Skype coaching session, 29 September 2019. Note: We approach the season where daylight saving might affect your time zone. Forthcoming coaching sessions in October will be on Sundays: 06, 13, 20, at 14:00 UTC, which is 15:00 BST. On Sunday 27 the coaching session will be at 14:00 UTC, which is 14:00 GMT. The game discussed (36 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: V. Malinin. Black: V. Savinov. Event: Leningrad 1988. Result: 1-0 in 36 moves. Opening: Benko Gambit Accepted, A58. | Editorial. Ratings for these players are not available, they have however proceeded to become a G.M. and I.M. respectively since this event. || 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 | Accepting the challenge. Instead, 3. Nf3, offers black a chance to take some central control with, 3. ... cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5. The even more passive, 3. e3, seems to score badly for white, this cannot be due to the actual move itself but perhaps more down to the fighting approach from the players of the white pieces. Lastly, 3. dxc5, has possibilities of transposing into a Sicilian Defence, Maroczy Bind Variation. || 3. ... b5 | Offering the Benko Gambit, black immediately sets about trying to undermine the white centre. The other choices in diminishing popularity are: 3. ... e6, 3. ... e5, 3. ... g6, 3. ... d6, 3. ... a6, 3. ... Ne4. || 4. cxb5 | Accepting the fight. Less aggressive responses in order of diminishing popularity are: 4. Nf3, 4. Qc2, 4. Nd2, 4. a4, 4. f3, with a few more in need of further testing. || 4. ... a6 | Black offers another pawn in trade for queenside activity. Is this gambit sound? Wrong question. Taking all on offer gives black much pressure for the pawn, it is then for white to keep tight hold of the extra pawn without tying the queenside in knots. In essence, whoever understands how to handle the types of position which can arise should make the most of their opportunities. The reverse of this could be: Playing the Benko Gambit using instinct alone is an accident looking for somewhere to happen. || 5. bxa6 | Most players accept the pawn here, but declining is known. Instead, 5. b6, denying black all the positional queenside pressure arising from the couple of semi-open files, has quite some support. Other methods of similarly denying black the desired semi-open files are: 5. e3, 5. f3, 5. Nc3. || 5. ... Bxa6 | Black captures with the bishop in order to question white regarding the centre / kingside development plans. If white is aiming to occupy the centre with, pawn e4, then black will have, Bxf1, disrupting the white development, though white will simply play, Kxf1 - pawn g3 - Kg2. If white is not happy with a fianchetto king, then the plan of, Nf3 - pawn g3 - Bg2 - O-O - Re1, is necessary if the ultimate plan of, pawn e4, is still on the agenda. The early skirmishing is over, now is the time for some mutual development before the interactivity can begin again. || 6. Nc3 d6 7. Nf3 g6 8. g3 Bg7 | All very calm, and there is no reason to doubt this peace is going to be broken, is there? || 9. h4 | Aha, some aggressive intent when the, "Obvious", development plan was, Bg2 - O-O - Re1 - Qc2 - pawn e4, and then think about strengthening the queenside against whatever plan black comes up with over there. Instead, 9. Bh3, seeking some play on the h3 - c8 diagonal is a possibility. || 9. ... O-O | Perhaps a boxing match commentator may describe this as: "Leading With The Chin!", perhaps a little harsh, how many options does the black king have other than going kingside? Instead, 9. ... h5, would prevent any further white h-pawn action, but would probably prompt white to find a means of levering in, pawn g4. || 10. h5 Nbd7 | Black avoids giving white a target. Instead, 10. ... Nxh5, is begging for a sacrifice with, 11. Rxh5 gxh5, when white will throw everything into the kingside. Is this sacrifice sound? Wrong question. Bobby Fischer regularly played this type of exchange sac in order to break open the black kingside. One of his quotes runs something like: "I've played this sacrifice so many times I'm thinking of applying for a copyright." The point being all the interesting attacking opportunities are with white, all the difficult defensive calculations are with black. It will take a long time for the exchange advantage to show itself, up until then, it is for white to get stuck in and maximise before it is too late, not a game for the mild-hearted. || 11. hxg6 hxg6 | Instead, 11. ... fxg6 12. Bh3, intending, Be6+, forcing the black king into the corner is tricky after white flicks in, Qc2, threatening, Qxg6, all this taking advantage of the black light square bishop vacationing on a6. || 12. Bh3 | The black light square a6 bishop is pointing at an over-defended white e2 pawn, however the white bishop on h3 has more interesting options on the horizon. || 12. ... Re8 | Possibly vacating the f8 square for the d7 knight to occupy, strengthening the h7 square? Perhaps so, but if there is a black knight on f8, the black king is extremely short of flight squares, and would find running over to the queenside to escape a white attack virtually impossible. || 13. Qc2 Rb8 | Pressuring the white b2 pawn, all courtesy of the unselfishness of the black b-pawn and then a-pawn, offering themselves for others to receive gains. The mutual test of the, "Tactical Event Horizon", is looming, and it could be arriving a lot quicker than most would imagine. || 14. Be3 | Still a fairly innocuous position, right? Black to play can set in motion a thematic Benko-plan, the mystery is why is white permitting it? Clue: Fianchetto bishops are born to battle on long diagonals. || 14. ... Nxd5 | Opening up the long diagonal for the black g7 bishop, but can this actually be worth a piece? White to play can play the, "Obvious", though be aware of the Fischerism: "Obvious Therefore Dubious!" Clue #1: White is about to play a tactic, but what? Clue #2: In the previous coaching game the white queen went meekly to her doom, surely we are not going to witness the same demise today, not that she is actually endangered? || 15. Qxg6 | Aha, you are wondering if there is a misprint in the game move? No, the white queen is genuinely capturing the black pawn in front of the g7 bishop. Meanwhile, what might have happened had white captured, 15. Nxd5, some ideas run: (A). If, 15. Nxd5 Rxb2 16. Qa4 Rxe2+ 17. Kf1 Rxa2+ 18. Qxa6 Rxa1+ 19. Qxa1 Bxa1, white has lost queen, rook plus 2 pawns for a black rook, bishop and knight. (B). Or if, 15. Nxd5 Rxb2 16. Qa4 Rxe2+ 17. Kd1 Bxa1 18. Qxa6 Rb2, black has claimed a rook plus 3 pawns for 2 minor pieces and the white king lacks safety. (C). Or if, 15. Nxd5 Rxb2 16. Qe4 Rxe2+ 17. Kf1 Rxe3+ 18. Kg2 Rxe4, white is more than a queen down. (D). Or if, 15. Nxd5 Rxb2 16. Qe4 Rxe2+ 17. Kd1 Bxa1 18. Qh4 e6 19. Qh6 Bg7 20. Qf4 exd5, white is more than a rook down. (E). Or if, 15. Nxd5 Rxb2 16. Qe4 Rxe2+ 17. Kd1 Bxa1 18. Be6 Nf8 19. Qh4 fxe6, and though the black kingside looks precarious, how does white justify the loss of a rook? || 15. ... fxg6 | According to FIDE rules it is permissible to decline a queen sacrifice, in this case there might have been: (A). If, 15. ... Nxc3 16. Be6 Rf8 17. Qh7+ mate. (B). Or if, 15. ... Nxc3 16. Be6 fxe6 17. Ng5 Rf8 18. Qh7+ mate. (C). Or if, 15. ... Nxc3 16. Be6 fxe6 17. Ng5 Nf8 18. Qf7+ mate. (D). Or if, 15. ... Nxc3 16. Be6 Nf8 17. Qxf7+ mate. These are fairly simple to crunch out, black can make it a little more difficult. (E). Or if, 15. ... Nf8 16. Qc2 Rxb2 17. Qxb2 Bxc3+ 18. Qxc3 Nxc3, white has lost a queen and knight for a black rook, improvement available. (F). Or if, 15. ... Nf8 16. Qh5 Nf6 17. Qh4 Ng6 18. Qa4, the white kingside mating campaign seems neutralised and black can start to use the mobile centre pawns. (G). Or if, 15. ... Nf8 16. Qh5 Nxc3 17. Bh6, and now the analytical-tree branches all over the place, good luck in working out who is going to come out of the randomisation the better, black could win material on the queenside, white might win a king on the kingside. So black does some analysis, fails to find a forcing mate, and accepts the offer - Wouldn't we all? || 16. Be6+ Kf8 | Aha, now the black king has no flight squares. A safe white check which cannot be blocked, or cancelled out by trading-off, will be mate. Scanning the board reveals that white either, Nh7+, or, Nxg6+, will be mate. So all it needs is 2 white moves in a row and the queen sacrifice makes sense. Unfortunately black is allowed a move in between consecutive white knight moves. || 17. Nxd5 | White gets a piece back but is no closer to inflicting a knight mate, though there are now 2 options available which provide those mates. Black to play should think carefully about an oft-mentioned Fischerism. || 17. ... Rxb2 | Fischerism: "In chess it is important to know when to punch and when to duck." This is clearly a punch, were there any options of ducking? The white knight mate-nets require the black king have no flight squares, if any of the restrictive black units move away a potential flight route might be created. Take care though, creating a flight square does not automatically mean the mate-nets are broken. The black units under examination are: The g7 bishop, the e8 rook, the e7 pawn. At the moment the e8 rook and e7 pawns are immobilised, by both friendly and hostile forces respectively. This leaves the g7 bishop, so instead, 17. ... Bf6, poses a question to white. If this is followed by moves from the black d8 queen and e8 rook, then the black king has more flight options, is the white mating attack still possible? White can try to close in for a kill or test black with, 18. Bh6+ Bg7 19. Be3 Bf6, with a hint of 3-fold repetition drifting across the board. || 18. Ng5 Threatening, 19. Nh7+ mate. Black must choose to punch or duck, but which? || 18. ... Nf6 | Black ducks, the h7 square is defended and if white dreams of somehow eliminating the f6 knight, black answers, exf6, vacating the e7 square, breaking the cage on the black king. Strangely, punching will also stop the mate threat, the idea is, 18. ... ... Qa5+ 19. Kf1 Rd8, vacating e8, 20. Nf4 Ne5, vacating d7 plus fighting for the f7 square, after which the black king can freely walk into the queenside. If this last line is correct then the whole queen sacrifice idea is unsound. However, in practical play the opponent is placed under pressure, if they fail to answer correctly then the pendulum of advantage can quickly swing back to the other side. As Tal would often comment after his games, with some degree of sadness: "I won the game but lost the post-mortem!" || 19. Nf4 | Another white knight mate threat emerges, Nxg6+, and this time there are no black units capable of guarding the crucial square, black must create a flight route for the king. || 19. ... Qa5+ | Vacating the d8 square with a tempo-gaining check, the e8 rook is free to swing sideways. || 20. Kf1 | Avoiding, 20. Kd1 Bxe2+ 21. Kc1 Qc3+ mate. || 20. ... Bxe2+ 21. Kg1 | White chooses to avoid g2, a light square, which would leave the king vulnerable to either an annoying black bishop or queen check. Could such a check be fatal? Almost certainly not, but it might disrupt the tremendous grip on the position white is about to achieve. || 21. ... Reb8 | A doubler. Firstly, the e8 square is finally vacated, which surely means the black king is about to drift into queenside safety, right? Secondly, doubling of rooks on the b-file offers ideas of, Rb1+, for attacking purposes when appropriate. Fischerism: "Tactics flow from a positionally superior game." With this rook side-swing all the black pieces are developed, those posted for aggressive intent will soon be closing in on the white king. White has 4 minor pieces in play, but the king and rooks are not happy. So, if development is all-important as we constantly tell ourselves, then black is clearly winning here. Not quite so, it is not just the development, but the coordination between the active units which is also of importance. The white minor pieces are well-placed and about to find a coordination formation which sends quivers up the black backbone. White to play must re-build a prison wall around the black king, but how? || 22. Bf7 | Ever since the queen sacrifice the white units have been shuffling around the black king, but this minimalistic move contains a massive dose of poison. White, Bf7, is a doubler. Firstly, the e8 square is no longer a flight square for the black king. Secondly, the vacated e6 square is now available for someone else, here it is a white knight. Fine, but does not vacating a square mean that the someone else taking advantage of the change in position could also be an enemy unit? Surely black can again smash the newly-built prison by simply pushing the e7 pawn? Black to play must detect all of the white poison and find an antidote quick, but what? || 22. ... Rb1+ | White has an almost unbreakable stranglehold on the black king, much imagination is required to avoid being mated. If the white king were not in check, then simply either, 23. Nfe6+ mate, or, 23. Nxg6+ mate, would be played. Note that it is the white f4 knight which delivers the final blow, the g5 knight must remain where it is to protect the f7 bishop. But white is in check, and so black gains another move on the scoresheet, but what happens when the checks run out? Instead defensive play would have failed as follows: (A). If, 22. ... e5 23. Nxg6+ mate, the vacated e7 square is covered by the white g6 knight. (B). Or if, 22. ... Bh6 23. Nfe6+ mate, the vacated g7 square is covered by the white e6 knight. || 23. Kh2 | Black has 3 ways to stay in the game: Firstly, find a 3-fold repetition and so prevent the white mate, but how? Secondly, protect both the e6 and g6 squares which prevents the white f4 knight giving mate, but how? Thirdly, eliminate any of the 3 white kingside pieces which would break the mate-net, but how? Clue #1: the word, "Eliminate", should not be taken literally. Clue #2: A pinned unit is paralysed, so perhaps a pin on the white f4 knight would keep black going, but how can this be organised? Instead, 23. Kg2, would permit some checks on the a8 - h1 diagonal, white avoids these, forcing black to become creative. || 23. ... Ng4+ | Another spite check hits the white king, he is going to keep advancing until black has no more checks. || 24. Kh3 Rxh1+ | A pair of rooks are removed, meaning control of the fully-open b-file is now with black, but how can this help? || 25. Rxh1 Nxf2+ | These black spite checks just keep rolling in, for how long can this go on? || 26. Bxf2 | White continues in, "Evasion-Mode", black is fast running out of free gifts. Instead, 26. Kh2 Ng4+ 27. Kh3 Nf2+, is heading for 3-fold repetition. But what about, 26. Kh4, and there are no legal black checks? The answer will not be revealed here, instead the unravelling game should indicate the probable black response. || 26. ... Bg4+ | The spite-desperadoes must surely be exhausted after this black bishop is gobbled up, right? || 27. Kxg4 | Running away permits black to remove a white knight, the ideas run: (A). If, 27. Kh4 Bf6, the e6 square is covered by the g4 bishop ruling out white, Ne6+ mate, and next move black has, Bxg5+, undermining the white f7 bishop. (B). Or if, 26. Kh2 Bf6, same story, white, Ne6+ mate, is covered, and next move black plays, Bxg5, undermining f7. Black to play has given away 2 pieces to get this far, but the checks have run out, so what now? || 27. ... Rb4 Aha, if covering the e6 square is not possible, black does the next best, the white f4 knight is pinned, black has yet again prevented an immediate mate. || 28. Kf3 | How bizarre. The white king who has been subject to a sequence of spite-checks now invites another, why? Perhaps the complexity of play has placed black in time-trouble? Had white hidden with, 28. Kh3, black would not be tempted to search for more checks, with a possible, "Carrot", on h1 being part of the plot, but would instead have been forced to stop checkmate in the only legal way possible. || 28. ... Qa3+ Is this another spite-check, or is black thinking of making some material gain here? Dangerous strategy for both players if each is short of time. || 29. Be3 | Black could have smashed the white mate-net on the previous move, but chose not to play it, why? Perhaps it is not just black in time-trouble? Instead, 29. Kg2, keeps everything under control. || 29. ... Qa8+ | More fishing. Again, black has a game-saver available but is holding back on it. || 30. Bd5 | The white exposure of the king has not worked out well, the tactics now seem to favour black. Some ideas of how white can lose run: (A). If, 30. Kg4 Qxh1, the white f4 knight is pinned, no immediate mates and white is effectively now a rook down. (B). Or if, 30. Kg4 e5, white loses the important f4 knight after which the central black passed pawns will begin advancing to cost white material. (C). Or if, 30. Kf2 Rb2+ 31. Kg1 Qg2+ mate. (D). Or if, 30. Kf2 Rb2+ 31. Kf1 Qxh1+ 32. Bg1 Qg2+ 33. Ke1 Qxg1+ mate. (E). Or if, 30. Ke2, black flicks in that zugzwang-game-saver to be followed by, Qxh1, tricky endgame on the way for both players. But what is this unrevealed black game-saving resource? Black to play has a winning idea available. || 30. ... Qa5 | Let's say this was played in severe time-trouble, and maybe also were the few moves before this. Instead black can win with, 30. ... Rxf4+, the game-saver, with no white f4 knight there are no mates, now, 31. gxf4 Qxd5+ 32. Ne4 Qxa2, black already has a decisive material advantage with a couple of central passed pawns to pick up more goodies from white. As often happens in both life in general and chess, as a door slams shut for an individual, it opens for someone else. White to play can now win by force, happy hunting. Clue #1: The easiest mate, non-forcing, is in just 2 moves. Clue #2: The next mate, non-forcing, is in 3 moves. Clue #3: The forcing mate-line, meaning best defence by black, is in 6 moves. || 31. Nfe6+ | Any forcing mate sequence is done with a series of checks. It must be the white f4 knight which starts the line, and it must land on the correct square. The lines which go nowhere run: (A). If, 31. Nxg6+ Ke8 32. Bf7+ Kd7 33. Be6+ Kc6, white has run out of safe checks. (B). Or if, 31. Nxg6+ Ke8 32. Bc6+ Kd8 33. Ne6+ Kc8 34. Nxe7+ Kb8, white has run out of checks. (C). Or if, 31. Nh7+ Ke8 32. Bc6+ Kd8 33. Ne6+ Kc8, white has run out of safe checks. || 31. ... Kg8 | Instead, 31. Ke8 32. Bc6+ mate, the white g5 knight controls f7. || 32. Nc7+ | Well it had to be a discovered check, but why go to c7? Simple, on c7 the e8 square is controlled by white, the black king cannot run queenside using e8. || 32. ... e6 And the non-forcing 3-mover finish was, 32. ... Kf8 33. Nh7+ mate. A quite amazing position, the 3 white attacking pieces are scattered across 6 files but still manage to coordinate to snare the black king. || 33. Bxe6+ | And now comes the forcing mate, only 3 moves remain to be found by white. || 33. ... Kf8 34. Nh7+ | A doubler. Firstly, the black king is forced toward the centre. Secondly, when a unit moves it vacates a square for someone else. || 34. ... Ke7 | The black king is ready to run away with, Kd8, dislodging the white c7 knight as he goes, unless you know better. || 35. Bg5+ Bf6 36. Bxf6# 1-0 | A pleasing symmetry has arisen. white has adjacent bishops each protected by a distant white 7th rank knight. The only sadness in the final position is that none of the hard-working white minor pieces got to give mate. Though perhaps they have a similar philosophy as Tal?: "We won the game but were denied the kill, who cares?" || * * * ## Unannotated Game. White: V. Malinin. Black: V. Savinov. Event: Leningrad 1988. Result: 1-0 in 36 moves. Opening: Benko Gambit Accepted, A58. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 Bxa6 6. Nc3 d6 7. Nf3 g6 8. g3 Bg7 9. h4 O-O 10. h5 Nbd7 11. hxg6 hxg6 12. Bh3 Re8 13. Qc2 Rb8 14. Be3 Nxd5 15. Qxg6 fxg6 16. Be6+ Kf8 17. Nxd5 Rxb2 18. Ng5 Nf6 19. Nf4 Qa5+ 20. Kf1 Bxe2+ 21. Kg1 Reb8 22. Bf7 Rb1+ 23. Kh2 Ng4+ 24. Kh3 Rxh1+ 25 .Rxh1 Nxf2+ 26. Bxf2 Bg4+ 27. Kxg4 Rb4 28. Kf3 Qa3+ 29. Be3 Qa8+ 30. Bd5 Qa5 31. Nfe6+ Kg8 32. Nc7+ e6 33. Bxe6+ Kf8 34. Nh7+ Ke7 35. Bg5+ Bf6 36. Bxf6# 1-0 * * *