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The Art of
Planning in Chess
(Move by Move)
Reviewed by
Michael Jeffreys
|
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by GM Neil McDonald
Batsford Chess, 2006
ISBN 1904600344
247 Pages, softcover, $21.95
Figurine Algebraic
Notation |
Planning to Succeed
Prolific chess author GM Neil McDonald follows up his book from 2004,
Chess: The Art of Logical Thinking with this new title, The Art of
Planning in Chess. In both books he uses the Chernev style of
annotating, i.e., commenting on almost every move of every game (although
there are some games where he just gives the opening moves without comment
until about move 10). While those rated over 1900 will likely find
these books a bit too shallow in variations for their tastes, those rated
under 1900 will appreciate the clear descriptions and explanations McDonald
uses to explain what’s going on in the position.
The book contains 39 games (refreshingly, all the games were played within
the last six years; each contain approximately 4-6 pages of mostly verbal
notes), and is broken down into 6 chapters:
1. Ferocious files
2. Dangerous diagonals
3. Wearing down a weakness
4. Surging through the centre
5. Pawns and goat pegs [McDonald uses “goat pegs” to refer to
a pawn that “restrains” an opponent’s piece(s)].
6. Horrible holes
Here is game one, which features not only my favorite opening, but what must
be considered a big upset, as GM Peter Wells takes down GM Alexei Shirov
with the Trompowsky in only 13 moves! (All notes—and you can see there
are quite a few—by McDonald):
Wells,
Peter (2501) - Shirov, Alexei (2709)
Gibraltar
2006
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 c5
       
  
      
Black’s plan is to gain maximum benefit from the weakness of the b2
square created by White’s second move. He therefore clears the way for
his queen to go to b6 as quickly as possible. He also challenges the
d4 pawn as part of a general ‘anti-dark square’ campaign.
3.Bxf6 In contrast, Peter Wells is content to do some
damage to his opponent’s pawn structure, even if it means handing over
the traditional defender of his dark squares.
3…gxf6 Shirov recaptures towards the centre as he sees it
gives him the opportunity to activate his bishop.
4.d5 The pawn grabs a space advantage and denies the
enemy knight its natural post on c6.
4…Qb6 Black’s plan gains momentum. No doubt he was
encouraged by White’s previous move, which appears to be something of
an abdication of the fight for the dark squares in the centre.
5.Qc1 An awkward looking response. The white queen
is reduced to the role of guardian of the b2 square. Surely
White has no hope of the initiative here?
5…f5 Shirov calls on the help of the f-pawn in his bid to
punish White’s apparently lackadaisical build up.
6.c4 Another red flag to a bull. Wells strengthens
his grip on the light squares in the centre, but is apparently
oblivious to his opponent’s intentions on the dark squares.
6…Bh6 Black gains a lead in development by harassing the
white queen.
7.e3 The obvious response, but now we see the point of
Black’s fifth move.
7…f4 The intention is to leave White with a weak pawn on
e3 after 8…fxe3 or reopen the diagonal for the dark squared bishop.
8.exf4 Apparently surrendering the dark squares, but
there is a surprise waiting.
8…Bxf4 The high point of Black’s game. White surely
can’t capture the bishop as it leads to disaster on b2—or does it?
9.Qxf4!!
Up until now Black has been convinced that he has been positionally
outplaying his opponent. Indeed, if White now played 9.Qc2,
Black would have a pleasant position as his dark squared bishop is by
far the strongest minor piece on the board. Wells’ exchange
sacrifice, even if objectively the verdict is no more than ‘unclear’,
is a big psychological shock for Black, who has the initiative
wrenched from him.
9…Qxb2 I find it easy to sympathise with Shirov here, as
it (sic) hard to accept that White can build up a dangerous attack,
when as yet he only has the queen in play.
10.Ne2! The knight heads for c3 to support his comrade on
b1 and also close an escape route for the black queen.
10…Qxa1 A nice feast, but if Black is careless then his
queen or king are going to pay with their lives.
11.Nec3 Completing an unusual knight manoeuvre: how often
does the knight head straight from g1 to c3 in the opening?
11…Qb2?
Shirov was understandably keen to get his queen out of the corner, as
White had the straightforward plan of 12.Qd2, taking away the escape
route on b2, followed by 13.Be2, 14.0-0 and 15.Na3, winning the
trapped queen.
Instead Black could have made it difficult for White to implement this
plan after 11…d6! 12.Qd2. Now useless for Black is the variation
12…Bf5 13.Be2! When 13…Bxb1 14.0-0 leaves him powerless against the
threat of 15.Rxb1 when the black queen is captured anyway; or if
13…Qxb1+ 14.Nxb1 Bxb1 and then 15.Qb2 is a killer as it forks the
bishop on b1 and the far off rook on h8.
However 12…Rg8! keeps Black alive, as if 13.Be2 Rxg2 stops White from
castling. In fact, it is hard to see how White can capture the
black queen in a ‘clean’ way. Instead, White could play g3,
reigniting the threat of Be2 and 0-0, but then Black can create
counterplay with a7-a6 and b7-b5.
Apparently, Shirov had been consuming a large amount of time
hereabouts, which shows he had come to the game unarmed. It
proved beyond the capacity of even a tactical wizard to work out all
the ramifications after 9.Qxf4.
12.d6! A very strong move. White’s basic aim is to mate
the black king, or failing that, force Black to hand over a lot of
material to avoid mate. His plan depends on two inter-related themes:
An attack on Black’s dark squares and the crippling of Black’s
pawn/minor piece deployment.
An attack on Black’s dark squares
It is somewhat ironic that after parting with his queen’s bishop on
move two, and then putting his pawns on light squares, White has
become master over a key complex of dark squares in the centre.
Not only is e7 vulnerable to attack, most obviously with Qe5 and Qxe7
mate, but its elimination with d6xe7 will bring Black no succour:
thereafter, the white queen and knights would be able to exploit the
d6 and f6 squares with moves like Qf6 or Nf6+ or Nd6+.
Furthermore, by vacating the d5-square, the pawn advance has opened
the way for the (sic) Nd5 and Nc7+ - another dark square!
Also with 12 d6, Black has been denied any escape route with his king
to c7, as the dark squares have ceased to be his friend.
The crippling of his pawn/minor piece deployment
But surely with 12.d6 White has handed Black a nice square on c6 for
his knight? True, but White has prevented a far superior
deployment of the knight with 12…d6 followed by Nd7 and Ne5, when the
knight is well centralized and shelters e7 from attack.
And crucially, the bishop on c8 has been shut out of the centre by
12.d6! It could be developed by b7-b6 and Bb7, but this is
painfully slow and unlikely to have any bearing on the life and death
struggle involving the black king.
12…Qc2 Not the way to put up the most resistance, but
Shirov was no doubt dispirited by the unexpected disaster.
13.Qe3! 1–0
Much stronger than 13.Qe5, which appears to win due to the double
threat of mate on e7 and h8, as Black has the riposte 13…0-0! when
14.dxe7 Re8 is far from clear. Besides, White has to reckon with
a disruptive check on c1.
By putting his queen on e3, Wells ensures that 13…0-0 can be met with
14.Bd3 – another free developing move at the expense of the black
queen – 14…Qb2 15.Qg5+ Kh8 16.Qh6! There is a double threat of
mate on f8 and h7, and this time Black has no clever response.
Shirov gave up the ghost here and resigned.
After Black deals with the threat of mate on e7, White can develop his
pieces with Bd3 and 0-0, when he will have a decisive advantage in
firepower aimed at the Black king.
A possible finish is 13…Nc6 14.Bd3 Qb2 15.0-0 and if now 15…e6 16.Nb5
Kd8 (or 16…Kf8) 17.N1c3 and White will trap the queen with 18.Rb1,
whilst keeping a lethal attack on the black king.
Or 15…b6 16.Be4!?- threatening 17.Bxc6 dxc6 18.Qxe7 mate – 16…e6
17.Qg5 – aiming again at the e7 square – 17…Kf8 18.Bxc6 dxc6 19.Qh6+
Kg8 (if 19…Ke8 20.Qf6! wins at once threatening mate on e7 or h8)
20.Re1 f5 – trying to make space for the king- 21.Re2 – driving off
the black queen as 21.Re3?? Qc1+ mates for Black! 21…Qb4 22.Re3 and
23.Rg3 mates.
An amazing demolition of one of the best players in the world.
* * * * * *
As you can see, McDonald does a great job of explaining things, especially
the subtle points, such as that even though White gave up his dark squared
bishop on move two, his attack exploits Black’s weakened dark squares!
By the way, I think it goes without saying that this game goes directly into
the “Tromp hall-of-fame,” as another example of what can happen when even a
great player like Shirov fails to give this mighty opening the respect it so
obviously deserves! ;)
Okay, let’s move on to a different game. In this one, McDonald uses the
technique of “getting inside each player’s head.” While there have
been numerous chess books that claim to tell you “what the players were
thinking,” (in an attempt to sell more books), here McDonald actually
delivers:
In the game I. Cheparinov - V. Ivanchuk, Khanty Mansyisk 2005, after
the moves:
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.b6 d6 6.Nc3 Nbd7 7.a4 a5 8.e4 g6
9.Nf3 Bg7 10.Be2 0–0 11.0–0 Qxb6 we arrive at the following position of
the Benko Gambit:
Now McDonald writes:
Let’s try to imagine each player’s thoughts about the position as they
weighed up their strategic chances.
Ivan Cheparinov: I have spotted a weak square in my
opponent’s position on b5. I should try to place a knight there and
do my best to support it. This will not only deprive Black of any
counterplay against my b2-pawn, but also deter him from attacking my
centre with e7-e6, as the d6-pawn would then become vulnerable. So
in this way I will secure my queenside from attack and also keep my space
advantage in the centre. That means I will be able to start a
kingside attack based on f2-f4 without being disturbed. With luck,
this will culminate in a mating attack against the black king.
Vassily Ivanchuk: My pawn structure is solid, my king is safe
and I’m not lagging behind in development. But I still haven’t
shaken off White’s space advantage. Maybe e7-e6 is an option to
attack d5? Yes, I might try that if allowed! I see that White
can stop me, but never mind: I should be able to exchange some pieces, and
in an endgame I can exploit the weakness of the b2-pawn, and possibly the
a4- and e4-pawns as well. Yes, I have a hold on b5, but I’m
confident I’ll be able to bring enough pieces to bear on this square to
make sure White doesn’t enjoy it in peace. Or perhaps I can occupy
the b4-square with one of my knights in the future? Yes, I can be
ambitious here and play for the win!
And then McDonald tells you what to look for:
Two positional titans engage in an exemplary display of cat and mouse.
Then Ivanchuck becomes over-confident and makes a superficially strong
manoeuvre that just leaves him in a strategic stranglehold. He puts
a knight on b4, but what does it do?
Man this is good stuff! White does go on to win and I recommend
getting this book just for this game alone to see how Cheparinov, the
19-year old trainer of Topolov, takes apart one of the strongest players in
the world.
While this is the only time in the book that McDonald uses the “what they
are thinking” technique, he does ask a lot of questions and then gives the
answers to many of the thoughts that are likely to pop into the heads of
most readers. (By the way, the only book that I know of that actually tells
you what each side is thinking throughout the entire game, for every game in
the book, is a little yellow paperback by Paul Schmidt called, How
Grandmasters Think, published by Chess Enterprises in 1988, and now
out-of-print and very hard to get).
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The Bottom Line
If you like lots of clear verbal
annotations rather than lines of variations this book will definitely
appeal to you. McDonald, much like Steve Gidden’s did in his excellent,
50 Essential Chess Lessons,
does a great job of breaking down and explaining what each side is doing
throughout the game. While the book does contain some typos, they
don’t significantly take away from the excellent chess instruction.
On a scale of 1-10, The Art of Planning in Chess gets an
8.5 |
Other Neil McDonald titles reviewed at Chessville:
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