Art of Attack in Chess Read online

  The continuation in this position, which arose in the game Asgeirsson-Raud, Munich OL 1936, is an example of an attack by Black on White’s weak square at f2.

  1 ... Nxf2! 2 Kxf2 Ng4+ 3 Ke1

  If 3 Kg3, then Black follows up the attack with 3 ... Qc7+, and White’s king is too exposed.

  3 ... Nxe3 4 Qd2 d4 5 Nd1 Nxg2+ 6 Kf2 Nh4 7 Rf1 Bh3 8 Rg1 Rad8 9 Rg3 d3 10 Bxd3 Nxf3 11 Rxf3 Qh4+ 12 Rg3 Rxd3 13 Qxd3 Qf4+ 14 Qf3 Qd2+ 15 Kg1 Re1+ 0-1

  Black mates next move.

  A similar assault on f2 by two knights from c5 and g4 earned Black the First Brilliancy Prize in the following game:

  Réti - H. Wolf

  Teplitz Schönau, 1922

  Queen’s Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defence

  1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 Be7 5 e3 0-0 6 Nf3 Nbd7 7 Rc1 c6 8 Qc2 a6 9 c5?!

  Here this method of blocking the position is unsound because of Black’s central advance with ... e5. Nowadays one would play 9 a3 or 9 cxd5.

  9 ... e5! 10 dxe5 Ng4 11 Bxe7 Qxe7 12 Na4 Re8

  The pawn on e5 will not escape Black’s clutches.

  13 Bd3 h6 14 Nd4 Ndxe5 15 Nb6?

  A mistake which allows Black to strike at f2. White should have castled, though his position would still have been somewhat inferior.

  15 ... Nxf2! 16 Bh7+

  The critical continuation here is 16 Kxf2 Ng4+ 17 Ke1 (17 Kg3 would allow 17 ... Qe5+ 18 Kh4 Qg5+ etc) 17 ... Qxe3+ 18 Ne2 f5! 19 Bxf5 Qf2+ 20 Kd2 Rxe2+ 21 Kc3 Qxc5+ and Black wins.

  16 ... Kh8 17 0-0

  Now 17 Kxf2 would be even weaker, e.g. 17 ... Ng4+ 18 Ke1 Qxe3+ 19 Ne2 Qf2+, etc. White therefore attempts to save himself by castling, reckoning that Black will lose not only his knight but also his rook. However, Black has calculated further:

  17 ... Nfg4 18 Nxa8 Nxe3 19 Qe2

  If 19 Qb1 then 19 ... Nxf1 20 Kxf1 (or 20 Rxf1 Qxc5) 20 ... g6 and Black acquires both a material and a positional advantage!

  19 ... Nxf1 20 Bb1 Nxh2 21 Nb6 Nef3+! 22 gxf3

  If 22 Kh1 then 22 ... Ng4! is strongest.

  22 ... Qg5+ 23 Kxh2 Rxe2+ 24 Nxe2 Qe5+ 25 Ng3 Qxb2+ 26 Rc2 Qxb1 27 Re2 Be6 28 f4 g6 29 Na8 h5 30 Nc7 h4 31 Nh1 Qd3 32 Rf2 Bf5 0-1

  To conclude the present chapter, the following game of Rubinstein’s will serve to demonstrate a few more features connected with the f7/f2 sacrifice:

  Euwe - Rubinstein

  The Hague, 1921

  Sicilian Defence, 2...Nf6

  1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 e5 Nd5 4 d4

  Better is 4 Nc3.

  4 ... cxd4 5 Qxd4 e6 6 c4?

  A weak move; 6 Bc4 is correct.

  6 ... Nc6 7 Qd1 Nde7! 8 Bd2 Ng6 9 Qe2

  After 9 Bc3 Qc7 White must also move his queen to e2, thereby blocking his bishop.

  9 ... Qc7 10 Bc3 b6

  By developing his own pieces calmly, Black is making the best possible use of the difficulties experienced by White, who now cannot even fianchetto, e.g. 11 g3? Bb7 12 Bg2 Ncxe5, etc.

  11 h4 d6! 12 exd6 Bxd6

  Black is now both better developed and more powerful in the centre. White’s troubles would only be further increased after 13 Bxg7 Rg8 14 Bc3 Nf4.

  13 Nbd2 Nf4 14 Qe3 Bc5 15 Qe4 f5 16 Qc2

  The queen’s sixth move – not a good augury, as H. Kmoch remarks in his commentary.

  16 ... 0-0 17 g3 Ng6 18 h5

  Because of White’s weakness in the centre, the pursuit of this knight ends in its centralization.

  18 ... Nge5 19 Nxe5 Nxe5 20 b4

  White cannot castle queenside because of the bishop’s attack on f2, so he tries to employ power tactics. However, the use of force from a weaker position usually prompts a still more forceful reply from one’s opponent. Rubinstein, naturally, does not withdraw his bishop, but captures on f2. In exchange for a piece he gets two pawns and an attack, which is more than sufficient in this position, seeing that he is the better developed and that the extra pawns are in the centre.

  20 ... Bxf2+! 21 Kxf2 Ng4+ 22 Ke2

  The king cannot go to e1 or g1 because of 22 ... Qxg3+, while 22 Kg2 allows 22 ... Ne3+.

  22 ... Qxg3 23 Bd4 Bb7 24 Rh3 Qd6 25 Qc3 e5

  White has averted the direct mating attack, but now Black’s centralized pawns come into their own. In such positions they are as valuable as pieces.

  26 Bg1 f4 27 c5 Qh6 28 Ke1 e4 29 Rh4 Qg5 30 Qh3 Ne3! 31 Bxe3 fxe3 32 Bc4+ Kh8 33 Nf1 Qf6 0-1

  In the tumult of battle it is the point at which the white king’s original wound was inflicted, i.e. f2, that is finally decisive.

  2 The attack on the king that has lost the right to castle

  This situation arises when the king is either no longer able to castle or has been driven by the opponent away from the castling area. In spite of these possible differences of origin, the general picture and the problem involved are identical and ought to be dealt with in one and the same chapter.

  First of all, it must be emphasized that the actual fact that a king has lost the right to castle does not necessarily always justify undertaking an attack aimed at mate (as will be shown by the examples of the voluntary loss of castling rights in chapter three). For an attack of this kind to be feasible, the loss of castling rights must at the same time involve the exposure of the king and an increased vulnerability to attack. In the majority of cases the attack is in fact in order, and we shall only consider such positive cases and not the rest. It only remains to be added that the loss of the right to castle can also entail a further weakness besides the danger which faces the king; that is, communication between the rooks is made more difficult. In fact, an attack may logically direct itself against this lack of cooperation between the rooks, e.g. in a struggle for control of an open file.

  We shall first examine a few typical examples portraying the drama of the king which has lost the right to castle. Such a drama can be divided up into the following episodes:

  1) spoiling the king’s castling chances, or drawing it away from the castling position;

  2) the pursuit of the king across the board by checking; and

  3) the final mating attack in the middle of the board or on the edge.

  The following game is an illustration of just such a drama in three acts:

  Potemkin - Alekhine

  St. Petersburg, 1912

  Closed Sicilian

  1 e4 c5 2 g3 g6 3 Bg2 Bg7 4 Ne2 Nc6 5 c3 Nf6 6 Na3? d5 7 exd5 Nxd5 8 Nc2 0-0 9 d4 cxd4 10 cxd4 Bg4 11 f3 Bf5 12 Ne3 Qa5+

  The king is forced to move out of position (1st act).

  13 Kf2

  Unavoidable, since if 13 Bd2 then 13 ... Nxe3 14 Bxa5 Nxd1, and Black wins a piece; this also happens after 13 Qd2 Nxe3 14 Qxa5 Nxg2+, etc.

  13 ... Ndb4 14 Nxf5 Qxf5 15 g4 Nd3+

  The second act (a short one) starts: the king has to move again. White decides on 16 Kg3?, a weak move, but even after the stronger 16 Kf1, Black retains the advantage with 16 ... Qb5.

  16 Kg3?

  16 ... Nxd4! 17 gxf5 Nxf5+ 0-1 as Black mates in 2 moves: 17 ... Nxf5+ 18 Kg4 h5+ 19 Kh3 (or 19 Kg5 Bh6#) 19 ... Nf2#. (As an old chess player said on a similar occasion, ‘He’s lucky to be mated, otherwise he would lose his queen...’)

  We called hunting the king about the board ‘the second act of the drama’. However, it must be stressed that it is not the actual fact that the king has to move about that is of prime importance, but the extent to which its position is weakened. Instead of travelling all over the board it may happen that the king merely roams a little and gets itself tied up in a small space of two or three squares, while the opponent harries it with checks and thus manages to bring up his pieces with gain of time. A typical case where checks help to ‘nourish the development of the attack’ arises in the following short game:

  Clemens - Eisenschmidt

  St. Petersburg, 1890

  Evans Gambit

  1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 b4 Bxb4 5 c3 Bc5 6 d4 exd4 7 cxd4 Bb6 8 0-0 d6 9 Nc3 Bd7? 10 e5 dxe5 11 Re1 Nge7 12 Ng5

  12 ... Be6

  Black gives up a pawn to get rid of the pressu
re on f7. Had he castled 12 ... 0-0, then White would have won the exchange and a pawn by 13 Qh5.

  JN: Not so. After 13 Qh5 Bf5 White may have no advantage. 14 Nxf7 surprisingly fails to 14 ... Qxd4!, attacking both c4 and f2, when the discovered checks do not help White. Therefore White should try 14 Bxf7+ Kh8 15 dxe5, but even here 15 ... Qd4 16 Re3 Qg4 is unclear.

  13 Bxe6 fxe6 14 Nxe6 Qd6 15 Nxg7+

  Black’s king is prevented from castling.

  15 ... Kf8 16 Qg4 Bxd4 17 Ne4 Qb4 18 Ne6+

  This check is followed by two more, as a result of which White’s knights assume increasingly dangerous positions.

  18 ... Ke8 19 Nf6+ Kf7 20 Ng5+ Kf8

  If 20 ... Kxf6, then 21 Qe6+, followed by mate in a few moves.

  21 Ba3!

  Excellent! White has a mating attack ready and needs only to get rid of Black’s threat of ... Qxe1#.

  21 ... Qxa3 22 Qe6 Nd8 23 Qf7+! Nxf7 24 Ne6#

  This position is from the game Kotov-Bondarevsky, Leningrad 1936, when these future grandmasters were playing in a first-category tournament. Black, to move, directed the second and third acts of the drama as follows:

  1 ... f4+ 2 Nxf4 Qf2+ 3 Kd3 Qxd4+ 4 Kxd4 Bc5+ 5 Kd3 Nxe5#

  This position is from the game

  Alekhine-Feldt, blindfold simultaneous display, Tarnopol 1916 . White continued:

  1 Nf7! Kxf7 (otherwise 2 Qxe6, etc) 2 Qxe6+! (drawing the king out still further; if 2 ... Kxe6 then 3 Ng5#) 2 ... Kg6 3 g4, with mate next move by 4 Bxf5# or 4 Nh4#.

  Averbakh-Kotov, Zurich Ct 1953 . In order to draw White’s king out from the protection of its castled position, Black is prepared to give up his queen:

  1 ... Qxh3+! 2 Kxh3 Rh6+ 3 Kg4 Nf6+ 4 Kf5 Nd7! 5 Rg5 (the only reply) 5 ... Rf8+ 6 Kg4 Nf6+ 7 Kf5 Ng8+ 8 Kg4 Nf6+ 9 Kf5 Nxd5+ 10 Kg4 Nf6+ 11 Kf5 Ng8+ 12 Kg4 Nf6+ 13 Kf5 Ng8+ 14 Kg4 Bxg5 (Black repeated moves because he was short of time, but now he proceeds to clear up the position) 15 Kxg5 Rf7! 16 Bh4 Rg6+ 17 Kh5 Rfg7 18 Bg5 Rxg5+ 19 Kh4 Nf6 20 Ng3 Rxg3 21 Qxd6 R3g6 22 Qb8+ Rg8 0-1

  From the game Gligorić-Petrosian, Belgrade 1954. White won as follows:

  1 Rxg5+ Kf7 2 Rxf6+ Kxf6 3 Qxf8+ Kxg5 4 h4+ 1-0, since Black is faced with mate.

  From the game

  D. Byrne-Fischer, New York Rosenwald 1957 . Bobby Fischer, at the time a boy of thirteen, carried out an attack on the white king (which is no longer able to castle) by means of a brilliant queen sacrifice:

  1 ... Be6! 2 Bxb6 (if 2 Qxc3, then 2 ... Qxc5; while if 2 Bxe6, then 2 ... Qb5+) 2 ... Bxc4+ 3 Kg1 Ne2+ 4 Kf1 Nxd4+ 5 Kg1 Ne2+ 6 Kf1 Nc3+ 7 Kg1 axb6 8 Qb4 Ra4 9 Qxb6 Nxd1, and Black won on the basis of his material superiority.

  The pursuit of a king that has lost the right to castle is not, however, always such a successful undertaking as in the examples quoted. There have in fact been many occasions when the hunted king has come out the winner by successfully escaping to safety, and when the whole of his flight turns out in the end to be artificial castling on a large scale!

  A player who is pursuing a king in such circumstances must therefore keep his eyes open to make sure that the prey does not elude him. Two factors are particularly important: the tempo of the attack and slowly but surely building up a mating net from which the king has no escape. As a matter of fact, this net is often of more importance than tempi, and quiet moves which ‘spin the threads’ often point the correct way, whereas many juicy checks may prove to be mistakes. The position of the king that has lost the right to castle represents, as it were, the attacker’s capital, which he has acquired at the price of sacrifices or positional disadvantages. The attacker should retain his hold on this capital without worrying too much about ‘short-term gains’ in the form of tempting checks; the decisive point in the end is whether the king is going to fall or not.

  These remarks are intended to inspire the reader to be cautious in his pursuit of a king that has lost the right to castle. Two maxims here oppose each other: the first instructs one to keep up the tempo of the attack by means of checks in order to give the king no time to recover its breath; the second warns that it is important to finish off the pursuit by cornering the king and forcing it into a mating position. In practice players struggle to find a balance between these two maxims and on their correct choice success itself depends.

  Now that the problem is clear, it will be examined in a series of practical examples. Smyslov-Florian and Belavenets-Chistiakov are cases where the building of a mating net takes precedence over the pursuit of the king. In Tartakower-Euwe, however, we shall see the opposite, with Euwe hunting his opponent’s king without giving it a moment’s respite. In the game Chigorin-Caro we have an illustration of when a king’s pursuit should be halted and its retreat cut off, or, conversely, what happens if an opportunity to ‘fix’ the king is lost and it reaches a position of safety, as in fact occurred in this game.

  Smyslov - Florian

  Moscow-Budapest Match, 1949

  Grünfeld Defence

  1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 Nf3 Bg7 5 Qb3 dxc4 6 Qxc4 0-0 7 e4 Na6 8 Be2 c5 9 d5 e6 10 0-0 exd5 11 exd5 Qa5 12 a3 Bf5 13 Qh4 Rfe8 14 Bh6 Ne4 15 Bxg7 Kxg7

  16 Ng5!

  White offers a piece in order to keep up the tempo of the attack. Black should now have played 16 ... Nxg5, for after 17 Qxg5 his position would only have been slightly inferior. Instead, he became greedy and replied:

  16 ... Nxc3 17 Qxh7+ Kf6 18 bxc3!

  White does not hurry with his action against the displaced king, but calmly takes the knight and waits for the mating network to develop of itself.

  18 ... Kxg5?

  Black loses quickly. The most effective reply would have been 18 ... Rxe2 19 f4 Rf8!.

  JN: Although Smyslov then gives the continuation 20 Qh6 Rfe8 21 Rae1 Bd3 22 Qh4 Ke7 23 Ne4+ Kf8 24 d6 Kg7 25 f5, with a decisive attack for White.

  Other variations, which all lead to the effective construction of a mating net, are:

  1) 18 ... Rxe2 19 f4 Qc7 20 d6 Qd7 21 Rae1 Bd3 (if 21 ... Rae8 then 22 Rxe2 Rxe2 23 Qh8#) 22 Rxe2 Bxe2 23 Re1 Bc4 (otherwise 24 Re7) 24 Ne4+, etc.

  2) 18 ... Rh8 19 Qxf7+ Kxg5 20 Qg7! (depriving the king of the square h6; 20 f4+? Kh6 is wrong) 20 ... Kf4 21 Rae1. Here again White does not put Black in check but instead prevents the king from using the e-file; if 21 ... Ke4 White mates with 22 Bc4+ Kf4 23 g3+, etc.

  JN: It is even simpler to mate with checks by 21 g3+ Ke4 22 Qe7+ Kxd5 23 c4+ Kc6 24 Bf3+, etc.

  19 Qg7!

  A quiet move, cutting off the king’s retreat and preparing for mate with 20 f4+, etc.

  19 ... Re4 20 f4+ Rxf4 21 Rxf4 Kxf4 22 Rf1+ Ke3

  If 22 ... Kg5 then 23 h4+ leads to mate; or if 22 ... Ke4, a mating net is formed by 23 Bc4

  23 Qe5+ Kd2

  Well may he run – mate is not far off.

  24 Bc4 Qxc3 25 Rf2+ 1-0

  It is mate in two more moves.

  Belavenets - Chistiakov

  Semi-finals, USSR Ch 1938

  French Defence, McCutcheon Variation

  1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 Bb4

  The so-called McCutcheon Variation, which is nowadays regarded as unfavourable for Black.

  5 e5 h6 6 Bd2 Bxc3 7 bxc3 Ne4 8 Qg4 g6 9 Bd3

  9 Bc1 is also possible, to enable the bishop to exert pressure from a3. In this position it does not matter to White that he loses the right to castle, but he must play sharply and accurately, as otherwise Black’s attack along the c-file may prevail.

  9 ... Nxd2 10 Kxd2 c5 11 Nf3

  Maróczy’s move, 11 h4, is an alternative.

  11 ... Nc6 12 Rhb1?

  A poor move. 12 Rab1 was preferable.

  JN: According to current theory both 12 Rab1 and 12 Qf4 give White a slight advantage.

  12 ... Qc7

  Note how Black plays from here up to his 15th move. He does not pursue the unfruitful plan of ‘looking for checks’ with 12 ... cxd4? 13 cxd4 Qa5+, but quietly brings his rook on to the c-file; then, and only then, does he strike by means of ... cxd4.

  13 Qh4 Bd7 14 Qf6 Rg8 1
5 h4 Rc8 16 h5 gxh5 17 Qxh6 cxd4 18 cxd4

  18 ... Nxd4!

  Now begins a well-prepared attack on the king, which has already been drawn out of position.

  19 Nxd4 Qc3+ 20 Ke3 Rc4 21 Qf4 Rg4 22 Ne2 Re4+ 0-1

  This position arose in the game Tartakower-Euwe, Venice 1948. It is Black’s move; first of all, he draws the king out from his castled position by a sacrifice:

  1 ... Nf4+! 2 gxf4 Bh3+ 3 Kg3

  The king must come out, since 3 Kg1 would be answered by the still more unpleasant 3 ... gxf4 4 Bc5 Qg7 5 Kh1 Bf1+ 6 Nh2 Qh7.

  3 ... gxf4+ 4 Bxf4 Qd7

  At first all is quiet, but then comes the storm.

  5 Nh2 exf4+ 6 Kxf4 Rh4+ 7 Ke3

  If 7 Kf3, then 7 ... Bg2+!; or if 7 Kg3, then 7 ... Rg4+!.

  7 ... Bg2 8 Nf3 Rxe4+!

  White is not to be allowed a respite! 8 ... Rh3 9 Be2 Qg4 would have been unclear owing to 10 Rg1.

  9 Kxe4 Nd6+

  Now Black captures two pieces ‘en route’ by a series of checks.

  10 Kd3 Qf5+ 11 Kd4 Qf4+ 12 Kd3

  If 12 Kc5, then 12 ... Qxc4+ 13 Kxd6 Qd5+ 14 Ke7 Rg8 and mate.

  JN: Surprisingly, this line is not entirely clear after 14 ... Rg8 15 Nh4+ Kh7 16 Nf5! Qxf5 17 Rad1. The simplest win after 12 Kc5 is 12 ... Nxc4 13 Qxb7 Qd6+ 14 Kxc4 Qd5+ 15 Kb4 c5+, winning the queen.

  12 ... Qxc4+ 13 Kc2 Bxf3 14 b3

  White, by allowing himself to be ‘bled’, has obtained a little breathing space, but not for long.

  14 ... Be4+ 15 Kb2 Qd3 16 Rg1+ Kf7 17 Rac1

  Black’s king is in a safe enough position after 17 Qc7+ Ke6.

  17 ... Qd2+ 18 Ka3