Annotated chess game

2.e5 appears often but is inferior to the normal 2.d4 move order since it prematurely presents plan & target to BL. My preferred reply is 2...c5 to immediately begin undermining the d4 SQ WT usually uses to support an e5 pawn by his own d4 push. Then ...Nc6 etc. BL could also try to undermine by playing ...d5 then ...d4 himself, but here he cannot do that before WT can play d4 to get back into the mainline French Advance Var. Still 2...d5 in the game is perfectly sound & solid, and has transposed back into the normal position after WT played c3. Another problem with 2.e5 is that BL has the option of playing his pawns to d6 and c5 to help liquidate WT's center ... which can be hard enough to maintain in the normal move order. [ It might interest some to know that such oppositional pawn structure as that is often seen in the games of GM Mikhail Tal, from a variety of openings, ... which is one of the key techniques by which that brilliant attacker maintains the ability to create open lines of play.]

5.Bb5 is inferior in this variation to simply Be2 or Bd3 because of the fact WT does not really want to trade this Bishop since besides being a very "Good Bishop", it is also usually a key piece here if WT wishes to attack on the K-side, especially for attacking the h7 point, on which it may even be sacrificed [as in one common "stock attack"] if BL does not realize & prevent that possibility. Now by normal developing moves, BL has set a trap which is sprung by WT; leaving him not only without "compensation" for the lost pawn, but actually with the lesser position than BL has.

I was looking at 9...Ngf6 10. Bg5. I can't see much better than something like 10...Rd8 11. Bxf6 gxf6. It gives black another pawn near the center and the open g-file to work with, but at the same time it makes black's king less safe. Compared to the actual game where white had no real attacks to counter black's control of the board, perhaps this would have been preferable.

It doesn't hurt Black's piece development, neither. But I did notice that White waited until Black's DSB moved before playing the capture. Some thought went into this exchange...

I wonder if 14. h3 wouldn't be better, since 14. g3 weakens the light squares around the king and white doesn't have a light square bishop. And if 14. h3 Bh2+ 15. Kh1, I think white has time for Nb1-d2-f3, and then his king is safer than in the game.

I agree with ganstaman. A pawn on h3 would keep an enemy knight out of g4 as well. But this has to be said in favour of the text move: Black lacks his LSB as well, which will make the light squares a little harder to exploit. [I made this comment before seeing ccmcacollister's fuller remarks in the next diagram...]

14.h3 has to be considered better than g3. WT may be counting on BL lacking his Queen's Bishop with which to attack the terrible wt-squared weaknesses that 14.g3 creates; but BL's Knights and Queen prove more than adequate for that task. *** Besides 15...Ne4, also BL has the ideas of 15...a6 & Q-side expansion, if he should prefer to attack there. Or 15...e5!? to gain more center now. But I actually like the game move quite a lot. WT REALLY needs to complete his development while he still can. Thus 16.Nd2 rather than moving the same piece twice, then a third time, with Bf4 & returning Be3.

White should probably have "got in" 15.Nd2 before the WN settled on e4. At least he would then have an active game...

"Ask of me anything but time" (Napoleon Bonaparte). White is wasting quite a bit of time lately (a2-a3, Be3-f4-e3), allowing Black to improve his game without hindrance.

If a7 could have been safely taken, it would still have been much better to complete development rather than move that Bishop the fifth time to make a classic example of an overly ambitious "pawn-grab".

Clearly indicated - it has been for a long time now - is 18.Nb1-d2. White would not be sorry to see 18...Nxd2 19.Bxd2 (and then 19...e4 20.Nf4 would hold no fears for him).

Traps the bishop, adds a second attacker against it, and White has no available rescue plan. White is lost right here. For the rest of the game Black demonstrates how to win "won" games...

Now the white square weaknesses about White's king are becoming noticeable!

I suspect the text is as good as anything White has. After 23.Nd2 (or 23.Ne1) e4 seems to give Black a very strong attack (...Qc6 and ...e3 are both threatened).

For BL's 24th move it is a case of "Everything-Is-Good-Here". He could recapture with a Knight, adding something of a bind in addition to his K-side attacking since it delays WT from developing by Nd2. Or 24...Rxe4 gives immediate maximum mobility for the 2 powerful Rooks . Or there is the immediate 24...Bxg3. If 25.hxg3? Qxg3+ 26.Kh1 Nf3 {threatening Mates by both Qh2# or Qh3+ or by Rh5#} EG. 27.Rxf3 or Qc2 then Rh5#. *** So WT is virtually forced to avoid capturing the Bg3 & perhaps try 25.e5 instead or Qc2. But the attack still rages.

After 24...Bxg3 25.hxg3? Qxg3+ 26.Kh1 I like 26...Rxe4 and White is defenceless.