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ANNOTATED GAME
Team match
picadily (1373) vs. myntsamlaren (1520)
Annotated by: rmannstaedt (1899)
Chess opening: QGD (D31), 3.Nc3
picadily (1373) vs. myntsamlaren (1520)
Annotated by: rmannstaedt (1899)
Chess opening: QGD (D31), 3.Nc3
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1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 dxc4 |
Uncommon, to say the least (0.5% occurrence) in my db. I trust you are using the GameKnot database to find the right moves in the opening? It is *extremely* important that you all remember to do that; it will save you much grief ... as I know from personal experience. | ||||
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4. e4 |
Very good - and entirely correct. GameKnot may have recommended this to you, but I am betting you could find this move on your own as well. Why? Because advancing the e-pawn gives you a firm grip on the center, takes away d5 from him, gives you easy development of your LSB (light-squared bishop), an additional diagonal of infiuence for your queen, and contests control of f5. An impressive list, yes? But then, good moves will usually serve several purposes! And guess what - that *is* a very, very good way of finding the good moves in any position: select a move which serves multiple purposes. | ||||
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4... Bb4 5. Bxc4 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 |
GameKnot correctly evaluates an advantage to you in this position. Indeed, according to my database you should now have an approx. 82.5% chance of winning. Of course, that number includes your opponent playing less than optimally ... but it does indicate that your position is clearly favourable. However, we really need neither engines nor databases to tell us that; simply look at the position: White: more space, more developed pieces, easier development, more mobile pieces (your bishops control far more squares than his!), better center control. | ||||
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6... Bd7 7. Nf3 h6 8. O-O |
Good! Always finish development and castle *before* doing something drastic! (and no, that is not an advice that I am especially good at following myself - unfortunately...) | ||||
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8... b5 |
So, in light of what I just wrote, why is Black then wasting valuable time doing this? Shouldn't he concentrate on getting his king castled instead? Well, yes. However, this move does have the advantage of contesting your space advantage on the queen-side, and you will be forced to spend a move responding to that. So it doesn't really cost him anything - directly. However, as the game continuation shows, he will be more or less forced to follow up with a5 to support that pawn, and *that* move will cost him time better spent elsewhere. For that reason, I believe b5 is a strategic mistake. Gameknot agrees with that assessment, by the way, adding to your evaluated positional advantage. | ||||
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9. Bb3 a5 10. a4 |
Good! You are already castled and almost fully developed, while he still must spend at least 2 moves to get his king away. Any complications are likely to favour you, for that reason. | ||||
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10... Ne7 11. Re1 |
However, this is likely a waste of time. Why did you make that move? He is going to move the king away from the e-file rather immediately, and you have little hope of gaining control of it even if you do succeed in opening it. I think it would be more logical to continue what you already started and fire up the queen-side some more... axb seems a reasonable continuation (as Gameknot also suggests), but you might also take a close look at moves like d5! Again: any opening of the center, while he remains uncastled, is highly likely to favour you. | ||||
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11... b4 |
For the same reason, this seems to be a mistake. He should have castled. Gameknot suggests bxa4 as the better alternative, but I wouldn't trust its evaluation of the position here. On the other hand Gameknot is *great* at evaluation tactical complications! And its suggestion of 12.d5 exd5 13.cxb4 dxe4 14.Qd4! is very interesting. | ||||
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12. c4 |
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12... f6 13. Bf4 |
This is entirely correct; there is no reason to doubt this move: it mobilizes your DSB, adds pressure on the important diagonal to c7, and adds weight to any center thrust you might make. This is a good move. | ||||
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13... c6 14. d5 |
And this is also correct: you break up the center while his king is still not castled - which means he must waste a move, at some point, getting his king away. The more pressure you bring to bear on him, the more that wasted move will cost him. | ||||
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14... e5 15. Bg3 |
This however is a mistake. You can see why? The bishop - on g3 it will have only a single square of control (h4). Additionallym, if moving it to g3 is to have any meaning, it should be because the pawn advance f2-f4 is planned and the bishop is needed to support that. However, until and unless that advance happens, the bishop is going to be severely handicapped: essentially, White is now playing a bishop down. On e3 it would be far more powerful, able to support any f-pawn advance while also bidding to take control of the very important (because: weak and influential!) c5 square. | ||||
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15... c5 |
Or, as you see here: with the bishop on e3 this move would have been impossible. | ||||
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16. h3 |
A useful waiting move, giving some 'luft' (air) to the king and a square of retreat for the bishop. It still feels trapped though. | ||||
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16... g5 |
And this will effectively prevent any immediate advance to f4... | ||||
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17. Nh2 O-O 18. Ng4 Kg7 |
Let me belabour the point a bit more ... ;) On g3 the bishop is chewing granite - the pawn on e5 is protected and not likely to fall anytime soon. On e3 it would be biting into soft cheese: the virtually unprotected pawn on c5. | ||||
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19. h4 Bxg4 20. Qxg4 Ng6 21. hxg5 |
White needs to affect a breakthrough somewhere, but I am not convinced this is the best way to do it; White's pieces are awkwardly placed and will need time to take advantage of the break. Now, while the position remains closed, time is not of much essence. White, as well as Black, can generally take the time he needs to move his pieces about. After all, the opponent is severely restricted and cannot easily get to you. What does matter is the effective positioning of your pieces - both in defence and in offence. Because, once the break comes - as it must if the game is not to be drawn - things are likely to speed up exceedingly! Ideally, your pieces will then be like a torrent, forcing their way past the breach and into the unshielded enemy land beyond. If, as in the present game, you effect the breach and then your pieces have to maneurver and labour to trickle through one by one, you achieve far less of an effect. | ||||
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21... fxg5 22. Bh2 Qd7 23. Bd1 Qxg4 24. Bxg4 Rd8 25. Re3 Nd7 |
White has the bishop pair, but as long as the position remains closed they are likely to be less effective than Black's knights. In a situation where the position is opening up however, White should think carefully before giving up his bishops; they are likely to grow far more powerful shortly. | ||||
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26. Bxd7 Rxd7 27. g3 g4 28. f4 exf4 |
I believe Black's move here to be a near-fatal mistake, allowing White to open up the position and get his pawns roling. Better would be: 28...Re8 29.fxe5 Rxe5 30.Rf1 Rde7 31.d6 Rd7 32.Rd1 Nh8 33.Rd5 Nf7. | ||||
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29. gxf4 h5 30. Rf1 |
This is a mistake. White should - indeed, must! - advance his pawns immediately. The closer they get to the 8th rank, the more powerful they will be: once they get to the 6th rank they will severely restrict Black's freedom of action, and on the 7th rank they will prove a massive problem for him. But as they are right now, they are more a nuisance than an actual threat, and this allows Black the freedom to start actions against White's position. This should never have been allowed to happen. When you consider which move to make, it is a good rule of thumb always to make the one which poses the most problems for your opponent. In this case, the pawn advance: 30.e5 h4 31.f5 g3 32.Bxg3 hxg3 33.Rxg3 | ||||
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