THE ATTACKING MASTERCLASS WITH

IM MAT KOLOSOWSKI
SUMMARY
Introduction

You will learn different ways of attacking the king. We will primarily focus on the
following very common scenarios:

• King in the Center

• Same Side Castling
• Opposite Side Castling
• Counter-Attacking
• Unexpected Attacks and Consequences

During the course, you will get the principles and guidelines for successfully attacking
your opponent’s king. In order to demonstrate those principles in action, I will show you
some of the greatest examples of Grandmaster attacking play from classical era
[Rubenstein, Botvinnik, Spassky, Fischer] to the modern days.

This course will serve you as a nice stepping stone for transitioning into the higher level
chess.

IM Mat Kolosowski
Chapter 1: Don’t let the king Escape from the Center

We will discuss the ways to successfully attack the opponent’s king in various types of
positions. In this chapter, we will focus on attacking the king in the center.

It can either happen because he hasn’t castled or because he was deprived of castling
right.

There are few attacking chess principles that you should be aware of to be a
successful player:

1. Find targets
2. Define what area of the board we are going to attack
3. Bring as many resources as possible [aka “Invite all your friends to the party”]
4. Open files and diagonals [create threats]

Most importantly we need to make sure the opponent’s King is not going to escape. We
can construct the most successful attack in the world, but if the king leaves our “well-
defined” area the attack is basically doomed.

This is very important to always keep in mind, and this is something that many club
players miss.

The common mistake is allowing the opponent’s king to castle away or to run to safety.
This is a big “no-no” and you as an attacking player must prevent it by all means.

Chapter 2: Open files and diagonals

As you already know successful attack consists of multiple stages. Bringing in your
pieces and opening up the position are the key elements of any attack.

One of the classical ways to open up the position is marching your pawns and forcing
exchanges.

Chapter 3: Inviting all your friends to the party

Bringing all your resources into the attack is a very important stepping stone to make
sure it is a successful one.

Many club players make a common mistake of not utilizing all the pieces for the attack.
And if that happens, oftentimes the attack can be deflected by the defending forces and
even change direction and go into the counter-attack. You surely don’t want that to
happen.

It is not possible to answer exactly how many pieces you need, but as a rule of thumb,
you should have more pieces than your opponent does in a particular area of the board
where you conduct an attack.

Only by having more pieces, creating dangerous threats and gaining the initiative, the
resulting attack may turn out to be the game-winning one.

Chapter 4: Right timing is the key

The king is the center is usually not the only problem the defending side experiences
while being under attack.

Another important nuance is that the rooks are typically not connected. And that
decreases mobility of defender’s pieces and reduces defensive potential. If you
understand that, you know the theory, in other words how to attack.

However, the other problem that many players are facing when it comes to attacking is
when exactly to attack.

How do we know when it is the right moment to start an attack?

Bobby Fischer answers this question for us in his game in Chapter 4.

His opponent made few small inaccuracies allowing Bobby to gain the initiative and
launch an unstoppable attack.

Chapter 5: Seize the initiative

Here we are talking about opposite side of the board castling. From the very beginning,
we are taught to castle as quickly as possible in the opening.

Not only it puts the king into safety, but it also connects the rooks and makes further
development possible. That’s what most chess players do because it supposed to be
safe – at least theoretically.
However, you need to understand that during the course of the game things happen.
There are various threats and pieces are forced to retreat to the “non-ideal” squares.
Then the attacking opportunities are created. It is especially so about gaining the
initiative.

When the opponent gives up important square’s control, you may seize it coming on
top. Previously we have learned that initiative is very important mainly because we don’t
allow the opponent’s king to escape or to castle.

The question is how the initiative is going to be important if the opponent’s king has
already castled? The truth is the initiative is at least equally important if not more
important when attacking the castled king. It is the key strategical idea allowing winning
the game in opposite-side castle positions.

One of the main elements of gaining the initiative is the sacrifice. By sacrificing a pawn it
is possible to gain the momentum, accelerate your attack and get hopefully get access
to opponent’s king.

Chapter 6: First come first served

One of the very common themes in the opposite side castling is the pawns’ race. Both
sides are launching simultaneous pawn strikes towards the opponent’s king and the
fastest side usually has a winning attack.

Those are very double sided positions with counter chances for both sides. Lines are
sharp and lots of tactics are present.

You need to have nerves of still to play this in an important game and have a good
understanding of pawn breaks' mechanics.

The key elements remain the same:

1. The initiative
2. Getting access to opponent’s king
3. Opening up the position

Chapter 7: It’s not the value of the pieces but their number that counts

Making the Attacking Masterclass and not including at least one game played by Garry
Kasparov just won’t be fair.
What we can learn from Garry and this particular game is how to bring the pieces into
the attack and use it as effectively as possible.
The most important point I want you to remember is that when it comes to attacking, the
static value of the pieces is irrelevant.

What’s important to understand and sometimes quite difficult to comprehend that it is

the number of pieces that decide the game.

You can have less powerful pieces, but if you have a quantitative advantage [3 vs. 2]
then there is a pretty good chance for success.

Chapter 8: Be creative

This is a perfect example of how to outfox your opponent during the course of an
attack.

As you already know time is the most important factor in opposite side castling.
We need to break through and get access to the opponent’s king, while he will try to
accomplish exactly the same.

We usually can accelerate our attack and open files and diagonals by sacrificing pawns.
Usually the first player in this race gets higher odds for the successful attack.
Oftentimes, you need to live on the edge, and make very precise moves to achieve the
goal. Any mistake would finish the game.

Chapter 9: Be creative

We start talking about the same side castling and the ways to engage the opponent’s
king. There are two main types of attacks in such positions:

1. Pawns attack
2. Piece attack

The type of an attack is usually dictated by the situation in the center, but there are
always exceptions to that rule. Understanding of pawn structures is very important. In
closed-center positions it is safe to take additional risk of advancing your king’s side
pawns to attack your opponent’s castled king.

In this example we will look exactly when you can and when you absolutely shouldn’t do
that.
Chapter 10: Transition from closed to open position

There are many common opening that involve closed center. One of such opening is of
course the King’s Indian. In many lines black transfer most of his pieces to the king’s
side, playing for the pawn storm.

In the meantime, white is trying to make progress on the queen side. The game
becomes more strategic, and the side with better timing usually has the advantage.

Another thing to keep in mind about the positions with the closed center is that it
becomes much harder to transfer pieces from one part of the board to the other.

It can play a crucial role, when your opponent is not capable of bringing his defensive
resources to where they are most needed. As an attacker you should always keep this
very important strategical idea in mind.

When the position is closed defending and counter-attacking is very restricted. Thus the
side that started an attack first has a huge advantage right away.

Make sure that whenever you’re attacking the center is closed. Because if it’s not you
might just push too hard and end up under a strong counter-attack.

Chapter 11: Get access to the opponent’s king at any cost

This is a perfect example taught by Garry Kasparov of what can happen when your
opponent overextends his pawns on one of the flanks for an attack.

Overextension has pros and cons.

Space advantage and better piece mobility are some of the pluses. However, it
comes at a price of compromising the king’s safety, and sometimes that price can be
very high.

The rule to keep in mind when your opponent overextends his pieces is that you should
open the position. In open positions his overextended pawns and especially the
exposed king become targets, give you a very straightforward attacking plan.

Chapter 12: Lack of coordination

In this lesson we are going to study how to attack the same-side castled king using a
very creative tactical idea to force your opponent’s king into an open space. This is by
far the easiest method of same side castling attack.

Another important thing to remember is not look at the static value of the pieces but
rather at their number involved in the attack.
Chapter 13: It’s always easier to attack than to defend

It’s not a secret that playing an attacking chess is easier and more effective than playing
defensively. The goal of the game is to checkmate your opponent and attacks are
leading to exactly that.

When you’re defending you have to pick the most precise moves. You cannot afford to
play secondary lines, because they will lead to even more trouble.

Also you cannot make any mistakes, because it may very well be the last mistake of the
game.

When you are attacking, even if you make an inaccuracy you won’t lose the game. The
cost of a mistake is much lower than for a defending player. That’s a much better
position to be in. It’s almost like playing with an extra piece.

Overall, it is easier to attack than to defend.

Chapter 14: Bombard them with sacrifices

Knowing the theory of the attacking chess is one part of the success. However, without
proper tactical preparation and calculation skills you won’t be able to achieve the results
you’ve been looking for. Tactics is a big part of the attacking chess, and if you want to
become a strong attacker, I suggest you to add it into your training.

There is nothing sophisticated in tactics you need to become a strong player, but it’s
something you should not forget about.

Putting everything together is what makes a great attacking player:

• when to start calculating

• when to start attacking
• when to look for tactics

Chapter 15: Bring all of your resources

To have a successful attack you need to utilize all your resources including pieces and
pawns. Sometimes there is not enough material on the board to checkmate the
opponent. And I’m not talking about those theoretically drawn endgames.
Sometimes even in the Middlegame there aren’t enough available material. In order to
succeed with an attack you need to be creative and find non-standard resources. You
will understand what I mean after going over the example game from this chapter.

Chapter 16: Don’t be afraid to make concessions

When do we get to create a counter-attack and what is an unexpected attack? Both

of these types of attack have something in common.

Both types of attacks begin with some sort of a trigger. It is typically about shifting the
initiative.

When you’re counter-attacking it means you’ve been under attack and after some
unexpected sequence of moves you take over and start attacking on your own.

The difference in unexpected attack, it’s not necessary that one of the players was
originally under attack or attacking at all.

Maybe position was peacefully balanced with no contact points. Strategy is very
important when it comes to attacking, and the side that makes higher degree of correct
decisions generally wins.

Chapter 17: It ain’t over until it’s over

In this game we are going to see the typical case of counter-attack. One of the players
is going to get the access to the opponent’s king, and it’s going to be Kasparov. But with
a well-timed move sequence Kramnik will take over the initiative and launch a
successful counter-attack.

Chapter 18: Evaluation must come along with calculation

Unexpected attack starts when after a “surprising” sequence of moves one of the
players simply find himself in trouble.

There are various reasons why this kind of attacks happens on the board. After
analyzing many of the games connected to this issue I realized that the main reason
why unexpected attacks happen is because the player is not accessing the position
correctly. For example, it is very to miss an attacking possibility when the position
seems not to have any grounds for an attack.

If you are playing a strategic position, loaded with tons of maneuvering ideas and you’re
mainly focused on improving your pieces and fighting for important squares then there
is a good chance of missing an unexpected attacking possibility. Another reason for
missing an attacking opportunity may be losing concentration or focus.
We won’t dwell too much on that, because it’s mostly about blunders.

The final reason of not realizing the attacking opportunity is overestimating your own
position.

Chapter 19: Strategic positions maybe rich in tactics

In this lesson we will see what happens if one of the players loses concentration and
only focuses on strategic aspects of the game.