All,
The deciding game between New England A and Cambridge A in thye 2011-2012
season. The match was poised at 2-2, with this game to decide the match and
put New England in a very dominating position to win the league.
The game neatly demonstrates the necessity for pure activity, aggressiveness
and consistency in the forcing of tension and continuation of the initiative
when one has the advantage.
Enjoy!
[Event " CCCA League Matches 2010-2011 "]
[Site "Cambridge, ENG"]
[Date "2011.04.13"]
[Round "9.4"]
[White "Ribbands, Patrick"]
[Black "Hanks, Paul"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A25"]
[Annotator "Chris Ross"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[WhiteTeam " Cambridge A "]
[BlackTeam " New England A"]
{A25: English Opening}
1. c4 e5
2. Nc3 Nc6
3. g3 d6
4. Bg2 Be6
{If black is intending an aggressive King's Indian type setup against the
English, he may well do best to play 4... f5 immediately, signalling his
intent. The development of the light-squared bishop can be held back, to
hold back any pressure that can be brought down on the B7 square. The
textbook move is perfectly acceptable, but rapid king-side development is to
be preferred. Although the move gains a tempo on the c4, square, white
defends this easily enough with d2-d3. With that having been protected,
white always has the annoying tactic b2-b4, when a capture by the knight on
c6 would allow a Bxb7 tactic, opening up that lovely bishop on g2. A small
point, but white is wanting to expand on the queen-side as an intricate part
of his game plan. Why then, allow him to have free tactics with an advance
of the B-pawn?
So, f5, g6, Bg7 and then, Nf6 with h6 (to protect the g5 square if white
plays Nf3) and then O-O. Black has a comfortable and more active position on
the king-side.}
5. d3 Nf6
{Going somewhat against the point of the setup. Black should be aiming for a
King's Indian setup, where he can get an f7-f5 in for free without having to
manoeuvre his King's knight to d7, or e8 or h5. However, with black having
played an early Be6, the b2-b4 thrust becomes annoying. Here is an example:
5... f5 6. b4 Qd7 7. b5 Nd8 8. a4
Nf6 9. Qb3 Be7 10. a5 Rb8 11. f4 O-O 12. Nf3 Nf7 13. O-O Rfe8 14. Nd5 c6 15.
Nxe7+ Qxe7 16. fxe5 dxe5 17. Ba3 Qd7 18. bxc6 bxc6 19. Qc3 Qc7 20. Bc5
Where black had reached equality easily in Sunye Neto,J (2470)-Kupreichik,V
(2480)/Barcelona 1984/EXT 1999/1/2-1/2 (43)}
6. e4?!
{Structurally, rather dubious. White is intent on clamping down on the d5
Square, But this ought not to worry him too much, as Black would be spending
a lot of time to centrally break with it.
If white is really wanting to blockade on the d5 square, then the immediate
6. Nd5 has to be the only option.
White is somewhat missing the point of the intended target square, that
being the b7 weak point. One of the purposes of fienchettoing the
light-squared bishop on g2 is to exert pressure down the long diagonal.
Therefore, Nd5 helps a future b2-b4, although there is an argument for the
immediate 6. b4!? in the first place due to the tactic already mentioned.}
6... Qd7
{Black is rushing to exert pressure on the light-squares, when there is a
subtle common move-order feature that needs to be kept in mind.
As the current position shows, any Bh3 is not possible, due to the white
king's knight not having been developed. IN that sense, the black queen's
development to d7 may well be redundant, if that knight on g1 never moves
and white, say, goes hacking with h2-h4 without it's development.
In that regard then, black should delay the queen's development to d7 until
Bh3 becomes a potential threat, thereby forcing white to deal with the
positional consequence, either by h2-h3 or h2-h4. In either case, black has
developed and forced white to waste a tempo by defending against the
positional concept of Bh3.
Therefore, black does best to develop his king-side and solve the problem of
his dark-squared bishop.
Now, in many similar Botvinnik setups against the English, black has played
g7-g6, instead of the awkward development move Nf6. In those Botvinnik
setups, black would now play Bg7, or Nge7 and wait for white to commit
himself on the king-side with a knight development.
Therefore, here, 6... g6 or 6... Be7 is the most accurate.
Here are some examples:
6... g6 7. Nge2 Qd7 8. h3 Bg7 9. Nd5 Ne7 10. Bh6 O-O 11. Nxf6+
Bxf6 12. Bxf8 Rxf8 13. Qd2 c6 14. h4 d5 15. Rc1 dxc4 16. dxc4 Qxd2+ 17. Kxd2
c5 18. Kc3 Nc6 19. Rcd1 Bd8 20. b3 Ba5+ 21. Kb2
D'Israel,D (2240)-Sales,C/Brasilia 1999/CBM 068 ext/1/2-1/2
6... Be7 7. Nge2 Qd7 8. h3 O-O 9. Be3 Ne8 10. f4 f5 11. exf5 Bxf5 12. Nd5
Nf6 13. g4 exf4 14. Nexf4 Be6 15. Nxf6+ Rxf6 16. g5 Rf5 17. Be4 Re5 18. Nxe6
Qxe6 19. Qd2 Bxg5 20. Bxg5 Rxe4+ 21. dxe4
Heine,R (2029)-Kordel,M (1965)/Germany 2006/EXT 2006/1/2-1/2}
7. Nd5 Nd4?!
{Another slightly awkward move to have to make. White's last has
demonstrated the obscure development placement of the black king's knight.
Instinct cries out for development with 7... Be7as white would be reluctant
to exchange his strongly outposted knight for a relatively poor, blocked in,
bishop. If black would then like to preserve the bishop, a future Bd8 is
possible.
The text-move is provocative and tempts white into making a strategically
ambitious move, which is not easy to determine whether it is good or not.}
8. Bg5
{White had to accept the challenge and weaken the black pawn structure.
8. Nxf6+ gxf6 9. Nf3 O-O-O is unclear, but must be OK for white. White can
himself escape the king to the queen-side if things become too dangerous for
him on the king-side, but
with the doubled black F pawns, black has no natural pawn break. White can
take on d4 and leave the black pawn mass ruptured and very ugly indeed and
as long as the white king does not come under direct fire immediately
through the centre, white has to be standing better there.}
8... Nxd5
{Making life for the light-squared bishop rather awkward. Again, simple
development should be absolutely fine for black.
8... Be7 9. Nxe7 Qxe7 10. h3 is at least equal for black as the pin on the
f6 knight cannot be maintained and the knight on d4 is keeping things
together.}
9. cxd5 Bg4
10. f3 Bh5
11. Bh3?!
{Activating the bishop, but neglecting development. Indeed, this only drives
the black queen to a more active square.
Fundamentally, white needs to rid himself of that annoying knight on d4,
which is tactically holding black ahead. With that knight's disappearance,
white can play Ne2 and O-O in relative comfort.
11. Be3 c5 12. Bxd4 cxd4 and the question arrives to whether white has a
"good knight VS bad bishop" game, where the bishop on e7 is buried.}
11... Qb5
{Bringing the black queen to exert pressure on the white weaknesses. White's
lack of development is now making his position worse. White is probably
struggling now. B2, d3 and now, f3 have become very weak and not all of the
positional weaknesses can be defended simultaneously.}
12. b3
{White has to resort to tactics to solve his development problems. The
black queen is active and needs to be driven away from its dominating
position by tactical means.
The B2 pawn, as in many openings, can be poisonous.
12. a4 is a tactical shot that drives the queen to a dark-square and ensures
that the a2 pawn is not vulnerable after any Qxb2 pawn grabs.
The immediate 12... Qxb2? allows 13. Rb1 when b7 is targeted. 13... Nc2??
loses to 14. Kd2! and any other black queen move allows Rxb7 with counter
play. So, 12... Qc5 13. Rc1 Qb6 is clearly better for black, but white is
not out of it entirely.}
12... h6
{Forcing the bishop back to a square where it wants to go.
Unless PR3 moves have a specific strategic purpose, they should be avoided!
Black wants to open up the centre now and rid himself of the backward
C-pawn.
12... c6 is the only logical move in the position as it is active and gets
on with the black strategy. The bishop on g5 is biting on thin air and need
not be pestered.
After 12... c6, white has a lot of problems to solve.}
13. Be3 Be7
{Strangely enough, black should concentrate on the positional value of his
knight on d4 now and not so worry about development! The positional threat
of capturing on d4 needs to be dealt with. Having driven the dark-squared
bishop back to e3, black now needs to waste time in dealing with the
prospect of the knight's capture.}
14. Rc1
{A logical move, but white should be thinking about the long term plan now.
The knight on d4 is simply too dominating. It's capture has to be the
critical strategic question.
14. Bxd4 Qb4+ 15. Kf1 Qxd4
[15... exd4 16. Rc1 is not so good for black]
and black has a lot of control of the dark-squares, but it is going to take
a
long time before his dark-squared bishop comes to life.}
14... c5
{Black misses the chance to exchange his worse piece!
14... Bg5 15. Bxg5 hxg5 16. Kf1 is very miserable for white. Note that Rxc7
is never a threat due to a Qa5+ tactic picking it off.}
15. dxc6 Nxc6
{Inconsistent. Black needs to control the centre and maintain that knight on
d4. If white wishes to rid himself off it, then, he will have to give up his
precious dark-squared bishop.
15... bxc6 16. Bxd4 exd4 17. Qc2 is just better for black.}
16. Kf2?
{A miserable move to have to make and one that a player should know
instinctively that it is wrong.
With the release of the pressure on f3, white has to look to develop his
knight on g1 as fast as possible.
Naturally, the tactics have to be calculated carefully but due to black not
having castled, white can just about get away with it.
16. Ne2 Bxf3 17. Nc3 Bxd1 18. Nxb5 and white wins material due to Nc7+
tactics.
If this variation works, then white should be able to play Nc3 next move,
defending the f3 square in the process, or could simply castle and if
permitted, bring the king's knight via c3 into d5 - again the reason why
15... bxc6 had to be better.}
16... O-O
17. Ne2 Nb4
{Targeting the weak light-squares.
Is there a slightly more subtle route to go via 17... Qa6 with ideas of a
break with d6-d5 and then Nb4 ideas? The black queen is going to be hit in
any case and it's best square seems to be a6, so why not put it there
straight away?}
18. Rc4
{White had to start getting very desperate now. The D3 pawn had to drop and
it is tactics again that have to salvage white's horrible position.
18. Nc3 Qa6 is the cool response as 18... Nxd3+ 19. Kg1 Qa6 20. Bf1 does not
help black as the knight on d3 is falling. Then 19 Bf1 is cringe-worthy, but
a steal on a2 is then thwart with danger due to Ra1 pins or Nxa2 Qxa2 and
Ra1 traps.}
18... Nxa2
{A pawn grab which complicates matters considerably. Black should be
striving for a break d6-d5 as fast as possible now but it's getting
complicated. The knight on a2 can become very short of squares.}
19. Bd2?
{As this does not trap the knight, there is no reason why the dark-squares
around the white king should be left any weaker than what they are already.
19. Ra4 certainly does put the question to the knight on a2 and finding the
tactics to save it would have been challenging for black. 19. Ra4 Nb4 20.
Nc3 would force black to find 20... Qc6 21. Rxb4 Qxc3 22. Qd2 when white may
hope to hold.}
19... a5
20. Qb1 Nb4
{Black can distract white here and should certainly do so, to ensure that he
can recapture on b4 with the bishop by the move 20.. d5. The pawn itself
does not matter at all, but the opening up of the dark-squared bishop on e7
is essential. Black should be able to gather up the white D pawns easily
enough and ought not be flustered by the material invested in opening up the
position.}
21. Rhc1
{White should definitely take the opportunity now to capture on b4 and
render black's extra pawn a doubled one. It would then be difficult to see a
clear path to victory.
21. Bxb4 axb4 22. d4 is an ambitious try and black might have annoying
counter-breaks with 22... d5 but at least things are clearing up a bit for
white.
22. d4 is obviously not strictly necessary.}
21... Bd8
{Retreating, when only forwards will now do. When on top, maintain the
initiative and stride forwards and not seek tactics that involve retreats to
the back-rank.
21.. d5 is the only move on the board to be considered. The breaking up of
the position has to be black's sole objective, whether it loses a pawn, two,
or not.
21... d5 22. Bxb4 Bxb4 23. exd5 is just horrific for white.}
22. Nc3
{Securing up the d5 post. This shows that d5 had to be played at all costs
by black as now white may have hopes of holding, slim as they are.}
22... Qa6
23. Bd7
{Another very obscure move to make and once again, instinct determines that
it cannot be strategically correct. Bb5 is never realistically ever going
to trap the black queen and in the meantime, as the bishop is being
distracted on the queen-side, the white vulnerable king is just
going to be mowed down relentlessly
A player has to consider, when facing obscure moves like this, how to
react in the most active, energetic way, if the immediate tactics (such as
BB5) clearly do not work.}
23... Bb6+
{Putting the bishop on a better square, but not seeking the most active
response. White's king is weak and needs to be opened up as fast as
possible. The only realistic pawn break now is f7-f5, so that has to be
checked out first.
23... f5 24. Be6+ Bf7 25. Bxf7+ Rxf7 is just fine for black as fxe4 is
coming very shortly.
Now, if white takes this with either e4xf5 or Bxf5, then Bf7 should be good
enough to snaffle an exchange on c4 or in the case of e4xf5, a break with
d6-d5 seems pretty devastating.
Black need not calculate too far in these type of positions, as the pawn
breaks have to be good for him, since the white pieces are so uncoordinated
and the white king open to the elements, and critically, momentum,
initiative and the attack!}
24. Kg2 Rad8
25. Bf5 Ba7
{Since f7-f5 has been thwarted, black should aim to get the F-file open as
fast as possible. 25... Bg6 26. Bxg6 fxg6 27. Rf1 seems best for black.}
26. Nd5 Nxd5
27. exd5 Qb6
28. Rf1 Qb5
29. Ra4 b6?
{Not a move you want to be playing, in all honesty! 29... Bb6 is solid and
good. The white pawns are weak enough, that black should be able to pick
them off at will. There is little left for white after 29... Bb6 and a
resignation cannot be far away. However, with the black dark-squared bishop
shut out, white has a chance to go desperation-hacking!}
30. Rc4?
{30. Rh4! and white is suddenly generating some threats of his own. The
black king-side may suddenly become very weak indeed.
If 30... Bg6 31. d4! Qxd5 32. Bxh6! and white's back in the game, and
Stands better probably!}
30... Qxd5
31. Be4
{It's hard to suggest any continuations now. Black's queen is now able to
scuttle across to the king-side for any defence against a last-minute dirty
hack. Once black is able to re-activate his dark-squared bishop, the writing
will be on the wall for white.}
31... Qe6
32. Bc6
{White's position is hopeless. He could resign quite happily now with a
clear conscience.}
32... Bg6
{Naturally, 32... d5 is more accurate, but no doubt, both players were
becoming short in the time scramble to reach move 36.}
33. Be4 f5
{It's rather curious how black has persistently rejected the d6-d5 thrust
throughout the game. Here it just wins material without any fuss. Again,
time-pressure must have been a factor.}
34. Bc6 d5
{At last!}
35. Rc3 e4
36. fxe4 fxe4
37. Qe1Rxf1
38. Kxf1 Qh3+
39. Kg1 b5+
40. Be3 d4
41. Bxe4 Bxe4
42. dxe4 dxe3
{The key point to remember from this encounter is that once you have the
momentum, you must retain it at all costs and push forwards and onwards,
seeking those pawn-breaks, especially through the centre, and maintain the
initiative, even at the cost of a pawn, or two!}
43. 0-1
Chris Ross
April 2011
