Co-ordination | Dr.Dave, Exeter Chess

Left over from the summer, some examples with light notes from a
session on Co-ordination
Click on the […] to see the list of games.
   [Event "Lessons from Capablanca (2): attacking"]  [Site "New York"]  [Date "1918.06.17"]  [Round "?"]  [White "Capablanca, JR."]  [Black "Funaroff, Marc"]  [Result "1-0"]  [ECO "C66"]  [PlyCount "45"]   1. e4 1... e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 3... d6 {The Scotch opening aims for open play,  and black's attempt to keep the game closed can only be a temporary measure.} (  3... exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5) 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. O-O Be7 7. Re1 7... exd4 {  This move is now forced -- after white's defense of his e-pawn he isthreatening  Bxc6 Bxc6: dxe5. The pressure on e5 is a recurring theme in e-pawn openings.}  8. Nxd4 8... Nxd4 {Trying to simplify, but encouraging white's better  centralisation. Best is 8... O-O.} 9. Qxd4 Bxb5 10. Nxb5 O-O 11. Qc3 {  "Instead of applying the old principle of developing his pieces as quickly as  possible" RETI -- Capablanca puts each piece to optimum effect. Thinking about  the position we might be attracted by a 'mate on g7: the N is bound for f5,  and the Q for g3. Subtle ...} 11... c6 {This move weakens d6 and encourages  the Nb5 to move as planned. Maybe ...Ne8 with ...Bf6, but white maintains a  space advantage.} 12. Nd4 Nd7 13. Nf5 Bf6 14. Qg3 Ne5 15. Bf4 (15. Nh6+ Kh8)  15... Qc7 16. Rad1 16... Rad8 {# "Playing on the basis of a spatial advantage  is in a sense a question of blind faith." STEAN White's pieces exert maximum  impact, but it is hard to see how this could be increased. Indeed, black's  only weakness is at d6 -- put the c-pawn back to c7 and all is perfect -- but  who would dream of a decisive combination in this position? The key is the  inter-relation of g3, f5 and e5 with d6 and g7. Even when you know, the next  move is stunning.} 17. Rxd6 {  "As usual, tactics flow from a positionally superior game." FISCHER} 17... Rxd6  18. Bxe5 {The bishop strikes through to c7 and g7 -- note now white has taken  over black's e5 strong-point.} 18... Rd1 {A spirited counterblow. 18...Bxe5 19.  Qxe5 with 'mate on g7 or an extra piece after Qxd6. 18...Qa5 was best, when 19.  f4 Bxe5 20.fxe5 Rg6 21.Ne7+ leaves white an extra pawn, but many problems in  converting it.} (18... Bxe5 19. Qxe5) 19. Rxd1 19... Bxe5 {And now white moves  his queen, and either h2 or b2 falls, with equality... Not likely!} 20. Nh6+  Kh8 21. Qxe5 Qxe5 22. Nxf7+ {A beautifully clear theme: back-rank 'mate.} 22...  Rxf7 23. Rd8+ 1-0   [Event "Hastings"]  [Site "?"]  [Date "1974.??.??"]  [Round "?"]  [White "Vaganian, Rafael"]  [Black "Botterill, George"]  [Result "1-0"]  [ECO "A45"]  [PlyCount "33"]  [EventDate "1974.??.??"]   1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 g6 3. Bxf6 exf6 4. e3 Bg7 5. Ne2 b6 6. Nf4 d5 7. h4 h5 8. c4  dxc4 9. Bxc4 Bb7 10. Nc3 10... Bh6 {# Black provokes a crisis.} 11. Bxf7+ $1  11... Kxf7 {White doesn't have a piece over the half-way line, but the Queen  and Knights co-ordinate perfectly in attack.} 12. Qb3+ Ke8 13. Nxg6 {  and the poor Rook has nowhere to go.} 13... Qd7 (13... Rh7 14. Qg8+) (13... Rf8  14. Qe6+) 14. Nxh8 Qg7 (14... Kf8 15. Ng6+ Kg7 16. Rh3 $1) 15. Qe6+ Kf8 16. Nd5  $1 16... Nd7 (16... Qxh8 17. Qe7+ Kg8 18. Nxf6+) 17. Ne7 1-0   [Event "BCCA"]  [Site "BCCA"]  [Date "1996.??.??"]  [Round "?"]  [White "mate with two Bishops"]  [Black "?"]  [Result "0-1"]  [SetUp "1"]  [FEN "8/8/8/8/8/bbk5/8/1K6 b - - 0 1"]  [PlyCount "7"]   1... Bd5 (1... Bd1 2. Ka2 Kb4 3. Kb1 Kb3 4. Ka1 Bb2+ 5. Kb1 Bc2#) 2. Ka1 Kb3 3.  Kb1 Be4+ 4. Ka1 Bb2# 0-1   [Event "HowToMate Fine No.4/No.5"]  [Site "?"]  [Date "2010.??.??"]  [Round "?"]  [White "King, BN."]  [Black "King"]  [Result "1-0"]  [Annotator "RF"]  [SetUp "1"]  [FEN "8/8/8/K1k4B/8/8/8/N7 b - - 0 1"]  [PlyCount "58"]  [EventDate "2010.??.??"]   {The White pieces are in their worst possible positions. Mate can be achieved  only at a8 or h1. As White you have a three-stage plan: (1) drive the King to  the edge. (2) drive the King to a corner: it will head for a1/h8 (3) drive the  King across to the other corner.} 1... Kc6 (1... Kc4 2. Bf7+) 2. Nb3 Kd6 (2...  Kd5 3. Kb5 Kd6 4. Kc4 Ke5 5. Nc5 Kf5 6. Kd5 Kg5 7. Bf3 Kf5 8. Ne6 Kf6 9. Be4  Ke7 10. Ke5 Kf7 11. Nf4 Kg7 12. Bd5 Kh7 13. Kf6 Kh8 14. Ng6+ Kh7 15. Be6) 3.  Kb5 Kd5 4. Bf7+ Ke5 (4... Kd6 5. Bc4 Ke5 6. Kc5 Ke4 7. Kd6 Kf5 8. Bd3+ Kf6 9.  Nd2 Kf7 10. Nc4 Kf6 11. Ne5 Kg7 12. Ke7 Kh8 13. Kf6 Kg8 14. Nf7) 5. Kc5 Kf6 6.  Bc4 Ke5 7. Nd2 Kf4 8. Kd6 Kf5 (8... Ke3 9. Nb3 Kf4 10. Bd3 Kg5 11. Ke5 Kh6 12.  Kf6 Kh5 13. Bf5 Kh4 14. Kg6 Kg3 15. Kg5 Kf3 16. Bc2 Ke3 17. Kg4 Ke2 18. Kf4 Kf2  19. Bd1 Ke1 20. Bf3 Kf2 21. Nd4) 9. Bd3+ Kf6 10. Nf3 Kf7 11. Ke5 $1 Kg7 (11...  Ke7 12. Bc4) 12. Ng5 {[While we are going through, watch how the Knight moves!]  } Kg8 $1 13. Kf6 Kf8 14. Nf7 {[%cal Gg5f7]} Kg8 {[%eval -32767,0] No.5 Black  is near the 'safe' corner, and we need to get him to a mating corner. The way  to do this was first shown by Philidor, and is to be found in the books by  Fine and Averbakh.} 15. Bf5 Kf8 16. Bh7 Ke8 17. Ne5 {[%cal Gf7e5]} Kd8 (17...  Kf8 $2 18. Nd7+ Ke8 19. Ke6 Kd8 20. Kd6 Ke8 21. Bg6+ Kd8 22. Nc5 Kc8 23. Bd3 $1  Kd8 24. Bb5 $1 Kc8 25. Bd7+ Kb8 26. Kc6 Ka7 27. Kc7 Ka8 28. Kb6 Kb8 29. Na6+  Ka8 30. Bc6#) 18. Ke6 Kc7 19. Nd7 $1 {[%cal Ge5d7] This is the bit you need to  understand: it looks like the King has got out, but it hasn't.} Kc6 $6 {This  natural move gets mated more quickly. There are a couple of important patterns  to remember:} (19... Kb7 20. Bd3 $1 Kc6 {The box again.} 21. Ba6 Kc7 22. Bb5 {  and the wall.} Kd8 {Okay, last trick. The Knight goes to d5 to further  restrict the King.} 23. Nb6 Kc7 24. Nd5+ Kd8 25. Kd6 Kc8 26. Ke7 Kb7 27. Kd7  Kb8 28. Ba6 Ka7 29. Bc8 Kb8 30. Ne7 Ka7 (30... Ka8 31. Kc7 Ka7 32. Nc6+ Ka8 33.  Bb7#) 31. Kc7 Ka8 32. Bb7+ Ka7 33. Nc6#) 20. Bd3 $1 {[%csl Gb5,Gb6,Gc5,Gd5,Gd6]  The King is in a little box.} Kb7 (20... Kc7 21. Bb5 $1 {The King's escape is  walled off.} Kc8 22. Kd6 Kd8 23. Nc5 Kc8 24. Bd7+ Kb8 25. Kc6 Ka7 26. Kc7 Ka8 {  mate in three} 27. Kb6 Kb8 28. Na6+ Ka8 29. Bc6#) 21. Kd6 Kc8 {[%cal Gd7c5]}  22. Nc5 {[%cal Gd7c5]} Kb8 (22... Kd8 23. Bb5) 23. Kc6 {This is not the  fastest but is easier to remember and more artistic.} (23. Kd7 {is Fine's  slightly quicker method} Ka7 24. Kc7 Ka8 25. Kb6 Kb8 {mate in three} 26. Ba6  Ka8 27. Bb7+ Kb8 28. Na6#) 23... Kc8 {Can you guess White's next Knight move?}  24. Nb7 {[%cal Gc5b7] This is why I say it's easier to remember and prettier!}  Kb8 25. Kb6 Kc8 26. Bf5+ Kb8 27. Nc5 Ka8 28. Bd7 Kb8 29. Na6+ Ka8 30. Bc6# 1-0   [Event "Breyer's Variation of the Ruy Lopez"]  [Site "?"]  [Date "2010.??.??"]  [Round "?"]  [White "NN"]  [Black "NN"]  [Result "*"]  [ECO "C94"]  [PlyCount "18"]   1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3  O-O 9. h3 {The key tasks of the opening, we all know, are develop, get castled  and get at least a share of the centre. (I sometimes add, and to open a file  for your Rooks.) In this position, Black has castled, and got a stake, and I  think it's a reasonable guess that Black should complete development. This is  why Breyer's contribution is so surprising:} 9... Nb8 {Black is aware of the  Tchigorin manoeuvre to get some space and counterplay on the Queen's-side, but  reckons the N on a5 is not well-placed. Instead, the Knight re-routes to d7,  where it co-ordinates with the other pieces better. For example, it might go  to c5, linking up with the N on f6 and a B on b7 to attack e4 (a plan that can  be preceded by ...c5-c4); or it can come around to f8 and g6, looking at f4,  or it can sit happily on d7, supporting e5 and f6. Breyer decided that these  co-ordination issues were more important than development for its own sake;  what matters is co-ordinated development.} (9... Na5 10. Bc2 10... c5 {  Tchigorin}) *
P.S. I had a couple of complaints about leaving out Tigran
Petrosian. As soon as I manage to understand any of Petrosian’s
games, please be assured that I will include some examples by him too.