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Setting up Conditions for Tactical
Combinations
By Andres D. Hortillosa
In my upcoming book I wrote about the
amateur’s need to hone the essential
chess skill of setting up conditions for
tactical combinations. I am not
altogether against the sharpening of
tactical skills by means of solving
canned puzzles. By canned puzzles, I
mean the kind that similarly goes “White
to play and win in so many moves.”
In the book I argue that navigating to a
position, which becomes the starting or
staging point of a puzzle, is a more
important skill to labor on than the
tactical skill to solve the puzzles. The
average player when given enough time
plus the customary hint as to which side
has the win and by how many moves
usually will be able to solve even
complex puzzles. But the skill to arrive
to the puzzle position on purpose or by
design is a skill easily attributed to
masters.
To explain what I mean, let’s consider
these three examples. The first one is a
game I recently played online on the
Internet Chess Club (ICC). The time
control is 10 10, meaning ten minutes
for each side and 10 seconds increment
per move from the first move for the
entire game. I am playing White and we
both go by our respective handles.
Example 1
adh2050-kokings
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5
0–0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 d6 8 c3 0–0 9 h3
Nb8 10 d4 Nbd7 11 Nbd2 Bb7 12 Bc2 Ne8 13
Nf1 g6 14 Bh6 Ng7 15 Ng3 Re8 16 Qd2 Ne6
17 Rad1 Bf6 18 dxe5 Nxe5 19 Nxe5 dxe5 20
Qe3 Qe7 21 Bb3 Bg7 22 Bxe6 Qxe6 23 h4 Position after 23 h4
My crude idea is to shove my h-pawn all
the way to h5. But a more insidious idea
is lurking behind the a-pawn bait. Can
Black really afford to capture the
a-pawn?
This is what I am talking about when I
speak of setting up the stage for a
tactical event. I wanted to deflect the
black queen away from critical
g6-square. Some forms of deflection are
passive in the sense that they are not
forced. 23...Qxa2 24 Nf5
My idea was correct but the execution sequence was inaccurate. I should have taken on g7 first before playing the text move because now Black has the option of playing either 24...Bh8 or 24...Bf6. But Black was unusually charitable that day and gave me the position I was aiming for with his next move anyway.
24...Bxh6 25 Qxh6
I am sure Black did not anticipate this
capture threatening mate in one. This
was the position I had in mind when I
passively deflected the black queen away
from e6. With the black queen on e6, the
idea would just not work.
25...gxf5 26 exf5
It is amazing that in some positions
non-threatening moves like this one is
just as potent. In fact, this is
necessary to prevent the black queen
from returning to the sixth rank. Now,
Black is helpless against the threat of
a rook-lift.
26...Kh8 27 Qf6+
This is a motif that should be etched in
your tactical playbook. Never allow the
defender to place a rook on the
half-open file unless you are ready to
exploit the pin.
27...Kg8 28 Re3
I was low on time to examine other
possibilities. The tactical setup
starting with 28 Qg5+ instead of the
text move yields an even prettier
finish. Play might continue as follows:
28...Kh8 29 Re3 Rg8 30 Qf6+ Rg7 31 Rg3
and because of the right placements of
the attacking pieces the stage for a
winning tactical combination is made
possible.
After the forced 31...Rag8, the tactical
stage is set ready for exploitation. And
most puzzle exercises usually come in
this form. About here, the cue "White to
move and mate in three" is given. Of
course, the solver usually finds the
solution and is duly rewarded with the
satisfaction that comes with the effort
of finding it.
However, the tactical skill that is
learnt and reinforced is only the
solving skill. The staging aspect of the
tactical skill, which is the crucial
skill one needs to learn more, is taken
away from the solver.
This is the part of the solving process that wows and draws us fondly to chess. Every improving player dreams of having one of these masterful strokes in his games at sundry times. After 32...Rxg7 33 Rd8+ Rg8, there follows 34 Rdxg8 and Black is mated.
Returning to the game, we have:
28...Bd5 29 Rg3+ Kf8 30 h5
The attack is so strong that even this
slower approach is hard to meet. I was
looking at 30 Rg7 followed by 31 Rxh7
and 32 Rh8 but having 1 minute and 22
seconds left on the clock, I deferred to
one of the mating nets I saw earlier.
And the game concluded shortly with:
30...Rad8 31 h6 Rd6 32 Rg8+
Black resigns.
Example 2
J.Pamatmat,-I.Figler 1 d4 e6 2 c4 Bb4+ 3 Bd2 Qe7 4 Nf3 Nf6 5 g3 Ne4 6 a3 Bxd2+ 7 Nbxd2 Nxd2 8 Qxd2 a5 9 Bg2 a4 10 0–0 d6 11 e4 e5 12 d5 Na6 13 Qc3 Nc5 14 Nd2 f5 15 f4 exf4 16 Rae1 0–0 17 exf5 Qg5 18 Rxf4 Bxf5 19 Nf3 Qh6 20 Nd4 Bd7 21 Rxf8+ Rxf8 22 Ne6 Bxe6 23 dxe6 Re8 24 e7 Position after 24 e7
After 24 moves, we have this position between a rapidly improving junior player from Houston and the experienced FM Ilye Filger who plays for the New York Queens in the US Chess League. I met Filger and chatted with him casually at the 2008 edition of the Pan-American Continental Championship in Boca Raton, Florida.
I am acquainted with Jarod Pamatmat and
his father who is a medical doctor
practicing in Texas. The family hailing
from the Philippines has a rich chess
tradition. While the young Pamatmat’s
FIDE rating is just over 2000, his USCF
rating has been rising rapidly in the
last two years. He transitioned from
Class A player to almost master during
this period, which drew my interest in
his games at the Foxwoods Open.
24...c6
It is unfortunate that Black had to
resort to this anti-positional move as
it weakens d6 but it was necessary to
protect the light squares and render
specifically d5 inhospitable to the
white bishop.
The unrestrained check on d5 gives the bishop access to f7 which will effectively end the game shortly. So we can deduce from the move that Black understood the perils to his king if White's bishop gets to f7. Let's see what happens if Black offers to exchange queens on f6 without first protecting d5 with 24...Qf6. Analysis diagram after 24...Qf6
From the above position, White continues
with 25 Bd5+ Kh8 26 Qxf6 gxf6 27 Bf7 and
Black is forced to give up his rook for
the pawn.
25.Qf3
Black will easily hold this position
despite the scary white passed pawn on
e7 as long as Black does not acquiesce
to panic. Staying calm and collected is
a hard thing to do particularly when the
bias about the danger of protected
passed pawn bears down heavily on the
defender's psyche. Does Black think
White has a big threat with Rf1
threatening mate on f8? Can White afford
to abandon the protection of the pawn on
e7 so he can play Rf1?
25...Qf6
Knowing the answers to the preceding
questions would leave Black concluding
that his best continuation is to attack
the pawn on e7 with 25...Qg5. The idea
is to capture on e7 if White abandons
the defense of the e-pawn with the
queen, which simultaneously defends f7
and f8. The idea to reroute the knight
to e5 via d7 looks plausible but will
come short as shown by the line 25...Nd7
26 Qf5 Ne5 culminating in the brutal
undermining of d6 with 27 c5!
White is clearly winning. But what happens if Black allows Rf1? Let's give White an extra move by yielding the turn to White.
Game may continue after 25.Qf3 -- with
26.Rf1 Qf6! 27.Qxf6 gxf6 28.Rxf6 Rxe7.
Analysis diagram after 28…Rxe7.
It's clear the threat was false as this
line proves the game to be defensible.
So Black chooses this safe-looking move
with the idea of forcing the exchange of
queens on f6. Black reasons that when
the pawn recaptures, it will provide a
natural cover for the king on its way to
win the pawn on e7. Is he correct? Let’s
find out.
Play continued:
26 Qxf6 gxf6
Position after 26…gxf6
The position is now a White to play and win quiz. It is possible that when Black was looking at the static position after 25...Qf6, he saw that the bishop on g2 could not get on the critical h5-e8 diagonal in one move, which would give his king time to play ...Kf7.
The oversight was indirectly caused by
the optical block courtesy of the white
queen sitting on f3. With the queen
still on f3, the bishop needs two moves
to get access to h4 with Bh3 and Bg4,
one move more than Black needs. 27.Bf3
I am not sure if White foresaw this possibility when he played 25 Qf3. If he did see the line, then the move was cunning designed to exploit Black's discomfort precipitated by the threats along the open f-file. The real and dangerous threat is the one hiding behind Black's solution to the intermediate threat. The trap is simple yet hard to see because of the queen blocking the mind's eye.
It is only now that Black saw the
consequence of the exchange on f6 so he
resigned. Black will have to give up his
rook for the daring pawn because
27...Kf7 is impermissible as it loses to
28 Bh5+.
The threat in this regard functions as a decoy. If you are the one facing a threat, ensure that your intended response does not trigger a trap scenario. This is just another application of the principle of idea falsification discussed closely in the book. Focus your refutation efforts of the intended response on the area where a weakness either piece or square resides. In the above game, the weakness or critical problem is the successful defense of the queening square on e8, which White purposely or fortuitously exploited. Example 3
E.Cooke-A.Hortillosa
I met Eric Cooke in round six of the
Pan-American Continental Championship
held in sunny Boca Raton. He is an avid
player whose contagious enthusiasm for
the game is scarcely suppressible. He
has played extensively in Europe
specifically in the First Saturday
series in Hungary and has earned one IM
norm in the said event.
I squandered an opening advantage and
was now battling a pawn disadvantage
when my opponent slipped allowing me to
restore material balance with his
inexplicable 32 Bd4. Position after 32 Bd4
Surprised by his generosity, I
immediately gobbled the proffered pawn.
And then play continued with:
Seeing the draw within my grasp, I
offered my opponent one here, which he
quickly rebuffed with a broad smile
behind his obviously irked demeanor
brought about by his reckless squander
of a big edge. After some thought, he
quietly steered his king toward the
center with this toothless move. My lazy
reaction to his centralizing move led to
this blunder. 35 Kf2 Qd7?
Preferable is 35...Kg6 36 g4 Qd7 37 Qe5
keeping the balance. I rejected 35...c6
because it would close the queen's route
back to my king. I thought she was
needed on the kingside to defend my
barely covered king. Before my queen
could get acquainted with the new vista
on d7, she got hit with the shocking
reply. She fell to a tactical motif I
describe simply as dragging your
opponent’s piece to a vulnerable square.
36 Qxd5
I immediately understood the point of
White’s 35th move. This
happened because I got complacent and
was lulled by the drawn nature of the
position. Had I remained suspicious of
my opponent’s intentions, I would have
investigated more closely the point of
his king shuffle. A quick reconnaissance
of the position would have tipped me off
to the knight fork trick.
Notice the commonality of the color
squares the pieces were sitting on. The
target pieces (black king and queen) and
the attacking piece (white knight) sat
on light squares, which is a
pre-condition for a knight fork. The
reason the wily Cooke moved his king was
to get it off the h1-a8 diagonal upon my
recapture on d5. With his king still on
g2, he could not deliver the killer Nf6
fork as the knight is pinned to the
king. 36…Qxh3 37.Qd7+
I dejectedly resigned as the same motif could not be avoided. This tells you that simply knowing the preconditions for knight forks is not enough in preventing a knight fork. A more structured chess thinking process is rather needed to avert this category of blunders. Despite the heartbreaking loss, the somewhat humorous conclusion of this game could not hold back a dry smile off my forlorn face. |
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