Grandmaster versus Amateur

Edited by

Jacob Aagaard & John Shaw

Quality Chess
www.qualitychess.co.uk

Contents
Preface 4
Key to Symbols used
8
1 Jacob Aagaard Danes Eat Fish for Breakfast 9
2 Peter Heine Nielsen A Tale of Three Stories 37
3 Pavel Eljanov From Amateur to 2700
55
4 John Shaw From 1700 to Grandmaster and Back 87
5 Boris Avrukh The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 99
6 Tiger Hillarp Persson The Ulysses Effect 137
7 Mihail Marin Its an Amateurs World 151
8 Jacob Aagaard Fish Eat Danes for Supper 177
Game Index
Name Index
Opening Index

191
193
196

Preface
This is the third collection of essays by various grandmasters that Quality Chess has published,
and the first such collection dealing with a topic other than the Sicilian Defence. Once again we
were able to assemble an enviable line-up of contributors, each of whom approached the subject
in their own way with their own ideas and experiences.
The idea for this book came from our good friend Jesse Gersenson, but the concept is not entirely
new. A long time ago Max Euwe authored a book entitled Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur. It was
only after the project was up and running that we were alerted to the existence of this book. To
avoid ripping off the Dutch World Champion we deliberately avoided reading his book, instead
preferring to do our own thing, and we hope the readers will agree when we say that the results
are pleasing!
The authors and their projects are as follows.
Jacob Aagaard (born 1973 in Denmark)
Danish/Scottish grandmaster with a top
rating of 2542. Most notable successes include
winning the 2007 British Championship (the
tournamement where he completed his GMtitle) and the Arco Open several times.
As an author his greatest successes have been
winning the ChessCafe Book of the Year 2002
for Excelling at Chess and more recently the
English Chess Federations Book of the Year
2010 (for Attacking Manual 1+2).
Jacob was a co-founder of Quality Chess in
2004.

Unknown amateur congratulates Jacob on winning the

ECF Book of the Year at the 2010 London Chess Classic.

Chapter 1 Danes Eat Fish for Breakfast

Rather than embarrass the audience with national stereotypes, Jacob presents five different
scenarios from his own games where grandmasters prevail over amateurs. Along the way he
identifies several underlying causes for their success, offering a wealth of practical advice for
amateurs wishing to bridge the gap.
Chapter 8 Fish Eat Danes for Supper
In this chapter Jacob shows some of his least proud moments, as well as explaining how they
came about. Rather than turning the chapter into a sea of sick excuses, he uses the examples to
highlight the ways in which the amateur can optimize his chances of beating a grandmaster.

Preface

Peter Heine Nielsen (born 1973)

Danish grandmaster with a peak rating of
2700. Peter has won a number of opens
and the gold medal on board one in the
2005 European Team Championship, but
his greatest achievement was undoubtedly
reaching the last 16 in the 2011 World
Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk. Outside the
tournament hall Peter has worked regularly
with Anand, since shortly after they met in
the 2001 World Championship knockout
tournament in Moscow. Since 2005 Peter has
been Anands chief second with considerable
success, although the World Champion has
pointed out that Peter has the drawback of
being impossible to hide (on account of his
towering height).
Chapter 2 A Tale of Three Stories
Peter starts by identifying three typical ways in which a Grandmaster Amateur game might play
out, before providing an example of each scenario from his own practice. With a hearty balance
of insight, anecdotes and good humour, Peters chapter is as entertaining as it is instructive.
Pavel Eljanov (born 1983)
Ukrainian grandmaster with a peak rating
of 2761, placing him at sixth in the world at
the time. Pavel is a regular on the Ukrainian
national team, including its gold medal
performance at the Calvia Olympiad in 2004.
His biggest tournament success was in May
2010, when he won the Astrakhan Grand
Prix tournament by a full point. Recently he
seconded Boris Gelfand during his victory in
the 2011 Candidates tournament in Kazan.
Chapter 3 From Amateur to 2700
Of the seven contributors to this book, Pavel was the only one who had not previously written
for Quality Chess. Nevertheless it quickly became clear that he was a real find for this book,
and in this chapter he shares his views on a number of topics, including the role of talent, chess
education, psychology, opening preparation and choosing the right plan. The reader is guided
through a number of his successes and failures which played a role in his ascension from amateur
to world-class grandmaster.

Grandmaster versus Amateur

John Shaw (born 1968)

Scottish Grandmaster without a peak rating.

(Okay, 2506 then.) Johns biggest achievement
is that he was rated 1745 at the age of 19,
and thus devoid of natural talent, and yet still
managed to become a grandmaster at the ripe
old age of 37. Over the years John has given
such illustrious players as Bacrot, Eljanov and
Shirov a tough fight, and eventually a draw
as well. He has been a regular on the Scottish
national team for almost two decades, and is
a three-time Scottish Champion. He wrote
two books for Everyman before co-founding
Quality Chess in 2004. He is almost finished
with his long-awaited treatise on the Kings
Gambit and promises it will be out soon...
Chapter 4 From 1700 to Grandmaster and Back
In his characteristically humorous and self-deprecating style, John describes his journey towards
the Grandmaster title, offering plenty of personal insights into the reasons for both his successes
and shortcomings.
Boris Avrukh (born 1978 in Kazakhstan)
An Israeli grandmaster with a peak rating of
2668, Boris was a regular for the Israeli team
from 1998 to 2009. During this period he
won both gold and bronze individual medals,
as well as the overall silver medal with the team
at the Dresden 2008 Olympiad. Boris is the
winner of numerous open tournaments and a
renowned theoretician. In recent years he has
written four highly acclaimed books in the
hugely successful Grandmaster Repertoire series,
and has worked as a trainer and second for
World Champions of yesterday and tomorrow
alike.
Chapter 5 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
In this chapter Boris presents five highly instructive games, exploring the various factors that
contributed to the respective successes of both the grandmasters and the amateurs. The games
have been divided into three categories, each of which has been named after a famous movie, for
no particular reason apart from sounding more interesting.

Preface

Tiger Hillarp Persson (born 1970)

A Swedish Grandmaster with a peak rating of
2618, Tiger is known for his deeply original and
creative approach to chess. He has won many
opens and has been a regular on the Swedish
national team since the mid-nineties. Tigers
fame stems not so much from the final results
of his games, but more for their unusually rich
content. Win, lose or draw, he is never boring.
Aside from his active playing career he also
found time to write Tigers Modern (Quality
Chess 2005), which was widely acclaimed.
Chapter 6 The Ulysses Effect
Never one to take the conventional route, Tiger begins with a bizarre-sounding quote from James
Joyces classic novel. He then examines the meaning and reveals how it helped him to raise his
chess level from that of an aspiring amateur to a sabre-toothed grandmaster!
Mihail Marin (born 1964)
Romanian grandmaster with a peak rating
of 2616. Mihail has represented Romania
in ten Olympiads and won an individual
bronze medal in 1988. Although he has been
successful in his long playing career, his main
achievements have been away from the board.
He has for example worked as Judit Polgars
second, including at the 2005 San Luis World
Championship, the only occasion in chess
history when a woman has taken part in a
World Championship contest.
While admitting a certain bias, we would
argue that Mihails greatest achievements of all
are his books. Learn from the Legends (Quality
Chess 2004) won the ChessCafe.com Book of
the Year award in 2005. IM Jeremy Silman said
in his review I cant recall having seen a better
book in the last two decades. More recently
Mihail wrote three volumes on the English
Opening in the Grandmaster Repertoire series,
which inspired a number of top-level players
to include this opening in their repertoires.

Grandmaster versus Amateur

Chapter 7 Its an Amateurs World!

In this, the penultimate chapter of the book (the last being Jacobs second chapter as detailed
above), Mihail paints a warm and engaging picture of two amateurs, Dr Victor acu (the good
Doc) of Romania and Jose Miguel Ridameya Tatche (Don Josep) of Spain. Mihail has become
acquainted with both of these enthusiastic amateurs over the years, both personally and over
the board. After reflecting on his own career, including his experiences with these two colourful
characters, Mihails conclusion is perfectly summed up by the chapter title!
We hope that this book will be enjoyed by grandmasters and amateurs alike, and without further
ado, we invite the reader to turn the page and get started.
Andrew Greet,
Quality Chess
Glasgow, October 2011

Key to symbols used

+
+
=

White is slightly better

Black is slightly better
White is better
Black is better
White has a decisive advantage
Black has a decisive advantage
equality
with compensation
with counterplay
with attack
with initiative
unclear

?
??
!
!!
!?
?!

#

a weak move
a blunder
a good move
an excellent move
a move worth considering
a move of doubtful value
only move
mate

Mihail Marin

Its an Amateurs World

152

Mihail Marin

After graduating from the Polytechnic

Institute back in 1989, I finally found myself
in a position I had dreamed about for a long
time: that of being able to dedicate most of my
available time to studying and playing chess.
My results over the final years of studentship
strongly suggested the possibility of embracing
the chess professional life, but, quite
paradoxically, my next important move took
me entirely in the opposite direction. Indeed,
how else could one describe my decision to
spend the next season of the Romanian Team
Championship playing for a modest second
division team, comprised of amateurs, despite
having been offered attractive contracts by the
strongest first division teams?
It is hard to remember my exact train of
thought from more than twenty years ago,
but I must have had my own rather subjective
reasons of taking such an important decision.
The 1987 team championship had caused me
a deep feeling of frustration. Despite being
the only Romanian player to have qualified
for the Interzonal, I was confined to play on
the fifth board. According to the Romanian
Federation rules, the teams had to field their
players in the strict order of their international
title. By the time the championship took
place, I was still a FIDE Master, waiting for
the next FIDE congress in order to be awarded
with the International Master title. True, in
1988 I was promoted to the second board,
but I was probably too immature to put the
aforementioned unpleasant situation behind
me.
My decision to step back to an inferior level
two years later was meant as some sort of
moral compensation for my seriously injured
ego. Finally, I would be the unchallenged top
board of my team and cause great fear among
my opponents! As expected, I scored an
astronomical result (all my opponents were

mere amateurs), but the draw conceded in the

game below was the main reason for my teams
failure to qualify for the first division.

acu Marin
Romania 1989
Victor acu is the most colourful Romanian
chess amateur I have ever met, and one that
perfectly suits the inner meaning of the term.
Despite being a successful medical doctor, his
true lifetime passion has always been chess.
Obviously the time he could dedicate to
chess was quite limited, but he nevertheless
aimed to maintain a professional attitude
towards his beloved hobby. There is a small
paradox involved here. Sometimes, only an
amateur can really break free of any inhibitions
and play a move just because he believes in
it, or he likes it, even though the ultimate
consequences cannot be predicted and the
risks involved are quite big.
Dr acu always tried to keep up with the
newest theoretical developments and he was
always among the first Romanian players to
get the latest NIC Yearbook or Chess Informant.
About thirty years ago, when I was a teenage
Candidate Master, he allowed me to step
into what he considered his chess sanctuary. I
remember the image of a room in which there
was hardly any breathing space left. All the
walls were covered by shelves overloaded with
chess books, and the majority of the floor also
was employed for the same storage purpose!
In fact, new (or very old) books as well
as new opening ideas are among Dr acus
favourite subjects of conversation. Even
nowadays, at the age of 72, he orders a bunch
of Quality Chess books every few months and
calls me regularly asking for advice regarding
one new title or another. The balance between
our general chess culture and knowledge has
not always been like that, though. In the early

Chapter 7 Its an Amateurs World

eighties we once met in the centre of Bucharest
by pure chance and he told me in a low voice,
as if to keep the secret from the people passing
by us, Theyve got Bronsteins Zurich 53 in
Russian at the Creulescu library go there
quickly and buy one for yourself! Tomorrow
it may be sold out! I am ashamed to confess
that I had no idea what he was speaking about,
but got the book anyway. It took me several
years to understand the value of this book, my
excuse being that at that time I had not learned
Russian yet!
Despite the friendship we had developed
since we first met, I sat down for the next game
with just one result on my mind: a crushing
win.
1.d4 f6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 d6 4.c3 g6 5.e4 g7
This variety of Benoni, characterized by
a delayed ...e6, was regularly employed by
Karel Hromadka and rightly bears his name.
During the 1980s it became something of a
Romanian specialty as it was used regularly by
grandmasters Gheorghiu and Ghiescu. The
latter offered to be my trainer when I was a
Candidate Master, and thanks to his help I was
able to qualify for the Interzonal seven years
later.
As a devoted amateur, faithful to the
national values, my opponent also played the
Hromadka System on a regular basis. As we
will see, this was far from the only Romanian
specialty in his repertoire.
6.h3 00 7.g5 e6 8.d3 exd5 9.exd5 bd7
10.f4 a6 11.a4
The systems of development based on h2-h3
against the Kings Indian (to which we have
transposed after exd5) is usually attributed
to Makogonov by theoreticians. In Romania
however, many consider the combination
of h3 with g5 as a national variation, and
not without reason. Top Romanian players
have employed it regularly over more than

153

half a century; from its recent heroes I would

mention the ever stubborn (in a good sense)
Mihai ub.
Whites approach is quite ambitious. He
aims to restrict Blacks minor pieces and get
a stable space advantage. Ever since I began
searching for an antidote, I had the feeling that
Whites decision to make so many pawn moves
with his king still in the centre should enable
Black to obtain promising counterplay.

11...e8!
Black has to escape the pin immediately if he
is to cause problems to his opponent. If White
is given time to complete his development
with ge2 and 00, he should be able to
consolidate his space advantage.
12.ge2 h5!
By threatening ...f6 followed by ...xf4,
Black keeps his momentum and questions the
position of the g5-bishop.
13.e4
This was played almost instantly. My
opponent seemed to know what he was doing;
indeed I also had come to the conclusion that
the text move is the critical test to the whole
line. White has several other possibilities to
parry the threat, but none of them is entirely
satisfactory.

154

Mihail Marin

13.d2 is quite weird, as the king will need

a lot of time to reach a safe square. 13...f6
14.h4 h6!

+w
+
OV
+m
B

Kn
+ +

Immediately exerting some pressure against

His Majesty. 15.f1 f5 16.g3 df6 Black is
close to completing his development while
Whites forces lack coordination, Parto
Korchnoi, Bucharest 1966.
In a relatively strong student tournament, I
had faced 13.f2. In this case the opposition
of the f8-rook with the white king gives Black
the opportunity to commence active kingside
operations: 13...f6 14.h4 g5 15.g3 f5 Black
was developing a nice initiative in Vasilescu
Marin, Bucharest 1986.
The most natural move is:
13.00
However, this does not solve the problem
of the g5-bishop, which becomes apparent
after:
13...e3 14.h1

14...e5!
This move had been mentioned by Parto in
his annotations to the game mentioned in
the note to Blacks 17th move below. Almost
twenty years later, Mihai ub allowed this
trick in a rapid game against Judit Polgar
(at Debrecen 1992 if I remember correctly).
Despite being a specialist of the Romanian
system, he apparently did not know the
analysis of his former countryman. This
unpleasant experience induced him to
switch to the 10.f3 e8 11.f1 line.
Partos analysis continues:
15.fxe5 xg5 16.exd6 f5!
Black has excellent play on the dark squares.
As we see, Romanian players of different
generations have been trying to make the line
work and Dr acu must have been aware of
most of the analysis given above.
The move played in the game is largely a
product of the process of elimination. Since the
alternatives all offer Black good play, the knight
move is the only serious option remaining. But
even this is not enough to guarantee a smooth
ride for White. The delay in development and
the weaknesses left behind by the kingside
pawns make this whole line rather suspicious
for him and, as Dr Tarrasch was kind enough
to point out, In bad positions all moves are
bad!
Concretely, White threatens the deadly
xd6, forcing Black to adopt radical measures.
13...f6 14.h4 xf4!
A thematic move, underlining the fact that
White has neglected to castle.
15.xf4 f5 16.e6
An important element in Whites plan. The
e6-square is used to obstruct the e-file, at least
temporarily.
16...fxe4 17.xf8

Chapter 7 Its an Amateurs World

All these moves were played rather quickly,
and it was here that I finally delivered my
novelty.

17...exd3!
Correctly evaluating the dynamic factors of
the position. White will either remain with his
king in the centre or give up another pawn or
two.
The less enterprising 17...xf8?! also offered
Black some compensation for the exchange,
although he eventually lost in Parto Ostojic,
Bucharest 1973.
18.e6
The knight returns to block the e-file. In fact,
the whole assessment of the position depends
largely on the knights stability. Unfortunately
I was unable to find my old notes and cannot
remember my original analysis, but I recall
that rather soon I was on unknown territory.
18...b6!
An important move. Several white pawns
are hanging now, and there is a threat to shake
Whites position with ...xe6.
By this moment, I fully expected that my
opponent would understand the seriousness
of his situation and go down psychologically

155

rather quickly. I was thus surprised to notice

that the good Doc maintained his initial
excitement. His body language seemed to
suggest that he considered his position as
quite promising, which I must confess I found
rather irritating. Only now I understand that
this interpretation could have been correct if
my opponent had been a professional player.
As an amateur, Dr acu enjoyed the thrill of
competing in a complicated game against a
much stronger player with every beat of his
heart, possibly without thinking too much
about the objective evaluation of the position.

19.g4?!
Just as with 13.e4, this is the most
principled move, aiming to maintain the
outpost on e6. And just as on that occasion,
it tends to increase Whites problems, since his
previous play has been a bit too adventurous.
In my comments for Chess Informant, I
suggested 19.00 as a safer way out of the
complications. After 19...xe6 20.e1 e5
21.dxe6 xe6, White should avoid 22.xd3
xc4, with two pawns for the exchange and
excellent piece coordination for Black. Instead,
the critical move is 22.b3!?, aiming to restrict
the enemy knight. I had ended my comments
with this last move, without giving any clear
evaluation.

156

Mihail Marin

For the sake of the truth, it should be

mentioned that Black retains a strong initiative
with: 22...f5! 23.a2 f4 The threat of
...h2 forces White to block the bishops
retreat, leaving it in a delicate situation. 24.g3
d4 Black has completed his centralization
and has several promising plans at his disposal.
He can sacrifice his knight on c4, obtaining a
threatening pawn majority, or open the centre
with the more cautious ...d5. The h4-bishop
can be molested with ...h6, and ...f8 at any
moment would increase the pressure against
Whites position.

19...d4!
Preventing White from castling. It is
interesting to note that both kings are under
some pressure and the final result will largely
depend on who will be able to deliver concrete
threats first.

20.f1
The only reasonable move, but it is quite
symptomatic of Whites poor coordination
that he does not threaten f8 yet, as the
knight is pinned along the c8-g4 diagonal.
In my comments I had mentioned 20.c1?! as
a possible alternative. Just as 22.b3 from the
earlier variation, this is aimed at preventing the
knights activation via c4, but after 20...xa4
the threat of ...b4 immediately puts White
in a critical position.
20...xc4 21.e4
Finally the threat of f8 has become real
and Black has to eliminate the enemy knight.

+

mq


r

21...xe6 22.dxe6
The net surrounding the white king is tighter
than that of his counterpart, but White only
needs one move (e6-e7) to create the decisive
threats of f8 and e6.
22...c6?!
Possibly intimidated by the great enthusiasm
my opponent continued to exude, I started to
panic. The plan of transferring the queen to
a5 or b4 is rather slow, and Black should have
opted for a more forcing continuation.
The simplest is 22...d5!. White needs to

Chapter 7 Its an Amateurs World

keep the e6-pawn defended in order to avoid
immediate disaster, but after 23.xd5 (or
23.g4) 23...e3 Black retrieves the exchange,
reducing Whites attacking possibilities and
retaining a winning position.
22...e3! threatening ...d5 or ...xf1 is just
as good.
23.f4!
Exchanging queens would annihilate Whites
counterattacking chances, leaving him helpless
against the compact mass of enemy pawns.
The last move threatens a check on f7, forcing
a perpetual check at least.

23...d2?
This hurried check dismantles the net
around the white king.
The right move was 23...c7!, covering the
f7-square while threatening ...a5 as well as
...e8. White has nothing better than 24.f7
xf7 25.exf7 f8 when Blacks king is safe
and his powerful pawn mass should decide the
game.
I must admit that my memories about this
game ended abruptly somewhere around
the 15th move. Psychologically, I had little
incentive to remember the way I had misplayed

157

a promising position, despite being the clear

favourite. Quite a pity, because the way I see it
now, the game is rather interesting.
I had the sense that things were different with
my old friend though. During our occasional
meetings in the decades that followed after
the game, he constantly reopened the subject,
mentioning some new idea that he got. In my
years as a true professional chess player, I did
not find it useful to overload my memory with
details about an old game from the second
league. More recently I changed my opinion,
and now consider a regular return to the games
from ones youth to be an excellent method of
self-improvement.
Pushed by curiosity, I called Dr acu just a few
weeks before writing this text and, without too
much of an introduction, I asked him what he
remembered about our game. He immediately
pointed out that he should have castled on
move 19, and that in the final position he got
prematurely scared when accepting the draw.
The second assertion is only partly justified
(see the note at the end of the game), but it
became obvious that for him this had been a
memorable game; one that he thought about
once in a while, and probably even replayed
on the board for the nth time again and again.
One happy aspect of being an amateur is that
one can remain focused on the artistic side of
the game, by not being in a permanent rush to
win prizes and rating points.
24.e2 xg2
Now is too late for 24...c7? as there is
no check on a5, so 25.e7 is just winning for
White.
25.f2
This simple move keeps trouble away from
the white king. The rook is taboo because of
mate in two, and so Black has to retreat his
queen.

158

Mihail Marin

25...d5
This move was accompanied by a draw offer,
which was accepted.

Given the exposed position of both kings, a

perpetual check is inevitable. The Doc was
right in thinking that after 26.f7 h8
27.f6 xf6 28.xf6 g8 29.f7 h8
he is not forced to keep checking, but if he
tries an active move such as 30.e7, Black
forces a draw himself by means of 30...d1=
31.xd1 e4 32.f1 h1 and so on.
I believe that the key moments for
understanding what actually happened in this
game, as well as the strengths and limitations
of the typical amateur prototype, are the moves
13.e4 and 19.g4.
We can expect a chess book lover like Dr
acu to have an excellent chess culture.
This led him to know or rather feel that
if everything had been okay with his general
strategy, these ambitious moves were the only
ones to allow him to fight for an advantage.
Also, he had faith (perhaps too much of it)
in the opening system because it had been
employed by several strong Romanian players
from different generations.
The only problem was that, having only
limited time available for study, he was unable

to test this system of logical thinking with

concrete and thorough analysis (as I had
done). Objectively speaking, this should have
led him to a defeat, but in every negative thing
there is a positive part too. Being convinced
about the correctness of his play, Dr acu kept
displaying overwhelming optimism, which
eventually inhibited me and caused me to miss
a relatively simple win.
We will dig a bit deeper into this theme by
examining two extreme cases, taken from the
practice of my old friend. In the first of them,
unjustified optimism was severely punished,
but in the second a much stronger opponent
succumbed spectacularly.

Voiculescu acu
Bucharest 1982

The 1982 Troianescu Memorial in Bucharest

remains ingrained in my memory as the first
really strong open tournament in which I took
part as a junior. I was only 17 at the time, but I
achieved a respectable score of 6/10. It was also
one of the first times my attention was drawn
to the colourful figure of Dr acu. I was on
my way to including the Hromadka Indian
in my repertoire, which made me follow the
following game with certain interest.
In what looked like a normal position with
better chances for White, the good doctor
decided to sacrifice a pawn.