Game Analysis: Charlotte Open, Round 2

Hello everyone and welcome as we continue the analysis of games from the Charlotte Open. This round 2 game may be a hard one to watch as while there are no real tactical blunders, there are a ton of strategic mistakes made in this game, with the most common theme being White playing a lot of second rate moves, and Black having horrible judgment in which pieces to trade off.

A word about trading. Often times, when a trade occurs, amateur players often think about the piece that is coming off the board. For example, they assume a Queen trade means endgame. That a trade of light-squared Bishops means the light squares are suddenly safe for the Kings. That the trade of a Bishop for a Knight means that the player that traded away the Bishop has gained control over the color squares opposite that of his Bishop. For example, that if you trade your dark-squared Bishop for a Knight, you gain control of the light squares.

While all of these things are to some extent true, they are not all cut and dry like that. What if Black trades away his dark-squared Bishop for a Knight, but White has his pawns for the most part on light squares? Can Black make use of the light squares if they are all covered by White pawns? And if White's pawns are on light squares, his uncontested dark-squared Bishop is probably very strong as it is free to roam, unobstructed by his own pawns.

So, when looking at this game, think about trades from a different angle. Instead of thinking about what is being traded off, think about what remains!

With that, let's look at the game from the second round of the Charlotte Open.


Charlotte Open, Round 2
W: Adharsh Rajagopal (1989)
B: Patrick McCartney (2061)
Catalan Opening

1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 Nf6 4.g3 dxc4 5.Qa4+

While there is no refutation to this move, this move is slightly inferior to 5.Bg2. White's idea is to regain the pawn immediately, which is a slightly better idea in the line known as the "Neo-Catalan", where White has not played d4 yet: 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.Qa4+. The reason for that is that Black still has the flexibility to play a hedgehog setup with d3, and the Queen is unobstructed on the fourth rank.

5...Nbd7 6.Qxc4

6...Bd6

Black decides to continue development and doesn't take advantage of the flaw in the immediate recapture with the Queen. In this position, Black could (and probably should) play 6...a6 7.Bg2 b5 8.Qd3 Bb7 and already Black is contesting the long diagonal, and he will have absolutely no problems getting in the freeing move, ...c5. Black already has a small advantage.

Let's compare this to the main line. Had White played the correct move, 5.Bg2, then after 5...Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.Qc2 (7.Ne5 is also possible here, leading to a completely different idea that is also fine for White, but the 7.Qc2 line is the one that can and should be compared to the game.) 7...a6 and here White has a choice, both of which are better White than the position Black could have achieved with 6...a6 in the game:

1. White can recapture the pawn with 8.Qxc4, allowing 8...b5 with tempo, but after 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Rd1 Nbd7 11.Bg5
   
   
   
   
   
   Black still has problems to figure out. He is by no means losing, and the position is ok for Black, but Black is not better here. For instance, unlike the 6...a6 line in the game, where Black will have no problems getting in the freeing move ...c5, here, 11...c5 would come at a major cost in the form of a shattered pawn structure. After 12.dxc5 Bxc5 13.Bxf6 gxf6, White is slightly better. Of course, Black has an improvement in the form of 11...Rc8 with the idea of ...c5 to come, and after something like 12.Ne5 Bxg2 13.Kxg2 c5 or 12.Nc3 c5, the position is equal.
    
2. White can also obstruct Black's attempt at playing ...b5 by playing 8.a4 with the idea of capturing the next move. The downside is the weakening of the b4-square, but on the plus side, Black can't easily contest the long diagonal. Here, Black can abandon the plan entirely of trying to contest the "Catalan Bishop" by playing 8...Nc6, looking to take advantage of the weakening of b4, which is probably Black's best idea with a roughly level position, or he can try to contest the diagonal with 8...Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6, but the Bishop is very clumsy here and obstructs the c-pawn. White has the advantage after a move like 10.Bf4.

7.Bg2 O-O 8.O-O c6

Black's idea here is to play the freeing move ...e5 where this move doesn't allow White to by-pass with d5. However, a move like 8...Qe7 was probably better. Do you see the move for White here?

9.Nc3

White misses it! After 9.Rd1!, Black cannot get in ...e5 without a huge positional concession. 9...e5? gives White a completely dominating endgame after 10.dxe5 Bxe5 11.Nxe5 Nxe5 12.Rxd8 Nxc4 13.Rxf8+ Kxf8 14.b3 and the Bishop pair is the most important feature in this open position. That said, even after the slight improvement of 9...Qe7, getting in ...e5 will still cost Black his Bishop after 10.Qd3!. Now 10...e5 11.dxe5 forces Black to take with the Bishop first as otherwise it will hang, and so White gets the Bishop pair once again. Lastly, delaying it a move further doesn't work either. After 10...Rd8, White can stop the ...e5 push with 11.Bf4!.

9...e5 10.Rd1

Too late!

10...Qc7

The Queen would be better placed on e7. Now White can take advantage of the problem with the Bishop again. With the Queen on e7, the Bishop can retreat to c7 and still cover e5. If you flip the Queen and Bishop, a Bishop on e7 does not cover e5, hence the reason the Queen should go to e7 instead of c7.

11.dxe5

Here we are with that theme of not knowing when to trade. Here, White should again be looking at the fact that the Bishop on d6 is only covered once, keep the tension, and play 11.Qd3 with the same theme. The threat for White is the same as before. White threatens to play 12.dxe5 at a time that Black would be forced to take with the Bishop and part with the Bishop pair. It is more favorable for White to make Black initiate the trade on d4 rather than doing it himself on e5.

11...Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Bxe5 13.Be3

White should have contested the dominant Bishop on e5 via 13.Bf4.

13...Be6 14.Qa4

So after Black's failure to take advantage on move 6, he has regained equality here. What should Black play?

14...Bxc3?

This move makes no sense. Black figures that it shatters White's pawns, and allows him to contest the long diagonal with his other Bishop. But why? Black got away with the slow approach with ...c6, plugging up the diagonal, and was still able to get away with the freeing move with his e-pawn after the missed opportunity by White on move 9. Now, if he plays anything "normal", like 14...h6 or 14...Rfe8 or 14...Bf5, he has a fully playable position and the game is equal. Here, he is surrendering his best minor piece simply so he can contest the other Bishop when that Bishop is barely a threat any more. Another case of failing to think about what's left. What's left is no Black dark-squared Bishop! If that piece is going to get traded off, it needs to be with interest. For instance, had White played 13.Bf4, he would get the opposing Bishop for it and White's pawn structure would be compromised. Here, he just hands the dark squares to White.

15.bxc3 Bd5 16.Bc5

White should play 16.Bd4 from the start and not give Black a free developing move for his Rook.

16...Rfe8 17.Bd4 Bxg2 18.Bxf6

White should capture the other Bishop here with 18.Kxg2. Now Black has the advantage again.

18...Be4 19.Bd4 c5 20.Be3 Bc6 21.Qf4

White has offered Black a Queen trade. If Black trades, he gets the better pawn structure. Should he do it?

21...Qxf4?

Once again, the wrong answer was to trade. Sure, White's pawns are slightly compromised, but look at it from the perspective of what's left. White has a weak pawn on c3. How is Black going to put any pressure on it? He's not! How can Black take advantage of the doubled pawns? He can't! Instead, with opposite colored Bishops in a middlegame, Black needs to realize that the initiative is his, and that he should be keeping the Queens on the board and attacking the White King. After 21...Qa5 22.Rd3 Re6 (Note that 22...h6 would not allow 23.Qc4? as 23...Bb5 24.Qxc5 b6 is winning for Black because the a8-Rook is protected, but other than that trick, this move doesn't achieve much) 23.Qc4 b6 (Now 23...Bb5 is a mistake because after 24.Qxc5 b6 25.Qd5, the a8-Rook is hanging) 24.Rd2 Rae8 (threatening 25...Re4) 25.Qd3 Qa4 26.h3 (to stop 26...Qg4) Bb7 27.Kh2 (27.Qd7?? Qe4 -+) 27...Qc6 28.Rg1 Rf6 and Black has a dominating position. For instance, 29.Qd7?? loses to 29...Rxe3!, and so therefore, White is tied down.

22.gxf4 23.Rd6?

Another mistake. 23.a4 was necessary.

23...Ba4!

Now controlling the d1-square, White is going to unable to double on the d-file.

24.Kg2 Rad8

And once again, Black offers a trade that he shouldn't be making. Just because you stop White from doubling on the d-file does not mean it is time to trade more material just to get control of the file. Yes, Black gets control of the d-file, but he has almost nothing left to attack White with. Instead, Black gets a dominating position after 24...Re4 25.Rc1 Bb5 26.Rd2 (26. Kf3 Rc4) 26...Ra4 27.Rcc2 Re8 28.Rb2 Bc4 when Black has a dominating position. Sure it will still take work to win, but these trades that Black has made has done nothing but make White's defense easier to execute. Black should probably have won this game three times by now, and instead, he's running out of options and will soon be forced to surrender half the point to White.

25.Rxd8 Rxd8 26.f3 Kf8 27.Rb1 Ke7 28.Rb2 Ke6 29.Kf2 Rd1 30.c4

Already this is going to be very difficult for Black to win, but if he wants any hope, he has to start advancing the kingside pawns.

30...Kd6?

This does nothing but allow White to force off the last set of Rooks, and what we have is not one of those scenarios where Black can win with the Opposite Colored Bishops, mainly because the King has no way in, unlike, for example, the game I covered in December 2017 (click here to view that article) where the Black King was able to intrude. Here, the King will be stuck behind his pawns, and all subsequent efforts by Black are futile. Yes, White is limited, but there is always a move for him such that zugzwang by Black is impossible.

The rest of the game needs no analysis. Just playing through the moves, you can easily see that White's fortress can't be broken. The slightly better pawns are insufficient to win.

31.Rd2+ Rxd2 32.Bxd2 Bc2 33.Ke3 Ke6 34.Bc3 f6 35.Kd2 Bb1 36.a3 Kf5 37.e3 Ba2 38.Kd3 Bb3 39.Bd2 Ke6 40.e4 f5 41.Bc3 g6 42.Be5 a6 43.Bc7 b5 44.cxb5 axb5 45.Ba5 Bd1 46.Ke3 Kd6 47.Bc3 Bb3 48.Be5+ Kc6 49.Bc3 Bc4 50.Bd2 Bb3 1/2-1/2


For anybody of master strength or above, this would have to be an absolutely painful game to watch, but for those below the master level, this game points out a very common mistake the amateurs make, and that is a complete misjudgment of what pieces to trade and when to trade them. White's entire strategic plan was a complete failure with many inferior moves, but Black's complete misjudgment of when to trade and when not to cost him half the point in a game that he should have won without much trouble at all.

Next we will be looking at Round 3. Until then, good luck in your games.