William Johns (1763) Mike Splane (2197) 6/26/2008

This game has a clear strategic theme from beginning to end. I have a center pawn majority that I’m struggling to advance and he is struggling to restrain.

Johns arrived about 30 minutes late, which helped me psychologically. I’ve been playing more slowly than my opponents and have become nervous about losing on time. As a result I’ve made blunders in a few games by rushing my moves.

1. Nf3 c5 2. c3

Already I am out of book! He also threw me on my own resources in another game which started 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 c5 3. Nc3 cd 4. Qd4 Nc6 5. Qa4

2. … d5 3. d4 Nc6

Offering a pawn for center control. If 4. dc e5 5. b4 Black has a free and easy game, but doesn’t seem to have any way to regain the pawn. 5. … e5 6. Nd4 a5 7. Nc6 bc 8. Bb2? ab 9. cb e3 10. fe Qh4+ 11. g3 Qb4+ would be winning, but 8. e3 stops all the tricks.

4. Bf4 Bg4 5. Nbd2 cd

The last three moves aimed at trying to gain control of the e5 square. White won the battle so Black is forced to capture.

6. Nd4

This may be the losing move! Black gets a mobile pawn majority in the center and White is tied to defense for the rest of the game.

6. … Nf6 7. Nc6 bc 8. Qa4 Qb6 9. Nb3 Bd7

Now White can only stop c6-c5 by allowing e7-e5.

10. Be3 Qc7

Not 10. … c5? 11. Qa3 when the c pawn is lost.

11. Nc5 e5 12. Qc2 Bd6

Played with a trap in mind. If. 12. … Ng4 13. Qd2 Ne3 14. Qe3 Qb6 the e5 pawn is hanging, so I guarded it first, retaining the threat. Black has no need to hurry.

13. h3 Bc8!

This is a nice all-purpose move. It retains the bishop pair, restricts the knight, allows Rb8, allows Qe7 to put pressure on c5. That pressure can only be met with b2-b4, when White’s pawn are weakened. I didn’t want to castle yet; I wasn’t sure how to meet g2-g4-g5 and thought I might want to play …h6. Retreating moves like this are psychologically difficult to play for most players, me included, so I’m giving it an exclam.

14. g4 Qe7 15. b4 a5 16. Bg2!

A nice move that freezes my center pawns due to the pressure along the diagonal.

16. … ab 17. cb Rb8

Not only to get out of range of the g2 bishop, but also to keep an eye on the b5 square. The pawn exchange on b4 gives me two open files to attack on the queenside, ala the Benko Gambit, and also gives me a potentially mobile center. I was confident of winning now.

18. a3 0-0 19. Rc1 Nd7

I wasn’t sure if I would trade knights, 20. … Nb6 and 21. … Nc4 gives me a completely dominating position.

20. Nd7 Bd7 21. Bc5

This may be a positional error, but it’s hard to find a good plan for White. The exchanges leave him with no compensation for his weak queenside pawns.

21. … Bc5 22. Qc5 Qc5 23. Rc5 Ra8

This is double-edged as he now has option of playing b4-b5 to break up my center. At the moment this just loses a pawn.

24. Rc3 e4!

Looks crazy to put another pawn on the same color as my bishop, but as GM Suba says, “Bad bishops guard good pawns.” The idea is to block the g2 bishops attack on d5, so b4-b5 won’t be a threat. He can try to remove the e4 pawn with 25. f3 but then I chase his rook off the third rank with 25. … d4 26. Rb3 Be6.

25. e3 Ra4

Winning a pawn.

26. Kd2

If 26. f3 ef 27. Bf3 Rfa8 28. b5 cb 29. Bd5 Ra3

If 26. b5 cb 27. Rc5 d4 28. Be4 de

26. … Rfa8 27. Ra1

After the game he suggested 27. Rhc1 but I don’t see where this helps him. Maybe he has an idea I’m missing.

27. … Rb4

Before playing this I had to find a solution to 28. ab Ra1 29. b5 Ra2+ [ to pin the f-pawn] 30. Ke1 cb 31. Rc5 (or 31. Rc7). It took me a few minutes to see that I should give up the b-pawn. After 31. ... Be6 32. Rb5 g5 White is a pawn down and in a complete bind.

28 f4

I have these kinds of positions down to a recipe.
A. Stop counter-play first!
B. Centralize your king
C. Attack the weakness and tie his pieces down to its defense.
D. Maximize the location of your pieces.
E. Repair any small positional defects you may have while he is in the bind.
F. Push pawns on the opposite wing from the first weakness.
G. Exchange pawns to open lines and create a second weakness.
H. Shift the attack to the second weakness.

28. … Rb2+

One of the ways to stop counterplay is to trade off pieces that you don’t need.

29. Rc2 Rc2+ 30. Kc2

As soon as one pair of rooks is exchanged, the kings should be centralized.

30. … Kf8 31. Bf1 Ke7 32. a4 Ra5

On a4 the pawn is a bad weakness. I don’t intend to win it, just to attack it to tie him down.

33. Kb3 c5 34. Be2 Kd6 35. Bd1 h6

Repairing the small structural problem of having too many pawns on the same color as my bishop. I’d like to follow up with g5 creating a weak pawn on h3 which I will attack with f5 opening the d7-h3 diagonal. He is alert and stops that idea.

36. h4 f6

A waiting move hoping for 37. Be2? d4 38. ed cd 39. Kb4 Ra4+! 40. Ra4 Ba4 41. Ka4 e3 42. Bf1 Kc5 43. Kb3 Kd4 winning.

37. Kc3 g5

Gaining access to e5 for my king.

38. hg hg 39. f5

39. fg fg leaves him in zugzwang and helpless against 40. … Ke5 and 41. …. d4.

If 39. Ra3 gf 40. ef d4+ 41 Kc4 Be6# and king retreats lose quickly.

39. … Ke5

He surprised me by resigning here. 40. … d4+ is unstoppable when my king gets access to f4 to guide the e-pawn in for a touchdown, so his decision is reasonable.

Notice that I never won the a-pawn. In a king and pawn ending with an extra pawn and pawns on both wings, you use the extra pawn as a decoy to tie his king down while you penetrate on the opposite flank. My endgame recipe works on the same idea. You tie down his pieces by attacking the first weakness, and then penetrate on the other side. It’s the second weakness that is the real target.

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