Today’s game is from the Schenectady Chess Club’s Preliminaries, the B section. It features the Colle System, an opening I have been working on with Charles Eson.
Connors, David - Chu, Richard [D04]
SCC Prelim B Schenectady, NY, 17.11.2011
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 d5 3.e3 g6 4.Nbd2 Bg7 5.Bd3 0–0 6.0–0 Nc6
Both sides have been “waiting to break”, that is assembling their forces to push forward a central pawn to open lines. The last move for Black prepares .., e7-e5; and the White pieces are poised for e3-e4. Neither side pulls the trigger. Why? Were the extra moves made by each side useful or not?
7.c3,..
One of the dynamic aspects of the Colle is White has several choices here including 7 c4. That move tries to shift the game towards a kind of Tchigorin Defense where Black does not advance of his c-pawn early. White probably did not care for 7 c4 Nb4 8 Bb1 dxc4 9 a3 Nd3 10 Nxc4 Nxc1 11 Qxc1, which Rybka calls equal but Black has the Bishop pair, a potential long term advantage. An alternative way to play the position is; 7 c4 Nb4 8 Bb1 dxc4 9 Nxc4 Be6 10 Ncd2 c5; and the position favors Black slightly
7..., Bd7!?
This does not advance the Black cause. It is by no means clear that this is a good post for this Bishop. Making a break first lets the breaking side call the tune for awhile. Black was ready on the move to play 7..., e5; then 8 dxe5 Ng4 9 e4 Ncxe5 10 Be2 Re8 11 h3 dxe4 12 Nxe4 Nxf3+ 13 Bxf3 Ne5 14 Be2 Bf5; and Black is slightly better.
8.Re1?!,..
This is an over refinement. 8 e4, immediately secures some advantage in the center for White.
8..., Re8 9.Ne5 Nxe5
White has played to forestall the Black break ..,e7-e5; but at a cost. He could have executed his own planned break with 9 e4.
10.dxe5 Ng4 11.f4 f6
Here it is somewhat more sensible to stabilize the center and apply some pressure to the White position with 11..., c6 and 12..., Qb6; before beginning to attack the head of the White pawn chain.
12.exf6?!,..
This trade is doubtful. It readily opens the e-file permitting pressure on e3 and e4. More reasonable is 12 h3 Nh6 13 Nf3, with e3-e4 coming soon. After the text Black has completely equalized and is slightly ahead in development. He still has to figure out what to eventually do with the Bd7 and that makes his development lead more optical than real.
12..., exf6 13.Nf3 c6 14.h3 Nh6 15.g4?,..
White was at a crossroads here. The text is misplaced aggression. Black supported his center with .., c7-c6. White would be well advised to do something to shake this strong central point. The natural c3-c4 suggests itself. After the text, Black has good chances to make the airy home of the white King very drafty indeed.
15..., Qb6
Diagonally pinning the e-pawn and touching b2, the Black Queen is nicely active from b6. The natural follow-on is .., f6-f5; taking control of e4 more or less permanently and leaving e3 as a long term problem for White.
16.Kg2 Nf7 17.Qc2 Nd6 18.b3 Re7?
Black had repeated opportunities to play .., f6-f5; and did not do so. He has part of the right idea; pressure on e3, but White also has a good idea; make tactical use of the momentarily awkward positioning of the Black Rook and Knight. Black’s failure to recognize the strength of the Bishop move to a3 leads to a lost position.
19.Ba3 c5 20.c4 d4 21.exd4 Rxe1 22.Rxe1 cxd4 23.c5 Qa5
No better is 23..., Qd8 24 cxd6, winning a piece.
24.Bb2?,..
After seeing and playing a pretty sequence that gave him a won game, White loses the thread of the game. With 24 cxd6 Qxa3 25 Qc7, and the follow-up moves Bc4+ and Re7, the White attack is crushing.
24..., Nb5?!
Better defensive chances are to be had with 24..., Nf7; or 24..., Rc8.
25.Bxb5 Bxb5 26.Bxd4 Bc6
The dust has settled a bit. White is up a sound pawn and his pieces are about to become even more active. Black faces a difficult task in defending his position.
27.Qc4+ Kf8 28.b4 Qd8 29.Qc3,..
Freeing the Nf3 of the pin with 29 Kg3, is better I think.
29...Bxf3+ 30.Kxf3 Qd5+ 31.Kg3 Kf7
GM Yermolinsky in his new series What Every Russian School Boy Knows on ICC has just finished covering the principles of Bishops of the same color endgames. His examples featured positions where the Queens were off or soon disappeared. The pawn structures then play an important role in the eventual outcome. In our game the Queens are traded and both sides play reasonably; Black making his pieces maximally active, and White holding on to his pawn while working towards creating a distant passed pawn. All this conforms to the principles Yermolinsky has set out. One of the less emphasized points in his presentations is the role of tactical alertness plays. Several of the examples used were possible variations that could have taken place if one of the players had not misunderstood the position and crashed on the rocks of tactical error. This happens in our game today.
32.Qe3 Bf8 33.Qe4 Rd8 34.Qxd5+ Rxd5 35.Bf2 Rd2 36.a3 a6 37.Re3 a5 38.Rc3 axb4 39.axb4 Rb2 40.Rc4 Rb3+ 41.Kh4?,..
White walks into a death trap! He had to play 41 Kg2, retaining some advantage. The text should result in the pretty finish; 41..., g5+! 42 fxg5 Kg6 43 gxf6 Bh6 44 g5 Bxg5+ 45 Kg5 h4; mate!
41..., h6?!
Missing the correct move but motivated by a similar notion.
42.Rd4?,..
White did not see the problem his King faces. Better 42 g5, then 42..., Ke6; leaves Black with the edge, but the game has some fight left.
42..., g5+!
Black has seen what White did not see. It is a two move mate.
43.fxg5 fxg5+ 0–1
How to sum up this game? Both players missed some very nice chances and found some pretty sequences and combinations. Spotty play is probably the right caption for this contest. The lesson to be learned from it is take an extra moment when there is a glaring feature on the board; a break to be made, a King in a dangerous position, etc. It is then GM Aagaard’s wisdom about forced and unforced thinking should be applied. Forced thinking is assuming that what you decided about a position earlier in the game still hold true. Unforced thinking means to look at each new position putting aside conclusions and assumptions made earlier in the creation of the current position and asking yourself what can be done now.
More soon.
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