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ANNOTATED GAME
The Boa Constrictor in action
Petrosian (?) vs. Wolfgang Unzicker (?)
Annotated by: nyctalop (2166)
Chess opening: Queen's pawn (A46), Torre attack
Petrosian (?) vs. Wolfgang Unzicker (?)
Annotated by: nyctalop (2166)
Chess opening: Queen's pawn (A46), Torre attack
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The following game features one of the must successful strategic achievements in a chess game I have ever seen. Black commits a slight inaccuracy early in the opening after which he doesn't get a chance to come back and play. White completely strangulates his position but that's enough. One weakness isn't enough to win a chess game against a stubborn opponent. So White concocts an unbelievable plan that is so simple and straightforward but yet not so obvious to many chessplayers. | |||||||
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1. d4 |
Petrosian's move of choice. His style looks similar to Botvinnik but unlike his great predecessor, Petrosian had a very deep tactical vision. | ||||||
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1... Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bg5 d5 4. c4 c6 |
Black wants to play a Semi-Slav or the very Sharp Botvinnik variation. | ||||||
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5. Qc2 |
White develops his Queen early, which is not uncommon in the QGD. This square is particularly useful is you plan on exchanging on d5 and preventing an early Bishop sortie to f5. | ||||||
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5... Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Nc3 h6 |
Black wants to resolve the pin. This is usually a good move since in some lines there are some tactics on h7, winning that pawn. There is a small downside however, in case White plays the exchange variation and castles long, the h-pawn might speed up White's pawn storm on the K-side. There are many subtleties like this in the QGD and it's very difficult to spot them if you don't have enough experience with the opening. Memorizing lines isn't enough. | ||||||
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8. Bf4 |
The most elastic move. White doesn't want to hand over the Bishop pair so early on in the game and he doesn't want to retreat to h4, which would make Black's task of equalizing easier since he would enter normal positions of the Orthodox Defense, where White's Queen isn't optimally placed on c2. | ||||||
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8... Nbd7 |
A very normal move and it's very hard to find anything else for Black. The problem is that once this Knight has developed, White can take with much more confidence on d5, since taking with the e-pawn leads to normal positions where White can choose between the minority attack and castling long, while taking with the c-pawn is inferior because the Bc8 is still a problem and c6 isn't available for the Knight. | ||||||
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9. cxd5 |
Waiting no more, White exchanges on d5. The exchange variation of the QGD is a very dangerous weapon, especially in the hands of a strategist like Petrosian. | ||||||
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9... cxd5 |
Unzicker was fearful of normal structures that would have resulted after recapturing with the e-pawn, after which the Qc2 and the Bf4 make perfect sense, so he recaptures with the c-pawn. White is unable to play the minority attack nor is castling long a good alternative. The problem is that Black doesn't have a good plan himself in this structure. Let's examine the other two possible recaptures. Taking with the e-pawn can lead to the following sequence of moves 9...exd5 10. h3 (preserving the Bf4 and preparing the pawn storm) Re8 (the standard plan for Black who doesn't have many squares to shuffles pieces around) 11. Bd3 (one of the reasons why The Exchange variation is good for White is that his pieces develop on optimal squares) Nf8 (making room for the Bc8 to come into play) 12. 0-0-0 (burning all bridges, but thanks to Black's 7th, White can be optimist he'll crash through first). I guess this was the position Black wanted to avoid in recapturing with the c-pawn. But there is another recapture possible, with the Knight. After 9...Nxd5 10. Nxd5! exd5 11. Bd3, White can play his second plan, the minority attack, which is very hard to meet and the missing pair of Knights favor White because Black has fewer attacking chances. | ||||||
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10. Bd3 |
Normal development. White's plan in this position is to use the c-file for infiltration and reduce Black's counterplay to zero. | ||||||
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10... a6 |
A strategical error. Never move pawns on the flank where you are weaker and this game proves it tenfold. The reason behind this statement is that any pawn moves create weaknesses and your opponent will have something to target. However it's very difficult to find a working plan for Black, Unzicker must have been wanted to prevent Nb5 and try to resolve his Bc8 somehow. | ||||||
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11. O-O |
White is in no hurry, Black can't contest the c-file any time soon. 11. h3 would have been an alternative but Petrosian must have not been afraid of losing the Bishop pair and wasn't in a hurry to weaken his castled position. | ||||||
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11... b5 |
Would you believe that after this move Black is lost? He has just created permanent weak spots on the c-file while giving his opponent a target in the b-pawn. The only sensible looking alternative was 11...Nh5 but even after that White has the strong reply 12. Be5! Nxe5 (12...f6 fails to 13. Nxd5! fxe5 (13...exd5 loses after 14. Bh7+ Kh8 15. Bc7 Qe8 16. Bg6 Rf7 17. Bxh5 and White has won the piece back and will soon win the exchange as well) 14. Nc7 exd4 15. Nxd4 Ne5 16. Bh7+ Kh8 17. Nxa8, these tactical variations show the hidden dangers in Black's cramped position) 13. dxe5 and Black has two bad pieces, the Bc8 and the Nh5. | ||||||
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12. a4 |
Very impetuously played by Petrosian. He takes advantage of the pin on the a-file and force Black to further advance his pawns. | ||||||
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12... b4 |
Forced or else Black loses a pawn. He can't afford to open the a-file because the a-pawn will be very weak and cannot stand for long. | ||||||
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13. Na2 |
Stronger than 13. Ne2, this Knight is heading towards b3. | ||||||
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13... Ne8 |
Perhaps not the most active plan of defense mainly because White could have played 14. a5! and the pawn is immune because of Qc8. But both these players had already formulated the plans after which they would arrange their pieces and were staying on-course. | ||||||
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14. Nc1 |
Consistent to the previous move. | ||||||
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14... a5 |
Black secures the pawn structure on the Q-side and prepares to exchange a pair of Bishops. | ||||||
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15. Nb3 |
Petrosian was a great admirer of Nimzovitch and was no doubt pleased to have setup an early blockade against the Q-side pawns. | ||||||
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15... Ba6 |
Black solves his bad piece but in the process has created further more insolvable problems. | ||||||
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