Caro structure : d4-d5, Spassky v O'Kelly de Galway

The game that is featured is a superb positional game by Grandmaster and former chess world champion Boris Spassky annotated by Grandmaster Andrew Soltis in his famous book Pawn Structure Chess. After 15 ... g6 blacks kingside is quite strong in comparison to the previous Lasker v Capblanca game. White's intent is to play d4-d5, but he must first prepare this thrust. So he patiently makes a few manoeuvres and redeploys his chess pieces.

 The act of redeployment is instructive in itself and essentially means repositioning your pieces to squares that better suit your strategic plan.

1. Spassky repositions the light squared bishop to the fianchetto position to support d5 and clear the d-file.

2. Doubles rooks on the e-file in order to take advantage of lines that will open up with the d4-d5 advance.

3. Moves the queen to c1 and eventually a1 to reinforce the long dark squared diagonal where it forms a battery with the dark squared bishop once again to take advantage of lines that will open up once the d4-d5 pawn push in the centre is realised.

Black errs with a knight manoeuvre and white white is able to put into effect the plan that he had orchestrated as early as move fifteen.  The culmination of the plan comes in the form of a positional pawn sacrifice giving white a Queenside majority and an unopposed passed pawn on the c-file.  From this Black is reduced to a position of passivity and white has a free hand to proceed against the black kings position.

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