Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Crown on the Squares: THE PINCER ATTACK by Clyde Nakamura
Crown on the Squares: THE PINCER ATTACK by Clyde Nakamura: "Message flagged Monday, May 30, 2011 11:59 PM Recently I had been driven by a fascination with the Hippopotamus Defense. This is a Black s..."
THE PINCER ATTACK by Clyde Nakamura
Recently I had been driven by a fascination with the Hippopotamus Defense. This is a Black side opening where Black fianchettoes the 2 Bishops and plays the 2 center pawns
at d6 and e6 and the Black Knights go to d7 and e7. This is essentially a Black side defense which is flexible. Which means that it can be used against any kind of White opening setup. However there are hidden dangers within this opening. Black has to delay castling because if White is setup for a Kingside attack, Black could get chrushed with a Kingside attack.
I had recently discussed the Hippo with my friend National Master Reynolds Takata. He said that if I played the Hippo against him in a game I would have no chance of winning because the Hippo is unsound. It would be easy for him to crack open my Kingside and checkmate my king. I actually do not believe that this was true, so I decided to do further research on the Hippo.
On Youtube on the internet, I found a chess video on the Hippo by GM Dzinhasvili. He said that when your opponent is confronted by the Hippo, the 2 most likely reactions would be to play ultra conservatively or be too overly aggressive against the Hippo. Your opponent would feel anger and try to crush your unsound opening. He also said that the Hippo is also not recommended because it was not sound.
When I did the search for the Hippo on Youtube, I saw 3 videos on an opening called the "Pincer Attack" by J Robi of Youtube. I was definitely curious, so I looked at the Pincer Attack videos and discovered that the Pincer Attack was a reversed form of the Hippo played from the White side a tempo up. White played the 2 fianchettoes, the 2 pawns at d3 and e3 and placed the 2 knights at d2 and e2. J Robi was still in the process of developing the Pincer Attack. The term Pincer is often used in battlefield tactics Robi
was trying to adapt military tactics to the game of chess. J Robi has not much success with the Pincer Attack, but he was in the process of working out the kinks in this opening. He first attempted to play 1.d3 as the first move, but has been experimenting with 1.b3 as a first move. He said the key to making this opening work was to
look at why White lost the games.
Listed below are the 2 web links to the Pincer Attack by J Roby of Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ACvf9dePHY&feature=fvwrel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwgl2-f6tb4
I did further research on the Pincer Attack by setting up a position from the White side with pawns at a2, b3, c2, d3, e3, f2, g3 & h2, B's at b2 and g2, N at d2 & e2. There were no pieces and pawns setup for the black side. And did a search with my Chessbase
program. I came up with 500+ games and was not surprised to discover that the Pincer had been the Pincer Attack had been played before by GM's and Masters. The earliest known game occurred in 1868. The list of GM's that have played the Pincer includes Pavel Blatny, Bobby Fischer and Gata Kamsky. Fischer knew about the Pincer Attack
because he studied 19th century chess extensively and Kamasky probably knew about the Pincer Attack because he studied Fischers chess games. Currently Pavel Platny is the foremost expert on the Pincer Attack because he has played it in tournaments more than anyone else.
There exists 4 major pawn breaks in the Pincer Attack. They are c4, f4, d3 and e3. In his games, GM Blatny favors playing the pawn break c4 with a pawn break at either d3 or e3. His main strategy is to pick off the center pawns and the queenside pawns and play for the endgame. I also saw 2 games by a Master playing a senior Master and losing. I will have to investigate these 2 gamess further.
At this point in time I do not believe that the 2 white knights belong on d2 and e2. They could also be played at a3 or h3. My second search for the Pincer Attack will have the pawns on b3, c2, d3, e3, f2, g3, with the B's at b2 & g2 and no knights on the
Board and also no black side pieces or pawns. White has to coordinate his castling with the pawn breaks.
Best Regards
Clyde Nakamura
at d6 and e6 and the Black Knights go to d7 and e7. This is essentially a Black side defense which is flexible. Which means that it can be used against any kind of White opening setup. However there are hidden dangers within this opening. Black has to delay castling because if White is setup for a Kingside attack, Black could get chrushed with a Kingside attack.
I had recently discussed the Hippo with my friend National Master Reynolds Takata. He said that if I played the Hippo against him in a game I would have no chance of winning because the Hippo is unsound. It would be easy for him to crack open my Kingside and checkmate my king. I actually do not believe that this was true, so I decided to do further research on the Hippo.
On Youtube on the internet, I found a chess video on the Hippo by GM Dzinhasvili. He said that when your opponent is confronted by the Hippo, the 2 most likely reactions would be to play ultra conservatively or be too overly aggressive against the Hippo. Your opponent would feel anger and try to crush your unsound opening. He also said that the Hippo is also not recommended because it was not sound.
When I did the search for the Hippo on Youtube, I saw 3 videos on an opening called the "Pincer Attack" by J Robi of Youtube. I was definitely curious, so I looked at the Pincer Attack videos and discovered that the Pincer Attack was a reversed form of the Hippo played from the White side a tempo up. White played the 2 fianchettoes, the 2 pawns at d3 and e3 and placed the 2 knights at d2 and e2. J Robi was still in the process of developing the Pincer Attack. The term Pincer is often used in battlefield tactics Robi
was trying to adapt military tactics to the game of chess. J Robi has not much success with the Pincer Attack, but he was in the process of working out the kinks in this opening. He first attempted to play 1.d3 as the first move, but has been experimenting with 1.b3 as a first move. He said the key to making this opening work was to
look at why White lost the games.
Listed below are the 2 web links to the Pincer Attack by J Roby of Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ACvf9dePHY&feature=fvwrel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwgl2-f6tb4
I did further research on the Pincer Attack by setting up a position from the White side with pawns at a2, b3, c2, d3, e3, f2, g3 & h2, B's at b2 and g2, N at d2 & e2. There were no pieces and pawns setup for the black side. And did a search with my Chessbase
program. I came up with 500+ games and was not surprised to discover that the Pincer had been the Pincer Attack had been played before by GM's and Masters. The earliest known game occurred in 1868. The list of GM's that have played the Pincer includes Pavel Blatny, Bobby Fischer and Gata Kamsky. Fischer knew about the Pincer Attack
because he studied 19th century chess extensively and Kamasky probably knew about the Pincer Attack because he studied Fischers chess games. Currently Pavel Platny is the foremost expert on the Pincer Attack because he has played it in tournaments more than anyone else.
There exists 4 major pawn breaks in the Pincer Attack. They are c4, f4, d3 and e3. In his games, GM Blatny favors playing the pawn break c4 with a pawn break at either d3 or e3. His main strategy is to pick off the center pawns and the queenside pawns and play for the endgame. I also saw 2 games by a Master playing a senior Master and losing. I will have to investigate these 2 gamess further.
At this point in time I do not believe that the 2 white knights belong on d2 and e2. They could also be played at a3 or h3. My second search for the Pincer Attack will have the pawns on b3, c2, d3, e3, f2, g3, with the B's at b2 & g2 and no knights on the
Board and also no black side pieces or pawns. White has to coordinate his castling with the pawn breaks.
Best Regards
Clyde Nakamura
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Chess Mazes
There are two types of chess mazes: checking and mating. For bishop, rook, and knight mazes the play is to check the black king. For queen, pawn, and king mazes the object is to checkmate the enemy king; here checks are not allowed.
The rules in common for each type of maze are as follows:
- Black never moves.
- Only the maze piece (in the case of pawns—the maze units) may move.
- A maze piece may never move to a square commanded by enemy forces.
- A maze piece may capture undefended enemy forces.
- Plus we look for the shortest solution.
Helpers in queen and king mazes are frozen to the diagram position, unable to move or be removed. In pawn mazes promoted pawns are unable to move off their promotion squares. Also move order may be juggled without harm to the solution. Often, when running up the board to promote, pawns can advance in different sequences.
For those who may be interested in a more detailed introduction and overview to chess maze puzzles, we invite you to read more; otherwise, we hope you enjoy this week’s Chess Maze ...
A Bishop Maze
Both bishops are needed to land a safe check. However, the first order of business is to save the attacked bishop.
#289a
[FEN "8/1n4B1/1r5p/8/7b/1r6/4n3/2B3k1"]
[FEN "8/1n4B1/1r5p/8/7b/1r6/4n3/2B3k1"]
Scroll down for the solution
1 Bd2 2 Be5 3 Bb8 4 Ba7 5 Bxh6 6 Bg7 7 Be5 8 Bab8 9 Bh2+
#289b
[FEN "8/1n6/1r6/8/7b/1r6/4n2B/6k1"]
[FEN "8/1n6/1r6/8/7b/1r6/4n2B/6k1"]
Remove the h4-bishop and it’s check in six: 1 Bd2 2 Be1 3 Bf8 4 Be7 5 B7h4 6 either Bf2+
© 2011 Bruce Alberston. All Rights Reserved
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Crown on the Squares: Break Moves: Opening Lines to Increase Mobility
Crown on the Squares: Break Moves: Opening Lines to Increase Mobility: "Saying of the Month: Anything which discourages you from playing (worrying about your rating) is likely unproductive; anything which encoura..."
Break Moves: Opening Lines to Increase Mobility
Saying of the Month: Anything which discourages you from playing (worrying about your rating) is likely unproductive; anything which encourages you to play (incentives, titles, prizes, camaraderie, a stronger mind) is likely productive.
“I get all my pieces out and then I don’t know what to do” is a common complaint heard by chess instructors. Sometimes, as student smight suggest, they do need advice on “planning” but often the source of their problem is that they don’t understand the concept of break moves and how to give their pieces – especially rooks – more mobility in the middle game (for an in-depth discussion on mobility and its correlation to piece value, consult my book Elements of Positional Evaluation).
A "break" move is a pawn move that “breaks up” an opponent's (fixed) pawn chain by attacking the opponent's pawns with that pawn. In his classic work Pawn Power in Chess, Hans Kmoch calls this move a
liberation lever. Don’t be put off by Kmoch’s arcane nomenclature – Pawn Power is a great book for players in the 1300-1900 rating range.
Let's start with a common example:
1.d4 d5
This is a "double d-pawn opening", defined by pawns initially fixed on d4 and d5. The solidity of this pattern and its tendencies to lead to dense pawn structures is why it is commonly called a “closed
opening”.
White's two break moves are c4 and e4. Note that Black’s pawn is “fixed” on d5 and thus has no choice to avoid exchange if White plays these breaks. This lack of flexibility gives White the opportunity to force semi-open thec or e-files. Correspondingly, Black's two break moves are …c5 and …e5.2.c4
This is the easier - and tactically justified - classic break that defines the Queen’s Gambit. The other break move, 2.e4, leaves the e-pawn unguarded and thus is the rarer (but fun!) Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. Break moves are important for at least three reasons:
1. You need a pawn to best attack any pawn that can easily be guarded by other pawns - piece attacks against them are usually ineffective if the attacked pawn can be guarded by another pawn,
2. You can open files for rooks when either side exchanges after a break move. The adage is the player who uses his rooks best in an opening usually “wins” the opening, and
3. It can enable you to trade a lesser pawn for a more valuable one, such as a flank pawn for a center pawn or an isolated pawn for a non isolated one. A pawn attack that is not against a fixed pawn does not necessarily invoke a trade – it might simply be bypassed by the opponent advancing his pawn - so those type of break moves are often less effective because of the opponent’s flexibility. In double d-pawn positions it is much more difficult to break with the e-pawns because they are not as easily supported by bishops, and the
opponent’s knights easily protect the e4 and e5 squares from break possibilities when naturally developed at f3 and f6. Breaking with the c-pawns enables one to trade a flank pawn for a center pawn. Also, the break c4 allows White to put his knight behind the c-pawn where it is not only more effective, but gives White some needed space for his other pieces. This leads to the guideline “Don't put your knight in front of your c-pawn in double d-pawn openings”.
So 2.c4 is White's most common move here. Note that the Queen's Gambit is not really a gambit. For example, if Black takes the c-pawn with 2…dxc4, then White could always recover it with 3.Qa4+, although that is not his best move (likely 3.Nf3 is). Suppose after 1.d4 d5 instead of 2.c4 White plays 2.Nf3 Then it is a mistake for Black to play the natural looking 2…Nc6(?) because this knight blocks his best break move …c5.
Black is somewhat cramped and already (!) it will be difficult for his rooks to find open lines. For example, the c-file will likely remain closed for him for quite a while. But White can still play his break move 3.c4.
At this point if Black plays …e6 to reinforce d5 he has a cramped position, and after that his only remaining break move, …e5, is hard to achieve and wastes time. However, playing 3…e5 is not a strong possibility (then 4.Nxe5 leads to an even better game for White), so 3…e6 4.Nc3 White has more than his normal opening advantage. The game might continue 4…Nf6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 O-O 7.Bd3 Bd7 Passive, but consistent with Black's previous play. 8.O-O Rc8 9.Rc1
After 3.cxd4 Nxd5 4.Nf3! (better than the common 4.e4?! Nf6 5.Nc3 e5!) White has a very pleasant game; after most normal Black replies, 5.e4 will be annoying. This not a full trap, but does give White more than
his normal opening advantage. Another reason that break moves are important is tactical in basis. Suppose after 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 e6 White decides to attack the d-pawn with pieces, starting with 3.Nc3?!:
This move again violates the guideline “Don’t put your knight in front of your c-pawn in double d-pawn openings.” In accordance with the first reason for playing break moves (and a basic idea of counting material
exchanges explained in an earlier Novice Nook, A Counting Primer), no matter how many pieces (non-pawns) White uses to attack d5, the single defending pawn on e6 always suffices. Suppose we ignore Black moves but additionally attack the d5 pawn with g3, Bg2, Nd2- f1-e3:
From the standpoint of the d5 pawn’s safety, these extra non pawn attackers are not effective since the pawn will always be adequately guarded. But once White attacks the d-pawn with even one pawn, such as after the
better 3.c4, then the future possibility of inadequate defense arises and the Black pawn is no longer so safe. It is important to note that this possibility arises quite often since at the start of the game every pawn attack can
potentially be countered with a pawn defense! Later, if the pawn structures become asymmetric, then the possibility of consistent, equal pawn defense for each attack diminishes and the play may become more sharp. This is one big reason why symmetric positions are more drawish. Break moves occur in many positions, but especially in positions with locked centers, as occurs in many lines of the French Defense:
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5
This is the "Advanced Variation", marked by White’s 3.e5, locking the center. The Advanced Variation is popular among beginners but not masters, because beginners misperceive that the slight gain in “space” via 3.e5 is worth more than it looks (but that is the subject of another column!). Here Black's break moves are …c5 and …f6. As a general guideline, break moves are best played against the base of the pawn chain, just like it is better to chop down a tree from the base – with both pawns and trees, chopping the base also weakens the top!
So here the more effective break move for Black is 3…c5, attacking the base at d4. for this reason 3…c5 is the main (and mostly only) move recommended for Black here! Consistently, White usually keeps his pawn chain intact with 4.c3 and Black continues the pressure on d4 with 4…Nc6 Now suppose White errs and plays 5.Bb5(?) This is not much of a pin since the Knight is happily guarded by b7 and easily unpinned. Better
is 5.Be2 or 5.a3 or even 5.Bd3. If Black plays the normal queen move 5…Qb6 and White captures 6.Bxc6 how should Black recapture? The answer is that 6...Qxc6 keeps the pawns undoubled, but 6…bxc6 allows Black a second break move on d4 after the first capture, so 6…bxc6 is even better! Now White's center will fall after 7.Be2 cxd4 8.cxd4 c5 With this second break move White can no longer maintain a pawn on d4. So Black has a good game because e5 is also weak and his bishop pair is worth about an extra half pawn.
Cheers!!!
“I get all my pieces out and then I don’t know what to do” is a common complaint heard by chess instructors. Sometimes, as student smight suggest, they do need advice on “planning” but often the source of their problem is that they don’t understand the concept of break moves and how to give their pieces – especially rooks – more mobility in the middle game (for an in-depth discussion on mobility and its correlation to piece value, consult my book Elements of Positional Evaluation).
A "break" move is a pawn move that “breaks up” an opponent's (fixed) pawn chain by attacking the opponent's pawns with that pawn. In his classic work Pawn Power in Chess, Hans Kmoch calls this move a
liberation lever. Don’t be put off by Kmoch’s arcane nomenclature – Pawn Power is a great book for players in the 1300-1900 rating range.
Let's start with a common example:
1.d4 d5
This is a "double d-pawn opening", defined by pawns initially fixed on d4 and d5. The solidity of this pattern and its tendencies to lead to dense pawn structures is why it is commonly called a “closed
opening”.
White's two break moves are c4 and e4. Note that Black’s pawn is “fixed” on d5 and thus has no choice to avoid exchange if White plays these breaks. This lack of flexibility gives White the opportunity to force semi-open thec or e-files. Correspondingly, Black's two break moves are …c5 and …e5.2.c4
This is the easier - and tactically justified - classic break that defines the Queen’s Gambit. The other break move, 2.e4, leaves the e-pawn unguarded and thus is the rarer (but fun!) Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. Break moves are important for at least three reasons:
1. You need a pawn to best attack any pawn that can easily be guarded by other pawns - piece attacks against them are usually ineffective if the attacked pawn can be guarded by another pawn,
2. You can open files for rooks when either side exchanges after a break move. The adage is the player who uses his rooks best in an opening usually “wins” the opening, and
3. It can enable you to trade a lesser pawn for a more valuable one, such as a flank pawn for a center pawn or an isolated pawn for a non isolated one. A pawn attack that is not against a fixed pawn does not necessarily invoke a trade – it might simply be bypassed by the opponent advancing his pawn - so those type of break moves are often less effective because of the opponent’s flexibility. In double d-pawn positions it is much more difficult to break with the e-pawns because they are not as easily supported by bishops, and the
opponent’s knights easily protect the e4 and e5 squares from break possibilities when naturally developed at f3 and f6. Breaking with the c-pawns enables one to trade a flank pawn for a center pawn. Also, the break c4 allows White to put his knight behind the c-pawn where it is not only more effective, but gives White some needed space for his other pieces. This leads to the guideline “Don't put your knight in front of your c-pawn in double d-pawn openings”.
So 2.c4 is White's most common move here. Note that the Queen's Gambit is not really a gambit. For example, if Black takes the c-pawn with 2…dxc4, then White could always recover it with 3.Qa4+, although that is not his best move (likely 3.Nf3 is). Suppose after 1.d4 d5 instead of 2.c4 White plays 2.Nf3 Then it is a mistake for Black to play the natural looking 2…Nc6(?) because this knight blocks his best break move …c5.
Black is somewhat cramped and already (!) it will be difficult for his rooks to find open lines. For example, the c-file will likely remain closed for him for quite a while. But White can still play his break move 3.c4.
At this point if Black plays …e6 to reinforce d5 he has a cramped position, and after that his only remaining break move, …e5, is hard to achieve and wastes time. However, playing 3…e5 is not a strong possibility (then 4.Nxe5 leads to an even better game for White), so 3…e6 4.Nc3 White has more than his normal opening advantage. The game might continue 4…Nf6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 O-O 7.Bd3 Bd7 Passive, but consistent with Black's previous play. 8.O-O Rc8 9.Rc1
White has a very nice advantage due to his extra space and mobility. For example, compare the two
queenside rooks on c1 and c8:
* White's rook has more mobility and he can make the c-file semi open for him.
* Black's rook has moved "toward the center" but is not really doing anything primarily because White's break move was achieved and Black's was blocked. No wonder Black players here might complain “they have nothing to do”!
In the normal move order with 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Black has three main replies, all pawn moves:
1) 2…c6 (Slav),
2) 2…e6 (Queen's Gambit Declined), and
3) 2…dxc4 (Queen’s Gambit Accepted)
Other moves are rarer and may lead to a cramped game. For example
2…Nf6(?) is a common beginner’s inaccuracy:
After 3.cxd4 Nxd5 4.Nf3! (better than the common 4.e4?! Nf6 5.Nc3 e5!) White has a very pleasant game; after most normal Black replies, 5.e4 will be annoying. This not a full trap, but does give White more than
his normal opening advantage. Another reason that break moves are important is tactical in basis. Suppose after 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 e6 White decides to attack the d-pawn with pieces, starting with 3.Nc3?!:
This move again violates the guideline “Don’t put your knight in front of your c-pawn in double d-pawn openings.” In accordance with the first reason for playing break moves (and a basic idea of counting material
exchanges explained in an earlier Novice Nook, A Counting Primer), no matter how many pieces (non-pawns) White uses to attack d5, the single defending pawn on e6 always suffices. Suppose we ignore Black moves but additionally attack the d5 pawn with g3, Bg2, Nd2- f1-e3:
From the standpoint of the d5 pawn’s safety, these extra non pawn attackers are not effective since the pawn will always be adequately guarded. But once White attacks the d-pawn with even one pawn, such as after the
better 3.c4, then the future possibility of inadequate defense arises and the Black pawn is no longer so safe. It is important to note that this possibility arises quite often since at the start of the game every pawn attack can
potentially be countered with a pawn defense! Later, if the pawn structures become asymmetric, then the possibility of consistent, equal pawn defense for each attack diminishes and the play may become more sharp. This is one big reason why symmetric positions are more drawish. Break moves occur in many positions, but especially in positions with locked centers, as occurs in many lines of the French Defense:
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5
This is the "Advanced Variation", marked by White’s 3.e5, locking the center. The Advanced Variation is popular among beginners but not masters, because beginners misperceive that the slight gain in “space” via 3.e5 is worth more than it looks (but that is the subject of another column!). Here Black's break moves are …c5 and …f6. As a general guideline, break moves are best played against the base of the pawn chain, just like it is better to chop down a tree from the base – with both pawns and trees, chopping the base also weakens the top!
So here the more effective break move for Black is 3…c5, attacking the base at d4. for this reason 3…c5 is the main (and mostly only) move recommended for Black here! Consistently, White usually keeps his pawn chain intact with 4.c3 and Black continues the pressure on d4 with 4…Nc6 Now suppose White errs and plays 5.Bb5(?) This is not much of a pin since the Knight is happily guarded by b7 and easily unpinned. Better
is 5.Be2 or 5.a3 or even 5.Bd3. If Black plays the normal queen move 5…Qb6 and White captures 6.Bxc6 how should Black recapture? The answer is that 6...Qxc6 keeps the pawns undoubled, but 6…bxc6 allows Black a second break move on d4 after the first capture, so 6…bxc6 is even better! Now White's center will fall after 7.Be2 cxd4 8.cxd4 c5 With this second break move White can no longer maintain a pawn on d4. So Black has a good game because e5 is also weak and his bishop pair is worth about an extra half pawn.
Cheers!!!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)