Teaching Chess to My Children

When they turned 5, I taught my daughters how to play chess using Lev Alburt’s Comprehensive Chess Course (vol 1 and 2).  My older daughter was not very interested but my younger daughter continued playing and, now 11, is rated 1100 USCF, plays regularly in rated tournaments, and has been the strongest player in her school club since the second grade.

I learned quite a bit over the last several years about how children learn chess, and  for the past year I have been using a totally new approach with my older son.  He just turned 5 this week and I’m nearing the end of “phase 1”.  The point of this blog is to get my thoughts down about how that phase went and outline what phase 2 will look like.

Why did I decide to change my approach?  I believe Alburt's book moves too quickly into complete games, and does not focus on enough on the more fundamental aspects of the game.  He goes from teaching the basic piece movements right into learning how to castle and basic opening theory.  That’s great if you want to just start playing, and I have to say my daughter has done great with this foundation.

But I took an entirely different approach with my son, and I’ll likely use this with my now 2-year old as well, who is already interested in chess from watching his older siblings.  This approach is discussed in the Step Method teacher’s manual, in the introduction to Sukhin’s series, and in some detail at Momir Radovic’s website http://iplayoochess.com/.  I love the ideas on his website, but unfortunately I did not find any suggestions about how to actually implement them (I guess you have to hire him as a coach?).  That’s where Step Method and Sukhin come in.

The core idea is to spend a LOT more energy on basic board vision.  Vision is the fundamental ingredient to all of chess, and there are three things to “see” (this is my summary of ideas from iplayoochess.com):

1. Bottom-up perception.  See the individual piece AND how it moves as one inseparable unit.  See the lines of power (like an aura) emanating from the piece.
2. Top-down processing.  See the functional relationships between the pieces (there are six, see below).
3. Interconnected system.  See the entire board as (5 to 6) groups of pieces with functional relationships (not unconnected sets of individual pieces).

I used three different books (Stepping Stones, Sukhin’s Chess Camp Volume 1, and Chess is Child’s Play) to go through the basic ideas, which I have divided the ideas into three phases, with phases 1 and 2 lasting roughly one year each:

Phase 1 – “pre-checkmate” (covers first two kinds of vision)
Phase 2 – “mate in one, simple threats, and simple checkmates” (covers all three kinds of vision)
Phase 3 – “mate in two, complex threats, and other checkmate patterns” (covers all three kinds of vision)

Phase 1 – The key element of this phase is to use a very small amount of material on the board, and no checkmate (that comes in phase 2).  I have introduced what checkmate is and basic rules like the king cannot step into an attack, and must move if he is being attacked (we do call it “check”).

We first completed almost all of Chess is Child’s play.  This book is really great for teaching basic piece names, and the concepts of move, attack, capture, and defend.  The teaching method used in the book is extremely clear and simple, and there is a lot of great “Q&A” from other parents on each step of the process.  The authors have included lots of ideas for mini-games to play along the way.  There is not a better book out there for teaching these basic concepts, and we took almost six months to slowly work through this material.  We took things at his pace.

Then we started on a mix of Stepping Stones 1 worksheets (from the Dutch Step Method), and 500+ simple positions from Sukhin’s Chess camp.  Both of those books end with checkmate-related issues, so I’m ending phase 1 by introducing those ideas.  Here is a summary of the ideas we covered in phase 1:

• Pieces: names, relative values, and movement
• Board: orientation (light on the right); naming files, ranks, diagonals, and squares; board vocabulary (squares are “light and dark”, pieces are “white and black”); the “center”, etc.
• Vocabulary/Concept of SIX FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS: 
• Allied pieces:  (1) directly defend, (2) defend by blocking, and (3) limiting (interfering)
• Enemy pieces:  (4) attack pieces, (5) attack important squares (restriction), and (6) physical blockade 
• Other concepts:  undefended pieces, capturing up/down, equal trades, zugzwang, stalemate, alignment, etc.

Some of this might sound too basic or too advanced, but it is all attainable even by a four year old.  The positions in Sukhin’s chess camp are incredibly simple, but for a beginner can be very complicated without knowing these basic interactions.

They key in this phase is to be able to very quickly “see” all the pieces on the board (yes, that bishop all the way in the other corner matters!) along with seeing how the piece moves, and then to understand how all the pieces relate to each other.  These are the first and second “vision” elements outlined above.  This gives ideas about what is happening in the position, and only then can you start to think about what kind of move you should make.

I used a colorful vocabulary to elicit fun (and hopefully meaningful) images about piece movement, and piece interactions.  My idea was to help him create his own images about these fundamental elements of the game that may help him see and feel the piece “auras” and the relationships between other pieces.  I am going to put more work into this vocabulary when I teach phase 1 to my youngest son.

In addition to reviewing the Sukhin/Stepping Stone positions, we play lots of mini-games, and also do easy skill builder exercises in Maurice Ashley’s ‘Learn Chess!’ app.

So phase 1 is now almost over for my older son.  All three books end with checkmate themes, and my plan is to end phase 1 by teaching the core checkmate concepts and vocabulary.  He knows a lot of chess terms and ideas, and seems to genuinely enjoy the game.  So hopefully I’m doing something right!

Phase 2 will be all about checkmate (in addition to drilling phase 1 things).  We will build up from static positions where the quesiton is whether the position is “mate, stalemate, or is there a move”.  Then simple mate-in-ones with one mating piece and no “noise”, then adding more pieces involved in the mate, and then adding more noise (pieces not involved in the mate).  We’ll do the basic checkmates with two rooks, a queen, one rook, etc.  We’ll also do basic endgame stuff like minor pieces plus pawns, minors vs pawns, some piece-only endgames (queen vs bishop, queen vs knight, and maybe rook vs bishop/knight), and lots of king and pawn endings.  There are other concepts I will pack into this phase as well, like more tactical ideas using checks/mate threats, knight forks, etc.  I’ll possibly introduce each tactical idea so he knows the vocabulary and core idea, but we won’t really drill them until later (once he knows checkmate very well).  The other stuff is nice to have, but the core of this phase is checkmate.  Lots of checkmate.

Calculating Forcing Moves: Defensive Idea 5 - Counterattack to DEFEND (Idea 3, move)

In this post we’ll examine a position where there is a real threat on the board, and we will create an EGT in order to allow our piece to escape from the attack.  Thus we are counterattacking in order to allow the use of one of the basic defensive themes (Idea 3, move away).

In the following position black just played …Bf8.  White to move.

2kr1b2/p2p3p/2p2p1Q/3n1bpB/P7/6B1/5P2/6K1 w - - 0 1

Let's evaluate the position, and then find and prioritize all of black’s threats.

Evaluation:  White is down three points (white queen vs black rook, knight, and four pawns), and neither king has great pawn cover.   Black is likely to win the endgame, and white will be fighting for a draw if he can survive the next few moves.

Threats:  Black’s threat is the simple capture of white’s queen with 1…Bxh6, and this is our priority for calculations.  

Let's look at the five defensive ideas to see what options white has to defend against the checkmate.

Idea 1 – do something to the attacking pieces (the f8 bishop).  White can capture the bishop (1. Qxf8) but the resulting position is clearly lost for white.  He cannot pin the bishop to something of equal/greater value, and he cannot deflect the bishop.

Idea 1 has generated zero candidate moves.

Idea 2 – block the attacking pieces (the f8 bishop from h6).  White cannot block the attack.

Idea 2 has generated zero candidate moves.

Idea 3 – move the piece being attacked (the white queen).  Aside from capturing the bishop on f8, the white queen can move to five other squares (Qg7, Qxh7, Qg6, Qxf6, Qxg5), however, none of them are safe and all resulting positions are lost for white.

Idea 3 has generated zero candidate moves.

Idea 4 – reinforce/defend the mating square (the white queen).  Defending the queen is not possible here.

Idea 4 has generated zero candidate moves.

Idea 5 – counterattack with an Equal or Greater Threat (of losing the queen).  Looking at the EGT chart from earlier we can see that in response to an attack against the queen there are several options.  An equal threat would be to attack the queen (or threaten to win nine points of material), but that is not possible here.  A greater threat would be check, or a checkmate threat.  White has zero checks, but here there is a common checkmate pattern (Boden’s mate) and white can threaten to execute it (1. Be2, threatening 2. Ba6#)

Idea 5 has generated one candidate move.

In this process we considered several moves but rejected nearly all of them after a quick check, and we have found one specific candidate move:

In an actual game with only one candidate move, we should just play it and calculate the next steps on our opponent’s time.  Let’s just take a moment to look at the next few moves, in particular how black should defend against the checkmate threat after white’s 1. Be2:

I’ll try out a simplified approach to looking at black’s defenses.  I’ll list the defensive ideas along with the calculation/evaluation, and hopefully this will be easier to follow than a purely narrative approach!

Idea 1 – black cannot capture white’s Be2 or Bg3, and cannot pin the Be2.
Idea 2 – black has 5 blocks, but zero moves that “prepare to” block on b7:

• 1…Bd3 (blocking white’s Be2) 2. Bxd3, and black gives up a bishop and does not prevent the checkmate.  Black can reject this block.
• 1…Nf4 (blocking white’s Bg3, and threatening both 2…Nxe2+ and 2…Bxh6) 2. Bxf4 (renewing the mate threat) gxf4 3. Qxf4 followed by 4. Qxf5.  Black loses a piece and a pawn with this variation, and black should reject this block.
• 1…Bd6 (blocking white’s Bg3) 2. Bxd6 and again black gives up a bishop and does not prevent the checkmate.  Black can reject this block.
• 1…d6 (blocking white’s Bg3, and giving the black king a new escape square on d7) and since there is no checkmate threat, now the queen must move:
• 2. Qh5/h2/h1 and black is winning the endgame, but white can fight for a draw.  
• 2. Ba6+ Kc7 (forced, 2…Kb8?! allows white to win nine points of material for the queen with 3. Qxf8 Rxf8 4. Bxd6+ Ka8 (only) 5. Bxf8, the endgame is still winning for black but I personally prefer to keep the connected pawns c6/d6) 3. Qh5/h2/h1 and black is winning the endgame, but white can fight for a draw.
• NOTE: This is black’s KOTH, since all white replies lead to a winning game for black.  In a real game black could just make this move without calculating further, but let’s see if he has anything stronger!
• 1…Nc7 (blocking white’s Bg3, and defending the a6 square) 2. Qxf6 Be6 Qxg5, and black still has a material advantage but this is less winning for black than 1…d6 lines.  Black should reject this.

Idea 3 – black has one move and two that “prepare to” move:

• 1…Kb7 (also defends the a6 square)
• 2. Qh5/h2/h1 and black is winning the endgame, but white can fight for a draw.  
• NOTE:  Is this any better than our KOTH?  The only difference I can see between this and our KOTH is this position leaves the black king more exposed.  White probably can’t do much but with the white queen still lurking, why risk it?  We don’t have to reject it as bad for black, it’s just not as good as our KOTH.
• 1…d6 (giving the black king a new escape square on d7, and blocking white’s Bg3).  We looked at this above – this is already our KOTH.
• 1…Re8 (giving the black king a new escape square on d8) 
• 2. Qh5 Bg6 3. Qf3 and black is winning the endgame, but white can fight for a draw.  
• 2. Ba6+ Kd8 (only) 3. Qh5 Bg6 4. Qf3 and black is winning the endgame, but white can fight for a draw.
• NOTE:  Is this any better than our KOTH?  In fact, I like that this puts the rook on the open file and the pressure on white’s Be2 limits white’s options.  I could consider this to be our new KOTH by a slight edge.

Idea 4 – black has three moves that defend the a6 mate square:

• 1…Nc7, we looked at this above and rejected.
• 1…Kb7, we looked above and determined was not bad, but not better than our KOTH.
• 1…Nb4 2. Qxf6 Be6 3. Qxg5.  Like the other knight move this undefends f6 and allows white to get back two pawns.  Black should reject this.

Idea 5 –  the only EGT to consider would have to start with a check, and black has none.

Let’s take a look at our final chart:

Conclusion.  Creating a checkmate threat was white’s only real candidate move in the original position because it allowed the queen to escape the attack.  The road ahead will be very tough for white, but he does have some drawing chances.

This is the process you should be able to do mentally:  prioritize the threats, use all five defensive ideas to search for specific candidate moves, calculate each one completely, and then pick the best variation based on the final evaluation.

Calculating Forcing Moves: Defensive Idea 1, Part 4 (Restrict the Attacker, Prepare to Capture)

In earlier posts we examined different ways of implementing defensive Idea 1 (do something to the attacker), including capturing, pinning, and deflecting your opponent’s attacking pieces.  Here we’ll look at another very cool way of doing something to the attacking pieces – restriction, and “prepare to” capture.

In a recent blog post on chess.com, National Master Jeremy Kane posted a position from an online blitz game where his opponent resigned following a tricky move by NM Kane, and only later did Kane see that his opponent had a winning defensive move (the ultimate blunder, Kane says in the post, is resigning a won position!).

In the following position NM Kane had white and just played 1. Rh1.  Black to move.

1r6/6p1/2pR2Bk/2n1pPp1/p1P1P3/1qQ4K/r7/7R b - - 0 1

Let's evaluate the position, and then find and prioritize all of white’s threats.

Evaluation:  Black is up two pawns and has a powerful outside passed pawn supported by all of his pieces, but his king is incredibly weak and has zero defenders.  Black should win the endgame if he can survive the next few moves.  White’s pieces are very active but his king is also exposed.  White is fighting to draw, and his basic plan is to capture black’s pawns (if he can’t checkmate black that is!).

Threats:  White’s threat is the discovered checkmate 2. Kg4+ or 2. Kg3+ followed by 2…Rh2 (only) 3. Rxg2#.  White’s other discovered check (on the 6th rank) could be useful in gaining tempo if we can find a useful square for the bishop, but is not our priority for calculations.  

Let's look at the five defensive ideas to see what options black has to defend against the checkmate.

Idea 1 – do something to the attacking pieces (the g6 bishop, h1 rook, and h3 king).  We cannot capture, pin or deflect the bishop.  We cannot directly capture the rook, however, we can “prepare to” capture the rook by attacking it (with 1…Ra1 and 1…Qb1; if 1…Qd1 2. Rdxd1 and now black cannot stop the discovered checkmate).  We cannot pin or deflect the rook.  We can restrict the king from moving to g3 (with 1…Nxe4, but that fails to 2. Kg4+), and we can restrict both g3 and g4 at the same time (with 1...Rg2, but that fails to 2. Kxg2#).

Idea 1 has generated two candidate moves.

Idea 2 – block the attacking pieces (the h1 rook from h6).  Black can prepare to block on h2 by adding a second blocking piece (1…Qb2/1…Qc2) but white can easily refute both of those (with the simple 2. Kg3+, then capturing twice on h2 after which white is again threatening checkmate with …Qh3#).  Black can prepare to block with the queen on h5 (with 1…Qd1, but per the above variation that fails).

Idea 2 has generated zero candidate moves.

Idea 3 – move the piece being attacked (the white king).  The black king has zero moves.  We can create one escape square (1…g4+, which just encourages the checkmate 2. Kxg4+ Rh2 (only) 3. Rxh2#).  

Idea 3 has generated zero candidate moves.

Idea 4 – reinforce/defend the mating square (the h1 square).  Since the threat is not to move the rook to h1, but to discover the rook’s attack by moving the white king, there are no moves that defend h1 that we did not already consider above using Idea 1, and we already considered moves that restrict the black king under Idea 1.

Idea 4 has generated zero candidate moves.

Idea 5 – counterattack with an Equal or Greater Threat (of checkmate).  Looking at the EGT chart from earlier we can see that against a checkmate threat, you can only counterattack with a check.  Black has three checks in this position (1...Qxc3+, 1…g4+, are both refuted by 2. Kg4+; and 1…Rh2+ is refuted by 2. Rxh2 and now black cannot stop the discovered checkmate).

Idea 5 has generated zero candidate moves.

This process has generated two specific candidate moves:

The next step is to calculate both candidates.  Since neither move is particularly forcing, let’s try to first refute the apparently bad queen move 1…Qb1:

Black is now threatening checkmate himself (with 2…Qxh1+ 3. Kg3/Kg4 Qh4+ 4. Kf3 (only) Qf4#), and is also prepared to pin the queen (with …Rb3).  Black’s rooks and knight are well-placed (although seemingly uncoordinated) to support his passed pawn too, so I’d evaluate that black is winning here, and that white should be fighting for a draw.  Let’s see if white can prevent the checkmate.

White can capture the queen (2. Rxb1), he has four blocks (2. Qc1, 2. Qe1, 2. Rdd1, and 2. Bh5+/3. Bd1), he can move the rook (2. Rh2, 2. Re1, 2. Rd1, 2. Rc1), he can defend the rook (2. Qf3, 2. Bh5+/3. Bf3), and he can counterattack with a greater threat (check) using the two discoveries, but Kg3/Kg4 fails to the queen capture, and it is not clear where the g6 bishop might go (he only has four squares) that we haven’t already considered.

That gives us 11 candidates to consider.

Let’s start with the most active move (and seemingly obvious refutation of black’s play), the capture 2. Rxb1:

2…Rxb1 (threatening 3…Rb3) and now I like 3. Bh5+ Kh7 (forced; 3…Kxh5? 4. Qf3+, and both blocks seem pointless) 4. Bd1 (defending b3) 4…Nxe4!? 5. Qxe5 (where else?) Nf2+ 6. Kg3 (forced) Nxd1 and even though material is exactly equal (rook, knight and two pawns vs queen) black is again threatening checkmate with 7…Rb3+ 8. Kg4 (forced, both blocks are pointless) Rg2+ 9. Kh5 (only) Rh3#.  That means moves like 7. Qe8 that threaten mate in 2 are too slow, and white now must defend against the checkmate.

White can’t capture, pin, or deflect the rooks or the g5 pawn.  White can prepare to block (with 7. Rd3, or 7. Qe4 to play 8. Rd3 while also attacking the b1 rook, and setting up a discovered check).  White can move his king (7. Kf3, 7. Kg4, 7. Kh3), and he can create an escape square on f5 (7. f6).  White can defend the b3 square (but we already looked at Rd3), and can defend g2 (we already looked at 7. Qe4) but cannot defend h3.  White’s counterattacks must begin with a check because of the checkmate threat, and we have two (7. Qxg7+, 7. Rh6+).

This has generated eight candidate moves for white.  

Let’s start by looking at the most forcing moves first, the two checks.  I don’t see any clear follow up after 7. Qxg7+ Kxg7, so let’s calculate the rook check and see if white can at least pull out a draw, so now 7. Rh6+:

7…gxh6 of black’s three options, the pawn capture avoids the checkmate and the forced draw (if 7…Kg8? 8. Qe8#; if 7…Kxh6 8. Qe6+ forces draw by repetition) but it is not clear where this leads after the obvious follow-up 8. Qe7+ Kg8 (or 8…Kh8).  White has been able to force the black king away from the white king so black’s mate threat is no longer looming, but black has a five point material lead following the rook sac while white’s only plus is the position of his queen unopposed against the black king.

Thinking back to the goals of counterattacking (win, draw, defend), white can threaten mate in one (9.f6), but he can’t capture either of black’s rooks (even though they are both loose) since both light diagonals are blocked by his own pawns. I can see that stalemate is not an option for white because of the mobility of his pawns and king, but he can force a repetition (9. Qe8+).

That gives us two candidate moves for white.

Before bailing out into the draw or looking for more defensive moves, let’s see where the most forcing move leads us after the mate in one threat, 9. f6:

Black cannot capture, pin, deflect, block the queen or pawn, and he can’t move his king to escape.  He can defend g7 (9…Rb7, but that just loses the rook), and black’s counterattacks must begin with a check because of the checkmate threat, and we have three (9…Ra3+, 9…Rb3+, 9…Rg2+).  Of black’s three checks, the most promising seems to be 9…Rb3+:

10. Kg4 (forced) and now it is not at all clear that black can do anything useful with his last few checks.  He could try to defend the g7 mate square with 10…Ne3+ 11. Kh5 (forced) Nf5, but that fails to the simple 12. Qe6+, picking up the knight.

I don’t see a clear defense for black, so we can reject black’s move seven (7…gxh6).  His only alternatives at move seven allowed checkmate or draw by repetition (7…Kxh6 8. Qe6+), which so far appears to be black’s KOTH.

While most of the play in that line was forced for white, white does have another 10 candidate moves to consider at move two.  Do any of them lead to a position that is better than a draw?  We have only considered 2. Rxb1, but we still have four blocks (2. Qc1, 2. Qe1, 2. Rdd1, and 2. Bh5+/3. Bd1), four rook moves (2. Rh2, 2. Re1, 2. Rhd1, 2. Rc1), and two moves that defend the rook (2. Qf3, 2. Bh5+/3. Bf3).

So where do we start with those 10 remaining moves?  Are any of them particularly forcing, or can any of them be quickly rejected as bad.  Scanning quickly – and not really calculating – most of them look bad for white.  The four blocks and the four rook moves all seem to allow black to play 2…Rb3 (with or without check), which does not look good for white’s health…although some appear less bad than the others.  But the two moves that defend the rook are in fact extremely forcing!  Rerouting the bishop to f3 to defend the rook comes with check and relieves white of black’s …Rb3 threat.  However, the more interesting move both defends the white rook AND threatens checkmate in one move!  If there is a refutation of black’s 1…Qb1, this is probably going to be it!  Let’s see if white can get better than a draw by playing 2. Qf3:

The only thing better than a mate-in-1 threat is TWO checkmate threats!  This candidate move does just that with the new mate-in-1 threat of 3. Qh5#, and the mate-in-3 threat of 3. Kg4+/Kg3+ Qxh1 4. Qxh1+ Rh2 5. Qxh2#

It is very difficult to see an obvious defense for black, because what defends against one checkmate seems to encourage the other!  Let’s see what we can find.

We can capture the rook on h1 (2…Qxh1+), and pinning the queen is something that would normally be very powerful but here it fails completely (2…Rb3? 3. Kg4+ Qxh1 4. Qxh1+ Rh2 5. Rxh2+ Rh3 6. Rxh3#).   We can block the queen from getting to h5 (2…g4+) but that just encourages the other mate (3. Kxg4+), and we can prepare to block the mate-in-3 (2…Rbb2) but that does nothing to prevent the mate-in-1.  We cannot move the king, and creating an escape square just encouraged the mate-in-3 (2…g4+ 3. Kxg4+).  We can defend h5 (with 2…Qd1) but that does nothing to stop the other (3. Kg4+).  Our counterattacks must start with a check, and of black’s four checks there are only two we have not yet considered but they both appear to be easily refuted (2…Rh2+ 3. Rxh2; and, 2…Qf1+ 3. Kg4+).  That gives us only one candidate move to consider for black, so let’s see if black can get at least a draw with 2…Qxh1+:

3. Qxh1 looks like the best of white’s three possible replies, and again white is threatening checkmate.  The only move I can find from the five Ideas that addresses the checkmate is the move that prepares to block the check with 3…Rbb2. Now white might have better but he can at least force simplification to a won endgame with 4. Kg3+ Rh2 (only) 5. Qxh2+ Rxh2 (only) 6. Kxh2.

This line after 2. Qf3 is clearly much better for white than the more obvious original move capturing the queen (2. Rxb1), and is a very clear refutation of black’s first candidate move (1…Qb1).

What about white’s other nine candidate moves?  Well, since we already found one reply (of the 11) for white that is clearly winning, black can reject his initial candidate move without further calculation.  Sure, white might have an even stronger reply, but this one refutation is all black needs to see in order to reject his candidate move.  If black were to actually play that move, white could consider using some additional time to look for something even stronger than Qf3, which would be a great situation for white!

So having found white’s refutation, black can reject his candidate move 1…Qb1, and we can update our chart with what we have learned so far.

Let’s see if black can hold on to the position and avoid the loss with his only other candidate move 1…Ra1:  
Black’s threats are now to win white’s pinned queen and h1 rook (both are capture-checks), and checkmate is very likely to follow.  White can capture the queen and the rook, but both moves appear to fail.  For example if:

2. Qxb3 Rxh1+ 3. Kg2 axb3 and now it looks impossible to stop black’s a-pawn from promoting.  Or if instead 2. Rxa1 Qxc3+ 3. Kg4 Qxa1, and black is clearly winning.

White can’t pin either piece.  He can’t block the queen, but he can block the rook (2. Rdd1) but that fails (2…Rxd1 3. Rxd1 Qxc3).  Queen moves along the 3rd rank (due to the pin) all fail.  There are no safe squares for the rook along the first rank, and only one square along the h-file that appears safe (2. Rh2).  He can defend the queen (2. Rd3) but that fails as well (2…Rxh1+ 3. Kg2 Nxd3).  We have already looked at one move that defends the rook (2. Rdd1) which we determined was not good.  That only leaves counterattacks.  We already have one equal threat (against the queen) that we determined is not actually a threat at all, and a greater threat would consist of mate threats or checks.  We have already considered moving the rook to a square that maintains the mate threat (2. Rh2), and it does not look like any of our eight checks get us anywhere.

So that really only leaves one candidate move for white, 2. Rh2:

White is again threatening checkmate in one move (3. Kg3#/3. Kg4#), so let’s again consider the five defensive ideas and see if black can hold on:

Black cannot capture the h2 rook, but he can prepare to capture (2…Rb2, and 2…Rh1 but the latter obviously fails).  Pinning the rook wouldn’t help here, but he can prevent the king from moving to both g3 and g4 (2…Rg1).  He can prepare to block on h5 (2…Qd1, but that fails to stop the checkmate 3. Kg3+ Qh5 4. Rxh5#).  He cannot move his king and creating an escape square (2…g4+) just encourages the checkmate (3. Kxg4#)!  That only leaves counterattacks, which must begin with a check, and there is only one check we have not yet considered (2…Qxc3+) but that also just allows white to checkmate.

That gives black two candidate moves.

Preparing to capture the rook (2…Rb2) just allows the position to repeat and doesn’t seem to make much progress, but we might come back to it if black’s other candidate move fails to impress, after 2…Rg1:

Black’s threat is to checkmate starting with the capture-check (3…Qxc3+ 4. Rd3 (only) Qxd3#).  White can capture the queen, but that just forces checkmate.  He cannot block the queen, and the queen has no safe squares on the 3rd rank.  He can defend the queen (3. Rd3, and 3. Rc2), and can counterattack with a greater threat using the discovered check but where to put the bishop?  Now if Bh5+ black can take the bishop since the white queen can no longer swoop in to deliver checkmate due to the pin (like the earlier lines with Qf3+) and white does not have the discovery on the h-file.  That only leaves three squares (Bh7, Bf7, and Be8) none of which allow the bishop to reposition to a more useful square.

That gives white two candidate moves.

Both look really bad for white.  Let’s start with 3. Rd3:

The natural 3…Nxd3 now threatens checkmate (4…Nf4#).  White can’t capture or pin the knight or the queen.  He can’t block the knight from getting to f4.  He cannot move the king but he can create an escape square by moving his rook on h2, however that fails to Qxc3 (perhaps following a check or capture-check, in case of 4. Rg2 Rh1+ first).  He can defend f4 four ways but the all fail (4. Rf2 Qxc3; 4. Qc1/Qd1/Qxe5 Nf4# (double checkmate)).  Counterattacks must begin with a check, and white has none.

With zero viable candidate replies for white we can conclude that black's 3…Nxd3 refutes white's 3.Rd3, so let’s look at white’s only other candidate move 3. Rc2:

And now simplifying to an endgame looks good enough for black to declare victory after 3…Qxc3+ 4. Rxc3 Nxe4

Let’s see what our final chart looks like:

Conclusion.  So this process has shown us that black has one and only one defense to white’s checkmate threat using two new variations on the first defensive idea of “doing something to the attacker”:  prepare to capture, and restrict.  These two ideas themselves are rather sophisticated and we had to go many ply deep to prove that the first candidate was bad for black.  What I found interesting about the calculation process here was in the refutation of black's candidate move 1...Qb1.  The obvious-looking capture (2. Rxb1) only allowed a draw, but the move that both defended and counter-attacked (2. Qf3) which was not totally obvious to find is what wins for white.  I'm not sure of any other calculation process that would have lead to finding that move!

This is the process you should be able to do mentally:  prioritize the threats, use all five defensive ideas to search for specific candidate moves, calculate each one completely, and then pick the best variation based on the final evaluation.  And now you have two new tools in your defensive calculation toolkit -- preparing to capture the attacker, and restricting the attacker.  It is possible that these ideas only come into play for certain discovered checks (obviously this wouldn't work for discovered checks that are double checks!).

Calculating Forcing Moves: Defensive Idea 5 - Counterattack to DEFEND (Idea 1, capture)

In the last few posts on counterattacking we created Equal or Greater Threats (EGT) that allowed us to force a WIN, and to force DRAWs (by stalemate, repetition, and material).

The next few posts will look at “counterattacking to DEFEND”, which is using EGTs to allow the use of one of the first four defensive ideas:

• Defensive Idea 1 – do something to the attackers (capture, pin, deflect, restrict);
• Defensive Idea 2 – block the attackers
• Defensive Idea 3 – move the piece being attacked
• Defensive Idea 4 – defend the piece/square being attacked

In this first post we will use an EGT to allow us to use defensive Idea 1, capture the attackers.  How is this different from Idea 1?  The key difference is tempo, as I’ll explain below.

Black just played 1…Nf4.  White to move.

1k1r4/1b2R2p/p1qP4/1p2Q3/1P3np1/P7/2P2PPP/3R2K1 w - - 0 1

Let's evaluate the position, and then find and prioritize all of black's threats.

Evaluation:  White has a two point material advantage (rook and three pawns vs bishop and knight).  White’s pieces are actively placed, his king is less exposed than black’s, and his advanced passed pawn is a major strength.

Threats:  Black’s threat is 2…Qxg2#, as well as …Ng6 forking white’s queen and rook.  The checkmate threat is clearly our priority for calculations.

Let's look at the five defensive ideas to see what options white has to defend against the checkmate.

Idea 1 – do something to the attacking pieces (the c6 queen, f4 knight, and b7 bishop).  We cannot capture or pin (must be absolute) the queen.  We can capture black’s f4 knight, but quickly see that is easily refuted with 2…Qxg2#.
We can also capture black’s b7 bishop.  This is a perfect opportunity to discuss the difference between Idea 1, and Idea 5.  Take a look at the below position, in particular how the new position of the black king (now on a8) changes things.

1k1r4/1b2R2p/p1qP4/1p2Q3/1P3np1/P7/2P2PPP/3R2K1 w - - 0 1

With the black king on its new square, capturing the bishop now does nothing to prevent the checkmate because 2. Rxb7 Qxg2#.  In this modified position neither of the captures we found using Idea 1 would work since black would still be able to checkmate with 2…Qxg2.

But in the original position with the black king on b8, taking the bishop now comes with check (2. Rxb7+) and black has to spend his next move getting out of check instead of delivering checkmate.  A capture-check should always be appreciated for the extra time it gains.  Sticking rigidly with the structure of this blog series I will put this capture-check under Idea 5 because the check is a GREATER threat than the checkmate threat.  However, this capture-check could easily be found by searching the board using either Idea 1 or 5.  Idea 1 has generated zero candidate moves.

Idea 2 – block the attacking pieces (the c6 queen from getting to g2).  White has four blocks (2. Rd5, 2. Qd5, 2. Qe4, and 2. f3).  Both of the queen blocks are very clearly bad for white after the immediate captures.  Only the rook and pawn blocks seem like viable candidates.   Idea 2 has generated two candidate moves.

Idea 3 – move the piece being attacked (the white king).  Since we have time, the king can prepare to move with 2.Kf1, allowing him to escape to e1 if 2…Qxg2+.  Moving the king the other direction (2. Kh1) still allows 2…Qxg2#.  Idea 3 has generated one candidate move.

Idea 4 – reinforce/defend the attacked square or piece (the g2 square).  The are two moves that defend g2 (both 2. Qd5 and 2. Qe4), however, we have already looked at both of these moves under Idea 2 and quickly rejected them.  Idea 4 has generated zero candidate moves.

Idea 5 – counterattack with an Equal or Greater Threat (of checkmate).  Looking at the EGT chart from earlier we can see that against a checkmate threat, you can only counterattack with a check.  White has two checks in this position (2. d7+ and 2. Rxb7+).  Idea 5 has generated two candidate moves.

This process has generated five specific candidate moves:

The next step is to calculate all five candidates starting with the most forcing move, the capture-check 2. Rxb7+:

2…Kxb7 seems the best of black’s four possible replies (two king moves, and two captures), since it keeps the checkmate threat alive, keeps two attackers on white’s passed pawn, gets the king more active, breaks white’s discovered check, and keeps the queen on the c-file attacking the c2 pawn.  Now, since black is still threatening checkmate in g2 white needs to defend, and we see we can now simply capture another attacker (using Idea 1) with 3. Qxf4.  White has traded his rook for two minor pieces and is up three entire pawns.  So far this variation looks very promising for white…but it is not over yet.   3…Qxc2 again threatens mate in 1, but white can regain the pawn and defend his rook (Idea 4) with 4. Qxg4, after which black has no clear refutations.  White is up three pawns, and is winning.  That makes Rxb7+ our King of the Hill (KOTH).

Let’s see if white’s other candidates can force a position that is better than our KOTH, starting with the next most forcing move 2. d7+:

2…Ka8 looks best for black (out of his five possible replies), since it renews the checkmate threat with the fewest complications.  White will be hard pressed to prove that this variation is better for him than the first variation since this leaves black with too much play.  White is again forced to defend against the checkmate, and now only has one check that is clearly bad (3. Qb8+), has the one bad capture (3. Qxf4) from Idea 1 that fails to prevent the checkmate, the same four blocks as above (3. Rd5 and 3. f3 were the only viable options), and he can still move his king (3. Kf1).

Since none of these three options force black to respond, let’s see if we can quickly eliminate any of them as clearly bad.  The rook block seems to be the worst of the three since black can just capture, but let’s see if white gets any compensation:

3. Rd5 and black can just simplify to a won endgame with 3…Qxd5 (the most direct refutation, since black is now threatening checkmate on g2 and d1) 4. Qxd5 (forced) Bxd5 5. Re8 (promotion tricks seem like white’s only hope) Ne6 and black defends his rook and wins.  So we can clearly reject that block.

White’s other two candidates (after 2. d7+ Ka8, and now 3.f3 or 3.Kf1) expose the king to checks which certainly does not help white’s cause, but let’s see if white is still able to force a better position than our KOTH:

3. Kf1 and black can now get very active with two checks 3…Qc4+ and 3…Qxg2+, and the knight fork 3…Ng6.  It is very hard to imagine any of these are any good for white, but let’s just look at 3…Ng6 and see if white has a forced win (better than our KOTH of plus three pawns).

White is yet again on the defensive, and black's threat is to capture his queen (4…Nxe5).  We cannot capture, pin, or deflect the knight (Idea 1), and we can never block knights (Idea 2).  We can move the queen to several safe squares (Idea 3) but they all appear to be easily refuted (after…Qxg2+ followed by …Nxe7), and defending the queen does not make sense (Idea 4).  That only leaves counterattacks (Idea 5).  We can create an equal threat by attacking the queen with either rook (Re6 or Rd6) but black first evades the attacks with …Qxg2+ and then captures our queen.  An interesting counterattack -- and possibly forcing a more winning position than our KOTH -- is to force the promotion of the pawn with 4. Re8:

4…Nxe5 5. Rxd8+ Ka7 (forced, the bishop/queen blocks allow the promotion) 6. Ra8+ Bxa8 7. d8=Q and now white is up one point in material (rook and pawn vs bishop and knight), but alas this is NOT better than our KOTH, and it is black's turn to move and he at least gets his pawn back with 7…Qxg2+.  Even though this forced variation can continue black gets to have all the fine and is likely to win more material.  This is more than sufficient to reject our other candidate move 2. d7+.

That leaves us with three other candidates.  None of them are particularly forcing so it is extremely unlikely that they will be better than our KOTH.  Let's see if we can eliminate any of them as clearly bad.

Our rook block looks losing since after 2. Rd5 Nxd5 white is simply down material, and even though there is some play left he's running out of pieces and will be struggling to even draw.  We can reject this block.

White's other block (2. f3) and the king move (2. Kf1) both expose his king allowing black's pieces even more potential activity.  Let's see if our block somehow gives white a better position than our KOTH, after 2. f3:

White is threatening to capture black's knight.  His discovered check buys him an extra move, but it is not clear that there is a specific threat behind it other than trying to force promotion by following up with Re8.  So white's primary threat is to capture the knight.

We cannot capture, pin or deflect the queen (Idea 1).  We cannot block the queen since it is an 'in-your-face' attack (Idea 2).  We can move the knight (Idea 3) to all eight squares, but the fork (2…Ng6) seems most interesting.  We can defend the knight (Idea 4) two different ways (2…Rf8 and 2…Qc4).  We cannot create an equal threat since white does not have any minor pieces, but we can create a greater threat by attacking his rook and threatening mate (2…Qxc2), or giving check (2…Qb6+).  Of course the most forcing of these five candidates is the check 2…Qb6+:

3. Qc5 is white's most forcing defense (of six possible replies) and limits black's play the most, but I don't see how this is clearly better for white.  We can reject this check for black, and look at his next most forcing move two candidate, the other counterattack 2…Qxc2:

Black is again threatening checkmate, and we can consider this a refutation to white's block (2. f3) but let's play this out a bit further and see if white can pull off something better than our KOTH.  He can capture the knight (Idea 1), but that allows black to take his rook with check.  He can block the queen from getting to g2 (Idea 2) two different ways, but both blocks just lose material.  He can move his king (Idea 3), but one leads to checkmate anyway (3. Kh1 Qxg2#) and the other just loses the rook (3. Kf1 Qxd1+).  He cannot add another defender to g2 (Idea 4) that we haven't already considered under Idea 2.  The only counterattack (Idea 5) possible must begin with a check given the threat of checkmate, and he has two checks (3. d7+ and 3. Rxb7+).  Let's start with the most forcing the capture-check 3. Rxb7+:

Hey wait!  That's the exact same capture-check from the first position, which we know will allow us to next capture the knight.  This must be right!  And it would be except for one key difference.  3…Kxb7 4. Qxf4 Qxd1+! 5. Kf2 (only) and now black is winning.  Of course white does not have to capture the knight, and he can instead give check (4. Qe7+ is the most forcing since it also attacks the rook).   Even though there is more play for white in this line, we can reject it since white can't bring his rook into the attack with check, and he has the same dilemma of how to defend against checkmate (Qxg2#) and the capture-check (Qxd1+) at the same time.  He might be able to get equality but won't be able to force a position better than the KOTH so we can reject 3. Rxb7+.  All of white's other replies at move three were rather passive (the discovered check just buys one move but does not change the position), and are even more unlikely to force a better position than our KOTH.  Since there were no other moves in this variation for white to consider, we can drop this candidate.  Here's what our updated chart looks like:

The last candidate we have to consider is the king move (Idea 3) 2. Kf1:

2…Qxg2+ 3. Ke1 (only) Qg1+ 4. Kd2 (only) Qxf2+ 5. Kc1 (forced, 5. Kc3 Qf3+ looks good for black) Ng6 and black has equalized the material (rook and pawn vs bishop and knight) and it is not clear that white can keep his rook since now his capture-check (Rxb7+) only picks up one minor piece.  Even though there is a bit more play for white in this line, I do not see how from here he can force a position better than our KOTH.  So we can reject this variation as well.

Here is our final chart:

Conclusion:  This process has shown us that white has several candidate moves to consider in the initial position, and by calculating the most forcing moves first we defended against the checkmate and found the forced win!  In a real game we would not need to calculate as much as I did here.  Once we calculated that our most forcing candidate at move one (the capture-check Rxb7+) was winning, we could make the move and enjoy the rest of our win.  But for the sake of this exercise I went ahead and tried to prove that the other candidates were not as good as our KOTH.  

This is the process you should be able to do mentally:  prioritize the threats, use the five defensive ideas to search for specific candidate moves, calculate each one completely, and then pick the best variation based on the final evaluation.

In the next post we will look at positions where we use EGTs to rearrange our pieces to allow another of the basic defensive ideas (from Idea 1-4).