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ANNOTATED GAME
Rublevsky Game #1 Dark Square Holes
Rublevsky (2680) vs. Volkov (2640)
Annotated by: raskerino (1841)
Chess opening: French (C06), Tarrasch, closed variation, main line
Rublevsky (2680) vs. Volkov (2640)
Annotated by: raskerino (1841)
Chess opening: French (C06), Tarrasch, closed variation, main line
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1. e4 |
Rublevsky is a very powerful GM, but he has a very narrow (but well analyzed) opening repertiore. I've heard claims that this has stopped him from passing the 2700 mark, but I can't really say. | |||||
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1... e6 |
The french defense, a favorite of Volkov. | |||||
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2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 |
Rublevsky always chooses the tarrasch against the french. The most natural move is 3.Nc3, this move also develops the knight without blocking the c pawn. This also avoids the winawer (3.Nc3 Bb4) as 3... Bb4? is easily parried by the strong 4.c3. | |||||
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3... Nf6 |
The knight comes forward with pressure. | |||||
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4. e5 |
And white pushes the knight away with tempo. The pawn on e5 guarantees a nice spacial advantage. | |||||
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4... Nfd7 |
However, black's knight can become active on d7, it controls c5 (which is black's standard pawn break) and pressures e5. As happens later in this game, it also can return to f6. | |||||
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5. Bd3 |
A good square for the bishop, the d2 knight will eventually have to move (to let the c1 bishop into the game), and f3 seems the ideal square, thus a plan needs to be found for the g1 knight. It's best square (besides f3) is e2, so the bishop should develop first, instead of being blocked in. | |||||
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5... c5 |
Black's standard pawn break. | |||||
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6. c3 |
And white defends, making a pawn chain that gives great space on the kingside. | |||||
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6... Nc6 |
Black continues to develop while pressuring d4. | |||||
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7. Ne2 |
White follows his chosen scheme of development while defending d4. | |||||
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7... cxd4 8. cxd4 f6 |
Black chooses to underming white's center, he hopes to leave white with an isolated queen's pawn, and white is forced to oblige due to the pressure on e5. | |||||
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9. exf6 Nxf6 10. O-O Bd6 11. Nf3 O-O |
Both sides have gotten well into development, and both seem reasonably placed. White's weakness on d4 is offset by black's backwards pawn on e6. White's a little more aimed at the kingside and black has an awful bishop on c8. I think white has a definite advantage here, but black is perfectly playable. White should try to gain control of the dark squares (as black has huge holes there). | |||||
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12. Bf4 |
White's dark squared domination plan begins with exchanging off black's 'good' bishop. | |||||
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12... Bxf4 13. Nxf4 Ne4 |
This move comes with a discovered attack on the f4 knight, it also places black's knight on a momentarily active square, however it's not well supported and it won't stay there long. | |||||
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14. Nh5 |
White's knight looks very threatening on the kingside, but it's also on the edge, and it isn't immediately threatening, so I think black should ignore it instead of the following move. | |||||
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14... g6 |
All but one of black's pawns are on light squares making dark squared penetration from white very dangerous. | |||||
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15. Ng3 Nxg3 16. hxg3 |
And black has lost his powerful outpost. White has the far better bishop, the space advantage has stayed and there are potential dark squared problems for black. | |||||
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16... Qb6 17. Qa4 Bd7 |
? This is a definite inaccuracy, but it's subtle. However, it's not because he should grab on b2, after 17... Qxb2 white can play 18.Bb5 (there may be better, but this is VERY strong) this combines threats of Bxc6 winning back the pawn with an excellent position and the even more powerful Rab1 where after ...Qc3 the move Rfc1 wins at least a piece. The reason this move (17... Bd7) is bad is because of which pieces are important, black's got a bad bishop and his knight is clearly black's strongest piece. On the other hand, while white's got a great bishop it's his knight that can access the holes like e5 and g5 in black's position. | |||||
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18. Bb5 |
!! A great positional move designed to gain an advantageous knight vs. bishop position. Later Volkov played 17... a6! in order to stop this move, though I still have a definite preference for white- all of black's pawns are on light squares. This means if white's queen can find a good square for dark square control black'll be filled with weaknesses. | |||||
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