Inside the Chess Laboratory

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.12.16"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Inside the Chess Laboratory"]
[Black "Introduction"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "C77"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "17"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2013.12.16"]

{As some of you already know, I'm currently playing the Australasian Masters.
I don't want to reflect on this tournament; instead I'll present an example of
my preparation for this tournament.} 1. e4 e5 $1 {After other moves White has
better chances of an opening advantage.} 2. Nf3 $1 Nc6 $1 3. Bb5 $1 (3. Bc4 Bc5
$1 $11) 3... a6 (3... Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8.
Qxd8+ Kxd8 $14 {but Black is very solid.}) 4. Ba4 (4. Bxc6 dxc6 {is inferior;
Black's bishop pair are just as important as the doubled pawns. Compare} 5. O-O
f6 6. d4 exd4 7. Nxd4 c5 8. Ne2 Qxd1 9. Rxd1 {with the Berlin Wall.}) 4... Nf6
(4... d6 {is not bad but gives White a clearer plan:} 5. c3 $1 {and d4.}) 5.
O-O (5. d3 {avoids the Open Variation but allows} b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 {which is fine
for Black.}) 5... Be7 (5... b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 {is playable but no one in Australia
plays this.}) (5... Nxe4 {is Black's best alternative, but after} 6. d4 b5 7.
Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Nbd2 {Black is playing only for a draw.}) 6. d3 $142 $5 {
The best try for an advantage.} (6. Re1 {was refuted as a winning try by} b5 7.
Bb3 O-O $1 {.} 8. a4 (8. c3 d5 $1 $11) 8... b4 9. d4 d6 10. dxe5 dxe5 {is
perhaps White's best non-d3 line but the endgame is 100% fine for Black if he
understands the position.}) 6... b5 (6... d6 {is the alternative, but} 7. c3
O-O 8. h3 {(an interesting waiting move) is easier to play for White.} b5 9.
Bc2 {is a tempo up on the d3 lines in the 6.Re1 variation as White was able to
play Bc2 in one move (instead of Bb3-c2).}) 7. Bb3 d6 (7... O-O {can now be
met by} 8. a4 b4 {when Black has weakened c4, and} 9. a5 $1 d6 10. Bg5 $5 $146
{followed by Nbd2/Bc4 poses Black fresh problems.}) 8. a3 $5 {This is the best
try for putting pressure on the opponent's position.} ({I wrote an article on} 
8. a4 Bd7 {and my conclusion is still that White cannot present Black problems
in this line - several top games have confirmed my analyses from a year ago.})
8... O-O 9. Nc3 {Now let's examine the important games from this position.} (9.
h3 {prevents ...Bg4 but we should not fear this move.}) *

[Event "Budapest FS08 GM"]
[Site "Budapest"]
[Date "1998.08.01"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Fogarasi, Tibor"]
[Black "Lukacs, Peter"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C77"]
[WhiteElo "2440"]
[BlackElo "2515"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "1998.08.01"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "HUN"]
[EventCategory "7"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1998.11.10"]

{This is the first serious game with our position.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5
a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 O-O (8... Be6 9. Bxe6 fxe6
10. c3 O-O 11. Nbd2 d5 (11... Qe8 $5 {is the engine move but} 12. Re1 Qg6 13.
Nf1 Nh5 14. Ng3 Nf4 15. Bxf4 exf4 16. Ne2 {still feels like a nibble for White.
Black's position lacks cohesiveness.} Ne5 17. Ned4 $1 c5 18. Nxe5 dxe5 19. Nf3
$14) 12. Qe2 Qd6 13. b4 $1 $14 {and Black had problems with his pawn structure.
} Rfd8 14. Rd1 dxe4 15. Nxe4 Nxe4 16. Qxe4 Qd5 17. Bb2 a5 18. Rac1 Qxe4 19.
dxe4 {This structure is always statically very good for White and can be
played without risk.} Bd6 20. h4 Rf8 21. c4 $1 axb4 22. axb4 (22. cxb5 $5 bxa3
23. Bxa3 Rxa3 24. Rxc6 $14) 22... Ra2 (22... bxc4 23. Rxc4 Ra2 24. Bc3 Nd4 $1
$132) 23. c5 Be7 24. Bc3 Bf6 25. Ra1 Rc2 26. Rd3 Kf7 27. Rd7+ Kg6 28. Rxc7 Nd4
29. Bxd4 exd4 30. e5 Bd8 31. Rd7 Rxf3 32. gxf3 Bxh4 33. Rf1 Rc4 34. Kg2 Kf5 35.
Rh1 Bg5 36. Rxg7 h6 37. Rf7+ Kg6 38. Rd7 Rxb4 39. Rd1 Rc4 40. R1xd4 {1-0 (40)
Anand,V (2792)-Aronian,L (2750) Mainz 2007}) 9. Nc3 Be6 (9... Bg4 {as I played
against Tan is Black's best move.}) (9... Na5 10. Ba2 c5 {(otherwise ...Na5 is
a waste of time)} 11. Bg5 $5 (11. b4 Nc6 12. Nd5 Nd4 13. c3 Nxf3+ 14. Qxf3 Nxd5
15. Bxd5 Rb8 16. Be3 {The engine likes White but I don't see anything wrong
with Black's position, e.g.} Bb7) 11... Rb8 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. Nd5 Be6 14. b4
Nc6 15. c3 {White has a pleasant edge because of his strong control over d5.
Black should try to play ...Ne7 but then we can play Ne3 or even let Black
exchange on d5 and put our knight on e4.}) 10. Nd5 $142 (10. Bxe6 fxe6 11. Ne2
$5 {plans Ng3 but} d5 $1 12. Ng3 dxe4 13. Nxe4 Nxe4 14. dxe4 Qxd1 15. Rxd1 Nd4
$1 {gives Black very nice activity.}) 10... Bxd5 $6 {This exchange is in
White's favour. Black can't afford to give up his light-squared bishop so
easily in the Spanish.} (10... Nd4 11. Nxd4 exd4 {might be OK for a computer
but it is unpleasant for a human to play with this structure as Black. White
has several good options, e.g.} 12. Bd2 c5 (12... Nxd5 13. exd5 Bd7 14. Ba5 $1
{binding the queenside is very unpleasant. White will build up as in
Kasparov-Short.}) 13. Nxf6+ Bxf6 14. Bxe6 fxe6 15. f4 {and White has the
better structure. He can also play a4 later to loosen up Black's structure
some more.}) 11. exd5 Nd4 12. Nxd4 exd4 13. c3 $1 dxc3 14. bxc3 {Now Black is
in a serious positional bind. White can play a4 to exchange his extra pawn
island and meanwhile he can build up on the kingside.} Nd7 15. d4 (15. a4 $5 {
may have been more precise, with the idea of} Nb6 16. a5 Nd7 17. d4 {and the
d7-knight is dominated by White's pawns.}) 15... Nb6 16. a4 Bf6 $6 (16... Nxa4
17. Bxa4 bxa4 18. Qxa4 Bg5 {would be my choice of defence - probably Black
will lose a queenside pawn but then it will be hard for White to make progress
with his doubled extra pawn.}) 17. Qd3 (17. a5 {was again correct.} Nc8 18. Re1
Ne7 19. Ra2 Re8 20. Qf3 Qd7 21. Rae2 $16) 17... Nxa4 $1 18. Bxa4 bxa4 19. Rxa4
Qc8 20. Be3 Qb7 21. Qc4 {It's hard to believe that the players agreed a draw,
as Black is under pressure with the worse bishop and only White can ever win.}
1/2-1/2

[Event "Oceania Open zt 2013"]
[Site "Nadi FIJ"]
[Date "2013.05.10"]
[Round "9.2"]
[White "Tan, Ju2"]
[Black "Illingworth, M."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C84"]
[WhiteElo "2249"]
[BlackElo "2422"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2013.05.05"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3
O-O 9. Nc3 Bg4 10. Be3 (10. h3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Nd4 12. Qd1 Nxb3 13. cxb3 d5 $5 {
is already more pleasant for Black.}) (10. Ne2 $5 {however is an interesting
idea, though probably not a try for an edge.} Bxf3 (10... Qd7 $1 {is correct
to prevent the possibility of 12.f4.} 11. c3 (11. Kh1 d5 $1 12. exd5 Bxf3 13.
dxc6 Bxc6 {and Black is better.}) 11... Bxf3 (11... d5) 12. gxf3 d5 {and White
wasn't in time to play f4 and f3, though} 13. Ng3 {is still completely fine
for White.}) 11. gxf3 Qd7 12. f4 Rad8 13. Kh1 Kh8 14. f3 d5 15. Qe1 {and the
engine gives equality but White is just better with a powerful unopposed
light-squared bishop, pressure on Black's centre (which can be exchanged with
fxe5 at any point, though there is no need to rush with this) and White can
use the half-open g-file for an attack.} dxe4 16. fxe4 exf4 17. Bxf4 Bd6 18.
Bxd6 cxd6 19. Qh4 $14) 10... Nd4 {Without this move Black is probably just
worse.} 11. Bxd4 exd4 12. Nd5 (12. Ne2 c5 13. Nd2 d5 $1 $11) 12... c5 {This
was not necessary, giving away d5 for nothing.} (12... Nd7 $1 13. h3 Bxf3 14.
Qxf3 c6 15. Nf4 {was played in some high-level games and the conclusion is
that Black is equal.}) 13. c3 $2 {A mistake, exchanging Black's main
disadvantage off.} (13. a4 Be6 14. axb5 Bxd5 15. Bxd5 Nxd5 16. exd5 axb5 $11) (
13. h3 Be6 14. Nf4 Bxb3 15. cxb3 $14 {is good for White who has the superior
minor pieces, and he can use his doubled b-pawns with b4! to put pressure on
the queenside.} Re8 16. b4 Bf8) 13... dxc3 (13... c4 $1 14. dxc4 Nxd5 15. exd5
dxc3 16. bxc3 Rc8 {is good for Black.}) 14. bxc3 Re8 15. h3 Be6 16. Ne3 c4 17.
dxc4 Nxe4 18. Bc2 Ng5 $6 (18... Nc5 19. cxb5 axb5 $15 {The rest of the game is
irrelevant.}) 19. Nd2 h6 20. cxb5 axb5 21. Qe2 Bf6 22. h4 Bxc3 23. hxg5 Bxa1
24. Rxa1 Qxg5 25. Qd3 g6 26. Rb1 Reb8 27. Qxd6 Qd8 28. Qb4 Qf8 29. Ne4 Qxb4 30.
axb4 Ra3 31. Nc5 Rba8 32. Nxe6 fxe6 33. Bxg6 Kg7 34. Be4 Ra1 35. Rxa1 Rxa1+ 36.
Kh2 Kf6 37. Bd3 Ra2 38. Kg3 Rb2 39. Bxb5 Rxb4 40. Be2 Kg5 41. Bc4 e5 42. Kf3
Rb2 43. Bd3 Rd2 44. Be4 Rb2 45. Bd5 Rd2 46. g3 Rd4 47. Be4 Ra4 48. Bd3 Rd4 49.
Ke2 Rd8 50. Nc4 Kf6 51. Ke3 Rd4 52. Nd2 Rd7 53. Ne4+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "FIDE Candidates"]
[Site "London ENG"]
[Date "2013.04.01"]
[Round "14.2"]
[White "Carlsen, M."]
[Black "Svidler, P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C84"]
[WhiteElo "2872"]
[BlackElo "2747"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2013.03.15"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3
O-O 9. Nc3 Bb7 {This does not seem correct when White has already played d3.}
10. Bd2 ({After} 10. Re1 Na5 11. Ba2 c5 {the rook would be better on f1 than
e1, though} 12. b4 Nc6 13. Nd5 {might still favour White marginally.}) 10...
Qd7 (10... Nd4 11. Nxd4 exd4 12. Ne2 c5 13. Ng3 {is good for White as ...d5
can always be met by e5 and f4 when White has the better majority.}) 11. a4 $1
{A very thematic loosening move.} Nd8 $5 (11... b4 12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. Bxd5 Rab8
14. a5 {keeps Black under definite pressure, like in a recent game of
Caruana's that I showed to a student about a year ago.}) (11... Na5 12. Ba2 c5
13. Nd5 Bxd5 14. exd5 b4 {is better for White as the a5-knight is out of the
game.}) 12. axb5 axb5 13. Rxa8 Bxa8 14. Ne2 (14. Qa1 {is the engine move but
White should be playing on the kingside not the queenside.}) 14... Ne6 15. Ng3
c5 {The engines evaluate this is equal as they don't appreciate White's
long-term attack. Over-the-board White's position is much easier to play as
Black doesn't have a specific plan.} 16. Nf5 Bd8 (16... c4 $1 {was best.} 17.
dxc4 bxc4 18. Bxc4 Bxe4 19. Nxe7+ Qxe7 20. Ng5 Bf5 21. Nxe6 Bxe6 {and the
bishops and Black's central majority balance each other out. Compare with my
game against Smirnov yesterday.}) 17. c4 bxc4 18. Bxc4 Bc7 19. Re1 Re8 (19...
Nf4 $5) 20. Qc1 $1 {Now Black is under definite pressure.} Nh5 $6 (20... Rb8 {
is the engine move but it moves a piece away from the kingside so I don't
trust it.}) (20... Bc6 21. h3 Bb5 {is better to exchange the strong c4-bishop.
Then the position is about equal.}) 21. g3 (21. b4 $5) 21... g6 $2 22. Nh6+ Kg7
23. Ng5 (23. b4 $1 cxb4 24. Nxf7 $1 Bb6 25. N7g5 {is very strong. You have
already studied the rest of the game thoroughly.}) 23... Nxg5 24. Bxg5 d5 25.
exd5 Bxd5 26. Ng4 Bf3 27. Bf6+ Kg8 28. Nh6+ Kf8 29. Qe3 Bb7 30. Bh4 Qh3 31. f3
Nf4 32. gxf4 Qxh4 33. Nxf7 Bxf3 34. Qf2 Qg4+ 35. Qg3 exf4 36. Rxe8+ Kxe8 37.
Qxg4 Bxg4 38. Ng5 h6 39. Nf7 h5 40. Nh6 Bd1 41. Kf2 f3 42. h3 Bf4 43. Nf7 g5
44. Ke1 g4 45. hxg4 hxg4 46. Kxd1 g3 47. Ke1 g2 48. Kf2 Bh2 0-1

[Event "Sberbank GM Rapid"]
[Site "Kiev UKR"]
[Date "2013.06.06"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Leko, P."]
[Black "Tomashevsky, E."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C84"]
[WhiteElo "2737"]
[BlackElo "2709"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "133"]
[EventDate "2013.06.05"]

{You went through this game with a student as an example of good technique in
a Q+R 'endgame' but it's also a good example of why Black can't equalise just
by sitting and waiting in this line.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6
5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 O-O 9. Nc3 Rb8 10. h3 h6 11. Ba2 Re8 12.
Nh2 Nd4 13. f4 exf4 14. Bxf4 Be6 15. Nf3 Nxf3+ 16. Qxf3 Bxa2 17. Rxa2 $14 Qd7
18. Raa1 Qe6 19. Kh1 Rbc8 20. Bg3 Nd7 21. a4 c6 22. Ne2 Ne5 23. Qf2 Bf8 24.
axb5 axb5 25. Ra7 Ra8 26. Bxe5 Rxa7 27. Bxg7 Bxg7 28. Qxa7 Bxb2 29. c3 c5 30.
Qb7 b4 31. cxb4 cxb4 32. Qxb4 Be5 33. Nd4 Bxd4 34. Qxd4 Qe5 35. Qc4 Re6 36. Qc7
Re7 37. Qc8+ Re8 38. Qg4+ Qg7 39. Qxg7+ Kxg7 40. Rf5 Ra8 41. Kh2 f6 42. Rd5 Ra6
43. Kg3 Kg6 44. Kf4 Rb6 45. g4 Ra6 46. h4 Kf7 47. Rh5 Kg6 48. Rb5 Ra1 49. Rb6
Rf1+ 50. Ke3 h5 51. gxh5+ Kxh5 52. Rxd6 Kxh4 53. Rd8 Re1+ 54. Kd2 Ra1 55. Rg8
Kh5 56. Ke3 Re1+ 57. Kd4 Rd1 58. Rg3 Rd2 59. Ke3 Rd1 60. Kf4 Kh6 61. Kf5 Rf1+
62. Ke6 Rf4 63. Kf7 Kh5 64. Rg6 f5 65. e5 Ra4 66. e6 Ra7+ 67. Kf6 1-0

[Event "19th European Teams"]
[Site "Warsaw POL"]
[Date "2013.11.15"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Grischuk, A."]
[Black "Aronian, L."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C84"]
[WhiteElo "2785"]
[BlackElo "2801"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "155"]
[EventDate "2013.11.08"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "POL"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.18"]
[WhiteTeam "RUSSIA"]
[BlackTeam "ARMENIA"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ARM"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. Nc3
d6 9. a3 Be6 10. Bg5 (10. Be3 d5 (10... Bxb3 11. cxb3 d5 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Rc1
$14) 11. exd5 Nxd5 12. Nxd5 Bxd5 13. Rc1 {Equal, but White doesn't risk
anything.} Nd4 14. Bxd4 exd4 15. Bxd5 Qxd5 16. Re1 Bf6 17. Qe2 h6) 10... Kh8 $5
(10... Bg4 $5 11. Be3) (10... Rb8 11. h3 h6 12. Bd2 d5 13. exd5 Nxd5 14. Re1
Bf6 15. Bxd5 Bxd5 16. Nxd5 Qxd5 17. Qe2) 11. h3 Ng8 {Consistent but I don't
entirely trust it.} 12. Be3 Qd7 (12... Bxb3 $5 13. cxb3 f5 14. Qc2 Qd7) 13.
Bxe6 (13. Nd5 $142 Rac8 (13... f5 $140 14. Nxc7) 14. a4 f5 15. axb5 axb5 16.
exf5 Rxf5 17. c4 $1 $14) 13... fxe6 14. Ne2 Nf6 15. Ng3 a5 16. a4 b4 $11 17. c3
d5 18. Qc2 Bd6 19. Rac1 (19. c4 $5) 19... Rab8 20. Rfd1 Qe8 21. Qe2 h6 22. Re1
Kg8 23. c4 d4 24. Bxd4 Nxd4 25. Nxd4 Nd7 26. Nf3 Nc5 27. Ra1 Nb3 28. Ra2 Bc5
29. Rf1 Qg6 30. Kh2 Bd4 31. Qd1 Rxf3 32. Qxf3 Nd2 33. Qe2 Nxf1+ 34. Nxf1 b3 35.
Ra3 Qf6 36. Kg1 Qg5 37. Ra1 Qe7 38. Nh2 Bc5 39. Nf3 Qd6 40. Qd2 Bb4 41. Qd1 Bc5
42. Qd2 Bb4 43. c5 Qxc5 44. Qd1 Rb6 45. Rc1 Qd6 46. Rc4 Ba3 47. bxa3 b2 48. Qb1
Rb3 49. Rc2 Qxd3 50. Nd2 Rb6 51. Kh2 Kh7 52. Rxb2 Qxd2 53. Rxd2 Rxb1 54. Rc2
Kg6 55. Rxc7 Rd1 56. Rc5 Rd4 57. Rxe5 Kf6 58. Rxa5 Rxe4 59. Ra8 Kf7 60. Kg3 Rc4
61. Kf3 Rc3+ 62. Ke4 Rxa3 63. a5 Ra2 64. a6 Rxf2 65. Rc8 Ra2 66. Rc7+ Kf6 67.
a7 Ra4+ 68. Kd3 e5 69. Kc3 e4 70. Kb3 Ra1 71. Kc4 e3 72. Kd3 Ra3+ 73. Ke2 h5
74. h4 g6 75. Kf3 Ke6 76. Rg7 Kf6 77. Rb7 Ke6 78. Rg7 {Conclusion: The 8.a3
system is interesting in that it leads to a fresh position where Black has to
make a lot of decisions but objectively it cannot challenge Black.} 1/2-1/2