Shawn Bale (1827) - Seth Homa (2254)
Universal Winter Swiss, 04/24/2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.g3 Nbd7 7.Bg2 e5 8.d5 This may be a strategical error. IM Andrew Martin comments on this exact position for chesspublishing.com He explains that "White profits from keeping the centre fluid here. The trick is to examine the pawn levers. White has c4-c5 (a long way off) whilst Black has ...f7-f5 (imminent) And look at the poor old Bishop on g2- all gummed up."

[8.O-O Maintaining the tension is more common.]

8...a5 9.O-O Nc5 10.Ne1 Nfd7 11.Nd3 It seems a shame to play Nf1-e1-d3 only to see black's c5 knight replace itself. That said, I don't have another suggestion for White here.
11...Nxd3 12.Qxd3 Nc5 13.Qc2 f5 14.f4 This idea of blowing up the center with f4 may be new. I can't find any examples of this on my database.

[In similar positions, White has more frequently tried locking the Kingside pawns with
14.f3 and eventually when Black plays ...f4 White locks it up with g4, hoping to gain time for an initiative on the queenside.
14...f4 15.g4]

14...exf4 15.Bxf4 fxe4 16.Nxe4 Bf5 Perfect play from Seth. Black has no pawn weaknesses and active minor pieces, On the other hand, White's c-pawn is weak, the dark sqaures sensitive, and his g2-Bishop not so hot. Black must be better. Holding this position with White will be a tough.
17.g4 Shawn now decides to pitch a pawn to release the pressure.

[The computer suggests tossing the exchange instead with
17.Rae1 Qe7 18.Nxc5 Qxe1 19.Rxe1 Bxc2 20.Ne6 Rae8 though this looks quite difficult for White also.]

17...Bxe4 18.Bxe4 Qh4 19.Bg3 Qxg4 20.Bg2 Rae8 21.Rfe1 Qd4+ 22.Bf2 Qxb2 23.Qxb2 Bxb2 24.Rxe8 Rxe8 25.Rb1 Ba3 26.Re1 Rxe1+ 27.Bxe1 Bb4 To my mind, very impressive play from Seth. From move one to resigns, Seth improves position a tiny bit with each move. Boring but deadly effective.
28.Bh4 Kf7 29.Kf2 Bc3 30.Ke3 Bf6 31.Be1 b6 32.Bf3 Bg5+ 33.Ke2 h5 34.h3 Kf6 35.Bf2 Nd7 36.Bd4+ Kf5 37.Kd3 Bf6 38.Be4+ Kg5 39.Be3+ Kh4 40.Ke2 Ne5 41.Bd4 g5 42.Bxe5 Bxe5 43.Bf5 Kg3 44.Kf1 Bd4 45.Bg6 g4 46.hxg4 h4 47.Bf5 h3 48.g5 h2 49.Be4 Kf4 50.Bh1 Ke3

0-1

Tony West - Harold Steen
04/25/2008

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Be2 Nge7 7.O-O Nf5 Inacccurate according to GM Neil McDonald, "White succeeds in resolving the centre situation in his favour."

[If Black wants to pursue the typical French plan of pressuring d4, he should exchange on d4 first.
7...cxd4 8.cxd4 Nf5 9.Nc3 Be7

(other reasonable moves for Black are
9...h5)

(or 9...Rc8)

10.g4 Nh4 11.Nxh4 Bxh4 12.Be3

(12.f4 Be7 13.Be3 f6)

12...O-O 13.f4 f6 with a highly complex game]

[7...Ng6 is an alternative approach endorsed by IM John Watson in his book Play the French 3. Black will eventually attack the head of the pawn chain with ...f6]

8.g4 this thrust is a common, though risky idea for White in these types of positions. However, I think it is an error in this exact position.

[8.Bd3 cxd4 9.Bxf5 exf5 10.Nxd4 GM McDonald comments for chesspublishing.com "White avoids recapturing on d4 with a pawn so that he use the square as a base for his pieces. Furthermore, Black's d5 pawn is left as a sickly isolated pawn on an open file. Therefore White has a definite positional advantage."]

8...Nh4 9.Nxh4 Qxh4 Compared to the note after 7...cxd4, here Black can capture on h4 with the Queen. Harold can pry open the h-file with a later h5 and create some unpleasant threats on the White King.
10.Bf4 With Black's Queen in the vicinity of his King, Tony likely had second thoughts regarding the thematic follow up f4
10...cxd4 11.cxd4 h5 12.Bg3 Qd8 Well played. The queen returns to base, having completed its work on the kingside. The queen can later come to b6 to hit the weak d4 pawn.
13.Qd2 hxg4 14.Bxg4 Qb6 15.Rd1 Be7 16.Nc3 Qd8 Now Harold starts to lose the thread.

[16...Na5 This prevents Na4 and keeps Blacks options open. He might follow up with ...Rc8 and ...Nc4. Note that Blacks King is comfortable in the center for the moment.]

17.Rac1 Bh4 18.Nb5 O-O

[18...Be7 Black needed to man-up and admit that the plan with Bh4 was not best.]

19.Nd6 Bxg3 20.hxg3 White has a monster Knight and attacking potential down the h-file.
20...Rb8 When a defensive move like this is best, it is a sure sign of earlier mistakes. Rooks belong on open files.
21.Kg2 f6 22.Qe3 inaccurate per the computer though I am not sure why.
22...fxe5

[22...Qb6 Perhaps it is that White can't play dxe5 here owing to a queen trade? Or is it that Black has the possibility of Qxb2 in some lines, intersecting at the f2 point with the Rook onf8?]

23.dxe5 Qb6 24.Qxb6 axb6 25.Rxd5 Violating IM Finegold's rule, "Never sacrifice!"

[25.f4 instead keeps a stable advantage]

25...exd5 26.Bxd7 Nxe5 27.Be6+ Nf7?

[27...Kh7 Both players must have overlooked this defensive resource
28.Rh1+ Kg6 when Black is still fighting.]

28.Rc7 Kh7 29.Nxf7 Kg6 30.Bxd5 On the surface, two pieces for a rook, Black has some chances. But not here. Black is completely paralyzed.
30...Kf6 31.f4 Rbe8 32.Kf2 Re7 33.Rxe7 Kxe7 34.Ne5 Rd8 35.Bxb7 Rd2+ 36.Ke3 Rxb2 37.Bd5 Kf6 38.Bb3 b5 39.g4 g5 40.Nd7+ Ke7 41.fxg5

1-0

Created with PGNtoJS

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.g3 Nbd7 7.Bg2 e5 8.d5 This may be a strategical error. IM Andrew Martin comments on this exact position for chesspublishing.com He explains that "White profits from keeping the centre fluid here. The trick is to examine the pawn levers. White has c4-c5 (a long way off) whilst Black has ...f7-f5 (imminent) And look at the poor old Bishop on g2- all gummed up."
	[8.O-O Maintaining the tension is more common.]
8...a5 9.O-O Nc5 10.Ne1 Nfd7 11.Nd3 It seems a shame to play Nf1-e1-d3 only to see black's c5 knight replace itself. That said, I don't have another suggestion for White here. 11...Nxd3 12.Qxd3 Nc5 13.Qc2 f5 14.f4 This idea of blowing up the center with f4 may be new. I can't find any examples of this on my database.
	[In similar positions, White has more frequently tried locking the Kingside pawns with 14.f3 and eventually when Black plays ...f4 White locks it up with g4, hoping to gain time for an initiative on the queenside. 14...f4 15.g4]
14...exf4 15.Bxf4 fxe4 16.Nxe4 Bf5 Perfect play from Seth. Black has no pawn weaknesses and active minor pieces, On the other hand, White's c-pawn is weak, the dark sqaures sensitive, and his g2-Bishop not so hot. Black must be better. Holding this position with White will be a tough. 17.g4 Shawn now decides to pitch a pawn to release the pressure.
	[The computer suggests tossing the exchange instead with 17.Rae1 Qe7 18.Nxc5 Qxe1 19.Rxe1 Bxc2 20.Ne6 Rae8 though this looks quite difficult for White also.]
17...Bxe4 18.Bxe4 Qh4 19.Bg3 Qxg4 20.Bg2 Rae8 21.Rfe1 Qd4+ 22.Bf2 Qxb2 23.Qxb2 Bxb2 24.Rxe8 Rxe8 25.Rb1 Ba3 26.Re1 Rxe1+ 27.Bxe1 Bb4 To my mind, very impressive play from Seth. From move one to resigns, Seth improves position a tiny bit with each move. Boring but deadly effective. 28.Bh4 Kf7 29.Kf2 Bc3 30.Ke3 Bf6 31.Be1 b6 32.Bf3 Bg5+ 33.Ke2 h5 34.h3 Kf6 35.Bf2 Nd7 36.Bd4+ Kf5 37.Kd3 Bf6 38.Be4+ Kg5 39.Be3+ Kh4 40.Ke2 Ne5 41.Bd4 g5 42.Bxe5 Bxe5 43.Bf5 Kg3 44.Kf1 Bd4 45.Bg6 g4 46.hxg4 h4 47.Bf5 h3 48.g5 h2 49.Be4 Kf4 50.Bh1 Ke3 0-1

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Be2 Nge7 7.O-O Nf5 Inacccurate according to GM Neil McDonald, "White succeeds in resolving the centre situation in his favour."
	[If Black wants to pursue the typical French plan of pressuring d4, he should exchange on d4 first. 7...cxd4 8.cxd4 Nf5 9.Nc3 Be7
		(other reasonable moves for Black are 9...h5)

		(or 9...Rc8)
	10.g4 Nh4 11.Nxh4 Bxh4 12.Be3
		(12.f4 Be7 13.Be3 f6)
	12...O-O 13.f4 f6 with a highly complex game]

	[7...Ng6 is an alternative approach endorsed by IM John Watson in his book Play the French 3. Black will eventually attack the head of the pawn chain with ...f6]
8.g4 this thrust is a common, though risky idea for White in these types of positions. However, I think it is an error in this exact position.
	[8.Bd3 cxd4 9.Bxf5 exf5 10.Nxd4 GM McDonald comments for chesspublishing.com "White avoids recapturing on d4 with a pawn so that he use the square as a base for his pieces. Furthermore, Black's d5 pawn is left as a sickly isolated pawn on an open file. Therefore White has a definite positional advantage."]
8...Nh4 9.Nxh4 Qxh4 Compared to the note after 7...cxd4, here Black can capture on h4 with the Queen. Harold can pry open the h-file with a later h5 and create some unpleasant threats on the White King. 10.Bf4 With Black's Queen in the vicinity of his King, Tony likely had second thoughts regarding the thematic follow up f4 10...cxd4 11.cxd4 h5 12.Bg3 Qd8 Well played. The queen returns to base, having completed its work on the kingside. The queen can later come to b6 to hit the weak d4 pawn. 13.Qd2 hxg4 14.Bxg4 Qb6 15.Rd1 Be7 16.Nc3 Qd8 Now Harold starts to lose the thread.
	[16...Na5 This prevents Na4 and keeps Blacks options open. He might follow up with ...Rc8 and ...Nc4. Note that Blacks King is comfortable in the center for the moment.]
17.Rac1 Bh4 18.Nb5 O-O
	[18...Be7 Black needed to man-up and admit that the plan with Bh4 was not best.]
19.Nd6 Bxg3 20.hxg3 White has a monster Knight and attacking potential down the h-file. 20...Rb8 When a defensive move like this is best, it is a sure sign of earlier mistakes. Rooks belong on open files. 21.Kg2 f6 22.Qe3 inaccurate per the computer though I am not sure why. 22...fxe5
	[22...Qb6 Perhaps it is that White can't play dxe5 here owing to a queen trade? Or is it that Black has the possibility of Qxb2 in some lines, intersecting at the f2 point with the Rook onf8?]
23.dxe5 Qb6 24.Qxb6 axb6 25.Rxd5 Violating IM Finegold's rule, "Never sacrifice!"
	[25.f4 instead keeps a stable advantage]
25...exd5 26.Bxd7 Nxe5 27.Be6+ Nf7?
	[27...Kh7 Both players must have overlooked this defensive resource 28.Rh1+ Kg6 when Black is still fighting.]
28.Rc7 Kh7 29.Nxf7 Kg6 30.Bxd5 On the surface, two pieces for a rook, Black has some chances. But not here. Black is completely paralyzed. 30...Kf6 31.f4 Rbe8 32.Kf2 Re7 33.Rxe7 Kxe7 34.Ne5 Rd8 35.Bxb7 Rd2+ 36.Ke3 Rxb2 37.Bd5 Kf6 38.Bb3 b5 39.g4 g5 40.Nd7+ Ke7 41.fxg5 1-0