Annotated chess game: Giving no quarter

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ANNOTATED GAME

Giving no quarter
tommetje (1984) vs. nyctalop (2120)
Annotated by: nyctalop (2166)
Chess opening: Gruenfeld (D85), modern exchange variation

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If you've seen some of my previous annotations, you have probably noticed by now that I favour a limited number of defences as Black, namely the Sveshnikov for 1. e4 and the Gruenfeld for 1. d4. Hopefully, I'm going to broaden my repertoire in the near future but for the time being here is another game with more of the same.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3

The reason for so many games with this line is the thematic tournament I'm playing in right now. After this game was finished, I climbed to the second place, trailing one point behind the leader. If things go well with the remaining and current games, I hope to finish in the first two or three spots.

3... d5

I might give the KID a try in one of the remaining games, I have a general knowledge of the lines of the defence but never played it at a serious level.

4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5 8. Rb1

I don't know what happened with the popularity of this line. A few years ago, just about every top GM was playing this line, some of them with both colours. Now they've switched to more conventional lines, and I haven't seen any recent game with this line. I guess it's more a matter of fashion than anything else.

8... O-O 9. Be2 cxd4

The older line starts with 9...Nc6 but that is hardly played anymore, since it gives White a very pleasant middlegame and the only line where Black keeps the balance involves transferring the Bg7 to a5.

10. cxd4 Qa5+

Snatching a pawn to counterbalance White's development and pawn centre.

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11. Bd2

The endgame after 11. Qd2 Qxd2+ 12. Bxd2 is no problem for Black. Without the Queens it's much easier to make use of the Q-side pawn majority.

11... Qxa2 12. O-O

I was recently reading a book by Bronstein on the K-K match in Seville where Karpov played this variation but opted for the Queen exchange, which Kasparov easily drew. One comment said that sacrificing a pawn like this leads to nowhere after 12...b6 13. Qc1. Little did they know about the times to come. The most pertinent game in that line is Ivanchuck - Svidler, Linares 1998, where White slowly used his central control to build up his position to achieve a winning advantage.

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12... Bg4

The modern way of handling the variation. Black wastes no time in completing his development. 12...Nd7 is another attempt to clench the position without returning material but it gives White a very free hand and Black has to confide himself to the back three ranks for quite some time.

13. Bg5

13. Rxb7 is hardly played anymore since it's ancient knowledge that after 13...Bxf3 14. Bxf3 Bxd4, Black has more than equalized. However 13. Be3 is another matter altogether.

13... h6

Forcing this move is the point of the Bishop maneuver. White wants to weaken g6 in case a Bishop might come to the a2-g8 diagonal.

14. Be3

14. Bxe7 is weak due to 14...Re8 15. Rxb7 Nd7 16. Bb4 Rxe4 17. Re1 Bxf3 18. Bxf3 Rxd4

14... Nc6

Developing the last piece and putting more pressure on d4. Central pressure is the main way that Black can achieve counterplay in the Gruenfeld and it's also one of the reasons why Black has no "bad" pieces, i.e. the Bc8 is bad for Black in quite a few systems, the Benoni and the French, the Bf8 is bad in some lines of the Kid, the Nb8 is bad in some lines of the Ruy Lopez and again in some KID lines. But one of the perks of the Gruenfeld is that Black has no bad pieces in almost all the lines, everything on the board works together, provided you know what you're doing and this game is a good example of that. For example in this position, all the three light pieces create pressure on the d4 pawn, which was the reason why the first Knight and the two pawns were exchanged in the opening. It's interesting to note that the Qa2 isn't necessarily misplaced. I'm sure many chessplayers have seen the very good game Nimzowitsch - Capablanca, St. Petersburg 1914, where White lost just because he withdrew his Queen from the enemy camp after capturing a pawn and lost just enough time to hand the initiative over to the Cuban, who never returned the favour and won the game in a modern fashion.

15. d5

The best way to relieve the pressure on the d4 pawn. Other moves don't promise White anything. Now Black has to make a difficult choice. Not only where to move the Knight but if to capture on f3 before. 15...Na5 is considered weaker here, mainly because h6 has been played. Also, I remembered reading an old article by Khalifman about his game with Leko, which was just whitewashed after 15...Ne5. So I chose to exchange on f3 first, in order to make the e5 square more secure.

15... Bxf3

White has to recapture on f3 now and he has a difficult choice before him. There are good points to each recapture. For example, capturing with the pawn gets rid of the back rank weakness, strengthens the pawn chain and especially the e-pawn in case the e-file should open, it also keeps the Bishop available to come to the a2-g8 diagonal and make use of the weakened Black K-side. The drawback is that it weakens the squares around the King and especially h2. Capturing with the Bishop doesn't create any weakness, it also puts the unopposed Bishop on the long diagonal, but behind its own pawn and it also gives Black a relatively stable Knight on e5. In my database, the pawn recapture is played more often and with better results, probably for the reasons given above.

16. Bxf3

My opponent chose not to mangle his own pawns but like I said earlier, now the Knight can come safely to e5.

16... Ne5 17. Rxb7

Restoring material equality and invading my seventh rank. It's all in good measure since the pawn centre has been fixed, the Bishop pair isn't doing much at the moment and the best pawn has been preserved.

17... a5

A very good line for counterplay. I believe Black has equalized here because even though White's d-pawn is closer to the Queening square, it's less supported than Black's. Also, by advancing the pawn, the Ra8 is directly activated and thus the time lost in capturing the a2 pawn is restored.

18. Rxe7 a4

White has won another pawn but the Rook is more stranded than the Black Queen and it will need to waste time to return to a safe square. Also, the Qa2 is a better piece to support the advancement of the pawn than the Re7.

19. Be2

This is almost an acknowledgement of the wrong choice of recapture on move 16. White wants to cover c4 and be ready to kick the Knight with f4. The game in my database continues with 19. Bd4 and that looks like a better move, even though it allows Black to equalize comfortably.

19... Qb2

Remember the point about not retreating pieces that exert pressure on the enemy position? With this quite shuffle, the path of the pawn is cleared and the key move 20. Bd4 is prevented, after with would follow 20...Nf3+ 21. gxf3 Bxd4 and with opposite coloured Bishops, the a-pawn is even more dangerous.

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