WEBVTT 00:01.080 --> 00:01.800 Hi there. 00:01.800 --> 00:07.260 And this introduction lecture, we're going to zoom in on the question of the importance of prevention 00:07.260 --> 00:09.210 for control in positional chess. 00:09.330 --> 00:16.530 So even if we go back to Sun Tzu, he said the good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the 00:16.530 --> 00:22.950 possibility of defeat and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy. 00:24.060 --> 00:29.790 It seems, you know, Nimzowitsch may have been inspired by Sun Tzu for many of the things in Nimzowitsch 00:29.790 --> 00:36.180 is my system like strengthening the position is in a way you could say putting yourself beyond the feet 00:36.200 --> 00:42.930 is making precautions in your position that there aren't liabilities which could backfire if the position 00:42.930 --> 00:44.160 opened up tactically. 00:44.160 --> 00:53.220 You don't want, for example, unprotected pieces or structural issues and sometimes making preventative 00:53.220 --> 00:58.860 moves to make sure the opponent hasn't got dangerous pawn breaks. 00:58.860 --> 00:59.760 That's good. 00:59.760 --> 01:03.890 And then you can focus on attacking without the worry of the backfire. 01:03.900 --> 01:06.730 It's like taking out the backfires in advance. 01:06.750 --> 01:11.940 Now, Petrosian was known as the master of prophylaxis, and prophylaxis is another term, in my view, 01:11.940 --> 01:18.000 for prevention, and he prevents the opponent's concepts even before they knew they were available. 01:18.000 --> 01:23.400 So like looking deep into what the opponent wants to do and kind of preventing that, and then you can 01:23.400 --> 01:25.860 get on in peace with what you want to do. 01:25.890 --> 01:33.060 Quite often, though, Petrosian did have a lot of draws and the general public often didn't like Petrosian 01:33.090 --> 01:33.780 style of play. 01:33.780 --> 01:39.600 They preferred Boris Spassky, who was more daring and imaginative, it seemed, and more sacrificial. 01:39.660 --> 01:45.180 However, the Petrosian style is a very, very effective style, and Karpov took it up basically, but 01:45.180 --> 01:48.480 with the idea of winning with it, not just drawing. 01:48.630 --> 01:51.720 Chosen was loathe to losing. 01:51.720 --> 01:54.780 He hated, absolutely detested, losing, so wouldn't mind drawing. 01:54.780 --> 02:01.980 But Karpov took that principle of kind of putting himself beyond the feet to the absolute maximum and 02:01.980 --> 02:05.220 was often grinding out players in endgames. 02:06.210 --> 02:10.740 There is a saying which is really, really powerful, a philosophical saying Prevention is often better 02:10.740 --> 02:11.640 than cure. 02:11.640 --> 02:17.190 And in chess terms, if we can prevent the opponent's counterplay in advance, that's much easier often 02:17.190 --> 02:19.530 than handling after it's been created. 02:20.220 --> 02:27.660 So and we're talking about often pawn breaks, pawn breaks and chances often quite critical to actually 02:27.660 --> 02:33.060 generate counterplay because pawns are often hemming in the opponent's pieces. 02:34.170 --> 02:38.820 And how do we handle pawn breaks in the most effective manner? 02:39.270 --> 02:46.200 We can take clues, in my view from Nimzowitsch how he talks about past pawns as being criminals to 02:46.200 --> 02:47.850 be kept under lock and key. 02:47.850 --> 02:49.980 Active surveillance is not enough. 02:49.980 --> 02:50.850 In chess terms. 02:50.850 --> 02:54.690 If we can actually blockade pawns, then they legally can't move. 02:54.690 --> 03:00.960 So that is kind of the ultimate form of control and restraint. 03:00.960 --> 03:03.660 So control often links to delay gratification. 03:03.660 --> 03:07.980 Yeah, we're taking time out to put ourselves on the feet so we're not hurrying. 03:08.220 --> 03:15.390 We're making sure that is a first class process in our in our thinking and in our play. 03:16.350 --> 03:18.840 So prevent first, then attack. 03:19.920 --> 03:22.800 Nimzowitsch has amazing notions like over protection. 03:22.800 --> 03:28.570 So where we're actually over protecting to some extent, we're actually stopping discouraging pull rates 03:28.590 --> 03:29.100 for the opponent. 03:29.100 --> 03:34.620 There could be so much pressure built up behind the central point that if the opponent dared to try 03:34.620 --> 03:40.740 and liberate, they get smashed because the amount of pressure behind an over protection, sometimes 03:40.740 --> 03:43.200 pawn breaks are simply worth allowing. 03:43.200 --> 03:47.610 If you try and prevent quite often pawn rates, you might be creating weaknesses. 03:48.030 --> 03:53.520 There is the other rule to respect that every pawn move you make to try and prevent the opponent's pawn 03:53.520 --> 03:53.820 moves. 03:53.820 --> 03:55.170 You know, that's criminal decision. 03:55.170 --> 03:59.520 You might actually be creating exploitable weaknesses and sometimes you might just want to allow the 03:59.520 --> 04:03.750 opponent's pawn rank because they might get even more exploitable weaknesses. 04:03.750 --> 04:07.560 So the notion of exploitable weaknesses is absolutely central as well. 04:07.650 --> 04:09.840 Prevention is an art form. 04:09.840 --> 04:10.890 It's a double edged thing. 04:10.890 --> 04:14.670 Quite often it's not that easy to prevent. 04:15.240 --> 04:18.690 Sometimes it's not that practical, it's not even desirable sometimes. 04:18.690 --> 04:20.250 So bear that in mind. 04:21.420 --> 04:27.120 It's in certain positions that might be useful to use preventative chess if it doesn't cost you too 04:27.120 --> 04:27.870 much. 04:28.620 --> 04:33.960 And generally as positional players, we only want to crown oppositional chess when absolutely ready. 04:33.960 --> 04:40.950 So again, Sun Tzu, you know, put yourself beyond the possibility of the fate then wait for the opportunity, 04:40.950 --> 04:42.990 a very safe opportunity. 04:43.260 --> 04:47.340 It becomes a much more safe opportunity for defeating opponents, defeating the opponent. 04:47.340 --> 04:51.240 So only enter into the tactics or the attack when absolutely ready. 04:51.390 --> 04:52.800 So don't hurry. 04:53.550 --> 04:58.830 And the tactics, you know, the controversy of the tactics is taken out in advance. 04:58.830 --> 04:59.940 Just a few more preparatory. 05:00.070 --> 05:00.890 Removes. 05:00.910 --> 05:04.080 And all of a sudden tactics have zero backfire to you. 05:04.090 --> 05:08.140 Maybe you've tucked away your king first, for example as well. 05:09.250 --> 05:13.210 So quite often locking key blockades. 05:13.450 --> 05:16.150 Prevention is is much stronger than active surveillance. 05:16.150 --> 05:18.940 And I have an example for you in practice. 05:18.940 --> 05:25.510 So this doesn't sound to theoretical cop off against Bushwick in 1978. 05:25.510 --> 05:27.880 This is covered in detail in this course. 05:27.880 --> 05:32.650 And you'll see actually engines did suggest that black might have had some chance for counterplay. 05:32.650 --> 05:35.920 So sometimes comp of games have the illusion of control. 05:35.920 --> 05:41.620 But if you look deep, sometimes chess is such a vast game, there are resources to sometimes generate 05:41.620 --> 05:45.010 counterplay, but the opponent didn't find them. 05:45.160 --> 05:52.600 And here Karpov actually played a very nice positional move, which I hope you can see here for 100 05:52.600 --> 05:52.930 points. 05:52.930 --> 05:54.100 What would you play here? 05:54.220 --> 05:58.850 If we're talking about prevention with locking key measures, what would you play before going on to 05:58.850 --> 05:59.590 the attack? 06:02.610 --> 06:04.020 So this is a concrete example. 06:04.020 --> 06:08.010 Bishop e four and a blockades the e five pawn. 06:08.220 --> 06:16.560 And if you remember, you might be aware there was this Kasparov against deeper blue match where the 06:16.560 --> 06:22.890 computer played a blockading move like a knight move on E four instead of indulging some tactics. 06:22.890 --> 06:25.470 And Karpov was horrified sometimes. 06:25.470 --> 06:25.680 Yeah. 06:25.680 --> 06:26.640 Blockading moves. 06:26.640 --> 06:30.090 They represent deep positional principles of prevention. 06:30.360 --> 06:36.330 So because that pawns not able to move, then black can't get a knight e five or open up the bishop 06:36.330 --> 06:39.870 or even sacrifice the pawn to try and expose on the e file. 06:39.870 --> 06:45.930 So all of these pieces are much safer with this blockade on the E five pawn. 06:45.930 --> 06:52.440 So this is lock and key prevention and we see c if I'm trying to lift the blockade and Karpov is prepared 06:52.440 --> 06:58.620 to give up his dance, grab Bishop to maintain that blockade and now he's ready for the attack. 06:58.620 --> 07:04.950 He plays G four and actually Bookish was absolutely convinced he was busted here and resigned. 07:05.430 --> 07:09.450 Yeah, the attack is I mean, it's also not just the blockading piece. 07:09.450 --> 07:14.280 It's a potentially good attacking piece as well with G five in mind for F six. 07:14.280 --> 07:18.990 So if the game continued with King H eight, then G five, Bishop E seven. 07:18.990 --> 07:25.830 And here rook f one with F six in mind, if black has to play f six, then White's g full attack is 07:25.830 --> 07:27.360 basically unstoppable. 07:27.360 --> 07:30.900 So this position, Black's pieces are all kind of hemmed in. 07:31.080 --> 07:36.540 And once it's going to invade on G six and there's really no counterplay here, this is a no counterplay 07:36.540 --> 07:37.350 attack. 07:37.350 --> 07:40.860 This is some zu in action on the chessboard. 07:41.010 --> 07:42.660 The queen could go back. 07:42.870 --> 07:47.820 This would be a perfectly good move here to vacate h five for the knight. 07:47.970 --> 07:51.750 And if the exchange sack is offered, it's taken. 07:51.750 --> 07:58.380 Rather, if the offer is accepted, then a huge knight on H five is crushing him with G seven. 07:58.380 --> 08:02.670 So all of this without much counterplay at all for the opponent. 08:02.670 --> 08:03.000 Yeah. 08:03.000 --> 08:06.270 What's black going to do against G seven now? 08:06.540 --> 08:08.610 It's a very, very vicious position. 08:08.610 --> 08:09.720 This is hopeless. 08:09.720 --> 08:10.470 But we see. 08:10.470 --> 08:13.560 Yeah, this is a beautiful example to some extent. 08:13.560 --> 08:15.540 You'll see that there's details in this game. 08:15.540 --> 08:19.860 Black could have had counterplay if they played their cards right. 08:19.860 --> 08:24.360 This is a game in 1978 though, which is very, very interesting. 08:24.360 --> 08:31.800 Showing comp of style right from the beginning of his career, showing at least the notion, the desire 08:31.800 --> 08:34.560 for counterplay, prevention is certainly there. 08:35.520 --> 08:40.890 So if we go back yet for a long time the battle had been around the D five square. 08:40.890 --> 08:43.440 It was a Sicilian defense kind of tamed. 08:43.440 --> 08:47.370 If we look at the opening, you'll see that it was actually an E for opening. 08:47.370 --> 08:55.320 So even E for both Karpov and Adams can play these openings with a view of control and blockade. 08:55.320 --> 09:02.910 You know this D5 idea, the battle about Defy was reflected early on in the opening. 09:02.910 --> 09:07.770 Basically early on, the game is covered in depth in the course. 09:07.770 --> 09:13.560 I just wanted to show you really the principle of prevention, amplify the idea of prevention in this 09:13.560 --> 09:14.940 introduction video. 09:15.480 --> 09:25.710 So so we'll go back so earlier you know we spend four to move 3895 set up a blockade square on E four 09:25.710 --> 09:30.090 and that was used for Bishop E four and then the other bishop given up and then the attack just plays 09:30.090 --> 09:30.840 itself. 09:30.840 --> 09:35.310 So that's the dream that, you know, we can crown well our usual skill set. 09:35.310 --> 09:39.420 If you built up a tactical and attacking skill set that is useful. 09:39.420 --> 09:45.780 But we're emphasizing in this course the sun zu part, you know, put yourself beyond the feet, add 09:45.780 --> 09:49.500 positional security, make sure your position is super strong. 09:49.500 --> 09:55.140 It means that any tactics or attacks or end games, you don't have to fear so much what's going to happen 09:55.140 --> 09:58.290 later if you've really strengthen your position. 09:58.290 --> 10:04.290 And part of the strengthening is restraint of the opponent's pawn breaks, in particular, because they 10:04.290 --> 10:09.600 are often the liberating aspects of the position to liberate pieces of pieces of a pieces of clothes 10:09.600 --> 10:10.980 then behind pawns. 10:11.100 --> 10:15.180 So, yes, prevention, lock and key prevention especially, is desirable. 10:15.180 --> 10:20.430 So we're talking about extreme measures of prevention, preventing legal moves and then going on with 10:20.430 --> 10:20.880 the attack. 10:20.880 --> 10:24.000 It's basically Sun Tzu on the chessboard. 10:24.000 --> 10:30.420 Okay, So I hope you enjoyed this introduction lecture and are inspired by it and think more about positional 10:30.420 --> 10:37.800 security before indulging in lucrative activities like attack or, you know, tactics. 10:37.800 --> 10:41.700 Just wait for the right time and then there'll be even more effective. 10:42.060 --> 10:44.430 Good things come to those who wait. 10:44.430 --> 10:45.300 You know, that's the whole principle. 10:45.540 --> 10:47.400 DeLay gratification as well. 10:47.400 --> 10:52.470 So, yes, blockading prior to an attack is a beautiful thing to witness. 10:52.470 --> 10:55.710 It's a one way attack with minimal controversy. 10:55.920 --> 10:56.690 Okay. 10:57.360 --> 10:58.110 That's very much.