It’s simple: Capture your opponent’s pieces, and don’t let your own pieces get captured. If you capture one of your opponent’s pieces, and one of yours can be
captured, make sure the piece you take is worth more than the one your opponent takes.
I can imagine what you’re thinking, “Okay, it sounds simple, but how do I make sure that I capture pieces when I can, that I don’t let my own pieces be captured, and if there is a trade of pieces how can I make sure that I trade up?”
“How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?”
The answer: practice, practice, practice. Hey, you didn’t think you were going to be able to get better without practice, did you? But don’t despair! I will explain how you should practice, and I will give you a lot of exercises to practice with. Are you ready to go to work? Let’s start with Diagram 1.
It’s White’s turn to move. Study this position, and before you continue reading, list (or just think to yourself) every single capture White can make. Then try to decide which one (if any) he should make.
Diagram 1: White to move and find the best capture.
There are four captures White can make:
1. White can capture the pawn on e6 with his rook on e1 (1.Rxe6).
2. White can capture the knight on f6 with his queen on c3 (1.Qxf6).
3. White can capture the rook on d7 with his rook on d1 (1.Rxd7).
4. White can capture the bishop on g5 with his knight on f3 (1.Nxg5).
Which capture (if any) should White make? Using our scale of the relative value of the pieces, we can see that there are two captures White should definitely not make, one capture that is neutral, and one capture White should definitely make. See Diagrams 2 and 3 for an illustration of the first capture White shouldn’t make. White should not play 1.Rxe6??, because Black will then recapture the rook with either his queen on e7 or his pawn on f7, and White will lose a rook for a pawn: a VERY bad trade. (By the way, Black has another way to win a rook other than by capturing the one on e6 with either the pawn or the queen. Do you see what it is?) Next see Diagrams 4 and 5 for an illustration of the second capture White shouldn’t make.
Diagram 2: White plays 1.Rxe6??, a very bad move.
Diagram 3: Black plays 1 . . .fxe6 and wins a rook for a pawn.
Diagram 4: White plays 1.Qxf6??, a very bad move.
White also should not play 1.Qxf6??, because Black will then recapture the queen with either his pawn on g7 or his bishop on g5, and White will lose a queen for a knight: another VERY bad trade. Now see Diagrams 6 and 7 for an illustration of the third capture, the one that is basically neutral.
Diagram 5: Black plays 1 . . .Bxf6 and wins a queen for a knight.
Diagram 6: White plays 1.Rxd7, capturing the rook on d7 with his rook on d1.
Diagram 7: Black recaptures the rook by playing 1 . . .Qxd7, and material is still even.
It is neither good nor bad for White to play 1.Rxd7, because Black will recapture the rook with his queen, and White will simply have made an even trade: rook for rook.
Now look at Diagram 8 for the fourth possible White capture, the one White should play.
The capture of the bishop, 1.Nxg5!, is excellent because there is no way Black can recapture the knight that takes this bishop. White gains a whole bishop for nothing!
Diagram 8: White plays 1.Nxg5! and wins a bishop for nothing!
Here’s another position for you to study (see Diagram 9). It’s White’s turn to move.
Once again, either make a list or tell yourself mentally what are all the captures White can make, and then decide which one (if any) White should choose.
There are three captures White can make:
1. White can capture the pawn on b5 with his knight on c3 (1.Nxb5).
2. White can capture the pawn on d5 with his rook on d2 (1.Rxd5).
3. White can capture the pawn on d5 with his knight on c3 (1.Nxd5).
Try to decide for each capture whether White should play it or not, and then read what I say about it. See Diagrams 10 and 11 for an illustration of the first capture White can make.
Diagram 9: White to move.
Diagram 10: White plays 1.Nxb5??, a very bad move.
Diagram 11: Black recaptures the knight with 1 . . .axb5.
If White plays 1.Nxb5??, Black will respond 1 . . .axb5, and gain a knight for a pawn.
White should not do this! Now for an illustration of the second capture White can make, see Diagrams 12, 13, and 14.
Diagram 12: White plays 1.Rxd5?, a bad move.
Diagram 13: Black recaptures the rook with 1. . .Nxd5.
Diagram 14: White recaptures the knight with 2.Nxd5.
If White plays 1.Rxd5?, Black will respond 1 . . .Nxd5 (see Diagram 13), and gain a rook for a pawn. But we can’t stop here, because White can make another capture he can capture the knight on d5 with 2.Nxd5 or 2.Rxd5 (see Diagram 14). Still, White will only get a knight and a pawn, and Black will get a rook. That still gives Black a material advantage, so 1.Rxd5?, while not as bad as it looks at first, is still a mistake.
The best move is the third possible capture: 1.Nxd5! (see Diagram 15). Now suppose that Black responds with 1 . . .Nxd5 (see Diagram 16). Then White can play 2.Rxd5 (see Diagram 17), and if Black plays 2 . . .Rxd5 (see Diagram 18), White responds with 3.Rxd5. White begins by capturing a pawn, and then every capture and recapture is just an even trade, which still leaves White with a material advantage of one pawn.
Diagram 15: White plays 1.Nxd5!, the best move, which wins a pawn.
Diagram 16: Black recaptures the knight with 1 . . .Nxd5.
Diagram 17: White recaptures the knight with 2.Rxd5.
How can you be sure that a series of captures will come out in your favor? One thing you must do is count the number of pieces (or pawns) attacking and defending
whatever you want to capture. If you attack it one more time than it is defended, then the last man standing will be one of yours.
Diagram 18: Black recaptured the rook with 2 . . .Rxd5, and White recaptured again with 3.Rxd5, reaching this position.
But that doesn’t mean you should automatically capture something if you attack it one more time than your opponent defends it! You must also make sure that you do not lose a more valuable piece for a less valuable piece. (Think about Diagrams 12 and 13.
White got a knight and a pawn, but it cost him a rook. Even though he was the last man standing, he came out behind.)
The only way to make sure things work out for you is to calculate the consequences of each capture. A good rule of thumb is to start a series of captures with your least valuable piece (or a pawn).
“Do I Really Need All of This Practice?”
There have been a lot of Diagrams for you to study in the last few pages. It may feel somewhat overwhelming. Don’t worry if you feel you can’t work through it all at once. Take your time and read at the pace that feels most comfortable for you.
However, I strongly recommend that you think about all the positions. (In fact, in some positions some other captures are possible that I didn’t explain. You should try to figure out the consequences of those captures for yourself!) You will find a lot of exercises at the end of the chapter, and I recommend that you do many—if not all—of these as well.
Why do I recommend all this work? The answer is simple: Learning how to capture
your opponent’s pieces and how not to let your own pieces be captured is all about learning certain skills. It’s not hard to get the idea that it’s good to have more material than your opponent and bad to have less material than your opponent. The hard part is actually being able to recognize when you can win material, and when you’re in danger of losing material. There is no other way to develop these skills than by practicing.
What skills do you need to develop in order to win material and avoid losing material? There are really just three:
You need to develop the ability to see in any position which pieces (and pawns) are attacking other pieces (and pawns) and which are being attacked.
You need to be able to calculate what the result of a capture will be.
You need to be able to assess whether the result of a capture will give you a material advantage or not. (Always remember the scale of relative worth!) The way to develop these abilities is to train yourself by looking at many different positions and seeing which pieces attack which pieces, what will happen in each case if you capture a piece, and whether the resulting position would give you a material advantage or not. The exercises at the end of this chapter are there for you to do just this kind of training.
Chess Lore
Even grandmasters sometimes forget which pieces attack which, or at least that is the theory of Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand of India, who challenged Garry Kasparov for the World Championship Title in New York in 1995. (See Chapter 16 for more about Anand, the 2000 FIDE World Chess Champion.)
I was one of the grandmasters who helped Anand prepare for that
match. One time, Anand and I were analyzing a chess position together, and I was trying to decide whether to move my (white) bishop to b3 or a2.
“You know, I had a position like this once,” he said, “and I discovered that it is definitely better to put it on a2.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
“When White bishop is on b3, it’s easier for Black to see it. On a2, it’s farther away, and so he might forget about it later in the game. And that’s just what happened later in my game, when I captured his rook with the bishop on a2 he had forgotten about!”