There was a curiosity in the round of the AACC Championship on the last day of November; two Bird’s Openings, From’s Gambits played side by side. Caravaty - Denham and Henner - Wright. This is not a vary usual opening sequence, not locally nor internationally. Having two together has to be a maybe a one time occurrence.
Caravaty, Chris - Denham, Jason [A02]
AACC Championship Guilderland, NY, 30.11.2011
1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6
One reason why we don’t find many From’s Gambits in the databases is White can always play 2 f4, converting the game into the King’s Gambit, an opening with tons of theory. The Grandmasters do this frequently.
Here are a couple of games that Bird himself played against the second World Champion. Lasker used the From’s in both. It can’t be said Lasker got any great things out of the opening. He did however, obtain a position with many chances for Black to make and keep the game tactical, just what Lasker liked.
(1477) Bird,Henry Edward - Lasker,Emanuel [A02]
Newcastle on Tyne (2), 1892
1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 g5 5.d4 g4 6.Ne5 Bxe5 7.dxe5 Qxd1+ 8.Kxd1 Nc6 9.Bf4 Be6 10.e3 Nge7 11.Bb5 0–0–0+ 12.Kc1 Bd5 13.Rg1 a6 14.Be2 Be6 15.Nc3 h6 16.Bd3 Ng6 17.Bxg6 fxg6 18.Rd1 Rde8 19.e4 g5 20.Bg3 Rhf8 21.b3 h5 22.Rd2 h4 23.Bf2 Nxe5 24.Be3 h3 25.Bxg5 g3 26.hxg3 Rf1+ 27.Kb2 Rxa1 28.Kxa1 h2 29.Rd1 Ng4 30.Rh1 Bf7 31.Kb2 c6 32.Kc1 Bg6 33.Kd2 Rxe4 34.Nd1 Rd4+ 35.Ke2 Rxd1 36.Rxd1 Be4 37.Rd8+ Kc7 38.Rd1 Bxg2 39.Bd8+ Kc8 40.Bb6 Bd5 0–1
(1813) Bird,Henry Edward - Lasker,Emanuel [A02]
Hastings (5), 1895
1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.g3 f5 5.d3 Nf6 6.c3 Nc6 7.Bg2 Ne5 8.Nd2 Qe7 9.Nf1 Bd7 10.Bf4 0–0 11.Bxe5 Bxe5 12.Qc2 Kh8 13.Bf3 Rab8 14.Qd2 Rfe8 15.h3 Qd6 16.Kf2 c5 17.e3 Bb5 18.Rd1 Rbd8 19.c4 Bc6 20.Qe2 b5 21.b3 bxc4 22.bxc4 Ba4 23.Rb1 Rb8 24.Nd2 Bxg3+ 25.Kg2 Bh4 26.Rh2 Bc2 27.Rxb8 Rxb8 28.d4 cxd4 29.exd4 Re8 30.Qf1 Re1 31.c5 Qxd4 32.Qxe1 Bxe1 33.Nb3 Bxb3 34.axb3 Qxc5 0–1
Since those very early days, the Bird’s shows up more frequently in weekend Swiss tournaments that it does in the more serious international contests. Nevertheless, every once in awhile a strong player rolls it out.
The next example sees a strong Russian GM suffer at the hands of a young IM when the IM attacks thematically on the K-side. Black invests a pawn in the opening. To make that worthwhile he must find the maximum activity for his pieces and keep the White pieces bottled up for as long as possible.
(639269) Kholmov, Ratmir D (2427) - Colin, Vincent (2327) [A02]
Olomouc Mipap Cup (8), 07.08.2001
1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 g5 5.g3 g4 6.Nh4 Ne7 7.d4 Ng6 8.Ng2 Nc6 9.c3 h5 10.Qd3 h4 11.Nf4 Qf6 12.Nxg6 fxg6 13.Bg2 hxg3 14.hxg3 Rxh1+ 15.Bxh1 Bf5 16.Bxc6+ bxc6 17.e4 Qe6 18.Nd2 g5 19.Kd1 Bg6 20.b4 Kf7 21.Qf1+ Kg7 22.e5 Be7 23.Nc4 Rf8 24.Qe2 Rf3 25.Be3 Qf5 26.Ke1 Rxg3 27.Rc1 Rh3 28.Bg1 g3 29.Qg2 Qe4+ 30.Qxe4 Bxe4 31.Ke2 g4 32.Nd2 Bg5 33.Re1 Bg6 34.Nf1 g2 35.Ne3 Be4 36.Bf2 Bf4 37.Bg1 Bh2 38.Nxg4 Bf3+ 39.Kf2 Bg3+ 40.Kxf3 Bxe1+ 41.Ke2 Bxc3 42.Ne3 Bxb4 43.Nxg2 Rg3 44.Kf2 Ra3 45.Nf4 Rxa2+ 46.Kf3 Kf7 47.Ke4 Be7 48.Nd3 a5 49.Be3 a4 50.d5 cxd5+ 51.Kxd5 a3 52.Kc4 Re2 53.Bd4 Re4 0–1
Here are two even higher rated players in a stern battle. Black gives little regard to such positional niceties such as pawn structure in an effort to make things happen on the board. Jon Leisner, one of our local lights and a long time Bird’s player was watching the two AACC games at the club. He offered this bit of wisdom: If you play the From’s you must get activity and the initiative, or it is just a lost pawn. See how that is done here.
(652090) Danielsen, Henrik (2526) - Stern, Rene (2474) [A02]
BL2-Nord 0102 Germany (7.1), 17.03.2002
1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 g5 5.g3 Nc6 6.Nc3 g4 7.Nh4 Be7 8.Ng2 h5 9.Nf4 h4 10.Bg2 hxg3 11.hxg3 Rxh1+ 12.Bxh1 Qd4 13.e3 Qh8 14.Bxc6+ bxc6 15.Qe2 Nf6 16.Qg2 Bb7 17.e4 Nd7 18.d3 Ne5 19.Be3 Nf3+ 20.Kf2 0–0–0 21.Rh1 Qf8 22.Rh5 Bf6 23.Qh1 Qb4 24.Qa1 Bd4 25.Ng2 c5 26.a3 Qb6 27.Qa2 Qf6 28.Bxd4 Nxd4+ 29.Nf4 Nxc2 30.Qc4 Ba6 31.Qxc5 Rxd3 32.Qxa7 Rd2+ 33.Kg1 Qd4+ 34.Qxd4 Nxd4 35.Rh8+ Kb7 36.b4 Nf3+ 37.Kh1 Bf1 38.Rh6 Rc2 0–1
In the next game Kotronias, a strong Greek GM does well until deep in the ending. He miss-plays the three pawns versus Rook finish and gives up an unnecessary half-point. Black handles the opening, the middle game and most of the ending nicely keeping a win in hand. I suspect time trouble led to the slip just before cashing in the full point.
(712429) Grunberg, Mihai (2445) - Kotronias, Vasilios (2578) [A02]
Kavala (8), 16.08.2002
1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 g5 5.d4 g4 6.Ne5 Bxe5 7.dxe5 Qxd1+ 8.Kxd1 Nc6 9.Nc3 Be6 10.Bf4 0–0–0+ 11.Ke1 h6 12.e3 Nge7 13.Bd3 Ng6 14.Bxg6 fxg6 15.Rd1 g5 16.Bg3 h5 17.Ne4 Rdg8 18.Nc5 Re8 19.e4 h4 20.Bf2 g3 21.hxg3 Bg4 [21...hxg3] 22.gxh4 Bxd1 23.Kxd1 Nxe5 24.h5 Ng4 25.Ke2 b6 26.Nd3 Rxe4+ 27.Kf3 Nf6 28.h6 c5 29.Be1 Re6 30.Bc3 c4 31.Ne5 Nd5 32.Ng6 Rh7 33.Nf8 Rf7+ 34.Kg4 Rxf8 35.h7 Nxc3 36.h8Q Rxh8 37.Rxh8+ Kb7 38.bxc3 Re2 39.Rh2 Rxc2 40.Kxg5 Rxa2 41.Rh7+ Kc6 42.g4 a5 43.Kf4 Rf2+ 44.Ke3 Rg2 45.Rg7 Kb5 46.g5 Ka4 47.Kf3 Rc2 48.g6 Rxc3+ 49.Kf2 Rd3 50.Rc7 Kb4 51.g7 Rd8 52.Rc6 b5 53.Rg6 a4 54.g8Q Rxg8 55.Rxg8 a3 56.Ke3 Kc3 57.Ke4 a2 58.Rg3+ Kb2 59.Rg2+ Kb3 60.Rg3+ Kb2 61.Rg2+ Kb3 62.Rg1 c3 63.Kd3 b4 64.Rh1 c2 65.Rc1 Kb2 66.Rxc2+ Kb1 67.Rh2 b3 68.Kc4 ½–½
After all that background information we return to the local game.
3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 Bg4!?
Either 4..., g5; or 4..., Nf6; are the standard tries for Black. Way back in 1903 Marshall played the text against Albin at Monte Carlo and won with this move. Marshall’s victory was despite the text. There were several points at which the American champion was lost. Alpin got tamgled in the complications Marshall kept piling on and was out played in the ending.
Mr. Caravaty provided me with notes on his game with Denham. In the notes he is critical of 5 g3. Correct is 5 e3. Chris was worried about the Black Queen checking on h4. The answer is of course, take off the Queen on h4, lose the Queen on d1 and just be a pawn up going into an ending.
5.g3 Nf6 6.Nc3 c6
Mr. Denham starts to play as if the position is “normal”. It isn’t. Black gave up a pawn. So called normal play just lets White have the better game. Worth consideration here is 6..., Qe7; angling for long castling. Black has to make every effort to introduce tension into the position and strive for maximum piece activity. If you gambit, every tempo is precious. Black has in mind a Q&B battery on the h2-b8 diagonal. The one extra move it takes to achieve that end is too much. White will have time to meet the idea.
7.Bg2 0–0 8.d3 Qc7 9.Be3 Nbd7 10.Qd2 Rfe8 11.Bf4?,..
It is not good to move a piece a second time in the opening in general. Here specifically 11 0-0-0, is logical but maybe not quite right. The computer likes the move 11 a3, to see, I guess, if Black is going to rush his Q-side pawns forward. Probably best of all is 11 0-0, leaving White a reasonable game after Be3-f2, and e2-e4.
White has fastened on the idea that Black is going to sacrifice at g3 and he hurries to defuse that imagined threat. Let us say White played 11 0-0, and Black went right for the throat with 11..., Nh5; then 12 Ne5, hit’s the Bd6 and reinforces g3. Any all-out sacrificial assault beginning with say 12..., Nxg3 13 Nxg3 Bxg3 14 hxg3 Qxg3; comes to great sorrow after 15 Bf4 trapping the Queen. Other variants of the idea lose lesser material but are just as fatal to the Black cause.
Black made a gesture - building the battery - White reacts to what is a bogus threat, and the game takes an illogical path for the moment. After the text, the game equalizes and the comfortable edge White has had since the pawn was won is gone.
11..., Nb6?
Suspect first because it is not forceful enough and second because there is a better move; 11..., Bxf4; then if 12 gxf4 Nh5; and White will have to give back the pawn. He does have some open files bearing on the Black King, but there are defensive resources available, the Bishop can go back to g6 for example. If you are going to play the From’s, running risks are part of the price.
Here is a game Mockler and I played a few years ago
Mockler, Michael - Little, Bill [A02]
SCC Championship Schenectady, NY, 06.11.2006
1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 Nc6 3.Nf3 g5 4.d4 g4 5.Ng5 d5 6.exd6 Bxd6 7.c3 Be7 8.Ne4 Be6 [8...f5 9.Qb3] 9.Nf2 f5 10.Qd3 Qd7 11.Bf4 0–0–0 12.Nd2 Nf6 13.Qb5 Nd5 14.Nd3 a6 15.Qa4 Nb6 16.Qc2 Nd5 17.0–0–0 Nxf4 18.Nxf4 Bxa2 19.e4 fxe4 20.Qxe4 Bg5 21.g3 Rhe8 22.Qc2 Bxf4 23.gxf4 Bd5 24.Bd3 Rf8 25.Rhf1 h5 26.Bg6 h4 27.f5 Ne7 28.Bh7 Rf6 29.Ne4 Bxe4 30.Qxe4 Rdf8 31.Qxg4 Nd5 32.Bg8 [32.Rg1] 32...Ne3 33.Qh3 Rxf5 34.Rxf5 Rxg8 35.Rdf1 Nxf5 36.Rxf5 Rh8 37.Qf3 Qe6 38.Re5 Qh6+ 39.Kb1 Rf8 40.Qg4+ Kb8 41.Rh5 Qd2 42.Rxh4 Rf2 43.Qg8+ Ka7 44.Qb3 Rf1+ 45.Ka2 Qe1 46.Qc4 Qxh4 47.Qxf1 Qxh2 ½–½
Mike erred when he lost the a-pawn, and I failed at the end of the game to cash in the full point by missing 44..., Qe1+; and 45..., Rf5; winning material. The game, even with its flaws illustrates the style that is necessary if you want to play the Form’s with chances for success.
12.e4 Nfd5 13.Bxd6 Qxd6 14.0–0–0?!,..
The Knight move to b6 was a second tempo squandered, and it let White get back to a comfortable advantage. Now White gives Black something to play for; opposite side castling means the enemy pawns in front of your King can often advance without a care. If they are lost, open files appear.
14..., Nc7?
White offered Black the chance to find some pressure to balance the material deficit. Ambitious but not quite enough is; 14..., Nxc3 15 Qxc3 Na4 16 Qb3 b5 17 d4 a5. White is still better, but he has things to calculate on the Q-side. Not every time will you find a move or sequence that brings you equality. Sometimes you have to settle for just a position with chances. It makes sense here to try and generate counter-play with a Q-side pawn advance for Black.
15.Qf4 Qxf4+ 16.gxf4 Rad8
Now with the Queens off and White dominating the center, Black has no hope other than maintaining a solid defense while waiting for a chance to trade down into some endgame that might be held.
17.h3 Bh5 18.Rd2 Ne6 19.Ne2 f6 20.f5 Nc5 21.Nf4 Bf7 22.Kb1,..
Chris commented here: “My attention wrongly is diverted to my pawn (a2).. Its OK but 22 Rg1, or 22 Bf1, would be better..”
22..., a5 23.Rg1 Kh8 24.Bf1 Na6
The last few moves and the coming several are all clear. White will build pressure down the g-file and look for a breakthrough. Black is calculating how he can keep things barricaded for as long as possible.
25.Rdg2?,..
A blunder that could have really changed the course of the game. White missed 25..., Rxe4!, there is a mate if 26 dxe4. Chris said: “My biggest blunder of the game. Completely missed that my Bishop newly on the back rank created a weakness!” Better are 25 h4, or 25 b3, as mentioned by Chris in his notes. Had Black caught the move he would come out of the flurry of tactics with at equality and maybe some advantage.
25..., Rg8 26.Be2 Nc7 27.h4 Rd7 28.h5 h6 29.Nh4 Be8 30.Nhg6+ Kh7 31.Bd1?!,..
To this point White has done an admirable job of confining the Black pieces, and Mr. Caravaty has used the first principle of good technique; maintain the advantage won, don’t dilute it by entering unclear complications. Everything is in place for a break now, it has all been prepared. So, to what purpose this retreat to the first rank? White apparently can not quite make up his mind to go forward with 31 e5. This little push brings down the Black defenses after 31..., Ncd5 32 Ne6 Rf7 33 d4 fxe5 34 dxe5 Rxf5 35 Bd3, or 34..., Ne3 35 Rg3 Nxf5 36 Rf3 Nd5 37 Bd3 Nde3 38 Nh5, with a winning position for White. The problem is once you have reached the maximum level of positional dominance, it is hard to just hold on to that advantage if you don’t continue with the natural break when all is ready. This is what happens in the game.
31..., Nc8 32.Rg3 b5 33.c3 Nb6 34.Bb3,..
This whole rather slow idea has to be commended but with a little reluctance. White wants to increase his advantage with the elimination of the Bishops. The break outlined above converts the positional advantage to a concrete material advantage. As pieces come off the absolute bind White has achieved can loosen up. Of course, it can not be forgotten the winning chances are all for White because of his extra pawn.
34..., Bf7 35.Bxf7?..,
White misses a really tough move for Black to meet; 35 Be6! Chris said about this: “I go about my plan of trading off the bad Bishop. During the course of this I completely missed a killer blow 35 Be6! Ahh, didn’t this register in my mind? Error, mindless automatic capture when better continuations exist.” A good place to bring up Aagaard’s forced and forced thinking concept. Forced thinking = assuming things are true in slightly changed position versus unforced thinking = looking at each position as it occurs with fresh eyes challenging your previous assumptions. And, as Keres said: “When I find a moves that wins, I always go back to search for a move that wins faster!”
34..., Rxf7 36.Kc2?!,..
Once more White takes the slower approach. The move 36 Ne6, increasing the pressure on g7, is reasonable. If Black plays 36..., Ne8 37 Nd4 Rc7 38 Kc2, and White continues his python-like appraoch.
36..., c5 37.b3?,..
This eases things for Black, not enough to say the game is equalizing but the squeeze eases up.
37..., Rd8?
Better 37..., Re8. The text allows 38 Ne6, and then 38..., Rc8 39 Ne5! fxe5 40 Rxg7+ Rxg7 41 Rxg7+ Kh8 42 Rxc7, converting to an ending up two pawns with one a protected “passer”. All-in-all a relatively easy win for White.
38.Nh4?,..
Unable to see his way through the fog on the battlefield, White maneuvers letting bind slip some more.
38..., Ne8 39.Ne6 Rc8 40.Ng6 c4 41.bxc4 bxc4 42.d4 Na4 43.Ngf4?,..
White maneuvers his Knights further when 43 Rb1, to keep trouble from popping up on the b-file, is better. Chris said here: “Worst move of the game. New open file created, new and only open file - OCCUPY IT!” He said further: “I’ve lost everything to do with my advantage, how miserable.” I think Mr. Caravaty is too critical here. White does still have the pawn.
43..., Rb8 44.Rb1 Rxb1 45.Kxb1 Nxc3+?
After a heroic defense, Mr. Denham just does not see c3 is defended. It is sad he did find 45..., Nd6! The move is not enough once again to equalize, but it sets problems for White by continuing the stubborn defense. The game move drops a piece and the game ended. If Black tries to equalize material with 45..., Nd6! 46 Re3 Rb7+ 47 Kc1, and if47..., Rb2 48 Nc5 Rf2 49 Ne2 Nb6 50 a3, frustrates that effort. Black can play differently with 47..., Rb5 48 Ng6 Ne8 49 e5 Rb7 50 Nef4, when the central passed pawns looms large. Either way White has a big advantage.
46.Rxc3 1–0
When Black gives a pawn in the opening he must be well prepared and willing to take risks. Failure to do so leads to the unpleasant task of defending a position that can only be held if the opponent fumbles. Now, at the local level we certainly make those fumbles too frequently, but counting on mistakes is not the path to enjoying chess. It is much better to make things interesting on the board for both players by introducing risks and tension. Even if the risks boomerang on you, your tactical sense will improve with practice.
MM Botvinnik long ago said the way to improve your chess is to analyze your games and get them out to as wide as audience as possible. Getting critical feedback on both the play and the analysis will help you move forward as a player. Chris Caravaty’s notes helped me greatly while putting together this post. It is something all players should do as often as they can.
More on the From’s soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment