Learning from our mistakes (2)

In the previous article we saw a strategic struggle in which chess24 user Wepner managed to get the better of his rival. The position he reached was one with a clear advantage for Black – a passed pawn, better pieces and also a weak white pawn on c4. In this second part we’re going to look at the difficulties he encountered trying to finish off the game – and try to learn from them!

Weaknesses on the first and second ranks will be one of the themes of today's lesson...

Finishing off a game is the process of converting our winning advantage into a full point – a victory. To begin with, I’ve got bad news. Learning to convert advantages requires effort. Sorry – I hope the morning coffee you were sipping hasn’t crashed to the floor!

The tips and reflections we’re going to deal with here will help, but finishing off games requires concrete tactical training to detect the specific details of each position and then correctly calculate variations. That’s why we created the chess24 Tactics Trainer – an essential tool for progress. As I’m sure you understand, you don’t improve your football a great deal by watching all the games of Cristiano Ronaldo or Leo Messi… Instead I recommend that before reading this article or starting any training session you solve 20 or so problems – there’s no better warm-up!

In the second part of this game we’re going to see numerous mistakes by both players and, thanks to them, we’ll be able to talk about numerous aspects of tactical play and concrete calculation – in the ending as well as the middlegame!

What are we going to focus on today?

• We’ll reflect on the presence of opposite-coloured bishops in the middlegame
• We’ll introduce the important concept of “loose pieces”
• We’re going to see the importance of calculating moves that threaten our opponent’s pieces – “forced moves”
• We’ll take a first look at the concept of “mutual zugzwang”
  

I also advise you not to play through the game on “autopilot”, since pretending to improve your chess “only by reading” is a mistake I’ve seen a lot of people make! Try, albeit in a relaxed form, to think while reading through the comments and ask yourself, before going on, what move you’d make and how you’d punish a move that you can see is a mistake. In short – let’s train together! Good luck!

Note: if you find you don't have much space to read the comments with the board above the text you can also click the right arrow above the game info and you'll get a pop-up board that you can move to a convenient place on your screen! 

22. ♘d2 A logical move, with the idea of playing Nb3 and exchanging off the powerful black knight.

22. ♘e1 , planning Nd3, also has the same aim as the move in the game. The easiest way to keep an advantage would then be 22... ♗xe1! since the black knight is much better than the white bishop. Notice that when it comes to evaluating the move Bxe1 we shouldn't think "which is better, my bishop or his knight?", but about the pieces that remain on the board. If you compare instead the black knight with the white bishop it becomes clear that the exchange is a good idea. 23. ♖fxe1 Play might continue 23... d3 24. ♕d2 ♕d6 and White faces huge problems.

22... ♕c6 Wepner improves the position of his queen, since from c6 it will have easier access to the weak pawn on c4, either after the knight moves or via Qa4.

22... ♗xd2 , a similar idea to the one suggested after 22. Ne1, would of course have been a good option.

23. ♖b5 Improving the position of one rook while also preparing for the other to come to b1.

23. ♘b3 would have been a natural continuation. It should be noted that although the c4-pawn will be lost after an exchange of knights the presence of opposite-coloured bishops (i.e. bishops that move on a different colour of squares) with no other minor pieces on the board would increase the chances of a draw. 

You often hear: opposite-coloured bishop endings tend towards a draw, while in the middlegame they make the struggle sharper. The first part of that statement is easy to understand - if you have opposite-coloured bishops and can block pawns on that colour they won't be able to advance. The second deserves some explanation. Opposite-coloured bishops sharpen play when there's a chance to attack, since one bishop can't defend against threats from the other. If there are no attacking chances, though, they again tend to favour a draw. Returning to the game, we can see that White will be able to block on d3 and it won't be so easy for Black to make progress.

23... ♖a4⁇ A big mistake! Black attacks c4 but forgets that his opponent can also make moves! 

Let's take this opportunity to discuss the concept of loose pieces. Those are pieces that are either without a defender or which are defended but also attacked by the same number of pieces. In the position we've got here, for example, the black queen is undefended, but there are lots more "loose" black pieces - in fact all of them! The knight on c5 is attacked by the rook on b5 and only defended by the queen, the rook on a4 is defended by the rook but also attacked by the white queen... So if the knight disappears... Ouch! It's vital to take loose pieces into account - both our own and our opponent's - in every position, since they're the pieces that are most likely to crop up in tactical tricks!

23... ♗xd2 would, as already mentioned, be the most practical solution. 24. ♕xd2 ♖a4 Black once again has a big advantage for the reasons we mentioned before.

24. ♖d1⁇ White lets the opportunity to simplify pass.

24. ♖xc5! ♕xc5 25. ♕xa4 ♗xd2 Black can even consider himself lucky to have this move! The exchanges clearly benefit White, who only has to get his bishop to d3 and he'll have no issues - he might even be better!

24... ♖fa8 Doubling rooks and solving Black's tactical problems. The entrance of the rooks on the 2nd rank - where they can develop the greatest activity - should decide the game in Black's favour.

25. f4 Certainly a mistake, since it further weakens the second rank and can be exploited by Black, but I can understand White's desperation to get any kind of complications rather than wait for what's coming.

25... ♖a2 Achieving its objective. The queen doesn't have many squares.

26. ♕c1 We've reached a position where almost every move wins, but we can learn from this game! Wepner was unable to finish it off essentially because he chose the wrong idea. Take a look at the position for a moment and answer the following question: what weaknesses does White have? What will be the easiest way for Black to win? 

In this case what jumps out at you is the difference in activity between the white and black rooks and the weakness of White's first and second ranks. It's also vital to note something that we mentioned in the first article, and which although it might seem obvious is an ever-present factor: when you have a space advantage as great as in this game your opponent has little space and it's his pieces that will suffer the most. In such positions it's often enough simply to attack your opponent's pieces and at some point you'll be able to capture one of them, since within such narrow confines they'll find it impossible to reorganise and defend.

26... ♘d3 Attacking the queen and taking over one more square, which is both logical and winning. There were other options, and let's note the most direct:

26... ♗xd2 The idea is to take advantage of the back rank. 27. ♖xd2 ♖a1 28. ♖b1 Has White managed to defend? Just remember... we're attacking and our opponent has no space - look to attack a piece! 28... ♘b3! A fork that decides the game, since there's no way to defend against the knight. The way of thinking we've applied here - looking to create threats - can be covered by the term "forced moves" i.e. moves that force our opponent to defend against them. This will be one of the cornerstones of our approach, but if you'll excuse me I'll go into it in more detail in a future article.

27. ♕b1 ♘b2 Also winning, but a little odd, since he's going after the c-pawn when he could just finish off the game here and now. The path to victory was to attack the white queen - remember, there's a lack of space!

27... ♖a1

a) 28. ♕b3 loses in various ways, the most straightforward of which is 28... ♗xd2 since the white rook is pinned and can't capture the bishop. (28... ♘c5 , once more attacking the white queen, and if 29. ♕c2 then 29... ♖8a2 also wins.)

b) 28. ♕c2 ♖8a2 and victory is inevitable. Remember that when your opponent has run out of space his pieces are clumsy and a piece without mobility is a weak piece - and hence a potential target.

28. ♖f1 Fleeing the attack of the black knight.

28... ♖a1 Attacking the white queen, but in this case the queen has an escape route via c2. How could we have done things better? By taking away that square!

28... d3 We not only advance the passed pawn but also take control of c2, meaning that the threat of Ra1 grows in malice.

29. ♕c2 ♗xd2⁈ Black's position is really good enough that he can get away with inaccuracies, but this move allows White to fight for more. Now we can see a possible defence. Black could have played

29... ♘xc4 winning on the spot since this attacks both the knight on d2 and the rook on b5 - and you can't defend everything!

30. ♕xd2? White should have captured the knight, either with the rook or queen, since there would only have been opposite-coloured bishops on the board and, as we mentioned before, that would increase the drawing potential...

30... ♘xc4 Attacking the queen and rook, so White's next move is an only move.

31. ♕b4 ♖8a4⁇ A mistake that gives White the chance to land a counterblow. It has to be said that the counterblow isn't so common and is more complex than the concepts we've been dealing with in this game, but it never does any harm to learn new things - who knows when they might come in handy! Black should have realised that the piece that's defending the white king is the rook on f1, and with

31... ♘e3 he could have eliminated it. A good way to attack is to think: which piece is defending my opponent's position? If you can eliminate it your attack should be stronger.

32. ♖b8+ ♔h7 The black king seems safe on h7 and, I'll repeat, in a very high percentage of positions it would be, but in this particular position there's a detail, and it's the reason why I didn't criticise White's f4. That move weakened the position, but it was a lost position anyway, and at least the pawn push meant things might become more complicated in future... and now that future has arrived!

33. ♕b7⁇ Swapping off queens in such a position is almost equivalent to resigning. When we're as strategically lost as in this game (with worse pieces and a passed d-pawn that's going to be decisive) it's more important to look for complications - and in this case they work!

33. ♕f8! The white pieces forget about defence and launch an attack. Can you already see White's idea? 33... exf4 This is an only move, since White was threatening f5 in order to trap the black king: (33... ♕f6 defends the f7-pawn, but after 34. f5! the black king is trapped! ; 33... ♔g6 The attempt to run doesn't work due to 34. f5+ ♔f6 35. ♕d8# Mate!) 34. h4‼ Once more attempting to trap the black king, this time with h5! The game has become enormously more complicated and partially loses its educational value, but the idea of stalking the black king like this appeals to me and, in a way, reminds me of what Khismatullin did after his fantastic Rg1 in his famous win against Eljanov.

33... ♕xb7 34. ♖xb7 I've been waiting for this position for a long time since it allows me to introduce a basic but often forgotten concept. In endings passed pawns are fundamental, since in general there are no king attacks and the way to win the game is by queening a pawn. For that reason we should remember that... passed pawns must be pushed!

34... ♘e3 Attacking the white rook isn't a bad move, but it's the wrong idea!

34... d3 , followed by d2, would be decisive.

35. ♖fb1 ♘xg2⁇ A serious blunder! The knight was a much better piece than the bishop. How should Black have continued? You got it!

35... d3! Passed pawns must be pushed! This position is a good excuse to introduce the concept at a very low level, but we're going to look much deeper in future.

36. ♔xg2 The game has reached a rook ending where Black has an extra pawn but it's not easy to convert into a win. I don't want to get into a long analysis of this complex ending, but there are two important details to learn and which fit well into the tactical aspect of today's article.

36... f6⁈ A loose move, since this pawn will remain weak. It was better to take on f4.

37. fxe5 fxe5 How should White continue? In rook endings especially it's useful to look for moves which attack pawns! That seems obvious, but with such reduced material it often turns out that the pawns are either impossible to defend or else your opponent will be condemned to passive defence.

38. ♖1b4? Looking to exchange rooks, which does nothing for White's chances. Correct was

38. ♖xa1 exchanging the a1-rook in order to free the other, then after 38... ♖xa1 there's 39. ♖b5 , attacking the e5-pawn, which can't be defended. We're going to see now that Wepner commits the same mistake on the following move.

38... d3⁈ Finally advancing the passed pawn, but now the white king is very close. Black could have won a pawn with the same idea that White missed before - freeing the rook and attacking a weak pawn:

38... ♖xb4 An exchange to free the a1-rook. 39. ♖xb4 ♖e1 Attacking the e4-pawn, which can't be defended with 40. ♔f3 due to 40... ♖e3+ followed by capturing on e4. Easy, right? Attack pawns!

39. ♖xa4 ♖xa4 40. ♔f3 Defending e4 at the same time as bringing the king closer to the enemy passed pawn.

40... d2? Tarrasch's rule is very important: rooks should be placed behind passed pawns - so they can drive their advance from behind.

40... ♖d4! was the correct move, and although the ending is complicated Black should win.

41. ♖d7 Now it's White who slows the pawn from behind! Wepner sees that if he defends the pawn from a2 it's going to be difficult to make progress, so he plays

41... ♖d4⁇ Unfortunately this is a very big mistake, since as we're going to see this pawn ending is lost!

42. ♖xd4 exd4 43. ♔e2 Pawn endings are very concrete and a small error of calculation can be fatal. Wepner tries to centralise his king.

43... ♔g6 44. ♔xd2 ♔f6 Now we've come to the critical position, in which both players make serious mistakes.

45. h4⁇ Playing this move leaves White without any waiting moves! He could have won with

45. ♔d3 ♔e5 46. g4! since we're in a type of position known as "mutual zugzwang", where whichever player is to move loses. The kings are fixed in the central struggle and only the pawns on the kingside can move... And it will be Black's who's left without any good moves. Let's see: 46... g6 (46... g5 47. h3 and Black has no good move.) 47. h4 h5 48. g5 and Black can only move his king - meaning he'll lose his d4-pawn and the game. (48. gxh5 would be a terrible mistake, since after 48... gxh5 it would be White who has to make a move he doesn't want to make!)

45... ♔e6⁇ Returning the gift! Black should have played

45... ♔e5 46. ♔d3 and now Black can leave White without any non-losing moves with 46... h5 Zugzwang!

46. ♔d3 And curiously the game ended in a draw, although Black is lost. I'll leave it to you to see how White should continue after 46...Ke5.

1/2-1/2

There were a lot of mistakes towards the end of this game and there’s a lot to learn from them! Here, as usual, I’ll give some tips on how to continue, since I’m sure you’re not planning on stopping now.

What should you do now?

Tips from a
World Champion  Viswanathan Anand

• Whenever you go through a game take a look back and review the key points to make sure you’ve understood them and can recall some critical positions.
• It can’t be emphasised enough that tactics are improved by doing tactics. Go to the Tactics Trainer. Don’t worry about your rating but simply try to solve the puzzles as best as you can. Speed will come later.
• Try watching some of our videos, for instance former World Champion Vishy Anand’s series Tips from a World Champion. It starts off with relatively straightforward tactical examples but gets more complicated fast! You can also hone your tactics with Sopiko Guramishvili’s Typical sacrifices.

I think that’s enough homework for now… Don’t hesitate to comment if you have any questions or suggestions. Until next time!

About the author

IM David Martínez

David is the current coach of both the Spanish Women's Team and the 2014 European Championship runner-up David Antón. He accompanies players to international competitions and has experience of working on coaching programs at club, school and university level. He edits the Spanish pages of chess24. 

See also:

• Learning from our mistakes (1)