es S ye ° ot eee sy : J, Je Liu WenzheThe Chinese School of Chess Liu Wenzhe Translated by Jiwu Wang Edited by John Sugden B.T. Batsford. London ANN. OT4Q-OXxT-XTZiFirst published in 2002 © Liu Wenzhe 2002 ISBN 0 713487739 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, by any means, without prior permission of the publisher Printed in Great Britain by Creative Print and Design (Wales), Ebbw Vale for the publishers, B.T. Batsford Ltd, 64 Brewery Road London N7 9NT A member of Chrysalis Books pic A BATSFORD CHESS BOOK Copyrighted materialFOREWORD TO TRE EXGLISK ENITNION n 1981, B.T.Batsford Ltd sponsored a British chess team on a visit to China. This opened a new chapter in the history of chess relations between the two countries, At that time I was a player in the Chinese team. Afterwards 1 often wore a good-quality blue T-shirt with “Batsford” printed on it. I never suspected that twenty years later, Batsford would gladly agree to publish my book. Surprisingly, my life is once again connected with them. I find this exciting and count myself fortunate, Allow me to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to the Batsford publishing house and its hard-working editors! Liu Wenzhe Copyrighted materialABOUT THE AUTHOR iu Wenzhe is Head Coach of the Chinese National Chess Team. He is Vice-President of the Chess Association of China, and Director of its Technical Committee. He is also Vice-President of the Beijing Chess Institute. He is the founder of the Chinese School of Chess. Liu Wenzhe was born in Harbin on 7 October 1940, His original family home was in Dalian city, Liaoning Province. In 1961 he became a chess coach in Beijing Chess Research Centre, Later he became a member of the Beijing chess team and a coach in the Beijing Chess Institute, Liu Wenzhe ‘was the first Chinese player to hold the title of International Master. He is also a Chinese Grandmaster. He won the National Championship in 1980 and 1982. He was appointed to his post of Chief National Coach in 1986, and has been a recipient of a special government grant since 1992. Liu Wenzhe is well known as an expert on Go, XiangQ and Bridge as well as chess. His main contributions to chess consist of founding the theory and philosophy of the Chinese School, achieving tremendous advances in the international performance of the Chinese Team, and fostering many world-class chessplayers. Under his coaching, the Chinese Women’s Team won the Chess Olympics in 1998, and successfully defended the title in 2000 and 2002. ed material Copyriga ) © CONTENTS Foreword. About the Author List of Games In Place of a Preface The Art of Thinking Strategy in Action The Origin and Nature of Chess Models of Chess Thought Opening Principles The Theory of Training The Strategy of Competition The Chinese Phenomenon The New Millennium Postseript Page 30 59 98 131 160 191 219 269 287 Copyrighted materialINDEX OF GAMES Liu Wenzhe - Donner Alterman - Peng Xiaomin Liu Wenzhe - Krogius Ye Jiangchuan - Short Zhu Chen - Tiviakov Korchnoi - Ye Jiangchuan Wang Zili - Portisch Xu Jun - Shirov Qi Jingxuan - Liu Wenzhe Kasparov - Suba ‘Speelman - Liu Wenzhe Kasparov - Khalifman Gheorghiu - Liu Wenzhe Qi Jingxuan - Liv Wenzhe Liang Jinrong - Torre Chiburdanidze - Xie Jun Zhang Zhong - Asrian Volkov - Zhang Zhong Xie Jun - Korchnoi Tosel Xie Jun Matveyeva ~ Wu Minggian Toseliani - Liu Shilan Galliamova - Xie Jun Xu Yuhua - Zhukova Zhe Chen - Smirin Gaponenko - Wang Lei Wang Pin - Marié Qin Kanying - Galliamova Xu Yuhua - Goletiani Xie Jun - Skripchenko-Lautier Zhu Chen = Cosma Vo Hong - Xu Yuhua Wang Lei - Sikorova Xie Jun - Zhukova Qin Kanying - Peptan Zhang Pengxiang - Karpov Zhu Chen - Kosteniuk 197 206 223 247 256 259 262 264 266 271 271 22 273 274 276 278 283 Copyrighted materialWN PLACE OF A PREFACE BY Y) SHU alf a century ago, Mikhail Botvinnik published his work The Soviet School of Chess. From that time on, nobody dared to mount a systematic challenge to the theory of the Soviet School—until Liv Wenzhe’s The Chinese School of Chess was published by Shu Rong Qiyi publishing house, The book is a theoretical summary of China’s chess practices, It is based on a solid foundation of experience, the experiences of Chinese players, coaches and researchers. I believe that Liu Wenzhe’s achievement in building up the theory of the Chinese School of Chess is insepar- able from his deep philosophical understanding. While still at elementary school, Lin Wenzhe spent “big money” on The Complete Manual of XiangQi. The term XiangQi denotes the Chinese version of chess—a relative of standard or international chess. He won the title of Beijing Junior XiangQi Champion at the age of fifteen. He studied the game at the feet of Zhang Dekui, Hou Yushan and Xie Xiaoran. He also became acquainted with Xie Xiaxun, Yang Guanlin, Hu Ronghua, Guo Tishen, Chen Zude, Nie Weiping and other great XiangOQi masters of his generation, and kept up close relations with them. It is also worth mentioning that when he was still at middle school, Liu Wenzhe thoroughly read Mao Zedong’s On Practice, On Contradiction and On Issues of Strategy in the Chinese Revolutionary War, in addition to other philosophical and military works. He also studied Zhou Gucheng’s Formal Logic and other writings on aesthetics. From 1964, prompted by the need to develop chess in China, as well as for reasons of his own ambition, Liu Wenzhe shifted his focus to “standard” chess. He began to show his talent for this game in 1965. When he played against 2 Soviet Grandmaster in that year, Liu Wenzhe applied some modes of thinking from XiangQi to a game of chess, and won the game like floating clouds and flowing water. For well-known political reasons, he was deprived of the chance to play chess from 1966 to 1976. At that time, moreover, he could not even feed his family and himself. All his food for a day was two steamed buns. He would go in his shabby clothes to Beijing Library to translate Russian writings on chess, and would study them when he came back home at night. During those years, he translated more than a million words in total. Copyrighted material8 In Place of a Preface After the “Gang of Four” was de- stroyed, Liu Wenzhe returned to the chess world. He made a remarkable impact on the international scene in 1978, im his first major contest since the Cultural Revolution. He achiev- ed China’s first International Master title. Nonetheless, approaching the age of forty, he realized that his main duty would not consist. in winning honours for himself. He decided to use his chess knowledge and experience to train gifted young Chinese players to become world champions. At the beginning of 1979, Liu Wenzhe published an arti: cle entitled “The Art of Thinking” in Hong Kong’s “Da Gong Bao”. ‘The article discusses his famous game with the Dutch Grandmaster Jan Hein Donner, which Liu Wenzhe won in just twenty moves with a fine queen sacrifice. This article may be seen as the earliest manifesto of the Chinese School of Chess. After the Third Plenary Session of the th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Liu Wenzhe's scope was incteased. He succeeded in blending Chinese modes of chess thought with foreign ones, and constructed the initial theoretical framework of the Chinese School. In 1986 Chen Zude, head of the Chinese Institute of Chess and Chairman of the Chess Association of China, had the unique insight to appoint Liu Wenzhe head coach of the national chess training team. Liu Wenzhe has held that position for fifteen years now. It is in this capacity that he is able to practise the theory of the Chinese School, to examine it constantly and develop it. In 1988 and 1989 he gave a series of speeches to a symposium of the Chess Association of China and the National Chess Coaching Confer- ence. He laid particular emphasis on “methods of playing chess by patterns of thought from XiangQi”, namely the issue of Chinese thinking, In 1991 Liu Wenzhe published an article in the Chinese Journal of Physical Education, entitled “The Chinese Phenomenon Arrives by Moving Mountains and Sweeping Back Seas.” In Beijing in September 1992, at the first national training course for chess coaches, Liu Wen zhe taught “basic concepts”, “basic technique”, “positional theory”, “the theory of strategy” and other sub- jects including computer chess and the history of the game. In 1994 and 1998, similar courses were held in Beijing and Shenyang respectively. More than 150 students attended these three training courses, which produced many outstanding coaches for China. Liu Wenzhe lives for most of the time in his training office. He treats his chess equipment and his com puter almost as family members. He immerses himself in hard work to scale the pinnacle of chess theory. Liu Wenzhe believes that chess originates in the Book of Changes, just as firmly as he believes that the Book of Changes is the source of the binary number system used in computing. The centre of gravity of the chess world is moving east- wards; in the twenty-first century, all eyes will be on the “Chinese phenomenon”, Copyrighted material4 THE ART OF THINKING nthe twenty-third Chess Olympiad, held in the Argentine capital in October and November 1978, the Chinese team — achieved notable success, although this was the first time we had taken part in such an intemational event Among other things, I beat the Dutch grandmaster Jan Hein Donner with a fine move sacrificing my queen. The game lasted only twenty moves, which caused a stir in the tournament hall. I would now like to annotate the game. The impact of psychological factors on the players’ performance willbe specially emphasized, Liu Wenzhe (China) White Jan Donner (Netherlands) Black Buenos Aires, 3 November 1978 Pirc Defence 1 e4 d6 2 d4 D6 3 De3 g6 4 Bed Bg7 5 gd I cannot claim for sure that this was a new move, but I don’t know of anyone who used the same attacking method against the Pire Defence before I tried it with success in the 1978 Chinese Championship. After that continued to study this method and decided to use it in the Olympiad. This game was just the opportunity to do so, especially since my ‘opponent was a famous grand master. 5..h6 Faced with a new challenge, Donner spent half an hour on this move, which is unusual at such an carly stage of the opening. During that half hour I had nothing to do, and was just curious to know what Donner was thinking. Recalling the game now, I think [ was quite pleased with the psychological success of my novelty. An unexpected move ususlly puts a heavy strain on the opponent. Donner was awarded the grand- master title in 1959. He was well known for his defensive technique. When I saw him move his h-pawn, I felt he was putting me in an awk- ward situation. When investigating this plan of attack, I hadn’t antici pated such a straightforward defens- ive strategy. To this day I think Donner’s move was an effective one, although it was censured in some newspaper commentaries. pyrighted material10. The Art of Thinking This was the first time he had played me, and he didn’t know me very well. Still, he should have presents itself as the target for a mating attack, theory is beside the point. 8...06 9 g5 hxgS 10 hxgS eB 11 ‘waa Tcould checkmate Donner in a few more moves AL..exdS 12 Dxds De6 13 Wes 14 Wha “My first thought was to move my queen to h4 in order to give check- mate. I knew my opponent had to play {7-f5 to parry the threat, and I Copyrighted materialthought about continuing the attack by playing the white bishop to c4. Then all of a sudden the idea of a queen sacrifice dawned on me. My excitement took complete control of me. The expectation of victory nervousness at the thought of bo ing it, my responsibility to the team—all these factors crowded into my head at once. If a doctor had been there, he could have known my thoughts by checking my blood pressure and pulse. An experienced player may be sitting at the table looking _ completely self-assured, while his inward state of mind is totally different. To calm myself down, I calculated every detail of the combination again and again, When I felt confident that the sacrifice was sound, I played the queen to hd, then quickly finished the next moves: 14...£5 15 Wh7+ O17 At this point Donner still seemed optimistic, in view of his threat to win the queen with 16..22h8. This was the first time in my life 1 had sacrificed my queen on g6. The move received a good deal of praise after the game. However, Donner didn’t seem too perturbed by it. He The Art of Thinking 11 made his next moves quickly; 1 thought he was trying to rush me into making a mistake. 16..Gxg6 17 &hs+ wh? 18 67+ Bh6 19 g6+ This is where White had the chance to go astray. After 19 Bxh6+ g7, Black would win 19.,.8g7 20 Rxh6+ Donner stopped the clock and resigned; the conclusion would have been 20...+h8 21 S4g7+ dexg? 22 Bh7 mate. After Donner and I signed the scoresheet, my team mate Qi Jing- xuan and the Dutch grandmaster Jan Timman were the first to come to our table. “Splendid!” said Qi; he was full of excitement at the result Donner looked at the board and Timman, and shrugged. | looked at Timman. He was shaking his head Meanwhile, many players came to see what had happened. Max Euwe, then President of FIDE, came and shook my hand to congratulate me on my victory. So did several reporters, On that day the Chinese team won one game, lost one and drew two; so we drew our match with the Netherlands, who were seeded sixth It was through this game that the world had its first chance to become acquainted with Chinese chess- players, the chess movement in China, and me. That is why [ start my book with this game. However, the game is less important than the title of this chapter. I like to call chess the art of thinking, and believe that this phrase expresses Copyrighted material12. The Art of Thinking the soul of the Chinese School of Chess. What does the phrase sig- nify, and when did I first tum my thoughts in this direction? Obvi- ously my ideas on the subject could not have been generated all of a sudden when commenting on one particular game, especially in my mid-forties, I was introduced to board games in my early childhood. 1 started leamimg to play WeiQi (Go) at the age of four or five. At the same age, T often watched adults playing XiangQi (Chinese Chess). After my family moved to Beijing in 1951, 1 played XiangQi almost every day after school, on the ground outside the school gate. I was a top student, so my classmates gave me a nickname—‘little Guo Moro”. XiangQi was my out-of-school leisure activity. In 1955 I gained the tile of Beijing Junior XiangQi ‘Champion. At the time I had the impression that the tournament was ‘very competitive, because all the players were selected by their performance in preliminary contests. Even by today’s standards, the tournament was a big event. I first. came into contact with “standard” chess in 1956, when a National Chess Championship was hheld in Beijing. In the following ‘years I spent a large amount of time in Beijing Library studying various theoretical subjects, especially sues of strategy and methadology. I began systematically studying the theory of chess in 1958. Why did I start then? Probably it was a time for liberating thought and dispelling superstition; furthermore 1 was 18 years old, an age at which people want to show their maturity to oth- ers. It was from that time that the general concept of “strategic think- ing” took shape in my mind, and I felt I should connect it with chess. The topic is so big and important for me that I still work on it today It is my philosophy not just to leam from others but also to criticize their theories. At that time, the Russian theory that chess is “a combination of ‘science, art and sport” was well known in China. After studying their theories, I was very appreciative of the Russians’ contribution to the study of the game, and yet I felt that their ideas failed to grasp the inner essence of chess. This feeling was strengthened when I read The Soviet School of Chess. The thought occurred to. me that I ought to develop a Chinese School of Chess, although I had no clear idea of how to do it at that time, My instinct to criticize every- thing, together with the weak posi- tion of China in the world, encouraged me to do my best for my country. In order to study strate- gical issues, I developed an interest {in war strategy, military thought and science, which, I believe, represents a pinnacle of human ingenuity. 1 hhave always been interested in these topics; studying them has become part of my life. Within the limits of the library resources of that time, I studied most of Mao Zedong’s philosophical and military works. 1 also studied some other Marxist works on methodology and strategy. My researches were thorough and I took copious notes. Finally | under stood the theory of strategy comprehensively The game of chess is basically a competitive application of thought, which also includes many elements of art. Science exists in art, and this Copyrighted materialscientific element—given _ its connections with such topics as psychology and the “thinking” of computers—reaches far beyond the confines of a game, However, as a human activity, art is more difficult than science and stands above it. We have fewer geniuses in the arts than in science. This may be the reason why people regard the artistic gift as most important. Many important scientific issues are solved with the help of art, The pattem of thinking in chess is different from general thinking. It transcends it and rises to the level of art and creativity INTRODUCING THE CHINESE SCHOOL OF CHESS In the last few months of the year 2000, the Chinese women’s team won almost all the available gold medals in major chess contests—a heroic feat signalling a glorious future in the new millennium! On 25 December 2000, the China News Agency took the lead in reviewing China’s ten greatest sporting stories of the past year, Seventh on the list was the story of the 34th Chess Olympiad, which finished on 12 November in Istanbul, and in which the Chinese women defended their title as the World Champion team. Afterwards, in the individual World Championships, the __ first-ever all-Chinese final took place, between Xie Jun and Qin Kanying. The world of women’s chess had entered the “Chinese era”, On the day after this report, Xinhua News Agency similarly commented on ten major Chinese sporting events of 2000. This time, The Art of Thinking 13 the triumphs of Chinese female chessplayers were placed third on the list. On 29 December a further list_ was announced jointly by a leading sports journal and a television station, and the same chess successes—including Xu Yuhua’s victory in the FIDE World Cup in Septernber—were mentioned in second place. These comments from authoritat- ive media organizations suggested that the achievements and dominant status of the Chinese women's team were well recognized. This recogni tion was echoed throughout the chess world. There is a feeling that the fortunes of chess are moving towards the east, and many people want to know how and why this has come about. Ever since the day when the national chess team’s training centre was established in 1986, I have held the post of head coach. It is my re~ sponsibility to look back on the past 15 years and sum up the experience of our training programme Here I want first to say something that is not irrelevant to the topic Traditionally, in Chinese athletics, the bulk of the interest is focused on champions. Yet in Europe and North America, where there is a strong tendency to “regard men as superior to women,” the Chinese men’s chess team actually attracted more attention than the women when it finished fifth in the 1998 Olympiad. In the chess world, people are apt to think that only the men’s performance represents a nation’s chess level, Fifth place was the best that the men’s team has obtained since it started participating in world team Copyrighted material14 The Art of Thinking competitions 20 years earlier. At ‘one time, its average place was about sixteenth, That, however, was in the era of the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union disinte- grated, at least 11 of its former constituent republics had a higher average level than the Chinese team. On top of this, Yugoslavia split up into five countries, at least three of which were above the Chinese level. Moreover, many chess masters from the former Soviet Union emigrated to other countries such as the USA, Israel, France and Germany. These players raised the standard of chess in those countries. It has therefore been said that the Chinese men’s team is now, in reality, the second strongest in the world, surpassed only by the Russians and other players from the former USSR. This opinion may sound a little preten- tious, but it partly reflects the objective state of affairs. China is the one country that is able to challenge Russia's position of hegemony in the chess world, The Chinese results in any one international contest are not viewed in isolation; people see them as part of a process of advancement over a period of about ten years, Since Zhu Chen gained the title of World Girls’ Champion in the under12 age group in 1988, the Chinese women’s team "has produced two Women’s World Champions, one Women’s World Cup Champion, and three World Junior Champions. China has pro~ duced two World Champions in each of the under-16, under-14 and under-12 age groups, and in 2000 a Chinese girl also took the under-10 title. In the 1990, 1992 and 1994 Olympiads, the Chinese women’s team finished in third place, In 1996 they were second, They won the tournament in 1998, and success- fully defended their Championship in 2000. The Chinese men's. team achieved two second places in the World Junior Championship, and two champions in the under-14 age group, Between 1990 and 2000, nine Chinese men and the same number of women gained Grand- master titles. The men’s achievement might appear to be less brilliant than the women’s, But in fact the Chinese men’s team put in a remarkable performance at the World Chess Cup in 1993. The Chinese results at the 33rd Chess Olympiad in 1996 reverberated throughout the chess world. The men’s team not only defeated many top-class opponents; they played ten successive rounds on the “podium”, that is the area of the playing hall allocated to the ten teams leading the contest. If you look up the tournament bulletins, you will see how often they refer to the Chinese successes, for which an explanation was sought by many reporters who interviewed me, One French reporter, who is the son-in-law of Lev Polugayevsky, once a top grandmaster in the Soviet Union, had a long talk with me. He asserted repeatedly that China and France ought to _ exchange information on chess. There were some questions that continued to perplex him until the end of the in- ferview. For example, in recent years, France has hired four or five famous grandmasters from the former USSR, including ex-World Champion Boris Spassky, to assist the development of chess in the country. Yet no foreign chess- players have been imported into China. Chess in France has a history Copyrighted materialof three or four hundred years, but it is only about twenty years since China first started participating in the Chess Olympiads. The centre of the chess world is in Europe, and French people have been inclined to see their country as Europe’s centre, whereas China's geographical position is far away. Was China (the reporter asked) going to invite foreign coaches in? If not, who would train Chinese players? 1 answered all his questions, but he obviously didn’t understand why France could not attain so many outstanding successes as China, He did not ask me that question directly; had he done so, he would have had to find the answer himself. Tican say nothing about it. At any rate, [ought to make no comment as to which are the areas where France is at a disadvantage in its chess development. There are some foreigners who give their own opinions on the rea~ sons for the success of Chess in China, In 1996, the coach of the Georgian junior team said, “You seem to have a secret school for training female World Champions.” I assure you that no such secret school exists, Such successes cannot be the work of a single school. I believe they result from three factors: first, an excellent social environment; secondly, a pool of human talent; and thirdly, the School of Chess. A good social environment is the basis of any great achievement. The conditions nurturing the develop- ment of chess in China can be char acterized as follows. Support from society: Since Chine opened its doors to the world twenty years ago, the Chinese economy has The Art of Thinking 15 developed vigorously and_ living standards have rapidly risen. People see chess not only as a vehicle for international association but also as a means of bringing honour to their country, Besides, they think chess is an important area of culture, More and more people take up chess education as a career. They understand chess as an. intellectual investment. The Chinese government values the sport, the media are paying more attention to it, and there is an increasing amount of corporate sponsorship for it. The social environment in China is getting better. Chessplaying tradition: In Europe, the history of playing chess goes back several centuries, There is not the same history in China, How- ever, China has a thousand-year- Tong tradition of playing XiangQi (Chinese Chess), XiangQi and chess have a common origin. They have much else in common, strategically, tactically and technically. In chess, methods of play that recall the character and mode of thought of XiangQi are a Chinese player's forte. System of training: Elementary and middle schools, youth chess schools, national youth training centres, and national training teams—all these institutions system= tically train players at different levels. The Chinese Institute of Qi (incorporating chess, Go and Xianggi) is one of the biggest chess institutions in the world, and provides some of the world’s best training facililties. Coaching: There are three levels of training: school teaching, professional training, and individual coaching. Schoolteachers provide Copyrighted material16. The Art of Thinking chess training in elementary and middle schools, while the training of high-level chessplayers is entrusted to coaches. The latter are the key to a nation’s chess development, China has a body of high-level coaches. Their elite is the coaching group of the national team. Organization of competitions Competition is a means of training, not merely a test by which the results of training are measured. The correct administration of — the competition framework plays a huge role in developing chess as a national sport. The national rating system established in 1980 is an important part of this framework. It has functioned well for 20 years. Our methods for selecting the Olympic team are the result of thor- ough research. In recent years, more and more high-level international contests have been held in China. Can we say that a good environ- ment such as I have outlined will inevitably produce World Champions? There are more than 160 countries in the world that participate in international chess. It is hard to say that they all lack an overall environment similar to China’s. I therefore believe that the existence of a constellation of talent is a further essential reason for China’s success at chess By a constellation of talent, I mean the simultaneous emergence of a large group of extremely talented human beings. This phenomenon has occurred several times within recorded human history, but is still a comparative rarity. In any field of endeavour, there will be one or two talented people who stand out and attract widespread attention within society. They inevitably wear the crown of genius, especially if their activity is in the literary arts or in the world of sport. This may happen in a single country, but it is another thing if someone is acknowledged as a genius by the whole world. If several such geniuses are found at the same time within the same sphere of activity, the phenomenon is extraordinary. In Chinese history, in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Time of the Warring States, it is recorded that “a hundred schools of thought” contended with each other. Now 2000 years have passed, and that period has never been "repeated. The Italian Renaissance produced a host of artistic talents. People all over the world have studied these talents for several hundred years without reaching agreement about them. To return to the restricted realm of chess, the five or six top female players of 20 years ago all lived in the capital of the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. People in the ‘chess press called this the “Georgian phenomenon”. It was unprecedented in chess history, and seemed to be quite a large coincidence. It was not ‘expected to happen again. About ten ‘years later, in the late 1980s, three Hungarians, the Polgar sisters, appeared on the chess scene. Yet for all their talents, coming from the same family, they could not be regarded as a constellation of talent. ‘They are too small a group for that. ‘There should, at least, be more than five in a constellation, and they must appear continuously during a certain period of time. In March 1991, the authoritative Soviet chess journal 64 published an article by the senior theoretician Nikolai Krogius which astutely Copyrighted materialpredicted that five or six world-class female chessplayers would simul- taneously appear in China. In July 1998, in the FIDE list of the world’s $0 highest-ranking female players, which is normally announced every six months, six of the names were Chinese, (If you also count Peng Zhaoquin, a Chinese player who adopted Dutch nationality, the Chinese contingent is the i the list.) The six names are Xie Jun, Zhu Chen, Qin Kanying, Wang Pin, Wang Lei and Xu Yuhua. They are all are members of the national team; they all grew up to become first class players. This is a constellation of talent. It happened in China and is providential for the Chinese chess movement. The emergence of a body of talent cannot be completely explained by the workings of chance. A good social environment prepares suitable soil in which talentead individuals can grow. But the Chinese School of Chess, its thought, theory, viewpoint, method and practice, provide enriched nutrition for this talent. A so-called school of chess means a body of players sharing a common viewpoint on the theory of the game, who apply their theory in practice and achieve outstanding results. (This definition is taken from the Soviet Dictionary of Chess.) There have been four main “schools” in previous chess history. The first is the Italian School. It appeared in the sixteenth or seven- teenth century. The school saw chess as art. Its style of play is filled with romantic colour. It sought to demonstrate the marvels of the game and its inexhaustible potential for tactical combination. Its main The Art of Thinking 17 contribution to chess is its treatment of Open Games and its research on endings The second is the “Classical” School, with its origins dating from the middle of the eighteenth century, Philidor is its forerunner: Steinitz is its founder. This school emphasized the scientific nature of chess and the scientific method- ology of its study. Steinitz clearly stated, “Position is the basis of planning.” The school dominated the chess world for 150 years. Its main contribution lies in closed types of game and the principles of positional theory. The third of the chess “schools” is the Hypermodemn School. It estab- lished itself in the early twentieth century—more exactly, between about 1910 and 1920. It challenged the long-standing dominance of the Classical School, It ostentatiously criticized the dogmatism of Tarrasch, the Classical School's theoretical leader, and emphasized chess as a competitive activity. The Hypermodern School __ pursued strategic complexity and valued non-rational factors, Its main repre~ sentative works are Nimzowitsch’s My System and The Praxis of My System. Its main contribution is in the theory of strategy and semi- closed openings. Although this school had a short life in dominating the chess world, its theory, view- point and method exerted a very profound influence on chess theor- tical circles. The fourth “school” is the Soviet School. Its most representative figure was World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik, He thought that chess was the fine combination of science, art and sport. It was the art Copyrighted ma ial18 The Art of Thinking of athletics. Since Soviet players contributed so much to the theory of chess and registered such great achievements in practice, the school has supplied the — mainstream influence on the chess world over the past sixty years, Its characteristic may be summarized as “solving competitive and artistic questions by scientific methods”. It made a special contribution to opening theory in its treatment of semi-open games. In 1972. the American Bobby Fischer defeated his Soviet opponent and gained the title of World Champion. This _epoch- making event altered the attitude of the Soviet School. Whereas before it had vigorously propagated its theory, it began to adjust to an attitude of “pragmatism”. Throughout the history of the main schools of chess, we can observe that the establishment and development of any school are bound up with three factors. (1) The school presents an integrated theoretical system. (2) Great achievements result from practising the theory, (3) The school’s characteristics “are strikingly representative of its era. In 1996, at the World Junior Chess Championship, a well-known German authority stated for the first time that “the Chinese School of Chess" was something that should be studied. In May of the following year, the English magazine Chess published an article referring to the character of “The Chinese School of Chess”. The article discussed my game with Donner, played twenty years earlier. The concept of the Chinese School of Chess is of epoch-making significance. It is a good thing that the concept was first introduced to the world by foreigners. When China captured the individual Women’s World Championship in 1991, 1 had an ‘opportunity to introduce the Chinese School to the public, but thought that the time was not ripe. I felt I should wait until the Chinese team gained more successes in practice, because only then would people listen to me. No matter how good your theory is, you cannot say so until you can prove it in practice, When the Xinhua News Agency published an article of mine on the “Chinese Phenomenon”, the Chinese Sports Daily reprinted it under a title of its own: “The Chinese Phenomenon Will Come with Supreme Power and Might.” This style of propaganda has rarely been seen in the newspaper's history, and at the time I was shocked. I was worried that we might mot register enough achievements to live up to the prediction, although at the same time I was confident it would happen, Considering how many cham- pionships Chinese players have won in recent years, now is the right time for me io introduce the Chinese ‘School. The theoretical issues con- nected with the School will be elab- rated in these pages. In August 1985, Chess and Cards Weekly published my article “Chess Thinking” as a three-part series. In this article I discussed the “three elements of chess thought"— namely theory, calculation and intuition—and gave my own explanation of the concept of “intuition”. I pointed out that it was mainly “thinking in images", without dependence on any logical Copyrighted materialfactors. I also listed 34 components of positional evaluation. The topic is developed in chapter 4 of this book In 1986, Chen Zude took up the post of Director of the Chinese Institute of Chess. He had a talk with me about the future development of chess in China, and appointed me chief coach to the national team. Our goal is to raise ourselves to top place in the chess world. Selecting talented players, planning and managing the team, developing the players” competitive abililties, organizing the methods of training and the techniques of directing competitions—my job provided me with an excellent opportunity to advance and practise the theory of the Chinese School. Throughout the team’s history, the process continued step by step and was effective. Teaching by personal example as well as by verbal instruction, I can say without exaggeration that my chessplaying skills and moral authority influ- enced every member of the national team. A good coach is the key to devel- oping one's skills; coaches should therefore be given a strategic role. With the help of the Chinese Institute of Chess, I have organized three national training seminars for chess coaches. The training classes embraced a wide variety of contents. Among other things, I gave lectures on “Basic Concepts”, “Basic Technology”, “the Theory of Position”, “Strategic Theory”, “Chess Computing and Chess Edu= cation”, and so on. The first training seminar was held in Beijing in September 1992. The second, also in Beijing, took place in August 1994. The third was held in The Art of Thinking 19 Shenyang in February 1998. They are described in more detail in chap ter 6 of this book. The 150 students who attended the seminars are all chess educators or coaches in ferent training units. They not only have practical experience, they also know the history of the chess schools. When [I learnt that in the students’ opinion my lectures had presented “a unique system”, I knew that the training seminar had not only taught them how to be quali- fied coaches but also initiated them into the Chinese School of Chess. T have said that I began studying chess theory in 1958—although I had written several articles before that. In the twenty years up to 1978, my chess skills and my ideas on the game atiained what was basically their final form, My experiences during the ten-year “unprecedented” Cultural Revolution have been reported elsewhere. At that time I was not studying how to tum myself into a World Champion. My brain is very sober. I realized that in view of my age, I was not suited to take up the fight myself. In a way it was a pity. However, I believed that 1 could reach the summit of theoreti- cal research on chess People with a general knowledge of the science of thinking are aware of four modes of thought: (1) expe- riential thinking, (2) logical (formal) thinking, (3) dialectical thinking, and (4) intuitive (inspirational) thinking. Here I do not intend to comment on these thinking modes. What I want to say is that there is also another mode, namely strategic thinking, It represents thinking on a higher level, and is based on the achievements of the previous four kinds of thought. ytighte20. The Art of Thinking For more than two centuries, posi- tional understanding has been the main focus of theoretical investiga- tions into chess, To some degree it can be said that a player’s strength depends on his ability to appraise positions. Therefore coaches, theo- rists and players all give particular attention to positional theory. Here I developed a theoretical framework based on thirty-seven static factors and thirty dynamic factors, Further thoughts on a player's “positional sense” will be found in chapter 4 Concepts constitute the founda- tion of a theoretical structure, The establishment of a theoretical concept only results from arduous work. Classifying one concept usually takes months or even years. Every important concept could be developed into a book of its own. In the realm of basic technigues, I classified over a hundred technical and tactical factors, which go to ex- plain seventeen differences between technique and tacties in chess. The Chinese School has its distinctive understanding of the opening, In the past, although the various schools differed in their approach to the openings, they all insisted on two principles: fast development, and occupying the centre as soon as possible, The Chinese School criticizes the principles used by the other four schools. It thinks that their so-called “theory of the centre”, “theory of development” and “theory of tempo” are all based on an inadequate understanding of chess. The Chinese opening principles— strategy, structure and space—all begin with the letter “s", so they can be called the “three S” principles. This issue is discussed in chapter 5 The theory of training is an important part of the Chinese School of Chess. Many opinions on this subject have been seen in news~ papers and magazines over the past ten years, but here I would like to Tepeat some significant points. The trainer’s task may be divided into training in the technical understand- ing of chess, and the training of a player’s competitive qualities. The latter aspect has received little attention in previous literatures; theoreticians in the former Soviet Union discussed it only in terms of limiting the opponent's freedom of action, As to the technical aspect of training, two points are particularly important, namely the analysis of one’s owns games and the study of middlegames. What is the theoreti- cal basis for this? How to divide a game into different phases is a large and debatable subject. You can say that the game falls into three phases, or five, nine or eleven. The dividing lines are for different purposes, but theoreticians concur in regarding the key phase as the middlegame, the part of the game that offers the greatest. wealth of — winning opportunities. In order to focus on middlegames, the national team has not given its players any lectures on openings. Can it be said that the Chinese players’ openings are weak because of this? Things are not so simple We have not heard any negative comments on our players’ openings from foreign opponents, From the games played by Chinese players in the fast five Olympiads—about 500 games in all—we find that about equal numbers have been won and lost on the basis of the opening. The national team insists on the principle that we should study ourselves Copyrighted materialabove all, and the consequence of this is that when the results of the opening are dubious, the players at least have a “programme of repairs”. Afterwards they will save their games in the computer database and set about improving their openings. When they know they are weaker in the opening than their opponents, they don’t spend too much time on it but concentrate their energies on the middlegame. Western players are strong in logical thinking; they pay more attention to rules and scientific methods of training. The nules of opening play are relatively easy to learn. In the past, all four major schools discovered and publicized a large amount of knowledge about the openings. In particular, they made discoveries about the phase of transition from opening to middlegame. Western players are stronger in the opening than Chinese players. They have more experience and knowledge of this sphere. If Chinese players want to contend with Western players in the domain of the opening, it may be ten or twenty years before they attain superiority. If there is another area in which Chinese players can gain the upper hand easily, they don’t need to spend huge amounts of time on the openings. Once our players have established themselves in the top thirty in the men’s world ranking list and have no need to prove their skills, they can alter the emphasis of their studies. Basic endgames can be studied within the framework of a fixed classification. People have researched this subject for more than four hundred years and discovered numerous rules for the The Art of Thinking 21 practical handling of complex endgames. In this department, Chinese players have a long way to go to reach the Westem players” standard. An effective method of catching up is for a player to play more endgames while still a child. In this way he or she can absorb knowledge and rules of endgame play. It is more difficult to discover and grasp the rules of the middlegame. Although many perceptive people realize the importance of the middlegame, they have not found a truly scientific way to discover its principles. For those Westem — players. who are accustomed to scientific rules and knowledge, the methods of the middlegame are something of a puzzle. On this point we can say that Chinese players take advantage of the Western players’ weakness In the middlegame a player has to be independent, creative, and sensi- tive to the nature of the position. It is only here that the talent of the Chinese players can be truly demonstrated. What is the character of the Chinese School? British theoret- icians are certainly not very clear about it, but they have an inkling of it. The character becomes a reality only to someone who studies Chinese players’ games and compares them with those of ‘Westem players. In 1988 and 1989, at a conference hosted by the Chess Association of China and a national coaching sym- posium, I gave a speech to a large audience. In this speech I discussed seventeen issues. The main focus was on training, the selection of gifted players, the mechanism of competition, and so on. I have kept Copyrighted material22 The Art of Thinking my notes for the speech to this day. The first thing I wrote on the sheet was: “Methods of playing chess by patterns of thought from XiangQj.” The style of thinking of XiangQi is in fact the Chinese people's style of thinking, because XiangOi is popular in China—we have been playing the game for over a thou- sand years. It can be said that in the course of its history, Xiang@i has become permeated with the essence of Chinese thought. Conversely, the style of thinking peculiar to Yiang- Qi has become inseparable from people’s daily life. Whether or not an individual knows how to play the game, the style of thinking of the Chinese people contains the shadow or reflection of the thinking of XiangQi; and the character of the Chinese School of Chess consists in applying the Chinese style of think- ing to chess. On this point, however, some further explanation is needed. Many Chinese people who are educated in Western culture think it is their duty to criticize the tradi- tional Chinese style of thinking. They want to be reborn and to dis- card this traditional thought com- pletely, but in my opinion it will be very difficult for them to do so. You might say that the Chinese mode of thought is implanted in their brains almost from birth. Traditional Chi- nese thought is referred to as “the thinking of the Book of Changes”, or, as some people say, “the think- ing of the Eight Diagrams”. | shall say more on this subject in Chapter 3. The Book of Changes may be viewed as a book of ancient divina- tion and witcheraft formulae, but in fact it embodies a complete system of Chinese philosophy. The German philosopher Leibniz made a thorough study of the Book of Changes and the Eight Diagrams, and discovered the binary system which is the foundation of modem computer science. The sixty-four diagrams of the Book of Changes match the sixty-four ciphers of heredity. Its supplementary principle is similar to yin and yang. All this shows that intuition and inspiration can discover more about the essential nature of the world than scientific methods, The thinking model of the Book of Changes is reflected in the charac: teristic thought pattern of XiangQi In the years 1984-5 I wrote a series of articles under the heading Philosophical Thinking and Chess Skills. The series includes “The Ori- gin and Nature of Chess”, “Chess Computing and Chess Educ: “The Essence and Strategy of Com- petition”, and so on, Among others, “The Origin and Nature of Chess” was published in Literature and History of Physical Education in April 1986. The article presented two hypotheses on the origin of chess. I also introduced the opinions of Dr Chelevcour, a member of the Far Eastern Institute in the former Soviet Union. According to his research, chess developed from the thought of the Book of Changes. “The 64 squares correspond to the 64 diagrams, the colours black and white correspond to yin and yang. 1 greatly value Dr Chelevcour's find ings, but at the same time I would like to supplement and revise some important details. People who have studied art history know that the origin of art lies in Greece. It is entirely logical to suppose that chess, as the art of thinking, originates from the Copyrighted materialphilosophy of the Book of Changes. If this is true, it explains why the Chinese mode of thought is natur- ally in harmony with the inner logic of chess. It explains why some foreigners have said that “With the Chinese, chessplaying ability is innate.” Chess is a human creation, It is the crystallization of science, art and sport, In the course of its history it evolved from an image of the universe into an image of society. Research on the game and Knowledge about it cannot be separated from studying the nature of chess. When people speak of the conser yative nature of the traditional Chinese thinking mode, they are referring to its qualities of constancy and the golden mean. However, an element of conservativism does not preclude enterprise and a facility for innovation. In this connection, two maxims are worth quoting: “Gain mastery by striking only after the enemy has struck”, and “I will not make any move if my enemy does not move; if the enemy tries to make a move, I will move first.” This tendency’ characterizes all six ‘of the top Chinese women players (though Xie Jun’s style has altered somewhat in recent years). One can readily understand that since no one taught them openings, they are not always very good in this depart- ment—just normal. But once the opening is over, the Chinese girls will start attacking their opponents with all the skills at their disposal. They have confidence in them- selves. The opponents, on the other hand, seem to be tied down; they fail to find good countermeasures, and gradually drift towards defeat Philosophers have said that the thought of the Book of Changes is The Art of Thinking 23 characterized by its vision of the whole, but that its shortcoming lies in “neglect of the details, of formali- zation and quantity”. TI said to be one of the reasons why Chinese science and technology have lagged behind in modern times. 1 do not agree with this opinion, As to the correct understanding of this issue, I intend to set out my argument in an- other book. What I want to argue is that there are many things which definitely have no need of quantity, and that one such thing is chess Chinese players with their instinet- ive understanding of the Book of Changes should have confidence in themselves and make full use of their talents. Although I am not explaining everything about the Chinese School of Chess because of the needs of the Chinese team in future international competitions, the points | have made here should be a sufficient indication of the true nature of the School. The table overleaf gives a simple overview of the major schools of chess. The contest between the Chinese School and the Soviet School (better call it the Russian School now) is just beginning, It will last a long time, at least 20-50 years, Even when Chinese players surpass the Russians in men’s competitions, the Russian school will continue to exist for a considerable period. But the Chinese School will be pre-eminent in the chess world. This is the necessary logic of chess history. Twenty years after the game that began this chapter, China won the 1998 women’s Olympiad and came fifth in the men’s event. The game that follows was the most brilliant played by a Chinese player there. Copyrighted material24 ‘The Art of Thinking uonnadwos jo AFayens SureMIOp [8a130)-UON, Aroayp sturewsp ssoured uado-rw9g Azooip otforens sou paso]s-109g Axoayp peuontsod ‘soe pasoig sSu1pua ‘sau usdoy NOLLO@RLINOD Aampeqisuas pure wySnoy | uouoapiod pue uoneurpi005, ABayens xaqduo spoypous jouoney, sonsea jo Aimeog, ‘TvOD SSTHD 40 STOOHDS YOrvin Surya uv ap st 88999 uo! yadwuod Jo me ap st 88945) uontreduros st 88949) SOUDEDS St SSID Lie St S524 AMOAHL quasaid - S661 quasaad - Aamo (ioz-PIW OZ6I-O161 mua9 YiOZ ‘Aye9-61 PIN, SOUMILIDD {Hg |-tH9| aoniad asauyy ueyssmyAa1A0g, wapouuadsy [woysse}y age] aINYN Copyrighted materialBoris Alterman (Israel) White Peng Xiaomin (China) Black Olympiad, Elista 1998 King’s Indian Defence Alterman and Peng are both In- ternational Grandmasters, Alterman is the captain of the Israeli team. He has visited China three times, and is very well acquainted with Chinese players® styles and characteristics of play. Peng was born on 8 April 1973 in Handan, Hebei Province. He used to play XiangQi. I selected him for our national team. As the team’s youngest member at the time, he was not as strong as others who were top players in their home towns, and for that reason another national coach objected to my selecting him. Fortunately the other coach didn’t have the final say. It ‘was only half a year later that Peng made rapid and brilliant progress, and the man who had opposed me admitted, “You were right and I was ‘wrong. Alterman and Peng. faced each ‘other on board one, The top board players are not necessary the best players of their countries, but their role gives them a symbolic status as their nations” representatives. 1 d4 6 2 cf g6 3 De3 Sg? 4 The Avt of Thinking 25 A standard position in the King’s Indian Defence. Currently available documents show that the diagram position first occurred in a German game in 1883. On that occasion White chose 5 g3, and the result was draw. In 1885, again in Germany, Black's set-up was adopted by Siebert Tarrasch, one of the greatest representative figures of the Classical school The King’s Indian, Grinfeld, Nimzo-Indian and Queen's Indian Defences, and so on, are all semi-closed openings and were vigorously advocated_——sby Hypermodem theorists, Tarrasch, ‘on the other hand, who was the object of the —Hypermoderns’ criticism, considered that the Closed Game (1 d4 d5) was Black's only “scientific” method. It is a joke of history, then, that one of the first players to use the King’s Indian was ‘Tarrasch himself! He lost the game. Of course, playing an opening once doesn’t mean that you particularly value it. The method employed by Tarrasch’s opponent (Englisch) is now known as the Four Pawns Attack: 5 £4 0-0 6 3 Dbd7 7 Le? €5 8 dxeS dxeS 9 freS gd 10 Be5 We8 11 Ads ADgxeS 12 Le7?! @xf3+ 13 Sxf3 06 14 Bxf8 Wxi8 15 Bc3 Wes 16 We3 Des 17 0-0-07!, It isn’t clear what Tarrasch was thinking about at the time, He captured the pawn with 17..@xc4, and after 18 Hd8+ £8 19 Hhd! the game was essentially over. Instead Black must play 17...8e6; if then 18 ‘Wxb7, he continues 18.518 19 he2 Dxc4 20 Sxe4 Wred 21 Wh3 WeS 22 We2 Bb8. In view of his threats against White’s king posi- tion, Black has compensation for his sacrifice, It follows that after move 17 White is not necessarily on top. Copyrighted material26. The Art of Thinking As to the Four Pawns Attack, the methods and opinions of present day theory are totally different from those ofa hundred years ago. The King’s Indian Defence was later developed by Savielly Tarta- kower, one of the representative fig- ures of the Hypermodem School. The fifth World Champion, Max Euwe, advanced its theory further. In the former Soviet Union, several theorists of the Russian school such as Kasparian, Yudovich, Flohr, Bondarevsky, and the seventh World — Champion — Smyslov— systematically investigated this opening in the 1940s. Two players who were later to love the King's Indian to the point of craziness were Bobby Fischer—the American who beat almost all the top Soviet play- ets and became the eleventh World Champion—and Gary Kasparov. Not surprisingly, ‘the authority of all these famous players, the Defence is one of the most popular ‘openings at the present time. In the database of the Chess Assistant program, which stores more than a million games, there are over 160 by Peng Xiaomin, (There are many more games played by him in China that cannot be found in the database!) Against the queen’s pawn opening Peng chose the King’s Indian Defense every time, Such consistency might. seem to make it easier for White to prepare for the game. In fact, however, White is often faced wit a dilemma. On the one hand he will attempt to use his space advantage to force Black into a difficult position; on the other hand, since the main lines of the King’s Indian are tending to become more and more complex, he must consider how to cope effectively with Black's powerful counterstrokes. Some figures may make this clearer. The first diagram position appears in a total of more than thirty thousand games. Of these, 28% were won by White and 30% were drawn—but Black won 42%. Of course the figures are subject to interpretation, the players’ level should be taken into account—but the rate of Black wins is so high that White's apprehensions cannot be called unreasonable. Theoretically White's position after four moves is good, though this is not to say that his structure is superior to Black's, 5h3 At one time most players played 5 £3, but today that move is not as popular as 5 43 or $ Be?. There are nearly three thousand games with 5 £4, but since White fails to gain any advantage from a series of forced exchanges, the system has now almost disappeared from grandmaster practice. Up to June 1999, there are a total of 1302 games with 5 h3; recently the move has reappeared in the repertoire of some grandmasters, Frankly, { don’t believe that 5 h3 is the best way to combat the King’s Indian Defence. 5.0 6 gs Das If you look up the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings, published in ‘Yugoslavia, you will find that, most unfortunately for users of that book, this sequence of moves is not given. The purpose of Black’s last move is to continue with e7-e5 and force White to relinquish control of ¢5. Black's knight can then occupy this square and threaten the e4-pawn The same goal can be attained by moving the knight to d7, but a Copyrighted materialdefect of that formation is that the knight blocks the bishop. In the present game, another opportunity ‘will unexpectedly arise: the knight will go to b4, which would not be possible if it were developed on d7. TAB eS More games feature 7...We8 than 7.05. The purpose of 7...We8 is to avoid exchanging queens by 7.5 8 dxe5 dxe5 9 Waxd8. Peng Xiaomin is not affaid of a simplified position; but then, he also predicted that ‘White would not play that way. 8d5 The only way to ensure a space advantage. There is no need to spend time over such a move. If any defects arise in White's set-up, the reasons for them will be found elsewhere. 8... Wed Preparing his next move which clears the way for the counter-attack £7-£5. This position occurs in 91 games, 984 The has diagram position appeared in 85 games. The moves 5 h3, 6 gs and 9 g4 constitute a coherent plan. The Art of Thinking 27 White’s fundamental strategy in the King’s Indian is to attack on the queenside, using his space advantage to put Black under severe pressure. Black uses the 7-f5 break to counter-attack on the kingside. Theoretical studies indicate that White’s attack is more effective than Black's. To a considerable degree, practice supports this ver~ dict. In many games, however, Black showed that by constantly varying his attacking methods he could put the white king in danger. AS a result, White evolved the plan to limit Black's aggression by open ing the g-file and creating his own kingside threats—as seen in the present game. The key question is where the white king will go. If it finds a reliable shelter, White will be able to mount a fierce attack on the g- and h-files against the black king, It is obvious from the diagram that after his active moves on the kingside White is not going to place his own king in that part of the board. If he leaves it in the centre, it will be too close to the firing line once the Ffile is opened. It seems, then, that the only good place to hide is the queenside. For the time being White can leave the king where it is, to save a tempo for his Kingside play; if danger arises, he can castle at any time. This doesn’t mean White will necessarily be safe after castling long. When the players castle on ‘opposite wings, each one can attack the enemy king. Any price is worth paying to get to the opponent's king first. The key factor is speed and the unearthing of unexpected tactical resources, Copyrighted material28 The Art of Thinking 9..Dd7 In many King’s Indian lines Black is able to move his knight to h5, un- blocking the Epawn and preparing to jump to f4 if necessary. The latter move may involve a pawn sacrifice, resulting in the opening of the h8-al diagonal, which is especially important if White has castled long. In the present game the knight cannot go to h5, but the d7-square is free for it. This can be seen as an additional point of 6...a6. 9... Bd7 oceurs in 34 games, but is not Black's only plan in this position, There are 15 games with 9...th8, 19 with 9..De5, 12 with 9.47, and so on 10 Haz More often White prefers 10 Bgl, which occurs in 23 games while 10 ®d2 only occurs in five. By playing 10 &d2, White wants to entice his opponent into the line of play lead- ing to the next diagram, a special position that Alterman has. studied in advance. The same position could also be reached by transposition, with 10 Bei dh8 11 Ad? £5 etc., but Black might play a different move from 10...€h8. The mainstream continuation is 10 Bgl dhs 11 Wa2, which pre- vents Black from pushing his f pawn, seeing that after 11..f5 12 gxf gxfS 13 &h6 Be 14 &xg7 Exg7 15 Exg7 dxg7 the king is too exposed, Therefore Black will choose 11...deS, when White can- not force events on the kingside. 10..f5 1 gefS gxf3 12 Bgl wh8 The game has wholly entered the middlegame phase. The database has four games with the diagram position; two continued with 13 a3, one with 13 &d3 and one with 13 exfS. Three of these games were drawn, and White lost the other. Practice shows, then, that White's position is not superior. Both sides have developed their forces, but since the problem of se~ curity for the white king has not been fully solved, Black has his chances, His kingside is rather loose, but at the moment White doesn't have adequate forces to at- tack it. However, Alterman prob- ably took a different view of the position. He not only has a new move ready; he has a full-scale strategy for attacking the black king 13 Red This is the innovation. How will Black respond? 13.26 Necessary, as White was threaten- ing 14 2hS. 14 We2 Threatening the f5-pawn and foreing Black to disclose his plans. At the same time White frees the dl-square, preparing to castle long. Afterwards he can double rooks on the g-file and exchange Black's dark-squared bishop. White is Copyrighted materialentirely optimistic about his coming attack on the kingside, 14...Axed Peng Xiaomin's move is made after carefull consideration. Superfi- cially 14...fxe4 looks like the same thing, but can be answered by 15 Axi Lx 16 Ddxed. Though Black's bishop has no opposite number, it is hemmed in by the unshakable blockade of the eS-pawn. 15 Ddxed fred 16 Wed Alterman may have disliked 16 @xe4 RS 17 £3 WhS, when 18 0-0-0 is not good in view of 18...Qb4 19 Wd2 (19 Wb3 xed) Gyxa2+ 20 bbl Db4 21 Wxbd Axed. 165 17 Wh Preparing to castle long, then exchange bishops with &h6. White's kingside threats are substantial. 17...Q)b4 18 0-0-0 We don’t know if 17 Wh4 or 18 0-0-0 resulted from Alterman’s pre-game preparation, but he must have considered these moves normal. White's kingside initiative seems to prove the success of his opening strategy. But... The Art of Thinking 29 18...2xad+! A complete shock for White. If he had anticipated this move, he wouldn't have played 18 0-0-0. Experienced player as he w: Alterman stared at the board lost in thought. He awoke from the dream of winning the game, He realized he would be lost whether he took the knight or not. But no one knows exactly what he was thinking. He may just have been wondering where he went wrong. Clearly 18 0-0-0 is a bad move, but although 18 dl or 18 Bcl would enable White to fight on, the initiative has already passed to Black. The better move of the two is 18 Hel, leaving dl free for the king. After 18...2c2+ 19 cdl d4, this knight which seemed poorly placed ‘on a6 is unexpectedly dominating White’s entire position. White may have to resort to 20 &e3 go 21 gs DS! 22 AxfS ExfS, when Black's initiative is obvious. The strategy of 13 Se2 and 14 We2 would seem to have failed totally. 19 Dxa2 After 19 dd2 Axc3 20 bxc3 Wad 21 Hcl Wa2+ 22 Gel a5 23 Le3 Tf6 24 &eS Wo2 25 Hp3 Hats 26 Edi H6f7, White is a pawn down with the worse position. Black's win would be just a matter of time. 19...Wad 20 &d3 Wrxa2 21 &h6 Axh6+ 22 Wxh6 Walt 23 de? Bxd3+ 24 be3 White is worse after 24 dexd3 ett, 24.,.WaS+ 28 bxd3 EET 26 Bp3 Wad 27 Eel Wb3+ White resigned. Copyrighted materialithout doubt, if 1 ever have the time, I will write a book on strategic thinking. For the past 40. years I have never stopped studying this vast and important subject. Strategic thinking is one of five modes of thought, the other four being: (1) experiential thinking, (2) formal (or logical) thinking, (3) dialectical thinking, and (4) intuitive thinking (thinking in images). Strategic thought is the synthesis of other thinking modes, but it stands above the synthesis. I regard the theoretical system of strategic thinking as the foundation of the Chinese School of Chess. In the present chapter I give two examples of this mode of thinking tion. THE FIRST WIN BY A CHINESE PLAYER AGAINST AN INTERNATIONAL GRANDMASTER In December 1965, Nikolai Krogius led a Soviet chess delegation on a visit to China. They played three matches against Chinese teams in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou. I took part in the Hangzhou match. STRATEGY IN ACTION In every game a player sets him- self a goal. My goal on this occasion was to win at any cost, for the following reasons, (1) Relations between China and the USSR were strained. As a patriot 1 was itching to beat the Soviet grandmaster and thereby vent my feelings on behalf of the Chinese people. (2) It was the first time [ had played an Intema- tional Grandmaster, and I had the advantage of the white pieces. This ‘was a rare chance. Indeed, in those years Chinese players had few opportunities to take part in international contests at all—it was as difficult as scaling the heavens (3) At that time I was twenty-five, young and spirited. (4) Before this game I had played in five matches against. Soviet players, winning three games and drawing two. That was a good performance, so I had confidence in my own powers and was keen to keep on playing and winning. (5) My personality and character as a chess professional gave me mental strength, tenacious fighting spirit and an ambitious approach to every game. Liu Wenzhe White Nikolai Krogius (USSR) Black Hangzhou, 1965 Giuoco Piano Led e52 D3 Deb 3 Led Lcd yrighTralian The Giuoco Piano (or Game) is one of the oldest of open- ings. Compared with other open games, it is easy to learn and use. At the time of this game, it was litle more than a year since I had switched from XiangQi (Chinese Chess) to. standard chess. My knowledge of chess was fairly limited. I still remember that I had three training sessions every day, and Saturday was no exception, 1 only had half a day on Sunday to go back home and visit my parents After lunch, I had to return to the national training centre; the training session began in the evening. I finished reading five volumes of 4 Complete Collection of Chess End- ings in one year. | took notes from the book, and did lots of research on middlegames and —_ openings. However, I didn’t have enough materials for study, and was a novice at that time; therefore my ‘opening repertoire was not wide enough. When I had White | would start with the king’s pawn. If my ‘opponent answered symmetrically, I would play my bishop to c4, When playing Black, 1 answered 1 4 either with I...eS or with the Pire Defence, Against the queen's pawn, Lused the Griinfeld Defence. In my Strategy in Action 31 first-round game in this match against the USSR, I played Black against Shatskes. That game was a Griinfeld, and I won; it was the only Chinese win in that round. 1 remember the other five Soviet players commiserating with my opponent afterwards. They hadn*t expected Chinese players to have reached a high enough standard to beat them. They had lost one game—vell, it was just bad luck. In their minds, the Chinese players’ skills were still on the same level as when they had visited China in 1958 and 1963, My guiding principle was not to compete with my opponent in open ing knowledge, but to transfer the focus of the struggle to the middlegame, because it was only in that phase that 1, as a former national XiangQi player, could bring my talents into play. 403 My computer database incorpor- ates a total of 2840 games with 4 c3 (up to the end of 1998). I never considered switching to 4 b4, the Evans Gambit. I had studied the gambit, and couldn't find ways to win with it 4.216 5 dd Occupying the centre immediate- ly. The database, which includes more than one million games in total, has 1563 games with this move—but my game with Krogius is not among them. As the loser, Krogius certainly didn’t want to publicize it, and Chinese contacts with the outside world are limited, We are not used to introducing Copyrighted material32 Strategy in Action ourselves to the world, and some- times lack the ability to do so. These days, few high-level professionals play 5 d4. This is be~ cause such a move may easily lead to exchanges and simplification The focus of today’s theory and practice has shifted to 5 43, which in fact amounts to a transition from. an open to a closed type of game. At that time I had just begun to study chess theory, and had little idea of a theoretical system, I would start my games by copying a famous opening without grasping its essence—like trying to draw a tiger when you have only a cat for a model. 5..exd4 6 exd4 Lb4+ 7 2d? The database has 645 games with 7 Kd2, but 728 with 7 Be3. Players evidently ‘believe that the latter provides more opportunities. It involves a pawn sacrifice: 7.,.2xe4 8 0-0 &xc3 9 d5, and now Black can_choose between 9.26 and 9...De5. Volume C of the Encyclo- pedia of Chess Openings assesses the situation as unclear, FoaeStxd2+ The immediate bishop exchange is normal, though 7...2xe4 is also playable (there are 54 games with it). Tarrasch, a representative figure of the Classical School, played that way in 1892, Volume C of the Encyclopedia gives this sample con- tinuation: 7.,.Axe4 8 &xb4 Axb4 9 Sxi7+ x7 10 Wb3+ dS 11 Des+ eo 12 Wxb4 c5 13 Wa3 cxd4 14 DIB W6 15 0-0 WIT 16 Des+ Heb 17 43. Levenfish, a theorist from the former Soviet Union, assessed the position as equal There are many differences between Chinese and foreign play- ers in commenting on a chess game. Their goals, principles, method- ology (etc.) are different. Basically, foreigners always put practice first A theorist or critic will look through a game and then state his conclusion, Nobody asks if his comments are right or wrong. His aim is to introduce the game to people but not to give a theoretical analysis of it. For example, at a certain stage of the game (let's say the sixteenth move), the foreign critic may conclude that White has the upper hand. A few days later, someone introduces an improve- ment on move sixteen, and he may say that Black is better. If you think you understand the position better than other players, you have to prove it in practice. The Chinese do more in the way of original research. They can even write a book about an opening without quoting any real games, When a foreigner reads such a book, he must think that the author is talking to himself without any evidence. ‘As to which method is better, the Chinese or the foreign, my opinion is that both have their good points; the ideal would be to combine the Copyrighted materialtwo. In other words, foreigners should do more analysis, but the Chinese may need to support their analysis with more examples I know some famous foreign grandmasters, including some theor- sticians, for example Vladimir Tukmakov, an authority on the ‘openings who now lives in the Uk- raine, I once asked him what he thought of the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings. Surprisingly, he told me that the book was written for children. From this example we can see that foreigners don’t take the book all that seriously, Take the line I have just men- ‘tioned. When Levenfish assesses the variation as equal, there are several points that call for further thought, Position after 10 Wb3+ At this point Black played 10...45, and White inserted 11 eS+ before taking the knight on b4. Black hit back with 12...¢5 and White had to sacrifice the d4-pawn, though this was a small price to pay for the position of Black’s king in the centre. The question is, what if White plays 11 Wxb4 without checking first? Then the move Strategy in Action 33 ®Dbi-c3 will challenge and exchange the centralized black knight, Afterwards White’s own knight can occupy e5, where it will be “unassailable”. Black's light- squared bishop is not such a bad piece, but he cannot create any real threats on the kingside where White has the pawn majority and a strong knight outpost. In fact, White seems to have good prospects. The follow- ing recent game may serve as an illustration: 11_Wxb4 Ze8 12 0-0 bg 13 De3 Dxed 14 bxe3 aS 15 Wb3 b6 16 Bfel Bxel+ 17 Hxel a6 18 BeS Sct? 19 We2 Wd7 20 Be3 He 21 Des Whs? 22 Wes EPs 23 We6+ 1-0. In some games (after 7...2\xe4 8 xb4 Qxb4 9 Oxf7+ dxf7 10 Wb3+), Black refrains from 10...d5 because he doesn't want to weaken the eS-square. After 10...0f8 11 Wxb4+ We7, a queen exchange is forced, so Black minimizes the disadvantage of losing the right to castle. After 12 Wxe7+ dexe7 13 0-0 Hes, as in a game Wedberg-Korman (1987), The Encyclopedia judges the position to be equal. But where does this judgement come from? It seems to be based on the result of the actual game, in which White played one more move, 14 2a3, and the players agreed a draw, However, following the queen exchange, White shouldn't make his next move without thinking. The game has gone straight from the opening to the ending. Given the reduced material and Black’s incomplete development, White should leave his king in the centre and simply play 13 Qbd2. There can follow: 13...2\xd2. (Black has Copyrighted material34 Strategy in Action nothing better; 13...d5_ seriously weakens the eS-square, after which his future is bleak; nor can he im- prove the situation by retreating his knight) 14 sxd2 d6 (necessary in order to deprive White’s knight of the eS-square and release the bishop) 15 Ehel+ dds (the best de- fence; after 15..22f6 16 Bact c6 17 5! £7 18 Bed Hac8 19 Hfd+ bg6 20 Exe8 Exe8 21 Qh4+ eho 22 BBE7 Bd8 23 £4, White has excellent prospects) 16 He3 (a good move which forces a rook exchange, since after 16...218 17 Rael Sg4 18 Ze? it is hard for Black to defend in the long run) 16..He8 17 Exe8+ dxe8 18 Bel+ @f8 19 Bel c6 20 d5 &d7 21 Digs eg8 22 Aes, and White fi- nally penetrates to the weakness in the Black camp. This line is not the only possibility, but it shows how difficult Black’s defence is. He re~ peatedly seems to be on the point of consolidating, but never manages it. The general impression is that 7...xe4 fails to guarantee Black an equal game. 8 Dbxd2 ds There are 20 games with the move 8..2)xe4; the former world cham- pion Bobby Fischer played that way in the US Championship of 1963. His opponent Mednis continued: 9 ‘We2 dS 10 xed 0-0 11 0-0-0 Red 12h3 Sxf3 13 gxf3 dxcd 14 Wicd Wh4 15 dbl Wet 16 ds Des 17 Waxc7 Bac8 18 Wd6 Bed8 (equal ac- cording to the Encyclopedia) 19 We7 Hes 20 Wd6 Hfds (20...eds could lead to a draw by repetition, but as a young player Fischer was out to win) 21 We7 @xf} 22 d6 Qe5 23 Bhel Bd7 24 We5?!. The queens came off, and the white d6-pawn perished. 1 think White should have sacrificed his queen with 24 2c5; then after 2: 25 dxe7 He8 26 Bd8 6 27 BAT 28 gS dexc7 29 Exg7+, White has the material advantage of two rooks and knight against queen and knight. The trouble with 8..xed is a plan devised by Grandmaster Makarychev, another theorist from the former Soviet Union. White sacrifices a pawn for the initiative: 9 ds! Dxd2 10 Wxd2 Ze7 11 d6! cxd6 12 Wxd6 @f5 13 Wes+ We7 14 0-0-0. In Makarychev’s view, White obtains not only compensa- tion but chances of an attack. The plan is convincing. Black is probably not willing to suffer this, 30 today 8,,.2xe4 is rarely seen, There are more than 20 games with 8...0-0, but after 9 d5 Black comes under pressure. The Encyclopedia doesn't men- tion that 8...d6 is playable. There are 25 such games in the computer data- base. Black concedes a space advantage to his opponent, but maintains a solid position and seeks chances in the middlegame. In prac- tice this strategy may appeal to Copyrighted materialsome players, but from the theoreti- cal standpoint it is faulty, There are 495 games with $...d5; theory considers it the only good move, Its function is, first, to pre- vent 9 d5 driving the knight back; secondly, to mobilize the bishop on 8; and thirly, to exchange the black d-pawn for the white e-pawn (this is unavoidable owing to the attack on White's bishop). White's pawn centre will be broken up, and he will be left with an isolated d-pawn. 9 exds Nobody questions this move, as 9 Add dxed 10 Dred Ads gives White nothing. Surprisingly, there are six games with 9 5, but White lost them all. 9...A\xd5 There are at least 493 games featuring this typical position which is highly significant for theory. Each of the players has something that he wants. The popularity of the variation is due to this dynamic equilibrium. White has two basic choices: 10 0-0 and 10 Wb3. Other moves are of Strategy in Action 35 little importance; for instance there are 6 games with 10 We2+, but White scored just one win and five losses. There is 10 h3, preventing a pin with 2c8-e4, but theorists pay no attention to it, In two games White played 10 Se3, but Black should reply 10..2ce7!. On his next move White has nothing better than castling short. This is equi- valent to 10 0-0 0-0 11 eS, but greatly limits White's options, as after 10 0-0 0-0 he has ten choices, not just the one knight move ‘The database has 184 games with 10 0-0. White won 88, lost 57 and drew 39. Statistically, White's performance is not marvellous After Black replies by casiling short, the opening is over and the middlegame battle commences. On the other hand if White chooses 10 Wb3, his opening play is not yet at an end. Of course, in view of the attack on the centralized knight, Black too has to delay finishing his opening. 10 Wb3 Out of 348 games with this move in the database, White wins 126, or 36%; Black wins 102, or 29%, Faced with White's attack on the knight, Black has two main choices. In the first place he can play 10...@ee7, There are 274 games with this move, including Kasparov- Gabdrakhman from 1977. That game is very interesting. Kasparov was only 14 years old at the time, but his strength was obvious: 11 0-0 0-0 12 Bfel 06 13 Wa3 DS 14 Dea Db6 15 &b3 a5 16 Bad | a4 17 Kc2 Copyrighted material36 Strategy in Action Dd5 18 Bc3 Dxc3 19 bxc3 Wd6 20 Wel Dse7 21 Ags h6 22 Ded We7 23 Wa3 DFS 24 Des Dd6 25 Wo4 a3 26 @b3 Eds 27 Bes eB 28 Edel Hxe5? 29 dxeS Abs 30 6 Bxe6 31 Bxe6! b6 32 Wed bxeS 33 Be&+ Exe8 34 Wxe8+ h7 35 Axf7 hS 36 Wg8+ #h6 37 h4 1-0. There is no theoretical advantage in Kasparov’s 13. Wa3, which occurs in 3 games only. The usual move, occurring in 121 games, is 13 a4. In 1980, in a game between Van der Wiel and Karpov, White played 13 Ded; then, after 13,..h6 14 Des Wh6, the Encyclopedia suggests 15 Zad! with a slight advantage. There are 45 games with 13 &e4; White scores 18 wins, 18 draws and 9 losses, Which plan is better for White, 13 a4 or 13 Qe4? I think that 13 a4 might be more practical. It enables White to answer 13..Wb6 with 14 aS, constricting the Black queen- side At move 10, the other plan for Black is 10..a5 (total: 62 games; White wins 19, draws 26, loses 17). In 1989 Karpov chose this method against Short. After 11 Wad+ 4c6 12 Wb3 @as 13 Wad+ &c6, a draw was agreed. It is noteworthy that Karpoy played this way in such an important game; he obviously didn’t think that 10...2a5 was giving any- thing away. And yet after 10 Wb3 Das 11 Was+ De6, it is just as if White had played 10 Wa4 and Black had let him make an extra move. Such cases where your opponent in effect allows you to make two Moves at once are not uncommon in chess openings. Your opponent thinks your piece on a particular square is useless, or even worse than useless, and you have nothing better than to re-position it, An example from the Queen’s Indian Defence is: 1 d4 Df6 2 04 €6 3 DB b6 4 g3 a6 5 b3 Ab7. This is equivalent to playing 4...2b7, then letting White play 5 b3 plus one other move. Or, in the same opening, Black can play 4.67 5 292 &b4+ 6 Bd? Re?, which is as though he had played 5,87 and then “passed” in reply to 6 £d2. Black thinks that White’s bishop is useless on d2 and deprives him of opportunities to advance with d4-d5, To return to the opening of the present game: after 10 Wb3 Mas 11 Wa4+ 2c6, White actually has several options, and from nine games with 12 SbS he has scored four wins, three draws and two losses. One game continued 12... Kd7 13 0-0 0-0 14 Wb3 Dce7 15 Ld3 Ebs 16 We2 Dg67! 17 Axgo with the better prospects. Black may find an improvement; his position is fairly solid, but if he only concen- trates on White’s central isolated pawn he will find it hard to equalize 10...0-0 Copyrighted materialIT hadn't considered this move in my preparation for the game. Some critics remarked that Krogius, as a distinguished Intemational Grand- master, might have been underesti= mating his opponent, He overlooked the fact that out of five previous games with Soviet opponents, I had won three against world-class players. I now know that 10...0-0 was not Krogius’s invention. In the 1930s it had been played in a game “Amateur versus Master”, which Black had won. If Krogius knew that game, he may have wanted to copy it. Since it wasn’t a famous game, it was impossible for me to Know about it myself, given the level of information available in China at that time. 11 Sxd5 Krogius had launched a sudden attack; I was immediately put on my guard. After examining a variety of continuations, I decided to accept his challenge. ‘White's king is in the centre, and Black may exploit this circumstance to seize the initiative. However, it was no good playing 11 0-0 instead of taking the knight, The reply 11...@a5 attacks White’s queen and bishop. After 12 We3 xc 13 ‘Wred White's d4-pawn has been weakened, and Black can firmly blockade it with the manoeuvre Gc8-e6, Dd5-b6 and Se6-d5. On 5 the bishop controls two diag- onals, g&-a2 and a8-hl; there is no plan that offers White an advantage. 11...Q)a5 12 Bxf7+ Again this is the only choice. After 12 WbS c6 13 &xc6 Axc6, Strategy in Action 37 Black is threatening 14,..e8+ and also 14...0xd4, 12.,.2xf7 13 Wed The right square; the queen fortifies the d4-pawn and attacks the black knight. 13..Ke7+ 14 De5 Deb 15 DL @xd4 Both players had foreseen the diay gram position. At this point the “Amateur versus Master” game went 16 Wxd4 Wxd4 17 Axd4 ExeS+ 18 dd2 c5 19 Be2 Ke6 20 De3 BAB 21 Khel Ld7 22 3 kbs 23 Bfel Bd8+ 24 wc2 Md3+ 25 bc3 Rg6 26 Dgd Hd3+ 27 wed Bxel 28 Bxel Hd? 29 Be7 Bxb2 30 xc5 b6+ 31 dc6 Hxa? 32 Hes $8 33 Dxg6+ hxg6, and White resigned after the fifty-sixth move. Krogius played 15...A\xd4 without much thought. But if he knew the above game and intended to repeat it, he was making a big mistake. It is understandable that Black wanted to win the game, but his attempt to do so by a simple tactical combination (rather than gradual positional methods) was the wrong approach. 16 Wea+ Copyrighted material38 Strategy in Action A foreign annotator would say that the game actually begins with this move, since the previous play had all been seen before (though I didn’t know it at the time). Why does White give check with the queen, and at what stage did he foresee the move? These issues are crucial to our analysis of the game. The first question is whether White has any other playable moves in the diagram position (a) White wants to castle short, but obviously 16 0-07 loses the queen to 16..De2+. With 16 Wed+, the queen covers the ki checking square and gives W! option of castling afterwards. (b) How about 16 0-0-0 7 It is clearly much better than 16 0-0. The rook on dl is aligned with the black knight and queen, However, after 16..Be2+ 17 ¥c2, Black has 17...2f5+, defending his queen with check. Then he takes the white queen, and White loses rook for knight without compensation (c) 16 Bal pins the knight against the queen without allowing the check on e2. But Black can still move his knight away with check: 16...2\xf3+ 17 gxf3 We8 18 £4 Res, and now: (cl) After 19 a3 Wb5, White's king is most uncomfortably stuck in the centre, (c2) If White plays 19 0-0 in spite of his broken kingside pawn position, Black wins a pawn with 19...Wad. (but not 19...2xa2? 20 b3, when the bishop is in danger) (3) 19 Wa3 protects the a-pawn and takes aim at the rook on e7, thus preventing We8-b5. Play can continue 19...Wi8 20 0-0 Hee8, and now 21 Wad WES leaves Black with a positional advantage, while after a queen exchange Black will be attacking the {4 and a2-pawns simultaneously All these three choices on move 16 are disadvantageous to White Rejecting these and the two capturing moves 16 Wxd4 and 16 ®xd4, White needs to look for a sixth method which will solve his problems. As if receiving help from heaven, he discovers 16 We4+, But to see if the move is really helpful, we need to look into Black's responses (a) Simply 16..h8 is no good, as after 17 0-0-0 White is not only pinning the knight against the queen but threatening to win material with 18 DE7+. (b) 16.218 17 0-0-0 is also unsatisfactory for Black. (©) 16...2e6 leaves the rook in a pin, which means that in answer to 17 2xd4 Black can’t take the knight on ¢5. White therefore wins material Copyrighted material(d) 16...£e6 is the move Black would normally like to make, not only blocking the check but attack- jing the queen in retum. Unfortu- nately White can reply 17 Wxd4, since after 17...Wxd4 18 @xd4, the rook is prevented from capturing on €5 by the bishop on e6. If the bishop moves, White can defend his knight with f2-f4. Black therefore loses a piece. So we see that Black’s only play- able reply to the check is 16...De6, the move he made in the game. The point of this analysis is to ex- plain how, and when, White decided ‘on 16 We4+, He had to foresee this move when capturing with 11 Bxd5, The move overthrows the ‘twin tactical devices (11...0-0 sacri- ficing one knight, then 15...2ixd4 giving up the other) which consti~ tuted Black's whole battle plan. It sometimes happens that you don’t find a good move before you are in a position to play it. There is an element of luck and surprise. The game may be so complex that you can't see very far ahead in a limited time, and have to rely on your judgement and intuition. Hopefully you will find a good move at the crucial moment. You may think, “If I'm in the dark about the next move, perhaps my opponent is too.” Krogius didn’t foresee 16 Wed+. Conceivably he was playing to trap his opponent, and felt that he could not lose even if the trap didn’t work. But I don’t think this is very probable. An experienced Inter- national Grandmaster has plenty of ways to play for a win without trust- ing to chance. Strategy in Action 39 16...€6 There is equal material on the board, and White seems to have no direct threats. And yet the situation is far more serious for Black than it looks, It could even be called des perate, This is demonstrated by the further course of the game. 170-0 Should White play this at once, or first attack the queen with 17 Edi ? You might think the two lines would simply transpose, but in fact 17 0-0 is more accurate, Indirect and potential threats belong to the art of chess on a high level. Obvious and direct threats can be easily handled. Moving a piece straight to its desired square may be a crude measure which forfeits the possibil- ity of various choices. If you leave a threat hanging over your opponent's head, there will be more for him to ‘worry about in planning his moves, and fatigue will set in as a result ‘When he is in a difficult situation, leave him to find a way out by him- self. In such a situation it is easier for him to make mistakes. Castling is @ necessary measure; the white king can’t be left in the Copyrighted material40 Strategy in Action centre. I therefore decided to castle at once and determine the placing of my rooks afterwards. I wanted to see how my opponent would try to solve his problem; I would then act accordingly Deciding whether to carry out a tactical measure or keep it in reserve is a major challenge, In this specific case, my choice of 17 0-0 proved successfill in practice. 17.828 I don't know if Black considered 17.05. It is more flexible than 17...¢h8, and might make it harder for White to increase his advantage, although against accurate play it would scarcely transform the whole situation. Perhaps Black didn't like weakening the dé-square. More likely it was a question of feeling and mood, factors which can influ- ence even an International Grand- master. Black feels uncomfortable with the pin on his knight. He wants to move his knight away from 6, so as to activate his bishop. So I am not saying that 17...@2h8 is a bad move. It_is also worth considering 17...Be8. A player might not think about this move in practice. Even if he did, he might not be willing to- play it. The rook on e7, although not very flexible, is defending Black’s second rank. Black may have some hopes of doubling rooks on the e file at a later stage. However, analy- sis shows that it is very difficult to realize that aim. With 17.268, the rook defends the back rank and lets the queen go to e7 (or 16). Later, there may be an opportunity to play We7-c5 and exchange queens. There is, then, something to be said for 8, though this doesn’t mean. it would radically change Black’s situation. Analysing this position with your personal computer software, you will unearth some characteristics of the program that are worth thinking about. First, my computer judges that 17...fe8 gives equality. After 18 Bad1 We?, it still thinks the game is even. After 19 Hifel it thinks White has the advantage, and after a few more moves it thinks he has a won game. Why these changes of opinion? The program doesn’t give the reason, nor does it find any improvements for Black. It forms its judgement according to the posi- tions on the board, but it doesn’t judge processes. Its form of kno ledge is totally different from that of a high-level human chessplayer. It may occur to you that with the move-order 17 Bdl We 18 0-0, Wi could have eliminated the c7-e8 defence. However, if Black wants to withdraw his rook to the back rank, he can answer 17 Edi with 17..Wf8 18 0-0 He8. This saves a tempo in comparison to 17 0-0 He8 18 ad] We7 19 Xfe1 Wis. What is the verdict on 17..Be8 and 17...c5 ? It is a matter of practi- cal opinion, The two methods may be thought of as belonging to two different styles. 18 Sadi This looks like the only move, yet any player at grandmaster level knows that a move like this commits White to a particular arrangement of his two rooks. The choice is between racks on cl and dl, or dl and el. (In the present case White cannot consider ¢1 and el, since he Copyrighted materialneeds to restrict the black bishop.) I opted for dl and el, since my aim was to put pressure on Black’s knight rather than his e7-pawn, 18... We8: This choice queen is part of square for the of Black's overall defensive plan. Another possibility was 18...4Wf8 and then He7-e8. However, Black is in a hurry to withdraw his knight to {8, so that he can develop his bishop. He is there- fore unwilling to occupy £8 with his queen. The bishop boxed in on ¢& is Black’s chief positional problem. By shutting off the rook on a8, it af- fects the safety of the back rank. The rook on e7 is awkwardly placed, and the absence of an f pawn makes Black’s kingside some- what shaky. White has the initiative, based on his space advantage and active pieces. His task is to increase the pressure and ultimately turn his positional advantage into a material one. 19 Wh4 Strategy in Action 41 Threatening to win the exchange with 20 @g6+, though the threat can easily be parried 19... 28 20 Wed White’s queen has nothing to do on hd, so it returns to c4. If Black replies 20...8h8, White has the choice of repeating moves or look- ing for a different plan. Black is not forced to play 20...@2h8, though. He can consider 20.05, which threatens to free his position with 21..b5 and 22,,,0b7, Analysis shows that if White reacts to 20...05 correctly, Black cannot overcome his difficulties. However, in the circumstances of a real game, time is limited, and players may be pressured into errors. White must aim to increase Black's difficulties, Therefore it may be said that 19 ‘Wh4 was not a good move. Why did I play 19 Wh4 in the game? The main reason is that, al- though I knew White had a posi- tional advantage, I couldn't see an effective and simple attacking line. Another reason is that I wanted to gain time on the clock by repeating, moves, since I assumed that when the queen moved to h4 and back, Black could only move his king to and fro, I also wanted to test Krogius's psychological response. I wanted to know if he was satisfied with a draw by repetition, 20...8¢h8 Black moved his king into the corner without giving it a second thought. 21 Efe Copyrighted material42 Strategy in Action ‘The pin and counter-pin along the e-file will decide the outcome of the game, 21.018 By removing his king to the comer, then playing his queen to e& and his knight to f8, Black has been pursuing a single goal: to bring his bishop out, so that the rook on a8 can function to defend the back rank. He thinks his difficulties will be over once the bishop is devel- oped. However, the course of the game and the analysis show that this plan cannot be recommended. In this position Black has many problems and his disadvantage is cle ‘There is no way to tum the m round. — Comparatively ata though, he may be able to find a plan which makes it hard for White to extend his advantage and follow a clear and simple line of attack, Black actually chose quite a dis- advantageous plan. Why? I believe that the fault lies not in a particular move, but in an inadequate under standing of the principles of chess. Four previous chess "schools"—the Italian School, the Classical School, the Hypermodem School and the Soviet School—regarded the timely development of a piece as an im- mutable theoretical principle. If you fall behind in development in the opening stage, you have to remedy the fault in the middlegame. This rule is deeply implanted in the players’ minds and subconscious. I don’t mean I am directly hostile to the rule of speedy development, but I oppose treating it as the single overriding principle. There are three factors that have to be considered: first, whether the goal of develop- ment is right or wrong; secondly, whether the position of the piece is suitable or not; thirdly, the relation between the piece that is developing and the other pieces—the overall structure, Analysing the position in the last diagram, we can see immediately that Black’s structure (queen e8 + rook ¢7 + knight e6 + bishop c8, shutting out the rook on a8) is not a good one, It is too cramped and unwieldy; the mobility of the pieces is. severely restricted. Yet the structure is not totally worthless. It is the best among all the available bad ones, It forms a solid base for Black's defensive lines. Black feels uncomfortable be- cause of the knight on e6. It blocks the activity of other black pieces. And yet it supplies several crucial links in the defence. It covers the d8-point (which White very badly wants!) and also the g5-point (another place where a white knight would like to go). It supports the c7-pawn and controls cS (where Black may want to push his c- pawn). Moreover, if necessary, it can retreat to f8, guarding the back rank and defending the g6-point and Copyrighted materialh7-pawn. It also controls the d4 and fa-points, which to a certain extent limits White's scope. How can a knight which bears such heavy responsibilities leave its post without due consideration? ‘The bishop on c8 is certainly not well placed. It has hardly any space to move, and stops the rook on a8 from playing its role in protecting the back rank. And yet it is supporting the knight which plays such a key defensive role. There is a saying in XiangQi: “Exchanging a piece is like exchanging a root.” The bishop is the knight's support, or root, and White cannot easily get at it to exchange it, Black should think twice about exchanging it in the interests of “development”. As to the queen on e8 and rook on e7, they are certainly not ideally placed, but they do play their part in the defence! Nobody can say that this set-up is invulnerable. The methods for assailing it might involve 4f3-h4, threatening h4-f$ and preparing the advance of the Fpawn. W might need to support this attacking plan by doubling rooks on the e-file or d-file. Overatl, he will have to work very hard. The rules of the game firmly lay down that White and Black play one move each by turns, The phenom- enon of zugzwang is based on this rule, Black’s plan should be ne to await his doom passively. He has to find a way to add something to his defensive structure. It so happens that there really is such a move waiting to be found. That move is 21...a5! Strategy in Action 43 i ae a Tie) ae A computer might be more likely than a human player to hit on this kind of move. However, it is by no means as nonsensical as it may at first seem. The reasons are as follows: (1) The Laws of Chess state that Black has to make some move if he doesn’t want to resign. Here is one move! Moreover it makes several further moves possible, so Black will not be forced into zugrwang, (2) Black’s central defensive set-up is preserved intact. (3) At the right moment the rook on a8 can be lifted to a6, consolidating the position of the knight which is the key defensive piece. From a6 the rook can go to b6 or even d6, setting White problems. (4) In an emergency Black may need to play 'b7-b5 to force White’s queen off the a2-g8 diagonal. If the queen retreats to b3, Black can continue to attack it with a5-a4, (5) In some variations, when the black bishop leaves €8, the white queen may be able to take the b7-pawn. With the a-pawn on a5 not a7, Black can reply Za8-b8 without having to give up a second pawn. If Black does play 21...a5, how should White react? [ used my computer to look for the best plan, It gives several which are all to Copyrighted material44 Strategy in Action White's advantage. However, the computer's answers are only for your reference; you cannot. trust them completely. For example, it gives: 21..a5 22 h3 bS 23 Web Wxe6 24 Dxc6 Hes 25 Ags h6 26 QDE7+ Gg8 27 Dies, with advantage to White. This is really confusing. The supposedly best software pack- ages in the world (Fritz 6.0 and Hiares 7.32) unexpectedly miss the tactical attacking lines. Why 25 Dg5 ? How about 25 Bd8 instead? If you suggest the latter move, the computer starts thinking more smartly. It immediately shows that after either 25...Rb7 or 25...Exd8, White has a winning position. After 21,.a3 22 3, I think Black should play 22...2a6. If you want a full analysis, I am afraid | would have to write a very long article about it. a XN w TAN bas 22 DgS The computer thinks that both 22 eS and 22 Wed enable White to preserve his advantage. (It uses the standard sign + to indicate its verdict.) I very much wonder which of these plans is stronger. It is a pity the software cannot compare them; the programmer didn’t teach it how to do so. 22 Wed threatens 23 Df7+ wine ning the exchange. (Incidentally, the expression “the exchange" is very difficult to translate into Chinese. Some translate it as fen, meaning “point”, others as banzi, meaning “a half:piece”, In XiangQi we know that a rook is worth more than a knight, but we don’t have a precise expression for the difference.) After 22.,.seg8 23 Wd5+ Deb 24 Bd3 (the computer suggests 24 b4), White has a positional advantage. If instead 22....@06 23 Wxb7 Eb8 24 Wxa7 Hxb2 25 a3, Black emerges a pawn down. If 22..De6, White plays 23 hd, threatening Dbd-£5, with a winning position. Both 22 2)g5 and 22 Wed may be strong moves, but in an actual game We are required to choose only one of them. This is the big difference between research analysis and practical play. When analysing at home, it doesn’t matter what move you make, because you can always start again and are not subject to a time limit—you may have a month, ‘or two years. In a real game, you have pick one among many choices, and it has to be done in a limited time. You might have three apparent winning methods, but can only choose one. You may unexpectedly lose, because your opponent unearths a defence somewhere. In post-mortem analysis, you can prove that the other two methods lead to victory, but the one you chose does not. You are filled with regret, and can't understand why you chose the wrong way.. Copyrighted material22...fhe6 Virtually the only move. Black can't play 22...2c6, because of 23 Def7+ Lg8 (or 23...Bxf7 24 Axt7+ Wat? 25 Bd8+ Qxd8 26 Wri? Oxf? 27 Be8 mate), 24 Bd8! Dxds 25 Exe7 Wxe7 26 Dh6+ and 27 ‘Wes mate. 23 Dxe6 Black has finally developed his vishop, and the white knight immediately exchanges it off. The position still favours White. The computer suggests 23 Wed. During the game, I didn’t see this move. The queen threatens the b7-pawn, and if Black replies 23...c6, White has tactical resources: 24 @xh7! Bd5 25 WES! (25 Wh4?! Sg8 26 Dxf8 Exe5 27 Exes Wxes 28 Dgo We2 29 Ef Kc4 30 Bel Be 31 h3 &xa2 is assessed as even by the computer) 25...wt06 26 ‘WxtS+ xh7 27 Wes Rxa2 28 Bd3 Ke6 (or 28...,g8 29 b3 with advan- tage) 29 WeS with a very strong attack, 23...0xe6 After 23...Bxe6 24 Wxe7 Bc8 25 Wexb7 Bc2 26 Wb4 (or 26 Wb3) ‘White has a winning advantage, Strategy in Action 45 Although Black has solved the problem of his bishop, his configur- ation of pieces in the e-file remains awkward, The conditions of pinning and counter-pinning in this file have been modified: the black knight on 6 is no longer supported by a bishop on c8, while the white rook on el has lost the support of the knight on {3. White's space advan- tage gives him more mobility and activity. He controls the initiative and can therefore make trouble for the black knight. In moving his rook forward, White prepares to bring it to e3 or h3 at a suitable moment. The pressure on Black's _ position becomes stronger and stronger. Why didnt White play his other rook to e3, where it is solidly supported? The answer is that after 24 He} Hd8 25 Bxd8 Wrd8 his back rank is vulnerable, 24...b5 Generally speaking, the first move to be considered was 24...2d8 When I played 24 2d3, I had to think about the possible exchange of rooks on the d-file, Krogius must Copyrighted material46 Strategy in Action have analysed 24.808 25 Exd8 Wid 26 Wh4 dys 27 DE 6. The computer program judges this position to be equal, but doesn’t consider the simple 28 h3. This move eliminates White’s back rank weakness, but the clumsy placing of Black’s queen, rook and knight can= not be remedied. For example, 28...h6 29 Wed Wd7 30 b4 b6 31 a3 5 32 bxcS bxcS 33 Des Wadd 34 W3 Wado 35 Dgo Bes 36 Whs Hes 37 Wet BeS 38 D4 Wi7 39 Axes Bxe6 40 Exe6 Wxe6 41 Wxc5, or 28,,,WIR 29 Wed Wf 30 b4 He8 31 Wed HAR 32 DeS He7 33 Wad be8 34 Dea Wits 35 Ket WHT 36 Ses ‘Wie 37 Oi Wego 38 We3 Dts 39 Wo3+ De6 40 Bed Hes 41 Ada cbf? 42 04 a6 43 a5 hS 44 g3 hd 45 gd Re7 46 £4 Wf 47 Dxe6 Exeb 48 Wxe6+ Wxe6 49 Bxeb dxe6 50 £2 with a clear win. The variations may be endless, but the lines I have given illustrate the basic trend. Krogius refrains from 24..2d8, hoping to make White’s task more difficult. However, 24..b5 weakens the c6-square and gives White a new avenue of attack 25 Wh4 dg8 26 Ach BAT 26...Ed7 would lose a piece too: 27 Haxd7 (or 27 Hde3) 27...Wxd7 28 Wed Bes 29 Daa, 27 Wes Ero 28 Was WHT 29 Dei+ Discovering an attack on the rook; Black gets no compensation for the exchange. You would normally expect him to resign here, but he carries on playing from inertia, 29..fHxeT 30 Wra8t SET 31 WAS 26 32 EE c5 33 Lxt6+ Wate 34 Wb7+ We7 35 Wxas Wa7 36 Wh6 Df4 37 WrxeS Wg4 38 We7+ bg6 39 We6+ Ghs 40 WH Black resigned, This game represented the highest achievement of Chinese players in the mid-1960s. From the sixteenth to the twenty-ninth move, White's methods of playing reflected the style of the Chinese School of Chess. They were close to the method of piece-play in XiangQi when the position is totally open and there are no pawns in the centre. The play combines tactical measures with techniques, but fo- cuses more on techniques. Foreign schools usually think that only: the endgame needs technique. They have not conducted any systematic theoretical research on the differ- ence between techniques and tactics Chess is the art of thinking. This art requires not only depth and breadth but also variety of thought The world of thinking includes not only the field of logic, but also one of non-logic. When I analyse my games, I do not think that winning is everything. I have a critical attitude to my play. In a word, you cannot stop thinking, because there is no limit in the universe? wee It is clear that after 16 We4+ in this game, White had a substantial positional advantage. However, can we throw 10...0-0 in the dustbin just because of that? We can if Black’s moves between 10..0-0 and 16 We4+ were all necessary. Were they? Copyrighted material11...4a5, regaining the piece, was not a mistake. Nor was 12...Bxf7, taking the bishop. There is no prob- lem about 13...2e7+. Black had to try to exploit the position of White's king in the centre, so 13...We7+ would obviously be inadequate. With 14...Qc6, Black re-centralized his knight with a threat to take the d4-pawn; again there is no problem. His next move, 15...2)xd4, gave up a piece in order to win one back while recovering the pawn minus. However, the reply 16 We4+ forced Black to play 16...26, after which his situation abruptly deteriorated. It seems that 15...2)xd4 is not a good move, but if Black doesn’t play this way, doesn’t he simply come out a pawn down? Where is his compensation? Indeed, no one suggested an improvement on 15...4\xd4, either at the time of the game, or after post-mortem analysis or in published annotations, The logic is simple: if 15...2xd4 is no good, 10...0-0 is no good either. Does Black really have no alter- native at move 15? Let us consider 5...Wd5. This move is really interesting. It would be very difficult to play it Strategy in Action 47 over the board. Its point is not immediately obvious, but it is not devoid of logic. Black is still threatening to take the d4-pawn with his knight. But it is now White’s move, and the pawn is still on the board, White may have ways to eliminate his opponent's threat. The next thing is to consider the possible measures to protect the d4-pawn, After 16 0-0 White's king is safe, But Black can reply 16..\xd4, ue isn’t afraid of a white rook mor to di and pinning the knight, bet cause of Ad4-e2+ forking the king and queen. 16 0-0-0? defends the d4-pawn but is no good because of 17,,.Mixa2, 16 Hdl keeps the d4-pawn, but again loses the a2-pawn. Is White then forced, in the dia- gram position, to give the pawn ‘back? Not necessarily. It happens that the “combination of techni- ques” will be helpful for under- standing this. Consider the move 16 ‘Wa3. In terms of our technique, the queen is said to be “taking aim” at the rook on e7, which is protected only by the knight on c6. The queen doesn’t threaten to capture the rook next move, but it does limit the ac- tivity of the knight, and thereby in- directly defends the pawn on d4. If Black wants to take this pawn, he must first ensure the safety of his rook. The obvious way to do so is 16,..He8, Then White will play 17 EdI or 17 0-0-0, and use his rook to support the d4-pawn, Meanwhile his queen is guarding the pawn on a2. To master the “combination of48 Strategy in Action technique” is more important than the tactical combination, but foreign theorists know nothing about it. Extra pawns are only one element in evaluating a position. To judge whether White’s plan of protecting the pawn is advantageous, you have to examine and evaluate the position as.a whole. After 16 Wa3 He8, what are the prospects? On 17 0-0-0, Black can continue with 17...S£5 (to cut the white king off from shelter in the comer; the king’s vulnerability is the key feature of the position) 18 Zhe! (or 18 Axc6 Wxc6+ 19 We3 Wd5!, and now 20 a3 He2 21 Hd2 He6! 22 2e5 Wx? is pretty good for Black, while after 20 b3 He6 his initiative is enough for the pawn) 18...0xeS 19 BxeS ExeS 20 dxeS (or 20 Axes Ke6, threatening 21...Wxa2 or 21,..Wxg2; White can’t prevent both) 20...We4+ 21 We3 Wxa2 22 Da4 Td 23 Wo3 Wxb3 24 Axb3 Exdi+ 25 dexdl, with a typical bishop-versus-knight endgame. Both pieces have scope, but Black is better—though there is a_ strong possibility of a draw. It is a situation of dynamic equilibrium. After 17 Edl WbS (Black isn’t satisfied with 17.,.ste6, when the prospects are even) 18 Bd3 Af5 19 Be3 Db4 20 €d? c5, Black’s attack is very menacing It seems, then, that after either 17 0-0-0 or 17 Bdl, White has problems with his king position. Although the plan that started with 16 Wa3 maintains the extra pawn, it gives Black time to deploy his forces and take over the initiative. Black has enough compensation for the pawn minus, and may even have the advantage. Since the plan of protecting the pawn is not successful, White should reconsider the possibility of giving it back in exchange for a positional advantage. First, let us come back to 16 Bdl, a move that gives up the a2-pawn —which after all is worth much less than the d4-pawn. After 16...Wxa2 17 0-0 Qxes 18 @xe5, Black has a better position than in the case of 15..2\xd4 16 Wed+. At least his bishop on c8 is free to move now. And yet a Copyrighted materialstrategic expert would say that White is better. This is mainly be- cause the “unassailable” knight on eS controls the whole centre and gives White a substantial space advantage. Under these conditions, White will soon be able to launch a very promising attack with his kingside pawn majority. His initiat- ive will persist even if the queens are exchanged. Black can exploit his own majority on the queenside only if he first subdues White's attack on the other wing, Is it time to draw conclusions? No, not yet. The problem is that Black is being too naive when he takes the a2-pawn with his queen. Instead, he can answer 16 Hdl with 16...WbS!?. In return for the pawn minus, Black’s queen controls the a6-f1 diagonal and fixes White’s king in the centre, This immediately complicates the situation. The position of the white queen on c3 is surely much better than on a3. If White wants to prove his advantage, he can do so only by exchanging queens or contriving to castle, He has three main tries:~ (2) An immediate 17 Wb3+, to exchange queens, is not a good move, because after 17...Wxb3 18 axb3 gd 19 0-0 Dxe5 20 dxeS &xf3 21 gxf3 ExeS White’s pawns are so badly broken that he is in danger of loss, for example: 22 Hd7 Bb5 23 Hel Bxb3 24 Ble7 hs! 25 Exc7 Exb2 26 fl (26 Bxg7 Bes exchanges rooks, and Black wins) 26..g8 27 Exb7 Exb7 28 Hxb7 Bo8. With his rook behind the passed pawn, Black has a winning position after either 29 Bd4 a5 30 Tad deg8, or 29 de? a5. Strategy in Action 49 (b) 17 3 £5 18 Wb3+. The queen exchange is much better now than last move, yet after 18...Wxb3 19 axb3 Rc? 20 Hd? &xb3 21 0-0 kd5, the only question is how big Black’s advantage is. (©) 17 a4! Wa6 18 B43 The main difference between this position and one already analysed (after 16 Wa3 He8 17 Edi WbS 18 Bd) is that this time, after 18...££5 19 Be3, Black doesn’t have the at- tacking move 19...\b4. This makes things easier for the white king. From the diagram, Black has two choices: 18...Sf5 and 18...Wxa4. (cl) 18...2f5 19 Be3 (19 Wb3+ Re6 20 d5 RE7 21 Be3 Dxes 22 @xe5 WaS+ 23 We3 Wxc3+ 24 bxe3 xd5 gives Black a pretty good ending) 19...2xe5 20 AxeS Wxad (Black takes the pawn because he has no altemative; if 20...Hae8, then 21 b3, followed by £2-f3 and Wel-f2 with advantage to White) 21 0-0 Bae8, The computer gives Black the advantage, but I disagree. Although the black pieces are in good positions, White's “unassailable” Knight on eS still provides him with space and the in- itiative. The following game from Copyrighted material50 Strategy in Action the Fritz 6.0 program illustrates the threat from White's kingside pawn majority: 22 h3 c6 23 g4 Re6 24 f4 Rd5 25 £5 a5 26 gS Hc? 27 f6 BA 28 dh2 Wos 29 Ef2 b6 30 h4 Wad 31 Bel Wbs 32 hs Wb4 33 h6 gxho 34 gxh6 Wxc3 35 bxc3 #h8 36 Bgl bS 37 Bg? Hec8 38 Dd7 Bey 39 He2 b4 40 cxb4 axb4 41 He7 b3 42 Egxt? Sxf? 43 Des Bhs 44 17 a8 45 Ha7 Hd8 46 Eb7 and White wins. Of course, the game is just one possibility. It was analysed with the help of the Hiares 6 program. (2) 18...Wxa4 19 0-0 Axes 20 @DxeS Le6 (20...Kf5 21 Be3 trans- poses to variation cl) 21 Wes We8 (Black has to be careful! The un- thinking 21...Zae8 allows 22 a3) 22 f4 and White’s position is very promising. In both variations, cl and ¢2, White seems to have hopes of an advantage, but the situation is com- plicated, Black shouldn’t let White’s hepawn reach h6 unopposed. He should exchange queens as soon as possible, and mobilize his pawn majority on the queenside. Returning to the diagram on page 47, let us see what happens if White retums the d4-pawn and tries to ex- ploit Black's structural defects after 16 0-0 Dxd4 17 Dxd4. In practical play, White might not even consider a move that surrenders the d4-pawn. His reaction to Black's unexpected 15..Wd5 might be psychological; “Seeing that you didn’t dare take the pawn with 15...@xd4, I won't give you another chance!" This kind of emotional or conditioned response will affect a player's thinking, and should be totally avoided. It is something a player must work ceaselessly to overcome Should Black capture the knight with his queen or his rook? After 17..WxeS 18 Zael WG (if 18..Wd6, then 19 &b5; Black is also worse after 18...Wg5 19 213) 19 Wes! Exel 20 Exel Sed (20...Rd7 21 WdS+ WH7 22 Wxb7 fs 23 Wb3 gives White a winning endgame) 21 Zed! Bf8 22 £3 SB 23 Wxe7, White has an extra pawn and the better position. In this line, 19 Wes! is not an easy move to find, Normally, a player would go for 19 Exe7 Wxe7 20 AbS (after 20 Hel Wr7 21 Dbs Rd7 22 Axc7 Bc8 White has an advantage, but the pin on his knight is troublesome) 20...S0d7 21 Bxe7 BAB (or 21...Bc8 22 Wb3+ WI7 23. Wexb7, when 23...WWed fails to 24 Wd5+) 22 Wo3+ WE) 23 Wxi7+ doxf7, when although White is a pawn up, the win will not be easy. Now let us look at 17...Exe5. This position can be used as a textbook exercise for calculating, judging, and choosing between various plans within a limited time. It is a typical position where an advantage has to be exploited. Copyrighted materialStudying it, I spent a lot of time ‘on the consequences of 18 Hadl. I also analysed 18 Efdl and 18 @f3. Since there are too many related is- sues to be answered, I shall simply tabulate my analysis and leave you to fill in any gaps for yourself: - (a) 18 Bad (al) 18...WeS 19 WWb3+ (all) 19...ds (alll) 20 Qc6 Wxb3 21 Bd8+ sbf7 22 Dxes+ de7 23 Bxc8 Wrxb2 24 Qd3 Wa2 25 Exa Wxd3 26 Exa7, and White’s two rooks are better than the black queen. (al 12) 20 We3 (al 121) 20..Bg5 21 Qc6 Wxdl 22 De7+ Sf 23 Wxgs Wed 24 ‘Wes Le6 25 b3 (Black now has no way to improve his position, since he must beware of a discovered check winning a piece; it is virtually a zugzwang position in the middle- game) 25..We4 26 £3 (26 Dd5+ ‘sbg8 27 Dxc7 He8 28 We7 is also to White’s advantage) 26..Wd3 27 Dds+ segs 28 Aes WIS 29 Axe6 ‘Wre6 30 Wxc7 We3+ 31 tht Wer 32 Rel He8 33 h3, and White should win. Strategy in Action $1 (a1 122) 20...e8 21 Wxc7 trans- poses into variation a2. (212) 19..ths (a121) 20 Df3 Bes 21 Bfel Bs, and White is a little better. (a122) 20 Bfel h6 21 Exes Wxes 22 Df3 W6 23 Bel &g4 24 Wxb7 Bx (a1221) 25 Waf3 Wxf3 26 gxf3 a5 27 He7 Hb8 28 b3 a4 29 bad Ba8 30 Bxc7 Bxa4 31 Zc2. White has two pawns more, but can he win? (21222) 25 gxf He 26 Wxe7 Wxi3 27 Wy3 WIT. White has the advantage, but the problem is how to convert it into a win. (a2) 18...2e8 (a21) 19 a4 WE? 20 bs s2d7 (a211) 21 Dxc7 Bxa4 22 Axes xd] 23 Wxg7+ Wxg7 24 xg? Sgd 25 3 Oxf 26 Ext} dxg7 with an equal position. (a212) 21 Wxe7 SxbS 22 Wxt7+ Ghxt7 23 axbS Hack 24 Hal Hes 25 Bxa7 HxbS 26 Ebi Hb3 27 f4 Hc2 28 Ba? Hd3 is equal. (a2) 19 Wxc7 Wxa2 20 Eifel (a221) 20.24 21 Wxb7 (21 3 Exel+ 22 Exel WdS is equal) 21.,.Heb8 (21.,.xd1 22 Deb Exes 23 Wxa8+ 17 24 Wh7+ go 25 Exdl is better for White) 22 Bal Exb7 23 Hxa2 Hd8 24 Ac6 Hd? 25 Bxa7 Bxa7 26 @xa7 Bxb2. Can White win? (0222) 20...1WI7 21 ExeS+ Wxe8 22 DS Mp4 (22...e6 23 Wxb7 Eb8 24 Wxa7 Bxb2 25 Hel gives White a plus) 23 Wxb7 Zb8 24 WaS+ (24 Wxa7 2x3 25 gx Copyrighted material52 Strategy in Action Exb2 is equal) 24...We6 25 eS Wxd5S 26 Exd5 with advantage to White. (b) 18 Bfdl Wes (18...Be8 19 ‘Wxc7) 19 Wb3+ Wd5 (or 19...eh8 20 Bacl We7 21 We3 06? 22 Axc6 bxc6 23 WxeS and wins) 20 Wg3 By 21 AGB Wxdl+ 22 Bxdl Bxg3 23 Rd8+ wf? 24 hxg3. The computer assesses this ending as equal or a little better for White. In fact, White has very good winning (bl) 24...d2e7 25 Bigs #47 26 Zhe h6 27 De5+ Sf 28 {4 5 (28...b6 29 BEB+ eo 30 EA7) 29 BB+ see 30 Bf7 g5 31 Eh7, with a winning position. (62) 24...n6 25 Des+ Sf6 26 4 c5 27 EfB+ de6 28 Hg8 (28 BI? leads to variation b1) 16 29 Ded b6 30 Ad6 Bb7 31 De8+ Lf5 (or 31,.af7 32 Exg7+ with a winning position) 32 Axg7+ wet 33 De Sd4 34 Df Bxgs 35 Dxgs h5 36 fo ded3 37 Dxh5 Ho? 38 £5 dxb2 39 16 RdS 40 fs xa? 41 4 R17 42 g5 with a clear win. (b3) 24...df6 25 Dd4 a6 26 B+ ‘e7 27 Bhs h6 28 g4! St7 29 4 b6 30 DFS a5 (30.67 31 Hh7) 31 wi2 a4 32 Rd8. White has a win- ning advantage, as Black can’t free his pieces without loss of material. (c) 18 Df3 Bes 19 Wxe7 &g4 20 Eid! (c1) 20...Wh5, and now 21 Bd3 or 21 Wxb7 is to White’s advantage. (€2) 20...Wb5 21 WF 2xf3 (or 21...Qh5 22 Bd? and White main- tains his extra pawn) 22 Wxf3 Wxb2 (or 22.,.Ke2 23 Bd7! Wxb2 24 WE7+ @hS 25 Hadi Wo 26 Wxts gxf6 27 Exb7 Hxa2 28 h3 with a winning endgame) 23 Wd5+ ¢h8 24 Bdb! We2 25 Wxb7 with advantage. (c3) 20...Wic6 21 Wxc6 bxc6 22 Ed3 He2 23 b3 with advantage. (c4) 20...WE7 21 Wrf7+ Sxf7 22 1243, and again White has a plus. Middlegame analysis demands a great deal of time and energy, but it is the most important thing. A player developing in strength, who aspires to competitive success, has to place the focus of his training on the middlegame, It was to gain new insight into the middlegame that I conducted a five-week-long inves tigation into the position after Copyrighted material15...Wd5, During those quiet, cold nights, my only helper was my com puter, which suggested all kinds of variations to me. I wanted to find a plan which would conclusively demonstrate White's advantage. Finally, I arrived at the answer: from the diagram on page 51, 18 3 wins a sound pawn; White can also secure a material plus with 18 Eadi, while 18 Efdl leads to a positional advantage in the endgame. Which method is better depends on an individual's taste, In practice the issue needs to be taken very seriously. If I give such a detailed explana- tion of an old game, the purpose is to study the methods of thought 1 employed. At the same time, I want to give publicity to the theory of the Chinese School of Chess. CALCULATION AND INTUITION Ye Jiangehuan (China) White Nigel Short (England) Black World Team Championship, Luceme 1989 French Defence 1 ed €6 2.d4 d5 3 Dd? Alo 4 eS DAT 5 £4 5 6 c3 Deo 7 Dats £5 8 Qd3 exd4 9 cxdd Ke7 10 Der Db6 11 h3 0-0 12 g4 aS 13 a4 Dds 14 Sb Ad7 15 Of Be8 16 Bgl Gh8 17 Hg? Re8 18 Hh2 Ags 19 De3 We8 20 Det WET 21 Bg? fred 22 Sixgo Wrg6 23 hxgd Who+ 24 Segl_g5 25 Bh2 Wy6 26 De? EN” 27 Ha3 Bet8 28 Eah3 gxf4 29 Qxf4 Whi 30 De? wg8 31 Das Wal 32 De? Wad 33 b3 Web 34 Axb4 axbd Strategy in Action 53 The World Chess Team Cham- pionship is held every four years. Ten teams take part: the first five from the previous Olympiad, the champion teams of four continents, and the team of the host country. Each team has six members and one team leader. Four players play in each round. The tournament is or- ganized on an all-play-all basis, Ye Jiangchuan was born in 1960. Together with Xu Jun, Wang Zili and Liang Jinrong, all of whom are Intemational Grandmasters, he belongs to a transitional generation in China’s chess development. Jiang has won the Chinese Championship seven times. He is among the Chinese players with the most international experience. —Object- ively, then, 1 would say that his competitive achievements surpass those of all his team-mates. Since 1991, Jiang has been well known for helping Xie Jun to win three title matches. He used to play XiangQi (Chinese Chess); his style is influenced by the mode of thinking characteristic of that game. Short is an International Grand- master and one of the strongest players in Britain. In his youth he was thought of as the West’s best Copyrighted material$4 Strategy in Action hope for a World Champion since Bobby Fischer. He was the chal- lenger in the title match of 1993. Though defeated by Kasparov, he acquitted himself honourably. This game starts. with a complicated variation of the French Defence. It can be seen that, from the very beginning, both sides were full of fight. White lost a tempo with his king (@el-f2-g2-h2, instead of 0-0 and wgl-h2) and allowed his opponent to strike back. Black’s own king move 30.8 was a mistake (instead of the decisive 30..2xf4). Afterwards Black refused a chance to repeat moves, and the diagram position was reached. The computer rates this position as slightly advantageous for Black, perhaps merely on the basis of his extra pawn. It is a very difficult position for a computer to assess. However, I suspect that Short also thought he stood well; at any rate, he didn’t realize how White could make trouble for him. How should the evaluated? (1) Both kings are fairly insecure The cover in front of them is disrupted. An exposed king is always an important element of the position that can be exploited by the opponent, (2) White’s doubled rooks exert pressure on the h-file; Black's do the same on the file. position be (3) Neither of the queens is very active. Their scope and freedom are limited. However, the existence of queens is a potential threat to the safety of either king, (4) Both sides’ knights bishops lack freedom of activity, (5) White's pawn structure seems superior to Black's. For one thing he has more space, thanks to the Spawn which controls (6 and hampers the defence of Black’s kingside. The b3-pawn deprives the black knight of good squares. That White is a pawn down is a purely arithmetical consideration. and This is a traditional and static method of analysing the position. Looking a little deeper, we may discover some hidden secrets. All White’s major pieces are directed against the kingside. The pawn wedge in the centre potentially hinders Black's king from finding an escape route. As an attacking force, White’s doubled rooks have more threats along the hefile than Black’s along the ffile. The h7-pawn which keeps them at bay may be dislodged at a suitable moment by g4-g5-26. The black knight is far away the battlefield. In short, White clearly has. more possibilities for attacking the king. His plan is dictated by the structure of the position. The centre is blocked, and even on a superficial view White has no future on the queenside. from The situation is critical. If it were Black's move, he could play Se7-g5, pinning the white knight against the bishop on cl. But it is White to play. He has no time to lose. If he cannot find an effective attacking line, the advantage may swing back to Black. What is the key move? Copyrighted material3585 Black may not have overlooked this move, but he clearly underesti- mated its effect, Finding it over-the- board is quite different from finding it in home analysis. In an analysis session people find this move with- out difficulty, because they proceed by experimentation. At first. sight the move is not so fearsome—Black may have ways to cope with it. But after considering the possible plans, Black will have a sinking feeling, He will soon be wishing he had played differently earlier! Since the g5-pawn is unprotected, the move amounts to a sacrifice, so ‘you might call it a tactical stroke, ‘White is threatening g5-g6, to break up the opponent's front line that shelters his king. Black has to attend to this threat, At the same time, White is paving the way for a rook sacrifice: 36 Exh7 Bxh7 37 Exh7 éxh7 38 Whs+, with at least perpetual check. In other words, 35 g5 opens a route for White’s queen to the kingide—the move has a stra- tegic content. A single move is only one link in a strategy, even though it may be the most important one. It would be incorrect, therefore, to classify 35 g5 as a tactical pawn Strategy in Action 55 sacrifice. The phrase refers only to the outward form, not the inner content, A move of this type ought to have an abstract name, and it is a pity I do not know one. When I think up a suitable one, I will tell ‘you what it is, In reply to 35 g5, Black has six choices: (a) 35...De8 36 g6 Ext 37 Axes ‘Exf4 38 gxh7+ Wwh8 39 Bg2 Bes 40 ‘WES We8 41 Wg3 with the decisive threat of 42 Wg8+. (b) 35...Rd8 36 96 Ext 37 Sixt Exf4 38 gxh7+ Wh8 39 Bg2, and again White wins. (0) 35...2ixf4 36 xf Bxf4 37 Exh7 Sxgs Now how does White continue the attack? On the straightforward 38 Eh8+ &g7 39 H2h7+ go 40 ‘Whs+ @f5, Black’s king slips through the mating net. But then, any high-level player knows that a mating sequence need not consist of a continuous series of checks. In this situation, White must look for other effective attacking measures. The solution is 38 B7hS!, White ‘threatens to capture the bishop and deliver mate with a series of checks: Copyrighted material56 Strategy in Action 39 Exg5+ {8 40 Bh8+ de7 41 By7+ Bt7 42 Bxt7+ ext7 43 Whs+ followed by 44 Wh7 mate, How can Black respond? (cl) The main problem is that Black can’t move his bishop away, cg. 38.d8 39 Bh8+ dg7 40 H2h7+ sbg6 41 WhS mate. (c2) The queen or knight can’t protect the bishop, but Black can try doing it with his rook: 38...25. Un- fortunately, the rook on this square blocks the king’s escape route, so again White has 39 Eh&+ #7 40 E2h7+ go 41 WhS mate. (c3) On 38...f8 39 Exgs, White is still threatening a checking sequence leading to mate. Anyone could win this position. (c4) Black’s only remaining try is 38... g4+ 39 Wxed Welt. How- ever, after 40 dg? Wd2+ 41 dh3 Wa3+ 42 Wy3 WIS+ 43 dog? We2+ 44 Wiz Wet+ 45 WE We2+ 46 Sh3 there is no perpetual check. Clearly, then, after 35,...xf4 White wins. (4) 35.2865 36 6 h5 (interpolating 36...g5+ 37 &h1 makes no difference) 37 ExhS BxhS 38 ExhS HES 39 Bis exfS 40 2d2! 28 41 Whs Wd7 42 ®h3 Da8 (poor black knight!) 43 Dg5 Dc7 44 DET Rg7 45 Wh7+ HIE 46 Lh6 Axh6 47 Wrh6+ sbe7 48 WyS+ O18 49 7+ dg8 50 Dh6+ and wins. (©) 35..Bg7 36 DhS (White's knight joins in the attack at the crucial moment, showing that it is much better placed than Black's) 36..Bg6 37 Df6+ &xf6 38 exf6 HET (or 38... fxf6 39 Exh7 #18 40 Bh8+ he7 41 B2h7+ Bf7 42 Ext7+ ‘Sxf7 43 WB+ and quickly mates) 39 Exh? Exh? 40 Exh? We3 (40...<€2xh7 41 WhS* leads to mate) 41 Bh8+ @f7 (or 41...dexh8 42 WhS+ etc.) and now not 42 £4 Exg5+, but 42 dh?! Although material is equal, White’s two united passed pawns on f6 and g5 are a great menace. Black’s rook is locked in, and unable to threaten the white king. The position of Black's knight is very bad, In reply to 42,..28 or 42...2d7, White can play 44 &f4 and then bring his queen to h5, after which Black is obviously helpless. Of course, Black need not resign as long as there is a glimmer of hope; Copyrighted materialthere seems to be a counter- attacking chance in 42...¢5. However, White then finishes his opponent off with 43 Hh3! Wixd4 (if 43..Wal, then 44 We2) 44 Wxd4 exd4 (in the process of exchanging queens Black has even picked up a pawn, but the ending is lost owing to White’s two passed pawns) 45 Bh7+ he8 (or 45.26 46 Be7+ bd6 47 S£4+ sc6 48 £7 and pro- motes) 46 Exb7 4d? 47 7+, and Black must lose his knight. Black’s sixth possibility is the one that Short chose in the game: 35...SAxgs Short realizes that this move can- not save him, but there is nothing better. His only hope is that White will make a mistake. 36 Kg? It was important for White to foresee the results of this. pinning move clearly. Otherwise the pawn sacrifice 35 g5 would have been nonsensical. Accurate planning and sensitive intuition are the Chinese player's strongpoint. 36...h6 Forced, since after 36..Bg7 37 Dh5 Black loses a piece. White also wins after 36...f5 37 Ad3 Bfl+ 38 Wrfl Exfl+ 39 @xfl Bd? 40 Axgs DB 41 Lh6+ DAgs 42 E63 PhS 43 Ben. 37 Exh6 Zg7 In this tense situation White had only a few minutes left to reach the time control at move 40. He could not calculate all the variations as a computer might. Strategy in Action 57 Black's bishop is threatening ‘White's rook and knight. White has five or six possible choices. Check- mate within a short sequence of moves is impossible. The question is how to find a method which secures a winning position. Let us look at the options (a) 38 Dns Bxh6 39 Axh6 ‘Bxg2+ 40 wxg? B17 41 We4+ whs 42 Bg7+ Gh7 43 Dfe+ Ext 44 xf We2+, and Black can easily force the queens off. White's pros- pects don’t look good. (b) 38 Hg6 Zxg6 39 Dxg6 Wrel 40 Wxel Sxcl 41 Axf8+ exiB, and White has no hope of even drawing the endgame. (c) 38 BhS Mxf4 39 Bxg7+ soxg7 40 Weds dt7 41 Wats des, and the advantage will pass to Black, (d) 38 Exe6 We8 (38..We7 39 Dh5) 39 Bxb6, and now: (G1) 39..Exf4 40 Lxft Bx 41 Bxg7+ dxg7 42 We? des 43 We? Wel+ 44 &h2 Wea+ 45 Wy3 Wd2+ 46 eh3 We3 47 Wxe3 Rxe3 48 Exb7+ &g6 49 Exb4 with an easy win, Copyrighted material58 Strategy in Action (d2) After 39...Qxf4 40 Qxf4 Bxf4 4) Bxg7+ dxg7 Black's posi- tion isn’t too bad, Instead, however, White has 40 Hbg6! Exgo 4! Bxg6+ @f7 42 Hf6+ and Black loses a piece. In the game, chose: 38 Dgé A truly brilliant move, based on a. perfect combination of calculation and intuition! 38...xh6 The only move, in view of 38...Rxcl 39 Bh8+ £7 40 Bxf& mate. 39 Der White could also play 39 &xh6 ‘We3 (39...Exg6 40 Exg6+ th7 41 ‘Wh5 wins) 40 De7+ WT 41 Bxg7+ Ye Jiangchuan He8 42 DcS HS (42..Dxc8 43 Whs+ wins) 43 Byg8+ ded7 44 Dxd6+ We7 45 Bg?+ Se8 46 DoB Wd8 47 @d6. In extreme time trouble, however, he is content to win the queen, which indeed is sufficient for victory. 38.017 40 Dxc6 Bxg2+ 41 sixg2 Bigh+ 42 WA Axcl 43 WhS+ g7 44 De7 i+ 45 der 57 46 Wo4+ df8 47 Dg6+ Black resigned. To someone looking at the position after 34...axb4, the natural impression is that Black must lose. | cannot be sure that the analysis following White’s 35th move is one hundred per cent accurate, but I believe Black is unable to elude his fate. The thought behind 35 g5 is a combination of technique, tactics and strategy that is worthy of study. Copyrighted material3 THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF CHESS ow many games of the chess family have ever been invented, taking all times and countries into account? Nobody act- vally knows, Some such games have existed for thousands of years without fading; among these are Go and chess, including Xiang- Qi (Chinese Chess). Others existed only for a short while or in one place, like a white pony’s shadow across a crevice, and their traces are difficult to find now. Though there are so many games of the chess type, it is always a case of the old thing in a new guise. All games of this family have someth- ing in common. First, all chess-like games have the same basic components, namely the checkerboard, pieces and game tules, The checkerboard is an area with spaces marked out, the game pieces are the materials of move ment, and the rules are laws and regulations for the movements on the board. If a game lacks any of these three elements, it cannot be considered a relative of chess. Secondly, any chess-like game is an “intelligence exercise”, It involves the art of thinking; it provides the context and form for various kinds of mental combat Thirdly, any game related to chess is a symbolic model. It is a reflec- tion, in the human brain, of the outside world. Human beings transform this reflection into an artificial creation. No matter what kind of form this creation adopts, a chess-like game possesses, in the final analysis, the nature of'a model These three factors constitute the general character of the chess game Any man-made creation which comprises these factors can count as a game related to chess. There are common factors between chess and card games, They are all intell- gence games and models. But chess is basically different from cards. A card game has rules, and materials which are manipulated, but it has no “laws” for movement within space The scope for competitive skill is more limited, there are more elements of chance and less scientific content Games of the chess type can be simple or complex, elementary or refined. They may be differentiated by the numbers of possible positions and permutations of moves. In Go and chess, the figures are astronomic, In checkers they are a Zood deal less so, but the game is still not easy to play well (though I have been told that a computer has yrighted material60 The Origin and Nature of Chess found the definitive solution to it). Other chess-like games have fewer permutations than checkers. In general, a knowledge of sophisticated things supplies an important clue to the understanding of basic things. Studying the origins and development of chess provides a key to the historical contexts in which the game fulfilled its soc tole, Play manifested itself at an early stage of animal evolution. An clement of human play is undoubt- edly inherited from the higher orders of animals, but the games of humans, as social beings, are differ- ent from animal gemes. Man in- vested games with human concepts. Games are part of ancient human life. In order to survive, human beings first had to carry on a struggle with nature. In the course of this struggle, they developed the worship of natural phenomena. Their worship and imitation of nature was consciously displayed in their games, Imitation, or simulation, is actually in itself a form of man’s _ philosophical thinking about natural phenomena In addition to struggles with nature, there are social conflicts. Already in the animal world, there were struggles, contests, even fights for survival. The faculties engaged in the struggle to survive were inherited by human beings and are deeply rooted in the human consciousness. The consciousness of social struggle is frequently displayed in the form of games. Human beings exercise their skills in conflicts within society, and this matures their abilities to fight with nature, Chess is not a primitive game. It may be supposed that “people trans- ferred a primitive game from the ground onto the table”, But we can- not agree with someone who says that if the steps of a primitive ground-circle dance can be enacted ‘on the table, this is a form of chess. In a primitive form of board game, especially popular among children, people draw a board on the ground, and then use stones, balls of soil, and grass to play. This game can be played on the table. Certainly, we do not know how people in ancient times created such a game. There are many Suppositions that lack proof. For example, people may have drawn the sun, moon, stars and animals on the ground and cliffs, and then used stones and grass roots to represent these objects. More likely, the fortuitous objects that were used had no symbolic significance at first Accurately speaking, they were not proto-chess pieces, Later, when human beings improved _ their abilities of thinking and their view of the world, they gave special symbolic meanings to the objects used in their games. Precursors of Chess At least as long ago as 5000BC, people produced the simplest 8 by 8 game in black and white (as evidenced by the painted pottery unearthed at the Yongchang site in Gansu province). This was the Copyrighted materialial material form, which was later to accommodate the chess idea, In the twenty-sixth century BC, an astrology and physiognomy game with a divinatory function was created (Shen Nongshi’s heavenly bodies fable). This reflected the de- velopment of religious and scientific knowledge, and the combination of techniques and witchcraft. The earliest written record of the game of Go is in the Annals of Zuo. In the 25th year of Lu Xianggong (548 BC), Duke Taishu of Wei State says to his sons, “The Go player hesitates when making a move.” The event referred to happened about 559 BC. The History of the Western Jin Dynasty, compiled in the time of the ‘Warring States, records the fable that “Yao teaches danzhu”, and re- ports that primitive Go was invented around the twenty-first century BC. The game board had 8x8 squares. The rules of the game are not clear. However, by examining the game from different viewpoints, we can make one reasonable inference: the pieces in primitive Go were not placed on the intersections, but inside the squares. Also, the rules for capturing pieces had not been perfected as in later generations. Yao was certainly not the only possible inventor of Go, but we cannot deny that he had the talent to combine the innovations of others, In this sense we can say that Yao did invent the game. Incidentally, although the game of checkers has a long history, it does not necessarily come from Egypt. In the 8x8 checkers game, the shadow of primitive Go can be seen. The Origin and Nature of Chess 61 (So-called International Draughts, on a board of 100 squares, is a product of modem times.) It possible that in the development of primitive Go, certain factors of chess were absorbed, leading to the emergence of checkers The ancient game of Liu Bo already existed before the tenth century BC. In the fifth century BC, after “undergoing some improve- ment, Liv Bo became Sai Xi. Put simply, Liv Bo is a game in which each of the two sides, Black and White, has six pieces, By throwing Liuzhu (today’s dice), the players decide how to make their moves The only difference between Sai Xi and Liu Bo is that the former has no dice. Confucius (551-476 BC) said, “Is there anyone who wants to play games?" The games referred to are Go and Liu Bo. In Confucius’s time, Go probably developed into two forms: the 12-line board and the 13-line board. The pieces were now placed on the intersections of the lines. The rule for capturing pieces was possibly the same as it is today. The game developed very fast. Around the second century BC, the 15+line board appeared. In the first century it developed into 17 lines. By count- ing kong (the Japanese term is mu), the players decided who was winner, Liu Bo and Sai Xi are the oldest precursors of chess to be docum- ented in Chinese historical records. In the course of their development, black and white pieces were re- placed by the designs of tiger and dragon. This is a reflection of the worship of dragon and tiger totems62 The Origin and Nature of Chess in ancient society. The usage of these designs laid a foundation for the three-dimensional model of chess pieces in later times. The development of Liv Bo later branched off in two directions. One line of development created a gambling game. The other created XiangXi, which absorbed the quintessence of the astrology and physiognomy game, as well as primitive chess and other folk games From the fifth to the first century BC—that is, from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States time to the Han Dynasty—other chess-like games existed, as well as simple games of unrelated types. Accord: ing to historical records, in $69 AD the Emperor Wu of the Northen Zhou Dynasty invented XiangXi, which is almost the same as the “Baoying chess” recorded in the Tang Dynasty: an 8x8 chessboard and three-dimensional pieces which are placed inside the squares. Whether Wu himself invented chess is open to question, though he may have been very intelligent, A reasonable answer is that chess had already existed before the sixth century; | prefer to call these early chess games Lei XiangXi or “ancient XiangXi”. There is a brocade dating from the Tang Dynasty with a design repre- senting Chinas four major art forms, namely lyre-playing, chess, calligraphy and painting. Chess is represented by an 8x8 black and white board. This is the earliest chessboard design found in the world. The pieces and rules of XiangXi can be deduced from the “Records of Strange Things”, a poem by a Tang Dynasty Minister of State. The first relevant sentence reads: “A heavenly horse flies three steps diagonally.” This refers to the cavalryman or knight, which has the same move as in modern XiangQi or in international chess. The second sentence reads: “The Grand General moves in all the directions.” Before the Tang Dynasty, the piece later known as an elephant was called a Grand General or Gold Elephant General, a general riding on an elephant. The sentence means that the elephant is very powerful; it can go anywhere, with- out any limits. Next, we read that “The wagon goes straight and does not make any turns.” The wagon is the chariot of XiangQi, equivalent to the rook of international chess. The last relevant sentence says: “The six soldiers line up and move by rules.” The soldiers are equivalent to the pawns of chess, and the six pieces in Liu Bo and Sai Xi, After the cannon was introduced into the game, the number of pawns was reduced to five. Bai Juyi (772-846), a poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote a famous sentence about chess; “Pawns move forwards, elephants play with chariots"——which vividly illustrates the form of the game at that time. Copyrighted material‘The Book of Changes A very important question in the history of how chess and Go developed is, why were there 8x8 boards and black and white pieces in ancient XiangXi and the original form of Go? Scholars in the field of chess history have already provided many kinds of hypotheses and theories. The question also attracts the attention of scholars abroad. In January 1984, Chess in the USSR published an article entitled “The Origin of Chess”, by Dr Cheleveour, a research fellow of the Far Eastern Institute of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. He points out; “It is no coincidence that chess pieces are divided into black and white and that they are placed on a sixty-four-square board. It seems that the forms of chess derive from ancient Chinese symbols in the Book of Changes in the fourth century BC.” (In actual fact the date is incorrect, because the written records on the subject can be traced back to 672 BC.) ‘Chelevcour continues: “White and black represent two kinds of universal forces—light, active and beautiful factors on the one hand, dark, negative and wicked factors on the other [yin and yang] According to the Book of Changes, the number 64 synthesizes all objective situations. In the sixty-four hexagrams, everything has its symbol: a diagram witch consists of six solid or broken lines ao], many of which include the idea of interconnection and mutual joins.” The Origin and Nature of Chess 63 Cheleveour is quite right to con- nect the origin and development of chess to the Book of Changes. The sore of the Book of Changes is sixty-four diagrams formed from eight trigrams, The eight trigrams date from 7000 years ago, maybe even earlier. In recent years, archae~ ologists have discovered traces of the Book of Changes on stones carved by American Indians around 5000 BC. The Indians are a group of ancient Chinese people who crossed the ocean or mainland and moved to the Americas; there have been various proofs of this. The discovery of the Book of Changes ‘on Indian carved stones means that the Book must be assigned to a much earlier date than was previously thought. The views on the origin of the universe and the world in the Book of Changes, its dialectical thought, its combination ‘of simple materialism and objective idealism, and its mystery of mathematics provide a summary of the Chinese understanding of the world. The Book of Changes is the starting point of Chinese philosophy. The Chinese people are greatly influenced by its legacy. (incidentally, the binary system used in modern" computer technology appears initially in the Book of Changes.) Each of the sixty-four diagrams in the Book of Changes has six lines, and the lines represent yin and yang. When people invented chess and Go, the influence of yin and yang naturally came into their minds. As a result, a sixty-four-square board and six kinds of black and white pieces were produced Copyrighted material64 The Origin and Nature of Chess Diagram 1; The Yellow Emperor’s Square Matrix Diagram 1 above isthe “Schematic Drawing of the Yellow Emperor’s Square Matrix”. How similar it appears to a chessboard! The story goes that in the twenty- sixth century BC, the Yellow Emperor, who ruled the Xia tribe, and Chiyou, who ruled the Li and Miao tribes, fought a decisive battle on the field of Zhuolu, in Hebei province, for possession of the southem Yellow River regions, The Yellow Emperor planned. the square matrix according to the ideas of the Book of Changes, and defeated Chiyou. Of course, a fable is differ- ent from archaeology, and cannot be taken as evidence. Yet the fable does contain some historical truth for a hypothesis to build on. Diagram 2 above is the schematic drawing of — Zhu Geliang’s Eight-Diagram Matrix. This basic~ ally derives from the idea of the Yellow Emperor's Square Matrix, although there is a slight change; and some mobile riders are added. Zhu Geliang used the Eight Diagram Matrix to battle with Sima Yi; this is not a fable. Diagrams 1 and 2 are taken from the book Elementary Tactics, published by the University of National Defence. Viewing them together with the Tang Dynasty chessboard, we can reasonably conclude thatthe sixty-four-square board originates from the influence of the Book of Changes, In ancient China, people believed that the resistance of the masculine force to the feminine force per- meated everything in the universe; the struggle of the two forces was universal. Hence they accepted the concept of the struggle between white and black. In this sense, chess was a special form in which human beings expressed their understand- ing of the world. Initially it was a S 2 Sysppsoeaht PO ppepennns? Diagram 2: Zhu Geliang’s Eight-Diagram Matrix ytightemodel of the universe, reflecting nature; afterwards it developed into a society model, reflecting human life. The title Xiang for chess comes from the Book of Changes, where Xiang is a very important concept “Changes are Xiang"—in other words, Xiang is used to imitate the complexity of objects in the uni- verse. In the Chuchi (“Poems from Chu”), there is a poem “Zhaohun” by Song Yu, which speaks of “using chopsticks to move jade pieces and play the Xiang game.” Song Yu was born in Chu State in the second century BC, It can be seen that chess is not from a foreign country. Emergence of Modern Chess and Go In the middle of the sixth century, the Xiang game was officially recognized by the authority of the state. (I have mentioned the report that XiangXi was created by the Emperor Wu.) It was at that time that the Go board was extended from 17 to 19 lines. Although people later agreed that the 19x19 board was ideal, we should not forget that this size of board was the result of more than 1500 years of development (from the time when “Yao taught danzhw"), Many experts today compare five boards of 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 lines, and agree that the 19+line board is the most perfect. After more than twelve hundred years, this board has proved its vitality. Time is the best proof of its scientific and artistic qualities, The Origin and Nature of Chess 65 ‘Not later than the turn of the sixth and seventh centuries, the Xiang game entered India, where it was named Chaturanga (it is also poss- ‘ible that some games resembling Xiang entered the country at an earlier date). Chaturanga developed into Chatrang (Persian chess), and later travelled to the Middle East where it was known as Shatranj. The main difference between Persian chess and today’s chess is the move of the queen; in Persian chess, this piece could only move ‘one square at a time. There is archaeological evidence of a four- handed game in India, dating back to the eighth century. In the minds of many foreigners, the Xiang game was brought to China from India. This hypothesis is full of flaws, but it is very difficult to discard. When they come to know more about the history of chess, they will have to assign a much earlier date to the origin of the Indian four-handed game and its introduction into China; but China already possessed the Xiang game at that time, The idea that the Xiang game originated in China and migrated from there to India and the Middle East is much more plausible, because consistent with the chronology. The eleventh century is the period when modem XiangQi was final- ized. Comparing the ninety-point board of XiangQi with the sixty-four-square board of chess, you will recognize that the XiangQi board also has sixty-four squares, only there is the so-called “river” running across the —_— middle.66. The Origin and Nature of Chess Obviously today’s XiangQi board derives from the original one, but a small change was made. The reason for the change was the introduction of a new piece, the cannon. It was felt that there was not enough space for the movements of the pieces, so the playing area would have to be enlarged. However, the traditional concept of the Xiang game con- tinued to dominate people’s think ing. They could not stray far from the sixty-four diagrams. The three changes that were made were in keeping with this preconception. First, the sixty-four squares were kept, but the addition of the river expanded the space for movement and highlighted the antagonism between the armies. Secondly, in imitation of Go and other games, the pieces were placed on the intersections. This change further expanded the arca of movement, finalizing the board of ninety positions, Thirdly, some special points on the board were designated as jiugong. This is a term from ancient Chinese music, but here it is the symbol of the emperor's authority and dignity. This change reflected the character of society at that time. Jiugong refers to the configuration of nine points within which the commander-in-chief and his bodyguards can move. It is sig- nificant that the number nine plays a major role in the Book of Changes; the number for old yang is nine. Ina word, the influence of the Book of Changes can be found in the struc ture of moder XiangQi. The pieces in XiangQi also changed in the eleventh century, as the written word became more and more important in human society The evolution from picture to word became an inevitable trend of development, Pieces changed from three-dimensional shapes to flat dises. Writings and graphics coexisted; one side of a piece would carry an image, the other would carry a word. A copper XiangQi piece made in the time of the Northern Song Dynasty is of such a design. It was unearthed in Kaifeng and kept in the Imperial Palace in Beijing. The change of design served to make the game popular, suited to ordinary people and their living conditions. In fact, XiangQi became so popular that no family home was without it. In summary, modem Go, Xiang@i and chess ‘all derive from the black-and-white game that existed about 7000 years ago. They are manifestations of the philosophical thought of the Book of Changes (see the table “Origins and Evolution of Chess and Go in China”) The process of change in Go and chess lasted many thousands of years. The changes proceeded in different directions in the two cases. The pieces in Go are simple—-they are all of one kind. Their functions are also simple. Intelligent Chinese players realized the possibility of change by expanding the playing area; the board was expanded from sixty-four squares to today’s nine teen lines, In chess, the development has mainly involved adding different piece types and altering their functions to increase the possibilities of movement. Such is the logic of the game's evolution. Copyrighted materialA Cultural Phenomenon Chess is not only the combination of science, art, sport and game, but a complex cultural phenomenon of an independent’ kind—a world in microcosm. It reflects the positive human role in changing the world. Initially chess was thought of as a model of the universe, When war fare became important to societies, chess evolved from the universe ‘model to the social model, reflecting the competitive element in human nature and human philosophy. With the progress of history and social development, the art of chess became popular in the life of ordinary people. More and more people are paying attention to the social functions of chess. First, playing chess is a noble cultural activity, which is a symbol of civilization. Chess is not limited by age, sex, or the possession of elaborate equipment. This enormous compatibility is one of the great advantages of chess. Playing chess in their leisure time with their parents, brothers, sisters, colleagues and friends, people enrich their lives and improve their temperament. They play the game in chess clubs and other public places. They watch famous players’ games. The decisive game for a championship is charged with emotion; the excite- ment of those ingenious tactics and combinations is _ unforgettable. Sometimes the public may try their luck in a simultaneous game with a famous player. By being a club member, you will come to know many friends who love chess. Chess becomes more and more prominent The Origin and Nature of Chess 67 on the international scene. Today people enjoy chess publications and clectronic products which are no longer confined to the realm of the professional and the specialist In the second place there is the sporting significance of chess, In a civilized human society, each kind of sport plays an important role, Today, chess performs the political function of bringing prestige to our country and raising the national spirit. To realize this, you only have to look at all the honours bestowed on Xie Jun, who brought the World Championship to China. Excellence at chess displays the nation’s intellectual level. Chess masters are admired because chess is viewed as a game for the intelligent. When young people admire a chess mas- ter, they will take him or her as a model to be imitated. A master must cultivate civilized values and play a positive role in the community. This brings us to the third point the educational function of chess. It is important to encourage chess among young people at the essential stage of their physical and mental development. Playing chess can develop their wisdom and train their faculties of imagination, memory, feeling and understanding. It also exercises their creative abilities and their capacity for analysis and logi- cal thought. It cultivates persistence, tenacity, quick-wittedness, self control, courage and other compet tive qualities, and the ability to con- trol complex situations. The strategy and tactics of chess, its methods of planning and its philosophy, always play a positive role in developing the intelligence of young people. Copyrighted material68. The Origin and Nature of Chess At present, chess is being taught in more and more elementary and middle schools. Surveys show that chess helps students to improve their study. Reports from other countries confirm this. In Venezuela, for example, an education report shows that of all games, chess is the best suited to develop the students” intelligence In the fourth place, chess is of value for scientific research. Over the past forty years, in the fields of modern psychology and artificial intelligence, many insights have been gained by studying the chess mind. In psychology, for example, by using a special instrument, a researcher can analyse the relation- ship between human intuition and logical thought by reading the data of the movement of a player's eyes when he or she she is studying the position in a game and considering the next move. In artificial intelligence, ever since principles for a chess-playing computer program were advanced by Claude Shannon, the father of American information theory, over forty years ago, a wide variety of chess machines have been pro- duced. More than twenty years ago computers could play the game competently, stimulating the fantasy of young computer scientists. They hoped that research in this field would lead to. improvements in computer technology. Indeed, they believed that solving the mystery of playing chess was a key to revealing the secret of human intelligence as such. World computer chess contests are held every year. It is in- creasingly difficult to enhance the level of play, but many of the world’s advanced countries are still striving to carry on this project. People cannot help asking what point there is in spending so much money on it. Aside from its com- petitive significance and propay ganda value (not to speak of the commercial implications of, say, Deeper Blue's victory over Kasparov), chess incorporates the characteristics of numerous kinds of mental activity—logical, dialectical, thinking in images, inspirational and counter-logical thinking, and so on. It thus provides a systematic model for research in the science of thinking. Voltaire said that chess was one of the most valuable of human treas- ures. Few games have retained their charm for so long. Chess is a perfect combination of simple structure with unaccountable possibilities, An effective tool for training human imagination and intelligence, it is also a game that can bring infinite fantasy and pleasure to children. Today is a time of unprecedented activity in the realm of human thought. Inventions and innovations suceed each other without interrup- tion. Among my contacts in chess circles 1 often meet people who invent new games. Here and there someone will boldly break through the stereotyped chess patterns and bring forward all sorts of plans for reform. It should be recognized that this is merely the continuation of a historical trend in the development of chess, Go has been finalized since the Tang Dynasty (apart from one small modification in moder times), YiangQi has also been Copyrighted materialBC Before 100th century SOth century 26th century 2st century 10th century Sth century 2nd century AD Ist century 6th century 7th century 8th century Lith century ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION OF CHESS AND GO IN CHINA The Origin anel Nature of Chess 69 Simplest stone and grass stalk game Black-and-white 8x8 square proto-chess game (painted pottery from Gansu province) Astrology and physiognomy game (Shen Nongshi legend) Original Go game with 64-square board (Legend of Yao teaching the red game) Liu Bo: one of ancient chess models Go: 12x12 square board Sat Xi- one of ancient chess models Go: 13x13 square board Primitive chess game Go: 15x15 square board Ancient chess game and Lie Bo Go: 17x17 square board Chess game: 64 squares, 3-dimensional pieces Go: 19x19 square board Chess game spreads to India and Middle East Four-handed game; Persian chess Chess; Go: KiangQi on board with 9x10 points finalized for over a thousand years. The rules of modern chess have ex isted for more than five centuries. Do they need to develop? Can't people invent a new game that is better than these three? This is a question to occupy the thoughts of young people who have a wealth of dreams. and creative abilities. But they will have to study the three games we have been talking about, even if only to improve on them. They will have to bear in mind the essential character of these games, which can be summarized as fol- lows. First, the structure is rigorous, concise, symmetrical, perfectly co-ordinated and regular: this is their scientific aspect, Secondly, the rules are strict, logical and fair, and founded on an equal material base; this is the competitive aspect of the games, Thirdly, the mathematical analysis of their permutations Copyrighted material70. The Origin and Nature of Chess produces astronomic figures, thus, the games have a potential for unac- countable changes—they are a creative field of “self-expression”. This is their sporting aspect, their capacity to interest and entertain. Fourthly, thousand years are not enough to exhaust their possibilities. The games follow the mule of aesthetics, they provide boundless scope for people's creative abilities, This is their artistic aspect. Ifa new game is to last for a long time, it has to satisfy two conditions. For one thing, it must be popular; it must interest people and gain their acceptance. It is not easy to reach this goal. Any amount of advertising may fail in its effect. For another thing, the game must contain incalculable variety. A game which does not possess these qualities will not last. Rubik's cube (which is a far ery from chess) was popular once, but finally lost its appeal because of its limited possibilities that were easy to learn I do mot think my observations will fetter the creativity of invent- ors, particularly young people. Chess itself is a model. Nothing in the world is without limitations; it is impossible to create such a thing, Chess is a good friend of human beings. [hope that more friends will interest themselves in chess. SOME ELEGANT AND FAMOUS GAMES, Zhu Chen (China) White Sergey Tiviakov (Russia) Black Ubeda 1998 Zhu Chen, International Grand- master, was bom in Wenzhou (Zhejiang Province) in 1976. She ‘won the title of World Girls” Cham- pion in the under-twelve category in 1985, and entered China’s national training team in the same year. She is a former Chinese Chess Cham- pion (1992). In 1994 and again in 1996, she was Women’s Junior World Champion. As a member of the Chinese women’s team which came second in the 1996 Chess Olympiad, she obtained the gold medal for her performance on second board. Zhu Chen also played an important part in winning ‘the team championship of 1998. She gained the title of Women’s World Champion in 2001. International Grandmaster Sergey Tiviakov was born in Russia in 1973. His international rating is 2655. He has visited China twice. The computer database incorpor- ates Tiviakov's comments on this game, using the FIDE sign system. I shall append his signs to the moves of the game 1 QF3 DFG 2 ed Of course 1 c4 Af 2 OE gives the same position, but if you want to obtain a certain structure or opening system, you must consider how to {go about it from the very first move. The effect of | 04 is to discourage 1..d5, whereas 1 13 prevents 1.5. The moverorder that Zhu Chen chooses here is rarely seen in her published games. 2...b6, The position after 2 ¢4 arises in about 23,500 games in the database, but 2...b6 is played in only 1,805 games. In other words it is not a Copyrighted materialmain line. Some players play a move like this because they think it will lead to unusual situations giving them more opportunities against a weaker opponent. In actual fact, if you stick to your familiar move, the opportunities are better. 3g3 This is a normal set-up for com- bating 2...b6. White’s bishop on g2 will be protected when she castles, while Black’s bishop on b7 will be loose. This circumstance provides tactical chances for White. Buundtb7 4 Sg? 262! In this kind of opening situation, moving the g-pawn is not normal. Sg? appears in 920 games, but 4..g6 only in 80, The theoretical move is 4..c6 (over 600 games). There are also many players who like 4..c5 (over 330), which dis- courages White's d2-d4. Sd4 White could easily play 5 0-0, but if she wants to play d2-d4 at all, itis better to do so now. In this way she profits from Blacks omission of 4.05, S.nSlg7 6 0-0 0-0 The Origin and Nature of Chess 71 This position appears in 103 games, whereas the position after 5 d4 only appeared in 29. You may ask how this increase in the figure ‘comes about. The answer is that the computer program searches for identical positions, and a position may arise from various orders of moves. Hence a position need not occur less frequently than the one produced by the foregoing move. Clearly Black’s opening set-up in the diagram is deeply influenced by Hypermodem theory. However, in ‘comparison with typical Hypermod- em openings like the Nimzo-Indian, Griinfeld and King’s Indian, Black's forces are a long way from joining battle. This position first appeared ina game of 1921. It is worth noting that the White side has been played by three World Champions! Alek- hine played 7 We? in 1924, Spassky played 7 Hel in 1985, and Karpov played 7 We2 in 1996. No World Champion plays the Black side of the position, and I believe this is no coincidence. On the kingside, both players have the same arrangement of forces. The difference between the ‘two sides is that White has two advanced pawns on d4 and c4 as opposed to Black's fianchettoed bishop on b7. I believe White's structure is superior. She not only occupies more space (chess is a battle for space—this is my theory), but has better prospects for development. The move that White has played most often in the past is naturally 7 c3. More than twenty years ago Black usually replied 7...De4, Copyrighted material72. The Origin and Nature of Chess inviting exchanges. White couldn't exploit Black’s unprotected queen's bishop with 8 @d2, because 8...x03 would attack the queen. In the last decade Black has switched more and more to 7...d6; it does not worry him that 8 We2 supports the advance e2-e4. There are 14 games in which White chose an immediate 7 d5, scoring 8 wins, 4 draws—and 2 losses from the better position. In 13 games he played 7 We2, registering 8 wins, 4 draws and a single defeat. White’s much higher percentage of wins suggests that Black’s structure has a fatal flaw. 7 Bel This move occurred in seven games including the present one. White won 3, drew 3 and lost one, Zhu Chen cannot have spent much time analysing the diagram position. Her choice of 7 Hel is based on her understanding and feel for chess. The brash 7 d8 is alien to her style of thinking. She doesn't feel that White benefits from 7 We2 ded, Nor does she like 7 23 Hea, which is a simple exchanging continuation. 7 Hel first appeared in the game between Gintautas (Lithuania) and Ivanov (USA) in the Moscow Olympiad of 1979. Black played 7...We8 to support his bishop. White replied 8 @c3, and Black continued mechanically with 8..De4 to exchange knights. The retort 9 @\d5! came as a shock. Black was loth to exchange his b7-bishop for the knight, so he played 9..@c6 10 Des AG 11 Dxe6 AxdS 12 exdS dxe6 13 dxc6. Asa result, Black lost a pawn; he afterwards, I mention the above game not to prove that 7 Zel is really powerful, but merely that White's policy of waiting for Black to commit himself will sometimes produce unexpected results. If 7 Bel has a snag, it is that the move may tum out to be redundant, I must point out, though, that if White makes one superfluous move in a closed or half-closed resigned shortly opening, his position is not necessarily inferior. 7.06 In two games Black played 7...d6, on King’s Indian lines—except that the moves b7-b6 and Sc8-b7 are rarely seen in the King’s Indian, After 7...e6, the queenside and central position resembles a Queen’s Indian, but in that opening few players fianchetto the black king’s bishop. In short, Black has a largely original structure, _ little known to theory or practice, When this game was played, Tiviakov’s rating was 150 points higher than Zhu Chen’s. It can therefore be imagined that he adopted this set-up to engage his opponent in a contest of independent thinking. Copyrighted material8 gs 7..e6 occurs in three games. It first appeared in Bolduc-Brodeur, Quebec 1983. In that game White chose 8 @c3, and Black replied 8..De4 to stop e2-e4. There fol- lowed 9 We? f5 10 RF d6 11 Ags ®xgsS 12 &xb7 Hh3+ 13 dg2 @xf4+ 14 gxfd Dd? 15 &xa8 Wra8+. It is hard to say if Black has enough compensation for _ his exchange sacrifice. Safe moves for White are 16 £3 and 16 sgl, but the game continued 16 d32! 5, and af- ter several small errors due to over- confidence, White eventually Lost, 8 g5 looks a logical move, with its threat of e2-e4. In a game Smyslov-Plaskett, Black prevented this with an immediate 8..d5, and the continuation was: 9 cxd5 exd5 10 Dc3 Da6 (10..Qbd7 11 Des h6) 11 BeS 57! (11...Wd6; 11..h6) 12 Bgst exd4?! (12.47) 13 @xdS AxdS 14 BxdS Bbs (14..Wixd5 15 Dxfo+ Sxfo 16 Aixfi6) 15 047! (15 Wb3; or 15 Wad) 15...dxe3. 16 Exe3 De7 17 Sxf6 Wrd5 (17...Sxf6) 18 Ba3 WES 19 Bel Bbe8 20 £d87! QO xg? Sexg7 21 Bd7) 20.57! (after 20.6 White only has a slight edge) 21 Qe3 Wxd3 22 Wxd3 Eixd8 23 Wa3. White has the advantage, though after some mutual errors the game ended in a draw. It seems that after 8.45 Black faces numerous difficulties. Tiviakov suggests 8 c3!? Ded 9 Bed Red 10 Les We8!? (10...f6 11 Stat) 11 Weare 8...b6 A fairly reasonable choice, though it only occurs in one game. Black The Origin and Nature of Chess 73 forces White into an immediate decision: to exchange bishop for knight and follow with ¢2-e4, or to withdraw the bishop, relieving the pin. 9 afd A positionally sound continuation is 9 Rxf6 Wrf 10 04 De6 Il eS We7 12 Bc3 dé 13 Wad Babs 14 Hadl dxeS 15 Axes Dxe5 16 dxeS xg? 17 texg? Ebds 18 £4 a5 19 We2 Exdl 20 Exdi g5 with equality, 9 &f leads to a complex situation. This is Zhu Chen's style. DNS When White made her last move, she had to consider the possibility of 9...85, for example: 10 Se3 g4 11 Dh4 xg? 12 Dxg2. White's light- squared bishop has been exchanged, but Black's g4-pawn will become a liability, 10 Rel Why does the bishop return to its starting square? Perhaps White didn't like 10 &c3 £5 11 Wel g5z (Tiviakov). 10...46 Copyrighted material74. The Origin and Nature of Chess Another plan is 10..d5 11 exdS exdS 12 Bc3. Practice shows that with this central pawn structure, White's position is easier to play. Basically, however, the game is level. What would White have played in answer to 10.26 ? Would she have gone in for repetition with 11 Jf} @h5, or would she have continued 11 @c3 Ded 12 Kd2 ? Black didn't want to find out. His rating was much higher than Zhu's, and the toummament was an open Swiss—if he conceded too many points he wouldn't make the prize list. 10...d6 is a flexible choice. In this unbalanced position, both sides have their chances. 11 Dc3 5 A move in the spirit of the Benoni Defence; after 12 d5, a Benoni pawn structure would arise. Theoretically, if White wants an advantage out of the opening, she has to advance her d-pawn to secure a spatial plus, A farther point is that with a blocked centre, Black's bishop would have nothing to do on b7. Zhu Chen refrains from this advance. Presumably the resulting closed formation does not suit her. Tiviakov gives the continuation 12 d5!7 e513 edt. 12e4 White must have been pleased to achieve this move at last, It shows that 7 Zel was not useless. White has three pawns in the centre, which outwardly is a strong formation. Its main drawback is that a route to d4 is opened up for Black’s knight on 8, which otherwise would have to stay in the rear for a long time. This being the case, Black's opening play has been successful. Still, this doesn’t mean that White's position is worse than Black’s. She does, after all, have “the advantage of the move” 12.206 Black takes the opportunity to solve his problem of queenside development, 13 Re3 Protecting the d4-pawn, and at the same time threatening 14 d. If at once 13 d$, then 13..Ad4 and White obtains nothing. In his notes to the game, Tiviakov analyses 13 ¢5!?, giving these variations: (a) 13...cxd4 14 Dxd4 Bc8 15 g4! (15 Bxc6? &xe6 16 x6 Bxc6 17 g4 RxeS 18 gxhS Wh4) 15...2xe5 16 gxhS Wh4 17 B+. (b) 13..dxe3 14 dxeS (14 Dxe5 exdd 15 Bixc6 Bxo6 16 Rxc6 Be8 17 &b7 Bc? 18 AB dxc3) 14..Wrdl 15 Dxdl_g5 16 Ad? (16 Qxgs hxgs 17 23 ga! 18 fixed Copyrighted material@xeS 19 SxhS DB+ 20 Kxf3 Axf3) 16..2h8 17 B13 De7 18 g4 Babs 19 Dc3 Dd4 20 Kxb7 Bxb7 21 Ebi De8 22 Dbs £67. (0) 13..Dxd4 14 gat. This analysis is open to criticism. In variation (a), Black can play 14..Das! 15 Sxb7 Dxb7 with a slight edge; alternatively 14. @xd4!? 15 Axb7 dxeS 16 Rxad ‘WraB 17 Des Hd etc., with com- pensation. In variation (b), Black can deviate with 15..b4, gaining a slight advantage. | don’t understand why Tiviakov doesn't consider but thinks 15..g5 is Black's sole option, Players make mistakes in their annotations. This happens all the time, because if the annotator only spends an hour on the game, the job is not done very thoroughly. On several occasions I have watched foreign grandmasters annotating games for Chess Informant (they ‘were paid fifteen US dollars per game at the time). They would take a pen and a piece of paper, and within a few minutes they would put all the signs bes hand the paper in, 13.65 as a * Rip Pee as we He B oo The Origin and Nature of Chess 75 The battle in the centre com- mences. It revolves round ten squares: f5/f4, eS/ed, d5/d4, c5/e4, and b5/b4. The positional structure is such that both sides will have great difficulty in handling the situ- ation correctly. Although 13...e5 not the only choice, it is quite good. It secures d4 for the knight and thereby gives Black completely equal freedom of development, The alternative 13..exd4 14 Axdd would allow White a lasting spatial advantage. 14 dxeS After 14 d5 2\d4, White's d-pawn seems to be a head taller than Black's, However, the incursion of the knight to d4 brings White real trouble. If left there, it restricts White’s activities, If it is exchanged, Black recaptures with the c-pawn and it is not clear which side has the superior pawn structure, 14...dxe5 15 Dd5 White is glad of the opportunity to establish her knight in the centre; this was the point of the exchange 14 dxeS dxe5. Perhaps she thinks this move will give her the advan- tage. In fact, the matter is not so simple. Black can establish his own knight on d4. The question is what will result when either player breaks with the f pawn or the b-pawn, what advantages or disadvantages this will bring. 15.216 = This move reveals Tiviakov's cal ibre. He is in no hurry to move his knight from 6 to d4. He first brings his other knight back from the edge, where it was of no use. This move Copyrighted material76 The Origin and Nature of Chess threatens not only to exchange the white knight but also to take the pawn on e4. White naturally doesn’t want to exchange her d5-knight for the one on f6. If that happens, White’s remaining knight needs four moves to reach d3, while the black one can jump to d4 in just one move; it is quite clear who would have the upper hand. Therefore, White needs to protect her e4-pawn. 16 Dd2 The obvious thing would be to use the queen to protect the e4-pawn temporarily. By retreating her knight to protect the pawn, White unguards the d4-square, which is a concession to Black. However, Zhu Chen reckons that Black's knight on 44 will not be such a big deal, as she can exchange it sooner or later. 16...2d4 Black should undoubtedly take advantage of the weak point. He reasons that if White gives up her dark-squared bishop for this knight, he has nothing to complain about, 17 a3 With the forces interlocked in the centre, both sides focus their atten- tion on the ffile and b-file, so as to ‘transform the central situation in their own favour. When making her last move, Zhu Chen figured that if Black’s knight came to d4 she ‘would be able to develop her queen- side activity before her opponent. 174. Dxd5?! 18 exdS White's knight on d5, no less than Black's on d4, was like a fishbone stuck in the opponent’s throat, and was bound to cause severe irritation. All the same, such a knight should only be exchanged after careful con- sideration. The exchange radically alters the positional structure, and must be part of an overall plan. White has two pawns which can recapture on d5. Which is better? In this specific position, there are two reasons for White to prefer the epawn: (1) White is preparing a queenside advance with b2-b4, and therefore has to keep her pawns on that side united (2) With 18 exd5, the scope of White's light-squared bishop _ is increased. The pawn on e4, blocked by the black e5-pawn, was severely limiting the bishop's activity. Now the pawn is transferred to d5, from where it may advance to d6 at some future moment; this advance may be combined with tactical threats, seeing that the g2-bishop is guarded whereas the b7-bishop is not. In other circumstances, the white bishop may occupy e4 and become active on the bI-h7 diagonal Generally speaking, in the diagram position, Black is aiming Copyrighted materialfor £7-£5, which not only controls the e4-square but forms an active united pawn-couple on eS and £5 However, although these pawns seem strong, Black cannot advance further without preparation, A premature f5-f4 concedes the e4-square to White. Although e5-e4 blocks White's g2-bishop, it is not easy for Black to follow with f5-f4 and launch an attack If White carties out a queenside pawn attack with b2-b4 it will be a differet matter. For example, 18...£5 19 b4 Wd6 20 bxcS bxcS (not 20...Wixc5? 21 Qb3 Wxed 22 Axdd exd4 23 Bel Wa2 24 Qd4 and White has a decisive plus) 21 Zb1 Habs (21.28 may be better, but it cannot solve the problem) 22 Wad with a view to Wa4-a5, and Black’s queenside is under too much pres- sure. We can see, then, that White’s queenside advance is a real threat which Black has to take very seriously. If he cannot find a good ‘way to resist (there may not be one), hhe will have to seek compensation by playing on the kingside. 18.388 What is the point of this move? Why does Black place his rook behind a blocked pawn? As we all The Origin and Nature of Chess 77 know, a rook ought to occupy an open or half-open file, of station itself behind a mobile pawn. The only reason for putting it behind an immobile pawn is to protect that pawn when attacked. In this case the cS-pawn is not under attack and is protected by the b6-pawn. So the move is really perplexing. Usually it is difficult for an ordinary player to grasp such a move, Nimzowitsch, the founder of the Hypermodem school, develops the concept of “over-protection” in his famous work My System. It means defending important points in your position with more pieces than the opponent is attacking them with. The aim is that some of the defenders should have freedom to undertake other actions, But in the diagram position, I repeat, Black"s pawn is not attacked and is defended by another pawn. Therefore the move 18...c8 is not a genuine “over-protection” Is the purpose of the move to bolster the c-pawn and thereby gi the b-pawn freedom to advance? But if Black wants to play b6-bS, he can do so at once. White would obviously not answer 18,..b5 with 19 oxbS, when 19...S.xd5 picks up White’s central passed pawn in retum for the bpawn. Is Black thinking of playing a later b6-bS and answering cxbS with Bd4xb5 ? In that case he needs to prevent White from playing £e3xc5 with an attack on the f8-rook. But if that is what Black intends, he can prepare it by placing his king's rook behind the mobile e-pawn. It follows that the real purpose of 18...2c8 is not to prepare b6-bS directly. When White played 17 a3, she was aiming to Copyrighted material78. The Origin and Nature of Chess launch an attack with b2-b4. Black’s 18...e8 is in fact a response to White's plan. What, then, is Black planning if White continues with 19 b4 ? If the c4-pawn were unprotected he would reply cSxb4, but in the present circumstances he will play 19...b5, increasing the tension, After 20 bxcS Bxe5, the c4-pawn is unprotected by another pawn and will have to be exchanged. In this way the d5-pawn is undermined and will be hard to maintain. We can now see Black’s precise purpose in playing 18...ic8. He hopes White will play b2-b4 at an inopportune moment, facilitating his own break with b6-bS. If White refrains from b2-b4, is 18...Bc8 still useful? I can’t say it is completely useless, but it doesn’t have very much point. There is no accepted chess term to. define Black"s method. For the present I would like to call it the “Trap Defence” or “Snare Defence”. The point is that the opponent is able to respond to the defence but must not fall into the trap. The true function of 18..2c8 is to deter White's queenside pawn advance. In other words it frustrates the aim of 17 a3, at least partially. The conclusion is that 18...2c8 is a good move. ‘One question remains. Why didn’t Black play Ha8-c8 a move carlicr? Why did he exchange knights first? The sequence 17..%c8 18 b4?! xd 19 exd5 b5! would just be a transposition. Perhaps Black didn’t like 17...Re8 18 S&h3, attacking the rook and forcing 18...b8, which abandons the “Trap Defence”. How- ever, the white bishop is not well placed on h3—as we see from the ‘continuation 18...2b8 19 b4?! Aixd5 20 exd5 £5. It follows that Za8-c8 would have been even better without a prelimi- nary knight exchange. That way Black would retain more possibi- lities, since White wouldn’t ini the exchange of her own d5-knight for the one on f6 19 Ebi A stock measure—the rook occupies the b-file and supports b2-b4. When this advance is carried out, the rook will no longer be in the firing line of Black's g7-bishop. 19.0057! Black is counting on a weak move from his opponent. If he had ant pated her reply, he might have played differently, It was worth considering 19...15. 20 b3! Black must have been dismayed to see White behave so. patiently. Black cannot achieve anything on the queenside, Although White's a3-pawn is now misplaced (the move a2-a3 is wasted and even amounts to a general weakening of Copyrighted materialthe position), Black’s own c- and b-pawns have been weakened by 6-5. The move 20 b3 reveals Zhu Chen’s level of technique. 20...067! Black's 19..b5 was to be criticized for hesitation and carelessness. He has no need to “repair” that move, since White cannot profitably capture on b5. Black should play 20...£5. There is nothing for either side to do on the queenside, whereas Black is quite well placed on the kingside and in the centre. 21 fa! White is the first to launch an attack on the Ffile, This demon- strates Zhu Chen's active and intelligent approach. Instead of, continuing to manoeuvre on the queenside where her plan of attack has been thwarted, she turns her attention to another sector of the board. This thrust will lead to the exchange of Black's _e-pawn, weakening the support of the knight on d4. Therefore Black will not be able to achieve a structure like that of White's protected passed pawn. This is of potential importance in the endgame. If Black had played 20...£5, he could consider replying to 21 f with 21..e4, securing a protected passed pawn of his own. ‘The reason for 20...06 may have been that Black wanted to give White another chance to go astray. Pethaps he hoped his opponent would calculate the line 21 b4?! bxo4 22 xed Lxd5 23 Lxd4 cxdd The Origin and Nature of Chess 79 24 Saxds Wrxd5 25 Db6 Web 26 2yxc8 Bxc8. White has won a rook for bishop and pawn, but Black has enough compensation because his d4-pawn is quite powerful. Further- more, if Black doesn’t want to play sacrificially, he can answer 21 b4 with the seemingly insignificant 21...fa8!, leaving the four pawns facing each other. White has the move, but can she gain advantage from it? No! For example, 22 bxeS Exe5 23 Hb4 bxed 24 Axed a5 25 Had Oxd5!, or 22 exbS axbS 23 bxe5 ExcS and White can't avoid losing the d5-pawn. 21.8 This isn't a bad move, but a simpler line is 21...exf 22 Rxfi £5. 22 fxeS ExeS 23 wht Eliminating any tactical resources based on White's king position. 23...We7 24 &f2 eB 25 Exes Wrxe5 26 Ded! This is the third exclamation mark that Tiviakov has given White since the twentieth move. It is not that this move is particularly remarkable. He is just surprised that by a simple Copyrighted material80 The Origin and Nature of Chess move the Chinese girl leaves him at a loss what to do next, even though his rook and queen co-operate to occupy the only open file in the position. White’s knight now shuts out the black major pieces and threatens to take on ¢5, Black knows he has to concede the open file to his opponent. 26...208 Tiviakov gives the variation 26,818 27 bd bxcd 28 bxcS 4)b3 29 06 a8 30 Dd2+-. 27 Wd3 £5 28 Dd? a5?! Tiviakov thinks this advance is questionable, but he doesn’t say what move is best. The trouble is that next move White’s rook will occupy the open e-file. No matter how Black plays, he will have somewhat the worse position, Since 28...05 weakens the b-pawn, Black will not succeed in improving the situation on the queenside. If White wants, she can play a3-ad, completely frustrating Black's plan to undermine the c4-pawn which supports the d5-pawn. 29 Bel Wf6!? In his notes, Tiviakov considers the alternative 29...Wd6, He gives: 30 b4 axb4 31 axb4 bxed 32 Dxcd Wa6 (32...WE6 33 bxe5 Exe 34 BeS+-; 32...Wd8!) 33 bxcS ExcS 34 xd4 Axd4 35 Wrd4 Bxo4 36 We3+-, There is an obvious mistake in this comment: instead of 34....xd4, Black can play 34...Wxe4 35 Wxe4 xed, and White has no good way to win. But then, a move earlier, White's 33 bxcS is a mistake. An improve- ment is 33 Qed Wxd3 34 Dxd3 Ed 35 He7 &xd5 36 Sexd5+ Exd5 37 Des Bas 38 bxeS Bf 39 Eb7 g5 (or 39..2f3 40 bg? Bes 41 Eb6 Wf7 42 c6 Hc8 43 c7 Ded 44 Bo6 Aas, and now if 44..De5?? then 45 Exf6+ dexfo 46 Sd4; or if 44...2a5, then 45 Be? Db7 46 Dds eS 47 Bo6 DaS 48 Ba6 Bed 49 cS hS 50 h4 Lh8 51 Xd6 with a decisive plus) 40 Stxd4 Exd4 41 c6 gxfd 42 c7 Bod 43 gxfd Rd4 44 EbS+ etc. with a won endgame. In the position on the last dia- gram, White can play more power~ fully with 30 g4. There can follow: (a) 30...fxg4 31 Ded WE 32 2g3 Wis 33 EA Whs 34 Ad6 Bc7 35 Eel @h7 36 He8! Bd7 37 Axb7 Exb7 38 dé Ed7 39 cxbs Wis 40 Wed Wbi+ 41 Bel Wrs 42 e7 Woi+ 43 Wel Wxfl+ 44 Qxfl Bas 45 d7 with a decisive advantage. (b) 30.28 31 gxfS Exf5 32 293 Wh6 33 a4 bxcd 34 bxed HET 35 Ebl Wa6 36 Wed DFS 37 Wes+ SLB 38 2A Dg7 39 Wel Lcd 40 Wel Bc7 41 Sed APs 42 Ebs bh7 43 Whol Se7 44 Eb6 Wa? 45 @f3 67 46 Bbs BxbS 47 exbs Who 48 DeS B18 49 Aco 2e7 50 Wel Ddé 51 Rd3 Gf5 52 AxfS exfS 53 Regs Copyrighted materialCopyrighted Material Ded 54 WraS Wxa5 55 DxaS with a winning position. The above sample lines are not exhaustive, but White's advantage cannot be doubted. On the whole, a protected passed pawn, plus firm control of an open file, will guarantee White the initiat- ive, and she should have winning chances. In the game, Black chooses 29..,.Wf6!?. The logic behind this move is reasonable. Black sacrifices a pawn to deprive White’s passed pawn of its protection. He thinks he has various ways to stop White from exploiting her material advantage. Black mainly sets his hopes on besieging the d5-pawn. If he can't win his pawn back, he may be able to bring about a situation of deadlock. He can also stir up some trouble on the kingside, where he has the majority of pawns. 30 exbS?! Tiviakov doesn't approve of taking the pawn. He gives the variation 30 £3 bxc4 31 bxo4, threatening 32 Axd4 cxd4 33 He6. I think this suggestion is reasonable. It hardly pays to deprive the d-pawn of its defender in order to gain a doubled extra pawn on the b-file. The d-pawn is now vulnerable to attack. 30...Wd8! The exclamation mark indicates that Black's stratagem linked to the pawn sacrifice is working. The d5-pawn comes under attack. The queen goes to d8 rather than d6, because in the latter case White could play 31 &xd4 and 35 He6, winning the g6-pawn. The Origin and Nature of Chess 81 31 Wed @h8! Why does Tiviakov give himself another exclamation mark for this sideways move of the king? The trouble with the sign system is that it doesn’t explain these things! He probably means that this move is more accurate than the natural- seeming 31...@h7. The black king- side pawns are likely to advance, so on h7 the king might be more exposed. In addition the black queen might have to abandon control of 7, in which case, after White's Bel-e7, the king would have to move again to unpin the bishop. 32. ad 52? Tiviakov thinks 32...g5 is a huge mistake. Generally speaking, it isn’t easy to understand the move. Black regrets missing his chance to tie White to the defence of the d5-pawn. His master plan of besieg- ing this pawn vanishes like soap bubbles. After 32...Wd7 33 Dbl gs 34 Qc3 fA, the situation becomes quite complex. I think White still has the advantage, but in practice it might not be decisive. As the saying is— whoever plays better, wins. Copyrighted Material82 The Origin and Nature of Chess 33 xd! Tiviakov doesn’t give White an exclamation mark for free. He didn't expect a young Chinese player to find such a simple method in such an involved situation, 33..0xd4 After 33..Sxd4 34 Be6 Sg? 35 Wa3 £4 36 dé Lxg?+ 37 dxg2 Wes 38 Wg6, White would win without difficulty 34 Was £47! Tiviakov notes that 34...\Wd7 is a better move, but it can’t save Black from defeat, After 35 Dod Sxd5 36 Rixd5 WxdS+ 37 deg] Wes (37..Hc7 38 g4) 38 Efl ER 39 DxasS We3 40 Wxc3 dxc3 41 Dc6, White has a decisive advantage. White could also consider 35 d6, which again leads to a won position afier 35..0c3 36 WE Sxg2+ 37 dxg? RIB 38 Wi Bd3 39 Ded. 35 WAS! fxg3 In this position, the moves that naturally come to mind are 36 Dc and 36 bxg3. The computer also thinks these two moves are the best. 36 d6!! The two exclamation marks, of course, are Tiviakov’s. He admires Zhu Chen for such a good move. He doesn’t think his defeat is due to bad luck. a There is nothing much Black can do now. He is lost anyway, so he takes the straightforward decision to give up his bishop for two pawns. Tiviakov gives a long variation to show that there was no alternative. I simply reproduce his note, as I have nothing to criticize in it: 36... Wf6 37 Wrf6 Lng? 38 xg? Lxf6 39 d7 Ba8 (39... e240 Be2!! d3 41 Be8+ seg? 42 d&-W Bxd2+ 43 wxg3 Sixd8 44 Exd8 Hdl 45 b6+-) 40 He8+ hg? 41 Bxd8 Sxd8 42 Ded WT (42.03 43 b6 d2 44 Dxd2 Bxb6 45 Ded Bd 46 Des 66 47 De6+-) 43 xg} Se7 44 Sf xd? 45 Hed KH 46 Dxas hs 47 Dyed 24 48 aS Hc7 49 a6 Hb8 50 b6 ha 51 ete 37 Sixb7 Efe 38 Wd3 gxh2 39 Des Wd 40 Zdl D2 41 b6 g4 42 Wg3 Bf 43 Bp? hS 44 Wxh? Black resigned. xd This game illustrates Zhu Chen’s style and class of play. Tiviakov is lavish with exclamation marks for her technical (if not tactical) prow- ess. This reflects his own opinion, but at the same time gives an indica tion of Zhu Chen’s splendid future. Copyrighted materialViktor Korchnoi (Switzerland) White Ye Jiangehuan (China) Black Olympiad, Novi Sad 1990 King's Indian Defence Viktor Korchnoi, International Grandmaster, was bom in Leningrad in 1931. He is a historian. He played in the Soviet ‘Championship 16 times between 1952 and 1973, winning the title four times. He represented the ‘USSR in three World Chess Team Championships. He has won more than 20 international contests, and participated in all the World Championship Candidates Tourn- aments from 1962 to 1977. He was Challenger in two World Champ- ionship matches, but failed to defeat Karpov, He emigrated to Switzer Jand in 1976, and is now registered by FIDE as a Swiss player. At over seventy years of age, he is still active on the chess scene. His international rating in January 2000 was 2659, which placed him 27th in the world list. Thanks to his chess ability and achievements, his deep and devoted love of the game, and his mild and modest personality, Korchnoi is still a respected player ‘in the chess world. At the time of this game, Ye Jiangchuan's rating was 2520. Afterwards his commentary on it was published in Chess Informant (No. 52). [shall quote several of his notes. 1 dd Df6 2 cd g6 3 De3 ey 4 d6 5 Re? 0-0 6 AF eS 7 Deb 8 ds De7 The Origin and Nature of Chess 83 A typical position in the King’s Indian Defence, occurring in 7115 games in the database (up to June 1999), Until Black’s fourth move, a switch to a different opening was possible, for example the Benoni, After 4...d6, the game is definitely a King’s Indian. In the diagram position, the character of the central ‘pawn structure dictates the strategy for both sides in the next stage of the game. White will advance on the queenside; Black will respond with a kingside counter-attack. Practice shows that White's pressure on the queenside is more effective than Black’s on the other wing, Black"s attack can nonetheless be very menacing, and in recent years White has adopted three kinds of plan to cope with it. The first is to try to fight it out on the kingside, but this is based on largely subjective thinking. Black will break down the resistance, no matter how big a price he has to pay. The second plan is to strengthen the kingside defences or to take measures combining defence with attack. The third is to press forward on the queenside as fast as possible, so as to break into Black’s position before he can get at the white king. Copyrighted material84 The Origin and Nature of Chess On his ninth move White has tried ten different plans. The three most widespread are 9 el (occurring in 3125 games), 9 Ad2 (1900 games) and 9 b4 (1617 games). Recently the last-mentioned move has be come very popular, though without eclipsing the other two which were formerly seen more frequently. The statistics between January and June 1999 indicate 117 games with 9 b4, 90 with 9 Del and 46 with 9 Ad2 9 Bel This move first appeared in 1952 After half a century of tests, it is: still one of the main lines. Korchnoi has used it in 37 games, scoring 21 wins, 12 draws and 4 losses. He played the line for the first time in the Interzonal Tournament of 1973, though on that occasion the move- order was 9 &d2 DeB 10 Det. He employed the 9 Del move-order in 1974, but only in one game. It was from 1981 onwards (a period when he mainly used the English Open- ing) that he began to play 9 et regularly. Against Ye Jiangchuan he plays it for the eighth time (the previous seven games had brought him five wins and two draws). In the present game Korchnoi finally tastes defeat, though this certainly cannot be blamed on his ninth move. 9.47 10 Ste3 £5 11 £3 £4 12 Ai gs The position in the following dia- gram appears in 589 games, includ- ing 21 by Korchnoi. It is a key position which demands very seri- ous study by both sides. Of the 589 games, White won 268, drew 149 and lost 172. The ratio of White to Black wins is 42:27. White comes off somewhat better, but the advantage of the first move is not all that striking. Out of every ten games played, White has had 5 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses. In other words, White’s chances of losing from the diagram position are quite considerable. Black has shown his teeth, but it isn’t easy for him to demolish White’s kingside defences. White can count on his queen, both bishops, one knight, one rook, three pawns, plus a self-defending king, that makes nine units in the defensive area, Against these, Black can muster his queen, one rook, both knights, both bishops, plus the £, g- and b-pawns—again nine units. All of them will join in the kingside offensive. Numerically, we can say that the forces engaged in that sector will be balanced. Yet according to general principles, if Black is launching an attack, he needs to do it with more pieces than are available for the defence The queenside is _ basically White’s domain. Practice has shown that it is not possible for Black to seal up that part of the board. White Copyrighted materialcan open up the queenside and create a variety of threats there. It follows that despite the solidity of the white king’s position, Black has to everything possible to open an avenue of attack against it, to make up for his predicament on the other wing, At this point White has five principal methods of furthering his queenside advance: 13 a4 (281 games), 13 1bS (89 games), 13 bd (76), 13 Hel (62) and 13 @d3 (52). Two other moves are seen much less frequently. One is 13 g4 (28 games), which attempts to seal up the kingside but in the end only adds strength to Black’s assault. The other is 13 ¢5 (I game), a brash attempt to open the position with a pawn sacrifice; it is often seen in games between juniors, but finds no other imitators. Korchnoi has played 13 b5 in just two games. He won the first one, but has never repeated the move after losing the present game to Ye Jiangchuan. 13 Abs b6 White uses his knight to attack the 7-pawn and harass his opponent's queenside, provoking the black pawns into moving forward. This shortens the distance between the white and black pawns and makes it easier to break Black's front line open. Black bas three ways of responding to the attack. In the first place he can play 13...a6, trying to force the white knight back with loss of tempo, after which Black can turn his atten- tion to the kingside. White does not retreat, however; instead he plays 14 The Origin and Nature of Chess 85 a7, threatening to exchange off the bishop on ¢8. This exchange would rob Black's kingside attack of much of its strength. A currently popular continuation is 14...Rxa7 15 &xa7 b6, trapping the bishop. Obvi- ously if Black captures it, he will have a material advantage of bishop and knight for a rook. To break ‘open an escape route for his bishop, White must sacrifice a pawn. The result of the skirmish may be a situ- ation with bishop and knight against rook and a number of pawns, which both sides may be willing to accept. There are also a few games in which Black plays 13...2f6. This move offers the apawn as a sacrifice in the interests of speeding up the kingside attack. In answer to 14 2xa7, Black should preserve his light-squared bishop with 14.,..Sd7, Having captured the a-pawn, the white knight will need several moves to return, and this again gives Black more time to prepare his assault. Black will need to gain something tangible on the kingside; if his attack there is thwarted, his pawn sacrifice on the other wing will decide the fate of the game. Black also has a third method: 13..b6. This is employed much more often than the other two. Although 13...b6 is a defensive move and also weakens the queenside, it avoids material loss. It acknowledges that the advantage on the queenside must be conceded to White. Let us see how White reacts to it. 14 b4 Preparing a breakthrough with 4-05, White needs to open the door ytighte86 The Origin and Nature of Chess to the queenside as soon as possible, sacrificing a pawn if necessary. Black cannot stop the advance of the white c-pawn, and is unlikely to accept the sacrifice; it would merely give him an extra doubled pawn on the e-file, which White would pick up sooner or later. Black does better to leave his d-pawn where it is, blocking the advanced d5-pawn. All this means that 14 b4 contains a direct threat. 14...96 This weakening move to drive the knight away is necessary, as other- wise White could play c4-c5 and then answer a7-a6 with cSxd6. 15 D)e3 hS Ye Jiangchuan indicates that this is a new move, but in fact it had been played in five previous games, the earliest one in 1987, He was presumably limited by the materials at his disposal and his style of research. This may be his good fortune; if he had been thoroughly acquainted with those five games, he might not have chosen 15...h5 at all. The diagram position figures in nine games in total. Theoretically, 15..0g6 is the move worth recommending, because from 11 games with it, Black won 6, drew 2 and lost 3. That is an excellent achievement, and is probably the real reason why Korehnoi never again played 13 b5 after losing this game. 16 @h1 This move has only occurred in the present game. Theorists criticize it; they think it cannot bring White any advantage. From their perspec- tive, the best move is 16 c5. It has occurred three times in practice, and all three games were won by White. One of them was played in 1987, another in 1989. Was Korchnoi familiar with those games? Didn't he like the idea of the pawn sacrifice which 16 cS involves? White’s loss in this game cannot be blamed on 16 hl. Theory merely states that the resulting situation is unclear. A middlegame struggle that differs widely from the normal patterns gives full scope to a Chinese player’s abilities, 16...26. The correct decision. The knight on d7 cannot hold up the c4-c5 breakthrough if White is prepared to sacrifice a pawn, Therefore Black transfers this knight to f6, opening the route for the light-squared bishop and lending maximum support to the attack with g5-g4. 17¢5 The one-move delay (with 16 whl) affects the speed of White's queenside attack and allows Black to accelerate his own pawn storm on the kingside. Copyrighted material17...g4 18 exb6 exb6 19 Eel The diagram position is typical of the King’s Indian in the transitional phase from opening to middlegame, White has at least nine units defending his kingside. It is neither necessary nor possible to bring further pieces to the defence. He can only await Black's attack. Nobody knows if Black can checkmate the white king or inflict other severe damage. Even today, when chess has developed to such a high level, there are still some complex positions like this one that are beyond human knowledge. The idea that the problem can be left to a computer program to solve is even more ridiculous, On the queenside, the d6-pawn has become a permanent weak point, and the pawns on bé and a6 are also weakened to some degree. Furthermore White controls the only ‘open file on the board, He is on the point of launching a strong queen- side attack which Black will be powerless to hold up. The strategic situation for both sides is perfectly clear. Unsettling the white king is the only way for Black to counterbalance his queen The Origin and Nature of Chess 87 side disadvantage, He may be forced to sacrifice pawns or even a piece. How does he continue to strengthen his attacking formation? It is no good playing 19..Ag6, because after 20 a4 EbS 21 Axb6 Exbé 22 Exc8! Wrxe8 23 Axb6, White has a winning position. Nor can 19...gxf3 be recommended, in view of 20 &xf3 De4 21 Da3. Although Black can exchange his knight for White's dark-squared bishop and slightly reduce the queenside pressure, he will need much more time to organize his own kingside attack. In the meantime his queenside cannot hold out for very ong, 19...93 Again Black takes the right deci- sion. This pawn sacrifice requires a delicate feel and plenty of courage! Some players are opposed to the sacrifice, as they don't clearly see the consequences if White accepts it However, I think it should be possible to give some main variations indicating the course of the attack: 20 hxg} fxg3 21 &xg3 Deo 22 kf2 h4 23 Das Bos 24 @xb6 Exb6 25 Exc8 Wxc8 26 Sixb6 DhS 27 Eg Dg3+ 28 bh2 ho 29 Dd3 Wo7 30 £2 Det 31 Del (if 31 &xg3 hxg3+ 32 xg? Dxd3 33 &xd3 e3, or 33 Wrd3 Afs+ 34 GA Wh6, Black wins) 31...deh8 32 We? Bg 33 43 We7 34 Wel WS 35 a4 WhS 36 Sf Bc8 37 Db3 Bc? 38 b5 (or 38 Dd? Bxd2 39 Wxd2 h3 and wins) 38...h3 39 gxh3 Dxfl+ 40 Wxfl Bxf2+ 41 Wxf2 Wxh3 mate. Of course it is not inevitable that the white king will be mated so easily. There are many variations, and I have studied the Copyrighted material88 The Origin and Nature of Chess position extensively. My impression is that it isn’t easy for Black to break down White's defensive system, but White does have plenty of problems. If Black is trying to win, he should play this way. If we can’t clarify the position in home analysis, it will be all the harder for White to do so during a real game. 20 gl After weighing the advantages and disadvantages, Korchnoi decides not to take the sacrificed pawn. I doubt if he concluded that Black had a forced and convincing attacking line; he probably just didn’t like the idea of the black pieces suddenly springing into action if he accepted the sacrifice. Elements of intuition and psyeh- ology play a decisive role. 20...gxh2 21 22 21...h4! This is the first exclamation mark that Ye Jiangchuan gives himself in his comments on the game. He points out that 21..2\g6? 22 Bad gives White a winning position. In the event of 22,.Bb8 23 2xb6 Exb6 24 Exc8 Wxc8 25 &xb6, Black not only loses a pawn, but will also have difficulty holding his a-pawn when White attacks it with Wal-d3. This variation shows why White didn’t want his dark-squared bishop to leave the gl-a7 diagonal on moves 20-21. He was probably waiting for Black to play 21...2g6; he didn’t expect Ye Jiangchuan to have such an excellent feel for the position. The knight on e7 is limiting White's opportunities for tactical combinations on the queenside, Black’s kingside attack can develop smoothly even if this knight temporarily stays put. 22 Dad Es If 23 &xh4?, then 23...0h5 with a strong attack (Ye Jiangchuan). This comment is correct, because Black will play 24...2f6 next move, invit- ing an exchange of dark-squared bishops. It is very dangerous for White’s king to stay on the h-file with his own h-pawn missing. 23 b51? This move is necessary, as other- wise Black will play b6-b5, driving the knight back from a4 and greatly retarding White's queenside offensive. Copyrighted materialThe above diagram is very im- portant. The verdict on this position is decisive for the evaluation of 16 ‘hl. Black has three choices: (a) 23...2h5, and now: (al) Black is hoping for 24 xh? Dg3 25 Hg] Ld? 26 De3 a5. He will then have no serious problems ‘on the queenside, while on the other wing White cannot parry the threat ‘on the h-file, All this is wishful thinking, however. (22) White should take the oppor- tunity to play 24 bxa6 Ag3+ 25 ‘sbxh2 (25 &xg3 is not good, since the threat to the b6-pawn is removed. Black will have a free hand to win the white pawn that has laboriously journeyed to a6. White's king will still be in a very bad position, whether Black "plays 25...fxg6 or 25...hxg6) 25...d7 26 a7 Hb7 27 @xb6 (if 27 Axb6, then 27..We8) 27..@xfl+ 28 Sxfl Hxa7 (if 28,..8xb6, then 29 a8-W Wra8 30 sixb6 Wxa2 31 2c7). Although the material is balanced, Black’s pieces are not well co-ordinated, White has a big advantage thanks to his strong queenside initiative and the weakness of the d6-pawn. Play may continue: 29 a4 Le (or 29..Dg6 30 Wb3 He7 31 Exc? Wxe7 32 Dxd7 Wxd7 33 aS We7 34 a6 Bas 35 Wb7 Wd8 36 a7 with a won position) 30 Wb3 “g6 (after 30..Wb8 31 SbS BxbS 32 Wxbs Hb7 33 a5 DcB 34 Bol Axds 35 a6 Ba7 36 WaS, Block will be in a desperate position despite having a took for a knight and pawn; the a-pawn. will reach a7 and a white piece will penetrate to c6) 31 bS Bb7 32 a5 QxbS 33 WxbS @h7 34 The Origin and Nature of Chess 89 a6 Bc7 35 Hc6, and White's advan- tage is obvious. (b) 23...05 24 We? Bb7 (24,..Dhs 25 We? Bb? 26 Wxd8 Bxd8 27 xh? ADg3 28 Add Axfl+ 29 Oxf Rd7 30 xb6) 25 Sxh2 “hs 26 Bgl Dg} 27 Rad Btw 28 Wa2 a7 29 @c2 Bh6 with advantage. It seems that 23...a5 deserves serious attention. A careful analysis shows that after this move, Black's advan tage cannot be shaken, (c) 23...axbS, as occurred in the game. Ye Jiangchuan thinks this is Black’s only playable reply. Here we see a difference between playing chess and studying it. His commen- tary, after all, was written for Chess Informant when they invited him to annotate his win against this famous opponent. He just added some simple signs to the game score, re- flecting his impressions during ploy and in the post-mortem, and handed it in to the editors, This is different from constantly returning to analyse the game over the course of several weeks If we compare 23..axb3_ with 23...a5, the former seems to save ‘one tempo for the kingside attack, but this is of secondary importance The trouble with 23..axb5 is that the queenside is fully exposed, and the squares b7 and d7 cannot be used for for defensive and ma- noeuvring purposes. 23...axb8 24 &xbS DhS 25 dexh2 Dg3 26 Kgl Ago! In reply to 26.,.08f72!, Ye Jiang: chuan gives 27 Wc2 Bhs 28 We7 ‘Weg8 29 27 with advantage. In fact White can play more strongly with 29 Wxb8 h3 30 Hxe8 hxg2+ 31 Copyrighted material90 The Origin and Nature of Chess Sexg2 Dxc8 (or 31...Wxc8 32 Wxc8 Dxc8 33 Dd3 Lh6 34 Ld7 De 35 Re6+ dg7 36 Eb and wins) 32 We7+ df (or 32...De7 33 Wrxd6) 33 Dxb6 Wh7 34 Axg3 fxg3 35 bf] Wh2 36 Dg2 with a decisive plus. However, Black's 28...Wg8 is in- ferior, Instead he should play 28..Wxe7 29 Exc? 3 30 &xb6 hxg2+ 31 chee? £6 32 d7 Bxd7 33 Exd7 Ebg8 34 2/2 hd with a winning position. Therefore White should meet 26.27 with 27 Wb3!. This move threatens 28 &xb6. In view of the potential battery with SbS-<8+, Black has to move his king if he wants to keep his b6-pawn. While 27...2298 amounts to the loss of two tempi, 27.816 seems to be too precarious, for example: 28 4d3 Ehs 29 Wb2 Rho 30 Bgdi h3 31 Dxe5 dxeS 32 d6 Ag6 33 d7 Lb7 34 Hd6+ tg? 35 Sxb6 We7 36 48-W Bbxd8 37 Zc7 with a won position. 27 @d3 Black has conceded the c6-square to his opponent. What if the white rook moves to 06, attacking and winning the bé-pawn? There can follow 27 Hc6 h3 28 gxh3 (or 28 @xbé £b7 29 Ecl hxg? with advantage to Black) 28...Wh4 29 Bxc8 Efxc8 30 Wb3 Wd8!, and now: (a) 31 Dd3 Dh4 32 Dbs Wes 33 Sd7 Bel 34 Sgt Dfl+ 35 Ghd Qd2 36 Wd3 Exgl+ 37 Sxgl Ddxf3 38 Axdé (if 38 Rxf3, then 38...Wg3) 38...2d4 39 Deb £3 40 Wal es 41 Re6+ Bf 42 Rc7 WH 43 Bxdo+ Hes 44 Weyl We2+ 45 Wig? fxg2+ 46 &g1 Ddf3+ and Black wins. (b) 31 a6 Hel 32 Wb2 Excl (32...b5 is also good) 33 Sxel b5 34 @c3 (or 34 xb hs) 34..Dh4 35 WR WaS 36 RxbS ExbS 37 QxbS WxbS with a decisive plus. Ye Jiangchuan gives 27 We2? b+ 27..." Not 27...h3?! 28 gxh3 Wh4? 29 Exc8 and £b5-d7 with advantage to White (Ye Jiangchuan). 28 Db4? 28 Bxb6!? Exb6 29 Hxc8 Wrxc8 30 Dxb6 W7 31 Dd7 Wxbs 32 Dxf8+ Rx? 33 Wo2 Wh6 is unclear (Ye Jiangchuan). It was worth considering 28 Be h3 29 @xb6 Ae? (29..hxg2 30 Exe8 Bxc8 31 @xc8 Wh4+ 32 xg? Uxc8 33 Qd7 Bhs 34 &xg3 Wrg3+ 35 bf Wh4 36 2£5 wins) cB Dxc6 31 Lxc6 Exc8 32 gxh3 with advantage to White. 28...h3! Copyrighted material