Annotated Game #210: Missing the big idea

This next OTB tournament started off rather weakly - perhaps not a surprise, as it had been about two months since I had previously played seriously. The game has two notable lessons for me:

• First, the opening mistake on move 9. It has been a tendency for me to want to "punish" opponents who deviate from book moves in the opening. In this game, I am too eager to give up the two bishops for an essentially meaningless doubling of Black's c-pawns. As a result, he has far better piece activity and I struggle to complete my development, getting unnecessarily cramped in the process.
• Second, missing the key positional and tactical idea of pushing e3-e4. This possibility recurs a number of times and is symptomatic of a mental tendency to sometimes consider pawn structures as fixed and focus only on piece play. It becomes amusing how many times this move would have been the best, if only I had seen it.

Another useful lesson is to never give up. Despite some serious problems and pressure on my king, I was in fact given multiple ways by my higher-rated opponent to get back to at least equality. In other words, don't panic, and you may actually be able to save yourself when defending.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "Class A"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A28"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Komodo 11.2"] [PlyCount "66"] {[%mdl 8192] A28: English Opening: Four Knights Variation} 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bb5 Nxc3 7. bxc3 Bd6 8. d4 exd4 {here I thought for some time. The early capture on d4 gives White more options than the usual ...Bd7.} 9. Bxc6+ $6 $146 {unfortunately, this is not the best option, probably why it is not in the database. The idea was to inflict a permanent structural weakness on Black, in the form of doubled c-pawns, but as we'll see his piece activity and the two bishops are more important.} (9. cxd4 $5 {scores over 60 percent in the database. There is no need for White to deviate from the main ideas of the line.} O-O 10. O-O $14) 9... bxc6 10. Qxd4 $6 {I played this thinking the centralized queen would be useful and that the 4-3 kingside majority pawn structure would be a small advantage, with the two Black c-pawns bottled up by my single pawn.} (10. exd4 $5 {may be best at this point, but Black still will have the initiative, for example:} Ba6 11. Qa4 Bb5 12. Qb3 Qc8 13. Be3 Rb8 14. c4 Ba6 15. Qd3 Qe6 16. Rc1 Rb4 17. Nd2 $15) 10... O-O $17 {Komodo already assesses Black as significantly better here. Let's see why...} 11. O-O c5 {gaining influence over d4 with tempo.} 12. Qa4 Bd7 13. Qc2 Qf6 {now Black's advantage is more visibly clear. Both his bishops point at the kingside, along with the queen, and my Nf3 is now a target. Meanwhile, I'm underdeveloped, being well aware of the poor scope of the Bc1 and its future development problems.} 14. Re1 (14. e4 {is Komodo's recommendation, a somewhat drastic but necessary pawn sacrifice to get the bishop developed.} Rae8 15. e5 Bxe5 16. Bg5 $17) 14... Bg4 {it is the right idea to attack the Nf3, but this is not the best square.} (14... Bc6 $5 $17) 15. Nd2 $15 {now my defensive idea of redirecting the knight to f1 actually works.} Qh6 16. Nf1 Qf6 {White has a cramped position, comments Komodo via the Fritz interface. That said, I've managed to weather the initial Black threats and would be at least close to equality here, if I had recognized the plan of activating the bishop via the e4 pawn advance. Another way of looking at this is to recognize the advantage of mobilizing the extra kingside pawn in the center.} 17. Rb1 {this is also not a bad choice, developing the rook on the open file and looking to free the c-pawn, which could not advance due to the hanging rook.} (17. e4 $5) 17... Rab8 (17... Qg6 18. Rb2 $15) 18. Bb2 $6 {this is strategically a bad choice and locks me into an inferior position.} (18. Rxb8 {in a cramped position, the rule is to exchange pieces, thereby freeing up extra space for the remaining ones. Black cannot in fact take advantage of his rook being on the b-file, something I was too worried about at the time.} Rxb8 19. e4 {again this idea} Be6 20. Ng3 {and Black has a slight edge at best.}) 18... c4 $17 {I in fact foresaw this move, which fixes the c-pawn and crams me even further, but lacked the vision to see the alternatives to avoid it. Now my opponent just squeezes my position.} 19. Ng3 Rfe8 (19... Qe5 20. f3 Bd7 21. Kh1 $17) 20. Qa4 {trying to generate some counterplay, but Black's a-pawn is under no real threat, since the simple ...Ra8 would then win the a2 pawn.} Bxg3 (20... Qg6 $5 21. e4 Bc5 $17) 21. hxg3 $15 {this exchange helped me, because of the exchanging rule while cramped, and also because Black no longer has the two bishops.} Bf5 {the obvious follow-up.} 22. Rbc1 {this is demonstrably inferior to the alternative (e4), but I still had a blind spot regarding the possibility of playing that move. Naturally my opponent ignores the hanging bishop and does not fall for the one-move trap of taking on b2.} (22. e4 { is again the best idea here.} Rxe4 23. Qxa7 Ree8 24. Rxe8+ Rxe8 25. Qa4 $15) 22... Bd3 $15 {here I was hoping that Black would go for the hanging Bb2, in which case I would win by taking the Re8. It's normally a bad sign when you start hoping at the chessboard. Instead, Black positioned his bishop on a dominating central square in my territory.} 23. Ba3 h5 {seeing some of the possible threats against my king, now I started panicking.} 24. Bc5 $2 { this is too slow and does not sufficiently address my opponent's threats.} (24. Qd7 $5 {is one active idea, although I still have problems.} Qe5 $17) (24. e4 { again is probably best, which is really the story of this game for White.} Bxe4 25. Qxc4 $11) 24... h4 $17 25. Bd4 {this was the original idea of the bishop maneuver, but by now I could see that it was not going to be enough to save me. } Qf5 $2 {this move is a reminder that one should never give up. Of course, the only good response to it is e4, a move which I was totally incapable of seeing at any point in this game.} (25... Qg6 26. e4 hxg3 27. fxg3 Qxg3 28. e5 $19) 26. gxh4 $4 {should have been the losing move.} (26. e4 $1 Qh5 (26... Bxe4 27. f3 $11) (26... Rxe4 27. Qxa7 $11) 27. gxh4 c5 28. Qa5 $11 {although this is not an easy idea to spot.}) 26... Qg4 $2 {but Black again tries to give me a way out.} (26... c5 27. e4 Bxe4 $19) (26... Re4 $19) 27. f3 $4 {I refuse to find the best move again.} (27. e4 $5 Rxe4 28. f3 Rxe1+ 29. Rxe1 Qxh4 30. Re8+ Kh7 31. Rxb8 Qe1+ 32. Kh2 Qh4+ 33. Kg1 Qe1+ 34. Kh2 Qh4+ 35. Kg1 $11) (27. Qa5 {is also possible and equal, the principal idea being a transfer to g5.}) 27... Qxh4 $2 (27... Qg3 {and Black has triumphed} 28. Qd7 Re6 $19) 28. e4 $17 { finally, the best move!!} Re6 {I was starting to get low on time here and continued panicking over my opponent's king threats, which are not insoluble.} 29. Bf2 {I played this with a sense of desperation, but it's in fact best.} Qh5 $6 (29... Qh6 $5) 30. Qxa7 $11 {I played this with a sense of desperation, to be active. It should in fact give me equality.} Rb2 31. Be3 $4 {now I cracked under the pressure rather than calmly defending. I was focused on preventing what I thought was an inevitable mate if the rook came to the h-file.} (31. Qxc7 {is really the only good move. I thought that the h-file attack was unstoppable, but there is a defensive maneuver allowing me to force a queen trade to my benefit.} Kh7 (31... Rh6 {during the game, I couldn't see past this threat.} 32. Qc8+ $1 Kh7 33. Qf5+ Qxf5 34. exf5 $14) 32. Qf4 $11 { threatening Qf5+, and now if} Rf6 33. Qh4 {and I still force the queen trade.}) 31... Rg6 {Black finally finishes me off, with g2 and f3 both poised to fall.} 32. Qa8+ Kh7 33. Bf2 Rh6 {now this truly is mate.} (33... Rh6 34. Qg8+ Kxg8 35. Bh4 Qxh4 36. Re2 Rxe2 37. a3 Qh1#) 0-1

Annotated Game #209: April Slow Chess League 45/45, Round 3

This third-round Slow Chess League tournament game was quite instructive on positional chess. A small tactic on move 18, after a premature central pawn advance by my opponent, netted me a long-term pawn structure advantage. Later on I am also able to win a pawn using a somewhat unusual bishop skewer of two isolated pawns. However, I betray my lack of awareness of how to play bishop versus knight endgames by letting my opponent mobilize his knight and establish a blockade, so it ends in a draw. Seeing how the bishop could have been much more effective in dominating the knight was the main lesson from the analysis.

[Event "Slow Chess League 45/45"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2019.04.17"] [Round "?"] [White "ChessAdmin_01"] [Black "R2Kmo"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A17"] [WhiteElo "1674"] [BlackElo "1692"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Komodo 11.2"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] {A17: English Opening: 1...Nf6 with ...Bb4} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 { the Nimzo-English} 4. Qc2 {almost always White's reply here.} d6 5. a3 { there doesn't seem to be a reason to wait for this move, forcing the exchange.} Bxc3 6. Qxc3 b6 7. g3 {I decide to oppose the light-squared bishop on the long diagonal.} (7. e3 {is the other main option.}) 7... Bb7 8. Bg2 Nbd7 9. O-O O-O 10. d3 {this pre-emptively takes away the e4 square from use by Black's minor pieces, notably the Nf6.} c5 11. b4 {b3 is another option, also with the idea of developing the bishop to b2, but I saw no reason not to gain the extra space with the pawn.} Rb8 {this struck me as unambitious, although it does protect the Bb7 from a potential discovered attack on the long diagonal. I have no good discovered attacks with the Nf3, however, so it is not necessary.} (11... Qe7 {is a common idea, as shown in this example game.} 12. Bb2 Rfc8 13. Rab1 d5 14. cxd5 Bxd5 15. Rfc1 h6 16. Qd2 Bb7 17. bxc5 Nxc5 18. Qf4 Nd5 19. Qd4 Nf6 20. Qh4 Ncd7 21. Rxc8+ Rxc8 22. Qa4 a6 23. h3 Qd6 24. Qb4 Qxb4 25. axb4 Ne8 26. Ne5 {Harikrishna,P (2612)-Zhao,J (2511) Cochin 2004 1-0 (50)}) 12. Bb2 Re8 {at this point I have more space, but Black is solid. The only weakness that currently appears in Black's camp is on d6 - although without a pawn on e5, he also has to keep an eye on the White Q+B battery on the a1-h8 diagonal, which is pinning the Nf6 against the mate threat on g7.} 13. Rfe1 {I didn't have an obvious plan to follow here, so just improved my pieces and figured I would stay patient, to see if Black introduced any weaknesses.} Nf8 {this didn't seem very effective as a maneuver, and I could have reacted in the center to it.} 14. Nd2 (14. d4 $5 {and now} Ne4 15. Qc2 {is fine for White, for example} f5 16. dxc5 bxc5 17. Red1 $14) 14... Bxg2 $11 15. Kxg2 Ng6 {the knight comes back out, but it's not doing anything more on g6 than it was on d7 - less, it seems.} 16. Ne4 {this finally provokes Black into playing} e5 {to block the threat on the long diagonal.} 17. f3 {the pawn now controls e4 and g4. I played it largely because I was concerned about a possible future push of Black's e-pawn. It's not necessary, though, and it would have been more productive to get the queen off the now-blocked long diagonal. The move also leaves a hole on e3.} (17. Qd2 $5) 17... d5 $6 {Black's first inaccuracy. This allows me to inflict some real, if not decisive, structural damage.} 18. Nxf6+ $14 gxf6 (18... Qxf6 $2 19. cxd5 $18 {winning a strong central protected passed pawn.}) 19. cxd5 Qxd5 20. bxc5 {I thought for a while here on how best to proceed. This isn't bad, but it's a rule of thumb that Class players often prematurely release the tension in a position.} (20. Rec1 {keeping the tension and pressure up looks better.}) 20... Rec8 {Black decides to keep the a+b pawns together and recapture with the rook, but this gives me a tempo to play with and I now head for some exchanges which I hoped would solidify my positional edge.} (20... bxc5 21. Bc1 Rb3 22. Qc2 $14) 21. Qd2 Rxc5 22. Rec1 Rbc8 23. Rxc5 Rxc5 24. Rc1 f5 {this significantly loosens Black's kingside some more.} (24... Rxc1 {was what I was expecting.} 25. Qxc1 (25. Bxc1 $5) 25... Ne7 26. Kf2 {with only a slight edge for White. I feel I would definitely have an easier time playing the ending, however, given Black's weak king position and my long-range bishop vs. Black's short-range knight.}) 25. Rxc5 Qxc5 26. Qc3 {this showed a lack of imagination on my part. Black could now exchange queens and put his pawns on dark squares in order to equalize in the endgame.} (26. a4 $14 {followed by d4 is Komodo's idea. These freeing moves would significantly increase the scope of my dark-squared bishop.}) 26... Qe3 $6 {occupying the hole on e3 and threatening the e2 pawn proved too tempting for my opponent. However, the queen is easily neutralized by the king, something which did not take me too long to find.} (26... Qxc3 27. Bxc3 f6 $11) 27. Kf1 $16 Kg7 (27... f4 28. g4 $16) 28. Bc1 {Black's queen finds herself unpleasantly boxed in and has to be exchanged under less favorable circumstances on c5, allowing my bishop to subsequently skewer Black's unprotected pawns.} (28. f4 {is even better, exploiting the pin on the long diagonal. This unfortunately did not occur to me during the game.}) 28... Qc5 29. Qxc5 bxc5 30. Be3 {a somewhat unusual skewer tactic, showing the weakness of the two isolated Black pawns.} a6 31. Bxc5 Kf6 32. e3 {by this point I thought that the extra pawn plus Black's structural weaknesses would be enough to win. However, my opponent played tenacious defense.} Ke6 33. d4 $6 (33. Ke2 $5 $16 {is necessary, mobilizing the king first in the endgame.}) 33... Kd5 { Black's king is now nicely centralized.} 34. Ke2 exd4 (34... f4 $5 $16) 35. Bxd4 Kc4 36. f4 $6 {this would have been a good idea earlier, but now it is an unnecessary pawn move that allows Black to equalize.} (36. Bg7 $5 {is Komodo's recommendation, putting the bishop outside of the Black king's sphere of influence. This looks like it loses the a-pawn, but White in fact does well out of it.} Kb3 37. h4 {the idea is to chase the knight away, which comes in time for the bishop to protect a3. Black's problem is that the knight on e7 will get pinned on the diagonal, and it has no other squares to go to.} Ne7 38. Bf8 Nc6 39. e4 {and now White starts rolling.}) 36... h5 (36... Ne7 37. Kf3 Kd3 38. a4 $11) 37. Kf3 (37. Bf6 {moving the bishop is still better, although now it doesn't dominate the knight as well, since it has the f8 square to go to.} Nf8 $14) 37... Kd3 $6 {now, if I had been willing to move the bishop, I could have kept the advantage.} (37... Ne7 38. a4 $14) 38. h3 $6 {this is the move that seals the draw result.} (38. Bc5 $5 {preventing the knight from becoming mobile, by covering e7 and f8, and also protecting a3.} Kc4 39. Bb4 $16) 38... Ne7 $11 39. g4 fxg4+ 40. hxg4 hxg4+ 41. Kxg4 Ke4 42. Kg5 {by this point I could see that a draw was likely, but thought I would try to put as much pressure as possible on my opponent.} f5 {White has a new backward pawn: e3} ( 42... Nd5 $5 $11) 43. Kf6 {the problem is that the f5 pawn is immune from my bishop, so Black should have an effective blockade here.} Nd5+ {The backward pawn on e3 becomes a target. Black forks: e3} 44. Ke6 Nc7+ {and I didn't see the point in continuing, so took the draw.} 1/2-1/2

Practical thoughts from a champion on improving your chess

Jennifer Yu had the tournament of her career to recently become the US Women's Chess Champion for 2019. Her candid blog post at chess^summit about the process and how she went about it is worth reading in full, as it provides the perspective of a champion on how to have a successful breakthrough in chess performance - including the good, bad and occasionally ugly.

I'd like to draw attention to some specific things she mentions, which reinforce certain ideas about how you can work to improve your overall chess ability and maximize your performance in a given tournament.

• She laments the fact that while she started out with a two hour a day goal for prep pre-tournament, that got whittled down to one hour with all the other demands on her time. But she still held the line on consistently training for that period, even if not at the level she ideally wanted to be at. Consistency in having a meaningful level of training time is going to be far better for both your skills and your learning, instead of odd spurts of unsustainable short-term activity.
• Use of a physical chessboard to improve focus while studying. This is optional rather than mandatory, but I find it has a similar effect on my concentration when going through books. (Although there's no reason to stop looking at computers or using the diagrams in books to help visualize, if you don't have a set handy.)
• Her warm-up tournament (the national scholastic championship) went OK, but not great. She diagnosed the specific reasons for that and saw how it could actually improve her experience at the US Championship, rather than getting down on herself about it. Each tournament result is its own thing, approach a new tournament with a fresh attitude.
• Attitude played a significant rule, including an explicit strategic decision to play according to the positions she got, rather than trying to force wins. By being relaxed about the possibility of draws, she actually got far better results. I think that for Class players, trying to force your will on the chessboard is a common failing. So rather than simply looking to play well and understand the needs of the position, we sometimes only focus on what we want to do.
• Another related decision was to trust herself and her judgment, rather than trying to play head games with her opponent, most notably in the crucial round 10 game with IM Anna Zatonskih. Go with what you know and you're good at, and you're on solid ground. 
• Finally, she is self-aware about her performance, both positive and negative. It's important to recognize all of the various ways you could do better and mistakes to avoid in the future, but at the same time give yourself credit for when you do play strongly. This kind of double reinforcement I think is what really propels you forward along the path to chess mastery.

Annotated Game #208: April Slow Chess League 45/45, Round 2

This second-round game looked reasonably simple but in fact had a lot of complexity to it. I play a novelty on move 10 that is good for no more than equality, but sets the character of the rest of the game as a struggle for White to realize the idea of a kingside attack. My opponent's biggest strategic mistake is to go after the poisoned b-pawn, although I don't choose the most effective follow-up and careful defense would be rewarded.

One of the lessons this game reinforces is the practical benefit of having the initiative, which forces your opponent to respond to your threats and narrows the range of their good responses. I would say that starting with move 17 I had the easier game in that respect, with potential threats on the h-file dominating our thinking. However, analysis shows that switching to a queenside focus would have been most helpful at some points, for example most critically on move 19. Overall, it was a very interesting game for me and valuable both to play and review.

[Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2019.04.11"] [Round "?"] [White "ChessAdmin_01"] [Black "SirIvanhoe"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A11"] [WhiteElo "1669"] [BlackElo "1469"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Komodo 11.2"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 {keeping the game in English territory.} d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. O-O Nbd7 (5... b5 {is the other main choice here.}) 6. Na3 {I had to start thinking on my own here. Without Black having inserted ...b5, this is now a viable way to recover the pawn. White can also go for Qc2 immediately, with some move-order differences in the event Black plays something different, although the Na3/Qc2 combination is overwhelmingly played after Black's next.} Nb6 7. Qc2 g6 {opting for development rather than continuing to try to hold onto the c4 pawn.} 8. Nxc4 Nxc4 9. Qxc4 Be6 {harassing the queen.} 10. Qh4 $5 $146 {I foresaw being able to harass Black on the kingside in turn with my queen, so played this novelty.} (10. Qc2 {is the database move.}) 10... Bg7 11. d3 {not d4, which would make the pawn more of a target. The text move releases the Bc1 to head for h6, and also controls e4.} Bg4 {this loses some time, with the bishop moving twice. The intent seemed to be to exchange it for the Nf3 and so reduce my kingside attacking chances, but I am fine with having the two bishops after this.} 12. Bh6 (12. Bg5 {threatens to take the Nf6, which would then leave the Bg4 hanging, so Black's best would just be to move it back to e6.}) 12... O-O 13. Rfe1 {protecting the e2 pawn and unpinning the Nf3.} Bxf3 14. Bxf3 Bxh6 15. Qxh6 $11 {at this point the position is very equal and with most minor pieces exchanged off, I don't have much further scope to plan an attack.} Qb6 {although this isn't a bad move in itself, I was happy to see it appear on the board. I still am looking at a central/kingside strategy and this means that Black is focused on the queenside, moving his queen away from the potential action.} (15... Qd4 $5) 16. Kg2 {clearing the first rank for a rook to come to h1.} Rad8 17. h4 {the only logical way for White to try to make progress is to open the h-file. Black can defend, but now I have the initiative. My pieces can combine reasonably well to support my idea, which is obvious and relatively easy to play, while Black's pieces still need to get organized.} Rd4 {a somewhat awkward rook placement, but I saw the idea of it supporting ...Ng4 and further harassing my queen.} 18. Rh1 (18. h5 { immediately might be better, since Black can't stop the pawn push.}) 18... Qxb2 $2 {I had calculated that this pawn would be "poisoned" and was correct. Black grabs material while ignoring his inadequate kingside defenses.} (18... Qc5 $5 {would prevent h5.}) 19. h5 $6 {Here I thought for a while and played the wrong move. My other main candidate move was the best, although it's not a knockout:} (19. Rab1 $1 Qxa2 20. Rxb7 {in evaluating this position during calculation, I was overly concerned about Black's ability to make mischief on the 2nd rank, and did not see a way for White to make concrete progress. However, if Black hangs on to both the a- and e-pawns, he runs into trouble:} Re8 21. h5 Rd6 22. hxg6 fxg6 {and after} 23. Rc1 $16 {White has all the cards, despite temporarily being a pawn down. For example} a5 24. Rxc6 Rxc6 25. Bxc6 Qe6 26. Bf3 $16 {Black won't be able to hold everything, with the a-pawn being vulnerable.}) 19... Ng4 $6 {an interesting active defensive idea, but it doesn't work.} (19... Rd7 {is the cold-blooded defensive move that works best for Black. Now attacking the queen with Rab1 no longer regains the pawn and White doesn't have enough on the kingside.} 20. hxg6 fxg6 21. Rab1 Qe5 { and now White would have to shift fire to the queenside with Rh4-b4, with some compensation for the pawn but no kingside attack.}) 20. Qg5 {simplest and best. Now the Ng4 is hanging.} f6 {the queen is further harassed, but goes to a great square now.} 21. Qc5 $16 {forking a7 and e7.} Qb4 22. Qxa7 {this seemed the most straightforward way to an advantage.} (22. Qc1 $5 {is found by Komodo, which more subtly threatens penetration on the kingside while protecting d2 and threatening Rb1.}) 22... Ne5 23. hxg6 Nxg6 $2 {this recapture is what does Black in. In alternate variations, the knight could for example still have the option of exchanging on f3 and causing me more difficulties.} (23... hxg6 24. Rab1 Qd6 25. Rxb7 Re8 $16) 24. Rab1 Qd6 25. Rxb7 {now in addition to the pressure on the 7th rank against e7, the c6 pawn is weak and under pressure.} Nf4+ {a last desperate shot.} 26. gxf4 Qxf4 {with the idea of ...Qg5+, but there are multiple ways to combat this.} 27. Rh3 $18 {a simple defense that seals the win.} (27. e3 $1 Qg5+ 28. Kf1 $18) 27... Kh8 28. Rxe7 Rg8+ 29. Rg3 Rxg3+ 30. fxg3 Qg5 31. Qxd4 (31. Rxh7+ Kg8 32. Qf7#) 1-0