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Published by Gloucester Publishers pie, formerly Everyman Publishers pie,
Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London ECIV OAT

Copyright © 2003 Yasser Seirawan

Revised edition fi rst published 2005

All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieve! system or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic,electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying. recording or otherwise,
without prior permission of the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN I 85744 332 2

Published and distributed in India by Citadel Chess World.

# 3, I" Floor. Lalithambika. No I. 79th Street, 18th Avenue.
Ashok Nagar, Chennai-83.
All sales enquiries should be directed to the same.
Tel: (44) 24716179 Mobile: 98848 00219
Web: www.citadelchessworld.com, www.supercitadel.com
Email: info @: citadelchessworld.com. info@supercitadel.com

Citadel Chess World is a registered trademark ofSymbion Technology Pvt Ltd.

Printed and bound at Lakshmi Offset Printers. Sivakasi.

Everyman is the registered trade mark of Random House Inc. and is used
in this work under license from Random House Inc.

EVERYMAN CHESS SERIES (formerly Cadogan chess)

Chief Advisor: Garry Kasparov
Commissioning Editor: Byron Jacobs
 ammaaaan
CONTENTS
• •••••••

INTRODUCTION 5

CHAPTER ONE The Importance of Strategy 8

CHAPTER Two Making the Most of a Material Advantage 14

CHAPTER THREE Stopping Enemy Counterplay 32

CHAPTER FOUR Understanding Where the Pieces Go 44

CHAPTER FIVE Superior Minor Pieces 90

CHAPTER SIX How to Use Pawns 108

CHAPTER SEVEN The Creation of Targets 137

CHAPTER EIGHT Territorial Domination 159

CHAPTER NINE Attacking the King 176

CHAPTER TEN Faulty Strategies 194

CHAPTER ELEVEN The Great Masters of Strategy 208

CHAPTER TWELVE Solutions to Tests 232

GLOSSARY 241

INDEX 250
 • m m m m • m•
INTRODUCTION
•••m•mmm

I have now written six books about "winning chess". All the rules and ba­
sic infonnation were covered in my first book, Play Winning Chess; tacti­
cal themes were explored in my second book, Winning Chess Tactics; and
now, in Winning Chess Strategies, I take you on a journey to a whole dif­
ferent level of chess understanding. On this level, you no longer spend en­
tire games reacting to your opponent; instead, you are proactive. You
think through a position, set a goal, and methodically find ways to reach it.
Hundreds of thousands of books have been written about chess. what
can you hope to learn from this one? With all modesty, a lot. The aim of
this book is simple: to make you think about chess in a different way. In
my two previous books, I showed you chess as an art and a sport. In this
book, I show you chess as a science. My goal in this book is to make you
realize that behind the pushing of little wooden men around a checkered
board lies a lot of thought. Some of the ideas that make up the science of
chess have been used for centuries - millennia, in fact. They have been
researched, recreated, and refined to suit our purposes and are used by to­
day's Grandmasters to reach the perennial goal: to win that next game of
chess.
To be able to understand the techniques I teach in the next eleven
chapters, you should already know the following:
• You must know the rules of the game - how the pieces move, how
to castle, what en-p3;SSant is, and so on. (You'll find all these rules
explained in Play Winning Chess.)
• You must know the relative values of the pieces.
 WINNING CHESS STRATEGIES

• You should be familiar with basic chess terminology. For those of

you who don't know luft from a fork and counterplay from a
blockade, I have added a glossary at the end of this book. If you
come across a word or phrase you don't know, look it up in the
glossary before continuing on; otherwise, you might miss a crucial
bit of information in the explanation of a strategy or description of
a game.
• You must be able to read algebraic chess notation. If you can ·t.
the sample games \\'ill appear to be nothing but gibberish!
(Algebraic chess lllltation is expla i n ed brie fly in the glossary and
more completely in Pim· Winning Cht>ss.)
• Though not absolutdy necessary. you \\i' ll fi nd it useful to know
the four element:-. of chess - force (material). time. space, and
pa\\'n structur..: and their associated principles. as described in
Play Wi1111i11g Chess.
\\'ith the s e humble bu ilding blocks. 1 \\ill teach you hO\\' to understand
''hat i� hap pe ning in any gi \ en chess pos ition and hem to formulate a plan
for success based on the dues you can tine! in the po�it1on. By focusing on
t h e positional feature� rather than the tactical featur6 of th e ga m e you .

\\ill learn to build your �trategy slo \\ ly and confidently, secure in the
knO\dedge that the fundamental principles you are follo,ving can't lead
you astray.
But isn't positional chess boring'.' lsn't it more exciting to sa cri fic e a
few pieces and hack your enem y s King to death'? Yes.
' a sacrificial attack
is enonnous fun. but just as a skilled counter-punching boxer can eventu­
ally knock o ut a pure slugger. a skilled positional chess player can usually
take the force out of an attack and grind his opponent into the dust. You
\\'ill learn that haymaker blows must come from positionally superior
situations. which means that even the finest attackers in history have had
to master planning and strategy. Few amateur players work at developing
their strategic skills, so the fact that you are reading this book should give
you an enonnous advantage over your competition. Imagine your oppo-

6
 Introduction

nents' positions falling apart again and again, and imagine their frustration
when they can't figure out why they keep losing to you! As a player who
earns his living on the strength of his strategic skills, I can attest to the fact
that it's no fun being squeezed to death by a positionally savvy opponent.
But it's oh-so satisfying to be the one who is doing the squeezing!
As in my previous books, I refer to all chess players as he. Boys and
men continue to make up the vast majority of the chess playing public.
though there are encouraging ind i cations that girls are becom ing more in­
terested in the sport. Hopefully. some of them will read this book. and
some of them \\ill go on to tournament competition armed with th e strate­
gic ski lb they \\ill learn here. \\'arch out men1 The) \\ i l l be fonnidable
opponents�

Yasscr Seinm an
S e attle Washington
.
 -��---�·
CHAPTER ONE
• BBBBBBBI

The Im portan ce of
Strategy
From the beginnings of human history, people have played games. And of
all the games in the world, chess is aptly known as the Royal Game or the
King of Games. Heady praise indeed! The unique beauty of chess has at­
tracted some of the greatest minds of human history. Why? What makes
chess so fascinating? Critics of the game see only grown men brooding
endless hours away, sporadically pushing a few wooden pieces around a
checkered board. In this critical light, why would anyone want to play
chess? There must be something that makes this game so fascinating. Oth­
erwise, how could it have survived for these many millennia?
Obviously, if the critics were right, chess would not exist. Yet chess
has not only survived but is doing very well. The FIDE - the Federation
Internationale des Echecs - is the third-largest sporting body in the world,
representing over one hundred and sixty nations. (The largest sporting
body is the IOC - the International Olympic Committee - and the second­
largest is the FIFA - the Federation Internationale de Football Associa­
tion, which governs the world's most popular sport, soccer.) Why has
chess survived?
Things survive the test of time because they are needed. Stop and think
for a moment. What is there in your life that has survived for thousands of
years? Tools like the spoon have survived. They have evolved to perfectly

8
 The Importance of Strategy

fit a need. If there were no need for them, such tools would not exist.
Games - and there are thousands, perhaps millions, of them - have
been used by societies for eons as tools for physical, emotional, and men­
tal growth. Of all these games, chess is the perfect tool for developing the
mind. As Goethe said, "The game of chess is the touchstone of the intel­
lect." At the root of chess is a battle of minds. Chess is a reflection of life,
requiring a determination to compete and a desire to win. To succeed, you
must become clever. Will power alone is not enough. You have to use
your brain. You must think. And you must train yourself to think in differ­
ent ways.
When I teach young people the game of chess, I inform them and their
parents that chess will teach them the five R's. I then go on to explain
these:
• R number 1 : To play chess competitively according to the
international rules of FIDE, a player must (w)rite down his moves.
• R number 2: As a player continues to compete, he will experience
many losses. Dissatisfied, the player will seek to sharpen his skill
and stop repeating the mistakes of the past by reading books on
chess.
• R number 3: To get better at chess, a player must be able to keep
score. He starts the game with eight pawns. As the game
progresses, pieces get swapped, and pawns get pushed forward
and lost. He now has two Rooks and four pawns left for a point
count of 1 4 (5+5+4), and his opponent has a Rook, a Bishop, a
Knight, and five pawns for a point count of 16 ( 5+ 3+ 3+5). The
opponent therefore has a material advantage of two. Simple. He
has just used (a)rithmetic.
• R number 4: The player undertakes these first three R's because it
is his responsibility. No one else's. When playing chess, the
player has no excuses for his blunders. A teammate didn't drop a
perfect pass or miss a shot. He and only he is responsible.
• R number 5 : The last R is also the most important. Suppose the

9
 CHAPTER ONE

player's Queen is attacked. Ifhe doesn't move it, the Queen will
be captured. Ifhe pulls it back in retreat, it will be safe. If he
moves it forward, the Queen can capture a pawn and still be safe.
He decides to go for the pawn, and in making his decision, he
exercises his powers of reasoning.
These five R's combine to produce that which all education is about:
critical thinking. When you get right down to it, education has two ele­
ments: information and information processing. Information by itself is
worthless. It is the critical thinking that allows us to process the informa­
tion that gives the information its value.
Critical thinking occurs in every game of chess, even those played by
weak players who have barely learned the moves. Your hand reaches out,
your eye gleams, you lift a Knight and pounce on a pawn. You are sneaky,
conniving, and ruthless. The pawn is yours! But wait a moment. Your op­
ponent has made a pact with the devil. He takes your valiant Knight. Rats!
How did that happen? What should you have done instead? What should
you do next? Critical thinking has occurred.
Looking at chess with uninitiated eyes, what does the observer see?
Two equal, opposing armies facing each other on a 64-square checkered
board. What could possibly be so engrossing? And why can one player
consistently beat another? One player is obviously better than the other.
Given the same army as his opponent, he is outplaying him. Why? Be­
cause he is outthinking his opponent. What's his secret weapon? Strategy.

What Is Strategy?
Many players love quick, slash-and-bum chess games but get restless, im­
patient, and even frightened when matched with a thoughtful positional
player. In their shortsightedness, they either don't understand why their
enemy sometimes takes his time in deciding where to move, or they fear
that the mental ability of this type of opponent will overwhelm them. The
real problem is that they simply know nothing about chess strategy.
In the following pages, I will teach you what strategy is and how to
create and harness specific strategies for your own use. Once you realize

10
 The Importance o f Strategy

how easy it is to plan and execute a strategy, you'll begin to wonder what
all the fuss was about. And your chess-playing friends will come to think
of you as an intellectual giant.
First we need a definition. What exactly is chess strategy? Is it setting
a trap, crossing our fingers, and hoping the opponent falls into it? Sorry,
not even close. Is it the same as calculating all the move variations implicit
in a position? Wrong again.
The fact that strategy has little in common with calculation is surpris­
ing, until you consider some of the definitions of strategy that have been
offered. My colleague Grandmaster Larry Evans calls strategy "... a long­
range master plan", while Hooper and Whyld, in the Oxford Companion to
Chess, say that strategy is "... the planning and conduct of the long-term
objectives in a game." Calculation, on the other hand, is a computer-like
crunching of moves with no clear objective in sight.
Phrases such as "long-range" and "long-term" imply in-depth analysis,
but in fact, Evans, Hooper, and Whyld are alluding to positional play - the
slow, systematic building up of small advantages. Perhaps the late World
Champion Max Euwe put it best when he said, "Strategy requires thought;
tactics requires observation." He meant that a strategic plan is created by
combining positional features involving material, space, piece mobility,
and pawn structure over a long span of moves, whereas a tactic is not so
much a creation as an observation that can be implemented to take advan­
tage of a short-term opportunity.
An example of strategic thinking goes as follows: You realize that you
can give your opponent a set of doubled pawns by trading your Bishop for
his Knight. You decide that your long-term goal will be to attack and
eventually win one of these newly created doubled pawns, thereby gaining
a material advantage. This plan governs your following moves, because
everything you do is now motivated by your intention of capturing one or
p
both of these doubled awns.
Strategy, then, is the purposeful pursuit of a simple goal: to gain an ad­
vantage of some sort over your opponent. With some idea of the intellec­
tual meaning of strategy, we can begin to see its usefulness. No more aim-

11
 C HAPTER ONE

lessly charging from move to meaningless move. And no more blank star­
ing at a board that makes no sense to us at all. Far from complicating our
games, strategy actually simplifies them!
The promise of simplicity has begun to call us, but how do we actually
use this wonderful new tool? In the chapters that follow, I'll define and
illustrate the most admired and time-tested strategic concepts - in other
words, those that work! You'll see how to recognize when a particular
strategy is ideal and how to implement it with a minimum of effort. All
you have to do is sit at your chess board, follow along, and immerse your­
self in the rewarding world of positional chess - a world where ten-move
plans can be created quickly and easily when you recognize and under­
stand the basic strategies of the game.

What Is a Chess Adva ntage?

The goal of a strategy is to gain a chess advantage. Being the proud owner
of a chess advantage simply means that your position has certain positive
features that your opponent's is lacking. There are two types of advan­
tages: static and dynamic. A static advantage is a long-term one - perma­
nent. A dynamic advantage is like a tactic - temporary. You may have a
dynamic advantage because your King is safe, whereas your opponent
hasn't yet castled. When your opponent castles and brings his King to
safety, your dynamic advantage disappears. For this reason, it is important
to take every opportunity to create static advantages. Put your faith in only
those features that will be part of your position for a long time.
The role of strategy is to create one or more of the following static ad-
vantages:
• More material (force)
• Superior piece mobility
• Superior pawn structure
• More territory (space)
• Safe King position (usually when castled)

It's up to you to recognize the possibility of an advantage in a position

12
 T he Importance of S trategy

and then come up with a plan that enables you to overcome the opposition
by dint of the power the advantage gives you.
Will knowledge of how to create static advantages turn you into a good
player? It certainly helps, but obviously your opponent will be (or should
be!) creating his own advantages. Real skill in chess comes when you can
determine whose advantages are more real - which positive features will
eventually rise up in triumph. For example, you may have a material ad­
vantage (say, an extra pawn), but if your opponent has superior pawn
structure, extra space, and more active pieces, you will probably wish you
could start the game all over again. Or you may create a material advan­
tage by winning a piece but, in the process, weaken your King's defenses.
What good is holding an extra piece if all you can do is stand by and
watch yourself getting checkmated? You have misjudged the advantage of
winning a piece, and in a nutshell, you've been outplayed.
It is this kind of complex, intricate battle between players who are con­
stantly trading their existing advantages for new ones that makes chess
such a rewarding sport. After you read through this book, you will be able
to take part in those battle� armed with new knowledge and insights into
chess that can help you build a reputation as a consistent winner.

13
 m m m m m m m •
CHAPTER TWO
• •mmmmmm

Making the Most of

a Material Advantage
Of all the advantages you can possess, a material advantage is by far the
most powerful and the easiest to understand. A material surplus gives you
options that don't normally exist, whereas a material deficit usually pro­
vokes something akin to panic. Why panic? Suppose you lose a piece right
from the opening and can capture absolutely nothing in return. Can you
look forward to a quiet positional middlegame? No. A material deficit in
the middlegame is bad news. Even worse is a material deficit in the end­
game. Any normal extension of such a game should lead to your defeat,
simply because your opponent's army is bigger than yours!
Eating your opponent's pieces has the obvious effect of opening up the
board, and it also affects the psychological state of both you and your op­
ponent. Small wonder that masters always prefer to play for a material ad­
vantage rather than engage in exciting but uncertain skirmishes, such as
the kingside attack.
In this chapter, we will explore the two most common methods of
capitalizing on a material advantage:
• Using your superior forces to overwhelm your opponent
• Trading pieces with the express purpose of going into a winning
endgame

14
 Making the Most of a Materia l Advantage

In the following discussion, I assume that you are familiar with the
numeric values assigned to the pieces - pawn: l point; Knight: 3 points;
Bishop: 3 points; Rook: 5 points; and Queen: 9 points - and that you can
figure out whether you are ahead or behind at any time in the game by
adding up the values of your pieces and comparing your total point count
with that of your opponent. I also assume that you are familiar with the
concept of development - the process of moving your pieces from their
starting posts to new and more effective positions. If you need to refresh
your memory about ways of winning material or ways of developing your
pieces, you might want to read Chapters Two and Three of Play Winning
Chess, where I expound on the principles of force (material) and time (de­
velopment), two of the four principles of the Seirawan method of playing
chess.

Overwhelmi n g Your Opponent

I t stands t o reason that a group o f ten well-trained warriors will defeat an
equally skilled group of nine. This fact is so obvious that I have to wonder
why more players don't make better use of their material. Instead, less­
experienced players often win a piece during the opening and then attack
madly with only two or three men, leaving the rest of their army to medi­
tate on its fate back at home. The usual result of such folly? In a high-level
tournament, any player who charged ahead in this way would be eaten
alive! How can you expect to succeed by crossing the center of the board
into enemy territory and attacking a force of seven or eight pieces and
countless pawns with only three pieces?
If you follow this simple strategy, you will find that most material ad-
vantages will resolve themselves in your favor:

After winning material, don't immediately attack your opponent.

Instead, quietly _consolidate your position by developing all your
forces and getting your King to safety. Only when everything is
protected and your army is fully mobilized should you start
marching up the board.
At that point, you can afford to trade pieces because if you go into an end-

15
 CHAPTER TWO

game with extra wood, you will usually win. And if your opponent doesn't
want to trade, your superior forces will wipe him out in different ways. In
summary:
Be patient and get your stuff out!
Let's take a look at an example of this strategy in action. Diagram 1
shows the board after 1 3 moves in my 1 982 game against World Cham­
pion Anatoly Karpov. I am White, and I am behind in development. How­
ever, I have a chance to win a piece. After a thorough examination of the
possibilities for both sides, I decide that I can take the piece and eventually
get the rest of my pieces into play. I am well aware that this is the game's
critical moment. If I can grab the piece and catch up in development, I will
win this game. Study the following moves to see what I did.

Sei rawan-Karpov
London, 1 982

DIAGRAM l. White to play

Seirawan-Karpov
London 1982

14.Re3!
This move takes the pressure off the e-file and attacks the Black
Queen. Note that I can counter a retreat like 14 . Qd8 with l 5.Rxe8+ be-
..

16
 Making the Most of a Material Advantage

cause the White Queen on a4 is also eyeing the e8-square. Black has only
one way to defend against this threat by blocking the e-file.
14...Be6
Now Black's Knight on a6 is left undefended and ready to pluck.
1 5.Qxa6
So I now have a material advantage. The question is, "Can I get my
other pieces out and shuffle my King to safety?"
1 5...cxd4
Black picks up a pawn, attacks my Rook, and opens up the c-file for
his Rooks. The World Champion must play with energy, or else I'll suc­
ceed in consolidating my position.
16.Rb3!
I didn't fall for 16.Nxd4?? Qb4+, which loses my d4-Knight.
16...Bf5 1 7.Bg2
The tempting 1 7 .Nxd4?? is still a loser because after 1 7 ...Qc5, there is
no defense against the dual threats of ... Qc 1 checkmate and ... Qxd4, which
wins back the piece.
l 7...Bc2 18.Nxd4 Bxb3 19.Nxb3
By giving back a bit of material, I reduce Karpov's attacking force and
make my defense easier. The material advantage of my two pieces vs.
Black's Rook is still sufficient for victory if I can get my King out of the
center. One of the strengths of a material advantage is that it gives you
great defensive diversity; you can sacrifice some wood defensively and
still come out ahead in the end. Remember this:
A material advantage is a bit like ballast in a hot air balloon. If
you start sinking, you can throw some of it over the side to stop
your descent.
1 9... Rac8 20.Bf3
Idefend my e2-pawn and create a hiding place for my King in the
event of 20 ... Qb4+ 2 1 .Kfl followed by Kg2, which has White burrowing
in on the kingside. Notice how I avoid the time-wasting 20.BxdS? even
though it grabs a pawn. I don't intend to capture anything else until I get
my King to a safe place! Once that is done, I'll give my greed full rein.

17
 CHAPTER TWO

20...Rc2 2 1.0-0
My King's safety is finally taken care ofl With his majesty tucked
away, it's time to launch my own threats.
21. ..Rxb2 2 2.Rdl
Stage one was winning material, and stage two was consolidation and
King security. With this move, I begin stage three: attack and destroy
Black's weak spots, the first of which is his d5-pawn.
22 ... Rd8 23.Nd4!
I centralize my K night and threaten 24.Nc6 with a juicy fork. Note that
23 ... Qd7 stops Nd4-c6 but fails to 24.Qa3, when Black's b2-Rook is en­
snared!
23 ... Rd7 24.Nc6 Qe8 25.Nxa7
My material advantage once again becomes pronounced. This meal
was quite satisfying at the time, because there is nothing I like more than
devouring my opponent's pieces and pawns.
25 ... Rc7 26.a4
After eating one of my opponents pawns, my Knight found itself out
of play on the side of the board. With this move, I am protecting the b5-
square and preparing for the Knight's return to the center. In so doing, I
am once again sticking to the plan: Take material and then consolidate the
position.
26...Qa8
Black pins my Knight, but I have prepared a trick of my own.
27.Rxd5!
Now, 27 . ..Rxa7 28.Qd3 leaves Black without an answer to 29.Rd8+,
which captures the Black Queen.
27...Qxa7 28.Rd8+ Kh7 29.Qd3+ f5
A sad necessity. If Black plays 29 ... g6, then 30.Qd4 carries the double
threat of Qd4xb2, which wins the Rook, and Qd4-h8 checkmate. Black
would be forced to give up his f-pawn by playing 30 ... Rbl+ , which leads
to 3 l .Kg2 f6 32.Qxf6 and a fate similar to the one that occurred in the ac­
tual game.
30.Qxf5+ g6 31.Qe6 1-0

18
 Making the Most of a Material Advantage

Black gives up because he sees that 3 l ... h5 3 2.Qg8+ Kh6 33.Qh8+

creates a double attack on his King and Rook on b2, with the inevitable
loss of the Rook. Note that 3 l .. Rg7 32.Qe8 renews my threats against his
.

King.
Beating a world Champion is always exhilarating. This win was possi­
ble only because I remembered that a material surplus is one of the most
important advantages you can possess and because I followed these rules:

I. After you gain material, immediately consolidate your position by

developing all your pieces and ensuring your King's safety.

2. Once you have consolidated your position, seek out new goodies to
devour.

3. If you have a large material advantage, don't hesitate to give up

some of your gains if doing so will stop enemy threats while allowing you
to remain equal or ahead in material.

For our next example, imagine that you have the upper hand in the
very one-sided position in Diagram.2. Though victory is much more likely
in this game, you could still falter without a strategy to guide you. In this
case, the strategy is:

DIAGRAM 2. White to play

19
 C HAPTER TWO

Try to find a target and then build a plan around it. The target
will show you where to concentrate your energies, while the plan
will tell you what to do.
In Diagram 2, White has an enormous material advantage. Black could
quietly resign this position but nobody ever won a game by giving up, so
he decides to hang on for dear life. How should White finish off his oppo­
nent? Actually, anything White does short of handing material back to
Black wins. But let's put ourselves in White's shoes and attempt to beat
Black in an orderly fashion. We need a target and a plan of attack. The
target will show us where to concentrate our energies, and the plan will
tell us what to do.
In this case, we will choose the Black pawn on e6 as our target. Why
this pawn? Because it cannot move. It stands to reason that it is easier to
attack something if we can train our sights on it. We don't want a moving
target, so the e6-pawn is an ideal candidate.
One sensible first move would be l.Bc4, which opens the b-file for
White's b2-Rook and brings the Bishop's powers to bear against the e6-
pawn. Black is completely helpless, so nothing he does will have much
consequence. He plays 1 ...Rh8. Now White continues his e6-pawn assault
with l.Rf6, and Black once again moves his Rook with 2 . Rd8. Notice
. .

how every White move is dictated by our chosen course of action. The
goal is to win the e6-pawn, and the plan of action is to bring White's
pieces to positions where they can attack this target.
From the position in Diagram 2, we have seen the moves l .Bc4 Rh8
2.Rf6 Rd8. Now how should White continue? So far, he has attacked with
two pieces (the Bishop and Rook), but the enemy defenses are easily hold­
ing against this small raiding party. The key to winning this position and
most others is to involve the entire White army in the assault. Suppose you
are the employer of four workers, two of whom never make any effort to
do their jobs. Would you tolerate this situation? No! So why would you
allow any of your pieces to act in the same manner? Make them earn their
keep!
Applying this philosophy to our present game, White forces the lazy

20
 Making the Most of a Material Advantage

b2-Rook to join in the attack on the e6-pawn with 3.Rb6. Now the e6-
pawn is attacked three times and defended only twice, meaning that White
will win it. Note that if Black could somehow defend his pawn a third
time, White would make use of his Knight (a fourth attacker!) by playing
it to c5 or f4.
This example shows how important it is to use your whole army in­
stead. As a game of warfare, chess is a group activity, and each member of
the group - pawns and pieces alike - must make a contribution.

Th rowing Away a Material Advantage

Sometimes a material advantage carries with it an aura of invisibility.
Lulled by a sense of secure victory, a player with a material surplus will
forget the other components of the strategy that tum a material advantage
into a win. Here are a couple of examples of this kind of forgetfulness.
Did you notice that White's Queen is missing in Diagram 3? What's
going on? The game we are about to look at was played "at odds". Today,
such games are rare. They are designed to give a weak player a chance to
beat someone much stronger. How do you play an odds game? You sim­
.
ply set up the pieces in the normal way and then take off whatever piece or
pawn the stronger player (the odds-giver) offers you. In this case, the
stronger player offered his Queen, and the game is said to be "at Queen
odds".
I can already hear you asking, "How can White hope to win without
his Queen?" Against an opponent of equal ability, White would really
have no hope at all. However, in this case White is William Norwood Pot­
ter, an experienced player, and he knows that his opponent, a beginner,
will make
mistakes. The question is: Will these mistakes be big enough to allow the
Queenless Potter a chance at victory? First, I'll give you the game's moves
without notes. Play through the gaine on your own board, and see if you
can spot the mistakes for yourself.
1 .e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Na5 5.Nxe5 Nxe4 6.d3 Nc5 7.Bxf7+
Ke7 8.Bg5+ Kd6 9.Nb5+ Kxe5 1 0.f4+ Kf5 1 1.Nd4+ Kg4 1 2.h3+ Kg3

21
 CHAPTER TWO

13.Ne2+ Kxg2 14.Bd5+ Ne4 15.Bxe4 checkmate

DIAGRAM J.
Potter-Amateur
London, 1870
Queen Odds

It doesn't take a master to see that Black dies a horrible death. Why?
Did you figure out his fundamental errors? Aside from the fact that he is
unable to see basic threats, the main reason for his demise is that he does
not develop his pieces. Let's look at the game again, this time with notes
that explain the mistakes.
1 .e4
White intends to develop his pieces as quickly as possible so that he
can whack Black off the board before the lack of a Queen drags him into
the abyss of defeat.
1 ...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Na5?
So far Black has played well. He has gained some central space (with
l . . . e5) and developed his two Knights. But now he suddenly stops bring­
ing pieces out and instead begins to play with only his cavalry. If he had
mobilized his whole army with 4 ... Bc5 followed by 5 . . 0-0 (which also
.

moves the King to safety) and 6 . . . d6, White would not have been able to
stave off an eventual loss, and Black would have won.

22
 Making the Most of a Material Advantage

5.NxeS Nxe4?
Black loses a pawn, but, with the advantage afforded by his Queen,
this loss really doesn't mean anything at all. If he had now traded off
White's attacking forces with 5 . . . Nxc4, the game might still have been his.
6.d3
White has lost all respect for his opponent and dares Black to make a
good move. The immediate 6.Bxf7+ would have been better, because now
Black can still pull out White's fangs with 6 . ..Nxc4, which ends the attack
by trading off the pieces that could have done Black hann. Ho\Yever,
Black blunders badly.
6 ...NcS??
Black has moved his two Knights over and over again while the rest of
his anny is still sitting at home. You won't win games if you play like
this! Capturing the c4-Bishop was still the correct move.
7.Bxfi+
Black failed to notice that this point was attacked twice. Now Black's
King is forced into the center, where it perishes under a brutal assault.
7...Ke7 8.BgS+
White might have been tempted to continue his attack with 8.Nd5+ us­
ing only his three developed pieces. Instead, he wisely brings a new piece
into the fray. He Knows Black has made a mistake in not mobilizing his
pieces, and he has no intention of repeating his opponent' s errors.
8 ...Kd6 9.NbS+
White's plan is to force Black to capture the Knight on e5. He reasons
that since he is already a Queen down, the loss of an additional piece
won't make much difference to the result. The important thing is to draw
the enemy King so far forward that it drowns in deep waters.
9 ... KxeS 10.f4+ KfS 1 1.Nd4+
Of course, White could compensate for giving Queen odds by captur­
ing Black's Queen, but at the moment he is hunting a larger trophy.
1 1 Kg4 l 2.h3+ Kg3 13.Ne2+ Kxg2 14.BdS+ Ne4 15.Bxe4 Checkmate
.••

Black got what he deserved. If you don't develop your pieces, you'll
find yourself in hot water again and again.

23
 CHAPTER TWO

As you have seen, a lead in development can make up for a material

deficit. However, if the less-developed army is able to catch up and match
the opponent's development, then the material advantage will begin to as­
sert itself. If you are ahead in material, don't simply feed on your enemy's
men and forget about your own mobilization.
I'll demonstrate this concept further by using another odds game. As
Diagram 4 shows, White has less confidence this time (or is more in touch
with reality) and gives odds of his Queen-Knight. With the Knight re­
moved from b 1 , play begins.

DIAGRAM 4.
Ward-Browne
Nottingham, 1874
Queen-Knight Odds

1 .e4 es 2.f4
White immediately shows his willingness to give up more material to
open lines for his pieces.
2 exf4 3.Nf3 f5?
.•.

A very poor move. Black weakens the pawn protection around his
King and fails to develop a piece. Something like 2 ...d5 (which frees his
c8-Bishop) or 2 . . d6 (which stops White from attacking the Knight with
.

e4-e5) followed by 3 . . Nf6 would be better.

.

24
 Making the Most of a Material Advantage

4.Bc4!
White rushes to get all his pieces out so that he can start an attack
against the Black King. Further loss of material doesn't worry him be­
cause he is already so far down in force that a quiet game would only lead
to his doom.
4 fxe4 5.0-0!
•••

White begs Black to capture the Knight and at the same time develops
even more of his forces.
5 exf3?
•.•

Look at the Black position. Has he developed any of his pieces? Be­
fore playing 5 ... exf3, he enjoyed a material advantage of a Knight and two
pawns. He didn't need to take anything else! Instead of capturing his op­
ponent' s pieces, be should be getting his own pieces out and keeping the
files and diagonals closed so that his King will be able to get to safety. A
much saner move would be 5 ... d5 (which closes down the a2-g8 diagonal
and frees his own light-squared Bishop) or 5 ...Nf6 followed by 6 ... d5 . In
either case, Black's huge material advantage would eventually triumph.
6.Qxf3 BcS+?
A better move for Black is 6 ... Nf6, which develops a piece. As things
stand, White is able to give up one more pawn in order to get every piece
he owns into the fight.
7.d4!
Very nice. White throws this pawn away but frees his cl-Bishop with
tempo. Development is now more important than simple material consid­
erations.
7 Bxd4+ 8.Khl d6
•.•

Black finally gets around to moving his pieces. But because he previ­
ously ignored his development, this effort comes too late.
9.Bxf4 Nf6 10.Rael+
Black thinks that he is two pieces and a pawn ahead. However, look at
Diagram 5. Notice the guys sitting on a8, b8, c8, d8, and h8. What are they
doing? Nothing at all! Now look at the White army. Everybody is hard at
work! As a result, White has a much larger force at his disposal than

25
 CHAPTER TWO

Black. (In a strange way, this position actually puts White ahead in mate­
rial!) Of course, if Black can get his pieces out, he will win, so White is
forced to play for a quick knockout before the reinforcements arrive.

DIAGRAM 5. Black to play

10 Kft! 1 1 .QdS!
...

White threatens checkmate on fl and hopes that Black will fall for
1 l ...Nxd5 12.Bxd6++ Kg8 13 .Bxd5+ Be6 14.Bxe6 checkmate. This kind
of tactic may seem shocking to the amateur player, but White knows that
shocking moves are the equivalent to swinging fists, and he must land a
haymaker.
1 1 ...Qd7 12.Qxd4 Nc6
White gets one of his pieces back, but Black manages to develop a
piece. Has White ' s attack fizzled out?
13.Qxf6+! !
B lack's King loses its protective cover.
13 gxf6 1 4.Bh6+ Qg7 1 5.Rxf6 Checkmate
•••

Apart from the King, every White piece participated in this checkmate.
Does the fact that superior development can make up for a material
deficit mean that a material advantage is not really so important? Not at
all! Black would have won this game if he had been less greedy and more
attentive to his development. Here's the strategy once again:

26
 Making the Most of a Material Advantage

When you are already way behind in material, you can happily
give away more. You are already down, so you have nothing to
lose! When you are ahead, though, you should refuse new gifts
until your entire army is developed and your King is safe. Once
you have accomplished these goals, you are free to take every­
thing in sight.
TEST 1 . Black is a Queen up in material, but now his Queen is under at­
tack. It's his move. How should he deal with this problem?

TEST I.
Tarrasch-Schroeder
Nuremberg 1 890

Tradin g Pieces for a Win ni n g Endgame

From the previous examples, you've probably realized that when you have
less material than your opponent and no compensation for this deficit, you
are often reduced to playing for a lucky shot - a move that depends more
on your opponent making a mistake than on any brilliance of your own. In
chess parlance, this situation is known as playing for a cheap shot or
cheapo for short. On the other hand, if you have a material advantage, you
want to eliminate as many of the potential tricks in a position as possible.
Trading pieces when you are ahead in material is a wonderful way to
avoid being the target o f a cheapo. Here's the strategy:

When you are materially ahead, trade, trade, trade!

The concept of trading pieces is particularly useful if you can wind up
in the endgame with an advantage of a pawn or more. Then your poor op-

27
 CHAPTER TWO

ponent, down to his last piece or two, will face a miserable defense with
no chances to attack whatsoever. A couple of examples will demonstrate
the efficacy of this strategy.

DIAGRAM 6. White to play DIAGRAM 7. White to play

White is two pawns ahead in Diagram 6. but Black, with threats of

l ...Qxh2+ and l ...Rf2, is trying to make things difficult. Is it time for
White to panic, or is there an easy way out? If White employs the trading
strategy, then all his problems will disappear after 1.Qd4 ( l .Qc3 is also
fine). When the Queens leave the board, Black's threats cease to exist, and
White can try for victory in a nice, safe, two-pawn-up endgame.
We see the same idea in Diagram 7, though in this case, the solution is
a more imaginative. White has a fat four-pawn advantage, but Black
threatens l...Nxh2 and l ...Nf2 checkmate. If White plays 1.Qd6, then
Black saves himself with l ...Nf2+ 2.Kh2 Ng4+, and White must accept
the draw by perpetual check. If White can only trade Queens, all his prob­
lems will be over, but such a trade appears to be impossible. Or is it? It
turns out that White can win with the tricky 1.Qb8+! Kxb8 2.Nc6+, fork­
ing the King and Queen and leading to a winning endgame. After 2 Kb7 .••

3.Nxd4 Nf2+ 4.Kh2 Ng4+ 5.KgJ, Black can do nothing better than give
up.
Obviously, trading can be a very important defensive strategy. Some-

28
 Making the Most of a Material Advantage

times it may not be easy to find away to accomplish the desired exchange,
but the end result is usually well worth the effort.

DIAGRAM 8. Black to play

Gormon-Silman
Ervin Memorial, 1987

Our next example shows White sacrificing a pawn so that he can

quickly mobilize his army. In Diagram 8, White has j ust castled and dares
Black, who is already behind in development, to take the b2-pawn bait.
Before capturing this pawn, Black must ask himself the two questions on
the next page.

1. After capturing the b2-pawn, can I eventually catch up in develop­

ment?

2. Can White take advantage of the open lines my capture will create
and get to me in a hurry?

Foremost in Black's mind is a simple fact: If he can survive White's

attack, the extra material will give him an excellent chance to win. He de­
cides to go for it!
1 •.• Qxb2 2.Qd2 h6
A sharp move, even though it doesn't immediately develop a piece. Its
deeper purpose is to gain time by attacking the Bishop and prepare the

29
 CHAPTER TWO

way for placing the f8-Bishop on the h8-al diagonal. Black has faith in his
position because his pawn structure acts like a thick leather hide, keeping
out any annoying flies that might wish to bite him. Note how the pawns on
c6 and d6 defend the important b5, c5, d 5 , and e5 squares, making them
uninhabitable for the enemy pieces.
3.Bh4?
Having already sacrificed a pawn, White should have kept his nerve
and played 3 .Rabl Qa3 4.Rb3 . Then Rfl-bl would have allowed him to
use the b-file to advantage. Instead, White's move falls in line with
Black's plan of development.
3 ... g5!
Normally these kinds of flank weaknesses aren't recommended. In this
setting, however, Black must develop his army as quickly as possible.
Coming as it does with tempo, this is Black's best move.
4.Rab 1 Qa3 5.Rb3
White' s Rook has taken control of the b-file with gain of tempo, but he
is still unable to inflict any damage on the Black position.
5 Qa5 6.Bg3 Bg7
..•

Now the Bishop on g7 is very strong, and Black is ready with 7 ... 0-0 to
get his King to safety. White tries to tear down the Black kingside pawn
structure, but in doing so, he allows Black to initiate a series of moves that
ultimately lead to a trade of Queens.
7.h4?! gxh4 8.Bxh4 Bxd4!
Black would not normally trade his fine Bishop for the d4-Knight, but
in this case, the move represents more than a simple exchange of pieces.
9.Qxd4 Qe5 1 0.Qxe5 Nxe5 1 1 .Rb7 f6
White's control of the b-file allows him to apply some pressure, but
not enough to compensate for an unhealthy pawn deficit. With l l . . f6, .

Black continues to consolidate his position by creating a safe haven on fl

for his King.
12.fJ Bc8
Black forces the Rook to get off the dangerous 7th rank. Note that
Black doesn' t hurry to swing out and attack. He just slowly improves his

30
 Making the Most of a Material Advantage

position. When you are ahead in material and have a safe position, you can
afford to take your time and torture your opponent. This cat-and-mouse
theme is a favorite strategy of the masters.
13.Rb4 Rg8 14.Khl K1i 15.Rfbl Rd8!
Subtle. This Rook will eventually reach the b-file by ...Rd7-b7.
16.Bg3 c5 1 7.Rb8 Rxb8
Black is quite happy to trade pieces because he can feel victory draw­
ing a little closer with every exchange.
18.Rxb8 Nc6
The Black Knight chases the White Rook to a less-active square.
19.Rb2 Rd7 20.Bf4 h5 2 1 .NdS Rb7 22.Bcl Rxb2 23.Bxb2 Be6
Black has achieved a winning position, and White knows it. As you
have seen, the important theme to keep in mind is this:
One of the clearest advantages you can have in chess is to win
the opponent's pcnvns or pieces. But there is a risk! As you 're
grabbing material, you 're not developing. Winning material is
fine, ifyou can catch up to your opponent's level of mobilization.

TEST 2.
Silman-Malachi
Lloyds Bank Masters 1978

TEST 2. Black has sacrificed two pawns for what appears to be a strong
attack. How should White cope with his kingside problems?

31
 ••••••••
CHAPTER THREE
• •••••••

Stop p i ng En emy
Cou nterp lay
At some time or other, we all find ourselves with an advantage in position
- be it large or small. It's part of the natural ebb and flow of the game.
Whether we can parlay that advantage into a win is a completely different
matter. Rarely will your opponent be so depressed over his positional
shortcomings that he will lay back and allow yoti to wreak havoc upon
him. More than likely, the guy sitting across from you will begin his own
aggressive action, fighting for some sort of counterplay. In these cases,
you must stay calm, refuse to overreact, and implement this strategy:

Try to find the perfect balance between defense and a continua­

tion thatfurthers your own plans.
Let's look at an example. The position in Diagram 9 is very favorable
for White. With his extra pawn and powerful centralized Bishop, he is
clearly winning the game. However, Black has a trump of his own: his ag­
gressively placed Rook on the 7th rank. The power of this piece enables
him to threaten l ...Qg5. If White allows this move, Black will win the
game because checkmate on g2 can be avoided only by 2.Qf2 (which loses
the Queen to 2...Rxf2) or 2.g4 (which allows 2 ... Qd2 with a quick check­
mate to follow).

32
 Stopping Enemy Counterplay

DIAGRAM 9. White to play

Botvinnik-Kan
Leningrad, 1939

How should White react? Threats to one's King often breed mindless
terror. Many players would panic and fly something like 1 .Qb4?? Qg5
2 . Rb2. The idea is good - trading would indeed take the sting out of
Black's attack. However, Black would then play 2 ... Qc l +, picking up the
White Rook and turning a lost position into an easy win.
Having seen the Black threat, if all White thinks about is defense, he
will lose the game. Instead, after noting the threat, he should look at his
own advantages and try to combine an aggressive plan of action that
makes use of his pluses with a defensive scheme. This is how it is done.
White is a pawn ahead. Because it is a passed pawn, he would love to
push it down the board and create a new Queen. What's preventing the
promotion? The White Queen is in the way of its own pawn. He must
move the Queen if he wants to make immediate use of the extra pawn on
c4. Now comes the critical decision: Where can he move the White Queen
that also prevents the Black threat of ... Qg5? Because White has a material
advantage, he would love to trade Queens, and the answer 1 .Qe3! is best.
This move both stops the enemy attack in its tracks and furthers White' s
own goals.

33
 C HAPTER THREE

In the sections that follow, we will examine two methods of dealing

with enemy counterplay. The first is to constantly be on the alert for your
opponent' s tactical threats. The second is to keep your opponent as help­
less as possible.

Spotti n g Tactical Th reats

Often when you are winning a chess game, there comes a moment when
you want to get things over with. As soon as your opponent moves, you
rush in with your own response. This lack of care has led many potential
victors down the road to oblivion. It takes only one moment of inattention
to fall for some hidden tactical trick.
As I explain in Winning Chess Tactics, tactics are maneuvers that take
advantage of short-term opportunities with the goal of supporting your
own strategy or destroying your opponent's strategy. For more informa­
tion about specific tactics, I will refer you to Winning Chess Tactics. Here,
we will look at a couple of examples of what can happen if you underes­
timate your opponent's tactical possibilities.

DIAGRAM 10. Black to play

Makogonov-Botvinnik
U.S.S.R., 1 943

In Diagram I 0, Black is about to lose his Queen and will soon be a

34
 Stopping Enemy Counterplay

piece down. However, his passed pawns on the queenside are so strong
that one of them will be promoted very soon, and Black will win the game.
Confident that victory will soon be his, Black could easily throw out
l . . .b3?? as his move. Imagine his horror when be realizes that 2.Rxe7+
Kxe7 3 . Bc5+ followed by Bxa3 tosses the sure win away in one move!
Alert to this possibility, Black plays the simple
1 ...Qxf7+! instead. Af­
ter 2.Kxf7 b3, White is helpless before the threat of 3 ... b2 followed by
4 . . . b l =Q and gives up.
One of the worst (and most costly) examples of inattention that I've
ever seen occurred in a Junior World Championship event. Both players
were nine-year old girls who had long ago lost interest in the game. White,
behind by three pawns, had already resigned herself to defeat and was
playing only through inertia. Black, who had decided that the game was as
good as over, was not even looking at the board. Instead, she was literally
dancing for joy, because with this victory came the title of World Cham­
pion for girls under ten! Black's coaches and parents were frantic. They
wanted her to sit down and take the game seriously; there would be plenty
of time for celebration after the competition. But because nobody is al­
lowed to offer advice while a contest is in progress, they were forced to
watch in horror as the drama unfolded.

DIAGRAM 1 1 . White to play

35
 C HAPTER THREE

From the position in Diagram 1 1 , White decided to throw in a couple

of spite checks before giving up, and played 1.Re3+. Now l ... Kd8 2.Re8+
Kc7 would end the game, as would l ... Kf6 2.Rf3+ Kg6. However, Black
was in a world of her own. Without so much as a glance at the board, she
grabbed her King and played 1. Kf8??. The reply 2.Re8 checkmate
..

brought poor Black crashing back to reality, but by then it was too late.
The World Champion title was gone, and euphoria was replaced by hys­
teria. The moral of this story?
"ft 's not over till it 's over " may be trite, but it 's true - for all
sports. Avoid overconfidence and never play quick moves.
Remember: The game is not over until your opponent either resigns or
achieves a checkmate!

DIAGRAM 12. Black to play

Resbevsky-Fiscber
U.S. Championship, 196�4

At times you may think you have a clear advantage, and then the sud­
den appearance of a tactic will force you to reassess the situation. When
these nasty situations arise, you must keep your head clear and go into
damage-control mode, just as Bobby Fischer did when faced with the
situation in Diagram 12. Here, Black is a pawn up. He would like to de­
fend his pawn on b6, which is being attacked by the White pieces on b2

36
 Stopping Enemy Counterplay

and b4. The obvious defense is l ... Rb8, a move that most people would
play without too much hesitation. However, this defense would be
squashed by 2.Bfl Bxfl 3.Rxb6! !, and White would win immediately be­
cause of the weakness of Black's back rank (3 . . . Rxb6 4. Ra8+ leads to
checkmate).
In the actual game, Fischer saw his predicament, kept calm in the face
of the attack, and accepted that his b6-pawn was a goner. He played to ex­
tract White' s newly found fangs. After 1 ...b5 2.Bxb5 Nxb5 3.R.xb5 Rxb5
4.Qxb5 Qe5, White emerged with a small advantage, but the trades had
depleted most of White's aggressive potential, and Black was able to save
the game.

TEST 3.

TEST 3 . It's Black's tum to play. He is obviously winning, and he can

choose from among many tempting ideas, such as l . . .h3, l . . .Qg l + and
l ...Kc3. Is there anything wrong with l ...Kc3?

Keeping Your Opponent Helpless

Chess can be played on several levels. On the one hand, you can play to
create a work of art - a brilliant game that other players will study and
admire. On the other hand, you can play chess as a sport, in which case
you want to achieve victory in the safest, most economical manner. For
most people, creating a work of art is not easy, especially when an oppo­
nent is determined to get in the way. However, while you are striving to
attain the immortality that accompanies the creation of a masterpiece, you

37
 CHAPTER THREE

can increase your chances of winning games by honing your ability to

limit your opponent's chances, which is something that you have more
control over.

DIAGRAM 13. Black to play

Keene-Hartston
England, 1968

No matter how clearly defined your static advantage might be, you
should first curtail all of your opponent's chances and only then proceed
with your plans. This means that if you are lucky enough to get your op­
ponent in a passive position, you should make every effort to keep him in
that state. For example, the situation in Diagram 1 3 is a dream for White.
His pieces are pouring into the Black position, and Black has no way to
create threats of his own. To win, all White has to do is keep Black's
pieces bottled up and slowly ooze down the board, claiming one square
after another in a safe but dominant fashion.
1 . Re6
. .

Black hopes to trade his inactive pieces for White's active ones.
2.Qc4
White doesn't allow Black to carry out his plan. Now Black needs to
address the threats along the a2-g8 diagonal and avoid moves like
2 ... Bxd6?? 3.Rxd6, which lead to heavy material losses.

38
 Stopping Enemy Counterplay

2 Ng7
.•.

Black defends e6. Notice that he can't do anything but hold on.
3.Nb5
The White Knight steps back, opening the d-file for the White Rooks.
3 ...Na6
Black hopes to trade off the strong White Knight with . . . Nc7.
4.Rd7
In taking control of the squares along the 7th rank and preventing
... Nc7, White is not playing with any great imagination. He is simply mak­
ing sure that Black remains trapped in his current position.
4 Kh8 5.Na7
...

The double threat of 6.Qxa6 and 6.Nxc6 wins material.

5 ... Rxa7 6.Rxa7
White, with seemingly no effort at all, won the Exchange and eventu­
ally the game. The moral here is:
Don 't try to make it exciting! Try to make it safe and easy!
Here's another example of "better safe than sorry" play. The position
in Diagram 14 is completely one.:sided. Moves like l .Ka5, l .b6, or Lc6 are
all easy wins. However, you never know what mistakes you might make
later, and the Black Rook is a strong piece. Wouldn't it make sense to
trade it if you got the chance? Then Black would have nothing left that
was capable of damaging you. Playing l .Rf4+ forces the exchange of
Rooks and leaves Black with no hope at all.
The move l . Rf4+ is hardly necessary, but it does illustrate an impor-
tant state of mind:
When victory is in your grasp, always keep things simple and
safe. If possible, take your opponent 's weapons away from him,
so that he can 't shoot you in the back.
A master of this kind of "kill the counterplay before starting the execu­
tion" style of play was World Champion Tigran Petrosian. In the next ex­
ample, we see him performing a no-counterplay clinic on another World
Champion, Boris Spassky.

39
 CHAPTER THREE

DIAGRAM 14. White to play DIAGRAM 15. Black to play

Spassky-Petrosian
World Championship Match, 1 966

As you can see in Diagram 1 5, Black is a pawn ahead, but central to

this position is the fact that both players have castled on opposite sides.
Black intends to place his Rooks on the g-file and go for mate. He knows
that White intends to play a4-a5 and then fly to kill off the Black King,
and he quite rightly wonders why he should give his opponent any chance
to succeed. Why not close off the queenside and proceed to checkmate
White at his leisure? Follow the moves below to see how Petrosian
stumped Spassky in this game. The key is to stop Spassky's counterplay.
1 . c4!
..

This fine move gives White control of the d4-square but, more impor­
tantly, prepares to close down all play on the queenside. The d4-square is
a small price to pay for the Black King' s safety.
2.Be2 a6!
Black makes his point. Now 3 .b5 a5 or 3 . a5 b5 both lead to a complete
blockade on the queenside. Stripped of all moves against the Black King,
White finds himself completely lacking in opportunities for counterplay.
3.Khl Rdg8 4.Rgl Rg4
With all lines of attack closed down on the queenside, Black can safely
devote all his energy to his kingside aspirations.

40
 Stopping Enemy Counterpl ay

5.Qd2 Rhg8 6.a5 b5

White, who has no play at all, eventually lost this game.
Diagram 1 6 is another example of the superior side treading carefully
to avoid giving the opponent any counterplay. White suffers from a terri­
ble Bishop on g2, a Knight that doesn't appear to be going anywhere, and
pawns that are in need of constant defense on c2 and e4. Black's backward
d-pawn, on the other hand, is well defended by the Black Queen and King.
Black's natural plan is to double his Rooks on the c-file and add to the
pressure against c2. Unfortunately, l . . . Rc4, which attacks e4 and prepares
for this doubling, would give White some counterplay chances with 2.g4,
because 2 . . . Nxe4 3 .Bxe4 Rxe4 4.Ng3 followed by Nf5+ is not what Black
wants. The advantages of the position are not going away, so Black de­
cides to kill his enemy's counterplay chances first. Then he will be free to
pursue his queenside dreams. Here's how Fischer neutralized Matulovic.

DIAGRAM 16. Black to play

Matulovic-Fischer
Vinkovci, 1968
l . h5!
..

Black stops g3-g4 in its tracks.

2.b3 Bxe2!
Why give up this nice Bishop for the lame Knight? Because only the
Knight was keeping Black out of c3.

41
 CHAPTER THREE

3.Qxe2 Rc3
Black proceeds with the occupation of the c-file.
4.Rd3 Rhc8 5.Rxc3 Rxc3 6.Kh2 Qc5
White, who is bound hand and foot to the weakling on c2, eventually
lost. Black triumphantly demonstrated the wisdom of this principle:
Ifyou have a permanent advantage, take the time to stop any po­
tential enemy counterplay.

DIAGRAM 1 7. Black to play

Gligoric-Seirawan
Baden, 1982

Here' s another example of this principle at work. Diagram 1 7 shows a

position from my game with S. Gligoric. The center is locked so that all
the play is occuring on the wings. My superior pawn structure gives me
better long-term chances, and I have a clear advantage on the kingside be­
cause of my pressure on the f-file. My only worry is potential play by
White on the queenside, the only place left for White to seek counterplay.
My advantages are not going away, so I decide to pause in my king­
side assault and walk my King over to the queenside. (Why not put the old
guy to work?) With my King defending that side of the board, the rest of
my army would be free to take a whack at the White monarch.
l...Kf8! 2.Rf2 Ke8 3.Rfl Kd7 4.Rf2 Kc8 5.Rfl Qh7 6.Bd2
White doesn't fall for my hidden trap 6.Qd2? Nh4+! 7.gxh4 Rxf3

42
 Stopping Enemy Counterplay

8.Rxf3 Qxe4, followed by . . . g5-g4 winning the Exchange.

6 Rf8 7.Qcl Qf7
..•

If White takes the g-pawn, I will be able to break through on the king­
side with ... Rxf3 and a decisive attack.
8.Qdl Kc7 9.Be3 Qg7 1 0.Kh2 Qh7 l 1.Kg2 Rg8 1 2.Bd2 Nf8!
White is helpless, but he is still holding on. Seeing that I can't crack
his kingside, I turn my attention to the other advantage in my position: the
weak pawns on c4 and a4.
13.Qbl Nd7 14.Reel Nb6!
White's position is finally starting to fall apart. 15.Qe4 Nxa4 16.Ral
Nb6 l 7.Rxa7 Rf7 (His Queen is the only thing defending the weak pawn
on c4, so I am happy to trade it off.) 18.Rel Qxe4 19.Rxe4 Rgf8 (I switch
my attention back to f3 . Now I can win with 20.Bxg5 Rxf3 2 1 .Be3 Nxc4
22.Rxc4 Rxe3 .)20.f4 gxf4 2 1 .gxf4 Nd7 22.Kg3 Rg8+ 23.Kf2 Rfg7 (No­
tice how the White Rook on a7 is completely out of play.) 24.Ke2 Rg2+
25.Kdl Rh2 26.Re2 Rgl+ 27.Bel Rhhl 28.Kd2 exf4 29.Bh4. White re­
signs. The finish would have been something like 29 . . . Ne5 30.Bf6 Rd l +
3 1 .Kc2 Re l + 32 .Kb3 Rb l+ 3 3 . Kc2 Rbc l + 34.Kd2 f3 3 5 .Rf2 Rb2+
36.Kxc l Nd3+ 3 7 .Kd l Nxf2+ 38 .Kc l Nd3+ 39.Kd l £2, and Black wins.

TEST 4.
Gligoric-Fischer
Siegen, 1970

TEST 4. It's Black's move. He is a pawn down, but his Bishop is superior
to the White Knight; the pawns on a2, c4, e4, and h5 are all weak; his
King is well placed; and the Rook on b2 is also strong. Is l .. Rxa2 good?
.

43
 m •m m m m n m
CHAPTER FOUR
. . . . . . . . ,

Understand ing
Where the P i eces Go
Where do the pieces go? Seems like a strange question, doesn't it? After
all, everyone reading this book knows how they move, and the majority of
readers are also aware that most pieces are stronger if they are placed in
the center. However, knowing how to move the pieces has nothing to do
with knowing where to put them. Only when you examine the specific
needs of each of the pieces and learn the laws that govern them do you
start to understand where the pieces go. In fact, this chapter may be the
most important one in the book, because the subtle things you'll learn here
will have a practical application in almost all your games. As a result,
mastering this infonnation will put you far ahead of most of your competi­
tion. We'll look at each piece in tum, starting with the Knight.

The K n i g ht
The Knight, which is represented as a horse in most chess sets, is the only
piece that can jump over other pieces and pawns. It has moved in the same
way since the game began, and you might think that centuries of familiar­
ity would have deprived it of its mystique. However, the opposite is true!
A favorite of some Grandmasters (like Petrosian and myself) and given

44
 Understanding Where the Pieces G o

second billing behind Bishops by others (the great Fischer loves Bishops),
this poor jumper is looked down on by many amateurs and secretly feared
by others. This love-hate relationship is easy to explain. The fact that a
Bishop can actually get an edge over a Knight in the majority of situations
breeds disdain for the horse, which appears to be a weakling; but a Knight
can wipe a Bishop off the face of the board if the correct environment ap­
pears. And so we have the rumblings of a love affair.
Amateurs tend to distrust Knights because:
• Their pieces and pawns are always being forked by the horrible
beasts.
• They don't know how to use them properly.
This section is devoted to ending this distrust. It's time to learn how to
make the humble Knight rule the board!

Creating Su pport Poi nts

Unlike the long-range Bishop, the Knight is a short-range piece. This
means that it needs to advance up the board to be strong. However, an ad­
vanced piece can ·easily be attacked by enemy pieces and pawns, so the
Knight needs a support point, a quiet square where it can safely rest while
simultaneously casting a menacing shadow over the board. This desirable
square can be considered a support point only if it cannot be attacked by
an enemy pawn, or if attacking with the pawn would severely weaken the
enemy's position. So we have our first rule concerning knights:
Knights need advanced support points to be effective.
At times, a support point will just magically appear (which means it
was created by an enemy blunder). If you notice one, rush your Knight
over and gleefully attach it to its post. Usually, however, your opponents
won't be so generous, and you will have to find a way to create a support
point. Whole strategies are often built around the creation of support
points, and for good reason! An advanced Knight sitting on a juicy support
point can be the first major step toward a resounding victory. The next dis­
cussion explains why.

45
 CHAPTER FOUR

The 1 st and 2nd Ranks

Knights on the 1 st and 2nd ranks are purely defensive. If they can't make
their way up the board, they will never be effective attackers. let's look at
a couple of examples:

DIAGRAM 1 8. DIAGRAM 19.

The position in Diagram 1 8 is equal materially but is nonetheless very

bad for Black. Aside from White's superior King position, White's Knight
is strongly posted on the 5th rank where it controls no less than eight
squares, whereas its Black counterpart is on the horrible h8-square where
it controls a pathetic two squares. White wins by either l .d6 cxd6 2.Kxd6
Kb7 3.Kd7 Kb8 4.Kc6 Ka7 5.Kc7 Ka8 6.Kxb6, or by 1 .Kf6 followed by
2.Kg7 and 3 .Kxh8.
An extreme example is shown in Diagram 1 9, demonstrating that a
Knight on the 1 st or 2nd rank is not particularly useful no matter how you
look at it. The Knight on the 1 st rank controls four squares while its more
advanced brother lays claim to six. The combined power of these two
pieces is only ten squares, just two more than that of the lonely White
Knight on c3. Kind of pathetic, don't you agree? Also note that these
Black Knights would need several moves to get down the board and into a
position where they could launch an attack into enemy territory. The rule:

46
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
by employing different kinds of sealing-wax; but is very liable to
“chip” and leave the glass.
Black Varnish is readily prepared by adding a small quantity of
lamp-black to gold-size and mixing intimately. Dr. Carpenter
recommends this as a good finishing varnish, drying quickly and
being free from that brittleness which renders some of the others
almost worthless; but it should not be used in the first process when
mounting objects in fluid.
Amongst these different cements and varnishes I worked a long
time without coming to any decision as to their comparative
qualities, though making innumerable experiments. The harder kinds
were continually cracking, and the softer possessed but little
adhesive power. To find hardness and adhesiveness united was my
object, and the following possesses these qualities in a great
degree:—

India-rubber ½ drachm.
Asphaltum 4 oz.
Mineral naphtha 10 ”

Dissolve the india-rubber in the naphtha, then add the asphaltum—if

necessary heat must be employed.

This is often used by photographers as a black varnish for glass,

and never cracks, whilst it is very adhesive. Dr. Carpenter, however,
states that his experience has not been favourable to it; but I have
used it in great quantities and have never found it to leave the glass
in a single instance when used in the above proportions. The
objections to it are, however, I think easily explained, when it is
known that there are many kinds of pitch, &c., from coal, sold by the
name of asphaltum, some of which are worthless in making a
microscopic cement. When used for this purpose, the asphaltum
must be genuine and of the best quality that can be bought. The
above mixture serves a double purpose—to unite the cell to the
slide, and also as a “finishing” varnish. But it is perhaps more
convenient to have two bottles of this cement, one of which is
thicker than common varnish, to use for uniting the cell, &c.; the
other liquid enough to flow readily, which may be employed as a
surface varnish in finishing the slides.
The brushes or camel-hair pencils should always be cleaned
after use; but with the asphalt varnish above mentioned it is
sufficient to wipe off as carefully as possible the superfluous quantity
which adheres to the pencil, as, when again made use of, the
varnish will readily soften it; but, of course, it will be necessary to
keep separate brushes for certain purposes.
Here it may be observed that every object should be labelled
with name and any other descriptive item as soon as mounted.
There are many little differences in the methods of doing this. Some
write with a diamond upon the slide itself; but this has the
disadvantage of being not so easily seen. For this reason a small
piece of paper is usually affixed to one end of the slide, on which is
written what is required. These labels may be bought of different
colours and designs; but the most simple are quite as good, and
very readily procured. Take a sheet of thin writing paper and brush
over one side a strong solution of gum, with the addition of a few
drops of glycerine as above recommended; allow this to dry, and
then with a common gun-punch stamp out the circles, which may be
affixed to the slides by simply damping the gummed surface, taking
care to write the required name, &c., upon it before damping it, or
else allowing it to become perfectly dry first.
There is one difficulty which a beginner often experiences in
sorting and mounting certain specimens under the microscope, viz.,
the inversion of the objects; and it is often stated to be almost
impossible to work without an erector. But this difficulty soon
vanishes, the young student becoming used to working what at first
seems in contradiction to his sight.
Let it be understood, that in giving the description of those
articles which are usually esteemed necessary in the various parts of
microscopic manipulation, I do not mean to say that without many
of these no work of any value can be done. There are, as all will
allow, certain forms of apparatus which aid the operator
considerably; but the cost may be too great for him. A little thought,
however, will frequently overcome this difficulty, by enabling him to
make, or get made, for himself, at a comparatively light expense,
something which will accomplish all he desires. As an example of
this, a friend of mine made what he terms his “universal stand,” to
carry various condensers, &c., &c., in the following way:—Take a
steel or brass wire, three-sixteenths or one-quarter inch thick and six
or eight inches long; “tap” into a solid, or make rough and fasten
with melted lead into a hollow, ball. (The foot of a cabinet or work-
box answers the purpose very well.) In the centre of a round piece
of tough board, three inches in diameter, make a hemispherical
cavity to fit half of the ball, and bore a hole through from the middle
of this cavity, to allow the wire to pass. Take another piece of board,
about four inches in diameter, either round or square, and one-and-
a-half or two inches thick, make a similar cavity in its centre to
receive the other half of the ball, but only so deep as to allow the
ball to fit tightly when the two pieces of board are screwed together,
which last operation must be done with three or four screws. Let the
hole for the wire in the upper part be made conical (base upwards),
and so large as only to prevent the ball from escaping from its
socket, in order that the shaft may move about as freely as possible.
Turn a cavity, or make holes, in the bottom of the under piece, and
fill with lead to give weight and steadiness. This, painted green
bronze and varnished, looks neat; and by having pieces of gutta-
percha tubing to fit the shaft, a great variety of apparatus may be
attached to it.
Again, a “condenser” is often required for the illumination of
opaque objects. My ingenious friend uses an “engraver’s bottle”
(price 6d.), fills it with water, and suspends it betwixt the light and
the object. Where the light is very yellow, he tints the water with
indigo, and so removes the objectionable colour.
 I merely mention these as examples of what may be done by a
little thoughtful contrivance, and to remove the idea that nothing is
of much value save that which is the work of professional workmen,
and consequently expensive.
 C H A P T E R I I.
TO PREPARE AND MOUNT OBJECTS “DRY.”

The term “dry” is used when the object to be mounted is not

immersed in any liquid or medium, but preserved in its natural state,
unless it requires cleaning and drying.
I have before stated that thorough cleanliness is necessary in
the mounting of all microscopic objects. I may here add that almost
every kind of substance used by the microscopist suffers from
careless handling. Many leaves with fine hairs are robbed of half
their beauty, or the hairs, perhaps, forced into totally different
shapes and groups; many insects lose their scales, which constitute
their chief value to the microscopist; even the glass itself distinctly
shows the marks of the fingers if left uncleaned. Every object must
also be thoroughly dry, otherwise dampness will arise and become
condensed in small drops upon the inner surface of the thin glass
cover. This defect is frequently met with in slides which have been
mounted quickly; the objects not being thoroughly dry when
enclosed in the cell. Many of the cheap slides are thus rendered
worthless. Even with every care it is not possible to get rid of this
annoyance occasionally.
For the purpose of mounting opaque objects “dry,” discs were at
one time very commonly made use of. These are circular pieces of
cork, leather, or other soft substance, from one-quarter to half inch
in diameter, blackened with varnish or covered with black paper, on
which the object is fixed by gum or some other adhesive substance.
They are usually pierced longitudinally by a strong pin, which serves
for the forceps to lay hold of when being placed under the
microscope for examination. Sometimes objects are affixed to both
sides of the disc, which is readily turned when under the object-
glass. The advantage of this method of mounting is the ease with
which the disc may be moved, and so present every part of the
object to the eye save that by which it is fastened to the disc. On
this account it is often made use of when some particular subject is
undergoing investigation, as a number of specimens may be placed
upon the discs with very little labour, displaying all the parts. But
where exposure to the atmosphere or small particles of dust will
injure an object, no advantage which the discs may possess should
be considered, and an ordinary covered cell should be employed.
Small pill-boxes have been used, to the bottom of which a piece of
cork has been glued to afford a ground for the pin or other mode of
attachment; but this is liable to some of the same faults as the disc,
and it would be unwise to use these for permanent objects.
Messrs. Smith and Beck have lately invented, and are now
making, a beautiful small apparatus, by means of which the disc
supporting the object can be worked with little or no trouble into any
position that may prove most convenient, whilst a perforated
cylinder serves for the reception of the discs when out of use, and
fits into a case to protect them from dust. A pair of forceps is made
for the express purpose of removing them from the case and placing
them in the holder.
All dry objects, however, which are to be preserved should be
mounted on glass slides in one of the cells (described in Chapter I.)
best suited to them. Where the object is to be free from pressure,
care must be taken that the cell is deep enough to ensure this.
When the depth required is but small, it is often sufficient to omit
the card, leather, or other circles, and with the “turn-table” before
described, by means of a thick varnish and camel-hair pencil, to
form a ring of the desired depth; but should the varnish not be of
sufficient substance to give such “walls” at once, the first application
may be allowed to dry, and a second made upon it. A number of
these may be prepared at the same time, and laid by for use. When
liquids are used (see Chapter IV.), Dr. Carpenter recommends gold-
size as a good varnish for the purpose, and this may be used in
“dry” mountings also. I have used the asphaltum and india-rubber
(mentioned in Chapter I.), and found it to be everything I could
wish. The cells, however, must be thoroughly dry, and when they
will bear the heat they should be baked for an hour at least in a
tolerably cool oven, by which treatment the latter becomes a first-
rate medium. All dry objects which will not bear pressure must be
firmly fastened to the slide, otherwise the necessary movements
very often injure them, by destroying the fine hairs, &c. For this
purpose thin varnishes are often used, and will serve well enough for
large objects, but many smaller ones are lost by adopting this plan,
as for a time, which may be deemed long enough to harden the
varnish, they exhibit no defect, but in a while a “wall” of the plastic
gum gathers around them, which refracts the light, and thus leads
the student to false conclusions. In all finer work, where it is
necessary to use any method of fixing them to the slide, a solution
of common gum, with the addition of a few drops of glycerine
(Chapter I.), will be found to serve the purpose perfectly. It must,
however, be carefully filtered through blotting paper, otherwise the
minute particles in the solution interfere with the object, giving the
slide a dusty appearance when under the microscope.
When mounting an object in any of these cells, the glass must
be thoroughly cleaned, which may be done with a cambric
handkerchief, after the washing mentioned in Chapter I. If the object
be large, the point of a fine camel-hair pencil should be dipped into
the gum solution, and a minute quantity of the liquid deposited in
the cell where the object is to be placed, but not to cover a greater
surface than the object will totally hide from sight. This drop of gum
must be allowed to dry, which will take a few minutes. Breathe then
upon it two or three times, holding the slide not far from the mouth,
which will render the surface adhesive. Then draw a camel-hair
pencil through the lips, so as to moisten it slightly (when anything
small will adhere to it quite firmly enough), touch the object and
place it upon the gum in the desired position. This must be done
immediately to ensure perfect stability, otherwise the gum will
become at least partially dry and only retain the object imperfectly.
When, however, the objects are so minute that it would be
impossible to deposit atoms of gum small enough for each one to
cover, a different method of proceeding must be adopted. In this
case a small portion of the same gum solution should be placed
upon the slide, and by means of any small instrument—a long
needle will serve the purpose very well—spread over the surface
which will be required. The quantity thus extended will be very
small, but by breathing upon it may be prevented drying whilst being
dispersed. This, like the forementioned, should be then allowed to
dry; and whilst the objects are being placed on the prepared
surface, breathing upon it as before will restore the power of
adherence.
When gum or other liquid cement has been used to fix the
objects to the glass, the thin covers must not be applied until the
slide has been thoroughly dried, and all fear of dampness arising
from the use of the solution done away with. Warmth may be safely
applied for the purpose, as objects fastened by this method are
seldom, if ever, found to be loosened by it. As objects are met with
of every thickness, the cells will be required of different depths.
There is no difficulty in accommodating ourselves in this—the deeper
cells may be readily cut out of thick leather, card, or other substance
preferred (as mentioned in Chapter I.). Cardboard is easily procured
of almost any thickness; but sometimes it is convenient to find a
thinner substance even than this. When thin glass is laid upon a
drop of any liquid upon a slide, every one must have observed how
readily the liquid spreads betwixt the two: just so when any thin
varnish is used to surround an object of little substance, excessive
care is needed lest the varnish should extend betwixt the cover and
slide, and so render it worthless. The slightest wall, however,
prevents this from taking place, so that a ring of common paper may
be used, and serve a double purpose where the objects require no
deeper cell than this forms.
 Many objects, however, are of such tenuity—as the leaves of
many mosses, some of the Diatomaceæ, scales of insects, &c.—that
no cell is requisite excepting that which is necessarily formed by the
medium used to attach the thin glass cover to the slide; and where
the slide is covered by the ornamental papers mentioned in Chapter
I., and pressure does not injure the object, even this is omitted, the
thin glass being kept in position by the cover; but slides mounted in
this manner are frequently injured by dampness, which soon
condenses upon the inner surfaces and interferes both with the
object and the clearness of its appearance.
The thin glass, then, is to be united to the slide, so as to form a
perfect protection from dust, dampness, or other injurious matter,
and yet allow a thoroughly distinct view of the object. This is to be
done by applying to the glass slide round the object some adhesive
substance, and with the forceps placing the thin glass cover (quite
dry and clean) upon it. A gentle pressure round the edge will then
ensure a perfect adhesion, and with ordinary care there will be little
or no danger of breakage. For this purpose gold-size is frequently
used. The asphalt and india-rubber varnish also will be found both
durable and serviceable. Whatever cement may be used, it is well to
allow it to become in some measure “fixed” and dried; but where no
cell or “wall” is upon the slide, this is quite necessary, otherwise the
varnish will be almost certain to extend, as before mentioned, and
ruin the object. It may be stated here that gold-size differs greatly in
its drying powers, according to its age, mode of preparation, &c.
(Chapter IV.)
Should any object be enclosed which requires to be kept flat
during the drying of the cement, it will be necessary to use some of
the contrivances mentioned in Chapter I.
When the slide is thus far advanced, there remains the
“finishing” only. Should the student, however, have no time to
complete his work at once, he may safely leave it at this stage until
he has a number of slides which he may finish at the same time.
There are different methods of doing this, some of which may be
here described.
If ornamental papers are preferred, a small circle must be cut
out from the centre a little less than the thin glass which covers the
object. Another piece of coloured paper is made of the same size,
and a similar circle taken from its centre also, or both may be cut at
the same time. The slide is then covered round the edges with paper
of any plain colour, so that it may extend about one-eighth of an
inch over the glass on every side. The ornamental paper is then
pasted on the “object” surface of the glass, so that the circle shows
the object as nearly in the centre as possible, and covers the edges
of the thin glass. The other coloured paper is then affixed
underneath with the circle coinciding with that above. And here I
may observe, that when this method is used there is no necessity for
the edges of the slide to be “ground,” as all danger of scratching,
&c., is done away with by the paper cover.
Many now use paper covers, about one and a half inches long,
on the upper side of the slide only, with the centre cut out as before,
with no other purpose than that of hiding the edge of the thin glass
where it is united to the slide.
The method of “finishing,” however, which is mostly used at the
present time, is to lay a coating of varnish upon the edge of the thin
glass, and extend it some little way on the slide. When a black circle
is required, nothing serves the purpose better than the gold-size and
lamp-black, or the asphalt and india-rubber varnish, neither of which
is liable to chip; but when used for this, the latter should be rather
thinner, as before advised. Some of these varnishes are preferred of
different colours, which may be made by using the different kinds of
sealing-wax, as described in Chapter I.; but they are always liable to
the defects there mentioned. This circle cannot be made in any
other way but by one of those contrivances which have now centred
in Shadbolt’s turntable. A very little practice will enable the young
student to place his slide so that the circle may be uniform with the
edge of the thin glass.
 The slide is now complete, except the addition of the name and
any other particulars which may be desirable. For this purpose one
of the methods described in Chapter I. must be employed.
Amongst the various classes of microscopic objects now
receiving general attention, the Diatomaceæ may be placed in a
prominent position. They afford endless opportunities of research,
and some very elaborate works have already been issued concerning
them. Professor Smith’s may be mentioned as one containing,
perhaps, the best illustrations. The young student may wish to know
what a diatom is. The “Micrographic Dictionary” gives the following
definition:—“A family of confervoid Algæ, of very peculiar character,
consisting of microscopic brittle organisms.” They are now looked
upon by almost all of our scientific men as belonging to the
vegetable kingdom, though some few still assign them to the animal.
They are almost invariably exceedingly small, so that the unaided
eye can perceive nothing on a prepared slide of these organisms but
minute dust. Each separate portion, which is usually seen when
mounted, is termed a “frustule,” or “testule:” this consists of two
similar parts, composed of silica, between and sometimes around
which is a mass of viscid matter called the “endochrome.” They are
found in almost every description of water, according to the variety:
some prefer sea-water, others fresh, and many are seen nowhere
but in that which is a mixture of both, as the mouths of rivers, &c.
Ditches, ponds, cisterns, and indeed almost every reservoir, yield
abundance of these forms. They are not, however, confined to
“present” life; but, owing to the almost indestructible nature of their
siliceous covering, they are found in a fossil state in certain earths in
great abundance, and are often termed “fossil Infusoria.” Upon these
frustules are generally to be seen lines, or “markings,” of different
degrees of minuteness, the delicacy of which often serves the
purpose of testing the defining power of the object-glasses. Some of
the frustules are triangular, others circular, and, indeed, of almost
every conceivable shape, many of them presenting us with
exquisitely beautiful designs.
 The markings, however, are seldom seen well, if at all, until the
frustules are properly prepared, the different methods of
accomplishing which will be given a little further on.
The collection of the fresh diatoms is so closely connected with
their preservation, that a few notes may be given upon it before we
pass on. For this purpose a number of small bottles must be
provided, which may be placed in a tin box, with a separate
apartment for each, so that all chance of breakage may be done
away with. The diatoms are generally of a light brown colour; and
where they are observed in the water, the bottle may be so placed,
with the mouth closed by the finger, that when the finger is
withdrawn the water will rush in, carrying the diatoms also. If they
are seen upon plants, stones, or any other substance, they may
generally be detached and placed in the bottle. When there is a
green covering upon the surface of the water, a great quantity of
diatoms is usually found amongst it; as also upon the surface of the
mud in those ponds where they abound. In these cases, a broad flat
spoon will be found very useful, and one is now made with a
covering upon the broader portion of it to protect the enclosed
matter from being so readily carried off whilst bringing it to the
surface again. Where there is any depth of water, and the spoon will
not reach the surface of the mud, the bottle must be united to a
long rod, and being then carried through the upper portion with the
mouth downwards, no water will be received into it; but on reaching
the spot required, the bottle-mouth may be turned up, and thus
become filled with what is nearest.
From the stomachs of common fish—as the cod, sole, haddock,
&c.—many specimens of Diatomaceæ may be obtained, but
especially from the crab, oyster, mussel, and other shell-fish.
Professor Smith states that from these curious receptacles he has
taken some with which he has not elsewhere met. To remove them
from any of the small shell-fish, it is necessary to take the fish or
stomach from the shell, and immerse it in strong hot acid (nitric is
the best) until the animal matter is dissolved, when the residue must
be washed and treated as the ordinary Diatomaceæ hereinafter
described.
Many diatoms are seen best when mounted in a dry state, the
minute markings becoming much more indistinct if immersed in
liquid or balsam; and for this reason those which are used as test
objects are usually mounted dry. Many kinds also are now prepared
in this way, as opaque objects to be examined with the lieberkuhn,
and are exquisitely beautiful. Others, however, are almost invariably
mounted in balsam; but as these will be again referred to in Chapter
III., and require the same treatment to fit them for the slide, it will
not be out of place to describe the cleaning and preparation of them
here. As before stated, there is much matter surrounding them
which must be got rid of before the “siliceous covering” can be
shown perfectly. As, however, we may first wish to become
acquainted in some degree with what we have to do, it is well to
take a small piece of talc, and place a few of the diatoms upon it.
This may be held over the flame of the spirit-lamp until all the
surrounding matter is burnt away, and a tolerable idea may be thus
obtained as to the quality of our treasure.
In some cases it is well to use this burning operation alone in
mounting specimens of diatoms, when they may be placed in their
natural state upon the thin glass, burnt for awhile upon the platinum
plate, hereafter described, and mounted dry or in balsam.
In the preparation and cleaning of Diatomaceæ, there is little
satisfaction unless these operations have been successfully
performed, as a very small portion of foreign matter seriously
interferes with the object. The mode of preparing them varies even
amongst the most experienced. It will be found, therefore, most
satisfactory to examine the principal of these separately, although it
may be at the risk of some little repetition.
The method which is the most frequently made use of is the
following:—Place the “gathering” containing the Diatomaceæ in a
small glass or porcelain vessel, add strong nitric acid, and, by the aid
of Bunsen’s burner or spirit-lamp, boil for some minutes. From time
to time a drop of the mixture may be put upon a slide, and
examined under the microscope to see if all foreign matter be got rid
of. When the valves are clean, the vessel containing them must be
filled with water, and the whole left for an hour or two, so that all
the diatoms may settle perfectly. The liquid must then be poured off
carefully, or drained away by the aid of a syphon, so that none of
the diatoms are removed with it. Indeed, it is well to examine the
liquid drained off each time with the microscope, as the finer forms
are frequently lost in the washings. The vessel must then be refilled
with pure water, allowed to settle, and drained as before. This
washing must be repeated until a drop being placed upon a slide
and evaporated leaves no crystals. When it is desirable to preserve
the diatoms in this state before mounting (which process will be
described in another place), they may be placed in a small phial with
a little distilled water.
There are many cases in which the above method will not effect
a perfect cleansing, as certain substances with which the diatoms
are frequently mixed are not soluble in nitric acid. For this reason the
following method is resorted to:—Take a quantity of the matter
containing the Diatomaceæ and wash first with pure water, to get rid
of all the impurities possible. Allow this to settle perfectly and decant
the water. Add hydrochloric acid gradually, and when all
effervescence has subsided, boil for some minutes by aid of the
lamp. When cool and the particles have subsided, decant the
hydrochloric and add nitric acid. The boiling must then be repeated
until a drop of the liquid when placed under the microscope shows
the valves or “frustules” clean. After allowing the diatoms to settle,
the acid must be decanted, and pure water substituted. The washing
must be repeated as in the former process until all the remains of
crystals or acid are removed, when the specimens may be preserved
in small phials as stated above.
Such are the usual modes of treating the Diatomaceæ, but there
are certain cases in which particular methods are required to give
anything like perfect results. Persons of great experience combine a
variety of treatments, and thus obtain better and more uniform
specimens. Perhaps it will be advantageous to give the young
student the process adopted by one of the most successful preparers
of these objects; but I will first state the different methods of
mounting the cleaned diatoms dry: how to employ Canada balsam
and fluid in their preservation will be elsewhere described.
It was before stated that the diatoms when cleansed might be
preserved in small phials of distilled water. When required for
mounting, shake the phial, and with a thin glass tube or rod take up
a drop of the fluid and spread it upon the surface of the slide in the
desired position. This must then be allowed to dry gradually, or by
the aid of the lamp if necessary, without being shaken or interfered
with, otherwise uniformity of dispersion will be prevented. When
thoroughly dry, a thin ring of one of the adhesive varnishes—gold-
size will be found as good as any—may be drawn round the diatoms,
and allowed to dry in a slight degree. The slide and thin glass cover
should then be warmed and the latter gently pressed upon the ring
of varnish until the adhesion all round is complete.
As some of the diatoms require object-glasses of extremely high
power, and, consequently, short focus, to show them, they must be
as close to the outer surface of the cover as possible. For this reason
they are sometimes placed upon the under side of the thin glass, as
follows. Clean the surfaces of the slide and cover, and with the rod
or pipe place the liquid containing the diatoms upon the thin glass,
and dry as before. Trace the ring to receive the cover upon the slide,
and when almost dry, warm both and proceed as above. Whichever
of these methods is employed, the outer ring of coloured varnish
may be applied as elsewhere described and the slide finished.
The diatoms are also sometimes mounted betwixt two thin
glasses, as described in Chapter I., so that the light by which they
are examined may receive as little interference as possible, and that
an achromatic condenser may be brought into focus under the slide.
Of the various modes of cleaning and mounting the
Diatomaceæ, I believe that the following may be safely
recommended as affording results of the very best quality. My friend,
Mr. T. G. Rylands, gave it to me as that which he prefers, and I can
safely say that his numerous slides are at least equal to any I have
ever seen. I will give it just as I received it from him, though there
may be some little repetition of what has been said elsewhere, as he
does not appropriate any part of it as his own. He says:—In this
branch of mounting, general rules alone can be laid down, because
the gatherings may contain iron, lime, fine silt, or vegetable matter
under conditions for special treatment, and consequently the first
step should be to experiment on various kinds.
In gathering diatoms much labour is saved by judgment and
care; hence it is desirable to get acquainted with them in their
growing condition, so that when recognised upon the sands or other
spots they may be carefully removed by the aid of the spoon or
small tin scoop before described. When growing upon algæ or other
plants, the plants and diatoms together may be carried home, in
which case they must be simply drained and not washed or pressed,
in order that the diatoms be not lost. As it is always desirable to
examine the gathering on the ground, a “Gairdner’s hand
microscope” with powers from 80 to 200 diameters will be found
very useful. The best gatherings are those which represent one
species abundantly. Those which are mixed may be rejected, unless
they are seen to contain something valuable or important, as the
object should be not so much to supply microscopical curiosities as
to collect material which is available for the study of nature.
The gathering when carried home should always be carefully
examined before anything is done with it; not only on account of the
additional information thus acquired, but also because it often
happens that a specimen should be mounted in fluid (see Chapter
IV.) in the condition in which it is gathered, as well as cleaned and
mounted in balsam (Chapter III.) and dry.
Where the gathering is taken from sand, the whole may be
shaken up in water as a preliminary operation, when much of the
sand will be separated by its own weight. The lime test, however,
should be applied, viz.—a small portion of hydrochloric acid, and if
there be effervescence it must be dissolved out by this means. From
Algæ and other weeds diatoms may be detached by agitating the
whole together in a weak solution of nitric acid—about one of pure
acid to twenty or thirty of water, as it must be sufficiently weak to
free the diatoms without destroying the matter to which they
adhere. The diatoms may then be separated by sifting through
coarse muslin, which will retain the Algæ, &c. The process of
cleaning will vary according to circumstances. Some gatherings
require to be boiled only a few minutes in nitric acid; but the more
general plan where they are mixed with organic or other foreign
matter, is to boil them in pure sulphuric acid until they cease to grow
darker in colour (usually from a half to one minute), and then to
add, drop by drop to avoid explosions, a cold saturated solution of
chlorate of potash until the colour is discharged, or, in case the
colour does not disappear, the quantity of the solution used is at
least equal to that of the acid. This operation is best performed in a
B
wide-mouthed ordinary beaker glass, a test-tube being too narrow.
The mixture whilst boiling should be poured into thirty times its bulk
of cold water, and the whole allowed to subside. The fluid must then
be carefully decanted and the vessel re-supplied once or twice with
pure water, so as to get rid of all the acid. The gathering may then
be transferred to a small boiling glass or test-tube, and—the water
being carefully decanted—boiled in the smallest available quantity of
nitric acid, and washed as before. This last process has been found
necessary from the frequent appearance of minute crystals, which
cannot otherwise be readily disposed of without the loss of a
considerable proportion of diatoms.

B
These glasses are round, about six inches
high, and usually contain about eight ounces.
They are rather wider at the bottom, tapering
gradually to the top, and may be generally
procured at the chemists, &c.
 I may here mention that the washing glasses used by Mr.
Rylands are stoppered conical bottles varying in capacity from two
ounces to one quart; the conical form being employed to prevent the
adherence of anything to the side; they are “stoppered” to render
them available in the shaking process about to be described.
The gathering, freed from acid, is now put into two inches depth
of water, shaken vigorously for a minute or two, and allowed to
subside for half an hour, after which the turbid fluid must be
carefully decanted. This operation must be repeated until all the
matter is removed which will not settle in half an hour. The fluid
removed should be examined by a drop being put upon a slide, as in
some cases very light diatoms have been found to come off almost
pure in one or more of these earlier washings. The quantity of water
and time of subsidence given may be taken generally, but may
require to be modified according to circumstances and the judgment
of the operator. By the repetition and variation of this process—the
shaking being the most important part—the gathering, if a pure one,
will be sufficiently clean. If, however, it contains a variety of species
and forms, it may require to be divided into different densities.
In some cases, however, it is best to divide the gathering as a
preliminary operation, which may be done by agitating it in a
quantity of water and decanting what does not readily subside. The
heavier and the lighter portions are then to be treated as two
separate boilings. But when the cleansing has been carried to the
above stage and this division is required, the plan must be
somewhat as follows:—The gathering must be shaken in a test-tube
with six inches of water, and then allowed to subside until one inch
at the top remains pure. About three inches are then to be carefully
withdrawn by a pipette, when the tube may be filled up and the
operation repeated. The three lower inches also may then be
decanted and examined. The gathering is thus divided into three
portions, viz.—that which was withdrawn by the pipette, that which
remained floating in the lower three inches of water in the tube, and
that which had settled at the bottom. An examination of these will
inform the operator how to obtain that particular density of
gathering which he desires, and how far it is worth while to refine
this process of elutriation; for in cases of necessity any one, or all
three, of these densities may be operated upon in the same way to
separate a particular diatom.
As occasional aids, it may be remarked, that in some cases
liquor ammoniæ may be used in place of water, as it often separates
fine dirt, which is not otherwise easily got rid of. Some fossil deposits
require to be treated with a boiling solution of carbonate of soda to
disintegrate them; but this operation requires great care, lest the
alkali should destroy the diatoms. Vegetable silicates also sometimes
require to be removed by a solution of carbonate of soda; but as the
frustules of the diatoms themselves are but vegetable silica, even
more care is required in this case. It may be well to mention, that
some diatoms are so imperfectly siliceous that they will not bear
boiling in acid at all. Some of these may be allowed to stand in cold
nitric acid some time, whilst others of a smaller and more delicate
character should, when possible, be treated with distilled water
alone.
We will now consider the mode of mounting the prepared
diatoms, which, if used dry (as described in this chapter), should be
carefully washed two or three times with the purest distilled water.
In this branch, as in every other, each collector gives preference to
that method in which he is an adept. Thus the diatoms may be
placed on the under side of the cover, to be as near to the object-
glass as possible, or upon the slide itself; and each plan has its
advocates. Whichsoever of these is used, nothing seems more
simple to the novice than a tolerably equal dispersion of the objects
upon the slide or cover; but this is by no means so readily
accomplished, consequently I give Mr. Rylands’ method, as his slides
are perfect in this respect also. He always places the diatoms upon
the thin glass cover. It is not sufficient, as is frequently thought, to
take a drop of liquid containing the cleansed material and spread it
upon the cover or slide, as without some additional precaution that
uniform and regular distribution of the specimens is not obtained
which is desirable. In order to effect this, let a drop of the cleansed
gathering be diluted sufficiently for the purpose—how much must be
determined in each case by experiment—and let the covers to be
mounted be cleaned and laid upon the brass plate. (See Chapter I.)
By means of a glass tube, about one-twelfth of an inch in diameter,
stopped by the wetted finger at the upper end, take up as much of
the diluted material as will form a moderately convex drop extending
over the whole cover. When all the covers required are thus
prepared, apply a lamp below the brass plate, and raise the
temperature to a point just short of boiling. By this means the covers
will be dried in a few minutes, and the specimens equally distributed
over the whole area. The spread of the fluid upon the covers is
facilitated by breathing upon them; and, to insure uniformity, care
must be taken to avoid shaking them whilst drying. The best plan is
to mount at least half a dozen at once.
Before mounting, Mr. Rylands always burns the diatoms upon
the glass at a dull red heat, whether they are used with balsam or
dry. This burning, he says, is not only an additional cleaning process,
but it effectually fixes the diatoms, and prevents them floating out if
mounted with balsam. The thinnest covers may be burnt without
damage if they are placed upon a small piece of platinum foil of the
size required, which should be about one-hundredth of an inch thick,
perfectly flat, and having three of its edges slightly bent over, so as
to prevent its warping with the heat. The small flame of a spirit-
lamp, or, where there is gas, a Bunsen’s burner, may be employed.
The cover should be shaded from direct daylight, that the action of
the flame may be observed more perfectly. Care must then be taken
to raise the temperature only to the dull red heat before mentioned.
The cover will then be in a fit state for mounting as required.
It has been stated in another place that it is assumed the
operator is not mounting diatoms simply as microscopic objects, but
as instructive specimens. It is not, therefore, sufficient to take a
single slide as all that is required, but to have the same diatom
prepared in as many ways as possible. The following are the
principal:—
 1. Mounted crude in fluid (see Chapter IV.).
2. Burnt crude upon the cover, and mounted dry or in
balsam (as before mentioned).
3. Mounted dry or in balsam (see Chapter III.), after the
cleansing process already described.

I will here give Mr. Rylands’ method of mounting them dry, the
fluid and balsam preparations being noticed in their respective
chapters. The slide with the ring of asphalt, or black varnish, should
have been prepared some weeks previously, in order to allow it to
dry thoroughly. When required, it must be held over the spirit-lamp
or Bunsen’s burner until the ring of varnish is softened. The burnt
cover, having been heated at the same time, must then be taken in
the forceps and pressed upon the softened varnish until it adheres
all round. When cold, an outer ring of asphalt completes the slide.
Such is the method which my friend Mr. T. G. Rylands employs in
the preparation of diatoms for the microscope. I have said enough
concerning his results. It is to be feared, however, that to some
these several modes of operation may appear lengthy and
complicated; but if read carefully, and the experiments tried, they
will be found simple enough in practice, and to occupy much less
time than an intelligible description would lead the novice to believe
necessary.
One of the most fertile as well as the most curious magazines of
Diatomaceæ is guano. The siliceous forms contained therein have
been devoured by sea-birds and passed through the stomach
uninjured, and after lying for ages may be cleaned and classified.
Many of these are not elsewhere met with, so that the student who
is desirous to enter into the study of Diatomaceæ must be instructed
as to the best mode of obtaining them from this source. The
particulars to be observed so closely resemble those before
mentioned in the treatment of the ordinary diatoms, that it will be
sufficiently explicit to give the outlines of the process. The guano
must be first washed in pure water, allowed to subside perfectly, and
the liquid then poured off. This must be repeated until the top fluid
is clear, and care taken not to decant the liquid until perfect
subsidence has taken place. The deposit must then be treated with
hydrochloric acid with a gentle heat for an hour or two, adding a
little fresh acid at intervals as long as it excites any effervescence
After this nitric acid must be substituted for the hydrochloric, and
the heat kept up to almost boiling-point for another hour at least,
adding a little fresh acid as before. When this ceases to act, the
deposit must be allowed to settle perfectly and the acid poured off.
All traces of the acid must now be washed away with pure water,
when the remains will be Diatomaceæ, the sand contained in the
guano, and a few other forms. Some of these may be mounted dry,
as before mentioned, but the greater portion should be put up in
Canada balsam as described in Chapter III.
Such is the ordinary method for the treatment of guano; but Mr.
Rylands’ mode of proceeding with ordinary Diatomaceæ (before
given) will be found equally successful with these deposits.
The fossil Infusoria (as they were formerly called) are now
termed Diatomaceæ, and are found in various parts of the world
—“Bermuda earth,” “Berg-mehl” from Norway, deposit from Mourne
Mountain in Ireland, &c. They are found in immense quantities, and
afford the microscopist innumerable objects. The same treatment as
that usually employed for the Diatomaceæ must be followed with
these deposits, but as they are sometimes obtained in hard masses,
disintegration is first necessary. To effect this, they are usually boiled
for a short time in diluted liquor potassæ, which will soon cause the
mass to fall into a mud-like deposit. Water must then be immediately
added, in order that all further action of the liquor potassæ may be
stopped, otherwise the objects searched for will be dissolved. For
this reason it is necessary to understand what substance is being
dealt with, because some deposits are much finer and acted upon
more readily than others.
In mounting these objects, some are so delicate that they are
almost invisible when balsam is used with them; they are therefore
usually mounted dry. Others, however, are much coarser, and may
be mounted in balsam like the Diatomaceæ mentioned in Chapter
III.
The common Infusoria cannot be mounted dry with any great
success, though a few may be placed upon the glass slide and
allowed to dry naturally, when their characters will be very well
shown. To obtain anything like a natural appearance, they must be
put up in fluid as in Chapter IV.
Next to the Diatomaceæ, no class of microscopic objects has
been more looked into of late than the Foraminifera. These animals
are almost all marine, having a jelly-like body enclosed in one or
more chambers of shell generally composed of carbonate of lime.
The shells are made with minute orifices, through which the
pseudopodia (false feet) are extended by which the animal is
enabled to lay hold of anything and draw itself along. From the
possession of these orifices they derive their name, as foramen
means a door or opening. They have been found in every depth of
sea hitherto sounded, each depth being abundant in certain species;
the lowest beds containing the greatest number of specimens,
though with less variation of kinds. In chalk they are found in a fossil
state, and may readily be shown (see Chapter III.); in limestone and
other hard stones they are abundant, and some mountains are
composed principally of these shells.
The methods of obtaining Foraminifera are various. Many may
be found upon seaweeds, which should always be examined as soon
as possible after gathering. They are found in masses upon some
coasts where the waves have carried and left them; but they are to
be found the most abundantly in sand or mud dredged from the
bottom of the sea. They must, however, be cleansed and separated
from the mass of impurity with which they are usually mixed. This
may be done in various ways, according to the nature of the
accompanying matter. If sand alone, as is frequently the case, the
whole mass must be thoroughly dried, and then stirred up in clean
water. The sand will soon subside by its own weight, but the
chambers of the Foraminifera, being filled with air, will float upon the
surface, and may be skimmed off. There is, however, one objection
to this mode of proceeding—some of these objects are so minute,
the chambers containing comparatively so small a quantity of air,
that they sink and are cast away with the refuse sand. On this
account it is preferable to take the trouble of searching certain
soundings under the microscope, using the camel-hair pencil, or
some other contrivance before mentioned, to extract those objects
which are required. To clean the Foraminifera, Professor Williamson
advises to transfer the specimens to an evaporating dish containing
a weak solution of caustic potash. This must be boiled for “some
moments,” when the organic matter will be entirely dissolved, and
the calcareous shells left free from impurity. They must now be well
washed in water, so that all alkaline matter may be entirely got rid
of.
If the specimens are in mud, we must proceed in a different
way:—Stir up the whole mass in water, and allow it to stand until the
heavier portion has sunk to the bottom; the water may then be
poured off and examined to see if there are any objects contained in
it. This process must be repeated until the water comes off quite
clear, when (if the search is for Foraminifera only) the solution of
caustic potash may be used as before mentioned. However the
soundings, &c., are cleaned, it is necessary to assort them under the
microscope with the camel-hair pencil or other contrivance, as it is
impossible to obtain them fit for mounting without undergoing this
process.
The sea soundings taken by order of Government are drawn
from the bottom in a kind of apparatus ingeniously made for the
purpose, and the sand, mud, &c., are brought up in their original
state. Common soundings, however, are taken by lowering a heavy
piece of lead coated with tallow, which consequently brings up a
small portion of the matter from the bottom. Mr. George Mosley, the
late Secretary of the Manchester Microscopic Society, obtained
numbers of the “scrapings” from the sounding leads. To make any
use of these it is, of course, necessary to free them from all traces of
the tallow. Mr. Dancer places the sounding in a basin and pours
boiling water upon it, which causes the melted grease to rise to the
surface. When cold, this may be removed, and the water carefully
decanted. The operation may be repeated until no grease appears,
when the water may be withdrawn and liquor ammoniæ used, which
will form a soapy solution with any remaining grease. This must be
treated with hot water for the final washing. Care must be taken lest
the finer forms be carried away in decanting the washing liquid.
Should it be wished to make certain as to this point, each washing
should be examined under the microscope. In some cases the
process of Mr. Dancer will prove sufficient. Mr. Dale, however, gives a
method of accomplishing the same result, which is much more
readily completed; and as the results cannot be found fault with, I
will here give it in full:—It is now well known that one of the
products obtained from the naphtha of coal-tar is a volatile, oily
substance, termed benzole (or, by French chemists, benzine), whose
boiling-point, when pure, is about 180° Fahrenheit, which is a
perfect solvent for fatty substances. In a capsule, previously warmed
on a sand-bath, Mr. Dale mixes with the tallow soundings benzole,
whose boiling-point may be about 200°, until sufficiently diluted so
as to run freely, pressing the lumps with a glass rod until thoroughly
mingled; the solution and its contents are then poured into a paper
filter, placed in a glass funnel; the capsule is again washed with
benzole, until the whole of the gritty particles are removed into the
filter. A washing-bottle is then supplied with benzole, and the
contents of the filter washed to the bottom until that liquid passes
off pure, which may be tested by placing a drop from the point of
the funnel on a warm slip of glass or bright platinum, when, if pure,
the benzole will evaporate without residue or tarnish; if grease be
present, the washings must be continued until they are free from it.
After rinsing through weak acid, or alcohol, for final purification, the
calcareous forms will be ready for mounting.
The filter and its contents may be left to dry spontaneously,
when the latter can be examined by the microscope. Should time be
an object, rapid drying may be effected by any of the usual
methods; one of which, recommended by Mr. Dale, is to blow a
stream of hot air through a glass tube held in the flame of a
Bunsen’s burner. The lower the boiling-point of the benzole, the
more readily can the specimens be freed from it. A commoner
quality may be used, but it is more difficult to dry afterwards.
Pure benzole being costly, this may appear an expensive
process; but, with the exception of a trifling loss by evaporation, the
whole may be recovered by simple distillation. The mixture of tallow
and benzole being placed in a retort in a hot-water, a steam, or a
sand bath, the benzole will pass into the receiver, and the tallow or
other impurities will remain in the retort. When the whole of the
benzole has distilled over, which is ascertained by its ceasing to drop
from the condenser, the heat is withdrawn and the retort allowed to
cool before the addition of fresh material. Half a dozen to a dozen
filters, each with its specimen, can be in process at the same time;
and the distillation of the recovered benzole progresses as quickly as
the filtration, which was practically proved on the occasion named.
Great caution in the use of benzole is to be taken in the approach of
lights to the inflammable vapour.
After the Foraminifera and calcareous forms have been removed,
the residue may be treated with acids and levigation in the usual
manner, to obtain siliceous forms and discs, if there are any present;
but to facilitate their deposition, and to avoid the loss of any minute
atoms suspended in the washings, I would suggest the use of
filtration. The conical filter is unsuitable, as the particles would
spread over too great a surface of paper; but glass tubes open at
both ends (such as broken test-tubes) will be found to answer, the
broad end covered with filtering paper, and over that a slip of muslin
tied on with a thread to facilitate the passage of the water and
prevent the risk of breaking the paper. Suspend the tube over a
suitable vessel through a hole cut in thin wood or cardboard, pour in
the washings which can be thus filtered and then dried. The cloth
must be carefully removed, the paper cut round the edges of the
tube, and the diatoms on the paper disc may be removed by a
camel-hair pencil or otherwise, ready for mounting. Thus many
objects may be preserved which would be either washed away or
only be obtained by a more tedious process.
Such is Mr. Dale’s method of cleaning the soundings from the
tallow, and as it thoroughly accomplishes its end, and is alike
effective and not injurious to Foraminifera and diatoms, it may be
safely recommended. The weak solution of caustic potash before
advised for Foraminifera, must not be used where it is desired to
preserve the diatoms, as they would certainly be injured, or
destroyed altogether, if this agent were employed.
In fixing the Foraminifera upon the slide, no better plan can be
followed than the “dry cells” and gum recommended in the early
parts of this chapter. Owing to their thickness and composition, most
of them are opaque objects only; but they are exquisitely beautiful,
and require no particular care, except in allowing the cell, &c., to be
perfectly dry, when the cover is placed upon it, or the damp will
certainly become condensed upon the inner side, and the
examination seriously interfered with.
Many of the Foraminifera require cutting into sections if it is
wished to examine the internal structure, &c.,—“decalcifying” is also
desirable in some cases;—both of these processes will be found
described at length in the chapter on Sections and Dissection.
When more than one specimen of some particular shell is
obtained, it is better to place them upon the slide in different
positions, so as to show as much of the structure as possible. I will
conclude this subject by quoting a passage from T. Rymer Jones:
—“It is, therefore, by no means sufficient to treat these shells as
ordinary objects by simply laying them on a glass slide, so as to see
them only from one or two points of view; they must be carefully
examined in every direction, for such is the diversity of form that
nothing short of this will be at all satisfactory. For this purpose, they
should be attached to the point of a fine needle, so that they may be
turned in any direction, and examined by reflected light condensed
upon them by means of a lens or side reflector. In many of the thick-
shelled species it will be necessary to grind them down on a hone
[see Chapter V.] before the number and arrangement of the internal
chambers is discernible; and in order to investigate satisfactorily the
minutiæ of their structure, a variety of sections, made in various
ways, is indispensable.”
Plants afford an almost inexhaustible treasury for the
microscope, and many of them show their beauties best when
mounted dry. When any of these also are to be mounted, care must
be taken that they are thoroughly dry, otherwise the damp will
certainly arise in the cell, and injure the object; and it may be here
mentioned that long after a leaf has every appearance of dryness,
the interior is still damp, and no way can be recommended of
getting rid of this by any quicker process than that effected by
keeping them in a warm room, as many leaves, &c., are utterly
spoiled by using a hot iron or other contrivance. The safest way is to
press them gently betwixt blotting-paper, which may be removed
and dried at short intervals; and though this may appear a tedious
operation, it is a safe one.
On the surface of the leaves, hairs and scales of various and
very beautiful forms are found, most of which display their beauties
best when removed from the leaf, and used with the polarizer. These
will be noticed in another place; but a portion of the leaf should
always be prepared in its natural form, to show the arrangement of
the hair or scales upon it; which must almost invariably be mounted
dry when used for this purpose. Many of them require very delicate
handling. The epidermis, or, as it is by some termed, the cuticle, is
the outer skin which lies upon the surface of the leaves and other
parts of most plants. This is composed of cells closely connected,
often bearing the appearance of a rude network. In many plants, by
scraping up the surface of the leaf, a thin coating is detached, which
may be torn off by taking hold of it with the forceps. The piece may
then be washed and floated upon a glass slide, where, on drying, it
will be firmly fixed, and may usually be mounted dry. Amongst the
most beautiful and easily prepared of these may be mentioned the
petal of the geranium, the cells of which are well defined and
amongst the most interesting.
 Closely connected with the leaves are the ANTHERS and POLLEN, of
which a great number are beautiful and interesting subjects for the
microscopist.
The mallow tribe will furnish some exquisite objects, bearing the
appearance of masses of costly jewels. These are usually dried with
pressure, but the natural form may be more accurately preserved by
allowing them to dry as they are taken from the flower, with no
interference except thoroughly protecting them from all dust.
Sometimes the anther is divided, so that the cell required to receive
them may be of as little depth as possible. The common mallow is a
beautiful object, but I think the lavatera is a better, as it shows the
pollen chambers well, when dried unpressed. The pollen is often set
alone, and is well worth the trouble, as it then admits of more close
examination. Often it is convenient to have the anther and pollen as
seen in nature on one slide, and the pollen alone upon another. The
former should be taken from the flowers before their full
development is attained, as if overgrown they lose much of their
beauty. Some pollens are naturally so dark that it is necessary to
mount them in Canada balsam or fluid, as described in other places;
but they are better mounted dry when they are not too opaque.
Here, too, we may also mention the SEEDS of many plants as
most interesting, and some of them very beautiful, objects, requiring
for the greater part but a low power to show them. Most of these
are to be mounted dry, as opaque objects, in cells suited to them,
but some are best seen in balsam, and will be mentioned in Chapter
III.
The Corallines, many of which are found on almost every coast,
afford some very valuable objects for the microscope. They must be
well washed when first procured, to get rid of all the salts in the sea-
water, dried and mounted in cells deep enough to protect them from
all danger of pressure, as some of them are exceedingly fragile. The
white ivory appearance which some of them present is given to them
by an even covering of carbonate of lime; and should it be desired to
examine the structure of these more closely, it may be accomplished
by keeping them for some time in vinegar or dilute muriatic acid,
which will remove the lime and allow of the substance being sliced in
the same way as other Algæ. (“Micrographic Dictionary,” p. 183.)
The Scales of Insects.—The fine dust upon the wings of moths
and butterflies, which is so readily removed when handled carelessly,
is what is generally called scales. To these the wing owes the
magnificent colours which so often are seen upon it; every particle
being what may be termed a distinct flat feather. How these are
placed (somewhat like tiles upon a roof) may be easily seen in the
wing of any butterfly, a few being removed to aid the investigation.
The form of them is usually that of the “battledore” with which the
common game is played, but the handle or base of the scale is often
short, and the broad part varies in proportionate length and breadth
in different specimens. The markings upon these also vary, some
being mostly composed of lines running from the base to the apex,
others reminding us of network—bead-like spots only are seen in
some—indeed, almost endless changes are found amongst them.
These scales are not confined to butterflies and moths, nor indeed to
the wings of insects. The different gnats supply some most beautiful
specimens, not only from the wings, but also from the proboscis,
&c.; whilst from still more minute insects, as the podura, scales are
taken which were at one time esteemed as a most delicate test. The
gorgeous colours which the diamond beetles also show when under
the microscope are produced by light reflected from minute scales
with which the insects are covered.
In mounting these objects for the microscope it is well to have
the part of the insect from which the scales are usually taken as a
separate slide, so that the natural arrangement of them may be
seen. This is easily accomplished with the wings of butterflies, gnats,
&c.; as they require no extraordinary care. In mounting the scales
they may be placed upon slides, by passing the wings over the
surface, or by gently scraping the wing upon the slide, when they
must be covered with the thin glass. Of course, the extreme tenuity
of these objects does away with the necessity of any cell excepting
that formed by the gold-size or other cement used to attach the
cover. The scales of the podura should be placed upon the slide in a
somewhat different manner. This insect is without wings, and is no
longer than the common flea. It is often found amongst the sawdust
in wine-cellars, continually leaping about by the aid of its tail, which
is bent underneath its body. Dr. Carpenter says:—“Poduræ may be
obtained by sprinkling a little oatmeal on a piece of black paper near
their haunts; and after leaving it there for a few hours, removing it
carefully to a large glazed basin, so that, when they leap from the
paper (as they will when brought to the light), they may fall into the
basin, and may thus separate themselves from the meal. The best
way of obtaining their scales, is to confine several of them together
beneath a wine glass inverted upon a piece of fine smooth paper;
for the scales will become detached by their leaps against the glass,
and will fall upon the paper.” These scales are removed to the slide,
and mounted as those from the gnats, &c. When the podura has
been caught without the aid of the meal, it may be placed upon the
slide, under a test-tube, or by any other mode of confinement, and
thus save the trouble of transfer from the paper before mentioned.
Another method is to seize the insect by the leg with the forceps and
drag it across the slide, when a sufficient quantity of scales will
probably be left upon it.
These scales are usually mounted “dry;” but Hogg recommends
the use of Canada balsam (Chapter III.) as rendering their structure
more definite when illuminated with Wenham’s parabolic reflector.
Some advise other methods, which will be mentioned in Chapter IV.
As most insects when undissected are mounted in Canada balsam,
the different modes of treatment which they require will be stated in
another place.
In mounting blood of any kind to show the corpuscles, or, as
they are often called, globules, which are round or oval discs, it is
but necessary to cover the slide on the spot required with a coating
as thin as possible and allow it to dry before covering with the thin
glass. There is a slight contraction in the globules when dried, but
not enough to injure them for the microscope. The shape of these
varies in different classes of animals, but the size varies much more,
some being many times as large as others.—Some of the larvæ skins
are beautiful objects; but, like many sections of animal and other
fragile matter, are difficult to extend upon the slide. This difficulty is
easily overcome by floating the thin object in clear water, immersing
the slide and when the object is evenly spread gently lifting it. Allow
it then to dry by slightly raising one end of the slide to aid the
drainage, and cover with the thin glass as other objects. The tails
and fins of many small fish may be mounted in a similar manner, and
are well worth the trouble.
A few objects which are best shown by mounting dry may be
here mentioned as a slight guide to the beginner, though some of
them have been before noticed;—many of the Foraminifera as
elsewhere described. Some crystals are soluble in almost any fluid or
balsam, and should be mounted dry; a few, however, deliquesce or
effloresce, which renders them worthless as microscopic objects.
The wings of butterflies and gnats, as before noticed, afford
many specimens wherewith to supply the cabinet of the young
student. A great variety also may be found amongst the ferns;
indeed, these alone will afford the student occupation for a long
time. On the under-side of the leaves are the reservoirs for the
“spores,” which in many instances somewhat resemble green velvet,
and are arranged in stripes, round masses, and other forms. The
spores are usually covered with a thin skin termed the indusium,
which is curiously marked in some specimens, often very like pollen-
grains. The manner in which these spores with all their
accompaniments are arranged, their changes and developments
afford almost endless subjects for study; different ferns presenting
us with many variations in this respect totally invisible without the
aid of the microscope. The hymenophyllums (of which two only
belong to England) are particularly interesting, and the structure of
the leaves when dried makes them beautiful objects, often requiring
no balsam to aid their transparency. Portions of the fronds of ferns
should be mounted as opaque objects, after having been dried
between blotting paper, when they are not injured by pressure; but
care must be taken to gather them at the right time, as they do not
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