Chapter 13
A pawn majority/minority in a certain area of the board. The Minority Attack
In a certain area of the board, one may have a majority or minority of pawns. The general recommendation is that if you have a minority, you should not advance the pawns, whereas if you have a pawn majority, you should think about advancing it, to seize space and/or try to create a passed pawn.
There is also one very well-known exception to this rule, which is the so-called Minority Attack. The classic case is in the Queen’s Gambit, in which White advances his a- and b-pawns. The idea is to create a weakness in the opponent’s pawn majority.
66 *
Peter Leko
2600
Alonso Zapata
2515
Yopal 1997 (6)
Black has transferred his bishop to c7, so as to play …d6-d5, and exploit the opened diagonal b8-h2. However, this bishop position also has its drawbacks, which White exploits:
17.♗f4! ♘e5 18.♗xe5!
White surrenders his dark-squared bishop, despite having weakened so many dark squares in his own camp with the move f2-f3!. And this is all because from c7, the bishop is not able to exploit these weaknesses effectively. With the enemy bishop on e7, White’s exchanging operation would not deserve such a high assessment. White’s idea consists not in the doubling of the black pawns as such, but rather in creating a queenside pawn majority on, which will soon be set in motion.
18…dxe5 19.♔h1
The king moves out of possible checks on the g1-a7 diagonal, which White himself is planning to open. This is a rather academic decision, however, and there was nothing wrong with the straightforward 19.c5.
19…♖fd8 20.♕e3 ♖xd1+ 21.♖xd1 ♖d8 22.♖xd8+ ♕xd8 23.c5 ♘d7
24.c6!
Yet another strong positional decision, after which the ♗c7 remains out of play for the rest of the game, as the b6-pawn shuts it in.
24…♗xc6 25.♗xa6 ♘b8 26.♗e2 ♗d6 27.♕d2 ♔f8 28.♗b5
28…♗xb5?
He had to keep the bishop pair, by retreating with 28…♗b7 – then, it would be more difficult to carry out White’s plan.
29.♘xb5 ♗e7 30.♕xd8+ ♗xd8 31.♔g1 ♔e7 32.♔f2 ♔d7 33.♘c3 ♗e7 34.♔e3 ♔c6 35.b5+
It is useful to fix the b6-pawn, on the same colour as Black’s bishop. 35.♔d3 allows 35…b5, which is hardly what White wants.
35…♔c7 36.a4 ♘d7 37.♔d3 ♘c5+ 38.♘xc5 ♗xc5 39.♔c4 ♗f2 40.♘a2 ♗e1 41.♘b4 f6 42.♘c2 ♗d2 43.♔d3 ♗a5 44.♘e3 ♗b4 45.♘c4
Another stage of the manoeuvring is completed – the knight occupies an optimal position.
45…♗e1 46.♔c2 ♗b4 47.♔b2
White wants to bring his king to b3 with the black bishop on e1, which will create a zugzwang.
47…g6 48.♔c2 h6 49.♔b2 h5 50.♔c2 h4 51.♔b2 ♗e1 52.♔b3 ♗f2 53.a5 bxa5 54.♔a4 ♗e1 55.♘xa5 ♔b6 56.♘c4+ ♔c5 57.♘b2 ♗d2 58.♘d3+ ♔b6 59.♘f2 ♗c3
After 59…♗f4 60.♔b4 f5 61.h3 ♗g5 62.♘d3 ♗e7+ 63.♔c4 ♗d6 64.♘b4, it is also difficult for Black to defend – White threatens to break into his camp via several squares.
60.♘g4 f5 61.♘f2
It was also possible to penetrate with the knight by means of 61.♘h6 ♔c7 62.♘f7 ♔d7 63.♘h8 g5 64.♘f7 g4 65.fxg4 fxe4 (65…fxg4 66.h3+–) 66.♔b3+–.
61…♔c5 62.♘d3+ ♔d6 63.♔b3 ♗a5 64.♔c4 ♗d2 65.♘c5
It is likely that the finish of the game was affected by time-trouble. There was an easy win with 65.b6, deflecting the black king from the defence of the weaknesses.
Subsequently, Black could have played more tenaciously, but it is beyond any human to defend such a passive position with computer-like accuracy.
65…♗e3 66.♘b7+ ♔c7 67.♘a5 ♗f2 68.♔b4 ♗e1+ 69.♔a4 ♗c3 70.♘c4 ♔b7 71.♔b3 ♗d4 72.♔b4 ♔a7 73.♘a5 ♔b6 74.♘c6 fxe4 75.fxe4 ♔c7 76.♔a5 g5 77.h3 ♔d7 78.♔a6 ♔c7 79.♘a5 ♗c5 80.♘c4 ♗d4 81.b6+ ♗xb6 82.♘xb6 ♔c6 83.♘a4
1-0
67 **
Alexander Beliavsky
2570
Artur Jussupow
2565
Moscow ch-URS 1983 (1)
12.a3
The start of the classical plan of a minority attack, the aim of which is to create weaknesses on the black queenside.
In such positions, White also has another plan. This involves posting the knight on e5, followed by supporting it with the move f2-f4. For example, 12.♘e5 ♘6d7 13.♗xe7 ♕xe7 14.f4 f6 15.♘f3! (White has more space, so he does best to avoid unnecessary exchanges), followed by ♖a1-e1, and then developing kingside play, usually with the help of the advance of the g-pawn.
12…♘6d7 13.♗xe7 ♕xe7 14.b4 ♘g6 15.♖fc1 ♕f6 16.♕d1 ♗f5
If 16…♖ac8, then 17.♘a4! (weaker is 17.b5 c5 – the pawn on b5 is badly placed) 17…♗f5 (17…b6 leads to the creation of a backward pawn on c6) 18.b5, with the better game.
17.b5 ♗xd3 18.♕xd3 ♘b6 19.bxc6 bxc6
20.♘b1!
The white knight heads to d2, so as to stop Black playing his knight to c4.
20…♖ac8 21.♖a2!
With this move, White prepares to increase the pressure on the c-file.
21…♘h4 22.♘xh4 ♕xh4 23.♘d2 ♖e6 24.♖ac2 ♕e7 25.♖c5 ♖c7 26.♕b3 ♕d6 27.♘f3 ♘d7
The only way to keep the white knight out of e5 was 27…f6, after which there could follow 28.♕c2, tying Black down to the defence of his weakness. Then, White can advance his pawn with a3-a4-a5. Having cramped Black to the maximum extent, he can consider transferring his knight to the queenside, for example via the route ♘f3-e1-d3.
28.♘e5!
An elegant blow, after which Black loses material.
28…♘xc5 29.♕b8+ ♕f8 30.♕xc7 f6 31.♘xc6 ♘d3 32.♖b1 ♖e8 33.♕xa7
1-0
Additional material
Bobotsov-Petrosian, Lugano 1968
Portisch-Kasparov, Skelleftea 1989
Marshall-Capablanca, New York match/23 1909
Stein-Tal, Leningrad 1971
Simagin-Kotov, Moscow 1944 – White’s 36th move
Botvinnik-Smyslov, Moscow Wch match/12 1954
Polugaevsky-Torre, Moscow 1981
Spassky-Kholmov, Moscow 1957
Karpov-A. Sokolov, Linares match/10 1987
Geller-Gligoric, Belgrade 1970 – White’s 23rd move