The Chess Dog Journal

Chess Tactics 101, Lesson # 4: TRIZ and Chess

I always enjoy finding connections between different aspects of life.  Recently, the position below presented an interesting example of this.  Try and find the fastest path to victory and then read on to see how this position links back to my work life.

[Note: To try your answer, click on the piece you want to move, then click on the square you want to move it to.  The solution will appear after you pick the correct move or after three incorrect tries.]

In my work life, I am immersed in innovation.  When I saw this problem, it immediately made me think of an innovation methodology named TRIZ (a Russian acronym that translates as Theory of Inventive Problem Solving).  TRIZ contains many tools for finding innovative solutions to problems, among these are the TRIZ Inventive Principles.  Without getting into the details of TRIZ, I saw that one of the TRIZ Inventive Principles contained the key to finding the best solution to this problem.  In particular, Inventive Principle number 13 is “Inversion”.  The idea of inversion is that when the obvious way to do something doesn’t work, the solution can be found sometimes by inverting your approach.

In the problem above, most players would jump to grabbing the 2nd rank to begin their attack.  While this works because white is already in trouble, the best path is to turn around your thinking and grab the g file as a clearing maneuver to allow the queen to enter the fray.

We have all seen positions where we have a choice of tactical plans to execute our strategy.  Sometimes, the tactical plan seems to just stop short of achieving the goal.  In these cases, it is worth asking if there is a way to invert your thinking.  In the problem, it involved flipping between rank and file thinking.  In another position you may find that a move order inversion can change the dynamics of the position.

I think this concept has broad application in practical chess.  What variations on this theme have you seen?

Don’t Stop Playing Until The Game Is Done

“It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” – Yogi Berra

Admit it.  We’ve all been there.  After a carefully executed opening and tense middle game, you reach a position that is easily won.  You breathe a sigh of relief and embark confidently on the road to certain victory.  But, something happens on the way to the win.  Your brain takes a holiday, you make an absurd move, and there it is—in a moment you have blundered away the game only to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.

I was chatting to my friend, Mark Kaprielian, about this syndrome the other day as he recounted a situation from a game of his.  I understood the issue all too well having been on both sides of this sort of turning of the tide.  Here are two examples from recent play where I was the beneficiary of winning games I really didn’t deserve to win.

In the first example, I had the black pieces and had just played Qxd4.  In this position, white is clearly better because of black’s poor development and lack of piece coordination.  White should go on to win.  A simple move like 1. Qc6! looks very strong for white.  But, white zoned out and played 1. Kh1 to break the pin on the rook, completely ignoring his own back rank weakness.  Needless to say after 1. … Qa1+, white simply resigned as mate is unstoppable.

In the second example, I actually had a winning advantage myself with the black pieces, but that foolishly cut my rook off from the queenside allowing a white pawn to sail in for a queen.  Now, my situation is dire.  But, white obligingly played 1. Qc7 with the idea of crushing my f-pawn.  Play white’s move on the board to see what happened.  Yup, suddenly I was back in the game playing a many pawn vs. rook ending.  This turn of events so demoralized white, that he didn’t realize that he could still salvage a draw in the final position after 17. Kf4.

So, what lessons should we take from situations like this?

1. Never put your brain on automatic pilot. Play every move like the outcome is still uncertain.


2. Don’t become so enamored of your position that you stop considering your opponent’s ability to find counter play.


3. Always, play the whole board. Don’t become so focused on one aspect of the position that you miss the big picture.


4. When you make a blunder, don’t let it get to you. Take a deep breath; clear your head; and look at the game afresh. You may miss a chance to salvage a half point or better if you fold too early.