FWIW: Queen's Gambit Accepted (1)
23 Dec '07 19:385 editsSome notes and opening analysis on the Queen's Gambit Accepted.
wargamer66 - Doctor Rat
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 e5 4.Nf3 exd4 5.Bxc4 Nc6
The other option is 5...Bb4+, but Black chose the main because it was the repertoire choice in his newest purchase, "How to Beat 1.d4" by James Rizzitano. Mmm, that new book smell. Such is fashion.
6.0-0 Be6 7.Bxe6
7.Bb5 Bc5 8.Nbd2 Qd6 This move is tagged as the origin of Black's problems in this line, but it appears that Black can defend if the improvement upon Kasparov's analysis at move 28 holds. 9.e5 Qd5 10.Ng5 0-0-0 11.Bc4 Qd7 (11...Qxe5!? 12.Nxe6 fxe6 13.Re1 Qf6 14.Rxe6= Raetsky & Chetverik) 12.Nxe6 fxe6 13.b4! Nxb4 14.Qb3 Nd5 15.Ne4 Bb6 16.a4 a5 17.Nd6! Raetsky: "Kasparov plays the attack with great energy." 17...Kb8 18.Bxd5 exd5 19.Bd2 cxd6 20.Qxb6 dxe5 21.f4 Nf6 22.fxe5 Ne4 23.Bxa5 d3 24.Qb4! (This is Kasparov's try to improve over his game with Anand which continued with 24.e6? Qd6 25.Qxd6 Rxd6 26.e7 Rf6 27.Rxf6 Nxf6! 28.Rd1 Re8 29.Bb4 1/2-1/2 Kasparov-Anand, Linares 1999.) 24...Rde8 25.Bb6 d2 26.Qa5 Qc6 27.Rab1 Rhf8 28.Rfd1 Qc4!? (I think this move defends better than Kasparov's analysis of 28...Rf7 29.e6 Qxe6 30.Qa7+ Kc8 31.Rbc1+ dxc1Q 32.Rxc1+ Kd7 33.Qxb7+ Kd6 34.Rc6+ and White should win after 34...Ke5 35.Rxe6+ Kxe6 36.Qc6+ Ke7 37.Qxd5 Kf8 38.a5 Nf6 39.Qd6+ Kg8 40.h3 Rd7 41.Qc6 Kf7 42.a6 and the threat of promotion should cinch the deal.) 29.e6 Rxe6 30.Qa7+ Kc8 31.Qa8+ Kd7 32.Qxf8 Rxb6 33.Rxb6 Qd4+ 34.Kf1=
7...fxe6 8.Qb3 Qd7 9.Ng5
After 9.Qxb7 Rb8 10.Qa6 Nf6 11.Re1 Bb4 12.Bd2 0-0 13.Bxb4 (13.a3 Be7 Rizzitano: "And Black was fine in Mikhalevski-Bosch, Hoogeveen 1998".) 13...Nxb4 14.Qc4 Ng4 15.Nbd2 Nc6 16.Rac1 Nge5 17.Qc5 Qd6 18.b3 Rb6 19.Nxe5 Nxe5 20.Qxd6 cxd6 21.Nc4 Nd3 22.Nxb6 axb6 23.Red1 Nxc1 24.Rxc1=
9...0-0-0 10.Nxe6 Re8 11.Nxf8 Rxf8 12.Na3 Nf6 13.f3 Qf7?!
Black plays for an exchange of queens for want of a more incisive plan. At this point in the game, Black faced the difficult decision of which rooks belong on which squares, and his solution was to put off the decision for as long as possible until some obvious sign appeared to him. "It's not procrastination, it's flexibility!" Trying to keep the h8-rook at home and launch a pawn kamikaze leads to trouble after 13...h5 14.Rd1 h4 15.Be3 h3 16.Nc2 hxg2 17.Nxd4 Nxd4 18.Bxd4 Qh3 19.Be5 Nd7 20.Bg3 with advantage to White. So where should the rooks go?
In the main, Black correctly identified the g-file as the source of his kingside counterplay and not the h-file, but he should have taken his cue from a game by Semek and played his h-rook to the g8-square right away. 13...Rhg8 14.Bd2 g5 15.Rae1 (15.Rac1 d3 16.Nb5 Kb8 17.e5 Nd4 18.Nxd4 Qxd4+ 19.Kh1 Qxe5 20.Qxd3 Rd8 21.Qc2 Nd5= ) 15...Re8 16.Nc4 Qe6 17.Na3 g4 18.Qxe6+ Rxe6 19.Kh1 a6 (I feel this is an improvement over 19...Ne5 20.Nb5 c5? which saw Black lose in 1-0 Hertneck-Semek, Austria 1999) 20.Rd1 Nd7 21.Be1 gxf3 22.gxf3 Nde5 23.Bg3= and Black should be fine with a lot of game left to play.
14.Qa4 Kb8 15.Bd2
Or 15.Nb5 Nxe4 16.Nxd4 Nxd4 17.Qxd4 Nd6 and Black has no weaknesses and should be able to draw with accurate defense.
15...Nd7
Black continues to avoid the issue of where he should put his rooks, and so scrounges around for a plan and comes up with poking at the white queen and hoping for a trade on the b3-square.
16.Rfc1 Nb6 17.Qb5 h6
Black is preparing to push ...g5 while still waiting for inspiration about his rooks. Instead, post-mortem computer analysis suggests some maneuvers like 17...Rd8 18.Qb3 Rhf8 19.Rc5 Qd7 20.Qd3 Qe6 21.Nc4 Nxc4 22.Qxc4 Qxc4 23.Rxc4 Ne5 24.Rc5 Nd3 25.Rh5 Rd7 26.Rxh7 Nxb2 27.Rb1 Nc4 28.Bh6 Rg8 29.Bg5 d3 30.h4 with equality, but I'm not too trusting that this plan of chasing after the h7-pawn is really the best play for both sides, and I suspect there might be something better for the first player.
18.Nc4 a6
Better is the immediate exchange of knights with 18...Nxc4 19.Rxc4 a6 20.Qb3 Rd8 (20...g5? 21.Rac1 Rhg8 22.Qa4 Rg6 23.Rxc6 Rxc6 24.Rxc6 bxc6 25.Qxd4 and whether or not this position is objectively equal, I would rather avoid this damaged pawn structure for the second player) 21.Rb4 Qxb3 Rxb3 g5=
19.Qb3 Nxc4 20.Qxc4
20.Rxc4 leads to the previous note.
20...Qxc4 21.Rxc4 g5
Also possible was finally committing the rooks to the center with 21...Rd8 22.Rc5 Rhe8 23.Rd1=
22.Re1 Re8=
Black is targeting the e-pawn and preparing to undermine the center with ...g4 in order to maintain equality.
wargamer66 - Doctor Rat
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 e5 4.Nf3 exd4 5.Bxc4 Nc6
The other option is 5...Bb4+, but Black chose the main because it was the repertoire choice in his newest purchase, "How to Beat 1.d4" by James Rizzitano. Mmm, that new book smell. Such is fashion.
6.0-0 Be6 7.Bxe6
7.Bb5 Bc5 8.Nbd2 Qd6 This move is tagged as the origin of Black's problems in this line, but it appears that Black can defend if the improvement upon Kasparov's analysis at move 28 holds. 9.e5 Qd5 10.Ng5 0-0-0 11.Bc4 Qd7 (11...Qxe5!? 12.Nxe6 fxe6 13.Re1 Qf6 14.Rxe6= Raetsky & Chetverik) 12.Nxe6 fxe6 13.b4! Nxb4 14.Qb3 Nd5 15.Ne4 Bb6 16.a4 a5 17.Nd6! Raetsky: "Kasparov plays the attack with great energy." 17...Kb8 18.Bxd5 exd5 19.Bd2 cxd6 20.Qxb6 dxe5 21.f4 Nf6 22.fxe5 Ne4 23.Bxa5 d3 24.Qb4! (This is Kasparov's try to improve over his game with Anand which continued with 24.e6? Qd6 25.Qxd6 Rxd6 26.e7 Rf6 27.Rxf6 Nxf6! 28.Rd1 Re8 29.Bb4 1/2-1/2 Kasparov-Anand, Linares 1999.) 24...Rde8 25.Bb6 d2 26.Qa5 Qc6 27.Rab1 Rhf8 28.Rfd1 Qc4!? (I think this move defends better than Kasparov's analysis of 28...Rf7 29.e6 Qxe6 30.Qa7+ Kc8 31.Rbc1+ dxc1Q 32.Rxc1+ Kd7 33.Qxb7+ Kd6 34.Rc6+ and White should win after 34...Ke5 35.Rxe6+ Kxe6 36.Qc6+ Ke7 37.Qxd5 Kf8 38.a5 Nf6 39.Qd6+ Kg8 40.h3 Rd7 41.Qc6 Kf7 42.a6 and the threat of promotion should cinch the deal.) 29.e6 Rxe6 30.Qa7+ Kc8 31.Qa8+ Kd7 32.Qxf8 Rxb6 33.Rxb6 Qd4+ 34.Kf1=
7...fxe6 8.Qb3 Qd7 9.Ng5
After 9.Qxb7 Rb8 10.Qa6 Nf6 11.Re1 Bb4 12.Bd2 0-0 13.Bxb4 (13.a3 Be7 Rizzitano: "And Black was fine in Mikhalevski-Bosch, Hoogeveen 1998".) 13...Nxb4 14.Qc4 Ng4 15.Nbd2 Nc6 16.Rac1 Nge5 17.Qc5 Qd6 18.b3 Rb6 19.Nxe5 Nxe5 20.Qxd6 cxd6 21.Nc4 Nd3 22.Nxb6 axb6 23.Red1 Nxc1 24.Rxc1=
9...0-0-0 10.Nxe6 Re8 11.Nxf8 Rxf8 12.Na3 Nf6 13.f3 Qf7?!
Black plays for an exchange of queens for want of a more incisive plan. At this point in the game, Black faced the difficult decision of which rooks belong on which squares, and his solution was to put off the decision for as long as possible until some obvious sign appeared to him. "It's not procrastination, it's flexibility!" Trying to keep the h8-rook at home and launch a pawn kamikaze leads to trouble after 13...h5 14.Rd1 h4 15.Be3 h3 16.Nc2 hxg2 17.Nxd4 Nxd4 18.Bxd4 Qh3 19.Be5 Nd7 20.Bg3 with advantage to White. So where should the rooks go?
In the main, Black correctly identified the g-file as the source of his kingside counterplay and not the h-file, but he should have taken his cue from a game by Semek and played his h-rook to the g8-square right away. 13...Rhg8 14.Bd2 g5 15.Rae1 (15.Rac1 d3 16.Nb5 Kb8 17.e5 Nd4 18.Nxd4 Qxd4+ 19.Kh1 Qxe5 20.Qxd3 Rd8 21.Qc2 Nd5= ) 15...Re8 16.Nc4 Qe6 17.Na3 g4 18.Qxe6+ Rxe6 19.Kh1 a6 (I feel this is an improvement over 19...Ne5 20.Nb5 c5? which saw Black lose in 1-0 Hertneck-Semek, Austria 1999) 20.Rd1 Nd7 21.Be1 gxf3 22.gxf3 Nde5 23.Bg3= and Black should be fine with a lot of game left to play.
14.Qa4 Kb8 15.Bd2
Or 15.Nb5 Nxe4 16.Nxd4 Nxd4 17.Qxd4 Nd6 and Black has no weaknesses and should be able to draw with accurate defense.
15...Nd7
Black continues to avoid the issue of where he should put his rooks, and so scrounges around for a plan and comes up with poking at the white queen and hoping for a trade on the b3-square.
16.Rfc1 Nb6 17.Qb5 h6
Black is preparing to push ...g5 while still waiting for inspiration about his rooks. Instead, post-mortem computer analysis suggests some maneuvers like 17...Rd8 18.Qb3 Rhf8 19.Rc5 Qd7 20.Qd3 Qe6 21.Nc4 Nxc4 22.Qxc4 Qxc4 23.Rxc4 Ne5 24.Rc5 Nd3 25.Rh5 Rd7 26.Rxh7 Nxb2 27.Rb1 Nc4 28.Bh6 Rg8 29.Bg5 d3 30.h4 with equality, but I'm not too trusting that this plan of chasing after the h7-pawn is really the best play for both sides, and I suspect there might be something better for the first player.
18.Nc4 a6
Better is the immediate exchange of knights with 18...Nxc4 19.Rxc4 a6 20.Qb3 Rd8 (20...g5? 21.Rac1 Rhg8 22.Qa4 Rg6 23.Rxc6 Rxc6 24.Rxc6 bxc6 25.Qxd4 and whether or not this position is objectively equal, I would rather avoid this damaged pawn structure for the second player) 21.Rb4 Qxb3 Rxb3 g5=
19.Qb3 Nxc4 20.Qxc4
20.Rxc4 leads to the previous note.
20...Qxc4 21.Rxc4 g5
Also possible was finally committing the rooks to the center with 21...Rd8 22.Rc5 Rhe8 23.Rd1=
22.Re1 Re8=
Black is targeting the e-pawn and preparing to undermine the center with ...g4 in order to maintain equality.
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