Svidler - Karjakin: Value, evaluation, estimation...
"To value, to valuate, to judge, to estimate a thing does not pretend to exact knowledge"
- Steinitz-Lasker
....and.....therefore, it is not 'static' calculation but the 'dynamic' evaluation which is paramount in determining the success of a strategy; and as Einstein said, we can only strive to find, derive, manifest value and have absolutely no control over success - which incidentally depends on the interplay of valuation by two different minds and its capacity to stay and thrive in the state of flux without swaying much!
Well.....then, in the first game of the World Cup final between Svidler and Karjakin, this theme was resoundingly portrayed - as well as in any well played game.
I shall touch upon this subject from this game to begin with and digress a bit and return back to conclude.
Peter Svidler - Sergey Karjakin, World Cup, 2015
I would have loved to have a White Rook on the h1 square, in this position, for optical pleasure!
This position is ripe enough for a discussion on the subject of Queen's Bishop. And who else, other than Steinitz, who can throw some light on this intriguing theme!
"The QB is mostly developed at Q2 or K3, but in some openings he can be kept at home for a long time until the f-pawn can be played with advantage, and in case the adversary capture that pawn with the e-pawn, an excellent game will often be obtained by retaking with the Bishop"
This is a general statement and the moving of f-pawn happens only in certain openings where the e-pawn is on the fourth square. But in spirit, this is a fantastic dictum which finds value other than the capture on f4 or f5 - for the question of finding a right square for this Bishop in itself is an intriguing aspect which requires fine judgement!
This Bishop needs to move only to pave way for the Rook to enter the game through central files, though at times this is also not needed, as the Rook finds an alternate route through the Rook-file and Bishop is finely place on its original square defending the b-pawn!
Waiting.......is an art, in life, and in sports!
Generally, in Chess waiting during opening is done with pushing a pawn......
12......b4
.....not so committal but a humble one square by the Rook's pawn. For, in effect, this move in the corner has its bearing on the central squares by disallowing opponent's Bishop or Knight land there and cause disturbance to those pieces which has a bearing on the central squares.
Black could have played here 12.....h6 taking away one square from the c1 Bishop and let Svidler decide on whether to put it on d2 now or later.
The move played, however, made Svidler's thought process simpler for the moment and play...
13.Bg5
Unfortunately, in modern day chess perception, moves are evaluated solely on numeric evaluation churned out by the engines and not on what the move played does to the strategic thinking process of the opposing player.
The tipping point in the game, for me, is this moment: which threw open choices for Black.....in Tennis parlance, "putting the ball on that side of the net"!
Still not a defining or decisive moment though, but must have, in tandem with the choice made, must have determined the line of thought for both players and the plausible moves that were to follow.
Mind you, such considerations are not only difficult to speculate for an outsider, but even for the actors on the scene themselves, in the postmortem.
It is here that I wish to digress...
Najdorf - Petrosian, Zurich, 1953
How this position fits into the scheme of chosen subject, you might wonder!?
In fact, I am going to show you this game in full and only a fragment of the main game that I began with!
The great strategist played.....
12.....c5?
"A serious positional mistake......", cried Bronstein and further said; "....the point of which the reader will appreciate in view of the following considerations. Black has an open file on the Queen side and can soon force White to play b3. Consequently, Black's further plan is connected with the advance of his a-pawn to attack 'b3'. This attack could succeed if Black were able to keep his pawn once it reached a4. But how can he keep it? He has no light-squared Bishop, and all of his Knight's legal squares are taken away by Black's pawn moves (the move played and the a5 which is to follow). It is also clear that the Knight cannot be maintained on d4, and that the light squares on the Queen side are under the control of White's KB; so it turns out that neither of Black's Knights has a good post. Indeed, from now on they occupy insignificant positions. Thus Black has no promising plan....he is already without a logical guiding thread and his position is therefore inferior."
We shall now see the development in the game.
13.e3 Ne6; 14.Qc2 a5; 15.Bd2 Ne5; 16.b3 Qd7; 17.Kh2!
A natural waiting move! White's moves are very economical whilst being very effective.
17....Nc6; 18.Rad1 Ned8; 19.Be1!
Steintzian move! In many opening schemes, the role of this Bishop is minimal.
19....Kh8; 20.Na4!
See how each move by the opponent changes the judgment and evaluation of a player and enable him to change the plan in line with the dynamism which the opponent choices infuses into the position. One cannot afford to keep going in straight line doggedly.
The move ....Kh8 triggered Najdorf to pounce on the opportunity to trade of his dark squared Bishop immediately, which is to his benefit! With 19.Be1, he may have intend to play some other move, befitting his 'then plan'; though the idea of exchanging this Bishop would still have been in the course.
20.....Qc8
Clearly an expression of "what am I to do!?"
Even great players can go purposeless, at times! Black has already lost purpose and the game concludes swiftly without a semblance of fight.
21.Bc3 Bc3; 22.Nc3 Qf5; 23.Qf5 gf5; 24.Rd5 Ne6; 25.Rf5 Nb4; 26.Rh5 Ng7; 27.Rh4 Nf5; 28.Rf4 e6; 29.Rd1 Rb6; 30.Na4 Rbb8; 31.Be4 Ng7; 32.Rd6 Na2; 33.Nc5 Resigned
In the same position that we started with, Geller played 12.....Rb4!? instead of Petrosian's .....c5 and won a fine game against Najdorf, later in the same tournament! The game assumed a totally different character.
The struggle is between what you want and what you get. Often, what one gets may not be commensurate with the chosen plan, because of the dynamism inherent in the game, which hides certain mystery.....surprise which reveals itself on the go...
And it is very difficult to cope up with this dynamism - what we see as success and failure rests here.
Returning back to Svidler - Karjakin....after 13.Bg5
13....f6
Somehow, this move has to be viewed with a tinge of skepticism, notwithstanding the fact that it is fortifying the center a la Steinitz. It's inappropriateness is revealed only in the follow-up to it and though one might argue that there could have been a better continuation, the stream of thoughts that Black has started encouraging and engaging has no scope for those 'ifs and buts'.
14.Bd2!
Svidler is rid of one riddle!
14.....e5; 15.Rc1 Rf7!?
This very interesting idea of transporting the Rook to center via f7 turns dubious with the next move... If black had indeed 'planned' this manoeuver Rf8-f7- to wherever, the fact that it remained stillborn proves its ineffectiveness. Maybe, taking the King aside to h8 may have given him more comfort!
Perhaps, the move ......Rf7 may not have been in the scheme of Black's plan initially; but must have occurred subsequent to the move Bg5 by White and his reactionary ....f6.
The conduct of a chess game depends on such considerations which are in a constant state of flux.
16.d4!
A fine positional pawn sacrifice and it swayed Black to play what he does next.....which incidentally is the decisive mistake.
16....bc3?
This opens up the b-file; and White's Queen and Rook shift their tents there and also start exerting serious pressure on the a2-f7 and g2-b7 diagonals.
17.bc3 cd4; 18.cd4 Nd4; 19.Nd4 ed4; 20.Qb3 Rb8?
This move and the pin that it gets into, lands Black in deep trouble. Probably he could have played 20....Qd7 here itself organising a second rank defence and hope to.....
Also, moves such as ....f5 removing that Knight from the prominent e4 square and freeing those dark squares which were under its control..... and may be its trade off with the dark squared Bishop was also on the cards.
21.Rb1 Qd7; 22.Rec1! Qe6?
And Karjakin lost soon after this blunder, but his position is far from redemption, the seeds of which was perhaps sowed with his decision to push .....b4.
Dynamism, fluidity, supple, waiting, are some of the keywords which rule this great game. Value, evaluation etc are in a constant state of flux throughout the game and trying to figure them out with rigidity and conditioned thought process would only end up_______________ (fill up the blanks!)
- Steinitz-Lasker
....and.....therefore, it is not 'static' calculation but the 'dynamic' evaluation which is paramount in determining the success of a strategy; and as Einstein said, we can only strive to find, derive, manifest value and have absolutely no control over success - which incidentally depends on the interplay of valuation by two different minds and its capacity to stay and thrive in the state of flux without swaying much!
Well.....then, in the first game of the World Cup final between Svidler and Karjakin, this theme was resoundingly portrayed - as well as in any well played game.
I shall touch upon this subject from this game to begin with and digress a bit and return back to conclude.
Peter Svidler - Sergey Karjakin, World Cup, 2015
I would have loved to have a White Rook on the h1 square, in this position, for optical pleasure!
This position is ripe enough for a discussion on the subject of Queen's Bishop. And who else, other than Steinitz, who can throw some light on this intriguing theme!
"The QB is mostly developed at Q2 or K3, but in some openings he can be kept at home for a long time until the f-pawn can be played with advantage, and in case the adversary capture that pawn with the e-pawn, an excellent game will often be obtained by retaking with the Bishop"
This is a general statement and the moving of f-pawn happens only in certain openings where the e-pawn is on the fourth square. But in spirit, this is a fantastic dictum which finds value other than the capture on f4 or f5 - for the question of finding a right square for this Bishop in itself is an intriguing aspect which requires fine judgement!
This Bishop needs to move only to pave way for the Rook to enter the game through central files, though at times this is also not needed, as the Rook finds an alternate route through the Rook-file and Bishop is finely place on its original square defending the b-pawn!
Waiting.......is an art, in life, and in sports!
Generally, in Chess waiting during opening is done with pushing a pawn......
12......b4
.....not so committal but a humble one square by the Rook's pawn. For, in effect, this move in the corner has its bearing on the central squares by disallowing opponent's Bishop or Knight land there and cause disturbance to those pieces which has a bearing on the central squares.
Black could have played here 12.....h6 taking away one square from the c1 Bishop and let Svidler decide on whether to put it on d2 now or later.
The move played, however, made Svidler's thought process simpler for the moment and play...
13.Bg5
Unfortunately, in modern day chess perception, moves are evaluated solely on numeric evaluation churned out by the engines and not on what the move played does to the strategic thinking process of the opposing player.
The tipping point in the game, for me, is this moment: which threw open choices for Black.....in Tennis parlance, "putting the ball on that side of the net"!
Still not a defining or decisive moment though, but must have, in tandem with the choice made, must have determined the line of thought for both players and the plausible moves that were to follow.
Mind you, such considerations are not only difficult to speculate for an outsider, but even for the actors on the scene themselves, in the postmortem.
It is here that I wish to digress...
Najdorf - Petrosian, Zurich, 1953
How this position fits into the scheme of chosen subject, you might wonder!?
In fact, I am going to show you this game in full and only a fragment of the main game that I began with!
The great strategist played.....
12.....c5?
"A serious positional mistake......", cried Bronstein and further said; "....the point of which the reader will appreciate in view of the following considerations. Black has an open file on the Queen side and can soon force White to play b3. Consequently, Black's further plan is connected with the advance of his a-pawn to attack 'b3'. This attack could succeed if Black were able to keep his pawn once it reached a4. But how can he keep it? He has no light-squared Bishop, and all of his Knight's legal squares are taken away by Black's pawn moves (the move played and the a5 which is to follow). It is also clear that the Knight cannot be maintained on d4, and that the light squares on the Queen side are under the control of White's KB; so it turns out that neither of Black's Knights has a good post. Indeed, from now on they occupy insignificant positions. Thus Black has no promising plan....he is already without a logical guiding thread and his position is therefore inferior."
We shall now see the development in the game.
13.e3 Ne6; 14.Qc2 a5; 15.Bd2 Ne5; 16.b3 Qd7; 17.Kh2!
A natural waiting move! White's moves are very economical whilst being very effective.
17....Nc6; 18.Rad1 Ned8; 19.Be1!
Steintzian move! In many opening schemes, the role of this Bishop is minimal.
19....Kh8; 20.Na4!
See how each move by the opponent changes the judgment and evaluation of a player and enable him to change the plan in line with the dynamism which the opponent choices infuses into the position. One cannot afford to keep going in straight line doggedly.
The move ....Kh8 triggered Najdorf to pounce on the opportunity to trade of his dark squared Bishop immediately, which is to his benefit! With 19.Be1, he may have intend to play some other move, befitting his 'then plan'; though the idea of exchanging this Bishop would still have been in the course.
20.....Qc8
Clearly an expression of "what am I to do!?"
Even great players can go purposeless, at times! Black has already lost purpose and the game concludes swiftly without a semblance of fight.
21.Bc3 Bc3; 22.Nc3 Qf5; 23.Qf5 gf5; 24.Rd5 Ne6; 25.Rf5 Nb4; 26.Rh5 Ng7; 27.Rh4 Nf5; 28.Rf4 e6; 29.Rd1 Rb6; 30.Na4 Rbb8; 31.Be4 Ng7; 32.Rd6 Na2; 33.Nc5 Resigned
In the same position that we started with, Geller played 12.....Rb4!? instead of Petrosian's .....c5 and won a fine game against Najdorf, later in the same tournament! The game assumed a totally different character.
The struggle is between what you want and what you get. Often, what one gets may not be commensurate with the chosen plan, because of the dynamism inherent in the game, which hides certain mystery.....surprise which reveals itself on the go...
And it is very difficult to cope up with this dynamism - what we see as success and failure rests here.
Returning back to Svidler - Karjakin....after 13.Bg5
13....f6
Somehow, this move has to be viewed with a tinge of skepticism, notwithstanding the fact that it is fortifying the center a la Steinitz. It's inappropriateness is revealed only in the follow-up to it and though one might argue that there could have been a better continuation, the stream of thoughts that Black has started encouraging and engaging has no scope for those 'ifs and buts'.
14.Bd2!
Svidler is rid of one riddle!
14.....e5; 15.Rc1 Rf7!?
This very interesting idea of transporting the Rook to center via f7 turns dubious with the next move... If black had indeed 'planned' this manoeuver Rf8-f7- to wherever, the fact that it remained stillborn proves its ineffectiveness. Maybe, taking the King aside to h8 may have given him more comfort!
Perhaps, the move ......Rf7 may not have been in the scheme of Black's plan initially; but must have occurred subsequent to the move Bg5 by White and his reactionary ....f6.
The conduct of a chess game depends on such considerations which are in a constant state of flux.
16.d4!
A fine positional pawn sacrifice and it swayed Black to play what he does next.....which incidentally is the decisive mistake.
16....bc3?
This opens up the b-file; and White's Queen and Rook shift their tents there and also start exerting serious pressure on the a2-f7 and g2-b7 diagonals.
17.bc3 cd4; 18.cd4 Nd4; 19.Nd4 ed4; 20.Qb3 Rb8?
This move and the pin that it gets into, lands Black in deep trouble. Probably he could have played 20....Qd7 here itself organising a second rank defence and hope to.....
Also, moves such as ....f5 removing that Knight from the prominent e4 square and freeing those dark squares which were under its control..... and may be its trade off with the dark squared Bishop was also on the cards.
21.Rb1 Qd7; 22.Rec1! Qe6?
And Karjakin lost soon after this blunder, but his position is far from redemption, the seeds of which was perhaps sowed with his decision to push .....b4.
Dynamism, fluidity, supple, waiting, are some of the keywords which rule this great game. Value, evaluation etc are in a constant state of flux throughout the game and trying to figure them out with rigidity and conditioned thought process would only end up_______________ (fill up the blanks!)
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