Schacksnack

In this episode, IM Thomas Engqvist presents and analyses no. 26 in the Top 30 Chess Books series: Igor Zaitsev – Attacking the Strongpoint (2020). While Steinitz spoke of attacking the opponent’s weakest point, Lasker emphasised psychology, and Nimzowitsch championed prophylaxis, Zaitsev offers a strikingly different perspective: the deliberate attack on a strongly defended point. Over-protecting a key square or pawn, he argues, can invite a powerful assault precisely because it is so heavily guarded — a principle that also mirrors the battlefield strategies of Alexander the Great, which is discussed in detail.

Engqvist refer to this as the Alekhine–Zaitsev concept, since both players consciously and systematically demonstrated that a well-prepared attack on a fortified point can increase activity, dynamism, and ultimately undermine the opponent’s structure — but only once one’s own position has been strengthened through the accumulation principle. Elements of the idea can be found in the games of Paulsen and Steinitz, although they did not fully formulate it as a structured concept. Classic examples include Steinitz–von Bardeleben, Hastings 1895, along with many instructive games by Alekhine and Zaitsev himself.

He also examine Zaitsev’s combinational style. A deeply original player, he introduced many ideas later adopted by Karpov in World Championship matches against Korchnoi and Kasparov. Born on 27 May 1938, Zaitsev served as a leading trainer and coach from 1971 to 1991, working with Polugaevsky, Petrosian, and Karpov. Remarkably, Attacking the Strongpoint is his only book, published in 2020 by Russell Enterprises.