Upgrade to Chess.com Premium!

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling: Pawn Power

Submitted by GM vbhat on Mon, 11/09/2009 at 12:17pm.

In July at the World Open, Ray Robson beat me in a very complicated Poison Pawn Winawer. I got my second crack at the new US hope at the SPICE Cup in the 3rd round. As at the World Open, I had the black pieces, and while the opening was a very different one, the game followed some similar countours.

In both games, Ray got a tangible advantage by outpreparing me in the opening. However, after the opening phase, he let his advantages slip and I developed counterplay. And just like in July, both of us got into massive time trouble. The only difference is that this time, I was a little more accurate in time pressure and didn't let my initiative slip away.

To a large extent, my counterplay in this game was based on the potential of my c- and d-pawns. Once those pawns started moving forward, I had ready-made counterplay. As they continued to advance up the board, they became a very powerful combination. This wasn't my best game of the tournament, but it was the most complicated fight I had.

Question 1: What would you play for Black after 19.f4?

Question 2: What would you play for Black after 24.Kg2?

Question 3: What would you play for Black after 31.Re2?

Question 4: What would you play for Black after 37.Be4?

Question 5: What would you play for Black after 47.f5?

And here's the entire game in one viewer:

As a supplement, here's a game from last year where Magnus Carlsen underestimates the power of passed pawns:

» posted in Amazing Games
« Previous | 1 2 | Next »

Comments:

by shareefh - 2 years ago
Amman Jordan
Member Since: Sep 2009
Member Points: 227

‘‘Don't underestimates the power of passed pawns’’..Good lesson

Thanks for the articel.

by aa2faye - 2 years ago
Arkansas United States
Member Since: Jul 2009
Member Points: 44

learned a lot

by nemmythesmurf - 2 years ago
London United Kingdom
Member Since: Feb 2009
Member Points: 2

Ooooh yeah.. oops

by TheWontrob - 2 years ago
Connecticut United States
Member Since: Apr 2009
Member Points: 62

Nemmy, the h-pawn is guarding the queen

by nemmythesmurf - 2 years ago
London United Kingdom
Member Since: Feb 2009
Member Points: 2

In the first game after 33... d4 can white not play 34. Bg7+, winning the queen?

by Warrior_Spirit - 2 years ago
Victoria Canada
Member Since: Jun 2009
Member Points: 59

Great game buddy appreciated it!

by GM vbhat - 2 years ago
Richmond, CA United States
Member Since: Jan 2009
Member Points: 233

Archaic71 - the time control was G/90 with a 30-second increment.

Quidvis - Your plan with ...Qb8 and ...Bd6 looks like it's one move short of stopping c5-c6-c7. After 32...Qb8 33.c6 Bd6, White can play 34.c7 because if 34...Bxc7 35.bxc7, Black's weak back rank dooms him. If 35...Qxc7 36.Qe8#; or if 35...Qxb5 36.c8=Q+ mates; and if 35...Qc8 36.Qb8 wins.

by MANNY123 - 2 years ago
CHEVERLY,MD. United States
Member Since: Mar 2008
Member Points: 182

good game,nice insite

by Dragec - 2 years ago
Zagreb Croatia
Member Since: Nov 2008
Member Points: 2837

nice article, hope I will learn something from it

by Archaic71 - 2 years ago
Texas United States
Member Since: Nov 2008
Member Points: 853

One of your best annotations to date.  What was the TC?

by Exyst - 2 years ago
United States
Member Since: Nov 2007
Member Points: 3

ah! :D

by mikex22 - 2 years ago
United States
Member Since: Dec 2008
Member Points: 3967

unless Bxg6 :)

by Exyst - 2 years ago
United States
Member Since: Nov 2007
Member Points: 3

Correct me if I'm mistaken, but after 35. g4, black could have played 35... g6!, followed by 36. Qh6, then 36... Rh7. This move traps white's queen making for an efficient and more immediate endgame, favorable to black.

by Archmage11 - 2 years ago
Jakarta Indonesia
Member Since: Sep 2009
Member Points: 2

gg man...

by FoxLisk - 2 years ago
Virginia United States
Member Since: Jun 2009
Member Points: 34

man, in that second game, i bet it felt good to have two active queens against carlsen, haha

 

also great annotations as always.

by fischerbobyrobertjam - 2 years ago
Croatia
Member Since: Dec 2007
Member Points: 38

thnx

by fijichess - 2 years ago
stylegambit@gmail.com United States
Member Since: Aug 2009
Member Points: 3

I don't read too too much of these articles but does it seem like every game he shows, he wins in?....just sayin haha

by ahill713 - 2 years ago
Dallas United States
Member Since: Nov 2008
Member Points: 44

It shows how much work you put into making this available for the chess.com community.  It is much appreciated, thank you.

by Aurelyn - 2 years ago
Cork Ireland
Member Since: Oct 2009
Member Points: 944

Great game and great article!

by Nostradamus14 - 2 years ago
Houston, Texas United States
Member Since: Oct 2009
Member Points: 115

I LOVED IT!

« Previous | 1 2 | Next »

Add your comment:

Join Chess.com for free to add your comment! Already a member? Then login now to comment.