Chess no. 396
PHILIDOR
Black White
5 men E. Umnov (Shakhmaty v USSR, 1945). White to play and mate in two moves; solution next week Solution to no. 395 (Hermanson): Kt - Q 3, threatQ-B 5. 1 ...KR x P; 2 Kt(3)-K5 (set Q - B 4). 1 . . . Q R x P; 2 Kt x Kt (set Q - B 1). 1 . . . Kt - R 5; 2 R x Kt. 1 Kt x Kt; 2 P x Kt. 1 . . . P - K 4; Q - Kt 8. Compare set and actual play with the play after the thematic try 1 Kt x Kt P!? viz. I ...
K R x P; 2 Kt-K 5. 1 ...QR xP,2 Q Kt - Q 2, but 1 . . . Kt - R 51; 2 ?
Master and amateur
The Road to Chess Mastery (Allen and Umvin 30s) by ex-world champion Professor Max Fuwe and Dr Walter Meiden of Ohio State University is more than just another book on how to play better. It is a serious and fascinating attempt to analyse the difference between a master and a strong amateur and, through the analyses, to enable the amateur to improve; the medium for the attempt is an exhaustive study—averaging ten pages a game—of twenty-five master v amateur games.
`Master' and 'amateur' are to a large extent relative and not absolute terms; each covers a wide spectrum of strength and this is recognised —at least in the case of the amateur—by a gradual increase through the series of games in the amateur's play, leading to his transmutation in games 21-25 from amateur to expert and his victory in the last three of his games. Nevertheless, there are various typical ways in which the master characteristically excels a strong amateur—and strong amateur is a term which would cover almost every- player in this country. The master has a more comprehensive knowledge and a deeper understanding (not the same thing) of the open- ings; he is far better in the very difficult transition from opening to middle game in which one is transforming the ideas of the opening into the strategic plans of the middle game; he is more creative—because, better than an equally gifted amateur, he understands the range of possibilities that exist in a position; he is more capable of a strategy embracing the whole of the board and not just a localised affair directed at a point of obvious weakness; he is far better at the defence of a difficult position—anyone who has ever got the upper hand against a great master will know how many defensive resources will be found and how hard it is to push such a situation to victory: he is greatly superior technically in the end. game.
All these points and others emerge in the games and the analyses of the twenty-five master v amateur games. The authors make you under stand—and I think one really does understand- why the amateur (or, in the last three games, the master) loses. Whether you want to improve your own game, or merely to understand why a master is a master, I can warmly recommend The Road to Chess Mastery. Next week I will give a game from the book.
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