WEBVTT 00:00.760 --> 00:01.640 Hi there. 00:02.400 --> 00:07.110 In this lecture, I'm going to try and answer the question for you, what is a structural hole? 00:07.470 --> 00:09.330 How could it be used for advantage? 00:11.430 --> 00:16.760 So the example game I'm going to show you is Isaac Bobes Lafsky against Jorgy visiting. 00:17.010 --> 00:24.750 As it happens, Belzowski is the person who a hole in the Sicilian defense is named after the five hole, 00:25.140 --> 00:26.820 which we're about to see in this game, in fact. 00:27.720 --> 00:31.890 So he researched it from both sides as this game is evidence of. 00:32.040 --> 00:34.780 And he actually played actual serious games with that research. 00:35.130 --> 00:38.250 So this is in the US championship in 1956. 00:38.970 --> 00:43.500 In those times you saw Shamsher was like the world championship basically is like the strongest events 00:43.500 --> 00:45.170 going in the USSR. 00:45.540 --> 00:52.440 So we see E for five, my Afri desex. 00:52.950 --> 00:55.730 So Basinski plays D for C takes nine. 00:55.980 --> 00:58.230 We go into a Sicilian dragon. 00:59.040 --> 01:00.420 This is the Dragon version. 01:02.070 --> 01:04.200 So so far it looks pretty standard. 01:04.800 --> 01:12.630 Now hen night takes place between a five and we seeking byone one and black blackmail commits to E five. 01:12.930 --> 01:19.110 This is a little bit controversial structurally after E3 we see that as a backward pawn. 01:20.160 --> 01:25.830 There's a hole in front of the back with the five and it's often this hole in front of a backward pawn, 01:25.830 --> 01:29.040 which is very, very nice to use if you can. 01:29.820 --> 01:34.170 There are great things to do in this position of the ESX. 01:35.010 --> 01:36.710 You might think how long can squasher? 01:37.200 --> 01:38.430 Why can't we take this pawn? 01:38.790 --> 01:40.920 This is not one of the great things to do. 01:41.940 --> 01:47.430 Sometimes we don't want to take such pawn, so we want to question why is the opponent giving us such 01:47.430 --> 01:47.760 pawn? 01:47.760 --> 01:49.440 It is kind of poison pawn here. 01:50.010 --> 01:54.480 If we look at Queen 66, it wasn't played chacal checks. 01:54.900 --> 01:58.170 Can you see what black can play in this position if you check with Chiang's? 02:00.690 --> 02:05.910 OK, Bishop takes a to check of the night Sensata. 02:05.910 --> 02:12.330 You'll notice even though there is a weakness of the last move, there's. 02:14.670 --> 02:22.440 Are potentially there is a liability here and that is punishable, Brooke, after this, Daewon is only 02:22.440 --> 02:28.980 held by the queen and Black does have the killer common squared, the eight, which is reinforced to 02:28.980 --> 02:31.310 enable the eight, and that just wins material. 02:31.680 --> 02:33.510 So, for example, he would win the queen. 02:34.350 --> 02:38.550 If the queen goes back, then we just winning the rook. 02:38.810 --> 02:39.450 Thanks very much. 02:39.510 --> 02:41.100 That's that's great position for black. 02:42.240 --> 02:45.300 So Avery has planes not taking that form. 02:46.680 --> 02:50.940 So black is left here with a lafsky whole unknowables that playing whites. 02:51.240 --> 02:55.330 But this D5 hole is often called the Lafsky Hole. 02:55.800 --> 03:01.650 It's a great example of a central square hole and a central square hole in particular. 03:01.660 --> 03:08.840 If you have a centralized piece on DFI that can sometimes make the game much, much easier to play. 03:09.180 --> 03:12.390 So much so that I refer to this game quite often. 03:13.050 --> 03:17.160 For many years I thought this was a model strategic game. 03:17.610 --> 03:22.920 I since found out, you know, it's actually got an interesting tactical flaw in this game. 03:23.190 --> 03:29.220 But nevertheless, from a positional perspective, I found it absolutely amazing, the positional concept 03:29.610 --> 03:31.740 we see 1985 being played. 03:32.280 --> 03:35.680 So that hits the queen, but doesn't want the exchange equations. 03:35.680 --> 03:36.960 That plays Queen a four. 03:39.560 --> 03:46.280 Black's options are not very nice here, if queen thanks to you, too, then to look tasty, too, that 03:46.280 --> 03:50.460 -- is still vulnerable and why it threatens to play C for fixing that --. 03:50.780 --> 03:53.090 So later White can just build up like a rock. 03:53.270 --> 03:55.010 Bones, this is Morosi BOYENS. 03:55.280 --> 04:01.280 When you have a -- cell phone for a black face, the five technically white does not. 04:01.280 --> 04:06.440 C7 takes out this special and then takes on A7 with a big advantage. 04:06.470 --> 04:09.620 So for example, like this is a big advantage for whites. 04:10.850 --> 04:14.900 So Queen takes two doesn't really leads anywhere that black wants. 04:18.080 --> 04:20.660 So we have this avoidance queen a for it's here. 04:20.660 --> 04:23.260 There's actually a tactical flaw in this game. 04:23.810 --> 04:27.920 There is a weakness of the last move and these are difficult to pick out sometimes. 04:27.920 --> 04:36.170 But C7 is a weakness of the last, which in fact won't miss a tactic which I will show you like White 04:36.380 --> 04:40.100 to see forward, which is a British positional concept, in my view still. 04:40.520 --> 04:46.190 But there is a tactic lurking here, 97, which not just heads the rook. 04:46.310 --> 04:52.840 It means the queen is actually kind of checkmated after which of the five this ridiculous tactic and 04:52.850 --> 04:55.550 an otherwise very positionally instructive game. 04:56.030 --> 04:58.550 That means that black is like losing material. 04:58.550 --> 05:02.660 Then if black has to give up a whole rook, that's not going to be very good. 05:04.340 --> 05:10.850 But aside from that tactical flaw, this game is very instructive to see for this reflects an interesting 05:11.060 --> 05:16.610 positional pawn sacrifice for whites to get complete control over the five. 05:17.270 --> 05:25.700 If White can create an outpost on this hole, the strategic hole, central strategic hole, the outpost 05:25.850 --> 05:31.880 piece is unassailable frontally because of Black's desex pawn. 05:32.000 --> 05:35.660 It's difficult to attack a perfect piece on D5. 05:36.020 --> 05:37.940 But what is going on here after Seaforth? 05:37.940 --> 05:43.400 So Black takes on C4 and in effect we have what I would call a strategic exchange. 05:43.910 --> 05:48.650 The Lights where Bishop was a guardian of the five and of the Knights. 05:48.650 --> 05:50.030 Sifry hitting the Queen. 05:50.030 --> 05:52.790 We have Bishop see for Queen Saints. 05:52.790 --> 06:00.110 And now to make the fight even more comfortable, Bishop G5 to amplify the D5 control. 06:00.500 --> 06:06.050 Sometimes when you give up a bishop of a certain color, you're amplifying your control and your pressure 06:06.050 --> 06:07.100 on all the squares. 06:07.430 --> 06:11.690 So giving up the light square bishop here voluntarily without even waiting. 06:12.230 --> 06:17.180 Now we can see the points is revealed of why it's positional pawn sacrifice. 06:17.750 --> 06:23.720 So for for a long time for this game, it's like super magical example of a strategic crash. 06:25.100 --> 06:31.130 And in fact, I think it has had a profound influence on my choice of things to try and get these situations 06:31.460 --> 06:33.860 where there is such a strategic exchange. 06:34.130 --> 06:38.540 And often you end up with a nicely perched knight, which is difficult to get rid of. 06:38.840 --> 06:44.040 But here, this is a beautifully centralized knight and it makes the position much easier for white 06:44.060 --> 06:44.570 play. 06:44.960 --> 06:50.270 We can actually now with minimal hassle, you know, this bishops locked in. 06:51.060 --> 06:52.280 So there's no frontal pressure. 06:52.280 --> 06:52.430 No. 06:52.430 --> 06:56.420 You know, if black has to try and get rid of that night, it would take some time. 06:56.420 --> 06:58.790 It would have to be some sort of exchange sacrifice here. 06:59.570 --> 07:03.730 For the moment, though, we have Queene to fight. 07:03.860 --> 07:10.250 And now Queen, if one wants to pursue a king silence, stop opening up lands. 07:10.250 --> 07:12.980 King Rook, A.S.A. Jeoffrey. 07:13.820 --> 07:16.820 The Queen covers that veto queen G5. 07:17.180 --> 07:21.320 Another move for TotEx support this move. 07:21.830 --> 07:24.950 We have queen sex if Queen takes Jeoffrey. 07:24.950 --> 07:29.390 Can you see tactically what way it plays if I give you five seconds to pause Viniar. 07:32.130 --> 07:33.070 I hope you can support it. 07:33.540 --> 07:36.180 He just trapped the queen, worth noting these little tiny things. 07:36.780 --> 07:45.600 So Queen 86, we see G4 and now in desperation, you know, G5 looks very, very scary and we see G5 07:45.600 --> 07:47.470 and now it gets that open somehow. 07:48.450 --> 07:52.530 HFA all these semillon falls are absolutely great fun to have. 07:52.950 --> 07:54.750 Rukeyser's five, Kwangju six. 07:55.080 --> 08:01.080 And now a stunning little move celebrating this amazing night on day five, which kind of looks after 08:01.080 --> 08:05.370 why in many, many different variations and versions of this game. 08:05.640 --> 08:11.050 And here's one wacky version in the main line, G5 seemingly leaving the rock just hanging. 08:11.580 --> 08:16.260 The point is the Rook's immune plays HSF quintets 85. 08:16.290 --> 08:22.380 Then there's a sex check so we can see the light is looking after things for white now, making the 08:22.380 --> 08:24.540 position much easier to play. 08:24.540 --> 08:30.330 And Black has very little, you know, counterplay hair and sex. 08:30.900 --> 08:35.310 Now here, in fact, there's a tactic in this position which is used. 08:35.910 --> 08:39.570 Can you see what white plays here, which is rather crushing? 08:40.200 --> 08:44.430 The light again has an influence over many variations. 08:44.430 --> 08:51.720 Now, that central night unassailable on that bulb's lafsky home, we have rotates since six. 08:52.320 --> 08:54.240 Basically every bishop takes. 08:54.240 --> 08:56.130 Then there will be a weakness of the last move. 08:56.200 --> 08:57.540 Neglecting A7. 08:58.320 --> 09:04.320 Yeah, we're neglecting a seven and then, you know, winning the Queen of the United States, G.S.. 09:04.950 --> 09:09.330 So, yeah, trying to lure the the bishop away from E! 09:10.080 --> 09:12.280 So we have Queen 65. 09:12.810 --> 09:16.020 But here the game ended after Rook age five. 09:17.430 --> 09:20.460 So gaining another key tempo black had enough. 09:20.820 --> 09:24.240 If Queen size age five didn't have sex, Jack went into the queen. 09:24.750 --> 09:33.810 And if the queen goes back seat to G sex, then actually a move like Queen H3 is devastating. 09:34.950 --> 09:39.780 So for example, Roxxy five, it's too, too little, too late. 09:41.220 --> 09:47.610 Jack and I just each one has a devastating Tatsuru idea at this point. 09:48.900 --> 09:53.880 If, for example, be five, then Ruchi eight. 09:53.880 --> 09:54.810 Jack Yeah. 09:54.810 --> 09:57.330 Chacal Chiang's Queen Chameides. 09:58.710 --> 09:59.010 Yeah. 09:59.010 --> 10:02.490 So it's like it's a crushing position at this point. 10:03.840 --> 10:04.920 So yeah. 10:05.010 --> 10:09.990 After Rook age five, you can see that it's all going downhill for blacks. 10:09.990 --> 10:10.770 King safety. 10:11.340 --> 10:18.720 The positional point though, the main positional point of this kind of lecture is the idea that sometimes 10:18.720 --> 10:30.120 you can really maximize the outpost on a strategic hole so here won't use a pawn sacrifice to exchange 10:30.120 --> 10:33.360 off the lights quite a bit, perhaps otherwise. 10:33.360 --> 10:37.320 That is a horrible point on the five in any case which is going to retrieve the boy. 10:37.800 --> 10:39.750 So Black didn't want to keep this boyens. 10:40.380 --> 10:48.930 So White has really expertly used the outpost square in front of the back of a pawn, that hole in Black's 10:48.930 --> 10:56.070 pawn structure where because it's not covered by any other pawn, the adjacent pawns have gone. 10:56.700 --> 10:58.980 You know, there's no kicking a piece out of that hole. 10:58.980 --> 11:02.100 So it makes a very, very fine of how square. 11:02.370 --> 11:10.110 So the considerations here, frontal attack is reduced because there's a back report on D6 here kicking 11:10.110 --> 11:13.620 from a pawn adjacent pawn in an adjacent hole is out of the question. 11:13.620 --> 11:15.000 They've both left the scene. 11:16.620 --> 11:20.280 Strategic Bishop Exchange means that there's no bishop takes five. 11:21.450 --> 11:28.050 So got that beautiful, you know, kind of strategic Krush position for, you know, as I say, for 11:28.050 --> 11:33.870 many years, I actually use the nation's strategic rationale, trying to think, how do I get such positions 11:33.870 --> 11:37.590 generally where there's so little counterplay for the opponents. 11:38.190 --> 11:45.150 When a lot of 2500 plus Russians came to Lloyds Bank monsters, they were into strategic Russian crossing 11:46.710 --> 11:49.560 the British players to make you sure they didn't have any counterplay. 11:49.950 --> 11:54.690 This is one such game where there's a profound kind of force. 11:54.700 --> 11:59.460 Yes, it's like Star Wars, the power of the force, the power, the forces in the pawn structure, 11:59.820 --> 12:01.980 the harmony between pieces and pawns. 12:02.820 --> 12:05.670 This position, the harmony is in White's favor. 12:05.670 --> 12:08.790 It's got it's like the power of the force this over material. 12:08.910 --> 12:15.210 It's more important to have quality hair of pieces and it just makes White's position it's attack just 12:15.570 --> 12:16.410 irresistible. 12:16.860 --> 12:17.060 Why? 12:17.100 --> 12:25.020 It's just such a free rein for opening up the lines at leisure with zero counterplay from the opponents 12:25.020 --> 12:31.130 in this situation, it really is a very, very powerful for me strategic cross examine. 12:31.750 --> 12:38.650 So Bishop takes there'll be 97 and, yeah, this this whole situation is just devastating after page 12:38.710 --> 12:39.190 five. 12:39.520 --> 12:46.270 So, yeah, oppositional positional demonstration celebrating a strategic hole on D5. 12:46.720 --> 12:49.720 The so-called Lafsky Hole is one example of a hole. 12:50.080 --> 12:56.140 But generally, since the world, the first official world chess champion, Willem Steinitz here was 12:56.140 --> 13:02.140 aware of strategic holes and accumulating small advantages based on structure. 13:02.140 --> 13:07.990 Because Russia is a little bit of a persistance kind of virtual storage device, if you think about 13:07.990 --> 13:14.110 it on the chessboard, that because they are irreversible and slow moving, it's like, yeah, it's 13:14.110 --> 13:16.970 very, very difficult to change the picture. 13:16.990 --> 13:24.790 It's like irreversible damage has been done to Black's position and it facilitates tactical operations, 13:25.180 --> 13:28.780 such as going after the opponent's king of that with minimal counterplay. 13:29.090 --> 13:36.430 So I hope this is a very interesting example of a strategic hole and some of the dangers also of a backward 13:36.430 --> 13:37.390 pawn as well. 13:37.630 --> 13:43.930 Two, for the price of one, the backward pawn does support an outpost in front of the a pawn, making 13:43.930 --> 13:48.480 it difficult to get rid of the entrenched piece at the outpost piece. 13:48.970 --> 13:51.070 OK, so I hope you got some points from this game. 13:51.970 --> 13:52.570 That's so much.