Annotated Game #315: Closing the door on positional breakthroughs

This final-round tournament game saw my opponent get a large positional plus in the Fantasy variation of the Caro-Kann, essentially an ideal opening outcome for him. However, I passed up several opportunities to gain counterplay early on, so that is a valuable lesson for the future. It is also instructive to see how my static defense strategy in the end actually pays off, with both myself and my opponent incrementally closing the door on potential breakthroughs in the position. This was a good result in the end for me - thanks more to mental toughness than positional skill, however.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Class A"] [Black "ChessAdmin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "95"] [GameId "2186865583386802"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3 g6 4. e5 Bg7 5. f4 Nh6 6. c3 Bg4 $6 {this was too early a commitment of the bishop.} (6... O-O {looking to play ...f6 and ...c5 to undermine White's pawns.}) (6... f6 {immediately is also good.}) 7. Be2 ({if} 7. Qb3 Qc8 {is what I would have played.} 8. h3 {makes things awkward for Black. however.} Be6 $16) 7... Bxe2 {an easy decision to exchange, thereby getting rid of one "bad" bishop.} 8. Nxe2 $14 O-O $6 {the engine considers it riskier to castle now. With White's space advantage on the kingside and Black cramped, that seems logical.} (8... Nf5 9. O-O h5 $14) 9. a3 {this just wastes time, as the action is not on the queenside.} f6 (9... e6 $5 {was the main alternative, giving the queen an open d8-h4 diagonal.}) 10. O-O Na6 {a move with defensive intent, rather than looking for freeing counterplay.} (10... fxe5 {is the logical follow-up to Black's previous.} 11. fxe5 (11. dxe5 Qb6+ {and Black is OK}) 11... e6 $2 {is the only move I looked at and did not like the position after Nf4, but} (11... Rxf1+ $1 {exchanges a pair of rooks, reducing White's attackers and relieving some of Black's cramp.} 12. Qxf1 Qb6 $11 {is equal for Black, with ...c5 likely coming and ...Nc6.})) 11. b4 {my opponent seems determined to play further on the queenside, which is fine with me.} Nc7 {now the e6 square is covered.} 12. Nd2 b5 $2 {looking to lock things up on the queenside, but this is the wrong idea, since it is my only area of potential counterplay.} (12... a5 {creates tension which White cannot resolve, although he still has a slight edge.}) 13. Nb3 {looking to take advantage of the holes left behind by the advance of the b-pawn.} Qc8 {covering e6 and a6 while putting the queen on the c8-h3 diagonal.} 14. Qd3 $16 {the engine evaluates this as significantly better for White, but I can still concentrate on closing off the position - with counterplay options gone, that is the only strategy.} f5 (14... a6 $5 $16) 15. Bd2 Re8 16. Nec1 $18 {White has to engage in some piece maneuvering to take advantage of his theoretical plus.} Bf8 17. Qf3 e6 18. a4 a6 19. a5 $16 {I was fine with this choice by my opponent, which reduces the tension (and breakthrough possibilities) on the queenside.} Ra7 {with the idea of activating the rook on the 7th rank. However, doing something to improve the kingside pieces may be better.} (19... Nf7 $5) (19... Be7) 20. Nd3 Na8 21. Qh3 $18 {getting the queen into the kingside action and enhancing White's positional advantage.} Ng4 {this looks a little risky for the knight, but the queen would have to vacate h3 to trap it, giving Black time to extract it.} 22. Nbc5 (22. Qh4 h5 {and now h6 is available.}) 22... h5 {ignoring the c5 knight, since everything it attacks is covered.} 23. Qf3 $6 $16 {this significantly reduces White's kingside pressure.} (23. Be1 $18 {would bring another piece into the fight via h4.}) 23... Rg7 {it's always the wrong square for the rook, it seems. Here it cannot help on the h-file and also blocks the Bf8.} (23... Rh7) 24. h3 Nh6 {by this point I could not see how White could manage to break through, despite the space advantage.} 25. Kf2 Be7 {keeping the bishop on the f8-a3 diagonal to swap for the knight if necessary, but also seizing the d8-h4 diagonal.} 26. Ke2 Kf7 {now the king is doing something useful.} 27. Kd1 {my opponent takes the time to march his king away.} Reg8 {threatening some counterplay on the g-file, if White gets careless.} 28. Kc2 Nc7 {the defensive knight contains the Nc5, while the potential maneuver Nb7-d6 is also restrained by Black's pieces.} 29. Rg1 Ke8 {moving further away from potential kingside action.} 30. Nb3 {White acknowledges the Nc5 is not contributing to a breakthrough.} Qd8 {the queen no longer has to guard the b7 square and can form a battery on the diagonal, further supporting a theoretical future ...g5 break.} 31. Nf2 Nf7 {played to further threaten ...g5, while clearing the h-file for the rooks to swing over if White instead goes for the g-pawn break, as expected.} 32. g4 hxg4 33. hxg4 Kd7 $14 {clearing the back rank for the queen.} 34. g5 {again, as happened earlier on the queenside, I was fine with the position continuing to be locked up by my opponent, judging my defensive resources to be adequate.} Rh7 35. Rh1 Rgh8 36. Rxh7 Rxh7 37. Rh1 Qh8 (37... Rxh1 {would have been simpler. However, my opponent exchanges anyway.}) 38. Rxh7 Qxh7 $11 {finally the engine recognizes the position is equal.} 39. Qh1 Qxh1 40. Nxh1 Nh8 {at this point I offered a draw, which was rejected. There is no way for White to penetrate Black's defenses, however. The best he could do is eventually sac a knight on g6, but I could then return the material to stop a passed g-pawn.} 41. Nf2 Kc8 42. Nd3 Nf7 43. Kd1 Nd8 {all I need to do is shuffle pieces and mirror White as necessary.} 44. Ne1 Nf7 45. Ke2 Nh8 46. Kf2 Kd8 47. Kg3 Kc8 48. Kh3 {and I accepted my opponent's draw offer.} 1/2-1/2

Lessons completed: Magnus Carlsen's Stonewall

As part of my ongoing re-examination of the Dutch Stonewall defense, I recently completed the Chess.com lesson series "Magnus Carlsen's Stonewall" at https://www.chess.com/lessons/the-stonewall

Lesson 1 is a brief narrative intro to Carlsen's background in, and views of, the Stonewall, which as he points out is reachable from multiple openings; his stated preferred sequence is in fact a Nimzo-Indian start, if White allows it. He mentions the fact that his coach Norwegian GM Simen Agdestein was an expert in the Stonewall, which you can see in Win with the Stonewall Dutch.

Lesson 2 ("Anand-Carlsen: My First Stonewall") covers Carlsen's first major tournament-level use of it in 2015 against GM Vishwanathan Anand, the context being Carlsen having major issues with his 1. d4 defenses against Anand in the prior year. The game itself is rather famous and Black's early, somewhat daring sortie with the a-pawn is an excellent illustration of how it can be used in the structure, although Carlsen admits that White may be a little better in theory.

Lesson 3 ("Caruana-Carlsen: A Strong and Creative Idea for White") has Carlsen again playing aggressively on the a-file with an early ...a5 followed by ...Na6. Caruana looks to redeploy a knight to take advantage of the resulting b-pawn weakness, which resulted in a long think by Carlsen and the "concrete solution" of exchanging bishop for knight on e5, which however was double-edged positionally, so Carlsen again went all in for counterplay with the a-pawn. This wasn't entirely sound, but Carlsen manages to grind out a win in the endgame, taking advantage of White's bad light-square bishop.

Lesson 4 ("Wojtaszek-Carlsen: White Plays Nh3") has Carlsen go over some of the piece placement ideas for both White and Black, which is always useful. He admits his early ...a5 thrust in this game was "a bit too much", but describes how he was still able to find ideas for useful counterplay, including thinking in a non-standard way, with (as he says) no better opening than the Stonewall for doing that.

Lesson 5 ("Giri-Carlsen: Is The Stonewall Playable Without the Dark-Squared Bishop?") finishes off the high-level Stonewall lesson series. Carlsen uses yet another different initial move sequence (1...e6 and 2...Bb4) to reach a Stonewall formation, although as he mentions it was not at all forced. In fact, the bishops are exchanged early on d2, but Carlsen nonetheless eventually heads for the Stonewall structure without the dark-squared bishop, which conventional wisdom says is necessary to help cover Black's holes. While he effectively loses a tempo by entering the Stonewall with ...d6-d5, there are positional compensations from the misplacement of White's pieces in the structure, and it is interesting to see how these trade-offs play out in the game.

Although the videos aren't particularly high-quality in terms of production value, just being a camera on Carlsen rather casually demonstrating the games on a wood board while the video board follows along, it was fascinating to have insights into his high-level thinking and personal perspectives (see also "How Carlsen makes us feel better about chess"). For me it is particularly striking how some top-level practitioners readily state or imply their uncertainty about ideas and positions, being willing to accept different trade-offs and level of risk based on what type of position they want to play at the time - such as aiming for more chaotic positions without clear guidelines (see lesson 2). Carlsen was also straightforward about White standing a little better in games 2-3, which is why his play there has not been repeated in opening theory. His ending comment, that the Stonewall is a rich strategic weapon where the best player usually wins - "and we all like to think we're the best player at the table" - is a great way to sum things up.

I'll note one small but irritating issue with the video portion of the lessons, which includes Carlsen's narration, is that the board is part of the display and always shown with White at the bottom. If you're a Stonewall player yourself, naturally you would prefer to see that reversed.

Annotated Game #314: Opening disasters will happen, drive on

This next tournament game features an opening blunder which neither I (until I had actually moved the piece) nor my opponent spotted, thankfully for me. No surprise that it occurred in a new, unfamiliar opening setup that was not particularly good for me as White to begin with. One of the advantages of opening study is knowing that you are safe until the end of a "book" sequence you know well. Checking for tactics early on otherwise is necessary, something I fail to do as early as move 7. Luckily I had enough of a poker face and both my opponent and I moved quickly past the blunder point, to an even game. Although I miss some ideas and tactics later in what became a fast-paced open game, I will give myself credit for finding the one correct defense on move 22, then the queen sac idea which wins the game.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "Class A"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "73"] [GameId "2188671080808509"] {[%evp 0,13,13,14,14,15,50,37,38,5,-12,-21,-36,-42,-29,-316]} 1. d4 d5 2. e3 c5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. h3 {the idea was to try to play a Colle-Zukertort type setup without having the annoying ...Bg4 as an option for Black.} (4. dxc5 $5 {directly challenges Black's reversed Queen's Gambit.}) 4... Nf6 5. b3 $6 {unfortunately this is a premature weakening on the queenside.} (5. Bd3 {would transpose to a line that has been played by GM Hikaru Nakamura in rapid, with} c4 {the critical response.} 6. Be2 Bf5 7. b3 b5 8. a4 {and the engines favor Black slightly.}) 5... cxd4 {correctly exploiting the situation.} 6. exd4 (6. Nxd4 $2 e5 $17) 6... Bf5 {now ...Nb4 is a threat to c2} 7. Bb5 $4 {a blunder, due to unfamiliarity with the position and no tactics checking. Nc3 normally would be available to protect the Bb5, but not now.} (7. Bd3 $15 {would admit the opening was not a success and limit the damage.}) 7... a6 $2 {however my opponent has the same tunnel vision I did, only focusing on the dynamics involving the pinned knight.} (7... Qa5+ {wins a piece.}) 8. Bxc6+ $11 {played quickly} bxc6 {the position is now very even.} 9. O-O (9. Ba3 $5 {would pose some issues for Black, ruling out advance of the e-pawn.}) 9... e6 10. c4 {played after some thought. Black could force a hanging pawns structure by exchanging on c4, but I have enough pieces to support them properly.} h6 {putting to rest any ideas by White of chasing the bishop with Nh4 to exchange it.} 11. Nc3 Bd6 12. c5 {a long think here. Normally this sort of advance is not worth releasing the central tension, even if it gains space, but I thought I could control e5 and restrain Black from undermining d4.} Bb8 13. Qe2 {it was not clear to me how best to follow up, but I wanted to control e5 and developing the queen seemed reasonable.} (13. Re1 {is more logical, first moving the rook which is doing nothing and saving the queen placement for later.}) (13. Ne5 $5 {immediately is also possible.} Bxe5 14. dxe5 Nd7 15. Qd4 $11) 13... O-O 14. Ne5 {physically blocking the e-pawn from potentially advancing, while centralizing the knight.} Qc8 15. Na4 {more thought here. The fork threat on b6 is obvious, but it is still annoying for Black to deal with. Also, the Nc3 is not doing much else at the moment.} Ba7 $6 {locking away the bishop like this is detrimental to Black, but I did not find the best way to exploit it.} (15... Ra7) (15... Nd7 {is also viable, for if} 16. Nxd7 $6 (16. f4 $11) 16... Qxd7 17. Nb6 Qc7 18. g3 Ra7 $15) 16. Bd2 (16. Nb6 $1 {is found by the engine. When originally examining the position, I did not bother looking further than the exchange on b6, assuming the pawn would be weak.} Bxb6 17. cxb6 Qb7 18. Ba3 $1 {is the key, gaining a tempo by attacking the Rf8.} Rfd8 19. Bc5 $18 {the b-pawn is now passed and strong, despite being doubled.}) 16... Nd7 $6 {neither of us spotted the Nb6 idea, evidently.} (16... Ne4) 17. f4 {maintaining equality.} (17. Nxd7 $1 Qxd7 18. Nb6 Bxb6 19. cxb6 Rfb8 20. Ba5 {is similar, as Black is unable to effectively attack the b-pawn, lacking the right minor pieces.}) 17... f6 18. Nxd7 Qxd7 19. Ba5 $6 {the idea was to support Nb6, but this is unnecessary and takes two of my pieces out of the fight on the queenside.} (19. Nb6 $16 {is still good, if not as decisive.}) 19... g5 $2 {this, however, is overly aggressive.} (19... Rae8 $17 {simply removing the possibility of a fork on b6, while preparing to push the e-pawn, would give Black some advantage.}) 20. g4 $6 (20. Nb6 $1 {it is ironic that after so much preparation of this move, now that it should win I don't play it.} Bxb6 21. cxb6 $18 {I still was blind to the power the advanced b-pawn would have.}) 20... Be4 21. Bd2 $2 {incorrectly giving up on the Nb6 idea. Black should now be able to consolidate his position in the center and kingside, gaining space after ...f5 or ...e5.} Qh7 $6 {almost the right idea, but this gives me a key tempo to bring back the knight for defense.} (21... Qg7 $1 {lining up on the unprotected d4 pawn and threatening ...f5, for example} 22. fxg5 fxg5 23. Be3 e5 $19) 22. Nc3 {I'll give myself credit here for the backwards saving move.} gxf4 $6 {too aggressive again.} 23. Nxe4 (23. Bxf4 {immediately is better, seizing the diagonals.} Bb8 24. Nxe4 Qxe4 (24... dxe4 25. Qc4 $18) 25. Qxe4 dxe4 26. Bxh6 $16) 23... dxe4 $6 {still playing for the win by keeping the queens on the board, but this is more beneficial to me after} 24. Bxf4 (24. Rxf4 {also works and the engine rates better, but I was starting to worry about my remaining clock time and the bishop recapture looked like a safer bet.}) 24... e5 25. Be3 $6 {the safe choice, blocking the diagonal to the king.} (25. dxe5 Bxc5+ {is what deterred me, but after} 26. Kg2 fxe5 27. Bxe5 $18 {material is even but White has a won endgame and much better attacking possibilities.}) 25... exd4 26. Bxd4 Rad8 27. Qc4+ $11 {while the position is still dynamically balanced, Black needs to take care with his king position.} Qf7 28. Qc3 {the Q+B battery poses challenging problems for Black to solve and causing him to use up significant clock time. The engine however has no problem abandoning the f-pawn to its fate for defense.} Qe7 (28... Qd5 {and now} 29. Bxf6 $2 (29. Be3 $11) 29... Qxc5+ 30. Qxc5 Bxc5+ 31. Kh1 Rd3 $15) 29. b4 {I debated between this and the better} (29. Rf5 $14 {which physically blocks the f-pawn.}) (29. Rxf6 $4 Rxd4 $1 {wins a piece, thanks to the c5 pawn being en prise and a lurking skewer on the a7-g1 diagonal.} (29... Rxf6 {is the variation I calculated, which is still not advantageous, so I avoided it.} 30. Bxf6 Qxc5+ 31. Qxc5 Bxc5+ 32. Kh1 $11)) 29... f5 30. gxf5 $11 (30. Rxf5 $11 {is equivalent, but gets a pair of rooks off.}) 30... Bb8 {getting the bishop back in the game.} 31. Kh1 {I used up some time here making sure this was safe and that I had a clear plan afterwards. Opening the g-file provides obvious follow-up for the White rooks.} Rf7 $6 (31... Kh7 $11 {Black needed to follow a similar logic here.}) 32. Rg1+ $14 (32. Rf2 $18 {is found by the engine, maintaining protection of the f-pawn while clearing the way for the other rook to swing to the g-file. However, I did not have time remaining on the clock for subtlety.}) 32... Kf8 $4 {this loses, although putting the king on the edge of the board without piece cover probably looked worse to my opponent.} (32... Kh7 $11) 33. Rg2 $6 {Black can still defend (with an only move) after this, but it was the best I could find.} (33. Rae1 $18 {is the subtle-looking first choice of the engine.}) (33. Rg6 $18 {is the improvement to the Rg2 idea, moving with an attack on h6; Black cannot handle the multiple threats.} Rxf5 {this does not work after} 34. Rag1 Qf7 35. Qe3 $18) 33... Rxd4 $2 {an interesting idea that almost works} (33... Rxf5 {was Black's only defense.} 34. Rag1 Qe6 $11 {covering g8:} 35. Rg8+ Qxg8 36. Rxg8+ Kxg8 {leaves White with insufficient attacking material.}) 34. Qxd4 $18 Be5 {and my opponent evidently missed the queen sac after} 35. Rag1 $1 {as with mate threatened on g8, the Qd4 can be left en prise. There is now no defense.} Rg7 36. Qxe4 {now I was able to focus enough on consolidation of the position to make this "small" best move.} Rxg2 37. Rxg2 1-0

Annotated Game #313: An unnecessary squeeze

This second-round tournament game was notable for White's attempt to enter a Blackmar-Diemer gambit type structure with 5. f3 - without having to gambit a pawn. As a rule, I never go for this kind of d- for f-pawn swap in the opening, although the engines think Black is fine; the BDGers as White are often almost religiously focused on the opening and undoubtedly will have (lots) more experience in it. I play a conventional way to decline exchanging on e4 and we get into a French type structure, which is all right if a little cramped for Black. The problem is that I later pass up ways to play actively, even in minor ways, so White ends up with a full-on squeeze by the end, which is brought to conclusion by an unfortunate blunder. My opponent simply outplayed me, however, so it only hastened the final outcome.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Class A"] [Black "ChessAdmin"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "D10"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "67"] [GameId "2186607709503550"] {[%evp 0,14,19,-12,34,26,26,21,29,29,45,-30,0,-7,5,-1,31]} 1. c4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. f3 Nc6 {long think here.} (5... Qa5 $5 {occurred to me, and is a way to hinder White's immediate plan of e2-e4, but I chose a more conservative/conventional path.} 6. Qd3 $6 {insisting on advancing the e-pawn is fine for Black.} Nc6 7. e4 e5 $1 {the engine likes playing dynamically in the center.} (7... Nb4 $11) 8. dxe5 Nxe4 9. fxe4 d4 10. Nge2 dxc3 11. Nxc3 Bb4 $15 {with ...O-O to follow.}) 6. e4 {this would be similar to the Blackmar-Diemer gambit, if I took on e4 (the engine's preference).} e6 {instead, I opt for a French Defense structure which gives White a small space advantage.} 7. e5 $14 Ng8 {actually the best, according to the engines. The point is the knight can be effectively redeveloped, and would be worse on d7.} 8. Be3 Nge7 (8... Qb6 {immediately is more active and a thematic response to the early queenside bishop development.}) 9. f4 Nf5 10. Bf2 {after this I had another long think here. This time, unfortunately, I did not choose the conventional move.} h5 $6 {is too optimistic. The idea is to preserve the knight on f5 by discouraging g2-g4, but after White's next my kingside looks loose.} (10... Be7 $14 {maintains the balance.}) 11. Nf3 $16 {simple but effective development. Of course Black's h-pawn advance has left g5 weaker.} Qb6 {played late, this move now leaves the kingside dark squares even weaker.} (11... Be7 $16) 12. Qd2 Bd7 13. Be2 Rc8 14. O-O Be7 {I thought for a while here and did not have a concrete plan.} (14... Na5 {occurred to me but I thought it was a bit premature, or could wait.}) 15. Rac1 g6 {this is actually not a bad idea, reinforcing h5.} 16. Rfd1 Qd8 {after more thinking I decided to bring the queen back, not seeing much coming of queenside play with it.} (16... Na5 $5 17. Na4 {is what deterred me.} Qb4 $16 {would be necessary.} (17... Bxa4 $2 18. Rxc8+ $1)) 17. Bd3 {now that h5 has been reinforced, moving to the b1-h7 diagonal threatens to trade the "bad" bishop for Black's best piece.} Nh6 {correctly avoiding the trade.} 18. h3 {further limiting the knight's reach.} Kf8 {the correct idea for once. Castling would just remove the rook from the more valuable h-file.} 19. a3 Na5 {now this does work, or at least is not as bad as other moves.} 20. Qe1 Kg7 (20... Nb3 {the engine considers equivalent, but I did not see it leading to anything useful.} 21. Rc2 $16) 21. Nb5 $6 {this cedes the advantage.} Bxb5 {I also considered swapping rooks first, but by this point had used up a lot of time on the clock, so just played for the simple option.} 22. Bxb5 {unfortunately my follow-up play unnecessarily gives White a positional bind.} Nc6 $6 {here I spent too much time overthinking this and believing other moves were too risky.} (22... Qb6 $11) 23. b4 $6 a6 $6 {played too quickly. The unfavorable positional transformation is obvious.} (23... a5 {preserves the equal pawn structure.} 24. bxa5 Qxa5 $11) 24. Bxc6 Rxc6 25. Rxc6 bxc6 $14 {Black is hardly lost, but has no counterplay while White can just play for two results.} 26. Qc3 Qb6 27. Bh4 {again I overthink the response.} Nf5 {my bishop will be eliminated anyway, so why not just place the White knight on the rim?} (27... Bxh4 28. Nxh4 Ra8 $11 {preparing ...a5 to help simplify dealing with the queenside pawn structure.}) 28. Bxe7 Nxe7 29. Rc1 Rc8 $6 {normally placing your rook opposite the opponent's queen is a good idea, but here it accomplishes nothing.} (29... Qb5 $11 {this idea occurred to me earlier, but not here. Now if} 30. Qc5 Qd3 {and Black's queen activity ensures the draw.}) 30. Qc5 Qb7 $6 (30... Qxc5 31. Rxc5 {I was afraid that my weakness would be permanent, but after} Nf5 $11 {Black holds.}) 31. g4 {the correct way to keep the pressure on.} hxg4 $2 {under time pressure, I didn't see anything else here.} (31... a5 $1 {is found by the engine, the point being} 32. Qxa5 Ra8 33. Qc5 Rxa3 $11) 32. hxg4 {while at first glance this doesn't look lost, Black is tied in knots and White can shift his pieces to penetrate and attack.} Rh8 {covering the most obvious weakness, the open h-file.} 33. Kg2 $18 Qc8 $4 {now the game abruptly ends with a blunder, as I forgot my knight would be hanging, but my opponent had outplayed me anyway.} (33... Rh7 {a sample continuation.} 34. Kf2 Rh3 35. a4 Rh8 36. a5 Rh3 37. Kg2 Rh8 38. Ng5 Nc8 39. b5 cxb5 40. Qc7 Qxc7 41. Rxc7 $18) 34. Qxe7 1-0

Course completed: The Killer Colle-Zukertort System

I just completed the Chessable course "The Killer Colle-Zukertort System" by IM Richard Palliser (opening theoretician/writer) and GM Simon Williams (video presenter); I did not purchase the full video version. Despite some of the promotional hype elements - including the ferocious tiger image (evoking "animal" openings) and the promise of an "automatic" and "undodgeable attack" - a close read of the linked description is fair, in terms of what the course delivers. 

It should be read closely, though, since as it states it is "A complete 1.d4 d5 repertoire for White" - leaving out the King's Indian most noticeably, although some suggestions are made about what to do versus the Dutch and other less frequently seen Black defenses. It does include the Grunfeld and Queen's Indian setups and what to do against early ...c5 or "Bishop Out" moves, which do not follow the main line 8-move sequence. It therefore is not a "system opening" despite it being referred to as that by GM Williams at one point; see the Variation Details list at the end for the full contents.

For an improving player, I found the presentation and contents almost a perfect match for learning requirements. I've been a fan of IM Palliser's analysis and style, including the "Dangerous Weapons" series, which balances new ideas with honest analysis about the trade-offs and risks involved in using the chosen variations. There is a also a hefty dose of content on how to exploit various common errors by Black, usually leading to similar types of tactical punishments by White in the main line setup; bishop sacrifices on h7 feature prominently, along with deadly h-file attacks. It's not all kingside attacks all the time, however, as central play with a timely c2-c4 or seizing queenside space with the b-pawn are also thematic ideas. The course's constant referencing of early middlegame ideas and plans, especially for where the pieces should be placed, is a welcome feature too often neglected by opening theory books, and is especially valuable for Class players learning the opening for the first time.

I'll finally highlight the Thematic Tactics and Model Games sections as effective for learning purposes. All of the material appears earlier in the course, but having it concentrated at the end to review common tactical themes is particularly useful, along with the more in-depth analysis of each of the eight model games, showing alternative ways to play that aren't just the first dozen or so opening moves. The course content is therefore woven together well throughout the material. There's a lot of it, though, and only a few shortcuts that can be made in terms of not learning particular variations. Realistically it's more of a reference work for the opening that the player can return to again and again, through analyzing training and tournament games, rather than an "easy fix" system opening, even if the main line core is an excellent starting place.

Variation Details

Introduction (1 variation)

Killer Colle Strategies (10 variations)

Quickstarter Guide (35 variations, 9.7 avg. trainable depth)

1) ...Nc6 / …Be7 Setup with …cxd4 (14 variations, 13.5 avg. trainable depth)

2) ...Nc6 / …Be7 Setup without …cxd4 (16 variations, 14.9 avg. trainable depth)

3) ...Nc6 / …Bd6 Setup with ...cxd4 (18 variations, 14.6 avg. trainable depth)

4) ...Nc6 / …Bd6 Setup without ...cxd4 (31 variations, 16.5 avg. trainable depth)

5) ...Nbd7 / ...Bd6 Setup (23 variations, 15.4 avg. trainable depth)

6) ...Nbd7 / ...Be7 Setup (11 variations, 13.7 avg. trainable depth)

7) The Delayed ...c5 Setup (17 variations, 12.4 avg. trainable depth)

8) Rare Setups (Early ...Ne4 & ...Qa5) (14 variations, 11.5 avg. trainable depth)

9) 3rd Moves: Bishop Out (3...Bg4 & 3...Bf5) (20 variations, 9.4 avg. trainable depth)

10) 3rd Moves: Grunfeld Setup (3...g6) (7 variations, 12.3 avg. trainable depth)

11) 3rd Moves: The Early ...c5 Setup (3...c5) (21 variations, 13.6 avg. trainable depth)

12) 2nd Moves: Bishop Out (2...Bg4 or 2...Bf5) (14 variations, 9.2 avg. trainable depth)

13) 2nd Moves: Chigorin Setup (2...Nc6) (8 variations, 9.5 avg. trainable depth)

14) 2nd Moves: Rare Tries (2...e6 & 2...c5) (12 variations, 10.3 avg. trainable depth)

15) Queen's Indian Setup: Early Deviations (7 variations, 9.6 avg. trainable depth)

16) Queen's Indian Setup with ...cxd4 (7 variations, 16.1 avg. trainable depth)

17) Queen's Indian Setup without ...cxd4 (7 variations, 14.1 avg. trainable depth)

18) Completing Your Colle Repertoire (8 variations, 6.7 avg. trainable depth)

Thematic Tactics (20 variations, 5.1 avg. trainable depth)

Model Games (8 variations)