[Event "Leeds League Division 1"]
[Site "Leeds"]
[Date "2011.12.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Shapland, D."]
[Black "Bagley, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C06"]
[Annotator "Shapland,David"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2011.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Leeds 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "Rose Forgrove '2'"]

1. e4 e6 {Steinitz is supposed to have called the French the "dullest of all
openings". In a way this was a back handed compliment but it is also a
reflection of opening theory of that particular era. In Steinitz's day the
opening was relatively under-developed. In modern times Black can use it as a
platform to play for a full point. The opening phase of the game can unfold in
numerous different ways. In my view it's a typical "hypermodern" defence.
Black tends to try to lure White forward and then play on the counter attack.
It's possible for White to create great pressure but it is also possible for
him to over-reach himself and this is, in part, an essential theme of the
French. It isn't a direct counter-attacking weapon like the Sicilian.} 2. d4 d5
3. Nd2 {Introducing Dr Tarrasch's system which "White has been using
successfully for over 100 years now, and which has thus withstood the hardest
test - that of time. With 3.Nd2 White is not laying claim to a large advantage
(if that is his aim he must turn to 3.Nc3), but attempting first and foremost
to limit the counterplay which his opponent can hope for in the case of, say,
3.Nc3 Bb4... Perhaps the only defect of the move is that White is exerting no
great pressure on the centre and thus allows Black to cary out the freeing
c7-c5." - Lev Psakhis} Nf6 {And this is the closed system. The main
alternative for Black is to play 3...c5, a move which leads to positions of a
very different character. Grandmasters appear to favour the c5 move but at
club level I find myself almost exclusively meeting this closed system."A
sharp and complex variation, which has had, still has, and I'm sure will
always have its supporters. Black provokes the advance e4-e5 and thereby
permits his opponent to create a poewerful pawn centre. If White succeeds in
consolidating this centre, the advantage wil be on his side; if not, the
consequences for him may be truly catastrophic." - Psakhis. In this sense then
the closed system is very much in the 'hypermodern' spirit of the opening.
White is provoked. How far can he be taunted and will Black be punished for
his temerity?} 4. e5 {Without accepting Black's invitation White can't hope
for any advantage at all out of the opening because there will be mass
exchanges in the centre.} Nfd7 {Black's strategy is fairly simple in this
variation (perhaps that accounts for its popularity) and is based on him
exerting pressure on the dark squares. He will quickly set himself up to
undermine and loosen White's central pawns on e5 and d4 and will do this with
moves like Pc5, Nc6, Qb6 and Pf6. White's objective will be to try and hold
this structure together (with moves such as Pc3, Ne2, Nf3 and sometimes Pf4)
develop his pieces in a harmonious way (not always easy in this line) and try
to exploit his space advantage by restricting Black's freedom of movement.} 5.
c3 {This move order is a little unusual but it has a sound rationale. Usually
White plays 5.Bd3 before this move but that then give Black the chance to
deviate from the mainlines in an interesting way with 5...Pb6!? This may sound
a bit technical but in the event of Black playing Pb6 White would ideally like
to develop his king's bishop to b5 with play against the weakened light
squares, rather than already having committed it to d3. One big alternative
tree of variations begins after...} (5. f4 {This is the most aggressive plan
where White goes for a huge spacial advantage based on playing Pc3. The price
he pays is that his development often lags behind and is very committed to
pushing forward once he has begun this advance. Generally Black is thought to
be doing pretty well in this variation at the present time but some quite
active play is required to ensure he can free himself from his shackles.}) 5...
c5 6. Bd3 {This plan is a little less ambitious than the variation mentioned
above. Instead of striving for a huge advantage White bases his play primarily
around restraining Black and restricting his options. It is a consolidatory
approach but play can often, never-the-less, become quite sharp.} Nc6 7. Ne2 {
To the uninitiated this move loks quite odd but the idea is sensible. White
reserves the right to play Pf4 if allowed and also leaves the f3 square free
for the queen's knight to occupy so that both knights can support those key
central dark squares if need be.} cxd4 {This is the most popular choice in the
position. Black releases some of the central tension and also creates a
permanent target in the shape of White's backward d-pawn. White will have to
be on his guard to ensure that this weakness does not become critical.Black
can also elect to leave the central tension unresolved for the moment by first
playing Qb6 and indeed, these two move orders often transpose.} 8. cxd4 f6 {
This is the most logical move. As Psakhis points out "Black quite rightly
fears that he won't be able to attack the enemy pawn centre once White has
completed his development." This pawn advance gets straight to the point then.
It is the most active and direct method Black has at his disposal. If this
move has a draw back it is that White now has the option to initiate murky and
hair-raising complications with the game move coming next. Black does have
some other, slightly less ambitious options open to him in the form of 8...Qb6,
8...Nb6 or 8...Pa5. Both of these last two moves are played to initiate a
queen's side advance by Black but in both cases White is allowed to
consolidate his central space advantage and build up pressure on the king's
side.} 9. Nf4 $5 {Introducing the complications mentioned in the note above.
White commits himself to giving his d-pawn in order to introduce some
structural and material imbalances that give the game some dynamism. Black
will grab the d-pawn in order to create a mobile central pawn majority but, in
exchange, he will have to give him the exchange and agree to leave his king in
the centre of the board and potentially exposed to attack. I've played this
variation several times before. Many of the textbooks state that this is
dubious and that Black can gain the advantage from it. That may be true
theoretically, but the path to that advantage is hugely complex and requires
fantastic map reading skills and a great deal of familiarity with the terrain
in order to gain it. Most of my opponents don't face this line often enough to
have been forced to learn the all the ideas in the position and as a result
I've done pretty well with it. The mainline here goes...} (9. exf6 Nxf6 10. Nf3
{and White has good chances of maintaining a small but lasting advantage. In
this variation Black will continue to play on the dark squares by developing
his king's bishop to d6 and his queen to b6 or c7 before castling and then
aiming to acheive the thematic e6-e5 pawn break which will enable him to
create a passed d-pawn. White must act swiftly to create counter threats and
he has a few alternative approaches to the position. He can aim for king's
side play with moves like Nf4 and Ng5 followed by 0-0 and possibly Re1 to try
and prevent the pawn break if he is given the chance. Or he can go for play on
the other wing by going in for Bg5 and then Nc3 and Rc1 with some chances to
obtain play against the Black d-pawn if that thematic break of e6-e5 comes.})
9... Nxd4 {Now there begins a lengthy sequence of moves that are pretty much
forced for both sides. Black could try 9...Qe7 here but after 10.Nf3!? White
is well placed to hold the centre and maintain his spacial advantage.} 10. Qh5+
Ke7 11. exf6+ {This is the most prescise move order because if White instead
goes for} (11. Ng6+ $6 {then Black has a decent alternative to the game
variation in the form of} hxg6 12. exf6+ Kxf6 $5 13. Qxh8 Kf7 {when it
transpires that the Black king's knight is better placed on d7 than it is on
f6 in the game continuation.}) 11... Nxf6 12. Ng6+ hxg6 13. Qxh8 Kf7 14. Qh4 {
I dared to venture this line in a recent outing with Black (the first time
I've ever played the French Defence!) and my opponent played the alternative
continuation to this one which is} (14. O-O {and the game went on} e5 15. Nb3
Nxb3 16. axb3 Bf5 17. Bxf5 gxf5 18. Qh3 g6 {I went on to win the game with the
passed d-pawn proving to be decisive although White missed a couple of chances
to improve on his play. It appears to me that 14.0-0 may not offer White the
best chances of winning in this complicated variation although I'm pretty sure
it should hold the draw with correct play.}) 14... e5 {We can see quickly that
nature of the game has changed completely since White played 9.Nf4!? The game
has opened up and White now has a rook in exhcnage for his knight and pawn. He
has also succeeded in loosening the Black king's position and should now look
for ways to exploit this vulnerability. White is playing for mate. Black on
the other hand has the better prospects in the longer term if he can weather
the storm. The mobile pawn centre can be a huge assest in the end game and,
for the moment at least, Black has the initiative. He must use it wisely or he
may get blown away.} 15. Nf3 $1 {This would be a hard move to play without
having the conviction one receives from knowing and understanding the theory
of this line. White offers Black a chance to damage his pawn structure but it
is clear that the Black knight on d4 is more valuable than the White knight.
In some lines the open g-file can be an asset for White who can only take
advantage of the material imbalance by opening files for his rooks.} Bb4+ $5 {
This was a new and surprising move to me. Previous games I've played in this
line have all continued...} (15... Nxf3+ 16. gxf3 Bf5 17. Bxf5 gxf5 18. Bg5 {
This position is the tabiya of the 9.Nf4 variation. I've played this about
half a dozen times and have only lost one game with it (although the
complications are such that I could have won or lost a whole hatful of points
along the way). Really the point is that the position is dynamically equal
with chances for both sides and very sharp and interesting play. The best move
here for Black is probably} Qa5+ (18... Bc5 {is not considered a good try for
Black on account of the response} 19. O-O-O $1 {and White now secured a big
advantage after} d4 20. Qh3 Qd7 21. Bxf6 Kxf6 22. Rhg1 Rg8 23. Qh4+ g5 24. Qh6+
Rg6 25. Qh8+ Qg7 26. Qc8 {with advantage to White in Yandemirov - Moskalenko,
USSR 1985}) (18... Rc8 19. O-O Rc4 20. Qh3 Qd7 21. Rad1 Qe6 22. Rfe1 Nd7 23.
Re2 a5 24. f4 {was Timman-Morozevich, Wijk aan Zee 2000.}) (18... Be7 19. O-O
Qd6 20. Rac1 Rd8 21. Rfd1 d4 22. Qh3 Ke6 23. Re1 Nd5 24. Bxe7 Qxe7 25. f4 $1 {
was Yandemirov-Firman, Pavlograd 2000. White is doing very well here on
account of the nasty threats he has against the Black king.}) (18... d4 $5 {
this interesting idea was played against me earlier this year. The main idea
seems to be for Black to vacate the d5 square for his queen. From this vantage
her majesty can observe the a2 and f3 squares as well as shepherd the Black
central pawns forward. I need a closer look at this line to find the best
response for White.}) 19. Kf1 g6 $1 {This is the critical tactical ploy for
Black in this line. He threatens to put his knight on h5 and then, if allowed
f4. If he succeeds in doing this Black will have secured the advantage so this
move pretty much forces White to exchange his bishop for the Black knight on
f6.} 20. Bxf6 Qa6+ {A useful intermezzo that allows Black to capture on f6
with his queen. It does have a draw back though.} 21. Kg2 Qxf6 22. Qa4 $1 {
This is the draw back. By moving his queen away from the queen's side Black
allows the White queen to come into action on that wing.} Qc6 {Black tries in
vain to swap the queens off. White is certainly not going to acquiese to this
proposition as in an end game he will not stand well.} 23. Qb3 Bh6 24. Rhd1 {
Checking the Chessbase database I have access to I discovered 10 (!) games
that reached this position. White has scored well despite Black apparently
having plenty of potential plus points about his position.} Rd8 25. Rd3 {White
has managed to cunningly manouevre his rook in such a way that it will now
arive at c3 and take control of the open file. There is still much work to do
but White has managed to maintain his advantage into the middle game. The key
remains the activity of his rooks. White would even be glad to scarifice a
pawn to gain an open file for his rooks if need be.}) ({It was only as I
studied this game afterwards that I realised my opponent had improved on the
move order used in the game below where Black played} 15... e4 {Psahkis
considers this to be a decent alternative to 15...Nxf3 but after} 16. Nxd4 Bb4+
17. Bd2 {I'm not so sure Black is doing all that well. With this move order
White can block the check and that is crucial. As played in the actual game
the Bd2 option isn't possible as we'll see in a moment. The move order played
in the game is a distinct improvement on this variation then, as now} Bxd2+ 18.
Kxd2 Qa5+ 19. Kd1 exd3 20. Nb3 Qc7 21. Rc1 Qe5 22. Re1 Qxb2 23. Qd4 Qxa2 24.
Rc7+ Bd7 25. Qxd3 Rc8 26. Rxb7 {with advantage to White in Agnos-Emms, British
Championship, Southampton 1986.}) 16. Kf1 {This move is forced because as
mentioned in the note above, blocking the check isn't an option in this move
order. It loses a piece after} (16. Bd2 $2 Nxf3+ 17. gxf3 Bxd2+ {and if the
king recaptures the knight will check on e4 and White will lose his queen.})
16... e4 {Only now this move! It's easy to see why Black prefers his move
order to the one given by Psahkis. A clever finesse. Black has now seized the
initiative and White must play accurately.} 17. Nxd4 exd3 18. Nb3 $2 {It turns
out that this move is more than just a little innaccurate, it is a mistake.
Positionally, I felt the need to try and drive the bishop from b4 but it won't
be so easy to do and in the final analysis my knight was better placed on d4
than here on b3. It would have been much more sensible to develop my pieces as
quickly as possible. One approach would be to play...} (18. Bg5 Bd7 19. g3 Kg8
20. Kg2 Qb6 21. Bxf6 gxf6 {as occured in Luther-Matamoros Franco, Capablanca
B1 1997. The position is unclear and rather obscure but I'd say Black's two
bishops look like good value in this position. Much will depend on whether or
not White's king turns out to be secure on g2 and whether or not Black can
prevent White's rooks from getting active on the c and/or e files. Possibly a
better move is}) (18. Be3 $5 {This is a move that my engines like and when I
checked against the Chessbase app on my iPhone it seemed that this was the
best choice of response statistically if not by volume. White prepares to meet
18...Bg4 with 19.Pf3 and intends Kf2 to release his king's rook.}) 18... Qe7 {
I'd overlooked this move which, as well as protecting the bishop, also
initiates the simple but effective threat of mate on e1 next move! Now I had
to block the e-file immediately for if 19.Bd2 then Qe2+ and Black wins the
bishop.} 19. Be3 {Both engines (Crafty and Fritz) assess this position as
being much better for Black and it is all down to one inaccurate move on my
part - Nb3. This one mistake could have cost me the game. If you're going to
play this kind of opening however, you have to accept the risks.} Bg4 $1 {I
must admit that I hadn't seen this coming quite so soon. Black is putting my
centre under great pressure. By depriving my rook of the d1 square Black is
indirectly preserving his passed pawn on d3 and now threatens to force it home
at once. In addition, I can't play f3 to remove the bishop from its outpost
and give my king the chance to get to f2 because that would leave my bishop en
prise. At this stage of proceedings I realised that I was in trouble. I felt I
had to try and relieve the pressure some how so I opted for...} 20. a3 {Fritz
thinks that a better line was} (20. h3 Be2+ 21. Kg1 Rc8 {but that still looks
jolly unpleasant for White to me.}) 20... d2 $1 {Here we are then. For the
first time in this game an attacked piece refuse to move along. This will be a
recurring tactical theme for the rest of the game. Black is quite right too on
this occasion. Again, I must admit to having not considered the possibility
that Black would just advance the pawn but it makes complete sense now. As a
minimum Black will win back the exchange and he will maintain the initiative.}
21. axb4 {Basically forced.} d1=Q+ {There's nothing wrong with this move but
Black had just overlooked his best opportunity to drive home his advantage
immediately in the form of} (21... Qxb4 $1 {After the game I told Andy that I
had been really worried about this reply, more so than the game continuation.
He said he hadn't considered it and it's the first time in the game that I
think he selected a suboptimal choice. The post mortem analysis demonstrated
the power of this continuation to both players' satisfaction. Black threatens
both the White knight and also the discovered attack on the White queen
revealed after Be2+. This double threat should prove decisive after} 22. f3
Qxb3 23. Kf2 Kg8 24. Bxd2 Qb6+ 25. Kf1 Qxb2 26. Qe1 {and Black is clearly much,
much better here. Mainly because White cant get his king's rook into the
action.}) 22. Rxd1 {Compared to the variation above (which I hadn't seen all
the way through of course but could see was dangerous) I was more than happy
to give back the exchange for Black's passed pawn and balance up the material
again.} Bxd1 23. Nc5 Bg4 {It would be easy, given the benefit of hindsight, to
say that this move was inaccurate. I had expected 23.. .b6 to drive the knight
back to d3. Certainly if Black had been able to forsee the critical role this
knight will play in his demise on this outpost then he would have driven it
off as soon as possible. However, at the time there didn't seem to be an
immediate threat and Black wanted to remove his bishop to this square. If he
had chosen to kick the knight immediately I had considered something like...} (
23... b6 24. Nd3 Bc2 25. Ke2 Rc8 {although Black stands rather better here to
my mind and the engines concur.}) 24. h3 d4 $5 {Here is the second instance of
a piece being threatened but not retreating. Aesthetically, it is the mirror
idea of the previous example. Again a Black bishop is threatened by a White
flank pawn but it does not retreat in order to allow a passed Black d-pawn to
advance with a threat! On this occasion it seems likely that Black did not
select the very best continuation although d4 is by no means a critical error,
it simply gives White a chance to get back on terms a little. Fritz 11
recommends instead playing...} (24... Bf5 25. Qf4 {White lines up his queen on
the f-file ready to play g4 and g5 if given the chance. This move also gets
the queen back towards the centre of the board.} Kg8 {Black side steps the
threat and puts his king onto a safer square.} 26. Kg1 {White prepares to put
his king on h2 in order to finally get his rook into the game.} b6 27. Nb3 Rc8
28. Nd4 {and Black is likely to pick up the two White b-pawns whilst White
will exchange on f5 and win one of Black's king's side pawns leaving the game
finely balanced but slightly in Black's favour.}) 25. hxg4 {Not to be out done
I now also refused to move my attacked piece. Of course this just results in
an exchange but from my point of view I was happy to open the h-file in order
to try and develop my rook along it. The draw back was that I could see I was
going to have my king's side pawn structure damaged even further than it
already was.} dxe3 26. g5 $1 {According to both engines, White has now
equalised again with this move. The key point is that White now gains a tempo
against the Black knight and threatens to win another by coming to c4 with his
queen. Now I felt I was putting pressure on my opponent rather than the other
way round! Psychologically, that's important regardless of an objective
assessment.} Rd8 {Here we go again! Once more Black refuses to move his
attacked piece.} 27. Qc4+ {White inserts an intermezzo of his own and now the
Black knight really is under threat and must move itself to an unfavorable
square where it is pinned and also blocks the d-file. Of course White can't
take the knight on f6 right away because...} (27. gxf6 e2+ 28. Kg1 Rd1+ 29. Kh2
Rxh1+ 30. Kxh1 e1=Q+ 31. Kh2 Qxf6) 27... Nd5 28. fxe3 $5 {Voluntarily breaking
up the last vestages of a pawn shield around my own king. I had a fairly long
think before taking this decision and didn't take it lightly. In the end I
decided to go for it for two reasons. First of all I couldn't see how Black
could immediatley take advantage of my king's exposure and second of all I
felt that he would try and refute my play directly and that would enable my
rook to develop with a tempo. In the end the benefits appeared to outweigh the
risks. Of course the engines don't agree with my "human" decision. That's
because, as we'll see in a moment, they can see the tactical flaw in my
concept. Instead of this move, Fritz thinks White's best continuation involves
developing the rook directly via h4.} (28. Rh4 b5 $1 {Black hurries to try and
break the pin.} 29. Qe4 ({If White tries to avoid simplification then it will
not go well for him after} 29. Qb3 Qxg5 30. Re4 exf2 31. Ne6 Qc1+ 32. Kxf2 Rd6
{and in a crazy position, Black has the edge.}) 29... exf2 30. Kxf2 Qxe4 31.
Rxe4 {and the endgame appears to be dead even with an utterly bizarre pawn
formation, three pawns on the b-file and four on the g-file!}) 28... Qxe3 29.
Rh3 {We've reached the critical moment of a nerve shredding game. Black has
captured on e3 and allowed my rook to come alive and join the fray. I was very
confident that my position was close to winning here and was very surprised
when I analysed the game on my computer later on to find that, in fact, it is
Black who should be winning here. How can this be?} Qxg5 $2 {It seems harsh to
award this move a question mark and yet I must because it is the crucial
inaccuracy of the game. Black captures the g-pawn but in doing so gives White
the time he needs to drive the Black king into the open and onto the rocks.
There was a refutation to my idea but, and maybe this would be some
consolation to the losing party, I doubt many players would have found it.
Neither of us saw it over the board or afterwards in our post mortem.} (29...
Ke7 $3 {"We shall not, we shall not be moved!" A fourth and most unexpected
refusal to retreat and a wonderful moment! The Black queen doesn't run.
Instead with this quiet intermezzo Black breaks the pin and liberates the
knight to recapture on e3 with check and a fork to boot. It's such a pretty
defensive move I almost wish Andy had found and played it because it deserves
to see the light of day shine more brightly on it than in the footnotes of
this commentary. Having said that, if he had seen it, it would have robbed me
of the entertaining king hunt that now follows. After this stunning side-step
White is left with nothing better than} 30. Qe4+ Qxe4 31. Nxe4 Nxb4 {and Black
should have enough to win the endgame.}) 30. Rf3+ {Suddenly the White rook has
sprung to life with deadly effect.} Ke8 {This allows White a clean kill. Black
could have limped on after} (30... Kg8 {but White's material advantage ought
to be decisive after} 31. Ne6 Nb6 32. Qc3 Qb5+ 33. Ke1 Qd7 34. Nxd8 Qxd8 35.
Qe5) 31. Qb5+ $1 {An important check. I needed the king on e7 in order to
deprive Black of the chance to bring his queen to the aid of his majesty via
that square. For the record, Fritz 11 tells me that White now has forced mate
in 15 moves.} Ke7 32. Qe2+ {This seemed cleanest to me and I'd calculated to
the end of the game prior to playing my last move. The forced mate Fritz
spotted continues with} (32. Qxb7+ Kd6 33. Ne4+ Ke5 34. Nxg5) 32... Kd6 {Now,
with the king forced out to d6, the hunt is on and the weak light squares in
the Black camp will prove to be his undoing. Black could have prolonged his
agony by giving up the knight but that's not the kind of decision a human
being would make as it is so obviously losing.} (32... Ne3+ 33. Rxe3+ Kf7 34.
Rf3+ Kg8 35. Qe6+ Kh7 36. Rh3+ Qh5) 33. Qe6+ Kc7 34. Rf7+ Kb8 35. Rxb7+ Ka8 36.
Rxa7+ $1 {And now Black realised that the end is nigh. It's mate in 2.} 1-0

