Page1 I Page 2

Probably the most galling annotator's phrase, for the average player, is "and the rest is just technique." Often the position in question finds the winner holding just a minimal advantage. How does the game win itself so easily? Our games never seem to finish that way?!

I'll use the following game to illustrate the manner in which a player seeks to convert a winning advantage. Here white wins a pawn very early and has a better pawn structure to boot. While the win was a long way off, I always felt that I had a winning advantage from about move 10 on.

Here then were my thoughts as I worked to prove that the win was "just a matter of technique."

Randy Bauer (2240) - Ilya Karasik (2200)
Waterloo Spring Open, 5-19-96
English Opening, Four Knights Variation

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3

My opponent is a high school player formerly of the Soviet Union with a strong tactical bent. This line keeps strategy rather than tactics at the forefront. As a Sicilian player, I've always felt at home in these 'reversed Sicilians' as white.

4...d6

4...Bb4 and 4...Be7 have better theoretical reputations. Now white can effortlessly expand in the center.

5.d4 Bg4 6.Be2?!

Theory rightly prefers the immediate 6.d5 Nb8 7.e4, since white gains space before black has a chance to play for the advance e5-e4 himself. This is a typical black idea in these types of positions, and white should have countered it.

6...Qd7

This is a bit odd, as the d7-square is usually reserved for a knight, from where it can go to c5 when white pushes forward with d4-d5. Black may be envisioning queenside castling, but that would be risky given white's space advantage on that side of the board.

7.h3

7.d5 and 8.e4 is still the way to go

7...Bh5?!

Black should play 7...Bf5(!) intending to play e5-e4 with an interesting game. I was intending 8.d5 since 8...Nb4 9.0-0 is playable as 9...Nc2? 10.e4! Nxa1 11.exf5 Qxf5 12.Bd3 Qd7 13.Bg5 is clearly better for white. But black would do better with 9...e4! when 10.Ne1 a5 11.a3 Na6 is far from clear. Maybe white does better with 10.Nd4.

8.d5 Nb8?

A TACICAL BLUNDER

The only move to maintain material equality is 8...Bxf3. But after 9.Bxf3 Nb8, white can expand on either side and the spatial edge (and two bishops) give him a nice initiative.

9.Nxe5! Bxe2

This acquiesces to a queen trade, but 9...dxe5 10.Bxh5 Nxh5 11.Qxh5 Bd6 12.Ne4 doesn't solve black's problems either.

10.Nxd7 Bxd1 11.Nxf6+ gxf6

11...Ke7 12.Nxh7! leaves black two pawns down.

12.Kxd1Nd7

THE PROVERBIAL WON GAME

So white has won a pawn and has a much better pawn structure to boot. How does white go about converting that advantage?

First, it's important at a point like this to take stock of both sides' possible plans. When up material, look for the ways that the opponent will seek to develop threats and counterplay. Too often the player with the pawn advantage gets so wrapped up in their own plans that they miss a tactic that restores material equality.

So, keeping that in mind, look first at the opponent's sources of counterplay. Black can pressure the g-pawn with a rook on the half-open file, and he can further step up this pressure by playing h7-h5-h4.

He can also attack the c-pawn with ...Ne5. Given the absence of the white-squared bishop, white will have to have either b2-b3 available to protect the pawn, or c4-c5 to advance the pawn.

Black will probably either choose to play 0-0-0, which brings his queen rook into play and gets the king out of the center, or seek queenside counterplay with ...a6, ...Rb8, ...b5, since the advance c4-c5 is double-edged (or just plain bad if white isn't able to maintain the pawn on that square).

From white's perspective, there is a supremely weak square at f5. Given that white's pawn advantage is on the kingside, that square would be perfect for his knight. From there, the knight absolutely dominates the black bishop. It would also control a number of key squares on the kingside. The knight can be supported on that square with a pawn on either e4 or g4.

White's bishop looks like it would be best placed on the long diagonal. From there it attacks the weak pawn on f6 and also influences the h8-square. That sets up various tactical tricks if a black rook is on h8.

The white king should probably go to the kingside, since that's where the action will, in the long run, take place. The king can be useful in protecting the pawns from attack and assisting in their advance.

White's pawns should probably remain flexible. It seems pretty certain that white will play b2-b3, both to fianchetto the bishop and to maintain the c4 pawn.

Long-range, white's plan begins to take shape. He'll play b3 and Bb2, move the king to the kingside, and white's knight will head to f5.

Now, how best to initiate this plan? In this case, white can start his plan with a forcing move that makes black divert his attention from his own ideas – usually a good idea.

13.Nb5!

HEADING FOR f5

The weakness of c7 forces black into a move he doesn't want to make. That by itself might be sufficient reason to play it, but here it also fits into the larger plan outlined above. It's sometimes hard to determine which is better: carry out your own plan or frustrate your opponent's. It's great when you can do both at the same time, and always seek to find these moves – they're gold.

13...Kd8 14.b3 h5

Black begins his own counterplay. He will advance the pawn to h4 and then play ...Rg8. White could stymie the pawn's advance with h4, but that would make his own pawns less flexible. Besides, advancing the black pawn to h4 allows white the plan of g2-g3, aiming to create an outside passed h-pawn.

15.Bb2 h4 16.Ke2 Rg8 17.Rhg1

So far, everything for white has gone according to plan. Here, however, I spent about 10 minutes deciding which rook to defend the pawn with. White thinks that he'll probably end up with rooks on g1 and h1. While it would seem logical to play 17.Rag1, white is concerned that black could develop counterplay with ...a6 and ...b5, when a pawn exchange could create pressure on the a-file. Since white is a pawn up, I decided that the possible loss of a tempo was less important than minimizing black's counterplay.

17...Ne5 18.Nd4

The knight accomplished its goal on b5 and now heads to its f5 destination. Note that since we outlined this plan, that square has become even more important. Now, the h4-pawn will be attacked by that Nf5.

18...Be7 19.Nf5 Rh8 20.Rh1

Now white is ready to play g2-g3.

20...Rh5

The attempt to break out with 20...Rg8 21.Nxh4 f5 22.Nxf5 Rxg2 23.Rag1 turns out badly for black.

21.e4 Kd7 22.g3 Ng6

ALLOWS WHITE TO CREATE A FIXED TARGET

Black attempts to hold the h4-pawn since 22...hxg3 23.fxg3 gives white a strong protected passed pawn. Now black hopes that he can bring his other rook to the h-file and play hxg3 at a time when the h3 pawn is hanging.

23.g4!

This may seem strange, since white has played to create a passed h-pawn and now removes that immediate possibility. The point is that white trades one type of advantage for another. Now the h4-pawn is weak and white has ended black's play on the g-file. White alters his plan now and will seek to use his edge in space to gang up on either the f6 or h4 pawn.

Brokering one advantage into another is a key method of winning a won game. The opponent is often going to be able to parry one set of threats, but if you can create others, you're on your way to victory.

23...Rh7

Obviously 23...Nf4+?? drops a piece after 24.Ke3 Ng2+ 25.Kf3. I thought black might try the interesting 23...R5h8, which baits white into 24.g5. I'm not sure that's a good idea, however, since 24...Ne5 25.f4 Ng6 26.Kf3 fxg4 27.Nxe7 Kxe7 28.Bxh3 Rxh8 26.fxg5 Ne5 gives compensation due to the strong black knight.

Let me stop and put in a plug for the defender. This is exactly the type of line the "just technique" side tries to avoid. The winning side wants everything logical, calculable, and tidy. As a defender, seek out ways to make things more murky. This can either lead to confusion, where the winning side starts losing sight of their ultimate goals, or hesitancy, where the winning side starts playing not to lose rather than to win. In either case, the defender may make the win more difficult.

24.Ke3 Re8 25.f4 Bd8

Black probably envisions ...c6 and ...Bb6.

26.Rhd1

BLACK HAS NO COUNTERPLAY

It was hard to decide on a move here. White has various ideas. 26.Rad1 may seem better, but I was now thinking about a queenside pawn advance and wanted to keep Rac1 in the works. The primary point of the text is to prevent the ...c6 counterplay because of the pressure on d6.

One aspect of good technique is knowing when to practice patience. Here is a good example. Black isn't really doing anything, and white can thus probe for the best method of placing his pieces. White is in no big rush to finish black off, because this may only give black unnecessary counterplay.

26...Ne7

Black decides that he can tolerate the white knight no longer. The move is possible because 27.Bxf6?? loses to 27...Nxf5+.

From white's perspective, he'll allow the exchange of knights, but only on his terms. Thus he wants black to make the exchange, when the recapture with the pawn will secure more space and also create an important open file for his rooks.

Page1 I Page 2