A forgotten art

 Happy new year! One questionable benefit of life going back on hold again for the last month, and not insisting on blogging every game, is that I can take a few weeks off to do other things and still only be two games in arrears. And helpfully, this one is a 20-move draw...

Still, I said when I changed the publishing policy that I would choose the games I found interesting or instructive to talk about, and not for nothing did I pick this one out - it wasn't just for economy of effort! We are still in Milton Keynes for the 4NCL, a day on from the previous post, and this time I was on board four against Manchester Manticores, who like us were almost unrecognisable with absences. That gave us a real chance of snatching a precious match win, which was a chance we couldn't afford to let slip. My opponent was Barry Hymer, rated 1980, who I beat a couple of years ago in a fascinating struggle I will have to cover if I ever exhume my last few months of pre-Covid chess.

Just like the good old days, I found a line in his games that was just begging to walk into a prepared variation, and duly delivered it. Unlike that bygone age, my reward was almost giving my opponent a win straight out of the opening and nothing more than stale equality at the end of it:

[Event "4NCL Div. 1/2"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.11.28"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Hymer, Barry J"] [Black "Young, Daniel J"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "1980"] [BlackElo "2005"] [Annotator "Young,Daniel J"] [PlyCount "40"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2021.11.28"] [WhiteTeam "Manchester Manticores"] [BlackTeam "KJCA Kings"] {Although we have historically struggled against our opponents, they were significantly under strength this time, and with a second FM joining our ranks for this round we fancied our chances. For me too the omens were good - I beat Hymer in the previous 4NCL season, as black in a King's Indian Attack. I saw from the database he was likely to differ, but not with anything scary.} 1. d4 {(1:40)} Nf6 {(1:40) Partly to signal that I wanted to fight - I feel 1... d5 is slightly stronger, but gives White more chances to neutralise the game - and partly because I didn't object to facing the Barry Attack, a system which I feel is too primitive to really trouble Black.} 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 {And here we are. Now the main move is 5. e3, not yet declaring any intentions, and this was what I focussed on. However, those with baser urges are sometimes attracted to} 5. Qd2 {, which very much does declare White's intentions! Although White is able to rapidly castle long, Black's position is solid and White is attacking without his kingside pieces, so he can't expect to achieve very much like this.} (5. e3 O-O 6. Be2 {is more measured. Here in Kay-Young, 4NCL 2014, I played the careful 6... c6 and got a good game, but the critical move is} c5 {, the move Black always wants to play in this structure to open the long diagonal. Although White's early Nc3 gives him more pressure on d5 than usual, this doesn't seem enough to deter Black.} 7. Ne5 { The usual choice - White wants to meet ...Nc6 with a trade and then play for the c5 square, and this makes h4-h5 easier to achieve. But I don't see any need to update my analysis from the Kay game eight years ago.} (7. dxc5 { feels critical, though apparently the sort of person who would try this doesn't tend to go in for the Barry Attack. In my notes to the Kay game I looked at ...Qa5 and concluded Black was doing fine; that conclusion still holds up but lately he has preferred} Nbd7 {, aiming to recapture optimally on c5. White can fight for the initiative, but only by sacrificing material! Maybe this is what has scared people off.} 8. Nxd5 Nxd5 9. Qxd5 Bxb2 10. O-O $1 {The consistent move.} (10. Rb1 $6 {is much too cowardly; after} Qa5+ {White has to forfeit the right to castle (11. Nd2? Nf6 and 12... Bc3 can hardly be recommended), and this combined with his wrecked queenside gives him more than enough for a pawn after} 11. Kf1 Bg7 $15) 10... Bxa1 11. Rxa1 Qa5 12. Bh6 Qxc5 {Of course, Black would be more than happy to see White gobble up the rook on f8; then the danger to his king is eliminated and White's vulnerable c-pawn would become the main imbalance in the position. So playing for an attack is consistent, but Black has enough time to bring in the reserves and scramble a defence of his king.} 13. Qb3 b6 14. Rd1 Nf6 15. Bc4 Bf5 {(now if White takes on f8 and f7 then c2 will be hanging)} 16. Ng5 e6 17. Qc3 Nh5 {As suspicious as the knight looks here, it covers g7 and Black has enough counterplay from the loose bishop on c4 - the obvious attempt to refute with} 18. h3 {is defused by} Rac8 {(but not the greedy} (18... Rfc8 $4 19. g4 Qxc4 20. Rd8+ $1 $18) 19. Bxf8 {The only way to save the other bishop.} (19. Rd4 $2 e5 20. Rh4 b5 $17 {wins material}) 19... Rxf8 {- after other captures Rd7 is annoying - and now whilst there's nothing better} 20. g4 {doesn't win a piece because the knight on g5 is undefended.} Bxg4 21. Nxf7 Kxf7 22. hxg4 Nf6 $11 {Black has at last parried the threats to his king.}) 7... Nc6 8. O-O (8. h4 {is likely to be similar after} cxd4 9. exd4 Qb6 {, hitting d4 and nudging White into} 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Na4 Qa5+ 12. c3 Nd7 {. This is Black's key resource, defending the c5 square and preparing to break with ...e5. Suddenly the fianchettoed dark-squared bishop looks pretty good!}) 8... cxd4 9. exd4 Bf5 {As mentioned in the earlier game, White could try plenty of moves but keeps happily heading for} 10. Nxc6 $6 bxc6 11. Na4 Nd7 12. c3 {, like... moths to a light!} e5 $15 { Black already has the initiative.}) 5... O-O 6. Bh6 Bxh6 {I prefer this over the much more common 6... c5, when White gets a more favourable version of the game by including 7. Bxg7 - his queen remains centralised and he has scored well after 8. dxc5.} 7. Qxh6 c5 8. dxc5 {As before, this is critical - by playing his rightful pawn break last move Black signalled that he has no respect for White's opening system whatsoever, and indeed if White continues normally then Black can quickly develop strong pressure on the queenside, since without any supporting pieces the white queen is merely sidelined on h6. So he wins a pawn instead.} (8. e3 {Having said that, the great expert on this line, Mark Hebden, apparently disagrees with me since he has switched to this move following the game given on move 13 below.} cxd4 {9. dxc5 was definitely threatened, and in any case Black wants a half-open c-file since White will be castling queenside.} 9. exd4 Nc6 10. O-O-O (10. h3 {was an earlier attempt to prevent the move in the mainline, but can White really afford to lose a tempo on top of everything else?} Bf5 11. O-O-O Rc8 $17 {After} 12. Bd3 Bxd3 13. Rxd3 Nb4 14. Re3 Qa5 15. a3 Rxc3 $1 {Black was already winning in Hebden-Zhou, British Ch. 2013.}) 10... Bg4 11. h4 {Here I think I prefer} Bh5 (11... Bxf3 12. gxf3 Nh5 13. Bh3 {(Hebden-Zhao, Hastings 2015) intending Bg4 and if the knight moves then h4-h5, gives White some counterplay} e6) 12. Bd3 { (Hebden-Jones, British Ch. 2016) and now} Rc8 $146 {is the most straightforward.}) 8... d4 9. O-O-O {At first sight, this appears to refute Black's adventures on the spot - if now 9... Nc6? then 10. Ng5 followed by Nce4 would quickly give White a crushing attack on the king. However, Black's salvation is the exposed position of the white queen.} Ng4 10. Qf4 {(1:29)} ( 10. Qh4 $144 $2 {White too has to be careful - defending f2 may feel safe, but after} e5 {White's pin on the d-file is fragile.} 11. Qxd8 (11. Qg3 $144 f5 { and Black will have his way with the f2 square nonetheless:} 12. e3 f4 13. exf4 exf4 $17) 11... Rxd8 12. Ne4 f5 13. Nd6 Nxf2 $17 {and White loses material.}) 10... e5 $6 {(1:39) A very careless change to the move order... which I had prepared before the game! I was focussing on 5. e3 and just adopted the game below as the cornerstone of my 5. Qd2 work, forgetting that hoary old adage - "trust but verify".} (10... Qa5 $142 {should be preferred. In the end it will just be a transposition of moves after} 11. Rxd4 (11. Qxd4 $2 Nc6 {will cost White his f-pawn}) 11... e5 12. Nxe5 Nxe5 13. Qxe5 Nc6 14. Qf6 Nxd4 15. Qxd4 { and we have unexpectedly reached the game.}) 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 {Having thought for a long time over his last few moves, Hymer naturally took none at all over} 12. Qxe5 $6 {- just like me and, I imagine, both of the illustrious players in the stem game. But it's precisely here that White can punish me for my carelessness.} (12. e3 $142 $1 $146 {An unexpected blow! Of course, the only difficult thing about this move is seeing it, or rather looking for it - White was two pawns up, and instead of regaining the piece he trades it for a third, thereby gaining a mobile pawn front and forcing Black to spend time retreating. I can't see any way for Black to equalise here, for instance} Ng4 (12... Ned7 13. exd4 Nf6 14. Bc4 $16 Re8 $6 15. f3 {Keeping queens on is even worse: there is no play to be had on the e-file and White's kingside pawns will move quickly...}) 13. exd4 Qf6 14. Qxf6 Nxf6 15. Bc4 $14 {Black can avoid an immediate meltdown, but fundamentally he just doesn't have enough squares for his queenside pieces - a vexing oversight in my preparation. It's true that I didn't really expect 5. Qd2 to appear, but even so I never used to make misses like this, just glossing over the 'forced' sequence. Both games from this weekend painfully illustrate that preparation is a skill I've got out of the habit of using over the last couple of years.}) 12... Nc6 13. Qf4 $146 { In the only game in the database, Hebden preferred g3 for the queen. Objectively the moves are of equal merit since White can force a draw in either case, but I think this is a better practical choice since White can play on with less risk.} (13. Qg3 Qa5 14. Ne4 Bf5 {Here White really should force a draw with 15. Nf6+, since} 15. Nd6 $2 {walks into a whirlwind attack.} (15. Nf6+ Kg7 16. Nh5+ Kg8 17. Nf6+ Kg7 18. Nh5+ {If Black tries to avoid the draw with} Kh8 {then} 19. Qh4 f6 20. Nxf6 Rf7 21. Nxh7 Rxh7 22. Qf6+ Rg7 23. e4 {, allowing White's bishop to control g8, forces one anyway.} dxe3 24. Qh4+ Rh7 25. Qf6+ Rg7 $11) 15... Bxc2 $1 16. Kxc2 Nb4+ 17. Kd2 Nxa2+ 18. Kd3 Qxc5 19. e4 Rfd8 20. Nc4 Rac8 $19 {This was Hebden-Fernandez, Coventry 2013. White is forced to return the piece to try and rescue his beleagured king, after which Black was able to convert his material advantage. This was a big upset at the time, and since my sympathies are always with Black in these anti-theory systems the game made quite an impression on me - perhaps too much.}) 13... Qa5 {Now I was on my own, but I expected that White would play 14. Ne4 and we'd stay on a familiar track. However, he found a different move!} 14. Rxd4 $5 { If the reader saw the variation on my 10th move then they already knew this was coming - I saw the idea at the board but didn't expect it to be played. Still, Hymer takes a sensible decision under the circumstances and returns material to reach a safe position in which he is guarded against any surprises. } (14. Ne4 {would have lead to a quick draw after} Qxa2 15. Nf6+ Kg7 16. Nh5+ gxh5 17. Qg5+ Kh8 18. Qf6+ $11 {. It might seem odd to use a long prepared line just to get a draw, and certainly this prep bomb wasn't as fruitful as some of its forebears (though at least I haven't lost the gift for knowing where in an opponent's repertoire to look for them). However, when you lost the day before, and your team has a rating plus on the top and bottom boards so just needs to hold in the middle order, drawing effortlessly as Black is not so bad.}) 14... Nxd4 15. Qxd4 $11 {(59) As mentioned earlier, this position could - and should - have been reached via 10... Qa5. White temporarily has three pawns for the exchange, but the one on c5 will soon be rounded up to leave us with numerical equality. This position was completely new to me, so I wondered if there was something here for Black or if it was just more evidence of how narrow my preparation had been - with so many open files in the centre, I could certainly see the rook having its say. However, White has a solid position with no weaknesses, and no slower development than Black, so he shouldn't face any danger.} Be6 {(1:25)} (15... Rd8 $144 {I also considered gaining a tempo on the queen straight away, but I wasn't certain yet how I wanted my rooks arranged and it seemed unlikely that the tempo would run away. This won't change much after} 16. Qf4 Be6 17. a4 {, threatening 18. b4 and so forcing Black to capture on c5 before he can get a rook onto the c-file.} (17. a3 $144 {is more human, and whilst slightly less comfortable I think White is still fine after} Rac8 18. Qb4 Qxb4 19. axb4 a5 20. b5 Rxc5 21. e3 $11) 17... Qxc5 18. e3 Rac8 19. Be2 a6 {Sadly this plan is not quite quick enough for Black, and White can force a draw at the other end before he has time to crash through.} 20. Rd1 b5 21. Rxd8+ Rxd8 22. Ne4 Qe7 23. axb5 axb5 24. Qe5 (24. Bxb5 Qa7 $11 {likewise forces White's hand}) 24... Qb4 25. Nf6+ Kf8 26. Nxh7+ Kg8 27. Nf6+ $11 {Again and again we see that White almost always has a repetition if he wants one. In very concrete opening variations this happens surprisingly often.}) 16. a3 {Having said that, here White cannot draw as he pleases, since both knight moves lose material. The text is good enough for him though.} (16. Nd5 $143 $4 {loses trivially to} Bxd5 17. Qxd5 Rfd8 $19 { , threatening the queen as well as ...Qe1+.}) (16. Ne4 $2 {is more subtle but} Qe1+ 17. Qd1 Qb4 $1 18. Nc3 (18. f3 $2 {doesn't save c5 since White's queen has no escape square -} Rfd8 19. Nd2 Qxc5) 18... Rfd8 {capitalises on White's boxed-in royals.} 19. Qe1 Bxa2 $17) 16... Rac8 {By starting with this rook I ensure that White can't think about holding onto the c5 pawn with Qb4 - there's no reason to give myself extra problems.} 17. e3 Rxc5 {Although it misfired slightly, my preparation did succeed in one way - I'd built up a big lead on the clock, so I could afford to invest nearly 20 minutes here. I was quite proud of the offhand little trap set by this move, and correspondingly quite disappointed when Hymer played a move that avoided it within a minute!} 18. Bd3 (18. Ne4 $4 {My little trick was that the knight raid fails again, and this time quite spectacularly. Black to play and win...} Qe1+ 19. Qd1 {I sensed there was something here, but I needed all that time to find} Rxc2+ $1 20. Kxc2 Bb3+ {winning the queen. Apparently 20 minutes to visualise seven half-moves ahead is the upper limit of my calculating ability.}) 18... Rd8 { Finally!} 19. Qb4 Qxb4 (19... Qc7 $144 {If I'd been in a more ambitious move then retreating the queen is also a valid option.} 20. Rd1 (20. Nb5 $143 $2 { was why I opted to exchange queens instead, however} Qc6 21. Nxa7 $2 Qxg2 $19 { would swiftly lead to the loss of White's entire kingside. As the position starts to open up, Black's rooks become more and more powerful.}) 20... a5 21. Qh4 Rh5 22. Qg3 Qxg3 23. hxg3 Rh2 {Black seems to have made progress, but the stupid-looking} 24. Rg1 $11 {, passive though it is, defends White's only weakness and should enable him to hold on.}) 20. axb4 {(40)} Rcc8 $11 {(47) (Black draw offer) Both sides could play on in this balanced position if they wished, but I already explained above that I wasn't in the mood to squeeze blood from a stone, and since we were already 1.5-0.5 up and about to win another, this felt prudent. Hymer said afterwards that he thought he might be microscopically better, but I think for him too the prospect of at least getting something from the weekend, as well as a head start on the journey home, was altogether more appealing. In the end KJCA won 6-2 (exactly as per the program - wins on boards 1, 2, 7 and 8!) making it a successful opening weekend despite missing so many of our team.} 1/2-1/2

During the long hiatus, I was braced for my tactical sharpness and memory for openings to have decayed, but the idea that my previously formidable skills at preparation could suffer the same fate never really crossed my mind - it has been a core part of my chess strength for so long that I took it for granted, and it was never something I found difficult even when I first started playing. Still, some drop off is inevitable really - just like everyone else, I've gotten used to not having to work hard during games, let alone in advance of them. Hopefully it is just a temporary blip as I find my feet again, since it was at least a step up from the previous game; I again had a wide array of choices but was decisive in opting to attack the Barry, and in both games I think I made good choices - it was just the thoroughness that was lacking.

As for the game itself, violent openings do tend to burn out very quickly, but if you have the black pieces sometimes you just have to accept that these things happen. Hymer kept his head and defended well despite being surprised - and better than Hebden in the stem game! I was hoping that the rooks could make their power felt in what looked like quite an open position, but evidently if White stays solid he has enough pawns to shut down the artillery. And finally, one small preparation tip that I did remember - always check how your opponent got on the day before. A double zero on the scoreboard at the 4NCL is no fun for anyone.

Next time, we have an evening league game where I really did put a proper shift in - and in a match I'd been desperate to avoid... 

P.S. - A quick note on the PGN viewer, since the reader will no doubt have noticed I haven't got it to work perfectly yet. If you view this post in a separate page (click on the title) then it will only play one move at a time, and the options button in the bottom-right window will work so you can tinker with the view. One day I will figure out a proper fix, but I confess my knowledge of HTML coding is primitive at best.