1984-08-30 - Binks, Mike 0-1 Garrett, Richard
And yet another junior v strong adult game. Young Richard is doing okay against his experienced opponent when he is allowed a spectacular tactic. As a result Mike has to abandon an Exchange but the attack that follows against his weakened Kingside is wonderfully executed.
[Event "D&F CLUB CHAMP"] [Site "?"] [Date "1984.08.30"] [Round "?"] [White "Binks, Mike"] [Black "Garrett, Richard"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E24"] [Annotator "Mordue,Tyson"] [PlyCount "66"] {This is one of my favourite games. It's yet another in the long sequence of D&F juniors beating established seniors. This was in the final group of the 1984 Club Championship and I was sitting right next to it. My game against Tim Allison will appear elsewhere on this page. The opening is very original but White gets a bit tied down. After that Richard firmly takes the initiative and never lets it go. I can assure the readers that Richard regards this as his best ever game as he is still going strong at South Bristol Chess Club, and some of the notes are based on his comments.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 {The sharp Samisch variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defence. White invests a tempo in getting the two Bishops immediately at the cost of doubled Pawns. Whether the Pawns are a weakness or a strength remains to be seen. Note that in some lines White's Rook can come into play via a2 if the second rank is clear.} Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 c5 6. g3 $5 {"A move I cannot find in any opening books. Certainly it looks better to play the normal 6 e3, when the Bishop has much better prospects on d3. However, the text has some similarities to the Romanishin variation of the Nimzo-Indian and rules out any prepared analysis, and is also typical of the highly practical Binks style." Both Mike and Richard were not ones for theoretical duels. It was unusual enough for Richard to be playing a Nimzo-Indian anyway so Mike probably suspected something was up, although it wasn't. The Nimzo was just a surprise choice. The Romanishin variation is 4 g3. It is possible to find earlier games than when the Soviet/ Ukrainian GM began playing this in the mid-1970s but the bulk of the theoretical work has been done since then. However, the only two games I could find with the position are 6 g3 were Pelikan-Wexler, Mar del Plata 1961 and Contreras- Jacobo Bolbochan, Buenos Aires VC 1959, and they both went 4 g3 c5 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 bxc3, so 6 g3 is a new move but not a new position. Both Argentine games went on different courses from the current encounter and both were won by Black after exciting fights.} O-O 7. Bg2 d5 $5 {"Black treats the position simply and says to White that he intends to block the long [light-squared] diagonal completely." To open up the position when your opponent has two Bishops isn't always the correct thing to do. However, ... d7-d5 is a standard move in many variations of the Nimzo. If White exchanges c4xd5 e6xd5 and then Black plays ...c5-c4 we would then have a common structure where Black plays on the Queenside and White in the centre and Kingside. See Botvinnik-Capablanca, AVRO 1939 for a classic example, so much so that it has been voted by many players as the best game of chess ever played.} 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Nf3 Ne4 $1 {I last played the Nimzo-Indian myself well before this encounter but I am familiar with a few things. One of the key themes that I heard during my time at South Bristol club was the importance of the e4 square in this opening. Quite right. This is the point at which Richard's Knights start to dominate Mike's Bishops. Eventually all of them are exchanged off but by then the horses have done a significant amount of damage . .. and the Bishops haven't!} 10. Bd2 $2 {"That White should have to play such a passive move is indicative of the ease with which Black has secured equality. " Deep Rybka suggests that White should simply play 10 0-0 here. After 10... Nxc3 11 Qc2 Ne4 12 dxc5 it says that White has a plus. Probably correct but what about 11...cxd4 12 Nxd4 Ne4. It says that White also has an advantage after, say, 13 Be3 which suggests compensation for the Pawn. However, if 13 Bxe4 dxe4 14 Qxe4 Re8 then it says that Black is slightly better! Readers will be aware by now that I take computer evaluations with a pinch of salt but I find this pair quite intriguing. Firstly, does White really have compensation for the Pawn? Yes I think he does but probably not as much as the engine suggests. Secondly, can Black really be better after 14...Re8? Maybe. There's ...Bc8-h3 coming up and the White Queen has to stay defending the Knight. Moreover the asymmetrical Pawn structure, which soon turns up in the game as well, gives chances for both sides regardless of any assessment. Certainly interesting enough to explore but don't count on getting into the theory books too soon! After the text move Deep Rybka thinks that Black is better, while a simple glance at the position should be enough to bring a human to the same conclusion.} Nc6 11. O-O Bg4 {In view of the note above 11... c4 is a critical alternative but the text is more in Richard's style anyway.} 12. dxc5 {"White does not really want to play this move but the threat of 12... Bxf3 left him with little choice." Black isn't necessarily threatening to win a Pawn here because after 12...Bxf3 13 exf3 attacks the e4 Knight. There is a trade on d2 with 13...Nxd2 14 Qxd2 cxd4 15 cxd4 and then 15...Qf6 16 f4 is definitely okay if not better for White - a Bishop capture on d5 prevents a Knight fork on b3. However, in this line 14...c4 gets us back to the strategical battle of Queenside versus centre and Kingside where White has lost out because of his doubled f-Pawns. So this means that 12...Bxf3 could be a strategical threat so Mike decides to take on c5 before Richard gets either ...c4 or Bxf3 in.} Qa5 $6 {"Much better to take with the Queen than the Knight." Absolutely true and I originally gave the move an ! However, it must be more accurate to play 12...Qe7 and avoid the line White plays in the game which dissolves his weak Pawn on c3.} 13. c4 {Deep Rybka claims that both 13 Rb1 and 13 Ng5 give White a slight advantage. For the first I'd be concerned about leaving the a3 Pawn en prise even if it doesn't get taken immediately. However, 13...Nxc5 isn't good after 14 c4 Qxa3 15 cxd5 with a clear plus for White. For the second after 13 Ng5 Nxd2 14 Qxd2 h6 any retreat of the Knight will interfere with the attack on d5 so Black can safely play 15. ..Qxc5. It simply looks like a loss of two tempi although 15 Nh3 and 16 Nf4 might be worth a look. If the Knight proves to be good on f4 then Black can just swap on h3 anyway. The text looks more natural. Remember the comment I made at move 7 about keeping the h1-a8 diagonal closed? Well, this opens it back up again.} Qxc5 14. cxd5 Qxd5 15. Be3 {Again a natural looking move but Deep Rybka is probably right when it says that White has a small plus after 15 Bb4 Qxd1 16 Rfxd1 Rfd8. Now either 17 Ne5 Nxe5 18 Bxe4 or 17 h3 Be6 18 Ne5 Nxe5 19 Bxe4. It also claims a White plus after 15 Bb4 Qxd1 16 Rfxd1 Nxb4 17 axb4 Rfd8 but that one I'm not so sure about. The reason why Mike doesn't play 15 Bb4 is that it leads to lots of exchanges and less pressure on Black. So by keeping pieces on he hopes to keep it tense and outplay his younger, less experienced opponent. Unfortunately he is one who gets outplayed, in spades, and the Bishop's posting on e3 has a lot to do with it!} Qe6 {"White has dissolved his Pawn weaknesses but has left Black with good control of the centre and a potentially dangerous Queenside majority. His own trump of the pair of Bishops never finds its way into the game." Deep Rybka prefers 15... Qc4 or 15...Nc3. Both moves have points in middle or end games. In both cases it evaluates White as between +0.2 to +0.3. This is due to Black's inaccuracy with 12...Qa5 allowing White to swap off his weak c3 Pawn. After the text the engine claims a clear advantage for White with 16 Nd4! Nxd4 17 Qxd4 Bf5 - my suggestion avoiding the f2-f3 fork - 18 Rfd1 which seems reasonable. Instead of 17...Bf5 Deep Rybka prefers 17...Rfe8 when 18 Bg5 seems to give White an even better position. He's going to swap on f6 damaging Black's Pawn structure and possibly play e2-e4 straightening out his own. The latter has the proviso that Black can't play ...f6-f5 and also the drawback that it blocks in the White Bishop somewhat. A controversial line at best.} 16. Qc2 $6 {"Although this looks, and is, silly in view of what follows, White had in mind a sequence of moves to justify this awkwardness. Unfortunately Black finds a large hole in it." It's the oversight next move that does the damage. If White replies to Black's obvious next with 17 Qb2 then according to Deep Rybka he still has a slight advantage.} Rac8 17. h3 $2 {"Consistent but mistaken. 17 Qa4 may be an improvement but White is clearly short of good moves." Not entirely right. Sometimes the original notes were over-optimistic. I mentioned 17 Qb2 last note. Alternatively 17 Rac1 is okay as 17...Nd4?? just gives a piece away after 18 Nxd4 Rxc2 19 Nxe6 Rxc1 20 Rxc1 and both f8 and e4 are en prise. while 17...Ne5?? 18 Qxe4 is even simpler. However, the suggestion 17 Qa4 is just silly. If White was going to play then he would have done so last move to avoid the loss of a tempo. After 17...Nc3 White needs to defend e2 so he'll probably end up losing even more tempi. That's why 17 Qb2 is so much simpler. Would you be happy with a Bishop on b2 in this position? Yes, you would, so the Queen is even better. The mistaken bit is accurate though. As indicated previously the text has a big flaw. Obviously if 17... Bxh3? 18 Bxh3 Qxh3 19 Qxe4 cost Black a piece. I wonder what Mike had in mind after 17...Bf5? Probably 18 g4 Bg6 and then what? Maybe then 19 Qb2 or even 19 Qa2?} Bxf3 18. Bxf3 Nxg3 $1 {The basic tactical point is that the f2 Pawn is now overloaded defending the Bishop and this Pawn. It doesn't help that h3 is en prise in some lines as well. Be so, so careful when you play Pawn to Rook Three!} 19. fxg3 {"It is difficult to find another move particularly as Black still threatens ...Nd4."} Qxe3+ 20. Kg2 $2 {Shocked by his oversight Mike makes another error. This is the natural move but 20 Kh1 or h2 are better. Now the weakness on e3 comes back to bite White for a second time in four moves!} Nd4 21. Qe4 Nc2 $3 {"It is rare to see a piece occupy the square that an enemy piece has just vacated, and do so is nearly always very powerful. The Exchange is now lost and White's attempts to find counterplay against the Black King are easily brushed aside." This is one of the games that helped me form my pet chess theory, 'that when a piece can safely occupy the square that an enemy piece has just vacated it is always very strong'. When a piece vacates a square it should automatically be controlling it, so if it is safe to occupy then it must be controlled by enemy two units at least - one defending the other one - so you have options anyway, always good, and an incursion should be serious, as it is here. Clearly such occasions are rare, roughly once in every two hundred games or so in my own praxis, but they are worth watching out for. Nearly every time it has happened whether it be my game or someone else's, as it is here, the consequences have been favourable to the attacker. Clearly if White saves his Queen's Rook from the steed's attack Black just swaps Queens and forks on e3 instead. Hence Mike jettisons the Exchange and starts taking Black's Queenside.} 22. Qxb7 Nxa1 23. Rxa1 Rc3 $1 {An obvious looking move but the start of a very deep and dangerous idea that ultimately works in every respect.} 24. a4 g6 {"There's no rush so Black calmly takes time out to safeguard against back-rank mates."} 25. Rd1 Rfc8 26. Rd7 Rc1 { "White could hardly prevent this."} 27. Qxa7 R8c5 $1 {Richard is rightly proud of this move which he foresaw on move 23. The White Queen is cut off from the defence in a way that reminds me of Larsen-Tal, Leningrad Interzonal 1973.} 28. h4 $6 {It is more accurate to play 28 Qb8+ first to prevent Black's later ... Qe5. However, after 28...Kg7 29 h4 Rg1+ 30 Kh3 (if 30 Kh2 Rc2 threatening 31.. .Rxe2+ 32 Bxe2 Qf2+ 33 Kh3 Rh1+ - the point of deflecting the Bishop - 34 Kg4 Qf5 mate Black has a winning attack.) 30...Qe6+ 31 Kh2 Qxd7 32 Kxg1 Qxa4 leaves Black with a winning position.} Rg1+ 29. Kh3 Qe5 30. Bg2 $2 {Better is 30 Rd8+ Kg7 31 Qb8 when 31...Rxg3+ 32 Kh2 Rg5+! leaves Black with a winning ending. Now it's a forced mate.} Qe6+ 31. Kh2 {31 g4 Qe3+ 32 Bf3 Rh1+ 33 Kg3 Qe5+ isn't any better.} Rxg2+ 32. Kxg2 Qxe2+ 33. Kh3 Qf1+ {"The move of the g-pawn which stopped White's back-rank mate helps Black to mate White after 34 Kg4 Qf5, and if 34 Kh2 Rc2+."} 0-1
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