This week's GOTW features a great attack by White in a Slav Defense. Still, as you will see, the best lessons to learn from this game are perhaps not tactical, but positional.
[Event "March TNT"]
[Site "Winnipeg CAN"]
[Date "2015.10.03"]
[Round "3.5"]
[White "Zashev, Aleksandar"]
[Black "Green, Jim"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D10"]
[BlackElo "1872"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "2015.03.03"]
[EventRounds "4"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 {The Slav Defense, a very solid opening that is in the
repertoire of most of the world's strongest players.} 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 a6 5.
Qc2 $5 {There are many frequent moves here, but Qc2 is not one of them. Still,
it is definitely not a big mistake and, at the amateur level, it is often much
more important to have a plan than to blindly follow the most common opening
moves. After all, a bad plan is usually better than no plan at all! Some
common continuations are :} (5. c5 Nbd7 6. Bf4) (5. e3 b5 6. b3) (5. a4 e6 6.
Bg5) 5... g6 (5... dxc4 $5 6. e4 b5 7. Be2 {Would have lead to a very
interesting position. Black is up a pawn, but as it is often the case in these
lines, White gets a strong center in exchange. These kind of positions have
been played thousands of times with good results from both sides.}) 6. e3 Bg7
7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O {White's plan is pretty clear : to play e4 and add pressure
on the center and perhaps on Black's king. Meanwhile, Black's plan is a little
bit more subtle. Playing b5 very soon should be an objective, but Black must
also solidify his center, develop his pieces and keep an eye on White's
threats.} Nbd7 9. b3 Re8 10. Bb2 b6 $6 {An odd move, although the computer
likes it. The problem is that Black must play actively, otherwise White will
obtain a lasting edge thanks to its more active pieces, the pressure on the
center and the potentially strong bishop pair.} ({A very interesting variation
to calculate was :} 10... e5 11. cxd5 Nxd5 12. Nxd5 cxd5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nxe5
Bxe5 15. Bxe5 Rxe5 {White is definitely better here, but it will not be easy
to convert this advantage to a win. Black weakened his king-side by exchanging
the dark square bishops, but there is no straigthforward way for White to take
advantage of it.}) 11. e4 $1 {A good example of practical play. Objectively,
this might not be White's best move, at least according to engines, as Black
can defend against White's threats. However, in practice, Black will often
fail to play accurately when it matters the most.} dxe4 12. Nxe4 c5 $2 {
Exactly as I said, Black only needed to make one mistake!} (12... Nxe4 13. Bxe4
Qc7 {Gives Black a decent game, although careful play will still be required.})
13. d5 $5 {Definitely not a bad move, but perhaps again not optimal. Still,
White seems to have a good plan, as we will see very soon, so we can easily
justify that move.} (13. Rad1 {A simple move that would have allowed White to
gain a lasting advantage.}) 13... Qc7 $2 (13... Nxe4 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. Bxe4 {
Exchanging the dark square bishop is rarely good in these positions, but in
this cases it allows Black to release the tension a little bit.}) 14. Rfe1 Bb7
{Again ignoring the line with Nxe4, which would have been stronger.} 15. Neg5
$1 {An odd move at first. However, White has a very clear plan which is quite
hard to prevent!} Nh5 $2 (15... Qd6) (15... Qf4 {As odd at this move may be,
it would have probably offered Black his best practical chances. However to
have any chance of surviving, Black will have to both push back the attack and
contest the center, which would be extremely difficult here.}) 16. Nxf7 $1 Kxf7
$2 ({Although it is still losing, Black's best try was :} 16... Bxb2 17. Bxg6
$1 (17. Qxb2 $2 Kxf7) (17. Nh6+ $2 Kg7) 17... Bxa1 18. N3g5 $18) 17. Bxg6+ hxg6
18. Ng5+ Kg8 19. Qxg6 {And it's over ; Black has no way to defend.} Ndf6 20.
Bxf6 Qf4 (20... Nxf6 21. Qf7+ Kh8 22. Re4 $1) 21. Qh7+ 1-0
