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Learning Chess (#15), by A.J. Goldsby I
First of all, I would like to apologize to all of the readers for the many delays ...
I have had more problems with my computer lately than you can shake a stick at, this includes having to reload my software from scratch many times this year. (I either replaced the main hard drive or had it crash about 6-9 times this year, additionally there were lots of other problems as well.)
I have lost so much information and work that I could scream. At one point, I actually thought seriously about chucking my computer into the Gulf of Mexico and getting a job driving a garbage truck ... (or anything else, as long as it had nothing to do with computers!).
However, one can either run from the future, or embrace it with open arms. I am hardly a visionary, however I am sure that computers will increasingly play a part in all of our lives ... so I must simply sigh, mutter about Murphy under my breath ... and choose the latter option.
Now on to the chess!!!
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Neither player should require an introduction, both are world class players. Karpov is a former World Champion, Leko is at the top of his game. (P. Leko played a WCS match vs. V. Kramnik in 2004 and won Wijk aan Zee in 2005.)
On paper, it would be easy to say that this was a mismatch, Leko is a young lion and you could say that Karpov is past his prime. Usually rapid chess produces chess of less than stellar quality, here both players played at a very high level, in all of the games I was unable to detect most errors without the help of the computer.
In the end - just one game, {the one examined below}; decided the whole match ... and without the aid of Fritz, I was not able to determine exactly where Karpov went wrong. In the end, I decided to examine this contest in detail ... and try to turn it into a teaching vehicle.
[The official web site.]
[CB, intro
article, closing
story.]
[TWIC #617.]
[The CG page
for this match.]
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GM Peter Leko - born in 1979, he was well known on the GM circuit before he was even out of his teens. By the time he was in his early 20's, he had already become one of the "Top Ten" players in the world.
As White, he primarily opens with 1.e4, although he has recently added 1.d4 to his repertoire.
As Black, he primarily defends 1.e4 with the Sicilian; and against 1.d4, he answers with the Grunfeld and the Nimzo-Indian.
A few items of interest about his career:
He was a promising junior player, in 1994 he broke a record by becoming a GM by the age of 14.
He finished clear first in the 32nd Capablanca Memorial (Elite) tournament, (1997); with eight points out of a possible 11. (Five wins, six draws, no losses.)
He won Dortmund in 2002, a super-GM event. (This event also qualified him to meet Vladimir Kramnik in a match for the World Championship - where he acquitted himself well by drawing the match. In fact, only a win by Kramnik in the last game enabled him to retain his title.)
He is considered one of the most solid and "difficult to beat" players in the whole world.
His best game? (There are light notes.)
-----> One good bio. GM P. Leko's FIDE card. His games on the popular CG server. His CM page.
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GM Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov - b. 1951 {former} World Champion and the winner of many events, some said that Karpov did not deserve the title of champion, as he won ... because Fischer failed to come to terms with FIDE in 1975 about the terms of a proposed match.
Karpov was born in Zlatoust, a small town in the Urals. Karpov was also a promising junior, at the age of 15 he became one of the youngest National Masters of the USSR ... ever! By age 16, he had already become the European Junior Champion, and in 1969, he became the World Junior Champion ... winning the title three points ahead of his nearest rival.
Anatoly {also sometimes given as Anatoli} Karpov was awarded the title of FIDE Grand-Master in 1970.
He was the official World Champion from 1975 until he lost to Garry Kasparov in 1985. {He again - later - became the FIDE World Champion, but only after Garry Kasparov began playing matches outside the controls of the chess world's governing body.}
Many players, like myself - who were playing chess during this period - will remember Karpov and his seemingly endless series of WCS matches with Garry Kasparov. (They played a total of five matches and 120 WCS-level games. [more] )
By his fine play, many match victories and his {nearly} countless tournament victories, (According to the CB dossier generated with CB 9.0, Karpov has won over fifty major international tournaments!!!); Karpov has proven himself to be a great player ... his place in the halls of chess history is unchallenged.
*******
A few items of interest about his career:
Best Individual Performance: 2899 Performance Rating - Linares, 1994, scoring 11/13 (85%) vs. 2729-rated opposition.
2851 in Karpov-Kasparov V (World Championship, Lyon/New York), 1990, scoring 11.5/24 (48%) vs. 2877-rated opposition.
2833 in Tilburg, 1988, scoring 10.5/14 (75%) vs. 2707-rated opposition.
*******
As White ... for many years ... Karpov opened mostly with 1.e4. Then later in his career, he switched and began using 1.d4 on a regular basis.
As Black, he has dabbled with a few openings ... like the Sicilian ... but his major workhorse against the KP-opening would have to be 1...e5. For many years, he was considered the leading exponent of the Zaitzev System from the Black side of the Ruy Lopez.
When playing against 1.d4, he has employed a number of different openings. By far his favorite, would have to be the "Queen's Indian Defense." He has also used the "T.M.B. System" of the Queen's Gambit, the Nimzo-Indian and a few others.
One of Anatoly Karpov's best games.
*******
-----> A fairly nice bio. His FIDE card. His games on the popular CG server. His CM page.
Replay
the game (below) on this website .... on a
beautiful, "easy-to-see" (js) viewer.
(Make sure that you have "java-script" enabled,
otherwise this page will not work properly.)
Go here to see a detailed explanation of all the symbols that I use when annotating a chess game.
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Normally, I do not give games that were played at rapid time controls much consideration, but this was a match between two of the best players in the world.
Also - the "official line" in the chess press was that Karpov blundered in this game, in a position that was easily drawn for him. (See the report in TWIC # 617.) However, with the help of Fritz, I was able to determine that this was a terrible oversimplification of what actually occurred in this game ... and that maybe this contest deserved just one more look.
Additionally, it is always fun to analyze any chess game with the computer ... you never know what you might discover.
Please bear in mind that this whole match was played at a time control of "Game in 25 minutes," with a five second increment per move.
1.d4 Nf6;
2.c4 e6; 3.Nf3 b6;
The Queen's Indian Defense.
4.g3 Ba6;
Nimzovich's original idea, to defend the Pawn on c4, White must make some type of a
positional concession.
5.b3 Bb4+;
6.Bd2 Be7; ('!')
The Bishop retreats ... leaving White's Q-side in a rather ungainly and awkward set-up.
7.Bg2 0-0;
8.0-0 c6!?;
One of the most popular lines, I studied this continuation in detail some 20+ years ago. (Black goes
for counterplay, attempts to gain some space, and tries to block White's KB on g2 out of the game.)
[ The alternative would be: 8...Bb7; 9.Nc3 Na6; 10.Bc1 d5; 11.Ne5, "+/="
White has a small edge, a good game to study would be:GM V. Smyslov - GM L. Psakhis; / FIDE Interzonal Tournament
Las Palmas, Grand Canaria (R7) / Spain; 1982. (79)
{White won a long, but fairly convincing affair.} ]
9.Bc3 d5; 10.Ne5 Nfd7; 11.Nxd7 Nxd7; 12.Nd2,
So far this is all book, and has been played dozens of times by top GM's.
(There are over 850 games in the on-line database from this position.)
For a detailed look at this opening
system please see my column
...
for the "Game of The Month" website for February, 2006.
[ Another idea here was for White to play 12. Qd3!? in this position. ]
12...Rc8;
One of the main lines, Black removes his Rook from the long diagonal and plans a Pawn break (...c6-c5) in order
to try and equalize.
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2rq1rk1/p2nbppp/bpp1p3/3p4/2PP4/1PB3P1/P2NPPBP/R2Q1RK1 w
The other move - that is often played for Black - would be 12...Nf6.
13.e4 c5;
Opening theory considers this to be a good move, another approach is for Black to push his b-Pawn here.
[ For the rather weird-looking try of: 13...b5!?; here for Black,
please see the high-level GM contest:Vishy Anand - Michael Adams; / ICT, 22nd Super-GM (R14)
/ Linares, ESP; 2005. (0-1, 52)
{Black won a strange clash in 52 moves, but I don't think that the
opening was to blame.}*****************************************************************************************
The continuation of: 13...dxe4; 14.Nxe4 Nf6; 15.Qe2, "+/="
allows White to keep a small - but a fairly persistent edge - out of the
opening phase. (White dominates the center, and it is difficult for Black
to achieve a pawn break on c5 or e5.)---> I could find no master-level games with this position in any db. ]
14.exd5 exd5;
15.dxc5 dxc4;
Black naturally tries to mix things up, the recapture of 15...NxP/c5 is simply met by 16.BxP/d5, when
White wins a button.
16.c6!,
A nice "in-between" move, White gets a dangerous passed Pawn and also threatens to win material.
(This is not a new move, we are still well within the realm of modern opening theory.)
[ The continuation of: 16.Nxc4 Rxc5; gives Black no real problems,
the second player has counterplay with the pressure on the c4-square
in this line. ]
Now Black responds with a
zwieschenzug of his own.
(A zwieschenzug is the same thing as an "in-between
move," it is a move that is generally unexpected, and interrupts the normal
flow of the course of the moves.)
16...cxb3!;
17.Re1,
White must save the Rook, of course not </= 17.cxd7?, Rxc3;
"/+"
17...b2;
This looks like Black's best bet.
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2rq1rk1/p2nbppp/bpP5/8/8/2B3P1/Pp1N1PBP/R2QR1K1 w
Take a look at the current situation that we have on the chess board ... what a wild situation!
[ After the following continuation:
17...Bb5!?; 18.axb3 Bxc6; 19.Bxc6 Rxc6; 20.Rxa7 Bf6;
(This could be the best way for Black to equalize.)( Inferior would be: 20...Rxc3?!; 21.Nb1! Rc7!?; 22.Rxc7 Qxc7;
23.Rxe7 Rd8; 24.Qd5, '±' with pressure. )21.Ne4 Bxc3; 22.Rxd7 Qc8; "~"
Black looks to be maintaining the overall balance. ]
18.Bxb2 Nc5;
19.Nc4!?,
This is a tricky try, but in all probability, the sane >/= 19.Ba3, ("=") was preferable here.
19...Bxc4;
20.Qg4,
Now due to the double threat of mate on g7 and the "hit" on the piece on c4, White will regain the material.
20...Bf6!?;
(TN?)
Seemingly the normal and expected move here, but in reality, this is inferior ('?!')
to playing the Bishop to g5 on Black's 20th move.
As far as I can tell, this move is new to opening theory ... and was probably better off "left in the box," as one GM once told me.
[ Better would have been: >/= 20...Bg5!; 21.Qxc4 Nd3; "=" ("=/+")
when Black had no problems.Believe it or not, this has been played nearly 20 times before, the
best known example would have to be the contest:
GM V. Topalov - GM V. Anand; / FIDE World Champ. Tourn. (R2)
San Luis, ARG; 2005. (1/2, 97) {An extremely long game, it was
eventually drawn just shy of 100 total moves!} ]
21.Bxf6 Qxf6;
22.Qxc4, "+/="
Now White is clearly better. (A dangerous passed Pawn, a Bishop vs. a Knight, etc.)
22...Rfd8;
Black centralizes his Rook, the move 22...Ne6 was also worthy of serious consideration.
23.Rad1 Rxd1;
24.Rxd1 g6;
The Black King needs an escape square, so that Karpov does not have to worry about back-rank
mates.
25.Bd5 Kg7;
26.Kg2 Rc7; 27.Rd4 g5!?;
Black defends against the threat of Rf4, the tricky >/= 27...Nd7 was also worth investigation.
28.h4 h6;
29.hxg5 hxg5; 30.Rg4,
Now White threatens f2-f4 winning the game, but the simple 30.f4! was probably even quicker.
30...Qf5;
Now in the event of f2-f4, Black can support his g5 button with ...f6.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Now both sides jockey for position
for some time, trying to see if the other player will tip his hand or allow his opponent any way to gain a decisive advantage.
31.Qd4+ f6; 32.Bf3 Ne6?;
Karpov is oblivious to the danger ...
Better was >/= 32...Nd3, with the idea of getting the Knight to the splendid square on e5.
33.Qe3?,
Now Leko returns the favor.
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8/p1r3k1/1pP1np2/5qp1/6R1/4QBP1/P4PK1/8 b
Study this position closely.
[ White crashes through with:
>/= 33.Qd6, ('!') which wins material or another Pawn for Leko.
(The threat is Re4 or Bd5.) ]
33...Nc5!?;
(dubious?)
This looks like the indicated move, however Black may have missed an ingenious opportunity ... that I found only because of careful analysis with the computer.
[ Perhaps the variation of:
>/= 33...Rxc6!!; 34.Re4! a5!; 35.g4!? Qd5; 36.Ra4 Qd7;
37.Bxc6 Qxc6+; 38.Qe4 Nf4+; 39.Kh2 Qc5; 40.Rd4 Kh6!; "~"
was an improvement over the game. (Black has a great deal
of counterplay, and a fortress-like position.) ]
GM Leko continues carefully probing Black's position ... looking for a weakness or an opening of some kind.
34.Rd4 Qe6; 35.Qd2 Qe7;
36.Kg1!?,
This is typical Leko, but White may have had something a little more energetic.
[ Probably better was: >/= 36.Rd8! Ne6; 37.Rb8! Nc5; (To prevent Rb7.)
38.Qd5! Ne6; (Now Black has to stop Qg8+, if 38...Qf7; then 39.Qd8 "+/-"
will be the answer.)
39.Bh5! Nf8; 40.Re8 Qc5; 41.Qd8!! Qxc6+; 42.Bf3 Qc5; 43.Rxf8 Qxf8;
44.Qxc7+, "+/-" when White has won a piece, and should win the game with
no problem. ]
36...Qe6;
37.Rd8! Qe7; 38.Qd5 Qf7!?; 39.Qd6 Qe7; 40.Qd5 Qe6; 41.Qd2 Re7!?;
Maybe Black should have played (>/=) 41...Qe7; going for the repetition of the position here?
42.Kg2 Ne4?;
This is a bad mistake, Fritz suggests that Black simply play
>/= 42...Qe5 here.
43.Qb4,
This is good enough to win, but White had something sharper.
(See the variation just below.)
[ >/= 43.Qc2! Nd6[]; 44.c7 g4; 45.Ba8 Re8!?; 46.Qc6!, "+/-" ]
43...Nc5;
According to Fritz, Black is lost no matter what he does. However, unless you are going to resign, you definitely need to put up the greatest amount of resistance.
In that vein, (>/=) 43...Nxf2 may have been an improvement over the actual game.
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3R4/p3r1k1/1pP1qp2/2n3p1/1Q6/5BP1/P4PK1/8 w
Study this position carefully.
(Now it is "White to move and win" from the current board set-up.)
44.Qd4,
Once more, this is good enough to win. However Fritz clearly shows that
>/= 44.Qb1!, (with the idea of
45.Qh1); was a much more effective plan.
44...Qe5;
45.Qd2,
This is good for White, but the machine prefers Qg4!? here.
45...Ne4?;
Once more - seemingly a natural move. However, the box indicates that 45...Ne6 and 45...Qc7 were both superior to this play.
46.Qc2! Nc5;
47.Qc4,
Again, this appears to be best ... without the computer, I was tempted to award an exclam to this move. Yet the iron monster clearly shows that ¹45.Bd5!, (Again - with the idea of simply playing Qh1, and mate on the h8-square.); was superior to the move that Leko actually played.
47...Rc7??;
This is a monster of a mistake for a player of Karpov's caliber, but (in my opinion) ... it was not all that easy for Black to defend his position.
To be fair, Karpov was in SEVERE time pressure at this point, so any talk of poor play (or a loss of form) would be ignorant and foolish.
[ >/= 47...Ne6; 48.Rd7 Rxd7; 49.cxd7 Nd8; 50.Qc8 Qe7; 51.Qc7, '±' ]
48.Qg8+ Kh6;
49.Qh8+ Rh7;
This is forced.
[ White also wins after: 49...Kg6!?; ("?!") 50.Bh5+!, The best move.
( White could also win with: 50.Rg8+ Kf7; 51.Rg7+ Ke6;
52.Qg8+ Kd6; 53.Qd8+, "+/-" and White picks off the Rook
on the d7-square. )50...Kf5; 51.Bg4+! Ke4; (Taking the Bishop is readily answered by Qh3 mate.)
52.Qg8, "+/-" and the double threat of Qg6+ and Qc4+ is completely decisive. ]
50.Qf8+ Rg7;
51.Rd7, "+/-"
This wins, (as did >/= 51.c7!); Leko played solid chess throughout the whole of this contest.
Its great fun to use the box to find improvements in both GM's play, but - if we were honest - I doubt
many players could have done as well as these two did, especially in lieu of the time control.
I think that if the aspiring student were to carefully study this game, there is a great deal that can be learned from this clash of chess titans. (Tactics, strategy, pawn structure, etc.)
This concludes my lesson for September, 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.
