OPENING DISASTERS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF    
DEVELOPMENT

Have you ever wondered why Grandmasters of chess often take
40 to 50 moves to come to a conclusion in their games when it
takes us club players or recreational players not more than 20
moves to finish our games sometimes? Or in another case, why
is it that when a master is pitted up against an amateur the master's
greater experience often wins out against the amateur in a relatively
short amount of moves? These are the questions I hope to answer
in this first Chessdoctor instructional Article.

There's no way around this: Development is of paramount importance
in the game of chess. Without it chess doesn't exist. As Nimzovich
so eloquently stated, "To be ahead in development is the ideal to
be aimed for." Therefore, I found it fitting to use a Nimzovich game
in describing some of these principles. There are 2 different ways
to be ahead in development. One way is to have more pieces off the
back row than your opponent in the same number of moves. The
other is to have more pieces in a certain area of the board at a given
time than does your opponent. If white has a queen, two rooks, down
the f-file, and a knight on e4 and g5, and a bishop on b2 and b3 un-
hindered on their diagonals while black's forces are out twiddling their
thumbs on the queenside, then white has an advantage in development
on the kingside. "To be ahead in development (in either of these 2 ways)
is the ideal to be aimed for."

Here's a warm-up game play by Nimzovich himself (the pioneer), against
Alapin back in 1911. This proves that Nimzovich didn't just preach, he
practiced and won game after game.

White: A. Nimzovich GM
Black: S.  Alapin GM

Karlsbad, 1911

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. exd5

This is the Classical French System Exchange Variation. White achieves
fine development, but unfortunately after 4...exd5 the game is equal and
will most likely draw with decent play on both sides. Therefore more
common is 4. Bg5 striving for an advantage and to create some differences
in the position. (after 4. exd5 exd5 the positions are identical, no differences=
no advantage.)

4...Nxd5?!

Very dubious. GM Alapin strives to create a difference in the position all
right, but it's much to his disadvantage. Now white has ideal development
(both the center pawns are moved out or exchanged thus development is
easy to achieve) AND he has extra space. The d4 pawn is most unpleasant
for black, therefore c5 must be played to break the center up. The other
drawback is that it locks in the c8 bishop thus restricting development.

5. Nf3

Practicing his principles, developing a new piece with each move while
avoiding an immediate 5. Nxd5 which would once again equalize.

5...c5

Not positionally sound at this time. 5...c5 is a worth while move, but not
at the expense of losing significant tempo. Better was Nxc3 followed by
c5.

6. Nxd5!

An accurate retort. The reason Nimzo plays this is because black can't
equalize with exd5 because then the inevitable isolated d5 pawn would
be a problem. If 6...exd5 then 7. Bb5+! (striving to exchange the light-
squared bishops to make black's defensive task of the future d5 pawn
harder) Nc6 8. 0-0 Be6 9. Re1 Be7 10. Be3 and white would have good
play against the coming d5 isolated pawn. Therefore, the next move is
positionally forced unfortunately.

6...Qxd5 7. Be3

Developing a new piece while threatening dxc5. White playing very
logically thus far and is comfortable with his development.

7...cxd4 8. Nxd4 a6?

Now GM Alapin makes a big mistake. This only serves as a loss of
time. Wing pawn advances, unless required or proven NOT a loss of time,
are very bad. This is no exception. This is to prevent Bb5+. He could've
done the same thing with a useful developing move 8...Nc6!. He commited
a cardinal sin in the opening, an unneeded wing pawn advance! If anyone
would pounce on this error it would be Nimzovich.

9. Be2!

He's sacrificing the g2 pawn for more development! Nimzovich intends
to castle to the queenside to protect his king. Nimzovich enjoys the extra
time he has to develop more of his forces in order to attack.

9...Qxg2??

Yuk! The queen is the only piece black has developed. From standard
opening principles we know that the queen isn't a good piece to develop early.
So that's a problem he has to deal with already. But now he moves the queen
a seond time instead of developing a new piece and getting his king to
safety! For this, he should surely be punished.

10. Bf3!

Nimzo activating his bishop without loss of tempo, protecting his rook, and
attacking the black queen again all in one swift stroke!

10...Qg6 11. Qd2

Developing his queen and preparing to castle queenside. When asking
yourself if white has compensation for a whole pawn lost, remember to also
ask yourself how much more development do I have? After Qd2, white
is winning the opening race 4-1. He has a 3 piece advantage in the same
number of moves. It seems black stopped in the middle of the race to drink
some orange juice!

11...e5?

This pawn was also moved once already too! Why move it again? It
attacks the d4 knight, but as Nimzovich shows, not even attacking a knight
can stop him from developing. 11...Be7 should be the only move considered.

12. 0-0-0!!

Brillance. This is very simple on principle, yet very profound. White is
sacrificing his knight for development. The horse's death will not be in vain,
he is a martyr! The d-file is decsive. White's artillery is lined up and
primed toward the uncastled black king. This brilliant sacrifice also follows
the principle that when you're ahead in development you should strive to open
the position. This does just that.

12...exd4

Black's a rich man. At least he'll die witha a full stomach.

13. Bxd4 Nc6??

Loses on the spot. Once again the only move to be considered was 13...Be7.

14. Bf6!!

Once again, a brilliant shot! This opens the d-file and the bishop itself
influences d8. Isn't this insane? White's lost a knight for a pawn and another
pawn earlier. He's down a full piece and now he sacrifices another. Both a
pawn and the queen can take this. In order to be a good chess player you
must calculate variations. Sure, anyone can load up a Fritz or Chessmaster
and see that this move is their recommendation, but for YOU to do this
you needed to calculate and do the hard work to play a move like this. Why
can't black take the bishop? 14...gxf6? 15. Bxc6+ (eliminating defender of d8)
bxc6 16. Qd8 mate. Also 14...Qxf6 must be calculated, 15. Rhe1+ Be7
16. Bxc6+ Kf8 17. Qd8+!! Bxd8 18. Re8 mate. How many people could
really see this when some computer recommended Bf6? I bet quite a few
club players even would miss Qd8+ leading to mate even if that position was
handed to them! However, to see that while you're at move 14 sacrificing
a bishop is very hard for some people unless you're an experienced master
who has a feel for what the position requried and can calculate the details.

14...Qxf6 15. Rhe1+ Be7

Finally this move is played, but now it's too late.

16. Bxc6+ Kf8 17. Qd8+!! Bxd8 18. Re8 Checkmate

Wow. The master of teaching principles showing he's mastered using them
too! This is just one game that shows the importance of development and
this was between two Grandmasters! What is a Grandmaster was pitted up
against a typical club player? The next game I go over is a master vs.
an amateur.

Note: These players play chess at my chess club and indeed one is a master
and the other is an amateur. However, as they've requested not to mention
their names all that's really important is that one player plays like a master
and the other like an amateur.

White: Master
Black: Amateur

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5

This is the Ruy Lopez. So far both sides have developed with the best of
opening principles. This opening retains white's development initiative the
longest. This is the best way to threaten the black e-pawn (development
with attack principle). White can attack the e-pawn in many  different ways
such as 3. d4 the Scotch, however this develops a piece. Note that this
is more of an annoying threat that is constantly lurking as opposed to an
immediate one because Bxc6 cannot be played immediately to win the pawn
since Bxc6 dxc6 Nxe5 Qd4! threatens the black knight and the e4 pawn.
However, the Bxc6 threat must be attended to and watched the entire time.

3...Ne7?!

An amateur move. This reinforces the c6 knight in case of Bxc6 but the best
move is 3...a6 which has proven to be a wing pawn advance that doesn't lose
time in the opening due to attacking the bishop and forcing it to move as well
for the 2nd time.

4. 0-0

The master castles here to gain total freedom of opportunity for his undertakings
in the center.

4...d6

A good defensive move. This blocks in the f8 bishop, but it's pretty much
forced after Ne7.

5. d4

White is attempting to open the game a la opening principles as well as
freeing up all his other pieces for development. This is also in accordance
with developing with attack. This threatens 6. dxe5 winning a pawn as
well as 6. d5 which attacks the pinned knight.

5...Bd7

The best defensive move was played by the amateur. He saw the d5
threat. 5...exd4 was way too giving. As it is, black has a cramped but
solid game.

6. Nc3

Simply developing a piece. Also possible is 6. c3.

6...f6?

In some variations this is a correct way to make e5 granite. However,
here it's a typical amateur-type mistake. White is the better developed,
this invites white to open the game which the master happily does.

7. dxe5!

Opening principles galore. Tempting, but not the best, is 7. d5?!. This is
in direct accordance with the principle that you must open the game when
you have a lead in development.

7...Nxe5 8. Nxe5!?

Very important exchange. This frees the d1-h5 diagonal for the queen
to take into account black's weakening f6. The master's experience is
shining through in many colors.

8...fxe5

This looks a little amateurish, but it's the best. The pawn formation is
better after this capture, and after 8...dxe5 9. Bc4 and black has
even more problems than with the d-capture. Also, the other "semi-
alternative" 8...Bxb5 loses to 9. Nf7! when black's forced to eliminate
the possibility of castling and then white recaptures the bishop.

9. Bc4

Putting the bishop on the obviously important diagonal.

9...Qc8!

The move by the amateur really surprised me here. This is an excellent
move! The idea is to neutralize white's c4 giant by playing 10...Be6.

10. Qf3!?

The master develops the queen and threatens Qf7+. Superficial is
10. Qh5+?! g6 11. Qf3 Be6 12. Qf6 Bxc4 13. Qxh8 Bxf1 and black
has equalized!

10...Be6

The only move.

11. Bxe6

The master is forced to make this unhappy exchange. 11. Qe2, 11. Bb3
and 11. Be2 all lose a tempo for white. As Nimzovich stated, "Exchange
with the subsequent gain of tempo."

11...Qxe6

Now it seems that black has neutralized white's attack! There's nothing
concrete here for white. The only pieces developed are the queen and
knight. In fact, white's only slightly better hear. Black has no weaknesses
and his position is solid. However, white has a lead in development and a
better bishop therefore a slight plus.

12. Nd5

Why does the master move a piece for the second time instead of developing
with 12. Bg5 or something like that? The master has his reasons! As a matter
of fact it's probably the best move. The reason is because he wants to force
the knight exchange. After 12...Nxd5 and 13. exd5 the pawn on d5 disrupts
black's piece communication! In essence his camp is divided now into
two parts.

12...Nxd5

This seems forced. After 12...0-0-0 13. Bg5 Re8 14. Qb3 (Threatening
Nb6+ winning the queen) then 14...Nxd5 and 15. exd5 is forced anyway.
Therefore, either way the exchange of knights will be forced disrupting
the black piece communication.

13. exd5 Qg6?

The error that loses the game. Much better was 13...Qd7 when the
game would most likely continue with 14. Qe4 Be7 15. Bd2 0-0 16. Rae1
Qf5!? (here white only has small advantage due to good bishop and
e4 square) 17. Qxf5 Rxf5 18. Re4 Raf8 19. f3 and the white rook can
travel anywhere on the board.

14. Qb3

This protects c2 and attacks b7. This forces black to make a decisive
weakening move.

14...b6

After the text Black has a disadventageous pawn position which considerably
weakens c6 and the c-pawn. Before we awfulize black's play let's examine
the alternatives. 14...0-0-0 15. Be3 Kb8 16. Qa4 a6 17. b4! with a big attack.
Or 14...Rab8 15. Qa4+ and white wins the a-pawn. Therefore Black's
response seems best. Now that a static disadvantage has been created, the
master can ignore it and play for a different goal for a while.

15. Qb5+

Indeed, he does just that. He's ruining black's castling opportunities.

15...Kf7

The best square. Black hopes for 16. Qd7+ Be7 17. Qxc7? Rhc8! completing
development.

16. f4!

The master prepares Qd7+ by opening lines for attack to use ALL the
force in the attack. The master saw the immediate Qd7+ wouldn't be as
potent because how much damage can a queen do by herself? Therefore,
black continues development!

16...exf4

The other alternatives are just as bad as this! 16...Kg8? 17. fxe5 dxd5
18. d6! threatening Qd5+. If 16...Qxc2?? 17. Qd7+ Be7 18. fxe5+ Kg8
then 19. Qe6 is mate. Lastly, if 16...e4 17. f5! Qf6 18. Qc4 Qe7 then
19. Be3 and white can prepare the final crushing blow whenever it
pleases him.

17. Qd7+ Kg8 18. Rxf4 h6

It's good that the amateur is thinking about flight squares for his king.
For instance if 18...Qxc2?? then 19. Qe6 mate and the king has no where
to go. A better alternative probably was 18...Re8.

19. Bd2!

Intending Bc3 to attack g7 once again. White's attack is overwhelming
all because of the earlier Qg6? with a forcing of the queenside weak
squares which allowed penetration by the queen.

19...Qxc2??

Ouch. Don't go pawn hunting when you territory is being flooded!
Better was 19...Kh7.

20. Bc3

You can cut the tension in this position with a knife.

20...Qg6 21. Raf1

White's threatening 22. Rg4. If 21. Rg4 immediately, then Qf7 is
just fine for black.

21...Kh7

Black didn't see the threat. But 21...h5 is no better.

22. Rg4 Qe8?

Hoping to exchange queen's but impossible. Better was 22...Rd8.

23. Qxg7+! Bxg7 24. Rxg7 Checkmate

A beautiful finish by the master. The amateur has made some
good progress, but it takes a thourough understanding of development
(among other things) to become a master. Hope you enjoyed the article.
The next one is on attacking the Castled King!