Rest is a matter of Technique – Part Two

Welcome back again!
Dear Chess folks, I hope you gained a little through the last article. You probably know where the shoe pinches and have gained a little experience by studying the positions.
Before going ahead with this article, play out the following positions against a friend or a computer.

White to play in all the three cases:

Position 1

Position 2

Position 3

Let us move further and paint some concepts and themes in our minds, connecting to improving our technique.

“To define, is to limit” – Oscar Wilde. But I will still flaunt courage to define it in simple terms. Prophylactic in its ordinary meaning means preventative. To elaborate further: Prophylaxis or a prophylactic move is a move that stops the opponent’s idea or counter play. It sometimes also means to prevent the opponent from improving his own position. Then there are divisions further : Aggressive Prophylaxis, Anti-Prophylaxis, Defensive Prophylaxis and so on.. For now, let us study the positions in general.

Position 1

Position 2

Position 3

Featuring Fischer again! The remarkable thing about his games is that the fire is never extinguished. There is a sense of intensity in his moves, making the most of every possible move.

Position 4

In the next game, Spassky uses a unique device of giving up the bishop for a knight. It took a while for me to understand why players give up the bishop, especially in Rossolimo. But, the games of the present era answered a lot of questions.

Position 5

A friend recommended a book by Andrew Soltis – ‘100 Chess Master Trade Secrets’ to understand priyomes of chess. Worth reading!

The Other Side of Prophylaxis:

Dvoretsky’s books have a lot of material on prophylaxis. It makes sense to train yourself on this subject as it will help you to be alert on the board. But, I wish to share an important advice that was given to me by Atanu Lahiri.

Atanu Lahiri was the coach of the Indian team at the World Youth Chess Championship in Slovenia (2012). I represented India in the U-18 category. While analyzing one of my games during the event, he told me that there is a thin line between preventing your opponent’s ideas and focusing on your own. If you keep on focusing a lot only on preventing your opponent’s counterplay while converting a winning position into a full point, you might be a little disappointed if your opponent gets a little something to play for. It could disturb the rhythm. Instead, include precise calculation along with prophylactic thinking and figure out if the opponent’s ideas are worth focusing on. Sometimes, it is worth letting your opponent execute his ideas. Calculation is the key, don’t be lazy.

P.S: Chess is too subjective to remain objective all the time. Isn’t it?

Conclusions:

1) Prophylaxis is an useful tool while converting an advantage into a win. Studying examples of prophylaxis will help a lot. Nimzowitch, Petrosian, Kramnik and Karpov are considered to be some of the greatest experts of this theme.

2)Keep an eye for tactics. Never relax after reaching a plus/won position. Most of the examples covered in this article have tactics in common. Watch out for tactical possibilities and ways to finish off the game by tactical means.

3)Ask yourself ‘What would my opponent like to do if it were his move?‘ This can serve as a trigger to find prophylactic moves and can get you a lot of points 🙂

4)Ask yourself ‘Is it worth preventing opponent’s idea in the position?’

I wish you many technical wins ahead!