JN: Although after 4 Qh4 followed by Qh7+ White wins the g6-pawn, when the resulting position appears very unpleasant for Black. However, it is true that White risks nothing by building his position up further before playing h6.
2 ... c6 3 Qh2 Rb7 4 h6 hxg6 5 hxg7 Bxg7 6 Rh8+ and White wins.
Defence by elimination
Many examples could be given of defence based on the diversion or elimination of important attacking pieces, since such operations are often undertaken; however, they are limited on the whole to one or two moves and do not normally provide a complete system of defence but only force the attacker to remodel or reorganize his attack. Thus, for example, in the quite normal case where the attacker’s knight has to retreat from g5 when faced with ... h6, the problem of defence has not as a rule been fundamentally solved, but rather the attacker has been obliged to redirect his attack, either by transferring his target from h7 to h6 or g7 or else by strengthening the pressure on h7 along the diagonal b1-h7. Special examples and analysis are not necessary in the case of such straightforward diversion of opposing pieces. We are interested here in those special cases when the diversion or elimination of the attacker’s pieces represents the essence of the defence and is in fact fundamental in driving back the attacking force. The simplest example of this is the exchange of queens, which is usually to the advantage of the defender and in many cases altogether eliminates the danger of attack. The queen is generally an essential piece in a mating attack and it is therefore useful to the defender if it is removed. However, other pieces too can be essential to an attack and can be the target of a defensive plan based on elimination. One of the most typical instances involves the attacker’s bishop which is covering a network of weak squares. Such a visitor should, as soon as circumstances permit, be dismissed from the castling area or be eliminated by exchange. The following diagram shows a case of a bishop commanding a network of squares, and we give two possible continuations: the one actually taken, where Black misses the opportunity to defend himself by tackling the bishop; and an alternative one, which indicates the correct method of defence.
JN: In the original edition, this diagram was incorrectly given without the black pawn on b5; Vuković’s comments have been modified to take account of this correction.
This position comes from the game Blackburne-Schwarz, Berlin 1881, and it is White’s move. He is a pawn down and, in addition, he has the inferior pawn structure. On the other hand, he enjoys far greater activity for his pieces and has prospects of controlling the network of weak dark squares around the enemy king. It is exactly with this in mind that he plays:
1 Bf6 Nf4+?
Black throws away the chance of defending himself by eliminating the bishop on f6 (with 1 ... Be7!) and falls into a trap.
2 Qxf4 Bxf4 3 Rxh5 gxh5 4 Rxh5 and there is no remedy against mate on h8.
The essential attacking piece here is the bishop on f6 and it should have been eliminated. Therefore the only correct course is 1 ... Be7!.
After 2 Be5 (or 2 Bxe6 fxe6 3 Qg5 Bxf6 4 Qxf6 Qd8! and Black is the better placed) 2 ... Bd6 White has nothing better than 3 Bf6 and a repetition of moves; on any other move the elimination of White’s dark-squared bishop affords Black a complete defence and the prospect of victory on the basis of his other advantages. Thus after 3 f4 Bxe5 4 dxe5 Ng7 White has nothing, while he is too weak for 3 Rxh5? gxh5 4 Rxh5 Bxe5 5 dxe5 Rd4, whereupon the threat of ... Nf4+ destroys all his hopes.
Before we leave the theme of defence by elimination, the reader must be warned of the mistakes which are often made in applying this method. Many players defend themselves by endeavouring to exchange all the attacker’s aggressive pieces. Such a formula can easily lead to defeat. As a rule, one should aim to exchange those pieces which are essential to the execution of the attacker’s mating threats, while on the other hand one should preserve those of one’s own pieces which are carrying out an important defensive function. We have already seen how important it is to preserve the fianchettoed bishop, and much the same can be said for a knight at f6 covering the important square h7.
The king’s self-defence
There is a graded scale which can be applied to the king’s self-defence starting from the so-called consolidating move and ending with the full flight of the king to the other side of the board. Examples have already been given of the former type, so we shall begin with cases where the king is already definitely on the move, even though it may only be along the edge of the castling area. The next diagram is a typical example of self-defence by classically simple means: faced with White’s pressure on h7, Black defends his pawn by advancing it and is not concerned about the square h7 itself; Black’s king reduces the value of the square by moving, for it no longer comes into consideration as a focal-point.
This position is from
Bogoljubow-Réti, Carlsbad 1923 . Black played:
1 ... h6! 2 Bxf6 Bxf6 3 Qh7+ Kf8
The black king defends itself by flight; if now 4 Qh8+ Ke7, White’s position would only be made worse by his loss of a tempo. In the actual game White’s initiative dissolved after 4 Rcd1 Red8 5 Kh1 Ke7 6 Nce2 Rh8 7 Qc2 a5 and, thanks to the good self-defence effected by his king, Black soon obtained rather the better game.
Another example of self-defence can be provided by my analysis of one of the critical positions in the game Reshevsky-Botvinnik, World Championship Tournament, The Hague/Moscow 1948.
Botvinnik (Black) played here 1 ... Ng8?, which is an absolutely passive method of defence. It means that Black’s king is left in the corner, and White is offered the chance to prepare the opening of the e-file by a pawn sacrifice based on Bf6+. After the moves 2 Re1 Qf7 3 c3 Na5 4 Nf4 Rc6 White made the mistake of playing 5 Bf6+ too early, without the preparatory 5 Rge3!, and thus did not make correct use of Black’s error; we will therefore not concern ourselves with the game’s actual course.
Correct would have been 1 ... Kg8, followed perhaps by ... Kf7, in which case the black king is only apparently ‘courting danger’; in fact, it avoids all the difficulties associated with being in the comer and itself provides assistance in covering the important light squares e6 and g6; moreover, with the dark-square network alone White can clearly achieve nothing. Black is also left with an initiative on the queenside, where he is positionally set to win. If the reader tests the different variations after 1 ... Kg8, he will convince himself of the strength of the black king’s self-defence in this position.
Capablanca - Ragozin
Moscow, 1935
Nimzo-Indian Defence
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 a3 Bxc3+ 5 bxc3 d6
5 ... c5 and 5 ... 0-0 are more common nowadays.
6 Qc2
Capablanca is happy to avoid ‘auxiliary pawn moves’, and here he prepares e4 with the aid of the queen and not by f3.
6 ... 0-0 7 e4 e5 8 Bd3 c5 9 Ne2 Nc6 10 d5 Ne7?
White should have answered 8 ... c5 with an immediate 9 d5, whereas now Black ought to have played 10 ... Na5 followed by ... b6 and ... Ba6, according to the well-known plan for attacking c4. He moved the knight to e7 in order to prepare ... f5, but in this position Black is too weak for that.
11 f3 Nd7
However one looks at it, Black is getting into a cramped and difficult position. He cannot make ... f5 work, as is shown by the following variation: 11 ... Ne8 12 g4 g6 13 Bh6 Ng7 14 0-0-0 f5? 15 gxf5 gxf5 16 Rdg1 Rf7 17 exf5 Bxf5 18 Bxg7 when White wins.
12 h4 Nb6 13 g4
13...f6?
The beginning of a faulty plan. Black intends to move his king away from the endangered kingside. He does in fact succeed in conveying it without difficulty as far as a8, but in doing so he condemns himself to a passive game with no prospect of activity. Counterplay is possible only on the queenside, based on ... b5. That is where Black’s chances lie, and consequently his king does not belong on the queen’s wing but should stay where it is; the pawns in front of the king should not be touched, in order that he may retain as much chance as possible of defending hi
mself by blocking the position. Correct therefore was 13 ... Bd7 planning ... Na4 followed by ... a6 and ... b5. If White plays 14 a4 then 14 ... Qe8 15 a5 Nbc8 followed by ... Rb8 and ... b5, etc.
14 Ng3 Kf7 15 g5 Ng8 16 f4 Ke8 17 f5 Qe7 18 Qg2!
Capablanca handles the game supremely calmly. His strategy results in his knight being established on the advanced post g7.
18 ... Kd8 19 Nh5 Kc7 20 gxf6 gxf6 21 Ng7 Bd7 22 h5 Rac8 23 h6 Kb8
Now Black has a ‘short castled position on the queenside’. White has everything else.
24 Rg1 Rf7 25 Rb1 Qf8 26 Be2 Ka8 27 Bh5 Re7 28 Qa2 Qd8 29 Bd2 Na4 30 Qb3 Nb6 31 a4!
It is an irony of fate that Black’s wandering king can be reached by an attack on the queenside too! If he now plays 31 ... Bxa4, there follows 32 Qa2 Bd7 (or 32 ... Qd7 33 Rxb6 axb6 34 Bd1) 33 Ne6 Bxe6 34 dxe6, and Black has no reply to Bf7 and Bxg8.
31 ... Rb8 32 a5 Nc8 33 Qa2 Qf8 34 Be3 b6 35 a6
Black, who has been ‘breathing through his gills’ for a long time already, is now left with only his queen to move.
35 ... Qd8 36 Kd2 Qf8 37 Rb2 Qd8 38 Qb1 b5
At last he has had enough! Any further passive play would have permitted White to organize a winning breakthrough on the g-file.
39 cxb5 Nb6 40 Qa2 c4 41 Qa3 Qc7 42 Kc1 Rf8 43 Rbg2 Qb8 44 Qb4 Rd8 45 Rg3 Rf8 46 Ne6 Bxe6
Or 46 ... Rc8 47 Bxb6 axb6 48 a7! and Black loses his knight or is mated.
47 dxe6 Rc7
Otherwise 48 Bf7 is decisive.
48 Qxd6 Ne7 49 Rd1 1-0
49 ... Nbc8 could be answered by 50 Qb4 Nb6 51 Rg7 Nbc8 52 Rd7, etc.
Pawn majority on the wing
Passing now to the theme of indirect defence, we first of all examine a counterattack by means of a pawn majority on the queenside. An analysis of a classic masterpiece will be helpful here.
Pillsbury - Tarrasch
Hastings, 1895
Queen’s Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defence
1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 Be7 5 Nf3 Nbd7 6 Rc1 0-0 7 e3 b6
These days it is considered more accurate to play ... b6 before committing the b8-knight to d7.
8 cxd5 exd5 9 Bd3 Bb7 10 0-0 c5 11 Re1?!
A move which does not belong to the system and only wastes time. At this point Pillsbury usually played 11 Ne5 and his opponents allowed him to strengthen the position of his knight by f4. Marco later showed that after 11 Ne5 one should play 11 ... Nxe5 12 dxe5 Ne8 13 Bf4 g6 14 Bh6 Ng7 15 f4 d4! answering 16 f5 with 16 ... Bg5.
Today, 11 Qe2 is considered strongest.
11 ... c4?
Thus Black creates a pawn majority on the wing but surrenders his influence in the centre. It is now known that the situation in the centre is the more important; moreover, against an attack on the castled king it is easier to build up a counterattack using the centre rather than by means of a slow advance of the wing pawns.
Instead of 11 ... c4? Black could have played, for example, 11 ... a6, which is in keeping with the system and does not immediately forsake the centre in the process. The modem answer would be 11 ... Ne4, with the aim of clarifying the situation.
12 Bb1 a6 13 Ne5
Because of Black’s mistake this move is now extremely strong. since White is able to consolidate the knight on e5 and use it as the basis for a later attack on the king. 13 ... Nxe5 will not do now, since 14 dxe5 is extremely awkward for Black.
13 ... b5 14 f4
This formation with a knight on e5 and pawns on d4 and f4 is called the ‘Pillsbury attack’, and it was in this game that the attack originated. Pillsbury was still experimenting with his idea here, hence his unsystematic move 11 Re1?!.
14 ... Re8
Black prepares to defend his king position by ... Nf8.
15 Qf3 Nf8 16 Ne2 Ne4 17 Bxe7 Rxe7
More precise, in fact, is 17 ... Qxe7 as will be seen from the note to Black’s nineteenth move.
18 Bxe4
Pillsbury’s contemporaries were a little surprised by this exchange, which he used to make regularly in this system. In fact, the move is absolutely logical from the positional point of view. White cannot worry Black any more as regards his control of e4, and it is better that the square should be occupied by a blocked pawn than an active knight. In view of Black’s complete hold on e4, White’s bishop on b1 cannot be better employed than in dispatching Black’s knight. This is an example of the logic, consistency, and lack of prejudice which runs through Pillsbury’s style.
18 ... dxe4 19 Qg3! f6
This move has been censured by earlier commentators because ‘White’s knight retreats with gain of tempo’. but closer investigation shows that the move is not a bad one, or rather that Black has nothing better. 19 ... f5 would be dangerous (because of White’s eventual assault with g4), but otherwise it is difficult to find a natural way of parrying White’s threat of 20 f5 followed by Nf4 or f6. It is important to note that 19 ... Qd6 20 f5 f6 fails because of 21 Ng6! Rd7 22 Ngf4, when White has realized his aim of posting a knight on f4 without having to exchange queens. On the other hand, 19 ... Qc7 contains some dangers on account of 20 b3. If Black had recaptured with his queen on the seventeenth move, 19 ... Qd6 would now work, for 20 f5 f6 would force the exchange of queens. A small and instructive detail!
20 Ng4 Kh8 21 f5! Qd7 22 Rf1 Rd8
Black is planning ... Qd6, but he should have noted that White will be unable to play the fundamentally important move Nf4 for some time (because of ... Qxf5). He could therefore have devoted the tempo to preparing ... b4, e.g. by 22 ... Rc8.
23 Rf4
Here we shall stop a moment to describe the course of the game so far and to point out the characteristic features of the position.
Black released his pressure on the centre early on and thereby allowed White considerable freedom in arranging his pieces for an attack on the king. Against this attack Black built up a typical, direct defensive position which offers considerable, but not absolute, resistance. His principal weapon in the event of a further concentration of White’s pieces is, however, an indirect defence in the shape of the advance of the pawn majority on the queenside. Against a whole series of attacking plans Black has successful replies in the form of retaliation on the flank; a particular point is that White cannot force the move Nf4. It was because of this that Pillsbury decided on 23 Rf4, i.e. he now abandons his preparations for Nf4 and regroups with the apparent intention of attacking e4.
23 ... Qd6 24 Qh4 Rde8 25 Nc3?
A weak move, for Black could now have played 25 ... b4 26 Na4 Bd5 27 Nc5 Nd7 28 Nxd7 Rxd7, after which there is nothing left of White’s attack, while on the queenside Black has moved closer to his goal. 25 Nf2 was better, to prepare g4. Admittedly, if 25 ... Kg8!, then 26 g4 does not work (because of 26 ... g5 27 fxg6 Nxg6 28 Qxf6 Nxf4! 29 Qxd6 Nxe2+ and 30 ... Nxc1, with a whole fistful of pieces for the queen); however, White can play 26 Qh3, to be followed by Rh4, g4, and Nf4, etc.
25 ... Bd5?
Not only does this throw away the chance of playing ... b4, it also allows White the following opportunity to simplify the position: 26 a4 b4 27 Nxd5 Qxd5 28 Nxf6 gxf6 29 Qxf6+ Rg7 30 Rg4 Qf7 31 Qxg7+ Qxg7 32 Rxg7 Kxg7 33 Rxc4, when the ending favours White.
26 Nf2
White also retains the better prospects this way. though best would in fact have been 26 a4 as given above.
26 ... Qc6
Black could well have played 26 ... b4 and if 27 Ne2 then 27 ... a5. 27 Ncxe4? would fail against 27 ... Qc6 followed, after a knight retreat, by 28 ... Rxe3. However, the text move is also correct.
27 Rf1?
A tactical mistake, since the rook is not well placed here.
27 ... b4 28 Ne2 Qa4?
This loses important tempi. Correct was 28 ... c3! 29 b3! (if 29 bxc3 Bc4 followed by ... Bxe2 and ... bxc3, after which Black’s position is preferable) 29 ... a5 when Black proceeds along similar lines to those in the actual game (i.e. by ... Ra8 and ... a4, etc) but much more quickly.
29 Ng4 Nd7 30 R4f2
The move
is not a bad one, although it would not inspire commentators nowadays to pour on it the praise with which it was once honoured. The point is that by 30 Nc1 c3 31 b3 White obtains a position analogous to that actually reached, and the only difference is that 30 R4f2 sets a trap for 30 ... Qxa2. However, even that trap is not so terrible, for after 31 Nf4 Bf7 32 Ng6+ Kg8! (Réti only analyses the inferior 32 ... Bxg6?) 33 Nxe7+ Rxe7 34 Qg3 Kf8 35 h3 (otherwise ... h5 wins the knight) 35 ... Qa5 Black still retains good prospects of counterplay, and it is not certain whether White can use his small material advantage to any real effect.
30 ... Kg8 31 Nc1 c3 32 b3 Qc6 33 h3
Preparing for Nh2 and then g4-g5.
33 ... a5 34 Nh2 a4 35 g4?
A mistake which luckily is not properly exploited. It was not yet time for a bayonet attack by g4. White should have played 35 bxa4 or else brought his queen back to the defence via 35 Qg4 and d1.
35 ... axb3 36 axb3 Ra8 37 g5
Since he lacks a satisfactory defence against ... Ra3 and ... Rxb3, White has no choice but to try to force home his attack on the enemy king.
37 ... Ra3 38 Ng4
38 ... Bxb3?
A decisive mistake, entirely altering the situation. Black should at this point have thought a little about defence himself, leaving the tit-bit on b3, which could not run away, until later. Correct was 38 ... fxg5! 39 Qxg5 Nf6 when both 40 Ne5 Qd6 and 40 Rg2 Kf8 leave Black the better placed. The essence of Black’s defence in this case is the correctly-timed blockade of White’s f-pawn by ... Nf6, without which there would be no answer to a breakthrough by White on that critical square (f6).
39 Rg2!
The move which decides the game, since it threatens both gxf6 and Nxf6+.
Art of Attack in Chess Page 22
