While trying to seize the center, mobilize your troops and conquer some living space, you ought to remember and recollect such trifle as the COORDINATION. There is nothing special in this concept.

The private soldier of the chess war, a placid slow Pawn has a pathological character of moving. While all the other chess pieces move and capture in the same way, Pawns move straightforward but capture just sideways.

DIAGRAM 1.

This is the only reason for the fact that after its "right" move 1.e2-e4! (Beloved yet by Ostap Bender) and the no less right answer 1...e7-e5! White's Pawn sometimes would get stuck in the center of the battlefield. The rules never permit "e4"-Pawn to move forward, but from "e4" it attacks the squares "d5" and "f5" of the same colour.

COORDINATION implies that your position should resemble a hedgehog, a custom-house, and a frontier station. A good fence must have no holes. Keep the Bishop "c1". It will meet the enemy on the black squares. But the Bishop "f1" should rather be changed: the double of "e4"-Pawn does not decorate the interior.

Several seconds on your clock have been wasted, but you are becoming more and more informed, and some time later the beginning will not frighten you.

In the next act of the performance - the middle-game you are to run across the sea of the opportunities. Attacks of Q- and K-sides, manoeuvres, applying a strategic plan when you have some extra intellect; but that entire store can be not too much yet.

BUT YOU MUST HAVE THE DESIRE TO WIN THE GAME!

Search for an active Pawn move. If you cannot find it, produce THE FAR AND STUPID MOVE. Your opponent would stop, like Buridan\rquote s donkey, before the problem of the choice from the equal possibilities and probably would spend the precious time. If your opponent is greedy, irresolute - he will not win the game.

Keep in your mind: THE MOTIONS OF HANDS SHOULD SURPASS YOUR REFLECTION.

DO NOT MAKE A MOVE IN THE DIRECTION YOU ARE LOOKING AT, DO NOT LOOK AT THE DIRECTION WHERE YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE YOUR MOVE. THIS IS YOUR REAL CHANCE!

If your opponent has forgotten to switch the clock after his move, make "A CLEVER FASE", plunge in thoughts. While your opponent clocks are ticking you are approaching to your victory.

When you reach the ending, make the moves whatever you like, keeping the only rule: all of your moves should be as closer to the button of your clock as possible. So-called "CHEPUKAITIS's BUTTON THEORY" (I hope that either the theory or the surname will remain in memory) - is the terrible weapon in proper hands, especially in combination with making FAR STUPID MOVES from time to time. Any chess-player is only a man and has been born just to make mistakes, to overlook something, to blunder and so on.

The long-term experience of the professional proves: THE PRESSURE, BOLDNESS, RESOLUTENESS are quite commensurable with the encyclopedic knowledge. Trying to perform the battle in the best way you can overstep the time limit.

Please have a look how the Bishops should be arranged. If your Bishop controls the cluster of squares not covered by the Pawns, you have got the sound good piece.

DIAGRAM 2.

In case the situation is the opposite -

DIAGRAM 3.

Here the Bishop is rubbish, since its range is equal to zero.

This is the matter we have make an acquaintance with - THE COORDINATION OF FORCES! The official names for these kinds of Bishops are correspondingly "good" and "bad". The perpetual headache, motionless target, mute spectator of the chess battle - is what the "bad" Bishop is. Since any Knight can capture any Bishop, I believe a Knight stronger than the Bishop, especially in blitz-games. You will see enough examples to be convinced. I am sure that all the other instances when a Knight is inferior to a Bishop are the unfortunate exclusions. There can be "hided" Bishops (i.e. worse than "bad" ones) and "mad" Bishops. However, in practice such cases are rare.

THE VERY BEST BISHOP IS AN EXTRA ONE! Unfortunately you can hardly have it in every game.

Lecture 2. Part 2.