[Event "Internet 50 +10""]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2004.02.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alphonse"]
[Black "B-Alterman"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A20"]
[WhiteElo "1547"]
[Annotator "Alphonse; Mig; Fritz 8"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2004.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.12.22"]

{A20: English Opening: 1...e5} 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 {Alphonse: As has
been suggested, I spend barely any time on studying openings. Needless to say,
I did read Tony Kosten's "The Dynamic English" about a year and a half ago and
have played the English ever since. My repetoire is quite simple. With White,
always 1.c4. As Black, 1...Nf6 against d4 and c4 and 1...g6 against e4. This
move, however, took me out of my "book" and forced me to start thinking on my
own.} 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 $2 {Alphonse: Whoops! At the time, this seemed like a
great move. I would get my center pawn and even better, make my opponent waste
time by moving his Knight twice. This move looked so perfect in theory, that I
didn't think twice about it. Fritz points out the vicious tactic.     Mig: If
this move looks good to you, we have more problems than vicious tactics! There
are two or three reasons why this is a horrible move, apart from the fact that
it comes close to losing instantly.     First, it blocks in the active g2
bishop. Why go to all the trouble to fianchetto the bishop and then block its
diagonal? Two, the e4 pawn would be usefully directed at preventing central
expansion by Black, for example stopping ..d5. But Black has already played ..
d5 so the pawn doesn't really do much at all. Three, this move creates a
massive hole on the d3 and d4 squares. d3 is particularly bad because Black
can exploit this immediately with 5...Nb4.     These are more subtle
positional considerations, but they are important ones. Don't block in your
own pieces unless you are confident you can free them soon. The bishop on g2
has little hope of escape because the e4 pawn isn't going anywhere anytime
soon.     Don't create big holes in your position. A hole is a square that
cannot be protected by a pawn. After 5.e4 there are holes on d3 and d4.
Combined with the relatively slow development plan of g3-Bg2, this allows
Black to grab the advantage on move 5!     Conversely, look for holes in the
enemy position and try to exploit them. It is interesting that my old friend
GM Boris Alterman doesn't do this here, but when giving a simultaneous
exhibition it's best to be cautious if you're not 100% sure of the
complications.} (5. b3 Be7 6. Bb2 Bf6 7. Nc3 Nxc3 8. dxc3 O-O 9. Qc2 Qe7 10. e4
b6 11. Nf3 Ba6 12. Rd1 Nd7 13. Bf1 Bb7 14. Bc4 Nc5 15. Bd5 Bxd5 16. Rxd5 Rad8
17. Rxd8 Rxd8 18. Ke2 Qe6 19. Ba3 Nd3 {
Csom,I-Ruck,R/Paks 1996/EXT 98/1/2-1/2 (25)}) (5. d4 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 exd4 7. Bxb4
Nxb4 8. Qa4+ N4c6 9. Nf3 O-O 10. O-O Re8 11. Re1 Qf6 12. Na3 Nd7 13. Nb5 Nb6
14. Qd1 Re7 15. Nfxd4 Rd7 16. e3 a6 17. Nc3 h6 18. Nce2 Nxd4 19. exd4 c5 {
Tran Le Tu,U-Vo T Bich,L/Hue 2003/CBM 95 ext/0-1 (49)}) 5... Nb6 $2 {Mig: Black
misses a chance to gain a decisive advantage by playing against the hole on d3
with 5..Nb4!. Still, the weakness of d3 and d4 is PERMANENT, an important
consideration. Pawn moves are forever, they can't go back!      Black has all
the time in the world to exploit this structural weakness, unless White can
enforce the d4 push to eliminate his backwards d-pawn. A backwards pawn is one
that cannot be protected by other pawns and cannot easily advance.     The
concept of permanent advantages (and weaknesses) is the key to understanding
structural play. Black has a significant advantage in this position because
the g2 bishop has no scope and the weaknesses of d2, d3, and d4.} ({Fritz 8:} 
5... Nb4 $142 {Black has the better game} 6. d4 (6. Bf1 $6 N8c6) 6... Qxd4 7.
Qxd4 Nc2+ 8. Kd1 Nxd4 $19 (8... exd4 $2 9. Kxc2 Nc6 10. Bh3 $18)) 6. Nf3 Nc6 7.
O-O {Alphonse: I thought I had a nice setup and *felt* as if I had the
advantage. Fritz says Black has a strong advantage here (-0.78 if I play the
next six moves perfectly) though I'm not sure why. I do eventually lose the
game, but is it so obvious at this point?     Mig: Don't get carried away with
computer evaluations unless they are quite high. Less than a pawn (1.00 in
computerspeak) is often too subtle for a computer program to understand. But
here Fritz is right for the reasons we mentioned above. Your backwards d-pawn
is in for a very hard life and Black has no compensating weakness of his own.}
Bc5 {Mig: Hitting d4 again and also eyeing the king.} 8. Qc2 {Alphonse: Cool!
Yet another opening move with tempo! Sure, he's not going to hang the Bishop,
but now he has to do something to protect it. Plus, I thought I could now
protect both d2 and e4.     Mig: True, developing with tempo is cool. Black
defends with tempo though, developing his queen and defending the bishop at
the same time. Meanwhile, c2 is a vulnerable square for the queen. It can be
attacked by a knight from b4 and d4.} Qe7 9. d3 {Alphonse: Now I realized that
my Queen was in a lousy spot. d4 could not be played play nor with eventual
backup because I had given up control of my side of the d-file. Plus, it did
not seem like a good idea to take my Rook away from guarding the f-pawn and
stick it on the d-file.} O-O 10. Nbd2 {Alphonse: Development time. I didn't
want to put the Knight on c3 since it would take my pressure off of the Bishop
at c5. To me, it looked like his Queen was "pinned" to the a3-f8 diagonal
since, for now, she was the only protection the Bishop had. Plus, I really
wanted to see my Knight on c4 helping to attack the e5 pawn and taking it
there via a3 didn't seem as good as via d2. Fritz doesn't like this move at
all, and I guess that's because it blocks my Bishop? Anyway, I also came up
with a plan, and that was to mobilize everything I had, beginning with my
Queen's Knight, against the e4 pawn. I saw, Nc4, b2-b3, Bb2, Rad1, Qd2, and
finally d4.     Mig: All right, a man with a plan! I'm not sure what hope
there is against e5 when Black can always defend it with ..f6. Mobilization is
always good of course. It's not that this move is so bad, but it allows ..Nb4,
attacking the queen and d3 at the same time, which is very strong for Black.
Lucky for White Alterman continues to play routinely.} ({Fritz 8:} 10. a3 Rd8
$15) 10... Bg4 {Mig: The GM is playing for a clear, simple advantage instead
of worrying about punishing White's mistakes immediately. This move prepares
to capture the knight, which is the only piece defending the key d4 square.
After he captures he will drop a knight on d4 with total domination.} (10...
Nb4 11. Qb1 $17) 11. Nc4 ({Fritz 8:} 11. Nb3 $142 $5 {Alphonse: I never
thought of using the Knight to pressure the Bishop. Only using the Knight to
pressure the e5-pawn.     Mig: This isn't really to pressure the bishop,
although it gains time by doing so, but to control the d4 square if the f3
knight is removed.} Bxf3 12. Qxc5 $15) 11... Bxf3 $17 12. Bxf3 Nd4 13. Qd1 Nxc4
14. dxc4 {Mig: Black has removed the weak white d-pawn, but has gained
compensation. After the exchanges White has been left with a miserable bishop
on f3 that has little hope of ever living a full life. The pawns on c4 and e4
block its best diagonals.     Black has an incredibly strong knight on d4; it
dominates the board. White might be able to trade it for his dark-squared
bishop with Be3-Bxd4, but a black bishop on d4 will be almost as strong as the
knight is. Imagine the position with the white bishop stuck behind its own
pawns and black bishop powerfully posted on d4.     It's also worth having a
discussion here about the importance of Black having control of the piece that
blockades the only open file, the d-file. Both sides can build up on the file,
putting their rooks on it. Then it will be Black who will decide exactly when
to open the file by moving his knight (or bishop, if it's on d4).} Rad8 15. Bg2
{Mig: Black has no good discovered attacks with the knight since all of its
forward squares are covered by the queen.} c6 {Alphonse: This move really
puzzled me. I try to figure out what my opponent is doing and this move left
me without a clue. In hindsight, I'm thinking it may have something to do with
fighting for control over the d5-square?     Mig: Definitely a subtle move
from the GM, who doesn't see any way to move forward directly and so improves
his own position while waiting for a mistake. I've played many games against
Alterman and he is tremendous at this sort of play. He's not interested in
blowing you up when you can slowly push you off the board with almost no risk!
     ..c6 is not a pointless waiting move, however. It protects the b7 square
in several lines in which Black opens up an attack with ..f5 and the g2
bishop's diagonal will be opened.} 16. Be3 {Alphonse: Now I'm thinking about
pressuring the Bishop as I noticed I could attack him indirectly while at the
same time developing mine. But, sorry to say, I also didn't see any better
place for him. I also didn't want to move my Queen since I was afraid that
sticking her on a4 would leave her offside and that g4 or h5 would just give
my opponent the chance to gain more than one tempo by chasing her around with
pawns.     Mig: Not a bad square necessarily, and it has the threat of
capturing the mighty knight. Alphonse might be right when he says moving his
queen to the kingside won't achieve much, but the reasoning is faulty. You
WANT your opponent to weaken his king by chasing your queen around with pawns.
You can't have a successful attack unless you create weaknesses in the enemy
position. With all the protecting pawns on their original squares the black
king is safer than a bottle of water in a French wine shop.} Ne6 {Mig: No, you
can't have my lovely knight! And if the dark-squared bishops are exchanged the
knight can come back and be completely immune to attack.} 17. Bxc5 {Mig: This i
s a little too cooperative. There's not much to be about the exchange of
bishops but why help Black by putting the queen on the powerful c5 square?
Make Black do the work and spend a tempo to capture. Note that if Black
captures BxB on e3, White can recapture with the f-pawn, which will keep the
knight out of d4. The doubled pawns will be ugly, but things would be worse
with a knight on d4.} ({Alphonse:} 17. Qg4 Bxe3 18. fxe3 Qc5 {x c4, e3}) (17.
Qe2 Bxe3 18. fxe3) 17... Qxc5 (17... Rxd1 $4 18. Bxe7 Rxa1 19. Rxa1) 18. Qg4 {
Alphonse: I really thought that this was not only the only place for my Queen,
but also a way to be able to make some sort of progress with Kh1 followed by
f2-f4. Fritz says I should have moved to the queenside instead, but I thought
that a GM would certainly know how to punish me for trying to gobble pawns.   
Mig: Forget gobbling them, what about the pawn on c4?! Material is material
after all. Qb3 at least protects the c4 pawn even if you don't capture on b7.}
({Fritz 8:} 18. Qb3 Nd4 19. Qxb7 a5 $17 {Alphonse: I still don't care for this
as now my Queen has no way to help in any defence of my center pawns or my
kingside.}) 18... Rd2 (18... Qxc4 {Mig: There's no reason not to take this
pawn, but Alterman continues to play for domination.Eventually the white
position will crack to pieces.}) 19. Kh1 $4 {Alphonse: Stupid...just stupid. I
can't even blame this one on zeitnot or my kids or my dogs howling in the
background. I saw an immediate crisis taking place on f2 and g2 and felt that
breaking the pin along the g1-a7 diagonal was more important than a pawn. In
hindsight, and Fritz agrees, better was a calm b3 as I was in no immediate
danger. Fritz moves Black from the strong advantage column to the winning
column with this beauty of mine. The question mark is also mine.     Mig: A
pure and simple blunder that gives away a full pawn for nothing at all. I
added another question mark! But don't think that White wasn't lost already.
It would have taken awhile, but Black's domination of the board is nearly
complete even after b3. Black will double rooks on the d-file and play his
knight to the d4 square.} ({Fritz 8:} 19. b3 $142 $5 $17) 19... Rxb2 $19 {
Mig: The f2 pawn was also available, but removing the b-pawn means the c-pawn
won't be able to be defended.} 20. f4 {Alphonse: Now, the word counterplay
came to mind. Silly me. Ten moves from here, I would find myself wishing badly
for that pawn to be back on f2.     Mig: Nah, go for it! White is losing by
position and losing by material. Sitting around waiting for the GM to clean up
isn't going to be interesting at all. Desperate measures rarely work but they
are better than nothing. As we often say around here, a 95% chance of a quick
loss with a tiny ray of hope is better than a 100% chance of a slow death with
no counterchances. GIVE YOUR OPPONENT A CHANCE TO MAKE A MISTAKE. If passive
defense in a bad position has no chance of success (like here), you might as
well throw the kitchen sink.} Rd8 $6 {Mig: A bit of a slip by the GM since now
White's desperation attack can get a little something going with f5-f6. Now,
it won't work in the long run but it's more than he should allow in such a
dominating position.} (20... Nd4 21. Rfc1 $19) 21. Rad1 $2 {Alphonse: I
thought I had to do something to challenge both Rooks coming at me on the 2nd
rank. Now, I wish I had taken advantage of the opportunity to at least give my
king a little play in case this game actually made it as far as an endgame.} ({
Fritz 8:} 21. f5 Nf8 $19 22. f6 g6 23. Qh4 Qxc4 24. Qh6 Ne6 {
Mig: Black has everything defended, but at least he had to think a little.}) ({
Alphonse:} 21. Rg1 Rdd2 22. h4 $2 {intending Kh2}) 21... Rxd1 $19 22. Qxd1 {
Alphonse: It did not seem exceptionally bad to recapture with the Queen. The
a2- or c2-pawns were going to fall anyway, and it seemed like a better idea to
have my Queen around to help out in case he would eventually get his Queen on
to the 2nd rank and start pushing his queenside pawns.     Mig: Notexceptionall
y bad, but taking with the rook would have given White two active pieces
instead of one.} ({Fritz 8:} 22. Rxd1 Qxc4 23. f5 Qc2 $19) (22. Rxd1 Rxa2 23.
f5 Qf2 $19) 22... Qd4 (22... Qxc4 $5 23. a4 Qe2 24. Qxe2 Rxe2 25. Rb1 $19) 23.
Qc1 $2 {Alphonse: The question mark here is Fritz'. I thought I was doing a
nice job bringing my Queen into the defence, protecting the c4- and f4-pawns,
and giving the Rook some assistance.} ({Fritz 8:} 23. fxe5 Qxc4 24. Qh5 Nf8 $19
) 23... Qd2 24. Rg1 $2 {Alphonse: This is another move that seemed just fine
to me. Granted, I'm lost, but it appeared to me that either my Bishop went, or
the f4-pawn went. If I traded Queens, like Fritz wanted me to do, I expected a
quick loss because I'd have no fire-power and a passed pawn was not too far
off for Black.     Mig: Don't worry too much about Fritz's opinions at this
point. White has different ways to lose at this point and Fritz just like to
point out the slowest one. Trading queens is obviously lost and in general you
want to keep material on to increase the chance of of a swindle.} ({Fritz 8:} 
24. Qxd2 Rxd2 25. fxe5 Rxa2 26. Bh3 $19 {Alphonse: Had I gotten to this
position, there would be nothing else for me to work with. Black's King would
come into play, my King would stay trapped on the 1st rank, and who knows how
many passed pawns Alterman could make on the queenside, or, as I find out
later, in the center?!}) (24. Qxd2 Rxd2 25. a3 $19) 24... Qxc1 25. Rxc1 f6 (
25... exf4 26. Ra1 $19) 26. a3 {Alphonse: It seemed more expedient to me to
keep two pawns on the queenside than to lose one on the kingside.     Mig:
Okay, but why not capture on e5 first? Note that Alterman doesn't win the pawn
on f4 because he's happy to make sure the g2 bishop will continue to be
blocked by the e4 pawn.} ({Fritz 8:} 26. fxe5 fxe5 27. a3 Nc5 $19) 26... Kf7 (
26... exf4 27. gxf4 Nxf4 28. Bf1 $19) 27. f5 (27. fxe5 fxe5 28. Bh3 $19) 27...
Nc5 28. Bf1 $2 {Alphonse: A very silly move. Now my King would be stuck ad
infinitum. I thought better would have been h4 again intending to get my King
into the endgame.} ({Fritz 8:} 28. Kg1 Rb3 $19) 28... Ke7 29. Ra1 (29. Re1 Rb3
$19) 29... Nxe4 30. a4 {Alphonse: I wanted to try and get some of my pawns out
of way. I thought that as long as my Rook was behind my a-pawn, I could at
least stop a pawn of his from advancing to a dangerous point. I wasn't worried
about Rb4 because of my Bishop's protection of the c-pawn.     Mig: Black is
"only" two pawns up, but his pieces still dominate and more pawns will fall.}
a5 31. Re1 Nc5 32. Ra1 Rf2 (32... Rb4 $5 33. Kg2 Rxa4 34. Rxa4 Nxa4 35. Kf2 $19
) 33. g4 Kd6 34. Kg1 {Alphonse: I saw the check but thought that it would have
been a "spite check," as he couldn't get through right then anyway. It simply
looked like a way to leave my a4-pawn unprotected.     Mig: It looks
reasonable to push delay the Black king's entrance for as long as possible by
checking.} (34. Rd1+) 34... Rd2 35. h3 (35. Ra3 b6 $19) 35... e4 {Mig: Black
kes a pathway for his king after making sure White has no way at all to
complicate.} 36. Bg2 Ke5 37. Kf1 {Alphonse: The end is very near. It dawns on
me that Boris Alterman has generously left me the choice as to which pawn of
his he would queen.} (37. Rb1 e3 $19) 37... Kf4 {Alphonse: I choose...none! I
resigned instead.     Mig: Not early I suppose, but there's no harm in forcing
him to queen a pawn. It's a simul, you never know what might happen. He might
blunder. Plus, as long as YOU are still thinking and working there is a reason
to play on.} (37... Kf4 38. Kg1 e3 39. Rf1+ Ke5 $19 40. Bf3 {Mig: White would
like to give up his bishop for the pawn and try to get his rook active against
the black pawns.} Nd3 41. Rd1 Kd4 42. Rb1 Kxc4) 0-1

