Chess Strategy by Edward Lasker (inspirational novels .TXT) 📕

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2 | ^P | ^P | ^P | | | ^P | ^P | ^P |

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1 | ^R | | | ^Q | | ^R | ^K | |

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A B C D E F G H

Diag. 95

KRP would not be a suitable plan of attack for White as his Rook is no longer on the Rook’s file, nor could it be brought back in time. In this case White must endeavour to take advantage of the weaknesses at Black’s KB3 and KR3, produced by his move P-KKt3. This will be the modus operandi: Q-Q2 followed by B-R6, forcing the exchange of Black’s valuable KB. After that the Q in conjunction with one of the Knights will attempt to force an entry at KB6 or KR6, as for instance in the following, the moves of which are taken from a game I once watched and took note of as being most instructive.

1. Q-Q2, P-Q3; 2. B-KR6, PxP; 3. BxB, KxB; 4. PxP, Q-Q2; 5. Kt-K4, Kt-Q4; 6. B-B4, QR-Q1; 7. BxKt, PxB; 8. Kt-B6, Q-K3; 9. Q-Kt5, B-B1 (to prevent Kt-Kt4); 10. QR-K1, Q-B4; 11. Q-R4, P-KR3; 12. Kt-Q4, KtxKt; 13. QxKt, P-B4; 14. Q-Q2, P-Q5; 15. P-KB4, P-B5; 16. P-KKt4, Q-K3; 17. P-B5, Q-B3; 18. R-K4, B-Kt2; 19. R-B3!, Q-B4; 20. QxPch, KxQ; 21. R-R3ch, followed by R-R7 or Kt-R7 mate.

A somewhat more difficult case is shown in Diagram 96.

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8 | #R | #Kt| | | #Kt| #R | #K | |

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7 | | #B | #Q | | | #P | | #P |

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6 | #P | | | #P | | #B | #P | |

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5 | | #P | #P | ^P | #P | | | |

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4 | | | | | ^P | | ^P | |

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3 | | | ^P | | ^B | ^Kt| | ^P |

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2 | ^P | ^P | ^B | | | ^P | | |

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1 | ^R | | | ^Q | ^R | ^Kt| ^K | |

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A B C D E F G H

Diag. 96

Here the advance of the White King’s side pawns has undeniably produced weaknesses in the pawn skeleton, and these would be fatal had the Black pieces as much mobility as the White ones. But the congestion of Black’s pieces on the Queen’s side makes his defence unwieldy, and White has no difficulty in accumulating his forces on the King’s side for the final assault. The prospects are that White will be able to bring home his attack, before Black has a chance of forcing exchanges and of bringing about the end-game, which through the weakness of the White pawns would probably turn to his advantage. The play (E. Cohn-Ed. Lasker match, Berlin, 1909) is instructive, and shows how the attack should be conducted in such positions. 1. Kt-Kt3, B-Kt2; 2. K-R2, P-B3; 3. R-KKt1, Kt-Q2; 4. Kt-R4, K-B2. The concentration of the White pieces has become alarming, and threatens to be continued by Q-Q2, R-Kt2. QR-KKt1, and Kt-B5. So the Black King decides on flight, but he finds no peace on the Q side either, because there his advanced pawns soon allow White to make a breach in the Black position.

5. Kt-Kt2, K-K2; 6. Q-K2, Kt-Kt3; 7. KR-KB1, B-B1. It is Black’s intention to play P-B4 as soon as practicable, and to make an attempt at a counter demonstration on the King’s side, 8. P-K B4, K-Q1? (Black should have kept to his original intention and played P-B4); 9. PxP, QPxP; 10. Q-B2, Kt-Q2; 11. P-QR4; B-Kt2; 12. PxP, PxP; 13. RxR, BxR. Now White has achieved what he set out to do. He has opened up avenues of attack on the Queen’s side, and is ready to utilise the weakness of Black’s QBP by playing P-Kt4, on which Black must submit to opening the file for the White KR or the diagonal for the White QB. In either case White brings vastly superior forces to bear on the Black King’s position, and Black should lose. In this game Black escaped only through a mistake on the part of his opponent.

In the foregoing positions it was seen how fatal weaknesses can be, which are produced by the premature advance of the pawns in front of the King, on whom the opposing pieces can force their attack. When the pawns concerned are on the opposite wing to their King, the disadvantages of a premature advance are felt in a different way. The weakness concerns the pawns themselves and not the forces behind them, and is apt to cause the loss of the end-game, particularly of Rook end-games. Let us compare the positions in Diagrams 97

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8 | #R | | #B | #Q | | #R | #K | |

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7 | #P | #P | #P | |#Kt | #P | | #P |

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6 | | | | #P | | #P | | |

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5 | | ^B | | | #P | | | |

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4 | | #B | | | ^P | | | |

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3 | | |^Kt | ^P | |^Kt | | |

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2 | ^P | ^P | ^P | | | ^P | ^P | ^P |

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1 | ^R | | | ^Q | | ^R | ^K | |

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A B C D E F G H

Diag. 97

and 98. In the one case the chain of Black pawns is broken by the absence of K Kt P, in the other of the Q Kt P. The absence of the KKt pawn can lead to serious consequences in the middle game, because of the weakness of Black’s KB3 and KR3 (compare Diagram 90); it can, however, hardly become awkward in the end-game, as the pawns on the B and R files are within the protecting reach of their King.

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8 | #R | | | #Q | | #R | #K | |

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7 | #P | | #P | #B | #B | #P | #P | #P |

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6 | | | #P | #P | |#Kt | | |

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5 | | | | | | | | |

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4 | | | |^Kt | ^P | | | |

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3 | | |^Kt | ^Q | | | | |

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2 | ^P | ^P | ^P | | | ^P | ^P | ^P |

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1 | ^R | | ^B | | | ^R | ^K | |

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A B C D E F G H

Diag. 98

On the other hand, the absence of the Q Kt P is of no consequence for the middle game. There is nothing behind it which could invite an attack. The QRP and QBP, however, are very weak for the end-game, as they are quite out of reach of the King (compare Game No. 19). I do not wish to imply that Black should have avoided the exchange at his QB3 at all cost; such an exchange has always the compensating advantage of opening a file for the Rooks, which advantage often means a favourable middle game, as will be readily understood. Further, it is often possible to get rid of the weak QRP by pushing it on, and eventually compelling the exchange of the opposing Kt P, an exchange which can usually be enforced if the Rooks have occupied the open Kt file. The pawn itself is often useful at B 3, in that it can support the advance of P-Q 4 in the centre, should it be desired, or it can, by pushing on, be brought to exercise further pressure on the opposing Kt P.

The break-up of the pawn position on the Q side can become awkward in the end-game and sometimes in the middle-game when the pawns can be attacked, and pieces brought to bear on the Queen’s side without leaving the King’s side denuded of forces.

This will be illustrated by the position in Diagram 99.

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8 | #R | | #B | | | #R | #K | |

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7 | #P | | #P | | | #P | #P | #P |

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6 | | | #P | | | | | |

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5 | | | | | | | | |

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4 | | | | | | | | |

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3 | | | | | | ^B | | |

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2 | ^P | | ^P | | | ^P | ^P | ^P |

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1 | ^R | | | | | ^R | ^K | |

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A B C D E F G H

Diag. 99

FROM A GAME FR. LAZARD-ED. LASKER (PARIS, 1914)

Here the pawn positions on both sides are broken, and the player that occupies the open files first, gets a decisive advantage. In this case it is Black’s move. We can conclude at once that White has played the opening badly. He must have lost two moves, for he has still to capture the BP and then, being White, it should be his move. This disadvantage, small as it may seem, with which White has emerged from the opening, is sufficient to bring him into the greatest difficulties. Black, of course, does not defend the pawn by B-Kt2 or B-Q2, as this would practically reduce the B to a P and, moreover, White, by R-Kt1 or Q1, would both attack the B and obtain an open file. Instead of that, Black utilises the two moves, which he has, as it were, as a gift in an otherwise equalised position, to bring both Rooks on the Kt file. This policy allows Black to occupy the seventh or eighth rank at will, and to attack the White pawns from the flank or rear, according to circumstances. This menace hampers the radius of action of the White pieces, as they must always be ready for the defence of the threatened pawns, and this gives Black by far the superior game.

The play was continued as follows: 1. … R-Kt1; 2. BxP, R-Kt7; 3. B-K4, B-K3; 4. P-QR3, KR-Kt1. The Knight’s file is now definitely in Black’s hands. White could occupy the Queen’s file, but the Black B at K3, which prevents the entry of the Rooks at Q7, makes the operation aimless. Therefore White is condemned to inactivity. On the contrary, Black’s line of action is clear. His entry on the seventh can only achieve something if White’s QBP can be deprived of its support. To do this Black has only to play P-QB4-B5 and P-KB4. This, of course, weakens Black’s KB, and the White Rooks might obtain an entry on the K file. Therefore Black will effect a timely exchange of one of his Rooks, after which his King alone will hold the K file. These considerations make the following moves clear: 5. KR-K1, P-QB4; 6. P-KR3, a further awkward necessity in positions of this kind. Before the Rook can venture out, a loophole must be provided for the King.

6. … P-B5; 7. R-K3, R-Kt8ch; 8. RxR, RxRch; 9. K-R2, P-B4; 10. B-B3, K-B2; 11. B-K2 (threatening R-QB3), R-Kt2; 12. R-QB3, K-B3 (now BxP is not feasible on account of R-QB2); 13. P-B4. White wishes to keep the Black King from his Q5 but cannot do so permanently. Black, however, can occupy the Q file with his Rook, and confine the White King to his wing. 13. … R-Q2; 14. K-Kt3) R-Q5; 15. K-B3, K-K2; 16. R-K3, K-Q3; 17. K-Kt3, R-Q7; 18. P-B3, B-B2. R-R7 would be a mistake on account of RxBch, but the QRP cannot escape. 19. P-QR4, P-Kt3; 20. B-B3, R-R7; 21. B-Q1,