Annotated Game #325: You had one job [in the opening]

This next tournament game shows my failure to do the one job in the opening that is always strategically most important - open up the space in front of the opponent's king when it is still in the center. This is the one major takeaway I retained from reading GM Johan Hellsten's Mastering Opening Strategy, but in this game I still fail to apply it, either at the first opportunity on move 8, or on subsequent moves. This is all the more facepalm-worthy, since the e2-e4 break in particular is a well-known feature of the Colle. I was still even for the remainder of the game, but then transitioned into a slightly tricky NvB endgame where my visualization/calculation went wrong. This is another area to work on.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "Class C"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "D05"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "80"] [GameId "2248621732107421"] {[%evp 0,80,38,28,27,23,20,18,9,17,41,24,29,28,53,63,69,57,74,41,94,84,97,56,84,76,79,50,50,37,56,47,79,36,47,40,34,12,-5,-21,-8,-28,-28,-16,35,32,31,26,24,18,20,18,17,16,14,25,17,17,11,1,3,-25,-14,-28,-28,-42,-45,-37,-58,-127,-79,-651,-724,-934,-534,-801,-622,-730,-736,-1145,-1264,-1341,-1384]} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 e6 4. Bd3 {Colle System} c6 {Black goes for a Semi-Slav formation.} 5. b3 Nbd7 6. Nbd2 (6. Bb2 {would better control the e5 square.}) (6. c4 {here on on the previous move would transpose directly to the Semi-Slav.}) 6... b5 $6 {evidently played to restrain c2-c4, but slowing development.} 7. O-O $14 b4 $6 {this further retards Black's development.} 8. Bb2 $6 $14 {this is too slow a response, however.} (8. e4 $1 $16 {immediately breaking in the center is in the spirit and practice of the Colle. Black's king is still two moves away from castling, so that should be a big red flag for action.} dxe4 {otherwise e4-e5 is coming.} 9. Nxe4 Nxe4 10. Bxe4 Bb7 11. Ne5 $16 {and White has a significant lead in both ddevelopment and space. Exchanging pieces does not help, either, for example:} Nxe5 12. dxe5 Qxd1 13. Rxd1 Bc5 14. a3 a5 15. axb4 axb4 16. Be3 Rxa1 17. Rxa1 Bxe3 18. fxe3 $18 {and the doubled pawns are worth it, since the b4 pawn will fall.}) (8. a3 $5 bxa3 9. c4 $16 {is another idea to increase the central pressure on Black with a pawn lever.}) 8... c5 9. Ne5 {this is a less effective idea than a pawn lever, as the knight jump does not directly help to break open the position. Black however goes wrong with the following exchange.} (9. e4) 9... Nxe5 $6 (9... cxd4 10. exd4 Bb7 $14) 10. dxe5 {chasing away Black's defending knight.} Nd7 11. f4 $16 (11. e4 {is still a bit superior as an idea, being more forcing in the center.}) 11... g6 {somewhat awkward, but Black does need to develop the bishop.} 12. Qe2 Bg7 13. Rac1 $6 {again too slow} (13. a3 {with the idea of opening the a-file and generating pressure there, taking advantage of Black's still somewhat backward development.} O-O (13... bxa3 14. Rxa3 $16) 14. axb4 cxb4 15. Bd4 $16 {with a plausible continuation being} a5 16. Nf3 f6 17. c3 bxc3 18. Rac1 {now the rook can exploit the c-file better} fxe5 19. fxe5 Rf7 20. Rxc3) (13. e4) 13... O-O $14 14. c4 {while this is a decent move, I overestimated its forcing nature.} (14. a4 $5 {would help clarify the queenside and grab some space, allowing White to focus more on the center.} a5 15. e4 $14) 14... Bb7 $6 {this allows White's plan to succeed.} (14... bxc3 15. Bxc3 a5 $11) 15. cxd5 {the correct choice, opening the position.} exd5 16. Nf3 $16 (16. Bb5 {immediately may have more impact.} Rc8 17. Rfd1 $16) 16... Qe7 {I did not see this move, which is the best way to cover c5.} 17. Bb5 {threatening to take on d7 and remove the defenders of c5.} (17. h4 $5 {this is an idea that occurred to me, and could have been played at several points. White in many cases can follow up with an unsupported h4-h5, since taking on h5 would weaken Black's king position too much.}) 17... Rfd8 18. Rc2 {unfortunately the plan of doubling rooks on the c-file ultimately goes nowhere.} (18. Qf2 $5 {White's advantage is in fact on the kingside.} a6 19. Bxd7 Rxd7 20. f5 $1 $16 {I definitely did not see this pawn sac idea, threatening the fork on f6 if not taken.} gxf5 (20... Bh6 $2 21. f6 Qe6 22. Rxc5 $18) 21. Nh4 d4 22. exd4 cxd4 23. Nxf5 Qxe5 24. Rfe1 $16 {the d-pawn is weak and White has the dynamic advantages in the position, especially with the rooks.}) 18... a6 19. Bxd7 {now the position is equal, so an unfortunate decision to trade. Removal of the knight still leaves c5 in Black's hands.} (19. Bd3 {the engine wants to preserve the bishop for a kingside attack, for example supporting an h-pawn advance.}) 19... Rxd7 $11 20. Rfc1 Rc7 21. a3 $6 {I thought this was the only way to try to make progress, but Black is now quite solid, even a little better on the queenside.} (21. h4 $11) 21... Rac8 {luckily for me this removed the rook from the a-file, which otherwise would be better for Black.} (21... a5 22. axb4 axb4 23. Bd4 Rac8 24. Bb2 $17 {Black now has the two bishops and a queenside pawn majority.}) 22. axb4 cxb4 23. Nd4 (23. Rxc7 $5 Rxc7 24. Ra1 $14 {would take advantage of Black's relatively weak a-file by generating some pressure.}) 23... Rxc2 24. Rxc2 {I spent some time before playing the last two moves to make sure they were safe. Time pressure was now starting to be a bit of a factor, although I am still on pace for the time control.} Rxc2 25. Qxc2 Bf8 {evidently played with the idea of ...Qc5.} 26. Nf3 {the position is completely even and I should be able to score the draw from here.} Qc5 27. Qxc5 {while this is objectively fine, in light of how the rest of the game turns out, keeping queens on the board might have been simpler.} (27. Qd3 $11) 27... Bxc5 28. Bd4 (28. Kf2 {while the text move maintains equality, it would have been nice to start moving the king towards the center.}) 28... Bxd4 {here I did not calculate/visualize properly the sequence.} 29. exd4 $6 {this makes life a little more difficult, but White should still be OK. I was too attracted by the pawn structure and did not give enough weight to the knight activity.} (29. Nxd4 {is simpler.}) 29... a5 {the most testing line, immediately trying to mobilize the queenside majority. Now I incorrectly calculate Ne1, which was my original idea, and end up blundering by playing} 30. Nd2 $4 {this loses to multiple Black moves, but the one my opponent plays is the simplest.} (30. Ne1 Ba6 31. Kf2 $1 $11 {is the key. Now the king can run over to the queenside as needed without impediment. I had erroneously thought Black could get a pawn through.} a4 32. bxa4 b3 33. Nf3 $1 {is what I missed.} b2 34. Nd2 $11) 30... Ba6 $19 {now the knight is dominated by the bishop.} 31. Kf2 Bd3 $1 {winning, although I did not completely see this until after} 32. Ke3 Bc2 {and now both the knight and king are shut out of the queenside. The rest is desperation.} 33. g4 Kf8 34. h4 Ke7 35. Nc4 dxc4 36. bxc4 Bb3 37. c5 Bd5 38. f5 a4 39. Kd2 a3 40. Kc1 b3 0-1

Annotated Game #324: A (mostly) clean start

In this first-round game as Black, I was pleased to have an almost entirely clean start to my last tournament. The Caro-Kann continues to perform well for me and it feels like putting on a comfortable, protective glove every time I go into it. My opponent was higher-rated, but in the Panov Variation was unable to get more than equality, missing the best follow-up to my one slip on move 19. While I also passed up a few chances for a little more pressure, I did not miss anything else significant, and correctly defended with "only" moves in the final sequence. I was also proud of resisting materialist impulses and avoiding the temptation to snatch the b2 pawn, which might not have lost, but would certainly have been fully compensated by White's subsequent initiative.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Class A"] [Black "ChessAdmin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "D40"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "60"] [GameId "2241828936024153"] {[%evp 0,31,19,38,78,76,65,58,56,22,14,17,42,33,31,23,23,15,16,24,19,13,22,44,-14,6,75,34,42,48,69,-2,-5,0]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nf3 Be7 7. Bd3 dxc4 {a common idea, to exchange the pawn to create an IQP structure, when White has to use an additional tempo with the bishop for the recapture.} 8. Bxc4 O-O 9. O-O Nc6 10. Re1 {White can play a lot of things here, but occupying the e-file and pressuring e6 is very common and logical.} a6 {Black needs to get the light-squared bishop developed and can grab some queenside space as well.} 11. Bf4 b5 12. Bb3 Bb7 {I recognized this would likely provoke d5 and the resulting exchanges, but thought the bishop development was worth it.} (12... Na5 {was my other serious candidate move and is an option to avoid central liquidation.} 13. Ne5 Qb6 $11 {covering c6 and developing the queen}) (12... Nb4 $5 {scores well in the database, with ...Bb7 to follow. The knight can go to d5 if kicked.}) 13. d5 exd5 14. Nxd5 Nxd5 {forced} 15. Qxd5 {I did not seriously consider this, focusing instead on the bishop recapture, which looked more threatening.} Bf6 {the best defensive move, as the bishop could otherwise be left hanging in some lines.} 16. Qh5 {I did not see this, although it is not terribly threatening.} g6 {I felt gaining a tempo on the queen was worth the dark-square weakness, given I had pieces in place to cover it.} (16... Nd4 {immediately is also good.}) 17. Qg4 {unfortunately the queen cannot be trapped, as after ...h5, Qxg6 is possible due to the pin by the Bb3 on f7.} Nd4 {I felt this centralization was likely to be more effective than the alternative knight move, but the engine rates them equivalent.} (17... Na5 18. Be5 Nxb3 19. axb3 Bg7 $11) 18. Nxd4 {best option for White, to remove the well-placed knight.} Qxd4 {moving carefully and rather slowly through here, which paid off. The queen capture is beest, as among other things there is now a lateral pin on the Bf4.} 19. Rad1 {and now I forgot the back-rank tactic I had seen earlier as the best reaction.} Qb4 $6 {this could have made things awkward.} (19... Rae8 $1 {and the back-rack threat keeps things equal.} 20. Rxe8 (20. Rxd4 $4 Rxe1#) 20... Rxe8 $11 {and the queen is still immune.}) 20. Qg3 {my opponent misses the most threatening response.} (20. Re3 $1 {causes problems.} Rae8 {threatening an x-ray on e1, but now after} 21. a3 $1 {Black's queen has to move and the Bb3 is protected. White has a lot of pressure, although Black still has some defensive resources after} Bc8 22. Bxf7+ Kxf7 23. Rd7+ Bxd7 24. Qxd7+ Qe7 25. Rxe7+ Rxe7 26. Qd5+ Kg7 27. g3 $16) 20... Rfe8 $11 21. Be3 {this is OK for White, although I thought having the bishop effectively pinned against the mate threat on e1 meant that my opponent had lost the initiative, at minimum.} Rad8 22. Rf1 $6 {both of us were starting to chew through our clock time here, so that may explain the unnecessarily passive move. It does at least remove the rook from direct attacks on e1.} (22. h3 $11 {would remove the back-rank mate threat.}) 22... Rxd1 {the best moveI could come up with, although I spotted at some point the idea of} (22... Qe4 $5 $15 {maintaining the tension, which is in Black's favor.}) 23. Rxd1 Kg7 {a good enough move, maintaining equality. I correctly continue to resist pawn grabbing on b2, which would hand back the initiative to White.} (23... Be5 24. Qg5 {and I didn't see any real advantage for Black; the engine agrees.}) 24. h4 {this is not in fact a blunder, because White has the following forcing sequence, but I still felt good after taking the pawn correctly with the queen (not bishop).} Qxh4 (24... Bxh4 $4 25. Qc7 $18) 25. Rd7 {at first glance this looks scary, but Black has everything covered.} Re7 (25... Qxg3 {is possible, but I thought it was not worth giving up the f-pawn, and it looked scarier at first glance. In reality, it was probably a simpler way to reach an equal endgame after} 26. Rxf7+ Kh8 27. fxg3 Rxe3 (27... Bxb2 28. Rxb7 Rxe3 29. Rb8+ Kg7 30. Ra8 $11) 28. Rxf6 Re7 $11) 26. Qxh4 {played after some thought. This is a bit trappy.} Bxh4 27. Bd4+ Kh6 {only move, everything else loses.} (27... Kf8 $4 28. Bc5 $18) 28. Be3+ Kg7 {also an only move} 29. Bd4+ {and the engine agrees repeating moves is best for both sides.} Kh6 30. Be3+ Kg7 1/2-1/2

Lessons completed: Every Pawn Structure Explained by GM Johan Hellsten

I recently completed the lessons series "Every Pawn Structure Explained" by GM Johan Hellsten at Chess.com, motivated by the "Back to Basics" approach. The format consisted of 30 pawn structures explained with video lectures (816 minutes total), along with 5 "challenges" for each, in which you choose a prompted best move in the position presented. This is truly an excellent resource for learning different structural fundamentals important to all game phases (opening, middlegame, endgame) and becoming exposed to typical plans for each side. All of the content was useful for building fundamental chess understanding, and I intend to periodically revisit the key ones most relevant to my games. For a full content list, see the top link above. 

Overall comments on the lessons:

• The initial video presentation of the pawn structures and key individual piece placement - without the full set of pieces on the board - was an effective method for introducing the core structural characteristics for both sides.
• Similarly, the highlighting by GM Hellsten of "dream positions" for both sides, including typical pawn/piece formations and breaks, as well as guidelines for piece maneuvers and exchanges, was very helpful for understanding middlegame planning and strategy.
• It might have been a bit more thematic to group together all the similar opening structures in the default order of the lessons' presentation, for example to have the Sicilian-related ones be sequential. However, one can do that manually by selecting "a la carte" from the full lessons list, as they don't have to be completed in the designated order.
• I found the "challenges" - basically "find the best move" quizzes typical - to have varying utility and comprehensibility. The initial prompts for the type of move to find in the position were sometimes a bit obtuse or misleading for me. For example "How do you win material?" was sometimes problematic, especially when the answer turned out to be an obvious capture with no additional material beyond that actually gained. The selection of GM-level games also meant that some of the tactical ideas were rather complex to visualize and discover - otherwise, of course, the losing GM opponent would have been able to see and avoid them in the first place.

Comments on the most personally relevant topics:

• The Isolated Queen Pawn (IQP) presentation kicks off the series, with a very lucid and thorough explanation of general principles, plans involving specific squares and pieces, and thematic tactical tricks involving the IQP. The explanation and illustrations of this common and imbalanced structure were the best that I have seen. In my games, I can reach it via either White or Black based on my openings, so it was also very relevant.
• The second video on hanging pawns was similarly enlightening for both using and combating them, again very relevant for the positions I can reach in the middlegame.
• Next came the Carlsbad structure, which despite playing multiple openings where it can result (as both White and Black), I had never really studied it in-depth before. Explanations of the typical plans are clear, although I'd have liked to have seen the typical queenside minority attack better illustrated with examples. As compensation, there is a brilliant illustrative sacrificial attacking game for White in the kingside attack scenario.
• Later on, the Hedgehog - which seems to be less popular nowadays - received an interesting treatment for both sides, although the typical White side setup normally reached via the English Opening with a fianchettoed light-square bishop was not presented.
• The Advanced French and Scandinavian structures were also very useful to see, since I will often get them via the Caro-Kann.
• GM Hellsten did a particularly good job of clearly explaining the central features of the Stonewall structure, probably the one I have the most practical and theoretical familiarity with. It was helpful to reinforce my understanding of those, plus draw attention to some attacking ideas like the f-pawn push.

Training quote of the day #55: Charlie Munger

 “It’s remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.” -- Charlie Munger

(Highlighted in the Medium article "Avoiding Stupidity: The Less Obvious Route to Success")