Surviving Bad Positions
CHESS HORIZONS by SM Denys Shmelov
White : Lawyer Times Black : Denys Shmelov [ A47 ] Queen ’ s Indian Defense
1 . d4 Nf6 2 . Nf3 b6 3 . e3 g6 This move order requires a great deal of precision — certainly not the trait Black demonstrates over the next few moves . 4 . Bd3 Bb7
4 ... d6 5 . Nbd2 Bg7 6 . O-O d6 7 . e4 Nbd7 ?
7 ... O-O or 7 ... Nfd7 would have been much better . 8 . e5 ! Nd5 9 . e6 fxe6 10 . Ng5 Nf8
The originally planned 10 ... Nf4 leads to disaster after 11 . Nde4 11 . Qf3 !
Black took it upon himself to avoid theoretical paths at all costs , and he fully succeeded , although at the expense of getting an absolutely lost position . 11 .. Bf6
Good time to take a break and c o u n t the casualties . Black has avoided immediate catastrophe on e6 or f7 , but untangling this position will not be an easy task . Somehow he ’ ll have to defend his bishop on b7 , defend the pawn on e6 , and find the good square for his f8 knight and his king . Black ’ s main hope , however , is that White will get a bit impatient in converting his advantage . 12 . Nde4
White is threatening c2-c4 , after which the bishop on b7 will be hanging . 12 ... Rb8
Ugly , but very logical . Black defends his most vulnerable piece . 13 . Bb5 +
This move allows Black to set up a clever trap . 13 ... c6 14 . Nxf6 +
White sees what he thinks is a winning combination , but Black calculates just one move further . 14 .. exf6
14 ... Nxf6 15 . Bxc6 + Bxc6 16 . Qxc6 + Qd7 allows White to win his pawn back , while maintaining a nice edge . 15 . Nxe6 Nxe6 16 . Qxd5
So White has won his pawn back , threatening to take a knight or a pawn , and Black has no safe place to hide . Time to call it a night ?
Not quite . cuuuuuuuuC { w4w1kdw4 } { 0bdwdwdp } { w0p0n0pd } { dBdQdwdw } { wdw ) wdwd } { dwdwdwDw } { P ) Pdw ) P )} {$ wGwdRIw } vllllllllV
16 ... Kd7 ! 17 . Re1 Re8 18 . Ba4 b5 19 . Bxb5 cxb5 20 . Qxb5 + Bc6 21 . Qd3
Black is up a piece , and he mana g e d to win , although not without difficulty . 0-1
White : Denys Shmelov Black : Edward Astrachan
I ’ d rather not tell how White has arrived at this position after only eleven moves . Suffice it to say that he is absolutely lost against an opponent rated 500 points below him . White ’ s king is stuck in the center , his pieces are poorly coordinated , and Black is about to open up the position and put White out of his misery .
cuuuuuuuuC { rdwdkgw4 } { 0wdwdp0p } { bdpdpdwd } { dwdqdwGw } { wdwdwdwd } { dwdwdNdw } { PdP ! w ) P )} {$ wdwIwdR } vllllllllV
12 . Kd1
White has correctly identified the safety of the king as his main priority . d1 is far from perfect but i t ’ s the best White has in this position . 12 ... Rb8
A strong move . Black wants to p l a y Rb8-b2 , or Bf8-b4 , forcing White to further weaken his position . 13 . Qc3
Saves White from Rb8-b2 ... 13 ... Bd6
... and puts the pressure on Black to decide whether to play Bf8-b4 or not . 13 ... Bb4 14 . Rb1 Bxc3 15 . Rxb8 + Kd7 16 . Rxh8 f6 ! leaves Black with a dominating position . Very often the winning side assumes that his advantage will play out itself , and fails to calculate forcing lines . 14 . a3
White lives to fight another move . 14 ... O-O 15 . Kc1 Rb6
Instead Black could have focused on carrying out c6-c5 , which would have been the most dangerous plan . But the move in the game isn ’ t bad
APRIL-JUNE 2010 15