Teel: aT WSSU how players (le Ok TL} PaO ee] a Me Ld EVERYMAN CHESS “’Acoe AAaGAARDCopyrighted Material First published in 2004 by Gloucester Publishers ple (formerly Everyman Publishers ple), Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London ECT OAT Copyright © 2004 Jacob Aagaard. ‘The right of Jacob Aagaard to be identified as the author of this work has been as serted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act L988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication m: system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostan tape, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher, \ be reproduced, stored in a retrieval , Magneuc British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data rd for this book is available trom the British | ibrary A catalogue re ISBN 1 85744 357 8 Distributed in North America by The Globe Pequot Press, P.O Box 480, 246 Goose Lane, Guilford, CT 064374480. All other sales enquiries should be directed to Everyman Chess, Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London ECLV OAT tel: 020 7253 THR87 fax: 0207490 3708 email: info@everymanche: website: www.everymanehe com com Lveryman is the registered trade mark of Random House Inc. and is used in this work under license fram Random House Inc EVERYMAN CHESS SERIES (formerly Chief advisor: Garry Kasparov Commissioning editor: Byron Jacobs logan Chess) ‘Typeset and edited by First Rank Publishing, Brighton. Cover design by Horatio Monteverde. Production by Navigator Guides, Printed and bound in the United States by Versa Pre: Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material CONTENTS Introduction 1 The Test Positions 2 ‘The Participants 3. Test Position 1 4 Test Position 2 Test Position 3 6 — Test Position 4 7 ‘Test Position 5 8 Test Position 6 est Position 7 10 Test Position 8 t Position 9 est Position 10 13 What can we learn from the Tests? Copyrighted Material Wy 29 39 50 60Copyrighted Material Inside the Chess Mind has ever been done before. It has, The Dutch psychologist and chess fan Adnaan de Groot tested a lot of top che the age groups), This led to different conclusions, which it is logical to relate to. Bur then we are already ar the second consideration, What kind of book would 1 like to write, ane with that comes: what kind oF book would [personally liked to read, had | nor disposed of my last name in favour of my middle name at the age of s players in the late 30's and early 40’s (the decades, nor 12 (which would have meant that someone eke would have been asked to write the book). I quickly came to the conclusion that a scientificall really something that inter diversity T expected in the tests, originating from the test subjec ties, age, idiosynerasies and backgrounds. This is what | have tried to bring into the ly as possible while still making sense; y-oriented book was not ested me. What fascinated me about this project was the ” different personali book by quoting the players as prec! ©. avoid- ing redundancy and less coherent ta guage into written language. Still, though this book should be seen mostly as.an ther ha confused as a twelve-vear-ald boy basic questions and conclusions along the way. The main conclusion of the expetiment as such. It almost instantly became obvious to me that the selection king or, in other words, changing spoken lan- pirical study — where the au- If messed up and ina nudist colony — there has been some room for allowed the material to take its own form, and found hims the limitation of exercises could have been cleverer and more rounded. Also, that in order to make any conclusions of scientific value, more tests would have been needed. Probably the best way would have been to do the tests at least three times (though maybe with dif ferent exercises from time to time), allowing the possibility of reshaping the tests based on the conclusions of the first set of results. For practical reasons this was not possible, mainly because it w Heine Niclsen and Artur Yusupow to: participate even on them to participate almost regularly would simply have been impossible — and inde- s hard t summon the guts to ask people like Peter in the testing, Asking cent, would never fully Another important conclusion was that performance in the tests correspond with the actual playing strength of the different participants. (This goes ‘ty of form on the day.) Practical use of and knowledge about opening theory does not play a great part in the testing (mainly because, a author of many opening book: tendency to be represented enough in my writing already); neither does the ability ro see simple tactics, nor the psycho- logical aspect of the game; minor piece endings and pawn endings are not repre- sented; chaotic positions are simply absent; closed positions also did not get a beyond the obvious div an the subject has representation here (mainly beeause | had decided to give a solution to all exercises ny decent about a closed position). ‘Thar nd a weakness. It is certain and would not have been able to write anyth every position has a final solution is both a strength strength for the book as a reading experience, but it does influence the comparative player value of the exereises, as this greatly favours the logical player over the (Peter Heine Nielsen vs. Artur Yusupow could be mentioned) 6 Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material fntroduction What is very important for me to stress — Silence now, Shut that book and listen, Hey! Open it again, I was just kidding — is thar the exerci pe rive pov, or Skovgaard against Skoygaard is not really interesting, as it would in no way teflect how these people would do in a real over-the-board game, The strength of a plaver in a fluent situation is not the same as that of the test room, The positions will naturally appeal more to some than others, and concentration level will not be that of the tournament hall for everyone. Talking into a microphone might deer ties of one and increase the ability of another. Whar /r interesting is to examine the thought process itself, and try to judge when it is successful and when it is unsuccessful, and why. Not thar there will be an answer on how best to think, or a certain algorithm to follow. There simply cannot be, as nd reservations, this is a book about chess as the sport of the mind. It is a deep study of ten positions of different origin and character, and an insight into what different chess players of different strength have thought about them, ‘This can be used as infotainment or even as a mir- tor to the reader, who is of course invited to do the exercises himself. Rather than giving answers, this book scts out to pose questions. Rather than to teach and preach a truth, this book is intelligent. Rather than being scientific or in- structional, this book wants to inspire and communicate, Chess is a game of beautiful complexity, evolved to give the most possible meaning to our many-sided i tion, as well as the greatest possible challenge to our minds, Chess thinking is the sence of chess as an art and as a competitive sport. It is where we can be rewarded for our attempts to grasp the depth of this artistic combinatorial mathematics with mo- ments of clarity and revelation. This book is dedicated in great gratitude to its heroes: the people who were brave enough to open up their minds for the rest of us to gain some insight inte the diver- sity of chess thinking. re not meant to be com- any way. To judge the performance of Peter Heine Nielsen against Yusu- se the abili~ there is no single answer. But with all its imperfections $ Jacob Aagaard, Copenhagen, May 2004, Copyrighted Material 7Copyrighted Material CHAPTER ONE The Test Positions The following ten positions will be dis- cu ves af this book by chess players at all levels. But first you have the chance to compare sed for the next 150 pa your own findings with those of GMs Peter Heine Nielsen and Artur Yusupov, , Dr. Ive Timmermans, Pie 8 115, and several as well as those of IM Jesper I other really nice and. smart people who play chess at different levels and who were kind enough to help me with th little project. The best method would probably be Wo try to solve the exereises in exaetly the hi this you necd to have a tape recorder or same fashion as they did. In order to do recordable minidisk, or just a micro phone inserted into a computer. In case the you, you can of course jot down and the most important main lines on a piece of paper, Only for lity check is of less importance to nici dare moves ‘Test Position 2 you need to have opposi- tion of some kind: either a frend who can use the comments in this book to play the strongest reply to almost any move you can came up with, or maybe more realistically, by playing the position inst a strong chess-playing program such as Fite 8 Here the computer ds to should be given at least 10 se come up with an answer, but not much more than that. That is if your computer has 256 Mb RAM a h slower, then give it more time. If you do nd a processor of ar ast 1000 MHz, If your computer is not own a computer you ean ty the ald trick with a piece of paper and the solu- tions. 1 would recommend that you do all the te s before proceeding with the book, as did the subjects, though the order in which you do them is com- pletely continuous thought process: you will be not starting from To complete the test irrelevant. ‘This will give a more concentrated and seratch cach tim will take somewhere around three hours all in all ‘The main reasons for doing these exercises as a is that, if you ions with un- have not faced these pest certainty yourself, it will be very difficult to associate with the challenges and diffi culties of the participants in this experi- ment, The danger is that you will then find it less valuable to go through their a Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material The Test Positions differently structured thought process ‘The second best option is that you look at the positions and then follow the thought processes of the participants in order to learn more about the position as you go along, In both cases it is highhy important thal you refrain from looking ai the solutions to the different exercises before you actually get to that part of the book, The eyes that see do structure the world, just as far as the world exists and is thereby wit 4 Imagine that you do not know the rules ‘of chess and then try to look at the board without seeing possible moves, but only chunks of wood. It should not be possi ble. Or that you do not see possible cap- tures, You cannot unleam the rules of in the structures w chess or fonget how to take a piece, iqually, only with the a you be able to forget the solutions, the positions anew. stance of time and be able to me: But it would be strange to go through the solutions to the 10 exercises and then put the book away in a drawer for three years before you continue reading it. So why not forget about looking at the solutions for now, and take a trip into. the unknown together with these won- derful and intelligent and highly different people, who have been so kind as to look at these exercises and share their thought processes, well aware of the mis- takes they were bound to commit. Without further ado, let us turn to the different positions, Copyrighted Material gCopyrighted Material inside the Chess Mind Test Position 1 Test Position 3 White to move. Take 5 minutes to find the strongest continuation, talking into a microphone or writing down your thoughts afterwards. Test Position 2 White to play. Take 7 minutes to find the strongest continuation, talking into a or writing atterwards. muicrupho down your thoughts Test Position 4 White to move, ‘Take 30° minutes and ply the white position as if it was a game and you had 30 minutes to the end of the gar friend who i: in this book, ‘ chess-playing program like [rilg: a computer ke 10 minutes to king into a microphone or writing down your White to move. T: find the strongest continuation, thoughts afterwards, 10 Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material The Test Positions Test Position 5 Test Position 7 Black to move. ‘Take 6 minutes to find White to move. Take 5 minutes to the strongest continuation, talking into a find the strongest continuation, talking microphone or writing down your into. a microphone or writing down your thoughts afterwards. thoughts afterwards. Test Position 6 Test Position 8 White to move. Take 8 minutes to Black to move. Take 12 minutes to find the strongest continuation, talking find the strongest continuation, talking into a microphone or writing down your into a microphone or writing down your thoughts afterwards. thoughts afterwards. Copyrighted Material m7Inside the Chess Mind Copyrighted Material Test Position 9 Test Position 10 Black to move. ‘Take 10 minutes to White to move. Find the strongest find the strongest continuation, talking — continuation, Do this talking to a micro- into a microphone or writing down your — phone or ing notes on a piece of pa- thoughts afterwards, per at cmely intervals. ake the time you find necessary and write it down too. 172 Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material CHAPTER TWO The Participants Grandmaster Artur Yusupov Artur is originally from Moscow, but wife and his nwo chil- dren, a 12-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy, in Weissenhorn in southern Ger- many. He Breatest achievement in life to be becoming a ther to his children, but in chess reach- ing the semi-final of the candidates tour- nament on three separate occasions. His now lives with considers his best world ranking was 3rd, in 1986, af- ter Kasparov and Karpov. He used to be a professional chess player, but these days he calls himself a professional trainer — probably! At the age of 43 he has an Elo rating of 2589 and is ranked 7th in Germany and 142 in the world (as of January Ist 2004). According to this author, this mainly due to his peaceful nature and lowered ambitions; Yusupov is still a y strong player, During the testing Yusupow was calm and focused, scratching his legendary big red beard, mumbling out phrases in Eng- lish, often with Russian syntax. His atti- tude towards the test was generally very of adventure. ve relaxed and full ‘l no longer consider myself a professional player, he would say, ‘I no longer do any training and 1 am no longer in top shape.’ To the fact that he had recently departed from FIDE’s top 100 list, he exclaimed: “What a relief! Now I no longer have to worry about such sill things as rating.” Testing Yusupov was a very pleasant experience, except for a most unfortu- during the fourth test posi- tion the microphone broke. The failure nate featu to the microphone was minor, but suffi- cient to ruin the taping, This was only discovered some days after the test had finished and the poor writer had few choices at his disposal: One was to completely disregard the participation of this, the most famous of participants. Definitely not fair to the readers, though it would save the au- thor’s face. Another was to rearrange the test, hypnotise the German grandmaster and make him lose all recollection of the po- sitions and do the test all over. Unfortu- nately the writer did not pos the abilities required for this Harry Potter Copyrighted Material LiaCopyrighted Material inside the Chess Mind solution, nor the owl-number of Harry Potter himself. So he was left with: ‘The third and only option. When the mistake was discove ed the writer had a complete fit and threw his laptop out the window. \ few minutes down the line, when no improvement to the situation had been detected, the writer did the only possible thing, He sat down and reconstructed | Yusupoy and answers thoughts to the best of his ability, The writer of this book would like t6 express his deepest regrets to the readers for the absence of a complete account of the testing of Grandmaster Yusupov. | hope that the book will not lo: I i overall value from this obvious flaw. On the way | would like to thank God for yet another sublime lesson in humil- ity, If you continue this way I amy sure very small things are in store for me in deed. ‘The game I have chosen to present Yusupov is one he himself considered to be his best ever. Yusupov-Sokolov Moseow Championships 1988 Catalan Opening 1 d4 O46 2 c4 e6 3 g3 dd 4 ug2 dxce4 5 $3 c5 6 0-0 “ic6 7 eS ad7 Sokoloy played this line all the time against the Catalan in the 80°s. 8 \xc4!? Not the main choice at the ti &a3 was more mainstream, B...0xd4 9 644 Ads 10 Dd6+ x6 11 Qxd6 P\de7 12 \d2 0-0 13 Wb3 Anew move at the ume. 4\c4 NeB In Informant 46° Yusupov gives 14.5 15 Bxc7 Bxb3 16 Bxd8 Mval 17 Re7 after 17, as clearly better for White, but 2 this is not so clear White cannot play 18 Bel? because of 18.03! and Bi is much better, After 18 Ado White would still keep the ad- vantage though. 15 Rfd1 OFS 16 Sc5 eb Black is trying to cling on to the extra as pawn — his excuse for giving away the two bishops. 16..AW/ £6 is brutally met by 17 g4! &h4 18 Sxe6! and Black is very weak on the dark squares and might be about t6 lose BF a Be 17 e4! A.wonderful positional decision, Black is alowed to have a passed pawn, but White has the initiative and the tvo bishops, and therefore also the advan- tage. 17... \fe7 ‘The alternative was. 17. Heo 19 Dxck Exc8 20 Was and White wins the exchange. The endgame is only slightly better for him, but in practice this might prove tw be 14 Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material torture for Black, 18 Ad6 BAB 19 Axb7 ‘This is not about winning a pawn, as it does not do se, but about eliminating the black bishop. 19.,.Qxb7 19... We71? was probably better here. 20 Wxb7 2b8 21 Wa6! After 21 Sve? we? 22 Wya? Yusu- ‘d6! and Black has good counterplay along the open files and against the ill-placed white quee time and age Fnig & thinks the position is simply equal. 21...Axb2 22 Wa4!? Wb8?! Yusupov thinks that 22...We8 is bet- ter, but after 23 a3 he li ition given to him by his two bish- ‘ops and the better coordination. 23 Ltt! The second bishop is brought into play. 23...15!? 24 2a3 Eb6 24. 25 Bxb2 Wxb2 26 Wh3+ and Black will have a difficult endgame. 25 exf5 Ab4 xf5 26 Bact was the alternative (preferable according to Yusupov), but pov gives 2 In our es the com- White is much better here as well. The Participants 26 Zab1! “\ec6? After this White is able to organise a strong attack. } was 26..Aed5 when Yusupoy was intending 27 Sc Gh8 28 Qxb4 Bxb4 29 Exba Wxb4 30 Wexb4 with excellent winning chances in White has a superior t knight and the black king has difficulties getting into the game. 27 Sg2 Zd8 27..8kc8 28 Bxb4 Bxb4 29 a3 Deo 30 Exb6 Wab6 31 Hel and White wins material. 28 ixc6! Dxc6 29 Exb6 Wxb6 30 We4+ LhB 31 WET! With the threats 32 68 and 32 £6, 31...2g8 Forced. If 31..Ab4 32 fol Bes 33 fxg7+ Exp? 34 WEB+ and White wins a piece. 32 16 Wad8 33 2e7! With the idea 34 fxg7+ and 35 S26. 33...2\xe7 34 fxe7 Wd? 35 Ed3! ith the idea 36 BA and 37 Wxp8+ winning. 35...h6 35.04 36 Bxddt Wadd 37 Wxe8+ Hxps 38 8 mare. 36 33 Rc8 Copyrighted Material 16Copyrighted Material Inside the Chess Mind ‘This attempt at counterplay: is. fu probably the product of time trouble, 37 WI8+ Wh7 38 LI7 Net+ 39 wig2 We6+ 40 teh3 WeG+ 41 wha 1-0 Grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen Peter is a 30-year-old grandmaster, born May 1973, living in / Denmark. He is 8 one by a narrow margin, but will soon hus, currently Scandin: number mn due to a few bad re lose this pe sults. But that he belonys to the absolute top here is beyond question, He is well known for his prep: and for his great physieal size: | metre and 98 em in height he is a true tower, terribly intimi dating when he leans over the board. ion His best result so far was to win the North with Peter Svidler, but Iam sure that a Cup in Esbjerg 2001 together P Here a even greater things will happen to him over the years. His Blo at the time of writing is 2638, bu aid he will lose a few points on the next list. Outside of tournament life he is sin- gle, at times a history student, and alse. the joint author of The Acelerated Dragou with Carsten Hansen (Batsford 1998). During the test Peter had a few prob- lems concentrating but, as he said, these kind of exercises are nor the natural play- ing field for him, which also explains akes, He sces himself some of his mt more as a intuitive player. Here is a very attractive game from him, in which he beat the Bulga Nielsen-Kir-Georgiev Istanbul Olympiad 2000, Seani-Shar Defence 1 d4 O46 2 3 d5 3 c4 c6 4 cd e6 5 gS h6 6 Sh4 dxc4 7 e4 gh B 93 b5 9 Ge2 Gb7 10 h4 g4 11 eB hS 12 0-0 “\fd7?: Certainly nN invitation. Peter's first thought was: is this really possible? His answer to this question was: probably not 13 Oxf 7!! With this sac bhick King’s’ position for a perpetually ce White opens the ongoing attack. 13...0xt7 14 £3 4g8 14..uxf3 was played in another game, bur did not help Black much 15 fxg4 e5 16 g5! Peter Heine explains: “The idea is to tale on hS with bishop, as well as con trolling (6, making sure Black's knights will have their problems protecting their king? 16 gxh5 was 16...exd4 16, 17 d5 Peter thinks that the white attack is very dangerous. An important point here is thar it is hard for Black to develop the queenside, as the pieces seem to be in Iso dangerous for B Wel? was maybe better, but after cach other's way. 17 SxhS Eh7 Wh The following line given by Peter shows how attack is very strong. 16 Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material The Participants lowing line given by Peter shows how dangerous the attack is. 17...dxc3 18 B74 dg7 19 Wade D6 20 Wxe3 Gxt? 21 BxiG+ dips 22 Boot eh7 23 Wes and White wins. 18 Ag6 We7 Against 18...Bg7 the German grand- master Christopher Lutz gives the fol- lowing winning line 19 Wh5 We7 20 Bis! dxc3 21 afl when Black has no defence. He might in principle be two pieces up, but he has 3 or 4 pieces out of play, so White has more pieces where it counts; c.g, 21..Weo 22 Sf7+ Bxt7 23 Sisf7 Sp7 24 26 and White wins. 19 26! A wonderful shot that increases the pressure with gain of tempo. 19...Wg7 19,..Wxd6 loses to 20 S&xh7+ Gxh7 21 Wh5+ dys 22 o6 We? 23 Eé7 and it seems like it is all over. A computer might come up with 23,.4f6 24 Exf6 Dd? 25 Be? G6 26 Ext6 dxc3 27 e5 exb2 28 Bafl and White wins with 29 Br. 20 Axh7+ Wxh7 21 Wig4! After destroying the black pawn struc- ture on the light squares, White can enter he pleases, 21...4g6 21...dxd6 22 We6+ @h8 23 Bry and White wins. 22 Oxf8 e5 Black cannot save the position, After 22...20xf8 White wins in the following 23 StxfB+ dexf® 24 Heit Ge7 25 Lr Wes 26 Wes Adz 27 Wao+ eds 28 ¢5 Bc8 29 BP dxc3 30 6 cxb2 31 Wau7+ debs 32 Wot tek 33 7 bie 34 Wh? and wins (Nielsen). 23 Wh3 bd? 24 Se7 Ze8 Black accepts simply being material down as well as under attack, But then 24..dxe3 25 h5 Wes 26 Weot Bh7 27 Wh6+ Bg8 28 266 and Black is toast. 25 hS Wg7 26 2f6 Dxf6 27 gxf6 WI7 28 ES wh7 29 Wg3 dxe3 30 Exe5 cxb2 31 Sf1 Bxe5 32 WxeS 2c8 33 Wxb2 2e6 34 We5 b4 35 B43 c3 36 Bg3 c2 37 Wt4 c1W+ 38 Wxe1 Wxh5 39 Ng5 Wha 40 g3 Wh3 41 Bg7+ wh8 42 Wg5 1-0 International Master Jesper Hall Chess writer, teacher and player. 32 years old. Elo 2487, Currently working on both chess books and a children’s book, From Lund in 5 ly purchased a house in the count den, bur has ree with his wife, with whom he has a baby daughter. Hall-Sadler German Bundesliga 2002 Caro-Kann Defence 1 e4 c6 2 c3 d5 3 DFS This is a less standard variation, which suits standard Hall well. 3...294 4 h3 Oxf3 5 Wats 6 6 d3 the non-theoretical and non- Copyrighted Material 7Copyrighted Material inside the Chess Mind e6 7 Gd2 Sbd7 8 94 b5!? Many moves have been played here, 9 g5 b4 10 d1 \g8 11 ed 11 d4 with a slight edge was also pos sible. 11...4d6 12 hd De7 13 h5 UbB 14 Wg2 Ge5 15 Mb1 15 0-0-07? would bring the white king into a true thunderstorm, as the majority of the white pieces imed at the side. Black would have a winning, after 15...WWa5!, ! (Lukacs) was stronger, in order to tid White of the two bishops 16 e2 aS 17 hd hbo?! This looks very artific 17.041? with unclear play (ILukaes). 18 Wh3 2c¢3! 19 g6 hxg6 20 hxg6 Exh4 21 gxf7+ “xf? al. Better White is always better now. He has k will suf. fer from the weakness of the g-pawn for fewer pawns islands, and 131 avery long time, Theoretically that is, In the game he just loses thar pawn without much resistance. 22 Wxh4 Of6 23 bxc3 bxc3 24 ixb6 cxd2+ 25 vixd2 Wxb6 26 e5! White starts his attack on the black king, 6... 07 27 2hS+ g6 28 Oxg6+! This tactic decides the game. 28...2\xg6 29 Wh7+ wfB 30 Wrg6 Wb4+ 31 we2 We7 32 Wg7+ weds 33 Wo8+ se7 34 Wo5+ we8 35 2\g4 We3 36 tdi Wd4 37 At6+ A\ef6 38 Wxt6 Wg4+ 39 v2d2 c5 40 a3 a4 41 £3 Wg8 42 4c3 hd? 43 Wa d4+ 44 cid2 te6 45 Wed+ Sh6 46 Wg4 WHT 47 f4 bb 48 Ye2 Wh7 49 Wf3 Wh7 50 wkd2 “b6 51 Wel Wh4 52 Wed Wi2 53 wb2 Wd2 54 Wg6 Wc3+ 55 wb1 Wxad 56 Wxe6+ we7 57 Wed Wb4+ 58 vad wd7 59 #5 a3 60 Yb3 1-0 Dr. Ivo Timmermans Ivo Timmermans is a medical doctor from Maastricht, Holland. He was born famously on April Ist 1960, When his parents sent a telegram to his grandpar- ents, they replied, “Ha ha, very funny.” For the last 12 drug. research ars Ivo has worked as for different biotech companies. He is single and with no children is not responsible for overpapu- lating the planet, His highest ever Ho was 2295, In the past few vears he has circled around 18 Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material The Participants 2200, but recently he has improved somewhat and now has 2237 Elo. His playing level varies much from day to one day he can beat nwo strong IMs, as indeed happened at Santa Domingo 2003, and the next he can lose like a child. His best result is probably Gro gen Open 1997, a 2400 performance where he had a game for the IM norm. He was also ghost writer and assistant for Nie Jun’s autobiography Chess Chanr- pion from China (Gambit 1998), which comes highly recommended. OF his other achievements it could be mentioned that Ivo has twice completed an Ironman triathlon (swim 24 miles, bike 112 miles, then run-a marathon), has run a marathon in just over 3 hours, has a helicopter licence and a brilliant sense of humour. ‘The following game justly makes him proud. Timmermans-Hennigan Boca Chica 2003 Sivilien Defence ‘This is the second game in a double round in Santa Domingo. In the morn- ing Ivo had won against Rene Stern, a very strong German IM, with Black in only 25 moves. Here, in the afternoon, he proved to himself thar it was no coincidence. 1 e4 cS 2 D3 \c6 3 d4 cxd4 4 2yxd4 M6 5 Dc3 dé 6 2g5 e6 7 Wd2 a6 8 0-0-0 id7 9 f4 &e7 10 53 bS 11 2x6 gxf6 12 &b1 b4?! 12... §Wb6 is considered more solid. 13 \e2 Wb6 14 f5 e5 This is considered forced. The threat of White’s last move is to play as follows: 14.05 15 Det We5 16 fxe6 feeb 17 g3 Ba 18 &h3 and the light squares in the black camp are under heavy fire (Radu- lov-Padevskij, Bulgaria 1975). 15 Wh6 a7 ‘This is a new idea and though it looks dubious, it might be the entire line which is to blame. A previous game continued 15...0-0-0 16 @p3 Dad 17 Dhd L6 (Yeo-Hennigan, Swansea 1995), and now White could have gained a clear advan- tage with 18 @xt6! because of 18,5216 19 WxfG xed 20 Ayxe5! and White is winning. 16 Ag3 Ivo correctly targets the black camp where it is weakest. First he develops, then he strikes. 16...Ab5 17 cd WeS 18 Gb3 a5 19 hs S48 19.04 20 Sxf7+ Hd8 21 Dxt6 and White is winning, 20 S\g5!! The only inactive minor piece is brought into the game, [f White had played with less imagination the game would probably have ended with a dra 20 Astor Qxfo 21 Wee a4 22 2d5 Hc8 23 Mg5 (23 Hel? a3 24 Figs axb2 Copyrighted Material 9Copyrighted Material Inside the Chess Mind and Black even wins) 23..2a3+ 24 bxa3 Wexc2+ with perperual check to come: 20...fxg5 Black is also worse after 20..a4 21 Dott Bds 22 Axtt+ Be? 23 Pett Bxe6 24 Bxc6 a3 25 Hd5 We6 26 Exb5! Wexb3 27 Wsh7 to protect his king and win some Black’s fragile king and his inability to and White has ma activate his roaks gives him a bleak fu ture. 2116 2c6 21...S.d8 22 7 mate. 22 fxe7 iixe7 23 Wxgh+ “d7 24 D6+ teeB? Better was 24.87 when White needs to find 25 Wy7! (25 Dxh7 Bos 26 We7+ Sho 27 WaT Buy? 28 AG a4 29 Ret Add is nor clear) 25....2d4 26 Bd2 with a clear advantage. 25 WI5+ Sic? 26 xh? a4 27 H\xfB! Everything has been calculated very accurately, Eixf8 28 Qd5 Ads 29 Wr and White is technically winning, 28 Wxf7+ b6 oe mae 29 axb3! Again a matter of accuracy. Afiet 29 exb3? White loses to 29,,.8xe4+ 30 Wal Bxa2t! 31 Bxa2 DAc3+ 32 bxc3 Wadt+ 33 ib? Wad mate 29.0104 29,.\c3+ looks tempting, but White wins with 30 bxc3 Bxc3 0..bxe3 31 Wer Gxc7 32 Ae6+ Sho 33 Aixc5 and it is all over) 31 17+ Qxd7 32 Bxcot+ Leo 33 Bxc6+ Weeo 34 Bl and Black has no chance. 30 Sxd4! exd4 30. Wedd 31 eG Wyed 32 Wert b5 33 Wxd6 and White wins. 31 eb The start of a brilliant cooperation be- pveen the knight and the queen. 31...WeS 32 We7+ “bs 33 Ads Axed 34 Af7! Iris beautiful, don’t vou think? 34.,.Wd5 35 O\xd6+ Wa6 36 xed Wxed 37 Wed+ wa 38 We5+ wa6 39 51 1-0 Tom Skovgaard Residence: Skovlunde, Denmark Born month and year: February 1951 Profession: [T consultant Height: 1.78m Family statu arried, 4 children Highest Flo tating ever: 2076 (current) Best result: No. 1 with 42/5 in ‘Sydkys- ten’, October 1998 (performance rating 2384; average of the opponents’ rating Skovgaard-Mortensen Danish Pri Sidlian Defence ry League 1972 1 e4c5 2 Of3 06 3 d4 cxd4 4 Axdd a6 5 id3 \c6 6 Se3 Wc? 7 0-0 MG B D\b3 2e7 9 1c3 bS 10 a3 0-0 11 f4:d6 12 Wf3 &b7 13 Wh3 e5 14 20 Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material The Participants {5 14 45 is a more obvious choice, but as the text move turns out to work well, there are no reasons for complaints. 14,..)d8?! This does not seem like the most natural move., but still it is not the rea- son for Black's downfall. Still it was more natural to play something like 14..a5!? with chances for both sides. 15 g4 h6 16 Zae1 5!? is more thematic, opening lines on the kingside 16...c6? After this Black has simply wasted two tempi. Necessary was 16...d5! with the idea 17 exd5 Sxa3l? and the position remains complicated, even though White is to be preferred. 17 Bf3 Rad& 18 &xh6! White is ready to begin his attack. No piece could be improved upon. 18...Dd4 ‘The only move. If 18..gxh6 19 Wxh6 @h7 20 Bh3 Ah4 21 (6! leads to mate, 19 Bg3 d5 White has a winning attack after 19..2xb3 20 ¢5 De8 21 Bxp7! Axp7 22 26 fxg6 23 feo Aha 24 Wexh4 He 25 @\d5 dtxd5 26 exd5 and Black has all the problems one could possibly invent for him. 20 g5! White does not hesitate, 20...2h7 ‘The win against 20...2e8 is less obvi- ous, but still to be found: 21 £6! @xb3 22 Saxe?! Axg7 23 exd5 Sic5+ 24 Hh and Black is soon to be mated, 21 2xg7! Wbé 21. axp7 22 f6+ and White wins. 22 hI 22 @xd4 was perhaps slightly more accurate, 22...dxe4 23 ‘\xe4 2c8 23..xp7 24 f6+ Gxt 25 gxto+ ths 26 Eg? still mates. 24 Sxe5 xt5 24...Aixb3 25 Weh7H! xh? 26 Bh3+ and Black is mated 25 46+ OxfG6 26 gxf6+ whB 27 Sixf5, White has won a piece and the attack continues. 27...2x15 28 WxfS We6+ 29 ted WeB 30 Xg4 MgB 31 Bh4 Sg6 32 Wxg6! A nice way to end the show. 32...fxg6 33 {7 mate Copyrighted Material 27Inside the Chess Mind Peter Skovgaard Peter lives with his family in Skovlunde, Denmark, which obviously includes his April 1990 and still attends school. (In Denmark we father ‘Tom. He was borr have a system of Ist to 9th grade of compulsory schooling.) He is a slender bey of normal build (1 metre and 67 cm tall) with a pleasant mood. He is int computer games, sports and other usual fecnaye activities. His Blo some time. It is my impression that he is ts been circling 2050 for very talented, but raw talent is only an opportunity. He is a generally talented likely to find happiness in whatever endeavour he pursuits. bo During the test Perer was focused and relaxed, not at all intimidated. 1 attach this to his yeneral easy-going charac and not to the fact thar we know «: h other, Occasional lapses in concentration are bound to happen to. 13-year-olds, and did to Peter. his overall per- formance left a positive impression. His best result by far is the 2003 Nor- dic championship in his age group. ‘The Nordic countries include Denmark, Nor way, Sweden, Finland, Iccland and the Danish self-ruling colony, the Faeroe Islands, He won this event with 4¥2/6 in a convincing fashion, even though he occasionally When | asked him to present a game for this book, he chose the following swift kill. was in trouble. Skovgaard-Olsen Lyngby 2003 Modem Defence (léxpress notes by P. Skovgaard) 1 e4 cB 2 d4 g6 3 \c3 d5 4 NS Copyrighted Material Ag4 5 £63 S97 6 h3 dxf3 7 Wxt3 e6 8 d3 “\e7 9 Md1!? f5!? 10 e5 0-0 11 “e2! ‘The knight is going to f. ‘The e6- pawn is weak. 11...b5 11.c5 12.63 12 5\f4 Yid7 13 H#g3! 6-5 is prevented and the attack on the king initiated. 13...a6 14 h4 O\b4 15 hS Hf7 16 hxg6+ hxg6 Now comes the winning attacking move. 17 Oxf! ‘The bishop can be captured by three pieces, bur all these moves lose. x5 If 17..gxt5 18 Bh? Byes 19 Dns Ayo 20 26. 18 Wxg6+ wve7 18.2888 also does not last: 19 Bxc6 @se3 (19.17 20° Wh? mate or 19,.2xc2+ 20 sd2) 20 Wh7+ B47 21 07+ Beeb 22 Bh6tand soon 19 g4 ‘The exact continuation, 19...xc2+ 20 ed2 Wxg7+ Rt? 21..St@e8 22 Wed7+ xd7 23 Bh7+ Ofxd4 21 22 Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material The Participants e8 24 Bel! and Black loses material. 22 Dgb+ wd 23 Wg8+! 1-0 Black resigned as the rook on aB is lost. Sidsel Hoeg Sidsel is 23 years old, a student of politi- cal science, living in the h hagen, with a penthouse city from her student flat (allege best results as a chess player have been rt of Copen- view over the . Her winning her groups at the North Sea Cup in 2002 with 6/7 and in her club Bronshoj with 72/9 in 2000, Her high- est rating has been 1535, but recently she has dropped to the area around 1400. As national ratings are different from coun- try to country, this probably does not say so much, It would be higher in the US, lower in Australia and probably about the same in the UK. She has not yet settled down nor pro- duced future world champions of her iates from the other partici- and foremost by being the only female player involved in the test- pants ing, Also, she is the most calm by far. ‘This showed in her approach to talking into the microphone. Often she would say nothing for 45 seconds or so, keep- ing parts of her thought process to her- self. As this the narural way for her to do her part of the test, T did press her to talk more than she did, When she spoke, it was open and diet, and the final result gives a good image of her thought process excellently all the same. a good repre- sentation for Sidsel as a chess player. The following game Bloom-Heeg Hastings 2002/03 Sicilian Defence 1 e4 c5 2 c3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 cxd4 O46 5 Dc3 e6 6 OZ a6 7 a4 Le7 B 2d3 0-0 9 0-0 c7 White has emerged from the opening, with a slight edge, but in the coming middlegame struggle he is not able to keep up the pressure 10 &d2 Ac6 11 dS exdS 12 Mxd5 S\xd5 13 exdS eS 14 H\xe5 dxed 15 Lci Wd6 16 ic3 2d7! ‘Though the indirectly e-pawn i threatened, Sidsel concentrates on her development. 17 Wh5?! h6? Copyrighted Material 23Inside the Chess Mind After this White has strong, pressure. 17.68 would give Black full equality. 18 b3?! White misses 18 Wye W: ixd7 20 Be7 with a strong position. 18... Wxd5?! This is probably too risky xe5 19 Bed 18..2¢5! would have solved all problems immedi- ately, 19 cd Wc6 20 Sxe5 Wb6 21 ic7 21 Beal? with the idea 21.2ad8 22 4&c7! and White wins. 21...#f6 22 Hfd1 22 2id5 looks strong here. 22...ic6! Black is out of the worst problems with this move, 23 Gd5 Wg5!? 24 Weta 24 Wee5 Gixg5 25 M4 Bsc 26 Bxds SLf6 27 Bad? would have kept up the pressure. 24.,.Mac8! Aga portance of bringing her pieces into ac- tion, 25 Gf4? This is a miscalculation, Sidsel now wins the game with ice cool clarity, 25...0xd5! 26 SixgS sxf3 27 Sxe7 Jixd1 in Sidsel is highly aware of the im. Copyrighted Material White probably overlooked that 28 S38 Excl loses the game. 28 Sxd1 Stes Now we enter a_ purely phase. 29 db4 Be2 30 ihf1 Ecc2 31 kel Me7 32 a5 Nec7 33 b4 Ee! eof vents all counterplay 34 Exel Exel 35 We2 “18 36 Sd2 Ee6 37 Se3 WS 38 ids g6 39 805+ Ye8 40 ed hd? 41 wd SE 42 g3 5+ 43 Wed Web 44 h4 £6 45 ved3 Bxc5 0-1 technical ‘The exch: air of rooks. pre- Sten Vesterli Sten 37-year-old IT- Haraskovby Vesterli is a consultant from. in Den- mark. He has beer in this experiment because he only re- ited to participate cently started tw play chess in a chess clab. He did so at the same time as his 9 year-old son, who won the F-group in the Danish shortly before the testing, Sten is married chiklren championships «l has no results nor any recolle of yy great games from his career, EL would like to thank him immensely for participating in this project. It was very important to me that an intelligent adult little in. chess with experience should share his thoughts, so. thar we would have a sound basis to compare with the more accomplished players One thing that | have changed in his answers is recurring problems with the terminology and problems with naming the right squares. Often the g5-square became £5, £3 became c6 and so on. All of this was obviously caused by a chess board without letters and numbers at the sides, 24 Copyrighted Materiat