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ANNOTATED GAME
Learning the hard way ("No pain, no gain")
White player (2044) vs. marinvukusic (2144)
Annotated by: marinvukusic (2161)
Chess opening: Sicilian (B22), 2.c3, Heidenfeld variation
White player (2044) vs. marinvukusic (2144)
Annotated by: marinvukusic (2161)
Chess opening: Sicilian (B22), 2.c3, Heidenfeld variation
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14... Qa5 |
The Queen will transfer to b6 or c7 as needed, while in the meanwhile keeping an eye on e5. Ideally, Black would like to play g6 Bf8 Bg7 Rd5 to put maximum pressure on the e5 pawn, but this takes a lot of time and can't be done without some help from White (a loss of few tempi would help immensely). --- Time remaining: White 1:31 Black 1:47 | ||||||
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15. Qe4 |
Finally White plays his main idea, and in doing so creates weaknesses in Black's castling position. | ||||||
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15... g6 |
Forced but not tragic, since the Be7 is close enough to provide cover on weakened black squares. Nevertheless, White has the advantage at the moment. | ||||||
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16. Bh6 |
Prevents Bf8, but I felt that this is not the best move available... the thing is that if Black hurries with Bf8 Bg7 then Bg5 can be unpleasant, taking control of d8 square and threatening Bf6. Simple 16.Be3 with 17.b4 gives White a very solid advantage. | ||||||
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16... Qb6 |
Immediately taking advantage of unprecise 16.Bh6. I wanted to provoke 17.b4 in order to make the queenside pawns more vulnerable to an attack later. This move also allows Black to play 17...Nd4 with 18...Nf5 or exchanges on d4 (which help Black to defend his vulnerable kingside). | ||||||
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17. b4 |
This is objectively better then passive defense (17.Qe2 or 17.Rb1). Black can't play 17...a5 due to 18.Be3, Qc7; 19.b5, so now White has some space on the queenside. The advantage is not alarming, since it is impossible to press simultaneously on both wings. I made two key judgement calls here: I) My opinion was (and still is) that in this position White should actually press his advantage on the queenside and transfer Bh6 back to e3. II) I estimated that White will not play 18.Be3 but will go for the kingside attack, and in that case 17.b4 push could actually be exploited in a counterattack later. | ||||||
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17... Bd7 |
This move is a little unprincipled (17...Nd4 is the logical continuation of previous play), but I didn't want to oversimplify the position when I figured that White will be pursuing what I considered the wrong plan here. When the Bishop comes to e8 it will reinforce the pawn chain, making it difficult to destroy with sacrifices. | ||||||
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18. h4 |
And here we go. White is trying to break Black kingside position with a frontal assault. | ||||||
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18... Be8 |
Now Black has finished his defensive position and is free to use the 4 "unemployed" pieces to indirectly weaken White's attack by putting pressure on the queenside, while both Bishops actually play 2 roles - defensive on the kingside and offensive on the queenside! | ||||||
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19. h5 |
?! After this Black has an equal game. The correct move is again 19.Be3, which prevents 19...Nd4 and keeps the initiative after 19...Qc7; 20.h5. Precision is important in this position - Black is far from being completely helpless so his counterplay needs to be restricted. Direct attacks on the kingside can't succeed at the moment due to overprotected white squares (Be8 is crucial here) and no immediate mating motives on the black squares. | ||||||
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19... Nd4 |
My thinking at this moment was pretty much like this: "This equalises the position. Black has some very interesting counterplay/counterattack motives connected to Rd4 followed by Rad8 (if White takes the Knight), possible Bc6 and Nf5, and even a5 push (when a3 and b4 become targets to Bf8). This can be stopped only by giving up on the kingside attack and retreating Bh6 to e3. After that the game is probably equal but e5, a3 and b4 can become targets, and if the Queen can infiltrate the queenside then Black should have the advantage." | ||||||
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20. hxg6 |
Not mandatory yet but useful in any case, it forces Black to recapture immediately. | ||||||
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20... hxg6 |
20...Nf3?! is not good here because 21.Qf3, hg6 actually improves the position of White Queen, for example 22.Rac1, Bc6; 23.Qg3 creates threats on g6 that did not exist earlier while not giving Black any compensation for this change. --- Time remaining: White: 0:58 Black 1:41 (!) The reason for this discrepancy is the fact that from my previous experience I just employed the common plan for this kind of position while using mostly my opponent's time for making positional evaluations and plans (and some calculation of variations). | ||||||
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21. Be3 |
After 9 minutes of thinking White finally admits that his kingside attack will not happen and retreats the Bishop. The game is still equal but I thought that Black has better prospects due to potential pressure on exposed White pawns. White offers draw, Black after 5 minutes of evaluating the position refuses (the logic is explained above). | ||||||
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21... Nxf3+ |
My thoughts here: "With Knights gone, there is no need to worry about the kingside attack (Nh2 -> Ng4 -> Nf6), and now the game is in positional waters, where Black should have a slight advantage due to less exposed pawns." | ||||||
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22. gxf3 |
Pretty much in desperation (he assessed his positional chances in the same manner as I did), White decided to try and revive his attack on the kingside. Objectively this is weaker than obvious 22.Qf3, Qc7; 23.Be4, Bc6; 24.Bc6, bc6, but will ultimately win the game for White! | ||||||
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22... Qc6 |
And here it is - the critical position. There are 2 candidate moves here, with different plans involved: A) aggressive 22...Qc6 with either exchange of Queens and slightly better prospects for Black or queenside infiltration by Black Queen and B) passive but safer 22...Qc7 with 23...Bc6 and probably Bf8-Bg7 with pressure against e5. My greatest mistake was that I played 22...Qc6 after only 1 minute of thinking :I Obviously I did calculate the main variations previously but this move was rushed too much. Maybe it does not lose the game yet (I am still analysing), but now things get really tricky. | ||||||
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23. Qf4 |
The obvious move. White can exchange on c6 - the game is objectively equal, but in this case I think that only Black has any winning chances. | ||||||
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23... Qc3 |
Here I thought I might win, while actually any mistake loses the game quickly (if it isn't already lost). The position is tricky, in analysis not even the mighty computer engines could "see" the truth of the position from here on without human help. Variations I was considering were mostly wrongly assessed: A) 24.Be4, Rd1; 25.Rd1, Rd8; 26.Rc1!, Qa3?? (I don't know if anything else helps here); 27.Kg2! is actually an easy win for White B) 24.Rac1, Qa3; 25.Rc7?! (I completely missed 25.Kg2!, Qb4; 26.Be4! (26.Rc4?!, Rd3; 27.Rb4, Rd1; 28.Rb7 with pretty unclear game) and Black is toast in all variations I looked at so far.) Qb4; 26.Qb4, Bb4; 27.Rb7 actually gives pretty good winning chances but is far from being White's best. --- Time remaining: White: 0:35 Black: 1:32 | ||||||
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24. Rac1 |
Chasing the Queen away from the e5 pawn. | ||||||
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