There is this constant argument by amateurs in chess forums, such as on chess.com, about what one needs to know about the opening. At the level of the elite grandmaster, like Carlsen, Caruana, Nakamura, and So, they are walking databases. They will know the new flavor of the month on move 27 or whatever other move number of the Najdorf Sicilian with 6.Bg5. At the 900 level, there is absolutely no use in even trying to know all of this because by move 5, your opponent will have already made an error and probably violated basic opening concepts.
But what about all the points in between? The so-called "Amateur" level? Those between 1600 and 2200?
Some still seem to be of the belief that they can just continue to do what they did when they were 900. Occupy the center. Don't move the same piece twice. Get castled. Don't throw your queen out too early. The problem with this theory in most cases is that you are merely looking at your own pieces, and often ignoring what your opponent is doing outside of direct threats. Usually these people will lack a positional understanding of what the opponent is trying to accomplish. For example, the following is a very common error made at the amateur level:
After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 O-O, we have the following position:
This is one of the main lines of the Accelerated Dragon. The main difference between it and the regular Dragon is that in the regular Dragon, Black has played ...d6 and has not played either ...O-O or ...Nc6 yet (either move can be delayed to move 8 for Black). But someone that is just trying to rely on opening concepts will make the common mistake of playing 8.f3, on the basis that it is the same basic position. Turns out, 8.f3 is a very common amateur mistake. There are two major differences between this position and the position after 7 moves of the regular Dragon. One is positional, the other is tactical. The positional difference is the whole concept of the Accelerated Dragon. Black wants to get in the move ...d7-d5 in one go rather than spending a move on ...d7-d6 and then later push ...d6-d5 (this is where the concept of "Accelerated" comes from). The tactical issue is that after 8.f3?, the move 8...Qb6! wins material. The b2-pawn is hanging, and after 9.Bb3, the move 9...Nxe4 wins a pawn. If White captures the knight, the knight on d4 hangs. If he tries to be tricky and plays 10.Nf5, then 10...Nxc3 is a huge advantage for Black.
Now some amateurs are of the other extreme. They think they need to be walking databases, and try to outright memorize all the main lines. There are a few major flaws in this approach. The first is that you aren't facing grandmasters that are walking databases themselves. They won't be following your 35-move deep line of the Najdorf Sicilian. They will probably play some oddball move by move 10. Now what? Do you have any clue what to do now? Probably not! But you will go around saying that he should have played such-and-such and then I would have played this and I would have had a great game because I know this 35-move line. The problem is that memorizing is not enough. He might have memorized in the example above that White needed to play 8.Bb3 instead of 8.f3, but what if Black had played 2...g6 instead and entered the Hyper-Accelerated Dragon? Would he have had any idea what to do? Probably not! Taking this approach of simply trying to memorize would be like telling a 4-year old girl to repeat after me: "Whose broad stripes and bright stars", and she says the words. Sure, the 4-year old can say that, but does the 4-year old have any clue that you are referring to the American flag? Probably not. Why? Because all she did is memorize a few words, not actually understand what you are talking about because it was never explained to her.
So this now brings us to the correct conclusion. When studying an opening, you need to be able to understand and explain in words why certain moves are played. What the consequences are of not playing them. If your opponent doesn't play the main lines, is what they played bad? Did they simply play a viable move that isn't as popular? These questions can usually be answered only by understanding the points behind each move.
And so in this article and the next two, we are going to be looking at three games where an error was made in the opening. These are not outright blunders that lead to miniatures, but rather inferior moves that show a lack of understanding of the whole point behind the opening line played. In this article, we will be looking at a line of the English Opening. In the other two, we'll be looking at a Petroff, and a King's Indian Defense.
These games are certainly nothing worth writing home about, and we will see many errors, mostly of a tactical nature, made by Black, but the main illustration is to explain the concept of understanding the opening rather than memorizing it.
With that said, let's take a look at the game.
Tuesday Night Action 49, Round 3
W: Michael Kliber (2009)
B: Patrick McCartney (2070)
English Opening
1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nc6
So the first step to understanding an opening is to understand certain principles and rules, and WHY those rules are there. The first one is that in the early g3-lines of the 1...e5 English, White should answer Black's development of the Queen's knight with the development of his own Queen's knight. Why? We'll see in a moment!
3.Nc3 f5
So this move shows indication that Black intends to play a very aggressive line against the English. This space-gaining move must be broken up quickly, or else Black will get all of his pieces developed behind the pawns and use his advantage in space to grab the initiative. So how does White break this up? Well, the answer is that White would like to play d4 at some point. If he can get Black to advance or trade off the e-pawn, he will weaken his control of a number of dark squares, like d4, f4, etc. So let's imagine that White plays d4 at some point, and Black responds with ...e4. As White, what do we want to do? Where do we want our pieces? Well, d4 is occupied with our pawn, but what about f4? If we could get a Knight to f4, we will likely have a great outpost. Sure, Black can play ...g5, but it weakens his Kingside, and if we think far enough in advance, we can maybe eliminate that g-pawn and get a permanent outpost for our knight.
So our goal is to create an outpost for the Knight on f4. First thing we need to do is get in d4, and get it in quick before Black can completely develop. So we figure that 4.Nf3 is probably necessary. After a normal developing move like 4...Nf6, we can play 5.d4, and let's assume that Black is stubborn and plays 5...e4, and doesn't trade on d4 like we want him to. Now what? Well, we need to get the Knight from f3 to f4. Black will have a pawn on e4, and so anything that goes through d3 is not an option. Also, if the Knight ever blocks the Queen's view of the d4-pawn, the pawn will hang, and so even a move like 6.Nd2 is not an option. How else can we get to f4? Well, we could go Nf3-g1-h3-f4 or Nf3-g5-h3-f4, but here lies a problem. Once our Knight gets to h3, what do we do if Black plays ...g5? What is the easiest way to break up that pawn chain with the pawn on e5? Wouldn't that be pushing the h-pawn? How are we going to do that if our Knight is on h3? Is there another way to get to f4 without going through d2, d3, or h3, three squares that we have determined we don't want to occupy at any point in time on our route to f4? What about Nf3-h4-g2-f4? BINGO! If Black plays ...g5, then once we move the Knight to g2, we have our h4-push to attack the g5-pawn. If Black takes or advances, f4 is ours. If he doesn't, he might have to watch out for tactics on the h-file with the potential of a hanging Rook on h8 after a trade of pawns.
Only NOW do we see the reason behind the concept of answering ...Nc6 with Nc3 in the early g3-lines of the English Opening! Let's say, hypothetically, that the game were to start 1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2, and now Black plays 3...f5! The Bishop on g2 would impede the Knight's path to f4, and White would not be able to achieve his goal. For this reason, 3.Bg2 is actually a positional mistake, but to understand the reason behind this, you have to understand the reasons behind each move in the opening. WHY is 3.Nc3 better than 3.Bg2? They both look like very innocent moves, but we have just seen that a major difference in the outcome can result from those two moves.
In the game, White somehow recognizes this, but then proceeds to take the wrong route with the knight anyway, and gets himself into trouble.
4.Nf3 Nf6 5.d4 e4 6.Ng5?
As explained prior, the correct move here is 6.Nh4!, pressuring f5, intending to answer a future ...g5 with Ng2 and h4. Note that if Black doesn't respond with ...g5 at some point, White can pressure f5 and g6.
6...h6 7.Nh3 g5 8.d5 Ne5 9.b3 d6 10.Bg2 Bg7 11.O-O O-O 12.Qc2
So we can easily assess here that Black has a significant advantage. However, achieving the advantage, and executing it, are two different things. We have already discussed the primary point of the article. The rest of it is going to be observing mistakes by both players throughout the game where Black often times loses his advantage, and White often times fails to capitalize on Black's mistakes.
12...a6
Black's idea during the game was to attempt to take advantage of the dark squares and pry open the Queenside in Benko Gambit fashion. However, Black already has a local piece superiority and a space advantage on the Kingside, and he should be attacking over there. Better is something like 12...Nh5 13.Rb1 Ng6 preparing 14...f4, which virtually forces White to play 14.f4, where after 14...gxf4 15.Nxf4 (the side down in space needs to trade pieces to give the others more room to maneuver) Nhxf4 16.gxf4, Black is better.
13.a4
A complete waste of time. White should take advantage of Black not pressing and break up his wedge immediately with 13.f4 with an equal position.
13...Qe8
Once again, Black should be rearranging his Knights.
14.f4 g4?
Black should capture on f4 with a slight advantage.
15.fxe5 gxh3 16.exf6 hxg2 17.Kxg2 Rxf6 18.Bf4?!
The wrong place to develop the Bishop. Better is 18.Bb2, neutralizing Black's dominance of the long diagonal. White would be slightly better, and this is why Black should have taken instead of advanced on move 14.
18...Bd7 19.Rad1 b5
Once again, Black should be focused on Kingside operations. A move like 19...Rf8, 19...Rg6, or 19...h5 was better.
20.axb5 axb5 21.Ra1
Better was 21.Nxb5 Bxb5 22.cxb5 Qxb5 23.Ra1 Rxa1 24.Rxa1 Qxd5 25.Qxc7 Qxb3 26.Ra8+ Rf8 with dynamic equality. Black has the extra pawn, but White has the initiative.
21...bxc4 22.bxc4 Rf8 23.Rab1
White should trade Rooks on a8. Now we will see Black execute his original plan after White has failed multiple times to take advantage of Black's faulty plan.
23...Ra3 24.Rb3 Ba4 25.Nxa4 Qxa4 26.Rfb1 Ra2 27.Qd1 Qxc4 28.Kf1
So now we have a case of "What Matters Most?", as covered in a previous article.
28...Rfa8?
The most important factor is that Black holds on to the c7-pawn. The root of the pawn chain that stops White from advancing. Therefore, 28...Rf7 or 28...Qc2 was better here and Black would have maintained the advantage.
29.Rb8+?
Missing 29.Rc1! with equality.
29...Rxb8 30.Rxb8+ Kh7 31.Rb1 Qc3 32.Rc1 Ra1 33.Kg2 Rxc1 34.Bxc1 Qd4
Better are 34...Qc4 or 34...Qc5, pressuring the weak d-pawn, or 34...Kg6, relocating the King to its ideal square an stopping Queen intrusions on h5.
35.Qb3 Qa1 36.Bf4 Qe1
This move is pointless as after 37.Qb5, White has equality as the intrusion on d7 disallows Black to use the Bishop in the attack. Better was 36...Bd4. Fortunately for Black, White misses the opportunity once again!
37.Qc4 Qc3 38.Qa6 Qc5?
The most important factor here is time. This move gives White time to play 39.Qc8, which again he fails to do. Better is either 38...Qf6, not letting the Queen in, or else 38...Qb2 or 38...Qc2, both of which are probably stronger than 38...Qf6 as they both pressure the e-pawn, causing White to spend time covering that rather than counter-attacking the Black King.
39.Qa8 Qb5 40.Qa2 Bd4 41.Qd2 Qc5 42.e3 Bg7 43.Kh3 Qc3?
Now is not the time for Black to trade Queens. 43...Kg6 and Black is still better. Now is the time that White should have traded Queens and played for a draw, which shouldn't be too hard to achieve, despite being a pawn down in a same color Bishop scenario.
44.Qd1? Qa1?
Both sides were in time trouble here (White 4 minutes, Black 13 minutes), but that is no excuse to miss 44...Qd3! winning. White can't take in this case as he will have to give up his Bishop to stop the pawn from promoting.
45.Qe2 Qb2?
Black needed to play 45...Qb1, maintaining the threat on f1 if White abandons. Now, 46.Qh5! Qf6 47.Qe8 would have given White equality. Again, Black doesn't factor in what matters most in the position, and is repeatedly giving White opportunities to equalize.
46.Qh5! Qf6 47.Qe2?
Again, 47.Qe8 is equal. Black can't cover all the checks along with the f5 and c7 pawns and at the same time make progress on the White King.
47...Qa1!
Now Black is back where he needs to be, keeping an eye on f1, though it would have been better on b1, stopping Qb5, and so White still has one more chance.
48.g4?
This move is bad, but only if Black finds the right move (There is only ONE right move here!).
48...fxg4+?
The comedy of errors continues. 48...Qf6 is the winning move here. Then after 49.Kg3, only now does Black take on g4.
49.Kxg4?
Taking with the Queen is equal.
49...Kg6
49...Qf6 wins.
50.Kh3 Qg1 51.Bg3 h5
Last chance for White. What's the equalizer?
52.Bh4?
White is lost and Black doesn't look back again. 52.Qb5! was correct.
52...Bh6! 53.Bf2 Qg5 54.Bh4 Qxe3+ 55.Qxe3 Bxe3 56.Bd8 Bb6 57.Kg3 Kf5 58.Kh4 e3! 59.Kxh5 e2 60.Bh4 Ba5 61.Bf2 e1=Q 62.Bxe1 Bxe1 63.h4 Ke5 64.Kg6 Bxh4 0-1
Wow! A game littered with errors! One could argue that this article is two lessons in one. The main point was to explain why understanding an opening is more important than memorizing the moves or merely developing blindly based on opening concepts, but once Black got the advantage as early as move 12, we can see that executing the advantage is just as difficult, if not more difficult, than achieving the advantage in the first place.
In the next article, we will be looking at a similar scenario with another opening, the Petroff Defense, and we will again see the importance of understanding the opening rather than memorizing or ignoring the opening phase of the game.
Until next time, good luck in all of your rated games!
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