Chessville - Ear Plugs - Chess Instruction with GM Nigel Davies

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Chess Instruction

GM Nigel Davies

Chess Mentoring Services

There is no quick fix to mastering chess so Nigel takes a long term mentoring approach, individually tailoring his guidance to each student's needs and available time. Several students have studied with Nigel for more than a decade, experiencing considerable growth in their game during this time.

"Chess improvement can be a time consuming job and prove especially difficult for those with
lives outside the game. For this reason my books, DVDs and mentoring services are aimed at
enabling players to improve their results as much as possible in the least amount of time."

Ear Plugs

Ear-plugs. I swear by them. They are an invaluable part of the playing equipment of any chess player, yet as far as I know only Anatoly Vaiser and myself use them.

When the spectators make too much noise, the solution is ear plugs. If your room-mate snores, ear plugs are the answer. Had Bobby Fischer thought of buying a pair he might have withdrawn from fewer tournaments and become World Champion several years sooner.

One can only guess at the massive innate advantage possessed by the deaf World Champion Tigran Petrosian, who simply turned off his hearing aid if the noise level rose too high. It was said in fact that this was the decisive factor in his 1971 Candidates Match with Robert Hübner in which the sensitive (and unplugged!) German Grandmaster was badly affected by the noisy venue.

In the Gausdal Chess Festival of 1993, a number of bleary-eyed players came to breakfast complaining about the noise of building work which commenced at 7am. They had tried unsuccessfully to complain to the hotel management. "Ear plugs", I told them.

And it was ear-plugs that enabled me to win my game against the Russian Grandmaster Yuri Razuvaev when I failed to hear his draw offer and he blundered on his next move. I thought he said something but I really wasn't sure. Had I heard him offer the draw, I might well have accepted as the position was fairly level at the time. After that I went on to register a Grandmaster title qualifying score and ascended to Grandmaster status later that year.

"Better late than never" remarked my kindly last-round Latvian opponent, Grandmaster Aivars Gipslis, when he gave me the draw I needed without making me fight. In a weak moment I promised to call my first-born after him. Let's hope it isn't a girl.

The two cornerstones of my performance were two wins over former Soviet Grandmasters, the round 7 game with Razuvaev and the round 2 encounter with Naum Rashkovsky.

Rashkovsky, who hails from Alma-Ata, took the precaution of offering me a draw before the ear plugs were in, in fact it was even before lunch! In the good old days it was the Russians who complained that Englishmen were always offering draws; how times have changed. And the shock of my refusal seemed to badly affect his play:

Davies, N - Rashkovsky, N
Wade Defence

1.Nf3 d6 2.d4 Bg4 3.e4 Nf6 4.Nbd2 e6 5.c3

When I showed this game to the doyen of British chess, Robert Wade, he complained bitterly that I was showing him a win against his own defence! Tartakover used to play 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nf3 Bg4, but this 2....Bg4 is Wade's patent. White's natural development caused my opponent to sink into thought over the next couple of moves, which is slightly surprising. But normally the knight goes to c3.

5...Be7 6.Bd3 0-0

The immediate 6...d5 may have been more intelligent. Black's king becomes a target on the kingside, and it would be better not to commit it for the moment.

7.0-0

After 7.Qc2 Black could play 7...Nbd7 (8.e5 dxe5 9.dxe5 Nc5), but then simply 8.0-0, threatening 9.e5, gives Black some cause for concern. Perhaps 7.0-0 was played too quickly, but it is also quite good.

7...d5 8.e5 Nfd7 9.Qc2 g6

After 9...h6 10.h3, Black would be forced to capture on f3 when he could do little to oppose White on the b1-h7 diagonal. The text also creates weaknesses, but this time on the dark squares.

10.Re1 c6

Black probably rejected 10...c5 because of 11.h3 Bf5 12.Bxf5 gxf5 13.c4! dxc4 14.d5! etc. And 11...Bxf3 would leave Black vulnerable to a subsequent h4-h5.

11.h3 Bf5 12.Nf1

Once again 12...c5 could be met by 13.Bxf5 gxf5 14.c4. However 12...Bxd3 13.Qxd3 c5 followed by 14...Nc6 deserved preference.

12...Na6 13.Bh6 Re8 14.Ne3

Black was no doubt reluctant to make this exchange but after 14...c5 there is 15.Bxf5 gxf5 16.Nxf5! gxf5 17.Qxf5 Nf8 18.e6 fxe6 19.Qg4+ Ng6 and now both 20.Rxe6!? Bf6 21.Ne5 and 20.Ne5 Bf6 21.Nxg6 hxg6 22.Qxg6+ Kh8 23.Re3 (and not 23.Qh5 Re7), threatening 24.Rf3, leave Black in desperate straights.

14...Bxd3 15.Qxd3 c5 16.a3

Inhibiting Black's queenside counterplay, just as in the advance French.

16...cxd4 17.cxd4 Rc8 18.Ng4 Qc7 19.Rac1 Qa5

Or 19...Qb6 20.Qd2. Black can do little but watch as his kingside is systematically infiltrated.

20.Qe3 Qb5 21.Bg5 Rxc1

After 21...Bf8 there is 22.Bf6 threatening 23.Nh6+ etc.

22.Rxc1 h5 23.Bxe7! hxg4 24.Qh6!

Utterly crushing. Capturing the bishop either here or on the last move would have allowed the killing Rc8+.

24...Qxb2

Apparently hoping for 25.Ng5.

25.Bf6 1-0

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