Tara Sokolov: Level 44 Chess Rival (1978 ELO)

Bishop tier · Spanish Specialist · plays the Italian Game

How Tara plays

Tara is a 63-year-old former librarian from Busan who studied the Ruy Lopez for decades before switching to the Giuoco Piano, and she still plays it like a slow Spanish. Development with ...Bc5, ...d6 and ...a6 is followed by a long manoeuvring phase: ...Re8, ...Be6, a knight rerouted to g6, and a careful choice of when, if ever, to open the position.

She is happiest when nothing happens for thirty moves and the player who understands the structure better wins. In those positions her patience is a weapon, and she will gladly let you burn your own ideas first. She is less comfortable when the game turns concrete early, with central breaks or attacking plans that need exact calculation. Tara tends to prefer improving over committing, so a pawn break played at the right moment can catch her with her pieces still on their way.

At 1978 ELO, Tara rarely gives material away for nothing. She is held to that rating by the engine, so you will see the occasional inaccuracy in quiet positions, but tactics are usually spotted. Games are won by building a better position over many moves and converting it carefully.

Italian Game: the line Tara plays

In the Italian Game Tara meets 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 with ...Bc5, the classical Giuoco Piano. The book continues with ...Nf6, ...d6, ...a6 and short castling: quiet, symmetrical development where both sides manoeuvre before anything breaks open.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 a6 7.Re1 O-O

Learn it move by move: Italian Game walkthrough

How to beat Tara

  1. Expect ...Be6 offering to trade off your c4 bishop. Retreat it to b3 and later to c2, Spanish style, so the bishop survives and keeps aiming at her kingside.
  2. Put a knight on f5 via h4. With her pieces focused on the centre, a knight on f5 is hard to remove without weakening her kingside pawns, and it supports Qf3 or Qg4 ideas.
  3. After ...a6, ...b5 can come to chase your bishop. Have a4 ready so that her queenside expansion leaves weaknesses on b5 and c6 instead of free space.
  4. The slow Giuoco Piano rewards patience. Prepare d4 with c3, reroute the queen's knight via d2 and f1 to g3, and only open the centre once your pieces are ready. Avoid trading your light-squared bishop cheaply on f7: the cheap check rarely wins anything.
  5. Their book answers 1.e4 only (with lines for the Italian, Two Knights, Spanish and Scotch). Open 1.d4 or 1.c4 and she is out of book at once.

What beating Tara teaches you

Tara teaches you the manoeuvring ideas of the Spanish inside an Italian structure, especially how to keep your best bishop alive in a slow game.

Neighbours on the ladder