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Against the ENGLISH OPENING I usually played 1...e5, though 1...c5 was also part of my repertoire.

P Biyiasas-Silman
Berkeley 1983
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 Bb4 4.Bg2 0-0 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.0-0 Re8 7.Ne1 Bxc3 8.dxc3 d6 9.Nc2 h6 10.e4 a6! (An excellent move. Some might ask why Black intends to rid White of his doubled pawns. The answer lies in the quest for an active plan. Since White's doubled pawns gain space and are not weak, Black has no qualm about trading them off. The point of ...a7-a6 is clear: Black has no chances on the kingside and White holds more space in the center. This leaves the queenside as the one area of contention, so Black rushes to open lines there so his Rooks can take part in the coming battle.) 11.Ne3 b5 12.cxb5 axb5 13.b4 Be6 14.Qe2 Qb8 (Black already has the preferable position since White's two Bishops are inactive and his a-pawn is a target.) 15.h4 Qb7! 16.a3 Ne7 17.Qc2 Ng4! (White's best piece is his e3-Knight, so Black goes out of his way to exchange it.) 18.Nf5? (Strategically losing. Now Black creates a crushing Knight versus a poor Bishop scenario.) 18...Nxf5 19.exf5 Bd5 20.Bxd5 Qxd5 21.Qe2 Nf6 22.Bb2 Ne4! 23.Rfd1 (Not allowing ...Nd2) 23...Qc6 24.Rd3 d5 25.Rad1 Qc4 26.Kg2 c6 (Finding himself in a nightmarish situation [bad Bishop and weak pawns on a3 and c3], White decides to try for some desperately needed kingside play.) 27.g4 Nf6! (Forcing the exchange of Queens and ending White's attack before it even begins!) 28.g5 Qe4+! 29.Qxe4 Nxe4 30.Bc1 h5 31.Re1 Nd6 (Heading for c4 where it will target the a3-pawn for destruction.) 32.f6 Nc4 33.fxg7 Kxg7 34.Rf3 Re6 35.Re2 e4 36.Rg3 Ra4 37.f3 Kg6 38.fxe4 dxe4 39.Ra2 Rd6 40.Re2 Rd1 41.Be3 Rxa3 42.Bd4 Rd2! 43.Rxd2 Nxd2 44.Kf2 Nf3! 45.Ke3 Kf5 46.Rg2 Ra1 47.Bf6 Re1+ 48.Kf2 Kf4 (Threatening 49...e3 mate.) 49.Bd4 e3+ 50.Bxe3 Rxe3 51.g6 fxg6 52.Rxg6 Rxc3 53.Rh6 Rc2+ 54.Kf1 Nxh4 55.Rxh5 Nf5, 0-1.

This leaves one final opening question to answer: what does one do against 1.d4? At first I scored many fine wins with the NIMZO-INDIAN DEFENSE. An extremely sound, strategically complex opening, I was always comfortable playing the Black side.

V Pupols-Silman
Portland 1985
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qb3 (The old Speelman Variation, a line that is no longer considered to be a problem for Black.) 4...c5 5.dxc5 Nc6 6.Nf3 Ne4 7.Bd2 Nxd2 8.Nxd2 f5 (Black has gained the two Bishops and will now try to create a pawn structure which keeps the White Knights at bay (using the Steinitz rule) and the Bishops on active diagonals. 8...f5 takes the e4-square away from the enemy Knights.) 9.g3 Bxc5 10.Bg2 b6 11.0-0 Bb7 12.e4 (A key moment in the game. White is trying to create some squares for his Knights. The straightforward 12...0-0 13.exf5 Nd4 is probably best, but I didn't want to give his Knights any squares at all.) 12...f4!? 13.gxf4 (He should have played 13.Ne2.) 13...Nd4 14.Qd1 0-0 15.f5 Qh4 16.Nf3 Nxf3+ 17.Qxf3 exf5 18.Nd5 fxe4 19.Qxe4 Bxf2+ (Black has won a pawn, but a considerable amount of technique is required to ice the position.) 20.Kh1 Qxe4 (To quote How to Reassess Your Chess: "By going into an endgame, Black gives up on the initiative for a short while. Instead he concentrates on consolidating the advantages he has gained. This illustrates a rule set forth earlier in the book: 'When you win material, stop rushing forward. Instead you must tighten everything up, defend your weak points, get your army to work together again, and only then start the final assault.'") 21.Bxe4 Kh8! (A move like 21...Rae8 let White create Bishops of opposite colors by 22.Ne7+ Rxe7 23.Bxb7. I wanted to avoid this like the plague!) 22.b3 Rae8 23.Bg2 Re2 24.a4 (Better resistance was offered by 24.Nc3.) 24...a5 25.Rad1 g6 26.Rd3 Rb2 27.Rfd1 Bc5 28.Rf1 Rxf1+ 29.Bxf1 Kg7 30.Bh3 Bc6 31.Bg4 h5 32.Bd1 d6 33.Bf3 Bd7 34.Ne3 Bh3 (Black's patience has paid dividends, and the White position has now been turned into a passive mess. Note the sad plight of the White monarch.) 35.Nd1 Rb1 (Zugzwang! White's King can't move, his pawns don't want to move, his Rook doesn't want to move, and a Bishop move would allow ...Bg4 or ...Bf5.) 36.Rd2 Rxb3 37.Be4 Ra3 38.Nb2 Ra1+ 39.Rd1 Rxd1+ 40.Nxd1 Bd4 (A sweet way to dominate the White Knight.) 41.Bf3 (Or 41.Bg2 Bg4 when the horse dies.) 41...Kf6 42.Be2 Ke5 43.Bf3 h4 44.Be2 Kf4 45.Bd3 Bg4 (Threatening both 46...Bxd1 and 46...Bf3 mate.) 46.h3 Bxd1, 0-1.

D Gliksman - Silman
American Open, 1988
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nc3 c5 5.e3 Nc6 6.Bd3 Bxc3+ (This is the Hubner Variation, a line that instantly creates a Bishop versus Knight imbalance in the hope of proving that the upcoming pawn structure [made possible by the lack of flexibility of White's doubled pawns] will prove conducive to Knights.) 7.bxc3 d6 8.0-0 e5 (A major part of Black's strategy: by closing the position he keeps the Bishops at bay.) 9.Nd2 0-0 (Black refuses to win a pawn by 9...cxd4 10.cxd4 exd4 11.exd4 Nxd4 since after 12.Bb2 White's Bishops would be very strong on their wide open diagonals.) 10.d5 Ne7 11.f4 (White is still trying to open up lines for his Bishops. In addition, Black must take the threat of 12.f5 [gaining a crushing advantage in space] very seriously.) 11...exf4 12.exf4 (Again threatening 13.f5, activating his dark-squared Bishop and squeezing Black to death due to his lack of territory.) 12...Bf5 (A tremendously important move! This simultaneously exchanges a pair of Bishops [depriving White of his Bishop pair] and stops the advance of White's f-pawn in its tracks.) 13.Qc2 (Beginning a battle for the f5-square. Less good is 13.Bxf5 Nxf5 14.Nf3 h5! preventing a g2-g4 push and ensuring that f5 will remain in Black's hands.) 13...Qd7 (And not 13...Bxd3? 14.Qxd3 g6 [14...Qd7 15.f5 is horrible for Black] 15.f5! Nxf5 16.Rxf5 gxf5 17.Qxf5 when the dormant Bishop is suddenly a major player: 17...Re8 18.Nf3 [Threatening 19.Bg5 with a crushing pin.] 18...Ne4 19.Ng5. Obviously, Black can't lose the fight for the f5-square since that would also lose the battle of the minor pieces.) 14.Ne4

(This leads to a strategically lost position. However, White would also feel no joy after 14.Nf3 g6 15.Nh4 Bxd3 16.Qxd3 Qg4 [Forcing White to further damage his Bishop by bringing another pawn to a dark square.] 17.g3 Nf5 18.Nxf5 Qxf5 19.Qxf5 gxf5 when White's Bishop is absolutely horrible.) 14...Nxe4 15.Bxe4 Rae8 16.Bd2 Bxe4 17.Qxe4 f5 (Permanently blocking the position and creating a nice support point on e4 for the Black Knight and/or Rooks.) 18.Qd3 Nc8! (A with an obvious threat and a much deeper, hidden, purpose. If left alone, Black will surround White's c4-pawn by ...Nb6 followed by ...Qa4. White can prevent this and chase the Knight back by a2-a4-a5, but that brings White's a-pawn into striking distance of Black's b-pawn, allowing an eventual ...b7-b6 advance which will lead to the creation of a winning passed a-pawn for Black. The rest of the game was already clear to me, I only had to work out individual tactics-never allowing White to veer the game off the positional path I had foreseen.) 19.Rfe1 Nb6 (The threat of ...Qa4 is very annoying for White, so he stops it in the only way possible.) 20.a4 Rxe1+ 21.Bxe1 Re8 (Also possible is 21...Nxa4 22.Qd1 Nb6 23.Rxa7 Nxc4, but I didn't see a need to give White any possible counterplay. I was much happier simply keeping his pieces contained and helpless.) 22.a5 Nc8 23.Bh4 g6 24.Re1 Rxe1+ 25.Bxe1 (This position clearly shows the shortcomings of computers. Fritz-7 feels that White is better, not understanding that White's position is actually quite hopeless!) 25...Qe7 26.Bf2 Kf7 27.Qb1 a6 (The game is now over. Black's plan: he will march his King over to c7 and play ...b7-b6. The passed a-pawn that results will prove decisive.) 28.h3 h5 29.Qc2 Ke8 30.Qb1 Kd8 31.g4 hxg4 32.hxg4 Qf7 33.gxf5 gxf5 34.Bh4+ Kc7 35.Bg5 Qd7 36.Kg2 b6 37.Qa2 Kb7 38.axb6 Nxb6 39.Qe2 a5 40.Kg3 a4 41.Kf2 a3 42.Qa2 Qa4 43.Bd8 Nxc4 44.Qe2 a2 45.Qe7+ Ka6 46.Qc7 (Threatening perpetual check. Black's next move prevents this.) 46...Qb5, 0-1.

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