Alex Levitan (2021) – Mike Splane (2223) 1/31/2008
The
player with the white pieces has won all five of our games. This was an
exceptionally stinging defeat, mainly because I did it to myself.
This is one
of those games that “will repay careful study.”
There are several possible piece configurations and many opportunities
for exchanges. Figuring out the right ones was too much for me in the limited
playing time. I will be making a careful study of this game.
1. d4 Nf6 2.c4 d5 3. e3 cd 4.ed d5 5. Nc3 g6
We have reached a position in the Caro Kann, Panov
Attack. I have never known exactly what to play against this move, which seems
to equalize. I was hoping to learn something and was curious to see what plan
Alex would adopt.
6. Nf3 Bg7 7. Be2 0-0 8. 0-0 Nc6
There were several different ways
to develop my queenside pieces. I have no idea which set up is correct. That’s
one of the things I hope to learn from further study. I now think what I played
is correct. See the notes to move 10.
9. h3 dc 10. Bc4 Ne8 (?)
During the game I did not realize
that the pawns threat to advance to d5 would be a major problem for me. I saw
that I could win the two bishops and went ahead.
After the game I looked up this
position in ChessLab.com’s database. Black is winning in every line except the one
I picked.
After 10. … a6 with 11. … b5 Black won 83% of 3 games.
After 10. … Bf5 Black won 81% of 8 games.
After 10. … b6 Black won 70% of 10 games.
After 10. … Na5 Black won 63% of 19 games.
If I had this position again, I
wouldn’t play 10… a6 or 10… b6. With an open center piece play is what matters
and pawn advances just create weaknesses.
Despite its impressive practical
results, I wouldn’t play 10….Bf5 because I don’t see where it fits into a plan.
Instead I would play 10. … Na5 with the plan of 11. … Be6, 12.
… Rc8, 13. …
Bc4 trading off the bishops and leaving White with
weakness on the white squares. After that Black can bring the knight to c4 with
pressure on the queenside. Black has an advantage because the kings are safe
and play is on the queenside, where both sides have two targets, and the
center, where White’s d4 pawn is a target for attack. Even if the queenside
pawns disappear, which happened in most of the games, the position will still
favor Black because of White’s weak d4 pawn.
11. Be3 Nd6 12. Bd3 f5?
I looked at several other ideas here.
My plan on move 9 was to win the two bishops but after 12… Nf5 13. Bf5 Bf5 14. g4 Bc8 15. d5 Ne5 16. Ne5 Be5 17. Bd4 I liked
White’s edge in space.
If 12. … Bf5 White simply
continues developing. This, however is the right move;
trading off the bishops gets rid of Black’s worst piece.
If 12 … Nb4 13. Be2 I have to worry about 14. a3
Nc6 15. d5
winning tempos.
The threat of d4- d5 is a problem
in all of these positions. I can stop it with 12. … e6, but I was worried about
weakening the black squares around my king.
I rejected 12. … e5 because I wanted to build up an attack against his
isolated queen pawn, and exchanging it seemed wrong. I didn’t recognize that I
was slightly worse and should have been playing for this exchange and easy equality.
I played 12. … f5
after 20+ minutes of thought. I knew it was a dangerous and double-edged move,
as it badly weakens my kingside, but I didn’t see how he could stop 13. … f4. His obvious reply didn’t even occur to me. I was
expecting either 13. g3 f4
14. Bf4 Bh3 or 13. d5
f4 14. dc
fe 15. cb ef+ 16. Rf2 Bb7 with advantage to Black in both
lines. By wasting so much time on a single move, and then playing a blunder, I
effectively lost the game at this point.
13. Qd2
Of course. White is now winning; after he trades bishops on g7 my
king will be too exposed.
13 …
Nb4 14. Be2 Be6 15. a3
Nd5
Hoping for 16. Ng5 Qd7
17. Ne6 Qe6 when my problems are solved.
16. Nd5 Bd5 17.
Bh6 Bf3 ?
I didn’t want to give up this
great bishop, but I was terrified of his knight coming to e5. I should have
played 17. … Bh6 18.
Qh6 Nf7 and played defense.
18. Bf3 Nc4 ?
I thought a long time here too and
couldn’t come up with any good ideas. This loses a pawn.
19. Qc3 Rc8
I didn’t like the position after
19. … Bh6 20. Qc4+ Kh8 21.
Bb7. he has an extra pawn and my king is not as safe as his.
20. Bg7 Kg7 21.
Bb7 Rc7 22.
d5+ Rf6
23. Bc6 Nd6
When I played
18. … Nc4 it was my hope to take
advantage of the fact that his bishop is cut off to attack his king. I thought
my knight could participate in the attack. This is wishful thinking. White has
a space advantage and an easy object to attack on e7. He has a won game as soon
as he pushes the queenside pawns.
24. f3 Nf7 25. Rae1 Kg8 26. Re2
Qd6 27. Rfe1
Nd8 28. Qb3 Kf7
I can capture twice on c6, but
surrendering the e pawn would be fatal to me.
29. Qc4 Kf8 30.
Qh4 Kg7 31.
b4 h6
If 31. … h5 32. g5
hg 33. hg and the
open h file will give me huge problems. I would prefer to sit tight with the
pawns, but his last move indicates he has hit on the correct plan, so I am
forced to try and do something aggressive on the king side.
32. Qf2 Kf7 33.
Qe3 f4 34. Qb3
Kf8 35. b5
Rf5 36. Qb2 Qf6
Probably a
mistake. I was hoping he would trade
queens. After his reply I can’t re-establish the blockade.
37. Qb4 Nf7
Since my queen can’t return to d6,
I am forced to try a different defense, based on created a string point on e5
to block the file.
38. Re6 Qg5 39.
b6 ab 40. Qb6 Rc8 41. Re7
Ne5 42. d6
Nc6 43. d7??
43 Qb7 was very strong and I
thought I would have to resign.
43. … Ne7
Now if 44. Re7 Rc1+ wins.
44. dc/Q
Nc8 45. Qc7 Ne7
The knight on the second or third
rank is an excellent defender against a queen. I felt confident of winning now.
46. Qd8+ Kf7
47. Qd6 Qf6
48. Qb4 Re5 49. Rd1 g5 50. a4 Qc6
On the wrong track. I should play …. Re2, … Qe3+ and
… Qf2. His rook will be forced to the inactive g1 square. Then I can push my
kingside pawns for a decisive breakthrough.
51. Qb3+ Nd5
I completely forgot about the
clock and spent 2-3 minutes here. As I made my move my flag fell. I was
extremely upset with myself, but I managed to calm down and congratulate Alex.
I saved my cursing and yelling for the drive home.
1-0 Time.