SPORTS

Chess Game Analysis- Match 2

by Theo Dmochowski-Spoor

he Ocean Township High School Chess Team played against Hightstown last Wednesday. The match was drawn; an excellent result, since our #2 was absent, so everyone below First Board had to play a board up. This brings our current record to 5 wins, 1 draw, and zero losses — we are leading our division. The following is the game played on the first board by yours truly. First, some housekeeping: this article uses algebraic chess notation, but I have also included diagrams for critical positions; moves in the game are in bold; some symbols are used to represent the value of different moves: !? denotes an interesting move, ? denotes a blunder (more question marks may be added if the move is particularly bad), ?! denotes a dubious move that isn’t immediately losing (do not confuse !? with ?!), ! denotes a great move, and !! denotes a brilliant one.  I recommend following along with a board at home, or on an online chess board. 

First Board - Theodore Dmochowski-Spoor — Hightstown Player  

1.  e4 e6

I was playing white. This is the French Defense, a sound opening for black based on the idea of 2.d5

2. d4 

This is a general rule that you can use in all of your games: if your opponent doesn’t control the center in the opening, you should. Pawns on both d4 and e4 are considered to be a perfect pawn structure in the opening. 

2…d5 

Black must strike at white’s pawns immediately. 

3. Nc3  

My opponent is probably used to 3. e5 or 3.exd5. Both moves are playable, but passive. The main response on the master level is to play Nc3 or Nd2, protecting the pawns and not allowing the “perfect pawn center” to be broken up. My opponent thought for about 20 seconds here — highly atypical at such an early stage. 

3…exd4 

This is called the Rubinstein Variation.It is known for giving black a solid, but passive game. While this does succeed in eliminating white’s center pawns, it is passive because white gets to place a knight in the center of the board immediately, and because black has a typical problem in the french defense: what to do with the light square bishop? It is a prisoner behind the e6 pawn. 

4. Nxd4 Nf6 

  4…Nf6 is a weak continuation for black. Better is 4…Bd7, trying to free the prisoner immediately with 5…Bc6, or 4…Nd7, trying to play 5…Nf6 and after 6. Nxf6 to recapture with the knight. We shall see the value of recapturing with the knight in the game. 

5. Nxf6 

Black has a hard choice to make: recapture with the g pawn and be stuck with a shattered kingside structure and weak, doubled pawns, or play Qxf6 and subject the royal lady to attack. Early development of the queen is considered harmful because the opponent can use it as a target, getting their army in the game while you’re stuck running your queen around. 

5…Qxf6 

A permanent weakness is a longer term problem than a vulnerable queen 

6. Nf3 Bd6 

Black should have readied themselves for a storm with 6… h6. Their move misses the essence of the position completely, and is a waste of time. The point of my move was to prepare to play 7. Bg5, developing with tempo (meaning that I make a useful move, and my opponent is forced to essentially waste a move getting out of danger). 6…h6 controls g5 with a pawn, preventing 7. Bg5. 

7. Bg5 Qg6 

7…Qg6 was forced — The queen has no other safe squares. White already has an advantage: a lead in development. I could have considered 7. Bd3, which threatens 8. Bg5, after which the black queen has zero safe squares to run to. 7. Bg5 is better though, because black gets out of trouble after 7. Bd3 h6!

8. Bd3 f5

Developing again with tempo. Playing 8…f5 blocks the attack on the queen, but it weakens the e pawn and the e5 square significantly. Pawns cannot move backwards, and the e pawn is now backward — it can only be defended by pieces, not pawns — and the e5 square is a hole in black’s position — it cannot be controlled by pawns. 

9. Qd2?! 

This move was a miscalculation. My g pawn was unprotected, and so is my knight on f3 and rook on h1. As soon as I saw my opponent’s next move, I knew I should have played 9. Qe2 instead.  

9…h6 10. Be3?! Qxg2

At this point I was distressed — My knight and rook were forked by the black queen! Funnily enough, my opponent blundered their b pawn in a similar way during our last game. 10. Be3 was dubious, though I wouldn’t have known without my post-game computer analysis. 10.Bf4! was the only way to avoid a disadvantage, even though either way white loses the g pawn: 10. Bf4! Qxg2 11. Ke2 (this move is odd, but it will make sense after the note) Qg6 12. Bxd6 cxd6 13. Qf4 Nc6 14. Qxd6. In this line, White has regained the pawn and maintains a slight lead in development. If black tries to defend the pawn with 13…Ke7 (or 13…Kd7), then white’s lead in development compensates for the pawn because Black’s king is vulnerable in the center of the board.

11. Ke2! 

The only move that doesn’t lose instantly. Anything else lets black take the knight on f3 or the rook on h1, and in either case white would simply be losing. Ke2 is an ugly move, since now white’s king is stranded in the center, but it defends the knight on f3 and connects the rooks, who provide mutual defense. 

11…Qh3

Preventing 12. Rag1 from coming with tempo. My lead in development was the only chance I had, and if black simply plays a “normal” move like 11…Nc6 or 11…Nd7 (But definitely not 11…O-O? 12. Bxh6!! gxh6? 13. Rag1 winning the queen) then 12. Rag1 wins back the g pawn: 11…Nc6 12. Rag1 Qh3 13. Rxg7. However, black also had the sneaky move 11…Bd7!?, which after 12. Rag1 Qh3 threatens 13…Bc6! (pinning the white knight to the rook on h1), so white cannot play 13.Rxg7. 

12. Rag1 b6?! 

Black’s move was dubious, and the position is now equal again. 12…b6 is a standard way of developing the light square bishop in the Rubinstein variation, and so my opponent’s mistake is understandable. Furthermore, putting the bishop on the long diagonal is the correct idea in this position: the correct move was 12…Bd7. The difference between these moves is a matter which requires deep, focused calculation, which I will explain over the course of the next few moves. They have the same idea, so the difference revolves around only one thing: black has moved a pawn, and in doing so weakened the long light square diagonal and lost control of the c6 square. There is an old saying: “Every pawn moves creates a weakness!”

13. Bf4! Bb7 

I was not inclined to allow my opponent’s idea to succeed after 13. Rxg7 Bb7!, and my intuition didn’t let me down. After 13. Bf4, I had a slight advantage, whereas after Rxg7 the position is a dead draw because neither side can make progress. We saw the idea of Bf4 before on move 10, but now it merits a detailed description. The first point is to block the d6 bishop’s control of g3, so as to kick the queen from h3 with a later Rg3 (which also adds a protector to the f3 knight and allows the h1 rook to move away from the pin) and also potentially to then double the rooks on the g file, depending on black’s play. The second point is to undermine black’s pawn structure with Bxd6, forcing cxd6, after which white can play Qf4 to put pressure on black’s weakened center and gain counterplay. Bb7 allowed Rg3 immediately, but everything else loses for black. For example, 13…Nd7 14. Bxd6 cxd6 15. Qe3! and the black e pawn cannot be properly defended (Do you see how?). If 13…Nc6 then 14. Bb5 Bb7 15. d5! wins the black knight. Calculating these lines before playing 13. Bf4 was unnecessary and I didn’t waste time doing it during the game — Bb7 is obviously the only move for black. The same is true of 13…Bxf4; it was clear during the game that after 14. Qxf4 white would be in a good position because of black’s weak king, weak center, and lack of development and their own active pieces which are coordinated for an attack on the black king — white has pressure on the center, down the g file, and can use the open a4-e8 diagonal for the light square bishop. The computer confirms my evaluation during the game: 13…Bxf4 14. Qxf4 Bb7 15. Bb5+! and white wins. 

14. Rg3 Qh5 

14…Bxf3 15. Rxf3 Qh5 would have been worse.

 15. Qf4 

The position is now dead even again. 15. Bb5+ was better, though I didn’t see it during the game. 

15…Bxf3 16. Rxf3 Ke7 

During the game, I doubted the correctness of 16…Ke7. It seemed to me that my opponent should have been developing his army, since my lead in development was dangerous and definitely worth the pawn. However, the computer shows that nothing deadly is apparent for black and this is in fact the best move. This position shows the difference between 12… Bd7 and 12…b6. If 12…Bd7 13. Bf4 Bc6 14. Rg3 Qh5 15. Bxd6 cxd6 16. Qf4 Bxf3 Rxf3, now black can play 16…O-O! since after 17. Qxd6 Nc6! (16…O-O?! 17. Qxd6 Nc6?? 18. Qxc6) black has solved all their problems and will soon win the game. This sample line isn’t the most accurate, (white shouldn’t play15. Bxd6 because 17. O-O kills their idea and 16…Nd7 is better than 16…Bxf3), but it does demonstrate how pushing the b pawn changed the position in a fundamental way. 

17. Kd2?! 

This is a “winning mistake”. I couldn’t have won if I didn’t play this move, but it is objectively bad and allows black to take over with 17…g5 or 17…Qg5. The position is drawn regardless, but after 17. Qe3, white would be in control — they would have pressure and the ability to increase it, so they are playing for a win and black for a draw. After either of the aforementioned moves for black, they are the one with pressure, and thus are playing for a win and white for a draw. This concept is called the initiative — the essence of who is attacking and who is defending, of whose plan can be carried out at the present moment, of who is in control of the game. The initiative is the most difficult concept to grasp in chess, and confounds even the greatest chess players. 17. Kd2 was risky, but it was white’s only way to play for a win. Everything else allows black an easy draw.  

17…Qf7??

A mistake in reply! The difference in class between my opponent and I decides the game (I should mention that I am rated almost 300 ELO higher than him). 17…Qf7 is truly nonsensical and betrays my opponent’s confusion — He does not understand the concept of initiative! Black’s position was hanging on by a thread, and I would not give them a second chance. 

18. Re1! 

This is the point of 17. Kd7 (which cannot be fulfilled after 17…g5 or 17…Qg5).  This excellent move prepares to attack the weak pawn on e6, to double on the e file, and develops white’s last piece, all while pinning the e pawn to the king and therefore threatening to capture the newly undefended f pawn. Black’s ragged, disorganized army is no match for white’s harmonious pieces, united in purpose: to decimate black’s crumbling central fortress and feeble king. Coordination is key in chess, and the easiest way to coordinate your pieces is to aim them all at the same thing. In this case, that is black’s central pawns. 

18… Kd7? 

Black had no chance to save the game, but this move loses instantly. The point is to break the pin on the e pawn, but black goes out of the frying pan and into the fire. My opponent’s best shot (if you can call it that in such a hopeless position) was to cut his losses with 18…g5 19. Qxf5 Qxf5 20. Bxf5, after which the e pawn also falls.  It took me about 3 minutes to fully calculate the refutation, but I saw the correct move instantly. 

19. Rxe6!! 

A beautiful rook sacrifice! In such positions, where your opponent has numerous weaknesses and discoordinated pieces, you should always look for such moves. This combination is made possible not by chance, but by the wonderful harmony of pieces, which all attack the center. 

19…Kxe6 

The only move, at least from a human perspective. 19…Qxe6 loses immediately to 20. Bxf5, which wins the black queen. To play anything else is equivalent to resigning. 

20. Bxf5+ Ke7

20… Kf6 

20…Kd5 21. Be4+ Kc4 (21…Ke6 22.Qxf7#) 22. Bd3+ Kb4 (22…Kd5 23. Qe4#) 23. Qxd6+ Ka4 (or Ka5) 24. Qa3# or 20…Kd5 21. Be4+ Kxd5 22. Qxd6+ Kxe4 (22…Kc4 23. Bd3#) 23. Rxf7 Rf8 (or any other move, the response is always the same) 24. f3#   

21. Qe4+ 

The point of the sacrifice. Now white wins back the rook with interest. 

21…Kd8 

21…Kf6 22. Bg6+ Kg5 23. h4#

21. Kf8 22. Bg6 (there is a forced mate, but the queen is obviously going to be lost now, so one does not need to calculate further) 22..Nc6 23. Rxf7+ Kg8 24. Qe6 Nxd4 25. Rxg7+ Kxg7 26. Qf7#

22. Qxa8 

22…Qc7

The only move that doesn’t lose material immediately. Everything else is akin to resigning, but it doesn't matter since black should resign regardless.  

23. Rc3! 1-0

Here my opponent resigned. Black cannot prevent further massive material losses, which will be at least the knight and rook, after which checkmate will follow quickly. 

This is my finest game of the season so far. Not because it is the most accurate, but because it is the prettiest and the most instructive. It contains a variety of educational qualities, which demonstrate key details of the underlying logic of chess. They are as follows: 

Piece harmony and coordination

The initiative 

The danger of early queen development and how to take advantage of it 

The downside of pawn moves: weak squares & backward pawns

Attacking: How and why it works