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                 IECC CHESS BITS & PIECES

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       Published by the International Email Chess Club
      Devoted solely to free E-Mail Correspondence Chess
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Volume 4, Issue 25                         October 15, 1997
Editor:   Lisa Powell
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Phil Hildenbrandt  TD IECC Pyramid

        Five Centers And Their Plans.

We have all heard that a plan is a necessary part of
a chess game. Many of us, certainly me, have trouble
formulating a proper plan.

One of the easiest "pointers" is the central pawn formation.
From a correct understanding of the center we can then
develop a proper, hopefully winning, plan.

There are five different central formations we must
consider, each has its own unique plans associated
with the particular formation.

First we must consider the closed center such as we find in
some variations of the Ruy Lopez, Nimzo-Indian and King's
Indian. What must be present in a closed center are:

    1 - Pawns can't easily advance.
    2 - There are no open lines.
    3 - Pieces can't occupy central squares.

With a center of this type there are two plans, one for the
defender and another for the attacker. The Defender's plan
consists of setting up barriers to the attacker, hoping to
slow him down before his attack crashes through. Perhaps the
barriers will slow the attack enough so the defender can
break through on the opposite side of the board. Also,
always look for a chance to strike back in the center.

The attacker's plan is to pressurize on the wing where
his/her advantage lies. Most of the time the attack takes
the form of a huge pawn advance.

Looking for an example in my database I came across the game
Kotov - Spassky Riga 1958.

    a b c d e f g h
  +-----------------+
8 | r n b q n r k = |
7 | = p = - = p b p |
6 | p = - p - = p = |
5 | = - p P p - = - |
4 | - = P = P = P P |
3 | = - N - B P = - |
2 | P P - = - = - P |
1 | R - = Q K B N R |
  +-----------------+

{From this Kings Indian, Kotov continued}

1.Bd3

{Spassky looking to open lines countered}

1...b5

{Sticking to his plan of a pawn advance, Kotov shuns a
material advantage and keeps lines closed.}

2.Qd2 bxc4 3.Bxc4

{A minor inaccuracy, 3.Bc2 would have eliminated Spassky's
queenside play. Now he gets to draw first blood (yup,
chess is a bloodsport!) with a central thrust.}

3...Nd7 4.h5 Nb6 5.Bd3 a5 6.hxg6 fxg6 7.Qh2 Nf6 8.Nh3 Qe7
9.Ne2

{White is underestimating the power of Black's "lurking"
bishop and his "inactive" pieces. A much safer alternative
was 9.Kd2 followed by 10.Rag1.}

9...Rb8 10.Ng3 c4 11.c2 Nbxd5!

{A Knight sacrifice that opens the center and gives Black
a huge initiative and a decisive advantage.}

12.exd5 Rxb2 13.Ng5

{Now Spassky could end all Kotov's hope with 13...e4.}

13...h6?

{A World class blunder, handing the initiative and
advantage back. White went on to win the game, but it
serves as an example that following the proper plan,
in this case Black's, does lead to won games.
Unfortunately, won positions can be ruined by horrible
blunders like 13...h6. White then seized his golden
opportunity and played the fine chess that he is
capable of.}
------------------

Now we will look at the open center. Tactical possibilities
abound so a proper plan is extremely important to follow.

There is really no need to define an open center. Suffice to
say that there are no pawns in the center. Hence the pieces
assume a greater role and often fight in very close quarters.

Again there are two plans arising from an open center. Since
I love to attack, let's look at an attacking plan first.

The attacker's plan is simply to provoke enemy weaknesses
and then ruthlessly attack and then destroy them
(Yes, I'm really Ruthless -- my ex-wife is named Ruth).

The defender's plan is to repel the attack and to try not to
create any weaknesses. He must make some concessions to the
attacker, but hopefully the weaknesses will not give the
opponent too large an advantage. Always, the defender is on
the lookout for a chance to counter, possibly blunting the
attack and preferably swinging the attack in his favor.

An example of a classic plan with an open center is the game
Alekhine - Lasker Zurich 1934. As a matter of fact, the idea
for this article came to me after I studied the finish of
this artistic game.

    a b c d e f g h
  +-----------------+
8 | r = - = - r k = |
7 | p p = - = p p p |
6 | - q p = - n - = |
5 | = - = - n N = - |
4 | - = - = - = - = |
3 | = B = - P - = - |
2 | P P - = - P P P |
1 | = - R Q = R K - |
  +-----------------+

{In positions of this type, the player that is forced to
play defensively is generally the one who loses. The
position seems to be balanced, material is equal along with
space. White does have an advantage based on his more active
pieces. White can start an attack on Black's King immediately
while Black must regroup first. That's all the advantage
Alexander-The-Great needed.}

1.Qd6 Ned7 2.Rfd1 Rad8 3.Qg3 g6

{Weakness number one provoked, now White provokes a second.}

4.Qg5 Kh8 5.Nd6 Kg7 6.e4! Ng8

{Talk about making concessions!}

7.Rd3 f6

{Lasker allows Alekhine to end it all with a fantastic
finish.}

8.Nf5+ Kh8 9.Qxg6!! 1-0

{A great example of play with an open center.}

-----------------
We will now examine the proper plans to follow when the
center is fluid. A fluid center is one where the pawns are
free to advance, usually freeing up squares for the pieces
to occupy. When there is a fluid center, all attention
should be on the center and ALL plans should be based
on this.

Once again there are two plans for this type of center.

The attacking side (who occupies the center) should strive
to advance his pawns and make one or two passed pawns in
the center. This, however, is not as easy as it seems and
practice shows that the center pawns generally sweep all
opposition away from the center, allowing an advantage to be
obtained elsewhere.

The defending plan is to prevent the advance, when this
happens you can undermine and destroy those pesky pawns.
Generally, you can forget a flank attack as the center
pawns usually prevent this. An example of proper play under
these conditions is from Konstantinopolsky-Kotov Baku 1945.

    a b c d e f g h
  +-----------------+
8 | r = - = r - k - |
7 | p b = - q p p p |
6 | - p p = - n - = |
5 | = - = p = - = - |
4 | - = - P n = - = |
3 | = P N - P - P - |
2 | P B - = - P - P |
1 | R - = Q = R K - |
  +-----------------+

From this position White's plan is to continue with f3 and
e4, back his pawns up with his Bishops and sweep aside all
of Black's resistance.

Black plans to prevent the pawns advancing so the battle
centers (pun intended) around e4.

1.Re1 Bc8 2.f3 Nxc3 3.Bxc3 Bf5 4.Qd2 h5

{Black cunningly stops g4 with a his pawn on h5. He can
also use this offensively by h4 when the time is right.}

5.Re2 Qd7

{Kotov sees that he can't prevent e4 forever so he sets up
to blockade on e6 and d5. Notice that since these are white
squares, Kotov now seeks to rid White of his White Bishop.}

6.Rae1 Bh3 7.Bh1 Re6 8.e4 dxe4 9.fxe4 Rae8 10.Bf3 Bg4
11.Qf4 Bxf3

{First objective reached.}

12.Qxf3 Qe7 13.e5 Nd5

{The pawns are now stopped. Kotov went on to win by
pressuring the pawns and eventually destroying them
(Such cruelty should not be allowed).}

Now we will examine the non-fluid (fixed) center. In centers
of this type, play revolves around (not in) the center.
After centralization of the pieces happens, play then goes
to the wing. It is a bit hard to determine who stands better
in such positions; hence we can't speak of separate plans for
the attacker and defender. The proper plan consists of
maneuvering around the center and trying to plant your pieces
there while attempting to expel those of your opponent.

An example comes from the game Stolberg - Botvinnik Moscow 1940.

    a b c d e f g h
  +-----------------+
8 | r = - = r = k = |
7 | p p = q = p p - |
6 | - = n b b n - p |
5 | = - = p = - = - |
4 | - P - P - P - = |
3 | P Q N B = - = P |
2 | - = - B N = P = |
1 | R - = - = R K - |
  +-----------------+

1...Bf5 2.Qc2 Be4 3.b5

{White is strong at c5 and e5, Black at c4 and e4. Botvinnik
intends to trade light-squared Bishops so that White will
have a hard time defending his weaknesses at e4 and c4.}

3...Bxd3 4.Qxd3 Na5 5.Ng3 Nc4 6.Bc1 Rac8 7.Ra2 Bf8 8.a4 Bb4

{Botvinnik directs all his attention to the objective of
destroying all of White's defenders of e4.}

9.Nd1 Ne4 10.f5 Nxg3 11.Qxg3 Bd6 12.Qf3 Be7 13.Qg3 Bf6
14.Bxh6 Bxd4 15.Kh1 f6

{Botvinnik owns the center. White's resistance is futile.}

16.Bc1 Re4 17.Qd3 Ne5 18.Qb1 Rc4

{Note the use of e4 and c4 as pivot points.}

19.a5 Bc5 20.b6 a6 21.Nb2 Rc3 22.Bd2 Rb3 23.Qc2 Qb5

{Black went on to win and this game gives us a fine example
of play under these central conditions.}
--------------------

Now we can examine our last type of center. My favorite,
the center under tension. If the center has not as yet
been determined, it can easily become any one of the four
types we discussed so far.

With a tense center, the players MUST concentrate on the
center or risk losing to a very quick tactical blow. The
proper plan for each side is to try to stabilize the
center favorably while giving the opponent an unfavorable
pawn formation.

Sometimes your opposition tenaciously defends, and there is
no simple way to clarify the central situation. At this time
a lot of players resort to a wing attack. Frankly, a central
strike at the correct moment will reduce any wing attack to
dust (provided we have central tension).

An example of this can be found in the game
Boleslavsky-Keres Zurich 1953. Here we have my favorite
example of a center under tension becoming a wide open
center with an immediate all out fight between the pieces.

    a b c d e f g h
  +-----------------+
8 | r = b = - r k = |
7 | = - q - b p p p |
6 | p = - p - N - = |
5 | N p p - p - = - |
4 | - = - P P = - = |
3 | = - P - = N = P |
2 | P P B = - P P = |
1 | R N B Q R - K - |
  +-----------------+

A word of advice: don't play me these positions unless you
want to suffer dearly.

1.Nbd2 Rd8 2.Nf1 d5 3.exd5 exd4 4.cxd4 Nxd5 5.Qe2 Bb7
6.Ng3 cxd4 7.Nxd4

{In the space of seven short moves there are no center pawns
and we have a wide open center with all of its inherent
complications.}

7...g6!

{Keres says no Knight allowed on f5.}

8.Bh6 f6 9.Nb3 Nc4 10.Ne4 Bxb2

{Keres gets the advantage as soon as the center opened.
Since we can assume this center favors Keres, Boleslavsky
should have played for a different formation.}

11.Nbc5 Bxa1 12.Rxa1 f5!

{White's resistance is over and Keres wins in a few more
moves.}

The five centers we examined and the different plans
associated with them are all "sketchy". They should only
serve as a hook to guide you in the proper direction.

Hopefully, after reading this article, your Chess will
become more structured as you attempt to use the plans
you read here.

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Roy DeVault
2326  Roy Devault      10- 6- 3  + USA

I am 54, married, with two grown sons. I live in Gulfport,
Mississippi, on the Gulf Coast near New Orleans.

For the past 33 years I've made a living as a computer
programmer/analyst. I have a Bachelor's degree in Math
(1964).

I began chess play in 1958, at age 16. I had a younger
brother who asked me to play against him. He beat me
repeatedly, and I resolved to improve enough to put kid
brother `in his place'.

I began postal play in the Golden Knights (Chess Review)
in late 1960, and have played postal continuously in several
organizations ever since. In the 60's and 70's I was active
in OTB play, but as my family grew, it became clear to me
that postal play fit best into my life.

In the 70's I became active in ICCF play, and currently have
an ICCF rating of 2235 based on 102 games. My current IECC
rating is 2326.

In 1992 I wrote "The Leningrad Dutch", a work I'm very
pleased to have done. In 1994 I co-authored "Play the Dutch
against 1 c4 and 1 Nf3" with ICCF IM Herb Hickman.

Currently, I write a regular column for Tim Harding's new
magazine/Internet publication "Chess Mail".

I served CCLA as games editor for their publication
"The Chess Correspondent" for 5 years.

In the past two years I've been moving all my chess games
to email, and my games are nearly all in IECC or ICCF
these days.

Someday, I hope to have more time to devote to chess. For
now, since I work full-time, it remains a fascinating and
rewarding hobby!

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Michael Dunn      1961   66-24-15    NZL

40 years ago I was born in Auckland, New Zealand, to Western
Samoan immigrants.

In 1992 I married Marianne who is from Denmark (I've always
wanted to say that my wife doesn't understand me!).

We don't have any children, but our pets seem to think that
they are: two horses, blue healer cattle dog, cat, two
chickens and a rooster (who still wakes us up at 3am),
finches and a donkey! Some day we are going to have to buy
a farm to bring all these animals together!

My wife and I have tried white water canoeing but got very
wet and cold, and decided to light a fire inside, but that
only ended in disaster -- which only goes to prove that you
cant have your kayak and heat it!

For the past 10 years I have worked in the signage industry
designing logos and fascias using PC's. The work is either
really flat out busy or snails pace slow -- with no
in-between.

Previous jobs have been varied from furniture removal to
motorcycle courier to working in a freezer! There was also
that stint in the circus with my assistant Annette. I was
shot from the cannon and would land in a net!

Pleasure time pursuits include tramping the native bush
trails of the Waitakere Ranges, which is virtually at our
doorstep; tinkering around with my 1957 Fiat 500 bambina,
motorcycle off road trail riding, amd photography. I'm also
a Film Noir and Hitchcock buff. My wife and I have tried
white water canoeing but got very wet and cold, which only
goes to prove that you cant have your kayak and heat it!

I started playing chess at a relatively late age of 20.
During a long bout of unemployment I decided to teach myself
chess by going to the library and borrowing ECO 4. I didn't
play anyone till 2 years later when a place I was working at
had a few chess nuts there. We organized mini tournaments
during work hours that, for some funny reason, seemed to
disturb management so they banned chess on the premises.

Undeterred, we constructed chessmen out of nuts and bolts
and other various bits'n'pieces that could easily be
disguised as work! Needless to say that it was difficult
to distinguish some pieces from others so a lot of the games
ended with disputes.

I play a bit of postal chess and belong to the NZ
Correspondence Association. I've been with IECC since early
1996 and started off at a 1024 rating. My present rating
has come through a lot of games, hard work and plenty of
luck. (I would like to thank James Smith for those last 100+
points -hope you don't want them back, Jim!).

Just recently I have become involved as a Tutor to New
Members and an Assistant TD in the 2-Game Department and am,
so far, enjoying it immensely.

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Heiner Theofel:   TD IECC Swiss Events
1688   26-20-31  GER

I'm 44, married, 3 children (Jan, 17 [also IECC member],
Nina, 15 and Lisa, 13). We live near Stuttgart, south-west
of Germany. I studied mechanical engineering, and I'm now
working in the field of materials testing/high temperature
behaviour of metallic materials.

Chess I've learned with 6 from my father. Later - with some
breaks - I played OTB as pupil and as student, then for some
years correspondence chess (ICCF, Higher class).

Then in 1985 I `gave up' my chess career and one day I threw
away all my papers when I moved.  The only things remaining
from my 'former chess life' is a newspaper-photo, were I was
sitting at the board in my first tournament (12 years old),
and a newspaper article from my simultaneous win against
GM Pachman, 20 years ago.

The only game score from earlier I found in the journal
FERNSCHACH: Theofel, H. - Jokel, A., 1984,
ICCF,EU-H, French Defence, [C16]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Ne7 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 b6
7.Qg4 Kf8 8.h4 h5 9.Qd1 Nf5 10.Bg5 f6 11.Bf4 fxe5
12.Bxe5 Nc6 13.Nf3 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 Rh6 15.Bd3 c5 16.Bxf5 exf5
17.Qf3 Be6 18.Kd2 Rc8 19.Rh3 Qc7 20.Rc1 Kg8 21.Rg3 Kh7
22.Rg5 g6 23.Qg3 cxd4 24.cxd4 Bf7 25.Nxf7 Qxf7 26.Re1 Qd7
27.Qe5 Qc6 28.Qe7+ Kh8 29.c4! dxc4 30.Re6 c3+ 31.Kc1 Qc7
32.Qxc7 Rxc7 33.Rxf5 Rd7 34.Rf4 Kg7 35.Rfe4 Rh8 36.Kc2 Rf7
37.f3 Rc8 38.d5 Rf5 39.Re7+ Rf7 40.d6 Rc6 41.Rf4 Rxe7
42.dxe7 Re6 43.Re4 Rxe4 44.fxe4 Kf7 45.Kxc3 Kxe7 46.Kc4 Ke6
47.Kb5  1-0

My `2nd chess career' began 4 years ago: my children started
to play in little tournaments from the club in our little
village. Since then I'm coaching the youth section of our
club. Beginning with a few pupils, our weekly sessions have
a good frequentation now.

I found out, that email chess is the best form for my own
games. I enjoy this form of correspondance chess since Fall
1995, when I started in IECG.

Then I joined IECC a little later and tried to help out in
some staff tasks here. Since 9 months I'm TD of the
Swiss tournaments, together with chess friend Raouf.

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Paulo Jorge Martins Pereira  1520  POR
Born: 24 May 1968, Matosinhos, Portugal
Hobbies: Chess, Music, Fishing, Video, Reading, Computers
 and Soccer on TV
Astrological Signs: Gemini. My Chinese symbol is the Monkey

I started playing chess when I was 8 years old. My older
brother taught me to play. Two months later I was already
beating my dad quite regularly. Beating my brother was
much harder -- he used to play at a chess club.

When I was 11 years old I entered my first official chess
tournament (tournament pace of 40 moves in 2 hours).
Results were 9 games, 9 defeats! Maybe it is an excuse
but the rest of the tournament players had already played
in official tournaments for at least five years. The least
experienced contender was my brother, nine years older.

While studying High School I participated in three chess
tournaments. I won two of them and placed second in the
third.

I am strong at playing Blitz chess (5 minutes each player).
On the last District Blitz competition I placed seventh
overall out of a total 60 players. I have participated in
several tournaments with time limitation of 30 minutes per
player. I usually place in the top half among all players.
My chess disasters are simple -- the slower the play, the
worse I play.

I joined IECC in September 1996. I was so desperate to start
playing chess on the Internet that I sent out between 4-7
inscription letters. As a result I ended up with two tutors
(Hank Alme and George Angus). After one year at IECC, I have
become a new member tutor, and play in the Pyramid, Swiss
and Trios.

In addition, I still play friendly games with one of my
tutors (Hi, George Angus) and with two of my students
(Hi Feng Ji and Roger Frebault).

In the IECC I play for pleasure and also to "converse and
get to know" people who, if it were not for chess I would
never meet. So for me the IECC serves also to make new
friends.

I am European so after chess (favorite hobby and sport)
comes soccer. I am a fan of the FC Porto Soccer Club.

Professionally, I work in an office and also make deliveries
of laboratory and cryogenic equipment. I am 29 years old and
single (which hopefully will continue for a few years).

I want to enter university to study Software Engineering.
I am starting to study for the entrance exams to be held
in June 1998.

I want to thank Georges De Schryver who volunteered to
translate my biography from Portuguese to English.

I would also like to send a very special thank you to
Lisa Powell who was my first opponent at IECC and has
beaten me three times.

Finally, I would like to thank all of you for your patience
in having read so far and because all of you are what makes
the IECC better and better every day!!!

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Analysis by Jack Berry
2192    8-4-6      USA

[Event "Swiss 27.3"]
[White "Dean,Wes"]
[Black "Johnson,Chris F"]
[Result "0-1"]

1918  Wes Dean                 48-50-65     USA  -24
1784  Chris F. Johnson         7-2-7        CAN  +24

1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 d5

{As much as I like Black's approach (I'm a center control
freak myself), this looks too optimistic, as White's
next move shows. I prefer the more solid approach of
1...c6,2...d5 for Black, which works against anything.}

4.Bb5 Bd6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3  7.Qxf3 Ne7 8.Nc3 a6
9.Bxc6+ bxc6

{Yep, Black is forced to capture this way (or he'd drop the
d5 pawn).  Although his c6 pawn looks weak, White cannot
easily attack it so he should have a good middle game.
The ending may not be as pleasant b/c the a6 pawn will
need defending too.}

10.O-O-O

{This takes guts. Black has the half-open b-file. I
don't see White's K-side attack progressing.  I'd prefer
castling K-side for White, neutralizing Black's K-side
play & hoping to gain the advantage in the ending.}

10... O-O 11.d3 Qd7 12.h4 f5

{Suddenly, it seems that Black has play everywhere.
Central control will do that.}

13.g4

{This pitches a pawn for dubious compensation.}

13...fxg4 14.Qg2 h5

{That screeching sound you hear is White's attack grinding
to a halt.}

15.e4 d4 16.Ne2 Ng6 17.Ng3 Nf4

{Well played! Black controls all the important squares.}


18.Qf1 g6 19.c3 Nh3

{I prefer 19...Bc5, keeping White bottled up.  But this
move looks good too.}

20.Rd2 Qe7 21.Kb1

{I'd take the d4 pawn here.}

21... Qxh4

{And I'd defend the d4 pawn with 21...Bc5 here}

22.Qc1

{I'd still take the d4 pawn.}

22...c5

{Yay!  Someone besides me values the d4 pawn.}

23.Qc2 Rf3 24.Ka1 Qf6 25.Rc1 Rf8 26.cxd4 exd4

{At last the Black bishop has a life besides defense!}

27.Rb1 Nxf2

{I'd take with the R & force simplification.}

28.Ne2 g3 29.Ng1 Re3 30.b4

{Yeah, this counter-shot would've been minimized had
Black played 27...Rxf2.}

30... cxb4 31.Qc4+ Kh7 32.Bxd4 Be5 33.Bxe5 Qxe5+ 34.d4 Rxe4
35.Qxb4 Qe7

{So White's counter-play doesn't amount to much & the Black
K-side pawns should be decisive.}

36.Qc4 Qd6 37.Qc3 h4 38.Rc1 Kh6

{I'd play either 38...h3 or 38...Rf7}

39.d5 Qe5 40.Rdc2 Qxd5 41.Qxc7 Qe5+

{Good!}

42.Qxe5 Rxe5 43.Rc4 Kh5 44.Rf1 g2

{Just about anything wins here.}

45.Rb1 Nd3 46.Rd4 Rf1 47.Rxd3 Rxb1+ 48.Kxb1 Re1+
49.Kc2 Rxg1 0-1

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Analysis by Dale Whitehead  2301

[Event "Trio 299.2"]
[White "Haika,Guenter"]
[Black "Lewis,Larry"]
[Result "0-1"]
1917  Guenter Haika            7-1-2        AUT  -20
1871  Scott Lewis              2-1-2        USA  +20

{White errs early in the game and drops a pawn. Black siezes
the opportunity, never allowing white the chance to
equalize.}

1.d4 d5 2.e4?! dxe4 3.Bc4 Nc6! 4.f3?

{This move drops a pawn and allows black to improve his
position. Better was c3 or Bb5.}

4...Qxd4 5.Qe2 Na5 6.Bb3 Nxb3 7.axb3

{Black is up two pawns and white has little or no
compensation. At this point, simple development and
exchanges should lead to a win for black.}

7...Nf6 8.Nc3 e5?

{This returns one of the pawns.  8...exf3 should have
been considered. I'm sure black didn't want to allow
9.Nxf3 developing a piece and attacking the queen. But the
queen will have to vacate d4 at some point as white will
attempt to control to file.}

9.Be3 Qd7 10.Nxe4 Nd5 11.Bd2 Be7 12.Rd1 0-0 13.c4 Nb4
14.Bc3 Qe6 15.Ng5

{15.Nh3 would complete development and prepare for
castling. White is fighting hard to survive, but black is
slowly taking control.}

15...Qg6  16.Ne4 f5 17.Ng3 Nc6 18.Qf2 f4 19.Ne4 Bf5
20.Ne2 Bxe4 21.fxe4 Qxe4 22.0-0 Rad8 23.Ra1 b6 24.Qf3 Qg6
25.b4 Rd3  0-1

{White has no hope for survival.
One example: 26.Qf2 f3 27.Ng3 Nxb4 28.Kh1 Bc5 29.Qe1 fxg2+
30.Kxg2 Qc6+ 31.Kh3 Qd7+ 32.Kg2 Rxf1 33.Qxf1 Nc2 34.Qh1}

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Analysis by Phil Hildebrandt

[Event "Pyramid"]
[White "Lewis,Scott"]
[Black "Wall,Bill"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3

{There have been 10 different Black tries in this position.
Most of them just transpose into a few lines that spring
from 5...Nc6, Qc7, Bc5 and Nf6.

Three of theses choices give White a small but lasting
advantage. Nf6 gives Black a solid equality. An interesting
choice here is 5...Ne7}

5...Bc5

{Black has two different ways to respond here: the above
and 5....Nf6, whichever suits your taste.}


6.Nb3 Ba7 7.Qe2 Nc6 8.Be3 Bxe3 9.Qxe3 d6 10.Nc3 Nf6
11.O-O O-O 12.f4 Qc7 13.Rhg1 b5 14.g4 b4 15.g5 Nd7

{ We are following Leonid Yudasin - Alexey Suetin Leipzig
1986 1-0. Oddly enough, 6 years earlier in the same position
against Jon Aranson, Suetin chose 15...Ne8 and won. Perhaps
Black should have tried 15...bxc3!? 16.gxf6 cxb2+
17.Kxb2 g6 18.f5 Qd8 with a slight advantage.}

16.Ne2 a5

{ 16...Bb7 would have given a solid equality. In an equal
position, you should never try to attack, nothing you do can
possibly work. 16...a5 was an unfounded show of agression
that gives White a small advantage.}

17.Nbd4

{In Leonid Yudasin - Alexey Suetin Leipzig 1986, White chose
17.Kb1 and went on to win. Here White chooses a different
path.}

17...Nxd4 18.Nxd4

{White avoids 18.e5 Nxe2+ 19.Qxe2 d5 with a decisive
advantage to Black}

18...Qc5!

{Pinning the Knight. Equality has been restored with this
natural move.}

19.Rg3

{ Perhaps 19.e5 would have been simpler, but 19.Rg3 works

just fine. It also breaks the pin on d4.}

19...a4

{The pawns on a4 and a5 threaten to rip open White's king.
With two open files also, the win should be a matter of
technique.}

20.e5 Bb7

{ Instead of an advantage this move still maintains equality.
I must admit that I would much rather be Black in this
position.}

21.Rh3!

{Maintains equality as long as Black avoids:
21...Rfd8 22.Bxh7+
21...Rfe8 22.Bxh7+
21...dxe5 22.Bxh7+
21...h6 22.gxh6}

21...g6

{The only move.}

22.exd6 a3

{Still equal, but the wind is slowly drifting toward White.
22...Qxd6 should have been played but Black sticks to his
plan of Queenside expansion. A plan should always be
flexible enough to change when the position on the board
calls for it. The Chess goddess Cassia tends to punish those
who flaunt her desires.}

23.Nb3?

{A White inaccuracy. 23.Nb3 hands an advantage to Black.
Cassia must be laughing heartily now. 23.Nb5 or 23.bxa3 had
to be played.}

23...axb2+ 24.Kb1 Qc6

{The Queen trade on e3 should have left Black with the
better game.}

25.Qd4 Rfd8

{25...Nb6 might have been a bit more consistent.}

26.Qxb4

{After this move the advantage shifts to White once more.
Nb6 would have stopped this.}

26...Ra4 27.Qb5

{forcing him to trade queens. Now 27... Rda8 28.Qxc6 Bxc6
29.c4   I wanted to do two things first: create an escape
square for my king but most importantly push the passed pawn
and get it connected with the pawn on d6. Written by
Scott himself and I can't disagree.}

27...Rda8 28.Qxc6 Bxc6 29.c4

{After all the smoke has cleared in this roller-coaster
game, White comes out on top with a winning advantage.}

29...e5 30.fxe5 Rxa2 31.Rd2 Nxe5 32.Rxb2 R2a3 33.Be2 Rb8
34.Rc3 Be4+ 35.Kc1 Nd7 36.c5 Bc6 37.Bd1

{White should go on and win easily unless he commits a few
major blunders.}

37...Rba8

{38. Kd2 was more consistant and simpler. 38.Re2 allows
Black to whittle away at White's advantage.}

38.Re2 f6 39.Re7

{Again 39.Kd2 should be played. If a plan works, stick with
it and win. Don't tempt fate by a fickle whim.}

39...fxg5 40.Bg4 Nf6 41.Be6+

{41.Bf3; 41.Be2 and 41.h3 and White's advantage is next to
nothing.}

41...Kh8

{"I liked driving his king to the h file". Scott explains
his previous moves.}

42.Rf7 Nd5 43.Rh3

{Black has quite a few moves to lose with.}

43...h5

{Only move to hang on but the game is already effectivly
over.}

44.Rg3 Nf4 45.Bc4 R3a4 46.Nd2??

{Huge blunder #'s 1 and 2 combined.}

46...Ra1+

{46...Rxc4+ 47.Nxc4 Bd5 48.Rc7 Ne2+ 49.Kb2 Bxc4 50.d7 Rb8+
51.Ka3 Be6 52.Rd3 Ra8+ 53.Kb2 Rd8 with a passive but
defensible position. White's advantage here would only
consist of his pawns. Black seems to be able to hold his
own here.}

47.Kb2 Rd1 48.Kc2 Ba4+ 49.Bb3 Ra1 50.Re7 Ra2+

{Another chip from White's advantage. Black's tactics are
paying off. White still has a win but it is far from easy
now.}

51.Kc1 Ra1+ 52.Nb1 Bb5 53.Bc2 g4 54.Rb3 Ba4 55.Rb2 Bxc2
56.Kxc2 R1a5 57.Re5 Kg7 58.Nc3 Kf6 59.Re4 Ne6 60.c6 R5a6
61.Nd5+ Kf5 62.Rc4 Ke5

{Black makes the choice to trade the exchange plus a pawn
and get his king in front of the passed c pawn.}

63.Nb6 Kxd6 64.Nxa8 Rxa8 65.Kc3 Ra3+ 66.Kb4 Rd3 67.Rf2 Rf3
68.Rd2+ Kc7 69.Rd7+ Kc8 70.Re4 Nc7 71.Ree7 Rf4+ 1-0

{Black lost here because he stuck with a plan that should
have been discarded by move 20. White stuck with his plan
(more or less) and, although he made a few errors, he held
on to win.}

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If you have won an IECC game against a higher-rated player,
please submit that game to Lisa Powell
<drpowell@uoguelph.ca>
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