% BOOKTITLE = Mastering Chess Strategy (sample)
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "About this publication"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Johan Hellsten"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[SourceDate "2013.04.14"]

{Grandmaster Johan Hellsten is convinced that mastering chess strategy - just
like chess tactics - requires practice, practice and yet more practice!} 1. --
{This outstanding book is a product of his many years' work as a full-time
chess teacher, and is specifically designed as part of a structured training
programme to improve strategic thinking. It focuses on a wide range of key
subjects and provides a basic foundation for strategic play. Furthermore, in
addition to the many examples, there's an abundance of carefully selected
exercises which allow readers to monitor their progress and put into practice
what they have just learned. Following such a course is an ideal way for
players of all standards to improve. Although designed mainly for students,
this book is also an excellent resource for chess teachers and trainers.} (1.
-- {Johan Hellsten is a Grandmaster and a former Swedish Champion who has
represented his country in numerous Olympiads and team tournaments. He has
enjoyed many tournament successes and has won individual gold and bronze
medals at the European Team Championships.}) *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Preface"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Johan Hellsten"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[SourceDate "2013.04.17"]

{This book has its origin in my classes as a chess trainer in Chile and
Ecuador. The objective of the book is purely practical: to help the reader to
improve his skills within chess strategy. It does not pretend to fulfil any
scientific, historic or artistic functions.} 1. -- {Thanks to my students and
ex-students in Chile and Ecuador, whose feedback during classes certainly
enriched this material. Also thanks to Alexandra and Nico for your patience
while I was writing the book.} (1. -- {Johan Hellsten, Riobamba, September 2010
}) *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Introduction"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Johan Hellsten"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[SourceDate "2013.04.17"]

{Here I would like to comment briefly on some general aspects of this book.} 1.
-- (1. -- {Contents: This book touches a wide range of subjects related to
middlegame strategy. Each subject comes with some explanatory examples, and in
the second half of the book you will find related exercises. I am a strong
supporter of the intensive use of exercises in the learning process. In my
opinion, the closer you can get to a game situation when you are training (or
teaching) chess, the faster progress can be expected. --- In his excellent
work 'Logika Sovremennyh Shahmat' (Modern Chess Logic), Belarusian writer and
grandmaster Viacheslav Dydyshko mentions that one major problem faced by chess
students is that the theoretical knowledge acquired from literature remains
"alien" to us for a long time. In the heat of the battle we will probably rely
on what our intuition tells us and, unfortunately, that doesn't always
coincide with our knowledge. --- Advancing his thoughts a little further, it
is one thing to read through and understand a couple of Rubinstein's rook
endgames, and quite another one to be able to play them like him! Naturally,
any new chess knowledge has to be integrated in our mind with such depth that
we are able to swiftly apply it in practice, even if a long time has passed
since the learning moment. School kids often memorize a lot of facts before an
exam, and forget most of it within a few weeks. (I, for one, would not like to
repeat today my French or Maths exams from 1990.) In contrast, chess players
need to store the information for a long time, and retrieve it without much
delay. In this context I believe that exercises, alongside normal games and
their posterior analysis, are one of the best tools. Compare the case of
learning languages: few persons are able to speak a new language confidently
after just reading through a few text and grammar books. What most of us need
is practice, practice...}) (1. -- {Style and level: I have tried to explain in
the most didactical way possible what is actually happening on the board,
without an excessive use of analysis, in order not to tire the reader. To
experienced players some parts of the book will appear rather basic; and to
others, more challenging. Club players will probably see a lot of things for
the first time.}) (1. -- {Material: There have been many different sources
involved in the writing of this book, the most significant ones being 'Chess
Informant', ChessBase 'Megabase' and 'Chess Today'. I have used a lot of my
own games and fragments, simply because these are the games that I know best.})
(1. -- {Technology: I used 'Chess Assistant 8.1' for the elaboration of this
book, with 'Rybka 2.4' as the main analysis engine, and 'Megabase 2008' as a
main reference database.}) (1. -- {How to read this book? --- It makes sense
to start with the first, short chapter since it touches upon several concepts
that will be present during the rest of the book. In contrast, the rest of the
chapters are rather independent, although I often make references to earlier
examples. Each chapter is divided into several sections, which can be treated
in the following, simple way: 1. Go through the explanatory examples; --- 2.
Solve the related exercises; --- 3. Compare your solutions with the ones in
the book.}) (1. -- {Advice for trainers: It is easy to use this book as
training material. Choose the section(s) that you need, go through the
explanatory examples with your students, and then let them work with the
related exercises. In practical terms, I suggest you always have the exercise
positions arranged on chessboards. The time needed oscillates roughly between
5 and 20 minutes, depending on the exercise (they are presented in ascending
order of difficulty) and the level of the student. The solutions can be
presented in written form, or played out against the trainer, which creates a
closer feeling for them. Please note that the solutions given in the book are
not absolute truths - the important thing is to grasp the general strategical
idea in each exercise. --- One additional piece of advice: many of the
explanatory examples, as well as some of the longer exercises, can easily be
used as "quiz" games, where the students should find the best move at
determined (for example, five) moments during the game, with the trainer
awarding the corresponding points and giving hints if necessary.}) *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "1: Basic concepts of strategy"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Johan Hellsten"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[SourceDate "2013.04.17"]

{Introduction: The middlegame is perhaps the most demanding phase of the game,
where the player is constantly faced with tactical and strategical challenges.
Without doubt, tactical capacity is fundamental in order to conduct the direct
battle on the board, creating and evading threats, etc. However, we also need
some basic notion about what things are beneficial for us in the long run. In
his great work 'Strategia', famous chess trainer Mark Dvoretsky outlined a
range of concepts and related definitions, which, with some slight
modifications, conform the theoretical basis of this chapter.} 1. -- {A review
of the concepts: Basically, any action undertaken in the game can be
abstracted to tactical and strategical operations. The tactical ones are easy
to grasp: direct threats, pins, forks, deflection, etc. As for the strategical
ones, we can distinguish between:} (1. -- {a) improving our pieces}) (1. -- {
b) pawn play}) (1. -- {c) exchanges}) (1. -- {d) prophylaxis (with restriction
and provocation).}) (1. -- {The remainder of this book is structured around
these subjects; for now let's just see a few related examples in practice.}) *

[Event "Mainz (rapid)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Chuchelov, V."]
[Black "Georgiev, Kir"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Johan Hellsten"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r3nrk1/1q3ppp/p1b1pb2/8/1PB2B2/P1N3Q1/5PPP/2RR2K1 b - - 0 21"]
[PlyCount "15"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2011.06.01"]

{Improving our pieces: At first sight, White seems to be clearly better. All
his pieces are active, the opponent has a weakness on a6, and the queenside
pawn majority is an asset in any endgame. On top of this, the black forces are
obstructed by the badly placed knight on e8.} 21... g6 $1 {Simple, yet very
strong. Georgiev plans ...Ng7-f5 in order to improve his knight.} 22. Bf1 {A
good square for the bishop, where it protects g2 and keeps watching the
a6-pawn.} ({In the event of} 22. Bg5 {, fighting for the dark squares, Black
could adjust his plans slightly by} Bg7 {preparing ...Nf6, and the knight
reaches a decent square anyway.} ({Another, more enterprising option is} 22...
Bh8 $5 {keeping intact the plan of ...Ng7-f5.})) 22... Ng7 23. Qe3 $6 {A
strange tempo loss.} ({The immediate} 23. Qh3 {seemed more natural, although
after} Nf5 {Black hardly has any problems anymore.}) 23... Nf5 24. Qh3 Rfd8 {
In just four moves, the situation on the board has changed noticeably. Thanks
to his strong central control Black already holds the upper hand.} 25. Rd3 ({
The simple} 25. Rxd8+ Rxd8 26. Rd1 {might have been preferable. Now Black
gains space, with tempo.}) 25... e5 $1 26. Bd2 e4 27. Rxd8+ Rxd8 28. Bf4 h5 {
. A sensible move in order to back up the well-placed knight, which also has
an enticing destiny on d4. Black went on to win the game. This is a simple
example of how to improve one of our pieces and the possible virtues of such
an operation, especially if it is our worst piece that is being improved!} *

[Event "Malmo"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Hansen, Cu"]
[Black "Hellsten, J."]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Johan Hellsten"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r3kb1r/1p2qp1p/p1p1npp1/2P5/3P4/4BN2/PP3PPP/R2Q1RK1 w kq - 0 15"]
[PlyCount "23"]
[EventDate "1996.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2011.06.01"]

{Pawn play: Black just needs a few moves like ...Rd8, ...Bg7 and ...0-0 to
achieve safety. However, it is White to move and he manages to alter the pawn
structure to his benefit.} 15. d5 $1 {This advance has several virtues: it
gets rid of the backward d4-pawn, destroys Black's protected square at d5, and,
most importantly, creates a mobile pawn majority on the queenside.} cxd5 ({
After} 15... Rd8 $2 16. d6 {the protected passed pawn is decisive in the long
run.}) ({Even worse is} 15... Nxc5 $2 16. Bxc5 Qxc5 17. Re1+ {with the idea of}
Be7 18. d6 {.}) 16. Qxd5 Qd7 {Exchanges won't remedy Black's structural
problems;} ({but after} 16... Rd8 17. Qc4 {, followed by b2-b4 and a2-a4,
White has a huge advantage.}) 17. Rad1 Qxd5 18. Rxd5 Be7 19. b4 $1 {White's
plan is simple: convert the majority into a passed pawn. Black is unable to do
the same thing on the kingside, due to the doubled f-pawns.} Rc8 20. Rfd1 Rc7
21. Nd2 $1 {The knight is heading for the comfortable c4-square.} f5 22. Nc4
O-O ({By playing} 22... f4 $6 23. Bd4 {Black would just help the opponent in
improving his pieces.}) 23. g3 Kg7 24. Kg2 Rd8 25. Rxd8 Bxd8 26. a4 $1 {.
Little by little White continues with his plan, whereas Black lacks
counterplay. Hansen later won the game by bringing up his king. Evidently, the
key to his success was 15 d5!, improving the pawn structure.} *

[Event "Groningen"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1990.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Khalifman, A."]
[Black "Adams, M."]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Johan Hellsten"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r2q1rk1/3b1ppp/3p4/2nPp3/1p2N3/6P1/1P2PPBP/1QR2RK1 b - - 0 22"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[EventDate "1990.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2011.06.01"]

{Exchanges: The last move was 22 Nd2-e4 with the idea of swapping the strong
enemy knight on c5.} 22... Bf5 $1 {The most tempting reply, and the best one
as well! Black prepares to exchange his bishop for the white knight, so that
his own, powerful knight will remain on the board.} 23. Rc4 b3 24. Qc1 {By
unpinning the knight White managed to avoid any tactical surprises; however,
the opponent's reply will leave him with a clear strategical inferiority.} Bxe4
$1 25. Bxe4 f5 26. Bg2 Qa5 {By now the virtues of the ...Bf5xe4 plan are easy
to grasp. The firmly installed knight outshines the passive bishop, and the
b2-pawn is a burden in the long run.} 27. h4 Qb5 28. Qc3 Na4 $1 {A typical
method in superior positions: Black forces the exchange of queens in order to
limit the opponent's counterplay.} 29. Qb4 Qxb4 30. Rxb4 Rfb8 $1 ({Of course
not} 30... Nxb2 $2 31. Rxb3 {, and Black loses his target. Generally speaking,
the attacker shouldn't exchange pawns unless there is a good reason for it.})
31. Rxb8+ Rxb8 {The previous exchanges have emphasized White's problem with
the b2-pawn.} 32. Rb1 Rc8 33. Bh3 g6 34. e4 Rc2 35. Ra1 Nc5 $1 {The knight
returns to its preferred square, where it eyes the e4-pawn.} ({In contrast,} 
35... Nxb2 $6 36. Ra8+ Kg7 37. Rb8 {would have complicated Black's task.}) 36.
exf5 Rxb2 37. fxg6 ({Or} 37. Ra8+ Kg7 38. Ra7+ Kf6 39. fxg6 Kxg6 {and the
passed pawn decides - Adams.}) 37... hxg6 38. Be6+ Kf8 39. Ra8+ Ke7 {White
lost on time in a desperate position;} ({for example,} 39... Ke7 40. Ra7+ Kd8
41. Bf7 Rc2 42. Bxg6 e4 $1 {wins. In conclusion, the exchange operation
initiated by 22...Bf5 helped Black to reach a superior position of the "good
knight vs. bad bishop" type, while the subsequent exchanges of major pieces
proved useful in order to increase the advantage.}) 0-1

[Event "Nussloch"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lobron, E."]
[Black "Dautov, R."]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Johan Hellsten"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2r3k1/pq3pp1/5b1p/8/2pr1N2/P5P1/1PQ1RP1P/5RK1 b - - 0 27"]
[PlyCount "25"]
[EventDate "1996.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2011.06.01"]

{Prophylaxis, restriction and provocation: White has just played 27 Rd2-e2,
with the probable intention of Rfe1 creating a mating threat.} 27... g6 $1 {A
typical prophylactic measure. With ...Kg7 next, Black safeguards the king from
any surprises along the back rank. Moreover, he takes the f5 and h5 squares
from the white queen and knight.} 28. Rfe1 Kg7 {All of a sudden White has
fallen short of active plans, whereas Black is waiting for the right moment to
attack the b2-pawn.} 29. Ng2 h5 $1 {By setting up the positional threat of ...h5-h4, Black aims at provoking a weakness in the enemy camp.} 30. h3 ({On the
intended} 30. Ne3 {there could follow} h4 $1 {with attacking prospects.}) ({
Instead,} 30. h4 {seemed like a safer way of defending the kingside, although
in this case White would have to be on his guard against a potential ...Bxh4
sacrifice.}) 30... Rd6 31. Nf4 $2 ({The lesser evil was} 31. Ne3 {, though
after} c3 32. bxc3 Rxc3 33. Qa2 Qd7 $1 {(thanks to the provocation of h2-h3,
Black gains a vital tempo)} 34. Kh2 Qa4 {Black enjoys a clear advantage -
Dautov.}) 31... Rb6 32. Rb1 c3 $1 33. b4 a5 34. Re4 Rd8 $1 {White managed to
save the b-pawn, but now the second rank proves to be too vulnerable.} 35. Rbe1
axb4 36. axb4 Rxb4 37. Rxb4 Qxb4 38. Re4 Qb2 39. Re2 Rd2 $1 {White resigned.
Evidently, the plan with ...g7-g6 and ...Kg7 not only neutralized the back
rank threats, but also prevented enemy ideas such as Nh5 and Qf5. Another
strong move was 29...h5 in order to provoke a weakening of White's kingside.
These methods are indeed typical in practice.} 0-1

[Event "Novi Sad Olympiad"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1990.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Short, N."]
[Black "Ljubojevic, L."]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Johan Hellsten"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1b2bk1/1pq3pp/p2pp3/4n1PB/3QP3/2N1B3/PPP4P/5RK1 w - - 0 18"]
[PlyCount "25"]
[EventDate "1990.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2011.06.01"]

{Now back to our revision of strategical concepts. Before leaving the
strategical and tactical operations, the former of which we will return to
soon, I would like to emphasize the link between tactics and strategy. Without
using tactical weapons and preventing the opponent's tactical threats, we
won't be able to conduct the strategical battle. Often a strategically
superior position has to be realized in a concrete manner; i.e. at some moment
we have to resort to tactics in order to impose our advantage. On other
occasions, a tempting strategical plan can fail due to a simple tactical
detail. Finally, by utilizing tactical resources in the position, we can reach
minor strategical goals, such as the improvement of a specific piece. Let's
see an example that touches on several of these aspects. --- In this
theoretical position Black aims at completing the queenside development by ...Bd7-c6, after which he would have a solid game thanks to the strong knight on
e5. Now let us see how Short fights against this plan with all possible
tactical means.} 18. Nd5 $1 ({Supported by the line} 18. Nd5 exd5 $2 19. Qxd5+
Kh8 20. Rxf8# {, White improves his knight, which was not doing anything
substantial on c3.}) 18... Qd8 19. Nb6 Rb8 {Again Black is just one move away
from 20...Bd7, so White hurries to create threats.} 20. Bf4 $1 Nd7 ({After} 
20... Bd7 21. Nxd7 $1 (21. Bxe5 dxe5 22. Qxd7 Qxb6+ 23. Kh1 Kh8 $1 {is less
clear}) 21... Nxd7 22. Bg4 {Black is suffering on the light squares; e.g.} e5 (
{or} 22... Qe8 23. Qc4) 23. Qd5+ Kh8 24. Be3 {.}) ({Probably} 20... Nc6 {was
preferable, when} 21. Qf2 g6 22. Be2 $5 Bg7 23. c3 {, intending Bc4, keeps a
pleasant edge for White.}) 21. Nc4 $1 {Strategically speaking, this is the
desired move, since any exchange would help Black to liberate himself. However,
before making it Short had to establish that neither 21...e5 nor 21...d5 would
work against him.} d5 ({Or} 21... e5 $6 22. Qd5+ Kh8 23. Be3 {with a huge edge.
}) 22. Kh1 $1 {Parrying the ...Bc5 threat.} Bc5 ({It also transpires that} 
22... dxc4 {loses the exchange after} 23. Bxb8 {.}) 23. Qd2 Ra8 24. Bf7+ $1 {
A new tactical twist that helps improve the bishop before grabbing the pawn.}
Kh8 25. exd5 b5 26. Na5 $1 {Preventing 26...Bb7.} Nf8 27. Be5 $1 (27. Be5 $1 --
{has the strong threat of} 28. Bxg7+ Kxg7 29. Qc3+ {.}) 27... Ng6 28. Bxg6 hxg6
29. b4 Bf8 30. d6 {. White has an enormous advantage and soon won the game.
Please note that the bishop on c8 hasn't moved yet! It is less probable that
White would have reached his main objective - prevention of Black's queenside
development - without such a heavy use of tactical arms.} *

[Event "Hastings"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1998.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Sokolov, I."]
[Black "Emms, J."]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Johan Hellsten"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rn1qr1k1/p3bppp/1p1ppn2/6B1/2PP4/1QN2P2/PP2BP1P/3RK1R1 w - - 0 13"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[EventDate "1998.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2011.06.01"]

{Now we should move on with more concepts of strategy. Alongside the
strategical operations we have positional elements such as material, weak
squares, space, passed pawns, files, diagonals, etc. One important task during
the game is to evaluate which of these elements hold most significance. Let's
see an example: In this position both sides have their respective triumphs.
White possesses the two bishops and more space, whereas Black has the superior
pawn structure.} 13. f4 $1 {Preparing f4-f5 in order to clear the position for
the bishop pair. In such double-edged positions, the player with weaknesses
should act rapidly, before the opponent manages to consolidate.} ({Let's see
what can happen in the opposite case:} 13. Kf1 $6 Nbd7 14. Be3 $6 Nf8 $1 15. f4
Ng6 {(thanks to the previous manoeuvre, the black king now feels safer,
whereas the knight has interesting destinies on h4-f5)} 16. d5 Qc8 17. Rg3 Nh4
18. Kg1 Nf5 {with excellent play, O.Jakobsen-Cu.Hansen, Torshavn 1997. Next
Black could consider ...Bf8 followed by ...g7-g6 and ...Bg7 improving the
bishop, whereas White's doubled pawns are troublesome in the long run.}) 13...
Nbd7 14. Qc2 d5 $2 {A tempting counter-strike directed at the king on e1.
However, it soon transpires that it is the black king who will suffer from the
opening of lines.} ({Considerable safer was} 14... Nf8 $1 15. f5 Kh8 16. fxe6
fxe6 {with just a slight advantage for White - Ftacnik.}) 15. f5 $1 exf5 16.
Qxf5 dxc4 17. Bxc4 {Now it becomes evident that the a2-g8 diagonal is a much
more relevant factor than the e-file, since the white king could hide on f1 at
any moment, whereas Black has no light-squared bishop that can challenge the
enemy on c4.} g6 ({Definitely not} 17... Ba3+ $2 18. Kf1 Bxb2 19. Nd5) ({but} 
17... Nf8 $5 {again made sense, e.g.} 18. Kf1 Qc8 $1 19. Qd3 Ne6 {and Black
defends much better than in the game.}) 18. Qf3 Qc7 19. Bb3 Qxh2 $6 ({More
natural was} 19... Bf8+ 20. Kf1 Bg7 {, although at this point both} 21. Nb5 ({
and} 21. Nd5 {spell trouble for Black.})) 20. Rh1 Qc7 21. Kf1 $1 {Securing the
king and preparing 22 Re1. From now on, White's attack plays itself.} Qd8 22.
Re1 Rf8 ({Parrying the threat of} 22... -- 23. Nd5 $1 Nxd5 24. Qxd5 {with a
deadly attack on f7.}) 23. Ba4 $1 {Setting up the threat of 24 Bxd7.} b5 24.
Bxb5 Rb8 25. Bxd7 Qxd7 26. Rxe7 $1 Qxe7 27. Bxf6 Qe6 28. d5 Qa6+ 29. Kg2 Rb6
30. Ne4 {. In this desperate position, Black resigned. In conclusion, White's
control of the a2-g8 diagonal and his active bishop pair were decisive factors
in this game.} 1-0

