TRANSPOSITIONS!

When a new player begins chess openings, I recommend that whatever opening is chosen is one that the player will use every time! I want the player to become accustomed to the positions this opening leads into. My reasoning is that chess is learned in one of two ways:

First, we learn the placement of the pieces at the start of the game, then we learn the moves. Teaching chess by moves is not difficult, and learning the moves themselves is not difficult. This is what I think of as a scientific method. It is the way games are recorded.

But some players are blessed with a special talent; the ability to unify sensations into meaningful composites. They see the patterns, not the moves. This is more difficult to teach, it depends on the artistic or imaginative power of the player. This is what I think of as the Artistic method.

I believe it is necessary to begin with the first method, because there is lots of incidental learning that initially takes place, and because it can be digested by anyone. Starting with the artistic method would quickly discourage someone without the imaginative ability.

But, for those few who may have the talent for treating the game as an art, I believe that, as soon as the basics of the game are learned, the player can address pattern recognition. Instead of memorizing the moves in the opening, the player simply has pictures in his/her mind of the positions created by the opening, and plays to and from these positions.

If we know what we want from the opening in terms of these pictures, we can see the current picture and know whether we are on course, or whether we must change course to reach another familiar picture. If the performer can “see” the positions in his/her mind, a library of still pictures is created.

Of course, if the player insists on experimenting with a number of openings, the task can be much more difficult, or impossible. I believe it is easier to start with a solid “trunk” and add “branches” later. That’s why I stress the One Opening idea.

I offer this so that the reader can better understand the importance of playing by position, not by move. Pattern recognition is the key. If we were learning pattern recognition, we should start with pawn structures and build from that point. Pawn patterns are easy to recognize and often control the course of the game. The pawn structure is a key element in planning.

Patterns exist in opening, middle game and endings. However patterns are best learned in the endgame. There are known results- win/loss/draw- with endgame patterns. Think of an end game pattern as a “technique”. When an author says: “The rest is a matter of technique.” He is saying that this is a well-known endgame pattern.

Studying endgames is done with patterns, and the student normally has to repeat the move sequence a number of times before the “pictures” of the pattern form. When I began learning chess, I began with endgames. I needed a partner in order to have some fun working the endgame from a given position until mate, over and over, until it was memorized. Today, we have the computer as an opponent! We can test our understanding of the endgame pattern against the computer, which never tires of repetition!

This leads us to transpositions. Let’s look at transposing an opening. When we
are working to become expert in one opening, we may be able to play that opening with White only 20% of the time! That means we may need five games to get one where we can use “our” opening. (With Black, it gets easier; but I think that a White opening should be the first a player learns.) Fortunately, on Chessmaniac we can challenge with either Black or White and practice our white opening in every game where the opponent does not take us astray.

Now, if I am an inexperienced player and have put some time and effort into learning an opening, I have probably subconsciously developed a pattern recognition of this opening, which becomes greater, deeper and clearer as I continue to play this one opening. When this occurs, my win/loss ratio should improve; after all, my opponent is playing MY opening.

Now, in our opening, many transpositional possibilities may be seen. This is a game currently in progress on Chessmaniac, #6349512:

White Black
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6. Black envisions a Berlin defense or a Two Knights, but there are many openings possible from these two opening moves.
3. d4 … White announces his preference: The Scotch Game.



3. … exd4.

This same position exists in the Scotch, in the Two Knights, in The Italian Game, in the Four Knights, and others.
4. Bc4 … This position exists in all the above openings, plus the Evans Gambit! (It is déjà vu all over again! – Yogi Berra)
4. … Nf6 Black prefers the Two Knights Defense and assays a transposition.



5. e5 d5 Still, this same position exists in all of the above openings, except that Black has ruled out the Evans Gambit.
6. Bb5 Ne4
7. Nxd4 Bc5 Now, this is also a position found in the Berlin Defense. So, we have a common position in the Scotch, the Two Knights, the Two Knights Defense, and The Berlin Defense.



8. Be3 Bd7 This position rules out all but the Scotch Game. White held to his opening of choice.

Voila! The Scotch Game! Here is the position that may have guided White:



White was expert in his opening, or Black could have taken the game into another opening.

Is it easier to memorize (mentally picture) the positions than to try to construct from the moves? Would you find it easier to memorize all of the first eight moves of all seven of these openings shown above, or would it be easier to remember not more than three significant positions? If you work from mental pictures of the position, you will see the possibilities from that position in the opening.

The endgame requires pattern recognition. If you aspire to Expert or Master status, it is essential to be able to recognize positions in the end game, even if you cannot do it well, yet, in the opening.

When you know your opening well, you can steer a transformation into a favorable position. Here is an opportunity seized in the early opening of game #6001387, on Gameknot:

White Black
1. e4 c4
2. d4 cxd4
3. c3 … The first three moves of the Morra Gambit.



3. … g6 The Morra declined. Black is transposing “out of the Morra” into a more familiar Sicilian, perhaps with the Dragon variation in mind.
4. cxd4 … Now, after … Bg7, White will have a familiar variation of the Alapin Sicilian.



Black has transformed into this Sicilian, although he may not have had the Alapin in mind.

In his book: *”The Chess Advantage in Black and White”, Larry Kaufman gives a sample of avoiding transpositions in the Semi-Slav defense. Here are some of his observations:
“The first decision for Black is whether to play … c6 or … e6 first.” “Playing … c6 first avoids the Catalan and the Marshall Gambit.” “Playing …e6 first avoids the Slav Exchange; as well as an early e3 without Nc3.”
Next, he shows how to avoid Black transpositions in the first four moves. Then, he shows the nine plausible move orders to reach the Semi-Slav. He explains that there are only four rules to follow to avoid the Queens Gambit Exchange version that favors White, to avoid allowing White to develop his bishop to g5 without paying a price, etc. By following his rules, you keep your opponent from transposing in this opening. You get to play your opening, not your opponents opening. I cannot show too much of the book without the permission of the author (Plagiarism). You’ll have to either get his book or look at my Black games where my opponent plays 1. e4, 1. c4, or 1. Nf3. You will find that some of my games are the Semi-Slav, where I instinctively follow Kaufman’s rules. Here is the starting position of the Semi-Slav:



A good exercise is to see if you can find the nine plausible ways of reaching this position. Here is the most direct route, where white has no preference beyond playing a queenside opening:

White Black
1. d4 d5
2. c4 e6
3. Nc3 c6
4. Nf3 Nf6

Now, let’s look at the first five moves of a game where I played Black, and White evidently had a move order, not a position, in mind. I will transpose into the Semi-Slav:

White Black
1. c4 … White seems to be trying for an English, or a Reti, or a Catalan.
1. … e6 We’re headed in White’s direction. Or are we?
2. Nf3 Nf6 White can still get his English or Catalan, but now we see the possibility that Black is playing for a Queen’s Indian.



3. d4 … The Catalan still looks OK, but now there is a hint of a Queens’ Gambit.
3. … d5 We now have a Queens Gambit Declined, but it could be a Ragozin variation, a Tartakower system, a Semi-Tarrash, an Orthodox, or even a Semi-Slav.
4. Nc3 c6 We have definitely transposed to a Semi-Slav!

(We have reached the same position by a different move order. Our moves were in concert with White’s moves, keeping him from [perhaps] his specific desired opening.)



The next moves were:
5. e3 Nbd7. And, suddenly White is playing Blacks’ Game!

When your opponent opens d4, c4, or Nf3; and you want a Semi-Slav, this is the picture you should have on the first move. Notice that if I wanted a Queens Indian, I could have played for that on the third move, or for a number of different Queen’s Gambits on the following moves. As you play, you will see yourself taken into strange territory a number of times. When you analyze the game afterward, look at the key positions and put the pictures you want in your head. Just be careful not to put in the pictures into your head that you DON’T want to create on the board!

I believe that players that move too quickly cannot get the pictures into their heads unless it is done in post-game analysis. I always analyze every loss, to try to find where I can improve.

*(In his book, Kaufman does not speak of transpositions directly, the book is basically his personal repertoire. He simply avoids transpositions in order to play his preferred openings.)

Next, I will offer some of my thoughts on Continuous Improvement.

Transposingly, Al (alfredjwood)

OVERLOOKING TACTICAL POTENTIAL AND POSSIBILITIES IN CHESS

Teichmann said that the Game of Chess is 90% tactics. The middle game is rife with tactical opportunities which only one player sees! The middle game is where observation becomes most important, where the player sees the potentials and possibilities overlooked by his opponent. Tactical moves and combinations are even overlooked by strong players as well as average players. When more than one tactical move is made in the same series, it becomes a combination. We must see the tactic before we can see the combination.

In the following examples, we will benefit from setting the position on a board, and examining our ability to see the potential and derive the tactics.

Some combinations are simply the use of the same tactic more than once in the series. Here is an example of a simple combination played by a young man against one of the strongest chessplayers in the world!



White to move. Observe: The black queen and rook are on the same color. White cannot take advantage with a knight fork, however, because the forking square (c5) is protected with a pawn. If the Black King were on d7, the pawn would be pinned. The White Queen, however, can fork the Black King and rook from c4, and the king cannot save the rook by moving to d7, because the protecting pawn is pinned! So the combination is straight forward. However it requires the observation right now, not in the postgame analysis!! Black must see this on the previous move, he did not. And, Black was one of the strongest Grandmasters in the world! His youthful opponent, named Michael, does see it!! Here are the moves he made:

1. Qc4+ … This fork leaves black only one move to protect his rook. It results in a self-pin:
1. … Kd4 Now, the defending pawn cannot capture. This move which ‘saves’ the rook also loses the Queen!
2. Nc5+ Resigns. This second fork wins the queen. The knight cannot be captured because the pawn is pinned.

Three tactics in two moves: fork, pin, fork. You could see as much as Tal saw, if you looked at the board and not at the pieces. Tals’ opponent, Konstantin Klaman, a Grand Master, and one of the strongest players in the world, did not fully observe the position! Yet, you will observe it in any game you play; if you take your time and observe it now!! Don’t just look at it. Don’t just make the moves. Do not look for moves! Look for piece positioning. Look at the board, and the placement of the pieces thereon. Then, look for critical squares. You should see the square that beckons to the knight, you should see the square that beckons to the queen. When you see a good move, keep your hand off of the piece and find a better move! You should see the immediate Queen fork, which also pins the pawn!! You should see the problem you must solve, the neutralization of the pawn on d6! Note that no pin is possible on the pawn from a diagonal because all squares available and leading to it on diagonals are protected. Now, see that an attack on the rook may lure the king to the file, where the pawn will be pinned, and your opponent may not see the possibility. Note that pieces can only be forked by a knight when they are on squares of the same color. Also note that the defender may actually move his king into the pin! Let’s look at how you can help your opponent walk into a pin:

This is from the game #6145807 here on Chessmaniac. I played Black, my opponent is my friend Mark, playing as Boogiepants. Here is the position after 21 moves:



White to play.

Observe:
1.Black’s position relative to white:
Black has a backward pawn on the half-open c-file (c6), which is a prime target for White! Blacks’ rooks are both posted offensively on files that harbor white backward pawns. Blacks’ bishop is on a good diagonal and, supported by the Black Queen, key squares are in his line of fire: c1, d2, e3, f4! The a-file is open and portends a rook confrontation, but one of the Black rooks is temporarily blocked from that file by the backward pawn on c6. The h-file is also open, but only one of Black’s rooks can utilize it at the moment. Black is currently vulnerable to a back-rank threat.
2.White’s position relative to black:
Whites’ rooks are connected. But they are both defending backward pawns! His pawn weaknesses include: two backward pawns on half opened files, d3 and f3, an isolated pawn on b2, and doubled pawns on the g-file. His King and Queen are on the same line (Second rank!) His knight has limited mobility! His isolated pawn is protected only by his Queen! Whites’ Queen is vulnerable to overload, she is currently needed to protect the b and d pawns. His knight blocks the Black Queens’ attack on b2.

Reasoning (Open the door in the back of my head and walk inside for a moment – Al):
Knights are strong in defensive mode. Bishops and rooks are strong in offensive modes. The imbalance in the position is that Black has the Bishop vs. White’s Knight. The knight is the piece that can replace a white rook in defense of a backward or isolated pawn. If the pawns can be protected by Queen and Knight, the White rooks can double on an open file! Opening the pawn position is dangerous for White, but he can use an open file, if he can free up his rooks.

22. Nb1 b4! The knight is restrained, he has only one square available, and he will block his queen from the b-pawn at that one square! White probably envisions b3, Nd2, Nc4, which will improve the position of the knight. But the knight is subject to pin on d2, so it must make the maneuver before Black can adequately respond. However, the knight is now blocking the rook access to the a-file! Better for White may have been f4 now, attacking on the kingside, opening the board with a latent hope of getting king or queen off of the second rank, bringing the knight to the kingside, and playing to get Black on the defensive..
23. b3 Ra8 This seems to be loss of a tempo. White did not need to move the b2 pawn, it is as weak on b3 as it is on b2. The kingside attack was still available. White can try to exchange Queens, attempting to reposition the Black Queen to support the kingside attack.
24. Nd2 Ra2 The Knight is pinned. Moving the Knight results in disaster. Whites’ d-pawn loses one defender; the defending rook is blocked!
25. Rh1 Qc3 Attacking the pinned knight and holding a rook to the defense!
26. f4 … This is probably best. The game continues with White attempting to find play on the Kingside.

The position has changed dramatically! Black has a strong attack, and Whites’ pieces have limited scope and mobility. White’s pawn weaknesses are being exploited.


Sometimes both players see the tactic, but only one sees the combination!! This is from ERNST-LOOSE, Hamburg, 1946. Black to move:



Black to move.
Observe!: There is a potential fork, which Black sees as winning.
1. … Rxb2 Removing support of the white knight, to be followed by Bxc3, pinning the White Queen.
2. Qxb2 Bxc3+ Did you see this as the reason for Black playing Rxb2?
3. Bd2! … Interposing a counter-pin! Black missed this move, maybe White saw the position one move further!.
3. … Resigns.


A combination sometimes arises when an obstruction must be removed. Here is a case in point:



White to move.
Observe: White sees that if it were not for the blocking pawn on b7 he would mate with Ra8++. This results in a four-move, forcing combination, removing the pawn from b7 and mating without giving Black any discretionary moves:

1. Nc7+ Ka7 Forced.
2. Qxa6+ bxa6 Forced. The queen “sacrifice” removes the pawn from b7!
3. Nb5+ Ka8 Forced. This discovery returns to the starting position minus the blocking pawn!
4. Ra7++ Voila!

What can we, Chessmaniac players, not being Grandmasters, hope to see on the board?
Actually we can see as much as anyone, if we train ourselves to look at the board and not at the pieces. Here is an example from a game I played in 2006, as Black: The opening was a Queens Indian. This is the position after White has made his 26th move:



Black to move.
Observe: The White queen cannot easily get to the defense of the kingside. She can serve best by attacking from the queenside or exchanging for the opposing queen. If black needs more force in the attack, it can only come from the c file rook, which must enter by way of the 4th or 5th rank. The rook cannot leave the 8th rank, however, as long as the White queen is attacking the e1 rook. The queen will have to be deflected to keep her from the kingside and to allow the c rook to attack. The white queen is currently unprotected, if not for the white bishop on c3, Black could capture Nxf6 and the white bishop on e4 would be pinned. However, now the c3 bishop could capture Bxe5, attacking the queen and if Qxe5 the pin is gone and Bxf3 is possible. The rook cannot take c3 to eliminate that possibility until the diagonal is blocked.

The way is clear, first before moving the knight, which currently guards b5, we must block the queen’s attack on the rook. The attack will deflect her from the fourth rank. Then the knight can begin the attack:


26. … b5! The beginning of a long combination. First, the queen will move from the fourth rank. (First tactic, piece deflection.)

27. Qxa5 Nxf3 (Second tactic, Discovered attack.)

28. Bxf3 Qg5+ (Third tactic, Zwischenzug.)

29. Kh3 Bxc3 (Fourth tactic, Fork.) The reason for the zwischenzug now becomes apparent: b5 is defended!

30. Qb6 Rc4 If Qxb5 had been permitted, this move would not be possible.
White resigns.

This combination was made possible by one inaccuracy by White. The deflection, 26. b5 makes little sense unless the player sees the tactical potential.

Many tactical opportunities are lost because of lack of observation. To improve our own powers of observation, we begin by observing each new position on the board. Whenever a piece moves, we have a new position! Keep in mind that whenever we play, we and our opponent both miss possibilities due to a form of ‘blindness.”

Here is what Tony miles said of one of his games: “I thought I was playing the World Champion, not some 27-eyed monster who sees everything in all positions.” First, we must become a two-eyed monster, then we keep increasing our vision until Tony can say that about each of us!
Al
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Play Online Chess Now!

Queen Hunt

In my games on ChessManiac.com, I have been engaged in four Queen Hunts in just the past two months. I want to show how players give up their queens in hopes that this will be useful to ChessManiac.com players.

One of these games is the most interesting game that I have played in years. In this game BOTH of the players were on a queen hunt! My opponent was my Aussie friend, Gasparking. Here is the description of these simultaneous hunts:

Chessmaniac Game #6013336,
Gasparking vs. alfredjwood

White Black
1. d4 d5
2. c4 e6
3. a3 … Best here is probably 3. Nc3; White seems concerned with preventing Blacks occupation of b4. However, this ‘preventive’ move concedes Black a tempo.
3. … c6 The usual move is Nf6, but Black hesitated to make that move before White played Nf3. Two other moves, however, are both better: c5 or Nd7. (Given the position again, I would play Nd7. Al) As a result of the next few moves, an unusual pawn structure creates an unusual game.
4. c5 … Preparation for a queenside attack.
4. … e5 beginning an attack on the center.
5. e3 Be6 This is in contravention of Capablancas’ advice to capture with the Kings Pawn at every opportunity. (This is the first time I remember ignoring that advice. I was over-concerned with getting my Queens Knight into play without blocking in the Bishop. Al) These two (c6 and Be6) mispositions were instrumental in the pawn formation developed.
6. Nc3 Nd7 Still ignoring the pawn capture.
7. b4 … Preparing the queenside attack.
7. … g6 The Kings Knight needs e7, so the bishop will have to come out via the fianchetto.
8. Bd3 e4 Now, the pawns are locked!
9. Be2 …



Here is the point at which planning is essential. Looking at the board, the diagonal pawn lock is the dominant feature. White has control of the Queenside. His pieces will experience difficulty in getting to the Kingside. Black has control of the Kingside, his pieces will have difficulty in getting to the Queenside. In the absence of levers, only a sacrifice will open any of the central files. White must attack on the a- and b- files, creating a pass on the seventh and eighth ranks thru which he can flow to the Kingside. Black must attack on the f-, g- and h- files. Both sides must strike at the opponents pawn base (f2 and b7). Until some lines are opened, the bad White Bishop and the Rooks will be virtually unusable.

9. … Bg7
10. Bg4 … This move exchanges whites good bishop; it also provokes Black’s next move.
10. … Qg5
11. Bxe6 Qxg2
12. Bxd7 Kxd7
13. h3 Qxh1
14. Kf1 … The Black Queen has no escape square! Black has won the exchange and a pawn, but his queen is now consigned to inactivity. He must get some help to her. Both kings are out of position, White’s King should have been castled to the Queenside, and Black’s King should be in a protected position on the Kingside.

14. … Ne7
15. Qg4+ …



White has his queen in play, and the Black King is alone in the middle of the board. Whites problem is in getting help to his Queen. Meanwhile, the Black Queen is still in jail.

15. … Nf5 Although this move appears to be defensive; the Knight is on his way to rescue the maiden from the tower.
16. Qf4 … Visions of sugarplums dance in her head. White transitions to a queen sortie! He sees Qd6. However, the Black Queen cannot be interned indefinitely, White needs to get the Queens Knight into the attack on the Black Queen: Ne7-g6.
16. … h5 Now the hunt for the White Queen gets underway.
17. b5 … White begins the Queenside attack, belatedly. He may have too many goals now: nullifying the Black Queen, preserving his own Queen, and attacking on the other side of the board. The queenside attack and rescue of his own Queen may be seen as a single effort, but not enough time exists to also attack the enemy Queen because the free Knight is the only piece available for the job.

17. … Bh6
18. Qe5 … This is the only square available to the Queen! Both Queens are being hunted, but the pressure is lessening on the Black Queen.



18. … Rae8
19. Qf6 Rhf8 The door slams shut on the Queen.
20. Nxe5 … Banzai! The gallant knight rides to the rescue, but it simply delays the inevitable.
20. … cxd5
21. c6+ Kc7
22. Bd2 … Can White wriggle out?
22. … Re6 Another door slams shut!
23. b6+ axb6
24. Qxe6 Ng3+!
25. fxg3 fxe6+
26. Ke2 Qg2+ The former prisoner is now the attacker. White resigned.

Many Queen hunts begin early in the game, when the Queen comes down the board too early. I liken the Queen to an aircraft carrier. She is the most powerful weapon in the fleet. When the aircraft carrier goes into enemy waters, she always goes with escorts! Destroyer escorts engage enemy forces targeting the carrier. The queen, too, needs the protection of the minor pieces when she sallies forth. Here are the first moves of a recent game on ChessManiac.com, where the Queen comes out too soon, and escorts are left in port:

White Black
1. e4 e6
2. d4 Qh4 There are many good moves for Black, 2. … d5 is the most frequently played, but this Queen sortie is a major mistake. White begins the hunt, now, on only the third move of the game!
3. Nf3 Qxe4+



This is what Black wanted from the sortie; a pawn with check and with a possible attack on the rook. But White has a knight on the field, and now a bishop will come into play.
4. Be2 f6
5. Nc3 Qg4
6. 0-0 Bd6



At last, the Black escort appears; but it is already too late. White’s pieces control the field of play. The Black Queen moves that are used to capture a pawn and to evade capture result in a great advantage in development for White, because of tempo gain.
7. Ng5 Qh4
8. g3 Qh6 The lady is running out of space.
9. Bh5 g6



The Queen is lost.

10. Nxe6 dxe6
11. Bxh6
White loses two minor pieces in the skirmish, but ends up with the Queen and a winning position.



Sometimes the Queen hunt begins deep in the middle game; and sometimes saving the queen requires giving up material, space and time! Here is an excerpt from another recent ChessManiac.com game, this is the position after move 26:



White Black
27. Rh4 … White attacks. But d6 needs more protection, or the queen needs some escape.
27. … Bd3
28. Bc2 Rfd8 Blacks rooks support an attack on the queen by supporting c6, c7 and d6
29. Bxd3 Nxd3
White can temporarily save the queen by giving up a rook and allowing a strong attack by white by playing 29. … Rxd3, but he goes down swinging:
30. Rg3? Rc1+



The Queen is lost.

Today’s moral is: Treat your Queen with loving care, or she will elope with your rival! And be alert for a trapping opportunity if Her Majesty is separated from her escort; The Queen hunt forces the opponent to focus on saving the Queen, and you can exact tribute, in the form of development, tempo and sometimes material, for any attempted rescue. Al

The Ideal Square In Chess

In his book; Guide to Good Chess: First Steps to Fine Points (Purdy Series), J.S. Purdy offers four points for placing a piece on it’s “ideal square” in the opening:

1.The piece can go there in one move. Quick development is important. The first object of development is to clear your back line in as few moves as possible so you can get your rooks active. “The absurdity of these huge pieces locked away in corners never seems to strike the average player.”

2.The piece will be effectively posted there. “Effectively” initially means the piece will be bearing on the center, directly or indirectly.

3.The piece will not suffer from exposure. The most common exposure is moving your queen out too early. Generally move the queen only one square, to free the rooks. Generally, move the rooks to open files, or files likely to be opened, but keep them on the back rank in the opening.

4.The piece will not unduly obstruct any of its own forces. The most common example of this is playing d3 (…d6) before developing the f bishop and to avoid playing e3 (…e6) before developing the c bishop. It is usually wise to reserve c3 and f3 for the knights.

Purdy says that #3 is the most important. Exposed pieces on the chessboard allow the other side to attack those pieces while developing his own. Moves are used up protecting and retreating the exposed piece.

Here is an example of the third point in relation to the queen:

White Black
1. e4 e5
2. Qh5 … This is in violation of point 3. It is played by beginners, who envision a fast attack. They envision 2.g6 and the fork Qxe5+, winning a rook; and so they begin this attack on f7.
3. … Nc3 This is the antidote. Black secures e5.



4. Bc4 … Persisting in the attack on f7.
4. … g6 Now this move is effective, the Queen cannot take e5.



5. Qf3 … Still persisting on an “attack” on f7, White occupies f3 with his queen, denying the square to his knight!. He is now violating point four.
5. … Nf6 Blocking the Queen, developing a piece, preparing for castling, attacking e4 and supporting d5.



In five moves, Black has taken over. He has the initiative and a better position on the chessboard.

In this position, White cannot develop the Kings Knight to it’s best square (f3) without using an extra tempo. His center is under attack. Black is developing in accordance with points 1 and 2. Here we see White occupying the wrong square with his queen. Meanwhile, Black is occupying the ideal squares with his pieces.

Players encounter difficulties when they play randomly in the opening. The chess opening determines the later game, you don’t want to go into the middle or end game in poor positions. The problem is compounded when inexperienced players ‘try’ new chess openings.
They begin building a bad habit of never playing an opening often enough to fully understand it. Ideally, a player should play only one opening for a consecutive hundred games or so. In that time that player will learn many things, including:
1.What middle game and end games does this opening lead to? Are they satisfactory for me?
2.What is the defense played most often against this opening. Is this satisfactory, or should I avoid it?
3.What ‘chess traps’ exist in this chess opening? Are they favorable to me?
4.How difficult is it to learn all of the lines I may play against using this chess opening?
5.Can this chess opening be easily thwarted? If it is thwarted can I, or need I transform?

When playing the chosen opening with the White pieces, It will take many chess games in order to grasp the flow of the game. First, a player should not try an opening with the thought of ‘winning’ with it! Remember, you are learning and you will make errors. The number of errors you make is unimportant. What is important is MAKING EACH ERROR ONLY ONCE! Learn from your mistakes. In time, you will be familiar with every error that could be made, and you will no longer make them. You will be on your way to becoming expert in that opening. To find your glaring errors, simply analyze each game you lose. To find smaller errors, get someone to analyze the game for you!

I suggest picking only one chess opening to play with White. Observe the chessboard closely on every move of that opening, the chess opening is like a puppy; it will do strange things from time to time – but you must accept ownership of it.

The problem will be handling all of the most probable defenses. As you play your opening, you will encounter and learn them all. FIND THE ONE THAT GIVES YOU THE MOST TROUBLE AND STUDY IT! Make this opening the first opening you play with Black, and play it with black at every opportunity. You may see ways of improving your game with White when you play against it, and you will have a synergistic situation.

As an example, if you chose 1. e4 because you enjoy tactical play, (and there are fewer difficult lines than with d4/Nc3/c4;) you will need to know how to play against a number of different responses. At first, you need only look at two major responses (which you may find in 80% of your games! They are e5 and c5. There are many good chess openings you can play after 1. e4 e5, so you should pick an objective: Perhaps the Ruy Lopez (Spanish Game), or the Giuoco Piano, or a gambit.

However, after 1. e4 c5 you will face the Sicilian Defense. You must have a plan for that contingency. I chose the Morra Gambit because it avoided all of the deep analysis of other lines, and it gave me the open, tactical game I enjoyed.

The defense that gave me the most difficulty when I began was the Berlin Defense. I made the Berlin my Black defense against e4. (If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em). As I played it my White game improved, as I played the Ruy against the Berlin, my black game improved. The Berlin can transform into the Two Knights in some cases. Since the Two Knights is a very effective defense against the Giuoco, I took this as my second defense against e4.

This is the way a successful repertoire is built, not by trying out the latest fads, but by persisting in improving your existing opening. You can be a jack of all and master of none, or you can be an expert at the few you will need. I always recommend that a player firm his white opening before looking at any black opening. Here on Chessmaniac, you can look for regular games where you only play white. Later, when your white opening is such that you can keep the most favorable lines for more than five moves, you can just play Black for a while with your chosen Black opening. In all, your starting repertoire should consist of one white opening and two black openings, one against e4 and one against d4/c4/Nf3.

My repertoire began with only three openings, one playing white and two playing black. I recommend the method.

Persistence is the great conqueror. At first, you learn the opening for five to eight moves in all major variations, then you begin to learn deeper. I can go ten to fifteen moves with familiarity in my openings. A Master may go twenty or more moves with familiarity of all variations and deviations to that point. I cannot do it with EVERY opening! Only with MY openings. Don’t play a different chess opening just because Anand wins with it. You are NOT Anand! He doesn’t win because he has a superior opening. He wins because he is Anand.

Case in point: Bogolyubov famously said: “I win with White because I am White. I win with Black because I am Bogolyubov!”

Your confidence will increase as you win with YOUR opening. Do not be discouraged by your early losses when trying your opening. Losses are normal with unfamiliar material. Your winning percentage will increase as the depth of knowledge of your opening increases. There is a natural tendency to abandon an opening because of poor results; the poor results are not because of the opening, they are because of habits that you have that you must overcome. Do you think that great bowlers kept changing lanes in order to score better? Do you think that they kept changing balls? Or, do you think they threw their share of gutter balls at first, and gradually picked up some spares and strikes as they built their habits. It is practice that builds skill. You can master nothing without practice. Babe Ruth struck out more than 3000 times, but he never stopped swinging.

In general, I have learned these things about openings:

1.It is best to get a pawn into the center in order to begin control of the center and to open lines by providing one of the bishops and the queen good lines on which to come into play.

2.A second pawn will need to be moved somewhere in the opening, in order to get the second bishop into play, but it can usually wait until the knights are developed. Avoid too many pawn moves; pawn move effect future positions.

3.The knights usually belong on f3/f6 and c3/c6. If you develop the protecting knight, or attacking knight when a pawn is in the center, you may save tempo. Keep the knights off the edge of the board; “a knight on the rim is dim.”

4.The first three pieces developed are normally the knights and the king’s bishop.

5.Remember that once a pawn is moved, it cannot go back. The pawns are initially needed for protection of the planned kings position, for preparing to control the center, and for clearing lines for the line-going pieces (particularly the rooks.) Also consider their positioning for an endgame. It’s easy for a pawn to be moved to a bad square, one that hurts your position.

6.In the opening, rooks remain on the rear rank. It is important to connect them by getting the other pieces out of their way. The rooks will go to an open file, so be patient until you know which files are likely to open; you want to avoid moving a rook twice to get it on the right file.

7.In general, the queen should only be developed to the second rank in the opening. Taking her downfield too soon can result in losses of tempo and sometimes material. e2 and c2 are the squares that are normally friendly to the queen and give her some range.

8.When you select an opening, note which pieces are important to the position that will be reached, and what the pawn structure should look like.

9.Every tactical opportunity should be considered in light of the value of the pieces in that opening. As you gain experience in an opening you will see the traps and the combinations that come from the positioning of pieces and pawns.

10.The greatest value in knowing the opening better than the opponent is that your opponent may trade a valuable piece that he will need later for attack or defense. You will not make that mistake. He may place a pawn in a position that hinders his later play. You will not make that mistake, either.

11.I think of the beginning of the middle game as the real opening. I see the opening as an opportunity to position pawns and pieces for a strong tactical middle game. When you know your opening really well, you can visualize the position that will transit to the middle game.

12.You may still be in your opening when your opponent gets into his middle game. You are out of the opening when a deviation from your known lines occurs. At first, this can happen on the second , third, or fourth move! As you learn the opening through the eighth move in all variations, your opponent may run out of opening on the fourth move and must now begin a middle game. Obviously, it is better to know what is happening than to it is to wonder what is happening. REMEMBER: When you do not know the next move in an opening, you are then in the middle game!

13.When you know your opening, you will expect certain moves by your opponent. When the opponent deviates from your expectation, you must pause and see if it is a solid line or if he has made an error. Even a slight mispositioning can create later difficulties. A deviation from expectation is an alarm! Take time considering your response. Most deviations in the opening result in inaccurate positioning.

14.Keep in mind that there are three elements in the opening, as in the body of the game: Material Force, Time (tempo), and Space. Do not give up any part of these three without good compensation.

Here is an illustrative example of a middle game position reached from a given opening. Examine the Force, the Time, and the Space of the two sides. These were gained or relinquished in the opening. This is a Morphy variation of the Ruy Lopez. Here is the position after White’s sixteenth move:



Do you think that both players are happy with their positions?
Do you feel that White is comfortable and may have foreseen this position?
Do you feel that Black is comfortable and may have foreseen this middlegame position?
Material is almost even, White has an extra pawn.
White has more space. His pawns do not block his bishop and there are holes in blacks pawn structure that will allow white’s bishop great mobility.
The Black bishop is restricted by the White pawns and the black piece placement.
There is only one open file, and Black has a rook at the base. Whites rooks can more easily bring their combined force onto a single file.

Here is the rest of the game, if you have an interest. The middle game is very short. So is the endgame.:

16. … Nd7 Heading to e5?
17. Bg5 … Attacking the Black rook on d8, who is a virtual prisoner of his own pieces, he has less space than any of his pawns. His value would be negligible, if the file were not so important.
17 … Nf6 Back to his previous square, entering a self-pin in order to block the bishops’ diagonal.
18. c4 h6
19. Bd2 Nd7 The knight movement has created tempo for White, who already has the initiative, the space and the force advantages.
20. Bc3 Ne5 At last, the knight reaches his desired square.
21. Red1 Nxd3 Certainly Black needs to reduce the power directed at his position. Ideally, the knight would rather be traded for White’s bishop; but the bishop is too mobile to be caught by the knight.
22. Rxd3 g6
23. Rad1 … White wants to control the square d5, with a subsequent breakthrough.
23 … Kc7 Holding d6
24. c5 Black resigns.

Here we could see the good bishop vs. the bad bishop, the pawn structure resulting from this opening, black’s lack of space, and his gifts of tempo.

Invest now in your game. Choose a single white opening and play it every time! Analyze each of your losses to see where you can improve the next time you face that position. Once you know your white opening for five or more moves in every major variation, you can start on your two black defenses. You can keep your repertoire short while improving your game dramatically.

Choose your openings carefully, you want an opening you can continue to play with for a long time. Good Chessing! Al

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Playing the board, not the piece. An example of playing the lines and squares.

In my first games on Chessmaniac I played against some fine new players. Here is a player whose elo was listed as 13xx, but he played at a much higher level!

The Game is a Morra Gambit, accepted. When I first played chess I preferred open games, so I played 1. e4. I was usually met with e5. In time, as my level grew and my opponents became stronger, I began to increasingly meet 1. e4 with c5, the Sicilian. Soon, the Sicilian was being played against me in more than 50% of my games. The problem I faced was in trying to learn all of the lines and variations. The Sicilian has more lines and variations than any other chess opening I know! I felt it would take me years to learn to play against it effectively. I eventually learned that this is typical, and it caused me to develop a particular repertoire in order to continue my growth as a player.

In developing that repertoire, I needed a weapon against the Sicilian, something to take Black out of his favorite variations and into a line with which he may not be at home. I found the Morra. (It was originally called the Morphy Gambit!) I liked it because it gave me a lasting initiative, it took my opponent out of his pet line, it was a violently attacking offense, and it was not known well by most players. I call the Morra the “Anti-Sicilian”, and play it routinely against the Sicilian, as you can see from my games. It normally generates a fine queenside attack, with open lines.

Playing white in the Morra, it is essential to focus on certain lines and squares. I will help focus on them during this discussion of the game.

Now, to the game, keep your eye on the board, not on the pieces. Note that the emphasis is not on moves, it is on maintaining an initiative and improving the board in favor of White:

White Black
alfredjwood deep56

1. e4 c5 The Sicilian! A fine defense!
2. d4 … The Morra Gambit.
2. … cxd4 The Morra Gambit Accepted.
3. c3 dxc3
4. Nxc3 … Let’s take our first look at the situation: White has a knight developed, and open lines for his two bishops and queen. Black has a pawn.



4. … e6 The two major continuations for black are e6 or d6, e6 is played most often.
5. Nf3 Nc6 Normal.
6. Bc4 …

Let’s look at this, a typical position:



White has developed both knights and a bishop, his remaining bishop and his queen can develop in one move each. He holds d5! d5 is one of the critical squares in this opening. Black’s d-pawn is backward, allowing d5 as an outpost or pivot point for white. Black has developed one knight.

6. … a6 This is a necessary move, but it is premature. Black is behind in development and should attend to his development first. In the Morra the key squares are usually on the queenside: d5, b5, and e5. Other squares which become important with normal development are b6 and c7. White will be playing to control the key squares. This move, a6, disputes the key square b5, but it may be premature.
7. Qe2 … The queen must come to e2 or c2 in order to vacate d1 for the occupation of the kings rook after castling. White’s two rooks will play to control the open c and d files. In similar positions, Qe2 is correct unless there is good reason for Qc2.
7. … d6 This is a typical position in this opening. Black is playing the opening well.
8. 0-0 … The first step in bringing the rook to the important e-file, where it will pin the black e-pawn against the black queen.
8. … Be7 A developing move, but perhaps Nf6 is stronger, disputing d5 and attacking e4.
9. Rd1 … The rook seizes the d-file, pinning the black d-pawn against his queen.



9. … b5 This is the first inaccuracy by black. Still, it is often played by strong players. White now has a target on the key square b5.
10. Bb3 Qc7 This is a good square for the black queen. The pin on the d-file is relieved and the queen is developed.
11. Bf4 … This develops the bishop, and pins the black d-pawn against the queen on the b8-h2 diagonal!



11. … Bb7 Black brings the queens bishop into play, striking at d5 should the c6 knight move. In the game Whitby vs. Basman in 1962 (Whitby was the Under-18 British champion), Black played Ne5 and subsequently lost the game. The square d5 must be contested because of its importance.
12. Rac1 … This is a typical position of the white pieces in this opening. Let’s look at it:



Whites pieces are all active. The rooks hold the c and d files, bishop, knight, rook and pawn hold d5, bishop and knight dispute e5. Queen and knight dispute b5. All critical squares are covered by white. Black’s position looks solid, but appearances are deceiving.

12. … e5 A typical move. Black must try to gain some center. Unfortunately, it results in a backward pawn on d6, and removes a defender from e5!
13. Nd5 … With this move, white occupies the outpost d5. This occupation restricts blacks options, and the knight strikes at important squares in the black position. Except as a defender of the castled position, a knight is normally offensively weaker than a bishop when it is on the first three ranks, but a knight becomes stronger than a bishop when it reaches the fifth rank! An outpost for the knight on the fifth or sixth ranks is highly desirable.
13. … Qd8 The queen returns to the home square. White has gained tempo from this double Queen move.
14. Be3 … Joining the knight on the strike on b6.
14. … Rc8 Disputing the c-file.
15. a4 … Beginning an attack on b5. Remember, this is a critical square in this opening.

15. … Nf6 The knight comes into play, disputing d5 and attacking e4.
16. axb5 … Beginning the attack on the queenside with the assault on the key square.
16. … Na5
17. bxa6 … Continuing the assault.
17. … Nxb3
18. Qb5+ … The beginning of the end. White controls the critical lines and squares. Let’s look at the position:



18. … Qd7
19. axb7 Nxc1
20. Nxf6 Bxf6
21. bxc8(Q)+

An example of the need to see the board, not the piece: to play the board, not the piece.
My compliments and appreciation to Deep56 for an interesting and enjoyable game!
Al
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