aoa YEARBOOK ISSUE! 2 ual : LUZ A 3 oe) LETT ATS SSRN NAS 3 Ged ed AAR SASS /NTERPLANY \.8. SSS@ Ph at ee tt i g Whether you are a beginner, a novice, oF a former member who wants to brush up on the basics, this is where you make your first ‘The material has always been here, Dut we realize that our format may be somewhat overwhelming at times, Herewith is a brief gulde for ‘using Chess Life as a study guide. 1, Start with this section! Jeremy Silman takes you through a game or two, explaining each move in very basic terms, Brace Pandoltini walks you slowly through a famous game in Solitaire Chess, and gives you the “ABCs” to put you in the right frame of mind. Larry Parr and Lev Mbust combine their efforts to show you how to hone your skills. This month Robert Erkes gives you an idea of what developments all about 2. Give Andy Soltis and Larry Evans a quick read, Enjoy the lighter side of chess, and then see what you can pick up from Evans 25 he answers questions on almost every aspect of the game. IT’S YOUR MOVE 3. I suggest Endgame Lab next. The time you spend with Pal Benko will pay off in triplicate. 4. Then tackle Robert Byrne's 65¢h ‘Square, Game of the Month by Michael Rohde, and Llaorthodox Openings by Joel Benjamin, You won't understand every note; indeed you may want to skip over the analysis the first time through. 5. Play thyough the games in Alex Dunne’s Check Is in the Mail. A new tac- te or strategic concept is sure to hit you right between the eyes. Spend some time with Easy Does ht and Key Krackers and force yourself to develop new thought patterns. 6. Tackle GM Musings by FIDE World Champion Anatoly Karpov, and then play through the rest of the annotated and unannotated games in the magazine. Don't try to fathom the reasons for every ‘move; that will come with practice. For now, be content to develop a feeling for the types of positions that arise from each opening. By the time you finish this regimen, you'll be ready for the next Issue of Chess Life! Chess Fundamentals /Ilustrated Instruction for the beginning player MERE 1 Robert Erkes T ALWAYS ASK YOUNG PLAY- ers what their object is at the begin- hing of the game. Most reply that they are trying to checkmate thelr opponent, I tell them that in the ‘opening one’s object is develop- ment. What is development? Simple development is: In the first 10 moves, to move two pawns, two knights, two bishops, and to castle. Ifyou can de this, you will normally be able to play at least 20-30 moves. The following game, which I played many, many moans ago, shows ‘what not to do in the opening. L.e4 g6 2, d4 By? 3, Be3c5 4, Ne3 The beginning o! my downfall. looks like I have to win a pawn with 10 CHESS LIFE / APRIL 1996 the triple attack on his d4 pawn and my ‘queen also attacking his b2 pawn, But in chess, looks can be deceiving. With his next move, White shows that he under- stands what he was doing better than | knew what | was doing. 5. NAS! Qc6 Now, of Course, Black is lost. [had to play 5... Qd8 if wanted to play on with any hope at all, But aobody wants to admit they made a mistake, Now White plays a very good move —a move which develops a new piece and attacks my queen, At list glance it looks Tike can capture his bishop and win a free piece but if you look closely you will see that | would be walking into a “family-fork” by his knight, 6. BbSt! Qd6 Sad to say, the only square for my queen, Now White wins apavn and agalt attacks my queen, Again I only have one square to goto. 7. dxc5 Qe5 8. NESE White develops his last minor piece with effect. If] take on b2 he will play the zwischenzug (in-between move) 9. RbI and {will lose my a8 rook to the knight fork on ¢7. So, take his e4 pawn, hoping Algebraic Notation Te nota as) are numbered rom 108 starting om thera neoest White The verti (ies) ae tere om ato staring White's et {te Wen algerate othe ae). The inerec: Atoms ofthe hortontals and te wercae give the inal sans ee nen Sythe grr. ‘Capture are ndcsed by x" an checks are nk cated by “ch” HEE 8 t 6 5 4 * Se 2 [a2 b2 2 dd e2 12 g2 i] 1 [at viet arei n gt ‘WHITE Descriptive Notation Descriptive notation uses the same letters a alge. baie forthe pieces, with the ation of Pfr all ‘asen moves. The injorcillerence sin the ay each System Kletities he square to which a plece fe ‘movie In descriptive, the es are named fr the pleces tat stand on then a the beg Ae on which the Kings star, the ele in algebra, ‘he Klein deseripave Silay, he agate the Is the descriptive Ole. The remalaing Hes ae ken ted as betng on the “Queene” (by and es become QR QN snl QBEes) othe "Kingside”™ ‘ai les Secor KE, KN and KR les). seh rank ha eo names ip descriptive notton, ‘Theyre humered | though 8 rom each side othe board, depending on which player is moving. The ‘squat hate "al”inalgebrate would be “QR” for ‘White and “Ql or Back m descriptive, ‘Torecord a move, we ave the name othe pece nd the square it moves to, jst ax in alebrale, For Instance, "1-4 NU" In algerale would be “1-P-Q4 NKBS (Diade KR, which White's YHA) ta sescrpuve, ‘mata 89 WO HORTON, 310.he will take my rook with the check on c7. Ite had done this, 1 ‘would have played my queen to bd with check and an attack on his bishop on b5, and I would have had some hope (22) in the game. However, my opponent again shows he understands what. you should do in the opening, as he completes his development by castling. This leaves me with the problem of how to defend against the fork on c7, s0 I play the worst 72 move you can play in the open- ing. 8... Qxed 9. 0.0 KA8727 10, Ngst ‘My opponent again plays his best move. | stopped his fork on 7, so now he threatens both to ‘win my Queen and to fork on {7. It is sad for "Her Majesty” to be trapped in the middle of the board. There is literally no “safe square” for my queen anywhere (on the board. check it out — it you say [can go to h4 then he will play 11, g8 and if then go to hi he will 1. Be2 and the queen Is ed. And If I play to eS then | mily-forked” with 11. Nxf?+ SO 1 played the oaly move that Tooked any good 10... QF5721 @AS AE ye RAED we ag zy RAR? RRS Bowe ae Can you find the best move for White? I you realize that my queen has no square to go to with- ‘out being captured, you will find White's which forced m y This artle fostoppenred inthe fase of Maryland Chess Newsletter rgonizern the liore are, THE FUN ONE! 1996 NATIONAL OPEN Hold on April 26-28 as Vogas, Nevada 3 w”” ICD Americas Only Authorized Deoer for Bue Top ‘Frofessional based Chess Pla Pro is Proud to ‘Announce The New World Microcomputer Chess Champion The Number One Program on the Highly Respected Swedish Ratings List (Number 1 after 498 games as of 1/6196) Fantastic New Stren th & Features Rates Y« our Learns from its Mistakes Three Selectable 8 Styles of Play Over 400,000 Oper Book Moves Analyzes soa Seas ithout Supervision Classifies Games by Opening Name and ECO Code Compatible with DOS, Windows 95, Windows, and OS/2 Operates with EPD and PGN Files for Use with Databases. Has 100's of Level Settings from Beginner thru Gr m= ee ER Mie 50 TODAY ‘$149. 95 OVERNIGHT AIR - Add $12 (or $8 $8 ground) (cont. US. only - call for shipping elsewhere [Open Every Day] Retail - Wholesale - Mail Order[Au Major Cars] 1-800-645-4710 ICD/Your Move 21 Walt Whitman Rd,, Huntington Sta, NY 11746 USA Phone: $16-424-3300 Fax: $16-424-3405 E-mail: LGTY92A @Prodigy.com APRIL 1996 / CHESS LIFE 11Co] SENSE byLany D. Evans sf Q lj iy Timing Your é Shots peal IT ALL STARTED A COUPLE OF ‘weeks ago, when I called Glenn Peter- son to ask if could write a few arti- cles for Chess Life. He said “fine,” as Jong as | devoted the lirst to "recog: nizing the combinative moment” in a game. "You know,” he went on to elaborate, “how does a master sense when to calculate long variations as opposed to just following some get eral plan?” “What kind of condition is that?" 1 asked myself. Once the premise Is, established that precise calculation requires the ability to force, hence predict the opposing response, the answer is too simple to support a whole article. lean give it in fact, tn fone sentence: Whenever you can pre: dict your opponent's response, you do predict your opponent's response. The more thought about it, however, the more | realized that my new editor had a point. Looking back over the times students have shown me pre- viously played games, their answers toa question like, "Why did you give check here?” usually call to mind Ralph Kramden's reaction to Alice catching him in some analogously hair-brained schem hamana hamana hamana.” Upon closer © amination, this translates into some- thing like: “Why not? (like giving ‘check, it makes me feel like I'm wi 3, perhaps worst ofall, “isn't that what chess is all about?” These are not the answers 1 was ooking for. A master’s reply to the same query would be, “Well, | knew It T gave check his legal responses would be limited to moving the king hhere or here, or sticking this plece in the way. If he chose the first aption, I intended to play this, forcing such- and-such, after which I was going to play...” and so of until he was no longer able to predict a response. The master would then subject the remaining two variations to the same kind of analysis, after which he'd explain how the position resulting re ery rr cod 12 CHESS LIFE / APRIL 1998 from each line of play was an improve- ment over the one with which he started. If he hadn't felt ike doing all that work, a good player never would have considered checking in the first place. don’t just mean a good chess play- er, by-the-way. A good poker player prefers his ace in the hole rather than playing on the table. When a billiard ball ends up kissing one of the pockets, a 00d pool player avoids knocking it in until the proper moment with respect to the other balls, Whatever the game, a strategie principle so innately fogical that it transcends the very framework of each format is: The more powerful a move is, the more important itis to time it correctly. Powerful cliess moves, incidentally, are not restricted to those that give check. Afterall, what is check but a word to say when attacking one of your oppo- nent’s pieces. A move that attacks any of his other pieces or pawns should there- fore be considered in the same light. Con- versely, a move which sacrifices one of your pieces or pawns implies the predi tion that the capture will be executed. For that matter, stoves offering or initiat- ing an exchange of pieces of pawns fall Into the same category. The opportunity to employ conventional tactical themes such as pins, forks, discoveries and the like should not be squandered without calculatory justification. Even threaten- ing miatesin-one is wrong unless you know what you're doing Let me give you a for instance, Last month, while competing in the North American Open in Las Vegas, 1 lound myself playing Black in the following position against veteran master John Curdo. International Master acres house this full-facility camp for young students of chess. Call or write today for more information: A quick evaluation shows Curdo ham- mering away at my queenside while I'm playing for checkmate on the other wing. A mating attack, like any other, requires a preliminary massing of forces In the sector. I've already got my queen and knight there. My bishop doesn't yet know whether to enter the battle through h6, Durst into play after an exchange on £4, or ‘sneak around the backdoor to b6 via 16 and d8. My rooks, on the other hand, have already identified the File as their vehicle, This led me to a choice between 1.-RFV and L... xed Lazy by nature, | decided to examine 1 RI? before tackling the hard one. It Iooked good to me, a preparation for dou- bling rooks on the File that protected the b-pawn against 7th rank invasion, That's it. End of analysis, } certainly wasn't going to waste time and energy trying to predict Curdo's response be- ‘cause 1... 7 wasn't that type of move. Tdid have to bice the bullet on the next one, however. Paraphrasing Giena, | sensed 1... xed as the combinative ‘moment. My opponent clearly meant to recapture with his pawn, so lazy or not | had to get down to work. Ifno variation emerged to justify the exchange, ... R&T would default as the best move. Lany D. Evans presents... rm Paes days L} for boye & girls ages 7-17 | July 5-8, 1996 Nestled on Lake Cuyamaca in the mountains of Julian, California. 60 tree-covered (619) 929-9620 P.O. BOX 1603 - CARLSBAD, CA 92018Once committed, it was easy ta spot that White's intended recapture crum- bled against 2... Nxh3 3. Bxh3 RIS, Let's take a peak into my opponent's head next, to monitor his reaction, For those of you too young to remem ber, John Curdo’s reign as on of the nation’s top ranked competitors dates back even before my first game of chess. Books defining tournament experience right well use his picture to illustrate the concept. It would not be easy to find someone with more practice sensing ng combinations. 'a second of playing 1. . fxe4, hand could even press down uh-oh was written all over his face. Though he didn’t yet know what the combination was, my opponent resolved to sit there until he found it, More than a half-hour later, Curdo uncorked 2. Qdl, preparing to answer 2... Nxh3 3. Bxh3 Raf with 4. QI, rather than his intended recapture on ed The fact that this resource still lost to 4... Raf® is not really relevant. More Important is that Curdo sensed the com- binative moment the instant | flipped over my ace in the hole. He was so cer- tain that I would never have played such. amove without calculation behind it that he chose an ugly response rather than test me with the one originally intended Now be honest. IfThad played 1... fred 1996 U. against you in the game, how long would you have deliberated before shrugging your shoulders and recapturing on ¢ This doesn’t mean Curdo calculates bet- ter. [bet you didn’t even use aset for this article and had no trouble visualizing four moves from the diagram. The differ- ence between his game and yours is that he knew when to start calculating and you didn't. Figure that out and you'll become a much better player. e 1995 Southern Class Championship ‘October 12 15,1995 « Kasimmee, Moria Master/Expert: fet Gabriel Schwartzman, 4 2nd Semton Palatal, Wiser Chaves, 4 Sim Rober Snow, lan shee, (tase A: It Christan Plippone, as 2a: Kent nour bah Thomas Vea, Wallace Adams, Class 8: Is-th Atatides Arjona, Alexnader Paphitis, rte Shen, Pau Kelly. 4 ‘Case €: fr Adan Schoenllder, 5: nd Millard Brown, 8; etn Jrge Cuervo, Rat Redaep, ‘Clas Di Ist Taras Louchtchk, 4% 2nd Christopher MakDy, Scott Galbraith, 4 hh Wiliam McTigue, Randy Dacus, 20 (Clase Eat Glens Goodman, AY). 2nd Christopher Hse. John Bledsoe. 4: Sh By Ape, James Worcester 3 Unrated Ise Ene Sr Saascer, Robert Dela, 34 cr 2rd ed: Russel 148 player TD Sto Init s. CHE Ss Pt tot rising chess stars. 313 On Saturday, June 1, 1996, thousands of ches “mates” from all over the United States will climb aboard the USS Intrepid for the Fifth Annual U.S. CHESSathon. Hundreds of spectators, plus scores of print, radio, and television media will marvel at young chess players challenging the country's top-rated Grandmasters and ‘The U.S. CHESSathon event is made possible by your generosity. Your contribution will grant many needy youngsters the opportunity to compete for valuable prizes. Each participant will receive a chess set, board, T- shirt, and a FREE one-year USCF scholastic membership. Your tax-deductible contributions go to the U.S. Chess Trust, a 501(©)3 charity dedicated to promoting scholastic chess, Put the Fun Back in Chess at the 1996 NATIONAL OPEN April 26-28 Las Vegas see for yourself why so many players keep| lcoming back for the chess event of the year On U.S.[] CHESS See the next Chess Life issue for more details oF cali 914-562-8350, ext. 128! APRIL.1996 / CHESS LIFE 13DERSTANDING Guess by International Master Jeremy Silman No Gospel in Chess. WHEN WE LEARN HOW TO play chess we are told that pawns are worth one point, knights and Dishops are worth three points, cooks are warth five points, a queen is worth nine points, and a king is priceless since its loss also means the loss of the game. These point ‘count comparisons are quite useful at first, but eventually they can actually color our vision when it comes to what pieces are really worth in any given situation. Probably the most commonly seen “argument” with point count tradition is the oltemployed Exchange sacrifice. Grandmasters seem to sactilice raaks far enemy knights and bishops all the time, but ordinary mortals usually get cold feet when it comes to giving up five points for a mere three. ‘When I was a teenager in San Diego. lused to be amazed by the play of a gentleman who learned how to move the pieces at the age ‘of 65 and thought that bishops were better than rooks. He would give up his rooks at the first opportunity for enemy bishops ~ and often win as a result! The fact that this guy could toss away material for no good reason and still retain an “A rating shows us that point count is not a good master to follow. Uwe are going to ignore the dic: tates of point count then what should we be looking for? Well, point count is a uselul too}, but often the normal values of pieces are warped by other positional or tactical considerations. All these things must be taken into account ‘betore any decision of aay kind is made 14 CHESS LIFE ) APH, 1996 White to move Diagram One shows a very common Exchange sacrifice. A grandmaster would- n'thesitate for a moment to play 1... Rec3! 2, bxc3 Nxed, No caleuiation needed, he would just reach out and do it. For the rook, he gets a knight, a strong central pawn and a clear structural advamage. True, he's down four points to five, but It's not an “unreal” count that interests a strong player. ins\ead, he wants 1o gain a5 many advantages (superlor minor piece, pawn structure, space, initiative, ete, ) as possible, material is ust one of many pos sible plusses. In the present situation White's tiny extea point can't make up for Black many caher advantages, Diagram Two ‘Steinite-Chigeria, Havana Match 1892, The position in Diagram Two is very good for White. He has more space, more Active pleces, play against the hole on eS and chances to place pressure against the Black pawns on a6 and c6, Black has just played ... Bb, hoping to trade Took. This follows the rule that the side with less space should seek exchanges since that ‘ould give more oom for his other pieces tomove about in. White did not want ro avoid the swap by ‘moving his rook off the bre, why turn that file over to Black? Instead White played a ‘move that increased all his advantages ina striking way. He played 1. Rb6l. This pow- erful use of the support point on b6 attacks both af and c6 and sends the following message 10 Black, "Hl you want to trade rooks you will have to give me new advanced squares for my pieces, a power- fu} passed pawn on bé and increased pres- sure gaint your pawn an and hole on ‘nother words, White decided that the two points lost alter 1... NxD6 would be more than compensated by all the other positional pluses he gains, White is aot playing for mate, He is not playing for material (of course, White would take a sate or free materlalif his apponent was kind enough to offer them). He Is playing for the acquisition of several small gains ‘that will eventually eap greater rewards, Let's see how this game went 1. RDG! Nxb6 2, exb6! Beeaking aviother rule by taking away from the center! However, in this case White is giving his knight access to eS and giving his dark-squared bishop a chance to fet active along the a8 diagonal, Don't blindly follow rules! Every move you play should add to the strength of the rest of your army. 2. QbT Blacks hoping the knight will be lured tothe eSsquare 3.Ne5+ Placing a knight on c5 would prevent White's dark-squared bishop from getting active on the a348 diagonal (don't let the selfishness of one piece interlere with the activity of the others), By putting the knight on e5 he sets up a future multiple attack against c6 by the knight, ligh Squared bishop and the queen, 3. Kgs This gets the king out of the fring tne. By this time t should be clear that Blacks just reacting to the White threats, 4.Bad White attacks c6 by bringing all his pieces into play. Chess is a team game! Don't use just one or two pieces and forget abour the rest. 4. = QeT This Is desperation, but 4 «. Bd7 5. Qd6 ‘Be8 6. Bb threatening 7. Qf. is complete: ly hopeless. 5. bd ‘Now every White piece is taking part in the battle, Bo O16 ‘The Black queen is out of danger but the torment of the other Black pieces is only Just beginning! 6. Qe3 Aitacking c6 three times. Note that itis not defended at all, 6 NG ‘This ends back rank mate threats but falls victim to other atrocities on the quueenside, 7. Bd6 The simple bishop attack forces the win of the rook and leaves Black withaut a ‘Rood reply. Black resigned after afew more 34