Flying the Jolly Roger

Following on from the preamble to my last post, another class of games which is just as distasteful but also insightful as the grubby blunderfests is the swindles. Human frailty being what it is, we sometimes have to try and make something happen in a position we know to be bad or outright lost. In my mind this is a skill I've gotten worse at over time, since I pull off such escape acts a lot more rarely than in the past. But, of course, the stronger opposition I face nowadays has a lot to do with it. Fundamentally, the principles of playing a bad position are the same at all levels: make the most of what you've got, don't provide easy choices and be alert to every little chance.

In the sixth round of the London Chess Classic U-2000 tournament I had the black pieces against Michael Ridge (1976), a philosophy professor at the University of Edinburgh who I played at the same event in 2018. As it happened, he had plenty to be philosophical about after this game. The initial skirmishes went well for me, but I ruined everything by missing a very simple threat. After that I was forced to abandon the staid approach I'd taken up to that point and try to sow some confusion:

[Event "London Chess Classic U-2000"] [Site "?"] [Date "2024.12.03"] [Round "6.9"] [White "Ridge, Michael"] [Black "Young, Daniel J"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D78"] [WhiteElo "1976"] [BlackElo "2063"] [Annotator "Young,Daniel J"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2024.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2024.12.03"] {After halving out in the previous round I now really needed a win to keep pace with the leaders. I played Ridge a few years ago at an earlier London Chess Classic and drew a cagey game in which I remembered him getting very spooked by an 'attack' on his king. That memory was about to come in useful...} 1. Nf3 {(1:30)} Nf6 {(1:30) I'd expected 1. e4, but the English/Reti complex has a place in Ridge's games too and I had planned the following line beforehand.} 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. O-O O-O 5. d4 d5 6. c4 c6 {This variation served me well when I was going through my Semi-Slav phase, and I retain a liking for it even if it no longer fits my repertoire so well. Recently it dawned on me that it could be a solution to the Fianchetto KID, which is hard to enliven without taking excessive risks. Though admittedly at the duller end of the spectrum, it is very reliable and at least avoids a queen trade (the big mark against the in-vogue ...c5 KID lines). I was also hoping for some surprise value, having not played it in a recorded game for some years, but Ridge was unperturbed and instantly whipped out} 7. a4 $5 {, a new move to me. At first sight it looked rather exotic, but it is actually quite a sly waiting move and is a top recommendation of Stockfish. And, of course, I was on my own; my very next move was already not the best.} Ne4 $6 {Black can often take the initiative with this move in the lines arising from 7. cxd5, but the unresolved central tension makes a difference. Let us consider some alternatives.} (7... Nbd7 $6 {In the position with b3 and Bb2 instead of d4 and a4, I had good results with the plan of enforcing ...e5, starting with this move. Unfortunately I had to quickly discard it here, since it's well known that in the Slav structure a premature ...Nd7 can be punished by} 8. cxd5 cxd5 9. Nc3 $14 {, with a textbook edge to White: the d7 knight is badly placed to contest the newly opened c-file.}) (7... Be6 {White's concept is best understood by looking at this move: he wants to meet most neutral moves with} 8. Nc3 {, gambiting his c-pawn to develop his knight on its most active square. As in most Slav positions, Black gets a miserably passive game if he doesn't accept the challenge, but now after} dxc4 9. e4 {, in contrast to the also-fashionable 7. Nc3!?, Black doesn't have ...b5 available. The computer feels that White merely has compensation for his pawn, but I don't like to take a purely defensive stance so early. After something like} Na6 10. h3 Nb4 11. Be3 Ne8 12. Qe2 $44 {my sympathies lie with White. Active pieces and such a strong centre for just one pawn!}) (7... a5 {is maybe the best way then, maintaining symmetry and targeting a small drawback of White's last move: the weakening of the b4 square. Even here though White can show a wrinkle over the usual lines, since} 8. cxd5 (8. Nc3 $6 {is less impressive because of} dxc4 9. e4 Na6 {and the knight quickly reaches b4, or even d3. White can regain the pawn with} 10. Ne5 {but} c5 11. dxc5 Nxc5 12. Qxd8 Rxd8 13. Nxc4 Be6 $15 {gives Black the better of it thanks to his initiative and slightly more active minor pieces.}) 8... cxd5 9. Nc3 Nc6 10. Qb3 {can no longer be met by ...Na5. Still, Black can solve his problems forcibly with} Bf5 $5 {(10... e6 is calmer and also appears viable, though I'd rather not give up on my light-squared bishop without a fight)} 11. Qxb7 Nb4 12. Bf4 Rc8 13. Nb5 (13. Rac1 Nh5 14. Bd2 {leads to an immediate draw after} Rb8 15. Qa7 Ra8 16. Qc5 Rc8 17. Qb5 Bd7 18. Qb7 Rb8 $11 {, and White cannot escape the perpetual attack on his queen}) 13... Rc2 14. Rfe1 Rxb2 $11 {, reaching a virtually symmetrical position.}) 8. cxd5 $6 {My last move had only one virtue: it took Ridge out of his preparation. He played this after 10 minutes, but clarifying the centre defeats the point of 7. a4: once the tension is dissolved my e4 knight becomes well placed, and we have a symmetrical position in which White has squandered his extra tempo on the less than useful a2-a4.} (8. Nc3 $142 {effectively illustrates why my knight should have remained on f6 until the centre has settled down. As my d-pawn now has to defend it, I can't capture on c4 and White gets free reign over the centre. Trying to address this with} Nxc3 (8... Bf5 9. Qb3 Qb6 10. Qa3 $14 {maintains White's initiative, since both d5 and e7 need defending}) 9. bxc3 dxc4 {is of little use owing to} 10. Nd2 $14 {, easily regaining the pawn whilst keeping his central preponderance.}) 8... cxd5 9. Qb3 Nc6 10. Rd1 $6 {(1:22) This straightforward defence of d4 gives Black a spare move to develop his initiative. In some cases the rook can also come under attack via c2.} (10. Nc3 $142 {, instead counterattacking d5, allows him to hold the balance. It's true that after} b6 {neither of the captures on d5 work, but the restrained} 11. Bf4 (11. Nxd5 $2 {obviously fails to} Be6 {, whilst}) (11. Qxd5 $6 {just results in an unfavourable trade:} Nxc3 12. Qxc6 Nxe2+ 13. Kh1 Rb8 $15 {, and the light-squared bishop finds an excellent home on b7 with the IQP looking none too healthy.}) 11... Be6 $11 {would have given White nothing to worry about. The a-pawn move is essentially a lost tempo, it's true, but he had one in hand from the start!}) 10... Bf5 $1 $15 {(1:19) Even in this dry position, the lessons of the King's Indian are not wasted: Black doesn't miss his chance to take the initiative, ignoring the b7 pawn and at the same time showing a way in which a2-a4 actively harms White.} 11. Nc3 {Characteristically, my opponent takes the safest course.} (11. Qxb7 {is at the very least risky. I correctly intended to meet this with} Na5 12. Qa6 Rb8 $15 {, with the unusual idea of ...Nb3, which was of course made possible by White's 7th move. His queen is left out of play, and after something like} 13. Nbd2 Nxd2 14. Bxd2 (14. Nxd2 {drops the d-pawn to} Bc2 15. Rf1 Bxd4 $17) 14... Nb3 {White is suffering from Black's overbearingly active pieces, for example} 15. Ra3 $2 Bc2 16. Rf1 Nxd2 17. Nxd2 Bxd4 $17 {, and once again Black's bishops dominate the board in a position where he isn't even material down.}) 11... Nxc3 $6 {I'd rather have kept my centralised knight on the board, but I was playing to steer the other one into c4 and lazily traded it off to get rid of the attack on d5. This was merely an unwillingness to calculate since there's no need to worry about White going pawn-grabbing right now.} (11... Rc8 $142 {Both of the captures on d5 still run into the same replies as in the variation above.} 12. Qxb7 {is more reasonable, but if Black makes the effort to consider this variation then he won't find anything to scare him.} (12. Bf4 {Should White avoid the challenge,} Na5 13. Qa3 e6 $15 {secures d5 with Black's minor pieces beginning to take over. If White exchanges on e4 then the c-file will be added to his problems.}) 12... Na5 13. Qa6 {The immediate 13... Nb3 is less good with the c-file sealed, however there is a worthy alternative in calmly preparing it:} e6 14. Bf4 Nb3 15. Ra2 {Now Black seizes the initiative with the sharp} g5 $1 16. Nxe4 dxe4 17. Nxg5 e5 18. Be3 exd4 $15 {- his monster centre and White's disorganised pieces are worth more than the sacrificed pawn.}) 12. bxc3 {Losing influence over c4 and incurring a backward pawn, but this is a lesser evil than letting Black occupy an open file with tempo after 12. Qxc3?! Rc8.} Na5 13. Qa2 Rc8 {The simple attack on c3 leaves White with nothing better than the inelegant transfer of his dark-squared bishop to e1.} 14. Bd2 Nc4 15. Be1 {(1:10) I was very satisfied at this point, with White's queenside pieces scattered and a fixed target on c3. However, over the next few moves I badly lose my way, starting with} Qa5 $6 {(1:12). I thought it was a good idea to blockade the a-pawn, whilst keeping c3 under observation and clearing d8 for the other rook to come into play. Unfortunately, as Ridge now demonstrates, the move also has its drawbacks, chiefly that the tactical weakness of the e1-a5 diagonal is more acute than I thought - in playing this I missed White's 19th move.} (15... e6 $142 {This defends d5 so that Black can reply to} 16. Nd2 {with} (16. Nh4 {does not succeed in exchanging off Black's strong light-squared bishop, since} Bg4 17. h3 Bh5 {and Black's queen has h4 under guard, whilst} 18. Nf3 f5 $15 {controls g4 whilst grabbing more space on the kingside.}) 16... Nd6 {, avoiding exchanges and renewing the attack on c3.} 17. h3 h5 18. Rac1 Bh6 {If White does nothing then Black's sounder structure and better pieces (what is the g2 bishop doing?) give him an enduring edge, so the critical line for White is to break out in the centre with} 19. c4 $13 {, when either 19... dxc4 20. Rc3 or 19... Nxc4 20. e4 lead to complicated play.}) 16. Nd2 Rfd8 (16... Qxc3 $144 {I dismissed this because of} 17. Bxd5 {, but even so this was maybe a more sensible course, since} Nxd2 18. e3 b6 19. Bxd2 Qc2 $11 {would have given easy equality in a symmetrical position. But then again I didn't want to waste the chance offered by White's insipid opening play, and a draw would have been no good for my tournament position.}) 17. Nxc4 Rxc4 18. e4 Be6 $2 {A bad oversight which loses material. Even now, I still hadn't seen what was coming.} (18... Bd7 $142 {Had I done so then I would have settled for my other candidate, attacking a4, but I was no fan of} 19. exd5 Rxa4 20. Qb2 {as Black apparently loses the a-file. However,} Qb5 (20... b5 21. c4 Qb6 $11 {also seems to hold,} 22. c5 Qxc5 {being an important idea}) 21. Qxb5 Bxb5 22. Rxa4 Bxa4 23. Ra1 b5 $11 {keeps the white rook away from my queenside, even if the a4 bishop is left a bit sidelined.}) 19. Bf1 {Of course - how could I have failed to account for this simple attack on the rook? Black is faced with a choice of poisons: either retreat the rook, releasing the blockade on the c-pawn, or abandon it to its fate.} Rdc8 {The first challenge is to readjust: a few moves ago I was in control, but now Black has to hoist up the Jolly Roger and start fishing for practical chances. In a bad position it's important to maximise whatever trumps you have, because your opponent needs to remain burdened with ways to go wrong. Here, for example, White can only win the rook for his better bishop, after which there are light-squared holes around his king and I have the only bishop of that colour on the board. If my queen can find its way to the kingside then one can easily imagine White falling prey to a snap mate on f1 or g2, and subsequently this is in fact exactly what happens. Considering too that I remembered Ridge getting nervous when attacked in our last game, it is clear that the attacked rook must bravely face its doom and hold station.} (19... Rcc8 $143 $2 {Nominally, this is a lesser material loss since the discovery} 20. c4 Qc7 21. cxd5 $18 {leaves White with only a doubled extra pawn. But since Black loses his centre and the enemy king remains secure, there are no practical chances here. White's position plays itself.}) 20. Bxc4 {(44)} Rxc4 $16 {(53)} 21. Qb3 $6 {White's desire to be proactive rather than passively sit on his material advantage is commendable. However he should certainly have started with 21. e5, closing the centre and so making it much harder for Black to transfer his pieces to the kingside. Now the game opens up and the bishop pair starts to give White serious pause for thought.} dxe4 22. Qxb7 Qh5 $6 {I took 18 minutes over whether to put the queen on h5 or f5. My choice is the more idealistic square, keeping the c8-h3 diagonal clear for my bishop and eyeing both the f3 and h3 squares, but leaving e4 undefended is a steep price and if White fears no ghosts this is objectively not the right move.} (22... Qf5 {The engine considers this a better try. I didn't want to allow} 23. d5 {when the bishop lacks an active retreat, though if we continue the variation} Bc8 24. Qxa7 h5 {supposedly gives Black some faint chances. I'm not really sold, since} 25. a5 $16 Qf3 $2 {fails to} 26. Qe3 {, but d4-d5 does give my other bishop some scope, and in a lost position you can after all never completely eliminate the risk that your opponent finds the right moves...}) 23. Qxe7 $2 {Ridge in turn spent nearly half of his remaining time here, so the clock was looming for both of us. His time trouble, and to an extent even my own, was better news for me though, since I am the one who needs to grab any opportunity to randomise. And this move gave me fresh hope. Material considerations no longer matter to Black anyway, the newly passed d-pawn is a long way from becoming a factor, and White's queen is still far away from the sensitive kingside light squares. In short this move underestimates the dynamics of the position and leaves White walking a defensive tightrope.} (23. Qxe4 $142 {was what I feared. Presumably White was afraid of opening the long diagonal for my light-squared bishop, but it cuts both ways: his queen now reaches the kingside. After} Bd5 24. Qd3 (24. g4 $144 {is another option, since Black can't avoid the exchange of queens and has to content himself with the desperado} Qxh2+ 25. Kxh2 Bxe4 $16 {The bishop pair gives Black slim chances of opposing White's exchange advantage, but it is still a joyless and probably futile defence.}) 24... Qh3 25. Qf1 $16 {I couldn't see anything better than} Qf5 {and the game goes on, but Black has a significant material deficit and I'm not sure how much further he can improve his position.}) 23... Qf3 {In such cases it's often best not to think about the evaluation too hard and just find the best moves, but once I'd played this I started to feel the odds were now turning in my favour. For one thing, White now has to find the precise} 24. Qd8+ $8 {to stay afloat, forcing my bishop back to f8 - not 24. Qh4? g5 and Black wins.} (24. Rdb1 $143 $2 {Nor does a counterattack save White. When I analysed the game with John Emms immediately afterwards, we looked at this idea but realised that the nonchalant} h6 $1 25. Rb8+ Kh7 26. Qd8 g5 $19 {defuses White's attack whilst cutting off his kingside from reinforcements.}) 24... Bf8 25. Qh4 {(17)} Bd6 $2 {(13) Including another piece in the attack, and taking the f4 square away from White. However it also gives away an important square, and could have lost the game just as I was on the point of saving it.} (25... e3 $142 {Black shouldn't miss his chance to get this undermining move in, splitting White's kingside pawns and opening the long diagonal. This was the move I wanted to play, but I thought it had to prepared because of the reply} 26. Qf4 {. Nevertheless,} exf2+ 27. Bxf2 Qd5 {(stronger than taking on c3, which just gives White time to reorganise himself)} 28. Qe5 Qf3 29. Qf4 Qd5 30. Re1 Rxc3 $14 {is becoming tricky for White. His bishop is now merely a stand-in for the f2 pawn, the d-pawn is a static weakness and Black's rook is on the point of worming its way in on the queenside.}) 26. d5 $2 {Black was poised to play 26... e3 and 27... Bd5 if left alone, so blocking access to d5 with tempo looks strong. But stopping the e-pawn in its tracks is the highest priority.} (26. Qd8+ {By this point I was disappointed that 26... Bf8 would invite a repetition of moves, so I was sorely tempted by} Kg7 $5 27. Qxd6 Bh3 {. There's no point calculating the consequences of this until it appears on the board, but as it happens White would have managed to score a perpetual check in any case.} 28. Qe5+ f6 29. Qe7+ Kh6 30. Bd2+ g5 31. Bxg5+ fxg5 32. Qd6+ Kg7 (32... Kh5 $4 {would win if not for the fact that} 33. g4+ $18 {clears g3, and so it loses}) 33. Qe7+ Kh6 34. Qd6+ $11) (26. Qh6 $142 {Alas, this is a much bigger problem than a forced draw. Now the h3 and e3 squares are simultaneously defended, and on} Bf8 27. Qf4 Qh5 28. Rdb1 $18 {, Black's pieces are driven off and his attack is at a standstill.}) 26... Bf5 $2 {Both sides continue to miss White's key defensive move in time trouble. I was intrigued by 26... e3!! even here, but wrongly rejected it.} (26... e3 $142 $3 {My initial excitement quickly subsided when I saw that White escapes the discovered attack on his queen with} 27. Qd8+ Kg7 28. dxe6 {, which apparently leaves Black a whole rook down and shorn of his precious light-squared bishop. But even here, with the other bishop hanging and the e6 pawn running through, Black miraculously saves himself with} Rf4 $1 {when the threat to f2 leaves White with nothing better than} 29. gxf4 Qg4+ 30. Kh1 (30. Kf1 $4 e2#) 30... Qf3+ 31. Kg1 Qg4+ $11 {and it ends in another perpetual check.}) 27. Rd4 $4 {Finally collapsing under the combined pressure of board and clock. White instinctively seeks to exchange pieces, but the free tempo given to Black (and not for the first time in this game) leads to immediate defeat. Meanwhile, 27. Qh6 would still have allowed White to consolidate his decisive material advantage...} Rxd4 28. cxd4 e3 $19 {With both black bishops in the attack, White's queen is now overworked. The twin threats of ...Bh3 and ...Be4 are terminal.} 29. Qd8+ Bf8 30. fxe3 {(2)} Bh3 {(8)} 31. Ra2 Qf1# {This was a lucky win, of course, but not an undeserved one. I may have had to pass through a lost position after well and truly squandering a good opening, but I kept posing problems and took my chance once it came. To err is human, and sometimes you have to win ugly.} 0-1

Naturally, it is sometimes tempting to abuse the power of editorial control to show only my cherry-picked wins and perhaps dupe the readership into believing I am a good player. However my main goal is to offer good instructive material which is also entertaining. This game makes up with excitement what it lacks in artistic completeness, and I hope its instructional value is self-evident. Leaving the overarching practical lessons to one side, I unearthed several nuggets of understanding from analysing it.

Firstly, 7. a4!? is a very interesting idea which I may have to try as White, as every reply seems to have some small drawback. I then didn't realise how much the strength of the early ...Ne4 raid depends on the central tension being resolved, as 8. Nc3 would have made clear. And there were multiple points where Black can clarify his opening advantage by taking a time-out to solidify his centre with ...e6. Even when you are intoxicated by the initiative and everything seems to be moving at 90 miles an hour, sometimes the most appropriate thing is to slow down. Failing to do this was the root of why I embarked on a faulty plan starting with 15... Qa5?!. Within a few moves I was dropping material and a new game began.

19... Rdc8 is not really a difficult decision, despite what bean-counting will tell you, but I highlight it because it clearly shows the real lesson of this game: in a bad position your decisions need to be guided primarily by what will make life difficult for your opponent. In that light, an exchange deficit in return for a colour complex around the enemy king and attacking chances is a lot more attractive than an extra pawn and overwhelming centre in return for nothing at all. Yes, the position remained lost - 21. e5, 23. Qxe4, and 26. Qh6 would all have given White excellent chances at the least. But he was given chances to lose his way, and in going on an adventure with his queen before letting me crash through with ...e3, that was what he did. Objectivity is a vitally important anchor for any chess player, but in desperate situations we sometimes need to loosen our grip on it.

There was a rest day after this round, but many things required my attention at work so I had to spend it in the office. I therefore took a half-point bye in round seven so as not to be disadvantaged over the rest of the field. My plan seemed to work, as I won straightforwardly in the penultimate round to reach 6/8. Having very deliberately slipped under the radar for most of the event, I had now burst into 2nd= with just the last round to go - the lesson of Llandudno. Could I handle the tension of a decisive game this time around?