1

Looking for Trouble

Recognizing and Meeting

Threats in Chess

by

Dan Heisman

Second Edition

2013Russell Enterprises, Inc.

Milford, CT USA

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Looking for Trouble

Looking for TroubleRecognizing and Meeting Threats in Chess

by Dan Heisman

Second Edition

© Copyright 2003, 2013 Dan HeismanAll Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be used, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system ortransmitted in any manner or form

whatsoever or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopy-ing, recording or otherwise, without the express written permission from the

publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles orreviews.

ISBN: 978-1-936490-85-1

Published by:Russell Enterprises, Inc.

PO Box 3131Milford, CT 06460 USA

http://www.russell-enterprises.cominfo@russell-enterprises.com

Cover design by Janel Lowrance

Printed in the United States of America

DedicationDedicationDedicationDedicationDedication

To son Delen:

Luckily you are rarely Looking for Trouble,so that made being a parent a lot easier!

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Table of Contents

Signs and Symbols 4

Acknowledgments 4

Introduction 5

Section 1

Opening Threats 17

Section 2

Middlegame Threats 61

Section 3

Endgame Threats 145

Glossary 188

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Looking for Trouble

Acknowledgments

First I would like to thank Dr. Steven Rolfe, formerly of the Main Line ChessClub, who not only suggested the idea for this book, but was gracious enough toput aside some time to work on the manuscript. He reviewed both the general andspecific nature of the problems to make sure they were the “flavor” that he hadoriginally envisioned, and also useful for players of his level. Steve also helpedensure that the Introduction clearly stated why the book is unique and instructive.

I would also like to thank Kevin Fonseca, who took time to stay inside his homein Hawaii to help me proof the first edition’s problems, and Mike Glick, who wasmuch happier to stay inside during the freezing weather here in Philadelphia forhis proofing.

For the second edition my main proofer was Calvin Smith, who not only checkedall my new problems with Houdini 3, but also provided many text correctionsand improvements. Many thanks for this work, which must have taken quite afew painstaking hours!

I would like to thank Russell Enterprises for agreeing to publish the original bookand this second, greatly expanded, edition. I would also like to thank my firstedition editor, Taylor Kingston, for allowing me to concentrate more on contentthan on grammar, even if he did not like my definition of “battery.”

Finally I would like to thank my wife Shelly, who has to tell me to get up andstretch occasionally when I glue myself to the computer late each night...

(?) Inaccurate or not best move? Mistake?? Bad mistake, outright blunder (usually turns a win into draw or loss,

or draw into loss)(!) Good idea, interesting! Good move!! Brilliant move, hard-to-find best move?! Dubious move, unnecessary complications!? Worth a try, creating favorable complications« White is winning± White is clearly better³ White has a small edge= Equal or drawn² Black has a small edge� Black is clearly better¬ Black is winning(D) See the next diagram

Signs and Symbols

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What is a threat?

Threat – a move which, if not stoppedby the opponent’s reply, can do some-thing harmful to the opponent and/oruseful on the next move.

So you can threaten to win material,checkmate, create a passed pawn, makethe opponent’s king unsafe, ruin theopponent’s pawn structure, etc.

In other words, a threat is a move thatallows you to do something construc-tive next move if not stopped.

On the other hand, a tactic is a forcedsequence of moves that win material ordeliver checkmate. Many threats are nottactics because they are easily de-fended; the threat to win material orcheckmate is not forced. If the threat isunstoppable, of course, it will likelyinitiate a tactic. As we will discuss be-low, threats that are defensible may begood moves, but often are not.

For beginning and intermediate play-ers, the study of tactics is paramount.Almost all tactics books provide posi-tions with forced wins and draws, andthe reader is shown the moves (ex-amples) and/or asked to find the solu-tion (puzzles).

However, at those levels of play, mostgames are lost when one player either:

(1) makes an outright oversight,where the opponent had no priorthreat but, after the player blunders,the opponent can mate or win ma-terial; or

(2) misses a threat made by theopponent’s previous move, allow-ing the opponent to carry out a tac-tic.

Although studying tactical problemsimproves your play, you will not receivethe full benefits if you only use thisability to spot offensive opportunitiesthat arise for yourself on your move.Winning material and checkmating aregreat, but preventing those same tac-tics from happening to you is just asimportant. Your chances of avoidingthese common mistakes improve if youalso consider these “Play and Win”problems from a defensive standpoint.You should improve your tactical abil-ity both to spot threats generated byyour opponent’s previous move and toensure that your move doesn’t createnew tactical opportunities for him aswell.

Looking for Trouble addresses thisunderemphasized area of training andstudy. By providing problems that re-quire you to both identify threats andprovide best solutions, this book notonly facilitates this additional focus, butit takes it a step further by overtly forc-ing you to consider prior and upcom-ing tactics for both players before de-ciding upon your move.

Identifying Threats

A way to determine what constitutes anopponent’s threats is to assume you just“pass” – that is, make no move at all(this is called the “null move”). Askyourself, “Suppose it was myopponent’s turn again – what would he

Introduction

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Looking for Trouble

do?” You are most interested in the forc-ing moves – his checks, captures, andthreats on his next move. If the movesthat this process generates are construc-tive for him, then those are his threats.

Many inexperienced players fall intothe bad habit of asking only, “Whatdoes my opponent’s last move threatenor do?” instead of the correct “Whatare all the things my opponent’s lastmove does?” because if you miss oneidea, that could be the one that beatsyou.

Although the strongest threats are tac-tical in nature – checkmate or winningmaterial – a threat might also be posi-tional in nature: ruining a pawn struc-ture, making a piece bad, controlling afile, weakening a pawn or square,transitioning from the middlegame intoa won endgame. A threat may be just tomake one player’s task easier: simpli-fying into a more basic endgame, forc-ing a draw from an inferior position, etc.

Threats and Playing Strength

Most beginners pay disproportionatelymore attention to their own upcomingthreats than to the threats their oppo-nent generated last move. Even afterconsiderable experience, most of themdisregard possible threats that their op-ponent can create against them nextmove. So while inexperienced playersoften overlook past threats, even oncethey improve they are likely to allowfuture threats that cannot be met.

Therefore, the path to becoming a stron-ger player must include the following:the consideration of any move must notonly address the threats presented by

the opponent’s previous move, it alsomust not allow unstoppable threats tobe played next move. Experienced play-ers learn to do the former, but only thetruly serious players learn to do the lat-ter. From this observation, I developedthe following categorization of chessplayers according to the extent to whichthey take an opponent’s threats into ac-count:

(1) Beginners – ignore (or fail tolook for) most opponent’s threats;

(2) Intermediate – meet threatsmade by the opponent’s previousmove, but may allow unstoppablethreats next move (doing this andnot #3 I have dubbed “HopeChess”); and

(3) Advanced – do not make amove unless it not only meetsthreats made by the opponent’s pre-vious move, but also (if possible)prepares answers to all of the pos-sible threats that the opponent’snext move could generate. This Icall “Real Chess.”

If you accept these categories, then youcan see how vitally important it is tounderstand how to identify and meetthreats!

Meeting Threats

There are three main things one can doabout a threat:

(1) Ignore it;(2) Create a bigger counter-threat(a “counterattack”); or(3) Stop it.

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When would you ignore a threat? Well,suppose you were up a queen and youropponent “threatens” to win a pawn.Instead of making the pawn safe youmight continue your development,knowing that your greatly superiorforces will win easily. In this situation,saving the pawn is not as important asgetting all your pieces into play quickly.A second situation where you can ig-nore a “threat,” as IM Jeremy Silmancorrectly states, is if it is not a “real”threat at all – your opponent is going todo something to you which is not onlynot necessarily harmful, but actuallymay help you! While this book does notprimarily address such “phantomthreats,” the idea of ignoring phantomthreats is incorporated into several ofthe problems.

Consider another possibility, wheresomeone is threatening to win yourpiece by attacking it with somethingworth less, or attacking it in such a waythat the threatened capturing sequence,if not met, would win material. Thereare five possible ways to meet such astrong tactical threat:

(1) Capture the attacking piece;(2) Move the attacked piece to asafe square;(3) Defend the piece to make it safe(not feasible if the attacker is worthless);(4) Block a ranged attack from abishop, rook, or queen, (interposi-tion); or(5) Counterattack – make yourown threat which is at least asstrong as your opponent’s; thiscould include pinning theopponent’s attacking piece.

There is no generically correct answer– any of these might be forced, or best,depending upon the situation. However,some rough general observations can bemade:

(1) On average, the “best” of theseis usually to capture the attackingpiece (if that can be done withoutloss of material) or just to move theattacked piece to a safe square.

(2) Guarding a piece is often notas effective, as this both ties downthe guarding pieces, which likelyhave better things to do, and alsomay allow “removal of the guard”combinations.

(3) Blocking the attack pins theblocker, and thus may lead to fur-ther combinational problems.However, early in the game if theattacked piece is the king (check!),blocking may be best if it allowsone to castle.

(4) Counterattacking is by far themost complicated and dangerousresponse to a threat. It can be highlyeffective and is used quite a bit bystrong players. In many situations,a counterattack has the big advan-tage of not “backing down” andceding the opponent the initiative.

However, I recommend that beginners,and anyone who is not highly rated andhas a large advantage, should not meeta threat by counterattack. Inexperi-enced players who are winning easilyshould refrain from counterattack be-cause the opponent can often meet theircounterattack with a second threat,when both threats cannot be met.

Introduction

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Looking for Trouble

Take the following simple example:1.e4 e6 2.d4 Nf6 3.e5 (D)w________w[rhb1kgw4][0p0pdp0p][wdwdphwd][dwdw)wdw][wdw)wdwd][dwdwdwdw][P)Pdw)P)][$NGQIBHR]w--------wBlack to move after 3.e5

Instead of simply moving the attackedknight, Black counterattacks with3...Bb4+? But then White can play 4.c3,threatening two pieces, and one has todrop: (D)w________w[rhb1kdw4][0p0pdp0p][wdwdphwd][dwdw)wdw][wgw)wdwd][dw)wdwdw][P)wdw)P)][$NGQIBHR]w--------w

The possibility of additional threats af-ter a counterattack just complicatesmatters and, when you are winning eas-ily, you are more likely the one to endup being harmed by complications (youhave more to lose).

Counterattacks are a legitimate way tomeet a threat, and most zwischenzugs(in-between moves) fall into this cat-egory. Stronger players often use coun-terattack as a most effective method ofmeeting threats. However, strong play-ers make fewer tactical misjudgments,

Black to move after 4.c3

Black threatens to capture the e-pawnnext move with 3...Qxe4+. However,while this is a “good” threat 2...Qh4is a terrible move because the threatcan obviously be prevented by3.Nxh4.

Attacks are possibilities to capture onthe next move. Another importantnote is that after 2...Qh4, Black isattacking the pawns on e4, f2, and h2,but only 3...Qxe4+ is a threat sincethe other two captures result in arecapture losing the queen. From thisexample it should be clear that not allattacks are threats!

By the same token, not all threats areattacks. Here is a simple example: (D)

w________w[rhbdkgn4][0p0pdp0p][wdwdwdwd][dwdw0wdw][wdwdPdw1][dwdwdNdw][P)P)w)P)][$NGQIBdR]w--------wWhite to move after 2...Qh4

and can afford the extra luxury of thispossibility.

Threats vs. Good Moves

Earlier we noted that not all threats aretactics, but it is important to add thatnot all threats are good moves, nor areall threats necessarily very harmful.

A trivial example of a threat that is not agood move is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Qh4??: (D)

117

w________w[wdriwdw4][dw0w$w0p][pdpdwdwd][!wdpdwdw][wdwdwGqd][dwdwdNdb][P)wdw)Pd][$wdwdwIw]w--------w

Threat: 2...Qxg2#, but White also hasto watch for possibilities of 2...Kxe7and 2...Qxf4 in many lines.

Prevention: 2.Bxc7+! In the game Icould not resist the cute 2.Rd7+!?!, amove that makes the win a lot harder.My opponent was already in timetrouble and replied with the weak2...Ke8, allowing 3.Qe1+ with a win.But instead, what if he had met 2.Rd7+with 2...Qxd7! (2...Kxd7? 3.Ne5+ winsthe queen)? Starting at the time thegame was played, it took many yearsfor computers to get good enough tofind a forced win with 3.Re1!. One keyline runs 3...Ra8 4.Ne5 Qe6 5.Qc3 c56.Qxc5 Kc8 7.Ng6 Qe1+ 8.Kh2 etc.Instead, after 2.Bxc7+, White wins af-ter 2...Kxe7 3.Qc5+ Kf6 4.Qxc6+ Qe65.Qc3+, e.g., 5...d4 6.Qxd4+ Kg6 7.Re1Qf6 8.Ne5+ Kh5 9.g4+.

w________w[rdrdwdkd][dwdwdwdR][pdw0w1Pd][dwdP0P0w][wdpdwdwd][dwdwdPdw][P)PdQdwd][dKdwdwdw]w--------w

Threat: 2.Rf7 Qh8 3.Rh7, drawing.2.Qh2 e4 3.Rd7 Qh8 4.Qxh8+! is alsoa cute draw: 4...Kxh8 5.f6 exf3 6.Rh7+Kg8 7.Rg7+ Kf8 8.Rf7+ Ke8 9.Re7+Kf8= (9...Kd8?? 10.g7 will mate!).

Prevention: White found 2.Ne4, which,although not best because of the gamecontinuation (see below), at least givesBlack some problems to solve in orderto win. Sometimes the best/only thingyou can do when faced with a series ofthreats (as in this game) is to continueto give your opponent difficult problemsto solve. The computer’s top move is2.Qc1, which, after 2…Re2, forcesWhite to give back the piece immedi-ately and still leaves Black a much bet-ter position after 3.Nxf3 (best)3...Qxc1+ 4.Rxc1 Bxf3. Instead, thegame continued 2.Ne4 f5 3.Ng3 f44.Ne4 Re6?. Black missed the winningline: 4...Qh3! 5.Qf1 Qh5 6.Qc1 Rf8!¬.The game eventually ended as a well-deserved, hard-fought draw.

Problem M107

White to move after 1...Qg4 (****): (D)

Problem M108

Black to move after 1.Rh7 (****): (D)

Section 2: Middlegame Threats

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w________w[wdwdrdkd][dw0wdp0p][pdPdwdw1][dpdwdwdw][wdw)wdbd][dw)wdpdw][P)BHw)wd][$wdQdwIw]w--------w

Threat: In this complex position, Blackhas a tremendous attack for his piece.He has many threats, but the biggest twoby far are 2...Bf5!, clearing the g-filefor a queen check, and 2...Re2, tyingup the second rank. Both would win ifWhite were to pass or play an innocu-ous move like 2.a3. If you said 2...Re6,to get the rook into action along thesixth rank, you get partial credit.

Prevention: White found 2.Ne4, whichat least gives Black the most problemsto solve in order to win. Sometimes thebest/only thing you can do when facedwith a series of threats (as in this game)is to continue to give your opponentdifficult problems to solve. All othermoves leave Black with an immediatelarge advantage or more. The only rea-sonable alternative is 2.Qc1, which,after 2...Re2, forces White to give backthe piece immediately and still leaveshim with a difficult game after 3.Nxf3(best). The game continued 2.Ne4 f53.Ng3 f4 4.Ne4 Re6 Instead 4...Qh3!wins e.g., 5.Qf1 Qh5 6.Qc1 Rf8!. Thegame eventually ended a well-deserved,hard fought draw.

Problem M110

Black to move after 1.Qc4 (****): (D)w________w[rdwgkdrd][dpdqdwdp][pdw0pdpd][dwdNdwdw][wdQdwdwd][dwdwdwdw][P)PdwdP)][$wdw$wdK]w--------w

Threat: White threatens 2.Rxe6+ Qxe63.Nc7+ Bxc7 4.Qxe6+, winning mate-rial. Note that moving the king on move3 does not help Black, since White’squeen and the knight both attack thequeen!

Prevention: There are three plausiblemoves, but only one works. First,1...Rc8? fails to 2.Rxe6+ since the rookon c8 never gets a chance to attack theking, e.g., 2...Kf7 3.Rf1+ Kg7 4.Qd4+is a rout. Therefore Black must movehis king. But the hasty 1...Kf8?, asplayed in the game, allows 2.Nf4, whenneither 2...e5 3.Ne6+ Ke7 4.Nc5 Qe85.Rf1! nor 2...Kg7 works: 3.Nxe6+ Kh64.Re3 g5 5.Rh3+ mates as in the game.So the only defense is 1...Kf7! WhenWhite has many moves that continueto give him more than enough compen-sation for the pawn: 2.Re3, 2.Rf1+,2.Nf4, and 2.Qg4, but none seems topromise anything more than some pres-sure.

Problem M109

White to move after 1...Rxe8 (****):(D)

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Problem M111

White to move after 1...Rxg6 (****): (D)w________w[wgwDrDk1][0pDbDp0w][wDwDwDrD][DwDpDBDw][wDwDwDQD][DwDwDwDP][P)wGw)PD][Dw$wDRIw]w--------w

Threat: 2...Rxg4, winning the queen fora rook.

Prevention: 2.Qxg6! is the only movethat retains a nice advantage (2.Bxd7 isa poor second). This was from a game Iplayed and, after my opponent played2...fxg6, then 3.Bxd7 was awkward forBlack, since his rook needs to guard e6and the back rank. My opponent choseto give up the exchange right away with3...Kh7, but I won rather easily after4.Bxe8. Instead, he could have tried3...Rd8 4.Be6+ Kh7 5.Bg5, but I wouldhave a clear advantage.

w________w[rDb1w4kD][0pDphp0p][wDwgwDwD][Dw0PDwDP][wDw!PDwD][DwDwDN)w][P)wDw)BD][$wGwIwDR]w--------w

Threat: 1...cxd4, winning the queen.

Prevention: This problem is tricky – Iwas White and never seriously consid-ered the best move because it did notlook strategically correct – “anti-posi-tional” as some would call it. However,that best move permits White to play astrong tactic, once again proving thattactics, at least in the short run, are moreimportant than strategy. This was a fungame and White had been prematurelyattacking on the kingside. After 1...c5,I was following the dictum a flank at-tack is more justified when the center isclosed or fixed. I certainly did not wantto help Black coordinate his awkwardbishop on d6, so I immediately rejected2.dxc6!, which opens the center andsolves most of Black’s developmentproblems. Instead I played 2.Qc3. But2.dxc6! gives me an important tempo,as after 2...dxc6, guarding the bishop, Ihave 3.h6!, threatening mate on g7,which is awkward to meet. 3...gxh6?4.Bxh6, attacking the rook and continu-ing to threaten mate, is hopeless forBlack, so he must allow 3...f6 4.hxg7Rf7 (4...Kxg7? 5.Bh6+ i) 5.Bh6, andWhite has not only won a pawn, but

Problem M112

White to move after 1...c7-c5 (****): (D)

Section 2: Middlegame Threats

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Black’s kingside is starting to look likespaghetti. Strangely, some beginnerswould play 2.dxc6! not because of anytactical or positional reason, but justbecause they play en passant everychance they can, just to show everyonehow much they know! Yet others towhom I have shown this problem neverconsider 2.dxc6! because they forgetabout en passant! So this seems to be aproblem in which mostly very strongor very weak players are likely to playthe right move, but only the strong play-ers will do so for the right reason...

Problem M113

White to move after 1...Rf2 (*****):(D)w________w[rdwdwdwd][0wdk0w$w][w0wdwdRd][dwdpdwdw][wdwdbdwd][dPHwdwdw][PIP!w4wd][dwdwdqdw]w--------w

Threat: 2...Rxd2, winning the queenand, if the queen moves to prevent this,2...Rxc2+.

Prevention: 2.Nxd5!! – counter-attack!Now the queen is taboo, as 2...Rxd2?3.Rxe7+ Kd8 4.Rg8+, and mate is apretty way for the game to finish.Black’s only move is 2...Bxg6, whenWhite is better after 3.Nxb6+ Kc64.Rxg6+ Rf6 5.Rg5!. Instead Blacktook almost all his time – about 40 min-utes – and was mated after 2...R8f83.Rxe7+ Kd8 4.Rd6+ Kc8 5.Qc3+,Heisman-Edmondson, US Amateur1968.

Problem M114

Black to move after 1.Qb4 (*****): (D)w________w[rdwdwgw4][dwdwdpdp][wiw0w)wd][0whPdqdw][w0QHwdwd][dwdwdwdw][P)PdRdw)][dwIw$wdw]w--------w

Threat: 2.Qb5+ mates, e.g., 2...Kc73.Qc6+ Kb8 4.Re8+

Prevention: 1...Qd7! 2.Re7 Bxe73.Rxe7 Qa4 4.b3, trying for removalof the guard. It looks strong, but4...Nxb3+!. I saw this before I played1...Qd7!. Black survives, e.g., 5.Nxb3Rhc8, and although the position is aboutequal, Black had the psychological ad-vantage of surviving and later I won.5.axb3 Rhc8 is better for Black, and5.cxb3 is a slight improvement over thegame, but after 5...Rac8, Black is alsoabout equal.