Chess Detective by NM Todd Bardwick
HUNTING THE KING IN THE CENTER
The main reason to castle early is
to get your king away from danger, out of the center of the board. A king in the center of the board
is a target that can be attacked from all angles: the center, kingside, or queenside. Of course, the other benefit of
castling is to develop one of your rooks. Since you are not allowed to castle to escape check, your king may be forced to move and block one of your rooks from entering the game. Tactics may seemingly appear out
of nowhere to attack an uncastled king in the center. When you can, attack with as many pieces as pos- sible. Sometimes the king gets checkmated in the center and often the defender must make material concessions in order for his king to escape alive. Here is a position between two of
the world’s best players from a blitz game in 1998 in Wijk aan Zee where Black failed to castle in time.
8 7 6
5 4 3 2 1
-tr-wq-+-tr
zpP+-mkpzpp -+Qzp-sn-+
vl-+-+-+- -+L+P+-+ +-+-+P+- PzP-+-zP-zP
tR-vL-+RmK- ab c d e f g h
Vladimir Kramnik-Valery Salov Position after 14. … Ke7
6 Chess Life for Kids! Black would like to have the time
to play …Re8 and …Kf8 to tuck his king away safely on the kingside. When playing against an uncastled king, you want to quickly open up the center and attack him before he can run away. Kramnik thematically opened the
center and won more material with 15. e5! dxe5 16.Qc5+ Qd6 (16. … Ke8 17. Bb5+ Nd7 18. Bxd7+ Qxd7 19.Qxa5) 17. Qxa5 Rxb7 18. b3, Black resigned (19. Ba3 is threatened.) Here is a classic example of
attacking the king in the center that occurred in the 1962 Varna Olympiad between Bobby Fischer and Miguel Najdorf.
8 7 6
5 4 3 2 1
r+-wqkvl-tr +-+n+p+p p+-+-zp-+ +-+pzp-+-_ Q+LsNl+-+ +-+-+-+P PzP-+-zPP+
tR-vL-tR-mK- ab c d e f g h
Robert Fischer-Miguel Najdorf Position after 13. … Nd7
White has a big lead in develop-
ment. Black’s king is uncastled in the center of the board. Fischer mas- terfully attacks the king by sacrificing the Exchange with… 14. Rxe4! dxe4 15. Nf5 Bc5 16.
Ng7+! Ke7 (16. … Kf8 17. Bh6 Kg8 18.Qb3, threatening 19. Bxf7+ and
October 2011
19. Qg3.) 17. Nf5+ Ke8 18. Be3 (Normally with an attack on the king and being behind in material, White wouldn’t be interested in trading bishops, but in this case he would trade off Black’s only well-devel- oped piece to clear a path for the rook to enter the attack). 18. … Bxe3 19. fxe3 Qb6 20. Rd1 (Note how Fischer attacks with all his pieces.) 20. … Ra7 21. Rd6!
8 7 6
5 4 3 2 1
-+-+k+-tr
tr-+n+p+p pwq-tR-zp-+ +-+-zpN+- Q+L+p+-+ +-+-zP-+P PzP-+-+P+
+-+-+-mK- ab c d e f g h
Najdorf-Fischer 21. … Qd8 22.Qb3 Qc7 (22. …
Rf8 23. Ng7+ Ke7
24.Qa3! threat- ening powerful discovered checks like 25. Re6 mate and 25. Rxa6+.) 23. Bxf7+ Kd8 (23. … Kf8 24.
Bh5) 24. Be6, Black resigned (24. … Rb7 25. Qa4 Qc8 26. Qa5+ Ke8 27. Qxa6 Kd8 28. Bxd7 Rxd7 29. Rxd7+ Qxd7 [29. … Kxd7 30. Qd6+ Ke8 31. Qe7 mate] 30. Qxf6+ winning the rook). Fischer performed a masterful job
of attacking the uncastled king in the center of the board!
Todd Bardwick is the author of
Chess Strategy Workbook: A Blueprint for Developing the Best Plan.
He can be reached at
www.ColoradoMasterChess.com
The
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