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