A sharp Four Pawns Attack

by Jonathan Speelman
7/21/2019 – An interesting King's Indian from a FIDE Master was the submission of the fortnight featured by GM Jon Speelman, but he's also thrown in a bonus study (pictured) for your Sunday perusal. | Send in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!
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Speelman's Agony #102

This week's game is by Goran Tomic, a Montenigran FIDE Master and chess organizer who runs “Third Saturday” tournaments in Djenovici.

TomicEcstasy only this week — Goran sent me just a single game from the Montenegran league fifteen years ago. It features a very sharp opening battle which effectively concluded when his opponent blundered, allowing a line which gave Goran a big advantage.

The position remained complicated though and one of the best things is how calm Goran remained — or at the very least how calm his moves remained — as he quietly improved his pieces and exchanged off when appropriate, never giving in to the temptation to rush matters. As a result, his opponent's position worsened under the sheer weight of its deficiencies — bad king, bad pawn structure, material disadvantage. And Goran won at a canter. Winning won games is seldom easy and this was an excellent example.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 The four pawns sets up a huge centre but White is making a big commitment by playing four pawn moves out of his first five. 0-0 6.Nf3 Na6 7.e5!? The most aggressivve choice but asking a lot of the position. Nd7
I found about 100 games here in a contemporary database of just under 2.5 million. Be2 is most common followed by h4. c5 would be nice if White could get control but he's a tempo short. 8.c5 I really wanted to play the crude 8.h4 But in contrast to the the Austrian Attack against the Pirc (where White hasn't played c4) Black has an extra tempo so it perhaps shouldn't be too surprising that Black is doing quite well if he plays sufficiently accurately. c5 9.d5 dxe5 10.h5 Here exf4 has normally been played but engines suggest: Qa5!? 11.Kf2 11.hxg6 fxg6 12.Bd3 e4 13.Bxe4 Bxc3+ 14.bxc3 Nf6 15.Bc2 Qxc3+ 16.Bd2 Qxc4 is a natural line in which White has practical chances but must be seriously worse in theory. 11.Bd2 looks better than Kf2 perhaps then 11...Qb6 8.Be2 c5 9.exd6 exd6 10.d5 with a Benoni in which f4 rather gets in White's way. 10.0-0 8...dxc5 9.d5?! By sacrificing the c pawn, White has taken the pressure off e5 for the moment. If he had one more tempo, then he might have been able to keep control with a good position but you have to ask whether it's "reasonable" that White can play so many pawn moves in the opening and the theoretical answer seems to be that he's overdone it and so is unable to keep control. 9.Bxa6 bxa6 10.Be3 cxd4 11.Qxd4 Here White keeps his centre for the moment and while I instinctively prefer Black, engines think White is OK too. 9...Nb6 9...f6 was interesting since if 10.e6 Nb6 11.f5 Nb4 and White falls apart well before Black. 10.Bxa6 10.a3 was a thought to prevent Nb4 but Bg4 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Qxf3 f6 13.e6 13.exf6 Bxf6 14.Bd2 Bxc3 14...c4 15.Rd1 Nc5 is a more ambitious way for Black to play. 15.Bxc3 Qxd5 gives White some play for the two or rather perhaps one and a half pawns 13...f5 with d5 caving in White is in trouble. 14.Bd2 Qd6 even 14...Bxc3 15.Bxc3 Qxd5 is pretty good. 10...bxa6 11.Be3 Bb7 12.Bxc5 Nxd5
13.Qb3? Up to here, White has taken some risks but remained within bounds. However, this is a blunder after which Black is much better or even "winning with best play". Instead 13.Nxd5 Bxd5 13...Qxd5 14.Qxd5 Bxd5 15.Kf2 can't be too bad for White. 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 14...Bxf3 15.Qxd8 Rfxd8 16.Bxd8 Bxg2 17.Rg1± 15.Qxd5 Rfd8 16.Qc4 Rab8 17.0-0 was a reasonable way for White to bail out. 13...Nxf4! 14.Rd1 Of course if 14.Qxb7 Nd3+ 15.Ke2 15.Kf1 Nxc5 15...Nxc5 15...Rb8 is also strong 16.Qc6 Nxe5 17.Nxe5 Rxb2+ with a huge attack. 14...Nxg2+ 15.Kf2 Qc8! The only move but perfectly sufficient. 16.Nd5 Bxd5 It's a shame for Black that he has to give up the beautiful bishop but the position should be winning anyway. 17.Qxd5 Nf4 18.Qd7 Qb7 19.b4 Rfe8 19...f6 20.e6 Qe4 was strong becuse if 21.Rhe1 Nh3+ but this requires exact calculation and Goran very sensibly kept his position together and allowed White to fall apart. 20.Bxe7 Bf8 21.Bxf8 Rxf8 Goran played very sensibly around here maintaining his advantage without trying too hard to demonstrate anything forced. 22.h4 Qb6+ 23.Kg3 Nh5+ 24.Kg2 Qxb4 25.Rd4 Qb2+ 26.Rd2 Qc3 27.Rf1 Rab8 28.Rff2 Nf4+ 29.Kg3 Ne6 30.Qe7 Qb4 31.Qf6 h5 32.Kh2 Qg4 33.Rf1 33.Rg2 Qf4+ 34.Qxf4 Nxf4 is also quite lost but a slightly less bad version than than White actually got. 33...Rb4 34.Rg2 Qf4+ 35.Qxf4 35.Qxf4 Again not trying too hard but trusting in his technique to get him over the line. 35...Rxf4 36.Kg3 Rd8 37.Rgf2 Rd3 38.Kg2 c5 With 3 (or perhaps 2.5) extra pawns and every piece more active than its counterpart, Black is obviously totally winning. 39.Rb1 Rb4 40.Rc1
40...Kg7 Reaching the time control. Quiet improving moves are often the most unpleaant to face when you're lost. 41.Kh2 c4 42.Rcf1 c3 43.Ne1 Rxh4+ 44.Kg2 Rg4+ 45.Kh2 Rd7 46.Rf3 Rc4 47.R1f2 Ng5 48.Rf6 Ne4 49.e6 fxe6 50.R6f4 e5 51.Rh4 Rd2 And White resigned. After a fierce opening battle, Goran went from a small edge to a winning position when his opponent blundered with Qb3?. He then wrapped things up very effectively, making life utterly miserable for his opponent by refusing to rush things or enter into even the most harmless of complications. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kokeza,M2270Tomic,G-0–12004E762rd Championship SCG Liga
Matous,M-\[+4013.13f6f8\-19751.hm ts69

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Make life difficult for the Sicilian! 2.b3 is a thoroughly venomous but still solid kind of "Anti-Sicilian". No matter what setup black chooses, the bishop on b2 will always be unpleasant for him.

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Jonathan Speelman, born in 1956, studied mathematics but became a professional chess player in 1977. He was a member of the English Olympic team from 1980–2006 and three times British Champion. He played twice in Candidates Tournaments, reaching the semi-final in 1989. He twice seconded a World Championship challenger: Nigel Short and then Viswanathan Anand against Garry Kasparov in London 1993 and New York 1995.

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