SenseiDanya (1919) vs KarateBaby (2235)

1920Episode 23 · 1-0

During the gameIn the review

  1. Modern Defense: 3.c3 d6 4.Bd3
  2. 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7
  3. 3. c3 c3 against the Modern: a bishop biting on granite Opening The Modern. One good positional line against it is c3, which - in his favourite and admittedly overused phrase - leaves the g7 bishop biting on granite.
  4. 3...d6 4.Bd3 Nf6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.O-O Nc6 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 e5 9.dxe5 Nxe5 10.Nxe5 dxe5
  5. 11. Na3 Na3 is Frankfurt airport Piece play What to do with the knight on b1? d2 drops the bishop on d3 to the queen. So it goes to a3 - Frankfurt airport. A knight is bad on a3, but a3 is only a transit point on the way to c4.
  6. 11...Qe7
  7. 12. Nc4 Pressure ties pieces down Strategy It does not attack e5, which the queen protects - but it presses on it, and pressure ties the opponent's pieces down. White is very slightly better; with good play Black is equal.
  8. 12... b6 After a committal pawn move, find the weak square Strategy In the review: Black should probably have played g5 here to break the pin. It weakens the kingside, but it takes the sting out of f4. When a committal pawn move is made, readjust: g5 weakens f5. Knights are the default piece for an outpost, and here one can come to e3. Even if it never lands on f5, the threat puts a menial job on Black's bishop, which has to guard the square, and that raises the strain on Black's position. It is not only about getting things done; threatening to get them done strains the opponent too.
  9. 13. f4 f4 against a pinned knight Tactics How to increase the pressure? Notice the pin, and notice that e5 is under heavy pressure: displace that pawn and White gets e5. f4 is risky - it weakens White's own kingside - but the logic is plain. If Black takes, e5 wins the pinned knight; and the queen check on c5 that keen tacticians may spot has an answer, the bishop to f2, attacking the queen. Without that answer, the check would have refuted f4. Remember the three ways to meet a check: take the checking piece, move the king, or block it - and the block is the one people forget. The review calls f4 the key move.
  10. 13...Qe8
  11. 14. Nxe5 A move is not good because it threatens General Which piece should take? The pawn is tempting because it attacks the knight - but a move is not good just because it creates a threat. After the pawn takes, the knight drops back to d7, and the pawn on e5 becomes weak, attacked by three pieces at once, and is lost again. The knight capture creates no threat, but it is much easier to keep the extra pawn.
  12. 14...Bb7
  13. 15. Qe2 Step out of a pin before it happens Piece play Black also wants the rook to d8 with a pin on the queen. He breaks his own rule - do a job with the least valuable piece, which here would be the rook - because the queen must not be pinned. The pawn has two attackers and one defender, so it needs another, and the queen gives it while stepping out of the pin in advance. Asked in the review about the queen to c2: e2 is more central and active and lines up a battery with the bishop, where c2 controls fewer squares. Do not overthink it.
  14. 15...g5 16.fxg5 hxg5
  15. 17. Bg3 One move that guards both pieces Piece play There is: the bishop to g3, simply protecting the knight. The f-file is open, Black's kingside is badly weakened, and White is still a pawn up. Moves like this stabilise the position and keep everything protected. The rook to f5 is a great follow-up idea, but here it would not protect the bishop as well - both pieces need covering.
  16. 17...Rd8
  17. 18. Rae1 Prepare slowly, attack fast Strategy A very Russian-school move. The rook to f5 is good, but first bring every piece to the party. It looks pointless - the pawn was not attacked - but it is over-protection, making sure the foundation is solid before attacking the king. Prepare slowly, attack fast. Later the queen can stop babysitting the pawn, so it is a move for the future, and it simply places the rook in harmony with the other pieces. When should you ignore a pawn and throw everything at the attack instead? When the attack is strong enough to warrant it, and here not enough pieces were in yet.
  18. 18...Nd7
  19. 19. Nxf7 A weak king: look at the captures first Tactics Black's king is very weak, so White should already be primed for tactics, and that means thinking about captures first. The only capture near the kingside is on f7. The rook could be taken first too, forcing the king to recapture, with a queen check on h5 after - but that leads to complications. The point of the line had to be seen before playing the knight capture, or White would just have two pieces for a rook and it would not be worth it. Be very careful with combinations that try to win material: if they backfire, you lose your whole attack.
  20. 19...Rxf7
  21. 20. Bc4 Rook and king on one diagonal Tactics The recapture puts the rook and the king on the same diagonal, and the light-squared bishop can come to c4 and massacre them down it. In the review: the bishop pins the rook to the king, and if Black tries anything else White takes and wins the queen as well.
  22. 20...Nf6 21.Bxf7+ Qxf7 22.e5 Re8 23.Qf2 Ba6 24.exf6 Bxf1 25.Rxf1 Bf8
  23. 26. Qf5 Meet a threat with an attack General Never forget to check for threats: the bishop to c5 is one. Look for an active defence - move the queen away while attacking something, and g5 is the obvious target. People think of meeting a threat as passive, moving the king or covering the square, but a threat can be parried with an attack.
  24. 26...Bh6 27.Bxc7 Re2
  25. 28. h4 Weak king, loose rook: a double attack Tactics Why h4? To get rid of the g5 pawn. If Black takes, notice two things: a weak king and an undefended rook. That should set the alarm bells ringing, because a weak king is not only open to mate but to double attacks - the queen check on g4 picks off the rook.
  26. 28...Bf8 29.Qxg5+ Kh7
  27. 30. Be5 Three pawns up, simplifying is fine Strategy Black wants a check on c5. It is not dangerous, but to be very Russian about it, the bishop goes to e5 to cover it. Three pawns up, he no longer minds simplification. He draws the line at a piece: three pawns up, the endgame is completely winning, with no need to bog down in mating ideas.
  28. 30...Rxb2 31.h5 Rxa2 32.Rf3 Bh6 33.Qf5+ Kh8 34.Rg3 Re2
  29. 35. Rg7 A rook sacrifice on g7, by pattern Attack A finishing move, and the kind that pattern recognition - puzzle rush - trains: the queen check on c8 does less than it seems, but the rook to g7 wins. If the bishop takes, the pawn recaptures with check and uncovers an attack on the queen. The review shows another winning idea after the bishop takes on g7: the queen comes to g7 itself, displacing the king - the king is the worst blockader of all.
  30. 35...Rxe5 36.Qh7#
  31. Black was checkmated
End of episode 23 · 1-0 ← 22. vs johndavis_59 (1828)All games at 192024. vs psilo_simon (1509) →