Real men don't castle.
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[Event "Huntsville Quads G30"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1997.03.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morash, John"]
[Black "Savoie, Bill"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1754"]
[ECO "B16"]
[TimeControl "0"]
[WhiteElo "2199"]
{ Ouch! } 1. e4 { B16: Caro-Kann: Bronstein-Larsen Variation.|With this move
white takes hold of the central d5 and f5 squares and opens up diagonals for
his queen and king's bishop. } 1... c6 { Black responds with the Caro-Kann opening.
This move opens a diagonal for the black queen and prepares to challenge
white's control of the center with d5. } 2. d4 { White now controls the central
squares c5, d5, e5, and f5 and has freed up his queen's bishop as well. } 2... d5 { Black contest s control of the center with this move and frees a diagonal
for his white squared bishop. } 3. Nc3 { White continues with his development
and protects the e4 pawn at the same time. } 3... dxe4 { Black decides to enter an
exchange variation. He gives up control of some central squares but hopes to
recover a tempo by attacking the white knight with either Nf6 or Bf5. } 4. Nxe4 { White recovers his pawn. } 4... Nf6 { Black opts for an older variation of the
Caro-Kann by attacking the white knight on e4 with his knight. Bf5 is more
common. } 5. Nxf6+ { This is pretty much main line. White doubles black's pawns
on the f-file. } 5... gxf6 { Black captures towards the center and opens the g-
file. If white now castles kingside, then black is prepared to launch an
attack by playing Rg8. By capturing in this manner black can also play e5
later attacking white's d4 pawn. One problem with this capture is that black
now has an isolated rook pawn which may become a problem in the endgame. } 6. Nf3 { White continues to develop his pieces and controls the e5 square even
more. } 6... Bf5 { Black develops his queen's bishop. This bishop can now go to g6
if necessary and it also hits on white's c2 pawn. } 7. Bd3 { White decides to
develop another piece and wins a tempo by attacking black's bishop. If black
exchanges bishops then white plays Qxd3 and will have develop two pieces
developed on the third rank versus none for black. } 7... Bg6 { Black decides to
parry the threat by a temporary retreat. Now if white captures the bishop
with Bxg6 black can recapture with either hxg6 opening the h-file for his
rook or fxg6 undoubling his pawns. Neither position is good for white. So,
... } 8. h4 { A weak move. Better is Bf4 developing a piece. With this move
white had thoughts of playing h5 and h6 where the pawn might become a thorn
in black's side. As it is, this move wastes a tempo that would have been
better spent on development. } 8... Nd7 { Black calmly continues developing. This
move is much better than Na6 placing the knight on an inactive square. } 9. Bf4 { White develops and takes control of the h2-b8 diagonal. } 9... Qa5+ { Black
bring s his queen out with check thus winning a tempo and prepares for
castling. } 10. c3 { White blocks the check, supports the d4 pawn, and if
necessary can use this move to set up b4 for later in the game. } 10... O-O-O { Queenside castling is allowed even though the black rook passes through the
control of the white dark squared bishop. Black puts his king into safety and
centralizes his rook. } 11. a4 $2 { Another blunder by white. Better is
probably Bg3 to protect against black's next move. Unfortunately white does
not see what is coming. White would have liked to have played b4 here
attacking the black queen but did not like the prospect of black playing
Qa3. } 11... e5 $1 { This is the right plan. It is usually best to open or attack the
center when one's opponent threatens action on a flank. This is especially
true if your opponent's king is uncastled. Black attacks the bishop as well
as the d4 pawn and white's king finds himself embarrassed in the center.
Against a stronger opponent, white could honestly resign here. However, white
plays on in the hope to swindle black with complicated play. } 12. Bg3 $2 { A
second very bad move by white. The only move here is 12. Bxg6 to avoid loss
of material. White is caught sleeping. Of course white cannot play dxe5 since
after Nxe5 black will win the white bishop on d3 due to the fact that if
white moves it he will lose his queen to black's rook on the file. } 12... e4 { Ouch!
Black forks the white knight and bishop. White will lose one or the other. } 13. h5 { White complicates matters. He decides to counter-attack. Now if black
captures one of white's pieces white will take the bishop on g6. } 13... Bf5 { Black
stumbles in complications. He should have play 13... Bxh5 here since his
queen on a5 covers the h5 square but he opts not to. He still would have won
his piece because after 13... Bxh5 14. Bxe4 Re8 and the white bishop falls to
an eventual 15... f5. } 14. Bc4 { White's choices are very difficult. White
moves the bishop out of harm's way and puts pressure on the f7 pawn. A
far-ranging bishop is considered more valuable than a short-hopping knight
Still, the loss of the knight should mean the end of white. } 14... exf3 { Black goes
up a piece. } 15. Qxf3 { White recovers a pawn for his piece. His only other
compensation is the bad state of black's kingside pawns and the control of
the h2-b8 diagonal. Black must still win a won game. } 15... Be6 { Black's plan is
natural. Black offers to trade down material into a more simplified game
where his material advantage will win the day. He also protects his f7 pawn
with this move and gains a tempo. Now 16. b4 hoping to drive the queen away
from its defensive position is refuted by 16... Bxb4! winning material. } 16. Be2 { White needs to keep as many pieces on the board as possible to keep
things complicated and to minimize the effect of black's material advantage.
For white, trading down material is not an option. } 16... Qf5 $2 { Black
thoughtlessly continues to play obvious moves unaware of any danger. Perhaps,
black was worried about white playing Qf4 (with mate threats at b8 and c7)
followed by b4 and a5 trying to drive the black queen off the d8-a5 diagonal.
Black could have played 16... Bb3 to cross white's plan, or black could have
simply ignored the perceived threat because his queen can retreat to d8. Can
you find white's next move? } 17. Qxc6+ { After 17... bxc6 (forced) the white
bishop goes to a6 and the black king is mated. Black resigns. } 1-0