PLAYING AGAINST THE HIGHER-RATED OPPONENT: PART 3 - PRACTICAL EXAMPLES: https://onlinechesslessons.net/2014/12/26/playing-higher-rated-opponent-3/#.VKB9vv-oAFE PRACTICAL EXAMPLES: PROVOCATIVE STRATEGY Let’s see the various examples of playing against the higher-rated opponent by using different playing strategies. Aroshidze 2401 vs Mastrovasilis D. 2568 1. e4 c5! The high-rated player immediately offers a double-edged Sicilian Defense and hopes to outplay the opponent with knowledge, experience and good skills of calculation. 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 Now we get the system of Taimanov, where White has numerous continuations with different plans. One of the most popular setups is 6. Be3, Qd2, 0-0-0 with very sharp play, but White decided to use Provocative Strategy and go for very solid positional way. 6.Be2! a6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Be3 Bb4 9.Na4 Be7 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Nb6 Rb 12.Nc8 Qc8 13.Bd4 0-0 14.e5 Nd5 15.c4 Nf4 16.g3 Nxe2+ 17.Qxe2 We have a very solid position with slightly better chances for White due to space advantage and a better pawn structure. Black needs to deal with his backward d7 pawn or try to push f7-f6, which also would lead to a hanging pawn chain in the center. The conclusion is that White has much easier and simple play, while Black needs to take care about equality. This kind of position is very difficult to win with Black. My opponent already started worrying and wasting a lot of time. After a lot of maneuvering, we got the position shown in the 3rd diagram. White has total control over the game, while Black is tied up with protection of the d7 pawn. The flanks are also more or less blocked. White can play “another 100 moves” to try many different ways of creating real threats while the opponent is weak and passive. Of course it is a nightmare for the high-rated player who needs to win this position with Black. First of all, I transferred the King to the Queen’s side. Then Queens were exchanged and White started to push the a2-b3-c4 pawns. However, Black did not lose hope to win the game. In the 4th diagram, my opponent played an impulsive 41… g5? It is a decisive mistake in a hard position. The higher-rated player could not deal with boring play for the draw, but his risky and emotional play makes his position strategically lost. What matters is that, after 42.hxg5 hxg5 43.Bb6 Rc6 44.c5 gxf4 45.gxf4 white Rooks got an open file to enter on the last or seventh rank. 45… Bh4 46.Rh1 Rg4 47.Rdh3 Rg3+ 48.Kc4 Rh3 49.Rh3 Bf2 50.b5! axb5+ 51.Kb5 Bd4 52.Rh8+ Kb7 53.Rh7 Kc8 54.Ka6 d5 55.exd6 1 – 0
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 22:15:48 +0000
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