“7 PLA LA =o co AE] RE ‘suite!Copyright Copyright © 1996 by Tim Harding. Copyright © 1978 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved under Pan American and International Copyright Conventions. Published in Canada by General Publishing Company, Ltd., 30 Lesmiil Road, Don Mills, Toronto, Ontario. Published in the United Kingdom by Constable and Company, Ltd., 3 The Lanchesters, 162-164 Fulham Palace Road, London W6 QER. Bibliographical Note This Dover edition, first published in 1996, is an unabridged, corrected and slightly revised republication of the 1979 corrected printing of the work first published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, 1978, as by “T. D. Harding.” For the Dover edition the author has written a new Preface, made a number of corrections and provided some additional annotation. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Harding, Tim. Better chess for average players / Tim Harding. p. cm. Originally published: Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977. With new pref. ISBN 0-486-29029-8 (pbk.) 1. Chess. |. Title. GV1449.5.H37 1996 794.1'2—dc20 95-38958 CIP Manufactured in the United States of America Dover Publications, Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, N.Y. 11501 Preface to the Dover Edition It gives me great pleasure to see this book back in print under the distinguished Dover imprint. While | have taken the opportunity to make a few corrections, largely based on readers letters, | thought it best to leave the text essentially Intact. The book was first published in 1978, so some factual statements in the Epilogue about matters of English chess organisation may no longer be up-to- date. Also, happily, few games nowadays suffer premature adjudication and adjourned games are rarer but | do not think the advice given in the book or the reader's enjoyment should be affected. | consider it important that the flavour of the book should be unaltered, so changes have been made only where they definitely improve the book's accuracy and utility for the practical player. This new edition of Better Chess for Average Players is dedicated to my wife and daughters and to women chess players everywhere. Tim Harding Dublin January 1996Preface to the First Edition This book assumes no more knowledge of chess than the moves of the pieces. It is designed both as entertainment and as an instruction course to lead you in gentle stages from first principles up to the standard of a good club team player. Therefore beginners should read the book in order, though expert- enced club and school players may prefer to skip the first couple of units. Exercises are set at the end of most, though not al!, the units, but if you want to derive maximum benefit from the book | recommend that every example should be treated as a puzzle. Study the diagrams before reading what | have to say about them. Better Chess has evolved out of courses of chess coaching which | gave in London between 1973 and 1976 at Catford School and the Sydenham and Forest Hill Evening Institute. | should like to take this opportunity of thanking Adrian Hollis, who read an early draft of the book and made a number of helpful suggestions. Above all, Adam Hart-Davis must take much of the credit for what is good in this book. As editor, he inspired and guided and goaded me through all stages of the work. Dublin Tim Harding April 1977 AUTHOR'S NOTE The Midlington Chess Club and their rivals, introduced in Unit 5, are not intended to portray any actual club or chess players. Any resemblance detected by the reader is completely coincidental. Midlington is supposed to be an archetypal club somewhere in the English Midlands, and Harry, Mary, and their friends can be found in almost any town. Contents Notation 1. BASICS Unit 1 Material values 2 Forks, pins, and skewers 3 Checks and zwischenzugs 4 Pawn play H. ATTACK 5 Development 6 The centre 7 Targets 8 Mating attacks 9 Queen-side attacks ll. SACRIFICES 10 Combinations 11 Pawn sacrifices 12 Heavy sacrifices 13 Exchange sacrifices IV. DEFENCE 14 Be prepared! 15 Unsound attacks 16 Difficult positions 17 Desperation V. POSITIONAL PLAY 18 Planning 19 More about pawns 20 Positional judgement 21 Grand strategy VI. CHOOSING A MOVE 22 Organizing your thoughts 23 Open positions 24 Complications 25 Closed positions 26 Simple positions 101 101 110 118 125 132 132 138 145 151 157 157 163 169 175 181Vil. ENDGAMES 27 Guidelines 28 Using the king 29 Passed pawns 30 Special cases EPILOGUE: Putting it into practice Solutions to puzzles 187 187 194 201 208 217 22/7 Notation The great majority of the countries of the world use algebraic notation for their chess publications, and this has been an important factor in inter- national chess communication. English- and Spanish-speaking countries have hitherto clung to the descriptive system, but even in these countries there is an increasing tendency for the leading players to prefer algebraic notation, because it is more concise, and because it assists clear, logical thought about the game. For readers who are not familiar with the algebraic system we give below a game (Charousek—Wollner) in full algebraic, condensed algebraic, and descriptive notation. The main differences are that in algebraic all the squares on the board are identified by a single map-reference system; that pawns are not named, but understood when no piece is named; and that in a capture the captured man is not identified. The system of notation used in this book is condensed algebraic. 1 e2-e4 e7-e5 1e4e5 2d4exd4 3c3dxc3 1P-K4 P-K4 2d2-d4 eSxd4 4Bc4 Nf6 5 Nf3 Bed 6 Nxc3 d6 2P-Q4 PxP 7 0-0 0-0 8 Ng5i h6 9 Nxf7 Rxf7 3 c2-c3 d4xc3 10 e5.Ng4 11e6 Oh4 12 exf7+ 3 P-OBS PxP 4 Bil-c4 Ng8-f6 Kf8 13 Bf4 Nxf2 14 Qe2 Ng4t 4B-QB4 N-KB3 5 Ng1-f3 Bf8-c5 15 Kh1 Bd7 16 Rael Nc6 5 N-B3 B-B4 G6 Nb1xc3 d7-d6 6 NxP P-O3 7 0-0 0-0 70-0 0-0 8 Nf3-g5 h7-h6 8 N-KN5 P-KR3 9 NgSxf7? RFSxf7 9NxP RxN 10 e4-e5 Nf6-94 10 P-K5 N-NS 11 e5-e6 Od8-h4 11 P-K6 Q-R5 12 e6xf7+ Kg8-f8 12 PxRch K-B1 13 Bc1-f4 Ng4xf2 13 B-B4 NxBP 14 Qd1-e2 Nf3-g4+ 14Q-K2 N-N5ch 15 Kg1-h1 Bc8-d7 15 K-R1 B-Q2 16 QR-K1 N-QB3 (see diagram) (see diagram} 17 Qe2-e8+ Bxe8 17 Q-K8ch RxQ 18 £7xe8(Q)+ Bd7xe8 17 Qe8+ Rxe8 18 fxe8=O+ Bxe8 18 PxR(=Q)ch BxO 16 Rat-el Nb8-c6 19 Bf4xd6 mate 19 Bxd6 mate 19 BxQP mate { good move '! brilliant move + check ? bad move ?? howler '? double-edged but probably good move ?! double-edged but probably bad move S« Wo Hr Qs Sn Fe2 nbs + 1. Basics UNIT 1 MATERIAL VALUES POINT COUNT The ultimate aim in a chess game is to checkmate your opponent, but only a beginner will allow you to achieve this without a hard struggle. Winning enemy pawns or pieces is an important step towards checkmate. Just as the larger army usually has the advantage in a battle, so in chess the player with extra material is more likely than his opponent to win the game. Although much of the fun of chess lies in finding the exceptions to this rule, the con- cept of material advantage is fundamental to any understanding of the logic of the chess-board. You are probably already familiar with the numerical scale of the average values of the pieces. Taking a pawn as the unit, one often says that knights and bishops (the ‘minor pieces’) are worth three pawns each, a rook five, and the queen nine. The king can’t be given a value on this scale, because you can’t exchange him for other pieces. No mechanical! system can be of much help to you in evaluating the subtler aspects of your position (much less, even, than point-count systems for bidding in bridge). We'll see some of the exceptions tn Unit 30; maybe it would be more precise to call a rook 4% and a queen 8%. Nevertheless this 1, 3, 5, 9 rule of thumb should help you avoid elemen- tary errors when exchanging pieces, and at any time the material count will give you some idea of how well or badly you stand. We shall see that many other factors, especially the safety of your king, must be taken into account, but other things being equal an advantage of two or three material points means you should win with correct play. An advantage of one usually means that your opponent has something to worry about, particularly as the endgame draws near. Why do the pieces have those values? The strength of a piece is a func- tion of its mobility — its speed in crossing the board to the scene of battle, or the number of squares it controls from a good central post. The bishop and knight are considered to be about equal in value because the knight can attack squares of either colour, and this often makes up for !ts relative sluggishness — especially in blocked positions. However, the two bishops in concert can usually dominate the opponent's two knights — or often bishop and knight; even sometimes rook and knight! We shal! see later on which types of position favour which pieces. For the moment, the main point to bear in mind is that you should not exchange Page 7Material Values one of your pieces for an opponent’s man of lesser value, unless you have a good specific reason for doing so. SOME BAD EXCHANGES By developing your minor pieces before your rooks and queen, you greatly decrease the risk that your opponent may force an unfavour- able exchange upon you, and in- crease your chances of winning material if he is too bold with his major pieces. Thus a familiar beginners’ error is to try to develop the rook first: 1 h4? d5 (see diagram 1.1). Now 1.1 White to move White cannot proceed with his in- tended 2 Rh3, for Black would reply 2... Bxh3 winning rook for bishop (a gain of two points) and retaining a superior position. If you are patient, good opportunities for using the rook will arise later in the game, when pawn exchanges have opened a file or two and when some of the minor pieces (the rooks’ natural enemies) may also be off the board. By the way, taking a rook for bishop or knight is called Page 2 ‘winning the exchange’. See Unit 13. Early forays with the queen can be still more hazardous. After 1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 Bc5 3 Oh5 is a very old- fashioned move, hoping for 3... Nc6?? 4 Oxf7 mate. Black has a much better reply in3...Qe7 defending the threatened pawns at f7 and e5), perhaps continuing 4Nf3d6 5 Ng5 Nf6 to reach diagram 1.2. 1.2 White to move Now 6 Oxf7+ Oxf7 7 Bxf7+ is best, although after 7...Ke/7 8 Bc4 h6 9 Nf3 Nxe4 Black regains his pawn with a good position in the centre. However, from diagram 1.2, White might choose instead the ap- parently more aggressive move 6 Bxf7+, keeping the queen for an attack that will never be born. This ismet by 6...Kd8 7 Oh4 Rf8 8 Bc4 Ng4! 9 0-0 and now White is pole-axed by 9... Rxf2. If 10 Rxf2 Bxf2+ and White loses his queen. A common error by novices is to exchange bishop and knight for the opponent’s rook and pawn by a sequence such as this: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Be7 40-0 Nf6 5 Ng5? 0-0 6 Nxf7 Rxf7 7 Bxf7+ Kxf7. 1.3 White to move Nominally the game is level, since six points have been exchanged for six, but this is one of the cases which suggests that R=4% rather than 5. In reality, Black has the advantage be- cause he has three pieces tn play, whereas all White's developed pieces have disappeared from the board. The black king is not insecure be- cause White has no pieces to attack him with, and after the king has retired to g8 Black can think about bringing out his Q-side pieces and going over to an attack, starting per- haps with... d5. White’s extra pawn in such a middle-game situation means much less than the fact that Black has two independent attacking forces (bishop and knight) against White’s one — the Material Values king’s rook. White should go in for this sort of transaction only in des- peration, or if there are definite chances of exploiting the temporarily exposed state of the enemy king. DOUBLE ATTACKS One attacked piece can usually be moved or defended, but a double attack may cost you material. Try, so far as possible, to keep ail your pieces and pawns defended by one another. Undefended or ‘loose’ pieces, even when they are not directly threatened, provide chances for your opponent to find a hidden coup that wins material or inaugu- rates an attack. Thus after 1e4e5 2 £4 exf4 3 .Nf3 Ne7 4 Bc4 d6? 5 0-0 Bg4? the black bishop on g4 is not guarded, 1.4 White to move This factor enables White to win a pawn by 6 Bxf7+! Kxf7 7 Ng5+ and 8 Oxg4, after which Black’s homeless king will soon be the source of further agony to him. Page 3Matertal Values White’s trick in that example (b) 1e4e5 2Nf3 Nf6 3 Nxed worked because after 7 Ng5+ Black Nxe4? 4 Oe2 Nd6?? 5 Nc6+ found himself under two simul- (diagram 1.6) 5...Qe7 6 Nxe7 taneous attacks — the king by White’s or 5... Be7 6 Nxd8. knight, and the bishop by the white queen — which could not both be parried. Most cases where material is won and lost exemplify this same principle of double attack. We shall look at some special kinds of double attack in units 2 and 3, but here are two more examples: (a) 1e4c5 2d4 cxd4 3 Nf3 e5 4 Nxe5?? Oa5+ (diagram 1.5), and 5... Oxed. 1.6 Black to move You can see from these that double attacks are very hard to get out of, especially where the king is involved. But in each case, the attack was possible only because Black made a mistake, a blunder, which gave the winner his opportunity. 1.5 White to move HOW TO AVOID BLUNDERS Blunders occur most often as a result of over-confidence — or its opposite, nervousness, when you are faced with a particularly formidable adversary — or when it is necessary to play very quickly. There is no gilt-edged formula for eliminating blunders from your games; even grandmasters blunder occasionally. But your results will improve, and your enjoyment of the game will grow, if you can cut oversights down to a minimum and so avoid those disheartening days when you spoil a good struggle or have to suffer the cat-and-mouse tactics of an opponent who is two pawns or a piece up. Page 4 Material Values As you develop your technical grasp and imagination (what strong players call ‘sight of the board’) you will find you become less prone to fall into double attacks or to leave pieces unprotected. With these begin- ner’s blunders eliminated, you should start thinking about the psycho- logical origins of the real howlers. It is always advisable to go through a mental checking procedure be- tween deciding on your move and actually making it. ‘Sit on your hands!’ is an ancient piece of advice, but still wise. We go into greater detail about organizing your thinking in Unit 22. You have to be particularly conscientious about the last look round the board when you think you are doing well, for that is when over- confidence strikes and error creeps in. lf you do make a blunder, don’t play your next move quickly. Rushing will not foot your opponent into thinking that you had expected his move, and you are likely to make the situation worse. TRAPS If you think that your opponent has made a mistake, and that you can win something for nothing — don’t be too hasty! Your eagerness to get ahead on material may be your undoing. Some players are adept at setting traps, playing apparently weak moves that conceal a sting in the tail. This is not very constructive if Black continues quietly, but if his 7 £4 ObG (attacking the white suspicions are not aroused and he b-pawn) 8 a3!? goes 8... Oxb2? then with 9 Na4 the jaws of the trap close around his queen. The lesson here is that when a threat to take materia! is apparently ignored by your op- ponent, you should pay special at- tention to the meaning of his last move. Here the unprepossessing 8 a3 took away the retreat squares a3 and b4 from Black's queen. Some players take a delight in preparing surprising tactical traps to win material. The danger in this is that they may lose sight of the overall plan of the game, or even make an oversight or miscalculation, 1e4ch 2Nt3d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Bgbd e6 (Exar es 1.7 Black to move Page 5Material values and throw away a perfectly good Now Black apparently thought: position. The following example of = ‘If my knight were not on c6, | a tactician being hoist with his own — could win material by... Rxct; petard actually occurred in the 1974 Oxcl Oxa4’. East German Championship. The unfortunate man therefore This position was reached by the hit on the idea of 13... Nxd4, apparently innocuous sequence 1d4 meeting 14 Nxd4 by 14... Rxcl dd 2c4c6 3Nf3 Nf6 4 cd cd 15 Qxct Oxaé4 (gaining a pawn) and 5 Nce3 Nc6 6 Bf4 g6 7 e3 Bg7 answering 14 Rxc8 by 14... Nxe2+ 8h3 0-0 9 Be2 Bf5 10 0-0 Ne4 15 Qxe2 Rxc8 again with the win of 11 Na4 Qa5 12 Re2 Rac8 13 a3. a pawn. Can you see the flaw in his reasoning? (The answer is in the solutions at the back of the book.) 1.8 Black to move SUMMARY The final thing to be said at this stage about material advantage is that its benefits are often like those of an insurance policy — only to be felt in the long-term, or in indirect ways. An extra Q-side pawn is rarely of use in an attack on the opponent’s king, until late in the ending when it can be turned into a queen. But its existence can draw enemy pieces back into passive defensive posts, or cause the opponent to expend valuable time in capturing it — time which can be turned into an attack or other advantage for you elsewhere on the board. On the other hand, there will! be times when you have an attack that is not strong enough to force checkmate, but can be cashed in for an extra pawn or the exchange (rook against minor piece). Sometimes this correct timing of the transformation of a dynamic advantage into a material one (or vice versa) can make all the difference between a draw and a win. Page 6 Material values PUZZLES Try to solve these puzzles before you go on to the next unit. The solutions | are at the back of the book. 1.10 White to move: The same idea in a more complex setting. White soon 1.9 White to move: How can White win a piece here? Wins a piece. 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