Threatening 4...b3+ 5.Ka3 Qc5+ and checkmate next move. The unfortunate position of White’s king makes resistance hopeless for White.
4.Ka1 Rfc8! 5.Rd1 ... (D)
Apparently Black must lose material. The fact is, though, that he has planned the whole combination very carefully. He relies on the mating net that he has woven around White’s king.
5...b3!! (D)
Now 6.R×d4 Ra8+ leads to mate.
6.Ra3 Rc2!! Resigns (D)
White has no resistance left in this amazing position. If 7.Rb1 Q×b2+!! 8.R×b2 Rc1+ 9.Rb1 R×b1 mate. And if 7.N×c2 b×c2 (threatening mate) 9.Ra2 Nb3 mate!
Relax!
The last rule for improving your game is: take it easy! Chess is only a game and should be played for fun. Too much anxiety sours your mood and kills your pleasure in the game. And, paradoxically enough, a more relaxed attitude can often bring better results.
In trying to become expert at any game we are easily upset by imperfections and mishaps. We strain too hard to become perfect. The result is that we ruin our prospects. A philosophical attitude, on the other hand, can often work wonders.
A game played by two Viennese amateurs many years ago illustrates the point very neatly and will therefore form a fitting finish to this book.
The game was played in in a café before a large goup of spectators, including the great Hungarian master Maroczy. Eventually the players reached this position: (D)
White – Black
White to move
White can win a pawn by 1.N×c3 b×c3 2.Q×b7 R×b7 3.R×c3.
But then Black still has four pawns for the piece and it is very doubtful whether White can win the game. So at this point White got a brilliant idea.
1.Ne7+ Kh8 2.Q×h7+!! K×h7 (D)
Here White thought he could play 3.Rh3 mate. Transfixed with horror, he now realizes that the rook is pinned and cannot move!
At this point Maroczy exclaims, “Magnificent!” White pricks up his ears. Magnificent?! There must be some finesse he’s overlooked. What can it be? Sure enough! Here it is:
3.d5!! ... (D)
Unpinning the rook. If now 3...Q×d5 4.R×d5 threatening 5.Rh3 mate.
3...Qc8
To prevent 4.Rh3 mate.
4.Rd4! ... (D)
Threatening 5.Rh4 mate.
4...g6
Desperately trying to create a flight square. (D)
5.Bf6 g5
Preventing Rh4 mate. But now White forces the game with a series of pretty rook moves.
6.Rdd3 ... (D)
Threatening Rh3+ followed by mate.
6...g4 7.Rd4! ... (D)
Threatening 8.Rh3+!! g×h3 9.Rh4 mate! Black is lost.
7...Ne4 8.R×e4 Qf5 (D)
9.Rh3+! g×h3 10.Rh4+ Qh5 11.R×h5 mate (D)
And yet this combination, pretty as it is, is full of holes! In the first place, White mistakenly thought he could mate by 3.Rh3 mate – which was impossible.
Secondly, when Maroczy exclaimed, “Magnificent!” he wasn’t looking at the game. He was reading a chess magazine and had just seen a very pretty move in a game he was studying. Thus White’s brilliant train of thought was started by a comment which he completely misunderstood.
Thirdly, the combination as played could have wound up more rapidly and sharply at White’s fifth move. (D)
Game after 4...g6
5.Rh4+ Kg7 6.Bf6 mate!
Fourthly, White didn’t discover until 46 years later (!) that he had a quicker mate! But what of it? All concerned – the players, the spectators, and you and I – richly enjoyed this comedy of errors. For in chess it will always be true that “the play’s the thing.”
The most rewarding feature of chess is the keen pleasure the game gives us. This has been my guiding thought in writing this book. I have tried to communicate that pleasure to you. You must be the judge of whether I have succeeded or failed.
If I have succeeded, then I am content to say about this book and about all your future games, “All’s well that ends well!”
Russell Enterprises, Inc. is one of the world’s major publishers of fine chess books. For complete descriptions of all our books and free downloads, we invite you to visit our website:
www.Russell-Enterprises.com
The following Russell Enterprises titles are also available as eBooks (Kindle, iPad, etc.):
212 Surprising Checkmates by Bruce Alberston & Fred Wilson
Art of Bisguier by Arthur Bisguier & Newton Berry
Back to Basics: Fundamentals by Branislav Francuski
Back to Basics: Openings by Carsten Hansen
Back to Basics: Strategy by Valeri Beim
Back to Basics: Tactics by Dan Heisman
Basic Chess Tactics for Younger Chessplayers by Bruce Alberston
Bobby Fischer: The Career and Complete Games of the American World Chess Champion by Karsten Müller
Bullet Chess by Hikaru Nakamura & Bruce Harper
Chess Analytics: Training with a Grandmaster by Efstratios Grivas
ChessCafe Puzzle Book 1 by Karsten Müller
ChessCafe Puzzle Book 2 by Karsten Müller
ChessCafe Puzzle Book 3 by Karsten Müller & Merijn van Delft
ChessCafe Puzzle Book Sampler by Karsten Müller (free!)
Chess Puzzle Book 4 by Karsten Müller & Alex Markgraf
Chess Juggler by Dr. James Magner
Chess Mazes 1 by Bruce Alberston
Chess Mazes 2 by Bruce Alberston
Chess Movies 1 by Bruce Pandolfini
Chess Movies 2 by Bruce Pandolfini
Chess Words of Wisdom by Mike Henebry
Common Sense in Chess by Emanuel Lasker
Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual by Mark Dvoretsky
Elements of Positional Evaluation: How the Pieces Get Their Power by Dan Heisman
Emanuel Lasker: Second World Chess Champion by Isaak & Vladimir Linder
Endgame Workshop by Bruce Pandolfini
A History of Chess: From Chaturanga to the Present Day by Yuri Averbakh
How to Beat Your Kids at Chess by David MacEnulty
How to Think in Chess by Jan Przewoznik & Marek Soszynski
José Raúl Capablanca: Third World Chess Champion by Isaak & Vladimir Linder
The KGB Plays Chess by Gulko, Felshtinsky, Popov & Kortschnoi
Kramnik-Kasparov 2000 by Karsten Müller
Lasker’s Manual of Chess by Emanuel Lasker
Legend on the Road by John Donaldson
Let’s Play Chess by Bruce Pandolfini
The Life & Games of Carlos Torre by Gabriel Velasco
London 1922 by Geza Maróczy
Looking for Trouble by Dan Heisman
Masters of the Chessboard by Richard Réti
Max Euwe: Fifth World Chess Champion by Isaak & Vladimir Linder
Modern Ideas in Chess by Richard Réti
Modern Morra Gambit (2nd. ed.) by Hannes Langrock
New York 1927 by Alexander Alekhine
Nottingham 1936 by Alexander Alekhine
Paul Morphy: A Modern Perspective by Valeri Beim
A Practical Guide to Rook Endgames by Nikolay Minev
Profession: Chessplayer – Grandmaster at Work by Vladimir Tukmakov
The Rules of Chess by Bruce Pandolfini (free!)
St. Petersburg 1909 by Emanuel Lasker
Strategic Opening Repertoire by John Donaldson & Carsten Hansen
Studies for Practical Players by Mark Dvoretsky & Oleg Pervakov
Tal-Botvinnik 1960 by Mikhail Tal
Topalov-Kramnik 2006 by Veselin Topalov with Zhivko Ginchev
Tragicomedy in the Endgame by Mark Dvoretsky
Vienna 1922 by Larry Evans
Zürich 1953 by Miguel Najdorf
his book with friends
How to Play Chess like a Champion Page 13
