In this third-round tournament game, I finally get a win out of playing a move-order trick in the Classical Caro-Kann. This is not an opening trap, since the resulting positions are equal, but it is designed to take White out of known territory and get an equal game for Black without much effort. This does not necessarily make it easy to play, however, and some knowledge and experience is helpful; see Annotated Game #244 for a previous game in this line against Expert-level opposition.
In contrast with the previous game, I do well in developing and avoiding unhelpful piece exchanges. While there were a number of places where I could have improved play - move 14 is the most instructive example, for positional reasons - I did not blunder and was able to pursue logical middlegame plans that suited the position. Overall, the game is a classic example of how building up pressure on an opponent significantly increases the chances of them eventually cracking, which is what happens here.
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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 this allows the following move-order
trick, as Black foregoes the standard ...Nd7, which is what most White players
expect. Nf6 7.h4 Nh5 blocking the h-pawn from further advancing and
threatening to exchange on g3, which would mess up White's pawn structure. 8.Nxh5 Bxh5 9.c3 the pawn move reinforces d4 and opens the d1-a4 diagonal for
the queen. 9.Be2 is what my Expert-level opponent played previously, going
for normal development. 9...e6 opening the way for developing the bishop.
Since this and ...Nd7 are both going to be played to develop Black's pieces,
move-order does not seem critical. 9...Nd7 instead was played in this
top-level game. 10.Be2 e6 11.Bf4 Be7 12.Ng5 Bxe2 13.Qxe2 h6 14.Nf3 Qa5 15.a3 Qf5 16.g3 Nf6 17.0-0-0 Qe4 18.Rde1 Qxe2 19.Rxe2 h5 20.Bg5 Ng4 21.Bxe7 1/2-1/2 (21) Grischuk,A (2775)-Anand,V (2767) Stavanger 2019 9...Qc7 is another option here. 10.Be2 Be7 immediately pressuring the h4 pawn. 11.g3 deciding to not worry about protecting the h-pawn, but of course at
the cost of weakening the kingside light squars. 0-0 12.Bf4 Nd7 13.Qc2 Bg6
I did not think the bishop had a great future on the h5-d1 diagonal, so
retreated it with tempo, also in part to see where White would commit his
queen. 14.Qd2 this is a slight waste of time, as the queen could have gone
to d2 on the previous move. 14.Qb3!? 14...Nf6?! not a major error, but
the knight is actually less helpful on f6 than on d7, where it guards e5 and
would support a ...c5 break. 14...Bf5 I considered, since it would
restrain a g3-g4 advance and not make the bishop a target of an h4-h5 advance. 14...h6!? would be a good restraining move, covering g5, while also
giving the bishop a square on h7. 15.Ne5 my opponent correctly
occupies the central outpost. c5 a thematic pawn break. 16.Nxg6 hxg6
White now has the pair of bishops. 17.Be5 17.dxc5!? Bxc5 18.Qxd8 Raxd8 and White would consolidate a small positional plus, namely the two
bishops and a 3-2 queenside pawn majority. 17...Qd5 in the Classical
Caro-Kann, the queen sometimes is able to (or needs to) go to d5, in order to
keep Black active and make threats. The queen's strength is enhanced by
White's weak light squares, which likely made my opponent unwilling to castle. 17...cxd4 Komodo favors exchanging in the center first, to take away
White's ability to exchange on c5. 18.Bxd4 Qd5 19.0-0= 18.Rg1 18.0-0!? looks like a viable alternative. 18...Rfd8 this strongly
activates the rook on the d-file. White now has to be careful of tactics. 19.Qe3 removing the queen as a d-file target and overprotecting the Be5. cxd4 19...Nd7!? is another possibility, keeping the central tension. 20.Bxd4 Qa5 protecting the a-pawn and also restraining White from queenside castling.
It is now difficult for White to come up with a useful plan. 21.Bf3 White
threatens to win material: Bf3xb7 Rd7= this shows a lack of creativity,
as the b-pawn is tactically protected. 21...Nd7!? is an interesting move,
since it now threatens ...e5, controls c5, and clears f6 for the bishop.
Snatching the b-pawn is not good for White, for example 22.Bxb7 Rab8 23.b4 23.Bf3 e5 24.Bxa7 Rxb2-+ and Black has multiple threats that cannot be
met, for example ...Nc5 followed Rdd2, or simply capturing the a-pawn if the
Ra1 moves. The main problem for White is that the bishop on a7 has no squares
left and cannot be further protected. 23...Bxb4!-+ 22.a3 freeing the
Ra1 to move, while further weakening the light squares. Rad8 creating
tactical possibilities in the center. The pin on the c3 pawn is now a factor. 22...Nd5 23.Qe4 Rad8 23.Rd1? again, my opponent avoids castling
into a weakened light square complex. However, keeping the king in the center
is worse. 23.0-0-0 Bxa3 is something my opponent may have wanted to avoid.
The engine shows it as equal, but Black is going to have all the fun, as White
has to find difficult moves. For example, the straightforward 24.bxa3 Qxa3+ 25.Kc2 Qa2+ 26.Kc1 runs into Rxd4 27.Rxd4 Rxd4 28.Qxd4 Qa1+ 29.Kd2 Qxg1 30.Qxa7 b5 and White's less secure king gives Black an edge. 23...Qa4 perhaps not the strongest move, but it increases the pressure on White,
specifically on the d1 square, and poses my opponent additional problems. 23...Nd5!? 24.Rc1 24.Kf1 Bc5= 24...Qb5 a simple threat to the
b-pawn, but giving up the potential tactical control of d1. 24...Qb3
is a better version of the idea. For whatever reason, I was concerned about
the queen being trapped. 25.Rb1? this loses and is a blunder. However,
it is also an illustration of how keeping strong pressure on an opponent, even
if not making the "best" moves, makes their defensive task difficult and often
leads to them cracking. 25.Qe2 Qf5 25...Bxa3 there are more
complicated ways to take advantage of White's last move, but I chose the
simplest path. 25...e5!? would create a number of threats, but is not
that easy to see, or at least was not for me at that point in the game. 26.Qxe5 26.Bxa7 Rd3! 26...Qd3! is the key 26.Bxa7? 26.Be2 Qf5 27.Qd3-+ 27.Bd3 Qa5-+ 26...Bxb2-+ here the simplest way is the best,
as ...Bxc3+ is threatened and White's king lacks squares to run to, forcing
the response. 27.Rxb2 Qxb2 28.Bd4 Qb1+ 29.Bd1 Ng4 the idea of bringing
the knight into the attack is correct, although Komodo prefers to send it to
e4. 30.Qg5 30.Qe2 I saw failed to e5! and the bishop can no longer
block the rooks on the d-file. 31.Qxg4 exd4 32.c4 d3 is what I looked at,
which is completely winning. 30...e5 30...Rxd4 is perhaps less
complicated, but I saw the text move would win, with the same idea as in the
above variation. 31.cxd4 Rxd4 32.Qxg4 Rxg4-+ 31.Qxg4 exd4 32.c4 Qb4+
picking up the c-pawn is unnecessary, but I saw the simple winning strategy of
just running the b-pawn up the board, which is unstoppable. 33.Kf1 Qxc4+ 34.Kg2 b5 34...b5 35.h5 gxh5 36.Qxh5 Qd5+ 37.Qxd5 Rxd5-+ 0–1
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| White | EloW | Black | EloB | Res | ECO | Rnd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class B | - | ChessAdmin | - | 0–1 | B18 |
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