Skype coaching session, 07 October 2018. The game discussed (30 moves) is given below with annotations and without annotations. Re-structuring of the sessions now offers the option for guests to bring their own games for group discussion. Recordings of some previous coaching sessions can be found at: http://www.open-aurec.com/Skype/PaulBenson/PaulBenson.htm Paul Benson. * * * White: A. Wilson, 2090. Black: J. Shaw, 2473. Event: European Individual Championship (Liverpool), 2006. Result: 0-1 in 30 moves. Opening: Pirc Defence transposing into Philidor Defence, B07. 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. Be3 | Personal preference, if white is planning, Be3, with Qd2, then consider preceding this arrangement with, pawn f3. Instead by far the most popular move here is, 4. Nf3, taking it back into Philidor Defence once black hits with, 4. ... e5. More aggressive for white is, 4. ... f4, and there is also, 4. g4, taking advantage of the black d7 knight blocking the c8 bishop. || 4. ... e5 5. Qd2 Be7 | Black could enter into, "Disruption-Mode", with, 5. ... Ng4, which might prompt, 6. Bg5 Be7, when options expand for white, 7. Bxe7, or, 7. Nh3, or, 7. Nf3, or, 7. h4. Black declines departing from a prepared set-up and simply ignores the white move order permitting the game to transpose back into familiar territory. || 6. f3 c6 7. O-O-O O-O | Committment. Black indicates no fear over the forthcoming opposite-wing attack, in fact invites it, though it should be clear to all that white always intended to throw some kingside pawns up the board. || 8. g4 b5 | The race begins. Database reports 13 games with this position, all games decisive with a slight plus for white, such is the nature of opposite-wing assaults where each player has the opportunity to show their attacking capability. || 9. h4 | Fischerism of the day and relevant to all who engage in opposite-wing attacks: "In chess it is important to know when to punch and when to duck." Opposite-wing attacks demand both players calculate what is happening in and around both kings, sometimes one must take a little time playing defensively for a move or two to prevent immediate disaster before returning to the attack. Personal preference here is, 9. Kb1, vacating the c1 square for the e3 bishop, as black has a possible plan of, Nb6, pawn b4,which forces white into, Nce2, and then black can fork with, Nc4, removing the white e3 bishop from the attack. Ah, you ask, but just what attacking power is the white e3 bishop demonstrating here? At the moment not much, but once the kingside pawns get rolling there are some lines where the presence of a bishop on the c1 - h6 diagonal becomes highly influential, as shall be discussed later. || 9. ... Nb6 10. dxe5 | More commonly played is the general plan of, pawn g5, followed by, pawn f4, forcing black to make a decision in the centre, all aimed at creating some pawn formation imbalance. The symmetric pawn structure about to arise does not rule out opportunities for creative play, each player will still be focusing on advancing pawns at the opposing king. Contrary to usual strategy where there is a fully open central file, neither player intends doubling rooks on the d-file. || 10. ... dxe5 11. Qh2 | This crazy-looking decentralisation of the white queen is well thought through. On h2 she anticipates a great future once the two white advancing kingside pawns make contact with the 3 black defensive pawns. Instead, 11. Qxd8, is not in the spirit of the white system, anyone adopting opposite-wing variations into their repertoire should not be interested in trading down for an endgame at this stage of the game. || 11. ... Qc7 12. h5 | Instead, 11. g5 Nh5, would be annoying, so white first occupies the h5 square with a pawn to prevent the black f6 knight from delaying the pawn-roller. However this is a two-sided coin. The black f6 knight once pushed back to d7 will set up an important defensive manoeuvre designed to dramatically influence the white attacking opportunities. || 12. ... b4 | The process begins. A knight on the bishop-3 square, in algebraic terms that is, c3, f3, c6, f6, is a great defender for the castled king sitting behind it. Either trading off such knights or deflecting them to another square is part of breaking down many defences. Here the a2 pawn is now without any defence which sets white a dilemma. Should white shuffle the king to b1 to protect it? Or should white fear the king on b1 will have walked into the firing line, making the option of sprinting for the safety of the kingside a little more difficult once the defensive covering starts being ripped away? || 13. Nb1 | A difficult decision. The usual retreat for this knight when black pushes with, pawn b4, is, Nce2, however here it could be answered by, Nc4, intending to trade off the e3 bishop or force it to retreat with, Bf2, deserting the very useful c1 - h6 diagonal. || 13. ... Be6 | Aiming at the undefended white a2 pawn handing an interesting problem to white. Is black genuinely thinking of capturing with, Bxa2, or is it a bluff designed to scare white into making a pawn advance somewhere on the queenside? || 14. g5 | Having had to take a turn at ducking, white now has a turn to punch. || 14. ... Nfd7 15. Nd2 | And having just punched, now it is time to duck, right? White was at an important crossroads when making this move. There was an opportunity to keep punching with a standard attack process. The idea is to first push, pawn g6, and await the black response which will in turn determine how white then proceeds. If black makes a capture white might choose to recapture or push on with, pawn h6. Unsurprisingly, the tree of analysis can quickly become very complex. A few sample lines to show some of the ideas of attack and defence, all created using a bio-organic calculating machine, there could be errors: (A). If, 15. g6 hxg6 16. hxg6 fxg6 17. Qh7+ Kf7 18. Rh6Bf6 19. Qxg6+ Ke7 20. Rh7, white has made good progress, the threat of white, Bg5, needs addressing, but does white have a better option available? (B). Or if, 15. g6 hxg6 16. h6 Bf6 17. hxg7 Bxg7 18. Qh7+ mate. (C). Or if, 15. g6 hxg6 16. h6 Nf6 17. hxg7 Kxg7 18. Qh6+ Kg8 19. Qh8+ mate. (D). Or if, 15. g6 hxg6 16. h6 f6 17. hxg7 Rd8 18. Qh7+ Kf7 19. g8=Q+ mate. (E). Or if, 15. g6 hxg6 16. h6 f5 17. hxg7 Rf7 18. Qh8+ mate. (F). Or if, 15. g6 hxg6 16. h6 f5 17. hxg7 Kxg7 18. Qh7+ Kf6 19. Bg5+ Kxg5 20. Qh4+ mate. Not as exhaustive as Fritz and friends can offer, but so far, 15. g6 hxg6 16. h6, seems very strong for white. What if black tries capturing with the f-pawn? (G). If, 15. g6 fxg6 16. hxg6 h6 17. Bxh6 gxh6 18. Qxh6 Rd8 19. Qh8+ mate. (H). Or if, 15. g6 fxg6 16. hxg6 h6 17. Bxh6 Rf6 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. Qh7+ Kf8 20. g7+ Kf7 21. g8=Q+ mate. (I). Or if, 15. g6 fxg6 16. hxg6 h6 17. Bxh6 Rf6 18. Bxg7 Rxg6 19. Qh7+ Kf7 20. Bf6+ Kf8 21. Qxe7+ Kg8 22. Rh8+ mate. (J). Or if, 15. g6 fxg6 16. hxg6 h6 17. Bxh6 Nf6 18. Bg5, with an unstoppable mate on h8 to come. So far it seems, 15. g6 fxg6 16. hxg6 h6 17. Bxh6, is very strong for white. What if black decides to leave the white g6 pawn alone? (K). If, 15. g6 Nf6 16. h6 c5 17. hxg7 Kxg7 18. Qh6+ Kg8 19. hxg7+ Kh8 20. Bg5 Nbd7 21. Rxd7 Qxd7 22. Qxf6+ (show-off!) Bxf6 23. Bxf6+ mate. (L). Or if, 15. g6 Nf6 16. h6 c5 17. hxg7 Kxg7 18. Qh6+ Kh8 19. g7+ Kg8 20. Bg5 Nbd7 21. Rxd7 Qxd7 22. Bxf6, and mate is coming with, Qxh7+. So far 12 lines end well for white, what will the so-called unlucky 13th reveal? (M). Or is, 15. g6 Nf6 16. h6 fxg6 17. hxg7 Rf7 18. Bg5 Rxg7, and black avoids immediate loss, that took quite a bit of finding, hope it was one of the early variations you discovered. So, what do we conclude about, 15. g6, rather than the game move? At club level it might work, but against a Grand Master one would expect ability to calculate at the board plus examples of such attacked studied from published games would mean the attack should not succeed. It would however at least keep some of the black forces tied down to defensive duties for the price of a pawn, this must give better prospects than what is about to happen in game. As the saying goes: "Initiative Over Material!", which here means giving up a pawn gains long-term activity. Black is to play and produce the best move of the entire game. Clue: The words, "best move", usually signify tactics are in the air, but sometimes it can means gaining a strategic plus is available. || 15. ... Bc5 | Firstly, the, "Tactricks", involved in, 15. ... Bxa2 need some examination. If, 15. ... Bxa2 16. b3 a5 17. Kb2 a4 18. Kxa2 axb3+ 19. Kxb3 Qa7, can the black queen weave a mating net? The conclusion drawn by the coaching group was that black has a powerful position, but no obvious knock-out punch materialised. There is also, 15. ... Bxa2 16. b3 a5 17. Kb2 a4 18. Ra1axb3 19. cxb3 Qa7, to be considered, when white appears not to be able to snatch the wandering black a2 bishop, but neither could black easily extract it. Gut judgement on both variations suggests black is on top, but why should a Grand Master resort to, "Tactricks", when simply playing like a Grand Master should be good enough? Now to this, "best move" of the entire game, the mundane-looking, 15. ... Bc5. Not exactly setting the world alight, is it? Well, it is not meant to do so. Think about some of those crushing attacks white achieved in the analysis proposed for, 15. g6. Was it not the presence of a white bishop on the c1 - h6 diagonal which made a powerful influence on the outcome of several lines? So, black determines if there were no white dark square bishop the defence of the king on g8 would be considerably strengthened. In essence, 15. ... Bc5, is ducking by punching the white e3 bishop out of the game. Once this is achieved, the white attacking prospects diminish while black can then re-continue the queenside campaign without fear of a white kingside counter-campaign. || 16. Qf2 Bxe3 17. Qxe3 c5 | Fischerism of the day II: "Tactics flow from a positionally superior game." Just look at all the attacking ideas black now has available. Throw the c-pawn as far as it will go, or throw the a-pawn as far as it will go, or throw both pawns. One could shuffle knights into dangerous squares in front of the white king, or possibly place the black queen on a5, then b4, combined with a knight on c4 or a4. So many choices, selecting one idea from the many could easily precipitate time-trouble. The chosen black game plan is to try to strip away all pawn-cover from the white king and come in with pieces. This is fine if it works, the only cloud on the horizon would be the white king sprinting for the safety of the kingside, perhaps the g3 square might be a haven, black must not allow this. Though come to think of it, how is white to organise this without losing something on the queenside as the price? || 18. b3 | There is a strong guideline recommending a defender does not make unnecessary pawn moves in the region of the board where the opponent is attacking. What a cop out. Please,can somebody define, "Unnecessary"? Well, if only a pawn move will prevent mate, then you play it. But what if the opponent is only threatening to push a pawn-roller on top of you? Do you play a pawn move designed to hold it back, or simply let the consequences arrive upon pawn contact? Here white is trying to prevent black from pushing, pawn c4, but a pawn on the b3 square only makes itself into a target for a different pawn advance. In essence, white has a horrible queenside position, so finding good moves is almost an impossibility, in the mind of a Grand Master this game is now black's to throw away. Instead, 18. c4 bxc3 19. Qxc3, would not present any targets, but that semi-open b-file is begging for a doubling of black rooks for starters, then just wait for a knight or two to begin probing and prodding. || 18. ... a5 | Charge! Once the a-file opens up a black heavy piece or two will have the option to invade. || 19. c4 | Perhaps if this advance is to be played, then it should have been done on the previous move with the white b-pawn still at home. || 19. ... bxc3 20. Qxc3 a4 | Contact! White will find it impossible to prevent the a-file opening up now. || 21. Bh3 | The black e6 bishop is exerting too much influence on the white queenside and so needs eliminating. || 21. ... axb3 | Black is prepared to permit doubled pawns, the activity of the f8 rook up the f-file will tie down a white piece while the pressure on the queenside increases. Of course the black rook is not intending to remain static on f8 for ever, at the right moment it will centralise to join in with the queenside pressuring. Club players might feel uncomfortable with the pawn structure black is accepting and might play, 21. ... Bxh3, but after, 22. Nxh3, followed by, Nf2, and, Nd3, white is beginning to put up a fight in the centre. || 22. axb3 Ra2 | White still has problems on how to develop the kingside pieces, the idea of, Rh2, is now discouraged, walking into such a second rank pin is undesirable. || 23. Bxe6 fxe6 24. Nb1 | Another difficult decision to make. White is un-developing in order to fight for control of the second rank, that black a2 rook must be challenged. || 24. ... c4 | A committal doubler requiring some careful calculation, but Grand Masters have the knack of sensing a critical move is required. Firstly, the remaining queenside pawn cover is in the process of being removed. Secondly, when a unit moves it vacates a square for someone else to occupy. Other ideas such as centralising the f8 rook, doubling rooks on the a-file, putting the queen behind the a2 rook, do nothing dramatically wrong, but seem not to make the potential gains the game move is going to produce. || 25. Rd2 Rxd2 | There are two reasons why black chose to exchange rooks rather than support the a2 rook with either, 25. ... Qa7, or, 25. ... Rfa8. Firstly, another white defensive unit is removed from the board. Secondly, the black queen and f8 rook are destined for better futures in the centre. || 26. Nxd2 Nc5 | On first glance black seems to be offering a pawn, which would provide the white king some shelter on the c-file. Deeper examination should reveal that white cannot keep the gain, so the black plan of queenside pawn-clearance will be successful. Once clearance is achieved black must take care to prevent the white king from sprinting into the kingside, after which playing for a win would be be difficult. || 27. Nxc4 | Instead, 27. bxc4, has no immediate tactical refutation. There is however a powerful sequence of black piece moves available beginning with, 27. ... Rd8, the idea is, Rd3, kicking the white queen to be followed by, Qd6, then Nab4. White will have moves in between but nothing seems to be able to break the ever-growing black grip on the position, there will be 4 active black units against a poorly coordinated 4 white units, something somewhere should happen quite soon for black. || 27. ... Nxb3+ | Undermining the white c4 knight, there is a quickly-evolving set of x-ray attacks in both directions on the c-file, one queen will be safe, the other endangered. || 28. Qxb3 Nxc4 | Bblack rejects, 28. ... Qxc4+ 29. Qxc4 Nxc4, which lets white escape the forthcoming tactics. || 29. Qc3 | The white queen pins the black c4 knight to the black c7 queen, this would be very favourable if white could further pressure it with, Rc2, and, Ne3, but this formation takes no less than 6 moves to arrange, far too slow. If white tried for king safety with, 29. Kb1, black can choose between, 29. ... Nd2+, or, 29. ... Rb8, both winning the white queen for lesser material. Had the white king instead ran for kingside shelter with, 29. Kd1, black could enjoy any of: (A). If, 29. Kd1 Qd6+ 30. Ke1 Qd2+ 31. Kf1 Ne3+, which forces, 32. Qxe3 Qxe3, and black has a decisive material advantage. (B). Or if, 29. Kd1 Qd6+ 30. Kc1 Qd2+ 31. Kb1 Rc8 32. Qb7 Na3+ 33. Ka1 Rc1+ 34. Qb1 Rxb1+ mate. (C). Or if, 29. Kd1 Qd6+ 30. Kc1 Qd2+ 31. Kb1 Rc8 32. Qa2 Rb8+ 33. Ka1 Qd1+ 34. Qb1 Qxb1+ mate. (D). Or if, 29. Kd1 Qd6+ 30. Kc1 Qd2+ 31. Kb1 Rc8 32. Qc2 Na3+, winning the white queen with mate soon to follow. (E). Or if, 29. Kd1 Qd6+ 30. Kc1 Qd2+ 31. Kb1 Rc8 32. Ka1 Qg2 33. Rh3 Qxg1+, black wins a piece with more to follow soon. (F). Or if, 29. Kd1 Qd6+ 30. Kc1 Qd2+ 31. Kb1 Rc8 32. Ka1 Qg2 33. Qb7 Nd6 34. Qe7 Rc1+ mate. A nice demonstration of what can happen to a defending king once all pawn-cover has been stripped away. || 29. ... Rc8 | Over-protection is the name of the game here. The black rook might appear to be doubling with the queen up the c-file, perhaps so, but this is not the true reason for moving, Rc8. In actuality the over-protection releases the black queen to work her way into the white position, Fritz and friends might well pronounce that black is now winning. || 30. Rh2 | This is a blunder in a very difficult position. There were a few other tries but many of them seem to run into the same trick black uses in the game continuation. (A) If, 30. Nh3 Qb6 31. Rd1 Nd6, backwardly protecting the c8 rook while exposing the x-ray attack onto the white queen, 32. Rxd6 Rxc3+ 33. Kd2 Qb2+ 34. Ke1 Rc1+ 35. Rd1 Rxd1+ 36. Kxd1 Qg2, and white runs out of pieces to lose. (B). Or if, 30. Nh3 Qb6 31. Kd1 Nb2+ 32. Qxb2 Qxb2, with, Rc1+ mate to follow. (C). Or if, 30. Nh3 Qb6 31. Rh2 Nd6 32. Rb2 Rxc3+ 33. Kb1 Qc7, white has again lost queen for rook. (D). Or if, 30. Kd1 Qd6+ 31. Kc1 Nb6, yet again the white queen falls to the black c8 rook. (E). Or if, 30. Kd1 Qd6+ 31. Ke1 Qd2+ 32. Kf1 Ne3+, and as the white king has no flight square the white queen must give herself up for the checking black knight. || 30. ... Qb6 White resigns, 0-1 | Black has twin threats and white cannot defend against both of them. If, 31. Ne2 Nd6, that unfortunate white royalty line-up on the c-file again costs white the queen. Instead, 31. Kd1 Qxg1+, wins a piece and also wins the white h2 rook next move. || * * * White: A. Wilson, 2090. Black: J. Shaw, 2473. Event: European Individual Championship (Liverpool), 2006. Result: 0-1 in 30 moves. Opening: Pirc Defence transposing into Philidor Defence, B07. 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. Be3 e5 5. Qd2 Be7 6. f3 c6 7. O-O-O O-O 8. g4 b5 9. h4 Nb6 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Qh2 Qc7 12. h5 b4 13. Nb1 Be6 14. g5 Nfd7 15. Nd2 Bc5 16. Qf2 Bxe3 17. Qxe3 c5 18. b3 a5 19. c4 bxc3 20. Qxc3 a4 21. Bh3 axb3 22. axb3 Ra2 23. Bxe6 fxe6 24. Nb1 c4 25. Rd2 Rxd2 26. Nxd2 Nc5 27. Nxc4 Nxb3+ 28. Qxb3 Nxc4 29. Qc3 Rc8 30. Rh2 Qb6 White resigns, 0-1 * * *