Hello everybody, I would like to see this game that I played were we got to a closed middlegame, were my only advantage were white squares. I would like if you comment what you think about the game and the middlegame technique, you see anything I could do better? I appreciate your comment :)
Well I didn't analyze anything but that white square bishop looked miserable most part of the game. I would have tried to liberate or exchange it as soon as I could.
@kifaru nice idea, but i wanted to stay with it for the manuever Bd7 Be8 Bh5 and Bg3, with it the light squares are just too weak.
Thanks for sharing your idea equally :)
Thanks for sharing your idea equally :)
I agree, Bd7 Be8 Bh5 is a nice liberating maneuver supporting the attack.
Bad bishop becoming very very good indeed
Bad bishop becoming very very good indeed
A few strange moves occur at the very start of the game. After White's passive 2.Nc3, Black should play 2...d5 that prevents 3.e4 and obtains a Richter-Veresov (3.Bg5) or a Barry Attack (Nf3 and Bf4 in any order). After 2...e6 3.Nf3, Black has a second chance to play d5 before e4 (3.e4 d5 transposes to a classical French), but 3...b6 4.e4 should give White a good version of the French, by steering the game towards a system where b6 is out of place, e.g. 4.e4 Bb4 5.Bd3 Bb7 6.Qe2 d5 7.exd5 Qxd5 8.0-0 Bxc3 9.bxc3 (Komodo's recommended line for both sides after 3...b6).
Instead of the e4 push, White plays passively and ends up worse at the end of the opening, all the more if he helps Black's development with 11.bxa6? instead of 11.a4 c6 12.bxc6 Bxc6. Black's bishop is more active on a6 than on b7 contemplating his own pawn on d5.
Black closes his own bishop's diagonal with 16...c4? instead of the thematic 16...Ne4, which could even be played earlier (e.g. instead of Re8, not urgent). White would stand at least equal at that stage if he had played 17.Ne5, because the potential of the e4-push has been increased. With 17.Bc3 Ne4 18.Qb2, he is justifying Black's play. After 18...Nxc3 19.Qxc3 Bb7, White has no plan, while Black will play f5, Nf6, Bc6 and slowly invade the queenside.
Black doesn't follow that path and swaps his knights and dark square bishop for White's bishop and a knight. If White plays 24.Nc3, then he has counterplay against Black's b-pawn and Black is committed to a middlegame strategy (because the knight vs bad bishop endgame would be favourable for White). This balances Black's space advantage materialized by the weaknesses on the f-file, especially the pawn on f2.
25...Rf3?! is a good idea in itself, loading Alekhine's canon with Raf8-f6 and Qf7, but it is not going to be feasible given White's play against the pawn on b6. White misses the opportunity to create a passed pawn with 28.a5 (followed by a6) or 29.a5 (idem). Offering the exchange of queens with 29.Qa3 is a sad alternative because Black is the only one who can win after 29...Qxa3 30.Rxa3 Ra8!, ready to play Bd7-Rb8 to attack and Ra6 to defend. White's kingside will remain weak, so Black can safely torture White for many moves. According to Komodo, White's best defense is 31.Rb2 Ra6 32.a5! bxa5 33.Rba2 Bd7 34.Rxa5 Rxa5 35.Rxa5 Rb8 36.Ra1 Kf7 37.g4 Rb3 38.Rc1 e5 39.f3! (a tactical finesse) Kf6 40.Kf2 g5 41.Kg3 and at last it looks like a draw.
Black doesn't want to trade the queens and after 36.Nc2, the game would end up in a drawn position where neither side can do much. Stockfish does not blame 36.Rb1?! and maybe the real culprit is 37.Qe5?! that abandons the queenside with no prospect whatsoever against Black's king. Black's "bad bishop protects the good pawn" on e6 and the dark squares are held by the rook and the king himself. Maybe after 37.Qb4, Black doesn't make much progress. But the combination of 36.Rb1 and 37.Qe5 is definitely preparing the decisive blunder that is coming.
Of course, White does not need to loose immediately with 40.Rcb1?? as in the game, but the best defense 40.Rbc2 Bd7 is a hard task, in both lines recommended by the engines :
(1) 41.Qd6 Ra6 42.Qb4 Rb6 43.Qc5 Qa6 44.Re2 Rb5 45.Qc7 Rf7 46.Nc2 Qa2 47.Rf1! (to play f4 after Rb3) and Black does not appear to make further progress.
(2) 41.Rxa1 Qxa1 42.Kf1 Kh7 43.Qd6 Rf7 44.h3! (Komodo) is perhaps simpler, where Black's e5 push (threatening Bh3+) would now be answered by g4 with advantage. There is not much Black can do if e5 doesn't work : White's queen can patrol b4 and e5 from d6, the kingside is safe too.
Maybe I was a bit harsh with 36.Rb1 and 37.Qe5, since 40.Rbc2 seems to hold, but it is pointless to make one's own defense more difficult than it is already. Black's play, on the other hand, could be different but not really better in the middlegame. Making White's defense more difficult with 29...Qxa3 or with an alternative 25th move is possible, but a draw is still the likely outcome if White defends well. I can suggest two improvements in the opening (2...d5) and the early middlegame (16...Ne4), but not later.
I was quite an instructive game. The positive value of the bad bishop combined with heavy pieces was certainly surprising. It serves a defensive purpose and therefore frees the queen and a rook to do something else.
Instead of the e4 push, White plays passively and ends up worse at the end of the opening, all the more if he helps Black's development with 11.bxa6? instead of 11.a4 c6 12.bxc6 Bxc6. Black's bishop is more active on a6 than on b7 contemplating his own pawn on d5.
Black closes his own bishop's diagonal with 16...c4? instead of the thematic 16...Ne4, which could even be played earlier (e.g. instead of Re8, not urgent). White would stand at least equal at that stage if he had played 17.Ne5, because the potential of the e4-push has been increased. With 17.Bc3 Ne4 18.Qb2, he is justifying Black's play. After 18...Nxc3 19.Qxc3 Bb7, White has no plan, while Black will play f5, Nf6, Bc6 and slowly invade the queenside.
Black doesn't follow that path and swaps his knights and dark square bishop for White's bishop and a knight. If White plays 24.Nc3, then he has counterplay against Black's b-pawn and Black is committed to a middlegame strategy (because the knight vs bad bishop endgame would be favourable for White). This balances Black's space advantage materialized by the weaknesses on the f-file, especially the pawn on f2.
25...Rf3?! is a good idea in itself, loading Alekhine's canon with Raf8-f6 and Qf7, but it is not going to be feasible given White's play against the pawn on b6. White misses the opportunity to create a passed pawn with 28.a5 (followed by a6) or 29.a5 (idem). Offering the exchange of queens with 29.Qa3 is a sad alternative because Black is the only one who can win after 29...Qxa3 30.Rxa3 Ra8!, ready to play Bd7-Rb8 to attack and Ra6 to defend. White's kingside will remain weak, so Black can safely torture White for many moves. According to Komodo, White's best defense is 31.Rb2 Ra6 32.a5! bxa5 33.Rba2 Bd7 34.Rxa5 Rxa5 35.Rxa5 Rb8 36.Ra1 Kf7 37.g4 Rb3 38.Rc1 e5 39.f3! (a tactical finesse) Kf6 40.Kf2 g5 41.Kg3 and at last it looks like a draw.
Black doesn't want to trade the queens and after 36.Nc2, the game would end up in a drawn position where neither side can do much. Stockfish does not blame 36.Rb1?! and maybe the real culprit is 37.Qe5?! that abandons the queenside with no prospect whatsoever against Black's king. Black's "bad bishop protects the good pawn" on e6 and the dark squares are held by the rook and the king himself. Maybe after 37.Qb4, Black doesn't make much progress. But the combination of 36.Rb1 and 37.Qe5 is definitely preparing the decisive blunder that is coming.
Of course, White does not need to loose immediately with 40.Rcb1?? as in the game, but the best defense 40.Rbc2 Bd7 is a hard task, in both lines recommended by the engines :
(1) 41.Qd6 Ra6 42.Qb4 Rb6 43.Qc5 Qa6 44.Re2 Rb5 45.Qc7 Rf7 46.Nc2 Qa2 47.Rf1! (to play f4 after Rb3) and Black does not appear to make further progress.
(2) 41.Rxa1 Qxa1 42.Kf1 Kh7 43.Qd6 Rf7 44.h3! (Komodo) is perhaps simpler, where Black's e5 push (threatening Bh3+) would now be answered by g4 with advantage. There is not much Black can do if e5 doesn't work : White's queen can patrol b4 and e5 from d6, the kingside is safe too.
Maybe I was a bit harsh with 36.Rb1 and 37.Qe5, since 40.Rbc2 seems to hold, but it is pointless to make one's own defense more difficult than it is already. Black's play, on the other hand, could be different but not really better in the middlegame. Making White's defense more difficult with 29...Qxa3 or with an alternative 25th move is possible, but a draw is still the likely outcome if White defends well. I can suggest two improvements in the opening (2...d5) and the early middlegame (16...Ne4), but not later.
I was quite an instructive game. The positive value of the bad bishop combined with heavy pieces was certainly surprising. It serves a defensive purpose and therefore frees the queen and a rook to do something else.
@A-Cielbleu Thanks for analyzing and commenting the game :)
Also about move 16 c4? that stockfish says it's an inaccuracy, it can be because of it blocks the diagonal bad my plan was threaten the bishop in some cases with c3 after taking that knight, and laso pplay Ne4 f5, and take with the f pawn creating me an open file, and the whole game inicciative because of my attack on the f file and white squares weaknesses.
Well i didn't saw white's opportunity to get some advantage with 28. a5.
I appreciate your comment :)
Also about move 16 c4? that stockfish says it's an inaccuracy, it can be because of it blocks the diagonal bad my plan was threaten the bishop in some cases with c3 after taking that knight, and laso pplay Ne4 f5, and take with the f pawn creating me an open file, and the whole game inicciative because of my attack on the f file and white squares weaknesses.
Well i didn't saw white's opportunity to get some advantage with 28. a5.
I appreciate your comment :)
16...c4 is anti-positional as it relieves the tension on central pawn d4 and just leaves d4 to white. As long as the tension d4 c5 exists, black has the option to play ...cxd4 with play along the c-file. The centralising 16...Ne4 was stronger.
24 c3 was wrong of course: better Nc3 te redeploy the knight, play agains the weak b6 and underscore the badness of the black bishop.
24 c3 was wrong of course: better Nc3 te redeploy the knight, play agains the weak b6 and underscore the badness of the black bishop.
@tpr I know it seems anti positional, and possible Ne4 was much better, but also we need to say computers many times don't get some plans, maybe Ne4 was a better plan, i think it was, but like in King's Indian Defense it says white is winning just in opening.
I need to say we need to look the position as humans and not as computers with perfect moves and perfects plans, equally thanks for commenting :)
I need to say we need to look the position as humans and not as computers with perfect moves and perfects plans, equally thanks for commenting :)
Carlsen also considered King's Indian Defence as won for white, commenting on Nakamura not daring to play it against him.
Humanly speaking ...c4 is almost always anti-positional. As long as the black pawn is on c5 it contests the central square d4. Releasing the tension is almost always inaccurate as it yields the central square d4 to white. An exception is when white pawn c4 and black pawn e6 have been exchanged by cxd5 exd5. Then the push ...c4 creates a queen's side pawn majority: a6-b5-c4 versus a2 b2.
Humanly speaking ...c4 is almost always anti-positional. As long as the black pawn is on c5 it contests the central square d4. Releasing the tension is almost always inaccurate as it yields the central square d4 to white. An exception is when white pawn c4 and black pawn e6 have been exchanged by cxd5 exd5. Then the push ...c4 creates a queen's side pawn majority: a6-b5-c4 versus a2 b2.
It is more important a plan than general rules imo, there is also an exception to the rule, my plan wasn't playing positional, i wanted a strong attack in the open f file. If i play positional I am not as good as attacking, I am really not good as positional player, so I prefered a plan I could make possible :)
Also Magnus did said that? If he did, well i can't question him but I think at computer level it may winning. Stockfish is like 3400 elo and magnus 2800 (that is a lot)
Also Magnus did said that? If he did, well i can't question him but I think at computer level it may winning. Stockfish is like 3400 elo and magnus 2800 (that is a lot)
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