When is the right time to attack an opponent's king according to Garry Kasparov?
What technique did Kasparov use when he wanted to destroy his opponents?
Some time ago I read the book Kasparov on Modern Chess, Part 2 (subtitle Kasparov vs Karpov 1975-1985). And it is a really interesting piece.
It covers his first two matches with Karpov and also the games they had played before these matches. The games are extensively annotated and although many games are not in my opening repertoire it is very useful to play them with the book in hand. You can learn a lot about the thinking of top grandmasters and about the psychology of chess games and matches.
One of the things that really caught my attention is a note about dividing the chessboard into two halves - right and left.
When Kasparov explains this technique, he talks about counting how many of the opponent's pieces are on each half. It is also very important to consider where the opponent's king is located. If the result of this investigation is clear - too many of the opponent's pieces are on the second half of the chessboard and his king is unprotected, then you MUST look for ways to attack the king.
It sounds simple, right?
Of course, you have to consider the real problems on the board and not attack without thinking about the safety of your own king.
What do you think about this way of evaluating the position? Would it be your favorite technique? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
How was my chess week
I guess the main event of the week is that I started studying the book "Pump Up Your Rating" by Alex Smith. For the second time. I didn't finish it the first time a few years ago.
And I decided to sign up for lichess.org. I've only been on chess.com for years, but I've been reading more and more about Lichess, so I figured I'd give this platform a try. So far I'm getting the hang of it, I've played a couple of blitz games (I know, I know…) with about 64% win rate. So I'm looking forward to the next opponents :-)
My team schedule said I should play two games this week. The first one ended in a draw and finally after a few rounds I felt like I was setting the pace of the game. Even with black pieces. Although it wasn't enough to win, I liked my style of play.
I will play the second game tonight.
Every day I solve several tactical puzzles. And I keep posting the interesting ones on my Twitter account. Or below :-)
Tactic puzzle of the week
White to move and win.
Thank you for reading to this point!
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Rc7 looks like a useful move!
Why are you writing chess articles when clearly you're an extremely weak beginner and know nothing at all about the game. You totally misunderstood what Kasparov said. There is no simple recipe for "when to attack the king". Chess is a complex game which requires concrete analysis and play.
You then mention some mindless "64% win rate" at lichess which is completely meaningless in the absence of knowing the level of your opponents. I used to perform simultaneous exhibitions at Chapter's bookstore. At the last one I played 27 games (12 at a time) and won 26 with one draw. That's something that is more impressive than a guy like you could even have wet dreams about, yet for me it's nothing and pales in comparison to winning a single game against a strong titled opponent, as the players participating in my simul are mostly weak beginners like you.