More Little Things That Help Your Chess

In our last “Little Things” article, I made use of specific moments in IM Cyrus Lakdawala’s games to teach you how to deal with common, instructive situations.

I am giving you another five rich puzzles. But please understand that it’s really something you don’t have to solve (of course, if you do find it easy then bravo!). However, if you don’t solve them, please DO tweak that little “?” mark (with the exception of puzzle one) and immerse yourself with the instructive notes.

If you don’t, you’ll be missing some very important stuff.

PUZZLE ONE

Long Term Considerations

This one has no specific moves! That’s right, instead of looking for THE move, you have to show your strength by understanding what’s going on for BOTH sides. I recommend that you write down what the board is "saying," then make the forced move 23.fxe4, and then the whole puzzle will open up.

PUZZLE TWO

Cyrus Takes a Walk

PUZZLE THREE

Lakdawala Speaks in Tongues

The truth is that Black’s busted since White has a rook vs. a knight and pawn. Another problem is that Black’s king doesn’t look too safe. Good players glance at the things I just mentioned in a flash, but really good players look for deeper things. Cyrus said, “I can’t allow him to establish a dark-square bind and need to open the queenside!”

First off, what in the world is that dark-square bind all about? Now we go into the opponent’s chances (your opponent might not see his chances, but it’s important that you do!). Cyrus worries about a setup that’s something like this: Black’s a7-pawn should go to a5 (stopping b2-b4), Black’s knights might arrange themselves with the e7-knight on c6 and the other on e5.

White would still be much better, but the win would be harder to accomplish. Cyrus’ words: “I can’t allow him to establish a dark-square bind and need to open the queenside!” are all about denying that setup.

PUZZLE FOUR

Know Your Principles!

Cyrus had this to say—“Principle: Open the game when leading in development.”

PUZZLE FIVE

Beware: Advanced Stuff

Cyrus said: “It’s important to provoke ...c4.”

But why? How? Let’s take a look at the game and seek understanding.