Jacob Aagard - A Short Cut to Experience

FIDE Surveys Jacob Aagard 1

Jacob Aagard:

A Short Cut to Experience

Those familiar with my writings will know

that I have tried to categorise all areas of

chess into techniques and basic ideas, with

some success I think. Others have done the

same, probably in some cases with greater

success it depends on who you ask. We all know that there are many ways to

do just about everything. While writing

this article Anand is leading the candidates

(after round 6), not necessarily because he

is the best player, but because his opening

preparation has given him a better position

against Aronian and Mamedyarov, who

did not defend well once they were in a

worse position. Should he win the

tournament something you know better than I when you read this, his strength in

the opening is likely to be entirely

worthless in the match against the World

Champion, as it was in 2013.

It is not only winning a game of chess that

can be done in different ways; finding the

right move can be done by many different

ways as well. We know that elimination in

defence can cut our calculation time; but

there are those that solve these kinds of

problems by something akin to divine

intervention (intuition), hard calculation

and so on. And I cannot think of anything

that is as narrow as defence.

Like my mentor Mark Dvoretsky, I believe

that although there are many ways to do

most things; this does not mean that they

should be rated equal. As with the defence

example: elimination has a tendency to be

a faster and more accurate way of dealing

with this type of problems. It has a higher

hit rate than other known methods; which

is why we teach it.

The first five volumes of the Grandmaster

Preparation series are all exercise books.

When you try to help thousands of people

develop their skills in various areas, this is

probably the best way we have available.

But when you are working with a talented

player or a small group of talented players,

it gives the experienced trainer a chance to

take the players out of the gym and on to

the pitch. Sure, there is no spectators, no

referee, no prizes beyond pride, but still it

gives us the chance give our students a

more real-life experience.

And the material is easy to come by for an

experienced trainer. I am (as a publisher)

in the process of putting the final touch on

Tibor Karolyis first volume on Mikhail Tals best games, called The Magic of Youth. There are a number of famous

games in there, but there are also games

that my students with certainty have not

seen; even if they have seen the most

famous ones (which is bit dubious

already). There are 100s of books like this,

thus 1000s of examples already available

for the experienced trainer ready to pick.

Below I have chosen three practical

examples that I have used with my

students; in this case all of them

grandmasters.

The first of them is maybe the most

famous endgame position in modern times,

due to the extensively analysis by

Steckner, Dvoretsky, Mueller and many

others. In this case I had two GMs play

against each other. You will have to

forgive me for not using their names, but

just refer to them as White and Black.

Being a trainer is a bit like being a

friend/lawyer/priest all-in-one; all of which

are roles that require complete confidence.

The Steckner Position

XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-+-+-+0 9tR-+-+p+-0 9P+-+-mkp+0 9+-+-+-+p0 9-+-+-+-zP0 9+-+-mK-zP-0 9r+-+-zP-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy


The scenario for this game is that White is

theoretically unprepared, but Black cannot

remember the details, though having

studied it at some point.

1.Kd4! Ke6?

1...Rf2? is the move given in the 4th

edition of Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual. I

am sure it will be heavily revised for the

5th edition. 2.Rc7 Ra2 3.a7 Kf5 4.Kc4

Kg4 5.Kb3!! is Steckner's famous idea,

leading to a won position because of the

quick transfer of the rook to a4.

2.Kc5 Rc2 3.Kb6 Rb2 4.Kc7 Rc2 5.Kd8

Rf2

XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-mK-+-+0 9tR-+-+p+-0 9P+-+k+p+0 9+-+-+-+p0 9-+-+-+-zP0 9+-+-+-zP-0 9-+-+-tr-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy 6.Re7! Kf6 7.Ke8! Ra2 8.Rf7 Ke5 9.a7

Ke6 10.Kf8 1:0.

White had not studied the position

previously, while Black had read

Dvoretskys Endgame Manual. We can see that just reading about the position is not

enough. Again there are many ways to

develop at the skills necessary to play such

positions. One of them is practical

experience, as in this exercise.

1...g5! is a rare omission in what I consider

the best book written on chess. I am not

sure why Mark did not include it; and

frankly, I am afraid to ask. The main

reason to include it is that a big fan of the

book, who has reportedly read it four times

cover to cover (no small feat; great does

not mean easily accessible!), did not

manage to win when he had the position

over the board. 2.hg5 (Maybe not the

greatest test.) 2...Kg5 3.Kc4 Rf2 4.Rd7

Ra2 5.a7 Kg4 6.Kb3 Ra6 7.Rd4 Kg3

8.Ra4 Ra7 9.Ra7 h4 10.Rf7 h3 11.Kc3 h2

12.Rh7 Kg2 13.Kd3 h1Q 14.Rh1 Kh1,

draw, Grischuk : Radjabov, Odessa (blitz)

2008.

2.Kd5 is the more ambitious try and for

some time it was believed that White was

winning here, as 2...gh4 surprisingly loses.

xxx of Armenia found an elaborate draw

after 2...g4!?, with a subtle point on move

7. Personally I cannot see what is wrong

with 2...Kg6! with the idea 3...f6, 4...Kf5

and then ...gh4 and counterplay against the

white pawns. The draw seems to flow

quite easily. I put this on my blog,

challenging people to refute it, but no one

did.

General endgame play

Obviously this is a highly specialised

position which was only reached in a

handful of games. (Its attraction to modern

theory is certainly that it is just outside the

reach of computers and specialised

programs like FinalGen.) But it is still

relevant to the development of endgame

skills. Certainly Black realised the dangers

of passive play in rook endings a pawn

down, as well as realised the difference

between having read a DEM once and

really knowing the essential endgame

theory.

We should also not forget that the study of

generic positions help us understand the

underlying dynamics of the game. While it

is rare that we will end in a specific

theoretical ending, a general understanding

of the mechanics of rook endings is

certainly useful. We might reach 3-5 rook

endings a year, if we play a lot. But in

training it is quite easy to play 50-100 rook

endings in 1-2 weeks training camp; or

ever a few months of training. The

experience garnered would take an average

professional career to collect!

The same goes for other endings of course.

In a recent group training session I gave


the students the following bishop ending,

which I had annotated for Endgame Play

to play.

Nakamura H. : Caruana F.

Thessaloniki 2013

XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-zp-+lmk-+0 9zpLzpp+p+-0 9-+-+-mK-zP0 9+P+-+P+-0 9P+-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy In the game Caruana violated Rubinstein's

mantrum of "do not hurry" and pushed one

of his passed pawns too early. As a result

he did not manage to get the connected

passed pawns he could have and failed to

win the game. 57...c4? 58.bc4 dc4 59.Ke3

c3 60.a3 Bd5 61.Ba4 Bb7 62.f4 Be4

63.Bb5 Kg6 64.Be8 Kh6

XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-+L+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-zp-+-+-mk0 9zp-+-+p+-0 9-+-+lzP-zP0 9zP-zp-mK-+-0 9-+-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy 65.a4 Bb1 66.Ke2 Bc2 67.Ke3 Be4

68.Ke2 Kg7 69.Ke3 Kf8 70.Bd7 Ke7

71.Bb5 Kd6 72.Be8 Ke6 73.Ke2 Kf6

74.Ke3 Kg7 75.Ke2 Kh6 76.Ke3 Bb1

77.Ke2 Bc2 78.Ke3 Bb3 79.Kd3 c2

80.Kd2 Kg7 81.Kc1 Kf6 82.Kd2 Kg7

83.Kc1 Kf6 84.Kd2 Kg7, draw.

The main line I found myself included

improving the bishop quickly. 57...d4!?

58.Be8 Bd5 59.Bb5 Bb7! The bishop is

going to a better diagonal. One of the ideas

is that Black can play ...a4 in many lines.

60.Be8 Ba6 61.h5 Bd3

XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-+L+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-zp-+-mk-+0 9zp-zp-+p+P0 9-+-zp-mK-+0 9+P+l+P+-0 9P+-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy 62.Bc6 b5 63.Bb7 c4 64.bc4 bc4 65.Ba6

Be2 66.Bb5 c3 67.Ba4 d3 68.Ke3 f4. It is

time to resign. This is the way I personally

approached the position, using the

computer only to refine a few sidelines.

Surprisingly all of my students chose the

same first move:

57...Bf7

Partly a waiting move.

58.Bc6

Against 58.Be2 one student mentioned

58...a4 59.Bd1 a3!? before I realised that I

had made the wrong defensive try and took

back two moves.

58...d4

58...c4 (I do not really like this move, but

objectively it works. But I prefer a more

patient approach, which we talked about

after the exercise.) 59.bc4 dc4 60.Ke3

(This position was reached in two training

games.)

1) 60Ke5?! 61.f4 Kd6 62.Ba4 Kc5 63.Bd1 b5 64.h5 (I have managed to create

counterplay. I should still lose, but it not

requires some accuracy from Black's side.


A good moment to talk about the

importance of using the strongest piece on

the board better!) 64...a4? (64...b4? was

the other suggestion from the player, but

this also failes to win. After 65.h6 Bg8

66.Bc2 Bh7 67.Bd1 Black surprisingly

cannot improve his position. 64...Kb4! was

the right move. The king is stronger in

front of the pawn, where it dominates

important squares. 65.Kd4 Ka3 66.h6 Bg8

67.Bc2 Ka2 68.Bf5 a4 69.Kc3 a3 and

Black wins because of ...b4 and ...Kb2.)

65.h6 Bg6 66.Bh5 Bh7 67.a3 b4 68.ab4

Kb4 (The passed pawns have been split,

but true to his nature, Black remained very

optimistic.) 69.Kd2 a3 70.Kc2 Bg8

71.Bf7!? (Not the most logical move,

71.Kb1 was simpler.)

XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-+-+l+0 9+-+-+L+-0 9-+-+-+-zP0 9+-+-+p+-0 9-mkp+-zP-+0 9zp-+-+-+-0 9-+K+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy 71...a2! (A very nice try. The player

thought he was winning. But White has a

great solution.) 72.h7!! (72.Kb2? Bf7

73.h7 c3 and White is quickly mated.)

72...Bh7 73.Kb2 (White is in time.)

73...a1Q 74.Ka1 Kc3 75.Kb1 Kd2 76.Bc4

Ke3 77.Be6 Kf4 78.Bf5. A draw was

agreed.

2) 60...c3! was stronger, as played by one

player. After 61.a4 f4 62.Kd3 Kg6! I had

to resign. Not surprisingly this was the

youngest of the players; they have a

tendency to be more concrete.

59.Bd7 Bh5

59...Bg6 60.Bb5 Bf7 61.Bd7 c4? (This

fails in quite similar ways to the game.)

62.bc4 Bc4 63.a4 d3 64.Ke3 f4 65.Kd2

Kg6 66.Be8! (This is what the player had

missed. Now White escapes with a draw.)

66...Kh6 67.Kc3 Bd5 68.Kd3. Black still

has some practical chances, but

disappointed, the player offered a draw.

60.Bb5

60.Bf5 Bf3 61.Bd3 was maybe a tougher

defence.

60...Bg6 61.Bc6 Kg7!

Black has stabilised the position. Now the

king is improved.

62.Bb5 Kh6 63.Kg3 d3 64.Kf4 d2 65.Be2

Kh5 66.Ke3 Kh4 67.Kd2 Kg3 0:1.

Middlegame training

Playing interesting positions is also a good

way of developing other skills, for

example areas such as attack and defence.

The following very promising position is

one of my favourites. Three players have

tried it on, all with different results.

Schoene R. : Gerlef M.

Germany 1998

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+l+r+k+0 9+-zp-+pzp-0 9-+-zp-sn-zp0 9+p+-+-+q0 9-+-zPp+-+0 9+P+-zP-zPP0 9P+-+-zPL+0 9tR-vLQ+RmK-0 xiiiiiiiiy The exercise is abandoned and discussed if

it does not start with the same first few

move. Actually this happened with the

third of the games we shall see below. The

player is a bit cautious by nature, which is

by no means a great disadvantage as a

chess player. He just needs to understand

when he should overcome his caution. The


around 50 attacking games we have played

in training over the last 2-3 months have

greatly improved his feeling with this, in a

way that reading books like Attacking

Manual 1+2 and Anands Best Games had not. He needed to know that he could

handle an attack correctly.

In the game a draw was agreed on move

28 after 18...Qd1?, but only one move

makes sense:

18...Bg4!

This sacrifice cannot be calculated to the

end, but the attacking ideas are quite rich,

so it is definitely worth the risks,

especially in a training game!

19.hg4 Ng4 20.Re1 Re6! 21.Qc2 Rf6

22.Kf1

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+-+-+k+0 9+-zp-+pzp-0 9-+-zp-tr-zp0 9+p+-+-+q0 9-+-zPp+n+0 9+P+-zP-zP-0 9P+Q+-zPL+0 9tR-vL-tRK+-0 xiiiiiiiiy This position arrives by force. In my own

terminology 18...Bg4 was a revolution. It

ends in this position where there is no

direct way to continue. The targets have

moved and you have to build up your

attack again (evolution). This is actually

the purpose of the exercise. Basically

Black should make something out of the

rook on a8, but this is quite easy to fail to

do, when there are still active possibilities

with the pieces we have in the attacking

zone already.

In this position two different moves have

been tried training games against me.

a) 22...d5!? 23.Re2 Nh2! 24.Ke1 Nf3

25.Kd1 Ng1 26.Ke1 Qh2

26...Raa6! is a beautiful way to include the

last piece into the attack.

27.Bf1 Nf3 27...Raa6 28.f4!? offers a bit resistance.

28.Kd1 Here teo games went in different

directions.

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+-+-+k+0 9+-zp-+pzp-0 9-+-+-tr-zp0 9+p+p+-+-0 9-+-zPp+-+0 9+P+-zPnzP-0 9P+Q+RzP-wq0 9tR-vLK+L+-0 xiiiiiiiiy a1) 28...Raa6? 29.Qc7 Kh7?

29...Rac6 would still have kep the balance.

30.Qd7 Rae6 31.Bd2 The player threw in the towel. 1:0.

a2) 28Qg1! 29.Re1 h5! A very strong idea by the player. It is not

so easy for White to stop the passed pawn.

29...c5!? 30.dc5 Rd8! is another very

dangerous idea.

30.a4 g5 31.Qe2 Ne1 32.Qe1 Rf2 33.Bb5

Qg3 33...Qg2!? was potentially stronger, but

also far less obvious. For example: 34.Bd2

Rb8! and Black wins after 35.e2 h4 or 35.Kc2 c6! 36.Bf1 Qg3 when Black keeps

control and soon advances the h-pawn.

34.Ra2 Qf3 35.Be2 Qg2 36.Bf1! Never give up!

36...Qf1 37.Rf2 Qd3 38.Qd2 Qb3 39.Ke1

Ra4 40.Rf5 Ra2? The final mistake; ironically right after the

rook has joined the game. 40...f6! 41.Rf6

Ra2 42.Qd1 Qd1 43.Kd1 Kg7, followed by

the advance of the two passed pawns,

would still have won.

41.Rg5 Kf8 42.Qd1 Qc3 43.Bd2 Qb2

44.Qe2 c5 45.Rd5 c4 46.Rc5 Ra1 47.Kf2


Ra2 48.Ra5 Ra5 49.Ba5 c3 50.Bc3 Qc3

51.Qh5 Qd2 52.Qe2 Qa5 draw.

The third player handled the attack much

better. The rook on a8 is given a role.

b) 22Re8! 23.Re2 Qh2 24.Qc6!? 24.a4 Qg3 is hopeless as well, so I played

for another trick.

XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-+r+k+0 9+-zp-+pzp-0 9-+Qzp-tr-zp0 9+p+-+-+-0 9-+-zPp+n+0 9+P+-zP-zP-0 9P+-+RzPLwq0 9tR-vL-+K+-0 xiiiiiiiiy 24...Kf8!!+ I resigned. There is no way I can avoid

losing the g3-pawn and then everything.

The trick was of course that 24...Re7?

would even leave Black a bit worse after

25.Qa8 Kh7 26.Be4 g6 27.Bg6! and

28.Qg2, when the defence is ready and

White can advance the a- or e-pawn. 0:1.

I hope this article has given a bit of insight

into how I try to assist the student in taking

theoretical/abstract knowledge into a

practical understanding of the underlying

principles of chess strategy.

Documents

Jacob Aagard - A Short Cut to Experience