Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Beat a GM
What Every Amateur Should
Know About Playing a
Higher-Rated Opponent
By Chris Seck
How to Beat a GM
What Every Amateur Should Know About
Playing a Higher-Rated Opponent
By Chris Seck
2007, All Rights Reserved
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 Why GMs Usually Beat Amateurs
Chapter 2 The Power of Belief
Chapter 3 Win by Losing
Chapter 4 Learn to Tolerate Difficult Positions
Chapter 5 Pick an Amateur-Friendly Opening
Chapter 6 Make Simultaneous Games Work for You
Chapter 7 Exploit the Peculiarities of Internet Chess
Chapter 8 Study Your Opponents Games
Chapter 9 Sometimes, You Get Underestimated
Chapter 10 How to Beat Your Computer
Epilogue
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7
17
22
24
28
32
35
39
42
45
50
Introduction
When I was 12 and a Class D player, I played in a simultaneous exhibition against the
legendary ex-world champion Anatoly Karpov. Although the odds were heavily stacked against me,
Ive always felt that the game ended embarrassingly early:
Years passed. As a student, I worked hard at my chess. I read a lot of chess books and my
playing strength slowly improved until my rating hit a plateau: USCF 1800. From that point
onwards, I would occasionally manage to accidentally beat an expert, or even a low-level master.
But against GMs, I lost 100% of my games, without even a single draw. Heres one of my more
notable masterpiecesfrom the GMs perspective, that is.
I dont consider my games to be of high qualityeven my best wins against GMs are
riddled with my inaccuracies and blunders. I prefer to think my anti-GM tactics as a sort of guerilla
warfarewhere the weaker side employs unconventional tactics to fight a much larger, bettertrained opponent.
It took a long time for me to figure out all the things that youre about to learn. But Im glad
I did, because although my last published USCF rating was in the 1800s, I can now log on to the
Internet Chess Club, confident of beating at least one IM or GM during almost every session.
But on the other hand, I know for a fact that I probably never will become a GM myself. It
takes more to become a GM than to beat one, and my chess ambitions are pretty much limited to the
latter.
Against GMs, I still lose most of the time since Im technically the weaker player, but I take
the losses in my stride. As an amateur, I have the freedom to lose as many times as need be,
confident in the knowledge that it only takes one victory to make my day. For GMs, the opposite is
truethey win almost all the time, but it usually only takes one bad loss or draw to spoil their day.
GMs beat amateurs because of their superior playing strength. That does not mean amateurs
have no chance. Because each player plays by the same rules and has only his brain as a guide, it is
often possible for an amateur to find enough right moves, or for a GM to make enough errors, to
create an upset.
The FIDE handbook states that a 500-point difference between an amateur and a GM
translates into a mere 4% chance of the amateur winning. But there are various factors that allow
determined amateur players to considerably increase their immediate odds. This book is about
recognizing that any amateur versus GM match is an asymmetrical fightand using the available
imbalances to increase your chances.
Now, lets have some fun!
Advantage 1
Advantage 2
Advantage 3
Advantage 4
Advantage 5
Advantage 6
Advantage 7
A serious amateur who wants to play a GM would do well to think about how to reduce the
impact of these factors. Let us take a look at them.
While GMs may dislike losing to other GMs, they view losing to amateurs with utmost hate,
disgust, revulsion, and abhorrenceand will do anything within their chessplaying powers to avoid
conceding losses or draws.
As such, whenever a GM faces an amateur, it is clear that he has greater motivation to win
his reputation and livelihood depend on it. Therefore, the GM puts more effort into choosing better
moves, which is why he usually wins.
Advantage 2: Years of sophisticated training techniques
Regardless of nationality, any GM would have spent thousands of hours being coached and
playing practice games. Many GMs have teams of personal trainers to analyze their games to weed
out mistakes. Some GMs have received special training ever since they were young.
There is plenty of literature surrounding the legendary Soviet School of Chess and its secret
training methods. But few Westerners know that even Asian countries like India, China, and
Vietnam also have serious chess schools.
Take China for example. In his book, The Chinese School of Chess, Chinas national coach
IM Liu Wenzhe outlined the training methods used to prepare 20-year-old Xie Jun (then rated about
2450) for the 1991 Womens World Championship. They included:
190 days worth of chess training, including 480 hours worth of training games.
Three GMs preparing Xie Juns openings for herincluding the black sides of the Ruy
Lopez, the Scotch Game, the Kings Indian, the Reti Opening, and the English.
3. A detailed training timetable where Xie Jun would wake up at 6:30am, train the whole
day, and sleep at 10:15pm. The training included not just opening study and practice games,
but also vigorous physical exercise and psychological conditioning.
At the GM level, such training and preparation is common.
Amateurs, on the other hand, tend to train using far simpler methods (and for far fewer
hours). Compared to GMs, many of whom have lived and breathed chess for many years, the vast
majority of amateurs see chess as a mere hobby that must be balanced against other priorities like
work and family. Moreover, amateurs generally lack the time or inclination to study chess for 190
straight dayslet alone for many years at a stretch.
Advantage 3: Superior tactical sight and knowledge of patterns
Much of the gap in playing strength between GMs and amateurs can be attributed to tactical
sight. As author Michael De La Maza writes in Rapid Chess Improvement, an amateurs strength is
limited first and foremost by a lack of tactical ability.
The GM invariably exploits almost every tactical blunder the amateur makes, even while
making virtually none himself. His familiarity with tactical patterns checkmates, forks, pins,
skewers, double attacks, or any combination of the aboveis, as a rule, far superior to the
amateurs.
The late Dutch chess master Adriaan de Groot once theorized that a chess players skill was
correlated with his ability to readily recognize pattern chunks on the chessboard. De Groot
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suggested that grandmasters know tens of thousands of such chunks, which allows them to
recognize the functional relationships between the pieces patterns that amateurs are often
unfamiliar with.
I once learnt about a common pattern chunk the hard way:
After surviving a difficult middlegame, I had achieved a drawn position as Black. To draw,
all I needed to do was to shuffle my king between h7 and g7. Even if the White King could make it
to b6, the position would still be drawn because it would have no pawn cover from my rook checks.
After a long think, I decided to bring my king to the center to win the White a-pawn.
45. Kf7??
And a smiling Gurevich instantly responded:
46. Rh8! Black resigns
Black loses the rook after 46Rxa7 47.Rh7+, and any other move allows the a-pawn to
queen.
But the most revealing moment came after the game, when I told my opponent:
That was a cool trick.
To which he replied, It was a typical tactical pattern. You learn it with experience.
Gurevich, like all other GMs, had seen this pattern countless times, which was why he was
able to play the winning move on pure instinct. As an amateur, I was much less familiar with the
pattern and therefore played a bad move, even though I spent much more time pondering over it.
Often, GMs win precisely because their familiarity with such tactical patternsaccumulated
over years of chess playingis so much greater than that of the amateurs.
1.Nf3 c5 2.e4 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Bg5 Bg7 7.Bb5+!?
Although I had played the Dragon many times, I had never seen the Bb5+ variation before.
Most of my amateur opponents would play the more popular Yugoslav Attack with f3, Be3, and
Qd2 against me. With little idea on how to deal with this unfamiliar opening variation, I tried
playing some natural-looking moves.
10
GM Yermolinsky wrote of this typical middlegame position: It has been known for two
decades that Black must transfer the bishop to c7. In the resulting position, Black has the potential
threat of d6-d5, unleashing the c7-bishops power on the long c7-h2 diagonal.
In response, White usually defends his h2 pawn by playing Bg1. Then, Black could play
Kh8 and Rg8, with the idea of an eventual g7-g5.
15. ... Rfd8?
This natural-looking move is inaccurate. Black, a very promising junior at that time, was not
experienced with this type of position.
In response, GM Yermolinsky slowly improves his position, while Black cannot find an
active plan.
16. Bf1 Bf8 17. b4 Qa8 18. Nb3 Bc6 19. Qf2 Rb8 20. Bf4
Facing increasing pressure in a difficult position, Black panicked and made an anti-positional move:
12
20. e5?
Better was 20... Ne8, which would have kept everything defended. But Black didnt want to make
such a passive-looking move.
21. Be3 Rdc8 22. a4
And despite determined resistance, White went on to win a lengthy 63-move game.
White has just moved his rook to e4. According to Benko, Black can enter a drawn pawn
endgame by exchanging rooks: 76Rxe4 77.Kxe4 Ke6!
76. Ra5 (?) 77. Kf4 Rb5
13
Benko mentions that Black could again reach a drawn position with 77g5+ 78.hxg5 Kg6!
Here, Benko writes that Black can easily draw by keeping her rook on the e-file.
89. Ra7??
And Black resigned after
90.Rd8+ Kf7
because of 91.Rd7+ with a lost pawn endgame.
12.Be3 Be6 13.b3 Nd7 14.Ne4 h6 15.g4 Rad8 16 Qc3 Rfe8 17.Rad1 Nf8 18.Nc5 Bc8
19.Na4 Rxd1 20.Rxd1 Ng6 21.Bb6 Qb8 22.e3 Be6 23.Qd3 Qc8 24.Nc5 Bxc5 25.Bxc5
15
Nh4 26.Be4 h5 27.f3 g6 28.Kf2 f5 29.gxf5 gxf5 30.Rg1+ Kf7 31.Qc3 Ng6 32.Bc2 Qd8
33.Qe1 Qh4+ 34.Rg3 Rg8 35.Kg2 f4 0-1
Amateurs, in contrast, often lack that same previous experience with positions. Therefore,
they spend more time than GMs, but make worse moves.
With all these advantages that GMs possess, what chance remains for the amateur? Is the
fight destined to be one-sided? Fortunately, the answer is no. Amateurs can take a number of steps
to increase their chances dramatically. The next chapters will show you what they are.
16
As an amateur, your chess skills are bound to be far inferior to the GMs in almost every
way. Your tactical skills, opening knowledge, endgame technique, and virtually everything else
are weaker than the GMs. But if you are to even stand even the slightest chance of surviving
against a GM, you must first believe in yourself. If you enter the game with a losers mindset
hoping to play defensively and somehow not get thrashedyou will almost certainly lose the game.
You must have faith that your calculations are good enough to guide your moves, no matter
how high your opponents rating. You must believe that with enough inteligent guessing in
unfamiliar positions, you can find enough good moves to hold your GM opponent to a drawor
beat him.
There is a limit to how far self-belief alone can take youit is not a substitute for creativity,
imagination, or technique. Even with your best efforts, your play will never be perfectyou will
make a lot of mistakes, even in the games that you do manage to win or draw. In my games against
GMs, I have never played a single blunder-free gamenot even in the games that I eventually won.
But GMs are only humans, not machines. And sometimes, despite all the mistakes that you
will make as an amateur, you might still get lucky and surviveeven against a world-class player.
After all, anything can happen in a blitz game.
I concede that the final position is objectively lost for me after I missed the best moves in
the endgamewe were both in time trouble. But still, it is not often that an 1800-rated amateur can
survive a difficult 72-move game against a 2700-rated Russian GM ranked 10th in the world.
My point in sharing this game is not to blow my own horn, but to suggest that once in a
while, a determined amateur can hold his own against a vastly superior opponent.
In the following simul game, Black faced the former Hungarian champion and chess author
IM Tibor Karolyi, who was also a trainer to world-class players such as Judit Polgar and Peter
Leko. Rather than allow his respect for his renowned opponent to inhibit his play, Black played his
bestand wound up winning.
The normal move is 60-0. But seeing little harm in closing the position early, Black
decides to do so. Closing the position is sometimes a good strategy during simultaneous games
because they tend to prolong the length of the game, sometimes by several dozen moves
representing several dozen extra rounds for the IM to walk.
At the same time, Black also quotes another master who suggests that it might be a better
idea to play 6Bxc3+ first to wreck Whites pawn structure and then 7e5.
7. Nge2 Qe7 8. g4 Na6 9. a3 Bxc3+ 10. Nxc3 Nd7
The position is starting to look somewhat uncomfortable for the IM. Black writes: This
knight is heading for g6 via f8, where it will exert its influence over the f4 and h4 squares (should
White push 11. h4 and Black reply 11. h5 with 12.g5 Ng6 to follow). Black simultaneously
threatens 11.Qh4+, harassing the White king.
11. Be3 h5 12. g5 h4 13. Rg1
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Possibly a wasted move, because the threat of g6 is easily parried (Leong). A simple move
like 13.Nb5, tying down the Black knight to a6, would have been better. IM Karolyi could then
prepare to play b2-b4, with a comfortable game.
13. ... Nf8 14. b4 b6
15. Bd3?!
IM Karolyi could have caused far more disturbance with 15.Qa4+, where 15Qd7 16.Nb5!
threatens to win the d6 pawn (Leong). Black would then have to move his king, after which White
plays 17.f4, where 17exf4 18.Bxf4 leads to an unpleasant position for Black. In response to
15.Qa4+, Blacks best response is probably 15Kd8. But in all variations, he still loses the right to
castle, and it would take a while to fortify his position.
15. ... Ng6 16. Ne2
Black writes: The queen check is not so effective now, with the f4 square under Black's control
and Black's king free to castle - 16.Qa4+?! Qd7 17.Nb5 0-0 and 18.f4 undermining Black's e5-d6c5 pawn chain is not possible.
16. ... Bd7 17. Rb1 O-O
In a closed position, Black prepares to play an eventual f5. Its not easy for an IM to deal with
complex strategic considerations like these when he has to play 25 people at once.
18. Kd2 Rab8 19. b5 Nc7 20. a4?
This move doesnt seem to have a purpose.
19
20
49. fxg4??
After the game, IM Karolyi noted that by leaving his pawn structure intact and waiting with
his bishop White could have drawn: 49.Bd1 gxf3 50.Bc2!, and White has built an impenetrable
fortress. His bishop would simply shuffle between c2 and d3, and Black would have no way of
coming in.
The text leads to a lost pawn endgame.
49. ... Bxg4 50. Bf3 Bxf3 51. Kxf3 Kg5 52. Ke2 Kg4 53. Kf2 f3 54. Ke3 f2!
White resigns
21
To use a simple example, let us assume that your rating is 2000, and you are playing a 2500strength GM. According to the FIDE handbook, a 500-point gap means that on average, you only
have a 4% chance of beating the GM in any particular game.
Yet, even if your per-game odds remain a meager 4%, you can still beat GMs as long as you
keep trying. If you adopt the simple strategy of continuing to play against GMs until you finally
beat one, you will realize that your cumulative chances of achieving an eventual victory increase
with the number of games you play. Mathematically, it is almost impossible to lose 100 games in a
row against GMs:
Number of games against GMs
1
2
3
4
5
10
20
50
100
Even if you win only a tiny fraction of your games against GMs, you can still fill up a book
with lots of brilliant victories if you have played enough games against them. Moreover, because
you have the power to analyze your games to avoid repeating your mistakes, you will get stronger
with each game you play, meaning that your real chances are even higher than the above numbers
would suggest!
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Where do you find opportunities to play GMs? An excellent place to play GMs is over the
Internet. On major servers such as ICC and Playchess, it is possible to find opportunities to play
GMs. On the Net, there are many amateurs who regularly beat GMs regularly (I know a guy who
once defeated Larry Christiansen). Their blitz ratings on the Internet Chess Club (ICC) often range
between 2400 and 2600, even though their real USCF and FIDE ratings would probably be at least
400 points lower. If you have a high enough Internet rating, you can usually play rated blitz games
against GMs for free. Or, if you are a lower-rated player, there are always plenty of GMs who will
be willing to play games for a small fee, sometimes for as little as US$3 a game.
Another place to find GMs is in open tournaments. Most of these events use the Swiss
system for pairings, and if you are lucky, you might get to play a few GMs over the course of the
event. For a reasonably strong expert or low-level master, this is often the case. However, if you are
a class A to D player, your chances of playing a GM after the first few rounds tend to be somewhat
more limited since the pairing system tends to match players with similar scores and GMs tend to
have higher scores than amateurs.
If you live in a large city, there will usually be plenty of famous GM visitors willing to play
simultaneous exhibitions for a fee. For the vast majority of amateurs, the simultaneous exhibition
represents the only way they will ever play elite GMs. One rarely finds Kasparov playing blitz
randomly on the ICC. Although there is often a hefty price for the privilege of playing in a
simultaneous exhibition, I believe that paying a few hundred dollars to play a world class player is
not a bad deal.
Finally, if you have the time and inclination, you could pay a GM to play a training match
with you. The match could last perhaps 4-8 games, and he could analyze the games with you as part
of a package deal. In this authors opinion, training matches represent an excellent way to improve,
and are especially encouraged if you have the money and energy to do so.
Type of game
Real-life
simultaneous
exhibition
Private
matches
Pros
Cons
Photo (and autograph) opportunities with Opportunities tend to be rare. Often requires
famous GMs. Increased chances of upset amateur to pay a lot of money to participate.
due to GM having to play many people Usually no postmortems.
at once.
training Opportunities for postmortem (and Requires initiative on the part of the
socializing) with GM opponents after amateur to arrange. Sometimes requires
game. Match often involves several amateur to pay a lot of money.
games that one can learn from.
Over-the-board
(OTB) games in
open tournaments
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6. ... g6
The unsightly 6Nh6 would have been no better, because after 7.d4, Whites bishop would
take the h6-knight, leaving me with doubled isolated pawnsand a huge advantage for White.
It is interesting to note that although its been only 6 moves since the game started, I am
already facing a weird position that doesnt exist in most opening manuals. Thats the thing about
playing GMs: You must be psychologically prepared to deal with unusual positionsand deal
with the complexity as best as you can.
7. Qf3
Threatening checkmate again, with a hidden threat on the b7 pawn (which I didnt see).
7. ... Nf6??
I play a terrible blunder. Necessary was the ugly 7f5, which would have held on. One
possible sequence would be 8.Ng5 Bxg5 9.Qxb7 Bf6 10.Qxa8 Bxe5 11.Qxa7, with a complicated,
imbalanced position.
8. Ng5!
Renewing the threats on f7. My GM opponent continues to play punishing moves.
8. ... O-O??
I blunder away the b7 pawn and a8 rook. Only 8Qc8 would have minimized the bleeding.
Even then, the position after 9.Ngxf7 is the stuff of most amateur nightmares.
9. Qxb7
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9. ... Nd5
This is not the best move, but I try to make the best of a bad deal by putting my knight on an
active square to create tactical counterchances. Amateurs should learn to keep positions
complicated-- they give the GM more chances of going wrong.
10. Qxa8
A minor inaccuracy. Psychologically, this was probably the turning point of the game. Here,
Whites best option is to take on f7: 10.Ngxf7 Rxf7 11.Nxf7 Kxf7 12.Qxa8. Black has no way of
trapping the White queen.
10. ... Bxg5 11. a3
Stopping tricky moves like Nb4.
11. ... Qf6
12. d4?
26
My GM opponent starts to lose his way. Best was 12.Nxd7, which would simplify the
position. Although White loses the right to castle after 12Nxd7 13.Qxa7 Qe5+ 14.Kd1, the White
king is perfectly safe and cannot be easily attacked.
12. ... Ba4?
I should have played 12Bxc1 13.Rxc1 Qf4 with counterplay. After White deals with the threat to
his rook, I could play Qe4+ and then Nc6, with a discovered attack on the White queen, followed by
the nasty Nxd4. Still, the position remains highly complicated, and my GM opponent plays another
second-best move.
13. c4
13.Qxa7 was better. Although he would get an isolated d-pawn after 13Bxc2 14.Bc4!, White
would be able to safely castle and consolidate his position.
13. ... Bxc1 14. Rxc1
The alternative 14.cxd5 fails to 14Qf4!, threatening mate on d2.
14. ... Qf4 15. Nd3 Qe4+
16. Be2??
Necessary was the counter-intuitive 16.Kd2, which leads to an unclear position because
Blacks pieces are very active, although he has no checks in the short term. But my GM opponent
was probably shaken by the sharp turn the game had taken.
16. ... Nc6! 17. Qb7
White would still be in deep trouble after 17.f3 Qe3, because the White queen is still under attack
and Nxd4 is coming up. The rest of the game was a mop-up.
17. ... Nxd4 18. O-O Nxe2+ 19. Kh1 Nxc1 20. Nxc1 Qxc4. White forfeits on time.
27
28
Rather than playing a sharp opening like the Modern Benoni or the Kings Indian, Black
plays the solid Queens Gambit Declined. Moreover, he is familiar with this systemhe employs
the 3Be7 move-order instead of the 3Nf6 move-order to avoid the more popular Exchange
Variation (3Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5), which often leads to difficult positions for Black. If you
think your openings are sound, play them against everybody, especially GMs.
4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4
Black has steered the opening into a solid line, most likely prepared at home. His next
moves are naturaland good. An amateur should prefer a solid opening where his best moves are
generally easy to find.
5. ... Nf6 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd3 c6 8. Qc2 Nbd7 9. Nf3 Re8 10. O-O Nf8
29
Blacks plan is to simply play a typical maneuver: Ne6, g6, Ng7, and an eventual Bf5. It is
important to know the typical middlegame plans that arise after the opening. In the meantime,
Karpov tries to arrange the traditional minority attack with b4-b5.
11. Bg3 Ne6 12. Ne5 g6 13. Rab1 a5
Black plays alertly. If Karpov is to carry out his plan of b4-b5, then, he must allow Black to
open the a-file for his rook.
14. a3 Ng7 15. b4 axb4 16. axb4 Bf5
Black trades off his bad light-squared bishop. The position is at least equal now.
17. b5
17. ... c5
Through this accurate pawn move, Black shows a strong understanding of this middlegame.
Although the d-pawn is soon isolated, it never becomes a major weakness, and Black succeeds in
keeping the position balanced enough to draw comfortably.
18.dxc5 Bxc5 19.Nf3 Qe7 20.Be5 Red8 21.Ne2 Rac8 22.Qb3 Be4 23.Ned4 Bxd4
24.Qxd4 Ne6 25.Ne5 Nxd4 26.exd4 Qd6 27.Rfe1 Rc7 28.f3 Bxd3 29.Qxd3 Qb6 30.Qe3
Kg7 31.h4 Ra8 32.Re2 Ra4 33.Rd2 h5 34.Kh2 Qd6 35.Kh1 Qa3 36.Qxa3 Rxa3 -
30
31
32
Kasparov decides to deviate from the main line Scandinavian. The usual plan is 7.Be2,
followed by kingside castling. Perhaps Kasparov assumed that his amateur opponent did not know
the 7.h3 sideline and therefore decided to call his bluff.
In his book The Scandinavian, GM John Emms writes of 7.h3: Generally speaking h2-h3 is
quite desirable, since it cuts out any annoying Bg4 pins. A tempo is a tempo, though, and this grants
Black the opportunity to organize some serious counterplay involving an early e7-e5.
Unfortunately for Kasparov, his amateur opponent was familiar with the lineand
continued to play out the standard equalizing moves
7. ... O-O 8. Be3 Nc6 9. Qd2 e5 10. d5 Na5!
After Blacks accurate knight move, which harasses Whites c4-pawn, he threatens to follow
up with f7-f5 and e5-e4, with plenty of active play down the a1-h8 diagonal. The bishop on g7
would turn into a monster. White still has options, but playing out this position would require
Kasparov to dig deep into his secret opening knowledgeknowledge that he reserves for his fellow
GMs, not lowly amateurs!
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Kazaross writes that at this point, Kasparov rather nervously asked me if I had a rating. I
replied 2084 and he, not looking very happy, asked why I didn't write it down in front of the board
next to my name. I replied that no one asked me to.
In response, Kasparov stated that if he had known I [Kazaross] was rated that highly he
would have played differently rather than getting into a very theoretical line.
In the end, both players cordially agreed to abort the game, and Kasparov, sensing the
humor of the situation, wrote his opponent a flattering autograph: To Neil Kazaross never be shy
of your chess strength. See you next time. G Kasparov
By exploiting the GMs reluctance to play main-line openings against amateurs, this amateur
enjoyed the once-in-a-lifetime distinction of making Kasparov blink. Is this not a satisfactory
outcome?
34
35
The Bird Opening generally leads to simple middlegames that are never seen in top-level
GM games. But for an amateur playing an online game, simple setups work well because the right
moves come naturally.
9. ... dxe4 10. dxe4 Nc5
My GM opponent places his pieces on active squares, and prepares to connect his rooks.
11. Rd1 Qc7 12. e5 Nd5 13. h3 Bf5 14. Qe2 Rad8 15. Na3 Bd3
My GM opponent plays aggressively. I am forced to burn some thinking time to figure out
the safest square for the queen. In internet blitz, aggressive play usually pays off because it forces
the opponent to use up thinking time.
16. Qf2
16.Rxd3 is possible, but the position after 16Nxd3 17.Qxd3 Nxf4, leading to the isolation
of Whites e-pawn, is not to everybodys likingespecially in a 5-minute online game like this one.
16. ... Ne4?!
A dubious move. Objectively, the normal 16Qb6 or 16Qa5 is better.
17. Qe1
I didnt like the look of 17.Qxa7 Be2 18.Re1 Nxg3, wrecking my kingside pawn structure.
Black would then trade his bishop on f3 and retreat his knight to the f5 outpost. After my move,
however, Black begins to spend a lot of time trying to navigate the complications, and soon ends up
behind in time.
17. Qb6+?
This check is questionable because after my reply, Black loses material due to his hanging
pieces on d3 and e4. Preferable was the cold-blooded 17Be2, where 18.Qxe2 Ndxc3! is
interesting, while 18.Rxd5 cxd5 19.Qxe2 Nxg3 leads to a complicated position that, although
objectively better for White, is difficult to handle in online blitz games.
18. Kh2 Qa6
By this point, my GM opponent had 2 minutes left on his clock, while I had 3.
19. c4
I force the issue. Black must concede two pieces for the rook. Still, the resulting position
remains highly uncomfortable for me because my GM opponent gets to double his rooks on the dfile and place one of his rooks on d1freezing my queenside. In internet blitz, a small material
edge sometimes matters less than piece activity.
19. ... Nb6 20. Rxd3 Rxd3 21. Qxe4 Rd1 22. Qe2 Rfd8 23. Rb1 Na4
36
24. Nd2?
This move looks like itll trap the d1-rook, but its actually a bad idea. The natural 24.Be3
was far better, removing some of Blacks threats. At this point, I had 2" left while the GM had 1 ".
24. ... Nxb2!
On the flip side, my GM opponent took almost a minute to find this move, reducing his time
to about 25 seconds. Even though the position has grown some tactical opportunities for Black, I
now threaten to win on time.
25. Bxb2?
Given that I had more time, I should have thought a little more and played the cold
25.Rxb2!, where 25Rxc1 26.Nc2! leads to a superior position for White. Now, however, Black
gets a big counterattack and my position begins to look more difficult. However, his time shrinks to
12 seconds in the process. My time was still in excess of 60 seconds.
25. ... R1xd2 26. Qf3 R8d3 27. Qf1 Qa4
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28. Kh1??(!)
Although Whites move is technically a blunder, the GM is unable to immediately capture
the g3 pawn because with only 12 seconds left, he has to make a pre-move, which wasnt
28Rxg3 because he didnt expect the 28.Kh1 blunder. He only sees it after making his pre-move.
In time trouble situations in internet blitz, your opponents information comes one move later
than usual. Learn to exploit it.
28. ... e6? (pre-move) 29. Bc1??(!)
Another unexpected move, albeit a technical blunder. Now, due to my opponents pre-move
29Rxg3, my opponent belatedly captures the g3-pawnsomething he should have played one
move earlier. But his rook is hanging.
29. ... Rxg3?? (pre-move)
29Rd1 would have won material. But it is hard to instantly spot these moves with five seconds
remaining on your clock.
30. Bxd2 Qxa3 31. Rb3
31.Kh2 would have done the trick, but this is a shocking interference move that stuns the
opponent and negates his ability to play pre-moves. It wins in this online chess situation since my
opponent had only 3 seconds left.
31. ... Rxb3 32. axb3
Black forfeits on time
A silly little game. Its not exactly how a Kasparov would win, but for an amateur playing
online blitz, it worked just fine. At any rate, the final position still looks better for White.
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Personally, I think that on occasion, it might be a smart idea for an amateur to remain low-rated or even unrated
some GMs assume that unrated players are beginners, which is not always a good assumption to make!
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This middlegame position is probably better for White due to his possession of the two
bishops. But for this modest price, Black has emerged from the opening with a solid positionnot a
bad achievement when your opponent is Anatoly Karpov! Moreover, Black has a simple, natural
plan of preparing the traditional c5 pawn break. A slightly inferior, but solid position is often
easier to handle than a dynamically equal, but unclear one.
12. Re1 Nbd7 13. h3 Qc7 14. Qe2 c5 15. Bg5
In the meantime, White places his pieces on active squares.
15. ... h6 16. Bh4 Nh5
A typical maneuver. Black is familiar with this opening, and she knows exactly what to do.
Karpov, being somewhat less familiar with this line than most other openings, places his pieces on
active squares. However, it isnt easy for him to find a straightforward plan.
17. Ne5 Nf4
This move is fine, although it would have been better to exchange on e5 first: 17Nxe5
18.dxe5 Nf4 19. Qe3 Ng6 20.Bg3. In the resulting position, Whites darksquared bishop would be
relatively bad, and the position would be approximately equal.
18. Qf3 Ng6 19. Nxg6 Bxg6 20. Bg3 Qc8
20Qb6 would have been more active, attacking the b2-pawn and forcing White to play
either 21.b3 or 21.Qe2. But Blacks move is still solid and acceptable.
21. Rad1 Nb6 22. Bf1 c4
This position is more comfortable for Karpov due to his slightly more active pieces,
especially the rooks. Blacks position is still solid, however, and he should be able to hold. It isnt
clear what Whites plan should be. Hes managed to place his pieces on comfortable squaresso
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now what? At this point, Karpov pushes his h-pawn to sharpen the game, but this only weakens his
kingside and allows Black to achieve an equal position.
23. h4 Nd5 24. h5 Bf5
Black is already equal and has a solid position. Some missteps caused her to land in a
slightly passive position, but she eventually drew by Move 43.
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Emanuel Lasker - NN
London, 1908
1. c4 d5?!
This is a questionable move, allowing White to win both a central majority and an extra
tempo on the queen.
My opponent must be a beginner, Lasker probably thought to himself.
2. cxd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd8 4. d4 Nf6 5. e4 e6 6. Nf3 Nc6?
This is a beginners move. Black blocks his c-pawn, making it difficult to generate any pawn
breaks.
7. Bd3 Be7
Thus far, Black has played the opening in lackluster fashion, allowing White to build a
classical e4-d4 pawn center. Here, White can maintain a nice advantage by simply castling and
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moving his pieces to active squares, and connecting his rooks. In the meantime, Black will have
trouble completing his development or even connecting his rooks.
Lasker has a superior position. But underestimating his weaker opponent, he embarks on a
highly questionable attacksomething he would never have played against a strong contemporary
like Tarrasch or Capablanca. Sometimes, when an unknown amateur is forced into a bad position,
the GM gets lured into a false sense of complacency.
8. h4 Ng4 9. Ng5?
But this move, leaving the d4-pawn undefended, is wrong. White should have played
something safer, like 9.Bb5 followed by 10.Qe2, for instance.
9. ... e5?
Black could have taken the pawn: 9Qxd4 10.0-0 Nge5 with a clear advantage, for
instance.
All the same, Lasker quickly falls into an inferior position, as the amateur suddenly stops
making beginner moves.
10. d5 Nd4 11. f3 h6
12. Nxf7?
Objectively speaking, the best course was 12.fxg4 hxg5 13.h5, leading to an inferior, but
playable position for White. But in this difficult position, Lasker decides to simply lash out. Maybe
he was still hoping for a glorious victory after his opponent makes a mistake?
12. ... Bxh4+! 13. Kf1 Kxf7 14. fxg4
The best move was probably 14.Rxh4. But the position after 14Qxh4 15.fxg4 Bxg4 is lost
for White anyway.
14. ... Qf6+
White resigns.
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Do GMs underestimate their opponents often? Rarely, but it sometimes happens. Even the
famously solid Capablanca was occasionally capable of playing far below his normal level against
amateurs:
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With the queens off the board, I would simply complete my development, trade off all the
pieces (just double the rooks on the d-file and slowly swap off the minor pieces). To be sure, any
human GM playing Black would never allow the exchanges, but Fritz frequently did, and usually
wound up with a pawn endgame that looked something like this:
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Although material is equal, the endgame is actually winning for White because of his
superior pawn structureWhite has a kingside pawn majority, while Black cannot create a passed
pawn on the queenside due to his doubled pawns. I would create a passed pawn on the kingside, and
then simply march my king to the queenside to chomp off the Black pawnsa 20-move process
that was beyond Fritzs calculating powers. I won dozens of games against Fritz in this simple
fashion before the computer began playing Sicilians instead (Fritz 5 stops playing an opening once
it loses several times with it). I then started losing lots of games again.
To be sure, this simple strategy of achieving superior endgames is unlikely to work in the
long run against the newest machines. A few years ago, computer engineer Ken Thompson
designed an endgame CD so that computers would be able to play perfect moves in any endgame
with six pieces or less. As the scope of these endgame CDs expand, computers will become less and
less likely to allow amateurs to lead them into unfavorable endgames. For the time being, however,
the time-honored strategy of shooting for simple endgames is probably good advice for amateurs.
Closing the position is another important method of beating computers. Against the
machines, most amateurs would probably score better with the Stonewall than in Open Sicilians.
Although computers are becoming increasingly good at playing in closed positions, there are still a
few secret opening lines where one can defeat a computer by locking up the position. This is one of
them:
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The Kings Indian Defense is often considered a sharp, tactical opening. However, I find
that it frequently leads to closed positions that computers, especially the older ones, are largely
unsuited to.
5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Ne1
The classical 9.Ne1 variation is a good line and has a very respectable reputation. But
nowadays, many human GMs would play the Bayonet variation with 9.b4, which is sharper than
the text.
The next few moves are still within the book.
9. ... Nd7 10. f3 f5 11. Be3 f4 12. Bf2 g5 13. a4 Rf6
The beginning of a crafty sequence of moves: Rf8-f6-h6, Nd7-f6, and Qd8-e8-h5, which
lead to a strong attack. Whites only defense at that point would be h2-h3, but then Black has the
nasty Bxh3!, where his threats are irresistible.
Interestingly, this plan would be obvious to a human GM, who would see the nasty threats
and take appropriate measures to stop it. But to a computer, which has no imagination, the
checkmate threat remains outside its enormous calculating power.
14. a5 a6
I decide to slow Fritzs queenside advance, and to prevent any future tricks with Nb5 after
my queen moves to e8.
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15. Na4
The computers moves have been okay so far. But if White wanted to stop my planned Rh6Nf6-Qe8-Qh5 sequence, one possibility would have been GM Alexei Shirovs idea of the
immediate 15.g4, which would at least force Black to think of a different plan of attack. Although
Black can capture the pawn en passant, the sequence is not dangerous because Whites king is
robustly defended: 15fxg3 16.hxg3, followed by Ne1-g2-e3, Kg2, and possibly an eventual Rh1.
However, Fritz cannot see what a human GM can. Therefore, it continues to advance on the
queenside, while I slowly tighten the noose.
15. ... Qe8 16. b4?
Fritz still evaluates the position as slightly better for White. But here, it should have played
16.g4 instead, to stop the upcoming threats. For example, the line 16.g4 fxg3 17.hxg3 Rh6 18.g4! is
still playable for White.
16. ... Rh6 17. h3?
The computer finally sees the upcoming Qh5 and takes steps to defend against it. But
Whites pieces are not well-placed to defend the king.
At this point, it is too late to defend with g2-g4. However, White could still try 17.Kh1 with
the idea of Bg1, defending his kingside. However, moving your king onto the same file as the
enemy rook rarely comes naturally to anyone, not even Fritz.
17. ... Nf6
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18. c5??
I consider White to be quite lost after this move. At this point, 18.Kh2 was probably the only
move that would save the game, with the idea of playing Rh1, indirectly defending the h-pawn.
After 18.Kh2, a possible sequence would be 18Qh5 19.Rh1 g4 20.fxg4 Nxg4+ 21.Kg1 Nxf2
22.Bxh5 Nxd1 23.Bxd1, where Whites position is still somewhat playable. Unfortunately, Fritz
still doesnt see it!
18. ... Qh5
After this move, the computer suddenly realizes what is going on. But it is too late to
prevent the mate threat. Black has been preparing the final blow for the last 6 moves, and the escape
routes have already been closed.
19. cxd6 Bxh3! 20. Bb6
When computers play moves like these, you know theyve lost. But even 20.dxe7 would not have
worked because of 20Bxg2! and the decisive entrance of the black queen. Fritz suggests one grim
sequence, similar to the one that happens in this game:
21.Bh4 Qxh4 22.Nxg2 Qh2+ 23.Kf2 Qg3+ 24.Kg1 Rh2 25.e8(Q)+ Rxe8 26.Rf2 Qh3 27.Nxf4 Rh1
mate. The rest of the game was quite straightforward, even for me:
20. ... Bxg2! 21. Nxg2 Qh2+ 22. Kf2 Qg3+ 23. Kg1 Rh2! 24. Rf2 Qh3 25. dxe7 Rh1
mate
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Epilogue
I am writing this book as an amateur, and I hope that the reader will view me as just this: a
club player who likes to help other club players.
I recognized early on that as an amateur, there are some limits to what I could achieve in
chess. Work, school, relationships, religion, and other interests all prevent us from becoming the
best chess players we can possibly be.
At the same time, however, by recognizing that we are amateurs and accepting our
limitations, we can all learn to play better chess.
I encourage you to keep learning. Practice against your computer, read chess books, and
watch chess videos. Keep analyzing your games so that youll keep improving. Most importantly,
keep playing lots of GMs, because if you keep trying, you never know when you might drawor
beata GM.
It is almost a tautology that the most reliable way to beat a GM is to become one yourself. In
the meantime however, while were still amateurs, I hope some of the ideas in this book will work
for you as well as they did for me!
Email me to tell me what you think. I can be reached at this address:
chrisseck@howtobeatagm.com.
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