Annotated chess game: Team play: Effect of competitive situation on style of play

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ANNOTATED GAME

Team play: Effect of competitive situation on style of play
White player (2142) vs. marinvukusic (2136)
Annotated by: marinvukusic (2161)
Chess opening: Sicilian (B23), closed, Korchnoi variation

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16... Nd7

The transfer of Nf6 to e5 is one of main strategic points in Scheveningen, for the following reasons: 1. centralized Knight will have a lot of influence over the board 2. in case White exchanges it, Black will repair his pawn structure 'for free' while still leaving White with e4 isolani (in that case after Nd5 Black might choose to leave the Knight there for a while) 3. Be7 will get slightly more scope, and in case of exchange on e5 a lot more.

17. Nd5

This is objectively a good move, but I don't really like it :I I would recommend 17.g5 first (then 18.Nd5), to stop Black from playing Bf6-Be5 (which improves Be7).

17... Bxd5 18. exd5

White chooses to improve his pawn structure (of course g4 is still a liability), but 18.Qd5!? is also very interesting. It keeps the d file open to allow for pressure on d6 pawn (and therefore stops Bf6), taking opportunity from the fact that 18...Qc2?!; 19.Qb7 favours White. Of course, after 18...Rac8 Black is perfectly fine.

18... Bf6

Now I was very happy with the way things were going - this move greatly improves the Bishop and ensures permanent domination over e5. I was hoping that White would allow the exchange of Bishops, leaving me with extremely strong Ne5 dominating the board. Unfortunately, there is no way to force this.

19. c3 Qb6

Essentially, this is just a waiting move. I was sure that moving the queenside pawns is a bad idea (White has the majority here so that can only help him create passers), but couldn't decide where to place the Rooks (Rac8, Rae8 or Rfe8). Playing 19...Ne5 would allow 20.g5, while 19...Be5 is a good move which can be played at any time. The game is balanced for now so I wanted to provoke White to do something. Due to the competitive situation it was his 'obligation' to try to win, I was generally OK with a draw but not inclined to allow a simple one.

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20. Qc2

The best move - protects b2 while looking at h7. If White played 20.Qb3 I would return to c7 and then decide on future play.

20... Be5

Again postponing the decision regarding placement of Rooks. I knew White will not allow the exchange but this move has to be played eventually.

21. Be4

21.Bd2!? is an interesting move, basically doing nothing and leaving Black to decide what to do (which is exactly what I was doing at that time). I know it probably sounds horrible to some people, but this is the way chess needs to be played sometimes :)

21... g6

It seems that 21...h6 is actually playable, but I like 21...g6. It does leave some holes on black squares, but White can't exploit that and if Bishops get exchanged the Knight on e5 will be very strong both defensively and offensively.

22. Bh6

22.Bg5 and 22.Bd2 are also quite possible, but in any case the situation doesn't change much - and 22.Bh6 is more active and therefore poses more problems (=opportunities to make a wrong decision) for Black. Time remaining: 34 minutes

22... Bg7

! Still trying to exchange the Bishops (22...Rfe8 is also good, but I didn't want to define the rooks yet). Time remaining: 36 minutes

23. Bg5

! Still keeping the tension. The game is equal after 23.Bg7, Kg7 but I really liked Black's position in that case - centralized Knight that can be taken out only with exchange sacrifice is a beautiful thing to have. If White wanted a draw 23.Bf4 is a good choice (but I would probably avoid the repetition with a Rook move).

23... Rae8

I did what I could with light pieces (the Bishop is greatly improved compared to a few moves ago), now it was time to activate the Rooks.

24. Rae1 Ne5

24...Nc5 is also possible, but I wanted to provoke pushing of h pawn to further loosen up White's kingside. If White later played Bf6 or Bf4, I would probably retreat the Knight back to d7 or maybe even allow the B-K exchange with the idea that in positions with opposite coloured Bishops the side with the initiative (or in this case safer King) has the advantage.

25. Qg2

! Calmly reinforcing the kingside. There is no need to move the h pawn yet.

25... Qc7

I gave up on 25...Qa5; 26.Bb1, Qa4 because White can play several useful moves while my Queen actually does nothing on a4 and can be pushed back with tempi if needed. Instead I decided to try to put some pressure on g4 with Qd7 and maybe later f5. Time remaining: 28 minutes

26. h3

White finally decided to reinforce the g4 pawn. This is certainly not a bad idea, but now Black (if needed) can probably even allow B-K exchange, which would leave him with a dominant Be5 looking at the weaknesses on black squares. Time remaining: 19 minutes

26... Nd7

! A very good practical move, baiting White to try something active while keeping all options open (the Knight can go from d7 to either c5 or e5). Time remaining: 22 minutes (This is also a factor in the game - Black has a very solid position AND better time on the clock.)

27. h4

This is exactly what I was waiting for. I must honestly say that this move is objectively not bad at all, but it seems to me that in a practical game both players need to play really precisely from now on - and I still think that Black's position is more solid.

27... Ne5

The Knight is returning to assume his ideal position, resuming pressure against g4 while reinforcing g6 and f7. One of my students (a cadet) was watching the game and later asked me why I was 'wasting tempi' here (which I always preach against). I explained that he failed to appreciate the significant positional change in pawn structure after 27.h4.

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