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Statics & Dynamics, Thinkers

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Supreme Chess
Understanding

Statics & Dynamics

Wojciech Moranda

Thinkers Publishing 2023

www.thinkerspublishing.com
First edition 2023 by Thinkers Publishing
Copyright © 2023 Wojciech Moranda

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
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ISBN: 9789464201710

D/2023/13732/2
 Key to Symbols

! a good move ² White stands slightly better

? a weak move ³ Black stands slightly better
!! an excellent move ± White has a serious advantage
?? a blunder µ Black has a serious advantage
!? an interesting move +– White has a decisive advantage
?! a dubious move –+ Black has a decisive advantage
™ only move ‚ with an attack
N novelty ƒ with initiative
‰ lead in development „ with counterplay
ʘ zugzwang … with the idea of
= equality ¹ better is
∞ unclear position ≤ worse is
with compensation for the sacrificed + check
©
material # mate
 Table of Contents

Key to Symbols 4
Introduction 6

Chapter 1 – Bedtime solving for kids... with 10 years of experience 16

Solutions 21

Chapter 2 – Buy this book, they said. It will be fun, they said 72
Solutions 77

Chapter 3 – Even MC can’t touch these 126

Solutions 131
 Introduction

I. Statics & Dynamics

1. General remarks

Statics and dynamics in chess are mostly contradictory phenomena – like Yin and Yang or the
masculine and feminine elements. At first glance, they appear to be the antitheses of each other.
However, this is only partially true as statics and dynamics are more intertwined than one might
initially suspect.

To speak of things ‘static’ in chess means everything that is stable and subject to changes only under
use of a considerable amount of force. Enjoying a static edge usually implies that – if nothing changes
– this type of an advantage is going to allow us to bring the full point home without any undue
adventures. Typical examples of static advantages involve a material edge, a healthy pawn-structure
or the bishop-pair. One way of recognizing that you are doing really well in static terms is that you
find yourself in control of the position with simple non-forcing play being fully sufficient to achieve
further objectives.

By comparison, ‘dynamics’ take place when the balance on the board is disturbed. The nature of a
dynamic edge tends to be more ephemeral – it can be raging at a given moment only to completely
disappear two moves later if mishandled. Some classic signs of great dynamic standing include
material imbalances in return for compensation, powerful pawn-levers, or a significant lead in
development. Compared to static factors, dynamic ones tend to come to fore mostly in open
positions featuring stronger tendencies towards forced play.

However, the above distinctions are by no means exclusive. There are elements present in the game
of chess that can be either static or dynamic in nature such as the initiative. Even more interesting is
the opportunity to use static advantages to obtain a dynamic edge or vice-versa. In other words,
these two elements complement each other more than one might first believe.

Being exposed to positions rich in both strategic and tactical possibilities allows us to obtain a skill
which I personally call ‘static/dynamic balance’, that is the ability to comprehend what kind of action
does a position call for under the given set of circumstances. For example, if our opponent has a
strategically superior position (due to a smaller number of pawn-weaknesses in his camp), you would
usually be advised to ‘wiggle’, that is to destabilize the position by seeking tactical/dynamic
opportunities. However, when finding yourself under dynamic pressure (under attack or when the
opponent has the initiative), the best way of countering this will be to drain the activity out of the
opponent’s position. If successful, whatever remains on the battlefield afterwards should favor us,
especially if the situation was positionally advantageous for us from the start.

6
The ability to always know whether to attack or defend, to sharpen up play, or to carry on in a calmer
fashion sounds like an invaluable skill for any chess player. It is no wonder that many have already
tried to work out some sort of universal formula in this regard, most often in the form of a checklist
to go through as they analyze during the game. The problem with formulas, however, is that the
weighting of the ingredients comprising it varies depending on the situation on the board. And it is
exactly the prowess in determining the gravity of the respective elements of the position in question
that decides about our strength in this respect. Do not get me wrong, I do not wish to discredit
anybody’s previous work on this topic. Over the course of your work with this book we will also be
trying to establish some guidelines for handling double-edged positions. Then again, I do want to
emphasize that any universal formula – however useful it might seem – needs to be applied with a
grain of salt. As experience has taught me many times already, in the area of statics and dynamics
there are at least as many rules as there are exceptions.

Just for the sake of clarity before we move on: terms like ‘statics and dynamics’ as well as ‘strategy
and tactics’ may be used interchangeably over the further course of this book. This does not mean
that these phrases cover each other perfectly. As much as static play will often be strategic (or
positional) in nature, dynamic handling of the position might (but does not necessarily have to) imply
the emergence of tactical motifs afterwards. In general, however, static/dynamic action shall most
frequently represent the ‘framework’ for strategic/tactical events taking place on the board, and as
such will therefore be often used in a similar context later on.

2. Influence of the static/dynamic balance on one’s playing style

But enough of this theoretical tittle-tattle already! Let us get down to business by witnessing what
kind of skills will you have the chance to acquire after working through this book in an honest and
diligent manner. Introducing perfect static/dynamic balance into your playing style shall make a true
‘person of chess culture’ out of you thus granting you a serious edge over your competition. Below
you will find a short description of those abilities together with examples demonstrating their
application in a practical game.

a. Ideal understanding of the concepts of time, material, and coordination.

The game of chess revolves around three elements: material, time, and coordination. If you happen
to possess all of these elements in a single game (or an advantage in this respect against the
opponent), you should inevitably be winning. Yet on a higher level you barely get a chance to obtain
two out of the three items mentioned above. To possess, for example, a material edge as well as nice
coordination should generally suffice to bring the story to a happy end even if your opponent will
make use of every opportunity at their disposal to throw a spanner into your works.

However, there will be situations in which you will be in possession of just one of those three
elements, and you will still need to make a living out of that in a given game. For example, in a gambit
you may grab some material, but your opponent is going to be enjoying an initiative (time) while you
struggle to restore the organization of your forces (coordination). We will also extensively discuss
those so-called ‘time-stops’, i.e. moments in which your opponent happens to own both material and

7
time, being however unable to profit from them in view of the excellent coordination of your forces.
These situations are extremely difficult to handle in practice as they clearly escape the basic principles
of playing chess.

Have a look at the example next page.

Moranda, W. (2636)
Bilguun, S. (2463)
Chennai IND 2022

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bd3 g6 7.f3 Bg7 8.Be3 h5 9.Qd2 Nbd7 10.0-0
h4 11.a4 Ne5 12.Be2 Bd7 13.Nd5 Rc8 14.b3 e6 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.f4 Nc6 17.Rad1 Qa5 18.Nf3
Qxd2 19.Rxd2 Nb4 20.Bd1 d5

21.Ne5!

I analyzed the consequences of this move for about twenty minutes and rejected it at the very last
moment because I was not entirely sure whether I would be able to contain the opponent’s ‘wiggling’
attempts once the dust settles. In other words – I started seeing ghosts. As we shall soon see there
was no reason to be concerned about the correctness of this domination-based concept.

Instead, upon seeing that my colleagues were doing well in their games, I let myself be carried by the
team once again and steered my own encounter towards a peaceful result after 21.exd5?! Nxd5
22.Bd4 Bxd4+ 23.Nxd4 b5=.

21...Bxe5 22.fxe5 dxe4 23.Bg5!+–

Black just happens to be close to being completely paralyzed here. Castling is out of the question
which leaves his rooks disconnected for good. Simultaneously, the inability to contest the d-file or
the dark squares in their entirety allows him to resort exclusively to some ...h4-h3 or ...e4-e3 tricks.
Funny enough, in an attempt to prevent the arrival of the black knight to d5, White could actually
allow it to come to d3 instead after c2-c4, as the knight would have proven to be far less stable there,
subjected to simple attacks like Bd1-e2. In this final position, Black has more material and actually
quite a lot of time available to shuffle his pieces back and forth, but the most important factor here,
coordination, is clearly in White’s hands.

8
 b. Preference for positional elements over material

Another typical feature of persons of chess culture is that they do not treat material as a goal, but
rather as means to an end. In other words, they do not hesitate to part with material if this is expected
to benefit their cause. Simultaneously, this translates not only to extensive use of sacrifices for
strategic purposes, but for enhancing the ‘flow’ of play as well. For example, if confronted with the
choice between defending a passive position of equal material or rather dictating the pace of the
game at the price of a tiny pawn, you would be advised to pick the latter. This way the practical aspect
of the game once again comes to fore as active/attacking positions are typically easier to handle than
passive/defensive ones. The reason for this is that the quality of the moves of both players is nearly
always influenced positively/negatively by how easy/hard their situations are to handle for a human
sitting at the board.

Teclaf, P. (2537)
Mis, M. (2388)
Przeworsk POL 2022

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Nf6 6.h3 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Qc2 Qc7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Re1
Nd7 11.Be3 f6 12.Qb3 Nb6 13.a4 Be6 14.Bf4 Qd7 15.Nbd2 Bf7 16.a5 Nc8 17.c4 e6 18.a6 b6
19.cxd5 exd5 20.Qa3 Rd8 21.Rac1 Nd6 22.Qxd6 Qxd6 23.Bxd6 Rxd6 24.Bb5 Nd8 25.Nb1 Bf8
26.Ba4 Ne6 27.Na3

27...b5!

A crucial, practical decision. For the price of a tiny pawn Black frees his d6-rook and even makes sure
that it will be White who will need to be careful about the ensuing play along the b-file.

A) Instead, in the game my former student Mieszko went for the passive 27...Rad8? which could have
led to complete paralysis of his forces if only my current student Paweł had decided to go for
something like 28.Nb5 R6d7 29.Rc6 Re7 30.Kf1 Kg7 31.h4 h5 32.g3 Kh7 33.Re3!+– when the
remaining white knight joins the fight via e1-d3-b4 with a decisive effect.

B) The engines claim that White has an initiative after 27...Nf4 28.Nb5 Nd3 29.Nxd6 Bxd6 30.Rc6
Nxe1 31.Rxd6 Nxf3+ 32.gxf3 Kf8! 33.f4ƒ. Black would have indeed had nice chances of survival. The
question is however whether it makes sense to go for a position like this at all. The probability of
Black winning this is probably close to zero, while the white d6-rook will keep on threatening each of

9
the black structural weaknesses on a7, d5 and f6. One could say that it is heavily a matter of taste
which of the two reasonable and equal continuations Black should choose to opt for, but for me, if
something is impractical and difficult to manage in an over-the-board game, it is no longer a viable
solution.

28.Bxb5 Rb6 29.Bf1 Rab8=

With the b2-pawn falling very soon it would have been White who would already need to start
thinking about solving the problem of his offside knight on a3.

c. Dynamic defense as the default method of tackling attacks

The inclination of truly strong players for activity translates more or less automatically into the
manner of how they behave in defensive situations. No surprises here as natural-born attackers never
like to defend and if they have to they will be trying to do it in the least cumbersome of ways. But
there is a deeper point to that than one might initially think. When defending, it does indeed make
sense to do it dynamically (by use of tactical motifs), but rather for economic reasons. What I wish to
say is that dynamic defending will most often involve the use of the least resources possible in the
pursuit of safety. If you can hold off the opponent’s attack by employing two pieces of yours instead
of five – that is awesome! In the meantime, you can make use of the remaining forces to generate
some activity yourself. If you are able to defend without really defending – that can only be better!
Use the time that you saved this way for other purposes.

Kosakowski, J. (2437)
Jumabayev, R. (2631)
Warsaw POL 2021

1.Nf3 c5 2.e4 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Nxd7 5.0-0 Ngf6 6.Re1 e6 7.c3 Be7 8.d4 0-0 9.Nbd2 Rc8
10.e5 Ne8 11.Ne4 cxd4 12.cxd4 Nb6 13.Qe2 Nd5 14.a3 Rc6 15.g3 h6 16.h4 Qc7 17.Kg2 Rc2
18.Qd1 Rc4 19.Qd3 Qc6 20.Bd2 b5 21.Rac1 Qa6 22.h5 Nec7 23.exd6 Bxd6 24.Ne5 Bxe5 25.dxe5
Rd8 26.Nd6

26...Ne8!

Well played by Jumabayev! There was no need to defend the rook as the knight capture on c4 would
have been countered by the discovered double-attack ...Nf4+. Capturing twice with the heavy pieces
fails tactically as well (...Rd8xd6!), so White will need to give up a pawn on d6 for free.

10
A) Neither 26...Rxc1? 27.Rxc1 Qb6 28.Qc2± nor

B) 26...Rc6? 27.Qf3 Rf8 28.Ne4 Rxc1 29.Rxc1 Qb6 30.Qg4± would have granted Black equal chances.
In either case, White’s pieces remain more active, constantly giving the opponent something to think
about on one of the flanks.

27.Rxc4 bxc4 28.Qe4 Nxd6 29.exd6

and now after the most accurate

29...Qxd6!–+

Black could have sealed the deal as capturing on c4 is a no-no in view of the ...Nd5-b6 discovery.

d. Proper understanding of the relationship between pawns and pieces

Some say that the existence of a reasonable plan depends on the availability of a working pawn-lever.
As much as this statement is true and false at the same time, I prefer to paraphrase it by stating: in
chess the pawns and pieces significantly influence each other’s capabilities. A healthy structure can
provide pieces with excellent outposts, while a crippled one shall frequently reduce their efficacy.
The same goes for pawn-levers. A well-executed breakthrough may breathe new life into our forces,
whereas an ill-timed one may debilitate even the strongest of our pieces. Also, in this context hurting
the coordination of the opponent’s pieces by wrecking their structure often comes in handy as well.
All this sounds far from cutting-edge, but then again, would you be so eager to do the same but in
reverse? That is to spoil one of the elements of your own position in order to improve another one?
More specifically, would your hand not tremble before damaging your own structure for the sake
activating the pieces?

Naum 4.6 (3048)

Vajolet2 2.2.15 (2978)
TCEC 2016

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 g6 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Bf4 0-0 9.Qb3 Nh5 10.Be3
b6 11.Re1 Bb7 12.a4 Qc7 13.Na3 e6 14.Nb5 Qd7 15.Qd1 a6 16.Na3 Rac8 17.Nc2 Qc7 18.Qe2 Ra8
19.g3 Rfc8

11
20.Nb4!

An exquisite move by the machine! White could have retained a small plus by slowly maneuvering
his light pieces towards the kingside, but this solution forces Black to go for

20...Nxb4 21.cxb4

Where an amateur might see that White’s structure has been badly compromised, but an aspiring
player will surely appreciate new possibilities connected with the opening up of the c-file. The game
continued

21...Qe7 22.b5

when Black faced another dilemma. Pushing through with ...a6-a5 would have given White the
possibility to establish a powerful knight on c6 with Nf3-e5, whereas

22...axb5 23.axb5!±

gives the white rooks additional avenues to infiltrate the opponent’s camp one day. Weaker players
are going to perceive White’s doubled b-pawns as some sort of an inferiority, but those stronger ones
enjoy the manner in which the b5-pawn contributes to restricting the opponent’s light-squared
bishop. Furthermore, one day the said pawn may become an even bigger asset should the black b6-
pawn fall for any reason. Later on, Naum stepped up the pace by creating threats on the kingside
which eventually made Vajolet’s circuits blow out.

e. An open-minded approach to acknowledged chess principles

The role of basic principles in chess is clear – to guide us on the path to finding the correct solution
in any situation. Maxims like ‘Open up the position if ahead in development’ or ‘Bishops are better
than knights in endgames featuring pawns on both wings’ have admittedly served us well over the
course of our chess careers. Unfortunately, there are two fundamental issues with following similar
rules blindly. First, these tend to change over time, even if they are of strategic character. For instance,
Aron Nimzowitsch advised in ‘My System’ to attack the base of the pawn-chain, whereas nowadays
we know that the pawn-chain should be attacked basically wherever it is most vulnerable. The second
one however is of greater importance for the tournament player – it is simply that every single rule
has exceptions or caveats. I will dare to say even more – in chess there are more exceptions than
there are rules. And if there are more exceptions than there are rules, the chaotic nature of such an
environment will require us to remain in a state of constant alertness, being ready to bend (or even
break!) some of them in case of need. Finally, acting in contradiction to even a well-established rule
may be needed to give preference to another, more important one in the given situation, or maybe
just because such an action would work fine from a tactical perspective.

Sethuraman, S. (2623)
Delgado Ramirez, N. (2614)
Chennai IND 2022

12
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 Nf6 7.N1c3 a6 8.Na3 g6 9.Nc2 Bg7 10.Bd3
Be6 11.0-0 Rc8 12.b3 Nd7 13.Be3 Nd4 14.Ne2 Nc6 15.Qd2 Nc5 16.Nc3 f5 17.exf5 gxf5 18.Bh6
Rg8 19.Bxg7 Rxg7 20.f4

20...d5!

Crazy stuff! By playing like this Black opens up the position while his king is still stranded in the middle
of the board. To make things even more ridiculous, just a moment ago his opponent undermined
Black’s pawn-center with f2-f4, which is yet another reason not to further blow up the center in such
a situation. The funny part about all this is that despite violating at least two basic chess principles,
the text move does in fact grant Black a big advantage!

Instead, Delgado Ramirez went for 20...exf4? and now after the precise 21.Rxf4 Qg5 22.Bf1 Ne5
23.Nd4 Bd7 24.Rd1+– White could have obtained a winning strategic edge, based on Black’s
structural weaknesses in the center as well as his misplaced king.

21.Bxf5

This sacrifice is forced, otherwise the combined pressure of Black along the d- and g-files would have
led to even heavier material losses for White. Now after:

21...Bxf5 22.Nxd5 Ne7 23.Nce3 Bd3 24.fxe5!? Bxf1 25.Rxf1 Rf7µ

Black would need to continue playing accurately in order to be able to bring the full point home, but
his advantage would have never been in doubt.

II. Construction of the book

Anyone who trained with my first book ‘Universal Chess Training’ (hereafter “UCT”) will experience
a certain déjà vu feeling while going through this work. This is because – in view of the
overwhelmingly positive responses from the readership – I decided that some constructional
elements of UCT are going to be implemented into ‘Supreme Chess Understanding: Statics &
Dynamics’ (hereafter “S&D”) as well.

13
What remains the same is certainly the endeavor to present you with the most original content,
based predominantly on games from the years 2020-2022. It is my utmost belief that any author who
is seriously interested in helping others excel at chess should treat enriching the public domain with
genuinely new training material as a priority. And yes – paraphrasing the unforgettable Michael
Fassbender from the movie ‘Inglorious Basterds’ – there is a special rung in hell for authors who
shamelessly keep on repeating the same, well-known examples in their books over and over again.

Secondly, you will also notice that most of the puzzles rely on moments when one of the players
missed a golden opportunity. Such exercises carry much more value in my opinion as they allow you
to be challenged to find the answer while trying to understand what flawed thinking patterns led a
strong player to commit a mistake. Additionally, if a grandmaster goes wrong in a certain position,
for me this is a sign that there might be something instructive hidden deep in it that is worth closer
investigation.

Some other rules that I abided by when working on UCT remain unchanged. You will witness plenty
of chess beauty, but never too much to obscure the instructive idea behind the given puzzle.
Explanation will always come trump variations. Moves will inevitably disappear from our minds one
day, but ideas and concepts stay much longer. Also, as chess is an ultra-practical game, I did my best
to mention some interesting training methods for drilling particular elements of the game at times
as well. The same goes for multiple references to chess psychology – we are just human beings, so
ignoring discussions on this topic in the context of particularly uncomfortable situations (e.g. playing
without material or with hanging pieces) would have yielded this work incomplete.

In terms of the specific problems, you will be facing, I did my best to select exercises that not only
require you to indicate the general idea behind the chosen move, but also to prove their value by
means of specific calculation. This is the modern approach to teaching strategy – not focusing on one
element at a time, but rather identifying holistic correlations between one another. Not just making
use of an advantage, but first achieving it, and then only sealing the deal in the face of the opponent’s
most stubborn resistance. Half-jokingly, I hope you did not expect this book to be yet another easy
peasy lemon squeezy, as the best I can do for you going onwards will be more like stressy depressy
solving chessy.

The most disputed attribute of UCT was the division of puzzles into three difficulty levels. My (often
high-rated) interlocutors liked the idea as such, but generally complained either that the positions
given in chapter one were already far more difficult than the indicated 1600-1900 rating range, or
maybe that some exercises from chapters two or three were easier. After serious consideration of
this feedback I decided to eliminate any mention of the proposed rating ranges within the given
chapters of the book. By doing so I have ensured that the puzzles are subjectively arranged from the
easiest to the hardest. Although I believe that this book will mostly benefit +1800 players, I do wish
to encourage those rated below this threshold to try their hand. There is nothing you can lose, but
surely a lot to be learned this way.

As a sort of compensation for this inconvenience, I decided that S&D will feature a more interactive
quiz format. You shall be given points for every exercise you manage to solve – notwithstanding your
playing strength, the thinking time designated for every puzzle may not exceed 15 minutes. Correct
answers to each puzzle from chapters one, two and three are worth two, three and five points,

14
respectively, with specific requirements for awarding points being explained at the end of each
solution. All this means that you can earn up to 200 points in the process. After working through the
entirety of the book, in order to learn what is your estimated playing strength in the area of statics
and dynamics, you should divide the total number of achieved points by two, and refer to the table
next page.
Your Score
Number of points scored divided by two Estimated playing strength
0-9 1800-1899
10-19 1900-1999
20-29 2000-2099
30-39 2100-2199
40-49 2200-2299
50-59 2300-2399
60-69 2400-2499
70-79 2500-2599
80-89 2600-2699
90-99 2700-2799
100 +2800

III. Acknowledgments

No good book can ever be published without the support of the author’s loved ones, friends, and
well-wishers, this work is no exception.

I dedicate this book to my wife Kasia. Without her help and love it would have never come to fruition.
Thank you for constantly encouraging me to go above and beyond!

A big ‘thank you’ goes naturally to the students of my chess school as well, with whom we have jointly
spent hundreds of hours grinding through these exercises. Your comments and suggestions have
been an invaluable source of inspiration for me!

Finally, I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to all who not only read UCT but were kind
enough to also provide me with their impressions on that book so far, as well as friends and
colleagues who supported me through the ups and downs of my playing career over the last couple
of years. I hope that this book is going to constitute a memorable episode on your journey to chess
mastery.

If you feel like sharing your feedback on this work with me one day, please feel free to reach out to
me in this matter online at Chess.com or Lichess.org.

GM Wojciech Moranda
Wrocław, November 2022

15
 Chapter One
Bedtime solving for
kids... with 10 years
of experience

16
 1 4
Mikes, J. – Horvath, D. Balogh, C. – Motuz, K.

□ 22.? ■ 14...?

2 5
Demchenko, A. – Lysyj, I. Grischuk, A. – Wei Yi

□ 18.? □ 15.?

3 6
So, W. – Caruana, F. Shuvalova, P. – Abdumalik, Z.

■ 14...? □ 38.?

17
 7 10
Howell, D. – Esipenko, A. Poelvoorde, H. – Pijl, R.

□ 29.? ■ 21...?

8 11
Van Foreest, J. – Ganguly, S. Korley, K. – Rozman, L.

□ 14.? ■ 19...?

9 12
Gunina, V. – Abdumalik, Z. Abdumalik, Z. – Kashlinskaya, A.

■ 46...? ■ 23...?

18
 13 16
Mamedyarov, S. – Radjabov, T. Brondt, N. – Thybo, J.

■ 15...? ■ 18...?

14 17
Cheparinov, I. – Vazquez Igarza, R. Blakeman, C. – Ye, L.

■ 24...? ■ 22...?

15 18
Wojtaszek, R. – Moranda, W. Vazquez, G. – Liang, A.

□ 26.? □ 12.?

19
 19 20
Artemiev, V. – Ding, L. Balint, V. – Kovalev, A.

■ 13...? □ 18.?

20
 Solutions
1 A) In the game White went for 22.Bg5?! which
Mikes, J. (2373)
Horvath, D. (2446)
Ceske Budejovice CZE 2020
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6
5.Nf3 c6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.0-0 e6 8.h3 h6 9.Re1
Nbd7 10.Qe2 Be7 11.a3 Qc7 12.Bb3 0-0 13.g4
Bg6 14.g5 hxg5 15.Bxg5 Rae8 16.Qd2 Bd6
17.Nh4 Bh7 18.Kh1 Nd5 19.Ng2 f6 20.Be3
Kh8 21.Bc4 f5
Statics
Relationship between the structure and pieces
White is clearly under pressure in this position.
His pieces may be standing in close proximity of
the center but are neither perfectly organized,
nor perform any important tasks on their own.
Simultaneously, Black’s setup resembles a
merciless war-machine, ready at the very least
to capture material with ...f5-f4. Still, believe it
or not, White is able to save himself thanks to an
unorthodox structural transformation.
22.Bxd5!
A controversial decision at first sight. By playing
like this White would not only be parting with
the bishop pair, but also improving the
opponent’s structure. Fortunately, this
exchange also positively affects White’s position
as we will soon see in all its glory.
21
is, in my opinion, an illogical idea. Why would
anybody try to protect a ‘bad’ bishop from a
trade against the opponent’s excellently
centralized knight? Even more, Black could have
penalized him for this loss of time more or less
instantly after something like 22...Nxc3 23.bxc3
e5 when it turns out that the backward e6-pawn
actually had a lot of potential for improvement.
Any attempts by White to stop Black’s central
initiative would look like trying to stop a tsunami
with a bucket: 24.f4 exd4 25.cxd4 b5! 26.Bd3
Nb6µ with a lovely outpost for the black knight
d5. Black’s only bad piece is the hitherto
dormant bishop on h7, but this one can always
be repositioned via g8 in case of need. White’s
minor pieces, on the other hand, are not only
badly positioned, but I also find it very difficult
to say where I would like to see them being
transferred to even if I had a tempo or two to
spare!
B) 22.f4? does in fact prevent Black from
unleashing a ferocious initiative with ...e6-e5.
This move’s strategic deficiencies are quite
though. It weakens the crucial e4-square and
blunts his own dark-squared bishop. This idea
cannot possibly represent a tangible solution to
all of White’s problems. The fastest path
towards victory for Black is via 22...N7f6 23.Bd3
Ne4 24.Bxe4 fxe4 25.Rf1 Qf7–+ and I do not see
a way for White to defend along the light
squares in the long haul, especially once more of
Black’s heavy pieces reach the h-file.
22...exd5 23.Bf4

Position after: 23.Bf4
Only after this move does White’s idea become
entirely clear. The previous trade on d5 allows
him to establish an important blockade on f4.
What is more, the dark-squared bishops are
about to be exchanged which is another factor
speaking in White’s favor. Sample lines prove
that White has nothing more to fear in this
position.
23...Nf6
The alternative 23...Bxf4 24.Qxf4 Qxf4 25.Nxf4
g5 26.Ne6 Rg8 27.f4!=
Position after: 27.f4!=
perfectly demonstrates the strategic dangers
lurking in this position for Black. A possible trade
on f4 would have now left Black with a terrible
bishop on h7, encaged across half of the board
by its own pawns. A curious mental experiment
that grandmasters often do in similar positions
while trying to evaluate them is to imagine what
would the situation look like if everything was
traded off with White being left with a knight on
22
f4 against the black light-squared bishop. I leave
it up to you to make the call on this question.
24.f3
In closed structures the knights play the primary
role. Thus, to secure his position White just
needs to make sure that the black knight does
not land on e4 or substantially damage our dark-
squared blockade on f4.
24...Nh5 25.Bxd6 Qxd6 26.Rxe8 Rxe8 27.Re1
Re6 28.Rxe6 Qxe6 29.Qg5 Bg6 30.Kg1=
Position after: 30.Kg1=
Black is now able to finally open up his bishop
after ...f5-f4, but not to have it activated
efficiently at the same time because of the need
to defend the h5-knight over a longer time
period.
Just one final thought before we move on to the
next exercise. Drastic modifications of the pawn
structure tend to affect the properties of the
pieces of both of the sides more than they do
the structure itself. The reason for this is that
the structure serves as the spine of position
while the pieces represent the muscles. While
standing still, pawns constitute static elements
of the position while the pieces operate along
them enjoying dynamic opportunities. Once the
structure undergoes a change, the dynamic
properties of the pieces naturally get even more
exacerbated.
Your score: Two points for finding the 22.Bxd5!
& 23.Bf4! sequence. No points if you decided to
take on d5, but without the intention of gaining
control over the dark squares afterwards.
2
Demchenko, A. (2632)
Lysyj, I. (2593)
Sochi RUS 2020
1.g3 d5 2.Nf3 c6 3.Bg2 Bg4 4.0-0 Nd7 5.h3
Bxf3 6.exf3 g6 7.d4 Bg7 8.c3 e6 9.f4 Ne7
10.Nd2 0-0 11.Nf3 c5 12.dxc5 Nxc5 13.Be3
Rc8 14.Nd4 a6 15.Qe2 Qc7 16.Rad1 b5 17.Rfe1
Nb7
Dynamics
Opening up the position for the bishop pair
A very interesting strategic battle is beginning to
ensue in this post Reti middlegame position.
White’s structure makes a slightly worse
impression than Black’s because of the doubled
f-pawns, but his biggest problem lies
somewhere else. If you namely look at both of
the players’ structures as a whole, you will
quickly understand that your bishops are both
close to being ‘brain-dead’. The light-squared
bishop on g2 is effectively contained by the
opponent’s structure, whereas the dark-
squared one is stuck between its own pawns
and pieces. In other words, White’s bishop pair,
which is supposed to represent some form of
compensation for the slightly compromised
structure, is actually a burden as long as the
position remains closed. What is even worse,
the closed nature of the position additionally
23
benefits the black knights which can be quite
calmly repositioned in the direction of the
queenside, for the sake of putting pressure
against White’s pawns. This leaves White no
choice but to try and blast the position open.
18.g4!
The only method to improve White’s rotting
bishops is to carry out a breakthrough on f5. This
way White’s dark-squared bishop would have
been activated along the c1-h6 diagonal,
whereas the light-squared one is going to be
improved indirectly, that is once Black’s central
structure is weakened or starts moving. While
planning similar pawn levers one needs to
consider the potential necessity to part with at
least one of the advancing passers. Fortunately
for White, this sounds like a small price to pay in
return for pouring new life into both of his
bishops.
A) Instead, in the game White went for 18.Ra1?!
which was not only suboptimal but also a tad
silly considering the fact that just two moves ago
the same rook traveled from a1 to d1. Joking
aside, White may have good intentions here
(undermining Black’s queenside pawn-chain by
means of a2-a4), but is simply not in time to reap
the full benefits of such a procedure as after
18...Nd6 19.a4 Nc4! 20.axb5 axb5 21.Nxb5
Qb8 22.Nd4 Qxb2 23.Qxb2 Nxb2³
Position after: 23...Nxb2³
Black would have not only recaptured the pawn,
but also ended up with a superior structure on
top of that. White would have had to work very
hard in order to maintain the balance,
predominantly by looking for tactical
complications capable of making Black’s task of
gobbling up the c3-pawn in the long run as
cumbersome as possible.
B) One of my students recommended 18.h4
Nd6 19.h5 with the idea of slowly building up an
attack along the h-file against the black king.
Knowing this however, the second player would
have inevitably decided in favor of 19...Qc4!
forcing White to exchange queens, otherwise
decimating his queenside pawns. After
something like 20.hxg6 hxg6 21.Bh3 Qxe2
22.Rxe2 Nef5! 23.Bxf5 gxf5ƒ
Position after: 23...gxf5ƒ
White’s position would not have been terrible,
but not great either. There are no visible
structural weaknesses yet, but Black’s
advantage in space and difference in the quality
of bishops is particularly striking. His simplest
approach would now be to start pushing the
queenside pawns (...a6-a5 & ...b5-b4) in order to
use the white c3-pawn as a hook. Once White’s
b2-pawn is exposed the thematic ...Nd6-c4 will
prove to be even stronger.
18...Nd6
Black solidifies his grip over the f5-square but
some things are already well beyond his control
out here.
24
18...Qc4 does not work out so well for Black this
time as White can now simply refuse the
exchange with 19.Qd2! when 19...Qxa2? would
have led to a dead lost position for Black after
the rather unexpected attack of 20.f5 Nd6
21.Bh6 Ne4 22.Bxe4 dxe4 23.Bxg7 Kxg7 24.f6+!
Kxf6 25.Qh6+– and the black king is going to get
hunted down in the center soon enough.
19.f5! gxf5 20.Bf4
The dynamic point behind White’s central
breakthrough. Now Black is pinned along the h2-
b8 diagonal and already needs to watch out for
Nd4xe6! strikes. After the further
Position after: 20.Bf4
20...Rcd8 21.Nxf5! Nexf5 22.gxf5 Qd7 23.fxe6
fxe6 24.Bh2 Rf6 25.Bf3!? Rdf8 26.Bg4ƒ
Position after: 26.Bg4ƒ
the position would have been pretty much
unrecognizable anymore. Instead of Black’s
ultra-solid central structure he has two hanging
pawns left. The white bishops also morphed
from ugly ducklings into alluring swans, exerting
a lot of pressure against Black’s center. Despite
a slight weakening of his own kingside incurred
during the process, White is clearly in the
driver’s seat here.

One last piece of advice before I let you go.

Subject to some sparse exceptions (like the
Pillsbury Bishops), the bishop pair is considered
to be a static element in chess. It takes time to
have it fully activated, but once it is up and
running its mobile nature helps us exercise long-
term pressure against potential weaknesses of
the opponent across the board. Despite its static
nature however, the activation of the bishops is
frequently the derivative of how open the given
position is. All this leads us to the supposedly
paradoxical conclusion that radical structural
transformations (which are essentially dynamic
elements) are typically ‘best friends’ with the
bishop pair, that is by definition a static feature.
In other words, statics and dynamics in chess are
strongly intertwined with each other to the
extent that dynamic measures can easily lead to
static consequences and vice-versa where static
actions may just as well give rise to dynamic
opportunities.
Your score: One point as a reward for
understanding the need to open up the position
for your bishops. An additional point for going
after 18.g4! Nd6 19.f5! right away.
3
So, W. (2770)
Caruana, F. (2820)
Paris FRA 2021
Statics
Neutralizing the opponent’s bishop pair by
means of a structural transformation
The position we have in front of us is imbalanced
in more than one way. White’s kingside
structure has been compromised slightly after
he decided to recapture on f3 with the pawn,
while Black happens to be in possession of an
IQP which is about to become blocked. In terms
of pieces White probably has the upper hand
already as he has the two bishops in a semi-open
position with the dark-squared one making a
particularly good impression. Depending on the
circumstances White could decide between
capturing on f6 one day (in order to weaken the
d5-pawn even more), or to use it for offensive
purposes in conjunction with a possible rook-
transfer to g1. In the absence of equally
attractive plans for the future Black should
therefore act without hesitation.
14...d4!

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 c5

6.Nf3 d5 7.cxd5 exd5 8.dxc5 Nbd7 9.Bd2 Nxc5
10.Be2 Bg4 11.a3 Bxf3 12.gxf3 Bxc3 13.Bxc3
Ne6 14.0-0
Position after: 14...d4!

As we shall see it was now or never for Black if

he wanted to avoid a strategically suspicious
situation to take place in the center. With this

25
move Black sacrifices his IQP while intention of taking the pawn in a ‘structure-
simultaneously damaging White’s central friendly’ manner. The risk of ending up a pawn
structure. If he manages to ‘convince’ White’s down for nothing is obviously unacceptable for
e3-pawn to move to d4, the weakness of the Black, so active play with 16...Nh5 17.Bxd4 Qh4
doubled pawns on the kingside would have 18.Qb5 Nhf4! 19.Bc4 Ng5
started to tell as well. What is worth knowing in
this context is that in a similar structure those
are not only White’s f-pawns that are typically
weak. The same goes namely for the square in
front of them which can no longer be controlled
by other members of his structure.

A) Instead, in the game Black decided to play

14...Rc8? which gave White a golden
opportunity to turn the tables in his favor with
15.Bb4! Nc5 16.Kh1!. Position after: 19...Ng5

would have been called for. Still, after the rather

unexpected 20.Bxf7+! Kxf7 21.Qf5+ Kg8
22.exf4 Nxf3+ 23.Kg2 Nxd4 24.Rxd4² White
would have retained a tiny material advantage
and an active central presence on top of that.
Whether he can win this depends on his
technique as well as the tenacity of the defender,
but one thing is beyond doubt - his winning
chances would have been considerably higher
Position after: 16.Kh1!
than the risk of losing here.
The plan is simple: attack the black king along
15.Bxd4
the g-file. After the further 16...Qd7 17.Rg1 Qf5
18.Bc3 Kh8 19.Rg3± White would be doubling
An attempt to retain the bishop pair with
(or even tripling!) heavy pieces along the g-file.
15.Bb4?! Re8 16.Bb5 Nd7 17.f4 does not help
Black is certainly not getting mated or losing the
White much because of 17...a6 18.Bc4 Nf6
g7-pawn by force, but White could also use the
19.Qf3 Qb6ƒ when White would be getting
said file for inroads into the opponent’s camp.
himself pushed back. The classical bishop pair
For example, a rook brought to g5 would be
(two bishops versus two knights) tends to be a
additionally targeting Black’s IQP. Let us also not
powerful long-term weapon, but here, in view of
forget that in this type of a position the
Black’s immediate pressure against e3 as well as
influence of White’s dark-squared bishop over
his ability to generate even more activity in the
the long dark diagonal would not make things
center, there might not be any ‘long-term’
any easier for Black.
coming for White.
B) Alternatively, 14...Re8?! 15.Qa4 d4 may
15...Nxd4 16.Qxd4
seem like an improvement over the text at first,
as this time Black would not be losing material
16.exd4? would have been, by comparison,
after the immediate capture on d4. The problem
slightly better than 15.exd4?? which would have
is, however, that White has 16.Rad1! with the

26
additionally killed off the white c3-bishop. Still,
after something like 16...Nh5 17.Qd2 Qh4
18.Kh1 Rad8–+ White’s position would have
been hopelessly lost. White’s IQP will probably
survive, but this is a meaningless factor as Black
is more interested in creating mating threats on
the kingside by means of a funky rook-lift along
the sixth rank. However, White’s main cause of
death is the weakness of the f4-square which, in
the presence of queens on the board, takes the
form of a dynamic one. In other words,
establishing a blockade on f4 is going to
contribute to the conception of tremendous
attacking chances for Black.
16...Qxd4 17.exd4
Position after: 17.exd4
17...Rfd8 18.Rfd1 Nd5 19.Rac1 Kf8 20.Bc4
Nf4=
Black achieves equality in a comfortable manner.
He might still be a pawn down, but White’s
passer is not going anywhere. White’s wrecked
kingside in conjunction with a close to eternal
outpost for the knight on f4 will make Black’s life
rather easy over the further course of the game.
The inability of the white bishop to endanger the
knight happens to be a weakness of a static
nature. No mates are being threatened, but the
level of control the knight exercises over the
center and kingside is simply colossal. The only
thing that needs to be done by Black in order to
achieve full consolidation is to double up the
rooks along the d-file while waiting for White to
call it a day.
27
To end on a more humorous note, during my
career as a player I have actually seen more
positions like that being eventually lost by White
than the other way around, often as a result of
the first player pressing too hard for a win
without having any strategic grounds therefor.
White’s d4-pawn is certainly not strong and is in
reality very likely to fall one day as Black is in
possession of three pieces capable of attacking
it, compared to the two defending white rooks.
Finally, before considering trading off all of the
pieces as White in order to ensure a draw in this
position just make sure that the simplified
versions thereof (pure pawn or a bishop versus
knight endgame) do not happen to be
accidentally losing for yourself due to the
damaged kingside structure.
Your score: You receive one point for
recognizing the need to neutralize White’s
bishop pair. Give yourself another one if you
dared to play 14...d4! without any further
preparation.
4
Balogh, C. (2591)
Motuz, K. (2365)
Slovakia SVK 2020
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Be7 4.c3 c5 5.dxc5 Bxc5
6.Bd3 Nc6 7.Ngf3 Nf6 8.Qe2 0-0 9.0-0 h6
10.e5 Nd7 11.Nb3 Bb6 12.Bf4 f6 13.exf6 Qxf6
14.Bd6
Dynamics
Sacrifice for an attacking initiative
This position is a fairly typical sight among
French Defense middlegames. Black managed to
undermine White’s central control by means
of ...f7-f6, thus opening up the f-file and this way
making the thematic ...e6-e5 thrust look very
realistic. At the same time however, he does not
seem to have the time to enjoy such benefits as
his rook is en prise at the moment. The even
worse part of the story is that if Black moves the
attacked rook White will take the e5-square
under control one more time, thus effectively
stripping him of any central activity. But then
again, this is something Black cannot possibly
allow to happen.
14...e5!
Of course! The choice between playing a
hopelessly passive position with equal material
and a hyper-active one after a slight concession
in this regard should not be any dilemma for a
person of chess culture at all. In return for the
exchange Black obtains a powerful initiative
based on his mobile pawn center and rapid
development.
14...Re8?! would have been the more restrained
way of playing. Naturally, everyone would like to
have the cookie (keep the exchange) and eat the
cookie too (push ...e6-e5), but here after 15.c4!
e5 16.cxd5 Qxd6 17.dxc6 bxc6 18.Rad1± Black
would have not been in great shape at all. There
would be no pawn mass steamrolling White in
the center anymore, while the weakness of the
b1-h7 diagonal as well as a potential discovered
attack along the d-file would have forced Black
into a deep defense.
15.Bxf8 Nxf8
28
Position after: 15...Nxf8
Let us stop here for a second and discuss how
the position had changed over the last two
moves. Black is down an exchange, but this is his
only worry compared to White’s rather longish
list of concerns. The latter player is namely
getting himself pushed back in the center,
otherwise being forced to surrender material
after the ...e5-e4 fork happens. Also, Black might
decide not to not yet capitalize on his
investment but instead prefer increasing the
heat a tad more with ...Bc8-g4 followed
by ...Nf8-e6-f4. We cannot forget about the
importance of Black’s dark-squared bishop
either. White does not have one himself, which
means that Black’s pressure along the dark
squares is only going to grow over time. Sample
lines prove that White is walking a tightrope on
the way towards maintaining delicate
equilibrium.
16.Bc2
A) 16.Nbd2?! Bg4 17.Bc2 Ne6 Thematic play.
First by pinning the f3-knight then relocating
one’s own to f4. After the more or less forced
18.Qd3 e4 19.Nxe4 dxe4 20.Qxe4 Bxf3 21.Qxf3
Qxf3 22.gxf3 Nf4³

Position after: 22...Nf4³
White would not need to worry about getting
mated anymore, but this does not necessarily
mean that his life would from now on be strewn
with roses. What we see here namely is a typical,
lovely outpost for the knight on f4, blocking
doubled isolated pawns. Without a knight or a
dark-squared bishop White would be virtually
condemned to tolerating it for the rest of the
game. Also, the absence of queens does not rule
out the existence of dynamic counterplay on
Black’s side as the remaining four pieces are
certainly going to have some ulterior motifs as
regards the white monarch. If I were White here
I would not be paying attention to pawns
anymore, but would be focused on bringing my
rooks to the two open files at all costs.
B) As opposed to the line mentioned previously,
16.Nfd2?! Ne6 17.g3 does look like an
improvement as it avoids the problematic pin
along the d1-h5 diagonal while at the same time
preventing the arrival of the black knight on f4.
In this scenario however, White has wasted so
much time that Black would be very much
welcome to transform the position materially by
means of 17...e4 18.Nxe4 dxe4 19.Bxe4 Ng5
20.Bd5+ Kf8³ when despite the slight material
deficit, Black’s minor pieces would have
probably been able to dominate the white rook
and pawns in the long haul. One more thing that
I dislike in White’s position is that once the black
rook is brought to e8 he will need to give up a
few additional tempi while looking for a safe
haven for his queen. Sadly, all this is just of
29
theoretical importance as in the game Black
went for 16...e4?! and lost after a tough battle.
16...Bg4 17.Qd2!?
The only real attempt for White to untangle and
start playing on equal terms with his rival again.
However, this is also a positionally responsible
decision as White is going to have to live on with
a damaged kingside structure for a longer period
of time.
17...Bxf3 18.gxf3 Rd8!
18...Qxf3?! would have been a little bit too
cooperative from Black’s side as after the
further 19.Qd1 Qf7 20.Kh1 Rd8 21.Qg4„
White would have been in a position to start
exploiting two of his hidden assets: influence
over the light squares and the semi-open g-file.
When playing against doubled pawns of the
opponent it is of critical importance to
anticipate the consequences of capturing any of
them. It might turn out in some less favorable
scenarios that their disappearance will actually
favor the defender on a positional level as they
wanted to get rid of one in the first place.
19.Qd3 Ne7
Now it is time for the black knights to play the
lead role. Another factor that makes Black
barely feel that he is an exchange down in this
position is that, compared to White, his cavalry
is going to be super-effective in exerting
pressure against the opponent’s kingside.
20.Nc1 Ne6 21.Ne2 Ng5 22.f4!

Position after: 22.f4!
Forced, but also very useful. White finally gets
rid of one of the doubled pawns but by doing so
he ensures that Black’s pressure along the f-file
dissipates. In addition, White no longer has to
worry about his opponent installing his knight
on f3. Now after something like
22...exf4 23.Kh1 f3 24.Nd4 Nc6 25.Nxc6 bxc6
26.Rae1
comes the highly original
26...Kf7!?ƒ
and Black keeps a slight pull. This last move is
mostly prophylactic in nature (preventing a
possible exchange of queens on g6), but also
enables Black to carry on attacking the kingside
by means of ideas like ...Ng5-h3 and/or ...Bb6-
c7 combined with ...Qf6-f4. Objectively
speaking, White may be able to equalize with
perfect play, but this is not going to be a
particularly pleasant procedure.
A short, but important disclaimer before we
carry on. There is an abundance of examples like
these discussed in the further course of this
book. If you hesitated before sacrificing an
exchange in the beginning, it might be that your
playing style is too static as even huge positional
gains were not enough to convince you to part
with some material. If this happens to be the
case, apart from studying this book thoroughly
as well as continuously educating yourself on
the topic by using other sources, I advise you to
30
do the following experiment. Select two rapid
tournaments that you wish to participate in in
the near future. These are intended to be
meaningless events, so by definition you should
have no particular expectations as pertains to
your results when going there. During the first
tournament make sure that you play as
dynamically as possible, not hesitating to burn
the bridges behind you if you feel like it. The
second event however needs to be played
carefully all the time, with a lot of attention
dedicated to protecting your pieces and defense
in general. Once you are done, analyze all of the
games in detail and create a list of the types of
mistakes you committed most often in both
cases. This way you shall, on one hand, learn a
lot about yourself by getting to know the
extreme values of your playing style, but more
importantly you will also be able to fine-tune
your understanding of the balance between
statics and dynamics by getting closer to
ascertaining the so-called ‘golden mean’ for
which you should be striving in this respect.
Your score: One point for the decision to play
the sacrificial 14...e5! You may give yourself
another one if your heart-rate did not increase
while doing so.
5
Grischuk, A. (2777)
Wei Yi (2732)
Hainan Danzhou GM INT 2020
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bc4 Nc6
6.0-0 e6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nb5 Nge7 9.Bb3 0-0
10.Nbxd4 Nxd4 11.Nxd4 e5 12.Nf3 Nc6
13.Kh1 Be6 14.c3 Qe7

Statics
Sacrifice for a positional initiative
What we have here is a balanced position
stemming from the Grand Prix Attack of the
Sicilian Defense. The slight structural asymmetry
is a fairly typical sight in such situations, often
convincing White to focus his attention on the
kingside. As opposed to the standard version of
the above-mentioned line, White’s center is too
fluid for him to be able to decide in favor of the
standard ‘caveman attack’ (Qd1-e1-h4 followed
by Nf3-g5).What then should be his alternative
plan in this position?
15.f5!
Position after: 15.f5!
This move is the manifestation of another
popular idea in the Grand Prix Attack. White
temporarily sacrifices a pawn for the sake of
generating play along the newly opened f-file
while simultaneously being able to inflict some
damage upon Black’s kingside structure. At this
point in time, I can imagine that not every player
opting for this solution would be aware of
hitting bullseye by obtaining yet another,
31
probably most crucial positional element, which
we will discuss in detail a little later.
A) The game saw 15.fxe5? dxe5 16.Bg5 f6
17.Be3 Rad8= with comfortable equality for
Black. White’s 15th move is especially
incomprehensible to me as trading pawns on e5
only helped Black get rid of the backward d6-
pawn which allows him to immediately start
fighting for the freshly-opened d-file.
B) However, 15.Be3? would not have been that
much better either in view of something like
15...exf4 16.Bxf4 Ne5 17.Nd4 Bxb3 18.axb3
Rfe8=. In this scenario Black ended up with a
backward d6-pawn as well as a potential weak
square on d5. Remember after all, it is not only
the backward pawn that is often weak, but the
square in front of it may frequently become a
nuisance too. The problem for White is that he
happens to possess a weak pawn on e4 of his
own which tends to cancel itself out with the
aforementioned black pawn. What is even
worse, attempts to install a knight on d5 appear
to be way too time consuming.
15...gxf5
Black has no other choice but to accept the
sacrifice.
A) 15...Bxb3 16.axb3 Rad8 17.Qd5+– leaves
Black completely dominated along the light
squares and in the center. In such situations the
old adage ‘No pawn lever - no plan’ tends to
apply perfectly.
B) 15...Bd7 is equally bad, the only difference
being that here Black would be going down for
the count in a much more tactical manner after
16.Ng5 Bf6 17.Nxf7 Rxf7 18.fxg6 hxg6 19.Bxf7+
Qxf7 20.Bg5+–.
16.exf5 Bxf5
16...Bxb3 17.axb3 f6 looks like an improved
version of one of the previous lines since in this
case Black could potentially try to ‘break the
chains’ thanks to ...Qe7-f7 followed by ...d6-d5.
Still, White may just as well ignore Black’s plans
in the center and focus on the kingside instead
after the geometrically appealing maneuver
18.Ra4! Rad8 19.Rh4 d5 20.Ng1!+–
Position after: 20.Ng1!+–
with a rapid invasion by White’s heavy pieces
along the h-file to follow.
17.Nh4!
Position after: 17.Nh4!
The most difficult move of this exercise in my
opinion. This way White dynamically trades off
his knight for the important black bishop which
was the only one capable of covering the light
squares in the center and on the kingside. In its
absence the remaining black minor pieces find it
hard to compete against White’s monstrous b3-
bishop which is on one hand strategically
powerful (preventing ...d6-d5), and on the other
tactically omnipotent as a kingside attack
32
supported by this piece could be devastating.
Although the idea itself is well-known especially
among Closed Sicilian aficionados, here I can
imagine many white players missing it as in the
previously mentioned opening line the h4-
knight is never in danger thanks to the support
of the g3-pawn. Here the temporarily exposed
placement of the knight could have discouraged
some players from resorting to it.
A) 17.Ng5?! Bg6 18.h4 has been suggested by a
number of my students as the main line in this
position. Their approach would not be static
anymore (control over the f5-square), but rather
dynamic, in a sense that they usually wanted to
take down Black’s light-squared bishop, while
continuously putting pressure against the soft
spot on f7. The only difficult part about this
method of playing is that it ignores the fact that
Black can respond dynamically by engaging in a
pawn-race after 18...e4! 19.h5 e3!
Position after: 19...e3!
when after the more or less forced 20.hxg6 e2
21.gxf7+ Kh8 22.Qd3 exf1=Q+ 23.Qxf1 h6„
the position would have remained extremely
double-edged. The white knight does not have
to leave the g5-square at once in view of certain
mating threats along the h-file, but White’s
momentary lag in development would have
given the opponent 2 – 3 precious tempi to try
and consolidate his position.
B) 17.Bg5?!, on the other hand, is not such a bad
move as after the further 17...Qd7 18.Nh4 Be6
19.Bf6 Bxb3 20.axb3 Qe6 21.Bxg7 Kxg7
22.Nf5+ Kh8 23.Qxd6 Rad8! 24.Qxe6 fxe6
25.Ne3 Kg7² White retains a stable edge in the
ensuing endgame thanks to his superior
structure. At the same time the text would have
allowed him to go for more and without the
need to display excellent technique deep into
the endgame.

17...Bg6
If Black already has to agree to a trade as
unfavorable as this one he might at least want
to have his structure improved very slightly as a
result of White’s capture on g6. As we shall see
in a moment this makes little to no difference
for the evaluation of the position.
Position after: 20...Rad8
but White’s position is so great that even a
transposition into the endgame after
21.Bg5 Qd7 22.Qxd7 Rxd7 23.Rad1 Rc8
24.g4!+–

17...Qxh4 is to no avail either as after 18.Rxf5

h6 19.Rh5 White is in a position to capitalize on
the weakness of the black monarch rather
quickly, e. g. 19...Qf6 20.Be3 Ne7 21.Qg4 Qg6
22.Qh3+– when the h6-pawn falls with
devastating effect for the safety of the black
monarch.

18.Nxg6 hxg6 19.Qg4

Let us pause here for a short while. As a result of
this whole operation White has sacrificed a
pawn for the bishop pair, but also close to full
control over the light squares. A closer look
reveals that Black’s forces are unable to defend
certain light-squared spots (the f7- and g6-
pawns) in their camp for a sustained period of
time. What is even worse, White can from now
on combine pressure against the discussed
weaknesses by doubling the rooks along the f-
file with potential mating threats along the h-file.
19...d5 20.Bxd5 Rad8
Position after: 24.g4!+–
would have to be assessed as winning in the long
run due to Black’s passivity.
Compared to the Balogh – Motuz game we
scrutinized earlier, here White relied on a
dynamic measure in order to obtain static
opportunities. Having eliminated the
opponent’s light-squared bishop led to the
opportunity to establish full control over the
position. This domination-based approach only
resulted in attacking chances appearing later on
the kingside, which was indeed a nice additional
side effect of White’s authority over the position.
If this sounds like a controversial statement for
you, think about this: How do we measure the
dynamic potential of pieces? At the end of the
day is the positional value of the given piece not
a necessary prerequisite for any tactical

33
resources including this specimen popping up?
In other words - do you not agree that the better
your pieces are placed in strategic terms, the
higher the chances are that one of them is going
to conduct a successful tactical strike?
Your score: One point for recognizing the
thematic 15.f5! push. You may add another one
to your stash only if you intended to follow up
with 17.Nh4!.
6 38.Rac1!
Shuvalova, P. (2510)
Abdumalik, Z. (2503)
Astana KAZ 2022
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e5 4.0-0 Bd6 5.c3 a6
6.Ba4 b5 7.Bc2 Nge7 8.h3 Bb7 9.d4 cxd4
10.cxd4 Nxd4 11.Nxd4 exd4 12.Qxd4 Qc7
13.Bb3 Bh2+ 14.Kh1 Be5 15.Qd3 0-0 16.f4 Bf6
17.e5 Qc6 18.Rg1 Bh4 19.Be3 Rac8 20.Nd2
Qg6 21.Qxd7 Bc6 22.Qg4 Nf5 23.Nf3 Bg3
24.Bd2 Rcd8 25.Bb4 Rfe8 26.Ng5 h5 27.Bxf7+
Qxf7 28.Nxf7 hxg4 29.Nxd8 Rxd8 30.hxg4 Nd4
31.Rgd1 Kf7 32.e6+ Kxe6 33.f5+ Kf7 34.Kg1
Be5 35.Kf2 g6 36.Bc3 gxf5 37.gxf5 b4
Dynamics
Freeing oneself from materialistic thinking
In the game, White misplayed a winning
advantage in the middlegame and ended up
fighting for a draw with a rook and two pawns
against Black’s two minor pieces. The problem
here does not lie exclusively in the material
balance as such, but rather that Black’s forces
look perfectly coordinated for the purpose of
34
making the white king’s life harder. Trading off a
pair of minor pieces on d4 would only make
Black even more interested in his opponent’s
queenside pawns, while helping herself to the
b4-pawn gives Black a valuable tempo to shift
her rook towards the kingside, with deadly
motifs appearing almost out of nowhere. As
ignoring the threat of taking on c3 does not
come into consideration... oh wait, why not
actually?!
This move represented White’s last realistic
chance of survival. By leaving the bishop as it is
she could have anticipated the possibility of
simplifying into an easier endgame as the black
knight on d4 is going to be pinned once a
recapture on c3 with the pawn takes place.
Obviously, some lines still need to be calculated
(and assessed properly as well!), but the major
difficulty in playing such situations lies invariably
in the fact that it is a human thing to experience
psychological discomfort once we see our pieces
about to be taken. A similar but reversed
sensation takes place when we see the option of
taking some material from the opponent. Often,
it is even hard to consider other ideas during
such moments. The reason for this is that we are
materialistic beings.
We already learn at an early age that he who has
more material usually wins, and this rule stays
with us till the end of our playing careers. Later
on, we discover that in absence of other major
events taking place on the board a material edge
typically ensures smooth sailing towards victory
as well. On a higher level it is not only that we
need to understand that material is by no means
a ‘primus inter pares’, but rather one of many
positional elements influencing the evaluation
of just about any position. What is even more,
we should also strive to expose ourselves
frequently to positions in which we are cruising
material down. We do this to not only learn how
to handle such situations but not to shy away
from possibilities that are objectively good for
us despite involving the uncomfortable feeling
of being down on material. As a coach I think it
is crucial for the development of my students to
present them with such puzzles on a regular
basis. This way I make them comfortable with
the uncomfortable, but also make sure to teach
them about the real value of material, especially
when measured against other positional
elements.
A) In the game, Shuvalova opened a can of
worms with 38.Bxb4? and took on hostile fire
immediately after 38...Rg8 39.Bc3 Bg3+ 40.Kg1
Ne2+ 41.Kf1 when Black could have more or
less clinched the win with 41...Bb5 42.a4 Bc4–+
and the white king lands between Scylla and
Charybdis.
involving two bishops and a knight against a
lonely rook – it is a win. If only those were two
knights and a bishop...
38...bxc3
38...Ba4 looks enterprising at first but turns out
to be perfectly playable for White in view of
39.Bxd4 Bxd4+ 40.Rxd4 Rxd4 41.Ke3. Now the
black rook should stay along the fourth rank,
otherwise White may activate his kingside
pawns by means of g2-g4. Going for 41...Rh4
enables White to opt for the simplifying 42.b3
Bb5 43.Rd1!= when Rd1-d4 snatches the b4-
pawn leaving Black unable to win as she would
end up with the ‘wrong’ bishop.
39.bxc3

B) For a second there, I thought that White

might have also tried 38.g4 with the point that
after 38...bxc3 39.bxc3 Nc2 40.Rxd8 Nxa1–+

Position after: 39.bxc3

39...Bg3+

Position after: 40...Nxa1–+ Personally, I would have preferred to keep the

bishop pair on the board with 39...Ne2 40.Kxe2
she would have just been a pawn down in the Rg8 even if I have to honestly admit that after
ensuing endgame, with her active rook and 41.Kd3 Rxg2 42.Kc4!?=
connected passed kingside pawns granting
practical chances against Black’s minor pieces
which lack solid outposts. There are a few
certainties here that discourage me from
pursuing this attempt any further though. First
of all, the black knight is going to rejoin the fight
any moment now. Secondly, none of the white
pawns is ever going to make it to promotion.
Finally, even if all of the pawns were to
disappear from the board, the tablebases are
very clear about the assessment of an endgame Position after: 42.Kc4!?=

35
the white monarch would be achieving relative
safety around the c5-square. Please note that
the capture on a2 right now would only be
helping White get her hands on the remaining
a6-pawn, thus enhancing the already strong
drawish tendencies quite significantly.
40.Kxg3 Rg8+ 41.Kf2 Rxg2+ 42.Ke3 Nxf5+
43.Kd3 Rg3+
Position after: 43...Rg3+
When it seemed as if Black was about to start
capitalizing on the activity of her pieces, White
could actually afford to go after the opponent’s
a6-pawn. After:
44.Kc4!? Ne3+ 45.Kc5 Nxd1 46.Kxc6 Nxc3
47.Kb6 Rg6+ 48.Kb7 Nxa2 49.Rc6=
White days would have surely been numbered.
As the rook and knight versus rook endgame is a
theoretical draw, we can conclude that the
starting position of this exercise was indeed very
much drawable.
Your score: Two points for playing 38.Rac1! with
confidence. No points if your efforts revolved
around saving material.
7
Howell, D. (2658)
Esipenko, A. (2720)
Riga LAT 2021
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 b6 3.Bg2 Bb7 4.b3 Nf6 5.Bb2 e6
6.c4 Bd6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.0-0 0-0 9.Nc3 a6 10.Rc1
36
Re8 11.e3 Nbd7 12.d4 Qe7 13.Rc2 b5 14.a4 b4
15.Ne2 a5 16.Nf4 Ne4 17.Ne5 Nb6 18.Nc6
Qf6 19.Ne5 Qe7 20.Nc6 Qf8 21.Qg4 Bc8
22.Qf3 f6 23.Rfc1 Bd7 24.Qh5 g6 25.Qd1 Qf7
26.Bf1 Bxf4 27.exf4 Re6 28.f3 Nd6
Statics
Blockading sacrifice stripping the opponent of
activity
At first glance it might seem as if White is rather
comfortable here with the bishop pair, a battery
set up along the c-file as well as a strong
blockade established thanks to the knight on c6
which should grant White a promising position
in a perfect world. The world is however, exactly
as White’s situation here, far from perfect. The
dark-squared bishop is blocked by its own pawn
on d4 while the rooks and knight tandem cannot
contribute to the development of any effective
plan, maybe with the exception of some
guerrilla warfare ideas against the a5-pawn. In
the meantime, Black remains solid and might
even consider some offensive actions himself.
Be it by invading along the e-file, or maybe even
trying to take advantage of the placement of the
c6-knight in a tactical way. All this should lead us
to the conclusion that White needs to do
something about the tide coming back in his
direction here and now.
29.Ne5!
An absolute necessity as we shall see when we
examine the deficiencies of White’s alternatives.
White sacrifices a whole piece for a pawn but in
return buries Black’s potential counterplay
along the e-file for good, himself obtaining a
considerable level of control over the position as
well as active possibilities along the c-file.

A) In the game, White was successful with

29.Re2? but the result could have just as well
been the opposite had Black decided to go for
29...Ndc4! 30.bxc4 Bxc6 31.cxd5 Bxd5 32.Rxe6
Qxe6–+ with full domination. White’s bishops
stay timid, and the c-pawn is taboo due to the
energetic ...Qe6-e3+ counter. Black’s position is
so great that he could afford to slowly
consolidate his position (take full control over
the e-file, over-defend some weaknesses like
the c7-pawn), and only then carry on playing for
a win by ganging up on the more or less
defenseless a4-pawn.
B) On the other hand, 29.Rc5?! proves to be just
ineffective in view of 29...Nb7 30.R5c2 Re3
31.Re2 Qe8!µ when Black would be smartly
combining his initiative along the e-file with
pressure against White’s knight stranded on c6.
White can certainly trade on e3 and keep on
whistling past the graveyard, but then Black is
going to bring the other rook into play via e8,
and then only start figuring out a way to break
the opponent’s resistance, maybe by shifting
one of the knights closer towards the kingside.
29...fxe5 30.dxe5 Ne8
30...Nf5 might not have been much worse
according to the engines, but it is a natural
human reaction to try to stick to material if
possible, so this is also why we will focus on this
continuation in our analysis.
Position after: 31.Qd4
The key position of the whole variation.
White is still two pawns down here but has no
problems whatsoever of a positional nature. His
dark-squared bishop has opened up a little bit,
while the newly created battery along the long
dark diagonal is certainly something the
opponent needs to watch out for. Usually, such
positions are won by the materially superior side
by simply rearranging their pieces in an optimal
fashion. For this to happen Black would need to
replace the blockading rook on e6 with the e8-
knight, which sounds double as improbable in
view of the constantly hanging c7-pawn or the
threat of e5-e6! looming over him once the rook
tries to move. On top of that, White may want
to recapture material any day now with Bf1-h3,
followed up later on by a possible pawn-storm
with g3-g4 & f4-f5. Having all this in mind, the
best option for Black would be to bail out by
means of a rearranging attempt with
31...Kf8 32.Bh3 Re7 33.e6!

31.Qd4

Position after: 33.e6!

37
33...Bxe6 34.Re1! Bxh3 35.Qh8+ Qg8
36.Qxg8+ Kxg8 37.Rxe7„
A double-edged position would have arisen on
the board. White would be trying to activate his
other rook and generally create as many
dynamic threats as possible, while Black’s best
interest would be to have the position stabilized
by putting his pieces to some safer light squares,
far away from the reach of White’s dark-squared
bishop.
This game featured a rather uncommon
phenomenon, a defensive sacrifice for the
purpose of blocking the position. Everyone likes
to give up a little material for an attack or
initiative, but how would you feel about parting
with a knight just to make sure that absolutely
nothing happens afterwards? Still, as
controversial as it sounds, defensive sacrifices
are a thing and therefore deserve to be
mentioned in a book like this. It is not that in
such a case you are surrendering material for
nothing as depriving the opponent of active
possibilities always comes in handy after all.
Additionally, such devices usually represent a
great opportunity to consolidate your own
position and take the initiative in the arising
position yourself. Please just make sure that the
effects thereof last till the end of the game, or at
least until you are locked and loaded to
generate some play of your own.
Your score: One point for finding 28.Ne5! and
another one for figuring out the further course
of action for White afterwards.
8 damaging Black’s kingside structure. With the
Van Foreest, J. (2691)
Ganguly, S. (2617)
Riga LAT 2021
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 d5 4.e5 d4 5.exf6 dxc3
6.bxc3 Qxf6 7.Nf3 b6 8.c5 Bxc5 9.d4 Bd6
10.Bd3 h6 11.Be4 c6 12.0-0 0-0 13.Re1 Rd8
38
Dynamics
Closed center as prerequisite for a successful
flank attack
This game made headlines in the majority of the
chess news sources towards the end of 2021. As
of move eight of the Mikenas – Carls variation of
the Nimzo English, White employed a surprising
pawn sacrifice in return for time to develop his
pieces and obtained a promising initiative as a
result. Although nobody can deny that White’s
situation is more comfortable here (space
advantage, cramped black pieces on the
queenside), there does not seem to be a
concrete way of quickly obtaining anything
tangible for White. We all know that sacrificing
material is always fun, but the longer the game
lasts the more the chances of the defender
increase. Material is namely a static factor, the
importance of which grows the longer it takes
the attacker to achieve anything concrete in the
position. This is also why drastic measures on
the kingside were already justified by this point.
14.g4!
A bolt from the blue sky! With this move White
could have immediately threatened g4-g5, badly
disappearance of any black pawns on that part
of the board the king would have been exposed
to dangerous attacking motifs such as the rook
invasion along the g-file or maybe even the
queen to h5 as well. This would have allowed
White to finish off the game in a much faster and
prettier manner.
A) The game saw 14.c4 and after a beautiful 32-
move long display of attacking play, White
managed to eventually overcome the
opponent’s stiff resistance. At the same time,
14...Qe7 15.Qb3 Qc7 would have been a much
more prudent defensive attempt with White
probably needing to resort to the ambitious
16.Ne5!?
Position after: 16.Ne5!?
not hesitating to sacrifice even more material if
needed. This would have been a very familiar
sight for adherents of the Vienna line in the QGD
where White sacrifices a pawn in return for
active piece play in the center. Still, in this
specific position Black would be able to manage
White’s growing momentum by means of
16...f5!? 17.Bf3 Bxe5 18.Rxe5 Rxd4 when after
the further 19.Re3 Na6 20.Bb2 Nc5 21.Qc2
Rd8© the white dark-squared bishop would
have constituted a power to be reckoned with.
But having two extra pawns would have
presented Black with a multitude of options to
escape from trouble somewhere along the way.
B) 14.a4 would have been another decent way
of increasing the pressure against Black’s
queenside if not for 14...Nd7! 15.Bxc6 Rb8
returning the pawn in exchange for the smooth
development of the remaining pieces. True,
White could make his opponents life a little
harder with 16.Nd2 Bf8 17.Ne4 Qg6 18.Bf4 but
then Black could resort to yet another pawn-
sacrifice: 18...e5! 19.Bxd7 Bxd7 20.Bxe5 Rbc8©
when I would not dare to say that his position
would have been any worse. Black may have
39
indeed transposed from a +1 to a -1 position in
terms of material, but the bishop pair and fine
rooks targeting White’s hanging pawns
represent more than sufficient compensation
for the missing pawn.
14...Bf4
When under attack one of the basic defensive
methods involves trading off as many pieces as
possible in order to reduce the opponent’s
attacking potential. Here those efforts are going
to be in vain as White’s kingside onslaught
progresses far too quickly.
Evacuating the queen in order to limit the
damage stemming from the aggressive g2-g4-g5
push by means of 14...Qe7 makes perfect sense,
but after the further 15.g5 hxg5 16.Nxg5 Black
would not have been able to handle White’s
attacking initiative. 16...g6 17.Kh1! Vacating
the g1-square for the rook. 17...Kg7 18.Nxf7!
Position after: 18.Nxf7!
As Black was about to start generating some
threats of his own after ...Rd8-h8 there was no
time to waste before annihilating the
opponent’s defenses. White may be down a
whole piece now, but after something like
18...Qxf7 19.Rg1 Rh8 20.Rxg6+ Kf8 21.Bh6+
Ke8 22.Qg4+– Black’s position would have
been dead lost because of his exposed king
finding himself under attack by a whole swarm
of white pieces.
15.h4! Bxc1
15...g5 looks like the most principled way of
putting White’s kingside pawn-storm to a halt
but after 16.hxg5 hxg5 17.Kg2!+– the grim
reaper would be coming for Black along the h-
file via the vertical rook-lift h1 to h5.
16.Qxc1 Qe7 17.g5
Position after: 17.g5
17...hxg5
Trying to keep the kingside as closed as possible
with 17...h5 18.g6 f6 would have not helped
Black too much in view of 19.Qd1!+– with the
intention of removing the knight, capturing the
h5-pawn with the queen, and mating the black
monarch along the h-file.
18.hxg5 Nd7 19.Qf4 Nf8 20.Kg2+–
There is not much Black can do anymore about
the invasion of the white queen plus rook
battery along the h-file.
One last thought before we move on to the next
puzzle. The lines that I quoted above are very
convincing, but we cannot forget that 14.g4! - at
least strategically speaking - violates basic
principles of positional play. Were we not taught
to refrain from carrying out breakthroughs on
wings while the center is still open? While this is
all correct, we may not lose out of sight that
chess is an extremely complex game in which
the rules of strategy (or statics) and tactics (or
dynamics) are often interlaced with each other.
And as much as I hate to admit it, in practical
40
play tactics frequently takes precedence over
strategy. In other words, an idea may be
strategically outstanding, but if it fails tactically
it generally fails as a whole. If the same idea
works tactically, it will typically be correct even
if your strategic understanding suggests not to
touch it with a ten-foot pole. The ability to weigh
between the strategic and tactical pros and cons
of a given move is therefore of crucial
importance for every aspiring chess player.
Finally, if you would like to witness an example
to the contrary, that is a central counter-attack
being a successful response to an initiative on
one of the wings, please consider the game
Danielyan – Ohanyan included in chapter three.
Your score: You get one point awarded for
playing 14.g4! and another one provided that,
while doing so, you understood that any
counterplay of Black in the center will eventually
prove to be futile.
9
Gunina, V. (2421)
Abdumalik, Z. (2472)
Caleta ENG 2021
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5
6.0-0 a6 7.Re1 Nc6 8.Nc3 Be7 9.a3 b5 10.Bd3
Bb7 11.Ne4 c4 12.Bc2 0-0 13.Ng3 Re8 14.e4
b4 15.e5 b3 16.Bb1 Nd5 17.Ne4 h6 18.Ned2
Na5 19.Nxc4 Nxc4 20.Qd3 Bxa3 21.Qxc4 Bb4
22.Rd1 Bf8 23.Qd3 g6 24.Qxb3 Nb4 25.Bd2 a5
26.Qe3 Nd5 27.Qe1 a4 28.Bc2 Bc6 29.Rdc1
Qd7 30.Be4 Reb8 31.Rc2 Ra6 32.h4 Rab6
33.Qc1 h5 34.Bh6 Be7 35.Ng5 Bd8 36.Qd2
Ba8 37.Ra3 Rb3 38.Rxb3 axb3 39.Rc1 Rc8
40.Ra1 Bc6 41.Rc1 Ne7 42.Bb1 Bd5 43.Re1
Nf5 44.Bxf5 exf5 45.Qe3 Rc2 46.Qg3

Statics
Queen exchange as means of stabilizing the
position
Black has been a pawn down for a longer part of
the game. Luckily for her, things have improved
considerably since then. She is in possession of
the bishop pair and about to capture on b2. As
much as the latter would have allowed her to
restore the material balance, the b2-pawn is not
the real target. What she is truly after is
promoting her advanced b3-pawn once the only
obstacle in its way is gone. What complicates
matters here however is White’s incoming e5-e6!
counter, tactically wrecking the pawn shield
around the black monarch and opening the
floodgates for an attack. Is there a way for Black
to have her cake and eat it too?
46...f4!
A highly effective, yet slightly concealed
resource. Black sacrifices a pawn for the sake of
swapping queens. A queen trade is supposed to
reduce White’s attacking potential on the
kingside to zero, thus making static elements
(such as Black’s far-advanced b3-pawn) more
important for the evaluation of the position
than anything else.
A) 46...Bxg5? was played in the game and
should have also led to Black’s eventual defeat.
The reason for this is that after the further
47.Qxg5 Rc6 48.Ra1 Rb6 49.Ra5 Re6 the dark
squares surrounding the black monarch are
hopelessly weak. This was however not the only
item on the list of Abdumalik’s problems. As the
41
black pieces now need to focus on averting
kingside mate, they are simultaneously less
capable of combating other threats, e.g., the
infiltration along the back-rank or the progress
of White’s central pawns. The following line
demonstrates an optimal plan for White to
convert her advantage. 50.Kh2! Escaping any
surprise checks in advance just in case. 50...Be4
51.Qd2 Re8 52.d5!
Position after: 52.d5!
This is possible thanks to the fact that after
52...Rxe5 53.Ra8+ Re8 54.Qd4 Black’s forces
are so stretched that one of White’s advantages
simply has to prove to be decisive one day.
54...f6 55.Rxe8+ Qxe8 56.f3 Bc2 57.Qxf6 Qf7
58.Qd8+ Kh7 59.Bf4+– when Black can throw
in the towel with a clear conscience already as it
is mate on h8 (after Bf4-e5) and the pawn-
promotion that are coming at the same time.
B) Another idea was 46...Qc7 anticipating White
trying to stir up things by means of e5-e6. This
would have been an excellent attempt to cool
off the opponent’s initiative on the kingside
were it not for 47.Nh3! Rxb2 48.Nf4 Bc4 49.d5
when the position would be starting to slip past
Black’s fingers. When converting an advantage
this is probably the worst feeling to experience
and therefore often a moment when the first
player squanders their edge. In this position
Black would need to resort to some very
sophisticated defensive maneuvers in order to
hold everything together. 49...Kh7! 50.e6!
 Position after: 50.e6! Position after: 47...Qg4

50...Bxd5! 51.e7! Bxe7 52.Nxd5 Qxg3 53.fxg3 48.Qxg4

Kxh6 54.Nxe7 Rc2 55.Rb1 b2 56.Kh2 Rd2=
with a cunning draw. The white knight is
supposed to approach the b2-pawn and capture
it in the end. However, this is not trivial as on
one hand the black rook can at least postpone
this by taking away certain squares from the
knight along the c, d, and e-files. On the other,
even if White manages to take the pawn with
the knight, Black will have the possibility to pin
it immediately afterwards along the b-file. This
is also why this ‘Mexican stand-off’ should end
in a draw.
47.Qxf4 Qg4
The alternative 48.Ne4 Rxb2 49.Qf6!? is sadly
much less effective than it is flashy, especially
since after 49...Bxf6 50.Nxf6+ Kh8 51.Nxg4
hxg4 52.Be3 Ra2 53.Rb1 b2–+ even
theoretically drawish tendencies connected
with the presence of opposite-colored bishops
would have not sufficed to save White.
48...hxg4 49.e6
In lost positions, it is almost always the best idea
to destabilize the situation on the board in order
to complicate matters for the stronger side.

The perfect manifestation of Black’s idea. The

exchange of queens is, practically speaking,
unavoidable as moving it back to h2 would make
White lose all the same, albeit for other reasons
(weakness on f2 or even the back-rank
weakness). By taking on g4 White admits
surrender despite being a pawn up as the b2-
pawn is falling, and Black’s b-passer shall be
safely escorted by the rook and bishops to b1.
These sample lines confirm White’s demise. Position after: 49.e6

Just for the record, 49.Rb1 is met by the simple

49...Bb6–+ after which Black would probably
collect all of the white pawns standing on the
dark squares in close proximity of the center.

Now after:

42
49...fxe6 50.Nxe6 Bxh4 51.g3 Bf6 52.Nf4 Bc4– 13.Na3 Nc3 14.Qe3 Nd7 15.Nexc4 Qb4
+ 16.Qd3 Nd5 17.e4 b5 18.axb5 cxb5 19.exd5
bxc4 20.Qe3 exd5 21.Rfb1
the best White could do out here would be to
merely prolong the battle for a few more moves
without any real hope of putting up resistance.

One thing that I would like to emphasize in the

context of this exercise are the implications of
exchanging queens. Players generally do it
either because they anticipate a better
endgame appearing on the board for them right
after, or because they believe that it is safer for
their own king to continue the game without
them. There is a third reason though. As the
strongest and most tactical piece there is, the
queen is a litmus paper with which we measure
the dynamic potential of our setup in general. In
other words, the presence of queens shall
significantly increase the probability of success
for our dynamic ideas, while at the same time
making static solutions appear less encouraging.
Simultaneously, the absence of queens on the
board shall usually be a factor discouraging
dynamic enterprises and giving preference to
more static ones instead. For a mirror like
example on this topic, please refer to the game
Wachinger – Donchenko, discussed in the
second part of this work.
Dynamics
The power of connected passed pawns
This position has arisen out of a topical line of
the Catalan Opening. Black is two pawns up, but
also in trouble from the positional point of view.
His queen is under immediate attack and the
central pawn chain is in danger as well.
Retreating the queen appears to be Black’s only
try for consolidation, but the pressure against
the d5- and c4-pawns might prove to be too
much for him to handle one day. Was it not for
the fact that this was a correspondence game, I
would have certainly described the solution
chosen by Black in the game as simply
exhilarating.

Your score: You get one point for deciding to 21...Nf6!!

play the 46...f4! 47.Qxf4 Qg4! sequence.
Another point goes to you provided that you
understood how busted White would have been
afterwards. Oh, if you wanted to go for the game
continuation 46...Bxg5?, you should feel lucky
that I do not introduce minus points in this book!

10
Poelvoorde, H. (2071)
Pijl, R. (2263)
ICCF 2020 Position after: 21...Nf6!!

1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.Bg2 Very creative play! Black understands the power
Bb4+ 6.Bd2 a5 7.Qc2 Bxd2+ 8.Qxd2 c6 9.a4 of the connected passed pawns, especially when
Ne4 10.Qf4 Qb6 11.0-0 Qxb2 12.Ne5 0-0 strongly supported by the rest of the pieces with

43
the rooks standing behind them and the bishop
arriving in the near future to the b1-h7 diagonal.
From a +2 position in terms of material, Black
transposes into a – 2 one, but this means very
little for the objective evaluation of the position
as White is never going to be in time to take
advantage of those additional points.
21...Qd6?! looked like the most reasonable
alternative at first. But by going for something
like 22.Nxc4 Qe6 23.Qxe6 fxe6 24.Nxa5²
Black would basically be transposing into a
multi-piece endgame with equal material. At the
same time playing it would have certainly not
been a walk in the park. Black is namely
suffering from a ‘bad’ light-squared bishop and
the backward e6-pawn.
Position after: 24.Nxa5²
Additionally, the queenside will eventually be
conquered by one of the remaining white rooks
with its black counterpart forced to switch to
defensive operations along the seventh or
eighth rank. White’s structural defect, the
isolated d4-pawn, is actually not a nuisance at all
as it cannot be attacked and simultaneously
even restricts the black knight. Maybe this
position is still defensible in the long haul, but I
would prefer not to have to prove this as Black
in a practical game.
22.Nb5
22.Rxb4? would have played into Black’s hands
as after the precise 22...axb4 23.Nc2 Bf5!
44
White’s faulty coordination obstructs his
attempts of putting Black’s queenside pawns to
a halt. The following sample line demonstrates
White’s struggles perfectly: 24.Rxa8 Rxa8
25.Qc1 Bxc2 26.Qxc2 b3 27.Qc1 Rb8 28.Qf4
Rc8 29.Qf5 Re8 30.Bf3 b2 31.Bd1 g6!
Position after: 31...g6!
The knight is obviously taboo and after the
further 32.Qb1 c3 33.Kg2 Ra8 34.Qd3 Ra1
35.Bc2 Rc1µ Black only needs to transfer the
knight towards the queenside in order to
overcome White’s resistance for good.
22...Bf5!
Literally ‘force-feeding’ White the queen.
Although White’s b5-knight might not be
directly attacked its usability shall be reduced to
serving as a martyr once Black goes for ...c4-c3.
22...Bd7? has been recommended by some of
my students as a potential improvement over
the text as after the capture on b4 White would
not have been able to safeguard both the knight
and the back-rank simultaneously. Still, White
could throw a spanner into Black’s works with
23.Nc7 Qd6 24.Nxa8 Rxa8 25.Qe5! when after
the further 25...Qe6 26.Rb8+ Rxb8 27.Qxb8+
Be8 28.Bf3± the momentary material balance
would not have been enough to save the game
for Black. The a5-pawn is falling sooner or later
whereas the other black passer can always be
controlled from the rear.
23.Rxb4 axb4
This is the type of position that Black has been
aiming for from the start. Materially speaking,
he is two pawns down, but his dynamic
advantage, stemming from the presence of two
connected passed pawns on the fourth rank,
adequately curtails White’s winning aspirations.
The following sample lines demonstrate that
Black does not even have to hurry too much but
can instead focus on slowly organizing his play
on the queenside:
24.Qc1
24.Rxa8 Rxa8 25.Qe5 should still be OK for
White, and as much as I believe that Black is fine
even after the solid 25...Be6, the tricky
25...Bg6!? might be a more challenging idea for
White, who would still need to stay extremely
vigilant in the endgame arising after the further
26.Bxd5 Re8 27.Bxc4 Rxe5 28.dxe5 Ng4 29.f4
Ne3 30.Bb3 Bc2 31.Nd4 Bxb3 32.Nxb3 f6ƒ.
White can probably hold this, but the need to
keep an eye on the black b4-pawn and the
opponent’s king trying to infiltrate the kingside
at the same time might not be a trivial task at
the end of the day.
24...Rab8 25.Ra5 c3 26.Bf1 Ne4 27.Bd3 h6
28.Bc2 Bh3 29.f3 Nd2 30.Kf2 Nc4 31.Ra6
and here both of the players decided to call it a
day, apparently because
31...Rxb5 32.Rxh6!
Position after: 32.Rxh6!
45
32...gxh6 33.Qxh6 f5 34.Qg6+ Kh8 35.Qh6+
Kg8=
it leads to a draw by perpetual check.
This example demonstrated the power of
connected passed pawns in an instructive and
entertaining way. To me, it is more important to
comment on something that might have
escaped the attention of some of you. Why is it
that this type of a dynamic advantage was so
efficient in its fight against White’s static one?
The reason for this is time. As can been seen in
the sample lines towards the end of the
exercises, White never really got a moment to
spare and stabilize his position by blocking the
opponent’s pawns early enough. Instead, in
order to secure a draw, he needed to resort to
dynamic methods himself (perpetual check).
This brings us to a conclusion that might be
trivial for some of you but is constantly
forgotten about even by grandmasters: no
matter how overwhelming the dynamic
potential of your position might be, before going
for active solutions like this, you might want to
make sure that your opponent is never going to
have the time to consolidate your position.
Finally, if you would happen to be interested in
a similar exercise, but from the defender’s point
of view, please check out the game Studer –
Kamsky discussed in chapter three at your
convenience.
Your score: One point for not chickening out and
playing 21...Nf6!!. The second point can only be
awarded if you tried to max out the position
with 22...Bf5! directly afterwards.
11
Korley, K. (2411)
Rozman, L. (2353)
Charlotte USA 2021
1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bc4 Nc6 5.d5 Nb8
6.0-0 Nf6 7.Re1 0-0 8.Bf1 e5 9.c4 a5 10.Nc3
Na6 11.Bg5 h6 12.Be3 Ng4 13.Bd2 f5 14.exf5
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
voor ruim dertig jaaren: te recht noemt de Dichter Willink dit
verdervelijk voordbrengsel van ’t menschlijk vernuft, eene stof

Die kracht geeft aan de dwinglandij,

En ’t menschdom doet ten grave daalen,
Wanneer het zwaare donders braakt,
Een vlam spouwt uit metaale monden,
Dat al het aardrijk loeit en kraakt,
En zucht door doodelijke wonden:
Een stof van aarde en zee betreurd,
En die haar’ vinder heeft verscheurd.

Deeze vinder was zekere Barthold Zwarts, een Duitsche Monnik,

die omtrent den jaare 1380 geleefd heeft: het mengsel, volgends
zijne gedachten toebereid hebbende, wilde hij deszelfs kracht
beproeven, lag eene genoegzaame hoeveelheid daarvan onder
eenen zwaaren zerk, was dom of onvoorzichtig genoeg van er boven
op te gaan staan, stak het kruid in brand, en vloog met den steen in
de lucht: „’T is”, zeggen wij desaangaande elders, „als of God niet
heeft gewild dat de Monnik eenig eerbewijs voor zijne uitvinding
zoude ontvangen, het geen hem anders waarschijnelijk ten deele
gevallen zoude wezen: zijn omkomen was als eene wraak [4]van de
Voorzienigheid, om de uitvinding met den uitvinder te begraven;
want het liefderijk Opperwezen kan tog geen behaagen scheppen in
het moorden der geenen, die hunne overheersching met
menschenbloed staande houden,” enz.

De vreemdeling, die deezen weg bewandelt, zal zig ongetwijfeld

verwonderen over het onbegrijpelijk groot aantal herbergen en
schoenmaakers, welken hier gevonden worden, en die er intusschen
allen een ordentelijk bestaan vinden: de eerstgemelden wegens de
veele wandelaars, welken des zomers hunne wandelingen langs
deezen weg beginnen of eindigen: ook wegens de steedsche
gasten, van onderscheidene rangen, die zig alhier in de herbergen
komen verlustigen: de vischmarkt, die des zomers zondags morgens
aan den overtoom gehouden wordt, trekt als dan ook veele
duizenden stedelingen na zig, allen moeten deezen weg passeeren,
en daar de marktgang eene uitspanning is, wordt er niet zelden drok
gepleisterd, de veele fabrieken, welken, gelijk wij gezegd hebben,
weleer in deeze buurt gevonden werden, hebben ook veele
herbergiers derwaards gelokt.

Wat de schoenmakers betreft, deezen hebben zig hier nedergezet,

ter verkoopinge van het bekende goedkoop werk dat in de
Langestraat gemaakt wordt, en niet binnen het gebied van
Amsteldam gebragt mag worden: daar het intusschen door de
koopers bij duizenden enkelde paaren ingevoerd wordt, zijn bij het
schoenmaakers gild in Amsteldam van tijd tot tijd hevige klagten
daarover ontstaan; doch men heeft de invoer, op gezegde wijze, niet
willen, of niet kunnen beletten—Sedert zijn er ook veele dergelijke
baazen binnen het gebied der stad, ja binnen de stad zelve, komen
woonen, die wel geen Langestraats werk verkoopen, maar echter
tegen denzelfden goedkoopen prijs eigen werk leveren.

GESCHIEDENISSEN.

Deeze zijn, naar evenredigheid van het bevang der buurt, vrij
aanmerkelijk: door het reeds gemeld springen van de kruidstooven,
welken er weleer gevonden werden, werd de [5]buurt niet weinig
geteisterd; en het verval niet alleen, maar zelfs het verdwijnen van
verscheidene catoendrukkerijen, heeft haar voords mede eene zeer
gevoelige neep toegebragt: in 1732 onderging zij ook eene hevige
schrik door het afbranden van het nabij zijnde pesthuis, het welk
geheel door de vlamme verteerd werd, en welk onheil niet weinig in
akeligheid toenam, door de krankzinnigen, welken er in opgesloten
waren, gelijk het gebouw nog heden mede tot dat einde dient.
Omtrent den jaare 1750 had deeze buurt in haar bevang een
Fransche schouwburg, (die echter uit de stad zijn bestaan moest
trekken,) zij werd aangelegd ter plaatse alwaar men thans het
bekende Fort de Eendragt ziet; doch na verloop van weinige jaaren
werd zij door het vuur verteerd: op den grond werd het
tegenwoordige zwaare gebouw gesticht; en diende als toen voor
eene Porseleinbakkerij; doch deeze heeft mede niet veele jaaren
stand gehouden; de aanleggers verstonden de kunst van
Porceleinen te maaken niet genoeg om aan den kieschen smaak der
Hollanderen, die gewoon zijn aan het allerfraaiste geen gebrek te
hebben, al moest het ook van het andere einde der wereld hun
toegebragt worden, te voldoen: sedert heeft het gebouw tot een
ander einde gediend; voor weinige jaaren was er een groote
behangsel fabriek, enz. in geplaatst, doch dezelve heeft op dien
ongelukkigen grond almede geenen stand gegrepen; laatstlijk
hebben eenige Amsteldamsche boekverkopers het in huur gehad,
tot een magazijn, om er hunne bekende buitenverkoopingen van
copijen in te houden; doch ook dat gebruik heeft niet aan de
verwachting beantwoord, thans is het gekocht door den beroemden
Menschenvriend Jan van Mekeren, die het ter zijner eeuwige eer
tot een hofjen laat toebereiden.

Eindelijk hebben de bewooners van deeze buurt niet weinig geleden

door de Pruissen, die zig bij hunne aanmarsch op Amsteldam, in
hoedanigheid van overwinnaars, en derhalven niet weinig tot
buitenspoorige gedragingen overslaande, moesten ontvangen:
„allerschadelijkst”, zeggen wij desaangaande elders, „kwamen die
lieden er af, welken op het gerucht, of liever de verzekering dat de
vijand reeds te Ouderkerk, en Amstelveen, de gewapende burgers
met Batavischen [6]moed derwaards getrokken om hun te keeren,
was aangevallen, en de toedragt der zaaken zodanig stond, dat de
burgers zouden moeten wijken.” De huizen van deezen werden
terstond opengebroken; waren het herbergen, zo moesten er
flesschen en vaten aan; alle voorraad van spijs was een kostelijke
buit, voor maagen die meer gewoon zijn honger te lijden, dan door
overdaad bezwaard te worden; kisten, kassen, en banken werden
voor brandhout gebruikt; de huizen, waarin bewooners gevonden
werden, ondergingen wel niet zo erg een lot, maar de bewooners
zelven hadden niet weinig te lijden; en men kan begrijpen met welke
opene armen de uitgewekene bewooners, bij hunne terugkomst,
(want eindelijk moesten zij toch weder t’huiswaards keeren,)
ontvangen werden: de slagers, welken in deeze buurt gevonden
worden, leeden geen kleinen overlast en schade; hunne winkels
waren rasch ontledigd, zonder dat hunne beurzen er door gevuld
waren geworden: bij sommigen ging de baldaadigheid zo verre, dat
zij aardappelen in gesmolten boter gaar kookten, even als men
gewoonlijk in water doet: maar weinig dat roofbaar was, tot het loot
op de daken toe, werd op zijne plaats gelaten; elders hebben wij
reeds aangemerkt, dat dit echter zo erg niet zoude geweest zijn,
bijaldien men de Jooden van hun van daan gehouden hadde; als
onkundige lieden verkochten zij menigmaal een goed horologie voor
maar zeer weinige penningen: intusschen hebben de bewooners
deezer buurte, als elders, op verre na hunne schade niet vergoed
gekregen: hun werd, staande de inquartiering, voor iederen soldaat
één gulden per week gegeven; doch daarvoor was weinig te doen,
met nadruk voor zulke gasten: intusschen ontvingen die gasten ook
nog eenig legeronderhoud, bij voorbeeld één of twee zesponders
roggebrood in de week; doch het Hollandsch witbrood geproefd
hebbende, waren zij op hetzelve tot zo verre verlekkerd, dat het
legerbrood hun niet meer smaakte; waarom sommige bewooners,
ten einde hun te verpligten, dat brood, vrij zeer tot hunne schade,
tegen wit brood verruilden, of zulk een legerbrood, elders, voor 3 of 4
stuivers verkochten, er iet bijlagen, en wit brood t’huis bragten: uit
het een en ander kan men gereedlijk besluiten, dat de bewooners
deezer [7]buurt hunne Pruissische gasten met vermaak hebben zien
vertrekken.
 BIJZONDERHEDEN.

Deezen zoude men kunnen zeggen te zijn de fabrieken; voords zal

een vaderlander in zijne wandeling langs deeze buurt wel een oog
slaan op de werkplaats van den schilder Ruwel, waarin de
Pruissische soldaten voornoemd, kerk gehouden hebben; want zij
kenden nog Godsdienst, ten minsten nog de uitwendige oefening
van denzelven—Voor weinige jaaren was er in deeze buurt eene
zeer aanmerkelijke bijzonderheid voorhanden; bij zekeren smid,
aldaar woonachtig, was naamlijk, zeide men, een afbeeldzel van den
Zaligmaaker, door den Euangelist Lucas geschilderd te zien; groote
beweeging maakte deeze zeldzaamheid, zo dat duizenden, vooral
Amsteldammers derwaards vloeiden om die bijzonderheid, (tegen
een zestehalf de persoon,) in oogenschouw te neemen; doch
naauwlijks hadden de deskundigen ernstig hunne aandacht er op
gevestigd, of zij verklaarden de zeldzaamheid voor een louter
bedrog, het geen de smid met zijne schilderij en ontvangene
penningen, zonder afscheid te neemen, deed vertrekken.

LOGEMENTEN,

Zijn in deeze buurt verscheidene; de voornaamsten zijn:

Het Leidsche wapen aan den Overtoom, en Bramenburg.

Uit het voorgaande blijkt, dat er voords veele herbergen van minder
aanzien gevonden worden. [8]

REISGELEGENHEDEN.
Aan den Overtoom voornoemd, vertrekt alle dagen een kaag op
Leiden: Maandag, Woensdag en Vrijdag vertrekt van daar ook een
schip naar Aalsmeer; alle dagen vaart een vragtschuit vise versa op
Amsteldam, en des Zomers Zondags en Maandags, een volkschuit,
heen en weêr, zo dikwijls er volks genoeg is, naar den stads
buitencingel.

Achter de stille zijde van den Overtoomschen weg, liggen nog

verscheidene paden, als het Jan Hansen, het Winslauer, het Nieuwe
Tuinpad enz., die allen digt bebouwd zijn.

BUURT aan de SCHULPBRUG.

Deeze kan met recht, wegens derzelver uitgebreidheid, onder de

aanzienlijke Buurten gesteld worden, als beslaande een zeer groote
uitgestrektheid gronds: zij begint reeds op den Weesperweg aan den
gebiedpaal van Amsteldam, en heeft verscheidene dwarspaden,
naar den Outewaalerweg strekkende; derhalven is onder dezelve
ook begrepen, het blokjen de Vierhuizen, op den Weesperweg, alzo
genaamd, om dat het uit vier huizen bestaat; de buurt ligt voords,
voor het grootste gedeelte zeer vermaaklijk, naamlijk aan de
schoone rivier de Amstel, en nabij de verrukkelijke Diemermeir,
gedeeltelijk zelfs langs de ringsloot derzelve.

De buurt heeft, zegt men, haaren naam van buurt aan de

Schulpbrug gekregen, door dat zij aan de brug van dien naam haar
begin neemt; en deeze brug draagt den naam van Schulpbrug, naar
de aanzienlijke herberg de Schulp, op den hoek van de Meir, bij die
brug gevonden wordende. [9]

Zij bevat verscheidene en aangenaame lustplaatsen en tuinen, die

een bevallig gezicht opleveren, zo onder het wandelen langs den
Weesperweg, als langs den Ringdijk van de Meir, en het bevaaren
van derzelver ringsloot: er worden ook eenige fabrieken in
gevonden: de bewooners zijn van den Gereformeerden, of van den
Roomschen Godsdienst, die, daar er geene kerk in de buurt is, de
Gereformeerden te Amsteldam, en de Roomschen aan de overzijde
van den Amstel-stroom moeten te kerk gaan.

Ook andere Godsdienstige Gestichten zijn in deeze buurt, hoe groot

in haar bevang, niet voorhanden: de kinderen, van beiderleien
gezegden Godsdienst, gaan in het school van den Watergrafts meir,
(zie onze beschrijving van dat aangenaame oord;) de Weezen
worden door het Dorp Ouderkerk besteed, meestal, ten minsten zo
veel mogelijk, bij de bewooners der buurt zelve; en de Armen
worden mede door het gezegde dorp onderhouden.

De bezigheden der bewooneren, bestaan in verscheidenerleie

handwerken; ook zijn er, gelijk gezegd is, eenige fabrieken; aan het
begin der buurt, bij de Schulpbrug, woonen eenige visschers, een
van deezen, heeft een gedeelte van den Amstel in pacht, de overige
visschers vertieren de visch die in het Zwarte water, nabij de stad
Zwol gevangen wordt, bestaande in baars, snoek, brasem, zeelt, en
paling; zij markten alle te Amsteldam in de Nes, op de rivier
vischmarkt, voor de St. Pieters poort: over het gezegde begin der
buurte, zijn ook eenige weinige vischbanken, alwaar des zondags
morgens, eene soort van markt gehouden wordt.

Van de Geschiedenissen deezer buurt, kan niets aanmerkelijks

gezegd worden: in de jongstledene troubelen hebben de bewooners
derzelve geen aanmerkelijk deel gehad; geen ander dan dat zij bij de
gezegende omwenteling ook Pruissen hebben moeten inquartieren,
en derhalven de gewoone overlast hebben geleden.

Aan het meergemelde begin der buurte, is eene vry goede herberg;
voords vindt men in dezelve nog eenige weinige anderen, van
minderen rang.

Aan hetzelfde begin kan men in de Weesper- en Muiderschuiten

[10]die van en naar Amsteldam vaarende daar voorbij komen, naar
de gezegde steden vertrekken, of met het jagtjen in onze
beschryving van de Diemermeir gemeld, naar Amsteldam, ook met
het Overhaal schuitjen mede aldaar genoemd, naar den
Utrechtschen weg, of andere zijde van den Amstel, alwaar men door
de aldaar passeerende schuiten, weder verscheidene gelegenheden
vindt, naar Utrecht, Tergoude, Delft, Rotterdam, en veele andere
steden en dorpen.

Hier op kunnen wij voegelijk laaten volgen den Amsteldijk, zig

uitstrekkende van den paal bij het tolhek tot aan de Overbuurt van
Ouderkerk, langs welken eene menigte van buitenplaatsen en
boerewoningen gevonden worden: bij het tolhek zijn nog twee
paden, het Verwerspad en ’t Rustenburger pad, waarop mede veele
plaisiertuinen liggen: langs het laastgemelde pad komt men aan de
Wetering: de bewooners deezer paden leeven meest van de
moezerij.

DE BUITENVELDERSCHE POLDER,
OOK DE BUITENVELDERT
GENOEMD.

In deeze polder zijn zeer weinige wooningen, boerderijen, en tuinen;

het eenige dat daarvan gezegd kan worden, is dat er eene
Roomsche kerk gevonden wordt, die bediend wordt door den Wel-
eerwaarden Heere Everardus Bernardus Cramer: de bewooners
deezer polder hebben door de Pruissen mede zeer veel geleden.
Hier bij moeten wij nog voegen den nieuwen weg, welke van het
groote loopveld tot aan Amstelveen loopt; en [11]langs welken eenige
boerewoningen, even als aan den Bijlsenvelderschen weg gevonden
worden: omtrent in het midden van deezen nieuwen weg ontmoet
men de Karsselaan, welken naar de Karssebrug strekt, en verder
naar Rietwijker oord, dat beide kleine gehuchten van
boerenwoningen zijn, die kerklijk onder Amstelveen, doch wereldlijk
onder Kennemerland behooren.

OVER-OUDERKERK

Is een kleine streek huizen, tegen over Ouderkerk gelegen, en onder

Amstelveen behoorende: van dezelve valt al mede niets bijzonders
aantetekenen.

Onder onze beschrijving van de buurten onder Ouderkerk

behoorende, hebben wij gesproken van de eene zijde van

WAARDHUIZEN EN DE NES.

De andere zijde behoort onder Amstelveen; doch er is ook niets

bijzonders van te zeggen, niet meer dan wij ter voorgemelde plaatse
er van aangetekend hebben.

Het zelfde zij gezegd van de

ZWALUWE-BUURT,

Een gehucht niet verre van de Nes: er is eene Roomsche Kerk,

sedert weinige jaaren in plaats van eene oude, die er een eind wegs
van daan stond, gemaakt: zij wordt bediend door den Wel-
eerwaarden Heere Mauritius Schultsz. [12]

DE BOVENKERKER POLDER.

Deeze is voor eenige jaaren droog gemalen, en bevat thans weinige

boerewoningen: de bewooners geneeren zig met de weierij en
melkerij.

DE HAND VAN LEIDEN

Zo genoemd, om dat er een paal staat, met een hand er aan, die
den weg naar de stad Leiden aanwijst; de bewooners van dit
buurtjen hebben in 1787, door de Pruissen, almede veel moeten
lijden.

Aan de

NOORDDAMMER BRUG,

Vindt men mede een buurtjen; doch ’t is van weinig betekenis.

Grooter is de

LEGMEER

Die zig uitstrekt van de Noorddammer brug, tot een quartier uur
gaans van Cudelstraat, zijnde eene langte van anderhalf uur gaans;
de bewooners bestaan meestal van de turfmaakerij. [1]

1 Deeze paal was in den jaare 1793 een zeer oud en onaanzienlijk stuk houts,
ten gezegden jaare is er een fraaje ronde steenen paal in de plaats gezet,
bovenaan rondsom denzelven leest men 100 Gaarden, zijnde de uitgestrektheid
van het gebied van Amsteldam, boven op den paal staat een fraaje bewerkte
kroon, ook pronkt hij met de wapens van Amsteldam en Amstelland, en laager
staat het voorgemelde jaartal der vernieuwinge MDCCXCIII. ↑
[Inhoud]
 Gezigt van den zwaaren Brand te Amstelveen zo als het zig
vertoonde in den Nagt tussen den 25 en 26 Jny 1792.

Eerst leed het bloejend AMSTELVEEN,

Door ’s vyands wreede spoorloosheên,
Nu viel de vlam het aan, en trachtte ’t gantsch te sloopen—
Beschouwer! zie den nood, en denk wat men kon hoopen!—
GOD echter wenkte, en ’t vuur verloor zyn gloed en
kracht—
HY wenkt ook u—sta by!—dan wordt de ramp verzacht.
NAAUWKEURIG VERSLAG
VAN DEN
JAMMERLIJKEN BRAND
TE
AMSTELVEEN,
 In den nacht tusschen den 25 en 26 Junij, 1792.

Te recht houden de Nederlanders de vuurnood en waternood, voor

twee hoofdkwaaden, die den mensch kunnen treffen; anderen volken
voegen er den oorlog wel bij; maar ’t schijnt dat de Batavieren, uit een
inwendig gevoel van hunnen moed en voorbeeldelooze
standvastigheid, zo veel gewigts, of liever zo veel ramps den oorlog
niet toekennen, om dat zij ’t meer in hunne hand hebben denzelven te
doen eindigen, tot hunnen roem te doen eindigen, blijft het alleenlijk
aankomen op den vijand wederstand te bieden en hem zijne
roekeloosheid te doen beklaagen; dat is, blijft het slechts aankomen
om held te weezen; maar zo zij verraden worden, dan berokkent de
oorlog hen zo veel en meer kwaaden als eenig volk ter wereld; zo
veel, om dat zij den triumph des vijands als anderen moeten
bezuuren, en meer, om dat zij in ’t hart gekwetst zijn, wonden zeker,
welken bij den gevoeligen Batavier altijd blijven bloeden; ’t is daarom
ten allen tijde voor bewezen gehouden dat men geen harten met
grooter gevaar kan wonden, dat is uit hunnen staat van te vredenheid
rukken, dan dat der Batavieren.… maar om wedertekeeren tot ons
eerste gezegde: de Nederlanders houden de vuurnood en waternood
voor twee kwaaden; het laatste, met reden, voor ’t ergste, [2]om dat zij
er meer aan onderworpen en minder voor bestand zijn; intusschen is
de vuurnood mede een geessel die de diepste wonden kan
achterlaaten.

Weinig dachten wij vóór een kort verloop van dagen, toen wij onze
beschrijving van Amstelveen, voor onze Nederlandsche stad- en
dorp-beschrijver, zamenstelden, dat wij door een der
beschreienswaardigste rampen, die, vooral opgezetenen, kunnen
treffen, gedrongen zouden worden, andermaal over dat plaatsjen te
moeten spreeken—weinig dachten wij dat het grijze dorpjen, ’t welk
wij toen van harten beklaagden wegens de doorgestaanen overlast
van den triumpheerenden soldaat, nu onze traanen ten ooge zouden
uitperssen, daar het, ten prooje gestaan hebbende aan den
jammerlijksten vuurnood, een tooneel oplevert dat niet dan met de
leevendigste ontferming beschouwd kan worden—een tweede reden,
waarom men dat dorpjen voortaan met recht het rampspoedig
Amstelveen mag noemen.

Na op maandag den 25 Junij, 1792, des avonds omtrent 11 uuren, de

dorpbewooners na afgelopene bezigheden van den drokken dag, zig
bereidden om door den slaap hunne vermoeide leden te verkwikken,
en de veele omgelegene landlieden reeds in de diepste rust
gedompeld lagen, werden de waakenden verschrikt, en de
slaapenden gewekt, door het akelig gerucht dat er brand ontstaan
was op de waschbleekerij van den Heere Dregman, te Amsteldam
woonachtig, en waarom het opzicht op die gevaarlijke fabriek, meestal
toebetrouwd was geworden aan de werklieden tot de fabriek
behoorende; eene noodzakelijkheid, die, zo als de ondervinding
herhaalde maalen geleerd, en waarvan zij ons thans weder te
beklaagenswaardig overtuigd heeft, niet zonder bedenking is——
onmiddelijk na verzekerd te zijn dat er waarlijk brand ontstaan was,
wendde men de voorhanden zijnde hulp aan, doch te vergeefsch, het
vuur dat door de aanweezende hevige brandstof geweldiger gevoed
werd, dan het vermogen van ’t water, dat men aanbragt, konde
keeren, nam tegen middernacht zodanig de overhand, dat men de
klok begon te luiden, waardoor het geheele dorp, en elk die zig in den
omtrek deszelven bevond, op de been kwam: een besef van den
verren afstand der noodige hulp; het schrikbaarend gezicht van de
woedende vlamme, in het stille, in het akelige uur van den nacht, alles
werkte om zo te spreeken mede, om de harten met de knellendste
vrees te vervullen; de wind was wel niet naar het dorp, maar evenwel
hevig genoeg om de vlam tot de belendene huizen te doen overslaan,
het geen de angst niet weinig vergrootte.
Intusschen kwamen, op het grouwzaam geluid der noodklok, die van
Ouderkerk met de hun mogelijke hulp, toeschieten; ook kwam men
van den kant van den Overtoom, met twee spuiten, door paarden
getrokken, aan, met dien wel ijverigen, maar echter [3]in dit geval te
traagen spoed, welken de afstand en de moeielijkheid van den weg
toelieten—de twee spuiten aan Amstelveen behoorende, waren nu
wel aanmerkelijk versterkt, maar de vlam was intusschen te veel in
woede toegenomen, om zig door zo gering eenen tegenstand te
laaten bedwingen 1; dezelve was nu reeds geweldig dat het scheen,
het dorp was aan zijn jongste oogenblik genaderd: allertreffendst en
hartbreekendst was het geschrei van weêrelooze vrouwen, en
jammerende kinderen, die, als van zinnen beroofd, in hun schamel
nachtgewaad door het dorp dwaalden, terwijl zij hunne geringe
bezitting door het vuur zagen verteeren; ieder dak dat, nu van zijne
binten ontbloot, ieder stuk branden hout dat nederstortte, deed de
vlam op de akeligste wijze verheffen, en met het verheffen van de
vlam werd ook het geschrei en gekerm heviger, terwijl men met luider
stemme God om genade en bijstand bad.

Loflijk zeker kweeten zig zo wel de tot hulp aangekomen manschap,

als de inwooners zelven, dan hun vermogen was niet toerijkende; het
was reeds één uure na middernacht, toen de vlam het hevigst
woedde, en zij werd niet gestuit voor dat 13 à 14 Wooningen, eenige
Schuuren, een Kolfbaan, en aanzienlijk veele goederen tot assche
verteerd waren: onder de afgebranden huizen telt men mede het
Armehuis, waarin zo wel Lutherschen en Roomschen als
Gereformeerden opgenomen worden 2; in dat huis was nog voor
slechts 3 weeken een meisjen van 9 jaaren oud besteed, het welk dit
jammerlijk onheil met den dood heeft moeten bekoopen: nog te zeer
vreemdeling in het huis zijnde, is zij, (zo gist men,) in ’t zelve
verdwaald, en de vlam heeft haar verrascht; zij is onder de puinhoop
van daan gehaald, geheel verbrand, en als zamengebraden; de
voetjens waren gantschlijk verteerd, en de ingewanden lagen bloot: in
dien jammerlijken staat is het deerelijk voorwerp, eenige dagen lang,
in de Dorpskerk te zien geweest.

Zo dra de vlam zo verre voordgeslagen was, dat men ook het

Armehuis voor verloren hield, werden, trouwens in de grootste,
hoewel tevens verschoonelijkste confusie, de Kinderen na een ander
verblijf overgebragt; zes van de Gereformeerden, verplaatste men in
het Diaconie-weeshuis, en [4]eenige Roomschen werden in de
naastgelegenste omtrek bij particulieren gebragt, terwijl het de
Suppoosten van ’t huis toegestaan werd, hun intrek in het Rechthuis
te mogen neemen.

De gemelde Wooningen, door den ijsselijken vuurgloed vernield, (het

Armehuis niet mede gerekend,) verstrekten ter herberginge van
zeventien huisgezinnen, welken, staande het woeden der vlamme
allen gevoeld hebben, wat het menschlijk hart pijnlijks gevoelen kan:
op éénmaal van alles beroofd; op éénmaal in de diepste armoede
gedompeld te worden, dat zeker is een lot het welk men door geene
wijsbegeerte kan verzachten; ook moeten wij tot lof van onze tijd- en
vooral van onze stad-genooten zeggen, dat zij zig in deeze akelige
omstandigheid wederom gedragen hebben, en nog gedragen, zo als
zij zig in zulke en dergelijke omstandigheden meermaals gedroegen,
en zo als het waare Christenen betaamt—zij geeven met eene milde
hand; de toevoer voor de ongelukkigen is zeer aanzienlijk, zo dat
deezen reden hebben om zig, in ’t midden van hunnen jammerlijken
toestand te verheugen, daarover dat de Menschlievendheid hunne
ontvangene wonden zo minlijk verzacht.

Lof, nimmer zwijgende lof zij u, braave Nederlanders! toegezwaaid,

voor deeze uwe christelijke medelijdendheid; gaat op dat ingeslagen
pad voord; gij zijt tog verzekerd, dat ieder penningsken, ’t welk gij aan
de ongelukkigen uitrijkt, bij uwen hemelschen Vader op, dikwijls
verdubbelden, winst uitgezet wordt——en gij, Patriotten! gij die u den
naam van Vaderlanders tot eene eere rekent; u voegt het vooral, de
ongelukkigen te toonen dat gij waarlijk Patriotten zijt—herdenkt wat
Amstelveen heeft geleden, toen uw vermogen, met uw moed, te kort
schooten, om het te beveiligen voor het lot dat ingenomene plaatsen
gemeenlijk ondergaan—heeft men van u gezegd:

In ’t hart verhief zig moed; en in het manlijk wezen,

Tot op dit oogenblik door Pruisens volk miskend,
Stond Hollands oudste merk, Standvastigheid te leezen,
Die als ’t de nood vereischt door duizend kogels rent.

Nu, uwe mededeelzaamheid ondervonden hebbende, voege men er

bij:

In ’t hart verhief zig deugd, en in ’t bedrukte wezen,

Waaraan men in den ramp civilis nakroost kent,
Stond het Bataafsche merk, Menschlievendheid te leezen,
Die den noodlijdenden, zo ruim verkwikking zendt.

Te Amsteldam, bij H. A. Banse, in de Hartestraat, over den vergulden

Kop. [1]

1 In het blad van onze Stad- en Dorpbeschrijver, voorgemeld, handelende over

West-maas, en welk blad thans op de pers is, hebben wij opzettelijk over den
staat van het Brand-wezen ten platten Lande, gesproken: God, die de harten kan
bestuuren, geve dat het den gewenschten invloed, en uitwerking hebbe. ↑
2 Men zie over dit en de andere Kerklijke en Wereldlijke Gebouwen van
Amstelveen, het blad van onzen meergemelden Beschouwer, ’t welk over dit
dorp handelt. ↑