[Event "LTU-ch"] [Site "Vilnius"] [Date "2019.03.18"] [Round "6"] [White "Zickus, Simonas"] [Black "Vardanyan, Aras"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2330"] [BlackElo "1916"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "A15"] [Opening "English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, King's Knight Variation"] [StudyName "Zickus - Vardanyan"] [ChapterName "Zickus, Simonas - Vardanyan, Aras"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/BKSTFykj/OTpaTzwG"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/benkonian"] [Orientation "black"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 { At the time I believe I was mainly playing the Benko and Benoni with black. Not the best openings out there, but they were giving decent results at my level. Problems arose when I was playing stronger players who are well prepared or who are smart enough to avoid them with Nf3/c4, after which I was comparatively clueless. This was one of the first important lessons I learned - d4 and e4 are not the only moves you have to take seriously. } 2... c5 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Nc6 { I was usually getting this kind of position, which objectively is rather sad for black because of the lack of space, but my low rated opponents would often have trouble keeping the space } 8. Nc2 { a logical move, keeping pieces since black has less space } 8... d6 9. Nc3 Bd7 { I didn't really know how to proceed. Now I know that black is risking quite a lot by playing this system. Longterm he will be worse, so he should look for forcing and dynamic continuations. At the time I didn't understand that this structure in itself was dubious for black } (9... Be6! 10. b3 Qd7 { [%cal Be6h3] } 11. Bb2 Bh3 { trying to get rid of some pieces since we have less space } 12. f3 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 e6 { black should either aim for d5 or b5. This is the most important rule of this structure for black } 14. e4 a6 15. Rf2 b5 { sacrificing the b5 pawn is also a very typical idea, which I only learned later. Black should have enough play }) 10. Bd2 Rc8 { one abstract move after another and black ends up in big trouble positionally, since white gets time to consolidate his space advantage } 11. Ne3 a6 12. Rc1 Re8 { a move that shows black's lack of ideas. } (12... e6 { I used to think this move is unplayble in such positions as it weakens the d6 pawn, but on the other hand, it's not as easy to attack and the d5 square is taken away from white's pieces. Also, on a good day d5 may happen } 13. b3) (12... Na5 13. b3 b5 14. Ncd5 { black doesn't get much play on the c4 pawn after all }) (12... h5 { a typical idea, but at the time I was completely clueless in regard to it. Granted, such moves have become a lot more popular due to alpha zero, which only came a bit later. The basic idea is to put the pawn on h3. Otherwise, if white plays h4, the g4 square is more accesible to black than the g5 square is for white. }) 13. b3 Be6 14. Ncd5 Bxd5 15. cxd5 Ne5 16. Rxc8 Qxc8 17. Qb1 Qd7 { the position is not terrible according to the engines, but in reality it's very sad for black. He has no space apart from the e5 square, on which the knight doesn't really do much. Usually, white will occupy the c file and play on the queenside without having to think much of black's counterplay. Also, white has the bishop pair, which doesn't look too scary at the moment, but the light squared bishop will turn out to be a great piece, which I underestimated going into this structure } 18. a4 { White knows what to do - gain space on the queenside, fix the pawns on light squares } (18. Re1) 18... b5?! { trying to at least take away the c4 square from the white knight. It's hard to suggest anything very good } 19. a5 Rc8 20. h3 (20. Nc2 { is better. I had also not realised that I weakened the c6 square } { [%cal Bc2d4,Bc2b4] }) 20... Qb7 21. Rd1 Ned7 22. h4 Nc5 23. Rc1 Ncd7 24. Rc6 Ne5 25. Rc2 Rc5 26. Qc1 Qc7 27. Bb4 Rxc2 28. Qxc2 Qxc2 29. Nxc2 { black has managed to get rid of the pressure on the c file, but the position is still quite unpleasant due to the a6 weakness. Black should hold with good defence, but I didn't manage } 29... Ned7 30. Be1 Nc5 31. b4 Ncd7 32. Nd4 Nxd5?? { this tactic doesn't realy work since at the end white is left with a passed a pawn which will not be stopped } (32... Kf8 { black should stay quiet, but white has many ways to improve the position like e4, kf1-kd3 and eventually Bh3 as well. Such positions are very tough to play with black }) 33. Nxb5 Nxb4 34. Bxb4 axb5 35. e3 Nb8 36. Bb7 d5 37. a6 Nxa6 38. Bxa6 e5 39. Bxb5 h6 40. Kf1 d4 41. exd4 exd4 42. Ke2 Be5 43. Kd3 f5 44. Bc5 f4 45. Bc4+ Kh7 46. Bxd4 Bc7 47. g4 Bd8 48. h5 g5 49. Bf7 Be7 50. Bg6+ Kg8 51. f3 Bd6 52. Ke4 Be7 53. Kf5 Bf8 54. Ke6 Bb4 55. Be4 Be7 56. Bh7+ { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0