Chapter 1

Introduction: The Language of Chess

n chess, the experience of great players shows us that logic

I is more important than memory. The logic of chess is based
on simple rules that everyone can learn. It is easier to see the
logic of the game when the material on the board has been
reduced to a small number of pieces. Therefore it is reason­
able to pay more attention to the endgame. Clearly, it is better
to know the last ten moves of your game than the first ten ..
Most chess players learn the game in a very unscientific
manner. First they learn the basic rules- how the pieces move
and the basic checkmates. Later they start to learn some openings
and learn some basic principles, such as the importance of
proper development and control of central space. Then, if they
become serious, comes deeper study of openings, and eventu­
ally, and often reluctantly, study of the endgame. This is very
much analogous to learning a language by learning whole
paragraphs, and only much later, if ever, bothering to learn
the basic vocabulary and simple sentence structures. Eventu­
ally some proficiency can be obtained, but mastery of the
language's nuances will likely never be obtained. since early
bad habits will be hard to overcome. The highly successful
Russian school of chess takes the opposite approach. Start
with the endings and teaching fundamental knowledge, and
then build upon this knowledge.
Chess is much like a language. It has a very logical struc­
ture wherein fundamental rules and structures combine and
connect to create and explain ever more complicated positions.
Like a language, chess has a basic alphabet and sentence struc­
ture. From these, all chess knowledge can be built, and to
these, all possibilities in a game of chess can be traced. In
chess, there often occur the most amazing and beautiful com-

11
 GM-RAM
binations. It may seem that these arise as if by magic. The
great former World Champion Mikhail Tal was sometimes re­
ferred to as the Wizard of Riga, due to his ability to conjure
combinations out of the most innocent looking positions. Yet,
in each case, later analysis has shown that the seeds of the
combination were present in the position, or in some cases
that the combinations were unsound, and magic had nothing
to do with it.
This book is about the language of chess. More specifi­
cally, this book is about the essential builcfing blocks of chess.
ln the logical, scientific approach to chess, first one must master
the basic building blocks, and from there begin to build a per­
sonalized vocabulary that will be the foundation for mastery
of the game. In Russian chess folklore it is said that there are
300 positions which comprise the most important knowledge
which an aspiring player must acquire. About two-thirds of
these positions are endgame positions and the remaining third
are middlegame positions. However, no one knows what all
these positions are, as the opinions of top players and train­
ers vary regarding which positions comprise the magical 300.
For the renowned trainer, Grandmaster Lev Alburt1, it is one
collection, for us, another, and for Kasparov, a third. In this
book, we present 256 positions. The remaining 45 positions
we leave to the reader, who can complete the collection with
those most meaningful to him. 2
When we speak .of mastery of the basics, we mean you
must know these positions cold. You must recognize them
immediately, just as you would any letter of the alphabet.
Specifically, you must recognize the position, know the cor­
rect plans for each side, and know the expected outcome,
whichever side is to move. You must also know how the plans
or the outcome are affected by small changes in the place­
ment of the pieces. You must know this without having to
consider any of the possible variations.

GM Alburt presents his collection in his book, Chess Training Pocket

Book: 300 Most Important Positions & Ideas.
2 Actually, there are 253 unique positions, leaving 4 7 for the reader. The
repeats are 1 and 25, 3 and 4 7, and 4 and 45.

12
 The Language of Chess

This book is designed for the serious student of chess

who desires to reach the highest levels and is willing to make
the investment of time to achieve this goal. However, this is
not an instructional book. Perhaps it is more like a
"Grandmaster's final exam," if there were such a thing This
book presents the key positions which must be known to achieve
chess mastery, It does not undertake an explanation of them.
There are other authors who have already adequately explained
the positions presented here. A list of references is included.
Alternatively, a chess trainer can help teach the necessary
knowledge, provided that they possess the knowledge to be­
gin with. In either case, the value added by this book is that
the basic positions are presented in a single volume which
can then be used to evaluate the degree to which chess mas­
tery has been obtained.
Once a player has acquired all knowledge relevant to each
of the positions in this text, success in a game consists of
recognizing opportunities to convert the position on the board
to one of the basic positions that is known to be a win (or a
draw if that is the best that can be hoped for). Serious stu­
dents need only two other types of knowledge in addition to
the positions in this book: they must understand standard
tactical motifs, and opening principles. A special chapter on
opening strategy is included at the end of this book. As for
tactics, there are many books and computer software pro­
grams that can provide the necessary knowledge. Finally, in
addition to pure knowledge, a player must understand chess
strategy, and develop a personal style based on this under­
standing. Chapter 2 provides a discussion of what is meant
by strategy and some fundamental strategic principles.
Assuming understanding of the strategy, openings, and
of chess tactics, a student of chess who knows every position
in this book "by heart" (such that in a matter of seconds he
or she understands everything important about the position
[what is the result with White to move, what is the result
with Black to move, and how to best play for each side]), will
achieve Grandmaster status. The closer a student is able to
come to this ideal, the closer they will come to reaching the
highest levels in chess.
 GM-RAM

How 1b Use 1bis Book

his book can be used in two ways. Firstly, as a guide that

T presents the basic positions in an organized manner. Sec­
ondly, as means of evaluating the degree to which the essen­
tial knowledge has been obtained. While most of the book
focuses on presenting the key positions that form the founda­
tion for chess mastery, other important material is included
as well, such as in the chapters on practical chess strategy
and opening strategy. The overall organization of the book is:

• Chapter 2: Practical Chess Strategy and The Art of War.

Timeless strategic principles and their application to com­
petitive chess.
• Chapter 3: Essential Endgame Knowledge. Endgame posi­
tions that are part of essential chess knowledge.
• Chapter 4: Essential Middlegame Knowledge. Middlegame
positions that are part of essential chess knowledge and
includes classical games from which these middlegame
positions arise.
• Chapter 5: Essent�al Opening Strategy. The most impor­
tant things to accomplish during the opening.
• Chapter 6: The Economics of Chess as a Career. For play­
ers considering a career in chess, this chapter describes
what to expect in terms of the financial aspects of such a
career choice.
• Chapter 7: Recommended References. Other books to which
the reader can refer for detailed explanations of many of
the positions presented in Chapters 3 and 4.
 Chapter 2

Practical Chess Strategy

and
The Art of War

Clever is not he who wins, but he who wins easily. Sun Tzu

These words were written by the Chine.s e military strategist,

Sun Tzu, around the year 500 B. C. in his book, The Art Q/War,
which is the oldest known military treatise.
Mastery of chess requires more than just knowledge. Chess
is also a contest, and to be successful in a contest, one must
be guided by a strategy and a set of principles. There are many
books on the subject of chess strategy, and we are not so bold
as to believe that we have a better understanding of strategy
as to attempt to add to the existing material. So we will rely
on General Sun Tzu to explain the essential elements of strat­
egy, and will attempt only to reflect his teachings in a light
appropriate to chess.
Sun Tzu defined five essential elements for victory, each
of which has a practical interpretation for chess:

1. He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.

There are two interpretations relevant to chess players. First, in

deciding to launch an attack, the chess equivalent of hand-to­
hand combat, one must adhere to the dictates of the position on
the board. Only if an attack is warranted by the situation on the
board should an attack be initiated. Second, in chess we can
decide not to fight by accepting, or offering, a draw. While pri­
mary consideration must be given to the situation on the chess
board, other factors should be considered as well, such as our,
or our opponent's, looming time pressure, our general energy
level, our standing in the tournament, and even the implica-
 GM-RAM
tions a draw in the current round may have for pairings in the
next round.
2. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior
forces. The superiority or inferiority may manifest itself in chess
in either material or positional considerations. A player must be
able to convert the full point from a technically winning posi­
tion. At the same time, one must be able to put up maximum
resistance in defending a difficult position or one with a mate­
rial deficit.
3. He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit through­
out all its ranks. In chess, this means that the pieces must be
deployed such that they support each other in attack or defense.
But more than this, the spirit and confidence of the player must
be strong, for this strength is essential to create the will to win.
4. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy un­
prepared. Here we can think in terms of two kinds of prepara­
tion. First there is the preparation that is done at home before a
tournament. This includes mental and physical conditioning, in
addition to working on one's games and p·reparing for likely op­
ponents. And then there is the preparation that takes place once
the game is underway. Here we can speak in terms of position­
ing our forces for attack or defense. A player can defeat his op­
ponent either by attacking when the opponent does not have an
adequate defense prepared, or by encouraging the opponent to
launch an improperly prepared attack against our prepared de­
fenses.
5. He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with
by the sovereign. There are two meaningful interpretations of
this principle. First, we can think of the sovereign as the King on
the board. A vulnerable King has been the downfall of many a
player. One must always be mindful of the safety of one's King,
and when the King is not safely tucked away, must review pos­
sible combinations carefully to be sure that an untimely check
by the opponent will not cause the complete unraveling of one's
game. Second, we can think of the King on the board merely as
the General, and the Player himself as the sovereign. There are
many ways in which the player can interfere with his own suc­
cess: becoming distracted, taking smoking breaks during the game,
moving too fast in the opponent's time pressure, forgetting one's

16
 Practical Chess Strategy and The Art of War
own clock, and so on. Any such interference can cause the player's
downfall, and as such must be avoided.

On the subject of knowing yourself and your opponent,

Sun Tzu said,

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not
Jear the result qf a hundred battles. If you know yourself but
not the enemy,for every victory gained you will also stiffer a
difeat. !f you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will
succumb in every battle. "

This has very clear application to chess. To know your­

self, the objective study of your own games is very important.
In what types positions do you excel? Do you tend to overlook
certain kinds of tactical opportunities? In what types of posi­
tions are you uncomfortable? What kinds of weaknesses can
be detected in your play? At what point in a game do you
begin to get tired and make mistakes caused by fatigue?
To know your opponent, you must be able to answer the
same questions applied to your opponent. Careful study of
your opponents' games is invaluable, and it is essential at
the highest levels of competition. Perhaps the best example of
application of this principle to chess is evidenced by Alekhine's
192 7 victory in his World Championship challenge to Capa­
blanca. Alekhine was renowned for his deep combinations and
his ability to excel in complicated positions, while Capablanca
was an intuitive genius who scored many points in relatively
simple positions. Capablanca, upon finding a move he liked,
would often play it without giving further consideration to
other alternatives. Typically, this approach led to victory for
Capablanca. But Alekhine, on studying Capablanca's games,
discovered that often Capablanca would not play the very best
move. With many pieces on the board, playing the second best
move will often have little consequence. However, as the ma­
terial is reduced, the effective use of each remaining piece
grows in relative importance, and a small error is more likely
to have direct bearing on the outcome of the game. Having
gained this knowledge and understanding, Alekhine stunned

17
 GM·RAM
many in the chess world by rejecting the highly complicated
positions that might give rise to opportunities for one of his
famed combinations, and instead sought positions with re­
duced material, whereby small errors by Capablanca could be
more readily exploited. And in this manner, Alekhine did wrest
the World Championship title from Capablanca by a score of 6
wins to 3, with 25 draws.
The story of Alekhine's defeat of Capablanca also helps
explain what Sun Tzu meant when he wrote,

��what the ancients called a cleverfighter is one who not

on{y wins, but excels in winning with ease... He wins his
battles by making no mistakes. Making no mistakes is what
establishes the certaint;y of victory, for it means conquering
an enemy that is already difeated. "

It also helps explain the large number of draws, as Ale­

khine was content to draw game after game, seeking his op­
portunities in those games where he could win by his match
strategy, as articulated above.
On the timing of an attack, Sun Tzu said,

��The control of a large force is the same in principle as

the control Q/afew men: it is mere{y a question Q/dividing up
their numbers... In battle, however, there are not more than
two methods of attacje-the direct and the indirect,· yet these
two in combination give rise to an endless series qf maneu­
vers.. . that General is skillful in attack whose opponent does
not know what to difend; and he is skillful in difense whose
opponent does not know what to attack. .. ifyou are situated
at a great distancefrom the enemy, and the strength Q/ the
two armies is equal, it is not easy to provoke a battle, and
fighting will be to your disadvantage... if we know that the
enemy is open to attack, but are unaware that our own men
are not in a condition to attack, we have gone on{y halfway
towards victory."

Of course, as Alekhine demonstrated, in chess there is

less margin for error when dealing with a small force than

18
 Practical Chess Strategy and The Art of War

with a larger one. But a player who excels in handling posi­

tions with few pieces will find that their knowledge also ben­
efits them in situations with most of the material still on the
board. And in fact, knowing how to control a few men will
allow a player to confidently make appropriate exchanges in
more complex positions.
In his explanation of attack, Sun Tzu recognized that there
were infinite possibilities for conducting the attack. For all
practical purposes, this is also true in chess. The indirect at­
tack deals with positioning one's forces, in gaining space, and
in preparing decisive breakthroughs. The opponent must be
alert to, and parry, all such indirect threats in order to be
ready when the direct attack is finally launched. The more
subtle the attacking motif, or the more threats that can be
created simultaneously, the more difficult it will be for the
opponent to mount an adequate defense.
And of course, Sun Tzu recognized that in certain cir­
cumstances, to launch an attack would be ill-advised ("If you
are situated at a great distance from the enemy, and the strength
of the two armies is equal, it is not easy to provoke a battle,
and fighting will be to your disadvantage."). This describes
very well the situation at the beginning of a game of chess.
How often have we seen an inexperienced chess player launch
a premature attack with his Queen right out of the opening,
and subsequently find himself in a very difficult situation?
Later in the game, it can be more difficult to judge the appro­
priateness of an atta�k, particularly when we see a weakness
in our opponent's position (" . .. the enemy is open to attack,
but [we] are unaware that our own men are not in a condition
to attack ... "). To be confident of success, our own forces must
be adequately prepared for the attack, as well as for defend­
ing against the opponent's likely counterattack.
It is important to keep in mind that any explanation of
strategy cannot possibly be complete. Especially one from over
2000 years ago. Thus, each player must interpret the words
of Sun Tzu in a way that is meaningful to them. Since the
essential knowledge of chess is common to all students, this
personal interpretation of strategy will in turn become an
important part of a chess player's unique style.
 Chapter 3

Essential Endgame Knowledge

his chapter covers the key endgame positions that are part
T of essential chess knowledge. Only the most elementary
positions are left out (such as Queen or Rook against a lone
King).
Consider the following examples that give the feel for the
required knowledge. First, one must know when a small change
in position leads to a completely different outcome. In the
simplest positions, small changes have little meaning, and
the correct ideas remain unchanged. This is illustrated by the
following two classic examples.

Rook and Pawn versus Rook

with attacking King in front of the Pawn (not Rook Pawn)

In most cases, positions of this type are a win for White,

regardless of whose move it is. This is known as the Lucena
position, named for the 15th century Spanish player who first
wrote about it. Characteristic of the Lucena position is the
white pawn on the 7th rank and the King in front of it, while
the black King is cut off by one file. This is one of the most
basic R + P endgame positions. It is important to understand

20