A night at the opera

"Get the pieces out!" is advice we have all received and also all given, totally axiomatic for any serious student of chess. We are all familiar (or should be) with the games of Paul Morphy, which illustrate this principle with great clarity. But how well do we actually follow it? When annotating my win against Andrew Ledger last year I reflected how rarely I completed my development as black against strong opposition, and it has been a running discussion since then between me and Peter Lalic how many of our games have been decided by someone not following the ABCs of chess. And even then, in this post we will see me on the wrong side of yet another addition to the collection.

After losing sloppily to Nick Edwards (still going strong and as genial as ever at 80!) in an earlier round, I'd recovered to 3/4 in the Wallington club championship, and faced the speedily-improving junior Rahul Babu, who'd reached a full score without any difficulty. A year earlier, doing my best Korchnoi impression, I'd managed to outplay him in an equal ending and score the full point, but I could tell that his then-1790 rating didn't mean much and indeed I get more pleased about that result with every passing month! In the space of a year he had gained almost 400 points, and there's no way to window dress that I was simply blown off the board this time:

[Event "Wallington Club Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.08.07"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Babu, Rahul"] [Black "Young, Daniel J"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B23"] [WhiteElo "2160"] [BlackElo "2002"] [Annotator "Young,Daniel J"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.08.18"] {Last year, when I beat Babu in the same competition, he was rated 1790... already then I suspected that I would be glad to have scored a win whilst there was still time, and now I had to try and repeat the trick if I was to catch him in the tournament standings. For two successive weeks in July we'd agreed a date for which he failed to appear, and I was very close to claiming the game by default, but since I didn't want to win an event that way I agreed to reschedule it once more. Well, as they say, no good deed goes unpunished... Time control: 75 minutes for all moves + 10 seconds/move.} 1. e4 {(1:15)} c5 {(1:15)} 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {One small benefit of the delay was that I'd seen him play at the Major Open, so I knew this was coming.} Nd4 4. Nf3 {White's latest attempt to breathe life into the variation, allowing Black to seize the two bishops in return for rapid development.} Nxb5 5. Nxb5 d6 (5... a6 $6 {is played just as often, but I believe this to be inaccurate because of} 6. Nc3 d6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Qxd4 e5 9. Qb4 $14 {, followed by Be3 and Black has problems on the queenside dark squares. The obvious objection is} d5 $6 {but then} 10. Qb3 d4 (10... dxe4 {is too much with all of Black's pieces on their starting squares -} 11. Nxe5 Be6 12. Qxb7 Nf6 13. Qc6+ Nd7 14. Nxd7 Bxd7 15. Qxe4+ $18 {with two extra pawns.}) 11. Ng5 Nh6 12. Nd5 $16 {and Black's pawn advances in the centre have only given more squares to White's pieces.}) 6. d4 Nf6 {Babu went into thought here, and I was starting to feel happy with my preparation. That abruptly changed when he finally played} 7. e5 $6 {- I'd been wondering about this whilst he was thinking, but now I had to figure it out for real. I hadn't covered the move beforehand at all, and whilst it has almost never been played I usually make a point of checking obvious forcing moves, all the more so when they are incorrect. White is not sufficiently developed for a dawn raid like this to lead to success.} (7. Nc3 {is the usual move, when Black gets an acceptable game with} cxd4 8. Qxd4 e5 9. Qd3 {(Qb4 is aimless whilst Black has abstained from ...a6)} h6 $1 {, an important move to control d5 by preventing Bg5xf6.} 10. O-O Be7 $11 {I feel that ending up in a Boleslavsky structure has to count as a psychological victory for this Najdorf player.}) (7. O-O $5 {is a more modern try.} a6 (7... Nxe4 {Black can try snatching this pawn, but White gets adequate play after} 8. Re1 a6 (8... Nf6 $143 $4 {loses at once to} 9. dxc5 dxc5 10. Nd6+ $18) 9. Rxe4 axb5 10. dxc5 dxc5 11. Qe2 $44 {and, as we'll see in the game, his development advantage is dangerous once the centre is cleared of pawns. If Black tries the greedy} Qb6 $6 {to defend b5 then} 12. b4 $1 {forces more lines open.}) 8. Nc3 cxd4 {Irresistably however, we end up in an Open Sicilian after all.} 9. Qxd4 (9. Nxd4 {Against the knight capture Black has invariably played} g6 {(though 9... e5 looks OK to me), since the Dragon setup is less risky now that White has committed to short castling.} 10. Be3 Bg7 11. f3 O-O 12. Qd2 b5 $11) 9... e5 10. Qd3 (10. Qb4 {Now that d5 is controlled, Black can meet this with} Qc7 11. Bg5 (11. Be3 $6 d5 12. Qb3 $4 d4 {is out of the question}) 11... d5 12. Qb3 dxe4 {, a more plausible proposition once the Black pieces start coming out.} 13. Bxf6 gxf6 14. Nxe4 Be7 $11 {Black's bishop pair and central preponderence compensate for his broken structure.}) 10... h6 {White's usual plan is} 11. Nd2 {(hoping for Nc4-e3, conquering the critical d5 square) which Black can cross with} b5 12. a4 b4 13. Nd5 Nxd5 {(Lagergren-Kolanek, Corr. 2017)} 14. Qxd5 Be6 {and White cannot maintain piece control of d5.} 15. Qc6+ Bd7 16. Qb7 Qb8 17. Qd5 $11 {Now Black can either accept a repetition with 17... Be6 or keep playing with 17... Be7.}) (7. Qd3 {Recently I discovered the existence of yet another alternative, when Peter Large played this against me in a blitz game. That's an endorsement worth taking seriously and I got a difficult position within a few moves.} a6 8. Nc3 cxd4 9. Nxd4 {Here I think Black should revert to the Boleslavsky structure again with} e5 (9... g6 $6 {was my choice, but here White retains the option of queenside castling and} 10. Bg5 {is pleasant for him.} Bg7 11. O-O-O O-O 12. f3 $14 {The point is that Nd5 is more effective than usual when White doesn't have a light-squared bishop to make bad by exd5, and Black's queenside counterplay is very slow when committed to a queenside pawn expansion. However I was able to draw the game in Large-Young, Epsom CC Blitz 11/2023.}) 10. Nf5 Bxf5 11. exf5 d5 $5 {, a risky course when behind in development but one that solves Black's problems if it works. Otherwise he has to contend with weaknesses on the central light squares, although 11... h6 also deserves attention.} 12. Qe2 Qc7 13. Bf4 {This is the downside, but the engine idea is the remarkable} O-O-O $5 (13... Bd6 {may be more natural, but the d-pawn becomes a problem after} 14. O-O-O {since} d4 {allows} 15. Rxd4 {The computer still goes for this since Black can continue} O-O 16. Rc4 Qd7 17. Bg5 Qxf5 18. h4 $14 {, however I prefer White here. The bishop on d6 is contributing very little and White's kingside expansion will come quickly.}) 14. Bxe5 Bd6 15. Bxd6 Rxd6 16. O-O Rb6 $44 {Black is very active on the queenside in return for the pawn, but I can't help feeling this is all a bit artificial. As ever, the IQP is a long-term liability for Black.}) 7... Qa5+ (7... dxe5 $142 {is simpler and better. I thought this was unplayable because of} 8. dxe5 Qxd1+ 9. Kxd1 Nd5 10. c4 {, attacking the defender of c7, however I missed} a6 11. cxd5 axb5 {- now Black's bishop pair combined with the possible overextension of White's centre would have promised me a good game, for example} 12. Be3 b6 13. Ke2 g6 14. Rhd1 Bg7 $15) 8. Nc3 Ne4 $6 {White's reply proves this to be an empty threat.} (8... cxd4 $142 {stops my centre being blasted apart as in the game, and} 9. Qxd4 dxe5 10. Nxe5 Be6 11. O-O g6 $11 {allows Black to finish development in peace.}) 9. O-O {After this I realised that I didn't want to waste more time grabbing a pawn... but how to finish my development?} Nxc3 10. bxc3 {(1:02)} e6 $6 {(1:03) Not like this! I underestimated his next move, after which everything starts to go horribly wrong.} (10... Bg4 {I did consider this as an alternative, but I didn't think things were this desperate yet; it is hard to imagine queenside castling being good for my long-term health.} 11. exd6 O-O-O {Sure enough,} 12. Qd3 exd6 13. h3 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Rd7 15. Rb1 $16 {promises White a powerful attack without needing to sacrifice anything.}) (10... d5 $142 {tries to stem the bleeding, although White gets a position akin to a good Advance French after} 11. dxc5 e6 12. Be3 Bxc5 13. Nd4 {(threatening 14. Nb3)} Be7 14. Qg4 Kf8 15. Rab1 $14 {White's pawn structure has seen better days, but the good knight on d4, control of the b-file and Black's clumsy back rank more than make up for it.}) 11. d5 $1 {Catching Black with his trousers down; the centre can no longer be kept closed, and as 11... Be7 loses to 12. exd6 there is no time to spirit the king away to safety.} dxe5 12. Nxe5 {By now I had already convinced myself that I was totally lost, and I certainly am after} Qxc3 $2 {- but then again, "a dying man can eat anything."} (12... Bd6 {was my original intention, and what Babu suggested to me in the postmortem, but unlike him I had seen that White can consistently plough on with} 13. dxe6 $1 Bxe5 14. exf7+ {and there is no good defence.} Kf8 {Here, if I remember correctly, we only looked at Re1, but the most clear-cut is} (14... Kxf7 15. Qh5+) 15. Qe2 Qc7 16. f4 $18 {regaining the piece with interest.}) (12... Qc7 $142 13. Bf4 Bd6 {is therefore the best hope, even if it means allowing} 14. Nxf7 Kxf7 15. dxe6+ Bxe6 16. Bxd6 Qc6 $16 {- Black has lost a pawn for at best nothing, but at least he has restricted his losses to that much and his rooks can now finally come into the game.}) 13. Bf4 $18 Qd4 {Since White is clearly never going to allow a queen trade, I played this in the hope that taking a pawn, and making White spend another move to refuse the trade again, might give me some ballast to throw overboard. However it was played out of desperation rather than genuine belief that it could work, since I also give White a new avenue of attack in the d-file.} 14. Qf3 Qxd5 15. Qg3 $6 {(43)} (15. Qh5 $142 {extracts the further concession} g6 {, and then} 16. Qe2 c4 (16... Bg7 17. Rfd1 $18 {wins the queen.}) 17. Rfd1 Qc5 18. Nxc4 $18 {, followed by Nd6+.}) 15... g6 $2 {(43) Black may as well try this and hope it works out somehow, since nothing else is going to last long. However, by weakening the f6 square I allow a quick breakthrough.} (15... Qe4 16. Rfe1 Qxc2 {is the comical suggestion of the engine, when} 17. Rad1 f6 18. Rd2 Qf5 19. Nc4 Kf7 20. Rd8 $18 {infiltrates decisively.}) 16. Rad1 Qe4 17. Bg5 Be7 18. Bxe7 Kxe7 19. Qg5+ f6 {Black has no choice, since 19... Kf8 20. Qf6 leads to a quick mate. Now I was expecting 20. Qh6 when Black has no defence, but the text is also good enough.} 20. Nxg6+ {(35)} hxg6 {(27)} 21. Qxc5+ Ke8 {Or 21... Kf7 22. Qc7+ and Black's king is back-rank mated... on the seventh rank!} 22. Qc7 Bd7 23. Rxd7 Qb4 24. Rfd1 {I haven't lost many games in the style of Morphy-NN, but this was certainly one of them.} 1-0

If the last game showed the upside of good preparation, this one shows the downside: I don't always react well to opening surprises. And when your opponent plays a line where they make strategic concessions in return for a development advantage, that's a dangerous place to be. The game started after 7. e5?! and was essentially over after 11. d5!. I realised as early as 9. O-O that I needed to tread carefully, and yet look at the position after 17. Bg5. I've played over enough Morphy games to have foreseen my fate from a long way off, but that didn't help me ward it off. The problem wasn't that I suddenly abandoned first principles, but that White's initiative was so strong I never got a chance to meet the basic obligation to develop. I was taken aback by how quickly things snowballed after 8... Ne4?! and 10... e6?!, and also by the energy with which Babu played, but you could argue that it goes right back to the opening choice since 1... c5 is after all not a developing move...

Maybe that is the answer to the question that Peter and I keep asking ourselves: of course everyone knows that we should get the pieces out, but we are prone to undervaluing time and initiative, and in a sharp position the premium on a single move is high. I was on the other side of the same scenario against Neill Cooper in the final round and won a miniature almost exactly how I lost one here, and that was against someone who has played gambits for 50 years - we can all be made to look like ignorant beginners in such cases.

This was my penultimate game of the 2022-23 season; the last was in my other club championship at Epsom, where I threw away a winning position against Peter Large and so was eliminated at the semi-final stage. After that I didn't play again until late September, and the next game I want to blog was in November. First though it's time to break out the spreadsheets and look back on the year that was.