Candidate moves, a Grandmaster's method

by Davide Nastasio
9/21/2018 – One of the most important tasks at the board, during a game, is to evaluate candidate moves and calculate the correct sequence. GM Christian Bauer, a famous expert on the Scandinavian Defence, has a new book out from Thinkers Publishing, which uses his own games as examples. Many different middlegame topics and ideas are explained in this innovative book, notes reviewer DAVIDE NASTASIO who looks at two fully annotated games.

Strike first with the Scandinavian Strike first with the Scandinavian

The Scandinavian is a rarely employed opening on the hightest level und guides your opponent on much less familiar terrain than for example the Sicilian, French or any 1.e4 e5 system. After 1.e4 d5 Black fights for the initiative from move one.

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A review

I had the pleasure of reviewing a ChessBase DVD made by GM Christian Bauer on the Scandinavian. He is likely the top world expert on the 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 Scandinavian.

 
Scandinavian Defense with 3...Qa5

I was very pleased to see this GM personally explaining the opening he loves. So when his latest book came out I was quite curious to see what he could teach me about a topic which is really important.

For example, one of the books everyone talks about (as there are trends in the openings, there are trends also for books, independent of their objective merit) is Calculation by Jacob Aagaard.

Book coversThe problem with that book, in my opinion, is: how could I use a calculation book, if my "algorithm" for selecting the candidate moves is wrong? Yes, this is a case when what to learn first is important and if not fundamental to the development of a player.

Many books have been written on the topic of Candidate Moves; off the top of my head, I remember one by Andy Soltis and another with Karpov's name on it.

Is this book by Bauer about going to help a tournament player to find the best move in every situation? The answer is: No.

The book is a collection of games played by Bauer, in which he adds a rather original idea: he analyzes the game first from the white side and then the same game again — but with his thoughts on the black side. Why does the author try this unusual teaching method? Because he correctly noticed that the point of view from which one is seeing the game, combined with the individual tendencies of the player (be they psychological or formed from intrinsic chess knowledge), often influences the "choices" (or candidate moves) one considers when playing. So through the effort of analyzing these games from both sides, dedicating to each side an entire game, he hopes the reader will become less subjective in his/her own games, and more objective overall. The goal, as always, is gaining a better understanding of the move to choose when playing a tournament game, through understanding and replicating the thought process of a professional player.

The author, throughout the book, also tries to "connect the dots" for us amateurs, showing a multitude of patterns and themes we should know. Pattern recognition is important as well since the plans and the subsequent choices of candidate moves are influenced by the patterns we know.

Clearly, this book is not written for the low-rated amateur or low-level player who still misses basic tactics and checkmate/endgame patterns. This is a book written with the goal to improve the chess mind of a player who already has a clear grasp of the basics, and is working toward master level.

The book is made up of four chapters, with different themes: 

  • Chapter 1 is dedicated to the ingredients of an exchange-sacrifice. It's comprised of 16 games (which, as noted, are actually eight games analysed first from the white side, and then black side). The exchange sacrifice is a fundamental topic one needs to acquire and put in practice in one's own games.
  • Chapter 2 is dedicated to handling tactical problems, which can often arise in our games.
  • Chapter 3 is related to a very important theme: the king in the centre. We may have been repeating the mantra of castling as soon as possible, but often it is better to use judgement and decide on a case-by-case basis.
  • The last Chapter 4 is based on "quieter games." Yes, often when the position is flat, quiet, it is difficult to formulate a plan and find the right candidate moves. Bauer, with his great experience, guides us through a formulation of the right thoughts during such games, giving us an invaluable array of ideas to draw upon.

I have transcribed one game, and received another from Thinkers Publishing for the readers of this review, so they can understand the level of the annotations for each game, and how good the ideas are. If possible, one should analyse them on a board, oriented by the side the game is dedicated to. GM Romain Edouard (Thinkers Editor-in-Chief) told me they continue to improve the translation of the books and the editing — so the annotation could be outdated compared to the one found in the actual printed book.

 
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FROM WHITE'S POINT OF VIEW. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 4.c3 was the standard move order of the Giuoco Piano for some decades, and also the most logical one, as White threatens d2-d4. But modern theory evolved and proved that after Nf6 5.d3 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ is a completely different story, and the outcome is less of a mystery: Black equalizes in many forcing and well-identified lines. 5...0-0 6.0-0 d5 instead of the old d6/ a6 system, is fully valid too. Because of this White started to regularly employ 4.0-0 or 4.d3, so that after a subsequent ...d7-d5 he wouldn't be left with a backward d-pawn. 4...Nf6 5.Nbd2 0-0 6.0-0 6.h3 is a useful move, with the potential idea to transfer the D2-knight to its usual spot in the Italian, g3, prior to castling. This way, White would save the Rf1-e1 tempo in some lines. Though this could work well after an early ...d7-d6, White wouldn't be on time to put pressure on the e5 spot after 6...d5 7.exd5 Nxd5= d5 7.exd5 Nxd5= 6...d6 7.c3 safeguarding the light squares bishop from Nc6-a5 Ne7 8.Re1 From now on, and for the next half-dozen moves, the logical d3-d4 is an option. However, White must be aware at all times that Black disposes of central counter-strikes and counterplay linker with Bg4. 8.d4? exd4 9.cxd4 Bb6 10.e5 dxe5 11.dxe5 Nfd5 12.Ne4 Bf5 Here the author: Bauer, quotes the game, and gives a "roughly equal" evaluation. I inserted all the rest of the game, because thanks to Megabase 2018, I have access to over 7 million games, and with a click I can find the game mentioned. 13.Ng3 Bg6 14.Nh4 c6 15.Bg5 Qc7 16.Qe2 Rae8 17.Rae1 h6 18.Bd2 Bd4 19.Kh1 b5 20.Bb3 Bh7 21.f4 f6 22.Nf3 fxe5 23.fxe5 Qb6 24.Ba5 Qxa5 25.Nxd4 Kh8 26.Nxc6 Nxc6 27.Bxd5 Nd4 28.Qg4 Nc2 29.Rxf8+ Rxf8 30.Rf1 Rd8 31.Nh5 Qc7 32.Qf3 Nd4 33.Qf7 Qxe5 34.Qf8+ Rxf8 35.Rxf8+ Bg8 36.Rxg8+ Kh7 37.Rxg7+ Kh8 38.Rg8+ Kh7 39.Rg7+ Kh8 40.Rg8+ Kh7 1/2-1/2 (40) Hracek,Z (2617)-Swiercz,D (2629) Poland 2015 8...Ng6
9.Nf1 9.d4 Bb6 Now that "e5" is covered this is the best reaction. 10.Bd3 Or 10.h3 exd4 11.cxd4 and now Black can destroy White's apparently strong centre with either Nxe4 Or 11...d5 12.exd5 Nxd5 12.Nxe4 d5 With approximate equality. 10...c6 and so on. 9...c6 10.Bb3 Bb6 11.Ng3 This time pushing 11.d4?! is dubious: Bg4! 12.Ne3 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 13.gxf3 Nh5 13...exd4 14.Nf5 14.cxd4 Bxd4 15.Nf5 Be5 doesn't promise enough compensation for the missing pawn either. 14...dxc3 15.bxc3 Ne5 and now this move would have been slightly better for Black. The knight on F5 is nicely placed, but Black can expulse it with Nfg4 followed by g7-g6. This is the game cited by Bauer 15...Nd7 16.Qg3 Nc5 17.Bg5 Qd7 18.Qxd6 Qxd6 19.Nxd6 Ba5 20.Re3 Bc7 21.Bxf7+ Rxf7 22.Nxf7 Kxf7 23.Ree1 h6 24.Be3 Nxe4 25.Rab1 b5 26.Rbd1 Nf8 27.Bd4 Nf6 28.c4 Ba5 29.Rf1 Ne4 30.cxb5 cxb5 31.Be3 Re8 32.Rd3 Nc3 33.Bxa7 b4 34.Be3 Ra8 35.Ra1 Bd8 36.a4 Bf6 37.Kf1 Rxa4 38.Rxa4 Nxa4 39.Rb3 Bc3 40.Bd4 Ne6 41.Bxc3 bxc3 42.Rb7+ Kf6 43.Ke2 Nac5 44.Rb6 Ke5 45.Ke3 Kd5 46.Rb4 c2 0-1 (46) Brustkern,J (2236)-Farago,S (2305) Budapest 2004 11...h6 12.h3 Re8
13.d4 Only now is White completely ready for this advance in the centre, and although the position is almost symmetrical, Black now faces a few issues. The problem with this line, as you can see in the "Black's standpoint" section, is that 12...d5 seems to fully equalize for Black. :( Be6 14.Bc2 Qc7 15.Be3 Sticking to the plan! 15.Nf5?! Would have been premature in view of either d5 As a rule of thumb, the white Knight should only jump to F5 when Bxh6 gxh6 Qxh6 is a threat, or 15...Rad8 first, followed by Pd6-d5. 15...Rad8 16.Qc1 16.Qd2 connecting the rooks, would have been more natural, but unfortunately the Qd2/Rd8 vis-a-vis could have been troublesome after d5! 16...Bc8
17.a4 With the idea to overload the enemy queen by 18.a5 Bxa5 19.Bxh6 I didn't see how to improve my position otherwise, since the bold 17.Bxh6?! gxh6 18.Qxh6 failed to Qe7 19.Nf5 Qf8 the white attack has reached a deadend. The position was, however, ripe for 17.Nf5! Bxf5 This powerful knight must be eliminated. 17...exd4? 18.Bxh6 is likely to transpose 18.exf5 Now Black may try a few defences, but he seems to always end up worse anyway: e4! 18...exd4?! 19.Bxh6 Rxe1+ 20.Nxe1 dxc3 21.bxc3 gxh6 or 21...d5 22.fxg6 gxh6 23.Qxh6 22.Qxh6 White is a pawn up soon to be followed up with 3 passers on the kingside. 18...Nf8? 19.Bxh6 gxh6 20.Qxh6 Qe7 20...N8h7 puts up little resistance after 21.Ng5+- 21.Re3! Preparing a deadly rook slide to g3. 21.dxe5? dxe5 22.Rxe5 Qd6 Isn't clear at all, though at the moment White can't be worse. 21...N8h7 21...N6h7 22.Nxe5 Qf6 23.Rg3+ Kh8 24.Qxf6+ Nxf6 25.Nxf7+ Kh7 26.Nxd8+- With a huge material advantage for White. 22.Ng5 22.Nxe5?? Qf8∞ 22...Qf8 23.Qh4 Nxg5 24.Qxg5+ Qg7 25.Qh4 Kf8 26.Rg3 Qh7 27.Qxf6+- 19.fxg6 exf3 20.Qd1 fxg2 21.Qf3 In comparison with 19.Nd2, White may have kept more attacking chances here, but at the cost of a somewhat worse pawn-structure. 17...a5 18.Ra3 When playing this strange-looking move, I didn't only intend 19.Rb3 next, with the threat of 20.Rxb6 and 21.dxe5, but also hoped that in the event of a kingside offense the Rook could join the attack via the 3rd rank. c5 19.Rb3 Closing the center with 19.d5 Would practically have forced c4 to give the dark-squared Bishop some air and avoid c3-c4 followed by Nf5 and Bxh6. The Black c4 pawn would then have become a weakness, but it turns out that Black gets enough counterplay: 20.Nf1 Nd7 21.Qb1!? Nf4 22.N3d2 Bxe3 23.Nxe3 Nb6 Now the Rook makes a poor impression on a3 and the white King is a bit lonely (Qe7-g5 may come soon); After the errouneous swap 19.dxe5? dxe5 the Bishop on b6 is only momentarily silly-looking while all of Black's worries are behind him. 19...Ba7
20.d5!? I had more or less envisaged what was about to happen involving the exchange-sacrifice, and assessed the position as promising for White. But the computer indicates 20.Nf5! as stronger, suggesting the somewhat artificial Nh5 as Black's best bet. 20...cxd4 21.cxd4 20...c4 21.Rb5 20...exd4 21.cxd4 20...Bxf5 21.exf5 exd4 22.cxd4 All these lines are in White's favor. 21.d5 In White's favor. 21.Bxh6 gxh6 22.Qxh6 Ngf4 this should end in perpetual check. 23.Qg5+ Kf8 24.Qh6+ Properly calculating and assessing the consequences of 20.Nf5! was however hard in practice due to the many possibilities for both sides. 20...c4 21.Rb5 Bxe3 22.Qxe3 Bd7 23.Qb6 Qc8 24.Nf5! This Knight's patience finally pays off as it bounces to f5, enabling White to keep the initiative. 24.Nd2 this move was valid too, but one had to foresee that after Bxh3 25.f3‼ Bxg2 26.Kxg2 Nf4+ 27.Kf2 Qh3 28.Rg1 the assault is fully parried. The alternatives to these two knight-moves were worse. 24.Rxa5?! Bxh3! playing against White's dream... 25.gxh3 Qxh3 26.Rd1 Nf4 27.Ne1 h5 28.Rd2 and White might hold after either h4 28...Ng4 29.Bd1 But this all looks quite scary. 29.Nf5 24.Qxb7 Bxb5 25.Qxc8 25.Qxb5?! Rd7 26.Qxa5 Rb7 White's queen may be flying a bit too close to the sun! 25...Rxc8 26.axb5 Rc5 27.Nf5 Rxb5 28.Nxd6 Rxb2 29.Nxe8 Nxe8 And Black is fine. 24...Bxb5 25.axb5 Qd7 26.Nd2 Ne7
27.Nxe7+ 27.Ne3 Wasn't suitable, as after Ra8 28.Nexc4 Nc8 29.Qe3 Qxb5 White doesn't even get a pawn for the sacrificed exchange, unlike in the game. 27...Rxe7 28.Nxc4 Qc7 29.Qxa5 Even with a cool head, it isn't obvious to estimate whether 29.Ra1 Qxb6 30.Nxb6 Rc7 31.Rxa5 Nd7 is a better version of the game or not. At any rate, with two pawns for the exchange, White withholds a risk-free edge in the endgame. 29...Qxa5 30.Nxa5 Kf8 31.b6 Ra8 32.b4 Ra6 33.Bd3 Rxb6
34.Ra1?! Here or on the next move, it was very tempting to paralyze the Rook "forever" with 34.b5, I saw this of course, but wasn't convinced that the position would then be a forced win. 34.b5± 34...Re8 35.Kf1 White will lack a tempo in order to keep the position "under control". 35.f3 He should therefore have preferred either this move, intending Kf2-e3. or the more complicated Nc4. 35.Nc4 Ra6 36.Rxa6 bxa6 37.Nxd6 Ra8 38.Nc4 Stopping Pa6-a5 while attacking the Pe5. Rc8 39.f3 Nh5 40.Kf2 Nf4 41.Ke3 Nxg2+ 42.Kd2 White must be ready to give up his h-pawn too, but after Nf4 43.Nxe5± his own pawns seem the more threatening. 35...Rc8 36.Ra3 Nh5 37.Ke1 37.g3 f5! 38.exf5 Nf6 With counterplay. 37...Nf4 38.Bf1 Rxb4! 39.cxb4 Rc1+ 40.Kd2 Rxf1 41.g3 41.Nxb7 Rxf2+ 42.Kd1 Should also lead to a draw. 41...Rxf2+ 42.Ke3 Nxh3 43.Nxb7 Rg2
44.Kf3 Acquiescing to a repetition of moves. After spoiling a promising position, it was difficult to risk it with 44.Ra6 Rxg3+ 45.Kd2 Rb3 46.Rb6 Ng5 47.Nxd6 g6 Which is balanced anyway, according to the computer. Black wants to push his H-pawn, while White will play Kc2 and march his own passed pawn down the b-file. 44...Rf2+ 45.Ke3 Rg2 46.Kf3 Rf2+ 47.Ke3 Rg2 48.Kf3
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Bauer,C2618Bacrot,E2713½–½2012C54Pau
Bauer,C2618Bacrot,E2713½–½2012C5487th ch-FRA 20125

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Pro and Con

As a reviewer, I have to point out a mistake lest readers think I'm lazy, although frankly this one is just silly — it doesn't change the core value proposition of the book which is more important, in my opinion. For example on page 20, "was the standard move order of the Giuco Piano" "Giuco" is wrong. Today in Italian we use the modern word "Gioco" but at that time, the old word used was: "Giuoco." Italian is a language full of vowels, the real language of Love. So the editor or author missed a vowel — obviously not a big deal.

On the other hand, this book is definitely modern — the author in the preface (page 7) used a smiley through the characters [something ChessBase gives a :( -Ed.]. Clearly, society and language are developing faster than what our grammar teachers taught us in school. It is refreshing to see a publisher who is modern and doesn't bow to the constraints of grammar rules which limit novelties language usage.

I do have one criticism which is instead more serious, and more significant. The author of this book offered a new approach, which I haven't encountered in any chess book before (and I've reviewed roughly 30 books in the past year). He created a game collection where the games are seen from two different viewpoints, once as White and once as Black. Unfortunately, all the diagrams of the book, even for the games ostensibly seen from the Black viewpoint are oriented (as in almost every chess book I've seen lately) from White's side. Honestly, in our technological age, I don't understand why it's not common practice for publishers to orient the diagrams from the correct side in cases like this where the reader is explicitly told to consider a position as Black.

Speaking of diagrams, the publisher prints analysis diagrams throughout in a smaller size to differentiate from these diagrams inserted by the author at critical points from the main lines. However, I found the analysis diagram to be a little too small for my eyes. Of course, others may disagree and it depends somewhat on the target audience.

The book doesn't have exercises, leading me to wonder whether a reader who has studied, for instance, Chapter 1, can be sure he or she understood the ingredients of the exchange sacrifice and will be able to put it in practice in tournament games.

It would be interesting if Bauer would create a companion for this book, comprised solely of exercises based on the four chapters. It could have 50 positions for "exchange sacrifice", 50 for "tactical mess", 50 for "king in the center", and 50 for the last chapter on the subject of "quieter games".

On the other hand, there are ways of making one's own exercises which can be a useful activity in itself. This position comes from game 3:

 
Bauer vs Bacrot, Pau 2012
White to move

Try to put it on a real board and analyze what happens after 20.Nf5! Then give an evaluation. What are the alternatives? This position will show you how long it would take in a real tournament game to play the correct move, and test how well you are at visualizing the tree of the variations.

This is one way we could use this book to create custom exercises; open the book to any game, and just pick one of the many diagrams, wisely interspersed by the author throughout the annotations. Then think about the position for 10 minutes, and see if the same moves you come up with were played in the game, with similar plans or ideas. Nevertheless, this may not a congenial method to many readers.

For example, Game 7 which one can find below, wasn't notated through to the end. GM Bauer says White stands much better, but it would have been too early for Black to resign. Try to continue the game from the last move, let the engine answer, and see if you are able to win as White.

Here is the game:

You have several opponents to choose from: the default is "beginner" but you can switch to "serious amateur", "club player" or "master"

Now play 38.Rd4, and see for yourself if you can beat Fritz set at master level.

Final thoughts

I like GM Bauer's idea; I think it was really original and I wish more chess authors would adopt it because often in the chess publishing market we just see the same books over and over, without a minimum of creativity — they could be made in 30 minutes with ChessBase. Instead, this book is clearly "new," so we must praise the author for that, as well as the publisher for taking the risk.

We must never forget publishers do take heavy financial risks for trying to be innovative in the market and giving us the best quality. (Speaking of quality: the paper used for this book is really pleasant — or, if I may use an adjective which came to prominence last year from the interview between Ashley and Carlsen, this paper is really smooth!

Calculation Training coversCandidate moves, a Grandmaster's method
Christian Bauer
405 pages
2018 Thinkers Publishing

Thinkers Publishing also has a set of three volumes only on exercises: They are called Chess Calculation Training, and I suggest they should be read after this book, to try to practice what this author is teaching us.

Published by ChessBase

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Davide is a chess aficionado who regularly reviews books and DVDs.

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