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Annotated Games"Pawns: The Soul of Chess"The Janitor Jim Series: Game 2Annotated by David Surratt [Click here to view the "Annotated_Games" PGN file in Chess Tutor, an interactive chess board.] [Or download the PGN file to use in your own chess program.] In this game, we're going to take a look at the pawns and learn what they can tell us about the position and about the plans for each player. When I was first learning the game, my brother-in-law told me that I played my pawns worse than anyone he'd ever seen. I had no clue what he was talking about then, but I have since come to appreciate what the 18th-century Frenchman, Francois Andre Philidor, said - "Pawns are the soul of the game. They alone create attack and defense; the way they are deployed decides the fate of the game." licenser vs. Janitor Jim 1.e4 e5 Black fights back right away for his share of the center. 2.Nf3 Nc6 Both White & Black's last moves accomplish two things: they develop a piece, and they continue the fight for the center. White's 2.Nf3 attacks Black's e-pawn, and Black's 2...Nc6 defends it. Notice that both knights also eyeball the d4 square. An additional advantage of White's last move is that it helps to prepare kingside castling. 3.Bb5 The signature move of the Ruy Lopez Opening (also known as the Spanish Opening.) This is one of the oldest and best known of the many different opening systems. It's named after a 16th Century Spanish priest - Ruy Lopez de Segura - who wrote one of the first known books about chess and analyzed this opening system extensively.
Position after 3.Bb5 The threat of 3.Bb5 is a tactic called removing the guard (in this case the defender of the e5-pawn) by Bxc6. The threat doesn't work right away though, since after 3...a6 (the most common way of responding) 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.Nxe5
Position after 5.Nxe5 - analysis and now Black gets the pawn back with the double attack 5...Qd4, when White can't defend both the knight and the pawn. That's why after 3...a6 White usually plays 4.Ba4, although 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0 (called the Exchange Variation) is also played. 3. ..... Nf6 This move, attacking White's e-pawn, normally leads to a line known as the Berlin Defense. White has other ideas though, as we shall see. My intention was to play a slow system of development, delaying the battle until the middlegame. 4.d3 The more usual response to Black's third move is not to defend the pawn (since it's not really in danger of being lost yet) 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Be7 ( 5...Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Ke8 10.b3 h6 11.h3 Be6) 6.Qe2 Nd6 7.Bxc6 bxc6 8.dxe5 Nb7 9.Nc3 0-0 10.Nd4. I won't go into these lines as they are part of a more detailed study of the Ruy Lopez. I offer them here only as examples of how this line might play out. 4. ..... Bc5 The right way to recapture was 5...dxc6 which protects the e5 pawn by creating a counter threat: if 6.Nxe5? Qd4 Double attack! Notice how this theme recurs here?
Position after 6...Qd4 - analysis Black's queen threatens the knight on e5, and the queen-bishop battery threatens mate on f2. Often the f2 & f7 squares are weak for each respective player because at the start of the game that square is only defended by the king. The king is not a very good defensive piece - it's the piece that needs defending! In the diagrammed position, White has to protect against the mate threat - no time to save the knight. 7.Be3 Qxe5 8.d4 Qxe4 9.dxc5 Qxg2
Position after 9...Qxg2 - analysis Black is winning - he's a pawn ahead, and White's kingside is a shambles. Notice that the f & h-pawns are now isolated. Isolated pawns are usually weak, and become targets for the opponent. 6.Nxe5 d6 A mistake, since that pawn was the only thing protecting the doubled pawn on c6: 7.Nxc6 Qd7 8.Na5, but I didn't like the idea of having my knight stuck out on the side of the board. Knights are better (usually) when they are centralized, since they can influence more squares that way. Try this experiment, if you need convincing: clear the board completely, and place a knight on any of the four center squares (d4, d5, e4, e5). Count how many squares it can move to - eight. Next, place the knight on any square along the edge of the board and count again - four; and only two from each of the corner squares.
7.Nf3 0-0 Good! Jim often leaves his king in the center of the board - where it's easier to get to. Always a good idea to castle, and I recommend doing so early & often! 8.0-0 h6 Always be careful about moving the pawns in front of your castled king, although sometimes you have to. On h6, the pawn keeps the White knight off of g5, and it prevents the pin by Bg5. Here it's probably not too bad of an idea, since Black's dark-squared bishop is shut off on the queenside and can't get back to defend the knight (and break the pin) by ...Be7. 9.h3 a6 This time, however, the pawn move doesn't make any sense. The b5 square wasn't in any danger of occupation by any of White's pieces. 10.c3 Preparing to advance in the center with d4. White can afford to move slowly here because of the relative immobility of Black's pieces. White's position has very few weaknesses, and none that Black is in a position to exploit. 10. ..... Qe8
Position after 10...Qe8 Black's last move does not appear to have a purpose. In chess you have to guard against do-nothing moves (9...a6 is another example of a do-nothing move). All moves should be part of a plan, and the time-worn dictum is: even a bad plan is better than no plan. So what might be a plan for Black here? One idea: challenge White in the center with 10...d5 11.e5 Nh7 12.d4 Be7. Black now can try to undermine White's center with the pawn break ...c5, which he can play twice due to the doubled pawns. 11.Re1 Rb8 This move has the merit of grabbing control of a half-open file, and prevents White from developing his dark-squared bishop - it has to protect b2. The action though, is going to take place in the center, where White has an advantage due to his central pawn majority. And after White's next move, the bishop will be forced to retreat to b6, blocking the rook anyway. Black may have been better off developing his bishop with 11...Bd7. 12.d4 White now starts to assert control over the center, the result of having prepared with c3 & Re1. To gain an important perspective on this position, look at it with only the pawns on the board:
12. ..... Bb6 White takes advantage of the alignment of his rook & the Black Queen on the same file to further attack Black's pawn structure. The unusual thing about this game is that White is doing so well despite not yet having moved any of his queenside pieces. Only this tactical situation and his overwhelming position in the center allow him to pursue the aggressive course undertaken with his last move. 13. ..... dxe5
Position after 13...dxe5 Black's queenside pawns are now all isolated. The c-pawns are doubled and isolated. All of them are weak, and likely targets for White later in the game, especially in the endgame. 14.Nxe5 Threatening the discovered attack which actually occurs in the game. Black should defend against this threat by 14...Be6. 14. ..... c5? Discovering an attack by the e1-rook against Black's Queen. Black does not have time to capture the knight, and after defending or moving the queen, White wins the exchange with Nxf8.
Position after 15.Ng6 15. ..... Qc6?? A blunder so bad it deserves two question marks! 16.Ne7+ Black Resigns. White executes a knight fork: Black is in check, which is the most forcing move in chess, and so cannot save his hapless queen, which is also attacked by the knight.
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