The Winning Academy 30: The Laziness Paradox

by Jan Markos
2/6/2024 – Winning at chess is hard work. It is difficult and it costs a lot of energy. Especially calculation. Therefore, it is no surprise that our brains and minds are trying to find all the possible shortcuts. Sometimes, avoiding hard work equals being practical. However, often it is simply laziness. We are often being lazy, and we don´t have enough willpower to force our minds into exact calculation. And thus, we often play a move that looks good, instead of looking for one that actually is the best. | Photo: RalfDesign, Pixabay.
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However, this strategy seldom pays off. Avoiding a bit of hard work at the critical moment usually makes your task much more difficult later. Instead of getting rid of work, you will have to work more.

I call this rule The Laziness Paradox.

Let's have a look at four examples of how laziness might complicate your task at the board. Three of these four examples are from the praxis of GM Levon Aronian. I would like to say very clearly that it is not because he is lazier than the other top GMs. Rather he is being very honest in his annotations, willing to write about his moods during the game.

***

In the first example, Aronian is undoubtedly better. But how should he continue?

Aronian-Grischuk, FIDE Grand Prix 2008, White to move:

It is quite clear that White does not especially want to take on d5. Such an exchange would correct Black's pawn structure. Therefore, it would be natural for Aronian to look for an alternative. For example, 30.Kg1 is a very sensible move, avoiding checks along the h-file. 30…Nxe3? runs into 31.Qd2.

But Aronian was a bit lazy. He did not want to check all the black knight's jumps after every move. Therefore, he played the slightly antipositional 30.Nxd5?!. After 30…exd5 Black's defensive chances increased. Yet, Aronian was able to win the game in the end.

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1.d4 This game was played in the last round. Being half a point clear of the field, I was feeling in an excellent mood. Adding in the fact that I have in recent times had an excellent score with white against Grischuk, I did not fear any sort of reverse. d5 Really, a Slav? Having spent a whole pre-tournament training session on the Slav, I had been counting on my opponent being cunning enough to chosee some other line. 2.c4 c6 Yes! 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 Given that after 4.3, Sasha plays 4...dxc4, whereas I had decided on playing a Meran, the text is the most accurate move-order. e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 Sasha admitted after the game that he had not expected such treachery. Previously, I have always played 6.2. dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.0-0 b4 A rare move. The usual choice is 9...a6, but it turned out that Sasha had showed this to my friend Vova Potkin, something about which he was now not so happy. 10.Ne4 Nxe4 11.Bxe4 Bd6 12.a3 Not having looked at this line at all, I decided to transpose to the line 9.a3. bxa3 13.b3 Given that the greatest theretician of our galaxy, Kramnik, recently played 13.2 here, the text must be considered old-fashioned. Nf6 14.Nd2 Qc7 This is what Kramnik played against Topalov at Elista. As I anticipated, an active player such as my opponent did not go for the line 14...Nxe4 15.Nxe4 Bxh2+ 16.Kxh2 Qh4+ 17.Kg1 Qxe4 18.f3 15.Bf3 It is always nice to play such an unhurried move. Bxh2+ 16.Kh1 Bd6 17.Nc4 Be7 18.Bxa3 0-0 During the game, I was convinced that Kramnik had first taken on a3 and only then castled and played 7. Without thinking too long, I decided to take advantage of my opponent's originality. Great was my surprise when, some time later, I discovered that it had been I who had first deviated from theory. 19.Bc5 This excellent move gives Black some problems. Rfd8 While my opponent had a long think, I realised the advantage of not having a pawn on h2 - one does not need to waste a tempo making luft for the king! 20.b4 Here I had a choice: the simple 20.2 was probably better than the move played in the game, but I wanted to regain the pawn. Bxc5 In this way, Black activates the 7. Other continuations are more passive. 21.bxc5 a5 22.Re1 I did not like 22.Qc1 because of the possibility Ba6 23.Rxa5 Bxc4 24.Rxa8 Rxa8 25.Qxc4 g5 with good play for Black. 22...Ba6 The only move. Black faced the threat of e4, and the establishment of the knight on d6. 23.Nb6 Rab8 A strange move. I considered the correct move to be 23...Ra7 24.Rxa5 Bb5 25.Rxa7 Qxa7 26.Qa1 with a slightly worse, but very solid position for Black. 24.Rxa5 Bb5 25.Qa1 Nd5 This is all very natural of course. 26.Ra7 Rb7 27.Rxb7 Qxb7 28.Qa5 I was pleased with this nice tactic. Now on 28...b6 there is 29.b5. Qe7 28...Nxb6 29.Qxb5 29.Ra1 Qg5 A trappy, but poor move. Black threatens the e3-pawn, but this is completely unimportant. A bad endgame resulted from 29...Nc7 30.Qa7 e5 31.d5 cxd5 32.Nxd5 Nxd5 33.Bxd5 , but after 29...g6 it is not easy for White to break through, since the ending after 30.Qa7 Qxa7 31.Rxa7 Nxb6 32.cxb6 Rb8 33.b7 Kg7 is not dangerous. 30.Nxd5 The product of laziness. Ideally, I should have brought the queen back first, and only then thought about exchanges, but I did not want to have to calculate too many variations. exd5 31.Qc7 g6 A decisive mistake, which I failed to exploit. The only way to continue the fight was by 31...8. 32.Ra7 Played mechanically and weakly. 32.Bg4 with similar ideas to the game, wins. 32...Qf6 Mutual blindness. After 32...Rf8 I would have been forced to find more complicated ways to strengthen the position. 33.Bg4 At last. It is hard to stop 7, winning a pawn. Re8 34.Kg1 Of course not 34.Bd7 because Qxf2 with perpetual check. 34...Kg7 35.Bd7 Re7 More stubborn was 35...Rf8 , but after 36.Qe5 Qxe5 37.dxe5 his passivity should prove fatal to Black. 36.Qd8 The rest is easy. h5 On 36...Re4 White of course plays 37.Qb8 and then 8. 37.Ra8 The rest does not require any commentary. Kh6 38.Rc8 Kh7 39.Bxc6 Bxc6 40.Rxc6 Qxc6 41.Qxe7 Kg7 42.Kh2 42.Kh2 On Kg8 the simplest is 43.Qd8+ Kg7 44.Qb6 and a new queen soon appears. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2737Grischuk,A27281–02008D47Sochi FIDE GP13

***

Apart from choosing simplistic solutions, laziness often leads also to needless prophylaxis. This time the Armenian GM was Black:

So-Aronian, London Classic 2017, Black to move:

Aronian has the upper hand again. All he must do is to prevent White's pieces from creating counterplay against his king. But how to achieve that?

At the first sight, White seems to threaten Nf3-g5 and Rf1-f7, attacking the vulnerable g7-pawn. Therefore, Aronian decided for a purely prophylactic move, playing 30...h6?. This gave White the vital tempo to activate his rook via the d-file. After 31.Rf2! c4 32.Rd2, White is active enough to force a draw.

Much better was to ignore the Ng5-threat, playing 30...Qc2!. Now Rf1-f2 is impossible, and the b-pawn is prepared to advance. The seemingly dangerous 31.Ng5? runs into 31…h6 32.Nxe6 Qxe4, and Black collects one of the weak minor pieces.

All Aronian had to do was to invest a little bit of energy into exact calculation, instead of playing a routine prophylactic move.

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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.a4 b4 9.d4 d6 10.dxe5 dxe5 Levon has been relying on this capture instead of 10...Nxe5 ever since he lost to Nakamura in the Sinquefield Cup 2013. There's a different opinion, though. Ding Liren recently won a nice game against Inarkiev in FIDE Grand Prix in Palma, and there have been efforts from Carlsen and Svidler to uphold this line. 11.Nbd2 Bc5 12.a5 Be6!? The newest idea. Levon twice tried 12...Ng4 While others, including Caruana, Tomashevsky and Svidler, have preferred the restrained 12...h6 13.Bxe6 Surprisingly this has never been played before, at least not in high profile games. Dominguez-Aronian, St. Louis Blitz 2017 saw 13.Qe2 Qe7 14.Bc4 Nd4 15.Nxd4 Bxd4 16.Nb3 White doesn't get anywhere after 16.Bxa6 Qc5 16...Rfd8 17.Nxd4 Bxc4 18.Nf5 Qe6 19.Qf3 Ne8 13...fxe6 14.Qe2 It seems like White is about to take all the commanding squares, but Black has active counterplay. Ng4!? 15.Rf1 Bxf2+ Another option was 15...Nd4 but Levon must have seen the good reply 16.Qc4! 16.Nxd4 Rxf2! 17.Rxf2 Qxd4 is Black's main idea. 16...Qd6 17.h3 Now Black has to go all the way. Nxf3+ 17...Nf6 18.c3 bxc3 19.bxc3 Nxf3+ 20.Nxf3± 18.Nxf3 Nxf2 19.Rxf2 Qd1+ 20.Qf1 Qxc2 he seems to be getting enough pawns, but 21.Qe1 Bxf2+ 22.Qxf2 Qxe4 23.Be3 allows White to keep enough material on the board, which is critical for success in battles between two minor pieces and a rook. 16.Rxf2 Nd4 17.Qc4? Wesley chooses the wrong square for his queen. Black would be under some pressure to prove his compensation after the correct 17.Qd3 Nxf2 18.Kxf2 17...Nxf2 18.Kxf2 Qh4+ In turn, Levon misses the best move 18...Qg5! The only way for White to untangle would be 19.Kg1 but then Black gets his material back: Rxf3 20.Nxf3 Nxf3+ 21.Kh1 Qh5 The knight is taboo, as 22.Qxe6+ Kh8 23.gxf3 loses to Qxf3+ 24.Kg1 Qd1+ 25.Kg2 Qe2+ 26.Kg1 Qe1+ 27.Kg2 Rf8 19.Kg1 Qg4 Possibly 19...Qf4 was better. 20.h3?! Again, Wesley So is not precise with his calculations. 20.Qd3 Rad8 21.h3 would bring Black's attack to its end. Nxf3+ Else, 21...Qg3 22.Nxd4 Qe1+ 23.Kh2 Rxd4 24.Qg3 Qxg3+ 25.Kxg3 Rfd8 26.Nf1 Rxe4 27.Be3 Rc4 28.Rc1 Rd5 29.Nd2 Rc6 30.b3 Rxa5 31.Nc4 holds the black rooks' activity in check. 22.Nxf3 Rxd3 23.hxg4 Rd1+ 24.Kf2 There's a question whether White can win this, but he'll have his chances. 20...Qg3 21.Qd3 Rxf3! Aronian was not going to miss that. The following is forced. 22.Nxf3 Rf8 23.Nxd4 Qe1+ 24.Kh2 Rf1 25.Qxf1 Qxf1 26.Nf3 c5 On paper White has enough for a queen, and his king is safe, but the pin on the back rank holds him down. 27.b3?! Wesley decides to address this issue, even at the cost of some pawns. Objectively, White is safe after 27.c3 b3 28.c4 Qd1 29.Nxe5 h6= but it's impossible to play this position for a win. 27...Qd1 28.Bb2 Qxc2 29.Bxe5 Qxb3 30.Rf1 h6? Aronian shows too much respect to White's non-existent threats. 30...Qc2! would have kept White from activating his rook. 31.Kg3 31.Ng5 h6-+ 31...c4 32.Rf2 Qxe4 33.Rd2 Qg6+ 34.Kf2 Qe8 leaving Black with decent chances of victory. 31.Rf2! Just at the last moment Wesley's rook breaks out into the open. c4 32.Rd2 c3 33.Rd8+ Kf7 34.Rc8 Qb1 35.Rc7+ Ke8 36.Rc8+ Kf7 37.Rc7+ Ke8 38.Rc8+ Kf7 There is no escape for the king, as can be seen from 38...Kd7 39.Rc7+ Kd8 40.Nd4 Qxe4 41.Nxe6+ Ke8 42.Nxg7+ ½–½
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So,W2788Aronian,L2805½–½2017C88London Classic 9th6

***

Laziness often overcomes us when we feel that the game is already over.

Carlsen-Sokolov, Tata Steel 2013, White to move:

Despite being nominally a pawn down, White is winning. His pieces are excellently coordinated, and the black monarch is weak. Also, the presence of the opposite-coloured bishops enhances Carlsen's initiative.

The Norwegian understood very well that Black's position is beyond repair. He lost concentration and played the natural but imprecise 46.Nd5?, allowing the return of the black queen 46...Qc6. After that, his task would be more difficult.

Easily winning was 46.Bf5+ Ke7 and 47.Qa7 Qc6 48.Qd4, threatening 49.Nd5+. But to find this variation, White needs to calculate the lines, instead of relying on intuition.

However, Sokolov did not take his chance. Instead of 46….Qc6, he played 46…Bd8? and lost soon.

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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bb7 7.d3 Bc5 8.a4 0-0 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bh4 d6 11.c3 Qe7 12.Na3 Na5 13.Bc2 b4 14.Nb1 g5 15.Bg3 Nh5 16.Nbd2 Ba7 17.Re1 bxc3 18.bxc3 Nxg3 19.hxg3 Qf6 20.Qe2 Rfb8 21.Rab1 Bc8 22.Nf1 Rxb1 23.Rxb1 Rb8 24.Rxb8 Bxb8 25.Ne3 Ba7 26.d4 g4 27.Nd5 Qd8 28.Nh4 c6 29.Ne3 h5 30.Nhf5 Qf6 31.Qd3 Bb6 32.Bb1 Kf8 33.Ba2 Bc7 34.Qb1 Ke8 35.Qb4 d5 36.Bb1 exd4 37.cxd4 dxe4 38.Bxe4 Be6 39.Qc5 Kd7 40.d5 cxd5 41.Nxd5 Bxd5 42.Qxd5+ Kc8 43.Ne3 Qa1+ 44.Kh2 Qxa4 45.Qa8+ Kd7 46.Nd5 Bd8 47.Bf5+ Ke8 48.Qc8 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2861Sokolov,I26631–02013C78Tata Steel-A 75th6

***

Quite often, laziness (or superficiality) goes hand in hand with fatigue. In the following endgame, Aronian was unable to get maximum from his advantageous position.

Aronian-Grischuk, Candidates 2011, White to move:

Despite limited material White has good winning chances. His c-pawn is very dangerous and for Black it is by no means easy to exchange all the pawns on the kingside. After 69.Ne5, Grischuk would face difficult problems, E.g. 69….Kd6 runs into 70.Nf7+ Ke7 71.Nxg5 Nxg5 72.c7 Kd7 73.Kb7 and queens.

Instead of calculating all of this, the tired Aronian played 69.Nc5??, assuming that the pawn endgame with a passed pawn must be won. This may be true in 95 percent of cases, but not in this one. Grischuk answered simply 69…Nxc5 70.Kxc5 Kd8 and the game ended in a draw. Black plays …g5-g4xh3 and then waits with the king under the c-pawn. After the white king goes pawn grabbing, Black takes the c-pawn and returns in time to the kingside.

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1.e41,166,62354%2421---
1.d4947,29855%2434---
1.Nf3281,60256%2441---
1.c4182,10256%2442---
1.g319,70256%2427---
1.b314,26554%2427---
1.f45,89748%2377---
1.Nc33,80151%2384---
1.b41,75648%2380---
1.a31,20654%2404---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d395450%2378---
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1.h444653%2374---
1.c343351%2426---
1.h328056%2418---
1.a411060%2466---
1.f39246%2436---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 Already a surprise! Although Grischuk has played the King's Indian many times before, I don't remember having seen him play the Grünfeld. 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 0-0 10.0-0 b6 A rare move, which was played by Vishy Anand against Veselin Topalov in their World Championship match. At first I was s2eptical, but later I came to appreciate this move, which does little to challenge the centre, but solves the problem of where to put Black's light-squared bishop, which often can't find a good place. In comparison, the very popular 10...7 looks really weird to me - I just can't understand what the bishop is doing there. 11.dxc5 Levon is not impressed, and decides to take the pawn on offer. When I was analyzing this variation a couple of months ago, I came to the same conclusion that this was the critical continuation. Perhaps I was a little too keen to listen to the machine's advice; now I would be less likely to endorse a move which ruins White's pawn structure and opens all the lines for Black's pieces. Topalov-Anand, Sofia 2010 continued 11.Qd2 Bb7 12.Rac1 Rc8 13.Rfd1 cxd4 14.cxd4 Qd6 15.d5 Na5 16.Bb5 Rxc1 17.Rxc1 Rc8 18.h3 Rxc1+ 19.Qxc1 e6 , and Black had fully equalized. I hope in the future we seen a return to moves like 11.f4!? - the caveman's approach to chess, which unfortunately probably doesn't work very well here. 11...Qc7 Of course Black will not trade queens. 12.Nd4 Ne5 13.Nb5 Qb8 An interesting moment. Black also has the option of playing 13...6, a move preferred by the computer. 13...Qc6 I imagine the reason Grischuk avoided this move is because of 14.Bd5 Qxb5 15.Bxa8 Ba6 16.Bd5 e6 17.Bb3 Qxf1+ 18.Qxf1 Bxf1 19.Kxf1 Ng4 20.Bd2 bxc5 21.h3 Rd8 22.Rd1 Ne5 23.Ke2 , when we reach a position where White's two bishops grant him a clear and risk free advantage. Black has no way to neutralize the pressure and will have to suffer for a long time. 14.Be2 White could have won the exchange with 14.Bd5 Ng4 15.g3 Nxe3 16.fxe3 However, I imagine most people would not be happy to wreck their entire position in this way. After Bh3 17.Rf2 bxc5 Black will have great compensation. 14...bxc5N A novelty, but an extremely obvious one. I can't imagine Levon overlooking this in his preparation, but I'm not sure what he missed, because Black got a perfect position in a few moves. Previously 14...a6?! had been played, illogically driving away a misplaced piece. After 15.Na3 bxc5 16.f4 Nd7 17.e5 , Black just has a bad position. White's knight will come to the dominating c4 square next, and Black's dark-squared bishop is a terrible piece. 15.f4 White is trying to block the g7-bishop by playing f4 and e5. Unfortunately, he will never get the chance. 15.Bxc5 a6 16.Nd4 Qc7 gives Black perfect compensation. 15.Rb1 at first seems very promising, but the tactics again work in Black's favour: a6 16.Na3 Qc7 17.f4 Rd8 18.Qc2 Ng4 , and White will have to give up one of his bishops. 15...Ng4 Of course! This is why Black postponed playing ...a6. 16.Bxc5 Again Levon decides to grab a pawn, only this time he had no choice. After 16.Bxg4 Bxg4 17.Qxg4 Qxb5 18.e5 Qc4 White's best move is to offer a draw as quickly as possible. 16...a6 17.Na3 White has to continue placing his pieces on strange squares to try to justify his risky opening strategy. The move 17.Bxg4 leads to a complete annihilation of all the pieces: Bxg4 18.Qxg4 Qxb5 19.Bd4 Bxd4+ 20.cxd4 Qc4 , and here the game will soon end in a draw. 17...Qc7 18.Bd4 e5 19.fxe5 Nxe5 Now Black has a great outpost for his knight. After a few small fireworks, the position has stabilized. White is up a pawn and the bishop is holding his shaky pawn structure together from d4. However, all Black's pieces are perfectly placed and he should have full positional compensation. 20.Qc1 From here the queen will go to e3 or f4. Bg4?! I don't like this move, although objectively it's not such a bad one. Black is down a pawn and decides to go into an endgame - where's the logic in that? Instead, simple play would have sufficed. After 20...Be6 21.Nc2 Rab8 Black is doing very well. For example, 22.Nb4 22.Bxa6 Qc6 wins back a pawn. 22...Rxb4 23.cxb4 Nf3+ 24.gxf3 Bxd4+ 25.Kh1 Qb6 , and Black wins the exchange back with a great position. 21.Bxg4 Nxg4 22.Qf4 Qxf4 After 22...Ne5? 23.Nc2 the knight just goes to d5 and Black will be in big trouble. 23.Rxf4 Ne5 24.Rb1 Although White's advantage is not large and is very hard to convert, the defensive task is unpleasant, especially against such a strong technical player as Levon. Rad8 I would prefer 24...Rac8 , which prepares ...4. If 25.Rb7 25.Nc2 is met by Nd3 25...Nc6 26.Bxg7 Kxg7 Black will be able to make a draw because of the poor position of the knight on a3. 25.Nc2 Nd3? This is where things really start to go wrong for Black. I'm not sure what Grischuk was trying to achieve with this move, which simply puts the knight on a useless square. It would be better to place the knight on a nice outpost with 25...Nc4 , when 26.Rb7 is met by the strong manouver 26.Rb4 Rc8 keeps control. 26...Nd6! 27.Rb6 Nb5! , with equality. In case you were wondering, I didn't find that variation myself.... 26.Rff1 Levon sees that his rook is attacked and decides to move it. A good decision. Rd7 Grischuk is preventing 7, but his play seems too slow. White is starting to consolidate his position. 27.Rfd1 Nf4 28.Kf2 Aronian continues playing simply and strongly. This is how the top players play: operating with logical, harmonious moves! Rc8 29.Ne3 h5 This move, which doesn't seem to have much of an idea at all, is a clear sign that Black's position has gone very wrong. White is just a pawn up, with well-placed pieces. 30.Rb6 White has an enormous variety of options at this point (which is actually more of a disadvantage than anything else!), most of which are of near equal value. Aronian's move is very reasonable, but he may have had a stronger alternative. I quite like 30.Rb4!? , which supports the bishop on d4 and prepares 4, attacking a6. After Ne6 White has the option between the simple 31.e5 or 31.Nd5 Nxd4 32.Nb6! Rxc3 33.Nxd7 Rc2+ 34.Kf1 , although I imagine it isn't easy to calculate this variation. 30...Ne6 31.Bxg7 Rxd1 32.Nxd1 Kxg7 33.Ke3 Nc5 34.Rd6 a5 35.c4 White begins pushing his pawns. Black can't do much about it at all. In such situations the best thing to do is wait and hope your opponent gives you a chance for counterplay. a4 36.Kd4 Ne6+ 37.Kc3 Rb8 38.Rd5 Nf4 39.Rd2 Ne6 40.Rb2 Rd8 41.Nf2 a3 42.Rd2 Rb8 43.Nd3 Rb1 44.c5 Kf6 45.c6 Ke7 46.Nb4 Rc1+ 47.Kb3? A strange mistake. I imagine both players were already tired at this point. Levon has played the game perfectly up to this point, but now he allows unnecessary counterplay. Instead 47.Nc2! , just wins on the spot. There are actually no variations to calculate: White will pick up the a3-pawn with 3, and Black cannot do anything at all! 47...Nc5+ 48.Kxa3 Nxe4 Now White has to win the game over again. Black's pieces are very active, and White seems tied down to the defence of c6. 49.Rd4 Nd6 50.Ka4 Ke6 51.Ka5 Rc5+ 52.Ka6 Again tiredness is playing a role. I see no reason to avoid 52.Kb6 Rb5+ 53.Ka6 , which forces 53...5 and therefore gains a tempo compared to the game. 52...g5 53.a4 Ke5 54.Rd2? Another mistake making White's task more difficult. After 54.Rd1 Rc4 55.Rb1 White will continue with 6 and win. 54...Rc4 55.Ka5 White is forced to make this awkward move as a result of his last mistake. It seems like every move Grischuk gets more and more chances to save the game! Now 55.Rb2 is met by Kd4 , threatening ...Kc3. This is the reason the rook had to be on b1! 55...f5 56.Rc2 Kd4 57.Rd2+ Ke5 58.Nd3+ Kf6 59.Kb6 Nc8+ 60.Kb7 Nd6+ 61.Kc7 Ne4 62.Ra2 Nc3 63.Rb2 Nxa4 64.Rb4 Rxb4 65.Nxb4 Nc5 66.Kb6 Ne6 67.Nd3 h4 68.h3 A very calm positional move. Actually, this works reasonably well, but why not just take the knight immediately? 68.c7 would have won easily. Of course, it is very easy to say this while looking at a computer, while over the board things are never so simple. Nxc7 69.Kxc7 , and Black's pawns are not strong enough to make a draw. f4 70.Kd6 Kf5 71.Kd5 g4 72.Kd4 g3 73.hxg3 fxg3 74.Ke3 Kg4 75.Nf4 wins. 68...Ke7 69.Nc5? The dramatic end of a long and difficult game. Levon once again had the win at his fingertips, but let it slip. With just one move he could have ended Black's stiff resistance. It's interesting to understand what he missed; I would venture to guess that he felt the pawn ending would be winning without calculating any details. This often happens after several hours of play - laziness sets in and you don't feel up to calculating variations. 69.Ne5! would have won. White just threatens to play c7. Kf6 69...Kd6 70.Nf7+ Ke7 71.Nxg5 decoys the knight on e6. 70.Nf3 , and Black can't stop c7. 69...Nxc5 70.Kxc5 Kd8 And a draw! Black will just trade pawns with ...g4 and come back with his king in time. This was an extremely exciting game. Aronian played the first half of the game in great style and slowly improved a slightly better position. However, in the second half he began making many mistakes and missing win after win. Grischuk, on the other hand, defended extremely tenaciously after his initial unconvincing play. It will be interesting to see how the results of this game will affect the rest of the match - if Aronian will be put on the defensive after this disappointing draw. ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2808Grischuk,A2747½–½2011D87Candidates Tournament1.1

What can you do when feeling a bit lazy at the chessboard?

  1. First, check whether you are tired as well. If tired, grab your coffee or some sweet treat, and try to refresh your mind a little bit.
  2. If you find out that your energy level is OK, but you are still a bit lazy, try to motivate yourself. You might E.g. remind yourself of the Laziness Paradox, telling your brain: “Please, this is a critical moment. Let's try to work a bit now, and we might avoid a lot of hard work later.”
  3. Also, please remember that at the board, nothing fully replaces precise calculation. You might have a good chess intuition or strategical feeling, but this does not mean that you can play purely intuitively. You need to calculate. Tactics decides 80-90 percent of all games. Therefore, the player who calculates more and better usually wins.

Let us learn together how to find the best spot for the queen in the early middlegame, how to navigate this piece around the board, how to time the queen attack, how to decide whether to exchange it or not, and much more!

Links

Jan Markos is a Slovakian chess author, trainer, and grandmaster. His book Under the Surface was the English Chess Federation´s 2018 Book of the Year. His last book, The Secret Ingredient, co-authored with David Navara, focuses on the practical aspects of play, e.g. time-management over the board, how to prepare against a specific opponent, or how to use chess engines during the training process. Markos was the U16 European Champion twenty years ago. At present he helps his pupils from several countries to achieve similar successes. Apart from focusing on the royal game, he is also the author of several non-chess books, focused on critical thinking, moral dilemmas, and phenomenology.
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