Speelman's Agony: Playing up a class

by Jonathan Speelman
2/2/2020 – A hungry Hungarian A-player sent GM JON SPEELMAN two hard fought battles for your review and study. A mini-GM lesson! | Send in your own games! | Jon welcomes submissions 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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Agony & Ecstasy #115

This week's pair of games are by Istvan Biro a Hungarian who lives in Békéscsaba the main town town of Békés county nearly 200 kilometres east of Budapest.

He writes:

Istvan BiroI was born in 1985 and my father taught me the rules of chess when I was 7 or 8. I became a club player at the age of 15 at a local club which unfortunately no longer exists.  I graduated as an engineer and have been working as an engineer for 13 years. I play for two clubs Orosházi SE in the second division in the Hungarian championship and a smaller club in the county championship. I do not have much time nowadays as I'm a proud father of my 3-year-old son who is also interested in chess at such an early age. I'm Trying to figure out how to play at least a little chess. My peak rating was 2048, currently my rating is 1948 and it is my target to get back above 2000.

Istvan sent two very hard fought battles with variations and I've added further notes as JS.  He also sent introductions to both games, and we start with the loss:

The first game was an extremely intense struggle where both of us were trying to win. Albert is a strong FM whose rating is currently below 2200 but he was over 2300 for several years. He still plays very strong chess. I misjudged my position after 17.g5 I should have gained an edge by taking the bishop on h3, and then playing for f4. Unfortunately I was consumed a lot of time figuring out who to gain something out of the position. When I reached a decent position by move 37 I was already under severe time pressure. I misjudged the position I thought rook ending was an easy draw, and after few mistakes from both of us when I had it I ruined my position with 67. Kg6 (missing b1Q+) instead Ke6 was a safe way to play.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nf3 g6 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.g3 Bg7 7.Bg2 0-0 8.0-0
JS Black has tried various different moves in this theoretical position. 8...Qb6 8...Nxd4 9.Qxd4 is most common. d6 Other lines include 8...Ng4 9.e3 Nxd4 10.exd4 Nh6 8...Qa5 8...d6!? offering a pawn for the intiative. 9.Nc2 d6 10.b3 Qa5 11.Bb2 JS This looks somewhat more harmonious to me when 11.Bd2 Qh5 12.e4 gives White some sort of edge. 11...Qh5 12.e3 Bg4 13.f3 Bh3 14.Qe2 Ne5 15.Rad1 Rac8 16.Nb4 Rfe8
JS With good control of d5, White has a decent advantage but as Istvan pointed out in his introduction he now underestimated his opponent's chances. 17.Rfe1 This unnnecessarily weakens f3. 17.Nb4 would have kept control. 17.Nbd5 Nxd5 18.Nxd5 Bxg2 18...Nxf3+ 19.Rxf3 Bg4 20.Bxg7 Kxg7 21.Nf4+- 19.Kxg2 JS Yes this is somewhere between += and ± - a pleasant safe advantage. 17...g5 18.Nd3 Nfd7 19.Nxe5 Nxe5 20.Ne4?! JS allowing a blow after which Black perfectly okay. 20.Bxh3 Qxh3 20...Nxf3+ 21.Kh1 g4 22.Bf1 Nxe1 23.Rxe1+- is much better for White if not winning. 21.f4 gxf4 22.exf4 Ng4± JS My engine really likes this for White but I preferred it a few moves earlier. 20...Bxg2 21.Kxg2 Nxf3 22.Qxf3 Qxf3+ 23.Kxf3 Bxb2 24.Nxg5 Rc5
25.Rd5!? JS Black now gets the c-file after which he's at least equal. 25.Re2 Bg7 25...Rxg5 26.Rxb2 25.Ne4 Rf5+ 26.Kg2 Re5 27.Kf3 Rc8 28.Re2 Ba3 25...Rxd5 26.cxd5 Rc8 27.Re2 Be5 28.Nh3 Rc1 29.Nf4 Rc3 30.Ke4 b5 31.g4 a5 32.Nd3 Bf6 33.Ne1 33.g5 Bg7 34.Ne1 a4 35.bxa4 35.Rc2 axb3 36.axb3 Rxb3 37.Rc8+ Bf8= 35...bxa4 36.Rc2 Rxc2 37.Nxc2= 33...Rc1 looks sensible. It seems very odd to cede the file with the rook passive. 34.Nd3 Rc8 34...Rg1 35.Kf3 Rd1 36.Ke4 Kg7 37.Nf4 Bg5 38.Rc2 JS For the moment White is okay but it could easily go wrong. 35.Ne1
35...b4 36.Rc2 Bc3 37.Nd3 Rb8 38.Nb2= 38.Nf4 Kg7 38...Re8 39.Ne2 Bf6 40.Rc7 e6 39.Ne2 Be5 40.h3 38.a4 JS Must be a good idea, since bxa3 (e.p.) definitely doesn't work. bxa3 39.Rxc3 a2 40.Rc1 Rxb3 41.Ra1 38...Bxb2 39.Rxb2 Rc8 40.Kd4 Rc1 41.Rg2 Kg7 42.Ke4 Kg6 43.h4?! 43.Rf2!?= JS I don't believe that this is equal, even if the engine is still happy. 43...Rh1 44.h5+ Kg5 45.Rf2 f6 46.Rc2 f5+ 46...Kxg4 47.Rg2+ Kxh5 48.Rg7 Ra1 49.Rxh7+ Kg6 50.Rxe7 Rxa2 51.Rd7 a4 51...Ra3 52.Rxd6 Rxb3 53.Ra6 Ra3 54.d6 Kf7 55.Kd5= 52.bxa4 b3 53.Rb7 Rxa4+ 54.Kd3 Kf5 55.Rxb3 Ke5 56.Rb8 Kxd5 57.Rf8 47.gxf5 Rh4+ 48.Kd3 Kf6 48...Kxf5 49.Rc7 Kf6 50.Ra7 Rxh5 51.Rxa5 Rh2 52.Ra4 h5 53.Rxb4 Rxa2 JS should presumably end up equal. 49.e4 Rxh5 50.Kd4 Rh1 51.Rc8 Rd1+ 52.Ke3 Ra1 53.Rh8 53.Rf8+ Kg7 54.Re8 Kf7 55.Rh8= 53...Rxa2 54.Rxh7 Ra3 55.Rh6+ Kg7 56.Re6 Kf7 57.f6 Rxb3+ 58.Kd4 exf6 59.Rxd6
59...a4 JS It looks as though Rb1 might have been winning. 59...Rb1 60.Ra6 Rd1+ 61.Kc4 Rc1+ 62.Kb3 62.Kd4 b3-+ 62...Rc3+ 63.Kb2 Rc4 64.Ra7+ Kg6 65.Re7 a4 66.d6 b3 67.d7 Rc2+ 68.Ka3 Rd2 69.e5 b2 70.d8Q Rxd8 71.Kxb2 f5 Obviously this is terrible and tablebases confirm that it is lost. 60.Rd7+ Ke8 61.Ra7 a3
62.Kc5? 62.Kc4 Rb2 63.d6 a2 64.Kd5 b3 65.Ke6 Kf8 66.Kxf6 Rf2+ 67.Ke6-+ JS the line continues Rf1! 68.d7 Rd1 and b2 is coming. 62.d6! Rb1 63.Kd5= JS and Re1 64.Ra8+ Kd7 65.Ra7+ Ke8 66.Ra8+ Kf7 67.Ra7+ Kg6 68.d7 Rd1+ 69.Ke6 Rd4 70.Ke7 Rxe4+ 71.Kf8 Rd4 72.Ke7 f5 73.Ra4 f4 74.Rxb4 Rxd7+= 62...Rb2 63.d6 a2 64.Kd5??-+ 64.Ra8+ Kd7 65.Ra7+ Kc8 66.Ra8+ Kb7 67.d7= Rd2 68.Rxa2 Rxd7 69.Kxb4= 64...b3 65.Ke6 Kf8 66.Kxf6 Rf2+ 67.Kg6 67.Ke6 Rd2 67...b2 68.Rxa2 b1Q 69.Rxf2+ 68.e5 Rd1 68...Rxd6+ 69.exd6 b2 70.Rf7+ 70.Rxa2 b1Q 71.Rf2+ Kg7 72.Rf5 Qb3+-+ simply 70.d7 JS 69.Kf6 Rf1+ 70.Kg6 a1Q 71.Rxa1 Rxa1 72.e6-+ 67...Ke8 68.e5 b2 69.Ra8+ Kd7 70.Ra7+ Kc6
JS A very tough battle in which both players tried to win the ending. I think that Istvan maybe slightly overestimated his position at the start of the ending - it looks a tad uncomfortable to me. But probably equally I instinctively somewhat underestimate his chances. As played it ended up in a battle between White's king rook and passed d-pawn and Black's connected passed queenside pawns. This required considerable accuracy and a misstep by Istvan proved fatal. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Biró István1948Fekete Albert21690–12020A395.1
Biró István1931Nagy József19341–02019B137.7

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This DVD offers a complete repertoire for handling this solid opening, often featuring a dynamic approach to pose the opponent more practical problems. Both of the main continuations 3...Nf6 and 3...Be7 are covered in two separate parts.

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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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