Annotated chess game: Role Reversal

ANNOTATED GAME

Role Reversal
hityerclock (2169) vs. drnf (1810)
Annotated by: hityerclock (1200)
Chess opening: Alekhine's defence (B03), exchange, Karpov variation

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I play the Alekhine Defense a lot as black. It's my primary answer to 1.e4. In this game, I get to play the Alekhine Defense, but from the white side.

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4	The other option here is the Modern Variation, 4.Nf3, which is equally good.
	1 comment -nosferatu- (1200) on 12-Jan-11: 4. f4 Is also a possibility, sort of a "three-pawns" attack, that has some tranpositional value, but can be met strongly with the sharp black counter 4. ...c5!?


4... Nb6 5. exd6	The exchange variation. I'm playing for a specific sub-variation that is known to give black trouble.
	1 comment -nosferatu- (1200) on 12-Jan-11: I already guessed it even before even scrolling down...


5... cxd6	5....exd6 is also playable, and tends to give black a solid position.
	1 comment -nosferatu- (1200) on 12-Jan-11: 5. ...cxd6, aiming for an asymmetrical pawn structure, has always been the more dynamic choice. However...


6. Nc3 g6 7. Be3 Bg7 8. Rc1	This is the variation I wanted to play - the so-called "Voronezh Variation" White evacuates the a1-h8 diagonal in an attempt to eliminate much of black's counterplay.
	2 comments -nosferatu- (1200) on 12-Jan-11: A cold as ice treatment. Fitting for the name of a town in Siberia from which this variation's namesake derives. Voronezh is to the Alekhine's Defence what the Taimanov Variation is to the Modern Benoni, in that it has put most top-level practitioners off playing the line completely from the dreaded reputation of said lines alone. l-d-j (1747) on 14-Jan-11: So 5...ed6 is stronger? Or is there also a variation where White gets a strong position if Black plays that?


8... Nc6	"?!" - this natural move is what the Voronezh was designed to counter. Black's best chance is to play 8...O-O then strike at the center right away with 9...e5.
	2 comments -nosferatu- (1200) on 12-Jan-11: Ach. As an Alekhine player myself, I'm cringing inwardly. Black cannot do this right now. 9. ...e5 has been given theoretical approval, however I don't believe its the final word on Voronezh counters. 9. ...Bd7 first, and then 10. ...e5, is one treatment, aiming for similar play but without the queen-trade. 9. ...e6, and then ...Nc6, aiming for a ...d5 push is another. That one is rather slow however. Actually, my favorite is 9. ...f5!? fighting for counterplay and initiative at the cost of light-colored square weaknesses and trying to take the Voronezh player out of his vise-comfort zone. I've done a lot of midnight oil on this line to try to reach playable, or at least sharp and unbalanced, positions for black for OTB tournaments when I feel I may meet this treatment. hityerclock (1200) on 12-Jan-11: I really like the ...Bd7/...e5 line, but haven't had a chance to play it here on GK. I'll be sure to annotate it once I do. Actually, only one person has played the Voronezh against me here, and in that one white neglected to trade queens, continuing (after 8...O-O 9.b3) 9...e5 10.dxe5 dxe5 12.c5 N6d7 13.Nf3 Nc6?! (...Qa5 right away!) 14.Bc4 Qa5! and black got excellent play.


9. b3 O-O 10. d5	The entire point of white's play. In the Alekhine, the thematic response to white's d-pawn advance is to play ...Na5, putting pressure on the c4 square. But here, white has played Rc1 and b3, so ...Na5 only serves to misplace the black N. With ...Na5 no longer an option, black will have a difficult time finding something useful to do with this N. Black's most promising response to white's plan is to delay developing the N to c6, and instead play an early ...e5, taking advantage of the fact that white's other N is still sitting on g1, and not on f3 where it can influence e5.
	1 comment -nosferatu- (1200) on 12-Jan-11: Nor is 10. ...Ne5 an option as is played in many other Exchange Var. lines , because there is no bishop on d3 or knight on f3 to trade with, and this marooned steed is just going to get ejected again from an eventual space-gaining f4 push by white. Another typified idea in the Voronezh.


10... Nb8	More usual is ...Ne5, but in either case white will now have a permanent space advantage and black will struggle to find counterplay.



11. Be2 Nb8d7 12. Nf3 Nf6 13. h3	Preventing another thematic Alekhine move sequence of ...Bg4 and ...Bxf3. Now black must solve the problem of what to do with his light-square bishop. 13...Bf5 will be met with 14.Nd4.
	2 comments -nosferatu- (1200) on 12-Jan-11: What to do with his Queen's Knight, his Queen's Bishop, and his Queen's Rook...frankly, his entire queenside. This is illustrative on what can happen to an unprepared player meeting the Voronezh. abdalmonem (1200) on 27-Feb-11: i think here black should play 13...Nbd7 followed by a5,Nc5,Rb8.


13... e5	Right idea, but about 4 moves too late. A better plan at this point would be 10...Nbd7, trying to create counterplay on the Q-side after e.g. 11.O-O Nc5 followed by ...a5.
	1 comment -nosferatu- (1200) on 12-Jan-11: Black's pawns become rotted targets after his exchange, and he's not optimally developed enough to exploit the imbalances that come of it, like the half-open f-file and an un-blockaded e-pawn. Alternatives besides hityerclock's 13. ...Nbd7 idea may be 13. ...Ne8 or 13. ... Nh5 followed by ...f5, but ideas like this should have been executed a good many moves ago, before there was knight to move, and before white completed the rest of his development. Time and acquisition of an initiative is everything.


14. dxe6 e.p. fxe6 15. O-O d5 16. Qc2	White's plan is to put rooks on c1 & d1 and attack in the center.



16... Nbd7	"?" How will black complete development of his Q-side after this? Best is probably 16...Bd7, getting the other rook into the game. Not 16...dxc4?! 17.bxc4 then White will play Rfd1 and Nb5, and the hole on d6 & isolated e-pawn are big problems for black.



17. Rfd1 Qa5	"?" This blunder loses by force. Black's best bet is to admit the ...Nd7 was a mistake, and put the N back on b6.
	1 comment -nosferatu- (1200) on 12-Jan-11: As happens so often in chess, one bad move follows another, and often in desperate and demoralizing positions, players attempt to rationalize their bad moves by following them up with another one in the same "vein" idea-wise, rather than retreat or defend or otherwise play some trench-like move.


18. cxd5 Nxd5 19. Nxd5 exd5 20. Rxd5 Qb4	Not 20...Qxd5 21.Bc4.



21. Bc4	Now black's King comes under direct assault.
	2 comments -nosferatu- (1200) on 12-Jan-11: Brutal. The rest flows like an Alexander Alekhine attack. hityerclock (1200) on 12-Jan-11: What's the old saying, "tactics flow from a superior position"


21... Kh8 22. Ng5	Threatening 23.Nxh7! Kxh7 24.Rh5+



22... Nb6 23. Bc5 Qa5 24. Bxf8 Nxd5 25. Bxg7+	?! Eliminating the black K's last remaining defender, but after the game I found 25.Qe4! which leads to a much quicker win (the GK game analysis computer agrees).



25... Kxg7 26. b4 Nxb4	? Leads to a forced mate. Black can put up stiffer resistance with 26...Qc7 27.Bxd5 Qxc2 28.Rxc2, though white has more than enough extra material to secure the win.



27. Qc3+ Kh6	Or 27...Kf8 28.Qf6+ Ke8 29.Bf7+ Kd7 30.Qe6+ followed by 31.Qe8#.



28. Nf7+ Kh5 29. Be2+ Kh4 30. Qg3#
	1 comment -nosferatu- (1200) on 12-Jan-11: Well done Hityerclock, with illustrative annotation. Facing openings in praxis we ourselves play is a good way to take advantage of the fashion we don't play them, with good reason.