Key Concepts of Chess - Pawn Structures Vol.1 and 2
In this two-part course the emphasis will be on typical pawn-structures.
Alexei Shirov, born in Riga, Latvia, in 1974, is known as one of the most tactical players in the world. His attacking games often bring to mind the style of his illustrious predecessor, Mikhail Tal, who was famously dubbed the “Wizard of Riga.” Since Shirov, like Tal, is also from Riga, one could say that he became the second “Wizard of Riga.”
In 1994, Shirov was ranked second on the FIDE rating list, just behind the reigning FIDE World Champion, Anatoly Karpov. This ranking was partly due to the fact that Garry Kasparov had been removed from the list by FIDE after founding an alternative chess association (the PCA) with Nigel Short. In 1998, Kasparov invited Shirov to compete in a PCA-organized qualifying match to determine who would challenge him for the PCA World Championship. Shirov defeated Vladimir Kramnik, thereby earning the right to challenge Kasparov. However, Kasparov failed to secure the necessary funding for the match, and interest shifted towards a duel against Kramnik instead. As a result, Shirov was unjustly sidelined.
The Latvian grandmaster vehemently protested against these developments, but, partly due to personal circumstances, he was unable to pursue legal action and was ultimately left without recourse. As is well known, it was Kramnik who went on to defeat Kasparov in that historic World Championship match.
By this time, Shirov was living in Spain and eventually represented the Spanish national team. He continued to participate in several FIDE World Championship cycles, reaching the final in 2000, where he lost to the Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand. Despite numerous subsequent attempts, and his unwavering persistence, Shirov was never able to clinch the world champion title. Nevertheless, due to his dynamic and attractive playing style, he remained a frequent invitee to major tournaments.
Shirov is also a celebrated chess author, having written two books: Fire on Board: Shirov’s Best Games and Fire on Board Part 2: 1997-2004, both published by Everyman Chess.
Shirov is perhaps best remembered for one of the most brilliant moves ever played. His move with the black pieces against Veselin Topalov in a game at Linares in 1998 is ranked second on Tim Krabbé's list of "The 110 Most Fantastic Moves Ever Played".
Before revealing that move, let’s delve into the issues of this endgame. In the diagram position, Black has two extra pawns in an endgame with opposite-colored bishops. As is well known, draw tendencies are very high in such endgames due to the difficulty in making progress when each player's bishop controls squares that the opponent’s bishop cannot contest. Even positions with two fewer pawns can sometimes be held to a draw because a pawn may be unable to advance past the color controlled by the enemy bishop. Much depends on whether the stronger side can use its king optimally to restrict the opponent’s king.
In the diagram below, which shows a position from a 1994 Shirov-Bareev game, Black faces two critical options: 14...Ncxe5 and 14...Nd4. Which move would you choose? And how is the wrong move refuted?
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