Annotated Game #109: How to play against your own opening?

It's always difficult to play against your own opening, psychologically speaking.  You normally will have faith in its superiority (or at least its preferability), the flip side of which is that you naturally will tend to dislike the other side's position type.  Of course strong players can often play both sides of an opening equally well, but that is one of the reasons why they are exceptional.  Overcoming a psychological bias and deeply understanding an opening's characteristics from both sides' perspectives, including the middlegame and endgame play that results, is I think a characteristic of mastery.

In the following game, played in the opening round of a tournament in the Slow Chess league, I face an early opening choice as White when my opponent replies with 1...c6.  Rather than transpose into more standard lines against my own defenses, I stick to an independent English Opening continuation that involves gambiting a pawn.  This is the first game that I have played with this line, so I'm pleased with it for training purposes, as well as content with the result.

One of my long-term flaws as a player has been being too materialistic, so learning to play more dynamically and with "compensation" is good for my chess.  In this game, the compensation for White is positional rather than in the form of a direct attack, although I was able to obtain some tactical play once Black castled queenside.  Houdini's assessment throughout was that White had full compensation for the pawn, which is useful validation of the line and my handling of it in this debut game.

[Event "DHLC Slow 1-2 Pairing #4"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2013.12.07"] [Round "1"] [White "ChessAdmin_01"] [Black "keshavprasad"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A11"] [WhiteElo "1443"] [BlackElo "1442"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Houdini"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [TimeControl "45"] {A11: English Opening: 1...c6} 1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 {an independent opening choice.} (2. e4 {directly transposes to a Caro-Kann.}) (2. d4 {gives Black a few more options, but the logical follow-up is to play ...d5 and enter a Slav.}) 2... d5 3. g3 dxc4 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. O-O Bf5 {although this is the 3rd most popular choice in the database, it doesn't seem to be the best placement for the bishop. White scores over 62 percent in this line.} (5... Nbd7 {is the most popular choice and has balanced results.}) (5... b5 {is perhaps the most obvious way to try to hold onto the pawn.}) 6. b3 (6. Na3 {is Houdini's recommendation and scores over 60 percent in the database. The idea is to provoke ...b5 first, which will leave a backward c-pawn for Black after the exchange and not allow him to oppose queens on b6.} b5 7. b3 cxb3 8. Qxb3 Be4 9. d3 Bxf3 10. Bxf3 a6 11. Nc2 e6 12. a4 Ra7 13. axb5 cxb5 14. Nb4 Bxb4 15. Qxb4 Qe7 16. Qb3 Qd7 17. Ba3 Nd5 18. Bxd5 Qxd5 19. Qc3 Rg8 20. Qc8+ Qd8 {Romanishin,O (2560)-Sveshnikov, E (2545) Minsk 1979 1/2-1/2 (36)}) 6... cxb3 7. Qxb3 Qb6 $146 {a logical way to protect b7, also looking to trade off queens. If White moves his queen away, it would simply be a loss of time.} 8. Ba3 {the idea is to make it awkward for Black to develop his dark-square bishop.} (8. Na3 $5 {heading for c4} Qxb3 9. axb3 e6 10. Nc4 Nbd7 11. Na5 $11) 8... Nbd7 (8... Qxb3 9. axb3 a6 10. Nc3 $11) 9. d3 {taking control of e4 and clearing the d2 square for the knight. However, White's compensation for the pawn declines after Black exchanges queens.} (9. Qc3 $5 $11 {now that the bishop is in place on a3, moving the queen away would not lose a crucial tempo.}) 9... Qxb3 10. axb3 e5 {this seems a little loose on Black's part, as the e-pawn will be rather weak here and White can prevent its further advance.} (10... e6 11. Bxf8 Rxf8) 11. Nbd2 {I thought for a while here and decided that it was better to continue developing rather than go for the exchange.} (11. Bxf8 Rxf8 (11... Nxf8 $143 12. Nxe5 Ke7 13. Nd2 $14) (11... Kxf8 $143 12. Nbd2 $11) 12. Nbd2 Be6 $11) 11... Bg6 {I was surprised at this move choice, since it didn't seem to gain Black much of anything and brings the bishop to a worse square.} (11... Bxa3 12. Rxa3 Be6 13. Rfa1 a6 14. Ra5 Nd5 15. Nc4 $11) 12. Bxf8 {the Ba3 did not seem to have any better options, so I take the chance to exchange and prevent Black from castling on the kingside.} Rxf8 13. Nh4 {I again thought for a while here. Nc4 is an obvious follow-up, but I wanted to open up the Bg2, control e4 and go ahead and eliminate Black's light-square bishop so it could not oppose my own.} (13. Nc4 {immediately is preferred by Houdini.} e4 14. Nh4 exd3 15. Nxg6 fxg6 16. Nd6+ Kd8 17. Nxb7+ Kc7 18. Na5 dxe2 19. Rfe1 $11) 13... a6 14. Nc4 O-O-O {I thought this allowed White to keep the initiative, as Black's king position is more exposed and White can make some tactical threats as a result. Objectively, however, it is fine.} 15. Rfc1 Nd5 (15... Kc7 16. b4 $11) 16. Nxg6 {deciding to proceed first with the plan of eliminating the light-squared bishop, which does not affect the tactical situation on the queenside.} hxg6 17. Bxd5 {I considered various tries like Na5, but White has no real threats against the Black king, so I decided to recoup the pawn.} cxd5 18. Nxe5+ Kb8 19. Nxd7+ {I evaluated the position as even with no real winning chances for White, so decided to simplify.} Rxd7 {A double rook endgame, which I soon turn into a single rook endgame.} 20. Ra2 Rc8 21. Rac2 Rxc2 22. Rxc2 Rc7 23. Rb2 {an important decision that holds equality. Simplifying down further into a K+P endgame would give Black any winning chances, with his 2-1 queenside majority and more active king, although it would still probably be a draw.} b5 24. Kg2 {White must get his king into the game and centralize it.} Rc3 {I didn't understand the purpose of this, it would seem Black should instead improve his king (... Ka7). However, the game is even and unless one side blunders, a draw should be the outcome.} 25. Kf3 Kc7 26. Ke3 Kd6 (26... b4 27. Kd4 $11) 27. Kd4 Rc6 (27... b4 {is what I was expecting.}) 28. e4 (28. Ra2 $5 $14 {I considered this idea for the rook placement, but focused instead on creating the central passed pawn.}) 28... dxe4 $11 29. Kxe4 Kc7 (29... a5 30. f4 $11) 30. b4 {Black has a new backward pawn: a6, notes Houdini via the Fritz interface.} Re6+ {this indicated to me that my opponent was going to head for a draw by repetition.} 31. Kd4 Rd6+ 32. Ke4 Re6+ (32... f5+ {does not do anything for Black.} 33. Ke3 g5 34. f3 Re6+ 35. Kd4 $11) 33. Kd4 Rd6+ 34. Ke4 Re6+ 35. Kd4 1/2-1/2

Training quote of the day #7: Barney Stinson

(Something to consider for your mental pre-game preparation, perhaps)

The Awesomeness Poster

FT: Young Norwegian takes world chess title

Magnus Carlsen's victory in the 2013 World Championship has deservedly received a great deal of press attention, including a front-page article in the Financial Times (FT).  The world's most influential grandmaster had this to say:

Kenneth Rogoff, a professor at Harvard, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund and a chess grandmaster in his own right, told the FT: “Magnus was magnificent, showing enormous talent and a will to win, the likes of which can compare with the greatest in any sport.”

He added: “Carlsen has emerged as the most important public personality the chess world has known since the great American champion Bobby Fischer, he will draw many new devotees to the game.”

The "Lunch with the FT" article featuring Carlsen was also well worth the read, for those who have not seen it.

Training quote of the day #6: Yang Jwing-Ming

...Two monks were walking side by side down a muddy road when they came upon a large puddle which completely blocked the road.  A very beautiful lady in a lovely gown stood at the edge of the puddle, unable to go further without spoiling her clothes.

Without hesitation, one of the monks picked her up and carried her across the puddle, set her down on the other side, and continued on his way.  Many hours later when the two monks were preparing to camp for the night, the second monk turned to the first and said, "I can no longer hold this back, I'm quite angry at you! We are not supposed to look at women, particularly pretty ones, never mind touch them.  Why did you do that?"  The first monk replied, "Brother, I left the woman at the mud puddle; why are you still carrying her?"

From Taijiquan: Classical Yang Style by Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming

Commentary - 2013 Russian Championship (Women's Final Round)

The final round of the 2013 Russian championship featured another Caro-Kann Advance similar to the round 4 game between Kosintseva and Kosteniuk previously analyzed.  White (Alina Kashlinskaya) plays a less challenging variation and Black (Daria Charochkina) eventually decides to liven up the game by creating a pawn structure imbalance on move 20, which features a passed c-pawn.  Black's 22nd move allows White to grab the initiative and make threats on the kingside, which eventually nets White a pawn.  Black from that point defends well, however, and shows how to use an active rook in the endgame, enabling her to hold the draw.

[Event "63rd ch-RUS w 2013"] [Site "Nizhny Novgorod RUS"] [Date "2013.10.14"] [Round "9"] [White "Kashlinskaya, A."] [Black "Charochkina, D."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2435"] [BlackElo "2343"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Houdini"] [PlyCount "121"] [EventDate "2013.10.05"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 {taking the pawn is the most challenging line, although if White is unfamiliar with the opening, the text move may be safer.} Nc6 5. Be2 cxd4 {Black eliminates the possibility of a delayed capture on c5.} 6. cxd4 Qb6 (6... Bf5 {is the other alternative, where Black chooses to delay developing the queen. For example} 7. Nf3 e6 8. O-O Nge7 9. Qa4 Qd7 10. Nc3 Bg4 11. Be3 Nf5 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 Ncxd4 14. Bd1 Nc6 15. Bf4 Bc5 16. Rc1 Bb6 17. Qa3 Nfe7 18. Ba4 O-O 19. Rfd1 Ng6 20. Bh2 Qd8 21. Bxc6 bxc6 22. Ne4 Qh4 23. Nc5 {0-1 (23) Walter Travella,G (2055)-Illescas Cordoba,M (2640) Barcelona 1996}) 7. Nf3 (7. Nc3 {is normally played here, the idea being to force Black to close the diagonal for the light-square bishop.} e6 (7... Qxd4 8. Nxd5 Qxd1+ 9. Bxd1 Rb8 10. Nf3 $14) 8. Nf3 Nge7 {and this now looks like a standard French defense, with a positional plus for White.}) 7... Bg4 {Black does not waste the opportunity to get the bishop out.} 8. O-O e6 9. Nbd2 Nh6 {the knight is going to f5, so this is a typical idea in this type of position.} 10. h3 Bxf3 { normally Black exchanges off the bishop in this situation. Time would be lost with a bishop retreat and it is "bad" in any case because of the pawn structure.} 11. Nxf3 Nf5 12. Be3 Nxe3 13. fxe3 {this is not in fact a bad structure for White, who now has a half-open f-file and full protection for the d4 pawn.} Be7 14. Rb1 {White signals a plan involving queenside pawn expansion.} (14. Qd2 {seems more flexible.}) 14... O-O 15. b4 f6 {another thematic move for Black, attacking the head of the White pawn chain.} (15... Nxb4 $2 16. a3) 16. b5 Na5 (16... Nxe5 {is an interesting tactical alternative. } 17. dxe5 Qxe3+ 18. Kh1 fxe5 {and Houdini evalutes the position as equal, although obviously a lot of play can be had with the piece versus 3 pawns situation.}) 17. Qd2 Rfc8 18. exf6 {White chooses to conduct the exchange of the e-pawn on her terms. Otherwise, the Nf3 is essentially bound to protect e5, since a pawn exchange initiated by Black would then create two weak e-pawns.} Bxf6 19. Nh2 Nc4 20. Bxc4 dxc4 {the riskier choice, although Houdini evaluates it the same as ...Rxc4. With the new pawn imbalance, Black hopes to use the passed c-pawn to her advantage while containing White's central pawns.} 21. Ng4 Bg5 22. Qc3 {although the queen is not normally an ideal blockading piece, here it remains well-placed, protecting e3 and occupying the long diagonal, which potentially could be useful after a d5 push.} a6 {this seems unnecessary at this point, as White was not going to make any more progress with the b-pawn.} (22... Qd6 23. Ne5 Rc7 24. a4 Qd5 {is one possible alternative approach that does not allow White nearly as much latitude as in the game.}) 23. d5 h5 {entering a long tactical sequence.} 24. bxa6 Qxa6 25. Qe5 hxg4 26. Qxg5 c3 27. Qe7 c2 28. Rbc1 exd5 (28... Qb6 $5 {and if} 29. Qxe6+ {then} Qxe6 30. dxe6 Rxa2 31. e7 Re8 {is fine for Black.}) 29. Qf7+ Kh7 (29... Kh8 { gives Black an extra defensive resource in the form of the g-pawn.} 30. Rf5 g6) 30. Rf5 {the threat is mate on h5.} Rc6 31. Rxc2 $14 Rh6 32. Rg5 Qf6 33. Qxf6 Rxf6 34. Rxg4 {the dust has settled and Black is disadvantaged in the rook endgame, but not fatally so.} Ra3 35. Rg3 Rc6 36. Rb2 Rg6 37. Rxg6 Kxg6 38. Kf2 Kf5 39. Rxb7 Rxa2+ 40. Kf3 Kf6 41. Rd7 Rd2 42. h4 Rd1 43. g4 Rf1+ 44. Ke2 Rh1 45. h5 Rh2+ 46. Kf3 Rd2 47. Rd6+ Kf7 48. Kf4 Rf2+ 49. Kg5 Rf3 50. Rd7+ Kf8 51. h6 gxh6+ 52. Kxh6 Rh3+ 53. Kg6 Rxe3 54. g5 {now the draw seems assured.} Rd3 55. Rf7+ Kg8 56. Ra7 Kf8 57. Ra8+ Ke7 58. Kg7 Rg3 59. g6 d4 60. Ra1 d3 61. Re1+ 1/2-1/2