The following chess movie presents the game between Michael Wilder (White) and Vasily Smyslov (Black) from the 1987 New York Open.
White's fate in this game reminded me of the English translation of an old Russian saying: "The man found himself suddenly under the train."
Let's return to the position after 26...Ne5:
To meet the threat of 27...a4, White played 27. Rc1. An alternative was the more direct 27.a4.
Supposing that Black replied 27...Nf7, what should White's plan be?
When the opponent's pieces are hindering the mobility of one's own pieces, exchanging pieces usually reduces this pressure.
Which pieces should White seek to exchange?
Being that the game continuation showed how White's bishop was ineffectual, White should probably try to exchange it for its Black counterpart, either at a3 or at d4 (after moving the knight).
At which square (a3 or d4) is offering a bishop exchange less likely to be evaded by Black (by moving the bishop off the diagonal)?
Probably a3, because Black's bishop is shielding the d-pawn from attack along the a3/f8 diagonal.
If (after 27.a4 Nf7) White played 28.Ba3 and it continued 28...Bxd4 29.Rxd4 Rxe2 30.Bxd6 (see diagram)
which side would this favor?
In this position, Black would have 30...Rb2, which would force 31.Ra3 (because 31.Rd3 would result in an "overload" of this rook). Then 31...Re8 would threaten to double along the seventh rank and give Black a big edge.
Given that 28.Ba3 Bxd4 is favorable to Black, how should White "prepare" Ba3...?
A sure way to prevent ...Bxd4 is to retreat White's knight, say to f3--where the piece could exchange Black's knight if it were to come to e5 or g5. The following chess movie gives a plausible continuation (starting with 27.a4).
This PGN could not be parsed.
- move 2 could not be played: Invalid PGN : Error converting move Nf7
[fen "r3r1k1/1p4p1/2pp1p1p/p1b1n3/2PN4/PP4PP/1B1RPP2/R5K1 w - - - -"] 27.a4 Nf7 28.Nf3 Ra6 29.Ba3 Bxa3 30.Rxa3 {A poor spot for the rook, but White reckons that this is temporary.} Rb6 {Before redeploying his a3-rook, White would need to defend the b-pawn some other way. 31.Rd3 would do this but would hang the e-pawn. Hence White's next.} 31.Kf1 {It would appear that White's consolidation by Rd3... followed by redeploying the a3-rook cannot be prevented.}
It appears that after 27.a4, 27...Nf7 would have allowed White to equalize. The following chess movie examines what might have happened if Black played 27...Ra6 without first retreating his knight.
This PGN could not be parsed.
- move 2 could not be played: Invalid PGN : Error converting move Ra6
[fen "r3r1k1/1p4p1/2pp1p1p/p1b1n3/2PN4/PP4PP/1B1RPP2/R5K1 w - - - -"] 27.a4 Ra6 {Intending 28.Ba3 Rb6, with the strong threat 29...Bxd4 30.Rxd4 Rxb3, after which White's capturing the d-pawn (either way) would be met by ...Nxc4.} 28.Bc3 {Being that 28.Ba3 isn't playable, White instead pressures the a-pawn.} Rb6 {Because continuing to hold his a-pawn would give White no problems, we'll see what happens if Black sticks with his plan to pressure b3.} 29.Bxa5 Bxd4 {Black's b6-rook is immune because White's a1-rook is also attacked.} 30.Rxd4 Rxb3 31.Rxd6 Nxc4 {A nasty-looking fork, but...} 32.Rd8 {This attack on Black's rook prevents loss of material. If Black now exchanges rooks, then White would be threatening to liquidate further by advancing the a-pawn.} Kf7 33.Rxe8 Kxe8 34.Bc7 {Clearing the way for White's a-pawn.} Kd7 {Forcing the bishop to abandon control of a5, so that Black can blockade the a-pawn.} 35.Bb8 Na5 36.Rd1+ {If now 36...Kc8 (to remain in control of c7), then 37.Bd6 (intending to harass Black's kingside pawns).} Ke8 37.Bc7 Nc4 38.a5 Rb5 39. Rd8+ Ke7 40.Rg8 Kf7 41.Ra8 {Intending to simplify by 42.a6, which would make it easier for White to draw.} Rb1+ 42.Kg2 Ra1 {Stopping a6...} 43.Ra7 {Now Black can't both protect his b-pawn and prevent a6...}
In the final position of the above chess movie, Black has a passed c-pawn, but White has a rook and bishop versus rook and knight in an open position. So, I reckon that White is at least equal.
This game has illustrated the need to remain alert even in positions where it would seem difficult for either side to create meaningful threats.
(A list of the threads I've initiated at this forum is available at http://www.davidlevinchess.com/chess/RHP_my_threads.htm .)
@shallow-blue saidI'd read the English rendering of the saying in a quote of Spassky in Chess Life magazine. Maybe he didn't characterize it as "old."
That must be a pretty new old Russian saying, unless the original was about a troika...