PUBLICATION NOTE:
This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2016-11-15
I have reposted it here for reference.
These days Carlsen and Karjakin are playing for the World Championship and given the stakes plus number of games, each plays as cautious as possible; any mistake or risk too big could decide the match in one's favour. The regular player has a different kind of challenge and opportunity when paired with a FIDE titled player. The opportunities are far more often today than years ago. The number of titled players has increased, there are more titles available and of course more tournaments. When you are paired with a titled player the first thing coming into play is how to approach the game: are you going to be intimidated or you look forward to the challenge? It is easy to say "I look forward to it". In reality human nature is to look up to it and be more or less intimidated. What you need for sure is confidence in yourself! It is critical to be confident in what you know or you won't stand much of a chance anyway. The following game is from a while back when I got an opportunity to play a FIDE Master, 2355 rated at the time. This was a big deal back then... You will see how my low level of confidence influenced my play and in the end was the main cause for losing the game on time.
[Event "ROU Championship, semifinal"][Site "Tusnad, ROU"][Date "1992.09.20"][White "Breahna, Radu"][Black "Demian, Valer Eugen"][Result "1-0"] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.a3 (7.g4 {it was around that time when the idea of Shabalov attack was first introduced. I was not aware of it and luckily my opponent did not use it. It was not his style anyway, as he was a positional type of player}) 7...O-O 8.b4 (8.Be2 {is far more common} 8...a6 9.e4 Nxe4 10.Nxe4 dxe4 11.Qxe4 e5) 8...e5 {a natural reaction. Black cannot just sit and wait or he will face space crunch} 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Nxd5 cxd5 11.dxe5 Nxe5 {the smoke has cleared and black has emerged with an Isolated Queen Pawn (IQP). This gives good attacking chances in the middle game and becomes a liability in the endgame} 12.Nd4 {all strategy books recommend blocking the IQP, but IMO this was not the time to do it} 12...Be6 13.Be2 Rc8 14.Qb3 Qh4 {well, for sure I decided to attack what looked like an obvious target} 15.O-O {I remember thinking this was a "Dare you" type of move} 15...Ng4 {once you say "A", you have to continue with "B" as they say} 16.h3 Bh2+ ({years later when I looked at the position I thought this was better with no engine analysis} 16...Nh2 17.Nf3?? (17.Rd1 {this is easy to see and much better} 17...Bxh3 18.gxh3 Qxh3 19.Qxd5 {the attack does not work}) 17...Nxf3+ 18.Bxf3 Bxh3 {black wins now}) 17.Kh1 Bb8 18.Bxg4 Bxg4 19.f4 Rfd8 20.Ra2 Rd6 21.Qd3 Bd7 22.Nf5 Bxf5 23.Qxf5 Qd8 {my attack has disappeared} 24.Bb2 Qd7 25.Qxd7 Rxd7 26.Bd4 {now the IQP is a liability} 26...Rc4 27.Rd1 b6 28.Kg1 f6 29.Rad2 Kf7 30.Bb2 Ke6 {this still is a solid position and only the time crunch (we were playing 40 moves in 2 hours and I was running very low on time) could ruin it} 31.g4 g6 32.Kf2 b5?! (32...a5 {would have been more active}) 33.Bd4 a6 34.Ke2 Bc7 35.f5+ Kf7 36.fxg6+?! {not the best} (36.Bc5! {and the IQP is lost}) 36...hxg6 {any exchanges were easy moves with a few seconds left on the clock} 37.Rf1 Rc6 38.Kd3 Ke7 39.Rc2 {and here my flag fell}
What can we conclude at the end of it? Titled players are also human beings and could also be uninspired or have a bad day. They could also choose to experiment or even worst to underestimate you. The well known advice is "Play the board and not the opponent", meaning you need to focus on the game and not be influenced by your opponent's title and/ or rating no matter what they are. It is the only way you could do well, learn and improve. 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!
This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2016-11-15
I have reposted it here for reference.
These days Carlsen and Karjakin are playing for the World Championship and given the stakes plus number of games, each plays as cautious as possible; any mistake or risk too big could decide the match in one's favour. The regular player has a different kind of challenge and opportunity when paired with a FIDE titled player. The opportunities are far more often today than years ago. The number of titled players has increased, there are more titles available and of course more tournaments. When you are paired with a titled player the first thing coming into play is how to approach the game: are you going to be intimidated or you look forward to the challenge? It is easy to say "I look forward to it". In reality human nature is to look up to it and be more or less intimidated. What you need for sure is confidence in yourself! It is critical to be confident in what you know or you won't stand much of a chance anyway. The following game is from a while back when I got an opportunity to play a FIDE Master, 2355 rated at the time. This was a big deal back then... You will see how my low level of confidence influenced my play and in the end was the main cause for losing the game on time.
[Event "ROU Championship, semifinal"][Site "Tusnad, ROU"][Date "1992.09.20"][White "Breahna, Radu"][Black "Demian, Valer Eugen"][Result "1-0"] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.a3 (7.g4 {it was around that time when the idea of Shabalov attack was first introduced. I was not aware of it and luckily my opponent did not use it. It was not his style anyway, as he was a positional type of player}) 7...O-O 8.b4 (8.Be2 {is far more common} 8...a6 9.e4 Nxe4 10.Nxe4 dxe4 11.Qxe4 e5) 8...e5 {a natural reaction. Black cannot just sit and wait or he will face space crunch} 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Nxd5 cxd5 11.dxe5 Nxe5 {the smoke has cleared and black has emerged with an Isolated Queen Pawn (IQP). This gives good attacking chances in the middle game and becomes a liability in the endgame} 12.Nd4 {all strategy books recommend blocking the IQP, but IMO this was not the time to do it} 12...Be6 13.Be2 Rc8 14.Qb3 Qh4 {well, for sure I decided to attack what looked like an obvious target} 15.O-O {I remember thinking this was a "Dare you" type of move} 15...Ng4 {once you say "A", you have to continue with "B" as they say} 16.h3 Bh2+ ({years later when I looked at the position I thought this was better with no engine analysis} 16...Nh2 17.Nf3?? (17.Rd1 {this is easy to see and much better} 17...Bxh3 18.gxh3 Qxh3 19.Qxd5 {the attack does not work}) 17...Nxf3+ 18.Bxf3 Bxh3 {black wins now}) 17.Kh1 Bb8 18.Bxg4 Bxg4 19.f4 Rfd8 20.Ra2 Rd6 21.Qd3 Bd7 22.Nf5 Bxf5 23.Qxf5 Qd8 {my attack has disappeared} 24.Bb2 Qd7 25.Qxd7 Rxd7 26.Bd4 {now the IQP is a liability} 26...Rc4 27.Rd1 b6 28.Kg1 f6 29.Rad2 Kf7 30.Bb2 Ke6 {this still is a solid position and only the time crunch (we were playing 40 moves in 2 hours and I was running very low on time) could ruin it} 31.g4 g6 32.Kf2 b5?! (32...a5 {would have been more active}) 33.Bd4 a6 34.Ke2 Bc7 35.f5+ Kf7 36.fxg6+?! {not the best} (36.Bc5! {and the IQP is lost}) 36...hxg6 {any exchanges were easy moves with a few seconds left on the clock} 37.Rf1 Rc6 38.Kd3 Ke7 39.Rc2 {and here my flag fell}
What can we conclude at the end of it? Titled players are also human beings and could also be uninspired or have a bad day. They could also choose to experiment or even worst to underestimate you. The well known advice is "Play the board and not the opponent", meaning you need to focus on the game and not be influenced by your opponent's title and/ or rating no matter what they are. It is the only way you could do well, learn and improve. 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!