Rapid Game Recap: White in the Ruy Lopez Anti-Berlin
Fighting for a podium finish in a must-win position
To set the scene, in this tournament I have 4.5/6, and my opponents leads the tournament with 5.5. If I win, I will at least share second place with him in the Reformed Chess Club 2023 Summer Swiss tournament. There’s no prize, it’s mostly just friendly competition. But it’s still competition.
Time Control: 15 minutes + 10 second increment
White: Me (1715 chess.com rapid)
Black: Wesley (1507* chess.com rapid) *I think Wesley is clearly underrated.
The Opening
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6
Wesley opted for the Berlin Defense. The last time we played, he went for the Open Variation of the Ruy Lopez (3…a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4), and we got into a very theoretical line where I came out on top after winning a pawn. This time he goes for something a bit different.
4.d3
I prefer this move because the positions have a little bit more fight in them. However, I have become more interested in 4.O-O ever since reading this book:
4…Bc5 5.c3 d6
For some reason, I had thought that 5…d6 is a mistake here. It’s probably because in a superficially similar position, also arising from the Ruy Lopez, d6 is a mistake, but because here the black Knight is on f6, White can, at best, get a pawn for the trouble, and not a full piece, because Black can quickly castle out of any trouble.
I mistakenly played 6.d4.
6.d4 is not incorrect in the slightest, but it does change the nature of the game away from a typical Ruy Lopez middlegame — I could have opted for 6.O-O O-O where we have a rather common tabiya. The reason I say “mistakenly” is because I was going through some efforts to win what I thought was a piece but was actually a measly pawn.
6….exd4 7.cxd4 Bb6?! (7…Bb4+ is better, since it doesn’t stop b5). 8.d5 a6 9.Ba4 Ba5+!
This is Black’s best option here, since now b5 is available to block the pin of the knight — it does come at the cost of a pawn however. My next move I consider to be a bit amateurish. I played it automatically but it was clearly an inferior choice.
10.Nc3?! (clearly, 10.Nbd2 is better since Black no longer can isolate and double my c-pawns) b5 11.dxc6 bxa4 12.Qxa4 Bxc3+! 13.bxc3 O-O 14.O-O
The Middlegame
Now is a good time to re-assess my position. The positives:
Lots of space in the center and on the queenside. The c6 pawn has a cramping effect on black’s queenside, and d5 cannot really be played due to the advance e5.
I have a slight lead in development.
My queen is active, performing an important role protecting the e-pawn.
The negatives:
I’m missing the light square bishop. Yes, I won a pawn, but I still would have liked to keep this bishop.
The opposite color bishops in this position mean that I probably can’t just trade stuff down and try to win with my material advantage.
My material advantage isn’t necessarily felt, since my c-pawns are both isolated and doubled (another demerit of the move Nc3)
At this point, I would like to consolidate my position and seek a path to trade off the knight for my bishop.
14…Re8? (14…Bg4! quickening development and threatening to ruin my kingside pawns. There is hardly a useful square for this bishop anywhere else, and I could prophylactically stop it with h3 later since given the chance). 15.Re1 h6 16.h3 (no more Bg4) d5? 17.e5! (as I mentioned earlier, since I have this advance, I gain space and displace Black’s pieces more).
17…Ne4 18.Qd4 Be6 19.Qd3 (making room for Nd4) Bf5.
Here I chose 20.Qe3 which was unnecessary. The knight jumps are not scary and any discovered attack by the bishop I can dodge via Qd4. I could have played the space-gaining 20.a4 without worry of my queen’s safety. 20…Qe7 21.a4 Qe6 22.Ba3?
This loses my extra pawn as well as any advantage I had. I had looked at Nd4, but thought that this was losing the e5 pawn. Not so!: 22.Nd4! and e5 is immune: 22…Qxe5?? 23.f3!, and the knight is pinned since the queen is hanging. This is another one of those duh moments where if I had just asked myself “what if I do it anyway?” I would have seen that Nd4 was not only viable, but the best move on the board.
22…Qxc6. You don’t have to ask my opponent twice. 23.Nd4 Qg6 24.Nxf5, accomplishing my mini-plan to get rid of that bishop to avoid the drawish opposite-color bishop endgame, but by now the position is equal and I have nothing to show for my efforts. 24…Qxf5 25.f4 f6 26.c4, trying to undermine the knight on e4, 26…fxe5 27.fxe5 Rxe5 28.Rf1? Qe6? 29.Bb2? Rf5?!
Some mutual strategic missteps lead to this moment where I finally have a chance to get back in the game after being on the defensive. The rook is active and should not be traded. 29…Rg5 would have been a much better choice.
30.Rxf5 Qxf5 31.Qd4. Always threaten mate - Ben Finegold.
31…Nf6 Always stop mate - Nick Visel
32.Qc5. At this point I am prodding for weaknesses. My bishop provides me a lot of play, and I’m threatening Bxf6 to win a pawn and equalize the position.
32…Rd8. Defending against my threat.
33.Rf1 Qe6?! 34.Bxf6 gxf6 35.Qxc7 (equal material now) Rc8 36.Qg3 Kf7 37.Re1? (the rook is better placed on f1 after 37.cxd5 Qxd5 Qh4 where it puts some pressure on f6)
37…Qb6+ 38.Kh1 Rxc4
The Endgame
Black is up a pawn, but the king is very weak, so White has enough activity and threats to compensate for equality. Objectively this should be a draw.
39.Qd3! with a double threat of Qh7+ and Qxd5. 39…Kg7 40.Qxd5 Rc7 41.Qd8 (threat: 42.Re7+ Rxe7 43.Qxb6 winning the queen) 41…Qc6! 42.Re7+ Rxe7 43.Qxe6 Kg6 44.Qb4
This sort of endgame is clearly theoretically drawn. Equal material, no passed pawns, both sides have weak kings and active queens. Since from my perspective this is a must-win game, I have to keep prodding. Black’s King is very active, which could be a bother. At any point my opponent could go for some perpetual check ideas, but never does.
44…Qd5 (perhaps avoiding perpetual himself) 45.Qg4+ Qg5 46. Qe4 Kh5 47.g4+ (a risky-looking choice but I should be safe as long as I defend with my queen — I’m trying to preserve my kingside pawns.) Kh4 48.Qf3 Qc1+ 49.Kg2 Qb2+ 50.Kg1 Qd4+ 51.Kh2 Qe5+ 52.Kg2 Kg5 53.Qg3 (threatening h4+) Qxg3+ 54.Kxg3
My chances of winning are extremely small. At this point all I can do is try to provoke an error by playing for the better side of the draw.
54….f5 55.h4+ Kf6 56.Kf4 fxg4 57.Kxg4 Kg6 58.h5+ Kf6 59.a5 Ke6?! Doesn’t jeopardize the win, but it gives me a thread of hope. 60.Kf4
61…Kd6?? My opponent plays for the win, but his pawn on the sixth rank is slower than my pawn on the fifth. It need three moves to queen — his needs five, and my king reaches the h6-pawn first. I accept the free gift.
61.Kf5 Kc5 62.Kg6 Kb5 63.Kxh6 Kxa5 64.Kg7 Kb4 65.h6 a5 66.h7 a4 67.h8=Q a3 68.Qb8+ 1-0
Lesson learned:
Always ask “What if I do it anyway?”. Calculate lines even if you lose material, because that loss might be temporary and also lead to getting material back, with interest.
Thanks for playing through it with me.
Here’s a gif of the full game: