Fide-Trainers-Commission-Advanced-Chess-School-Vol-1-The Bishop Pair PDF

FIDE Trainers’ Commission
Advanced Chess School

Volume 1
The Bishop Pair
Efstratios Grivas
Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 1
First Edition in Pdf - 2014
English Copyright © FIDE 2014 (office@fide.com - www.fide.com)
Copyright © Efstratios Grivas 2014 (GrivasEfs@yahoo.co.uk - www.GrivasChess.com)
The rights of Efstratios Grivas to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted in
accordance with the International Copyright, Designs and Patents Act.
All rights reserved. This book is distributed for free to the FIDE certified and licenced trainers,
subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, sold, hired out or
otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and
without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent owner.
Limit of Liability and Disclaimer of Warranty: FIDE makes no representation or warranties with
respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaims any
implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose and shall in no event be
liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special,
incidental, consequential, or other damages.
ISBN-13: 978-618-81200-0-6
ISSN-13: 978-618-81200-2-0
Cover and drawings by Nicolas Sphicas

Chess Lesson, 2004, oil on canvas, 50x90 cm
(sphicasnicolas@gmail.com-www.chess.gr/sphicas-www.logicalchess.com/info/graphics/sphicas)
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Commissioning Editor: Efstratios Grivas (www.GrivasChess.com)

Assistant Editors: Nicolas Sphicas and Vasilis Vrettos
Cover by Nicolas Sphicas
English Proofer: Kevin O’Connell (www.kochess.com)

Contents
Title-Description …………………………………………………………………………………… 1
Colophon …………………..……………………………………………………………………….. 2
Contents ……………………………………..…………………………………………….............. 3
Bibliography …..…………………………………………………………………………………… 3
Foreword - Kirsan Ilyumzhinov .…………………………...……………………………………. 4
Symbols ………………………………………………………………………..…………............... 4
Terminology ………………………………………………………………………………………… 5
Historical Approach …….………………………………………………………………………… 6
Statistical Overview .……………………………………………………………………………… 6
Open Centre …...…………………………………………………………………………………… 7
On the Attack …..…………………………………………………………………………………… 9
Queenless Joy ….…………………………………………………………………………………… 13
Endgame Training …………………………………………….…………………………………… 14
Advanced Training ………………………………………………………………………………… 23
Some Other Cases .………………………………………………………………………………… 30
Semi-Open Centre .………………………………………………………………………………… 33
Endgame Training .………………………………………………………………………………… 39
Closed Centre ….…………………………………………………………………………………… 47
Endgame Training .………………………………………………………………………………… 54
The Bishop Pair v. the Knight Pair ...…………………………………………………………… 56
Not Always a Weakness …………………………………………………………………………… 59
The Bishop Pair Fails! .…………………………………………………………………………… 64
The Bishop Pair v. the Exchange ..……………………………………………………………… 68
A Pawn in Return ..………………………………………………………………………………… 72
Games for Personal Analysis ……………..……………………………………………………… 77
Index of Games ..…………………………………………………………………………………… 78
CV - Efstratios Grivas ……..……………………………………………………………………… 80
Bibliography
A Chess Odyssey; Efstratios Grivas; Chesscafe.com 2007
British Chess Magazine; Various Contributors; BCM 1987-2013
Chess College 1 & 2 & 3; Efstratios Grivas; Gambit 2006
Chess Today (Internet Newspaper); Alexander Baburin; 2006-2013
ChessBase Mega Database; Various Contributors; ChessBase 2013
Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual; Mark Dvoretsky; Russel Enterprises 2003
Endgame Corner; Karsten Mueller; Chesscafe.com 2001-2013
Fundamental Chess Endings; Karsten Muller & Frank Lamprecht; Gambit 2001
Informator; Various Contributors; Informator 1966-2013
Modern Chess Planning; Efstratios Grivas; Gambit 2007
New In Chess (Magazine & Yearbook); Various Contributors; Interchess BV 1984-2013
Practical Endgame Play - Mastering the Basics; Efstratios Grivas; Everyman 2008
Secrets of Minor-Piece Endings; John Nunn; Batsford 1995
Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy; John Watson; Gambit 1998
The Bishop pair; Mikhail Gurevich; FIDE Syllabus 2010
The Seven Deadly Chess Sins; Jonathan Rowson; Gambit 2001
Foreword
FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
Chess has existed as a sport played at a competitive level for centuries. The common code
governing the Laws of Chess is relatively recent, and the foundation of Fédération Internationale
des Échecs (FIDE), in Paris in 1924, is even more modern. FIDE currently has 182 member
federations spread across all continents. Titles for players were introduced by FIDE in 1950, and
titles for Arbiters and Organizers followed. From 2005 we are moving to a new phase, with titles
for Trainers.
Chess is on the increase in schools across the world. It is part of the mainstream curriculum in
many countries. It is a goal of FIDE to make chess an educational tool, and generate worldwide
popularity for the game. Examples of the many educational advantages of chess are: shows the
need to make people realize the importance of advance planning; develops analytic and accurate
thinking; shows the necessity for a combative spirit; teaches fair play and emphasizes the need for
preparation and hard work for success. However, with the increasing population of chess players,
comes the need for trainers to assist with their development.
This is a new concept of the ever-active FIDE Trainers’ Commission. This series is dedicated to
advanced subjects, consisting of 80-page books. We do hope that we will be able to deliver 3-4
such books annually, increasing the level and the education of our trainers worldwide. This series
will provide excellent manuals for trainers and fulfils a considerable need in modern chess
literature, concentrating on the technical side of the game, but also covering various other topics
and providing information. The best trainers will contribute to this series, which will be an
essential tool in the preparation of trainers at all levels for the future. It will ensure that the next
generation of players will be at a great advantage over those that have gone before.
Symbols
+ check = equal position
++ double check ÷ unclear position
# checkmate ° with compensation
!! brilliant move ³ Black is slightly better
! good move μ Black has a large advantage
!? interesting move + Black is winning
?! dubious move 1-0 the game ends in a win for White
? bad move ½-½ the game ends in a draw
?? blunder 0-1 the game ends in a win for Black
+ White is winning (D) see next diagram
± White has a large advantage ○ White to play
² White is slightly better ● Black to play
The Bishop Pair
Terminology So what happens when you capture the
The possession of a pair of bishops opponent's bishop is not only that you
(against a bishop and a knight, or a pair of remove one piece of value, but that you
knights) is an important strategic element ‘weaken’ the other bishop too.’
that may guarantee superiority and even The strength of the bishop pair (provided
determine the outcome of the game. of course that the above-mentioned
The basic requirements for the requirements are met) can be exploited
exploitation of this element are: either in the middle game or the endgame.
1. Open centre (currently or in the future). In the middle game, bishops can control
2. Presence of pawns on both flanks. many squares and from a distance; this
Consequently, possession of the bishop implies better control of the position and the
pair does not always guarantee an prospect of creating a direct attack, either
advantage. against the king or against other weaknesses.
Only after careful examination of the Bishops are also able to restrict the
respective pawn structures and the situation opponent's pieces and create severe (and
in the centre are we able to determine often insoluble) problems to the opponent,
whether possession of this element is an exactly due to their long range of action,
advantage. which allows them to switch quickly from
Most chess players have a strong liking one target to another without even needing
for the bishop pair regardless of the specific to approach it.
features of the position. In the endgame, the power of the bishop
This phenomenon has a simple pair is decisive, since the absence of an
explanation: a strong positional player can adequate number of defensive pieces allows
more easily transform the position so as to the bishops to impose their control on the
suit the bishops than to suit a pair of knights. position almost entirely. It is then possible,
However, it has to be remembered that it is by skilful manoeuvring, to restrict the
the pawns (placement, pawn chains), the opponent's pieces and highlight weaknesses
soul of the game, that determine whether and entry squares.
possession of the bishop pair is an Mikhail Gurevich (one of the true
advantage. afficionados of the bishop pair), wrote in his
Two bishops are usually very strong as the FIDE Syllabus - The Bishop pair: ‘The
main disadvantage of a single bishop, his bishop pair is a powerful weapon. We refer
monochromacity, is compensated by the usually to the bishop pair advantage over a
second bishop. bishop and knight, or over two knights. An
Jonathan Rowson describes this in his important point to consider in most positions
work The Seven Deadly Chess Sins as with the bishop pair is the pawn structure
follows: ‘Although the pair of knights can be and the existence of pawns on both sides of
very effective, we don't see them as “a pair” the board.
because there is nothing one knight can do ‘We will explain how to evaluate the
that the other can't in principle... importance of the bishop pair and different
There may be something good about “the techniques of playing with them...
two knights” in a particular position, but this ‘First of all let us discuss the importance
is purely accidental, for there is no reason in of the pawn structure. There are many
principle why a pair of them should be more possible pawn structures. We will classify
than the sum of their parts. them as following: open centre, semi-open
On the other hand, one bishop makes up and closed positions.
for the shortcomings of the other, and takes ‘Our general knowledge proves to us that
care of its own shortcomings in the process. the more the centre is open the bigger
advantage of bishop pair becomes. This is Then it was the turn of Piotr Romanovsky:
simple. But each of these structures has its ‘Thus to the question of whether, in
own characteristics and techniques of evaluating a position, the factor of the
playing with the bishop pair differentiate presence of the two bishops for one of the
considerably.’ opponents should be taken into account as a
Just like with any other strategic element, particular aspect of the advantage, the right
the boundaries between success and failure reply, in our view, will be no, it should not.
are not always clearly visible. This particular aspect of the advantage does
The games and examples that follow will not exist.’
help to impose on the reader a deeper Well, both of them were a ‘bit’ dogmatic
understanding of the positive aspects of the and this old debate is no longer such a
bishop pair. heated one.
John Watson in his Secrets of Modern
Historical Approach Chess Strategy writes: ‘In a majority of
In the middle of the previous century not cases, modern chess players prefer the two
much respect was paid to the bishop pair, as bishops for the very good reason that they
can be noticed in some of the most famous tend to win games. Those rare, completely
authors’ surveys. locked positions, or the more frequent ones
Janos Flesch in his famous Planning in in which the side with the knights have
Chess wrote: ‘Throughout human history countervailing advantages, are a different
false dogmas have arisen that greatly matter.’
influence the politics, the social views and
the arts of the particular age. Thus also with Statistical Overview
chess in its international development. John Watson, in his Secrets of Modern
‘A typical mistake of chess theory and Chess Strategy, goes after some very
practice in the present age is to overestimate fascinating statistics, concerning our subject.
the bishop, and even more so the two These statistics were based on the large
bishops, when correspondingly valued Megabase database and although there are
against the knight and the two knights! some years passed by, I believe that they are
Statistics … have emphasized the superiority still valid and can give some a practical idea
of the bishop pair. But all this has come of the power of the bishop pair.
about from a mistaken approach to and a All theses statistiscs assume that the
misunderstanding of the middle game. For conditions of two bishops v. two knights and
there is no difference in the value of these level material last at least 6 half-moves:
pieces whatsoever.’ ‘With even pawns the two bishops win
...‘But, and this is the point, contemporary against two knights about 40% of the time
chess players use the bishop and especially for either Black or White, whereas the
the bishop pair better and with more knights win only 15% of the time.
assurance than did their predecessors. This yields a hefty 63%/37% winning ratio
‘Human beings - owing to their physical in both cases. Now the normal winning
build - are less well shielded against attacks percentage for White/Black is 54%/46%
from the side than from the front. This ratio; so the bishop pair creates a 9%
disadvanatge is more accentuated in our improvement for White over the ususal
“forward-looking” modern man as he spends percentages, and an amazing 17% impro-
a considerable amount of his time behind the vement for Black!
wheel or in front of the file or television When we take all cases of two bishops
screen. Perhaps here can be found one of the versus two knights, with even material, but
reasons for overestimation of the bishop’s including queens and rooks, the winning
value … the truth is that chess players of a ratio for the bishops is 62%/38% with White
previous age knew better how to use one or and 57%/43% with Black.’
two knights.’ A very interesting statistical approach…
...‘It is worth pointing out that part of this □ Rosenthal Samuel
last winning percentage for the bishop pair is ■ Steinitz William
probably due to the fact that the possessor of C46 Vienna 1873
the knight-pair will do almost anything to 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 g6 4.d4 exd4
avoid the pure ending (without other pieces), 5.Nxd4 Lg7 6.Le3 Nge7 7.Lc4 d6 8.0-0
and may take risky steps to avoid it. Finally, 0-0 9.f4 Na5 10.Ld3 d5 11.exd5 Nxd5
I should mention Mayer’s observation that 12.Nxd5 Qxd5 13.c3 Rd8 14.Qc2 Nc4
Chigorin himself, the two knights defender, 15.Lxc4 Qxc4 16.Qf2 (D)
scored only 29%/71% in games in which he XABCDEFGHY
himself had the knight-pair versus two
bishops. 8r+ltr-+k+(
‘The 2L vs L+N case is similarly
successful for the bishops. With no other
7zppzp-+pvlp'
pieces, White’s winning ratio is 64%/36%; 6-+-+-+p+&
interestingly, this includes wins for Black
(with the bishop and knight) in only 8% of 5+-+-+-+-%
the games! When Black has the two bishops 4-+qsN-zP-+$
versus White’s bishop and knight (again
with no other oieces), his percentage is a 3+-zP-vL-+-#
hefty 62%/38%. When queens and rooks are 2PzP-+-wQPzP"
included (but with even material), White’s
winning ratio with the bishop pair goes to 1tR-+-+RmK-!
61%/39%, still well above the 54%/46% xabcdefghy
norm; and Black’s (also with the bishops) is
54%/46%, 8% above average.’ Of course Black, with the ideal pawn
structure for the bishop pair, holds the
Open Centre advantage. The usual 'restriction method'
The position with two or more open come to the fore:
vertical files in the centre, we may call open 16...c5 17.Nf3 b6
positions. This provides the best conditions Already the d4-square is lost for White.
for the bishop pair and we may use their 18.Ne5 Qe6 19.Qf3 La6 20.Rfe1 f6!
dominating, long-range powers to develop And e5 is also ‘lost’!
all kinds of attacks and initiatives... 21.Ng4 h5 22.Nf2 Qf7 23.f5
However, according to Mikhail Gurevich, Looks like a good move but the truth is that
the most technical, most 'pure' technique of this pawn will be just too weak.
exploiting the bishop pair advantage in 23...g5 24.Rad1 Lb7 25.Qg3
positions with an open centre is the Or 25.Qe2 Rd5!
Technique of Exchanges. 25...Rd5!
William Steinitz was a true admirer of the Black could pick up the a-pawn with
bishop pair and he introduced into practice 25...Rxd1 26.Rxd1 Qxa2 but as White
the Restriction Method. This is quite simple: could present some counterplay with 27.h4
with the use of the pawns, the side with the g4 28.Rd7, he preferred to leave it for a
bishop pair restricts his opponent’s supply of later stage...
valuable squares and space for his pieces, 26.Rxd5 Qxd5 27.Rd1 Qxf5
especially for the knight(s). Black maintained his bishop pair and he
We will start our survey into the magic even won material - the end shouldn't be far.
world of the bishop pair with the open centre 28.Qc7 Ld5 29.b3 Re8 30.c4 Lf7
in the middle game and more specifically 31.Lc1 Re2 32.Rf1 Qc2 33.Qg3 Qxa2
with some masterpieces played by the old 34.Qb8+ Kh7 35.Qg3 Lg6 36.h4 g4
masters and especially by the ‘teacher’, ex- 37.Nd3 Qxb3 38.Qc7 Qxd3
World Champion, William Steinitz: 0-1
□ Englisch Berthold 30.Kf2 gxf4 31.Lxf4 (D)
■ Steinitz William XABCDEFGHY
C60 London 1883
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Lb5 g6 4.d4 exd4 8-+-tr-+-+(
5.Nxd4 Lg7 6.Le3 Nf6 7.Nc3 0-0 8.0-0
Ne7 9.Qd2 d5 10.exd5 Nexd5 11.Nxd5 7+-+-+k+-'
Qxd5 12.Le2 Ng4 13.Lxg4 Lxg4 6-zp-+-vl-zp&
14.Nb3 Qxd2 15.Nxd2 Rad8 16.c3 Rfe8
17.Nb3 (D) 5+-zp-+p+-%
XABCDEFGHY 4p+l+-vL-+$
8-+-trr+k+( 3zP-zP-+-zPP#
7zppzp-+pvlp' 2-zP-+-mK-+"
6-+-+-+p+& 1+-sN-tR-+-!
5+-+-+-+-% xabcdefghy
4-+-+-+l+$ 31...Lg5!
Threatening to exchange White's best
3+NzP-vL-+-# defender, the dark-squared bishop. This
2PzP-+-zPPzP" transformation of one advantage into another
is one major advantage of the bishop pair, as
1tR-+-+RmK-! it is usually easier for the player with the
xabcdefghy bishops to exchange one pair of minor
pieces.
This is a good example of how to play with 32.Lxg5
the two bishops in an otherwise almost If 32.Ke3 then 32...Kg6 (and not 32...
symmetrical position. Re8+?! 33.Kf2 Rxe1? 34.Kxe1 Lxf4
17...b6!
35.gxf4 Ke6 36.Kf2 Kd5 37.Ke3 Lf1
This is a typical strategy: Black strengthens
38.h4 Kc4 39.Kd2 =) 33.Ne2 Rd3+ μ.
his light-squared bishop as it has no
32...hxg5 33.Ke3 Kf6 (D)
counterpart and restricts White's knight at
the same time. XABCDEFGHY
18.h3 Le6 19.Rfd1 c5!
Continuing the active and known strategy of
8-+-tr-+-+(
restriction. 7+-+-+-+-'
20.Lg5 f6 21.Lf4 Kf7 22.f3 g5 23.Rxd8
Rxd8 24.Le3 h6 6-zp-+-mk-+&
Finally all six black pawns are on dark 5+-zp-+pzp-%
squares!
25.Re1 f5 4p+l+-+-+$
Steinitz wants to grab space on the kingside 3zP-zP-mK-zPP#
with ...f4 to follow up with ...a5-a4-a3 or
with a further advance on the kingside. 2-zP-+-+-+"
26.f4 Lf6 27.g3 a5!
Planning to create weaknesses on White's
1+-sN-tR-+-!
queenside with ...a4-a3. xabcdefghy
28.Nc1 a4 29.a3 Lc4 34.h4?
This domination of White's knight is called This loses by force as does 34.Ne2? Rd3+
corralling. A serious chess player should
35.Kf2 Rd2 . White had to try
know this important motif by heart!
something like 34.Rg1 or 34.Rh1. 28.Rff2! Rf7
34...gxh4 35.gxh4 Re8+ 36.Kf2 Rxe1 28...e5 29.f5 Nf8 30.Rcd2 +.
37.Kxe1 Ke5! 38.Ne2 Lxe2 39.Kxe2 29.Rfd2 Rg8 30.Qh5 Qd8 31.Le4 Nf8
The pawn ending is winning for Black as his 32.Qxf7
active king is more important than White's 1-0
outside passed pawn.
As proved by the previous examples, old
39...Kf4 40.c4 Kg4 41.Ke3 f4+ 42.Ke4 f3
masters were excellent at handling the
43.Ke3 Kg3
bishop pair. When we talk about this
0-1
important element, most chess players think
Jose Raul Capablanca was able to study about the endgame, but the middle game is
Steinitz and learn to handle the bishop pair also very important, as mentioned in the
with accuracy and efficiency… introduction of the concept.
□ Capablanca Jose Raul
On the Attack
■ Znosko-Borovsky Eugene Fierce attacks can be on the menu and the
D34 Paris 1938 most critical is not to be the main dish…
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5
5.Nf3 Nc6 6.g3 Nf6 7.Lg2 Le7 8.0-0 0-0 □ Grivas Efstratios
9.dxc5 Lxc5 10.Na4 Le7 11.Le3 Ne4 ■ Barlov Dragan
12.Nd4 Ne5 13.Rc1 Qa5 14.Lf4 Ng6 A55 Kastel Stari 1988
15.Lc7 Qa6 16.a3 Ld7 17.Nc3 Nxc3 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e4 Nbd7
18.Rxc3 Le6 19.b4 b6 20.e4 dxe4 5.Nf3 e5 6.Le2 Le7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Rb1
21.Lxe4 Rae8 22.Nxe6 fxe6 (D) Re8 9.Re1 exd4 10.Nxd4 Lf8 11.Lf1 h6
12.b4 Nb6 13.Lf4 Ng4 14.h3 Qf6
XABCDEFGHY 15.Lg3 Ne5 16.Qb3 a5 17.a3 axb4
8-+-+rtrk+( 18.axb4 Le6 19.Nxe6 Qxe6 20.f4 Ned7
21.Lf2 g5 (D)
7zp-vL-vl-zpp' XABCDEFGHY
6qzp-+p+n+& 8r+-+rvlk+(
5+-+-+-+-% 7+p+n+p+-'
4-zP-+L+-+$ 6-snpzpq+-zp&
3zP-tR-+-zP-# 5+-+-+-zp-%
2-+-+-zP-zP" 4-zPP+PzP-+$
1+-+Q+RmK-! 3+QsN-+-+P#
xabcdefghy 2-+-+-vLP+"
White's bishop pair and superior pawn
structure should be enough to cash the point. 1+R+-tRLmK-!
23.Lc6 Lf6 24.b5 Qc8
24...Qa5 25.Rd3 Rc8 26.Ld6 Le7 xabcdefghy
27.Ld7 wins material. A very interesting position has arisen after a
25.Rc2 Re7 26.Ld6 Rd8 27.f4 complicated opening. Black has ceded the
Complete domination! bishop pair but he seems to have obtained
27...Kh8?! good play on the dark squares, mostly
Black had to get rid of the bishop pair: 'helped' by his last move.
27...Rc7 28.Rf3 Le7 29.Rd3 Lxd6 22.e5!
30.Rxd6 Rxd6 31.Qxd6 ±, although he The correct reaction. White refuses to
will not save the game... weaken his king (22.g3?) or surrender the
very important e5-square (22.fxg5?). 32.Rxf6 +] 31.Rxd4 Kg7 32.Ld3 °)
Instead, he opens up the position, hoping to 30.Qxe6+ Kh8 (30...Kf8?! 31.Lc4 +)
benefit from his potentially powerful bishop 31.Ld4 Lxd4+ 32.Rxd4 Kg7 (32...Qf6?!
pair and the weaknesses around Black's 33.Qxf6+ Nxf6 34.d7 Nxd7 35.Rxd7 ±)
king, caused by the ambitious 21...g5. Of 33.Ld3 Nf6 34.h4! °. But of course it is
course, White will probably lose a pawn but quite difficult to calculate all these variations
this will be very small payment for obtaining
over the board...
the bishop pair, a weakened black king and
25...Nxe5
the initiative.
Another option was 25...Lxe5!? 26.g4!
22...dxe5 23.fxe5 Lg7 24.Rbd1 Nc8 (D)
intending 27.Ng3 and 28.Ld3, with
XABCDEFGHY initiative for White.
8r+n+r+k+( 26.Nc5 Qe7 27.Nd7! Nd6?
A serious error, induced in time trouble.
7+p+n+pvl-' Black's only chance lay in 27...f6! 28.Ld3!!
Qf7 29.Lf5 Nxd7 30.Rxe8+ Qxe8
6-+p+q+-zp& 31.Lxd7 when White has a strong initiative
5+-+-zP-zp-% for just one pawn and his light-squared
bishop has no worthy opponent. On the other
4-zPP+-+-+$ hand, 27...Kh8? loses quickly to 28.Nxe5
3+QsN-+-+P# Lxe5 29.Rxe5 Qxe5 30.Re1 Qxe1
31.Lxe1 Rxe1 32.Qc3+. After the text
2-+-+-vLP+" move, Black falls victim to a simple
1+-+RtRLmK-! combination that costs him two minor pieces
for a rook. The resulting position is easily
xabcdefghy won for White.
25.Ne4 28.Nxe5! Lxe5 (D)
White could have proceeded in the same
dynamic spirit with 25.Nd5!? cxd5 26.cxd5
XABCDEFGHY
Qe7 (26...Qg6? 27.Ld3 f5 [27...Qh5 8r+-+r+k+(
28.g4!] 28.d6+ Kh8 29.e6 +) 27.d6 Qd8
(27...Qf8 28.e6 fxe6 29.Rxe6 Kh8
7+p+-wqp+-'
30.Lb5 Rd8 31.Qd3 Ne5 32.Qd5 ±) (D) 6-+psn-+-zp&
XABCDEFGHY 5+-+-vl-zp-%
8r+nwqr+k+( 4-zPP+-+-+$
7+p+n+pvl-' 3+Q+-+-+P#
6-+-zP-+-zp& 2-+-+-vLP+"
5+-+-zP-zp-% 1+-+RtRLmK-!
4-zP-+-+-+$ xabcdefghy
3+Q+-+-+P# 29.Rxe5! Qxe5 30.Lg3 Qe3+ 31.Qxe3
Rxe3 32.Lxd6
2-+-+-vLP+" White got two powerful bishops for a black
1+-+RtRLmK-! rook and he is in full control of the position.
The end cannot be far away...
xabcdefghy 32...Rd8 33.c5 Rb3 34.Rd4 Rb2 35.Re4
28.e6! fxe6 29.Rxe6 Rxe6 (29...Kh8 Ra8 36.Lc4 Ra1+?! 37.Kh2 Rc1?!
30.Ld4! Lxd4+ [30...Nf6?! 31.d7! Qxd7 38.Re8+ 1-0
The case of an ‘early endgame’ is always Threatening to win by 23...Rxe3 24.Rxe3
on the cards but it cannot be really treated as Lxd4.
an endgame - a lot of pieces are still on the 23.Lf2 Qg5 24.Ne2?! (D)
board. The following example is typical: Black now converts his superiority without
□ Kalesis Nikolaos much effort. 24.Rxe8+ Rxe8 25.Ne2
■ Grivas Efstratios offers better defensive prospects.
E81 Corfu 1991 XABCDEFGHY
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Lg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3
a6 6.Le3 c6 7.Ld3 b5 8.Nge2 0-0 9.0-0
8-+r+r+k+(
Nbd7 10.Rc1 e5 11.a3 exd4 12.Nxd4 7+l+-+pvlp'
Ne5 13.cxb5 cxb5 14.Kh1 Lb7 15.Rf2
d5 16.exd5 Nxd3 17.Qxd3 Nxd5 6p+-+-+p+&
18.Nxd5 Qxd5 (D) 5+p+-+-wq-%
XABCDEFGHY 4-+-+-+-+$
8r+-+-trk+( 3zP-+-+P+-#
7+l+-+pvlp' 2-zP-tRNvLPzP"
6p+-+-+p+& 1+-+QtR-+K!
5+p+q+-+-% xabcdefghy
4-+-sN-+-+$ 24...Rcd8!
By exchanging White's defensive d2-rook,
3zP-+QvLP+-# the white weaknesses will be accessible to
2-zP-+-tRPzP" Black, as the defensive white pieces are
reducing.
1+-tR-+-+K! 25.Le3 Qh4 26.Rxd8 Rxd8 27.Qc1
xabcdefghy Lxb2
Black won material without losing any of his
The dust has settled and Black enjoys an
advantages.
undisputed superiority, with the bishop pair
28.Lg5 Qf2! 29.Qb1 Re8 30.Qd1 Lc3
in an open position. Tactics are in the air...
31.Ld2 Lxd2 32.Qxd2 Ld5
19.Rd2 Rac8
White resigned in view of 33.Rg1 Rxe2
As there is nothing serious immediately,
Black tries to be creative. He would love to 34.Qxd5 Re1 35.Qd8+ Kg7. A crystal
force White to push any of his kingside clear game, in which Black made exemplary
pawns, so he tries to 'weaken' his opponent's use of his bishop pair.
back rank by exchanging a pair of rooks. 0-1
20.Re1 The above mentioned element of
And it is now understandable why White Technique of Exchanges is rather important;
avoids the exchange. to know what and when to exchange usually
20...Rfe8 21.Qb1? determines the result.
Allowing Black to enter a nice combination. A famous game is the following; a World
21.Kg1 μ was a must. Champion losing against the ‘St. George
21...Qh5? Defence’ (!) and then a quite instructive one
Missing that 21...Rxe3! 22.Rxe3 Lxd4 from my database of my earlier years; yes,
works, due to the loose queen on b1 and once I was also a junior!
White's weak back rank: 23.Qd1 (or □ Karpov Anatoly
23.Red3 Qf5) 23...Lxe3! 24.Rxd5 Lxd5. ■ Miles Anthony
22.Qd1 Qh4! B00 Skara 1980
1.e4 a6 2.d4 b5 3.Nf3 Lb7 4.Ld3 Nf6 37.Ke1 Rh8 38.f4 gxf4 39.Nxf4 Lc6
5.Qe2 e6 6.a4 c5 7.dxc5 Lxc5 8.Nbd2 b4 40.Ne2 Rh1+ 41.Kd2 Rh2
9.e5 Nd5 10.Ne4 Le7 11.0-0 Nc6 White is losing a second pawn and the end is
12.Ld2 Qc7 13.c4 bxc3 14.Nxc3 Nxc3 near.
15.Lxc3 Nb4 16.Lxb4 Lxb4 17.Rac1 42.g3 Lf3 43.Rg8 Rg2 44.Ke1 Lxe2
Qb6 18.Le4 0-0 (D) 45.Lxe2 Rxg3 46.Ra8 Lc7
XABCDEFGHY 0-1
□ Grivas Efstratios
8r+-+-trk+( ■ Dimitriadis Konstantinos
7+l+p+pzpp' A72 Xilokastro 1984
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 exd5
6pwq-+p+-+& 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nc3 g6 7.e4 Lg7 8.Lg5 h6
5+-+-zP-+-% 9.Lh4 a6 10.Nd2 b5 11.Le2 0-0 12.Qc2
Re8 13.0-0 g5 14.Lg3 Ra7 15.a3 Rae7
4Pvl-+L+-+$ 16.Rac1 b4 17.axb4 cxb4 18.Nd1 Nxe4
3+-+-+N+-# 19.Nxe4 Rxe4 20.Ld3 Re1 21.Ne3
Rxf1+ 22.Kxf1 a5 23.Kg1 Ld4 24.Qd2
2-zP-+QzPPzP" Qf6 25.Nc4 Lc5 26.Nxa5 Nd7 27.Nb3
h5 (D)
1+-tR-+RmK-!
XABCDEFGHY
xabcdefghy
Chances seems to be balanced as both sides 8-+l+r+k+(
have their pluses and minuses. 7+-+n+p+-'
19.Ng5
19.Lxh7+ is interesting: 19...Kxh7 20.Ng5+ 6-+-zp-wq-+&
Kg6! (20...Kh6? 21.Rc4! g6 22.Qg4!
Kg7 23.Qh4 Rh8 24.Qf4 +) 21.Qg4 f5!
5+-vlP+-zpp%
22.Qg3 Le7 23.Nxe6+ Kf7 ÷. 4-zp-+-+-+$
19...h6 20.Lh7+ 3+N+L+-vL-#
20.Lxb7 Qxb7 21.Qe4 Qxe4 22.Nxe4
should be equal. 2-zP-wQ-zPPzP"
20...Kh8 21.Lb1 Le7 22.Ne4?! 1+-tR-+-mK-!
White underestimates the bishop pair. It was
wise to opt for 22.Qd3 g6 23.Ne4 Lxe4 xabcdefghy
24.Qxe4 Rac8 =. 28.Lb5!
22...Rac8 23.Qd3? By means of a tactical sequence, White
White should opt for 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 obtains two very significant positional
24.Qd3 Lxe4 25.Qxe4 g6 26.Qd3 Rc7 ³. advantages, namely the bishop pair and a
23...Rxc1 24.Rxc1 Qxb2 25.Re1 Qxe5 passed d-pawn. Usually this is enough for
26.Qxd7 Lb4 victory and indeed White's position after this
Black has won a pawn and still possesses the sequence is winning.
bishop pair. White is fighting a lost cause. 28...h4 29.Nxc5 dxc5 30.Lc7! h3!
27.Re3 Qd5 A natural idea to fight against the bishop
Not bad on general grounds but accurate was pair - Black seeks counterplay against the
27...Qb2 28.Ld3 Lxe4! 29.Rxe4 Lc5 . opponent’s king.
28.Qxd5 Lxd5 29.Nc3 Rc8 30.Ne2 g5! 31.gxh3! Re4 32.Re1!
Restriction even when it is not necessary! Exchanging Black's soon to be dangerous
31.h4 Kg7 32.hxg5 hxg5 33.Ld3 a5 pieces is always a good strategy.
34.Rg3 Kf6 35.Rg4 Ld6 36.Kf1 Le5 32...Rxe1+
White wins in case of 32...Rd4? 33.Re8+ Queenless Joy
Nf8 34.Qe2 Lxh3 35.Le5!. Attack without queens can be lethal as well:
33.Qxe1 Nf8 34.Qe5! Qg6! □ Carlsen Magnus
Neither does 34...Qxe5 35.Lxe5 Lxh3 ■ Nisipeanu Liviu Dieter
36.Lf6! g4 37.Le7, complicate White's D27 Medias 2011
task. Black is obliged to keep the queens on 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 Nf6 4.Lxc4 e6
the board in order to seek complications.
5.Nf3 c5 6.0-0 a6 7.dxc5 Lxc5 8.Qxd8+
35.Ld8? Kxd8 9.Le2 Ke7 10.Nbd2 Ld7 11.Nb3
A serious mistake. Simple was 35.Lf1 ± (D)
and White will prevail.
35...Nh7?! XABCDEFGHY
Black could take advantage of White's 8rsn-+-+-tr(
previous mistake with 35...Qb1+ 36.Kg2
Ng6 37.Qxg5 c4! ÷. 7+p+lmkpzpp'
36.Lf1 (D) 6p+-+psn-+&
XABCDEFGHY 5+-vl-+-+-%
8-+lvL-+k+( 4-+-+-+-+$
7+-+-+p+n' 3+N+-zPN+-#
6-+-+-+q+& 2PzP-+LzPPzP"
5+-zpPwQ-zp-% 1tR-vL-+RmK-!
4-zp-+-+-+$ xabcdefghy
3+-+-+-+P# 11...Ld6?!
2-zP-+-zP-zP" 11...Lb6 (or even 11...La7) must be played.
An example is 12.Ld2 Nc6 13.Lc3 Rhg8
1+-+-+LmK-! 14.Rfd1 Rac8 15.Ng5 Rgd8 16.Lf3 Le8
xabcdefghy 17.Rxd8 Rxd8 18.Rc1 h6 19.Ne4 Nxe4
20.Lxe4 f6 = Kozul,Z-Topalov,V Sarajevo
36...c4? 2001.
After this second consecutive mistake Black 12.Na5!
is left with no hope and the game was over A nasty surprise for Black. Although he
without too much trouble for White. Black spent a lot of time here, he is not able to
had to opt for 36...Qb1 37.Qe2 Lxh3 avoid the exchange of one of his bishops for
38.Qd3 Qxf1+ 39.Qxf1 Lxf1 40.Kxf1 a knight, which will secure White a pleasant,
Kf8 41.Lb6 ². long-lasting advantage. Carlsen said it has
37.La5 c3 38.bxc3 b3 39.c4! f6 40.Qb8 been shown that it is relatively easy to play
Qe8 41.Qxb3 Lf5 42.c5 Kg7 43.c6 Kh6 with White and to play for something...
44.Qc3 Qe4 45.d6 Le6 46.d7 Ld5 47.f3 12...Ra7 13.Nc4 Lb5
Qe7 48.d8Q Qa7+ 49.Lb6 13...Lc7 14.b3 followed by a check from a3
1-0 looks horrible for Black.
14.b3! Rd8 15.Lb2 Lxc4
Carlsen thought that Black will have to give
up the bishop pair at some point. After
15...Nc6 16.Rfd1 Raa8 17.Rxd6 Rxd6
18.Nxd6 Kxd6 Carlsen was going to
preserve the bishop pair with 19.Ld1! with
a big advantage for White.
16.Lxc4 Nc6 17.Rfd1 Raa8 18.h3 (D) 24.hxg5 Le7 25.Kg2 Nb6 26.Ld3! Nb4
XABCDEFGHY 27.Le4 (D)
8r+-tr-+-+( XABCDEFGHY
7+p+-mkpzpp' 8-+rtrk+-+(
6p+nvlpsn-+& 7+p+-vlp+-'
5+-+-+-+-% 6psn-+p+p+&
4-+L+-+-+$ 5+-+-+-zP-%
3+P+-zPN+P# 4-sn-+L+-+$
2PvL-+-zPP+" 3+P+-zPN+-#
1tR-+R+-mK-! 2PvL-+-zPK+"
xabcdefghy 1+-tRR+-+-!
Black's position is worse than it looks. xabcdefghy
White's bishop pair together with the lack of And now Black is really lost.
any counterplay makes it difficult to defend, 27...Nxa2
especially in a practical game and especially There was no salvation either in 27...Rxc1
with little time. White's plan is to advance 28.Rxc1 Nd3 29.Lxd3 Rxd3 30.Ld4
the kingside pawns, gaining more space and N d5 31.Rc8+ Kd7 32.Rb8 Kc7 33.Rg8
trying to create a weakness in Black's pawn +.
formation. Possibly disappointed by the 28.Rxd8+ Kxd8 29.Rh1
course of the game, Black failed to put up Black is temporarily a pawn up, but his
his usual tough resistance. position is lost. The bishop pair dominates
18...g6?! the board; the rook is going to come to h7
This somewhat strange-looking move is and the knight to e5. Black just can't stand
meant to prepare ...Nd5. But on d5 the such a pressure.
knight won't be doing much anyway, while 29...Nd5 30.Ne5 f5 31.Lxd5
the weaknesses created by the text move will And Black's position has fallen apart. He
soon be fatal. 18...h5 was preferable, resigned due to 31...exd5 32.Rh8+ Kc7
stopping g4, at least for a while. Carlsen said 33.Rh7 Kd8 34.Ld4 and huge material
he would play g3 Kg2 etc, and Black has no losses are unavoidable: 34...Rc6 (34...Nc1
active play. But it was probably better than 35.Nxg6 Lxg5 36.Lb6+ Ke8 37.Rh8+
the game. Kf7 38.Rxc8) 35.Rh8+ Kc7 36.Nxc6 +.
19.g4! h6 1-0
19...h5 is answered by 20.g5 Nd7 21.Kg2
with advantage. Endgame Training
L R R N
20. f1 ac8 21. ac1 d5 22.h4 e8 K Now we should move to the concept of
Too passive. Something like 22...Ncb4 was open centre in the endgame. In general this
called for, trying some counterplay as is the most ‘desirable’ set-up for the bishop
quickly as possible. pair; an endgame with an open centre is like
23.g5 hxg5?! an invitation to heaven!
After this inaccuracy the position becomes The bishop pair is free to act and present
really difficult. The opening of the h-file its possesor with plenty of positional and
doesn't help Black according to Carlsen and tactical possibilities. In practice the defender
now his position is more or less winning. rarely succeds in gaining his goal; usually he
Black must try to keep the kingside closed ends up with nothing.
and 23...h5 was necessary. As said above, the combined power of the
bishop pair in such positions, where no 45.Lc4
central pawns exist can be compared to two The only move, as 45.Kg2?! Ld3 46.Lc6
swords controlling the entire board and Lc4 loses material.
‘killing’ anything that comes in their way. 45...Le4 46.h4 Lb1 47.Kh3 Kg7 48.Kg4
Although this sounds more poetic than Kf6 49.Nh5+ Ke7 50.Nf4 Kd6
chessy, it’s nothing else but the real truth… Surrendering the bishop pair with
50...Lxf4? 51.Kxf4 Kd6 only leads to a
□ Seirawan Yasser draw: 52.Kg5 Kc5 53.Lg8 =.
■ Korchnoi Viktor 51.Nd3 Lf6 52.Kh5 Lg7 53.Kg5 Lc2
A25 Montpellier 1985 54.Kf5 Lc3 55.Kg5 Lg7 56.Kf5 (D)
1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Lg2 g6 4.Nc3 Lg7
5.e3 d6 6.Nge2 Nge7 7.0-0 0-0 8.d3 Lg4
XABCDEFGHY
9.h3 Le6 10.Nd5 Qd7 11.Kh2 f5 12.f4 8-+-+-+-+(
Rae8 13.Ld2 Nc8 14.Rc1 Nd8 15.b4 c6
16.Ndc3 e4 17.dxe4 Lxc4 18.exf5 gxf5 7zp-+-+-vlp'
19.Rg1 d5 20.Lf3 Nd6 21.g4 Ne6 6-zp-mk-+-+&
22.Ng3 Ld3 23.Le1 fxg4 24.Lxg4 Lg6
25.e4 Rxf4 26.exd5 cxd5 27.Nxd5 Rd4 5+P+-+K+-%
28.Qb3 Nf7 29.Rd1 Rxd1 30.Qxd1 4-+L+-+-zP$
Qd6 31.Lf2 Nf4 32.Nxf4 Qxf4 33.Le1
Ne5 34.Le2 Nc6 35.Rf1 Qe5 36.b5 Nd4 3+-+N+-+-#
37.Lc4+ Kh8 38.Lc3 Rc8 39.Lxd4 2P+l+-+-+"
Qxd4 40.Qxd4 Lxd4 41.Lb3 (D)
XABCDEFGHY 1+-+-+-+-!
8-+r+-+-mk( xabcdefghy
White defended well and seems like keeping
7zpp+-+-+p' the balance, as he keeps the enemy king at
6-+-+-+l+& bay. But this is not the case, as the bishop
pair is a strong positional asset and rarely
5+P+-+-+-% fails...
4-+-vl-+-+$ 56...Lf8!
The h4-pawn is the first real target!
3+L+-+-sNP# 57.Kg5
If 57.Kf6 then 57...Le7+ 58.Kg7 h5
2P+-+-+-mK" 59.Kh6 Ld1 60.Lf7 Lxh4 61.Lxh5 La4
1+-+-+R+-! 62.Le8 Kd5 .
57...Ld1 58.Nf2
xabcdefghy The attempt to push the h-pawn is not
Black's advantage is clear, due of course to solving the problems: 58.h5 Lf3! 59.Nf4
his strong bishop pair, which fully Ke5! 60.Ne6 h6+ 61.Kg6 Le4+ 62.Kf7
dominates. La3 .
41...Rc5 58...Kc5?
Putting pressure on the opponent's pawns is 58...Le7+! was correct: 59.Kh6 Lf3 60.h5
a good strategy! Also good was 41...Rc3 Ke5! (60...Lf8+ 61.Kxh7 Lxh5 62.Nd3
42.Kg2 Le5 43.Rf3 Rc5 μ. offers White some survival chances)
42.Rd1 61.Kxh7 Lxh5 and Black should win.
The alternative was 42.a4 Rc3 43.Ld5 59.Ld3 La4 60.Lxh7 Lxb5 61.Lg8?
Le5 44.Rf3 Rc2+ 45.Kg1 b6 μ. White ought to give Black some hard
42...Le5 43.Rd5 Rxd5 44.Lxd5 b6 decisions to make. After 61.h5! Le7+

62.Kf4 Lc4 63.Lb1 Lf8 64.Kg5 he 84.Nd2 Ke3 85.Nb1 as there is no
would have excellent chances to share the improvement.
half point, due to his h-pawn counterplay. 76.Nd5?
61...Le7+ 62.Kg4 Le2+ 63.Kf4 White again missed a drawing motif:
Or 63.Kh3 Kd4 64.Nh1 Ke5 65.Ng3 76.Lg6! a3 (76...b3 77.Nxa4+ Kxa2
Lf3 and Black dominates. 78.Ke2 =) 77.Nc4+ Kc3 78.Lxc2 Kxc2
63...Kd4?! 79.Na5 Kb2 80.Kd1 Kxa2 81.Kc2 =.
Leaving the h-pawn alive is generally the 76...Le5?
wrong policy, as White will always present But this is another serious mistake by Black.
counterplay. 63...Lxh4 64.Ke3 Lh5  He should opt for 76...Lg3+! 77.Ke2 b3
was good enough. 78.Ne3 Lf4 79.axb3 Lxb3 80.Nd1+ Ka3
64.Kg3 b5 65.Lf7 Ld6+ 66.Kg2 (D) 81.Le8 Kb4 and Black will win the
XABCDEFGHY notorious bishop pair v. knight without
pawns ending.
8-+-+-+-+( 77.Ke2?
Missing the drawing line: 77.Ne3! Lc3+
7zp-+-+L+-' 78.Ke2 Lb1 79.Nc4+ Kxa2 80.Nb6+ =.
6-+-vl-+-+& 77...Lc3?
And Black 'refuses' to win with 77...b3!
5+p+-+-+-% 78.Nb4 (78.axb3 a3 79.Nb4 Lb1! 80.h6
4-+-mk-+-zP$ Lc3 81.h7 Lxh7 ) 78...a3! 79.axb3 Lb1
.
3+-+-+-+-# 78.Lg6? (D)
2P+-+lsNK+" Again White could draw with either
78.Nxc3 bxc3 (78...Kxc3 79.h6 =) 79.Lg6
1+-+-+-+-! Lb1 80.Lxb1 Kxb1 81.h6 c2 82.h7 c1Q
xabcdefghy 83.h8Q Qc2+ 84.Ke3 Kxa2 85.Qd4 or
78.h6 a3 79.Le6 and Black cannot improve.
The ending is of course won for Black but
the truth is that he mishandled it many times XABCDEFGHY
from now. Just a clear proof of how difficult
it is to play such endings...
8-+-+-+-+(
66...a5? 7+-+-+-+-'
Here Black was obliged to find 66...Lc4!
67.Lxc4 bxc4  and cash the point.
6-+-+-+L+&
67.h5 Lf4 68.Nh3 Le3 69.Ng1 Ld1 5+-+N+-+P%
70.Nf3+ Kc3 71.Ne5!
Not 71.Nh4? Lg5 72.Nf5 b4 73.h6 Lc2
4pzp-+-+-+$
74.h7 Lf6 . 3+-vl-+-+-#
71...a4 72.Kf1 b4 73.Ke1 Lc2 74.Nc4
Lf4 75.Nb6 Kb2 2Pmkl+K+-+"
There was no win even with 75...Kd4 1+-+-+-+-!
76.Nc4! (76.Nd7? a3 ) 76...b3 77.Na3
Lg5 78.axb3 axb3 79.Lg6 Ld3 80.Kd1 xabcdefghy
b2 81.Nb1 (81.Lxd3? Kxd3 and White 78...b3!
will sooner or later fall into a lethal But now it's all over.
zugzwang: 82.Nb1 Lf4 83.Na3 Lc1 79.Ne3 Lxg6 80.Nd1+ Kc2 81.Ne3+
84.Nb1 Lh6 85.Na3 Kc3 86.Nb1+ Kb3 Kc1 82.axb3 a3
87.Ke2 Kc2 88.Na3+ Kc1 89.Kf3 Lf8 White resigned. An interesting ending…
) 81...Lf4 82.Na3 Ld6 83.Nb1 Lf8 0-1

□ Caruana Fabiano Again 43...Nxg7? fails to 44.Rh8 #.
■ Kramnik Vladimir 44.Re8 Nxg7 (D)
C65 Dortmund 2012 XABCDEFGHY
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Lb5 Nf6 4.d3 Lc5
5.0-0 d6 6.c3 0-0 7.Nbd2 Ne7 8.d4 exd4 8-+-+R+-+(
9.cxd4 Lb6 10.b3 d5 11.e5 Ne4 12.Ld3
Lf5 13.Qe2 Nc6 14.Lb2 Nxd2 15.Qxd2 7zp-zp-+-snk'
Le4 16.Le2 f6 17.b4 fxe5 18.dxe5 Kh8 6-zp-vl-+p+&
19.b5 Ne7 20.Ng5 Ng6 21.g3 Qe7 22.e6
Rf5 23.Nxe4 dxe4 24.Qd7 Raf8 5+P+-+-+p%
25.Qxe7 Nxe7 26.La3 Re8 27.Rad1 h5 4-+-+-+-zP$
28.Rd7 Nd5 29.Rf7 Nf6 30.Lc4 Lc5
31.Lb2 Re7 32.Ld4 Ld6 33.Re1 b6 3+-+L+-zP-#
34.Rf8+ Kh7 35.Rxe4 Rxf2 36.Kxf2 2P+-+-+K+"
Nxe4+ 37.Kg2 Nc5 38.Ra8 (D)
XABCDEFGHY 1+-+-+-+-!
8R+-+-+-+( xabcdefghy
45.Re3
7zp-zp-tr-zpk' Black is completely lost as White's attack on
6-zp-vlP+-+& the light squares increases in strength due to
the opposite-coloured bishops.
5+Psn-+-+p% 45...Kh6 46.a4 Kh7 47.Kh3 Kh6 48.Lc2
Kh7
4-+LvL-+-+$ Or 48...Nf5 49.Lxf5 gxf5 50.Re8 +.
3+-+-+-zP-# 49.g4 hxg4+ 50.Kxg4 Kh6 51.Re2 Lb4
52.Re5 Nh5?! 53.Re6
2P+-+-+KzP" 1-0
1+-+-+-+-! In the previous game Caruana was on the
xabcdefghy winning side, but in the next he had to drink
the bitter cup of the loser… Well, there are
White possesses the bishop pair and he is
always ups and downs…
obviously putting on the pressure.
38...Nxe6? □ Caruana Fabiano
This runs into a furious attack. Black's king ■ Nakamura Hikaru
must run away immediately with 38...Kg6! E70 Wijk aan Zee 2013
39.Lxc5 (39.Rxa7 Nxe6) 39...Lxc5 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 g6 4.Nc3 Lg7 5.e4
40.Rxa7 Kf5 and Black keeps practical d6 6.Ld3 0-0 7.Nge2 Nbd7 8.Lc2 Ne8
drawing chances in both cases. 9.0-0 Nc7 10.a4 Na6 11.f4 Nb4 12.Le3
39.Ld3+! Kh6 40.h4 e6 13.dxe6 fxe6 14.Qd2 Nf6 15.Rad1
This weaves a mating net. The direct Ng4 16.Lb1 Nc6 17.Kh1 Nxe3 18.Qxe3
40.Le3+!? g5 41.Rg8 is even stronger: Nd4 19.e5 dxe5 20.fxe5 Rxf1+ 21.Rxf1
41...h4 (41...Rg7? 42.Rh8+ Rh7 43.Rxh7 Ld7 22.Nxd4 cxd4 23.Qxd4 Lc6
#) 42.Rg6+ Kh5 43.Kh3 +. 24.Qg4 Qe7 25.b3 Lxe5 26.Ne2 Rd8
40...g6 41.Rh8+ Rh7 42.Rg8! Rg7 27.Le4 Le8 28.Qf3 b6 29.Nf4 Lf7
There is nothing else Black can do to 30.Nd3 Ld6 31.Qe3 Qh4 32.h3 Qg3
postpone resignation. Mate is looming all 33.Qxg3 Lxg3 34.Rf3 Lc7 35.Kg1 Rd4
around: 42...Nf8? 43.Le3+ Lf4 44.Lxf4+ 36.Re3 g5 37.Kf2 h5 38.Re2 a5 39.Ke3
g5 45.Lxg5 # or 42...Nxd4? 43.Rxg6 #. Rd8 40.Lf3 Kg7 41.Rb2 Ld6 42.Rb1
43.Lxg7+ Kh7 Kf6 43.Rf1 Ke7 44.Le4 Rg8 45.Rh1 h4

46.Lf3 Rf8 47.Rd1 Rd8 48.Rf1 Lg6 A mighty tactical blow, which opens the
49.Le4 Lh5 50.Lf3 Rf8 51.Nf2 Lg6 gates of White's castle.
52.Ne4 (D) 55.hxg4 h3 56.Rd1
XABCDEFGHY The obvious 56.gxh3 runs into 56...Rf8
57.Kd3 Rf4 and White loses a piece due to
8-+-+-tr-+( the pins: 58.h4 Lxe4+ 59.Lxe4 Rxf1 .
7+-+-mk-+-' 56...Rf8?! (D)
6-zp-vlp+l+& XABCDEFGHY
5zp-+-+-zp-% 8-+-+-tr-+(
4P+P+N+-zp$ 7+-+-mk-+-'
3+P+-mKL+P# 6-zp-+p+l+&
2-+-+-+P+" 5zp-vl-+-+-%
1+-+-+R+-! 4P+P+N+P+$
xabcdefghy 3+P+-+L+p#
52...Lc5+!? 53.Kd3? 2-+K+-+P+"
More or less White cannot live with facing 1+-+R+-+-!
the bishop pair. He had to choose between
53.Nxc5 bxc5 54.Rf2 Rb8 55.Ld1 μ and xabcdefghy
53.Ke2 Rf4 54.Nxc5 bxc5 55.Rc1 Rd4 A slight slip. 56...h2! 57.g3 Rh8 58.Kd2
56.Rc3 μ, but in both cases Black's Lxe4 59.Lxe4 Rh3  was even more
initiative is still annoying. precise as Black's rook would have been
53...Rd8+ 54.Kc2?! (D) more active.
Staying in the pin runs into an amazing 57.Kd3?
refutation. But 54.Ke2 does not save Black 57.Kc3 was forced, but it is not likely that
in the long run due to 54...Rd4 55.Nxc5 White can survive after 57...Lxe4 58.Lxe4
bxc5 56.Rc1 (56.Rd1 Rxd1 57.Kxd1 h2 59.g3 Rf2 60.Kd3 (60.g5 Lb4+
Kd6 58.Kd2 Ke5 59.Ke3 Lc2 ) 61.Kd4 Rb2 62.Ke5 Rxb3 63.c5 bxc5
56...Rd3 57.Lh5 Lf5 58.Lg4 Rxb3 . 64.Lc6 Re3+ 65.Kf4 Re2 ) 60...Rb2
XABCDEFGHY 61.Rd2 Rxb3+ 62.Kc2 Ra3 63.Kb2
Rxa4 64.Rxh2 Rxc4 65.Re2 Kf6 .
8-+-tr-+-+( 57...h2
Or 57...Rf4 58.Re1 Lxe4+ 59.Lxe4
7+-+-mk-+-' Rxe4 60.Kxe4 hxg2 .
6-zp-+p+l+& 58.Rh1 Lg1 59.Ke2 Lxe4!
The advantage of the extra option to
5zp-vl-+-zp-% exchange one of the bishops at the right
4P+P+N+-zp$ moment... Without the knight, White's
blockade crumbles immediately as all dark
3+P+-+L+P# squares in his camp are fatally weak.
2-+K+-+P+" 60.Lxe4 Kf6 61.Lf3 Rd8
White resigned due to 62.Le4 Kg5 63.Lf3
1+-+-+R+-! Kf4 64.g5 Kxg5 65.g3 Rf8 66.g4 Kf4
67.Lb7 Kxg4 68.Le4 Kg3 69.Lb7 Rf2+
xabcdefghy 70.Ke1 e5 .
54...g4!! 0-1
The fourth example strongly reminds us of 42...h5! 43.Qe2 a5 (D)
the first; its only difference is the existence XABCDEFGHY
of the queens instead of rooks, but both of
these pieces are labelled under the word 8-+-+-+k+(
‘major’, so they can be handled in almost
‘identical’ fashion.
7+q+-+-zp-'
□ Schuh Hubert 6-+-vlNzp-+&
■ Grivas Efstratios 5zp-+l+P+p%
A31 Strasbourg 1985
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nf3 cxd4 4.Nxd4 b6 4P+-+-+-+$
5.Nc3 Lb7 6.f3 e6 7.e4 d6 8.Le2 Le7 3+-+-+-+-#
9.Qa4+ Nfd7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Rd1 a6
12.Le3 Qc7 13.Rac1 Nf6 14.Lf1 Nbd7 2-+-+Q+PzP"
15.Kh1 Rac8 16.b4 Qb8 17.Qb3 Ld8
18.Lg1 Lc7 19.Na4 Rfd8 20.c5 dxc5
1+-+-+-vLK!
21.bxc5 Lf4 22.Rb1 b5 23.Ne2 Le5 xabcdefghy
24.Nb6 Nxb6 25.Rxd8+ Rxd8 26.cxb6 Black fixes the target pawn on a light
Lc6 27.Rd1 Rxd1 28.Qxd1 h6 29.Qc1
square, where it will always be threatened by
Qb7 30.Ld4 Nd7 31.Qc3 f6 32.Qb3
the d5-bishop. Black's bishop pair,
Kf7 33.Lg1 Nxb6 34.f4 Ld6 35.Nd4 (D)
augmented by the fact that there are no
XABCDEFGHY central pawns and that play develops on both
flanks, prove deadly. White has no
8-+-+-+-+( possibility of creating counterplay, and is
7+q+-+kzp-' thus condemned to a slow but certain death.
44.h3 h4 45.Nd4 Le4 46.Nf3 Lg3
6psnlvlpzp-zp& 47.Nd2 Lc6! 48.Lh2?!
5+p+-+-+-% The desire to get rid of the enemy bishop
pair is understandable, but this speeds up the
4-+-sNPzP-+$ finish. White should have tried 48.Nc4 Lc7
μ.
3+Q+-+-+-# 48...Qd7! 49.Lxg3 hxg3 50.Nf1
2P+-+-+PzP" 50.Qc4+ Ld5 51.Qc2 Qa7! does not save
White either.
1+-+-+LvLK! 50...Qxf5 51.Nxg3 Qxh3+ 52.Kg1 Qd7!
xabcdefghy Certainly not 52...Qxg3? 53.Qe6+ Kf8
54.Qxc6, when Black has lost the greater
35...Nc4!
part of his advantage.
Black had no choice but to return his
53.Nh5 Qd4+! 54.Kf1
material gain, but in fact his only option is
54.Kh1?! loses on the spot: 54...Qa1+
also a pleasant one. In order to regain the
55.Kh2 Qe5+.
pawn, White must simplify into an endgame
where Black's bishops dominate, while he 54...Le4! 55.Nf4 Qxa4 56.Qh5 Qa1+
also foregoes any chance to 'annoy' Black. 57.Kf2 Qd4+ 58.Kg3 Qe3+
36.Lxc4 bxc4 37.Qxc4 Lxe4! 38.Qxe6+ Black resigned: 59.Kg4 f5+ 60.Kg5 Qg3+.
Kg6 39.Qg4+ Kh7 40.f5 Ld5 41.Ne6 0-1
Kg8 An ex-World Champion nearly always
Escaping from a possible future perpetual handles positions to the maximum accuracy.
check (with Qg6-e8). Here Veselin Topalov is at his best, killing
42.a4 his great opponent rather easily and in no
If 42.Qg6 then 42...Qf7 μ. time!
□ Topalov Veselin Kf6 32.Rd6+ +.
■ Gelfand Boris 27.Lc5 Ra1 28.Lc4+
D17 Dos Hermanas 1996 28.Lxa7 Nd5 29.Lc4 Ke6 30.Lb3 ± is
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 more accurate.
5.a4 Lf5 6.Ne5 e6 7.f3 c5 8.e4 cxd4 9.exf5 28...Ke8 (D)
Nc6 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.fxe6 fxe6 12.Qe2
dxc3 13.Qxe6+ Qe7 14.Lxc4 Qxe6+
XABCDEFGHY
15.Lxe6 cxb2 16.Lxb2 Lb4+ 17.Ke2 8-+-+k+-+(
Ke7 18.Lc4 Rhd8 19.Rhd1 Rab8 (D)
7zp-+-+-zp-'
XABCDEFGHY
6-+p+-sn-+&
8-tr-tr-+-+(
5vl-vL-+-+p%
7zp-+-mk-zpp'
4P+LtR-+-+$
6-+p+-sn-+&
3+-+-+PzP-#
5+-+-+-+-%
2-+-+-mK-zP"
4PvlL+-+-+$
1tr-+-+-+-!
3+-+-+P+-#
xabcdefghy
2-vL-+K+PzP" 29.Ld3
1tR-+R+-+-! White must repeat moves as 29.Lxa7? Lc3
30.Rd3 Rxa4 = loses the advantage.
xabcdefghy 29...Kf7 30.Lxa7 Ra2+
In this line of the 'Slav Defence' Black As 30...Nd5 is losing anyway (see notes
surrenders the bishop pair to White and above) Black tries something else.
accepts the worse pawn structure. As I 31.Kg1 Ra1+ 32.Kg2 Ra2+ 33.Kh3
cannot find any positive in that action, I Ra3 34.f4 Le1 35.Lc5 Rc3 36.Lc4+
generally suggest its avoidance. White wins - the bishop pair dominates.
20.g3 h5 36...Ke8 37.Lb4 Rc1 38.Lxe1 Rxe1
This creates a weakness without offering 39.a5 Ra1 40.a6 Ke7 41.Rd2!
anything in return. 20...a5 is preferable. Black resigned as the coming Ra2 is
21.Rd4! decisive.
21.Rxd8 Rxd8 22.Rd1 also seems excellent 1-0
for White.
And of course when we talk about ex-
21...La5
World Champions we really mean all of
With hindsight Black should prefer
them! Here comes a very instructive
21...Rxd4 22.Lxd4 a5 23.Rd1 ±.
example of the great Jose Raul Capablanca.
22.La3+ Ke8 His clear-cut technique was extremely
22...Lb4 is not changing much: 23.Rxd8 accurate and easily matched that of today’s
Kxd8 24.Lb2 ±.
top masters. By the way, they learned from
23.Rad1 Rxd4 24.Rxd4 Rb1 the great Capa!
24...Rd8 25.Rxd8+ Lxd8 26.f4 ± is more
□ Capablanca Jose Raul
'logical' but Black's desire to create some
■ Vidmar Milan
threats or just activate his rook is
C98 New York 1927
understandable.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Lb5 a6 4.La4 Nf6
25.Ld3! Re1+ 26.Kf2 Kf7
5.0-0 Le7 6.Re1 b5 7.Lb3 d6 8.c3 Na5
If 26...Nd5 then 27.Lc5! Ra1 28.Lxa7
Ra2+ 29.Kg1 Nc3 30.Lg6+ Ke7 31.Lc5+ 9.Lc2 c5 10.d4 Qc7 11.Nbd2 0-0 12.h3
Nc6 13.d5 Nd8 14.a4 b4 15.Nc4 a5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY weakness: the a5-pawn.
23...Rfd8
8r+lsn-trk+( The alternative was 23...Nd7 24.Le3 Rfc8
25.Red1 Rc7 26.Rd6 ±.
7+-wq-vlpzpp' 24.Le3 h6
6-+-zp-sn-+& Or 24...Rd3 25.Lc4 Rd6 26.Red1 Rad8
27.Rxd6 Rxd6 28.Rc1 Rc6 29.Rd1 ±.
5zp-zpPzp-+-% 25.Red1 Lc6 26.Rac1 Le8 27.Kf2
4PzpN+P+-+$ Rxd1 28.Rxd1 Rc8 (D)
3+-zP-+N+P# XABCDEFGHY
2-zPL+-zPP+" 8-+r+l+k+(
1tR-vLQtR-mK-! 7+-+-+pzp-'
xabcdefghy 6-+-+-sn-zp&
White's opening spatial advantage does not 5zp-+-zp-+-%
guarantee anything particularly impressive
but the combination that follows does! 4Pzp-+P+-+$
16.Nfxe5! La6 3+L+-vLP+P#
Or 16...dxe5 17.d6 Lxd6 18.Qxd6 ±.
17.Lb3 dxe5 18.d6 Lxd6 19.Qxd6 Qxd6 2-zP-+-mKP+"
20.Nxd6 (D) 1+-+R+-+-!
XABCDEFGHY xabcdefghy
8r+-sn-trk+( 29.g4!
7+-+-+pzpp' With the idea h4 and g5. Black has no
defence to oppose to the dominating bishop
6l+-sN-sn-+& pair.
29...Ld7?!
5zp-zp-zp-+-% Blunders usually come in difficult positions...
4Pzp-+P+-+$ 30.Lb6! Le6
30...Ra8 31.Lc7 +.
3+LzP-+-+P# 31.Lxe6 fxe6
2-zP-+-zPP+" 31...Rc2+ 32.Ke3 fxe6 33.Rd2 +.
32.Rd8+!
1tR-vL-tR-mK-! Simplification guarantees a trivial win.
xabcdefghy 32...Rxd8 33.Lxd8 Nd7 34.Lxa5 Nc5
35.b3! Nxb3 36.Lxb4 Nd4 37.a5
Now White can claim a pleasant advantage, 1-0
based on his bishop pair.
20...Nb7 What about the newest World Champion?
Preferable was 20...Rb8 although White Well, if you want to become a champion,
stands clearly better after 21.Lc4! Lxc4 you must have a broad chess culture,
22.Nxc4 Nc6 23.Ld2! ±, as the a5-pawn is understanding and knowledge about all
rather weak. strategic and tactical elements…
21.Nxb7 Lxb7 22.cxb4 cxb4 23.f3 □ Carlsen Magnus
Stabilizing the centre and cutting off any ■ Adams Michael
potential black activity. The coming Le3-b6 E36 Khanty-Mansiysk 2007
will clearly undermine Black's main 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Lb4 4.Qc2 d5

5.a3 Lxc3+ 6.Qxc3 dxc4 7.Qxc4 b6 Re6 37.Rd1 ²) 35...Nc2 36.Ld2 ²
8.Lf4 La6 9.Qxc7 Qxc7 10.Lxc7 0-0 (36.Nxb6?! Nxe1 37.Nxd5 Nxg2 =).
11.Nf3 Rc8 12.Lf4 Nbd7 13.Nd2 Rc2 35.Kg1!
14.Rb1 Rac8 15.Nb3 Lc4 16.Na1 La2 Again White finds a powerful way to
17.Nxc2 Lxb1 18.Na1 Nd5 19.Ld2 e5 improve the position. The f2-square
20.e3 exd4 21.exd4 Nb8 22.f3 Nc6 'belongs' to the e1-bishop. From there it can
23.Lc4 Rd8 24.Kf2 Lf5 25.Nb3 Le6 easily attack the weak black b-pawn.
26.Rc1 f6 27.a4 a5 28.Lc3 Lf7 29.Nd2 35...Nb8 36.Lf2 (D)
Nde7 (D) XABCDEFGHY
XABCDEFGHY 8-sn-tr-+-+(
8-+-tr-+k+( 7+-+-mklzpp'
7+-+-snlzpp' 6-zp-+-zp-+&
6-zpn+-zp-+& 5zp-+n+-+-%
5zp-+-+-+-% 4P+N+-+-+$
4P+LzP-+-+$ 3+-+-+P+-#
3+-vL-+P+-# 2-zP-+-vLPzP"
2-zP-sN-mKPzP" 1+R+-+LmK-!
1+-tR-+-+-! xabcdefghy
xabcdefghy White's advantage has become really great.
White's advantage is undisputed. He not The open position helps to the maximum the
only possesses the bishop pair but he is also bishop pair, while Black's fixed queenside
a pawn up. weaknesses will prove lethal.
30.Lf1!? 36...Nd7 37.Re1+ Kf8 38.Rd1 Ke7
But suddenly decides to give up the d4-pawn 39.Re1+ Kf8 40.Nd6 Ne5
in order to open the position, where his After 40...Nc5 41.Nxf7 Kxf7 42.Lxc5 (or
bishop pair together with the weakness of 42.Lb5 ±) 42...bxc5 43.Lc4 Rd7 44.Rd1
the b6-pawn will secure the advantage. Of Ke6 45.f4 g5 46.g3 ± Black will run out of
course he could have kept the extra pawn useful moves sooner or later.
with 30.Rd1 as 30...Nxd4?! fails to 41.Nxf7 Kxf7 42.Rd1
31.Lxf7+ Kxf7 32.Nc4 Nec6 33.Nxb6 Such positions should be avoided for Black,
+. as the bishop pair will sooner or later fully
30...Nxd4 31.Re1 Ndc6 32.Nc4 Nd5 dominate the knight pair.
33.Rb1! 42...Ke7 43.f4?!
An excellent response, predicted in advance. 43.La6 ± was more accurate.
33...Kf8 43...Ng4!
After 33...Nxc3 34.bxc3 ± White regains Not of course 43...Nxf4? 44.Rxd8 Kxd8
the pawn but this time under more 45.Lxb6+ +.
favourable circumstances. 44.Re1+ Kf8 45.Ld4 Rd6
34.Le1! Again taking on f4 loses: 45...Nxf4?
The bishop pair retreat is only temporary; 46.Lxb6 Rd5 47.b4! axb4 48.a5 and the
soon it will be excellently placed with access knights can't fight against the marginal
to many squares... passed pawn.
34...Ke7 46.h3 Nh6?!
34...Ncb4 35.Rd1 (35.Kg1!? Re8 36.Lf2 Here 46...Nxf4 was worth a try, at the same
time containing a trap: 47.Re4 (after Kc5 64.Lc1 Nc4 65.Lxc4 Kxc4 66.Ld2
47.Rd1? threatening 48.Lc5 Black has the Na6 67.a5 Kb5 68.Kf3 Nc5 69.Lc3 h6
strong answer 47...Ke7! which is also the 70.Ke3 Kc4 71.Ld4 Na6 72.Ke4 Nb4
only defence [47...Ne6 48.Lc5 + or 47... 73.h4 Kb5 74.Lc3 Na6 75.Kd5 Nc5
Ke8 48.hxg4 Ne6 49.Re1 +] 48.hxg4 76.Ld4 Nd3 77.Ke6
Ne6 and it is White who must look for 1-0
escape) 47...Ne6 48.Rxe6 Rxe6 49.hxg4 ±
White is clearly better, but winning it might Advanced Training
be a difficult task. Such ‘transformations’ in Endgames with this specific pawn
material balance is a usual motif to fight structure can and should be studied in detail.
against the bishop pair. The next six examples are almost identical
47.Rd1! to the previous two, but nevertheless they
Back to the right track! can be instructive and present many new and
47...Nf5 old ideas.
47...Nxf4? 48.Lc5 +. As has been said, this is a kind of position
48.Lf2 Ke7 that one can play with his eyes shut!
48...Nxf4 49.Rxd6 Nxd6 50.Lxb6 ±. □ Gurevich Mikhail
49.g4 Nh6 50.f5 Nf7 51.Lg2 Nf4 ■ Sandipan Chanda
52.Rxd6 Nxd6 53.Lxb6 A17 Gibraltar 2006
In spite of Black's efforts the inevitable 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 Lb4 4.Qc2 0-0
happened. Now the extra pawn secures a 5.a3 Lxc3 6.Qxc3 b6 7.e3 Lb7 8.Le2 c5
technical win. 9.b4 d6 10.Lb2 Nc6 11.0-0 Re8 12.d4
53...Nc4 54.Lc5+ Kd7 55.Lf1 cxd4 13.Nxd4 Nxd4 14.Qxd4 d5 15.cxd5
Even stronger was 55.b3 Nxg2 (55...Nd2 Qxd5 16.Qxd5 Nxd5 17.Rac1 Rac8
56.Le3 Nxg2 57.Lxd2 +) 56.Kxg2 Nd2 18.Rfd1 Rxc1 19.Rxc1 Rc8 20.Rxc8+
57.b4 +. Lxc8 (D)
55...Nxb2 56.Lb5+ Kd8?!
More stubborn was 56...Kc7 although after
XABCDEFGHY
57.Lf8 (or 57.h4) 57...g6 58.fxg6 hxg6 8-+l+-+k+(
59.h4 Black's position was difficult anyway.
57.Lb6+ Ke7 58.Kh2 (D) 7zp-+-+pzpp'
XABCDEFGHY 6-zp-+p+-+&
8-+-+-+-+( 5+-+n+-+-%
7+-+-mk-zpp' 4-zP-+-+-+$
6-vL-+-zp-+& 3zP-+-zP-+-#
5zpL+-+P+-% 2-vL-+LzPPzP"
4P+-+-snP+$ 1+-+-+-mK-!
3+-+-+-+P# xabcdefghy
2-sn-+-+-mK" White achieved the exact material that he
was aiming for: the bishop pair versus
1+-+-+-+-! bishop and knight in the endgame. A typical,
pleasant advantage, where the game usually
xabcdefghy goes in White's favour. Although there are
There is no way out for Black any more... no weaknesses in Black's position so far, the
58...Nd5 59.Lxa5 Kd6 60.Ld2 Kc5 fact that White possessed the bishop pair
61.Kg3 Nc7 62.Le3+ Kb4 63.Ld2+ with an open centre and pawns on both sides
of the board, makes this endgame extremely practically undefendable.
difficult for Black. 31...fxg4 32.fxg4 Ld5 33.Ke3 Kg6 34.h4
21.e4! h6 35.h5+ Kg7 36.Lg3 Nf6 37.Le5 Kf7
Gaining space in the centre is the first stage 38.Lf4 Kg7 39.Kd4
in White's plan. He should activate his With the idea Ke5-d6-c7-b8. 39.Lb8 Nd7
bishops as much as possible, create pawn 40.Lxa7 e5 41.Lf3 ± was good as well.
weaknesses in his opponent's position, on 39...Ne4 40.Le5+ Kf7 41.Lf4 Kg7
both sides hopefully, centralize his king and 42.Ke5 Nc3 43.Ld3 Lf3 44.Kd6
create passed pawn(s). Black is facing a long White continues his plan, and creates the
and difficult defence. threat of 45.Le5+, which is better than
21...Ne7 44.Kxe6 Lxg4+ 45.Kd6 ±.
If 21...Nf4 then 22.Lc4 (with the threat 44...Na4 45.Le5+ Kg8 46.g5 Nc5
Lb2-e5-b8) 22...Ng6 23.b5 ±. The only move as after 46...hxg5 47.h6 the
22.b5! h-pawn is unstoppable.
Creates the weakness no1; the a7-pawn. 47.Lg6 Ne4+ 48.Kxe6 Nxg5+ 49.Ke7
22...f6 With the threat 50.Lb8. White wins.
With the idea 23...Kf7, 24...e5 and 25... 49...Le2 50.Lb8 a6 51.bxa6 Lxa6
Le6, trying to block the position in the 52.La7 Nf3
centre as much as possible. 52...b5 53.Ld3 +.
23.Lc3 53.Lxb6 Ne5 54.Le8 Lc4 55.Ld4 Nd3
Planning Lb4-d6-b8. 56.Le3 Kg7 57.a4 Nb4 58.Ld4+ Kg8
23...Kf7 59.a5 Nd5+ 60.Kd6 Nf4 61.Le3 Kf8
Or 23...e5 24.Lc4+ Kf8 25.Lb4 ±. 62.Lc6 Nxh5 63.Lxh6+ Kf7 64.Ld5+!
24.Lc4 Ng6 25.Lb4 Ne5 26.Le2 Lb7 By this White converts the advantage of the
26...Nd7 27.Ld6 Nc5 28.f3 e5 29.Lb8 ±. bishop pair into material, with an extra
27.f3 Nd7 28.Ld6 g6 29.Kf2 f5 30.exf5 queen in a couple of moves, as Black's
gxf5 (D) pieces are unable to stop the a-pawn. After
30...exf5 was probably a better decision, 64...Lxd5 65.Kxd5
although after 31.Lc4+ Kf6 32.Ke3 White Black resigned.
is clearly better. 1-0
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7zpl+n+k+p'
6-zp-vLp+-+&
5+P+-+p+-%
4-+-+-+-+$ The next two games of the Serbian GM
Branko Damljanovic are quite instructive.
3zP-+-+P+-# □ Damljanovic Branko
2-+-+LmKPzP" ■ Barlov Dragan
A14 Pljevlja 1989
1+-+-+-+-! 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Lg2 Le7
xabcdefghy 5.0-0 0-0 6.b3 c5 7.Lb2 Nc6 8.e3 b6
31.g4! 9.Nc3 Lb7 10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.Nxd5
Qxd5 12.d4 Rad8 13.Ne5 Qd6 14.dxc5
This creates a passed pawn on the kingside
and by using the classical principle of the Qxc5 15.Qe2 Nxe5 16.Lxb7 Qa5
two weaknesses, makes Black's position 17.Rfd1 Rxd1+ 18.Rxd1 Ng6 19.Qc2
Qg5 20.Le4 Rd8 21.Rxd8+ Lxd8 (D)
Qa5 9.e4 Qxc3+ 10.Ld2 Qe5 11.Ne2
XABCDEFGHY Ne7 12.Rc1 Nbc6 13.Lc3 Qg5 14.h4
8-+-vl-+k+( Qh6 15.Nd4 Nxd4 16.Lxd4 0-0 17.Qd2
Qxd2+ 18.Kxd2 Nc6 19.La1 Ld7
7zp-+-+pzpp' 20.Ke3 Rfc8 21.Le2 Rc7 22.Rhd1
6-zp-+p+n+& Rac8 23.Lc3 Le8 24.f4 h6 25.g4 Rd7
26.Rxd7 Lxd7 27.g5 hxg5 28.hxg5 b6
5+-+-+-wq-% 29.cxb6 axb6 30.Lb2 Nb8 31.Rxc8+
4-+-+L+-+$ Lxc8 32.Ld4 Nd7 (D)
3+P+-zP-zP-# XABCDEFGHY
2PvLQ+-zP-zP" 8-+l+-+k+(
1+-+-+-mK-! 7+-+n+pzp-'
xabcdefghy 6-zp-+p+-+&
Queens are on the board but this cannot 5+-+-+-zP-%
really help Black to defend.
22.La3!
4-+-vLPzP-+$
A very strong move which emphasizes 3zP-+-mK-+-#
Black's back rank weaknesses. Due to lack
of piece coordination Black goes down step 2-+-+L+-+"
by step until his position becomes critical.
The initiative rests firmly with White, and he
1+-+-+-+-!
treats the last phase of the game with the xabcdefghy
utmost accuracy. Due to the reduced material, White should
22...Nf8 23.h4 Qe5 24.Qc6! f5 be careful, but his advantage is obvious.
Black desperately needs fresh air to parry 33.a4
the threat Qe8, but now a new target (e6- Fixing the pawn on b6 - and the knight (its
pawn) is created. protector) of course!
25.Qe8 Qf6 26.Ld3! 33...Kf8 34.Lc4 Lb7 35.g6!
The bishop is transferred to c4, attacking the Creation of weaknesses is always welcomed.
weak black e6-pawn. 35...Lc6?!
26...g6 27.Lc4 Kg7 28.Ld6! 35...fxg6 36.Lxe6 Lc6 37.Lb3 just gives
This stalemates all Black's pieces, who now White a passed e-pawn, but nevertheless was
finds himself in zugzwang. Black might as a forced action.
well have resigned here, but under time 36.gxf7 Kxf7
pressure he instinctively played on. Not better was 36...Lxa4 37.Lxe6 and the
28.Lxf8+? Qxf8 29.Qxe6 Lf6 would just white pawns will roll.
give Black chances of survival… 37.f5! Ke7 38.fxe6 Nf8 39.Lb3 Nxe6
28...b5 29.Qxb5 Qf7 30.Qb8 Le7 31.Lf4 40.Lxb6
Lf6 32.Lc7 h6 33.Qxa7 White won an important pawn and now his
The black queenside simply felled! extra outside pawn will decide.
33...g5 34.hxg5 hxg5 35.Lb6 Nd7 36.Ld4 40...Ng5 41.e5 Ne6 42.a5 g5 43.Ld1
1-0 Good enough was 43.a6 Nf4 44.Lc5+ Kd7
□ Damljanovic Branko 45.a7 La8 46.Ld6 +.
■ Ivanovic Bozidar 43...Nf4 44.Lg4 Lb7 45.Lc5+ Kd8
E25 Pljevlja 1989 46.Kd4 Lc6 47.Lb6+ Ke7 48.a6 Lb5
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Lb4 4.f3 d5 5.a3 49.a7 Lc6 50.Lc5+ Kf7 51.Ld6 Ne6+
Lxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.dxc5 52.Ke3 Nf4 53.Lf3 Nd5+ 54.Kd4 Ke6

55.Lg4+ Kf7 56.Kc5 La8 57.Ld7 22.Kf1 Ne5 23.Ke2 g5
And the threat 58.Lc6 is decisive. Black creates a further weakness, but
1-0 otherwise the restriction method (f4) will
come in handy.
24.h3 h5 25.Lb3 Kf8 26.f4! gxf4 27.Lxf4
f6 28.Ke3 a5 29.b5
Avoiding pawn exchanges.
29...Le7
29...a4 30.Lxa4 Le7 (30...Nc4+ 31.Kd4
Nxa3 32.Kd5 +) 31.Ld1 Lxa3 32.Lxh5
A well educated and higher rated player
simply loses a pawn.
shouldn’t be afraid of playing simple
30.a4 Lc5+ 31.Ke4 (D)
endgames.
XABCDEFGHY
□ Grivas Efstratios 8-+-+-mk-+(
■ Kolomvas Ioannis
A10 Amfissa 2010 7+-+-+-+-'
1.c4 b6 2.e4 Lb7 3.Nc3 e6 4.Nf3 Lb4
5.Ld3 Ne7 6.0-0 Ng6 7.a3 Le7 8.Lc2 c5
6-zp-+-zp-+&
9.d4 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Nc6 11.Le3 0-0 12.b3
Nxd4 13.Lxd4 d5 14.exd5 exd5 15.Nxd5
5zpPvl-sn-+p%
Lxd5 16.cxd5 Qxd5 17.Le3 (D) 4P+-+KvL-+$
XABCDEFGHY 3+L+-+-+P#
8r+-+-trk+( 2-+-+-+P+"
7zp-+-vlpzpp' 1+-+-+-+-!
6-zp-+-+n+& xabcdefghy
5+-+q+-+-% White is not only happy for his bishop pair,
but for his centralized king as well!
4-+-+-+-+$ 31...Ke7 32.Kd5 Nd3 33.Lg3 Nb4+
34.Ke4
3zPP+-vL-+-# And now White is ready for Ld1, picking
2-+L+-zPPzP" up a pawn.
34...Ld6
1tR-+Q+RmK-! 34...Kf8 35.Ld1 Na2 36.Kd3 Nb4+
xabcdefghy 37.Kc4 +.
An instructive moment. Black has nothing to 35.Le1 Lc5 36.Lh4 Ld6 37.Kf5 Le5
hope for in the endgame, so he should 38.Lf2 Lc7 39.Ld4 Le5 40.Lxb6
preserve queens on the board, in order to try 1-0
to find some counterplay. Instead he made □ Van Wely Loek
the usual mistake of the lower rated player - ■ Van der Werf Mark
try to exchange whatever moves! D46 Leeuwarden 2001
17...Qxd1?! 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e3 Nd7 5.Ld3
17...Qc6 18.b4 Rfd8 19.Qe2 ². Ngf6 6.Nf3 Le7 7.0-0 0-0 8.b3 b6 9.Lb2
18.Rfxd1 Rfd8 19.b4! Rxd1+ 20.Rxd1 Lb7 10.Qe2 Qc7 11.Rac1 Rad8 12.Ne5
Rd8 21.Rxd8+ Lxd8 dxc4 13.Nxc4 c5 14.Rfd1 cxd4 15.exd4
Of course White welcomed the proposed Qf4 16.Qe3 Qg4 17.Qg3 Qxg3 18.hxg3
exchanges and now the endgame is a Nb8 19.Le2 Nd5 20.Nxd5 Lxd5
formality... 21.Ne3 Lc6 (D)
XABCDEFGHY But it seems that also Black had missed his
own threat (!), as he didn't go for 29...Ld4!
8-sn-tr-trk+( eliminating the bishop pair: 30.Lxd4
(30.Rxc6 Lxb2 31.Rxd8 Rxd8 32.a4
7zp-+-vlpzpp' Ld4 =) 30...Nxd4 31.Lc4 b5 32.Ld3
6-zpl+p+-+& Rd6 =.
30.Rxd1 Rd8 31.Rxd8+ Nxd8
5+-+-+-+-% Back to the 'natural' game track...
4-+-zP-+-+$ 32.Lf3 Kf8 33.Ke2 f6 34.Ld5 Ke7 35.f4
Kd6 36.Lc4 Nc6 37.Kd3
3+P+-sN-zP-# White has avoided any further exchanges
2PvL-+LzPP+" and already started to deal with the
'restriction' method.
1+-tRR+-mK-! 37...Ne7 38.Ke4 f5+
Maybe Black had to go for 38...Lf2
xabcdefghy although after 39.g4 Kc5 40.a4 Kb4 41.g5
It looks like Black has not much to solve, ± he would be still in trouble.
but this is not the case, as White can execute 39.Kf3 g5
a small combination. 39...g6 40.Lf7.
22.d5! Lxd5 40.Le5+?
If 22...exd5 then 23.Nf5 Lg5 24.Lxg7 The simple 40.fxg5! hxg5 41.g4 ± would
Lxc1 (24...Rfe8 25.Rc2 Ld7 26.Rxd5
create many problems for Black as he will
Le6 27.Rxd8 Rxd8 28.Lh6 ±) 25.Lxf8
not be able to hold all his weakness (b6, g5).
Kxf8 26.Rxc1 ±. The bishop pair loves an open centre and
23.Nxd5 exd5 24.Lf3 Lc5 25.Lxd5 (D) generally space to move!
XABCDEFGHY 40...Kc6 41.a4
Now 41.fxg5 hxg5 42.g4 is not possible due
8-sn-tr-trk+( to 42...Lxa3.
7zp-+-+pzpp' 41...g4+!
Of course! Blocked positions help the
6-zp-+-+-+& knight!
5+-vlL+-+-% 42.Ke2 Kd7 43.Lg7 Nc8
The black h-pawn is anyway lost (43...h5
4-+-+-+-+$ 44.Lf7), so Black improves his knight.
3+P+-+-zP-# 44.Lxh6 Nd6 45.Ld5 Ld4 46.Lf8 (D)
2PvL-+-zPP+" XABCDEFGHY
1+-tRR+-mK-! 8-+-+-vL-+(
xabcdefghy 7+-+k+-+-'
The position has clarified in White's favour. 6-zp-sn-+-+&
He obtained the bishop pair with the ideal 5zp-+L+p+-%
pawn structure. Black would have to deal
with a long defensive battle... 4P+-vl-zPp+$
25...a5 26.Lf3 h6 27.Kf1 Rfe8 28.Le2 3+P+-+-zP-#
Nc6 29.a3?
White missed Black’s 'threat'; 29.Lb5 had 2-+-+K+P+"
to be played: 29...Rxd1+ 30.Rxd1 Rd8 1+-+-+-+-!
31.Rxd8+ Nxd8 32.Ke2 ±.
29...Rxd1+? xabcdefghy
46...Lh8? 59...Ke7 60.Lxf5 g3 61.Ld3 Nc3 62.Lc4
46...Lc5 is more tenacious (Black had to Nd1 63.Ke4 Nf2+ 64.Kf3 Nh1 65.Ld3
keep the option of ...Lf2 alive), when it is Kf6 66.Lc2 Ke6 67.Kg4 Kf6 68.Kh4
not completely clear if White can win. Ke6 69.Kg5 Kf7 70.Le4 Nf2 71.Ld5+
47.Kd3 Lf6 48.Lg8! Ke7 72.f5 Nh1 73.f6+ Kf8 74.Kf4 Ke8
With the idea Lh7 and Lxd6, winning 75.Ke5 Nf2 76.Kd6 Ng4 77.Kc7 Nxf6
Black's entire kingside pawn structure. 78.Lf3 Ke7 79.Kxb6 Kd6 80.Kxa5 Nd7
Nothing is gained by 48.Lh6 Lh8 49.Lg5 81.Kb5 Nc5 82.b4 Nb3 83.La8 Nd4+
Lg7 50.Lh4 Lh8. 84.Kc4 Ne6 85.a5
48...Ne4 49.Kc4! 1-0
In this life you have to work regardless if
you are the king! □ Van Wely Loek
49...Ke8 ■ Leko Peter
Or 49...Nxg3 50.Kd5 Nf1 51.Le6+ Ke8 E32 Wijk aan Zee 2006
52.Ld6 Ne3+ 53.Kc6 ±. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Lb4 4.Qc2 0-0
50.La3 Kd7 51.Lc1 Ld8 52.Le3 Nf6 5.a3 Lxc3+ 6.Qxc3 b6 7.Nf3 Lb7 8.e3
53.Lf7 (D) d5 9.b4 c5 10.dxc5 bxc5 11.Lb2 Nbd7
XABCDEFGHY 12.Le2 dxc4 13.Qxc4 Ne4 14.0-0 Nb6
15.Qb5 a6 16.Qa5 Nd5 17.Rfc1 Rc8
8-+-vl-+-+( 18.Qxd8 Rfxd8 19.bxc5 Nxc5 20.Rc4
(D)
7+-+k+L+-'
XABCDEFGHY
6-zp-+-sn-+&
8-+rtr-+k+(
5zp-+-+p+-%
7+l+-+pzpp'
4P+K+-zPp+$
6p+-+p+-+&
3+P+-vL-zP-#
5+-snn+-+-%
2-+-+-+P+"
4-+R+-+-+$
1+-+-+-+-!
3zP-+-zPN+-#
xabcdefghy
White has rearranged his pieces, improved
2-vL-+LzPPzP"
his king (his extra pawn is not important) 1tR-+-+-mK-!
and he is ready for the final penetration.
53...Ne4?! xabcdefghy
53...Kc6 is, once again, more tenacious: White keeps a small, but steady positional
54.Le6 Ne8! (this small tactic is probably advantage. After the inevitable trade of the
what Black missed) 55.Ld5+ Kd7 56.La8! rooks the white bishop pair will become an
(56.Kb5 Nc7+ 57.Kc4 Ne8 [57...Nxd5?! x-factor in the play on two wings.
58.Kxd5 Lc7 59.Ld4 +]) 56...Kd6 20...Nd7?!
57.Lb7! Kc7 (57...Ke6 58.Kb5 +) The knight is a bit passive on d7 and for that
58.La6 Kd6 (58...Nf6 59.Kd4 Kd6 reason preferable was 20...f6!? 21.Rac1
60.Lc8 Nd5 61.Lxf5 +) 59.Lg1! + and Na4 22.Rxc8 Rxc8 23.Rxc8+ Lxc8
Black is in zugzwang. 24.Lc1 e5 and a draw is a much more likely
54.Kd5 Ke7 55.Le6 Nxg3 56.Lf2 Ne2 result than White's win.
57.Lh4+ Ke8 58.Lxd8 Kxd8 59.Ke5 21.Rb1 Rxc4 22.Lxc4 Rc8 23.Nd2
And Black is losing the house. The rest was N5b6 24.Ld3 e5 25.h4
just a formality. 25.Lxe5 deserved attention: 25...Nxe5

26.Rxb6 Nxd3 27.Rxb7 f5 28.Rb3 Rc1+ □ Grivas Efstratios
29.Nf1 Nc5 30.Rb8+ Kf7 31.Rc8 Ke6 ■ Parligras Mircea
², but Van Wely prefers to keep the E08 Athens 2007
pressure. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Lb4+ 4.Ld2 Le7
25...f6 26.h5 Rc7 27.Ne4 Ld5 28.Rc1 5.Lg2 d5 6.Nf3 0-0 7.0-0 c6 8.Qc2 Nbd7
Rxc1+ 29.Lxc1 Nc4 9.Lf4 b6 10.Nbd2 Lb7 11.e4 dxc4
Or 29...Lc4 30.Lc2 Ld5 31.g4 ². 12.Qxc4 c5 13.Rfe1 Rc8 14.e5 Nd5
30.g4 g6?! 15.Ne4 cxd4 16.Qxd4 Nxf4 17.gxf4 (D)
30...h6 looks ugly, but probably was Black's XABCDEFGHY
best.
31.hxg6 hxg6 (D) 8-+rwq-trk+(
XABCDEFGHY 7zpl+nvlpzpp'
8-+-+-+k+( 6-zp-+p+-+&
7+-+n+-+-' 5+-+-zP-+-%
6p+-+-zpp+& 4-+-wQNzP-+$
5+-+lzp-+-% 3+-+-+N+-#
4-+n+N+P+$ 2PzP-+-zPLzP"
3zP-+LzP-+-# 1tR-+-tR-mK-!
2-+-+-zP-+" xabcdefghy
1+-vL-+-mK-! Black took advantage of White's bad
opening handling and secured the bishop
xabcdefghy pair and the better pawn structure.
32.Nd2! 17...Nc5!
A fine exchange, reminding Black that the Simplification to a much better ending!
pawn on a6 is a serious weakness. 18.Nxc5 Lxc5 19.Qxd8 Rfxd8 20.Red1
32...Nxd2 33.Lxd2 Lf3 34.g5! h6!
Black can put up a defence after 34.Lxa6 Not allowing a Ng5-e4 manoeuvre. As said,
Lxg4 35.Lc8 Kf7 36.a4 Ke7 37.a5 Kd8. Black has a steady advantage based on his
34...fxg5? bishop pair and White's weakened pawn
A losing mistake. After the correct 34...Lb7 structure. But still White can fight!
35.e4 Kg7 36.f3 Nc5 37.Lc4 Lc8 21.Rac1
38.gxf6+ Kxf6 39.Kf2 Ne6 ² White would 21.Ne1?! La6 22.Lf1 Lxf1 23.Kxf1
have to work very hard to prove that his Rd4 24.Rxd4 Lxd4 25.Rb1 b5 μ.
advantage is sufficient for a win. 21...Ld5 22.b3 Le4?!
35.Lxa6 Looks good but in fact helps White. 22...
Now it's all over. White enjoys an extra Kf8 was called for.
passed pawn on the queenside. The rest of 23.Ne1?
the game was a formality… White missed again his chance: 23.Nd4!
35...Lc6 36.La5! Kf7 37.Ld8 g4 38.Le2 Lxg2 24.Kxg2 a6 25.Kf3 Rd5 26.Ne2
Lf3 39.Lc4+ Ke8 40.Lc7! Ld1 41.Lb5 Rcd8 27.Rxd5 Rxd5 ³.
e4 42.a4 Lc2 43.a5 Ld3 44.Lc6 Ke7 23...Lf5!
45.Kh2 g5 46.Kg3 Nf6 47.Lb7 Preserving the bishop pair and targeting the
1-0 a2-pawn!
24.Kf1 La3 25.Rxc8 Rxc8 26.Lb7 Rc1
http://trainers.fide.com 27.Ke2 Lb1?!

27...Rxd1! 28.Kxd1 Lc5 29.Ke2 Lb1 48.Kc4
30.a4 La2 is an easy win for Black. 48.Nc3 a3 49.Na2 b5 50.Lg2 Ld2
28.La6! 51.Kd3 Le1 52.Ke2 La5 53.Nc1 Kf5.
Setting a (last) trap into which Black fell. 48...Lxe5 49.Kb4 f5! 50.Kxa4 f4 51.Lh1
28...Lxa2! f3 52.Nc1 g3!
28...Rxd1 29.Kxd1 Lc5 30.Ld3!. 0-1
29.Rxc1 Lxc1 30.Kd1! Lxf4 31.Kc2
Some Other Cases
And the a2-bishop is a goner. But still Black
A pawn weakness or even a lonely central
preserves his advantage as he gets too many
pawn should not be an obstacle to the power
pawns for the lost piece.
of the bishop pair with an open centre.
31...Lxh2
These facts are not helpful and generally
The correct pawn. Black must create passed
help the defender but still it is difficult…
pawns.
32.Nd3 g5 33.Kb2 Lxb3 34.Kxb3 Kg7 □ Kasparov Garry
(D) ■ Timman Jan
XABCDEFGHY A29 Wijk aan Zee 2001
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5
8-+-+-+-+( 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Lg2 Nb6 7.0-0 Le7
8.Rb1 0-0 9.b4 Nxb4 10.Nxe5 c6 11.a3
7zp-+-+pmk-' N4d5 12.Nxd5 cxd5 13.a4 Lf6 14.d4
6Lzp-+p+-zp& Lf5 15.Rb5 a6 16.Rb2 Rc8 17.Lf4
Lxe5 18.Lxe5 Re8 19.e3 Re7 20.g4 Le4
5+-+-zP-zp-% 21.f3 Nc4 22.Re2 Lg6 23.h4 f6 24.Lf4
4-+-+-+-+$ Qd7 25.Rfe1 Rc6 26.h5 Lf7 27.e4 dxe4
28.Rxe4 Rxe4 29.Rxe4 Ld5 30.Re2
3+K+N+-+-# Rc8? 31.h6 g5 32.Lg3 Re8 33.Qe1
Rxe2 34.Qxe2 Kf8 35.Qd3 Nb6 36.a5
2-+-+-zP-vl" Nc4 37.Lf1 Qe7 38.Qc3 Qe3+ 39.Qxe3
1+-+-+-+-! Nxe3 40.Ld3 Nc4 41.Le1 Kg8 42.Kf2
(D)
xabcdefghy
White has won a piece for four pawns. Three
XABCDEFGHY
of them are passed and dangerous. Anyway 8-+-+-+k+(
Black is not in a position to lose and he can
calmly improve his position. 7+p+-+-+p'
35.Lb7 g4 36.Kc4 Kg6 37.Kd4 6p+-+-zp-zP&
White cannot go after the queenside pawns:
37.Le4+ Kg5 38.Kb5 h5 39.Ka6 h4 5zP-+l+-zp-%
40.Kxa7 Lxe5 41.Nxe5 Kf4 42.Nxg4
Kxe4 . 4-+nzP-+P+$
37...Kf5 38.Le4+ Kg5 39.Lc6 h5 40.Le8 3+-+L+P+-#
Kg6 41.Ke4 h4 42.Nf4+
42.f3 g3 (42...gxf3 43.Kxf3 Kf5 44.Lxf7
2-+-+-mK-+"
Lxe5) 43.Nf4+ Kg7 44.Ng2 h3 45.Nf4 1+-+-vL-+-!
g2 46.Nxh3 a6 .
42...Kg5 43.Ne2 h3 44.Lc6 xabcdefghy
44.Lxf7 Lf4! 45.Nxf4 h2. White stands better, as his bishop pair can be
44...a5 proven stronger compared to Black's minor
White is lost and the end of the game was: pieces. As the white king is approaching the
45.Le8 Lf4! 46.Lc6 h2 47.Kd4 a4 centre, his counterpart is obliged to guard his

h-pawn... If 44...Lb7?! then the bishop pair can even
42...b5? execute a mating continuation: 45.Le6+
In such cases it is important to reduce the Kh8 46.Lf8 Nd3+ 47.Ke3 Nf4 48.Lg7
material, so 42...b6! should have been #. Yes, the bishop pair can be a very
played. After 43.axb6 Nxb6 White should important and strong positional element!
try 44.La5! (after 44.Lxa6 Black can try to 45.Ke3 Ld5
exchange the bishops: 44...Lc4 [44...Nc4? 45...Nd1+ 46.Kd2 Nf2 47.Lc5 (47.Lc8
45.Lb4 Nb2 46.Ke3 Nc4+ 47.Kd3 Nb2+ Nd3 48.Ld6 b4 49.Lf5 +) 47...Nh3
48.Ke2 Nc4 49.Lc8 +] 45.Lxc4+ 48.Lc8 +.
[45.Lb7 Ld5] 45...Nxc4 46.Ke2 Kf7 46.Lc8 Nc4+ 47.Ke2
47.Kd3 Nb6 48.La5 Nd5 49.Kc4 Ke6 Important material is lost, so Black resigned.
50.Kc5 Nf4 and Black holds as White 1-0
cannot break the blockade) 44...Nc4 (44...
Lc4 45.Lf5 Nd5 46.Ld8 ± and Black is □ Heinemann Thies
in trouble, as the bishop pair dominates) ■ Wilhelmi Christian
45.Ld8 a5 46.Lc2! (it is important to stop B53 Hamburg 1996
the passed pawn. 46.Lxf6?! looks like 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Lb5 d6 4.d4 cxd4
winning a lot of material, but after 46...a4 5.Qxd4 Ld7 6.Lxc6 Lxc6 7.c4 f5 8.Nc3
47.Le7 [47.Lxg5 a3 48.Lxc4 Lxc4 e5 9.Qd3 fxe4 10.Nxe4 Nf6 11.Nfd2
49.Lc1 a2 50.Lb2 Kf7 = as two pawns Le7 12.0-0 0-0 13.Nc3 d5 14.cxd5 Nxd5
advantage sometimes is not enough for a 15.Nxd5 Qxd5 16.Qxd5+ Lxd5 17.Nb3
win and this is one of these cases...] 47...a3 Rac8 18.Le3 b6 19.Rac1 Rfd8 20.Rxc8
48.Lxc4 Lxc4 49.Lxa3 ² Black should Rxc8 21.Rc1 Rxc1+ 22.Nxc1 (D)
hold) 46...Nd2 47.Lxa5 Nxf3 48.Ke3
Nh2 49.Lf5 and White is on top but of
XABCDEFGHY
course the result is far from sure. 8-+-+-+k+(
43.Lb4 7zp-+-vl-zpp'
With the deadly threat Lf5-c8.
43...Nb2 (D) 6-zp-+-+-+&
Or 43...Le6 44.Le4 +.
5+-+lzp-+-%
XABCDEFGHY
4-+-+-+-+$
8-+-+-+k+(
3+-+-vL-+-#
7+-+-+-+p'
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
6p+-+-zp-zP&
1+-sN-+-mK-!
5zPp+l+-zp-%
xabcdefghy
4-vL-zP-+P+$ Of course Black stands better due to his
3+-+L+P+-# bishop pair, but on the other hand his
isolated e-pawn is not a help.
2-sn-+-mK-+" 22...Lc4 23.b3 La6 24.f3
1+-+-+-+-! Correct! A typical mistake would be 24.f4?
exf4 25.Lxf4 Lc5+ μ as then Black will
xabcdefghy have only pluses and no weaknesses.
44.Lf5 24...Kf7 25.Kf2 Lb4 26.Ne2 Ld3
44.Le2? allows Black to halve the bishop 27.Lc1 Lc5+ 28.Le3 Lb4 29.Lc1 Ke6
pair on his terms: 44...Kf7 45.Ke1 Lc4 =. 30.Lb2 Lc5+ 31.Ke1 g6 32.Kd2 La6
44...Lc4 33.Lc3 h5 34.Kd1

This is a better defence than to allow the 56.Kc2 Le5 .
bishop pair to attack White's kingside: 52...Ld8 53.Le3 Lf6
34.Nc1? Lg1 35.h4 (35.h3 Lf1 ) 35... Forcing the exchange and allowing the black
Lf1 36.Nd3 Lh2 37.g4 Lg3 . The king to penetrate and collect White's
power of the bishop pair can be truly queenside pawns.
magnificent! 54.Nxa4 bxa4 55.Kd2 Kc4 56.Lc5
34...Lf2 35.Le1 Lc5 36.h4 Le7 37.Lf2 Or 56.Kc2 Ld4 57.Lxd4 Kxd4 58.Kd2
Lb7 38.Nc3 Kf5 39.Ke2 Lc6 40.g3 Lb4 e3+ 59.Ke1 Kd3 60.g4 hxg4 61.f5 g3 .
41.Le1 a6 42.Ld2 Ld6 43.Nd1 Lb5+ 56...Lb2 57.Ke3 Lxa3 58.Kxe4 Lb2!
44.Kf2 0-1
A typical demonstration of this power can be
seen after 44.Ke3?? Lc5 #. Concluding this chapter, we should keep in
44...Ld3 (D) mind that unbalanced pawn structures and
passed pawns are in favour of the bishop
XABCDEFGHY pair in general.
8-+-+-+-+( And these positive facts can be easily
explained if we keep in mind the tremendous
7+-+-+-+-' power that the long ranged bishops can
produce as a pair and their full control over a
6pzp-vl-+p+& board without central pawns.
5+-+-zpk+p% As usual the defender should not feel
disappointed. He is obliged to do his best
4-+-+-+-zP$ and be driven by his imagination; after all a
3+P+l+PzP-# chess game is just a fierce battle!
2P+-vL-mK-+" □ Adams Michael

■ Martinovic Sasa
1+-+N+-+-! C07 Rijeka 2010
xabcdefghy 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 Qxd5
5.dxc5 Lxc5 6.Ngf3 Nf6 7.Lc4 Qc6
45.b4?
8.Qe2 0-0 9.0-0 Nbd7 10.Nb3 b6 11.Nxc5
There was no point for this advance which Qxc5 12.b3 Lb7 13.Lb2 Qh5 14.Ne5
only weakens the queenside and makes Qxe2 15.Lxe2 Nxe5 16.Lxe5 Rac8
ground for the black king to enter. White
17.c4 Rfd8 18.Rfd1 Kf8 19.f3 Ke7 20.
should stay put with 45.Ne3+ Ke6 46.Nc4 Kf2 Ne8 21.a4 Rxd1 22.Rxd1 Rd8 (D)
Lc7 47.Le3 b5 48.Nd2 ³.
45...Ke6 46.a3 Kd5 47.Ke3 Lc2 48.Nb2 XABCDEFGHY
Or 48.Nf2 Kc4 49.Lc1 Lf8 μ. 8-+-trn+-+(
48...e4! 49.f4
Exchanging the pawns is no help: 49.fxe4+ 7zpl+-mkpzpp'
Lxe4 50.Le1 (50.Na4 Lf5 51.Nxb6+
Kc6 52.Nc4 Lxg3 ) 50...Le5 51.Nc4
6-zp-+p+-+&
Ld4+ 52.Kf4 Kxc4 53.Kxe4 b5 . 5+-+-vL-+-%
49...b5!
The knight is further restricted - the bishop
4P+P+-+-+$
pair is fully dominating. 3+P+-+P+-#
50.Lc1 Lc7 51.Kd2 La4! 52.Ke2
The knight can be exchanged finally with 2-+-+LmKPzP"
52.Nxa4 bxa4 but this doesn't guarantee 1+-+R+-+-!
White's survival: 53.Kc3 Lb6 54.f5
(54.Kc2 Lf2 ) 54...gxf5 55.Lf4 Ld4+ xabcdefghy
White’s advantage rests on his bishop pair 11.0-0 Nf6 12.f3 Le7 13.Ng3 g6 14.Rfe1
and his mobile queenside majority. Nd7 15.Nd1 Nb6 16.Nf1 Rd7 17.Le3
23.Ld4! Rhd8 18.b3 (D)
Although White would be better after the XABCDEFGHY
rook exchange, Black's king would come to
defend his queenside. Having a pawn 8-+ktr-+-+(
majority on the queenside and the bishop
pair to support an attack there, White
7+pzprvlp+p'
deprives his opponent of any defensive 6psnl+-+p+&
chances.
23...Lc6 5+-zp-+-+-%
If 23...f6?! then 24.c5 is decisive: 24...e5 4-+-+P+-+$
25.Le3 Rxd1 26.Lxd1 bxc5 27.Lxc5+
+. 3+P+-vLP+-#
24.a5 Rb8? 2P+P+-+PzP"
A mistake in a very difficult position. Better
was 24...bxa5 25.Lc5+!? (25.Lxa7 Rxd1 1tR-+NtRNmK-!
26.Lxd1 Nd6 27.Ld4 [27.Lb6 a4 28.bxa4
{28.c5?! Nb5 29.bxa4 Nc3 30.Lc2 Nxa4
xabcdefghy
²} 28...Nxc4 29.Ld4 g6 30.Ke2 ²] 27...f6 Lasker didn't get anything serious out of the
28.Lc2 ±) 25...Nd6 26.Lxa7 (26.Ra1 a4 opening - on the contrary Black stands quite
27.b4 a6 28.b5 axb5 29.cxb5 Ld5 30.Rxa4 OK, but now he plans c4 and Nc3-d5 with
±) 26...Nb7 27.Ld3 ±. even chances.
25.b4! f6 26.b5 Ld7 27.c5! 18...c4!
Black cannot hold his queenside any more. An excellent pawn sacrifice, which probably
1-0 White shouldn't accept. But anyway then
Black would be excellent.
Semi-Open Centre 19.Lxb6 cxb6 20.bxc4
With a solitary open file in the centre; the Now it’s the bishop pair v. the knight pair -
so-called semi-open centre, the strategy of of course White has got a pawn for it, but it
playing with the bishop pair should be is useless at this present stage.
different. 20...Lb4!
As total exchanges, like in the previous Forcing more weaknesses in White's camp -
case, might lead to drawish, or let us say the d3-square in particular.
defendable endgames, the recommended 21.c3 Lc5+ 22.Kh1 Rd3 23.Rc1 a5
strategy should be Partial Exchanges in 24.Nde3
combination with developing an initiative, or Lasker again plans to block Black's bishops
an attack, on a certain side of the board. with an eventual Nd5.
The semi-open centre in the middle game 24...f5!
will be our first stop and we will begin with Bishops need open files and diagonals!
two games that ‘include’ temporary 25.exf5
sacrifices, in order to gain the initiative. Probably preferable was 25.Nd5 fxe4
More than 100 years ago this concept was 26.fxe4 (26.Rxe4 Lxd5 27.cxd5 R8xd5 μ)
well known already! 26...Re8 27.h3 h5 ³.
□ Lasker Emanuel 25...gxf5 26.h3
■ Steinitz William White cannot capture the pawn: 26.Nxf5?!
C68 Montreal 1894 Rxf3! 27.Nd4 (27.Ne7+ Lxe7 28.Rxe7
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Lb5 a6 4.Lxc6 dxc6 Rf2 μ) 27...Rf2 28.Nxc6 bxc6 μ.
5.d4 exd4 6.Qxd4 Qxd4 7.Nxd4 c5 26...Rg8 27.Nd5
8.Ne2 Ld7 9.Nbc3 0-0-0 10.Lf4 Lc6 White decided to return the pawn. Variations

as 27.Nxf5 Rxf3! 28.gxf3 Lxf3+ 29.Kh2 XABCDEFGHY
Lg1 # validates his decision!
27...Lxd5 28.cxd5 Rxd5 29.Rcd1 Rxd1 8r+-+kvl-tr(
30.Rxd1 (D) 7+-zp-+-zpp'
XABCDEFGHY 6p+n+p+-+&
8-+k+-+r+( 5+p+-zP-+-%
7+p+-+-+p' 4-+-+-+-+$
6-zp-+-+-+& 3+Lwq-+-+-#
5zp-vl-+p+-% 2P+-+-zPPzP"
4-+-+-+-+$ 1tR-vLQ+RmK-!
3+-zP-+P+P# xabcdefghy
2P+-+-+P+" This is quite a famous game of the 1995
1+-+R+N+K! PCA World Championship; the first game
that Kasparov won and the one that changed
xabcdefghy the route of the match. White offers his
30...f4! rook...
Black's position is still preferable due to his 16...Nd4
better minor piece and he brought the bacon But Black cannot accept the offer, as after
home some moves later. 16...Qxa1 White can create a fierce attack
31.Kh2 Re8 32.a4 Kc7 33.h4 Kc6 34.c4 against the black king (with the help of his
Lb4 35.Kh3 Re1! bishop pair) starting with 17.Qh5+!
The ending is won for Black as the knight (17.Qf3?! Nd8 18.Qxa8 [18.Lf4? Qd4
doesn't help... 19.Rd1 Qa7 20.Lxe6 Nxe6 21.Qc6+
36.Rxe1 Lxe1 37.Kg4 Kc5 38.Kxf4 Kf7 22.Rd7+ Le7 23.Le3 Qxe3! 24.fxe3
Kxc4 39.Ke4 Lxh4 40.g3 Ld8 41.Ne3+ Rhd8 25.Qf3+ Ke8 ] 18...Qxe5
Kb4 42.Kd3 Kxa4 43.Kc2 Kb4 44.f4 19.Qxa6 Ld6 20.f4 Qc5+ 21.Kh1 0-0 ÷)
Kc5 45.f5 Kd6 46.g4 b5 47.Nd1 Ke5 17...g6 (17...Kd7?! 18.Lxe6+! Kxe6
N
48. c3 b4 49. a4 N K N
d4 50. b2 b5 19.Qg4+ Kf7 [19...Kd5 20.Qd7+ Ld6
K
51. b3 L N
e7 52.g5 a4+ 53. xa4 bxa4+ 21.Qf7+ Kxe5 22.Re1+ +] 20.Qf3+
54.Kxa4 Ke5 55.Kb3 Kxf5 Ke6 [20...Kg8 21.Qd5 #] 21.Qxc6+ Ld6
0-1 22.exd6 Qe5 23.Lb2! +) 18.Qf3 Nd8
(18...0-0-0?! 19.Qxc6 Qxe5 20.Qxa6+
Kb8 [20...Kd7 21.Lb2! +] 21.Le3 +)
19.Rd1! (19.Lf4 Qd4 20.Rd1 Qa7
21.Rxd8+ Kxd8 22.Lg5+ Le7 23.Lxe7+
Kxe7 24.Qf6+ Kd7 25.Qxe6+ Kd8
26.Qf6+ Kd7 27.Qe6+ Kd8 28.Qf6+
□ Kasparov Garry K d7 = ; 19.Qf6 Rg8 20.Lxe6! [20.Lg5?
■ Anand Viswanathan Qc3 {20...Qxf1+ 21.Kxf1 La3 22.Qf3
C80 New York 1995 +} 21.Rd1 {21.Lxe6 Rg7 22.Rd1 Re7!
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Lb5 a6 4.La4 Nf6 } 21...Ld6! μ] 20...Rg7 [20...Le7
5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Lb3 d5 8.dxe5 Le6 21.Ld7+! Kxd7 22.e6+ Nxe6 23.Qxa1 ± ;
9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 d4 11.Ng5 dxc3 20...Nxe6 21.Qxe6+ Le7 22.Qxg8+ +]
12.Nxe6 fxe6 13.bxc3 Qd3 14.Lc2 Qxc3 21.La3 Qxf1+ 22.Kxf1 Lxa3 23.Qxg7
15.Nb3 Nxb3 16.Lxb3 (D) Nxe6 24.Qf6! Kd7 25.Qf3 Rf8 26.Qxa3
±) 19...Rb8!? (19...Qxe5 20.Lf4 Qf6 This move was played quite quickly by
21.Qxa8 Lc5 [21...Le7 22.Lxc7 ±] Anand. Black can try other moves, but they
22.Rxd8+ [22.Lxe6 Lxf2+ 23.Kh1 ±] also seem to lose:
22...Ke7 [22...Qxd8 23.Qc6+ Qd7 a) 18...Nxe6 19.Qxe6+ Le7 20.Lg5 .
24.Qxc5 +] 23.Qc6 Lxf2+ 24.Kf1 b) 18...Qc3 19.Ld7+! Kf7 (19...Kd8
[24.Kxf2 Qxf4+ ] 24...Rxd8 25.Lg5 20.Lg5+ Le7 21.Lxe7+ Kxe7 22.Qxg7+
Rd1+ [25...Qxg5 26.Qxe6+ Kf8 27.Qf7 ) 20.Le3 Lc5 (20...c5? 21.Lxd4 Qc4
#] 26.Lxd1 Qxg5 27.Qxc7+ Ke8 22.e6+ Kg8 23.e7 ) 21.e6+! (21.Rd1?!
28.Kxf2 +) 20.Qd3! (20.Qf6 Rg8 Ne2+! 22.Qxe2 [22.Kh1 Rhd8! {22...
21.Lg5 [21.Rxd8+ Rxd8 22.Qxe6+ Le7 Lxe3? 23.Le6+ Ke8 24.Qxg7 }
23.Qxg8+ Kd7 24.Qe6+ Ke8 25.Qf7+ =] 23.Lxc5 Qxc5 24.Le6+ Ke8 25.Qh5+ g6
21...Qxd1+ 22.Lxd1 h6 23.Le3 Le7 ÷) 26.Lf7+ Kxf7 27.Qxh7+ =] 22...Lxe3
20...Le7 (20...Ld6 21.exd6 Qg7 22.Lb2 [22...Qxe5 23.Qf3+ Ke7 24.Lxc5+ Qxc5
e5 [22...Qxb2 23.dxc7 +] 23.d7+ +) 25.Lh3 ] 23.e6+ Ke7 24.fxe3 ²)
21.Qd7+ Kf7 22.Lg5 Qxd1+ 23.Lxd1 21...Kg8 (D)
Re8 (D) XABCDEFGHY
XABCDEFGHY 8r+-+-+ktr(
8-tr-snr+-+( 7+-zpL+-zpp'
7+-zpQvlk+p' 6p+-+P+-+&
6p+-+p+p+& 5+pvl-+-+-%
5+p+-zP-vL-% 4-+-sn-+Q+$
4-+-+-+-+$ 3+-wq-vL-+-#
3+-+-+-+-# 2P+-+-zPPzP"
2P+-+-zPPzP" 1+-+-+RmK-!
1+-+L+-mK-! xabcdefghy
xabcdefghy 22.Qe4! (22.Lxd4?! Qxd4 23.Qf3 h6
and now 24.f4! Rb7 25.f5 +/ and the 24.Qxa8+ Kh7 25.Qxa6 Rf8 26.Qxb5
opening of any of the diagonals a2-g8 or h5- Rxf2 27.Qb1+ g6 28.Rxf2 Qxf2+
e8 is lethal. In all these long and quite 29.Kh1 ²) 22...Rf8 23.e7 Ne2+ 24.Kh1
complicated lines the value of the bishop Lxe7 25.Qxe7 h6 26.Qe4 ±.
pair cannot be underestimated and especially 19.Lh6
the power of the light-squared bishop was Once again Kasparov blitzed out his move.
often to the fore. With his last move Black 19...Qc3
wants to get rid of the annoying bishop pair. According to Kasparov, Anand found the
Q Q
17. g4! xa1 only way to survive for a while. Here
Now 17...Nxb3 18.Qxe6+ Le7 19.Lg5  19...Qxf1+ 20.Kxf1 gxh6 21.Qh5+ mates.
is just curtains, so Black has to accept the 20.Lxg7 Qd3
offer... 20...Lxg7 21.Qh5+! mates again.
18.Lxe6 21.Lxh8 Qg6
Kasparov was still moving more or less Even by winning the exchange with 21...
instantly and was over an hour ahead on the Ne2+ 22.Kh1 Ng3+ 23.hxg3 Qxf1+ Black
clock. Clear proof that all was home cannot survive: 24.Kh2 Qd3 25.Lf5! Qc4
preparation! (25...Qd1 26.f3 ) 26.Qh3 .
R
18... d8 22.Lf6 Le7 23.Lxe7
Finally White 'loses' his bishop pair but only 32.Ke4 Rd8 33.Rxc5 Ne6
after winning material! Or 33...b3 34.Lxb3 Nxb3 35.axb3 Ra8
23...Qxg4 36.Rc7+ Kf8 37.Rc1 .
Necessary as 23...Kxe7 would allow 34.Rd5 Rc8 35.f5 Rc4+ 36.Ke3 Nc5
24.Qh4+ Ke8 25.Lg4 . 37.g5 Rc1 38.Rd6
24.Lxg4 Kxe7 25.Rc1 1-0
A star move that abruptly stops Black's
Of course, sacrificing material cannot
counterplay. If Anand were allowed to play
always be the case. Very often middle game
...c5-c4 things would be far from clear.
positions of this type tend to turn quicker to
Kasparov spent a lot of time on the final
the endgame where the bishop pair possessor
phase of the game. As he put it, “It's been a
feels ‘more safe’.
long time since I went two weeks without a
But sometimes you only need to self-
victory, and I didn't want to spoil things after
destroy your pawn structure!:
my brilliant novelty.” The only previous
time he had experienced such a drought was □ Lutz Christopher
his first match with Karpov, back in 1984- ■ Morozevich Alexander
85. C11 Elista 1998
25...c6 26.f4 a5 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4
26...Rg8 27.Ld1  wins. c5 6.Nf3 a6 7.Le3 Qb6 8.Na4 Qa5+ 9.c3
27.Kf2 a4 28.Ke3 b4 (D) cxd4 10.b4 Qc7 11.Qxd4 Nc6 12.Qd2 b5
XABCDEFGHY 13.Nb2 f6 14.exf6 Nxf6 15.Ld3 Ld6
16.0-0 0-0 17.a4 Rb8 18.axb5 axb5
8-+-tr-+-+( 19.Nd4 Nxd4 20.Lxd4 (D)
7+-+-mk-+p' XABCDEFGHY
6-+p+-+-+& 8-trl+-trk+(
5+-+-zP-+-% 7+-wq-+-zpp'
4pzp-sn-zPL+$ 6-+-vlpsn-+&
3+-+-mK-+-# 5+p+p+-+-%
2P+-+-+PzP" 4-zP-vL-zP-+$
1+-tR-+-+-! 3+-zPL+-+-#
xabcdefghy 2-sN-wQ-+PzP"
29.Ld1 1tR-+-+RmK-!
Accurately played. The tempting 29.Rc4?!
would allow 29...a3 and Black is much xabcdefghy
better than in the game. This is a more or less equal position,
29...a3 although White should not feel happy about
29...b3 30.axb3 a3 31.g4 . his b2-knight. Maybe this is what struck
30.g4 Morozevich...
Now everything is clear. Black's advance on 20...Ne4!
the queenside has been stymied and Black strives to open the position for his
Kasparov is ready to roll with his e- and f- long range bishops, in the ideal case together
pawns. with the weakening of White's kingside.
30...Rd5 31.Rc4 c5 21.Lxe4 dxe4 22.Le3?!
31...Nf5+ 32.gxf5 Rxd1 33.f6+ Kd7 White’s position wouldn't be satisfactory
34.Rxb4 . either with 22.Le5?! Lxe5 23.fxe5 Lb7

(23...Rd8 24.Qg5 Lb7 ³) 24.Rxf8+ Rxf8 b) 24.fxg5? Lxh2+ 25.Kh1 Le5 (25...bxc4
25.Nd1 Qxe5 (25...e3!? 26.Qxe3 Qf7 26.Nxc4! Rxf1+ 27.Rxf1 La6 [27...Qxc4
[26...Qc6 27.Ra2 ²] 27.Nf2 Qg6 28.Qg3 28.Rc1 =] 28.Rc1 Lxc4 29.Qd4 Rc8
Qc2 29.h4 Rf7 °) 26.Ne3 Qc7! 27.Re1 30.Qxe4! [30.b5? Le5 31.Qxe4 Qd6
Rd8 μ but he had to opt for 22.g3 Lb7 and 32.b6 La6 ] 30...Ld6 [30...Lg3 31.g6
think about improving his badly placed hxg6 32.Rxc4 Qxc4 {32...Qh7+?! 33.Kg1
knight and blockade the dangerous e-pawn: Qh2+ 34.Kf1 Qh1+ 35.Lg1 ÷} 33.Qxg6+
23.Nd1! (23.Qe2? e3! [23...Qc6? 24.Qe3 Kf8 34.Lh6+ Ke7 35.Qxg3 ³] 31.g6 hxg6
÷] 24.Qxe3 e5! [24...Qc6 25.Qxe6+ Rf7 32.Qxg6+ Qg7 ) 26.cxb5 (26.Ld4?!
26.Qh3! Re8! {26...Qh1+? 27.Kf2 Qf3+ Qd7 [26...Lxd4 27.Qxd4 Qg3 28.Qd7
28.Kg1 =} 27.Rae1 Qh1+ 28.Kf2 Qf3+ e3! 29.Rxf8+ Rxf8 30.Qxb7 e2 ]
29.Kg1 Rxe1 30.Rxe1 Rxf4! ] 25.fxe5 27.Rxf8+ Rxf8 28.Rd1 Rd8 ) 26...
[25.Lxe5 Lxe5 26.Qxe5 Qc6 ] 25... Qg7 27.Rxf8+ Rxf8 28.Rb1 Qg6!
Qc6 ) 23...e5 24.fxe5 Rxf1+ 25.Kxf1 29.Qe2 Rf3! 30.Kg1 Qh5 31.gxf3 exf3
Lxe5 26.Ne3 ÷. 32.Qd3 (32.Qf2 Qg4+ 33.Kf1 Qh3+
22...Lb7 23.c4 (D) 34.Kg1 Lg3 ) 32...Ld5 .
White's defence was based on the text move c) 24.g3! (the only valid answer) 24...gxf4
(23.Ra7 Rfd8 24.Rd1 g5! ³). 25.Lxf4! (25.gxf4 Rf6 26.cxb5 [26.c5
Rg6+ 27.Kh1 Le7 ³] 26...Ld5 27.Na4!
XABCDEFGHY Rxb5 28.Nc5 Rg6+ 29.Kh1 Qf7 ³)
8-tr-+-trk+( 25...Lxf4 26.Rxf4 Rxf4 27.Qxf4 Qxf4
28.gxf4 bxc4 29.Nxc4 Ld5 30.Ne3 Rxb4
7tRlwq-+-zpp' ³ where White keeps fair chances for the
6-+-vlp+-+& draw, due to the reduced material.
24...gxf4! 25.b6 (D)
5+p+-+-+-% This was White's defence - or at least this is
4-zP-+pzP-+$ what he had thought it to be!
3+-zP-vL-+-# XABCDEFGHY
2-sN-wQ-+PzP" 8-tr-+-trk+(
1+-+-+RmK-! 7+lwq-+-+p'
xabcdefghy 6-zP-vlp+-+&
23...g5! 5+-+-+-+-%
An extremely strong move. It's rather 4-zP-+pzp-+$
difficult to find a sufficient defence.
24.cxb5? 3+-+-vL-+-#
Losing by force. White had to look at the
alternatives:
2-sN-wQ-+PzP"
a) 24.c5? Lxf4 25.g3 Lxg3! 26.hxg3
Qxg3+ 27.Kh1 Rf3 28.Rg1 (28.Rxf3
1tR-+-+RmK-!
exf3 29.Qf2 Qh3+ 30.Kg1 Rf8 31.Lxg5 xabcdefghy
Rf5 ) 28...Qh3+ (28...Qh4+? 29.Qh2 25...fxe3!
Rh3 30.Rxg5+ Kf7 31.Rf1+ Ke8 A small combination which immediately
32.Rg8+ Ke7 [32...Kd7 33.c6+ Kxc6 decides the game. The tactical solution for
34.Rc1+ Kd7 35.Rc7 #] 33.Lg5+ Qxg5 White failed, as suddenly the black pawns
34.Rxg5 ) 29.Qh2 Rxe3 30.Rxg5+ will roam around promotion squares.
Kh8 . 26.bxc7 Rxf1+ 27.Rxf1
27.Kxf1 Rf8+ .
27...exd2 28.cxb8Q+ Lxb8 Otherwise Black will play 8... h6 for 'free'.
White is helpless against the two black 8...exd5 9.exd5 Qb6
pawns that simply move forward with some An active continuation. The other line is
help from the bishops! 9...Re8 10.Nf3 Lg4 11.0-0 Nbd7 12.h3
29.Nd1 Lxf3 13.Lxf3 ², where White, due to his
The other options 29.Kf2 La7+ 30.Ke2 bishop pair and the b4 idea, has won a fair
La6+  or 29.Nc4 La7+ 30.Kh1 e3  amount of games, for example
also lead to curtains... Polugaevsky,L-Gligoric,S Skopje 1968.
29...La7+ 30.Rf2 La6! 10.Nf3 Lf5 11.Nh4!
And White resigned as he has no response to 11.Rc1 leads to nowhere: 11...Ne4
Black's threat ...e3-e2. 12.Nxe4 Lxe4 13.b3 Lxf3 14.Lxf3 Re8+
0-1 15.Le2 Nd7 Grivas,E-Sahovic,D Athens
1983.
□ Carlsen Magnus 11...Ne4 12.Nxe4 Lxe4 13.f3 Qxb2
■ Van Wely Loek Here Black could try a recent continuation
E75 Wijk aan Zee 2013 with 13...h6!? 14.Lxh6 (14.Le3 Qxb2
1.c4 g6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Lg7 4.e4 d6 15.Rc1 Qf6 ÷ Nodirjanova,N-Nguyen Thi
5.Le2 0-0 6.Lg5 c5 7.d5 (D) Thanh An Mashhad 2011) 14...Lxh6
XABCDEFGHY 15.Qxh6 Qxb2 16.0-0 Lc2, where White
can win a pawn with 17.Qd2 (17.Rac1!?
8rsnlwq-trk+( Re8 18.Qd2 Qf6 19.Rxc2 Qxh4 20.f4 is
7zpp+-zppvlp' interesting) 17...Qd4+ 18.Qxd4 cxd4
19.Rac1 d3 20.Ld1 Lxd1 21.Rfxd1 Nd7
6-+-zp-snp+& 22.Rxd3 Rfe8 but Black should have
5+-zpP+-vL-% sufficient compensation.
14.Rc1 (D)
4-+P+P+-+$ XABCDEFGHY
3+-sN-+-+-# 8rsn-+-trk+(
2PzP-+LzPPzP" 7zpp+-+pvlp'
1tR-+QmK-sNR! 6-+-zp-+p+&
xabcdefghy 5+-zpP+-vL-%
7...e6
A more often met line is 7...h6 8.Lf4 e6 4-+P+l+-sN$
9.dxe6 Lxe6 10.Lxd6 Re8 11.Nf3 Nc6 3+-+-+P+-#
played firstly in 1971. The most known
game (of around 120 published) is: 12.0-0 2Pwq-wQL+PzP"
Nd4 13.e5 Nd7 14.Nxd4 cxd4 15.Qxd4
Nxe5 16.Lxe5 Qxd4 17.Lxd4 Lxd4
1+-tR-mK-+R!
18.Rac1 Rad8 19.b3 Lxc3 20.Rxc3 Rd2 xabcdefghy
21.Lf3 Rxa2 22.Lxb7 Rb8 23.Lf3 Ra3 14...Lf5?
24.Ld1 a5 25.Rc1 Rc8 26.Re1 a4 Not satisfactory as well is 14...h6?!
27.bxa4 Rxc4 28.Rxc4 Lxc4 29.Lc2 15.Lxh6 Qxd2+ 16.Lxd2 Lf6 17.g3
Ld5 30.h4 Lc6 31.Rd1 Ra2 32.Lb3 Lxh4 18.gxh4 Lf5 19.Lf4, but Black
Ra3 33.Rd6 Rxb3 34.Rxc6 Rb1+ should follow the idea of the late Leonid
35.Kh2 Rb4 ½-½ Polugaevsky,L-Kaspa- Yurtaev with 14...Qxd2+ 15.Kxd2 Lxd5!
rov,G Bugojno 1982. (15...f6? 16.Lf4 ± ; 15...Lf5? 16.Nxf5
8.Qd2 gxf5 17.Rb1 b6 18.Ld3 ± Kachiani
Gersinska, K-Berezina,I Istanbul 2000) 30.Le1!
16.cxd5 Re8 and now: And now the f5-pawn is a goner...
a) 17.Rhe1 a6 18.Lf4 (18.Ld3 Nd7 19.a4 30...h5 31.g3 Lf6 32.Kb3 Kg6 33.h3
h6 20.Le3 Nb6 ° Legky,N-Yurtaev,L And Black resigned as the coming g4 will
Soviet Union 1984) 18...Lf6 19.g3 g5 net White a good pawn for nothing. An easy
20.Lxd6 gxh4 21.Lxc5 Nd7 22.La3 hxg3 game for Carlsen, as Van Wely hadn't done
23.hxg3 Re5 24.Lc4 ÷ Lerner,K-Yurtaev,L his homework...
Tallinn 1983. 1-0
b) 17.Rb1 Re5 (17...Nd7 18.Lb5 Re5
19.Lxd7 Rxg5 20.Rxb7 Rxd5+ 21.Kc2 Endgame Training
± Lputian, S-Yurtaev,L Volgograd 1985) A certain opening is ‘responsible’ for the
18.f4 Rxd5+ 19.Kc1 Nc6 20.Rxb7 Rd4 next four instructive examples on this
21.Nf3 Rb4 22.Rc7 Nd4 23.Nxd4 Lxd4 specific structure under examination. As
White mostly tends to go for the endgame,
24.Lh6 Rab8 ° Legky, N-Monin,N Tallinn
we will classify the examples from now on
1985.
as the semi-open centre in the endgame.
c) 17.Lf4!? Lf6 18.g3 (18.Lg3 a6 19.f4
Nd7 20.Lg4 Nb6 21.Lf3 Na4 22.Lf2 b5
□ Gulko Boris
° Zaichik,G-Yurtaev,L Volgodonsk 1983) ■ Radjabov Teimour
18...g5 19.Lxd6 gxh4 20.Lc7 Nd7 (20...a6 E75 Wijk aan Zee 2001
21.Rxc5 Nd7 22.Rc4 ² Sorin,A-Peralta,F 1.c4 g6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Lg7 4.Lg5 0-0
Buenos Aires 1998) 21.Lb5 ² Grivas,E- 5.Qd2 c5 6.d5 d6 7.e4 e6 8.Le2 exd5
Kotronias,V Athens 1986. Unfortunately 9.exd5 Re8 10.Nf3 Lg4 11.0-0 Nbd7
Loek didn't seem to know this idea, as I 12.h3 Lxf3 13.Lxf3 a6 14.a4 (D)
confirmed later with him in the Press Centre.
15.Nxf5 gxf5 16.Qxb2 Lxb2 17.Rb1!
XABCDEFGHY
A logical novelty. Previously 17.Rc2?! 8r+-wqr+k+(
Le5 18.f4 Ld4 19.Ld3 Re8+ was OK for
Black in Bukhman,E-Nezhmetdinov,R 7+p+n+pvlp'
Daugavpils 1973. 6p+-zp-snp+&
17...Lc3+ 18.Kd1
White has a large advantage already, as he 5+-zpP+-vL-%
will regain his pawn, remaining with the
strong bishop pair.
4P+P+-+-+$
18...Re8?! 3+-sN-+L+P#
I think that Black's last chance lay in 18...b6
19.Ld3 Nd7 20.Le7 Rfe8 21.Lxd6 Ne5 2-zP-wQ-zPP+"
22.Kc2 Nxd3 23.Kxd3 ±. 1tR-+-+RmK-!
19.Rxb7 Na6 20.a3!
The black knight is a prisoner! xabcdefghy
20...Rab8 21.Rxb8 14...Ne5?!
21.Rxa7 is fine as well, but White has no Since White wants to regroup his f3-bishop
need to take any risks. anyway, this is a loss of a tempo. The black
21...Nxb8 22.Ld3 Nd7 23.Kc2 Ld4?! knight has to retreat sooner or later, because
23...Lf6 was a bit more stubborn, although f4 is a threat.
Black will lose the ending after 24.Ld2 15.Le2 Qa5
Rb8 25.Rb1 Rxb1 26.Kxb1 Ne5 The queen has to leave this square as well.
27.Le2. An alternative is 15...Qe7 16.a5 Qf8
24.Rb1 Nb6 25.Lf4 Le5 26.Re1 Kg7 17.Rab1 (17.f4 Ned7 18.Ld3 ²) 17...h6
27.Lg3! Re7 28.f4 Lf6 29.Rxe7 Lxe7 18.Le3 Rac8 (18...Nh7 19.b4 ±) 19.b4

cxb4 20.Rxb4 Rc7 21.Rfb1 Rec8 22.c5! 27.a5!
Qd8 (22...dxc5 23.Rxb7 ±) 23.c6 bxc6 This is the typical fixing for the whole
24.Lb6 c5 25.Lxc7 1-0 Uhlmann,W- 'Averbakh Variation' of the KID. Black is
Kjetzae,J Hamburg 1993. doomed to eternal passivity.
16.Qc2 27...Kf8 28.Kg2 Ke7 29.Kg3 Ld4
Planning Ld2. 29...b6 30.axb6 Nxb6 31.b3 ±.
16...h6 30.Lc2 Ng7 31.b3 f5
This again is helpful only for White. Black The alternative was 31...Ne8 32.Ne2 ± but
is not aware of the correct strategy in this Black cannot sit and wait forever. But now
variation. White has got a new target on the kingside.
17.Ld2 Qc7 18.f4 Ned7 19.Rae1 Re7 32.Ne2 Lf6 33.Kf3 fxg4+ 34.hxg4 g5
20.Ld1 35.Kg3
Also good is 20.Ld3 Rae8 21.Rxe7 Rxe7 35.f5?! Ne5+ 36.Kg3 h5 would be fine for
22.Re1 Rxe1+ 23.Lxe1 ². Black.
20...Rxe1 35...gxf4+
20...Rae8 21.Rxe7 Rxe7 22.Re1 Rxe1+ This opens up the position for the bishop
23.Lxe1 ² is the usual small, but durable pair, but there was nothing much to do:
advantage again. 35...Nf8 36.fxg5 Lxg5 37.Lxg5+ hxg5
21.Rxe1 Re8 22.Rxe8+ Nxe8 23.g4 Qd8 38.Nc3 Ne8 39.Lf5! (39.Ne4? Nh7
23...Ld4+ 24.Kg2 Ng7 25.Ne2 Lf6 26.a5 40.Nxc5 dxc5 41.Lxh7 Nd6 =) 39...Kd8
². 40.Ne4 .
24.Qe4 Nef6 36.Nxf4 Lg5 37.Le1 Ne5 38.Ng6+!
24...Ld4+ 25.Kg2 Nef6 26.Qf3 Qe7 It is useful to exchange a pair of knights as
27.b3 ² with the idea Ne2. then the remaining bishop pair dominates!
25.Qe2 Qe8?! 38...Nxg6 39.Lxg6 Kf6 40.Lh7 Ke7
Exchanging the queens helps White. 25...b6 41.Lg6 Ne8 (D)
26.Lc2 ² was more tenacious, but what 41...Kf6 42.Lc2 Ke7 (42...Ke5?? 43.Lc3
about fixing the queenside with 25...a5? #) 43.b4 is similar to the game.
Then after 26.Nb5 Lf8 27.Lc3 b6 28.Lc2 XABCDEFGHY
Qe8 29.Qf3 White will have a free hand on
the kingside, while Black can hardly move at 8-+-+n+-+(
all. By correctly using the h4 and g5 7+p+-mk-+-'
advances, White will prevail.
26.Qxe8+ Nxe8 (D) 6p+-zp-+Lzp&
XABCDEFGHY 5zP-zpP+-vl-%
8-+-+n+k+( 4-+P+-+P+$
7+p+n+pvl-' 3+P+-+-mK-#
6p+-zp-+pzp& 2-+-+-+-+"
5+-zpP+-+-% 1+-+-vL-+-!
4P+P+-zPP+$ xabcdefghy
3+-sN-+-+P# 42.b4!
This is the decisive breakthrough! White
2-zP-vL-+-+" opens a second front on the queenside and
1+-+L+-mK-! plans to attack the b7-pawn.
42...cxb4
xabcdefghy After 42...Nf6 a sample line goes 43.Lf5

Kd8 (43...cxb4 44.Lxb4 transposes to the 54...Kg6 55.Lf4 Kf6 56.Ka2 Lb4
game) 44.bxc5 dxc5 45.Lf2 Ld2 46.Lxc5 57.Lc1! Ke5 58.g5 La5
Lxa5 47.Le3 ±. 58...Kf5 59.La3 La5 60.Lxd6 Kxg5
43.Lxb4 Nf6 44.Lf5 61.Ka3 .
Threatening Lc8. 59.Ka3
44...Nd7 (D) An excellent performance by Gulko!
After 44...Lc1 White must opt for 45.Kf3! 1-0
and not for the immediate 45.Lc8?! Ne4+
46.Kf3 Nc5 when it is not clear how he
will break Black's blockade.
XABCDEFGHY □ Polugaevsky Lev
8-+-+-+-+( ■ Uhlmann Wolfgang
E75 Amsterdam 1970
7+p+nmk-+-' 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.d4 Lg7
6p+-zp-+-zp& 5.Le2 0-0 6.Lg5 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Qd2 exd5
9.exd5 Re8 10.Nf3 Lg4 11.0-0 Nbd7
5zP-+P+Lvl-% 12.h3 Lxf3 13.Lxf3 a6 14.a4 Qe7
4-vLP+-+P+$ 15.Rae1 Qf8 (D)
3+-+-+-mK-# XABCDEFGHY
2-+-+-+-+" 8r+-+rwqk+(
1+-+-+-+-! 7+p+n+pvlp'
xabcdefghy 6p+-zp-snp+&
45.Lxd7! 5+-zpP+-vL-%
As Laszlo Hazai comments: The advantage 4P+P+-+-+$
of the bishop pair consists of the possibility
of a favourable exchange of it! 3+-sN-+L+P#
45...Kxd7 46.Kf3
Black has two weaknesses; the d6- and h6-
2-zP-wQ-zPP+"
pawns. The white king will penetrate on f5 1+-+-tRRmK-!
and soon zugzwang will arise.
46...Ld8 47.Ke4 b6 xabcdefghy
Looking for some counterplay, as passive 16.Ld1 Rxe1
defence was also hopeless: 47...Lg5 Or 16...h6 17.Lf4 Nh7 18.Lc2 ² as in
48.Kf5 Le3 49.Kg6 Lf4 50.Lc3 Le3 Jussupow,A-Zapata,A Saint John 1988.
51.Lg7 Ld2 (51...b6 52.axb6 a5 53.Lxh6 17.Rxe1 Re8 18.Rxe8 Qxe8 19.Lc2
Lxh6 54.Kxh6 a4 55.b7 Kc7 56.b8Q+ For 19.Lf4 see Uhlmann,W-Gligoric,S
Kxb8 57.g5 ) 52.Lxh6 Lxa5 53.Kf7 b5 Hastings 1971.
54.cxb5 axb5 55.Lc1 . 19...Nb6
48.axb6 Lxb6 49.Ld2 a5 50.Lxh6 A more interesting set-up with 19...h5
Material advantage! 20.Lf4 Ne5 21.Qe2 Kh7 22.Ld2 Ned7
50...a4 51.Kd3 23.f4 ² can be seen in Doroshkievich,V-
The king has to deal with the passed black a- Liberzon,V Riga 1970.
pawn. 20.b3 Nbd7 21.Lf4! Qe7
51...Ke7 52.Lg5+ Kf7 53.Kc3 Lc5 Not much different is 21...Ne5 22.Qe2
54.Kb2 Nh5 23.Ld2 Kf8 24.f4 ².
With the idea Ka2 and Lc1-a3. 22.Qe2 Kf8 23.Qxe7+ Kxe7 (D)
XABCDEFGHY stands better but far from winning.
41.Ke2?! Lb2?!
8-+-+-+-+( 41...Nh6!.
42.Le1?!
7+p+nmkpvlp' Why not 42.g4! hxg4 43.hxg4 fxg4
6p+-zp-snp+& 44.Nxg6 Nh6 45.Nh4 Ld4 46.Kf1 .
42...La1?! (D)
5+-zpP+-+-% Again 42...Nh6! had to be tried.
4P+P+-vL-+$ XABCDEFGHY
3+PsN-+-+P# 8-+-+-+-+(
2-+L+-zPP+" 7+p+n+n+-'
1+-+-+-mK-! 6p+-zp-mkp+&
xabcdefghy 5zP-zpP+p+p%
24.a5!
The 'usual' fixing! Now White will prepare
4-+P+-zP-sN$
the b4 and g4 advances. 3+P+-+-zPP#
24...h5
Or 24...Nh5 25.Ld2 f5 26.Ne2 Lb2 27.f3! 2-+L+K+-+"
(27.g4? Ne5!) 27...Nhf6 28.g4 ². 1vl-+-vL-+-!
25.Ld2 Ne8 26.g3 Ld4 27.Kg2 Ng7
28.f4 Nf5 29.Nd1 Nh6 30.Kf3 f5! xabcdefghy
This is the best set-up for Black to defend 43.g4!
properly. If 30...Ng8?! then 31.g4 hxg4+ Strong and decisive!
32.hxg4 Lg7 33.g5 ±. 43...hxg4 44.hxg4 fxg4 45.Nxg6
31.Ld3 Kd8 32.Ne3 Ke7 33.Nc2 Even better was 45.Lxg6 Nh6 46.Kf2 .
33.Ng2 Kf6 34.Nh4 La1 35.Ke2 Ld4 45...Kg7
36.Nf3 La1 37.Lc2 ². 45...Nh6 46.Lh4+ Kg7 47.Le7 .
33...Lb2 34.Ke3 Nf6 35.Ne1 Ld4+ 46.Nh4 Kf8
36.Kf3 Lb2 37.Ng2 Nd7 38.Nh4 Kf6 46...Nh6 47.Nf5+ Nxf5 48.Lxf5 Nf6
39.Ke3 Nf7 40.Lc2 La1?! 49.Lc8 .
Black had to 'harden' White's g4 advance by 47.Lf5 Nf6 48.Lc8 Nd8 49.Nf5 Nh5
40...Nh6! 41.b4 (there is nothing much 50.Ld2 Ld4 51.Nxd4
interesting otherwise: 41.Kf3 Ld4 42.Ng2 Black resigned due to 51...cxd4 52.Lxg4.
Lb2 43.Ne1 Ld4 44.Nd3 Kf7 45.b4 cxb4 1-0
46.Lxb4 Nc5 ² or 41.Ke2 La1 42.Nf3
Nf7 43.Kd3 Lb2 44.Ld1 La1 [44...La3? Learning from a defeat is the minimum
gain, but what is better than avenging your
45.Lc3+ Ke7 46.Nh4 Nf8 47.Lg7 ] losses with some identical nice wins?
45.Kc2 Kg7 46.Le2 Lf6 47.Ld3 La1
48.Le1 Lf6 49.g4 hxg4 50.hxg4 fxg4 □ Uhlmann Wolfgang
51.Nh2 Nh6 52.Le2 g3 53.Lxg3 Nf5 =) ■ Gligoric Svetozar
41...cxb4 42.Lxb4 Nc5! 43.Nf3 Nf7 E75 Hastings 1970
44.Nd4 Lc1+! 45.Kf3 Lb2 46.Nb3 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Lg7 4.e4 d6
(46.Lxc5?! dxc5 47.Ne6 La3 =) 46... 5.Le2 0-0 6.Lg5 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Qd2 exd5
Nxb3 47.Lxb3 Ld4! 48.Lc2 Ke7 49.g4 9.exd5 Re8 10.Nf3 Lg4 11.0-0 Nbd7
hxg4+ 50.hxg4 Nh6! (50...fxg4+ 51.Kxg4 12.h3 Lxf3 13.Lxf3 a6 14.a4 Qe7
Kf6 52.Ld3 ±) 51.gxf5 Nxf5! (51...gxf5?! 15.Rae1 Qf8 16.Ld1 Rxe1 17.Rxe1
52.Kg3 ±) 52.Ke4 Lc5 53.Lc3 and White Re8 18.Rxe8 Qxe8 (D)
XABCDEFGHY variation 33...h4 34.Le1 Lf6 35.Nb1 Ng7
36.Kf3 Nh5 ².
8-+-+q+k+( 34.Lxc3 Nef6 35.Le1 Kf7 36.Ke3 Ke7
7+p+n+pvlp' 37.Lc2 Kf7 (D)
6p+-zp-snp+& XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
5+-zpP+-vL-%
7+p+n+k+-'
4P+P+-+-+$
6p+-zp-snp+&
3+-sN-+-+P# 5zP-zpP+p+p%
2-zP-wQ-zPP+" 4-+P+-zP-+$
1+-+L+-mK-! 3+P+-mK-+P#
xabcdefghy 2-+L+-+P+"
19.Lf4 Qe7 20.Qe2 Kf8 21.Qxe7+ Kxe7
22.a5 1+-+-vL-+-!
Ulhmann was so impressed by his defeat at xabcdefghy
the hands of Polugaevsky (see previous
game) that he quickly moves on the 'usual' Now White's hands are free all over the
stuff! board. The bishop pair dominates and what
22...Ne8 23.Ld2 h5 24.Kf1 Ld4 25.b3 White needs is to open the position by the
Ng7 26.Lc2 Ne8 27.Ne2 Lb2 28.f3 Ng7 usual breaks.
29.Kf2 38.b4!
29.g4 is quite interesting. White should be 38.Kd2 Ke7 39.Kc3 Kf7 40.Lf2 Ke7
aware of this possibility. 41.b4 was also not bad.
29...Lf6 30.Nc3 Ld4+ 31.Ke2 f5 (D) 38...cxb4 39.Lxb4 Nc5 40.Kd4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+( 8-+-+-+-+(
7+p+nmk-sn-' 7+p+-+k+-'
6p+-zp-+p+& 6p+-zp-snp+&
5zP-zpP+p+p% 5zP-snP+p+p%
4-+Pvl-+-+$ 4-vLPmK-zP-+$
3+PsN-+P+P# 3+-+-+-+P#
2-+LvLK+P+" 2-+L+-+P+"
1+-+-+-+-! 1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy xabcdefghy
32.f4?! 40...Nfd7
32.g3 Kf6 33.f4 was accurate. 40...Nfe4 looked most stubborn: 41.g4 hxg4
32...Ne8 33.Ld3 Lxc3?! 42.hxg4 Ke7 43.gxf5 gxf5 44.Le1 (bad is
A quite unexpected move that leaves Black 44.Lxc5? dxc5+! [44...Nxc5? 45.Lxf5
Kf6 {45...Nb3+ 46.Kc3 Nxa5 47.Kb4 b6
with the knight pair. 33...Nef6 would
transpose to the previous game format but 48.Lc8 Kf6 49.Lxa6 Kf5 50.Kb5 }
probably Black could go for the natural 46.Lc2 Ke7 47.Ke3 ±] 45.Ke5 Nd6
46.Lb3 b6! [46...Kd7 47.Kf6] 47.axb6 a5 9.Ld2 e6 10.Nf3 exd5 11.exd5 Lg4 12.0-0
48.b7 Nxb7 49.Kxf5 Nd6+ 50.Kg6 a4 Qc7 13.h3 Lxf3 14.Lxf3 Nbd7 15.Qc2
51.La2 Ne4 52.f5 Kf8 53.f6 Nd6 = but Ne8 16.Le2 f5 17.f4 Ld4+ 18.Kh2 Ng7
probably White can also try to penetrate 19.Lf3 Rae8 20.Rae1 Qd8 (D)
with his king: 44.Ke3!? Kf6 45.Kf3 Kg6 XABCDEFGHY
46.Kg2 Kf6 47.Kh3 Kg6 48.Kh4 Kf6
49.Kh5 ±) 44...Kf7 45.Ld1 ±. Note that 8-+-wqrtrk+(
40...Nce4?! loses to 41.g4 hxg4 42.hxg4 7+p+n+-snp'
Nxg4 43.Lxe4 fxe4 44.Lxd6 .
41.Ld1 Ke7 42.g4 hxg4 43.hxg4 Kf6 6p+-zp-+p+&
44.Ke3 (D)
5+-zpP+p+-%
XABCDEFGHY
4P+Pvl-zP-+$
8-+-+-+-+(
3+-sN-+L+P#
7+p+n+-+-'
2-zPQvL-+PmK"
6p+-zp-mkp+&
1+-+-tRR+-!
5zP-snP+p+-%
xabcdefghy
4-vLP+-zPP+$ This is a theoretical position, where, more or
3+-+-mK-+-# less, White can play as he 'wishes'.
21.g3
2-+-+-+-+" 21.Qd3 Nf6? 22.Ne2 Ng4+ 23.Lxg4
1+-+L+-+-! fxg4 24.Nxd4 cxd4 25.hxg4  Petraki,M-
Nikolin,Z Athens 1991 or 21.Re2 Nf6
xabcdefghy 22.g3 Rf7 23.Rfe1 Rfe7 24.Kg2 h5
44...b6? 25.Qd3 ² Chjumachenko,A-Potter,J Hen-
This loses. Black had to wait with 44...Ke7 dersonville 2006.
45.gxf5 gxf5 46.Lc2 Kf6 47.Kd4 ±. 21...h5
45.gxf5 gxf5 46.Lxc5 Nxc5 As noted in previous games, this is Black's
Or 46...bxc5 47.La4 Nb8 (47...Nf8 48.Lc6 best set-up.
Ng6 49.Lb7 ) 48.Kf3 Kg6 49.Kg3 22.Kg2 Rf7 23.Rxe8+ Qxe8 24.Re1
Kf6 50.Kh4 Kg6 51.Lc6 Kf6 52.Lb7 Re7 25.Rxe7 Qxe7 26.Qd3 Kf7 27.b3
Kg6 53.Lc8 . Lf6 (D)
47.axb6 a5 48.Lc2 Ke7 49.Kd2 Kd8 XABCDEFGHY
49...Kf6 loses to 50.Kc1 Kg6 51.La4
Kf7 52.Lc6 Ke7 53.b7 Na6 54.Lb5 Nb8 8-+-+-+-+(
55.Kb2 Kd8 56.c5! . 7+p+nwqksn-'
50.Lxf5 Na4 51.b7 Kc7 52.Lc8 Nc5
53.f5 Ne4+ 54.Kc2 Kb8 55.Kb3 Nd2+
6p+-zp-vlp+&
56.Ka4 Nxc4 57.f6 Ne5 58.Kxa5 5+-zpP+p+p%
1-0
4P+P+-zP-+$
I even tried this concept more than once:
3+PsNQ+LzPP#
■ Banikas Hristos 2-+-vL-+K+"
E74 Volos 1996 1+-+-+-+-!
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Lg7 4.e4 d6
5.Le2 0-0 6.Lg5 c5 7.d5 a6 8.a4 Qa5 xabcdefghy
28.g4?! 10...dxe5 11.Nd2 a5 12.a4 Lc5 13.Nc4
I tried to be 'smart' and go for a quick g4. Qe7 14.Lc2 Rfd8 15.g3!
But as this falls to a tactical motif, preferable There is no point to develop yet the dark-
was the 'usual' 28.a5 ². squared bishop, or to place a rook on the d-
28...hxg4 29.hxg4 fxg4 file, as this will only result in exchanges. So,
29...g5 was also not bad: 30.gxf5 gxf4 White tries first to improve his kingside
31.Lxf4 Ne5 °. pawn structure.
30.Lxg4 Lxc3! 15...Nb6 16.Ne3
This is of course tactically justifiable. Exchanges would only relieve Black.
31.Lxc3 Nf6 32.Lh3 16...Lxe3
If 32.Lc8 then 32...Nfh5! 33.Ld2 Qf6 and The natural move was 16...g6 but Black was
Black has strong counterplay. afraid that after 17.Kg2 Rd7 18.Ng4
32...Nf5! 33.Lxf5 Nxg4 19.hxg4 ² his opponent would get the
White offered a draw due to 33...gxf5 initiative on the kingside, while he is not
34.Lxf6 (34.Qxf5? Qe2+ ) 34...Qxf6. doing much in the centre and the d-file in
½-½ particular. But handing (so easily and
without any compensation) the bishop pair
Another typical pawn structure can be seen in return for the knight pair cannot be the
in the following two games. In the first we right attitude.
can call this one a ‘KID’ pawn structure. 17.Lxe3 Qe6 18.Kg2 Rd7
□ Grivas Efstratios 18...Nc4 is only temporarily active: 19.Lc1
■ Popchev Milko Nd6 20.Rd1 and White is on top.
A41 Athens 1993 19.Lc1 Qc6 20.Re1 h6 (D)
1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Lg4 3.e4 e6 4.h3 Lxf3 XABCDEFGHY
5.Qxf3 Nd7 6.Ld3 Ngf6 7.0-0 Le7
8.Qe2 e5 9.c3 0-0 (D) 8r+-+-+k+(
XABCDEFGHY 7+pzpr+pzp-'
8r+-wq-trk+( 6-snq+-sn-zp&
7zppzpnvlpzpp' 5zp-+-zp-+-%
6-+-zp-sn-+& 4P+-+P+-+$
5+-+-zp-+-% 3+-zP-+-zPP#
4-+-zPP+-+$ 2-zPL+QzPK+"
3+-zPL+-+P# 1tR-vL-tR-+-!
2PzP-+QzPP+" xabcdefghy
1tRNvL-+RmK-! 21.Qb5!
As 21.Ld3 Qe6 is not much, White opts for
xabcdefghy an ending in which the bishop pair will show
White has got the bishop pair but this means its true force!
not much yet; a lot has to be done before he 21...Qxb5
arrives in heaven! What else? If 21...Qe6 then 22.Lb3 Qe8
10.dxe5 23.Le3 ±.
Temporarily stabilizing the centre, as White 22.axb5 a4
wanted to avoid a future, well-timed ...d5. 22...Rd6 23.b3 c6 24.f4 Nfd7 25.bxc6
Also Black will stay without an active plan, Rxc6 26.Ld2 ±.
at least for most of the game. 23.Kf3

The king is always welcomed in the □ Vaganian Rafael
endgame! ■ Dvoirys Semen
23...Ra5 (D) A33 Odessa 1989
XABCDEFGHY 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4
5.Nxd4 e6 6.g3 Qb6 7.Ndb5 Ne5 8.Lg2
8-+-+-+k+( a6 9.Qa4 Lc5 10.0-0 Nxc4 11.Qxc4 axb5
12.Qxb5 Qxb5 13.Nxb5 Ke7 14.Ld2
7+pzpr+pzp-' Rd8 15.a4 d5 16.Rfc1 b6 17.b4 Ld6
6-sn-+-sn-zp& 18.Nxd6 Kxd6 19.b5 Lb7 (D)
5trP+-zp-+-% XABCDEFGHY
4p+-+P+-+$ 8r+-tr-+-+(
3+-zP-+KzPP# 7+l+-+pzpp'
2-zPL+-zP-+" 6-zp-mkpsn-+&
1tR-vL-tR-+-! 5+P+p+-+-%
xabcdefghy 4P+-+-+-+$
24.b4 3+-+-+-zP-#
24.b3! Rxb5 25.b4! ± was even stronger! It
must be noted that even 24.Ke2 Rxb5
2-+-vLPzPLzP"
25.Rxa4 Nxa4 26.Lxa4 Ra5 27.Lxd7 1tR-tR-+-mK-!
Nxd7 28.Kd3 ² was not that bad for White.
As White has about three good continuations xabcdefghy
at his disposal, his position is certainly It seems that Black's strong centre and his
preferable. centralized king fully compensates for
24...Rxb5? White's bishop pair.
Black bites the decoy! He should have opted 20.Lf4+!
for 24...Ra8 25.Le3 (25.Rd1 Rxd1 A nice way to increase White's advantage.
26.Lxd1 Ne8 27.c4 Nxc4 28.Rxa4 Rxa4 The dark-squared bishop helps out his light-
29.Lxa4 ²) 25...a3 26.Ra2 Nc4 27.Rea1 squared colleague. The black e-pawn is
². forced forward and a new diagonal opened
25.Le3 for the hitherto blunted bishop on g2. The
Now the poor rook is trapped along the rest proceeds rather by clockwork.
deadly bishops' diagonals! 20...e5
25...Ne8 26.Red1 If 20...Ke7 then 21.Le3! (21.Lc7 Rdc8
26.Lxa4 Nxa4 27.Rxa4 Rd3 28.Rc1 . 22.Lxb6 Rxa4! 23.Le3 ²) 21...Nd7
26...f5 22.Rc7 ±.
The alternative was 26...Rxd1 27.Lxd1 21.Ld2 e4
Nd6 when White wins with 28.Le2 Nbc4 The domination of the bishop pair can be
29.Rxa4 f5 30.Lc5 (30.Lxc4+ Nxc4 seen after 21...Ke7 22.Lc3!  or after
31.Ra8+ Kf7 32.exf5 ±) 30...Nd2+ 21...Rdc8 22.Lb4+ Kd7 23.Lh3+ . The
31.Kg2 Rxc5 32.bxc5 N6xe4 33.Ra2 . black centre is not safe any more...
27.Rxd7 fxe4+ 28.Ke2! Nxd7 29.Lxa4 22.Lf4+
Rd5 30.Lb3 c6 31.Ra7 Nd6 32.Lc5 22.Lh3! seems to be even stronger.
Nb5 33.Lxd5+ cxd5 34.Rxb7 Nxc3+ 22...Ke7 23.Rc7+ Rd7 24.Lh3 Rxc7
35.Kd2 25.Lxc7 Nd7 26.Lxd7 Kxd7 27.Lxb6
And Black finally resigned! The opposite coloured bishops spell no
1-0 special technical problems with those fear-

some passed pawns. king is now safe. But of course there is a
27...Rc8 28.Ld4 Rc4 29.e3 Rb4 30.Lc3 long way to go before this can be a reality...
Rb3 31.Lxg7 Lc8 32.a5 Lb7 33.a6 15...Le7 16.g6
Planning Ra5, Ld4 and b6. 16.Nxh2 Rxh2 17.Rxh2 Qxh2 18.Rf1
33...La8 34.Ra5 d4 35.Lxd4 Ld5 36.b6 Qxg2 19.Rxf7 Qxg5 20.cxd5 exd5 21.Lf5
Rb1+ 37.Kg2 Lc4 38.g4 g6 22.Le6 Qh4! 23.Qd3 Kb8 is just
1-0 drawish.
16...f5!
Closed Centre Rightly asking to create a 'correct'
In positions with a completely closed (but environment for his knight, by blocking the
not blocked) centre, the strength of the centre. The main alternative is 16...Nxf3?!
bishop pair goes down significantly. We 17.Rxh8! (17.gxf3 Rxh1 18.Rxh1 fxg6
have to make sure that the opponent’s pieces 19.Lxg6 Qg3 20.Lh5 Rh8 ÷) 17...Rxh8
(read knights) have no good outpost squares, 18.gxf3 fxg6 19.Lxg6 Qg3 20.Lf7 ².
and the only way to use the bishops is to 17.cxd5! cxd5+ 18.Kb1 Kb8
place them on the most active squares where The bishop pair can come into force after
they will support the Gaining Space 18...Nxf3?! 19.gxf3 Rxh1 20.Rxh1 Kb8
strategy. 21.e4 ².
In the majority of closed positions, knights 19.Nxh2
are a good match for the long range power Probably the best try. Black should feel fine
of the bishop pair. But the primary thought after 19.Qc2 Qxc2+ (19...Nxf3?! 20.Qxc7+
must be to open up the centre! Kxc7 21.gxf3 Ld6 22.e4 ²) 20.Kxc2 Ng4
We will start (as usual) with the closed or 19.Lb4 Lxb4 20.Qxb4 Nxf3 21.gxf3
centre in the middle game concept. Nf6 22.Rxh8 Rxh8 23.Rc1 Qd8.
19...Rxh2 20.La5! (D)
■ Yilmaz Mustafa XABCDEFGHY
D11 Mersin 2009 8-mk-tr-+-+(
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nbd2 Lf5
5.Nh4 Le4 6.f3 Lg6 7.Qb3 Qc7 8.e3 e6 7zppwqnvl-zp-'
9.Nxg6 hxg6 10.Ld3 Nbd7 11.f4 g5
12.fxg5 Ng4 13.Nf3 0-0-0 14.Ld2 Nxh2
6-+-+p+P+&
15.0-0-0 (D) 5vL-+p+p+-%
XABCDEFGHY 4-+-zP-+-+$
8-+ktr-vl-tr( 3+Q+LzP-+-#
7zppwqn+pzp-' 2PzP-+-+Ptr"
6-+p+p+-+& 1+K+R+-+R!
5+-+p+-zP-% xabcdefghy
4-+PzP-+-+$ 20...b6?
Weakening too much the light squares
3+Q+LzPN+-# around the black king. Black should have
2PzP-vL-+Psn" opted for 20...Nb6! 21.Lxb6 axb6
22.Rxh2 Qxh2 23.Qxb6 Rd6! 24.Qc5
1+-mKR+-+R! Qh4! (24...Qxg2? 25.Rc1 ±) with equality.
xabcdefghy 21.La6?
White still retains a certain advantage after
White should 'feel' happy, as his bishop pair
the text move, but 21.Rxh2! Qxh2 22.La6
can be proven strong in the long run, as his
Qd6 (22...Qxg2 23.Rc1 Qe4+ 24.Ka1 'correct' 37...Kc6 38.Qc7+ Kb5 39.Qxc4+!
Ld6 25.Qb5 ) 23.Qb5 planning Rc1- dxc4 (39...Kxc4 40.Kc2! Kb5 [40...a4?
c6xb6, was curtains. 41.Lf1 #] 41.Lxe6 ) 40.Lxe6 Nxg6
R
21... xh1 41.Kc2! Lh4 42.Lh2 (42.Lxh4 Nxh4
Not of course 21...Ka8? 22.Rxh2 Qxh2 43.Kc3 ) 42...Nf8 43.Lf7 Nh7
23. a4 .
Q 44.Le8+ Ka6 45.a4 White wins.
R
22. xh1 d6?Q 38.Lc7 (D)
Black had to go straight for 22...Ka8 XABCDEFGHY
23.Rc1 which transposes.
23.Rc1? 8-wQ-+-+-+(
23.Qb5! was again curtains - see the note on
White's 21st move.
7+-vL-sn-zp-'
23...Ka8! 6kzp-+pvlP+&
Finally!
24.Le1 Nb8 25.Lb5 5zp-+p+-+-%
White's bishop pair can strongly operate if 4-+qzP-+-+$
some central pawns are exchanged, so he
should focus on that plan. On the other hand, 3zP-+-zP-+L#
Black cannot do much more than stay put 2-zP-+-+-+"
and watch the procedures.
25...Kb7 26.Qc2 1+K+-+-+-!
Also possible was 26.g4 fxg4 (26...f4?!
27.a3! ±) 27.Qd1 a6 28.La4 b5 29.Lb3
xabcdefghy
Nd7 (29...g3 30.Qg4) 30.Qxg4 Nf6 And Black resigned due to 38...Qd3+
31.Qg2 Qd7 32.Lg3 Ld6 33.Lh4 Le7 (38...Qc6 39.Lf1+ b5 40.Lxb5+ Qxb5
34.Rf1 ² but White is in no hurry! 41.Qa8 #) 39.Ka1 Qd1+ 40.Ka2. An
26...a6 27.Le2 Qd7 28.g4! fxg4 instructive example of the power of the
28...Rc8?! 29.Qxc8+ Qxc8 30.Rxc8 bishop pair.
Kxc8 31.gxf5 exf5 32.Ld3 . 1-0
29.Lxg4 Lg5 30.Lg3!
30.Qc3 was also fine, but White found a
tactical shot.
30...Nc6
Or 30...Lxe3?! 31.Rf1! Rc8 32.Qd3 Lh6
33.a3! (33.Rf7? Rc1 #) 33...Qe8 34.Rf7+
Nd7 35.Lh4! .
31.Qf2 Lf6 32.Qf4!
The bishop pair finely cooperates with the
heavy pieces, giving to its owner a decisive The ‘Sicilian Defence’ theme can be
advantage in the long run. sometimes classified under the closed centre
32...Rc8 type, especially when White has captured a
32...Re8 33.a3 a5 34.Le2! Rc8 35.Lb5 ±. piece on d3 with his c-pawn. The following
33.a3 a5 34.Lh3! example is typical of this concept:
Q
Preparing g4 and e4.
34...Ne7?! □ Bellia Fabrizio
N R
Maybe a bit 'better' was 34... d8 35. xc8 ■ Grivas Efstratios
Qxc8 36.e4! dxe4 37.Lg2! ±. B33 Vinkovci 1989
35.Rxc8 Qxc8 36.Qd6! Qc4 37.Qb8+ 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4
Ka6?! Qb6 5.Nb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 e6 7.Ld3 Le7
Losing on the spot, but even after the 8.Le3 Qc7 9.f4 d6 10.Qf3 a6 11.0-0 0-0
12.g4 b5 13.g5 Nd7 14.Qh5 Nb4 15.Rf3 40.Qd3 Qe6! 41.Ne2?!
g6 16.Qh6 f5 17.gxf6 Rxf6 18.Rg3 Nf8 Although ultimately insufficient to change
19.Nd4 Nxd3 20.cxd3 Ld7 (D) the result of the game, 41.Rc2 would have
XABCDEFGHY put up greater resistance.
41...Re8!
8r+-+-snk+( 41...Qc4!? was also adequate: 42.Qxc4+
Rxc4 43.Lf4 Lh3! μ.
7+-wqlvl-+p' 42.Ng3 (D)
6p+-zpptrpwQ& White has no defence any more, for
example: 42.Nc3 a5 43.b4 (43.Nxb5
5+p+-+-+-% Qxe4) 43...axb4 44.axb4 Rc8! 45.Nxb5
4-+-sNPzP-+$ Lxb5 46.Qxb5 Qxe4 .
3+-sNPvL-tR-# XABCDEFGHY
2PzP-+-+-zP" 8-+-+r+k+(
1tR-+-+-mK-! 7+-+l+-vlp'
xabcdefghy 6p+-zpq+p+&
Black has repulsed White's aggression while 5+p+-+-+-%
also catering for the future by obtaining the
bishop pair.
4-+-zPP+-+$
21.a3 3zP-+QvL-sN-#
White cannot expect anything but trouble if
he continues 21.f5? b4! 22.fxe6 bxc3 2-zP-+-tR-zP"
23.exd7 cxb2. 1+-+-+-mK-!
21...Rf7 22.Rc1 Qd8 23.Nce2?!
White should have chosen 23.Nf3! xabcdefghy
intending 24.d4 instead. 42...Lc6!
23...Lf6! 24.Rg2 Lg7 25.Qg5 e5! White resigned in view of 43.Rf4 (43.d5
26.Nc6 Lxd5) 43...g5 44.Rf5 Lxe4 45.Qxe4
Black obtains complete control over the Qxe4 46.Nxe4 Rxe4 47.Lxg5 Lxd4+.
position after 26.Qxd8?! Rxd8 27.Nc6 0-1
Lxc6! 28.Rxc6 d5!.
26...Qe8 27.Nb4 Ne6 28.Qg3 exf4 An excellent example of the the Gaining
29.Nxf4 Le5 30.Nbd5 Rc8! 31.Rf1 Space strategy can be observed in the
And here 31.Rxc8? Qxc8 32.Nb6 Qc6 following game. Timman slowly but with a
33.Nxd7 Qxd7 34.Rf2 g5! is just winning steady hand delivered a blow to the then
for Black. World Champion Anatoly Karpov.
31...Lc6 32.Qe1 Nxf4 33.Nxf4 Qe7! The latter chose a frequently played
The position slowly clarifies in Black's variation of the ‘Queen’s Indian Defence’
favour. His bishop pair keeps all of White's where Black gives up the bishop pair early:
possible plans in check. □ Timman Jan
34.Nh5 Rxf1+ 35.Qxf1 Rf8 36.Qe2 ■ Karpov Anatoly
Ld7! E21 Hoogeveen 1999
With various threats, such as ...Lh3! 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Lb4 4.Nf3 b6
37.d4?! 5.Qb3 Qe7 6.a3 Lxc3+ 7.Qxc3 Lb7 8.e3
White's last mistake, fatally weakening the 0-0 9.Le2 d6 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.b4 c5
e4-pawn. He had to sit tight with 37.Ng3. 12.Lb2 a5 13.Rfd1 axb4 14.axb4 Rfb8
37...Lh8 38.Ng3 Lg7 39.Rf2 Rc8 (D)

XABCDEFGHY believes that control over the a-file is
irrelevant and hopes to develop an initiative
8rtr-+-+k+( in the centre. Although White is slightly
better in case of 17.Rxa1 Ra8 18.Rxa8
7+l+nwqpzpp' Qxa8 19.Qa3 Qxa3 20.Lxa3 Lc6 but he
6-zp-zppsn-+& felt that the limited material simplifies
Black's defence somehow.
5+-zp-+-+-% 17...Ra8 18.Ld3 Qc7
4-zPPzP-+-+$ 18...cxd4 19.exd4 (19.Qxd4 Qc7 =)
19...b5!? was an interesting idea, under-
3+-wQ-zPN+-# mining the strength of White's pawn centre.
2-vL-+LzPPzP" 20.cxb5 Nd5 21.Qb3 Qg5 22.Ne4 Qe3+
23.Kh1 Nxb4 24.Lc4 (24.Nf6+?! Kh8
1tR-+R+-mK-! 25.Ng4 Qf4 26.Qxb4 Lxf3 27.Rf1
Lxg2+ 28.Kxg2 Qxg4+ 29.Kh1 Ne5! μ)
xabcdefghy 24...Qxb3 25.Lxb3 ² is also interesting,
This is a typical position arising from but not 18...Ra4? 19.dxc5 dxc5 20.Lxh7+!
various openings like the 'Nimzo-Indian .
Defence' or the 'Bogo-Indian Defence'. 19.Lc2 Rc8?!
White gets the bishop pair but Black seems The text puts pressure over the c-file and
to be rather solid. forces White to clarify the pawn structure in
15.Nd2 the centre. But 19...e5 20.Lb2 ² or
The text prevents ...Ne4 and prepares f3
19...cxd4 20.Qxd4 (20.exd4 b5 21.c5 ÷)
restricting further the b7-bishop and taking
the centre under control. 20...b5 21.Lb3 ² destabilizing the centre,
15...Qd8 were probably better continuations but Black
Black reacts with another typical plan; tries to keep the centre as closed as possible.
keeping the centre closed, he is preparing for 20.dxc5 dxc5 21.b5!
multiple exchanges down the open a-file. The pawn structure is fixed now on the
15...Ne4? would be a blunder: 16.Nxe4 queenside; that was Black's main idea.
Lxe4 17.dxc5 Qg5 18.f3 . However he has neither active pieces,
including the c8-rook, nor any active plan
16.f3 Rxa1 17.Lxa1 (D)
left. The bishop pair gives White a
XABCDEFGHY prolonged initiative.
8-tr-wq-+k+( 21...Ne8
With the idea ...f6, blocking the a1-h8
7+l+n+pzpp' diagonal. 21...e5 22.Lf5 ² was possible.
22.Ne4 f6 23.Qd3!
6-zp-zppsn-+& White activates all his pieces, developing an
5+-zp-+-+-% initiative in the centre.
23...Lxe4
4-zPPzP-+-+$ Practically forced: 23...Nf8 24.Nd6! Nxd6
3+-wQ-zPP+-# (24...Rd8 25.Nxe8 Rxe8 26.Qd6 ± and
Black is in trouble) 25.Qxd6 Qxd6
2-+-sNL+PzP" 26.Rxd6 Ra8 27.Lc3 Ra2 (27...Ra3
1vL-+R+-mK-! 28.Le1 Ra2 29.Ld3 Ra3 30.Lf1 )
28.Ld3 Lc8 29.Lf1 Ra3 30.Le1 ±.
xabcdefghy 24.Qxe4 Nf8 (D)
An interesting strategical decision. White And now we have a case where the bishop
restrains from further exchanges. Keeping pair will fight against the (poorly placed)
queens and a pair of rooks on the board, he knight pair!
XABCDEFGHY 34.Rf1 ±.
32.Qf3 Ne7 33.h3 Kg8 34.Kh2
8-+r+nsnk+( 34.g4?! Nfg6 35.Qg3 Rf8 ² would
7+-wq-+-zpp' decrease White's advantage.
34...Nfg6 35.g3 Kf7 (D)
6-zp-+pzp-+& XABCDEFGHY
5+Pzp-+-+-% 8-+-tr-+-+(
4-+P+Q+-+$ 7+-wq-snkzpp'
3+-+-zPP+-# 6-zp-+p+n+&
2-+L+-+PzP" 5+Pzp-zPp+-%
1vL-+R+-mK-! 4-+P+-zP-+$
xabcdefghy 3+-vL-+QzPP#
25.Qd3!
With the semi-open centre, White takes the 2-+L+-+-mK"
only open central d-file under full control,
and avoids rook exchanges.
1tR-+-+-+-!
25...Kf7!? xabcdefghy
25...Ra8 26.Lb2 Ra2 27.La3 Qa7 36.h4!
28.Lc1 ±. Time for decisive action. With his last move
26.Lc3 Ke7 White plans h5 and g4, attacking Black's
With the idea ...Rd8. An exchange of rooks king.
and (or) queens might allow Black to hold 36...Kg8 37.h5 Nh8
the position or at least it will ease his Hoping to bring the knight to h6 and then
defence. If 26...Ra8 then 27.Le1! ±. g4, blocking the kingside. White has no time
27.Ra1! to lose. Note that if 37...Nf8 then 38.g4 ±.
Avoids any exchanges. Black has no points 38.g4 Rf8?
of entry on the d-file anyway. A decisive mistake in a difficult position.
27...Rd8 28.Qe2 Nd6 Black should have also avoided 38...fxg4
28...e5 29.f4! ± is a typical way to further 39.Qxg4 Qc8 40.Ra7 Re8 41.h6 Nhg6
open the position or create some 42.Ra8! Qxa8 (42...Qd7 43.Qd1 Nd5
weaknesses. 44.Rxe8+ Qxe8 45.cxd5 ) 43.Qxe6+
29.f4 Kh8 44.hxg7+ Kxg7 45.Qf6+ Kg8 46.e6
Planning e4-e5, developing an initiative in  but he should have opted for 38...Nf7!?
the centre and on the kingside. Of course 39.gxf5 Nxf5 (39...exf5 40.e6 Nh6 41.Rg1
29.e4?! e5 would be out of the question. Ng4+ 42.Rxg4 fxg4 43.Qxg4 )
29...Kf7 30.e4 Nc8 40.Lxf5 exf5 41.Kg2! (41.e6? Ng5
30...Ng6 31.e5 ±. 42.Qe3 Ne4 43.Rg1 Nxc3 44.h6 g6 45.e7
31.e5! Ne4 =) 41...Qe7 42.Le1! ±.
White must open up the position in order to 39.gxf5 Nxf5
prove the dominant character of the bishop Or 39...exf5 40.e6 .
pair over the knight pair. 40.Lxf5 Rxf5
31...f5 40...exf5 41.e6 Qe7 42.Qg2! .
Keeping the centre closed is forced, but
41.Ra8+
White gains more space, and starts an attack
Finally Black is losing the knight and the
on the kingside. The alternative was
game.
31...Ne7 32.Qh5+ Neg6 33.exf6 gxf6
41...Rf8
41...Kf7 42.Rxh8 . from the bishop pair.
42.Rxf8+ Kxf8 43.Qa8+ Kf7 44.Qxh8 22.e4!
Qb7 45.h6! There is no doubt that White must not allow
Black resigned due to 45...Qf3 46.Qxg7+ ...e4, after which Black would have chances
Ke8 47.Qg8+ Ke7 48.Qxh7+ Kd8 of an attack on the kingside.
49.Qg8+ Kd7 50.Qf7+. Another great 22...Kh8 23.Rfe1
example of the bishop pair technique with Now Black has to solve the situation in the
the closed/semi-open centre. centre, as the e5-pawn is under attack.
1-0 23...dxe4
After 23...d4 too, White would gradually
The ex-FIDE World Champion Alexander break down the black position by means of a
Khalifman was always considered a very combination of pressure along the b-file and
technical and accurate player. preparing for f4.
Here he demolishes his opponent with 24.dxe4 Rd7 (D)
some fine manoeuvres and positional
handling of the bishop pair. Actually at first
XABCDEFGHY
sight it looked like it was a good position for 8-+-+-tr-mk(
the knight…
7+p+rwq-zpl'
□ Khalifman Alexander
■ Piket Jeroen
6p+p+-sn-zp&
A11 Groningen 1988 5zP-zP-zp-+-%
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Lg2 c6 4.0-0 Lf5
5.d3 h6 6.c4 e6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Nc3 Na6
4-+-+P+-+$
9.a3 Le7 10.b4 Nc7 11.Nd4 Lh7 12.Na4 3+-+-+-zP-#
0-0 13.Nc5 Lxc5 14.bxc5 Nd7 15.Qc2
Qe7 16.a4 Ne6 17.Nxe6 fxe6 18.La3 2-vLQ+-zPLzP"
Rad8 19.a5 a6 20.Rab1 Nf6 21.Lb2 e5 1+R+-tR-mK-!
(D)
XABCDEFGHY xabcdefghy
25.Rbd1
8-+-tr-trk+( From White's point of view it would be good
to exchange both his rooks (less counterplay
7+p+-wq-zpl' for his opponent!), but this is not yet
6p+p+-sn-zp& possible.
25...Rfd8 26.Rxd7 Rxd7 27.h3 Qe6
5zP-zPpzp-+-% 28.Kh2
4-+-+-+-+$ No harm for such moves - Black has no
counterplay, so White can afford such stuff!
3+-+P+-zP-# 28...Rd8 29.La1
2-vLQ+PzPLzP" Time trouble can also produce such
meaningless moves. White's plan is to
1+R+-+RmK-! transfer his bishop to e3. This can be done
by playing 29.f3!, when the white queen is
xabcdefghy relieved from the defence of the e4-pawn, so
White has the bishop pair and a semi-open eventually the rooks can be exchanged. But
b-file to deal with, but Black's position is the exchange of rooks so important? The
seems to be quite solid. Most of the 'great' answer is yes - as White will 'weaken' his
examples on the bishop pair are concerned king by playing f4, so any counterplay
only with the final steps; here we will see shouldn't be allowed!
how to create the preconditions to benefit 29...Qe7 30.Lb2 Rd7 31.Re2 Lg6 32.f3!
Finally, White found the correct path! Now Black is (practically) forced to swap
32...Nh5 33.Lc1 Nf6 34.Le3 Nd5 queens and go into a hopeless endgame, in
35.Ld2 view of the threat f6.
Simpler again was 35.Lg1 immediately, 45...Nd1
followed by Rd2. 45...Qa2 loses to 46.Le3 Nb5 47.Qd7.
35...Nc7 36.Le3 (D) 46.Qxb2
XABCDEFGHY Even better seemed to be 46.Lg1 Lh5
47.e5 , but White had a definite plan in
8-+-+-+-mk( his head and just goes for that...
46...Nxb2 47.Kg3 Kg8 48.Ld4 Nc4
7+psnrwq-zp-' More tenacious was 48...Nd3, but after
6p+p+-+lzp& 49.e5 Ld5 50.e6, followed by Lf3 and
Kf4, this is losing as well.
5zP-zP-zp-+-% 49.Lc3 g6 50.fxg6! Lxg6 51.Lf3! Kf7
4-+-+P+-+$ Now Black cannot transfer his bishop to e6:
51...Lf7 52.Lg4! .
3+-+-vLPzPP# 52.Kf4 Ke7 53.Lg4 Kd8 54.Le6 Na3
2-+Q+R+LmK" 55.Lf6+ Kc7 56.Lg7!
The bishops are fully dominant!
1+-+-+-+-! 56...h5 (D)
xabcdefghy XABCDEFGHY
36...Nb5 8-+-+-+-+(
If Black were to manage positioning his
knight on d4, his position would be tenable; 7+pmk-+-vL-'
but he lacks a tempo. 6p+p+L+l+&
37.Rd2! Lf7
After 37...Nd4 38.Qc3 and 39.f4, is strong. 5zP-zP-+-+p%
38.Qd1 Rxd2 39.Qxd2 Lc4 40.f4!
The exchange of the central pawns is
4-+-+PmK-+$
profitable for White - his bishops will get 3sn-+-+-+P#
stronger.
40...exf4 2-+-+-+-+"
Unfortunately Black can choose only among 1+-+-+-+-!
unpleasant continuations: 40...Qf6 41.f5
(also good is 41.fxe5 Qxe5 42.Qd7 Qc7 xabcdefghy
43.Qe8+ Lg8 44.Lf4 ±) 41...Nd4 57.Lf5!
42.Lxd4 exd4 43.Qf4 Lb3! 44.e5 Qg5 It is time for harvest.
45.Qxg5 (45.Qxd4 Qxf5) 45...hxg5 57...Lxf5
46.Le4 Lc4 47.Lc2! ± (47...Le2? No salvation: 57...Le8 58.e5 Kd8 59.Lf6+
48.Lb3! d3 49.e6  ). Kc7 60.e6 Nc4 61.e7  Nxa5? 62.Le5 #.
41.gxf4 Lf7 58.exf5 Kd7 59.Kg5 Nc4 60.Kxh5
The material balance is equal, but White 1-0
practically is a passed pawn to the good in
the centre - just compare the e4-pawn with
the b7-pawn. The plan now is simple: Lf2-
g3 and Qe3, and then mobilizing the e- and
f-pawns.
42.Lf2 Qf6 43.Qe3 Qb2 44.f5! Nc3
45.Qd4!

Endgame Training 22...Ne5 23.Lxe5!? (23.Lf1 ²) 23...dxe5
In the chapter closed centre in the 24.Nc3 Nd6 25.Na4 Nc8 26.Lh3 Kf8
endgame concept we will examine some (26...g5!?) 27.f4 exf4 28.gxf4 ± and White is
typical pawn structures and the way to better as the a8-bishop and the c8-knight are
handle them. paralysed by the defence of the b6-pawn.
Although it looks ‘easy’ at first sight, 23.f4 f6 24.Nc3 Kf7 25.Na4 Ke7 26.d4!
many details are uncovered in the analysis. White expands his centre, focusing on
Great masters say that the beauty of chess is opening up the position.
not in what has actually been played, but is 26...Kd8
just in the analysis… If 26...Nc7 then 27.e5!? Lxg2 28.exd6+
Kxd6 29.Kxg2 ± cxd4?! 30.La3+ Nc5
□ Kramnik Vladimir
■ Illescas Cordoba Miguel 31.Nxb6 e5 32.Na4 N7e6 33.f5 .
A17 Dos Hermanas 1997 27.d5!
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Lb4 4.Qc2 0-0 A bit 'illogical' but White feels that it is
5.a3 Lxc3 6.Qxc3 b6 7.g3 Lb7 8.Lg2 c5 important to gain maximum space in the
9.b4 d6 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Lb2 Qe7 12.d3 centre and make Black's pieces utmost
Rfc8 13.b5 a6 14.a4 axb5 15.axb5 Qf8 passive.
16.e4 Rxa1 17.Rxa1 Ra8 18.Qc1 Rxa1 27...exd5
19.Qxa1 Qa8 20.Qxa8+ Lxa8 21.Nd2 27...e5? 28.Lh3 .
Ne8 (D) 28.exd5
28.cxd5!? Nc7 29.Nc3 ± was also good for
XABCDEFGHY White, with the idea in case of 29...f5? of
8l+-+n+k+( 30.e5 dxe5 31.d6 .
28...Nc7
7+-+n+pzpp' 28...Kc7 29.Lh3 Nf8 30.Kf2 .
6-zp-zpp+-+& 29.Lh3 Na8
An unfortunate but forced retreat.
5+Pzp-+-+-% 30.Le6 Nf8 31.f5 Lc8 32.Kf2 (D)
4-+P+P+-+$ XABCDEFGHY
3+-+P+-zP-# 8n+lmk-sn-+(
2-vL-sN-zPLzP" 7+-+-+-zpp'
1+-+-+-mK-! 6-zp-zpLzp-+&
xabcdefghy 5+PzpP+P+-%
A rather blocked position, where the bishop 4N+P+-+-+$
pair shouldn't be anything special...
22.Nb1! 3+-+-+-zP-#
With the idea Nc3-a4, and d4 trying to put
pressure on the weak b6-pawn. Actually,
2-vL-+-mK-zP"
White is better here only because his bishop 1+-+-+-+-!
pair is 'supported' by his knight. Just imagine
this position without a pair of knights. xabcdefghy
Because of the blocked, closed centre, the White's pieces are dominating; time to
bishop pair advantage would be practically improve the king and to attack on the
irrelevant, and a draw would be a predictable kingside, creating the second weakness. Also
result. The alternative was 22.f4 Nc7 possible was 32.Nc3 Nc7 33.Ne4 Ne8
23.Kf2 d5 ². 34.g4 Ld7 35.Lc1 Ke7 36.Lf4 g5
22...Lb7 37.Ld2 ±.
32...Ld7 33.g4 Ke7 34.g5 42.Nc1 Kd7 43.N1a2 Rxb1+ 44.Nxb1
34.h4!? was more technical. After 34...Nxe6 (D)
35.fxe6 Le8 36.h5 h6 (36...g6 37.hxg6 hxg6 XABCDEFGHY
38.g5 ) 37.Lc1 Kf8 38.Lf4 Ke7
39.Kg3  with the idea that the knight 8-+-+-+-+(
goes to f5, White is winning. 7+-+k+p+p'
34...Nxe6!
34...Le8 35.gxf6+ gxf6 36.Nc3 Nd7 6l+-vl-+p+&
(36...Nxe6 37.dxe6 ) 37.Ne4 Ne5 5zp-snPzp-+-%
38.Lxe5 dxe5 (38...fxe5 39.f6+ ) 39.d6+
Kd8 40.Ld5 . 4P+p+P+-+$
35.fxe6
Or 35.dxe6!? Lc8 36.Kf3 ±. The bishop
3+-+-+-+P#
pair advantage has transformed into the 2N+L+-zPP+"
powerful e6-passed pawn. We will stop the
annotation here, as the rest of the game has 1+N+-+-mK-!
nothing to do with the bishop pair theme. xabcdefghy
35...Le8 36.gxf6+ gxf6 37.Ke3 Lg6
The position might mislead. It looks like
38.Kd2 Le4 39.Lc1 Lg2 40.Kc3 Lf1
White stands well, as he possesses a well-
41.Lh6 Lg2 42.Lf4 Lf1 43.Nb2 Nc7 protected passed pawn. But the truth is that
44.Nd1 Lg2 45.Ne3 Le4 46.Lh6 Ne8 Black's bishop pair and his generally better
47.Kd2 Nc7 48.Ke2 Ne8 49.Kf2 Nc7 placed pieces will tell in the end - by the
50.Kg3 Ld3 51.Kg4 Ne8 52.Kf4 Lb1 way, the white d-pawn goes nowhere!
53.Nf5+ Kd8 54.Lf8 Ld3 55.Le7+ Kc7 44...Nb3! 45.Nac3 Lb4 46.Kf1 Kd6
56.Ne3 Kc8 57.Kg4 Kc7 58.Kh5 Ng7+ The black king will play an important role in
59.Kh6 Ne8 60.h4 Kc8 61.h5 Kc7 the battle, so he takes his position.
62.Ng2 Kc8 63.Nf4 Lc2 64.Lxf6 Nxf6 47.Ke2 Kc5
65.Kg7 Ne8+ 66.Kf7 Nc7 67.e7 h6 47...Nd4+ 48.Kd1 Kc5 49.Kc1 Nxc2
68.Ne6 Ld1 69.Kg6 Ne8 70.Nf8 Le2 50.Kxc2 Kd4 μ is also good.
71.Kxh6 Lxc4 72.Kg6 Lxd5 73.h6 c4 48.Kd1 Lc8
74.h7 Le4+ 75.Kf7 Lxh7 76.Kxe8 Lg8 Black is preparing ...f5 and White has run
77.Nd7 out of useful moves and any active plan...
1-0 Especially the white knights are a sad and
□ Sandipan Chanda bitter story.
■ Vladimirov Evgeny 49.Lxb3
C95 Kelamabakkam 2000 Or 49.Nb5 Ld7 50.N1c3 Lxc3 51.Nxc3
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Lb5 a6 4.La4 Nf6 Kb4 52.Lxb3 cxb3 53.Kd2 f5 54.f3 Kc4
5.0-0 Le7 6.Re1 b5 7.Lb3 0-0 8.c3 d6 and the penetration of the black king
9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Lb7 decides. White cannot do much about it…
12.Lc2 Re8 13.Nf1 Lf8 14.Ng3 g6 15.a4 49...cxb3 50.Kc1 La6 51.Kb2 Lf1 52.g3
Lg7 16.d5 Qb8 17.b3 c6 18.c4 bxc4 Lxh3 53.Nd2 Lg2! 54.Kxb3
19.bxc4 a5 20.La3 Lf8 21.Rb1 Qc7 54.Nxb3+ Kc4 55.Nd1 Kd3 .
22.Qd2 La6 23.Lb3 Rab8 24.Rec1 Nc5 54...Kd4
25.Lxc5 dxc5 26.Ne1 cxd5 27.cxd5 Rb4 Black's king has become too active and
28.Lc2 c4 29.Ne2 Qb6 30.Nc3 Qd4 White is lost.
31.Nf3 Qxd2 32.Nxd2 Reb8 33.Nf1 55.Nb5+ Kd3 56.Nc4 Kxe4 57.d6 Lh3!
Lc5 34.Ng3 Nd7 35.Nge2 Ld6 36.Na2 White's counterplay with the d-pawn came
Rb2 37.Rxb2 Rxb2 38.Nec3 Nc5 too late.
39.Nd1 Rb4 40.Ndc3 Kf8 41.Rb1 Ke7 58.Nb6

Tactics are helping the bishop pair: 58.g4 presence of many (fixed) central pawns.
Lxg4 59.Nc3+ Kd4 60.Nb5+ Kc5 What is for sure is that Black will suffer for
61.Nxe5 Le6+ 62.Kb2 Kd5 63.d7 Le7 a long time!
. 25.Kf2 Ke7 26.Le3 Kd8 27.Ke1 Kc7
58...Le6+! 59.Kc2 Lc5 60.Na8 Lxf2 28.Kd2 Nc5 29.b4
61.Nac7 Lf5 29.Lxc5? is not advisable, as 29...dxc5
0-1 followed by ...Ne8-d6 even favours Black.
The Bishop Pair v. the Knight Pair 29...Ncd7
This is a concept that we already analysed 29...Na4 30.Ld1 b5? (30...Nb6) is lost for
in detail in the introduction. Here we will Black according to M.Euwe, who gave the
examine some necessary and instructive following variation: 31.Lxa4 bxa4 32.Kc3
Kb7 33.Kc4 Nd7 34.b5 a5 35.b6 Ka6!
examples in order to fully understand the
pluses and minuses that rule it. (35...Nxb6+?! 36.Kb5 ) 36.b7! Nb8
We will start with two old but rather 37.f4 f6 38.f5 Nd7 39.g4 (White is
important examples. In both of them the preparing for either the g5 break or the
patriarch of Soviet Chess and ex-World sacrifice of his bishop on the kingside, or
Champion M.Botvinnik is involved. both!) 39...h6 40.h4 Nb8 41.h5! Nd7 (and
now the zugzwang method) 42.Lg1! Nb8
□ Flohr Salo
43.Lf2 Nd7 44.Le3 Nb8 45.g5! fxg5
■ Botvinnik Mikhail
E38 Leningrad 1933 46.Lxg5 Kxb7 (46...hxg5 47.f6 ) 47.f6!
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Lb4 4.Qc2 c5 gxf6 48.Lxh6 .
5.dxc5 Na6 6.a3 Lxc3+ 7.Qxc3 Nxc5 30.g3
8.f3 d6 9.e4 e5 10.Le3 Qc7 11.Ne2 Le6 30.a4! is proposed by M.Shereshevsky and it
12.Qc2 0-0 13.Nc3 Rfc8 14.Le2 a6 is more accurate.
15.Rc1 Ncd7 16.Qd2 Qb8 17.Nd5 30...Nb6 31.Kc2 Nbd7
Lxd5 18.cxd5 Rxc1+ 19.Qxc1 Qd8 Black should take advantage of White's
20.0-0 Rc8 21.Qd2 Qc7 22.Rc1 Qxc1+ inaccurate 30th move by 31...Na4! 32.Kb3
23.Qxc1 Rxc1+ 24.Lxc1 Kf8 (D) b5 ².
32.a4!
XABCDEFGHY Gaining more space on the queenside to
8-+-+-mk-+( limit the scope of the knights.
32...Nb6 33.a5 Nbd7
7+p+n+pzpp' White's next aim is to play f4 and to advance
his kingside pawns.
6p+-zp-sn-+& 34.Lc1 Kd8 35.Lb2 Ne8 36.Kd2 Nc7
5+-+Pzp-+-% 37.Ke3 Ke7 38.Lf1 Nb5 39.h4 Nc7
40.Lh3
4-+-+P+-+$ Immobilizing the d7-knight due to Lc8.
3zP-+-+P+-# 40...Ne8 41.f4 f6 42.Lf5 g6 43.Lh3
Now f5, followed by fxg6 is threatened.
2-zP-+L+PzP" 43...h6
1+-vL-+-mK-! 43...Ng7?! is pointless: 44.f5 g5 45.hxg5
fxg5 46.f6+! ±.
xabcdefghy 44.Lc1! Ng7 45.fxe5 dxe5
A very interesting ending. While Botvinnik Forced. If 45...Nxe5? then 46.Lc8 and if
believed that Black could defend, Flohr was 45...fxe5? then 46.Kf3 h5 47.Lg5+ Ke8
of the opinion that White nevertheless wins. 48.Lh6 .
Many theoreticians have analysed it since 46.Kf3
then, but it still remains unclear whether White can also think about 46.La3 Kd8
White's advantage is sufficient, due to the 47.g4 (47.b5 axb5 48.Lf1 f5 49.Lxb5 Nh5
50.exf5 gxf5 51.Kf3 ²) 47...h5 48.gxh5 56.bxc5 Nd4 57.Lc8 Nb3 58.Kc4 Kd8
Nxh5 49.b5 axb5 50.Lf1 f5 51.Lxb5 ². 59.Kxb3 Kxc8 is won for White, as his
46...h5 47.Le3 Kd6 48.Lh6 Ne8 49.g4 king goes to g4 and opens a path with h5.
hxg4+ 50.Lxg4 (D) 54.exf5 gxf5 55.Lxf5 Nxd5 56.Ld2
The open centre and passed pawns favour
XABCDEFGHY the bishop pair.
8-+-+n+-+( 56...N7f6 57.Kc4 Kc6 58.Lg6
58.Lg5! looks good: 58...b5+ 59.axb6
7+p+n+-+-' Nxb6+ 60.Kb3 Nbd5 61.Ld3 Kb6
6p+-mk-zppvL& 62.Lc4  and the knight pair is stoned.
58...b5+ 59.Kd3 Ne7 60.Le4+ Ned5
5zP-+Pzp-+-% 61.Lg5 Nh5 62.Lf3 Ng3 63.Ld2
4-zP-+P+LzP$ After 63.h5! Black's days are numbered.
63...Kd6 64.Lg4 Nf6 65.Lc8 Kc6 (D)
3+-+-+K+-# XABCDEFGHY
2-+-+-+-+" 8-+L+-+-+(
1+-+-+-+-! 7+-+-+-+-'
xabcdefghy 6p+k+-sn-+&
White has made progress but still there is
nothing clear yet. 5zPp+-zp-+-%
50...Nc7? 4-zP-+-+-zP$
A mistake. Black had to opt for 50...Ke7!
51.h5 (51.Le3 Nd6 52.Lc5 Nxc5 53.bxc5 3+-+K+-sn-#
Nc4 and it seems that White cannot win)
51...gxh5 52.Lxh5 Nd6 ².
2-+-vL-+-+"
51.Le3 Nb5 52.Ke2 Nc7 (D) 1+-+-+-+-!
52...Nc3+ is not as 'tricky' as it looks, as
after 53.Kd3 Nxe4? White has 54.Lxd7 xabcdefghy
. 66.Le1?!
White misses another good chance.
XABCDEFGHY 66.Lxa6! Nf5 67.Lc8 e4+ 68.Ke2 Nxh4
8-+-+-+-+( 69.a6 ± was winning.
66...e4+?
7+psnn+-+-' This makes things easy. 66...Nge4 was
6p+-mk-zpp+& called for: 67.Lf5 Nd6 68.Lg6 Kd5 ±.
Now White easily wins.
5zP-+Pzp-+-% 67.Kd4 Ngh5 68.Lf5 Kd6 69.Ld2
4-zP-+P+LzP$ 1-0
3+-+-vL-+-# This was a painful defeat for Botvinnik but

it seemed that he recovered quickly and for
2-+-+K+-+" the good, as he fully understood the power
1+-+-+-+-! of the bishop pair v. the knight pair, after
carefully studying and analysing this game.
xabcdefghy Just see the following extremely important
53.Kd3 f5 game that could have changed chess history
The pawn endgame after 53...Nb5 54.Le6 and the numbering of the FIDE World
Ke7 55.Lc5+ Nxc5+ (55...Ke8 56.d6 ±) Champions:

□ Botvinnik Mikhail 39...f5?!
■ Bronstein David Black had to go for 39...dxe4 40.fxe4 e5!
D71 Moscow 1951 41.dxe5 (41.d5?! Nc5) 41...Nc5 or 39...
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Lg2 d5 5.cxd5 Nc6, restricting the bishops.
cxd5 6.Nc3 Lg7 7.Nh3 Lxh3 8.Lxh3 40.gxf5 gxf5 41.Ld3 Kg6 (D)
Nc6 9.Lg2 e6 10.e3 0-0 11.Ld2 Rc8 Here the game was adjourned and White had
12.0-0 Nd7 13.Ne2 Qb6 14.Lc3 Rfd8 to seal his move. A lot of stories have been
15.Nf4 Nf6 16.Qb3 Ne4 17.Qxb6 axb6 written about this position and the long night
18.Le1 Na5 19.Nd3 Lf8 20.f3 Nd6 before the game continues…
21.Lf2 Lh6 22.Rac1 Nac4 23.Rfe1 Na5 XABCDEFGHY
24.Kf1 Lg7 25.g4 Nc6 26.b3 Nb5
27.Ke2 Lf8 28.a4 Nc7 29.Lg3 Na6 8-+-+-+-+(
30.Lf1 f6 31.Red1 Na5 32.Rxc8 Rxc8 7+p+-+-+p'
33.Rc1 Rxc1 34.Nxc1 La3 35.Kd1 (D)
XABCDEFGHY 6nzp-+p+k+&
8-+-+-+k+( 5sn-+p+p+-%
7+p+-+-+p' 4P+-zPP+-+$
6nzp-+pzpp+& 3+-mKL+PvL-#
5sn-+p+-+-% 2-+-+-+-zP"
4P+-zP-+P+$ 1+-+-+-+-!
3vlP+-zPPvL-# xabcdefghy
42.Ld6?
2-+-+-+-zP" White missed 42.Lb1! Nc6 (If Black chose
1+-sNK+L+-! 42...fxe4 the game opens up after 43.fxe4
dxe4 44.Lxe4+ Kg7 and White's bishops
xabcdefghy obviously prevail. An interesting variation
A critical position in a critical stage of the was found by Salo Flohr: 45.Lxb7! Nxb7
1951 FIDE World Championship. This was 46.Kc4  followed by Kb5-a6-b6 and the
the 23rd game (out of a total of 24) and a-pawn eventually queens. The other options
Bronstein was leading with an 11½-10½ are 42...Nc4 43.Lf4 with the idea La2 and
score before it. 42...dxe4 43.fxe4 Kg5 44.exf5 exf5 45.Ld6
35...Lxc1?! ±) 43.exd5 exd5 44.La2 Ne7 (44...Nab4
Black decided to win a (useless) pawn but he 45.Lb3 ) 45.Lh4 ±.
had to give the bishop pair v. the knight pair 42...Nc6 43.Lb1 Kf6?
advantage to his opponent. A bad decision And now Black in his turn missed 43...Na7!
that cost Black the title of World Champion! (with the idea ...b5) 44.exd5 exd5 45.La2
He had to opt for 35...Kf7 36.Kc2 b5 46.a5 (46.Lxd5 bxa4) 46...b4+! (46...
(36.Lxa6? bxa6 37.Lc7 Lxc1 38.Kxc1 Nc6?! 47.Lxd5 Nxa5 48.f4 ²) 47.Kd3
Nxb3+ 39.Kc2 Na5 μ) 36...Nb4+ 37.Kb1 Nb5 48.Le5 Nac7 49.Kc2 Kf7 50.Kb3
Na6 =. Na6 =.
36.Kxc1 Nxb3+ 37.Kc2 Na5 44.Lg3!
The knight pair is stuck on the rim and After 44.exd5?! exd5 45.La2 Ke6 = or
White just has to open the centre. 44.h4?! Nab8 45.Lf4 Nd7 46.Lg5+ Kg6
38.Kc3 Kf7 39.e4?! 47.exd5 exd5 48.La2 h6 49.Lf4 Ne7!
Too early. 39.Ld6 Nc6 40.e4 was the (49...Nf6?! 50.Le5) 50.Ld6 Nc8! = White
accurate way. cannot make headway.
44...fxe4 60.Lf4 Nf5 61.Lxc6 bxc6 62.a5 Ne7
If 44...Nab4 then 45.Le5+! (45.Lc7? 63.Kb4 Kf5 (63...Nd5+ 64.Kc5 Nxf4
would only lead to a draw after 45...dxe4 65.a6 ) 64.a6 Nd5+ 65.Kc5 Kxf4 66.a7
46.fxe4 fxe4 47.Lxe4 Nd5+ =) and Black's Nc7 67.Kxc6 . This win allowed
king is pushed to g6: 45...Kg6 (45...Nxe5 Botvinnik to equalize the score and retain
46.dxe5+ Kxe5 47.Kxb4 ) after which the title as the last game of the match ended
White wins by 46.Ld6 Na6 47.exd5 exd5 in a draw (12-12).
48.La2 . Other Black's tries are 44...Kg6 1-0
45.exf5+ exf5 46.La2 Nab4 47.Lb3 Kf6
48.Ld6  or 44...Kg5 45.exd5 exd5 Not Always a Weakness
46.La2 Ncb4 47.Lb3 f4 48.Le1 ± The knight pair cannot always be
planning Ld2-c1-a3, or, finally, 44...Ne7 considered a weakness; an important role
45.Lh4+ Kf7 46.Lxe7 Kxe7 47.exd5 belongs to other pieces of its army
exd5 48.Lxf5 h6 49.Lc8 . respectively and if activity and centralization
45.fxe4 h6 46.Lf4 h5 is obtained, then there is little to be afraid of.
Or 46...Kg7 47.exd5 exd5 48.La2 Nab4 The following analysis can certify it.
49.Lb3 Kg6 50.Ld6 .
47.exd5 exd5 48.h4 Nab8 49.Lg5+ Kf7 □ Khenkin Igor
■ Gyimesi Zoltan
50.Lf5?!
D21 Germany 2005
Accurate was 50.Lc2! Na7 51.Ld1 Kg6
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 e6 5.Nc3
52.Lf3 .
exd5 6.Qxd5 Qxd5 7.Nxd5 Ld6 8.Nd2
50...Na7 Ne7 9.Nxc4 Nxd5 10.Nxd6+ Ke7
More resistant was 50...Ne7 but White had
11.Nxc8+ Rxc8 (D)
a good choice anyway: 51.Lh3! (51.Lxe7
Kxe7 52.Lg6 Nc6 53.Lxh5 Na7 54.Kb4 XABCDEFGHY
Nc6+ 55.Kb5 Nxd4+ 56.Kxb6 ±) 51...
Nbc6 52.Lg2 Kg7! 53.Lxe7 Nxe7
8rsnr+-+-+(
54.Kb4 Nc6+ 55.Kb5 Nxd4+ 56.Kxb6 7zpp+-mkpzpp'
. 6-+-+-+-+&
51.Lf4 Nbc6 52.Ld3 Nc8?!
Black's final mistake. Again he should opt 5+-zpn+-+-%
for 52...Ne7! 53.Lc7 Ke6 54.Lxb6 Nac6
55.Le2 Nf5 draws. 56.Lxh5 Nxh4
4-+-+-+-+$
57.Lc5 ±. But Black would have good 3+-+-+-+-#
chances to save the half point.
53.Le2 Kg6 54.Ld3+?! 2PzP-+PzPPzP"
54.Lf3 N8e7 55.Lc7 wins. 1tR-vL-mKL+R!
54...Kf6 55.Le2 Kg6?!
A better chance can be found in 55...Kf5! xabcdefghy
56.Lh2 Ke4 57.Lg1 Nd6 58.Lxh5 Nf5 This is an interesting endgame, White has
59.Lg6 ±. the bishop pair v. the knight pair but
56.Lf3 N6e7 otherwise Black has no problems, no
Or 56...N8e7 57.Lc7 (57.Lg5 Nf5 weakness, no poorly placed piece, so this
58.Lxd5 Nfxd4 59.Le4+ Kf7 60.Le3 ±) position must be playable for Black.
57...Nf5 58.Lxd5 Nfxd4 59.Lxb6 . 12.g3
57.Lg5! White players usually develop the bishop on
And Black resigned due to 57...Nc6 g2. The main alternative is 12.Ld2 Nc6
58.Lxd5 Nd6 59.Lf3 b5 (59...Kf5 13.0-0-0 Rd8 14.g3 ² or 12.Lg5+ f6 13.0-
60.Lc1! b5 61.Lxc6 bxc6 62.a5 ) 0-0 Rd8 14.e4 fxg5 15.exd5 ².

12...Nc6 13.Lg2 XABCDEFGHY
Or 13.Lh3 Rd8 14.0-0 Rd6 15.e4 Ndb4
16.Lf4 Rdd8 17.Rfd1 Rxd1+ 18.Rxd1 8r+-+-trk+(
Rd8 19.Ra1 Nd4 ½-½ Baron Rodriguez,J-
Cifuentes Parada,R Zaragoza 1999.
7vl-+-+pzp-'
13...Rd8 6p+-+-+-zp&
Black firmly controls the d-file.
14.Lg5+ f6 15.Ld2 Rd6 5+p+-sN-+-%
Against this set-up it is not easy to obtain 4-+-zpl+-+$
something with White.
16.0-0 3+-+N+-zP-#
16.Rc1 is another White try: 16...Rad8 2PzP-+PzP-zP"
17.0-0 b6 18.Rfe1 Ndb4 (18...Kf7 19.Lf1
Nde7 20.Lf4 Ne5 21.a3 a5 = Bellon 1+-tR-+RmK-!
Lopez,J-Seirawan,Y Zuerich 1984) 19.Lf4
Ne5 20.Le4 h6 21.a3 Nd5 22.Ld2 Nc7 xabcdefghy
23.Lc3 Nb5 = Babula,V-Luch,M Warsaw This is the position that Topalov was aiming
2005. for. Material is even and both sides can
16...Rad8 17.Rfc1 b6 18.Kf1 a5 19.Ke1 claim some pluses and minuses. White has
White has also tried 19.a4?! g5 20.e3 Ne5 the better pawn structure (due to Black's
21.b3 (Scarani,A-Valverde Lopez,M ICCF isolated d-pawn and weak queenside) and
email 2001) 21...g4 ³ or 19.Le1 g6 Black the bishop pair versus the knight pair.
20.Rab1 Ndb4 21.a3 Na6 (21...Na2? It seems like a fair battle, although I prefer a
bit more the bishop pair...
22.Rc4 ± Psakhis,L-Speelman,J Hastings
20.Rc2!
1987) 22.b4 axb4 23.Lxc6 Rxc6 24.axb4
Nc7 =. By the text move, White takes full control of
the c-file and simultaneously protects his e-
19...g6 20.h4 h5 21.Rab1 Kf7 22.a3
pawn. The self-pin of the d3-knight is not
Black is rather active in the centre and his
important.
pieces well-placed. On the other hand, no-
20...Rfe8
one can underestimate the bishop pair... So
Naturally, Topalov casts an eye on the e-file
the players, each being afraid of the other's
and the backward e2-pawn.
position, called it a draw.
21.Rfc1 f6
½-½
As we have mentioned, this is called the
bishop pair 'restriction method' first
A weakness in the pawn structure can
employed by William Steinitz. The idea is
nearly always ‘compensate’ the potential
simple: push the enemy knights behind and
weakness of the knight pair. Other elements,
restrict them of any good squares by using
such as open-file possession and activity can
healthy placement of the pawns.
be useful. Next is a game for the World
22.Nd7
Championship and our most recent example.
After 22.Nc6?! Lb6 the knight pair would
be stuck, not really doing anything of
□ Anand Viswanathan
importance.
■ Topalov Veselin
E04 Sofia 2010 22...Lf5! 23.N7c5 Lb6
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 dxc4 After 23...Lxc5 24.Rxc5 Lxd3 25.exd3
R e2 26.R5c2 Rae8 27.Kf1 R2e5 the
5.Lg2 a6 6.Ne5 c5 7.Na3 cxd4 8.Naxc4
Lc5 9.0-0 0-0 10.Lg5 h6 11.Lxf6 Qxf6 game would be dead drawn. Topalov can
perfectly continue the game with the text
12.Nd3 La7 13.Qa4 Nc6 14.Rac1 e5
move and this proves the validity of his
15.Lxc6 b5 16.Qc2 Qxc6 17.Ncxe5 Qe4
position - that he can try for two results.
18.Qc6 Lb7 19.Qxe4 Lxe4 (D)
23...a5 was the other option but it is
advisable for Black to delay the movement ÷.
of the pawn, which is always a responsible 29...Lb6 30.Nc6 Rb7
decision (pawns can't go backwards). The problem for Black is that after 30...Ra8
24.Nb7! 31.Nf4 Lf5 32.Rd2 he cannot defend his
White's duty is to create threats and exploit isolated pawn. But Black could accept
his doubled rooks on the c-file; so his c5- White's (temporary) pawn sacrifice with the
knight has to move somehow from its good natural 30...Lxc6 31.Rxc6 Rxe2. Probably
but useless c5 outpost. the game will end in a draw after 32.Kf1
24...Ld7 Re7 (32...Rd2 33.Rc8+ Rxc8 34.Rxc8+
Black covers the square c6, stopping a white Kh7 35.Rc6 La5 [35...Ld8? 36.Rxa6 ±
rook invasion and defends against White's Rxd3? 37.Ke2 ] 36.Rxa6 Lc3 37.bxc3
threat of Nd6. But preferable was 24...Lg4! Rxd3 38.cxd4 Rxd4) 33.Nb4 d3 34.Nd5
25.f3 (maybe 25.Kf1 Re7 is preferable) Reb7 35.Nxb6 Rxb6 36.Rxb6 Rxb6
and only now 25...Ld7 as then White 37.Rc8+ Kf7 38.Rd8 Rc6 39.Rxd3 Rc2
couldn't immediately move his d3-knight 40.Ra3 Rxb2 41.Rxa6 and maybe that's
and the weakness on e3 cannot be why Topalov was not attracted to it.
underestimated. 31.Ncb4! a5 32.Nd5
25.Nf4 And White finally eliminates the black
The main alternative was 25.Nd6 Re6 bishop pair!
26.Nf5 (26.Nc8 Ld8 27.Kf1 Kh7 ÷) 32...a4
26...Kh7 ÷. 32...Lf5 was also OK.
R
25... ab8?! 33.Nxb6 Rxb6 34.Nc5 Lf5 35.Rd2 (D)
Topalov wants to be practical but he cannot XABCDEFGHY
live fighting against the doubled white rooks
on the c-file. He had to opt for exchanging 8-+-+r+k+(
the major pieces with the natural 25...Rac8
26.Nd6 (26.Rxc8 Rxc8 27.Rxc8+ Lxc8 7+-+-+-zp-'
28.Nd6 Ld7 ÷) 26...Rxc2 27.Rxc2 Re5 6-tr-+-zp-zp&
÷.
26.Nd6?!
5+psN-+l+-%
26.Nc5! forces 26...Lxc5 (26...Lc8 27.Rd2 4p+-zp-+-+$
Rd8 28.Nfe6) 27.Rxc5 g5 28.Nd5 Kf7
29.R1c2! ². If White exchanges one of the 3+-+-+-zP-#
black bishops, he will stay a bit better. In 2PzP-tRPzP-zP"
general, White wants to exchange as many
pieces as possible because then the d4-pawn 1+-tR-+-mK-!
would become a real weakness, while the xabcdefghy
e2-pawn can be easily defended with Kf1
for example. So, after 13 consecutive knight moves (!),
26...Re5! 27.Nc8 La5 28.Nd3 White decided to change a bit and move
28.Na7?! Rbe8 would be just bad for something different! The main difference
White. that took place during the last moves is the
28...Re8 29.Na7 elimination of the black bishop pair, but at
White could also go for 29.Nd6 Re6 (29... least Black kept his good bishop, accepting
Re7 30.b4 Lb6 31.Nc8 ²) 30.Nf5 Lb6 to exchange the worse one. His pressure
against the e-pawn is enough to keep the
(the exchange sacrifice with 30...Rxe2 is
dynamic balance, but probably there is
about equal: 31.Nxh6+ gxh6 32.Rxe2 Lf5
nothing more than a draw to come sooner or
33.Rd1 [33.b4 Lxd3 34.Rd2 Lxb4 later.
35.Rxd3 Lc3 36.Kf1] 33...Lg4 34.Rdd2
Lxd2 35.Rxd2) 31.b4 Rbe8 32.Kf1 Rd8 35...Rc6 36.b4 axb3 37.axb3

Correctly avoiding 37.Nxb3?! d3! 38.Rxc6 The rest could be skipped but for the ‘Sofia
(38.exd3? Rxc1+ 39.Nxc1 Re1+) 38... Rules’ (no draw offers).
dxe2 39.Rc1 e1Q+ 40.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 50.Rd1 Kf7 51.Kf2 h5 52.Ke3 Rc2
41.Kg2 Le6 ³ as the black bishop is a 53.Ra1 Kg6 54.Ra6 Lf5 55.Rd6 Rc3+
better minor piece than its counterpart. 56.Kf2 Rc2 57.Ke3 Rc3+ 58.Kf2 Rc2
37...b4! ½-½
Black has to act actively! After the passive
37...Rd8?! 38.b4 only White would have The bishop pair v. the knight pair with the
chances. ‘ideal’ pawn structure can be lethal. Its
38.Rxd4 Rxe2 39.Rxb4 Lh3 (D) possessor can play on either side of the
board or both of them simultaneously.
XABCDEFGHY Usually the knight pair can do no more than
8-+-+-+k+( await its fate…
7+-+-+-zp-' □ Kramnik Vladimir

■ Ulibin Mikhail
6-+r+-zp-zp& E11 Chalkidiki 1992
5+-sN-+-+-% 1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 Lb4+ 4.Ld2 Qe7
5.g3 Nc6 6.Nc3 0-0 7.Lg2 Lxc3 8.Lxc3
4-tR-+-+-+$ Ne4 9.Rc1 d6 10.d5 Nd8 11.dxe6 Nxe6
12.Lb4 Ld7 13.Ne5 N6c5 14.Nxd7
3+P+-+-zPl# Nxd7 15.0-0 a5 16.La3 Rfe8 17.b3 b6
2-+-+rzP-zP" 18.Lb2 Rad8 19.Qd4 Qf6 20.Qxf6
Ndxf6 21.Rfd1 h6 (D)
1+-tR-+-mK-! XABCDEFGHY
xabcdefghy 8-+-trr+k+(
White has an extra pawn but Black has
strong compensation due to White's weak 7+-zp-+pzp-'
back rank and the activity of his rooks.
40.Rbc4 Rd6 41.Re4
6-zp-zp-sn-zp&
Or 41.Rh4 Rc2 42.Ra1 Ra2 43.Re1 Re2 5zp-+-+-+-%
= which verifies the previous note for the
weak white back rank. 4-+P+n+-+$
41...Rb2 42.Ree1 3+P+-+-zP-#
White is 'forced' to 'accept' the draw.
42...Rdd2 43.Ne4 Rd4 44.Nc5 Rdd2 2PvL-+PzPLzP"
45.Ne4 Rd3!?
Topalov feels like he has to try all his
1+-tRR+-mK-!
chances before he agrees to a draw. After xabcdefghy
45...Rd4 46.Nc5 we would have another This is a quite pleasant position for White.
draw by threefold repetition. The possession of the bishop pair against the
46.Rb1! knight pair in a not fully blocked position is
Anand immediately goes for his best, an ideal weapon to cash points. At least this
securing the draw. A blunder would be is what the statistics say!
46.Nc5? Rf3 and White would be in deep 22.e3 Nd7 23.Kf1 Re7 24.Ke2 Rde8
trouble... 25.g4!
46...Rdxb3 47.Nd2 Rb4 After the centralization of his king, White
Or 47...Rxb1 48.Rxb1 Rd3 (48...Rxb1+ proceeds with the 'restriction method'. This
49.Nxb1 =) 49.Rb2 Kf7 50.f3 =. is best done by the advance of both his
48.f3 g5 49.Rxb2 Rxb2 kingside and queenside pawns.

25...Re6 26.h4 R6e7 27.Lf3 Ndc5 44.Ld5 Rd8 45.f4 .
28.Rd5 Na6 42.Rg1 Kf7 43.Ld5
28...f6 29.Lg2! Nd7 30.a3 ±. Avoiding a little trick: 43.f4?! Nh3!. But
29.a3! now the bishop pair is fully dominating.
29.Rh5 gives Black an unexpected tactical 43...Ke8 44.Rh8+ Nf8 45.f4 Nge6
chance: 29...Nb4 30.a3 Ng3+!. 45...Ngh7 46.Lg8 .
29...Nac5 46.Kf3
After 29...Nec5 30.g5! Nxb3 31.Rg1 46.Lxe6 Rxe6 47.Rxg7  also wins, but
White's attack is quite strong. White is in no hurry!
30.b4 axb4 31.axb4 Na6 32.b5! 46...f5 47.Rg6! Nc5 48.Lxg7 Rf7
Also possible was 32.La3 ± but White 49.Lxf8
wants to take advantage of the a-file. The c5 Black loses too much material: 49...Rxf8
outpost is irrelevant as nearly all Black's 50.Rxf8+ Kxf8 51.Rg8+ .
pieces are passive. 1-0
32...Nac5 33.Ra1 Nf6 34.Rdd1!
It would a bad idea to surrender the bishop There have been many cases in chess
pair: 34.Lxf6 gxf6 35.Ra7 Kg7 and Black history that the possession of the bishop pair
might hold. versus the knight pair even merited the
sacrifice of a good pawn and not a useless
34...Nfe4 35.Ra7 Kf8 (D)
one as in the game Botvinnik,M-Bronstein,D
XABCDEFGHY Moscow 1951.
8-+-+rmk-+( □ Polgar Judit
■ Shirov Alexei
7tR-zp-trpzp-' C13 Prague 1999
6-zp-zp-+-zp& 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Lg5 dxe4
5.Nxe4 Le7 6.Lxf6 Lxf6 7.Nf3 0-0
5+Psn-+-+-% 8.Lc4 Nc6 9.Lb5 Ld7 10.Qd2 Le7
4-+P+n+PzP$ 11.0-0 Ne5 12.Nxe5 Lxb5 13.c4 La6
14.Rac1 c5 15.dxc5 Qxd2 16.Nxd2 Rfd8
3+-+-zPL+-# 17.Nb3 Rac8 18.f4 b6 19.Rfd1 Rxd1+
2-vL-+KzP-+" 20.Rxd1 Rc7 21.Rd6 Kf8 22.cxb6 Lxd6
23.bxc7 Lxc7 (D)
1+-+R+-+-! XABCDEFGHY
xabcdefghy 8-+-+-mk-+(
36.g5!
An active solution! But also the solid 7zp-vl-+pzpp'
36.Kf1 would do the job: 36...Kg8 37.Kg2 6l+-+p+-+&
Kf8 38.Le2 Kg8 39.Lf1 (39.f3? Nc3!)
39...Kf8 40.f3 Nf6 41.e4 ±. 5+-+-sN-+-%
36...hxg5 37.hxg5 Nxg5 38.Lc6 Rc8 4-+P+-zP-+$
39.Rh1 Kg8 40.Raa1!
A fine retreat, preparing the rooks' doubling 3+N+-+-+-#
on the h-file. Black can do little to avoid
defeat... 2PzP-+-+PzP"
40...Nce6 1+-+-+-mK-!
After 40...f6 White wins by 41.Ld5+ Nf7
42.Rag1 Kf8 43.Rh7 . xabcdefghy
41.Rh4 f6 White has won a pawn but the black bishop
Or 41...Nh7 42.Rah1 Nef8 43.Le4 g6 pair is compensating this small deficit.

24.c5 Black slowly but with a steady hand
It is understandable that White doesn't wish dominates over the knight pair.
to fall into a passive position, just defending. 30.Nb5 Lxc5+ 31.Kf1 f3!
After 24.Nd4 g5 (24...Lxe5 25.fxe5 Lxc4 Undoubles the f-pawns and also creates a
26.b3 Ld5 ³) 25.g3 Lxe5 26.fxe5 Lxc4 pair of passed pawns.
27.b3 Ld5 ³ White has good chances to 32.gxf3 Lxf3 33.Nd2 Ld5 34.Ke2 Ke7
hold the endgame but nothing more of 35.Kd3 f5 36.Nc3 Lb7 37.Kc4 Le3
course. 38.Kd3 Lg1 39.b4?!
24...g5 Good or bad, White should not allow
The immediate 24...f6 was possible: 25.Nd4 another passed pawn. 39.h3 e5 40.b4 e4+
(25.Nc6 Lxf4 26.Nxa7 Le3+ 27.Kh1 41.Ke2 Ld4 42.Nb5 Lf6 μ had to be
Lc4 ³) 25...Ke7 26.Nec6+ Kd7 ÷. played.
25.Nc6?! 39...Lxh2 40.b5 h5! 41.a5 h4 42.Ke2
25.g3 is called for: 25...gxf4 26.gxf4 f6 Or 42.a6 Lg2 43.b6 (43.Nc4 h3 44.b6 Lb8
27.Nd4!, merely transposing to the above ) 43...h3 .
variation with the g-pawns missing. 42...h3 43.a6 Lg2?!
25...gxf4?! 43...Lc7!! 44.Nf3 La8 was curtains.
25...Lxf4! was much better: 26.Nxa7 44.Kf2 Ld6 45.Nf3
Le3+ 27.Kh1 Lc4 ³. Black wins even after 45.Na4 La8 46.Nf3
26.a4?! h2 47.Nxh2 Lxh2 48.b6 Ld5 .
This allows the bishop pair to dominate. 45...Lc5+ 46.Kg3 f4+ 47.Kg4
26.Nxa7 Le5 27.Kf2 Lxb2 28.Kf3 Or 47.Kxf4 Ld6+ 48.Ke3 h2 49.Nxh2
(28.c6 Ke7 29.Kf3 Kd6 ³) 28...Le5 Lxh2 50.Kf2 Lh1 51.b6 Kd6 .
29.Ke4 Lc7 30.Nd4 f5+ 31.Kf3 Lc4 ÷ 47...Lg1! 48.b6
was a natural continuation, but even better 48.Kxf4 h2 49.Nxh2 Lxh2+ 50.Kg4 Lg1
was 26.Nbd4! e5 27.Nc2 Ke8 28.Nxa7  or 48.Nxg1 h2 .
Kd7 29.Nb4 Lc4 30.b3 Le6 31.Kf2 ². 48...Lxf3+ 49.Kxf3 h2 50.Kg2 f3+
26...Lc4! 27.Nd2 Ld5 28.Nxa7 And White resigned due to 51.Kh1 f2 52.a7
Or 28.Nb4 Lb7 29.Nc2 (29.c6 La8 f1Q 53.a8Q Le3+ 54.Kxh2 Lf4 #.
30.Nc4 Ke7 31.Na6 Lb6+ μ) 29...a5 ³. 0-1
28...La5 (D) The Bishop Pair Fails!
XABCDEFGHY So far we have been singing the praises of
the power of the bishop pair. But this is not
8-+-+-mk-+( always the case, as chess has never been a
7sN-+-+p+p' dogmatic game or at least this is what we
want to believe for our royal game!
6-+-+p+-+& Many times we have noted that the most
important factor is the pawn structure in
5vl-zPl+-+-% order to evaluate correctly the position and
4P+-+-zp-+$ decide about our strategy, plans and moves.
This concept also applies to the bishop pair
3+-+-+-+-# and here we shall see some cases where the
2-zP-sN-+PzP" bishop pair just fails, as its possessor didn’t
evaluate correctly the resulting pawn
1+-+-+-mK-! structure.
Remember that most chess players just fall
xabcdefghy in love with the bishop pair and ignore other
This ending is a classic example of 'what the important factors. My advice is for respect
bishop pair is capable to do'. and correct judgement; love will come
29.Nb1 Lb4 anyway!
Remember that there are no absolute rules! XABCDEFGHY
In our first example, White just forgot the
above and gave no respect to Black’s 8-tr-wq-trk+(
knights…
7+-+nzppvlp'
6-+nzp-+p+&
5+-zp-+-+-%
□ Gesos Pavlos 4pzp-+P+-+$
■ Grivas Efstratios
B51 Athens 1998 3+-zPPsN-wQP#
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Lb5 d6 4.0-0 Ld7 2PzP-vL-zPP+"
5.Re1 Nf6 6.c3 a6 7.Lf1 Lg4 8.h3 Lxf3
9.Qxf3 g6 10.d3 Lg7 11.Na3 0-0 12.Nc2 1+R+-tRLmK-!
Nd7 13.Qg3 (D)
xabcdefghy
XABCDEFGHY 18.Rec1?!
8r+-wq-trk+( Too passive. The energetic 18.Nf5 was
called for: 18...Le5 (18...gxf5?? 19.Lh6)
7+p+nzppvlp' 19.f4 Lf6 20.Nh6+ Kh8 21.Ng4 Lg7
6p+nzp-+p+& 22.c4 and although Black controls important
dark squares, things are far from clear.
5+-zp-+-+-% 18...a3!
4-+-+P+-+$ Breaking down White's queenside.
19.bxa3
3+-zPP+-wQP# A better try was 19.b3 Lxc3 20.Lxc3 bxc3
21.Rxc3 Nd4 ³.
2PzPN+-zPP+" 19...bxc3 20.Le1
1tR-vL-tRLmK-! Or 20.Rxb8 cxd2! 21.Rxd8 dxc1Q
22.Rxd7 Rb8 μ.
xabcdefghy 20...Rb2! 21.Nc4 Rxa2 22.Lxc3 Nde5
Here White's bishop pair is not doing much Further exchanges of important pieces
as the light-squared bishop is still doomed to (everything else than the badly placed f1-
passivity. The pawn structure is not 'helpful' bishop) can only improve Black's position.
and besides all the above, Black has an easy 23.Ra1 Rxa1 24.Lxa1 Nxc4 25.Lxg7
plan: expanding on the queenside. Kxg7
13...b5 14.Lg5 26.dxc4 Qa5 27.Qc3+ Qxc3 28.Rxc3
14.Le3 looks more natural: 14...Rc8 Ra8
(14...Qb6 15.Ld2 b4 16.Ne3 bxc3 17.bxc3 Black's ending is won as his superior pawn
Rfb8 18.Rac1 Qd8 ÷ Tempone,M-Adla,D structure and superior minor piece will do
Buenos Aires 1993) 15.d4 cxd4 16.Nxd4 the job.
Nxd4 17.Lxd4 Lxd4 18.cxd4 Qb6 29.f3 Kf6 30.Kf2 Rb8 31.Ke3 Rb1
19.Rad1 Rc2 20.Qb3 Rfc8 ÷ Faase,R- 32.Ld3 Rg1 33.Rc2 Re1+ 34.Le2
Rogers,I Netherlands 1995. 34.Kf2 Ra1 35.Rc3 Ra2+ 36.Kg3 Ke5
14...b4! 15.Ld2 .
White should strongly consider sacrificing a 34...Nd4 35.Ra2 Nxe2 36.Kd2
pawn in order to activate his bishop pair: 36.Rxe2 Ra1 .
15.d4 bxc3 16.bxc3 cxd4 17.cxd4 Nxd4 36...Rg1! 37.a4 Nd4 38.Kc3 Rc1+
18.Nxd4 Lxd4 19.Rab1 °. 39.Kd2 Nb3+
15...a5 16.Rab1 Rb8 17.Ne3 a4 (D) 0-1
In the next game Black gave up his bishop, squares but his pieces are generally more
correctly judging the resulting position and active.
later he even gave his second one in order 24.Lf3 Rd6!
not to allow any counterplay. Brave The entire d-file will be used by Black and
decisions, based on logic and ‘feeling’. The not only the d4-square.
latter is mostly based on knowledge… 25.Qb2 Rad8 26.Kg2 Qe7 27.h4 Qe6
28.Le2 Nd4!
□ Stein Leonid As the knight is a very tactical piece, it
■ Hort Vlastimil easily helps Black's position to improve!
B10 Sousse 1967 29.Rc1
1.e4 c6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 g6 4.g3 Lg7 5.Lg2 29.Lxb4 Rb6 30.Qa2 Rxb4 μ.
e5 6.Ngf3 Ne7 7.0-0 0-0 8.b4 a5 9.bxa5 29...R8d7 30.a5
Qxa5 10.Lb2 d4 11.a4 Qc7 12.c3 dxc3
Now ...Rb6 will not be possible any more,
13.Lxc3 Rd8 14.Nc4 Le6 15.Ne3 h6 but the a-pawn got weaker...
16.Qb1 Na6 17.Nc4 (D) 30...Ndc6 31.Qa1 Rd8 32.Qa4 Qe7!
XABCDEFGHY 32...Ra8 33.Qb5 would allow White some
counterplay - there is no need for that.
8r+-tr-+k+( 33.Rb1
7+pwq-snpvl-' 33.Qb5 Na2 34.Re1 R6d7 35.a6 Nd4 μ.
33...Ra8 34.Qb5
6n+p+l+pzp& Even the exchange sacrifice with 34.Rxb4
5+-+-zp-+-% cxb4 35.Lxb4 Nxb4 36.Qxb4 doesn't help
White: 36...Qc7 37.Ra3 Rda6.
4P+N+P+-+$ 34...Rxa5 35.Qb6 Rd7 36.Lxb4 cxb4
3+-vLP+NzP-# 37.Rd3 Ra2 38.Rbd1 Nd4 39.R1d2
Ra6 40.Qb5 b3
2-+-+-zPLzP" 40...Nxb5 41.Rxd7 Qe6 42.cxb5 Ra2
1tRQ+-+RmK-! should be enough for victory but there was
no need to give up this excellently placed
xabcdefghy knight for a lousy queen!
17...Lxc4! 0-1
Here Black correctly evaluates that his
knights will be more precious than the white
bishop pair; later he will even give up his
second bishop.
18.dxc4 c5
The natural follow up which secures the A tragedy can be seen in the following
squares d4 and b4 for the black knights. example. White was on the defending side
Note that the text move weakens the squares but he overlooked Black’s response,
d5 and b5 respectively but the white knight producing a ‘famous’ blunder!
is too far away to benefit. So, this important
detail should have been taken into account □ Spassky Boris
before Black give up the bishop pair. ■ Fischer Robert
19.Re1 Nc6 20.Nd2 h5! E41 Reykjavik 1972
The meaning of the text move is simple: not 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Lb4 4.Nf3 c5
to allow the white knight to come to d5! 5.e3 Nc6 6.Ld3 Lxc3+ 7.bxc3 d6 8.e4 e5
21.Nf1 Lh6 22.Ne3 Lxe3 23.Rxe3 9.d5 Ne7 10.Nh4 h6 11.f4 Ng6 12.Nxg6
Nab4 fxg6 13.fxe5 dxe5 14.Le3 b6 15.0-0 0-0
Unfortunately for White, his bishop pair is 16.a4 a5 17.Rb1 Ld7 18.Rb2 Rb8
useless. Black not only controls important 19.Rbf2 Qe7 20.Lc2 (D)
XABCDEFGHY 27.Qc2??
27.Qb1 was OK, when 27...h5! (27...g4!?)
8-tr-+-trk+( 28.Ld2 (28.h3?! g4 29.hxg4 Lxg4
7+-+lwq-zp-' 30.Lxg4 Qxg4 μ ; 28.Lg3 h4 29.Lxf4
gxf4 ³) 28...g4 29.Le1 Qf6 was ÷.
6-zp-+-snpzp& 27...Lxa4!
5zp-zpPzp-+-% White resigned as he loses material:
28.Qxa4 (28.Qb1 Lxd1 29.Qxd1 Qxe4
4P+P+P+-+$ ) 28...Qxe4 29.Kf2 Nd3+ .
0-1
3+-zP-vL-+-#
2-+L+-tRPzP" A case of full knight pair domination will
be examined in the final example of this
1+-+Q+RmK-! chapter. White correctly saw that the blo-
cked pawn structure and the immobilization
xabcdefghy of the bishop pair can only be to his benefit
White has the bishop pair and a passed d- and he just went for it.
pawn, while Black's kingside pawns are
doubled and his b6-pawn is weak and □ Geller Efim
backward. But Black stands fine (!) and this ■ Ivkov Borislav
can be explained by the blocked centre and C97 Budva 1967
the immobility of the bishop pair. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Lb5 a6 4.La4 Nf6
20...g5 21.Ld2 Qe8! 22.Le1 Qg6 5.0-0 Le7 6.Re1 b5 7.Lb3 0-0 8.c3 d6
Black has started to build pressure against 9.h3 Na5 10.Lc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2
the white weak pawns; those on a4 and e4. Re8 13.Nf1 Lf8 14.Lg5 Nd7 15.b3 Nb6
23.Qd3 Nh5 16.Rc1 Le6 17.Ld2 f6 18.c4 Nb7
Sooner or later, the rooks must be 19.dxe5 dxe5 20.Ld3 Qd7 21.Qe2 bxc4
exchanged; Black cannot 'face' for ever the 22.bxc4 Nd8 23.Rb1 Rb8 24.La5 Qa7
combined force of the white rooks down the 25.Lxb6 Rxb6 26.Rxb6 Qxb6 27.Rb1
f-file. Qa7 28.Lc2 Nc6 29.La4 Rb8 30.Rxb8
24.Rxf8+ Rxf8 25.Rxf8+ Kxf8 26.Ld1! Nxb8 31.Ne3 Qb7 32.Nd5 Nc6 33.Lxc6
According to J.Timman this is better than Qxc6 34.Qc2 Kf7 35.Qb3 Ld6 36.Nd2
26.g3?! Nf6 ³ or 26.Lg3?! Nf4 ³. h6 37.Nf1 g6 38.g4 Lc8 39.Qf3 Le7
26...Nf4 (D) 40.Nfe3 Lf8 41.h4 Lg7 42.h5 g5 43.Nf5
Lf8 44.Qb3 Qb7 45.Qxb7+ Lxb7 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-mk-+( XABCDEFGHY
7+-+l+-zp-' 8-+-+-vl-+(
6-zp-+-+qzp& 7+l+-+k+-'
5zp-zpPzp-zp-% 6p+-+-zp-zp&
4P+P+Psn-+$ 5+-zpNzpNzpP%
3+-zPQ+-+-# 4-+P+P+P+$
2-+-+-+PzP" 3+-+-+-+-#
1+-+LvL-mK-! 2P+-+-zP-+"
xabcdefghy 1+-+-+-mK-!
But here a 'famous' blunder took place! xabcdefghy
In this position the knight pair dominates. hard to meet. A sample line could be
The pawn structure is fixed and blocked and 58...Kc7 59.Nb5+ Kb6 60.Nbd6 and h6 is
the central pawns make the life of the bishop lost.
pair truly difficult! But how to proceed? 1-0
White will need his king in order to cash the
point. The Bishop Pair v. the Exchange
46.Kf1 Lc6 47.Ke2 Ke6 48.Kd2 The bishop pair can be an excellent
The white king will try to penetrate through compensation for sacrificing or losing
the queenside; the only valid path he has at (blunders exist!) the exchange, especially
his disposal. when the opponent has a knight. Their
48...La4 49.f3 combined power, in cooperation with other
49.Nc7+ is not winning a pawn as it seems pieces, can form a deserved line of defence.
at first sight: 49...Kd7 50.Nxa6? (50.Nd5
□ Spassky Boris
is not a shame but a must!) 50...Kc6 but ■ Fischer Robert
rather losing the knight! E80 Belgrade 1992
49...Lc6 50.Nc3 Ld7 51.Kc2 Le8 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Lg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3
52.Kb3 Ld7 53.Nd5 Lc6 (D) c5 6.dxc5 dxc5 7.Qxd8+ Kxd8 8.Le3
XABCDEFGHY Nfd7 9.Nge2 b6 10.0-0-0 Na6 11.g3 Nc7
12.f4 e6 13.Lh3 Ke7 14.Rhf1 h6 15.e5
8-+-+-vl-+( Lb7 16.g4 Rad8 17.Ng3 f6 18.Nce4 fxe5
7+-+-+-+-' 19.f5 Lxe4 20.Nxe4 gxf5 21.gxf5 Nf6
22.Rg1 Rxd1+ 23.Kxd1 Lf8 24.Nxf6
6p+l+kzp-zp& Kxf6 25.Rf1 exf5 26.Rxf5+ Kg7
5+-zpNzpNzpP% 27.Rxe5 Ld6 28.Re4 Lxh2 29.Ke2 h5
30.Re7+ Kf6 31.Rd7 Le5 32.b3 h4
4-+P+P+P+$ 33.Kf3 Rg8 34.Lg4 h3 35.Rh7 h2
3+K+-+P+-# 36.Lf4 Rf8 37.Lxe5+ Kg6+ 38.Ke4
Kxh7 39.Lxh2 (D)
2P+-+-+-+" XABCDEFGHY
1+-+-+-+-! 8-+-+-tr-+(
xabcdefghy 7zp-sn-+-+k'
54.Ka3!
And this simple waiting move puts Black 6-zp-+-+-+&
into zugzwang! 5+-zp-+-+-%
54...a5
Black's alternatives also losing: 54...Kf7 4-+P+K+L+$
55.Nc7 a5 56.Nb5 Ke6 57.Ka4 Le8
58.Kxa5 Kd7 59.Kb6 Lf7 60.Ne3  or
3+P+-+-+-#
54...Lb7 55.Ka4 Lc8 56.Ka5 Lb7 2P+-+-+-vL"
57.Kb6 Lc8 58.Nc7+ .
55.Kb3 Kd7
1+-+-+-+-!
There is not much that Black can do any xabcdefghy
more: 55...a4+ 56.Ka3 Ld7 57.Nc7+ Kf7 White is an exchange down but his bishop
58.Nb5 Lxb5 59.cxb5 c4+ 60.Kxa4 Lc5 pair is strong and forms a wall of problems
61.Nxh6+  or 55...Kf7 56.Nc7 Ld7 for Black who needs to play his best in order
57.Nb5 . to cash the point.
56.Nxf6+ Ke6 57.Nd5 Kd7 58.Nc3 39...Re8+ 40.Kf5 Ne6 41.Kf6 Nd4
And Black resigned as the coming Nb5 is 42.Ld6 Re4 43.Ld7 Re2 44.a4 Rb2
45.Lb8 a5 46.La7 Rxb3 47.Ke5 Or 57...Nb5 58.Lb4! (58.c6? Rxd5+
White tries to combine his active pieces and 59.Ke6 Rd1 ) 58...Rxd5+ 59.Kc6 =.
save the day. As things are more difficult 58.c6 Rxd5+
than they look, Black has to be accurate. 58...Nxa3 59.c7 Rxd5+ 60.Kc6 Rd1
47...Nf3+ 48.Kd6 Nd2 49.Le6 Rb4 61.c8Q Rc1+ =.
50.Kc6 59.Ld6
But finally White's activity is not enough Draw agreed: 59...Nd4 60.c7 Rxd6+
compensation for his material deficit. 61.Kxd6 Nb5+ 62.Kd7 Nxc7 63.Kxc7.
50...Nb3? ½-½
A bad miscalculation. Black had to opt for
50...Nxc4 51.Lxc4 Rxc4 52.Lxb6 □ Chraibi Mohcine
(52.Kxb6 Rxa4 53.Kxc5 Kg6 54.Lb6 ■ Winnicki Alice
Ra2 55.Kc4 a4 ) 52...Rxa4 53.Kxc5 B54 Hamburg 2005
Ra1 (53...Ra2 54.Kc4 a4 55.Kb4 Kg6 (Based on notes by Karsten Mueller)
56.Le3 Kf5 57.Lc1 Ke4 58.La3 Kd4 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6
59.Kxa4 Kc4 ) 54.Kb5 a4 55.Ld4 Rd1 5.Nc3 e6 6.Le3 Qc7 7.Qd2 Nf6 8.Le2
56.Lc5 Rd5 57.Kc4 Rxc5+ 58.Kxc5 a3 Nbd7 9.f3 Le7 10.g4 Ne5 11.g5 Nfd7
. 12.f4 Nc4 13.Lxc4 Qxc4 14.b3 Qc7 15.f5
51.Ld5 Ne5 16.0-0-0 Ld7 17.fxe6 fxe6 18.Nce2
The careless 51.Lxb6? returns the favour: Ng4 19.Rhg1 Nxe3 20.Qxe3 Qa5
51...Nd4+ 52.Kxc5 Nxe6+ . 21.Kb1 0-0-0 22.Qd3 Kb8 23.Nf4 Qe5
51...Rxa4 24.Rg4 Rc8 25.Rd2 Rhf8 26.Nde2 Lb5
51...Nd4+ 52.Kc7 =. 27.Qd4 Rc5 28.Qxe5 Rxe5 29.Nd4 Ld7
52.Lxb6 Ra1 53.Lxc5 a4 30.Re2 Lxg5 31.Nd3 Rf1+ 32.Kb2 Ra5
Black cannot win even after 53...Nxc5 33.b4 Lf6 34.bxa5 Lxd4+ 35.c3 Lf6 (D)
54.Kxc5 a4 55.Kd6 a3 56.c5 Rd1 57.c6 a2 XABCDEFGHY
58.c7 a1Q 59.c8Q Qf6+ 60.Qe6 =.
54.Lb4 a3 55.c5 Nd4+ 56.Kd7 Rd1 (D) 8-mk-+-+-+(
XABCDEFGHY 7+p+l+-zpp'
8-+-+-+-+( 6p+-zppvl-+&
7+-+K+-+k' 5zP-+-+-+-%
6-+-+-+-+& 4-+-+P+R+$
5+-zPL+-+-% 3+-zPN+-+-#
4-vL-sn-+-+$ 2PmK-+R+-zP"
3zp-+-+-+-# 1+-+-+r+-!
2-+-+-+-+" xabcdefghy
1+-+r+-+-! White has won the exchange but Black's
compensation is excellent as she has at her
xabcdefghy disposal the bishop pair, a pawn, an active
After his mistake on the 51st move Black rook and certainly a much better pawn
played well and he created the maximum structure. So, the position should be
problems for White. Unfortunately for him, dynamically balanced.
the bishops are strong and achieve their 36.Rgg2?!
targets when combined! A bit passive. White should think of 36.e5
57.Lxa3!! Nc2 dxe5 37.Nxe5 Lb5 38.c4 Le8 39.Rge4 or

36.Rf4 Rh1 37.Rff2 Lb5 38.Re3 Kc7 43.Kb1 Ld7 44.Rd6 Lc6 ³ or 43.Kd2
39.e5 dxe5 40.Nxe5 when White's knight Rb3 ³.
has found a good post, which is very 43...Ld7 44.Rd6 Kc7 45.Rdd2
important. 45.Rd3?! La4+ 46.Ke1 Rc1+ 47.Nd1
36...Lb5 37.Rd2 Rf3?! Ra1 gives Black a strong bind. A real
37...Kc7!? according to the old positional nightmare for the poor pinned knight.
rule that 'the worst placed piece should be 45...Rxa3 46.Rc2+?!
improved' was more precise. 46.Nc4!? La4+ 47.Ke1 Lh4+ 48.Ke2
38.Kc2? Lb5 49.Rc2 (49.Rxg7+ Kc6 50.Rc2
Again it was better to improve the prospects Ra2! 51.Kd1 La4 52.Ne3+ Lxc2+
of the knight: 38.Rg3 Rf1 39.e5! dxe5 40. 53.Nxc2 Ra4 54.Rxh7 Rxe4 ³) 49...Lf6
Nc5 and White is not worse: 40...Lc4 41. ³ but probably White should be able to hold.
Rh3 Lg5 42.Rd7 Rf2+ 43.Ka1 Rf1+ =. 46...Kb8?!
XABCDEFGHY 46...Lc6 μ certainly looks more promising.
47.Rc5
8-mk-+-+-+( 47.e5 Lxe5 48.Nc4 doesn't solve White's
7+p+-+-zpp' problems due to 48...Ra1+ 49.Kd2 Lc6!
(49...Lf5 50.Nxe5 Lxc2 51.Rxg7
6p+-zppvl-+& [51.Kxc2? Ra2+ ] 51...Ra2 ³) 50.Re2
5zPl+-+-+-% Lf6 μ.
47...Lh3 48.Rgc2 Re3 (D)
4-+-+P+-+$ XABCDEFGHY
3+-zPN+r+-# 8-mk-+-+-+(
2P+KtR-+RzP" 7+p+-+-zpp'
1+-+-+-+-! 6p+-+-vl-+&
xabcdefghy 5zP-tR-+-+-%
38...Lc4?
38...La4+ 39.Kb2 Lc6 would be very 4-+-+P+-+$
unpleasant for White due to his weak pawns.
A sample variation could go as 40.e5
3+-+-tr-+l#
(40.Rg4 h5 41.Rg3 Lxe4 or 40.Rge2? 2-sNR+-+-zP"
Lb5 41.Kc2 Lg5 ) 40...dxe5 41.Nb4
Lb5 42.Nc2 Lc4 μ. 1+-+K+-+-!
39.a3 Rf1?! xabcdefghy
Again, activating the king with 39...Kc7 is 49.e5
of primary importance. 49.Kd2 Rxe4 50.R2c4 Re8 51.Nd3 Ld7
40.Nb2! Lb5 is horrible for White. But he should have
40...La2 was called for, but White can keep tried 49.Nc4!? Rxe4 50.Nb6 Ka7 51.Kd2
the balance with 41.Nd1 Rf4 42.Nf2 Kc7 (51.Rc8? Lxc8 52.Rxc8 Rd4+ 53.Ke2
43.Ng4. Rd8 ) 51...Re8 μ.
41.Rxd6 Rf3 42.Rxe6?!
49...Lg4+
Without the c3-pawn White's king lacks
49...Le7 50.Kd2 Lxc5 51.Rxc5 Re4 μ
shelter, which will be his undoing in the end.
was the natural follow up.
42.Nd1! Kc7 43.Rxe6 Lc4 44.Rxf6 gxf6
50.Kd2 Lg5! 51.e6 Re5+ 52.Kd3 Lf5+
is about equal.
53.Kd4 Re4+ 54.Kd5?
42...Rxc3+ 43.Kd1
54.Kd3 was forced, although Black's
The other king's moves also offer nothing:
winning chances are excellent: 54...Re3+
(54...g6 55.Rxf5 gxf5 56.Rc5 Rxe6 White has an extra exchange but he should
57.Rxf5 Le7 μ) 55.Kd4 Lxc2 56.Rxg5 not underestimate the power of the bishop
Rxe6 57.Rxg7 Rh6 μ. pair.
54...Lf6 55.Nc4? 42.Lxa7?
Going for the most ‘beautiful picture’ but Allows the c-pawn to advance further and
hopeless also was the alternative 55.Rd2 this can be proven extremely risky. With
Re5+ 56.Kd6 Rxe6+ 57.Kd5 Re5+ 42.Kf2 White would stand better.
58.Kd6 Re8 59.Rcd5 Rc8 . 42...hxg4 43.hxg4 c3 44.Le3
55...Rd4 # 44.Re1 c2 45.Le3 transposes.
0-1 44...c2 45.Re1
Certainly not 45.Ra1? Nc4 46.Lc1 Lc5!
We will conclude the bishop pair concept 47.a4 Ld4 (the raking bishop pair,
with a game well worthy of study. Although sometimes called the Horwitz Bishops,
Black lost the exchange somewhere, he tried dominates the board and White is
his best and was rewarded by the full point completely lost) 48.Ra2 Le3 49.Ra1 Nd2
(with a lot of help from his opponent!). 50.Kg3 (50.Ra3 Lxf3+ 51.Kh3 Lxf4
52.Rxf3 Nxf3 53.Lxf4 Ng1+ 54.Kg2
□ Hausner Ivan Ne2 55.Le3 c1Q 56.Lxc1 Nxc1 57.a5
■ Mueller Karsten Nd3 58.a6 Nf4+ 59.Kf3 Ne6 60.a7 Nc7
E09 Hamburg 1990
(Based on notes by Karsten Mueller) ) 50...Lxf3 51.Lxd2 Lxd2 52.Kxf3
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c6 4.g3 Nf6 5.Lg2 c1Q 53.Rxc1 Lxc1 54.a5 La3 55.a6 Lc5
Nbd7 6.Nbd2 Le7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Qc2 b6 .
9.e4 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Qxe4 Lb7 Another practical try is 45.Rxd6? but the
12.Rd1 Qc8 13.Qc2 c5 14.d5 exd5 position after 45...Lxd6 46.Lc1 g5 47.fxg5
15.cxd5 Ld6 16.b3 Re8 17.Lb2 f6 fxg5 48.Lxg5 (48.Kf2 Lxf3 49.Kxf3 Lf4
18.Nh4 Qc7 19.Nf5 Ne5 20.Re1 Rad8 ) 48...La3 49.Kf2 c1Q 50.Lxc1 Lxc1
21.Rad1 Lc8 22.f4 Nf7 23.Ne3 Re7 (D)
24.Nf5 Ree8 25.Le4 h6 26.Qd3 b5 XABCDEFGHY
27.Rc1 c4 28.Qf3 Lb4 29.Red1 Lc5+
30.Kh1 Rxe4 31.Qxe4 Qd7 32.Nd4
8-+-+-+-+(
Qxd5 33.Qxd5 Rxd5 34.Nf3 Lb7 7+-+-+k+-'
35.Rxd5 Lxd5 36.Kg2 Nd6 37.g4 h5
38.h3 Kf7 39.Rd1 Le4 40.Ld4 La3 6-+-+-+-+&
41.bxc4 bxc4 (D) 5+-+-+-+-%
XABCDEFGHY 4-+-+l+P+$
8-+-+-+-+( 3+-+-+N+-#
7zp-+-+kzp-' 2P+-+-mK-+"
6-+-sn-zp-+& 1+-vl-+-+-!
5+-+-+-+p% xabcdefghy
4-+pvLlzPP+$ is theoretically lost as both white pawns will
3vl-+-+N+P# fall prey to the bishops and the pawnless
ending two bishops v. knight is always won
2P+-+-+K+" for the bishops, unless the side with the
knight can force an immediate draw. This
1+-+R+-+-! fact was discovered by Ken Thompson using
xabcdefghy a computer database. His result overturned

pre database theory, which assumed that the 49.Lc1 Ld3 50.Rf2 Le1 51.Rf3 Le4 .
ending is drawn if the defender can reach the 48...Lc3
'Kling and Horwitz' position (W: Kd5, La4, Now Black wins the exchange back while
Lf8 - B: Kb6, Nb7 - see J.Nunn in Secrets preserving his strong passed c-pawn alive.
of Minor-Piece Endings, p.277). John Nunn 49.Nb5!
deals with the subject very extensively in 49.Rxc2? Lxd4 .
Secrets of Minor-Piece Endings (pp.265- 49...Lxe2 50.Nxc3 Lxg4 51.Nd5 Le6
281). 52.Nb4 Lf5 53.Kf2 Le4 54.Na6 Ke6
Finally, 45.Rf1 is playable: 45...Nb5 55.Nc5+ Kd5 56.Nb3
(45...Nc4? 46.Lc1 Lxc1 47.Rxc1 Nd2 White must avoid 56.Nxe4? 56...Kxe4
48.Rxc2 ±) 46.Kg3 (46.Lc1? Lxc1 57.Ke2 Kd4 .
47.Rxc1 Nc3  or 46.Kf2 Nc3 47.Nd4 56...Lf5 57.Ke2 Lg6 58.Nd2 Nb6
Lb2 48.Rc1 [48.Nxc2 Lxc2 49.Ld4 59.Nf1 Kd4 60.Lb2+ Ke4 61.Lc1 Kd4
Ne4+ 50.Ke3 La3 ÷] 48...Lxc1 49.Lxc1 62.Lb2+ Ke4 63.Lc1
Nxa2 50.Ke3 Lh7 51.Kd2 = or, finally, 63.Ne3? Na4 64.Lc1 Nc3+ 65.Kd2
46.Re1 Lb4 47.Rc1 Nc3 48.Kf2 ÷) Nxa2 .
46...Ld3 (46...Nc3 47.Nd4 Lb2 48.Lc1! 63...Lh5+ 64.Kf2?
Lxc1 49.Rxc1 Nxa2 50.Rxc2 =) 47.Re1 64.Kd2! was called for, when it is not
Nc3 48.Nd4 Lb2 (48...Nxa2 49.Ra1 totally clear if Black is winning: 64...Kxf4
Lb2 50.Rxa2 Lxd4 51.Rxc2 Lxc2 65.Kxc2+ Kf3 66.Lb2 μ.
52.Lxd4 =) 49.Nxc2 Lxc2 50.Ld4 =. 64...Kd3! 65.Ne3 Lf7 66.a3 Na4 67.Ng2
45...Lb4 (D) Nc5 68.Ne1+ Kc3 69.Ke3 Lg6 70.Ld2+
After 45...Nc4?! 46.Lc1 Lxc1 47.Rxc1 Kb2 71.Nxc2 Lxc2 72.Lb4 Ne6 73.Ld6
Nd2 White has the resource 48.Rxc2! ±. Kb3 74.Kd2 Le4 75.Ke3 f5 76.Le7 g6
XABCDEFGHY 77.Ld6 Lc6 78.Kd3 Lb5+ 79.Ke3 Kc4
80.Le5 Kd5 81.Lf6 Nc5 82.Le7 Ne4
8-+-+-+-+( 83.Lf8 Nd6 84.Kf3 Nc4 85.Le7 Kd4
86.Lb4 Lc6+ 87.Kg3 Ke4 88.Lc5 Nb2
7+-+-+kzp-' 89.Ld6 Nd3 90.Lc7 Nc5 91.Ld6 Ne6
6-+-sn-zp-+& 92.Lb8 Le8 93.Ld6 Nd4
0-1
5+-+-+-+-%
A Pawn in Return
4-vl-+lzPP+$ There are quite a lot of cases where the
3+-+-vLN+-# bishop pair compensates for a pawn. Well,
here we will see two cases on the defensive
2P+p+-+K+" side for the pair.
1+-+-tR-+-! □ Aronian Levon
■ Leko Peter
xabcdefghy E15 Wijk aan Zee 2013
46.Re2? 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 La6
White is in panic mode! He could hold 5.Qc2 c5 6.d5 exd5 7.cxd5 Lb7 8.Lg2
equality with precise play: 46.Rc1! Nc4 Nxd5 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Rd1 Le7 11.Qa4
K
47. f2 N L
b2 (47... a3 48. d4 N L xc1 Nf6 12.e4 0-0 13.e5 Ne8 14.Nc3 Nc7
L N
49. xc1 =) 48. d4 (48. e1? N Nd1+ 15.Le3 Qe8 16.Nd2 Rb8 17.Nc4 b5
49.Ke2 Lxe1 50.Kxe1 Nxe3 ) 18.Nxb5 Nxb5 19.Qxb5 Nxe5 20.Nxe5
N N
48... d3+ (48... d1+ 49. e2 K N c3+ Lxg2 21.Qxd7 La8 22.Rd2 Rd8
K K N
50. f2 =) 49. e2 xc1+ 50. xc1 =.L 23.Qxe8 Rfxe8 24.Rad1 Rxd2 25.Rxd2
46...Ld3 47.Nd4 Nc4 48.Lc1 f6 26.Nc4 Rd8 27.Rxd8+ Lxd8 28.Lxc5
N L
White's rook is trapped after 48. xc2 xc2 a6 (D)
XABCDEFGHY 51.Kxb6 Kd7 52.Kb7 Ld3
52...h4 53.La7 Ld3 54.Ld4 hxg3 55.hxg3
8l+-vl-+k+( Ke7 56.Kb6 g4 57.Kc7 Lc4 58.Lc5+
Ke8 59.Kd6 Kf7 60.Kc6 Lb3 61.Kb6
7+-+-+-zpp' Lxa4 62.Kxa6  and 52...a5?! 53.b5 
6p+-+-zp-+& were not helpful.
53.La7 Lc2
5+-vL-+-+-% For a defender it usually makes sense to
4-+N+-+-+$ reduce pawn material, but 53...h4 54.gxh4
gxh4 55.Ld4 Ke7 56.h3  won't solve his
3+-+-+-zP-# problems - the h4-pawn will be targeted
2PzP-+-zP-zP" soon: 56...Lf1 (56...Lxf5 57.Kxa6 Lxh3
58.b5 ) 57.Lf2 Kd6 58.Lxh4 Ke5
1+-+-+-mK-! (58...Lxh3 59.Kxa6 ) 59.Le1 Kxf5
xabcdefghy 60.h4 Ke5 61.Kc6 Lg2+ 62.Kb6 Lf1
63.h5 . The same goes for 53...Kd6
Black decided to give a pawn in return for
54.Ld4 Ke7 (54...Kd5 55.Lxf6 Ke4
an easy game with the bishop pair as
56.Lxg5 Kxf5 57.Ld2 Ke4 58.Kb6 Kd5
compensating factor. Here White can play
for two results, while Black only for one; a 59.h3 Lf1 60.g4 h4 61.g5 Lxh3 62.Le1
draw... ) 55.Kb6 g4 56.Kc7 Le2 57.Lc5+ Ke8
29.Kf1 Kf7 30.Ke2 Ke6 31.Kd3 g5 58.Kd6 Lc4 59.Ld4 Kf7 60.Kc5 Ld3
32.Kd4 h5 33.b3 Lc7 34.Lb6 Ld6 61.b5 axb5 62.axb5 Lxf5 63.Kc6  or
35.Ld8 Lb4 36.a3 Le1 37.Ke3 Lc3 53...g4 54.Ld4 Ke7 55.Kb6 Le2 56.b5
38.Lc7 Lc6 39.Kd3 La1 40.f4 Lb5 axb5 57.axb5 Ld3 58.Kc6.
41.a4 Lc6 42.Na5 Lg2 43.Kc4 Kd7 54.Kxa6 Lxa4 55.b5 Lc2 (D)
44.Lb8 Lf1+ 45.Kc5 Lc3 46.Nc4 Le2 XABCDEFGHY
47.f5 Le1
White has made some progress, but Black 8-+-+-+-+(
can still of course defend. 7vL-+k+-+-'
48.Nb6+!?
Aronian advances on the queenside with his 6K+-+-zp-+&
whole army. 48.Kb6 is met by 48...Ld3 5+P+-+Pzpp%
49.Kxa6 Kc6 when White's king is badly
placed, for example: 50.La7 h4 51.Ld4 4-+-+-+-+$
hxg3 52.hxg3 Lxg3 53.Lxf6 Lf4 54.Ld4
Lxf5 =. 3+-+-+-zP-#
48...Ke8 49.b4 Lf2+ 50.Kc6 Lxb6? 2-+l+-+-zP"
Black crumbles under the pressure. The
resulting endgame with opposite-coloured 1+-+-+-+-!
bishops is extremely difficult as he has no xabcdefghy
clear cut way to set up a fortress. His pair of
56.Ld4!?
bishops can't be defeated after 50...Ld3
The direct 56.b6?! Ld3+ 57.Kb7 Lxf5
51.Nc8 (51.Nd5 Lxf5 52.Nxf6+
N K N L 58.Kb8 Le4 59.b7 Ke6 60.Lb6 Kf5
(52. c7+ d8 53. xa6 d7+ 54.Kd6
Lxa4 =) 52...Kf7 53.Nxh5 Le4+ 54.Kc7 61.Ld8 wins as well: 61...h4 62.gxh4 gxh4
Lf3 55.g4 Lxg4 56.Ng3 Lf3 57.b5 axb5 63.Kc7 Lxb7 64.Kxb7 Ke5 65.Kc6 h3
66.Kc5 f5 67.Kc4 Ke4 68.Kc3 Ke3
58.axb5 Lg1 59.h3 Lg2 =) 51...Lg1
69.Lg5+ f4 70.Lh6 Kf3 71.Kd2 Ke4
52.Nd6+ Ke7 53.b5 axb5 54.axb5 Lxh2
72.Ke2 . But Aronian's solution is more
55.Lc7 Le2 56.Nc8+ Ke8 57.b6 Lf3+ =.
clear-cut from a human point of view.
56...Ld3 A well-known position of the ‘Marshall
56...Kc8!? 57.Lxf6 Lxf5 58.Lxg5 Ld3 is Gambit’ in the ‘Ruy Lopez’, played on
more tenacious, but still insufficient, e.g. various occasions at the top level.
59.Lf4 Lf1 60.Kb6 Kd7 (60...Ld3 18...Qxg2+
allows the white king to cross over to the Here Black can preserve the queens on
kingside with 61.Kc6 ) 61.h3 Lxh3 board with 18...Qh5 19.Le3 and now:
(61...Le2 62.Kc5 Lf1 63.g4 h4 64.b6 Kc8 a. 19...Lxd3 20.Nd2 Lf5 21.Qc6 Le6
65.g5 Lxh3 66.g6 Le6 67.Kc6 Ld7+ (21...Lh3 22.a4 Lb8 23.axb5 axb5 24.Ra5
68.Kd6 Le8 69.g7 Lf7 70.g8Q+ Lxg8 Ld7 25.Qc5 Qg6 26.Qg5 Qd3 27.Ld4 f6
71.Kc6 ) 62.Kb7 Lg2+ 63.Kb8 . 28.Qd5+ Kh8 29.Nb3 Rde8 30.Raa1
57.Lxf6 Kc8 Lg4 31.Nc5 Rxe1+ 32.Rxe1 Qd2
57...g4 58.Lg7 Lxf5 59.b6 Le4 60.b7 . 33.Qe4 h5 34.Kg2 Ld6 35.h3 Lc8
58.Lxg5 Lxf5 59.Ka7 36.Re2 Qg5 37.Ne6 Lxe6 38.Qxe6 Lb8
And Black resigned due to 59...Ld3 60.b6 39.h4 Qg6 40.Qd5 1-0 Stellwagen,D-
Le4 61.h3 Lf3 62.g4 . Pashikian,A Yerevan 2007) 22.Qxa6 Qd5
1-0 23.Qb6 Lh3 24.f3 f5 25.Qd4 Qc6
26.Qh4 Lc5 27.Ld4 Lxd4+ 28.cxd4 Qc2
The following game contains many other 29.Red1 Qxb2 30.Qxh3 Qxd4+ 31.Kh1
sub-games and it is a good ‘workshop’ of Rd5 32.Qf1 Rfd8 33.Rac1 Qd3 34.Qe1
defence. Try to analyse them yourself and h6 35.Kg2 Qa3 36.Nb1 Qxa2+ 37.Kh3
understand the various mechanisms that help b4 38.Qe6+ Kh7 39.Rc7 f4 40.Qe4+ Kh8
Black to achieve the draw. 41.Rxd5 Qxd5 42.Qxd5 Rxd5 43.Rc2 1-0
The main white plan is to exchange at least Shirov,A-Jakovenko,D Khanty-Mansiysk
one part of the opponent’s bishop pair, while 2007).
the other part will mainly fight against it.
b. 19...Lh3 20.Qh1 f5 21.f4 (21.Lb6 Rd7
22.Qd5+ Kh8 23.Nd2 Lxg3 24.Qxd7
□ Shirov Alexei Lf4 25.Qb7 Lxd2 26.Ld4 Rg8 27.Re7
■ Karjakin Sergey Lc1 28.Re1 Lf4 29.Re3 Lxe3 30.Lxe3
C89 Khanty-Mansiysk 2007
h6 (30...Re8 31.Ld4 Qg4+ 32.Kh1 h6
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Lb5 a6 4.La4 Nf6
33.f4 Re7 34.Qa8+ Kh7 35.Le5 Qe2
5.0-0 Le7 6.Re1 b5 7.Lb3 0-0 8.c3 d5
36.Rg1 Lg4 37.Rxg4 fxg4 38.d4 Qf1 #
9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6
0-1 Smeets,J-Bacrot,E Wijk aan Zee 2008)
12.d3 Ld6 13.Re1 Lf5 14.Qf3 Qh4
31.Qc7 Re8 32.Ld4 Re7 33.Qg3 Kh7
15.g3 Qh3 16.Lxd5 cxd5 17.Qxd5 Rad8
34.f3 Rf7 35.f4 Re7 36.Le5 Lg4 37.Kf2
18.Qg2 (D) Ld1 38.d4 Qe2+ ½-½ Sutovsky,E-
XABCDEFGHY Jakovenko,D Poikovsky 2008) 21...Lc7
8-+-tr-trk+( 22.Nd2 Rxd3 23.Nb3 Lg4 24.Qg2 Lf3
25.Qf2 La8 26.Nc5 Rd6 27.Ld4 Qf7
7+-+-+pzpp' 28.h4 Rh6 29.Kh2 g5 30.Le5 gxh4
31.gxh4 Rg6 32.Lxc7 Rg2+ 33.Qxg2+
6p+-vl-+-+& Lxg2 34.Rg1 Qxc7 35.Rxg2+ Kh8
5+p+-+l+-% 36.Ne6 Qd6 37.Nxf8 Qxf4+ 38.Kh3
Qe3+ 39.Rg3 Qe7 40.Rag1 Qxf8 41.b3
4-+-+-+-+$ Qc8 42.Rg8+ Qxg8 43.Rxg8+ Kxg8
3+-zPP+-zPq# 44.Kg3 Kf7 45.Kf4 Ke6 46.c4 bxc4
47.bxc4 a5 48.a4 Kf6 ½-½ Shirov,A-
2PzP-+-zPQzP" Jakovenko,D Dagomys 2008.
1tRNvL-tR-mK-! 19.Kxg2 Lxd3 20.Le3 Rfe8
Other ways to continue are with:
xabcdefghy a. 20...f6 21.Nd2 b4 22.Ld4 bxc3 23.Lxc3
Rfe8 24.f3 Kf7 25.Rac1 Rxe1 26.Rxe1 [27.Nc5 Lxc5 28.Rxd7+ Lxd7 29.Lxc5
Le7 27.g4 h5 28.h3 g6 (28...hxg4 29.hxg4 ½-½ Socko,B-Sargissian,G Antwerp 2009]
Lb5 30.Nb3 Lc4 31.Re4 Rc8 32.Rd4 27...Lc7 28.Rxd7+ Lxd7 29.Nd2 h5
Rc7 33.Nd2 Lxa2 34.Ra4 Le6 35.Rxa6 30.Ld4 Lc6 31.b3 f5 32.Kf2 g5 33.Le3
f5 36.gxf5 Lxf5 37.Kg3 g6 38.Ne4 Rd7 g4 34.f4 Ke6 35.Ld4 ½-½ Bacrot,E-
39.Kf4 Le6 40.Ra8 Rd5 41.Ra7 Rd7 Aronian,L Kallithea 2008 ; 24.Nd4 Lb7
42.Ra5 Rd3 43.Ra7 Rd7 44.Rxd7 Lxd7 25.g4 Lc5 26.b4 Lxd4 27.Lxd4 Rxe1
45.Ke5 g5 46.Ld2 Kg6 47.Le3 Lh3 28.Rxe1 Kf7 29.Lc5 Rd7 30.h4 Ld5
48.Lc5 Lxc5 49.Nxc5 Lg2 50.f4 ½-½ 31.a3 Le6 32.Ld4 Lc4 33.Kg3 Re7
Stellwagen,D-Harikrishna,P Wijk aan Zee 34.Rd1 Lb3 35.Rd2 Re1 36.h5 Rd1
2008) 29.Nb3 Rd7 30.Nd4 Lc4 31.Nc6 37.Re2 Rd3 38.Kf4 Ld5 39.Re3 Rxe3
Ld5 32.Nxe7 Rxe7 33.Rd1 Lxa2 40.Kxe3 Lb3 41.Kf4 Ld1 42.Ke3 ½-½
34.gxh5 gxh5 35.Rd4 Re6 36.Kg3 Rc6 Naiditsch,A-Bacrot,E Dortmund 2009)
37.Kh4 Kg6 38.Rd1 Lf7 39.Rd4 Rc4 24...Lc7 25.Nd4 Ld7 26.Rad1 Kf7
40.Rxc4 Lxc4 41.f4 ½-½ Karjakin,S- 27.Rd2 Lc8 28.Red1 h5 29.Ne2 Rxd2
Inarkiev,E Nizhny Novgorod 2013. 30.Rxd2 Le6 31.b3 g5 32.Lc5 h4 33.Nd4
b. 20...Le4+ 21.f3 (21.Kf1 Lc6 22.Nd2 f6 Lc8 34.Re2 Le5 35.gxh4 gxh4 36.Re4
23.Ld4 Rfe8 24.Re2 Kf7 25.Rae1 Rxe2 Rh8 37.f4 Lb7 38.Re1 Lxd4+ 39.Lxd4
26.Kxe2 Re8+ 27.Kd1 Rxe1+ 28.Kxe1 Rg8 40.Rg1 Rxg1 41.Kxg1 h3 42.c4
g5 29.Ke2 Ke6 30.Ke3 h5 31.Ne4 Le7 bxc4 43.bxc4 Ke6 44.Kf2 f5 45.Le5 Le4
32.Nc5+ Lxc5 33.Lxc5 a5 34.h4 (34.a4 46.Ke3 Kd7 47.Kd4 Kc6 ½-½ Leko,P-
bxa4 35.Kd4 h4 36.gxh4 gxh4 37.Lb6 h3 Sargissian,G Yerevan 2008.
38.Lxa5 f5 39.Lc7 Lf3 40.Kc5 Kd7 b2. 23.Ld4 (D)
41.Lg3 Lc6 42.Kb4 Ke6 43.c4 Kd7 XABCDEFGHY
44.Ka5 Ke6 45.Kb6 Kd7 46.Lf4 Lf3
47.Ld2 Lc6 48.Kc5 Lg2 49.Kd4 Ke6 8-+-trr+k+(
50.Ke3 Ke5 ½-½ Bacrot,E-Aronian,L 7+-+-+pzpp'
Dresden 2008) 34...gxh4 35.gxh4 a4 36.b3
axb3 37.axb3 Ld5 ½-½ Karjakin,S-Ko- 6p+lvl-+-+&
balia,M Al Ain 2008) 21...Lc6 22.Nd2
Rfe8 (D) 5+p+-+-+-%
XABCDEFGHY 4-+-vL-+-+$
8-+-trr+k+( 3+-zP-+PzP-#
7+-+-+pzpp' 2PzP-sN-+KzP"
6p+lvl-+-+& 1tR-+-tR-+-!
5+p+-+-+-% xabcdefghy
23...h5 (23...Rxe1 24.Rxe1 f6 25.Kf2
4-+-+-+-+$ [25.Nf1 h5 26.Lb6 Re8 27.Ne3 Kf7
3+-zP-vLPzP-# 28.Kf2 h4 29.Rd1 Lb8 30.Nc2 g5
31.gxh4 gxh4 32.Rd4 Rh8 33.Nb4 La8
2PzP-sN-+KzP" 34.f4 a5 35.Na6 Ke6 36.Nxb8 Rxb8
1tR-+-tR-+-! 37.Lxa5 Rg8 38.Ke3 Rg2 39.Rd2 h3
40.Rxg2 hxg2 41.Kf2 Kf5 42.Ld8 Kxf4
xabcdefghy 43.Lxf6 Kg4 44.h4 Lc6 45.b3 Ld5
And now: 46.Le7 Kh3 47.Kg1 Kg4 48.Ld8 Kh5
b1. 23.Nb3 f6 24.Kf2 (24.Lb6 Rxe1 49.Kf2 Kg4 50.a4 Lxb3 51.axb5 Ld5
25.Rxe1 Rd7 26.Rd1 Kf7 27.Lc5 52.Lc7 Kxh4 53.Lh2 Kg4 54.Ke3 Kf5
55.Kd4 Ke6 56.c4 Lf3 57.Kc5 Le2 73.Nxh5 Ld3+ 74.Kd5 Kc3 75.Nd1+
58.Kb4 Ld3 59.c5 Kd5 60.Lg1 Lg6 Kb3 76.Nf6 Ld2 77.Ne4 ½-½ Shirov,A-
61.Ka5 Le8 62.Ka6 Ld7 63.b6 1-0 Aronian,L Morelia/Linares 2008) 28.b3
Bacrot,E-Sargissian,G Evry 2008] 25...h5 Lb5 29.La5 Rc8 30.Nc3 Lc6 31.Rd1
26.Ne4 Lf8 27.Re2 Kf7 28.Nc5 Lxc5 Kf7 32.Ne2 h5 33.Rc1 Ld7 34.Rxc8
29.Lxc5 Rd7 30.Ld4 a5 31.b3 ½-½ Lxc8 35.Lc3 Ld6 36.Kf2 g5 37.Ke3 h4
Leko,P-Naiditsch,A Dortmund 2008) 38.gxh4 Lxh2 ½-½ Shirov,A-Leko,P
K R
24. f2 f6 25. xe8+ R xe8 26. f1 Kf7
N Morelia/Linares 2008.
27.Ne3 Rd8 28.a3 Lc7 29.Re1 Rd7 22.Lb6 Rb8 23.Rxe8+ Rxe8 24.Nb3
30.Nc2 Ld6 31.Ne3 Lf8 32.h3 g6 33.g4 Lc4 25.Rd1 Lf8 26.Le3 Kf7 27.Na5
Lh6 34.gxh5 Lxe3+ 35.Rxe3 gxh5 36.h4 Le6 28.a3 Rc8 29.f3 Rc7 30.Rd8 Rc8
Rd5 37.Kg3 Rf5 38.Lb6 Re5 39.Rd3 31.Nb7 Rc7 32.Nd6+ Lxd6 33.Rxd6
Rd5 40.Ld4 Rf5 41.Lb6 Rd5 ½-½ If the rooks were off the board, this would
Leko,P-Aronian,L Yerevan 2008. be a trivial draw. But as it stands, White can
21.Nd2 (D) put a lot of pressure on his opponent.
XABCDEFGHY 33...Lc8 34.Kf2 Ke7 35.Rb6 Kd7 36.g4!
A typical idea - White wants to expand on
8-+-trr+k+( the kingside. The aim is to create
weaknesses in Black's position.
7+-+-+pzpp' 36...Rc6 37.Rb8 g6 38.Ra8 Ke6 39.Ld4
6p+-vl-+-+& h5 40.h4! Ke7
40...hxg4 41.fxg4 would favour White, who
5+p+-+-+-% can then create an outside passed pawn.
4-+-+-+-+$ 41.Ra7+ Ld7 42.Kg3 Re6 43.Kf4 (D)
3+-zPlvL-zP-# XABCDEFGHY
2PzP-sN-zPKzP" 8-+-+-+-+(
1tR-+-tR-+-! 7tR-+lmk-+-'
xabcdefghy 6p+-+rzpp+&
21...f6 5+p+-+-+p%
Possible is 21...b4 22.Lb6 Rxe1 23.Rxe1 4-+-vL-mKPzP$
Rb8 24.La5 bxc3 25.Lxc3 f6 26.Ne4
Lf8 27.f3 Lc4 (27...Rc8 28.Rd1 Lc4 3zP-zP-+P+-#
29.a3 Lb5 30.g4 Lc6 31.Rd3 Re8
32.Rd4 Rb8 33.h4 Le7 34.h5 Rd8
2-zP-+-+-+"
35.Rc4 Lb5 36.Rc7 Rd7 37.Rxd7 Lxd7 1+-+-+-+-!
38.h6 gxh6 39.Lxf6 Lf8 40.Ld4 Kf7
41.Kf2 Le7 42.Ke3 Lg5+ 43.f4 Ld8 xabcdefghy
44.Nd6+ Ke6 45.Nb7 Le7 46.f5+ Kf7 43...Ke8?
47.Kf4 Lg5+ 48.Ke5 La4 49.Nd6+ Ke7 43...Rc6 was the only way to put up a fight.
50.Ne4 Ld1 51.Lc5+ Kf7 52.b4 Lc1 Now the white king penetrates and the black
53.Nd6+ Kg7 54.f6+ Kg6 55.f7 Lb2+ pawns fall.
56.Ke6 Lxg4+ 57.Ke7 Lf6+ 58.Ke8 44.gxh5 gxh5 45.Kf5 Rd6+ 46.Kg6 Lc6
Lf3 59.f8N+ Kh5 60.Kf7 Lb2 61.Nxh7 47.f4 Le4+ 48.Kxh5 Rd5+ 49.Kh6 Rf5
Lxa3 62.Nf6+ Kh4 63.Ke6 h5 64.Ke5 50.Le3 Lf3 51.Kg6 Le4 52.Kg7 Rh5
Le2 65.Nde4 Lc1 66.Nd5 Kg4 67.Ne3+ 53.Kxf6 Ld3 54.Ra8+ Kd7 55.Ra7+
Kf3 68.Ng5+ Kg3 69.Ke4 Lb5 70.Ld6+ Kc6 56.Rxa6+ Kd5 57.Ra8 Rxh4
Kf2 71.Nh3+ Ke2 72.Nf4+ Kd2 58.Rd8+ Ke4 59.Kg5 Rh2 60.Lc5

Rg2+ 61.Kf6 Lc4 62.Rd4+ Kf3 63.a4 □ McShane Luke
Rxb2 64.a5 Ra2 65.Lb4 Re2 66.f5 Re8 ■ Carlsen Magnus
67.Rxc4 bxc4 68.Kg7 Re4 69.f6 Rg4+ C85 Moscow 2012
70.Kf8 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Lb5 a6 4.La4 Nf6
1-0 5.0-0 Le7 6.Lxc6 dxc6 7.d3 Nd7 8.b3 0-0
9.Lb2 f6 10.Nc3 Re8 11.Kh1 Nf8
12.Ne2 c5 13.Nh4 Ne6 14.Nf5 Lf8
15.Ne3 Nd4 16.f4 Le6 17.fxe5 fxe5
18.Ng1 g6 19.c3 Nc6 20.Nf3 Lg7
21.Qe1 (D)
Games for Personal Analysis XABCDEFGHY

Analyse carefully the games (exercises) 8r+-wqr+k+(
which follow. Find ideas, plans and
mechanisms and note variations to discuss 7+pzp-+-vlp'
them with your trainer. 6p+n+l+p+&
□ Kasparov Garry
■ Smyslov Vassily
5+-zp-zp-+-%
D52 Vilnius 1984 4-+-+P+-+$
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6
5.Lg5 Nbd7 6.e3 Qa5 7.cxd5 Nxd5
3+PzPPsNN+-#
8.Qd2 Lb4 9.Rc1 0-0 10.Ld3 e5 11.0-0 2PvL-+-+PzP"
exd4 12.exd4 f6 13.Lh4 Rd8 14.a3 Lxc3
15.bxc3 Nf8 16.Lg3 Le6 17.Rfe1 Lf7
1tR-+-wQR+K!
18.c4 Qxd2 19.Nxd2 Nb6 20.Nb3 Na4 xabcdefghy
21.Lf1 Rd7 (D) 21...a5 22.Rd1 a4 23.bxa4 Rxa4 24.a3
XABCDEFGHY Rf8 25.Lc1 Ra8 26.Qg3 Lb3 27.Rde1
Qxd3 28.Ng4 Le6 29.Nh6+ Kh8
8r+-+-snk+( 30.Qh4 Lf6 31.Lg5 Lxg5 32.Qxg5 Kg7
7zpp+r+lzpp' 33.Qc1 (D)
6-+p+-zp-+& XABCDEFGHY
5+-+-+-+-% 8r+-+-tr-+(
4n+PzP-+-+$ 7+pzp-+-mkp'
3zPN+-+-vL-# 6-+n+l+psN&
2-+-+-zPPzP" 5+-zp-zp-+-%
1+-tR-tRLmK-! 4-+-+P+-+$
xabcdefghy 3zP-zPq+N+-#
22.Na5 Ne6 23.d5 Nd4 24.dxc6 Nxc6 2-+-+-+PzP"
25.Nxc6 bxc6 26.c5 Re8 27.Rxe8+ Lxe8 1+-wQ-tRR+K!
28.Ld6 Lf7 29.Rb1 Ld5 30.Rb8+ Kf7
31.Rf8+ Ke6 32.g3 g6 33.La6 Rxd6 xabcdefghy
34.cxd6 Kxd6 35.Rxf6+ Ke5 36.Rf8 c5 33...Rf4 34.Rd1 Qc4 35.Rfe1 Raf8
37.Re8+ Kd4 38.Rd8 Ke5 39.f4+ Ke4 36.Ng5 Lc8 37.g3 Rf2 38.Nf5+ gxf5
40.Lf1 Lb3 41.Kf2 Nb2 39.Nh3 Re2 40.Qg5+ Kh8
1-0 0-1
□ Werle Jan 16.Nxg5 hxg5 17.Na4 axb4 18.axb4 Nf8
■ Tischbierek Raj 19.Nb6 Rxa1 20.Rxa1 Le6 21.Rd1
D19 Germany 2005 Rd8 22.Lf1 Lf6 23.Nc4 Rxd1 24.Qxd1
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 dxc4 Lxc4 25.Lxc4 Ne6 (D)
5.a4 Lf5 6.e3 e6 7.Lxc4 Lb4 8.0-0 Nbd7 XABCDEFGHY
9.Qe2 Lg4 10.h3 Lxf3 11.Qxf3 0-0
12.Rd1 Qa5 13.e4 e5 14.d5 Nb6 15.Lb3 8-+-+-+k+(
Lxc3 16.bxc3 cxd5 17.exd5 Rac8 (D)
7+p+-wqp+-'
XABCDEFGHY
6-+p+nvlp+&
8-+r+-trk+(
5+-zP-zp-zp-%
7zpp+-+pzpp'
4-zPL+P+-+$
6-sn-+-sn-+&
3+-+-vL-zP-#
5wq-+Pzp-+-%
2-+-+-zP-zP"
4P+-+-+-+$
1+-+Q+-mK-!
3+LzP-+Q+P#
xabcdefghy
2-+-+-zPP+" 26.Qg4 Nd4 27.h4 Kf8 28.h5 gxh5
1tR-vLR+-mK-! 29.Qxh5 Kg7 30.Kg2 Nc2 31.Ld2 Nd4
32.Lc3 Ne6 33.Qg4 Nd4 34.Qc8 Nc2
xabcdefghy 35.Le2 Nd4 36.Lg4 Ne6 37.Kh3 Nf8
18.c4 Nxc4 19.Lg5 Qa6 20.d6 Nxd6 38.Lf5 Ne6 39.Lb2 Nd8 40.Qd7 Qxd7
21.Lxf6 gxf6 22.Qxf6 Nc4 23.Qh4 Na5 41.Lxd7 Kg6 42.Kg4 Lg7 43.Lf5+ Kf6
24.Lxf7+ Kh8 25.Rd7 44.Lc8 Kg6 45.Lf5+ Kh6 46.Lc1 Lf6
1-0 47.Lc8 Kg6 48.Ld2 Le7 49.f3 Lf6
50.Lc3 Lg7 51.Lb2 f6 52.Lc1 Kf7
□ Kochyev Alexander 53.Kh5 Lf8 54.Ld2 Lg7 55.f4 gxf4
■ Grivas Efstratios 56.gxf4 exf4 57.Lxf4 Lf8 58.Kg4 Ne6
E68 Leningrad 1989 59.Le3 Nd8 60.Kf5 Lg7 61.Lf4 Lh8
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Lg7 4.Lg2 0-0 62.Lc7 Ke8 63.Lg3 Lg7 64.Kg6 Lf8
5.c4 d6 6.0-0 Nbd7 7.Nc3 e5 8.e4 h6 65.Kxf6 Lh6 66.e5 Ld2 67.e6 Nxe6
9.Qc2 Nh7 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Rd1 c6 12.b4 68.Kxe6 Lxb4 69.Lf2
Re8 13.Le3 Qe7 14.c5 a5 15.a3 Ng5 1-0
Index of Games
When a player’s name appears in bold, that player had White. Otherwise the first-named player
had White. A total of 60 games are analysed and presented in this book.
Adams Michael - Carlsen 21 Aronian Levon - Leko 72

Adams Michael - Martinovic 32 Banikas Hristos - Grivas 44
Anand Viswanathan - Kasparov 34 Barlov Dragan - Damljanovic 24
Anand Viswanathan - Topalov 60 Barlov Dragan - Grivas 9
Bellia Fabrizio - Grivas 48 Kolomvas Ioannis - Grivas 26
Botvinnik Mikhail - Bronstein 58 Korchnoi Viktor - Seirawan 15
Botvinnik Mikhail - Flohr 56 Kramnik Vladimir - Caruana 17
Bronstein David - Botvinnik 58 Kramnik Vladimir - Illescas 54
Capablanca Jose Raul - Vidmar 20 Kramnik Vladimir - Ulibin 62
Capablanca Jose Raul - Znosko-Borovsky 9 Lasker Emanuel - Steinitz 33
Carlsen Magnus - Adams 21 Leko Peter - Aronian 72
Carlsen Magnus - McShane 77 Leko Peter - Van Wely 28
Carlsen Magnus - Nisipeanu 13 Lutz Christopher - Morozevich 36
Carlsen Magnus - Van Wely 38 Martinovic Sasa - Adams 32
Caruana Fabiano - Kramnik 17 McShane Luke - Carlsen 77
Caruana Fabiano - Nakamura 17 Miles Anthony - Karpov 11
Chraibi Mohcine - Winnicki 69 Morozevich Alexander - Lutz 36
Damljanovic Branko - Barlov 24 Mueller Karsten - Hausner 71
Damljanovic Branko - Ivanovic 25 Nakamura Hikaru - Caruana 17
Dimitriadis Konstantinos - Grivas 12 Nisipeanu Liviu Dieter - Carlsen 13
Dvoirys Semen - Vaganian 46 Parligras Mircea - Grivas 29
Englisch Berthold - Steinitz 8 Piket Jeroen - Khalifman 52
Fischer Robert James - Spassky 66 Polgar Judit - Shirov 63
Fischer Robert James - Spassky 68 Polugaevsky Lev - Uhlmann 41
Flohr Salo - Botvinnik 56 Popchev Milko - Grivas 45
Gelfand Boris - Topalov 20 Radjabov Teimour - Gulko 39
Geller Efim - Ivkov 67 Rosenthal Samuel - Steinitz 7
Gesos Pavlos - Grivas 65 Sandipan Chanda - Gurevich 23
Gligoric Svetozar - Ulhmann 42 Sandipan Chanda - Vladimirov 55
Grivas Efstratios - Banikas 44 Schuh Hubert - Grivas 19
Grivas Efstratios - Barlov 9 Seirawan Yasser - Korchnoi 15
Grivas Efstratios - Bellia 48 Shirov Alexei - Karjakin 74
Grivas Efstratios - Dimitriadis 12 Shirov Alexei - Polgar 63
Grivas Efstratios - Gesos 65 Smyslov Vassily - Kasparov 77
Grivas Efstratios - Kalesis 11 Spassky Boris - Fischer 66
Grivas Efstratios - Kochyev 78 Spassky Boris - Fischer 68
Grivas Efstratios - Kolomvas 26 Stein Leonid - Hort 66
Grivas Efstratios - Parligras 29 Steinitz William - Englisch 8
Grivas Efstratios - Popchev 45 Steinitz William - Lasker 33
Grivas Efstratios - Schuh 19 Steinitz William - Rosenthal 7
Grivas Efstratios - Yilmaz 47 Timman Jan - Karpov 49
Gulko Boris - Radjabov 39 Timman Jan - Kasparov 30
Gurevich Mikhail - Sandipan 23 Tischbierek Raj - Werle 78
Gyimesi Zoltan - Khenkin 59 Topalov Veselin - Anand 60
Hausner Ivan - Mueller 71 Topalov Veselin - Gelfand 20
Heinemann Thies - Wilhelmi 31 Uhlmann Wolfgang - Gligoric 42
Hort Vlastimil - Stein 66 Uhlmann Wolfgang - Polugaevsky 41
Illescas Cordoba Miguel - Kramnik 54 Ulibin Mikhail - Kramnik 62
Ivanovic Bozidar - Damljanovic 25 Vaganian Rafael - Dvoirys 46
Ivkov Boris - Geller 67 Van der Werf Mark - Van Wely 26
Kalesis Nikolaos - Grivas 11 Van Wely Loek - Carlsen 38
Karjakin Sergey - Shirov 74 Van Wely Loek - Leko 28
Karpov Anatoly - Miles 11 Van Wely Loek - Van der Werf 26
Karpov Anatoly - Timman 49 Vidmar Milan Sr - Capablanca 20
Kasparov Garry - Anand 34 Vladimirov Evgeny - Sandipan 55
Kasparov Garry - Smyslov 77 Werle Jan - Tischbierek 78
Kasparov Garry - Timman 30 Wilhelmi Christian - Heinemann 31
Khalifman Alexander - Piket 52 Winnicki Alice - Chraibi 69
Khenkin Igor - Gyimesi 59 Yilmaz Mustafa - Grivas 47
Kochyev Alexander - Grivas 78 Znosko-Borovsky Eug. - Capablanca 9

Curriculum Vitae of Efstratios Grivas
Efstratios Grivas (30.03.1966)
is a highly experienced chess trainer and chess author
Has been awarded by the

International Chess Federation (FIDE) the titles of:
▪ International Chess Grandmaster

▪ FIDE Senior Trainer
▪ International Chess Arbiter
▪ International Chess Organizer
What he does/did:
▪ Secretary of the FIDE Trainers’ Commission

▪ Head Trainer of the Turkish Men’s National Team (2006-2012)
▪ Head Coach of the Greek Men’s National Team (2013)
▪ Winner of the FIDE Boleslavsky Medal 2009 (best author)
▪ Winner of the FIDE Euwe Medal 2011 & 2012 (best junior trainer)
▪ Trainer of Various GMs & IMs - In 2009-2011 alone, he formed 5 GMs!
▪ Trainer of the FIDE World Junior Champion U.20 2012 Alex Ipatov
▪ Director of the FIDE Grivas International Chess Academy (Athens)
▪ Worked over 12.000 hours on training!
▪ Official Commentator of the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Ch 2013
▪ Lecturer at FIDE Seminars for Training & Certifying Trainers
▪ Author of Various Books
▪ Cooperating with the World’s Most Important Magazines
For more information visit Efstratios Grivas’s personal internet site:
www.GrivasChess.com - http://trainers.fide.com
Contact Info: E-mail: GrivasEfs@yahoo.co.uk
Skype: GrivasEfs - Msn: GrivasEfs@hotmail.com
What do teachers know anyway? Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball

player in the history of the game, was told by his High School coach that
basketball was not a good fit for him. He cut Jordan from the High
School basketball team and told him to take up baseball…
The good trainer is not dogmatic; he is trying to become better day by day…

Fide-Trainers-Commission-Advanced-Chess-School-Vol-1-The Bishop Pair PDF

Transféré par

Informations du document

Titre original

Copyright

Formats disponibles

Partager ce document

Partager ou intégrer le document

Options de partage

Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

Fide-Trainers-Commission-Advanced-Chess-School-Vol-1-The Bishop Pair PDF

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

FIDE Trainers’ Commission

Advanced Chess School

Cover and drawings by Nicolas Sphicas

Commissioning Editor: Efstratios Grivas (www.GrivasChess.com)

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 2

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 15

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 16

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 17

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 21

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 25

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 28

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 29

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 30

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 31

2P+-vL-mK-+" □ Adams Michael

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 33

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 36

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 39

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 40

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 45

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 46

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 49

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 53

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 55

3+-+-vL-+-# This was a painful defeat for Botvinnik but

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 57

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 59

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 61

7+-+-+-zp-' □ Kramnik Vladimir

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 62

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 63

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 69

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 71

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 76

Games for Personal Analysis XABCDEFGHY

Adams Michael - Carlsen 21 Aronian Levon - Leko 72

Advanced Chess School - Volume 1 - The Bishop Pair - Efstratios Grivas 79

Has been awarded by the

▪ International Chess Grandmaster

▪ Secretary of the FIDE Trainers’ Commission

For more information visit Efstratios Grivas’s personal internet site:

What do teachers know anyway? Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi