Mike Splane (2205) - Serge Bierhuizen (1839)

Kolty Chess Club July 10, 2008

1 e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Bd3 Nf6

I think pushing the pawn to e5 throws away White’s advantage, and the trade of the d5 pawn for the e4 pawn helps White, so I have developed this system to combat the French. Since White can afford to lose a tempo, I am not worried about 3. … de 4. Be4 Nf6 5. Bd3 when I have the pawn structure I like.

4. Nd2 c5 5. c3 Nc6 6. Ngf3 cd 7. cd de

This takes the pressure off White’s center. 7. … Qb6 poses problems. After 8. ed Nd5 it’s hard to see how White saves the d pawn. If 9. Nb3 Bb4+ is very strong. I think I have a solution to this problem, but it hasn’t been tested over-the-board.

8. Ne4 Be7 9. 0-0 0-0

Up to here Black could never capture twice on d4 because the d3 bishop checks, winning the queen. Now this is a real threat.

White can protect the d4 pawn in many ways. I wasn’t sure which was best so I chose a developing move. After the game I checked www.chesslab.com’s database. 10. Nc3 was only equal, both sides winning 36% of the games. After 10. Be3 White won 16% of the games, Black 8%. Black trounced other moves for White.

After this game I decided the simple 10. Nc3 is best, even though it looks silly to retreat a centralized attacking piece, but the knight on e4 is just a target. White needs to complete his development before he will be ready to attack.

10. Be3? Nd5 11. Rc1?

I spent a good deal of time here, maybe ten minutes. I would like to play like a3. Bc4 Qd3 and Rad1, but that is too slow. I’m not worried about 11. … Ne3 12. ef, when I’ve strengthened my center and activated my rook. My structural advantage is based on his bad bishop on c8 so I played Rc1 to stop him from moving his b-pawn. Unfortunately, I need that square for my bishop. 11. Nc3 is probably still the best move.

11. … f5 12. Nc3 f4 13. Bd2 Ndb4 14. Bb1 Nd4

Black has made a lot of positional compromises in order to win this pawn, the pawn advances have opened lines for my bishops and his queenside is undeveloped, so I wasn’t too concerned.

15. Nd4 Qd4 16. Ne2 Qd6!

The best choice. I spent a long time examining the consequences of 16. … Qb2 After 17. Bc3 Qa3 18. Qd4 Rf7 19. Qe4 g6 20. Qd4 Rf6 21. Nf4 I think he is in big trouble.

I can’t capture on f4. After 17. Nf4 Rf4 18. Qd6 Bd6 19. Bf4 Bf4 20. Rc4 Nd5 his unassailable knight dominates the position.

17. Rc4 Nd5 18. Qc2 g6 19. Rd1?

This may be a mistake, since wants to play … e5 to activate his bishop. I saw the better ending after 19. Nf4 Nf4 20. Bf4 Rf4 21. Rc8+ Rc8 22. Qc8+ Kg7 23. Qb7, but opposite color bishop endings like this can be tricky. Material doesn’t matter as much as the initiative and king safety. My rook and bishop are passively posted. so I wasn’t certain I was winning.

I played the Rook move to pin the knight, hoping to play Bb4 at some point.

19. … e5

A spectator suggested 19. … f3. That loses a pawn and opens lines for my d2 bishop because after 20. gf Rf3 his bishop on c8 is hanging.

20. Qb3

When we got to this position I finally noticed that … Bf5 is a powerful threat, so I moved the queen onto a safer square. My queen move opens all sorts of diabolical possibilities based on the ideas of Rc8 or Bb4.

20. … Qe6?

Black can save the position but he needs to find a better move here. He thought for over twenty minutes. There are a lot of traps.

21. … Qb6? 22. Rc8 Rac8 23. Qd5+

21. … Nb6? 22. Rc8 Qb3 23. Rf8+ Rf8 24. ab

21. … Bf5? 22. Bb4 Qd7 23. Be7 Qe7 24. Rd4 Bb1 25. Rc7! Qe6 26. Rdd7!

21. … Bg4 is highly tactical but Black seems ok (22. Bb4 Qe6 23. Be7 Be2 24. Bf8 Rf8) so I was intending to play 22. f3 Qb6+ 23. Qb6 Nb6 24. Re4 (Not 24. Rc7 Bd8 25 Rb7 Bc8) Bf5 25. Re5 Bb1 Rb1. I wasn’t sure this position was winning for me.

21. … Be6! looks best – Perhaps he thought that White would take the b-pawn but after 22. Qb7 Rab8 23. Qc6 Qc6 24. Rc6 Bd7 White’s rook has no good square. 23. Qa7 Rb2 is also bad, when White’s pieces are all tangled up. This variation shows that 19. Rd1 was a mistake and I should’ve captured on f4.

21. Be4 Nf6

I thought I was winning a piece after 22. Rc8 Qb3 23. Rf8+ Rf8 24. ab Ne4 but I had miscounted

I also looked at 21. … Rd8 22. Ba5! b6 23. Rd5 Rd5 24. Bd5 Qd5 25. Rc8+

22. Bf3

I looked at 22. Bc2 b5? 23. Rc8 Qb3 24. Bb3+ but decided this was too obvious a trap.

22. … Kf7 ?

The best try was 22. … Rd8 when 23 Rc8 Qb6 24. Rd8+ Rd8 25. ab e4 wins my bishop. I found 23. g4!! clearing a retreat square for my bishop. After 23. g4 he doesn’t have time for 23. … h6 because 24 Rc8 wins a piece

23. Nf4!

I rejected 23. Bf4 and 23 Bc3 because of 23. .. b5! forcing a queen trade. The pawn can not be captured 24. Qb5? Ba6. I briefly considered 23. a4 to stop the pawn push, but then my queen is unguarded and my rook is pinned.

23. … ef 24. Re1 Qb6

I spent a lot of time on before sacrificing the knight figuring out ways to defeat all of the other queen moves.

24. … Qf5 25. Rf4+ Be6 26. Re6 Qe6 27. Bd5

24. … Qd6 25. Rc6+ Be6 26. Re6

24. … Qa6 25. Rce4+ Kg7 26. Re7+ Kg8 27. Bc3

24. … Qe1 25. Be1 Be6 26. Qc2 Bc4 27. Qc4+ Kg7 28. Qf4 when I thought the two bishops with the queen would be a lethal combination, but he can still put up some resistance.

25. Rb4+ Be6 26. Rb6 Bb3 27. Rb3

He gave up here. I have the two bishops, the b7 pawn is lost, the f4 pawn is unhealthy and he has absolutely no counterplay. Plus I have a 40 minutes left on my clock to his 14.

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