The Return, Part Three

Practicing patience.

As I was flipping through Daniel Naroditsky’s book, Mastering Positional Chess, the following passage caught my eye:

Most tactical players have one main weakness: they aren’t patient. In many cases, your position is better, but you can still improve it. The temptation to win the game immediately is very big, but learning to parry all of your opponent’s threats before cashing in is a skill that a strong player has to have.

Daniel didn’t write this advice with me in mind, although he could have. Josh Friedel once told me, after looking at one of my games, that my lack of control over the position was a bit alarming. David Pruess gently suggested to me that I could consider developing all of my pieces before launching an attack after I gave up a draw to a much lower rated player. Over the years I have generally ignored that advice by pretending that it’s really a strength, that I have a “high tolerance for risk.”

As I’ve aged, had children, and lost a lot of sleep, my tactical vision it not what it used to be. I’ve decided that the solution to this problem is to force myself to play more simply, for small strategic advantages. In my head I derisively call this “old man chess” and yearn in vain for my opponents to play for complications.

Over my past dozen games of tournament chess this strategy has proven to be pretty effective, if not always easy. Consider my feelings when the following struggle broke out on the board next to me:

Bambou-Cremisi, Tuesday Night Marathon Round 3.

Now that’s the kind of chess that makes you feel alive! The tension has peaked, any mistake could be fatal, and while it seems like someone is going to win¹, it’s not yet clear who it will be. I found myself frequently distracted by the intrigue on Board One as I puttered away trying to nurse a positional edge on Board Two:

Andy Lee (2328) - Roger Smith (1980), Tuesday Night Marathon (3), 7/23/24

1 b3. A note about my opening choices: since I’m playing down a lot and have no interest or enthusiasm to learn real opening lines, I’m trying to get out of theory as quickly as possible. One of the things I like about the Nimzo-Larsen Attack is that it’s not likely to transpose to something “real”, since b3 and Bb2 are not part of most white opening setups². 1 … e5 2 Bb2 Nc6 3 e3 Nf6 4 Bb5 d6 5 Ne2 a6 6 Bxc6+ bxc6 7 d4:

Six moves, my longest stretch of opening theory all tournament long. My seventh move was new³, but I think pretty reasonable. I assumed that something like 7 … exd4 8 Nxd4 Bd7 9 Qf3 was happening, with a little pull, but my opponent preferred to keep the position closed instead: 7… e4 8 c4 d5 9 Qc2 Bd6:

I want to highlight this position because it fits so nicely with my post about analogical reasoning last week. We’ve arrived at a Winawer French with the colors reversed (and the not insignificant matter of two extra tempos for white). Those tempos have been spent on b3 and Bb2, which rules out some of the typical Winawer blockading plans such as Qa4-a5 or Bd2-a5. Fortunately, I’d glanced at some similar positions in my preparation and knew that trading bishops locks in a lot of white’s positional advantage: 10 Ba3 Bxa3 11 Nxa3 00 12 Rc1:

When playing the black side of the Winawer the first order of business is not to fall behind in development, lose to a quick attack on the dark squares, get slowly overrun by white’s long-term space advantage, etc. Arriving with the white pieces and an extra tempo in hand, it’s time to think about how white can create problems from what is typically a defensive setup. This means probing the weaknesses on the c-file rather than castling long or playing for f3.

The game continued 12 … Qe7 13 Nb1 Ra7. The computer strongly dislikes placing the rook on this kind of square, suggesting instead 13 … a5! (I thought that 13 … Re8 14 cxd5 Nxd5 might be possible, preparing to meet 15 Qxc6 with 15 … Nb4) 14 cxd5 cxd5 15 Qxc7?! (a good example of lacking patience: 15 Qc5! maintains white’s positional advantages) 15 … Qb4+ 16 Qc3 Ba6:

The diagrammed position above is strikingly different from what black reached in the game. White is up a pawn but on the defensive, and the black pieces, particularly the Ba6, are well placed. A lot of positional problems can be solved with a small material investment, but it’s often hard to find exactly the right sacrifice and to trust that the piece activity will be enough.

Back to the game, which continued 14 00 Bg4 15 h3:

Don’t get too dogmatic about positional ideas, in this case refusing to allow black to trade his “bad” bishop for one of the white knights. I was reminded of a line from one of John Watson’s books on chess strategy, that bad bishops defend good pawns. Imagine that white trades on d5, plays Qc5, and goes into an ending. Black’s most obvious defensive setup is going to involve pushing c7-c6 with the bishop supporting on d7 or e8 . Therefore, I was sad to see 15 … Bd7 rather than 15 … Bxe2 16 Qxe2, when I think white’s task is somewhat easier. I continued with 16 Nd2 because something like 16 Nbc3 dxc4 17 bxc4 c5 seemed like a positive change in the pawn structure for black, who no longer has to worry about incursions on the c-file. After 16 … Nh5 I decided it was time to switch to the ending: 17 cxd5 cxd5 18 Qc5 Qxc5 19 Rxc5 Nf6 20 Rfc1 c6:

This is an ideal position for someone (like me) who is trying to get better at positional chess. Black has retreated into the aforementioned defensive stance, with the Bd7 holding the pawn chain together. Let’s return to Naroditsky: “In many cases, your position is better, but you can still improve it.” The most obvious way to improve white’s position is to clamp down further on the queenside by playing b3-b4 and Nb3-a5 (or Nb3-c5). Since black is going to play Rb8 or a5 if given the chance, white has to act fast, either by playing Ra5 himself or b4 immediately. I calculated that 21 b4 is met by 21 … Rb8 22 a3 a5 23 bxa5 Rb2 24 R1c2 Rxc2 25 Rxc2 Rxa5, a position that is simplified enough that black has reasonable chances to hold on. I chose instead 21 Ra5, figuring that I once I’ve stopped a5 I can slowly continued a3, b4, and Nb3. The problem is, after 21 … Rb8 22 Nc3 (22 a3 immediately allows Rb5) 22 … Kf8 I realized that 23 a3 Ne8 24 b4 Nd6 25 Nb3 Nb7 is annoying.

So was there no way to execute white’s plan? Not so fast, says that computer. From the diagrammed position it suggests 21 b4! Rb8 22 a3 a5 23 Rxa5! Rxa5 24 bxa5 Rb2 25 Nc3! Rxd2 26 a6:

There’s no way to stop the b-pawn: 26 … c5 27 a7 Bc6 28 Nb1! Rb2 29 Rxc5! Rxb1+ 30 Kh2 Bb7 31 a8=Q+ Bxa8 32 Rc8+ and mates. It’s not a simple calculation by any means⁴, but one that I think I would have solved fairly easily if it was presented as a puzzle.

Missing this kind of opportunity often leads to frustration and further mistakes. I continued to muck up my good position by playing 23 h4 (too slow; 23 f3 right away is superior) 23 … Ne8 24 f3 f5 (I missed this move entirely, although 24 … exf3 25 gxf3 Nd6 26 e4 Nb7 27 Ra3 is kind of a mess; what’s the rook doing on a3?) 25 Rc5 Nd6 26 Na4:

I’ve successfully extricated my rook (and admitted the error of 21 Ra5), but the time it took to do so was costly. Black can and should seize the initiative via 26 … f4! 27 exf4 e3 28 Nf1 Nf5. He instead let me continue maneuvering, and although a lot of it was aimless, this is the sort of position where white can torture black until he cracks: 26 … Rb5 27 Kf2 (eliminating the danger of f4) 27 … Nb7 28 Rcc2 Ke7 29 Nb1 Nd8 30 Nbc3 Rb8 31 Nc5 Be8 32 Ne2 Nb7 33 Na4 (it’s important to keep the knights on the board to avoid a5-a4 with counterplay) 33 … Nd8 34 Nf4 Kd6 35 Rg1 (to have any chance of winning the game, white has to open another front on the kingside) 35 … Rf7 36 Ke2 Rf6 37 Nc5 a5 38 fxe4 (it’s hard to know exactly when to strike, but black’s pieces felt discombobulated) 38 … fxe4 39 g4 Nb7 40 g5 Rf7 41 g6:

Black’s fortieth move was a mistake; now the g-file is opening and I was pretty sure that I would win. 41 … hxg6 42 Rxg6+ Ke7 still leaves white with some work to do, but my opponent decided to seek refuge down an exchange: 41 … Rxf4 42 exf4 (42 gxh7 is very exciting until you realize that it doesn’t stand a chance of working) 42 … Bxg6 43 Rg5:

The time for patience is over; it’s important to act energetically before black can consolidate his position, and this part of the game I handled well. 43 … Nxc5 44 Rxc5 a4 45 f5 Be8 46 Rxg7 axb3 47 axb3 Rxb3 48 Rxh7 Rd3 49 Ra5 Rxd4. Black’s three connected passed pawns are looming, but the most important feature of the position, as so often when up an exchange, are the active white rooks. 50 Ra8 (the Be8 is trapped, since 50 … Bd7 is met by 51 Rd8) 50 … Ke5 51 Rxe8+ Kxf5 52 Rf7+ Kg6 53 Rc6 Black Resigns.

Another game long on maneuvering and short on tactics. That said, it was valuable to my learning as it revealed a major area of weakness: switching from strategical thinking to deep calculation, as I needed to do on move 21. That I calculated very few variations in general is another issue to work on. These positions don’t win themselves, and I’m going to have to play with more precision if I want to keep winning games in the second half of the tournament.

1. I’m sad to say that the game was eventually drawn; at least it was exciting!

2. This is a problem with 1 Nc3, which can transpose to the Caro-Kann or French quite easily: 1 … d5 2 e4 c6 (or 2 … e6).

3. If the lichess.org database is to be believed.

4. It’s easy to cut calculations as soon as you see Rb2, skewering the knights, which is what I did.