Annotated chess game

Well after ...Qxf6 the d pawn is still protected however c7 is not so ...Qzf6 losses to Nc7+ however the main point to the bishop move is for added control to d5. By exchanging athe DSB which can't influence d5 for the knight that can white shows the intention to eventually plant a knight on d5 and play will probably be based around this feature. In fact I would even give this a! Even though its apparently mainline or at least mainstream stuff.

I'm not sure about the soundness of 7...a6 as it allows white to double blacks pawns which leaves black with a castling problem by 8.Bxf6! and gxf6 is forced since Qxf6 runs into Nc7+! I'm not sure if its book or not though because if its book then it must mean black doesn't mind the doubled pawns and weakness on the king side since it gives an open g file to work with and a chance to develop the DSB toh6 .but personally I'm not convinced.

The pawn recapture (...gxf6) is not only a problem in these Sicilian positions. The control of d5 is usually essential, at least in the early middlegame and if black plays ...gxf6 he can play the move f5 twice to undermine e4 (an important support of d5). The open file may become handy too. King safety may become a problem, but it is not so immediately - this is the Sicilian where we live on the edge of the knife!

Black has to meet the threat of Nd5, so the only alternative to 7...a6 is 7...Be6; but then White doesn't have to retreat his knight to the bad a3 square and he scores well with 8.Nd5. After 7...a6 8. Na3, 8...Be6 was the old main line Pelikan variation; but Sveshnikov popularized 8...b5. After 7...a6 8.Bxf6?! gxf6 9.Na3, 9... b5 would be a transposition to the main Sveshnikov lines; but it was found that Black can do even better with 9...f5! (although Black received a few scars before the theory was worked out).

Both sides ideas are becoming clear white wants to maintain the knight on d5 and will probably play c3 to stop prevent some of blacks counter play and then play Na3-c2 and from there might eventually play Nc2-e3 where it would also aim to d5. Whereas black will want to seek play on the queen side making use of the c-file and will probably also want to open the position for the two bishops.

Not just a pawn trade, it seems to me. White has deliberately brought on this exchange (as she did the earlier) in order to obtain certain things. Here, Black is left with a pawn isolated on the a-file, a target possibly for White's planned operations on that wing. Already it is being attacked by 2 pieces. In the centre, White already has control of d5 and d6 is also - if not in the cross-hairs - at least under observation. The weakness of the isolated White pawn couple on the b- and c-files White probably figures will be masked by her upcoming activity in that region. Maybe.

Which has weakened blacks a pawn.

Maybe black should've played 12...f5? It seems like black must have some sort of play going on in the centre as there is nothing in the kingside and in the queenside he's simply worse.

This is good. Whatever exchanges happen on d5, it is in White's interests that she make the final capture with a piece. A pawn capture would free up Black's f-pawn to advance rapidly.

This game is illustrating whites typical ideas really well. Ion not to mention capturing with a pawn will plug up the d5 square (a key square for whit to use) as well as help blacks problem with d6. A pawn is only backward when it is on an open file to be attacked.

Black is gradually being saddled with a bad bishop - the dark-square fellow, the light-square bishop's evil twin...

Black should really play ...f5 at some point..

White has been too busy to castle sooner. Late castling is fine if in the meantime the rest of the army has been doing useful stuff... (Late castling is not that unusual. Of about 24 games on the pages in front of me that have live games encoded thereon {as of this date}, I have one 22.0-0, a 23.0-0-0 and a 26...0-0-0. All these were played by my opponents!)

As Black, I would seriously have considered playing gxf5, giving mayself a fairly mobile central majority, coupled with a half-open g-file.

White is totally dominating the game, it will take some very precise play by black to selvage anything.

White has maintained her control of the d5-square, and now d6 is definitely a target. Bishops of opposite colour (White's is light-square, Black's dark-square), is often an equalising motif, but I'd rate White's chances here, as Black's bishop looks passively placed. Maybe Black should right now look to manoeuvring his bishop around to d8, b6 and c5 or d4; or maybe g5-e3-c5 etc. If that is achievable, then Black has a chance to survive.

There is no Plan C, as 27.Kh1 Bf2?? and Black loses a piece. Had the a2-Rook stood at a1, 27...bf2 would have led to a chance of defence for Black.

27...Rfd8 may have been slightly better since play seems to be taking place solely on that wing. But truth be told things are looking a little bleak for black. There is no king side counter attack, blacks king is exposed, there is the backward pawn on d6, black needs to worry about whites strong passed pawn and whites pieces are more active to boot. It will be very difficult for black to defend this.

This is a very nice positional attack by White - Jo, you do seem to be discovering quite a talent for this sort of thing. Had Black exchanged on b7, it would have been all out attack by White upon the a8-square: 30...Qxb7 31.b7 Rb8 32.Bc6 Bd8 33.Ra8 Bc7 34.Rfa1. With Black's pieces tied to defence on the extreme Q-flank, White could then set about creating targets on the other wing.

White is one and its just a matter of technique, the principle of two weaknesses seems to be quite relevant here. Black is so passive and white has no weak points to be attacked so really white can take all the time in the world to create the ideal setup.

This looks good; restraining Black's central pawns, and the d5-square remains an asset. But another idea is 32.Bc6, threatening to lock in the Black rook at a7. If then 32...Rc7 (before the trap closes), 33.Bd5 or Bb7 look good, threatening to drive home the a-pawn without further ado.

ion, I also like 32.Bc6. If 32...Rc8, 33. Bd5 followed by Rb1-b7.