Attacking chess (part 3)

In this blog I'm going to write about good attacking positions, give analysis of them, and give attacking tips. If you have nice attacking games, feel free to put them in the comments and I might do posts about them later. 

Attacking a fianchettoed king

There is a large difference between attacking a castled king without a fianchettoed bishop in front of it and attacking one with a fianchettoed bishop. h7 and g7 aren't good focal points for attack anymore, and the dark squared bishop is an amazing defender. However, there are some weaknesses created by fianchettoing the bishop:

pros -

1. The light squared pawns create a tough defensive shell, defending against attacks on the b1-h7 diagonal.

2. The dark squared bishop can be great at both attack and defense, and even if the g pawn is removed, the g file remains closed.

cons -

1. If the dark squared bishop is traded the dark squares become very weak.

2. The pawn on g6 creates hooks on f5 and h5 that can be attacked by pawns.

In general, when attacking a fianchettoed castled position, you should try to rip open the h file, trade the dark squared bishop, and take advantage of the weaknesses left behind. For example:

Fischer vs Larsen

This game is a great example of an attack on a fianchettoed kingside:

Fischer has developed his pieces on squares that point at his opponents king and has completed the first phase of attack. Now he's ready to start creating weaknesses. Since the pieces can't do this on their own, Fischer uses pawns, taking advantage of the hook on h5. 

In the second phase, Fischer deals with his opponents counter-play while provoking weaknesses on Black's kingside. Now he's ready to break through: