Strategic Ideas
Without going into great detail here, specific strategic ideas are often limited to a particular type of position, and in modern chess less is made of general rules and more of the concrete appraisal of each position's peculiarities. In other words, you will have to learn your theory! Nonetheless there are themes that run throughout the book.
Pressure on the e-pawn
The Najdorf Variation is an attack on White's e-pawn. Already, after White's third move (the anti-positional swap of White's central pawn for Black's c-pawn), he can no longer defend e4 with his d-pawn, and later, should he play f4, the poor e-pawn will be on its own. Here is a position from Chapter 6:
Black already presses on e4 with his f6-knight and b7-bishop, and is ready to attack it further with ...£)c5 (one of the points of developing this piece on d7, instead of the more common Sicilian square, c6), and the f8-rook may be able to bear down on this same pawn along the e-file, from e8. If that were not enough, the b5-pawn can also join in the fun by advancing and dislodging the c3-knight, and the queen's rook can often go to c8, and then take on c3.
Black's Extra Central Pawn
White's third move sometimes comes in for criticism because it willingly swaps an important central pawn for the black c-pawn. In the subsequent play Black will enjoy various advantages because of his extra central pawn and open c-file. In Chapter 7, for instance, the following position arises.
Zso. Polgar - Browne
San Francisco 1995
White has started advancing on the kingside, and the standard reaction to a wing attack, a counterattack in the centre, is made that much easier for Black because of his central preponderance.
7...d5! 8 exd5 £\xd5 9 &d2 £ic610 £sde2 e5 11 ±g2 i.e6 (Dj
Black has achieved a good position. He has plenty of space for his pieces and a useful central presence because of his e5-pawn, which controls two important squares in the white half of the board, d4 and f4.
The Minority Attack
As mentioned above, the advance of the black b-pawn constitutes an important part of Black's strategic arsenal. This minority attack can achieve various positional objectives, such as displacing the c3-knight, exposing the c2-pawn, etc. Moreover, it is often a useful weapon for attacking the white queenside in the endgame. It can also be a very effective battering-ram to expose the white king if he decides to shelter on the queenside.
In the following diagram, White has castled long, with the intention of hurling his g- and h-pawns up the board, but Black has free-moving pawns of his own.
10...b5 11 g4 b4 12 £id5 £xd5 13 exd5 a5 14 <&bl #c7 15 g5 £)fd7 16 h4 £>b6 17 h5 a4 18 £>cl <£c4 19
Sax - Gallagher
Mitropa Cup (Baden) 1999
i.xc4 Wxc4 20 g6 &d7 21 gxh7+ 4>h8 22 Shgl b3! (D)
White has made real headway on the kingside, and so Black cannot afford to hang around.
23 axb3? axb3 24 £ixb3 Wa4 25 Wg2 Af6 26 &g5?! £>c5! 27 ±xf6 Wa2+ 28 <4>cl £ixb3+ 29 cxb3 Sfc8+
Black forces a quick mate.
As pointed out previously, the fa-pawn also plays a useful role in the attack on the white e-pawn and the fight for control of the d5-square. Often, the b-pawn can be advanced at just the right moment to thwart White's plans.
Here, even the fact that White has played a3 does not stop Black's fa-pawn.
IM Mil mm&MML
The Exchange Sacrifice
A common device for Black is the exchange sacrifice. By giving up the rook for the knight on c3, Black shatters the white queenside pawn-structure, and if he can then take the e4-pawn as well, this normally represents sufficient compensation. It is generally used by Black as a device to derail White's strategic plans. Of course, if White has castled queenside, it will be even stronger, and Black might not even need to win the e-pawn.
Suta - Stoica
Bucharest 1972
White is threatening either g4-g5 or J.g5xf6, with every chance to establish a minor piece on d5, but, as they say, it is Black to move:
The pawn cannot be taken because of 14...1B'b6+, but even if this tactic were not possible, the b-pawn would still be immune because capturing it would leave the e4-pawn with insufficient defence.
Just in time to avoid conceding the d5-square.
Stopping the white attack in its tracks. The weakness of White's king-side and the c2-pawn, fixed by the advance of Black's b-pawn, proved fatal.
White often plays an early a4 in the positional lines to restrain the black queenside, although even then, it often manages to advance!
Arencibia - Ivanchuk
Lucerne Wcht 1997
Black continued forcefully: 12...Sxc3! 13 bxc3 £ic5 14 i.xf6 £.xf6 15 Shel Wa5
White is already lost, as he will soon be mated.
16 e5 dxe5 17 fxe5 Ag5+ 18 &bl i.d5 19 &b3 ®xa3 20 ±xb5+ axb5 21 2xd5 <£ia4 0-1
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