DEVELOPMENT

OF A CHESS
MASTER
55 Steps to
Chess Success
,. !
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eric Schiller, widely considered one of the world's foremost chess

analysts, writers, and teachers, is internationally recognized for his
definitive works on openings. He is ·JJ.e author of over 100 chess
books including definitive studies of many chess openings including
Cardoza Publishing'S definitive series on openings, Standard Chess
openings, Gambit Chess openings and Unorthodox Chess openings - an
exhaustive and complete opening library of more than 2000 pages!
Schiller is also the author of multiple other chess titles for Cardoza
Publishing including World Champion openings and the Encyclopedia
of Chess Wisdom. (Go online to www.cardozapub.com for a complete
listing of titles).
Schiller is a National and Life Master, an International Arbiter,
and the coach for many of America's top young players, including
America's best under-18 team at the Chess World Championships.
He has presided over world championship matches dating back to
1983, was the arbiter at the 2000 World Championship, and runs
prestigious international tournaments. His games have been featured
in all the leading journals and newspapers including the venerable
New York Times. Dr. Schiller holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the
University of Chicago.
His latest projects include new books for Cardoza Publishing as
well as being the special chess advisor on Avery Cardoza's Chess, a
ground-breaking multimedia CD ROM chess simulation game for
the Windows platform featuring opponents who are not only intelli­
gent in the game of chess, but are human-like as well with their re­
sponses, mistakes, animations and speech. The anificial intelligence
adjusts to give competitive play for plil.yers of all levels, from begin­
ners (where beginning opponents make human-like mistakes) to
grandmasters, where the opponents get tough and play top-level chess.
Visit www.chesscity for more details!
DEVELOPMENT
OF A CRESS
MASTER
55 Sleps 10
Chess Success

Eric Schiller

CABBOZA PUBLISHING
 This book is dedicated to all those who have taught me
lesson:; over the years, on and off the chessboard.

First Edition

Copyright ©2002 by Eric Schille r

- All Rights Reserved -

Libray of Congress Catalog Card No: 2002101323

ISBN: 1-58042-050-8

CARDOZA PUBLISHING
PO Box 1500 Cooper Station, New York, NY 10276
Phone (718)743-5229· Fax(718)743-8284·
Email:[email protected]
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 TABLE
OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 7
Brief Notes on Che�s Notation

LESSONS IN BASIC TACTICS 11

Forgetting About The Edges
Pins, Forks And Other Objects Of Torture
The Analysis Ain't Done 'Till You Stick A Fork In It
Liberation And Revolution
The Opponent Is No Dummy!
Know All The Mating Positions!

LESSONS IN BASIC STRATEGY 25

The Opening Revolves Around The Center
Don't Stop Analyzing When You Win Material!
Is It Time To Attack Yet?
Do Not Put Off Until Next Move That Which Can Be
Done Right Away!
Overly Optimistic Sacrifice

LESSONS IN THE OPENING 47

Castle!
Be Prepared!
Prepare Deeply
Don't Get Seduced By A Promising Line!
Garbage Stinks!
Don't Improvise Your Way Into Opening Traps!
Don't Break Too Soon!
 D EVELO P M E N T OF A C H ESS MASTER

LESSONS IN THE MIDDLEGAME 73

Bad Timing
Lacking The Finishing Touch
Too Clever By Half
Greed Kills
Confusionary Riff
Survival Is Not A Temporary Occupation!
Yes, You Can Sacrifice On An Empty Square!
Positional Weaknesses Undiagnosed
Nervous Moves

LESSONS IN THE ENDGAME 103

Know All The Basic King And Pawn Positions!
Bishops Of Opposite Colors Don't Always Draw
Excessive Ambition
Forgetting To Play A Necessary Move
Eyes For The Wrong Square
Adjoumment Analysis Debugged At The Board

LESSONS LEARNEDI 125

Opening Preparation
Prepare Deeply!
Inspiration As Preparation
The Roundabout Attack
Speculative Play Rewarded
Patience!
Deeee-fense!
An Unusual Stalemate
Endgame Technique

FINAL THOUGHTS 189

OPPONENTS INDEX 191

6
 INTRODUCTION

Chess is a game where winning is a.result

of a mistake. If you don't make a mistake, you
can't lose. In most games, both sides make a
number of errors and the one who makes the
last big mistake, leading to checkmate, loses.
All chessplayers make mistakes. Even the great
Cl) World Champions have managed to play some

z dreadful moves. Beginners naturally make a lot

of mistakes, even accidentally losing pieces, but
o can often survive or even prevail, with a little
Cl) help from the opponent. When facing stronger
Cl) opposition, however, even a small error can lead
W to defeat. To make progress as a player. your
..J number one task is to eliminate, or at least limit,

W your mistakes.
This book aims to investigate how bad
:I: moves can push past all the superior alterna­
... tives, and often lead to defeat. We'll look at
typ ical mistakes as seen in my own g3lJl�S, hop­
ing that you will learn from them and be able
to avoid them in your own games. Many of
these lessons were painful tc me as a player. In
most cases, I've been able to understand why
the errors were made.

7
 D EVELO P M E N T OF A CH ESS MAST E R

Although I can't say that all o f them have been purged from
my system, you'll see examples where I have overcome or avoided
some common pitfall s . I ' m confident that once you ' ve worked
through this book, your play will improve and you will be able to
do without some of the painful experiences at the chess board
that are a large part of the learning experience.
This book contains valuable lessons in every phase of the
game. The first games deal with basic tactical errors, which plague
top players as well as beginners. After all, in order to win a chess
game, the opponent must make some kind of error. Without a
serious mistake, the games are likely to end in draws. There are
many reasons tactical errors are made, and half a dozen examples
of psychological and other errors are presented .
The next chapter deals with strategic mistakes. Planning is
one of the hardest chess tasks. Deciding whether or not the basis
for an attack exists, or timing various positional moves, requires
great care, and it is easy to slip up. A number of warning signs
can be seen in the games analyzed in this chapter.
The opening contains more danger than mere traps, as shown
in the next chapter. The art of preparing for battle has been raised
to new heights with universal access to chess computers and chess
database software. Psychological preparation can be smashed by
taking the game out of known paths - but how to know what the
enemy knows? I learned a number of lessons in opening strategy
and psychological preparation, which are shared here.
The following chapter deals with middle game lessons, with
a baker's dozen of examples of middle game play gone awry.
Advanced strategy and tactics are seen here, together with many
psychological mistakes. These were painful mistakes on my part,
and I was duly punished for most of them. You can avoid this fate
by keeping in mind the psychological traps that are likely to trip
you up during the game.
We then reach the chapter on endgames. It took me a long
time to even begin serious study of this critical stage of the game,
as I explain at the start of the chapter. I have tried to make up for
more-of-less ignoring the fundamentals of endgame play by de-

8
 I NT RO D U CT I O N

voting considerable study time t o i t over the past couple o f de­

cades . Just because I learned late doesn't mean you can ' t benefit
now by avoiding my mistakes.
After witnessing all of these errors, you might be inclined to
wonder how I could ever pull off an upset against my betters.
The final chapter shows how I learned some lessons and applied
them against top-flight competition. The games in this chapter
aren't necessarily my best, but they are instructive wins over play­
ers rated from 2400 to 2650. Since my peak rating was 2370,
they qualify as major upsets. Most of my opponents were Grand­
masters, and with the exception of one simul game from my youth,
all were played in tournaments with prize money at stake.
I hope that when you have finished playing over the games
in this book you will have learned quite a lot and will make fev,:er
mistakes in your own games . Perhaps the fmal chapter will help
give you the confidence to play fearlessly against all opponents,
no matter how high they are rated. Even the very best players are
far from perfect, and in any case, if you do not make a mistake,
they cannot defeat you!

9
 BRIEF NOTES ON CHESS NOTATION

Each square can be described

by combining the file and rank.. The
horizontal rows of the board, called
"ranks" are labeled a-h. The verti­
cal columns of the board, called
"ftles" are labeled 1-8. Each <nl1�r...

can be described by combining the

flle and rank., To indicate a move,
we start with the abbreviation of the
piece being moved, as indicated in
the chart below. If a pawn moves,
we don't bother with any symbol.
King K Queen Q
Rook R Bishop B
Knight N Pawns (omitted)
The abbreviation is combined with the square that the piece lands
on. For example, if a bishop moves from f1 to b5, we write Bb5. When
a piece makes a capture, an x is inserted between the fIrst letter of the
name of the piece in question and the destination square. For example,
if the bishop had captured an enemy piece at b5, we write Bxb5.
When a pawn makes a capture, we indicated the fIle (but not rank)
the pawn started on, followed by an x, and then the destination square.
If the capture at b5 was made by a pawn on the c-fIle (at c4), instead of
the bish op, we write cxb5 ..
Kingside castling is indicated by two zeroes separated by a dash:
0-0. Queenside castling is represented by three zeroes separated by
dashes: 0-0-0. Check is indicated by a plus sign (+). Checkmate is indi­
cated by the symbol #.
Chessplayers also use a set of symbols to express opinions on the
position, or to point out special features. Cardoza Publishing prefers
words, but we do adopt liiestandard suffixes to indicate the quality of a
move, as in the following table.
! Good move
? Bad move
!! Fantastic move
?? Blunder
!? Interesting move
?! Questi onable move

10
 , LESSONS .. ,

IN BASIC TACTICS '.

Tactics are the building blocks of chess and

when they fall, the game often falls with them.
Tactical errors are more common among begin­
ners but even the most skilled players drop
pieces from time to time. World Champions
U) have made tactical errors in the opening that
Z have cost games in as little as a dozen moves.
o International Masters have dropped games in
U) less than half a dozen moves. So, tactical errors
U) will always be with us assuming my readers are
w human and not chess-playing computers!
... Among accomplished players, a piece is not
usually left hanging so that it can be captured
I­ in one move. Such errors are rare, and not par­
U) ticularly instructive. Losing a piece in two or
a= more moves to a tactical trap or through an over­
- sight is far more common. Double attacks and
Lt. discovered attacks should be anticipated, but are
often overlooked.
Let's start things off with a few blunders
that are typical of amateurs, and trap a few
masters, too!

11
 D EVELO P M E NT OF A CH ESS MAST E R

FORGETTING A B O U T T H E E D G E S
When a piece o r pawn i s located o n the edge o f the board,
and is not under attack, it is easy to forget about it. The item
seems irrelevant, so no thought is given to it when grinding out
analysis. It is easy for opponents, looking for targets anywhere
on the board, to take advantage of such errors.

Positf::m after
28.Bf3

Pehnec vs. SchWer, Manhattan Chess Club Tournament, 1971

28 Bd5?
... In trying to force pieces from the board and draw
the game, I overlook the weakness of my pawn at a7.
2 9 . Qd4 ! Bxf3?
·
Game Lesson 1 29 . . . Q e 7 i s strong, b ut
easy to miss. It is natural
Never underestimate the to think defensively when
weakness of pawns or pieces two pieces are under at­
tack, b ut, the merit ofthis
at the edge of the board!
move lie s in the attack
that will come if Black
takes the a-pawn. 30.Qxa7? Nfl + ; 3 1 .Kg2 Qxe l ; 32.Bxd5+ cxd5 ;
3 3 . Qb 8+ Kg7; 3 4 . Qc 7 + ( 3 4.Qxb7+ Kh6; 3 5 . Qxd5 N e 3 +)
34 . . Kh6; 35.g4 Qg3+! ; 36.Kxfl Qxh3+ ; 37 . Kf2 Qxg4; B lack is
.

on top. 30.Nx:f3 NfS; 31.Qxa7. White won the endgame.

12
 LESSONS IN BASIC TACTICS

P I N S, F O RKS AND OTH ER

O BJ E CTS O F TORTURE
Even WofId Champions make elementary tactical blunders
from time to time, but in the following example, played recently,
it is cle:u that I needed to spend more time checking for tactical
traps. The pins, counter pins and final fork are quit e elegant tac­
tics in the hand of my master opponent, but I really should have
seen them coming. Counterpins, where the pinnin g pi ece itself
placed under a pin by the enemy are among the least obvious
moves in chess. See for yourself and learn from this rich example
so that you don't blow the win as I did.

Position after
22 Nj7
.. .

SchWer v s. Lo ngr en, Fr isco Masters, San F ra ncisco 2000

The game has been quite a battle. My king has be en driven to

h3 , where it seems to be safe, and the pin at f7 should lead to the
.vin of a piece. All I have to do is play 23.Qe7 ! However, I didn't
see anything wrong with moving my queen to g4, where it at­
tacks the pawn at d4. I figured that Bxd4 and Qxg7# was coming.
It all seemed so simple at the time.
23.Qg4?? h5! Suddenly I realize that taking the pawn allows
Bla�k to equalize with a sac on g2, and a discovered attack on the
bishop at e6. 24.Qg6? Surely the queen is safer here than at f5?

13
 DEVE LO P M E NT O F A C H E SS MASTER

24.Qf5! was correct, but I wanted to block the g-pawn, which

might get my king into trouble.
It is remarkable that to avoid trouble on the c8-h3 diagonal I
needed to bring my queen into the line of fue! Into the crossfue,
in fact, as she is vulnerable on the f-file. At least I avoided
24.Qxh5?? Bg2+!!; 25. Kxg2 Qxe6 .
24 .Bd7!!
..

Position after 24 . . Bd 7!!

.

I didn't eveD consider this move, because I didn't realize the

bishop was pinned. I had assumed I could always capture the
knight with check, but Black's move pins the bishop on the di­
agonal. Ack!
25.Rael Bxe6+; 26 Rxe6 A rook is usually better than a
. .

bishop, but the rook here does not pin the knight, so...
26._NgS+! !j 27.Qx.gS
Game Lesson 2 Qxe 6 + . I resigned, be­
cause I'm going to lose the
Make sure yourpinningpiece rook at fl too. A very pain­
ful lesson in basic tactics,
can't be counterpinned!
which I shouldn't need
anymore.

14
 LESSONS I N BAS I C TACTI CS

THE ANALYS I S AIN'T DONE 'TI LL YO U

STI C K A F O RK I N I T
One o f the easiest ways t o get into trouble i s t o fail t o analyze
deeply enough. It is often diffic ult in a tournament, especially
when the clock is counting down, to devote enough time to all
the critical lines in a position. Some important variations may
extend quite deep and it is easy to lose track. Mental discipline is
required. The next game was played when I was a Class D player
rated just over 1200. (How proud I was of the 1201 rating!)

Position after
24 . . . Qe2

Schiller vs. Kiefer, Nation a l High School C hampionship

New Y ork Ciry. l 970

25.Qxe2? ! A very typical and instructive error. I didn't have

the confidence to leave my bishop hanging and try 25 .b5 ! Qxb2;
26.bxc6 . The pawn at c6 would be so weak after 16 . .. b6! That
would have brought about a roughl:' level game.
25 Rxe2; 26.Rf2? Simple miscalculation. It is true that I
••.

will get the d-pawn if Black gets my c-pawn, but there is also a
fork of the pawns at a2 an� d3. I sho u l d have played 26 .b5! Rxb2;
27.bxc 6 bxc 6; 2S.Rf2. 26 ... Rxf2; 27.Kxf2 Nxh4; 28.Bxd4 Nxa2;
29.Ba7 Nb4; 30.BbS c6; 31.d4 d5; 32.cxd5 cxd5. Black went
on to win.

15
 D EVELOPM ENT O F A C H ESS MASTER

Game Lesson 3

When you have analyzed a

position as deeply as you can,
try to go just a bit deeper!

L I B E RATION AND REVOLUT I O N

I did recover from the previous debacle and managed to
progress to the next level. The following battle of Class C play­
ers shows that there was much yet to learn. Sometimes I fell for
the old trap of thinking that a pawn sitting on a square prevents
other pieces from using that square. If the pawn moves, then I
have time to defend, right?
It doesn't work that way. If a player needs to use a square,
which is occupied by a piece, then the best tactic is to move the
piece while making a threat. Then the opponent doesn't have time
to react. In the next game I walk right into a punch by giving my
opponent the opportunity to clear a square with an attacking move.
You can a\"oid this problem by allowing your imagination to
examine scenarios where existing pieces are removed from the
board. This is a useful exercise, which can lead to spotting many
combinations. At the very least, it helps prevent the kind of error
seen in this game.

16
 LESSONS I N BASIC TACTI C S

Position after
23.a4

ledzinak vs. Schiller, Quad rang ular Tournament,

Long Island NY. 1970

In this roughly level

Game Lesson 4
position, White creates
problems for Black. The
Remember that pieces that
key to the position is the
a3-fB diagonal. Naturally seem immobile can some-
since White has a block­ times be moved after a pre-
aded pawn at b4, I didn't
give it a thought.
liminary maneuver.
23 bxa4? After
•••

23 Ne7! Black is not

...

worse. 24.bS! White's clearance sacrifice opened up b5, and now

I can't avoid loss of material. 24 Ne7? After my first error, I
.•.

never recovered. Black's position was not lost until this move.
24 . Nb8; 25 .Bb4 Qb6; 26.BxfB Rxf8 is best. White will lose the
..

b-pawn so the position is only slightly better. 25.Bb4. I resigned.

,

TH E O PP O N ENT IS NO DUMMY!
As in any sport, you need to respect your opponent! There is
a danger when things go too well and you manage to get an ad­
vantage early in the game against an experienced and talented

17
 DEVELOPM ENT O F A C H ESS MAST E R

opponent. I t i s easy t o become complacent, and assume that your

opponent is going to continue to make mistakes . After obtaining
a good position, you can be tempted to play ambitiously and boldly
in positions that require patience and slow play.

Position after
1 9.Nd4

Minic vs. Schiller; Berlin Summer Open, Berlin, 1 984

The opening had been going so well that I thought I had a

clear win of a pawn here. It turns out to be a major tactical mis­
calculation ! 19 . Bxc2?? Retreating the bishop to g6 would have
. .

maintained equality. 20.Rbc1 Rb4.

I had counted on this little tactic to put enough pressure at d4
to hold the position. 21.Redl!

18
 LESSONS IN BASIC TACTICS

Posi tion after 21.Redl

Oops ! I forgot my own bishop was pinned. I have to exchange

pieces and make the most of the situation. 21...Rxb2; 22.Rxc2
Rxc2; 23.Qxc2 Qxc2;
24.Nxc2. The pawns Game Lesson 5
don ' t make up for the
missing knight. White When things are going well
had a clear advantage and against a strong opponent,
went on to win.
The error here was be especially vigilant and
one of disrespecting my check all tactics carefully!
IM opponent. Something
should have told me he
wasn't going to hang a pawn for nothing !

KNOW ALL T H E MAT ING POSITIONS!

'f!1ere are not all that many types of checkmates, and it helps
to know every one of them. Sometimes tragedy occurs when a
winning position turns into a loss because of a type of checkmate
that you have n t seen before.
'

That's the case in the next game, but had I not overlooked a

19
 DEVELOPMENT O F A CH ESS MASTER

basic trapped piece tactic along th e way I wouldn't have needed

to know it. The entire game is interesting and was widely pub­
lished. We pick it up in the early middlegame, where I use a fme
sacrifice to gain a winning position.

Position after
1 6.h3

Meins vs. Schiller, Groningen GM Open, Netherlands 1996

This looks like a strong move since, if the bishop retreats, the
power of the pin is lessened.Black, however, has other plans. On
16.Qxd5, I intended either 16... Nb4 or 16 ... Rad8. The former
looked good to me during the game, but maybe it fails to a ma­
niacaily tactical line; 17.Qe5 Qxe5; 18.Nxe5 Bf5; 19.Bxe4 Bxe4;
20.Rc4 Nd3; 21.Rxe4 Nxb2; 22.Nxb2 f5; 23.Rf4 Rxe5; 24.Nc4
Rd5; 25.Nxb6 axb6; 26.a4 b5; 27.Rb4. White is clearly better.
16 Nxf2! A very strong sacrifice, which gives Black a defi­
.•.

nite advantage. 17.Rxf2 Bxf3. The only correct continuation, since

17 ... Qxe3 fails to 18.Nxb6! and 17... Bxe3; 18.hxg4 is too much
of an investment for Black. 18.Bxf3 Bxe3; 19.Nc3 Qg5. There is
no need to capture either roc� when the bishop is so strong.
20.Kg2 d4; 21.Nd5 Rad8.

20
 L ESSONS I N BAS I C TACTICS

At this point I thought the game was simply winning, but

White found a strong reply. 22.RcS Bxf2j 23.Kxf2 Ne5! It took·
me far too long to work out the complications, and I caught up to
my opponent on time. Each of us was down to 1 2 minutes for the
remaining 17 moves. 24.Qxd4. What a picture! White has veiled
threats against g7 and the move Ne7+ must al w ays be attended
to. Black does not seem to have much of an attack, but in fact the
attack continues. 24 NxfJ. This undermines the knight at d5 and
•••

exposes the White king. Each of us is down to 8 minutes here.

2S.Kxf3 QfS+? !
Wrong check. I miss ed the fact that the White knight is lost
after . . . a6 and . . . b6, so that White cannot afford to exchange
queens. On 25 . . . Qh5+; 26.Qg4 Qxg4+; 27.hxg4 b6; 28.Rb5 a6;
29.Rxb6 Rxd5; 30.R:x:a6Rd'!+; 3 1 .Kf4 Rd2, Black wins. I must
admit that I missed the entire line with . . . b6 and ... a6. This would
have been a much more efficient line, but my move should also
wm.
26.Nf4 Rxd4j 27.RxfS Rd2j 28.Bc3 Rxa2j 29.NllS f6 Now
30 :Bxf6 fails to 30 . .g6 ! 30.RbS Rd8j 31.Nf4 Rc2j 32.Bel b6j
.

33.h4 Rdl? This rook should have stayed home, but I didn't see
any possible threat to my king. Extreme time pressure was forc­
ing me to play quickly. 34.Bb4 Rf1 +j 35.Kg4 g6j 36.hS. Here

21
 D EVE LOPMENT OF A CHESS MASTER

all I had to do is play 36 . . . Rbl, but with both flags hanging, I

thought I saw a mating net. 36 Kg7?; 37.hxg6 bxg6; 38.RdS.
•••

Now things are tougher, because the simple 3 8 ... Rc7 fails to
39.Ne6+ . Checking at f5 was necessary. 38 Kh6 ? ? Now White
•..

forces mate, a pattern I have never encountered. I just never saw

it coming. 39.Bf8+ Kh7; 40.Rd7+ Kg8; 41.Nxg6!

Position after 41.Nxg6

At flrst I thought I had won on time here, but I had forgotten

to notate the exchange at g6. Then I thought that the position was
not winning for me. Eventually, I realized it was lost because of
the checkmate at g 7.
I had never seen this checkmating pattern, using bishop,
knight and rook with no supporting king or pawns. Perhaps if I
had a minute or two I
Game Lesson 6
might have figured it out,
but my waste of time and
Study and learn all mating poor deci s i o n s in the
positions, even those that middlegame were the real
seem to be rare or improb­ culprits .
M a t i n g p o sitions
able! should b e part of your

22
 LESSO N S I N BAS I C TACTI CS

�lllndllrd arsenal, and all checkmates need to be learned if you

wanl to avoid a fate like this. One of my best games ever, and a
lIlojor upset in full view of a lot of top professionals, ruined be­
�lIuse of time trouble and ignorance!

23
LESSONS IN BASIC
STRATEGY -
Strategic planning takes a long time to
learn. While every beginner knows that the ul­
timate goal of the game is to checkmate the
enemy king, it takes quite a while to understand

U) the different demands of various stages of the

game. What works well in the opening is not
z necessarily a good idea in the middlegame, and
o the endgame is in a universe of its own.
U)
U) T H E OPENING REVO LVES
w A RO U ND THE C ENTER
... The Fischer era did a lot of good for chess,
but there was a downside for those of us who
ca had no fonnal training or instruction. Fischer
z made hypennodern chess the nonn, choosing

o defenses where Black that did not plant a firm

u stake in the center as the classical theorists were

w taught. Awash in Sicilians and King's Indians,

we simply did not learn the importance of con­
U) trolling the center. Sure, it was mentioned in
some books, but other books proclaimed that
center control was a silly old myth and that the
Hypennoderns had disproved all that.

25
 D EVELO P M ENT OF A C H ESS MAST E R

Well, the simple truth is: the center counts. Always did. It is
just that the Hypermoderns opened up some w ays of playiT'� in
the center without occupying it. That distinction was lost on me
for a long time.
This is one of my most memorable games. In fact, it was
memorable even before I played it, because I had a dream the
night before that I would be playing the White side of this open­
ing against Michael Wilder (who I lost to in the next round), and
that I would get into trouble but fmd an ingenious way out.
This game was played in one of my most surprisingly suc­
cessful tournaments, the 1 979 New York City Championship. I
was playing chess seriously for the fIrst time in several years,
and in the middle of the tournament, I had to drive down to Florida
and fly back in time for the second weekend of play. Along the
way, I studied the Caro-Kann, using it regularly for the fIrst time,
and it has remained a loyal friend to this day, after bringing me
from a Class A player to a Master.
Lev Alburt went on to become the United States Champion.
We became friends and wrote a book together on Lev's favorite
Alekhine Defense. Meanwhile, here is the brutal, but not fatal,
lesson I received at the board.
1.d4 Nf6; 2.c4 cS; 3.dS bS; 4.a4. My oId favorite against the
Benko Gambit.
4 b4; 5.Nd2 d6; 6.e4 g6; 7.b3 Bg7; 8.Bb2 0-0.
•..

26
 LESSONS IN BASIC STRATEGY

Posi tion after

8 0-0
. . .

Schiller vs. Alburt, NYC Cha mpionship, New York, 1979

9.f4? This does not appear to be a bad move, but it leads to a

lost position. 9 .Bd3 was the logical move. 9 e5! Ouch! If I cap­
.•.

ture at e5, then lO.Ng4 ! followed by lO . . . Nxe5 gives Black a

great game. If I leave the pawn at f4, then Black captures and
will soon occupy e5 .
I must try to keep the e-file closed while my king is still in
the center. 10.dxe6 fxe6. I may have worries on the f-file, too.
1l.g3. OK, I ' ll get some play on the diagonals after all .
1 l e5! Oh no! My understanding of play in the center was
•••

still very poor. 12.fxe5? Thoroughly rattled, I make things even

worse. If I reared this position with f-pawns still on the board,
imagine my horror now !
12 Ng4!
.••

27
 D EVELO P M E NT OF A CH ESS MASTE R

Position after 12 . . Ng4!

.

It's hopeless, I thought, as I tried to decide between 1 3.Ngf3,

the obvious move, and 1 3 .Qe2, getting ready to castle to the rela­
tively safe queenside. Then a ray of hope appeared in the fonn of
a strange choice. 13.Ndf3! A truly remarkable move, because it
is going to be very difficult to develop the kingside.
I have ideas for using the d2-square, which will become clear
later. 13 Bb7; 14.Bh3 h5. As expected. 14 . . . Nxe5 ; 1 5 .Bxe5 !
••.

Bxe5 ; 16.Nxe5 is complicated, but White is in the game after

either capture, or 1 6 . . . Qe7.
15.Qe2 Qe7; 1 6.Bxg4! 1 6 . exd6 Qxd6; 1 7 .Bxg7 Kxg7 ;
1 8 .Rd l Qf6. Black is in serious trouble.
16 ...hxg4; 17 Nh4
. .

28
 LESSONS IN BASIC STRATEGY

Position after 1 7.Nh4

Finally, some counterplay in the form of a threatened fork at

g6. My kingside is still paralyzed, but there are no immediate
dangers. 17 ... Qg5; 18.Rdl. Here the Grandmaster slips up. The
correct plan, not easy to [md, is to bring the knight into the game,
and pave the w ay for the rook in the corner to join the fray.
18.. Bxe5?!; 19.Bxe5 Qxe5; 20��xg6 Qxe4; 21.Nxf8 Kxf8.
.

Posi:i on after 21. . .Kxj8

29
 DEVELOPMENT OF A CHESS MASTER

The position still seems to be hopeless for White. Exchang­

ing queens leads to disaster on the light squares, on either side of
the board. But I found a clever way to complicate the game by
using the d2-square, as planne d. 22.Kd2! Qd4+. 22 . . . Qxe2+ ;
23.Nxe2 Bxh l ; 24.RxhI Nc6; 25.h3 is certainly no worse for
White ! 23.Kc2 Qc3+ Black will vacuum the queenside pawns.
24.Kbl Qxb3+; 25.Kc1 Qc3+; 26.Kbl.

Position after 26.Kbl

Black has a bishop and pawn for the rook, but can capture at
h I . Or can he? 26...Nd7! 26 ... Bxh l ; 27.Rfl+ B f3 ! ; 28.Nxf3 Qb3+.
Black can do no better than draw. 27.Qe6 Nf6; 28.Qxd6+.

30
 LES S O N S I N BAS I C STRATEGY

Positi on after 28. Qxd6+

Black should still be winning, but needs to put the king on'
Ihe right square. 28 Kg7?? 28 ... Kg8 ! ; 29.Qe6+ Kh8 and White
•••

runs out of checks. 29.Qe7 + Kh6 or 29 . Kh8 ; 3 0 . Qx b7 and sooner

..

or later Black must take the draw. 30.Rd6. Now Black had no

I:hoice but to split the point. 30 ...Qb3 +j 31.Kcl Qxc4+j 32.Kb2.

Draw agreed.
There are a few lessons to be learned from this game. On the
plus s ide, I did manage to find an escape route for the king and
neve r gave up the fight, no matter how badly things looked. How­
ever. I allowed the game to open up before securing my king, and
Ihut should have cost me the game.

Game Lesson 7

Take care to keep your

center strong rentil after you
castle.

31
 DEVELQPMENT Of A CttESS M4$TER

D O N'T STOP ANALYZI N G W H E N YOU

W I N MATERIAL!
When calculating variations, you need to know how deep to
examine each line. In the fIrst pass at a position, it is very easy to
discard lines where you pick up a piece. After all, the opponent
isn't going to go into a line that gives away a whole piece ! There
are some positions, however, where a v2riation leading to a win
of material is deceptive. It is so easy to just stop analyzing when
the variation grabs the piece, but if you do, there may be a nasty
surprise at the end.
This isn't the same as considering an opponent's possible
sacrifIces . Whenever your opponents play leads to an obvious
material loss, you are naturally suspicious. But when the position
is buried a few moves into the analytical stream, you tend not to
think of it as a sacrifice. In the game below, that's just what I did.
Although objectively my position remained fIne, psychologically
my failure to consider my opponent's entire strategy added a lot
of pressure, which in turn lead to enough bad decisions to cost
me the game.
In this game, I hadn't managed to castle but wasn't too wor­
ried because my king has plenty of defense. I had ambitions on
the king side, but felt the need to open up the game for my bishop
at b7 so that it could participate in an attack on the enemy king.

32
 LESSONS IN BASIC STRATEGY

Posi ti on after
23.Bd3

D elange vs. Schiller, Gausdall nternational, Norway. 1984

Black's king is a sorry sight. I really shouldn't be thinking

about opening up the center, but that's the only arena available .
The rook stares menacingly down the g-ftle, but it only serves to
support some cheap threats at f3 or h3 .
23 ...dS! ?
I just couldn't find anything better. I saw the game continua­
tion through move 26, but unfortunately missed White's shot on
move 27. Still, the alternatives did not impress. 23 .. .f5: 24.exf5
Qc6. The dual threats of Qxf3 and Qxc3 lead to recovery of the
pawn. White still has the advantage. 25 .Nbd2 Qxc3 ; 26.Ra7.
Also unappealing was 23 . . . b4; 24.cxb4 Qxb4; 25 .Rbl with
an unpleasant position for Black.
24.Nxe5 Nxe5j 2S.dxeS Kf'8j 26.Qf3 Rg3.

33
 DEVEL.OPMENT. OF A C . H ESS.

Position after 26. Rg3

. .

I figured that after the queen retreats, I just push the f-pawn
to f3 and should clean up. One mistake is in not realizing the
critical nature of the position and devoting sufficient time to ana­
lyzing a forced variation.
Another is underestimating, back at move 23, the weakness
of the center and the power of the White e-pawns.
27.Qxf4! I didn't see this sacrifice coming. Well, I saw the
move, but lazily stopped after mentally removing the bishop.
27 ... Rxd3; 28.e6! My opponent simply shoves the e-pawns
down my throat, one after the other, until my position chokes.
28 Qxe6; 29.Nd4.
•..

34
 LESSO NS I N BASI C STRATEGY

Position after 29.Nd4

At this point I still had half an hour left for a dozen moves,
plenty of time. I should have spent a lot of time choosing be­
tween cS and d6 as destinations for my queen. My scoresheet
shows that I only thought for a couple of minutes.
29 Qd6?
...

This move looks fine, but turns out to be bad. I should have
chosen the other retreat. 29 . . . QcS; 30.Qxh6+ KeS; 3 1 .QhS+ Kd7 ;
32.QxcS+ Kxc S ; 3 3 .exd5 Rxc3 ; 34.Nxb5 Rc5; 35.Na7+ Kc7 ;
36.Nc6 Bxc6; 37.dxc· 6 Kxc6; 3S.Ra7 Rc l + ; 39.Kh2 Bd6+ ; 40.g3
Bc7. Black has an extra piece but will have a hard time keeping
his remaining pawn. In any case, this is better than the game!
30.e5 Qg6; 31.e6!

35
 DEVELOPMEI.JT OF A CHESS. MASTER

Position after 31.e6

I spent half of my remaining half hour on this turn, mostly

trying to work out what happens if I take the c-pawn. Instinct,
rather than concrete analysis, led me to retreat. My opponent had
over an hour left and
I was beg innin g to get nervous.
31...Bc8? 31...Rxc3 was correct. I should have taken the
pawn, and guarded the c-file. 3 2 . Qb8+ BcS; 3 3 .Nxb5 Rc4 ;
34.Nc7 ! Qf6 ; 3 5 . QxcS+ Bd8 (35 . . . Kg7 ?? gets clobbered by
3 6.Ne8+); 36.e7+ ! (Not 36.Ra8?? Rc l + ; 3 7 .Kh2 Qf4+; 3S.g3
Qxf2#) . 36 ... Qxe7 ; 37 .RaS Kg7; 38.Qxd8 Rc 1 + ; 3 9 .Kh2 Qx c7+ ;
40.Qxc7 Rxc7 ; 4 1 .RdS Rc2 ! with a likely draw.
32.Qc7 ! Bxe6; 33.Ra8+ Kg7; 34.Qxe7 Rdl+; 3S.Kh2
Qf6?? My time was down to mere seconds, and the game was in
any case lost. 35 . . . Rxd4; 36.cxd4 Kh7 gets blasted by 37 .Qd8
Qg7 ; 3 8 .Rb8 .
Game Lesson 8
3".:!l.g8+. I resigned,
since after capturing the
Remember that material rook, the queen fall s.
advantage is only
one part of the game.

36
 LESSONS I N BASIC STRATEGY

I S I T TI M E TO ATTACK YET?
Attacking comes naturally to any chessplayer, especially when
facing a higher rated opponent. In the next game I am facing a
fonnidable opponent and one who was trained in Russia, so pos­
sessing considerably more technical prowess than most of the
competitors. Not wanting to be grou nd down during a marathon
game, I naturally chose an active opening. I play a move, which
seems to take the initiative, but boomerangs because it only suc­
c ee ds in improving the opponent's position.
l.Nf3 f5j 2.g3 b6j 3.Bg2 Bb7j 4.0-0 Nf6j 5.c4 c5; 6.Nc3
e6; 7.b3 Be7j 8.Bb2 O-Oj 9.d4.

Position after
9.d4

Zaltsman vs. Schiller; NYC Championship, NY C, 1979

9. cxd4 ? ! I could not resist the temptation to lure the White

..

queen to the center and then gain a tempo by attacking it with my

bi�"op. I could have equalized with the sen sible 9 Ne.f!
...

lO.Qxd4 Bc5; 1l.Qf4.

37
 D EVELO P M E N T OF A CH ESS MASTE R

Position after l 1.Qf4

H .. . NhS?! I rely on an attack with . .f4. But White has a

.

solid defensive formation, so perhaps 1 1 . . . Nc6 would have been

wiser. 12.Qd2 f4; 13.Na4 fxg3; 14.hxg3.

I had spotted the pin on the f-pawn but overestimated the

effect of the capture at g3, since the bishop is under attack.
14 BxfJ. 1 4 . . Nxg3 ; 1 5 .Nxc5 Bxf3 was the alternative. What
.•. .

38
 LESSONS I N BASI C STRATEGY

a mess to have to deal with at the board. The complications con­

tinue, but White comes out on top. 1 6 .Nxe6 ! dxe6 (16 . . . Nxfl ;
17 .Qd4 ! ) ; 1 7.Qxd8 Rxd8; 1 8 .Bill Nxf l ; 1 9.Bxa8 Nd2; 20.Bg2.
White has the bishop pair and better pawn structure. Black' s
outside passed pawn would not have been sufficient .... ompensa­
tion.
IS.Bxf3 Rxf3; 16.exf3 Nxg3; 17.Rfel Qh4.

Position after 1 7. . . Qh4

This line w as much easier to calculate and I figured I would

have a very strong attack. The problem that I overlooked was the
horrible lack of development on the queenside. This reinforces
the idea that my 1 1th move was misguided.
I was also so taken with my attack on the h-fIle that I totally
forgot that the h7 -square would be vulnerable. As the game shows,
.
it is White who takes advantage of the h-file.
18.Kg2 NbS; 19.Re4! So much for my ambitions at f4! If
only the rook at a8 were at is.
19 ... Qe7; 20.Nxc5 bxc5; 21.Rhl.

39
 DEVELOPMENT OF A CHESS MASTER

Position after 21.Rhl

Black's position is already hopeless. 21... Nf6; 22.Qg5 Nc6;

23.Bxf6 ! Qxf6; 24.Qxf6 gxf6; 25.Reh4 as; 26.Rxh7 Ra7;
27.RhS+ Kg7; 2S.Rlh7+. White eventually won.

Game Lesson 9

Keep in mind that when

you open up the game,
your opponent has more
mobility, too.

40
 LESSO N S IN BASI C STRATEGY

DO NOT PUT O F F UNTIL NEXT MOVE

THAT WHICH CAN BE DONE RIGHT AWAY!
In the next position, I have the opportunity to radically change
the game by capturing at f3. My decision was to refrain from
opening Hp a big bl-h7 diagonal for my opponent, thinking that
it would therefore remain forever closed, except under the most
fnvorable of circumstances. It turns out that the most favorable
drcumstances were right there on the board, and the moment to
act was now! After letting the opportunity slip, I don't get an­
other chance.
The lesson here is that you have to work extra hard in ;;criti­
cllI positions," where the nature of the game can be changed radi­
cally. As we have seen, it is a mistake to open things up prema­
turely, but no less an error to delay when the active move is the
correct one.
Perhaps the best advice I can give is that you should think
with a positive attitude. Ask yourself, "Can I get away with this?"
rather than "What can happen to me if I open up the game?"
while allowing yourself extra time to ponder the position. Taking
ten percent of your total time is reasonable, and even more if the
position is very complicated.

Position after
24.Re1

Finegold vs. Schiller, Midwest Masters, Chicago, 1984

41
 DEVELOPMENT OF A CHESS MASTER

I have typically made more errors in good positions than bad

ones. I've got a great game here, but my next move is a turkey.
24 Qa3 ? ! Why not just win material? The move is too am­
•••

bitious, hoping the pressure on e3 will be too great. The flaw in

my thinking clearly involved failure to appreciate the dangers
along the b l -h7 diagonal.
After 24 .. .f5 ; 25.Bt2, White could defend without difficulty.
24 . . . exf3 ! , however, is another matter. 25 .gxf3 Rxe3 ; 26.Qxe3
Rxe3 ; 27 .Rxe3 f6 ! I missed this defensive resource, which pro­
tects e8. Black has a queen and pawn for two rooks, and more
White pawns are likely to fall. I'm not sure if Black's advantage
is winning, but it is indisputable.
25.Qe2! f5. Too late to capture now ! 25 . . . exf3 ??; 26.Qh7+
Kf8; 27.Qh8#.
26.f4 Bf7; 27.Qb3 Qa6. So much for my attack. The posi­
tion is now objectively about even, but it was hard for me to
come up with a coherent plan. I hadn't rebounded from the psy­
chological effects of my decision at move 24. 28.a3 Rg6; 29.Ba2
Na4; 30.Qe2 Nb6; 31.Qc3 Na4.
Having let the advantage slip, I was not opposed to a draw.
32.Qb4. White does not retreat. After all, the two bishops are
worth something.
32 b6; 33.Qd2 Re8; 34.Bb3 b5; 35.Qb4 Rg4; 36.cxb5
•.•

cxb5; 37.Bxf7+ Kxf7; 38.Qb3+. White threatens to trade rooks

and grab the b-pawn, so Black has to block.
38 Re4!; 39.Bg3 h5; 4O.Re2.
•••

42
 LESSONS I N BASI C STRAT E G Y

1've managed to hold my own, and there is nothing wrong

with the position. However, the end of time control is always
dangerous territory. I decided to break the pin and get my king to
safety, but in doing so I lock my rook at g4. 40 ... Kg6? Better was
40 . . . h4; 4 1 .B e l h3 ; 42.g3 Nb6; 43.Rb l Nd5 ! ? I missed this s hot
during the game. 44.Qxb5 Qxb5; 45.Rxb5 Ke6. White is better,
but the knight is more
Game Lesson 1 0 valuable than the bishop
and White's extra pawn is
Seize the moment! blockaded. T his would
have been better than the
game.
41.Rec2 Rxc2; 42.Rxc2 b4!? Black's position is worse than
it looks, as the following variations show. So I try to open a line
for my queen. If 42 . . . Kh7 ; 43 .Qd5 Qg6; 44.Rc8 ! White has an
elegant win. 44 . . . Nb6; 45.Qg8+ Kh6; 46.Qh8+ Qh7 ; 47.Rc6+
Rg6; 48.Qd8 ! I wasn' t going to fall for 42 ... h4; 43.Qd5 Kh7 ;
44.Rc6 Qxc6; 45.Qxc6 hxg3 ; 46.Qxb5 with an easy win for White.
43.axb4 Kh7; 44.Ra2 h4; 4S.Rxa4 Qg6; 46.Rxa7 bxg3;
47.h3. What a horrible place for a rook! 47 ... Qc6. Perhaps my
opponent will overlook a back rank mate? 48.Ral. No such luck.
I held out another dozen moves before White won.

43
 DEVELOPMENT OF A CHESS MASTER

OVERLY OPT IM IST IC SAC RIFICE

Parting with the lady is a lot of fun at the chess board, if not
in real life. Queen sacrifices are among the most accessible items
of chess art, and I try to play them when the opportunity seems
ripe. In a number of cases, the temptation to create a work of art
can override common sense itself as the following game shows.
You must not allow yourself to be seduced by a beautiful move,
because the consequences can be severe indeed.

Position after
1 7. Qe1

Loscutoff vs. Schiller, People 's Open, Berkeley, 1997

17 . Bxf4?? All I had to do was play the obvious 17 ... a6. Black
. .

is clearly better. But I decide to sac the queen for two pieces, a
pawn or two, and an attack.
18.Bxg4+ Nxg4; 19.Qxe7 Bxh2+; 20.Khl Rhe8; 21.QgS
fS; 22.NxfS! hS. I couldn't capture at fS . 22 . . . gxfS ; 23.QxfS+
Rd7; 24.Nxa7+ Kd8 ; 2S .Qxg4 and White wins.
23.Nh4 Bg3; �.Nxg6 Kb8; 2S.Rfi a6; 26.Na3 Rd3; 27.Nf4
Rde3; 28.NxhS.
I suppose I could have resigned with only half the material I
need to make up for the missing queen. However, White's king is
not safe, so I try a few tricks.

44
 LESSONS IN BASIC STRATEGY

Amazingly, these few tricks salvage a draw !

28 Nf2+. 28 . Re l+ is easily handled by 29.Rfl . 29.Rxf2
.•. . .

Bxf2; 30.Qf4+ Ka7; 31.Qxf2. White has won two pieces for the
rook, but the pin on the g-pawn gives me a fork which picks up
the knight at h5 . 31...Rh3+!; 32.Kgl Rxh5; 33.Rel Reh8; 34.Qf4
Rh4; 35.Qe3 Rh2; 36.Qg3 Rhl+; 37.Kf2 Rf8+; 38.Ke2 Re8+;
39.Kd2 Rhxe1; 40.Qxel Rxel ; 41.Kxel Bxg2; 42.Nc2.
Draw agreed.

Game Lesson 1 1

A win is more important

than a brilliancy prize!

45
 L E SSO N S I N T H E -
OPENING "- 0 ;

I always advise my students to castle ..is

soon as there is daylight between the king and
rook, unless there is an immediate win avail­
able . Setting aside castling in favor of some
other move is an integral component of some
en advanced opening strategies, but in general, if
z you don ' t castle, sooner or later it will come
know
o back to bite you. All my students
though they aren't perfect in their execution.
this,

en Perhaps they are following my dubious ex­

en ample , as from time to time I still get into
w trouble because my king safety is not my own
... top priority.

Q Even prepared openings have to take care

to watch for king s atety, and there are some
Cl::
- other speed bumps that must be taken serio usly.

Z Many are psychological. Some people wonder,

quite legitimately, why someone who has done
... so much opening analysis as author, trainer.
second and commentator could possibly fall
apart early in the game. I wish I knew the an­
swer ! Most of the time, the problem arises from
.
an irrepressible improvisational streak.

47
 DEVELOPMENT OF A CHESS MASTER

You should stick to your opening preparation unless you see

something at the board that gives you some reason to reconsider
your analysis.
In most cases it is better to play your prepared move, and
trust your preparation. If it doesn' t work out, you can repair the
problem at home where you can devote time and resources to the
project.
The other lessons in this chapter include insuring that you
take into consideration alternative plans for your opponent so
that you aren' t confronted by unexpected novelties early in the
game - and the need for patience.

CASTLE!
Castling is critical for king safety. Just do it. Because when
you don 't, there' s trouble ahead. And if the enemy has a rook on
the e-file, castle quickly, because a clogged file can be unplugged
quite rapidly, especially if the e-pawns are no longer on their
home squares.

Position after
15 . . . Rae8!

Schiller vs. Norwood, NatWest Young Masters, London, 1 986

Fifteen moves into the game, my king is still in the center. I

can kingside castle at will, which is some justification for allo w-

48
 LESSONS I N TH E OPEN I N G

ing other moves to come

Game Lesson- 12 .' .
first. At this point, I
should castle immedi­ Failure to castle is often a
ately, or after a capture at
e5 and f5 . I have four mi­ capital offense, and your
nor pieces defending the king may lose his head as
king, but the rook on e8
a result!
is ready to open fIre ! It is
stunning how quickly the
game falls apart.
16.g4? Bxd3 ! ! I overlooked this. 17.Bxd3 exf4; 18.0-0. Fi­
nally, but it is too late. 18 fxe3; 19.Ng5 dS. Two pawns down. I
•.•

couldn't save the game.

BE PRE PA RE D !
Opening preparation i s p art o f every player 's experience. EYen
beginners usually have a sense of the fIrst few moves they intend
to play, even if it is as simple as meeting 1 .e4 with 1 . e5 . \\Then
. .

just starting out, it is enough to know that you should plant a

pawn in the center, develop pieces, castle, and try to connect your
rooks by removing any pieces that stand between them. That
simple advice can keep you out of trouble, but as you progress
you' ll find that you need more specifIc preparation for a variety
of enemy plans.
At the higher levels of chess, opening preparation can be­
come compulsive, with hours and hours of study invested in fInd­
ing a single good move which might not get played until after
move 25, but for most players, such work is a waste of time as it
is unlikely any opponent will follow some theoretical recommen­
dation so deep into the game. How deeply you should prepare is
the subject of the next lesson. In this game, you will see how it is
difficult to come up with good moves when caught unprepared.
Here is a game in which the six-time US Champion demon­
strates his originality in the opening, and strength in the
middlegame. After a dubious exchange sacrifIce, I am position­
ally lost. Damn swisses ! No time to prepare. Five minutes with
 DEVELOPMENT OF A CHESS MASTER

Naj dorf meister, D anny Olim, and I would have raced into
Browne 's favorite defense, looking forward to an interesting theo­
retical duel.
Against a GM, mainline theory is the best plan. Use the mighty
power of Grandmaster experiences to present the GM with the
need to improve on existing theory, or sidestep it with an inferior
line. Bu t I c ou l dn t walk into -such a theoretical jungle without
'

preparation, so I switched to the Reti (or so I thought), an open­

ing which I would use· during the next year to knock off two
Grandmasters .
l.Nf3 d6.
A last chance for me to enter the labyrinth of the Sicilian
with 2.e4, and I thou ght about it - for a split second. 2.d4. Well,
we may go into a Torre after 2 . . Nf6; 3 .B g5 . I know a little some­
.

thing about that, having written books on it.

2 Bg4.
...

The Wade Defense took me by surprise. True, it is now a

respectable opening, but still has an unorthodox flavor, which I
thought was unappealing to Browne's rather conventional pal­
ate. I wasn ' t too unhappy, since I play the defense myself, and
could at least choose a line, which made me a bit uncomfortable
when I was on the B lack side of the position.
3.c4.
At the board, I wondered what Grandmaster Tisdall would
do? The expatriate American was my housemate for a while in
England, and I recalled that he likes the plan with Qb3 . When we
were fiddling around with the position once I wasn't able to come
up with a convincing counterplan. Why this entered my head, I
do not know, but I didn' t really consider the inunediate e4, lead­
ing to main lines, which I enjoy as B lack.
3... Nd7; 4.Qb3 Rb8.

50
 LESSONS IN THE O PEN I N G

Position after
4. . . Rb8

Schiller vs. Browne, Western States Open, Reno, 1997

Now we are getting weird. Or so I thought. I really should

have been familiar with this position, as it should have been in
my repertoire as Black. But my general opening preparation had
a serious gap, and now I had to find a way to climb out of the hole
and get to some sort of position that would not give my opponent
an advantage.
5.g3. I felt the bishop would be useful at g2. Browne's move
is by no means original, strange as it may appear. With White
committed to the fianchetto, Black may be able to use a break
with . . .bS . There are plenty of alternatives, and perhaps hitting
the bishop with S .h3 is best.
5.. g6; 6.Bg2 B g7. 6 ... cS ; 7.e3 Qa5+ ; 8.Nbd2 Bxf3; 9.Bxf3
.

Bg7 ; 10.Qd3 Ngf6; 1 1 .0--0 0--0 ; l2.Bg2 bS; 1 3 .b3 led to obscure
complications in Olafsson-Kosten, Hastings 1 990. I was unpre­
pared for this line and was improvising. Had I been familiar with
the prominent games I mention now in hindsight, I would have
fared much better in the game.
7.Be3.

51
 DEVELOPMENT OF A CHESS MASTER

Position after 7.Be3

7 Nh6. 7 . . . c5 can be played irrunediately, and usually play

.••

transposes. 8 . Nbd2 Nh6; 9 .dxc5 Nxc5 ; 1O.B xc5 dxc5 ; 1 1 .0--0 0-

0 ; 1 2.Ne4 Qa5 ; 1 3 .Rfd 1 b5 ! ; 1 4 .Nxc5 Rfc8; 1 5 .Nd7 bxc4 forces
White to accept a miserable game after 1 6.Qe3 Nf5 or go for
broke here. 1 6 .Qxb8 Rxb8; 1 7.Nxb8 Bxb2; 1 8 .Nc6 Qa4 ! ; 1 9 .Rab 1
c3 and Black won without difficulty in Scarel1a vs. Bezold, 1 992
World Junior Championship. But my next move takes the game
into new territory.
S.NgS?! I wanted to try to trap the bishop. 8 .Nbd2 c5 leads to
the previous note.
S cS! 8 . . . Nf5 ; 9.h3 Nxe3 ; 1 0 . Qxe3 B f5 ; 1 1 .Nc3 was what I
.•.

had in mind. 9.dxc5 NfS! 9 . . . Qa5+; 1O.Bd2 Qxc5 ; 1 1 .h3 Bf5 ;

1 2 .e4 B e6 ; 1 3 .Nxe6 fxe6 struck me as a position with more po­
tential for White.
lO.h3.

52
 LESSO NS I N T H E O P E N I NG

Position after l O. h3

I decided to sacrifice the exchange at a l , hoping to mount aD.

attack that never really materializes. l O.cxd6 Nxe 3 ; 1 1 .Qxe3 Bxb2
is also nothing for White. For example, l2.Bd5 e6; 1 3 .h3 Bxa l ;
1 4.hxg4 Qa5+ ; 1 5 .Nd2 Qc3 ! 1 0 Nxe3; 1l.Qxe3 Bxb2; 12.hxg4
.•.

Nxc5; 13.Qf4 f6; 14.Nxh7 Bxal; 15.Ndl Qa5; 16.BdS Kd7;

17.Kfl Be5; 18.Qe3 Qc3!

Position after lB . . . Qc3

53
 DEVELOPMENT OF A CHESS MASTER

White i s already lost. Left to my own devices against a Grand­

master, I was unable to carry out the opening phase of the game
properly and went down to defeat at move 40.

Game Lesson 13

Make sure you are prepared

for all reasonable replies to
the first few moves of the
game!

P REPARE D EEPLY
In the previous game I was unprepared for my opponent's
fifth move. In the next game the situation is quite different. We
rattle off 1 8 moves of known theory. In the previous game, the
result was determined by that move. In this one, I thought I knew
what I was doing. In reality, I was blindly following a line I had
learned without really exploring the [mal position. •

That would be a forgivable sin if the published evaluation

were an advantage for one side or equality, but the authorities
had declared the position unclear. That imposes a responsibility
on the player.
If the theoreticians opt out, you need to analyze it yourself or
use a computer program, preferably both ! B ack in 1 990, comput­
ers probably could not handle the complexities of the position.
To be fair, this was a casual game with no preparation, but this
was my main defense to the Italian Game at the time and I had
spent many hours analyzing the 5 . . . b5 lines, to which I had con­
tributed an important novelty a decade back.
The lesson to be drawn from this game is that when you study
an opening and find a position that is considered unclear, you
have to dig deeper and try to make sure that it isn't actually lost !
An evaluation of "unclear" indicates that you have work to do !

54
 LESSONS IN THE OPENING

l.e4 eSj 2.Nf3 Nc6j 3.Bc4 Nf6j 4.NgS d5j S.exdS b5j 6.Bfl
Nd4j 7.c3 NxdSj S.Ne4 Qh4j 9.Ng3 Bg4j 10.f3 e4; 11.cxd4 Bd6;
12.BxbS+ KdS.

Position after
12 . Kd8
. .

Edwards vs. Schiller; Played Online, 1990

Both players were familiar with the latest theory of this fas­
cinating line. A t the time, both castling and developing the queen
were being investigated. Now 13 .0-0 is the normal move, iead­
ing to positions considered favorable for White after Black cap­
tures on f3 and White then moves the queen to b3 .
In the game, the alternative line with an immediate queen
deployment was seen.
13.Qb3 Bxg3+j l4.Kdl Be6j l5.Bc6 exf3j l6.Bxd5 fxg2j
l7.Qxg3 Qxg3j lS.hxg3 Bxd5.

55
 DEVELOPMENT OF A CHESS MASTER

Position after 18 . . Bxd5

.

A known position, evaluated as unclear by Estrin. Black has

6 pawns, to White 's 4.5 (the doubled d-pawn isn ' t worth much)
and the strong protected pawn at g2 ads a bit more compensation
for the knight. After playing this game, however, I became con­
vinced the line is clearly better for White. Computer programs
vary widely, some claiming White is clearly better, others prefer­
ring Black !
19.Rgl ReS; 20.Nc3 Bf3+; 21.Kc2 g5! ? The idea is to play
. . . hS-b4 and get my p awns connected. 2 1 . . . Rb8 would have been
wiser, but I doubt B lack has enough for the piece after 22.d3
Rb6 ; 23.Bf4. 22.d3 f6; 23.Ne4! All this might have been easy to
find in preparation, and surely I would have known better than to
play the siml'lifying 23 Bxe4?; 24.dxe4 Rxe4; 25.Rxg2 Rxd4;
. • .

26.Bd2. I lo�t eventually. My dear bishop is gone, and the great­

est hope, the pawn at g2, has been swept from the board.
What would my approach have been with proper study? I
w')uld surely have realized that after 23 .Ne4 ! , the only serious
try is 23 . . . Rxe4; 24.dxe4 Bxe4; keeping the pawn at g2. At the
moment, there are only two pawns for the rook, but White will
probably return the rook for the bishop and pawn, emerging with

56
 LESSONS I N T H E O P E N I N G

an extra b i s hop in the

Game Lesson 14
,
endgame. So, the entire
v ariation w ith 2 1 . . . g5
If you are going to play
would have been rejected,
popular lines which have and s o m e alternative
been analyzed deeply, would have been ready. If
no good option e xi s t s ,
make sure you evaluate
then B lack would have to
the final positions ' with deviate earlier, or perhaps
give up the entire line !
special care if they are
considered "unclear. "

DO N'T G ET S E D U CED BY A
P RO M I S I N G L I N E!
Given all the available books and databases, it is a bit harder
to get caught by a new move early in the game . That is, you won ' t
get surprised if you spend substantial chunks o f your life study­
ing chess openings ! For most players, these resources don't come
into play. Openings are more easily learned from books with lots
of prose than from encyclopaedic collections of thousands of
games. So the particular danger exposed in the next game re­
mains relevant to most chessplayers.
When you learn an opening there are often some clever lines
that you ' d love to see at the board. Authors usuall y go to great
lengths to display these tricks, because it is part of giving the
reader confidence in the opening. Sometimes, however, they lie
buried in a little footnote. The observant reader spots the jewel,
polishes it a bit by checking the conclusions of the author, and
then sallies forth to slay some unwitting opponent with the dis­
covery.
Sometimes it goes down as planned, but in other cases the
attempted hijacking of a point is foiled because the path leading
up to the brilli ant move wasn' t scouted properly. From a psycho­
logical standpoint, this is easy to understand. You reall y want the

57
 DEVELOPMENT OF A CHESS MASTER

line to work, and look forward to the congratulations you will

receive when the trap is sprung.
The prepared line doesn' t have to lead to a forced win, but
will deliver a superior position while humiliating the ignorant
opponent. You don' t really want to find a flaw in the moves lead­
ing up to the surprise, do you?
Well, in chess you have to be objective. I learned a painful
lesson at the hand of a strong veteran International Master who
had contributed many new moves to opening theory over the years.
I assumed he would just follow a famous game in a variation
which almost all the books indicated was great for Black. My
surprise was hidden in a little footnote in a detailed monograph.
Before I had a chance to play it, my opponent sprung a surprise
of his own.
To avoid this disaster, make sure that your opening prepara­
tion considers all reasonable options for the opponent. Do not
concentrate solely on the most interesting or complicated line.
Let' s see what happens in this next game.
l.d4 Nf6; 2.Nc3 d5; 3.Bg5 Nbd7; 4.0 c6; 5.e4 dxe4; 6.fxe4
e5; 7.NO.

Position after
7.Nj3

Schiller vs. Ligterink, Reykjavik Grand Open, Iceland 1986

58
 LESSO NS I N T H E O P E N I N G

I had prepared this move as an alternative to th e capture at

eS , seen in a well known Mikhail Tal game. I had known Tal
since the 1 980 Olympiad and he was taking a glance at each of
my games during the Icelandic tournament, and offered me ad­
vice after each game. I ' ll always be grateful for his friendship,
especially since he was, with Fischer, my idol when I was learn­
ing the game.
Take a look at the game Alburt vs. Tal, from the 1 972 Soviet
Championship, which is often cited as a reason White 's whole
opening strategy is ineffective. 7.dxeS Qa5 ; 8 .exf6 Qxe 5 ; 9.fxg7
Bxg7 ; 1 O.Qd2 Qxd2+ ; I l .Kxd2 NcS ; 12.Bd3 Be6; l 3 .Nf3 0-0-
0; 14.Ke2 bS ; I S .a3 as; 1 6 .h3 Rhe 8 ; 1 7 .Rhd l fS ! ; 1 8 .e5 Nd7 ;
1 9 .Re l BxeS ; 20.Kf2 Bf6 ; 2 1 .Re3 NcS ; 22.Rae l Kd7 . Black' s
pieces ar e much more active and the bishop pair is a tangible
asset. Now White self-destructs, tempted by a sacrificial line,
which is too easily declined. 23 .NxbS? f4 ! ; 24.Re5 (24.R3e2
Nxd3 + ; 2S.cxd3 cxbS .). 24 ... Nxd3+; 2S .cxd3 cxbS ; 26.RxbS Rb8 �
27 .NeS+ Kd6 ; 28.RxaS Bh4+ . White resigned.
7 exd4! A big theoretical novelty from Ligterink ! After the
..•

game, Tal asked me why I chose the line, and was I familiar with
his game against Alburt? I told him I was, but had an interesting
idea in mind, but this move stopped me cold.
7 . . . QaS was the old move, and here I was ready to employ an
obscure idea. 8 .Bxf6 ! Nxf6 ; 9.NxeS Nxe4; 10.Qf3 ! as in J . Brown
vs. King, London 1 97 8 . But Ligterink's improvement at move 7
makes this moot.
Why didn ' t I consider the capture at d4? It is an obvious move.
The answer is the lesson to be learned from this game. I had come
across the Brown-King reference in a note in a book on the Veresov
by Jimmy Adams. I knew that few people would be aware of it as
B lack (the game is still not in any databases, a warning to those
who don' t bother to consult good old fashioned books ! ) and was
seduced by the chance to get a great game quickly.
This is poor thinking, especially since the players in the game
were not profe ssionals. Why shouldn' t a strong experienced In­
ternational Master like Ligterink play an inferior move and over­
look a trap?

59
 DEVELOP M ENT OF A CHESS MASTER

8.Nxd4. 8 . Qxd4 was tried in the only other professional game

I know of. Is it any accident my friend Joel B enj amin, who was
also in the Reykj avik tournament (and went on to become a mul­
ti p l e V . S . champion) , is playing Black? Well, my prepared line
failed me, but delivered a point for him, 14 years later ! 8 . . . Qb6 ;
9.Qd2 Qxb2; 1 O.Rb l Qa3 ; 1 1 .e5 Nd5 ; 12.Nxd5 cxd5 ; 1 3 .Bb5
Bc5; l 4. Qxd5 0-0; 1 5 .Bxd7 B xd7 ; 16.Qxd7 Qxa2 ; 1 7 .Qdl h6;
1 8 . B h4 as; 1 9 .Ral Qb2 ; 20.Rb 1 Qa2; 2 1 .Ke2 g 5 ; 22.Bf2 Rad8,
Zhang P engxi ang vs. B enjarrin, 2000.
8 . . Bb4.
.

Position after 8. . . Bb4

B lack has at least equality, and I was psychologically devas­

tated.I neede d to find some active plan.
9.Nf5!? ().4); 10.Bd3 Ne5; 1l.Bxf6 Qxf6; 12.().4). I wasn't
fooled by the apparent attack. I know that to win on the king side
I need minor pieces. Watch them get swept off the board !
12 Bxf5 ! ; 13.RxfS Qe7; 14.Qe2 Bxc3! 14 . . . Rad8 is also strong,
•••

but this move re all y clarifies the situation and leaves me with a
terrible bishop and weak c-pawn.
15.bxc3 Qc5+; 16.Khl Qxc3; 17.Rbl b5; 18.Rbfi Rad8;
1 9.Qf2 Rd7.

60
 LESSONS IN T H E OPEN I N G

Position after 1 9 . . . Rd7

20.h3?! Up to now I have been playing the best moves, more

or less. This move is very weak, though it doesn' t appear to have
any serious consequences in the near tenn.
20.RhS Nxd3 ; 2 1 .QfS ! ? might have been tried, but it isn ' t
sound. 2 l . . .Nf2+ ! ! ; 22.Kg l (22.Qxf2 Rd2 ; 22.Rxf2 g 6 ; 23 .Qxd7
Qe l + ; 24.Rfl Qxfl#). 22 . . . g6 ! ; 2 3 . Qxd7 Nxe4 ! ! ; 24.Qd3 ! But
not 24.Rh3 Qxd3 ; 2S.cxd3 gxbS ; 26.dxe4. (24.Rh3 QcS+ ! ; 2S.Kh l
Nf2+ ; 26.Rxf2 Qxf2 and Black will win). 2 4. . . White i s still busted
and B lack would have had to fmd some good moves. I never saw
the idea at the board. Tal asked me about the move afterwards.
20.h4 Nxd3 ; 2 1 .cxd3 Qxd3, with a tremendous game for
Black.
20.RgS ! ? h6; 2 1 .Rg3 Nxd3 ; 22.cxd3 Rxd3 and Black has a
great game.
20 Nxd3; 21.cxd3 Qxd3; 22.eS. The last chance. If I get
.••

the pawn to e6 I may have a small chance to survive.

22 ... Qc4. Nothing doing . 23.Rg5 g6; 24.Kh2 ReS; 2S.h4?
h6! The game is lost. I set up a kamikaze attack on g6, but it is
easily refuted. 26.QfS Qxh4+; 27.Kgl Qd4+. B lack would cap­
ture the rook at gS on the next move, so I gave up.

61
 DEVELOP,M IENT OF A CHES.S MASTER

I was under a lot of pressure in preparation because if I won,

a qualifying result for the title of International Master was al­
most certain. In addition, as the lowest ranked player in the 74-
man field (I was going to be an arbiter, but rather than have an
odd number of players, the organizers invited me to play) I was
en route to a 6-5 result, ahead of a number of Grandmasters. This
loss was avenged in the next round to earn my plus score and a
respectable FIDE rating of 2370. Still , had I not been seduced by
the possibility of a quick win, I might have done even better.
The game provides a second lesson, which is that when thin gs
go wrong, even boring equality is better than self-destruction ! If
I had more faith in my endgame play at the time (which would
have been totally unjustified), I might have realized that you c an
w i n the game later, from an even position. Indeed, you have to do
that much of the time as Black, first equalizing, and then playing
for the advantage.

Game Lesson 1 5

Ifyou find a good new move

when preparing an opening,
backtrack to consider options
for your opponent, who may
well have discovered "your"
new move first!

GARBAGE ST INKS!
Junk openings can be a lot of fun, and c an be a part of a
repertoire for blitz games, but they have no business in serious
tournaments ! The element of surprise is vastly overrated. You
should be happy when your opponent plays an inferior move,
even if it is new to you !
Now I ' m not suggesting that all "unorthodox" openings are
bad. Far from it ! I wrote a very big book on the subject and found

62
 L ESSONS IN TH E O P EN I N G

many interesting ideas. They must be used appropriately, how­

ever. More importantly, they must be judged objectively, without
adding bonus points for surprise value unless there are compli­
cated tactics involved.
The next game comes from a round-robin event in whici: I
had plenty of time to prepare. My opponent, the late FM Euge:.e
Martinovsky, was a friend. We had met frequently at the board..
with the advantage heavily in his favor. He was a classical player.
who would react predictably to the unusual, but still classiw.
Tayler Opening.
The move 3 .Be2 is unambitious, but Michael B asman, tl:�
English International Master, who advocates many unusual ope:.­
ings, had been pnmoting a new gambit after 3 . . . Nf6. A gamCit
approach seemed appropriate, and I later had more success w::::
a different one. Since there was so little material on the opening .
I just read what B asman had to say an d didn' t look too cl o s e ly
.

Big mistake. The stench of White' s position after ten moves cou.:d
be detected anywhere in the room.
1.e4 eS; 2.Nf3 Nc6; 3.Be2 Nf6; 4.d4! ? exd4; S.e5 Ng4; 6.0-
o NgxeS; 7.NxeS Nxe5; 8.Qxd4.

Position after
8. Qxd4

Schiller vs. Martinovsky, Illinois Tournament of Champions, 19815

63
 DEVELOPMENT OF A CHESS MASTER

Following B asman ' s opening recommendation, I felt confi­

dent I could get enough for the pawn after the retreat of the knight.
B ut B lack came up with a very interesting defense.
8 ... Qf6! Nasty threat of . . . Nf3 + , winning the queen. 9.Qe4
Be7. White ' s hope for an attack on the e-file against the enemy
king is dashed. The king c an escape to the king side at any time .
In fact, he just sits there and taunts me for the next ten moves !
10.Nc3 c6; 1l.f4 Ng6; 12.fS d5!; 13.Qa4 BcS+!; 14.Khl
Ne7. Very effective reorganization by the veteran master. lS.g4
bS; 16.Qf4 hS ! ; 17.g5 Qxf5; 18.Qg3. Two pawns down here, no
trading queens ! 18 Qe6. I 8 . .h4 was also good. 19.Bd3 �;
•.. .

20.Bd2 Qg4?! ; 21.Qe5 Qe6; 22.Qxe6? 22.Qg3 had to be played.

I h a v e no idea w h y I
Game Lesson 1 6 didn' t keep the queens on,
it could hardly be worse.
Avoid unsound openings in 22 Bxe6; 23.Ne2
•••

serious games! a6; 24.Ng3 g6. Black had

little difficulty winning,
tho u g h i t took him a
while.

DON'T IMPROV ISE YOUR WAY

INTO OPEN ING T RAPS!
Creativity and improvisation are important chess skills, but
when playing a game, they are not generally applicable in the
opening. During preparation at home, you can let your inspira­
tion flow. At the board, stick to prepared move orders. The tempt­
ing new move you see at the board may well w alk you straight
into a trap !
1.e4 e5; 2.Nf3 d6; 3.Bc4 Be7; 4.d4 Nd7?? This is a well­
known opening trap. In my desire to set up the Lion Formation, I
casually switched the move order around. The price was very,
very high.
5.dxe5! Nxe5; 6.Nxe5 dxe5; 7.Qh5 g6; 8.QxeS.
Well, I ' m down a pawn. My rook is attacked. My bishop is
pinned. White has a huge advantage. What c an I do? Resign? No,
it is too early.

64
 LESSONS IN THE OPENING

8 ... Nf6; 9.Bh6! Rg8; 10.Nc3.

Position after
lO.Nc3

Baudo Mercere vs. Schiller, New York Open, 1998

Lesson one is over. Don ' t fall for opening traps ! Now it is
time for lesson two: Don't give up ! Sure, B lack's position would
make a mother cry. The gods are laughing. At the pre stigious
New York Open my colleagues are trying not to laugh out louc..
People stroll by the board and just shake their heads. It is \'ery
tempting to just concede the game and get out of the room.
1 0 Ng4! ? I realized this wouldn't work, but my opponen::.
•••

an experienced and literate Candidate Master who explo i te d m;'

move order, was now under that typical pressure you feel whe::.
you have a game you know you should win.
1l.Qf4 Nxh6; 12.Qxh6?! 1 2 .Rd 1 ! would have completely
refuted my plan. However, White saw no reason to refrain froQ
n.
capturing at h6 and h7, with mate threat at
1 2 BgS!; 13.Qxh7 Qd2+!; 14.Kfl Rf8 .
••.

65
 DEVELO P M E NT OF A · CH ESS , MAST E R

Position after 14 . Rf8

. .

It must be admitted that Black has nothing for the pawns,

really. Yet White must play accurately. It is logical to batten doVtTI
the hatches and protect the pawns on the second rank. After all , if
B lack eats both the c-pawn and b-pawn then the game could get
interesting.
However, passivity is rarely a good idea, Crawling into a shell
concedes the initiative and gives the opponent time to act. White
should have chosen a pawn sacrifice instead of defense. 1 5 .Rd l !
Qxc2; 1 6 . Qg7 Qxb2; 17.Qe5+ Be7 ; 1 8 . Qxc7 ! Black cannot take
the knight because White will play Bxf7 + with discovered check,
winning the queen.
15.Bb3?! Be6 ! ?
I knew 1 ' d need a lot o f luck to win this game, but saw some
tactical possibilities if only I could open the f-file. So I invited
my opponent to 00 so, giving up a pawn and placing my king in
mortal danger. I realized that I was doomed if my opponent fi­
nally got the rook to d l , but having spurned all previous opportu­
nities, I suspected that White would pass on the move one more
time. Bluffing doesn't work as well in chess as in poker, but when
you hold a hand as bad as this, it is bluff or fold. Nothing to be

66
 LESSONS IN T H E O PENI NG

gained by folding, and no way to raise the stakes. My opponent

falls for it. He should have played 16.Rdl Qf4; 1 7 .Bxe6 where
17 . . . Rd8 ! ? ( 1 7 .. .fxe6 ; 1 8 .Qd7#); 1 8 .Nd5 would have encouraged
my immediate resignation.
16.Bxe6? 16 ... fxe6j 17.Qxg6+ Ke7j 18.Ndl. White chooses
an obvious defense of f2 over the weakening move 1 8 .f3, but it
was the wrong choice.

Position after 18.Ndl

18 Rxf2+! ! My turn now ! I was still furious with myself for

.•.

the opening play, but after this move I was all business again. I
knew that I was close to equalizing, rebounding from a totally
lost position. Those who strolled past my board thinking I was a
complete idiot would see a miraculous escape ! Perhaps even
enough to redeem my earlier stupidity.
19.Nxf2 Rf8j 20.Qg7+ Rn.

67
 DEVELOPMENT OF' A C H ESS MASTER

Position after 20" Rj7

.

White has to give up the queen. On the other hand, with two
rooks and two pawns for the queen, White is still way ahead in
material , For the moment ! My queen has been busy and she is
hungry, Three queenside pawns make a tasty snack!
21.Qxt7+ Kxf7 ; 22.g3 Qxc2; 23.Kg2 Qxb2; 24.Rabl Qxa2.

Position after 24 . . . Qxa2

68
 L ESSO NS I N T H E O P EN I N G

White can take the b-pawn, or go after the a-pawn. If you

recall the first few tactical examples, you ' 11 already suspect that
a rook at a7 and a knight at e3 could run into trouble. Taking the
b-pawn was correct. 25.Ral? Qc2; 26.Rxa7?? Be3. My oppo­
nent resigned, since I win the rook or the knight. I had been to the
brink of the abyss, and
with perseverance and a
bit of luck, come away Game Lesson 17
with a full point, to the as­
tonishment of anyone Stick to the move orders you
who had passed by the know, because behind
board during the opening.
every transposition there
Does this mean you
can get away whenever may lie a trap !
you fall for a trap? Hardly.
Amazingly, I stumbled
into a related trap a year later, and lasted all of 1 5 moves before ·
toppling my king, and half of those were just available because
my opponent made some inferior moves.

D ON'T B REAK TOO SOON!

One of the keys to playing effectively as Black is knowing
the "breaks." These are pawn moves that challenge enemy pawns
in the center. In Open Games ( l .e4 e5), both . . . d5 and . f5 are
. .

available breaks . In the Sicilian, . . d5 is the right way to confront

.

the e-pawn. In a Closed Game ( l .d4 d5), both . . . c5 and . . . e5 are

both available. A central break ( . . . d5 or . . . e5) is often the moyes
that levels the game and earns Black the cherished equality.
Knowing your breaks is part of standard opening strategy.
Timing the breaks, that's another matter entirely. Usually a break
has some small element of risk, as it opens up the position. When­
ever a break is possible it should be considered, but you have to
look at the downside, too. A typical break may work most of the
time, but when it fails, it often fails spectacularly !
That's what happens in the next game. I rely on general con­
siderations without doing the hard work of calculating concrete
variations beyond a couple of moves.

69
 DEVELOPMENT O F A CHESS MASTER

1.e4 c5; 2.Nf3 e6; 3.d4 cxd4; 4.Nxd4 a6; 5.c4 Nf6; 6.Nc3
Bb4; 7.f3 d5? Well, I certainly knew that in the Sicilian you should
play . . . d5 as soon as it works, and that f3 often encourages it.
But I underestimated the check at a4. 8.Qa4+ Nc6.
Forced, as the bishop is attacked. It was easy enough to cal­
culate through move 1 2, but I stopped there, satisfied that the
symmetrical pawn structure was solid enough.
9.Nxc6 Bxc3+; 10.bxc3 bxc6; 1l.cxdS exdS; 12.exd5 QxdS.
End of forced variation. 13.Ba3!

Position after
13. Ba3!

Reynolds vs. Schiller, University oj Chicago, 1975

What a mess ! Black cannot castle unless . . . cS can be played

to block the bishop. The pin on the c-pawn is excruciating, but
White threatens Bc4 and then after the king moves I am in trouble
on the e-file. White can take the d-file at will with Rdl . So White
owns all the open lines, and I've got . . . nothing. 13 ... Bd7.
The most important aspect of this move is that it prepares a
discovered attack against the enemy queen. Although it is of no
particular use at present, it can be a big asset later. In this game, it
allows me to escape certain death ! I didn ' t like the looks of
13 . . . QeS+; 14.Kf2 Qxc3 ; l S . Rd 1 ! White can use the d-file for
both attack and defense, while saving the e- ftle for the other rook.

70
 LESSONS IN THE O PENIN G

I 5 . . . Bf5 gets queens off. I6.Bc4 ! Qc2+; I7.Qxc2 Bxc2; I 8 .Rhe I +

Black has to give two pie c e s for th e rook. I 8 . . . Ne4+ ; I 9.Rxe4+
Bxe4; 20.fxe4. White wins easily. with two potent bishops and
control of the d-file.
14.Bc4 Qe5+; lS.Kf2. No w Black seems to be in big trouble
on the e-file, but a surprising tactic secures a draw. lS ... Ng4+ !;
16.fxg4 Qf4+.

I offered a draw and my opponent accepted. Up to you to

decide if he was wise . . . White could try to run to the queenside,
but shelter is hard to find.
If Black has time for . . . c5 . Game Lesson 1 8
and kingside castling,
White's king is in trouble. Don 't play the . . . dS break
If I 7 .Kg I Qe3 + ; I 8.KfI
until you castle, unless you
Qf4+, a draw by repeti­
tion is coming . On the are absolutely sure it is
other hand I 7 . Ke I Qe4+ ; safe.
I 8 .Kd2 Qxg2+ ; I 9 .Be2
c5 ! ; 2 0 . Qa5 B b5 is
messy. Not only is the bishop at e2 threatened, but also Black has
time to castle. White was wise to settle for the draw !

71
 LESSONS I N T H E
.
,
M I D D LEGAM E -

While the opening and the endgame c an

be played with the help o f positions studied in
advance, the middle game is, by defInition, the
area of the game where you need strategic think ­
fI) ing and pure calculation. General principles
Z have to be used in place of prepared move s .

o The middlegame requires working out a plan

fI) and ex ecuting it precisely, which means g e t­

ting the right moves in the right order. That ' s
fI) th e fIrst lesson in this chapter.
W The demand for precision does not e nd af­
..I ter one move . In the next pair of le s s o ns you

:c will see how an excellent strategy c an be ru­

�
ined when a little slip takes place just when the
goal is in sight. The following group of les sons
is a variation on the same theme, but we de al
:) with a very specific psychological error, when

o a player tries to be a bit too clever. Then w e ' Il

I'- ha\ c a reminder about materialism and how i t
c an lead you astray i n a promising position.
When you have a disadvantage , there are
techniques you can use to distract your oppo­
nent.

73
 DEVELOPMENT OF A CHESS MASTER

No, spilling coffee on the board isn't an option especially

with the new regulations limiting caffeine at the board !
You can only use chess moves to distract your opponent, ev­
erything else is bad form, and usually against the rules. Fortu­
nately, you can make moves that have a psychological effect of
confusing your opponent, a technique which strong players use
frequently, especially against lower rated opposition. Such
"confusionary riffs," as they are called, are the topic of a pair of
lessons.
Sticking to a defensive theme, we move on to a situation where
survival is made more difficult when pressure is maintained for a
long time. When you have forces in flexible positions, it is often
possible to chase enemy units constantly, so that the opponent,
even with more pieces or an attacking formation, has no time to
take the initiative. During this campaign, the defending side is
under great stress and is very likely to make a mistake.
The last lessons in this chapter cover a variety of situations
that lend themselves to incorrect play for psychological reasons.
Most sacrifices take place on squares occupied by an enemy piece.
It often comes as a surprise when the opponent sacrifices a piece
by moving it to an empty square right next to an enemy piece that
can capture it.
One critical game lesson makes the very important point that
while you should scrutinize the enemy positions for weaknesses
that you can exploit, it is equally important to look in the mirror
and see if your own vulnerabilities can be exploited. We close
the chapter with a case of "nervous moves," where the mere pos­
sibility of earning a draw by repeating the position, when you
know your opponent isn't interested in splitting the point, proves
fatal.

BAD T IM ING
It is important not only to find the right moves, but also to
play them in the correct order. Often when two different move
orders can reach the same position, a certain laziness sets in. It
doesn' t seem to matter which order is chosen, and in many cases

74
 LESSONS IN T H E OPEN ING

that is indeed the case. But sometimes the move order is critical,
as I found out in the following game.

Position after
22.Bd5

Pruess vs. Schiller, Mechanic 's Masters, San Francisco 1 998

22 ... Rac8?? 22 . . . Nc3 ! ; 23 .Rd2 Rac8 was the correct move

order, and B lack would
still be in the g ame. Game Lesson 19
23.Ne7 Be6. 23 ... Kxe7 ;
24 .B xe4 B e 6 ! I missed
this resource, thought I'd If you think that it makes no
have to exchange bishops difference which of two move
with a bad endgame. Af­
orders are used, think again !
ter 25 .Bd5 Rhd8 ! Black
has nothing to w orry
about.
24.Nxc8 Bxd5j 25.Rxd5 Nc3j 26.Rc5 Rd�· 27.Rfl+ Ke6j
28.Nxa7 Nxa2+j 29.Kb2 and White won.

LAC KING TH E FI N ISH I N G TOUCH

Unfortunately, I can provide a number of examples of games
where I overlooked a winning plan in the final position. I've con­
fined myself to two of the most painful. In each I take a draw by

75
 DEVELOPMENT OF A CHESS MASTER

repetition when I could have simply fInished off my opponent.

Once the drawing line entered my mind, I mentally wrapped the
game up with a half-point and simply didn't consider the possi­
bility that I could actually win the game.
In the fIrst example, this was rather typical of the games in
the Tranmer Memorial, which was the fIrst tournament with In­
ternational Master qualifying norms to feature half men and half
women in the ten player fIeld. It was a very sociable event, as
were all of the Brighton Internationals.
This was a fun event, even if many of the players seemed to
suffer from lack of sleep. Perhaps it is unsurprising that several
positions from that event appear in this collection.
l.e4 e6j 2.d4 d5j 3.Nc3 Bb4j 4.Bd2 dxe4j 5.Qg4 Nf6;
6.Qxg7 Rg8j 7.Qh6 Qxd4j 8.0-0-0 Bf8. This is the most rec­
ommended defense for Black. 9.Qh4 Rg4; 10.Qh3 Qxf2j 1l.Be3
Qf5j 12.Be2 Rg6; 13.g4 Qe5; 14.Bd4 Qg5+. Black is well ad­
vised to accept the well-known draw with I4 ... Qf4+ ; I5 .Be3 Qe5 ;
I6.Bd4. 15.Be3 Qa5; 16.g5 Rxg5j 17.Qh4 Rg6; 18.Nh3 Bd6!?

Position after
18 . . Bd6! ?
.

Schiller vs. N. Thomas, Eileen Tranmer Memorial, Brighton, 1985

A theoretical novelty. I 8 ... Be7; I9.Nf4 and 1 8 ... Nbd7; 1 9.Nf4

are known to give White a strong attack. 19.Rhfl Be5; 20.Nf4.

76
 LESSONS I N THE O PENING

Not 20 . BhS , which allows the brilliant rep ly 20 . . . Bg3 ! ! 20...Bxc3!

Not 20 . . . Nbd7 , which all ows White to win 2 1 .Nxg6. 21.bxc3.
If 2 l .Nxg6 B xb2+ ; 22.Kxb2 Qb4+ . White may retain a small
edge. 21...NdS! Black seals the dS . Or does he?

Position after 21. . . Nd5

. .
22.Rxd 5 ! exd5;
Game Lesson 20
23.Nxg6 Qa3+ ! ; 24.Kd2
bxg6. So far so good, and Even if you have used up
I'm on my way to a bril­
liant win . B ut I stumble most ofyour energy devel­
and fall. 25. Q h 8 + ? ? I oping an attack, work as
mis s e d the t er mina l
hard at the end as you did
2 S . R x f7 ! ! , w i n ni ng .
25 . . . Qf8 ; 26.QeS+ Qe7 ; at the beginning!
27.Qh8+ Qf8 ; 2 8 . QeS+.
Instead, we agreed a draw.

LAC KING THE F I NIS H I N G TO U CH · B

The second game featured a more common psychological
error. I had been fighting from a terrible pos ition all g ame . For
some reason, this particular oppo nent often brings out the blun­
derer in me. In this case, an unsound sacrifice had rattled me and

77
 DEVE L O PMENT OF A CHESS MASTER

I lost my concentration. In flailing about, trying to survive, a draw

by repetition was high on my list of goals. I took it, rather than
the simple win.

Position after
16 . . . dxe6

Blohm vs. Schiller, Frisco Masters, San Francisco, 2000

17.Rxf7!?; 17.Radl Rxc3 ! ; 1 8.bxc3 Rg8 was what I expected.

17 Kxti; 18.QhS+ Ke7; 19.BgS+ Kd7; 20.Bxd8. I had already
•••

worked out my response, leading to a draw. 20 BcS+; 21.Khl.

..•

Position after 21.Khl

78
 LESSONS IN THE O PENING

. Game Lesson 2 1 I was running scared,

and was happy to escape
with a draw by repetition.
Even when you are just I didn't even look at the
trying to escape, be on the obvious winning line .
21...Nt2+? 2 l . ..Bxg2+ ! ! ;
lookout for chances to win ! 22.Kxg2 Nf4+ wins eas­
ily. 2 2 . K g l N d 3 + j
23.Khl. Draw agreed.

TOO CLEVER BY HALF

The next three examples show this opposite side of the coin.
Instead of missing winning continuations and settling for a draw,
I try to achieve much more than can be justified by the position.
This kind of error is quite common among scholastic players .
My students often tell me they played a move hoping for a spe :'­
cific line, and when the opponent sees what's up, the plan fails .

Position after
16. 0-0

Bokan vs. Schiller, CNE Open, Toronto, 1971

16 Bd4? The error here is in trying to set up some cheap

..•

tactics, hoping White will run into a fork. If 17 .Nxd4 Nxd4;

79
 DEVELOPMENT OF A CHESS MASTE R

1 8.Qd3 Nxe2+ ; 1 9. Qxe2,

G�me Lesson 22
I still can't play 19 . . . Rxc2
Avoid cheap tactics! Just because of 20.Bh6+ ! In­
stead, I wind up losing to
because your opponent has
a discovered attack. B et­
already made a m istake ter was 16 . . . Rg8 , though
doesn 't mean that another Black's position is in any
case inferior. 17.Rad1.
one is likely.
This sets up potential
discovered attacks against
my wayward bishop. 17 Rg8?? The bishop had to retreat; it is
..•

vulnerable at d4. 18.Nxd4 Nxd4; 19.Bh6+ Ke8; 20.Rxd4 •

. Black is just a piec e down. 20 Qf6; 21.Be3 e5; 22.RxdS

•••

Bc6; 23.Bb5 Qf3; 24.Bxc6+ bxc6; 2S.RxeS+. I resigned.

TOO CLEVE R BY HALF - B

Position after
25 . . . Nf6

Schiller vs. Coull. Eileen Tranmer Memorial, Brighton, 1985

I have a decisive material advantage, as long as I hang on to

my bishop. I couldn ' t fmd a way to do that, even though it was
fairly s imple 26.Qe2? A tactical miscalculation. I thought this
.

was very clever, threatening to check at c4 and grab her c pawn - .

80
 LESSONS I N T H E OPEN I N G

M y piece o n th e 7th rank would attack the bishop at e7 . This

much I saw, but I missed a tactical nuance in this line, and one in
the alternatives.
26.Be6+ Kg7 ; 27 .Qf5 ! was what I missed. I failed to take
into account the rook on g l , which preserves the pin on the g­
pawn. 27 . . . Rxb2; 28.Qd3 c5 ! ?; 29 .dxc5 Qa5+; 30.Kfl Bxc 5 ;
3 1 .Rg5 ! and White wins. I considered only 27 .Qh3 Rxb2 ; 2 8 .Nd3
Rb6 ; 29.B a2?
I couldn' t see any deeper than thi s . (29.f5 Bxa3 ; 30.fxg6 hxg6;
3 1 .Ral Qe7 was just too complicated.) 29 . . . Bxa3 ; 30.Rc3 Qe7 is
still very messy. 26 Qxc8; 27.Qc4+ Kf8; 28.Rc2 28.Qxc7 Qxc7 ;
••. .

29.Rxc7 Rxb2 is clearly better for Black.

Position after 28.Rc2

The game has become unpleasant. I'm not sure White is ob­
jectively worse, but Black's bishops will be stronger than White's
rook.
28 Bd6; 29.f3 Rb3; 3O.Qe2? This move gets me into trouble
•••

again ! 30.Re2 b 5 ; 3 1 .Qc2 was a better defense, though Black has

the initiative and can advance the b-pawn, which I dare not cap­
ture.
30 Nd5 !
...

81
 DEVELOPMI;"T OF A CHESS MASTER

Position after 30. Nd5!

. .

The game has swung completely in Black's favor. She can

bring either the bishop or pawn to b5 in the near future. I should
have retreated the knight to c4, but didn' t want to abandon the
outpost when I was certain the knight was immune from capture.
31.Qf2. 3 1 .Nc4 Qe6 or 3 1 .Ng4 h5 would not have been any
better. 31 ... R"e3+j 32.Kdl. 32.Kfl loses to Qh3+ .
3 2 Qf5j 33.Rg4 Bxe5j 34.dxe5 Qd3+j 35.Kcl Rxf3 an d I
•.•

gave up after a few more moves.

Game Lesson 23

Don 't get so wrapped up

:
in one line that you ne­
glect resources available
elsewhere.

82
 LESSONS I N T H E O P E N ING

TOO CLEVER BY HALF - C

Position after
1 7. Nf5
. .

Schiller vs. Frenklakh, CalChess Championship, Foster City, 1996

The game started out as a gambit. I have some compensation

for the pawns, and should just capture at f5 with the knight fol­
lowed by Qf4 with a direct attack on the pawn at f5 and the Black
knight at a5 in direct line with my queen.
Instead, I decided to support d4 and open c2 for my queen,
just to set up tactical tricks against h7 and a4. 18.c3? After 1 8 .Nxf5
exf5 ; 19.Qf4 B lack can capture another pawn with 19 . . . Nxb2,
but after 20.BxfS Bxf5 ; 21 .Qxf5 g6; 22.Qe5 the knight finds it­
self under attack.
1 8 . . . b 6 ; 1 9 .Ngf3 . Game Lesson 24
Nxd4; 2 0 . c x d 4 b5;
21.Bbl. Against a lesser lfyou have a choice between
opponent, White might be
inflicting structural damage
able to attack and achieve
some compensation for with an exchange or setting
the pa;-;ns, but J ennie was up tactical possibilities, the
already too accomplished
former is usually the better
a player. Black eventually
won. choice.

83
 DEVELOPMENT OF A CHESS MASTER

GREE D KILLS
Most players are careful enough to,Jlrink twice about grab­
bing a pawn, especially against a strong player. When you can
capture a pawn and protect one of your own, while attacking the
enemy queen, the offer often seems too good to refuse.
Vigilance is always required, however, because even if there
is no tactical trap, the pawn may nevertheless turn out to be poi­
soned. In the following example, the greedy capture turned out
to be fatal.

Position after
25· · ·fxe5

Schiller vs. Johansen, Four Nation Team Tournament

London, 1985

This is a tricky position. I had enjoyed a material advantage

for most of the game, but had to worry about that d-pawn. I had
just exchanged knights at e4. I can grab the e-pawn while pro­
tecting the rook, so why not? I didn't want to retreat the queen
and lose the b-pawn, and had tactical qualms about 26.Qc l .
26.Rxe5?
It wasn't hard to realize that 26.Qxe5+?? Qxe5 ; 27.Rxe5 d2
would lead to a good game for Black. 28.f3 d l Q ; 29.Rxdl Rxdl + ;
30.Kf2 Kf6; 3 1 .Rc5 Rd2+. I figured I ' d b e in deep trouble here,
as the pawns don't make up for the bishop.

84
 LESSONS I N THE OPEN I N G

With 26.Qc l I had to reckon with 26 . . . d2 ! I ' d have to give up

the exchange and the b-pawn. 27 .Qxc2 dxe 1 Q ; 28.Rxe l Qxb5
would have almost certainly led to a draw. The correct plan was
the patient 26.Qd2 ! Qxb5; 27.Re4 ! The blockaders are in place
and my other rook can enter the game, and then I c an capture the
f-pawn. Very good winning chances fo r Vv'hite !
26 Qd6! A strong pin. 27.Rfel. Or, 27.Qe3 d2 : 2 8 . Qxa7�
•.•

Rd7; 29.Qe3 d l Q; 30.Rxd l Qxdl + ; 3 1 .Qe l Qxe l + ; 32.Rxe l Rb7

and Black wins. 27 ... Re8; 28.a4 d2.

Position after 28 . . . d2.

I decide to s ac the queen, probably the best White can hope

for. 29.Qxd2! ? 29.Re7+ Rxe7; 30.Rxe7+ Qxe7; 3 1 .Qxd2 Bxa.+
is hopeless. 29... Qxd2; 30.Rxe8 Bxa4; 31.R8e7+ Kh6. Without
the queenside p awns, White has no real chances for survival.
The rest of the game went 32.h4 Bxb5; 33.Rle3 v; 34.Ra7
Bd7; 35.Re4 a4; 36 . Re7
Game Lesson 25
Q d 1 + ; 37 .Kh2 Qd4;
38.Ra5 Qxh4+; 39.Kgl
A weak pawn need not be Q b 4 ; 40.Ra7 Q b 1 + ;
captured right away! 41.Kh2 Qb8 + . Time con­
trol reached. With no rea-
son to play on, I resigned..

85
 DEVELOPMENT OF A CHESS MASTER

CONF USIONARY RIFFS

When you have a bad position, it is often useful to play a
confusing move, whether it is objectively good or not. The most
successful "confusionary riffs" come about when you offer the
opponent more than one capture on a single turn .
The opponent must often choose the proper capture or else
lose the advantage. In the next game, I had a choice of captures,
and I could have played both, had I done things in the right order.

Position after
34 . Ne2
. .

Schiller vs. Cramling, Gausdal International, Norway, 1 984

White is clearly better, as long as the king remains safe. The

Black d-pawn must fall. But it should not be eaten immediately !
The clock was a factor here. White had nine minutes left, Black
had just four. B lack's last move presents me with a choice of
captures. At ftrst glance, they both seem reasonable.
After a couple of minutes deciding between Nxe2 and Qxd6,
I chose greedily, and wrongly,
3S.Qxd6? simplistically counting on the fact that after cap­
turing on c3 with the knight, Black couldn ' t follow up with the
rook because then the other rook at f8 would be undefended. The
correct plan was 35 .Nxe2 Qxe2; 36.Qxd6 with a solid advantage
for White.

86
 LESSO N S I N T H E O P E N I N G

I played hastily, figuring I would need the precious few re­

maining minutes. That was an over-reaction, since only five more
moves were needed, and one minute should be enough if your
analysis is reasonably accurate. In any case, I devoted three min­
utes ( 1/3) of my time, but three minutes is just the average time
per move in a professional tournament.
35 Rfd8? Cramling used half of her remaining time on this
.••

move, but mis s e d a powerful shot. We both overlooked

35 ... Nxc3+ ! ; 36.bxc3 Qe2 ! Although there is no immediate threat,
White is actually lust. White can't allow a rook to get to f2, but
there isn't much to be done about it. 37.Qe6 Qb5+ ! ; 38.Kal Rce8.
One rook will get to the seventh rank, and then it is game over.
36.Qb6! Saving the game. Although my king position is weak,
I have just enough defense.
36 Nxc3+; 37.bxc3 Qf3!
••.

Position after 37. . . bxc3!

Just three moves to time control, which was the old, gener­
ous 40 moves in two and a half hours. With 6 minutes left I used
up half my time, and again ·chose a bad move ! With just two
additional moves to make, I should have spent almost all of it,
because the position is very complicated.

87
 DEVELO P M ENT OF A C H ESS · MAST E R

After playing this move, my next two moves would almost

certainly have been part of analysis I had already carried out.
38.QxaS?! This is also a greedy move. I had to play. 38.d6
Qxc3 ; 39.d7 Rb8 ; 40.hS .
White could keep playing Game Lesson 26
to w i n , though the
chances of a draw would If two captures are the only
be high. reasonable moves, consider it
3 8 . . .b 6 j 39.Qb4 �'.

RxdS. a critical position and devote

With 3 9 . . . Rxc 3 , as much time as you need.
Black threatens . . . Rb3+,
but White was ready with
a strong counter. 40.Rhfl ! Rb3+. Forced, if the queen move s ,
there is trouble at fS . 4 1 .Ka2 Rxb4; 42.RxD Rxh4; 43.d6 ! A dif­
ficult game for Black, though not clearly winning for White.
40.Rdfl Qd3+. Time control reached, with each player in
their last minute.
41.Kal RdcSj 42.Rdl. Draw agreed.

C O N F U S I O NARY RI FFS · B
In the next game, confusionary riffs explode all over the board,
in many cases with each player having to consider multiple cap­
tures on consecutive moves. My opponent had rather recklessly
sacrificed a piece at g4 and I had defended well obtaining a sub­
stantial advantage. On the last turn he advanced the d-pawn, cre­
ating a massive confusionary riff with a huge number of candi­
date moves.
In addition to possible captures at d4, I had to consider other
moves such as retreating my knight to h2 to hit the queen, as well
as an exchange sac at c6, which I could materially afford since I
am up a piece for two pawns.

88
 LESSONS I N THE O P E N I N G

Position after
22 . . . d4! ?

SchWer vs. !vanov, Koltanowski Memorial, San Francisco, 2000

Offering up the pawn four different ways. I decide to take it

with the queen, after getting rid of the pesky knight with an ex­
change sacrifice. 23.Rxc6?! This was tempting, because Black's
queenside paVins are so weak. But it is not correct.
23.exd4 Ne7 (or 23 . . . Bxg3 ; 24.fxg3) 24.Rh l Nd5 ! ; 23 .Nxd4
Bxg3 ; 24.fxg3 Ne5 ; 25.Qb3 Qe4+; 26.Kg l Qg4 seemed a bit ris}..,),.
23.Bxd4 ! was best, in hindsight. I just didn't want the pin on
the bishop, and my plan was to set up a battery with the queen
ahead of the bi s hop , aiming at g7 . I was a bit concerned about a
possible ... Ne7-f5 plan. I also thought Black might get in . . . Nxd4
and I'd have to recapture with the pawn, after which ... Bxg3 forces
fxg3, and . . . Re2+ would be available. I should have worked con­
cretely on the line, which computer programs found easily.
23 ...Rxe3? Turnaboutis trur play ! My opponent also gets
derailed thanks to the co nfu sion of multiple captures. It is amus­
ing that had he chosen the correct capture, I would have the bur­
den of once again choosing between captures.
23 ... B xg3 ! was the right plan . 24.Rxg6?! This was the prime
candidate for me during the game. I don't know whether I would
have played it if l actually had to analyze the position at the board.

89
 DEVELOPMI:NT OF A .CH ess MASTER

It would be yet another riff, with Black needing to choose the

proper recapture. 24 . . . fxg6; 2S .Qc4+ Qe6 ; 26.Qxe6+ Rxe6 ;
27.Nxd4 Rxd4 ; 28.Bxd4 would have been fine for me, but
24 . . . Qxg6; 2S .Qxg6 fxg6; 26.Kxg3 dxe3 ; 27 .fxe3 Rxe3 seems
even.
Instead, I would have been better off capturing with the pawn.
24.fxg3 ! sets up the next riff. 24 . . .bxc6 would have to be played,
though White is clearly better after 2S.Nxd4. 24 . . . Rxe3 runs into
2S .Rxg6 ! ! fxg6; 26.Qc4+, capturing the pawn at d4 after,queens
are exchanged at e6. If 2S . . . Qxg6; 26.Qxg6 fxg6; 27.Nxd4 Black
has 27 . . . Rd3 ! ; 28 .Ne6 Rd2+ ; 29.Kh3 Re8 though with 30.Bc l !
Rc2; 3 1 .NcS , White wins another pawn.
24.Qxd4 Qxf3+. The theme continues ! The alternative cap­
ture, or rather series of captures, is 24 ... Qxd4; 2S .Nxd4 Rxg3+ ;
26.fxg3 bxc6; 27.Nxc6, but White will win.
25.Kgl BfS or 2S ... Qf6; 26.Rxd6 Rxg3+ ; 27.fxg3 Qxd4+ ;
28 .Rxd4 Rxd4; 29.Bxd4. 26.Qxd8! Again the correct capture is
necessary ! 26.Qxe3 Qxe3 ; 27.fxe3 bxc6; 28.Bd4 RdS . Black may
be able to get rid of the remaining pawns.
26 ...bxc6.

Position after 26. . . bxc6

90
 LESS ONS IN T H E O P EN I NG

Game .Lesson 27 After all the c ompli­

cations of the past few
moves, I was exhau ste d
When you have a bad posi­ and saw a clean win, so I
tion, look for moves, which played i t . I w as n ' t con­
fused by the multiple cap­
give your opponent several
tures here . I have to ad­
ways to slip up, especially if mit I never eyen consid­
the moves involve captures. ered the correct plan.
2 7 . Q d4 ? ! Good
enough to win, but miss­
ing the shot ! A much more appropriate tactical c o nclu s io n to the
game could have been achieved with a s u rpri s in g s acritice .
27.Bxg7 ! ! Kxg7 ; 28.Qd4+ . Well, it could have been worse. I could
have thrown away the win by choosing 27.fxe3?? Qxg3+ ; 2 8 . Kh l
Qh3+ an d B lack draws.
27...Rd3; 28.Qe4 fS; 29.Qxf3 Rxf3; 30.Rc1 Rb3; 31.Rc2
as; 32.hxaS Bxa3; 33.Rc3 ! Black again has multiple captures.
but neither one will save the game. 33 ... Rxh2. 33 . . . Rxc3 ; 3-l.Bxc3
Bc5 is refuted by 35 .Ne2.
34.Rxa3 Kfi; 3S.a6 Rb8; 36 ..\fe2 Ke7; 37.Nd4 Kd6; 38.a7
Ra8; 39.Ra6 Kc5; 40.Ne6+ Kb5; 41.Nc7+.
Black res ign ed .

SU RVI VAL I S NOT A T E M PORARY

OCC U PAT I O N !
I've had plenty of experience fighting from bad p o s iti o n s . as
many of the examples in this book show. In the next game I had
gotten myself into a mes§. by �bbornly refusing to castle. Had
things turned out differently, this would have been in the chapter
on opening lessons .
However, my opponent let me off the hook and I swam and
thrashed in muddy waters until a c lear ro ute to victo ry was in
hand. Then I thre w it all away. I was unable to make the adjus t­
ment between survival mode and simple defense. I sensed the

91
 DEVELOPMENT OF A CH ESS MASTER

source of the danger, but felt I could simply sidestep the problem
by getting my king off the dangerous e-flle.
After running for my life for a while, I felt a false sense of
security, seeing only a single threat that I believed, falsely, was
easily dealt with.

Position after
18.Nh3

Schiller vs. T. Taylor. New York City, 1979

After 1 8 moves I still haven't castled, and my king's knight

has just made its fIrst move. 1'11 get the king to safety next move,
right?
18 ..Nc2+! Nope. I lose the exchange, and my king remains
.

a target in the center.

19.Rxc2 Rbl+; 20.Ke2 Rxhl; 21.Nf2 Rgl; 22.g4 Qb4;
23.Kd3.

92
 LESSONS I N T H E O P E N I N G

Position after 23.Kd2

Hey, maybe I can hold on after all ! The key squares are ap"
protected.
23 d5! !
•••

Wow, I didn't expect this clearance sac, which opens the e­

flle . After all , I have two pawns and a knight covering that square.
24.exd5 Nd7; 25.Nfe4? ! 25.Re2 was correct, anticipating trouble
on the e-flle.
25 QbS? 25 . . Ne5+ ; 26.Ke3 f6 would have given Black a
..• .

tremendous game.
26.Ng5! I knew that the situation was desperate, so I set up a
checkmate, figuring he' d have to defend.
26 Ne5+; 27.Ke2 ReS.
..•

93
 28.Kf2?? I didn't see Black's tremendous combination, which
turns my win into a loss. 28 .Nce4 ! would have put one in the win
column. Perhaps I re­
jected the knight move Game Lesson 28
because it was similar to
the move that got me into ElIen if you halle weathered
trouble on move 25.
the first assault, make sure
28...Nxg4+! ! ;
29.fxg4 Qf4+! ! ; 30.Kxgl your king maintains plenty of'
Re l+; 31.Kg2 Qxg4+; protection at aU times!
32. Kf2 Q g l + ; 33.Kf3
Qe3+. Faced with check-
mate in three moves, I resigned.

YES, YOU CAN SAC R I F I C E O N

AN EMPTY SQUARE!
The battle was raging on both flanks. My fIrst mistake was to
press onwards with the attack, when I should have considered a
defensive plan. Examples of that error can be found in the basic
strategy lessons. The big mistake comes later in the game, when

94
 LESSONS I N T H E O P E N I N G

I failed to consider a sacrifice because no capture was involved.

Sometimes a piece may move to a square to set up a simple fork
or pin, but in trickier cases the goal is to deflect an enemy defen­
sive piece. Most of the time these can be spotted when they are
not buried in deep analysis. In the game, however, the move came
as a shock even as it was played. I hadn' t even considered the
possibility !
The way to avoid such an error is to make sure you always
take a look at the squares surrounding your king. Keep track of
weaknesses in the position. If an enemy move stations a piece
where it can hit a vulnerable point, make sure your defenses are
sufficient. This is especially critical in positions with castling on
opposite wings or when the king is stuck in the center.

Position after
1 6. Be2

Mont-Reynaud vs. Schiller, Falconer International,

San Francisco, 1999

As usual, I got a little carried away and thought only of at­

tack, when I should have first attended to defense.
16 Qh4? 16 ... QaS ! was much stronger. The queen can help
•••

defend the kingside and . . . fS is coming. White can try 17.fS but
17 ... exfS ; 1 8.exfS Bd6 opens a path to the White king.
16 . . . Rhg8+ ; 1 7 .Kh l Qg6 is a line I should have considered

95
 D EVELO P M E N T OF A C H ESS MAST E R

more carefully. I just assumed that 1 S .Rg 1 would b e good but in

fact after 1 8 . . . Qh7 ; 1 9 .d5 Rxg l + ; 20.Kxg 1 KbS . Black has a hid­
den defensive resource to bring the queen to a defensive position
at eS via . . . Qg8+. For example, 2 1 .dxc6 Nxc6; 22.Nb5 Qg8+ ;
23 . Kh l Qe8 ; and 24.Rxc6 fails to 24 . . . Qxc6; 25 .Qxa7+ Kc8,
where White has no effective attack.
17.dS!; KbS? ! 17 . . . b6 ! would preserve B lack's advantage,
for example; 1 8 .dxc6 Bc5 ; 1 9 .Qf3 Nxc6; 20.e5 Nd4 ! ; 2 1 .Qa8+
Kd7 ; 22.Qxa7+ KeS and the king is safe at home on eS. The
pawn at f4 is doomed. 18.dxc6 bxc6. 1 8 . . . Nxc6; 1 9.Nb5 Rd7 !
would have been my choice, had I seen what was coming.
19.NbS! This is the fIrst sacrifIce on an empty square, but
not the last ! 19 . . . cxbS.
1 9 . . . Rd7 ! was the best defense, but I didn't see this idea until
later. 20.Rfd 1 RhdS ; 2 1 .Rxd7 Rxd7 and the knight must retreat.
The strong knight at b4 is probably enough to make up for the
queen side weaknesses.

20.Rc7 ! ! Ouch ! If there had been a pawn at c7, I would have

considered this possibility. The king cannot afford to leave the a­
pawn unguarded, but the pawn is now under attack from both
queen and rook. Nothing to do now, the game is lost.
20 ... Rhg8+. 20 . . . Kxc7; 2 1 .Qxa7+ Kd6 ; 22.Rd l + and mate is

96
 LESSONS I N T H E O P E N I N G

force d . 2 1 .Khl Nc6;

Game Lesson 29
22.Rxc6! Rd7! 22...bxa4;
23.Rc7 would have been
An empty square is just as
truly emb arrassing !
2 3 . Rfc l Bd6; 24.e5. valid a target as one
24.Qc3 ! would have been occupied by an enemy piece!
crushing. White is win-
ning in any case.
24 fxe5; 25.Qc3 Qd8; 26.fxe5 Bc7; 27.Qb4! Qg5? Des­
•••

peration. The threat of mate at g2 is serious, but White wins by

striking flrst.
28.Qxb5+ Bb6; 29.Bf3 Rb7; 30.Qa6! With deadly threats !
30 Qe7. 30 . . . Bc7 ; 3 1 .Rxc7 and mate in 6. Also terminal is
•••

3 0 ... Qd8 ; 3 1 .Rc8+ Qxc8; 32.Rxc8+ Kxc8 ; 33.Qxb7+.

31.R6c2 Bd4; 32.Qxb7+ Qxb7; 33.Bxb7 Kxb7; 34.Rc7+
Kb8; 35.Rxt7 Bxb2??; 36.Rbl. I resigned.

P O S I T I O NAL WEAKN ESSES

U N D IAG N OSED

Position after
1O.Nge2

Gib/en vs. Schiller, Under-1600 section, NYC Championship, 1970

97
 D EV E LO PM E N T OF A CH ESS MASTE R

B l ack ' s artifi cial Game Lesson 30

opening play has created
huge weaknesses on the
king side. The fianchetto When you have weaknesses,
position requires a bishop don 't open up the position !
at g7, at least as long as
White has a dark square
bishop. While the long di-
agonal is closed, there isn't much danger. White can advance the
d-pawn to open things up, but at least it will cost him a pawn.
Rated in the 1 500s at the time, I didn't appreciate such things,
and played what must be, as far as strategy is concerned, one of
the worst possible moves.
ll cS? This not only creates a serious weakness on the
•.•

queenside, but more importantly opens up the h8-al diagonal.

My kingside dark squares are too vulnerable for such an approach.
If I had just placed my knight on d7 first, the plan would have
worked. 1 1 . . .Nd7 ; 12.0-0 c5 ; 1 3 .dxc5 Nxc5 ; 14.Rd l Nxd3 ;
1 5 .Rxd3 Qc7 is completely equal.
12.dxcS bxcS; 13.Bb2 Nbc6; 14.0-0 eS; IS.Radl Qc7;
16.Ng3 Rd8; 17.Ne4 NaS; 18.f4. White is threatening to open
things up. 18 fS. My weak dark squares are a terminal illness
••.

anyway. 19.Nf6+ Kf7; 20.BxeS Qc6; 21.Nxh7 Bb7; 22.NgS+

Kg8; 23.Rf3 Rac8; 24.Rh3. I resigned.

N E RVO U S M OVES
When you are in an unfamiliar position at some stage of the
opening, and a draw is an acceptable result, there is a temptation
to try to get the queens off the board, assuming that the endgame
holds no great risks. In some openings, including the Sicilian
Defense, the nature of the game changes radically when the queens
depart.
This is not a bad strategy, but when putting it into practice
you have to keep in mind that unless the opponent is in a peace­
able mood, the offer will likely be declined. The question you
must ask yourself before maneuvering your queen into a position

98
 LESS O N S I N TH E OPEN I N G

to exchange i s how safe she will be.

In the following game, the team match circumstances were
such that my job was to avoid a loss on fIrst board, and let the rest
of the team collect the points. I was a serious underdog against a
highly skilled opponent. My nervousness was reflected in a bad
decision to offer a trade of queens. As it turns out, the move was
an error whether or not Black accepted ! The position held great
promise, actually, had I fearlessly pursued my kingside attack.
When playing under pressure, it is often best to shift the bur­
den to your opponent by playing aggressively, even when you
don't need to win. After all, if you have a strong attack, you are in
a much better position to make your opponents draw offers they
can't refuse !

Position after
14 . . . 0-0

Schiller vs. Joshi, Pan American intercollegiate Championship,

Rhode Island, 1986

The game was played under a lot of pressure, as the Univer­

sity of Chicago team was relying on me to try to hold off the
heavily favored Rhode Island team for the National Champion­
ship. Though my results in the tournament overall were excel­
lent, I faltered here. My opening knowledge did not include this
rare system with delayed castling.

99
 DEVELO P M ENT O F A C H ESS MASTER

It was enough to take me out of my opening preparation. So

I decided to try to swap queens, perhaps work against the pawn
at d6, but mostly eliminate the danger of getting checkmated on
the queenside.
15.Qb6? 1 5 .h5 Rfb8; 1 6.h6 was a bolder, and more correct
approach. Nerves and lack of confidence after being outplayed
in the opening deterred me. 15 QcS! ? 15 . . . Qxb6; 16.Bxb6 b4 !
•••

would have been strong in an y case. My whole plan was mis­

guided. 16.Qd4 RbS; 17.Bg5 Rd8; lS.f4 Nc6; 19.Qd3 BeS. The
game is swinging in Black's favor, with the ... d5 looming as a
nasty threat, and . . . b4 to worry about. 20.Rel.
An interesting idea, to get some play on the e-file when ... d5
comes. 20 a5. 20 . . . M might have been played. 2 1 .Nd5 ! ? was,
••.

rightly or wrongly, my idea. 2 1 . . .exd5 ; 22.exd5 with a messy

position that probably is better for White. 21.Nd4? 2 1 .h5 h6;
22 .Bh4 would have kept hopes of a kingside attack alive .
21 Nxd4; 22.Qxd4 b4; 23.Nd1 Qc7; 24.Ne3?!
..•

I was in a hurry to get this knight back into the game. 24.Bd3
would have been better, also defending c2 but aiming at h7. Per­
haps something like Qe3-f3-h5 would be available later. 24 ... h6;
25.Bxf6. There are no miracle sacrifices in this position. I spent
some time searching in vain. 25 Bxf6; 26.Qc4 Qb6; 27.Ng4.
•••

Position after 27.Ng4

1 00
 LESSO N S I N T H E O P E N I N G

27...B c3 ! I can't take the bishop without losing my queen.

I'm reaJ1y on the run now. 28.Rdl hS; 29.Nh2 dS? (29 . Bc6 ..

should have been played fIrst.); 30.exdS RxdS; 31.RxdS exdS;

32.Qe2 Qd4; 33.Nf3 Qxf4; 34.Qdl Bf6. The position is hope­
less. I played on another ten moves, but could not save the game.
3S.Bd3 a4; 36.Qcl Qc7; 37.Qe3 Bd7; 38.NgS Re8; 39.Qcl
a3; 40.Rel g6; 41.Rf1 QeS; 42.Nf3 Qxb2+; 43.Qxb2 Bxb2;
44.NgS Re7; 4S.Rdl Bg4. I resigned.
Although I lost the game, our team won the Pan American
Intercollegiate title. I had played well in my other games, espe­
cially my Sicilian Dragon encounter with Herbst, which is still
cited in many Dragon sources.

Game Lesson 3 1

Ifyou want to offer your

opponent a draw, it is best to
do that with a draw offer, as

playing for a repetition of

moves can prove costly.

1 01
 LESSO N S
IN TH E E N DGAM E
For many years, weak endgame play was
often characteristic of American chess, and to
some extent it still is. Avid tournament players
will spend a lot of time, effort and money on
opening preparation, but endgame study has

Cl) rarely been a priority. There are a few sensible

reasons for this.
z Endgame study, especially if attempted
o alone, is not a lot of fun. In many ways, I was
Cl) typical of my generation in studying openings

Cl) obsessively, neglecting the less fascinating fun­

W damentals. Working with a personal trainer is

..I the most effective, and often most enj oyable,

method of acquiring necessary endgame and
:I: middle game skills. That involves a lot of com­

l­ mitment, and is uncommon in a country where

ll. chess is primarily played for fun.
-
Another difficulty presented by endgame
11. study is its huge mass. There are hundreds of
positions that simply must be known in order
to play effectively. One reason that computers
have had difficulty in mastering endgame play
is the need to develop target positions and find
ways to reach those goals.

1 03
 a EVELO P M E N T O F A C H ESS MASTER

That is quite different from a brute force search which is al­

ways limited at some point to a certain depth. Recently, programs
have been developed which take advantage of encyclopaedic
knowledge and databases of all possible positions featuring very
few pieces. Human beings just don't have the capacity to process
so much data.
In my case, serious endgame study didn't start until I was in
my late twenties. I had a game against Grandmaster Tony Miles
at the 1 98 1 Regency Masters that forever changed my attitude.
Though I had lost many endgames through lack of knowl­
edge, laziness prompted me to take the attitude that since there
was so much I needed to know about the endgame, and so little
that would apply in any one game, that I could rely primarily on
calculation. The game with Miles was a brief adventure . I
misplayed the opening, but came up with an ingenious way to
obtain a nearly equal game.
The cunning Grandmaster then tempted me to enter one of a
variety of endgames. I recall that there were six different endgames
available, four of which were quite drawable, one that could be
held with precise play, an q a horrible rook endgame with even
material. Of course I chose the last one (rook endgames with
even material should be drawn, right?) and went down to defeat
quickly.
The memory of that game lasts as long as the more success­
ful and entertaining effort in that event against Paolozzi, presented
in the Lessons Learned chapter. I realized that I simply had to
learn how to play endgames better. It took me some time, but
I've managed to play quite a few excellent endgames and achieve
some extra points, though I also still have unforgivable gaps in
my knowledge, as you'll see in the following games.
Half of each lesson I give to my students is usually on the
endgame. Applying methods I learned from Garry Kasparov's
trainer Alexander Nikitin, I ' ve been able to make endgame study
both intellectually challenging and fun. I wish I had been able to
learn endgames properly when I was young. It would have spared
me a lot of grief! Even if you don't consider yourself a serious

1 04
 LESSONS I N T H E E N DGAM E

chessplayer, endgame study will lead to many more pleasurable

experiences and it is worth the effort. When you understand the
endgame you can choose wisely when you are faced with a deci­
sion on keeping the queens on the board.
The six lessons in this chapter don' t even scratch the surface
of necessary endgame knowledge. I've written several books on
the endgame, but here I am concentrating on the psychological
and preparation aspects of the endgame.
The fundamental king and pawn endgames and the concept
of the opposition are familiar to most chessplayers, but many
players stop there and don't bother to learn the dozens of crucial
king and pawn endgames, which are tricky. These are best learned
from endgame studies, which usuall y combine several important
themes. Such positions are hard to play, if you don't know them,
and it is easy to go wrong, as in Schiller vs. Mar.
Knowing the basics can actually hurt you if you place too
much confidence in platitudes such as the "bishops of opposite
color usually draw." It is never quite that simple, and it is impor­
tant to try to analyze endgames deeply and not stop when some
general consideration kicks in.
The endgame requires more objectivity than earlier phases
of the game. In many cases, the "correct" result is already known,
at least to computers and reference books. If the position is drawish
there isn't too much that can be done about it. Excessive ambi­
tion can bring ruin, leaving the player with no points instead of
the half-point a draw would have earned. Schiller vs. Ravikumar
shows the danger.
In many endgames, a particular move is necessary and can­
not be omitted, whether or not it seems relevant or best at the
time. This mistake happens most frequently when long -and elabo­
rate calculations are being made. You can get so caught up in
various long-term considerations that you forget about some ba­
sic move that must be played right away.
In Shamkovich vs. Schiller, we see how important it is to pay
as much attention to empty squares as those that are occupied. In
endgames, many of the squares are empty but may play a critical
role if the enemy is allowed to take advantage of them.

1 05
 D EVELO P M E N T OF A C H ESS MASTE R

KNOW ALL T H E BAS I C KI N G AN D PAWN

POS I T I O N S !
If you understand which pawn endgames are decisive and
which are likely to be drawn ! you can make good decisions on
trading pieces. In the next game I handle that part of the decision
process well. However, though I instinctively felt the position
was drawn, I didn't remember how to do it ! The drawing method
is well known, but if it lies out there in books, it can't help you. It
has to be burned into your memory.

Position after
38. g4

Grefe vs. Schiller, People s Open, Berkeley, 1 994

With White short of time, and confidence in the pawn end­

ing, I decided to be confrontational.
38 NaS+ ! ? There is no need for this, and of course it is an
••.

irrevocable action. But I was confident I could draw the king and
pawn endgame. My instincts were correct.
.
But "can" isn't the same as "does." After, 3 8 .. .f5, the endgame
should be drawn without too much trouble, but I wasn' t sure. In
any case, I knew that the former D.S. Champion would torture
me until all time controls were exhausted. By the next year I had
mastered the position with knight vs. bishop with this sort of pawn
structure, as you'll see in the Lessons Learned chapter.

1 06
 LESSONS I N TH E E N DGA M E

39.BxaS bxaS; 40.Kd4. White holds th e opposition. That's a

big advantage in a king and pawn endgame. White also has the
b4-break as an option. Black must defend rigorously. 40 h6? ! •••

4 0. . .g5 ; 4 1 .Ke4 Ke6; 42.f5+ Kd6; 43 .Kd4 Kc6; 44.Kc4 i s the

correct plan.
41.h4 Kc6; 42.Kc4 Kd6; 43.b4. We both misjudged this
move, though the alternative isn ' t better. 43.h5 gxh5 ; 44.gxh5
Kc6 (44 ...f5 allows 45 .Kd4) ; 45 .f5 Kd6 is a draw. 43 axb4;•..

44.Kxb4 Kc6; 4S.KaS Kb7.

I think we both saw this position before the minor pieces
came off. I thought this would draw easily. 46.gS fxgS; 47.fxgS
hxgS; 48.hxgS Ka7; 49.Kb4 Kb6; SO.aS+.

Position after 50. a5+

SO . . . Kc6?? A study-like draw was available, and I should

have known it. The problem was I had been calculating too much,
and either didn't know or didn't remember the drawing line. Of
course I was also exhausted, but then you have to be prepared to
play endgames even in two-game-a-day tournaments.
If I had recalled this basic endgame idea I would have truly
earned my half-point. My instincts had held up, and I had reached
the drawing line with my bold move . NaS . All for naught, be­
..

cause I didn't know a simple drawing method ! 50 . . . Kb7 ! ; 5 1 .Kb3

1 07
 D EVE LOP M ENT OF A CH ESS MASTE R

Kb8 ! ! does the trick.

51.Kc4.

Position after 51. Kc4.

The control of the opposition wins for White. I didn't resign

yet, because it is my rule to resign only when the result is obvi­
ous even to very weak players. After all, I hate to be asked why I
resigned, as if the position \vere drawn ! I give this same advice to
my students .
Don't play on to the point of being silly. Play the obvious
moves at the end quickly, and use the few moments to compose
yourself before a courte-
ous resignation. Those Game Lesson 32
who know me, know that
sometimes takes more
than a few seconds ! Study your king and pawn
5 1 . . .Kd6; 5 2 . Kd4
endgames thoroughly!
Ke6; 5 3 . Kc5 K e 7 ;
54.Kb6 Kd6; 55.Kxa6
Kc6; 5 6 . Ka7 Kc7;
57.a6. I resigned.

1 08
 LESSON S I N T H E E N DGAM E

B I S H OPS O F OPPOSITE COLO RS

DON'T ALWAYS D RAW
When bishops of opposite colors are on the board, it is much
easier to hold a draw in an endgame where you are a pawn or two
down. Sometimes even three pawns aren't enough to win. It is
easy to be lulled into a sense of false security, especially when
there are rooks on the board. Rooks and bishops work well to­
gether.
In the following game, my opponent has a dangerous passed
pawn, and although I control the promotion square, I underesti­
mated the unchallenged power of the Black bishop.

Position after
3S . . . BgS

Schiller vs. Mar, Golden Bear Class Struggle, Berkeley, 1998

36.Ra3? 36.a5 was absolutely necessary to eliminate the pawn

that eventually leads to White's defeat. 36 . . . bxa5 ; 37.Rxa5 d2;
38 .Re5 would not be fun for White, but some resistance was pos­
sible.
36 ... d2; 37.Kf1 Re8; 38.Be2 ReI; 39.Ral Kg8; 40.a5. Too
late. 40...Rxal; 41.Rxal Bf6! I simply overlooked this powerful
move. 42.Rbl bxa5; 43.Be4+ Kf8; 44.Ke2 Be3; 45.Rb8+ Ke7;
46.Bb3. Finally the bishop controls the promotion square. One
move from salvation, but it is one move too many.

1 09
 46 . . .d l Q + ! ; Game Lesson 33
47.B x d l Rd2+. I re­
signed.
Bishops of opposite color
do not g uarantee an
endgame draw even when
material is equal!

EXCESSIVE AM B I T I O N
When playing with confidence, the ambitious variations are
usually the most appealing. Often the best plan is to settle for a
boring, drawish position. When paired against stronger opposi­
tion, playing for a draw risks being ground down in an endgame
by superior technique. This can lead the lower rated player to try
to bring the endgame to a boil by introducing complications, tak­
ing the game out of the realm of pure technique where the oppo­
nent has superior skills.
The problem with this way of thinking is that the higher ranked
player is probably a superior tactician too. Somehow the notion
takes root that every complicated position brings the chance that
a lucky punch can score a knockout.
In the next game, the psychology wasn't quite like that. I was
having a great tournament, and knew I was playing well. In the
opening, I offered a gambit that my opponent declined, and the
result was a very boring, symmetrical position. Instead of sitting
on the position, I decided to go for an attack in the endgame. My
gambit mood had continued into the endgame, where such sub­
jective thinking really didn ' t have any place.
Patience was a lesson I had not yet learned, and it would be
another decade before I began to appreciate the slow and steady
positional approach.

110
 LESSONS I N T H E EN DGAM E

Position after
1 8 . Rd8
. .

Schiller vs. Welin, Reykjavik Grand Open, Iceland, 1 986

The opening had led to a drawish, symmetrical game. White

has no reason to believe that active play is going to bring any­
thing special. After a simple move, say 1 9.Ne3, it is hard to see
anything but a draw resulting. I had been playing well in the tour­
nament, and wasn't worried that my opponent was a strong Inter­
national Master.
I figured he would play on for some time in any case rather
than concede a draw to the lowest ranked player in the tourna­
ment. This makes my decision to play ambitiously highly sus­
pect.
19.RaS. Objectively, there is nothing wrong with this move.
Instinctively, I felt that if Black went after the kingside pawns, as
expected, I'd be able to use all three of my pieces against the
enemy king, which had only a few pawns as guardians. I guess
neither of us was in the mood for a draw.
It turns out that my instincts were correct, but I lacked the
technique of, say, Mikahil Tal, to carry out the attack. I know this
because Tal joined us after the game and rattled off a number of
fascinating "fantasy variations" leading to wins in 20 moves or
so ! I wish I had been able to take notes on all of them, but we

111
 D EVELO P M E N T O F A C H ESS MASTER

were too busy analyzing. That isn'tto say the position was objec­
tively winning, as the lines did need more than a bit of coopera­
tion from my opponent, but I must confess I didn't even see the
main ideas of his beautiful lines during the game.
19 . Rd4; 20.NeS. 20.Ne3 Rh4; 2 1 .Rxa7 Kb8 ; 22.RaS Rxh2;
..

23 .f4 Rf2; 24.Nd5 b6; 25.Ra4 is how some of the analysis started.
The position eventually wound up with tricks on the a8-h I di­
agonal, but all I remember is that somehow the Black rook wound
up on hI and White used RaE+, . . . Kxa8, and a bishop check on
the long diagonal.
The position after 25.Ra4 is even, as White can play Rc4 to
help defend c2. 20 Rf4; 21.Rxa7 Kb8; 22.Ra3 Rxf2; 23.Nd7+
•.•

Ke8; 24.NeS.

Position after 24.Nc5

This was the position I was aiming for, threatening a back

rank mate. The problem is the bishop at d I , which must remain
in place to guard the pawn at c2, which cannot be sacrificed be­
cause the knight at c5 would fall to . . . Rxc2+ . So BD is not in the
near future.
There was, however, an interesting alternative in 24.Nf8 ! ? I
didn' t consider this method of controlling d7 and attacking g6 at
the same time. The bonus here is that Rh3 can lead to the win of

1 12
 LESSONS I N T H E ENDGAM E

the h-pawn. 24 ... Kd8; 2S.Rh3 NfS ; 26.Nxh7 Nd4; 27.NgS ! Ne2+;
28.Bxe2 Rxe2; 29.Rc3 Rxh2; 30.Nf3 Rg2; 3 1 .NeS should be
drawable.
24 c6; 2S.h4 Rh2; 26.Ra4? This is a very bad move. The
•••

rook is not designed for passive defense. As my endgame educa­

tion progressed, I developed a greater respect for having an ac­
tive rook, which is often enough compensation for a pawn.
If this were a pure rook endgame, I would have played a
more active move, but with the minor pieces on the board I didn't
want to let the h-pawn go.
26 Nf5; 27.Rb4 Ne3!
•.•

Position after 27 . . Ne3!

.

How ironic. It is the three Black pieces attacking my own

king ! I hadn't thought about that when I went after the queenside.
I had only analyzed the capture of the h-pawn. On 27 . . . Rxh4;
28.Rxb7 Rc4 I was going to play 29.Nb3, intending to fork at. aS
if Black takes the rook.
I thought this very clever, but had the game gone this way it
would have landed in the Too Clever by Half section. 29 ... Rxc2+ ! ! ;
30.Bxc2 Kxb7; 3 1 .NcS+ Kc7 is a terrible endgame for White.
28.Ne4. 28.Rd4 Bxc2; 29.Bg4+ Nxg4; 30.Rxg4 BfS was a
miserable alternative. 28 cS; 29.Ra4 Kb8; 30.Nc3?? In time
•..

113
 D EVELO PMENT OF A C H ESS MASTE R

Game Lesson 34
pressure, I drop the game
with one move. I doubt I
could have survived in
In the endgame, maintain any case, since the passed
absolute objectivity at all f-p awn will fly up the
board. 30 Nxd l . I re­
times!
•.•

signed. If I capture with

1-.___________
--1 the knight, then ... Rxc2+ is

deadly. If I use the king, then . . . Bxc2+ wins the exchange.

F O RGETT I N G TO P LAY A
N EC E SSARY MOVE
One error, which is always hard to explain, is forgetting to
play a move. Sometimes after a long period of analysis, most of
which assumed a starting move, you just forget what the move
was supposed to be. In other cases, such as the next game, the
explanation is somewhat different.
In this game, the natural move is rejected because it doesn 't
accomplish the obvious goal. However, it was needed for defen­
sive purposes .

Position after
29 . . . exd5

Schiller vs. Ravikumar. Four Nation Team Tournament.

London. 1 985

1 14
 LESSONS I N TH E EN DGAM E

Game Lesson 35
How could I possibly
lose this endgame as
White? I have an inferior
After thinking for a long bishop, but the Black king
can't infiltrate.
time, review the initUzI posi­
I forgo t to p l ay
tion and check again for any 30.Be3 here and, as a re­
threats or positional factors sult, my opponent ' s
bishop transformed itself
you might have overlooked.
into a monster. I had real-
ized that on Be3, I had no
threat at a7 because my g­
pawn would be undefended. So I figured I'd take care of that
little problem before moving my bishop.
30.h4? Bb6! I will now have to wait until my king is in posi­
tion before challenging the enemy bishop on the a7-g1 diagonal.
Unfortunately this gave Black time to implement both defensive
and offensive plans.
31.Kf3 Bd4; 32.Kf4 a6; 33.Be3 Bb2! My opponent's supe­
rior bishop will grab my weak pawns. 34.BcS Bel +; 3S.Be3 Bxa3;
36.e6 fxe6; 37.KeS Bxb4; 38.Kxe6 Bc3; 39.Kf7 d4. There is no
stopping this pawn now. The remainder of the game was just a
matter of seeing if Black could make time control.
40.Bf4 d3; 41.hS d2; 42.hxg6+ Kh8. White resigned.

EYES F O R T H E WRONG SQUARE

In the endgame, it is important to cover squares that can be
used by your opponent to create problems. Often, it is quite obvi­
ous which squares qualify for special treatment, but some
endgames, especially those involving knights, are much harder
to diagnose.
In the next game, there are two potential critical squares, but
one is more important than the other. I chose the wrong one.

115
 DEVELO P M E N T OF A CH ESS MASTER

Position after
65 Ke3
. . .

Schiller vs. Kosten, Four Nation Team Tournament, London, 1985

I have managed to get to an endgame with a rather bad bishop

against a strong knight. Surely it can be defended, since I don't
have any undefended properties. There is only one real chance
for Black, and that is to somehow contrive to play . c5 and liber­
..

ate the d-pawn. 66.Be7? 66.Be5 ! is the move.

I had to keep my eye on the c7-square. I didn't appreciate
that, thinking only of c 5 . 66 ... Nc7!; 67.Bc5 Ke4.

Position after 67 Ke4

. . .

116
 LESSONS I N TH E EN DGAM E

It is now clear that Game Lesson 36

Black plans . . . Ne6 and
then I can' t avoid the ... c5
break. 6 8 . K d2 Ne6;
In th e endgame, pay as
69.c3? This hastens the much attention to empty
inevitable. 69.Kc3 Nxc5 ; squares as to o c c upied
7 0 . dxc5 d4+ ; 7 1 . Kc4
Ke3 ; 7 2 . b 4 . Forc e d . squares.
7 2... Kd2; 73.Kxd4 Kxc2;
74.Kc4 Kb2; 75.Kd4 Kb3
and Black wins.
69 NxcS; 70.dxcS d4; 71.c4 d3; 72.b4 Kd4; 73 bS Kxc4;
••• .

74.bxa6 bxa6; 7S.Kdl Kxc5; 76.Kc1 Kd4; 77.Kd2 cS. White

resigned.

ADJ O U R N M ENT ANALYS IS

DEBU G G E D AT T H E B OARD
Before the computer chess age took hold, most tournament
games were adjourned after four to six hours and then resumed
the following morning. This provided excellent opportunities to
deeply study endgame positions, with real rewards for hard work.
At professional events, positions were not usually analyzed alone.
A player would seek out friends among the competitors and take
advantage of all available resources .
When the game was adjourned, there was the matter of se­
lecting a sealed move to be placed in an envelope and revealed
the next morning at the resumption of play. Once in the enve­
lope, the move cannot be changed, so it was important to choose
wisely.
The timing was important too. Often a player would hold
back a move until the arbiter was approaching the table, and play
it just in time so that the opponent would have to seal and wouldn't
have the benefit of overnight analysis on the move.
The art of adjournment analysis, which generally was re­
stricted to a few hours since sleep is also important, was a true

117
 D EVELOPMENT O F A C H ESS MASTER

test of endgame understanding. I learned a tremendous amount

from these sessions, often getting the benefit of Grandmaster
advice. In the next game, I would normally have turned to my
friend and frequent co-author, Grandmaster Leonid Shamkovich,
but he was my opponent !
My choice of sealed move was a reasonable one, but not best.
That's not always a terrible thing, since the opponent is likely to
spend most of the analysis time on the most important lines in the
critical variations. I found myself on the receiving end when the
game resumed. My opponent chose a line that wasn't as strong as
the one we had concentrated on.
The game followed a branch of analysis that we hadn't con­
sidered critical, and I was caught by surprise. When an error in
your preparation, whether in the opening or endgame, shows up
at the board it is always a very uncomfortable experience.
If games were adjourned these days, powerful computer pro­
grams would be available to assist with analysis. The game would
likely conclude with the best moves for each side leading to an
inevitable conclusion. However, you should consider using ad­
journed games (or just selected endgame positions) as part of
training. I use this exercise with advanced students.

Position after
44.Ke3

Shamkovich vs. Schiller, Gausdal International, Norway, 1984

118
 LESSONS I N T H E EN DGAME

Unfortunately there was double pressure here. We were into

the second time control and the arbiter would soon approach with
the envelope into which I would have to place my sealed move.
There are several possibilities.
I could try to hold the knight vs. bishop endgame after ex­
changing on d4. The Grandmaster had played the last few moves
quickly, forcing me to think on my own. If the game were to be
adjourned, I ' d have a chance to analyze with Grandmaster Jansa,
with whom I had already had many instructional endgame ses­
sions as we both seemed headed for adjournments in almost ev­
ery game.
I didn't want to commit myself to the capture on e4 until
after adjournment. I sought out a waiting move, but couldn't find
one. I then saw that by advancing the c-pawn, I could get to a
forcing variation that would make the adjournment analysis much
easier.
44 c5! ? 44 . . . Bxe4; 45 .Kxe4 g6 was the alternative, with the
•••

likely continuation; 46.Bc4 b5; 47.Bd3 Nb6; 48.Kd4+-. 44 . . . Kd7 ;

45.g4 Ne7 ; 46.Nd6 h5 ! ; 47.gxh5 Bxh5 . White's weakened pawn
structure gives Black some chances. It isn't clear how White could
make progress. This would have been the best plan, but I had a
feeling that with a less forcing line my opponent would surely
find a way to capitalize on his positional advantages.
45.bxc5 Bxe4; 46.Kxe4 bxc5.

119
 DEVELO P M E NT OF A CH ESS MASTE R

Position after 46.Kxe4

This much was predictable. Black has four pawn islands, and
it is very difficult for the knight to defend. The passed c-pawn is
just weak. White's strategy is clear: break through on the kingside.
47.g4. We expected 47.Kd3 Nb6; 48 .h5 . White should have
prepared the king side advance in this way, instead of plunging
right in. In fact, the adjournment analysis concentrated on this
line.
47 Nb6?! This inferior move was chosen because of an er­
.••

ror in analysis later on. My scoresheet shows I took only about

ten minutes to p l ay up to move 53, and only at move 54 was I
taken out of the adjournment analysis. 47 ... g6 ! would have been
best.
I can't recall why this move was rejected. I think it was mostly
a matter of not wanting to put the pawn where the bishop could
get at it. But that is lazy thinking. With the knight at b6, the for­
mation is solid enough to draw.
In choosing between the move orders, I obviously (in hind­
sight) failed to evaluate the position at move 53 properly.
48.f5!
Critical, because otherwise I can repair the error with ... g6.

1 20
 LESSONS I N TH E E N DGAM E

48 exf5+; 49.gxf5 Na4; 50.Bc4! If 50.Kd3 Nb2+ ; 5 1 .Kc2 Na4;

•.•

52.Kb3 Nb6, then the wall holds.

50 Nb6; 51.Bg8!
•..

Position after 51.Bg8!

White finds the correct plan. The king will infiltrate via d5
after Black eventually runs out of moves.
51...Na4? Passive play is unpleasant. Being ground down by
a Grandmaster is often even more unpleasant, as reprieves are
rarely granted. I figured that I couldn't keep the king out forever,
so might as well get it over with. Bad decision.
The correct line was 5 l . . .Kd7; 52.h5 Ke7 ; 53.Be6 a5 ; 54.Ke3
Ke8 ; 55.f6. Otherwise there is no way to make progress. 55 ... gxf6;
56.exf6 Kf8; 57.Ke4. Black must give way. 57 . . . a4; 5 8 . Ke5 Ke8 ;
59.Kf5 Kf8 ; 60.Kg6 c4; 6 1 .Kxh6 c 3 ; 62.Bf5 Kf7 ; 63 . Kg5 Nd7 ;
64.h6 Nxf6; 65.h7 Nxh7+; 66.Bxh7 Ke6; 67 .Kf4 Kd5 ; 68.Ke3
Kc4; 69.Bc2.
White wins, because the bishop is of the correct color to sup­
port the a-pawn. Although this line is very long, it was easy to
analyze. So during the analysis session, 5 1 . . .Na4 had been pre­
pared. However, no further time was spent on it.
52.Kd5 Kf8; 53.Bh7 Ke7; 54.Bg6.

1 21
 D EVELO PM ENT OF A CH ESS MASTER

Position after 54.Bg6

How is White to make progress? I wasn't quite sure. 54 a6;

•..

55.Bh5 Kd7; 56.Bf3 Ke7; 57.Bg2. Shamkovich just marks time

while I run out of moves and drop the c-pawn.
57 ... a5; 58.Bh3 Nc3+; 59.Kxc5 Nbl.

Position after 59. .. Nbl

1 22
 LESSONS IN TH E E N DGAM E

This was the type of defense I had come up with at the board.
White can't defend the a-pawn. So with all the queenside pawns
gone, I can bring the knight to the kingside, annoy the king side
pawns, and get a draw.
60.Bfl ! I hadn't reckoned on this retreat ! 6 1 . Nd2. Not
• .

60 . . . Nxa3? because of 6 1 .Bd3 ! The knight cannot escape, and

will be captured after Kb6xaS-a4. This was the tactic I missed. A
simple domination theme in
Game Lesson 37 pure form !
6 1.Bd3 Nf3; 62.KdS
a4 or 62 . . . Nxh4 ; 63 . B e 4 !
Always double-check
with domination o n the
adjournment analys is other side of the board ! I
at the board. couldn't miss this after my
horrible realization at move
60 ! 63.hS Nd2; 64.Be2
N b 3 ; 65.B d l Kf7 or
65 . . Kd7 ; 66.Kc4 Nd2+ ; 67 .Kd3 Nb l ; 68 .Bxa4+ Ke7; 69 .Bb5
.

Nxa3 ; 70.Ba6. Again the knight is trapped. 66.Kd6 Nd4; 67.e6+

Kf6; 68.Bc2! I resigned .
There is no way to prevent White from getting a new queen.
If 68 . . . Nxc2; 69 . e7 Kf7, then 70.Kd7 Nxa3 ; 7 1 .e8Q+ . My oppo­
nent gave me a lesson on the board that was just as instructive as
the hours of adjournment analysis . We also found some interest­
ing ideas in the post-mortem, where Grandmaster Shamkovich's
excellent technique drew rave reviews.

1 23
I

I
L E S S O N S L EA R N E D !

At this point you ' ve seen enough of my

terrible moves. Those were not my only errors
at the chessboard, just a sample of the ones I
consider instructive. To become a Master, and
to continue development even beyond that
level, you have to learn from your mistakes and
fI) try not to repeat them too often !
z In each of the following games, errors made
o in the previous games were, for the most part,
fI) avoided. As a result, I was able to defeat many
fI) high-ranked players . My peak FIDE rating was
2370, and the maj ority of my opponents in the
W
..I games below were ranked considerably higher
than that. I want all of my readers to know that
Z if you apply yourself, you can defeat much

�
stronger opposition, or at least avoid losses. This
is true even when your opponent is a Grand­
- master!
fI) Most of the games were played in profes­
sional competition. I include one early simul
game, because it is instructive and it remains
one of my favorites. Also, I feel an obligation
to keep the game in circulation as my oppo­
nent tried to suppress it and keep it out of the
New York Times. He failed.

1 25
 DEVELOPM ENT OF A C H ESS MASTE R

Otherwise, the opposition includes a number o f United States

champions and some familiar names from the chess world. Though
losing to me, or even allowing me to get away with a draw may
have been painful for them at the time, over the years I've taken
enough heads to reduce the stigma. In many cases, they outplayed
me in one or two phases of the game, only to let me escape and in
some cases take revenge.
In some games, I simply had the necessary inspiration to find
the solution and the technique, acquired from previous lessons
on the receiving end, to carry out the plan.
The games have been chosen for their instructive value, and
aren't in any sense a best games collection. Artistic merit isn ' t
the point here, though I am sure you will find many o f these games
entertaining. At the very least, I hope they inspire you to go out
and play your best against your most formidable opposition !
We start with a couple of examples of good opening prepara­
tion. Garry Kasparov, the 13th World Champion, is known for his
obsession with pre-game preparation. Amateur players cannot
afford to devote such time and resources to the task. Still , in open­
ings that are not the most popular, it is possible to prepare thor­
oughly, especially if you are familiar with your opponent's open­
ing preferences.
The first game involves a different sort of preparation, where
an intended night away from the chessboard turns out to be far
from chess-free, but inspiring enough to produce a gem the next
day.
O n e appro ach, seen in some game s , is to play
confrontationaIly and optimistically. Another is to play very sol­
idly, waiting for the opponent to slip up while avoiding compli­
cations. Many players don't have sufficient confidence to adopt
that approach, but remember, if you don't make a mistake, nei­
ther Grandmaster nor supercomputer can defeat you !
Most players are quite happy to escape from a Grandmaster
encounter with a draw, and that's not easy to achieve. With cau­
tious play it is possible to get to an even endgame, but profes­
sionals have spent years developing endgame skills. Having a

1 26
 LESSONS LEARN E D

"drawish" endgame means that the Grandmaster will likely play

for as long as it takes for you to make a mistake. Even gamesthat
are known as technical draws are often won by the more experi­
enced players.
There are lessons in each stage of the game, from the open­
ing to the endgame. I ' ve tried to include a bit of background for
the games, so that you can get a sense of the atmosphere, and
appreciate the scale of the upsets.

O P E N I N G P R E PARAT I O N
A s I've already mentioned, I was fascinated b y opening theory
when I was a young player. Even in my earliest Junior High School
games, I used to play the Closed Variation of the Spanish game
15- 1 6 moves deep. I studied the Naj dorf out to move 25 in some
lines, which was very deep at the time.
Although most of my openings were quite standard and or­
thodox, as they should be for a young player, I did like to explore
sidelines and forgotten variations. I figured that an opening nov­
elty would be even more effective if played in a line of standard
opening. The surprise value would be combined with an assump­
tion that a low rated kid could come up with a good new move.
In the next game, I knew I would play Black, since it was a
simultaneous exhibition. I anticipated that if Reshevsky opened
l .d4, I could get to a line of the Queen's Gambit that seemed to
me to offer all of the advantages of the Gruenfeld Defense with
none of the drawbacks. And I had a little surprise ready.
l.d4 d5; 2.c4 dxc4; 3.Nf3 Nf6; 4.e3 g6. Then, as now, the
Smyslov Variation was little more than a footnote in most books.
5.Bxc4 Bg7; 6.0-0 0-0; 7.Nc3 Nfd7; 8.Qe2. 8.e4 Nb6; 9.Be2
Bg4; 1O.Be3 Nc6 was played in Evans-Smyslov, Helsinki Olym­
piad 1 952, which was a game I had studied in preparation for this
contest. Black has a lot of pressure on the center. Play continued
I l .d5 Bxf3 ; 12.Bx.f3 Ne5 ; 1 3 .Be2 Nec4 with pressure on the long
diagonal. After 1 4.Bc 1 c6 ! , Black had a strong game.
8 ...Nb6; 9.Bb3.

1 27
 D EVELOPMENT O F A CH ESS MASTER

Position after
9. Bb3

Reschevsky vs. Schiller; Simultaneous Exhibition,

Manhattan Chess Club 1 972

9 ... Nc6!? My earliest theoretical novelty of significance. I

knew Reshevsky would choose the normal lines of the Queen's
Gambit. Accepted and once into the rare Smys10v system with
. . . g6 there isn't much room for deviation. My move was an at­
tempt to improve on Golombek - Smys10v, Budapest 1 952, which
saw 9 . a5 . lO.Rdl Bg4; 1l.h3 Bxf3; 12.Qxf3 Qe8.
..

1 28
 LESSONS LEARN E D

This move has th e goal o f blasting open the center. After the
king moves to the h-file, Black can advance both e- and f-pawns.
13.NbS?! Gligoric improved against me a week or two later with
1 3 .Ne4 ! , with the threat of Nc5 . Serves me right for getting the
game published in the New York Times !
13 Rc8; 14.Bd2 a6; lS.Na3 Kh8; 16.Rac1 eS!; 17.d5 e4;
•.•

18.Qf4. Now it is clear that the Nc6 is headed for e5 , with the
possibility of jumping into f3. If only the g-file were open and a
rook stood on g8, I could really get things going. I decided to
open some lines. 1 8 gS! ; 19.Qxg5 Ne5; 20.Bc3.
•••

Position after 20.Bc3

The pin looks strong. But checks have been known to break
pins ! 20 Nf3+ ! ! ; 21.gxf3 Bxc3; 22.Khl. On 22.bxc3 Rg8 ;
.••

23.Qxg8+ Qxg 8 + ; 24. Kh l . 24 . . . Qg6 gives Black a great game.

22 Rg8; 23.Qf4 Qd7; 24.Qh4 Qf5! Black continues to make
••.

threats while improving the position of his queen, before captur­

ing the pawn at b2.
2S.f4 Bxb2; 26.Rgl Bxcl; 27.Rxc1 Qg6; 28.Qg4 Qxg4;
29.hxg4 Rxg4. White could have resigned here but played on
another dozen moves. Then he asked Al Horowitz, the New York
Times columnist and Manhattan Chess Club regular, not to pub­
lish the game.

1 29
 D EVE LO P M E NT OF A CH ESS MASTE R

B u t Horowitz, who Game Lesson 38

gave me a few lessons at
the club, put it in, much
To get the game going in your
to the delight of a 1 7-year
old chessplayer who had direction, prepare
defeated his fIrst Grand­ your openings in advance.
master, even if it was only
a simul.

P R E PARE D E E P LY!
The preparation in the previous game was not particularly
deep. I had developed the idea of . . . Nc6 in combination with a
strategic goal of . . . eS . In the next game, the planning had to be
far more detailed, and I had to guess at what my opponent, one of
the world's leading opening specialists at the time, had planned
for me. This is part science, but larger part intuition. When you
know your opponent, you can try to put yourself in the position
of preparing against the possibilities.
1.d4 dS; 2.Nc3 c6; 3.e4 dxe4; 4.Nxe4 BfS; S.Ng3.
I reckoned that he' d try either 5.Nc5 or something in the main
lines. I know that Keene is a fan of the Caro for Black, but not the
Classical lines. What would he use for inspiration?
S ... Bg6; 6.h4 h6; 7.Nf3 Nd7; 8.hS Bh7; 9.Bd3 Bxd3;
10.Qxd3 Ngf6; 1l.Bf4 QaS+; 12.Bd2 Qc7; 13.Qe2 e6; 14.0-0-
o 0-0-0. The old main line. These days I castle on the kingside.
My preparation for this game mostly concentrated on flank
openings, because Keene is an authority on those, but I had a
suspicion that Ray might want to tackle my Caro-Kann. He re­
ally needed a win, as he was not doing well in the round-robin
tournament.
lS.NeS NxeS; 16.dxeS Nd7; 17.f4 Be7; 18.Be3 ! ?

1 30
 LESSONS LEARN E D

Position after
I8.Be3! ?

Keene vs. Schiller, Windy City Invitational Chicago, 1 985

As one of the main chess advisors to my publisher at the

time, Batsford, Keene knew that I had translated many books
and articles by Kasparov.
He also knew I didn' t have a hand in the book that Kasparov
and Shakarov wrote on the Caro-Kann, though I was probably
familiar with much of it. He found a new idea, a suggestion by
Kasparov in a little note, which claimed an advantage for White.
Why not go with Garry 's idea?
As it happened, I was more than a little familiar with the
move. My copy of the book had a little note I scribbled in the
margin which read: l 8 . . Qa5 ! I definitely did not agree that the
. =.

position favored White in any significant way.

I was delighted when the position arose at the board, and for
once had no problem remembering my analysis.
18 Qa5!; 19.Kbl Nc5; 20.c3. As expected. Now the rooks
.••

leave the stage.

20 Rxdl +; 21.Rxdl Rd8; 22.Rxd8+ Qxd8; 23.Bxc5 Bxc5.
.••

1 31
 D EVELOPMENT OF A CH ESS MASTER

Position after 23. . Bxc5

.

I was out of preparation now, but was certain I could hold the
position. Out of respect for his position in the tournament, I didn't
insult him with a draw offer. 24.Ne4 Qd5.
Why give up the bishop? Why not, as the exchange leads to
an easily drawn queen endgame. 25.Kc2 Be7j 26.b3 Qa5j 27.Kb2
Qb6j 28.Qf2. Keene's endgame analysis skills have been dem­
onstrated to me time and time again as we have worked together
a lot. He is a tremendous analyst. Of course the minor piece
endgame is fine for Black, but keeping queens on the board is
easier. 28 ... Qa6j 29.c4 Qa3+j 30.Kbl Qb4! The exclamation
point is for psychological effect. Instead of cowardly retreating
to a5 , protecting the
pawn, I keep my queen's
eye on d6, a more danger­
'f j(Ju have already learned ous square. The a-pawn
the basic opening lines ex­ can ' t be taken because of
. . . Qe l + . Indeed, Keene
tend your knowledge deeply
could not find any useful
in lines that are popular or plan and offered a draw
are recommended in books. when I returned to the
board. I accepted.

1 32
 LESSON S LEARN ED

I NS P I RAT I O N AS P R E PARATION
There are many ways to prepare for a game, but the next
game shows that sometimes inspiration comes from an odd di­
rection. Sometimes the most appropriate preparation is to simply
relax. If your opening is well prepared and your opponent is not
unfamiliar, much of the decision-making takes place away from
a chessboard.
The game was played at the San Mateo International Futu­
rity, an internationally ranked chess tournament featuring local
masters and masters from Finland and Spain as well as the most
promising young stars from Northern California.
With two tough games scheduled for Sunday, a night off at
Shoreline Amphitheater for a Phish concert seemed just the right
thing to do to relax before the difficult confrontation against the
runner-up in the year's Denker Tournament of High School Cham­
pions. Adrian Keatinge-Clay, heading to Stanford, was a master
seeking to move up into the international ranks.
Since the pressure was on him to earn his international rank­
ing, which I already had, I chose to relax. Chess was far from my
mind as I entered the lawn to enjoy my flrst live Phish show.
What greeted me was a strange sight indeed. On the left side of
the stage, there was a huge chessboard, with all the pieces in their
proper places . I had no idea what was going on, but escaping
from chess might prove impossible.
After the flrst two songs, the band explained what was going
on. They are all big fans of the Royal Game and spend a lot of
time on the road doing battle at the chessboard. They would be
challenging the audience to a game of chess on this national tour,
with one move played at each concert.
To get things going, they played a couple of moves. The game
began with keyboardist and vocalist Page McConnell using the
normal move l .e4 and a fan by the name of Pooh (I am not sure
about the spelling) responded sensibly with 1 ...e5. Then Page
played his pet move 2.Bb5 ! ?, which is the unorthodox opening
known as the Portuguese Opening. Pooh took no chances, but
slid the game into more orthodox paths with 2 . Nc6, and Page
..

1 33
 D EVE LO P M E N T O F A CH ESS MASTE R

responded 3.Nf3, with the game now in the familiar Ruy Lopez
Opening (Spanish Game) . These moves were made to the ac­
companiment of White Rabbit.
During the set break, people were invited to gather at the
Greenpeace booth and vote on the audience move. Of course I
headed there, and introduced myself as a professional and cur­
rent champion of Northern California. Many moves were sug­
gested by the pUblic.
I explained why I felt that the choice should be between 3 ... a6
(which has been seen in half the games of the Intel-sponsored
PCA World Championship then underway in New York), and
3 . Nf6. Eventually 3 . . . a6 was selected by vote.
..

I was then asked to make the move on the stage, which

sounded like fun, so I readily agreed. I was escorted backstage
where I met Page, Mike Gordon, Trey Anastasio and Jon Fishman,
who are the members of Phish.
They are real chess "phans," and I was happy to discover
this, because chess suffers from such a geeky image that to find
brilliant and imaginative alternative music performers with a love
•

for the game is really rewarding.

Just before the second set began, I walked on stage alone to
make the chosen move before at least 1 5 ,000 screaming fans.
That might be a record for people in attendance at a chess game !
Unfortunately, the complete game, which took place over
period of months in locales scattered throughout the country, was
not recorded for posterity. I wasn't able be at the other West Coast
concerts, because I was moderating the World Championship
coverage on the Internet Chess Club.
On Sunday, I played truly inspired chess to win my match,
creating one of my most satisfying games. It involved a huge,
long sacrifice that required 15 moves by each player to resolve
itself, and I think it is fair to say that my experience at the show
played a large part in putting me in the all-important frame of
mind necessary to creative play. At the point in the game just
before I delivered the decisive sacrifice, I had that same feeling
that many of us get when absorbed in great music.

1 34
 LESSONS LEARN E Q

There i s the fantastic Zen-like feeling that everything makes

sense, that all truth is suddenly revealed eveIl:: jf i t cannot b e ar­
ticulated. For those of us who love chess, it is'.thl s, not the mere
defeating of an opponent that matters. This is Why we play, why
we devote countless hours to studying the mysteries of the game,
which even after 1 500 years or so have not been worked out by
man or machine. And now for the game . . .
l.d4 Nf6; 2.c4 g6; 3.Nc3 d5; 4.cxd5 Nxd5; 5.Qb3. Slightly
off the beaten path. This is a line Jon Tisdall showed me about a
decade ago. S ... Nxc3; 6.bxc3 Bg7; 7.Nf3 �; 8.e3. This solid
approach is my own idea. It doesn't promise White much, but I
am content to let the game develop slowly.
8 ... cS; 9.Ba3 b6; 10.Rd1 Qc7.

Position after
10. . . Qc7

Schiller vs. Keatinge-Clay, San Mateo International Futurity, 1995

1l.Bc4? ! A poor choice. I just should have settled for 1 1 .Be2.

On c4 the bishop is too exposed. 1l ...Nc6! Threatening . . . Na5,
attacking my queen and bishop.
12.BdS e6; 13.Bxc6 Qxc6; 14.0-0 Ba6; lS.Rfe1 Rfd8;
16.Rd2 Rac8; 17.e4 cxd4; 18.cxd4.
This is the position I was aiming for, but I underestimated
how weak my pawn at a2 is.

1 35
 DEVELOPMENT OF A C H ESS MASTER

, 18...Bc4; 19.Qe3 Rc'; 20.Red1 Qa4; 21.RC! as; 22.Rdc2

b5'; 23.Bc5! Rdc8; 24.Bd6 Rc6; 25.Bf4.

Position after 25.Bf4

The plan was to get the bishop to the king side, where it might
do some good. I begin to sense some real attacking possibilities,
but nothing concrete.
25 ...f6; 26.h4. An important move, making room for my king
and adding pressure on the kingside.
This pawn plays a crucial role in the final combination.
26...Bf8.

1 36
 LESSONS LEARN ED

Position after 26 . BfB

..

This is a critical position. Now the sacrifices begin. 27.d5 !

This will lead to the loss of the exchange. B ut I have most of the
rest of the game worked out, except for one detail. 27 Bxd5;
•••

28.exd5 Rxc2; 29.Qxe6+ Kg7; 30.Rxc2 Rxc2. Taking with the

queen would not have made a big difference. 31.Qd7+ Kg8;
32.Qe6+. I am just marking time for a few minutes to collect my
thoughts. The key idea still eludes my calculations. 32 ... Kg7.

Position after 32 .Kg7

..

1 37
 D EVELO P M E N T OF A CHESS MAST E R

At this point the Zen-like light dawned, the incredible feel­

ing of having the answers to all the questions, of seeing the clear
path to victory. The advance of my pawn from f2-f4 was hidden
in the fog, and looking at the position you can see why: f4 is
occupied by a bishop, and the knight is in the way.
But the truth rushed in from all sides, and I couldn't keep a
little smile from peeking through.
33.Qd7+ Kg8; 34.Ng5! !

Position after 34.Ng5!!

This move forces victory.

34 fxgS. Black has to capture because of the threats at f7
.••

and h7, e.g., 34 ... Bg7; 3 5 . Qf7+ KhS; 36.QeS+ BfS; 37.QxfS#.
3S.Qe6+ Kg7. 3S KhS is dealt with efficiently by 36.Be5+
...

Bg7 ; 37.QeS#. 36.Be5+ Kh6; 37.hxgS+ KhS. Black also loses if

he captures the pawn. 37 ... Kxg5; 3S.Bf6+ Kf4; 39.Qe5+ Kg4;
40.Qg5#.
38.Qh3+ KxgS. 3S . . . Qh4 ; 3 9 . g4+ Kxg5 ; 40.f4+ Kh6;
4 1 .Qxh4#. 39.f4+!

1 38
 LESSO NS LEARN E D

Position after 39.f4 + !

This i s the point I had t o see back a t move 32. I didn't notice
the possibility when I started the combination back at move 27.
But even at move 32, I had this worked out through move 45 .
39 ... Qxf4; 40.Bxf4+ Kxf4; 41.Qf3+ Ke5; 42.Qxf8 Kxd5.
The rook is no match for the queen, even with two extra pawns.
The pawns fall like ripe apples . 43.Qd8+ Kc4; 44.Qxa5 b4;
45.Qc7+ Kd3; 46.Qd6+ Kc4; 47.Qc6+ Kd3; 48.Qd5+ Kc3;
49.Qb3+ Kd2; 50.Qxb4+ Black could have resigned here, or
earlier, but he was still trying to figure out what had gone so
terribly wrong. 50 ... Ke2; 51.Qe4+ Kd2; 52.Qxc2+!
A final queen sacrifice
Game Lesson 40 to end the g ame with a
flourish. After the B lack
Go into a game in a good king captures the queen, the
a-pawn simply marches up
mood, and inspiration
the board until ! get a new
will flow. one. So Adrian resigned.

1 39
 D EVE LOPMENT OF A CH ESS MASTER

T H E ROU N DABOUT ATTACK

Sometimes the best way into an enemy position is to sneak
around back. Pieces slide to the flank across the board from the
target, work their way into the enemy home ranks, and then strike
from the side. Rooks and queens work best for this sort of opera­
tion. In this game, the rooks start with a frontal assault but find
the front door locked, so the roundabout strategy is used.
l.d4 dS; 2.c4 e6; 3.Nf3 c6; 4.Nbd2 fS; S.g3 Nf6; 6.Bg2 Bd6;
7.0-0 Qe7; 8.Qc2 0-0; 9.NeS Nbd7; 10.Ndf3.

Position after
JO.Ndj3

D. Gurevich vs. Schiller. Played in Oak Brook, 1993

This is a standard anti-Dutch plan. The knight at e5 is sup­

ported by both a pawn at d4 and another knight at either f3 or d3 .
10 Ne4 Black can safely keep the knight here if an enemy
••.

knight is at f3, so that White cannot place a pawn there. In many

cases the knight can sit at e4 even if the f3-square is not occu­
pied, since the weakening of the a7-g 1 diagonal can prove em­
barrassing for White if the f-pawn advances.
In addition, g3 can become vulnerable. 1l.Bf4. White invites
Black to advance the g-pawn. This is a double-edged strategy_
1l gS! ? Black accepts the challenge.
••.

12.Nxd7 Bxd7; 13.Bxd6 Nxd6. White now owns a superior

1 40
 LESSONS LEARN ED

bishop, but Black has plenty of room to maneuver.

14.Ne5 Be8. There are two ways to activate the light-squared
bishop in the Stonewall Dutch. Black can fianchetto it at b7 un­
der some circumstances, most easily when the knight sits at b8 to
defend the pawn at c6. The other plan, seen here, is to redeploy it
on the kingside. 15.f4. I S .c5 Nfl ; 1 6.Nxfl Bxfl ; 17.f3 Bg6; 1 8 .e4
f4 leaves White with more problems to solve than Black. 15 Bh5; ..•

16.Rac1 Rac8; 17.Khl. White takes care to get the king off the
a7-g1 diagonal in case Black opens up the game with . . . cS .
17 Nt7.
•••

18.cxd5 exd5. 1 8 . . . cxd5 allo ws White to sacrifice the queen,

though moving her to a safe square is also good. 1 9.Qxc8 Rxc8 ;
20.Rxc8+ Kg7 ; 2 1 .Rfc l Qb4; 22.fxgS Nxe5 ; 23.dxeS Qxb2;
24.Rlc7+ Bfl; 2S.Bf3 ! and White wins.
19.e3 Nxe5! Although Black has a bad bishop. there is little
to fear in most of the possible endgames. 20.fxe5 Bg6. White
must now take seriously the threat of advancing the f-pawn.
21.Qd2 Kg7. Black prepares to operate on the h-file.
22.b4 h5; 23.Rf2 Rh8; 24.Rcfl h4!; 25.Kgl. White gets the
king off the dangerous h-file. 25 g4; 26.Rc1 Qg5; 27.Rf4. White
.•.

does not want to allow . . .f4, even as a sacrifice.

27 Rh7; 28.b5 bxg3; 29.hxg3 Qh5.
•••

1 41
 D EVELO P M ENT OF A CH ESS MASTE R

30.Qf2? This square i s needed for the king. 30.Kf2 threatens

Rhl , trapping the enemy queen. 30 ... Qh2; 3 1 .Rhl . Forced,)n view
of the threat of ... Rh3 . 3 l . . .Qxh l ; 32.Bxh l Rxhl ; 3 3 . Qb4 cxb5 ;
34.Kg2 Rch8; 35.Qe7+ Bf7; 36.Qf6+ Kf8; 37.Qd8+ Kg7; 38.Qf6+
would have drawn. 30 ... Qh2+; 31.Kfl Rhh8!

It looks as though Black cannot make further progress. It is

true that I have exhausted the possibilities on the h-file, but there

1 42
 LESSONS LEARN ED

is another path to the enemy king. via the queenside. and with the
next v.ery subtle move I prepare a deep and long plan. 32.bxc6.
Had Dmitry figured out the point of my last move, he never would
have opened up the b-file.
32.Rb l b6; 33 .bxc6 Rxc6; 34.Bxd5 Rc2; 3 5 . Qxh2 Rhxh2
leaves White too tied down to make any progress.
32...Rxc6; 33.Rxc6 bxc6; 34.Qel. 34.Qc2 Rb8 ; 35.Kf2 Rb6
and again White has no way to make progress. 34... Rb8; 3S.a4
Rb3! White is completely tied down.
36.Rf2. Desperation. The rook should stay in its passive post
at f4, as now the Black bishop enters the game. 36.a5 Rb7 and
White is at a loss for a move, as all of the pieces must remain in
place to defend.
36 ...f4!

Game Lesson 4 1
The deadly threat is
. . . Rb l . 37.Rd2 Rxe3 ;
38.Qf2 Qxg3; 39.Qxg3
Sometimes the best way in Rxg3; 40.Rf2 0; 41.Bhl
is to sneak in from the Bd3+. White resigned.
opposite flank.

1 43
 DEVELOPM ENT OF A CH ESS MASTE R

S P E C U LATIVE PLAY REWARDED

The next game is one of my favorites. The sacrifices aren't
completely sound, but the game is fascinating in its complexity.
It is a good test game for computer chess programs, as some of
the ramifications of individual moves are not revealed until many
moves have been played. Human players have found it interest- .
ing, too. It was played in an early round of one of the famous
Regency Masters tournaments, and analysis of the game went on
every day until the end of the event.
The Regency Hotel in Ramsgate was owned by Ian Josephs,
a chessplayer. He had the presence of mind and goodwill toward
his fellows to use the hotel to host a school for foreigners, mostly
young women, to learn English. The playing hall was right next
to the bar, and the disco was distracting a number of chessplayers
there, but no one complained.
Indeed, those of us who had to brave the storm to get to
Brighton for the next tournament had many reasons to regret our
departure as our driver (trains were shut down) attempted to drive
in heavy snow for the first time. To keep distracted, the passen­
gers devoted considerable time to further analysis of the game!
Speculative play is not like gambit play. A gambit has a spe­
cific goal, usually rapid development, with reasonable possibili­
ties to recover the sacrificed material. In speculative play, the
sacrifice is usually permanent. The complications are not worked
out in advance, though a few appealing tactical lines usually have
floated to the surface.
It mustn't be a blufs, as the sacrifice has to lead to very con­
crete positional factors, which give confidence to the attacking
side. The pace of attack does not have to be fast, it just has to be
faster than the enemy's defense. Most speculative sacrifices take
place when enemy pieces are offside and cannot quickly rush to
the aid of the king.
1.e4 cS; 2.Nc3. This move is not necessarily an invitation to
the Closed Variations or Grand Prix Attack. Instead, it is an at­
tempt to transpose into a normal Open Sicilian, which normally
is reached via 2.Nf3. Therefore Black must be careful to choose

1 44
 LESSO N S LEARN E D

a reply which keeps open the possibilities o f transposing into the

main lines.
2 e6; 3.Nge2 d6; 4.d4 cxd4. Now we have reached the stan­
•..

dard positions in the opening. S.Nxd4 a6. The Naj dorf Variation
is one of Black's most popular options, and it will be reached
after Black plays . . .Nf6.
6.Be3 Nf6; 7.g4. This move transposes to systems that usu­
ally arise after 6.g4, known as the Keres Attack. Transposing back
into the nonnal lines by playing either 7 . . . h6 or 7 . . . Nc6 is pos­
sible. My opponent reasons that there is another possibility that
suggests itself because of the position of the bishop.
7...hS. In fact, the same reasoning led Swedish Grandmaster
U1f Andersson to the same conclusion back in the 1 970s, and
both played the same reply, advancing the pawn to h5. This en­
tire system is very popular now, but few players seem to be aware
of its history. At the Groningen GM Open of 1 996, one Grand­
master excitedly showed me his "new idea" with . . . h5 and I had
to burst his bubble.

Position after
7. h5
..

Schiller vs. Paoloui, Regency Masters Ramsgate, England 1981

7 . . . h6 transposes to more nonnal Keres Attack lines, though

these are by no means harmless for Black.

1 45
 D EVELO P M ENT O F A CHESS MASTER

8.gS Ng4; 9.Bc1 Qb6. Thi s i s a departure from the plan

adopted by Andersson, but it is not bad. B lack zooms in on the
dark squares.
10.h3 Ne5; 1l.Be2 g6; 12.Nb3 Nbc6; 13.f4!? This entails a
In return,
bit of risk, exposing a lot of territory near my king.
however, I keep the initiative. The obvious alternative was to
chase the queen away with Be3. I don' t like to chase the queen
away from an awkward square. Thematically, B lack must strive
for . . . b5, and that entails moving the queen. So why push it in the
right direction?
Fifteen years later two top stars pursued that course. 1 3 .Be3
Qc7 ; 1 4.f4 Nd7 ; 1 5 . Qd2 b5 ; 1 6.0-0-0 Bb7 ; 1 7 .Rhf1 Rc8 ; 1 8.Bd3
and White does have a rather pleasant position, Almasi-Polgar,
Tilburg 1 996. Well, I couldn't have known that back in 1 98 1 !
13 Nd7; 14.Rfl Qc7; 15.Be3 b5; 16.f5 ! ? This is the kind
.••

I keep the initiative

of move you hold your breath while playing.
and weaken the enemy king side, but I give up control of the e5-
square, which is probably the most important square on the board.
Speculative moves like this have gotten me into trouble many
times, but in this case things worked out well.
16 Nde5; 17.Nd4 Bd7. 17 . . . Nxd4; 1 8 .B xd4 is risky for
•.•

Black. White threatens to capture at e5, establishing a queenside

pawn majority. For example, I 8 . . . b4; 1 9 . fxg6 bxc 3 ; 20 .gxf7+
Nxf7 ; 2 1 .Rxf7 ! Qxf7 ; 22 .Bxh8 and the threat of B e2xh5 is ter­
rible to behold. On the other hand, 17 . . . b4; 1 8 . fxg6 bxc3 ; 1 9 . 9xf7+
Nxf7 ; 20 . N xc6 cxb2; 2 1 .Rb 1 Qxc6; 22.Bxh5 creates the nasty
threa t of g6 followed by g7 .
B lack will have to return material and is left with a danger­
ously exposed king . 22 . . . Qxe4 ; 23 .Bxf7+ Ke7 ; 24.Qf3 Qxf3 ;
25 .Rxf3 Bg7; 26.g6 Bf6 ; 27 .c3 ! is better for White. I didn' t see
all this at the time, but was confident that whatever Black chose
I ' d have good attacking chances especially if the f-file could be
ripped open.
18.fxe6 fxe6.

1 46
 LESSONS LEARN ED

19.Rf6! This move is stronger than i t looks. Many humans

would rej ect it quickly, since the rook will be chased away before
it can do any harm. I had my eyes on the weak king side pawns .
19 Nd8. Now all B lack needs to do is play . . . B e7 and the White
•.•

rook will have to retreat, leaving White with an inferior game. Or

so it seems. I didn ' t hesitate to sacrifice the rook.
20.Rxg6! Nxg6; 21.BxhS Nf7. This position has been used
to test computer evaluation functions. Almost all of the machines
fail to find the correct continuations. They do see that 2 1 . . . Kf7 ? ?
loses instantly to 22.Qf3+, b u t rarely see what White ' s plan i s .
22.Bxg6. This is th e only reasonable move. 22 Rxh3. There
.••

is now a nasty threat of . Rh 1 + .

..

Here I slip u p in my desperation to keep Black from castling

to safety. The correct plan was very hard to see. 23.Bxt7+?! This
is not the most accurate move, since it gives Black more defen­
sive possibilities. I just didn' t consider 23.Kd2 ! This clever, but
seemingly reckless move, would have given me a very strong
attack. 23 . . . Rh2+ . 23 . . . B c 8 ; 24.Qe2 e5 is the line preferred by
many computer programs, and it is absolutely horrible. No hu­
man master would advance the e-pawn, because:
a) it means that the B f8 has no future
b) it critically weakens f5

1 47
 DEVELOPMENT OF A C H ESS MASTER

c) it opens up a huge hole at d5 .

25.Nd5 Qb7 ; 26.Rfl ! is very strong. 26 . . . exd4; 27.Rxf7 Qxf7 ;
2 8 . B xf7+ Kxf7 ; 29.Qf1 + Kg8 ; 30.Bxd4. White wins easily.) ;
24. Kc 1 B c 8 ; 25 .Qf3 Rb8 ; 26.Bh5 threatens to advance th e g­
pawn to g6 and then g7, so Black must blockade the g7-square.
26 . . . B g7 ; 27 .B g 1 . Black is in serious trouble. White has so many
threats it is not clear that B lack can survive. 23 ••• Kxt7.

24.Qe2!? Here I could have played my king to d2 instead,

but I had hopes of castling to bring my king to safety on the
kingside .
2 4 (,.lc4? ! This move i s an obvious attempt to exchange
•..

queens, and would be played by most players. White's resources

are buried quite deeply and are hard to find, especially in a tour­
nament situation . Accepting the double-rook sacrifice with
24 . . . Rh l + would lead to a very long series of relatively forced
moves .
I only present the m ain line: 25 .Kd2 Rxal ; 26.Qh5+ Ke7;
27.Nf5 + ! exf5 ; 28 .Nd5+ Kd8 ; 29.Qf7 Kc 8 ; 3 0 . Qxf8+ Kb7 ;
3 1 . Qxa8+ ! Kxa8 ; 32.Nxc7+ Kb7 ; 3 3 .Nd5 . This was as far as my
mind could take me at the time. I had confidence that the g-pawn
was worth the exchange (rook vs knight).

1 48
 LESSONS LEARN E D

2S.Qf2+. Exchanging queens i s certainly out o f the question.

2S Kg8; 26.g6 Bg7? A time-pressure error. 26 . . . Rhl + ? ; 27 .Kd2
•••

Rxa l ? ! loses to 2 8 . Qf7+ Kh 8 ; 29.Qh7#, but 26 . . . Be8 was safer,

guarding the critical f7-square. 27.Qf7+ Kh8; 28.0-0-0! It was
finally time to castle ! 28 Be8.
•••

Now what c an White do? 28 . . . Rxe3 loses to 2 9 . Rh l + .

29.Qxe6! ! An amazing move, because we see a violation of the
most basic attacking principle: Don 't exchange the powerful
queens when attacking. It also violates the near-cardinal rule: don ' t
exchange pieces when you are behind i n material !
I showed this game to Garry Kasparov a few months later at
the super tournament in Bugojno. It gave me considerable plea­
sure that even Garry Kasparov couldn ' t find this in four minutes
although he had recently been awarded Grandmaster in 1 9 8 1 ,
and was just starting his climb to the championship.
He recommended the game for inclusion in the Chess Infor­
mant series and it was published in volume 3 3 .
29 ... Qxe6. 2 9 . . . Rxe3 ; 30.Rh 1 + wins for White . 30.Nxe6
Rxe3? Black c ould simply capture at g6 instead, but failed to see
why the fruit at e3 is forbidden. 30 . . . Bxc3 ! is the be st move, and
then Black will wind up at least the exchange. B lack was in se­
vere time trouble already, which made it hard to evaluate the

1 49
 D EVE LO P M ENT OF A CH ESS MASTER

endgames ; for example: 3 1 .bxc3 Rxe3 ; 32.Rh l + Kg8 ; 33 .Rh7.

where Black has to stop the eternal harassment of the king with
33 . . . Bxg6.
Then 34.Rg7 + Kh8; 35.Rxg6 Rxe4 leaves Black the exchange
up. though a win still requires a fair bit of work. So trading queens
was the best chance for White.
31.Rhl+ Kg8; 32.Nd5!

The threat is Ne7 checkmate ! 32 Bxg6; 33.Nxe3 Bxe4;

•••

34.Rgl Ra7; 35.Rg4 Bh7? A final mistake, with the clock leav­
ing little time to find that 35 . . . d5 ! ; 36.Kd2 ! d4; 37.Rxe4 dxe3+ ;
3 8 . Kxe3 Bxb2 would have earned a draw, assuming Black could
reach time control.
36.NdS ! This wins by force. Black cannot prevent the liqui­
dation of pieces that leads to a winning endgame for White.
36 ...Kh8; 37.Nxg7 Rxg7; 38.Rxg7 Kxg7. Any competent player
can quickly conclude re signation is inevitable for Black.
39.Nc7. This wins a pawn . 39...Kf6. If the a-pawn had ad­
vanced, then the b-pawn would have fallen. 4O.Nxa6 Ke5;41.Nc7.
My opponent resigned, since if the pawn advances to b4, then the
knight returns to a6 attacking it, and any further advance would
run into the wall of White pawns. The ending is such a trivial
matter that few masters would bother even trying to defend.

1 50
 LESSONS LEARN E D

Game Lesson 42

Sacri.ticing to keep the en­

emy king in the center of­
ten pays off!

S P E C U LATIVE PLAY REWARDE D - B

Speculative play is generally only rewarded when the oppo­
nent plays imperfectly, but this happens in most g ames where the
players are flesh and blood. In the next game, more precise de­
fense would have saved the day, but it is tough, even for a Grand­
master !
l.e4. e6; 2.d4 dS; 3.Nc3 Nf6; 4.eS.
The old Steinitz variation is enjoying renewed popularity these
days. A game between Kasparov and Short at the 1 994 Euwe
Memorial in Amsterdam had made a deep impression on me, and
I was hoping to make use of a plan involving h4, Rh3-g3 and a
king side attack that worked well for Kasparov.
4 ... Nfd7; S.f4 cS; 6.Nf3 Nc6; 7.Be3 Qb6; 8.Qd2.
The pawn sacrifice offered by this move has rarely been tested
in the tournament arena. I was quite surprised when Schwartzman
accepted it.
8 Qxb2; 9.Rbl Qa3.
..•

1 51
 D EVELOPMENT OF A CH ESS MASTER

Position after
9. . Qa3
.

Schiller vs. Schwartzman, U.S. Open, Alexandria VA, 1 994

10.dxc5. This was an original idea. 1 O.Be2 was recommended

in an old book by Harding, but it did not impress me at all . I
decided to eliminate the dark-squared bishops and use Kasparov 's
attacking formation on the kingside.10...Bxc5; 1l.Bxc5 Qxc5;
12.Bd3 a6; 13.h4 Nb6. 13 . . Qe7 would have made it harder for
.

me to j ustify the investment of the pawn.

14.Rh3! Nc4; 15.Bxc4 Qxc4; 16.a3!

1 52
 LESSONS LEARN E D

This i s a very important move. I need to free the knight from

the need to hang around at c3 just to defend the poor pawn.
16 b5j 17.Ne2 Bd7j lS.Nfd4!
•••

This eliminates the enemy knight, and I have a decent

endgame even without the pawn, because Black is left with a
very bad bishop .

lS Nxd4; 19.Nxd4 ReS.

..•

20.Rbb3 ! There are two points to this move. One is to b e

ready to transfer to the kingside at a moment's notice, and the
other point, more subtle, will be revealed shortly.
20 0-0; 2 1.Rhg3 f6.
..•

1 53
 DEVELO P M E N T OF A CH ESS MASTER

I anticipated this standard French counterplay.

22.f5!? I hadn' t worked out all the tactics here, but I had a
great deal of confidence and had seen some pleasant long varia­
tions, beginning at move 27 !
22 ... exf5. This fell in with my plans. But what about the al­
ternative? Could I have held the position following 22 . . . fxe5 ;
2 3 . Qh6 Rf7; 24.Rb4 Qc5 ! ; 25 .fxe6 Re7 ! ; 26.exd7 exd4+; 27.Kfl
Rf8 + ; 28.Kg l d3+ ; 29.Kh2 Kh8 ! (Avoiding 29 . . . dxc2? which al­
lows 30.Rbg4 ! with devastating threats at g7 . Another trap is
29 . . . Rxd7 ; 30.cxd3. ) ; 30.Qf4 ! Rxd7 (Not 30 . . . Rxf4??, which al­
lows 3 1 .d8Q+ . ) ; 3 1 . Qg4 dxc2 ! ; 32.Qxd7 g6, where Black wins.
It might not have been easy, but neither would it have been a
simple matter to find all these moves at the board !
23.Rbc3!

1 54
 LESSONS LEARN ED

A critical preparatory move before the real attack begins.

23 ... Qa4; 24.Qh6 Rn; 25.exf6 g6.

Black is relying on the pawns for protection, but a brutal sac·

rifice rips open the kingside.
26.Rxg6+! ! hxg6; 27.Qxg6+ KfS. The king can run but he
cannot hide.
28.Qh6+ Ke8; 29.Qh8+ Rf'8; 30.Re3+ Kd8. One rook must

1 55
 D EV E LO P M E NT OF A CH ESS MASTER

be abandoned, and the Game Lesson 43

other soon follows.
3 1 . QxfS + Kc7j
32.Qc5+ KbSj 33.Qd6+
In sharp positions mate­
Rc7j 34.Rc3 Qa5j rial isn 't as important, so
3 5 . Q x c 7 + . B l ack re­ invensting a little to mix
signed.
things up is often a good
idea.

S P E C U LATIVE P LAY REWARDED - C

As I was finishing writing a book on the games of Rudolf
Spie1mann, I took part in one of the regular all-Master training
tournaments held monthly in the San Francisco area. I found
myself paired with a very strong opponent, Mike Ame (2400
FIDE).
Since we were due to meet a few weeks later in an IM norm
tournament, I decided that I shouldn't play my special prepara­
tion for him. Naturally with so much Spielmann on my mind I
turned to one of his favorite lines, the Worral Attack in the Span­
ish Game. My preparation consisted solely of annotating a few
games for my book, and the choice was made at the board. So
this game shows that it is not necessary to study a lot of opening
theory as White in the Spanish Game. All that is needed is some
basic concepts, and either courage or recklessness !
l.e4 e5j 2.Nf3 Nc6j 3.Bb5 a6j 4.Ba4 Nf6j 5.Qe2 b5j 6.Bb3
Bc5. The sharpest continuation. 7.c3 O-Oj S.O-O d6. 8 . . d5 is a
.

good alternative. 9.h3. This is not necessary, as Black's bishop is

headed to b7, but I wanted to make sure it was kept off of g4
where the pin on the knight would weaken my control of d4.
9 . .Bb7j 10.Rdl ReSj 11.a4 b4j 12.a5 QbS? ! In retrospect,
.

this is an error. The simple 12 ... Qe7 would have given Black an
equal game.
13.d4 ! ?

1 56
 LESSONS LEARN E D

Position after
13. d4

Schiller vs. Ame, Foster City, 1 995

This is a speculative sacrifice. I saw the Black forces huddled

on the queenside and felt that a pawn could safely be invested for
good attacking chances. My bishops will be very strong
13 ...exd4; 14.cxd4 Ba7. 14 . . . Rxe4 was certainly playable,
but I felt that I would then have sufficient compensation after
15 .Be3 ! ?
lS.eS! One would think that this move would b e more dan­
gerous to White, since the B lack rook at e8 is lined up against the
queen. The goal is to remove the knight from f6, leaving the
kingside defended by mere pawns.
lS . . . dS. 15 ... Nd7 ; 1 6.Ng5 would have given White a strong
attack. 15 ... dxe5 ; 16.dxe5 Nd8 ; 1 7 .Ng5 threatens Rxd8 followed
by an assault at f7. 1 5 ... Re7 would have been met by 1 6.Bg5,
which threatens to smash open the kingside.
16.Qd3! Now Black must try for complications. 16...Ne4.
On 16 ... Nd7 ; 1 7.Bxd5 Ne7 ; 1 8 .Bc4 is simple and strong.
17.BxdS Nxf2.

1 57
 D EVELOPMENT OF A C H ESS MASTER

The idea is that if White captures the knight the pin on d4

allo ws captures at e5 with counterplay. Instead, I sacrifice a bishop
and a rook to go after the undefended Black king.
18.Bxf7+! !; 1 8 .Kxf2 Nxe5 ; 1 9.Qb3 Bxd5 ; 20.Qxd5 Nxf3 ;
2 1 .gxf3 c5 leaves the White king vulnerable to attack.
18 Kxf7; 19.QfS+ Kg8; 20.NgS.
••.

1 58
 LESS O N S L EARNED

Black might now have tried 20 . . . Nxh3+, which would have

required White to find some good moves. 21 .Qxh3 Bxd4+ ! ;
22.Rxd4 ! Nxd4; 23 .Qxh7+ keeps the attack going. For ex amp le
23 . . . Kf8 ; 24.Qh8+ Ke7 ; 25 .Qxg7+ Kd8; 26.Be3 Nf5 ; 27 .Qf6+
Ne7; 28.Qe6, or 26 . . . c5 ; 27.Bxd4 cxd4; 28.Qf6+ Kd7 ; 29.Qf5+
Kc6 ; 30.Na3 ! and the knight cannot be c ap tured because of
3 1 .Rc 1+ and mate follows quickly.
Instead, the game continued 20 . . . Nxdl; 21.Qxh7+.

21...Kf8; 22.Qh8+ Ke7; 23.Qxg7+ Kd8; 24.Nt7+ Kd7.

So far, White's moves have been easy. This position looks
great for White, but it is not so simple to keep the attack going.
After all , Black is ready to take the initiative by c apturin g at d4
with the bishop, which could then be come a useful defensive as­
set.

1 59
 D EVELOPMENT OF A C H ESS MASTE R

2S.e6+! Less effective i s 25.Nd6+ Re7 ; 26.Qg4+ Re6 and

unfortunately the d-pawn, being pinned, cannot advance todS .
Nor does 25 .Ng5+ d o the trick, as B lack retreats to c 8 . The Black
pieces come alive on 25.Bg5 Bxd4+ ; 26.Khl Nf2+ ; 27 .Kh2 Ne7,
so the pawn had to be sacrificed.
2S ... Kxe6. Black can ' t go to c9 because of Nd6+ followed
by Qd7#. The next series of moves is forced.

1 60
 LESSONS LEARN E D

26.NgS+ KdS. The B lack king runs to daylight. The alterna­

tive was 26 . . . Kd6; 27.Bf4+ ; for example, 27 . . . NeS ; 2 8 . B xeS Kc6;
2 9 . Qg6+ KbS ; 30.Na3+ bxa3; 3 1 . Qd3+ Kc6; 3 2 . Rc 1 + Kd7 ;
3 3 . QfS+ Ke7 ; 34.Bf6+ Kd6 ; 3 S .Nf7#, or 29 . . . Qd8 ; 3 0 . B f6+ and
mate follows.
27.Qd7+. If the Black king is allowed to capture the d-pawn,
then the next time it moves it will expose the White king to check
from the bishop at a7, and that may, in some circumstances, give
B lack enough time to regroup.
27 ... Kc4; 28.Nd2+ Kd3; 29.QfS+! Kxd4.

Surely there is a mating net here ! There is, but it involves a

problem-like move. 30.Ngf3+! 30.Ndf3+ Kc4+ would have pro­
longed the game.
30...Ke3; 31.Kf1 ! ! A quiet king move ends the spectacular
combination. The final position deserves its own picture.

1 61
 D EVELOPMENT O F A CH ESS MASTE R

B lack resigned, as there i s n o way out o f checkmate.

Game Lesson 44

Ifyou want to go king-hunting,

you 'll n eed to provide some
bait!

1 62
 LESSONS LEARN E D

S P E C U LATIVE PLAY REWAR D E D - D

l.d4 d5; 2.Nf3 Nf6; 3.e3 e6; 4.Bd3 Be7; 5.� �; 6.Nbd2
Nbd7; 7.b3 Re8; 8.Bb2 as; 9.Ne5 a4; 10.f4 Nf8; 1l.Ndf3 Ne4;
12.Ng5! ?

Position after
12. Ng5

Schiller vs. Ionescu, Zemitis International Futurity,

San Francisco, 2000

Our final example of speculative play rewarded involves not

only the offer of a pawn, but in a circumstance where another
pawn, the weakling at e3, will be offered as well. 12 Bxg5. Black
...

could also have captured with the knight, but White comes out
on top after 12 . . . NxgS ; 1 3.fxg5 BxgS ; 14.Nxf7 Bxe3 + ; l S . Kh l
Qe7; 1 6.Qe2 B g S ; 17.NxgS QxgS ; l 8.Qf3 .
The best defense was 1 2 . . . Nd6 ! , but after 1 3 .B a3 ! ? Black
would be faced with a difficult decision. Capturing at b3 is un­
wise. The pawn will eat its way to the promotions square, but in
the meantime, White inflicts too much damage: 1 3 . . . axb3 ;
14.Bxd6 b2; l S.Ngxf7 bxa l Q ; 1 6.Qxal cxd6; 1 7.Nxd8 dxeS ;
1 8 .Nxe6 Bxe6; 1 9.fxeS and Black is in serious trouble. Black
must also be careful to avoid further weakening the kingside.
1 3 . . . f6; 14.QhS ! g6; lS .Nxg6 hxg6; 1 6.Bxg6 fxgS ; 1 7.Bxd6 cxd6 ;
1 8 .Bf7+ Kg7 ; 19.fxgS !

1 63
 D EVELO PMENT OF A CH ESS MASTER

Accepting the pawn at gS leads to the most complicated varia­

tions. 1 3 . . . BxgS ; 14.fxgS QxgS; IS .Bxd6 cxd6; 1 6.Nxfl Qxe3+ ;
17.Khl eS; 1 8 .QhS remains murky. Black can try either 1 8 . . . g6
or 1 8 . . . Re7, but faces a difficult defense in either case. White's
attack is worth more than a pawn.
13.fxgS QxgS; 14.Bxe4 Qxe3+. Black could insert 14 ... f6;
1 5 .Bd3, but after 15 . . . Qxe3+ ; 16.Kh l fxeS ; 1 7.dxeS, White still
has a strong game.
lS.Khl Qxe4; 16.Rxt7.

White's powerful knight and invading rook don't have much

support, but don' t need any. Black's pieces remain useless, while
White 's rush in.
16 Nd7. Getting rid of White's knight is a sensible plan.
•••

17.QhS. Less clear is 17.Rxd7 Bxd7 ; 1 8.Nxd7 b6. 17 Nxe5; ••.

18.dxeS axb3; 19.Rafl. It looks as though White could make

progress with 1 9.Rxc7 Rf8 ; 20.Qg5, but after 20 . . . Qg6; 2 1 .Qxg6
hxg6; 22.cxb3, Black has 22 . . . Rxa2 !
19 Qg6; 20.Qf3. Exchanging queens fails to achieve the
•..

objective. On 20.Qxg6 hxg6; 21 .axb3 Ra2; 22.Bc3 Rxc2; 23.Rxc7

b6; 24.h3 Rd8 ; 2S .Rff7 , Black defends with 2S . . . Rd7 !
20 ...Bd7!

1 64
 LESSO N S LEARN E D

An excellent resource, since capturing on d7 allows Black to

get a rook to fB . Control of that square is crucial.
21.Ba3! b6; 22.Bf8 RxfS, or 22 . . . bxa2; 23.Rxg7+ Qxg7 ;
24.Bxg7 Kxg7 ; 25.Qf7+ Kh8; 26.Ral Bb5 ; 27.Qg6, with a tre­
mendous game for White.
23.Rxt'8+ Rxt'8; 24.Qxf8+ Kh7; 25.cxb3 Bb5; 26.Rgl c6? !
Black miSlies a bitter defense. 2 6 . . . Bd3 ! ; 27 .Qe7 Be4; 28.Qb4
(28.Qxc7? Bxg2+ ; 29 .Rxg2 Qb l + ; 30.Rg l Qe4+=); 28 . . . b6;
29.Qd4 cS is unclear.
27.Qb4 Qe4? Badly misjudging the endgame. It is too late
to plant the bishop: 27 . . . Bd3 ; 28.Qxb7 Be4 runs into 29.Qb6 ! A
reasonable practical try is 27 . . . Qf5 ; 28.a4 Ba6, but even here White
is better.
For example, 29.Qd6 Bfl ; 30.Qb4 Qf2; 3 1 .h3 ! Avoiding the
trap seen in the previous note. 3 1 . ..Ba6; 32.Qg4 with a very strong
game. The endgame, which follows the exchange of queens, is
easily won if played properly.
28.Qxe4+ dxe4; 29.Rel Bd3; 30.g4!+.

1 65
 D EVELOPMENT OF A C H ESS MASTE R

That's the move my opponent failed to consider when he al­

lowed the queen swap. Although the g-pawn seems to be vulner­
able, it will soon enjoy the direct protection of the king.
30 hS. Black hopes
•••

White will capture, after G a m e Lesson 45

which . . . Kh6 will re­
cover the pawn. A weak backward pawn can
31 .Kg2 ! h4. Black be sacrificed/or the iniJiative.
needs to d e c line the
pawn, since after
3 l . . .hxg4; 32.Kg3 Kg6 ;
33.Kxg4 Kh6; 34.Kf4, Black has nothing better than g5+ ; 35.Ke3
Kg6; 36.Rg 1 . White will inevitably infiltrate on the kingside; for
example, Kf5 ; 37.Rg2 Bb 1 ; 38.Kd4 Kf4; 39.Rf2+ Kg4; 40.b4
Kh3 ; 4 1 .a4 g4; 42.a5 g3 ; 43 .hxg3 Kxg3; 44.Rf7 etc.
32.Kh3! gS. Forced. Now the king side is closed.
33.Kg2 cS; 34.Rcl b6; 3S.Kf2 Kg7; 36.a4 c4; 37.bxc4.
Black resigned.

1 66
 LESSO N S LEARN ED

PAT I E N C E I
The games below show how patient, accurate play can lead
to success even against Grandmaster opposition in serious tour­
nament play. The games start out innocently enough using the
Reti Opening, a system I have adopted in many important games.
Although the opening has a reputation for being rather quiet, it
can build into an aggressive queen side campaign.
I chose the opening because it is very hard to defeat without
taking some risk. The burden of attack is on Black, since White
can pursue queenside ambitions easily.
I.NO dS; 2.c4 d4; 3.b4 g6; 4.Bb2 Bg7; S.g3 as; 6.a3 eS;
7.d3 Ne7; 8.Bg2 cS; 9.Qb3 axb4; IO.axb4 Rxal; 1l.Bxal Nbc6.

Position after
ll.Nbc6

Schiller vs. D. Gurevich, Mechanics Masters, San Francisco, 1997

The game has developed rather quietly. I had to consider care­

fully the consequences of my next move. Advancing the b-pawn
secures a great advantage if I can later take control of the a-file.
However, opening up the a5-el diagonal has some risk at­
tached. The complications are not hard to analyze tactically, but
the evaluation of the resulting positions isn't easy.
12.bS. The contour of the game is established. Black has a
weak pawn at b6. This can be a mantra for White. Just repeat it

1 67
 D EVELOPMENT O F A C HESS MASTER

over and over and remember that in th e end, that pawn at b6 is

the key target.
12 Qa5+j 13.Nfd2 Nb4. 1 3 . . Qxa l ; 1 4.bxc6 Nxc6; 1 5 .0--0
. • • .

is very unclear.
14.Bb2 0-0j 15.0-0 b6; 16.Na3 Qa7j 17.Ral! Ownership
of the a-file is crucial. The remainder of the middlegame requires
patient play, taking care to meet all enemy threats while prepar­
ing the invasion via the a-fIle.
17 Qb8j 18.Nc2 Nxc2j 19.Qxc2 Bg4. Black tries to get
• • •

some counterplay. 20.Nfl h5j 21.h3 BOOj 22.Qa4 Qd6j 23.Bcl

h4! A good move, but this was an offer I didn't have to refuse.
24.Qa7?! Should have just captured at h4. 24 f5j 25.Bg5
•••

Nc8; 26.Qb7 hxg3j 27.Nxg3 e4; 28.Ra8 Be5j 29.Bh6. 29.Nfl ! ?

might have been considered.
29 Rf7. The time for patience is over. Having successfully
.•.

infIltrated the enemy position, the next task is to rip pieces off
the board and achieve an endgame in which the queenside ad­
vantage, specifically Black's weakness at b6, is sufficient for a
win.
30.Rxc8+ Kh7. The position has grown very complicated,
but I simply and patiently pursue the goal of exchanging queens.

31.Bf8! Rxb7; 32.Bxd6 Bxg3j 33.Rc6 Bxd6; 34.Rxd6.

1 68
 LESSONS LEARN E D

The endgame i s tremendous for White. The pawn chains are

anchored at the very defensible e2 and f2 squares for White , but
at the weak b6 and g6 squares in the Black camp.
34 Bt7; 35.Kh2 Rb8; 36.Rd7 Kg8; 37.h4 Ra8; 38.Rb7
•••

Ra2. Black has now taken the a-file and performed his own infil­
tration, but the struggle
has shifted to the center,
where White remains su­ Game Lesson 46
perior. 39.dxe4 Rxe2;
4O.exfS Rxf2; 41.Rxb6. Games involving big chains
The base of the pawn of pawns require patient
chain finally fal l s .
White's b-pawn, already
pursuit of the base of the
well advanced, now has pawn chain.
just a few squares to go
to reach the promotion
square.
Bxc4; 42.Rxg6+ Kt7; 43.b6 Ba6; 44.Kg3 RxfS; 45.Rc6
Kg7; 46.Rc7+ Rf7; 47.Ra7 d3. Too late. Black cannot survive.
48.Rxa6. I took the simple road. But there was another, better
win: 48.Bd5 Rxa7 ; 49.bxa7 d2; 50.a8Q d l Q ; 5 1 .Qg8+ Kh6;
52.Qf8+ Kg6; 5 3 .Be4+ Kh5 ; 54.Qh8#.
48 d2; 49.Ral c4; SO.Be4 c3; S1 Bc2 Rf6; S2.Rbl Rf8;
••• .

53.h7. Black resigned.

PAT I E N C E ! - B
Since the Reti had been serving me well, with its slow ap­
proach to the opening, I decided to keep using it against Grand­
masters. Patience is essential to that opening strategy, which is
why it probably didn't serve me well in my younger years.
l.Nf3 dS; 2.c4 d4; 3.g3 g6; 4.b4 Bg7; S.Bh2 e5; 6.d3 a5;
7.hS Ne7; 8.Bg2 �; 9.�. As in the game with Gurevich, I
grab as much territory as I can on the queenside.
9 . . c5 ! A clever defense. If I do not capture, giving up my
.

prized b-pawn, then the queenside will remain closed and the

1 69
 D EVELO P M E NT O F A CH ESS MAST E R

base o f the pawn chain, soon t o b e at b6, will remain forever out
of reach.

Position after
9. . c5
.

Schiller vs. Yakovich, New York Open, 1998

10.bxc6 Nexc6; 1l.Nbd2 Na6; I2.NeI Be6; I3.Nc2 Qd7.

Black wins the development race, but must have some concerns
over the semi-open b-file. There is nothing much White can do at
the moment, but by patiently increasing pressure on the queenside
the game will become difficult to play for Black.
I4.Ba3 Rfd8; IS.RbI Rab8; I6.Ne4 h6; I7.NcS.
My knight on e4 certainly seemed stronger than the enemy
knight at a6, but B lack could easily drive my knight back and the
enemy knight did have control of the important b4-square. Call it
an even trade, in an even position.
I7 NxcS; I8.BxcS Bh3; I9.RbS. Preparing to put as much
•••

pressure as possible on the pawn at b7. Black will be able to

defend, but that will divert resources from other squares.
I9 Bxg2; 20.Kxg2 Re8; 21.QbI e4. Black is trying to
•..

weaken the base of my pawn chain by exchanging at d3 . Since I

control the e3-square, and Black doesn't have a light-squared
bishop, my pawn at d3 will not be easily captured.
22.Bb6 exd3; 23.exd3 ReS.

1 70
 LESSON S L EARN E D

This i s no time for nervous play. Black has n o real threats

and the bishop at g7 has no influence. Time to calmly decide
which pieces should be removed from the board. I decide to elimi­
nate all the rooks. Although this gives me less pressure at b7, I
can concentrate on the weak pawn at as as well.
24.Rel! Rbe8; 25.Rbxe5 Rxe5; 26.Rxe5 Nxe5. White has
to be a little careful about the weaknesses of the light squares,
and especially the a8-hI diagonal.
27.Qb5 ! Qg4. 27 . . . Qxb5 ; 28.cxb5 Nxd3 ; 29.Bxd4 didn't re­
ally come into consideration. This was round 1, and the Grand­
master wasn't going to let me off with an easy draw !
28.Nxd4 Nxd3; 29.Qe8+ Bt'S. The game is still even, which
means my opponent was feeling the pressure of trying to defeat a
lower-ranked opponent.
30.Qe3.

1 71
 D EVELOPMENT OF A C H ESS MASTE R

This move contains a trap, which my opponent did not man­

age to avoid. The knight should retreat to b4 and then to c6 if I
attack it with my pawn. I can't win the a-pawn in this line with­
out losing one of my own
pawns.
Game Lesson 47
30 ...Bc5?? In grow­
ing time pressure, and af­
When facing a superior ter being under consider­
opponent, use slow patient abl e pre s s ure on the
queenside, Black blun­
play until you spotfavorable
der s . 3 1 .Bxc5 Nxc5j
tactical operations. 32.QeS+ Kg7j 33.Qe5+.
The knight at cS fall s , so
Black resigned.

1 72
 LESSONS L EARN E D

D EEEE-FENSEI
When you are facing a strong opponent, you have to expect
that over the course of the first thirty moves or so you'll often
find yourself defending a difficult position. As we've seen in many
previous examples, the attacking side has the advantage of not
necessarily needing to find the best moves.
The defender, on the other hand, cannot afford a mistake.
Defensive thinking requires paying attention to all threats and
potential threats. As long as you can keep parrying the enemy
thrusts you will be able to hold off the attack.
One of the great dangers faced by the defending side is the
tendency to overestimate a threat. The thought of an enemy piece
invading the position is a frightening one. Still, if it is just a single
piece you may not have much to worry about. Perhaps the worst
case of a single-piece invasion is an enemy queen at h7 after you
have castled kingside.
If the rook hasn't moved, and the queen is defended, that's
going to be checkmate. If, however, an escape route is prepared
via f8 and e7, and the e-file is closed, the invasion may be noth­
ing more than a minor anno yance. In the best case, the queen will
even find herself offside !
l.d4 dSj 2.c4 e6j 3.Nc3 cSj 4.e3.
My opponent is a veteran Grandmaster and has always pre­
ferred a classical and quiet approach to the White side of the
Queen's Gambit.
4 Nff.; S.NfJ a6.
..•

A particular favorite of mine, because it unbalances the pawn

structure and breaks the symmetry.
Here is the early opening position:

1 73
 D EVELO P M E N T OF A C H ESS MASTER

Position after
5. . . a6

Bisguier vs. Schiller; World Open, Philadelphia, 1986

6.cxdS cxd4; 7.exd4 NxdS. A typical isolated d-pawn posi­

tion, with Black securely blockading the d5-square.
8.Bd3 Nc6; 9.0-0 Be7; 10.Rel Bf6; 1l.Ne4 h6; 12.Bc2 0-
0; 13.Nxf6+ Qxf6; 14.Qd3. The queen aims at h7, hoping to
deliver a checkmate.
14 Rd8!; IS.Be3 KfS. l am preparing for the invasion at
•••

h7 by opening up an escape route via e7 .

16.Racl Bd7; 17.Bb3 Be8; 18.Qh7. The queen invades,
threatening a nasty check at h8. 18 Nce7. My king is now shut
.••

in, but the knight can come to g8 and the minor pieces hlld pawns
offer plenty of defense.
The bishop can now use c6 as a temporary home to block the
c-file, adding to the security of the king.
19.Bd2 as; 20.NeS Bc6; 21.Bxd5 RxdS; 22.Re3.

1 74
 LESSONS LEARN ED

White is preparing th e killer moveRf3, s o I must clear the

path for my bishop. I grab the d-pawn, knowing that it will cost
me the exchange. In return, my bishop comes alive and f3 will be
unavailable to White.
22 Rxd4j 23.Bc3. Obviously I dare not move this rook.
..•

23 ... Rad8j 24.Bxd4 Rxd4j 25.Qh8+ Ng8j 26.Nxc6 bxc6j

27.Rb3.
Again the future looks bleak, but I have a saving resource .
White ' s queen can never return t o the game, s o all I have t o d o i s
neutralize the immediate threat.
27 ... Qf4! This covers b8 while attacking c l .
28.Rfl Qd6!j 29.h3 Rdl. I now eliminate a pair o f rooks
while increasing the power of my queen. 30.Rxdl Qxdl+j
31.Kh2 Qd6+j 32.g3 Qd4!
Game L e s s o n 4 8 The knight at g8 is not
important if I can establish
An invading queen is a a p erpetual check at f2 .

formidoble force, but she 33. Kg2 Q d 5 + j 34. Rf3

Qe4j 35.g4 f6j 36.Kg3.
can 't beat you all by her­ Black is certainly no worse,
self! but I agreed to the draw.

1 75
 D EVELOPMENT OF A CH ESS MASTER

AN U N US UAL STALEMATE
Stalemate themes are common in endgames. Nonnally, the
king finds himself stalemated with his back to the edge of the
board. Stalemating a king in the center is usually the property of
composers of chess problems. In the next game, a very unusual
stalemate is created, ri ght in the middle of the board !

Position after
38. Rj3
..

Macaulay vs. Schiller, Wightman Cup final, London, 1982

Black is in great difficulty here but the last move, played just
before the game was adjourned, provides a small initiative. The
strategy, worked out over the one week interval by the King's
Head team headed by Jon Speelroan, with Ray Keene and Jon
Tisdall among others, managed to hold the draw, and win the
championship as a result.
Speelroan came up with the fantasy stalemate idea, and I found
a pawn sacrifice that made it happen. 39.Rd2!; 39.Rxe5 Rxe5 ;
40.Rxe5 Rxf2+ is even.
39 Rgf5; 40.Kg2 h5! played to prevent g4, but also part of
•••

a deep plan. 4l.Rh4. This leads to the win of a pawn. 41...Kd7;

42.Rxh5 Rxh5! ! 42 . . Rxf2+?; 43.Rxf2 Rxh5 ; 44.Rf6 is crush­
.

ing. 43.Kxf3 Rhl. B lack threatens to circle around to win the b­

pawn, forcing White to react vigorously.

1 76
 LESSONS L EARN E D

44.Kg4 Ke6; 4S.Re2 KdS.

Black's king will now be in a stalemate position if the e­

pawn is removed. 46.KfS. The point is shown in the variation
46.f4 exf4; 47.gxf4 Rh4+ ! ! ; 48.Kf5 Rxf4+ ! ; 49.Kxf4. Stalemate !
46 . . . RhS+; 47.Kf6
Rh6+; 48.KfS RhS+. The Game Lesson 49
game was eventu ally
drawn.
When y o u r endgame
looks sick, try to find a

stalemate trick!

EN DGAME TECH N I Q U E
The previous game was a most unusual one. In the following
games we will see more generally applicable endgame strate­
gies. The examples here are instructive because they show that if
you understand which inferior endgames are drawable, you can
escape even from very strong players.

1 77
 D EVELOP MENT OF A C H ESS MASTER

Some players are afraid to enter inferior endgames, lacking

confidence in their own endgame skills and often overestimating
those of the opponent. If the position can be held, it is your obli­
gation to hold it. As long as you don't make a mistake, a half
point is yours for the taking. Easier said than done !

Position after
24.Bf1

Levitt vs. Schiller, London, 1 981

24 Bd3! What is Black doing trying to exchange, when

.•.

White will have a material advantage in the endgame? This is a

typic:>.l Tarrasch Defense plan, counting on activity to compen­
sate for material. In the end, White is often better, but the advan­
tage is insufficient to win.
25.a4. 25 .Bh3 would have been stronger, but White doesn' t
think th e exchange o f bishops will hurt. 25 Bxf1; 26.Rxfl Rc2.
•••

A rook on the seventh is

Game Lesson 50
so powerful with exposed
rim pawns that White is
An invasion of the seveilth almost paralyzed.
rank ties down enemy forces 27.Ne4 Rd3; 28.b4.
White offered a draw, and
and can compensm,e for minor
I accepted. We agreed af­
material dimlvantage. terwards that Black was at
least equal here.

1 78
 LESSONS LEARN ED

EN DGAM E TECH N I QUE - B

Grandmaster J ansa helped me analyze this difficult rook and
pawn e ndgame. We had adjourned games to look at almost every
round ! The hours of study in the evening really contributed to
my know ledge of endgames. I miss adj ournments, though I un­
derstand that computers hav� rendered them a bit less sporting.
Still, you learn so much from analyzing, especially with others.

Position after
41.Kd2

Schiller vs. Einarsson, Gausdal 1nternational, Norway, 1 984

Most of my friends figured this position Wft!! hopelessly lost,

but it wasn ' t so simple.
41...Ra4; 42.Ke2 e5; 43.Rg6 Rxa3; 44.Rxg4 Ra2+. 44 . . . c4
would have given me more trouble. On 45.Rg8 Ra2+; 46.Kf3 c 3 ;
47 .Rd8+ Kc4; 4 8 . Ke4 Ra5 ; 49.Rc8+ Kb3 ; 50 .Rb8+ Kc2 ; 5 1 .g4,
or 48 . . . c2; 49.Rc8+ Kb3 ; 50.Kd3 e4+ ; 5 1 .Kd2, Black can ' t win
unless White makes a serious mistake.
45.Kd3 e4+; 46.Kc3 Ra3+; 47.Kd2 Ra2+; 48.Kc3 Ra3+;
49.Kd2 Rd3+; 50.Ke2. The reason for all this fooling around is
that we were he aded toward yet another adj ournment session,
when both pl ayers could get some more lessons from our Grand­
maste r friends !
SO ... Rh3; S l .Kd2 Rh1; 52.Kc2 Rn ; 53.Kd2 Rn; S4.Ke2

1 79
 DEVELO PMENT OF A C H ESS MAST E R

RfS; SS.Rg8 ReS; S6.g4 Kc4; S7.gS.

Here the game was adjourned again, but a draw is going to

be inevitable. Still, we each got an additional lesson out of it, but
of course agreed to a·draw quickly the next morning after S7 Kc3;
•.•

S8.g6 RgS.

Game Lesson 5 1

Study endgames with the

experts and you '11 learn as

much as you can absorb!

1 80
 LESSONS LEARNED

ENDGAME T ECHNI QUE · C

Even with bishops of the same color, the following endgame
may n o t be winnable. Both sides were in time trouble, with con­
trol at move 30. International Master Walter Shipman has a well­
deserved reputation for persistence in the endgame, so I knew I
was i n fo r a fight.

Position after
24. Bxa7

Shiprruln vs. Schiller; Golden Bear Class Struggle, Berkeley, 1998

24 0--0 ; 25.0--0 Ra8; 26.Bf2 h5. Black tries to set up a drawn

••.

rook and four vs. rook and three pawn structure, hoping to ex­
change bishops and a pair of rooks later. 27.Rc5. I was quite
pleased to see White cooperate, but there wasn't much choice as
otherwise Black might soon double rooks on the seventh rank.
27 ..Rxc5; 28.Bxc5 Ra2; 29.Rdl g6; 30.Rd8+ Kg7.
.

1 81
 D EVELOPM ENT O F A CHESS MASTER

Time control is reached. White can exchange bishops, but

that leads to a technicaL if very complicated, draw. Ibis pure
rook endgame has been analyzed by several World Champions,
and fortunately I had studied it in detail. Black has the ideal de­
fensive position.
31.g3 Rc2; 32.Bf2 h4! The threat of ...h3 forces White's hand.
33.gxh4 or 3 3 .Bd4 Bxd4+ ; 34.Rxd4 h3 is no problem for Black.
33 Bxh2+; 34.Kfl. 34.Kxh2 Rxf2+ ; 35.Kg3 Rf! should also
.•.

end in a draw.
34 Be5; 35.Rd5 Kf6; 36.Be3 Ke6.
.••

1 82
 LESSONS LEARNED

B lac k ' s p ieces are ideally posted, and now that there is a
weakness i n White 's kingside pawn structure a draw is likely.
The sudden dellth time control encouraged further play.
37,RaS Rh2; 38.Ra6+ Kd7 !; 39.Bf2. An attempt to trap the
rook. 39 ... Rh l +; 40.Ke2 Rh2; 41.Ke3? Hardly the best way to
p l ay for a w i n as the bishops now come off. 41 Bd4+! ; 42.Kxd4
•••

Rxf2; 43,Rf6. The roo k must defend the f-pawn and h-pawn.
43 . .. Ke7; ��. Ke5 Rh2.
Here I offereu a uraw, though I know that IM Shipman al­
most always plays on i n an endgame where he has any advan­
tage, real or imag ined. White cannot win against accurate de­
fen se, and i n fac t it is even possible to exchange the two Black
pawns for White's e·pawn and s t ill have a drawn position.
4S.Rf4 Rh3; 46.Kd4 Rg3; 47.Ke3 RgI; 48.Rg4 Ral; 49.Kf4
Rh l ; SO.KaS Ra} ; S l .f4 Ra8; S2.fS gxfS. But not 52 . f6+? since
. .

5 3 . Kh6 gxf5 ; 54.exf5 Rh8 + ; 5 5 . Kg7 Rh5 ; 56.Rf4 wins. S3.KxfS

Rh8; S4.Rf" RhS+; SS. Kg4 Rh8; S6.hS f6; 57.RfS Ke6; S8.RaS
Rg8+; S9. Kh4 Rh8j 60. Ra7 KeS.
The suuden death period was running out. and the remairiing
moves were made very quickly. 61.Re7+ Kf4; 62.Re6 fS; 63.exfS.
63 .e5 gets n o w h ere after 63 . . Rg8; 64.h6 Rg4+ ; 65 . Kh3 Rg l .
.

63 ... KxfS; 64 R a6 Ra8. Draw agreed.

.

1 83
 DEVELO P M E N T O F A C H ES S MAST E R

Game Lesson 5 2

Know thefour pawns against

three pawns kingside rook
endgame, as it is especially
useful in fast time controls!

E N DGAM E TECH N I QU E · D
As is usually the case in my games with Grandmaster Bisguier,
he gets a slight endgame advantage. However. over the years I
have improved my endgame play to the point where I can hold
my own. My queenside pawn structure is weak. Imust not give
I have to aim for an
in to temptation and swap bishops. Instead.
endgame in which my pawn structure is repaired. Therefore I
must wait and let my opponent exchange pieces at b3 .

Position after
25.Nxd3

Schiller vs. Bisguier, American Open, Los Angeles, 1995

1 84
 LESSONS LEARN ED

2� . . Nd"; 26.NcS BcS; 27.Kd2 Nxb3+; 28.cxb3. I knew this

.

c:mJ�ull1c slruclure . With balanced, symmetrical pawns and three

open fi l e s in the center,
Game Lesson 53
the k n i � h l can be effe c ­

ti ve enllu�h to h o l d the
draw. The re s l is j ust a Keep the knight in the cen-
matter or B l uc k ' s fr u s -ter in the endgame, so that it
trated a t t � l1 l p l s to make
can move to either flank as
progre s s .
2H . . . Kc7; 2 9 . K c 3 required.
K d 6 ; .\ O . K d 4 h6;
31 .Nc4+ Kc6; 3 2. N g3 KbS; 33.Ne4. Centralizing the knight.
33 . . . Kc6; 34 N g3 as; 3S.NhS g6; 36.Nf4 bS; 37.Nd3 Be;
.

38.b4 Ilxb4; 39.Nxb4+ Kb6; 40.a3 KaS; 41.Kc3 Ka4; 42.Kb2

Bc4; 43.Nc6 BdS; 44.NeS b4; 4S.axb4 Kxb4; 46.0.
Agreed Drawn .

1 85
E N DGAME TECH N I QU E - E
Our final example displays the lesson that confidence plays
in the endgame. Many players would fear entering an endgame
down a pawn in an open position where the enemy also has the
advantage of bishop vs. knight. If you know which pawn struc­
tures are defensible, you can enter such endgames with decent
prospects of earning a draw.

Position after
37.Bdl

Annakov vs. Schiller. National Open, Las Vegas, 2000

Not a pleasant sight, especially when your opponent is rated

over 260Q ! My opponent has bishop against knight, a pawn ad­
vantage, and advanced pawns on the flanks. But the advanced
queenside pawns are also a bit weak. I had just exchanged rooks
at d l , a decision that gave me greater drawing chances, as other­
wise the rook and bishop tag team is much better than rook and
knight, never mind the pawn.
My decision was correct. Even though Black also suffers from
a weak pawn at h6, White just doesn't have enough to create an
easy win. Perhaps with l OO% correct play White can prevail. The
burden on my opponent is tremendous, while I just have to avoid
weakening my position further and pay close attention to the
queenside.

1 86
 LESSONS LEAR N E D

To begin with, I mustn't allow White t o get t o b 6 fIrst, be­

cause I have to get the pawn off the light square at b7.
37 b6; 38.axb6 axb6; 39.Kh2. Since I have eliminated any
•••

bishop threats by placing my pawns on the squares of the oppo­

site color as the bishop, White starts the j ourney toward the pawn
at h6 The pawn at b5 can be defended by a bishop when needed,
.

and if the Black king wanders queenside, then the kingside pawns
fall , and White can sacrifIce the bishop for the b-pawn if it even
gets near b I . 39 . . . Ke7; 40.Kg3 Nd5 .

41.Bf3?! 4 I . B e2 Nc3 ; 4�.Bf1 ! ? was a better plan. Grand­

master Annakov didn't see the point of my defensive plan yet. By
the time he did, it was too late !
41 . .Nc3; 42.Kg4. The only try. 42.Bc6 doesn't work, though
.

deep analysis is needed. 42 . . . Ne2+ ; 43 .Kg4 Nd4; 44.Kh5 Nxc6 ;

45.Kxh6 ! Nd4; 46.Kxg5
where White will just Game Lesson 54
manage to draw thanks to
the king side pawn s . Don 't assume you can 't hold
46 . . . Nxb5 ; 47 .h4 Nd6 ;
48 . Kf4 b5 ; 49 .Ke5 b4; an inferior endgame, pkly as
50.Kd4 Kf6; 5 1 .g4 etc. ifyou are invincible!
42 ... Nxb5; 43.Kh5

1 87
 D EVELOPM ENT OF A CH ESS MASTER

Kf6; 44.Kxh6 Nd4! This is what I had been playing for.

45.Be4 b5; 46.Kh5 b4; 47.h4. There is notlling better.
47 . . . gxh4; 48.Kxh4 b3; 49.g4? 49.Bd3 keeps the game level.
The move played in the game forces a draw. 49 Kt5!; 50.Bd3
••.

Kf4! Draw agreed, as there is no way to advance tile pawns. If

g5, then . Nf3+ . Black can't win because White can always sac­
. .

rifice the bishop for the pawn.

1 88
 FI NAL TH O U G H TS

I hope you have learned from my mistakes !

My lessons were often painful ones, and trust
me, you ' d rather not learn the hard way. Nev­
ertheless, even if you do manage to avoid the
pitfalls you' ve encountered in this book, there
are plenty of other traps lying hidden in all
en stages of the game. In order to make progress,
z you have to honestly evaluate your play and
o identify all of your mistakes. That way you can

en hope you won't repeat them, at least not too

often.
en In writing this book I was fortunate in hav­
w ing access to a lot of notes scribbled in the
-I margins of my scoresheets . When you do a post­
I- mortem on your game, preferably with your
opponent right after the game, try to take no­

�
tice of the key lines and most interesting varia­
tions. Then you can review the position at home,
perhaps with the aid of a chess program.
It is only natural, after a loss, to try to chase
the game from your mind as if it were a fero­
cious demon. That's why it is important to re­
view the game once again, after the pain has
subsided and objectivity returns. Just as films

1 89
 DEVELO P M E N T OF A CH ESS MASTE R

and tapes are used in sports to dissect perfonnance, you must use
your scoresheet as a fountain of knowledge, not as a reminder of
a painful past.
I recommend noting the time used for each move (or at least
every few moves) during the game. This can help remind you if
an error was made in haste, or, as strangely often seems to be the
case, after an extended period of thinking.
The most important thing is to hang on to your scoresheets.
The cold binary bits of computers can hold a list of moves, but
your scoresheets can reveal much more. In my case, you can eas­
ily see where I lose confidence in any chance of survival, as my
handwriting disintegrates. If you write down moves before you
play them, the number of scratch-outs or erasures can point you
to positions in which you experienced some difficulty, even when
reviewed years later.
This advice is practical even for beginners . An instructor can
help a lot more when you can supply a set of games that show
your weaknesses, and of course having scoresheets means you
can also triumphantly put your best efforts on display.
I wish I had records of many more games that I recall as
instructive but where the scoresheet was either lost, or destroyed
(accidentally, or in some cases, in a fit of rage !). Keep your games
and study them well, so you can learn from your own mistakes.
After all, I don't intend to leave behind an inexhaustible supply !

Game Lesson 5 5

Treasure your losses as you do

your wins, and they may wind
up bringing you even greater
rewards in the long run !

1 90
 O P P O'N E NTS I N D EX
( N u m hers refer to Game Lessons, not page numbers ! )

�
Alburt 7 Levitt 50
Annakov 54 LigteriDk 15
A rne 44 Longren 2
Loscutoff 11
Baudo M e rcere 17 i '
Blspler 48, 53 I Macaulay 49

I
Blohm 21 Mar 33
Bobn 22 Martinovsky 16
B rowne 13 Meins 6

Coull 23
I Minic
Mont-Reynaud
5
29
Cramllnll 26
Norwood 12
DeLanKe 8
Paolozzi 42
Edwarda 14 Pehnec 1
Elnllrllllon 51 Pruess 19

F1nellold 10 Ravikumar 35
Frenklakh 24 Reshevsky 38
Reynolds 18
Glblen 30
Grefc J2 Schwartzman 43
Gurevlch 4 1 , 46 Shamkovich 37
Shipman 52
Ionescu 45
I vanov 27 Taylor 28
T h omas 20
Jedzlnak 4
Johanllen 25 Welin 34
JOlhl II
Yakovich 47
Keatlnllf-( ' l a y 40
Keenf 39 Zaltsman 9
Klfrer J
KOlll l e n 36

1 91
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1 92