The Winawer Report (TWR), Issue 05 March 22, 2002 Entire contents Copyright © 2002 by John C. Knudsen, all rights reserved. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-* To subscribe: http://www.correspondencechess.com/knudsen/ To unsubscribe: http://www.yourmailinglistprovider.com/unsubscribe.php?Winawer Public archive: http://www.yourmailinglistprovider.com/pubarchive.php?Winawer *-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Contacts Editor/Publisher: ICCF IM John C. Knudsen knudsenjohnc@hotmail.com Assistant Editor/Publicity: Rick Massimo mahlesh@home.com Book Review Editor: John Pugh John.Pugh2@btinternet.com WebWatch Editor: Paul J. Comeau xshakespearessonx@hotmail.com *-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Submissions: Reader submissions are always encouraged! TWR welcomes articles and games submitted free of charge, and proper credit will be given on all accepted submissions. For articles, plain text (with a margin of 40-50 characters) is preferred. For the games contained therein, PGN or Chessbase format is preferred. For articles, please submit in English. Email submissions to the editor, who will respond promptly. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Advertisements: Small text advertisements with URL or email address are welcomed - contact the editor for rates. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-* SPAM Policy: You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to it - TWR does not practice SPAM. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Table of Contents Idea Preparation - The Rb1 Pawn Sacrifice in the French Winawer By Junior Tay Recent Games in PGN *-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Idea Preparation - The Rb1 Pawn Sacrifice in the French Winawer By ICCF IM Junior Tay Copyright © 2002 by Junior Tay, all rights reserved. juniortay@hotmail.com I was preparing for my Round 7 game against National Champion NM Koh Kum Hong in the October ELO Training tournament and had done some work on the 4...Qd7/b6 French Winawer complex which he specialises in. However, a nagging thought crossed my mind... What if he doesn't play this positional system? I thus decided to check on the then current issue of TWIC (that was Issue 354) on my laptop to see what was the latest in Winawer theory... just in case... What caught my eye were the following two games from Chinese GM Wang Zili. GM Wang Zili (2557) - IM Hoang Thanh Trang (2445) [C18] Asian Championships Calcutta IND (4), 12.08.2001 [Junior Tay] 1.e4 e6 Hoang had defeated GM John Nunn with the French Defence when she was only 12. 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.h4 Nbc6 8.h5 Qa5 9.Bd2 Qa4 10.Nf3 [10.Rb1 cxd4 11.Bb5 Qxa3 12.cxd4 a6 13.Rh3 Qa2 is given as unclear in the notes to Ljubojevic- Hubner, Tilburg 1987 in Informator 44. The possible followup 14.Bc3 axb5 15.Ra1 Qa6! 16. h6 g6 17.Rxa6 bxa6 (unclear) is indeed murky.] 10...h6 11.Rb1!? When I first saw this, I thought "How un-Chinese of Wang Zili!". You see, the Chinese Grandmasters are all extremely solid positional players, though they also have good tactical vision. [11.Rh4 is given += in NCO.] 11...Qxa3?? [11...a6 12.Bd3?! A useless move as Black intends to close the c-file anyway. 12...c4 13. Be2 Kd8 14.Qc1 Kc7 15.Qb2 b5= 0-1 Graf,R- Tabatadze,T/Baden-Baden 1990/GER (51)] 12.Ra1 Qb2 13.Rb1 Qa3 14.Ra1 Qb2 Is Wang heading for a quick draw? 15.dxc5!! No such thing! This move cuts off the b6 square from the Queen and allows the h1 Rook access to the Queenside. 15...a5 (only move) [15...0-0 16.Rh4 b5 (only move) 17.Rb1 Qa3 18.Rb3 Qxc5 19. Be3 d4 20.cxd4 Qd5 21.Bxb5+-; 15...Rb8 16.Rh4 b6 17.Rb1 Qa3 18.cxb6 Rxb6 19. Bb5 Nf5 20.Rhb4+- Rxb5 21.Rxb5 Qa4 22.Rc5+-] 16.Rh4! a4 (only move) Otherwise Rha4 and the Black Queen is trapped for good. 17.Rhxa4 Rxa4 18.Rxa4± 0-0 19. Bd3 f6 20.exf6 Rxf6 21.Nd4 e5 22.Nb5 e4 23.Be2 Bd7 24.Qc1! With the Queen trade, White ensures a good endgame with a pawn plus to boot. 24...Qxc1+ 25. Bxc1± Ne5 26.Ra7 Bc6 27.Nd4 Nf5 28.Ra8+ Kh7 29. Nxf5 Rxf5 30.Be3 Nd7 31.Rc8 Rf8 32.Rc7 Ra8 33.Bd4 The Bishop takes up his command post 33...Kg8 34. c4! dxc4 35.Bxc4+ Kf8 36.Be6 Rd8 37.c4! Ke8 38. Bd5 And the other does likewise 38...Nf6 39.Bxf6 gxf6 40.Rh7 Bxd5 41.Rh8+ Bg8 42.Rxg8+ Ke7 43.Rxd8 Kxd8+- And the pawn ending is hopeless for the Vietnamese lass. 44.Kd2 Kd7 45.Ke3 f5 46.Kf4 Ke6 47.g4 fxg4 48.Kxe4 Kf6 49.Kd5 Kf5 50.c6 bxc6+ 51. Kxc6 Ke4 52.c5 Kf3 53.Kd5 1-0 And two rounds later... GM Wang Zili (2557) - IM S Reefat (2444) [C18] Asian Championships Calcutta IND (6), 13.08.2001 [Junior Tay] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7.h4 Nbc6 8.h5 Qa5 9.Bd2 Bd7 10.Nf3 0-0-0 11.Rb1! 11...h6 [11...c4 12.h6±; 11...Qxa3 12.Rb3 Qa4 (12...Qa5 13.Rb5 Qa4 14. Qb1 cxd4 15.Rxb7 dxc3 16.Be3±) 13.Qb1! cxd4 14. Rxb7 dxc3 15.Be3±] 12.Rb5 Qxa3 13.Qb1 c4 Black decides to return the pawn to reach a decent but slightly inferior endgame. [13...Nxd4!? 14.cxd4 Bxb5 15.Bxb5 a6 16.Bd3 Nc6 (unclear); 13...b6?? 14.Rb2 Whoopsie...the Queen is trapped!] 14.Rxb7 Qa6 15.Rb2 Kc7 16.Ra2 Rb8 17.Qa1 Qb5 18. Bc1 Qb1 The point of Black's return of investment. 19.Nd2 Qxa1 20.Rxa1 with a small plus for white Nc8 21.Be2 a5?! This merely becomes a target. [21...f6 with a small plus for white] 22.Rh3! N8a7 23.Rf3 Nb5 [23...Be8 with a small plus for white] 24.Nb1 Rhf8 [24...Be8 with a small plus for white] 25.Na3 Nba7? Missing out [25...Ne7 26.Nxb5+ Rxb5 27.Ba3±] 26.Nxc4! The Chinese prowess in tactical shots is evident here as Wang unleashes a combination based on the misplaced Rooks and Kings! 26...dxc4 27.Ba3 Rbe8 [27...Rfc8 28.Bd6+ Kd8 29.Bxb8 Rxb8 30.Rxf7+-; 27...Rg8 28.Bd6+ Kd8 29.Bxb8 Nxb8 30.Rxf7 Ke8 31.Rf3+- Nbc6 32.Bxc4 Ke7+-] 28.Bd6+ Kd8 29.Bxf8 Rxf8 30.Rg3 Ke7 [30...Rg8 31.Bxc4+-] 31.Rxg7 Ra8 32.Bxc4 The rest is easy for White. 32...Nc8 33.Rb1 a4 34. Rg8 a3 35.g4 Nb6 36.Rxa8 Nxa8 37.Ra1 Nb6 38.Bb3 Nd5 39.Bxd5 exd5 40.f3 Nd8 41.Rxa3 Ne6 42.Ra7 1-0 Although I did not analyse the games after playing through them extremely quickly (approximately 4 moves per second), I thought Wang's Rb1 pawn sacrifice concept was a very clever indeed. Firstly, if Black accepts the pawn sacrifice, he or she must 1) spend time worrying and calculating at getting the Queen out 2) take time to defend his Queenside pawns 3) defend against Benko gambit-like pressure down both the a and b files in the middlegame (especially if he castles long) 4) watch for the dark squared bishop which could resurface on a3. In the event that Black does survive the attack, it will also not be easy to march the passed a pawn home. Also, Black will not get his usual closed trench warfare game which usually surfaces in the non-Poisoned pawn lines. You can just imagine the psychological effect the move had on IM/WGM Hoang and IM Reefat. So I took special note of the idea for future use. That evening, I finally decided on 1.e4 against NM Koh as I had used 1.c4 and won against him in the Civil Service Teams 2001. I am glad to report that I managed to work Wang Zili's idea into the game! Junior Tay (2184) - NM Koh Kum Hong (2258) [C19] October Training Tournament (7), 10.2001 [Junior Tay] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Ne7!? [I was expecting 4...Qd7 which NM Koh specialises in. In any case, I have prepared the following continuation. 5.Bd2 b6 6.Nf3 Ba6 7.Bxa6 Nxa6 8.Ne2 Bf8 9.Nf4 with a small plus for white] 5.Nf3 c5 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 Qa5 8.Bd2 Nbc6 9.Rb1!? This move was inspired by GM Wang Zili' s usage of Rb1 although he did not play this so early. I must say it took me 10 minutes to make this decision! Now NM Koh is already out of his book at such an early stage. Indeed, after the game, he said he had never encountered such a concept before. Checking my database, I realised that this variation has been played before by four others. 9...c4 [9...Qc7 10.Bd3?! Bd7 11.0-0 c4 12.Be2 0-0 13. Bf4 Ng6 14.Bg3 Nce7 15.h3 Rfb8 16.Bh2 Nc6 17. h4 h6 18.h5 Nf8 19.Qd2 Qa5 20.Ra1 Nh7 21.Rfe1 Qd8 22.Bg3 Ne7 23.Bh4² ½-½ Wagman,S-Diotallevi, M/Lido Estensi ITA 2000 (23); 9...b6 10.Bb5 c4 11.Ng5 h6 12.Qh5 g6 13.Qh3 Bd7 14.a4 Kf8 15.0-0 Kg7 16.Nf3 a6 17.Bxc6 Bxc6 18.Qh4 Ng8 19.Qg3 Bxa4 20.Rbc1 Be8 21.h4 h5 22.Ra1 Qb5 23.Bg5 Qb2 24.Rab1 Qxc3 25.Bf6+ Nxf6 26.exf6+ Kg8 27.Rxb6 Qxc2 28.Rfb1 Qf5 29. Rb8 Rxb8 30.Rxb8 Qxf6 31.Rxe8+ Kg7 32.Rxh8 Kxh8 33.Qb8+ Kg7 34.Qc7 Qf5 35.Ne5 a5 36.Qxa5 Qb1+ 37.Kh2 Qb2 38.Kg3 Qxd4 39.Qc7 Kf6 40. Qxf7+ Kxe5 41.Qg7+ Ke4 42.Qxg6+ Ke5 43.Qg7+ ½-½ Lecuyer,C-Schultz,R/Belfort 1992/EXT 99 (43)] 10.h4!? [10.g3 Qxa3 11.Ra1 Qb2 12.Rb1 Qa3 13.Ra1 Qb2 14. Rb1 ½-½ Roselli,J-Rodriguez,A/Buenos Aires ARG 2000 (14); 10.Qc1 h6 11.Be2 Kd8 12.0-0 Kc7 13.a4 Bd7 14. Qa3 Nc8 15.Bf4 Nb8 16.Ra1 Na6 17.Nd2 Kd8 18. Bh5 Ke8 19.Bg3 b5 20.f4 Ne7 21.Qd6 g6 22.axb5 Qxc3 23.Qxa6 Qxd2 24.Bg4 h5 25.Bh3 h4 26.Be1 Qxd4+ 27.Bf2 Qxf4 28.Qb7 Rd8 29.Rxa7 d4 30.c3 Nd5 31.Bxd4 Qd2 32.Ra8 Rh7 33.Rxd8+ 1-0 IM Borriss,M-GM Enders,P/Plauen GER 1999 (33)] 10...f6 [10...Qxa3 11.h5 (11.Ra1 Qb2 12.Rb1 Qa2 13.Ra1=) 11...h6 12.Be2 with compensation] 11.h5 fxe5 12.dxe5 0-0 13.g3 b6? If Black wanted to develop his Bc8 and ignore the snack on a3, then 13...Qc7, putting pressure on the e5 pawn, followed by Bd7 is better. There are two other interesting continuations for Black... [13...Rxf3!? 14.Qxf3 Nxe5 15.Qe2 Nf7 with compensation; 13...Qc5! 14.Qe2 Qxa3 15.Bg2 Qa2 16.Qd1 A) 16...Rf5!? 17.g4 Rxf3 18.Bxf3 (18.Ra1 Qb2 19. Rb1=) 18...Nxe5 19.Be2 with a small plus for white; B) 16...b6÷ 17.0-0 Bd7 18.Ra1 Qb2 19.Rb1 Qa3 20.Ra1 Qc5 21.Bc1 a5 22.Ba3 Qb5 23.Nd4 with compensation] 14.Bg2 Bd7 15.0-0 Rae8 [15...Qxa3 16.Ra1 Qc5 17.Bc1 h6 18.Ba3 Qb5 with compensation] 16.Re1 This resembles a very good King's Indian Attack for White. 16...Rc8?! Why? The rook is well placed on e8 to hamper f4-f5 [16...Nd8 17.h6 g6 18.Nh2 Nf5 19.Ng4±] 17.Qc1!± This move puts the question to the Qa5... what are you doing there if not to take the a3 pawn? 17...Nd8 Kum Hong decided to make use of his 13...b6 move to get his N to e4, even at the cost of a pawn. 18.Nd4 Nb7 19.f4 Meanwhile, White gets on with his slow but steady Kingside pawn onslaught. 19...Nc5 20.g4 Nc6 21. f5! Nxd4 [21...Rce8 22.f6 gxf6 (22...Rf7 23.g5±) 23.Bh6 Rf7 24.exf6 Qxc3 25.Qg5+ Kh8 26.Bg7+ Kg8 27.Nb5+-; 21...exf5 22.Bxd5+ Kh8 23.h6 g6 (23...gxh6 24. e6+-) 24.e6 Be8 25.e7 Rf6 26.Bg5+-] 22.cxd4 c3 23.Bg5 Ne4 24.Bxe4 dxe4 25.f6 and the dark squares are now indefensible. 25...e3 Here's the aforementioned pawn sacrifice to clear the a8-h1 diagonal. However, Black is just a tad short of counterplay. White is just too fast on the Kingside. 26.Qxe3 Bc6 27.Re2 Qd5 28.Rh2 I was down to 5 minutes and didn't want Kum Hong to complicate with g7-g6 stuff. I thought the Rook will be very useful there to hold the g2 and h1 square. [28.Kh2+- suffices] 28...Bb7 29.Rf1+- Now it's all over as White sets up fxg7 or f7+ 29...Rc4 30.Rf4 Qb5 31.Kf2 Qa4 32.Kg3 Qd7 33.Rhf2 Rf7 34.fxg7 Rxf4 35.Qxf4 Qxg7 36.Bh6 Score one for opening preparation! 1-0 A few days later, I showed this game and my analysis to GM Wu Shaobin (ELO 2540), a compatriot and former Olympiad team member of GM Wang Zili. He also felt that White definitely has adequate compensation if Black choses to capture on a3. I love the age of the chess database! In closing, a game from TWIC 80: De Firmian,N (2536) - Ward,C (2486) [C18] 75th KSU Copenhagen DEN (4), 12.02.2002 [Junior Tay] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qa5 7.Bd2 Qa4 8.Rb1!? De Firmian plays the Rb1 plan even earlier than me! 8...c4 9.Qc1 Nc6 10.Nf3 f6 [Last year, De Firmian was unsuccessful after 10...Nge7 11.g3 b6 12.Bg2 Bd7 13.0-0 h6 14.Re1 0-0-0 unclear (0-1), De Firmian-Rustemov, Copenhagen DEN 2001 (62)] 11.g3 fxe5 12.dxe5 Nge7 13.Bg2 0-0 14.0-0 Ng6 15. Re1 Rf5!? With sacrificial ideas similar to the subvariations in Tay-Koh 16.g4 Rxf3 17.Bxf3 Ncxe5 18.Bg2 [18.Bd1 Qc6 19.Qb2 Qc7 The White Kingside looks pretty airy.] 18...Nxg4 19.Qd1 Nf6 20.Bg5 Qc6 21.Qd4 with compensation Both parties only needed to draw to become joint champions. This game might have already been decided before move 1 so... ½-½ Recent Games In PGN Here is the main database update, which contains recent higher-level Winawer games in PGN format, ECO codes C15-C19: http://www.correspondencechess.com/knudsen/twr/twr05db.zip Here are the annotated games and other referenced games from this issue in PGN: http://www.correspondencechess.com/knudsen/twr/twr05a.zip ----------------------------------- ***Please visit our advertisers*** ----------------------------------- Correspondence Chess News (CCN): http://ccn.correspondencechess.com Subscribe to CCN-Plus: http://ccn.correspondencechess.com/ccnplus.htm The Annual Correspondence Chess Yearbook (CCYB): http://correspondencechess.com/yearbook/ The printed book, Essential Chess Quotations, from iUniverse: http://www.correspondencechess.com/knudsen/quoteb.htm Chess coaching services: http://www.correspondencechess.com/knudsen/coaching.htm -----------------------------------