Chess Blog

Chess is all about tactics and strategies, or, more precisely, strategies then tactics. Careful positional play and well-planned strategies would accumulate tiny advantages move by move, providing significant spatial advantages and initiatives over time. 

This, however, does not mean playing passively; all positional maneuvers are employed to prepare for the ultimate strike – a deadly tactical aggression. This series of blogs aims to introduce various positional play ideas and interesting strategies through real games, as well as an analysis of positional mistakes in the gameplay.

Written by Ryan Yao

Game Analysis

  1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Nxf6+ Bxf6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nf3 O-O

The position here is very safe for both players. Black has already castled, but the queenside pieces are relatively inactive. One classical idea here for Black is to push b6 and then Bb7 in order to bring the light-square bishop to life. We will see that later in the game. White, on the other hand, has a great centre and fairly active pieces. The player can place its bishop on the d3 square to attack Black’s kingside.

  1. Bd3 c5 10. O-O cxd4 11. Nxd4 Rd8 12. Nf3

Here, Black challenges White’s centre with the move c5, which is crucial to prevent White from consolidating its spatial advantages. Note that 11… Qxd4 is a blunder because Bxh7+!! simply wins a queen for White.

12… b6! 13. b3 Bb7

Black starts to execute the plan. The light-square bishop effectively controls the h1-a8 diagonal. 

  1. Nd2 Na6 15. Qh5

Here, Black has two choices to defend the h7 pawn, namely h6 and g6, but one is better than the other.

15… g6!

This is a clever positional play. In most cases, it is not advisable to play g6 if Black does not have a bishop on g7. This is due to the fact that the h6 and f6 squares are left undefended, which may become potential outposts for White’s knights. Additionally, Qh6 or Qf6 would also be scary, especially when White has a dark-square bishop. However, things are different in this particular position. The dark-square bishops are traded, meaning that the queen can hardly pose any threat to Black’s king by herself. It is also nearly impossible for White to maneuver its knight back to kingside, as e4 and f3 squares are controlled by Black’s bishop. More importantly, the move g6 greatly restricts White’s light-square bishop, as it has nothing to attack.

  1. Qe2 Nc5 17. Ne4 Qd4 18. Nxc5 Qxc5

Black has a very good position to play with very active pieces.

  1. c4?

This is a positional mistake played by White. A much stronger move would be 19. Be4! to trade off Black’s active bishop, thereby creating a decent position for White. 

19… Rd4! 20. Rad1 Rad8

Black’s rook on d4 prevents White from trading bishops in the future. Black has a great initiative here: the doubled rooks control the d-file, and the bishop targets the vulnerable g2 pawn. White has to play very carefully to prevent losing the game immediately.

  1. Bc2 Qg5 22. f4 Qc5 23. Qf2??

White makes a blunder under tremendous pressure. It is the moment when strategic play turns into a tactical one; Black can now use the accumulated positional advantages to attack.

23… Rd2!!

The queen on f2 is pinned, so White cannot capture the “free” rook on d2. If White captures the queen, the king’s castle will be destroyed by the rook and the bishop, as Rxg2+ would be decisive.

  1. Qxc5 Rxg2+!! 25. Kh1 Rxc2+ 26. Kg1 Rg2+ 27. Kh1 Rg4+ 28. Qd5 exd5 0-1

Summary

A key takeaway from this game is restricting your opponents’ pieces and trading off their powerful pieces whenever possible. For example, the move g6 essentially “kills” White’s bishop in the middle game, and the knight trade prevents White from conquering the weaknesses in front of Black’s king. A major positional mistake made by White is not trying to trade Black’s aggressive bishop off the board, which eventually results in the loss.

A GIF of the whole game is shown below.