playing e7-e5 against the London system Bf4,Nf3 with bishops on g7 and b7

1. AlexandraBotez vs DanielNaroditsky 0-1 Live Chess Chess.com 2020.08.242. AlexandraBotez vs DanielNaroditsky 0-1 Live Chess Chess.com

1. d4 https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/5346126867 1...  b6 2. Nf3 Bb7 3. Bf4 g6 4. e3 Bg7 5. h3 d6 double fianchetto 6. Be2 Nd7 7. O-O e5 counter attacking in center 8. Bh2 Qe7 9. c4 f5!? getting more space on kingside 10. Nc3 Ngf6 11. Qc2 ( 11. Nb5! ) 11...  O-O 12. Rfe1 [#] too slow ( 12. c5! ) 12...  e4 13. Nd2 g5 [#] start of the attack 14. b4 Rae8 15. Nb3? too slow again ( 15. Qa4!? a6 16. c5 ) ( 15. Qb3 Kh8 16. Nb5 ) ( 15. c5!? ) 15...  h5 16. d5 ( 16. a4 g4 17. a5 ) 16...  Ne5 17. Nd4 Bc8 ( 17... Qf7 ) 18. Bxe5! dxe5 19. Nc6 Qf7 20. Nxa7 g4 [#] white won a pawn but g5-g4 give black the initiative agains the white king 21. hxg4 hxg4 22. Nxc8 Rxc8 23. Bf1 ( 23. d6 Qh5! ) 23...  Qh5 [#] Black has concrete threats against whites king 24. g3? ( 24. Ne2 ) 24...  Nh7! [%csl Rf3,Rg5,Rh3,Rh7][%cal Rh7g5,Rg5f3] idea Nh7-g5-f3. blacks attack is winning !! 25. Bg2 Ng5 26. Red1 Nf3+ 27. Kf1 Qh2! [%csl Yf3,Yg1,Rg2,Yh2][%cal Yh2g1,Yf3g1] threat is Qg1+ 28. Bxf3 exf3 [%csl Yh1][%cal h1f1] 29. Ke1 e4! -+ [%csl Rc3,Rg7][%cal Rg7a1] [#] 30. Kd2 ( 30. d6 Qg1+ 31. Kd2 Qxf2+ 32. Kc1 Qxe3+ ) 30...  Qxf2+ 31. Kc1 Qxe3+ 32. Kb2 b5 ( 32... f2 ) 33. c5 Ra8 34. a3 f4 [#] 35. Re1 Qxc3+! simplifying into winning endgame 36. Qxc3 Bxc3+ 37. Kxc3 e3!? passed pawns should be pushed ( 37... f2! wins on the spot ) 38. gxf4 e2 [#] strong passed pawns 39. d6 cxd6 40. cxd6 Rad8 41. Kd4 ( 41. a4 Rxd6 42. axb5 g3 43. b6 Rc8+ 44. Kb3 Rxb6 45. f5 g2 ) 41...  Rxd6+ 42. Ke3 Rfd8 43. Kf2 Rd1! 44. Kg3 Rxa1 45. Rxa1 Rd1! DanielNaroditsky won by resignation.16 seconds left for Black on the clocks, started with 40 seconds vs 3 minutes, so Danya used 24 seconds to play this game with Black. 0-1

First game 15..h5!

    

Second game : 12..Nh5

Second game: 22..g4

second game analysis: 37..Bxh3! 

Double Fianchetto against the London system

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 g6 3. e3 Bg7 [#] 4. Nf3 O-O 5. h3 d6 6. Nbd2 b6 double fianchetto 7. Be2 Bb7 [#] 8. O-O Nbd7 9. a4 a5 stopping expansion 10. c3 Re8 [%csl Ye5][%cal Ye7e5] preparing e7-e5 11. Bh2 e5 [#] I would say Black has equalized 12. dxe5 dxe5 13. Bb5 Qe7 14. Qe2 c6?! ( 14... Red8 ) 15. Bc4 Nd5 16. Rfd1 [#] 16...  Nc5 ( 16... e4! 17. Nd4 Be5 18. Bxe5 Nxe5 19. Bb3 Ba6 =+ ) 17. Nb3 Rad8? ( 17... Ne4 18. Qc2 Nd6 19. Bf1 e4 ) 18. e4! Nf4?! ( 18... Nxb3 19. Bxb3 Nc7 20. Qe3 c5 21. Ng5 Ne6 ) 19. Bxf4 exf4 20. e5? ( 20. Nxc5 Qxc5 21. Rxd8 Rxd8 22. e5! b5 ( 22... Qe7 23. h4 ) 23. axb5 ( 23. Bb3! ) 23... cxb5 24. Bxb5 Bxf3 25. gxf3 Bxe5 ) 20...  Nxb3 21. Bxb3 c5! [%csl Yf3][%cal Yb7f3] [#] 22. Rxd8 Rxd8 23. e6!? this is whites only break and chance to create weaknesses in blacks kingside ( 23. Re1 ) 23...  fxe6 24. Bxe6+ Kh8 25. Re1 I would say position is about equal 25...  h6 26. h4 Re8 27. h5?? [#] ( 27. Qb5 ) 27...  Bc8? ( 27... Bd5! this wins on the spot ) 28. Bc4! White saves his bishop, this move wasnt possible with 27..Bd5! 28...  Qxe2 29. Rxe2 Rxe2 30. Bxe2 g5 [#] now Black has to win the game again, he does have the bishop pair 31. Nd2 Be5 32. Kf1 Kg7 33. Ne4 Bc7 34. g4 fxg3 35. fxg3 [#] 35...  Kf7 ( 35... Bf5! very strong, attacks Knight guarding g3, also Bc2 attacking a4 is another possibility 36. Nd2 ( 36. Bd3 Bxg3 ) ( 36. Bf3 g4 37. Bg2 Bd7 38. b3 c4! 39. bxc4 Bxa4 Black is close to winning here with the a passed pawn ) 36... Bc2 37. b3 Bxg3 ) 36. Kf2 Bd7 37. Bb5 Bf5 38. Bc4+ Ke7 39. Kf3 Bd7! [%csl Ra4,Rg4][%cal Rg5g4,Rd7a4] [#] two threats, one is Bxa4, the other one g5-g4+ followed by Be8 targetting h5 40. g4 ( 40. Bb5! Be6 41. Nf2 not easy to make progress for Black here ) 40...  Bxa4 -+ Black is a pawn up 41. Bd5 [#] ( 41. b3 Bc6 ) 41...  Bd7? ( 41... Bd1+! 42. Kf2 Bxg4 this would be totally winning for Black ) 42. b3 Bf4 43. c4 Be5 44. Nd2 Bc3 45. Ne4 Bd4 46. Ng3 Kf6 [#] activating the king 47. Be4 a4 48. bxa4 Bxa4 49. Nf5 Bb3 50. Bd3 Bd1+ 51. Kg3 Be5+ 52. Kh3 Bb3 53. Nxh6 b5 54. cxb5 c4 55. Bb1 c3 56. Nf5 c2 57. Bxc2 Bxc2 58. Ne3 Be4 59. b6? ( 59. Nc4 Bf4 ) 59...  Bd4! 60. Nc4 Bd5 [#] 61. Nd6 Bxb6 62. Nf5 Be6 63. Ng3 Be3 64. Ne4+ Ke5 65. Nc3 Kf4 66. Ne2+ Kf3 67. Ng3 Bxg4+ 68. Kh2 Bf4 69. h6 Bxg3+ 70. Kg1 Be5 71. h7 Bh8 72. Kh1 Bf5 73. Kh2 g4 74. Kg1 g3 75. Kf1 Kg4 76. Ke1 Be4 77. Kd2 g2 78. Ke3 g1=Q+ 79. Kxe4 Qd4# Normal 0-1 Black wins by checkmate. 0-1

Praggnanandhaachess (2710) - RebeccaHarris (2736) 0-1

after 3..Bg7

after 7..Bb7

after 11..e5!

after 16 Rfd1 

Black to play: 27..Bd5!

Hikaru beats Carlsen today in St Louis Blitz

Fantastic game by GM Hikaru.

Video replay here -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNxwzJwtQIY&t=189s

14 f5!? with expansion on kingside. 14... Rd7? big mistake by Carlsen as 15 Nd5! and Black will not be able to push d6-d5.  it is surprising as Black was not lost after 14 f5!? for instance Ne7 or my preferred move would be Qb6+ followed by Nb4 controlling d5 and preparing Nxd3.

22Qh4!! is the winning move most likely missed by Carlsen who resigned a move later. Game analysis embedded in replay window above powered by lichess.org

Team TSM 

Ruy Lopez-Spanish Defense

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 b5 6. Bb3 Be7 7. O-O d6 8a4!?

Variation A: Black plays 8..Rb8 to main tension.

 8..Rb8 9. axb5 axb5 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Re1  

here Black has two options 11..Bd7 which is Carlsen-Topalov 2010 with great attack by Magnus.

The second option is 11..Be6 to fight for control og a2-f7.

11..Be6 12.Bxe6 fxe6 13. c3 Qd7 

here White plays d3-d4 and in King-Krasenkow 1999, White had the edge

 

Variation B: Black plays 8..b4 to prevent any pawn exchange and get space advantage.White typically plays 9.a5!? leading to following position

White typically plays Nbd2-c4 (Bc4 and b2-b3 also possible) and here a possible variation

 9..O-O 10.Re1 Be6 11. Nbd2 Rb8 12. Nc4 Nd7 13. Be3 Bf6 14. c3 bxc3 15. bxc3

De Firmian-Beliavsky game

Spanish Defense ..g6,Bg7

a popular plan for Black is to play d6,g6,Bg7 in the Spanish Defense. We will see how White should respond 

 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 g6

There is no obvious refutation, White should continue development.

7. O-O Bg7 8. Re1 O-O 9. Nbd2 

This is a key position for this variation. Black has a lot of options here to continue. The best way is to illustrate all the possible 9th moves with arrows. white usually plays Nf1-g3

in the next diagram. This is a lot of ground to cover.

Variation A: Black plays 9..Nh5 right away.

9..Nh5 10Nf1 f5 

11. exf5  11... Bxf5 12. Ng3  12... Nxg3 13. hxg3 b5  14. Bb3+  d5 

Here we are in the game Miton-Shirov 2009, but I recommend 15d4!with 15..e4 16 Ng5 followed by f2-f3 which is very strong for White.

Variation B: Black plays ..h6 to prepare a future f7-f5

 9..h6 10. Nf1 10... b5 11. Bc2 

11... d5 12. Bd2

12..Be6 13. a4 13... Qd6 14. b4 Nd7 15. Bb3 

15..dxe4  16. dxe4 Nb6  17. a5 Nc4 18. Ne3

Nepomiachi-Akopian 2010, White is slightly better 

Variation C: 9..Nd7 10Nf1 Nc5 11Bc2 (11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. d4 Anand-Caruana 2018)Ne6

12. Ng3 Bd7 13. h3 Kh8 (13..f5? 14ef5 gf5 15d4! with threat d4-d5)

14 Ne2!? (14Be3) Ne7 15. d4 with ideas Be3 and a2-a4

Areshchenko,A (2673)-Matta,V (2246) 2009

1. 6..g6 9..Nh5 vs Miton-Shirov 2009 1-0 2020.09.172. 6..g6 9..h6 vs Nepo-Akopian 2010 *3. 6..g6 9..Nd7 vs Areschenko-Matta 2009 1-04. 6..g6 9..b5 variation vs *

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 g6 7. O-O Bg7 8. Nbd2 O-O 9. Re1 Nh5 10. Nf1 f5 ( 10... Bd7 ) 11. exf5 Bxf5 12. Ng3 Nxg3 13. hxg3 b5 14. Bb3+ d5 Miton-Shirov 2009 ( 14... Kh8 15. Bd5 Qd7 16. Ng5 ) 15. d4! e4 ( 15... exd4 16. Bg5 Qd6 17. Bf4 Qd7 18. cxd4 Bg4 ( 18... Na5 19. Ne5 Bxe5 20. Rxe5 Nc4 21. Bxc4 bxc4 22. Qf3 Be4 23. Qa3 Rfe8 24. Rxe8+ Qxe8 25. Re1 ) 19. Rc1 ) 16. Ng5 Kh8 17. f3 1-0

Spanish defense d3 line with Be7 : 2 key games

we are analyzing a key variation with d6,Be7 in the spanish defense where White chooses d3.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 d6 7.c3 O-O 8. Nbd2 b5 9. Bc2 Re8 

same position reachable via Anti-Berlin d3 as follows

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 d6 5.O-O Be7 6. c3 O-O 7. Nbd2 a6 8. Ba4 b5 9. Bc2 Re8 

TABIYA 1A Spanish d3 variation d6,Be7

Black is aiming at developing Bc8-b7 as well as Bf8-g6-Bg7

White is preparing Re1,Nf1-g3 or Re1,d3-d4 and a3-a4

Lets continue with 2 logical moves for each side

10.Re1 Bf8 11.h3 Bb7

TABIYA 1B Spanish d3 variation d6,Be7 after 11..Bf8

Here there are two different plans. one consists in playing d3-d4 and soon d4-d5 and a2-a4 and c2-c4. Black will play g6,Bg7 as well as Nc6-b8-d7 followed by c7-c6

The second plan consists in postponing d3-d4 and going for Nd2-f1-g3

Game 1 : Firouzja-Carlsen 2020 after 11..Bf8

Game 2: Anand-Carlsen 2015 transposing 11Nf1 g6 12 h3 Bb7

1. Firouzja, Alireza vs Carlsen, Magnus 0-1 Tata Steel-A 82nd Rnd:9 Wijk aan Zee 2020.01.212. Anand, Viswanathan vs Carlsen, Magnus 1-0 Norway Chess 3rd Rnd:4 Stavanger 2015.06.193. Breyer vs main line 2020 1-0 2020.09.15

12. d4 g6 13. a3?! ( 13. d5 Nb8 14. Nf1 Nbd7 15. b3 ( 15. Ng3 c6 16. dxc6 Bxc6 17. Bg5 ) 15... c6 16. c4 a5 17. Be3 Rc8 18. Ng3 Nc5 19. Qd2 bxc4 20. bxc4 Nfd7 21. Rec1 Ba6 1/2-1/2 (23) Baramidze,D (2557)-Nikolic,P (2669) Germany 2009 ) ( 13. b3 d5 14. exd5 Nxd5 15. Ne4 = ) 13...  Nb8! 14. d5 ( 14. b4 Nbd7 15. Bb2 Bg7 16. dxe5!? dxe5 17. a4 c5 18. axb5 axb5 19. c4 ) 14...  c6 15. c4 Nbd7! 16. a4 ( 16. b4 Nb6! ) ( 16. b3 Qc7 17. Nf1 bxc4 18. bxc4 Rec8 =+ ) 16...  Qc7! develop queens, coordinating rooks 17. b3 Rec8 18. Ra2 bxc4! 19. bxc4 a5! fix the pawn structure 20. Nf1? ( 20. Nb1 Ba6 21. Na3 Nc5 22. Bg5 Nfd7 23. Be3 ) 20...  Ba6 21. Ne3 Nc5! 22. Nd2 cxd5 23. cxd5 Rab8 24. Ba3 Qd8! Queen Switchback. Carlsen is eyeing moves like Qh4 25. Qf3 h5! gains space and prevents Ne3-g4 26. Raa1 Bh6! activates another piece on the kingside, now that the queenside has been stabilized. 27. Rab1?! ( 27. Rac1 Kg7 28. Qd1 ) 27...  Rxb1 28. Rxb1 Kg7 29. Nef1?! ( 29. Ndf1 ) 29...  h4! Black is increasing his grip on kingside 30. Ne3 Bf4 31. Nef1 Qc7! switching back to the queenside 32. g3 hxg3 33. fxg3 Bh6 34. h4 Qd7! -+ ( 34... Qa7!? 35. Kg2 Ne6 36. dxe6 Rxc2 37. Rd1 Nxe4 38. Qxe4 Bb7 ) 35. Kg2 Nxa4!? ( 35... Ne8 ) 36. Bxa4 Qxa4 37. Bxd6 Qd4! defends e5 and attacks e4 and d2 as well 38. Qf2 Qxf2+ 39. Kxf2 Bxf1 ( 39... Ng4+! 40. Kf3 Rc3+ 41. Kxg4 Bc8# ) ( 39... Bxf1 40. Bxe5! Bh3 41. Rb2 Re8 ) 0-1

Benko ideas

 Here's a blitz game where I sacrificed a pawn in the Benko, then the exchange and finished with 2 small tactics to achieve a win with Black pieces.

After 4..a6 Benko Gambit

After 12..Ne8 going to c7, activating Bg7

Here Black to play , 21..Qb5 = ok but tried Rxc4 to win a5 pawn

This is an exchange sacrifice with Knight going to e5.

Trying to create imbalances and active play 

Position after ..h5, the engine says the position is dead equal 0.0 despite black being an exchange down.
the strong knight on e5 + c-pawn guarantees equality. my opponent plays for the win though with white

    

Black to play

can you guess which move I played with Black to take a decisive advantage
answer is Ne3+!!, if white takes fxe3 I get c1=Q+ promoting my pawn. therefore on Ne3+ my opponent rightly played Kf3  but I get to capture the rook on c4 as this is also a fork.

                                                                Black to play

How would you continue here ?

answer in the final diagram of the game

my opponent resigned after I played ..Ra3! reaching the diagram above. I offered a full rook but if white does Rxa3, c1=Q gives me a queen. tactics based on pawn promotion !

Hikaru Nakamura against Alireza Firouzja

 Hikaru won the Speed Chess Championship today on chess.com

He just signed with TSM https://tsm.gg/ 

White to play (Hikaru is White, Alireza Firouzja is Black)

Replay here

He just signed with TSM https://tsm.gg/