Chernev - The most instructive games of chess ever played: 62 masterpieces of modern chess strategy

Irving Chernev

Chess masters play to win. In doing so they would like to create master pieces. They would like to conjure up brilliant combinations that leave everybody gasping with wonder and admiration but first and foremost, they play to win, and win quickly and easily.

The chess master knows which positions are favorable, and tries to bring these positions about. He knows that his pieces must be placed where they exert the utmost influence, and where they prevent the opponents pieces from moving about freely. He knows that Rooks must seize the open files, with a view to gaining control of the seventh rank. He knows that Bishops must either command long diagonals, or else pin down and paralyze the opponents Knights. He knows the squares on which his Knights must be posted to get a powerful grip on the position. He realizes the essential truth in Tartakovers epigram, Seize the outpost e5 with your Knight, and you can go to sleep. Checkmate will come by itself. The chess master knows how to obtain a slight advantage, and then exploit it to the fullest. In short, he knows the strategy of winning.

The games in this book are to my mind the most instructive examples in the whole literature of the game, of position play the strategy of winning chess. Who, for example, will doubt the tremendous power exerted by a Rook posted on the seventh rank, after seeing Capablancas delightfully clear-cut demonstration in Game No. 1 against Tartakover? And who will not learn a great deal about the art of handling Rook and Pawn endings (the most important endings in chess) after playing through Tarraschs game against Thorold? And can there be a more convincing illustration of the paralyzing effect on the opponents position that comes from control of the black squares, than in the Bernstein Mieses game? Or are there more enlightening and entertaining Bishop and Pawn endings than feature the two games between Blackburne and Weiss?

These games, as well as all the others, are masterly demonstrations of the basic strategy of winning. So much so that I thought an appropriate title for a book of these games should be The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played.

But I might just as well have called this collection The Most Beautiful Games of Chess Ever Played.

Paris 1965

New York 1965 Irving Chernev

To My Dear Wife

Chess, like love, is infectious
at any age Salo Flohr

Capablancas play in the game that follows provides us with a magic formula for conducting Rook and Pawn endings: seize the seventh rank with your Rook, and advance your King to the sixth!

Capablanca gives up a couple of valuable Pawns to get his King and Rook onto the key squares. Once there, they keep the adverse King busy warding off threats of mate, and leave him no time to defend his Pawns. Four of these pawns fall victims in half-a-dozen moves, after which resistance is of course hopeless. Capas clear-cut, methodical play is so easy to understand that the whole ending is a marvellous piece of instruction, and a thing of beauty as well.

Black evidently intends to attack on the King side by 9 h5 and 10 g4 customary strategy in the Dutch Defense.

This move makes Tartakover change his mind, since 9 h5 is met by 10 e4, and Whites center is imposing.

The exchanges have left White with a doubled c-Pawn. In compensation for this weakness, the b-file has been opened and is available to his Rooks.

A clever preventive move! It stops an unwelcome intrusion by 12 a3, and also prepares to meet 12 c6 with 13 fb1, and if then 13 a5 14 c5 undoubles the Pawns by force, since the continuation 14 bxc5 15 b5 is to Whites advantage.

Another preventive move. Black cannot free himself by 15 e5 as 16 xf5 would follow. The Queens move also makes it possible for White to play 16 f4, giving him a grip on the square e5.

The Queen returns to f3, to dominate the long diagonal.

Having done its work on the b-file, the Rook moves to the center, to support a break by 19 e4.

White opens up the position to give his pieces more scope.

White stabilizes his position with this move and the next, before start ing an attack on the King side by h4 and h5.

This leads to an exchange of Queens, leaving White with a tiny advantage but all Capablanca needs is a microscopic advantage!

All according to plan! If Black plays 27 gxh5, there follows 28 h1 f8 29 xh5, and White wins the h-Pawn or the d-Pawn.

Good players always seem to hold the high cards. Capablancas Rook controls an open file and will seize the seventh rank next move. Should Tartakovers Rook become ambitious and try to counter-attack by 29 c6, the reply 30 b5 would come like a flash and pin the unfor tunate piece.

Rook to the seventh the magic move in Rook and Pawn endings. What is the secret in the strength of this move? It is this: