Annotated chess game: 36th GK tournament

« TAP TO LOG IN

ANNOTATED GAME

36th GK tournament
patak (1512) vs. theorybrat (1566)
Annotated by: theorybrat (1333)
Chess opening: Caro-Kann (B12), advance, Short variation

Interactive

•

Show all comments

•

All annotated games

•

View chessboard as:

Pages:

1. e4

This game unfortunately cost me advancing past the first round of the GK tournament. It's not a well played game by either side, so don't expect brilliancies, unless they're comic ones. But perhaps we can learn something from our mistakes?

1... c6

I am not a fan of 1 e4 e5 for Black, and neither the Sicilian nor Alekhine's have been working well for me as Black, so I have recently taken up the Caro-Kann defense -- with decent, if drawish, results. Perhaps I was a little too confident in this game that I could obtain at least a draw against an "inferior" player??

2. d4 d5 3. e5

I learned something about the Caro-Kann by studying lines against it as White. But I play the Main Line (3 Nc3) and would never play the Advance as White, thus I am out of my field of "expertise".

3... Bf5

Following the book.

4. h3

Deviating from the book. 4. Nf3 or 4 Nc3 are to be preferred here.

4... e6

This is the correct 4th move for Black, but I'm not very comfortable with this position. My bishop is exposed and trapped in the centre and White has a very constricting central pawn chain. The pawn breaks at c5 or f6 need to played as soon as possible.

5. Nf3 Nd7

I could have played 5 ...c5 immediately.

6. a3

White should be developing his pieces to exploit his space advantage rather than wasting time moving flank pawns. Almost anything is better than the text move: 6 Nc3, Be2, Be3, c3, for example.

6... h6

6 ...h6?! A "small" innacuracy that is endemic of how I came to lose this game. Given how cramped I am, I can't afford to play on the flanks. I need to play 6 ...c5 or ...f6 to hit White's pawn chain ASAP.

7. Bd3

I feel that this move actually helps my position, because I can trade off my vulnerable bishop now. 7 Be2, Be3 or 7 Nc3 are good options for White here.

7... Ne7

I don't think this is bad given that my bishop is being attacked. I'm developing now, and given White's passive play I can afford to hold off on the pawn break for a little bit.

8. Nc3 Bxd3 9. Qxd3 Ng6

Putting pressure on the advanced pawn at e5 and freeing my king's bishop to back up my ...c5 break. 9 ...Nf5 is no good because of 10 g4 and then he castles queenside.

10. Be3 c5

Finally, I play the critical pawn break. 10 Be7 first is also feasible, waiting to see what side White castles to.

11. O-O

Objectively analysing the board, I'd say my current position is cramped but fully playable. White's pawn on d4 will be traded off soon and e4 will be a juicy target, while my king's bishop will become active and influential. I also have potential attacks down the c-file and pressure to be applied with ...Qb6 or c7. Meanwhile, White has played passively and will have a harder time finding attacking chances right away, but he's far from out of the game. His best strategy is probably to counter my queenside play with a kingside pawn storm. None of this, however, materialises....

11... a6

11 ...a6?! Playing to the flanks again, with the idea of queenside expansion and stopping Nb5 after I play ...Qc7. But 11 ...Be7 or 11 ...cxd4 are much healthier.

12. b3

12 b3?! This move does little for White except waste a tempo and weaken his queenside pawns. A better idea is 12 Ne2 cxd4 13 Bxd4 Be7 14 c4.

12... Qc7

I'm not keen on relieving the tension just yet, so I overprotect c5 and begin my pressure on the c-file.

13. a4

This pawn chain is not very useful for White. After I've castled, ...b5 can break it all up, and I have that attack down the c-file on his backwards pawn.

13... cxd4 14. Bxd4 Ngxe5

14 ...Ngxe5? My move totally neglects the obvious: castle dammit!!! In spite of my own passive play, White has permitted me to free up my position, while leaving me some weaknesses to exploit. But instead of playing the strong 14... Bc5, or even 14 ...Rc8, I ignore sound principles and greedily snatch a "free" pawn.

1 comment

15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. Qg3

White has a strong position after 16 Nxd5! I can't take 16 ...exd5 because of 17 Bxe5 Qd7/c6 18 Rad1, etc. So instead I could play 16 ...Qd6 17 Bxe5 Qxd5 18 Qe2 (not 18 Qxe5 exd5 19 Rfe1 0-0-0 which is stronger for Black). ChessMaster gives the following complicated variation: 18 ...Bd6 19 Bxg7 Rg8 20 Rfd1 Qc6 21 Qc4 Qxc4 22 bxc4 Rxg7 23 Rxd6 Rc8 24 Rb1 Rxc4 25 Rxb7 Rxa4 ... followed by either the straightforward 26 Ra7 or the prettier 26 Rxe6 -- in either case with a plus for White.

Pages: