12 Bb3 e5 13 Ne4!
A strong move, which poses Black a difficult task. After 13 ... exd4 14 Qxd4 he would find himself hard pressed for a satisfactory continuation.
13 ... h6?
Creating an unnecessary weakness. Worth considering was the immediate 13 ... Kh8, preparing ... f5. White could then employ the following simplifying manoeuvre, probably his most promising course in this position: 14 dxe5 Nxe5 15 Nxe5 Qxe5 16 Qd6 Nd7 17 Qxe5 Nxe5 18 Nd6.
14 Qd3 Kh8 15 Ng3 exd4 16 Bc2!
An intermediate move, the purpose of which is to provoke the weakening ... g6.
16 ... Nf6 17 e4! g6
Owing to the threat of 18 e5, Black cannot avoid this weakness; if 17 ... Nbd7 then 18 Nf5 is strong.
18 Qxd4 Be6? 19 h4?
Up to here White has built up a series of preconditions for an attack on the enemy king without making any moves which commit him to it. Now, without any real need, he goes in for such a move. Black’s position is not yet ready to be taken by storm, so h4 is still premature. According to the scheme which we have worked out, now would be the time to complete the preconditions for the attack without incurring any positional commitments. White’s queen is not yet secure in its possession of the long dark diagonal in view of the possibility of ... Rad8 followed later by ... Na4, and accordingly, priority should have been given to restraining such counterplay, e.g. by 19 b3 Rfd8 (19 ... Rad8 20 Qc3 Rc8 21 Qa5) 20 Qc3. Then after 20 ... Rac8, intending ... c5, Black’s plan would be frustrated by 21 Qa5.
Moreover, h4 is unsuitable in that it makes it more difficult to carry out the thematic move f4 (because of the hole left on g4). However, White’s position is strong enough to stand even h4 though it entails the expenditure of greater effort than otherwise would have been necessary.
19 ... Rad8 20 Qc3 Kh7?
After this White’s pawn on h4 acquires a function. A better plan would have been either to double rooks on the d-file by 20 ... Rd7 or to contest control of d4 by 20 ... c5.
21 Rfe1 Nbd7 22 Bb1 Rfe8
23 a3
Starting with 21 Rfe1, this is already White’s third consolidating move. Before storming the castled position White first of all excludes every prospect of counterplay by Black; a3 is intended particularly to deprive Black’s queen of the square b4. This type of preparation for an attack on the king characterizes many of Capablanca’s games. Alekhine preferred a different way of restraining counterplay, namely indirectly by means of dynamic blows. Hence the impression of Alekhine’s excessive eagerness and Capablanca’s exaggerated caution as the characteristics of their styles. In fact everything depends on the specific position; in some cases Alekhine’s method is correct, in others Capablanca’s.
23 ... Bg4
This makes it easier for White to go over to the attack. 23 ... Nf8 would not have worked because of 24 Nf5, but 23 ... Qf8 deserved consideration.
24 Nh2 h5 25 f3 Be6 26 f4 Bg4 27 Qe3
The queen comes within striking distance of the weakened network of dark squares around the enemy king. There is no need to worry about 27 ... Ng8, as then 28 Nxg4 hxg4 29 Kf2 is very strong.
27 ... a6 28 Qf2 Kg7 29 e5
This thrust in the centre signifies a critical phase of the attack; it is the prelude to the shattering of Black’s pawn structure.
29 ... Nd5 30 Nxg4 hxg4 31 h5 Rh8 32 hxg6 fxg6 33 e6! Nf8 34 Bxg6!
After thorough preparation White’s attack is ripe for a sacrificial finish. In view of the threat of Nf5+, Black has nothing better than to accept the offer.
34 ... Kxg6 35 Qc2+ Kf6 36 Qf5+ Kg7 37 Qxg4+ Kh7 38 Kf2
This allows Black to prolong the game a little. White could have won at once by 38 Re5 Nf6 39 Qh4+ Kg7 40 Nf5+.
38 ... Qg7 39 Qxg7+
Not, however, 39 Qh4+ and 40 Qxd8 on account of 40 ... Qd4+.
39 ... Kxg7 40 e7 Re8 41 exf8Q+ Rexf8 42 f5 Rh4 43 Rcd1 Rf4+ 44 Kg1 Rg4 45 Rd3 Kf7 46 Kf2 Rh8 47 Rb3 b5 48 Ne4 Rh6 49 g3 Rg8 50 Kf3 a5 51 Rd3 a4 52 Rd2 1-0 (Black exceeded time limit).
Fluctuations in the phases of attack
To conclude the chapter some observations should be added, with examples, to dissuade the reader from accepting the principles and maxims expounded as a rigid pattern. The game of chess is too complex and rich for it to be possible to reveal its finer points fully on the basis of a few formulae.
The practical player comes up against exceptions at every turn. Consequently, Lasker is right when he recommends in his book Common Sense in Chess that players should follow the principles of chess with a dash of humour...
So if we have already seen how the preconditions for an attack on the castled king are created and how the attacker’s commitments grow in proportion to the force and form of his attack, it still remains to point out some cases where things develop rather differently: cases where the attack appears to slacken off and, instead of a vigorous assault, suddenly requires quiet moves; where the player only toys with his attack and is in fact aiming at other goals; or where great masters grope in the dark and fail to see something right in front of their noses.
Quiet moves that kindle the attack
So-called quiet moves are often only apparently quiet, and may in fact spark off a fire just as violent ones do. Moves of this type usually occur in positions where the attack appears to be flagging but has in fact reached a point at which a belated addition has to be made to the preconditions in the form of a quiet move, if the attacker is to get any further. Here are a few examples of this kind of quiet move, illustrating the fluctuations that occur in the phases of attack.
The following position is from the game Teichmann-Schlechter, Carlsbad 1911. It is White’s move, and he begins with a sacrifice on f7.
1 Bxf7+ Kxf7 2 Ng5+ Kg8 3 Qh5 Nxf5 4 Qxh7+ Kf8 5 Qxf5+ Kg8
After 5 ... Ke7 6 Qe6+ Kd8 7 Nf7+ Black would lose his queen.
6 Qg6!
After a series of checks we suddenly get this quiet move, which does not provide any additional threat but merely blocks the g-pawn. This is precisely to the point in this position, since if, for example, 6 Re3, Black plays 6 ... g6 7 Qxg6+ Qg7, when White is still a long way from his goal. The fact that it is both possible and good to devote a whole tempo to blocking the g-pawn is a result of Black’s inability to organize an effective defence. He cannot move his queen or rook to e7 on account of Qh7+ and Qh8#, while 6 ... Ne7 is answered by 7 Qf7+ Kh8 followed by 8 Re3.
The game ended 6 ... Qd7 7 Re3 1-0, Black having no reply to 8 Rf3 and 9 Qh7#.
This position is from the game Steinitz-Lasker, London 1899. Black began with a double sacrifice.
1 ... Nxg2! 2 Kxg2 Bxh3+ 3 Kf2
White cannot accept the second sacrifice; if 3 Kxh3, then 3 ... Qh5+ 4 Kg2 Qg4+ 5 Kh1 Qh3+ 6 Kg1 Qg3+ 7 Kh1 Re4 8 Bg5 Rde8!, etc.
3 ... f6!
A quiet move after the sacrifice. Black first deprives White’s pieces of the squares e5 and g5 and at the same time prepares the advance of his g-pawn – a sound and positionally well-founded plan.
4 Rg1 g5 5 Bxg5
White’s other moves all lose as well.
5 ... fxg5 6 Rxg5 Qe6 7 Qd3 Bf4 8 Rh1
Black wins easily after both 8 Rg7 Bf5 and 8 Ra5 Rg8.
8 ... Bxg5 9 Nxg5 Qf6+ 10 Bf3 Bf5 11 Nxh7
If 11 Qd2, then 11 ... h6 is decisive.
11 ... Qg6 12 Qb5 c6 13 Qa5 Re7 14 Rh5 Bg4 15 Rg5 Qc2+ 16 Kg3 Bxf3 0-1
This position is from the game Stahlberg-Alekhine, Hamburg 1930. It is Black’s move, and he starts by provoking f3.
1 ... Rdf7 2 f3 Rf4
Opening the way for the queen.
3 Bd3 Qh5 4 Bf1
Black threatened 4 ... e4.
4 ... Qg5 5 Rf2 h6!
This apparently insignificant move is necessary in order to protect the queen in readiness for a combination starting with ... Rxf3. There is in fact an immediate threat of 6 ... Rxf3 7 Qxg5 Rxf2 followed, when White has parried the threat of mate on f1, by 8 ... hxg5, winning material.
6 Kh1 Rxf3 0-1
Wh
ite did not notice the threat when he moved his king, so he resigned at this point. 6 Qd2 would have offered more resistance, though even then Alekhine pointed out an easy win for Black by 6 ... Bxf3 7 Nxf3 Nxf3+ 8 Rxf3 Rxf3 9 Qxg5 Rxf1+ 10 Rxf1 Rxf1+ 11 Kxf1 hxg5, and White loses the king and pawn ending.
This position comes from an analysis of a critical variation in the game Marshall-Mieses, Cambridge Springs 1904. White has sacrificed a rook, and it is now his move. It would appear that the game must end in a rapid mating attack after 1 Nce4!?. However, this ‘powerful move’ is in fact weak, since Black plays 1 ... Nc3!, after which 2 Nf6+ gxf6 3 exf6 does not work on account of 3 ... Ne2+ 4 Kf1 followed by 4 ... Qc1+, 5 Kxe2 Qb2+, and 6 ... Qxf6. If White tries 2 Rd7, then Black cannot take the rook (e.g. 2 ... Qxd7 3 Nd6! or 2 ... Bxd7 3 Nf6+) but he can play 2 ... Ne2+ 3 Kf1 Qc1+ 4 Kxe2 Qxg5! 5 Nxg5 Bxd7, defending himself excellently and preserving the balance of material.
JN: Here 6 Qh7+ Kf8 7 Qh8+ Ke7 8 Qxg7 appears very good for White, e.g. 8 ... Bb5+ 9 Ke3 Rf8 10 Qf6+ Ke8 11 Nh7 Rg8 12 Qh4. However, after 2 ... Qxd7, 3 Nd6 doesn’t even have a serious threat, so Black can defend easily, for example by 3 ... Nb5. Instead, White should force a draw by 3 Nf6+ gxf6 4 Qh7+, etc.
Another possibility is 1 Rxd1, the intention being to safeguard the back rank. Black loses now if he plays 1 ... Qxc3, e.g. 2 Qh7+ Kf8 3 Qh8+ Ke7 4 Qxg7, and if 4 ... Rf8, then 5 Qf6+ and 6 Rd8#. 1 ... Qxe5 is also bad after 2 Nce4 followed by f4. However, he still has the reply 1 ... Rd8!, which eliminates the danger on the d-file.
JN: After 1 ... Rd8, 2 Qh7+ Kf8 3 Qh8+ Ke7 4 Qxg7 Rxd1+ 5 Nxd1 wins the f7 pawn with check; the g-pawn then falls too, when White is clearly better.
The correct procedure is to begin by checking, and only when Black’s rook is engaged to go over to securing the position’s foundations.
1 Qh7+ Kf8 2 Qh8+ Ke7 3 Qxg7 Rf8 4 Rxd1!
Just as soon as the attacking formation is completely developed, this precautionary waiting move follows with full force. Black is now powerless against the threat of 5 Qf6+ followed by Ne4-d6+. If 4 ... Ke8, then 5 Nh7 Qe7 6 Nxf8 Qxf8 7 Rd8+, while if 4 ... Bd7, then 5 Qf6+ Ke8 6 Nce4.
The solution is simple when it is demonstrated, but for psychological reasons it is difficult to find; first, because we would rather believe in ‘finessing and strengthening the position by indirect moves’ than in a banal pursuit of the king; and secondly, because the move Rxd1 needs to be inserted at exactly the right moment.
Toying with an attack
An attack on the king as an alternative which never materializes but which acts solely as a subsidiary threat in the context of play with other objectives is a phenomenon which is abundantly represented in the games of the masters. The player merely toys with the plan of an attack on the king while, in fact, he is preparing and carrying out some other operation – a procedure which has a point if the threat to attack brings the player some advantage in tempi or helps the deployment of his pieces for the other operation. The advantage may take the form of the opponent’s withdrawing a piece to the defence, as a result of which its effectiveness elsewhere is lost or diminished. Or it may be that the move by which the player has built up the threat of an attack at the same time gains a tempo for the other operation. These are the simple ingredients of an objective ‘toying’ with the attack on the castled king. The subjective or psychological exploitation of the threat to the castled position can also involve various other motives. The threat can, for example, produce a feeling of insecurity in the opponent, oblige him to spend too much time in thinking, or even induce him to make some precautionary move merely to relieve his anxiety by the easiest means available. This last case can often be seen in the games of weaker players, when they play ... h6 ‘for safety’s sake’, but in a subtler and less perceptible way it also happens that masters weaken their king positions in order to parry imaginary threats. We need only recall Burn’s move ... g6 as a defence against an incorrect classic bishop sacrifice! Questions like this fall outside the range of an objective treatment of the theme; the various forms of camouflage, the use of imaginary threats, speculation on an opponent’s shortcomings, all these are features of practical play which have resulted from the dictates of that ‘cruel, heavy-handed tournament machine’ – the clock. We are interested here only in the objective (i.e. correct) threat and the objective (i.e. properly justified) reaction to it.
White is the better placed; he owes his superiority to the advanced position of his e-pawn, which secures him an advantage in space and cramps Black. The active placing of his pieces, the blocked centre, and the weakened enemy king position are all preconditions for an attack on the castled king. However, White has yet another advantage, namely, his rooks are united and he is a tempo ahead as regards control of the c-file; this would incline him towards a positional treatment of the game rather than an attack.
One asks oneself whether the best plan is to attack or play on the c-file? The answer is that one should threaten an attack and continue to promote the preconditions for it; then, if Black defends correctly, the prospects of successful play on the c-file will be enhanced.
Two moves which threaten the enemy king position are worth considering; i.e. 1 Bb1, threatening 2 Qc2, and 1 Qe3, which threatens a sacrificial assault on h6. If 1 Bb1, Black plays 1 ... Re8 and parries 2 Qc2 with 2 ... Nf8. It would appear that the time is then ripe for play on the c-file, but after the continuation 3 Qc7 Qxc7 4 Rxc7 Rab8 5 Rfc1 it is clear that this particular bolt has been shot; Black plays 5 ... Bd8 followed by ... Bb6, and White has nothing left on the c-file. The other method is better.
1 Qe3! Re8
This is forced; Black cannot defend himself without ... Nf8, as the following variations show:
1) 1 ... Rc8 2 Bxh6 gxh6 3 Qxh6 f5 4 exf6 Rxf6 (or 4 ... Nxf6 5 Qg6+ Kh8 6 Ng5, when Black has no defence against !h6+ followed by Bh7+, Bf5+, and Bxe6+) 5 Qh7+ Kf8 6 Qh8+ Kf7 7 Ng5#.
2) 1 ... Qb6 2 Bxh6 gxh6 3 Qxh6 f5 4 exf6 Nxf6 (for 4 ... Rxf6 see above) 5 Qg6+ Kh8 6 Ng5 Bc8 7 Rc3 e5 8 Qh6+ Kg8 9 Bh7+ Kh8 10 Bf5+ Kg8 11 Qg6+ followed by mate.
3) 1 ... Nb6 2 Bb1, and now, besides Bxh6, there is also a threat of Qd3, etc.
JN: In this line White can still play 2 Bh7+.
2 Rc3 Nf8
Black has to withdraw his knight to the defence, since there is once again a threat of Bxh6. If, for example, 2 ... Qb6 (2 ... b4 3 axb4 Bxb4 4 Rb3 allows White to gain an important tempo for his attack) then 3 Bxh6 gxh6 4 Qxh6 Nf8 5 Ng5 Bxg5 6 Qxg5+ Kh8 7 Bb1.
3 Rfc1
One might well consider strengthening the attack even further by 3 h4. However, that is a commitment, and its consequences are not clear. With 3 Rfc1 White goes for play on the c-file, for which the conditions now are fundamentally better than in the position with which we started. On the one hand, White has gained the time to double rooks, and on the other, be has driven Black’s knight back to f8, where it is now one tempo further away from the critical square c4, on which it clearly belongs. White owes his advantage here to his ‘toying’ with an attack on the castled king.
The rest of the game is a matter of positional technique, and it could run as follows: 3 ... Rc8 (if Black allows Rc7, then the threat of a sacrifice on h6 is renewed!) 4 Rxc8 Bxc8 5 Qe1 Bb7 6 Bd2! (if a good ending is White’s objective, the dark-squared bishops should be exchanged as soon as possible) 6 ... Qd7 7 Bb4 Rc8 (or 7 ... Bd8 8 Ba5, when 8 ... Be7 fails against 9 Rc7) 8 Bxe7 Rxc1 9 Qxc1 Qxe7 10 Qc3 Qd7 (if 10 ... Nd7, then 11 Qc7 is decisive) 11 Nd2, and White has a considerable advantage by virtue of his better bishop and more active knight. Black cannot avoid exchanging queens, after which an exchange of knights or of the white bishop for the black knight would eventually leave White with a very favourable ending.
‘Not seeing in front of one’s nose’
It is a good thing to co-ordinate one’s moves in an ‘integrated action’ but one should always try to see what is ‘in front of one’s nose’; that is, if one can mate at once, one should do so and not philosophize about pawns. This somehow happen
ed once to Dr Vidmar, who (as White) reached the following position against Yates at London, 1922.
This position is one in which White can win easily, but in a misguided moment he hit on the idea of ‘combining everything into an integral whole’, i.e. he wanted both to attack and, at the same time, to ‘cash in’ on Black’s e-pawn. As a result of this faulty desire to achieve two ends a drawn position was reached, which Black, however, proceeded to spoil and eventually to lose.
Let us look first at the course the game took:
1 d5?! Ba8 2 Qh3 h6 3 Rfg4 Kh7 4 Nxe4? Qf8 5 Nxf6+
In his book, A Half-Century at the Chessboard, the great Yugoslav master records that he spent three-quarters of an hour thinking at this point and then decided on the sacrifice. After his incorrect capture of the e-pawn there was no other choice left.
5 ... Qxf6 6 Rg6 Qf8?
This is a mistake; Black now lost after 7 Qg4! Qf7 8 Qg5 Kh8 (otherwise 9 Qxh6+ wins) 9 f6 Qxd5 10 Rhxh6+ 1-0.
Black could have drawn by playing the natural move 6 ... Qxb2, e.g. 7 Rhxh6+ Kg8 8 Rh8+ Kf7, and if 9 Rxg7+ then 9 ... Qxg7 10 Rh7 Bxd5, when White has nothing better than perpetual check.
In the book mentioned above Dr Vidmar emphasizes how in this game the attack on the black king and the pressure on his e-pawn ‘combined together to form a greater whole’. But it is precisely this false union of ideas which was the reason for White’s failure to discover the correct path to victory as, after 4 ... Qf8, he listened to Big Ben chime quarter after quarter while his knight remained suspended in mid-air at e4. It is true that in the diagrammed position there are two factors making up White’s advantage: a powerful kingside attack and a favourable knight versus bishop ending (once all the heavy pieces are exchanged). These two elements could only be combined if the attack led to the exchange of the queens and rooks, but the attack can break through without exchanges, and consequently it is beside the point how good the ending is. In fact. taking the pawn on e4 promotes neither White’s attack nor his endgame prospects, but simply gives Black an opportunity of counterattacking along the e-file. Victory for White is an altogether easy matter, as long as he concerns himself entirely with the attack and forgets the pawn on e4:
Art of Attack in Chess Page 28
