The Boleslavsky structure for dummies - part I

 I am now back writing from Bristol - my Christmas holiday is over, but my reporting of chess activity in that time is not. Yesterday, I was just able to cram in another match for Wallington, on board 3 in an away day at South Norwood in the Stoneleigh Trophy. As you may or may not remember, depending on how long you've been reading for, this competition is a rapidplay event, run on a handicap system where a team's aggregate grade determines its target score. Everyone plays two games, one with each colour (unless the team order changes half-way, a liberty I took a few times when I captained Castles' team in this competition last year.)

 I was on board 3, and my two games, the first of which is outlined by this post, were both against the 118-graded David Howes. It's fair to say he is a pretty big name in chess organisation circles, especially in the South-East - captain of various teams for South Norwood and previously CCF, captain too of the Surrey U-140 county team (for which I played every match in the last two seasons and scored  7.5/9!), the Surrey CCA Inter-Club Tournament Director, President of the Southern Counties Chess Union... I could go on, but you get the picture. Anyway, a man I have much respect for. The overall grade situation was 163-176, 162-118, 120-118, 107-114 - with an overall total of 1104-1052, Wallington needed to score 4.5 points to draw.

 Our two games on this evening both featured the same pawn structure - the so-called Boleslavsky Structure, which emerges from the Sicilian when black plays ...cxd4, ...d6 and ...e5 in some order. By driving a white Knight from d4, gaining space and time, black gets an active game, but he also creates a big positional weakness on d5 as well as a backward pawn on d6, so if his play comes to nothing white will often have a strategically winning game. It's a bit like having an IQP, I suppose. I have lots of experience playing the black side of it, but here demonstrated how to play both sides of it, although sadly I failed to collect the full 2/2 score I deserved.

 We start with me playing black, and this was the game in which I did convert an overwhelming advantage:

 So far, so expected with regards to the match - LWWL in the first round. But board 2 was a great fight; their player recently drew with a 203 in this competition, so is certainly proving good value for grading points!

 The above is what happens when black is able to call the game's tune - if white isn't incisive enough, his pieces soon start being driven back. 12. Re1?!, allowing the counter ...b4!, is the first culprit, then the tactical oversight 16. Bg5? loses a vital pawn. Our oversights over the next few moves cancelled themselves out, so by 20... f6 I already had a winning game. White fought valiantly, but after 31. g3? black has too many passed pawns, and after white is driven right back to the first rank, the concluding stroke 52... g4! is a nice way to put them to use - his seemingly active Rook was overwhelmed.

 I have plenty of experience with this structure, but mainly as black, since the whole point of the Najdorf's defining move, ...a6, is to play ...e5 without allowing the awkward Bb5+. It's consistent with my philosophy of striving for active play, and I score quite well* in these lines (my personal favourite 'model game,' if I may be permitted the use of so immodest a term, is in the notes to another win in the line, here) - perhaps I should try IQP positions more?

 Nonetheless, if black plays inaccurately, then things can turn out rather differently, as shall be seen in the second game.


 * Since the start of the 2011-12 grading season, +6 =1 -3. It felt like more!