Chessville Instruction - Confronting Change (Part II) - by FM Amatzia Avni

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Confronting Change (Part II)
by FM Amatzia Avni (Inside Avni's Mind)

In Case You Missed It - Read Part One

What should one do when one’s opponent attempts to upset the flow of events? In Part One of this article we suggested a method of resisting the change; minimizing the chaos and making an all-out effort to keep firm control of the situation.

But sometimes the change is an established fact, which cannot be denied. In such cases, one has to abandon former assumptions, to adapt and to play according to the requirements of the modified position. This is easier said than done.

Alekhine - Euwe
Amsterdam 1936

White to play

Amatzia Avni is an Israeli psychologist. He is a FIDE Master in both game and composition, a former editor of the Israeli magazine Schahmat and a regular contributor to Chess Monthly. His recent book "Devious Chess" was released by Batsford in 2006. Read Chessville reviews of two of his earlier works also: Practical Chess Psychology: Understanding the Human Factor (2001); and The Grandmaster's Mind (2004).

23.Nf5 f6 24.g4

Alekhine proceeds aggressively, which suits both his natural inclination and the position at hand. Black must take extreme care.

24...f:e5 25.B:e5 Nf6 26.Qd3 Kh8 27.Rg1 Bc7 28.f4 Qf7 29.Rdf1

White mobilizes all his guns, but black defends in an exemplary fashion. 29.N:g7?! is refuted by 29...R:e5! 30.f:e5 Ne4.

29...B:e5 30.f:e5 Ne4!

Now 31.N:h6 is met by 31...Nf2+ 32.Kg2 R:h6 33.R:f2 R:h2+!.

Probably white should now settle for 31.Nd6 Qg6 32.N:e4 (32.N:e8? Nf2+) Q:e4+ 33.Q:e4 d:e4 34.Re1 c5 with a draw in sight. But going on with ‘the momentum’, believing that he is still in charge, led white astray.

Amatzia Avni's latest book
reviewed, including a 13-page extract!

Chess Tips for the Improving Player

"As the title implies, this book contains practical information, stuff you can put to use immediately in your games. Tips you can read today and use tomorrow to win more games, improve your rating, and most importantly, to understand and enjoy your chess even more."

-- from Chessville's review

31.g5?! h:g5 32.Nd6 Nf2+ 33.Kg2 N:d3 34.N:f7+ Kg8 35.N:g5 Rg6 36.h4?! c5 37.d:c5 R:e5 38.Kh3 N:c5 39.Rc1 Rc6 40.Rge1 Ne4 41.R:c6 b:c6 42.Rc1? N:g5+ 43.h:g5 Re6

Black won on the 60^th turn.

In the next two examples, the white players were more alert to the critical point.

Kasparov - Ivanchuk
Linares 1999

1.d4 d5 2.c4 d:c4 3.Nf3 e6 4.e3 c5 5.B:c4 a6 6. 0-0 Nf6 7.Bb3 Nc6 8.Nc3 c:d4 9.e:d4 Be7 10.Re1 0-0 11.a3 Na5 12.Bc2 b5 13.d5! Nc4 14.Qd3 Re8!

A direct attack now appears to be natural, but 15.Ng5 e:d5! 16.N:h7 g6; 15.Bg5 N:b2 16.Qd4 Bb7; or 15.Nd4 Bc5 fails to support to white’s wish to blow black apart. After deliberating for an hour, Kasparov concluded that the game should be handled along positional channels. Instead of looking for targets to attack and calculating variations, he switched to scrutinizing positional elements like weak and strong squares.

15.a4! e:d5 16.a:b5 a5 17.b3 Nd6 18.Nd4 Bb7 19.f3 Rc8 20.Na4 Bf8 21.Bg5 g6 22.Qd2 R:e1+ 23.R:e1

White holds an edge, which he went on to consolidate.

Black resigned on the 36^th move.

Leko - Carlsen
Morelia / Linares 2007

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 B:d2+ 6.Q:d2 Ba6 7.b3 0-0 8.Nc3 d5 9.c:d5 e:d5 10.Bg2 Re8 11.Ne5 c5 12.0-0 Bb7 13.Rfd1 Na6? 14.Qf4! Nc7 15.Ng4! N:g4 16.Q:g4 Qf6 17.e3 Rad8 18.Rac1 Qe7 19.d:c5 b:c5 20.Qa4! Rd7

With accurate and strong play, white has achieved a considerable advantage, as black’s pair of hanging c and d-pawns are clearly more of a liability than a strength. Black’s set-up, occupying the breadth of his second rank is amusing, but hardly serves a practical purpose.

With 21.Qa5 (21.Q:a7?! Ne6 is unconvincing) white can keep up everything under control. With his next move, suddenly all hell is breaking loose:

21.Ne4?! d4! 22.e:d4

22.N:c5? d:e3! and the tables are turned.

22...B:e4 23.B:e4 Ne6!

The Norwegian wonder-boy is quick to grasp his chances. It turns out that 24.Bc6 R:d4 25.R:d4 N:d4 26.B:e8 Ne2+ 27.Kf1 N:c1 is far from clear. Instead of dictating the pace, white finds himself having constantly to thwart concrete threats. He is up to the task, though.

24.d5 Nd4 25.Re1 Qd8 26.Kf1! Rde7 27.Bd3 Qc8!

The threat 28...Qh3+ is hard to meet; 29.R:e7 Qh3+ 30.Ke1 (30.Kg1?? Nf3+) R:e7+ hands black a powerful initiative.

The first 20 moves went smoothly for white, but as the situation had transformed, concrete calculation is now called for.

28.g4!

Chess players are loath to execute such ‘ugly’, weakening moves. However, despite appearances, it is winning. 28...Q:g4? is obviously defeated by 29.Q:e8+!.

28...R:e1+ 29.R:e1 Rf8

The following phase really combines the two parts of this article. Now it is finally possible for white to restore calmness and solidity into the position!

30.h3 Qd8 31.Be4 Qb6 32.Bg2 g6 33.Kg1

Now white is not just a pawn ahead; he is a healthy, safe pawn ahead!

White won on the 53^rd move.