Annotated game. White: D. Arutyunova, 2362. Black: G. Breslavska, 2176. Event: Ukrainian Womens Championship, Odessa 2006. Result: 1-0 in 50 moves. Opening: Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation, B99. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Nbd7 8. Qf3 Qc7 9. O-O-O Be7 10. Bd3 b5 11. Rhe1 Bb7 12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. exd5 Bxg5 14. Rxe6+ Be7 | Varying from 14. ... fxe6, as in the previous coaching game (24 April 2016) of, Velimirovic - Ljubojevic, Yugoslav Championship 1972, 1-0 in 27 moves. || 15. Rde1 | Instead, 15. Nf5, seems to give black some problems. Here are some sample lines: (A): 15. fxe6, leads to an pleasing finish with, 16. Nxg7+ Kf7 17. Nxe6 Qa5 18. Qh5+ Kg8 19. Qg4+ Kf7 20. Qg7+ Ke8. Now white can finish matters with either a sacrifice of queen or bishop with, 21. Qg6+ hxg6 22. Bxg6+ mate, or, 21. Bg6+ hxg6 22. Qxg6+ mate. Each line producing a mate where the trapped black king is hindered by his own minor pieces. (B): 15. ... g6 16. Rxe7+ Kf8 17. Rde1 gxf5 18. Qh5, is overwhelming. If, 18. ... Ne5 19. Qh6+, and mate on g7 next move. (C): 15. ... g6 16. Rxe7+ Kd8 17. Rde1 gxf5 18. Bxf5, with pressure on the black d7 knight which is pinned to the black queen. If black tries, 18. ... Bc8, then, 19. Qg4, increases the pressure against the d7 knight, as well as threatening to invade with, 20. Qg7, and the black h8 rook is in deep trouble. || 15. ... Ne5 | Offering a return of material to interfere with the power of the doubled withe rooks up the e-file. White must not become scared about being down in material, remember: Initiative over material. || 16. Rxe7+ Qxe7 17. fxe5 O-O-O | Instead, 17. ... O-O, black must allow for some murky tactics involving, 18. Bxh7+ Kxh7 19. Qh5+ Kg8 20. Nf5 Qd7 21. exd6, and white is threatening, 22. Ne7+ mate. If black tries to stop this with, 21. ... Rfe8, then, 22. Ne7+ Rxe7 23. Rxe7, and white is doubly attacking the black f7 pawn and the black queen. Interfering with the attack against the f7 pawn with, 23. ... g6, fails to, 24. Qf3, when black only has, 24. ... Qf5, to avoid either a mating assault on the f7 pawn or loss of the queen. Then simply, 25. Qxf5 gxf5 26. Rxb7, and white has 3 extra pawns in an easily won rook and pawn ending. Instead after, 17. ... O-O 18. Bxh7+ Kxh7 19. Qh5+ Kg8 20. Nf5, black might vary with, 20. ... Qd8, but after, 21. exd6 Re8 22. Rxe8+ Qxe8 23. Ne7+, black must give up the queen for the white knight or accept, 23. ... Kf8 24. Qh8+ mate. || 18. Qg4+ | Escaping the x-ray attack of the black b7 bishop and also giving white the option of, Qxg7, at some point depending on how black defends. || 18. ... Kb8 | Only 18 moves each and the game has undergone some curious twists. White began by trying to blast black off the board with tactics in the centre. Black countered this by offering / letting go of some of the gained material to achieve king safety. White is still an exchange down but take a look at where the extra black material resides - the black rook is skulking on the h8 square. It is not yet influencing the position and it is not going to be given the opportunity to do so either. This in effect means that white is a piece up until that black h8 rook joins in. Initiative over material, anyone? || 19. Nf5 Qc7 | Black plans active play with the queen. Instead, 19. ... Qd7 20. e6, needed some calculation. If then black tries, 20. ... fxe6 21. dxe6, and the white e-pawn would be very strong. White will have, Nxg7, controlling the promotion e8 square at some point. || 20. Nxd6 | Sometimes one can have both the initiative and the material. This white knight is unchallengeable, unless black is prepared to give up an exchange to eliminate it, not particularly desirable considering the extra white pawns. || 20. ... Qa5 | Black chooses to fight. The queen has forked the undefended white e1 rook and a2 pawn. However, she has abandoned the f7 pawn to a potential knight capture which will regain an exchange. Initiative over material again. Perhaps time for a little reminder? Initiative over material is an excellent concept, but it is only a concept and not a rule. Playing actively needs some analysis to back it up. Simply throwing some pieces about the board with no concern for the safety of others is likely to lead to more lost positions than won ones. The concept should encourage searches for opportunities to play actively, but if the subsequent analysis does not yield gains, then the initiative is not worth having. White in the game to play and show black that fighting can occur across the entire board. Clue: Expect the unexpected here. || 21. b4 | The advance of the b-pawn keeps an extra queenside pawn, useful should black try a minority queenside charge. Instead any move which takes time to save the e1 rook allows, 21. ... Qxa2, likely to be followed by, Qa1+, and, Qxb2. || 21. ... Qa3+ 22. Kd2 | The white king is strongly advised to run into the centre for safety. Instead, 22. Kb1 Bxd5, with serious problems for white concerning the a2 pawn, not to mention the king. Why give the opponent such chances? || 22. ... a5 | Black commits to the attack. There was also, 22. ... Bxd5, to be considered. Instead defending with, 22. ... Rhf8, saves a possible loss of an exchange but does nothing to solve how to make use of that advantage, in effect no initiative for the material. || 23. Nxf7 | So, what has happened to our philosophy: "Initiative over material"? It is fine and well, just relaxing in our strategic concepts file ready for our next game. There comes a point in a game when regaining material is actually reaping the rewards as a return for all the previous imagination and hard work. || 23. ... axb4 | Black accepts that one of the rooks is lost and attempts to ensure there will be no pawns remaining on the queenside. This is very important, which is another way of telling us that white must find a means of keeping at least one pawn on the queenside. || 24. Nxh8 Qc3+ 25. Ke2 Qxe5+ 26. Qe4 Qxd5 27. Qxd5 Bxd5 | Neat. Black has consumed the dangerous white central pawns and also prevented the knight on h8 from escaping via the f7 square. While simplification has occurred, there are still some subtleties remaining to test both players. The material might be equal again, but the pawn weaknesses are not equal. The possibility of a bishop and wrong rook's pawn ending, referred to by Hans Kmoch as: "The Impotent Pair", should now be entering the calculations of both players. White has a winning advantage here, and must find the only move to keep it. || 28. Rb1 | White ensures there will remain a pawn on the queenside. Instead, 28. g3 Bxa2 29. Ra1 b3 30. cxb3 Bxb3, and black seems to have sufficient resources to draw, though some tricky manoeuvring with the bishop might be needed in the short term before the white h8 knight is captured. White must avoid lines such as, 28. g3 Bxa2 29. Ra1 b3 30. Nf7, missing the danger over on the queenside as, 30. ... Re8+ 31. Kd2 b2, and black is threatening both, bxa1=Q, and, b1=Q, winning in each case. || 28. ... Rxh8 | Perhaps a brief discussion on the concept: The Impotent Pair might prove useful here? This is the combination of a pawn on a rook's file with the bishop located on that side of the board at the start of the game. This could be alternately expressed as a rook's pawn combined with a bishop unable to take control of the promotion square. There are 4 such Impotent Pairs as follows, home square for the bishop is given in brackets: White dark square bishop (c1) plus the a-pawn. White light square bishop (f1) plus the h-pawn. Black light square bishop (c8) plus the a-pawn. Black dark square bishop (f8) plus the h-pawn. This could be also expressed as a queen's bishop with the a-pawn or the king's bishop with the h-pawn. There is an important final factor needed to create the Impotent Pair, that is the location of the defending king on the promotion square. Once the defending king reaches the appropriate corner square then there is no method for the opposing king, bishop and pawn to push him out. You might wish to take a little time to prove this to yourself. The Impotent Pair is a paradox to common sense. Surely an extra piece and pawn should be able to promote the pawn? Generally speaking, yes. But these impotent pairings are some of the rare exceptions which make chess such a joy, or perhaps not, if you happen to be left at the end of the game with such an Impotent Pair. || 29. Rxb4 Bxa2 | Instead, 29. ... Bxg2 30. Rxb5+, white has two queenside passed pawns which will cause black more problems than the mobile black kingside pawn majority. And oh yes, white would have the Potent Pair, that is the light square bishop and the a-pawn. || 30. Rxb5+ | White is a solid pawn up, now it is a test of technique where club players feel it is won, but might struggle to convert into a full point. Endgame study claims rewards for all the opening preparation and middlegame imagination. || 30. ... Kc7 31. c4 | Trapping the black a2 bishop. It is not automatically lost, black can bring the h8 rook across to a8 to defend it, however the a2 bishop cannot escape. This gives white time to activate the king while the black pieces remain inactive. || 31. ... Ra8 32. Kd2 Ra4 | Instead, 32. ... Ra3 33. Bxh7, white wins another pawn. Black dare not play, 33. ... Bxc4 34. Rc5+, as white wins the black bishop and black will not have a sensible means to capture the white g2 pawn, inflicting white with a variant of the Impotent Pair. || 33. Kc3 Ra3+ 34. Kd4 h6 35. Be4 | Protecting the g2 pawn and threatening 36. Rb7+, winning the black g7 pawn. Undesirable as it is, black must trade down into a lost bishop and pawns ending. || 35. ... Rb3 | Instead, 35. ... Ra7, would be very passive. White can regroup with, Bd5, Rc5+, and, Rc6, which then allows the white king to infiltrate with, Kc5, and depending on where the black king is located to infiltrate further with either, Kd6, or, Kb6. || 36. Rxb3 Bxb3 | If the white king can invade the kingside and win both black pawns then the ending is a simple white win, irrespective of the queenside. So black must use the king to mirror any hints at the white king moving in that direction. || 37. Bd5 | The white bishop is happy to sit and defend both the c4 and g2 pawns while the king makes progress. || 37. ... Kd7 | Instead, 37. ... Kd6, trying to block out the white king is unfortunate as, 38. c5+, and black loses the b3 bishop. || 38. Ke5 Ke7 | White needs to stretch black. By moving the king towards the kingside this drags the black king along with him, which in turn leaves the c-pawn free to advance. || 39. c5 Ba4 40. c6 Bb5 | Black keeps the bishop as active as possible, in the hope of white miscalculating and losing the g2 pawn. Should that unlikely event occur then black need only find a means to give up the bishop for the passed white c-pawn, and the Impotent pair are born for white. || 41. Kf5 Bd3+ 42. Be4 g6+ | A last desperate try to confuse matters. || 43. Ke5 | Clearly, 43. Kxg6 Bxe4+ 44. Kxh6 Bxg2, leading to a draw is not in mind for white. Now the white king is back on e5, just what has the feinting toward the black kingside pawns achieved? Quite a lot. When the pawns were on g7 and h6 they were not vulnerable to the white bishop and any attempts to infiltrate by the white king could be mirrored by the black king. Now the black kingside pawns have been induced to advance a little, they become vulnerable, to either the white bishop or the white king moving sideways and the black king unable to give protection to the newly-vulnerable pawns. || 43. ... Bf1 44. g3 | White at last safeguards the mixed-metaphorical, "Trump Card", of the g-pawn. Now black should not have any means of eliminating the g-pawn. Should the black h-pawn advance as far as the h4 square, white will just sit tight and ignore it. Any trade by black on the g3 pawn will leave white with a pawn on the g-file, and once white wins the black bishop by promotion of the c-pawn, it is a win. White must under no circumstances ever capture, gxh4, even if it wins a pawn in the process. If a single pawn on the h-file with a light square bishop is an Impotent Pair, then having a pair of pawns on the h-file will be doubly impotent and even more frustrating. || 44. ... Bb5 45. Kd5 g5 46. Bf5 | Taking control of two important light squares, c8 and d7. The d7 square will be unguarded once the c6 pawn advances, so the bishop on f5 prevents the black king from moving to d7 and attacking the advancing c-pawn from the side. || 46. ... h5 | Instead, 46. ... Kd8 47. Kd6 Ba6 48. c7+ Ke8 49. c8=Q Bxc8 50. Bxc8, white has won a piece and black has not achieved an Impotent Pair kingside pawn formation. || 47. c7 Ba6 48. c8=Q Bxc8 49. Bxc8 h4 | Setting one last trap. || 50. Ke5 Black resigns, 1-0 | Repetition of a concept can do no harm. White must avoid, 50. gxh4 gxh4, creating the Impotent Pair of light square bishop and a h-pawn. The white bishop cannot control the promotion square and consequently once the black king arrives on the h8 square it will be impossible to dislodge him. || * * * ## Unannotated game. White: D. Arutyunova, 2362. Black: G. Breslavska, 2176. Event: Ukrainian Womens Championship, Odessa 2006. Result: 1-0 in 50 moves. Opening: Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation, B99. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Nbd7 8. Qf3 Qc7 9. O-O-O Be7 10. Bd3 b5 11. Rhe1 Bb7 12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. exd5 Bxg5 14. Rxe6+ Be7 15. Rde1 Ne5 16. Rxe7+ Qxe7 17. fxe5 O-O-O 18. Qg4+ Kb8 19. Nf5 Qc7 20. Nxd6 Qa5 21. b4 Qa3+ 22. Kd2 a5 23. Nxf7 axb4 24. Nxh8 Qc3+ 25. Ke2 Qxe5+ 26. Qe4 Qxd5 27. Qxd5 Bxd5 28. Rb1 Rxh8 29. Rxb4 Bxa2 30. Rxb5+ Kc7 31. c4 Ra8 32. Kd2 Ra4 33. Kc3 Ra3+ 34. Kd4 h6 35. Be4 Rb3 36. Rxb3 Bxb3 37. Bd5 Kd7 38. Ke5 Ke7 39. c5 Ba4 40. c6 Bb5 41. Kf5 Bd3+ 42. Be4 g6+ 43. Ke5 Bf1 44. g3 Bb5 45. Kd5 g5 46. Bf5 h5 47. c7 Ba6 48. c8=Q Bxc8 49. Bxc8 h4 50. Ke5 Black resigns, 1-0 * * *