[Event "Tues SS G/30"]
[Site "Atlanta Chess Center"]
[Date "2005.06.28"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Breakthrough"]
[Black "Basset"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C11"]
[Annotator "Breakthrough, MAd"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]

{Breakthrough: This was a third round game in a Tuesday Night G/30 Swiss
Tourney at the Atlanta Chess Center. I'd played Bassett before and knew he'd
be a careful, methodical and unforgiving opponent. MAd: Hallo my FICS handle
is MAd. I am an average club player with a BCF grade of 138 (roughly 1850 FIDE)
.I will not cover the opening in detail, any good book on the french can do
that better than me, and it would be totally useless. You didn't lose the game
because you don't know the latest nuance of the Burn's, but because you didn't
have any aim in your moves, missed a few tactical shots, and played passively
the endgame. Learning lot and lots of theory won't help you in any of this. I
will however discuss the general principles of the position so that you can
understand what might have been required from you.} 1. e4 e6 {MAd: The French
Opening, after so many years still vastly popular at every level from super-GM
to club player. Black decides to set up a solid system and attack white
undefended king's pawn. To this extent he prepares the d5 push with e6 so he
will not need to recapture with his queen after an eventual exd5. At the same
time black opens a way for his dark-squares bishop who can now be developed
along the a3-f8 diagonal. The obvious drawback of e6 is that the light-square
bishop is now shut and black will have to solve the problem of its
developement. It is also worth mentioning that white is trying to control d5
and f5, two squares in black half of the board, while black is not trying to
put any pressure on white half. The path for the game is already clear: black
will try to attack e4 with all his might using the d5 push and developing his
knight to f6, while white will try to use his space advantage to gain the
upper hand while fighting black aggression against e4 with moves such as Nc3
(or Nd2) and Bg5 which pins the Nf6 on the black queen.} 2. d4 {MAd: Black has
an idea in mind but with his first move has asked white no question. White is
free to do what he want and takes his chance to occupy some more space in the
center and control two more squares in black half, namely c5 and e5. He also
opens a way for his dark-square bishop.} d5 {MAd: Here it comes. Blacks
challenges white central occupation and threatens to win the e4 pawn.} 3. Nc3 {
MAd: White decides to defend his pawn and fight black idea. Why doesn't he
trade with exd5 exd5 or push e5? Right now white is has a pawn in e4 which is
fighting to control f5 and d5. In a way the d5 pawn is himself under attack
and black is tying to his defense the e6-pawn and the queen. So long as white
can maintain the status quo black has to be careful he doesn't lose d5. By
trading exd5 white gives up the fight for the f5 square once and for all,
releases the queen and e6 from their duties and solves the Bc8 development
problem for black. In exchange for this he can stop worrying about the e4 pawn.
In the end the bargain favours black who solves all his problems and equalizes.
Pushing e5 has completely different strategical ideas: white gets rid of any
problem with e4 and cramps black a little more. However black himself no
longer needs to worry about his d5 pawn and can move onto the next target: the
d4 pawn. Whether one prefers to push or defend e4 is a matter of taste and
both variations are equally popular.} Nf6 {
MAd: Black threaten again to capture e4.} 4. Bg5 {MAd: White, coherently with
his decision of defending the e4 pawn, develops the bishop to g5 pinning the
attacking knight.} dxe4 {Breaktrhough: Black gets a central pawn in exchange
for one of mine. But why relieve the tension? MCO says: "Burn's Variation, 4 ..
. dxe4, is a respectable alternative to allowing the advance 5 e5. White
obtains a slight advantage in space, which is acceptable to some players when
they have Black (Sweden's Ulf Andersson is one example). It is similar to the
Rubinstein Variation (3 ... dxe4) and there are some transpositions between
these variations." MAd: My question for you here is simple: does this quote
mean anything to you? Yes Andesson plays it, so do Anand, Shirov, Bareev and
many other super-GM. In my database I have about 5000 games with this position,
but how is this relevant to you? If I were you I'd put MCO on the shelf and
leave it there a couple of years. In the meantime I would concentrate on
tactics. As we will see you did not lose this game because you were not able
to exploit "a slight advantage in space". You lost this game because you
missed what your opponent was doing and committed tactical errors. Solve
tactical problems from books, magazines, the web, solve as many as you can.
When you have solved all the ones you could find, solve them again, see if you
remember the solution, or if you can anyway solve them faster than before. And
then solve them again. You'll see that you drop pieces less frequently, and
you notice your opponent errors more easily. Only then go back to an opening
book (not MCO) and have a look at lines, or even better collect the games of
someone who plays the line you want to learn and see what he does. Do not
learn his moves by heart rather check what weaknesses he tries to exploit or
defend.} 5. Nxe4 {
MAd: White takes back the pawn or he will be a pawn down for no compensation.}
Nbd7 {MAd: Black continues his development. He has achieved his first
objective and he has got rid of white e4-pawn, however white has a bit more
space: he controls the c5 and e5 squares in black half. Moreover white is
threatening to take the Nf6 forcing black to play gxf6 leaving black with a
bad pawn formation. Nbd7 defends the knight once more so if white wants to
trade black no longer needs to take with the g-pawn. The knight also fights
against white control of c5 and e5: black starts thinking of pushing c5 or e5
to get rid of the annoying d4 pawn. In particular the latter would also
finally free the Bc8.} 6. Nf3 {Breaktrhough: Continuing development and
helping to prepare for castling. MAd: This is the correct approach. Note how
the Nf3 fights to control the e5 square, preventing the e5 push and keeping
the Bc8 stuck.} Be7 {
Breakthrough: Breaking the pin on the knight, thus attacking e4.} 7. Nxf6+ {
Breaktrhough: I couldn't see a good place to move the knight, or a good way to
support it, so I exchanged. MAd: Trading is a good idea. The knight can't
really go back to c3: when black will manage his c5 or e5 push you will need
to be able to play c3 to support your d4 pawn.} Bxf6 8. Bxf6 {Breaktrhough: I
was expecting him to to take with the knight. After all, wasn't that the point
of placing it on d7? On the other hand, taking with the Queen develops another
piece, and there is no clear way for White to drive it away.} Qxf6 {MAd: Re-cap
turing with the queen is more common than with the knight. The knight is still
useful in d7 to support the c5 push. Note also how the queen is eyeing the
b2-pawn: after c5 dxc5 Nxc5 you'll have to waste time to defend it with akward
moves like Rb1, as playing b3 would leave a very weak c3 square.} 9. Bc4 {
Breaktrhough: This is not a good place for the bishop. d3 was better, but for
some reason I didn't want to block the Queen's file and take away a defender
from the d-pawn. MAd: This is not a bad move, Bd3 is far more common but Bc4
surely does not lose. The bishop is biting on granite from c4: either white
manages to organize a quick d5 push, typically in conjunction with Qe2 to put
extra pressure on e6, or the bishop has not much scope from c4. Also black
will almost certainly castle king-side when the bishop would find a more
agrressive role in d3. However why did you play Bc4? I know that the rules of
chess say you have to move now, but why did you choose Bc4 in particular? What
tasks ahd you in mind for the bishop there? It is important that you learn to
look at a position and decide what you want to achieve, not in the next 20
moves but in the next 2-5 moves. At the beginning your "goals" will probably
be wrong, but at least you'll know what you were doing and you'll realize what
was wrong with your plan.} O-O {MAd: Black castles. If white is really
planning Qe2 and d5 the king does not want to be cought in the center. After
this move he is all set to play c5 to attack the d4 pawn and free his position.
} 10. O-O {MAd: Qe2 is still possible, however after black castle there is no
real bite to it.} (10. Qe2 a6 11. O-O b5 12. Qe4 Rb8 13. Bd3 g6 14. Ne5 Nxe5
15. dxe5 Qe7 16. Rfe1 Rd8 17. Re3 Bb7 18. Qf4 c5 19. Rh3 Qf8 20. Qg5 c4 21. Be2
Be4 22. Rc1 Ba8 23. b3 cxb3 24. axb3 a5 25. Rh4 Bc6 26. c4 b4 27. c5 a4 28.
bxa4 b3 29. Qe3 b2 30. Rb1 Bd5 31. Qa3 Rb3 32. Qxb2 Rxb2 33. Rxb2 Qxc5 34. Bf1
Qc1 35. Rhb4 Be4 36. Rxe4 Qxb2 37. Re1 Qc3 38. Rb1 Qxe5 {
0-1 Gligoric,S-Guimard,C/Buenos Aires 1960/MCD}) 10... c5 {MAd: Black achieves
his second goal and attacks the d4 pawn with c5. The drawback of this is that
white obtains a heatly 3-2 pawn majority on the queenside. From now on white
has to keep in mind that a transititon to a pawn endgame is good for him.
There is still a long way to go but ...} 11. c3 {
MAd : White defends the pawn and prepares to recapture with the knight.} b6 {
Breaktrhough: I wasn't sure why Black did this, since I wasn't about to take
the pawn, but the reason soon became clear. MAd: So far we have followed the
book, this is the first new move. Black tries to develop the bishop to b7
where it would look menacingly at white castle.} 12. Qd3 {MAd: White clearly
has missed the point of b6 and is not contesting the long diagonal. The queen
also annoys white bishop which is left stuck on a square where he has no task
to carry out.} ({Breaktrhough:} 12. d5 Ne5 13. Nxe5 Qxe5 14. Re1 {MAd: This is
consistent with the deployment of the bishop in c4 and is a good alternative.})
({MAd: The first thought I had after seeing b6 was: is there any way to use
this nice diagonal before black plays Bb7? Since white cannot occupy it
immediately, can he stop Bb7? One way is by attacking the Nd7. If the knight
runs home then white can spoil black pawns. On almost anything else white can
play Bc6 occupying the diagonal.} 12. Bb5 a6 (12... Nb8 13. dxc5 bxc5 14. Qe2 {
MAd: White has spolied black pawns and can try to take control of the d-file
now.}) 13. Bc6 Ra7 14. Re1 {MAd: White will trade the bishops when it appears
on b7, with a slightly better position mainly because of the queen-side
majority.}) 12... Bb7 {MAd: Black takes the initiative and threatens to spoil
white pawns. In the longer run ideas of attacking white kingside come to mind
with moves such as: Rad8-cxd4-Ne5 etc..} 13. Nd2 {Breaktrhough: Now I panic
because of Bxf3 Qxf3 Qxf3 gxf3 MAd: This is the cure that is worse than the
illness. The kingside is bare of white pieces, the Bb7 looks very menacing and
the queen in d3 will be harassed by the black rooks. White has to swallow the
bitter pill and allow his kingside pawns to be ruined in return for safety.} ({
Breakthrough:} 13. d5 {
MAd: this is dangerous as black can open the lines with gain of tempo.} Rad8
14. Rfe1 (14. dxe6 Ne5 15. exf7+ Kh8 16. Nxe5 (16. Qe2 Nxf3+ 17. gxf3 Bxf3 {
and white wins.}) 16... Rxd3) (14. Rad1 exd5 15. Bxd5 Ne5 16. Nxe5 Rxd5 {
and black is better.}) 14... Nb8 {and black has the initiative.}) (13. Rfe1 {
MAd: most of the tactics in the previous lines are based on the knight jumping
to e5 discovering the attack from a rook to the queen and attacking queen and
knight itself. Therefore it makes sense to defend e5 before pushing d5.} Rad8
14. Rad1 cxd4 15. Qxd4 (15. Nxd4 {Taking with the knight is against the spirit
of Rfe1 as it leaves e5 again available to the black knight.} Ne5) 15... Bxf3
16. Qxf6 Nxf6 17. gxf3 {when white kingside pawns are ruined but he still has
the queenside majority. The position is what you'd call unclear.}) 13... cxd4 {
Breaktrhough: Black immediately takes advantage of the knight's move by
saddling me with an isolated pawn. MAd: occupying the file before opening it
would have been a little better as it removes the possibility of Qxd4.} ({MAd:
} 13... Rad8 14. Ne4 Qf4 15. Nd2 Ne5 16. Qe3 Qg4 17. f3 Nxc4 18. Nxc4 cxd4 19.
fxg4 dxe3 20. Nxe3 Rd2 {is a possible continuation when black is better.}) 14.
cxd4 ({MAd:} 14. Qxd4 Qxd4 15. cxd4 Rad8 16. Nb3 {by trading the queen white
has relieved the position and can try to organize a defense otf the isolated
pawn} Nf6) 14... Rfd8 {MAd: Ne5 is now threatened.} 15. Ne4 {
MAd: this is an error as it will be clear in the note to the next move.} Qg6 ({
MAd: black misses his chance.} 15... Qf4 {
black attacks the knight forcing white to weaken the castle.} 16. f3 (16. Ng3
Ne5 17. Qe2 Nxc4 18. Qxc4 Rxd4) 16... Ne5 {
with a very strong attack that will probably win the game.}) 16. Ng3 {
MAd: Black has missed a good chance but white is still saddled with a weak d4
and tactical tricks based on Ne5 are still around.} Qxd3 {MAd: Perhaps a bit
too hasty and maybe a sign of lack of confidence. Black has nothing to worry
keeping the queens on board as his position is safe.} (16... Qh6) 17. Bxd3 Nf6
{MAd: the kinght gets ready to occupy d5. If black manages to trade his bishop
for white knight he has a great endgame ahead of him.} 18. Ne2 $8 g6 {
MAd: this doesn't spoil the game, but there is no reason to put one more pawn
on a white square. If black is worried about h7, or back rank mates then h6
would have been a better choice.} 19. Rad1 {MAd: The ethernal problem: which
rook? Maybe it was better to put the other rook on the d-file to use this to
contest the c-file.} (19. Rfd1) 19... Rac8 20. b3 {Breaktrhough: I can't
remember why I did this. I was starting to fall behind on the clock and had
trouble formulating any sort of a plan. MAd: again why put another pawn on a
light square? b3 also leave a nice hole in c3 for a black rook. This endgame
is tough by by no means lost, so try to make life for your opponent as hard as
possible.} (20. Rc1) 20... Rc7 {
MAd: black doubles the rooks on the d-file when e5 becomes a threat.} 21. Ng3
$2 {MAd: This simply loses a pawn.} Rcd7 $2 ({MAd:} 21... Rxd4 {
and d4 falls for nothing.}) 22. Ne2 Kg7 {MAd: this move doesn't seem to be
part of any idea. Black realizes he has a difficult task ahead of him and does
not come up with a plan. Black rooks are doubled and ready to jump on d4. He
could try to win it with e5 exploiting the pin on the Bd3, but it does not
work since the Nf6 would be under attack after dxe5, so let's look at some
sample lines to see how he can shuffle the pieces around to win d4.} ({MAd:} 
22... Ne8 23. Rfe1 e5 24. Bb5 Rd6 25. Bxe8 Rxe8 {
not only the pawn does not fall but white equalizes.}) (22... Nh5 23. Bb5 Rd6
24. Rc1 {and again e5 would be useless.}) (22... Nd5 {
trying for Nf6-d5-b4-c6 attacking the pawn.} 23. a3 Nc7 {
the white bishop stops the black knight so black tries to trade it.} (23... Bc6
24. Rc1 Rd6 25. Rc2 Nc7 26. Rd1 R8d7 {is not better}) 24. Rc1 Ba6 25. Bc4 {
defending again.}) (22... a6 {in all variations white can stop black with a
timely Bb5 preceded or followed by Rc1 (one more reason why the Rf1 should be
in d1 now), so black takes a moment to rule Bb5 out.} 23. Rfe1 {White improves
his rook and prepares to fight against e5.  Nd5-b4-c6 att acking the d4 pawn
can be stopped by a3 so black goes Nf6-e8-g7 to support the pawn after e5 and
e5xd4} Ne8 24. Bc2 {White removes the bishop from the pinand defends the rook.}
Ng7 {It is clear now the task black is facing is quite hard and maybe white
can hold this endgame}) 23. Bb5 {Breaktrhough: Taking pot shots and needlessly
getting the bishop into a trap. MAd: as we have seen in the lines above it is
better to keep this move to stop black plans.} Rd6 24. Rd2 {MAd: there is no
need to double the rooks to defend d4, the Ne2 is doing the job marvellously.
As we have seen before white holds by playing a combination of Bb5 and Rc1
which prevent any regruoping of black forces. With his last two moves he has
lost this possibility and his position is more precarious.} Rc8 {MAd: Black bs
the c-file, the rook is not needed to pin d4, and now Rc1 is ruled out.} ({MAd:
} 24... e5 {
This is premature. The pawn will fall but it cannot be defended afterwards.}
25. f3 a6 26. Bd3 exd4 27. Rfd1 {and the pawn cannot be defended.}) 25. Rfd1 {
MAd: The doubling does not really strengthen d4: with the bishop in b5 black
can now play Ne4-c3 trading the d4 defender and possibly entering the 2nd rank
with his rook.} (25. Bd3 {MAd: After Rdd1 we are back to we were before,
though white has lost the threat of Bb5 and Rc1 for nothing, so his position
has deteriorated.}) 25... Ne4 {MAd: Threatening Nc3.} 26. Rd3 $4 {Breaktrhough:
The bishop's flight square is blocked. MAd: This just drops the piece. The
game is over now.} a6 {Breaktrhough: The rest is just a mess.} 27. f3 Nf6 28.
Rc3 Rxc3 {MAd: this just gives white a pawn for nothing.} (28... axb5 29. Rxc8
Bxc8) 29. Nxc3 axb5 30. Nxb5 Rc6 31. Kf2 Ba6 (31... Rc2+) 32. Na3 Nd5 33. g4 b5
34. Nb1 Rc2+ 35. Kg3 g5 36. a3 Ne3 (36... Nf4) 37. Nd2 Nxd1 {MAd: Let's go
over this game. After 11 moves of theory black is the first to deviate, trying
to grab th a8-h1 diagonal. White could contest it but doesn't think to do it
and panics when he realizes black can spoil his kingside pawns. In order to
avoid doubling the f pawns he goes through a bit of tactics where both players
don't play the best moves. Black misses a great chance to attack but manages
to reach an endgame against the infamous isolated queen pawn. The endgame is
quite hard to win, but white plays one move attacks and ends up worsening his
position (he even leaves the IQP hanging but his opponent doesn't see it). In
the end he commits a tactical blunder, loses a piece and the game with it.
During the game you seem worried of doing things by the book, without really
knowing why you are doing them. For example you played Bc4 but what is the
bishop doing there? Ok it is not on d3 blocking the d-file for the queen, but
there has to be a reason to put it there? Why not e2 for example? or b5? or g3
and Bg2? Or why move the bishop at all, maybe you could play Qd2 and castle
queen-side. I am not saying that these were all good alternatives, but you
need to know why you are making a move. You mention b6 surprised you, but you
should have noticed that the Bc8 had to be developed and b7 was as good a
square as any. Then you would have noticed the threat to double your pawns and
maybe you could have come up with a way to stop it. Instead you played Qd3
that is pretty useless. You also missed a few tactical sequences which
unlimately costed you the game. My advice again is to exercise your tactical
abilities solving problems. Once you know how to find them in problems you
will see them during the games as well. When this will happen you'll start
noticing your opponent weaknesses and you'll start thinking how to place your
pieces to exploit them. You'll also see what you leave for your opponent and
be able to defend it. Moves like b6 will not surpise you anymore, and you
won't leave the bishop en-prise in b5. It's not going to be easy and it won't
happen tomorrow, but with a bit of effort it will happen. You can find me on
FICS if you want to discuss the game online.} 0-1

