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Material exchanges suppose a decrease in the strengths of both players and therefore
mean a change in the position that can be quite significant. This is generally known
as simplification and the player with a material advantage must always try to simplify
the position to win in a more easier way. In our model game Black weakens his pawn
structure in exchange for an attack along the open b-file. But White simplifies
the position, the attack disappears and in the ending the pawn weaknesses prove
decisive.
In the illustrative games we will see other types of advantageous simplifications.
For example in Neamtu,S - Korchnoi,V Black simplifies the position leaving
a weak pawn on c3, achieving a clear advantage.
Another of the motives of simplification, especially if we have a material advantage,
is to parry our opponent's attacking threats. The game Kapengut,A - Efimov,I
is illustrative. Black seems to have a strong initiative in exchange for two white
passed pawns on the queenside. But after 27.Rg3 White forces the exchange of queens,
eliminating the black threats and in spite of being an exchange down he is able
to exploit his queenside passed pawns. The same can be said about the game Euwe,M
- Averbakh,Y where the queen exchange enables Black to parry White's dangerous
threats on his castled king position.
In the game Reshevsky,S - Woliston,P White, on move 14, decided that his
attacking options were quite unclear, and he preferred to simplify the position.
His better pawn structure assured him the advantage.
But simplification can also be a very important defensive weapon. In the game
Steiner,H - Pachman,L Black was soon in trouble with his e-pawn, as exchanging
it for the f3-pawn would leave White with a clear superiority. However although
the simplification initiated with 14...d5 left him in an ending a pawn down, the
presence of the rooks and the weak white pawns left him with clear drawing chances.
Model Game
Karpov,A - Kudriashov,A
URSS-ch. Moscow, 1972
Sicilian Defence [B81]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.g4 [The Keres Attack, very
popular in the 70'.] 6...a6 [The main alternative is 6...h6 7.h4 Nc6 but the text move is also very frequent.] 7.g5 Nfd7 8.Be3 b5 [Black
seeks counter play on the queenside. Another equally valid alternative is 8...Nc6
9.h4 Qc7 10.Qe2] 9.a3 [Also playable is 9.Bg2 Bb7 although White will have
to play this move sooner or later.] 9...Nb6 10.Qd2 [The main line is
10.Rg1 followed by f4 or h4, deferring the decision of where to move the queen.]
10...Qc7?! [Although this move seems natural it will cause trouble for Black
later on. Better is 10...N8d7 followed by ...Bb7 and ...Rc8 or ...Nc5, creating
more threats to White's centre.] 11.0-0-0 N8d7 12.f4 Na4?! [A typical procedure
to open up the b-file against White's castled king. But Black's pieces are not placed
conveniently to create and serious threats and the a4 pawn will soon be a weakness.
Therefore 12...Nc4 would have been better.] 13.Nxa4 bxa4
14.Ne2 [Now the knight will move to c3, to attack the a4-pawn.] 14...Bb7 15.Bg2
Nc5 16.Nc3 Bc6 [Possibly 16...Rb8 was slightly better.]
17.Bxc5! [Starting a simplification procedure that changes the position completely.
Black was hoping to obtain counter play attacking the b2-square but now the position
develops into an endgame where White has a clear advantage.] 17...dxc5 18.e5!
[The exchange of light-square bishops is an important detail. The a4-pawn defender
disappears and Black loses the pair of bishops.] 18...Be7 19.Bxc6+ Qxc6 20.Qe2 c4
[Otherwise the bishop would be left with few perspectives when White plays his queen
to c4.] 21.Qe4!
[The queen trade is also important. This way the position transforms into an ending
and Black doesn't have any attacking options. Also the a4-pawn can't be defended.]
21...Rc8 [21...Qxe4 22.Nxe4 would have saves the a4-pawn momentarily but
in the end it is lost. Black trusts that the following manoeuvre will allow him
to exchange one of his weak pawns.] 22.Qxc6+ Rxc6 23.Nxa4 h6 24.h4 c3 25.Nxc3 Bxa3
26.Ne4 Be7 27.b3 a5
28.c3 [28.Kb2 a4 29.bxa4 Rc4 and Black has some counter play.] 28...a4
[Other wise White plays his king to b2 and replies ...a4 with b4.]
29.bxa4 [29.b4? Bxb4] 29...Ra6 [Now 29...Rc4 is answered by 30.Rd4] 30.Rd4
[White maintains his two-pawn advantage and has an easy win.] 30...hxg5 31.Nxg5 f6
32.Nf3 Kf7 33.Kc2 Rha8 34.Ra1 Kg6 35.Rd7 Bc5
36.h5+ Kf5 37.Rxg7 Kxf4 38.Rf1 Rxa4 [If 38...f5 39.Rc7] 39.exf6 Ke3 40.Ne5
Ke2 41.Rb1 Rd8 42.Rd7
[42.Rg2+ was also winning.] 42...Ra2+ 43.Rb2 Rxb2+ 44.Kxb2 Rb8+ 45.Kc2 Ke3 46.h6
Ke4 47.Nf7 Ba3 48.h7 Rb2+ 49.Kd1 Ke3
[The last try, attempting a perpetual check on b1 and b2. But White enables the
c3 square for his king and the h7 pawn decides the game.] 50.c4 1-0
Illustrative games:
Neamtu,S - Korchnoi,V
Bucarest, 1966
Caro-Kann Defence [D42]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Be7 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Bd3 Nc6 9.0-0
0-0 10.Re1 Nf6 11.a3 b6 12.Bg5 Bb7 13.Bb1 Rc8 14.Qd3 g6 15.Ba2 Ng4 16.Bf4 e5 17.Nxe5
Ngxe5 18.Bxe5 Nxe5 19.Rxe5 Bf6 20.Ree1 Bxd4 21.Rad1 Bxc3 22.bxc3 Qg5 23.Qg3 Qxg3
24.hxg3 Rxc3 25.Rd7 Rxa3 26.Rxb7 Rxa2 27.Ree7 h5 28.f3 Kg7 29.Kh2 Kf6 30.Kg1 a5
31.Rec7 Rb2 0-1
Kapengut,A - Efimov,I
Minsk, 1985
Sicilian Defence [B33]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bf4 e5 8.Bg5 a6 9.Na3
b5 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Nd5 f5 12.Bd3 Be6 13.c4 Qa5+ 14.Kf1 Bxd5 15.exd5 Nd4 16.cxb5
Bg7 17.Nc4 Qd8 18.b6 0-0 19.Rc1 Rc8 20.h4 Rc5 21.b4 Rb5 22.a4 Rxb4 23.Rb1 a5 24.Rh3
e4 25.Rxb4 axb4 26.Bb1 Qa8 27.Rg3! Qxd5 28.Rxg7+ Kxg7 29.Ne3 Qe5 30.Qxd4 Qxd4 31.Nxf5+
Kf6 32.Nxd4 Ke5 33.Nb5 Kd5 34.a5 Kc5 35.Nc7 d5 36.Bc2 Rd8 37.Ba4 d4 38.b7 b3 39.Na6+
Kc4 40.b8Q Rxb8 41.Nxb8 b2 42.Bc2 Kc3 43.Bb1 Kd2 44.Nc6 d3 45.Nb4 1-0
Euwe,M - Averbakh,Y
Zurich, 1953
Nimzoindia Defence [E58]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.bxc3
b6 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Nd2 Be6 12.Bb2 c4 13.Bc2 b5 14.f3 a5 15.Re1 Qb6 16.Nf1 b4 17.Qd2
b3 18.Bb1 a4 19.e4 Ne7 20.Ng3 Kh8 21.Re2 Nfg8 22.Nh5 f5! 23.Qg5 Rf7 24.exf5 Bxf5
25.Bxf5 Nxf5 26.Rae1 [26.Re5] 26...Qd8! 27.Qxd8 Rxd8 28.Re8 [28.Re6]
28...Rxe8 29.Rxe8 Re7! 30.Rxe7 Ngxe7 31.Kf2 Kg8 32.g4? [32.Nf4 Kf7 33.g3
Nd6 34.Ng2 Nb5 35.Ne3 Ke6 36.Nf1 Nc8 37.Nd2] 32...Nd6 33.Ke3 Nb5 34.f4 Nc8 35.f5
Ncd6 36.Nf4 Nxa3! 37.Bxa3 Nb5 38.Bc1 Nxc3 39.Ne2 Nb1 0-1
Reshevsky,S - Woliston,P [C10]
USA-ch New York, 1940
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.Bd3 c5 8.dxc5 Bxc5
9.0-0 0-0 10.Bg5 b6 11.Qe2 Bb7 12.Rad1 Qc7 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Be4! [14.Bxh7+
Kxh7 15.Ng5+ Kg6! (15...fxg5? 16.Qh5+ Kg7 17.Qxg5+ Kh7 18.Rd3) ] 14...Rad8 15.Bxb7
Qxb7 16.Nd2 Be7 [16...f5!? 17.Qh5 Bd4! 18.Nf3 Bg7] 17.Ne4 Rxd1?!
[17...f5] 18.Rxd1 Rd8 19.Rxd8+ Bxd8 20.Qd3 Be7 21.h3 Qc7? [21...f5] 22.Qg3+
Qxg3 23.Nxg3 Kf8 24.Kf1 Ke8 25.Ke2 Kd7 26.Kd3 Kc6 [26...f5] 27.Ne2 Bc5 28.f4
b5? [28...f5] 29.g4 a6 30.Ke4 Bf8 31.Nd4+ Kd6 32.Nb3 Be7 33.Nd2 Bf8
[33...Kc5] 34.c4 Kc5 35.cxb5 axb5?! [35...Kxb5] 36.Nb3+ Kd6 [36...Kc4
37.f5] 37.Nd4 Kc5 38.f5 e5 39.Nf3 h6 40.h4 Be7 41.h5 Bd6 42.a3 b4? [42...Kc6]
43.a4 b3 44.Nd2 Kb4 45.a5 Kxa5? [45...Bc5 46.a6 Kb5 47.Nxb3 Bb6 48.Kd5 Kxa6
49.Nd2] 46.Nc4+ 1-0
Steiner,H - Pachman,L
Venecia, 1950
Nimzoindia Defence [E28]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 0-0 6.e3 d6 7.Bd3 e5 8.Ne2 e4 9.Bb1
b6 10.Ng3 Re8 11.f3 Bb7 12.0-0 Nbd7 13.Ra2 c5 14.Raf2 d5! [14...exf3 15.gxf3]
15.cxd5 Bxd5 16.fxe4 Nxe4 17.Nxe4 Bxe4 18.Bxe4 Rxe4 19.Rxf7 Nf6 20.Qb3 Qd5 21.Qxd5
Nxd5 22.dxc5 Nxe3! [22...bxc5 23.R7f5 Nxe3 24.Rxc5] 23.Bxe3 Rxe3 24.cxb6 axb6
25.Rc7 Re6 26.a4 h6 27.Rf4 Rae8 28.h3 Rg6 29.Kf2 Re5 30.g4 Rge6 31.h4 Re2+ 32.Kg3
R2e3+ 33.Rf3 R3e4 34.h5 Re7 35.Rc6 R7e6 36.Rxe6 Rxe6 37.Kf4 Rc6 38.Ke5 Rc5+
[38...Rc4 39.Rg3 Rxa4 40.Kd5] 39.Kd6 Rc4 40.Rg3 Kf7 41.Rf3+ Ke8 42.Rg3 Kf7 43.a5!
[43.Kd5 Rc5+ 44.Kd4 Rg5] 43...bxa5 44.Kd5 Rf4 45.c4 Ke8 46.Kc5 Kd7 47.Kb5 Kc7 48.c5
Rf1 49.g5 Rb1+ 50.Kxa5 Kc6 51.gxh6 gxh6 52.Rg6+ Kxc5 53.Ka6 Rh1 54.Rxh6 Kd5 55.Rh8
Ke6 ½-½
Tactical exercises:
In the following positions try to find a tactical solution to decide the game.
Material exchange plays a fundamental role.
Exercise 1. Difficulty level: easy
White to play. Black has just moved his knight to e4 but this move is a mistake.
Why?
Exercise 2. Difficulty level: medium
White to play. His c3-knight is under attack, but nevertheless he has an advantageous
continuation. How?
Exercise 3. Difficulty level: high
Black to play. With a rook and two advanced pawns for two pieces Black is clearly
better. How can he take advantage of the situation?
Solutions to last week's tactical exercises:
1) Capablanca,J - Villegas,A. Buenos Aires, 1914
32.Qe5+ Kf8 33.Qxd6+ Qxd6 34.c7 1-0
2) Pillsbury,H - Gunsberg,I. Hastings, 1895
27.f5! g5 [27...gxf5 28.gxf5 exf5 29.Nf4] 28.Nb4 a5 29.c6! Kd6 30.fxe6 Nxc6
[30...axb4 31.e7 Kxe7 32.c7] 31.Nxc6 Kxc6 32.e4! dxe4 33.d5+ Kd6 34.Ke3 b4 35.Kxe4
a4 36.Kd4 h5 37.gxh5 a3 38.Kc4 f5 39.h6 f4 40.h7 1-0
3) Milenkovic - Stankov. Yugoslavia, 1970
1...Rxc6! [1...Kc7 2.Ka7 Re8 (2...Rxc6!) 3.b6+ Kxc6 4.b7 Kc7 5.h4 g5 6.h5]
2.bxc6 g5! 3.a7 f5 4.c7 f4! 5.h4 g4 6.h5 h6! 0-1
This week's ending:
In this lesson we will analyse an interesting ending with opposite colour bishops:
White to play. His passed pawns on the queenside guarantee the win but certain precision
is required. How must he continue?
Solution to last week's ending:
Alekhine,A - Yates,F
Hastings, 1926
33.d4! [Although Black will have a passed pawn White's advantage is very
clear after this advance, as the knight will block the pawn efficiently and Black's
bishop becomes a "bad bishop" because his pawns are blocked on light squares,
whereas the dark squares can't be defended.] 33...c4 34.f5! [Clearing the
f4-square. Black can't accept the pawn.] 34...g5 [If 34...gxf5 35.Nf4 Bc6
36.Nxh5 and White's h-pawn is very dangerous.] 35.h4 [White insists to gain
control over the f4 square.] 35...f6 36.hxg5! [36.e6 gxh4 37.gxh4 Kd6 is
unclear.] 36...fxg5 37.Ng1! Bd7 [If 37...h4 38.g4! Ba4 39.Ke2! c3 40.Nf3
c2 41.Kd2 Bb5 42.Nxg5 Be2 43.f6+ Ke8 44.e6 Bxg4 45.f7+ Ke7 46.Nh7] 38.f6+ Ke8
[If 38...Kf7 39.Nf3 g4 (39...Kg6 is bad because of 40.Nxg5) 40.Ng5+ (40.Nh4 is also
good, to take the knight to f4, as in the game.) 40...Kg6 41.f7 Kg7 42.e6 Bxe6 43.Nxe6+
Kxf7 44.Nf4] 39.Nf3 g4 40.Nh4 Be6 41.Ng6 Bf7 42.Nf4 Kd7 43.Ke2 a5 44.Ke3 Bg8
[Black is in zugzwang. If 44...a4 45.a3] 45.Nxh5 Bf7 46.Nf4 Bg8 47.Ne2 Be6 48.Kf4
Ke8 49.Kg5 Kf7 50.Nc3 Kf8 [Black was in zugzwang again.] 51.Kg6 Kg8 52.f7+ Kf8
[52...Bxf7+ 53.Kf6 is the same.] 53.Kf6 Bxf7 54.e6 Bh5 55.Nxd5 Be8 56.Nc3 1-0
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