This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2016-12-27
I have reposted it here for reference.
Merry Christmas everyone! The Sicilian Najdorf, poisoned pawn variation stung another victim in 2016. This is a bit surprising since it is analyzed to death. There are several lines leading to a draw and 2 years ago I played one of those as black in correspondence chess, ending in a 25 moves perpetual without breaking a sweat and just following theory. This one was a team vote game between us (95 players) facing team Ireland (21 players) and the last part of it is very instructive. The opening was pretty straight forward and by move 17 we diverged from the only available game played during the 39th Olympiad. We continued doing a lot of maneuvering in the middle game (moves 17 to 38), without being able to achieve much. This was a clear failure for us and the poisoned pawn looked more and more like a self inflicting wound.
[Event "VC World Cup IV Semifinal"][Site "Chess.com"][Date "2016.01.05"][White "Team Canada"][Black "Team Ireland"][TimeControl "1 in 2 days"][Result "0-1"]1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.f5 Nc6 11.fxe6 fxe6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.Be2 Be7 14.O-O O-O 15.Rb3 Qc5+ 16.Kh1 Rf7 17.Bf4 d5 18.Be5 Qa7 19.Qf4 Bd8 20.Qg3 Nh5 21.Qe1 Rxf1+ 22.Qxf1 Nf6 23.Qf4 Qf7 24.Qg3 Be7 25.Rb1 a5 26.Rf1 Qg6 27.Qf4 Bd7 28.Bd3 Qg4 29.Qe3 Qh5 30.Bg3 Bb4 31.Be2 Qg6 32.e5 Bxc3 33.Qxc3 Ne4 34.Qa3 c5 35.Bf4 Bc6 36.Qh3 Rf8 37.Kg1 Qe8 {The old chess joke goes like this "White is down a pawn and instead it stands worst"} 38.Bd3 {The pair of Bishops is not very useful here. Black's pieces are finally well coordinated, the center is in black's hands and Ne4 looks more like a monster. Our desire to exchange the monster is very understandable and it is a safe bet the majority of players would go for it} 38...Qd7 {After the game we found out black had 3 votes here: one for the move played, one for c5-c4 and one for d5-d4. I still don't know how the system chose the move played} (38...c4 39.Bxe4 dxe4 {I think here white holds the position comfortably by taking control of the g1-a7 diagonal}) (38...d4 {We did not consider this move at all. I believe exchanging on e4 now would benefit black; possibly we could play:} 39.Bc4 {however black has all the fun here}) 39.Bxe4 dxe4 40.Qe3 {We got rid of the monster and we were looking to do a successful blockade on the dark squares} 40...Bb5 {Team Ireland chose this one over the expected other move} (40...Qd4) 41.Re1 Qd4 42.g3 {Dealing with the mate threat on f1 and making it possible to win the e4-pawn} ({At the beginning we were looking at} 42.Qxd4 cxd4 43.Rxe4 g5!! {Now we lose a piece and the game shortly after}) 42...Bc6 {Defending the pawn and also taking over the h1-a8 diagonal. Funny how all of a sudden simple moves become strong in good positions!} 43.c3 {Continuing our plan from move 40 to setup a blockade and unpin our Queen} (43.h4 {We also looked at this one to protect our Bishop from possibly being trapped there with g7-g5} 43...h6) 43...Qc4 {One of our team members reminded us of Edmar Mednis principles applicable here: "1.If a player is down material he should look for drawing chances in an endgame with only the bishops and pawns. 2. With major pieces (queen or rook) on the board, having bishops on opposite colors favors the side with an attack."} 44.Qd2?? {We followed a simple rule: discuss our possible moves until there were 24 hours left and then we voted, preferably for one of the choices discussed together. Sadly we did not see black's best response until it was too late. There were too many votes for the blunder to outvote it} 44...e3!! 45.Qxe3 (45.Bxe3 Qe4 {We cannot stop the mate} 46.Bf4 Qh1+ 47.Kf2 Qg2+ 48.Ke3 Qf3#) (45.Rxe3 g5 {Our Bishop is trapped because of} 46.Bxg5 Rf1#) (45.Qd6 Qe4 46.Qxe6+ Kh8 47.Re2 Qh1#) (45.Qe2 Qe4 {with mate to follow}) 45...Qd5 {Here we are dead lost and we resigned. The game lasted 6 months}
What can we learn out of it? I think everyone should remember Edmar Mednis principles:
1.If a player is down material he should look for drawing chances in an endgame with only the bishops and pawns.
2. With major pieces (queen or rook) on the board, having bishops on opposite colors favors the side with an attack.
Both are easy to remember and can become useful guides in over the board. Attacking requires first a desire to play like that and then to obtain initiative. Long term initiative comes from a good position, so always look to setup good positions and you will be rewarded. If you have any games and/ or positions you would like me to look at, please do not hesitate to let me know. I will gladly include them in my column for everyone's benefit. Looking forward to your messages!
I have reposted it here for reference.
Merry Christmas everyone! The Sicilian Najdorf, poisoned pawn variation stung another victim in 2016. This is a bit surprising since it is analyzed to death. There are several lines leading to a draw and 2 years ago I played one of those as black in correspondence chess, ending in a 25 moves perpetual without breaking a sweat and just following theory. This one was a team vote game between us (95 players) facing team Ireland (21 players) and the last part of it is very instructive. The opening was pretty straight forward and by move 17 we diverged from the only available game played during the 39th Olympiad. We continued doing a lot of maneuvering in the middle game (moves 17 to 38), without being able to achieve much. This was a clear failure for us and the poisoned pawn looked more and more like a self inflicting wound.
[Event "VC World Cup IV Semifinal"][Site "Chess.com"][Date "2016.01.05"][White "Team Canada"][Black "Team Ireland"][TimeControl "1 in 2 days"][Result "0-1"]1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.f5 Nc6 11.fxe6 fxe6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.Be2 Be7 14.O-O O-O 15.Rb3 Qc5+ 16.Kh1 Rf7 17.Bf4 d5 18.Be5 Qa7 19.Qf4 Bd8 20.Qg3 Nh5 21.Qe1 Rxf1+ 22.Qxf1 Nf6 23.Qf4 Qf7 24.Qg3 Be7 25.Rb1 a5 26.Rf1 Qg6 27.Qf4 Bd7 28.Bd3 Qg4 29.Qe3 Qh5 30.Bg3 Bb4 31.Be2 Qg6 32.e5 Bxc3 33.Qxc3 Ne4 34.Qa3 c5 35.Bf4 Bc6 36.Qh3 Rf8 37.Kg1 Qe8 {The old chess joke goes like this "White is down a pawn and instead it stands worst"} 38.Bd3 {The pair of Bishops is not very useful here. Black's pieces are finally well coordinated, the center is in black's hands and Ne4 looks more like a monster. Our desire to exchange the monster is very understandable and it is a safe bet the majority of players would go for it} 38...Qd7 {After the game we found out black had 3 votes here: one for the move played, one for c5-c4 and one for d5-d4. I still don't know how the system chose the move played} (38...c4 39.Bxe4 dxe4 {I think here white holds the position comfortably by taking control of the g1-a7 diagonal}) (38...d4 {We did not consider this move at all. I believe exchanging on e4 now would benefit black; possibly we could play:} 39.Bc4 {however black has all the fun here}) 39.Bxe4 dxe4 40.Qe3 {We got rid of the monster and we were looking to do a successful blockade on the dark squares} 40...Bb5 {Team Ireland chose this one over the expected other move} (40...Qd4) 41.Re1 Qd4 42.g3 {Dealing with the mate threat on f1 and making it possible to win the e4-pawn} ({At the beginning we were looking at} 42.Qxd4 cxd4 43.Rxe4 g5!! {Now we lose a piece and the game shortly after}) 42...Bc6 {Defending the pawn and also taking over the h1-a8 diagonal. Funny how all of a sudden simple moves become strong in good positions!} 43.c3 {Continuing our plan from move 40 to setup a blockade and unpin our Queen} (43.h4 {We also looked at this one to protect our Bishop from possibly being trapped there with g7-g5} 43...h6) 43...Qc4 {One of our team members reminded us of Edmar Mednis principles applicable here: "1.If a player is down material he should look for drawing chances in an endgame with only the bishops and pawns. 2. With major pieces (queen or rook) on the board, having bishops on opposite colors favors the side with an attack."} 44.Qd2?? {We followed a simple rule: discuss our possible moves until there were 24 hours left and then we voted, preferably for one of the choices discussed together. Sadly we did not see black's best response until it was too late. There were too many votes for the blunder to outvote it} 44...e3!! 45.Qxe3 (45.Bxe3 Qe4 {We cannot stop the mate} 46.Bf4 Qh1+ 47.Kf2 Qg2+ 48.Ke3 Qf3#) (45.Rxe3 g5 {Our Bishop is trapped because of} 46.Bxg5 Rf1#) (45.Qd6 Qe4 46.Qxe6+ Kh8 47.Re2 Qh1#) (45.Qe2 Qe4 {with mate to follow}) 45...Qd5 {Here we are dead lost and we resigned. The game lasted 6 months}
What can we learn out of it? I think everyone should remember Edmar Mednis principles:
1.If a player is down material he should look for drawing chances in an endgame with only the bishops and pawns.
2. With major pieces (queen or rook) on the board, having bishops on opposite colors favors the side with an attack.
Both are easy to remember and can become useful guides in over the board. Attacking requires first a desire to play like that and then to obtain initiative. Long term initiative comes from a good position, so always look to setup good positions and you will be rewarded. If you have any games and/ or positions you would like me to look at, please do not hesitate to let me know. I will gladly include them in my column for everyone's benefit. Looking forward to your messages!