Lesson twenty-five. Study of the opening. Spanish party.

Created 07/25/2012 17:37

Lesson twenty-five. Study of the opening. Spanish party.

How to start a chess game? Chess opening.

Today you will get to know how to start a chess game. Do you still remember that the beginning of a chess game is called chess opening. What should you do in the opening?
You know that chess is played in many countries. And depending on the character of the people, the chess game began in different ways. In India, the construction of figures resembled rich palaces. The warlike Scandinavian Vikings came up with a beginning where the queen immediately rushes into battle on the first moves. Of course, there is also a Russian party.
Your task is to find out such openings that will help get your pieces out faster.

Today you will get acquainted with a popular chess opening - the Spanish game. This opening, as you understand from the name, was invented by the Spaniards more than 500 years ago. The names of these Spaniards Lucena And Lopez. Why do we want to introduce you to this beginning? This opening is not only for beginner chess players; it has not become outdated in hundreds of years; it has recently been played with great success by many world chess champions: Lasker, Capablanca, Fisher, Karpov.

There are seven moves in the diagram exchange variant of the Spanish game. You immediately guessed why this beginning is called "change".

1. e2–e4 e7–e5
2. Kg1–f3 Kb8 – c6
3. Cf1–b5 a7–a6
4. Cb5: c6 d7: c6
5. d2–d4 e5:d4
6. Qd1: d4 Qd8: d4
7. Kf3: d4

The chessboard became very empty - everything was exchanged. But the fun is just beginning. This position has been known for a long time, but chess players are still arguing about who has it better?! There is a well-known game where one world champion Lasker played with white against another champion – Capablanca. Let's find out which one was right.

Let's take a closer look at several initial moves of the Spanish game.

1. e2–e4 e7–e5
2. Kg1–f3 Kb8 – c6
3. Cf1–b5 a7–a6

You already know the first two moves, but on the third, a “Spanish bishop” appears on the board! His task is to attack the knight – the defender of the e5 pawn.
The bishop was attacked by a pawn.

But this is not the only continuation. In the variations of the Spanish game, interesting piece play arises on different flanks. Now black can choose one of several moves.
Can go

• 3. ... Bf8–c5,
• 3. ... Kc6–d4,
• 3. ... Kg8–f6,
• 3. ... g7–g6,
• 3. ... d7–d6,
• 3. ... f7–f5.

Let's get back to the game. Our bishop has two options: retreat to a4 or take the knight to c6.
We will get acquainted with the departure of the elephant in the near future, and today -
4. Cb5: c6 . . .

The bishop dies, but he completed two assigned tasks: he destroyed the defender of the e5 pawn and spoiled the pawn structure - he doubled black's pawns.

Which pawn should I take: the b-pawn or the d-pawn? It is usually recommended to hit from the edge to the center, but in this case the exception is
4. . . . d7: c6

Why did Black choose this particular capture? Roads open for bishops and even black gets the “d” rank for his heavy pieces.
5. d2–d4 . . .

Why didn’t White immediately capture the e5 pawn with his knight?
It turns out that this pawn can easily be won back either by moving 5...Qd8 – d4, or 5...Qd8 – g5. Black delivers a double attack on the knight and pawn. Therefore, White better fight for the center!

5. . . . e5:d4
6. Qd1: d4 Qd8: d4
7. Kf3: d4

Take a close look at the resulting position. To test your chess memory, try to reconstruct the course of the game yourself. Let's find out whose position you like better?

What is the best way to study openings?

There is no consensus on this matter. It all depends on your ability to remember the main variations and, most importantly, understand what is required in a particular opening: where to place the pieces and what to do next.

There is no need to memorize long opening variations. Even grandmasters are unable to memorize many moves. Learn to play for general reasons. We need to understand what is happening on the chessboard. Then you won’t get lost in unfamiliar positions. You need to remember the most common traps so that the game does not end as soon as it begins. It is best to study openings together with famous grandmasters, analyzing their games.

After playing with friends or parents analyze the errors you encounter. Choose which opening you will play in the next games with white and black.

Use of this material on the Internet without providing a link to the author, website and book is prohibited. The rights to publish the book and this material belong to the authors of the chess textbook "Chess for children, parents and teachers" Kostrov Vsevolod and Davletov Jalil.
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- This is one of the most popular openings used by grandmasters all over the world. It is characterized by complex and varied patterns. In the modern concept of an opening, a threat to a pawn is the beginning of plans in the fight for the center and maintaining the initiative. This is the most logical opening, starting with moving the king's pawn onto two squares at once.
For the first time, a Spanish game was opened by the Spanish chess player Rui Lopez. There are also mentions of her in the works of Juan Lucena. In their 15th-16th century interpretation, the purpose of this sequence of moves was to threaten the black pawn e5. But later the meaning of this debut expanded, and a large number of branches appeared. But the name was preserved in honor of the inventors.

All Spanish party systems are divided into two groups:
No move 3…a6;
With the move 3…a6.

Systems without move 3…a6

Options using the moves 3…Сс5 and 3…Kge7 were used at the end of the 15th century. Later, techniques without using the move a6 began to be used. These systems gained the greatest popularity in the second half of the 19th century. Then their popularity decreased, although even in our time systems without the move 3...a6 are quite viable.
The main options for this system are:

- Berlin Defense (1. e4 e5 2. Kf3 Kc6 3. Cb5 Kf6) – stable and reliable defense. Blacks also have greater activity and diversity of plans
- (1. e4 e5 2. Kf3 Kc6 3. Cb5 d6) – the e5 pawn is protected by Black. This system has remained strong and is still in use today. Its main feature is that Black concedes the center, which entails the emergence of a structure - the white pawn e4 is opposite the black d6.

Systems with stroke 3...a6

These systems differ in a large number of strategy options and lead to meaningful competition. Moreover, these systems are very popular and are often used by many grandmasters.

- Exchange option (1. e4 e5 2. Kf3 Kc6 3. Cb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dc) – consists of getting the majority of pawns on the king’s side, in return for this Black has the advantage of two bishops. The endgame of the variant is studied much more deeply than in others.

- Open option (1. e4 e5 2. Kf3 Kc6 3. Cb5 a6 4. Ca4 Kf6 5. 0-0 Kxe4)

The pawn on e4 is captured by Black, who is trying to create an area for the development of the actions of their pieces. In exchange for this, they have a weakening of the pawn structure on the queenside, which can subsequently become a significant problem. This is a risky line in which Black cannot make mistakes and maintain balance.

- Closed systems (1. e4 e5 2. Kf3 Kc6 3. Cb5 a6 4. Ca4 Kf6 5. 0-0 Ce7 6. Re1 b5 7. Cb3)

These systems have a central place in opening theory. Here White's strategy is clearly demonstrated - a strong and long-term initiative in the center of the board. Often White closes the center with d5, seizes space and launches an attack on the flank. White is trying to deprive Black of the opportunity for counterplay. And Black is trying to impose counterplay in the center and on the queenside.

Today Olesya's coach, Oleg Kislitsyn, shows interesting opening tricks - traps that can be successfully used in the Spanish game.

Spanish game: Opening trap No. 1 - on the move d6

So, the standard beginning of Spanish:

We will not now go deeper into the variation when Black takes on e4, but will consider the move d6.

Now White defends the pawn on e4 with his rook, and Black pins with his bishop on g4.

Now the fun begins. White plays e5, starting to open up sharply.

And now White will surprise Black with Ne5. Now the position is with a huge advantage for White, but Black doesn’t know about it yet :)

Black takes the queen, but White immediately wins it back.

9. K:c6+ Ce7

10. N:d8 + N:d8

11. Rxd1 and we have an extra piece.

Spanish game: Opening trap No. 2

Usually in Spanish we hit on c6, but now we will look at another option.

This position also happens with a reversal of moves.

Trap No. 2 in the Spanish flu - part 1

White again suddenly attacks on e5, leaving his queen.

Trap No. 2 in the Spanish flu - part 2

It's time to win back the queen.

10. N:c6+ N:f7

11. N:d8+ R:d8

11. Rxd1 and White has 2 extra pawns.

Berlin Defense V Spanish Party has become part of the main weapon for Black today. Berlin has a reputation for being boring and a draw for Black. However, everything changed when Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik used it against Garry Kasparov in the World Championship match.

Kramnik used it in four games and all of them ended in a draw. After that, this option attracted elite players, and ordinary chess players followed them. Many grandmasters, such as Topalov, Shirov, Anand and even Kasparov, began to use this defense after the match. Currently defending champion Magnus Carlsen continues to use it, as well as other strong players Wesley So and Levon Aronian.

To combat gross mistakes, find the right plan in difficult positions, and strengthen your positional and tactical vision, we recommend you. Hundreds of chess players have already benefited from our training. Do not wait,

Why is she so popular for Blacks?

After the moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 White usually continues 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 5.dxe5 Nf5 6.Qxd8+ Kxd8

The question often arises: why is the opening in which Black traded queens, lost castling rights and gained a doubled pawn so popular? The reason is quite simple. Castling is not so important after the exchange of queens, and the king in the center is not only safe, but even much more useful. Black gets doubled pawns, but has no weaknesses. The most important and attractive element for Black is that he gets a pair of bishops.

And where are the hopes for victory? If White tries to open a position in order to realize his pawn majority, then Black bishops will receive space and sufficient counterplay. And most importantly, in the Berlin Defense you do not need to know the exact sequence of moves, as in the Sicilian Defense. Therefore, Black can afford small mistakes that will not affect their game.

This defense can be avoided

In this article I will show some ideas for White that will avoid the main options and keep the game more tense. Of course, in the variations under consideration it is difficult to claim an opening advantage, but they deserve serious attention.

I recommend playing 4. d3, keeping the "Spanish style". Here Black usually continues with 4…Bc5. Next, White can take on c6 and play in the spirit of the Exchange Variation. Objectively, the game is equal with mutual chances. This option has been used several times by Magnus Carlsen and other famous players, so it should be taken seriously.

In the game Carlsen - Caruana, the world champion played f2-f4 after exchanging the dark-squared bishop. The result was a middlegame with opposite-colored bishops with a certain pressure along the f line for White.

The second game was played between Yu Yangi and Kramnik. With this victory over the former world champion, Yu Yangi secured 1st place in the Qatar Masters tournament. Yu Yangi is a specialist in this variation, so you should pay attention to his games.

Finally, we will look at other ideas for White, such as the d3-d4 explosion in the late middlegame.

So, as you can see, White doesn't have much of an opening advantage. However, the middlegame is full of pieces, the pawn structure is asymmetrical and therefore there are many options and ideas on both sides.

Note: If you want improve your chess level, you must have a clear study plan. If you strive to sharply increase your chess level, then you need to systematically work on all elements of the game:

• Tactics
• Positional play
• Attack Skills
• Endgame technique
• Classic Games Analysis
• Psychological preparation
• And much more

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