Lets Take A Look...

Nigel Davies



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 to us. 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...
Twixt Cup and Lip
Theres many a slip twixt cup and lip.
- Greek proverb
Apparently this comes from a Greek legend when one of the Argonauts returned from his
voyage, went to his winery and summoned a local soothsayer who had predicted before his
voyage that he would die before he tasted another drop of his wine. As he raised a cup
filled with wine to his lips the soothsayer remarked that: Theres many a slip twixt cup
and lip. Suddenly the Argonaut was called away to hunt a wild boar that was approaching
and then died in his attempt to kill it.
This is a most useful proverb for chess players, as many games are lost at the point of
victory. When the game seems to be in the bag, players tend either to relax or get nervous
and start pulling their punches. Their opponents, on the other hand, will often be fighting
like tigers to save the game.
At club level, I see an incredible number of turnarounds because of this and Ive been
painfully aware of it in my own games as well. There was a time, in the mid-1980s, when I
would constantly mess up good or winning positions. For me it was mainly because of
nervousness, and my results improved considerably when I learned to control this with
breathing exercises and to stop hunching over the board. For others it can be that they
relax, thinking that the game is in the bag. Whilst these two states may seem to be
opposites, the result is often the same. A few small errors lead to increased difficulty and
this in turn produces severe psychological stress. Players who turn a winning position into
one with a much smaller advantage often go on to make further mistakes and lose.
How should someone deal with these stresses? What someone should not do is to beat
themselves (or their students) up over disappointing outcomes, as this will tend to increase
the stress and make matters worse. Instead, I suggest that a much softer approach will be
more effective.
Sports psychologists suggest that the most important thing for a competitor to do is to
focus consistently on process goals (good moves) rather than outcome based goals (good
results). This switch of focus towards mastery rather than achievement, sidesteps many of
the stresses connected with particular results and is more likely to lead to superior
performance in the long run.
This concept may be quite difficult for westerners to grasp, because of our focus on
achievement and material things. But in the east, especially in the martial arts, mastery is
seen as an end in itself and a means of personal and spiritual development (plus, at times,
survival). This in turn makes eastern culture a rich source of inspiration to stressed western
chess players.
The following Samurai maxims make an interesting contrast to the desire of western chess
players to get their ratings up. Time to break out the Hagakure and Book of Five Rings:
The angry man will defeat himself in battle as well as in life.
A man who has attained mastery of an art reveals it in his every action.
The Way is in training.
Its a difficult thing to truly know your own limits and points of weakness.
Truth exists for the wise, beauty for the feeling heart.
Victory goes to the one who has no thought of himself.
When the World is at Peace, a gentleman keeps his Sword by his side.
In this months game, we see White build up a winning position only to let it slip from his
hands on the very next move. Then Black also gets a shot at winning the game, only to
mess it up right at the end.
Perrin,R - Page,M
East Devon Congess, Major Section 2007
Tarrasch Defence [D34]
1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 c5
Ive always felt that this is a good defence for many club players to adopt, because it
offers free piece play. Its true that it might be a risky proposition against, say, Vladimir
Kramnik, but then he doesnt normally turn out in the Birmingham and District League.
4 cxd5 exd5 5 Nf3 Nc6 6 g3
As pioneered by Rubinstein almost a century ago. The bishop on g2 puts pressure on the
isolated pawn on d5.
6Nf6 7 Bg2 Be7 8 0-0 0-0 9 Bg5 Be6
After this, White can force an endgame in which he often manages to torture his opponent
quite horribly. The most popular approach these days is 9...cxd4 10 Nxd4 h6, whilst 9...c4
also deserves consideration.
10 dxc5 Bxc5 11 Bxf6 Qxf6 12 Nxd5 Qxb2 13 Nc7 Rad8 14 Qc1 Qxc1 15 Raxc1 Ba3
The last few moves have been more or less
forced, but here its probably better to play 15...
Be7. But this too is better for White; for example,
16 Nxe6 fxe6 17 Rc4 Bf6 18 e3 Rd6 19 h4 h6 20
Re4 Rfd8 21 Bh3 Kf7 22 Kg2 was Yusupov -
Spraggett, Candidates Match, St. John 1989.
16 Nxe6 fxe6 17 Rc4 h6
With his bishop on a3, rather than e7, Black will
probably want to play this either here or on the
next move. 17...Rd6 18.Bh3 h6 was tried in
Gachon - Szitas, France 1991, but this was also
quite unpleasant for Black after 19 Re4 Re8 20 e3 b5 21 Rb1 a6 22 Rb3, etc. The big
problem for Black in all these endgames is that White has the nice e4-square from which
his pieces can operate very effectively. In particular a rook on e4 puts pressure on the
isolated e6-pawn.
18 h4 e5 19 Rb1 Rf7 20 Bh3 Re7 21 Re4
All very thematic. Of course, Whites main
problem is in how to actually win the game and
he might not do this with piece play alone.
21...Bc5 22 e3 b6 23 Bf1 a5?
Making it easier for White with a kind donation
of his e5-pawn. A much tougher defence would
have been 23...Kh7, meeting 24 Bb5 with 24...
Rf8.
24 Bb5 Rd6 25 Kf1
Theres also the immediate 25 Kg2, followed by 26 Bxc6 and capturing on e5. Looks good
to me.
25...Bb4 26 Ke2 g6 27 Rc1 Na7 28 Bc4+ Kg7 29 Rxe5 Rxe5 30 Nxe5
Winning a pawn, which makes this precise moment a very dangerous one indeed.
30Rd2+ 31 Kf3?
Now who would have thought that this natural
move could be the cause of great difficulties for
White? Amazingly, it is with Blacks apparently
misplaced pieces suddenly finding ways to
cooperate.
White should have played 31 Kf1, but this is not
the natural move by any means.
31...Bd6 32 Ng4
And here, White should play 32 Nd7, though this
means the return of the pawn after 32...Bxg3 33
fxg3 Rxd7. White has some pressure after 34 Rb1, but Black probably holds with 34...Rc7.
32...h5 33 Nh2 Nc6
The knight hops back into the game, getting ready to land on e5. And little by little one
starts to see that this is actually a very serious problem, first of all because ...Ne5+,
followed by ...Nxc4, will win the a2-pawn. What about 34 Bb3? Well, here theres another
problem.
34 Bb3?!
After this, White is even struggling to get a draw. He should play 34 Kg2, setting his own
diabolical trap via 34...Ne5 35 Be6 Rxf2+ (Black should play 35...Kf6 36 Bg8 Kg7 37
Be6 Kf6 with a draw) 36 Kxf2 Nd3+ 37 Ke2 Nxc1+ 38 Kd2 Bxg3 39 Nf3 Kf6 40 Bd5,
trapping Blacks knight and giving White winning chances.
34...Ne5+ 35 Kg2 Rxf2+!
White would have had to see all this when playing 31 Kf3 in order to choose a different
move. Probably not easy, even for GMs.
36 Kxf2 Nd3+ 37 Kf3 Nxc1 38 Bc4?!
38 Bd5 b5 would also leave White struggling, but
this might have been the better course. Now
Black gets a passed pawn straightaway.
38...b5! 39 Bxb5 Nxa2
The big question now is whether Blacks passed
a-pawn can be blockaded. My first instinct was
that with bishops of opposite colours it should be
possible, but the more I look at this position the
harder it seems.
40 Nf1 Nc3 41 Bc4 a4 42 Nd2 a3 43 Nb3
After 43 Ne4, there follows 43...Nxe4 44 Kxe4 Bxg3, etc.
43...a2 44 Na1 Ba3 45 g4 hxg4+
He could also play 45...Bb2, when 46 Nc2 a1Q 47 Nxa1 Bxa1 48 gxh5 gxh5 keeps his last
pawn on the board.
46 Kxg4 Bb2 47 Nc2 a1Q??
Another slip twixt cup and lip, after which, White gets off the hook by exchanging the
kingside pawns. The right move is 47...Kh6, ruling out h4-h5.
48 Nxa1 Bxa1 49 h5! gxh5+ -
Without a pawn to his name, Black cannot win.
Recommended Reading
Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai by Yamamoto Tsunetomo
The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
2007 Nigel Davies. All rights reserved.

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists]
[Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives]
[Links] [Online Bookstore] [About ChessCafe.com] [Contact Us]
2007 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
"ChessCafe.com" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.