In the footsteps of a plan

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when one contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvellous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries to comprehend only a little of this mystery every day.”-Albert Einstein

 Observing a position in one's own way and looking for ways to understand what is going on, is a key characteristic of any improving player. There are many different ways and aspects in a single game that attracts the attention of a seeker, and this as I come to see is an ever growing process. I had a look at a couple of  older games recently and tried to view the position in terms of pawn structure and exchanges which are always a fundamental aspect of Chess Understanding.

Ponomariov-Kramnik 2003

Epic Catalan Battle

"Staring at the Abyssmal depths of chess"  Jonathon Rowson

The ongoing World Chess Championship between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi is covered most extensively and is perhaps the only time in my memory where so many living legends are commenting upon the games live! Vishy Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Peter Svidler,Fabiano Caruana, Vasyl Ivanchuk and Judit Polgar are all commenting live in various channels. There are numerous others too, but just looking at the names I cannot help imagining myself as Buridan's ass who is unable to make a proper choice!

With all the talks of draws and death of Classical Chess in World Championships in the background, yesterday's game destroyed all such illusions. It is the most grueling World Championship slugfest I have ever seen! To get into the depths of such a fascinating game is beyond the depths of a mortal human, so I will restrict myself to jotting down several interesting moments from this classic.

10.Nbd2!? 

The ever new Rook and Pawn Endgames

"All Rook Endgames are drawn"- Siegbert Tarrasch

Alireza Firouzja has been stealing all the limelight in the Chess world recently and rightly so too! He is the youngest to reach 2800 ever and has catapulted himself to the second spot in World Rankings. His final round game against Shakriyar Mamedyarov drew a lot of attention among the spectators, as if he could win he would reach 2800 and also would be increasing a whopping 30 points in the European Team Championship tournament alone! As luck would have it he reached a Rook and Pawn endgame with 2 pawns to Shak's 1. It was not such a common Rook endgame to say the least. Nevertheless as Tarrasch remarked the drawing tendencies in Rook endgames should never be underestimated. But that does not mean that players can play them without errors. Let us catch up with the game a few moves earlier.

Color Complex in Chess

"முதல் எனப்படுவது நிலம் பொழுது இரண்டின்

இயல்பென மொழிப இயல்புணர்ந் தோரே"

(பொருளதிகாரம் அகத்திணையியல் தொல்காப்பியம்)

Roughly translated this deep statement of  sage Tholkappiyar ( dating to at least 4000 years ago) goes, "The inherent tendencies of Space and Time are the fundamentals- thus say the realized ones." 

Applying this concept to Chess, Space consists of squares and Time consists of the move at hand. Time has varied other applications, so I will stick to looking at space in the present article.  

The concept of Space (squares) in chess is one of the hardest to comprehend and one which would enhance the perception level of a player greatly. Understanding squares in one's own way is always enriching and this can be a continual journey in learning even by visiting games which are previously known too. For example I was recently browsing through the game Von Gottschall- Nimzowitsch, Hannover 1926 from the book Chess Praxis. The following position occurred after White's 18th move.

Not an everyday position in an Isolated Queen Pawn structure, but the basic ideas still remain the same. Black has the Bishop pair in the endgame, but he is  bit behind in development. White has more control of the key d5-square and threatens to play the d4-d5 pawn break. This gives a clue on how Black should continue to keep the game going. He continued with:

Mighty Blockading Knights

The first introduction to the game of Chess lay in the fascination of Knights for me. They are the most unique pieces on the chessboard and the ability to fork a King and Queen and/or Rook(s) were simply fascinating to understand as a child. World Champion Capablanca considers that the Knight is a very dangerous piece for an amateur but as one's strength develops he starts appreciating the value of Bishop. While, this is very true, the fascination with Knights nevertheless does continue as one grows into a stronger player with a deeper study of Chess Strategy.

When talking about passed pawns, Nimzowitsch was the first teacher who taught about blockading them. Of course this has always been known to masters intuitively and were employed in their games. Nimzowitsch discusses his thoughts about Knights being excellent blockaders of passed pawns. In addition when we come to the concept of protected passed pawns, there is no better piece to blockade than the knights. They not only block the passed pawns, but they attack its protector! This is only possible because of the Knight's unique movement pattern on a chessboard.

When looking at a recent game of Caruana against Shankland, I was very impressed with the strategic depth and control he showed in the game.

Caruana-Shankland Sinquefield Cup 2021

Hypermodern Games of Chess

'In chess the tactics may change but the strategic fundamental principles are always the same, so that Chess Fundamentals is as good now as it was thirteen years ago.' -Capablanca

Control of centre has been considered as  heart of Chess strategy from time immemorial. But as the Cuban World Champion has pointed out, the fundamentals remain the same, though application may change in course of time. I quote Capa from his edition of Chess Fundamentals in 1934:-

'In chess the tactics may change but the strategic fundamental principles are always the same, so that Chess Fundamentals is as good now as it was thirteen years ago. It will be as good a hundred years from now; as long in fact as the laws and rules of the game remain what they are at present.'

When Chess fundamentals was released for the first time in 1921, the Hypermodern era in chess had not flourished in full flow, whereas thirteen years later it had a great number of adherents- Reti,Nimzo, Tartakower to name a few and not to be left behind were the World Champions Alekhine and Capa too!

The Hypermodernists as they liked to call themselves came up with an idea that centre control need not be achieved only by pawn occupation of central squares, but can equally be done from pieces controlling the centre from flanks. Coming back to the Cuban genius' comment the fundamental principle of central control is all inclusive and gives one room for improvement as and when the situation arises. This is a typical feature in any artistic endeavour.

While taking a look at a recent game of Indian Super talent Erigasi, these thoughts about central control by various means were sparked. What if a flank pawn was given up in return for a central one in ordered acquire control of central squares? Surely this must be a method envisioned by Hypermodernists, right? 

Singular Strategy

 "This inexorable consistency in the realisation of his strategic conceptions is, in my view, the main trait of Boris Gelfand the chess player." Vladimir Kramnik

From experience we know that Chess is quite a complex game where we do not comprehend, leave alone control things on the board. As an observer, I have always been fascinated about a player having a wholesome vision of what is going to happen in the longer run and is steering his army in the short run always keeping the bigger picture in mind. This is clearly illustrated in classical games where one player is clearly stronger than the other and hence is able to carry his plan forward in totality giving quite an instructive view to the aspiring student. As many Gurus rightly feel, this has become increasingly rare in modern chess, because the contemporary master never willingly submits to opponent's will and instead throws the kitchen sink at him and even if he were to perish, would like to alter the course of the game. 

Nevertheless there are definitely few occasions in which a player dictates the course of the game as per his vision, and the rarity of such a scenario makes it even more special. Today being the birthday of one of my favourite players( Boris Gelfand) seems like a good time to discuss this aspect. I quote Kramnik from the preface to Boris Gelfand's book- My Most Memorable games( 2004)

'What impresses me most is his ability to create games, where all the moves, from the first to the last, are as though links in a single logical chain. This inexorable consistency in the realisation of his strategic conceptions is, in my view, the main trait of Boris Gelfand the chess player.'

As always World Champion Vladimir Kramnik is clear and to the point! I am sure Boris would agree with him regarding what he considers as his forte. Games at the very top where miniscule errors are exploited and a grand strategy comes to fruition always enthrall me. Boris Gelfand describes this trait of his playing style as one which ,he imbibed from his childhood hero- Akiba Rubinstein who had shown a consistent flair for this aspect in numerous games throughout his career. Let us get started with the chess part

Gelfand-Anand Moscow 2012