Solution 1
XABCDEFGHY bishops with:
8r+-+-+-wq({ 2.Bf2
In the resulted position, the black rooks are
7zppzpltrpvlk' not able to use the e-file, the queen remains
out-of-play on h8 and no black piece can
6-+-zp-+pzp& attack the white kingside pawns. ]
5+-+P+-+-% 2.Rxd4
4-+-vL-zP-+$ [After 2.cxd4 Qf6
White has to defend his f4- and d4- pawns
3+-zP-+L+P# and therefore won't be able to oppose
resistance on the e-file. ]
2PzP-+-+P+"
2...Rae8 3.Qd2 Qf6
1tR-wQR+-mK-! White remains with his space advantage, but
xabcdefghy the black pieces have good position and doesn't
suffer of inactivity behind their pawns.
Black is to move. Moreover, the white f4-pawn has to be
Which are the most important strategical defended by a white major piece, while the d5-
elements of the position? pawn limits the activity of his bishop.
How should Black continue?
SOLUTION: Solution 2
White has more space due to his advanced
pawns on d5 and f4. The black queen is XABCDEFGHY
temporarily out-of-play on h8 and the activity of
the fianchettoed bishop on the long diagonal h8- 8-+l+rtrk+({
a1 is reduced by the white c3- and f4- pawns.
Black's asset is the possibility to take the control
7zp-zp-+p+-'
over the e-file.
At a closer look, you should have remarked the
6-+pzp-sn-zp&
weakness of the white kingside pawns. This 5wq-+-+Pzp-%
formation is inflexible (any pawn cannot
advance) and Black's control over the e-file 4-+-+P+P+$
make hard for White to sustain his pawns.
3+PsN-+N+P#
So, after this complete evaluation, Black TO DO
list is to exchange pieces (because the lack of
2P+PwQ-+-mK"
space), to take the control over the e-file and to 1+-+-tRR+-!
put pressure on White's kingside pawn structure.
Concretely: 1. Bxd4, 2.Rae8, 3.Qf6. The last xabcdefghy
move also re-activates the queen.
Black is to move.
1...Bxd4+! White advanced his pawns on the kingside
trying to get more space on that side.
[In the game Polovodin - Razuvaev, 1979, What should be White's plan to continue his
Black played: attack? (Give White's TO DO list)
1...Rae8? How should Black play? (Give Black's TO DO
and, now, White avoids the exchange of list)
2
23.hxg5 hxg5 24.Kg3 Ne5 25.Rh1 Nxf3
SOLUTION: 26.Kxf3 Kg7
White has local space advantage on the and Black has no any problem! White's pawns
kingside. This is why White should play on this are blocked, the h-file will not be controlled by
side. The only possibility to get some real attack White (Black can play Rh8 anytime), so White
is to open the position (advancing a pawn). has no entrance. Even if Black's space on the
How? kingside is limited, his pieces (the rooks and
The advance of the central pawn e4-e5 is king) are doing just fine. Compare this position
dangerous because White has no protection for with the one where a black knight is on h7 and
his king and, moreover, Black might bring his you'll see that the knight harms the defensive.
bishop on the long diagonal a8-h1. In addition, Moreover, Black is better on the centre because
such an attack with the pawns on the same side the strong control over the e5-square and
with the own king cannot work with an pressure against the white e4-pawn. Now,
unsecured centre. Black's TO DO list will be an active one: c6-c5,
So, by elimination, White's only chance to Bb7, Qe5, or Qe5, a7-a5, Ba6, c6-c5-c4, Rb8-
benefit of his space advantage on the kingside b4 and so on with a better endgame due to the
is to open the h-file. In conclusion, White's TO "immobility" of White's pawn structure on the
DO is: h3-h4, Kg3, Rh1, Qh2 and h4xg5. centre and queenside.
Is White's plan a real threat for Black? The
answer is clearly yes as the black king is not Solution 3
enough protected. As there is no active plan for
Black, he must defend.
In a position with smaller space, a good strategy
XABCDEFGHY
is to exchange pieces. This way, the lack of
space is less sensed as the pieces won't limit
8r+-wqr+k+(
each other. So, Black's TO DO list should 7zppzpnvlpzpp'
consider defensive measures and to exchange
pieces: Nf6-d7-e5, Kg7 and Rh8. Also f7-f6 to 6-+lzp-+-+&
protect the g5- and e5-squares. 5+-+-+-+-%
21...Nd7! 4-+-vLPzP-+$
[In the game Spraggett - Nascimento, 1994, 3+-sNQ+L+-#
Black contiuned with:
21...Kh8?! and after 22.Kg3 Nh7 23.Rh1 f6 2PzPP+-+PzP"
24.h4
White's advantage is clear. Black's knight on
1+-+-tRR+K![
h7 is out of play and moreover obstructs the xabcdefghy
own rooks to fight for the h-file. ]
White is to move.
22.h4 f6! White has space advantage on the centre and
his pieces are ideally placed. However, he is still
[Black should keep the position closed thus far from Black's camp which has only 2 pieces
restricting white pieces only to the h-file. on the sixth rank.
After: 22...gxh4 23.g5! White opens more How should White continue?
lines on the kingside, where he has superiority.
] SOLUTION:
3
So, White has almost an ideal position and, in position is exposed without concrete
this very moment, the black pieces are compensation. ]
concentrated on a very small place. Therefore, [
you should think to a way to open up the 15.e5 is too early as after: dxe5 16.fxe5 Nc5
position. Black frees his pieces and forces unwanted
exchanges:
You also should not forget to see what Black is 17.Bxc5 Qxd3 18.cxd3 Bxc5 19.Bxc6 bxc6
threatening to do and this is the first question. and White has problems in defending his
Black's threat here is Be7-f6. Of course, the central pawns. Black has a better endgame
threat is not only when your king is matted but because of his active bishop in a position with
also strategical threats. Black has no pawns on both sides. ]
weaknesses in his position and by exchanges
he is threatening to reduce White's space 15...a6 16.a4! b6 17.Qc4 Bb7 18.e5 Bxf3
advantage. So Be7-f6 is a real threat. 19.Rxf3
The continuation of the game (Markovic -
So, it becomes clear what White should move: Abramovic, 1991) is very instructive. Black didn't
e4-e5 to open up the position and to interdict make any mistake and still lost strongly
Be7-f6. After you have in mind what you should pressured by White's space advantage on the
play, you should also check the possible board. The grandmaster with black pieces didn't
responses of your opponent. As we'll see in the find any escape and lost quickly.
next variation, after 15.e5, Black has the
response 15...Nc5! provoking other exchanges Nf8 20.Rd1 Qd7 21.f5 dxe5 22.Bxe5 Bd6
which we don't want. 23.Bxd6 cxd6 24.Nd5 Qb7 25.f6 Rac8
So, back to thinking.... we want e4-e5, but we 26.Qg4 Ng6 27.c4 Re5 28.fxg7 Kxg7
don't want Nd7-e5. Also, we don't want Be7-f6. and Black resigned.
So, is there any move to solve all these? In this
position, the response is "yes": This game shows us how strong is the
advantage in space.
15.b4!
The "lance-point"! By this typical pawn-move,
White gains more space on the queenside too. Solution 4
Black's bishop-position on c6 is threatened by
b4-b5 which forces the reply b7-b6. As a
consequence of his move, White gained the (Diagram)
control over the c5-square (now Nd7-c5 is no
more possible) with tempo. Another White is to move.
consequence of the next Black's forced move The pawn structure is almost symmetrical. Is
(b7-b6) is the weakening of the c6-square which White able to create "something" to get a
White will exploit to improve the position of his promising position? Find a plan for White, the
queen. moves and their consequences.
[The move: 15.g4 with the idea to gain more SOLUTION:
space on the kingside and start an attack This position is from the game Botvinnik -
against the black king is not so good. Black Donner, 1963.
has a "perfect" pawn structure in front of his First of all, here, Black has a very real threat:
king and already his knight is retreated on d7, 19...Ne5 20.Qe4 f5 followed by Nf4++.
so White will gain no tempo by the "lance- So, White has to defend against this threat and
point" on the kingside. also to find a way to "advance":
After: Bf6 Black is okay and White's king
4
XABCDEFGHY something, you need to give something. Here,
White cedes an important square (c5) in order
8r+r+-+k+( to gain the c6-square. Why? The answer is the
better maneuverability of white pieces due to his
7zpq+nvlpzpp' space advantage.
6-zp-+p+-+& a6
5+-+n+-+-% [ 20...Ne5 is not good because of:
21.Qe2 and after f2-f4, the black knight will
4-zP-sN-+-+$ be driven back. ]
3zP-+-+QzP-# 21.Nc6 Bf8
2-vL-sNPzPKzP" Black wants to keep the c5-square for the knight
- a good illustration of lack of space and
1tR-tR-+-+-![ superfluous pieces (Black has only one good
square for 2 pieces).
xabcdefghy It is now clear that White created that
"something". He has a big space advantage, a
19.e4! good operational base for the knight on c6 and
By this move, White closes the dangerous a8- superior pieces.
h1 diagonal and also gets more space in the
centre. The black knight is chased away from The rest of the game is also instructive:
the centre to a more passive position. 22.a4 axb5 23.axb5 Rxa1 24.Rxa1 Ra8
25.Rd1 Ne8 26.Nc4 Nc5 27.e5 Rc8 28.Ra1
N5f6 Rc7 29.Ra7 Qxa7 30.Nxa7 Rxa7 31.Nxb6
[ 19...Ne5 is not good because the knight will and Black resigned.
hang on e5 after:
20.Qe2 Nf6 21.Nxe6 ]
Solution 5
The effects of the gained space are clear: the
quality of the pieces of the 2 camps was
changed; the black minor pieces have a limited (Diagram)
activity.
How can White exploit his small advantage White is to move.
now? Black's position seems very solid White's space advantage is obvious. How
however. should he continue?
20.b5!! SOLUTION:
White starts active operations at the right This position is from the game Yudovich -
moment. Klaman, 1947.
The plus of this move is obvious: the control There are opening systems from King's Indian
over the c6-square and consequently the Defense, Pirc, Grunfeld, etc., where Black lets
creation of an operational base for the white White to conquer space in the centre. Then,
knight. Black's strategy in these systems is to attack the
The bad consequence of this move is the loss of formed centre with his pieces and semi-central
the control over the c5-square which is closer to pawns (c- or f-).
the centre and, therefore, theoretically more In our position, White's space advantage is not
important. contested by Black. His only aim in the opening
As said in our course: in order to gain was to put the king in safe, develop the pieces,
5
XABCDEFGHY XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-tr-mk( 8rsnl+-trk+(
7zpp+nvllsnp' 7+p+-+pvlp'
6-+pzppzpp+& 6p+-zp-snp+&
5+-+-+-+-% 5wq-zpPzp-+-%
4-+PzPP+-+$ 4P+P+P+-+$
3+-sN-+N+P# 3+-sN-+-+-#
2PzP-wQ-zPPvL" 2-zP-vLLzPPzP"
1+-+RtRLmK-![ 1tR-+QmK-sNR![
xabcdefghy xabcdefghy
and wait... This opening strategy cannot work.
White pieces are ideally placed, with the major SOLUTION:
pieces concentrated on the central files. It is (game Averbakh - Panno, 1954)
time for a central pawn thrust to open up the The centre is closed and secure, so both
position. Yet, exact calculation of such an players have to play on the wings. White's
advance is a must. queenside is weakened by the advanced pawn
on a4 and, moreover, he has superiority of
16.c5! d5 forces on the kingside.
[Black cannot accept the sacrifice because So, White has to start by advancing the pawns
after: and to create local space advantage on the
16...dxc5 17.d5! kingside. The only question is which pawn to
White's major pieces will create serious advance first?
threats against the black pieces from the 7th
rank. 10.g4!
Qc8 ( 17...cxd5 18.exd5 exd5 19.Nxd5 White threatens to play h2-h4-h5 and/or g4-g5.
Bxd5 20.Qxd5+- ) 18.dxc6 Nb6 19.e5 f5
20.cxb7 Qxb7 21.Nb5± ] [ 10.h4 is not good because, Black can try to
stop White's pawns by: h5! ]
17.exd5 exd5
and this is a position you should know already 10...Ne8 11.h4 f5!?
(Exercise 9 from the set 2 of the Month 04). The center is closed and the queenside is
18.b4!± almost impossible to be broken. So, Black has
to create space for his pieces on the same side
of the board - if not for attack, at least for
Solution 6 defensive maneuvers.
12.h5
(Diagram) [ 12.gxf5 gxf5 13.h5 was also good. ]
White is to move. 12...f4
What would you play? Trying to close as many lines as possible. Black
6
is also under developed so opening the position forcing another exchange because of the threat
is not in his favor. However, White has enough Nc4.
space on the g- and h- files to carry on his
attack: Nxe5 13.Bxe5
By exchanging all black developed pieces,
13.g5 Rf7 14.Bg4 Qd8 15.Bxc8 Qxc8 White remained with a considerable plus in
16.Nf3 development which will be exploited by starting
with idea Ke2, Rh4 and Qh1 or Qe2, 0-0-0 and active operations in the centre.
Rh4.
White develops a strong attack and Black has Rh6 14.h4! g4 15.0-0 f5 16.d5!
no counterplay. White gets a strong attack.
Black's bishop-pair cannot compensate all the
weaknesses from the kingside and the position
Solution 7 of the king in the center.
[ 16.Rfd1 ]
XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+kvl-tr(
7zpp+n+p+-'
6-+p+p+-+&
5wq-+p+-zpp%
4-+PzPn+-+$
3+QsNLzPNvL-#
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
1tR-+-mK-+R
