I'm going to review Pressure Play by Grandmaster Ney MacDonald for Everyman Chess and this was published in 2023 It's a book with about 50 games, 51 games, in which it's shown every possible angle of how you pressure your opponents. In fact, it's divided in the following chapters. Here's the content that you can read.
So, nine chapters. There is an index of complete games. Many of the games are played by Carson, that is the supreme master of pressuring the opponents.
And here the main themes are paralyze the enemy pieces, target the weakest square on the board, increase and exploit the space advantage, and master the pressure plate. So through these 51 games the goal is to win. is to teach the chess player to understand the pressure play. I will show one game by Carlsen which is a little long, but I believe it's really nice aesthetically.
So this is game 25, Carlsen vs Fedosev in Krasnaya Polyana in 2021. Carlsen up and with e4, c6, d4. e5, e5, Bf5 and c4, an unusual move for which Fredosev was evidently unprepared. Mainline theory is for Nf3, as so often Carson is seeking to direct the game into uncharted waters.
which makes that d6, Nc3, Bb4, c takes d5, Qxd5, notice that you cannot take the cross here, Nge2, Qd8, b3, Bf5, Ng3, Ne7, Bc4, Bg6, h4, h6, h5, Bh7, and now Qg4. Here there is a diagram with a question. We are at move 13. He asks you after move Bf5, determine if white can safely grab a pawn.
with will take g7 so here you need to see the next note it says you can pause the video and try to find out out if it's safe or not to take the pawn. So the answer is instead black needed to respond sharply with Bf5. So what happened here was that black played Kf8, that was a mistake. The player should have played this because if he played Nxg7, the answer is Rg8. and if the white continues with Qxh6, Qxd4 threatens both the bishop on c4 and Bishop takes c3 ok so it seems white couldn't take but there is more here ok it gives also another line in which there would be a kind of queen sacrifice so I think we are here like this and here it says also in other qualities the right queen sacrifice Nxf5 Nxg7 Nxg7 because after Kd7 when white plays Bxh6 is met by White would have to settle for a different move but it's not really working.
Now I will show you once we go back to the initial position. This show that also the queen sacrifice is not really working. Let's go back for a second to that position.
and that one is bishop d7, that one, ok, so it's a this one, so why could play bishop this, bishop e3, knight d7, and castle. So white would have to settle for this line when he has the bishop here and an edge in space. But black is solid and can try to utilize the hole in white's center on d5. Okay, that's interesting.
I don't think he has the... He can take the second point, he can take this book. Okay, so let's return back.
So in this position black continues with the king of eight And here it says now the theme of our chapter will be utmost in cards and mind pressure against the f7 pawn behind which the black king towers But as we shall see there will be no gung-ho assault against Instead, the World Champion will show awesome patience with prophylactic measures to restrain the enemy PC before the direct attack begins. It is now easy task to find the correct path after being surprised in the opposite direction. The effort involved in making assessment and calculating from the word go often leads to a bad reaction, even if, objectively, everything is ok.
Or it might simply be the case that a player who scintillates in familiar, well-studied opening lines is prone to strategic mistakes, when obliged to solve the problems of the opening by himself. Thus it is a Fedosev who belongs among the elite players in the world make a serious error as early as move 13. Normally it would still be a recycling theory at this point in the game. Proved overtaxed by the difficulties of the opening it gives the wrong answer to Carson's question.
What are we going to do about the attack on g7? As we shall not only with the black king be a target on f8. but the Rook on h8 will never find a way to enter the battle. The relentless play of the war champion make it appear that Black is losing from this point. And this is kind of interesting because Fedosev being one of the top players in the world has the same problems of the club player if he needs to save the pawn on g7.
Okay, let's move forward. So Here there is another question after Black plays White castle and Knight d7. The question is the following. Before reading further, you might like to assess the outcome of the opening.
Remember to examine the pawn structure and its deployment of both players. What will be their aims over the coming moves? So the answer is the following.
First of all we notice the awkward position of Fedor's fpc on the king side. The rook on h8 is a strategic liability as it is shut out of the game. Furthermore, the King is potentially in the firing line on f8 due to the fragility of the center found on e6 and f7.
Neither of these Knights nor his light-spear Bishop are directly guarding this vital point. In contrast, White's light-squared bishop and queen are already at hand, supporting f4, f5 to tear away the defensive wall around the black king. We should also mention that there is a hole on the d6 square.
and... what else? I think that there should be a R162... From which a white knight could join in the attack on f7 as well, as threatened the b7 pawn. It is not all doom and gloom for black.
The bishop on h7 and Ne7, as well the e6 pawn itself are poised to fight against the f4, f5 advance. The move Nf5 would not only put up a barrier against the pawn advance but also obstruct the white queen u of e6. Carlsen's general plan is clear.
Prob the e6 and that 7 pawn and try to achieve a hold firm than the close nature of the position sorry I made a mistake trying to achieve a breakthrough with the 4 and 5 in contrast Fedosev, Fedosev opts to maintain a solid barrier on the 5 if he holds firm than the close nature of the position will prevent White from taking advantage of his prospect less rook so the 4 is a good bet on h8. The problem is this rook is out of the game which means that black is minus 5 getting the knight from d7 via b6 to d5 is top of the black wish list. As is well known the square in front of the backwood pawn as white has on d4 is usually a strong and safe post for the enemy knight. this specific instant it would also block the action of the light-spirited bishop down the diagonal. Ok, so we can see that Grand Master MacDonald is giving us a lot of information.
about this position that's what makes these books particularly important because this type of verbal analysis will be useful in the future when you will try to understand the position right okay so now it's White's turn cast and turn what does he do? Knight c4 because like we said he wants to go there Question. Carson realizes that he must employ prophylaxis if he is to prevent the transformation of the night from a buying standard on the 7th.
into a major actor on the strategic battle on d5. The knight most obviously aims at d6. But can you point out a temporary peace sacrifice to refute 15, Nb6?
The move black would otherwise play Yeah, I think it's interesting. This situation is amazing Okay, so let's see in case Black plays 15 96 is a mistake. Why? Can you see why? Wow?
Okay, here is the answer we Bishop takes e6, f takes e6 and here there is Nc5 which threatens a deadly fork on e6. after 17, Bg8 protecting, white can regain the piece with b4 with a crushing advantage or even better emerge two pawns up with Nxb7 Queen d7 and Knight takes a5. Okay, so here you can see the two pawns advantage by White. Okay, let's now return back to the position. I will pause the video for a second.
so i think i put the position back correctly uh honestly while i'm reviewing the book i can tell you also positive feature uh gramaster and mcdonald put really a lot of diagrams you can really follow the game without the chat because after this move 15bc7 so now we know why Nb6 is wrong after this move there is another move by white, Ba2 and then is another diagram so it's really easy to follow by using the book and eventually you can try to follow the lines without the chessboard from the diagram and try to understand because that is a good feeling the fact that we gave a line that was like four moves long it's good because that's what you need to have in a real tournament game to be able to visualize four moves okay okay now we are on bishop e a2 and there is another question carson retreats his bishop from possible attack what would be better of 16, Knight b6 in this case. So if we play this what is the refutation? okay Well, if Black plays 16.Nd6, this is the answer. Black is tantalizingly close to averting the danger by plugging d5 with his knight. But, upon Nc5, the double weakness of d7 and e6 dooms on him.
If Rb8, which is wrong, White plays Bxf6 and is decisive since if he plays fxf6, White's costing the Queen, right? Okay, and now let's go back and let's see what happens. so if instead of Rb8 he plays instead Qc8 this makes sense right?
yet there is still this Bishop takes e6, f takes e6, knight takes e6, king f7, and what happens after king f7? The other is also another line. So g7, check, wow, king takes e6.
Qf6 Kd5 and now we know that things are really going bad because the king is going in the center Qf7 Qe6 Qf3 Qc4 and a4 stopping him from escaping and here there is no defense to threats which include Qc3 followed by Nc5 or 25b3 and Qc4 Roofing 1 with a quick melt. Ok, well, it's a beautiful position in fact. Just imagine, if you place this, this is the checkmate, right?
If you place this, I think this is the check mark. So clearly I don't think you would calculate all of this in the game because it's like 6-7 moves at least, and that would take us an hour to calculate all of them. But of course the computer will take a few seconds, or maybe not even a second, to see all of them.
In any case, it's nice that the author gives us these questions and then shows us the analysis, because this analysis should have been done by us, the reader. in order to improve our chess. Now I will pause the video in order to put the chessboard back as it was. Ok, I start with another video because the previous one was already playing in.
So, we will start with this move by Kass and Rosino and play Bxa2. The question was what would happen if Nb6? And as you saw it, in the game, Black played Nf5.
Nxf5, Bxf5. Black has dislocated his center for no good reason. And here it says after, instead of... If he would have played this, Qf3 was the move played by white since e4 is untouchable. Because if you play it, this is checkmate.
So that's the problem that we have here. And what is the data length of 18.9 B6 at this point? So, can Black play this or not? The answer is after Ne6, Ng3, the bishop can't retreat from f5, otherwise If instead Black would have played Nxe4, let's see what happens then. Nxe4, sorry not Nxe4, Bxe4, Qxe4 and Nb6, the knight will reach its dream square on the 5. Bye.
while it can power along the F5 with 20F4. Ok? So this is all the analysis about this situation. I like it because clearly Mcdonald is doing his job as a teacher, a good job I would say, because here there is a diagram every page, there is a question every page, and there is a question every page.
And now I understand, because these are 350 pages, but only 50 games. So, clearly, he analyzed the games well, and he asked his students to think. Ok, think. What means this? What means that?
So, we're gonna play Queen e7, Knight g3. Here we see why the exchange of move 17 has favored the coordination of white's pieces. He can post his other knight on g3 to replace the ones who are popped, whereas black can't bring his second knight into the fight for the breakthrough The upshot is that the advanced f4, f5 is unstoppable h7, Qg4, a commanding spear for the queen as well as the queen's knight Clearing the way for the f-cone, she guards d4, attacks g7, and prevents Black's queen becoming an easy move with the h4. Yet Black is not cleaned up. c5.
And here there is another question. Quite rightly, Black looks for counter-play in the center. he strikes at the d4 pawn which guards White's vital cramping pawn on e5.
Can he find a way for White to maintain the pressure? Which of his minor pieces haven't yet contributed to his attack? How can he take advantage of spares losing by 20 c5?
Well, the answer is in the next move by white, which is Bb2 with the exclamation point. Simple, quiet and effective. White gets to hold on to his bulwark on e5. Now, it tells you what happens if black plays this, right? This is the point of this point.
Oops! Wow, Bb4. Suddenly the bishop becomes an important player. Nc5 Okay, c1 b6 Qxd4 or he could play more bionic as in the game with 24, f4 and f5 with the position opening up, the awkward situation of a black king and the possibility of a opponent in shape become more pronounced and now let's return back to the previous position, I will pause the video for a second Ok, now we can continue. So the move to kick the pawn d4, which was difficult to find in the sense of Bb2.
He got one thing to defend it directly, in this case the defense is on this diagonal, which is very important, right? Ok, after Bb2, Black plays Rd8 and White begins the attack. f4.
After sublime positional maneuvers, Carlsen is ready to attack. Nb6. Here they offer this line which proves that if he would have played c6 before, Black would have got crushed.
Okay, very important. Bc3. Again, I can notice that there is a diagram in every page, so it's really very easy to follow this game, also without the chat board. I believe this is a really great thing, I like it, I really like this book for this reason.
So, Bc3 holding on to the d4 point, as Cxd4, Bb4 is a fatal team. Note how white has gained maximum value from the black king being on f8. I don't think he could have ever known that because he had been strapped in more than 10 moves before, right? The attacking possibilities with the rooks down the f5 are fairly self-evident. Yeah, that's true.
But it's harder to spot the opportunity of exploiting potential pressure down the a3-f8 diagonal. This is a diagonal. 95 and 5. Understandably, White is lost to part with this strong bishop, but Morozov was 24, bishop takes d5.
Who takes e5 and f5? When black would soon be overwhelmed The game move allows black knight to get involved in the battle for f5 Play knight e5, f5 Black e3 Queen f3 here Mcdonald says that there was a better move which was h3 and we did the line okay so you have three knight takes f5 Obviously, if he takes here, here he takes here, and black is going to be really destroyed on the f5, ok? So that wasn't possible. Knight takes f5, bishop takes f5, and now there is a great move by white, which is d5. A powerful expansion in the center.
Bishop d6. Can you suggest a way to remove the potential energy from a black piece? What move would we like to prevent? Obviously we want to prevent this, right?
Because it's a discovery check. And it's messy because there is also this, right? So it's not only the discovery check.
If it goes here, it's game over. So, how do you prevent that? That is the question.
The answer is clear. Bc4. Plug in the c4 player to incapacitate the bishop on b6.
And here it gives another line in case one would have played d6, which would be... and there is a quite big analysis on this, so it would be worth to follow it, but again we have another 10 minutes, so it means this game is already half an hour long at least, as we did in G8 obviously Exd5 wasn't good because he would take here and then it would have been Mx4B so that is a problem and d6 Qh4 Here is another nice diagram. So, let's see what is happening.
This Qh4 is attacking this side. So, next move is bostering. Bostering is Greek on c4 as a prelude to his next move. The world champion has accumulated numerous positional advantages. The rook on h8 is a shutout of the game.
The bishop on b6 is paralyzed and he has a protective pass-point. Protective pass-point. It is b7.
It seems that this move, after 13Kh7, Black is all set to develop his Rook with Rh8. If this game-changing move is allowed, White's strategy of preventing the coordination of enemy pieces has failed. Therefore, direct, forceful measures are required. Fourth of all, we should look at the whole board, increase our grip on the...
This prelude to the action on the king side and threatens to win a piece with a5. With Rd7, a5, Bd8 and Bb5 drops the rook. An illustration of the congestion in the black camp. So, black must immediately play a5.
It's nice because as you can see this is a big and long... a long analysis, but it's needed because this game between big top players clearly has that and probably Carson and the other top players saw all this analysis. So after e5 he says, however this is not a pretty move, after white breaks through on the inside he would be out by losing on the black side.
He's like a bishop the B5 pair can no longer be contested by Pao move like a7-6, right? And the need to defend the pawn on a5 further encumbers the already inert B6, which now is just a pawn. This is not a bishop, it's a pawn.
Let's see here, after Kh7, a4, a5, he says that now White would play g4. That's okay, g4, wow. And if now Bxg4, Bxd3, check, Bxf5, Bxf5, Qxf5, Qxf5, Qg8, Qxf7, Qh7, Qg6, Qg8 again, and e6 threatening mate on g7. Ok, this is our next deal. And this is the end for black.
So black has to exchange a queen. Instead of taking bishop g4, he has to play queen takes g4. And here there is another line. But it seems that at the end of the exchange, the white will break to the rook here, which is a big advantage to have a 7th line.
And notice that he says what I said, that the poor bishop is degraded to a pawn, practically, so that's quite interesting. And here obviously he starts to make a kind of logical reasoning, you know, that F7 was really important, so you cannot give it up. again please read the book because this analysis is nearly one page long and I don't think it's adapted for a video but it certainly will teach you something right? now I will pause and return back to the position where it started ok I believe I was able to bring the position back to the right king, so white plays b3 and instead of king h7, that seems good black played rook d7 now, imagine if black had to calculate all the lines that you saw, clearly we understand that classic chess is important, because you cannot really Do this kind of work on Bs, right? You need to do this kind of work on your long-term controls.
Okay. So, after Rd7 there is Spd2. It is time to think about the breakthrough to exploit the superior dynamic.
Black can't just wait, as after e6, which takes a time, e6, WC and Ba become overwhelmed Obviously there is going to be a position of sacrifice because WC moves b6 WB2 and it will become a mess because these two are really going to kill the king, right? Qg4 Here there is another analysis if Black would have played bishop g4 and look how amazing the situation is. I mean, he doesn't task anything but what would he play as y? Boom!
Rook takes f5. Removing the bishop which has this f7 then pawn is well worth exchange. So this is a positional exchange sacrifice.
Now I think it's important to see what happens if, obviously in the game he plays this queen takes f5, but what happens if he plays queen takes e2, bishop takes e2, e takes f5 and Black is no less than the exchange and the pawn up in the ending. However, the weakness of f7 is clear and his perennial difficulty in activating the rook on h8 means that he is struggling to hold back the dynamic white center. Thus, Bb5, an important finesse to obstruct Black's plan of playing his rook on h8, Rd8 Bc4 and if now Black plays Kx7 because obviously he wants to bring this into the game Boom!
Bxf7, games connected, passed pawn, sorry, connected, passed pawn, ok? Ok, while Rook pawn is there That's quite interesting. There is even more analysis here. I will bring back because I would like to see the end of this game. Which is...
and there are more analysis, but let's go to see the end because we have made another 20 minutes of video, ok? Ok, I think I brought it back to the position where it was. Now, I would like to share a confession. I love bullets and blinks.
Really love them, because it's fun. It's exciting, right? But, this game, clearly, clearly... Show us what chess is about, at least for a human, because for a computer maybe everything is simple, right? But for us humans, all this level of understanding of the game...
can be done only if we think about it. And imagine this video is going to be 40 minutes long and you didn't actually try to find the moves because if you have to find the moves, some of the moves that the author of this book asked you to find 10 minutes for each move would be a game so this just to watch this game and understand it is maybe two hours one would take two hours and luckily we have this offer that it points every time not this? why not that?
I don't know, to me it makes a lot of sense, ok? But this book is a great book and this is a good work. So rook takes f5, queen takes f5, rook f1.
Rxg5, Bd2, Qd8 White can also drive the queen back after Qh4 so also if he went there, he would have played Rf4 and draw it back Qg4, a6 probably to avoid that the Rook is trapped, ok? because he can avoid it Fedoseb is dreaming of freeing his game with bishop a7 and b5. How do we disabusing no half measures be as violent as you like? So, the author of the book asked to pause again this video and find what would be played in this situation.
At this point guys I'm going a little faster because it's late here at night I need to go to sleep and this video took a really long time. White takes f7 double exclamation point the culmination of white's strategy of pressure against f7. The sacrifice of a rook is a massive undertaking but white's far advanced pass on and dominance of a light square will be decisive. With a rook on h8, doing nothing, and the bishop hardly involved in the game, black is outgunned where it matters.
Kxf7 Now guys I'm just going to show you the last move by the book so you can see all the rest of the analysis because the offer didn't stop it here. e didn't stop it here, definitely. It was trade here. There is still two pages of analysis.
Qxe6 Kf8 Qf5 King e8, King g6, King f8, Queen f5, King g8, King g6, King f8. Now, the offer doesn't explain you this, but I will tell you what it means. probably this game was uh feeder to the record this repetition of move means that every time custom did this and this is clock increase of 30 seconds so with this repetition he probably gained nearly two minutes on the clock okay so in six Queen f6, e takes g7, queen takes g6, h takes g6, bishop d8, bishop e6. H5, K2, H4, and now very The great move which is bishop g4.
Why? Because it blocks the rook from coming out. b5, finger 3, b4, a takes d4, c takes d4.
And after c takes d4, it seems that Tedesir resigned. Here is how it might have finished. They also give us probably a computer generated line which shows how the game has finished.
Because this line is from move 50 to move 58. Enjoy. King d4, f5. And here there is also some analysis, so I must try to find the end of the analysis.
King f5 a4, bishop g5, bishop d6, king e6, a takes b3, d8 queen, check, bishop takes d8, Bxd8, b2, Bxd7, Kg8, obviously if you play here there is a Cd7 mate, b7, b1, Q, and d8. queen etc. ok so this is how the game could have ended I hope you enjoyed this long game from the book Pressure Play by Neil McDonough. It's a great book, 61 games, more than 350 pages.
As you can see, a lot of questions, a lot of reasoning to do. Clearly a book for those that want to improve in chess. I hope you will enjoy it.