Anatoli Karpov – the master of restriction
RESTRICTION
Restricting your opponent’s pieces is just as important as activating your own. The difference is that there are much less opportunities for restriction than there are for construction (creating something positive in your own position). According to the rules and the flow of the game, you are always forced to do something with your pieces, while you could theoretically completely ignore the units of your opponent. This difference makes the average club player sometimes lose sight of restrictive opportunities, turning restriction into a generic Elo-leak.
90. Can I prevent my opponent from gaining space by blocking his pawns with my pawns?
Pawns getting restricted by pawns is a common phenomenon. For instance, if White is intending to grab space by a2-a4-a5, Black often blocks this pawn by playing …a7-a5.
91. Can I block a pawn to mark it as a weakness?
Many of us know the move …c7-c5 in the Nimzoindian Samisch Variation. There, the pawn c4 is turned into a sitting duck and can be attacked at least four times by …Nc6-Na5, …Ba6, …Rc8 and the maneuver …Nf6-e8-d6. Sometimes, however, an otherwise healthy pawn can also be turned into a weakness by blockade. If White manages to push his pawn to h6, the pawn h7 is a severe liability in the endgame, where it can be attacked by many pieces, with Nf3-g5 being the most obvious way.
92. Can I prevent my opponent from using his pawns as a battering ram?
As we have just seen above, pawns can create a lot of damage when pushed deeply into the opponent’s half. A white pawn on h6 not only marks the pawn h7 as a long-term weakness, it also damages the safety of the king, if it happens to dwell on the kingside. For this reason, most of the time Black reacts to h2-h4-h5 with …h7-h6, blocking White’s dangerous pawn. Another example is the Karlsbad center, where White wants to cause damage to Black’s pawn structure with the famous minority attack b2-b4-b5. Black can stop the first wave of attack by …a7-a6, which White normally answers by the confirmative a2-a4. Oftentimes, Black will be unable to prevent b4-b5, but on some occasions he can react with the blockade …b7-b5. The weakness of the pawn c6 will be offset by the possibility to install a knight on c4. A more elegant, but hard to accomplish method is to place a knight on d6, which potentially leaves White without any active plan.
93. Can I block my opponent’s pawns with pieces?
There are many positions in chess, where blocking pawns with pieces is key. We already discussed the matter of blocking the IQP. Let’s assume the following pawn structure: a2, b3, c2(c4), e4(e5), f2, g2, h2 and Black’s pawns on a7, c6, d5, e6, f7, g7 and h7. As Black would like to gain more space on the queenside by playing …c6-c5, White will preferably block this pawn by means of Be3, Nc3-a4 and then moving either piece to c5.
94. Can I blunt an opponent’s bishop?
Bishops can be very effective on the long diagonal. Sometimes, however, they can simply be neutralized by pawns. A bishop on g2 can be rendered harmless by pawns on b7 and c6. A bishop on b2 can be blunted by the move …f7-f6. A more sophisticated example would the following: White’s pawns are located on a2, b2, c4, e3, f2, g2, h3 and Black’s on a7, b7, d6, e6, f7, g7 and h7. Now, a bishop on b2 could be neutralized by …d6-e5. The backward pawn d6 is a small price to pay for neutralizing the Bb2 and potentially also devaluating a knight on f3.
95. Can I prevent an opponent’s bishop from being liberated by moving my pawns?
In the Sveshnikov Sicilian, Black often activates his bad bishop by playing …Be7-g5. Sometimes, White can prevent this by playing h2-h4, keeping the poor bishop locked in.
96. Can I decrease the activity of my opponent’s pieces by restricting them with my pieces?
One example for this strategy would be moving a knight to the outpost c5, from where it would potentially dominate a bishop on c8.
97. Can I restrict my opponent’s bishop pair?
Knowing how to play with and against the two bishops is one of hundreds of skills you must acquire, when aspiring mastery in chess. Out of the four anti-bishop pair-strategies, two have to do with restriction. As the bishops crave open positions, you have to prevent just this from happening. Try to close or block the pawn structure as much as possible. The second restrictive strategy is less well known. One of the two bishops is unopposed by an enemy bishop. I coined the names “solitaire” or “libero” for this phenomenon. This solitaire is very dangerous, as it can dominate a whole color complex. Hence, your standard procedure would be to restrict this bishop by placing your pawns on its color. Simultaneously, you improve your own bishop by doing so.
98. How should I place my pawns when having a knight versus a bishop?
Basically, the principle of the previous point also applies here. Try to restrict your opponent’s bishop with your pawns. An exception would be, if these pawns could easily become “bishop-fodder” in the foreseeable future.
99. Can I deny my opponent’s knights of outpost?
For a knight to qualify as strong, there is a need for an outpost either close to the center or in the proximity of the enemy king. Denying the knights of outposts by restrictive actions is the right course of action. That way, you want to play with bishop versus knight or when wielding the two bishops.
100. Can I prevent an inconvenient exchange of pieces by means of restriction?
Imagine the following pawn structure: c4, d5, e5 versus c7, d6, e5. Here, Black often sits on a bad Be7 which wants to move to g5, mostly to get traded against White’s superior bishop. Preferably, White will prevent this either by playing Qd1-d2, h2-h4 or g2-g3, getting ready to answer …Bg5 by f2-f4. If after Qd1-d2, Black insisted by answering …h7-h6 (preparing …Be7-g5 one more time), White would have to finally resort to using his pawns. Another typical example is a French pawn structure, where Black wants to get rid of the bad French bishop by playing …b7-b6, intending to exchange White’s precious light-squared bishop by …Bc8-a6. White often prevents this by playing his queen to e2. If White’s bishop is still on f1, a standard procedure would be playing Bf1-b5+ Bc8-d7 / Bb5-d3. By forcing Black’s bishop to d7, the danger of the unfavorable exchange has been averted.
101. Can I decrease the activity of my opponent’s pieces by withdrawing targets?
A good piece is a piece which is unobstructed. An excellent piece, however, also needs targets to put pressure on. Only then does it have the maximal amount of effectiveness. Let’s imagine Black having a fianchettoed bishop on g7. If we as White could remove all potential targets from the long diagonal, the bishop would end up hitting nothing but thin air.
102. Can I decrease (or not increase) the activity of my opponent’s pieces by avoiding the possibility of a pawn exchange?
Let’s stick with the Bg7. In the King’s Indian, this bishop can turn into a problem for Black, as it is often obstructed by a rigid central pawn structure, with pawns on d6 and e5. Hence, White normally avoids playing f2-f4, as this would only vitalize Black’s problem piece.
103. Can I decrease the activity of my opponent’s pieces by preventing a pawn exchange?
Imagine the following Hedgehog-structure, where Black succeeded in conducting the pawn thrust …b6-b5: a2, b3, c4, e4, f3, g2, h3 versus a6, b5, d6, e6, f7, g7 and h7. Here, some of White’s pieces: Be2, Nd2 and Rc1. What would be Black’s key move here? It is …b5-b4! Imagine by contrast, if Black would take on c4 or would allowe White the option to capture on b5? Most of White’s pieces would come to live, while now, all of the mentioned pieces stare at the back of the pawn c4. Adding to that, Black will continue with a5-a4xb3, creating a soft pawn on b3, which will be pressurized by a knight on c5. By playing …b5-b4, Black created a beautiful outpost on the square c5 for this beast.
104. Can I decrease the activity of my opponent’s pieces by avoiding an exchange of pawns?
Imagine the following Hedhehog-structure, which normally ariyse from the Sicilian Kan, with white pawns on c4, e4 and f4 versus black pawns on d6 and e6. Now, White will often want to play the advance e4-e5, driving Black’s knight to e8. Black could now capture on e5 in order to isolate the resulting white pawn on that square. However, this only would open the f-file for White’s rook and, more importaly, the c1-h6 diagonal for the bishop. In the majority of the cases, Black should retreat with the knight without exchaning pawns on e5. The resulting pawn structure can be very tricky fot White and saw some nice victories for Black.
105. Can I restrict the opponent by means of a blockade sacrifice?
One special device to this end is called the “sealer-sweaper”, which comes in many different shapes and forms. Imagine a Modern Benoni-structure with White having pawns on d5, e4 and f4 (no c-pawn), while Black’s pawns are on c5 and d6 (no e-pawn). A standard procedure would now be to sacrifice a pawn by playing e5 dxe5/ f5. Now, the diagonal of the Bg7 is sealed, but also the e-file for the Re8 and the square e5 for the Nd7. As there is no pawn on d6 anymore (the sweeping part), we also have created a powerful passed d-pawn, which will likely be pushed to d6. Additionally, we have cleared the square e4, which turned into a beautiful outpost for our knights. Hence, the term should be “sealer-sweeper-clearer”, but admittedly, this would be a bit unwieldy.
106. Can I restrict my opponent’s pieces by means of a withdrawal sacrifice?
Here I can quote the famous game Fischer-Uhlmann, Buenos Aires 1960. White had a pawn on f4 and a bishop on h2, while Uhlmann had a pawn on g5. Fischer’s intention was to capture on g5, after which his bishop would have become a powerful force on the b8-h2 diagonal, with Uhlmann’s king being exposed on c8. Uhlmann now sacrificed his g-pawn by …g5-g4 and followed up with the blocking move …f6-f5. This cemented the pawn on f4 and turned the designed monster on h2 into a big pawn.
107. Can I provoke a self-restriction?
Let’s say, White is having pawns on h4, g2 and f3 plus a bishop on e2 versus Black having pawns on h5 and g4. As we can see, the bishop on e2 is very much alive with the pressure resting on Black’s pawn structure. What, if Black could make White play f3-f4 by tactical force? Then the Be2 would be much worse off and could turn into a very passive piece. Have in mind that tactics are not only used to deliver check mate or win material. More often, tactical operations are conducted with the aim to accomplish positional goals.
108. Can I restrict a key piece of my opponent?
By using the word key piece I don’t necessarily refer to a power house. It is true, in the Benoni-example above the main target of the sealer-sweeper was Black’s flagship on g7. However, a key piece can also be a problem piece, who’s fate can decide over the outcome of the game. Let’s take the Skandinavian Defense, for example. By playing 1…d5, Black exchanges the pawn e4, which is the greatest enemy of the Bc8. Normally, the square f5 is now a good location for the bishop, but when preparing for a game, I succeeded in finding a variation where the natural development move …Bc8-f5 turned out to be bad. My opponent played it anyways, as the development to g4 was impossible, and quickly found himself in a lost position.
109. Can I deprive a bishop of its flexibility?
Very often it is a good idea to play …h7-h6, when White has a bishop on g5, as this deprives the bishop of its flexibility. On g5 it applies pressure on the knight f6 (maybe through a pin), but could also be withdrawn to the queenside, in case it is needed there. After …h7-h6, White has to abandon one of these benefits. There are many examples where, after Bg5-h4, White faced problems on the dark squares on the queenside, with his bishop being excluded from that part of the board.
110. Can I exclude a piece from the battle?
The last example touched upon this topic, but there are far more extreme forms of it. In some pawn structures, you can force Black’s knight to a5 by playing d4-d5. Given, that the square c4 is inaccessible, the knight can only continue to b7. But with pawns on c5 and d6, there is no future for the knight either on the square b7 and it is stuck on the limbo axis a5-b7. Games have been won by White opening up the kingside and capitalizing on the fact, that he virtually could play with an extra piece in the area of the board which mattered.
