Hi Paul,
I was going to post in this thread something I had written last night
but had decided to do a new thread. 'No Thanks Mate.'
The very words Caro and Kann stop people from looking at a thread.
(even more than seeing a thread ending with RJhinds.) 😉
Of course others on RHP have fallen for that Queen winning trick
mtthw - Zippy B RHP 2006 Game 2581122
IronMan31 - ziggy15 RHP 2005 Game 1078537
Are just two that resigned right away.
Originally posted by ViktorNThere are many that know the main lines without understanding why exactly they play these moves.
I know the main lines, but the ideas i need. Why does white play h4-h5 before playing Bd3? When and why does he play Rh4 instead of Rhe1 and so on.
I will try to explain you why white plays h4-h5 before Bd3.
You understand that it's a much more complicated question that it seems to be.
The first impression is that White unecessarilly weakens his k-side and his h-pawn violating several important opening principles.So he must get something as compensation.To understand the compensation we have to take a look at the typical French defense Rubinstein's Variation pawn structure.
Black usually plays c5 and an exchange of Black's c-pawn with white's d-pawn follows(either d4xc5 or ...c5xd4)
In that pawn structure White's plan is to take advantage of his q-side pawn majority while Black wants to activate his central pawn majority by pushing ...f6 and e5 first and then ...f5-e4-f4(this is not the only plan but it is the main plan).
Additionally Black can attack on q-side(minority attack),forcing white to create weaknesses, before proceeding with his main plan.
The presence of white's pawn on h5 and Black's pawn on h6 changes all of that.
Black's k-side pawns are now significantly less flexible.If Black attempts ...f6 and ...e5 then the resulting pawn structure might be something like this......
.....or like this
......and Black can make no progress on k-side.
Let's see an example:
The next game is almost identical.
[Event "FIDE WCh KO"]
[Site "New Delhi IND"]
[Date "2000.??.??"]
[Round "2.6"]
[White "Georgiev, Ki"]
[Black "Nisipeanu, LD."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "2661"]
[BlackElo "2592"]
[PlyCount "137"]
[EventDate "2000.??.??"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5
Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bf4 Qa5+ 12. Bd2 Qc7 13. O-O-O Ngf6 14. Ne4
O-O-O 15. g3 Nc5 16. Nxc5 Bxc5 17. Qe2 Bd6 18. c4 c5 19. Bc3 cxd4 20. Nxd4 a6
21. Kb1 Kb8 22. Nf3 Ka8 23. Ne5 Bc5 24. g4 Rd6 25. Rxd6 Bxd6 26. Rd1 Rd8 27. f3
Bxe5 28. Rxd8+ Qxd8 29. Bxe5 Ne8 30. b3 f6 31. Bc3 e5 32. Kc2 Nc7 33. Qd3 Qe7
34. a4 Ne6 35. Qd5 Nd4+ 36. Kb2 Nc6 37. a5 Kb8 38. Bd2 Qd8 39. Qxd8+ Nxd8 40.
Be3 {Almost the same endgame.White's plan is now more than clear: 1)Advance
his q-side pawns and create a passed pawn , 2)Play f4 to open the position
and increase the mobility of his bishop and 3)Create threats on the weak g7
pawn. Of course kings will have a vital role as in every endgame} Kc8 41. Kc3
Kd7 42. b4 Kc6 43. Kd3 Nf7 44. Kc3 Nd8 45. Kc2 Kd7 46. Kd3 Nc6 47. Bc5 {Bf8 is
a serious threat that will force Black king to stay near g7 for almost all the
endgame} Ke6 48. Ke4 Nd8 49. b5 {White is ready to create a passed pawn.} Nf7
50. Bf8 Ng5+ 51. Ke3 Kf7 52. Bb4 Ne6 53. Ke4 Ke8 54. Bd2 Nc7 55. bxa6 bxa6 $2 {Black's position was difficult after 55...Nxa6 56.Kd5 but delaying the creation of the passed pawn on q-side was his best chance} 56. f4 {White increases the mobility of his bishop.} exf4 57. Bxf4 Ne6 58. Bd6 Kd7 59. Kd5 Nd8 60. c5 Nc6 61. Bf8 Ne5 {Black counterattacks g4 which is White's weak point in the specific pawn structure but the position is lost already.} 62. g5 {An important break that is one of the thematic tactical strikes for White.} hxg5 63. Bxg7 g4 64. Bxf6 Nf7 65. Bh4 Nh6 66. c6+ Kc8 67. Bg3 Nf5 68. Ke5 Nh6 69. Ke4 {A very instructive example on how helpless the knight is in this kind of endgames} 1-0
The above endgames are very characteristic and instructive and they are providing us with several very important conclusions.The most obvious of them is that g7 can be a serious weakness and because of that , White's dark-squared bishop is a very important piece.White wins the vast majority of the "B vs N" endgames.
For the middlegame , it must be noted that the basic characteristic of the line is that White usually castles on q-side forcing practically Black to do the same, as White's k-side space and Black's weakness on h6 will give White a very dangerous attack if Black castles on k-side. Unfortunately for Black that doesn't mean his king will be entirely safe as White can still attack against the Black king.White's dark squared bishop remains a very dangerous piece that Black has to either eliminate or be sure that will reduce it's effectiveness otherwise he will have to face even a combined attack in both wings in some cases.
[Event "WJun"]
[Site "Yerevan ARM"]
[Date "2007.??.??"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Ragger, M."]
[Black "Margvelashvili, G."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "2528"]
[BlackElo "2451"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2007.??.??"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5
Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bf4 {Let's see one by one by one the moves and
try to understand the reason behind them.White has 2 available plans for his
bishop.The one is placing it at f4 to control the important e5-square and
create problems for Black if he decides to castle on q-side.} Qa5+ {Black's
plan is to force the white bishop to retreat at d2.} 12. Bd2 {Practically
forced.White doesn't want to exchange queens so soon and after 12.c3 he can't
castle on q-side because of the threat on a2} Qc7 {Black now prevents the
white bishop from returning at f4 and q-side castling seems now safer.} 13.
O-O-O {Q-side castling is white's main plan in this line since the rook has to
stay on h1 to prevent early attacks on the potentially weak h5 and the
mobilisation of Black's k-side pawns.} O-O-O {Very few have tried k-side
castling in this position and none of them twice.White has a ready dangerous
attack attack with g4-g5.} 14. Ne4 {The kight is useless at g3 and wil be
sooner or later under attack after ...Bd6 so White re-centralises it to
prevent ...Bd6 and prepare g3-Bf4 if possible.} Ngf6 {Black immediately
attacks the centralised knight.} 15. g3 {That move not only prepare Bf4 but
also prevents Black from invading on f4.} Nxe4 {The centralised Ne4 is far too
annoying to be allowed to survive.Black exchanges it without any delay.} 16.
Qxe4 Bd6 {One of the best squares for the bishop.The alternative was ...Be7
with ...Bf6 following but Black usually wants to play Nf6 and keep h5 under
pressure.} 17. c4 {As white wants to place his bishop on c3 , he can't allow
his important c-pawn to be locked on c2.You will see that c-pawn will play an
important rolein the game.} Nf6 {Very logical move that attacks the queen and
places the knight in a square that attacks h5 and makes d5 difficult.} 18. Qe2
{The best square for the queen and it will be soon clear why the queen on e2
exerts an indirect pressure on Black's q-side.} c5 {A must play move if Black
wants to get any counterplay.Otherwise White will prepare d5 or c5 under
favorable for him conditions.} 19. Bc3 {This is one of the 2 best positions
for the bishop and many consider it the best and they play directly 11.Bd2
which reaches the same position with both sides having gained a tempo.Bc3
controls the important e5 and once d-pawn is advanced or exchanged , it will
exert pressure on Black's k-side and especially on g7.} cxd4 20. Nxd4 {This is
considered the best move as it creates the immediate "threat" Nb5 forcing
Black to play a6 sooner or later.You will realise that a6 is a serious
weakness and White will try to exploit it.} a6 {This is a move Black would
like to avoid but it will be risky if he does as Nb5 will be a constant threat.
} 21. Kb1 {White vacates c1 for the rook as soons as possible.} Rd7 {Preparing
the doubling of the rooks on d-file seems to be Black's best fighting chance
as in d-file lies most of Black's counterplay} 22. Rc1 Kb8 {It is very risky
for Black to leave his king on c-file as soon it will be a warzone.} 23. Nb3 {
One of the 2 possible plans white has at his disposal for the knight.Nb3 is
certainly the most aggressive and the most risky while Nf3-Ne5 is more quiet
and aims to achieve the usual favorable B vs N endgame.} Qc6 {That is a very
common placement of the queen as Black's counterplay lies also in the long
light squared diagonal.From c6 the queen threatens to give a check on h1 ,
forcing white to have always a rook on the 1st rank or give h5, in some cases
invades to g2 , in other cases supports ...e5-e4 or ...Ne4.} 24. Rh4 {Also a
thematic move.The rook protects h5 , doesn't allow ...Qe4 or ...Ne4,doesn't
allow Rh1+ and can be tranferred to q-side through the 4th rank.} Rhd8 {Both
sides have played a model game placing their pieces in the best possible
squares.} 25. c5 {That is one of the key moves when white plays Nb3 and Rh4.
The pawn is well protected , Nb3 can play to a5 or d4 chasing Qc6 away and Rh4
can join the attack through the 4th rank.The downside of the move is that it
surrenders the control of the important d5-square to Black.} Bc7 26. Rc4 Qb5
27. g4 Rd5 28. c6 {The point!!!Soon the Black king will be in serious trouble.}
Rd1 29. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 30. Kc2 Rd6 31. Nd4 Qd5 {Black queen returns to h1-a8
diagonal.} 32. Rb4 {Qe2 now creates a lot of threats on a6.That is why it is
important for white to have his queen on e2 when the c5-c6 attack is launched.}
Qe4+ {32...b5 was better although White would respond 33.Nxb5 retaining good
attacking chances.} 33. Qxe4 Nxe4 34. Rxb7+ Kc8 35. Ra7 Bb6 36. Rxa6 Bxd4 {
Here Black fails to understand the position.He should exchange the very
dangerous Bc3 without much thinking.} 37. Ba5 {Threatening Ra8#} Ba7 38. f3 Ng5
39. Rxa7 Rxc6+ 40. Bc3 {The bishop returns to c3 and it is obvious that Black
will have problems on k-side too.} g6 {Once more Black fails to understand the
position.It was necessary to play 40...e5 stopping the thematic f4-g5 attack.}
41. f4 {The attack on q-side came to an end with the win of a pawn and one
would expect that white will start advancing his connected "a" and "b" passed
pawns but surprisingly the attack on k-side wins even quicker.} Ne4 42. g5 hxg5
43. h6 {That very common endgame "trick" allows White to create an outside
passed pawn that many times has won the game.} Nxc3 {Black finally exchanges
the bishop but it is too late.} 44. bxc3 Kb8 45. Rxf7 1-0
p.s.For some reason that I don't understand my last 2 pgns weren't accepted as valid.If someone can fix them I will be grateful,again.
Originally posted by Roper300[Event "WJun"]
[Event "WJun"]
[Site "Yerevan ARM"]
[Date "2007.??.??"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Ragger, M."]
[Black "Margvelashvili, G."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "2528"]
[BlackElo "2451"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2007.??.??"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5
Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bf4 {Let's f someone can fix them I will be grateful,again.
[Site "Yerevan ARM"]
[Date "2007.??.??"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Ragger, M."]
[Black "Margvelashvili, G."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "2528"]
[BlackElo "2451"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2007.??.??"]
[Event "WJun"]
[Site "Yerevan ARM"]
[Date "2007.??.??"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Ragger, M."]
[Black "Margvelashvili, G."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "2528"]
[BlackElo "2451"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2007.??.??"]
The following comments would not print out in the pgn, So I just decided to list them below:
13... O-O-O {Very few have tried k-side castling in this position and none of them twice. White has a ready
dangerous attack with g4-g5.}
14. Ne4 {The kight is useless at g3 and wil be sooner or later under attack after ...Bd6 so White re-centralises it to prevent ...Bd6 and prepare g3-Bf4 if possible.}
14... Ngf6 {Black immediately attacks the centralised knight.}
15. g3 {That move not only prepare Bf4 but also prevents Black from invading on f4.}
15... Nxe4 {The centralised Ne4 is far too annoying to be allowed to survive. Black exchanges it without any delay.}
16... Bd6 {One of the best squares for the bishop.The alternative was ...Be7
with ...Bf6 following but Black usually wants to play Nf6 and keep h5 under
pressure.}
17. c4 {As white wants to place his bishop on c3 , he can't allow his important c-pawn to be locked on c2. You will see that c-pawn will play an
important role in the game.}
17... Nf6 {Very logical move that attacks the queen and places the knight in a square that attacks h5 and makes d5 difficult.}
18. Qe2 {The best square for the queen and it will be soon clear why the queen on e2 exerts an indirect pressure on Black's q-side.}
18... c5 {A must play move if Black wants to get any counterplay. Otherwise White will prepare d5 or c5 under
favorable for him conditions.}
19. Bc3 {This is one of the 2 best positions for the bishop and many consider it the best and they play directly 11.Bd2 which reaches the same position with both sides having gained a tempo. Bc3 controls the important e5 and once d-pawn is advanced or exchanged, it will exert pressure on Black's k-side and especially on g7.}
20. Nxd4 {This is considered the best move as it creates the immediate "threat" Nb5 forcing Black to play a6 sooner or later. You will realise that a6 is a serious weakness and White will try to exploit it}
20... a6 {This is a move Black would like to avoid but it will be risky if he does as Nb5 will be a constant threat.}
21. Kb1 {White vacates c1 for the rook as soons as possible.}
21... Rd7 {Preparing the doubling of the rooks on d-file seems to be Black's best fighting chance as in d-file lies most of Black's counterplay}
22... Kb8 {It is very risky for Black to leave his king on c-file as soon it will be a war zone.}
23. Nb3 {One of the 2 possible plans white has at his disposal for the knight. Nb3 is certainly the most aggressive and the most risky while Nf3-Ne5 is more quiet and aims to achieve the usual favorable B vs N endgame.}
23... Qc6 {That is a very common placement of the queen as Black's counterplay lies also in the long light squared diagonal. From c6 the queen threatens to give a check on h1, forcing white to have always a rook on the 1st rank or give h5, in some cases invades to g2, in other cases supports ...e5-e4 or ...Ne4.}
24. Rh4 {Also a thematic move. The rook protects h5, doesn't allow ...Qe4 or ...Ne4, doesn't allow Rh1+ and can be tranferred to q-side through the 4th rank.}
24... Rhd8 {Both sides have played a model game placing their pieces in the best possible squares.}
25. c5 {That is one of the key moves when white plays Nb3 and Rh4. The pawn is well protected, Nb3 can play to a5 or d4 chasing Qc6 away and Rh4 can join the attack through the 4th rank. The downside of the move is that it surrenders the control of the important d5-square to Black.}
28. c6 {The point!!! Soon the Black king will be in serious trouble.}
31... Qd5 {Black queen returns to h1-a8 diagonal.}
32. Rb4 {Qe2 now creates a lot of threats on a6. That is why it is important for white to have his queen on e2 when the c5-c6 attack is launched.}
32... Qe4+ {32...b5 was better although White would respond 33.Nxb5 retaining good attacking chances.}
36... Bxd4 {Here Black fails to understand the position. He should exchange the very dangerous Bc3 without much thinking.}
37. Ba5 {Threatening Ra8#}
40. Bc3 {T...
Originally posted by RJHindsFinally!
[Event "WJun"]
[Site "Yerevan ARM"]
[Date "2007.??.??"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Ragger, M."]
[Black "Margvelashvili, G."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "2528"]
[BlackElo "2451"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2007.??.??"]
[pgn]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bf4 {L Ba5 {Threatening Ra8#}
40. Bc3 {T...
[Event "WJun"]
[Site "Yerevan ARM"]
[Date "2007.??.??"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Ragger, M."]
[Black "Margvelashvili, G."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "2528"]
[BlackElo "2451"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2007.??.??"]
Originally posted by Roper300Click on the Reply & Quote of my post that correction was completed and compare that to your original post. I guess you know that you have to type pgn enclosed in brackets [] before the game moves and the /pgn at the end. But there was a lot of other little things that were wrong that I can't remember now, because I had to experiment as I went along to see what would work. I almost gave up on getting your comments right, but then I decided to experriment some more and it finally came out right.
Thank you RJHinds , but tell me please , what exactly did you fix?
Originally posted by RJHindsMr Hinds, you are getting very good at this (correcting other posters pgn's), and I appreciate your efforts. Helping others successfully communicate their thoughts and ideas makes the forum a better place.
Click on the Reply & Quote of my post that correction was completed and compare that to your original post. I guess you know that you have to type pgn enclosed in brackets [] before the game moves and the /pgn at the end. But there was a lot of other little things that were wrong that I can't remember now, because I had to experiment as I went along to see ...[text shortened]... your comments right, but then I decided to experriment some more and it finally came out right.
The above game is an example of how the psychological pressures of the situation can weigh heavily on the mind of a person. In this case, the grandmaster seemed so preoccupied with time that he overlooked a simple mate in one. The commentators of the match saw it easily and mentioned it while the grandmaster was glancing at his clock and thinking about what move to make. But in the end the grandmaster became psychologically blinded by his thoughts and missed the checkmate. Not only was the commentators amazed that he did not see the checkmate, I was also amazed that I saw it before the commentators mentioned it. But it was such a simple mate that any patzer would have spotted it in the time the grandmaster took to make his move. Anand should thank God for the psychological part of chess. 😏