Day 35 - Open Diagonals and Fianchetto - 21 Days To Supercharge Your Chess by TheChessWorld

4/29/2015 Day 35: Open Diagonals and Fianchetto — 21 Days to Supercharge Your Chess by TheChessWorld.
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Positional Package Day 35: Open Diagonals and Fianchetto
Day 35: Open Diagonals and Fianchetto
100% Positional Training Completed
Previously we have discussed the importance of possession of an open file, fighting for the file and penetrating it
with rooks or a queen. The diagonal is no different from the file, you also need to fight for it and control it with a
bishop or a queen. In this lesson we will learn about the importance of efficiently using diagonals to win games.
Open diagonals are a very important positional element of chess that should always be taken into account
when analyzing a position and coming up with a plan. Possession of an open diagonals gives a serious
positional edge that can be used to launch an attack on the king or maneuver the pieces on opposite side of
the board.
The strongest of the diagonals is typically considered to be the long diagonal, because it connects two sides
of the board and can be used to threaten the opponent’s castled king.
Let’s take a look at the position below. White controls the long a1-h8 diagonal. Taking into account that
black does not have a dark squared bishop to counter the treats he is vulnerable via the dark squares.
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4/29/2015 Day 35: Open Diagonals and Fianchetto — 21 Days to Supercharge Your Chess by TheChessWorld.com
These two factors give white a stable positional edge. You should always remember to keep the bishop that
matches the color of your pieces. That means if you play white, the light squared bishop is more valuable for
you, assuming you plan to castle short. If you play black – it is the dark squared bishop that you should keep.
I want to mention a couple of important points about fianchetto pawn structure and bishops. Many players
nowadays choose to play dynamic openings involving fianchetto of one or even both bishops: King’s Indian
Defence, Catalan, Sicilian Dragon, and other so-called hyper-modern openings.
What is an advantage of having a fianchettoed bishops? The main idea behind most fienchettoes is to
activate the bishop at the flank by occupying the long diagonals, where the bishops are the strongest. The
hyper-modern opening approach favors delay in occupying the center with a plan of undermining and
destroying the opponent’s central pawns.
Take a look at the following diagram. White have fianchettoed both bishops. The important point to keep in
mind that if you fianchetto your bishops, especially the bishop next to your castled king, you don’t want to
exchange this bishop because it will seriously weaken your defensive ability and will create many
unprotected squares.
Let’s take a look at the real game in which white skillfully exploits open diagonal and is able to obtain a
decisive advantage, ultimately winning the game.
This is a very unusual pawn structure. Black

previously had an initiative and white found a
non‐standard way to stop the attack by placing
the knight on e4. Now white starts his own attack
on the queen's side, and black's pieces are
somewhat uncoordinated to deal with this
problem. c8 Black is trying to defend his
knight and to block the file. How should white
continue here? 2. f1 White wants to exchange
black's knight on h5. What is an idea behind it?
Even though the knight is positioned on the edge
of the board it has a function, defending the
weak f6 square. By removing this defender white
can fully utilize weak dark squares on the king's
side of the board. d7 Adding another
defender to b7. 3. fg3 xg3 4. hxg3
Notice black's king side weaknesses. g7
Tactics Lab: Homework 35

Instructions:
Here is your practical (tactical) exercises. Solving these problems is a very important part of the program on your
way to improve your game. Try solving them by looking on the diagram. If that is hard you can setup pieces on the
board and attempt again. Solutions are given at the end. Check them only after your complete/attempt all problems.
#200. White to move and win
#201. Black to move and win
#204. Black to move and win
Hide Solution
Todorcevic vs. Awerbach
1. xg6+ !!
1. d1 ? e6 2. xg6+ d7 3. xg7

xg7 4. xf5+ c7 5. h6 d7
6. e6 b3
1... xg6 2. h5+ h7 3. f7+ h6

4. xh6#
Endgame Lab: Position 35
Instructions:
Here is your practical (tactical) exercises. Solving these problems is a very important part of the program on your
way to improve your game. Try solving them by looking on the diagram. If that is hard you can setup pieces on the
board and attempt again. Solutions are given at the end. Check them only after your complete/attempt all problems.
White to move and win
Hide Solution
This is another idea that you need to know in

order to successfully play rook and pawn
endgames. 1. h4+ This move forces black to
give up space and let white's king closer to the
pawn.
The check along the b‐file does not work

here because the king is too close to the
rook. 1. b1+ ? c4 2. a1 b4
3. d5 a3 4. d4 b3 5. b1+ c2
6. a1 b2 7. h1 a2 8. h2+
b1 = And white cannot make any further
progress.
1... b3 2. b5 a3 Forced. 3. h3+

Another check forces the black's king to move to
2nd rank. b2 4. b4 Attacking the pawn.
a2 Forced. 5. h2+ Final check. b1
Endgame Trainer
Instructions:
Practice the following endgame position against the computer until you are confident that you can play it
correctly in actual game. Take your time and go through the exercise more than once if needed to fully understand
the material. If you have any difficulties please refer to the lesson above.
Hide Practice Position: Day 35
White to move and win:
What’s next?
Congratulations, you have successfully completed the 14-days positional course! At this point you should
have a pretty good understanding of all most important positional elements of chess and should be able to
apply this knowledge in your own games.
Next, we will proceed with our training and focus on the endgames, which is another very important element
of the game. Ability to strategically think in the ending and be able to flawlessly play technical positions is
something that separates an amateur player from the master. For example, the World Chess Champion
Magnus Carlsen is able to win many equal position games because of his superior ability to play simple
endgames extremely well.
We will also learn in greater detail about the importance of opening preparation, and how that can be done
individually without hiring an expensive instructor.
Go to Endgame Package
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Day 35 - Open Diagonals and Fianchetto - 21 Days To Supercharge Your Chess by TheChessWorld

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4/29/2015 Day 35: Open Diagonals and Fianchetto — 21 Days to Supercharge Your Chess by TheChessWorld.

Positional Package Day 35: Open Diagonals and Fianchetto

This is a very unusual pawn structure. Black

Tactics Lab: Homework 35

#200. White to move and win

#201. Black to move and win

#202. White to move and win

#203. White to move and win

#204. Black to move and win

#205. White to move and win

1. d1 ? e6 2. xg6+ d7 3. xg7

1... xg6 2. h5+ h7 3. f7+ h6

White to move and win

This is another idea that you need to know in

The check along the b‐file does not work

1... b3 2. b5 a3 Forced. 3. h3+

Hide Practice Position: Day 35

White to move and win:

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