A summer has passed; a school has begun; so the autumn chess lessons and tournaments have started! Nobody expected 70 people playing in their first September quad. I am glad of such a big number of chess students since "Mass gives rise to mastery" (it was first said by a world champion Anatoly Karpov 50 years ago).
For me this first after-summer tournament was very tough. Recently I tried to play in NJ Chess Championship but suddenly felt bad there and withdrew. Was my home preparation to that tournament useless? No, it manifested itself in the first September tournament in a game with Ido. This is the game I am going to analyze in this report (I was White, he was Black).
I have played my favorite e5-variant in Sicilian opening (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. e5) for more than 10 years but never sacrificed a pawn in one of its main variants. Thus, look at position 1 in the picture. It occurred after the moves 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. e5 Nc6 4. Bb5 Bd7. Usually I play Bb5xc6 and O-O in it and Black cannot easily win my e5-pawn since after trading c6-bishop for the f3-knight the black’s b7-pawn is hanging. But in my preparation I was thinking about such a fact – “can White wait for the Black’s a7-a6 pawn move to win a tempo and only after that to trade his bishop for c6-knight?” It led to the idea of temporarily sacrificing my e5-pawn by playing Nb1-c3 move shown in the picture. To compensate a sacrifice I have to defend my b5-bishop in the variant 5. Nc3 Nxe5 6. Nxe5 dxe5 forcing Black to take e5-knight instead of b5-bishop (otherwise 5. Nc3 Nxe5 6. Nxe5 Bxb5 7. Nxf7). I found that after this sacrifice I would play 7. Qe2 and Black (if he really wants to save his extra pawn) has to make an awkward move f7-f6, with a good compensation for White.
This home preparation had completely worked out. Ido had not even defended his extra e5-pawn; nevertheless he met with some difficulties in the development of his pieces. Position 2 proves it. In it White has fully developed all his pieces; two central rooks are aiming at the Black’s king (I was prepared to play d2-d4 to open a center even more). It is obvious that Black has to play the queen side castling. But Ido had neglected castling and played a very strange move Ra8-b8. Did he really want to attack my king by his queen side pawns? – It looks ridiculous now and looked ridiculous in a game; my king is completely hidden and defended.
Therefore, it is not surprising that after opening the center (as I said, by the d2-d4 pawn storm) I had created a very strong attack against the black king stuck in the center. Just look at position 3 and guess what move I had made in it (there is a hint; it is not a simple capture of e5-pawn).
After I had played 22. d5-d6 in position 3 Black is doomed (this pawn cannot be taken because of Qe4-c6 check). In five moves Black’s position had simply collapsed and Ido had resigned.
So, there are some advices from this game. The first one is very familiar and very important (but you have always to remember it!) – in the opening develop your pieces normally and hide your king in a flunk by castling! The second advice is new. If you play your favorite openings (and your opponents know about it) try to vary these openings by different variations; use your home preparation, create your own novelties and widen\renew your opening repertoire! Work on chess by yourself!
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