Annotated Game #305: An endgame escape

This first-round tournament game had two big lessons. First, it highlighted a hole in my repertoire involving the move-order used to reach a Dutch Stonewall; I'll have to fix that for the future. Second, it demonstrated why at the Class level one should always keep yourself alive with practical chances in an endgame. Here I reached a situation where my opponent was up the exchange and could have sacrificed it back to lock in a win, but instead I exploited the opening he gave me to threaten mate and collect most of his pieces, forcing a resignation. A good illustration of why materialism can lead to bad outcomes in all phases of the game.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Class B"] [Black "ChessAdmin"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "D31"] [PlyCount "84"] [GameId "2156548021522499"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 e6 {the Triangle/Wedge formation.} 4. Nc3 Bd6 {I think I have to abandon this particular move-order to reach the Dutch Stonewall, since there are too many potential exploits by White to reach an easy and just better position.} (4... f5 {is the other route to the Stonewall, but again offers White better options such as 5. Bg5}) (4... Nf6 {is a Semi-Slav.}) (4... dxc4 {scores the best in the database.}) 5. Qc2 f5 6. Bg5 $16 {the engine now gives a significant plus to White. As we'll see, that does not immediately translate to a winning game in practical terms.} Nf6 7. e3 O-O 8. Bd3 h6 {so far a standard sequence and expected.} 9. Bf4 Ne4 (9... Bxf4 $5 10. exf4 Qd6 $14 {followed by ...dxc4 limits White's advantage, giving him an isolated d-pawn.}) 10. O-O {White is perfectly fine here, but I was pleased during the game that I could use a normal expansionary Stonewall strategy on the kingside now.} Be7 {played after long thought about my middlegame strategy.} (10... Bxf4 {is still the engine recommendation.} 11. exf4 Nd7) (10... a5 {was an idea I contemplated here and other times, but it seemed here like an unnecessary distraction from the kingside plan.}) (10... Nd7 {immediately is another choice.} 11. Bxd6 Nxd6 12. Ne2 Qf6 $16) 11. h3 {clearly aimed at preserving the bishop on the h2-b8 diagonal.} Nd7 {I wanted to get some more development in before advancing the g-pawn.} 12. Rac1 g5 13. Bh2 Qe8 {a standard idea in the Dutch, to move the queen to g6 or h5 for the attack. Also helps cover these otherwise weak squares, against penetration by White's pieces.} 14. Ne5 Nxe5 {no reason not to exchange.} 15. Bxe5 Bd7 {played to connect the rooks and get the bishop at least slightly more developed.} (15... Bf6 {immediately was my other option.}) 16. Qd1 {while this covers the h5 square and prevents my queen from going there, it seems a little slow.} Bf6 17. Bh2 {consistently preserving the bishop on the diagonal, also as a kingside defender with the possibility of reoccupying a central square.} Qg6 {Again a long think. I want to pursue pressure on the kingside. However, I underestimated White's next move in response.} (17... Nxc3 {it may now be time to liquidate the knights.} 18. Rxc3 Qe7 $16) 18. Ne2 Be7 {best according to the engine. The problem is that the Ne4 has no good retreat squares in response to f2-f3, now that it cannot exchange itself on c3.} 19. f3 Nf6 (19... dxc4 {this idea, played later in the game, may be a little more effective if executed now.}) 20. g4 {I found this unnecessarily provocative, although White still retains an edge. The point is that the f-pawn is pinned against the Qg6 and cannot capture on g4.} Rf7 $6 {played with the idea of dissolving the center and not having a bishop on c4 moving there with check in some variations, since the rook is blocking the diagonal. However, this ends up making the situation worse later, not better.} (20... dxc4 21. Bxc4 Nd5 22. Qd2 Rad8 $16) 21. Be5 dxc4 22. Bxc4 Nd5 {this move, threatening a fork on e3, appeared to be a surprise to my opponent, who nonetheless found the best response.} 23. Qd3 {protecting e3 while re-establishing the pin on the f-pawn.} Raf8 {getting the rook into play.} 24. Ng3 {I also underestimated the effectiveness of this move.} Qh7 $6 {played after a good deal of thought. This resolves the problem of the hanging queen, but allows White's next sequence.} (24... Kh7 $5 {may be simplest.}) (24... b5 {going after the bishop does not resolve the problem.} 25. Bb3 a5 26. a3 a4 27. Ba2 $18) 25. gxf5 $18 exf5 26. e4 {White's central pawn duo is now very strong, along with his centralized pieces.} f4 {Black is losing now, but this counterattack is still the best chance.} 27. exd5 Qxd3 28. Bxd3 fxg3 29. dxc6 Bxc6 30. Bc4 {and now the pin on the rook should win for White.} Kh7 31. Bxf7 Rxf7 {I'm now significant material down, with the only hope being to leverage the power of the two bishops.} 32. Kg2 h5 33. Kxg3 Kg6 (33... h4+ {I looked at this, which was objectively best according to the engine; however, I did not see any real practical benefit, since it fixed my pawns and reduced the potential threats they could make.} 34. Kh2 $18) 34. Kh2 (34. Rxc6+ {this exchange sacrifice, preferred by the engine, would give White a fully won endgame.} bxc6 35. Rc1) 34... Bxf3 35. Rc7 {my opponent played this as if it were crushing - and it mostly is - but I still can improve my position by} g4 {now things are stable on the kingside and the bishop on f3 also holds b7. White should still win, but there is no immediate knockout.} 36. hxg4 $6 {there is no reason to reduce the tension by the exchange, but my opponent evidently thought it would help simplify the situation.} hxg4 $14 {now the advanced passed g-pawn, coupled with the two bishops, gives me significantly more drawing chances. The newly opened h-file was ignored by my opponent, who tried to go for a knockout blow with} 37. d5 $2 {but after} Rh7+ {the king has only two squares, one of which loses:} 38. Kg1 $4 (38. Kg3 {this looks more risky, but White escapes at the end of the sequence.} Bh4+ 39. Kf4 Bg5+ 40. Kg3 Rh3+ 41. Kf2 Bh4+ (41... Bxd5 {may pose a few more problems for White but also draws.}) 42. Ke3 Bg2+ 43. Ke2 Bxf1+ 44. Kxf1 {with a draw.}) 38... Rh1+ $19 39. Kf2 Bh4+ 40. Ke3 Rxf1 41. d6 Re1+ 42. Kd2 Rxe5 {and my opponent resigned.} 0-1

FT article: India’s VC-backed chess academy churns out champions across the board

The latest Financial Times article involving the chess world - "India's VC-backed chess academy churns out champions across the board" - talks about the WestBridge Anand Chess Academy (Waca for short). It's an example of how world-class expertise (former chess world champion Viswanathan Anand) has combined with patronage from WestBridge venture capital firm to create new champions through training and sponsorship.

While amateur chess improvers will not make the world champion grade, the formula for success is still similar: talent (of whatever level) + personal interest + time investment + master-guided training = skill improvement. We are fortunate at the amateur level that there now exists a great deal of master-guided training in a wide variety of accessible forms - video and online courses, books, coaching either live or asynchronous, etc. Making sense of which content and formats work the best for us as individual players is another challenge, admittedly.

One of the themes of this blog is a holistic approach to chess skill development, including cross-training and pulling practices and lessons from other sports and training programs. This is also valued at the highest level of chess training, as noted in the article and worth mentioning here:

Singhal said that at Waca they tried to think about “multiple intelligent perspectives . . . is there anything else that’s a little X Factor”. He noted the decision, unusual in the world of chess, to bring South African cricket coach Paddy Upton to help Dommaraju prepare mentally for the world championship.

Annotated Game #304: Just enough activity

This last-round tournament game follows a trajectory that is all too typical of many of my games: I play reasonably well in the opening, then neglect the possibility of a pawn break or two, then somehow end up with my pieces passively placed on the back ranks while my opponent gains space. In this Caro-Kann Classical, however, I manage to find just enough activity and then open things up in the endgame, for an almost but not-quite win. In fact White may have had more chances, but I demonstrate how to use my bishop as a long-range piece effectively versus his knight, and thereby seal the draw.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Class C"] [Black "ChessAdmin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "B19"] [PlyCount "112"] [GameId "2148113476542647"] {[%evp 0,112,25,16,59,71,77,32,50,50,42,44,38,36,23,21,20,18,23,23,17,17,18,26,26,26,45,40,40,42,35,17,44,44,24,11,23,14,18,21,8,-7,-3,2,3,20,28,26,5,-6,15,8,-2,-2,-34,-21,-18,-14,-11,-49,-22,-41,-45,-51,-41,-27,-25,-29,-25,-6,0,0,-2,0,0,0,0,0,19,-5,0,-85,-92,-103,-97,-100,-102,-95,0,0,0,0,5,0,7,6,9,2,3,3,3,3,6,3,3,2,2,2,2,3,2,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 {the Classical Caro-Kann} 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. h5 Bh7 8. Nf3 Nf6 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bf4 Qa5+ (11... Bd6 {is another option, uniquely enabled by this variation's move-order, as there is no knight on d7 to block the queen from protecting d6.}) (11... Bb4+ {I also considered during the game.} 12. c3 Bd6 {is considered a better version of the ...Bd6 idea by the engine. The d4 pawn is reinforced, but was not really threatened in the first place, while White having moved the c-pawn means increasing the space around his king if it castles queenside.}) 12. c3 Qa6 {this was drawn from an similar idea in other variations, but perhaps simple development is better.} (12... Nbd7 $11) 13. Qxa6 Nxa6 14. O-O Nd5 {chasing the bishop.} (14... Be7 {is more conservative, also preparing to castle.}) 15. Bd2 Bd6 $6 {this just loses a tempo after White's next move.} 16. Ne4 Be7 17. a3 {White essentially returns the tempo here.} O-O $11 18. c4 {the c-pawn advance against a Nd5 is something Black always has to watch for. Here the knight can simply retreat.} Nf6 19. Nxf6+ Bxf6 20. Bf4 Rfd8 21. Rfd1 Rac8 {getting my rooks into action before starting anything. My opponent does likewise.} 22. Rac1 Nc7 {bringing the knight back into play, but foregoing the ..c5 pawn break.} (22... c5 {I considered this carefully but in the end thought it premature. However, it is likely Black's best plan and natural, it just has to be calculated properly.} 23. d5 exd5 24. cxd5 b6 {and then the knight can come back into play via c7.} (24... Bxb2 {is a little wilder.} 25. Rb1 Bxa3 26. Rxb7 c4 27. Rxa7 Bd6 $11) 25. Rc2 Nc7 26. d6 Ne6 27. Bg3 Kf8 {with the idea of using the king as blockader on d7 if necessary.} 28. d7 Ra8 29. Bd6+ Be7 $11 {White cannot force the d-pawn to queen and will be tied up defending it.}) 23. b4 Ne8 24. Be5 Kf8 25. Kf1 Be7 {not a good look, with all of Black's pieces on the bottom two ranks.} 26. Rd3 Nf6 {the idea behind the bishop maneuver.} 27. Bxf6 Bxf6 (27... gxf6 $5 {should not be feared, as the doubled pawn controls e5.}) 28. Rcd1 Ke7 29. Ng1 Rd7 {this is fine, but now would also be a good time for a pawn break on the queenside, to break up White's formation.} (29... b5) (29... a5 {and Black will easily recover the pawn after ...Ra8}) 30. Ne2 Rcd8 31. f4 b5 {finally some Black pawn action.} 32. cxb5 cxb5 33. Kf2 {my ability to target the d-pawn is already at maximum pressure, so I play a waiting move rather than commit a rook to the c-file (which also is fine).} a6 34. Ke3 Rd5 {I had this idea in mind, physically blocking the d-pawn and putting lateral pressure on the h5 pawn.} 35. g4 g5 {I thought for some time here and could not see anything better. The engine validates my active choice.} 36. hxg6 fxg6 37. Nc3 R5d7 38. Ne4 g5 39. Nc5 gxf4+ 40. Kxf4 {I now spent a lot of time looking at the various options for capturing on d4, and picked the best (only) one that works.} Rxd4+ 41. Rxd4 Rxd4+ 42. Rxd4 Bxd4 43. Nxa6 Kd6 {I'd originally thought that I had an advantage here, but the knight cannot be trapped.} 44. Ke4 e5 45. Nc5 Bb2 {choosing to keep the bishop on the board. I knew I could draw even if White ended up with one pawn left.} (45... Bxc5 {I thought I might screw up the K+P ending afterwards, so did not choose this option.} 46. bxc5+ Kxc5 47. Kxe5 Kc4 $11) 46. a4 bxa4 47. Nxa4 Bc1 48. Nb6 Kc6 49. Nc4 Kb5 50. Nxe5 Bg5 (50... Kxb4 $4 51. Nd3+ $18) 51. Nf7 Bc1 {showing how the bishop as a long-range piece works.} 52. Kf5 Kxb4 53. Kg6 Kc5 54. Nxh6 Kd5 55. Kf5 Bxh6 56. g5 Bxg5 1/2-1/2

Book completed: John Nunn's Best Games, 1985-1993

    

I recently completed John Nunn's Best Games 1985-1993 (Batsford Chess Library, 1995), annotated by the author. GM Nunn is one of the chess world's most accomplished and interesting authors, and has been referenced multiple times on this blog. Some of his other works are specifically aimed at improving players; this is not one of them. 

I would say it falls into a similar category as Victor Korchnoi's best games collection - these high-level annotated games are similarly high-quality, but have relatively little hand-holding for Class-level players. The benefit of studying annotated games collections from the author's own perspective is that you get a unique window into both their chess-related thought process and general psychological factors affecting the game. Nunn's thought process insights are uneven in their level of detail, but in many of the games he does provide more of an explanation of the positions' key characteristics and his evaluations, making them very pertinent for improving players. The biographical details are both personally interesting and lend useful context into his state of mind for each tournament and game, although the chess politics comments are now mostly irrelevant.

One theme that struck me while reviewing the games was Nunn's mastery of evaluation of compensation, which involves understanding positional factors that outweigh the material balance, in the absence of forcing tactics. His comments in that regard I found particularly useful, and are not something you can easily find in chess training material. Nunn's games were also routinely very tactical and combative, with a lot of King's Indian and Sicilian games, so there was plenty of material there as well for understanding tactical concepts, visualization and calculation.

I'll close this with an example of one of Nunn's games (number 34 in the collection) that I think very well illustrates his mastery of compensation for sacrificed material.

[Event "Belgrade Investbank"] [Site "Belgrade"] [Date "1991.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Nunn, John DM"] [Black "Nikolic, Predrag"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C19"] [WhiteElo "2610"] [BlackElo "2625"] [PlyCount "69"] [GameId "1165542594732032"] [EventDate "1991.11.??"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "YUG"] [EventCategory "15"] [SourceTitle "CBM 027"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1992.04.01"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "1992.04.01"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Nf3 b6 8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. Bd3 Ba4 10. dxc5 bxc5 11. O-O c4 12. Be2 Ng6 13. Ng5 Nxe5 14. f4 Nd3 15. Bxd3 cxd3 16. f5 e5 17. Qh5 Qe7 18. Ne6 Kd7 19. Bg5 f6 20. Be3 Na6 21. cxd3 g6 22. Qg4 Bc6 23. Nd4 exd4 24. Bxd4 h5 25. Qh3 g5 26. Rfe1 Qf8 27. Re6 Rh6 28. Qe3 Re8 29. Re1 Nc7 30. Bc5 Qf7 31. Be7 Rh7 32. Qc5 Bb7 33. Qxa7 Kc8 34. Rb1 Rxe7 35. Rxb7 1-0

Annotated Game #303: A strategically won game...is not an actually won game

The next tournament game illustrates how well one can be placed out of the opening, in this case a Stonewall Attack, and yet fail to convert a positional advantage. By move 13 my pieces were dominant and by move 18 I could effectively have been winning on both the queenside and kingside. Unfortunately a mishandled attack, which could at least have led to a perpetual check, failed and Black emerged with a winning material advantage.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "Class B"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "D00"] [PlyCount "104"] [GameId "2133320567857269"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. e3 e6 3. Bd3 d5 4. f4 {a standard Stonewall Attack opening position} c5 5. c3 b6 {unusual to see this early, but consistent with how Black will need to develop the light-square bishop.} 6. Nf3 cxd4 7. exd4 {the usual rule in the Stonewall is to recapture with the e-pawn, which points towards future kingside play, but recapturing with the c-pawn is fine as well.} Bb7 8. O-O Nc6 9. Nbd2 {developing and controlling e4.} Qc7 {a signal that my opponent may be looking to castle queenside. It also attacks the f4 pawn.} 10. Ne5 $14 {blocking the attack on the f-pawn and placing my knight on its best outpost. White has achieved a small plus out of the opening, due to the space advantage.} O-O-O {sensing danger on the kingside, the king is removed elsewhere. However, the Stonewall setup is flexible and I should be able to shift my attack.} 11. Qe2 $16 {played after some thought. The B+Q battery is useful and the rooks are closer to being connected.} Nxe5 $6 {my opponent wants to get rid of the advanced knight, but the advanced pawn on e5 and semi-open f-file are advantageous to White.} (11... Kb8 $5 {getting the king off the diagonal and adding a defender to a7.}) 12. fxe5 {the advanced e-pawn is now a major thorn in Black's side.} Ne8 $18 {at this point White has a strategically won game, with my pieces and pawns dominating the board; however, this is not the same thing as an actually won game. I recognized this and thought about my plan, starting off well enough.} 13. Nf3 {this best activates the knight, which may be able to profitably go to g5, as well as freeing the diagonal for the Bc1.} h6 14. a4 {I now correctly shift to a direct attack on the Black king position, which is vulnerable. The a-pawn in this case can be used much like the h-pawn would be against a normally castled king.} Qd7 15. a5 Nc7 16. axb6 {so far so good.} axb6 {another long think. Unfortunately I start to lose the thread here. I need to connect the rooks and move the bishop, but e3 or f4 would be much better squares.} 17. Bd2 {here it blocks the ability of the queen to move laterally to the a-file, and the e1-a5 diagonal is less promising if it opens up, unlike the g1-a7 or h2-b8 ones.} f5 18. Ra7 {not a bad move, but I was too afraid of opening the kingside to play the best one, per the engine.} (18. exf6 {the Stonewall, when most effective, allows play on both sides of the board.} gxf6 19. Nh4 $18 {and White is dominant on both the kingside and queenside, with Ng6 likely coming.}) 18... Kb8 19. Rfa1 {the obvious and effective follow-up.} g5 20. Ne1 {with the idea of repositioning the knight either to help the queenside attack, or if needed to defend the king.} (20. b4 g4 21. Ne1 {looks like a superior version of the same idea, with b4-b5 coming.}) 20... Be7 {connecting the rooks and giving the bishop some future prospects on the kingside.} 21. Nc2 (21. b4 $5 {the alternative idea of advancing the b-pawn, as mentioned earlier, may have been a more effective attack. For example} h5 22. b5 h4 23. Qd1 {with the idea of bringing the queen to a4, and if} Nxb5 {then} 24. R7a2 $18 {retreating is best, and now White has the half-open b-file to target Black's weak b-pawn and king position, for example with Qb3 and Rb2 to follow up.}) 21... f4 {my opponent is doing a good job of attempting counterplay, despite still being significantly under pressure. After another long think, I go astray with the attack.} 22. c4 $2 {I did not assess and calculate accurately here, simply going for the attack based on the open long diagonal after} (22. Nb4 {would be the logical continuation of the knight maneuver, but I did not see past the piece exchange and doubled pawns.} Bxb4 23. cxb4 {and White is doing well with the additional open lines, for example after} Rhf8 24. b5 Qf7 25. Bb4 f3 26. gxf3 $18) 22... dxc4 23. Rxb7+ $11 Kxb7 24. Be4+ Nd5 25. Qxc4 {is the best I could find at the board, but now the attack stalls. Grabbing the pawn is worth less than opening lines.} (25. b3 $1 {is the non-obvious move found by the engine. The point is that it threatens to take on c4 and win the pinned Nd5, and White keeps the initiative, moving with tempo after} cxb3 26. Qa6+ $11 {with a draw by perpetual check.}) 25... Rc8 $6 (25... Ra8 $1 $17 {cutting off control of a6.}) 26. Bxd5+ $2 {again sub-par calculation.} (26. Qa6+ {should maintain a dynamic balance.} Kc7 27. Nb4 {the knight sacrifice is only temporary, and other moves are fine too.} Nxb4 28. Qb7+ Kd8 29. Qxb6+ Ke8 30. Bxb4 Bxb4 31. Qxb4 $11) 26... Qxd5 $17 {now White does not have any compensation for the exchange.} 27. Qa6+ Kc7 {now the point of the placement of the Qd5 is the fact there is no check on b7, unlike in the above variation, and White does not have enough pieces near the Black king to threaten it.} 28. Rc1 {from this point, I simply try to make threats and hope for the best, knowing I'm losing.} Kd7 $19 29. Qxb6 {at this point I correctly assessed that I was essentially lost, but still hoped to swindle a draw based on Black's exposed king position and/or setting up a fortress.} Rb8 30. Qa7+ Qb7 31. Qa4+ Qb5 32. Qxb5+ {the best choice technically, although simplification of material also makes Black's job easier on the brain.} Rxb5 33. Bc3 {the engine validates this as the best choice, but Black is still winning.} Ra8 34. Kf2 Ke8 35. Kf3 Kf7 36. Rf1 Kg6 37. Ke4 h5 {at this point Black's kingside majority looks like it will cruise to victory.} 38. h3 Rbb8 39. Rf3 {using a rook as a physical blocker against pawns is rarely a good idea.} Rf8 40. Nb4 $2 {the idea of a fortress, although perhaps technically doomed, was much more likely to work in practical terms with the knight helping.} Bxb4 41. Bxb4 Rf7 42. Bc5 Ra1 43. Ra3 Re1+ {now it's essentially over.} 44. Kf3 Kf5 45. Kf2 Rc1 46. b4 g4 47. h4 g3+ 48. Kf3 Rf1+ 49. Ke2 Rf2+ 50. Ke1 Rxg2 51. Kf1 Rb2 52. Ra8 f3 0-1