A very instructive game was played in the 5th round of Tata Steel tournament.
I think we can all learn a lot from it.
[Event "75th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2013.01.17"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Leko, P."]
[Black "Caruana, F."]
[Result "1-0"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4 Bd7 9. c3 O-O 10. Bc2 b4 11. Re1 Re8 12. Nbd2 Na5 13. d4 Bf8 14. h3 h6 15. Bd3 bxc3 16. bxc3 c5 17. d5 Qc7 18. Nc4 {Before establishing a knight at c4,White has to get rid of Na5.} Nxc4 19. Bxc4 Reb8 20. Nd2 {The other knight is immediately redirected to c4.} Be8 21. Bd3 Nd7 22. a5 $1 {Important move which not only prevents ...Nb6 but also fixes the a6 weakness.} Nf6 23. Nc4 Bb5 24. Nb6 {After the exchange of light squared bishops , the knight at c4 will have little to fear.} Ra7 25. Qe2 {Now Black is forced to exchange bishops so the last piece that could be exchanged for White's knight has been eliminated.} Bxd3 26. Qxd3 Nd7 27. Nc4 {A move we all understand now. White wants to keep his knight at c4 but what now?A knight at c4 alone is hardly enough to give the win so additional threats must be created.} Rab7 28. Bd2 Rb5 {A critical point in the game.White doesn't only have a very well placed knight(that is obvious) , he also has a very well placed queen(that is not maybe so obvious). If Black could play ...Rb1(after tripling rooks and queen on b-file), the exchange of rooks would significantly reduce White's k-side attacking chances. Qd3 not only protects b1 , preventing a future ...Rb1 but also attacks a6 forcing Black to keep a rook on b5(why Black needs a rook on b5 will become more obvious next moves).Additionally the queen will join the attack on k-side through the 3rd rank when needed.Not surprisingly White will create a winning position without ever move the knight and the Queen.} 29. Rf1 Be7 30. f4 Bf6 { Now after the exchanges on e5 (31.fxe5 Nxe5 32.Nxe5 Bxe5 ) a6 would fall if the rook wasn't at b5.} 31. g3 R8b7 32. Kg2 Nf8 33. Rf2 Ng6 34. Raf1 Qe7 { Black still can't exchange rooks with 34...Qb8 and 35...Rb1 because.. ...} ( 34... Qb8 35. f5 Nf8 36. Be3 Rb1 37. Rxb1 Rxb1 38. Nxd6) 35. Kh2 Rb8 36. Rg2 Qc7 {It is obvious that Black can't do anything else except waiting and trying to defend.} 37. Rfg1 Rb3 {At last an active move by Black (Black's plan is ...
R8b4-Qd7-Qb5 attacking Nc4) .A good question is :could Carouana play that
sooner?It was after all , his only available active plan.} 38. f5 {The attack on k-side begins and Leko will need only 7 moves to create a winning position. Surprisingly , Black's rooks will remain harmless till the end of the game.}
Nf8 39. h4 Qd7 40. g4 g5 $2 {After 40...Bxg4 41.g5 Black's position will be
very difficult. Black's last chance was to try to block k-side with 40...Bd8
41.g5 h5 but again it is a very difficult task to defend this in OTB.} 41. fxg6
fxg6 42. g5 hxg5 43. Bxg5 {Serious mistake of course would be 43.hxg5 as
g-file would be blocked and Black's defensive task would be much easier(white
would retain an edge though)} Bg7 44. h5 R8b4 45. hxg6 {Black resigned.He
can't do a thing for Rf1 -Rf7 after which the threats will be far too many and
the position impossible to hold.} 1-0
p.s. The system didn't accept the pgn as valid for some reason I can't understand, although I tried it to 4 different pgn viewers and they all accepted it.I would be grateful if someone helped me with this.
In any case , you can see the game with a simple copy and paste in any pgn viewer or engine.
Originally posted by Roper300It might be instructive if we are playing the white side. But there is no instruction for what black should have done to prevent this. I am sure their must be some method for black to counter this. What is it?
A very instructive game was played in the 5th round of Tata Steel tournament.
I think we can all learn a lot from it.
[Event "75th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2013.01.17"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Leko, P."]
[Black "Caruana, F."]
[Result "1-0"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4 Bd7 9. ...[text shortened]... e the game with a simple copy and paste in any pgn viewer or engine.
Originally posted by tvochessI really don't know where black went wrong that allowed that position. However, white did not seem to do much with it, unless it was just a psychological ploy to prevent Black from trying to make an attack on the open b-file until he could set up for his kingside assault. Black seemed to not be able to make up his mind what to do and just moved some of his pieces around waiting to get overrun by the storm of knigside pawns.
Roper,
Thanks for posting this game and the analysis. Well done.
What do you think went wrong for Black? My guess is 16. .. c5, allowing 17. d5 so that black forever loses control of c4.
Originally posted by tvochessAfter Black allows 22.a5 he has practically no plan and he must only defend.With 2 weak pawns(a6 and d6) , and the lack of space , defending on k-side proved an impossible task for him.Black was in a positional zugzwang with no counterplay or any chance to improve his position.
Roper,
Thanks for posting this game and the analysis. Well done.
What do you think went wrong for Black? My guess is 16. .. c5, allowing 17. d5 so that black forever loses control of c4.
Seems it was an evaluation mistake from Carouana who didn't play 21....a5(to prevent 22.a5) because of the additional weakness on b5 ( which though was much prefferable than the weak a6 pawn) or because he believed he could hold the position.
White remains better but Black has much more easy defense because there is a clear defensive plan ...Nd7-Nb6.If white decides to exploit b5-weakness with Nc4-Na3-Nb5 Black's position is again much better( in comparison with the game) and the attack on k-side much easier to be dealt with.
It is a very instructive game on how important pawn structure is and how one well placed piece can leave the opponent literally crippled.
Originally posted by RJHindsBlack has only 2 plans after 22.a5(unless someone can find something else).
It might be instructive if we are playing the white side. But there is no instruction for what black should have done to prevent this. I am sure their must be some method for black to counter this. What is it?
1)Attacking Nc4 with ...Rb3-R8b4-Qd7-Qb5 or
2)Sacrifice the exchange on a5 and get rid of Nc4 and a5.
It would be interesting to find a way to timely play one of these 2.