Round - 3; Norway Chess: "Chess Struggle in Practice"
"It is basic chess strategy in all phases of the game to strive to strengthen one's position and to find the correct ideas to accomplish this goal. A great role is played also by the correct order of moves, but even though this is only a technical detail it is one upon which the success of the strategy depends." - David Bronstein
Continuing my desire to have a peep into the minds of players involved in the clash, and peregrinate, standing on the shoulders of the giants - I've chosen the shoulder of David Bronstein for this tournament and hence adopted the title "Chess Struggle in Practice" - the title of his great book on the 1953 Candidates tournament held in Zurich.
Bronstein wrote, "Such general evaluations such as a 'cramped' game or 'free' game, though prevalent in the minds of theoreticians, are far less influential in a practical tournament game than they are thought to be."
Let this stay in the foremost part of our mind, while considering the games played in this tournament.
Magnus Carlsen - Anish Giri
The game started as a Sicilian and turned into a Ruy Lopez, after Black's next move!
A plan is something like a walk that you take on a wonderful misty morning! At first, everything would look hazy...unclear; and as you progress move by move....rubbing your eyes, throwing the light of your knowledge, allowing your instincts to guide - at times dictate, the position assumes a certain characteristic which may appeal to you, and things which looked hazy may seem to bring in certain clarity, but, its validity will be tested in the 'heat of the struggle' currently in progress!
In this position, some may prefer to play 16.a4; and a few others 16.h3 or whatever that appeals to them in this particular juncture, over the board! For Carlsen ....
16.Bd3!?
....occured!
As Bronstein mentioned, a player is governed by his state of mind on every decisions that he takes over the board and at critical phases in particular!
As happens in life, we cannot plan everything before hand, barring a few occasions, and things take their own course and it is our endeavour not to get swept in that tide and cling to certain firm holds and stay afloat. Agreed, at times we dictate the course and at the same time get dictated too!
Then, what about consistency? What is greatness?
Well, it is here that the master differentiates him from the rest: he has made his mind fertile by sowing good, relevant and principled ideas and various approaches to the act of creation in Chess. These, subjected to stringent test over a period of time in tournaments, results in forging his chess style, culture, proclivities and gets reflected in whatever he does, whenever he pairs with a fellow player, over the board.
And this cannot and should not be judged as good or bad or inferior or superior.
16.....e5
A critical move which defines the position in a way. The plan and the play evolves...!
17.d5 Nc5; 18.Bc2 b4; 19.a3 b3; 20.Bc5
20.Bd3 is certainly a serious option and the game would run in different lines like parallel universe!
20....Rc5; 21.Bb3 Qb6; 22.Bc4 Rec8; 23.Bd3
At the end of the first manoeuvring stage, a cursory look at the position would reveal that, all the White pieces remain in the same square as they were after his 16th move, with a couple of pawns moving a square. And, Black has doubled his Rooks on the only open diagonal; traded his knight for White's good dark squared Bishop in exchange for a pawn and some initiative. Whether it would suffice....will depend not only on how both the sides marshall their forces, but more importantly how their intentions succeed in confusing the other in the next manoeuvring phase!
23.....g6; 24.Nf1 Bh6; 25.Ne3 a5?!
Beginning a concrete process. The other option is to embark on some piece exchange to suit his plan commenced with doubling of Rooks on the c-file, ....say his dark squared Bishop for the active White Knight on e3 (which incidentally could have played a major role in a couple of moves!)
26.b4! ab4; 27.ab4 R5c7; 28.b5!?
28.Nc4! would have led to a very interesting position; after the forced 28.....Qb4 with the options for White to play either with Queen for Rook and Bishop or an exchange up ending where he will lose his e-pawn.
28.....Qc5; 29.h3 Nh5; 30.Qb2! Qb6; 31.Qb4! Be3; 32.Re3 Rc3; 33.Rae1 f5
The idea of 28.b5 gets revealed slowly! By re-positioning his Queen to b4 on move 31, White threatened Nc4, forcing Black to exchange that Knight. Now the immobility of Black's Bishop on b7 - a nagging concern - necessitated Black to play ....f5 so as to loosen the central pawn on d5 and to plan an action against it which would give some breathing space for that Bishop.
But, this comes with a flipside!
34.ef5 Nf4; 35.Be4 R3c5; 36.fg6 hg6; 37.Bg6!!
What a radical transformation in the position from the previous diagram... in barely 10 moves and without any obvious mistake by Black. This is the beauty of this game, which reveals itself, but only to discernable mind!
Now, 37....Ng6 is met with 38.Qg4 followed by a line clearance sacrifice Ne5!!
37....Rb5; 38.Qe4??
You may be a world champion, but that does not guard you from delusion and on occasions at a crucial juncture such as this....!
After having conceived a fine plan of action and managing to make your opponent toein to your plan, it is a pity that one move which fell on blindspot spoil all the fun and a great finish!
The startling 38.Bf7!! pointed out by commentators and probably seen in a flash by chess lovers all over the world on their computer engines, would have lead to a just conclusion for this great game!
.....would have been position....!
We are exactly at the half-way point.....and the game ended in a draw after another 38 moves
Enough for the day!
Continuing my desire to have a peep into the minds of players involved in the clash, and peregrinate, standing on the shoulders of the giants - I've chosen the shoulder of David Bronstein for this tournament and hence adopted the title "Chess Struggle in Practice" - the title of his great book on the 1953 Candidates tournament held in Zurich.
Bronstein wrote, "Such general evaluations such as a 'cramped' game or 'free' game, though prevalent in the minds of theoreticians, are far less influential in a practical tournament game than they are thought to be."
Let this stay in the foremost part of our mind, while considering the games played in this tournament.
Magnus Carlsen - Anish Giri
The game started as a Sicilian and turned into a Ruy Lopez, after Black's next move!
A plan is something like a walk that you take on a wonderful misty morning! At first, everything would look hazy...unclear; and as you progress move by move....rubbing your eyes, throwing the light of your knowledge, allowing your instincts to guide - at times dictate, the position assumes a certain characteristic which may appeal to you, and things which looked hazy may seem to bring in certain clarity, but, its validity will be tested in the 'heat of the struggle' currently in progress!
In this position, some may prefer to play 16.a4; and a few others 16.h3 or whatever that appeals to them in this particular juncture, over the board! For Carlsen ....
16.Bd3!?
....occured!
As Bronstein mentioned, a player is governed by his state of mind on every decisions that he takes over the board and at critical phases in particular!
As happens in life, we cannot plan everything before hand, barring a few occasions, and things take their own course and it is our endeavour not to get swept in that tide and cling to certain firm holds and stay afloat. Agreed, at times we dictate the course and at the same time get dictated too!
Then, what about consistency? What is greatness?
Well, it is here that the master differentiates him from the rest: he has made his mind fertile by sowing good, relevant and principled ideas and various approaches to the act of creation in Chess. These, subjected to stringent test over a period of time in tournaments, results in forging his chess style, culture, proclivities and gets reflected in whatever he does, whenever he pairs with a fellow player, over the board.
And this cannot and should not be judged as good or bad or inferior or superior.
16.....e5
A critical move which defines the position in a way. The plan and the play evolves...!
17.d5 Nc5; 18.Bc2 b4; 19.a3 b3; 20.Bc5
20.Bd3 is certainly a serious option and the game would run in different lines like parallel universe!
20....Rc5; 21.Bb3 Qb6; 22.Bc4 Rec8; 23.Bd3
At the end of the first manoeuvring stage, a cursory look at the position would reveal that, all the White pieces remain in the same square as they were after his 16th move, with a couple of pawns moving a square. And, Black has doubled his Rooks on the only open diagonal; traded his knight for White's good dark squared Bishop in exchange for a pawn and some initiative. Whether it would suffice....will depend not only on how both the sides marshall their forces, but more importantly how their intentions succeed in confusing the other in the next manoeuvring phase!
23.....g6; 24.Nf1 Bh6; 25.Ne3 a5?!
Beginning a concrete process. The other option is to embark on some piece exchange to suit his plan commenced with doubling of Rooks on the c-file, ....say his dark squared Bishop for the active White Knight on e3 (which incidentally could have played a major role in a couple of moves!)
26.b4! ab4; 27.ab4 R5c7; 28.b5!?
28.Nc4! would have led to a very interesting position; after the forced 28.....Qb4 with the options for White to play either with Queen for Rook and Bishop or an exchange up ending where he will lose his e-pawn.
28.....Qc5; 29.h3 Nh5; 30.Qb2! Qb6; 31.Qb4! Be3; 32.Re3 Rc3; 33.Rae1 f5
The idea of 28.b5 gets revealed slowly! By re-positioning his Queen to b4 on move 31, White threatened Nc4, forcing Black to exchange that Knight. Now the immobility of Black's Bishop on b7 - a nagging concern - necessitated Black to play ....f5 so as to loosen the central pawn on d5 and to plan an action against it which would give some breathing space for that Bishop.
But, this comes with a flipside!
34.ef5 Nf4; 35.Be4 R3c5; 36.fg6 hg6; 37.Bg6!!
What a radical transformation in the position from the previous diagram... in barely 10 moves and without any obvious mistake by Black. This is the beauty of this game, which reveals itself, but only to discernable mind!
Now, 37....Ng6 is met with 38.Qg4 followed by a line clearance sacrifice Ne5!!
37....Rb5; 38.Qe4??
You may be a world champion, but that does not guard you from delusion and on occasions at a crucial juncture such as this....!
After having conceived a fine plan of action and managing to make your opponent toein to your plan, it is a pity that one move which fell on blindspot spoil all the fun and a great finish!
The startling 38.Bf7!! pointed out by commentators and probably seen in a flash by chess lovers all over the world on their computer engines, would have lead to a just conclusion for this great game!
We are exactly at the half-way point.....and the game ended in a draw after another 38 moves
Enough for the day!
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