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- 1000+ vs 1000+, 20 moves, 30+20 time control C41 Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4
- 1200+ vs 1100+, 30+20 time control B10 Caro-Kann Defense: Endgame Offer (3. d3), 16 moves
# Don’t rush to solve ideas related to other similar openings! Every opening has its distinctive philosophy needed to learn before throwing moves. Solution? Play with your head instead hand
# White’s light-squared bishop is not properly-placed: it blocks the white’s f-pawn and the entry of the king’s rook into the game via the f-file as an option. White can, of course, eliminate this obstacle by removing their bishop from f3 and moving the f-pawn two squares forward to open the path for the rook along the route f1-f3-h3 (the absence of the black’s light-squared bishop on the board allows this to be done!), or put pressure on the f1 field while remaining on the f1-square
# Bring their piece into the game, grab the tempo and continue development at the expense of the opponent all at one go
# You should defend pawns in the opening with pawns, not with pieces
# Playing a game to win, before making your move, think about how you can create even more problems for your opponent
# As part of an unbroken chain, pawns will be able to reliably defend each other as they begin to move forward
# You should consider your moves and not be discouraged by any dangerous patterns that appear along your calculation. Practical victories are won through tactics, not positional patterns
# King in the center is the problems augmenter
# Following the chess basics is not always mandatory. “When you see good move, look for the better one”. Emanuel Lasker (World Chess Champion for 27 years)
# Tactics always prevails over planning and strategy because situation on the board is changing all the time. Before making your move, always consider tactical situation right here right now. Playing chess you need to constantly monitor your opponent’s positional weaknesses
# A player who is carried away by queen’s activity has a good chance of missing a threat and, consequently, allowing the queen to get caught
# Castling queenside (long castle 0-0-0) has more demerits than merits for both white and black
# In order to be one step ahead of your opponent, you need to act before the attack begins. When you are playing a game of opposite castling, you need to launch your pawns into your opponent’s Castle and make sure you do it before your opponent
# “The threat (in chess) is stronger than the execution”. Aron Nimzowitsch
# Give your opponent an opportunity to make a mistake. This goes against the advice to never rely on your opponent’s mistake. But still
# Blunders and mistakes happen when you rush to checkmate instead of thinking a little bit deeper. Again. “When you see good move, look for the better one”. Do you still remember the name of the author of this famous wisdom?
# Reminder. Importance of post-game computer analysis - Reminder. Reading the engine’s thoughts by moving pieces back and forth. the LICHESS.ORG’s Analysis board. The engine’s settings. Example positions
ULTIMATE REMINDER
(1) As a beginner player you need to play more long time control games on LICHESS.ORG like 60+ or at least 30+20. Only that way you have enough time for thinking, calculations, avoiding blunders, pattern recognition, position assessments, decision-making, etc. Short-time control games are for you to just occasionally test your way of getting better in chess and your ability to play chess under time pressure and anxiety.
(2) Computer-analyze the game you have just played!
(3) Identify your mistakes and give them real names like it is done in Problem ID series in this book!
1000+ vs 1000+, 30+20 time control
C41 Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation
1. e4 e5. The player on whites goes for the center. Blacks respond symmetrically, not afraid of the Open Game.
2. Nf3 d6. The player on blacks avoids sharp lines of the Ruy Lopez (Spanish Game) and goes for the Philidor Defense, a passive way of dealing with white’s activity in the center after white’s 1. e4. It assists black to avoid clashes and avoid tactical fights in the center, which leads to white’s extra-activity, though, in its turn, a player with white pieces needs to know how to make use of it. It is still not recommended for black to play this variation of the Open Game, since beginners playing blacks should learn not to be afraid of tactical complications, but, on the contrary, to boldly go for them and learn chess dynamics ASAP. Sitting on the defensive while playing black from the very beginning of a game is a sad business.
3. d4. Best move for whites. Whites hit the center with their wildest dream of breaking open the e-file on which the other guy is residing right now on e8. king-stuck-in-the-center idea? White’s king is, as well, suck in the center! What the hell? … It is white who has the first move advantage, not black! Which means white is closer to making problems for the other guy. If blacks make a positional mistake, whites’ statistically small first-move advantage will automatically turn into a white is better or even more. By the way, I used to love CHESSBASE.COM’s giving a clue like “white is better, black is definitely better” during a live game online. You don’t have position evaluation, no numbers, but a clue.
If both kings are stuck in the center, who’s king is safe? Of the side whose turn it is.
4. Nxd4. If white had captured the black’s pawn with their queen, then it is quite possible that black would not have been able to resist the opportunity to attack white’s queen with 4… Nc6б thus depriving themselves of the opportunity to hit the white pawn-center and end the white’s party on the top of the hill. Which of these options do you personally prefer? Give me a comment. Subscribe to my channel. Like my video…
4… c5. Hitting white’s knight and taking control of d4-square. White shouldn’t consider their d4-square as a weakness inside their setup (it can’t be used by blacks as an outpost for their knight (Nb8-c6-d4) because of white’s c2-c3), but nevertheless… White did not achieve… a progress in the center.
4… c5. White to play
5. Ne2. Knights move mysterious ways, but this one goes to either f4 or g3. Whites are going to keep their king’s knight on the kingside. Things are going to happen on the kingside. The f4 is rather a strange hangout for the knight.
6… Nxe4. Oh-ho.
7. Qe2. Black is in trouble. It is no Petrov’s Defense. Black either forgot or did not attach any importance to the fact that the white’s knight is on f4, not f3.
7… d5. The lesser of two evils for blacks.
8. f3 Qe7. Now. With no red diagram indicating a tactical pattern, can you still spot it? Whites to play. Yes! 9. Nxd5 threatening Nc6.
9. fxe4 dxe4. It is always a problem for the beginner and even higher ranks to abandon a long-planned move and look at other possibilities of the current position, which always changes after the opponent’s respond.
20. Nc7. Black resigned. Black’s a8-rook is going down. Then white’s king castles either side connecting rooks on the 8th. Rooks take control of d-file along with f-file. The rest is Rock’n’roll.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 c5 5. Ne2 Nf6 6. Nf4 Nxe4 7. Qe2 d5 8. f3 Qe7 9. fxe4 dxe4 10. Nd5 Qe5 11. Nbc3 Bd6 12. Bf4 Qe6 13. Bxd6 Qxd6 14. Qxe4+ Be6 15. Nb5 Qc6 16. Nbc7+ Kf8 17. Bb5 Qd6 18. Nxe6+ Qxe6 19. Qxe6 fxe6 20. Nc7 1-0
1200+ vs 1100+, 30+20 time control
B10 Caro-Kann Defense: Endgame Offer (3. d3
The Caro-Kann Defense (1… c6 and then 2… d5) is used against white’s aggressive 1. e2-e4 and white’s dangerous activity in the center. With 1… c6, black create solid pawn structure and challenge white’s activity in the center. In the Caro-Kann the black’s light-squared bishop’s fate is not so deem as in the French Defense because the bishop is not blocked by the black’s pawn on e6 thus is free to enter the game on the light-colored diagonal c8-h3. The Caro –Kann is a slow game, passive, but a good choice to survive the middlegame and reach the endgame with black’s strong pawn structure.
3… Bg4. Black is looking to get rid of their beautiful light-squared bishop, perhaps in a similar fashion to the French Defense.. In the Caro-Kann the light-squared bishop is perfectly fine on d7. Don’t rush to solve ideas related to other similar openings! Every opening has its distinctive philosophy needed to learn before throwing moves. Solution? Play with your head instead hand.
4. h3. Black is completely in vain getting rid of their light-squared bishop, and if white understands this, then why is white helping black with this? Just because bishop pins white’s queen from f3 and having the f1-bishop on f3-square in case of exchange is not so good for white: white’s light-squared bishop is not properly-placed: it blocks the white’s f-pawn and the entry of the king’s rook into the game via the f-file as an option. White can, of course, eliminate this obstacle by removing their bishop from f3 and moving the f-pawn two squares forward to open the path for the rook along the route f1-f3-h3 (the absence of the black’s light-squared bishop on the board allows this to be done!), or put pressure on the f1 field while remaining on the f1-square.
5… dxe4. Bad move. You can see it by reading those red arrows on the board showing opportunities the player on blacks voluntarily has created for the player on whites. Keeping developing pieces would have been much better for black is the following line 5… Nf6, 5. d6 (clearing space for black’s dark-squared bishop to go to the job). The opening rule saying don’t move the same piece twice in the opening without good reason perfectly fits this situation.
6. dxe4. In case of 6. Qxe4, white’s queen comes under attack from black’s knight just on the next move Ng8-f6, allowing black to bring their piece into the game, grab the tempo and continue development at the expense of the opponent all at one go.
7… e5? Now black’s e-pawn needs to be taken care of . More secure 7… e6 would have been much better. That way the given pawn is cheap-defended by the f-pawn: reliability has been sustained with a minimum of resources that do not need to be diverted to defend this pawn later in the game. You should defend pawns in the opening with pawns, not with pieces.
8. Bg5? Now bishop pins black’s queen, white can move their a-rook to d1 and attack black’s queen (though white’s king cannot castle 0-0-0). Isn’t it nice? Looks so. Then why is it one of those bad moves? It is not exactly bad. It is, rather inconsistent. Black can shield their queen with 8… Nbd7, followed by … h6 asking white’s bishop a question. Black is ok with development. In case of queens exchange on f6 black is completely ok with their Caro-Kann achieving its main goal of eliminating the aggressive development of events in the center after white’s 1. e2-e4. Playing white pieces you don’t want to make your opponent’s situation better. It is chess. Sorry. Bringing the king’s light-squared bishop into the action f1-c4 and putting a pressure on f7-square at the feet of the black’s king could’ve been better. And black is not able to shut the given light-colored diagonal and this will play into white’s hands for a very long time in this game. Nice. Playing a game to win, before making your move, think about how you can create even more problems for your opponent.
8… Bb4. Blacks reciprocate benevolence with benevolence. Putting that bishop on c5 was a better choice.
9. a3 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3. Queen takes on c3 instead of pawn could’ve been much better as it keeps white’s queenside pawn structure intact: as part of an unbroken chain, pawns will be able to reliably defend each other as they begin to move forward.
10… Qb6?? Oh. That’s what I am talking about. Now white can break black’s kingside pawn chain and make it ugly after
11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. Qxf6 attacking black’s h8-rook and the e5-pawn. Blacks are in trouble.
But following the chess basics is not always mandatory. “When you see good move, look for the better one”. Emanuel Lasker (World Chess Champion for 27 years). Now go use your Visual Skills and find the best move for whites. It is not castling to the rightside of the board 12. 0-0. Tactics always prevails over planning and strategy because situation on the board is changing all the time. It is tactics that wins the game. Before making your move, always consider tactical situation right here right now. Playing chess you need to constantly monitor your opponent’s positional weaknesses.
After white’s king moves 12. Ke1-d2 black’s queen is just one move away from getting trapped after 13. Rh1-b1. That means black’s queen should better get out from b2 to the only safe square b6 right now: 12… Qb2-b6. A player who is carried away by queen’s activity has a good chance of missing a threat and, consequently, allowing the queen to get caught, BTW. Seeing the opportunity to trap the opponent’s queen the player on whites should not just follow the Chess Basics and castle the king 0-0, connecting his rooks and be happy with the king’s security (everything by the book!). White should better defend their c3-pawn by moving their king e1-d2. That way black’s queen is denied access to c3, the saving square to come to and get out of the trap.
Thanks to castling queenside, black now can launch a kingside attack (on the other side of the board) by rolling the kingside pawns down to the white’s Castle: h7-h6, g7-g5. What is even more disturbing is that black can do that with a tempo, hitting the white’s g5-bishop with their pawn …h7-h6. The bishop gets out of the heat, then … g7-g5 comes in. After that … g5-g4 rolling on the white’s Castle. Black’s h8-rook will be ready for the action. If bishop takes on f6 after black’s … h7-h6, then black takes back the material …Nxf6 and black is ok to move … g7-g5, anyway, still with their kingside attack going.
Castling queenside (long castle 0-0-0) has more demerits than merits for both white and black. Castling long side puts a king one square away from the outer a-pawn, thus in order to defend the outer a-pawn you need to spend a tempo and move your king closer to the given pawn. Another tempo is lost because you need to move your queen from its home square (d1 or d8) to give the king the space to castle. It goes for both whites and blacks. But long-castling brings the queenside rook right into the game as it jumps on the e-file and puts a pressure on the center file. There, in the center, where the pawns collide as well as the interests of both players collide, there breaches, the holes happen to burst out bringing the d-rook into the real business. That is the merit of castling long side.
So. Watching the diagram from the white’s perspective, it’s about time to deal with the oncoming problem of black’s kingside pawn advancement. In order to be one step ahead of your opponent, you need to act before the attack begins. When you are playing a game of opposite castling, you need to launch your pawns into your opponent’s Castle and make sure you do it before your opponent. So. Putting the g5-bishop on d3 could be a good idea as it immediately attacks undefended black’s a7-pawn, keeping the ball on your side. Taking the a7-pawn puts white’s bishop in danger after … b7-b6. “Fear of danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than danger itself when apparent to the eyes” (“Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe). “The threat (in chess) is stronger than the execution”. Aron Nimzowitsch. In other words bark is bigger than bite. Later into the game, if bishop takes the a7-pawn you might find the pawn c4-c5 solution to help your bishop out…
Go and play the following moves in your head with your eyes on the diagram above: 14. Bg5-d3 Qb2-c3. Computer suggests 15. Rab1. Then if … Qxa3 black is in real trouble after rook goes back 16. Ra1 attacking black’s queen and putting pressure on the a-file. However, there goes tactics a beginner player is still not able to solve in a live game. I love the 14. Bg5-e3 idea better, because it asks the black big questions. Give your opponent an opportunity to make a mistake. This goes against the advice to never rely on your opponent’s mistake. But still.
Back to the actual game:
1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 dxe4 6. dxe4 Nf6 7. Nc3 e5 8. Bg5 Bb4 9. a3 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Qb6 11. Bd3 Qb2 12. O-O Nbd7 c4 O-O-O 14. Qe3 h6 15. Qxa7 hxg5 16. Qa8+ Kc7 0-1
# Don’t rush to solve ideas related to other similar openings! Every opening has its distinctive philosophy needed to learn before throwing moves. Solution? Play with your head instead hand.
# White’s light-squared bishop is not properly-placed: it blocks the white’s f-pawn and the entry of the king’s rook into the game via the f-file as an option. White can, of course, eliminate this obstacle by removing their bishop from f3 and moving the f-pawn two squares forward to open the path for the rook along the route f1-f3-h3 (the absence of the black’s light-squared bishop on the board allows this to be done!), or put pressure on the f1 field while remaining on the f1-square.
# Bring their piece into the game, grab the tempo and continue development at the expense of the opponent all at one go.
# You should defend pawns in the opening with pawns, not with pieces.
# Playing a game to win, before making your move, think about how you can create even more problems for your opponent.
# As part of an unbroken chain, pawns will be able to reliably defend each other as they begin to move forward.
# You should consider your moves and not be discouraged by any dangerous patterns that appear along your calculation. Practical victories are won through tactics, not positional patterns.
# King in the center is the problems augmenter.
# Following the chess basics is not always mandatory. “When you see good move, look for the better one”. Emanuel Lasker (World Chess Champion for 27 years).
# Tactics always prevails over planning and strategy because situation on the board is changing all the time. Before making your move, always consider tactical situation right here right now. Playing chess you need to constantly monitor your opponent’s positional weaknesses.
# A player who is carried away by queen’s activity has a good chance of missing a threat and, consequently, allowing the queen to get caught.
# Castling queenside (long castle 0-0-0) has more demerits than merits for both white and black.
# In order to be one step ahead of your opponent, you need to act before the attack begins. When you are playing a game of opposite castling, you need to launch your pawns into your opponent’s Castle and make sure you do it before your opponent.
# “The threat (in chess) is stronger than the execution.” Aron Nimzowitsch.
# Give your opponent an opportunity to make a mistake. This goes against the advice to never rely on your opponent’s mistake. But still.
# Blunders and mistakes happen when you rush to checkmate instead of thinking a little bit deeper. Again. “When you see good move, look for the better one”. Do you still remember the name of the author of this famous wisdom?
You cannot solve one of the problems discussed in this book and have been identified (ID’d) in these articles? Ask your question on the internet. There you will find real stories and solutions people have employed.
Reminder. Importance of post-game computer analysis
Post-game computer analysis is the cornerstone to your “building” you are about to begin to construct. It gives you a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction of learning from mistakes, learning new things. It makes you sure, broadens your horizons, identifies your weakness, suggests you new strategy, etc. Stern, serious faces on the image below want you to consider the post-game analysis as the top serious business.
Image: Wikimedia, Levan Ramishvili from Tbilisi, Georgia, Public Domain
Reminder. Reading the engine’s thoughts by moving pieces back and forth
By moving pieces back and forth on the LICHESS.ORG’s Analysis board you can read the engine’s thoughts. The terminology associated with a position you can find on the Internet by describing the situation on the board as your question. Just Google it and you get tons of answers.
You still cannot solve one of the problems discussed in this book and have been identified (ID’d) in these articles? Ask your question on the internet. There you will find real stories and solutions.
Images: commons, wikimedia, Lewis chessmen by Rob Roy, Nachosan, Joyofmuseums