[blind-chess] Rathbun - Zolotarevsky Hadley Final Exam Game
- From: "Paul Benson" <paul.benson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <blind-chess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2011 18:46:29 -0000
Hello Edward and all,
A good while ago, perhaps a month to the day, I was asked to annotate a game,
and post to the list.
Patience is a virtue, so without more ado ...
Paul Benson.
Notes:
My comments open with a single vertical bar, and Comments close with a double
vertical bar.
Comments from Edward open with a single dollar sign, and close with a double
dollar sign.
* *
Rathbun--Zolotarevsky
Hadley final exam:
10-25-10.
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 Nf6
| The first real decision. The main alternative here is, 3. ... Bc5, this
prevents the 4th game move for white. Black must do a little homework, if Bc5
is going into the repertoire here, there are some tactics of which to be aware.
White has the option of the Evans Gambit here, 4. b4, when one line to
investigate is 4. ... Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 and then white must choose how to
continue, 6 Qb3 seems the critical line, when the black reply is 6. ... Qf6,
and the g8 knight goes to e7. ||
4. Ng5 d5
5. exd5 Na5
| The safest. Instead, 5. ... Nxd5, exposing an attack on the unprotected g5
knight, almost forces white to sacrifice with, 6. Nxf7 Kxf7 7. Qf3+ Ke6. This
is the Fried Liver Attack. If black is going to allow this, then much homework
must be done. White will have studied this, and know how to punish poor moves.
Moreover, white has all the short-term threats, and black has to defend
carefully. Why give white this fun, unless you have researched the system, and
feel your defensive powers are up to it. ||
6. Bb5+ Bd7
| A different approach here is 6. ... c6, which can lead to complex play,
involving black offering a pawn, for a lead in development with coordinated
piece play. The usual reply is 7 dxc6 bxc6, and white must select carefully.
Analysis for white move 8 after this pawn trade on c6 is given at the end of
the game. ||
7. Qe2 Bxb5
| This is probably the losing move. Instead, getting on with development, with
7. ... Bd6 is advisable. White can not gain from the pin down the e-file, since
8. d4 O-O 9. Bxd7 Qxd7 10. dxe5 Bxe5 11. Qxe5 Rfe8 and white is worse, being
behind in development and totally uncoordinated, as well as having traded in
the queen for rook, bishop and pawn. ||
8. Qxb5+ c6
| Necessary, to open up a defence of the a5 knight, by the black queen. ||
9. dxc6 a6
| This will leave black 3 pawns down, and although white is considerably behind
in development, black should not be able to capitalise on this. Instead, 9. ...
Nxc6 10 Qxb7, white threatens the c6 knight and mate on f7, and the only
defence is 11. Ne7. Now simply 12. d3, or 12. Nc3, or 12. O-O, all leave white
with a decisive advantage, but black can at least put up some sort of
resistance ||
10. Qxe5+ qe7
| This almost certainly condemns black to a slow death. Instead 10. ... Be7,
intending O-O as soon as possible, would at least keep queens on. Black will
not be able to do anything by force, but with queens present, white would have
to play carefully. It is just a question of making the game as difficult for
your opponent as you can, and trading queens when about to go 3 pawns down, is
not recommended. ||
11. Qxe7+ Bxe7
12. cxb7 Nxb7
13. O-O O-O
14. b3
| A careless move, which allows black to generate activity. Perhaps 14. Nc3,
challenging some central squares would be more precise. Now black gets some
minor piece play, taking advantage of the unprotected g5 knight, to gain a
useful tempo. ||
14. ... Nd5
15. Nf3 Bf6
$ Black's bishop attacks the exposed rook. White must
block the bishop. $$
16. c3
$ White should have played d4 with the knight at f3 protecting it. Later, white
could move c3 to support the d4 pawn. $$
| This is an awkward move to have to play, but the black piece activity should
be eventually pushed back. That central mass of white pawns, will in time,
become a potential stream-roller. Sometimes, giving back a little of any
material gained, can relieve some pressure. This does not look like such a
position. White can keep all the goodies, and take time to develop the
queenside pieces, challenge black minor pieces, and then get the pawns moving.
||
16. ... Nb4
$ If white takes the knight, black gets the a1 rook with the bishop. $$
17. D4
$ White should have given the rook an escape square. White
could play either Na3 or a4. $$
| This may have been a not too critical oversight, or perhaps showing very deep
positional insight. Black is about to make a slight material recovery, but in
the process, white is catching up in development. Instead, 17. Na3 will not
lose material, black may try to put a knight on d3, and support it with a rook
and the b7 knight. This attempted strangle-hold will not work in the long-term,
but white will have to go through the process of breaking the clamp.
Objectively, 17. d4 is fine. White will soon be able to start making threats,
instead of having to calculate if black has any. It is just a state of mind, it
is always much easier to handle a position when one is creating threats, rather
than having to avoid them. ||.
17. ... Nc2
18. Bb2 Nxa1
19. Bxa1 Rfe8
20. c4
| Perhaps challenging with 20. Re1 is simpler.White should not permit black to
have a sniff of counterplay, even if it has been worked out in advance, that
any activity can be nullified with time. ||
20.. ... Re7
| Black could have tried 2 different active plans to make matters as awkward as
possible for white, and one patient idea. The first active idea, is to advance
the a-pawn, trying to induce a pawn weakness, in the white queenside. Any
backward pawn on the queenside, can then be attacked from the black back rank,
with rooks. By combining rook probing from a distance, and with the black
knight hopping around, black may catch the white pawns and pieces not
coordinating sufficiently, and if white loses a pawn over there, then the fight
is on again.
The second idea, is to invade the white position with, 20. ... Re2. White can
not be too cavalier with the pawns, so 21. Nc3 seems sensible. In order to keep
pressure on white, 21. ... Rc2, and now things become a little murky. There is
a chance to trap that active black rook with, 22. Rd1, and the threat is Ne1,
so 22. ... Re8 would be forced. Now for the tricky decision for white, should
23 Ne1 be played? If so, black will capture on e1, giving back an exchange.
White can just about afford this. So if, 22. Rd1 Re8 23. Ne1 Rxe1+ 24 Rxe1,
white threatens mate!, so 24. ... Kf8 25. Rd1, and the position still has some
tricks in it. The white d4 pawn can not move, the c3 knight will be lost. If
the c3 knight moves, the a2 pawn goes. There is also the problem of potential
back-rank mates for white to consider, and the a1 bishop has no easy means of
developing. White can regroup the minor pieces, at the cost of a pawn, leaving
2 pawns advantage. This happens by, 25. ... Nd8 26. Kf1 Nc6, doubly attacking
d4, so 27. Ne2 Rxa2 28. Bc3, and white has almost unravelled. Now 28. ... Rc2,
preventing d5, but now, 29. Ke1, and next move white will play Rd2, and rooks
will trade leaving white 2 pawns up. This plan for white took quite a lot of
working out. On the grounds that black is lost by sensible white moves, perhaps
black could have played actively with 20. ... Re2, and ask white to sort it out.
Lastly, black could just try to sit still with, 20. ... g6, intending to
retreat Bg7, and the bishop maintains pressure against the white centre. ||
21. Nc3 Rd8
22. Nd5
| Eliminating the dangerous black bishop, after which, the a1 bishop will
develop, and be virtually unchallengeable on the dark squares. ||
22. ... Re6
23. Nxf6+ Rxf6
24. d5 Rh6
| The rook is very miserable out on h6. Again, black should try to induce the
white queenside pawns to advance, this is risky strategy, but they are going to
do this sooner or later, so 24. ... Rb6, with the idea of creating confusion by
pushing the a-pawn may have been worth a try. ||
25. Re1 Kf8
26. Bb2 g6
| This just reduces the h6 rook to a spectator. Now the 3 white pieces invade
the black position, and hardly surprisingly, more material is lost. ||
27. Ba3+ Kg8
28. Re7 Nd6
29. Ne5 Re8
| This loses a piece. Black is going under anyway, but 29. ... Nc8 would limit
the immediate material loss to a pawn. The simplest for white would be, 30.
Nxf7, forking rooks, forcing matters for black, 30. ... Nxe7 31. Nxd8, and
advancing the d-pawn will soon win more material. ||
30. Bxd6 Rxe7
31. Bxe7
| Now white will promote the d-pawn, or black must give up rook for it. ||
31. ...g5
32. d6 f6
33. d7
| White lets the knight go, to gain a queen by pawn promotion, and mate quickly
follows. ||
33. ... fxe5
34. d8-Q+ Kf7
35. Qf8+ Kg6
36. Qf6+ Kh5
37. Qxg5++ 1-0
| The comment to black move 6 gave the recommendation,, 6. ... c6, followed by
7. dxc6 bxc6, leaving white to decide on the 8th move. Here is some theory, I
just happened to have from about 1988. Despite being about 22 years old, it is
still worthy of consideration.
The opening moves to arrive at the position for analysis of the 8th white move
are:
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 Nf6
4. Ng5 d5
5. exd5 Na5
6. Bb5+ c6
7. dxc6 bxc6
Now white must choose carefully from the following 4 moves:
Var. A: 8. Ba4h6 9. Nf3 e4 10. Ng1 , and black is doing well. Note different
10th white moves lose, 10. Nh4 g5, traps the knight, and 10. Ne5 Qd4 11. Bxc6+
Nxc6 12. Nxc6 Qd5, trapping the knight, which will give itself up for the a7
pawn. A very interesting position, 3 pawns for a piece, perhaps black has the
short-term advantage, and will need good play to .restrict the pawns, but in
the long-term, it is probably white with more problems to solve
Var. B: 8. Qf3 Rb8, putting the question to white. If 9. Bxc6+ Nxc6 10. Qxc6+
Nd7, this knight move looks odd, but it is gaining a tempo against the g5
knight. If 11. Nf3 Rb6 12. Qa4Ba6. Black plans: Bc5, O-O, and then swing the
rook to g6, and play for a kingside attack. So, on move 9, white must find 9.
Bd3, but then 9. ... h6 10 Ne4 Nd5. Now black threatens f5 and e4, so 11. Ng3
g6, preventing a white piece invading on f5, and this is judged unclear, with
chances for both sides.
Var. C: The main line is 8. Be2 h6 9. Nf3 e4 10. Ne5Bd6, and now white has 4
moves from which to choose.
They are:
Var. C1: 11. Nc4, allows black to achieve a comfortable position with, 11. ...
Nxc4 12. Bxc4 Qc7, and white is obliged to create a small weakness with 13. h3.
Here black has compensation for the pawn, because of the spatial advantage,
piece coordination, and good squares available for those pieces yet to be
developed.
Var. C2: 11. Ng4, black can play 11. ... Nxg4 12 Bxg4 Qh4, an active square for
the queen, who is not going to be easy to kick away. Now, 13. Bxc8 Rxc8 and
black plans O-O, Rce8, and get an attack by pushing the f-pawn. White, will
find difficulty in completing development, while black's strategy is easy to
understand.
Var. C3: 11. d4, leaves white struggling to achieve coordinated development.
Black should not let white have a knight on e5, so, 11. ... exd3 12. Nxd3 Qc7,
attacking the h-pawn, when either h3 or g3 for white create weaknesses, while,
13. f4 creates a potential target and limits the scope of the c1 bishop.
Var. C4: 11. f4, which creates some kingside weakness, but at least gets some
coordination for white. So play might
continue, 11. ... exf3 12. Nxf3 O-O 13. O-O Re8 14. d4 c5 15. cxd4 16. Qxd4
Nc6 17. Qh4. This position is judged as chances for both sides, tactics should
flow in this middle game.
Var. D: 8. Bf1. I have no reference material for this move, and I am not
absolutely certain it has been played here. I do however, have a nagging memory
of this being introduced to theory some 15-20 years ago. The idea I think, is
to permit the white queen to move, which she could not do if the bishop had
moved to e2. ||
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