Diversion Motif

Middlegame Patterns

"The foundation of chess is the process of vision. Vision is defined as the ability to spot where everything under attack, yours and your opponent's, is located." ~ Gregory Levenfish

It is a good method to practice tactical exercises every day. You must train your brain to recognize common patterns that continuously repeat in practice. The main point is to build a vocabulary of chess patterns to help us find the best moves on the board.

Diversion

The main idea is to distract the attention of one defender, to gain an advantage either winning material or deliver checkmate.

1.Qxd5!                     1.Rd8+!                     1.Rd8+!

Hint: You should focus your attention mainly on the opponent's territory.

Try it yourself!

Famous combinations by Damiano, Boden, Reti and Capablanca. 

White's turn                     White's turn

White's turn                     Black's turn

A Mark To Remember

Do You Know Him?

" A player's success depends not only on the strength of the moves he makes, but also on how well he has thought out the other decisions he makes, such as the choice of opening variation, refusing a draw offer, determining the best moment to offer a draw, and so on." 

~ Mark Dvoretsky

I'm pretty sure, you DO! Even if not, then don't you worry as he left behind more than a handful of top-notch chess materials for all the aspiring and serious tournament players.  

Arguably one of the best, if not the best trainer in the chess world. His legacy is about 'competitiveness' - through enthusiasm, perseverance and hard work - reflecting the true him as a person and as a trainer. He is 'a gift' for all chess lovers.

Mark I. Dvoretsky (1947-2016)

To aptly describe Mark, let me note a quote from Steve Jobs:"My job is not to be easy on people. My job is to make them better." And his first attempt in sharing some game secrets through writing, emulate the same impressions. Since then, he never failed to amaze me in all his lectures and writings (manuals, book series and further works) toward chess training.

Now, let me share with you an important endgame tool from his first book (a personal favorite) 'Secrets of Chess Training', in relation to constructing a fortress. Inspired by this, i myself started to collect fortresses of practical value, which you'll be able to find below.

According to Dvoretsky, building a fortress is an important defensive method in the endgame. He also added, that some types of fortress known to theory should be remembered, since they can serve as beacons showing the way to safety in difficult situations.

'The Fortress'
Here's an example, where one side has a big superiority in the material department (and greater activity). Despite all that, the defender can confine himself to passive defense and still keep an indestructible position.

Fortress Known to Theory

A positional draw.

Two examples taken from my own collection...

One Rare Position

Still a draw.

Chekhover, 1947

White to play and draw.

I'll leave to you dear readers, to verify for yourself (as a task) and prove the positions shown will lead to immunity and a peaceful outcome.

Thank you Mark Dvoretsky, we will miss YOU!