Winning starts with what you know
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Pilots and doctors have checklists, safety policies and other tools to minimize the amount of errors. In this and the following part of The Winning Academy, I would like to show you several tricks tested in the praxis of my pupils, how to minimize the amount of errors at the chessboard.
My first trick is truly basic: Before calculating any lines or contemplating any candidate moves, check how many unprotected pieces are in the position. Unprotected pieces are potential tactical weaknesses. Therefore, more unprotected pieces mean more tactical motifs. As a rule of thumb, two and more unprotected pieces might signalize a tactical motif.
Sometimes even a World Champion forgets about this rule. This is what happened to Karpov in 1993:
Christiansen-Karpov, Wijk aan Zee 1993, Black to move:
Black’s h5-knight is unprotected. Therefore, Black should be careful not to create another tactical weaknesses. However, Karpov was focusing more on strategy than on tactics. He played 11...Bd6??, trying to establish control over the important h2-b8 diagonal. (The theoretical continuation is 11…Qb8 with a similar idea.)
Christiansen was alert. He saw two targets: Bd6 and Nh5, and played a move that attacked them both. After 12.Qd1! Karpov resigned.
Here's the comple - and very short - game:
It takes only seconds to scan the position for unprotected pieces. Please, don’t forget to do it after every move.
After you have found all potential tactical weaknesses, you should make a mental list of all forcing moves. But wait! All means all: the logical, aesthetical, but also the ugly and the seemingly illogical.
In the following example Carlsen forgot to check one hidden, apparently absurd forcing move and had to resign immediately.
Dubov-Carlsen, Opera Euro Rapid 2021, Black to move:
The World Champion played 22...Qc3?? (22…Qa3 was necessary, with a difficult position, as White has a nice trick 22.Ng4!.)
I am sure that Carlsen calculated all the logical moves: 23.Qxf8+, 23.Nf5 and 23.Nd5. However, White played 23.Nd1!. Now the queen is hanging and when it retreats, White delivers a mate in three (Qxf8, Rd8+, Rexe8 mate).
Here's the complete game:
In the following position, Grischuk failed to consider one ugly yet incredibly effective move:
Grischuk-Topalov, Norway Chess 2015, White to move:
The Russian GM played 16.Nb5?? and was prepared to answer 16…Qb6 with 17.Kh1. Now the b5-knight is taboo because of the unprotected a8-rook. However, the surprising and unesthetic 17…g5! changes everything. After 18.Nh3 Bxh3 Black has succeeded to cover his rook with a tempo and therefore emerges from the skirmish with an extra piece.
Here's the complete game:
Why is it easy to ignore the …g7-g5 move? Well, normally Black does not want to weaken his kingside position like that. However, a player with a habit of checking all forcing moves should have a look even at this one, at least for five or ten seconds.
Here is the trick number three: When checking all the forcing moves, please do not forget to check all the exchanges as well. We distinguish three different types of forcing moves: checks, threats, and exchanges. From these three, exchanges seem to be the most invisible. We subconsciously assume that they are not that dangerous. However, in some cases this assumption is simply wrong:
Harikrishna-Bacrot, Biel 2017, White to move:
After the natural 21.Rad1, the position would be approximately equal. However, Harikrishna wanted to play more dynamically. He played 21.Bc5??, attacking the rook on f8. Instead of moving the rook to e8, Bacrot answered with the forcing 22…Bxf5! and the Indian GM understood at once that he is going to lose this game. He played 23.Nxf5 (23.Qxf5 Rd5 drops the c5-bishop), but after 23…Qh2+ 24.Kf1 Rd2 his king could not escape a mating net.
Here's the complete game:
Please, don’t forget about the power of exchanges!
When I was a child, coaches in Slovakia sometimes advised their pupils to literally sit on their hands. At the tender age of 8 or 10, it is easy to play a move before you double-check all the possible drawbacks. When you are sitting on your hands, you need an extra second or two to touch the piece and play the move. When you are a young boy or girl, these two extra seconds of thinking might be crucial.
Of course, these methods are not used anymore. But the principle remains the same: You should never play moves instantly; however natural they seem to be. Please take several seconds to double-check the most basic characteristics of the position. Is your king safe? Are all pieces protected? Is there a forcing move of your opponent you forgot to take a look at?
In the following position, Inarkiev’s hand was too quick:
Mamedyarov-Inarkiev, FIDE Grand Prix 2017, Black to move:
Black played the most natural move: he castled. However, after 19...0-0?? 20.Nh4 he had to resign. The queen – somewhat surprisingly – trapped on an open chessboard.
This is the complete game:
Here is the list of four tricks we have covered in this part of The Winning Academy.
Please note that all these tricks are not extremely time-consuming. Using them will add at most 30 seconds per move to your thinking time once you get used to them. In fact, you might even save some time on your clock, because your calculation will become more disciplined.
In the next part, we will add another four tricks that will make your play (almost) blunderproof.
