Novice NookDan Heisman

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The Safety Table

Quote of the Month: The most important on-the-board concept is safety.

From listening to players of all levels think out loud, I have learned that one interesting safety idea is that strong players maintain a “feel” for which squares are safe. As each move is played, they quickly calculate how that move affects the safety of each affected square. You can consider this a mental safety database or subconscious “safety table,” where each entry represents an attacked square and the content is the safety issues for that square.

For example, suppose a strong player knows that a pawn on e5 is safe – it is attacked by a knight, yet guarded by a pawn (see White’s fifth move in the example below). But then the opponent attacks it again with …f6 (see Black’s ninth move). Now that player would be aware that the pawn is unsafe – attacked twice and only guarded once – and would do something about it.

There are many ways safety can be affected by a move:

● The moving piece’s safety on the square where it lands.● A capture made by the moving piece.● Any new squares attacked and/or guarded by the moving piece.● Any squares no longer attacked and/or guarded by the moving

piece.● Any discoveries (for both sides!) made by the moving piece – this

would include any squares cleared for movement. For example, 1.Nf3 clears g1 for the possibility of 2.Rg1, but at this point the safety of other pieces is not yet affected since no black pieces are attacking the white first rank.

● Any squares blocked (for both sides) by the moving piece – this would be the opposite effect of a discovery.

● The allowance or prevention of castling or en passant.● Indirectly: squares that the moving piece can affect next move (or

in future moves) that have to be attended to this move, e.g., the threat to make an unstoppable threat next move.

I mentioned this “safety table” idea to one of my students, and he asked me to use a well-known opening as an example. Here is an edited transcript of our conversation:

Student A few lessons back, we discussed a database one should mentally keep. I think I recall, but if you don’t mind, let’s review it.

Dan Yes, the “safety table” and how it is affected by each move. OK, give me an opening.

Student French, Tarrasch.

Dan OK, let’s do the safety table from White’s point of view. (That means the table will be updated primarily after Black’s move).

Student OK.

1.e4

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Dan No pieces are attacked by either side.

1…e6

Dan No pieces attacked by either side, but now White cannot safely put pieces on the a3-f8 diagonal. For example, 2.b4 is no longer safe.

2.d4 d5

Dan The pawn on e4 attacked once, guarded zero: Attention! Pawn en prise!

White to play after 2…d5

3.Nd2

Dan Defends e4. Which black line do you want to choose?

Student 3...Nf6.

3…Nf6

White to play after 3…Nf6

Dan e4 is again attacked more than defended and not safe: threats are ...dxe4 and ...Nxe4. Also, d5 is attacked once and defended three times – safe for Black, but White can safely capture on d5. Also, Black can now play dxe4 discovering an attack on d4, so d4 is also in the table. So the three squares in the table at this point are e4 (not safe), d5

(safe for Black) and d4 (may be unsafe if a capture is made on e4 and if White cannot retake with the knight, discovering a guard on d4 with the queen).

4.e5

Dan The table is cleared except for f6!

4…Nd7

White to play after 4…Nd7

Dan Now e5 is attacked once with a knight and guarded by a pawn, so e5 is very safe.

5.Bd3 c5

White to play after 5…c5

Dan The bishop on d3 attacks h7, which is adequately guarded and safe. The pawn at c5 is attacked, but adequately guarded. Now e5 looks the same as it was before …c5, except the d4 defender is in danger; therefore, indirectly so also may be the pawn on e5. However, the main issue of 5…c5 is that it attacks d4; the pawn on d4 is now clearly not safe

(one attacker and no defenders), so…

6.c3 Nc6

White to play after 6…Nc6

Dan e5 is attacked twice and defended only once, but it is safe for now because the defender is a pawn and both attackers are knights. However, d4 is now attacked twice and defended once, so it is unsafe.

7.Ne2 Qb6

White to play after 7…Qb6

Dan e5 is still safe, d4 is now defended twice, but attacked three times and not safe; b2 is now attacked, but also guarded, so safe. Also, c5 is attacked by the white pawn, but guarded three times, so safe. Number of squares in table: e5, d4, c5, b2, and h7, for a total of five.

8.Nf3 cxd4

White to play after 8…cxd4

Dan Capture! White is temporarily down a pawn. d4 will be safe with a recapture, but it has to be with the pawn because a capture with the knight will leave e5 unsafe! b2 and h7: no change (safe), c5 no longer attacked.

9.cxd4 f6

White to play after 9…f6

Dan d4 now attacked twice and defended twice (safe) b2 and h7 unchanged (safe), but e5 attacked three times and defended only twice, so unsafe. Therefore...

10.exf6 Nxf6

White to play after 10…Nxf6

Dan Move 11: d4 still safe, h7 and b2 safe, so finally White has time to castle!

11.O-O Bd6

White to play after 11…Bd6

Dan d4 and b2 still safe as is h7, but now h2 is attacked by a bishop. However, it is also guarded twice, so h2 is safe for now.

Dan (Summarizing) After each move (for both sides) the table is changed by the effect of the moved pieces, and the table contains the safety on each

attacked square. This “table” only covers Counting and tactics, such as double attack, removal of the guard, etc. Yet it can be very helpful in identifying which of those tactics can cause problems on what squares. Is this the kind of thing you wanted?

Student Yes. So I need to get in the habit of updating the complete table after every move.

Dan So in a sense you keep track of which squares should need attention. If you forget and remove a defender or miss a new attacker (by a discovery, for example), that can be enough to lose the game. Strong players do this subconsciously. They just look for the changes and assume things are safe otherwise.

Student Well at least for now, I need to gain discipline by doing it consciously.

Dan Weak players, however, often assume things are safe, but there are leftover issues that they miss! Here’s an easy example: White attacks Black’s pawn. Black counterattacks by checking. White gets out of check. Black forgets the pawn was attacked and loses it next move. I see this happen all the time!

Student Yes, in X’s game something like that happened. His bishop was attacking a knight that was guarded by a pawn.

Dan What it tells me is that weaker players unfortunately sometimes “cancel out” crucial parts of their table, even if the issue is left over from the previous move! The temporarily saving of material by a zwischenszug (in-between move) sometimes convinces them – or allows them to forget – that the ongoing safety issue has been resolved.

Here are two examples of that “leftover” issue. In games by strong players, the leftover safety issues occur almost exclusively with zwischenzugs. Here is an example:

Before this I had never won more than one game in a tournament. However, between my third and fourth event I joined a strong chess club and experienced much improvement. This game was to be the first one where my newfound analytical skills were put on display. My opponent, White, has just attacked my bishop on g4.

Strauch (1616) – Heisman (1385) 1st Valley Forge Open 1967

Black to play after 18.f3

The safety table now notes that the bishop on g4 is unsafe, but I left it that way and played the zwischenzug 18…Re6! (the simple 18…Be6 is good, too, but in a different way). Now the bishop on d6 is guarded twice and attacked twice, but it is unsafe because the white queen is the lead guard. Notice how the order of the recapturing pieces can determine the safety of the guarded piece (in this case the bishop on d6).

Moreover, the rook on e6 is safe, since the knight on c5 is pinned to the king. Unfortunately for White, he cannot easily move the bishop, as it is also pinned, e.g., 19.Bc7 Best, but not enough 19…Qxc7 20. Nxe6 Qa7+ 21.Qc5 Else the queen is lost 21…Rxd2 and the skewer on the rook wins material.

White tried 19.Rad1, but only after 19…Rexd6 20.Qxd6 Rxd6 21.Rxd6 Qxc5+ 22.Kh1 did Black have to finally resolve the safety issue on g4.

Black to play after 22.Kh1

Which I did horribly with 22…Be6? Better is 22…Kf8 or 22…f5 with an easy win.

White to play after 22…Be6?

White should play 23.Rxc6! and the safety table shows 23…Qxc6?? no longer allows safe interposition on f8 and thus allows mate via 24.Rd8+. Best after 23.Rxc6! is 23…Qe7, when the win is not trivial. Instead, White blundered with 23.Rd8+? and after 23…Nxd8 24.Rxd8+ Qf8, Black won easily with his extra bishop.

Finally, let’s contrast this to a beginner zwischenzug where the player forgets the original concern. Here is a recent Internet game: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Bg5 d6 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Qxd8+ Nxd8 7.Nxe5 Nxe4 Now the bishop on g5 is not safe:

White to play after 7…Nxe4

But instead of simply and properly saving the attacked bishop with a sequence like 8.Bxd8, where Black must be careful to avoid the obvious 8…Kxd8 9.Nxf7+, but instead play a complicated line with 8…Bb4+, White tries the “aggressive” zwischenzug 8.Bb5+ and after 8…c6 finds both bishops attacked:

White to play after 8…c6

Now White must successfully resolve the safety issues on both b5 and g5 (A Counting problem! See The Two Types of Counting Problems) – he must first capture with 9.Bxd8. Instead, White either fails to remember the carry-over danger on g5 or fails to solve the problem, and after 9.Bd3?? Black, in saving the knight, is virtually forced to

win a piece with 9…Nxg5.

Reminder You don’t have check the safety of every square, or even every attacked square each move, but you do need to check at least all squares affected by the opponent’s previous move. If you can eliminate common counting mistakes by keeping track of the status of key squares and properly resolving all safety issues, it will go a long way toward making you a better player.

Dan welcomes readers’ questions; he is a full-time instructor on the ICC as Phillytutor.

Yes, I have a question for Dan!

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