Saturday, March 10, 2018

The French Connection: Volume 2

Hello again everyone. Welcome to the second edition of The French Connection. Those of you that read the first edition will recall that I mentioned I'd be mixing GM and amateur games in this column. Here is the first one you will see between two amateurs in the preliminary round of the 2017 Electronic Knights Championship, and email-based correspondence chess tournament based in the United States open to players of any correspondence rating or unrated.

First, a word on how the tournament works. Over the course of the calendar year, every seven players that sign up make up a preliminary bracket. You may enter a maximum of ten brackets per year. Each bracket consists of seven players where you play one game against each of them simultaneously at a time control of 10 moves in 30 days. For every 10 moves you make, you gain 30 more days on the clock. The seven players are listed in order by rating, numbered 1 to 7. Player 1 then gets White against Player 2, and then everything alternates, so Player 1 will get Black against Player 3, White against Player 4, Black against Player 5, White against Player 6, and Black against Player 7. Then, Player 2 has Black against Player 1, White against Player 3, Black against Player 4, etc. This continues all the way down to player 7. So everyone is playing three games as White and three games as Black. The object is to score a minimum of 4 1/2 points. If you score 4 1/2 points or more in the Preliminary Round, you automatically advance to the Semi-Finals. All players with 4 1/2 or more move on, even if you don't win your bracket. If nobody scores 4 1/2 or more, all players with 4 advance. Once seven players are advanced to the Semi-Finals, the same procedure as the Preliminary Round occur, and those with 4 1/2 or more will advance to the Finals, and the total weighted score of all three rounds, with finals weighted heavier than semi-finals and semi-finals weighted heavier than preliminaries, determines the winner of that year's Email Correspondence Champion.

So as you can see, winning is critical here, and resorting to too many draws is not an option.

The featured game shown below is the "2-7" match up in one of the preliminary brackets. It is a game featuring the Steinitz Variation of the French Defense, and Black actually starts out following the same line that I recommend in the repertoire I wrote in the fall (Click Here to go back and reference the article if you wish). However, a superior positional understanding of the position combined with a few minor inaccuracies along with a blunder by Black does him in.


2017 Electronic Knights Championship, Preliminary Round
W: Patrick McCartney (1970)
B: Christopher Carlson (1242)

1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6

The move I recommend for Black in the repertoire referenced earlier. Here I see myself having to go up against my own recommendation!

8.Qd2 b5 9.dxc5 Bxc5



A few additional rules that are different about correspondence than over the board. While an engine is not allowed for these games, the use of databases and books and other study material are fully allowed, unlike over the board events, where you can't just start popping open a book on the French Defense once your opponent makes a move you don't expect. So disparaging ratings like this in a correspondence game are not the same as over the board. In an over the board event, someone rated 728 points higher will usually win extremely easily. Here, the onus is actually on White. Because databases and books can be used, White can't afford to just continuously mimic the main line all the way to the end. In essence, what you end up doing then is just copycatting a GM game that ended in a draw. Obviously neither player will copy a loss for their side. That said, if we were to copy a game that follows the main line all the way to the end, like Li Riemersma (2430) - Igor Glek (2590), Bussum 1995, we would simply run through the moves 10.Bxc5 Nxc5 11.Qf2 Qb6 12.Bd3 b4 13.Ne2 a5 14.O-O Ba6 15.Kh1 Ne7 16.Rad1 Na4 17.Qxb6 Nxb6 18.b3 and have a dry, dull, equal game, in which that game continued 18...Nd7 19.Kg1 Nc5 20.Kf2 Ne4+ 21.Ke1 Nf5 22.Rc1 Ne3 23.Rg1 h5 24.Bxe4 dxe4 25.Ng5 Bb7 26.Ng3 Ke7 27.h4 Nd5 28.N3xe4 Nxf4 29.Nd6 f6 30.Nh3 fxe5 31.Nxb7 Rhc8 32.Nxf4 exf4 33.g3 f3 34.Rf1 Ra7 35.Rxf3 Rxb7 36.c4 Rc5 37.Ke2 Rd7 38.Rcf1 Rd4 39.Ke3 Rg4 40.Rf7+ Kd6 41.Rd1+ Kc6 42.Kf3 g5 43.Re1 Kd6 44.Rd1+ Ke5 45.Rh7 Rd4 46.Rxd4 Kxd4 47.Rxh5 and SHOCK! A draw was agreed!

With White being 728 rating points higher and needing 4 1/2 points to advance to the second round, this would be the equivalent to defeat for White. Therefore, with the ball clearly in White's court, he needs to figure out some way to deviate "soundly" from the main lines. The earlier the change, the more likely it is to work. Think of it this way. If you play the main line 16 moves deep, there may be 265 games in the database with that same position, and if you try to deviate on move 17, there is a greater likelihood that the move you played will still show up somewhere. This is why I decided to go with a less popular move here at move 10. This could also have been done back on move 5 or move 9. What we will see by deviating early like this is both sides being on their own at an earlier moment in the game, and brings more of the "chess" aspect into the game. Therefore, rather than 10.Bxc5, which was played 570 times in the 365chess.com online database, White played ...

10.Ne2

A moved played 34 times instead! Now to do something like this, you need to know the idea behind it. White's idea is simple. In these French structures where White has taken on c5 rather than Black taking on d4, the d4-square often becomes an outpost for a White Knight. It attacks key squares that tactics can appear at any time, like e6, and at the same time, it blocks the d5-pawn, further hemming in the Light-Squared Bishop of Black's. In a dream situation, White will get this down to an endgame where all he has is this good knight and some pawns against Black's bad Light-Squared Bishop and pawns. So the re-route of this Knight to d4 actually makes a lot of sense.

10...Qb6

This move by Black is correct. Black does not want to trade on e3, accelerating White's development. Remember the old adage that the initiator of any trade always loses a tempo. Therefore, Black develops a piece and forces White to take him rather than trading on e3.

11.Bxc5 Nxc5 12.Ned4 Ne4 13.Qe3 Bb7 14.Bd3

So now we have reached a position that is only seen four times in the 365chess online database referenced earlier. A far cry below the 570 games we had earlier. Even better, all four games see a different move from Black here. 14...Nxd4 and 14...O-O-O both lead to wins for White. That said, this does not mean that those two moves are bad and they do not win for White. It is other "stuff" that happened later in those games that decided it for White. The other two moves played in this position are 14...Na5 and 14...O-O, and Black did exactly as expected, playing one of the two moves that lead to a draw.

14...O-O 15.O-O Rdf8

Thus far, we have copied a game played in a Women's Championship in 2007 in Zlatibor between Inna Gaponenko and Jovana Vojinovic, which of course also ended in a draw. That said, this is the only game in that database that shows the same position. In some ways, I wonder if Black decided to play this last move on the basis of this game. The reason I say is that it seems as though it would make more sense to develop a Rook to his semi-open c-file rather than the d-file, despite the fact that it was played in the game in Zlatibor. The only thing that I can think of here is that Black is probably under the assumption that White is going to take on e4, opening up the d-file for Black, and then this move would make all the sense in the world!



Now in that game, White played the move 16.a3. I don't like that move for White at all. What purpose does it serve? White's attack is not on the Queenside. All this move appears to do is give Black a lever, and actually, in the game played in Zlatibor, Black responded to 16.a3 with 16...b4! and a draw occurred on move 29 as Black built a barricade on the Kingside to not allow White to break through.

So instead, I'm looking for a better move here. If I can avoid the move 16.a3, both players are now on their own. Seeing that Black can play the move ...g6 at almost any time, I decided to look deeply into White's pawn lever, 16.f5. The first question to ask yourself is, what are the consequences of f5? Well, the biggest one appears to be the weakening of the e-pawn. However, with deeper analysis and calculation, one can figure out that Black has no way to attack e5 fast enough to win the pawn outright. Grabbing the pawn results in the loss of a pawn elsewhere. As it turns out, the best Black can do here is equalize with 16...exf5 17.Nxf5 Qxe3+ 18.Nxe3 Nc5 19.Nf5 g6 20.Nd6 Nxe5 21.Nxe5 Rxd6 22.Rxf7 Nxd3 23.cxd3 Re6 24.Rxb7 Rxe5 25.a4 where White can maybe claim the tiniest of an advantage, but for all intents and purposes, the position is drawn. That said, I can play a move that mimics a game already played that results in a draw if Black simply mimics, or I can force Black to have to think on his own, and play my idea.

16.f5!

The exclamation mark is not that the move is spectacular, but the idea behind why White played this move is why it got an exclamation mark, where Black is now left to his own resources. It should come as no surprise that Black does start making a few inaccuracies here.

16...Nxd4

And here is the start of it. As mentioned already, Black can maintain equality with 16...exf5 and following the line given in the notes after Black's 15th move. Instead, Black makes what I felt was a bad trade. Black is trading off two of his better pieces. White had superfluous Knights on d4 and f3, and the Queen was somewhat passive on e3 defending the Knight on d4. Once again, in my opinion, White wants to avoid c3 if at all possible as it once again gives Black a hook, and encourages ...b4 from Black. On the flip side, Black's Queen and c6-Knight are putting pressure on White's center and in some ways tying White down. So why would you trade these pieces off. Keep in mind, with the superfluous Knights, Black isn't really trading the Queen and Knight for White's Queen and d4-Knight, but rather, the Queen and White's more passive f3-Knight!

On the flip side, Black can't afford to play a slow move like 16...Rac8 as then 17.f6! is a major problem for Black. Therefore, I think 16...exf5 is compulsory. That said, what Black did here is not losing yet, just inferior as he doesn't need to trade off his better pieces and result in a worse double Rook ending as can be seen in the analysis to Black's 18th move.

17.Qxd4

With White's Queen passive, he's more than happy to trade them off. Black has no good way to avoid it as he has to also worry about both 18.f6 and 18.fxe6 if he retreats the Queen.

17...Qxd4+ 18.Nxd4 Nc5

I don't like this move at all for Black, again trading off the wrong set of pieces. Here Black is trying to trade off his Knight for the Bishop on d3, which White will gladly take as it leads to a good Knight versus bad Bishop scenario, a theme that we will see many times in the French, and a theme that Black is almost always looking to avoid.



19.b4!

Regardless as to whether or not Black actually follows through with taking the Bishop, this is a strong move. With the pawns on b4 and e5, and the Knight on d4, White is, for all intents and purposes, blockading the position, a theme more common in the Advance Variation, and doing everything he can to keep Black's light-squared Bishop out of play. In addition, a little imagination is needed. This move looks like it gives away the c4-square to Black. However, the moment that Black takes the Bishop on d3, he won't have a backwards c-pawn, but rather, that c-pawn will capture the Knight on d3, controlling c4. Sure, the d3-pawn will be isolated, but it will be shielded from any attacks on the d-file as Black still has his pawn on d5. These little nuances dealing with control of certain squares and how easy or hard it is to get to a weakness are all extremely important and very close attention to detail is critical.

19...Nxd3 20.bxc3 exf5

Black finally takes the pawn that should have been taken without trading three sets of pieces first.

21.Nxf5 f6

Another error by Black. Black needs to worry about getting his pieces active, even if it's at the cost of a pawn. Better is 21...Bc8 22.Nd6 f6 23.Rae1 fxe5 24.Rxe5 Ra7 25.Nxc8 Rxc8 26.Rxd5. Yes, White is up a pawn, but the fact that it's isolated and the nature of the position should still give Black some drawing chances. There is a ton of room for White to error as well.

In the game, the Bishop will sit passively on b7 for its entirity.

22.exf6 gxf6 23.Rac1

These small advantages for White are really building up. The trade on f6 has resulted in an extra pawn island for Black. Combine this with the Good Knight versus Bad Bishop, the developing of the last piece with tempo as Rc7 is a threat and hence gains time for White, and other small nuances, and White has a borderline theoretically won position.

23...Rd7 24.Nd4

Getting out of the way of the Rook to attack f6 and at the same time, continue to block the d-pawn and keeping the Black Bishop passive.

24...Kf7 25.Rf3

Always observe the consequences of every move. Black's last move covers f6, but leaves the h7-pawn unprotected.

25...Rc8 26.Rcf1

White has no interest in trading as he is "virtually" playing up a piece on the Kingside as the Bishop on b7 is out of play. Note that this move also gains a tempo as the f6-pawn is now threatened.

26...Rd6

Necessary, but consider the consequences of that move. Moving the King to a place like e6 no longer guards the h-pawn if the h-pawn is ever attacked as there is no Rook on the 7th rank any more to guard it. Therefore, White's next move is self explanatory.

27.Rh3



Black has three sensible moves that guard the h7-pawn (27...Kg7?? 28.Nf5+ drops an entire Rook). Black proceeds to make the worst move of the three.

27...Kg6?

This loses material by force.

28.Nf5 Rd7 29.Rh6+

In the very beginning of the first of the two articles on strategy (Click Here to view it) published in February, we saw the exact same theme of mating the King with two Rooks and a Knight in almost identical fashion that we would have seen here had Black gone 29...Kg5??. White mates by force after 30.h4+ Kg4 31.Ne3+ Kg3 32.Rf3 Mate! Therefore, Black is forced to surrender the h-pawn.

29...Kf7 30.Rxh7+ 1-0

Black threw in the towel as both 30...Ke8 31.Re1+ and 30...Ke6 31.Nd4+ Kd6 32.Rxf6+ are completely winning for White.


This article addressed a number of items:
  1. When you are studying an opening, whether it be the French Defense like this game was or any other opening, make sure that you truly understand the general ideas, and not just memorize reams of lines. Note what it took for White to win this game. Did he win because of some huge opening novelty? Did he re-discover chess and suddenly prove the French Defense is refuted? Absolutely Not! White won this game because he had a better understanding of the standard themes in the French and executed them. No one theme, like the Knight blockade on d4 or the pawn lever on f5 actually won the game for White, but he applied them, and Black's failure to react properly won White the game. Never was White's position inferior, but for the majority of the game, the position was close to equal. I will reiterate. You do not succeed by memorizing reams of lines. You succeed by understanding basic principles that pertain to the opening played, and that is exactly what White did here.
  2. Creativity goes a long way in chess. I cannot speak for what specifically went on in Black's mind during the game, but it had appeared to me that Black was possibly reliant on the database as it was only after I played a move that was specifically outside the box that Black started playing inferior moves himself. I saw Black's 15th move as being a little odd, and White's 16th move in the game between Inna Gaponenko and Jovana Vojinovic as possibly not being best, and used basic strategic principles to play moves that maybe a computer sees as being no different than the move played in the game in Zlatibor, but the fact that it made Black think that left greater room for error and in the end it paid off.
  3. Those that don't play correspondence chess along with possibly those that play but are less experienced might think that it is all about who has the bigger database when in reality, it's still all about who can throw off the opponent that wins the game. Don't always assume that all equal positions are drawn, either. Both sides still have to figure out the position on their own, and the more you understand about the middle game ideas used in the opening currently being played, the more likely you are to succeed.

Til next time, good luck in all of your games, especially your French games! :-)

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