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Divide and you will gain!
Nutty name, real interests
Nutty name, real interests
zdrak
200 ( +1 | -1 )
An interesting game - take a look! This game was played by me on the IYT server. It was, in my opinion, one of the more interesting I have ever played. Do take a look ...
[Event "March 2002 Main #2 Tournament"]
[Site "www.itsyourturn.com";]
[Date "2002.10.25"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Zdrak"]
[Black "Oxe"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Ply "53"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4
Caro-Cann, Panov-Botvinnik attack.
4...Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nf3 Bb4
A rare move. Usually black plays 6...Nc6 and 7...Be7, leading to a quiet positional play with a slight plus for white.
7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Qc2 Nc6 9. Bd3
So far everything is normal. But now black surprises me with a stunning bolt out of the blue:
9...Nxd4!?
Very hard to find your composure after facing such a move. Luckly, it's a correspondence game, and I had all the time I needed ... Indeed, black now will win at least a pawn, and it took me some time to realise I can get significant counterchances by offering yet another pawn!
10. Nxd4 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Qxd4 12. Bb5+ Ke7
Obviosly interposing the bishop on d7 loses a piece, so black must forfeit castling rights (12...Kf8 is an alternative, probably not a good one, as white will threaten to penetrate to d8 in some lines)
13. O-O Qxc3 14. Qa4 Bd6
14...Qxa1 is unattractive due to 15.Qxb4+ Kf6 16.Bb2+
15. Bf4 Bxf4 16. Qxf4
White exchanged black's only developed piece, and in spite of having 2 extra pawns black's position is difficult.
16...Qc5 17. a4 a6?
Far too optimistic, and leading in fact to a forced loss. Other alternatives ? Well, that'll take 3 pages of analisys to cover, so I'm leaving them to your imagination.
18. Rac1 Qf5 19. Qh4+!
This check is very important - white must force a black pawn to g5 before proceeding with the rest of his plan.
19...g5
After 19...f6 or 19...Qf6 the black king cannot run to f6 and a check on c7 should win.
20. Qb4+ Kf6 21. f4!!
Now the presence of a pawn on g5 is ruinous for black. White threatens fxg5+ as well as Qd4+
21...Kg7 22. Rc5 axb5
There is no choice, black must give up his queen. If she moves, Rxg5+ decides. White wraps it up quickly.
23. Rxf5 exf5 24. Qd4+ f6 25. fxg5 Rf8 26. axb5 Kg6 27. Qd6 resigns.
1-0
More: Japanese Chess
caldazar
150 ( +1 | -1 )
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nf3 Bb4
Not so rare, actually. Black will eventually have to play ...Be7, but first he plays this so as to induce White to play Bd2, obstructing White's Bd3-c2 and Qd3 plan.
7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Qc2
8. Bd2 is better, when 8... Nc6 9. Bd3 O-O 10. O-O leads to a roughly level position with chances for both sides. 8. Qc2 is tactically flawed.
8... Nc6 9. Bd3 Nxd4
As the game continuation shows, accepting the pawn in this fashion is extremely risky. However, Black can exploit White's 8. Qc2 inaccuracy with 9... Ba5. Now, White can concede his light-squared bishop with 10. O-O Nbd4 11. Qd1 Nxd3 12. Qxd3 when White has very little to show for his isolated d-pawn and the loss of the important bishop. If White wants to hang on to the bishop, he must gambit away his d-pawn under less favorable circumstances than in actual game by 10. a3 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Nxd4 12. Nxd4 Qxd4 when 13. Bb5+ Bd7 no longer costs a bishop and is satisfactory for Black.
10. Nxd4 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Qxd4 12. Bb5+ Ke7
12... Kf8 is no better as similar attacking ideas still hold.
13. O-O Qxc3 14. Qa4 Bd6
It's difficult to suggest an alternative. Perhaps 14... f6 to seal off some of the dark diagonals. Really, Black's defensive task will be unpleasant no matter what he plays.
15. Bf4 Bxf4 16. Qxf4 Qc5 17. a4 a6
Perhaps 17... Rd8, intending to meet 18. Rac1 with 18... Rd4, but even then White retains a grip on the position.
18. Rac1
Now Black simply holds a lost position.
18... Qf5 19. Qh4+! g5 20. Qb4+ Kf6 21. f4!! 21...Kg7 22. Rc5 axb5 23. Rxf5 exf5 24. Qd4+ f6 25. fxg5 Rf8 26. axb5 Kg6 27. Qd6 1-0
A fine attack, zdrak. Nicely played.
More: Chess Puzzles
zdrak
70 ( +1 | -1 )
Thanks for some very interesting points, caldazar! One comment though: Even after the suggested 9...Ba5 (which is indeed better than Nxd4 right away) black cannot win the d-pawn without forfeting castling rights. Here's a sample line:
9.... Ba5
10. a3 Nxc3
11. bxc3 Nxd4
12. Nxd4 Qxd4
13. Bb5+ Bd7
14. O-O Qd5 (Qxc3 leads to a position similar to my game)
15. c4 Qf5 (the queen cannot stay on the d-file due to Rd1)
16. Bxd7+ Kxd7 - White has a promising position to compensate for a small material deficit
This happened in several games, for example in Topalov - Tukmakov, 1993, where white won. Also one game from the recent Bled Olimpics, where white also won.
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caldazar
79 ( +1 | -1 )
Quite true, zdrak. If Black wants the d-pawn, he has to be willing to suffer to hold on to it. White certainly has compensation for the pawn, but does he truly have an advantage? I'm not particularly convinced from the games I've seen; Black seems to score his fair share of points.
To be quite honest, though, "grab a pawn and resist" has never been my main style of play, and taking the d-pawn in the Panov when a number of pieces are still on the board is usually pretty risky in any case. If I were playing Black, I'd just play 9... Ba5 10. a3 Bb6 with (in my view) an easy equality. The fact that the bishop is on b6 and not e7 is less important here since White has his b1-h7 diagonal battery lined up in the wrong order (and so ...h6, not ...g6, will be played in defense).
Certainly an interesting position.
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peppe_l
47 ( +1 | -1 )
A great game! I play 6...Bb4 line myself, but have never played 9...Nxd4!? (and after seeing this game, I never will :-)
Karpov plays 6...Bb4 BTW so his games are surely worth a look. Few years ago I was inspired by this game...
Kamsky - Karpov, Elista 1996
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Bd2 Nc6 9.Bd3 Be7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Qe2 Nf6 12.Ne4 Qb6 13.a3 Bd7 14.Rfd1 Rad8 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.Qe4 g6 17.Be3 Ne7 18.Ne5 Nf5 19.Nc4 Qa6 20.a4 Bc6 21.Qf4 Bd5 22.Ne5 Qb6 23.Bxf5 exf5 24.Rd2 Bg7 25.h4 Rfe8 26.Qg3 Rc8 27.Nd7 Qc6 28.Nc5 b6 29.Nd3 Qd7 30.a5 Re4 31.Nf4 b5 32.Rdd1 Bc4 33.Rac1 h6 34.Rc3 b4 35.Rc2 Rc6 36.Rdc1 Bb5 37.Kh2 Kh7 38.Rxc6 Bxc6 39.Rc4 Bf8 40.Nd3 Qe6 41.d5 Bxd5 42.Rxe4 Bxe4 43.Bxa7 Bd6 44.Nf4 Qe5 45.Nh3 Qe7 0-1
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calmrolfe
47 ( +1 | -1 )
IYT Those IYT Main Tournaments start fairly comfortably but get fiendishly difficult in the later rounds. I managed to win one of their Chess Tournaments but it sure as heck wasn't easy !!
I haven't played in their Tourneys for a while but I do remember that dirkdiggler and Luca Mauro were players best avoided in the early rounds if you had aspirations of making the Finals. I believe that Grandpatzer of GK has also triumphed over at IYT, but I don't know of any others.
Kind regards,
Cal
More: Chess Magazine
paolo
101 ( +1 | -1 )
Some notes First of all all my compliments to zdrak for his win gained with a very well played game.
Now here are some notes:
8. Qc2
(I can't see the tactical flaw here, it's even on MCO-14.)
9. ..., Nxd4?!
(This is rare or, better, I've never seen it before. It probably deserves a deeper analisys.)
12. ..., Ke7?
(I believe this is black's main mistake. Kf8!! is the move here, white's attack does not mantain the same force as in the line of the game and black finds out to be in an equal position at worst.
This move changes the balance of the game.)
14. ..., Qxa1??
(This not only is unactractive but also leads to a forced mate in 5.)
(f6 is a good alternative, but pheraps not better, to the move played in the game.)
15. …, Bxf4
(Here is another questionable move from black side. I think e5 is much more reliable, it leads to an equal position to my eyes.)
17. …, a6
(g5 was better but white holds his advantage. Probably black position is already lost.)
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