- A bind is a limit on what a player can do, because the opponent controls some important bit of the position. White's control of the d-file in Short-Timman left Black powerless.
- The most famous bind in chess is that of Maroczy in the Sicilian Defence. Black's counterplay in the Sicilian often depends on White's backward c-pawn, and/or a pawn break with ...d5: White's c4 stops both ideas and limits Black to much more modest shuffling. (Euwe-Winter)
- Fischer talked about a more modest but still dangerous bind in his game against Petrosian, played before Petrosian was a challenger and before Fischer was out of his teens.
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[Event "Tilburg"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1991.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Short, N."]
[Black "Timman, J."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B04"]
[Annotator "Top 10: games"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "1991.01.??"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "BIH"]
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 g6 5. Bc4 Nb6 6. Bb3 Bg7 7. Qe2 Nc6 8. O-O
O-O 9. h3 a5 10. a4 dxe5 11. dxe5 Nd4 12. Nxd4 Qxd4 13. Re1 e6 14. Nd2 Nd5 15.
Nf3 Qc5 16. Qe4 Qb4 17. Bc4 Nb6 18. b3 Nxc4 19. bxc4 Re8 20. Rd1 Qc5 21. Qh4 b6
22. Be3 Qc6 23. Bh6 Bh8 24. Rd8 Bb7 25. Rad1 Bg7 26. R8d7 Rf8 27. Bxg7 Kxg7 28.
R1d4 {[#] d-file} Rae8 29. Qf6+ Kg8 30. h4 h5 {#} 31. Kh2 $3 {White's idea is
most amusing.} Rc8 32. Kg3 Rce8 33. Kf4 Bc8 34. Kg5 (34. Kg5 Bxd7 (34... Kh7
35. Rxf7+ Rxf7 36. Qxf7+ Kh8 37. Kh6) 35. Kh6) 1-0
[Event "EuKra0344"]
[Site "Amsterdam"]
[Date "1937.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Euwe, M.."]
[Black "Winter, W.."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B54"]
[WhiteElo "2600"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "1937.??.??"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. f3 Nc6 6. c4 e6 7. Nc3 Be7 8. Nc2
O-O 9. Be2 Qc7 10. O-O Rd8 11. Bf4 Ne5 12. Nb5 Qb8 13. Qd2 a6 14. Nc3 Qc7 15.
b3 b6 16. Rac1 Bb7 17. Nd4 Rac8 18. Rfd1 Nc6 19. Nxc6 Bxc6 20. Nd5 Qb7 21.
Nxe7+ Qxe7 22. Bxd6 Qb7 23. Qe3 Rd7 24. e5 Ne8 25. Rd4 Rcd8 26. Rcd1 Qa7 27.
Rg4 f5 28. Rgd4 b5 29. c5 Qb7 30. a4 Ra8 31. Bd3 Bd5 32. Bxf5 1-0
[Event "Portoroz"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1958.??.??"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Petrosian, T."]
[Black "Fischer, R."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A16"]
[PlyCount "133"]
[EventDate "1958.??.??"]
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nf3 d6 6. O-O Nc6 7. d3 Nh5 8. d4 e5 9. d5 Ne7 10. e4 f5 11. exf5 gxf5 12. Nxe5 Nxg3 13. hxg3 Bxe5 14. f4 Bg7 15. Be3 Bd7 16. Bd4
{Exchanging Black's best piece. "White soon obtains a firm grip on the position."}
16...Ng6 17. Re1 Rf7 18. Bf3 Qf8 19. Kf2 Re8 20. Rxe8 Qxe8 21. Bxg7 Rxg7 22. Qd4 b6 23. Rh1 a5 24. Nd1 Qf8 25. Ne3 Rf7 26. b3 Qg7 27. Qxg7+ Kxg7 28. a3 Rf8 29. Be2 Ne7 30. Bd3 h6 31. Rh5 Be8 32. Rh2 Bd7 33. Rh1 Rh8 34. Nc2!
{"I was amazed during the game. Each time Petrosian obtained a good position, he managed to obtain a better one."
The rest of the game sees White teasing Black, trying to find a way through, waiting for mistakes. The mistakes came from Black, but also White! Fischer's complete notes tell a thrilling story.}
34...Kf6 35. Nd4 Kg7 36. Be2 Ng8 37. b4 Nf6 38. Bd3 axb4 39. axb4 Kg6 40. Ra1 Ng4+ 41. Ke2 Re8+ 42. Kd2 Nf6 43. Ra6 Rb8 44. Ra7 Rc8 45. c5 bxc5 46. bxc5 dxc5 47. Nf3 Kf7 48. Ne5+ Ke7 49. Nxd7 Nxd7 50. Bxf5 Rf8 51. g4 Kd6 52. Bxd7 Kxd7 53. Ke3 Re8+ 54. Kf3 Kd6 55. Ra6+ Kxd5 56. Rxh6 c4 57. Rh1 c3 58. g5 c5 59. Rd1+ Kc4 60. g6 c2 61. Rc1 Kd3 62. f5 Rg8 63. Kf4 Kd2 64. Rxc2+ Kxc2 65. Kg5 c4 66. f6 c3 67. f7 1/2-1/2