Chessville Instruction - Difficult Moves (Part 1)

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Difficult Moves (Part 1)
by FM Amatzia Avni (Inside Avni's Mind)

A lot of chess manuals deal with tactics. They guide us where to direct our attention, when to conduct a thorough analysis and how best to carry out accurate calculations.

The manuals usually address all positions with the same set of principles. But the truth is that certain chess moves are more difficult to spot than others. Why? Because they contradict general rules, even defy common sense.

It may be useful to shed light on some of these special moves.

A) The quiet move

A combination usually involves a series of forced moves. When, in the midst of a sequence, one side plays an ostensibly ‘quiet’ move, this causes a stir.

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 latest 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).

Dorfman - Vaisser
France 2003
White to play

Here white played 31.Rc:c2 d:c2 (or 31...Ne2+ 32.R:e2 d:c2 33.Nd3) 32.R:c2, transposing into a better endgame with a pawn up. This proved insufficient as his opponent contrived to scratch a draw on move 57. White could have played much more incisively:

31.N:d3! B:d3 White’s move appears to be an error, since after 32.R:d3 comes 32...Ne2+, turning the tables...

32.Kh2!! A big surprise: this quiet move prevents the check on e2 while maintaining his threats.

32...Be4 32...Bb5 is met by the same response.

33.Rd6! Ba7 34.R:c3! And wins, as 34...R:c3 is met by 35.Rd8X.

B) Switch Backs

Most of us limit our thoughts to one front, be it the center or one flank. Occasionally we shift our pieces from one wing to the other. The idea to maneuver back and forth seems like a waste of time...

Morozevic - Grischuk
Russian Team Championship 2003
White to play

White’s initiative is plain to the eye, but the scant material raises doubts if it is substantial enough. However, all doubts are removed by the following sequence:

38.Qc8! With threats like 39.Qc3+ or 39.Re8 followed by 40.Ne4+.

38...Kg7 The black king retreats to find shelter but he is in for a rude shock...

39.Nf5+! g:f5 40.Qg8+ 1:0

Back to the king’s flank, this time with a bang: 40...Kf6 41.Rh6X. White’s 39th move robbed black of the flight square f5.

C) Retreat

We are trained to move forward, to initiate a frontal, face to face clash with the opposing army. Pieces that move backwards are not seen as threatening. Yet...

Miles - Agdestein
Oslo 1984
White to play

15.Nb1! White prevents knights-exchange on c3 and is about to pose Ne4, which is devoid of escape routes, serious problems.

15...e5 Unsuspecting, otherwise he would have opted for 15...Bg6 coupled with 16...f5, vacating f6 for Ne4....

16.Ng1!! After this second successive retreat white’s f-pawn is free to apply the advance 17.f2-f3. The black knight is trapped in mid-board.

16...e:d4 16...g4 would have saved the knight but still lead to defeat.

17.e:d4 Rfe8 18.f3 a5 19.f:e4 (1:0, 42)

Interestingly, had black chosen 15...h5 16.Ng1 h4 (16...g4!), the game would present another retreat: 17.Bd1! with the idea 18.f3 Ng3 19.B:g3 h:g3 20.Ne2, when white wins a pawn and the game.

D) Hitting a fortified square

Another difficult move to spot is one which undermines an apparently immune, well-defended square. In our next example white sacrifices a whole rook which can be captured by three different pieces.

David - Slobodjan
Berlin Open 1997
White to play

17.R:f7!! A bombshell. It is difficult even to think at this direction - how could this succeed?

17...Q:f7 The alternatives 17...K:f7 18.Bc4 Kg8 19.Nc5 Qf5 20.Q:d5+ Kh8 21.Rf1; or 17...R:f7 18.Bc4 Nf4 19.Nd6 Ne6 20.N:f7 K:f7 21.Qf3, are scarcely improvements.

18.Bc4 Kh8 19.Q:d5 Qc7 White’s position is so strong that he offers a queen swap, which his adversary rejects out of hand: 19...Q:d5 20.B:d5 Nc6 21.a6.

20.Nd6 Nc6 20...h6 21.Bd8! Qd7 22.Rf1 R:f1+ 23.K:f1 leaves black helpless.

21.Nf7+ R:f7 22.Q:f7 Qd6 23.c3 Qc5 24.Kh1 Na5 25.Bf6 1:0

*** The author thanks Raaphy Persitz for his assistance in clarifying the text.

Part 2 of Difficult Moves

Inside Avni's Mind