We were discussing Which is stronger – Bishop or Knight in our previous post.
In this part – Which is stronger – Bishop or Knight – Part – 2 I am going to show you a classic game played between Gligoric and Trifunovic in which Knight is proved to be superior to a Bishop.
This is somewhat an achievement!
This caught my eye as something that deserves a separate post as a showcase for this topic.
Let us look at a position that shows an excellent positional sacrifice. Such examples help us understand the concept of a positional sacrifice – which means giving away a higher value piece for the enemy’s lower value piece to attain a good advantage for a win or at times a draw (in case the game seems lost).
Excellent Positional Sacrifice
At first sight, White’s chances are preferable. He has two bishops, and although the one at b2 is passive, it is free to come into play via c1. Black’s pawn majority on the queen-side is ephemeral (the move b4 doesn’t give anything in particular), whereas White is ready for activity in the centre.
He can first strengthen his position by the advance of the h-pawn, but White’s main aim is the e5-e6 breakthrough. This threat is highly unpleasant and it is not altogether clear how to combat it.
But on a close examination of the placing of the black pieces and the features of the position, it will be noticed that its evaluation could change if the black knight were able to occupy the d5 – square.
Here the knight not only blocks the d4 – pawn, but also takes away some good squares from the white pieces (for example, f4 from the queen).
However, it is not so easy for the knight to reach d5: for this the rook has to move from e7.
For example, 25…Ra7!? – after 26. e6 f6 27. Bf3 Ne7 everything is still far from clear; in any event, there is no apparent way of forcibly exploiting the powerful passed pawn.
Black retains control of the light squares, and even if the pawn should advance to e7, the g6 – bishop can come to the rescue. But this would have been falling in with White’s plans!
And Black makes a move which many players, unfamiliar with this games, would consider a blunder and at which the computer would ‘laugh its heart out’ if it had one!.
In this position, Black played 25… Re6!!.
The move is indeed incredible: the rook simply place itself en-prise. For the sake of what? In order to block the advance of the pawn and also to open the way for the knight to d5.
Let us ponder over the position and ask us ourselves:
Why should a rook be stronger than a minor piece here?
After all, a rook requires open lines, it needs to have something to attack, whereas minor pieces require strong points and pawn support.
In the given instance there is a shortage of open lines, and it is no longer possible to prevent the knight from reaching d5, where it will be impregnable. In addition, from d5 the knight will be attacking the c3 – pawn, and if the white bishop does not manage to switch to d2, it will remain ‘vegetating’ at b2.
It is practically impossible to break Black’s light square defenses; white simply does not have sufficient resources to do so.
Thus, when this staggering move is made on the board, we can understand perfectly well the reasons that induced Black to give up the exchange, and we can grasp the deep strategic meaning of what has occurred.
After 25… Re6, White played 26. a4. An attempt, by creating tension on the queen-side, to open lines and exploit the exchange advantage. The game was agreed to a draw after 41 moves.
This game featuring an excellent Positional Sacrifice was played between S. Reshevsky and T. Petrosian, Candidates Tournament, Zurich 1953.
A wild game of Chess that swung both ways was played between Lilienthal and Ragozin. White played fantastically, playing on both sides. Black was dancing with all his pieces!
I will be posting more such good games that happen to catch my fancy.
What is the best advice for chess players? As an independent Chess Coach, I have realized that there are some points to keep in mind, to improve your chess game – especially when you see a Tactic.
On this page, you will find a brief discussion of the useful thinking aids for BEGINNERS – chess tactics.
Read more…
Most of you may have experienced this phenomenon whilst playing chess.
You may have spotted a beautiful combination like say a smothered mate, and you did a quick cross-check.
You realized that this was your moment of glory and that you could after all play like Tal.
Chances are – it may not be the best playable move!
Who knows it may even be an outright blunder!
When you see a Tactic… and rush headlong in it only to realize that it was a mirage, what do you do??
And worse is when your opponent has seen the same tactic that you have just noticed, also knows the refutation, that may either destroy your position and the game.
Here is one tip that I believe all Chess players must remember to improve their tactical strokes.
Pause. When you spot a tactic, pause and visualize your combination.
I know it sounds clichéd and obvious.
The time spent calculating is worth the wait as you will be playing a winning position if your move was actually a winning one – and if the move is not good then at least your position will not deteriorate further.
When we see a tactic and quickly rush to play it, we may have overseen something really basic in the calculations such as:
The opponent has a subtle intermezzo or in-between move that causes us to fail in our tactical expectations.
The combination can easily be refuted either by a counter sacrifice or a non-acceptance of the sacrificed piece causing a big change in the expected outcome.
The move is easily and simply refuted and results in an inferior position, one that is very easy for the opponent to convert to a win.
Round-up:
So when you see a tactic, remember this adage – “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread”.
My suggestion is to not rush to play it.
Pause for a moment, and calculate the ramifications of the combination- it is after all a critical moment.
Now comes the other side of the story.
Even though we know what tactics are, you may think…
How do I spot a possible tactic in my Chess Games?
In other words, what are the signals that I should look for?
And why am I not able to find the tactic faster rather than seeing them in the post-game analysis?
Answer:
Because we do not know what are the exact thinking algorithms that we need to pursue every move.
Shortcut to find the tactics in a chess game
I will describe the complex thinking method (yes there is a step-by-step method) in a future post, but one of the initial steps in the thinking algorithms is to “look for forcing moves“.
This search is the most important mantra every chess player should remember.
What are Forcing moves in Chess?
Forcing moves are those moves that force your opponent to reply (predictably).
The different types of Forcing moves
Attacks
Captures
Threats
Sacrifices to win material or checkmate
Pawn breaks
Forcing moves play a major role in chess thinking.
Now, wait.
Don’t rush to follow me blindly before you read my next tip:-
A shortcut to finding the forcing moves is to first look for the active pieces in a position and remove the sleeping pieces from your mind – for the sake of focus.
After reading this article about chess tactics and forcing moves, I truly hope that your tactical acumen will improve.
Remember:
First look at the active pieces in a position and then shortlist the forcing moves.
When you see a Tactic – pause.
If there are no useful forcing moves possible – then we need to improve our piece coordination.
The 2nd Wuxi Chess Women Masters Tournament took place from 10th April to 19th April 2012 in Wuxi, Jiangsu, China.
Ten players competed in the round robin tournament for the prize fund of 215,000 Yuan.
GM Zhao Xue took a clear first place by collecting 6.5/9 points. Her only loss came from the hands of the lowest rated WGM Gu Xiaobing. In return, Zhao defeated the nearest follower IM Bela Khotenashvili.
Wuxi Chess Women Masters – Final standings:
1. GM Zhao Xue CHN 2543 – 6.5
2. IM Khotenashvili Bela GEO 2490 – 6.0
3-4. WGM Tan Zhongyi CHN 2438 and WGM Ju Wenjun CHN 2557 – 5.0
5-6. WGM Zhang Xiaowen CHN 2354 and WGM Huang Qian CHN 2399 – 4.5
7-8. IM Muzychuk Mariya UKR 2490 and WGM Ding Yixin CHN 2350 – 4.0
9. WGM Gu Xiaobing CHN 2257 – 3.0
10 WGM Shen Yang CHN 2440 – 2.5
