Who Needs Castling? (jaapjelle v. TheBigKat, RHP, gid=14826892)
25 Jul '22 14:58A recent game at this website between jaapjelle and TheBigKat Game 14826892 was of interest to me partly because neither player castled. But its main appeal was that several of its moves made sense to me only after I'd thought about them for a while.
The game began as depicted in the following chess movie.
In the position after 7...Ndb4,
would defending the d4-knight be feasible?
No, because 8.e3 or 8.Be3 could be answered by 8...Nxd4 followed by 9...Qxd4 10.Qxd4 Nc2+, regaining the queen and emerging with a material advantage.
What about 8.Nb5, so that if Black exchanges queens to displace White's king, the threat of Nc7+... would do likewise to Black's king?
8.Nb5 isn't good either, for it can be met by 8...Qa5, hitting the knight and threatening 9...Nc2 double check. Then Black could follow with ...Bf5 and ...Rd8, with a strong initiative.
How would 8.Nxc6 be answered?
If 8.Nxc6, Black would interpolate 8...Qxd1+ before recapturing at c6.
To see how White chose among these apparently poor choices, see the following chess movie.
In the position after 10.Nc3,
would it be better for Black to develop the c8-bishop or to move the e- or g-pawn to enable developing the f8-bishop?
It's not yet clear (to me at least), whether the f8-bishop should be developed to g7 or along the a3/f8 diagonal. This suggests postponing that decision if Black has a useful move that's less committal, and Black does: developing the c8-bishop. Playing 10...Bf5 would control c2 and thereby inhibit White's king from leaving the first rank (so as to connect White's rooks).
Yet, Black played 10...Bd7. Why?
I believe it's because 10...Bf5 might have been answered by 11.Bxc6+ bxc6 12.f3 followed shortly by e4... This would saddle Black with two queenside pawn islands while presenting few targets for Black's two bishops. The text gave Black the ability to recapture at c6 with a piece.
After 10...Bd7, Black aimed to force the opposing king into the open, while White tried to continue developing, as depicted in the next movie.
In the position reached by 17.fxe3 in the above movie,
how can Black avoid loss of material?
By 17...Rb8, which protects b7, avoids the fork, and indirectly protects the a-pawn owing to the pin 18...Ra8 (after 18.Nxa7). The next phase of the game involves White's attacking various pawns and threatening to penetrate with the rooks, while Black activates the two bishops and advances the h-pawn to open a file for that rook. See the next chess movie for the continuation starting with 17.fxe3.
How might White try to make progress?
See next chess movie for the game continuation.
If White were to now play 43.Nc3 (threatening 44.Rd5 followed by ganging up on the b-pawn), would Black have an adequate reply?
If White played 43.Nc3 followed by 44.Rd5 Rxd5 45.Nxd5, Black would need to control the c3 and c7 squares, from which the knight could attack b5. This could be done by posting the rook at b7 (controlling c7 while protecting the b-pawn) and the bishop on the a1/h8 diagonal (to control c3). Since 43...Rb7 would hang the rook, Black would need to move the bishop first: 43...Bf6 44.Rd5 Rxd5 45.Nxd5 Rb7 46.Be4 Rb8 47.Nc7 Be5 (kicking the knight so that White lacks time for 48.Bd3). If after 43.Nc3 Bf6, White instead plays 44.Nd5 Rb8 45.Nc7, then 45...Rb6 seems to hold.
So, White instead maneuvered the knight to f5. See the next chess movie for the game's finale.
(A list of the threads I've initiated at this forum is available at http://www.davidlevinchess.com/chess/RHP_my_threads.htm .)
The game began as depicted in the following chess movie.
In the position after 7...Ndb4,
would defending the d4-knight be feasible?
No, because 8.e3 or 8.Be3 could be answered by 8...Nxd4 followed by 9...Qxd4 10.Qxd4 Nc2+, regaining the queen and emerging with a material advantage.
What about 8.Nb5, so that if Black exchanges queens to displace White's king, the threat of Nc7+... would do likewise to Black's king?
8.Nb5 isn't good either, for it can be met by 8...Qa5, hitting the knight and threatening 9...Nc2 double check. Then Black could follow with ...Bf5 and ...Rd8, with a strong initiative.
How would 8.Nxc6 be answered?
If 8.Nxc6, Black would interpolate 8...Qxd1+ before recapturing at c6.
To see how White chose among these apparently poor choices, see the following chess movie.
In the position after 10.Nc3,
would it be better for Black to develop the c8-bishop or to move the e- or g-pawn to enable developing the f8-bishop?
It's not yet clear (to me at least), whether the f8-bishop should be developed to g7 or along the a3/f8 diagonal. This suggests postponing that decision if Black has a useful move that's less committal, and Black does: developing the c8-bishop. Playing 10...Bf5 would control c2 and thereby inhibit White's king from leaving the first rank (so as to connect White's rooks).
Yet, Black played 10...Bd7. Why?
I believe it's because 10...Bf5 might have been answered by 11.Bxc6+ bxc6 12.f3 followed shortly by e4... This would saddle Black with two queenside pawn islands while presenting few targets for Black's two bishops. The text gave Black the ability to recapture at c6 with a piece.
After 10...Bd7, Black aimed to force the opposing king into the open, while White tried to continue developing, as depicted in the next movie.
In the position reached by 17.fxe3 in the above movie,
how can Black avoid loss of material?
By 17...Rb8, which protects b7, avoids the fork, and indirectly protects the a-pawn owing to the pin 18...Ra8 (after 18.Nxa7). The next phase of the game involves White's attacking various pawns and threatening to penetrate with the rooks, while Black activates the two bishops and advances the h-pawn to open a file for that rook. See the next chess movie for the continuation starting with 17.fxe3.
After 28...Kf8
How might White try to make progress?
See next chess movie for the game continuation.
After 42...Re5
If White were to now play 43.Nc3 (threatening 44.Rd5 followed by ganging up on the b-pawn), would Black have an adequate reply?
If White played 43.Nc3 followed by 44.Rd5 Rxd5 45.Nxd5, Black would need to control the c3 and c7 squares, from which the knight could attack b5. This could be done by posting the rook at b7 (controlling c7 while protecting the b-pawn) and the bishop on the a1/h8 diagonal (to control c3). Since 43...Rb7 would hang the rook, Black would need to move the bishop first: 43...Bf6 44.Rd5 Rxd5 45.Nxd5 Rb7 46.Be4 Rb8 47.Nc7 Be5 (kicking the knight so that White lacks time for 48.Bd3). If after 43.Nc3 Bf6, White instead plays 44.Nd5 Rb8 45.Nc7, then 45...Rb6 seems to hold.
So, White instead maneuvered the knight to f5. See the next chess movie for the game's finale.
(A list of the threads I've initiated at this forum is available at http://www.davidlevinchess.com/chess/RHP_my_threads.htm .)