The Boleslavsky structure for dummies - part II

 For my second game in this Stoneleigh Trophy match, I again played David Howes (118). As the title of the post suggests, this game started in a similar way to the first, albeit this time through the Kalashnikov/Sveshnikov complex rather than the Najdorf through which I usually arrive in this structure as black.

 The game can really be considered in two halves - in the first, I gave a clean demonstration to black of what he had been aiming for in the very previous game, and by positional means attained a dominant position that I'm sure would have been quickly crowned by a more accurate 25th move. Indeed, I saw the win but overlooked a mate in one in my analysis! Still, there is instructive value enough in this first half of the game, which is just as well since my attempted conversion of the endgame was as calamitous as always...:

 With only this result changing from the first round - LWDL - our 3.5-4.5 loss was a point short of the target. Hence our opponents keep their 100% record, and we remain in mid-table (P3 W1 L2.)

 It's good for me that it's the instructive half of the game than I can remember and produce above - having to comment on all of my time-trouble oversights would be very depressing, even with the experience I've already had writing for this blog! But I'm resigned to the fact that it comes with the territory in blitz finishes - don't think I haven't worked on endgames! I think it's psychological to some degree; I've always feared losing, usually more than I wanted to win, and since endgames tend to be much more concrete and precise, I see more lines that make me panic, and play too cautiously. Sometimes it's just bad memories. It's easy to say that it's only rapid chess, but it is perhaps the most serious hole in my game besides an erratic calculating ability (which was also apparent here, in the winning 25. Rxd6 line) and will need to be fixed one day.

 But anyway, the reader who is solely interested in the Boleslavsky pawn structure, as opposed to my turbulent adventures, can hopefully take something from the early stages - after the double-oversight on move 8, white was enable to complete the Knight tour Nf3-d4-b5-a3-c4-e3, training both steeds against the d5 square and clamping black's prospects considerably. His lagging development allowed white to create problems by 20. Qg4, and after 23. Nf6+ black's whole game is disintegrating. Just a few more accurate moves and it might well have been over before move 30, and all the difficulties of the endgame could have been avoided. My desire to play sharply is a practical one...!

 Nonetheless, although I certainly mishandled the later stages of the game, black deserves credit for his defence of a bad position; he had little time himself and kept on creating problems for me that I was eventually unable to solve - again I am reminded of that overused tennis term, 'forcing the opponent to play one more ball over the net'. Perhaps it was a little arrogant of me to assume that blitz finishes would always favour the much younger player.

 Anyway, my next post will be my first game back in Bristol; the rematch of my last in the previous term as we look for the double over South Bristol on Thursday.