THE ATTACK AGAINST THE KING

- The king remained in the centre -

Corresponding to an opening rule, making the castle in the first moves is useful for the king
because he abandons the central files, which doesnt offer him a good safety. Another important
advantage of the castle is bringing the rook (with whom the castle is done) into play.
In this game we will see what happens if this principle is not obeyed, which means that the king
remains too much time in the center. Generally, when we start a king attack, we have to apply
the following principles:
1. The opening of the files and diagonals in order to increase the qualitative value of the attacking
pieces (by increasing their mobility);
2. Bringing more pieces into attack, in order to create a quantitative superiority;
3. Permanently creating of imminent threats, in order not to let the opponent to organize his
defense.
4. Maintaining the opposite king in the center as much as possible
5. Using the fact that the opposite rooks do not take part into play.
We will see next and excellent example of attacking the king remained in the center, resulted in a
game from the Romanian Team Championship. It is interesting to be mentioned that the game
was published in a prestigious international publication, but due to an error, the winner was
mentioned as the loser, and the loser was mentioned to be the winner. As me and Vadim
Chernov were team mates and we were playing at adjacent tables, I can guarantee that he is the
real winner.
Chernov Vadim Cioara Andrei
Romanian Team Championship, 1998
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5
The Caro-Kan opening system is considered to be one of the most solid systems for Black, even
if often it is just a short step between the solidity and passivity. The fact that, during the time,
great champions like Capablanca, Botvinnik or Karpov included it in their opening repertoire, say
a lot about its viability.
3.Nc3
On of the trendy systems, through which White tries to obtain an advantage since the opening
stage, is 3.e5 after which Black plays either 3...Bf5, or the pretentious move 3...c5 which leads to
a very complicated game.
3...g6
This is an opening system which combines the idea of the Caro-Kan Defense with those from
Pirc Defense. In Romania this system is very popular, probably also because it was used
regularly and with great success by Victor Ciocaltea, one of the greatest players in the Romanian
chess history. This opening system is also known as Gurgenidze System, after the name of the

Georgian player who used it with success in the 60s. Objectively speaking, the safest defending
system for Black is the classic one: 3...dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4! to gain space on the
kingside 6...h6 7.h5 Bh7 8.Nf3 Nd7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Qc7 or 10...e6
4.e5
If White wants to avoid blocking the center and he prefers the open positions, then he can play
the variation 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.h3 (against Bg4).
4...h5
A pawn move which may seem to be against the classical opening principles, but it has its logic.
The Blacks main rule is to use the f5- and g4- squares for the knight on g8 (Ng8-h6-f5) and the
bishop on c8. Through the move 4h5, Black obtains the control over the g4-square, and the
position of the knight on f5 is strengthened because White cannot send away that knight with g2g4. An alternative is 4...Bg7 5.f4 h5 like in the game Fischer-Petrosian, USSR vs. Rest of World,
Belgrad 1970. Playing 4h5 instead of 4Bg7, Black keeps the option to develop the f8bishop on e7, after he has realized his plan with Bg4 and Nh6-f5. From e7, the bishop is
able to sustain better the fight for the center with c5, but also the pawn advance h5-h4, useful
in some situations.
5.Nge2!?
A new, very interesting idea! White plans to play immediately Ne2-f4 and e5-e6 in order to
destroy the Blacks solid defense fortress.
5...Bg4
Black tries to obstruct Whites plan, or at least to force him to weaken his position. A possible
alternative is 5...Nh6 6.Nf4 Bf5, but now it follows a thematic sacrifice. The kamikaze pawn is
sacrificed in order to destroy the opponents pawn structure. 7.e6! Bxe6 8.Nxe6 fxe6 9.Bd3 Nf5
10.Ne2 Kd7 11.Nf4 Qe8 12.Qe2 Qf7 13.c3=/ and White gained compensation for the sacrificed
pawn. Petr-Nun, 2003
6.f3 Bd7 7.Nf4 e6
Black has parried the Whites threat e5-e6, but the price is high: delaying the development and
blocking the light-squares bishop.
8.Be3
Having in mind the castle queenside, White develops first the bishop on that side.
8...Nh6 9.Bd3
In order to answer to the move Nf5 with Bxf5. In general, exchanging the bishop for the
knight must not be done without justification, but in this case White has good reasons to take
such an exchange into consideration:
1. The knight on f5 would be the Blacks most active piece;
2. The exchange on f5 would weaken the black pawn structure;
3.Black has bad bishop on d7, so leading the game to a knight vs. bad bishop position is a good
plan. For reaching such a position, White has to exchange the dark-squares bishops and his lightsquares bishop for a knight.

9...c5?!
In spite of the development disadvantage, Black provokes himself the opening of the position,
which is an unprincipled thing. As a rule, the side with development disadvantage has to avoid
opening the position and provoking the fight because it is very likely for him to fight in
conditions of numerical inferiority. But here Black doesnt have too many options, because it is
hard for him to complete his development because the lack of space. Preferable would have been
9...Nf5 even if Black would have exposed himself to the above mentioned exchange. After
10.Bxf5 Black plays 10...exf5! with the idea Be6, Nd7, Qc7, 0-0-0 with solid position.
10.dxc5 Qc7?!
Attacking simultaneously the c5 and e5 pawn, Black gets back the temporary sacrificed pawn.
However, this thing cost him other valuable tempi, in conditions in which he was anyway behind
with the development. Better was 10Nc6
11.Qd2 Qxe5
Black has recuperated the sacrificed pawn, but now the white rooks are able to use the central dand e- files in order to attack the opponents king. It is interesting that in this game White did not
make big efforts to open the game in the center, his opponent being the one who took care about
this aspect.
12.000!
Ignoring the Blacks threat (the double attack), White completes the development being prepared
for the decisive attack. Comparing the two armies, it is like one of them has all his weapons
straightened for the assault, while the opponents fighters are still sleeping.
12...d4?
Black falls directly into the trap! It should have been played 12...Nc6 with the idea 0-0-0. Even
so, Whites position is still preferable.
13.Bxd4 Qxd4
QUIZ

Find the best move for White

14.Nxe6!!
A real thunderbolt! Now the black king is going to fall under the target of the white pieces.
14...Qb4
The knight on e6 cannot be taken because Black loses the queen: 14...fxe6 15.Bxg6+ +-; and to
14...Bxe6 follows: 15.Bb5+ +15.Nc7+ Kd8

QUIZ

Find the best way to continue the attack

16.Bb5!
Sure, White can play also 16.Nxa8, but the move in the game is more esthetical and stronger at
the same time. The knight on c7 cannot be captured because of the double attack Nd5, so White
exploits this situation by creating a new threat by opening the d-file and attacking the bishop on
d7.
16...Ng8
Black defends himself desperately, threatening to capture the queen with Bh6.
16...Nf5 17.Bxd7 Bh6 18.Bxf5+ Bxd2+ 19.Rxd2+ would have led to a variation similar to the
one in the game, but with a knight up for White.
17.Bxd7!
17.Kb1 was also possible, but the move in the game is spectacular and efficient at the same time.
17...Bh6 18.Bh3+ Bxd2+

QUIZ

Find the winning way if Black plays 18Nd7 instead

of the move in the game

Answer: 19.Qxh6!! Nxh6 20.Rxd7+ Kc8 21.Rd4+! +19.Rxd2+ Kxc7

After 19...Ke7 Black also loses the queen because of the double attack with the knight on d5
20.Nd5+ Kc6 21.Nxb4+ Kxc5
After an excellent lead attack, White is a pawn up and has a very active position. Blacks only
piece which is not on its initial square is the king! But as such a game deserves a spectacular end,
White continued his attack.
QUIZ

Find the best continuation for White

22.Rd5+! Kxb4
After 22...Kb6 it follows 23.Rd8! and de Rh1e1e8 and Black loses at least a piece

QUIZ

White moves and checkmates in 4 moves

23.a3+?!
Unfortunately, White misses the most elegant finalization of an excellent played game. The
easiest was 23.c3+! Kc4 (23...Ka4 24.b3+ Ka3 25.Ra5#) 24.Rhd1 Nc6 25.R1d3 followed by
mate next move.
However, after 23.a3+ Black resigned. A possible end could have been 23...Ka4 (23...Kc4
24.Rhd1 Nc6 25.b3+ Kc3 26.R1d3#) 24.Re1 (or 24.Rd8 followed by Rh1e1e8) 24...Nf6
(24...b5 25.Re8! followed by Rd8) 25.b3+ Kxa3 26.Ra5+ Kb4 27.Ree5! and the black king
cannot escape from checkmate .
CONCLUSIONS
The above analyzed game shows clearly the danger to which a player is exposed (even an
International Master like Andrei Cioara), when he neglects the opening principles by remaining
behind with the development and keeping the king in the center. White has exploited promptly
the Blacks careless play, using all the 5 fighting methods (indicated at the beginning of the
lesson) when the opposite king remains in the center.
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