Defending The Indefensible - Part 1

I may never be a Grandmaster, but one area of Chess my patzering about has made me expert in is defending hopeless positions, such as I had in Teamleague round 1 and gambiitti had last week. Let's delve into the bag of dirty tricks and look at what can be done to salvage a botched game - I randomly guesstimate that 2 out of 5 bad positions can be saved using these techniques at amateur level.

The first and most important thing to understand is that as soon as you realise the game has turned against you, you must make a solid plan and be aware of all the drawing potentials the position holds.

Making a plan is probably the only similarity between playing these positions and the way you would normally play.

SimianChatter(1785) vs Evilthunder(1931)
After 17. ... Re8 Time to make a plan!

Suddenly it dawns on White that the trapper has been trapped. Initially we can get 3 pawns for the piece as the Black d-pawn must fall too - formal material equality - but our h-pawn is weak and playing g3 to defend it provides Black with new targets on our third rank. It will be better to lose that pawn on h5 doubling Black's h-pawns, extracting some enemy blood for it's life. Any small concession we can get from the opponent is a step closer to our goal.

We will have pawn majorities on both wings and one or two protected passed pawns. These features will be our major trumps. The major pieces must come off, since the Black Rooks can do more damage than their White counterparts - if they succeed in penetrating to the first or second rank we are dead. This goes contrary to the general principal of not exchanging when you're down in material, but we need to force Black into a position where he can only win by promoting a pawn and then finding an endgame in which no promotion can be forced.

Next we must make full use of the psychology which affects players who have a won game but have to grind it out in a long ending. To win a mutually well played game of Chess it is said you must cross the precipice of defeat. To save a hopless position you must do this several times.

SimianChatter(1785) vs Evilthunder(1931)
After 43. Ne5 The Precipice!

43. Ne5 offers Black the opportunity to win in two different ways, either by exchanging off the Knight, or by going for the g-pawn with 43. ... Kg3. Both methods require careful calculation on Black's part. The former allows White scarey looking connected passed pawns, and the later commits the King deep into territory which for a few moves will leave it away from the main play - there may be a nasty race where White wins a Bishop on d7 and maybe even gets the Knight back in time to stop the g-pawn after which the Queenside pawns might get exchanged off and the Black King is too distant to help.

In such situations, as occured here, the stronger side will usually prefer to avoid any risk and wait for a cleaner opportunity to win. By playing a 'safe' move however, Black affords White the opportunity to eliminate the g-pawn. That this is achieved at the cost of two White pawns is immaterial. The fight is now transferred to the Queenside where White still holds a pawn majority, has an active King and Knight against the Bishops (i.e. the forces on that side of the board are about equal), and the Black King will need a few moves to return to the fray.

In Chess, it is normal that the defender is required to calculate more accurately than the attacker. In these situations things are reversed; accurate analysis will only reveal to you more ways to lose and become disheartening. It requires a certain amount of bluff and bravado to defend bad positions, and put the onus on the attacker to accurately calculate a winning line. As often as not, they will go for a safe move and wait for an easier chance. This spells opportunity for the defender.

A broader effect of White's resilience is that the longer he can put up resistance, the more frustrated Black will become at not being able to finish off the game. And frustration will cause oversights and errors. In the previous post on this game I gave a diagram where Black missed a simple mating tactic that would have won the game (another precipice!). There are several times where White shuffles back and forth a bit without Black making progress - this is frustrating! If the stronger side is not making progess the weaker side is. If your opponent is becoming frustrated by having the better position in a game of Chess, he deserves no sympathy whatever!

Some Rules For Desperate Defense.

1. Make a new plan as soon as you realise the position has gone bad.
2. Pawns must be exchanged. This can be done at a loss if you have more pawns.
3. Decide which pieces need to be exchanged and which to be retained. Minor piece endings are harder to win than major piece endings are.
4. Resilience will cause your opponent to become frustrated and make oversights and errors. Be ready to pounce.
5. Keep whatever pieces (including the King!) you have left as active as possible. A passive piece defending a pawn is probably better exchanged off for an active attacking piece.
6. Use bluff and bravado - put the onus on the attacker to accurately calculate winning lines. Advanced passed pawns and out-of-play pieces give a fearful impression. The more resistance you have given, the more effective you will be persuading your opponent to wait for a simpler opportunity.