Analyse Your Chess

214 Pages·2010·9.37 MB·English

by  Crouch

Analyse YCohuers s
Leading cahuetshsoC ro lín Crboeulcihe vtehsa t tkheeyt os ustained
chess improvement líes ainna ltyhaseni ds carsisteiscsaom!fe y notu ro wn
games. Eache vaenrdyg amey oup layp rovidess igan ificant learning
opportunaintdy ,t hoippso rtunsihtoyu ld nevseqru abned ered.
In tsheiqsu etlo hhiisg hlayc claimWehdy WLeo saet C hesCsr,o uch
examinewsh at wseh oulddo to maximize oruers uclahtnesds r sa tings,
how to tluorsns eisn tdor awsa,n dd rawsi ntwoi nsH.e re he focuses on
majori ssuessu ch as improvingm adkeicnighs,oi wo nt pol ana fter the
openingh,o w tmoa intaionb jectiviimtpyr,o vienngd games killtsh,e
psychological aspecgtasm e,ao nfd tmhuec h more. Rebaodo k,t his
analyysoeu rc hesasn,d greeta dtyo impryoovuerr esults!
• Ane ssential tgocu hiedses improvement
• Valuable advpilcaen noinsn tgr,a teagnydt actics
• Coverosp eninmgi,d dlegame eannddg ampel ay.
DrC oliCnr oucihsa nl nternatMiaosntaealr t ,r emendoeuxspleyr ienced
tournament playehri gahnlrdye gaa rdecdhe ss writer. His books have
received great acclaim for their thoroughness and originality.
Publisher lnformation
AnalyYsoeur C hess
byC olín Crouch
First publi2s0h1eb1dy G ilno ucesPtuebrl ishpelres.
NorthburHgohu se1,0 N orthburSgthr eeLto,n don EClV OAT.
Copyri©g h2t0 1C1o lCirno uch
The righCto loíCfnr ouch to be identified atsh ist hewh oarasku thor of
been asserted in accordCaonpcyer iwgihDttehss ,it ghanens d P atenAtcst
1988.
2
Allr ightrse serveNdo. part of this worrke prmoadyu ceboder,
transmitted in any fomrema noswr,i tbhyo uatn yp rior pertmhies sion of
publisher.
BritiLsihb raCrayt aloguing-in-PuDbaltiacAca attiaolno grueec orfdo rt his
book aivsa ilafbrloemt he British Library.
Allo thers alese nquiries should be dEivreercytmeadCn h etsos ,
NorthburHgohu se1,0 NorthbSutrrgehe Lto,n don EClVt eOl0A:2T 0 7 253
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emaiiln:f [email protected]
websitwew:w .everymanchess.com
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in this worlki cuenndfcerero m Random House lnc.
EVERYMANC HESSS ERIES
ChieAfd visoBry:r on JaCcoombmsi ssioning
Editor: John Emms
AssistEadnitt or: Richard Palliser
Typeset eadnidt ebdyF irst PRuabnlki shBirnigg,h ton.
Cover desiHgonr abcyMi oon teverde.
3
Preface
1k new1 w anted wtroi tteh ibso okb,u t1 w asn otq uite shuorwe 1w as
going to han1dh laed ijtu.s t wrHiotwtte onL oseC hiensb ass,ed on
seriomuiss tak1em sa de while pla2y0i0n6ag n di2 n0 07T.h is was in part a
psychologeixcearlc i1sh ea.d suffered from a setnrdoo kf2e 0 0a4t, the
and1 l ost most of my eyesight. Manyc opnldaiyteiwroosnu ldi n such a
want gtiov uep thgea meb,u t my instintcotp sl awye rcehs eesrsi outsol y,
recover my thporuogchets sSeosm.e timetsh e blund1e mrasd e were
painfulc.o uOrfs ien, mbyo ok1 t ried to makoeft hliibsgu,ht tt heyw ere
painful.
A fewy earlsa te1rw ,a ntetdo go through my mograem esr1.eh caedn t
(ModCehrenMs osv bey
analysed ind egprtethao tpg randmastgearm es
Movea)nd, wanted to see 1ch oouwl pdwl ealyl overb otahredl .tw as
soon clear that my pelnacyo uwraasg i1nmn gao.dt e far foeuwterri ght
blunders ionp etnhien bgu,t fou1nm da dem any smatlelc hniecrarlo rs,
which can eaadsdu ipl y to several hlaolsftl-.fp oicnhtwesas sse asy1,
would have abbeleteno iron otuhte sbaell eim ishes tswoernnet yye ars
agoU.n fortunaltietley , is not so simple.
For tbhoiosk 1 w ent through fifty 2g0a0m9ea sn de farrolm2y 0 10,
aiming to imsaonlyaw teea knesses in m1yh apvleia nyc.l udaeldl my
losseisn thpaetr iopdl,u s gamewsh iicnh1 d id nloots eb,u t in w1h ich
have made idenmtiisftiaakbSellsei. g hotvleyrt wenty of the gnaomte s are
includeeidt,h ebre causteh ey wesriem plaen ds traightfowriwnasro,dr
becausteh ey ended sutpe aaddsyr awsT.h eo therasr eo fm orec oncern,
and1 h avea nnotataendd analysed thecsleo sgea1lmg yeo.s on the basis
that 1h iafd nuontd erstosoodm ethionvge rt heb oardm,o str eadewrisl l
have had sdiimfifliacru lties.
Colin Crouch
HarroWwe ald
Februa2r0y1 1
4
AnalysYeo urC hess
by Colin Crouch
Contents
lntroduction 6
ChapteOrn e:S prin2g0 09 18
ChapteTrw o:A Tritpo t heC hesVsa lley 34
ChapteTrh reeN:o tQ uite a BarSbuemcmueer 56
ChapteFro urT:h e New League Season 64
ChapteFri veD:a rkW inteDra ys 79
ChapteSri xT:o PlAanyo theTro urnament? 131
Chapter SeCvoennc:l usions 184
lndeoxf Games 210
5
lntroduction
Thesed ays, it is much 1e9a8s0iswe,hr e n 1 playendu merous
to leahronw to improvyeo ur weekencdo ngressbeustw, i thout
game thanw aist w hen 1 was having time to study the game.
young, back in the veTrhye rel aartee however better
sixtiTehse.r eason is the cehxeasmsp les, ath imguhcehlr e vels
computer. lt niosw toe asfyl icko fp layI.n a rebcoeonkot f m ine,
through a large numbeCrh esosf SecGrreetasAt:t tacke1r s,
published gqaumiecsk loyr, to examined gameTsa lS,bt ye iann d
check your own games ttoh es eyeo,u Knags paropvl,a yed in
with electroniacs sistance,e ncounters fro1m9 70tsha en d
whetheyro u havef oundg ood early1 980sT.h isw as magical
moves, bad moovredsi,n ary chess, brpillalyieatrnastk ing their
moves, or mayyobue have opponentwse llb eyond their
missed soirnnet erestiidnega s, comfort zonaen,d with
suggested otnhleyc obmyp uter. spectacular rBeustu lwtesr.e
1r emembe1rt ried to analtyhsees e games stooutnadlM?lo ys t
my gamesd eipnt ha,n d1 l earnt a of the time,W henno 1t w.a s
lot, buwta si tti me-consumingp,l aying thrgoaumgehs b y the
and1 w asn ever certai1wn a st haty oungK asparo1v k,e ptf inding
able tfoi nde verythiTnhgi.s critipcoas!i tiownhse reh e has
affected not ajnuaslty sbmiuyst , claimed thatw ialfdst aecrr ificial
also my geantetriatlu tdoe the play hwea s winninga,n d 1
game.C hesiss c omplicat1ae md; doubted his assessm1e nts, but
not able to analyse evwearsyn tohti nsgt rong enough, and the
during the game, my opvpaosnte nmta jorityo f other
cannot analyse everythincgh eesistphlearwy,oe urlsd n ot be strong
someone giosi ngt o make a enough eithpeurn,c ttuomr aen y
mistake, an1d w anatleldt o do of Kasparovm'osr e optimistic
wast o ensure that my oppsotnaetnetm entKsa.s paroavs, time
was gointgo make the mistakwee nto n, becamew,e lalas s the
first. supremWeo rldC hampioonf his
ltw ouldb e easy enough ttiom e, the pgiroenaetei rn the
resurrect osfmo yrn eo wn games,a nalytirceasle arcuhs e of the
maybe frome atrhle1y 9 90s when computer.
1 wantedt o tryt o take chess In a previousM odbeoronk ,
seriousolry ,m aybe from the Chess: Mobvye M ove,1 have
6
attempted to throw sorne 1l hiagvhet omna de erarno hre reo,r
what has been happening maaytb et opca o mplete bluonrd er,
level poisnt -Kaspayreoavr sO.f missed a tdaecetpi pcoailn t1a .m
course, the greatest saying that twhhiast1 d wiads1,
grandmastweirlspl r obabwlryi te got wirto ngc,a n you do better in
something mbuectht etrh an1 thipso sitioFno?rt his book, my
could manage, but they aiwmi llw abse ttroy a,s befare, to
much too btursyyi ntgo think isolamties takeasn d to analyse
about their own games,t hema,n d b1ua tm takinag different
trying to win the nexatn dc moamjpalre mentaaprpyr oacIhn.
tournament. a game of cbheetswse ent wo
For this 1b aomo k,t aking ag oodp layer9s0,% of the game
lower-leavpeplr oacahs,k ing how may well be angdoa ocdc urate,
ordinaprlya yeirnsc,l uding mysebluft, it is t1h0e% w hfiicnhaw li ll
can improve thei1r amc hesdsr.o p pointhsa lafn-dp oints.
taking on btohaeri dd ea that
everyone shtoruylt do think How cany oua ssesasn di mprove
systematically about theyioru rcg haemsess?,
and to anatlhyesierg ames, First, a broine tfh en oEtCeF
making sensible use o(fE ngtlhies hC hess Federation)
computer. elats yei nso ugh to gradisnygs tem1h .a veb een using
highlight the mistakes ytohui s miignh tm y statistics here, rather
have made in your gamest,h auns itnhge cmoomrpe licaFtIeDdE
thec omputearn,d to say thats ytshtiesm , prebceicsaeulsyoe f i ts
was unfortunate1, d o anndo t simpliciItmya.g inyeo u win a
want to thdioas g ainl.t is muchg ame. You gasicno reoa f 50
more difficult tdoe ptthhi nkp oiinn ts (plus opypoounre nt's
about exactly why you gmraaddei nag ), wyhoeurreo apsp onent
mistake, technicallayn d lose5s0 point(sp lus yoowunr
psychologicaanldl y, how to grading). lf there is a draw,
develop patterns to indinceaitteh ehro wp layerl ogsaetishn ess eo r
you have madmei stakeasn,d 50p oints.
then to try to avoid ltfh esae player has achieved a
mistakes fiunt urea,n d so winninpgo sitibount,t henm akes
improve your game. a mistake, adnrda woshn,el w yi ll
My previobuoso k,W hy We have thrown 5a0w agyr ading
Losaet C hesiss,b asevde ry much points for that game, and also
on this line of thinkingh,a lbfu t at oopko ianh ti s roens ults.
different a1 nwgalse .t aking Sai milairfl y,h is position is equal,
'bang, bang' approach, sbauytit nhge nh teh amta kesm isat akaen d
7
50 (2009/10},
loses, he gihvaesna way For my soelads on 1
50
grading poinhtasla,f poori nt inh a ve gone through
his results. consecutive gaanmde 1s h,a ve
We arel ookiinngt hibso okf or identified more than ten half­
points haanldf -poitnhtast have point sloirp tsh,ee quivaloefn t
been throawwna y,a nd in effefcitv e doublmei-sdtiapk e(sf rom
the ECF grading system ghievreos zteor oi n ongea me)T.e n
50
percentage points in thearlmfs- poosifln itop ust o f wouldb e
pointlso st. the equivalent of ten average
Now foar season's resulgtrsa.d ilntg polionsttNs.e xtt ime,
is easays steos ast, a very simppelreh aps wyiolul wtaon t recover
levehlo,w much bettewro rosre these grading points.
you have platyheedl asitn year. Obviously wpillanlye ver be
You can simply look at qutihtee neaws simple and frictionless
grading list, and comptahraen wtihatinhsd ,m ostp layewrisl l
lasyte ar'gsr adinlgi satn,d see still experifernucset rtahotefi on
how much you are going pluapy iotnrhg e satmyep eo f mistake
down.A couploef g radipnogi nts that you thyionuk have
(in tEhCeF s cale) is hardleyl imoifn atSetdi.la ln, improvement
greats ignifictahnocueg h. In oaf figvrea dipnogi nts in a season
seasoonf fiftgya mesa,n extra would be a reaosbojneacbtliev e.
half point glaoisnte ld(e)oa rd s to The critica! point is that you
only ognrea dinpgo inlto st( or need tiod entiwfhya t mistakes
gained). you have mYaoduen .e eds orne
Can we go beyondt itnhye objectainvael ytwiocraklw ,h ich is
point towro increasMeo?s t great if youc ohaacvtheo ah elp
players would find it yodui,f fibcuutl utsi,ut a limlsoy r ec ost­
except when jsutniiloglra ,ia n ing effective tyoo uruc soem puter
ten to figfrtaedeinpn ogi nts in ian telligentlyo,n e uosfi ntgh e
seasonH.o weveri,f you can womrakn y chess enwghiinceahsr e by
conscientiouesxlaym iinnia nngy now quite cheap. lf the engine is
mistakes you mahdaev,te h e reasonabrleyl iabtlhee,ni na ny
statiswtiilcslsu ggest tmhuacth a critica! move that you have
largeirm provemenits at leasstt ruggled with, the computer
theoretipcoaslsliyb llfe1w .e re to might suggeshta ndaf ulo f
sharpen up my game, an eixnttrear etsetni ng possibilities, and
grading pointthse f oilnl owing possibly moovnee thiastc learly
season would be achiebveasbtl.e .l f you have missed the best
Whethe1rc an finally managem otvhea,t then wiyloluh ave the
remains of course to be csheaennc.e of anadleyezpienrag,n d
8
so learnN.e verc ompletetlryu st the analyst can go deeper to
the computerb,u t still tryu ndteor stand whabte enhg aosi ng
make good use booxfi nt hfer ont on.
of you. Mostly though it would be
Maybe thoughq utehset iiosn unwise to concentratoen
not just soifn gomlniees take, buetx tremely delicate switches in the
perhaps a wshtorlieno gf littlsew ing of the game. lf there are
mistakes, by both playemrosr.e Ebvamesinis ct akiens your play,
among stronpgl ayerst,h e and tchoem putewri ll be able to
position might fluctuated,e mmoanysbter aat e calneyam ri stake
slight edgeW hiftoer, t hen you have matdhee,nt he best
equality, tshleing ehdtag ef or approach toi cso ncentrfaitres t
Black (or maybe a slighotn etdhgee m bifisogtr a kOesn.c et his has
Whitea gain), and eventualbleye np lsaoyr ted woiultgl,e neirta lly
settldeosw n,f oro ne siodret he be easfioerrt he playearv oitdo
other, or mdaryabweF. o ar most many of the smliinpasr.
playerwsi,t houtth e help of the
computer it bweo duilfdf icult toT he twboa siqcu estiotnobs e
catch up with the amsakneyid n t hibso oka re:
adventures in such a game. lt is
helpful if the computer li.D si d1al bolsee g taaom e?
indicate the minar and2 . moDr1i ead l low ompyp onentto
subtle changes ofb ewehna t ehsasc apfer om losing?
going on. Maybe you have a slight
advantage, but somehow lti t is hetlhpaftu lt hese
doesn't turny oouue tx paesc ted. questions may be converted into
Whatw ould tchoem putesra y? statistics.
This oifst enq uite a common When you haavded edu p all
basic situation, but actchoer ditnigc kstc or aonsds eyso,u will
differeexnatc pto sitiorness,u lts soon find an eixncdeilclaetnito n
may turn out differaebnotulty .h ow ywoeula lr ed oing in
SometimeWsh item ay have yourc hessa,n dw here precisely
overpressaendd, thaed vantage you should tirmyp rotvoye o ur
he thought he had was igna mfea.c t an
inferioritya,f ter eols e lt is quite a simple
examinationm.a ybOert hat partm ethodology,y obuuw ti lnle ed
of the gamei nwf aasc t equalt he help ocfh eysocsuo rm puter.
throughout.m ayObre. .. and slof in a opfe5 r0i goadm esy,o u
on. The point is thahta vew ilt2oh0sg ta mesy,o uh avel ost
intelligenotf t hues e computer,t herefo2r0e h alf-points (a loss,
9
when the game started asm ereeqluya la)ab,ns tracttioo ns ay that
or1 0p oints ou5t0 .l off thoughi f neiptlhaeyrem ra kesa mistake,
you havweo n 20 games, thent he position dwrialwl. be a
well donHeo.w everb adly you An 'averapglea'y ewri ll have
have played your game, hhaolwfe vheirs goarm ehsee nrd inugp as
many inanbel undersy our wins, and half as losses. Quite
opponent has madaer,es tyiolul clearly, half the games which end
credited for a win. up in losses will necessarily mean
The concentration is tthhearte fotrhee loser has made a
on poinltoss t,r ather thanm istakWee. cannonte cessarily
mistakes having been maasdseu.m e ltt hatw intnheehr a s also
would be highly dispirimtaidneg mfiosrt aakn eosr, c an it be
lower-raptleady er that he awsassu med that witnhnee rh as
losing8 0i%no f his games, mwaidteh no misteaiktehseQ ru.i te
the oth2e0r% beinge asy wins often tlhoes ehra s made no
againwseta keorp ponentlsf. the impact ono phpiosn enatn,d t he
player rheacso verferdo mm ost winner has not chhaandc oetf h e
of hisp obsaidt iohnes ,w isltlib lel making any mistakes.
on a pslcuosr eA.t a ny level of We ignore gtahmee st hat a
play, theq ufeisrtsitio sn what player has Wew ocno.n sidaelrl
proportoifo n games goairnetg o the games he has lost. In all the
be lost. games being ptlhaeyp elda,y ers
Now imaginfeo rs tatisticawli ll lo5s0e% of the time.
purposes, a primary schHooowle vcehhrey spso thettihcea l games
club, with gmaamneys b eing might be (thenroetb ew ialnly
played. The children asd raywest) ,a reps ltaayr tosf f with
unsophisticatiend playing equaliWtiyt.h a ccuraptlea y, the
accurate c(htehsosu gnho doubt end resuldtr aiwsl. f a apnlya yer
many wiilmlp rovqeu ickly), alnods es, itshs itsa tistically a half­
there ared rfaewwbs e ing playedp.o int loslso,s si nas teaodf a
lt pioss sibtlhea t thweirlbele the draw.
occasioancacli densttaall emate, The moosbtv iourse actiiofn ,
or thewriel lb e few enougho ne of ptlhaey ehrass l osits,t hat
pieces to give checkmatae , ploaryl eotrsh eaes fuploli ntI.n fact,
player with more pieciets isw iolnll y half a point lost, and only
prove unabflien adt ow iSnu.c h half the plloasyheea rlasf p oint,
games will be a minoritys.o Tthhee vpaesrtc entias2g 5e% .l oss
number of gwaimleelsv entuallyA nd at ttohple e vel?
find their cwhaeyc kmtaot Teh.e Whiteh as a slight advantage
better plwaiynesr,a nd it isi n cheasnsd,h isa veragsec ore is
10