This is an extract from the book Strategic Chess Exercises by Emmanuel Bricard, published by New In Chess.

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Exercise 1

What do you think of 20...♖fa8 and 20...♘xd5 ? (Solution below)

Exercise 2

Find two distinct plans that lead to a very large white advantage. (Solution below)

Exercise 3

What do you think of the b7-bishop? How can White gain a large advantage? (Solution below)

Exercise 4

Which plan gives White an advantage? Can you consider the ramifications depending on Black’s various replies? (Solution below)

Solution 1

Carl Schlechter
Friedrich Köhnlein
Hamburg 1910 (10)

1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 a6 4.♗a4 ♘f6 5.0-0 ♗e7 6.♖e1 b5 7.♗b3 d6 8.c3 ♘a5 9.♗c2 c5 10.d4 ♕c7 11.♘bd2 ♘c6 12.a4 ♖b8 13.axb5 axb5 14.d5 ♘a5 15.♘f1 0-0 16.♗g5 ♗d7 17.b3 h6 18.♗d2 ♖a8 19.♘g3 ♖a7 20.♘h4

White intends to place a knight on f5 and attack the black king.

From this point of view, having played ...h7-h6 proves to be weakening and Black will have trouble preparing ...g7-g6.

A) 20...♘xe4? 21.♖xe4 f5 22.♘g6 fxe4 23.♘xe7+ ♔f7 24.♘ef5 is hopeless;

B) 20...♘h7!? 21.♘hf5 ♗g5 is a reasonable idea that allows the exchange of dark-squared bishops, but it does not dispute control of the f5-square and does not equalize;

C) The best plan is 20...♖fa8! 21.♘hf5 ♗f8 with the intention of playing ...♔g8-h7 followed by ...g7- g6, to control the f5-square, and if the white queen then abandons control of the b3-square, ...c5- c4 with the idea of responding to b3-b4 by ...♘a5-b3 gives good counterplay (with the queen on d1 this would involve a pawn sacrifice, but remains possible in certain cases).

On the other hand, ...♘a5- b7 reduces the knight’s prospects and by playing it Black will have to evaluate the consequences of b3-b4, which prevents its return; this move may, however, help initiate play on the a-file.

Let us see some variations:

C1) 22.♕f3 (threatening 23.♘xh6+) 22...♕d8 followed by ...♔g8-h7 and ...g7-g6 brings White nothing;

C2) 22.f4?! allows 22...c4! 23.b4 ♘b3! 24.♖xa7 ♕xa7+ as the check avoids the loss of a pawn on b3;

C3) 22.♗e3 ♔h7 23.f4?! (a critical move to hope to gain the initiative, but it does not work very well; after 23.♘h5 ♘g8! – 23...♘xh5 24.♕xh5 g6 25.♕h4! is dangerous – followed by ...g7-g6 the dark squares around the king are sufficiently defended) 23...g6! (and not 23...exf4?! 24.♗xf4 g6 25.e5!) 24.fxe5 dxe5 25.♘h4 ♘g4! and Black is doing very well;

C4) 22.♘h5! (in order to exchange one of the black king’s defenders and increase the queen’s prospects)

22...♕d8! (22...♘xh5 23.♕xh5 allows sacrifices on h6; 22...♘e8 and 22...♘h7 are risky – the ideal square for a knight retreat being g8, to support the h6-pawn, but this is unavailable at the moment) 23.♘xf6+ ♕xf6 – Black suffers a little from a lack of space, but is not in any immediate danger and is only slightly worse.

20...♘xd5?! A risky idea for the king, but winning a pawn does enrich Black’s defensive possibilities by enabling him to sacrifice material back later on.

21.♘hf5 ♗xf5 22.♘xf5 ♘f6

The white knight is comfortably posted on f5 as it can be neither exchanged nor expelled, and the black king is in danger.

23.♖e3 With the idea of 24.♖g3 to threaten the pawns on g7 and h6.

24.♕f3 is another good move and 24...♖fa8! 25.♕g3 g6 is then the best defence, offering the h6-pawn in order to keep reasonable pawn cover in front of the king.

The absence of the d5-pawn allows a possible return of the a5-knight to the centre when Black has good resources, even though it is clear that he is worse.

23...♔h7? 23...♖fa8! 24.♖g3 g6 25.♘xh6+ ♔f8 is again the best continuation.

The g3-rook is well placed for an attack on the king but otherwise it is offside and meanwhile Black will try to gain the initiative on the queenside.

Let us see two possible continuations:

A) 26.♘g4?! ♘xg4 27.♖xg4 c4! and now the position is complicated after 28.bxc4 ♘xc4, but on the other hand, 28.b4 ♘b3! gives the initiative to Black as he avoids losing a pawn on b3 because of the weakness of the back rank;

B) 26.h4! gives the king an escape square and prepares 27.h5! and if 27...♘xh5?, then 28.♕xh5! and the queen can’t be captured because of the mate on g8.

White is better.

24.♖h3! Now the h6-pawn is the target as the black king is exposed on the h-file.

After 24.♖g3 ♖g8 followed by 25...♗f8 the game continues.

24...♘g8 25.♘xh6! 25.♘xg7! was also decisive.

25...gxh6 26.♗xh6 Black resigned.

26...♘xh6 27.♕h5 is hopeless.

Solution 2

Efim Geller
Haije Kramer
Helsinki ol 1952 (4)

1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 e6 3.♘f3 b6 4.♘c3 ♗b7 5.e3 ♗b4 6.♗d3 ♘e4 7.0-0 ♗xc3 8.bxc3 0-0 9.♘e1 f5 10.f3 ♘f6 11.a4 ♘c6 12.♖a2 ♘a5 13.♖af2 ♕e7 14.♕e2 d6 15.e4 fxe4 16.fxe4 e5 17.♗g5 ♗c6 18.♘c2 ♗d7 19.♘e3 c6

White has a damaged pawn structure, but it does give him a strong presence in the centre.

His pieces are active and he has the pair of bishops.

The f6-knight is pinned and under strong pressure, which leaves the e4-pawn safe.

The e3-knight controls the g4-, f5- and d5-squares (which stops the c6-pawn from moving) and defends the c4-pawn, often a sensitive point in this pawn structure, which accentuates the offside position of the a5-knight.

As for Black, he has a passive and cramped position.

One idea to get rid of the pin on the f6-knight is to play ...h7-h6; depending on circumstances the bishop can then either exchange on f6 or else retreat to h4, then g3 after an eventual ...g7-g5, and in both cases the black pawn structure will be severely weakened.

The strongest plan is probably 20.d5! c5 (it is necessary to keep the position closed as after 20...♔h8 21.dxc6 ♘xc6 22.♘d5 or 21...♗xc6 22.♘g4 it’s all over)

21.♕e1! with the idea of ♗d3-e2-g4 to exchange the light-squared bishops so as to obtain the f5- and g4-squares for the knight.

Defending the a4-pawn is pointless as the d7-bishop has to guard these two squares and so the queen is placed according to its kingside prospects (that said, 21.♕d1 is also good).

Now:

A) 21...♖f7 22.♗e2 ♖af8 is what Black wishes to play in order to consolidate the f6-square, but this does not hold and in particular there is a direct win by 23.♗h5! g6 24.♗g4;

B) 21...h6 22.♗xf6 ♖xf6 23.♖xf6 gxf6 24.♕h4 (capturing the f6-pawn would bring the rook into play) 24...♖f8 25.♗e2! (25.♕xh6? ♕g7 halts the attack) 25...♕g7!? (an ingenious attempt to defuse the decisive arrival of the white bishop on g4: 26.♗g4? ♘xc4! allows resistance) 26.♖f3 ♔h7 27.♖g3 ♕e7 28.♗g4 and White wins.

20.c5!

With the idea of blocking the c6-pawn to then play d4-d5 and gain control of the d5-square.

This is an unusual plan because in this kind of structure the c4-c5 breakthrough generally intends to attack the opposing dark-squared pawn chain.

20...bxc5

A) After 20...♔h8?, 21.d5 is strong, as in the game, but there is also a direct win: 21.cxd6 ♕xd6 22.♘f5 ♗xf5 23.dxe5! (23.♖xf5 ♘d7 allows Black to hold the e5-point and resist) 23...♕xe5 24.♖xf5 ♕xc3 25.e5 and the advance of the passed pawn combined with threats to the king decides matters;

B) 20...dxc5 21.d5! with a choice:

B1) 21...♕d6 (unpinning the knight, but the queen will be exposed) 22.dxc6 ♘xc6 (22...♗xc6 23.♘f5 ♕d7 24.♘xg7 and 22...♕xc6 23.♗xf6 ♖xf6 24.♖xf6 gxf6 25.♘d5 are both losing) 23.♗c4+ ♔h8 24.♖d1! (the queen must abandon its ideal post) 24...♕e7 (or 24...♕c7 25.♕f1 with the idea of 26.♘d5) 25.♘d5 and White wins;

B2) 21...c4! (Black returns the pawn to exchange the a5-knight) 22.♗xc4 ♘xc4 23.♕xc4 (threatening 24.dxc6+) 23...♕c5! (the point of the black defensive plan initiated by 20...dxc5; going into the endgame allows the game to continue, even if Black’s prospects are poor) 24.♕xc5 bxc5 25.♗xf6 ♖xf6 26.♖xf6 gxf6 27.d6! (27.♖xf6 cxd5 seems less promising) 27...♔f7 (after 27...♖b8 28.♖xf6 the e5-pawn is exposed to a knight attack and Black is much worse)

28.♖b1! ♔e6 29.♘f5 and in spite of the material balance we can consider that White has a pawn more given the doubled and isolated pawns on c5 and c6.

He has a big advantage.

21.d5! c4!

Both to exchange the a5-knight and to unblock the c6-pawn in order to stop the white knight from getting to the d5-square.

22.♗xc4 ♘xc4 23.♕xc4 c5

The white knight’s invasion squares on f5 and g4 are permanently controlled and White is unable to obtain anything important through the f-file alone.

Nevertheless, the black queenside is now porous and simultaneous pressure on both wings should bear fruit.

24.♕a6 ♗c8 25.♕c6 ♗d7 26.♕c7 ♖fc8 27.♗xf6 gxf6 28.♘f5 ♖xc7 29.♘xe7+ ♔f7 30.♘f5 ♗xf5 31.♖xf5 ♔g7 32.♖xf6

Black is a pawn down and has difficulty finding counterplay due to the weakness of the d6-pawn.

He is probably lost.

32...♖d7 33.♖e6 ♖b8 34.h4 h5 35.♖f5 ♖b3 36.♖g5+ ♔h7 37.♖xh5+ ♔g7 38.♖g5+ ♔h7 39.♖gg6 ♖xc3 40.h5 ♖c4 41.♖h6+ ♔g8 42.♖eg6+ ♖g7 43.♖xd6 ♖xa4 44.♖d8+ ♔f7 45.♖hd6 ♖g4 46.♖6d7+ ♔f6 47.♖f8+ ♔g5 48.♖g7+ ♔h4 49.h6 ♖a1+ 50.♔h2 ♖a6 51.h7 1-0

Solution 3

Vlastimil Hort 2575
Anatoly Karpov 2690
Amsterdam 1981

1.d4 ♘f6 2.♘f3 e6 3.c4 d5 4.♘c3 ♗e7 5.♗g5 h6 6.♗h4 0-0 7.e3 b6 8.♖c1 ♗b7 9.cxd5 exd5 10.♗e2

The seemingly modest development of the bishop on e2, rather than d3, is designed to leave the d-file free and to consequently take an interest in the d5-pawn.

10...♘bd7 11.0-0 c5 12.♕c2

The value of the black position depends on the strength of the central d5-pawn which controls the e4-square.

From this point of view the b7-bishop is extremely important, and even if its own scope is limited by the d5-pawn it does defend it effectively and the other pieces can only be active because of this.

12...a6?!

Preparing the typical plan of ...c5- c4 followed by ...b6-b5 to mobilize the black majority, but this is not yet feasible under good conditions.

12...♖c8 13.♖fd1 ♘e4, for example, keeps Black’s position solid.

13.♖fd1

The rook puts pressure on the d5-pawn, which will allow ♘f3-e5 to be played without worrying about the knight being exchanged.

13...c4?!

Here again, 13...♖c8 was safer.

14.a4!

By preventing the c4-pawn from being supported by ...b6-b5 Hort prepares the b2-b3 lever to favourably open the queenside.

Exerting central pressure by ♘f3- e5, possibly followed by ♕c2-f5 and ♗e2-f3, is another promising plan.

After 14.♘e5 b5 Black has achieved his aim and has a good position.

14...♗c6?!

A consistent move, and the only one that perseveres with the preparation of ...b6-b5, but it has a big flaw...

15.♘e5!

With the intention of exchanging the bishop that we said was essential for the protection of the black centre.

15...♕c7 15...♘xe5? 16.dxe5 loses the d5-pawn.

16.♘xc6! 16.♕f5! is also strong, with a very big advantage.

16...♕xc6 17.♗f3!