George Mandrusov (1889) - Mike Splane (2229) December 13, 2007

(I was surprised at my pairing. I expected to have White against Jan DeJong. George beat me in our last meeting.)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. a3 c5

(My opening preparation let me down again; I hadn’t seen 4. a3 before. It seemed right to hit back in the center. If 5. e3 we will wind up in an IQP position. I’m happy to play those for either side. )

5. Nf3 cd 6. Nd4 e5 7. Nf3 d4

(After the game, I checked Chesslab.com and found a game that went 8. Ne5 Be7 8. Nb5 a6 9. Nd4 Qa5+ winning a piece. I didn’t even consider this line.)

8. Na2 Nc6

(I played this move too quickly, underestimating the threat of the b-pawn coming to b5. Perhaps8. … Bg4 is the right way to put pressure on his position.)

9. b4 e4 10. b5 ef

(I briefly looked at 10. … Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Qa3 12. Nb4 – ouch! I also considered 10. … Ba3 to try and get castled. My actual choice safely wins a good pawn.)

11. bc fe 12. Be2

(If 12. Qe2+ Be7 13. cb Bb7 I don’t see how he gets castled. On the other hand, I’m happy to be up a pawn.)

12. … bc 13. Bf3 Qa5+

(From the expression on his face I think George missed this idea. I’ve seen George win some nice attacking games, so I wanted the queens off.)

14. Bd2 Qe5+ 15. Qe2

(If 15 Kf1 Bd7 I’m not worried about White moving his queen and playing Re1, his queen has no good square to move to. If 16. Qc2 d3 or 16. Qb3 Rb8)

15. … Qe2+ 16. Ke2 Bg4

(I didn’t really want to trade bishops. I thought his c4 pawn could be vulnerable, but it’s his only good piece.

One thing to note in this position is that I do NOT want to capture his a or c pawns in the middle game; the resulting open lines for his pieces would tie me down to defending my own a and c pawns. I want his pawns on the board to be targets for my king to attack after the rooks come off.)

17. Nb4 Kd7 18. Bg4+ Ng4 19. Nd3 Bd6

(If I check with the rook, he can get counter-play by putting his rook on the b file, so first I connect my rooks. The main rule in endings is to stop counter-play.)

20. Bb4 Rhe8+ 21. Kd2

(This move surprised me; I just assumed he would come to f3. I lost my composure briefly. As a general rule, the king is strongest in the center, blockading the pawn, so I like his choice.)

21. …. Ne5

(After I played this I thought I had blundered. After 22. Nc5+ I thought my king had to guard the bishop, but after 22. … Kc8 threatening 23. … a5 Black is still winning. I have no idea why he played his next move, maybe to force me to trade knights, which then forces me to play …c5 , blocking the position.)

22. Rac1 Nd3 23. Kd3 c5

(I already had the winning plan –trade rooks, bring the king to g4, give up the d pawn to win a kingside pawn. It takes 30 moves, but the win is almost certain.)

24. Bd2 Rab8 Rab1 f5 26 g3

(Good. He is making weakening pawn moves. Now I was over-confident and rushed to trade rooks.)

26 . … Rb1 27. Rb1 Rb8 28. Rb5 a6

(By forcing this pawn move, Black significantly increases his drawing chances. If he trades rooks immediately, Black will play Bc7, bring his king to a6. play Ba5 and Bc3, then move his king up the a file to win the a-pawn. Now the queenside is blockaded and Black will have to win on the kingside.

I thought about trading rooks to get connected pass pawns, but it help him. After 28. … Rb5 29. cb Kc7 30. Kc5 Kb6, he can push the a-pawn and seal up the queenside. If I try 30. … a6 31. ba Kb6 I don’t see how I can budge his king from c4, and he has a passed pawn for me to worry about. I need to have my king free to roam to the kingside if I want to win.)

29. Rb8

(If 29 Ra5? Ra8. I’ll bring my king to b6 to imprison the rook. The passed pawn will tie down his king, so I should be able to pick up a pawn or two on the kingside with my active rook.)

29. … Bb8 30. h3 Bc7

(Rule number one – no counter-play. I prevent Ba5 when he might be able to create trouble by getting behind my pawns with his bishop. I’m also waiting to see if he will weaken his position.)

31. a4

(Now I don’t have to worry about his king coming up the a file, but at least he avoids weakening the kingside.)

31. … Ke6 32.Ke2 h6

(If 32. … f4 33.gf? Kf5 34.Kh3 h6 35. h4 g6 36. Bc1 Ba5 37. Kg3 d3 38. Kf3 d2 but if he plays 33. g4 I didn’t see how to break in. During the game I didn’t see how to make progress if he leaves his pawns where they are. After the game I came to the conclusion that I can break through. The plan has three steps. First bring my king to h5, play g5 and f4. Then, if he pushes by or captures on f4, whatever he does, my king will gain access to h4. Second, after trading pawns on g3, I bring my king to f5, then play h5 and g4+. Thirdly, after his king retreats, my king penetrates to e4, winning.)

33 h4 Kf6 34. f4?

(Makes it easier on me. I was expecting 34. h5 to try and block the position. After 34. h5 g5? the position is completely blocked. And after 34. h5 g6? 35. Bh6 hg 36. Bf8 Bb6 37. a5 Ba7 he has compensation for his pawn down.

My plan was to prepare … g6 with 34. … Bd6. After the pawns are traded on g6, I was planning to bring my bishop to g5. Then the winning plan is to push the h pawn, trading on h4. The bishop then retreats to d8. With the pawns gone from the h and g files I can march my king down the h file and across the first rank to f1. After that I can push the d- pawn through. Did I see all this during the game? Yes.)

34. … Kg6

(After the king gets to h5 this is a classic case of two weaknesses. I define an endgame weakness as a square that has to be defended by a piece. Here it is g4, if my king gets there I win, and d1. His king can’t hold both squares. All I have to do is put my bishop where it covers the d2 square.)

35. Kf2 Kh5 36. Kf3 Bd8 37. Be1 Bf6 38. Ba5 d3

(If 38. Bf2 to prevent … d3, I can triangulate with my bishop. 38. … Be7 39. Be1 Bd8 40. Bd2 Bf6 41. Be1 d3 42. Ke3 Kg4 43. Kd3 Kf3 winning,)

(I also looked at 38. … g5 39 hg hg. Now if he doesn’t trade the second pawn on g5, I can trade pawns on f4 then run my king down the h file. But after 40. fg Bg5, I have to follow the plan in the game, when the absence of the kingside pawns improves his drawing chances. I have nightmares if his bishop gets to d6.)

39. Be1 Bd4 40. Ba5 Bb2 41. Bd2 Ba3 42. Ba5 Bc1

(Of course not 42. … Bb4?? 43. Bb4 cb 44. Ke3 Kg6 45. a5 with a draw.)

43. Bb6 d2 44. Ke2 Ba3 45. Kd2 Kg4 46. Ke3 Kg3 47. h5 Kg4 48. Ba7

(If 48. Bc7 Bc1+ 48. Kf2 Bf4 49. Bb6 Bd6)

48. … Kh5 49. Kf3 Kh4 50. Bb6 g5 51. Ba7 g4+ 52. Kg2 g3 53. Bb6 Kg4

0-1 The pawns can’t be stopped.