The question is often asked by beginners: "What do I do when there's nothing to do?" In other words, "I can't attack anything; there are no winning tactics; now what?" The answer is: strategy. Now is the time to jockey for position, to improve the position and mobility of your pieces, to maneuver. This is sometimes called positional play. I am far from being an expert on positional play. If I were, I would win a lot more often! So to illustrate the basic ideas, I've chosen a game that was annotated in Chess Life magazine by Grandmaster Gabriel Schwartzman, and I have tailored my notes around his comments. The game is Karpov vs. Kamsky (FIDE World Championship, 1996). Anatoly Karpov was the reigning FIDE World Champion at the time and is widely regarded as one of the best positional players in chess. Gata Kamsky, the challenger, prefers a more tactical style of play, although he, too, is an excellent strategical player. (You don't get to be a grandmaster without being.)
1. d4 Nf6Karpov has begun with the more positional 1. d4. Kamsky countered not with 1...d5, which tends to lead to a highly positional struggle, but with an "Indian" defense, which tends to be more tactical. Each player is attempting to steer the game into lines that suit his own style.
2. c4 g6Karpov has established his central pawn duo, although somewhat "off center." This is typical in the queen's pawn openings. Kamsky has continued with his "Indian" opening, which typically involves fianchettoing one or both bishops, i.e, playing the bishop to g7 or b7 after moving forward a square with the knight's pawn. This hypermodern approach, as it is called, puts the bishop on the longest diagonal on the board.
3. Nc3 d5In the hypermodern openings, black generally avoids an immediate confrontation in the center, but sooner or later he must challenge white's center. Kamsky has opted for the Gruenfeld Defense, which challenges the center rather earlier than most hypermodern defenses do.
4. Nf3 Bg7Karpov has continued to calmly build his position rather than going for the more tactical Exchange Variation with 4. cxd5. Kamsky has fianchettoed his king's bishop. This bishop will achieve maximum power if Kamsky can give it an open diagonal to overlook.
5. Qb3 dxc4White's aim here was to pressure black into exchanging his center pawn and, thus, making a positional concession. Experience has shown that black will have to exchange sooner or later. Kamsky opted to do so sooner.
6. Qxc4 O-OBlack wisely has shuttled his king to safety before the center opens up.
7. e4 Nc6White has achieved a true central pawn duo and dominates in the center. Thus, he has the positional advantages of space and mobility. Black has continued his development, moving each piece only once, and attempting to put pressure on white's center with pieces rather than pawns.
8. Be2 Bg4White has cleared the way for castling. Black has continued to pressure white's center. The knight on f3 is a key defender of the d4 center pawn, and black is now threatening to take it out of the action.
9. Be3 Bxf3White has defended with a developing move. Black has opted to exchange his bishop for white's knight. This will significantly alter the strategy of the game. Generally, bishops are stronger when diagonals are open for them, while knights are stronger in positions that are blocked up with pawns. White, having the two bishops, will now strive to keep lines open for them. Black will attempt to achieve good outpost squares for his knights in a more closed position.
10. Bxf3 e5Of course, white has recaptured with the bishop and not with the g-pawn, which would have fractured his pawn structure as well as his king's hiding place. Black has attempted to force white to put pawns on light squares and, thus, severely limit the mobility of his light-squared bishop.
11. d5 Nd4Karpov has chosen the lesser of two evils by advancing the pawn. The mobility of the f3 bishop is now terribly restricted. At the same time, he has avoided opening a line through the center, where his king is still sitting. He has also avoided opening the long diagonal for black's fianchettoed bishop. Black, on the other hand, would love nothing more than to open the center and get a crack at the white king. This is the essence of positional play: develop, maximize mobility and space while minimizing that of your opponent, and put your pieces where they radiate power while preventing your opponent from doing so.
12. Bd1 ...Karpov has played so as to preserve the two bishops. If the position opens up, this will be a significant positional advantage. He has also defended against black's threatened knight fork on c2. (Did you see it?) Notice also that 12. Bxd4 exd4 13. Qxd4 fails to 13...Nxe4 with the discovered attack on the white queen. If 14. Qxe4?? Re8 pins the white queen to the white king, which has lingered in the center.
12... b5An aggressive attempt to drive away defenders of the center pawns. Black has concentrated his energies right where they need to be: on breaking up white's strong center.
13. Nxb5 Nxe4White has wisely (and finally!) whisked his king away to safety. Now 14. Nxd4 exd4 15. Bxd4 does not win a pawn because of 15...Qg5 with a fork on g2 and d2 (with a mate threat)--the price of keeping your king in the center too long!
14... a6There is still a fork after 15. Nxd4 exd4 16. Bxd4. Do you see it? 16...Nd2. Positional play is all well and good, but you have to keep an eye out for tactics, too.
15... Nd6White's center pawn has been immobilized, and with tempo to boot. Both sides have weak (isolated) pawns, a positional weakness. White has more space and mobility, and he has kept the position open to the advantage of his two bishops. Both black knights are well posted. Taking the knight on d4 would mean opening the long diagonal for black's bishop.
16. Qd3 Qh4This move weakens the light squares around white's king, a positional disadvantage. However, black no longer has a light-squared bishop, so he will find this weakness hard to exploit. White does have a light-squared bishop, which can be brought to the defense of the king if necessary.
17... Qh3White has decided to give up the two bishops in order to eliminate black's very strongly posted knight. This will also allow the maneuver Bf3 and Bg2, should it become necessary. Karpov must have felt uncomfortable having the black queen peeking in the window of his king's castle, and who could blame him?
18... exd4Black has found a clever way to defend the attacked d4 pawn by counterattacking white's undefended queen.
20. Nf4 Rfb8In the absence of anything better, black has made a positional move, placing his rook on a square where it radiates power down a semi-open file.
21. Qxf5 Nxf5Karpov must have figured that after the exchange of queens he would have an advantage in the endgame. He's usually an infallible judge of such things, so who am I to argue?
22. Nd3 Bh6Both sides have continued to maneuver. White blockaded the black center pawn, which also keeps the long diagonal closed, while at the same time protecting b2. Black placed the c1 square under attack, so that white's rook cannot go there and put pressure on black's weak c7 pawn, and he has also found a happier diagonal for his bishop. Always scrapping over even the tiniest positional advantage, these grandmasters!
23. Re1 a5White has mobilized his rook by placing it on an open file. Black has also increased the reach of his rook on a8 and has given it a route into the game.
24. Bg4 Nd6Black has played so as to avoid an exchange that would rip apart his kingside pawn structure and leave him with terrible pawn weaknesses in the endgame.
25. Re2 a4Black's a-pawn is weak (isolated), and white has now fixed it on a square where it can be attacked by the white bishop and also cannot be defended by black's bishop. In doing so, he has left his b-pawn backward and weak, but he must have calculated that the advantage he gained outweighed the disadvantage.
26... Ra5One weak pawn has been traded for another. Black scurried back with his rook to protect the a-pawn before white could put his rook behind it, attacking it from the rear. The game appears to be winding down to a draw.
29. Bf3 ...Here we see the very essence of positional play once again. What was there for white to do? There was nothing dramatic, so Karpov calmly moved his bishop onto the long diagonal where it has maximum mobility and power. To quote Schwartzman, "Without anything spectacular, by simply arranging his pieces on the best squares, he succeeds in building up the advantage."
29... Bg5Kamsky has offered to exchange a weak rook for a strong one. Rather than give up control of the c-file, Karpov will oblige.
31. Rxc8 Nxc8Karpov has continued to place his pieces where they do the most good while limiting the options for black. In effect, the pawn move said to the black bishop, "Pick a diagonal, buddy."
33. Rc1 Nd6Nothing dramatic here either. Karpov has simply prepared to activate his king when it is needed in the endgame. Small steps, but important ones.
34... Be7Both sides have begun to activate their kings for the coming endgame struggle.
36. Rc7 Bf6The players were approaching the first time control here. Karpov stepped back and forth with his king a couple times to gain a minute on the clock. In time pressure, Kamsky has stumbled. He has left the c4 square unguarded, and Karpov will surely take the opportunity to place his rook so that it pressures both of black's weak pawns. It may seem like a small thing, but against a player of Karpov's calibre it was a fatal mistake.
39. Rc4 Nd6Black has done his best to keep white's pieces out. The rook move defends c6 against the white bishop. But the white pieces are too mobile for black's defenses.
41. Nc5 Ra7Black must have been desperate for counterplay, and he is going for all of it he can get!
44. Nb6 Bg7Evading a knight fork at d7.
45. a4 Ra1Rooks belong behind passed pawns. This goes for the defender as well as the attacker. White's connected passed pawns were too strong, however, and they decided the game.
46. Nd7+ Ke8The sign of a good positional player is that his pieces always seem to be right where they are needed. Karpov has demonstrated this perfectly in the last several moves.
50... f5Kamsky was desperately seeking some kingside counterplay, but watch how Karpov frustrated him at every turn. It's a masterful demonstration, which I suppose is why Karpov is called a grandmaster.
51. Rb6 Bh6Black has opened a line for his bishop, but it still has very little to do. There is still opportunity for white to blunder, however. Here, 55. Kc2?? would surely have been met by 55...Rd2+, winning the knight.
55... Rh1Kamsky has won a pawn on the kingside and created a passed h-pawn there, but it is too little too late.
57. Bd5 resignsKamsky realized that he could not stop Karpov's queenside passed pawns. His own passed pawn was no danger, however, as white's bishop kept the promotion square in it's sights. Material is dead even, but white has a commanding positional advantage.
There are no more lessons, so...
Return to CHESS CLUB MAIN PAGE