The Monthly Chess Instructor Red Hot Pawn Edition

You may have heard something about the MCI magazine.
Well, I guess it's time to let you all in on the gag. The bloody thing doesn't exist.
I received a LOT of private messages asking for information about the magazine.

I felt as though I owed the forum posters something for the prank.

Here is a first attempt at putting something sort of like it together.

I only worked on it a little while. There wasn't enough time to do everything, and some of the information may be very basic. I can improve it for the next "issue" it this draws any interest.

Section A.)

This month's opening discussion will be on the Lasker Defense to the Queen's Gambit.

1.d4



This is a good, solid first move. White releases his c1 bishop and stakes his claim on the center.

1. ... d5



Black does likewise. He won't just allow white to play 2.e4 and dominate the entire center.

2.c4



This is the defining move of the Queen's Gambit. White uses his flank (c) pawn to apply pressure to black's center (d5). White is hoping for dxc4, whereas he will round up the c4 pawn, play e4, and dominate the center. If 2. ... dxc4, white has Qa4+, e4, e3, or Nf3 followed by e3. Black can't usually hold on to the pawn. That's the Queen's Gambit Accepted and another discussion.

2. ... e6



Black holds his pawn center (d5) at all costs. This is called the Queen's Gambit Declined. 2. ... c6 is also a reasonable way to decline the c4 pawn and hold the center. Black's only problem with 2. ... e6 is that he locks in his queen's bishop (c8). Black will later either play e5 or b6 followed by Bb7 to free the piece.

3.Nc3



White develops a piece and attacks d5 again. He's still trying to tempt black into taking on c4 and surrendering his center.

3. ... Nf6



Black develops a piece as well and defends d5 again.

4.Bg5



White develops another piece and puts even more pressure on d5. The threat is 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bxf6 gxf6 (Qxf6 7.Nxd5), which cripples black's kingside pawns.

4. ... Be7



This is a totally logical response. Black unpins the knight and prepares to castle.

5. e3



White develops his other bishop. Note that white played Bg5 before e3. His queen's bishop pressured d5 AND got outside the pawn chain to play e3. If white had played e3 before Bg5, his bishop would not have and active squares.

5. ... h6



This move can be made now or after black castles. The idea is to get white to part with the two bishops (Bxf6) or move away. If white moves away, he has not really gained a move since he is just removing an already developed piece.

6.Bh4



White decides to keep his two bishops.

6. ... 0-0



Black gets his king out of the center. It is after this move that the purpose of 5. ... h6 can be seen. h6 was a move for luft (air) The h7 square is now vacant, and black can use it for his king if he ever needs it to get out of check.

7.Nf3



White develops another piece. He only needs to move the f1 bishop and castle to finish development.

7. ... Ne4 !?



This is the defining move of Lasker's Defense. (The alternative was 7. ... b6, Tartakower's Defense.) Lasker's 7. ... Ne4 has a purpose. Black decides that he has less space and wants to trade off some minor pieces. It will be harder for white to launch a succesful attack with a smaller army.

8.Bxe7



The bishop was attacked, so trading it is quite logical.

8. ... Qxe7



Black recaptures and saves his queen. Note the possibilities of Qb4 now, for black.

Everyone's a greenpawn wannabe. 😛

9.cxd5



There are quite a few alternatives here (9.Rc1/9.Qc2/9.Nxe4) I will share a neat little trap after 9.Nxe4. 9.Nxe4 dxe4 10.Nd2 e5!? (10. ... f5 also fine) 11.Nxe4? exd4 12.Qxd4?. It looks like white is a pawn up. There is only one flaw. 12. ... Rd8 wins because white can't save his queen and defend the knight on e4 at the same time.

9. ... Nxc3



This is necessary because 9. ... cxd5 just drops a pawn to 10.Nxd5.

10. bxc3



White has to recapture there.

10. ... exd5



Black also needs to recapture. There is one thing to especially to note. Black's queen's bishop is no longer locked in by the e6 pawn.

11.Qb3



White gains a move by attacking d5. He also prepares c4 again to destroy black's center.

11. ... Rd8



Black defends d5 again.

I hate to stop here, but the opening is over now.
Here are a few more moves of the variation without comment.

12.c4



dxc4 13.Bxc4 Nc6



Black threatens Na5, winning the c4 bishop for the knight.

14.Qc3 Bg4




What did black achieve?

He got out of the cramp/space squeeze of the Queen's Gambit, traded down some of white's attacking forces, got his bad bishop good, and got his pieces on nice active squares.

What about white?

He managed to make black cede his center. Also, white kept his space advantage for most of the game.

The final position is still imbalanced and not totally clear. This is not the only way white can play the variation either (see move 9). This was just a basic overview of the variation.

30 Tactics

These aren't all that difficult. Some are super easy. Enjoy

Please don't answer them in the forum without hiding the solution.

1.White To Move



2.White


3.White


4.White


5.White


6.White


7.White


8.White


9.White


10.Black

11.White


12.Black


13.Black


14.White


15.White


16.Black


17.Black


18.Black


19.Black


20.Black

21.White


22.White


23.White


24.White


25.White


26.Black


27.White


28.White


29.White


30.White

Ok ... That wasn't too difficult was it? I ran out of ideas there.

Section C.)

Now for uhhh .... Endgames?

Here's one:

White Wins

Black queens first but loses. Play it out.

Black Wins

Basically, he just keeps using checks to force the king to the pawn's queening square, and then uses the tempo to advance his king.
It goes something like this.




White Draws

There is one key difference in this ending and the last one. White has a bishop pawn.

After this:


You see why the bishop pawn makes all the difference.

This is just me playing around, but I think it illustrates the point.

Section D.)

Where are the 20 positions for plans? Where is the deeply annotated game?
I'm afraid they just didn't make it for this first issue.

Here is a mini-exercise in that department though:

I decided to take a RedHotPawn game at random and look at it after move 10.

Here is the random game:

Elamef37-honus

Position After Move 10
Game 7722507



Formulate a plan (or at least some ideas) about what white should do.


..........................................................

First, note the position's characteristics.

Material is even.
White has a space advantage,especially on the kingside.
White has a bad bishop on e3.
White's king may end up loose because her (?) pawn moves have weakened the kingside.
Note the holes on e4 or g4. A black piece on these squares could not be attacked by a white pawn.
Black has less space.
Black also has a better pawn structure.
Black's king can get to safety more easily.

I think positionally white has a disadvantage, but her space and attacking chances (no black pieces on the kingside) make up for it.

What would white's plan be?

White needs to try to make something of his kingside space/attacking chances before black can coordinate his pieces. Moves by black like Ne7,Bc6,Qd7, and 0-0-0 would give him a rock solid position. White must not give black the time to coordinate. Also, white needs to keep black on defense or passive.

Now, it's time to come up with a move for white.
She is in check, so the choices are easy.

Following this logic, I think 11.c3 is right. You don't really want to trade pieces here or move the king.

Now, where does the bishop go?

Ba5 just leaves it staring at a solid pawn chain (c3/d4).

Bf8 may work, but it looks very shady to undevelop at this point.

That leaves only Be7 and Bd6.

Let's have a look.

Let's look at 11.c3 Be7.



Black saves his bishop and attacks h4.
White needs to keep the kingside pressure on.

My first instinct was 12.Qg4.



Why this?
Well it kills two birds with one stone. It attacks the kingside (g7) and defends h4. White is trying to keep the initiative.
I only looked at 12. ... 0-0 on my own.



This would play right into white's hands. Rather than calmly going queenside away from white's pieces, black puts his king right into the fire. There are no defensive pieces on the kingside at the moment!

After 13.0-0-0 e5 (using the discovery)



White has 14.f5!?



This would be strategically great for white, except for one problem.

After 12.Qg4, black has 12. ... h5!



13.Qxg7 Bf6! wins the queen. Also, 13.Qf3 Bxh4!? may give white compensation, but black can still put his king on the queenside (after Bxg3 and Qe7).

That leaves white wanting for another 12th move.

12.h5! is the way to go.



White grabs more space on the kingside. White also doesn't have to worry about Bxh4 any more. With the bishop on e7, black can't play Qe7 and castle queenside. Black's king is stuck in the center or on the kingside for a while. After Bd3 and 0-0-0, white will just slowly advance on the kingside. Black doesn't really have much counterplay.

That leaves only 11. ... Bd6.

11.c3 Bd6



This seems a little better than 11. ... Be7. Black can play Qe7 and 0-0-0 if he needs to.

12.Bd3



White just aims another piece towards the kingside.

12. ... Qe7 13.Qc2



Since black can castle queenside so quickly, it doesn't make as much sense to rush over with a move like Qg4. White is just preparing to castle and see what develops.

13. ... 0-0-0 14.0-0-0



White was unable to keep black from fleeing after Bd6, but he did keep a few trumps.
Black still has no counterplay.
White still has a space advantage.
White can play Ne4 and g4 (possibly) and increase his kingside space even more.
White is in control of the board.
Black just has to sit and wait.

That concludes the look at a plan/some ideas for white after the tenth move.

Edit: Don't forget to check out the actual game too. It's quite entertaining.

This also concludes the first (and only?) issue of The Monthly (Yearly?) Chess Instructor. I hope you enjoyed it.

Phew - You were doing well till the Endings appeared. 😉

I hope some of the lads do those 'easy' tactics.
I see them ideas missed all the time.

Nice job Paul. I especially liked how the tactics were grouped together with a common motif.
I think I foresee a new RHP Blog on the horizon.

Shameless Bump