The Scotch endgame

Does this position look familiar?

White to move

If not, it’s the Scotch endgame! An interesting position that arises after these moves:  1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nxc6 bxc 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.c4 Ba6 9.b3 g6 10.g3 Bg7 11.Bb2 0-0 12.Bg2 Rae8 13.0-0 Bxe5 14.Qxe5 Qxe5 15.Bxe5 Rxe5 16.cxd Bxf1 17.Kxf1 cxd 18.Nc3 c6 and voila, here we are!

The position is quite complex with many possibilities for both sides so let’s try to assess. White has two minor pieces for a rook + 2 pawns which may favor black somewhat but often it’s said that white has the better chances here because it’s easier for him to find a plan and also because white has three pieces vs black’s two. Okay then, what should white do?

Well, there are some different ways to play this position. One of the most dangerous plans for black is if white plays Rd1-d4-a4 followed by b4, Ra6, b5. Advancing the queenside pawns while exerting pressure on a7. We might end up in a position like this if white plays his cards right (see diagram below).

Black to move

White plan has succeeded! There’s a lot of pressure on black’s queenside and an maneuver like Nd4-b3-a5 might not be too pleasant for black! Neither is it possible to take on b5 because after cxb axb the d5 pawn is to weak and will fall! Actually, this position is from a game between Robert Zelcic and Ivica Bozanic. White went on to win quite easily!

Black has to do something to counter this plan and a grandmaster (which I don’t remember the name of) came up with the following plan for black (see diagram below).

White to move

1.Rd1 Of course! Trying to activate the rook through d4
1…Rfe8! Important move! Dosen’t allow Rd4 quite yet as Re1# is bad for white!
2.Bf3 White’s plan is simple. Play Ne2 next move, not allowing black to activate his rook through e1 and then Rd4!
2…a5! Black’s trying to counter white’s Rd4-a4 idea
3.Ne2 Rb8 4.Rd4 Rb4! The point! White can't get to a4 (see diagram below).

White to move

Being denied access white has to think out a new plan. Moving back the rook with maybe 5.Rd2 is not to be recommended because of 5…a4! Black gets rid of the bad a- pawn and at the same time exerting pressure on white's queenside. After 6.bxa Rxa4 black might follow up with Re8-a8 and a better position because of the weak a- pawn.

Instead I would recommend to play
5.Rxb4 although this breaks a guideline in this kind of position. White would prefer to keep the rook because of the possibilities to exert pressure on weak pawns and also black’s king might get into trouble if it gets to active. But without the rook it’s very unlikely that white can spine a matting net with just the knight and bishop.
5…axb If black is allowed he would now like to play Re8- a8.
6.Nf4 Not allowing 6…Re8 because of 7.Nd3 Ra8 8.Nxb4! protecting a2!
6…d4! Necessary in order to keep the b- pawn.
7.Nd3 Rb5 (see diagram below)

Black to move

Black’s idea is to play c5 and d6. Keep all pawns proctected on black squares and harass the a- pawn with Ra5. White has to try to active his king and generate play with his minor pieces but I would prefer black here.

If we move back to the starting position there is one more plan for white that I would like to discuss with you (see diagram below).

White to move

Here instead of Rd1 white has another move which I know one of the International Masters (IM) in my club play in this position.
1.Na4 Interesting move! White's idea is first of all to play Nc5-d3 reaching the best square for the knight. Then white may consider Rc1-c5-a5.
1…Rfe8 With the idea to play Re2.
2.Bf3 Protecting e2. Also possible was 2.Nc5 when after 2…R5e7 (Not 2…d6? because of the weakness on c6 3.Nd3 Re7 4.Rc1 Rc7 5.Bxd5! wining a pawn) 3.Rc1 later white want to play Rc5-a5 3…f5 Taking some space and allowing the king to advance. 4.Nd3 The golden square! The knight protects e1 (allowing Rc5) and exercising control over b4, c5, e5 and f4. 4…a5! In time! 5.Rc5 Ra8 (see position below)

White to move

The position is about level although black’s a- pawn needs protection.

3…f5 Gaining space

4.Rc1 Kf7 5.Nd3 a5! 6.Rc5 Ra8 And we reach a similar position as in the diagram above.

With this knowledge we can look at what kind of plan white and black has.

White’s plan consists of:
Use the rook to attack the a- pawn
Slowly advance the queenside pawns
Stop black from invading on the e- file

Black’s plan consists of:
Try to exchange one rook
Create an minority attack with the a- pawn
Invade with a rook on the e- file

The thinking process in chess: How I think at the board and during practice

In chess the thinking process is crucial and therefore you should invest some time to get to know how you think. All the way from world champions to beginners we all think in different ways. And mainly there are two ways you can think: The first metod using logical thinking, weighing the positions pluses and minuses to get to a conclusion. The second way is to use your intuition and get a feeling about the position, a certain move or plan to play. Capablanca, the 3^th world champion was a great practitioner of the using the intuition. He always knew where to place the pieces and often didn’t have to calculate long variations. Alekhine, the 4^th world champion, was quite the opposite. He had a different style were he often calculated long variations and made conclusions based on these calculations. Actually, Alekhine used this factor against Capablanca in their world championship match often striving for rook endings were a lot of calculation was required and intuition became less important. And nevertheless, Alekhine became world champion! But that’s not to say that using your intuition is bad, it’s simply another way of thinking. Personally, I prefer the intuition method because relying on my subconscious to make decisions for me during play will often save me a lot of energy which could be needed later in the game. As we know, a game can last up to 5-6 hours :-).

 Here’s an example of using the intution from a game of mine:

White to move

Black has just played
16…a4 here and I was in for a long think. As time got by I couldn’t find a satisfactory move for white. With time pressure came stress and somewhat desperate I made the move
17.cxd! When I executed this move I must say I didn’t see the fine idea behind it. But as my opponent started to think for a longer and longer period I actually started to ask the question: “What’s taking him so long?” And then I found it! On the most natural move 17…cxd white has 18.Qb5 winning a piece because both e8 and b4 is hanging. Also, 17…Nxd5 is bad because (not of 18.Bxd5 cxd 19.Qb5 which can be meet by Qb6+!) of  18.Ne4! and white has the upperhand because of the doubled c-pawns and the strong outpost on e4. Instead my opponent played
17…Bxd2 and I won a pawn but not the whole game, which later ended in a draw. That’s the way I think during real play. Of course I do some calculation but in the end I try to get a feel if I should play the move or not.

During practice I usually prefer the other method. Because when it comes to practice it’s very good to break down the position and really look at what is going on consciously. By this I don’t mean just writing in your chessbase file something like: “Better play for white” or “Small advantage for black” but really breaking the position down and look at what’s causing white/black to have better play here. And once again to illustrate this point we are going to take a look at a position:

Black to move

A few years ago I remembered reading through the book “Easy guide to the Ruz Lopez” by John Emms and I can also recall that the variation ended with “15.Qd3 with a small plus for white”. That’s the kind of comment that should get you start thinking! Why does white enjoy a small plus in this position?
And then you start to consciously weighting pluses and minuses for both side hopefully coming to some kind of a conclusion. Well, white does has more space in the center controlling both c5,d5,e5 and f5.White has only 2 pawn islands versus blacks 3. All white pieces are developed; stand on good squares as well and soon white might be able to play e5 favorably. On the other side though, black has the bishop pair and if the position will be opened up the two bishops can become very strong.

In this way you think about the position and make a conclusion of who you think stand better. My experience doing this is that your understanding of the position increases and that you might be able to use the same conclusion on a similar position. That is really the good thing of pointing out all advantages and disadvantages. The next time you do it will become easier and next time even easier until the day you know it all by heart and the first thing you see in a position is the nice outpost, the rook occupying the seventh rank or the lead in development.

Most chess players do not single minded just use only logical thinking or their intuition. It’s a mixture of both but some tend to use logical conclusions more and others intuition more. I myself use mostly my intuition and in second hand logical thinking. But like I said in the beginning every player is different!

Developing your pieces

Next I want to show you what can happen when you violate the opening guidelines I described earlier. The game is between me (black) and a 1400 player (white).

The game started with:

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 This move is perfectly playable although Nf3 is more common.
2…Nf6 3.f4 An interesting choice by white. Often this opening is used as a surprise weapon. Black has to find the correct move here.
3…d5! Opening the center and for all the pieces to join and also threatening Nxe4.
3.Qe2?! (see diagram below)

Black to move

There are some reasons why you shouldn’t play this early queen sortie.  White violates the fifth opening rule in my article Opening rules to follow for players just starting out: Don’t develop your queen to early. And the reason for this is that the queen can come under attack. Sure, white’s queen maybe protecting e4 but that’s just short-term.

So, okay if we move back to the article I wrote about opening guidelines it says that you should develop your pieces quickly and knights before bishops. Therefore:
3…Nc6! Simply developing a piece and increasing my control over the central squares. Already I think black has at least equalized if he’s not even better.
4.fxe5? Now black’s simply better. It’s essential to develop your pieces as quickly as possible! One might argue that “a pawn is a pawn” but that dosen’t apply to this position as white is much worse now.
4…Nd4! And it’s clear why Qe2 wasn’t the best. Of course black shouldn’t take back the e5 pawn with: 4…Nxe5? Then follows 5.dxe with the idea to take on e5.
5.Qd3? The queen will become exposed here as well. At least after 5.Qe1 Nxe4 white's queen would be safe. But black would be much better because of the two centralized knights.
5…dxe Theartening the queen and protecting d4!
6.Nxe4 Nxe4 7.Qxe4 Bf5 (see diagram below)

White to move

If you compare white’s position to black's you can see some differences. Black has develop two pieces and white has develop just one. And the queen is the one piece that you shouldn’t move in the opening!

6.Qxb7 Taking a pawn but an lonesome queen on attack will not get far.
6…Qh4+! Bringing in another piece to the attack! There is a saying that says “It dosen’t matter what the material balance is when someone is attacking. All that matters is how many pieces are attacking vs defending”. Black has 3 pieces attacking and white hasn’t even one piece defending! All his pieces are on the first rank except of Qb7.
7.g3 Of course 7.Kd1?? is bad because of 7…Bxc2#
7…Qe4+! Swapping white’s only develop piece on the board!
8.Qxe4 Bxe4 (see diagram below)

White to move

Even though white has two more pawns black is wining. The game is practically over after 8 moves! That’s what happens when someone neglects this rules! And now white can’t meet both threats of Nxc2+ and Bxh1.

9.Ne2? Making things even worse. Better was 9.c3 when after 9…Nc2 10.Ke2 Nxa1 11.Nf3 white’s not okay but better than in the game continuation.

9…Nxc2+ 10.Kd1 Nxa1 11.Rg1 Bc5! (see diagram below)

White to move

Developing the bishop in the best way possible threatening g1!

12.d4 An good idea trying to protect g1 and push the bishop away.
12…Rd8! Developing yet another piece at the same time as protecting the bishop.
13.Bg5 Developing a piece. But this should white had thought about 10 moves ago!
13…Rxd4+! Temporary giving away the rook for a knight + pawn but the benefits of this will be good!
14.Nxd4 Bxd4 15.Bb5+ An attempt to save the rook on g1
15…c6 16.Re1 Now after 16…cxb 17.Rxe4 white has some chances of surviving thanks to the bad knight on a1

16…Bc2+! Keeping the bishop pair
17.Kd2 cxb 18.Rxa1 Bxb2 0-1 (see diagram below)

White to move

And now we can clearly see that black has the better position. A bishop and a pawn more! That’s what happened when white didn’t develop his pieces quickly enough!

Isolated Queen Pawn (IQP) - Basic king and pawn ending

White to move

This is the basic IQP position. White has some problems here due to the d4 pawn. The problem consists of two things:

      1. The pawn needs to be protected at all time by the king

      2.  The square in front of the pawn is weak and often occupied by the king 

But all in all it should be a relatively easy for white to draw this position if he knows what he is doing. The main points are:

1.       Try to protect the square e4 with a pawn (f3). Then the king will be able to move between c3, d3 making it harder for black to force a zugzwang.

2.       Not move his pawns longer up the board than to the fourth rank. If white places a pawn on, let’s say, b5 then black might win it with e5, Kxe5 followed by Kd5, Kc5.

Okay, let’s look at a real example.

White to move

This time it’s black how has the bad pawn. One of the key elements in the position is that black lost some control over d5 (c6) which means some fighting is needed to secure a draw
1.h4! Taking space and threatening h5.
1…g6 Already black has the possibility of going wrong with
 

1…g5? After 2.hxg hxg 3.c4 Black will soon run out of moves. 3…b5 4.b3 bxc 5.bxc a5 6.a4 Zugzwang! 
1…h5 is also sufficient for a draw. 2.g4?is bad because of standard breakthrough 2…g5! (See diagram below)

White to move

Now blacks creates a past pawn on the h- file which makes life difficult for white.
3.hxg h4! 4. Ke3 Kf7 And black has the upper hand!

 2.c4 Fixing c5 and controlling d5
2…b5 3.cxb Played with a clever idea. Creating an outside past pawn!
3…axb 4.b3 Idea a4
4…Kd6 Not a4 right away because after 5…bxa 6.bxa c4! Suddenly it’s white who has all the problems because of the immune e5 pawn
5.Kd3 Preparing a4, Kc4
5…Kc6 6.g3 After 6.a4 bxa 7.bxa White wins with the outside past pawn. However there’s no need for this as after 6…c4+! (See diagram below)

 

7.bxc bxa! And suddenly black has the outside pawn and of course it’s wining!
But 7.Kc3 is better when a draw could be expected after 7…cxb 8.a5 b4+! 9.Kxb3 Kb5 10.a6 Kxa6 11. Kxb6 Kb6 (=)

6…h5 7.Ke4 Kd6 And it’s hard for white to make progress

Opening principles to follow for players just starting out

Opening is the first part of the game and many things later are determined by how you play in this phase. Coming out badly from the opening means you might suffer for the rest of the game. But please note that until you gain around 1700- 1800 in elo there is no need to go further in chess theory. Only some sound principles will be needed to play the opening successfully.

#1 Develop your pieces quickly
This is rule of thumb and applies to most openings. In a training I once was taking part in we were not allowed to use more than 8 moves to develop all pieces. That’s a good rule of thumb to give to your student’s if you’re a trainer. All you’re pieces are fully developed when you’re rooks are connected. Another good rule of thumb is to move your pieces only once in the opening.

#2 Take control over the center with pawns
Taking control over the center means controlling the four central squares d4, e4, d5, e5. Often white tries to do that with placing pawns on d4/e4 and black trying to the same with pawns of e5/d5.

Black to move

A position from a game of mine. I was playing black here and as you can see I was doing quite badly letting white take full control over the center and play the 7 best moves you can play in the opening (e4,d4,Nc3,Nf3,Bf4,Bc4,0-0). And after just 3 more moves I had to resign. The shortest game I ever have played in a real tournament and quite embarrassing as I at that the time considered myself to be a quite decent chess player (I had 1900 in elo).

#3 Put the king in to safety
Many of the classical games from the 19^th century, the Romantic chess area, was decided right from the opening were one side didn’t manage to put the king in to safety in time. A pawn wasn’t worth anything and you gladly sacrificed 1 maybe 2 pawns in order to get ahead in development and then mate your opponent’s king. The game I just showed you is a great example of this, 11 moves and then I had to resign. You know in order put to your king in a safe place you need more than just making 0-0 (even though making 0-0 or 0-0-0 often gets your king out of trouble).

#4 Develop knights before bishops
At least one knight should be developed first. There is a simple reason for this: Depending on where you place your knights and your opponent places his/her knights your bishops belong on different squares.

#5 Don’t develop your queen to early
Many beginners think that because the queen is there most powerful piece (which it is) they have to bring it out and attack their opponent as quick as possible. Often times this strategy will only backfire. Here is an example of when this strategy doesn’t work:

White to move

As we can see the queen is standing in the middle of the board. Now it will reveal itself why the queen is so exposed. 1.Nc3! Developing a pieces and also gaining time because black has to move the queen again. And that breaks the 1th principle of not moving the same piece twice in the opening. 1… Qe5+?!  A bad move because the check is only temporary and white will soon gain extra time developing pieces and hitting the black queen at the same time. 2.Be2 Simply develops the bishop and prepares Nf3. 2…Bg4 Making use of the pin. 3.d4! Again hitting the black queen and making an important developing move (3.Nf3 would have been meet by Bxf3 when white has to compromise the pawn structure with gxf). 3…Bxe2 4.Nxe2 Qa5 5.0-0 (Diagram below)

Black to move

Please, take a moment to compare white’s position to black’s. White has made 3 developing moves and put his king to safety. Black on the other hand has not gone any further than in the last position with the exception of the missing light squared bishop. You’d be surprised if I tell you how many games online I have played white in this position. But the score isn’t surprising at all.

Case study: French Defense part 1

French Defense is one of the most interesting openings you can play in chess. It gives room for some rich strategic play as well as tactical play. White gains the center and black tries to attack it. If black prevails then it’s suddenly he who has the upper hand. It wasn’t until recently that I decided to play this opening with white (but I might even employ it with black later). The reason for not playing it was that first of all I didn’t understand it and second of all I didn’t like closed positions. I liked open positions with a lot of tactical variations. But recently I’ve figured that if I want to improve my play this would be a very good opening to start with. So, let’s take a look at the first moves:

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 And we have reached the first position! (see down below)

From here there are many variations but often the central pawns land on d4,e5 for white and e6,d5 for black. That means that white is enjoying some space advantage and that black has the bad bishop on c8. So, why did black buy in to all this? Well, one thing is that black will be able to up some pressure against white’s center with c5 and f6. Also, d4 pawn can become quite weak. Black is willing to unbalance the position and tries to develop play of he’s own.

3.Nc3 is the most common move 3…Bb4 creating the threat of dxe .4 e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3 6.bxc (see diagram below)

The mainline of the French Defense. Black is putting pressure against white center with c5 and also he has managed to destroy white’s queenside pawns. White enjoys a better center and therefore space advantage.

The line that I decided to take a closer look at here is:
6…Ne7 7.Qg4 This is white most ambitious move trying to take advantage of black vulnerable kingside. 7…g6 is not to recommend here as it weakens blacks dark squares. An idea like h4-h5 might gain in strength and white’s dark squared bishop might use these weaknesses to its advantage with Bg5-f6. Instead black has other tires like …Qc7 0-0. After 7…Qc7 the game gets sharp when black decides to sacrifices a pawn for destroying white’s center. 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 cxd this is the point of black’s play. Black is both threatening Qc3+ and Qxe5+. 10.Ne2! Controlling c3 and d4. 10…dxc practice has shown that this is the best move. See diagram below.

 And we have reached an interesting position. White idea consist of:
1. Hold on to the e5 pawn
2. Push the h- pawn
Black idea is:
1. Attack e5
2. Use the slight lead in development to create threats

White often continues with f4 here and black follows with Nbc6 and so on. Mabye I will return to this line later and go deep in to the heart of this variation. But for now this is all as I will only try to give a general overview in this article.

Returning to the position after white’s seventh move 7.Qg4. (see diagram below)

Black has a lot of additional resources here. For example 7…0-0 is perfectly playable. After this white tries to attack the black king with Bd3, Qh5, Nf3-g5 trying to provoke some weakness. Black on the other hand will try to attack the white center with Nbc6 and sometimes f6. 8.Bd3 Nbc6 9.Qh5 Ng6 still it’s very important not to give away any squares by moving the pawns. For example 9…g6? would be a horrible mistake. 10.Qh6! if 10…c4 trying to get rid of the bishop when 11.Nf3! is played. Because after 11…cxd 12.Ng5 it’s hard to protect h7. This is why a move like g6 can be devastating in this type of position! 10.Nf3 protecting d4 and prepares 0-0 and threatens Ng5. Interesting position with a lot of play for both sides. I recommend that you go deeper into the positions and look at them more fully.

Instead of 7.Qg4 there are a lot of moves like Nf3 (just getting on with the development), a4 (with the plan of Ba3, the best diagonal for the bishop). The first time I played the French I played the 7.a4 variation. The problem was that I didn’t know more than putting the bishop on a3. After 7…Qa5 I played Bd2 and a4 was in some sense worthless as I didn’t have the opportunity to put the bishop on a3 any longer.