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Fide June 2016 - Skembris
Fide June 2016 - Skembris
Fide June 2016 - Skembris
Athens 1985
Fighting for the center 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2
00 6.Nf3 e5 7.00 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1
As a young player I was lucky to have the Nd7 10.Nd3 f5 11.f3 Nf6
chance to work with the famous trainer Dr. A good prophylactic move would be
Minev who came to Greece as the National 11...Kh8!?
Trainer. Together with the other young 12.c5!?
talented Greek players of those times I An interesting but at those times
learned very sound bases of positional practically unknown move. The idea is to
understanding from Dr. Minev. Among the keep the center flexible so Black can not
advices he gave us I remember that he easily get his typical kingside attack.
explained to us that in order to get good 12.Bd2 was the main line.
chances in the middle game we had to 12...c6!?
follow three golden rules in the opening: This came as a surprise to me. GM Eduard
1) Safe piece development, Gufeld was a well-known expert of the
2) Safe king position, King's Indian, so for sure he did not try this
3) Fighting for the center. unusual way of fighting for the center
These rules might sound trivial, but since I without a reason.
am a trainer myself I have seen many not XIIIIIIIIY
so experienced players, who tend to learn
the opening moves without really 9r+lwq-trk+0
understanding the ideas behind it. So when 9zpp+-sn-vlp0
they are faced with surprising moves
which need a different kind of reaction and
9-+pzp-snp+0
lead to a different kind of position they 9+-zPPzpp+-0
often lose their way. 9-+-+P+-+0
I believe that it is important for a trainer
working with a student also to look at these 9+-sNN+P+-0
other rare possibilities to give a clearer 9PzP-+L+PzP0
understanding of the position and the goals
we are playing for. This is why I have
9tR-vLQ+RmK-0
chosen three games all arising from the xiiiiiiiiy
Kings Indian which feature quite 13.Qb3!
unusual middlegame fights for the center After the game Gufeld said that he
which lead to different kinds of pawn underestimated this move.
structures than we are used to see in this 13...Kh8?!
opening. Better was 13...cd5 and now 14.Bg5!?
In the classical Kings Indian set-up (14.ed5 f4, with chances for both; 14.Be3
Blacks goal usually is to keep the center Be6 15.cd6 Qd6 16.Bc5,with an unclear
closed and attack on the kingside. But is it game) 14...fe4 15.fe4 dc5 16.Nc5 Qb6
also possible for Black to try to open the (16...b6 17.ed5) 17.Qb6 ab6 18.N5a4 d4
center? We will see it in the following 19.Nb6.
game. 14.Be3
Trusting my opponent I decided to go for
safe development, but maybe better was
the direct 14.cd6!? Qd6 15.f4! Nd7
(15...Ne4 16.fe5) 16.fe5 Ne5 17.Bf4 g5
(17...fe4 18.Ne4 Qd5 19.Be5 Rf1 20.Rf1
Conclusion:
Of course such games with unusual center
fights can be found in many other
openings, and every trainer can have his
own collection. In any case it is good to
study also rare ideas, especially if they lead
to different structures, in order to really get
the spirit of the position. Understanding the
different ways of fighting for the center is
a big step for the student to get a better
positional understanding of these middle
game positions. I want to add a kind of
joke which I used to tell to my students: If
you are sitting at a long table with a lot of
friends and lots of small dishes on the
table, you will have a much better chance
to get the best food if you are situated
somewhere in the center of the table - you
can reach the dishes left, right and in the
middle!