Lesson 17

Strategic Elements: Exploiting the Weak f2/f7 Square (Part 03)

Overcoming Strong Opponent

In all of the examples above, the losing player ignored the weakness. Many chess players have won games this way, but only against beginners, or players trying to lose. Is it possible to exploit these weak squares when your opponent pays attention to the game and understands these ideas? Yes. It takes more work, and deeper thought.

First, mobilize all your pieces, instead of trying for a quick knockout with two or three pieces. Next, combine attacks against weak spots with threats against other targets. Such double attacks characterize chess at the highest levels of play.

Trying for a quick knockout might be fun, but it becomes a bad habit. Please notice that the winning player got away with bad moves in several of the games above. Making moves with the idea that you can gain something only if your opponent does not see the purpose, develops bad habits. Take in from a middle-aged patzer like me, bad habits learned as a child take years to repair. It is far easier to work hard at beginning with good habits. In order to discourage bad

habits among scholastic chess players, some chess teachers use a special rule. When they run tournaments among their pupils, they count a win in four moves as a loss. This practice may seem harsh, or even unfair. However, the rule helps children learn strategies that are useful against strong players.

In the next game, there is no quick mate. Instead, black attempts to hinder white’s development with pressure on f2. White develops anyway, but at the cost of a pawn. Later, white’s pressure on f7 saves a lost game with a combination that forces a draw. I had the white pieces against Keith, a player rated nearly 300 points higher than me. After the game, he told me this was the first time he had played against a King’s Gambit and not won the game.

1. e4 e5 2. f4. This move marks the King’s Gambit, a risky opening similar to Bird’s. 2…Bc5. Black pressures the f2 square. The main benefit of this move is to delay white's efforts to move his king to safety by castling. 3. Nf3 d6 4. Bc4. White's idea in the King's Gambit is to put pressure on f7 from the beginning. 4...Nf6 5. Nc3 0–0 6. d4? This move is premature. White ends up a pawn down because of the resulting sequence. 6...exd4 7. Nxd4 Nxe4 8. Nxe4 Re8 9. 0–0 Rxe4 10. c3 Nc6 11. Bd5 Bxd4+ 12. Kh1 (Not 12.cxd4? Rxd4 and white loses another pawn). 12...Re8 13. cxd4 Qf6 14. Bd2 (14. Bxc6 may have been better). 14...Qxd4 15. Qb3 Be6 16. Bxe6 fxe6 17. Bc3 Qb6 18. Qd1. White wants to keep the queens on the board when down two pawns. 18...Qc5 19. Rc1 Qf5 20.Qb3 Rab8 21. Rce1 Qf7 22. Rf3 d5 23. Qd1 Ne7 24.Qc2 Qf5 25. Qe2 Nc6. Notice how the empty f7 square leads to vulnerability for the black king. 

White threatened to win back a pawn with check, and then double rooks on the opened file. 26. Qf2 Rbd8 27. Be5 Qf7 28. b3 d4 29. Rd1 Nxe5 30. fxe5 Qd7. We reach the critical position. Here I realized that I could not stop the advance of the passed pawn on the d-file. Then I saw the saving combination. 31. Rf1! d3 (31...Qe7!?) 32. Rf7 Qd4 33. Rxg7+ Kxg7. Black must take the rook (33...Kh8 34.Qf6 Rf8 35.Rf7+ Kg8 36.Qg7#). 34.Qf6+ draw agreed. The game could have continued 34. ... Kg8 35. Qf7+ Kh8 36. Qf6+ Kg8 37. Qf7+ Kh8 38. Qf6 and a draw by repetition.

Study the Masters

You can improve your chess game by studying games by strong players. Do your own analysis of the following games. Pay particular attention to attacks on f2 and f7. Notice how these attacks combine with other threats. Notice also how well players respond to the attack.

1. This game was played a couple of years ago between two of the strongest players in the world. The numbers in parentheses are each player’s rating at the time the game was played.

Sergei Tiviakov (2655) – Loek Van Wely (2585)

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. a4 Nc6 8. 0–0 Be7 9. Be3 0–0 10. f4 Qc7 11. Kh1 Re8 12. Bf3 Bd7 13. Nb3 b6 14. Bc8 15. g5 Nd7 16. Bg2 Bb7 17. Qh5 g6 18. Qh3 Nb4 19. f5 Nxc2 20. fxg6 fxg6 21. Rf7 Nf8 22. Raf1 Qc4 23. Bd2 e5 24. Nd5 Bxd5 25. exd5 h5 26. gxh6 Kh8 27. Rg7 Nh7 28. Qe6 Black resigned.

2. The second master game comes from a match played in 1834 in London. This match (a series of games between the same players) resulted in several memorable games. It was one of the longest chess matches in history, at least 85 games. The winner in this game won 27 and lost 45, with 13 draws.

Alexander McDonnell — Louis Charles de la Bourdonnais

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 g4 5. Nc3 gxf3 6.0–0 c6 7. Qxf3 Qf6 8. e5 Qxe5 9. Bxf7+ Kxf7 10. d4 Qxd4+ 11. Be3 Qg7 12. Bxf4 Nf6 13. Ne4 Be7 14. Bg5 Rg8 15. Qh5+ Qg6 16. Nd6+ Ke6 17. Rae1+ Kxd6 18.Bf4#

3. The last game comes from a simultaneous exhibition.One player, Susan Polgar here, plays a large number of opponents in separate games, all at the same time. Susan Polgar is the former Women’s World Chess Champion. Her younger sister, Judit, is the only woman ever rated above 2600.

Susan Polgar — Shoengold

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 g6 5. Bxc4 e6 6. 0–0 Be7 7. Nc3 0–0 8. e4 c6 9. Bh6 Re8 10. Ne5 Nbd7 11. Nxf7 Kxf7 12. Bxe6+ Kxe6 13. Qb3+ Kd6 14. Bf4+ Ne5 15. dxe5+ Kc7 16.exf6+ Bd6 17. Qf7+ Bd7 18. Bxd6+ Kc8 19. Rfd1 b6 20. Be7 Qc7 21. Rxd7 with a decisive advantage for white.

The End.

Lesson 16

Strategic Elements: Exploiting the Weak f2/f7 Square (Part 02)

Exploiting the Weakness

Beginning chess players soon learn how to deliver checkmate against an unprepared opponent. For example, consider the following game that gets played, it seems, in nearly every children’s tournament. 

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Qh5 d6 4. Qxf7#

Diagram 01

Notice how this checkmate exploits the weakness of the f7 square. This pattern is called Scholar’s Mate. It is exciting to win a game this way, but it will not work against a prepared opponent. It is too easily prevented.

Consider another game where white tries for this quick knockout. 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 (aiming for the weak square at f7) Nc6 3. Qa5 g6 (prevents mate, and prepares the g7 square for the bishop) 4. Qf3 (white continues the attack on f7) Nf6 (see diagram 2). Now black prevents mate, and has the beginnings of a strong defensive structure.

Black could stop white cold, however, as early as the second move. 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6. Here black follows the advice of experts, “develop knights before bishops.”

Diagram 02

The short game called Fool’s Mate offers a memorable way of understanding the weakness of the f2 and f7 squares. This mate requires a lot of help from your

opponent, who must blunder. 1. f4?! This is a poor first move for beginners, but some experts play it. I also play it occasionally, although I am not an expert. It is named Bird’s Opening after Henry Edward Bird He played it in a match against John Wisker in 1873. Bird liked it because it can lead to interesting games. It is risky, however, because it exposes the king through f2. Avoid it before you develop strong strategic knowledge and tactical skills. Black replies 1. … d5. This move stakes a claim to the center, and increases the mobility of the queen, bishop, and knight. 2. g4?? This move is the greatest blunder in chess, and t is not the move Bird played. White should play Nf3, the second move in Bird’s Opening. Qh4#. Fool’s Mate takes two moves!

Now look at another game that exploits the weakness of the f7 square. I played this game at the Internet Chess Club (ICC), a good playing site for serious chess players. I’ve played this exact game three times at ICC against different opponents. 

White: Wulebgr (my chess handle), black: Miles. 

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6 4. Nc3 Bg4 5. Nxe5? Bxd1?? 6. Bxf7+ Ke7 7. Nd5# (see diagram 3). 

In this game white’s fifth move was a gamble that could have lost the game, and has several times. Instead of greedily grabbing the bait, black should play 5. … Nxe5 when white’s attack is over and black is up a piece.

Diagram 03

The mating position in diagram 3 has been given the name Legall’s Mate because of a game played about 1750 by Kermur de Legall against a player whose name is not recorded. That game went 1. e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Bg4?! “Knights before bishops” 4. Nc3 g6? 5. Nxe5! (see diagram 4) Bxd1?? 6. Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5#. Notice in the diagram that if black does not take the bait (queen), white still wins a pawn (5. … dxe5! 6.Qxg4). White would give up a knight for a bishop and pawn with three pieces developed black’s none. Legal did not take the risks that I took to reach a similar final position. Black should have played 3. … Nf6 before bringing out the bishop because the knight could protect the g4 square. In addition, a knight cannot deliver checkmate from d5 when there is a defending knight on f6.

Diagram 04

Lesson 15

Strategic Elements: Exploiting the Weak f2/f7 Square (Part 01)

Weak Pawns and Squares

Set up the board and pieces. Before you move a piece, look carefully at the initial set-up.Notice how the pawns are protected by the pieces behind them, but some pawns have more protection than others. Look at the pawn on a2. What protects it? Now look at the pawn on d7. Is it better protected than the pawn on a2? If two black pieces attack the pawn on a2, black can win the pawn because it is only defended by the rook on a1. But if white wants to attack the pawn on d7, he must bring a large army because the pawn is defended by a knight, bishop, queen, and king. Notice that the pawns on d2, e2, d7, and e7 are each heavily defended by four pieces.

Which pawns are the weakest in the starting position? Several pawns are protected by only one piece, but there is a difference in the value of the pieces protecting these pawns. 

If black attacks the pawn on a2 with a knight and bishop, she will win the pawn. If her opponent recaptures, she will also win a rook for a minor piece. Now, what happens if two pieces attack the pawn on f7? If one piece captures the pawn, the other piece defends it. The king cannot capture a defended piece, because he is not allowed to move into check. Only kings defend the pawns on f2 and f7. These are the weakest pawns in the starting position. If one of these pawns advances, its starting square remains weak until other pieces are brought in for defense.

Lesson 14

Strategic Elements: Structure

During our lesson on space, we saw how a line of pawns can function as a wall along the border of one's territory.  The wall analogy is apt in another sense as well; viz., that walls are typically more useful when they are structurally sound.  Examine the following diagram:

Without thinking too hard about it, which side would you say has the better pawn structure?  If you said White, you're correct!  White's wall of pawns has a solid, orderly look to it, whereas Black's has all sorts of holes and other structural defects.

Poor pawn structure can be disadvantageous for a whole variety of reasons:

1) A defective pawn wall makes for a poor defensive barrier.  Look at the diagram above and imagine that both sides have castled Kingside.  White's King would have a solid wall of pawns in front of him to protect him from attack, whereas Black's King would be exposed and subject to harassment down the open g-file.  In fact, any of Black's pieces on the back rank would be vulnerable to attack through the numerous holes in the pawn structure.  Without a solid defensive wall of pawns, Black might very well lose material or suffer checkmate.

2) A defective pawn wall also makes for an ineffective territorial border.  It can be breached easily by your opponent, who might take your territory away from you.  In the diagram above, Black's Queenside territory is looking a little "loose" and ripe for an invasion by White.  Without a strong border, Black might lose control of some territory and suffer a space disadvantage as a result.

3) Poor pawn structure usually equals weak squares.  In the diagram above, Black has weak squares at a5, d4, f5, and h6.  They are weak because they cannot be protected by pawns -- White could place pieces on those squares without fear of being chased away by any of Black's pawns.  From those squares, White's pieces could exert a powerful influence over Black's position, possibly even serving as the advance guard for an attack.

4) Some of the pawns themselves are vulnerable since they can't be protected by other pawns.  This is the case with Black's pawns on a6, d5, f6, f7, and h7.  Either those pawns will fall prey to White's pieces, or Black's pieces will be reduced to the passive role of protecting the weak pawns.

Pawn structure weaknesses usually come about from exchanges.  Consider the following series of moves 

1. d4 Nf6 

2. Bg5 h6 

3. Bxf6 gxf6.  

By exchanging the Bishop for the Knight, White has disrupted Black's pawn structure.  Now Black will have to think twice before castling Kingside.  If Black had played 2...e6 instead, then after 3. Bxf6 Qxf6 Black's pawn structure remains in good shape.  The lesson to be learned from this is that during piece exchanges, try to keep your pawn structure intact, unless there's some other good reason not to.

Lesson 13

Strategic Elements: Time (Part Two)

The Initiative

If one side has control over the course of the game then that side is said to "have the initiative."  The side with the initiative usually has greater freedom, flexibility, and activity than the side without the initiative.  This is because the side with the initiative usually has the power to force the opposing side to react passively instead of pursuing more active plans themselves.

Let's return to that pedagogical classic one more time: that's right, the Morphy game you've come to know and love throughout this tutorial series.  By constantly creating threats against his opponent, Morphy dictated the course of the entire game.  Let's take a quick look at a few key moments at which Morphy (playing White, as you'll recall) makes great use of the initiative.  

1.e4 e5 

2.Nf3 d6

This last move establishes Philidor's Defense.  It's solid, but not very active.  It's as though Black doesn't even want to try to gain the initiative!

3.d4 Bg4 

4.dxe5 Bxf3 

5.Qxf3 dxe5 

6.Bc4!

Morphy threatens Black's King by attacking the weak f7 square with his Queen and Bishop.

6...Nf6

Black counters the threat, but . 

7.Qb3!

Morphy renews the threat by shifting his Queen to the same diagonal as his Bishop (this is sometimes called a Queen and Bishop Battery). 

7...Qe7

Black protects the f7 square in the only reasonable way, but he's now behind in development and has developed his Queen to an awkward square.  The initiative is paying off for Morphy already!

8.Nc3

Notice that Morphy might have thought about snatching a pawn with 8. Qxb7, but he's more interested in maintaining the initiative.

8...c6 

9.Bg5

Morphy keeps up the pressure by pinning Black's f6 Knight.

9...b5

This move looks very active.  After all, it attacks White's Bishop.  Black probably thinks that this gives him the initiative, since it appears to force Morphy to react to the threat of loss of material (10...bxc4).  Looks can be deceiving though, and Black is in for a nasty surprise.

10.Nxb5!

Morphy sacrifices material in order to keep the initiative.

10...cxb5 

11.Bxb5+

Checks are the most forcing of all moves, and a common way of securing or maintaining the initiative.

11...Nbd7

Black is once again forced to react passively to Morphy's threats.  The initiative is still very much in Morphy's hands.

12.0-0-0

The Rook on d1 puts additional pressure on the Black King.

12...Rd8 

And yet again, Black must react rather than act.

13.Rxd7

Morphy sacrifices a Rook in return for a Knight (a net loss of 2 points of material, as you'll no doubt recall) in order to maintain the initiative and keep the attack going against the Black King.

13...Rxd7 

14.Rd1 Qe6

Black's Queen steps aside in order to break the pin created against the f6 Knight by the Bishop on g5.  But it's too little too late, and Morphy finishes with a beautiful sacrificial combination.

15.Bxd7+ Nxd7 

16.Qb8+!! Nxb8 

17.Rd8#

The initiative is often secured by means of tactics, attacks against the enemy King, or threats to win other strategic advantages such as material, space, or structure.  Sometimes one side will sacrifice material, space, and / or structure in return for the initiative, hoping it will pay off later.  

Sometimes one side will deliberately pass over an opportunity to secure an advantage in material, space, and / or structure in order to avoid handing the initiative over to the enemy.  The initiative can dissipate quickly or last throughout an entire game.  The initiative can pass back and forth between the two sides or remain in the hands of one player exclusively.  Thus, the initiative is subtle and amorphous, much like Time itself. It has been known to perplex even advanced players.  As such, it shouldn't be a big concern for most beginners.  For now, just be aware of it, and always do your best to play actively if you can do so without unacceptable risk or consequences.