Chess Strategy
would probably turn to his advantage. The play (E. Cohn-Ed.
Lasker match, Berlin, 1909) is instructive, and shows how the
attack should be conducted in such positions. 1. Kt-Kt3, B-Kt2;
2. K-R2, P-B3; 3. R-KKt1, Kt-Q2; 4. Kt-R4, K-B2. The
concentration of the White pieces has become alarming, and
threatens to be continued by Q-Q2, R-Kt2. QR-KKt1, and Kt-B5. So
the Black King decides on flight, but he finds no peace on the Q
side either, because there his advanced pawns soon allow White to
make a breach in the Black position.
5. Kt-Kt2, K-K2; 6. Q-K2, Kt-Kt3; 7. KR-KB1, B-B1. It is Black's
intention to play P-B4 as soon as practicable, and to make an
attempt at a counter demonstration on the King's side, 8. P-K B4,
K-Q1? (Black should have kept to his original intention and
played P-B4); 9. PxP, QPxP; 10. Q-B2, Kt-Q2; 11. P-QR4; B-Kt2;
12. PxP, PxP; 13. RxR, BxR. Now White has achieved what he set
out to do. He has opened up avenues of attack on the Queen's
side, and is ready to utilise the weakness of Black's QBP by
playing P-Kt4, on which Black must submit to opening the file for
the White KR or the diagonal for the White QB. In either case
White brings vastly superior forces to bear on the Black King's
position, and Black should lose. In this game Black escaped only
through a mistake on the part of his opponent.
In the foregoing positions it was seen how fatal weaknesses can
be, which are produced by the premature advance of the pawns in
front of the King, on whom the opposing pieces can force their
attack. When the pawns concerned are on the opposite wing to
their King, the disadvantages of a premature advance are felt in
a different way. The weakness concerns the pawns themselves and
not the forces behind them, and is apt to cause the loss of the
end-game, particularly of Rook end-games. Let us compare the
positions in Diagrams 97
---------------------------------------
8 | #R | | #B | #Q | | #R | #K | |
|---------------------------------------|
7 | #P | #P | #P | |#Kt | #P | | #P |
|---------------------------------------|
6 | | | | #P | | #P | | |
|---------------------------------------|
5 | | ^B | | | #P | | | |
|---------------------------------------|
4 | | #B | | | ^P | | | |
|---------------------------------------|
3 | | |^Kt | ^P | |^Kt | | |
|---------------------------------------|
2 | ^P | ^P | ^P | | | ^P | ^P | ^P |
|---------------------------------------|
1 | ^R | | | ^Q | | ^R | ^K | |
---------------------------------------
A B C D E F G H
Diag. 97
and 98. In the one case the chain of Black pawns is broken by the
absence of K Kt P, in the other of the Q Kt P. The absence of the
KKt pawn can lead to serious consequences in the middle game,
because of the weakness of Black's KB3 and KR3 (compare Diagram
90); it can, however, hardly become awkward in the end-game, as
the pawns on the B and R files are within the protecting reach of
their King.
---------------------------------------
8 | #R | | | #Q | | #R | #K | |
|---------------------------------------|
7 | #P | | #P | #B | #B | #P | #P | #P |
|---------------------------------------|
6 | | | #P | #P | |#Kt | | |
|---------------------------------------|
5 | | | | | | | | |
|---------------------------------------|
4 | | | |^Kt | ^P | | | |
|---------------------------------------|
3 | | |^Kt | ^Q | | | | |
|---------------------------------------|
2 | ^P | ^P | ^P | | | ^P | ^P | ^P |
|---------------------------------------|
1 | ^R | | ^B | | | ^R | ^K | |
---------------------------------------
A B C D E F G H
Diag. 98
On the other hand, the absence of the Q Kt P is of no consequence
for the middle game. There is nothing behind it which could
invite an attack. The QRP and QBP, however, are very weak for the
end-game, as they are quite out of reach of the King (compare
Game No. 19). I do not wish to imply that Black should have
avoided the exchange at his QB3 at all cost; such an exchange has
always the compensating advantage of opening a file for the
Rooks, which advantage often means a favourable middle game, as
will be readily understood. Further, it is often possible to get
rid of the weak QRP by pushing it on, and eventually compelling
the exchange of the opposing Kt P, an exchange which can usually
be enforced if the Rooks have occupied the open Kt file. The pawn
itself is often useful at B 3, in that it can support the advance
of P-Q 4 in the centre, should it be desired, or it can, by
pushing on, be brought to exercise further pressure on the
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