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Learning Chess (#12), by A.J. Goldsby I
This problem here is drawn from the games of the winner of this month's featured contest.
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r1b2rk1/pp4pp/2n5/q2pPp2/3p3Q/P1PB1N2/2PK1P1P/R5R1 w
It is White to move in the above position .... Black just took a pawn on d4. Should White simply recapture, or is there something better?
Please study this one carefully, set up a board if you like. (My advice is to take between 10 and 30 minutes and try NOT to move the pieces. The solution - with analysis - will be given at the end of this lesson.)
Hi! I apologize for being late with this lesson ... but life has been very hectic as of late. I also did not want to just crank something out, I wanted to create something of lasting value, and I am truly trying to learn this opening as well. You see, for something like 35 years, the Giuoco Piano was my primary opening weapon as White, and I won many fine games with it. However, a series of hard losses against FM's, IM's and even one GM ... all this convinced me that it was time to change openings.
So I took up the Ruy Lopez ... an opening I had studied as a teenager, but I never got around to playing it.
At first, I was not particularly successful with it ... and therein lies a story.
I have quite a few local students, and more than one likes to watch me play chess on the Internet. One student in particular enjoys watching me play, he even purchased separate accounts for me on two popular Internet chess servers.
Anyway, our lessons for the past four or five years always follow the same pattern. (He picks me up, as I do not have a car.) After we study for 3-4 hours, he pays me ... and then the fun begins. He logs onto the Internet, and we take turns playing chess. For a long time, he only wanted to see me play blitz or even one-minute chess. He gets a kick out of watching me perform, he even says that he learns a great deal from my tactics.
After several years of mostly fast chess, I asked him if I could start playing slower games ... and practice my new opening repertoire. (I am trying to learn several new openings, mostly the Ruy Lopez.) And the first four or five games - as White - I lost pretty badly. (But I would always print the game out, and then go over it carefully with the computer.) However, my last few games have been all wins or draws, many against much higher-rated players.
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Several things that I learned ... after deeply studying many of my Internet clashes, especially my last Ruy Lopez game on the Internet:
The result of quite a few games were determined {mostly} by preparation. I have played dozens, (if not literally hundreds); of training games against the computer ... playing both sides of the position, in order to gain a real understanding of the lines and the positions.
Not only have I tried to memorize dozens and dozens of opening lines, I also try to ALWAYS have some kind of middle-game plan from any opening variation!
Playing the computer has made me much more of a positional type player. In the above mentioned encounter, I would have greatly preferred to win a splashy game of tactics, sacrificing something, and blowing my opponent off the board. However, against a strong player - this is not always possible. (In the actual contest, made reference to above - I had to be happy with the simple but effective maneuver of trebling on a weak pawn on the c-file and winning it.)
Even after playing one opening for nearly forty years, it is possible to learn a new one!!
The game for this month is a Ruy Lopez, I wanted to try and learn as much as possible from this game. ONLY AFTER I HAD REALLY UNDERSTOOD WHAT WAS HAPPENING ... did I feel that I would be able to teach this contest in a reasonably competent manner!!! (Toward this end, I guarantee that I have been through this game around 30 times, if not more.)
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GM Friso Nijboer - is a strong GM ... that I have personally played. (My loss to him - at the 1995 New York Open - can be found in almost any database.) Born May 26th, 1965 ... GM Nijboer is now 41 years old. His highest rating {so far} was 2605 at age 32.
He first turned heads as a junior as a promising young Dutch player. In the European "Under-20 Championships" in Groningen, (Which was won by future GM Jaan Ehlvest, I was there ... but only as a spectator!); ... at 17 years old, F. Nijboer turned in a highly respectable score of seven out of 13.
Nijboer has already had an interesting and successful career, and has won quite a few events, including some international tournaments. (I spent several hours one night perusing the database. GM F. Nijboer has played many fine games, here is one that caught my attention.)
A few career highlights are:
He won Eindhoven, 1988; (NED Champ. Semi-Final) with an impressive 6.5 out of 7.
He won Sonnevanck, Wijk ann Zee; 1995 (cat. IX) with a score of 7.0/9 (clear first)
He tied for first (with GM Paul van der Sterren) in the strong (Cat, X) Hoogoven's Masters ("B" section) at Wijk aan Zee, NED; in 1997.
He won the "Harmonie Masters" tournament (Cat. X, clear first) at Groningen, Holland; (NED) in 2003 with the undefeated score of 7.0/9. (Five wins, four draws.)
Some observations about Nijboer as a chess player:
He plays primarily the KP as White. (This leads to many different openings, mainly the Ruy Lopez and various Sicilians.) There are also a handful of games in the DB where he opened with 1.c4. (But this is a very small percentage,)
As Black, he defends the QP with fianchetto systems, mostly the King's Indian Defense ... with which he is a great expert from the Black side.
As Black against the KP, he likes to play the classical Sicilian, and has won many fine games with that system.
He is an aggressive player, and would much rather attack than defend. He is also a solid endgame player, but occasionally appears lost in high-class positional struggles. He continues to improve mature, and may be on the verge of breaking 2600 again.
----->
One (CORUS) bio.
His FIDE card,
his games on
the popular CG server.
(His "Chess Metrics"
page.)
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GM Ivan Sokolov - is an extremely strong player, (born June 13th, 1968); but for many years he was probably confused with other players of the same last name. [A search of the database reveals around a dozen masters with the surname Sokolov. Many confused Ivan with the Russian GM, (who now hails from France); Andrei Sokolov ... who nearly made it to a World Championship Match with Garry Kasparov back in the 1980's.]
Originally from Bosnia, {a part of former Yugoslavia}; he was displaced by the wars and strife there, and now calls Holland (The Netherlands) his home. He has been both the national champion of the country of his birth and also of his adopted homeland.
A few career highlights are:
At age 19, he won Portoroz, 1987; notched a high PR, with six wins, seven draws and no losses.
He tied for first at Niksic, 1991 .. with GM V. Akopian.
At Akureyri, 1994, (Cat. X); he had an extremely impressive tournament. He won clear first, with the fine score of 9.0/11. (Seven wins!, four draws, no losses ... and a PR over 2750.)
At the Tilburg, 1994 tournament, (won by GM V. Salov) ... he made it to the fourth round before being eliminated by Anatoly Karpov, one of his best-ever results, especially from the ratings/category standpoint.
He has won dozens of events and tournaments, some ... of quite a high ranking. (Like Ter Apel, 1995.) One of his most recent successes was to win the "Essent Crown" Tournament in 2004. (Category 15!!!) He has been over 2700 and has been a frequent member of the world's "Top 30" club. Today - GM I. Sokolov is 38, and he is currently rated 2652 and ranked # 55 in the world. (According to one of his friends and training partners, his favorite game would be this defeat of none other than GM Garry Kasparov. A recent victory - over a top GM - as Black.)
Newsflash:
(Tuesday; Aug. 29, 2006) Ivan Sokolov won the
Staunton Memorial ... (see above)
In this category 11 event, Sokolov scored points on a blistering pace. His
torrid, final point tally? A nearly unbelievable seven wins, four draws, and
NO losses! His final score of 9.0 placed him just ahead of perennial
candidate, GM Jan Timman and Super-GM Michael Adams --- both of whom went through
the tournament undefeated and finished with an admirable score of 8.5.
Another impressive fact? GM I. Sokolov's performance rating was near
2800!!!
Some observations about Ivan Sokolov as a chess player:
As White he opens primarily with the QP, although there are a few games in the db where he opened with 1.c4. (The English.)
He is a world respected theoretician in the opening systems that he played. He is considered a world expert on the White side of the Classical Variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defense, (1.d4, Nf6; 2.c4, e6; 3.Nc3, Bb4; 4.Qc2); and has authored dozens of theoretical articles and even written a book on this system.
As Black, he really likes to mix it up, but seems most comfortable and successful playing classical openings.
Against 1.e4, he plays the Black side of the Ruy Lopez and also plays a solid, classical type Sicilian as well. (But with a sophisticated move order that by-passes many of the sharper lines that are available to White.)
Against the QP - as Black - Sokolov can play almost any opening. He has used the Grunfeld, The King's Indian Defense, The Queen's Indian, The Nimzo-Indian, The (super-solid) Semi-Slav; the list is nearly endless.
----->
One (CORUS) bio.
His FIDE card,
his games on
the popular CG server.
(His "Chess Metrics"
page.)
This is the featured game for this month.
You can replay this game - without any annotations, HERE.
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[A.J.G.]
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Nijboer plays a very nice game, and defeats a much stronger opponent. (Any time a higher-rated player loses in under 25 moves, I am always a little curious as to why this occurred.)
1.e4 e5;
2.Nf3 Nc6; 3.Bb5, {Diagram
below.}
The Ruy Lopez, one of the oldest and most respected of all openings, especially at the master level. (Only one other opening has the same following, {at least at this level}; and that would be the Queen's Gambit and Queen's Gambit Declined.)
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r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/2n5/1B2p3/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R b
See my "Game of The Month" website for a few annotated GM games that use this opening. (If you search the Internet, I am sure you can find many examples of this opening, I have annotated a few myself.)
3...a6;
4.Ba4 Nf6;
5.0-0 Nxe4; (loss of a center Pawn) {Diagram
below.}
This is "The Open Defense."
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r1bqkb1r/1ppp1ppp/p1n5/4p3/B3n3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w
It is probably so named, because the center gets cleared of a couple of Pawns, the resulting positions are much more free and open than the main lines.
However, I must note that it does not have a large following at the GM level, the last player to use this opening at the highest plane of master-level play was Vicktor Korchnoi. (And he was not that particularly successful with it, he lost many games to Karpov over the years; some of these chess struggles may have cost him the chance to become the World Champion.)
[ See MCO-14 for more details on the Open Variation of the Ruy Lopez. ]
[ The main line of "The Closed Defense" runs as follows:
5...Be7; 6.Re1 b5; 7.Bb3 d6; 8.c3 0-0; 9.h3!, (To prevent the pin.)
and White will dominate the center (with d2-d4) and gain a nice edge
("+/=") out of the opening.See any good book (on this variation) ... for more details.
See also MCO-14, beginning on page # 77. ]
6.d4 b5; 7.Bb3 d5;
Black voluntarily returns the Pawn, the trap books are full of pitfalls
for the greedy in this particular opening line.
[ After the grossly inferior: 7...exd4?; 8.Re1 d5; 9.Nc3!!,
This is very nice, the point is that if Black takes the Knight on
c3 (with his Pawn), White responds with BxP/d5, and Black's
position will fall apart.( A cute "counter-trap" is: 9.Nxd4!? Nxd4; 10.Qxd4 Be6!;
11.f3?? Bc5; "-/+" winning White's Queen. (A master who
plays this line as Black says that he has caught around 30
rabbits in this snare over the years.) )9...Be6; 10.Nxe4 dxe4; 11.Rxe4 Be7!; 12.Bxe6 fxe6; 13.Nxd4!,
13...0-0; 14.Qg4! Nxd4; 15.Rxd4 Qc8; 16.Re4, '±'
White (eventually) wins Black's King-Pawn ... and the game.R.J. Fischer - P. Trifunovic; Master's Tournament (Inv.)
/Bled, Yugoslavia; 1961.[This is a trap that has been given in countless books devoted to
sly pitfalls in the opening.] ]
8.dxe5 Be6; 9.Nbd2, {Diagram
below.}
White continues to develop, (which is good); the first player can also play 9.c3 in this position as well.
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r2qkb1r/2p2ppp/p1n1b3/1p1pP3/4n3/1B3N2/PPPN1PPP/R1BQ1RK1 b
I asked an International Master (in an e-mail) why many strong players today use 9.Nbd2, instead of the older 9.c3. His response was a real eye opener. He said: "In my opinion, it does not matter which move you play first, many times it amounts to a simple transposition of moves. Additionally, by using the 9.Nbd2 move order, White avoids many of sharper variations available to Black, such as the Dilworth Attack." Good advice!!
9...Nc5; {Diagram
below.}
From what I can determine ... after many hours using the (new) CB PowerBook, doing searches in the database and analyzing with Fritz, this has now become the new (modern) main line.
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r2qkb1r/2p2ppp/p1n1b3/1pnpP3/8/1B3N2/PPPN1PPP/R1BQ1RK1 w
The older line was 9...Be7; but then White gets a nice edge by swapping on e4, and then playing Nd2.
[ After the following moves, (which are also 'book'); White gets a very solid edge.
For example: 9...Be7; 10.c3 Nc5; 11.Bc2 Bg4; 12.Re1 Qd7; 13.Nf1 Rd8;
14.Ne3 Bh5; 15.b4, "+/=" (Maybe - '±')
White had a nice advantage, and went on to win a decisive game.GM J. Hjartarson - GM V. Korchnoi; (FIDE) Candidates Match m2,
(G#1) / Saint John, CAN; 1988. (1-0, 44 m.) ]
10.c3 g6!?; {Diagram
below.}
Black tries to aggressively place his KB on the long diagonal.
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r2qkb1r/2p2p1p/p1n1b1p1/1pnpP3/8/1BP2N2/PP1N1PPP/R1BQ1RK1 w
This seems a tad slow compared to the 'book' variations. (Black normally plays 10...Be7; 10...Bd4; or even the try of 10...Bg4 here; see MCO-14 {page # 70} for more details on this very complex opening sub-system.)
[ The modern main line would probably be:
10...d4!?; 11.Bxe6!, "+/=" 11...Nxe6;
White has a solid edge here.The first player can play Karpov's move of a4 or even the simple
Pawn-exchange on the d4-square.See the contest:
GM A. Karpov - GM V. Korchnoi; / (FIDE) 30th World Championship Match
(G # 14) / Merano, ITA; 1981.
{White won a convincing victory, 1-0, in 46 tense moves.}[ See also MCO-14, page # 70; all columns and relevant notes.
(Mainly column # 43.) ] ]
11.Nd4!,
White plays to the center and to release his Queen and his f-Pawn; GM Nijboer does not seem too
terribly worried about the loss of his KP. (An intentional gambit.)
11.Bc2 is also commonly played in this position.
11...Nxe5; 12.Bc2 Bg7;
13.f4, {Diagram below.}
White kicks Black's Knight off the vital central square, doing so with a gain of time.
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r2qk2r/2p2pbp/p3b1p1/1pnpn3/3N1P2/2P5/PPBN2PP/R1BQ1RK1 b
This is probably the most important position of the whole game.
13...Nc4!?, (Possibly - '?!')
A simple move ... and one that allows White to double Black's Pawns. (13...Ned3 was definitely
Sokolov's best defense.)
[ Probably better was:
>/= 13...Ned3!; 14.Nxe6 fxe6; 15.b4 Qe7!; "<=>"
when Black should have enough play to hold the balance.
(The lines are very complex, I deeply investigated them with
Fritz. If you are curious, use your own computer to analyze
this position.) ]
14.Nxc4 dxc4; 15.f5, ('!') {Diagram
below.}
White plays the most forceful move, other tries were not as convincing, especially considering that White is a Pawn down. (Slower play may allow Black to complete his overall development, leaving White with doubtful compensation.)
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r2qk2r/2p2pbp/p3b1p1/1pn2P2/2pN4/2P5/PPB3PP/R1BQ1RK1 b
This is a key position, White might have the initiative, but Black is by no means guaranteed a loss from the current situation on the board.
15...gxf5?!; (wrong on principle)
This is bad ... GM Ivan Sokolov open lines, and corrupts his entire King-side Pawn structure.
(Black will be two Pawns up for a brief time, but it won't last. Maybe - '?')
[ After the moves: >/= 15...Bd5; 16.Re1+ Kf8; 17.Bf4, "~" ("+/=")
Black has lost the right to castle, and White has some definite chances
to attack, but Fritz sees no forced win for White from this position. ]
16.Nxe6! Nxe6[];
This is forced, one reason that Nxe6 works is that an exchange of Queens here on d1, is met by
NxB/g7+, winning a piece.
[ It is simple suicide for Black to play: 16...fxe6; ('?') 17.Qh5+ Kf8;
(Black is in a bad way, this seems like the safest square for the King.)( Or 17...Kd7!?; 18.Rd1+ Nd3; 19.Bxd3, winning for White.
Or 17...Ke7!?; 18.Bg5+ Bf6; 19.Bxf6+ Kxf6; 20.Bxf5!,
which also wins for White. )18.Bxf5!, "+/-" with a killer attack.
(Black cannot take on f5, as after the Queen takes - with check -
Black gets mated, or loses a ton of material.) ]
17.Qh5 Qd6; 18.Bxf5!,
This is better than taking with the Rook, White is trying to discourage his opponent from castling on the King-side.
(Now Fritz likes 18...Qd5, but shows that Black is completely lost ... no matter what move he
chooses.)
18...h6!?; 19.Be3,
This wins, as does >/= 19.Re1!
(Then if 19...0-0; 20.Bxh6, is a complete wipeout for Black.)
19...0-0-0; ('?')
This looks like an admission of defeat, 19...Qe7 was the only sane way to (try) and continue with any real resistance.
20.Qxf7 Rhe8;
The Knight on e6 was pinned to the King ... and attacked by two of White's pieces here.
21.Qxg7!, ("+/-")
Black finally resigns, he has lost a whole piece.
A fine game by GM Friso Nijboer. This is also an excellent struggle for the aspiring student to study, it shows how a Pawn sacrifice in the opening can pave the way to a decisive attack in the middlegame.
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So ... did you ever solve it?
White could just play Nxd4 in the diagram given above, however he has something much better.
17.Rxg7+!!,
A smashing and brilliant blow. (Fritz only finds Nxd4, at least
after the first 10-20 seconds.)
17...Kxg7;
18.Rg1+ Kh8;
Black tries to hide in the corner.
[ The second player could have also tried:
18...Kf7!?; 19.Qh5+ Ke7;
20.Rg7+ Kd8 21.Qg5+ Ke8; 22.Nxd4! Qxa3;
This is probably forced. (Black must guard e7, White
threatens a quick mate
there. Of course if the Black Knight on c6 moves, an instant mate
on e7 is
the punishment.)
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( Even worse would be:
22...a6?; 23.Qh5+! Kd8; 24.Nxc6+ bxc6; 25.Qg5+ ,
and Black cannot prevent a quick mate on the e7-square.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Black also loses after: 22...Rf7!?; 23.Rg8+ Rf8;
Forced. (Playing the King to the d7-square is nailed by a Pawn
fork on e6.)
24.Qh5+ Kd8; This looks ugly, but going to e7 is met by Rg7+
and a quick mate.
25.Nxc6+ bxc6; 26.Rxf8+ Kc7; 27.Qe8 Kb7; 28.Qe7+, "+/-"
Computer analysis will reveal that White has a winning attack. )
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23.Nb5, "+/-" Its an easy win for White, Fritz
shows that Black must
give up the Queen here or be mated. ]
19.Qh6 dxc3+;
20.Ke2 Rf7;
This is forced, if 20...Qc7??; then 21.QxR/f8# is the answer.
21.Ng5! Nd4+; 22.Kf1 Rg7; This is also forced.
[ Or 22...Qc7;
23.Nxh7 Be6; 24.Nf6+ Rh7; 25.Nxh7 Qxh7; 26.Qf6+,
and mate next move. ]
23.Nxh7!! Rxg1+;
Again ... Black does not have much choice here.
(Taking the Knight on h7 is punished by Qf8#.)
24.Kxg1 Kg8;
25.Qg6+!,
The last difficult move - chasing the BK back into the corner. (The rest is pretty simple.)
[ White also wins with:
25.Nf6+ Kf7; 26.Qh5+ Kg7;
27.Qh7+ Kf8; 2 8.Qg8+ Ke7; 29.Qe8#. ]
25...Kh8;
26.Nf6 Nf3+; 27.Kh1,
"+/-"
Black resigns, mate on h7 or g8 cannot be prevented.
All this is from the contest: F. Nijboer - P. Dittmar; / Leeuwarden, 1994. [replay]
This concludes my lesson for June, 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.
