Psychology of defense in chess

As I said earlier, defense is a very important chess skill. At least in about 50% of a chess game, we need to defend. Many players struggle to get out of hard positions, and crumble under pressure. If you study this course carefully, you will be able to defend correctly against all level of players.

Even someone like YOU, an RCA student, has admitted this truth in the comments section of our previous article:
Let me emphasize the statement with a practical example – the third game between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin in the recent World Chess Championship match.

Carlsen – Karjakin

Black to play

Carlsen is a pawn up, and he played 66.Ng4+, trying to win the Black’s e7-bishop. White has a clear advantage, but Black can generate counter-play with the h-pawn, and his King may run to the queenside. If Black King or Rook manages to capture the White’s b3-pawn, then the game will end in a draw.

Can you find a way for Black to save the game? Can you think like Karjakin – the ‘minister of defense’? 

The game continued as follows: 66…Kf7 67.Re6 Rxh3 68.Ne5+ Kg7 69.Rxe7+ Kf6 70.Nc6 Kxf5

White to play

Karjakin gave up his bishop and got an outside passed pawn for compensation. As said above, Black’s main goal is to capture the b3-pawn and draw the game with a great satisfaction. However, White still has chances to win the game. Yes, Carlsen missed a golden opportunity to win the game here. Can you find it? 

Yes, the World Champion missed the winning move 71.Re1! We can clearly understand that sometimes, the PERFECT DEFENSE is what all we need to stay alive in the game, escape with a draw from tough positions.

Note: you can see the complete analysis of Game-3 here.

Karjakin’s defense would have definitely impacted Carlsen’s psychology and winning confidence, as the latter failed to find the winning move. Thus, we can see that even though our defense does not directly save us from the game, the process is ‘indirect’ – breaking our opponent’s confidence to win. 

You can learn everything about the psychology of defense, active defense and counterattack, simplification in chess, how to consolidate and save lost position, and lots more from our course “Defending Champion”.

<<Get the course now>>

Don’t forget to use the coupon “defend35” and save about USD $42 (35% discount!)

P.S. If you’ve bought the course already and started studying it, please write your first impressions in the comments below. It will be very interesting for me, as well as for all the other students, to hear your feedback. Thanks in advance! 

4 typical chess mistakes in defense you should never make!

We are humans and we make mistakes, this is normal. There are some typical cases in which chess players make the same mistake(s) repeatedly. In this lesson about defense, you will recognize and understand those mistakes. It will help you avoid those mistakes in your future games and it will drive you in cloud nine! 

Mistake #1 – Underestimating opponents’ threats

White to play

When we are playing a game, our opponent sits opposite to us and he/she wants to win as much as we want to. Don’t forget that we are not the only one playing the game, and what is more important we are not the only ones who are playing to win. Thus, we should pay attention to our opponent’s threats and we should ask ourselves: what does she/he have in mind?

Topalov who plays with the White pieces in the game above, played Nd2. This was the decisive mistake because after 35…dxc3 White has huge problems. Two connected passed pawns are very strong and Black managed to win the game afterwards. The game continued: 36.Nc4 Re8 37.Rxb7+ Qxb7 38.Qxe8 Qb1+ [38…Qb1+ 39.Qe1 c2–+] 0–1

Mistake #2 – Blunders

Black to play

A blunder is like a slipping on a banana peel. Sometimes, even the TOP grandmasters can make such terrible mistakes. It is not something they intend to do; it is simply a mistake, an error. After the blunder, the position immediately collapses.

Adams who plays with the Black pieces is forced to move his King. The correct reply is Ka7 in order to protect the Knight on b6. Instead, he played Ka8 and lost a piece after the forcing variation: 34.Rxd8+ Rxd8 35.Qf6

Black to play

This is a double attack to both the unprotected d8-rook and b6-knight. White won the game afterwards. 35…Nc4 36.Qxd8+ Ka7 37.Qd3 Nxb2 38.Qf5 Qa1+ 39.Kd2 Nc4+ 40.Ke2 Qxc3 41.Qxc5+ 1–0

Suggestion: You may like to read about “Two chess opening mistakes you should never make”

Mistake #3 – Counting on your opponent to play not in the best way

Black to play

In the above game, Nakamura played the move 13.Ne2 very quickly. Perhaps he confuses his opening preparation or he just would like to confuse his opponent. Please let me remind you that he is one of the best blitz players in the world. Unfortunately, Blitz is very different from classical chess.

After the forcing variation: 13…Nxe4 14.Bxd8 Nxd2 15.Be7 Rf7 16.Bxc5 Nxf1 17.Rxf1 b6 18.Bb4 Ba6 we are getting to the following position:

White to play

White has strategically lost the position because the pawn on c4 is a very weak one and Black’s plan is very simple. Black will double his rooks on the c-file and they will capture the weak pawn. Black won the game easily.

Mistake #4 – Play without castling

Black to play

The most dangerous strategy is to leave your King in the center of the board, because the center usually can be opened easily. Thus, my advice is to castle as soon as possible and keep those pawns snug (f2,g2 and h2) right in front of your king.

Many chess players leave their King in the center for long time, and because of that they lose their games. I hope that you will not make this mistake and will secure your King. 

P.S. Did you like this article? Feel free to write your thoughts in the comments below. Also please do share it with your friends. 

Release of the “Defending Champion” chess course

The day has finally come – today we’ve released our new chess course “Defending Champion”! If you want to strengthen your defensive skills and stop losing games under pressure, then this course is for you.

As promised, we’re providing you with a massive 35% discount (save about USD $40) on this course. Simply use the coupon “defend35” when purchasing this course. If you don’t know how to use a discount code, please see here. This is a limited-period offer: it will be valid from today till Wednesday, 4 Jan. (inclusive).

<<Grab the course now>>

Why defense?

Defense is a very important chess skill. In at least 50% of chess games, we need to defend. In some games, we play with the Black pieces and White makes the first move; for that reason, White has the opportunity to start the attack/initiative. On some other occasions, one will make a mistake and be forced to defend. Thus, defense is as important as attack.

Many players struggle to get out of hard positions and they crumble under pressure. If you study the course carefully, then you will be able to defend correctly against all level of players.

Is this course right for you?

This course is suitable for beginners and intermediate-level players, but it will be helpful for advanced players, too. Even if your ELO is 1900+, this course will help you improve your defensive skills and you’ll learn some new things.

Key topics covered in the course

• How to defend in the opening?
• Stop losing material
• How to evaluate a position?
• Simplification in chess
• Economic defense
• How to consolidate and save a lost position?
• Active defense and counterattack
• A fortress
• Psychology of defense
• Dealing with gambits
• Three main methods
• Eliminating errors

The course also contains powerful practical tasks: it is necessary to put the received knowledge into practice. There are nine practical tasks (over 100 games) in this course, which will help you to understand and remember the ideas presented in the course better. The training program has a detailed explanation of WHAT and HOW exactly you should perform the practical tasks.

<<Grab the course now>>

P.S. We’re also celebrating this holiday season – if you would like to study other RCA courses, this is the perfect time: you can get a huge 30% discount on all our courses till 31st Dec. Simply use coupon “holidays30”. Find more details here.

What can you learn from our chess course "Defending Champion"?

In my previous article, I wrote that we’ll be launching a new chess course called “Defending Champion” soon. The authors of this course are FM Marko Makaj (our guest coach) and myself (Igor Smirnov). Also, we gave a little preview (video lesson) for the course, if you missed it, you can find it here.

Today I’d like to share with you a few more details of the course and how it will help you master the art of defense!  First, you can find the cover image of the course below:

Who can study the course?

The course is suitable for beginners and intermediate level players, but it will be helpful for advanced level players, too. Even if your ELO is 1900+ (or even 2000+), this course will help you improve your defending skills and you’ll learn some new things. Therefore, anyone can study this course.

Why “defense” is important?

Defense is a very important chess skill. At least in about 50% of a chess game, we need to defend. In some games, we play with Black pieces and White makes the first move, and for that reason, White has the opportunity to start the attack/initiative.

In some other occasions, one will make a mistake and he or she is forced to defend. Thus, defense is as important as attack. After all, that’s how Sergey Karjakin manged to survive some of the early games of the recent World Championship against Magnus Carlsen. 

What can you learn from the course?

If you carefully study the course, then you will be able to defend correctly against all level of players. You will learn a lot of new ideas and at the end of the course, you’re provided with the right way of thinking. We’ll give you a complete system which you can apply, for sure, after the study of the course.

Course contents

• No. of video lessons – 15
• No. of practical parts – 9
• Course duration – 305 minutes
• There are almost 100 analyzed games in the practical part

P.S. Stay tuned, guys, for we’ll release the course soon! 

How to become a defending champion in chess?

Remote Chess Academy (RCA) is very happy to announce that its new course is almost ready – it’s called “Defending Champion”.

As you can learn from the title of the course, this course deals with one of the most important topics of the chess game – defense. The authors of this course are FM Marko Makaj (our guest coach) and myself (Igor Smirnov).

The course will be released soon, so please stay tuned!  Meanwhile, let’s talk more about this topic and have a little preview of the course.

Nowadays, many chess players face huge problems when it comes to defending the position when the opponent is attacking.
While contemplating about this topic, we’re faced with the following questions:

• How to create a solid repertoire against an attacking player?
• When to defend and when to ignore opponent’s attack/idea?
• Do you always have something ‘better’ not to resign?
• How to stop losing initiative/material?
• How to make counter-attack (instead of just defense)?
• and the list goes on..

But the main question is “How to make a perfect defense or fortress?” – like the one we’ve seen in the recent World Championship match where Karjakin showed off his extraordinary defensive skills. 

All your questions and doubts will be cleared in the upcoming course. Meanwhile, we’d like to offer you a small preview of the course to help you be prepared for the course.  You can watch the video below:

VIDEO LESSON ON YOUTUBE

Carlsen-Karjakin Game-5: Carlsen “screwed up”

The fifth game of the World Chess Championship ended in a draw, but this time things were little different. It was the challenger Karjakin who missed his chance to press the game for the first time. The players agreed to a draw after 51 moves and more than five hours of play.

(photo: Anastasia Karlovich)

Magnus Carlsen – Sergey Karjakin [C54]
World Chess Championship New York NY USA (5), 17.11.2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.0-0 Nf6 5.d3 0-0 6.a4

Black to play

Carlsen is satisfied with the development of Game-3. So one more time, he started with the move 1.e4, but he changed his approach slightly. This time he didn’t choose the Spanish opening, but the old-fashioned Italian. These two opening systems have some differences and some similarities. In Spanish, White gives more space to Black and the opportunity to play a6 and b5, but in the Italian, Black doesn’t have this option.

Suggested: Picking the good chess opening is important if you want to be successful in your chess career. Check out the best chess openings and pick one for you now.

Sometimes White can manage to attack the Queenside pawns on a6 and b5 but in some other cases, Black has the upper hand and the initiative there.

White’s last move is very typical for Carlsen’s style. This guy loves the space advantage and this move, the a4, fits his needs. White is planning to gain more space with the moves c3 and b4, winning a tempo by attacking the well-developed bishop on c5.

6…d6 7.c3 a6 8.b4 Ba7 9.Re1 Ne7 10.Nbd2 Ng6 11.d4 c6 12.h3 exd4 13.cxd4 Nxe4

White to play

This is a cool and a very typical combination for Black. White cannot recapture immediately the Knight because Black will reply with d5. Thus, Magnus tries to counter-sacrifice his Bishop in order to destroy Black’s king cover of the pawns.

This was just an exchange combination which is very typical in this pawn structure.

14.Bxf7+ Rxf7 15.Nxe4 d5 16.Nc5 h6 17.Ra3 Bf5 18.Ne5 Nxe5 19.dxe5

Black to play

Of course, White can recapture with the Rook and he can try to occupy the e-file with his Rooks. It is amazing to observe Carlsen’s passion to win the game. He is trying very hard to complicate the game in order to have chances to win it.

Now White has a passed pawn which is far more dangerous for the Black’s d5 (connected-passed) pawn.

19…Qh4 20.Rf3

Let’s note that Black cannot capture the pawn on b4, because the Queen will be in danger after the move Ba3. Rf3 is a brilliant move because it keeps an eye on the bishop on f5 and White is ready to push his passed pawn. For example: 20…Qxb4 21.Ba3 Qa5 22.e6

20…Bxc5 21.bxc5 Re8 22.Rf4 Qe7 23.Qd4 Ref8 24.Rf3 Be4

White to play

Black is happy to exchange the major pieces because he would like to achieve a draw. The opposite-colored Bishops give more opportunities for the draw, because the pawns can blockade easily.

Suggested: Learn how to win with opposite-colored bishops from GM Sergey Kasaprov!

25.Rxf7 Qxf7 26.f3 Bf5 27.Kh2 Be6 28.Re2 Qg6 29.Be3 Rf7 30.Rf2 Qb1 31.Rb2 Qf5 32.a5

Black to play

Here we can see the favorite type of position for Carlsen. The position is quiet and he can play like “the big cat and mouse”. He can play quite moves, not forcing moves, and he can press for the win with different plans and ideas. Computer evaluations are close to 0.00, the engines say that the position is equal, but it is little unpleasant for Black to defend in such a practical game.

Obviously, Black has no active counter-play and should watch out for small tricks all over the chess board all the time. I think that White’s last move, a5, is a slight mistake because it blocks the a5-square. This is a good square which either Bishop or King can use to penetrate into Black’s camp in future.

After White’s last move, Karjakin immediately spotted that queenside is the perfect place to hide his King and maybe later, he can start a minority attack on the Kingside.

32…Kf8 33.Qc3 Ke8 34.Rb4 g5 35.Rb2 Kd8 36.Rf2 Kc8 37.Qd4 Qg6 38.g4 h5 39.Qd2 Rg7 40.Kg3 Rg8 41.Kg2 hxg4 42.hxg4 d4

Black to play

This is a very strong pawn sacrifice. Black’s pieces are very active and they can create problems for White’s King.

Suggested: Watch and learn from the great Bobby Fischer’s pawn sacrifice against Borris Spassky in WC 1972 Match!

It was the first time in the Match that Karjakin got Carlsen into real trouble, and Carlsen was clearly not happy with his performance. Afterwards, in the press conference, he was visibly angry, presumably with himself, as the game did not go as he had planned it in advance.

43.Qxd4 Bd5 44.e6

Black to play

Carlsen was in a hurry to give the pawn back as soon as possible, in order to activate his pieces.

44…Qxe6 45.Kg3 Qe7 46.Rh2 Qf7 47.f4 gxf4+ 48.Qxf4 Qe7

White to play

Here, White has some initiative with the g-pawn. It is dangerous because it is a potential new queen. Karjakin is happy to exchange all the major pieces (Rooks and Queens) but not only one pair of them. Thus, after precise calculations, Karjakin manages to perform his strategic plan and he exchanged the queens and the rooks.

49.Rh5 Rf8 50.Rh7 Rxf4 51.Rxe7 Re4 ½-½

You can download the PGN of this game here.

A dejected Magnus Carlsen (photo: Vladimir Barsky, Russian Chess Federation)

The World Championship (WC) Match is taking place in the New York City. The games are being held in the South Street Seaport in New York City. The match has a prize fund of about $1.1 million.

Five draws to start the WC Match is far from unprecedented. The first six games of the 2012 Title Match between Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand were also drawn. And the first eight games of the 1995 Match between Vishy Anand and Garry Kasparov, the last time WC Match held in New York City, were also drawn.

Karjakin will have White in Game-6 today (18th), which starts at 2 PM EST or 22:00 Moscow time. (You can watch it LIVE here) Will it be another draw or one of the two players will win? What do you think? Feel free to write your thoughts in the comments below.

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