Energy- The Unseen Factor in Chess

Chess is a mysterious game....we hear talk about a "weak square", an "outpost", a "weak pawn", etc.

I remember reading once that Anand, when he played, felt that the pieces "became alive".

Vishy Anand, 5-time World Champion

What a beautiful concept! Nimzowitsch used to write about talking to the pieces as if they were people.

                                                                  Aaron Nimzowitsch 

Here is a position from Nimzowitsch' famous book, "My System", and his comments about it.....

"White decides to see a bit of the world, and heads off happily like the hero from a fairy tale. And finally he reaches a splendid castle in which he finds the young beautiful princess, as one does in all good fairy tales. The same happens to our [king on f3], with the difference that there are two castles which attract him: the ideal positions on b6 and g6. After many a weary mile, he finally reaches one of these squares and safety..."

Some players, like Anand, bring energy to the game of chess....they are called "Romantics", and they are my favorites! Tal, Gufeld, Nezhmetdinov, Planinc, Kasparov.....

The following game is an amazing victory by Kasparov against Kramnik....now, the lifetime score between these two giants is, in Classical games, Kramnik 5, Kasparov 4, with 40 draws! Pretty even.

But this one game is immortal in my eyes, for the Queen sacrifice.....for two minor pieces and a pawn, in the opening! 

Kramnik-Kasparov, World Championship, 200

Now, look at the diagram position.....Black has only two minor pieces and a pawn for his Queen! Yet he dominates the board. White has no clear plan on how to proceed forward.....Black won, of course.

In the late 1800's, Russia's Mikhail Chigorin (1850-1908) and Austria's Wilhelm Steinitz (1836-1900) were great rivals.

                                                          Mikhail Chigorin

                                             Wilhelm Steinitz

Steinitz, when he was young, was a great attacking player. So much so, people called him the "Austrian Morphy". Chigorin was the best player in Russia, and the greatest pioneer and founder of Russian chess.

At some point, Steinitz discovered the value of defense, and became very conservative in his views. He would rather keep his pawns and pieces back, so as not to create any weaknesses. Chigorin, on the other hand, valued piece activity over so-called positional superiority. Make no mistake, Chigorin could play positional chess with the best of them, and he was a world-class endgame player, specially rook endgames. But his love for the initiative and the attack was supreme.

Chigorin and Steinitz played two matches for the World Championship, and Steinitz won them both. But in some games, Chigorin's superior understanding of the value of piece activity was evident.

Karpov and Kasparov contested 5 World Championship matches between 1984 and 1990.

The lifetime Classival score against each other is Kasparov 28, Karpov 20, with 119 draws. Quite a rivalry!

Stylistically, Karpov hates taking risks, a la Steinitz, and Kasparov is closer in spirit to Chigorin!

Karpov-Kasparov

The following game includes a great novelty by Kasparov, sacrificing a pawn for the initiative.....once he gets his knight to the d3-square, it's game over!

Another example of the disparity between these two players.....in the following diagram, Karpov has, a la Steinitz, retreated, while Kasparov's pieces dominate the board....

Finally, my favorite player of all time, GM David Bronstein. His games sparkle with imagination and great energy.

GM David Bronstein (1924-2006)

Peace.