Active defense: counterattack

The counter attack

    Today I will be talking about the counterattack in chess, a fundamental issue for when positions are being played in which we are being attacked by the rival side, and in which if we use our activity of the pieces well, together with the Advances and the breaking of the central pawns or the flanks, at the exact and precise moment, we could achieve good results and some really satisfactory positions.

   In chess, defense is vital. When under attack, the player is forced to defend himself tenaciously, trying to exploit the options that are often provided by the attacker's momentum. It is surprising how many games that can be saved in practice thanks to a strong defense.

   When the offense is crashing to a standstill, the then defender can take the initiative with the counterattack, an optimal culmination of the defense that allows reversing roles, generally with predictable results, namely: if the attack has not succeeded, the counterattack It has all the numbers to prevail, since the attacking pieces tend to be uncoordinated, leaving numerous weak points in their position.

   Next I will be showing some examples where the side that was supposed to be attacked, following the appropriate moves, maneuvers, combinations, managed to reverse the course of the game by placing it in their favor.

    In this position Black went on the offensive with his aggressive first move, and then with the break that followed 2… d5 !, and with this Black took advantage of the position in which his kingside was trying to be attacked with the Rook the h3, the bishop with a large b2 diagonal, and the queen with a view to the d1-h5 diagonal, which was being interfered with by the well-placed g4 knight.

   Let's see another example below:

At first glance, White seemed to have a large space advantage around the center of the board, but through Black's counterplay maneuver, everything turned out to be different.

   Next example:

Black had been very pressured, but he was able to compose himself and now he had a good counter-attack option, which he took advantage of with good effectiveness.

   Let's look at one last example:

Black was able to withstand correctly the pressure of the siege of the white pieces, and took the opportunity to reverse the game through the appropriate piece movements.

  Pawn breaks as counter options

  Central pawn breaks, or on the flanks are always important and require a good calculation and precision, since this type of breaks lead to different positions in the middle game, or lead directly to an endgame, that is why you have to play with the highest Caution when it comes to opening lines through pawns. When you are in a defensive position, that the rival side is making attack plans and plays for us, you always have to find a way to actively defend ourselves, so as not to enter passive and inferior positions. One of these ways of actively defending ourselves is with the counterattack through pawn breaks, either central or on the opposite flank from which they are attacking us. Next I will be showing some examples of what was said:

    In the position that we have just seen which is very typical of the Sicilian Nardof variant, Black was able to counter White's attack on the kingside using his own pawns in an avalanche on the queenside, this commonly happens in these positions

   Next position:

  Although in the position there were some errors by both sides, as soon as White started his attack on the kingside, Black made the d6-d5 break, opening the center and pointing all his pieces on White's queenside, where the king was located. And that's how they got the victory.

  In the following and final example, I will show a game by the renowned Armenian Grandmaster Rafael Vaganian, where he knew how to counter the attack that White was proposing on the queenside with an effective joint combination initiated by the pawns and supported by the pieces in against white's kingside.

   The counterattack as a saving resource in the endings

  The counterattack can manifest itself even in the final phase of a game, either through a winning combination, or also a maneuver to draw important draws in a position. In the finals, both sides have to be very careful that the opponent does not get any type of counterplay, since if the one with the advantage or the chances of winning the game makes the slightest mistake, the opponent can take advantage of it either to turn the game in your favor, or get a draw. The defending side must be very attentive to all the plans and threats of the opponent, in order to try to achieve any type of counterattack if they have the opportunity. The maximum activity of the pieces in the endings is of the utmost importance, especially when it comes to obtaining satisfactory resources for the outcome of the game.

  I will be showing some examples of the above:

    In this game played between these two renowned grandmasters, it was seen that Black's position was in a very bad state, the opposing rook in seventh, pawn attacked, knight out of play, etc. But by bringing the knight back into play and breaking the pawn, they were able to get a draw.

  Next example:

   A very interesting final in which we saw how Boris Gelfand, after a long fight, was able to get the draw in the game.

   Last example:

   This example was taken from an old game between two strong grandmasters of the time, where it seemed that Black had no chance after the g5-pawn fell, but after the king and knight activity, the great Soviet master was able to save the game.

    To be a highly effective player in the defensive area requires a great deal of study and understanding of the game. It is a very delicate and especially difficult subject in the game, since it not only covers a merely strategic area, but also a psychological one. Since there are many emotions that are found when playing a position where we have to defend ourselves very well, at those moments there are feelings such as: frustration for not having been able to get a better position, pressure for not having much space in the position. position or many options to continue, fear of making a mistake and losing the game, anger, etc. But we cannot allow ourselves to be controlled by those emotions, we must have a strong mental capacity to cope with those feelings and know how to be in the context of which we are talking, this through adequate psychological preparation. It also requires a great mental effort since a defensive position requires a lot of analysis and extremely deep and exact calculation of all the approaches and plays of the rival, as well as the continuation that one as a defender must follow. Defense requires a great study, and counterattack is a topic that when used in the right way and at the right time, as in the examples shown above, can get excellent results and very good game plans for our players. games.