matches against each other to follow for others (links to games)

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Munich (Kag_moon) vs Japp:

2 games to test ...1.b6 (Owens defense) - Jaap is playing black in both cases. 

Here the 2 games:

https://www.chess.com/echess/game?id=148652346

https://www.chess.com/echess/game?id=148652356

(special rules apply: no opening book used)

Count me in.

 This is interesting as I face this alot against my nf3

So I played Jaap in two games. I lost one, and drew one.  (1.5:0.5 for Jaap).

The game where I thought I was standing better turned out to be losing for me. The game where I thought is getting wild became pretty calm, and still I thought I need to rather fight for a draw, but  turned out to be an easy draw for me. 

The intended calm game became a steam-roll-over for me, Jaap saced the exchange for a winning mate attack. So not so calm at all. In the tactics I was inferior, like expected. I missed a good positional move, and I wonder how this oversight could have happened to me. Actually I overlooked even 2 good moves, and played a bad move while thinking there was no alternative to that bad move.

Here the first (drawn) game:

Here my thoughts during the game:

4...c5: I am surprised. Yes, I thought c5 is a good move, but somehow I didnt expect you would want to change into a sicilian pawn structure early.

I think the sicilian pawn structure is strong, mainly because black has 2 center pawns whereas white has only one. That is why I play c3, to keep the pawns symmetrical. Rule by thumb: symmetry favours white, and assymmetry favours black. 

I am well aware that after cxd4, cxd4, d7-d5 my d4-pawn gets weak (either isolated or if e4-e5 - then d4 is as good as isolated). 

I was thinking a bit about cxd4, cxd5, d5, Nc3, Bb4 and now maybe Qa4, or O-O (sacrificing a pawn after Bxc3, bxc3, dxe4, Bb5+ and I have the feeling I have compensation, so O-O might be a good move. But it is all in the blur of the future, and I think more about it if it really happens. 

I reckon I can not do without losing a pawn here, so I need to lose it in a good way. I am  glad black does not have Qb6 or Qa5 in this position, which (I think) is pretty annoying for white in a "real" sicilian. 

Probably we end up in a french looking position, with the advantage more lines might have opened and gambits are more dangerous for black than in a "real" french. Maybe this is also because black has not Qb6, attacking b2 and d4.

Still, all in all, I am worried here and think black has the initiative. I am sure though that I did nothing wrong so far, all my moves are naturally looking - they must be o.k.

after 8.cxd4 I expect now Be7. I dont think 8...d5 is currently good, because of e4-e5. Not that I want such a blocked position, but I think it is a bad version of a french in this case: O-O-O is more difficult for black to play, because of the missing c-pawns. O-O is suicide, and the center isnt so safe, too? While white should be pretty safe on all wings - so e4-e5 would give me an advantage, me thinks. Probably better black plays Be7. Looks safer to me. Then he can still play d7-d5 one move later. Would that help him? I guess it would. What would I play with black here? ...Be7, ...d6, ...O-O, ...e5, and if d4-d5 then Nc6-b8-d7-c5 - maybe. I dont know. For the moment, I think white is doing fine. This Owen - so far I am not impressed. But I have the feeling I underestimate the position - Jaap might be still in book, and he developed the opening for sure with SF7 or so, and these engines are always correct?! Anyway, I feel good in both games.

9...Nb4 hit me out of nowhere. Probably I am blind for that typical move because usually I fianchetto my light squared bishop? I guess I am bit worse now.

11.Bg5 - my hope is to exchange the dark squared bishops. but if 11...h6, then 12.Bh5 g5 13.Bg3 - a position which worries me a bit, but I guess it isnt only dangerous for me, but also dangerous for Jaap to rip open his king side like that. So I might go down here (think I am worse), but it is hopefully a tactical struggle and in the blur of tactics a lot of things can happen. I have seen Jaap drawing against a low rated player in a sharp position, so if such a much lower rated player was luckly like this - maybe me, too?

If Jaap is not willing to go for risk, then I have e4-e5 and BxBe7 next and guess I am fine in the endgame. He will have a fine bishop, but I reckon this isnt enough to win the game? In either case - I am already fighting for a draw here.

I move Rad1, because I think that over the c-file the rooks would just exchange. I looked into it, and think that the black light squared bishop is too strong in a B+Q vs N+Q endgame. So I dont want an endgame. If black plays now h7-h6, then I play e4-e5, cross my fingers and hope for the best. Variation I have in mind:

12.Rad1 h6 13.e5!? (or 13.e5? - I dont know) 13...hxBg5 14.Nxg5 and now the black knight can not jump away because of the check mate threat Qd3-h7#. So I get the piece back. Black has the true pair of bishops after e5xNf6, and ...Bxf6 recapture. But somehow, I have active knights, and even though he has strong bishops, strange as it is, I feel my knights are strong in the center, too. It is in unclear, and maybe I lose, I dont know. 

But I can not force him to play ...h6, so I try to make a useful waiting move: Rad1, because in some variations I would want my rook not on c1 (Bf6xb2 attacks the rook in one variation), while I think that a rook on c1 gets at best exchanged against his rooks. If I want some attacking material left, it is better to have Rd1-d3-h3 at some point.

I might regret not to trade off all rooks. Jaap can simply play Rc8 and get the c-file, I dont know if that is good for him.

Ah, long talk, little sense - I play Rd1 to support d4 and get the rook out of the line of fire in some variations, and to have the unlikely option to play Rd1-d3-g3/h3.

After d5 (threatens d5-d6xBe7) Jaap played at the right moment h6. Luck? Timing? I dont know. A pity he didnt play h6 the moves before. Oh well, chess is a game of two people, otherwise it would be too easy. 

I take now the knight out of the equation, and black has the full true pair of bishops. Having said that, I hope that my central knights are almost as good as his bishops. 

It is strange how the games changed. This game isnt so bad as I thought a few moves ago, while the "better" other game appears now worse to me. 

Anyway, after Bxf6, I go e5.

Jaap has a fine position, but I hold him currently at bay. He can not play Qc7 cause of d5-d6 fork. His bishop B7 likely want to move to b4 or c5 if I let him.

So I calculate: 

a3, Bc5, b4, Be7 - so this is good.

again

a3, a5 (to secure the c5 square), Rb1 (to help b4), Qe7, d6 - and I win.

So Qe7 isnt possible, too.

a3, a5, Rb1, Qc7, b4, axb4, axb4, Be7, d6 fork. Oh, but my knight on c3 is hanging!

a3, a5, Rb1, Qc7, Rc1, Qb8, b4, axb4, axb4, Be7, Qa8, Rc1-d1, Ba6 - ah, it is all so bad.

after Qc7, maybe Nb5, then Qb8. I might be able to block his Ba6 with a4 and Nb5, but his Be7will be free.  I dont know if I can hold this all, but the Be7 can maybe not attack much on the queens wing, if my knight is on b5, and my pawn on a4, and the enter-squares c1/c2/c3 are all covered. Ah, well, c2/c3 maybe not so well (after Ba6xNb5, QxBb5) , but I guess his pawn d7 and pawn b6 are weak and he can not attack me all on the queenswing without giving me d7 and b6 as targets?

At the end, everything happens very different to what I anticipate, but the thing is, that I dont play "lets move and see", and later I give these notes to look at, and I wanted to show how "Munich" thinks. I think this is the big difference, why I am so good, because I can calculate in postions like that with lots of "quiet" moves that make sense.

Others would maybe describe it as "a plan", but I dont have a goal here, do I? All I want is to fend Jaap of, and keep it all together somehow.

So much about my "quiet" move calculations. I wonder why I have not even considered exd5, other than "he can not do that, cause it gives him a bad pawn structure. Jaap isnt an idiot, so I guess this "to take is a mistake" has a cunning reason?

Hm, I dont even need to recapture. But what else? Nd4... but what for? ah, well, I guess I just capture.

his move 17...Rc5 --> Rook to the center - that is against my rules. Unless there is a reason. I guess, there is no reason. I win a pawn, but he is standing active:

NxBe7, Qxe7, Qxd7, Qxd7, Rxd7, BxNf3, gxf3, Rxe5, Rxa7 - should be still a draw, but let´s see if he can handle rook endgames like me, the kung-fu-master of all cheap endgame tricks?

Hold on - I could play Qe4. Then I threaten Nxe7+ (check) with Qxb7 next. But then he might play ...Bb7-a8. 

He could also play:

Qe4, RxNd5, Rxd5, d6 - ah, well, in any case he will win back the exchange, while as long as he does not - as long I am bound in the pin. Well, a pawn up in a rook endgame looks appealing to me. He will have activity for that pawn, but a few moves ago I said I fight for a draw. Well, the rook endgame is a good exit for me. It is a draw, but I can try. Most players are so bad in endgames - lets check what wood Jaap is made of?

And here the lost game:

5.Nf3-d4: Now I am curious. It is what I would not recommend to play as black, especially not against me. First, I am tactically shit (long term this might become a blocked calm position), but secondly: you are already defending (pawn e5 is a target). The rule says: f-pawn pushs are risky, even though you can not see it on short term. Now, f7 would be met with Nxf5, while d7-d5 at any point is met with cxd5, making the e-pawn on the brink of getting lost. But... these are all longer term thoughts. on the short term you certainly have a sac'ing potential here with e4-e3, maybe exf2+ - and we are soon in the unknown blur of tactics.

7.Qc2 - I try to avoid a double pawn. What else could be the sense of Bb4 be other than to take my knight on c3? 

Now after 7...Nc6 I can play 8.Nxc6 Bxc6 9.Nxe5 - and win a pawn. So 7...Nc6 seems not possible, and I threaten anyway to win the e5 pawn. I think my position as white went very well, black's e5 pawn is in my territory and black might need to overstretch his position a little bit to keep this pawn guarded. If Bxc3 happens, and I can block the e5 pawn - I think I have good chances of a long term advantage due to his "bad bishop", while my two bishops could roam around the board and cause troubles. Still - it is earl, and I could imagine Jaap prepared this position (=is still in book knowledge). I really wonder why he went into this position, I think it is not good, but he might regularly use this?

Nd4-f5-e3 is still a possible manoever, and if Bxc3 happens, he will hardly get rid of my knight on e3.

Actually, I planned 9.Nf5 here, but have just discovered that it does not work:

9.Nf5 9...Nc6! (I thought this isnt working, but now that the position became real I had to think more deeply about it): 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Bxe4 g6 12.Nh6+ (not 12.Ne3? 12...Nd5 13.Qd1 Bxe4 and black won a piece (also not 13.Qa4? Bxe4 14.Qxb4?? Nxe2#!) ) 12...Kg7 13.d3 Nd5 14.Qd1 Bxe4 15.dxe4 Rxe4 and black won back the pawn. The e2 pawn is attacked, and 16.e3 cuts off the bishop to protect my Nh6. after 16...Nc6 17.Ng5 h5 I guess I am losing, so I am in trouble here.

All in all, I conclud I can not win that e5 pawn if he plays 9...Nc6.

So I develop my worst piece, the Bc1 and intend to play it to b2. If now 9...Nc6 then I simply capture this knight with 10.Nd4xNc6 10...Bxc6 11.Bb2 - I guess I stand alright here, but now he has 11...d7-d5 and probably that equalizes. Still, it isnt clear if the pawn e5 will be a liability or a strength for black. If I manage to keep everything intact, then 10-15 moves later I guess I have the better endgame due to his very advanced e5 pawn.

10.Qxc3 - that was a tough decision for me:

I dont think dxc3 had been a double pawn on the long run, so I didnt play dxc3 because of double pawn issues, but rather because: how am I going to attack the e5 pawn? I do not want to attack it with the f-pawn, so I need the d-pawn to go d2-d3 at some point. Only this is going to cause troubles for black. 

Everything is fine for me here, me thinks:

I plan Bb2, Nd4-f5-e3 or Nd4-c2-e3 (this knight fends of any guards from the e5-pawn), while all the time d2-d3-tactics hang in the air. This game must be a win for me, simply because I am losing in the other game. Lol!

Just noticed after my 10th move (Qxc3) that 3 of the 4 central pawn havent moved yet! How odd.

10...d5 - well, a pity, I would have liked 10...Nc6 simply because of this oddity (3 central pawns have not moved).

Anyway, it is done, Jaap played d5. 

The rule is: "to take is a mistake", so cxd5 is a mistake, unless I have a good reason to do it. (By the way, Jaaps previous Bb4xNc3 was also such a mistake, but probably needed to get d5 going, so his "mistake" was maybe rectified. But I dont need to think about his mistakes too much - better I make sure I dont do mistakes myself.

Well, I need to take. If this was really a mistake - what is the sicilian defense then? cxd5 makes sense here, I get rid of his center pawn, which guards his e5-trouble-pawn.

12...d5xc4 - another "take" - I wonder why I didnt even consider it? Instead I expected ...Nc6 with the idea Nc6-b4 or d5-d4 at some point.

I move Bb2. 

Well, e2-e3 was bad, I see that now. O.k., regretting it doesnt help, I need to look forward. Jaap did this very well.

What is he going to do? ...Nc6-e5-f3 is what he might play. On f3 I will take him with my bishop, which means Jaap has a dangerous check-mate-pawn there. However, I can not see how he gets his queen to h3, before I threaten to take his f3-pawn.

Well, all a bit vague. Maybe he doesnt even play ...Ne5 - then Jaap enjoys still a good position.

Oh, dear, he played Ne5, I played Nf4 (as planned), and now he has g5 or Nf6 or whatever he likes to do.

g5, then d4 - this gets really rough and tactical. If I was Jaap, I would not play g5, it just looks that tactics is giving me some chances after d4.

Instead, he could play Nf3+ check. Then Bxf3, exf3. Just terrible dangerous this pawn on f3, but it takes a long time to  get to h3. I might be able to surround that pawn on f3 and win it eventually, as long as my knight remains on the board. or at least I need to get his bishop for my knight. 

I guess I am losing here anyway, somehow. 

What else could he do to me? Qd6 is good, Qc7 looks good to me, too. Maybe Qc7, because he guards his bishop b7 and can then play Rad8, still following the rule "keep your options until they really yield something" (Ne5-f3 is an option).

yeah, Qc7 is the move I would do if I was him.

He moved Qd7, similar idea like Qc7, but without Rad8.

Ah, now he threatens Nf3+, and if BxN, then exf3 and he can get with his queen to h3. Only defense is Bh3, then he goes Qc7 and it is even better than imediatly having playing Qc7, cause now my bishop isnt attacking e4 anymore. 

I wish he would play so well. What have I dont wrong? Probably I shouldnt have played Qc2xc3, or I missed a way how I could have avoided e2-e3. 

Anyway, my next move is forced, Bh3, and then he will play Qc7. No idea what to do then.

16...Qa4 - why am I never anticipating Jaap´s moves? Another surprise. I guess that Jaap and I think very differently.

ok, I guess I want to keep the c4 pawn, Rfc1 is guarding it.

I will react later. Currently involved in other chess work.

Aftermath with stockfish 8 chess engine (yes, stockfish 8 is out since today! It is supposed about 15-30 fide elo stronger than stockfish 7, and is pretty likely now the strongest engine. Komodo hasnt brought an update so far. I am curious if a new Komodo-version (11) will manage to gain 15-30 points, too?)

In my lost game: Stockfish 8 gives me at least even 2 more possible moves instead of my rather poor move 11.e3:

11.Qe3 or 11.b4

...and during the game I thought I have no other moves than 11.e3, even though I didnt even like 11.e3. As I had written, I had planned to keep the e3 square for the knight.

I am cross with me somehow that I didnt even see 1 out of 4 possible moves. How blind can I be - I had sufficient time.

Stockfish likes (my later suggested move) 11.c5 a bit more than the other moves, but the difference isnt huge. And - even though both my central pawns are still on e2 and d2 - stockfish would give white a +0.35 pu advantage after 11.c5 bxc5 12.Qxc5 - which means probably quite a lot here, because usually stockfish isnt kind to hypermodern set-ups with little space and two flanked bishops.

Looking at the position after 15...Qd7 - > I wonder that stockfish still evaluates the position slightly in favour for white (+0.1 pu for white)!

It gives 3 possible moves for white which keep the white evaluation around 0.00. This is totally different than to what I felt during the game. I thought I am already likely losing the game.

https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/jaap-s-mistakes?ncc=1

I was busy with this topic.

I will have a look with Stockfish 7 and the database and my b3/b6 resources. Since Tarrasch 3 is coming out next month, it will save me the hussle from changing engines. By the way, I emailed Bill Forster some complaints and suggestions about Tarrasch. If you have them as well, mail them quick, maybe he can program it still in. billforsternz  adttd    g    mail dodtd cccommmm