Offense is the best defense might sound old, but in chess nothing is more true. Defending actively and counterattacking is the best way to defend!
I took three games to try and explain three key issues most players have during tournament games.
1) Counterattack in chess
The first game (Tal vs Spassky 1965 Candidates) features a marvelous counterattack played by Boris Spassky. It was a Closed Ruy Lopez, and the magician from Riga, Mikhail Tal had managed to bring his knight to f5, and he was starting a vicious attack. Spassky could have defended passively or tried to chase Tal’s attacking pieces away, but that would have surely failed. Instead, he found the best plan in the position and went on to win convincingly. He struck at Tal’s center! When your opponent is attacking on the flank, you should counterattack in the center and vice versa. That’s the best way to defend.
2) Bring in reinforcements to the defense
The second example is the game between another great attacking player, Garry Kasparov, and the master of defense, Petrosian. Kasparov started to mount a strong queenside attack, and Tigran Petrosian had no good counterattacking plans. Instead, he decided to defend passively, simply restraining his opponent’s pieces by bringing in defenders. If you can’t create problems for your opponent, and their attack is too strong, than the only thing to do is defend. And when you defend, the best and most effective way to do so is to bring in as many reinforcements as possible. Petrosian used all of his pieces and blew Kasparov off the board in a complex attacking attempt!
3) Do not fear what doesn’t exist
The third example is the game between Anand and Ftacnik from Biel 1993. It was a Scheveningen Sicilian in which Anand castled long. At the same time, his opponent kept his king on e8, which allowed Anand to start attacking. He was much better, and he managed to break open the center and threaten to kill black. At that moment Ftacnik correctly went for an active defense rather than a passive one and he counterattacked! He brought all of his pieces towards the b1 king and it seemed dangerous for Anand. But he assessed the position correctly, didn’t get scared, nor did he waste time on passive moves. His play was a perfect example of cold blooded execution of a desperate opponent trying to mount a hopeless attack. It was ideal. Many people (myself far too often) overestimate an attack and waste valuable time to defend against something that doesn’t exist. It’s a lesson on how psychology should be kept out of the game while defending!
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1 окт 2024
