Common Defensive Ideas

Defending in chess can be quite hard as in most cases we’re playing for 2 results (draw or loss). But the good news is that there are many defensive resources available

Let’s see a few of them by analyzing positions from real games:

Position 1

 White to play

 Can you find a fortress for White here?

 Position 2

Black to play 

Black’s position looks desperate (White plans to advance and promote the d-pawn). How did he manage to save the game?

 Position 3

White to play 

White has a clear material advantage, but Black plans to take on d5 and start attacking White’s king if White’s queen moves. How can White force the position?

Position 4

White to play

And last, a gem by the great Tigran Petrosian. How did he continue here?

Answers:

Position 1: after 43. Rf3! Qxb1 44. Rxc3 Qf1 45. Rf3 White managed to build a fortress

Position 2: Black (Garry Kasparov) saved the day with 42…Rxd2! 43.Qxd2 Qf3+ 44.Qg2 Ng3+!! After which he’ll give perpetual check

Position 3: White has the (very hard to find) 39.Rh8+!! after which he’ll force the exchange of queens (even at the cost of giving a full rook!) and win with his passed pawns. If 39…Kxh8 40. Qe8+ or if 39…Bxe7 Qe7 also forces the exchange of queens

Position 4: Petrosian sacrificed the exchange (as usual ) after 21.Ne3 and got great attacking chances himself. This was a great practical decision.

If you want to see more analysis of these games, feel free to check my video https://youtu.be/onBzIvjpScQ