Skype coaching session, 08 March 2020.
Note: Daylight saving time might be in operation in your time zone, check your
calendar to be certain when 14:00 UTC occurs for you.
2 coaching sessions are planned for March on Sunday: 22, at 14:00 UTC, which is
14:00 GMT.
And Sunday: 29, at 14:00 UTC, which is 15:00 BST.
The game discussed (39 moves) is given below with annotations and without
annotations.
Re-structuring of the sessions now offers the option for guests to bring their
own games for group discussion.
Recordings of some previous coaching sessions can be found at:
http://www.open-aurec.com/Skype/PaulBenson/PaulBenson.htm
Paul Benson.
* * *
Annotated Game.
White: S. Collins, 2387.
Black: S. Williams, 2427.
Event: 4NCL (West Bromwich, England) 2004.
Result: 1-0 in 39 moves.
Opening: Borg Defence, B00.
| Editorial.
What to do when the opponent springs a surprise opening move?
Mentality #1: This is bordering on an insult, there is no way this game is
going to be a draw, now just how do we smash it to bits?
This is exactly what the opponent is hoping for, an annoyed player trying far
to hard to hand out punishment.
Mentality #2: This is odd, the Grand Masters do not use this very often, just
take a calm approach, play sensible moves and there should be nothing wrong
with my position.
And this is just what the player of the offbeat system does not want.
You choose.
||
1. e4 g5
2. d4 h6
3. Nc3 Bg7
4. Be3 d6
5. Qd2
| White has adopted a set-up often used against the Modern Defence, quite
sensible as the black system is essentially a Modern with an expansion of the
kingside pawns.
There is however a dramatic difference.
With black pawns on h7 and g6, as in the Modern, white is planning an eventual,
Bh6, when appropriate, but here this plan is not possible.
So has white made a mistake by selecting a system where the main aim is
unplayable?
Not really.
Instead just think of white putting pieces on good squares, waiting for black
to make commitment with the minor pieces and perhaps a few pawns, and then plan
against that black set-up.
And for those interested, in the limited database referenced for these
sessions, this game is now unique, no other games have reached this position.
||
5. ... Nc6
| Many perfectly playable moves here, it is impossible to state some moves are
superior to others.
Black should be thinking of a development plan which permits entry to the
middlegame with an option for activity somewhere.
The development of the b8 knight on c6 has virtually ruled out a usual black
counter-plan involving, pawn c5, so where is the black activity to be found?
||
6. O-O-O a6
| A doubler.
Firstly, any thoughts of white, Bb5, are ruled out.
Secondly, black has options of, pawn b5, initiating queenside activity if
thought appropriate.
A different, and clearly untested plan, could be, Bd7 - pawn e6 - Qe7 - O-O-O,
then think of breaking with, pawn f5.
White to play must formulate a plan of kingside development, but what, and why?
||
7. Nge2
| White plans, Ng3, probing at the tender h5 and f5 squares while
over-protecting the e4 pawn.
Sometimes spending time to get in your retaliatory defence first does no harm.
||
7. ... b5
| Attacking on both flanks needs careful handling.
The usual response is to play for a central assault, white decides the general
advice is worth following.
||
8. f4
| With options of winning a pawn, depending on how black responds.
||
8. ... Nf6
| The tactics are beginning to emerge.
Black is willing to lose a pawn on g5, suspicion levels should be rising as to
why.
||
9. fxg5 hxg5
10. Ng3
| Over-protecting the white e4 pawn, black was threatening, pawn b4, pushing
the c3 knight way leaving the e4 pawn defenceless to the black threat of, Nxe4.
Unsurprisingly, greed costs white heavily, 10. Bxg5 b4 11. Nd5 Nxe4 12. Qe3
Nxg5, white is now a piece down, regaining it runs into, 13. Qxg5 Bh6, a royal
skewer, white would be losing queen for a bishop.
||
10. ... Ng4
| A tripler.
Firstly, a double-attack is placed on the white h2 pawn.
Secondly, the white e3 bishop is threatened, black would find trading g4 knight
for bishop desirable in this open position.
Thirdly, the black g7 bishop is opened up for action on the h8 - a1 diagonal.
||
11. Bg1
| A doubler.
Firstly, the h2 pawn is now doubly-protected.
Secondly, a guard is kept on the influential white d4 pawn, instead, 11. Bxg5
Nxd4, permits a central pawn to be eliminated for no gain.
||
11. ... b4
Playing on both flanks, this style of play comes with difficulties, careful
judgement is required to play in this manner.
Black is seeking a semi-open file on the queenside, fine, but this means the
centre is receiving little attention.
Also black has 4 units still unmoved just sitting on their original squares.
Again, this style of play is possible, but is not recommended to all, if you
have doubts of your tactical awareness then stick to that advice to develop
pieces quickly.
||
12. Nd5 e6
| Almost insisting white take the offered b4 pawn.
||
13. Nxb4
| Welcome to an interesting, "Battle Of Optimists".
White is saying: "I accept your pawn, shall cope with whatever activity you can
generate, then neutralise that activity, and finally enter the endgame a pawn
up."
Black is saying: "Take my pawn, I shall generate activity, you will not cope
with it, I shall get a material profit from my generosity, either mating you or
more likely converting my advantage in the endgame."
Someone somewhere is going to be disappointed, come back in about 25 moves to
find out which, "Optimist", judged it better.
||
13. ... Nxb4
14. Qxb4 Qf6
| With ideas of, Nf2, forking the white rooks, forcing white, Bxf2, and black
captures, Qxf2, gaining the bishop pair in an open position.
||
15. Be2
| Attacking the undefended black g4 knight, fine, but how does this prevent the
black, Nf2, idea?
||
15. ... Qf4+
| The black forking, 15. ... Nf2, is met by, 16. Rf1, pinning and winning the
straying black f2 knight, the best black would have is, 16. ... Qxd4 17. Qxd4
Bxd4 18. Bxf2, and black is a piece down.
Advancing with, 15. ... Qf4, protects the g4 knight but invites the white queen
to challenge in reply, and being a pawn down, black surely does not wish to
encourage an exchange of queens?
Black has found an interesting sequence, we are entering that vague realm of
respective, "Tactical Event Horizons".
Instead, 15. ... Nh6, retreating hardly justifies the loss of a pawn, there
must be activity or white will consolidate then slowly push black aside.
Besides which, 15. ... Nh6 16. Nh5 Qg6 17. Nxg7 Qxg7, white has the bishop pair
in an open position, and as some might say: "White has both the pawn and the
compensation."
||
16. Qd2 f5
| The plan begins to show itself, black must be anticipating the game
continuation up to move 24, yes, that is another 9 moves ahead of the checking,
Qf4+, advance.
Surely this cannot be the case?
Well, the game line is quite tactical, expect wood-chopping on a large scale,
in fact 10 units are about to be removed from play, and after all that, there
are still tactical considerations in the air.
Hence the phrase, "Tactical Event Horizons", is very appropriate here as each
player is put to the mutual test of exploring down the mainline.
White to play can start the tactics, fine, but sometimes it is better to keep
winding up the tension.
||
17. Rf1
| This white rook prod on the black queen is the spark for the tactics, in
essence the black queen has nowhere to go, she is forced to trade, white has
got the rook onto the f-file for free.
||
17. ... Qxd2+
18. Kxd2 Nf6
| The entire tactical sequence depends on black playing aggressively.
Instead defending with, 18. ... Nh6, avoids the tactics, fine, but simply
allows white to unravel, consolidate, then slowly improve the position until
something begins to give.
White to play has a triple-attack on the doubly-defended black f5 pawn...
||
19. exf5 exf5
20. Nxf5
| White wins another pawn with a tempo-attack on the unprotected black g7
bishop.
||
20. ... Ne4+
| A key move in the black idea.
If you are wondering about, 20. ... Bxf5, solving the problem of the attack on
the g7 bishop, do not worry, the black 20th and 21st game moves can be
transposed without altering the complete move sequence.
||
21. Kd3 Bxf5
22. Rxf5
| Black to play had to envisage the next move when setting out on the whole
idea back on move 15.
||
22. ... Ng3
| A whole rook fork, that is neither rook can move to guard the other attacked
piece.
Note also that unmoved black h8 rook is playing a vital part in the
combination, pinning the white h2 pawn, sometimes pieces can influence the game
from their home squares.
The capture-count for the tactical sequence now stands at 7, perhaps the 3
about to depart are easy to identify?
||
23. Rxg5
| Skewering the black g-file minor pieces, black about to win a whole rook on
h1 is in return going to lose the g7 bishop.
Instead, 23. hxg3 Rxh1 the black h-file rook has been gifted much activity plus
black still has a dark square bishop in the fight.
There is also a twist yet to be revealed regarding the black h1 knight, which
will further support the white decision to eliminate the black g7 bishop.
||
23. ... Nxh1
24. Rxg7 O-O-O
| A doubler.
Firstly, the loose c7 pawn receives protection.
Secondly, the black queen's rook gets into play.
If you think such late castling is a peculiarity of this game, then please
think again.
Black deliberately chose to start activity on both flanks, leaving the king
stuck in the middle.
This strategy left white wondering which side, if any, black would castle.
So all white decisions have to be made with there being 3 eventual locations
for the black king, queenside, centre, kingside.
This uncertain final king location philosophy can occur when double-flank
expansion happens.
The previous coaching game had black castling queenside on move 17, not so
dramatic as here, but the point is hopefully made.
White to play is wondering how the black h1 knight is planning on getting back
into play.
Clue: It cannot get back without assistance from a black rook, so how could
this happen?
||
25. Rf7
| White takes the f-file, if black gets a rook on f8, the h1 knight can try to
make problems with, Nf2+, though as it happens at the moment it cannot actually
escape while the white e2 bishop covers the g4 square.
||
25. ... Rdf8
| Black must try to get a rook into the white position.
||
26. Rxf8+
| White is happy to trade off a pair of rooks, this lessens the option of the
black knight escaping, it will be for the bishop pair to prevent an invading,
Rf1, or, Re1, assisting the trapped h1 knight.
||
26. ... Rxf8
27. Bf3
| A doubler.
Firstly, the f-file is closed, no black, Rf1, annoyances.
Secondly, white now need only guard the f3 bishop with, Ke2, then the threat
of, pawn g3, will force the black knight to give itself up with, Nxg3.
White would then have a won ending, the 4 active units of king, bishop pair,
passed g-pawn, will easily outplay the defending black king plus rook.
||
27. ... Re8
| Threat, 28. ... Re1, which is not as effective as landing on f1, but could
make some difficulties for white.
||
28. Be3
| Blocking the e-file, white plans, Ke2 - pawn g3, and the black knight will
give itself up with, Nxg3, but even so the ending is a win for white.
||
28. ... Rh8
| Black must throw the rook around, hoping white will not show the necessary
technique to round up the black h1 knight, such as retreating with, 29. Bg1 Re8
30. Be3 Rh8, seeking draw by repetition.
White to play must do something about the threatened h2 pawn, right?
||
29. Ke2
| Has white overlooked the black threat to the h2 pawn?
With an Elo rating almost at International Master level this is highly
unlikely.
So why is white letting it go?
Clue: Having 1 piece trapped during a game is unfortunate, having 2 pieces
trapped during a game smacks of carelessness, right?
||
29. ... Rxh2
| Doing nothing allows white the luxury of, Kf1 - Kg1 - Kxh1.
So black takes the bait knowing full what is coming, another piece is going to
be trapped on the h-file.
||
30. Bg4+
| This important check allows the white bishop to re-locate itself to trap the
black h2 rook.
||
30. ... Kb8
31. Bh3
| The black h1 knight can release itself using the g3 square, but the black h2
rook is in danger of being caught by either an approaching white king, or with,
Bg1, if nothing changes on the kingside.
||
31. ... Ng3+
32. Kf2
| Giving black an unenviable choice.
#1. Save the rook with, Rh1 which loses the knight to white, Kxg3.
#2. Save the knight but have the trapped h2 rook attacked by white, Kg1, when
black must get something for it with, Rxh3, leading to a white bishop plus 5
pawns against black knight plus 3 pawns, white easily wins.
||
32. ... Rh1
| Black decides the only sensible option is to activate the rook, the white
queenside pawns are about to be targeted.
||
33. Kxg3 Rb1
| The alternative, 33. ... Ra1, would be met with the same white plan to secure
the queenside as produced in game.
||
34. b3 Rb2
| Hitting 2 white pawns, but only 1 need fall.
||
35. Bf5 Rxa2
36. Kf2
| Playing it safe.
The white king keeps options of moving queenside or support the advance of the
passed g2 pawn.
||
36. ... Ra5
| Black does not have a constructive plan.
Perhaps both players are short of time, so moves, any active moves, must be
flashed out in the hope the opponent might blunder.
||
37. g4 c5
38. dxc5 dxc5
39. Bd3
Black resigns, 1-0
| The white material advantage is decisive.
Combine this with black a6 and c5 pawns under fire from the white bishop pair,
tying the black a5 rook down to defence, there are no cheap tricks to be found,
resignation is the right solution.
White is also preventing any awkward black, pawn c4, pushes, trying to create
an outside passed a-pawn, as the d3 bishop captures, Bxc4,keeping the white
queenside pawn structure intact.
A sample line to demonstrate the power of the passed g-pawn supported by remote
bishops runs:
If, 39. ... Ke8 40. g5 Kf8 41. g6 Kg7 42. Bd2 Ra2 43. Bc3+ Kg8 44. Bc4+ Kf8 45.
g7+ Ke7 46. g8=Q, with a decisive material plus.
||
* * *
## Unannotated Game.
White: S. Collins, 2387.
Black: S. Williams, 2427.
Event: 4NCL (West Bromwich, England) 2004.
Result: 1-0 in 39 moves.
Opening: Borg Defence, B00.
1. e4 g5
2. d4 h6
3. Nc3 Bg7
4. Be3 d6
5. Qd2 Nc6
6. O-O-O a6
7. Nge2 b5
8. f4 Nf6
9. fxg5 hxg5
10. Ng3 Ng4
11. Bg1 b4
12. Nd5 e6
13. Nxb4 Nxb4
14. Qxb4 Qf6
15. Be2 Qf4+
16. Qd2 f5
17. Rf1 Qxd2+
18. Kxd2 Nf6
19. exf5 exf5
20. Nxf5 Ne4+
21. Kd3 Bxf5
22. Rxf5 Ng3
23. Rxg5 Nxh1
24. Rxg7 O-O-O
25. Rf7 Rdf8
26. Rxf8+ Rxf8
27. Bf3 Re8
28. Be3 Rh8
29. Ke2 Rxh2
30. Bg4+ Kb8
31. Bh3 Ng3+
32. Kf2 Rh1
33. Kxg3 Rb1
34. b3 Rb2
35. Bf5 Rxa2
36. Kf2 Ra5
37. g4 c5
38. dxc5 dxc5
39. Bd3
Black resigns, 1-0
* * *
