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CT-271(1420) Monday, 27 September 2004

CT-271(1420)

Chess Quiz
Stahlberg - Persitz Ljubljana (1), 29.06.1955

13th Monarch Assurance Open, Isle of Man There were quite a few upsets in round 2 of this strong open. See selected games in our database today.

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Grandmaster Igor Stohl celebrates his 40th birthday. His best rating was 2600 in 1999. He wrote the acclaimed book 'Instructive Modern Chess Masterpieces' (Gambit, 2001).

Top round 2 results:

Pavlovic (2498) - Smirin (2671) - Wells (2494) Volkov (2625) 1-0 Holzke (2492) Zhong (2603) - Berzinsh(2455) Nakamura(2601) 0-1 Baklan (2595) Sprenger (2477) - Schneider (2454) Kulaots (2593) 0-1 Williams (2427) Korchnoi (2568) 0-1 Jonkman (2425) Kiriakov(2555) - Speelman (2555) Afek (2325) -

Standings after 2 rounds:

1-5. GMs Ghaem Maghami (IRI 2552), Korchnoi (SUI 2568), Kulaots (EST 2593), Nakamura (USA 2601) and Wells (ENG 2494) 2 points, etc. 102 players, 9 rounds. Official website Gausdal, Norway After 4 rounds Dutch IM Erwin L'Ami (2486) is leading with 3 points. IM Davor Palo (Denmark, 2513) and GM Lugovoi (RUS, 2540) are on 3 points. Official website Israeli Championship

Chess News
Kramnik - Leko Match ame 2 of the match ended in a draw after just 18 moves. Hardly a surprise, as both players were probably adjusting to the new reality after game 1, which the challenger lost with White. Still, game 2 was quite interesting Kramnik played 1.e4 and Leko avoided the Sveshnikov. In the anti-Marshall line Leko chose a rare move, which Ivanchuk employed against him last year. The final position was about equal. After the game Leko said: "Now I have the first half point. And I feel that I have entered the match." Kramnik's comment was rather odd: "I will try to recover tomorrow as much as possible in order to play the third game on Tuesday with full energy." Does he feel exhausted just after two games?! Official website

Standings after 5 rounds:

1-3. GMs Vitali Golod (ISR 2538), Konstantin Lerner (UKR 2494) and Sergey Erenburg (ISR 2533) 4 points, etc. 36 players, 9 rounds. 79th Argentine Championship This tournament takes place on 24 September 1 October in Buenos Aires. It's 9-round Swiss system event with 96 participants. After 3 rounds 21 players are leading with 2 points. Official website

This issue is prepared by GM Alex Baburin and GM Bogdan Lalic; technical editor Graham Brown Subscription is 15 euro for 3 months. For further details please refer to http://www.chesstoday.net
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Book Reviews
by Don Aldrich Lessons in Chess Strategy,
Valeri Beim (Gambit 2003) $19.95, 176 pp.

How to Play Dynamic Chess, Valeri

Beim (Gambit 2004) $27.50, 176 pp. After reading these books, I have but one question who is Valeri Beim and why has he been hiding so long? These are absolutely two of the finest treatises on chess strategy ever written. Having said that, I suppose I could end the review here, but I feel constrained to explain why this is so. A good, truly good book on strategy must do a couple of things. First and foremost, it must explain ideas in a clear way that we haven't seen before. Second, the examples used must be clear, concise and memorable. Third, we look for that something 'extra', call it the wow factor. Beim delivers on all counts. Taking the first criteria, Beim does not waste time telling us what we already know, or what is easily accessible from books already written. Lessons does not address the same old tired static elements, but rather assumes you already know something about pawn structure and open files and so on; he takes it for granted that you have read Nimzowitsch and Botvinnik and Euwe. The first chapter is 'Geometry of the Chessboard'. Now, if you are fairly erudite, you will think, "Ah, the Reti study." And you wouldn't be wrong, it's here, but it's not even first. Moreover, there a number of other studies working the same idea that on the chessboard, the shortest distance between two points is not a straight line. And he takes the idea much further than that there are middlegame positions featuring some fairly amazing geometric motifs. These are examples that will stick with you, and you won't ever look at a chessboard the same way again.

That's only the first chapter. We get a whole chapter on zugzwang, and not just in the endgame. Again, you say, ah Saemisch-Nimzowitsch, and you would be right. Except the annotations are deeper and more interesting than any you have read on this game. And there are plenty more. There is a chapter on the Two Bishops, and Symmetric Pawn Structure, and Passed Pawns in the Middlegame. Again, ideas we have seen before, but each is handled in a unique and memorable way. Some classic, oft seen examples, but Beim always brings his own twist to the table that presents them in a new light. Did I mention the exercises? 124 to be precise, all well chosen and designed to drive the points made home. They follow each chapter, and increase in difficulty as one goes through them. Some are more than challenging.

Dynamic is more of the same, except

it is even better. I have a sneaking suspicion Gambit knew this when they priced it a full third higher. I am not sure there ever has been even an adequate book on chess dynamics. I am not even sure that anyone has even done a decent job of defining it. We all know that this is what set the Soviet school apart from the rest of the world after the war, and that they invented new 'dynamic' openings such as the King's Indian, but what exactly is dynamic chess? Beim spends quite a bit of time in the introduction addressing this very issue. In essence, he defines it as mobility of the pieces, their ability to move across the board, their capacity to do their jobs. Simple enough. The rub comes in when one side accepts static weaknesses for dynamic advantage. The heart of the matter is knowing how and when this is good, and when it is not. This is the issue Beim addresses. There are only five chapters Dynamics, Development, King Moves for Attacking Purposes, Initiative & Breakthrough.

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CT-271(1420) Page 2 of 6

Kasparov (2805) - Anand (2715) Tal memorial, Riga (4), 1995

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point even stronger. And, just when you think you are understanding the concept, you are hit with this: Gelfand (2690) - Shirov (2670) Linares (8), 1993 1.c4 e6 2.f3 d5 3.g3 c6 4.b3 a5 5.b2 a4 6.g2 a3 7.c3 b5 8.c5 f6 9.b4 e4 10.00 xc3 11.xc3 d4 12.e4 f5 (D)

Anand resigns in this position for obvious reasons (25...d7 26.b5 xb5 27.xe6+ g7 28.ab1) The real point of giving this game is this position. Beim says that this position graphically explains a dynamic advantage. Black is ahead two pawns the static advantage, or disadvantage Kasparov has taken on, but he "possesses a decisive advantage

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What are we to make of this? Black has no pieces developed, has made almost only pawn moves, and has the advantage. What does this have to do with development? This is where Beim tells us that we have just begun to scratch the surface of the topic, and the teaching really begins. There are many more mind-bending ideas. The most remarkable may be 'King Moves'. Now you're thinking, ah, the games by Steinitz and Short where the king walks to g6. Nope, that's not it at all. The king moves in question are h1 and b1 and h2 and so on, made by the attacking side in the middle of a swirling game where every tempo is important. The point of these quiet moves is to improve the coordination of the pieces to improve the attacking chances. After reading this chapter, I guarantee that the next time you are involved in a complex fight, you will stop and think about making a king move before continuing your attack. Okay, so Beim gives us new ideas, and uses great examples to make his point. What is the wow factor? Here, it is simply the writing. This is remarkable for two reasons most chess writers simply aren't that good, and these books are translated. Even

in the ability of his pieces to travel the board in all directions..." Fairly
succinct. And, by the way, a really good distinction between a space advantage and dynamic advantage. White doesn't control all those squares, but he can move his pieces to them. This in drastic contrast to Black's poor forces. Having got the point, we then move on and learn how to evaluate a dynamic advantage, and how to use it. Chapter 2 is on development. Now, we have all studied Morphy and the like, and know development means 'getting your pieces out'. After forty years of play, someone has finally told me this isn't quite true it means getting your pieces out and on the right squares so they are coordinated. A rather amorphous concept to be sure, but Beim does a brilliant job of illustrating it, driving it home, and most importantly, putting the student on the right path to continue developing his understanding of this concept. And it doesn't stop there. We get a number of really amazing examples of 'undevelopment' where a player returns his pieces to their starting squares. This of course makes the

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more interesting, they are translated by two different gentleman, and given that Beim is living in Austria, it is possible they were written in German which would not be his native language. "If you want to improve, study typical situations and typical methods of operation." "Winning the game once is quite sufficient." "Space alone does not win the game. It is important to take note of just how well suited the pieces are to exploiting this." "When the position demands it, you are duty bound to be a hero." "When facing a stronger opponent, it is rather short-sighted to strive for safety above all else... if he is stronger, once he feels secure he will harass you hard..." On virtually every page, Beim has something witty or pithy or both to say, and it sticks with us. And perhaps more importantly, his manner of imparting this wisdom is without compare. It is like having a grandfatherly GM sitting at your side, gently explaining what you are doing wrong, and how to fix it. While the insights are profound, Beim makes them easily digestible and understandable, a combination rarely found in any discipline, let alone chess. Alas, Dynamic has no exercises. I suppose exercises for this topic would be quite difficult to come up with. Both books are in large format with indexes of players and openings. Neither has a bibliography which is unfortunate. I would be interested in knowing exactly which books he finds important. Conclusion:

Dynamic is an incredible work, simply the best I have ever read on this topic. I suspect even players of the first rank will find something to think about, and the rest of us will have our games adjusted forever. If you buy one chess book this year, this should be it. This book is so good, I have to stray from my usual method of categorizing books, and deem it an Instant Classic.

Annotated Game
by GM Bogdan Lalic
I would like to show CT readers my recent game against GM Kozul, played on the 2nd board at the Croatian Team Championship. White: Zdenko Kozul (2630) Black: Bogdan Lalic (2527) Croatian Club Ch, Rabac, 05.09.2004

The Catalan; E04

1.d4 f6 2.c4 e6 3.f3 d5 4.g3 b4+ 5.bd2 dxc4 6.g2 a5!? (D)

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A rare continuation invented by Viktor Korchnoi. The idea behind this move is that after ...b7-b5, a2-a4 c7-c6, f3-e5 Black will not be forced to cover the long diagonal with ...f6d5, but will have extraordinary move ... a8-a6, keeping the extra pawn. Also possible is 6...b5 7.00 00 8.a4 c6 9.e4 c3 10.b3 a6 11.a5!? xe4 12.c2 cxb2 13.xb2 f6 14.e5 d5 15.fc1! b7 16.c5 xc5 17.dxc5 f6 18.d3 a6 19.e1 with very unclear position in which White has got pressure for sacrificed pawns, KozulTopalov, Tripoli 2004. Black also often plays here 6...00 7.0 0 c3 8.c4 cxb2 9.xb2 and White will soon take over centre with pawns

Lessons is an extremely well written

book, exploring concepts and ideas the reader probably hasn't seen before, and does so in an extraordinarily accessible way. It is hard to imagine a player who wouldn't benefit from it. Highly Recommended

This issue is prepared by GM Alex Baburin and GM Bogdan Lalic; technical editor Graham Brown Subscription is 15 euro for 3 months. For further details please refer to http://www.chesstoday.net
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which gives him strong compensation for the sacrificed material. Black's light-squared bishop will not be able to enter play easily. Another line is 6...c6 7.00 xd2 8.xd2! xd4 9.xd4 xd4 10.c2 0 0 11.fd1, for example: 11...g4?! 12.e1 c5 13.b4! b6 14.a4 e5 15.xc4 e6 16.c3 c6 17.a5 a6 18.h3 f6 19.e4 with the idea to play f1 - White was much better in the game Kozul-Lputian, Biel izt 1993. 7.c2 White could also choose 7.00 b5 8.e5 (8.b3 cxb3 9.xb3 b7 10.a3 d5 11.d3 xd2 12.xd2 xg2 13.xg2 00 14.b2 bd7 15.ac1 b8 16.e4 d8 17.e3 b6 with excellent play for Black, as in V. Mikhalevski - Korchnoi, Beer-Sheva 1993.) 8...a6 9.a4 c6 - this position is yet to be tested in the tournament practice. Also possible is 7.a3 xd2+ 8.xd2 c6, with approximately equal play. Note that Black must avoid the following trap: 8...b5 9.g5!. 7...b5 8.a4 c6 9.00 00 (D)

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A thematic move which questions the validity of White's g3-g4-g5 idea. 16.e1?! After this move Black's advantage becomes almost decisive. Better was 16.bxc3 xc3 17.b1, etc. 16...e5 17.d5?! In slight time trouble White errs. [ Better was 17.c2 exd4 18.axb5 cxb5 19.xd4, but after 19...e5! White has difficult problems because on 20.e3 Black has the devastating reply 20...h6!! 21.f4 xh5 22.fxe5 xg5, with a winning endgame for Black. 17...cxd5 18.xd5 d6?! Better was simple 18...e4, with decisive advantage for Black. 19.g2 (D)

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10.e4 The other plan was organizing the attack on the kingside with 10.e4 bd7 11.e5 d5 12.e4, however Black stands excellently after welltimed defensive reaction: 12...f5! 13.exf6 7xf6 10...xe4 11.xe4 a6! 12.g4? I was expecting 12.g5 f5 13.e3 d6. 12...d7 I did not like to weaken kingside by playing 12...f5. 13.g5 b6 14.h4 c3 15.h5 e8!

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Or 19.e4 f5!? Black gives back a pawn in order to exchange queens and to enter winning endgame (the alternative is 19...g6 20.f3) 20.xe8 xe8 21.xf5 c5 22.xc8 xc8 23.axb5 b3+. 19...cxb2 Also winning was 19...c5+. 20.xb2 c5 21.c2 xa4 22.xb4 axb4 23.c1 f5 24.f3 After exchange of queens the endgame is hopeless for White, for example 24.xe8 xe8 25.b1 c3 26.xb4 xe2+ 27.h1 xc1 28.xc1 ed8+. 24...e6 25.b1 d5 26.d3 c6 27.xd5+ xd5 28.b3 c3

(D)

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29.b2 c4+ (D)

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30.e1 c8 Even stronger was 30...xe2+ 31.exe2 xc1+ 32.g2 xg5+ 33.h1 c1+ 34.g2 c4+. 31.f1 g4 32.f3 h3+ 33.g1 c4 34.d2 h4 35.f1 (D)

18.xb8 xb8 19.xb8+ checkmating.) 18.xe4 axb8 19.xb8 dxe4 20.f4+h5 21.g2 c4 22.b2 e6 23.h4 h7 24.b5 xa2 25.xe4+ g6 26.f3 d2 27.f2 f5 28.xf5 gxf5 29.xf5+ h6 30.f6+ h7 31.f5+ h6 32.b1 d4+ 33.g2 e3 34.f1 a4 35.b5 g7 36.g5+ xg5 37.xg5+ f6 38.a5 g8 39.f2 10
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Baburin, 3 Eagle Hill, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Tel: (353-1) 278-2276. Fax: (353-1) 283-6839. E-mail: ababurin@iol.ie Website: http://www.chesstoday.net Editors: GMs Baburin, Scherbakov and Golubev; IMs Barsky, Notkin and Vlassov. Technical editors: Graham Brown and Ralph Marconi.

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35...h3+ The line 35...xh2 36.xd5 xd5 37.d3 h3+ 38.f2 looked more complicated to me. There I overlooked the following strong move: 38...c5!+. 36.g1 g4+! 37.fxg4 xe2+ 38.dxe2 xb3 39.gxf5 f3 40.f6 d4! 01 Solution to our quiz: Stahlberg - Persitz Ljubljana (1), 29.06.1955

Chess Today is copyright 2000-2004 by Alexander Baburin and protected intellectual property under the International Copyright convention. Subscribers are allowed to noncommercially distribute copies of Chess Today at their chess club, chess tournaments and via e-mail (on an occasional basis). Any other use and distribution (reproduction, via print, electronic format, or in any form whatsoever), as well as posting on the Web, is strictly prohibited without express written permissio

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17.b8! e4 (or 17...axb8?

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