0 Training with Morphy

Playing set positions against a computer develops technique. It is one thing to claim that Black has a decisive advantage, but quite another to demonstrate that advantage against an emotionless monster. During the wee hours of the morning earlier this week, I played out positions from Schulten -- Morphy against Hiarcs on the iPad. The app gives Hiarcs's rating as 2950.

I started with the position that I marked as a decisive advantage for Black in my annotations to the game..

Black to move

Morphy's move is correct and leads to a decisive advantage, so I played 13...Rxe2 to start the game against the app. I set the time control at 10 minutes.

14.Nxe2 Nd4 15.Rb1

Hiarcs deviated from Schulten's play, permitting me to win the queen.

15...Bxe2+ 16.Qxe2 Nxe2 17.Kxe2

Black to move

According to point count chess, I am ahead two points--queen and knight for a rook, bishop, and two pawns. At the same point in the game, Morphy was materially down a rook and two pawns for two knights. By sacrificing material, Hiarcs has reduced the vulnerability of White's king.

I went on to win the game, but I missed a few instructive tactics that were revealed when I went through my play later that morning with Stockfish.

17...Qe7 18.Kf3 b6 19.Rhe1 Qb7+ 20.Kf2 Qa6 21.Rec1 Re8 22.Kf1 h5 23.h3 Qc8 24.Kf2 Qc5+ 25.Kf3

Black to move

I played 25...h4.

I could have played 25...Ng4! 26.hxg4 hxg4+ 27.Kxg4 Qf2.

In this game, it seems beneficial to be down material because that is how the White king is rendered vulnerable to attack. If White tries to keep the bishop, the king might get mated.

After winning this game, I started anew from one move earlier in the game.

Hiarcs (Schulten) -- Stripes (Morphy)

12...Nxc6 13.Bc3

Hiarcs found an improvement over White's play.

Black to move

I drew the first game, played more aggressively in the second and lost. On the third effort the following morning, I managed to score a victory.

13...Nd4 14.Bxd4 Qxd4

Hiarcs played 15.c3 here in the game that was drawn, but 15.Rc1 in the other two.

After 15.Rc1 Rad8 16.Nf3, we reach the next diagram.

Black to move

Black is still down two pawns while White's forces have hope of completing mobilization.

In the third game, I played 16...Qe3, but Stockfish considers 16...Bxf3 superior by the value of a minor piece.

This exercise demonstrated that I have work to do learning to exploit an initiative after having sacrificed material to achieve it. In the first two games, I regained the sacrificed material but slowly lost my advantage. In one case, the initiative transferred to White and the silicon beast prevailed.

My win came as a result of a combination that gained material superior to the pawns that Morphy had sacrificed.

17.Qd2 Qxd2+ 18Kxd2 Ne4+!

White to move

19.Ke3 Nc3+ 20.Kd2 Nxe2

I have a bishop for the two pawns. Moreover, my pieces are more active than White's.

Detail: Training with Morphy

0 Training with Anderssen

Imbalances are the doorway to planning.
Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess, 4th ed. (2010)

In Adolf Anderssen's well-known miniature against Carl Mayet, Anderssen missed the best move. Many ambitious players study this game because it is the first in Rashid Ziyatdinov, GM-RAM: Essential Grandmaster Chess Knowledge (2000).

Mayet,Carl -- Anderssen,Adolf [C64]
London, 1851*

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.0–0 Bg4 7.h3 h5

The infamous fishing pole.

8.hxg4 hxg4 9.Nxe5

Black to move

9...g3?

9...Nxe4 is clearly winning.

10.d4 Nxe4 11.Qg4?

White needed to play 11.fxg3, when the critical line appears to be 11...Nxg3 12.Re1! Rh1+ 13.Kf2 Qh4 14.Nf3+ Ne4+ 15.Ke2 Qe7 when Black has nothing to show for the sacrificed knight.

11...Bxd4 12.Qxe4 Bxf2+ 0–1

After 9...Nxe4! 10.Qxg4, we have one of the positions that I put in front of a group of scholastic players last week (see "Sacrificial Attack", problem 2). The answer I expected from the students was 10...Bxf2+ 11.Rxf2 Rh1+ 12.Kxh1 Nxf2+ 13.Kg1 Nxg4 and Black has won White's queen, regaining the sacrificed material with interest.

White to move

Analysis Diagram After 13...Nxg4

Of course, White will capture the knight leaving Black with a queen and pawn for three minor pieces.

How should Black then convert the advantage?

14...Qh4 is forcing. 15.Nf2 seems the only sensible move. 14...Qh4 is also the computer's choice.

Starting from the resulting position, I played out the game against Stockfish. I maintained the advantage until White's pieces became active. Then, my position began to deteriorate. Small human errors against a silicon monster eventually concedes the advantage.

I tried the second best move: 14...Qd3

White to move

Analysis Diagram After 14...Qd3

The imbalance that seems easiest to play against is White's underdeveloped queenside.

Rather than frustration stemming from failure against the computer, I quickly provoked the machine's resignation.

Stockfish -- Stripes,J

15.Ne3 f5 16.g3 g5 17.b3 f4 18.gxf4 gxf4

White to move

19.Kf2

I expected 19.Ng2 and planned 19...Kd7 when I have a rook and queen against a knight. Pieces that cannot join the fight are not part of the material count.

19...fxe3+ 20.dxe3 Qc2+ and Stockfish resigned. 0-1

*ChessBase's database has Berlin 1859 for this game, matching how the game is presented in David Levy and Kevin O'Connell, Oxford Encyclopedia of Chess Games, Vol. 1 1485-1866 (1981), 280. However, Levy and O'Connell cite Leopold Hoffer and Johannes Hermann Zukertort, eds., The Chess Monthly 3 (1882), which states the game "was played during the London International Tournament of 1851" (212).

Detail: Training with Anderssen

0 Anand -- Carlsen, Game 5

In order to blog the World Championship match, I need to set the alarm to arise early. I was awake a few minutes after today's game began and looked at the game on my iPad from the comfort of bed. An hour later, I looked at the game again and concluded that Viswanathan Anand was not getting much with the White pieces.

When the alarm went off, I made coffee and fed the dogs. By the time I settled into my chair to check on the game, it was over and Magnus Carlsen and Anand were sitting at the board discussing the game. The press conference started a few minutes later.

Reporters are proving adept at asking questions the players will not answer.

Magnus, are you still looking for a response to 1.d4?
Maybe.

Vishy, are you playing at your best?
During a match is not the time for such analysis.

Magnus, after 22.Qf3, did you feel as if you were playing against yourself?
No, but of course it is more pleasant to play White in such a position.

Anand,Viswanathan (2792) -- Carlsen,Magnus (2863) [E16]
WCC Sochi (5), 14.11.2014

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2

5.Nbd2 is also playable, but Anand's move is vastly more popular.

5...Be7 6.Nc3 Bb7 7.Bg2

Black to move

After Anand's 7.Bg3

I have had White in this position twice in online games. I misplayed both games, winning on time in a dead lost position and forcing a draw by repetition after squandering a material advantage in the other.

7...c6

Carlsen chooses an uncommon move

8.e4 d5 9.exd5

9.cxd5 has also been played.

9...cxd5 10.Ne5 0–0 11.0–0 Nc6 12.cxd5 Nxe5 13.d6!?N

13.dxe5 Nxd5 14.Nxd5 Bxd5 15.Bc3 Bxg2 16.Qxd8 Rfxd8 17.Kxg2 Rd5 18.Rfd1 Rad8 19.Rxd5 Rxd5 20.f4 f5 21.Rc1 Kf7 22.Be1 ½–½ Komljenovic,D (2465) -- Palac,M (2561) Sibenik 2010

Black to move

After Anand's 13.d6

13...Nc6 14.dxe7 Qxe7

Anand has created an imbalance of bishop versus knight.

15.Bg5 h6 16.d5 Na5 17.Bxf6 Qxf6

The minor piece imbalance has been eliminated. Anand is, however, maintaining the initiative.

18.dxe6 Qxe6 19.Re1 Qf6 20.Nd5 Bxd5 21.Bxd5

Again, there is a minor piece imbalance.

21...Rad8 22.Qf3

Here the game becomes interesting. During the press conference, the players went through a couple of interesting variations that they considered during the game.

Black to move

After Anand's 22.Qf3

22...Qxb2 23.Rad1 Qf6 24.Qxf6 gxf6 25.Re7

Black to move

After Anand's 25.Re7

25...Kg7

25...Nc6 reveals potential dangers in this position 26.Rc7 Ne5 (26...Rd6 27.Rxc6; 26...Nb4 27.Bxf7+ Kg7 28.Be8+) 27.Rxa7.

26.Rxa7 Nc6 27.Rb7

27.Rc7 Ne5 28.f4 Rd7 29.Rb7.

27...Nb4 28.Bb3 Rxd1+ 29.Bxd1 Nxa2 30.Rxb6 Nc3 31.Bf3 f5 

White to move

After Carlsen's 31...f5

32.Kg2 Rd8 33.Rc6 Ne4 34.Bxe4 fxe4 35.Rc4 f5 36.g4 Rd2 37.gxf5 e3

White to move

After Carlsen's 37...e3

38.Re4 Rxf2+ 39.Kg3 Rxf5 ½–½

The match score is 2.5-2.5

Carlsen gets White in the next two games.

Detail: Anand -- Carlsen, Game 5

0 La Bourdonnais's Infantry

McDonnell -- La Bourdonnais 1834

In game 21 of their first match, Alexander McDonnell's knights prevailed (see "McDonnell's Cavalry"). In the next game,Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais gave a demonstration of principles set down eighty-five years earlier in L’analyze des échecs (1849) by François-André Danican Philidor. His pawns decided the battle.

Occasionally, chess writers assert that Philidor's ideas concerning pawns were poorly understood until revived by Wilhelm Steinitz. For example, Dražen Marović offers this historical note in Understanding Pawn Play in Chess (2000).

Not many players followed in Philidor's footsteps. One must advance well into the next century to see another great player, Howard Staunton, exploring such niceties as the restrained engagement of pawns, play against doubled pawns or blockade. (5)

Similarly, in My Great Predecessors (2003) Garry Kasparov suggests that Philidor "was too far ahead of his time: no one was able to play successfully in the manner proposed by him" (13). He observes that La Bourdonnais had studied Philidor's text, but did not adopt his principles.

Although he had studied Philidor's L'Analyse, he nevertheless played in a different, intuitive attacking style, in keeping with his own temperament. (14)

Although we do not see the defensive technique against pawns that Marović asserts would emerge a decade later with Staunton, La Bourdonnais does offer several games that demonstrate the offensive power of pawns. Did he use his intuition, as Kasparov seems to suggest, to see through to the end in the present game? Or, did he calculate?

La Bourdonnais had already won the first match decisively before this game was played. Nonetheless, the players continued until twenty-one decisive games had been played.

Excluding draws, La Bourdonnais leads 13-4. The French player's win in game 22 makes it the eighteenth decisive game.

Beginning with the post, "Three Fighting Draws," I have been going through all of the games in this match. I offer my analysis without reference to engine evaluations.

McDonnell,Alexander -- De Labourdonnais,Louis Charles Mahe [C33]
London m1 London (22), 1834

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 g5 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.d4 d6 

White to move

7.Nd5

7.Nf3 White could drive the queen back with 7...Qh5 8.h4 h6 9.Kg1 Qg6.

7...Kd8 8.Be2 Nc6 9.e5

Both kings are in the center

9...Nge7 10.Nc3

This retreat gives up valuable time

10.Nxe7 Nxe7 11.Nf3 Qh5 12.h4.

10...Nf5

I think that Black has a clear advantage. White lacks compensation for the sacrificed pawn.

11.Nf3 Qh6 12.Ne4 f6

White to move

13.exf6

13.e6 is interesting 13...Nce7 14.d5 c6.

13...Bxf6 14.g4

Is this move a simple error that loses two more pawns, or is it a clever sacrifice that releases White's pieces from their immobility?

14.Nxf6 Ng3+ (14...Qxf6 is simpler 15.c3) 15.Kg1 Nxe2+ 16.Qxe2 Qxf6 and White has little to show for the sacrificed pawn.

14...Nfxd4 15.Kg2

15.Nxd4? Qh3+ 16.Kf2 Bxd4+ with a strong attack for Black.

15...Bxg4 16.h4

16.Nxd4? Qh3+ 17.Kf2 Bxd4+ and Black's attack must be decisive.

16...Bxf3+ 17.Bxf3 Nxf3 18.Qxf3 Ne5 19.Qb3

Black to move

Threatening the b7 pawn and also Qe6.

19...Qg6

19...b6 20.Qe6 Rf8 21.hxg5 and White gets a good game.

20.Qxb7 Rc8 21.Bd2

White is prepared to bring his queenside rook into play, but the vulnerability of his king is significant.

21.h5 was worth considering 21...Qf5 22.Nxf6 Qxf6 23.Bd2.

21...gxh4+! 22.Kf1 Rg8

White to move

23.Nxd6!

Defending the crucial g2 square and also opening the Black king to attack. McDonnell is able to generate counterplay. However, as Black's king eventually finds security, White's decisive weaknesses on the kingside prove fatal.

23...cxd6 24.Ba5+ Ke8 25.Qxc8+

White has recovered all of the sacrificed material.

25...Kf7 26.Qb7+ Be7 27.Qd5+ Kf8

White to move

28.Rd1

28.Qa8+ does not solve White's problems. 28...Kg7 29.Qd5 f3 30.Rh2 Kh8.

28...f3 29.Rd2

29.Ke1 Qg2

29...h3 30.Qa8+ Kg7 31.Qxa7

Black to move

31...Qg2+!!

La Bourdonnais had to be certain that his king would find security from the checks. The queen sacrifice is temporary, and in fact nets a rook. But the bishop is sacrificed by this move, leaving Black's king exposed.

32.Rxg2+ fxg2+ 33.Kg1 Nf3+! 

33...Kf7 34.Qf2+ Bf6 35.Rh2 Ng4 36.Qf4 and White appears to hold.

34.Kf2 gxh1Q 35.Qxe7+ Kh6

White to move

36.Qxd6+

36.Bd2+ fails 36...Ng5

     36...Nxd2? seems to offer White a draw. 37.Qh4+ Kg7 38.Qg5+ Kf8 39.Qf6+ Ke8 40.Qe6+

37.Qf6+ Kh5 and White has run out of checks.

36...Kh5 37.Qd5+ Rg5 38.Qf7+ Kg4 39.Qc4+

Black to move

39...Nd4! 40.Qxd4+ Kh5 41.Bb6 Qh2+ 42.Ke1 Re5+ 43.Kd1 Qe2+ 44.Kc1

Black to move

44...Qe1+ 45.Qd1+ Qxd1+ 46.Kxd1 h2 0–1

Although La Bourdonnais reached a clear advantage from the opening, McDonnell found play for his pieces and gave us an exciting game. La Bourdonnais's belief in the power of his pawns guided his intuition. Or, perhaps, he demonstrated tremendous powers of calculation when the White queen started her assault.

McDonnell will reveal weaknesses in La Bourdonnais's pawns in the next game (see "Pawn Structure Chess").

Detail: La Bourdonnais's Infantry

0 A Simple Pin

Lesson of the Week

As the 2014 Washington State Elementary Chess Championships have concluded, most school clubs have come to an end for the school year. Nonetheless, a few clubs and my class at a home school resource center continue through May. This week, students are presented with a tactical exercise that strong players can solve in a second.

The knights protect each other nicely, but Black's bishop is unprotected. In addition, two White pieces target the f7 square.

White to move

Detail: A Simple Pin

0 Finding a Plan

By the arithmetic of piece value, White has an advantage. Converting the advantage is another matter. How should White proceed?

White to move

I played 33.Nf7, which throws away the advantage in the opinion of Stockfish. Nonetheless, I went on to win when my opponent managed to let a rook get trapped. Twice, my opponent offered a draw, including just before my last move.

Black to move

Final position after 45.Ne5

This game was played at three days per move and lasted two weeks. Most of my moves were made between 5:00 am and 6:00 am on the iPad Chess.com app.

Detail: Finding a Plan

0 Power of Pawns

Lesson of the Week

Rezső Charousek (1873-1900)* emerged on the tournament scene at Nuremburg in 1896, where he defeated World Champion Emanuel Lasker (1868-1941) in the final round. Lasker still won the tournament, while Charousek finished 12th. The manner in which the young Hungarian defeated Lasker led the World Champion to declare, "I shall have to play a championship match with this man some day." However, a few short years later Charousek was dead from tuberculosis.

Before his entry into master tournaments in 1896, Charousek distinguished himself in games against the top players in Hungary and a few others, including the man who wrote the book on the endgame. Johann Nepomuk Berger (1845-1933) was the author of the first comprehensive treatment of the endgame, Theorie und Praxis der Endspiele (1891). In this game against Charousek, however, the Hungarian demonstrates the power of three connected pawns.

Black to move

Charousek played 41...Be3!

41...g3 also wins.

The game finished 42.fxe3 g3 43.Rd7 f2+ 44.Kf1 h2 0-1

One of Black's pawns will promote and the queen will rule the board.

*Rezső Charousek is usually called Rudolf in English language sources.

Detail: Power of Pawns