Skype coaching session, 20 October 2019.
Note: We approach the season where daylight saving might affect your time zone.
Forthcoming coaching session in October will be on Sunday: 27, at 14:00 UTC,
which is 14:00 GMT.
The game discussed (40 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: H. Westerinen, 2400.
Black: A. Planinc, 2450.
Event: 4th Parcetic Memorial (Sombor) 1970.
Result: 0-1 in 40 moves.
Opening: Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, C60.
| Editorial.
"Initiative Over Material", warns against taking material in the opening
instead of developing.
Fine, but sometimes as a defender there is little choice to take the offered
goodies and suffer.
Then sometimes comes the problem for the attacker of having invested once to
find the returns are not arriving and a feeling begins to rise that another
investment is demanded.
||
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 Be7
| A rare choice which is likely to transpose back into a mainline.
How should white respond to such a non-challenging move?
Just carry on playing moves which fit with the system until the game gets back
into familiar territory.
Do not try to refute it, black here has done nothing wrong, it is just a
commitment of a piece which has been developed earlier than normal.
||
4. O-O Nf6
| As anticipated, black steers the game back into a mainline, this is now the
Berlin Defence.
||
5. Nc3
| The most popular choice.
Less popular but perfectly acceptable here for white are, 5. Re1, 5. d4, 5.
Qe2.
Does placing a knight on c3 significantly influence future options for white?
Perhaps so, perhaps not.
In many systems of the Ruy Lopez black expands on the queenside with, pawn a6,
then, pawn b5, and white responds with, Ba4, and, Bb3.
White then produces a doubler with, pawn c3, which supports a possible pawn d4
break, while vacating the c2 square for the light square b3 bishop.
Clearly having committed a knight to c3 this white re-grouping of placing a
bishop on c2 is ruled out.
However this all assumes that black today is interested in expanding with, pawn
a6, and, pawn b5.
Black to play now breaks that, "Beginner's Rule".
||
5. ... Nd4
| By far the most popular move here is, 5. ... d6, stabilising the black e5
pawn.
This bold black knight advance maybe a psychological ploy, designed to draw
white into thinking there must be a refutation just waiting to be found.
Such strategy by black needs careful consideration, white has a slight lead in
development plus the black king is still in the centre.
||
6. Nxd4
| White decides to mix it up.
Instead after, 6. Nxe5 Nxb5 7. Nxb5 Nxe4, black has gained the bishop pair
without any structural weaknesses in the position.
Retreating with either, 6. Ba4, or, 6. Bc4, keep the tension but does not put
any pressure on black to justify the knight advance to d4.
||
6. ... exd4
| White to play must keep responding actively.
||
7. e5
| Just because a unit is attacked does not force it to move.
Instead, 7. Ne2 Nxe4 8. Nxd4, has unnecessarily released the central tension.
||
7. ... dxc3
| Instead, 7. ... Ng8 8. Ne4, leaves black wondering how to find harmonious
development.
||
8. exf6
| And if there is a prize for the least number of moves to reach a position
without any knights then this game might win it.
||
8. ... Bxf6
| Pawn-snatching needs careful consideration, perhaps wisdom from 1912 is on
offer?
W. H. Gunston - A. W. E. Louis, BCF Championship Major Open (Richmond) 1912,
witnessed lively play from white:
8. ... cxb2 9. Bxb2 Bxf6 10. Re1+ Kf8 11. Ba3+ Kg8 12. Re3 h6
13. Qe2 Kh7 14. Bd3+ g6 15. Re1 d5 16. Be7 Bxe7 17. Rxe7 Rf8
18. Qh5 Qd6 19. h4 Kg7 20. Qf3 h5 21. R1e5 c6 22. Bxg6 Bg4
23. Qf4 Be6 24. Qg5 Rg8 25. R5xe6 Qxe6 26. Bxf7+ Kf8 27. Qxg8+ Kxe7
28. Bxe6 Rxg8 29. Bxg8 1-0.
And the unanswered question: Could black have further snatched with, 12. ...
Bxa1 13. Qxa1, and survived?
Aging bio-organic analytical engine is not even going to try, to answer it.
Instead a simple scan of the board after the exchange is grabbed reveals:
White, "Active Unit Count" = 4, Black, "Active Unit Count" = 0, enough said?
||
9. Re1+
| In the early phases of the game rooks belong on open files, even better if
they can do so with a check.
||
9. ... Be7
| Walking into an uncomfortable pin, but shuffling sideways is equally
unenjoyable.
Instead, 9. ... Kf8 10. dxc3, and white will easily complete development, black
will need a further 2 moves to activate the h8 rook, and then the queenside
must be developed, white should get a strong grip on the game with all these
plusses in development.
||
10. Qe2
| Preventing the black king from castling, he must now remain in the centre
until the e-file is blocked with the light square c8 bishop playing, Be6.
||
10. ... c6
| Setting the much-needed black defensive development plan in motion.
||
11. dxc3
| White adopts the attitude: "Initiative Over Material", and offers the b5
bishop.
Instead, 11. Bd3 d5 12. dxc3 Be6 13. f4 O-O, black is fine, note that now, 14.
f5, does not catch a black piece on the e-file as, 14. ... Bc5+ 15. Kh1 Bd7,
black is ready to challenge for control of the e-file.
A speedier white try might be:
(A). If, 11. Bd3 d5 12. f4 O-O 13. Qxe7 cxb2 14. Qxd8 bxa1=Q 15. Re8 Qxc1+ 16.
Kf2 Qa3, black has won a rook and can next unravel with, pawn b5, and, Bb7.
(B). Or if, 11. Bd3 d5 12. f4 O-O 13. Qxe7 cxb2 14. Bxb2 Qb6+ 15. Kh1 Qxb2,
black is a pawn up but the kingside is far from secure, the white queen and a
rook must find some good prodding and probing points soon.
||
11. ... cxb5
| Black accepts the offer, as if there was actually any choice.
Instead, 11. ... f6, intending, Kf7 - pawn d5 - Bd6, is cumbersome but might
eventually lead to a safe unravelling.
Taking the material forces white to prove the sacrifice is correct.
||
12. Bg5
| Hitting the pinned, and therefore immobilised, black e7 bishop for a 3rd
time.
But surely black can interfere with this latest attack?
||
12. ... f6
| It is too late to think of returning the booty.
Instead, 12. ... O-O 13. Bxe7, forks the black d8 queen and f8 rook, white
would be picking up an exchange.
White to play, already a piece down with another en prise, must have a good
idea in mind, but what?
||
13. Bxf6
| In for a penny, in for a pound, right?
Anything else allows black, Kf7, escaping the e-file pressure, after which some
catch-up development should slowly turn the position to favour black.
||
13. ... gxf6
| So white has given up the bishop pair, quite literally, for the gain of a
doubled c-pawn and a few gains of a positional nature.
But what positional gains can be worth a pair of bishops?
||
14. Qh5+
| Aha, white has a queen check because of the disrupted black kingside pawn
formation.
But is this really worth those departed bishops?
Wrong question.
Instead of thinking in terms of material losses,try considering all the plusses
for white in the position.
(A). White development using pawn count = 14, black development using pawn
count = 3.
(B). White ease of further development is high, black ease of further
development is very low.
(C). White king safety is very high, black king safety is questionable.
Of course these factors will not remain static, white must make full use of the
advantages before black gets sufficient development to repulse the active white
units.
||
14. ... Kf8
15. Qh6+
| White tries a little prodding and probing, the black king has 3 replies of
differing value.
||
15. ... Kf7
| The black king had a difficult choice to make, other ideas run:
(A). If, 15. ... Ke8, and if nerves are getting to white there is, 16. Qh5 Kf8
17. Qh6+, asking black if 3-fold repetition is an option?
(B). Or if, 15. ... Ke8 16. Re3 Rf8 17. Qxh7 d5 18. Rae1 Rf7 19. Qg8+ Rf8 20.
Qg6+ Rf7 21. h4 Kf8 22. h5 Rg7 23. Qd3, hitting the black b5 pawn with ideas
of, pawn h6 also available, black is still not safe.
(C). Or if, 15. ... Ke8 16. Qxf6 Rf8 17. Qg7 d5 18. Re3 Qd6 19. Rae1 Rf7 20.
Qg8+ Rf8 21. Qxh7 Rf7 22. Qh5, white can think of liquidating beginning with,
Rxe7+ and hope the 3 connected kingside passed pawns will create problems for
black.
(D). Or if, 15. ... Kg8 16. Re3 Bf8 17. Rg3+ Kf7 18. Qh5+ Ke7 19. Qc5+ d6
20. Re1+ Kf7 21. Qd5+ Be6 22. Qxe6+ mate.
(E). Or if, 15. ... Kg8 16. Re3 Bf8 17. Rg3+ Kf7 18. Qh5+ Ke7 19. Qc5+ d6 20.
Re1+ Kd7 21. Qxb5+ Kc7 22. Qc4+ Kb8, and the black king has at last found
safety.
||
16. Re3
| A doubler.
Firstly, the rook lift permits entry to the kingside, Rg3, the most likely
route.
Secondly, white can now double rooks on the e-file to pressure the black e7
bishop, or if it moves perhaps a possible entry onto the e8 square.
||
16. ... d5
| Releasing the c8 bishop for development.
Challenging the white queen only creates problems:
(A). If, 16. ... Qf8 17. Qh5+ Kg7 18. Rg3+ mate, should not happen.
(B). Or if, 16. ... Qf8 17. Qh5+ Kg8 18. Rg3+ Qg7 19. Rxg7+, white picks up the
black queen for a rook, though it is not exactly clear if this is desirable.
||
17. Qh5+
| The white queen pushes the black king around again, and since he was
reluctant to step onto the g-file before, he is unlikely to do so now.
||
17. ... Kf8
18. Rae1
| A doubler.
Firstly, there is a double-attack on the black e7 bishop.
Secondly, there is a triple-attack on the e8 square, if the black d6 bishop
moves white will have, Re8+, a royal skewer.
White now has completed development, black has only the rather uncomfortable e7
bishop in play.
The, "Active Unit Count", is 3 - 1 in favour of white.
However the, "Material Count", is 2 bishops for a pawn in favour of black.
We have a classical battle between initiative and material.
Given sufficient time white will throw a few kingside pawns forward to either
open up the f-file or join the attack according to how black responds.
Black to play must do something to relieve the pressure, fine, but what?
Clue: All threats of material of loss are equal, but some threats of material
loss are more equal than others.
||
18. ... Bd6
| A move to give any annotator nightmares, right?
Black is not only 3 - 1 down on the, "Active Unit Count", but using, "Pawn
Count", white is a massive 19 - 3 points up for those active units.
So surely some development should be preferred against moving the only
developed piece for a 4th time?
The position is more subtle than these simple, "Counts", report.
If the black f6 pawn is eliminated the heavy white pieces will inflict serious
damage.
So black needs to reduce the number of white attacking units, fine, but how?
Well, just complete development, challenge queen on queen, rook on rook, and
exchange off if they do not back away.
But how many moves does this take?
There is another method of assessing the position.
Imagine all rooks are removed, the lone white queen will not be able to mount a
mating attack.
Similarly, imagine a trade of a pair of rooks, white will still have an attack
but mating prospects will be reduced.
But yet again, how are these beneficial trades to be achieved?
Remember, black is a couple of bishops ahead.
So perhaps black can afford to reduce the white attacking power with an offer
of an unequal trade?
||
19. Re8+
| White goes for a trade of rook for the black queen, but in doing so minimises
the chances of mounting a mating attack.
So is this rook for queen trade a mistake?
Not really, if the offer is not taken then black will start developing and
challenge like with like, pushing white back.
||
19. ... Kg7
| Black avoids capturing on e8, demanding white trade on d8, resulting in the
h8 rook being developed on the d-file.
Instead, 19. ... Qxe8, seems to give white a strong position, some ideas run:
(A). If, 19. ... Qxe8 20. Rxe8+ Kg7 21. Rxh8 Kxh8 22. Qf7 Be5 23. Qf8+ mate, so
the black d6 bishop must remain on the f8 - a3 diagonal.
(B). Or if, 19. ... Qxe8 20. Rxe8+ Kg7 21. Rxh8 Kxh8 22. Qf7 h6 23. Qxf6+,
picks of the black d6 bishop, the queen plus extra pawns will defeat the
remaining black forces.
(C). Or if, 19. ... Qxe8 20. Rxe8+ Kg7 21. Rxh8 Kxh8 22. Qf7 Bc5 23. Qxf6+ Kg8
24. Qg5+, picks off the black c5 bishop, again the white queen plus extra pawns
will win.
(D). Or if, 19. ... Qxe8 20. Rxe8+ Kg7 21. Rxh8 Kxh8 22. Qf7 Bxh2+ 23. Kxh2 h6
24. Qxf6+ Kh7 25. Qf7+ Kh8 26. Qe8+ Kh7 27. Qxb5, white queen plus pawns win
again.
An attacking queen will run rampant against an exposed king combined with
several unprotected units.
||
20. Rxd8 Rxd8
21. Re3
| This rook lift seems logical, but finding a useful means of entry into the
black kingside seems not to be here without extra assistance.
So maybe, 21. g4, intending, pawn g5, would have given white the required
activity?
Instead, 21. Qxd5 Bxh2+ 22. Kxh2 Rxd5, leaves black a rook plus bishop up for a
pawn.
||
21. ... Bd7
22. Qxd5 Bc6
| The black queenside is consolidated with the bonus that black might, in the
long term, have some pressure on the white kingside light squares.
||
23. Qe6
| White puts the queen on the most active square available while keeping
pressure on the black d6 bishop, meaning the black d8 rook dare not yet move.
||
23. ... Bf4
| A tripler.
Firstly, an attack hits the white e3 rook, it dare not stand still.
Secondly, the d8 rook gains access to the d-file, ideas of black, Rd1+, need
neutralising.
Thirdly, on f4 the dark square bishop has options of joining up with the black
king to strengthen the kingside.
||
24. Qg4+
| A doubler.
Firstly, the white queen backwardly guards the d1 square preventing black,
Rd1+, mating.
Secondly, the e-file is clear for the attacked e3 rook to advance up, the black
2nd rank beckons.
||
24. ... Kh8
25. Re7
| White has conjured up a mate threat of, Qg7+.
Instead, 25. Qxf4 Rd1+ 26. Re1 Rxe1+ mate.
||
25. ... Bh6
| Guarding the g7 square, black is now threatening to play, Rg8, with an
invasion capture of the white g2 pawn.
||
26. f3
| A doubler.
Firstly, the action of the black c6 light square bishop up the a8 - h1 diagonal
is blunted.
Secondly, the back rank mate pattern is broken, the f2 square is vacated for
the white king.
||
26. ... Rd1+
| The entire white attacking forces, "Pawn Count" = 14, is presently
neutralised by the black h6 bishop.
This means the rest of the black forces can focus on getting as active as
possible.
||
27. Kf2 Rad8
| Black does not yet have any concrete threats, but with rooks doubled on the
d-file it is white who needs to be examining just how powerful the black
position can become.
Essentially all the interesting ideas are now with black and it is for white to
find and neutralise them.
||
28. Qe6
| Hang on there, who said all the interesting ideas were with black?
White has just set up a potential mate in 3 moves, black can stop this,
providing the Fischerism: "In chess it is important to know when to punch and
when to duck.", is in mind.
The white idea is, 29. Qxf6+, Kg8 30. Qf7+ Kh8 31. Qxh7+ mate.
||
28. ... R1d2+
| Black does a little prodding and probing of his own, the white potential mate
in 3 moves can be dealt with once whatever checking sequence from black can
gain nothing more.
||
29. Ke1
| Not an easy decision to make, the white king will have discomfort wherever he
goes.
Advancing might appear unpleasant but would have avoided giving black a strong
plus about to emerge in game, some ideas run:
(A). If, 29. Kg3 Rg8+ 30. Kh3 Bg7 31. Qf7, ensuring the black g7 bishop remains
static, but the black d2 rook can then grab a couple of queenside pawns.
(B). Or if, 29. Kg3 Rg8+ 30. Kh3 Rgxg2 31. Qxf6+ Bg7 32. Re8+ Bxe8 33. Qxe8+
Bf8 34. Qxf8+ Rg8 35. Qf6+ Rg7, black has all the difficult strategic decisions
to make, white will have all the winning chances.
With the white king on e1 the black d8 rook is tied down to defending the d2
rook, but the white g2 pawn is left unprotected.
||
29. ... Bg7
30. Qf7
| Threatening mate with, Qxg7+, black must defend it with a rook on the g-file.
||
30. ... Rxg2
| Backwardly defending the g7 bishop while undermining the white f3 pawn.
Once the white kingside pawn protection is removed those black units active
against the white king will be difficult to push back.
Had the white king been defending the g2 pawn then black would have to play,
Rg8, after which white challenges the active black d2 rook with, Re2.
||
31. Kf1 Rg5
| The black rook must keep defending the g7 bishop, it appears that black is
getting a little tied up, right?
||
32. h4
| Not just a spite attack for the sake of it, if this charging white h-pawn
reaches h6 the black g7 bishop dare not move, as white would reply with, Qxh7+
mate.
||
32. ... Rg3
| Once the white threat of, Qxg7+, is neutralised then the weak white f3 pawn
becomes a genuine target to the black g3 rook.
||
33. h5
| White pushes on more in hope than belief, but questions, however simple to
answer, must always be asked.
Black to play must find an answer to the threatened white, pawn h6, winning
material, there are 2 ideas, a superior and an acceptable response.
||
33. ... Rf8
| The superior reply.
The white queen is pushed off the black 2nd rank, meaning, Qxh7+ mate is no
longer a threat, in turn meaning the black g7 bishop is no longer pinned and is
free to move.
Instead, 33. ... h6, halts the advance of the white h-pawn but does little to
break the white grip on the black 2nd rank.
||
34. Qe6 Rxf3+
| Backwardly guarding the black f6 pawn, now the g7 bishop and f8 rook can take
up other posts as desired.
The, "Active Unit Count", now stands at 2 - 2, and with a little more time,
black for the first time in the game will take the lead.
Expect the white king to be in severe trouble should all 4 black pieces find
their way into the white position.
||
35. Ke2
| Stepping onto the g-file is no better, some ideas run:
(A). If, 35. Kg2 Re3+ 36. Qxc6 bxc6 37. Rxe3, black is a bishop up.
(B). Or if, 35. Kg1 Rg8 36. Kh2 Bh6 37. Qf7 Bf4+ 38. Kh1 Rf1+ mate.
||
35. ... Bh6
| It is now a black lead of 3 - 2 and there is a threat of, 36. ... Re3+,
forcing a trade of black rook plus bishop for the white queen, black would be a
bishop up with a passed f-pawn for good measure.
||
36. Qd6
| A doubler.
Firstly, the queen escapes the black rook, Re3+, skewer.
Secondly, from d6 the white queen is ready to retreat to defend against a
forthcoming black threat of taking control of the g-file with, Rg8.
Fine, but defence is not happily undertaken by a queen.
She is a fantastic bully when throwing her weight around in amongst opposing
defending units, but reverse the role and she is vulnerable to a challenge from
a lesser value attacking unit.
||
36. ... Rg8
| Simple threat of, Rg2+, with many enjoyable continuations for black to
explore.
||
37. Qh2
| Preventing the black rook invasion on g2, but black has a trick up the
sleeve.
||
37. ... Bf4
| A direct challenge, the white queen must back away and so lose control of the
g2 square.
||
38. Qh4
| A doubler.
Firstly, the queen saves herself, so obvious hardly worth a comment.
Secondly, the h4 queen is attacking the previously triply-defended black f6
pawn, if this falls with check it will lead to mate.
Beware of pieces which move to squares by force of the attack.
It is easy to make the assumption that a forced move from a defensive piece
saving itself carries no attacking intent.
Instead, 38. Qh1 Rf2+ 39 Kxf2 Bxh1, white loses queen for a black rook.
||
38. ... Rg2+
| The, "Active Unit Count", now stands at 4 - 2 in favour of black.
Not only that, but the 2 white units are offering zero defensive strength.
Inessence, the white king is abandoned to whatever fate 4 black attacking units
can create.
||
39. Kd1
| The white king can only wait for black to finish him off.
Instead, 39. Ke1 Bg3+ 40. Qxg3 Rfxg3, leaves white a rook plus bishop down.
There is also, 39. Ke1 Bd2+, leading to a finish similar to game.
||
39. ... Rf1+
| When a unit moves it vacates a square for someone else...
||
40. Re1 Bf3# 0-1
| The, "Attack Count", rises to 4 to finish the game, all black pieces are
contributing.
Quite a contrast to when black played, 18. ... Bd6, offering the unmoved d8
queen for an active white e-file rook.
||
* * *
## Unannotated Game.
White: H. Westerinen, 2400.
Black: A. Planinc, 2450.
Event: 4th Parcetic Memorial (Sombor) 1970.
Result: 0-1 in 40 moves.
Opening: Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, C60.
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 Be7
4. O-O Nf6
5. Nc3 Nd4
6. Nxd4 exd4
7. e5 dxc3
8. exf6 Bxf6
9. Re1+ Be7
10. Qe2 c6
11. dxc3 cxb5
12. Bg5 f6
13. Bxf6 gxf6
14. Qh5+ Kf8
15. Qh6+ Kf7
16. Re3 d5
17. Qh5+ Kf8
18. Rae1 Bd6
19. Re8+ Kg7
20. Rxd8 Rxd8
21. Re3 Bd7
22. Qxd5 Bc6
23. Qe6 Bf4
24. Qg4+ Kh8
25. Re7 Bh6
26. f3 Rd1+
27. Kf2 Rad8
28. Qe6 R1d2+
29. Ke1 Bg7
30. Qf7 Rxg2
31. Kf1 Rg5
32. h4 Rg3
33. h5 Rf8
34. Qe6 Rxf3+
35. Ke2 Bh6
36. Qd6 Rg8
37. Qh2 Bf4
38. Qh4 Rg2+
39. Kd1 Rf1+
40. Re1 Bf3# 0-1
* * *
