defence in bad position.

This post will talk about the question to how to play defence on difficult position. 

We will consider somes cases where one side has to defend a difficult, or even possibly a lost position...

Now somes readers may ask: Why concern oneself with somes positions that are already lost?.. Simply because however hopeless a situation can appears to be there yet always exists the possibility of putting up a stubborn resistance.  And it is the player's task to find these opportunity and make the best of them.  When the player with the upper hand is continually confronted by new problems, when, at every moment, one renders the win as difficult as possible, then it is likely that his powers will enventually weaken and he may make some mistake..

Lasker as already said: "a position can never be so bad as not to offer prospects of defence".

Let's consider an example:

Is the next diagram, it is not necesary to study the position over deeply to realize that Black has a clear advantage.  Black's pieces as more activly placed; he enjoys possession of the only open file; on a2, c3 and e4, White has weak pawns that are difficult to defend...

But let's look now how White should defend this one to get his better chance

...

Let's look on another position for example:

This position occured after the twenty-sixth moves in the game Lasker-Nimzovich from the Grand Master Tournament at St-Petersburg in 1914.  Lasker had played the middle of game indifferently and eventually lost a pawn without obtaining anything approaching adequate compensation.. Black has a clear advantage in the next diagram position.  He has not only a sound pawn more but also a beautifully posted Knight in the center, whilst his pawn position reveals no waekness.  Objectively considered, White's game is quite worthless and few players would be disposed to continue the struggle.  But let's see how Lasker has well-played his defence here...

Let's look how the game was happen;

Let's see another example,

 Here, White has a fine position in this Queen ending and at first glance one can hardly believe that Black will be able to avert loss.  White has in the first place a sound pawn more, but this fact is not decisive by itself.  As is well know, in Quee  endingd the most vital thing is not to have a pawn more but to have a passed pawn, this being of much greater importance.  A strong passed pawn in a Queen ending is usually enough to compensate for a material disavantage.  However, in the next diagram, Black on contrary has no such advantage.

In the second place it should be observed that White's Queen is much more actively posted than Black's and it not only threatens the pawn on c5 but it also controls the more important central squares.  Finally, in the third place, White's King is much more securely situated than Black's, this being no small advantage.  So it can be seen that Capablanca's plight is not at all enviable.

How then, despite all this, can any counter play with somes hopes of success be organized?

Now, let's look on a last example:

In this one, Black's plight is wretched in the extreme.  White has, it is true, no plsu material, but his pieces command the whole board and it seems to be merely a matter of time before Black's position collapses.  A cramped position is no in itself a disaster, but if, in addition, one has no prospects of counter-play then the situation usually becomes quicly hopeless.  This, too, is the case here.  When one considers Black's plausible moves then it soon becomes apparent that he can scarcely move anything without incurring a speedy loss.  The Queen and the Knight are tied to the pawn on d6; the Rook on a7 must protect the Knight, and the Bishop on d7 has only one move, to e8... One can hardly think of a more hopeless situation, but even in such a position one ought to try to find some satisfactory method of defence.

Of course, the reader will understand that the goal is not to attempt to prove that Black's position is to be held by good defensive moves.  That would be an insoluble problem, since White has a won game.  Instead, the aim in this example is to demonstrate that even a position that is ripe for resignation can, despite everything, afford defensive possibilities that make the opponent's task more difficult.  The game's final outcome depended less on my good defence, since in reality nothing like this is to be found, than on the psychological effect that my obstinate"never surrender", the only kind of tactics that one can employ in such positions.

Now, however, back to the game.  What can Black try in the diagram position.  Naturally, nothing.  But this does not mean that he should wander planlessly to and fro, waiting to see how White will consummate his advantage for a win.  In every position, no matter how bad it may be, there always exist a chances for small finesses, which one must employ whenever possible.  It should never be forgotten that, in a superior position, one is always looking for a clear way to win.  Quite often small advantages are despised, since one wants to obtain more out of the position.  This factor, easily understood from the psycholigical angle, must be utilized, since thereby one can often embark on variations which one would never have been wont to try in equal psitions.  Psychological methods of warfare are the only possibilities in such positions...