CHESS BLUEPRINTS: Planning in the Middlegame

Author: Nikolay Yakovlev

Mongoose Press (2010)

277 pages

$24.95

 

Reviewed by John Donaldson

 

CHESS BLUEPRINTS by the Russian trainer and writer Nikolay Yakovlev is two books in one. The 188 positions and 559 diagrams drawn from classics and Soviet chess of the 1950s to 70s, is a handbook for learning positional themes and patterns but it is also a guidebook to how to play middlegames arising from 1.e4 e5 (mostly the Ruy Lopez) primarily from White’s perspective.

 

A trainer from the old Soviet school, whose pupils include Russian 2700 GM Evgeny Alekseev, Yakovlev teaches in a systematic fashion. When dealing with the subject of space he presents the following two examples that emphasize that the closed nature of a position does not spare Black from the sin of a lack of space.

 

Today the sacrifice of a piece for two pawns to cash in on a space advantage is a tool in the pocket of many a master but it was novel idea when the following game was played.

 

Bronstein - Winiwarter

Krems 1967

 

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Qe2 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 Bg4 9.h3 Bh5 10.d3 0–0 11.Nbd2 Na5 12.Bc2 c5 13.Re1 Nd7 14.g4 Bg6 15.Nf1 f6 16.Ne3 Bf7 17.d4 Re8 18.d5 c4 19.b4 Nb7 20.a4 Qc7 21.a5 g6 22.h4 Kg7 23.Kg2 h6 24.Rh1 Rh8 25.h5 g5 26.Nf5+ Kf8 27.Be3 Rh7 28.Nd2 Bg8 29.f3 Bd8 30.Bf2 Be7 31.Rhc1 Bd8 32.Qf1 Bf7 33.Bd1 Be8 34.Be2 Rc8 35.Ne3 Nb8 36.Ndxc4! bxc4 37.Nxc4 Bb5 38.Nb6 Bxe2 39.Qxe2 Be7 40.Nxc8 Qxc8 41.Ba7 Nd7 42.Qxa6, 1-0.

 

Here is a little more complicated example that bears a resemblance with King’s Indian Classical variations where White (with knight on b3 and bishop on e3 against a Black pawn setup of c5, d6 and e5) plays Nxc5 sacrificing a piece for two pawns and a very mobile center.

 

Vasiukov - Malevinsky

Beltsy 1979

 

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 Qd7 10.d4 Re8 11.a4 Bb7 12.Bg5 h6 13.axb5 axb5 14.Rxa8 Bxa8 15.d5 Na5 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.Ba2 Bd8 18.Na3 c5 19.b4 Nb7 20.Qe2 c4 21.Nxb5 Qxb5 22.Bxc4 Qb6 23.Bb5 Rf8 24.Ra1 Be7 25.Ra6 Qc7 26.Bc6 Rb8 27.Ra7 Qb6 28.Qa2 Qd8 29.Nd2 Kh7 30.Nc4 Bg5 31.Qe2 g6 32.g3 Kg7 33.h4 Bf6 34.Kg2 h5 35.Ra6 g5 36.hxg5 Bxg5 37.Qxh5 Qf6 38.Qg4 Rh8 39.Ne3 Rd8 40.Nf5+ Kf8 41.Rb6 Bd2 42.Bxb7, 1-0.

 

CHESS BLUEPRINTS is a solid middlegame book that will help players from 1800 to 2200 to learn the fundamentals.

 

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