FIDE Surveys – Georg Mohr

1

Georg Mohr:
Outpost

As lines and ranks are important for the
rooks and diagonals for the bishops, so are
outposts for the knights. First of all we
have to ask ourselves what an outpost
actually is. We can define it as a defended
square in front or in the middle of the
opponent’s camp, from where it is very
hard to get rid of the knight. When it is
possible it is usually linked with a high
cost.
The great teacher of chess strategy Aaron
Nimzowitsch was the first who approached
the question of the outpost scientifically.
In the position on the diagram he explained
it like this:

Instructive example - Nimzowitsch

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9r+-+-trk+0
9zppzp-+pzpp0
9-+-zp-+n+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+-sN-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9+-mKRtR-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy

The key of the position represent the move
1.Nd5. The d5 square is in this case a
point; and the piece, which takes over the
point, is called an outpost. So an outpost is
a piece in the opponent’s camp, which is
placed on semi-open file and is defended
by a pawn. The most suitable piece for an
outpost role is the knight.
In our position the knight will be a never-
ending threat for Black. From the d5
square the knight is functioning in all
ways: it is attacking the c7 pawn,
preventing possible actions on the e-file,
restricting the knight and preparing the
advancement of its pawns. Black will

sooner or later try to get rid of the knight
by playing c7-c6. After the retreat of the
knight the position will change drastically.
From now on there will be (on the semi-
open d-file) a weak backward pawn on d6,
which was until now successfully blocked
(with coordination of pawns d6-c7). From
now on only pieces will be able to defend
the pawn. White will double his rooks on
the d-file and keep pressuring it.
The power of the outpost is not only hiding
in the piece on this square but also and
even more in the pawn, which is defending
the piece and in the (semi) open file behind
the piece. If in our position the white pawn
would be place on d3 then the move Nd5
would not be dangerous. In this case the
pawn on d6 would not be weak after c7-c6.
The same would be without the e4 pawn:
Black would save all his problems after
1…c6 2.Nc3 d5.

The Outpost on the 6

th

Rank

If we move the weak square for one rank
further, then the knight becomes even more
unpleasant: if it is close to the opponent’s
king, it can in many cases be a decisive
factor for the attack on the king. Even
when there is no king nearby, the position
of the knight on the 6

th

rank can be very

unpleasant.

Mamediarov S. : Bluvshtein M.
Calvia (ol) 2004

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9-+-+-tr-+0
9zpp+-+pmkp0
9-+n+pzp-+0
9wqN+-+-+-0
9-+P+PzP-wQ0
9+-+r+-+-0
9P+-+-+PzP0
9tR-+-+RmK-0
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19.e5!

FIDE Surveys – Georg Mohr

2

White is starting to build the outpost on d6,
from where his knight will control all parts
of the board.
19...Qd8
Black of course mustn’t take – the opening
of the f-file would for sure contribute to his
defeat, due to the weak position of the
king.
20.Qh5 Kg8
The only defence that makes sense for
Black is taking on e5 in the right moment
and an immediate push f7-f5! In any case it
is better for the black king to be safe at the
time.
21.Rae1 a6 22.Nd6 fe5
Black chose the moment, White’s outpost
doesn’t look stabile: 23.fe5 Ne5!

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9-+-wq-trk+0
9+p+-+p+p0
9p+nsNp+-+0
9+-+-zp-+Q0
9-+P+-zP-+0
9+-+r+-+-0
9P+-+-+PzP0
9+-+-tRRmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy

23.c5!±
But of course the great Azerbaijan foresaw
this outcome way in advance! After
23...ef4 24.Qg4 Kh8 25.Qf4 f5 (the f7
square is indefensible) 26.Re6 the position
around the black king falls apart.
23...f5 24.fe5 b5
The position has stabilized, the evaluation
is clear: White has a huge advantage. The
knight on d6 is the main cause of
confusion in the opponent’s camp and
Black cannot connect his pieces anymore.
Pawn weaknesses (b7, e6) are more and
more obvious and on top even the black
king cannot be calm. An active queen and
a knight can quickly become dangerous,
but if also one of the rooks would join
them …

25.Rf3! Qa5
After 25...Rf3 26.gf3± White would open
the g-file, from where the rook on e1
would join the attack.
26.Re2 Qb4 27.Rd3 Qb1 28.Kf2 Qd3
29.Qg5 Kh8 30.Qh6!+-
Look at how uncoordinated Black’s pieces
are! All the confusion was caused by the
knight on d6, which is taking on different
tasks: it is looking towards the king,
preventing the queen from returning back
into defence, taking all the key squares
from the black rook.
30…Qd4 31.Kf1 Kg8
The maneuver which helps the king – with
the help of the rook – to avoid perpetual
checks is very instructive: 31...Qd1 32.Re1
Qd3 33.Kg1 Qd4 34.Kh1 and the checks
end+-.
32.Qe6 Kh8 33.Qh6 Kg8 34.Qg5 Kh8
35.e6 1:0.

The role of the outpost on the 6

th

rank can

also be easily and successfully played by
other pieces. It depends, which ones stayed
on the board. The rook in many cases
anchors itself on the 6

th

rank during the

fight for a file and it forces the opponent to
make an unpleasant choice: whether to
give up the file or to exchange, which
creates to his opponent an extremely
dangerous passed pawn:

Instructive example

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9-+-trr+-+0
9+p+-mkpzpp0
9-+ptRp+-+0
9+-zP-zP-+-0
9-zPK+-zP-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-+-+PzP0
9+-+R+-+-0
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The position is seemingly equal (material),

FIDE Surveys – Georg Mohr

3

but the truth is that Black is practically
lost, due to the already described factors.
If White’s rooks would be placed on d1
and d4 in the same position, then Black
would place his rook on d5, build an
outpost for him and continue the game
without problems.
Now let us have a look at how the 7

th

World Champion placed his bishop in the
outpost. The final effect was the same like
in the examples with the knight or rook.

Bilek : Smyslov, Polanica Zdroj 1968

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9r+-tr-+k+0
9zp-+-+pvlp0
9-+p+-+p+0
9+-+-zp-+-0
9-wq-+-+-+0
9+-sNlzP-zP-0
9PzP-+-zPLzP0
9tR-wQ-tR-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy

21...e4!
Black is deliberately making the d3 square
stronger, though the bishop doesn’t need
support at the time.
22.Rd1 Rab8 23.Rd2 c5 24.Qe1 Bc3!
25.bc3 Qa5!
An exceptional positional understanding.
Even though 25...Qc3 wasn’t good,
because of the tactical defence 26.Be4
(26…Be4?? 27.Rd8), Black decided to
exchange and he changed his seemingly
very powerful dark-squared bishop for a
passive knight.
26.Rc1
With the move 26.c4 White would prevent
Black from making his outpost even
stronger, but after some exchanges another
positional element would take the leading
role – an open file and penetration to the
7

th

rank: 26…Rb4 27.Bf1 (27.Rc1 Ra4)

27...Bf1 28.Rd8 Qd8 29.Qf1 Qd2 30.a3
Rb2 31.Rd1 Qc3 and White’s pawns are

very weak. A nice example and a proof
that the knowledge about strategic
elements is extremely important!
26...c4 27.Qd1 Rd5 28.Qg4 Rdb5
White certainly chose an even worse
version where he is completely stalemated.
He cannot go to the open b-file, because it
is controlled by a very strong bishop on d3
that is also disabling any reasonable
counter play.
29.Qf4 Qa3 30.Rdd1 Re8
Black only has one weakness, the e4 pawn,
which he can protect in different ways.
Smyslov chose the one where he doesn’t
make any additional weaknesses in his
position. Anyway he has all the time in the
world: White is completely paralyzed in
defence.
31.Bh3 Rb2 32.Bd7 Re7 33.Bg4 Qc5
It is interesting to watch how Smyslov is
taking his time and is not hurrying. With
each move he is pushing Black’s pieces
further back and he doesn’t even for a
second think about any exchange, which
would offer White even the slightest
chance for counter play: 33...Qa2 34.Ra1
Qb3 35.Qd6.
34.Qf6 Qe5 35.Qa6 Kg7
Next follows an excellent “self-capture” of
the queen, which was excellently used by
Black. 36.a4 Rc7 37.a5 Rb5 38.Ra1 Rbc5
There is no good defence against R5c6 –
0:1.