Skype coaching session, 01 May 2016.
Recordings of some previous coaching sessions can be found at:
http://www.open-aurec.com/Skype/PaulBenson/PaulBenson.htm
The following game was examined, the game 50 moves) is given with annotations
and then again without annotations.
Paul Benson.
* * *
Annotated game.
White: D. Arutyunova, 2362.
Black: G. Breslavska, 2176.
Event: Ukrainian Womens Championship, Odessa 2006.
Result: 1-0 in 50 moves.
Opening: Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation, B99.
1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 a6
6. Bg5 e6
7. f4 Nbd7
8. Qf3 Qc7
9. O-O-O Be7
10. Bd3 b5
11. Rhe1 Bb7
12. Nd5 Nxd5
13. exd5 Bxg5
14. Rxe6+ Be7
| Varying from 14. ... fxe6, as in the previous coaching game (24 April 2016)
of, Velimirovic - Ljubojevic, Yugoslav Championship 1972, 1-0 in 27 moves. ||
15. Rde1
| Instead, 15. Nf5, seems to give black some problems. Here are some sample
lines:
(A): 15. fxe6, leads to an pleasing finish with, 16. Nxg7+ Kf7 17. Nxe6 Qa5 18.
Qh5+ Kg8 19. Qg4+ Kf7 20. Qg7+ Ke8. Now white can finish matters with either a
sacrifice of queen or bishop with, 21. Qg6+ hxg6 22. Bxg6+ mate, or, 21. Bg6+
hxg6 22. Qxg6+ mate. Each line producing a mate where the trapped black king is
hindered by his own minor pieces.
(B): 15. ... g6 16. Rxe7+ Kf8 17. Rde1 gxf5 18. Qh5, is overwhelming. If, 18.
... Ne5 19. Qh6+, and mate on g7 next move.
(C): 15. ... g6 16. Rxe7+ Kd8 17. Rde1 gxf5 18. Bxf5, with pressure on the
black d7 knight which is pinned to the black queen. If black tries, 18. ...
Bc8, then, 19. Qg4, increases the pressure against the d7 knight, as well as
threatening to invade with, 20. Qg7, and the black h8 rook is in deep trouble.
||
15. ... Ne5
| Offering a return of material to interfere with the power of the doubled
withe rooks up the e-file. White must not become scared about being down in
material, remember: Initiative over material. ||
16. Rxe7+ Qxe7
17. fxe5 O-O-O
| Instead, 17. ... O-O, black must allow for some murky tactics involving, 18.
Bxh7+ Kxh7 19. Qh5+ Kg8 20. Nf5 Qd7 21. exd6, and white is threatening, 22.
Ne7+ mate. If black tries to stop this with, 21. ... Rfe8, then, 22. Ne7+ Rxe7
23. Rxe7, and white is doubly attacking the black f7 pawn and the black queen.
Interfering with the attack against the f7 pawn with, 23. ... g6, fails to, 24.
Qf3, when black only has, 24. ... Qf5, to avoid either a mating assault on the
f7 pawn or loss of the queen. Then simply, 25. Qxf5 gxf5 26. Rxb7, and white
has 3 extra pawns in an easily won rook and pawn ending.
Instead after, 17. ... O-O 18. Bxh7+ Kxh7 19. Qh5+ Kg8 20. Nf5, black might
vary with, 20. ... Qd8, but after, 21. exd6
Re8 22. Rxe8+ Qxe8 23. Ne7+, black must give up the queen for the white knight
or accept, 23. ... Kf8 24. Qh8+ mate. ||
18. Qg4+
| Escaping the x-ray attack of the black b7 bishop and also giving white the
option of, Qxg7, at some point depending on how black defends. ||
18. ... Kb8
| Only 18 moves each and the game has undergone some curious twists. White
began by trying to blast black off the board with tactics in the centre. Black
countered this by offering / letting go of some of the gained material to
achieve king safety. White is still an exchange down but take a look at where
the extra black material resides - the black rook is skulking on the h8 square.
It is not yet influencing the position and it is not going to be given the
opportunity to do so either. This in effect means that white is a piece up
until that black h8 rook joins in. Initiative over material, anyone? ||
19. Nf5 Qc7
| Black plans active play with the queen. Instead, 19. ... Qd7 20. e6, needed
some calculation. If then black tries, 20. ... fxe6 21. dxe6, and the white
e-pawn would be very strong. White will have, Nxg7, controlling the promotion
e8 square at some point. ||
20. Nxd6
| Sometimes one can have both the initiative and the material. This white
knight is unchallengeable, unless black is prepared to give up an exchange to
eliminate it, not particularly desirable considering the extra white pawns. ||
20. ... Qa5
| Black chooses to fight. The queen has forked the undefended white e1 rook and
a2 pawn. However, she has abandoned the f7 pawn to a potential knight capture
which will regain an exchange. Initiative over material again.
Perhaps time for a little reminder? Initiative over material is an excellent
concept, but it is only a concept and not a rule. Playing actively needs some
analysis to back it up. Simply throwing some pieces about the board with no
concern for the safety of others is likely to lead to more lost positions than
won ones. The concept should encourage searches for opportunities to play
actively, but if the subsequent analysis does not yield gains, then the
initiative is not worth having.
White in the game to play and show black that fighting can occur across the
entire board. Clue: Expect the unexpected here. ||
21. b4
| The advance of the b-pawn keeps an extra queenside pawn, useful should black
try a minority queenside charge. Instead any move which takes time to save the
e1 rook allows, 21. ... Qxa2, likely to be followed by, Qa1+, and, Qxb2. ||
21. ... Qa3+
22. Kd2
| The white king is strongly advised to run into the centre for safety.
Instead, 22. Kb1 Bxd5, with serious problems for white concerning the a2 pawn,
not to mention the king. Why give the opponent such chances? ||
22. ... a5
| Black commits to the attack. There was also, 22. ... Bxd5, to be considered.
Instead defending with, 22. ... Rhf8, saves a possible loss of an exchange but
does nothing to solve how to make use of that advantage, in effect no
initiative for the material. ||
23. Nxf7
| So, what has happened to our philosophy: "Initiative over material"? It is
fine and well, just relaxing in our strategic concepts file ready for our next
game. There comes a point in a game when regaining material is actually reaping
the rewards as a return for all the previous imagination and hard work. ||
23. ... axb4
| Black accepts that one of the rooks is lost and attempts to ensure there will
be no pawns remaining on the queenside. This is very important, which is
another way of telling us that white must find a means of keeping at least one
pawn on the queenside. ||
24. Nxh8 Qc3+
25. Ke2 Qxe5+
26. Qe4 Qxd5
27. Qxd5 Bxd5
| Neat. Black has consumed the dangerous white central pawns and also prevented
the knight on h8 from escaping via the f7 square. While simplification has
occurred, there are still some subtleties remaining to test both players. The
material might be equal again, but the pawn weaknesses are not equal.
The possibility of a bishop and wrong rook's pawn ending, referred to by Hans
Kmoch as: "The Impotent Pair", should now be entering the calculations of both
players.
White has a winning advantage here, and must find the only move to keep it. ||
28. Rb1
| White ensures there will remain a pawn on the queenside. Instead, 28. g3 Bxa2
29. Ra1 b3 30. cxb3 Bxb3, and black seems to have sufficient resources to draw,
though some tricky manoeuvring with the bishop might be needed in the short
term before the white h8 knight is captured. White must avoid lines such as,
28. g3 Bxa2 29. Ra1 b3 30. Nf7, missing the danger over on the queenside as,
30. ... Re8+ 31. Kd2 b2, and black is threatening both, bxa1=Q, and, b1=Q,
winning in each case. ||
28. ... Rxh8
| Perhaps a brief discussion on the concept: The Impotent Pair might prove
useful here? This is the combination of a pawn on a rook's file with the bishop
located on that side of the board at the start of the game. This could be
alternately expressed as a rook's pawn combined with a bishop unable to take
control of the promotion square. There are 4 such Impotent Pairs as follows,
home square for the bishop is given in brackets:
White dark square bishop (c1) plus the a-pawn.
White light square bishop (f1) plus the h-pawn.
Black light square bishop (c8) plus the a-pawn.
Black dark square bishop (f8) plus the h-pawn.
This could be also expressed as a queen's bishop with the a-pawn or the king's
bishop with the h-pawn.
There is an important final factor needed to create the Impotent Pair, that is
the location of the defending king on the promotion square. Once the defending
king reaches the appropriate corner square then there is no method for the
opposing king, bishop and pawn to push him out. You might wish to take a little
time to prove this to yourself. The Impotent Pair is a paradox to common sense.
Surely an extra piece and pawn should be able to promote the pawn? Generally
speaking, yes. But these impotent pairings are some of the rare exceptions
which make chess such a joy, or perhaps not, if you happen to be left at the
end of the game with such an Impotent Pair. ||
29. Rxb4 Bxa2
| Instead, 29. ... Bxg2 30. Rxb5+, white has two queenside passed pawns which
will cause black more problems than the mobile black kingside pawn majority.
And oh yes, white would have the Potent Pair, that is the light square bishop
and the a-pawn. ||
30. Rxb5+
| White is a solid pawn up, now it is a test of technique where club players
feel it is won, but might struggle to convert into a full point. Endgame study
claims rewards for all the opening preparation and middlegame imagination. ||
30. ... Kc7
31. c4
| Trapping the black a2 bishop. It is not automatically lost, black can bring
the h8 rook across to a8 to defend it, however the a2 bishop cannot escape.
This gives white time to activate the king while the black pieces remain
inactive. ||
31. ... Ra8
32. Kd2 Ra4
| Instead, 32. ... Ra3 33. Bxh7, white wins another pawn. Black dare not play,
33. ... Bxc4 34. Rc5+, as white wins the black bishop and black will not have a
sensible means to capture the white g2 pawn, inflicting white with a variant of
the Impotent Pair. ||
33. Kc3 Ra3+
34. Kd4 h6
35. Be4
| Protecting the g2 pawn and threatening 36. Rb7+, winning the black g7 pawn.
Undesirable as it is, black must trade down into a lost bishop and pawns
ending. ||
35. ... Rb3
| Instead, 35. ... Ra7, would be very passive. White can regroup with, Bd5,
Rc5+, and, Rc6, which then allows the white king to infiltrate with, Kc5, and
depending on where the black king is located to infiltrate further with either,
Kd6, or, Kb6. ||
36. Rxb3 Bxb3
| If the white king can invade the kingside and win both black pawns then the
ending is a simple white win, irrespective of the queenside. So black must use
the king to mirror any hints at the white king moving in that direction. ||
37. Bd5
| The white bishop is happy to sit and defend both the c4 and g2 pawns while
the king makes progress. ||
37. ... Kd7
| Instead, 37. ... Kd6, trying to block out the white king is unfortunate as,
38. c5+, and black loses the b3 bishop. ||
38. Ke5 Ke7
| White needs to stretch black. By moving the king towards the kingside this
drags the black king along with him, which in turn leaves the c-pawn free to
advance. ||
39. c5 Ba4
40. c6 Bb5
| Black keeps the bishop as active as possible, in the hope of white
miscalculating and losing the g2 pawn. Should that unlikely event occur then
black need only find a means to give up the bishop for the passed white c-pawn,
and the Impotent pair are born for white. ||
41. Kf5 Bd3+
42. Be4 g6+
| A last desperate try to confuse matters. ||
43. Ke5
| Clearly, 43. Kxg6 Bxe4+ 44. Kxh6 Bxg2, leading to a draw is not in mind for
white. Now the white king is back on e5, just what has the feinting toward the
black kingside pawns achieved? Quite a lot. When the pawns were on g7 and h6
they were not vulnerable to the white bishop and any attempts to infiltrate by
the white king could be mirrored by the black king. Now the black kingside
pawns have been induced to advance a little, they become vulnerable, to either
the white bishop or the white king moving sideways and the black king unable to
give protection to the newly-vulnerable pawns. ||
43. ... Bf1
44. g3
| White at last safeguards the mixed-metaphorical, "Trump Card", of the g-pawn.
Now black should not have any means of eliminating the g-pawn. Should the black
h-pawn advance as far as the h4 square, white will just sit tight and ignore
it. Any trade by black on the g3 pawn will leave white with a pawn on the
g-file, and once white wins the black bishop by promotion of the c-pawn, it is
a win. White must under no circumstances ever capture, gxh4, even if it wins a
pawn in the process. If a single pawn on the h-file with a light square bishop
is an Impotent Pair, then having a pair of pawns on the h-file will be doubly
impotent and even more frustrating. ||
44. ... Bb5
45. Kd5 g5
46. Bf5
| Taking control of two important light squares, c8 and d7. The d7 square will
be unguarded once the c6 pawn advances, so the bishop on f5 prevents the black
king from moving to d7 and attacking the advancing c-pawn from the side. ||
46. ... h5
| Instead, 46. ... Kd8 47. Kd6 Ba6 48. c7+ Ke8 49. c8=Q Bxc8 50. Bxc8, white
has won a piece and black has not achieved an Impotent Pair kingside pawn
formation. ||
47. c7 Ba6
48. c8=Q Bxc8
49. Bxc8 h4
| Setting one last trap. ||
50. Ke5
Black resigns, 1-0
| Repetition of a concept can do no harm. White must avoid, 50. gxh4 gxh4,
creating the Impotent Pair of light square bishop and a h-pawn. The white
bishop cannot control the promotion square and consequently once the black king
arrives on the h8 square it will be impossible to dislodge him. ||
* * *
## Unannotated game.
White: D. Arutyunova, 2362.
Black: G. Breslavska, 2176.
Event: Ukrainian Womens Championship, Odessa 2006.
Result: 1-0 in 50 moves.
Opening: Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation, B99.
1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 a6
6. Bg5 e6
7. f4 Nbd7
8. Qf3 Qc7
9. O-O-O Be7
10. Bd3 b5
11. Rhe1 Bb7
12. Nd5 Nxd5
13. exd5 Bxg5
14. Rxe6+ Be7
15. Rde1 Ne5
16. Rxe7+ Qxe7
17. fxe5 O-O-O
18. Qg4+ Kb8
19. Nf5 Qc7
20. Nxd6 Qa5
21. b4 Qa3+
22. Kd2 a5
23. Nxf7 axb4
24. Nxh8 Qc3+
25. Ke2 Qxe5+
26. Qe4 Qxd5
27. Qxd5 Bxd5
28. Rb1 Rxh8
29. Rxb4 Bxa2
30. Rxb5+ Kc7
31. c4 Ra8
32. Kd2 Ra4
33. Kc3 Ra3+
34. Kd4 h6
35. Be4 Rb3
36. Rxb3 Bxb3
37. Bd5 Kd7
38. Ke5 Ke7
39. c5 Ba4
40. c6 Bb5
41. Kf5 Bd3+
42. Be4 g6+
43. Ke5 Bf1
44. g3 Bb5
45. Kd5 g5
46. Bf5 h5
47. c7 Ba6
48. c8=Q Bxc8
49. Bxc8 h4
50. Ke5
Black resigns, 1-0
* * *
