Positional Decision Making in Chess

by Boris Gelfand

Positional Decision Making in Chess offers a rare look into the mind of a top grandmaster. In his efforts to explain his way of thinking, Boris Gelfand focuses on such topics as the squeeze, space advantage, the transformation of pawn structures and the transformation of advantages. Based on examples from his own games and those of his hero, Akiba Rubinstein, Gelfand explains how he thinks during the game.

Genres: Chess, Reference

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 17, 2015

Reviews

[Junta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once some pieces have been developed in a game of chess, play can be divided into two areas - tactical and positional.

The tactical aspect is the easier one - this is the short-term, material stuff. I play my queen there, and it's check; if I move my pawn here, you'll have to take it with your bishop, but then I can fork your king and queen with my knight; I'm going to sacrifice my rook so my queen can invade along the diagonal, forcing checkmate, and so on and so forth. The aim of the game in chess is to checkmate, but once you're past the beginner level, one of the players might resign the game because they can't avoid losing a piece. Through the use of tactics, one player might win some material (piece/s), which means they hold an advantage enough to win the game (i.e. they should eventually be able to checkmate the opponent). Tactics is like the punching and dodging in boxing, and the dribbling, passing and shooting in soccer; this is the action that is easily discernible to onlookers, and where the game is 'decided' in a practical context.

The positional aspect is trickier - this is the long-term, abstract stuff. I open up the position so my bishops become more effective; I accept doubled pawns to restrict your knights and pressure you down the half-open file; I exchange the heavy pieces so it will be more difficult for you to defend on both sides of the board in the endgame, and so on and so forth. As opposed to the tactical aspect, which has immediate implications due to a specific way some pieces are aligned to each other, the positional aspect is more general, focusing on things like how much space one has, what the pawn structure is like, how to transform an advantage of a pawn into a dominating position (and vice versa). The positional side in chess is like the footwork and ring position in boxing, and the general team strategy that might lead to an opening in soccer.

While there are many ways to work on and improve your tactics, for instance through solving lots of puzzles/exercises and assimilating new patterns, the positional side is harder to come by. How do you get better at long-term planning and gain a better understanding of the subtler side of chess? As you get better at chess, your tactics improve, but you also learn about all sorts of practical principles and tendencies; how to think during a game; what usually works in this sort of position; what are the important features in this position; when an exception might prove more important than the rule. Through experience, we often develop a better 'feeling' for the right move as well. One can learn a lot from listening to a stronger player talking about how they see the position on the board, what kind of things they're thinking as they contemplate what move to play next.

The best thing about this book is that the author, Boris Gelfand, is an elite grandmaster (what we call Super Grandmaster, or Super GM) who has been one of the best players in the world for over 25 years, and came within a whisker of becoming World Champion in 2012. A true gentleman and ambassador for the royal game who is utterly professional and always striving to improve, whilst enjoying the game of chess (see the second half of comment #4).

~Intermission~
Q: How many World Champions have there been in chess since the first official World Championship match in 1886?
A: 16
B: 26
C: 36
D: 46

A: only 16! Since the first World Champion was decided in a match between two players in 1886, qualification cycles have been held to determine the WC Challenger, who then plays the Champion in a match of multiple games (in recent times, 12 - historically, dozens) - one can become Champion only by beating the reigning Champion in a match. The current, 16th World Champion is a 25-year-old Norwegian GM called Magnus Carlsen, with WC matches now held every two years.

Now, Gelfand may not be as good at writing as he is with playing chess, so fellow GM and acclaimed author of chess books, Jacob Aagaard handled the writing part, putting Gelfand's ideas and thoughts onto the pages in an improved manner.

This book was a delight to read - I have read over a hundred chess books, and a number of them on positional play, but this one was the best I've read on this relatively high-brow aspect of chess. Gelfand elucidates his thoughts on his decision-making and general thought process over many of his games from the past, as well as games played by his idol, Akiba Rubinstein (one of the best players in the world in the early 20th century).
The chapters are divided as follows:
1) Playing in the Style of Akiba Rubinstein - 11
2) The Squeeze - 59
3) Space Advantage - 95
4) Transformation of Pawn Structures - 135
5) Transformation of Advantages - 209
Appendix: I Cannot Leave My House! Interview with Jacob Aagaard - 2012 - 265

What especially struck me in Gelfand's manner was his absolute focus on practical contexts, respecting the fact that computers may be stronger than humans but in a game between humans, what's important is how to maximise the chances of attaining or converting an advantage, whilst giving the opponent the maximum chance to err and commit a mistake. I was truly impressed by his pragmatic and relentless manner in examining his own play - you can imagine that after every game of chess he plays, he analyses it for hours and hours, in search of the truth. He shares many of his experiences as a player from the past, as well as his thoughts on his opponents, between the games, while in the game analyses, he examines many variations and ideas that are important to the understanding of the game, rooted in solid positional foundations - he doesn't waste time on what one wouldn't humanly consider over the board, whilst covering all the bases. A true treat for chessplayers, as we can follow the thoughts of a top player across 34 games over nearly 300 pages.

I am a decent player, but my positional understanding and thought-process during the game have been weaknesses in my play - reading this book, I already feel like a better player, which is rare with chess books (they usually take more time to reap dividends). In fact, in a game I played last week, I won it in a positional (!) manner thanks to reading through a particular game of his in the book, where the same opening occurred - although the opponent was weaker than me and didn't put up strong resistance, it felt great to have expanded the scope of my chess so quickly thanks to this book. The game went as follows:

Me (2393) - Opponent (2093), 20.02.16
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nf3 Nbd7 4. Nc3 e5 5. e4 Be7 6. Be2 c6 7. O-O O-O 8. h3 a6 9. d5 Nc5 10. Qc2 a5 11. Be3 Qc7 12. Nd2 Ne8 13. Bg4 Bxg4 14. hxg4 Qd7 15. Nf3 Na6 16. g5 c5 17. g3 Nec7 18. Kg2 Nb4 19. Qe2 f5 20. exf5 Qxf5 21. a3 Nc2 22. Nh4 Nxe3+ 23. fxe3 Qd7 24. Qh5 Rxf1 25. Rxf1 Rf8 26. Rxf8+ Bxf8 27. g6 h6 28. Nf5 b5 29. Qg4 Qe8 30. Nxb5 Nxb5 31. cxb5 Qxb5 32. Nxh6+ Kh8 33. Nf7+ Kg8 34. Qh5 Qxb2+ 35. Kh3 1-0
(To play through the game, go here).

If you want to read a more comprehensive review on the book, please read this review by Australian GM (and great writer), David Smerdon.

I've finished reading this book, but now I'm going to read it again using a physical chess set to play the moves over, to absorb the content more deeply - I'm looking forward to the subsequent works in this multi-volume series. I might add a star to this rating once I see even further benefits from reading it in tournaments this year. :-)

February 25, 2016

[Jesse Kraai · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are several diamonds in this book. My personal favorite is an ancient Soviet quote from Stean about the nature of space advantages. Any time Gelfand is forced to say what he thinks in human words he generally says something useful. Unfortunately much of this wisdom is obscured by computer variations and thinking that no player would ever find. Why? Because it makes the analysis of the game more complete? No one knows! And sometimes we digress into a chatty this and that. But still, thankful that I went through it. Many of the games were amazing, and I admire the books central tenet: you gotta have a player to follow, whose play you understand.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always prefer when author arranges his games in thematic groups (in this case:
Playing in the Style of Akiba Rubinstein
The Squeeze
Space Advantage
Transformation of Pawn Structure
Transformation of Advantages)
instead of sorting them by years. This increases the teaching value of the whole book.
For the 1 d4-players this book is a must read!

[Nodirbek Abdusattorov]

very good book

[Ramesh Abhiraman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quality Chess has, with help from Jacob Aagard, produced two books by GM Boris Gelfand in 2015, "POSITIONAL DECISION MAKING IN CHESS" and "DYNAMIC DECISION MAKING IN CHESS".

With two to four diagrams a page, running to 266 pages together with an interview at the end, the book's games can be gone through faster than the size suggests.

Having said which, in terms of chess content, the lessons of this book will be inaccessible to all but the strongest of chess players, perhaps 2000 or 2200 up. The reason for this is Gelfand's unique approach to the game. As a heir in style to Akiba Rubinstein, he presents his game alongside the great magic-wielder with rook endings, showing how to apply a squeeze, how to use space, how not to hurry, how to transform pawn structures and how to transform advantages.

The games are all from praxis at the highest level. Some analysis is presented here for the first time, but this is higher quality and more detailed analysis than you will find, for example, in New In Chess.

Some will find the chapter on "Squeeze" a bit dry.

Gelfand throughout provides sidebars, anecdotes and honest personal impressions of former Soviet greats, trainers, little-known figures. Also he unstintingly gives praise to some GMs like the Chinese Wang Yue and his endgame skill (bishops). His respect for the game and for its top practitioners such as GM Anand and GM Svidler is evident.

He is at pains to point out how computers spoil chess. For one to improve, one must watch chess games unaided by computers. His examples illustrating what the computer understands and does not, are illuminating.

He says about one game he annotes for 9(!) pages, Gelfand - Wang Yue (Medias 2010):
"This is the next critical moment. An amusing thing is that at move 40 my computer gave me +5.00 but at the same time it could easily have been a fortress, making the human evaluation 0.00 (though I had no fear that this was actually a fortress). It is therefore not relevant to consider this position from the aspect of computer evaluaton. White is better, but he will have to do something to break through. This might reduce the computer's appreciation of the position, but winning the game is about delivering the deadly blow not about mathematics. [..] I think that part of whatever success I have had in chess is because I have a decent feeling for when this sort of advise if useful and I follow it when it makes sense"

There is, scattered through the book, sufficient biographical information and ungrudging chess and personal opinion given by Gelfand, enhanced by some family pictures and a drawing by his daughter of a bespectacled Gelfand at a chessboard.

What is great about the book is Gelfand's style of explaining almost every key position in a high level GM match, and his penchant for introducing a related game or a historical or personal anecdote.

I found the book idiosyncratic, at times verbose, from a chessic point of view extremely difficult (the choice of games were typically long, long term maneuvering affairs with little tactics), but not hard to read quickly.

Given GM Gelfand's great and illustrious career, one must hail the publication of these two books after his most memorable games were got out by Olms. But I suspect, it would take a very strong reader rated Karpov -500 to absorb all of this. [Review cross-posted on LibraryThing]