Annotated Game

N.N. - Lassila, T. (B19 - Caro-Kann, Classical)

1.e4 c6

The Caro-Kann is my standard defense against 1. e4, but I often vary depending on the opponent. Here I happened to know my opponent was a fierce tactician who wasn't afraid to sacrifice for an attack, so I decided to play a more closed and positional opening just to be safe.

2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6

Continuing on the main line. White is building a small but sure edge.

7.Nf3 Nd7 8.Bc4 e6

This continuation is rarely seen. White wants to put immediate pressure on my kingside, but of course I'm not going to castle into her attack. Instead I consolidate my king position in the centre and then seek counterplay on the queenside.

By not exchanging light-square bishops White hopes to exploit my "problem bishop", but for now it's quite comfortably placed on g6.

9.Be3 Ngf6

Here 9...Qb6 10. h5 Bh7 11. O-O Qxb2?! 12. Rb1 Qc3 13. Qe2 is dangerous for Black since I can no longer safely castle on the queenside due to the open b-file. White also wins a lot of time chasing my queen around.

10.Qe2 Qa5+

I try to position my queen to excert pressure on b2 and to lure White's bishop off of e3 to the less useful square d2. Had I played conventionally, White gets a good position after 10...Bd6 11.O-O-O O-O 12.Ne5.

11.Bd2 Qb6 12.O-O-O Bd6

The queen's manouevre has lost some time but it has accomplished one thing: to get my opponent to castle queenside. This is according to my plans as it's easier to get counterplay if the White king is not huddled on g1 behind all those pawns.

13.Be3 Qc7

An alternative was 13.Ne5 Bxe5 14.dxe5 Nd5 15.h5 Bh7. Here I can get into some trouble by castling too freely. After 13...O-O-O?! 14.d5 c5 15.dxe6 fxe6 16.Bxe6 Bxg3 17.Bxd7+ Nxd7 18.fxg3 by king is pretty unsafe and this kind of position against this particular opponent did not seem enticing.

14.h5 Bh7

White has amassed lots of space in the center and now I must simply wait and see where she attacks, then hopefully bring my king out to safety.

15. Rhe1 O-O

Finally conceding to the kingside hoping that my control on the squares b5, d5 and f5 is enough to deter any White attacking plans. As we can soon see, the attack is comingly rapidly. I can win the pawn at f2 at any time, but this would be suicide as parting with the dark-squared bishop would a create massive vulnerability in my position.

16.Kb1 Rfe8

Bxe6 was a constant threat, though it doesn't quite work yet. For example 16...a5 17.Bxe6? fxe6 18.Bxh6 gxh6 19.Qxe6+ Kh8 20.Nf5 Bb4 21.c3 Rae8 and the attack has stalled, Black wins.

17.Qd2 Kf8

Now White's plan of attack is clear, and involves a piece sacrifice on h6. I don't want my king to get stuck on h8 so His Majesty beats a hasty retreat.

Position after 17...Kf8

18.Ne5! Nxe5 19.dxe5 Bxe5

Pawn sacrifice to open some lines before the attack. Very nice play from White here.

20.Bxh6 gxh6?!

Here I did consider the defense 20...Red8 21.Bxg7+ Kxg7 22.Qg5+ Kh8 23.Rxd8+ Rxd8 24.h6 Ne8, but didn't like the king in the corner. Maybe this would have been a better alternative, though.

21. Qxh6+ Ke7 22.Bd3? Bxd3?

Mutual blunders in a sharp position. Absolutely winning was 22...Bf4! and Black nets the queen for two bishops, due to 23. Qg7?? Rg8. Missing my opportunity I must now struggle on bitterly to save my king.

23.Rxd3 Bxg3 24.fxg3 Rad8?

Or 24.Rxg3 Rh8 25.Qe3 Rxh5. My move was a mistake, which gives White concrete chances to win. Much better was 24...Rh8 25.Rxe6+ Kxe6 26.Re3+ Kd7 27.Qxf6 Rae8 28.Qxf7+ Kd8 29.Qf6+ Kc8 and Black wins.

25.Rf3 Nd5 26.Qg5+ Kd7

Here it gets extremely tricky, but it appears that after 26.c4! Rc8 27.cxd5 cxd5 28.Rxf7+ Kxf7 29.Qh7+ Kf6 30.Qg6+ Ke7 31. Rxe6+ Kf8 32.Rf6+ Ke7 33.Rf7+ Kd8 34.Qg5+ Re7 35.Rf8+ Kd7 36.Qxd5+ Qd6 37.Qxd6+ Kxd6 38.Rxc8 White gains a winning endgame with precise play. After 26.Qg5+ if 26...f6 then 27.Qg7+ Kd6.

27. Rxf7+ Re7 28.Rxe7+ Nxe7 29.Qf6 Qd6 30.g4 Kc7 31.a3 Ng8 32.Qxe6 Qxe6 33. Rxe6 Kd7

Enticing White to play Rg6 when I have calculated that Black can just and just hold the draw.

34.Rg6 Ne7 35.Rg7 Rg8

Computers get absolutely crazy here, because they think the white pawns are unstoppable. But I calculated that with good defense, the white king can be prevented from penetrating to the queenside.

36.Rxg8 Nxg8

Position after 36...Nxg8

As a reward for her fierce attack, White has three passed pawns for my knight. Ordinarily such a fight would be heavily weighed against the poor knight, but here the distance of the white king allows for some hopes of drawing with precise play.

37.g5 Ke6 38.h6 Ne7

A key position. Now the knight can stop all three pawns, leaving my king to duel with his counterpart on the white side.

39.g4 Ke5 40.Kc1 a5

Here we have reached an almost study-like position where the lines go 10-15 moves deep. An alternative plan is to gobble up the kingside pawns while White makes a beeline to the queenside. Play might go:

40...Kf4!? 41.h7 Ng6 42.Kd2 Kxg4 43.Kc3 Kxg5 44.Kc4 b6 45.b4 Ne5+ 46. Kd4 Nf7 47.a4 Kh6 48.b5 c5+ 49.Kd5 Kxh7 50.Kc6 Ne5+ 51.Kb7 Kg7 52.Kxa7 Nc4 53.Kb7 Kf6 54.Kc6 Ke5 55.a5 bxa5 56.Kxc5 Nd6 and draws, but the position at Black's 40th move deserves to be studied more deeply.

41.Kd2 Ke4 42.Kc3 b5 43.b4 a4 44.Kd2 Ng6 45.h7 Kd4

Locking my knight in place - or so my opponent thinks. However the knight still controls the squares c4, d3, e2 and g2 by driving the white king away from those squares with check. An important subtlety that I later employ to my advantage.

46.c3+ Ke4 47.Ke2 Kf4 48.Kd3 Ke5 49.c4 Nf4+ 50.Kc3 Ng6 51.cxb5 cxb5 52.Kd3 Kd5

The position is now a dead draw. However, out of courtesy (I offered a draw on move 37), I wait for my opponent to offer the draw and what happens next astounds both players.

53.Kc3 Ke4 54.Kd2 Kd4 55.Kc2 Kc4 56.Kb2? Kd3

But this is all wrong! The only move was the simple 56. Kd2, as Black goes wrong with 56...Kb3? 57. Ke3 Kxa3 58. Ke4 Kxb4 59. Kf5 Ne7+ 60. Kf6 Nd5+ 61. Ke6 Nf4+ 62. Kf7 a3 63. h8=Q and the Black pawn never reaches the second rank. Therefore he must maintain opposition with 56...Kd4. If White tries to route through the king side Black should still just draw with:

56...Kd4 57. Ke2 Ke4 58. Kf2 Kf4 59. Ke2 Kxg4 60. Ke3 Kxg5 61. Kd4 Kh6 62. Kc5 Kxh7 63. Kxb5 Kg7 64. Kxa4 and draws.

Now it's a simple job of shouldering the white king into the corner and to the victor go the spoils. For a moment I considered conceding a draw to my opponent as a recognition for entertaining play, but didn't like the idea of giving away points for my team. Caissa must have wept that night.

57.Kc1 Kc3 58.Kb1 Kb3 59.Ka1 Kxa3 60. Kb1 Kxb4 61.Ka2 Ka5 62.Kb2 b4 0-1

A tragic finale to a beautiful game that in all fairness should have ended in a draw.

Annotated Game

Lassila, T. - Samy, O.A. (E62 - King's Indian, Fianchetto)

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 g6

I seldom get the pleasure of playing against a KID setup. How the tides of chessic fashion sweep even the lower ranks of players! Well, nevermind all that, the promise is now of an interesting game with swashbuckling and deep complications.

3.c4 Bg7 4.g3 O-O

The fianchetto system puts pressure on e4 and d5 and thus attempts to prevent Black from chipping away at the center.

5.Bg2 d6 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.O-O e5

Here 7. d5 is also possible, preventing 7...e6/e5. After 7...Na5 8. b3 (8. Nd2?! c6 and Black will soon achieve equality as the pawn center has been compromised and the White pieces are stepping on each others' toes) and White scores well from here mainly due to the lead in development and the temporarily misplaced knight on a5.

Cheski points out Black has 8...Nxd5!?, when 9.Nxd5 Bxa1 10.Bd2 c6 11.Ne3 Bg7 12.b4 Nxc4 13. Nxc4 gives two pieces for a rook and two pawns and White is perhaps slightly better. Unclear was 11. Nxe7+ in Manninen-Sammalvuo, Vantaa 1992:

11.Nxe7+ Qxe7 12.Qxa1 Re8 13.O-O b6 14.Bg5 Qf8 15. Nd2 h6 16.Be3 Bd7 17.Ne4 Rxe4 18.Bxe4 Re8 19.Bg2 Bf5 20.Qd4 c5 21.Qd2 g5 22.Rd1 Re6 23.Bd5 Rg6 24.f3 Bc8 25.Qd3 Kg7 26.Bd2 Nb7 27.Bc3+ Kh7 28.g4 f5 29.Bxb7 1-0

Black quickly siezes the opportunity to play e5 when permitted to do so.

8.d5 Ne7

Perhaps better is the idea of recycling the knight to d7 via b8. Black can afford to waste some time here due to the closed center, but he must hurry to get in the vital f5 shot. The problem is that after 9...Nd7 10.Be3 f5 11.Ng5, White stands better.

9.e4 Ne8 10.Ne1 f5

The knight retreats to open up the bishop as well as relocating to a more active square. For example after 10. b4 f5 11. Ng5 h6 12. Ne6 Bxe6 13. dxe6 Black has no problems as the pawn center has vanished and the Black pieces will soon leap into action.

11.Nd3 Nf6 12.Bg5 h6

The bishop has fairly meaningless short term prospects while the knights are strong in closed positions. A trade is therefore a good idea here.

13.Bxf6 Bxf6 14.f4 exf4

Planning to open up the f-file and start something against the Black king now that the pawns around his majesty have been pushed.

15.Nxf4 Be5 16.exf5 Bxf5 17.Qd2 Kh7

Karpov - Gelfand, Seville 1994 went:

17...c6 18.Kh1 Qb6 19.Rae1 Rf7 20.Ne6 Bxe6 21.dxe6 Rxf1+ 22.Rxf1 Nf5 23.Bh3 Qe3 24.Qxe3 Nxe3 25.Rf7 g5 26.Rxb7 g4 27.Bg2 Nxg2 28.Kxg2 Re8 29.e7 a5 30.Rc7 Kf7 31.Rxc6 Bxc3 32.bxc3 Rxe7 33.Kf2 Re4 34.Rxd6 Rxc4 35.Rd3 Ke6 36.Ke2 Ke5 37.Re3+ Kd5 38.Kd3 Ra4 39.Re2 Ra3 40.Rf2 Ra4 41.c4+ Kc5 42.Rf5+ Kc6 43.Kd4 Rxa2 44.Rf6+ Kb7 45.Rxh6 Rb2 46.Kc3 Rb1 47.Rh5 Ka6 48.Rh6+ Kb7 49.c5 a4 50.Rh7+ Kc6 51.Ra7 Kxc5 52.Rxa4 Rh1 53.Rxg4 Rxh2 54.Kd3 Kd5 55.Ke3 Ke5 56.Rf4 Rh8 57.Kf3 Ra8 58.Rf7 Ke6 59.Rf4 Ke5 and a draw was agreed.

Black prepares to bring his knight to f6 through g8. The king also provides needed protection for the pawn on h6 being x-rayed by the queen.

18.Rae1 Bxf4

Better was 18.Ne6 Bxe6 19.dxe6 Rf6 (19...c6 20.Rxf8 Qxf8 21.Rf1 Bf6 22.Ne4 Ng8 23.Qxd6 Qxd6 24.Nxd6 Rb8) 20.Rxf6 Bxf6 21.Bxb7 Rb8 22.Rf1 Qh8 and White is much better, if not winning.

19.Rxf4 Ng8 20.Kh1 Nf6

Prophylactics against c6 followed with Qb6+.

21.Bf3 Qd7

Preventing Bg4. Here I spent quite some time pondering the future of White's king position. The light squares are quite weak and the g4-square can potentially act as a nasty outpost from which to conduct an attack. Therefore...

Position after 21...Qd7

22.Rxf5!? gxf5

Here, both players stepped into a pothole of tactical misevaluation. Better is 22...Qxf5!, when the dangerous looking 23. Re7+ is answered with 23...Kg8 and now White goes terribly wrong with 24. Qxh6? when 24...Qxf3+ simply wins. Were the king not on h1, White would actually win in this line, but somehow both players must have missed this check in their analysis. Now the game takes a turn into a wild tactical melee.

23.Qd3 Rae8

Preventing f4.

24.Rf1 Ne4!?

Giving up control of the e-file to concentrate efforts on winning the f-pawn. Black decides to give it up voluntarily to open the f-file for his rooks. This also allows me to exchange the up-to-now unemployed knight.

Also possible was 24.Re6 Ng8 (24...Rxe6 25.Qxf5+ Kh8 26.dxe6 Qg7) 25.Bg4 Qg7 26.Bxf5+ Kh8 27.Rxe8 Rxe8 28.Be6 and unclear compensation.

25.Nxe4 fxe4 26.Bxe4+ Kh8

A wildly unclear position where both kings are like sitting ducks. Black should be OK provided he can avoid the complications.

27.Qd4+ Qg7 28.Rxf8+ Rxf8

The simplifications are forced after Qd4+, but it is hard to find anything better due to the threats against the white king. Similarly after 27. Bf5 Qg7 28. b4 Re5 29. Be6 Rxf1+ 30. Qxf1.

29.Qd2 Qf6 30.Bd3 Kg7 31.Kg2 Qf3+ 32.Kh3 Qf2

32...Re8! with the idea Re5 and Rh5# is very strong. Black is winning here.

33.Qc3+ Rf6 34. a4 h5

The noose is tightening.

35.Qc1 Qf3 36.Qg5+ Kf7 37.Bh7 Qg4+!?

Last ditch effort to obtain counterplay against the black king. Black is within a hair from winning here. Instead black opts to give another pawn in order to simplify into an endgame with two pawns for the exchange. Certainly Black should take home the point here but this turns out to be trickier than he imagined.

It turns out not much better is 37...Qf1+ 38.Kh4 Qxc4+ 39.Kh3 Qf1+ 40.Kh4 Qf2 41.h3 Ke7 42.Kxh5 Qe2+ 43.g4 Qe5 44.h4 Qxg5+ 45.Kxg5 and draws, but maybe Black has an improvement somewhere.

38.Qxg4 hxg4+ 39.Kxg4 Rf2 40.h4 Rxb2

The only plan for White here is to keep pushing the king side pawns.

41.h5 Rb4 42.Kf5?! Rxc4

42. Bd3 Rxa4 43. Kg5 first would have kept the pawn but the result is probably the same anyway.

43.g4 Kg7 44.Bg6 Rd4 45.g5 Rxd5+ 46.Kf4 Rd4+ 47.Kf5 Rd5+ 48.Kf4 Ra5?

Better is 48...Rd4+ followed by Rxa4, as after 49. Kf5 Rxa4 50. h6+ Kg8 White can make no progress and the black pawns will march to victory. Now it's a draw since Black can't permit the white king to penetrate on g6: 49. Bc2 Rc5 50. h6+ Kh8 51. Bf5 Rc4+ 52. Kg3 Rc5 53. Kg4 Rc4+ 54. Kh5 Rc5
55. Kg4 Rc4+ 56. Kh5 and draws.

49.Bc2 Rc5 50.Bd3 c6

The placement of the bishop is vital in guarding f1.

51.h6+ Kh8 52.g6?

Position after 52. g6

52...Rc1??

Too eager to rush my pawns I almost lose it. After the forced 52...Rh5 Black is again winning as after 53. h7 Rh4+ 54. Kf5 Rxa4 55. Kf6 Rg4 56. Bf5 Rg1 no progress can be made and the black pawns will start marching again. To my good fortune, my opponent takes a wrong turn and suddenly finds himself in a hopelessly lost endgame!

53.Kg5 Rg1+ 54.Kf6 Rxg6+

There is no other way to prevent mate. The tables have been turned and Black is fighting for his life. As Cheski points out, faster wins 53.g7+ Kg8 54.Kg5 Kf7 55.Bg6+ Kg8 56.Bf5 Kf7 57.Be6+ Kxe6 58.g8=Q+.

55.Bxg6 a5 56.Bd3! d5

Only move that wins. Of course the idea is that on b5 comes Bxb5 and after cxb5 axb5, it's White who queens with check. Thefore Black tries to maneuver his king out of the corner but it's now too late.

57.Ke6 Kg8

57. Ke5 is maybe safer but White wins anyway after an exciting pawn race: 57...d4 58. Kf7! puts Black in zugzwang, and after 58...b5 59. Bxb5 cxb5 60. axb5 d3 61. b6 d2 62. b7 d1=Q 63. b8=Q+ Black won't enjoy his queen for very long.

58.h7+ Kg7 59.Ke5! Kh8

Diagonal opposition in action.

60.Kf6 b6 61.Kg6 1-0

His majesty has been entombed, Black is in zugzwang and must soon play b5. For example 61...c4 62. Bc4 c5 63. Bb5 c4 64. Bxc4 d3 65. Bxd3 and wins. Ironically the bishop is just enough to stop three pawns and the a-pawn that Black neglected to capture ends up costing him the game.

Solution To Problem Of The Day 2004-12-08

(Nunn - Xie Jun, 1995) 1. Rxh6! gxh6 2. Qg6+ Kh8 3. Qxh6+ Kg8 4. Qe6+ Kg7 5. Bxe7 and wins.

Problem Of The Day

White to play and win

Solution To Problem Of The Day 2004-12-07

(Nunn-Seirawan, 1982) 1. Rxf7+! Kxf7 2. Rf1+ and now:

2...Ke8 3. Qxh8+ Ke7 4. Qxa8
2...Kg6 3. Bc2+ Kh6 4. Rf6+ Kg7 5. Qg5#
2...Kg8 3. Qg5+ Kh7 4. Bc2#
2...Ke7 3. Qg7+ Kd8 4. Qxh8+ Kc7 5. Qxa8

Problem Of The Day

White to play and win

Solution To Problem Of The Day 2004-12-06

1... Qe3 2. Qc3 Bxh3! 3. gxh3 (3. Rg1 Bg4+ 4. Be2 Qxe2#) 3...Qf3+ 4. Ke1 Rf8 5. Qb4 (other moves lead to mate even faster) 5...Qe3+ 6. Kd1 Rxf1+ 7. Rxf1 Rxf1+ 8. Qe1 Qxe1#

Problem Of The Day

Black to play and win

Solution To Problem Of The Day 2004-12-02

(Bu Xiangzhi-Normund Miezis, 2004)1. Bxe6! Qc7(1...fxe6 2. Qh5+ g6 3. Qe5 Rg8 4. Qxe6+)2. Bd7+ Kxd7 3. Rd1+ Kc6 4. Qc3+ Kb6 5. Be3+ Bc5 6. Rd5 Qe7 7. a4 Bxe3 8. Qxe3+ Kc7 9. axb5 and White wins the endgame.

Problem Of The Day

White to play and win