Category Archives: Topic

It’s happened… Nullius in vebsites

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I was updating my series on the world Champions, following Ding Liren’s accession to the throne, and did a bit of digging around the Internet, as I’m a little out of touch these days.

I came across what looked like a helpful summary on a website which gave a not-very-interesting career summary and cited a few games.

To my shame, I didn’t recognise any of the games at all.

But penny dropped: two of the three the games do not, I believe, exist as described.

And I further believe, the reason these bogus games were cited with such colourful and plausible commentary is because the whole page was cobbled together by a chat AI bot.

Just to check:

Immortal Games: 3 Most Famous Games by Ding Liren Ding Liren has played countless memorable games throughout his career, showcasing his exceptional talent and unique style. Here are three of his most famous games that have left a lasting impression on the chess world: 1. Ding Liren vs. Wesley So (2015 Tata Steel Masters): This game is a prime example of Liren’s superb endgame skills. In a seemingly equal position, Liren managed to outplay his highly-rated opponent, Wesley So, by expertly maneuvering his pieces and exploiting small inaccuracies. The game ended in a beautiful checkmate, demonstrating Liren’s ability to create winning chances even in seemingly drawn positions.

Closest game I could find is nothing like that:

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1782804

Next:

1. Ding Liren vs. Levon Aronian (2017 FIDE World Cup): In this highly-anticipated game, Liren faced off against the experienced and talented Levon Aronian. Liren displayed his strategic prowess by obtaining a slight advantage in a complex middlegame, which he then converted into a winning endgame. This victory not only secured Liren’s place in the World Cup semifinals but also further cemented his reputation as a top-tier player.

Chessgames tell me instead:

On way to the final, Levon Aronian knocked out Daniel J Cawdery in Round 1, Yifan Hou in Round 2, Maxim Matlakov in Round 3, Daniil Dubov in Round 4, Vassily Ivanchuk in the quarterfinal and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the semifinal. Ding Liren beat Mohamed Amine Haddouche in Round 1, Martyn Kravtsiv in Round 2, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi in Round 3, Wang Hao in Round 4, Richard Rapport in the quarterfinal, and Wesley So in the semifinal. The final match started on 23 September. After 2-2 in the Classical games, Aronian won both Rapid games. Aronian and Ding Liren both qualified for the World Championship Candidates (2018) tournament.

               Elo   1 2 3 4  1 2
Levon Aronian  2799  ½ ½ ½ ½  1 1  4
Ding Liren     2777  ½ ½ ½ ½  0 0  2

Nearest I could get:

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=97026

Lastly:

2. Ding Liren vs. Magnus Carlsen (2019 Sinquefield Cup): In this thrilling encounter, Liren took on the reigning World Champion, Magnus Carlsen. Despite playing with the black pieces, Liren managed to create an imbalanced position that put Carlsen under significant pressure. Although the game ultimately ended in a draw, it showcased Liren’s ability to hold his own against the world’s best and further highlighted his immense talent.

The two players did at least meet in this tournament, and the result was indeed a draw. However, at no time did White appear under significant pressure (see attached PDF),unless it was to show an advantage.

“Fact-checked by Marc Cressen”, my bottom.

P.S. Is ‘imbalanced’ really a word? There is nothing wrong with ‘unbalanced’.

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=97026&pid=52629 https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1971755

I fear this is going to happen more and more often, at least for a while.

Exhibit B: https://devonjuniorchess.co.uk/content/advice-chatgpt

Exhibit C: [hmm can’t find it, but bogus papers cited by referee’s report to paper submitted to science journal]

Playing for a draw

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Click […] for list of games

P.S. Krogius also comments on final 1951 BB game

Capture_0.PNG

Instructive examples of correct psychological preconditioning are furnished by Botvinnik’s games. During his matches against Bronstein (1951) and Smyslov (1954) the score before the last round was 11 ½:11½ . A draw would secure the World Championship title for Botvinnik.

The decisive game [1951-DR] began. Bronstein with a smile of cunning on his face advanced his QP: 1 P-Q4. The hall was silent. People made guesses as to what opening Botvinnik would play? Somebody’s voice predicted “It will be the Orthodox Defence. True. Black has to defend for a long time, but the position is stable. Botvinnik needs a stable position today.”

But no! The first moves already refute the prognosis. We see the sharp and tense variation known to theory as the “Botvinnik Variation”. The champion bravely challenges his opponent. as if saying: “Although I would like a draw I am not going to beg for it myself!”

I would like to make clear to the reader that I do not wish to deprecate the Orthodox Defence, which was used by Lasker and Capablanca. The point is that Botvinnik hardly ever used to play this system of development. The champion chose the safest, most thoroughly analyzed and, perhaps, the most aggressive continuation in his repertoire. One can only guess what the feelings of his opponent were, but the movements of the white pieces suggest that he was assailed by doubt. One can see a sort of resignation in the action of the White army. Perhaps he was recalling the successful course of the battle in the preceding twenty-third game of the match, or perhaps his balance was upset by Black’s coolly executed, precise and relentless attack. The denouement was not long in coming: after gaining a won position The Champion offered a draw “just in case”. It was accepted.

The game against Smyslov developed on similar lines. This time the Champion had White so it was easier for him to make his opponent go in for a defensive game.

P.S. There are alternative accounts of who offered the draw which do not detract from the main point.

CHRISTMAS BOOK REVIEW: last minute gifts for the unimproved player

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Some tips when choosing a Christmas gift for the chess player in your life.

The Ideas Behind Modern Chess Publishing (Gravy Train)

We must first note the misleading title: this is in fact a study of a typical club-players’  bad habits in the opening, which mostly encourages them. Once you have got past the cover, you will find a very brisk and practical approach has been taken here. The reader is shown just the positive points of various opening systems, without confusing them with any tiresome negative features. Black’s best defences, of course, are also carefully given no space at all, thus avoiding unnecessary complications, and even some of the basic replies that you might expect club players to know (or even stumble upon by accident) are omitted. Makes it all look incredibly easy, and created a very strong impression on this reviewer.

P.O.O.R. Chess (Moswhini).

P.O.O.R. Chess of course stands for Pennies Obtained for Old Rope, and this is very much the home ground of our Grandmaster-ringmaster-entertainer-instructor. And R.O.P.E., we discover, stands for Religion, Opinion, Platitudes and Exclamations!! Many readers will find the cutesy tone off-putting, but stick with it, and you may discover some of God’s most wonderful gifts to us, like the ability to skim a book like this through the air like a frisbee (S.A.B.L.T.T.T.A.L.A.F.), to land in the compost heap of a neighbour, maybe two streets away. Perhaps even that is not far enough.

Bluff like a Grandmaster (Putya Koton, trans. Koldout).

This was the book that blew the lid off the secret Soviet training methods, and showed them to be a tissue of lies. A classic, which continues to catch people out.

School of Chess Effluence (Vols.1-19) – (Forgetitsky and Yushudev).

Igor Forgetitsky has for many years been the go-to guy for top-level, in-depth, high-falutin and over-analytical chess training. His famous card indexes of training positions had become over-full during his years in Eastern Europe, and in the West he found a heaven-sent opportunity to capitalise on this rich resource. Indeed, there can hardly be a scrap of material remaining that has not found its way into a book in this extensive series.

The exercises themselves are amazingly detailed and difficult, so much so that you may sometimes forget whatever the point of the chapter was supposed to be, or indeed what is the point of chess study in the first place, or, in some instances, whether life itself has any purpose at all.

A major event in chess publishing. We can all look forward to more of this sort of thing.

The Idiot’s Mind (Sillyman).

This book gives the reader the rare chance to eavesdrop on a celebrated minor master shouting at his dimwitted students. I’m sure we can all identify with their slow, stumbling progress, and their inability to understand the most OBVIOUS things about a position, even when it is explained OVER and OVER again, in PAINFUL detail, you moron! EVERYTHING you think about at the board must be the most basic, the most concrete, and the most rational. What are you, born under an airhead sign or something? No, don’t tell me… Capricorn, you’re a Capricorn, right? Or a Taurus? I’m sure I can smell Taurus somewhere… Perhaps you’re a Cancer? Wait, come back…

Chess for Blokes: A 12-part DVD training guide (Devious, published by ChimpBase).

Some good, plain-speaking, gritty, practical advice from someone who got out of chess years ago to earn some proper money. He’s now realised the potential that exists in the chess DVD market, and is back to show us how it’s done.

You won’t find other Grandmasters giving most of these openings a second thought, so we are truly fortunate to watch Nigel Devious bluster his way past all the theoretical obstacles they they seem to think are so important in their fancy-dan tournaments. And it’s astonishing how even-handed this comprehensive series this is: the Colle is described as a good practical weapon in one DVD and yet is easy to deal with in another; it’s vital to play proper openings one day, but then you should play some corny old club nonsense on the next. And of course, our Northern host has a well-balanced chip on each shoulder. Perhaps only those able to afford the full selection will realise the true value of what’s on offer here.

It’s mostly about openings, of course, because that’s where the quick returns can be made, but Devious also offers DVDs on the practical side of chess playing. So, in other titles, he covers how to play juniors, elders, betters, how to get your own back in a post mortem and how to get the advantage without actually cheating. His study of the ancient Eastern philosophies on the Internet has led him to some surprising conclusions, like, there’s some Indian guy who apparently can survive without food or water for months on end. It’s true, I saw it myself, he’s being tested by scientists and everything. Wait, come back…

Starting out in Publishing Opening Guides (Everyminute Publishing, Onebourne).

The publisher here has re-thought the way chess opening books have been published, and come up with their own revolutionary scheme. For literally hundreds of years, the small square chess diagram has forced a two-column layout upon chess books, minimising the distance between a diagrams and its accompanying text, and minimising the amount of white space in a book. All that has been swept away with refreshing vigour in this groundbreaking series, so you will find much less in these books than you might have feared at first. Also, the exercise in flipping between pages to find the right diagram will keep you very much on your toes.

Although common wisdom suggests that most club players can stumble through no more than a half-dozen moves before forgetting what they have been told, the authors have all been instructed to give whole games here. So, as well as being given a whizz through some of the simpler ideas in an opening, you can look forward to playing over many many more moves in the example games, way past the point where you lose any hope of understanding what the Grandmaster opponents were thinking or indeed past any real interest in the outcome of the game. Thankfully, these long sequences are given mostly without notes, so you have all the excuse you need to omit them.

It will be a poor player who fails to get anything out of these books. And, as the publishers have no doubt realised, there are millions more such players than those who can see through this whole charade.

FOR JUNIORS: The Ten Ways to Succeed in Publishing series (Otiose and Rigid)

The authors have done a remarkable thing here, reducing what the young player needs to know to the absolute bare minimum necessary to survive, then throwing half of that away. Large text and ample spacing means that these books aren’t as small or as cheap as you might expect, and additional space is taken up with some child-friendly cartoons, drawn it seems by a friendly child.

JUST PUBLISHED: Lexicographer’s Lists (Neissman).

Subtitled: the Big Five, the Medium Fifteen, the Tiny Twenty, the Swift Half, and 4978 other Crucial Things you have to Keep In Mind at all Times. These are the few thousand most basic and important of chess tips, culled from decades of work with students, regurgitated onto the Internet, and now re-organised into the most complicated schemes imaginable.

This book should occupy a vital place in anyone’s chess coaching collection: for me, it’s jammed underneath my tottering bookcase, stopping the whole thing falling forwards.

 

Inspiration: Kingpin.

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: