Gaining a tempo
Another mysterious subject is the Tempo.
CM Dan Heisman was een advocate of the CCT method, which is a crude method to drum up a series of candidate moves.
 |
| Black to move |
4r1k1/1p4bp/3qp3/5pp1/Q4N2/2P2PP1/PP5P/1K2R3 b - - 0 23
Slingerland, F. vs. Pijpers, A., Leiden 2013
Source 1001 Chess Exercises for Advanced Club Players
There is some sort of tempo balance here. Black wants to take the white knight, but he must first bring his rook into safety.
1. ... b5 in order to chase the white queen away or to a place where the black rook can attack her in a safe way.
(notice the redundant candidate moves of CCT
- 1. ... Ra8
- 1. ... gxf4
- 1. ... Qxf4
- 1. ... Bxc3
- 1. ... Qd3+
- 1. ... Qd1+
- 1. ... e5 )
2.Qxb5 Rb8
3.Qd3 Now black needs still a tempo
3. ... Qb6 Finally a tempo that cannot be parried with a counter tempo!
Notice how logic prunes the list of potential candidate moves rigorously.
Puzzle 153 in the book.
ReplyDeleteMinor quibble: the moves don't match the board.
Thx. I corrected it. I hope. I'm a lousy annotator.
DeleteI can't count the number of times I've gotten the board reversed in my head while calculating. It seems to occur most often in king and pawn endgames: I’ll get the direction of movement backwards. It usually causes a complete misunderstanding of the position.
DeleteWith regards to the specific problem:
There are multiple potential starting points toward a solution. As a general "rule," when faced with an EGT (Equal or Greater Threat) situation, I generally try to find an immediate counter-threat that is even greater (against a higher value target) before considering anything else. EGT is all about tempi!
Black is attacking the knight, White is attacking the rook. Black escalates the threat level by attacking the queen (since he has no way to directly attack the king—the highest level of threat). This makes sense from a FORCING [CMCT threat level] perspective. Serendipitous: White's queen is a constrained defender. (White has only Qxb5 to maintain the threat contact with the BRe8.) Then the tempo gaining move by the rook directly attacks the White queen. White escalates again by attacking the Black queen, while protected by the en prise knight. If Black captures the queen, then White can recapture with the knight, saving it. All of these “tit-for-tat” threat escalations occur at the lowest (4th) threat level [CMCT].
Black finally escalates to the second highest threat level (Mate threat, without a check). White has no more options to escalate, and also is in a position where he MUST defend against the mate threat. This is the final tempo gain that allows Black to capture the knight without any adverse consequences.
It is very similar to a “tit-for-tat” piece exchange situation, but swapping (and escalating) threats rather than exchanging pieces.
The FORCING hierarchy [CMCT] also is a constraint hierarchy that is tempo-based. The higher the level of threat, the more limited the set of available responses becomes with correspondingly smaller number of tempi available to respond.
Which is (perhaps) how we got the general patzer “rule”: “ALWAYS CHECK: IT MIGHT BE MATE!” [Tongue firmly planted in my cheek.]
It is very similar to a “tit-for-tat” piece exchange situation, but swapping (and escalating) threats rather than exchanging pieces.
DeleteThis is practical confirmation that chess SKILL is not a monolithic entity but, instead, a collection of Mini skills that are tightly integrated.
The WHOLE is greater than the sum of its parts.
Another “lesson” from the game is that Black did not rush to grab the knight. Instead, he steadily improved his relative advantage vis-a-vis the White king until White allowed a fork of king and rook. At that point, White threw in the towel.
Delete[White "Fred Slingerland"]
[Black "Arthur Pijpers"]
[WhiteElo "2350"]
[BlackElo "2338"]
[Date "2013.7.20"]
[Round "8.8"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Event "7th LCT 2013"]
[Site "Leiden NED"]
[Eco "B76"]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 O-O 9.O-O-O d5 10.Kb1 Nxd4 11.e5 Nf5 12.exf6 exf6 13.Nxd5 Nxe3 14.Qxe3 Be6 15.Bc4 f5 16.c3 Re8 17.Nf4 Qc7 18.Bxe6 fxe6 19.Rhe1 Rad8 20.g3 Rd6 21.Rxd6 Qxd6 22.Qxa7 g5 23.Qa4 b5 24.Qxb5 Rb8 25.Qd3 Qb6 26.Re2 Qg1+ 27.Kc2 Qa1 28.b4 Qxa2+ 29.Kd1 Qa1+ 30.Kd2 gxf4 31.Rxe6 Qa2+ 0-1
A great example.
ReplyDeleteI guess these are the two main weapons. Gaining a tempo and profit from function. Automate these and you will become good at tactics. You get calculation and visualization for free.
ReplyDeleteWe talk about the attacker:defender ratio (A:D-ratio) of a target. The target can be a piece or a PoP (point of pressure).
ReplyDeleteWe start looking for the target with the most defenders. Trying to change the A:D-ratio. Looking whether we can harass one of the defenders. The more defenders the greater the chance. Remove the defender with tempo, or make use of what the defender cannot do due to its function.
Scratching an itch. . .
ReplyDeleteThere was a pattern in the given puzzle that caused a “familiar” feeling. I couldn’t exactly put my finger on it. I finally found the “scratcher.”
FEN: 8/pp4pp/2p1kp2/b7/2nP4/3K3P/PP3PP1/2B1N3 w - - 5 24
Dr. Euwe apparently thought that a counter-threat against the WNe1 was the best way to save his BNc4, rather than retreating it or defending it with the b-pawn. On the surface, it looks like a workable idea. The “old man” had a trick up his sleeve.
Dr. Lasker advanced his b-pawn to b4, apparently sacrificing it. Why? Duplo move with gain of tempo! (1) Break the BBa5 line of attack on the WNe1, essentially “defending” the knight, and (2) diverting the BBa5 to a square on which White can attack it with the WNe1. Since White is already attacking the BNc4, White gets a double attack; Black loses a piece. Dr. Euwe continued playing for a few more moves, but Dr. Lasker clinched the win very quickly.
Different pieces-on-squares but the same (unnamed) logical pattern: an “idea” worth remembering!
[White "Emanuel Lasker"]
[Black "Max Euwe"]
[WhiteElo "2720"]
[BlackElo "2650"]
[Date "1936.??.??"]
[Round "13"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Event "Nottingham"]
[Site "Nottingham"]
[Eco "D12"]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Bd3 e6 6.cxd5 Bxd3 7.Qxd3 exd5 8.Nc3 Bd6 9.O-O O-O 10.Re1 Nbd7 11.e4 dxe4 12.Nxe4 Nxe4 13.Qxe4 Re8 14.Qxe8+ Qxe8 15.Rxe8+ Rxe8 16.Kf1 Nb6 17.Bd2 f6 18.Re1 Rxe1+ 19.Nxe1 Kf7 20.Ke2 Ke6 21.h3 Nc4 22.Bc1 Bc7 23.Kd3 Ba5 24.b4 Bxb4 25.Nc2 Bd2 26.Bxd2 Nb2+ 27.Ke2 Kd5 28.Bc1 Nc4 29.Kd3 Nb6 30.Ne3+ Ke6 31.Nc4 Nc8 32.Na5 Nd6 33.Bf4 1-0
Good catch!
DeleteTempo and function are the flies in the ointment that make simply counting attackers and defenders insufficient. This is the prime area where you can outplay your opponent with the aid of System 1. It plays a role in each and every game, and maybe even in each and every tactic.
ReplyDeleteTactics are always based on time, space or function. But the common element is tempo.
Sorry about the deleted comment: it had too many spaces between the verbiage and the game moves.
ReplyDelete[1001 Chess Exercises for Club Players: The Tactics Workbook that Also Explains All the Key Concepts, Frank Erwich, New in Chess, 2019, pg 19, Puzzle 78.]
No, I’m not going to use every puzzle from the book. This particular one struck a resonant chord with your thesis:
Tactics are always based on time, space or function. But the common element is tempo.
FEN: 6k1/4brpp/r1p1pp1B/p3q3/2P1N3/PP4Q1/2n3PP/3R1R1K w - - 0 22
Starting with a static overall assessment:
Black has a one-pawn material advantage: he just captured a pawn on e5. White has a slightly better pawn structure (Black has two isolated pawns on the queenside.
Dynamic assessment:
White has a significant advantage. All of his pieces are focused on the kingside attack, whereas Black has two pieces (BRa6, BNc2) that have no bearing on the kingside. Black’s back rank looks “soft” because White has a heavy piece (WRd1) that can reach the back rank in one move. Now let’s address the FUNctions. [Isn’t this FUN?!?]
WQg3+WBh6: attacking the B.A.D. [2:2] square g7 (defended by BRf7, BKg8). Consequently, the BRf7 is constrained to defending g7 by the checkmate threat (WQg3+WBh6), effectively “pinned” to g7 by function. So the BRf7 cannot move off the 7th rank. It does not defend f6.
WQg3 absolutely pins the BPg7 to BKg8. Consequently, the BPg7 has NO defensive function on f6.
The BQe5 attacks the WQg3 and defends the f6-square. Because of this capture threat (eliminating the checkmate threat against g7), in accordance with the Attack Motif, White must DO SOMETHING FORCING IMMEDIATELY! BUT, any capture sequence on f6 means that the BBe7 MUST capture before the BQe5; otherwise, the WRf1 would capture on f6, winning queen+pawn for knight+rook. So, the Black queen is (somewhat) constrained by exchange order in its defense of f6.
WNe4 is within striking distance of BKg8 on the next move on the f6-square. In forcing terms, this is the highest level of forcing move (check). The WRf1 supports the White knight if it captures. As already noted by the functions of the other pieces “protecting” f6, the BBe7 would be forced to recapture on f6 if the WNe4 captures with 22. Nxf6+. That certainly whittles down the set of potential candidate moves!
Unfortunately for Black, after 22. Nxf6+ Bxf6, the BBf6 acquires THREE functions: (1) it must defend the BQe5; (2) it must defend the back rank from the WRd1; and (3) it must “block” the f-file so that the WRf1 does not come into play against the BRf7 and, through it, the back rank. Two functions are usually sufficient to overload a piece; three functions are a disaster.
Number (1), defending the queen, is the most immediate requirement on the BBf6. 23. Qxe5 Bxe5, and the path to the back rank is now open on two files: d-file and f-file. 24. Rd8+ Rf8 (forced) 25. Rxf8# (It doesn’t matter which rook captures on f8).
Notice that by examining the functions, White can quickly determine with certainty the course of the combination. At each move, the way forward in the logical sequence is determined by function and tempi.
[Event "London Classic Open"]
[Site "London ENG"]
[Date "2011.12.03"]
[EventDate "2011.12.03"]
[Round "1"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Matthieu Cornette"]
[Black "Simon M Warman"]
[ECO "B41"]
[WhiteElo "2548"]
[BlackElo "2056"]
[PlyCount "46"]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Be2 Nf6 6.Nc3 Qc7 7.O-O Nc6 8.Kh1 Be7 9.f4 d6 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Qd3 O-O 12.b3 a5 13.Qg3 Ba6 14.Bxa6 Rxa6 15.e5 Nd5 16.Ne4 dxe5 17.fxe5 f6 18.c4 Nb4 19.Bh6 Rf7 20.a3 Nc2 21.Rad1 Qxe5 22.Nxf6+ Bxf6 23.Qxe5 1-0
Addendum: Everything that happened was set in motion by Black with 17... f6, weakening the pawn shield in front of his king. Almost every move by White was a forcing move, maintaining the initiative until the end.
Delete