Two annotated games

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Jonathan Rogers
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Two annotated games

Post by Jonathan Rogers » Fri Jun 15, 2018 11:55 am

I have allowed myself to become distracted of late, writing on the 4NCL for CHESS. So much so, that two of the games had to be cut for space reasons, and it seems a shame to leave them on the laptop, in case others are curious.

If others could provide diagrams, so much the better. (Yes, they do this for me at CHESS as well!). Here is the first:

Marcus Walsh (ADs) v Richard Lee (Cambridge), round 11


1 e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4

The Alekhine-Chatard attack. As you might expect, when you see the name of an amateur enjoying co-billing with a world champion, it was of course Eugene Chatard who played it first. Indeed his authorship was acknowledged by Alekhine in the first volume of his Best Games. Another eternal unequal struggle then, between amateurs and world class players for fair recognition of opening discoveries.
When I grew up (sort of) it was assumed that this gambit was not quite sound, but now the line is now regarded as perfectly viable by even the very top players.

6…c5 (DIAGRAM)

Quite playable, but if Black wants to play an ordinary French position without accepting the gambit, then 6…h6 7 Bxe7 Qxe7 8 Qg4 0-0 9 Nf3 c5 10 0-0-0 Nc6 looks OK, as in Devereaux v Chow, Barbican v White Rose, round 8.

7. Bxe7 Kxe7 8. f4 Nc6 9. dxc5 Qa5 10. Qd2 Qxc5?

Probably an error in itself. The queen should stay on a5, the better to prepare to attack White if he castles queenside, rather than moving to c5, as though to stop White from castling kingside. Instead 10…Nxc5 11. Nf3 Rd8 12.Nd4 Nxd4 13.Qxd4 Ne4 was fine for Black in Bach v Berescu, Amara 2007. But things are about to get worse as Black decides artificially to castle kingside, which takes a long time and doesn’t actually make his king much safer.

11. Nf3 Re8? 12. O-O-O Kf8? 13. Bd3 Kg8 14. g4 a6 15. h5 b5 (DIAGRAM)

White is now several tempi ahead from a normal opposite-castling attacking race (with Black’s queen misplaced on c5 to boot). So White goes all in.

16.Bxh7+!

This sacrifice can work even if a White queen cannot go to h5. This is turning out to be a thematic sacrifice in French Defence positions with castling on opposite sides. The steady advance of White’s h-pawn causes havoc, in a way which would not have happened after the simple 16 h6 g6: in other words the removal of Black’s h7 pawn might itself justify a piece investment.

16…Kxh7 17. Qd3 Kg8 18. Ng5 Qc4

18…Nf8 would stop the queen check but not the advance of the h-pawn. 19 h6 could not be answered by 19…g6 because of 20.h7+ and 21.Nxf7+: and the only other way to stop 20.h7, namely 19..gxh6, allows the murderous 20.Qh3.

19. Qh7 Kf8 20. Rhf1 Nd8 21. f5

Threatening both 22.fxe6 and 22.f6. You don’t need me to make a comment along the lines that Black’s extra piece is hardly felt, do you?

21...Nxe5 22. f6 gxf6 23. Qh8+ Ke7 24. Qxf6+ Kd6 25. Rxd5+ Kc6 26. Rxe5 Bd7 27. Rf4

The final reminder that the Black queen should stay on a5 in these positions. 1-0

Jonathan Rogers
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Re: Two annotated games

Post by Jonathan Rogers » Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:06 pm

Here is the second game (following comments on Manx Liberty, possible new overlords):

Their games are online, of course. Here is, perhaps, an important novelty from GM Mircea-Emilian Parligras, or so I thought, until I later discovered that it had recently been played elsewhere:

Richard Polaczek (Manchester Manticores) v Mircea-Emilian Parligras (Manx Liberty), round 10
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nge2 c6


Evidently the latest twist. Instead of preparing to retreat his bishop to f8 by playing 5…Re8, Black prepares to reroute it to the better looking c7 square, which has to be done at once.

6. a3 Ba5 7. b4 Bc7 8. Ng3 d5 9. Bb2 Nbd7 10. f4 a5 11. c5 (DIAGRAM)

This, in turn, is White's "explanation why the new wrinkle doesn't work": with the White knight on g3, instaed of f3, he can play f4, clamping down on ...e6-e5; and then he can try to cramp Back further on the queenside too. Extra space everywhere.

Of course, this does all assume that ...e5 has been prevented. But that is the question!

11…e5! 12. fxe5 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Ng4

With excellent compensation. It turns out the knight on g3, put out there to pasture in more peaceful times, is under heavy threat, with…Bxe5 and …Qh4 to come. Just to be clear, the sacrifice would not be sound without this unusual feature.

14. Qd2

The stem game, Panav v Chen, Moscow 2018, continued 14. Bd3 Bxe5 15. Nf1. But now White was very passive, and after Qh4+ 16. g3 Qf6 17. Qd2 axb4 18. axb4 Rxa1+ 19. Bxa1 Re8 20. Rg1 Bf5, the threat of …d4 overwhelmed White. After 21. Rg2 d4 22. Bxf5 Qxf5 23. Qc2 Qxf1+ 24. Kxf1 Nxe3+, Black regained the piece and went on to convert the extra pawn (0-1, 43)

14 …axb4 15. axb4 Rxa1 16. Bxa1 Bxe5 17. Be2 Qh4

By contrast, Richard had not passively retreated his knight, but now realised that he cannot save it either.

18. Bxg4 Bxg3+ 19. Kd1 Bxg4+ 20. Kc2 Bf5+ 0-1


Fair to say, then, that we will hear more of 5...c6; and of Manx Liberty. It is too early to know how realistic their chances might be of overturning Guildford in their first year in the first division, especially if the latter do succeed in recruiting Hou Yifan during her year at Oxford University. (But the following year, maybe?).

David Robertson

Re: Two annotated games

Post by David Robertson » Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:30 pm

Excellent! More, please - and regular next season

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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: Two annotated games

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:54 pm

Diagrams a bit harder, but pgns for now.
Jonathan Rogers wrote:
Fri Jun 15, 2018 11:55 am

Marcus Walsh (ADs) v Richard Lee (Cambridge), round 11
1-0
Jonathan Rogers wrote:
Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:06 pm

Richard Polaczek (Manchester Manticores) v Mircea-Emilian Parligras (Manx Liberty), round 10
0-1

Jonathan Rogers
Posts: 4634
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:26 pm

Re: Two annotated games

Post by Jonathan Rogers » Fri Jun 15, 2018 1:10 pm

Thanks, as ever, to Chris.

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Two annotated games

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Fri Jun 15, 2018 3:05 pm

Thanks for posting the games!

MartinCarpenter
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Joined: Tue May 24, 2011 10:58 am

Re: Two annotated games

Post by MartinCarpenter » Fri Jun 15, 2018 4:53 pm

Amusingly brutal :) There has I think been a few 5 .. c6 games on Chesspublishing but clearly the warning about that sacrifice hasn't spread down yet. It does seem remarkably effective. Presumably computer generated originally.

Matt Fletcher
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Re: Two annotated games

Post by Matt Fletcher » Fri Jun 15, 2018 11:38 pm

Nice games!

Here's game 1 with the position alongside the text - all you need to do is put the FEN for the relevant position inside <pos> tags (and you can get the FEN from the PGN by clicking on the b8 square)
Jonathan Rogers wrote:
Fri Jun 15, 2018 11:55 am
I have allowed myself to become distracted of late, writing on the 4NCL for CHESS. So much so, that two of the games had to be cut for space reasons, and it seems a shame to leave them on the laptop, in case others are curious.

If others could provide diagrams, so much the better. (Yes, they do this for me at CHESS as well!). Here is the first:

Marcus Walsh (ADs) v Richard Lee (Cambridge), round 11


1 e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4

The Alekhine-Chatard attack. As you might expect, when you see the name of an amateur enjoying co-billing with a world champion, it was of course Eugene Chatard who played it first. Indeed his authorship was acknowledged by Alekhine in the first volume of his Best Games. Another eternal unequal struggle then, between amateurs and world class players for fair recognition of opening discoveries.
When I grew up (sort of) it was assumed that this gambit was not quite sound, but now the line is now regarded as perfectly viable by even the very top players.

6…c5



Quite playable, but if Black wants to play an ordinary French position without accepting the gambit, then 6…h6 7 Bxe7 Qxe7 8 Qg4 0-0 9 Nf3 c5 10 0-0-0 Nc6 looks OK, as in Devereaux v Chow, Barbican v White Rose, round 8.

7. Bxe7 Kxe7 8. f4 Nc6 9. dxc5 Qa5 10. Qd2 Qxc5?

Probably an error in itself. The queen should stay on a5, the better to prepare to attack White if he castles queenside, rather than moving to c5, as though to stop White from castling kingside. Instead 10…Nxc5 11. Nf3 Rd8 12.Nd4 Nxd4 13.Qxd4 Ne4 was fine for Black in Bach v Berescu, Amara 2007. But things are about to get worse as Black decides artificially to castle kingside, which takes a long time and doesn’t actually make his king much safer.

11. Nf3 Re8? 12. O-O-O Kf8? 13. Bd3 Kg8 14. g4 a6 15. h5 b5 (DIAGRAM)

White is now several tempi ahead from a normal opposite-castling attacking race (with Black’s queen misplaced on c5 to boot). So White goes all in.

16.Bxh7+!

This sacrifice can work even if a White queen cannot go to h5. This is turning out to be a thematic sacrifice in French Defence positions with castling on opposite sides. The steady advance of White’s h-pawn causes havoc, in a way which would not have happened after the simple 16 h6 g6: in other words the removal of Black’s h7 pawn might itself justify a piece investment.

16…Kxh7 17. Qd3 Kg8 18. Ng5 Qc4

18…Nf8 would stop the queen check but not the advance of the h-pawn. 19 h6 could not be answered by 19…g6 because of 20.h7+ and 21.Nxf7+: and the only other way to stop 20.h7, namely 19..gxh6, allows the murderous 20.Qh3.

19. Qh7 Kf8 20. Rhf1 Nd8 21. f5

Threatening both 22.fxe6 and 22.f6. You don’t need me to make a comment along the lines that Black’s extra piece is hardly felt, do you?

21...Nxe5 22. f6 gxf6 23. Qh8+ Ke7 24. Qxf6+ Kd6 25. Rxd5+ Kc6 26. Rxe5 Bd7 27. Rf4

The final reminder that the Black queen should stay on a5 in these positions. 1-0
Christopher Kreuzer wrote:
Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:54 pm
Marcus Walsh (ADs) v Richard Lee (Cambridge), round 11
1-0

Matt Fletcher
Posts: 271
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 9:42 pm

Re: Two annotated games

Post by Matt Fletcher » Fri Jun 15, 2018 11:41 pm

And here's game 2:
Jonathan Rogers wrote:
Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:06 pm
Here is the second game (following comments on Manx Liberty, possible new overlords):

Their games are online, of course. Here is, perhaps, an important novelty from GM Mircea-Emilian Parligras, or so I thought, until I later discovered that it had recently been played elsewhere:

Richard Polaczek (Manchester Manticores) v Mircea-Emilian Parligras (Manx Liberty), round 10
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nge2 c6


Evidently the latest twist. Instead of preparing to retreat his bishop to f8 by playing 5…Re8, Black prepares to reroute it to the better looking c7 square, which has to be done at once.

6. a3 Ba5 7. b4 Bc7 8. Ng3 d5 9. Bb2 Nbd7 10. f4 a5 11. c5



This, in turn, is White's "explanation why the new wrinkle doesn't work": with the White knight on g3, instaed of f3, he can play f4, clamping down on ...e6-e5; and then he can try to cramp Back further on the queenside too. Extra space everywhere.

Of course, this does all assume that ...e5 has been prevented. But that is the question!

11…e5! 12. fxe5 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Ng4

With excellent compensation. It turns out the knight on g3, put out there to pasture in more peaceful times, is under heavy threat, with…Bxe5 and …Qh4 to come. Just to be clear, the sacrifice would not be sound without this unusual feature.

14. Qd2

The stem game, Panav v Chen, Moscow 2018, continued 14. Bd3 Bxe5 15. Nf1. But now White was very passive, and after Qh4+ 16. g3 Qf6 17. Qd2 axb4 18. axb4 Rxa1+ 19. Bxa1 Re8 20. Rg1 Bf5, the threat of …d4 overwhelmed White. After 21. Rg2 d4 22. Bxf5 Qxf5 23. Qc2 Qxf1+ 24. Kxf1 Nxe3+, Black regained the piece and went on to convert the extra pawn (0-1, 43)

14 …axb4 15. axb4 Rxa1 16. Bxa1 Bxe5 17. Be2 Qh4

By contrast, Richard had not passively retreated his knight, but now realised that he cannot save it either.

18. Bxg4 Bxg3+ 19. Kd1 Bxg4+ 20. Kc2 Bf5+ 0-1


Fair to say, then, that we will hear more of 5...c6; and of Manx Liberty. It is too early to know how realistic their chances might be of overturning Guildford in their first year in the first division, especially if the latter do succeed in recruiting Hou Yifan during her year at Oxford University. (But the following year, maybe?).
Christopher Kreuzer wrote:
Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:54 pm
Richard Polaczek (Manchester Manticores) v Mircea-Emilian Parligras (Manx Liberty), round 10
0-1

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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: Two annotated games

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Sat Jun 16, 2018 7:29 am

Thanks, Matt. I had forgotten that clicking b8 gets the FEN for a position (I knew about the 'pos' tags). A reminder (now I've looked it up) is that it is possible to put annotations inside the play-through bit (the 'pgn' tags). Example at the bottom of this thread ('PGN and POS' in the 'News and Support' board). I may do that later if time.

Jonathan Rogers
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Re: Two annotated games

Post by Jonathan Rogers » Sat Jun 16, 2018 10:41 am

Thanks to Matt from me as well!

Nick Burrows
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Re: Two annotated games

Post by Nick Burrows » Thu Sep 20, 2018 4:41 pm

Very interesting. Thanks Jonathan!

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