Let's Take A Look

Lets Take A
Look...
Nigel Davies


by Bruce Alberston
We invite you to submit games to be considered by Nigel in this column. For
all games submitted, please provide the following information: (1) Names of
both players; (2) Ratings of both players; (3) When and where the game was
played; (4) The time control used in the game; and (5) Any other information
you think would be helpful for us to know. Please submit the games (in PGN
or CBV format if possible) to: nigeldavies@chesscafe.com. Who knows,
perhaps you will see the game in an upcoming column, as Nigel says to you,
Lets take a look...
Applying What We Know
In these days of computer databases we have literally millions of games
available at the touch of a button. But is this a good or bad thing? Certainly
its been a great leveller as far as information access is concerned; at one time
we had to photocopy bulletins of the Soviet Championship or subscribe to
Russian chess magazines. But handling this information brings its own
problems, and this month I give my recommendations about how one should
do it.
What really matters is not the amount that we know but the ability to apply
any knowledge that we have. And this comes not from having zillions of
games float in front of our eyes but on moving the pieces around on a the
board and putting our brains in gear. Chessbase should have a feature which
enables the right hand arrow button and autoplay to be disabled, plus
admonitions if the user is availing himself of these too much. The temptation
to use these functions to play through 100 games per hour is too great for
many of us and absolutely fatal as far as brain usage is concerned.
Whenever Ive tried to study something I find some games I want to look at,
print them out and then go through them with a chess set. Wooden pieces with
felts and weights are better because they make the experience more vivid and
therefore memorable. As I play through the games I write down the variations
that come up. When Im done I put them into a computer program for
checking. The machine then shows me all the mates in two Ive missed and I
go down to the pub to anaesthetise my wounded ego. But by the time Im over
the hangover I realise I might actually have learned something.
The next step is to start using the new toy in practice, and Internet games are
great for this. Gradually you start to get a feel for how the position works
plus various dos and donts. When the time comes to use the line in rated
games youre ready to hit the ground running.
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Let's Take A Look
Is there any particular method of selecting games to study? Well first of all
its good to be aware that theres loads of trash in these databases, and the
bigger the database the higher the trash content. At the risk of sounding
politically incorrect its good to ignore games by women and children unless
theyre over 2400. Men have to be a lot stronger to get their games into
databases, but here too a 2400 cut-off isnt a bad idea. There are some great
games by players rated lower than that but finding them is like looking for a
needle in a haystack.
Correspondence games can be great, especially if one of the players is called
Mikhail Umansky and its a Catalan. They can also shed considerable light on
sharp forcing lines in which tactics predominate. But Id warn against relying
on correspondence chess in quieter openings; few correspondence players
have the positional understanding of an over-the-board 2400, and their moves
often betray the fact.
And that reminds me: One should never, ever, study games played by
computers. The relentless machine will zap us with tactics until the cows
come home, but many of their moves are decided by primitive heuristics (like
put your rooks on d1 and e1) which hardly get to the heart of a position.
Is there a particular number of games one should study? Probably a maximum
of 6 per variation is a good way to start, and one good way to select them is to
take the games of a particular player (human, male, above 2400 and over 18)
who plays the line and look. Looking at them in chronological order can be a
good way of tracing the players thought processes and you should make an
especially careful note of when he diverges from one of his earlier games. It
means hes probably changed his mind about something or reached a higher
level of understanding.
Well having upset women, children, correspondence players and Fritz, lets
take a look at this months game. Actually its a perfect illustration of the
importance of correctly applying knowledge; Blacks non-theoretical third
move requires a knowledge of a similar type of position (from a different
opening), plus the ability to make use of the differences. This is rather more
complex and difficult than memorising a series of moves, but then thats what
chess is all about.
Nikiforos,G (1665) - Lyrakis,D (1700)
Greek Team Championship, Iraklio 2005
French Defence [C02]
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4
No doubt expecting an Open Sicilian. Blacks reply must have come as quite
a surprise.
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Let's Take A Look
3d5?!
In the style of Frank Marshall who played
a similar line early last century. But this
must be worse than the very similar
Tarrasch Variation of the French (1 e4 e6
2 d4 d5 3 Nd2 c5 4 exd5 exd5 5 Ngf3)
because White hasnt committed his
knight to d2. This means that he might put
it on c3 to pressurise Blacks d5-pawn and
his queens bishop is free to come out, say
to g5.
This sort of reasoning isnt a matter of
knowing theory as such, indeed I doubt that anyone has studied Blacks last
move and learned the correct reply by rote. Its more a knowledge of typical
patterns and scenarios and then drawing comparisons with the situation under
review. And all the comparisons are favourable.
As an exercise it might be interesting for the reader to work out what hed do
against other non-theoretical moves like 3a6, 3Nf6 and 3Qc7. White
can gain an advantage against all these moves, but he needs a knowledge of
positions that goes beyond Open Sicilians.
4 e5
And this in turn is an odd response, transposing into an usual line of the
Advance French (normally reached via 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 c5 4 Nf3). White
should play 4 exd5 exd5 5 Bb5+Nc6 6 0-0, when in addition to having an
isolated d-pawn Black still has to get his king safe.
4...cxd4
A lot of French players like to delay this move with 4Nc6, preventing
White from recapturing on d4 with his queen. But I suspect that Black was
making it up as he was going along, and not doing a bad job in fact.
5 Nxd4
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Let's Take A Look
Thrown on his own resources White is
struggling to find the right moves. Instead
of this White has two playable lines:
a) 5 Bd3 is an old gambit line which still
sees the light of day at GM level from
time to time. In his excellent book
Advance and Other Anti-French
Variations, Lev Psakhis recommends
5...Nc6 6 0-0 Nge7 7 Bf4 Ng6 8 Bg3 Qb6
as his main line, giving 9 Nbd2 Nb4 (Safer
than 9...Qxb2 10 Nb3 Be7 11 h4 0-0 12 h5
Nh8 13 Bf4 Qa3 14 h6 which gave White compensation for his pawns in
Bator - Bareev, Rilton Cup 1987, though its far from clear that it is adequate)
10 Nb3 Nxd3 11 Qxd3 Bd7 12 Nfxd4 Be7 13 f4 0-0 14 Kh1 Kh8 which was
about equal in Seul - Mikhail Gurevich, Bad Godesberg 1996.
b) 5 Qxd4 is an old line of Nimzovitch which sees the light of day now and
again. Against this Psakhis gives 5...Nc6 6 Qf4 (6 Bb5 Bd7 7 Bxc6 bxc6 8 0-0
Ne7 9 Nbd2 Nf5 10 Qf4 Be7 was very comfortable for Black in Motwani -
Luther, Copenhagen 1991) 6...Nge7 when 7 Bd3 Ng6 virtually forces White
to give up his dangerous light-square bishop with 8 Bxg6 (8 Qg3 Qc7 9 0-0
Ngxe5 wins a pawn for inadequate compensation).
5...Nc6 6 f4?!
This looks natural, but Whites position is becoming very exposed. It might
have been as well to play 6 Nxc6 bxc6 7 Bd3, but Black is very comfortable
there because of his mobile d- and c-pawns.
6...Qb6
Starting to apply pressure against the knight on d4. It turns out that White is
unable to keep it there.
7 c3 Bc5
Continuing to hammer away at d4.
8 Nb3
Allowing his king to be mauled with the check on f2. White should maintain
his knight on d4 with 8 Bb5, though this is far from promising after 8...Nge7 9
Na3 0-0, renewing the threat against d4 and virtually forcing 10 Bxc6, giving
up his vital light-squared bishop.
8...Bf2+9 Ke2 f6!
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Let's Take A Look
Excellent. With Whites king in the center
Black rightly tries to smash the position
wide open.
10 exf6 Nxf6 11 Qd3 e5!
The right move at the right time. Black
makes room for his queens bishop to
come out.
12 Be3
White desperately tries to get some pieces exchanged, but Blacks pieces are
flooding into the attack. 12 Kd1 doesnt help much after 12...Bg4+13 Be2 e4
14 Qc2 Bf5, when Whites king faces a central tsunami.
12...Bxe3 13 Qxe3 Bg4+14 Kd3 Bf5+15 Ke2 Bg4+
Rather than repeat the position Black could have played 15...d4 16 cxd4 Ng4
when 17 Qc3 Nxd4+18 Nxd4 exd4 followed by 19...0-0 is going to win very
quickly for Black. Not that he spoils anything with his choice in the game.
16 Kd3 e4+17 Kd2 d4!
Smashing open the d-file after which
Whites king will have nowhere to hide.
18 cxd4 Nxd4
The spectacular choice, but 18...0-0-0 was
also good.
19 Nc3??
Under mammoth pressure White drops his
queen. The best chance was 19 Na3, but
after 19...Nxb3+20 Qxb3 Qf2+21 Kc1 Qxf4+it would be pretty bad in any
case.
19...Nxb3+20 axb3 Rd8+0-1
When White moves his king hell drop his queen.
Recommended Reading
Advance and Other Anti-French Variations by Lev Psakhis (Batsford 2004)
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Let's Take A Look
Copyright 2005 Nigel Davies. All rights reserved.

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