The Coach Key

1You are White in an Italian-style game. Black keeps the pin with 5...Bh5. Find the combination, and calculate the greedy reply.

Model answer

6.Nxe5! wins. If 6...Bxd1?? (snatching the queen) 7.Bxf7+ Ke7 8.Nd5 is checkmate, the famous Legall's Mate: Black's own d6-pawn, d8-queen and f8-bishop wall in his king. And if instead 6...Nxe5 (best) 7.Qxh5 wins a clean piece for a pawn, since the h5-bishop was undefended. The pin was never really a pin.

2You are Black in the Cambridge Springs (a QGD line with ...Qa5 and ...Bb4). White has just recaptured the pawn with 10.Nxc4. Win a piece.

Model answer

10...Qxg5! wins the bishop. White's g5-bishop was defended only by the knight that just left for c4, and the c3-knight is pinned to the queen by your ...Bb4, so it cannot recapture. This is the whole point of the Cambridge Springs: the pin on c3 leaves the g5-bishop hanging the moment White is careless.

3You are White in the Queen's Gambit. You can win the d5-pawn with Nxd5. Calculate carefully: should you take it?

Model answer

No, it is the Elephant Trap. After Nxd5?? Nxd5! the knight is not really pinned: 2.Bxd8 Bb4+! and the check wins your queen back with interest (3.Qd2 Bxd2+ 4.Kxd2 Kxd8), leaving Black a clean piece ahead. The g5-bishop was overloaded. Leave d5 alone and simply develop.

4White to move. Deliver Philidor's Legacy: a forced smothered mate. Find all five moves.

Model answer

1.Qe6+ Kh8 (forced) 2.Nf7+ Kg8 3.Nh6+! (a double check, so the king must move) Kh8 4.Qg8+!! Rxg8 (forced) 5.Nf7 is checkmate. The queen sacrifices itself to smother the king with its own rook. Learn this pattern cold; it recurs for a lifetime.

5You are Black in the Advance French, and the d4-pawn looks winnable with ...Nxd4. Calculate to the end. Is it safe here?

Model answer

No, not yet. After ...Nxd4 Nxd4 Qxd4 White has the zwischenzug Bb5+!, and the in-between check wins your queen: Bb5+ Bd7 Bxd7+ Kxd7 Qxd4. You must first play ...Bd7, which takes the b5-check away, and only then does ...Nxd4 win the pawn. Always look for the in-between check before you grab.

6White to move. A knight leap near the castled king wins the day. Find the family fork.

Model answer

1.Nf7+! the family fork, hitting the king and the queen at once. The knight on f7 cannot be captured, so 1...Kg8 is forced, and 2.Nxd8 wins the queen; even after 2...Rxd8 you are a whole queen for a bishop ahead. The knight jump to f7 or e7 beside a castled king is one of the most common winning shots in all of chess: whenever the enemy king and queen sit a knight's-move apart, look for it.

7You are White in the Giuoco Pianissimo, pieces fully mobilised (the knight has re-routed Nbd2-f1-g3). Name the break you have prepared, and the two conditions that make it strong.

Model answer

The break is d4. It is strong when (1) your pieces are already active, so opening the centre helps the better-developed side, which is you, and (2) Black cannot comfortably answer ...exd4 with quick counterplay. After d4 you gain the classical centre and the g3-knight eyes f5. If Black is fully ready too, keep improving and play d4 only when it truly gains.

8You are Black in the Advance French. You have routed a knight to f5 to hit d4, and ...f6 is coming. When do you play the ...f6 break, and what does it achieve?

Model answer

Play ...f6 once d4 is under real pressure and your pieces are out, so that opening the centre helps you. After ...f6 exf6 (then ...Nxf6 or ...Qxf6/...gxf6) you strike the head of White's chain on e5 and open lines toward it. Timed early it just frees White's better-developed kingside; timed right, it cracks the chain from both ends, base (d4) and head (e5) at once.

9You are Black in the Classical Caro-Kann. You have traded the light bishops and offered a queen trade with ...Qd5. Why is Black so comfortable heading into the endgame, and the one thing to watch?

Model answer

Black is comfortable because the Caro structure has no weaknesses: the light-squared bishop, the French player's problem, was traded off outside the chain, and every remaining piece has a job. In the endgame that soundness tells, and White's small space advantage means little. The one thing to watch is the slightly passive nature of the position: keep looking for ...c5 to free your game rather than drifting.

10You are White in the Carlsbad (Exchange Queen's Gambit). Lay out the minority attack move by move, and say exactly what weakness you are trying to create.

Model answer

The plan is a3, b4, Rab1, then b4-b5. When you play b5 and it is met by ...cxb5 you recapture, or after bxc6 bxc6 Black is left with a backward c6-pawn on the half-open c-file with no pawn able to defend it. Then you pile rooks and queen on c6 and the d5-pawn. Two pawns (a and b) attack three (a, b, c) to manufacture one lasting weakness. Meanwhile keep an eye on Black's kingside counterplay.

11You are Black in the QGD and have played the Lasker Defence with ...h6 and ...Ne4. Explain the idea, and the simplification you are inviting.

Model answer

...Ne4 is the Lasker's freeing idea: it offers trades that relieve Black's cramp. After Bxe7 Qxe7 and Nxe4 dxe4 (or ...Qxe4 lines), pieces come off, Black's pieces breathe, and the position simplifies toward comfortable equality. The point is that the cramped side wants to trade pieces, and ...Ne4 forces exactly those trades at the ideal moment.

12You are Black in the Accepted. White has just tried to break the tension with d5. How do you meet it, and what is your rule against White's isolated pawn when d4 stays put?

Model answer

Meet d5 with ...exd5 (or ...Nxd5 when it is safe), refusing to let White free the pawn favourably, and keep an eye on the freed diagonals for your b7-bishop. When d4 stays as an isolated pawn instead, follow the rule: blockade d5 with a knight that no pawn can chase, trade the attacking pieces to blunt White's initiative, and steer for the endgame where the lone d-pawn is simply weak.

13Carlsbad structure, and Black has played ...a5 to restrain your b4. As White, how do you keep the minority attack alive, and what is the ideal end picture?

Model answer

Meet ...a5 with a3 and prepare b4 anyway (if ...axb4 axb4 the a-file opens for you; if ...a4 you may play b4 and later Nc1-b3xa4, or simply target the fixed a4-pawn). The ideal end picture is b5 landing, bxc6 bxc6, and a permanent weak c6-pawn on the half-open c-file, blockaded and besieged by your rooks and knight on c5 or e5. Patience: the weakness is created once and then attacked forever.

14Same Carlsbad, but you are Black, defending. White is set for b4-b5. Name your three-part counter-plan and where your play must come.

Model answer

Your counterplay comes on the kingside, where White has committed nothing. Three parts: (1) restrain with ...a5 to slow b4; (2) simplify with ...Ne4 to ease the cramp and trade an attacker; (3) attack with ...Ng6, ...Bd6, ...Qf6/...Ne4 and the ...f5-f4 pawn storm. He races on the queenside, you race on the kingside, and the faster, calmer racer wins. Do not sit and defend c6 passively.

15You have the isolated queen's pawn on d5. Set out the OWNER's plan: which squares your pieces want, and the break you are always looking for.

Model answer

With the isolani you play for the middlegame and the initiative. Post pieces actively: a rook on c8/e8, the queen and a bishop pointing at the enemy king, a knight heading for e4 or g4, the other rook to d-file support. The break you always watch for is ...d4, freeing the pawn with tempo and opening lines for your pieces. Keep pieces on the board, attack, and only trade when it wins something concrete; an endgame is the isolani's enemy.

16Black has hanging pawns on c-file... in fact here White faces Black's c7/d5 duo potential. Explain, as the side WITHOUT the hanging pawns, how you fight them, and when they are strong.

Model answer

Hanging pawns (side-by-side on c5 and d5 with no neighbours) are strong when mobile and dangerous when they advance with support, because ...d4 or ...c4 gains space and opens lines. So the side against them blockades and provokes: pile pressure on both, force one to advance, and the moment it does, the square in front of the other becomes a permanent hole for your knight. Fix them, blockade, then win the fixed pawn in the endgame.

17Advance French pawn chain, both sides fully engaged. State the golden rule of pawn chains, and which end you strike here, and why.

Model answer

The golden rule: attack a pawn chain at its base, because the base holds the head up. White's chain is d4-e5, so you strike the base d4 with ...c5, ...Nc6, ...Qb6 and the knight on f5, and only later the head e5 with ...f6 once d4 is creaking. You never start with ...f6 against a solid base; base first, head second. White, by contrast, attacks your chain (d5-e6) at ITS base with f4-f5, so the whole game is two players sawing at each other's foundations, and the faster saw wins.

18Advance Caro-Kann. Your light-squared bishop stands free outside the chain on f5, while White's is hemmed by his own e5 and d4 pawns. Explain the good-bishop-versus-bad-bishop battle and how you nurse the edge.

Model answer

Your f5-bishop is the good bishop: it lives OUTSIDE your pawn chain (pawns on light squares e6/d5 do not block it because it escaped to f5 first), while White's light-squared bishop is hemmed by his own e5/d4 pawns. Nurse the edge by keeping your bishop active, trading off White's good pieces, fixing his pawns on the colour of HIS bad bishop, and steering to an endgame where your bishop is the better minor piece. Good bishop plus a target equals a long, pleasant squeeze.

19You are White; Black has just struck with ...d5 in the centre. Give three candidate moves of different character and choose, explaining the principle.

Model answer

Three candidates: (a) exd5 (release the tension, forcing) opening the position for your active pieces; (b) Qe2 or Bc2 (maintain, improving) keeping the centre fluid and over-protecting e4; (c) a preparatory h3/Bc2 already done, so a4 (prophylactic) fixing the queenside. With your pieces well placed, opening the centre tends to favour you: exd5 followed by piece play is principled. The rule: when you are better developed, open lines; when not, keep the position closed and improve.

20You are White in a Colle/Queen's-Gambit-style middlegame. Black has no knight on f6 to guard h7. Calculate the classic bishop sacrifice: is Bxh7+ sound here?

Model answer

Judge it by calculation, not hope. The Greek Gift Bxh7+ Kxh7 Ng5+ works when three things hold: the knight comes to g5 with tempo, the queen can reach the h-file fast (Qd1-h5), and Black has no defence like ...Nf6 or ...Qxg5. Here Black's knight is on d7, not f6, so h7 is weak; whether the sac is winning or merely strong, the method is the same: check your king-hunt to a clear gain BEFORE you give the bishop. If the lines do not force mate or win material, keep the bishop and build.

21You are White in the QGD. Black has just played ...Nd5, offering trades to free his game. What is Black's idea, and what is the prophylactic reply?

Model answer

Black's idea is simplification: ...Nd5 hits your g5-bishop and c3-knight and wants ...Nxc3 or ...Nxg5 to ease his cramp and trade into comfort. The prophylactic reply is Bxe7 Qxe7 first (so the trade is on your terms), keeping pieces that preserve your space, or Bf4/Bd2 sidestepping while denying the free exchange. Prophylaxis means asking what the opponent WANTS, then declining to give it: he wants trades, so you keep tension.

22You are Black; you have just grabbed on d4. Judge the position: what did you give and get, and is the pawn worth the exchange White may pursue?

Model answer

You gave a piece for two pawns and the centre (a common Caro/French tactic): after the trades you have snatched d4 and stand on a strong central square, but you must judge White's initiative and lead in development. The judgement rule for such grabs: material is only worth it if you can consolidate. Count the tempi White gains hitting your queen (Nb5, Rd1) and decide whether your extra pawns and centre outweigh his activity. When in doubt, return some material to complete development safely.

23White to move and hold. Black's queen is menacing, but the position is a fortress if you find the right idea. What is the defensive principle here?

Model answer

With queen versus queen and symmetrical kingside pawns, the defensive principle is activity and perpetual-check awareness: keep your king safe behind the pawns, use your own queen actively, and remember that a bare king plus queen often cannot break a sound pawn shelter, so trades or perpetual checks save the day. Do not passively shuffle; seek the drawing resource (a perpetual or a queen trade into a holdable pawn ending). The habit: under fire, calculate the opponent's best try, then find the one move that survives it.

24You are Black in a Queen's Gambit Accepted endgame; the queens are already off. When is trading into an endgame the right decision, and how do you judge this one?

Model answer

Trade into an endgame when your structure is at least as sound as the opponent's and your pieces are at least as active, because in the endgame small, permanent factors (a better pawn structure, a superior minor piece, an active king) outweigh fleeting attacking chances. Here your structure is healthy, your pieces are developing freely and your b7-bishop rakes the long diagonal, so simplifying suits you: aim to activate the king, seize an open file, and play on your good bishop. Simplify when the resulting statics favour you; keep pieces on when only dynamics do.

25White to win: the Lucena position (rook and pawn versus rook, pawn on the seventh). Describe the winning method, 'building a bridge'.

Model answer

Build a bridge. The pawn is one step from queening but the king cannot escape the checks alone, so: 1) place your rook on the fourth rank (Re4), 2) walk your king out toward the pawn, and 3) when the enemy rook checks from the side, interpose your own rook on the fourth rank to block the check and shelter the king. The rook on the fourth rank is the 'bridge' the king crosses to safety, and the pawn promotes. This is the single most important winning rook ending; know it perfectly.

26Rook and pawn versus rook, but the defending king is in front of the pawn. Describe the Philidor third-rank defence that draws.

Model answer

The Philidor draw: as the defender, keep your rook on your third rank (from the pawn's point of view) to stop the enemy king advancing, and hold it there until the pawn is pushed to the sixth rank. The moment the pawn advances to the sixth, swing your rook to the far end (behind the enemy, giving checks from as far away as possible). With no shelter from the checks, the attacker cannot make progress and it is a draw. King in front of the pawn plus the third-rank defence equals a fortress.

27Passed pawns and rooks. State Tarrasch's rule and apply it: where does the rook belong relative to a passed pawn?

Model answer

Tarrasch's rule: rooks belong BEHIND passed pawns, your own and the enemy's. Behind your own passer, the rook supports its advance and gains scope as the pawn moves up; in front, it just blocks its own pawn. Behind the enemy's passer, the rook restrains it and ties the enemy rook to a passive defensive post. Here get your rook behind the a-pawn to escort it, and if defending, get your rook behind the enemy runner. It is the most useful single rule in rook endings.

28Opposite-coloured bishops with an extra pawn for one side. What is the crucial drawing (or winning) principle here?

Model answer

Opposite-coloured bishop endings are famously drawish: with bishops on different colours, the defender's bishop controls squares the attacker's bishop can never contest, so a single extra pawn (even two) is often not enough to win, because the defender simply blockades on the wrong-coloured squares. To WIN you usually need two connected or widely-separated passed pawns that stretch the lone bishop past breaking. To DRAW, set your bishop and king to blockade the passed pawn on its stopping square and the fortress holds. Judge these endings by the blockade, not the pawn count.

29Knight versus bishop (here you have the knight). When is the knight the better minor piece, and when is the bishop? State the rule of thumb.

Model answer

The rule of thumb: bishops are better in open positions and with pawns on both wings, because their long-range reach dominates two flanks at once; knights are better in closed or blocked positions and where the action is on one side, because they can reach any colour and love fixed outposts. So if the pawns are fixed and there are stable outpost squares, steer for a knight; if the position is open with pawns on both wings, keep the bishop. Fix the pawns to suit your piece: with a knight, block the position and find an outpost.

30A pawn endgame idea, no pieces. Explain the principle of two weaknesses and the outside passed pawn, the engine of endgame wins.

Model answer

One weakness is often defensible; two usually are not. The principle of two weaknesses: to win, create a SECOND target on the far side of the board, then swing between them faster than the defender can cover both. The outside passed pawn is the classic first weakness: it is far from the kings, so it decoys the enemy king to the edge to stop it, and while that king is busy, YOUR king marches in and devours the pawns on the other wing. Make a passed pawn where the enemy king is not, run it or use it as bait, and win elsewhere.