Bobby's Binds

The bind doesn't always

Of the unorthodox move 5.f3 Fischer wrote, 'A passive, non-developing move which leads to nothing. White wants to gain control of d5, establishing a Maroczy bind with c4, Nc3, etc. But after going to all that trouble he can't prevent ...d5 after all.' The game continued 5...Nc6 6.c4 e6 7.Nc3 Be7 8.Be3 O-O 9.Nc2 d5!?. Here he commented, 'Reckoning that the loss of a Pawn is compensated for by superior development. 9...Re8 is sound but passive.'

Times change and chess changes with the times. Nowadays the move 5.f3 is played frequently by players at grandmaster level. Black often continues 5...e5 instead of Fischer's 5...Nc6, but 5...Nc6 6.c4 is also seen often, when the move 6...Qb6 is more fashionable than Fischer's 6...e6.

Openings are subject to shifts in fashion, but positional principles remain tried and true. The bind will always be a weapon in the arsenal of the astute chess player.

Index: Bobby's Binds

1. The best known bind
2. Restraining the opponent's pieces
3. Restraining a backward Pawn
4. Controlling access to an open file and to a diagonal
5. An advanced Knight that can't be exchanged or driven away
6. A combination to create a bind
7. A late middlegame / early endgame bind
8. An endgame bind can be used to draw
9. Restraining a wall of Pawns
10. The bind doesn't always