Game Analysis: Des Moines Open, Round 4

Hello everyone and welcome again as we continue going through the games from the summer road trip. We are up to round 4 of the Des Moines Open. After two straight games with symmetrical pawn structures, here we will see just the opposite. Rather than a static position, we will see a more dynamic situation where we will see White fail to take advantage of his better position in the early middle game, and attempts to sacrifice a pawn to free his remaining pieces, but in turn, it changes the position from clearly better for White to slightly better for Black, but White's dynamic features are enough to put a slight scare to Black, and when he offers a draw, White correctly realizes the situation, and walks out with half the point. The game itself is fairly short, but we'll also look at what could have happened if Black hadn't offered the draw and continued to play on.


Des Moines Open, Round 4
W: Patrick McCartney (1996)
B: Steven Cusumano (1906)
King's Indian Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3

The KIA vs Sicilian. When playing the King's Indian Attack, one must react to their opponent's moves. For instance, if Black ever plays ...d5, then White needs to put the Knight on d2 to avoid the Queen trade after a swap by Black on e4. Of course, if Black plays ...d5 right now, we directly transpose to the KIA vs French after 4.Nbd2. Otherwise, if Black doesn't play an early ...d5, then what White does again depends on Black. His first goal against these ...d6 lines is to expand in the center once his King is safe via c3 and d4, and if this is prevented by an ...e5 response by Black, then White will usually expand on the Queenside as the long diagonal will by blocked by Black's pawn, especially if Black fianchettos the Bishop. Often times, if Black does not play ...d5, White will want to delay a Nbd2 development of the Knight as the Knight blocks the Queen's view of d4, protecting the pawn and making it easier for White to get d4 in. In the game, we will end up not seeing Nbd2 at all, and actually, the Knight will end up being developed to the more active c3-square.

3...d6 4.g3 Nf6 5.Bg2 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.Re1 Nc6 8.c3

White's position is extremely common and flexible. Black's position comes in different garden varieties. He could have fianchettoed the Dark-Squared Bishop and developed the King's Knight to e7. This puts more pressure on d4, but also can lead to some very weak dark squares around the Black King, especially if the Bishops get traded off. Here, instead, we see Black employing the small center (d6-e6) and developing the minor pieces classically, with the Bishop on e7 instead of g7. This leads to a more solid position with fewer weaknesses, but it does nothing to stop White's d4 push. If Black were to play 8...e5 here, then White's play would shift to the Queenside given that the center is blocked, and White doesn't have to worry about a Black Bishop hitting his Rook on a1, and so moves like b4 and a4 are not an issue for White.

8...Qc7 9.d4 cxd4 10.cxd4 e5

This is the wrong pawn to advance. Black should play 10...d5, which puts immediate pressure on d4, and after 11.e5 Ne4, White still has to prove something as his advantage is only slight.

11.d5 Nb8 12.Nc3 Nbd7 13.Nd2 a6 14.Nb3

This move has little point to it. The c5- and d4-squares are controlled by Black, and a5 is not much of an entry point here. Stronger is 14.a4 when 14...Nc5 15.Re3 Ng4 16.Rf3 leads to an advantage for White. If Black tries to alleviate his problems with 16...f5, he will drop a pawn after 17.h3 Nf6 18.exf5 e4 19.Re3 Bxf5 20.Ndxe4 with no compensation.

14...b6

This move is pointless. What is Black preventing that wasn't already prevented? Black's best move is 14...b5. This goes against general strategy, which says that when the center is completely blocked by pawn chains, you should attack the side of the board in which your pawns point. Black's blocked pawns point toward the Kingside, but none of his pieces are ready to go there. Playing ...f5 will just open up his King. Therefore, Black should play 14...b5, when 15.Bd2 Nc5 16.Qb1 Bd7 17.Nd1 Rfc8 18.Ne3 is roughly equal.

15.Be3 Nc5 16.h3 Bd7 17.Rc1 Qb7 18.Kh2 Rac8 19.f4 Na4

20.fxe5

This move is stronger than 20.Nxa4 Bxa4 21.Nc5 Bxd1 22.Nxb7 Rxc1 23.Bxc1, which is merely equal. Instead, the move played leads to a protected passed pawn for White.

20...dxe5 21.Qe2

Now was the time to play 21.Nxa4 Bxa4 22.Qf3 with advantage. 21.d6 looks tempting, but with correct defense, it only leads to an equal position after 21...Nxc3 22.bxc3 Bd8 23.c4 Rc6 24.c5 Be6 25.Qd2 Bxb3 26.axb3 bxc5 27.Bxc5 Bb6 28.Bxb6 Rxc1 29.Rxc1 Qxb6 30.d7 Rd8 31.Rc8 Kf8 32.Rxd8+ Qxd8 33.Qd6+ Kg8 as the d-pawn can't be held and White has to take either the a-pawn or e-pawn in return for the d-pawn.

The move played in the game also gave Black a chance to equalize.

21...Nxc3

Black equalizes after 21...Bb4 22.Nxa4 Bb5 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Qd1 Bxa4.

22.bxc3 a5 23.c4 a4 24.Nd2 Be8

25.Bg5?

White's idea was simple. He sacrifices a pawn to open up the e4-square to launch his pieces, whether it be the Knight on d2 or the Bishop on g2. That said, White has the space advantage with the better coordinated minor pieces. Black's Rooks aren't even connected. Instead of trying to rush the issue via a Pawn sacrifice, White should instead play 25.c5 Bxc5 26.Bxc5 Rxc5 27.Rxc5 bxc5 28.Rb1 Qe7 29.Nc4 with a clear advantage to White. All of Black's pawns are blocked and his pieces are poorly coordinated.

25...Nxd5 26.exd5 Bxg5 27.Rc2 Qc7 28.Ne4 Be7 1/2-1/2

Black offered a draw here, which White was fairly quick to accept. He mentioned afterwards that he feared the passed d-pawn. White has some compensation for the missing pawn, but probably not a full Pawn's value. Black should probably have played on in this position. However, maintaining any advantage is extremely difficult here, and so maybe you can't blame Black for offering the draw, but it is White that has to find the right move. After something like 29.Rd1 Rd8 30.d6! Bxd6 31.Nxd6 Rxd6 32.Qxe5 Rd7 33.Qxc7 Rxc7 34.Rb1 b5 35.c5, the position is equal.


Probably the biggest thing to pick up from this game is that when you have a clear advantage, like White did going into his 25th move, it is best not to rush the attack and milk it for what it's worth. Giving up the pawn to open up the e4-square to try to conduct a quick attack on the King is not the way to go. Take the slower approach and take advantage of the positional factors in the position that are in your favor rather than trying to rush the attack on the opponent's King. That should only be done when the opponent has counterplay as well and it becomes more of a race.

This concludes the analysis of the fourth round of the Des Moines Open. Next time, we will probably see what was the most exciting game of the road trip where both sides had the opportunity to win in an extremely wild game, but only one of them actually did win. Check in next time to see whether that was my opponent or myself.