Hi, all. I hope you enjoyed your long weekend (for those of you outside of Quebec). After my annotations of games from the big Canadian tournaments this summer, we have a game from the monthly TNT series in Winnipeg. Take a look at a game where a pawn weakness dictates play and eventually determines the result. This one is educational!
[Event "June TNT"]
[Site "Winnipeg CAN"]
[Date "2013.06.18"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Le Dorze, Phil"]
[Black "Kernetsky, Myron"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E21"]
[WhiteElo "1777"]
[BlackElo "2060"]
[Annotator "MacKinnon,Keith"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "2013.06.04"]
[EventRounds "4"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. a3 $6 {This move isn't really in
the spirit of the position. It doesn't make sense to invite Black to double
the c-pawns and generate play against c4. There are a host of alternatives - a
few of which I will list briefly} (5. Bg5 Bb7 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 g5 8. Bg3 Ne4 {
with theory extending deep into the middlegame. The good news is that the
position is pretty unclear so there are certainly chances to throw the
opponent off balance}) (5. Qb3 c5 6. a3 (6. Bg5 Bb7 7. e3 O-O 8. Rd1) 6... Ba5
{now that the White queen can take back on c3, black is in no hurry to
exchange his bishop for the knight} 7. Bg5) (5. e3 Bb7 6. Bd3 O-O 7. O-O d5 (
7... c5) (7... Bxc3)) (5. Qc2 Bb7 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. Qxc3 Ne4 8. Qc2 O-O 9. e3 f5 {
with the idea of generally playing ...d6, Nd7, Ndf6 supporting the knight on
e4. The plan of swinging the rook to f6 and h6 works on occasion if white
tries too hard to remove black's knight from e4}) 5... Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 h6 {Seems
somewhat unnecessary. It doesn't spoil his position at all though. Tempi are
not of utmost importance here} 7. a4 {I would be more concerned with
developing my light-squared bishop and castling before attempting ideas with
Ba3.} Nc6 8. Ba3 Na5 {Essentially interchangeable with ...Ba6} 9. e3 Ba6 10.
Nd2 d6 {The opening has clearly gone Black's way. White is already defending
on move 10 and has some pawn structure worries that may show later.} 11. Be2
O-O 12. Bf3 $2 {That bishop is needed to guard c4.} Rb8 (12... Rc8 {because ...
c5 will come and more pressure can be applied to c4}) 13. Be2 {It is
commendable that white realized his mistake and played his bishop back to e2...
by far the best move} c5 14. O-O Qc7 15. Qc2 {This move creates tactical
problems. The bishop on e2 is no longer defended so ...d5 becomes a problem
for white.} (15. e4 {and white is not doing badly at all}) 15... Rfd8 (15... d5
{right away may have been preferable}) 16. e4 Rbc8 17. Rac1 {I guess White
decided defending against ...cxd4 was more important than dealing with ...d5.}
(17. Rfe1 cxd4 18. cxd4 Bxc4 19. Rac1 d5 20. e5 Ne4 21. Nxc4 Qd7 $1 $15 {
without this move, white is actually better!}) 17... d5 18. e5 Nd7 (18... Ne4
19. Nxe4 dxe4 20. Qxe4 Bxc4 21. dxc5 Bxe2 22. Qxe2 Nb3 $17) 19. f4 Nxc4 20.
Nxc4 Bxc4 21. Bxc4 dxc4 22. Bb2 $2 (22. Rcd1 {White had to plan on taking back
on d4 with his rook.}) 22... Qc6 (22... Nf8) (22... cxd4 23. cxd4 Nf8 {is
possible as well. It comes down to what type of positions you prefer to play.
The first option 22...Nf8 keeps some tension in the position without 'showing
your hand' or one where you have a protected passed pawn and a clear plan}) 23.
Rcd1 (23. f5 {White needs to fully commit to this plan at this point}) 23...
Nf8 24. f5 {It speaks volumes about 22.Bb2 that 24.Ba3 would have been his
best try at this point} exf5 25. Rxf5 Ne6 {Black is winning, but he missed an
even better continuation} (25... cxd4 26. cxd4 c3 27. Bc1 Ne6 28. Be3 Qc4 {and
Black will win d4 and with it the game in very short order}) 26. Qf2 (26. Rf3 {
to prevent the aforementioned ...c3}) 26... Rc7 (26... cxd4 27. cxd4 (27. Rf1
dxc3 28. Bxc3 Rd3 $19 {Black has no need to worry about the f7 pawn. His king
is safe enough.}) 27... c3) 27. Bc1 cxd4 28. Bxh6 {Desperation but it leads
nowhere} gxh6 29. Rf6 Qe4 30. Rxh6 Qe3 {Black honed in on White's c4 weakness
and managed to exploit it, albeit with a few inaccuracies. White surely
learned an important opening lesson and won't make the same mistakes again!}
0-1
