SPORTS

Chess Game Analysis: Match 3

by Theo Dmochowski-Spoor

On 1/22/25, the chess team lost its lead. This was our first loss of the season, with an unfortunate 1-4 score. The match was our second against South Brunswick, which we previously defeated. Our match record is now even, but in tiebreaks, due to having won fewer games overall during the season, they will take first place. Second Place in the division is of course no small achievement, but it is a disappointing outcome, since the end of the season is rapidly approaching. Our only win was on the first board, which is analyzed below. This was the finest game I’ve ever played, a true positional masterpiece on the theme of domination. I have included a guide to understanding chess notation here. I have also added ratings to the game title. Ratings are a system used to evaluate the relative strength of two players; the higher the rating, the better the player.

First Board — Theodore Dmochowski-Spoor(2214) — South Brunswick Player (2040)

1. e4 e5 

This is the ancient main line of chess. White grabs control of the center, and black immediately takes an equal share. I was aiming for the Ruy Lopez Opening, which happens to be one of my favorite’s and my opponent’s weapon with the black pieces. 

2. Nf3 Nc6 

White develops and attacks the enemy center, black defends it. Also possible is 2…Nf6, which is the Petrov’s Defense, which makes no attempt to keep the e pawn, and instead counterattacks white’s pawn. 

3. Bb5 a6 

3. Bb5 defines the Ruy Lopez. White renews their pressure on the black e pawn. However, white does not yet threaten to win a pawn. This variation has developed a reputation for being the best not because of Bb5 itself, but because of the way the game develops. 3…a6 is the Morphy Defense, but it is so firmly entrenched as the main line that this name is rarely used. The point is to kick the bishop around, gaining tempo, and build up a space advantage on the queenside. This will manifest itself in the game. The tactical justification of 3…a6 is that 4. Bxc6 doesn’t win a pawn: 4. Bxc6 (attempting to remove the sole defender of the e pawn) dxc6!(but not bxc6?, for reasons that will soon become clear) 5. Nxe5? Qd4! Black forks the knight and e pawn, winning back the material. Black gets a good position here, with the bishop pair,  an open center to emphasize the value of said bishop pair, and a slight lead in development, so white must seek other options. The reason that 4…dxc6 is necessary is that after 4…bxc6 5. Nxe5 Qd4 is impossible, so white wins a pawn. 4. Bxc6 is still playable, but not as popular as the move I played because white doesn’t truly have a reason to surrender the bishop pair so early. 

4. Ba4 b5!? 

4…Nf6 is more logical, but 4…b5 is also good. The idea is to avoid Bxc6 at any moment, but this isn’t really a problem for black, and now black can never enter the Open Ruy Lopez (which emerges after 4…Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4). In other words, black is simply limiting their options, while increasing white’s. However, both players were aiming for the Closed Ruy Lopez (which normally emerges from 4…Nf6 5. O-O Be7), so this nuance is moot.  

5. Bb3 Be7 6. O-O Nf6

This is an attempt from Black to transpose into the closed variation. I had the option to play 6. d4 instead, but I kept the game along familiar lines. 

7. Re1 O-O 

After 7. Re1, the game officially returns to the main line — we have transposed into the Closed Variation of the Ruy Lopez. 7…d6 was also possible, but 7… O-O gives black the extra option of playing the Marshall Attack after 8. c3: 8… d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Rxe4 c6 12. d4 Bd6 13. Re1 Qh4 14. g3 (but not 14. h3?? Bxh3! 15. gxh3 Qxh3, white must play 16.Re4 to avoid losing massive amounts of material to avoid getting checkmated) 14…Qh3. My opponent didn’t take this option. 

8. c3 d6 

  The point of 8. c3 is twofold: to prepare d2-d4 and to give the bishop an escape square after the potential move Na5. White wants to avoid losing the bishop pair, especially their light square bishop, which will become a star piece as the game goes on. Black’s c6 knight on the other hand, will be hard pressed to find a better square. This is because after d2-d4, the c3 pawn reduces the effectiveness of the knight’s pressure n d4 and also takes away the b4 square.  

9. h3!? Na5 

This is an interesting sequence. The point of 9.h3 is to prevent 9…Bg4, which proves annoying after 9. d4 because black gets good pressure against the white center because they can remove the f3 knight, the center’s main protector. Na5 is the Chigorin variation, the oldest attempt to make use of the bad c6 knight. It is misplaced on a5, since the edge of the board is the worst spot for a knight, but it wins a tempo on the light square bishop, and allows the mobilization of the black c pawn. 

10. Bc2 c5 

White saves their bishop, black mobilizes the queenside pawns. At this point, the battle lines have been drawn. White has a choice between several fundamental plans, which emerge from 2 fundamental decisions. First, white must choose whether to close or open the center, and then they must choose whether to play on the kingside, queenside, or in the center(this last option is only possible if they open the center). All these plans have potential upsides and potential downsides, and which one a player implements is largely a matter of taste. However, there are certain circumstances that make each plan more or less effective. Before anything else though, they must strike back in the center. 

11. d4 

White has claimed control of the center with pawns on d4 and e4, and will begin to squeeze black’s cramped position. However, for the moment black has a lead in development, no real weaknesses, and can try to claim the initiative. White’s forces are a little sleepy, and it will take some time to rouse them. They must create quick counterplay, before white’s pieces awaken, or they will be condemned to a passive defense because of their serious space disadvantage. This is a classic modern opening duel: will white’s static positional advantages dominate the game, or will black’s dynamic advantages allow them to break the bind and stomp white’s army before they have a chance to enter the game? Black has a couple of plans, and problems they need to solve: first of all, the a5 knight is bad. They dream of going to the c4 square, where they will control white’s camp and can potentially maneuver to the center, or to b6, where they would support the d6-d5 advance, another of black’s key plans. Second, they can advance on the queenside, using their queenside pawn majority to create a passed pawn. Third, they can open the c file with an eventual cxd4, and then use that file for their rooks to create counterplay, while also weakening white’s grip on the central squares. If white allows it, they would like to free their position by taking twice on d4 and then playing d5, but this is only possible if white cannot respond with e5, keeping the position closed, attacking the f6 knight, and opening up the light square bishop towards the black king. Black also has the option to play c5-c4 at some point, clamping down on the queenside, and then if this part of the board becomes closed, to play f7-f5, beginning play on the kingside. After c5-c4, the knight can no longer go to c4, but the c5 square opens, and it often prefers this post anyway. Often, white will try to maneuver a knight to f5, so black also often plays g6, weakening the dark squares around their king, but strengthening the light squares(which is especially important because of the powerful white light square bishop) and controlling f5. Black can then try to solve the problem of the dark square bishop, which is currently stuck behind the central pawns, via the maneuver Re8, Be8, and Bg7, which also helps defend the dark squares, which were weakened by the move g6. The rook will be active along the e file if black gets the chance to play exd4, and the move g6 also helps support the e5 advance. Okay, so that’s a lot to take in, but it’s really important, so read it a few times if you have to. Black can’t implement any of these plans immediately because white is threatening 12. dxc4(for example, 11…Nc4? 12. dxc4 dxc4 13. Nxe5 and white wins a pawn). 

11…cxd4?! 

My opponent thought about this move for a whole minute. I was surprised, since this is still the opening phase of the game, and I expected my opponent to follow opening theory. Clearly, he didn’t know it, and furthermore has impatient tendencies (which I suppose I could have guessed, he played the exchange variation of the French defense in our last game) and a lack of positional understanding. The problem with taking on d4 immediately is that white has not yet played Nbd2, so now after 12.cxd4 the c3 square becomes available for the knight, which increases white’s influence on the queenside. In other words, this helps white awaken their forces, something black should have tried to avoid. However, as I mentioned, black’s plan of cxd4 is a major part of the opening, but black should wait until white commits the knight to the less active d2 square before removing the pawn from c3. This plan can be carried out via the main move in the variation: 11…Qc7!. There then could have followed 12. Nbd2 and only now 12…cxd4, followed by 13. Cxd4 Nc6. The knight was bad on c6 a couple moves ago, but now that the c pawn has disappeared, it places stronger pressure on d4 (but still isn’t excellent and needs to be rerouted). The second point of 11…Qc7 is the x-ray defense of the e pawn, which now stays defended after 12. dxc4 dxc4, a sequence which white usually doesn’t play so early because it frees black’s pieces early, without giving white anything special. It should be clear at this point that the opening battle is marked by subtle nuances and maneuvering — both sides are fighting to restrict their opponent’s pieces while activating their own. Impatience in such a battle can prove deadly, as it did here. After 11…Qc7, I wouldn’t have played 12. Nbd2, which is the main move (see the line above), but 12. d5, closing the center. This is because I prefer closed positions, and am willing to make a (very) slight concession to keep black from opening the position with 12…cxd4 after Nbd2. I prefer the plan of closing the position for a couple of reasons. First, it secures white’s space advantage in the center. Second, it limits black’s options because they can never take twice on d4 and play d5, so they’re forced to keep their backward d pawn. The downside to this is that they keep their central control and the backward d pawn cannot be easily attacked (because it is a center pawn and the center is closed), so it usually won’t matter until the endgame. Third, it restricts the light square bishop on the long diagonal (so Bb7 will never be a strong move), and it controls c6, so the knight cannot easily retreat from a5. Fourth, I just like closed positions. It’s a personal preference. I think that after this game I will switch to 12. Nbd2, as this game illustrated the value of delaying d5 very well. The downside of the immediate  12. d5 is that it breaks the tension early, similar to 11…cxd4 (but not as bad). d5 is strongest when black has already committed to Bb7, since the bishop loses active possibilities on the long diagonal (it can only stare at the central pawn chain, which is effectively a brick wall), but black has already spent a tempo putting it there. It becomes even stronger if black has returned the knight to c6, since it then gains a tempo as well. In such a case, black loses so much time that white’s sleepy pieces have time not just to wake up, but to shower and have breakfast as well. 

12. cxd4 Nc6 

The knight returns to the game with pressure on the d pawn. 

13. Nc3

I have already discussed that the knight is more active on this square than on d2, but why? To understand this, one must understand the entire position — I have touched on white’s plans, but it is time to go into detail. First off, the position is still flexible at the moment; the c file is open, but white has not committed to closing the center with d5 or to opening it entirely with dxe5. Eventually, they will need to choose, but, as we have already seen, they will wait until the most favorable possible circumstances to enact one of these plans. Generally it is not a good idea to open up the position when your opponent has a lead in development, and the c file is already open, so dxe5 really doesn’t make sense, and won’t unless white can win the d pawn. Black’s pieces are more active and therefore would make better use of the open lines than white’s. This is especially true because the pawn structure would become symmetrical, so the plans for both sides would become identical. The same holes and breakthrough points would exist for both sides, but black’s pieces are simply better placed to make use of them. Therefore white will aim for d5 in this position. Once the position is closed, white must decide between kingside play and queenside play. The queenside is more open, so it makes sense to utilize this side of the board. To play on the kingside, white would have to maneuver the queen’s knight to the kingside (which takes at least three moves: Nc3-e2-g3 or Nbd2-f1-g3), try to open up lines on that side of the board with f2-f4 (which takes at least two moves, since the f3 knight must move before the f pawn is allowed to), open up the light square bishop with e4-e5 after f2-f4, maneuver the queen to the kingside, probably shift the rook to f1, probably play Bg5-xf6 to remove the knight from the defense, and somehow also deal with black’s plans at the same time. In other words, it will take at least 6 moves, and probably closer to 10 or 12 moves to even begin an attack on the kingside. This is no bueno. Black’s plans on the queenside will obviously happen faster. If this were white’s only option, they would lose.  However, they have a far more powerful plan: queenside play, which can happen immediately. I will not go into detail now, for the game demonstrates this idea perfectly. 

13…Bb7?! 

A serious positional mistake. 

In other many variations of the Closed Ruy Lopez, the bishop seeks activity on this diagonal, especially when black hasn’t played c5, so if white plays d5 then black can play c6 to break the bind. I mentioned this very situation before — a bishop on b7 and a knight on c6 — the perfect moment for d5! 

Better was 13…Bd7, with the idea of 14…Rc8, utilizing the open file. Here, white is slightly better but the position hovers around equality. Now white has a clear advantage. 

14. d5! Na5

The light squares are completely bound, and black is saddled with 2 terrible pieces and one bad one. Namely, these are the light square bishop(which is totally useless and merely obstructing the other pieces), the knight on a5 (In the words of Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch, “a knight on the edge stands badly”), and the dark square bishop(which is simply not playing a role and cannot easily enter the game). The problem begins with the wretched knight. The knight is not only on the edge, but totally stuck there . It dreams of getting to c4, which appears to be only one move away, but the game will show that this is mere fantasy. The knight is pathetic, but the bishop is outright  obnoxious. This piece must eventually return to c8, as it cannot bypass the wall of pawns in the center and restricts literally all of black’s activity. The rooks are obstructed if they try to use the b file, and the knight cannot retreat to b7(which is a significant factor, as we shall later see. This pathetic shift gives a sorry impression, and one cannot help but visualize the angry stares from the rest of black’s army. It might as well have stayed on c8, but instead it has consumed two whole moves going back and forth! Meanwhile, white has almost completely unraveled their army. The Bishop on e7 is just classically bad according to Capablanca’s motif: bishops of the same color as your center pawns belong outside the pawn chain, for they will be restricted by it. Even outside the pawns, bishops of the same color as the center pawns are almost always less useful than a bishop of the opposite color. A notable exception to this is the white light square bishop in the Ruy Lopez, which is key for protecting the center while white tries to get their pieces into the game, and later for attacking the king. It is temporarily misplaced behind the center pawns, but can emerge via the f2-f4 and e4-e5 advances. 

Na5 was a slight inaccuracy, since the knight becomes completely stuck very soon. The computer recommended 14…Na7 with the idea of Nc8-b6-c5. 

I’ve really been talking up the idea of domination, but I admit that during the game I was unsure. I am used to closing the center and playing on the kingside (attacking the king is more fun), but here I clearly had to play on the queenside. My lack of experience here made me nervous, but I had a plan and implemented it very accurately.

15. a4! 

I attach an exclamation mark here for my pride in finding this move. a2-a4 is a typical pawn break in the Ruy Lopez, with the idea of creating a weakness on the queenside by isolating one of the black pawns (either the a pawn, if black plays bxa4, or the b pawn if white is allowed to play axb5 and black must play axb5) and breaking up black’s queenside space advantage. I have rarely played this move, as I am used to trying to organize a kingside attack. The tactical justification of this move is that black play Nc4 because of the threat of 16. axb5 axb5 17. Rxa8 Qxa8 18. Nxb5 (here the knight’s role on the c3 square is fully evident), winning a pawn. The computer points out that 16. b3!? Nb6 17. axb5 axb5 18. Rxa8 Qxa8 19. Nxb5 is more accurate, and maybe I would have found this if my opponent played Nc4. I only needed one winning line to justify 15. a4, so I didn’t need to calculate anything but the first line prior to arriving at the position. Because of this, the pawn must be protected or moved. I wondered if black should sacrifice the pawn to free themselves from the bind, but didn’t calculate any lines in which they did so since I would just be up a pawn.

15…Qd7 

Defending the pawn. I expected 15…b4 16. Na2. I didn’t need to calculate further because white clearly wins a pawn in this line. However, this was my opponent’s best chance. After 15…b4 16. Na2 b3! 17. Bxb3 Nxb3 18. Qxb3, white has won a pawn, but black has traded their wretched knight for white’s valuable bishop, and can use the tempi white must spend to return the a2 knight to the game to play Bc8 and solve the bad bishop problem as well. As it turns out, black’s complete paralysis is worth far more to white than a pawn, and Qd7 only ties black’s most valuable piece to the vulnerable b pawn. My opponent clearly still dreamed of Nc4, but I put a permanent end to this ambition. 

16. b3! 

I admit that I did not find this move quickly. I was slightly caught off guard by 15…Qd7, since 15…b4 seemed so obvious. I thought for about 2 minutes, trying to figure out how to continue. The position is extremely complicated, as all of the pieces are still on the board. It’s difficult to see everything, and easy to wonder if you’ve missed something. I couldn’t find a way to make quick progress, but I had the initiative and didn’t want to surrender it by allowing my opponent to free themselves. This sentiment was largely unnecessary, as it turns out that all of the moves I was considering retained an advantage. However, playing passively is a slippery slope — if you lose sight of your plan, it is quite likely that you will make the position worse with every move, losing your advantage or even giving it to your opponent. Ultimately, my decision was made when I realized that the knight was completely stuck. If I could prevent it from escaping to c4, then it would have nowhere to go and I can try to capture it and win a piece. This also interferes with my opponent’s plan while improving my own position, a concept known as prophylaxis. I now had three plans in motion: to reduce my opponent’s mobility with the bind, to create a weak pawn on the queenside and then attack it, and to trap the knight and attempt to win it, tying my opponent’s pieces  to defending the knight, thus diverting them from defending the pawn. 

16…Rfb8!? 

I was highly impressed by this move after the game. It didn’t seem like much to me when I was playing, but I was surprised to find out that it was my opponent’s best move. However, it really isn’t too hard to find when one realizes the extent of black’s immobility. The most natural move is 16…Rfc8, but this prevents the move Bc8, so black must eventually move this rook again anyway. Also, Rfb8 brings the rook to the queenside, which is where the battle is being fought, and after black plays Bc8, the rook will help defend the b pawn. There are a further two tactical reasons for this move: The rook on the a file cannot be moved to the b or c file.  16…Rab8? 17. axb5 reveals the white rook’s pressure on the a5 knight, winning at least two pawns.  Rfb8 was correct, but evidently my opponent found it for the wrong reason…

17. Bd3 bxa4?! 

17. Bd3 adds more pressure to the b5 pawn and threatens to win it. My opponent clearly still wanted to win, and was not ready to concede material just yet. He probably expected 18. bxa4?, after which all of black’s problems are solved. The knight can come to c4, the rook is strong on the open b file, and black doesn’t have any weaknesses. The bishop on b7 is still bad, but black is more than compensated by his control of the queenside files. Unfortunately, white has a much better reply. 

18. Rxa4 

Now all black has done is open up the a file (as in the “a” file, this is not a typo), activating white’s rook. White now has a winning advantage. The knight is under attack and white is threatening to win a piece. 

18. Qc7 

The most natural move, but the computer thinks that 18…Bc8, simply giving up the knight, with the justification that after 19. Rxa5 Qc7 (forking the knight on c3 and rook on a5) 20. Ra4 Qxc3 21. Bc4 (now the black queen has no safe squares to run to) Bd7 22. Re3 Nxe4 23. Rxc3 Nxc3 (forking the white queen and rook) 24. Qc2 Nxa4 25. bxa4, which is quite amusing, reaching a position I have displayed below

Analysis Diagram

Black is only down 1 point of material, which yes, is technically better than losing a piece(which is three points of material), but on the other hand, they have lost their queen. It is not so easy for a human to play all of this, as giving up one’s queen in a losing position is akin to resigning. Both the tactics involved and the end position demonstrate the inner beauty of chess. It is too bad that my opponent did not play this. 

19. Bd2 

The purpose of this move is twofold. First, the c3 knight must be defended. Second, white threatens to move the knight, revealing the bishop’s pressure on black’s knight — a tactic called discovery. 

19…Bc8 

Played at the correct moment — now white must play very accurately to win. White cannot move the white knight because of the threat of 20…Nxb3, which wins a pawn and solves black’s problems handily. White must find a way to defend this pawn and keep the pressure, while keeping black’s mobility as restricted as possible. The move is not so obvious if one isn’t already thinking along the lines of domination, but I had been paralyzing my opponent for 30 minutes at this point, so the move quickly came to me.

20. Ra3!?  

A move which makes quite the impression. It is suddenly obvious that despite the bishop’s movement, black is still completely stuck. This was white’s only good move. 20. Bc2?! reduces the pressure. I will show the difference in the note to black’s next move. 

20… Bd8 

Better was to rescue the knight with 20…Nb7. The difference between 20. Ra3 and 20. Bc2 is revealed here. White must keep control of b5 and a6. After 20. Ra3 Nb7 21. b4 a5 22. Qa1 Qd8, white can play 23. Rb1!,  whereas after 20. Bc2 Bd7 21. Ra3 Nb7 22. b4 a5 23. Qa1 Qc8, black has won a tempo for Bd7 and white cannot play 23. Rb1 because of 23…axb4, but must instead play 23. bxa5 Bd8 24. a6 Nc5 25. Be3 Nxa6, when black wins back the pawn and is totally fine.  There are nuances, but it all boils down to white not losing a tempo, and keeping control of b5 and a6, where they will eventually put their b pawn and try to promote it. 

21. Ne2 

The computer says that 21. Qc2 was better, but my plan has been to move the knight for several moves, so I didn’t even consider this line. The point of 21. Qc2 is 21…Nb7 22. b4 a5 23. Ra1, where play is similar to in the game and in the lines in the previous note, but with a rook a1 instead of a queen, which is slightly stronger because the queen is more flexible not being tied down in the battery on the a file. 

21… Nb7

Finally! The knight must be saved from the threat of 22. Bxa5. The only other move was to defend the knight with 21…Qc5, after which 22. b4 wins material by forking the queen and knight. Black seems to be making some progress, the light square bishop is not such an obstruction, the black knight is ready to jump to c5, and white hasn’t won any material. 22…Nc5 is possible, black’s rook will become very strong on the b file, attacking the isolated white b pawn. How can white possibly maintain the bind? 

22. b4!! 

The knight is truly cursed. The b pawn proves to be the bane of its existence. This pawn has kept it from achieving both its dreams; first it kept it off c4, and now it keeps it from c5! 22.b4 is the only move that maintains white’s advantage. Black’s pieces haven’t once advanced beyond the fifth rank, and now they are all huddled helplessly in the corner.  Black can hardly breathe. 

23… a5 

A final attempt to break out. 

24. Qa1! 

Pinning the pawn, thus further reducing black’s mobility. Every move binds them more, until they finally break. 24. bxa5? is obviously wrong: 24…Nxa5 and black is free. White’s advantage is the absolute suffocation of the black pieces, and one inaccurate move allows them to free themselves. My opponent had spent so much time trying to find a way to free themselves that they now had only a minute left on their clock. 

24…Bd7? 

A blunder due to time trouble. My opponent finally cracked under the pressure. This move doesn’t really have a point, but was simply made to avoid losing on time. Nothing will save black, but 24… Qe7 was more tenacious, after which white had many options, but the plan is to play Rb1, Be3, and either b5 or bxa6.

25. Rc1 Qb6 

The queen’s only safe square. 

25. Be3! Nc5?!

25…Nc5 was the only way to avoid losing the queen. The only square the queen can move to without being instantly captured is b4, but the queen is then completely trapped: 25…Qxb4 26. Rb1!. The computer prefers this to black’s move in the game, but a human would never make this decision. The queen is too valuable and it appears that black loses less material this way. 

26. bxc5 Qc7 

26…dxc5 was better. The rest of the game is trivial from a purely chess perspective, but both of us were running low on time. My opponent was practically playing on the increment alone — he only had 12 seconds left on his clock (I had about five minutes). 

27. cxd6 Qxd6

I chose to open the position to emphasize the better placement of my pieces and my material advantage. The open lines may give black greater mobility, but my opponent had neither the temp, the time, nor the material to make use of this. 

28. Nxe5 Qe7 29. Bc5 Qe8 30. Qd4 

First I win another pawn. Then bring my pieces to bear on the kingside. 

30…Bc7 31. Nxd7 Qxd7

Now the concluding attack on the king begins. The plan is simple: my pawns advance, increasing my space advantage, thus increasing my mobility and restricting my opponent, while also gaining tempo on my opponent’s pieces. Then my queen and rook will swing to the kingside and checkmate the black king.

32. d6 Bd8 33. e5 Ne8 34. Qe4 (threatening mate) g6 (preventing mate) 35. Nf4 (threatening 36. e6 and eventually Nxg6) Ng7 (preventing e6) 36. Bc4 (pinning the f7 pawn, preparing Nxg6) Bg5 37. Nxg6!! Hxg6 (37…Bxc1?? 38. Ne7+ ) 38. Qxg6 Bxc1? (now checkmate cannot be avoided) 39. Rg3! 

39…Bh6 40. Qxh6 Kf8 41. Qxg7+ (Qh8# was better, but my move is far more obvious and I was low on time) Ke8 42. Qg8#

I consider this to be the finest game I have ever played. I have played prettier sacrifices and more interesting combinations, but never a positional masterpiece such as this. It is fascinating that despite the complexity of the position and complete lack of piece exchanges, black was completely unable to move. They were passive from beginning to end. This is a rare instance, but an extremely thematic one that is difficult to obtain against such a strong opponent — rated over 2000. Harmony is key in chess, and this game illustrates the value in disrupting your opponent’s harmony, preserving your own, and methodically restricting your opponent's mobility. Former World Championship Challenger Dr. Seigbert Tarrasch believed that “In every cramped position there lies the germ of defeat.” Today, we know that conceding space is a viable strategy — as in the Alekhine’s Defense and Hedgehog System, such a strategy requires patience and the ability to pounce on every opportunity that comes your way.