Against the International Master

[Giulio Simeone]

This time I'm posting a game I played eight months ago with Guido Caprio, who is likely to become one of the strongest italian players. He's very young, only 17 years old, and is improving very quickly: when we played this game he had 2353, now he has 2398 and has achieved the International Master title. Still, he had a quite hard time winning against me, two times he got the upper hand and two times I managed to recover. He knew the opening better than me and won a pawn after 11 moves; after some other moves, though, I saw some incredible tactics he didn't see and won back the pawn. The resulting endgame was even, but I made a mistake and he got again the upper hand with a nice strategical plan; I continued to fight very bravely, though, and at move 47th missed an easy draw. After that he managed to promote a pawn and to win the game. Despite the mistakes by both sides, it is a nice game and the rook endgame is very interesting.

The game was played last January on the last round of a weekend tournament in Rome, Caprio had to win in order to get the 1st prize, while I was some positions behind. Time rate was 90 minutes x 40 moves + 15 minutes + 30 seconds per move.

P.S. I was suggested to put my commented games on the "Chess Questions" section, but I've seen no games posted recently on that section. Maybe Carl may consider enabling a section with only commented games.

[Event "Steinitz Club weekend congress"] [Site "Rome"] [Date "2012.01.15"] [Round "5"] [White "Simeone(1964)"] [Black "Caprio(2353)"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1964"] [BlackElo "2353"] [ECO "A28"] 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bb4 5.Qc2 Bxc3 {A line that is not easy to face for white. If he takes with a pawn, with many pawns in the centre it will be difficult for the white bishops to find their way; if he takes with the queen, in c3 she will be quite exposed to black pieces' attacks. The two white bishops can have difficulties also because in some variations black can reply to d4 with ...e4 and block the centre.} 6.Qxc3 Qe7 {Not only supports the 'e' pawn, but also begins to threat Ne4 and Qb4+ in the likely event that white moves the d pawn before castling.} 7.d4 {I think this is the best move, when I played this game I knew very little about this variation and, being scared of my opponent's preparation, it took me some time to take a decision. Four months later, against Friedrich, a strong German Fide Master, I tried to develop the queen bishop the other way, but it was not a very good idea:} ( 7.Be2 O-O 8.O-O d5 9.b4?! d4 {here black can also win a pawn with} ( 9...e4 10.Nd4 Nxb4 ) 10.Qb3 d3! {and, however white plays, black gets a better position. This variation shows that, with many white pieces close to the centre, it is quite risky to leave so much freedom to black's central pawns, because they can advance and seriously threaten the white pieces. Therefore, white cannot renounce so easily to the d4 push.} ) 7...Ne4 8.Qd3 exd4 9.Nxd4 O-O {After} ( 9...Qb4+ 10.Bd2 {black can't take on b2, because the knight is hanging; after this move black really threatens to take in b2.} ) 10.Be2 {Now white loses either a pawn or the right to castle, but he cannot lose a tempo with } ( 10.a3 {because after the subtle move } 10...Nc5 {black threatens very seriously to take in d4 and then fork queen and rook with Nb3. The only way white can avoid that is } 11.Qe2 {but clearly it's a bad move, again black is able to gain material with the b3 jump:} 11...Nxd4 12.exd4 Qxe2+ 13.Bxe2 Nb3 ) 10...Qb4+ 11.Bd2 {Since I'm used to give much importance to the king's security, here I didn't even consider moving the king and preferred to lose a pawn. According to Tomescu, a rumanian international master who reviewed the game with me, though, it is preferable to lose the right to castle: after} ( 11.Kf1 {, he says, the black queen is placed badly and has to lose at least a tempo to enter back in the game. In the meanwhile, white can try to free his king rook with f3 and Kf2 ... it has to be noted, though, that this cannot be achieved immediately, because black can reply to f3 with the smart ...f5!} ) 11...Qxb2 {So white has lost a pawn, very probably without compensation: the white queen is obstacled by the other white pieces in many directions, the a2 pawn is also in danger and for black is easy to force the queens' exchange and enter an endgame with a pawn up. But Caprio wanted to get even more from the position and overlooked some tactics ...} 12.Rd1 Nxd2 {At this stage I still hadn't seen the incredible variation that was coming up, but after this move I felt a bit more relaxed. I was very afraid of} ( 12...Nc5 {that forces the queens' exchange and, against a player who has some 400 points more, who would be happy to play an endgame with a pawn down?} ) 13.Rxd2 Qa1+ 14.Bd1 Nxd4 {Without thinking so much about it, Caprio took the knight. At first glance I thought "Oh, no, now after exd4 he gives me check with the rook and I lose the right to castle!!". Then I thought a bit more ... and I realized that it was not true that I could not castle!!} 15.O-O!! {While I was thinking, Caprio was standing up and talking to other people, and didn't seem to care much about the game. As he sat back at the board and saw that I had castled, he made an expression as to say "In this way I win easily" and was about to retreat the knight ... then he realized that things weren't that simple, he stopped himself and started to think!! If he retreats the knight in c6 or e6, after 16. Bc2 black can't defend both his king and queen. So black has to give the knight back: he is still a pawn up, but he is also a bit behind in development and has to be careful.} 15...Nf5 16.Qxf5 d6? {In this way, black seems to win a tempo and get almost even in development: but he had overlooked another thing!! After this move, white wins back the pawn and the game is completely even; black could save his queen with} ( 16...Qc3 {but after} 17.Rc2 Qa3 18.Bf3 {white's pieces are much more active and I think the pawn is compensated.} ) 17.Qxh7+ {When he saw this funny move, Caprio smiled and shaked his head: he had completely overseen it!!} 17...Kxh7 18.Bc2+ g6 19.Rxa1 {I think this endgame is even. The black pawns are better linked than the white ones, but at present white pieces are more active and, before black becomes able to attack white's weak pawns, many things can happen on the board, also the pawn structure can change.} 19...b6 20.Be4 Rb8 21.h4 {I had something like 20 minutes for 20 moves, but the current position is relatively easy to play and I played this move and the following moves quick and quite well. This move is logical as white has a 2 - 1 pawn majority on this wing - we will see that this will turn out to be very useful!!} 21...Kg7 22.Bd5 Re8 23.Rc1 {This move discourages black from playing ...Be6 and Bxd5.} 23...Bd7 24.Rd4 {This is not much accurate because until the rook stays there black has the ...c5 possibility at this disposal - and ...c5 is an useful move because black has a pawn majority on that side.} 24...Re5 {Caprio tries to give his rooks the maximum activity by placing them in e5 and in h8.} 25.Kf1 Rh8 26.g3 Be6 27.Ke2 {Here and at the next move, white should play something different, probably retreat the d4 rook. The point is that, with the rook in d4, black can first play ...c5 and then take in d5, after which he has a 3 - 1 pawn majority on the queenside; being the rook elsewhere, as soon as black plays ...c5, white exchanges the bishop and leaves black with a weak pawn on d6. The first thing that Caprio said me after the game was "You shouldn't allow me to push on c5".} 27...Re8 {For some reason that I don't know, Caprio didn't immediately push on c5 and gave me another chance to avoid that.} 28.Kd2 {Again, I should better retreat the rook.} 28...c5 29.Rd3 Bxd5 30.cxd5 {Now black has a 3 - 1 pawn majority, while white 5 - 3 majority seems to have still a long way to break through.} 30...Re4 31.Ra3 {Attacking a7 and also preventing the black rook to go in a4.} 31...R8e7 {It seems that white is making an annoying pressure on the a7 pawn and making the black queenside advance a bit slower, but I think that Caprio aimed at the d5 pawn. White can play f3 - e4, but that probably makes his situation even worse: after ...f5 his pawn chain brokes into pieces and, once the "d" and "e" white pawns have disappeared, black has two joint passed pawns. In some variations it is the black king that captures the d5 pawn and then gives support to the passed pawns. In the game Caprio tried to realize this plan, but was not very accurate and gave me some dangerous counterchances.} 32.f3 R4e5 33.e4 f5 34.Re1 {This is the only move that doesn't immediately lose a pawn.} 34...fxe4 {Obviously} ( 34...a5 {is met by} 35.Rb3 ) 35.fxe4 Rxe4 {Black continues to pursue the plan of capturing the d5 pawn and doesn't fear to lose the a7 pawn.} 36.Rxe4 Rxe4 37.Rxa7+ Kf6 38.Rb7 Ra4 {Given that the only pieces left on the board are the two rooks, their activity degree is quite important and so, rather than defend a pawn, is better to counterattack on another!!} 39.Rxb6 Rxa2+ 40.Ke3 Ke5 {Caprio's plan to destroy my original pawn chain (f3-e4-d5), to centralize the king and to capture my d5 pawn seems to have worked very well. But I didn't give up ...} 41.Rb8 {What can I do but threatening to get two passed pawns myself?} 41...Ra3+ 42.Kf2 Rd3 {This is not a very useful move. Caprio wanted to capture in d5 with the rook in order to defend the g6 pawn with the king: in this position, though, is likely to win who promotes first, and so capturing the d5 pawn can slow things down: in particular, we see that the rook, once has captured in d5, needs two moves to clear the way to the 'd' pawn. After this move black still wins, but not by capturing the d5 pawn with the rook. Better was} ( 42...c4 {and we see that the 'c' pawn is very dangerous, and that the black king has a very flexible role: he can either give support to the c4 pawn, capture the d5 pawn, or defend the g6 pawn. That's why a centralized king is so strong, because it can undertake different roles according to the position's needs.} ) 43.Re8+ {This is a smart move: the king can't capture the d5 pawn and defend the g6 pawn at the same time, neither can he escape from the rook's checks without giving up something.} 43...Kf5 {He, though, was still in time to capture the d5 pawn: white can do nothing but capturing the g6 pawn and after the forced variation} ( 43...Kxd5 44.Rg8 c4 45.Rxg6 c3 46.Rg8 Rd1 47.Rc8 Kd4 {black's position is won: the c3 pawn is well supported by the king, while if white tries to push his pawns has a very bad surprise:} 48.g4 Rh1 49.h5 c2! {and white loses the rook. This trick appears quite often in rook endgames.} ) 44.Rf8+ Ke4 45.Rf6 Rxd5? {This is the worst option because now the rook and the Pd6 obstacle each other and in some variations it may take a lot of tempi for the rook to come to defend against the white passed pawns. After this move the position is even.} 46.Rxg6 Kd3 {Black continues to waste time, this move restricts the black rook even more while the most important thing was to push the pawn.} 47.g4 ( {Here I missed an easy draw with} 47.Rg5 {: the only move black can play is } 47...Rd4 {because after } ( 47...Rxg5 48.hxg5 {and the subsequent pawn race} 48...c4 49.g6 c3 50.g7 c2 51.g8=Q c1=Q 52.Qd5+ {white forces the queens' exchange:} 52...Kc2 53.Qc4+ Kd2 54.Qxc1+ Kxc1 55.Ke3 {and this pawns' endgame is clearly won. After 47. ...Rd4 we have again a pawn race } ) 48.h5 c4 49.h6 c3 50.h7 c2 51.h8=Q c1=Q {with the difference that this time white cannot force any exchange and, since the two pawns that are left are far from promotion, the game is likely to be drawn.} ) 47...c4 48.Re6 {With the previous move white has lost a decisive tempo and cannot substain a pawn race any longer: } ( 48.h5 c3 49.h6 c2 50.h7 c1=Q {This time black promotes first and moreover his king is very well protected: these two things enable him to succesfully attack the white king} 51.h8=Q Qe3+ 52.Kf1 Rd4! {white cannot avoid both the rook checks on f4 and g4, and black wins easily. My desperate attempt to bother the black king with the rook doesn't work either, because black pushes in c3, then goes round the pawn with Kc4-b3 and promotes first. White has to give the rook on the pawn, and clearly he cannot hope to draw with the pawns 'g' and 'h', because also black has a pawn left. Game is finished, I played another ten unuseful moves:} ) 48...c3 49.Re3+ Kc4 50.Re2 Kb3 51.Re3 Kb2 52.Rxc3 {A logical error, it was better to wait for the pawn to promote in c1 and then sacrifice the rook, because in c1 the king would have been a bit more far from the pawn: but the result wouldn't have changed.} 52...Kxc3 53.g5 Rf5+ 54.Kg3 Rf1 55.h5 Kd4 56.h6 Ke5 57.Kg4 Rg1+ 58.Kh4 Kf5 59.g6 Rxg6 0-1

[IM Jack Rudd]

I haven't studied the position in detail, but I think I like the look of 7.d3, aiming for a reversed Sicilian position after the inevitable ...d5.

[Roger de Coverly]

I haven't studied the position in detail, but I think I like the look of 7.d3, aiming for a reversed Sicilian position after the inevitable ...d5.

1 c4 isn't an opening to avoid theory, the way to get an advantage is to transpose to something favourable, possibly even a reversed position. I'm not even sure White lost a pawn for no compensation, without checking the theory in detail it looks a plausible sacrifice.

[Andrew Bak]

This game is an object lesson to all players who are facing weaker opponents - don't be complacent!

A bit of effort and he would've found 12...Nc5, and after he missed that, I think you had plenty of compensation for the pawn. A shame you couldn't quite hold the endgame!

[Giulio Simeone]

Thanks for the suggestion Jack, maybe next time I will play 7. d3 ... in this variation white has an advantage, namely the couple of the bishops, that can be exploited mostly on the long run, in the opening he has to deal with the problem of the exposed queen and d3, which prevents ...Ne4, indeed makes her position a bit more safe. Once white has stopped black's early initiative, he can think about ways to open up the centre for the couple of the bishops.

Roger, I don't think white has any compensation for the b2 pawn, black makes pressure on the d2 bishop, makes pressure on the d4 knight, in some variations can capture also the Pa2 and so it's quite easy for him to simplify the position to his favour. We have already seen that with 12. ...Nc5 black enters in an endgame with a pawn up, and white can't even rely much on the couple of the bishops, because it seems very hard to open the centre. We can look for alternatives to 12. Rd1, but there aren't many: the only one that allows white to mantain the queens on the board is 12. Nc2, but it is not a very good-looking move.

Andrew, it's true, even Grandmasters and International Masters have to stay always concentrated in order to beat a player of my level, they cannot think to play fast and win easily against an around-2000 player. Caprio this summer lost to Inna Iasman, a french woman rated 1970, obviously I wasn't there and can't tell about the effort he put on that game.

[Roger de Coverly]

Roger, I don't think white has any compensation for the b2 pawn, black makes pressure on the d2 bishop, makes pressure on the d4 knight, in some variations can capture also the Pa2 and so it's quite easy for him to simplify the position to his favour.

Checking out the databases, all previous players in the position, not very many of them, had played Kf1 in preference to the pawn sacrifice. The computer engine suggests that whilst Kf1 is about equal, after Bd2, white is sacrificing a pawn for about half a pawn of compensation.

[John McKenna]

Giulio,
Can I ask a question or two?
At move 10.Be2 you say couldn't afford to "lose a tempo with 10.a3 as Nc5..." (Jack suggested playing 7.d3 instead of 7.d4) I'd like to ask if you considered playing 7.a3 before, during, or after the game?
If Black then plays 7... d5 you reply 8.d4 and if he tries 7... Ne4 then 8.Qc2 and you avoid getting into the trouble you had in the actual game.
My other question is - in the endgame you "missed an easy draw with 47.Rg5..." Is 47.h5!? a more obvious way to start?
John

[Graham Borrowdale]

Another point of 7.a3 is that if black plays the plausible 7...a5 white can play 8.b4, leading to some unusual positions, as an alternative to a reversed Sicilian. An example is the following game played by Yasser Seirawan (a long time ago!):

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1025671

[Adam Ashton]

11.Kf1 certainly looks better. I don't think the endgame after 19 moves is equal, looks a lot better for black.

[Giulio Simeone]

Giulio,
Can I ask a question or two?
At move 10.Be2 you say couldn't afford to "lose a tempo with 10.a3 as Nc5..." (Jack suggested playing 7.d3 instead of 7.d4) I'd like to ask if you considered playing 7.a3 before, during, or after the game?
My other question is - in the endgame you "missed an easy draw with 47.Rg5..." Is 47.h5!? a more obvious way to start?
John

John, sure I considered playing 7. a3 during and after the game with Caprio, and also during the more recent game with the German FM Norbert Friedrich ... surely against him I should have been more cautious, he destroyed me with a terrifying attack

[Event "Server24 Chess Festival"] [Site "Ortisei(ITA)"] [Date "2012.06.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Simeone(1972)"] [Black "Freidrich(2309)"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1972"] [BlackElo "2309"] [ECO "A28"] 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bb4 5.Qc2 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 Qe7 7.Be2 O-O 8.O-O d5 9.b4 d4 10.Qb3 d3 11.b5 dxe2 12.Re1 Na5 13.Qa4 b6 14.Ba3 Qe6 15.Bxf8 Bb7!! {Here the 95% of players would have taken back the bishop and, considered that white has practically a rook and a pawn for a bishop and a knight, that the black king is exposed to some checks and that the Na5 may have a long way back into the game, his position doesn't look so bad. The German, though, surprised me with a move that is really outstanding, now black destroys white's castling and there is absolutely no defence!!} 16.Ba3 Bxf3 17.gxf3 e4 18.c5 Nc4 19.fxe4 Qg4+ 20.Kh1 Qf3+ 21.Kg1 Ng4 22.Rxe2 Qxe2 23.Rf1 Qf3 24.Qc2 Qh3 0-1

7. a3 indeed is another way to slow down black's initiative, the variation suggested by Graham upon 7. ...a5 is quite tricky, and white may be able also to face well the variations you pointed out, 7. ..d5 and 7. ...Ne4. What, though, if black doesn't play none of these moves and continues to develop quietly with, let's say, ...00 and ...d6? It's difficult to judge, the plan a3 - b4 is a bit slower than Jack's d3 but it's also true that the b5 push can sooner or later bother black's knight.

As for 47. h5, yes, probably it's another way to draw, white's three units should be enough to prevent the 'c' pawn to effectively promote.

[Giulio Simeone]

11.Kf1 certainly looks better. I don't think the endgame after 19 moves is equal, looks a lot better for black.

Adam, I was about to reply you that you were wrong, then I thought that you might have been a rated player, I checked on the FIDE website and I saw that your rating is 2366!! So now I want you to explain me why black is a lot better in the position after move 19th ... because of the pawn structure?

[Roger de Coverly]

[{Here the 95% of players would have taken back the bishop and, considered that white has practically a rook and a pawn for a bishop and a knight, that the black king is exposed to some checks and that the Na5 may have a long way back into the game, his position doesn't look so bad. The German, though, surprised me with a move that is really outstanding, now black destroys white's castling and there is absolutely no defence!!}

The exchange sac with Bb7 looks a pretty obvious hack to consider, but do you play it without calculating it in depth? Taking back may not be that bad either as bishop and knight are often an advantage against rook and pawn. White's play allowing the pawn to e2 is far more provocative than I would consider comfortable. Lines where white gives up a bishop and knight in the opening for rook and pawn are frequently dubious.

[Giulio Simeone]

It's true Roger, in the middlegame a bishop and a knight are almost always better than a rook, because rooks are more powerful than minor pieces mostly in the endgame, when there are many open lines. In the position after 15. ... Kxf8, though, I thought to have a slight dynamic compensation because:

1. Black has still to replace his a5 knight and to develop his queenside; in particular, the light bishop doesn't have so many avaliable squares;

2. The black king is exposed to some diagonal checks;

3. The pawn in e2 is practically lost, sure white has to capture it quickly because if the position opens up it can bother a lot, as in the actual game.

[John McKenna]

Giulio, in answer to my suggestion, 7.a3, you replied - What if... O-O and d6? I'd say 7... O-O 8.b4 d6 9.Bb2 would be reasonable. However, as you imply, a slower game than either of your games above - against Caprio and Freidrich - would arise.

[Adam Ashton]

11.Kf1 certainly looks better. I don't think the endgame after 19 moves is equal, looks a lot better for black.

Adam, I was about to reply you that you were wrong, then I thought that you might have been a rated player, I checked on the FIDE website and I saw that your rating is 2366!! So now I want you to explain me why black is a lot better in the position after move 19th ... because of the pawn structure?

Well my first impression was I don't see any compensation for your poor structure. Your activity is pretty superficial as your rooks can't penetrate anywhere, I'd expect black to be able to gradually improve and make life quite unpleasant for you later.