"Attacking Technique" by Colin Crouch, 1996 ICE/Batsford, Figurine Algebraic, Softcover, 105pp., $13.50 "How to Attack in Chess" by Gary Lane, 1996 ICE/Batsford, Figurine Algebraic, Softcover, 128pp., $14.95 International Chess/Batsford has recently released two titles attempting to deal with the difficult subject of instructing the reader in the basics of attack. Both are by International Masters and approximately the same price. There the similarity ends. With his "Attacking Technique," International Master Colin Crouch has produced an outstanding effort that will definitely help the student better recognize attacking patterns and implement the theory of attack.. The material is divided into eight chapters: (1) Basics of the Kingside Attack; (2) Technical Chess and Fighting Chess; (3) Sacrifices and Combinations; (4) Piece Mobility: Breaking the Symmetry; (5) Piece Mobility: The Centre and the Flank; (6) The Initiative; (7) The Attack Goes Wrong; and (8) Quizzes. Illustrative games are given in full, with not only standard annotations, but also with pearls of wisdom designed to aid the student in recognizing attacking elements, patterns, etc. The result is a book that succeeds in its chosen objective very well. On the other hand, Lane's "How to Attack in Chess" leaves much to be desired. For starters, it usually presents game fragments, not the full game. Regular readers of our reviews already know that we have a strong preference, for many reasons, for the presentation of complete games. In this particular instance, it becomes very awkward for the student to set up each position that is to be studied. The games are introduced by shallow comments, much more conclusory than instructive. From "Attacking Technique"... To appreciate fully the nuances of technical chess, one has to appreciate that the technical phase is preceded by the fighting phase. Our first illustrative game is the one that first gave Morozevich the lead at the Lloyds Bank tournament. Playing White against an English grandmaster, he did not enter into any heavy theoretical battle, but instead played an offbeat opening which theory regards with disdain. One of the main principles of fighting chess is that you can win only if your opponent makes a mistake, and therefore the first objective is to cajole your opponent into error. In pursuit of this aim, all chessic means are fair; confuse him, out-book him, attack him, provoke him, bore him, or whatever. When however your opponent has made that critical mistake, you must forget about your arsenal of devious fighting methods, and must instead concentrate on letting attacking technique decide. Morozevich - Hebden London, Lloyds Bank 1994 Centre Game 1 e4 e5 2 d4 exd4 3 Qxd4 Nc6 4 Qe3 Nf6 5 Nc3 Bb4 6 Bd2 0-0 7 0-0-0 Re8 8 Qg3 The general feeling about this opening is that White has lost too much time with his queen to have any real chance of an advantage. Indeed theory suggests that Black could well be significantly better after 8...Rxe4!, e.g. 9 Bg5 Bxc3 10 Qxc3 h6, or 9 Bd3 Rg4 10 Qh3 d6!. Morozevich may well have had a significant improvement ready, or he may have been bluffing; it would stray from the point of the book to try too hard to find out. What is important is that Black has been caught off-guard by White's unusual opening, and makes a quiet move which gives White a definite advantage to play with. 8 ... d6?! 9 f3 White secures his centre, and thereby establishes an advantage in space. 9 ...Ne5 10 h4 Black's most important weakness is around his king, so White tries a kingside pawn prod. Often it is not enough to attack with pieces alone; it then becomes necessary to use a pawn advance to unsettle the opposing pawn structure and create some weak squares. Such weak squares are then liable to positional exploitation. 10 ...c6 11 h5 d5?! This must be regarded with suspicion. Black plays slowly, then fast; the change of tempo is inappropriate. Bringing another piece into play with 11....Be6 would have been sensible. 12 Nge2 Nc4 (See Diagram) A critical position. White is attacking on the kingside, certainly, but Black has a counter-attack against the white king which will not necessarily be easy to deal with. White has the obvious choice between the moves 13 h6 and 13 Bh6, but this choice has to be made with care. 13 h6! 13 Bh6 is met not by 13...g6? 14 Bg5!, which improves on the game continuation for White, but rather by 13...Ng4!, and if 14 fxg4, then 14...gxh6 when the possibility of ...Qg5+ leaves Black firmly in control on the dark squares. Never underestimate your opponent's defensive resources; *the more pieces that are flying around, the greater the chances for a resourceful counter-sacrifice.* 13...g6 14 Bg5 White is attacking the whole kingside, not just the king. This is extremely nasty. Black can create counterplay, but Morozevich is able to deal with it. 14...Qb6 15 Na4! And not 15 Bxf6??Bd6. 15...Qa5 16 Bxf6 Qxa4 17 Nc3! So that if the queen moves, then 18 Bxc4 and White is rid of Black's most dangerous minor piece. Morozevich must have foreseen this when he allowed the knight to land on c4 in the first place. 17...Bxc3 18 Bxc3 With some insightful play the young Russian has taken the game from the fighting stage to the technical stage. At first sight Black's game may not appear irretrievably poor; both kings are weak and both players have a queen and minor piece in the attack. Two factors work heavily in White's favour though. Firstly, Black's knight on c4 is easily exchanged, while the white bishop on c3 cannot be challenged; and secondly, Black's g7 square is irreparably weak. 18...Ne3 If 18...Qxa2, then 19 Bxc4 Qxc4 20 Qg5 followed by Qf6 and a quick mate. If in this line 19...dxc4, White must avoid the 'tactical' 20 Qe5?? Qal+! 21 Kd2 Qxdl+ followed by ...Rxe5, and should play instead 20 Qg5. *Flashy play is poor technique.* 19 b3 Qxa2 Surprisingly, the loss of this pawn does not matter. White has enough pieces to cover his king; Black hasn't! 20 Rd2 Qa3+ 21 Bb2 Qe7? The final mistake. 21...Nxf1 22 Rxf1 Qe7 has more fight to it, since if 23 exd5 cxd5 24 Rxd5 Be6 25 Qe5? then Black gains the advantage by means of 25...f6!. 25 Rel! is better, with the tactical possibility 25...Rad8? 26 Qe5 f6 27 Qxe6+! Qxe6 28 Rxe6 winning a piece. 25...f6 resists, but it is a miserable defensive task for Black. 22 Be2! Now the knight is also in danger. 22...dxe4 23 fxe4 Qxe4 24 Qg5 Always thematic. If 24...Qxg2, then 25 Qf6 Qxhl+ 26 Rdl and White wins. 24...Nd5 25 Rxd5 Qxd5 26 Qf6 Kf8 27 Bc4 1-0 In view of 27...Qf5 28 Ba3+ c5 29 Bxc5+ Qxc5 30 Qxf7#. So how does this game illustrate our theme? At first sight it looks a pretty complicated game with both players attacking hard, yet in the end White wins quickly and extremely convincingly. It looked like a hard fighting game until about move 24, but the finish was sudden. Without a massive blunder at a late stage, we must conclude that White had been much better for rather longer than at first appears. Our suggestion is that, in grandmaster terms at least, the game had been 'technical' since around move 12 or 13. With 13 h6! White was able to inflict massive damage on the dark squares around Black's king, and this proved to be the decisive weakness. White's basic plan was to attack this weakness with vigour, and totally uncompromisingly. He allowed Black to start a few skirmishes on the queenside, but these were little more than a distraction given that Black was attacking a normal castled king's position, rather than an already weakened position. Everything appeared complicated, but White operated on the general principle that if you enter complications with a positional advantage, you should emerge from complications with a positional advantage. Quiet play would have allowed Black into the game. Over the years, it has been notoriously difficult to attempt to teach the art of attack. Crouch's "Attacking Technique" does a very good job at identifying elements and instructing how they come together. It is clearly the book for choice.