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Chess Instruction
Keep the Tension Years ago, during one of my games with Nigel Short, I made a superficially active but weakening move which almost cost me the game. Afterwards Nigel quizzed me as to why I played this way to which I replied that "I'm a busy kind of player". "Yes," replied the other Nigel, "even when there's nothing to do."
Knowing that you can learn a lot from the insights of great players I took Nigel's words quite seriously. Reviewing some of my games I realised that he was quite right, I did have a definite tendency to try to do things even when there was nothing to do. As soon as tension appeared in the position I found it difficult to resist the opportunity to play some 'forcing moves' no matter where they led.
Since then I have come to realise that one of the hallmarks of very strong players is the ability to recognise when they should try to do something and when it is better to play a move which just simply improves their position. This is why top class games often give the impression that nothing is really happening whilst in reality their outwardly innocuous moves represent a cagey struggle to outmanoeuvre their opponent. The two adversaries are working towards the right moment to strike, knowing full well that a premature attempt to force matters could simply lose the advantage or even totally rebound.
Almost all players start out by playing a brand of forceful tactical chess which is the clearest and simplest route to success. As we improve and come up against ever stronger opposition we all gradually realise that tactics alone are not enough. In fact there will inevitably come a point at which it is necessary to think strategically in order to enjoy continued success.
Club level players can't usually afford the luxury of having unlimited time with which to perfect their chess so as chess players they often remain youthful tacticians. There is a tendency to indulge in forcing moves regardless of whether they are good or bad, any tension between pieces and pawns is resolved very quickly.
There is no easy cure for this tendency, the only one that really works is to spend years studying and playing chess after which greater insight gradually develops. Having said that I can point out some of the most common scenarios in which the tension is usually resolved prematurely. Hopefully you will be able to avoid these mistakes yourself and even lure your opponents into making them. You just need to get them into the right kind of position....
First of all let's look at a very popular opening at club
level, the King's Indian Attack. This was one of Bobby Fischer's
favourite lines which I learned to play by following the maestro's example.
The moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3 d5 4.Nbd2 Nc6 5.g3 produce the
diagrammed position below.
In my experience very few players at club level will play like this for Black, in fact most of them will find it difficult to resist resolving the tension by exchanging Pawns on e4 at some moment, yet this is a positional mistake.
...and now 17.Ng5! gxf6 18.Ne4 f5 19.Rd7 Qc8 20.Qh5 would have given me a winning attack (20...fxe4 21.Bxe4 f5 22.Qxh7#). If Black's pawn had stayed on d5 it would have continued to cover the e4 square and thus prevented the deadly manoeuvre of 11.Ne4 and 13.Nf6+.
Black could also stop White's e4-e5 by following up his ...d5xe4 with...e6-e5, but this has the drawback of leaving a hole on d5. A good example of this kind of play was Stein- Zinn, Helsinki 1961: 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.0-0 e5 5.d3 Be7 6.Nbd2 Nf6 7.e4 Bg4 8.h3 Be6 9.Qe2 dxe4 10.dxe4 0-0 11.c3 Nd7 12.Nc4! b5 13.Ne3! [diagram]
One of the most popular plans at club level is the kind of attacking build-up you can get from Queen's Pawn Games in which White plays something like d2-d4, e2-e3, Bf1-d3, Nb1-d2, possibly f2-f4 and then Ng1-f3 before planting his f3 Knight on e5, castling short and then switching his rook on f1 to f3 and even h3. An additional Pawn push with g2-g4-g5 might also come into it and White might have developed his Queen's Bishop on g5 before playing e3 and f4. Although this plan sounds rather primitive it can prove devastating if Black doesn't handle it right. In practice he very rarely does.
One of the classic mistakes by Black in this kind of position is to attack White's Bishop on d3 at one moment with ...c5-c4, apparently forceful but in reality a move which helps White's plans considerably. Let me show you what I mean:
Carty - Connelly
This ...c5-c4 mistake is actually Black's usual reaction when a player below master level finds himself in this kind of position. Here's another example from one of Brian Carty's games:
Carty - Hearns
Meynell A - Lusher C
Bramson - Vadanam
For more from GM Davies,
see also:
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