Ziatdinov Part Seven

"A chess master should be a combination of a beast of prey and a monk." -- Alexander Alekhine.

In chess, people are afraid to ask the "right" questions. The main reason for this is that they don't know enough to ask the right questions-- it's a vicious circle. Asking about openings is not the right question. For example, let's say an art student asked his teacher, "Should I use green paint from company A or from company B?" In the store, he saw paints from those big companies and his question seems apt because he wants the best paint. Nevertheless, for a master artist it is not an important question; more important is what he wants to do with his green paint. To play the opening is easy and doesn't require complicated variations, all that is needed is to know a simple law discovered over 150 years ago: Develop all of your pieces!

A few times in the past, I tried to play semi-open games, but could not get out my pieces "for a fair fight." It takes many years to understand the difference between "green paint" from company A and "green paint" from company B; don't worry about where the green paint comes from, worry about what to do with it.

Timman - Jusupov [C43]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 Nxe4 4.Nxe5 d5 5.Bd3 Nd7

One of the standard positions, and white has several "normal" moves. "Which side is better" is a stupid question!

6.Nxd7

Reasonable alternatives abound: 6.0-0, 6.Bf4, 6.Nc3, 6.c4, etc.

6...Bxd7 7.0-0 Be7

The first critical moment for black is approaching. Should he castle long or short? Most prefer ...0-0-0.

8.Qf3

This move looks "ugly" and is a sign of how unclear "chess rules" are. No less a player than Timman made this move! It is difficult to believe that he does not know the rules of chess openings. It is actually an example of psychological chess. In games between two strong players, we can only be entertained (yes, with great pleasure!) but cannot learn the basic rules of chess. Timman wanted to surprise his opponent and force him to think over the board--and Timman did a good job of this. He beat Yusupov in 31 moves. Yusupov was tired (as they say) and made a big blunder in time trouble.

8...0-0! 9.Bxe4

After 9.c3 Bd6 10.Bxe4 dxe4 11.Qxe4 Black has a "nice" position but there are no direct ways to win the game or even take the pawn back. The pawn can be won back by "slowly" attacking d4 and the kingside (Petrosian said, "To win fast, play slow!").

9...dxe4 10.Qxe4 Bc6 11.Qg4 f5 12.Qd1 Qd5 13.f3 Rfe8 14.c3

Or 14.Nc3 Qc4 15.Bf4 Bf6.

14...Bb5 15.Re1 Bh4

I gave this example to demonstrate how grandmasters play the opening, and why students shouldn't try to imitate such psychological play. You can study the Sicilian, the Reti, or the Grob--I prefer to study chess. Timman's provocative 8.Qf3 breaks an opening rule: Do not move the queen too early. She is a powerful piece and usually should not be moved until you know for sure where to put her after several moves. However, isn't "don't move the Queen too early" an example of "chess magic spelling?" A generality? There is no contradiction! It's okay to break rules if you have concrete, definite reasons to do so. Nevertheless, if your opponent breaks such "rules" for no good reason when you have done nothing wrong, you must punish him.