Skype coaching session, 24 March 2019. 

Firstly,a, "Find The Winning Tactic", position was studied.  
Secondly, the game discussed (23 moves) is given below with annotations and without annotations. 

Re-structuring of the sessions now offers the option for guests to bring their own games for group discussion. 
Recordings of some previous coaching sessions can be found at: 

http://www.open-aurec.com/Skype/PaulBenson/PaulBenson.htm
 
Paul Benson. 

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Find The Winning Tactic. 

Movsesian - Minasian, Yerevan, 1983. 

Algebraic Addresses. 
White: Kg1, Qf4, Bh2, Ng5, 
Pa4, Pb2, Pc2, Pe6, Pf2, Pg2, Ph3. 
Black: Kg8, Qb8, Bf5, Bf8, 
Pa6, Pb6, Pc5, Pd6, Pf6, Pg6, Pg7. 

Fenn (White units in upper case, black units in lower case). 
1q3bk1/ 
6p1/ 
pp1pPpp1/ 
2p2bN1/ 
P4Q2/ 
7P/ 
1PP2PPB/ 
6K1 

Winning Variations. 
(A). 1. e7 fxg5 2. Qc4+ Kh8 3. Bxd6 Qxd6 4. e8=Q, white has a queen vs the 2 black bishops. 
(B). 1. e7 fxg5 2. Qc4+ Kh8 3. Bxd6 Bxe7 4. Bxd8, black has 2 bishops against white queen and bishop. 
(C). 1. e7 fxg5 2. Qc4+ Kh8 3. Bxd6 Qe8 4. exf8=Q+ Qxf8 5. Bxf8, white is a whole queen up. 
(D). 1. e7 Bxe7 2. Qc4+ Kf8 3. Qf7+ mate. 
(E). 1. e7 Bxe7 2. Qc4+ Kh8 3. Qh4+ Kg8 4. Qh7+ Kf8 5. Qh8+ mate. 

Discussion Of Tactics. 
Line-Clearance with Attack Tempo: White plays, 1. e7, clearing the a2 - g8 diagonal for the white queen, this occurs with a very useful attack tempo on the black f8 bishop. 
Overloading and Deflection: In variations A, B, C, white plays, 2. Bxd6, and the black queen has too many duties to perform, no single move meets all defensive requirements, this is called overloading. 
Variation A: Black queen captures, 3. ... Qxd6, she is defected from defending against the e-pawn promotion on the e8 square. 
Variation B: Black f8 bishop captures, 3. ... Bxe7, but the black b8 queen is still attacked by the white bishop, she falls off. 
Variation C: Black queen escapes danger, 3. ... Qe8, but white has the support of the d6 bishop to win a piece back while promoting the e7 pawn to a new queen. 

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## Annotated Game. 

White: A. Bisguier. 
Black: J. Littlewood. 
Event: Hastings 1961-62. 
Result: 0-1 in 23 moves. 
Opening: Queen's Gambit Declined, Chigorin Defence, D07. 

1. d4 d5 
2. Nf3 Nc6 

| The Chigorin Defence, aiming for quick piece development combined with an option of an early, pawn e5, break if white is willing to play along. || 

3. c4 

| White takes up the challenge. 
Instead, 3. g3, is a solid approach, while, 3. Bf4, keeps white in a possible always-intended London system, and for those wishing to counter-stamp the game with their own independence, 3. Nc3, should suffice. || 

3. ... Bg4 

| Black goes, "Mainlining", within the offbeat system. 
From here on in up to black move 9, both players can deviate from the game moves, but should they do so, they will be straying from the moves chosen by the vast majority. 
This is not implying deviating is weak, it is just that players for both sides feel there is much to be gained by following the well-trodden track. 
So note very carefully how imbalances arise which set the scene for both an interesting and testing middlegame. || 

4. cxd5 

| Forcing matters. 
Instead, 4. Nc3, or, 4. pawn e3, or, 4. Qa4, offer greater flexibility, while, 4. Bf4, or, 4. Nbd2, require more extensive testing before a judgement can be made. 
The game continuation about to emerge leads to a position rich in imbalance and therefore opportunity for creativity. || 

4. ... Bxf3 

| Setting up Imbalance Trade One. 
Black is willing to offer the bishop pair in in return for doubling the white f-pawns, note this is an offer, white does not have to accept it. || 

5. gxf3 

| Imbalance Trade One Accepted! 
Instead, 5. dxc6 Bxc6, the bishop retreats down the a8 - h1 diagonal to maintain material equality, white is left with the problem of how to develop the kingside. || 

5. ... Qxd5 

| It is only move 5, black is 2 development tempi ahead and white must protect the doubly-attacked d4 pawn. 
Makes one wonder how so many strong players with white can find themselves ensnared into such a position, right? || 

6. e3 e5 

| The white d4 pawn is now triply-attacked and again under threat. 
Moreover, the black f8 bishop is ready to spring into action. 
Perhaps this black system should be renamed, "The Chigorin Attack"? || 

7. Nc3 Bb4 

| Setting up Imbalance Trade Two. || 

8. Bd2 

| The pin on the white c3 knight is broken, the black queen on d5 is endangered again. 
Instead, 8. a3, forces black into, 8. ... Bxc3+ 9. bxc3, when white has thoughts of influencing the central dark squares with, Bb2, not many have explored this idea, fresh territory for some home research here. || 

8. ... Bxc3 

| Imbalance Trade Two Achieved! 
Black will enter the middlegame with a pair of knights seeking good outposts, white will be trying to keep a flexible pawn-centre capable of rolling forward at the right moment, releasing the bishop pair to start dominating the position. 
Grand Masters find these battles intriguing, Club Players find them enjoyable minefields in which each hopes the opponent will self-destruct. 
Understanding how to handle each side of this type of position could easily take several chapters in a middlegame book. 
Perhaps a simplistic approach for the student would be to examine some games, noting carefully how each remaining piece is deployed in order to achieve some coordination, and taking very careful note of who makes pawn moves, where, and why. 
At Club Player level it is much about avoiding making mistakes, finding plans which do no harm should be the approach, allow the opponent to make their own plans and respond accordingly. 
This is essentially a re-packaging of, "Get on with development while seeking harmonious coordination". || 

9. bxc3 

| On my limited database no one seems to want to experiment with a bishop capture here. 
The game choice has nothing to do with the bishop and the a1 - h8 diagonal, but everything to do with offering the white a1 rook a semi-open b-file for middlegame action. 
Black is standing at an important fork in the road of opening theory, either carry on forcing the pace or calmly re-group which permits white to choose from a wide range of tries. || 

9. ... exd4 

| Black chooses to keep pressuring white. 
Instead the calmer, 9. ... Qd6, offers white a free hand for a move. 
No less than 9 responses are available, 10. Rb1, the most popular, with, 10. Bg2, and, 10. Qb3, jointly sharing a vastly less popular second place, other moves need far more testing. 
Having enjoyed some interactivity since move 4, each player now takes some time to catch up on non-interactive development before settling back down to some good old-fashioned fisticuffs. || 

10. cxd4 Nf6 
11. Rb1 O-O 

| Considerably safer than sending the black king queenside with, 11. ... O-O-O, when the white queen will have immediate activity with, 12. Qa4. 
On g8 the black king might seem vulnerable to some kingside pressure, but just how is white to mount pressure on the g7 pawn without letting black create counter-activity against the white centre-file pawns? 
White is to play and work out whether black has blundered by overlooking an attack on the undefended b7 pawn. || 

12. Be2 

| Correctly resisting the greed. 
Instead after, 12. Rxb7 Nxd4, the white b7 rook is exposed, so, 13. Rxc7 Nxf3+, it looks like an indirect double-pawn trade, right? 
Not so, because after, 14. Ke2 Nxd2, white is temporarily a piece down and the h1 rook is attacked by the black d5 queen. 
There are more variations beginning with, 12. Rxb7, to be found, but the play black achieves when the line reaches, 14. Nxd2, are, unsurprisingly, wonderful for black. || 

12. ... Rfe8 
13. O-O Rad8 

| Black has chosen simple developing moves, there is nothing concrete yet, but white must now start taking care over possible looming threats to the skulking pair of bishops on the white 2nd rank. 
In return, what has white been gaining over the recent few moves? 
Not much, so just what is white aiming for in this game? 
Simple, if possible, exchange queens, all rooks, and settle down to demonstrating this pawn structure should give the bishop pair great optimism of outplaying the black pair of knights. 
Combine this with white being a Grand Master and black being an untitled local representative in the event, and the imbalance in the position drifts even further into favouring white in a bishops versus knights ending. || 

14. a4 

| Black has been correctly resisting snatching the white a2 pawn for a few moves. 
Centralising rooks and especially defending the b7 pawn with a tactic, Nxd4, is of far greater value than removing that distant white a-pawn. 
We haven't had for a while that phrase that pays: "Initiative Over Material!" 
Had the black queen wandered queenside with, Qxa2, at any point, white would have jumped in with, Rxb7, leaving black with isolated and easily targetable queenside pawns, it is white who would then have the Initiative, and without any investment whatsoever. 
Instead of queenside activity, white might have considered a kingside re-grouping of, Kh1, with, Rg1, to follow when appropriate. 
Guess what? 
That excellent Fischerism: "In chess it is important to know when to punch and when to duck.", most often applied in opposite-wing melees, can also apply when kings reside on the same wing. || 

14. ... Rd6 

| A tripler. 
Firstly, options of doubling on the e-file with, Rde6, are now available, placing considerable x-ray pressure on the white e2 bishop. 
Secondly, the c6 knight is given a little extra support, not needed yet, but once the middlegame really gets rolling then who knows what the state of the c6 knight might be. 
Thirdly, should the f6 knightmove elsewhere, then the black 3rd rank has been cleared for a possible, Rg6+. 
None of these small gains make direct threats against white, so is everything still rosy in the white garden? 
No, black is only, "Threatening To Threaten!", at the moment, as the phrase goes: "All dressed up and nowhere to go." 
But white dare not sit there treading water, sooner or later this black lead in active development will coordinate against the white centre, forcing concessions from white. 
Chess For Tigers tells us to diagnose a difficult position early, accept something needs doing, and do it as quickly as possible, and though this game is played some 15 years before the book was published, those wily Grand Masters new all about it without the helpful advice from Simon Webb. || 

15. e4 

| White is offering a pawn to activate the bishops. 
Black can approach this in a couple of ways. 
Firstly, place head in hands and start calculating furiously, attempting to find a set of lines where the white activity can be neutralised without losing material along the way. 
Secondly, simply accept that the Grand Master has assessed the loss of the pawn will greatly favour the bishops in the endgame, and find some means of declining the pawn without having the position fall apart. || 

15. ... Qh5 

| An excellent reply, let the mutual testing of, "The Tactical Event Horizons", begin. 
Black is keeping the middlegame rolling, with 4 centralised pieces aimed at the white pawn centre there should be lots of awkward questions for white to answer. 
A few sample lines of what white had in mind had black accepted the white d4 pawn run: 
(A). If, 15. ... Qxd4 16. Bf4 Qxd1 17. Rfxd1, Rxd1 18. Bxd1, black must find a means of defending both the c7 and b7 pawns, can't be done, so white will soon have material equality with an active bishop pair. 
(B). Or if, 15. ... Qxd4 16. Bf4 Rd7 17. Rxb7, the black queenside pawns have suddenly become targets, black will be defending for a long time without any material compensation. 
Black is deliberately keeping the tension and in doing so demonstrating how lower rated players should play against stronger players. 
Maintain complications in the hope that something favourable might emerge which neither player could have foreseen at the outset. 
This is of course dangerous, but surely going down in a mass of complexity in which the opponent could also blunder is better than slowly being squeezed off the board? 
Before closing this comment, with, 15. ... Qh5, black needed to calculate the ramifications of white forking pieces with, 16. e5. || 

16. d5 

| White needed to do something about the threatened, Rxd4, when black wins a pawn under far more favourable circumstances. 
Instead, 16. e5, gives black a powerful attack beginning with, 16. ... Rxd4, when, 17. exf6 Rh4 18. Re1 Rxh2 19. f4 Rh1+ 20. Kg2 Qh3+ mate, is a fine example of heavy piece coordination against a severely-undefended king. 
Note also that after, 16. e5 Rxd4, white must cope with threats of, Nxe5, or, Rxe5, or, Red8, all giving black a tremendous game, which explains why white chooses to push with, pawn d5. 
Lastly, 16. f4 Qg6+ 17. Kh1 Qxe4+ 18. Bf3 Qxd4, and black has both 2 extra pawns and the compensation. || 

16. ... Nd4 

| Despite not being anchored by a black pawn, this knight has found an excellent outpost. 
No white pawn can dislodge it, and furthermore some tactics on the light squares are now available, showing the gains to be made from the pair of black rooks sitting on the central files. 
All the joy in the position is with black, attacking opportunities are here to be found, and John Littlewood is an excellent tactician... || 

17. Rxb7 

| White finally decides to snatch this pawn, perhaps overlooking a possible black reply along the way? 
Instead, 17. Bf4 Nxe2+ 18. Qxe2 Rxd5 19. Bxc7 b6, there is material equality and more importantly, the powerfully-placed black d4 knight has exchanged itself off, but can black improve on this? 
Perhaps, 17. Bf4 Rxd5 18. exd5 Nxe2+ 19. Kh1 Nxf4 20. Rxb7 Qxd5 21. Qxd5 N6xd5 22. Rxa7 Rc8, when black has 3 attacking units to assist the advancing passed c7 pawn, but might well struggle to cope with the white passed a4 pawn. 
Black is to play and prove the Fischerism: "Tactics flow from a positionally superior game." || 

17. ... Nxe4 

| Exploiting the pin on the white f3 pawn. 
One would have thought that black placing the queen on h5 would be creating problems for the queen, not so. 
Every black piece is better than every white piece, in the hands of a seasoned tactician this game should not last long. 
Other moves for black do not maximise. 
Instead, 17. ... Nxe2+ 18. Qxe2 Nxd5 19. Kh1 Rg6 20. Rg1, and white is not being mated. 
Though, 17. ... Nxe2+ 18. Qxe2 Nxe4, still gives white problems, but the inclusion of a trade on e2 only assists white to untangle. 
By resisting exchanging on e2 black leaves white with more tactical headaches to solve. 
Lastly, when a piece moves options for others are created, here the black 3rd rank is now cleared for the d6 rook to join the kingside assault. || 

18. Bf4 

| A tripler. 
Firstly, the black d6 rook is attacked by the f4 bishop. 
Secondly, the black d4 knight is now attacked by the white d1 queen. 
Thirdly, on f4 the white bishop has ideas of strengthening the white kingside defences. 
Instead, 18. fxe4 Nxe2+ 19. Kg2 Qg4+ 20. Kh1 Qf3+ mate, shows why black resisted exchanging a potential target on e2. 
Or trying for king safety with, Kh1, and then, Rg1, is too slow, 18. Kh1 Nxd2 19. Qxd2 Nxe2, white is a piece down and must defend against the black threat of, Qxf3+ mate, combine this with a possible black, Rh6 threatening mate on h2, and black is easily winning. 
Black is to play, there are 3 pieces under attack, perhaps fortune does not always favour the bold? || 

18. ... Rg6+ 

| Now only 2 black pieces under attack. || 

19. Bg3 Nc3 

| So simple, the white dark square bishop is no longer guarding the c3 square, black is winning at least a piece and the attack will continue. || 

20. Qd3 

| Clearly, 20. Qxd4 Nxe2+ 21. Kh1 Nxd4, leaving white a whole queen down will not occur. 
The game is essentially over, the only white hope is that black will somehow permit a back-rank mate. || 

20. ... Ncxe2+ 

| Is there any great reason why the black c3 knight captures on e2 rather than the d4 knight? 
Yes, with knights on e2 and d4, both can bring influence to bear on the scene of action, the white kingside. || 

21. Kh1 

| Instead, 21. Kg2 Nf4+ 22. Kh1 Nxd3, white is a whole queen down. 
Black to play and close in for a remarkably quick kill. || 

21. ... Qh3 

| Black Active Attacker Count = 4, queen on h3, rook on g6, knight on e2, knight on d4. 
White Relevant Defender Count = 1, bishop on g3, though the rook on f1 and queen on d3 are in the general region, their contributions to the defence are minimal. 
The rest of the game from the black perspective is to find a clinical finish in the quickest time possible. 
Club Players might choose to leave this, "Point Of Pride", in the realm of Masters. 
Remember, a win in 25 moves only gets the same reward as a win in, 35 moves, 45 moves, 55 moves and so on. 
By all means, search for a neat combination to finish a game off, but when clearly winning do not try flashy ideas unless you are sure they genuinely work. || 

22. Rfb1 

| White can only set up snares for black to avoid. 
The doubling of white rooks on the b-file does nothing by force, but an extremely careless black move could leave the black back rank vulnerable. 
While some hope is better than no hope, white must surely have been certain that black will find the correct idea to conclude matters. 
Black to play and crash through. || 

22. ... Rxg3 

| The white g3 bishop was holding the white defences together, so black simply eliminates it. 
The g6 rook was selected for the task to permit the remaining black forces to coordinate in the chase of the white king into the centre. 
Furthermore, white does not have time to ignore black as, 23. ... Qg2+ mate is threatened. || 

23. fxg3 Nxg3+ 
White resigns, 0-1 

| Club Players would, quite reasonably in this sort of position, demand to be shown the completion of the chase. 
After, 24. Kg1 Nde2+ 25. Kf2 Qxh2+ 26. Ke1, the white king has been driven into an x-ray attack up the e-file from the black e8 rook. 
The most efficient conclusion is, 26. Nc3+, when white can only block the e8 rook discovered check by giving up the queen, perhaps, 27. Qe4, but now black has the smooth, 27. ... Qe2+ 28. Qxe2 Rxe2+ mate, the black knights are completely immobilising the white king while the black rook clinches the point. 
A rather strange but pleasing final picture, note carefully how the pair of black knights do not interact with each other, but separately play their own important part in the mating weave by restricting the white king to the e1 square. || 

*  *  * 

## Unannotated Game. 

White: A. Bisguier. 
Black: J. Littlewood. 
Event: Hastings 1961-62. 
Result: 0-1 in 23 moves. 
Opening: Queen's Gambit Declined, Chigorin Defence, D07. 

1. d4 d5 
2. Nf3 Nc6 
3. c4 Bg4 
4. cxd5 Bxf3 
5. gxf3 Qxd5 
6. e3 e5 
7. Nc3 Bb4 
8. Bd2 Bxc3 
9. bxc3 exd4 
10. cxd4 Nf6 
11. Rb1 O-O 
12. Be2 Rfe8 
13. O-O Rad8 
14. a4 Rd6 
15. e4 Qh5 
16. d5 Nd4 
17. Rxb7 Nxe4 
18. Bf4 Rg6+ 
19. Bg3 Nc3 
20. Qd3 Ncxe2+ 
21. Kh1 Qh3 
22. Rfb1 Rxg3 
23. fxg3 Nxg3+ 
White resigns, 0-1 

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