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Learning Chess (#10), by A.J. Goldsby I
(09.05.2006) Hello!
First - let me apologize for the tardiness of this issue. (column) In the last month, many things have happened in my life. At the end of April, my wife ended a nine week session of daily radiation therapy and also chemo-therapy. (Cancer treatment.) Many days, in addition to all of my normal work activities, I had to watch our three children and do things like housework as well. So - as you might imagine - it has been rather difficult to get things done, especially during the day.
Earlier this year, GM Alexander Onischuk won the U.S. Championship. Originally, it had been my plan to bring you a nice selection, {5-10 annotated examples}; of his games, but due to my interrupted daily work schedule, I was unable to generate the same amount of work as I had done previously.
I did manage to go over about 30 of his best games, one game that struck me - that I annotated for the games section - was his win over Shulman. {This game required 2-3 days of constant analysis.} I also managed to find a game that I had posted (on another site) previously. (I re-did it for this lesson.)
----> I have {finally} finished the process of formatting the game {Kudrin-Onischuk} from the 2006 U.S. Championships. I took about five weeks to annotate this game, the ending probably required close to 100 hours of work/computer time. (It was very complex, there were no easy answers!!!) The annotations are complete, so please ... have a look.
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Here is an extremely complex problem, to analyze it ... is a lesson in tactics. (It comes from a game that I observed on the Internet one night on a popular chess server.) Like a dope - I did not save the game {as a PGN file} to my hard drive - but I did jot down the position. Trying to work out the variations - even with the help of the box - turned out to be very challenging.
WARNING! The tactics here are intense, even the computer does not correctly work this one out, at least not right away. I suggest that you set up a chess board, and give yourself between 15 and 30 minutes - and try to solve it on your own before using a computer. (Don't move the pieces! Work in your head, as much as you are able to. The solution, and a link to the analysis will be given at the end of this page.)
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GM Alexander Onischuk - As I stated earlier in this article, this player won the 2006 U.S. Championships. (The official website, meet the players.) Born on September 3rd, 1975, Onischuk is still relatively young, only 31 years old. Originally from the Ukraine, (the Crimean Peninsula); in approximately 2001 he made the decision to emigrate to the United States. [He currently resides in the state of Maryland. (MD)] He is a well-known fixture on the American circuit, competing in many of the "big-money" open tournaments.
A few of his better wins (in international events) would be:
Hoogovens (B) Wijk ann Zee, 1996. (Clear 1st.)
Credis Biel, 1997, Cat 10. (Clear first, three-and-a-half points ahead of his competition!!)
The 2000 FIDE Zonal Tournament, "Ordzhonikidze, 1.9" (Clear 1st.)
The Third Karpov Tournament in Poikovsky, Russia. In this super-GM event, (Cat. XVI); Alexander Onischuk finished clear first, ahead of Dreev, Zvjaginsev, Rublevsky, etc.
He finished second in many events, including a major world youth tournament and also in the 1995 World Junior Championship event.
GM A. Onischuk has also won (or tied for first) in many strong "open" tournaments here in the US, please see the USCF website for more details.
*******
Best Individual Performance: 2720 in Wijk aan Zee (Hoogovens), 1997; scoring 8/13 (62%) vs 2669-rated opposition. (His current USCF rating is 2686.)
I have nearly 900 games by this player in my "Mega 2005" database. (I continue to add to this db on a regular basis. Anyone with a computer and internet access can download new games - in almost any format - weekly, from LCC's "The Week In Chess," or TWIC.)
He is an exciting player, with a relatively low number of draws.
He seems to play almost any opening as White playing mostly 1.d4 and 1.e4. However, there were over 100 examples of the English opening, (1.c4); and a few other openings as well.
He defends the KP openings almost exclusively with 1...e5.
He defends 1.d4 mostly with the Queen's Indian Defense and the Nimzo-Indian. [1 game]
-----> His Corus bio. His FIDE card. His games on the popular CG server.
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GM Grigory Serper - is {now} a familiar face to U.S. Chess. Born September 14th, 1969 ... in Tashkent, Uzbekistan; when his family moved to the U.S. in the 1990's, Serper followed suit. He won the 1999 World Open. (tie?) The same year, he played in the U.S. Championships, and did extremely well. (He qualified for the finals by defeating GM A. Yermolinsky, but then lost to Boris Gulko.) (His USCF history.)
Obviously a very powerful GM, his rating very briefly topped the 2600 mark, circa 1993-1994. (I could not find any event where he had won {clear first} at any major international tournaments.) At the present time, GM G. Serper plays and teaches chess and resides in the state of Washington. (WA)
Serper won clear first in the "Miedzybrodzie Open" in 2001, with 8.5 out of ten points!
Serper did tie for second (3.5 out of four) in the unusually strong 11th Chicago Open in 2002.
GM G. Serper has won many strong "open" tournaments here in the USA, see the USCF website for more details.
*******
His
best rating performance rating? (Best
individual performance, ever.):
2706
in Manila Olympiad (Men), 1992,
scoring 8.5/13 (65%) vs 2626-rated opposition.
(His current USCF rating
is 2578.)
GM G. Serper, as White, can play just about any opening, although he clearly seems to prefer 1.c4, (The English); by more than a two-to-one margin over any other opening. (One of his favorite lines is: 1.c4 Nf6; 2.Nc3 e5; 3.Nf3 Nc6; 4.g3 Bb4; 5.Nd5 Be7; 6.Bg2 d6; 7.0-0 0-0; 8.d3 Nxd5; 9.cxd5.) He will also play 1.e4, if he is relatively sure that his opponent will defend the KP opening with the Sicilian Defense. (Serper is a real "Sicilian basher.")
Serper defends the KP almost exclusively with the Sicilian, although I did find less than 15 examples where he played 1...e5 against 1.e4. (Serper likes to defend the Black side of the "Classical Sicilian," and this often results in the Richter-Rauzer. 1.e4 c5; 2.Nf3 d6; 3.d4 cxd4; 4.Nxd4 Nf6; 5.Nc3 Nc6; 6.Bg5 e6; 7.Qd2 a6 etc.)
Against the QP, Serper defends 1.d4 with the Slav, he is probably one of leading American experts on this opening as Black. (One of his favorite systems is the Black side of the Semi-Slav: 1.d4 Nf6; 2.c4 e6; 3.Nf3 d5; 4.Nc3 c6; 5.e3 Nbd7; etc. Note the move order, he uses 1...Nf6 to 'threaten' a Nimzo, and only after White has committed himself, does he actually play 1...d5; thus avoiding some of White's sharper options.)
-----> His USCF bio. (Another brief bio, with many good links.) His FIDE card. His games on the popular CG server.
And now we move on to the featured game for this month. This is a game by two chess fighters - and you can replay it (without notes) here.
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This is not a pretty game, but it is certainly one of the more important contests of the whole of this tournament. To win, with the Black pieces, is not easy to do - the database suggests that it is five times easier to win with White at the highest levels. {Especially in the top-level tournaments of today.}
1.d4 Nf6; 2.c4 e6; 3.Nc3 Bb4;
The Nimzo-Indian Defense.
[See MCO-14, beginning on page # 528 for analysis of these lines.]
To show you what a complicated opening system this is, you must be prepared
to know the following main branches:
4.e3, (The Rubinstein);
4.a3, (The Samisch System); 4.Qc2, (The Classical
System);
4.Nf3; (The {old} Classical System, this can also transpose into many other lines as well.). Plus there are about a dozen other sundry systems, (like 4.g3); that a modern tournament player must be familiar with in order to play this opening
correctly.
Believe it or not, some masters laughed at Nimzovich when he first proposed this opening. (Back then, masters thought you HAD to try and occupy the center with Pawns, for example, 1.d5, d5; etc.) Today, this opening is one of the most respected openings in all of chess ... and is played by all classes of players.
4.e3,
This is the main line - even today. It is named "The Rubinstein System," after one of chess's
most creative players ... who left his stamp on many different opening systems.
White tries to develop his pieces to simple squares - with great harmony. This system has been used by many, notably Capablanca and Smyslov. (Who both won many beautiful games with this system.)
[ The move of: 4.Bg5, leads to the complex lines of the Leningrad System.
This variation was used by Spassky in his youth, and also a favorite of the
Dutch GM, Jan Timman.See the instructive contest: Boris Spassky - Miroslav Filip; /
FIDE Interzonal Tournament / Goteborg, SWE; 1955.
{White won a model game.}[See (also) MCO-14, page # 551; columns # 57 through # 60 ...
and all associated notes.]********************************************************************************************
For a complete annotated game, in the 4.Qc2 line, (that I recently redid);
please click here.(See also my "Game of the Month," for August, 2005; [go there, now].) ]
4...0-0;
Note that Black has already castled, and it is only move four.
Both sides continue to develop their pieces.
5.Bd3 d5;
Black grabs the center.
This is probably the main line, but it is not the only way to play this opening. Two alternative strategies for Black is to play 5...c5 here, as well as plans involving a fianchetto of Black's QB.
6.Nge2,
White goes here ... in an attempt to avoid doubled QBP's, this Knight move is also seen as being a flexible way of deploying this piece. (Note that both Nf3 and Nge2 develops the KN, supports the center, and also prepares a rapid escape of the WK via castling on the King-side. ALSO, by playing to e2, White avoids any pins by Black's QB that would have possible after 6.Nf3.)
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rnbq1rk1/ppp2ppp/4pn2/3p4/1bPP4/2NBP3/PP2NPPP/R1BQK2R b
This is a good place for our first diagram for this contest.
[ The main line would probably be: 6.Nf3 c5; 7.0-0 Nc6;
Note the symmetrical pawns. (If Black's Bishop on d6, we would
have 100% symmetry, this slight difference is just enough to give
rise to all kinds of imbalances.)8.a3 Bxc3;
Not the only move, Black can also play 8...Ba5!? or exchange Pawns
on c4. (This is the main line, and is considered one of Black's best
continuations here.)9.bxc3, "+/="
We have a position that is very similar to the actual game, and it is
generally agreed that White has a small advantage here.See the super-GM contest:
Garry Kasparov - Vladimir Kramnik; / ICT, XIV Super-GM (1-0, 57 m.)
Linares, ESP; 1997. {White won an amazing, model game in 57 moves.}[ For a breakdown of these lines, please see MCO-14, page # 539; all
columns and notes. (But pay special attention to columns # 19 through
column # 21.) ] ]
6...c5; 7.cxd5 exd5; 8.a3,
This is the most popular move in the database, although taking on c5 was another possibility.
(Castling here was also very good.)
8...Bxc3+; 9.bxc3 b6;
10.0-0 Ba6;
A common plan for Black, Black gets exchanges off his inactive Bishop for one of White's best minor pieces.
11.f3 Re8; 12.Ng3 Bxd3;
13.Qxd3 Nc6;
White has a very slight edge here, with a Bishop vs. a Knight, and a possible mobile Pawn center.
(Of course, Onischuk can be very happy with the position that he has achieved out of the opening.)
14.Ra2!?,
White activates his QR, via a rather unusual (but not unique) maneuver.
[But maybe the simple 14.Bb2 was to be preferred in this position. Then White could move his QR to the
center, and then the first player should consider playing e3-e4.]
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r2qr1k1/p4ppp/1pn2n2/2pp4/3P4/P1PQPPN1/R5PP/2B2RK1 b
An interesting position has arisen on the chess board here.
14...Qd7; 15.Re2 Re6; 16.Bb2 Rd8; 17.Rd1 g6; 18.Ree1,
White secures his center, (the Rooks now protect each other); but White has now lost a tempo as compared to the plan outlined after the 14th move.
[The simple >/= 18.e4! "+/=" looked like the critical continuation for White.]
18...h5!?; 19.e4 dxe4;
This looks OK, (even good); but the pawn push of ...h5-h4 was strongly to be considered here
for Black. (Otherwise, the idea contained in Black's 18th move is just an empty threat.)
[ After the moves: 19...h4; 20.Nh1 h3; 21.Ng3 hxg2; 22.Kxg2,
White's King position has been loosened a little. ]
20.fxe4 Qe7; ('!')
Now if White advances either his pawns, (on e4 or the d4-squares); ...
Black will simply capture them!
21.Qf1,
Suddenly - almost without warning - White's once proud center is under duress. (Black has threats of pushing his KRP, dislodging the WN on g3 which would win the Pawn on e4.) Having said all this, 21.Qb5 might have been a better try ... but this is not 100% certain.
[ But not </= 21.e5? Nxe5; "/+" which clearly favors Black.
(There is a pin on the d-file.) ]
The next series of moves look to be all forced here.
21...Nxe4; 22.Rxe4 Rxe4; 23.Nxe4 Qxe4; 24.Re1 Qf5;
Apparently, Black feels this to be {positionally} forced here.
(The line of 24...Qd5; 25.Qf6, might allow
White some counterplay.)
25.Qxf5 gxf5; 26.dxc5 bxc5;
27.c4,
This is a critical position. White has given up a button, but Black's pawn structure is shattered ... when
I first went over this game, I thought that Black's position was
unwinnable.
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3r2k1/p4p2/2n5/2p2p1p/2P5/P7/1B4PP/4R1K1 b
Time for the third diagram of this monster struggle.
[ Or 27.Bc1 Rd3; "/+" and Black is also better. ]
Now Black brings his King into the game - as he is unable to really improve the
squares that his other pieces are situated on. (One of the basic principles of the endgame is that the King is a fighting
piece, and should be actively employed in the final stages of any contest.)
27...Kh7; 28.Bf6 Rd7;
29.Re8 Kg6; 30.Rc8 Rd6;
31.Bc3 f4;
Black is slowly untangling his game here, but does the second player have enough to win?
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2R5/p4p2/2nr2k1/2p4p/2P2p2/P1B5/6PP/6K1 w
Time for a "look-see", Black's position here is not attractive, his overall pawn skeleton could even be described as rather ugly.
32.Kf2 f6; 33.h3!?, (Dubious?)
White plays a move that does not appear to worsen his position. However, "pass moves" like
Kf1 might have been better. (White's last move took some of the flexibility out of his Pawn
structure, and also weakened the g3-square, something that might work to GM Onischuk's favor in a K+P ending.)
33...Kf5; 34.Ke2,
White must also use his King actively in the endgame.
(The move of 34.Rh8 was also to be closely examined here.)
34...Ke4;
Black is not worried about a Rook check from behind, as ...Ne5 nicely covers all the key squares.
35.Rh8?!, (Maybe - '?')
Seemingly the indicated move, but this try, probably played in time pressure, is decidedly
inferior to a waiting strategy with a move like pushing his QRP or trying Rc7.
[ >/= 35.a4 a6; 36.Rc7; "/+" ]
35...Ne5; 36.Rxh5 Rd3; 37.Bd2 Rg3!;
38.Kf2 Rxa3;
Here Black is clearly on top, all that remains is to reduce the first player to a position
where meaningful resistance is no longer possible.
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8/p7/5p2/2p1n2R/2P1kp2/r6P/3B1KP1/8 w
Now take a look at this position ... what a transformation from the {seemingly passive} positions that Black had much earlier in this clash.
39.Rh4 Ra2; 40.Ke1 Kd3;
This is winning, as was 41...a5.
41.Bxf4 Rxg2; 42.Rh6 Ke4;
This wins - and forces further simplification.
(The simple move, 42...KxP/c4 also won, but left more material on the board for White to play
with.)
Now Black wraps things up.
43.Bxe5 fxe5; 44.Ra6 Rh2;
45.Rxa7 Rxh3; 46.Rd7 Rc3;
47.Kd2 Rxc4;
48.Rc7 Kf3!; 49.Re7 Rd4+!; "-/+"
White Resigns.
After 50.Ke1, e4; White's position is completely hopeless.
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8/4R3/8/2p1p3/3r4/5k2/3K4/8 w
While this might not be a "beautiful victory," and seemed to lack the classic simplicity of games found in some books aimed primarily at the chess novice, this "gritty win" was nonetheless highly educational. (Black's technique in whole of this endgame is to be closely studied! The level of White's resistance was also very high, much greater than the weak play in other contests that is to be found in many so-called instructional volumes.)
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OK, did you figure this one out yet? 1.f6!! is the winning move, and most programs find 1.Rxc5! instantly as well. (After 1.Rxc5, if Black takes the Rook on c5, White plays 2.Qb3+, winning. If Black's King goes into the corner, the first player can force a SMOTHERED MATE - see my third lesson for more details.) The main idea of 1.f6 is to completely expose the Black King to the full power of White's pieces, which can (almost surprisingly) leap quickly into action.
---> For a detailed analysis of this position, please click here.
Well ... that's a wrap for April's column. (For 2006.)
I hope you have enjoyed this month's lesson. Please contact me if you have any questions. Also, be sure to contact the webmaster here, and let him know what you think of this lesson. Thank you for your time and attention ... and I will see you next month!
Copyright © A.J. Goldsby, 2006. All rights reserved.
