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ANNOTATED GAME
Didcot 1 v Banbury 1 Bd 4 (O&D League D1)
Bob Jacobs (1776) vs. Nathan Manley (1728)
Annotated by: rjacobs
(1691)
Chess opening: Caro-Kann (B12), advance, Short variation
Bob Jacobs (1776) vs. Nathan Manley (1728)
Annotated by: rjacobs
(1691)
Chess opening: Caro-Kann (B12), advance, Short variation
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A real thriller from Monday's League game. Black blundered the exchange early in the middle game but then White got over-confident and nearly blew a winning position, only to find a saving resource against inaccurate defence at the end. Enjoy! | ||||||
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1. e4 c6 |
The Caro-Kann, normally a very solid defence favoured by, among others, Anatoly Karpov. | |||||
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2. d4 d5 3. e5 |
The Advance Variation, as recommended by Greek Grandmaster Kotronias in his book "Beating the Caro Kann". It's a long time since I read this book but I loved its devil take the hindmost attitude. | |||||
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3... Bf5 |
Black develops his QB outside the pawn wall, establishing an annoying attack on c2. | |||||
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4. Nc3 |
Kotronias's preferred choice. I've seen Short get good results with 4. Nf3 and indeed Board 5 ended peacefully with this variation. | |||||
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4... e6 5. g4 |
White immediately harasses the annoying Bishop, having secured e4 against a counter-attack on h1. | |||||
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5... Bg6 6. Nge2 |
This N is heading for g3 in accordance with what I remember of Kotronias's recipe. It temporarily blocks in White's KB but that prelate has nowhere useful to go yet anyway. | |||||
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6... Bb4 |
Black pins White's N, allowing the QB to dream of landing on e4 again. | |||||
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7. Ng3 |
So I abandon my general rule of thumb in this opening of making alternate moves with pieces and pawns by immediately moving my KN a second time to cover e4. | |||||
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7... Nd7 |
Black continues to develop solidly, putting pressure on White's pawn centre. I was expecting ...c5 soon. | |||||
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8. h4 |
Now White sends another footsoldier after the annoying bishop, heedless of the holes he's creating in his kingside. | |||||
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8... f6 |
?! Normal is 8...h6, allowing the B to stay on the b1-h7 diagonal. This move had the advantage of making me think and continued Black's attack on e5 but it didn't really work for Black. | |||||
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9. f4 |
Torn between 9. h5 and this, I eventually decided to defend the e-pawn, hoping also for a possible fork on e6 - rather too hopeful, really. An immediate 9. h5 would have had the advantage of forcing the B back immediately. Delaying it gives Black time to play ...h6 if he wants. I normally play f4 at some stage soon in this opening anyway, so I wasn't too concerned about clearing my second rank of kingside pawns. White hopes to pressurise Black into trouble with the pawn storm, though, with sound defence, it isn't that frightening really. | |||||
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9... fxe5 10. fxe5 |
Preferable to dxe5 because that would release Black's d-pawn for a devastating central attack as I often suffer in the French Winawer. Now who is going to be able to exploit the open f-file first? | |||||
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10... Bxc3+ |
Black creates a pawn weakness on White's queenside, so now castling either side looks unattractive. Black, however, can castle safely on the queenside. | |||||
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11. bxc3 Qa5 12. Bd2 |
I normally play this B to e3 to discourage ...c5 but in this position preparing a discovered attack on Black's Q seems preferable. | |||||
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12... O-O-O |
I think Black has every right to feel pleased with his position here. He just needs to complete his development and proceed to exploit White's over-stretched pawns. | |||||
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13. h5 |
Finally White gets his planned pawn push in, forcing the B off his diagonal. | |||||
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13... Bf7 14. Bh3 |
?! I was aggressively looking to advance the g-pawn again and attack Black's weak pawn on e6 but I think a central posting on d3 might have been better. | |||||
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14... Ne7 15. O-O |
!? Startling castling! ... somewhat rash? But Black's Q is far from the action now and White's advanced pawns are hemming Black's minor pieces in. My immediate plan was to attack Black's B on f7 with as much heavy artillery as I could muster. | |||||
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15... Rdf8 16. Rf3 |
! I like this move because it prepares trebling on the f-file while also defending c3, allowing the QB to move, and also potentially allowing the rook to swing across the queenside to double on the b-file, attacking Black's castled position. One move I also wanted to play at some stage soon was Bg5. I can do this now that the R defends c3 and g3; otherwise Black's Q would wreak havoc olong my third rank. | |||||
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