The End of Attack and Defense
We have come to the end of our journey through Attack and Defense. I will be starting a new column next week, where I will be discussing chess books. The editors of Chess.com wanted to switch up the columns somewhat, and I realized that many people have asked me for recommendations about chess books – thus the topic.
It has been fun doing this column “Attack and Defense” – at least in a certain way. I intentionally chose a very vague topic, and haven’t even stuck to it much of the time. For example, what does a haunted chess tournament have to do with attack and defense? Okay, okay...the black knight attacked, the white one defended...But still, probably I haven't stuck to the topic much of the time.
What is Attack and Defense? It is yang and yin, the active and the passive, the light and the dark. Our game is somehow based around this duality. But you have to know that “active” is not always in control, and “passive” is not always the loser. Sometimes the attacking side is being forced into action, being forced to lay all their cards on the table, while the defender finds power in passivity, in being able to react.
In every move, and in every position, there are elements of both attack and defense. The key is to get the proportions and the harmony correct. And this, I think, is the key to Attack and Defense.
Now, here are some puzzles. They are very difficult, so by putting them in puzzle format I am just giving you the option to try - if you get stuck you can always click "show solution". But don't get frustrated, because they would also be very difficult for me to solve.
In the following, momentary initiative wins out - White "runs the table" despite being otherwise in a worse position.
The next is a battle between the attack and defense, culminating in an amazing cross-pin:
