Efstratios Grivas:

A Trainers Workshop
A top-trainer is obliged to prepare his
subjects clearly and teach them in a
suitable and understanbale way.
Only by this the trainee could be
guaranteed of learning and later applying
the knowledge Lets see two examples
of the method:

The Laskers Steps

Concept

Emanuel Lasker (December 24, 1868 January 11, 1941) was a German chess
player, mathematician, and philosopher
who was World Chess Champion for 27
years (from 1894 to 1921).
In his prime Lasker was one of the most
dominant champions, and he is still
generally regarded as one of the strongest
players ever.

Emanuel Lasker composed the following

study in 1890 (published in Deutsches
Wochenschach):

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White is on the move but it is hard to say
that he has any winning chances at all, as
his king cannot find shelter and a
potentional rooks exchange will just end
to an easy draw. But here the unfortunate
position of the black king helps White to
gain a win - If the black king were on f5,
say, then the draw would be simple. The
trick is simple: White will push the black
king to the second rank, when he will be
able to win with Rxh2, resulting to a queen
vs rook ending. And this can be done step
by step
1.Kb7 Rb2 2.Ka7! Rc2 3.Rh5!
The first step.
3...Ka4
The black king is obliged to retreat on the
a-file. After 3...Kb4 4.Kb7 Black has no
checks on the b-file.
4.Kb7 Rb2 5.Ka6! Rc2 6.Rh4!
The second step.
6...Ka3 7.Kb6
Threatening 8.Rh2!
7...Rb2 8.Ka5! Rc2 9.Rh3!
The third and final step.
9...Ka2 10.Rh2! 1:0.

Among the many elegant games he played

he found the time to compose some
excellent studies. Here we will examine
one of them which has quite practical value
and was named as Laskers Steps

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Opocensky K. : Keres P.
Buenos Aires 1939

Jansa V. : Geller E.
Budapest 1970

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Nearly 50 years after we had another

similar case. White will have to face the
notorious rook ending with a & c pawns
sooner or later. But here it wouldn't be too
difficult to defend...
67...Kc2
Black tries his hand - with no risk of
course!
68.Ka3
The immediate 68.Rg8 Rh7 69.Rg2 is a
theoretical draw as well, but the text move
is more 'accurate'.
68...Rh4 69.Ka2 Rh3 70.Ka3 Kc1
71.Ka4?
White has fallen in love with his h-pawn or
he was simply not willing to defend against
the notorious ending! He could once more
draw with 71.Rg8! c2 72.Ka2! (72.Ka4?
Rh7 -+) 72...Rh7 73.Rg1 Kd2 74.Rg2.
71...c2
And now the technique called 'Lasker's
Steps' will be in force.
72.Rg8
Or 72.Ka5 Kb2 73.Rb8 Ka3 74.Rc8 Rh5
75.Ka6 Kb3 76.Rb8 Ka4 77.Rc8 Rh6
78.Ka7 Rh7 79.Ka6 Kb3 80.Rb8 Ka2
81.Rc8 Kb1 82.Rb8 Kc1 83.Rc8 Rh3
84.Ka5 Kb2 85.Rb8 Rb3 -+. It seemed that
now White worked out the losing way, so
he threw the towel in
72...Rh7 73.Kb3 Kb1 0:1.

65.Kg8!
White knows the technique provided by
Lasker and follows it!
65...c2 66.Rc5 Rxb4 67.f7
And here we go again.
67...Rg4 68.Kh8 Rf4 69.Rc6!
The king should be pushed back as usual.
69...Kh5 70.Kg7 Rg4 71.Kh7 Rf4
72.Rc5! Kh4 73.Kg7 Rg4 74.Kf6!
74.Kh6 doesn't do the trick: 74...Rf4
75.Rc4? (75.Kg6 +-) 75...Rc4 76.f8Q c1Q
and Black wins!
74...Rf4 75.Ke6 Re4 76.Kf5 Re2

FIDE Surveys Efstratios Grivas

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And now the black rook has been driven to
the 'right' rank, so the show begins:
77.Kg6 Rg2 78.Kh6 Rf2 79.Rc4 Kh3
80.Kg6 Rg2 81.Kh5! Rf2 82.Rc3 Kh2
83.Rc2 1:0.

Crisan A. : Grivas E.
Bucharest 1984

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I had few hopes to cash the point, but of
course I felt that I could give it a try - was
it for free anyway!
77...Kc2 78.Ka5?
And White immediately felled for it! He
could have drawn with the 'known' 78.Rg8
Rh7 79.Rg2 or even with the paradoxical
78.Kb5 c3 79.Ka5, when Black is on the
move and has no improvement!
78...c3
Now it is White to play and he is forced to
take his king away and on the right (for
Black) rank as well!
79.Ka6
White expected 79...Kc1? 80.Rc8, with a
simple draw.
79...Rh5! 80.Ka7
And now it is time for the black king to get
out of his shelter.
80...Kc1 81.Kb6
As now the white king is on the same rank
with his pawn, 81.Rc8 loses to 81...Rh7
82.Ka6 c2.
81...c2 82.Ka6
And now the Steps begins:
82...Rh6!
Black could also win with 82...Kb2 83.Rb8
Ka3 84.Rc8 Kb3 85.Rb8 Ka4 86.Rc8 Rh6,
but I found a second way as well!
83.Ka5 Rh4!
The black rook creates a nice zugwang!
84.Rb8

FIDE Surveys Efstratios Grivas

Little choice for White. The alternative

was 84.Ka6 Rh5 85.Ka7 Kb2 86.Rb8 Ka3
87.Rc8 Rh7 -+.
84...Rh7 85.Ka4 Rh3 86.Rd8 Kb2
87.Rb8 Ka2 88.Rc8 Ra3
White resigned due to the continuation
89.Kb4 Rb3+ 90.Ka4 Kb2. 0:1.
Conclusion
Such patterns are often met in practice knowledge is the secret word!

Attack on the King

Concept
A sensitive and more or less frequently met
concept, which guides the games from the
beginners to the top-players levels.
The vast majority of the chess-players
learn how to attack and sometimes how to
defend as well! Attacking is more pleasant
by the way, as it makes you feel in the
drivers seat. But, as it is common said in
sports, defence gains the win!
Well, sometimes the defence cannot do
much but only to slow down the
unavoidable. Or at least it can pose
problems to our opponent, which he will
have to solve over the board. Easier said
than done!
In this volume we will examine a nice
attack by the young Indian GM Parimarjan
Negi.

I mishandled the opening and my opponent

contacted a terrific attack, killing me on
the process!
Negi P. : Grivas E.
Wijk aan Zee 2008
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 de4 4.Ne4 Nd7
5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nf6 Nf6 7.c3 Be7 8.Bf4 00
9.Bd3 b6 10.Qe2 Bb7 11.000

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This looks to be the most dangerous. Not
much is 11.00 c5 12.Rfd1 cd4 13.Nd4
Qd5 14.Nf3 Qc6 15.Qf1 Rad8=, Diczew F.
: Kawenski L., Krynica 2001; or 11.h4 c5
12.dc5 bc5 13.Ne5 Qd5 14.a3 Rad8 15.0
00 Qb3, Efimov I. : Fronzi E., Senigallia
2007.
11...Qd5?
A bad move, based on a wrong concept.
Black should better go for (some) of the
following lines:
a) 11...Qc8 12.Kb1 (12.h4!? c5 13.h5,
Timoscenko G. : Kholmov R., Stary
Smokovec 1996) 12...c5 13.Be5 (13.h4
Rd8 14.Ne5 Kf8 15.Bc2 cd4 16.cd4 Bd6,
Kraemer M. : Meier G., Willingen 2003)
13...cd4 14.Bd4, Lima D. : Teixeira R., Rio
de Janeiro 2003;
b) 11...c5? 12.dc5 Qc8 13.cb6 ab6
14.Kb1, Guyot P. : Ferry R., Rouen
1987.;
c) 11...a5!? 12.h4 a4, Peltola M. : Ristoja
J., Helsinki 1992.;
d) 11...Nd5?! 12.Qe4! (12.Bd2?! Qd6
13.Qe4 f5 14.Qe5 Bf6 15.Qd6 cd6=,
FIDE Surveys Efstratios Grivas

Thanner H. : Wittmann G., Bayern 2002)

12...g6 13.Bh6;
e) 11...Bf3!? 12.Qf3 (12.gf3 Nd5 13.Be5
Bd6) 12...Qd5 13.Qd5 Nd5 14.Bd2
(14.Be5 Bd6 15.Rhe1 Rad8 16.Kc2 Nf4
17.Be4 Ng6 18.Bd6 Rd6, Goloshchapov A.
: Maslak K., Sochi 2006) 14...c5 15.dc5
Bc5 16.Rhf1 Rfd8 17.Kc2, Petrosian T. :
Anastasian A., Yerevan 2011.
12.Kb1 Rac8

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A 'forced' novelty. Black understood
(lately) that he cannot go for 12...c5?
13.c4! Qd7 (13...Qh5 14.d5) 14.dc5 Qc8
15.cb6 ab6, Kohut A. : Kozak M.,
Krynica 2003 or for 12...Qa5 13.Ne5
(13.Bc7 Rac8 14.Be5) 13...b5 14.Bg5
Bd5 15.a3 Rfd8 16.Ng4, Pavlov M. :
Kudin V., Alushta 2005. But now as the
opposite castles is the main factor here,
White can launch a dangerous attack,
taking advantage of his opponent's loss of
time.
13.Ne5! c5
If Black immediately accepts the challenge
with 13...Qg2, then the opening of the gfile will backfire on his king: 14.Rhg1 Qh3
15.Rg3 Qh5 16.f3 g6 (16...Nd5 17.Rdg1!!
Nf4 18.Rg7 Kh8 19.Qe3 Ng6 (19...Nd5
20.Qh6!! Qh6 21.Rg8 Rg8 22.Nf7#)
20.Rf7 Rf7 21.Nf7 Kg7 22.Ne5) 17.Qg2
(17.Bg5 Bd8 18.Bf6 Bf6 19.Nd7)
17...Nd5 18.Bd2 Bh4 19.Rh3 c5 20.c4.
14.c4!
14.dc5?! would only help Black after
14...Qc5 15.Rhe1 Nd5 16.Bg3 Qa5

(16...Rfd8? 17.Nf7! Kf7 18.Qe6 Kf8

19.Bh7+).
14...Qg2
Black is now obliged to accept the
challenge ...
15.Rhg1 Qh3 16.Rg3!
The open g-file is of high importance and
White should not be carried away by
moves like 16.d5?!, when it seems that
Black can defend: 16...Qh5 17.de6 Qe2
18.ef7 Rf7 19.Be2 Rff8! (19...Be4?
20.Bd3! (20.Ka1 Rff8 21.Bh6 Ne8)
20...Bd3 21.Rd3 Rff8 22.Bh6 Ne8 23.Rdg3
Bf6 24.Nd7) 20.Bh6 Ne8 21.Bg4 Be4
22.Ka1 Bf5.
16...Qh5

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17.f3!
An excellent move and the one that Black
had missed. By the text move White not
only avoids the exchange of his queen but
allows her to participate in the attack via
the g- and h-files. Also puts e4square
under control, which is important in some
variations. But it must be noted that
17.Rdg1 was good as well:
17...Qe2 18.Rg7 Kh8 19.Be2 Be4 20.Kc1
Bg6 21.R1g6 (21.Bh6 Ng8? 22.Rf7 Nh6
23.Re7 Rf2 24.Re6 cd4 25.Ng6 hg6
26.Rgg6+) 21...hg6 22.Bh6 Rc7 23.Nf7
Rf7 24.Rf7 or
17...g6 18.Ng4 Ng4
a) 18...Qh4 19.Nf6 Bf6 20.Rg4 Qh3
21.R1g3 Qh5 22.Rg6+;
b) 18...Kg7 19.d5! (19.Bh6 Kh8 20.Bf8
Rf8 21.Nf6 Qe2 22.Be2 Bf6 23.dc5 bc5

FIDE Surveys Efstratios Grivas

24.Rb3) 19...Ng4 20.Rg4 Rh8 21.Be5 f6

22.Bc3.
19.Rg4 Kh8 and now critical is 20.Be5! f6
21.Bg3 g5 22.h4.
17...g6
Unfortunately Black cannot go for
17...Kh8, as after 18.Qg2! Be4 19.Be4 Ne4
20.Rg7 (20.Rh3? Nc3!! (20...Qf5? 21.fe4
Qf4 22.Rg1! (22.Rf1?! Qg5! 23.Rg3 Qh5
24.Rg1) 22...Bf6 23.Nd3+) 21.bc3 Qf5
22.Nd3 cd4) 20...Bf6 21.Rg1+ is curtains.
18.Qf1!
A killing idea (remember 17.f3?) which
threats 19.Rh3, even better than 18.Qg2
Be4 (18...Qh4?! 19.Be3!+) 19.Bg5!
(19.Be4? Ne4 20.Rh3 Nc3! (20...Qf5
21.fe4 Qf4) 21.bc3 Qf5 22.Nd3 cd4)
19...Bd3 20.Nd3 h6 21.Nf4 Qg5 22.Rg5
hg5 23.Qg5.
18...Qh4
Black plays the best defence for the last
moves, but his position is beyond
repairing.
19.Bg5 Qd4

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20.Bg6!
A nice combination that crowns a fantastic
attack!
20...Qe5
20...Qd1 wasn't really an option. After
21.Qd1 hg6 22.Qc2!+ the sac on g6 is
ending the game.
21.Bh7!
Probably the only winning continuation!
Bad was 21.Bc2? due to 21...Ne4! 22.Be7
(22.Be4? Be4 23.fe4 Bg5 24.Qg2 f6 25.h4
Rcd8 26.Rd8 Rd8 27.hg5 f5+) 22...Ng3
5

23.Qd3 (23.hg3?! Rfe8) 23...f5 24.Bf8 Rf8

25.hg3 Kg7 or 21.Bf6? Bf6 22.Bh7 Kh8!
+.
21...Nh7
After 21...Kh8 22.Bc2! wins, but not
22.Bf6? Bf6 23.Rd2 Bh4+. After the
other option 21...Kh7 White mates: 22.Qh3
Kg6 23.Bf4 (23.Bf6 Kf6 24.Qh4 Kf5
25.Qe7+) 23...Ng4 24.Qh6 Kf5 25.fg4
Ke4 26.Re3#.
22.Bf4!
Another accurate move and not 22.Be7?
Kh8 23.Bf8 Qf5 24.Ka1 Nf8, when it is
White that should seek the draw: 25.Qg2
Ng6 26.Qd2 Kh7 27.Qd7 Ba6 28.Qa4 Bb7
29.Qd7=.
22...Qg7 23.Rg7 Kg7

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It seems that Black has got enough
material in return for his queen.
24.Rd7!
But this is the end of White's combination
that started with 18.Qf1!. The notorious
double-attack on the screen again!
24...Bf6 25.Rb7 Rcd8 26.Qh3
Game over!
26...Kh8 27.Bh6 Rg8 28.Rf7 Rg1 29.Kc2
An excellent contacted attack by the
talented Indian GM!
1:0.

FIDE Surveys Efstratios Grivas