Black (chess)

“ In Black's third move, he captures the Pawn that White has just played and removes it from the board. He has also moved his own Pawn from the middle of the board which better enables White to form a center which was the advantage he hoped to gain when he offered Black the Pawn. Black, however, has retained the advantage of force having one more Pawn than his adversary and if he can keep it he may eventually win the game. ”

“ Black had only left himself with a Pawn and a King, while White had seen to it that he had a Queen and a couple of Knights about. Now, I know very little about chess, but I do understand the theory of chess problems. ”

“ Whether the move with the King's Pawn or the Queen's Pawn is better when beginning the game is impossible to say. In neither case can it be proved that White can obtain an advantage which is sufficient to win the game. With correct play on both sides it can be only White who gains an advantage, for he has the first move and so he is one move ahead of Black in the development as long as he does not waste any time on maneuvers which do not increase the mobility of his pieces. ”

“ As Black’s KKt is only supported twice, and there is no chance of bringing up more forces for its defence, Black must undertake something to provide against the threatened onslaught.
The most natural plan is to develop the QB at K3, from where it can be exchanged for the Knight should Kt-Q5 be played. The doubled pawn, which White could force by exchanging the Bishops, is in no way detrimental to Black’s game. On the contrary, the opening of the file for the Rook, with the attendant chance of playing P-Q4 supported by the doubled pawn, gives Black the advantage. ”

“ Black must capture, as he needs seven moves in which to ex change the Knight’s pawn and queen his Rook’s pawn, whilst in that time White can win the QP after PxP, and yet arrive in time with his King to stop the pawn from queening. ”

“ It is evident that Marshall (White) is under great difficulties in the above position. Not only is he bound to lose a Pawn, but his position is rather poor. The best he could hope for was a draw unless something altogether unexpected happened, as it did. No reason can be given for Black's loss of the game except that he felt so certain of having the best of it with a Pawn more and what he considered a safe position, that he became exceedingly careless and did not consider the danger that actually existed. ”

“ White, however, does not notice that Black can give check in the next move but captures his adversary's Pawn with his own Pawn that stands on K4. The forces of the two players are now equal and the advantage gained by White is to place his Pawn on Q5 where it commands the square occupied by the Black Knight.
Black now takes the advantage gained by his last move and gives check with his
black. ”

“ Black has no option, his King cannot move, he must interpose his Queen. If now you were to take the Queen you would lose the game, on account of his two Pawns; but instead of doing so, [28] you play the Queen to King's 8th sq, giving check. The black Queen must again interpose; you repeat the check at K's 4th, Black can only parry it with his Queen, and you may persist in giving the same two checks, ad infinitum. In such cases, the game is resigned as "drawn by perpetual check."
No. 11.
BLACK.
WHITE.
Smothered Mate. ”

“ Whether it is sound or not remains yet to be proved. Its good features are that it keeps the centre intact without creating any particular weakness, and that it gives plenty of opportunity for deep and concealed manœuvring. The drawback is the long time it takes Black to develop his game. It is natural to suppose that White will employ that time to prepare a well-conceived attack, or that he will use the advantage of his development actually to prevent Black's complete development, or failing that, to obtain some definite material advantage.
{171} ”

“ Black has the better development, but his centre is less secure. Whilst White has a pawn secured in the centre, Black has a Knight there which will soon be driven away. White’s Q4, the basis of his centre, is entirely in his hands, while Black’s Q4 is exposed to a steady pressure by the White pieces. ”

“ Black must try to develop his Queen’s Knight at last. He cannot play QKt-Q2 at once, since his Knight’s Pawn would again be unprotected; therefore he plays the move in the text, probably thinking that now White also must lose a move to withdraw his Bishop. But in view of the fact that Black’s game is wholly undeveloped, and that he plays practically several pieces down, White sacrifices his Knight for two pawns: he foresees the position which occurs a few moves later, when Black is hemmed in on all sides. ”

“ Now the Black Rook has only one move left, whilst the White Rook has the freedom of the Rook’s file. For instance, the Rook can be posted at R5 and prevent the Black King from attacking White’s King’s side pawns, whilst the White King makes for the R at R7 and effects its capture. If, on the other hand, the Black King tries to obstruct the way to the Queen’s side, White penetrates into the Black pawn position. Black cannot maintain the opposition because the White Rook has spare moves, the Black Rook none. ”

“ For quick development is of the utmost importance, and he who succeeds first in placing all his pieces, from their initial awkward positions, to such places as give them command of the greatest possible number of squares, has the better chance of concentrating a superior force on some important point.
It follows that White, having the first move, is, so to speak, always morally justified in attacking, whilst Black should assume the defensive. ”

“ He examined the chess problem and set out the pieces. It was a tricky ending, involving a couple of knights. “White to play and mate in two moves.” Winston looked up at the portrait of BigBrother. White always mates, he thought with a sort of cloudy mysticism. Always, without exception, it is so arranged. In no chess problem since the beginning of the world has black ever won. Did it not symbolize the eternal, unvarying triumph of Good over Evil? The huge face gazed back at him, full of calm power. ”

“ If he has a weakness, and he can get rid of it, make sure that you create another weakness somewhere else.
From the position in question the game continued thus:
with the object of repeating White's manœuvre, and also not to allow White the control of the open file.
Black wants to bring his King to the centre of the board in order to be nearer to whatever point White decides to attack. The move is justified at least on the general rule that in such endings the King should be in the middle of the board. He does nothing after all but follow White's footsteps. ”

“ It is evident to Black that White wants to bring his King to Q Kt 3 to support his two weak isolated Pawns, and thus to free his Rooks. Black, therefore, makes a plan to shift the attack to the King's side at the proper time, in order to obtain some advantage from the greater mobility of his Rooks. ”

“ White rightly disdains the gain of the Knight’s Pawn, but prevents the exchange of Queens in developing a piece. He proves the superiority of his position much more convincingly in that way. Black must now lose yet another move to protect his Knight’s Pawn. ”

“ The fact that he has to exchange Queens when he is a Pawn behind shows that Black's game is lost.
The Knight was too threatening. But now the ending brought about is one in which the Bishop is stronger than the Knight; which makes Black's plight a desperate one. The game has no further interest, and it is only because of its value as a study of this variation of the Petroff that I have given it. Black was able to fight it out until the sixtieth move on account of some poor play on White's part. The rest of the moves are given merely as a matter of form. ”

“ It is what is called a "block position," and all the Pawns are on one side of the board. (If there were Pawns on both sides of the board there would be no advantage in having a Knight.) In such a position Black has excellent chances of winning. Of course, there is an extra source of weakness for White in having his Pawns on the same colour-squares as his Bishop. This is a mistake often made by players. The proper way, generally, in an ending, is to have your Pawns on squares of opposite colour to that of your own Bishop. ”

“ It is instructive to watch how this very slight weakness created by Black’s advance of his pawns brings him into trouble. A White Knight settles down at his Q6, which is no longer guarded by the Black QBP, and paralyses the whole of Black’s game. Another factor in White’s superiority of position is the possession of the King’s file. The Black Rook cannot move until the King gets a loophole by a pawn move. As we have seen, such a pawn move often affords an entry to the opposing pieces. ”

“ With a Pawn more and all his pieces ready for action, while Black is still backward in development, it only remains for White to drive home his advantage before Black can come out with his pieces, in which case, by using the open K R file, Black might be able to start a strong attack against White's King. White is able by his next move to eliminate all danger.
This is practically forced. Black could not play P - Kt 3 because of B × P, and White meanwhile threatened Q - R 8 ch followed by Kt - B 5 ch and Q × P. {200}
Black must lose time assuring the safety of this Pawn. ”

“ The capture, however, only lost time and enabled Black to gather his forces for an attack on the White King. As it is, White has to try to save his Queen and cannot develop his QKt. The student will note, in going over the moves in this game, that White does not give check once, and that Black also gathers his forces for the attack in such a way that he does not give check until there is no escape for his adversary. Black's moves are carefully made and should be studied. ”

“ White has no longer an attack, but he has compelled Black to create a marked weakness. Now White's whole plan will be to exploit this weakness (the weak K P) , and the student can now see how the principles expounded previously are applied in this game. Every move is directed to make the weak King's Pawn untenable, or to profit by the inactivity of the Black pieces defending the Pawn, in order to improve the position of White at other points. ”

“ But there the Black Queen is ready for the attack. If he refuses the sacrifice, the text move is still of value, as even then it is hardly advisable for White to castle on the K side, whilst Black can play B-R3 as soon as it might be desirable to exchange White’s QB.
9. BxP Kt-Q2 10. B-Kt4 BxB 11. QxB Castles 12. Kt-K2 P-K3 13. B-B4 Q-QKt4!
Black is the first to complete his development, and he assumes the offensive. ”

“ With this last move White completes his development, while Black is evidently somewhat hampered. A simple examination will suffice to show that White's position {31}is unassailable. There are no weak spots in his armour, and his pieces are ready for any manœuvre that he may wish to carry out in order to begin the attack on the enemy's position. The student should carefully study this example. ”

“ The student will see that there is only one play open to White and that is to move the King to K2; for if a Piece or Pawn were interposed it would be captured in the Black Queen's next move when she would again give check, and, as the Rook's Pawn is in the way, the Queen cannot be captured by the Rook. By moving the King, however, White cannot castle. ”

“ At this point in the game, the student should study the positions of the White men and of the Black, and he will see that it is quality of position rather than quantity of men that gives Black the advantage. Black has lost a number of his men but the others are so well developed that they have far more strength than White's which are either pinned in or undeveloped. White's two Rooks and his King's Bishop are shut in by their Pawns and his King's Knight is pinned to protect the King from the adverse Bishop. ”

“ It will be seen that, with correct play, Black manages to castle just in time, and White, though winning back his pawn, has no advantage in position. The opening is seldom played by modern masters.
Instead of the move in the text, White can hardly defend the KP with Kt-B3, as Black simply captures the pawn and recovers his piece by P-Q4, with a satisfactory position. It is even better for Black if White plays 6. ”

“ The mistakes begin. This is the first. Black sees that he can take a Pawn without any danger, and does not stop to think whether there is anything better. R - B 7 ch was the right move. If then K - Kt 3, R × P. If instead White played K - K 4, then R - K 4 ch followed by R × R P.
Mistake number two, and this time such a serious one as to almost lose the game. ”

“ The number of the move must always be placed before it, parallel with the line which divides the White move from the Black move. In notes or annotations to a game, the moves are written as a series with a semi-colon to separate White's move from that of Black. White's move being placed first, thus: (1) P—K4; P—Q4, indicates that in the first move of the game White moved his Pawn to his King's fourth square, and Black moved his Pawn to his Queen's fourth square. ”

“ Black offers to give up his Queen’s Pawn. If White accepts the sacrifice, Black’s attack on the Queen’s file will become deadly, as White must lose a move in bringing his Queen out of the line of action of the hostile Rook. ”

“ He can also give check by moving his QR to Ksq., and as White cannot move his King into any square that is not commanded by an adverse force, and as he cannot capture the attacking force, he will have to interpose, but the only men he could interpose could be captured by Black, so in his eleventh move he has to guard against this check before it is given. ”