• Don't panic!
  • You need a clear head and a calm heart
• Defend threats
  • You must spot and defend threats
• Don't make weaknesses (if you can avoid it)
  • Don't help your opponent!
• Don't open lines (if you can avoid it)
  • Don't help your opponent!
• Seek swaps
  • Get the Queens off (if you can)
• Make blocks and strong points
  • Especially in the centre
• Make repairs if you can
• Prevention is better than cure
  • Try to see threats coming
  • Stop the idea before it appears on the board
• Counterplay
  • You must take over the attack sometime
  • Especially -- counterattack in the centre
• "Throwing a spanner in the works"
  • Sometimes straightforward defence leads to a simple loss
  • Make a mess, make it hard for your opponent to decide what to do
• When you're losing?
  • You have to change the way the story ends!
  • Keep active pieces on
  • Take risks: you're already losing! so what are you risking?
  • Make threats: your opponent has to make a mistake

Example games

Defence: lots of ideas

[Event "defence: basic (various defens"]
[Site "defence: basic (various defen"]
[Date "1858.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morphy"]
[Black "guibert (blindfold simul, paris) CHERNEV"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B01"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "1858.??.??"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd8 4. d4 e6 {[#] restraint against d5} 5. Nf3 Bd6
6. Bd3 Ne7 7. O-O {[#]} h6 {prevention} (7... O-O 8. Bxh7+ Kxh7 9. Ng5+ Kg8 (
9... Kg6) 10. Qh5 Re8 11. Qh7+ Kf8 12. Qh8+ Ng8 13. Nh7+ Ke7 14. Bg5+ Nf6 15.
Qxg7 Kd7) 8. Be3 c6 {restraint against d5} 9. Ne5 Nd7 10. f4 Nf6 11. Ne4 Nf5
12. Bf2 Bc7 13. c3 Nd5 14. Qf3 Qe7 15. Rae1 Bxe5 {closes the line to the Re1}
16. dxe5 h5 {secures the position of the Nf5 against g4} 17. Bc5 Qd8 18. Nd6+
Nxd6 19. Bxd6 g6 {restraint against f5} 20. Qg3 Ne7 {further blockade on the
white squares} 21. Rd1 Bd7 22. Rd2 h4 23. Qg4 Nf5 24. Bxf5 exf5 25. Qf3 Qb6+
26. Kh1 O-O-O 27. c4 h3 {[#] counterplay} 28. g3 Be6 29. Qc3 Rd7 30. Rfd1 c5
31. Kg1 Rhd8 32. Qa3 a6 33. Bxc5 Qc6 34. Bd6 f6 35. Rd5 Bxd5 36. Rxd5 Rxd6 {
[#] counter-sacrifice, exchanging off the dangerous bishop} 37. exd6 (37. Rxd6
Qg2#) (37. Rc5 Rd1+ 38. Kf2 R8d2+ 39. Ke3 Rd3+ 40. Ke2 Rxa3 41. Rxc6+ bxc6 42.
bxa3 Ra1) 37... Kb8 38. Qd3 Rxd6 39. Qd2 Rxd5 40. cxd5 Qc5+ 41. Kf1 Qc4+ 42.
Kf2 Qc5+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "defence: counterattack, re-pos"]
[Site "defence: counterattack, re-po"]
[Date "1995.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ruy Lopez"]
[Black "defensive themes"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C95"]
[PlyCount "24"]
[EventDate "1995.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3
d6 {Defence by strong point: White cannot go through e5 so must go around.} 9.
h3 {[#]} Nb8 {the inventive Gyula Breyer came up with this re-positioning.} (
9... Na5 {Defence by counterattack.} 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. Nbd2 {[#] If
White exposes the weakness on d5 with dxc5,dxc5 Black can suddenly envision ...
c5-c5 and ...Na5-b7-c5-d3!}) 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 {[#] Black
is very solid and flexible.} 1-0

Hitting back in the centre

[Event "defence: central counter"]
[Site "defence: central counter"]
[Date "1926.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "kmoch"]
[Black "reti (semmering) PACHMAN"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A52"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "1926.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. e4 Nxe5 5. f4 Nec6 6. a3 a5 7. Be3 Na6 8. Nf3
Bc5 9. Qd2 d6 10. Nc3 O-O 11. Bd3 Bxe3 12. Qxe3 Nc5 13. O-O Re8 14. Bc2 a4 15.
Rae1 f6 16. Qf2 Bg4 17. Nd4 Qd7 18. Nxc6 {opens the b-file and loses d5 as an
outpost, but the Q can now move} (18. Nd5) 18... bxc6 19. f5 {[#] the K-side
attack is now White's only plan} Bh5 20. Qh4 Bf7 21. Rf3 Re5 (21... Bxc4 22. e5
Bd5 23. e6) 22. Ree3 Bxc4 23. Rh3 h6 24. Reg3 {[#] White is bluffing: he'll
never get to play his N or B into the attack.} Kf8 (24... Kh8 25. Rg6 Bg8 26.
Rhg3 Re7 27. Ne2) 25. Rg6 Rae8 26. Rhg3 Qxf5 (26... R8e7 27. Rxf6+ gxf6 28.
Qxf6+ Rf7 29. Qxh6+ Ke7 30. Qh4+ Kf8 (30... Rf6 31. Rg6) 31. Qh6+) 27. Rxf6+
Qxf6 28. Rf3 R8e6 29. Nxa4 (29. Rxf6+ Rxf6 {[#] -+}) 29... Nxa4 30. Bxa4 Rxe4
31. Rxf6+ Rxf6 32. g4 Be2 {resigns} 1-0

Swap off pieces (especially Queens)

[Event "defence: simplifying exchanges"]
[Site "defence: simplifying exchange"]
[Date "1995.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "QGD, stahlberg"]
[Black "capablanca line"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D69"]
[PlyCount "30"]
[EventDate "1995.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 Be7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Rc1 c6 {[#]}
8. Bd3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 Nd5 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. O-O Nxc3 12. Rxc3 e5 {[#]} 13. dxe5
Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Qxe5 15. f4 Qf6 {[#]} 1-0

[Event "defence: exchange of queens"]
[Site "defence: exchange of queens"]
[Date "1986.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Nunn"]
[Black "Kasparov"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B97"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "1986.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd3
Qxb2 {Nunn is a deadly attacker and a theory nut. Who would dare take his
b-pawn? Who else!} 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. f5 Be7 11. Be2 Nc6 12. fxe6 fxe6 13. Nxc6
bxc6 {[#] The Qa6 stops White using the Nc3 or Qd3} 14. e5 dxe5 15. Bxf6 gxf6
16. Bh5+ Kf8 17. Qd2 Kg7 18. Rb3 Qa5 {still hampering White's pieces} 19. O-O
Rg8 {[#] Black is gradually uncoiling. He is two pawns up so White needs
something important to turn up...} 20. Kh1 Kh8 21. Qh6 Qd8 22. Ne4 f5 23. Bf7
Qf8 {[#] Again the threat of Queen exchange is enough to disrupt White's
attack.} 24. Qh5 Rg7 25. Be8 a5 26. Bxc6 Ba6 27. Rf2 Rd8 0-1

Keep lines closed

[Event "defence: line management"]
[Site "defence: line management"]
[Date "1970.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Fischer"]
[Black "Larsen"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B89"]
[PlyCount "104"]
[EventDate "1970.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bb3 Be7 8.
Be3 O-O 9. Qe2 a6 10. O-O-O Qc7 11. g4 Nd7 12. h4 Nc5 13. g5 b5 14. f3 Bd7 15.
Qg2 b4 16. Nce2 Nxb3+ 17. axb3 a5 {[#] White tries to open lines on the
King's-side.} 18. g6 fxg6 19. h5 Nxd4 20. Nxd4 g5 {Black keeps them closed.}
21. Bxg5 Bxg5+ 22. Qxg5 h6 23. Qg4 Rf7 {[#] Piling up on the g-file looks like
bluffing, and opening the f-file is also slow. Meanwhile nothing can stop
Black opening a file with...} 24. Rhg1 a4 25. bxa4 e5 26. Ne6 Qc4 {[#] All the
key routes are policed.} 27. b3 Qxe6 28. Qxe6 Bxe6 29. Rxd6 Re8 30. Rb6 Rxf3
31. Rxb4 Rc8 32. Kb2 Rf2 33. Rc1 Bf7 34. a5 Ra8 35. Rb5 Bxh5 36. Rxe5 Be2 37.
Rc5 h5 38. e5 Bf3 39. Kc3 h4 40. Kd3 Re2 41. Rf1 Rd8+ 42. Kc3 Be4 43. Kb4 Rb8+
44. Ka3 h3 45. e6 Bxc2 46. b4 Re3+ 47. Kb2 Bd3 48. Ra1 Ba6 49. Rc6 Rxb4+ 50.
Kc2 Bb7 51. Rc3 Re2+ 52. Kd1 Rg2 0-1

Swap off dangerous pieces

[Event "defence: exchange of dangerous"]
[Site "defence: exchange of dangerou"]
[Date "1995.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "openings"]
[Black "bco, etc"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C30"]
[PlyCount "14"]
[EventDate "1995.??.??"]

{This idea can be illustrated in many openings as a pre-emptive measure:} 1. e4
e5 (1... c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. f4 Be7 7. Bd3 Nc6 8.
Nf3 O-O 9. O-O Nb4 {[#] spassky-tal}) 2. f4 (2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5.
Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 Na5 {[#]}) 2... Bc5 3. Nf3 d6 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bc4 Nc6 6. d3 a6 7.
Rf1 Na5 {[#]} 1-0

Repairing weaknesses

[Event "defence: mending weaknesses"]
[Site "defence: mending weaknesses"]
[Date "1978.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "peters"]
[Black "Andersson, usa"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B15"]
[PlyCount "32"]
[EventDate "1978.??.??"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ exf6 6. Bc4 {[#] White's
Queen's-side majority is a big endgame plus, so White was startled by...} Qe7+
7. Qe2 Be6 {Black will only enter an endgame on certain conditions!} 8. Bxe6 (
8. Bb3 {is the only testing continuation}) 8... Qxe6 9. Bf4 Na6 {[#] The
threat of ...Nb4 eventually prompts the exchange on e6} 10. O-O-O O-O-O 11.
Qxe6+ fxe6 12. h4 c5 13. Be3 cxd4 14. Bxd4 Bc5 15. Ne2 e5 16. Bxc5 Nxc5 {
[#] Black has no problems and even won.} 0-1

Counterplay

[Event "defence: counterplay"]
[Site "defence: counterplay"]
[Date "1986.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "watson, c"]
[Black "regis, d (bedford)"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteElo "1845"]
[BlackElo "1940"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "1986.??.??"]

1. d4 {I thankfully remember little of this game ...} g6 2. Bg5 Bg7 3. c3 d5 4.
Nd2 Nd7 5. e4 dxe4 6. Nxe4 Ngf6 7. Bd3 Nxe4 8. Bxe4 O-O 9. Qd2 c5 10. Ne2 cxd4
11. Nxd4 Nc5 12. Bc2 Qb6 13. O-O e5 14. Nf3 Bg4 15. Nh4 Rac8 {a very
mysterious rook move} 16. h3 Be6 17. b3 e4 {characteristically building an
outpost} 18. Rad1 Nd3 19. c4 Qc5 20. Bxd3 exd3 21. Nf3 Bf5 22. Rfe1 Rfe8 {[#]}
23. g4 {?} Be4 24. Qf4 Bxf3 25. Qxf3 Qxg5 26. Rxe8+ Rxe8 27. Rxd3 Re1+ 28. Kg2
{almost anything wins here eg. Qe7 ...} Be5 {?} 29. Rd7 Qf6 30. Qxf6 Bxf6 31.
Rxb7 {[#]} Re7 32. Rb8+ Kg7 33. b4 Bd4 34. c5 a5 35. Rd8 Bc3 36. b5 Rc7 37. b6
Rxc5 38. b7 Be5 39. Re8 Bd6 40. Rd8 Be5 41. Re8 Bf4 42. Re4 Bd6 43. Rd4 Bc7 44.
Rd7 Bf4 45. Rd4 Rb5 46. Rxf4 Rxb7 47. Rd4 Rb2 48. Ra4 Rb5 {[#] "Truly, the
players proved worthy of each other in this game!" Botvinnik} 1/2-1/2

Attack without fear when you are losing

[Event "WWoE2020"]
[Site "Chepstow"]
[Date "2020.01.11"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Holland, Bradley"]
[Black "Chung, Joel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D06"]
[Annotator "DrDave"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]

{How nice to win a piece, but how horrible to have it all fall apart! Never
mind, there are some easy lessons to learn from this one.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6
$6 3. cxd5 $1 Nxd5 {[#]} 4. e4 (4. Nf3 $1 {is the right move here}) 4... Nf6 5.
Nc3 e6 $6 (5... e5 $5 {is Marshall's trick which was thought to equalise and
is worth avoiding.} 6. dxe5 Qxd1+ 7. Kxd1 Ng4 $1) 6. Nf3 Bb4 {last book move}
7. Qc2 Nc6 8. Bb5 Bd7 9. O-O a6 10. Ba4 Qe7 11. Bg5 O-O-O $6 {[#] TACTIC:
attack a pinned piece} (11... h6 {was essential, although White still stands
very well} 12. Bd2 $16) 12. e5 $1 h6 13. exf6 gxf6 14. Be3 {[#] Black now
plays the attack with verve, as though material is equal -- quite the right
approach if you are losing.} Rdg8 15. a3 Bd6 16. Ne4 f5 17. Nxd6+ Qxd6 {[#]}
18. Bxc6 $2 {Generally, exchanges favour the winning side, but this just
points an unopposed black bishop at White's king!} (18. Rac1 {-0.30/0}) 18...
Bxc6 {Black is already better: White must return the piece to avoid mate.} 19.
Qe2 Qd5 20. Kh1 {[#] TACTIC: mating attack} (20. Bf4 {-9.19/0 or}) (20. g3 {
were required here}) 20... Rxg2 $1 {Very good} 21. Kxg2 Rg8+ (21... Bb5 {
-2.14/0}) 22. Kh3 (22. Kh1 Qxf3+ 23. Qxf3 Bxf3#) 22... f4 ({In fact} 22... Bb5
{0.00/0 is best here, since} 23. Qd1 Bxf1+ 24. Kh4 Qe4+ {forces mate}) 23. Ne5
$4 (23. Rg1 $1 {-#2/0 saves White's hide.}) 23... Qg2+ 24. Kh4 Qxh2# 1-0