ISSUE 9

MODERN CHESS
MAGAZINE

Understand
Understand the Positions with
Closed Center - Part 1
How to Fight
for an Open
File

Endgame Series -
Part 9

Mar Del Plata Structure - Attacking

Manual for Black

Typical Middlegame Combinations -

Bishop Sacrifice on "h7"
Table of contents
Typical Tactical Ideas in the Middlegame - Bishop Sacrifice on "h7"
3 (GM Grigor Grigorov)
3 Greco,Gioacchino - NN / Europe Europe, 1620
4 Pestalozzi,Max - Duhm,Hans / Bern Bern, 1908
5 Paulsen,Louis - Schwarz,Adolf / Leipzig m Leipzig (3), 1879
8 Shirov,Alexei (2726) - Reinderman,Dimitri (2542)
10 Spassky,Boris V - Geller,Efim P / Candidates sf2 Riga (6), 1965
11 Szabo,Laszlo - Bisguier,Arthur Bernard / Buenos Aires CA Buenos Aires (10), 1955
12 Kudrin,Sergey (2545) - Machado,Hermes Amilcar (2340)
14 TEST POSITIONS

16 Methods of Playing in Positions with Closed Center - Part 1 (GM GrigorGrigorov)

16 Grigorov,Grigor (2497) - Georgiev,Krum (2410)
21 Gelfand,Boris (2777) - Jones,Gawain C (2654)
33 TEST

35 Attacking Manual for Black - Mar Del Plata Structure (GM Petar G. Arnaudov)
35 Taimanov,Mark E - Najdorf,Miguel / Zuerich ct Zuerich (4), 1953
38 Kortschnoj,Viktor (2602) - Cheparinov,Ivan (2687)
40 So,Wesley (2779) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2814)
42 Ziegler,Ari (2402) - Hillarp Persson,Tiger (2482)
44 Piket,Jeroen (2540) - Kasparov,Garry (2775)
47 TEST

48 Methods of Fighting for an Open File (GM Vladimir Georgiev)

48 Capablanca,Jose Raul - Alekhine,Alexander
50 Kramnik,Vladimir (2797) - Aronian,Levon (2816)
51 Melkumyan,H (2650) - Vignesh,N R (2423)
54 Botvinnik,Mikhail - Chekhover,Vitaly
55 Steinitz - Sellman 1885
57 TEST

Endgame Series - Part 9 (GM Davorin Kuljasevic)

58
58 Distant opposition 1-3
62 Side opposition
62 Mehaj,Driton (2204) - Swiercz,D (2656)
65 Diagonal opposition 1-2
67 Knight opposition 1-2
69 Opposition battle 1
70 TEST
 Methods of Playing in Positions subtleties of closed positions will improve your
understanding of a number of openings which
with Closed Center - Part 1 lead to positions with closed center. To mention
GM Grigor Ggrigorov just a few: King's Indian Defence, Ruy Lopez,
Classical Benoni, French Defence and many
others. As we have mentioned on many
occasions, it is not possible to build a reliable
opening repertoire without understanding the
typical middlegames. In my first article
dedicated to the closed center, I will discuss the
following pawn structure: c4, d5 and e4 against
c5, d6 and e5. This pawn structure is quite
typical for King's Indian Defence and Classical
Benoni. Despite the fact that I have always
played this structure as White, within the
framework of the current article, I will present
the ideas of both sides. I hope that at the end of
this course you will have a higher chess
understanding. I would like to start with one of
my recent games in which I played against the
Bulgarian GM Krum Georgiev. My opponent
played his favourite King's Indian Defence which
was met by the solid Fianchetto System. After
the first 11 moves, the position on the diagram
was reached.

Grigorov,Grigor (2497) - Georgiev,Krum

(2410)
GRE-chT 44th Achaea, 09.07.2016

Dear Reader,
We are about to start dealing with an extremely
complex and important type of middlegame
positions - closed center. In my role as chess
trainer, I have come to realize that closed
positions are something of a nightmare for
inexperienced chess players. The reason is
rather simple - in such positions, the ability to
create the right plan is much more important
than the calculation of concrete variations. In
order to find the right plan, however, we need a
lot of knowledge and experience. That is why
everyone who wants to progress in the field of
chess should spend a considerable amount of Since it is White to move, I was obliged to create
time studying closed positions. a long-term plan. As the reader could see,
There is also another factor in support of the White's d5–pawn gives him a space advantage
importance of the current topic that I would like on the queenside. In order to establish his plan,
to bring to your attention. Knowledge of the White could refer to one of the classical

16
positional principles which says that we should are two important structural drawbacks in
play on the wing where we have a space Black's position. If we suppose that the b-file is
advantage. That is why White should try to build open, in some cases White’s major pieces could
an activity on the queenside. In the game, I invade Black's camp via the weakened –
played square. Another important drawback consists in
the fact that the structure , .  against , ,
 Very typical move. In closed positions, we  is favorable for White since he has additional
must find a way to bring our major pieces into pawn contact - ––, thus breaking Black's
play. In order to achieve that, we should open queenside defence. Long story short, it is always
files by means of different pawn contacts. With dangerous to move your pawns on the wing
his last move, White starts preparing the – where your opponent is stronger.
pawn advance. Later on, he could go for 
followed by – and . After opening the b-  Another important move.
file, White’s major pieces will try to invade Before playing –, White should protect the
Black's camp. Nevertheless, what will happen if –pawn. At the same time, with his last move,
Black sticks to a passive strategy by playing White discourages his opponent to go for ideas
moves like –, , – and . Later on, based on the – break.
White's  could be answered by means of
 followed by massive exchanges along the - 
file. Will White retain his advantage? In order to
answer this question, we should know the
concept of "space advantage". In general, when
we have space advantage, we shouldn't
exchange pieces, because our opponent will
have the same number of squares for fewer
pieces. Nevertheless, this rule is valid when it
comes to the minor pieces. Usually, the
exchanges of major pieces favor the side with
space advantage. Why? When looking at the
current position, it is easy to understand that
White's space advantage is defined by the pawn
structure. White's central pawn chain takes
important squares from Black's minor pieces.
That is why Black has difficulties to find reliable
squares for his bishops and knights. Black's only It becomes clear that Black has coordination
chance to create counterplay consists in opening problems in his camp. In order to connect his
a file for his major pieces (for example the – rooks by playing , he should bring his knight
break comes into consideration). If White to the unfavorable –square. We could see that
manages to exchange all the major pieces, 3 minor black pieces dispute the –square!
however, Black will be left with his restricted
knights and bishops. It becomes clear that by As I have already pointed out, in such kind of
exchanging rooks and queens White could positions, Black's counterplay is often based on
restrict Black's counterplay. the – break which allows him to activate the
rook by attacking the "base" of White's central
 Black's intention is obvious. Since he pawn chain. Nevertheless, this idea hardly
wants to put his queen on , by playing –, works in the concrete position. For example,
he prevents White from playing  in the after White could
future. Nevertheless, to a certain extent, the just play followed by doubling the rooks
move – is a concession. At this point, there along the b-file and eventually . Note that

17
Black still couldn't play because White in my comments to the move . White
could play making use of the weakened wants to spoil Black's queenside structure by
e6–square. If Black wants to prepare – by playing –. With a black pawn on a7 (instead
means of –, then his kingside pawn of ), this idea wouldn't be very powerful.
structure will be weakened.
Normally, Black should avoid this move which
 Black has managed to weakens the –square. In this concrete
connect his rooks but now it is very difficult to position, however, my opponent was forced to
realize the ––idea. Additionally, the –knight go for it. Otherwise, White just plays –.
doesn't have any squares.
 Worse is  when White could
 White directs his pieces to the queenside follow with  and
and overprotects the important –pawn. Also, Black couldn't defend his –pawn.
in some cases, in order to restrict Black's
counterplay, he could bring his queen to the 
kingside.



Played with the obvious idea to keep the b-file

closed. Of course, this move has some
drawbacks. Black could apply such an approach
Black starts preparing his kingside counterplay. in positions where he could easily transfer one
The idea behind his last move is to play  of his knights to d6 and later go for –. Since
followed by – After figuring out what my his rook is on e8–square, in order to execute
opponent intends to do, I started to look for such a transfer, he should spend at least 3
ways to restrict his counterplay. Before playing moves. For example, a possible idea would be
, I knew that in some cases, my queen  followed by –. Nevertheless, such a
could occupy the –square but after Black's plan is rather time-consuming. Another
, this idea started getting clearer. After important factor is the weakness of the –
putting his queen on , White prevents Black pawn. In the future, Black major pieces will be
from playing  since the –pawn is hanging. tied to the defence of this pawn. Additionally, I
Despite the fact that I have decided to go for this would like to point out another drawback of
prophylactic idea, I knew I was not forced to do Black's last move. Given the fact that there is no
it immediately. White could first obtain some black pawn on , White already enjoys
achievements on the queenside. I played considerable superiority in the center. That is
why in the future it will be possible to consider
 This strong positional idea was mentioned the – break.

18
It is also interesting to see how White should 
deal with the positions arising after 
Now the b-file is open, but white rooks couldn't
invade Black's camp. I was intending to follow
with 

I have already explained the idea behind this

move - White wants to stop for a while the idea
 followed by f7–f5. It is really amazing that
Black doesn't have a comfortable way to defend
the f7–pawn. This is very often the case when
one of the sides is short on space.
To my understanding, this is the best square for
the queen in this position. With his last move,  Black overprotects the b6–pawn and
White establishes a connection between the frees the e8–square for his knight. At this point, I
rooks, protects the important e4–pawn and had two main ideas - engage black major pieces
prevents the opponent from playing  with the defence of the b6–pawn and prevent
Black from moving his f6–knight to e8 or g8.
followed by f7–f5 since the f7– pawn is hanging.
Later on, I had two ideas in mind:1) double the I saw that after Black
rooks on the b-file and prepare a possible couldn't trap the queen because of
invasion. If White manages to tie black major followed by 
pieces to the defence of the b-file, then it is with a huge advantage for White.
possible to gain some space on the kingside by
 The idea of this move is clear. White
playing g3–g4–g5 followed by h4–h5. Later for
wants to tie Black's queen to the defence of the
White will be easier to transfer his major pieces f6–knight.
to the kingside. When we have space advantage,
the communication lines between our major  This seems to be the only move. For
pieces are always better.2) create pressure now, White could stop worrying about the ideas
against the a5–pawn by means of  followed connected with different knight moves. It is time
by . Later on it is possible to double the to create some pressure against the b6–pawn.
rooks along the b-file and increase the pressure
The idea to protect the knight by means of
against a5 by playing –. I should say that  is clearly worse since White could
both plans look very promising and Black will follow with And white
certainly have a hard time dealing with them. knight comes to the ideal c4–square.

19
 With his move, Black creates an opposition
along the h2–b8 diagonal, discouraging his opponent
from playing the immediate f2–f4. The disadvantage
of this move could be explained by the fact that black
queen goes far away from the kingside. This
circumstance could tell in the future.

After this precise move, black queen is

practically forced to go to the unfavorable b8–
square. Besides the fact that the opposition along the
b-file could be very annoying, Black has difficulties to
bring his a6–rook into play.

 In case of I was planning to react

with intending to follow up
with f2–f3, h3–h4 and , thus supporting the
further advance of the d-pawn. Note that Black has
Black managed to cover his weaknesses on "b6" no comfortable way to block White's central passed
pawn.
and "f6". Nevertheless, there is absolutely no
coordination between his major pieces. That is 
why I started considering some ideas allowing
me to attack Black's center. The first move that
came to my mind was  followed by f2–f4. In
that case, however, I should pay attention to the
construction  -  which at some moment
could be used by Black's dark-squared bishop
Another important point is that the immediate
could be met by 24...Qc8 (attacking the
h3–pawn) followed by –. So, I needed to
protect the h3–pawn and escape and remove my
king from the a7–g1 diagonal.

Very important prophylactic move.

White defends the h3–pawn and prepares
. In positions in which your opponent has
no counterplay, you shouldn't rush. Before going
for our active plan, we should play all the useful This was one of the most difficult moves in the
moves that come to mind. Maybe the inclusion game. Despite the fact that White's advantage is
of these moves will decide the outcome of the out of question, it's still difficult to proceed with
game later. concrete actions. That is why I decided to make
one more useful move. White's last move has
Black makes room for the maneuver two main ideas. Given the fact that now the b1–
 square is free, White could increase the pressure
against the b6–pawn by transferring his queen
White is already prepared to go for f2–f4 to b1. The second idea is even more important.
advance under favorable circumstances. It is quite obvious that sooner or later White will
Nevertheless, White's last move has one go for the f2–f4 advance. Being on b2, White
important disadvantage - Black's f6–knight is no rook could be easily transferred to the kingside.
longer under attack and Black could play with As I have already mentioned, the space
his queen. advantage gives us the possibility to easily

20
transfer our major pieces from one wing to White knight has finally reached his
another. dream square. Now White is ready to transfer
his rooks to the kingside after which the game
Quite a natural move. Black not only will be over.
intends to block White's d-pawn by means of
, but at the same time, he is planning to As the reader probably
make use of the restricted mobility of the g5– remembers, this move was one of the main
bishop by playing f7–f6. I decided to prevent points behind Now Black has no
both ideas. counterplay at all. White is simply planning to
expand on the kingside by playing g3–g4–g5.
My opponent was happy to make this
move since Black exchanges minor pieces 
(which is favorable in positions where our In this completely hopeless
opponent has space advantage) and gets rid of position, my opponent lost on time. Anyway, it is
his passive dark-squared bishop. Nevertheless, impossible to find defence against White's
we should also consider the dynamic aspects of numerous threats. Moves like  or 
the position. It seems that after the exchange of followed by  are only some of White's
the dark-squared bishops, Black king becomes possibilities.
quite vulnerable. The game continued
1–0


Now, in order to transfer his rook to the

kingside and free the d7–square for one of the
knights, Black is forced to part with his light-
squared bishop. Otherwise, White could go f4–f5
or fxe5 followed by .

 Black is ready to parry the

threat of fxe5 followed by . Nevertheless,
White has another natural way to develop his
kingside initiative.

Of course, wrong is because

of  winning a piece.

21