01 January 2025

Annotated Game #299: What the Caro-Kann is good for (part 2)

The below third-round tournament game is thematically similar to Annotated Game #294, in which White first presses Black - this time in a Panov variation of the Caro-Kann - then missteps, not sensing the danger. This is typically what Black is going for in the Caro-Kann overall, being patient and then seizing counterplay when it becomes available. Here I deliberately chose the most dynamic middlegame plan on move 13, after a long think, which is what opens up the opportunity later on for White to stumble.


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1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Panov variation. Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 this seemed to be the end of my opponent's opening familiarity. 6.Nf3 Be7 7.Bf4 a non-standard move here. 0-0 no reason not to castle here, although I had to check to see if the Nb5-c7 idea would work for White. 8.Rc1 8.Nb5 and Black can simply ignore the supposed threat to play Nc7, as the Bf4 is vulnerable. For example Nc6 9.Nc7? Nh5 10.Nxa8 Nxf4-+ and White's knight is lost. 8...Nc6 8...b6 is the engine preference, preparing to develop the bishop on the long diagonal and restraining c4-c5. 9.c5 I was not concerned about this advance at the time, since in analagous positions it's not a real threat. However, here it is worth preventing, since it creates a potential outpost on d6 which both the Bf4 and a future Nb5 could use. Nh5 not a bad idea to chase the bishop, but it leaves me a little underdeveloped. 9...Ne4!? and Black would welcome a trade on e4, which would expose the suddenly weak d4 pawn. 10.Nxe4 dxe4 11.Ne5 Nxd4-+ 9...a6 10.Bg3 Nxg3 this was perhaps a little too hasty, giving White the half-open h-file while removing a key defender on the kingside. It is still theoretically balanced, but it causes stress for me later. 10...a6 again would restrict the Nc3 from reaching b5. 10...f5!? the engine considers White vulnerable to a kingside pawn advance, the immediate threat being f5-f4. 11.Be5 g5= 11.hxg3 Bf6 12.Bd3 g6 I felt for defensive purposes it was better to blunt the bishop's diagonal, although ...h6 would be good as well. 13.Qd2 Nxd4 long think here. I can in fact get away with the pawn capture, which is the most dynamic choice and the engine agrees is best (slightly). 13...Bg7= is the simpler way to play. 14.Qh6 Nxf3+ 15.gxf3 Re8 16.Qxh7+ Kf8 17.Kf1 I had correctly calculated/visualized to this point. Black has several options here, I went with the one I could best visualize as limiting White's counterplay. a6 I decided prophylaxis was most important here, taking away the b5 square from my opponent and not letting the knight get into the fight that way. 18.Ne2?! looking to redeploy, but this gives me time to gain some piece activity. This type of error was why I chose this middlegame approach in the first place, since it gave my opponent more difficult problems to solve, and along with that more opportunities to go wrong. 18.Kg2= 18...e5 while a nice way to help restrict the Ne2, it more importantly also frees the Bc8 on the diagonal. 18...Bg7 I also considered, with the point being that it opens up the diagonal for the Qd8's use. The engine considers it best; during the game, I was unable to confirm its safety during calculation, so chose the text move. 19.Nc3 Be6 I had envisioned this defensive idea from move 17. Black has now consolidated the extra pawn. 20.Kg2 connecting the rooks and thereby renewing plans for the h-file attack, but with a loss of time. Ke7 finally getting out of the corner, although the king is not safe yet, with tactics having to be calculated. 21.Qh6 the queen of course was in danger of being trapped, with the path to h8 cleared for a rook. 21.Bxg6? Rh8-+ 21...Rh8?! this allows the queen to escape without consequence. 21...g5! keep the pressure on. 22.Qd2= Qd7 ...Bh3+ looks dangerous, but I cannot actually make progess with it - until my opponent attempts to block it with 23.g4? a decision made based on the fact that the g-pawn visually looks safe, being protected by another pawn. However, this is tactically incorrect. 23.Bc2 Bh3+ 24.Kg1 and the position is certainly awkward-looking for White's king, but there is no breakthrough. 23...Bxg4!-+ now the White king's shield is broken and Black is winning. 24.Be2 24.fxg4?? Qxg4+ 25.Kf1 Rxh1# 24...Bh3+ 25.Kg1 otherwise it's mate Be6 this was the simple approach for my still-stressed brain, at the time. 25...Rad8 is preferred by the engine, bringing the rook into play and protecting the d-pawn at the same time. 26.Kg2 26.Rxh8 Rxh8 27.Bf1-+ would have forced Black to maneuver some more to get at the White king. 26...Rh5 26...Bh3+ 27.Kg1 Rad8 would free up the queen by reinforcing d5. 27.b4? 27.Rxh5 gxh5 28.Rg1 Rg8+ 29.Kh1 and there's no immediate win, although White will still lose once Black consolidates the center. 27...Bh3+ now the bishop returns with deadly force. 28.Kh2 Bf1+! and the queen will be able to come to h3 and then mate. 0–1
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Class C-ChessAdmin-0–1B14
Posted by ChessAdmin at 11:17 AM

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