Hello Chess Lovers,
Today I want to explore a bit of philosophy with you in order to make a certain approach to
playing black more accessible and easily understood. Firstly I will explain how I reached this point.
From the mid nineties to now, I was always in search of lateral thought as far as finding new insights into
the game were concerned. Just as military commanders read the Art of War I wanted to find something else that would help me with this ancient war game. When I encountered Mark Bowen, an extremely well read young man in 1995 I realised he had a breadth of knowledge which encompassed ninjitsu and an exploration of tai chi.
I realised that different chess players manifested a certain energy on the chess board.
Fast forward to 2006 England. GM Rowson wrote the wonderful book Chess for Zebras.In that book
at page 141 he digressed unto the subject of chess and taosim.Taoism is a philosophy and religion built around the teachings of Lao Tzu in the 6th century and it advocated a harmonious coexistence with nature and natural events. Two forms of energy were in a constant state of flux- Yang (male) energy which is active and
often initiates projects and missions and then there was ying (female) energy which was a receptive energy which in real life could be interpreted to absorb, adapt and to let things happen without sweating too much.
So how does this all relate to chess. Well as GM Rowson has put it, many players believe they should be active all the time, hence the pseudo active moves which end up nowhere after the opponent defends himself.
In chess we often switch between the active "yang" mode and the receptive "ying" mode. Then there is the concept of "Wu-Wei" which involves minimizing energy at the board and absorbing events and letting things happen. This requires a wholly different type of thinking. It is the kind of thinking that anticipates.
Now, how does this apply to playing black. Well I read some of the new literature by Rowson and Watson
and one black advantage is information gathering advantage. By virtue of awaiting the moves white black anticipates white's ideas. White has to show his move first.
Now I wish to give an example of this starting with one of the greatest "Taoists" in chess history: Capablanca. I believe that Capablanca invented the "chillled out" style of playing black. A style which simply involved anticipation and absorption of the energy of the player using the white pieces then gradually taking over.
Nimzovtich vs Capablanca New York 1927
1.e4c6 2.d4d5 3.e5Bf5 - I believe Karpov was heavily influenced by this game. 4.Bd3?! this move allows black an easier time in th opening. Short began the intense movement to 4.Nf3 and 5.Be2.The point is that the bishop should be left on the "active" square in order to be attacked later on.
4....Bd3 5.Qd3e6 6.Nc3Qb6 7.Ne2c5 8.dc5 because Nimzovitch played Nc3 he preferred to surrender the
pawn centre.
8..Bc5 9.0-0Ne7 10.Na4Qc6 11.Nc5Qc5 12.Be3Qc7 13.f4?! The start of white trying to exert "yang" energy.The problem with this is that the dark squares are weakened and the f4 square becomes vulnerable to attack later on.
13...Nf5 14.c3Nc6 15.Rd1g6 and now a f4-f5 push will be harder. 16.g4!? more yang energy white believes he has to "do something" Ne3 17.Qe3h5! Capablanca is poised to open the h-file.
18.g5- A critical moment. This change in the pawn structure means that the f5 square is a nice piece of real estate for black. It also means that in an ending the f4 point will become a pressure point. Note that all Capablanca has done so far is develop and respond to each of these f and g pawn pushes by white.
18....0-0 19.Nd4Qb6 20.Rf2Rfc8 21.a3?! This is the first sign that Nimzovitch is running out of things to do.
He wants to ensure that there is no attack on a2 and of course he need to "do something".
21....Rc7 22.Rd3Na5 and now black pursues a light square strategy. 23.Re2Re8!? A mysterious move
which I believe is simply an information gathering move before it goes to c8.
24.Kg2Nc6 25.R2d2 (Not the Star Wars robot) Rc8 26.Re2Ne7 27.R2d2 this is the sign that white has now run out of ideas. Now the yang energy is used by black.
27...Rc4 28.Qh3Kg7 29.Rf2a5!? Black is poised to take ownership of b3 and to exchange on b4 should white push the b-pawn. That is an example of thinking in anticipation of something.
30.Re2Nf5 31.Nf5gf5This exchange leads to the change in the dynamic of the struggle.
It is now black that exerts "yang" energy. 32.Qf3Kg6! the King gets involved. 33.R2d2Re4
34.R3d4Rc4 35.Qf2Qb5 36.Kg3Rcd4 37.cd4Qc4 and now black has two targets : the pawns on d4 and f4 and the white King.
38.Kg2b5 39.Kg1b4 now white cannot obstruct the c-file with a rook on c3. 40.ab4ab4 41.Kg2Qc1
And Capablanca prepares an attack on f4 and on the white king.
42.Kg3Qh1 43.Rd3Re1! 44.Rf3Rd1 ...probing. 45.b3Rc1 46.Re3?Rf1 and white resigned in view of ...Rg2.
0-1
I believe that this game had a massive impact on players like Karpov and Seirawan and later Kramnik and
Jobava as well Arkell. Now to the crucial moments of the game :
4.Bd3 -made life easier for black. a potentially lethal white piece was exchanged.
13.f4 and 16.g4 were commital moves which openned up the white king position greatly.
After white pushed g4-g5, white could push no more.This is where the ying yang polarity in the game changed so black was gradually taking over. The last exchange of minor pieces meant that the heavy pieces had no problem infiltrating white's position. Capablanca did not over exert himself in the opening. However that
is not to say that he was alert to the changes in the pawn structure. I recommend going over this game in some detail.The top GMs all learned from this "Taoist" of the black pieces.
Blessings
John
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