[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.04.24"]
[Round "?"]
[White "The Restraint Centre"]
[Black "Caro/Semi-Slav Version"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[Variant "illegal"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
{We've mainly considered what White's aiming for in this structure so far, so
let's finish our little survey of the structure with a model example of what
Black is aiming for - namely, the exchange of the White d-pawn.} 1. Pe2-e4
Pc7-c6 2. Pd2-d4 Pd7-d5 3. Nb1-c3 Pd5-e4 4. Nc3-e4 Nb8-d7 5. Bf1-d3 Ng8-f6 6.
Ne4-g5 Pe7-e6 {In this line, Black is happy to block in his c8-bishop with
this move because White has wasted a bit of time with Ne4-g5.} 7. Ng1-f3 Bf8-d6
(7... Ph7-h6 8. Ng5-e6 Qd8-e7 9. Ke1-g1 Pf7-e6 10. Bd3-g6 Ke8-d8 11. Pc2-c4 {
is an extremely strong sacrifice for White - actually sacrifice is too strong
a word when Black is unable to get any of his pieces out.}) 8. Qd1-e2 Ph7-h6 9.
Ng5-e4 Nf6-e4 10. Qe2-e4 Qd8-c7 {This line has bucketloads of opening theory,
but obviously a good knowledge of this theory is useless without understanding
the middlegame structure (which a close study of my post will give you).} 11.
Bc1-d2 (11. Qe4-g4 {is the main line, because Black's only playable way to
defend the g7-pawn is} Ke8-f8 {.}) 11... Pb7-b6 {It is important that Black
catches up to White in development before playing the key ...c5 break, as the
opening of the position usually favours the side with the better development.
In fact, when the centre opens, this is an even more important factor than
having the bishop pair - but that is a subject best reserved for another time.}
12. Ke1-c1 Bc8-b7 13. Qe4-e2 Ke8-c8 14. Pc2-c4 {I'm not as keen on c4 when
White's king is castled queenside - the king is safest with the three pawns on
their starting squares, except when a back rank mate is on the horizon.} Pc6-c5
15. Bd3-e4 Nd7-f6 (15... Bb7-e4 16. Qe2-e4 Nd7-f6 17. Qe4-a8 $4 Kc8-d7 {is a
quite humourous queen trap!}) 16. Be4-b7 Qc7-b7 17. Pd4-c5 Bd6-c5 {The main
things to remember in this structure are that White wants to control the e5
square (and even occupy it with Ne5) and advance his queenside majority to
create a passed pawn. That said, with both sides castled queenside the Black
king is in a good position stop a White passer. As for what Black should do,
let's refer to the game.} 18. Bd2-c3 (18. Nf3-e5 {would be an improvement.})
18... Qb7-e4 {Black is very happy to trade queens as then the f2-pawn will be
weak.} 19. Qe2-e4 (19. Rd1-e1 {loses control of the open d-file, but as Black
can't successfully penetrate the file this isn't a problem; note that} Qe4-e2
20. Re1-e2 Rd8-d3 {fails to} 21. Nf3-e5 {.}) 19... Nf6-e4 20. Bc3-g7 Rh8-g8 21.
Bg7-h6 Rd8-d1 (21... Ne4-f2 22. Rd1-d8 Kc8-d8 23. Rh1-f1 Rg8-g2 {was even
better as Black threatens ...Nd3 and dominates on the piece activity count.})
22. Rh1-d1 Rg8-g2 23. Ph2-h4 Rg2-f2 (23... Ne4-f2 {like in the previous note
was better, but let's not be too harsh as this was a rapid game.}) 24. Nf3-e5 {
White realises he is lost if the Black connected passed pawn reach the fourth
rank and so he looks for counterplay, but he's still struggling for a draw.}
Pf7-f6 25. Ne5-c6 Pa7-a5 26. Nc6-a7 Kc8-b8 27. Na7-b5 Pe6-e5 28. Rd1-e1 Ne4-g3
29. Bh6-d2 {After this everything comes easily.} (29. Bh6-e3 Rf2-h2 30. Be3-c5
Pb6-c5 31. Re1-e3 Ng3-e2 32. Kc1-d1 Ne2-f4 33. Re3-a3 Rh2-h4 34. Ra3-a5 Rh4-h2
35. Ra5-a6 {supposedly gives White enough counterplay to draw, but finding
this with little time on the clock is already very hard - the underlying idea
behind the whole continuation is to keep the pieces active and constantly
attack/exchange the opponent's pawns.}) 29... Rf2-h2 30. Pa2-a3 Rh2-h4 31.
Pb2-b4 Pa5-b4 32. Pa3-b4 Rh4-c4 {Summary: 1) The d4 (no e-pawn) vs. c6/e6
restraint structure mainly arises in the Caro-Kann, Semi-Slav and Catalan. If
you play any of these openings it's essential that you understand this
structure. 2) White's key pawn break is d4-d5 - White played it in three of
the five games we analysed - and is usually a good response to ...c5 or ...e5.
3) Conversely, as Black we want to play ...c5 or ...e5 to liberate our
light-squared bishop (assuming we didn't exchange it already) and exchange
White's d4-pawn, which defines White's space advantage. 4) Black benefits from
the exchange of bishops, and if all the minor pieces are exchanged he can
attack White's d4-pawn. Generally, endgames cannot harm Black. 5) If Black
doesn't break in the centre soon enough, White can often play c4-c5 to fix the
centre and attack on the flanks. 6) In the structure with White's d and e
pawns and Black's c and d pawns exchanged, White normally wants to advance his
queenside majority and stop Black advancing his with ... e5 (the key break to
make use of the central majority as Black). It's better if the kings are
placed on the kingside than on the queenside, so that the Black king is as far
away as possible from a White queenside passed pawn. We didn't get to see this
in practice but you can find plenty of examples of this in Alapin Sicilian
endgames.} * [Event "13th Asian Continental 2014"]
[Site "Sharjah UAE"]
[Date "2014.04.17"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Gao Rui"]
[Black "Bu Xiangzhi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B05"]
[WhiteElo "2484"]
[BlackElo "2699"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "106"]
[EventDate "2014.04.17"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2014.04.21"]
{In general, piece exchanges favour Black in our structure as then it is
easier for Black to find good squares for all his pieces (the typical problem
for a player with less space). The game isn't the most fascinating one played
this week but it shows that achieving d4-d5 isn't automatically a forced win
for White.} 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 Bg4 (4... dxe5 5. Nxe5 c6 {is
very similar to our structure, except that instead of ...e6 Black will
fianchetto his king's bishop.}) 5. Be2 e6 6. O-O Be7 7. c4 Nb6 8. Nc3 O-O 9.
Be3 N8d7 {Deviating from the main line of} (9... d5 10. c5 Bxf3 11. gxf3 Nc8
12. f4 {, which is considered slightly better for White but requires a good
strategic understanding to play well.}) 10. b3 dxe5 11. Nxe5 Bf5 12. Nxd7 {
Since piece exchanges favour Black, I would have preferred} (12. Nd3 {to keep
the pieces on the board and place the knight where it prevents the freeing ...
c5 and ...e5. Naturally we aren't afraid of} Bxd3 13. Qxd3 {which gives White
the bishop pair as well as the centre.}) 12... Nxd7 {Better than the queen
recapture as the knight was doing nothing on b6 - here it supports both ...c5
and ...e5.} 13. Bd3 (13. d5 Nf6 14. dxe6 fxe6 $5 {is a decent structure for
Black - it's not easy to attack the isolated e-pawn and Black has good piece
play.}) 13... Bxd3 14. Qxd3 c6 {In general, Black has absolutely nothing to
fear here - if the other two sets of minor pieces were exchanged Black would
even have the advantage because of the weakness of the d4-pawn.} 15. Rfd1 {
White tries some happy moves, but I don't think that is the right approach in
this structure as the longer the game goes on, the easier it will be for Black
to coordinate his pieces to pressure the d4-pawn, which is a chronic weakness
as it can't be defended with c2-c3.} (15. d5 $5 cxd5 (15... exd5 16. cxd5 Qa5
17. d6 Ne5 18. Qd2 Rfd8 19. Nd5 Qxd5 20. Qxd5 cxd5 21. dxe7 Rd7 22. Bxa7 Rxe7
23. Bc5 Rd7 {is the first line of the engine, but I think White can press
quite a bit in this ending with} 24. Rfd1 Nc6 25. f3 {because White's
queenside majority is a long way from the Black king on g8, and White's bishop
is better than the knight.}) 16. cxd5 Nf6 17. Rfd1 Nxd5 18. Nxd5 Qxd5 19. Qxd5
exd5 20. Rxd5 {would be slightly better for White as he can turn his d-file
control into either penetration with Rd7 next move or, if Black prevents that
with} Rfd8 21. Rxd8+ Rxd8 {, an extra pawn with} 22. Bxa7 Rd2 23. Be3 Rb2 24.
g3 {and the active rook doesn't really make up for the pawn deficit.}) 15...
Rc8 16. Bf4 Qa5 17. Ne4 Qf5 18. Qe3 Nf6 19. Nd6 (19. Bd6 Rce8 20. Bxe7 Rxe7 21.
Nd6 Qg6 {isn't a better exchange as the d6-knight can be easily ejected with ..
.Ne8 at any point.}) 19... Bxd6 20. Bxd6 Rfd8 21. Ba3 (21. Be7 Rd7 22. Bxf6
Qxf6 {would be a very mistaken exchange - Black will triple on the d-file,
placing the queen behind at least one of the rooks, and play ...c5 to win a
pawn.}) 21... Rd7 22. Bb2 {White is worse in this position as the bishop is
quite bad and Black will eventually position his knight to f5 to attack the
d4-pawn.} Qe4 23. Qc3 Rcd8 24. Re1 Qf4 25. Qg3 Qxg3 26. hxg3 Ne8 (26... h5 {
was better to prevent g4, controlling the f5-square. If the Black knight
cannot attack the d4-pawn, the position is practically unwinnable for Black.})
27. g4 {A good move, though the position is still fairly balanced.} h6 28. Re5
Nd6 29. Rae1 b5 30. d5 (30. c5 Ne8 {would be a big mistake as the knight and
rooks now have a beautiful d5-outpost, and also the b2-bishop is nobbled by
the placement of another pawn on a dark square.}) 30... exd5 31. cxd5 c5 {Now
the structure is not so relevant for us - just remember that Black is not in
any danger when he can blockade the opponent's passed pawn with a knight and
the opponent does not have the initiative.} 32. g5 Kh7 33. gxh6 Kxh6 34. g4 f6
35. g5+ fxg5 36. Kg2 Kg6 37. Re6+ Kh7 38. Rh1+ Kg8 39. Rh5 Nf5 40. Rxg5 Rxd5
41. Re5 Rxe5 42. Bxe5 {I'd recommend analysing this endgame yourself and going
through it with your coach/trainer to better understand this very common type
of endgame (R+B vs. R+N).} Rf8 43. f4 Kh7 44. Kf3 Nh4+ 45. Kg3 Ng6 46. Bd6 Rf6
47. Bxc5 Nxf4 48. Bxa7 Ne2+ 49. Kg2 Nf4+ 50. Kg3 b4 51. Rg4 Ne2+ 52. Kg2 Nf4+
53. Kg3 Ne2+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "13th Asian Continental 2014"]
[Site "Sharjah UAE"]
[Date "2014.04.17"]
[Round "1.14"]
[White "Wen Yang"]
[Black "Omar, Noa"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A13"]
[WhiteElo "2581"]
[BlackElo "2361"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2014.04.17"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2014.04.21"]
{Black's main pawn break tends to be ...c5 rather than ...e5, because normally
White can control the e5-square easily (with Nf3, Bf4/b2 and Re1, for instance)
, whereas it is much harder to stop ...c5. White has three options when Black
plays this break - to ignore it, to take on c5, or to play d5. Normally d5 is
the best response if it doesn't lose material as it increases White's space
advantage - a case in point is the following game.} 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3
Nf6 4. Bg2 d4 5. Qa4+ Bd7 6. Qb3 Bc6 7. O-O Na6 8. d3 Nc5 9. Qd1 a5 10. Na3 Be7
11. Nc2 Bxf3 12. exf3 O-O 13. f4 Ne8 14. b3 c6 15. Bb2 Bf6 16. Ba3 Be7 17. Re1
g6 18. Qd2 Ng7 19. Re5 Qb6 20. Nxd4 Ne4 21. Rxe4 Bxa3 22. Nf3 Rfd8 23. Rd1 a4
24. Qc2 axb3 25. axb3 Be7 26. d4 {We've reached our structure, in this case
with opposite-coloured bishops. Often Black can get counterplay in the
restraint structure by opening the a-file with ...a5-a4 (followed by
exchanging a White pawn on b3).} Ra3 27. Re3 Qa7 28. Red3 h5 29. h4 Bf6 30. Bh3
Ra2 31. Qc1 {Black has successfully penetrated the a-file, but it turns out
that this file is not so important. We should always consider the position at
hand before blindly following some general principle, which may not
necessarily be relevant in our position.} c5 {Black has achieved his freeing
break, and no matter what the f6-bishop will get a nice, open long diagonal.
White responds by doing what he normally needs to do to win in this structure
- break down Black's light-squared pawn wall.} 32. d5 $1 exd5 33. f5 $1 {White
transforms his more active pieces into an attack on the enemy king.} (33. Rxd5
Rxd5 34. cxd5 (34. Rxd5 Ra1) 34... c4 {threatening ...Qxf2 and mate would be
annoying. Without this tactic White would be much better, but as it is White
is struggling to equalise.}) 33... Kh7 {This is a blunder - Black needs to
bring his major pieces to the defence.} (33... gxf5 34. Qh6 Qa6 35. Ng5 Bxg5
36. Qxg5 f6 37. Qg6 {would leave Black's king really unsafe, and the obvious}
d4 38. Bxf5 Kf8 39. Qh6 {with the threat of Qh8 is getting close to mate.}) (
33... Ra1 34. Qd2 Rxd1+ 35. Qxd1 d4 36. fxg6 fxg6 {is the best defence, but
this transformation is a big strategic achievement for White, as the position
has opened up for the light-squared bishop while Black's dark-squared bishop
is still limited in scope (because of the passed d4-pawn). Very often you can
judge an opposite-coloured bishop position correctly just by comparing the two
bishops.}) 34. Qf4 Qb6 (34... Nxf5 35. Bxf5 gxf5 36. Qxf5+ Kg7 37. Ng5 {
followed by Qh7 or Rf3 is crushing (though just taking on d5 would also win).})
35. Rxd5 Rxd5 36. Rxd5 {The reason Black is losing is because White has more
pieces attacking the king than Black has defending.} Ra6 37. Rd3 Qa5 38. Kg2
Qa1 39. Rd6 (39. Rd7 Kg8 40. Qb8+ {would be even simpler, winning f7 outright
(after which the whole kingside structure implodes).}) 39... Qc3 40. Rxf6 {A
cute tactic, although 40.Rd7 was still working.} Rxf6 41. Ng5+ {Black resigned
because after} (41. Ng5+ Kg8 42. Qb8+ Ne8 43. Qxe8+ Kg7 44. Ne4 {Black will
emerge a piece down from the tactics.}) 1-0 [Event "13th Asian Continental 2014"]
[Site "Sharjah UAE"]
[Date "2014.04.20"]
[Round "4.24"]
[White "Munkhgal, G."]
[Black "Ayyad, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2424"]
[BlackElo "2161"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2014.04.17"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2014.04.21"]
{Now let's see a model example of what White is aiming for in our structure,
when Black does not break with ...c5 or ...e5. The key move for White is c4-c5,
preventing ...c5, gaining space and further constricting the passive c8-bishop
(which is Black's main problem in this structure, and which the ...c5 and ...
e5 pawn thrusts serve to liberate).} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 c6 5.
g3 Nbd7 6. Bg2 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. Nd2 {This move is a great one and I would be
very pleased if any of my trainees played it - White understands that the key
pawn break is e2-e4 and he prepares it while also defending against ...dxc4.
In closed positions it's much easier to get away with moving a piece a second
time in a row like this.} Bc7 9. e4 dxe4 10. Ndxe4 Nxe4 11. Nxe4 h6 (11... e5 {
is the obvious attempt to break out, but after} 12. d5 cxd5 13. Qxd5 (13. cxd5
{followed by d6 is also pretty strong.}) 13... Nb6 14. Qxd8 Rxd8 15. b3 {
White's pieces are much better developed in this position and the b6-knight is
a perennial problem.}) 12. b3 Nf6 (12... f5 {is normally a positional mistake
because it weakens the e6-pawn, but that's not a problem here as after} 13. Nc3
{Black can turn that pawn into an asset with} e5 {, counter-attacking in the
centre and intending} 14. d5 e4 {to obstruct the Catalan bishop on g2.}) 13.
Bb2 {White doesn't have to fear the exchange of knights - only the exchange of
bishops is in Black's favour.} Nxe4 14. Bxe4 Bb6 {Black wants to attack the
d4-pawn, but he should be concerned about the real problem in his position -
his c8-bishop, which is suffering an asthma attack.} (14... Bd7 {could run into
} 15. d5 exd5 16. cxd5 {though, when it's not easy to defend against White's
powerful bishops pointing at the Black king without dropping something.}) 15.
Qd3 Qe7 16. Rad1 Bd7 {This position is a big problem for Black because White
has more room for his pieces, and that means that any opening of the position
will be in White's favour.} 17. Qc3 (17. Rfe1 {would be more logical to line
the rook up on the same file as the opponent's queen.}) 17... Qf6 18. Qc1 Qg5
19. f4 Qg4 {The queen manoeuvres of the last few moves are a bit hard to
understand, but the next so many moves are noteworthy.} 20. Bf3 Qg6 21. Kg2
Rad8 22. Ba3 Rfe8 23. Bd6 {A very annoying move - the bishop gets in the way
of all Black's play.} Rc8 24. Qd2 Bc7 25. Be5 f6 (25... Bxe5 26. dxe5 {sees
White dominate the freshly opened d-file.}) 26. Bxc7 Rxc7 27. Qe2 Qf5 28. c5 {
This is a very accurate move. Yes, it leaves the d-pawn backward, but Black is
in no state to attack it, and in any case the e6-pawn's vulnerability binds
Black hand and foot. If Black were to sit and wait, White would make progress
with b4, a4 and b5. Instead Black tries to attack the opponent's king but only
digs his own grave as a result.} Qh7 29. Be4 g6 30. Qc2 f5 31. Bd3 g5 32. Qe2
g4 33. Qe5 Bc8 {Do you see what White did here?} 34. Bxf5 {A cute trick -
taking with the pawn hangs the e8-rook and the queen capture leaves the
c7-rook undefended.} 1-0[Event "Kecskemet-A"]
[Site "Kecskemet"]
[Date "1927.??.??"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Alekhine, Alexander"]
[Black "Asztalos, Lajos"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D43"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "1927.??.??"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "HUN"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]
{I've used games from the latest TWIC for this post, but it would be remiss to
exclude this old goldie which is a great example of White first tying Black to
the defence of the weak c6-pawn (all set up by the familiar c4-c5! break) and
then using his extra space and better placed pieces to start a successful
kingside attack (as Black is unable to bring his pieces to the defence as
quickly). All in all, a pretty simple example of the principle of two
weaknesses.} 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Bg5 h6 5. Bxf6 Qxf6 6. Nc3 c6 7.
Qb3 Nd7 8. e4 dxe4 9. Nxe4 Qf4 10. Bd3 Be7 11. O-O O-O 12. Rfe1 Rd8 13. Rad1
Qc7 14. Ng3 Nf8 15. Qc3 a5 16. a3 a4 17. Ne5 Qa5 18. Qc1 Bd7 19. c5 b5 20. Be4
Qc7 21. Qc3 Be8 22. Ne2 Ra6 23. Nc1 Nd7 24. Nxd7 Rxd7 25. Nd3 Rd8 26. Ne5 Bf8
27. h4 Raa8 28. Bb1 h5 29. Qf3 g6 30. g4 hxg4 31. Qxg4 Bg7 32. Ba2 b4 33. Bc4
bxa3 34. bxa3 Qa5 35. Qe4 Qc7 36. Qf4 Rab8 37. h5 gxh5 38. Kh1 Rb7 39. Rg1 Qe7
40. Rxg7+ Kxg7 41. Rg1+ Kh7 42. Nxf7 1-0[Event "ch-POL Rapid 2014"]
[Site "Trzcianka POL"]
[Date "2014.04.13"]
[Round "5.10"]
[White "Cukrowski, F."]
[Black "Wojtaszek, R."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B17"]
[WhiteElo "2220"]
[BlackElo "2716"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2014.04.13"]
[EventType "rapid"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "POL"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2014.04.21"]
{We've mainly considered what White's aiming for in this structure so far, so
let's finish our little survey of the structure with a model example of what
Black is aiming for - namely, the exchange of the White d-pawn.} 1. e4 c6 2. d4
d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Bd3 Ngf6 6. Ng5 e6 {In this line, Black is happy
to block in his c8-bishop with this move because White has wasted a bit of
time with Ne4-g5.} 7. N1f3 Bd6 (7... h6 8. Nxe6 Qe7 9. O-O fxe6 10. Bg6+ Kd8
11. c4 {is an extremely strong sacrifice for White - actually sacrifice is too
strong a word when Black is unable to get any of his pieces out.}) 8. Qe2 h6 9.
Ne4 Nxe4 10. Qxe4 Qc7 {This line has bucketloads of opening theory, but
obviously a good knowledge of this theory is useless without understanding the
middlegame structure (which a close study of my post will give you).} 11. Bd2 (
11. Qg4 {is the main line, because Black's only playable way to defend the
g7-pawn is} Kf8 {.}) 11... b6 {It is important that Black catches up to White
in development before playing the key ...c5 break, as the opening of the
position usually favours the side with the better development. In fact, when
the centre opens, this is an even more important factor than having the bishop
pair - but that is a subject best reserved for another time.} 12. O-O-O Bb7 13.
Qe2 O-O-O 14. c4 {I'm not as keen on c4 when White's king is castled queenside
- the king is safest with the three pawns on their starting squares, except
when a back rank mate is on the horizon.} c5 15. Be4 Nf6 (15... Bxe4 16. Qxe4
Nf6 17. Qa8+ $4 Kd7 {is a quite humourous queen trap!}) 16. Bxb7+ Qxb7 17. dxc5
Bxc5 {The main things to remember in this structure are that White wants to
control the e5 square (and even occupy it with Ne5) and advance his queenside
majority to create a passed pawn. That said, with both sides castled queenside
the Black king is in a good position stop a White passer. As for what Black
should do, let's refer to the game.} 18. Bc3 (18. Ne5 {would be an improvement.
}) 18... Qe4 {Black is very happy to trade queens as then the f2-pawn will be
weak.} 19. Qxe4 (19. Rde1 {loses control of the open d-file, but as Black
can't successfully penetrate the file this isn't a problem; note that} Qxe2 20.
Rxe2 Rd3 {fails to} 21. Ne5 {.}) 19... Nxe4 20. Bxg7 Rhg8 21. Bxh6 Rxd1+ (21...
Nxf2 22. Rxd8+ Kxd8 23. Rf1 Rxg2 {was even better as Black threatens ...Nd3
and dominates on the piece activity count.}) 22. Rxd1 Rxg2 23. h4 Rxf2 (23...
Nxf2 {like in the previous note was better, but let's not be too harsh as this
was a rapid game.}) 24. Ne5 {White realises he is lost if the Black connected
passed pawn reach the fourth rank and so he looks for counterplay, but he's
still struggling for a draw.} f6 25. Nc6 a5 26. Na7+ Kb8 27. Nb5 e5 28. Re1 Ng3
29. Bd2 {After this everything comes easily.} (29. Be3 Rh2 30. Bxc5 bxc5 31.
Re3 Ne2+ 32. Kd1 Nf4 33. Ra3 Rxh4 34. Rxa5 Rh2 35. Ra6 {supposedly gives White
enough counterplay to draw, but finding this with little time on the clock is
already very hard - the underlying idea behind the whole continuation is to
keep the pieces active and constantly attack/exchange the opponent's pawns.})
29... Rh2 30. a3 Rxh4 31. b4 axb4 32. axb4 Rxc4+ {Summary: 1) The d4 (no
e-pawn) vs. c6/e6 restraint structure mainly arises in the Caro-Kann,
Semi-Slav and Catalan. If you play any of these openings it's essential that
you understand this structure. 2) White's key pawn break is d4-d5 - White
played it in three of the five games we analysed - and is usually a good
response to ...c5 or ...e5.3) Conversely, as Black we want to play ...c5 or ...
e5 to liberate our light-squared bishop (assuming we didn't exchange it
already) and exchange White's d4-pawn, which defines White's space advantage.
4) Black benefits from the exchange of bishops, and if all the minor pieces
are exchanged he can attack White's d4-pawn. Generally, endgames cannot harm
Black. 5) If Black doesn't break in the centre soon enough, White can often
play c4-c5 to fix the centre and attack on the flanks. 6) In the structure
with White's d and e pawns and Black's c and d pawns exchanged, White normally
wants to advance his queenside majority and stop Black advancing his with ...
e5 (the key break to make use of the central majority as Black). It's better
if the kings are placed on the kingside than on the queenside, so that the
Black king is as far away as possible from a White queenside passed pawn. We
didn't get to see this in practice but you can find plenty of examples of this
in Alapin Sicilian endgames.} 0-1