The start of a short series in which we examine useful pieces of chess advice that could make your experience at the board less disastrous than it might otherwise be. For some reason the authors of such advice tend to convert it to an acronym. Maybe they think this makes it easier or remember, or else they mean something uncomplimentary about their readers’ attention span.
Today, CEM, which is short for Check Every Move. This advice features in the excellent book The Survival Guide to Competitive Chess by John Emms (Everyman Chess, 2007). The aim is to avoid the type of blunder or mistake where you have a line in mind but you overlook a good move for your opponent. Emms says that when you have worked out what you want to play, you should methodically examine the position and consider every legal move your opponent can make. In doing so you are bound to visualise the position on the board after each move and you are more likely to spot any obvious problem with your intended line. It’s not about calculation since this kind of problem almost always arises on the very first move.
Now this procedure does add to the thinking time (although many of your opponent’s potential moves can be dismissed very quickly). So Emms does not advise doing this on every move, but only where you reach a critical position and it matters that you get it right.
Here are two examples from recent games where I did not follow this procedure and only spotted a problem after making my move. In the first case I was fortunate that my opponent did not find the right continuation.
White: Rodney Barking (2073), Black: Joshua Blinkhorn (1934). London League 2023.
C82: Ruy Lopez, Open Variation.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Bc5 10.Qe2 0-0 11.Be3 Qe7 12.Rd1 Rad8
This is a fairly typical position for the Open Variation. I chose 10.Qe2 to prevent Black sacrificing his knight on f2 then opening the f-file with …f6 (the Dilworth Attack). With correct play White is better but it can be complicated and I couldn’t remember all the theory as I don’t often face the Open. Then after Qe2, I was able to play Be3 and neutralise Black’s dark-square bishop.
Black’s last move, 12…Rad8, reinforces the centre but leaves his queenside unprotected. In this case the standard (and in principle best) White plan is to attack on the queenside by pushing a4. I looked at various Black attempts to hold the queenside together. 13…bxa4 14.Bxa4 is better for White, and 13…Rab8 14.Bxd5 wins a pawn. 13…b4 didn’t look problematic either (although the computer later identified this as Black’s second-best option in this position). So without checking anything else, I continued:
13.a4??
Can you see what’s wrong with this move? I could – but only after I’d played it on the board. Black has the massively-strong continuation 13…d4! with a double attack on the bishop on b3 and the bishop on e3. I can’t avoid losing material. For example 14.Rxd4 Bxd4 15.Bxd4 Bxb3 16.Qxe4 Bd5, or 14.cxd4 Bxb3 15.Rc1 Nxd4 and in both cases I can resign. If I had applied the CEM technique I would have considered all Black’s possible replies, dismissing most of them, but identifying 13…d4! as fatal to my plans. You only have to notice the move to see this instantly. Instead of 13.a4?? I would have played 13.Nbd2 retaining a definite pull.
As it happens my opponent didn’t find the killer move. The game continued 13…Na5 14.Bxc5 Qxc5 15.Bc2 and I went on to win.
You would think I learned a lesson from this, but in fact the next example is from a game that I played only two days later.
White: Chris James (1996), Black: Rodney Barking (2073). Sligo 2023.
A36: English, Symmetrical Variation.
1.e4 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 e6 6.Nge2 Nge7 7.0-0 0-0 8.a3 b6 9.Rb1 Bb7 10.b4 d6 11.d3 Qd7 12.b5 Nd4 13.Nxd4 Bxd4 14.Ne2 Bg7 15.Bb2 Bxb2 16.Rxb2 d5 17.Rd2 Rad8 18.Qa4 dxe4 19.Qxa7
White’s 1.e4 turned out to be an Anti-Sicilian, converting after 1…c5 2.c4 to an English Opening, Botvinnik Variation. This must be recommended in some opening book. The Botvinnik Variation is White’s most popular choice if you’re new to the English as it’s easy to learn (with a standard piece deployment) and it’s effective against one of Black’s most common responses to the English, which is a King’s Indian formation. There are several good ways of responding to the Botvinnik Variation. In this game I chose the Symmetrical Variation with 1…c5 and a later …e6, which Fischer used to play, and which was recommended by GM Victor Bologan in a DVD with a Black repertoire against the English some years ago. I was happy with the position I got from the opening as Black has active development and no obvious problems.
Perhaps recognising this, my opponent decided to go in for complications with 18.Qa4, since I was threatening to win a pawn by capturing on c4 or e4, and preventing this by capturing on d5 himself is nothing for White. After 18…dxe4 19.Qxa7 we reach the diagram position. Now the best continuation for Black is 19…exd3, when the tactics work out well for Black after either:
(1) 20.Bxb7 Nc8 21.Qa6 dxe2 22.Rxe2 Nd6 23.Bc6 Qc7, or in this line 22.Rxd7 Rxd7 23.Re1 Rd1 24.f3 Rxe1+ 25.Kf2 Ra1, or else
(2) 20.Qxb7 Qxb7 21.Bxb7 dxe2 22.Rxe2 Nf5.
Note that in the diagram position, even if Black makes a quiet move such as 19…Nf5, White can’t take on e4 because the d3 pawn is pinned, e.g. 20.Bxe4 Bxe4 21.Qxd7 Rxd7, exploiting the undefended White rook on d2. The problem with quiet moves is that White is threatening to win a pawn with Qxb6. I can defend it with 19…Nc8, but after 20.Qa4 exd3 21.Rfd1 this time the pin on the d3 pawn (which is now a Black pawn) works against me. Then 21…dxe2 22.Rxd7 Rxd7 23.Re1, or 21…Bxg2 22.Rxd3 Qxd3 23.Rxd3 Rxd3 24.Kxg2, are both quite good for Black but you feel White has rather got away with it.
You can see what’s coming next. If only I could defend the pawn on b6, and also remove my queen from the potential pin on the d-file, I would not only be threatening to take on d3, but also to win White’s queen with …Ra8. So without really considering what White might do about this, I played 19…Qc7?
As soon as I had played this move, I saw that White could capture on e4 with the bishop and win a pawn. Yes, his d3-pawn is still pinned because the rook on d2 remains undefended, but more importantly my queen on c7 is no longer defended by the rook on d8, so my bishop on b7 is pinned and I can’t recapture on e4. Again if I had applied the CEM technique when considering 19…Qc7, I would have thought about 20.Bxe4 (among all the other moves White might play, all of which lose for White) and I would instantly have seen the problem.
The game continued 20.Bxe4 Rd7? (one bad move leads to another: instead the problem-like 20…Nd5! 21.Qa4 Ne3! 22.fxe3 Bxe4 is fine for Black) and now 21.Qxb7 Qxb7 22.Bxb7 Rxb7 23.Ra1 would have cemented the extra pawn. However, White played the inferior 21.Nc3? and after 21.Qe5 22.Bxb7 Qxc3, I went on to win.
Since these games I have been trying to apply the CEM technique in my games and in most cases it has helped me to avoid some obvious errors that I might otherwise have made.