Mark Dvoretsky The Inst17.Pdf

The Instructor

Should He Have Sacrificed?

Some years ago, Jonathan Tisdall published an outstanding book called,

“Improve Your Chess Now”. In it, readers will find a lot of interesting

recommendations concerning many of the problems involved in

completing the development of one’s game - above all, the improvement

of calculating technique, and of over the board decision-making.

The Instructor

Mark Dvoretsky

The game we are about to examine was annotated minutely by Tisdall.

The grandmaster explains in detail why, having obtained a tremendous

position in this important game, he still managed to lose in just a few

moves. I have also added earlier comments by Tisdall (and by Ftacnik),

which I found in a computer database.

The way Tisdall paints a psychological picture of the struggle is based on

his own analysis; however, I think it had even more to do with the

unfortunate result of a game that was so important to him. Having

analyzed the game’s decisive stage together with my students, I have

come to a different set of conclusions, both in the chess sense and (as a

direct result) in the psychological; and I have reached a different

perspective on the events of this game. The readers will no doubt find it

interesting to compare the two differing points of view.

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Nikolic – Tisdall Reykjavik 1996

JT: This game was played in the penultimate round, and I was leading a

very strong field by half a point. I give the prelude to the instructive

moment with light notes, concentrating instead on the subjective factors,

nerves and psychology, that affected the game.

E-

Mail:

1 d2-d4 d7-d5 2 c2-c4 c7-c6 3 Nb1-c3 Ng8-f6 4 Ng1-f3 e7-e6 5 e2-e3

Nb8-d7 6 Bf1-e2

JT: A rather uncommon move and not Nikolic’s usual choice. I had

some vague memories that one idea was to answer ...dc with a4, but then

...c5 steers play into the Queen’s Gambit Accepted. Since this is in

Nikolic’s repertoire, this might have been a satisfactory transposition for

him.

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The Instructor

6...Bf8-d6 7 0-0 0-0 8 b2-b3

JT: By leaving out Qc2 White puts less pressure on Black, who does not

have to watch out for e4 yet.

8...Qd8-e7

JT: 8...b6 was maybe the most flexible.

9 Bc1-b2 b7-b6 10 Qd1-c2 Bc8-b7 11 e3-e4 Nf6xe4 12 Nc3xe4 d5xe4

13 Qc2xe4 f7-f5!

JT: This seems to be very strong here - the e4 square gives Black active

play and White has surprising difficulty in keeping e5 profitably under

control.

14 Qe4-e3

JT: 14 Qh4 is more prudent. I intended 14...c5! [14...Qxh4 15 Nxh4 c5 is

less accurate since it allows White the favorable exchange 16 Bf3 ( MD:

Black is also worse after 15...e5 16 de Bxe5 17 Bxe5 Nxe5 18 f4, with a

slight edge for White )] 15 Qxe7 Bxe7 16 dc Nxc5 17 Rfd1 Rad8, with

comfortable play for Black.

MD: An earlier game, Huebner - Wolff, Biel izt 1993, went as follows:

14 Qh4 c5 15 Rad1 Rad8 16 dc Qxh4 17 Nxh4 Nxc5 18 Nf3 Be7 19 Ne5

Rfe8 20 Rxd8 Rxd8 21 Rd1 Rxd1+ 22. Bxd1 Kf8 23. b4 Ne4 24. f3 Nd2

25. Bc3 Bd6 26. c5 Bxe5 27. Bxe5 Nc4 28. Bb8, Draw.

14...c6-c5

JT: This position seems better for Black - his pieces are more actively

placed and there are many ways to liberate the center.

15 Ra1-d1

JT: Not 15 Ne5?? cd 16 Bxd4 f4 17 Qc3 Bxe5 18 Bxe5 Qg5 and Black

wins.

15...Ra8-d8 16 d4xc5

JT: 16 Ng5 Rde8 [16...Rfe8!? Nikolic] and White will waste more time

with the knight than Black with his rook.

16...Bd6xc5

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The Instructor

MD: 16...Nxc5?! is weaker in view of 17. Be5 (but not 17. Ne5 f4 -

Ftacnik) 17...f4 18. Bxd6 Rxd6 19. Qe5, with a slight edge to White.

17 Qe3-g5

JT: Now White is eager to trade to relieve the pressure, but Black does

not cooperate yet.

17...Nd7-f6

MD: After 17...Qxg5 18 Nxg5 Rfe8 19 Rd3, White would stand a little

better, in Ftacnik’s opinion. The position looks unclear to me: 19...e5 20.

Rfd1 Bc6.

18 Rd1xd8 Rf8xd8 19 Nf3-e5

JT: Nikolic later admitted that he disliked his position so much here that

he considered a full grovel with 19 Bxf6 Qxf6 20 Qxf6 gf 21 Rd1; but

not only is this distinctly unpalatable, it would also remove any hope of

Black developing a disorder of the nerves. This line would give Black a

comfortable and utterly safe advantage.

MD: Sometimes, in tough positions, one has to resort to such undesirable

measures as this exchange on f6. (Alekhine used to call such things a

“testimonium paupertatis” - that’s Latin for “a testament to poverty”).

But Nikolic, who knows very well how to defend difficult positions, feels

that his affairs are not quite that bad yet, and there is still no reason for a

psychological capitulation.

19...h7-h6

JT: At this stage there were two sets of dominant psychological factors.

First, I was growing intoxicated with what was clearly a charmed event

for me. Riding a wave of success, I found myself playing quickly and

easily and at this stage my opponent had just over half an hour for the

rest of the game, while I had about an hour and a quarter. Not only could

I feel the accumulated confidence of the earlier rounds, but I could also

see that I stood better here in every possible way. Added to this was the

sight of my esteemed opponent, who was using vast amounts of time and

was visibly depressed as his chance to move into first place had

transformed into prospects of disaster. These elements now combine to

create a kind of imbalance which Kotov aptly called “Dizziness due to

success.”

20 Qg5-c1 Nf6-e4

JT: Everything goes forward smoothly. Black eyes the squares d2 and f2,

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The Instructor

and e5 is soon to come under control as well.

21 Ne5-d3

MD: The decisive moment of this

game has arrived. I invite the readers

to stop and consider what they

themselves would have played here.

It’s impossible to proceed without

some long-range calculations; but

nevertheless, you won’t be able to

calculate the variations completely.

You will have to rely on intuition.

21...Rd8xd3??

JT: I subsequently nominated this move for an “Elmer Fudd award’, in

honour of the huntsman eternally outwitted by Bugs Bunny. The

explanation for this is that the whole process behind this move reminds

me of the classic cartoon routine: I am seized by an irresistible desire to

blow my opponent’s head off. I then proceed to use most of my time

calculating and recalculating the variations associated with the sacrifice. I

cannot make it work, but keep trying... Finally, after listening to the

frustrating clicks of the weapon refusing to fire, I perform the chess

equivalent of pointing it at my face, looking down the barrel, and pulling

the trigger one more time - with the usual result.

The reflex reaction here was to set the center in motion by 21...Bd6 and

this captured my attention for a brief span. While this is tempting, it has

the disadvantage of making Black’s dark-squared bishop inferior to

White’s. (That is, when the black pawn advances to e5 pressure will be

mounted with the aid of the b2-bishop, while the d6-bishop will, at least

temporarily, be assigned a defensive role.) This is in fact the key strategic

theme here, and if I had had the composure to think as rationally as in

previous rounds it would almost certainly have struck me. Instead, I was

playing my strategic moves solely on the basis of what I felt was my

inspired feel for the game, and spicing this up with the occasional tactical

calculation. There was absolutely no sense of detachment or calm

reflection.

While I was sitting around wasting my time, Nikolic noticed that

21...Bd4! simply gives Black a gigantic edge. Black removes White’s

best piece, and takes even firmer control of the d-file and center. I don’t

know exactly how to weigh Black’s advantage here, but I would wager

that Nikolic would beat himself with Black here fairly regularly. One

sample variation we looked at is 22 Bxd4 Rxd4 23 f3 Rxd3 ( MD:

23...Nc5 24 Qe3 Qd6 25 Rd1, with a small advantage to Black) 24 Bxd3

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The Instructor

( MD: 24.fe Qc5+ 25.Kh1 Re3 with great advantage to Black) 24...Qc5+

25 Kh1 Nf2+ 26 Rxf2 Qxf2 27 Bb1 Kf7 and White’s position is

excruciatingly passive.

Meanwhile, I have noticed how dangerous the text-move was, and now

my “intuition” convinced me that the sacrifice had to be justified. My

opponent is in full retreat, obviously dispirited, and everything is going

my way. The fact that I could not successfully extract a single convincing

variation during this internal struggle between desire and reason was

insufficient to curb my obsession with not only winning, but winning in

style.

MD: I suggest that Tisdall overestimates his advantage. In his variation,

White can defend by 27 Bc2 (instead of the passive 27 Bb1), for

example: 27...Kf7 28 Qd1 Ke7 29 b4! g5 30 Ba4 g4 (30...Bc8 31 Qa1!)

31 Qd7+ Kf6 32 Qd8+, with a perpetual check (on 32...Ke5, there

follows 33 Qh8+).

Nor is 23 f3 obligatory: 23 Rd1 is quite playable, for instance: 23...e5 24

f3 Nc5 (24...Rxd3? 25 Rxd3 Qc5+ 26 Qe3) 25 Qe3 Nxd3 26 Rxd3, with

a slight advantage to Black.

On 21...Bd6!?, White should not play 22 Ne5?! Bxe5 23 Bxe5 Rd2 24

Bf3 Rxa2, when Black has a great advantage; nor 22 Rd1? , which loses

to 22...Qh4 23 g3 (23 h3 Nxf2! 24 Nxf2 Qg3) 23...Nxg3! However, after

22. Qe3, although he has some edge, Black has a hard time increasing his

pressure.

Thus, in the first instance, it is not clear which of two quiet moves

(21...Bd4 or 21...Bd6) was stronger; and secondly, neither one of these

moves guarantees Black any considerable advantage.

As will become clear later, the exchange sacrifice which Black played

after lengthy hesitation, although it involves some definite risks,

nevertheless does not deserve even one question mark, to say nothing of

two. If Black had followed up correctly, he should not have lost - in fact,

his opponent would have had to find an exact series of moves, so as not

to be steamrollered.

Perhaps the only thing Black deserves to be criticized for his “overmuch”

thinking at this critical juncture. Such intuitive sacrifices cannot be

exactly calculated. As Mikhail Tal advised, one must either decide on

them fairly quickly (saving time and energy for the tasks to come later),

or just as decisively to avoid them (all of this is not only depending on

the position, but also on your own style of play, your opponent’s

personality, the amount of time you have left, your place in the

tournament, etc.). Later on, according to Nimzovich’s “principle of the

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