Annotated chess game: Absolutely Crazy chess game between masters(FIDE ratings)

ANNOTATED GAME

Absolutely Crazy chess game between masters(FIDE ratings)
IM Valeri Lilov (2430) vs. GM Vladislav Nevednichy (2553)
Annotated by: tiger_lilov (1200)
Chess opening: English opening (A10)

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Now I am going to annotate instructive game between 2 masters. The complications arising in this game are absolutely ridiculous, and I am going to try to do it WITHOUT engine assistance. The white player shared some analysis on this game, but mainly on only the critical moments. The lesson of this game is that calculation in chess is by far the most difficult skill to master, since there are always those crazy positions out there. We usually use our normal calculation technique for most positions, but sometimes that may simply not work. The white player is an excellent calculator, and chess player in general, but even he is unable to stand the complications. The black player, a powerful GM, also blunders in the ensuing variations.

1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. d3 d6 6. e4 c6 7. Nge2	So really it is a english opening, with white getting a powerful grip in the center, on the light squares. The advantage of this system is that white will always have a lot of space, and has potential on the kingside with the e4 pawn. In most variations, white is planning on the kingside area. In english opening variations without e4, white is seen playing Rb1,b4,b5, and attacking the queenside.
	1 comment l-d-j (1747) on 03-Jul-12: @jkarp: that's a variation of the English opening. The English is really only 1.c4 but many different systems can still arise then (symmetrical (1...c5), reversed Sicilian (1...e5), Anglo-Indian defence (1...Nf6) etc.).


7... a6 8. O-O b5	Black is executing his plan of attacking the queenside right away after making the obligatory Nf6,Bg7,0-0. Although the center is techincally still dynamice in nature, it is difficult to open it up, since both sides have adequete control over it. Therefore, a flank attack is totally acceptable.
	2 comments tiger_lilov (1200) on 02-Jul-12: Flank means an area that is not the center. Flank attacks are usually alternatives to central assaults. We should mainly play in the center, and not on the flanks unless 1)the centre is locked 2)You have adequete control in the center(So your opponent cannot suddenly counter you there.) 3.You already dominate the centre, and there is nothing there to attack. In this case, you are already winning, so transfering an attack to a flank is easy. raymond2002 (1398) on 12-Jul-12: The logical follow-up of this plan is Nd7, Rb8, Qa5, followed by the advance of the queenside pawns.


9. h3 e5 10. Be3 b4 11. Nb1	11.Na4 c5 leaves the knight in a precarious situation.



11... c5 12. Nd2 Nc6 13. f4	Here, white had a choice. He could choose the plan of 13.g4/Ng3, but that would be a bit too slow. The move 13.f4 certainly frees the g7 bishop, but the benefits given to white should not be overlooked. White's pieces, including the f rook and the e2 knight are both gaining in activity.
	3 comments tiger_lilov (1200) on 02-Jul-12: Before the rook had only e1. Any increase in power is an activity increase. blitzkov (1200) on 02-Jul-12: are you planing to attack on the king side? l-d-j (1747) on 03-Jul-12: @water123: the annotator is not playing.


13... exf4	Certainly now, a move like 14.Nxf4 would lead to a balanced position without real tactical complications. However, the next move drags both players into a deep complex tactical battle.



14. e5	(?!!)A very interesting tactical idea. Now black has 3 main candidate moves. 14...dxe5 15.Bxc5 is easy. 14...Nxe5 15.gxf4 with a double attack on the rook and the knight. 14...fxe3 gives white a choice. A)15.Bxc6 and now black has a choice. A1)15...exd2 16.exf6 Bxf6 17.Bxa8 Bxh3(or 17...Bxb2 first) 18.Bg2 white has some advantage. A2)14...dxe5 15.Bxa8 exd2 gives black the advantage. He is getting many pawns for the exchange, as well as active pieces. By the way, there were more variations that needed to be calculated. I am just listing a few. Therefore, white needs to play B)15.exf6 Bxf6 16.Bxc6 Bxh3! 17.Bxa8 Qxa8 18.Ne4 Bxb2 with a advantage to black, but nothing winning. Just listing these few variations makes my head start really hurting:). And these were just the main lines that we needed to calculate! To calculate the variations properly, you really needed to slow down, during each half move, and ascertain ALL the new candidate moves for each side, keep track of the material properly, and avoid fainting at the same time, and much more! Certainly, black could have gotten an advantage with taking 14...fxe3. However, the resulting position is still complex. Maybe black missed the variation. That would be possible, considering the difficulty of the calculation here. Absolutely crazy position! However, this is just the beginning! Black now chooses to take up the complexity up another level(!) and plays a dubious, extremely complicated move.
	2 comments tiger_lilov (1200) on 02-Jul-12: Just use your usual calculation process. If you get any kind of head problem during a chess game, it will usually NOT cause you to lose the game, unless it is some disease related thing, in which case go to the hospital. The key is: If you come into a chess game feeling well, then the only reason for you to make mistakes based on your feeling is when you start telling yourself you feel bad. In this way, you are actually setting yourself up for defeat. I remember one time when I was only a 1450 USCF player, playing against a 1600. I had school then, and did not get a lot of sleep. I simply yold myself that it would not cause me to blunder, and I got a winning position in not 30 moves. My opponent did not even blunder; I just outplayed him. That was a key game for me. blitzkov (1200) on 02-Jul-12: nice move.


14... Nh5	The fourth candidate move! Now the position requires immense precision. In fact, I will not attempt to calculate many lines. I will just find the candidate moves for each side for each ply. Ready? Now white can play 15.gxf4,Bxc6, g4. After 15.gxf4, black has Bb7 only, as it is clearly the best move. But then there are not many tactics. As a last judgement, the h5 knight is misplaced. 16.Ne4 looks accurate. OK, but after 15.Bxc6, black can play 15...Bxh3,fxe3,. After 15...Bxh3, white can play 16.Bxa8 Qxa8 with complex position. Also, white can play 16.Nxf4 with also complex position. So many different moves at each ply. Actually, IM Lilov told me he spent almost half an hour calculating the variations in this position. Unfortunately, the position is very complex, and he made an oversight.
	2 comments tiger_lilov (1200) on 02-Jul-12: Complexity is created when there are 2 factors. 1.High Risk 2.Difficulty in Deducing the right move. Some say that complex positions are made when you cannot deduce the best reply, or it is difficult to. But when there are many good replies, you don't need to find the best move to play well. The risk means that we MUST deduce the best move or suffer badly, even though the position is so complicated that we can't do it easily. In this position, calculating past ply 3 was a huge difficulty, since there were so many candidate moves, and some lines stretched out very long! blitzkov (1200) on 02-Jul-12: hay, jkarp! remember blacks a GM


15. Bxc6 fxe3 16. g4	(?!)A very nice interesting idea, which gets white the advantage if black does not find the right reply. Actually there are 2 replies of equal strength; black just needs to find the right idea. It is clear right now that both the rook and the knight are hanging, but the knight is trapped. So by logic, shouldn't we save the rook?



16... Ra7	(!)16...Rb8 leads to the same result. When you look at this move here, it seems so very simple to find this move for black. However, to tell the truth, it is very very difficult. There was no way for white to know that this was the key line when there were many other side variations that needed to be calculated. Some of them had multiple branching points at every half move, leading to dozens of variations. It is calculation at the highest level! By the way, most calculations an master makes in his games will never look anything close to this. There are usually few branching points in the simpler variations, so we can calcualte them easily. Now, the critical moment has passed, and black has a winning advantage. However, Nevednichy, the GM, is confused and blunders the advantage right back!
	1 comment tiger_lilov (1200) on 02-Jul-12: I would probably guess that the calculations he made here have distracted or disoriented him a bit, and made him play worse on.


17. Nf3 dxe5 18. gxh5 Bxh3	The smoke has more or less cleared, and black has a crushing attack and 3 pawns for the piece. Now, 19.Re1 Qc8 wins for black.
	2 comments l-d-j (1747) on 03-Jul-12: @jkarp: if 19.Rf2 I think also 19...Qc8 but the rook is somewhat misplaced on f2. If any other move, the bishop can take the rook winning an exchange for Black. haile1996 (2273) on 03-Jul-12: Pawn guards f2.


19. Ng3 Bxf1	(?)Certainly not the best move. 19...e4! would have opened up decisive lines against the weak white king, and frees the bishop. The f1 rook is not going anywhere after 20.fxe4 Qd6 with a raging initiative.



20. Qxf1 Rc7 21. Bd5	And in just these few moves, the position is more or less balanced! It is still probably somewhat favorable to black, but both sides have chances. Although black has the rooks, they are not effective, since all their open files are totally blocked off!



21... Rd7 22. hxg6 hxg6 23. Qh3	Now white is back in the game, and has a clear plan. He has more force on the kingside, so it is time to start an offensive there.
	1 comment l-d-j (1747) on 03-Jul-12: @jkarp: the plan is probably to open up the king's position in some way and then try to get either a mating sequence or a move which wins material.


23... Rxd5	Probably the best move, showing that the d5 bishop is worth more than the rook.
	1 comment tiger_lilov (1200) on 02-Jul-12: You should not refer to "points" when comparing the values of the pieces. The masters have an intuitive sense of when a certain piece can be more valuable than another. In faact, this is the best move, since the d7 rook was very poor, while the d5 bishop was a critical attacker to f7, and blocked the d file, so the rooks could not use it.


24. cxd5 f5 25. d6 Kf7 26. Rf1 Rh8 27. Qg2 e2 28. Nxe2 Qf6	Must have been in some time trouble, or his head may have been hurting here:). Also, he must have been upset that he had lost his advantage before. Probably all of those factors led him to forego a safety check of this move. Now white can win instantly.



29. Ng5+	Now black has to give up the queen to avoid mate, so white has won. An amazing game. Neither player can be blamed much; Very few chess players would be able to even find the right candidate moves in the variations.
	2 comments tiger_lilov (1200) on 02-Jul-12: 29...Ke8 30.Qc6+ Kd8 31.Qc7+ Ke8 32.d7+ Kf8 33.d8Q+ Qxd8 34.Qf7# Yes, some positions, like the ones in this game, are very difficult. Both Nevednichy and Lilov are very strong players could crush CMs like me in straight games, but even they did not find the right moves in the critical situations. Also, neither of them seemed to be having a bad tournament; both of their ratings went up afterwards. blitzkov (1200) on 02-Jul-12: great game