[Event "Kilkenny Major"]
[Site "Kilkenny IRL"]
[Date "2002.12.01"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Murray, David"]
[Black "Willow, Dave"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C12"]
[Annotator "RoundTower, msh"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2002.11.29"]

1. e4

{ RT: I annotated this game first with a pen and paper and real chessboard.
  Then I transferred the annotations to PGN with the freeware program SCID
  from scid.sourceforge.net. }

1...e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Bh4

{ RT: I knew this is theoretically incorrect. But I played it once before
  up to White's 9th move and wanted to try it again. 6. Bd2 is much more
  common and theoretical.
  MH: At least after this game you'll have a better understanding of the
  two moves and their consequences. }

( 6. Bd2 { MH: It's safer to have Pe5 rather than having it end up at f6.
  It's useful to have Bd2, for however long, on d2 where it targets Ph6
  and breaks the pin on Nc3 rather than chopped off at h4 when the pin on
  Nc3 is a serious matter. Let's see how these key differences play out in
  your game. } )

6...g5 7. exf6 gxh4 8. Qg4

( { MH: First, let's look briefly at the simple Qf3 to defend Pf6. }
  8. Qf3 Nd7 { and it's immediately evident White is losing Pf6. So,
  what compensation does White have for the pawn? There is a large open
  space from e3-e5-h5-h3 and even up to g7; can White activate his pieces
  in that area? It doesn't seem likely White can dominate that area more
  than Qd8 & Nd7. Probably the most White can do is regain the pawn by
  capturing Ph4. } )

8...Qxf6 $11

{ RT: Black's only real alternative is 8...Nd7. But the N may be needed
  on c6.
  MH: Very true. }

( { RT: } 8...Nd7 { MH: passive compared to the game continuation } 9. Qxh4 )

9. Nf3 Nc6

{ MH: Notice that with Pe5 gone missing it's much easier for Black's queen
  to create some offense, aiming at Pd4 in particular. Without ...Qf6 it's
  unlikely Black would've found ...Nc6 to be useful. Still ...Bxc3 and ...c5
  are stronger ways to fight White's bind on the dark squares and to complete
  his development. The game continuation shows how difficult it is for Black
  to directly fight through the bind on d4 & e5 with ...e5. }

( { RT: } 9...c5 10. O-O-O Nc6 $2
  ( { MH: } 10...Bxc3 11. bxc3 Nc6 12. Qxh4 Qxh4 13. Nxh4 b6 $11
    { In this ending Black has only two pawn islands and the g-file favors
    Black a little while the e- and b-files could favor White. neither
    side has a lot of advantage, but White has doubled c-file pawns which
    *could* be a problem, though at the moment they seem fine. } )
  11. Nb5 Qe7 12. c3 a6 13. cxb4 cxb4 14. Qg7 Rf8 15. Qxh6 axb5 16. Bxb5 Rxa2
  17. Kb1 Ra5 18. Bxc6+ bxc6 19. Qxh4 Qa7 20. Nd2 Ra1+ 21. Kc2 Ra2 22. Nb3 Qa6
  23. Qg3 Qc4+ { 1/2-1/2, Murray, D - Aherne, T, Greystones 2002 } )

10. O-O-O

{ RT: My king should be quite safe here. It is definitely bad to take on h4
  and Bb5 commits the "good" bishop which I might need on d3. After this,
  tricks with ...e5 don't work for Black.
  MH: It looks good to me. }

( { RT: } 10. Bb5 $6 Bd7 { MH: and all White has done is align Bb5 with
  Bd7 to achieve a trade he doesn't really want } )

( { RT: } 10. Qxh4 $2 Qxh4 11. Nxh4 Nxd4 )

( { RT: } 10. Nxh4 $2 e5 $17
  ( { MH: or } 10...Qxd4 $17 { threatens ...Qxg4 or ...Bxc3+ and prevents
    O-O-O } ) )

10...Bd7

{ MH: Black suddenly lost his zeal for active play! This indicates he's not
  aiming for ...e5 and that gives White a chance to grab the advantage. }

( { RT: } 10...e5 $2 11. Nxd5 Qd6 12. Qg7 { +/- } )

( { RT: } 10...Bxc3 { MH: White's pressure on Pd5 has to be eliminated if
  Black's to play ...e5; and since he can't play ...c5 it seems clear he
  needs ...e5 to complete his development before White creates a bind. }
  11. bxc3 e5 12. Qxh4 Qxh4 13. Nxh4 e4
  ( { MH: } 13...Be6 { might be better in spite of the split pawns Black
    would incur after 14. dxe5 } 14. dxe5 $6 Nxe5 15. f4 Ng4 16. f5
    ( 16. Re1 O-O-O 17. f5 Bd7 )
    16... Nf2 17. fxe6 Nxh1 18. Bb5+ c6 19. Bxc6+ bxc6 20. exf7+ Kxf7
    21. Rxh1 )
  14. f3 { looks fine for White }
  ( { or maybe } 14. g3 { intending Nh4-g2-e3 } ) )

11. Qxh4

{ RT: I have to take this off sooner or later, but my N ends up offside
  MH: not so offside as you seem to think }

( { RT: } 11. Nxh4 Bxc3 12. bxc3 Qxf2
  ( { also after } 12...e5 13. Qg3 exd4 { White shouldn't get enough
    compensation, for example } 14. Re1+ Be6 15. f4 O-O-O ) )

11...Qxh4 12. Nxh4

{ RT: Here I thought White had a reasonably good position. Black's
  light-squared bishop is "bad" and Black will find it hard to achieve
  the pawn-breaks ...e5 and ...c5. With this in mind maybe Black would
  like to play 12...Bxc3, but it doesn't work:
  MH: The position favors White, but if he doesn't press the advantage
  forcefully the position could open and give Black's two bishops a
  chance to show their stuff. }

12...O-O-O

( { RT: } 12...Bxc3 $2 { MH: There's no need for Black to give up the
  two bishops if he can't get in ...e5 advantageously, especially since
  Nc3 wasn't doing much. } 13. bxc3 e5 14. dxe5 { looks good for White
  who can follow up with f4 and Nh4-f3-d4 } )

( { RT: } 12...f6 $2 { weakening } 13. f4 )

13. Nf3

{ RT: If White really wants to play against ...e5 he can try 13. f4!?
  Would this be more accurate?
  MH: I like f2-f4 a lot. After Nh4-f3 Black doesn't have any immediate
  concerns and has time to reorganize a bit; he can aim for ...Ne7, ...Bd6,
  ...c5 or maybe ...Ne7, ...c6, ...Ng6, ...Rhe8, ...f6, ...e5. This is
  a slow plan, but if White doesn't force much then there's time. The
  quick Nf3-e5 is probably repulsed by ...Be8 and ...f6. So, White needed
  a more active plan which involved pawn play, trying to force more
  weaknesses in Black's position. }

( { RT: } 13. f4 $1 $14 { MH: Despite the difficulty it does make sense to
  play a minority attack (making Nh4 useful where it sits), holding e5 with
  pieces and using f2-f4-f5xe6 to force a weak pawn on Black. You could also
  use g2-g3, Bf1-h3 to back up f4-f5. } 13...f6
  ( { MH: } 13...Be7 $2 14. Nf3 )
  14. f5 Bxc3 15. bxc3 e5 16. dxe5 Nxe5 17. Rxd5 Bc6 18. Rxd8+ Rxd8 19. Be2
  { MH: After considering this variation, pawn sac and all, it seems Black has
  to leave his f7-d5 pawn chain intact and just support it. } )

13...Rhg8 14. Rd3 $5

{ RT: coming to c3, e3 or h3 maybe
  MH: Aiming for Nc3-e2-g3-h5 would be interesting. Of course, there's no
  guarantee Black will sit still and let White create a complete bind on d4,
  e5 & f6. }

( { MH: } 14. Ne2 $5 { I know it seems odd to maneuver before having developed
  all the pieces, but there wasn't any pressing need to develop Bf1 yet.
  Regaining the bind on d4-f6 is very important. } )

14...Bd6

{ RT: I really don't understand positions like these very well. Would
  14...f6!? have caused more problems? }

( { RT: } 14...f6 { MH: I think that move is likely to be part of Black's plan,
  but it's just not necessary at this point. } )

15. g3

{ RT: I was reluctant to play g3, as it stops any ideas of Rd3-h3. But there
  is no other way to defend the g-pawn in the long run, and now I have g2 and
  h3 for my B. This move also takes away the f4-square from the Black bishop,
  which is important in some lines, particularly if I want to put a R on d2
  or e3...
  MH: In this situation it makes pretty good sense. you never know you might
  yet get to play Nf3-h4 (or Nf3-e1), f2-f4. }

( { MH: } 15. a3 { prevents ...Nb4, ...c5 and might prepare b2-b4 to keep a
  clamp on c5. Whether that's something you can really do isn't yet clear. } )

15...a6

{ RT: Instead Black can try 15...Nb4 immediately. In the main line I give
  after 15...Nb4, White does not need the b5-square. }

( { RT: } 15...Nb4 { !? } 16. Rd2
  ( 16. Re3 $2 )
  16...c5 17. a3
  ( 17. Nb5 $2 )
  17...Nc6 18. Bh3 cxd4 19. Nxd4 Nxd4 20. Rxd4 Bc5 21. Rd2 Bc6 22. Re1 a5
  { and Black's bishops and rooks support the central pawns pretty well, while
  White's pieces 'bite on granite'. } )

16. Bh3

{ RT: It turns out the B is quite well placed here, still fighting against
  the ...e5 break. }

( { RT: } 16. Bg2 Nb4 17. Rd2
  ( 17. Re3 c5 18. a3 Nc6 19. Rd1 cxd4 20. Nxd4 Nxd4 21. Rxd4 Bc5 )
  17...c5 { =+ } )

( { RT: I could also have tried } 16. a3 { preventing ...Nb4 and not yet
  committing the bishop. But for practical purposes, I didn't mind the game
  getting a bit more tactical. } )

16...Nb4 17. Rd2 Kb8 $2

{ RT: It appears my opponent saw problems on the h3-c8 diagonal after
  17...c5!? I could have used this tempo to play 18. a3! but instead I
  thought I could exploit the fact that Black's N is temporarily not
  covering e5: }

( { MH: } 17...c5 { otherwise ...Nb4 was pretty senseless } )

18. Re1

( { RT: } 18. a3 $1 Nc6 19. Re1 { and Black still has to work a lot to open
  up the game } )

18...c5 19. Ne5

{ RT: here Black has several ways to get an advantage }

( { RT: } 19. dxc5 $6 { is again just making a big concession in the centre } )

19...Bxe5 $6

{ RT: giving up the "good" bishop and activating White's Re1. On the other
  hand, it wins a pawn...
  MH: at the cost of giving White a handful of free offensive moves to make... }

( { RT: } 19...Be8 $1 { =+  similar to the other line, Black will regroup
  with ...Nc6 and retain better central control } )

( { RT: } 19...cxd4 $2 { MH: just allows White to thrash around like a fish
  on a hook; he might get loose or just confuse Black } )

20. Rxe5

( { RT: } 20. dxe5 { after the game, my opponent said this was the only move
  he had considered. It seems at least as good as the game continuation.
  MH: and the use of f2-f4-f5 and at least a little pressure on Pd5 keeps
  White in the game. perhaps the biggest problem for black, compared to the
  previous position, is that his pawns aren't as mobile with Pe5 blocking
  them. That makes it difficult for him to push back White's pieces to make
  room for his own. Now he has to fight through closed lines and it's not
  at all certain he will win. There's the possibility of f2-f4 and then
  ...h6-h5-h4 to attack Pg3, but White isn't obliged to play f2-f4! Nope,
  Black should find a plan to win from the immediate position and not count
  on White to weaken his position any further. To that end, consider that
  Black has a 4-to-3 queen-side pawn majority. He should align behind those
  pawns and advance them. I'd suggest something like ...b5, ...Nc6, ...b4,
  ...Kc7 and a slow steady advance of pawns to create contact points with
  White's pawns, then there can be some line opening way over on the a-, b-
  or c-files where Black might be able to fight more advantageously (far
  from Bh3). } 20...d4 $2
  ( { MH: } 20...b5 21. Kb1 Kc7 22. Ne2 Nc6 $15 )
  21. Ne4 Nxa2+ 22. Kb1 Nb4 23. Nxc5 { = } )

20...cxd4 $2

( { MH: } 20...Nc6 21. Rh5 cxd4 22. Ne2 Rg6
  ( 22...e5 $2 23. Bxd7 Rxd7 24. Rxh6 { and White's pieces are attacking
    more than Black's! } )
  23. Nxd4 Ne7 { is still very unclear } )

21. Ne2

( { RT: } 21. Rxd4 $4 Nc6 $19 )

21...Nxa2+ $6

{ MH: Grabbing this pawn costs time and let's White's pieces become very
  active. It's very risky. }

( { MH: } 21...Nc6 22. Rh5 Rg6 )

22. Kb1 Nb4 23. Rh5 Rg6

( { RT: } 23...Rh8 24. Rxd4 Nc6 25. Rdh4 { wins the P back more easily. } )

24. Rxd4 Nc6 25. Rdh4 Rh8 26. Nf4

{ RT: the most active move
  MH: Is it the most active? I thought the idea was to win ph6, but I guess
  that if you thought you could only get it in trade for Pa2 then it's nothing
  special. However, maybe there's another way: see the note. }

( { MH: } 26. g4 $5 { simply aims to win Ph6 and make Pg4 into a passer at
  h7 by g4-g5xh6-h7. Can Black stop this plan? } 26...e5 27. g5 Bxh3
  28. Rxh3 Rhg8 29. gxh6 )

26...Rf6 27. Nxd5

{ MH: Yes, it looks like black missed an opportunity to trade Ph6 for Pf2,
  thereby keeping good chances; especially with Rf2 and Nc6 able to go at Kb1
  while White's pieces aren't in position, after capturing Ph6, to transition
  to another offensive. }

27...exd5 $2

{ RT: this move came as a surprise to me. I had expected 27...Rxf2! which I
  still think is better. }

( { RT: } 27...Rxf2 28. Rxh6
  ( 28. Nb6 { I thought this move would give me equality, but I missed at
    least one tactical point. } 28...Be8 { I underestimated this move, because
    the B looked so fragile here, and I thought it would be vulnerable to a
    White Rook landing on h8 } 29. Rxh6 Rxh6 30. Rxh6 Rxh2 31. Rh8 Kc7
    32. Na8+ { only chance for material equality, but it doesn't work }
    32...Kd8 { and White cannot rescue his pieces easily } )
  28...Rxh6 29. Rxh6 Rxh2 30. Nf6
  ( 30. Nb6 { transposes to the note on 28. Nb6!? and also gives Black a large
    endgame advantage } )
  30...Bc8 { Again White has a very difficult endgame } )

28. Bxd7 Rxf2 29. Rxd5

( { RT: } 29. Rxh6 Rxh6 30. Rxh6 Nb4 { would give Black better chances } )

( { MH: A more aggressive try at winning is to regain the pawn and simplify to
  a rook & pawn ending where White has the more outside passer. }
  29. Bxc6 bxc6 30. Rxh6 Rxh6
  ( 30...Rc8 $6 31. Rf4 Rxf4 32. gxf4 Kb7 33. Rh7 Rf8 34. h4 Kb6 { seems to
    favor White, but it isn't clear he'll be able to break through with Ph4;
    Kb1 isn't participating! } )
  31. Rxh6 Kb7 { and again White's king isn't participating, but this time
  Black has his rook more active and can move behind a passed White pawn; he
  just can't allow a rook trade (the h-file pawn would win immediately) } )

29...Kc7

{ RT: Now White's rooks control the 4th and 5th ranks, so Black can't use his
  N or his Rh8 to attack }

( { MH: } 29...Rf6 { frees Rh8 a bit, though it makes the Rf6 more passive } )

30. Bxc6 Kxc6 31. Rdh5

{ RT: I had a lucky escape into an equal material rook ending. I was so relieved
  at this that I offered a draw which my opponent immediately accepted. In fact
  since my rooks are so active I could probably have played on and had better
  chances. Black has two ways to play: defend the h-pawn or attack along White's
  second rank. (sample lines below) I think objectively the game is drawn either
  way, but I'm not exactly an endgame expert: how should White play this
  position and what should be the result?

  MH: Sometimes our emotions carry the day. I had exactly the same experience
  in a game this last weekend. After the game my opponent and a friend of mine
  chided me for offering a draw, rather than at least waiting to see my
  opponent's next move. We'd just made time control and I guess I was a bit
  disoriented. Oh well, that's the way it goes sometimes.

  Conclusions from this game: This game was about controlling the centre, in
  particular the e5-square. Once Black was ...c5 his central pawns became
  dominant and he should probably have won. However even though this sounds
  like the game was very positional it was also sharp and tactical in
  places -- I'm sure I've missed a dozen blunders even in this analysis. I
  think I should be more aware of controlling the centre, either with pieces
  or with pawns.

  MH: Controlling the center is not an end in itself. It's just a way of
  restraining the opponent, so you have time to put your pieces into play and
  bash your opponent at the first chance. As far as this French Def. position
  you can now know for certain that if your opponent has ways to challenge
  your d4 & e5 then you'd better control those squares sufficiently with pieces
  and even in some situations with pawns. And, if you can't restrain him he'll
  use his pawns to push you back (eventually) and take over the initiative.
  Yes, there are always positional concerns, strategic aims and short-term
  tactics. That's just the way of the game.

  I get the sense that you prefer a game where your pieces are free to do some
  damage. That's fine. Just take these games as a lesson of how to fight the
  opponent's pawn play, so that you can ensure your pieces that freedom of
  movement. Then you can get on with finding more direct ways to try to win. }

( { RT: } 31. Rdh5 Rf6
  ( 31...Re8 { MH: This might be the best try: get the rooks active and don't
    trade them. } 32. Rxh6+ Kb5
    ( { MH: Safer is } 32...Kc7 )
    33. c4+
    ( { MH: } 33. R6h5+ Kb6 )
    ( 33. R4h5+ f5 34. Rf6 Re1+ 35. Ka2 Rxc2 36. Rhxf5+ $16 )
    33...Kb4 { and now White is in danger of being mated } )
  32. Kc1
  ( { MH: A more testing line is } 32. g4 b5 $1 { controlling c4 is amazingly
    crucial at this moment!!!! }
    ( 32...Kc7 { for example } 33. g5 hxg5 34. Rc4+ $18 )
    33. g5 hxg5 34. Rxh8 gxh4 35. Rxh4 Rf1+ 36. Ka2 Rf3 { is likely drawn } )
  32...Kd6 33. Kd2 Kd7
  ( 33...Ke6 34. Ke3 { +=  and the White king is still cut off by the well placed
    rook on f6, but White is still slightly better placed I think } )
  34. Ke3 Re8+ { =  activating the rook with gain of tempo and equalising } )

1/2-1/2

