The Simple Chess Study Companion: Index
"By isolating the basic elements of master and grandmaster games, Simple Chess attempts to break down the mystique of chess strategy into plain, clear, easy-to-understand ideas."
Michael Stean
Simple Chess: Study Companion Index
If you want to work through the posts in order, start with
Simple Chess - Preview Post and Simple Chess - a Study Companion which introduced the series. You could then work forward day by day.
On the otherhand, if you’re more interested in dipping in and out, I’ve divided up the posts into three categories:-
The Games
some thoughts and reminders to self on each of Stean’s main games.
Additional Material
extra games I added that aren’t included in Simple Chess but which I thought illustrated the points he was making. These posts will always be related to a specific chapter.
Miscellaneous
musings on questions like how to study chess, how to get the most out of this book in particular and where to go next. These posts relate to the text as a whole not any one chapter.
THE GAMES
Week One: Introduction
Botvinnik - Szilagyi, Amsterdam 1966
Botvinnik induces weaknesses on the light squares using well-timed pawn advances and a moment of tactics.
Petrosian - Portisch, Candidates’ Match 1974
Petrosian exploits a long diagonal occupies an outpost at just the right moment.
Adorjan fixes and attacks Black’s queenside pawn structure then exploits the resulting weaknesses
Week Two: Outposts
Tal - Bronstein, USSR Ch. 1959
When there’s an outpost in the centre of the board.
Benko - Najdorf, Los Angeles 1963
Both Black and White have an outpost on king bishop five, but only one of them is relevant.
Botvinnik - Donner, Amsterdam 1963
Botvinnik sees the potential for an outpost where an open file crosses a long diagaonal.
Fischer - Gaia, Buenos Aries 1960
Fischer creates an outpost then sets about exchanging off all the Black pieces that could challenge him for it.
Unzicker - Fischer, Varna Olympiad 1962
Bobby allows White up a central outpost and then sets about preventing his opponent from making any use of it.
Week Three: Weak Pawns
Attacking weak pawns with piece play (including use of a rook lift)
Fischer - Petrosian, Candidates’ Final 1971
Playing against an isolated pawn. Two of them, in fact.
Spassky - Fischer (5), World Championship 1972
Black’s pawn weaknesses turn out not to matter. White’s do.
Hutchings - Keene, Woolacombe 1973
Doubled pawns leave White unable to cover weak squares elsewhere on the board. Black exploits them.
Karpov - Spassky, Spartakiad 1975
Spassky has an isolated queen’s pawn. Karpov grinds him down.
Week Four: Open Files
In terms of occupation of open files, first come isn’t always first served.
Donner - Pomar Salamanca, Clare Benedict Cup 1966
While Black’s queen is out of play, Donner occupies the c-file.
Andersson - Knaak, Capablanca Memorial 1974
Andersson plays to gain time to occupy the d-file, and Black’s position collapses in 25 moves.
It’s not so much the open file as the 7th rank entry point.
Week Five: Half-open files (Minority Attack)
White’s Minority Attack leaves Black with a loose pawn … that drops off.
A Sicilian Minority Attack.
Using the initiative to prevent a Minority Attack from starting to roll.
Week Six: Black Squares and White Squares
Tarrasch - Teichmann, San Sebastian 1912
The threat of White’s king penetrating on the dark squares is so strong that no execution is necessary.
White’s bishop is blocked by a pawn on a central square.
Tal - Lisitsin, USSR Championship 1956
Tal’s king marches forward on the dark-squares to win an endgame.
Petrosian - Yuchtman, USSR Championship 1959
Colour complexes informing opening strategy in the KID.
Stean - Planinc, Alekhine Memorial 1975
Planinc has no light-squared bishop so Stean drag’s Black’s pawns on to dark squares.
Petrosian - Mecking, Palma 1969
Mecking’s attack evaporates, but his light-square weaknesses remain.
Week Seven: Space
Fischer - Gheorghiu, Buenos Aires 1970
Fischer converts Black’s 'cramped but solid’ position into 'cramped and lost’ by doing as little as possible.
Karpov - Westerinen, Nice Olympiad 1974
Anatoly is the dog; Westerinen’s pieces are the sheep.
Portisch - Reshevsky, Petropolis Interzonal 1973
More space leads to a direct attack on Black’s king and White’s Plan B of playing along the e-file is not required.
Smyslov - Gudmundsson, Reykjavik,
The Black pieces look fine, but Smyslov drives them backwards and leaves his opponent suffocating.
Petrosian - Portisch, Candidates’ Match 1974
More space = more scope for the king to come forward in the endgame.
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
Week Two: Outposts
looking for outposts in the games collection of an old Soviet Grandmaster.
Semi-outposts. They kind of are and kind of aren’t (featuring Spassky - Fischer (5), Reykjavik 1972).
Week Three: Weak pawns
Mostly to be avoided, but not always.
Week Five: Half-open files
JMGB versus the king of Minority Attacks himself, GM Keith Arkell
Two games played decades apart, one strategy
Martin shows that Minority Attacks aren’t just for the GMs.
Week Six: Black squares and White squares
Colour-complexes, A Third Option
Trading off a bishop then fixing your pawns on that colour.
Week Seven: Space
The Ruy Lopez: a case study in space
The famous Karpov - Unzicker game from Nice 1974.
MISCELANEOUS
Simple Chess and tactics practice
It’s doesn’t have to be all about positional play
Woodpeckering your Simple Chess RAM
A discussion on using the woodpecker method with Simple Chess and the benefits of memorising the games
Thinking about building an opening repertoire based on the pawn structures that
A discussion on how to choose positions to review
use of computer analysis is both a gift and a potential curse.
A reflection on Stean’s selection (and why it’s ideal for learning)
A question about how to read Simple Chess.
Some thoughts on where to go next
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