Annotated Game #205: A strategic turning point that is tactical

This next tournament game features an interesting struggle in the English, versus a King's Indian Defense (KID) structure.  As often happens, White tries to press on the queenside while Black focuses on the kingside.  Here, I think both sides neglected the center too much and missed better opportunities, so that is a useful general lesson to take away.

The key strategic turning point occurred around moves 19-21, where Black makes his initial kingside push.  I only considered the idea of pushing g4 too late, when it was forced, and did not consider the full ramifications of Black's strong Nf5.  For me, it is a good example of how tactical threats and strategic considerations can intersect and determine the course of a game.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "Class A"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A26"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Komodo 11.2"] [PlyCount "100"] {[%mdl 8256][%evp 0,100,16,-12,-9,-28,36,28,19,19,11,-1,31,7,50,-10,-2,-17,-4, -20,-14,-11,-11,-9,44,9,10,1,16,21,20,8,8,-4,-9,-18,-7,-7,2,-13,20,7,43,-68, -74,-138,-149,-136,-96,-100,-103,-89,-92,-73,-67,-217,-203,-209,-187,-187,-144, -162,-163,-168,-147,-174,-178,-191,-218,-226,-238,-229,-253,-253,-223,-220, -230,-244,-111,-273,-274,-274,-274,-300,-338,-289,-229,-235,-242,-242,-241, -237,-236,-466,-295,-286,-378,-767,-848,-29997,-29998,-29999,-30000] A26: English Opening vs King's Indian with ...Nc6 and d3} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nf3 d6 6. O-O e5 7. d3 {the standard setup for White in the English, facing the KID structure.} Nc6 8. Rb1 Re8 9. Bg5 {a key idea in this variation for White. As soon as the Black rook gets off the f-file, the bishop comes out and can be exchanged for the Nf6. This gets rid of a strong Black attacking piece on the kingside, while not giving Black as much potential momentum on the f-file. Naturally it's not the only way to play, but I find the idea simple to execute.} h6 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. b4 Bg4 12. h3 {the first real decision point for White. This move is not the most incisive, as it's not clear that the bishop is particularly well placed on g4. The h3 pawn can also become a target.} (12. b5 $5 {is more straightforward.} Ne7 13. Nd2 $14) 12... Be6 13. Nd2 (13. b5 Ne7 14. Nd2 Qc8 15. Kh2 Bg7 16. Qb3 f5 17. Nd5 c6 18. bxc6 bxc6 19. Nxe7+ Rxe7 20. Qa3 Qd7 21. Qa4 d5 22. Nb3 Bf7 23. Na5 Rc8 24. Rb7 Qxb7 25. Nxb7 Rxb7 26. Rc1 dxc4 27. Bxc6 Rbc7 {Medjkouh,S (2080)-Chumfwa,K (2180) Maputo 2011 1-0 (55)}) 13... Rb8 14. b5 Ne7 15. Qc2 {not necessarily a bad move, but perhaps a little timid. The queen has little prospect on the b1-h diagonal, nor does it do much to support anything else. On the positive side, the rooks are connected.} (15. Nd5 $5 {this is a common theme in the English, the knight leaping into d5 only to be exchanged off with doubled d-pawns. However, the resulting advanced d5 pawn and dynamic features of White's position typically compensate for it.} Nxd5 16. cxd5 Bd7 17. Qc2 {and now the queen has more to do on the half-open c-file.}) 15... Bg7 16. a4 {it would have been better to immediately play Kh2 here, anticipating Black's next.} Qd7 17. Kh2 f5 18. a5 {we now have a classic queenside vs. kingside expansion "race" on.} f4 {this is one of those moves that looks aggressive but in reality is premature. White has several good responses.} (18... c6 19. Rfc1 $11 ) 19. Nd5 {an example of a good idea played at a less-optimal time.} (19. g4 $5 {looks a bit loose, but White is set up well enough on the kingside and in the center to keep Black from breaking through.} Rf8 (19... h5 $2 20. gxh5 gxh5 21. Rg1 $16 {and it's White who is better positioned for action. For example} Kh8 22. Nde4 Nf5 23. Qa4 Nd4 24. Bf3) 20. a6 $14) (19. Qa4 {is another idea, lining up on the a4-e8 diagonal.} fxg3+ 20. fxg3 $14) 19... fxg3+ {this reduces the tension and is a typical Class player inaccuracy.} (19... Nf5 $5) 20. fxg3 $14 Nf5 {we now reach a key strategic decision point, where it is revealed that I don't know what I'm doing in the position. The overlooked tactical threat is the knight fork on the e3 square, which is only temporarily covered by my Nd5. The e2 pawn is also currently undefended.} 21. b6 $6 (21. g4 $5 {kicking the knight is the best solution.} Nd4 22. Qd1 e4 23. e3 $14) 21... axb6 $15 22. axb6 $6 (22. g4 $5 {is now required, but at a disadvantage to the previous variation.}) 22... c6 $17 {kicking the Nd5 and gaining the advantage, although it still wasn't too late to play the g4 idea, which I only find after it's forced.} 23. g4 Nd4 24. Qd1 cxd5 25. cxd5 Bxg4 $1 {a winning, if tricky, sacrificial idea.} 26. hxg4 Qxg4 $6 {this could allow White to escape, but I don't find the correct continuation.} (26... e4 {is the winning continuation, but it requires a further sacrifice.} 27. e3 exd3 28. exd4 Re2 {the key idea, as now Black's queen can penetrate to maximum effect.} 29. Rf4 Qe7 30. Kh3 Qg5 31. Bf3 Qxf4 32. Bxe2 dxe2 33. Qxe2 Qxd4 $19) 27. e4 $2 {this optically looks like a good defensive move, but the d5 pawn is not under threat and the pawn does much less on e4 than on e3.} (27. e3 {threatens the Nd4 and Black therefore does not have enough time to generate winning threats.} Qh4+ 28. Bh3 $11) 27... Ne2 $19 (27... Qh4+ {is even more effective.} 28. Bh3 Rf8 29. Nf3 Nxf3+ 30. Rxf3 {and now Black can choose how he wants to win, with White's pieces overburdened and a hole on the 2nd rank. For example} Rf4 31. Rxf4 exf4 32. Qg4 Qxg4 33. Bxg4 h5 $19) 28. Rf3 Nf4 29. Rg3 Qxd1 {my opponent chooses to head for an endgame with an advantage.} 30. Rxd1 Ra8 31. Nc4 Bf8 32. Bf3 $6 ( 32. Rd2 {defending the 2nd rank is better.}) 32... Ra2+ 33. Rd2 {now things fall apart quickly.} (33. Kh1 Rea8 $19) 33... Rea8 (33... Rxd2+ 34. Nxd2 Ra8 35. Nc4 $19) 34. Kh1 (34. Rxa2 Rxa2+ 35. Kh1 h5 36. Bxh5 Nxh5 37. Rxg6+ Kh7 $19 ) 34... Rxd2 35. Nxd2 h5 {Black's connected passed pawns ensure victory.} 36. Rg1 Ra6 37. Nc4 Kf7 38. Rf1 Be7 (38... Ke7 39. Kg1 $19) 39. Rd1 $2 (39. Bd1 $5 {taking advantage of the pin on the Nf4.}) 39... g5 40. Rf1 g4 41. Bd1 Kg6 { by this point the outcome is inevitable, but I stubbornly play on.} 42. d4 { the only chance for any counterplay, even if it is a false hope.} Kf6 (42... g3 {passed pawns must be pushed!} 43. Rf3 g2+ 44. Kh2 $19) 43. dxe5+ dxe5 44. d6 Bd8 45. d7 {it's great to see my pawn one square away from queening, but unfortunately there's no way of removing the Bd8 that is blocking it.} g3 46. Bf3 (46. Rg1 h4 47. Bb3 $19) 46... h4 47. Ne3 (47. Rd1 {a fruitless try to alter the course of the game} Ra4 48. Ne3 Ra3 49. Ng4+ Ke6 $19) 47... Kg5 48. Nc4 Ra2 {the engine now shows a mate in 10, but I accelerate the process.} 49. Nxe5 (49. Rd1 {does not improve anything} Rh2+ 50. Kg1 Rf2 51. Rd2 Rxf3 52. Rc2 h3 53. Rd2 g2 54. Rd1 Ne2+ 55. Kh2 Rf1 56. Rxf1 gxf1=Q 57. Ne3 Qf2+ 58. Kxh3 Ng1#) 49... Rh2+ 50. Kg1 Nh3# {an aesthetic end, at least.} 0-1

Training quote of the day #17: Will Durant

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
— Will Durant (not Aristotle)

Annotated Game #204: Not all equivalent decisions are equal

The next round of the tournament started out very similarly to the previous one (Annotated Game #203), with even the same ECO opening code (B13), even though the continuation was somewhat different.  In this game, my opponent seemed to rush to exchange off his bishops for knights on both the queenside and kingside, which I felt was a long-term positional advantage for me.  Unlike my previous opponent, however, this time around my opponent had significantly less prudence and went for 13. g4? which had an immediate tactical refutation.

One of the themes I noted during analysis was the repeated need to decide between reasonable-looking moves that had different trade-offs in terms of their strategic impact.  As Black, moves 14 and 19 are examples of this, where I deliberately went for a safe continuation in the first instance, and faced the common "which rook to move?" problem in the latter case.  White's decision to make the second bishop for knight exchange on move 11 was more problematic positionally.  Other key decisions for him occurred on move 14 and move 20.  It's interesting to see how decisions that may seem largely equivalent - for example, recovering a pawn one way rather than another - are not really equal, once other factors are taken into consideration.

I give credit to my opponent for playing pretty accurately after suffering the tactical blow on move 13, so it was not a question of him simply collapsing afterwards.  In the end, I believe he missed a key defensive move due to an instinctual desire to avoid a queen exchange, after which I penetrated his king position and won soon afterwards.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Class D"] [Black "ChessAdmin"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B13"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Komodo 11.2"] [PlyCount "64"] {[%mdl 8256] B13: Caro-Kann: Exchange Variation and Panov-Botvinnik Attack} 1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 {we're already out of book here, but this is not necessarily a bad treatment for White, who can either transpose or take the game in an independent direction.} d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bb5 a6 { there's no reason not to do this, as I prefer the results of an exchange on c6 for Black. White alternatively will just lose time with the bishop retreating it along the a6-f1 diagonal, or get it largely buried on b3.} 7. Bxc6+ bxc6 8. h3 {White is in a preventative mode, preventing ...Bg4.} (8. O-O Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. Re1 e6 11. Qd3 Bg6 12. Qd1 c5 13. Bg5 Be7 14. dxc5 O-O 15. b4 Qc7 16. a3 Rfd8 17. Ne2 Ne4 18. Bxe7 Qxe7 19. Nf4 Bf5 20. Ne5 Qg5 21. Qf3 Rac8 22. a4 f6 { Perez Pardo,J (2320)-Torres,P Las Palmas 1991 0-1 (36)}) 8... Bf5 {an easy decision, as there's no other good square for the bishop, and it should not be locked in by a premature ...e6.} 9. O-O e6 10. Bg5 h6 {after this move we now replicate what happened on the queenside with the bishop for knight exchange. However, this was not forced and Black now gets the advantage of the two bishops.} (10... Bd6 $5 {first would take away f4 as a retreat square for the Bg5 and nicely place Black's bishop.}) 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 {a rather rare square for the queen in the Caro-Kann, where it can exert signifcant pressure down the f-file and the long diagonal. The g6 square is also now available to it.} 12. Re1 Bd6 13. g4 $2 {on general principles this would be an unjustified weakening of the kingside, but there is also an immediate tactical refutation. The text move fatally undermines f3.} (13. Na4 $5 $15 {although White doesn't have a particularly good plan here, at least improving his worst piece (the default strategy when no other progress seems possible) would be useful. On a4, the knight usefully overlooks b6 and c5, with the latter a possible outpost. On c3, it wasn't usefully influencing any squares.}) 13... Bxc2 $1 $17 { this deflection tactic appears, as now the Nf3 is only defended by the queen, which is overburdened by having to protect the c2 pawn at the same time.} 14. Qe2 $6 {although White is doomed to lose a pawn regardless, this was the wrong choice of how to do it. Now I keep the advantage of the two bishops and the light-squared bishop is particularly useful, given the light-square weaknesses in White's camp.} O-O {here I went with a 'safety first' approach by getting my king castled, although it wasn't objectively necessary. It's still good enough for a significant advantage.} (14... h5 $5 {is Komodo's choice, as a way to immediately press the advantage on the kingside.} 15. Ne5 Bh7 16. f3 Qh4 $19) (14... Bh7 {is a more positional continuation that is higher on the prudence scale than advancing the h-pawn.}) 15. Rac1 $17 Bh7 16. Na4 Be4 { now the problem with White's knight move is that it gives up the central square to the bishop.} 17. Ne5 {the best try for White, although the best response is also obvious.} Bxe5 18. dxe5 Qxe5 {I am now two pawns up but only temporarily. However, White has to spend time regaining the material now.} 19. Nc5 (19. f3 $2 Qd4+ {forking the Na4.}) 19... Rad8 {I thought for a while here about how to activate my rooks, which is what I now have the time to do. The text move has the advantage of placing the rook behind the central passed d-pawn, making it a stronger threat. I wanted to leave the other rook to stay on the f-file or move to the e-file as needed.} (19... Rfc8 {is also a legitimate option. For example} 20. Nxe4 dxe4 21. Qxe4 Qxb2 22. Rc2 Qa3 $17) 20. Nxa6 $6 {regaining material but leaving my central pawns intact and strong. } (20. Nxe4 dxe4 21. Rxc6 f5 22. Rxa6 fxg4 23. Qxg4 Qxb2 24. Qxe6+ Kh8 25. Qb6 Qe5 $17) 20... Qf6 {removing the queen from the pin and allowing the bishop to come alive again.} 21. Rxc6 Bf3 $6 {this is one of those moves that looks dangerous for the opponent, but really doesn't threaten anything beyond the one-tempo attack on the queen, which is easily avoided. After that, it's unclear what the bishop is doing on f3. However, it does require White to find the one correct response, as other queen moves lose.} (21... h5 $142 22. Rc3 hxg4 23. Qxg4 d4 $17) 22. Qd2 $2 {my opponent evidently did not see the threat posed by the black queen on the kingside. It's likely that he was thinking primarily about avoiding a queen trade.} (22. Qe5 Qxe5 23. Rxe5 d4 24. Rc2 $15 {and White has some problems, but should be able to blockade the d-pawn.}) 22... Qh4 $19 23. Kh2 {this covers the h-pawn, but now the g-pawn is hanging due to the pin on the h-file. Black also has other threats available...} d4 { a free advance of the passed pawn, as the Rc6 is now exposed.} 24. Rc4 Bxg4 { White is now effectively lost. One of the other points of the d4 advance was to take away the e3 square from the Re1, so that further material loss and exposure of White's king is inevitable.} 25. Qf4 Qxh3+ 26. Kg1 Bf3 27. Qh2 Qxh2+ {this wins just as surely as other continuations, although the engine prefers to be fancier about it.} (27... Qg4+ 28. Qg3 Qh5 29. Qh2 Rd5 $19) 28. Kxh2 d3 29. Kg3 Be2 {I thought for a while here and played what I felt was a safe winning continuation.} (29... d2 {makes it even easier for Black, according to the engine.} 30. Rb1 Be2 $19) 30. f3 (30. Re4 Bh5 31. f3 $19) 30... d2 31. Kf2 dxe1=Q+ 32. Kxe1 Bxc4 0-1

When plateauing is not a bad thing

After "The Phenomenon of Plateauing" appeared, over the past year I've reached and successfully maintained a new plateau in the low Class A range, around 100 Elo more than my previous decades-long plateau (see "The Long Journey to Class A").  It's true that maintaining a certain level of performance rather than progressing can be frustrating in the long term.  However, in the short term - in this case, a year - for me it's served as a validation of having consolidated the (modest) breakthrough in improvement since starting this blog.

Plateauing as a phenomenon should not be confused with lack of effort.  It's been a hard-fought year, with a number of examples of me gutting out draws after being objectively lost, or grinding away a win after achieving a small but significant advantage.  It's also featured some disappointing losses against both higher-rated and lower-rated opposition after I had major advantages but failed to convert them.

One of the things that keeps me positive about a future upward improvement trajectory, rather than believing I've reached my playing strength cap, is that I can readily see specific lessons to carry forward from each game, either at the time or after analysis.  Another positive sign is the ability to gain advantages against significantly higher-rated opponents at the Expert and Master level, rather than playing indifferently or simply imploding due to rating shock.

There remains a lot of work to be done - see "Training quote of the day #9" - but it's mostly pleasurable and I look forward to strategizing about the next year's worth of chess study.

Play the Leningrad Dutch like a 3000+ engine

One of my longer-term goals is to learn the Leningrad Dutch, since I think it's a fascinating, demanding and aesthetic opening that will also push my chess boundaries.  Some players put down the Dutch in general - I guess they don't like moving their f-pawns early in the game - but it's instructive to see how the new silicon beast AlphaZero handles it as Black, as shown in this Chess.com article:

https://www.chess.com/news/view/updated-alphazero-crushes-stockfish-in-new-1-000-game-match

[Event "Computer Match"]
[Site "London, UK"]
[Date "2018.01.18"]
[Round "255"]
[White "Stockfish 8"]
[Black "AlphaZero"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A88"]
[PlyCount "130"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 d6 7. Nc3 c6 8. Rb1 a5
9. Qb3 Na6 10. Rd1 h6 11. Be3 Rb8 12. Rbc1 Bd7 13. c5+ Kh7 14. Na4 Nc7 15. Bd2
Be6 16. Qc2 Ncd5 17. b3 Ra8 18. Be1 Qe8 19. e3 g5 20. Nd2 Qh5 21. Bf3 g4 22.
Be2 Kh8 23. Nc4 Ne4 24. h4 Ng5 25. hxg5 hxg5 26. f3 gxf3 27. Bf1 f4 28. Rd2
fxe3 29. Nxe3 Nxe3 30. Rh2 Bh3 31. Rxh3 Qxh3 32. Bxh3 Nxc2 33. Rxc2 Bxd4+ 34.
Bf2 Bxf2+ 35. Kxf2 Kg7 36. Nb6 Rad8 37. Rc3 Rh8 38. Be6 Rh6 39. Re3 Rf8 40. Nd7
Rh2+ 41. Kf1 Re2 42. Rxe2 fxe2+ 43. Kxe2 Rh8 44. Kd3 Rh6 45. Bg4 d5 46. Ne5 e6
47. Nd7 Kf7 48. Ke3 Rh1 49. Bf3 Re1+ 50. Kd2 Ra1 51. Bd1 Ke7 52. Ne5 Kf6 53.
Ng4+ Kf5 54. Nh6+ Ke4 55. Nf7 g4 56. Nd6+ Kd4 57. a4 Ra2+ 58. Ke1 Kxc5 59.
Nxb7+ Kb6 60. Nd8 Rg2 61. Nxe6 Rxg3 62. Kf2 Rc3 63. Bxg4 Rxb3 64. Bd1 Rb4 65.
Kf3 Re4 0-1