Chess For Zebras
Chess For Zebras
Chess For Zebras
Contents
Symbols
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
6
7
9
11
13
15
16
18
24
26
28
2 Psycho-Logics
The Importance of Not Having a Clue
Identity
Folk Psychology
30
35
36
41
3 Storytelling
Chess Narratives
Vague Narratives
Opening Narratives
Reading the Position and Writing the Position
Fabulation
44
46
46
48
50
50
53
54
54
58
58
64
65
68
74
78
79
79
80
82
85
89
92
95
101
102
104
104
110
112
116
137
139
141
147
147
148
150
157
160
165
10 Glorious Grinding
And the Rest is Just a Lack of Technique...
Staying Power
Gumption Revisited
When Simple is Not So Simple
Intrinsic Motivation
172
172
176
180
185
187
ONTENTS
192
193
193
201
206
208
209
212
12 Whites Advantage
The Initiative
Serve-and-Volley Chess
The Draw Bully
217
217
219
222
13 Blacks Advantage
Is Adorjan OK?
Zugzwang Lite
Is Subas Joke Funny?
Blacks Potential
Whats so Special about the Sicilian?
225
226
230
235
236
243
14
Finally...
246
Endnotes
Index of Players
Index of Openings
252
254
255
BLACKS ADVANTAGE
13 Blacks Advantage
The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid. Everyone knows this is true,
but few can put it into practice.
LAO TZU
Given that White begins the game with certain
obvious advantages, whatever advantages Black
might begin the game with must be relatively
subtle, if they exist at all. Nonetheless, I do believe that there are certain advantages to playing with Black, and certain ways of playing that
make it more likely for these advantages to
become relevant. In short, Blacks advantage
arises from the expectations that Whites advantage creates, and also from a deep understanding of the limitations of the initiative.
Conquest Rowson
Torshavn 2000
1 f3 f6 2 c4 g6 3 c3 d5 4 a4+ d7 5
b3 dxc4 6 xc4 a6 7 e4 b5 (D)
rs-wkv-t
+-zlzp+p
p+-+-sp+
+p+-+-+-+Q+P+-+
+-S-+N+PZ-Z-ZPZ
T-V-ML+R
8 e2!
This move came as a surprise (I only knew
that 8 b3?! c5! is comfortable for Black) but it
had been played a few times before this game
with devastating effect and I should really have
226
rslwkv-t
+-z-zp+p
p+-+-+p+
+p+nZ-+-+-+-+-+
+-S-+N+PZ-ZQZPZ
T-V-ML+R
10 g5
10 d4 g7 looks fine for Black because I
will be able to castle safely and counterattack in
the centre with ...c5 or ...f6.
10...e6
Necessary to support the knight on d5.
11 d4 e7!
Gaining some time to catch up in development. In general the bishop would rather be on
g7, but given that Whites queen is on e2, I felt
that both sides will probably have to rearrange
their forces at a later stage and that the priority
at this stage was to make the g5-knight declare
its intentions.
12 h4!
Is Adorjan OK?
Adorjan is often considered to be a bit of a maverick, but his contention that Black is OK! is
one of the most important chess ideas of the last
BLACKS ADVANTAGE
227