By Karel van der Weide

There is a proverb that a donkey does not hit his head on the same rock twice. This year I lost two games in a particular line of the Caro-Kann that look similar. Which makes me dumber then a donkey...

van der Weide-Yevseev
Cappelle la Grande, 2006
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nc3 e6 5.g4 Bg6 6.Nge2 c5 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bb4

To be honest, I made a reasonable effort analyzing and comprehending this position. I even bothered Yasser Seirawan, who lives in my hometown Amsterdam nowadays, with my conclusions. We did not spend too much time on 9.f4?!. Black has a pleasant choice between 9...Nc6 10.Bb5 Ne7 11.0-0 0-0 and 9...Be4 10.Bb5+ Nd7 11.0-0 Bxc3 12.bxc3 a6!, advocated by Yasser. This is much stronger then 12...Ne7, which gave Shabalov an attack against Macieja after 13.f5 0-0 14.f6 Ng6 15.Bxd7 Qxd7 16.fxg7 Kxg7 17.Bg5.

Therefore we focused on 9.Qd2. Here, Black can choose between 9...h5, 9...Nd7 and 9...Ne7. Yasser really liked 9...h5 and being "at his provocative best" this led to amazing variations like: 10.a3 Bxc3 11.Qxc3 hxg4 12.Nb5 Ne7 13.Nc7+ Kf8 14.Nxa8 Nbc6 15.Bc5 Qxa8 16.Bg2 Rh5 17.Bd6 Kg8 18.b4 Be4 19.Bxe4 dxe4 20.Bxe7 Nxe7 21.0-0-0. I do not want to reveal too many details, as Yasser might want to use our work when he makes his comeback! However, our conclusion: a complete mess, nothing forced, and lots of fun!

9...Nd7 occurred in a game of Vasilios Kotronias, author of the excellent book BEATING THE CARO-KANN. It appears he had a small plus after 10.a3 Qa5 11.Rb1 Bxc3 12.bxc3 a6 13.Rxb7 Qxa3 (13...Nxe5 14.Bf4 Nxg4 15.Bd6) 14.Bg2 Nxe5 15.0-0 Nf6 16.Bg5. However, Black has a variety of possibilities. For example don't rule out 10...Ba5 11.f4 Qh4+ 12.Bf2 Qxg4 13.h3 Qh5 14.Be2 Qh6 15.Ndb5 Kf8. Black can choose to play this position with or without ...Bxc3.

So far nothing special, just lots of unclear positions where White always has some compensation for his structural deficiencies. However, the move that worries me the most is the solid 9...Ne7. Somehow I think Black has to make this move in 99% of the cases, so why not at once? And this is how Yevseev (and Landa in the second game) played against me. Now it looks logical to "question" the bishop with 10.a3. Here my opponents went their own way:

10...Ba5

This was Yevseev's choice.

11.Ndb5

11.Nb3 Bb6 or ...Bc7 with 12...h5 as a follow-up is the alternative.

11...0-0 12.Bg2 Nbc6

The right Knight, as 12...Nec6 13. f4 Qh4+ gives White the chance to launch a dangerous pawn-sac with 14.Bf2 Qxg4 15.Rg1.

13.f4 Rc8 14.Rd1

I did not dare to castle queenside because of 14.0-0-0 a6 15.Nd6 Bxc3 16.Qxc3 d4! 17.Bxd4 Nxd4 18.Nxc8 Ne2+ winning.

14...a6 15.Nd6 Rc7

As a result of the constant pressure, this is the moment I collapsed. It was not so difficult to calculate 16.0-0 d4 17.Bxd4 Nxd4 18.Qxd4 Rxc3 19.Nxb7 Qxd4+ 20.Rxd4 Rxc2 21.Nxa5 Rxb2 22.Rd7 and White is even better! Instead, I played...

16.b4??

and the curtains were raised after

16...Nxb4 17.axb4 Bxb4 18.0-0 Bxc3 19.Qe2 d4 20.Bxd4 Bxc2 21.Bb6 Bxd1 22.Rxd1 Qb8 23.f5 Nc8 24.Qe3 Nxb6, 0-1.

If you want to become a strong player, you should draw conclusions from a defeat. And such a conclusion should not be limited by a sentence like: "Next time I'll play 11.Nb3 or 16.0-0, whatever." As a result, this is what happened half a year later:

van der Weide-Landa
Bad Wiessee 2006
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nc3 e6 5.g4 Bg6 6.Nge2 c5 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bb4 9.Qd2 Ne7 10.a3 Bxc3!? 11.Qxc3 Nbc6

So I sank into thought and after half an hour I sensed...I could as well resign! This looks like the proper moment to comment on the opening stage of the game. What has White done? He saddled himself with two weaknesses (e5 and g4). What does he have for compensation? Material advantage? No. Initiative against the enemy King? No. Advantage in development? No. Pressure against the opponent's weakness? No. By the way, what weakness? The Black position as you see is rocksolid, he has nice squares for his pieces, the King is completely safe and his "bad bishop" is outside the pawn-chain. About the White set-up, one has to conclude: it is a mistake to play it once, it is a sin to play it twice. Any chance for an opening advantage should be searched in the lines starting with 7.h4, which I would have known if I had made a proper study of Yasser's games!

By the way, I didn't resign. After doing some "catching up," I even got a reasonable position:

12.Nb5

12.Nxc6 Nxc6 13.Bc5 Qg5 is disastrous.

12...0-0 13.Bg2 Rc8 14.Nd6

14.0-0 Na5 and the c-pawn is gone.

14...Rc7 15.0-0 f6

The tactics keep White alive: 15...d4 16.Bxd4 Nxe5 17.Qg3.

16.Nb5 Rd7 17.exf6 Rxf6

I am not convinced wether the f6-plan was the right one. Why I did not play the logical 18.Nd4 is another question.

18.Bg5?! Rf8 19.Nd4 Nxd4 20.Qxd4 Nc6 21.Qe3

Maybe it makes more sense to play 21.Qd2 Qb6 22. b3.

21...Qe8 22.c3 e5

There you have it, the ideal center.

23.Rfe1 Qf7 24.Qg3 h6 25.Bd2 a6 26.b4 Bc2 27.a4 e4

It was only here that I realized the guy wanted to win with an attack on my King.

28.b5 Na5 29.Be3 Nc4 30.Bd4 a5 31.Rec1 Bd3 32.Ra2 Qg6 33.f4

I have to free myself, but the prize, surrendering the e4-square, is too high.

33...exf3e.p . 34.Bxf3 Be4 35.Be2 Rdf7 36.Rf1 Rxf1+ 37.Bxf1 Rf3 38.Qh4 Ne3 39.Be2 Qf7!

Towel!

40.Qe1

40.Bxf3 Qxf3 41.Bxe3 Qh1+ 42.Kf2 Qg2+ 43.Ke1 Qxa2 44.Qd8+ Kh7 45.Qxa5 Bf3 46.Bd2 Qb1+ 47.Kf2 Qd1 or something like that.

40...Nxg4 41.Qh4 Qf4 42.Ra1 g5, 0-1.