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ANNOTATED GAME
Club verses Elyhim
caveman1960 (1817) vs. elyhim (2481)
Annotated by: elyhim (1200)
Chess opening: Old Benoni (A43), Franco-Benoni defence
caveman1960 (1817) vs. elyhim (2481)
Annotated by: elyhim (1200)
Chess opening: Old Benoni (A43), Franco-Benoni defence
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This game is a teaching game between myself and the rest of the club members who were rated below me(which is pretty much all of them). This is dare I say it a master piece in good solid play that does not disappoint with fireworks. In summary, white gains an early lead in material and initiative. Which leaves black's king slightly more exposed than white's. Meanwhile black(me) fights to maintain the balance in the center and the king side. White(the club) however, have their own ideas on the queen side. So it becomes a battle of who can get their pawns up the board faster. The two side battle it out to a drawn position until one of them goes for the win and throws down the gauntlet! | ||||||
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1. d4 |
My club mates know full well that I am a master at the caro-kann. So no doubt they played 1.d4 to avoid it. However, can they avoid playing into the benoni system which is another favorite of mine? | |||||
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1... c5 |
My whole idea here was to play with their head and keep them guessing as to what my ultimate goals were. Truth be told I was heading by way of transposition to the benoni at this time, but later on I had to switch my plans to a grunfield system. One of the hallmarks of a master is to be flexible and don't tip your hand too quickly. All ways play moves that keep your opponent guessing as too what your planning. Having said that, it is not a license to play stupid and unsound moves. 1...c5 though off beat is logical and sound because it challenges the centre and creates an immediate threat to win a pawn. Whereas, a stupid move like 1...a5 does absolutely nothing. | |||||
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2. d5 |
Perfectly playable for white is 2. dxc5 expecting 2...Qa5+ winning the pawn back. The idea of 2.d5 and why I think it is better is that it gives white long term strategic benefits. Whereas in the 2. dxc5 white is simply exchanging a center pawn for a wing pawn which may not be so good later on. | |||||
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2... g6 |
One consequence of the white pawn on d5 is that the long dark diagonal is free for black to use. It will be almost impossible for white to shut out the black bishop. Strategically my plan is to fight for control of e5 and d5. The first step is to gain control of e5 in order to ensure a draw. It is important to note that in fianchettoed positions like this one it is critical for black to maintain the balance on the central dark squares. This is why you will often see black try to exchange his LSB for white's f3 knight. As doing so limits white's ability to fight for e5. | |||||
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3. Nf3 Bg7 |
All too often I see lower rated players play ...g6 without the immediate ...Bg7. This is wrong! if you play ...g6 then you should play ...Bg7. Otherwise what is the point of ...g6! | |||||
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4. e4 d6 |
In such positions black often benefits from delaying the development of the kings knight. In this game I intend to get my knight into the game via e7 or h6. The idea is to plan and prepare for f7-f5 attacking white's weak e-pawn. Of course that is a long ways a way from now. | |||||
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5. Be2 |
Bd3 is much more popular these days as it is believed that white has nothing to fear from a potential ...c5-c4 by black. However, again white(the club) chooses the path of long term gain over immediate return. Which in my books is the best way to play chess. | |||||
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5... e6 |
An almost necessary move that attacks white's center and gives black room to complete his king side development. Which is all part of my master plan to create a king side pawn storm. But for now I am following through with my plan of keeping my card close to my chest. For all my opponents may know are that I maybe expecting 6.c4 with the hope of transposing to favorable benoni systems. If 6. dxe6 then 6...Bxe6 give black the strong active bishop pair. | |||||
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6. c4 exd5 |
forced | |||||
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7. exd5 |
now white avoids the benoni system at the cost of a strategic disadvantage in the center. However, what white gets if he can use it is a long term space advantage. | |||||
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7... Nh6 |
Here I was hoping to surprise my club mates again as surely ...Nf6 is better right! Well they are probably right. As there is the possibility that the knight can get shut out on h6. However, I was dreaming of two knight standing side by side on e5 and f5! And at the bare minimum a powerful knight on f5 working beautifully with the DSB on g7. | |||||
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8. Nc3 O-O 9. Bf4 |
A tricky move that hinders my ultimate plans of a knight on e5. Not only that the defense of d6 can be a bit tricky to handle for unprepared black players. I of course am very adept at defending d6. | |||||
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9... Bg4 |
This move is preferred over ...Re8 for two reasons. First it has the direct threat of BxN giving me greater control of e5 as stated at the beginning. Second, ...Re8 allows white to play Qd2 forcing the premature ...Nf5. Why premature because the knight can be kicked with the likes of a prepared g4 and saddles black with a bad bishop on c8. | |||||
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10. O-O Nf5 |
Now that ...Bg4 has been played I do not have to worry about a bad bishop on c8. These little details are what masters think about. Had I played ...Re8 white can force black to play ...Nf5 hindering his LSB development. | |||||
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11. h3 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 |
White gains the strategic advantage of the bishop pair which may be important later on. However, right now the position favor knights as the center is closed and the position is getting congested. Also note that white has played h3 which may seem insignificant but to a master a small pawn move in front of the enemy king may be all he/she needs to deal a decisive blow. | |||||
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12... Re8 |
Rooks belong on open files. | |||||
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13. Ne4 |
White finally gets around to attacking ...d6. Which should never be taken lightly. Of course, I had seen this threat all the way back at move 9. Which is why I played 11....Bxf3 and ...Re8 so that I can interpose my bishop on e5. Directly meeting the threat head on! Also at the same time I am thinking that there is a possibility of ...Nd5 followed by ...f5 with tempo. But I am getting ahead of myself. | |||||
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13... Be5 14. Qd2 |
14. Bxe5 is met with ...Rxe5 with a slight advantage to black. | |||||
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14... h5 |
This is what you call a prophylaxis move. It prevents any future possibilities of white exchanging his bad light bishop for black's strong knight. Second, it is the infant step of a long series of small pawn moves on the king side that set the stage of a spectacular finish. | |||||
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15. Rae1 Nd7 |
Developing a piece and if white dares to exchange on e5 then black's knights will rule the known world! | |||||
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