Chess Teaching » Chess lessons

Morphy – Isouard (1858)

Chess Teacher — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:08:25 +0000

The game of this lesson between Paul Morphy and Carl Isouard that has been played in Paris 1858 is one of the most famous chess games.
It’s a very interesting short game and it contains at least five important chess lessons:
1. Develop you chess pieces quickly
2. Castling into safety
3. The strategic outpost at d5
4. Attacking a pinned piece
5. The use of an open file

Morphy_Isouard

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 The Philidor Defence 3.d4 Bg4 pins the knight, but also enables White to create an open file as we will see in the next moves

( Nowadays 3... exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 is played more often. )

4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 threatens mate 6...Nf6 7.Qb3! threatens a mate in two as illustrated by the next three variations 7...Qe7

( 7... Nxe4?? 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9.Qe6# like in the 1994 game of Shaun Press vs Tony Salvage )

( 7... b6?? 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9.Qe6# like in the 1994 game of Marek Smilowski vs Daniel Martins )

( 7... Nbd7?? 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9.Qe6# as played in 2003 in the game Karjakin Sergey [2576] — Sola Lluch Miguel Angel [2125] )

8.Nc3 White threatens eventually to use d5 a a strategic outpost 8... c6 prevents that White can position his knight on this important square. 9.Bg5 pins the knight 9...b5

( 9… Qc7 is better, but White still has a strong attack )

10.Nxb5! White gives up a knight in exchange for the two pawns and a strong attack. 10...cxb5 11.Bxb5+ Nbd7 resulting in another pinned piece. Black is almost unable to move a piece and can only try to defend.

( 11… Kd8 doesn’t help either. 12.O-O-O+ )

12.O-O-O!! Castling into safety and even more important attacking a pinned piece. All White’s pieces are developed, while Black’s pieces are hardly developed and unable to move. 12... Rd8 13.Rxd7!! Please note that the knight at f6 is pinned, but the most interesting part of this move is that White sacrifices the exchange to win a rook 13... Rxd7 14.Rd1 attacking a pinned piece again 14...Qe6

( 14… Kd8 is better, but not enough to hold the position 15.Bxd7 Kc7 +- )

15.Bxd7+ Nxd7? a mate in two. Do you see it?

( 15… Qxd7 is a better move, but look at what happens after this better move 16.Qb8+ Ke7 17.Qxe5+ Kd8 18.Bxf6+ gxf6 19.Qxf6+ Kc8 20.Rxd7 Kxd7 21.Qxh8 +- )

16.Qb8+ Nxb8 17.Rd8# 1-0

Bird – Steinitz (1866)

Chess Teacher — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:45:32 +0000

This position occurred in the game Bird -Steinitz (1866) and Steinitz played the winning move 66…b5+.
Bird reacted with 67.Kc3 and now we get an even more interesting position.

Should you also have played 66…b5+ or would you have tried something like 66…a3?
Are you able to win this won game? What is Black’s next move?

Be careful. There is only one winning move and all other moves will result in a draw.

Black to move and wins.

Mortimer Trap

Chess Teacher — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:40:52 +0000

In this lesson I will show you the Mortimer trap, also known as the Mortimer Variation of the Berlin Defense.

Mortimer_Trap

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3

( Today 4.O-O is played far more frequently )

4… Ne7?!

This is the Mortimer Variation of the Berlin Defense. It’s not a good move, but it sets a trap and the capture of the black pawn on e5 may be very tempting for White.

( 4… d6 5.c3 is a more normal continuation )

5.Nxe5?

( Even after 5.O-O Ng6 6.d4 c6 7.dxe5 Nxe4 Black is not without chances. )

5… c6! 6.Nc4

( 6.Ba4 Qa5+ 7.Nc3 Qxe5 )

( 6.Nxc6 dxc6 7.Bc4 Ng6 )

( 6.Nxf7 Probably White’s best move 6...Kxf7 7.Ba4 )

( 6.Bc4 Qa5+ 7.Nc3 Qxe5 )

6… d6! 7.Ba4 b5 This move forks the white bishop and knight and wins a piece

The bad bishop

Chess Teacher — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:52:58 +0000

Let’s have a look at the diagram below. White is two pawns ahead, but it is Black’s turn to move. Is he able to get a draw?

White’s bishop is a bad bishop. It has the wrong color and will not be able to drive away Black’s king from the promotion square of the rook pawn. Knowing this Black only has to capture the b-pawn to get the draw.

Bad_Bishop

32… Nb8!! 33.Kc4

( The alternative 33.b5 doesn’t help either ... Nc6+ 34.bxc6 Kxc6 35.Bd8 Kb7 )

( And 33.Bd8 even gives away the bishop, but it doesn’t matter anymore. ... Nc6+ 34.Kc4 Nxb4 ( 34… Nxd8 doesn’t fit within this lesson, but will also result in a draw ) 35.Kxb4 Kc6 36.Ka5 Kb7 )

33… Nc6 and White is unable to save the b-pawn

34.Kb5 Nxb4 35.Bxb4+ resulting in an endgame with a rook pawn and a Bishop of the wrong color. This will result in a draw, because the defending king is able to reach the corner.

35… Kc7 36.a5 Nothing helps. Black may try something like 36...Kb7 but if White pays attention the result remains a draw 37.Bc5 Kb8 38.Bd6+ Ka7 39.a6 Ka8 40.Bf8 Kb8 41.Bd6+ Ka8 42.Bc5 Kb8 43.a7+ Ka8 1/2 – 1/2

Grigoriev, 1938

Chess Teacher — Tue, 19 May 2009 17:49:21 +0000

The following diagram is a nice exercise about a chess position that looks rather easy at first sight. It’s White turn to move. Is this a draw?

It’s White’s turn to move, but Black will gain a tempo because of the check by f4+. So at first sight it may look like a draw, but as we will see White will be able to win this game.

Pawn_run

1.Ke4

First of all White forces Black’s king to move away from the promotion field f1.

1… Kg4 2.a4 f5+ 3.Kd3!

This is the key move. Black won’t promote with a check and White’s king is still in reach of the black pawn.

3… f4 4.a5 f3 5.a6 Kg3 6.a7 f2 7.Ke2 Kg2

In order to keep the pawn Black’s king was forced to do so, but this enables White to promote with check.

8.a8=Q+ 1-0

The Classical Bishop Sacrifice

Chess Teacher — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:21:57 +0000

In the game Colle – O’Hanlon, Nice 1930 we have seen one of the most famous examples of the Classical Bishop Sacrifice. In this lesson we will focus on some of the aspects of such a position that will help you to determine whether or not the sacrifice will be sound. I am going to use the game Kothe Harry G – Lewis James W, 1974 as an example.

Classical

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 e6 4.e4 b5 5.a4 c6 6.Bd2 a5 7.axb5 cxb5 8.b3 Bb7 9.bxc4 b4 10.Bd3 Bd6 11.Be3 Ne7 12.O-O O-O 13.e5 Bc7

The main conditions for the sacrifice are met:
- A bishop is able to capture the pawn on h7
- A knight is able to move to the g5 square
- This g5 square is defended
- The queen can reach h5

We even have some additional conditions that make it more likely that the sacrifice will be correct:
- Black’s Queen on d8
- Black’s Rook on f8
- White’s pawn on e5 will prevent an escape to f6

But there is also an indication that the sacrifice will not be sound:
- Black’s bishop on b7 may be able to defend h7

As we will see the sacrifice will be sound. Black’s bishop is rather harmless and will be attacked and undefended on e4.

14.Bxh7+ Kh8 Probably the best move, but we are mainly interested in the other alternative ( 14… Kxh7 15.Ng5+ Kg8

( 15… Kh8 is a mate in two 16.Qh5+ Kg8 17.Qh7# )

( 15… Kg6 16.Qg4 f5 17.exf6 gxf6 18.Nxe6+ Kf7 and White will win the queen 19.Nxd8+ )

( 15… Kh6 results in a mate in five 16.Qg4 Bxe5 17.dxe5 Nf5 18.Qh3+ Nh4 19.Qxh4+ Kg6 20.Qh7# )

16.Qh5 Be4 17.Nxe4 )

15.Ng5 g6 16.Bxg6 fxg6 17.Qg4 Kg8 18.Qxe6+ Kg7 19.Qh3 Rh8 20.Ne6+ Kg8 21.Nxd8 Rxh3 22.Nxb7 winning a piece

But the game continues for a while.

22… Rh7 23.Nc5 Nbc6 24.Ne4 Rh4 25.Nbd2 Nf5 26.Nf6+ Kg7 27.Nf3 Rxd4 28.Nd5 Rxd5 29.cxd5 Nxe3 30.fxe3 Nxe5 31.Rfb1 Re8 32.e4 Bb6+ 33.Kf1 Nc4 34.Ke2 Na3 35.Rc1 Rxe4+ 36.Kd3 Re3+ 37.Kd2 b3 38.Rxa3 b2 39.Rb1 Rxa3 40.Rxb2 Be3+ 41.Kc2 Kf6 42.Rb3 Ra2+ 43.Kd3 Bc5 44.Rb5 Bd6 45.Rb6 Ke7 46.Nh4 Kd7 47.h3 Ra3+ 48.Kc2 Rg3 49.Ra6 g5 50.Rxd6+ Kc7 51.Rg6 a4 52.Nf3 Rxg2+ 53.Kb1 Rf2 54.Nxg5 Rd2 55.d6+ Rxd6 56.Rxd6 Kxd6 57.h4 Ke5 58.Nf3+ 1-0

A final exercise:
Is the classical bishop sacrifice sound for the following position? The answer will be given in the comments.

More chess lessons? An index of all chess lessons can be found here.

Aseev – Bagirov 1989

Chess Teacher — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 10:52:37 +0000

The game between Konstantin Aseev (2520) and Vladimir Bagirov (2475) played in Leningrad 1989 is one of the games that perfectly illustrates some of the main concepts of the endgame with bishops of opposite colour.

Bishops_Endgame

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 The Ruy Lopez 3... Nd4 This variation is called the Bird’s defence.

( Instead of this variation most of the time something like 3... a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 is played. )

4.Nxd4 exd4 5.Bc4 ( 5.O-O is played more frequently, but White has a lot of good alternatives like c3, d3 or Bc4. )

5… Nf6 6.O-O Nxe4 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qd5+ Kg7 10.Qxe4 Qf6 11.d3 Bc5 12.Nd2 Rf8 13.Nf3 h6 14.b3 Bb6 15.Bb2

These are probably the most logical moves but I don’t like to play this position with the black pieces. Black normally continues with c5 because the pawn has to be defended.

15… d6?! This already enables 16.Nxd4, but White continues with 16.Rae1 g5?! 17.Bc1

( 17.Nxd4! looks very promising, but let’s stop annotating the whole game and continue with the interesting position that arises after the 70th move. On the other hand I won’t stop you if you want to analyze the whole game. )

17… Rb8 18.Nd2 Bf5 19.Qf3 Rf7 20.Re2 Ba5 21.Qd5 Bxd2 22.Bxd2 and now both players have a bishop of the opposite colour on the board 22...c6 23.Qf3 Rbf8 24.Qg3 Qg6 25.Rfe1 c5 26.h3 b5 27.Re7 Kh7 28.Ba5 c4 29.Bb4 cxd3 30.cxd3 Rxe7 31.Rxe7+ Rf7 32.Rxf7+ Qxf7 33.Qxd6 Bxd3 34.Qxd4 Bb1 35.Qc5 Qd7 36.Qc1 Be4 37.Qe3 Bb1 38.Bc3 Qd1+ 39.Kh2 Qd6+ 40.Be5 Qd7 41.Qc1 Be4 42.Qc5 a5 43.a4 bxa4 44.bxa4 Kg8 45.Qxa5 Bc6 46.Qa6 Qd5 47.Qc8+ Kf7 48.Qf5+ Ke8 49.f3 Bxa4 50.Qg6+ Kd7 51.Qg7+ Kd8 52.Bg3 Qe6 53.h4 g4 54.fxg4 Bc6 55.Qh8+ Kd7 56.Qh7+ Ke8 57.Qh8+ Kf7 58.Qd4 Qe4 59.Qf2+ Kg8 60.Bf4 Kh7 61.Kg3 Bd7 62.h5 Bc6 63.Be3 Bd5 64.Bf4 Qd3+ 65.Kh4 Qe4 66.Bd2 Be6 67.Qf3 Qxf3 68.gxf3

An endgame with bishops of opposite colour arises. These endgames are mostly drawn, even when one side has a pawn advantage. In this case White is even two pawns ahead, but it is not trivial to open this position.

68… Bb3 69.f4 Bc2 70.f5 Kg7

This is a very interesting position. It is clear that White has the advantage, but at first sight the fortress seems to be well defended. Without looking at the next move can you see White’s winning move?

71.Bxh6+! The sacrifice of the bishop was needed to open the position. 71... Kxh6 72.f6 Bd3 73.g5+ Kh7 74.f7 Kg7 75.g6 1-0

More chess lessons? An index of all chess lessons can be found here.

Enjoy the game

Chess Teacher — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 15:25:49 +0000

Every now and then one of our pupils turns out to be very promising. Tim was such a rather talented boy and seemed to grasp a lot of aspects of the game without even explaining them to him. He loved the game right from the start when he joined our chess club. He was almost always one of the first pupils that found the right answer to the given exercises.

But when I observed some of his first games he surprised me. He had a chance to win the game in a rather easy to see mate in two, but he just captured a pawn. Some time later he even missed a mate in one.
OK, in the end he won the game, but it surprised me that he was unable to take advantage from this kind of possibilities in his own game.
Afterwards I told him that he had missed a mate in one. He answered that he had seen it. And he also has seen some opportunities for a mate in two and a mate in three. But he also said that the game would have come to an end if he had checkmated his opponent. This should have been a pity, because there were so much pieces left on the board to capture. So he just wanted the game to continue.

I only could say he was right. He was right for the moment. It is far more important to enjoy the game in itself instead of enjoying winning a game.

Kasparov – Topalov (1999)

Chess Teacher — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 15:17:11 +0000

The game between Garry Kasparov (2812) and Veselin Topalov (2700) in the fourth round of the 1999 edition of the Hoogovens tournament in Wijk aan Zee is called Kaparov’s Immortal. The most noteworthy move of this game is the rook sacrifice on the 24th move. It is nice to replay the game and try to evaluate this position for yourself.
An annotated version of this game by Kasparov himself can be found here.

Kasparovs_Immortal

1.e4 d6 The Pirc

2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be3 Bg7 5.Qd2 In ChessDB this line is called the Pirc: 4Be3, 150 Attack and its normal continuation is 5..c6 6f3 b5

5… c6 6.f3 b5 7.Nge2 Nbd7 8.Bh6 Exchanging the Bishops

8… Bxh6 9.Qxh6 Bb7 10.a3 e5 11.O-O-O Qe7 12.Kb1 a6 13.Nc1 O-O-O 14.Nb3 exd4 15.Rxd4 c5 16.Rd1 Nb6 17.g3 Kb8 18.Na5 Ba8 19.Bh3 d5 20.Qf4+ Ka7 21.Rhe1 d4 22.Nd5 Nbxd5 23.exd5 Qd6 24.Rxd4!! When Kasparov made this move, he already saw the idea 30…Rd6 31.Rb6 as well the move 37.Rd7 and he was hoping for 24…cxd4.

24… cxd4

( 24… Kb6! would have spoiled the fun unless he had found the move 25.Nb3! ( But he later told that he intended to play 25.b4 that will probably would have resulted in a draw. After 25... Qxf4 26.Rxf4 Nxd5 27.Rxf7 cxb4 28.axb4 Nxb4 29.Nb3 Rd6 Black has even a clear advantage ) )

25.Re7+ Kb6 26.Qxd4+ Kxa5 27.b4+ Ka4 28.Qc3 Qxd5 29.Ra7 Bb7 30.Rxb7 Qc4 31.Qxf6 Kxa3 32.Qxa6+ Kxb4 33.c3+ Kxc3 34.Qa1+ Kd2 35.Qb2+ Kd1 36.Bf1 Rd2 37.Rd7 Rxd7 38.Bxc4 bxc4 39.Qxh8 Rd3 40.Qa8 c3 41.Qa4+ Ke1 42.f4 f5 43.Kc1 Rd2 44.Qa7 1-0

More chess lessons? An index of all chess lessons can be found here.

Noah’s Ark Trap

Chess Teacher — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:32:42 +0000

Noah’s Ark Trap is not just an opening trap. The name is used for a lot of openings in which the white bishop is trapped on b3 by black pawns. Most of the games that contain this trap can be found in the Ruy Lopez.

Noahs_Trap

1.e4 e5

( I start with this trap in the Sicilian defence since this variation very clearly demonstrates the trap 1...c5 2.Bb5 Not a very good move. 2...a6 3.Ba4 ( 3.Bc4 is better, but also makes it very clear that White should not have played Bb5 in the first place. ) 3… b5 4.Bb3 c4 and Black wins the bishop like in Widmer – Moheni, 1982. )

( and even in The Pirc and other openings the trap can be found 1...d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Be3 c6 6.Qd2 Nbd7 7.O-O-O Qc7 8.Bc4 b5 9.Bb3 h6 10.h4 a6 11.Nh2 Bb7 12.f4 e6 13.Nf3 O-O-O 14.d5 exd5 15.exd5 c5 16.Rhg1 c4 like in Riezu – Rodrigo, 2003. )

2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 as mentioned before Noah’s Ark Trap is mostly found in the Ruy Lopez.

4.Ba4 d6 5.d4?! b5 6.Bb3 Nxd4 7.Nxd4 exd4 8.Qxd4?? c5 9.Qc3 ( 9.Qd5 doesn’t help either 9...Be6 10.Qc6+ Bd7 11.Qd5 c4 and the white Bishop is trapped. ) 9… c4 like in Bruned Segura Mario ( 2255 ) — Duran Albareda Xavier ( 2290 ) , 1999. 0-1

More chess lessons? The next lesson in this series is about the King’s Gambit.