There are a couple of key strategic moments that lead to the win. The first comes at move 26, where I correctly realized that pawn breaks on the queenside, where both my opponent and I had castled, would favor me (Black). About 20 moves later in a double rook endgame, I find the final breakthrough idea, involving a temporary rook sacrifice with a deflection tactic (which the engine awards a '!!' in its analysis).
That said, this game's analysis is perhaps even more valuable for me in the long term for the missed ideas, for both myself and my opponent, which will help me refine my understanding of the middlegame structures in the Classical Caro-Kann.
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| Move | N | Result | Elo | Players |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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1.e4 B18: Classical Caro-Kann: 4...Bf5 sidelines c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.Bd3 a solid but unambitious
continuation for White. e6 I judged it better to make a developing move
(releasing the Bf8) rather than exchanging on d3. Having the bishop exchanged
on g6 can sometimes weaken Black's king position, but here it's not yet a
concern. Primarily Black has to worry about sacrifices on g6 that undermine
the e6 pawn, and/or play up the h-file once the king is castled. 8.Bg5 Be7 9.Bxg6 hxg6 10.Qd3 Nbd7 it's standard to develop the queen's knight before
castling, in part to provide the option of castling queenside. 11.0-0-0
consistent with the idea of exchanging on g6 and hoping for active play on the
kingside. Nd5 my plan here is to clarify the situation on the kingside by
encouraging the trade of the Bg5, then castle queenside, which I felt was more
solid than castling kingside. Black should be careful about bringing a knight
to d5 in the Classical Caro-Kann, however, when it can be chased off by the
c-pawn. 11...Qc7!? 12.Bxe7 my opponent goes for the obvious response,
exchanging on e7. 12.h4 would be a more challenging response, putting the
onus back on Black. Exchanging on g5 would not be good, as the h-file could
then be opened to White's benefit. Bxg5+? 12...b5 is the engine's choice,
starting immediate counterplay on the queenside 13.hxg5 Rxh1 14.Rxh1± 12...Qxe7 13.Qd2 0-0-0 14.Ne2 14.c4!? Nc7 14...N7f6 14...e5
instead would be a thematic pawn break. Black is well positioned to play in
the center. 15.Nc3 Nxc3 16.Qxc3 e4= the pawn can be reinforced by ...f5
and Black has a comfortable, if no more than equal, game. 15.Kb1 keeping
an eye on the weak a-pawn and clearing the c1 square. Ne4 the original
intent behind the previous knight move, taking an active central position. 15...Ng4?! hitting the f2 square looks tempting, but White can protect
everything and effectively re-deploy his Ne2 at the same time. 16.Nc1
and there are no good follow-ups to the previous one-move threat. 16.Qe1
forced Ndf6 here I was trying to anticipate a c4 push and proactively
re-deploy the knight. 16...Qb4 Komodo prefers this more assertive approach,
activating the queen and preventing c4. 17.c3 17.Qxb4 Nxb4 18.Rhf1 g5 19.h3 f6= 17...Qb5 18.Ka1= 17.Nd2 it's difficult here for White to
come up with a useful plan, although the position is equal. 17.h3 Kb8= 17...Nxd2+ the correct decision, improving the relative value of my minor
pieces. 18.Rxd2 Ne4 obvious, but unimaginative. 18...e5!? would be a
bit more challenging. 19.Rd1 Qf6 the right general idea, of activating the
queen, here with the intention of pressuring both f2 and d4. However, g5 may
have been a better square for the queen, pressuring the g-file and the d2
square. 20.f3 the obvious reaction. Nd6 the position here is quite
balanced now. It will require patient maneuvering. 21.Ng3 Nb5 Increases the
pressure on d4, but again this is easily solved by White. 22.c3 Rd7
continuing with the single-minded idea of building up pressure on the d-file. 22...Qf4 would at least move the queen to a better square. 23.Ka1 23.Ne4 is an idea that my opponent seemed to miss. Although it's not enough for
a real advantage, initiative shifts to White and Black has to be careful about
things like covering the c5 square. Qf5 24.Qe3 b6= 23...Rhd8 the
problem with this is that the rooks now both have less space to work with, and
the Ne4 idea gets better as a result. Luckily my opponent fails to find it. 23...Nd6 24.a4 White makes the decision to weaken his kingside shield,
apparently optimistic about the pawn push. Instead 24.Ne4 Qe7 25.Nc5 Rd6 is rather awkward for Black. 24...Nd6 25.Rd3 Qe7 redeploying now
with an eye toward the weakened queenside. 26.b3?! although this covers c4,
it makes the next move more effective in punching holes in White's pawn shield.
26.Qe2 Nf5= 26...b5 this break favors Black, who is better
positioned with both the heavy pieces and his knight to exploit the resulting
holes on the queenside. 27.axb5?! this simply plays into my plan. White
instead should move the queen onto a better defensive square, for example e2
(covering the 2nd rank) or b1. Nxb5 28.Qc1 c5 the best follow-up. Now
the rooks on the d-file can make their pressure felt. 28...e5 is not as
effective due to 29.Re3 pinning the e-pawn and getting the rook away
from the d-file threat. 29.Ne2 e5 with the added pressure on d4, now this
move is effective. 30.d5 30.Re3 f6 31.f4 e4 30...e4? this looks
aggressive but would allow White to stablize the center. 30...Rxd5!?
is simple and breaks through immediately. 31.Rxd5 Rxd5 32.Rd1 Rxd1 33.Qxd1 Qd6 heading for a pawn-up endgame. 31.fxe4?! 31.Re3 holds things
together. Qf6 31...f5?! 32.c4 Nd4 33.fxe4 32.fxe4= 31...Qxe4
Black forks: d3, g2+e2 32.Qe3 now White forks: c5+e4 32.Re3!? Qxg2 33.c4 Nd6 32...Qxg2 after some thought, I mis-evaluated the possible
continuations, although the text move is still fine for Black, and perhaps
represents the best practical chances for an advantage. 32...Qxe3 33.Rxe3 Rxd5 and White has some compensation for the pawn, although the engine
doesn't think it's enough to offset Black's advantage. I was worried about 34.c4 but Rd1+ 35.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 36.Kb2 Nd6 should be fine, because after 37.Re7 White's rook can't take advantage of the 7th rank due to the rook
fork on d2. 33.Qf3? 33.Rhd1 is the only good defensive move here, but
White I'm sure didn't want to abandon the h-pawn. c4 33...Qxh2 34.R3d2 Rxd5 35.Nd4= 33.Qxc5+ doesn't work, although it's a rougher ride for
Black: Nc7 33...Rc7 is perhaps the easier route to go 34.Rhd1!? Qxe2 35.d6 Rh8 36.R1d2 36.dxc7? Rxd3 37.Rxd3 Qxd3 38.Ka2 36...Qe4 37.Rd4 Qh1+ 38.Rd1 Qb7 39.dxc7 Qxc7 33...Qxf3 now I make the correct
evalution and exchange queens. 34.Rxf3 f6 here I choose safety over
activity, which is not usually the way to go in rook endings. It's still
enough to maintain the advantage, though. 34...Rxd5! 35.c4 Rd1+ we saw
this idea in a previous variation 36.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 37.Kb2 Rd2+ 38.Kc1 Rxe2 39.cxb5 Re7-+ and now Black can consolidate the two-pawn advantage without
much trouble. 35.c4 Nd6 this looked like the obvious move to me, but the
engine disagrees. It also again shows how rook activity should be maximized. 35...Re8!? 36.Rf2 Rde7 36.Nc3 this is a much less effective square
for the White knight. Evidently my opponent's idea was to cover the e4 square. 36.Nf4!? goes after the weak kingside g-pawn, en route to an excellent
post at e6. 36...Re8 now I start activating the rooks. 37.Rhf1 37.Na4 Rc7 37...Rde7 38.R1f2?! this doesn't make a lot of sense, as the
knight is currently covering the e2 square, so penetration on the 2nd rank
isn't an immediate concern. Ne4 38...g5!? looks like a good preliminary
move, protecting the g-pawn and threatening ...g4 at some point, as White has
nothing constructive to do in the meantime. 39.Nxe4 Rxe4 here I felt
confident that although White has the passed d-pawn, my rooks were better and
could do more damage with White's knight out of the way. It's a somewhat
premature simplification, though, and could allow White to more easily
equalize. 40.Kb1 40.Kb2 would be better, protecting the b-pawn and
getting closer to the action. 40...Re1+ 41.Kc2 Kd7 41...Rh8!? 42.Kd2 42.h4 is the key idea for White, fixing the g-pawn on g6 and allowing White
to pressure on the g-file, for example R1e4 43.Rg2 Rxh4 44.Rxg6 Re7= 42...a5 not a bad move, but both I and my opponent continue to ignore the
ideas around g5 for Black and h4 for White. 43.Rg3 Ra1 the idea being to
switch focus and break through on the queenside. 44.Rgg2? 44.Kc3
and White hangs on g5 45.h4= 44...a4 45.bxa4 it's better to take than
to allow Black to create a passed a-pawn, but White is still in a great deal
of difficulty. Rxa4 46.Kd3 g5 ironically, this is no longer Black's best
move, although it is still good. 46...Ra3+ 47.Kc2 g5-+ 47.Rc2? 47.Ra2!? this is the defensive idea for White that the rook check on a3 would
have prevented. Rxa2 48.Rxa2 47...Ra3+ now I find the idea. 48.Rc3
this would be an equally good defense, except for Re3+‼ Komodo gave the
exclamation points via the Fritz interface, so I've left them in as coming
from an objective source. This is an aesthetically pleasing deflection tactic
that forces a breakthrough on the queenside. 49.Kxe3 Rxc3+ 50.Ke4 Rxc4+ 51.Kf5 Rd4 52.Kg6 Rxd5 53.Kxg7 Rd6 not the quickest route to victory, but I
was playing conservatively to keep the win in hand. 54.Kg6 c4 passed pawns
must be pushed! 55.Rc2 Rc6 56.Kf5 Rc5+ although this gives back a pawn, it
permanently bars White's king from the fight to prevent the pawn from queening.
57.Kxf6 Kc6 now Black wins with a simple king march. 58.Kg6 Kb5 59.h3 c3 60.Rxc3 Rxc3 61.Kxg5 Rxh3 0–1
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| White | EloW | Black | EloB | Res | ECO | Rnd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class C | - | ChessAdmin | - | 0–1 | B18 |
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