Here is my site’s first chess “lesson.” It seems like nothing more than a bunch of bare moves. So where is the instruction? Where are the words of wisdom and sage bits of advice?

Please annotate this game on your own. Don’t worry about making mistakes, just do the best you can. In a week or so, guest annotator John Donaldson and I (Silman) will fill in the blanks and, when you compare your insights with ours, you’ll be able to spot areas in your game that need honing.

For those familiar with my concept of imbalances, write up a list of all the imbalances after Black’s tenth, sixteenth, eighteenth, and twenty-ninth moves. Hopefully, those imbalances (which I will present with John’s comments) will help you understand what is going on, and will make your notes closer to the mark.

Good luck!

Here are the promised notes. Feel free to challenge our assessments or ask questions if any part of this game confuses you.

J Donaldson – R De Guzman [E08]
People’s Open 2002
[Notes by Donaldson and Silman.]
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.d4 Be7 5.Bg2 0–0 6.0–0 Nbd7 7.Qc2 c6 8.b3 b6 9.Rd1 Bb7 10.Nc3 b5!?

SILMAN: Black’s response to White’s Catalan Opening has led to a space advantage for the first player that, after 10.Nc3, will soon be increased by e2-e4. Black usually chooses to prepare for a counterstrike in the center via a well-timed …c6-c5 advance but, in the present case, De Guzman decides on a much sharper plan.

After 10.Nc3, the only imbalance in the position is White’s central and queenside spatial plus. With 10…b5 (giving up the “non-productive” b6 and c6-pawns for the territory-gaining c4-pawn), Black sees that the space will be even after 11.cxb5 cxb5 12.Nxb5 Qa5. Isn’t the sacrifice of a pawn a bit extreme, though? No, Black realizes that White will lose time in capturing the small offering, and this will leave the second player with very active pieces and a lead in development as compensation.

DONALDSON: Spassky’s gambit. Black hopes to activate his Queen Bishop at a6, sometimes at the cost of a pawn.

11.c5

SILMAN: Instead of accepting the sacrifice and losing the initiative, White grabs even more space and dooms the Black army to relative passivity. This makes excellent sense! If White takes the pawn, he would possess a material plus (an imbalance, like any other) while Black would enjoy active play (one imbalance countering another). However, after 11.c5, White has a significant spatial plus in the center and on the queenside. White’s pieces are also far more active than their Black counterparts. And what does Black have to crow about? Nothing--all he can dream of (at best!) is an agonizing climb to eventual equality.

DONALDSON: 11.cxb5 cxb5 12.Nxb5 Qa5 13.a4 Rfc8 14.Qa2 Ba6 15.Bd2 Qb6 16.Nc3 (16.Bf1 Ne4 17.e3 Nxd2 18.Qxd2 Nf6 19.Rdc1 Ne4 20.Qe1 f6 21.Rxc8+ Rxc8 22.Rc1 Kf7 23.Rxc8 Bxc8 24.Qc1 Bd7 25.Qc7 Bxb5 26.Qxb6 axb6 27.Bxb5 Bb4 with an inevitable draw after ...Nd2, Espig-Spassky, Tallinn 1975.) 16...Rab8 17.Rab1 Ne4 18.Nxe4 dxe4 19.Ne5 Nxe5 20.dxe5 Bc5 with full compensation for the pawn, Sosonko-Andersson, Beverwijk 1976. These examples have led to 11.c5 being the main answer to 10...b5.

11...b4

SILMAN: This gains some queenside space, but it also allows White to create targets in that sector with a properly timed a2-a3.

12.Na4 Ba6?!

DONALDSON: 12...a5 is considered to be more accurate, when 13.Nb2! (the plan to bring the Knight to d3 is strong) 13...Ba6 14.Nd3 Bxd3 15.exd3 Ne8 16.a3 Nc7 17.axb4 axb4 18.Bd2 Nb5 19.Bxb4 Bf6 20.Bc3 Nxc3 21.Qxc3 Qc7 22.b4 g6 23.Rdb1 Rxa1 24.Rxa1 Rb8 25.Ra4 gave White a decisive advantage which he duly converted in Razuvaev-Lputian, Vilnius 1980.

13.a3

SILMAN: Activating the a1-Rook and leaving Black with a weak a-pawn.

DONALDSON: 13.Nb2 Bb5 14.Nd3 a5 15.a3 a4 is what Black was looking for.

13...bxa3 14.Nc3!

SILMAN: An accurate, astute, and important move which remains true to Donaldson’s highly practical style of preventing enemy counterplay at all costs. The “obvious” and lazy 14.Rxa3 allows (aside from 14…Ne4, as mentioned by John below) 14…Bb5 15.Nc3 a6 when Black’s light-squared Bishop has found a way to live a meaningful life.

DONALDSON: 14.Rxa3 Ne4 followed by ...f5 gives Black a Stonewall with his QB much more active than normal.

14...Bb7

DONALDSON: Not a good endorsement for Black’s opening play.

15.Rxa3 Ne8 16.b4 Nc7

SILMAN: Black’s position is not a happy one. All his pieces are passively placed, and weaknesses on a7 and c6 add to his long-term misery. To make matters even worse, pawns breaks like b4-b5 (opening queenside lines and turning the c5-pawn into a powerful passer) and e2-e4 (dominating the center) are hanging over Black’s head like the sword of Damocles.

Thus far, every positive feature (imbalances: queenside and central space, and targets on a7 and c6) in the position is in White’s favor.

17.Bf4!?

DONALDSON: 17.e4 is normal and best. White gives up one square (d5) in return for lots of plusses. The text is based on a concrete idea to achieve b4-b5.

17...g5

SILMAN: Forcing White’s hand, but also weakening the position of the Black King.

18.Bxc7

DONALDSON: 18.Bd6 Bxd6 19.cxd6 Ne8 20.Rda1 a6 21.Qc1 h6 22.h4 was another promising idea, but having played 17.Bf4 with the idea of trading, I didn’t want to stop mid-stream.

18...Qxc7

SILMAN: Things haven’t improved for Black. He still has far less space than his opponent, his kingside structure has been loosened up, and the pawns on a7 and c6 are still liabilities. I can hear the student asking, “But doesn’t Black’s two Bishops count for something?” Not here! The position is closed and that often means that Knights are better than Bishops. This certainly holds true in this case: the b7-Bishop is a truly pathetic thing, and the e7-Bishop isn’t anything to crow about either.

19.e4

DONALDSON: 19.b5 and 19.Rda1 are both reasonable, but my idea is to take on d5 and then play b5.

19...dxe4?!

DONALDSON: Here 19...g4 20.exd5 exd5 21.Nd2 Nf6 22.b5 Qd7 23.bxc6 Bxc6 was the best try with only a slight pull for White. I was expecting 19...f5, holding the center. However, after 20.exd5 exd5 21.Re1 Rf7, both 22.b5 and 22.Rxe7 Rxe7 23.Qxf5 look very nice for White.

20.Nxe4 h6 21.h4

SILMAN: Suddenly Black’s …g7-g5 advance comes back to haunt him (Lesson: Pushing the pawns in front of your King isn’t something you should do lightly!). Now the second player’s King experiences some serious heat.

DONALDSON: In the postmortem, Ricardo and I looked at 21...gxh4 22.Nxh4 a5 23.Qd2 axb4 24.Rxa8 Rxa8 25.Qxh6 b3 26.Ng6! fxg6 27.Qxg6+ Kh8 28.Qh6+ Kg8 29.Qxe6+, winning.

DONALDSON: White wins immediately after 22...f5 23.Ng6 fxe4 24.Qxe4 Rf7 25.Qxg4.

23.Nc4 Nf6?

DONALDSON: This drops material. 23...Rfd8 was more stubborn.

24.Nxf6 Bxf6 25.Qe4

DONALDSON: With twin threats to take on g4 and play b4-b5.

25...a6

DONALDSON: Saving the g-pawn loses: 25...h5 26.b5 cxb5 27.Qxb7 Qxb7 28.Bxb7 bxc4 29.Bxa8 Rxa8 30.Rc3 a5 31.Rxc4 a4 32.c6 a3 33.c7 Rc8 34.Ra1.

26.Qxg4+ Kh8 27.Nd6 Rad8 28.Qf4 Bg7 29.b5!

DONALDSON: The prosaic 29.Bf1 also wins, but the text is more thematic and fun to play!

SILMAN: By forcing open the a-file, White is able to penetrate with his Rook and create a deadly pin against the b7-Bishop.

29...axb5

SILMAN: Subtle positional moves no longer count since the position has taken on a purely tactical nature. However, the tactics are made possible by White’s enormous strategic plusses: weakened Black King, more active White pieces, targets on c6, f7 and h6. Note that White’s spatial advantage has kept the enemy bits under wraps, and their inactivity has allowed the White army to gain in scope and energy to the point where Armageddon is no longer to be avoided.

DONALDSON: Black has no good answer to b4-b5 as 29...e5 30.dxe5 axb5 31.Qxf7 Rxf7 32.Nxf7+ Qxf7 33.Rxd8+ Bf8 34.Rf3 is completely winning.

30.Ra7 Rb8

DONALDSON: Or 30...Rxd6 31.Qxd6 Qxd6 32.cxd6 Rb8 33.d7 Bf6 34.Rc1.

31.Nxb7 e5

DONALDSON: Here 31...Rfc8 32.Qxc7 Rxc7 33.Bxc6 Rxc6 34.Na5 Rcc8 35.Rxf7 also wins for White. Ricardo, who is a great fighter, continues to battle on, but his position is too far gone.

SILMAN: Of course, 31…Rxb7 32.Qxc7 is also game over.

32.Qf5 Rfe8

SILMAN: Avoiding 32…Rxb7 33.Be4 when mate on h7 can’t be stopped.

SILMAN: And not 34.Qh7+ Kf8 when White has succeeded in decentralizing his own Queen! If someone tells you to “Always check, it might be mate,” spit on their shoe to show your displeasure and shun them for the rest of eternity.

34…Rxe5 35.Rd7

SILMAN: Just because your Queen is attacked doesn’t mean you have to move it! Sadly, the vast majority of players do just that: they immediately grab an attacked piece and rush to get it to safety! Instead of bowing to the will of his opponent, John counterattacked and ended Black’s resistance.

As it turns out, White can also win by 35.Qh7+ Kf8 36.Bxc6! when 36…Qxc6 37.Nd6 is crushing. But why take a chance on this tactical solution when 35.Rd7 safely takes the starch out of Black’s spirit.

35…Rxf5 36.Rxc7 Re5 37.Bxc6 b4 38.Ba4 Re1+ 39.Kg2 Ra1 40.Nd6 b3 41.Bxb3

DONALDSON: 41.Rxf7 is even stronger, but the text also does the job.

41...Rxb3 42.Rc8+, 1–0.

SILMAN: An impressive, very controlled performance by the director of the Mechanics Institute Chess Club.