bscastro (1702) - licenser (1911) [C11]
ICC 15 5 Internet Chess Club, 05.03.2001
[Castro]
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 The French Defense is a counterattacking defense in which Black allows White a spatial advantage with hopes of counterplay later. 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 Qb6 Diagram
Black's battle for d4 culminates with the queen's arrival on b6, adding yet another attacker.8.Na4 Qa5+ 9.c3 cxd4 10.b4! White forces Black to make a choice. A retreat by the queen severaly cramps his game. 10...Nxb4 Black trades the knight for three White pawns. This position is unbalanced. Although technically the material is even (three pawns=one knight), White has to activate his pieces while Black wants to develop his remaining pieces. 11.cxb4 Bxb4+ 12.Bd2 Bxd2+ 13.Nxd2 b5 14.Nb2 Qc3 15.Nd3 I can't believe this line has been played this far! 15...0-0N Diagram [ RR 15...Nb6 16.Kf2 0-0 17.g3 ( RR 17.Nb3 Qc7 18.Nxd4 Nc4 19.g3 Qb6 20.Ne1 f6 21.Nef3 Nxe5 22.fxe5 fxe5 23.Kg2 exd4 24.Qxd4 Rb8 25.Bd3 Qxd4 26.Nxd4 Bd7 27.Rhe1 Rfe8 28.Re5 g6 29.Rc1 Rb7 30.Kf2 Kf7 31.Ke3 Kf6 Werner,I-Stangl,A/Germany 2000/CBM 75 ext/1/2-1/2 (79)) 17...f6 18.Nf3 Nc4 19.Be2 fxe5 20.Ndxe5 g5 21.Nd3 e5 22.Ndxe5 Qe3+ 23.Kg2 g4 24.Re1 Qc3 25.Qxd4 gxf3+ 26.Nxf3 Qxd4 27.Nxd4 b4 28.Bf3 Nb6 29.Nc6 a5 30.Ne7+ Kh8 31.Nxd5 Nxd5 32.Bxd5 Ra7 33.Re5 Rd8 34.Rae1 Rxd5 35.Rxd5 Bb7 36.Re8+ Kg7 37.Re7+ Kf6 38.Rxb7 Rxb7 39.Rxa5 b3 40.axb3 Rxb3 41.g4 Kg6 42.Ra6+ Kg7 43.g5 Kf7 44.h4 Kg7 45.h5 Kf7 46.Ra7+ Kg8 47.h6 0-1 Abdullaeva,U-Stangl,A/Sofia 1994/TD (47)] 16.Be2 Nb6 17.0-0 [ 17.Rc1 is stronger. 17...Qa3 18.0-0 Nc4 ( Of course, the a-pawn is taboo. 18...Qxa2?? 19.Ra1) 19.Qb3!+/- Threatening Nxc4, simplifying the position and if ...Qxb3, Nxb3 wins the d4 pawn.] 17...Nc4 18.Nb3! Diagram Now the play is quite forcing.18...Ne3! Forking queen and rook. Both licenser and I are playing sharply. A mistake in this position would give the opponent an advantage. [ 18...-- Threatening 19.Rc1 ] 19.Qc1 Qxc1? Lets me off the hook. Now my rook can escape. [ Better for Black is 19...Nxf1 20.Qxf1 Qc7=] 20.Rfxc1 Nc4 21.Nxd4 Bb7 22.Nxb5 [ 22.Nc5! is even better. White's knights dominate the Black bishop. 22...Bc8 23.Nxb5+-] 22...Bc6 23.Nd6 Nxd6 24.exd6 Bb5 25.Bf1 Rfd8 26.Ne5 Bxf1 27.Kxf1 Rxd6 28.Rc7! Diagram Putting a rook on the seventh rank is an incredible advantage. From here, the rook attacks all of the pawns still sitting there as well as restricting the king to the first rank. Rooks on the seventh rank are often referred to as "Pigs" or "Hogs." 28...f6 Kicking the knight from its post. I actually saw this coming. Notice how weak the 7th rank looks now. 29.Nf3 a6 30.Rac1 My intention here is Rc8+ and after ...Rxc8, Rxc8+. However, I should have considered a plan which is "twice" as good as a rook on the seventh. [ 30.Rb1! Threatens to put two rooks on the seventh! and there's not much Black can do about it. 30...h5 31.Rbb7! and Black's going to lose a lot of material or get checkmated.] 30...Kf8 Trying the get the king into the action. 31.Rb7! Finally I caught onto the proper plan. Note how helpless the Black rooks are. 31...Re8 Black looks for counterplay in the center. 32.Rcc7! Diagram The two rooks are quite imposing. They will not gobble up all pawns on this rank as well as trying to stir up a mating attack.32...e5 Trying to stir up some counterplay and use Black's only good aspect in this position, his central pawns. 33.Rf7+ Precise. Much better than Rxg7 right away because it comes with tempo. 33...Kg8 34.Rxg7+ Kh8 35.Rxh7+ Kg8 36.fxe5 I was not looking for a checkmate because usually, there would be not mate in this position with two rooks. However, I forgot about my knight! A lesson to take all of your pieces into account. I could have gone in for the kill, but at this shorter time control, the key was that I had a winning position, so my plans were to stifle counter play by simplifying the position. Although we want to find the best move, when you are winning, try to find moves which retain your advantage, even if they are not objectively the best. [ 36.Rbg7+ and I could have finished it off right there. 36...Kf8 37.Nh4 Getting my last piece into the action. Study games of the great attackers such as Morphy and you will find that they get all of their pieces into the attack. 37...Re7 38.Ng6+ Ke8 39.Rxe7+ Kd8 40.Rh8#] 36...fxe5 37.Rhe7 Again working to simplify the position. 37...Rxe7 38.Rxe7 e4 39.Nd4 Kf8 40.Re6 Diagram Black resigns as White looks to simplify into a winning endgame. Although White gains an advantage in the early middlegame, you can see the strength of the rooks on the 7th rank. 1-0
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An excerpt from this game is featured in my instructional article, Hogs on the 7th!
