Karjakin’s d5-d4 pawn break in today’s game really reminded me of the move that I played almost 10 years ago in a position with similar material (bishops of opposite colour) and ideas:
Carlsen–Karjakin match, 2016 – Game 5
Jiganchine – Trotchanovich, Keres 2007
I also analyzed this game in the book Spanish Opening - Strategy and Tactics, here is the full analysis:
Jiganchine, Roman - Trotchanovich, Pavel
Keres Memorial 2007 2007.05.20 , C80
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Nxe4 7. d4 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Nbd2 Nc5 10. c3
- This is a positional mistake, as now White's control over d4 and c5 becomes very firm. Black instead had 3 main moves: 10... Bg4, 10... Be7, and 10... d4, the last of which was played in the Karpov-Korchnoi game.
- ( 12. ... Nxe5 is considered dangerous - Black is likely to lose material 13. Re1 Ng6 14. Nxe6 fxe6 15. Nd4 e5 16. Ne6 Qd7 17. Qxd5! Qxd5 18. Nxc7+ Kf7 19. Nxd5 +/- )
White won the majority of the games that arrived at this position. Black's pieces are rather passive, and he has no compensation for the weaknesses along the 'c' file. However to exploit his position, White would have to build up pressure on both sides of the board and only then execute a breakthrough. His plan is roughly as follows:
- establish a knight on 'c5' and control the 'c' file
- advance pawns on the kingside and resolve the pawn structure there
- activate the dark squared bishop to the a3-f8 diagonal
- use the third rank for manoeuvres of heavy pieces and build pressure on both sides of the board
- once Black pieces are tied up - either engineer a pawn break, or open a file and invade with heavy pieces.
- ( 14. ... f6 was a bit more active, but did not fundamentally change the evaluation of the position. )
Not only White is putting pressure on the queenside, but he also wants to advance with f4-f5-f6, so Black has to prevent that somehow.
- A committal move, as now the 'e' pawn will need to be continually watched by Black.
- ( Also possible was 19. ... g6 20. f5! Bxf5 21. Qd2 and White has great compensation for the sacrificed pawn, as Black's dark squares are very weak. 21. ... Qd7 22. Bh6 Rfe8 23. Bg5 h5 24. Bf6 Kh7 25. Qg5 a4 26. Rf4 a3 27. b3
and White can continue to build up pressure, with possible sacrifices either on 'f5' or on 'h5'. Black's position cannot be saved. )
Black has completely surrendered the dark squares, tying all hopes to passive defence. Such positions however are very unpleasant to defend as White can combine threats on both sides of the board. The game goes on for quite a while from here, but Black is always struggling due to the weaknesses of his position.
- Black manages to trade off one pair of rooks, which is probably to his advantage.
- Now my main risk is that Black will trade off the second rook the same way, so I tried to go back and forth, hoping to tie up the black rook to be guarding e6 or the a file.
One of White's ideas is to play b2-b3, and invade on the 'a' file. This has to be timed very carefully, of course.
- ( With his last move Black made sure that he is prepared to meet 29. b3 axb3 30. axb3 with 30. ... Ra8 )
With the queenside threats, White forced Black to put the rook to 'a8', and now Black is unable to quickly transfer the rook to g6.
- White is preparing to play e5-e6 and Be5 with pressure on g7 at the right time.
- ( 42. Qxg6 hxg6 would only give small winning chances, for example - opposite colour bishop endgame has some promise if white brings king on b6 and takes on g7 with bishop, and creates passed pawn on kingside - but there is only a remote chance of that happening. )
- Going back to the idea of generating play on the queenside. It is essential in the Spanish opening to play on both sides of the board, especially if White wants to convert his spacial advantage into a win.
- ( It would be logical for Black to take over the 'a' file, but then I was hoping to generate enough pressure on kingside: After 47. ... Ra8 there was a brilliant (but predictable ) sacrifice: 48. e6!! Bxe6 49. Be5 Rg8 ( 49. ... Ra7 50. Bxg7+ Qxg7 51. Qd8+ Bg8 52. Rxg7 Rxg7 53. Qf6 +- ) 50. h4!!
and Black is completely helpless against h4-h5-h6 50. ... Qg6 ( 50. ... Bd7 51. h5 and Qg6 is no longer an option ) 51. Qxg6 hxg6 52. Rxg6 with double threat Rxe6 and Rh6 mate! 52. ... Kh7 53. Rxe6 +- )
- ( White was winning immediately after 56. Bf8! Qxf8 57. Rxd7 Rh6 58. g3 with zugzwang! 58. ... Rg6 59. Qxh5+ Rh6 60. Rf7! Rxh5 61. Rxf8 with a completely winning rook endgame for White. )
- White gives up the pawn to free up the e5 square for his bishop and to disrupt the coordination of the black pieces.
- ( 57. ... Rxe6? 58. Qd8 +- )
- ( 63. ... Qe1! +/- was the best chance. )
- Black tries to prevent Bd6
- ( 66. ... gxh6? 67. Bd6 Bh7 68. Be5+ Kg8 69. Rg7+ Kf8 70. Rxh7 +- )
- With the king in the corner, Black clearly has no chance to save this endgame. Opposite colours of the bishops do not help Black because there are still rooks present on the board.
- It took a lot of moves for White to win the game, but the entire course of the game gave Black very little hope of escaping from the strategic bind.
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