Author Archives: DrDave

About DrDave

Retired player, current chess coach, organises chess events in Devon with a group of like-minded elves.

Skill or knowledge?

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Chess is as much a ‘know-how’ skill as a ‘know-that’ body of knowledge.
RB Ramesh said something in an interview that I thought was very wise (and I paraphrase):

“If I want to learn swimming and don’t know how to swim, I buy some DVDs from a famous swimming coach or swimming world champion, who has done a 10-hour course. So I watch this course every day for one month, so I know all the theory, right, and what needs to be done, but if you push me into a swimming pool I will drown!”

Facing the English (book resources)

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From left to right, as White faces them:

1…b6: English Defence

White’s most testing reply of course is 2.d4 but this is not compulsory

Odessky’s English Defence (2007) has a chapter on the English Opening

1…Nc6: (it takes two to Tango)

This is mostly a transpositional move: after 2.d4 we have the Black Knights’ Tango, while after 2.Nc3 e5 we have the Reversed Sicilian

Keene/Jacobs (1996) Complete Repertoire for Black uses 1…Nc6

1…c6: Slav style

The move …c6 creates a concrete threat to capture on c4 and keep it with …b5. and can give White some move-order headaches

It is hard for White to avoid positions with a Slav character after 2…d5; 2.Nf3 d5 3.b3 is a Reti opening, when Black can used 3…Nf6 and then either 4…Bf5 (Lasker) or 4…Bg4 (Capablanca), with equality

I don’t know of a book looking at this for Black, but I believe Shankland’s Chessable course on the Slav talks about the Catalan: This may help too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=YjunF7O2Bmk

1…c5: Benoni style

With …Nf6 & …d5: Rubinstein

I can’t recall a book recommending this approach, but it’s perfectly sound and I imagine you can pick out most of what you need from Hansen’s 2000 book on the Symmetrical English (although of course unless you play the English yourself, most of your investment will be wasted)

STOP PRESS: “Delchev’s Grunfeld Reloaded has a chapter on the Rubinstein Symmetrical English” (2019) https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1609278173

With …e6: Hedgehog

Suba’s Dynamic Chess Strategy is a hymn of praise to the Hedgehog, but for an opening book there is a choice:

Palkovi Hedgehog System Against The English Opening. Caissa Chess Books, 1997.

Lysyj, Igor; Ovetchkin, Roman (2017). The Hedgehog vs. the English/Reti. Chess Stars.

Suba, Mihai (2000). The Hedgehog. Batsford.

With …g6: Symmetrical Variation

Palliser’s Beating Unusual Chess Openings (2007) which uses the Symmetrical Variation (might suit a Benoni player but he does lean on the Botvinnik system with …e5 too) as does Burgess’ Idiot-Proof Opening repertoire

I don’t know of a book that recommends Fischer’s preferred setup with g6/c5/Nc6/Bg7/e6 with which he beat Smyslov and Petrosian in 1970, but again you can pick it out of the books that aren’t from Black’s point of view or use https://shop.chessbase.com/en/products/bologan_english_1c4_c5_for_black

1…d6: (the universal pancreas)

With …g6: King’s Indian Style

Most KID books seem to collapse in exhaustion after going through everything after 1.d4 and omit the English, but Dembo’s Fighting the Anti-King’s-Indians (2008) covers 1.c4 and I think is very good: nice balance of words and moves

1…e6: French style

Combined with …Nf6, see below; with …b6, see above; it’s independent only with …d5

Kaufman (2012) has offered 1…e6 and 2…d5, inviting a transposition to the Queen’s Gambit, which might be White’s best bet (Pritchett describes it as ‘unavoidable’)

Similarly, Kotronias: Fight 1.d4 with the Tarrasch (2019) should get you there, although he does not address 1.c4

Eingorn (2012) Rock-solid opening repertoire for Black discusses the pros and cons of 1.c4 e6

1…e5: Reversed Sicilian and after 2.Nc3:

With 2…Nf6 and 3…c6: (I suspect 2.g3 is awkward)

Delchev/Semkov (2016) Attacking the English/Reti

With 2…Nf6 and 3…d5: Reversed Open Sicilian

The gold standard for a book to combat the English Opening is probably something like Kotronias’ Beating the Flank Openings (1996) which recommends the Reversed Sicilian (would suit a 1.e4 player)

No other book comes to mind but you can consult https://www.modern-chess.com/reversed-sicilian-avrukhs-antidote-to-1-c4-part-1 & https://www.modern-chess.com/reversed-sicilian-avrukhs-antidote-to-1-c4-part-2

With 2…Nc6: Reversed Closed Sicilian

I’m happy to recommend Dempsey, T.; English Opening: A Line for Black; The Chess Player 1985 but best of luck finding a copy!

No other book comes to mind but I imagine you can find a playable set of lines in Hansen (2019) The Full English, but it’s a shame that most of your investment will be wasted, so maybe use https://shop.chessbase.com/en/products/bologan_english_c4_e5_for_black

With 2…Bb4

Mikhalevski 2016 Beating Minor Openings

With 2…d6: Smyslov system

This is to be found in several books: the second edition of Keene/Levy’s Attacking Repertoire, Yrjola/Tella’s Explosive Chess Opening Repertoire, and I expect several others

1…Nf6: Indian style

With ….e6: Nimzo/Queen’s Indian style

This has the drawback of allowing 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4, the Flohr-Mikenas Attack.

With …g6: King’s Indian Style

See above

1…f5: Dutch style

With …e6 and …d6: Classical

Williams: Play the Classical Dutch (2003)

With ….e6 and …d5: Stonewall

Johnsen, Bern, Agdestein: Win with the Stonewall Dutch (2009)

With …g6: Leningrad

[Same problem as the KID books: the ones I know cover only 1.d4 … but you’re likely to end up in the Reversed Closed Sicilian anyway after …e5]

Honorable exception: Demuth’s Modernized Dutch (2019) https://britishchessnews.com/2020/01/05/the-modernised-dutch-defense/

1….g6: Modern style

Fischer used this move order, which gives Black much flexibility; ….c5 was a common partner, in which case, see above

1…g5: Grob style

I think this can be recommended only to free spirits…

Basman (1989) The Killer Grob

“To take is a mistake”

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My young friend and former student Theo Slade quoted this to me a while ago.

“To take is a mistake”

In some circumstances, it’s easy to see why:

A capture by either side gives up the d-file and invites Rd7/Rd2, so both sides need to find something else to do.

There is a YouTube lecture by Smirnov on this subject, which has been made into a Lichess study, which makes the point thoroughly: https://lichess.org/study/MJ9ZFfKI

Another quote, from a current student:

“I’m a bit nervous about tension.”

OK, I get that. If you respond to a threat by defending the attacked piece, the threat remains in the air, and if you overlook it later, it can bite you. This is Smirnov’s first example:

So 1.Nxg4 Bxg4=, but 1.Nf3+/-

But of course, if control of h2 remains disputed, the N cannot move away from f3. But 1.Nf3! is still the best move and should be played!

A slight digression: The Ruy Lopez

“why is the Ruy Lopez … so difficult for Black to combat? (Nunn and Griffiths)

Good question. Let’s have a look:

Michael Stean comments here:

“The first and most primitive idea behind 3. Bb5 is to lay siege to Black’s e-Pawn, which will subsequently be liquidated by d4, thereby opening the floodgates for the White Pawn centre to scatter the enemy forces with the allied pieces following up to rout the broken army — no prisoners taken. Black cannot however be forced to surrender the centre. By keeping his own e-Pawn firmly defended Black can thwart all White’s aspirations of conquest in the centre, but this will lead to a rather cramped position. So the offspring of White’s plan is an advantage in space due to the necessity for his opponent to maintain a firm central barricade. This spatial plus however is not very big and the only way to maintain it is by avoiding any exchange of pieces. Black’s position (Diagram 73) has sufficient ‘capacity’ for three minor pieces, but not clearly enough for all four of them. This explains why White is willing to invest so much time early in the game (Bb5, Ba4, Bb3, Bc2, h3) purely to avoid exchanges. If his spatial strategy is to succeed he must leave Black with four minor pieces. These closed Ruy Lopez positions are some of the most subtle and complex in the whole opening repertoire. It is probably no coincidence that nearly all the great players of recent times have been deadly exponents of the Ruy Lopez. In the hands of Fischer or Karpov 3. Bb5 sometimes appears to win by force. For example, Karpov-Westerinen, Nice 1974. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 …

The clarity and popularity of Stean’s book has led to this being a leading interpretation of White’s chances in the Closed Morphy Defence. But there is more to it than that. Let us continue with the whole of that quote from Nunn and Griffiths:

“But already this opening has certain puzzling aspects. Why should White consistently maintain his initiative, both in the variations we have looked at and in those to come? Why should Black’s position be so awkward? The question really boils down to a more basic one: why is the Ruy Lopez (which this opening has virtually become) so difficult for Black to combat? Look at the present position: Black’s pieces are sensibly developed; he has as much space as White; his pawns are strong. Yet he has problems.
“The answer seems to be that in this type of Ruy Lopez position Black can easily get caught in a situation where his game cannot unfold. Here for instance, White has his plans of Ng3-f5 and later d4, but it is less easy for Black to find something profitable to do without weakening himself or making some serious concession. His pieces may look reasonably placed, but they cannot readily achieve anything constructive or relevant. I should make it clear that this does not have to happen in a Lopez; it is far from being a bad opening for him. But in practice one error (6…Qe7) can leave him in misery. And so, if a player seems to have a respectable game (in a Ruy Lopez or any other opening for that matter), yet still loses, his misfortune may often be traced back to this lack of life in his position.”
— NUNN AND GRIFFITHS

Trying to go beyond the Good Doctor’s commentary is surely lese-majeste, but let me have a go anyway. Euwe and Kramer call this type of structure the Tension Form, and there we have another secret of the position. There is unresolved tension. The central pawns, White and Black, can take each other, be captured, recapture in different ways, or White can shut down the tension by d4-d5. Now, exactly where you want your pieces may be a different, depending on the central structure. If White takes on e5, the outpost on d5 may become tempting for a Knight (Stean is very good on this too), and so Black might want to keep a wary eye on that possibility, and be able to respond in the best way. If White plays d4-d5, that possibility vanishes, but other ideas appear. Operating under this tension and flexibility and uncertainty is difficult for Black, who has that constraint on their manoeuvres presented by the d6 pawn.

So the next question arises: why on earth would Black want to subject themselves to this sort of unpleasantness? Perhaps it is for lack of alternatives, but there is something else… Operating under this tension and flexibility and uncertainty is difficult for White too! Perhaps a little less so than for Black, but the positions are actually tricky for both sides, and not easy to simplify.
So Black might willingly take on a slightly squashed position — in the Lopez, in the Hedgehog, or in the Hippopotamus — in the hope that the opponent with more space will still face difficulties in finding the right piece placements and the right plans in a tense, changeable position. As Suba pointed out, once you have your pieces arranged prettily after the opening, you still have to play chess… So, learn to love tension!

The Swiss System

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The Swiss Defence gets its name from Henneberger, a Swiss player who, among other games, tried it in a smul against Alekhin in 1925. He played strongly, and that may have alerted Alekhin to its potential:

Alekhin made use of this uncommon move order (alongside the Cambridge Springs Defence) in his match against Capablanca. All but two games were Queen’s Gambits! Alekhin got to 3-2 ahead, and Capa fought like fury to level the match, but Alekhin used the Swiss Defence throughout this stage, drawing games 13, 15, 17 and 19… then winning game 21. Alekhin used the defence too in games 23, 25 and 27. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say this was a defence that won the World Championship — it resisted everything Capa threw at it, and it gave a win at an important moment.
I’ve stuffed the notes with all the variations you might need to play this defence.

There is a fine brisk commentary on this game by Kasparov: [url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY5Pco_6wjQ”]YouTube[/url]

Is this line any good now, and for club players?

I think the first ‘theory’ book I bought was Queen’s Gambit by Chess Digest, where I first plunged into the maze of variations of the Orthodox Defence, and felt a bit overwhelmed… but on page 3 there was a helpful hint, pointing to deviations from the main line on move 7 for Black, which included the Swiss Defence. Black’s chances weren’t obviously worse in that line than in the more popular lines.

Many years later, Tony Dempsey floated through Exeter Chess Club, and he recommended the defence to club players as being easy to remember and to understand, and if White played ‘natural’ moves, then Black would get a great position.

Not much wrong with that, eh?

And I think the first ‘match’ book I bought was Robert Byrne’s account of the 1974 Candidate’s Tournament. He annotated the crushing 10th game of the Portisch-Petrosian match with an intriguing note, reading something like: “At the time if the present match, these players were not familiar with the rehabilitation of the line by William Lombardy and myself”.

All looks OK, doesn’t it?

The trouble with the Swiss Defence, I thought, might be the swap on d5. This was Capa’s preferred approach in the second half of the match.

The swap leads to a characteristic pawn structure, now often called the Karlsbad structure.

[chessboard]8/pp3ppp/2p5/3p4/3P4/4P3/PP3PPP/8[/chessboard]

Why Karlsbad? In Starting Out, 1.d4!, John Cox recommends the Exchange Variation to players of White, adding “(or ‘Karlsbad’: no-one knows why)”. Ah, kids these days… No-one should call the Exchange Variation the ‘Karlsbad’, it’s the name of the structure, but we really do know why that got its name. It’s because at the Karlsbad tournament of 1923, during which there was a lot of exploration of cxd5 for White. (If anything should be called the Karlsbad Variation, it’s 8.cxd5 against 7…a6.; as far as I can see, no-one actually played 7…a6 in 1923, so no-one could reply 8.cxd5 in that exact position, but the structure with half-open c- and e-files is the same.)

White has a few plans here, but the most common is to pin down the Black c-pawn, and advance the b-pawn, hoping to make a weakness on c6, or d5, or both. This is the minority attack, where White advances on the side where they have fewer pawns — a minority.

[chessboard]8/pp3ppp/2p5/1P1p4/3P4/4P3/P4PPP/8[/chessboard]

I mentioned this Exchange approach to Tony, knowing that many Queen’s Gambit players earn their living with this approach in the Queen’s Gambit (Petrosian, Kasparov and Karpov all used it heavily, and closer to home Keith Arkell), but he was quite sanguine about it. He suggested (1) it’s actually hard for White to keep control over the position for the whole game, and there is likely to be some accident along the way; (2) if there is an accident, it might happen while White’s King is facing an attack! And lo and behold, Devon faced Cornwall one weekend, and Andrew Greet exchanged against John Wheeler, and John showed the dangers White faced by winning with a convincing King’s-side attack. (I can find the result http://www.cornwallchess.org.uk/html/archive-county/county-1998.shtml but not the game!) Also, …a6 is a useful move in several plans for Black in the minority attack: it forces White to play a4 before playing b5, which means Black can get either an open a-file (b5 axb5) or a passed a-pawn (b5 cxb5; axb5 a5) or an outpost on c4 (…b5).

Also, I think if White has got as far as move 8 without taking on d5, they probably won’t do so on move 8 either; cxd5 may be the best approach against 7…a6, but if White is happy to play the Exchange, they are better advised to go for it earlier, excluding many ways that Black can choose to avoid it earlier.

So, I am happy to recommend this as a way for Black to approach the defence when faced with the Queen’s Gambit.

P.S. I was amused, having explained all this to my recent student, Leif Hafstad, to find Leif had explained it to Neil McDonald, and Neil had a go with it a couple of times:

Do you coach beginners?

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Dear Dave, 
Hope this email finds you well. 
I’m looking for a coach to teach chess for my 7-year-old daughter. 
My friend recommended you, but I don’t know whether you are available or have available space for a beginner. 
Look forward to your reply.

Thanks for your interest.

I am available for coaching and have space, but I would not like to charge you money to teach a beginner.

Beginners mostly need practice, and some basic advice which is freely available.

If she has no opponents at home or at school, then I suggest you sign her up at ChessKid.com (a child-friendly place to play) or at lichess.org (an adult space, but you can turn off chat, so you can only say things to each other like ‘Good game’ and ‘Thank you’).  You can also get computer and ‘phone apps which play chess:
https://www.dadsuggests.com/home/best-chess-apps
The free level of ‘Play Magnus’ might amuse.  Some of the free chess apps like Stockfish are of Grandmaster strength, so watch out for that!

Beginners nearly always lose (or win) games because they miss (or spot) captures and simple tactics.
There are places where you can practise simple tactics for free, including lichess.org.
https://lichess.org/training
To learn what the simple tactics patterns are, you can refer to
https://devonjuniorchess.co.uk/content/middlegame-tactics-advice
https://devonjuniorchess.co.uk/content/course-chess-tactics
Someone made a video series out of that last collection:

And for defending:

Playing games and revising simple tactics are the most important things to start with.

She will also need to know how to finish off a game of chess:

And to start a game properly:
https://devonjuniorchess.co.uk/content/openings-advice

For more basic advice, try these resources:

https://www.chessinschools.co.uk/chess-at-home

and if modesty permits:
https://onionschess.co.uk/content/4-book-deal

If she does not like to read books, there are many videos on YouTube which are free.  I have made some myself, as you see.

I hope some of that is helpful.

For coaching, I charge £30 per hour, and for a month’s worth of lessons, I expect you can buy all the books your daughter might need for her first year or two of playing chess!

If she starts to play on lichess.org, let me know what her online name is (I am drdaveexeter), and I will be able to see her games, and I can tell you which bits of advice need more attention.

Lucky escapes

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Simon Webb in his book Chess for Tigers identified the “secrets of swindling”:
(1) Be objective. The first prerequisite to a swindle is to be objective enough to realize early on when you have a lost position and start playing for a swindle while your position still has resources. If you wait until your position worsens and becomes hopeless, it will be too late.

(2) Do not be afraid of losing. “Once you’ve accepted that your position is lost, you should be in a position of psychological strength.” The worst that can happen is that you’ll lose the game. The pressure is on your opponent to win a “won game”, and it is your opponent who will be embarrassed if unable to do so.
(3) Play actively. In a losing position, you cannot passively wait for your opponent to squeeze you to death. To stand a chance of pulling off a successful swindle, it is important to get the initiative, and this may involve sacrificing a pawn or two, or even the exchange, to activate your pieces.
(4) Use the process of elimination. If you have a choice of several possible moves, and you see simple forced wins against all but one of those moves, you should play the one remaining move, and do so quickly. Again, the onus is on your opponent to find a way to win.

Swindling themes:
1 Stalemate
2 Weak back rank
3 Perpetual check
4 Surprise mating attack
5 Bishops of opposite colours
6 Material insufficiency
7 Building a fortress
8 Zugzwang
9 Timing

Wikipedia has an excellent article on swindling, in which some of those examples appear: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swindle_%28chess%29

Test paper, test positions, and suggested solutions, all attached.