Art of Attack in Chess Read online

  A few more words should be said about the kind of superiority which is necessary before a mating attack can be undertaken. We are interested in the case where the advantage is not one of material but of position and time. The attacker is, as a rule, stronger in the area where the attack takes place by virtue of his material preponderance there, but his superiority in this respect must be considerable. Even a simple pattern with the queen mating from the focal-point needs at least one other piece to cover the focal-point, which already means an advantage of two pieces against a lone king. For such pieces to be brought into the attack, together with any further attacking pieces which may be necessary, one must also have a temporal advantage, that is, the ability to carry out a series of attacking moves without one’s opponent being able to organize either a direct defence or a sufficiently strong counterattack. A temporal advantage of this kind is usually based on the attacker’s positional advantage, i.e. by the comparative lack of mobility of his opponent’s pieces for defensive purposes. The attacker often does not possess such outstanding overall superiority at the commencement of his attack, but it may manifest itself later as a consequence of the immobility of some of the defending pieces or through a particular attacking combination. The skill of perceiving the right moment to launch one’s attack in fact consists of making a correct assessment of possibilities such as these.

  All these points go to show that the correct launching of an attack is the crucial difficulty which has caused so many masters to turn away from the attacking style. They would rather try to obtain something through positional technique, where the downside is nothing worse than a draw; all too often this is exactly what they do achieve. Still, if advancement in the art of attack is neglected, if opportunities for a perfectly feasible attack are passed by, how are games going to be won when technique comes up against technique? Without exploring the art of attack more deeply, there can be no further advance in chess. Attack is an essential component of the game of chess; it is a spark which smoulders in every corner and only the player who knows how to keep it alive and make it burst into flame at the right moment has reached the heights of true mastery. Lasker once acutely observed that if there is ever any possibility of an attack one must carry it out, since otherwise one’s advantage will evaporate.

  1 The attack against the uncastled king

  Making a mating attack on a king which had not yet castled was one of the joys of chess players in the past. These days the victim of such an attack is usually someone playing a master in a simultaneous display who has failed to castle at the right time.

  The initial position of the king before it castles contains two main weaknesses. One is that it is exposed if the e-file is opened up; the second is that the square f7 in Black’s position (f2 is the corresponding weak point for White) is vulnerable, since it is covered by the king alone. It is therefore natural that the vast majority of attacks on an uncastled king exploit one of these weaknesses.

  The attack along the e-file

  The first and most fundamental condition for an attack along the e-file is that the opponent’s king should be on that file, and that for some reason it is impossible or difficult for it to move away. If all the adjacent squares are occupied by the king’s own pieces or controlled by the opponent’s, its escape is absolutely impossible. However, if the player is simply being prevented from castling, but other squares are not covered, the movement of the king is only relatively restricted; in other words, it can move at the cost of losing the right to castle. Castling can also be thwarted indirectly: for instance, if the king has to guard one of the pieces which is protecting it (e.g. on e7 in Black’s case).

  The second condition for an attack of this kind depends on the attacker’s own circumstances. First of all, the e-file should be open, or it should at any rate be in the attacker’s power to open it; the attacker should also either have a piece which can control a file (a rook or queen) on the file or be able quickly to post one on it. Besides this, he usually needs to strengthen his pressure on the e-file, for instance by doubling rooks or by attacking one of his opponent’s pieces which is on the file and protecting the king.

  From these necessary conditions it transpires that in an attack along the e-file there lends to be a chain of defence. and the attack is carried out against the central unit of the chain, that is, the piece protecting the king. If this piece is on the square directly in front of the king (e7 or e2), the attacker may be able to mate by capturing it with his queen (or rook), i.e. by making the square into the focal-point.

  An attack on the e-file tends to occur most frequently at an early stage of the game. The following miniature is an example of how rapidly this kind of attack may develop after an opening mistake:

  Meesen - H. Muller

  Correspondence Game, 1928/9

  English Opening

  1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 Nf3 Nc6 4 d4 exd4 5 Nxd4 Bb4 6 Nxc6 bxc6 7 g3? Qe7

  A good move, which counters White’s plan (Bg2 and 0-0) by attacking along the e-file. If White were now to play 8 e3, such an attack would admittedly not follow, but he would still be weakening his position.

  8 Bg2 Ba6 9 Qd3 d5 10 b3 d4!

  An interesting move; Black abandons his attack on the e-file for the time being, transferring his pressure to the weakened diagonal a5-e1. If White now takes the c6-pawn 11 Bxc6+ Kf8 and then the a8-rook, 12 Bxa8 Black can win a piece by 12 ... Bxc3+ and Bxa1.

  11 Qxd4 Rd8

  Forcing the queen to give up the defence of the knight.

  12 Bxc6+ Kf8 13 Bd5 Rxd5! 0-1

  White resigns, since 13 ... Rxd5 14 cxd5 is followed by 14 ... Qxe2#. Play returns to the e-file at the final point of victory.

  With an attack along the e-file. the main difficulty can often be the actual opening up of the file, especially if everything else has already been achieved, as, for example, in the following game:

  Chigorin - Burn

  Ostend, 1906

  King’s Gambit Declined

  1 e4 e5 2 f4 Bc5 3 Nf3 d6 4 Bc4 Nf6 5 c3 0-0 6 d3 Nc6 7 Qe2 Re8 8 f5 d5 9 Bb3

  This position contains the three elements already referred to (king on e1, queen on e2 and the black rook on e8), and it is only a question of opening up the e-file. This aim can be promoted by the sacrifice of Black’s bishop on f5:

  9 ... Bxf5!

  After 10 exf5 e4, the important point is that White cannot avoid opening up the e-file since removing his knight would be followed by 11 ... exd3. But if Black had played more weakly with 9 ... dxe4? 10 dxe4 Bxf5 11 exf5 e4, he would have lost the chance of playing ... exd3, and White could have moved his knight and avoided opening up the file. The play after 10 ... e4 is no longer of interest; White could still try 11 Kd1 exf3 12 Qxf3, after which 12 ... Ne5 followed by 13 ... Ng4 or 13 ... d4 would lead to a great advantage for Black.

  In the game itself, White declined the sacrifice by 10 Bg5 but lost quickly:

  10 ... dxe4 11 dxe4 Bxe4 12 Qc4 Qd5 13 Qb5 Bf2+ 0-1

  If the e-file is already open and the last defender is a piece on e2 (or e7 for Black) then the operation often takes the form of a systematic attempt to undermine the defence of the critical square, thus making e2 into a focal-point. The following diagram gives an example of this kind of operation:

  This position is from the game Hansen-Lundin, Oslo 1928.

  1 ... Rxd4! 2 Nxd4 Nxd4 3 cxd4

  Alternatives were 3 0-0-0 Nxe2+; and 3 Rd1 Qxe2+, etc.

  3 ... Bb4

  To avoid mate White now had to consent to the loss of his queen by 4 Kf2, but he resigned after 4 ... Bxd2 5 Bxg4+ f5 6 Bxd2 fxg4 7 Rhe1 Qxd4+ 8 Be3 Qxb2+ 9 Kf1 Re8 0-1

  This position supplies a convenient example of the method of play against a piece protecting the king.

  White, to move, must discover the correct way to increase his pressure against the bishop on e7. He would not achieve enough by 1 Qe2 Kf8 2 Bxe7+ Nxe7 3 Ng5 Nf5, and Black has defended himself successfully. 1 Re2 would similarly be useless, while if 1 Rxe7+ Nxe7 2 Bf6 (or 2 Qe2 f6 and th
en ... Rf8), Black would still be able to maintain the balance by playing 2 ... Kd7 (3 Qe2 c6, etc). White’s only correct move is:

  1 Bf6!

  In this way White not only prevents Black from castling but also stops him from countering with ... f6.

  1 ... 0-0 would be answered by 2 Rxe7 Nxe7 3 Qe2! Re8 4 Qd2 Kh7 5 Ng5+ Kg8 6 Ne6! fxe6 7 Qh6 Nf5 8 Qxg6+, and White wins.

  1 ... Rf8 2 Rxe7+!

  A rook sacrifice of this type is often necessary if an attack along the e-file is to be forced home. It is essentially a question of freeing the square e1 for the second rook, while the first, in being sacrificed, eliminates one of the pieces defending e7.

  JN: 2 Qd3! is even more convincing. Black can only prevent the deadly 3 Rxe7+ Nxe7 4 Re1 by 2 ... Kd7, but after 3 Qb5+ his position collapses immediately.

  2 ... Nxe7 3 Qe2 Qd7

  If 3 ... Kd7, then 4 Re1 Re8 5 Qb5+ Kc8 6 Qc4 d5 7 Qe2 Kd7 8 Ne5+, and White wins.

  4 Re1 Qe6

  JN: 4 ... 0-0-0 5 Bxe7 Rde8 would enable Black to fight on.

  5 Qb5+ c6 6 Qxb7, and White wins.

  White’s play in the following position (Ravinsky-Panov, Moscow 1943) is an excellent example of a well-conducted attack along the e-file.

  1 Rxd7! Nxd7 2 Nxe6 fxe6 3 Qxe6+ Be7

  If 3 ... Kd8, then 4 Bg5+ Kc7 5 Qc6+ Kb8 6 Bf4+ Rc7 7 Bxc7+ Qxc7 8 Qa8#.

  4 Re1 Qc5 5 b4! Nf8?

  Better would have been 5 ... Qxb4 6 Bg5 Qxe1+ 7 Qxe1 Nf6, when Black has excellent drawing chances. After the text move he loses in all variations.

  6 Qg4!

  Avoiding exchanges and keeping an eye on e8.

  6 ... Qc3 7 Rxe7+!

  A new and decisive sacrifice.

  7 ... Kxe7 8 Bg5+ Kd6 9 Qd1+ Kc7 10 Bf4+ Kb6 11 Qd6+ Ka7 12 Qe7+ Rc7 13 Bxc7

  Simpler, of course, would have been 13 Be3+ Kb8 14 Qd8+ Rc8 15 Qb6#.

  13 ... Qa1+ 14 Bf1 Ng6 15 Qc5+ Kb7 16 Ba5 Rf8

  Or 16 ... Rc8 17 Qb6+ Ka8 18 Qxa6+ Kb8 19 Bc7+ and 20 Qxa1.

  17 Qb6+ 1-0

  If 17 ... Ka8, then 18 Qc6+ Kb8 19 Bc7+, mating in a few moves.

  The following brilliancy by Steinitz is an example of a game in which White plays consistently to build up pressure on the e-file and finally makes his decisive breakthrough there.

  Steinitz - Von Bardeleben

  Hastings, 1895

  Giuoco Piano

  1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 c3 Nf6 5 d4 exd4 6 cxd4 Bb4+ 7 Nc3 d5

  Nowadays one would play 7 ... Nxe4, which is better.

  8 exd5 Nxd5 9 0-0 Be6 10 Bg5 Be7? 11 Bxd5

  White now carries out a series of exchanges to keep up the pressure along the e-file and prevent Black from castling.

  11 ... Bxd5 12 Nxd5 Qxd5 13 Bxe7 Nxe7 14 Re1 f6

  Black realizes that he cannot succeed in castling, since if 14 ... Qd7, White will increase his pressure on e7 by 15 Qe2. In playing 14 ... f6 Black aims at ‘artificial castling’ by means of ... Kf7 followed by ... Rhe8 and ... Kg8; the move also limits the activity of White’s knight. However. these are all excuses made in a situation which is already unhealthy for Black as a result of his weak 10th move.

  15 Qe2 Qd7 16 Rac1

  16 ... c6?

  Better would have been 16 ... Kd8; the text move does not prevent d4-d5, which White now plays with the aim of clearing d4 for his knight.

  JN: According to contemporary analysis, Black could have equalized by 16 ... Kf7, but White could have gained the advantage earlier by 16 Rad1!.

  17 d5! cxd5 18 Nd4 Kf7 19 Ne6 Rhc8 20 Qg4 g6 21 Ng5+!

  The beginning of a great combination, one of the finest in 19th-century chess. The black king now has to go back on to the dangerous e-file.

  21 ... Ke8 22 Rxe7+! Kf8

  White’s sacrificial assault on e7 crowns his attack on the e-file. As a result of his weakness on that file, Black consented to weaken his position elsewhere, as frequently happens once a basic defect has appeared. If he were to play 22 ... Kxe7, then 23 Re1+ Kd6 24 Qb4+ Kc7 (or 24 ... Rc5 25 Re6+) 25 Ne6+ Kb8 26 Qf4+ wins, so Black decides to decline the sacrifice, hoping to exploit the fact that he is himself threatening to mate on c1.

  23 Rf7+ Kg8

  23 ... Qxf7 would, of course, be followed by 24 Rxc8+.

  24 Rg7+! Kh8

  Black cannot get rid of this impudent rook, since if 24 ... Kxg7, then 25 Qxd7+; or if 24 ... Qxg7, then 25 Rxc8+.

  25 Rxh7+ 1-0

  At this point Steinitz’s opponent left the tournament hall and never reappeared. By these offensive means he hoped to deprive Steinitz of ‘a piece of immortality’, but the textbooks have noted White’s intentions all the same: 25 Rxh7+ Kg8 26 Rg7+ Kh8 27 Qh4+ Kxg7 28 Qh7+ Kf8 29 Qh8+ Ke7 30 Qg7+ Ke8 31 Qg8+ Ke7 32 Qf7+ Kd8 33 Qf8+ Qe8 34 Nf7+ Kd7 35 Qd6#.

  The attack on the square f7

  Black’s weakest square on the board before castling is f7 (f2 for White). Even in the opening stages, threats of a sacrificial assault on f7 (or f2) are common; they are usually connected with an attack on the king or even with the idea of mate, in which case the square becomes the focal-point of a mating attack.

  Later on, after castling kingside, the rook protects this vulnerable square and its weakness is greatly diminished, while after castling queenside the weakness of the square has no connection with a mating attack.

  The most straightforward examples of assaults on f7 are to be seen at the beginning of certain open games, especially in the Petroff Defence and the Philidor Defence. We shall examine one example of this kind:

  1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6 3 Bc4 Ne7?

  Let us allow Black to play this bad move so as to reach a typical crisis over the square f7 as quickly as possible.

  4 Ng5 d5 5 exd5 Nxd5 6 Qf3

  6 d4 is also good.

  6 ... Qxg5

  After 6 ... Be6 7 Nxe6 fxe6 8 Qh5+ Black loses a pawn and the right to castle.

  7 Bxd5

  and Black loses at least a pawn. If 7 Bxd5 f5, then 8 Bxb7 e4 9 Qb3 Qxg2 10 Rf1 and White wins.

  Naturally, various attacks can be made on the uncastled king other than via the e-file or f7; these are only two of the commonest and most typical methods. The following example shows how a threat along the e-file can be indirectly combined with pre-castling attacks of another kind.

  Keres - Kotov

  Budapest Ct, 1950

  Sicilian Najdorf

  1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Be2 Qc7 7 Bg5 Nbd7 8 0-0 e6 9 Bh5 Qc4?

  Here White carried out the following Sicilian trick, the kind of thing at which Keres was a master:

  10 Nxe6! Qxe6 11 Nd5

  Black now went on to parry the threat of Nc7+ with 11 ... Kd8? and after 12 Bg4 Qe5 13 f4 Qxe4 14 Bxd7 Bxd7 15 Nxf6 he found himself in a hopeless position.

  An alternative was to let the e-file be opened up by 11 ... Nxd5 12 exd5 Qf5 13 Re1+ Ne5 14 f4, which would perhaps have been less unpleasant for Black, e.g. 14 ... g6 15 fxe5 (15 g4 is weaker on account of 15 ... Qxg5 16 fxg5 Bg7, etc) 15 ... dxe5 16 Qe2 f6, etc.

  JN: Indeed, after 16 Qe2 the reply 16 ... Qxg5 just leaves Black a piece up. Keres himself gave the continuation 13 Qe1+ (instead of 13 Re1+) 13 ... Ne5 14 f4 h6 15 fxe5 Qxg5 16 exd6+ as leading to a winning attack for White.

  A few further examples will show different aspects of the attack against the square f7:

  Keres - Winter

  Warsaw OL, 1935

  Sicilian, 2...Nf6

  1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 e5 Nd5 4 Nc3 e6 5 Nxd5 exd5 6 d4 d6 7 Bg5 Qa5+ 8 c3 cxd4 9 Bd3 dxc3 10 0-0 cxb2 11 Rb1 dxe5 12 Nxe5 Bd6

  In this position White decided the game by sacrificing his knight on f7:

  13 Nxf7! Kxf7 14 Qh5+

  A sacrificial assault on f7 must as a rule be followed up by aggressive action, so as not to allow Black time to consolidate (e.g. with an artificial castling by means of ... Rf8 and ... Kg8). The advantage of the capture is twofold: the king, in moving to f7, loses the right to castle and is exposed still further; at the same time, a weakness appears on the diagonal h5-e8. Such features should
be quickly and energetically exploited, since they are on the whole of a transitory nature.

  14 ... g6

  If 14 ... Kf8, then 15 Rfe1 Bd7 16 Qf3+ Kg8 17 Be7 Bxe7 18 Rxe7, etc. Or if 14 ... Ke6, then 15 Bf5+! Kxf5 16 Bd2+ is strongest.

  15 Bxg6+ hxg6 16 Qxh8 Bf5 17 Rfe1 Be4 18 Rxe4! dxe4 19 Qf6+ 1-0

  Since if 19 Qf6+ Kg8 (or 19 ... Ke8 20 Qe6+ Kf8 21 Bh6#) then 20 Qxg6+ Kf8 21 Qxd6+, followed by further checks and mate.

  The next position is from the game Varein-NN. Here White carried out the following combination:

  1 Bxf7+ Kxf7 2 Nd5!

  This double attack on Black’s b4-bishop and f4-pawn promotes a further attack on the exposed king by means of a rapid deployment of the queen’s bishop; the position of Black’s dark-squared bishop and queen helps White to gain some important tempi.

  2 ... Be7 3 Bxf4 Qh4 4 Nf3 Qh1+ 5 Kf2 Qxa1 6 Ne5+ Ke8 7 Qh5+ g6 8 Nxc7+ Kf8 9 Qh6+ Kg8 10 Ne8 Bf8 11 Nf6#