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“Man, there’s gotta be a better way…”
“Intelligence and war are games, perhaps the only meaningful games left. If any player becomes too proficient, the game is threatened with termination.” - William Burroughs, The Adding Machine.
Reasonably speaking, it takes but little experience with the variant called Fischer Random Chess to become convinced of the depth of Mr. Fischer’s creation. Set firmly within the framework of standard chess, FRC is based upon a very refined usage of the 17th century “shuffle concept”: the resultant 960 starting arrays permit of a chess that is, at once, more profound and creative, and yet in no way burdened with a ponderous “openings theory”. Therein, however, lies the drawback as well: the FRC player is required to analyze the particular starting array he finds before him based solely upon general principles. Very strangely, considering the countless articles written on FRC, this, the most basic problem posed by this variant – i.e., How do I go about analyzing an FRC opening position? – has all but been ignored! With this in mind, then, I’d like to offer the following basic method.
Analyzing the 960 Confronting an FRC starting position, two questions must be asked:
Naturally Weak Squares In the opening array, a square of the second or seventh rank is said to be naturally weak if a) it is guarded by no piece, or b) it is guarded by the king alone. In standard chess, as is well known, the sole naturally weak squares are f2-f7. Let’s look at some examples from the 960.
FRC Position
959: The d2-d7 pair are naturally weak.
FRC Position
601: The h2-h7 pair are naturally weak.
FRC Position
67: The pairs c2-c4 and h2-h7 are naturally weak.
FRC Position 545: No naturally weak squares are present.
As can be seen, the majority of the 960 do contain naturally weak squares. The point should be obvious: a great many opening set-ups in FRC revolve around defending and attacking these key squares.
An Opening Goal When setting out to write a short story, the first thing in Edgar Allan Poe’s mind was the ending. In other words, before he even started, he knew precisely (or Poe-cisely) where he wanted to finish. In thinking about a possible opening set-up for one of the 960, that’s just how you should start: In, say, 10 to 12 moves, where would I like to see my pieces? Don’t misunderstand this: I did not say, “How can I get my pieces into such-and-such a formation?”, that’s a plan, but rather merely, “Where would I like them to be?”, that’s a goal. Let’s look at an example. Again taking position 959, after some consideration, I visualize this:
Now, of course, my opponent is going to actively inhibit my plans; further, something better may occur to me as we proceed; but still, with this ideal first conception clearly in view, I’ve made some big steps toward working-out a winning game.
An Opening Plan Ok, you know where the naturally weak squares (if any) are, and you’ve visualized some kind of opening formation, now, what about a plan to realize all this? The following game, played about a year ago, is between Prof. R. J. Dee and myself. We both have a standard chess Elo circa 2000. The FRC starting array is 205; neither of us had played it before. The game, though friendly, was conducted under strict tournament conditions, with a time-control of 20 moves in one hour. Immediately following, we had a post-game analysis for about one hour.
FRC Position
205, Black side with my visualized set-up. The g2-g7 pair is weak. R.J. Dee - Robert T. Tuohey Here’s a pgn of the game, Winboard, etc., compatible. 1.Ne3! At the expense of blocking the e-pawn, White immediately defends the weak square. 1...e6 As FRC positions are symmetrical, I could have followed suit with Ne6, but such play often leads to a dull equality; I have a different plan in view.
2.c4 A fine move: opens lines for the d1-bishop and the b1-knight,starts a d-wing expansion, and inhibits d5. 2...Bf6 Guarding g7 and putting pressure along the diagonal, particularly b2, and stops d4. 3.Nc3 In the post-game analysis, my opponent said he had wanted to play d3, then Nd2, following with Nf3, and, after f2 and then Bf2, castle K-side; fearing the bishop’s pressure, however, he had finally decided upon blocking the diagonal with Nc3. 3...d6 Opening a square for my knights, with an eye to defending the f3-bishop.
4.Ng4 As expected, White wants to get rid of that pesky bishop. 4...Nfd7 I’ll let him do so, but only by allowing me to replace it with a knight. 5.Nxf6+ Nxf6 6.f3 A problem with position 205 is the development of the g2-g7 bishops. Interestingly, my opponent and I, although both castling short, solve it in different ways. 6...Nbd7 Getting my knights in cooperation.
7.Ba4 A good move that will cause me some trouble. 7...a6 Prophylaxis: stops Nb5 (attacking a7). 8.Be3 As this move blocks the e-pawn, it looks somewhat awkward, but, as we will see, White has a plan here. 8...h6 The luft for my bishop. 9.Ne4 Again, an insightful attack. 9...Nxe4 Is all but forced, as d6 is forked. 10.fxe4 10.BxN+ was definitely a possibility, and may have given some edge to White. In the post-game, however, my opponent said he still thought the text-move was correct as it was too early to judge whether the positional gain was worth the bishop-pair. 10...c6 Blocking the bishop’s attack on the knight, permitting the king to castle.
11.O-O Bh7 12.d3 I congratulate my opponent on this fine set-up: the c, d, and e-pawns group into a “stonewall” formation; with the exception of the queen, his pieces are active, the connected rooks are on semi-open files, he has the bishop pair, and has castled into safety. 12...O-O “Both parties are now out of the wood, and the open battle assumes an ordinary aspect,” as Steinitz commented, at move 15, on a shuffle chess game between Blackburne and Potter in 1875! Note here that the position has taken on the aspect of a closed Sicilian. 13.Bb3!? In the post-game, my opponent ruefully termed this a “waiting move”: he wasn’t sure how to continue. Also, we were both perilously close to zeitnot. In line with the d-wing attack, b4 was more in order. 13...c5 14.Ba4!? Activating the queen, Qb1, was probably the better choice. This small slip gives me my first chance. 14...b5
15.cxb5 Bxe4! 16.bxa6 Ne5!
17.dxe4 Qxe4 18.Bxh6! Qxa4 19.Bf4 Ng6 Nicely placing my knight, and setting up the cheapo 20.Bxe6? Qd4+. 20.b3 Correct. 20...Qxa6 21.Qb2 Nxf4 22.Rxf4 We had both barely made the time control (20 moves in one hour), and felt quite tired, but well-pleased, with the level position. I suggested a cup of coffee, and we agreed the game drawn ½-½
Summary Weak squares and a possible set-up scenario are two key concepts in the FRC opening. Obviously, a solid knowledge of classical chess formations is required. In classical chess, the quickest part of the game is the opening; in FRC, as seen in the demo game, this is not at all the case. From the very first move, FRC demands creative analysis on the part of the players.
Notes 1. Throughout the article I have referred to this variant by its proper name, i.e., Fischer Random, and not Chess 960. Purveyors of the latter term would seek to use Bobby’s brainchild and yet deny his authorship. Sorry, no dice. It’s Fischer Random. 2. The article by Steinitz may be found on-line at www.chesscentral.com/game-chess/fischer-random.htm 3. A good background for Fischer Random Chess may be found at http://www.chessvariants.com/diffsetup.dir/fischerh.html
“What?!
You’re still afraid of Fischer Random?
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