idea of breaking a black
pawn chain on the queenside by 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.ct:Jf3 e6 4.g3 dxc4
means of the b2-b3 pawn push is 5. �g2
a positional concept. In return for
his sacrificed pawn White gets pres
sure along the d-, c- and b-files and
a long-term initiative.
A few guidelines here could be:
• Entering these positions with the

white knight still on bi should in
general be favourable to White
(compared to Ding Liren-So) as
Black does not have a . . . b5-b4
pawn push hitting a white knight We have many different possible
on c3. That means Black has to move orders here for both sides.
capture 7...cxb3, as for example in For the sake of theoretically-mind
our Spassky game. ed readers I will try to address move
• In general it is advisable for orders and provide some guide
White to keep up the pressure lines. In the first three games in
and not be in a hurry to regain this subchapter White is delaying
material. the development of his bi-knight
CHAPTER V. CATALAN SACRI FICES 209
so that when he later plays 7.b3 he looks like leading to an easy po
will force Black to capture 7...bxc3. sitional advantage for White - he
With the white knight still being on will get his pawn back on c4 and
bi, Black does not have the tempo enjoy a space advantage.
gaining 7... b4, which did happen
in Ding Liren-So, the fourth game [6.CZJc3 Black now commits an
in this section, after White had al instructive opening mistake. 6 ...
ready played CLic3. In the first three bs?! (6...CZJgf6 transposes to regu
games of this subchapter, where the lar lines.) 7.a4!
development of White's bi-knight is
initially delayed, move orders can
cross one another. For readers in
terested in theoretical knowledge,
I would suggest that you study these
three games very carefully, com
pare and draw conclusions about
the move orders. In the move or a b c d e f g h
der in the fourth game in this sec
tion, Ding Liren-So, has the white Black now does not have a con
knight developed early to c3, so it is venient way to keep his pawn
rather different and does not inter chain intact so has to push his b
fere with the move order of the first pawn. 7...b4 8.CZJe4 il.e7 (8... il.a6
three games. was arguably better, but 9. il.f4
tLlgf6 10.CLi d6+ il.xd6 11. il.xd6
5 ...b5 Vl9as 12.CLid2 with !!c1 and ClJXC4
to follow leads to White's advan
a) 5 ...CLid7 is another, probably im tage.) 9.0-0 (9. il.f4 is also good
precise, Black move, where White for White: 9 ... CLigf6 10.tLl d6+
- it seems to me - has a good il.xd6 11. il.xd6 tLlds 12.CLie5±.) 9 ...
option in 6.a4! to secure a safe .ia6 (on 9... CLigf6 there follows
advantage. 6.CLlCJ can transpose, 10.CiJxf6+ and Black does not
after 6...CLigf6, -s with the early de have a good way to recapture as
velopment of the knight to CJ. The White will move either CLifJ-e5 or
famous Ukrainian grandmaster CLifJ-d2, collect ClJXC4 and be bet
Oleg Romanishin, who devoted his ter.) 10. Af4 CLigf6 n.CLid6+ il.. xd6
lifetime to g3 systems, had an in 12. il.. xd6 CLid5 13.CLie5± The black
structive quick win here. 6.a4! This king is stuck in the middle of the
simple idea, which I gleaned from board and Romanishin finishes
Timman, prevents Black's ...b5 and off nicely. 13...f6
210 CH ESS MI DDLEGAME STRATEGI ES
pawn back and keeps the advan

tage.)
8.�C2 CZJb6
(or 8... bs 9.tLles ltlxes io.dxes tLids

11.axbs cxbs i2.tLlc3 is again better
a b c d e f g h for White.)
14.e4! fxe5 15.exd5 exd5 16.dxe5 9.ez:Jbd2 ii.e7 10.tt::l xc4 tt::l xc4
�g5 17. ii.xd5! cxd5 18.�xd5 �c8 11. �xc4 The pawn structure is
19. �e6+ 'i!i>d8 20. ii.xb4 �g6 like the Alapin Slav, except that
21. �e7+ 'i!tq 22.e6 1-0 Roman Black's light-squared bishop is still
ishin, 0 (2570)-Zaja,I (2450) Bled on c8 instead of on f5, and White
1998.] had a pleasant advantage in 1-0
Timman,J (2620)-Kuijf,M (2470)
6...tt::l gf6 Amsterdam 1996.
(6... ii.b4+ J. ii.d2 i9q 8.'tla3 leads b) 5 ... 'tlf6 can transpose to posi
to White's advantage: 8... tLlgf6 tions analyzed in the second game
9.0-0 c3 10. ii.xc3 ii.xc3 11.bxc3 es of this section, and 6.a4 b5 7.ez:Je5
i2.tlJC4 exd4 i3.cxd4± and White ez:Jd5 8.o-o leads to Game 24 in this
won in Postny,E (2674)-Shvidler,E book, Giri-Morozevich.
(2413) Israel 2009.)
6.o-o
7.0-0
White can also choose a · different
move order to obtain similar posi
tions, with 6.'tle5 ii.b7 7.a4
a b c d e f g h
(If J. .. bs 8.tLles tLixes 9.dxes ltlds a b c d e f g h

io.axbs cxbs 11.ez:Jc3 White gets his
9 ... cxb3 10. kb2 '8d5 11.V!B'xb3 /8d7

In general it is clever for White
[It is advisable to mention that ex to keep the knights on the board
changing the dark-squared bish in these positions. 12./cid3! ii.e7
ops with 7... kb4+? 8. kd2 kxd2+ 13./cid2 o-o 14. E!fc1� It is difficult
9..'tlxd2 V!fiq, aiming to speed up for Black to liberate himself with
Black's kingside development, ... c5 so White's pressure, as in our
is a bad idea because it weakens main game, compensates for the
crucial dark squares in the black sacrificed pawn 1/2-1/2 Kaidanov,G
camp: 10..'tle4 f6? (10...ltlf6 11.ltlc5±) (2629) -Galkin,A (2568) Moscow
11.axb5!+- fxes (11 cxbs 12.ltld6+
••• 2003.
wins an exchange.) 12.dxe5 fol
lowed by 13./8d6 and a winning 6 kb7
...
advantage for White.]

I would like to show here one open
8.o-o '8f6 ing trap, which I have encountered
a few times already in my games: 6...
lcif6 7./cie5 a6
(;7. .. kb7 8.a4 a6 9.b3 cxb3 10. i.b2�

transposes to Kaidanov-Galkin
above.)
8.b3 cxb3 9./8xc6 V!B'b6 10./cia5
9.b3! takes advantage of the white

knight still being on bl and leads to
positions similar to our main game
(9.axbs axbs 10. E!xaB i.xaB 11.ltlc3

transposes to one of the main lines
with early .'tlc3 development. Black
returns his extra pawn and obtains
an approximately equal game. 11 ..• Now Black can try to be smart with
i.e; 12.ltlxbs cxbs 13. il.xaB 0-000. 10 ...bxa2 but White has the unex
A number of top games have been pected - unexpected to a number
played here, with Black holding his of my opponents, anyway - little
own.) queen move ...
looks, on account of Black's passed

pawns.) 21.ll:Jb7 ll:Jc6 22.ll:Jc5+ (22.
11.l!¥c2! and Black is in trouble, as E!e3! was a better move.) 22 ... 'i!i>e7
after the more less forced 11 axb1l!¥ .•• 23. l::! f3 ll:Jxd4 24. �g5+ 'i!i>d6 and it
12. l!¥xc8+ l!¥d8 13. l!¥xd8+ @xd8 ends peacefully after 25. j.f4+ @e7
14. l::! xb1 White has considerably draw, l.Sokolov-Hovshanisian,
more than "just compensation" for Belgium tt, 2017.]
his sacrificed pawn. 14 ... ll:Jd5 15. l::!b3
f5 16 ... exd5 17. �f4 I had considered
this line but somehow failed to cor
rectly estimate the size of the ad
vantage to be gained by penetrating
along the c-file. Subsequent analy
ses brought me a few free points in
rapid games as after 17... @d7 18. l::!c1
i.d6 19. i.xd6 @xd6 20.ll:Jb7+ @d7
a b c d e f g h 21. l::!bc3 White has a large advan
tage.
A critical moment! In similar fian
chetto positions White players of
ten have a psychological problem
parting with their proud Catalan
bishop, but here the c-file is the key!
16. ii.xd5!
[My first classical time-limit game

in this position went 16.e4 fxe4
17. �xe4 @d7 and it turns out
that with the black king already
on d7, the time for White to pen
etrate along the c-file has passed!
That game finished as an enter
taining draw, probably with some If White wants to play the b2-b3
missed opportunities: 18. �f4 �e7 push here he might as well do it at
19 . .txd5 exd5 20. l::! c1 �d8 (20... once, since Black will probably play
E!c8! was a move to consider, as the ... a6 later anyway. However one
eighth-rank pin after 21. E!xcB 'i!txc8 game that I came across had some
22. E!c3+ @d7 23. E!q+ 'i!te6 24. E!cB interesting tactical ideas after 7.a4
.td6 is less dangerous than it
a6 8.b3 and I decided to include it (15... il.. xa3 16. Axa3! �xes 17- Ad6
here. An extra piece does not help Black
here as he cannot connect his pie
7.a4 a6 8.b3 cxb3 9.l!Uxb3 tZJf6 Now ces and his king is horribly stuck
White comes up with an interesting in the middle of the board, for ex
idea. 10.tLle5!? The pawn sacrifice is ample lJ'. .. 1Wh5 18. E!fb1 Ac8 19.�c3
an intuitive one, since it is difficult Ad7 20. E!b7 with E!ab1 to follow
to calculate so many possibilities. wins in a few moves.)
10 ... l!Uxd4 11. Ab2 White reckons
that Black will not manage to castle 16.tLlaC4 �q White has tremendous
without incurring serious damage. piece play and Black is simply lost
11 l!Ub4 12. l!Uc2 l!Uc5 13. l!Ud2
••• here. 17. Ac3 tZJbd7 18. E!ab1 o-o
8 1.• •
7
6
5
13 ... Ae7? A losing mistake 19. E!xb7! Wxb7 20.tLixc6 tLlc5

21.tZJ 4a5 �q 22. il.. e 5 Black now
(13... b4! Keeping things closed will suffers decisive material loss
make it hard for White to prove es. 22 ... EE.ads 23. �g5 E!d6 24. E!c1
the correctness of his idea.) tZJb7 25.tLl xe7+ Wxe7 26.tLlxb7
E!b6 27.h3 h6 28.�f4 tLid5 29. Axd5
14.axb5!+- Files and diagonals are exd5 30. Ad6! l:!xd6 3i.ll:Jxd6 1-0
now open, and White already has Panchenko, A-Bednarski,J Lublin
a winning advantage! 14 ... l!Uxb5 1975.
White plays with energy and keeps
the momentum of the initiative go
ing well. Instructive play by White!
Recapturing with the pawn 8.axb3
(14 ... axb5? loses to the prosaic has been less frequently played, but
15. E!xaB il.. xa8 16.l!Uas Ab7 17-l!Uq some very strong players have done
winning a piece.) it in similar positions (like Kram
nik-Giri, Qatar Masters 2015). It is
also possible here, as in the case of
214 CH ESS M I DDLEGAME STRATEG I ES
immediate "liberation" with 8 ... c5 a sound positional sacrifice. Need

White seem to have some advantage less to say this white concept can be
after 9.dxc5 l!fxd1 10. l:!xd1 �xc5 used in similar Catalan-like posi
11.�c3 a6 12.�e5 kxg2 13. �xg2 tions.
Now Black has to hurry to castle.
13 ... �f6
(13... l:!a7?? leads to disaster after During my coaching years in Dubai

14.�e4 ke7 15. �e3 l:!q 16. l:!aci+-.) UAE, I showed this Spassky game
to my student GM Salem Abdul
rahman Saleh, he liked the idea
and soon put it to work at the Dubai
8 ll:Jf6
... Open! His game went as follows: 9...
as 10.ll:Je5 a4
(10... l!i'xd4 11. kf4 will lead to play

similar to that in the Panchenko
Bednarski game above, with Black
having difficulties in finishing his
development.)
11. l!fc2 �ds
a b c d e f g h
This is the position Spassky was

aiming for with his 7.b3 idea. White
judges that his pressure on the hi-a8 a b c d e f g h
diagonal and Black's inability to free
himself with ... c6-c5 are worth at 12.ll:Jxd5 cxds
least a pawn. It is a long-term com
pensation judgment and Spassky (In the case of 12 ... exd5 13.e4 �e7
was right - top modern top GMs 14.exd5 cxd5 15. l:!bi White gets his
like Nakamura and computer en pawn back with a superior posi
gines alike confirm his judgement. tion.)
For a price of only one pawn, White
gets long-term pressure - simply
(13 ... b4 14. il.d2 b3 i5.axb3 a3 16.b4 in Salem,A (2621)-Gusain,H (2429)

and White will round up the black Dubai 2016.
pawn on a3.)
10.�e5 a6
14. B'.xb5 il.a6
Black now gets tied down by pins

and will not be able to castle without
damage! 15. B'.xd5! exd5 16.°Y:Wc6 B'.c8 10 ... 'Y:Wxd4? blunders to 11.�xb5
'Y:Wxe5
(11 ... °Y:Wb6? 12. �e3+-)

17.V:Wxa6 �xe5 18.dxe5 �c5
12. �b2 'Y:Wxb5 13. 'Y:Wxb5 cxb5 14. Axb7
and White ends an exchange up.
Spassky wants to bring his f1-rook

to the c-fi.le, but the text is perhaps
a b c d e f g h not White's best.
More than 50 years later, Hikaru

Nakamura arrived at the identi
(19. il. h3! was even stronger: 19... cal position via a different move
B'.q 20. 'Y:Wxa4+ @fB 21.e6+-.) order - it would be interesting
to know whether Naka knew the
19... 0-0 20.e4 @hs 2i.V:Wxa4± With Spassky game! - and here followed
his dominant bishop and three up with 11. B'.d1 which is probably
pawns for the exchange White is ob best. 11...0-0 12.�e4
viously better and went on to win
216 CHESS M I D D LEGAM E STRATEGIES
e f g h
a b c d e f g h
12 ... W!iq
Now Black has a difficult choice
(In general, as already mentioned, to make! 17... g6?! this radical step
it is useful for Black to trade a pair weakens Black's dark squares
of knights - or all four of them if
possible! - in these positions to [17... /fJbd7! was Black's best. Most
reduce White's firepower, so Black likely Black feared the following
could have considered 12 liJxe4 .•. forced line, 18. �e5! (White could
13. �xe4 as when White would also choose 18.tiJes when Black is
probably continue 14. �f4 with ide forced to take back his move with
as to exert c-file pressure after !!aci, 18... tiJb8 and now White can try
while building up a kingside attack something else. However, being
by means of h4-h5 or g4 and W!ih3. in a hurry to regain his pawn is
Black's general problem is that he is not a good idea here - and usu
doomed to passive play. White is by ally also not in similar situa
no means in a hurry to get his pawn tions - as it loses time and helps
back and will take on c6 in his own Black to coordinate his pieces, for
good time, or possibly never.) example 18. W!ixc6? l:!a6 . and sud
denly only Black can be better.)
13 .liJg5 as 14. � h3! Following 18 ... h6 19.liJxh6+ gxh6 20. �xe6
Spassky's lead, Nakamura increases hxg5 2i.W!ig6+ @hs 22.W!ih6+ @gs
kingside pressure in a similar fash 23.W!ixg5+ @hs
ion and Black has to deal with im
.i.
mediate threats. 14 ... a4
(14... �c8 is a computer-type pro

posal, which raises the question:
what on earth would Black do
next?)
a b c d � f g h
No player likes to enter lines 20. ilg2! �b6 21. .id6

where the opponent has a per
petual check, while keeping the
option of playing for mate, and
neither did Lenderman! However
mate does not seem to be in the
picture; in fact White has to look
for his winning chances in 24 . .if5
ll:lxe5 (24... :S.eB?? runs into a mat a b c d e f g h
ing rook lift after 25.g4 with :S.d3 to
follow.) 25.dxe5 ll:lh7 26.�h5 .ixf5 Black's general problem here is that
27. a:xd8 :S.axd8 28. �xf5 coming to he is very passive and has no coun
a position with a material imbal ter-play, while White can increase
ance. White has the safer king and his pressure at his ease without be
should be better, however the fight ing in any hurry to get his sacrificed
is still ahead and both sides should pawn back. 21. .. :S.e8
have their chances.]
(For example, in the case of 21 ...
lLld7 White will take an exchange
on f8 on his own terms: 22. :S.aci
.ib7 23.lLlcs! lLlxcs 24 . .ixcs �q
25. ilxfB il.xfB 26. 1lxc6 :S.c8
2'J. ile4+-.)
22. :S.aci �d8
a b c d e f g h (22 ... ilxd4? again ends badly for

Black: 23. :S.xd4! �xd4 24. :S.d1 �g7
19 ... �g7 Now Nakamura correctly
judges that his light-squared bishop
has to return to the long diagonal.
[19... .ixd4? feels wrong and quick

ly ends wrong after 20. �h6 �xa1
21. :S.xd8 :S.xd8 22.�c1 and the black
king is left without any defend a b c d e
ers. 22 ... .ig7 (22 ... .ihB 23. �gs+-)
23 . .ixg7 'i!?xg7 24. �c3++-] Black's undeveloped queenside
coupled with the disastrous dark-
square weaknesses around his (26... 'Bds 27- !i;.xd5+-)

king unsurprisingly bring him dis
aster. 25. !i;.q! l!:iJd7 26. 'Bxd7 !i;.xd7 27.l!:iJxeS Wixe8 The black pieces
2J. !i;.f6 Wlfs 2S. !i;.e5f5 29.l!:iJf6+ rJitf1 are still sleeping on the queenside.
30.l!:iJxd7 Wlq 31. Wld2! 'i!edS 32. Wlh6 28.e4! d4 29.e5! h5 30.f4 f6 3i. 1!.xd4
1!.xd7 33. WIxh7+ Black might ul fxe5 32.fxe5 �c8 33. '8.cd1 !i;.d7
timately lose all his pawns. 33 ... 34. 'Bd6 Wixe5 35. Wixg6 Wif5 36. !i;.q
@es 34. Wigs+ Wlfs 35. WIxe6+ Wlf7 37. 1!.f1 Wixg6 38. 'i!xg6 1-0,
Wle7 36.WlgS+ Wlfs 37.Wlxg6+ Wlf7 Nakamura,H-Lenderman,A USA
3S.Wixc6 !!.ads 39. !i;.f3 Black can Ch 2016.
not escape the deadly pins.)
11 ••• 0-0 i2.l!:iJe4
23. !i;.c5!
An important moment! As we
have established, trading a pair
of knights - or all four if possi
23 ... !i;.a6 ble! - helps Black in these positions.
(23 ... l!:iJa6 24.l!:iJd6±)
12... l!:iJds
White's compensation is worth
way more than a pawn here. Fur 12 ...l!:iJxe4! was the way to go and
thermore, playing such a position with a pair of knights traded, Black
as Black in a practical game is very gets to liberate himself with ...c5 and
difficult and it is not surprising that equalize the game! 13. !i;.xe4 Wies
now the game quickly comes to an 14. '8.fc1 c5! 15 . .txb7 Wixb7 16.dxc5
end. 24 . Wlq Nakamura now plays
.. !i;.f6 17.c6
with energy and precision. 25.d5!+
exd5 26.l!:iJd6 Wid7 (1J. i.d4 !i;.xe5 1S. !i;.xe5 l!:iJc6=)
17... l!fq
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
18.a4! White however does not have
enough pieces to increase his "in Now Spassky has the kind of com
itiative momentum" so the game pensation he wanted. White's
quickly becomes drawish. 18...ll:Jxc6 knight on e4 is preventing any lib
erating ... c6-c5 pawn push, so Black
a) Greed here is not good as 18 ... has to remain passive.
i.xe5? loses to 19.axb5 i.xa1 20.b6
l!fd6 21.q+- and finally White 14 l!fb6
••.
comes out with a decisive material

advantage. The positions arising after 14 ...b4
15.ll:Jc5 i.xc5 16. !!xc5 ll:Jd7 17.ll:Jxd7
b) 18...b4 also does not solve Black's l!fxd7 18. !!ac1 might be o.oo accord
problems. 19. l!fxb4 l!f xe5 (19 ... ing to the computer engines, but to
i.xes 20.1Wb7 ll:Jxc6 21.lWxq i.xq me they look easier to play as White
22. �xc6±) 20. �ab1 Black has to in a game between humans.
return the piece and his a-pawn is
a weakness. 14 ... l!fq with ... �c8 to follow in
hindsight would have been a better
c) 18 ...bxa4 also leads to a draw. move, as the black queen will prove
19.l!fb7 i.xe5 20. �xa4 ll:Jxc6 not well placed on b6.
21. WBxq i.xq 22. �xc6 i.e5
23. �cxa6=.
19.axb5 ll:Ja5 20. l!fd3 l!fxe5 21. �xa5 This is a tactical oversight in a dif
�ads 22. l!fb3 axb5=. ficult position.
13. :Sfc1 a5 14. i.d2 16 ... ll:Ja6 challenging white's well

placed c5-knight was an option,
though White gets his pawn back
and keeps up the pressure with

17.ct::i xb7 �xb7 18. i.xas
Or 17... ct::i b4 18.a3 CZJ 4a6 19.CZJC4 �d8
20.ct::i xb7 !!xb7 2i.CZJxas±.
The text move keeps White's advan

tage, but more direct was 18.CZJC4!
a b c d e f g h �ds 19. Axas �es 20. Ab6 !!as
2i.ct::i xb7 and White has a clear ad
Black's life is not easy here, for ex vantage: 21 ...bxC4 22.a4 (22. Acs±)
ample 18...ct::i cs 22... ct::ibd7 23.as±.
(18... ctJbB 19.�d2! b4 20.CZJC4 and 18 Axc;

•.•
Black cannot take advantage of the

seemingly vulnerable white bishop In the event of a "pass move" like
on as.) 18 ... �d8 White already has, among
other options, some standard tac
19.dxcs !has 20.e4 ct::i f6 21.CZJC4 2:fa7 tical motifs that are often seen in
22.CZJd6 Axd6 23.cxd6 White is bet these positions.
ter here.
6
5
4
3
2
a b c d e f g h
(20... �e8 21.a4! All the black pie

ces are somehow wrong. 21 ... @gB
22. axbs cxbs 23.ds E:a6 24. !!xcB
�xc8 25. 2:!c1 �e8 26.ctJq+-.)
Now White can play CZJC4 with gain
of tempo, utilizing the pin along the 2i.ds+ @f7 22. Axa7 ct::i bd7 23. !!d1
b-file. �q
(23 ... cxds 24.es+-)
24. !:i.aci c5 25. ii'xb5±.
This runs into a relatively easy tacti

cal refutation.
Still, Black's best try, 23 ... ii'f6, would

probably have only prolonged his
agony: 24. !:i.6d2 b4 25. ii.g4 Black
remains terribly passive. 25 ... ii'e7
26. ii.h5 f6 27.ll:lf3 White's attack will
We have seen Nakamura (against prove decisive.
Lenderman above) improving his
bishop in a similar way.
21 ... ii'e7 22. !:i.d6! a) 24 ... ll:lxd6 ultimately loses tons

of material while Black remains
22. !:i.d2 with !:i.ad1 to follow looks tied up, for example 25.ll:lxd6 !:i.d7
less flashy, but is actually quite ef 26. ii'e5 !:i.e8 27. ii.g5 ii'f8 28. ii.xe6+
fective. �h8 29. !:i.d2+-.
22 ii.a6
.•• b) Or 24 ... ii'xf7 25. �xe6 ll:lxd6
26. !:i.xd6+-.
22 ... !!a8! was Black's best, but White
would still keep Black tied up with 25. Axe6+ ii'xe6 26. !:i.xe6 �xe6
23. �d2i and !:i.ad1 to follow. Of 27. ii'b3+ �e7 28. l!fgS h6
course not 22...ll:lxd6 23.cxd6 when
Black's queen and rook are both at White has a winning advantage and
tacked. different ways of sealing the victory.
Spassky finds a nice one.
29. E:d6! 1£lxd6 30.cxd6+ �d7
s.1£le5
A funny picture, all the black pie It should be pointed out here that
ces are behind their king; the black 8.b3? was the actual move order in
monarch is advancing alone into the Nakamura-Lenderman given in the
first line of fire! Spassky-Zinn comments. This move
order is not precise for White, since
31. iVxg7+ �xd6 32. iVxh6+ �d7 8 ... b4! looks to me like a problem
33. iVg7+ �d6 34. iVf6+ �c7 for White since without the inclu
sion of 8.1£le5 a6, White would any
White now collects the black rook how need to jump 1£le5, while Black
on c8, bringing game to an end. could then play ... a7-a5 in one go in
stead of two and Nakamura would
35. ¥We5+ �d7 36. ¥Wf5+ �c7 37. Af4+ be simply a tempo down on our
�b6 38. ¥Wxc8 �a7 39.e5 main lines! (The Nakamura game
actually went 8. . cxb3 9. iVxb3 Ae7
.
1-0 10.lLles a6, transposing to Spassky

Zinn.)
26 8... a6
1> Ding Liren White now goes for a standard b2-

� W. So b3 plan, but the position of the white
Shanghai, 2016 knight on c3 gives Black different
possibilities here.
l.d4 ds 2.q e6 3.1£lq 1£lf6 4.1£lf3 c6
5.g3 dxc4 6. i.g2 b5 7.0-0 �b7
White here is at crossroads. I be (11 ... 'f/q is another move.)

lieve the move he plays now to be
the strongest, while two other pos 12. �e3
sibilities might lead to crazy posi
tions. (12 . ds!? i. d6! 13.ti:Jxf7 @xf7
14.dxe6+ @xe6 looks flashy but af
ter 1s. .ie3 cs 16. .ixb7 'fiq lJ. il.ds+
@e; the sober reality is that White
One option for White is the rath is fighting for a draw.)
er original piece sacrifice played by
the Chinese grandmaster Li Chao: 12 ... ii.d6!
10.bxc4!? It is difficult to evaluate
the objective merits of this inspired (12 ... ti:Jbd7 13.ds cs 14.ti:Jc6 ii.xc6
sacrifice and I am giving his game 1s.dxc6"t. ti:Jes 16.'f!a4 l:!q 1J. l:!fd1
here in order to show readers an 'f!cB 18. ii.f4 ti:Jfg4 19.h3+-)
original idea and to encourage out
of-the-box thinking. 10...bxc3 11. l:!b1
a b c d e f g h
For his sacrificed piece White has

not even a single pawn but he does
have b-file pressure combined with
tactical possibilities using the hl-a8 15.dxe6 fxe6 16 . .ixb7 ii.xe5 An un
diagonal and the computer engines' usual material imbalance. 17. ii.xc5
evaluation is around o.oo. I will not l:!xb7 18. l:!xb7 'f!c8 19. l:!a7 'fixes
show too many lines here, though 20. l:!a8+ @e7 2i. l:!xh8 ti:Je4 22. l:!xh7
I did delve deep and the conclusion ti:Jd2 This inventive and enter
is that White has compensation in taining game ultimately ended in
a dynamic balance, but not more. a draw by perpetual check, Li Chao2
11 ... l:!a7 Perhaps Black's best. (2697)-Ankit,R (2455) Graz 2014.
224 CH ESS M I DDLEGAM E STRATEG IES
10.tl::l a4 is an option that I do not like 18 ... exd5! was winning by force as,
for White, because it allows Black after a tactical sequence, the black
a monster pawn chain. 10... CJ pawns will decide.
(The actual game went 18 ...

cxds 19.tLlb6 tLlc6 20.tLlxaB �xa8
and Black went on to win in
Gupta,A (2613)-Shirov,A (2676) Al
Ain 2015.)
a b c d e f g h 19.ll:Jb6 .fi.xe2! 20.tl::l xaS i.xd1

2I. �xd1 tl::l d7 22.tl::l q ll:Jxcs-+ and
leads to good play for Black; the the black pawns cannot be stopped.
game Gupta-Shirov here is a good
illustration. n.tl::l q as 12.a3 i.a6 10 tl::l xe4 11. i.xe4 c3
•••
13.axb4 axb4 We can now get

a study-like endgame. The result
ing positions are full of tactical
solutions, but it seems to me that
the game is easier play with Black.
14.tl::lcs it.xcs 15.dxc5 l!fxd1! 16. �xd1
o-o 17. i.f4 tl::lds
Black here also has a pawn chain,

but things are different from the
a b c d e f g h 10.tl::l a4 lines as White has consid
erably better tactical solutions, and
A razor-sharp position, where it can challenge the black pawn chain.
is easy for both sides to go wrong.
White is material up, but Black's 12.a3 as 13.axb4
b4-C3 pawn chain is a huge trump!
18. i.xd5? How should Black recapture?
It looks logical to take with the
(18. 1i.d6!00 ) pawn and maintain the pawn
chain - right? In fact no! Recap-
turing with the pawn on b4 indeed ers did not want to give it another
keeps the black pawn chain intact, try! This surprised me a lot because
but unfortunately for Black it opens the position is dynamic, with rich
the a-file! In similar Catalan posi possibilities, and it definitely offers
tions a-file penetration by the white scope for original ideas and im
queen or rook often causes Black provements. I will not share my full
problems, and that will prove to be analyses here as this is not an open
the case here. ing book. However, I will give one
interesting line illustrating White's
13 •.• axb4 attacking possibilities. White's de
velopment is definitely more impor
13 ... �xb4! is the way for Black to tant here than snatching a pawn on
go! The bishop becomes part of the h7! 15. �xh7?! Shakhriyar Mam
pawn chain, but rather than be edyarov is famous for sacrificing
coming just "one big pawn" it still pawns, rather than taking them,
preserves its function as a bishop. and this decision came as a big
Meanwhile - and this is very im surprise to me. The game remains
portant! - the a-file remains closed tense, and Harikrishna plays excel
and White cannot penetrate. This lently.
original strategic decision was seen
in a very important game from the [15. �f4! f5 ! Surrenders the e5-
2016 Baku Olympiad, in the match square but enables Black to castle.
Azerbaijan-India. The game contin (Computer engines initially sug
ued 14. llVd3 1!Ve7 gest for Black 15. .gs 16. �e3 but
.
soon change their mind). 16. �f3

This bishop retreat prepares the
g3-g4 advance. (16. �g2 is anoth
er possibility and I will leave it to
readers interested in opening the
ory to do their homework and fig
ure out which bishop retreat offers
White more chances for an open
a b c d e f g h ing advantage.) 16 ... 0-0 17.h4 !k8
(1;. .. 'Ba6!? releasing the b8-knight
A very interesting position, both from its pawn-protection duties
strategically and for pure theoreti and covering the sixth rank in gen
cal research in a topical variation! eral is a plan worth nothing here.)
Strangely enough, after Mamed 18. �g5 1!Ve8
yarov lost this game, White play-
226 CH ESS M I DDLEGAME STRATEG I ES
(23 ... !:i.xd4? 24.hs+- with h6 to fol

low wins.) 24. i.g4 White has here
the luxury that he can delay mak
ing a draw with the lZ::l h6+ perpet
ual, but ultimately this position
should see a peaceful end: 24 ... lZ::l q
25.lZ::l h6+ r/Bh8 26.lZ::l f7+ r/Bg8 27.f4
a b c d e f g h gxf4 28. !:i.xf4 !:i.xe6 29.lZ::l h6+ r/Bh8
30.l!i'if7+=.]
Now White goes ahead with his g
pawn push idea 19.g4 h6 and carry 15 ... lZ::l d7 16. i.. e4 lZ::l xe5 17.dxe5 !:i.d8
on with a thematic piece sacri 18. Vl9f3 Now Black goes for a the
fice. 20.gxf5!? (The calm 20. il..f4 matic positional exchange sacrifice
is definitely an alternative to con to improve his pawn structure.
sider.) 20 ... hxg5 (Including 20... 8
il.. a 6 21. l!9e4 also looks like lead 7
ing to a draw by repetition: 21 ... 6
hxgs 22fxe6 l!9xe6 23. il..g4 VJ9d6!
The white queen cannot be allowed
to enter g6. 24.l!i'ig6 r/Bf7 and White
has to force a peaceful end 25.lZJes+
r/BgB .) 21.fxe6
=
a b c d e F g h
81. • ••'ii'• • •
..... . .
7 18 ... !:i.d5! 19.Vl9g4
6 . ... • •
s m" •rt:ref / •
W"ii
(19. h4 !:i.xes 20. il.. xc6+ i.xc6
4 " " 21. l!9xc6+ VJ9d7 22. VJB.a B+ VJ9d8
3
2
23. Vl9c6+ r/Bq+)
a b c d e F g h 19... r/Bf8 In the heat of the battle Ma

medyarov, not seeing a way to cre
Now Black needs to understand ate threats, decides to take the ex
that he needs his rook for sixth change and hopes to cause Black
rank defence. 2i. .. !:i.d8! 22.lZ::l f7 problems through subsequent pen
lZ::l a6! Black threatens either ... ¥Wxe6 etration along the a-file. 20. i.. xd5
or ... lZ::lc5. (22... !:i.d6 23.l!i'ixd6 il.. xd6
24. VJBfs looks better for White.) (20. il..gs is suggested as a o.oo so
23.Vl9g6 Now Black needs to re lution by the computer engines.
move the white e6-pawn. 23 ... !:i.d6! Mamedyarov's decision is, howev-
er, very understandable from a hu 3i. .. d4! 32. l!fxd4 :8d5! 33. :8 xb7
man prospective.) �xd4 34.@g2 �d1 and White re
signed in Mamedyarov,S (2761)
20 ... exd5 The problem for White Harikrishna,P (2752) Baku 2016, as
now is that the black queenside stopping the black promotion will
pawns become too powerful, while cost him a rook, for example 35. �q
White's a-file penetration delivers �b1 36. 'it>fJ �xb3 37.@e3 �b1 38.@d3
less than Mamedyarov had hoped b3 39. �xc3 �di+ 40.@e4 b2-+.
for. 21. �a4 c5 22. i.a3 �h6 23. i.xb4
axb4 24. �fa1 White's rooks on the
a-file are not going to bring him the
desired result. This move threatens 15. �xa8 �xa8
16. l!Va1 with l!Va7 to follow, forcing
Black to move his knight from b8
and surrender his extra pawn on c6.
The text move, from the theoretical
prospective, leads to White's advan
tage. However, there are interesting
ideas I would like to show here. At
a b c d e f g h the time the Ding Liren-So game
was played when I was living and
24 ... l!feS! 25. �a7 l!fc6 26.l!Vg5 �e6 working in Dubai, UAE, as their
27.l!Vds+ �e8 28.l!fd6+ 'it>g8 Wor national team coach. Their second
ried about ...d4 with ... l!Vd5 to fol best player at the time, IM Omar
low, White now hopes to escape into Noaman, got fascinated by the po
a heavy-piece ending. 29. �xb7?! sition and combining his ideas with
l!fxb7 30. l!fxc5 Harikrishna now calculation by a silicon monster pro
displays excellent calculation. 30... duced fascinating variations, some
E:xe5 31. E:a7 of which I will share here. The vari
ations are nice and also can be used
as calculation training or develop
ing one's imagination.
14. �xa8 i.xa8 15.l!Vd3! was a novel

idea that Omar had. White wants to
play l!VfJ hitting directly on f7. Most
a b c d e f g h of the time White sacrifices a piece
or more to remove the black pawn's
228 CHESS M I D DLEGAM E STRATEGI ES
defences. Best play seems to lead to not have a clever way to capture on
entertaining draws. ds.
c) 15 ... il..b7 16.1!96 fs leads to one

7 of the roller-coaster drawing lines:
6
17. il..e3 White wants to play 8'.a1-
5
4
8'.a7. 17... g6 18. 8'.a1 il.. g 7 19. il.. d3!
3 (The immediate 19. 8'.a7? is a mis
take due to the simple 19... lJNb6
20.d5 c5.) 19 ... 0-0 20. !!a7 lWb6
a b c d e f g h 21. il..q !
(15. il..g5?! is a nice idea for White,

but unfortunately it does not work:
15... V!Dxg5 16."Yela1 il.. d6 17-ti:.C4 o-o
18.ti:.xd6 "YeldB 19.ti:.xf7 -Jixf7
20.lJNxaB V!Dxd4 and Black is bet
ter.)
a b c d e f g h
15 ... il.. d6! Another good training
line for calculation and imagina 21 ... �eS! (21 ... i.cB? loses to 22.d5
tion! c5 23. 8'.xg7+ -Jixg7 24.1!9f4+-; 21...
119xa7?? runs into the simple mate
a) 15 ...0.d7?! leads to pawn-up posi 22. il.. xe6+ -JihB 23.ti:.xg6+ hxg6
tions for White since after the c6- 24. °flf4+-.) 22.d5 cs 23.dxe6 il.. xf3
pawn falls, the b4-pawn will follow and it all ends in friendly fash
soon. 16. il.. xc6 il.. xc6 17.0.xc6 The ion. 24.e7+ @hs 25.0. f7;1- -Jigs
benefit of having the white queen 26.0.h6+=.
already on d3 is easy to see, as the
queen goes to c4 and the black
b4-pawn is lost. 17... lJNq (1/'-.. lJNb6
18.1!9c4 il.. d6 19. il..f4 il.. xf4 20.gxf4±)
18.1!9b5 (18.d5, similar to the game,
is also possible.) 18 ... il..d6 19.0.xb4
o-o 20.0.c2 Black does not have
enough for the pawn.
b) 15 .. .f5?! 16. il.. 6 il.. b7 17.d5! White a b c d e f g h

has a large advantage as Black does
16 ... g5! 17. i.e3 i.xe5 18. E:a1! This (28 . . . 1Wxd4+?? 29. 'i!tg2 1Wd2+
move challenges Black to find the 30.@h3+-)
only defence.
29. 'i!tg2 l!i'e2+ 30. 'i!th3 l!ffr+ 31. 'i!tg4
(18.dxe5 1Wxd3 19. il.. xd3 t;:Jd7 looks l!fdi+ 32.@h3=.
like a balanced endgame.)
18 .. .f5!
14 ... i.e7? is bad due to 15. !!xa8
(18... il.. b7 19.dxe5 1Wxd3 20. i.xd3±) i.xa8 16.t!fa1 il.. b7 17.t!fa7±.
19. i.xf5 exf5 20. l!fxf5 Now we have 15. i.xc6 i.xc6 16.t;:Jxc6 t!fc8
a number of drawing lines, I will
give what I thought were the nicest
ones! 20 ... i.f6 21. !!a7! t;:Jd7 22. l!fe6+
i.e7 23. il.. xg5
6
5
4 a b c d e f g h
3
2
17. !!xa8!
a b c d e f g h
A novelty at the time, based on the
23 ...c2! Black queens just in time. strength of the next move.
24.e4 White prevents ... c5+.
17.t;:Ja5? led to a quick White demise
[24. il.. xe7 c11!¥+ 25.'i!tg2 c5+ 26.fJ in an earlier game: 17 .. i.e7 18.d5 o-o
.
i.xf3+ 27.exfJ l!i'c2+ is a draw: 19.e4 exd5 20.exd5 i.c5 21.1Wd3 t;:Jf6+
28. @g1 (White must not try to es 0-1 Baron,T (2524)-Shirov,A (2702)
cape the perpetual check: 28.@h3?? Riga 2015.
loses to 1Wg6-+ because 29.1!¥xg6
hxg6 is check.) 28... l!i'ci+=] 17... l!i'xa8 18.d5
24 ... E:f8 ! 25. i.xe7 c11W+ 26.'i!tg2 White has regained his pawn and
E:xfa+ 27.'i!txfa l!i'd2+ 28. 'i!tg1 l!fdi+ the black is king still in the cen
tre. To evacuate his king, Black will
need to lose another pawn and then
struggle on in a pawn-down posi will end up a pawn down because

tion. after 2i. .. exd5?! 22..tle7+ @hs 23 ..tlf5
his king is weak: 23 ... !!g8
18 �cs
•.•
Forced.
18 ... .tlf6? 19.e4! �c5 20.l!fd3 and, as

in some previously seen positions, 19 0-0 20.dxe6 l!fxc6 21.exd7 !!d8
.•.
C4 will prove to be an excellent 22. !!d1 .ib6

post for the white queen. 20 ... 0-0
21. l!IC4+-.
19 . .ie3!? is a computer proposal

based, of course, on tactics. Ding
Liren's play is way more logical. 19...
..ixe3 20.fxe3
The smoke has cleared a bit. White

is a pawn up, but clinching vic
tory is not easy because of Black's
strong defended passed pawn on
a b c d e f g h c3. We have here an unusual situa
tion where a logical-looking central
20 ...0-0 pawn advance by White will prove
to be a mistake, because it provides
[20....tlf6 2i.l!fd4! leads to a clear for Black important squares to oc
White advantage as Black has cupy and he can generate counter
problems with his king: 2i. .. exd5 play.
(21 ... .tlxds 22.l!fcs fs 23.e4 fxe4
24.l!lbs+-) 22. !!xf6 (22.l!fes+) 22...
gxf6 23. l!fxf6±.]
23.h4! Omar proposed this improve
2i. l!fd4 may not initially look dan ment in the same session. The idea
gerous for Black, but actually Black is to keep the white pawn on e2, so
that later on a white rook on d3 will

be defended. This way it becomes
difficult for Black to create counter 25 ... c2! was drawing: 26. 'Bd3
play. White is risk free better. The
following line illustrates the mer (26. !!c1 l!Vxds 2'j.exd5 'Bxd7 28.d6
its of keeping the white pawn still gs 29.hxgs hxgs 30 . .1£.xgs 'Bxd6
on e2. 23 ... h6 (23 ...hs is Black's best, 31. !!xc2 �d3=)
but Black's opening line is obvious
ly not going to find many follow 26 ... l!Vf6 27.lWC4 l!Vb2! The absence
ers ...) 24.h5 l!Ve6? 25.l!Vb5± l!Vxb3? of the white e2-pawn enables Black
26. 'Bd3+- The white pawn is still on to attack the fa-square. 28. Ad2 l!Vf6
e2 �nd the rook on d3 is defended. 29. Af4 l!Vb2= Here White is asking
for trouble if he goes for 30. @g2
..txfa!
24 ... l!Ve6!
Now Black is disturbing the white

rook and should save the game!
27... .§.xd7! would have kept the bal
ance. 28. '%Wc6
One nice line is 25. l!Vb5 l!Vxb3 26. 'Bd3 (If 28. l!Vc4 gs! White is the one
..tc5! when White's undefended rook having to force a draw by 29.lWcB+
is his problem. 27.@g2 l!Vc2 28. 'Bf3 @g7 30 . ..tes+ f6 31. Axf6+! @xf6
l!Vxe4 29.l!Vxc5 .§.xd7 30.l!Vcs+ @h7 32. VhB+ @f7 33 . Vh7+ @eB
3i. l!Vxd7 b3 32. Axh6 @xh6 33. l!VcS 34. VgB+ @e7 35. it'g7+.)
b2 34. l!Vhs+ l!Vh7 35. l!Vbs l!Ve4=.
Now Black has to find the only White is a pawn up with a better po
move! 28 ... �d3! sition. So he tries one last attempt at
counter-play.
32...g5 33.e6!
It is always possible in chess to do

something stupid and throw away
a win with something like 33. t!fxq??
a b c d e f g h �c8=.
Now White has to be careful be 33 ...gxf4 34. t!fxc7

cause of the threats of ... t!ff3+ and
... :B:d1. 29.e5! gs! 30.hxgs hxgs 3i.e6! Now it is over as Black ends up two
full pawns down with no counter
(31f3 t!¥e6 is better for Black.) play.
31 ... t!fxe6 32. t!fxe6 fxe6 33. �xgs 34...f3+ 35.@h2 !!d2 36. !!xc2 !!xc2
:B:xb3 34. :B:xc2 @f7=. 37.exf7+ @g7 38. t!fxc2
28.!!ft Black resigned because of 38. t!fxc2

@xf7 39. t!fh7+ which simply kills
Now Black runs out of threats and Black's hopes of survival.
counter-play.
1-0
28... .ic7 29.e5 t!fg4 30. !!c1 !!xd7
31. t!fa8+ !!d8 32. t!fc6
CHA PTER VI. KN IGHT TA LES
In chess we have bishop lovers and We all know that, in general, open
knight lovers - as a rule each play positions suit bishops better, while
er has his or her own natural pref closed positions are more suitable
erence for a knight or a bishop. for the knights, though judgment
Bishop lovers like to joke that even should always be made based on
the worst bishop is still better than the specific situation. What we see
the best knight. The legendary 111h in the games in this chapter and
World Champion, Robert James what I would like to give as strate
Fischer, once said that a knight is gic guidelines are the following:
worth three pawns while a bishop
is worth three and a quarter pawns, • A bishop pair versus either two
and he was indeed a bishop lover. knights or a knight plus bishop
usually favours the side with the
Another big bishop lover is the 121h bishops.
World Champion. Anatoly Karpov • Bishop plus knight versus two
loved bishops so much that it some knights again usually favours the
times clouded his usually excellent side with the bishop.
positional feeling! I will give here • Assessing a pure bishop versus
three games where Karpov clearly knight situation, with no other
overestimated his bishops' power, light pieces on the board, de
not realizing that in the actual po pends much more on the pawn
sition the opponent's knight was structure. If the knight is dom
clearly dominant. I personally also inant then the defence for the
belong to the bishop lovers group side with the bishop can become
and my loss given in this chapter a true (k)nightmare as there is
clearly shows my judgment being usually no counter-play to create.
clouded by my embedded bishop Karpov-Timman is an excellent
preference. example.
234 CHESS M I DDLEGAME STRATEGI ES
and will not repeat after this game.

27 In later games the 12th World Cham
pion chose 9. ife2 and the following
1> A. Karpov game is a nice example of the practi
... J. Timman cal decision-making for which Kar
Mar del Plata, 1982 pov was famous. 9 ... .td7
1.e4 c5 2.ll:Jf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.ll:Jxd4 (9 . ll:Jxd4 10 ..txd4 es 11 . ..te3 ..te6

. . •
ll:Jf6 5.ll:JC3 d6 6.g4 h6 7. E:g1 as in 1/2-1/2 Karpov,A (2720)-And

ersson,U (2605) Turin 1982 is objec
Karpov's favorite move in this line. tively Black's best here.)
Nowadays 7. .tg2 or 7.h4 are more
often played.
A year later Timman chose 7... ll:Jc6

in Karpov,A (2710)-Timman,J (2605)
Plovdiv 1983 and the game finished
in a draw after Karpov had pressure
throughout the game.
Black does not have any targets

while White has the 15.g5 threat.
To create counter-play Gyula Sax
goes for a speculative pie.ce sacri
fice. 14...ll:Jxe4!? 15.ll:Jxe4 d5 Black's
piece sacrifice has given him some
dynamic possibilities. White knight
is attacked, and so is the a2-pawn,
while Black's central pawns might
be able to roll forward. It all looks
rather suspicious for Black, but what
should White do?? Karpov reacts in
a very practical way! 16. ifb3
Karpov goes for a slightly unnatural (Your computer engine will easily
set-up, which he is going to regret refute Sax's sacrifice and give the
following line: 16.l!iJd2! d4 1J,l!iJb3 20. .li.C4 .tb4 21.C3 b5 22. �e2 .td6
i!ixa2 18. i!ifs! dxe3 19. iu4 o-o
20.gs and White wins with a mat
ing attack!)
16...dxe4 17. �c4 l:!f8
a b c d e f g h
(23 ... i!iq 24.g5± and Black does not

a b c d e f g h have a good defence as 24 ... hxgs??
runs into mate after 25. �xbs+ @q
Karpov now takes an interesting 26. .txgs+ f6 2J. �C4.)
practical decision. After sacrificing
a pawn with 16. i!/b3 he now sacrific 24 . .ic5 .t xc5 25 . i!/xe5+ @d7
es an exchange, altering the psycho 26. i!/xc5 i!/q 27. i!/f5+ Black is still
logical run of play! Black is going to in the game, but his situation is dif
be the one with extra material and ficult to handle for a human and
under attack. 18. l:!d5! with his king open to checks he
quickly collapses. 27... @e7
(18.gs is preferred by computer en
gines, which credits White with [27... @c6! was the way to go for
a sizeable advantage.) Black: 28.i!/xb5+ @d6 White miss
es his dark-squared bishop here.
18... .txd5 19 . .txd5 Black is tempo Without it he cannot mate the
rarily an exchange and a pawn up, black king. 29.i!/b4+ (29.gs is an
but his king is stuck in the middle of other option.) 29...i!/c5 30. i!/xe4 gs!
the board and White's light-squared Covering the dark squares, Black
bishop is a monster. 19 ... l:!d8 keeps :fighting.]
(19... i!/b4 20. .txb7 i!ixb3 21. axb3 28. i!/xe4+ @d7 29. i!/f5+ @e7 30. l:!e1
1:!b8 22. �c6+ is not the type of The black king still runs using
ending Black would like to land the dark squares, so there is still
in - White will get the exchange no mate. 30 ... l:!d6 31. .tC4+! @ds
back and have a better game.) 32. �xb5 a6 33. �a4 g6 34. i!/f3
236 CHESS M I D D LEGAME STRATEGIES
White wants to prevent Black's lib

erating move 13 ... d5, while getting
ready to push 14.h4 himself, but
this bishop will prove awkwardly
placed.
Perhaps it would have been practi

a b c d e f g h cal for White to admit that he had
not gained an opening advantage
Worn out by difficult defence, Black and opt for 13.h4 d5 14.exd5 /£)xd5
now collapses. 34... 'i!i>c8 15./£)xd5 'f!xd5 16.l!fxd5 it.xd5 17.0-
0-0 0-0-0=.
Black prevents the h4 move.

(35... 'f!xq 36.l!faB+ 'i!tq 3J.1Wa7+
'i!tdB 38. 'fibs mate.)
36. 'i!i>xd1 'f!xe7 37. 'f!a8+ 'i!tq 38. 'f/a7+ The coming transformation of the
'i!i>d6 39. 'f!b6+ and Black is to get central pawn structure is not going
mated after all, 1-0 Karpov,A (2710) to make White happy, but 14.0-0-0
Sax,G (2560) Linares 1983. !!c8oo is fine for Black. Now Black
correctly gets ready to trade the
9 a6 10. 'f!d2 /£)xd4
•.• 11. l!fxd4 es "right" bishops.
12. 'f!d2 it.e6
14 ... �g5! 15.0-0-0 !!c8 16. 'i!i>b1
a b c d e f g h
And now Black rightly judges his

knight to be superior to White's
light-squared bishop in the ensuing 19.h4 was probably White's best:
positions. 19 ... j_xe3 20. ifxe3 @e7! in the ab
sence of the dark-squared bishops,
16 .txd5
... and with the closed pawn structure,
the black king is safe in the centre.
White is here presented with a dif 2i.g5 hxg5 22.hxg5 iff5 The black
ficult choice. knight is clearly stronger than the
white bishop here and though my
computer engine gives only -0.08,
to me as a human this looks more
17.ifxd5 also leads to a better game favourable for Black than that.
for Black: 17... j_xe3
(or l,7. :S.c6 18.i¥b3 ifcfi)

.•
18.fxe3 :S.c6+.
Now Timman gets a much better

18 iff6
... version compared to 18 ... j_xe3, as
he will be a full tempo ahead.
Timman wants the best possible
version of the coming positions. 21. Af3 o-o
18 ... �xe3 19.fxe3 ifh4 20. :S.dg1 bs
was fine for Black, but less favour- Or 2i. .. b5 with ... :S.b8 to follow.
able than the game.
22.�e1 White could have - and perhaps

should have - played for an imme
Not believing in his kingside at diate kingside g4-g5 push to gener
tacking chances, Karpov is offer ate counter-play. 3i. 2:!g3 Karpov was
ing a queen swap. The problem for probably worried about 3i. ..b4
White is that after a queen trade he
is actually worse in the ending be (31...g6!? was an option, as Timman
cause the black knight dominates played later in the game.)
the white bishop in this pawn struc
ture. Timman, however, judges his but White seems to have a satisfac
attacking chances on the queenside tory defence. 32.�c2!!
to be superior to his opponent's on
the kingside and decides to keep the
queens on.
22 ... �ds 23.e4 �b6 24.�e3 �b5

25.h4 �a4 26. �b3 !ic5 27. !ih3 !ifc8
28.C3 !i8q 29. 'it>a1 �d7! 30. ii.e2 b5
a b c d e f g h
(32.C4 �b6 33.�xb4 �xc4+)
32 ... !ia5!
[32 ...bxc3?? would be a terrible mis

take as after 33.b3! (33.�4 l:ic4 is
also good for White) 33 ... �b2 (33...
�b6 34.gs and White's attack now
crashes through.) 34. l!f1 g6 35.h5
Engines initially give close to o.oo, gs 36. !! ff3 with !!xc3 to follow and
but this is definitely easier to play Black loses his b2-knight.]
with Black. Black's knight is a great
attacking piece here, while the white
bishop is not doing much. White is
clearly on the defensive.
33 ... !ib7
44.@xd2 <i!?e7 45.@c3 <i!?xd7 46. <i!?C4

and despite Black's extra pawn, the
ending is drawn: 46 ...h5
(Not 46... <i!fc6 4;.hs!= g6?? blunder

ing into a known trick 48.gs+-.)
a b c d e f g h 47.gxhs <i!?e6 48. <i!?xcs f5 49.exf5+

<i!i>xfs 50.b4
(34.C4? CL\c3+! 35.bxc3 bxc3+ 36. <i!tc1

r£.b2! 3;. l!Vxc3 r£.bxa2 38. r£.e3 l!Vq-+
with 39 ... l!Vcs and 40 ... r£.5a3 to
follow. Just to show the "size" of
Black's attack, the computer evalu
ation is -s.io!) a b c d e f g h
34... r£.xb4 35. r£.b3 r£.c5 36. E:xb4! r£.xc2 Now the pawn race ends peacefully.
37. <i!?xc2 CL:lcs 38. f£.C4 as 50 ... axb4 5i.@xb4 @f4 52.@c3 @f3
53.@d2 @fa 54.@d3 <i!?f3=.
31 ... a5
a b c d e f g h
and here White could and should

force a drawn endgame: 39. r£.xc5!
dxc5 40.d6 @f8 4i. �b5 l!Vxb5 42.d7
l!fe2+ 43. r£.d2 l!fxd2+
(43 ... l!Vxe4+ 44.@d1 l!Vxg4+ 45.<i!fc1

iVC4+ 46.<i!fd1=) 32.@b1
On 32. r£.g3? b4-+ is now bad news

for White.
Preparing the deadly ... b5-b4 break.
Black has a devastating attack while

White does not have a single threat.
His bishop is totally useless!
33 ... g6! In the event of 39. 1:ixb3 1:ixb3

40.'f/xb3 tl:Jc5 with ... 1:ib7 coming
A classy move by Timman, and one is the easiest win for Black, White
worth remembering. White can now will probably lose all his pawns and
never make a break on the kingside, get mated on top of that - the black
so to win the game Black no longer knight is a monster.
needs to calculate any sharp lines.
Still, calculating the sharp lines was

also winning for Black as after 33 ... It is a pitythat Black decided t� win in
1:icq 34.g5 hs 35.g6 the endgame. 39 ... 'f/e8! 40. \!?c1 'f/a8
was much more effective and would
(35. ii. xhs tZJ cs 3 6. 'ffc2 b4 and have finished the game in style.
Black's attack is clearly faster:
37. ii.g4 'f!e8 38.C4 bxa3 39. 1:ixa3
1:ib4 with 40 ...tl:Ja4 to follow and
Black wins.) Black's knight dominance speaks
for itself and this ending is more
35 .. .fxg6 36. 1:ixg6 tl:Jc5 37.'f/c2 b4 and a case of when rather than if. White
Black wins. has no counter-play and cannot
cover all his pawn weaknesses. The
game lasts a few more moves.
Anatoly Karpov loved this vari

ation as White and at the peak of
his career it was his favourite weap
on against the Pirc. I will give here
a few observations on this line and
the resulting middlegame play. In
this line the middlegame positions
resemble the King's Indian Defence
(KID), but with the white c3-knight
standing in front of his pawn, which
in the KID is already on C4. Black
42.@c1 llJxe4 43. !!e3 llJc5 44.�d2 often gets favourable versions of
llJa4 45. !!c1 llJxb2 46.c5 E:d4+ KID positions.
47.@e2 !!xc5 48. !!xc5 dxc5 49. !!xb3
llJc4 50. !!c3 E'.:xh4 51. �e1 E:e4+ 0-1
The following two games show stra a) 8.h3, forcing Black to immedi
tegically wrong exchanges that leave ately part with his bishop, for some
the bishop in trouble. reason has been rarely played here,
but it looks rather logical to me as
after 8 ... .Zt.xf3 9.�xf3 llJd7 has been
28 played by Botvinnik.
t>A. Karpov [9 ... e5 10.d5! (10.dxes dxes gets

� Z. Azmaiparashvili White nowhere.) 10 ... llJe7 (10...
M oscow, 1983 llJd4?! 11. �xd4 exd4 12. l!Dxd4 looks
like a rather speculative pawn sac
l.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.llJf3 llJf6 4.llJC3 rifice for Black.) 11.llJe2 llJd7 12.C4
�g7 5. it.e2 o-o 6.o-o �g4 7.�e3 fs 13.llJc3 Yes, compared to KID
positions, White lost some time
( llJe2 and back to c3) but he has
grabbed Black's important light
squared bishop and has reason
able prospects for an advantage.
As a rule of a thumb, without his
light-squared bishop Black's classic
KID pawn-roll attack on the king
side should not work.]
242 CHESS MIDDLEGAME STRATEG IES
White should, in my opinion, react (White could have continued with

with 10.�e2! e5 1i.c3 �b6 his fa-f4 pawn-push plan: 14f4!?
exf4 15.a3 1£la6 16. ilxa6 !!xa6
17. !!xf4 1£lgB 18. !!f2 bs 19. �e3 with
ild4 to follow, and this looks like
some advantage for White.)
14 ... 1£\a6 Here Karpov deliberately

trades "the wrong bishop" by play
a b c d e f g h ing 15. i.h6!?
12.d5! �e7 13.'%Wc2 f5 14.c4 and again

we have the KID pawn structure,
without the black light-squared
bishop. White has better prospects.
b) 8. '%Wd3 was played by Karpov

in his 1978 World Championship a b c d e f g h
match against Kortschnoj. In this
game he saw reasons to trade "the In KID-type positions, where the
wrong bishop", so let's see that centre is closed as it is here, such
game. 8 ... e5 9.d5 �b4 10.'%Wd2 a5 n.h3 a trade is always considered fine for
ild7 12. i.g5 '%Wes Black, but here Karpov has a deep
strategic plan as he banks on his fa
f4 pawn push after which the black
king will be weaker as the result of
the dark-squared bishops tq1de! 15 ...
ii.xh6
[15 ... 1£\c5!? 16. ii.xg7+ 'i.t>xg7 17. '%We3

a b c d e f g h a4 was an interesting alternative
for Black, as White needs to pre
Black is getting ready to move his pare his fa-f4 pawn push: 18. E:ae1!
f6-knight and go for the KID-style (In the case of an immediate 18f4
.. .f7-f5 pawn push. White is getting Black has 18 ... 1£\ cxe4! 19.1£\xe4
ready to counter this plan by push 1£\xds 20.'%Wd2 1£\xf4 with three
ing fa-f4 himself. 13.�h2 'i.t>h8 14.a3 pawns for a piece and Black is at
least okay here.) 18 ... '%We7 19.f4
CHAPTER VI. KN IGHT TALES 243
16. WBxh6 with a complicated

game. Karpov will get an oppor
tunity to play the fa-f4 pawn push
under favourable circumstanc
es, obtaining some advantage.
This game ultimately finished in
a draw 1/2-1/2 Karpov,A (2725)
a b c d e f g h Kortschnoj,V (2665) Baguio City
1978.
19 ... exf4 (19 ... ti:Jcxe4? now does
not work for Black: 20fxe5! WUxes
21 ..liJf3 WBe8 and with the white
rook on el, Black is losing mate
rial. 22. il.d1 ti:Jxc3 23. WBxc3 W9d8
24.ti:Jgs and White wins.) 20. !!xf4
!!ae8 21.ti:J[J
a b c d e f g h
10. �ad1
I assume this is the type of posi One may wonder what happens if
tion Karpov wanted to enter when we get typical KID opposite-sides
he decided on 15.il.h6!? as now it pawn rolls here? Yes, compared to
is obvious that the dark-squared a regular KID the white pawn is still
bishops trade did weaken the on c2 instead of C4, but Black needs
black king position. The game is to spend time retreating his bishop
complicated, but Black's weak from g4 before he can start advanc
ened king position offers White ing his kingside pawns. Efim Geller,
some tactical opportunities. 21. .. even though he was a big expert on
tL:lh5 (21 ... tlJcxe4? is again wrong the black side of the KID, once ter
due to 22. il.c4+-; 21 ... h6 would al ribly underestimated the power of
low 22.e5!) 22. �h4 with preferable Black's kingside attack here! 10.a4
chances for White.] il.d7 11.a5 a6 12.tL:le1 tL:lh5
(12... CL\eB 13f4) 28.CL:lc2 l!Vgs 29. l!Vh2 'E. f6 30.g3

'E. h6 3i.gxf4 'E.xh2+ 32. @xh2
13.CL:ld3 l!Vh4+ 33.@g2 i.xb5 0-1 Geller,E
Vasiukov,E Kislovodsk 1968.
(13. i.xhs! gxhs 14f4! was needed.)
10 b5?!
•••
A speculative pawn sacrifice!

(14f4! definitely had to be played!)
An interesting idea for Black is to
14 ... CL:lf6 15.b4 f4 16. ii.fa gs White play, in similar fashion to Geller-Va
has terribly misjudged the situation siukov above, 10 ... i.d7 11.llJe1
and, just as often happens in the
KID, Black simply runs over him on
•
the kingside! 17.b5 axb5 18.CL:lb4 CL:lg6
19.CL:lxb5 Black's attack is impossible
to stop, while White is miles away
from any queenside counter-play.
20.C4
a b c d e
11 ...CL:lh5!?
(The common continuation 11 ...

llJg4 12. il.. xg4 i.xg4 13f3 i.d7 14f4
has been seen in a number of Kar
a b c d e f g h pov games.)
20... g3! 2i.hxg3 CL:lh5 22. l!Ve1 Now if White does not want to end
up like Geller, he probably has to go
(22.g4 CL:lg3-+) for 12. il.. xh5 gxh5 13.f4
22 ... i.h6 (13. l!Ve2 Js!? does not looks clear.)
(22.. fxg3 23. i.xg3 CL\xg3 24. l!Vxg3 13...exf4 14. i.xf4 fs and the position
CL:lf4 25. @f2 'E.f6-+) looks balanced.
23.g4 CL:lg3 24. i.xg3 fxg3 25.l!Vxg3

i.e3+ 26. @h1 CL:lf4 27. i.d1 i.c5
(or 18 . . . 'B.xfs 19. l!fe6+ @h8

20. 'B.de1±.)
19. it.d3 White had a large advan

tage and subsequently won in 1-0
Liberzon,V (2470)-Quinteros,M
(2515) Netanya 1983.
12... axb4 13.axb4
Karpov had to challenge Black and

grab a pawn (!) as after 12 . .txb5!
.txf3 What else for Black? 13.gx[J
C!Jh5 14.@h1 f5 15.l!fe1 C!Jf4 16. 'B.g1
13 'B.a3!
•••
Active defence!
a b c d e f g h
14. kg5!
it is difficult for Black to prove ad
equate compensation for the sacri Typical Karpov! He removes the
ficed pawn. One grandmaster-level tactical threats making a positional
example continued 16...h6? game out of it.
(16...C!Jh3 is arguably better, though 14. .txb5 leads to an exchange sacri

after 1J. 'B.g3 C!Jf4 18. it.d2 it still does fice that is okay for Black. 14 ... 'B.xc3!
not look like Black has enough for 15.l!fxc3 C!Jxe4 16.1WC4 C!Jf6 Black has
his sacrificed pawn.) a good game here, e.g. 17. �g5 .tx[J
18.gx[J C!Jf5 19.q
a b c d e F g h
19 ... �h6! 20 . .txh6 i£)xh6ii5 Due

to the weak white king, and the
dominant black knights, Black has
enough compensation. 21.f4 i£)h5
22.fxe5 �g5+ 23. �h1 dxe5 with Now comes a rare strategic blunder
sharp play. by Karpov!
14. i.d3 can cause trouble only for

White. 14 ... �d7 Black has a good
game. It is definitely not a thankful job to
criticize the 12th World Champion
(14... ii.xf3 15.gxf3 i£) h5 is also pos for making a strategic blunder, but
sible as compared to the 12. ii.xb5! this blunder is rather instructive.
line above, the black bs-pawn is In most pawn structures the bishop
still alive.) pair is stronger than a bishop plus
knight, while in a straight one-on
15. ii.xb5? is a blunder: 15 ... i£)xe4+. one contest the relative strengths
of the bishop and knight. is very
14 ... �xc3 15 .txf6!
. much related to the pawn struc
ture. Black's strong q-d6-e5 pawn
Again, it is not clever for White to chain is simply going to make the
win the exchange as after 15.�xc3 black knight dominate White's
i£) xe4 16. �d3 i£) xg5 17.i£) xg5 it.d7 light-squared bishop in the result
Black has an excellent game. ing positions. Compared to Karpov
Kortschnoj above, White's position
here is worse because he will not be
able to open the position by pushing
15 ... �a3 16. ii.h4 .td7! keeping the fa-f4, so the exchange of the dark
light-squared bishop was something squared bishops in this game was
for Black to consider. just wrong - a positional blunder!
a) 17. .ll h 4 Keeping the bishops ning chances. 20... iVd7 21. .ll d3 c6!
would have led to White's ad 22.dxc6 l!fxc6 23.iVe2 iVq=.
vantage. 17... l!fd7 [17.. .f5 Going for
a KID-style kingside pawn roll 17... �xg7 18. l:!ai l!fa8 19. !! xa3
without a light-squared bishop l!fxa3 20. it.e2
does not quite work for Black:
1S. !!a1 !!xa1 19. l:!xa1 h6 and
now White can choose between
20 . .ll xe7 (Or a computer-like so
lution 20.h3!? as engines are not
afraid of 20...gs 21. .llg3 f4 22. .ll h2
White's dark-squared bishop will
get back into play via gl and be
stronger than its counterpart on
g? while the white light-squared
bishop will become a monster on
e6.) 20 ... iVxe7 21. l:!a5±] 1S . .ll e2 f5
19.f3 .ll f6 20... iVb2!
It is a good idea now for White to

start thinking about a draw.
21. !!d1
21. it.xb5 !!bS 22 . .ll d3 !!xb4 23.f4!?

a b c d e f g h creates counter-play, and the game
could continue 23 ...exf4 24. iVxf4 f6
and now we ... keep the bishops! 25.iVg4! l!fd4+ 26.�h1 iVxd5 27.iVd7
20 . .ll fa! !! fas 21. Ad3 The black iVe5 2S. iVxq=.
rooks on the a-file are not worth
much here and the b5-pawn will 21...f5 22.exf5 l£l xfs
prove to be a weakness. White is
better. Karpov is too focused on the black
b5-pawn weakness, completely dis
b) 17. i.xe7 l!fxe7 1S. !!a1 !! fas missing the powers of the black
19. !!xa3 !!xa3 20 . .ll e2 leads to knight!
a likely draw as the black b5-pawn
weakness is not enough to give
White anything close to win-
a) 23. kd3! aiming to trade the totally useless, not being able to at
bishop for the knight and make tack any of the black pawns - a to
a draw. tal knight over bishop domination!
b) 23. �xb5 E:b8 24.c4 l!fxd2

25. E:xd2 �d4 leads to a drawish
rook ending, but only Black might 27.C4?? runs into mate after 27...
have winning chances. E:ai+.
23 ... l!fxd2 24. E:xd2 E:a8! 27... exf4 28 . ..tc6 � f5 29. @fa �e3
30. E:c1
Black now improves his king, while

the white bishop on c6 is just one
big pawn.
30 ... �f6 31.g3 <i!?e5 32. <i!?f3 gs

33.gxf4+ gxf4 34.h4
25. �xb5
The execution is always tacti

cal - Black now uses White's weak
back rank to collect the crucial
pawn on ds!
A better defence was 25.g3 E:ai+

26. E:d1 E:a3 27. E:c1 �e7 28. �f3 �c8 Black now correctly judges that the
with ... �b6 to follow. Black still has resulting rook ending will be easily
the better chances but this is much won.
better for White than the game.
34 �xd5! 35. ii.xd5 <i!?xd5 36. <i!?xf4
•. .
<i!?c4 37. E:e1 E:xq 38. E:e7 <i!?xb4

39. E:xh7 ds 40. <i!?e5 c6 41. <i!?d4
White's ds-pawn will fall ... and soon E:q+ 0-1
after some more. White's bishop is
a) 5 . .ie2 probably allows Black

29 a good Kalashnikov after 5 ... �f6
6.�C3 e5.
t>A. Karpov
� M. Taimanov b) 5.�c3 is likely to transpose to
Leningrad (1), 1977 Taimanov lines after 5 ... e6, which
Taimanov did play in 1984, since 5 ...
1.e4 c5 2.�f3 �c6 3.d4 cxd4 e5 6.�xc6 leads to White's advan
4.�xd4 a6 tage. After 6...bxc6 (6... dxc6 leads
to an inferior endgame for Black:
;.V!BxdB+ rJ;;xdB 8. Ji.e3 or 8.�a4 b5
9.�b6 taking the bishop pair) the
computer engines are happy with
7.V!Bh5 (the more human 7f4 looks
interesting too) 7...d6 8 . .iC4.
5 ...e5
Taimanov shows he is not interested

in Hedgehog-type positions.
A rare line. Its purpose could be (a)

to confuse matters a bit but still fol
low with e6 and move to Taimanov The text allows Black to equalize.
set-ups, (b) to play the Kalashnikov Boris Spassky once said, "A knight
(so 5 ...e5 next) without White being on b3 never stands well." Naturally
able to jump to b5, or (c) to avoid the Boris did not mean to apply this to
4 ...e6 5.�b5 lines, which were a pop 100 percent of these positions, but
ular white choice at the time. here indeed a jump to f5 looks to me
more logical for White.
6.�f5 d6 7.�c3 g6 8.�e3 �g7

Karpov wants either a Hedgehog 9.�ed5 looks to be giving White
type structure (in the case of ... d6) some opening advantage.
or the game set-up (after 5 ... e5).
(11 ... �dB i2. <r!if2 b6 with a later

... il.. c5 to follow gives Black an im
proved version of the game.)
12. <r!tfa il.. xc3 13.bxc3 ii.. e 6 14. il.. e2

f:£Jb8 15.f:£Jd2
15...0-0 The position is balanced. It

looks logical for White to try to im
8 0-0
... prove his knight.
Black had an interesting option: ei

ther to get approximate equality, or
to push White to go for a pawn sac
rifice with 8... a5!? 9.a4 �b6 10. We2
(10.�d3 f:£Jd4 is good for Black;

10.c5!? is an interesting and prin
cipled pawn sacrifice: 10... Axes
11.fiJxcs �xcs 12. ii..gs It is safe to
say that White obtains enough for
the sacrificed pawn, whether he (16... ii..xC4? is wrong, as after17-il.. xc4
gets more is not easy to say.) Wlxc4 18.�xd6 f:£Jbd7 19.f:£Jd2! �xc3
20. 'i!hc1 �b4 21.�xb4 axb4 22. 'E!cbi
10...d6 11. ii..e3 White gets his pawn back. with
a clear advantage; the black b-pawn
is a terrible weakness.)
17.f:£Ja3 �c6 Both sides have their

weaknesses, but Black is definitely
not worse here.
a b c d e f g h
11 �q
.•• 9 ... a5 was again an option and could
have earned Black a favorable ver
sion of the game. 10.a4
yet obvious which is the best square

for the white queen.
10. . .d6 11 . .te2 b6
12 ... .te6 13.Cl:Jxc5 bxc5 14.0-0 Cl:Jd4
15.Cl:Jd5 Cl:Jd7
a b c d e f g h
12.0-0 Black will at some stage place

his bishop on c5 and we will proba
bly get game-type positions that are
favourable to Black since his b-file
counter-play - should White follow
the game plan - would be stronger. It is obvious that White needs to
roll his pawns in order to (a) open
10. :8.c1 b6 11 .td3 .tc5
• the position for his bishops, should
Black capture, or (b) take space,
should Black refrain from captur
ing. The question is: on which side is
it better to push? Not an easy ques
tion. White should be a bit better in
both cases. Karpov decides to push
on the kingside.
16.b4 could lead to some safe ad

vantage for White. 16 ... :8.b8 17.bxc5
12.!fd2 Cl:Jxc5
I am not sure that White needed [17... dxc5, buttressing the knight,
this move. actually leads to a clear White plus
after 18.f4! as the position now ei
The immediate 12.Cl:Jxc5 bxc5 13.0-0 ther (a) opens up to favour White's
is perhaps more natural as it is not bishop pair or (b) sees White de-
252 CH ESS MIDDLEGAM E STRATEG I ES
veloping an attack by rolling his

pawns on the kingside. 18 ... exf4
(18 .. j6 19j5 i..f7 20.g4±) 19. i.. xf4
Black's dominant d4-knight can
not do much damage on its own,
while White's dark-squared bishop
becomes a strong piece. The e4-e5
pawn push, opening lines for the
white bishop on d3, is in the air,
and the white pieces are starting to
coordinate nicely. 19 ... l:!b7 20. ¥!fe3
The white queen will be well placed i8.cxd5!
on g3. 20.. .f6 2i. ¥!fg3 @h8 (21... 1!¥as?
22.es fs 23. �e3+- with lLlf4 to fol The correct decision.
low.) 22. ii.. q ¥!fc8 23. i..d6 White is
better. 23 ... :Sf7 (23 ... l:!eB 24.lL\q±; 18.exd5 was also possible, though
23 ... :SdB 24.e5±) 24. l:!b1±.] after 18 ... l:!e8 Black does have ... e5-
e4 pawn-break motifs, preventing
18. l:!b1 lLlxd3 19. ¥!fxd3 ii.. xd5 20.cxd5 White from having a free hand for
%� :' '� • •• his kingside attack.
..�.�•�.,.:
8
7
6 , • 18 ... l!fb6 19. l:!fa f6
s •::�•�J
4
3
2
a b c d e f g h
20 ... ¥!fa5! 2i. i.. xd4 exd4 22.l!fxd4

l!fxa2 23. l:!a1 ¥!fe2 24. l:! fa ¥!fb5
25. l:! fa2 l:!a8 White definitely has
some pressure, though likely not
enough for the full point.
This looks like a good moment to

assess the position and take stock.
How to recapture? Two bishops versus two knights!
In a way we have here a situation
similar to our previous two games.
A pair of bishops should be supe 24.b3 White wants to play 2s.gs,

rior to the pair of knights here, but while Black's counter-play with
if Black manages to trade one of his 24 ... a4 does not seem to achieve
knights for a white bishop and we the desired result after 2s.bxa4 :S.b2
get to a one-on-one bishop versus 26 . .ll d2 '%!9a7 27. i.c3 and White is
knight then such an assessment may better.
change! Black's counter-play chanc
es are obviously related to the b-file 20... a5 21. :S.a4 :Sas 22. ife1 :S.a7
and he hopes that some of his forc
es might come to back up his cen
tralized d4-knight. The question is
where should White play? Should
White (a) focus on the potentially
weak black a-pawn, or should he
(b) try to build a kingside attack?
Karpov goes for (a) and that was
likely not the best decision as col
lecting the black a-pawn will prove
elusive, and Black gets counter-play
in the process. As in his game with
Azmaiparashvili, Karpov will focus
on the pawn collection (there it was
the bs-pawn, here it's the a6-pawn) By pursuing the black a-pawn Kar
and underestimates the power of pov is locking his rook out of a pos
a knight in the process. sible transfer to the kingside. It was
still not too late for a change of plan.
20. :S.c4 23 . .ll f1 :S.b8 24. .llc1 ifq 2s. ifd1 :S.b4
26. :S.a3 C4 27.ifhs
White had to focus on attacking
the kingside, pushing his g-pawn at
some stage. One possible start was
20. ifd1 as 21. !!C3 followed by i.f1,
it.c1 and a rook swing to the king
side supported a by g-pawn push;
another was the immediate 20.g4
as 2i.@h1 :S.b7 22.'%!9d1 :S. fbs 23. :S.g2
ifq
White gains a kingside attack. 27...
ll::l f8 28.g4 iff7 29. ifh3 h6 30. ifg2
with 3i.h4 and 32.g5 to follow and (30. !!bi lWxa2 31. it.xC4 Cl:Jcs=)
good attacking prospects.
30 ... cxb3 3i.axb3 Cl:Jc5 32. it.q The
23 �fas
..• black knights are strong and actu
ally White is the one who has to be
Black now obtains excellent play careful. 32 ... l:!c8
and soon it's a one-on-one knight
versus bishop. (32... lia1 forces a draw with 33. �b1
!¥a2=)
33. l:!b1 Cl:Jdxb3 34. it.b4 l!fa7 This is

26. it.xa5?? is a blunder: 26 ... Cl:Jxa4 at least okay for Black as he does not
27. it.xq Cl:Jxb2-+. need to worry about his b3-knight.
35. it.xb3
26 ... C4 27. it.ft
(35. �xb3? is a mistake as after 35...
Cl:Jxb3 36. it.xb3 l!fd4-+ White will
start losing material on account of
his weak king.)
35 ... Cl:Jd3 36.l!fe2 and now Black can

decide whether to play for a win
with 36 ...Cl:Jxb4 or settle for a draw
(with 36... Cl:Jf2+ 37- �gi Cl:Jh3+).
a b c d e f g h 28. it.xa5
27.•. !ha5
Black understands that the remov

al of the white dark-squared bishop
is favourable to him and he forces
this exchange, even at the price of
a pawn!
27... Cl:Jd7 28. Z!xa7 !Vxa7 was also

possible, with approximately equal a b c d e f g h
play: 29. �h1 !Va3 30. it.C3
28 ... l!fc5
Taimanov does not mind being White's only counter-play is his

a pawn down, as long as he achieves passed b-pawn but that is still a long
his aim of fielding his d4-knight way off from becoming a force.
against the white fi-bishop. Black has full compensation for his
sacrificed pawn. Taimanov opens
28...ll::l xb3 was possible, likely lead up the situation on the kingside,
ing to a draw or a complex end aiming to create threats against the
game. 29. �xb6 white king.
(Or 29.axb3 �cs+ 30. 'B.f2 �xas

31. �xas :t:!xas 32. il.. xc4 l'Llxc4
33. bxC4 �ai+ 34. �f1 �a2 with
a drawn rook endgame.)
29. . . �xb6+ 30.@h1
(30. �f2 �xf2+ 31.@xf2 l'Ll cs

32. .i.xC4 l'Llxe4+ 33.@e3 l'Llc5 is easy
for computer engines to assess as
o.oo, but in a game between hu
mans this is still a complex end 31 ... g6! 32.fxg6 hxg6 33.b4 @g7
game.) 34.b5 f5! 35.exf5 l'Llxf5
30 ... �d4 3i.�b1 l'Llcs 32. �b s + Black's dark-square control is strik

�xb8 33. �xb8+ @f7 34. �q+ @e8 ing. White has to be careful.
35.�xd6 and now Black has to al
low a draw by perpetual check: 35 ...
ll::l xe4 36.�b8+=.
29 . .i.xb6 �xb6 30. @h1 cxb3

31.axb3
Black has got what he wanted!

Black's dominant d4-knight co
ordinates well with the queen and
rook. White's bishop on f1 is a use
less piece as the battle is clearly not
being fought on the light squares!
256 CH ESS M I D DLEGAME STRATEGIES
Karpov here must have thought that Now the white queen is busy de
Black does not have a threat, and he fending bi, so...
commits a terrible blunder.
37.b6??
a) 37. :8.b1 was one of the ways for

White to prevent the game motif.
Black can either force a draw or
prolong play. 37... tlJe3 (3.7-.. Y/iixds
is a winning attempt: 38. b6 :8.bB
39. Wifc3 cr!tf6 with an unclear game.)
38.b6 tZJg4
��
��.
�!.�. . . .-- =
..,.,,.�
�n��/��fffi,,•'*',��
8
7
6
5 � . ,,, ,��. 8,.,-��.�
�,.,0 39. hxg3 is now forced leading to the
4 h-file mate after 39... :8.aS with 40...
3
2
:8.hs to follow.
a b c d e f g h 0-1
Now it's a draw by perpetual check: I will finish the chapter with my
39.b7 :8.h8 (39 ... :8.bB 40. h3 tlJf2+ own knightmare.
41. cr!th2 tlJg4+=) 40.h3 tZJfa+=.
b) 37.h3 would also eliminate the 30

game motif and lead to a draw:
37... :8.a1 38. :8.b1 tLlg3+ 39. cr!th2 :8.xb1 1> I. Sokolov
40. Wifxb1 Y/iif4 41. cr!tg1 Y/iie3+=. � A. Miles
Biel, 1989
c) 37. :8.C3 is a slightly "inhuman"
computer proposal 37... :8.a2 The
computer gives o.oo, but really
White is asking for trouble here. At the time this was a popular "side
opening" for the English players.
37··· :8.ai! 38. :8.b1 Miles, Adams, Hodgson and even,
on a few occasions, Short were
championing this line in the late
1980s and early 1990s. This system

is no longer in fashion, so I will not
bother with many opening remarks.
[13.ll'.Jd1! is stronger as Black

has problems castling! 13 ... ll'.Jgf6
14.ll'.Je3 g6 15J�!fd1 Black has seri
ous problems here. 15 ... W!/dS 16. l:!d6
W!ie7 (16... 0-0 1J. !!ad1 W!/q 18.g4+-)
17. !!ad1 with a large white advan
6.d5 tage.]
Fixing the central pawn structure 13 ... ll'.Jgf6 14. lt.h3 W!/d8 15. !!ad1 W!/e7
gives Black more clarity regarding 16. l:!d6 with a better game for White
which plans to choose. in 1-0 Kramnik,V (2725)-Mokry,K
(2530) Germany 1994.
In the same position that clever guy
Kramnik was not in a hurry to de
termine the central pawn structure
and kept his pawn on d4 for a while:
6.ll'.Jc3 lt.xf3 7. lt.xf3 Black is follow
ing the Miles plan from our game.
7... lt.g5 8. lt.xg5 W!/xg5 9.0-0 W!/d8
and here Kramnik decided that he
is better off with a different pawn
structure so 10.dxe5! dxe5
(10... ll'.Jxes surrenders the centre to

White: 11. lt.e2 with f4 to follow.)
11. W!/b3 W!ib8 12. W!/a3 c6 7... lt. g5!

258 CH ESS M I D D LEGAM E STRATEGIES
Black wants to trade the "right bish able to White than one-on-one "na
ops" and aim for a knight-versus ked" bishop versus knight. So what
bishop game in a structure which is do I do? I trade the knights and help
similar in a way to that in Karpov Black!
Azmaiparashvili.
11.�b5! Keeping my knight! 11... 'YWd8
s.1£)CJ 12.b3 o-o 13.a3 was the obvious way
to go, actually still keeping some
It was not necessary for me to help prospects of an advantage.
Black achieve his strategic objec
tives; 8.1£)d2, keeping the dark 11 ••• �c5! 12. 'YWb5+
squared bishops on the board with
g3 and h4 to follow, would have pre I guess - the game was a long time
vented Black from establishing the ago, if that's any excuse - that I had
game set-up. pinned my hopes on this check " dis
locating" the black king, but with
8 . . . a5 9. �xg5 ¥Wxg5 10.0-0 1£)h6 the white queen fighting alone and
the white bishop utterly useless, the
black king is actually rather safe in
the middle of the board!
13 ... c6?? 14. 'YWb6! was definitely

somewhere in the domain of my
wishful thinking.
All Black's central pawns are on

dark squares; White's central pawns
This is already the beginning of are, sadly, on light squares. The black
a wrong plan! Similar to Karpov knight is still stranded on h6 but ob
Azmaiparashvili, where the bishop viously the position of that knight
pair versus bishop plus knight was will soon improve, while White has
more favorable to White than bare an idiotic bishop, which is not easy
bishop versus knight, here we have to improve, and his only strategic
the situation that bishop plus knight hope now is to quickly open up the
against two knights is more favour- position.
My wishful-thinking hopes were

pinned on 17... l!fxh4 18.b4! axb4
19.axb4 !!xa1 20. !!xa1 cxb4 2i.c5
16... @dS!
where Black is the one needing to
16 ... !fa7 17.b4 would probably lead find a defence: 2i. .. CL\g4!
to a forced equality: 17... :S.b6 18. l!Va4
cxb4 19.axb4 !!xb4 20. l!fxb4 axb4 (21 ... l!Ve1?? 22. l!Vb7+-)
2i. :Sxa7 @ds 22. !!b7 l!Vd2 23.:Sb1 f5
White is the one needing to be care 22. �xg4 l!fxg4 23.cxd6 l!Vd7 24. !!a8
ful, but a draw is the likely result. :Sc8=
24.h3 l!fd3 25. !i7xb4 fxe4 26. !! 4b3
l!Vd4 27. Ae2 CL\f5 28. �g4 g6 29. �xf5 18. �d1?
gxf5 30. !!g3 Now it is a draw. 30...
l!Vxq 31. !!g7 @c8 32. !!g8+ @d7 This "active" move, trying to justify
33. !!g7+=. I definitely did not un the bishop's existence, proves a cru
derstand the gravity of the situa cial mistake.
tion!
It was the last call for 18.b4! axb4
19.axb4 !!xa1 20. !!xa1 l!fxb4 21. !!a8
It was absolutely necessary to try to

s l! rE W •
7 ':If "j, " j, j, j,
force a draw with 17.b4! axb4 18.axb4 6 � 'fi')� : ;If
5 .' �if8 � "
.......
!!xa1 19. !!xa1 19... l!fd2! 20.bxc5 l!Va5!

21. !!d1 l!fxc5 22. l!fxc5 dxc5 The 4 wj 3 ' 3 ' %�
3
i!,'
� • ;8 8 ,I /
white bishop is still rather stupid, %' '�
2
but a draw should be the outcome
here. ,. . . ' �
a b c d e f g h

Chess Middlegame Strategies Vol 2 - Ivan Sokolov (2018)

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chess Middlegame Strategies Vol 2 - Ivan Sokolov (2018)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

CHESS

First edition 2018 by Thinkers Publishing

Chess middlegame strategies. Volume 2: Opening meets middlegame

I.I. Rauzer Ideas 9

Game I. J. Klovans - M. Tal (1981) 10

1 .2 . Velimirovic Piece Sacrifice 38

Game 6. D. Velimirovic- U. Andersson (1982) 40

Game 9. J. Polgar - V. Topalov (2006) 70

CHAPTER I I. SPANISH PIECE SACRIFICE 87

Game 12. J. Polgar - B. Spassky (1993) 88

Game 16. A. Khalifman - Y. Seirawan (1991) 122

CHAPTER IV. BENONI S T RATEGIES 141

4.1. Positional Exchange Sacrifice 141

Game 18. T. Petrosian -N. Rashkovsky (1976) 142

4.2. Kingside Structure Transformations 150

Game 19. E. Magerramov- G. Kasparov (1979) 151

4. 3 . Two Typical Sacrifices 173

Game 21. L. Le Quang - Saleh Salem (2015) 174

CHAPTERV. CATALAN SACRIFI CES 191

5 .1 . Knight Sacrifice on f7 191

Game 23. V. Mikhalevski -A. Rabinovich (1999) 192

5.2. Pawn Chain Break with the b2-b 3 Push 208

Game 25. B. Spassky-L. Zinn (1962) 208

CHAPTER VI. KNIGHT TALES 233

Game 27. A. Karpov-J. Timman (1982) 234

In this second volume of my "Chess Middlegame Strategies" series I have de­

In modern chess, openi ng theo­ 1.1. RAUZER IDEAS

Openi ng preparation will not usu­

king, then opening up the position

Advice for White: exchange one of

15...0-0-0 16.f5 18 ...f5!

For the small price ofjust one pawn,

[25. kfi E:dfs+ (25 ... d4?! 26. E:xe4!

(25... 'BdfB 26. ilg4t)

26. l!fxh4 'Bxg2 Black definitely has

As mentioned earlier, White needed

(23 ... e4?! does keep the bishop pair,

Black is getting a huge number

bishop on a perfect position. By rook on hi are all perfectly mis­

Sensing that his opponent has no

The immediate 27...d3 28.cxd3 �d4

White keeps neglecting his king

(or 34. kf3 :8.xhs! Black keeps his

30 ... !k8 3i. :8.c1 'i!fd4 32 . .E:c3 b4

1> V. Anand 12 ...d5 13. �bi

1.e4 c5 2.lZ:Jf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.lZ:Jxd4

14 ... 0-0 (Black cannot play 14 ...

did not waste time on 13. �b1 and

21.a3! A surprisingly calm move,

A white knight is almost always

17.g4! As usual the 13th World Cham­

(18... exfs loses to the simple 19.e6

19.�f6+ �xf6 20.exf6 l!fd6 21. �g2

(22... exds 23. l!Ve3+ rtld7 24. l!Vxgs+-)

8 fice after 20 ... �h4 21. E!xe6 l!!!xe6

23.a3! White prepares his tactical 20...b4 21.�e2 e5

(An immediate 23. �xe6+? does

23 ... E!g6 24. �xe6+! E!xe6 25.W/g4

19. �f3 0-0-0

White's knight is heading to b3, ei­

22. �xh5? �b8 23. Ag6 Axh4+

Kramnik wants first to improve his

The immediate 22 ... e4, sacrificing

23 ... �a8 allows White to elimi­

In this second volume of my "Chess Middlegame Strategies" series I have de

In modern chess, openi ng theo 1.1. RAUZER IDEAS

Openi ng preparation will not usu

bishop on a perfect position. By rook on hi are all perfectly mis

17.g4! As usual the 13th World Cham

White's knight is heading to b3, ei

23 ... �a8 allows White to elimi

[19... :!:!hf8 looks perhaps more logi

Probably a critical moment. It is ad

will be forced to lose time collect

(or 36.E:hs A h4! Bishops domi

More precise was 34... lt.e8!-+ win

13 ... .ixc6 transposes to T. Baron

White has got what he wanted. Jet

An old main-line Rauzer. Personally An important moment. White's pie

There is a general human tenden Black is now forced into a hopeless

This position was extremely danger