Red Army vs. Team Phillipines results

This is one of the better games played so far; there were no gross blunders -- the game was played at a pretty high level. But sramanigs (Red Army, Black) made a bunch of little mistakes in this game.

Let's pick up the game on move 12. First of all, Black should have recaptured with the c-pawn than with the e-pawn. The problem with 12...exd5 is that it gave White an advanced pawn majority on the king side to work with while Black's majority was backward and paralyzed for much of the game. When deciding whether or not to enter these positions with opposing pawn majorities, if yours is more advanced, you generally have a better chance at winning games. Alekhine won games like that all the time. Even if Black can safely play ...c5, White can just block the isolated passer on the 4th while his pawn majority is mobile and active.

Secondly of all, Black should have simply decided on a square for the queen bishop and lived with it. He winds up putting his Bishop on three different locations before finally deciding on f5. That wound up wasting a lot of time that Black could have spent neutralizing White's pawn roller.

On move 23, White should have simply taken 23. dxc5 because Black could have equalized with 23...c4. He would have had his own pawn majority, which was just as advanced as White's and just as dangerous. The more that you can safely advance your pawn majority, the more you can put the other guy on the defensive. And if you're winning, it is a great tool to force resignation.

But Black actually plays 23...cxd4?, which turns out to be the losing move. It puts the White Queen into powerful play onto a square that it never could have gotten to on its own. White's pawn juggernaut is about to roll while the Queen is safely blocking the isolated Black passer and is able to control the whole board. This Queen is even more powerful that most Queens posted on the fourth; the fact that it is safely blockading a pawn as well means that it is shielded from attack and is able to control the game from its post.

I recommend Nimzovitch's "My System" and the rest of his books; he talks a lot about the value of a piece that is able to blockade a hostile pawn like the White Queen did in this game.

Team Philippines 2, Red Army 0

Tiborg (Red Army) resigned prematurely in this position. Black is worse in this position and White is a pawn up, but it was way too early for Black to give up. There is still plenty of play in the position -- there are plenty of things that could go wrong for White. He could get his Queen trapped. He could allow a Rook on the 1st or 2nd rank. The c-pawn, the base of the chain, could fall. I tend to give up if a position is not worth playing out. But in general, I would rather have people give up too late than too early, especially in a game on the lower boards of team matches -- there are a lot of things that can go wrong in a game between class players.

Black falls into a basic opening trap. People, please, please, please use the database. If you're a regular member of this site, use the database at www.365chess.com. That way, you will at least know the basic moves of the system you are trying to play. Using chess databases and opening books and other reading materials is legal in correspondence play. The one thing you can't do is use computers or consult other people -- it's your game. That way, you'll at least get out of the opening alive.

The basic book moves for Black are either 6...Be7 or 6...d5. These are book moves for a reason -- and 6...Bc5 is bad for a reason. The reason that 6...Bc5 is such a bad move is not because of the Scholar's Mate -- it is because the Knight gets trapped after 7. Qe2! Black cannot rescue it by ...d5, because after 8. exd6, the Knight is pinned. Black has to defend it, meaning White will win at least a pawn. On the other hand, if Black had played 6...Be7, then there is no pin on the Knight -- after 7. Qe2 d5 8. exd6, Black simply recaptures. And 6...d5 hits the Bishop before White can set up the tactics on Black's knight.

Black could have corrected the situation after 7. c3?! by playing d5, but played 7...dxc3??, when White played 8. Qd5 with either mate or the loss of a piece.

A comedy of errors allows Adilmostar to come out on top and claim the first points for the Red Army. Instead of the thematic exchange sacrifice 16...Rxd4, Black's 16...Bxc4 is a terrible blunder that almost cost the game. After 17. Bxc4 Rxc4 (17...e5 was the lesser evil), the discovery 18. Bb6, removing the Queen from the defense of the stray Rook on a8, would have netted White the exchange and the game. Instead, he misses it and plays 18. Rhd1??. He proceeds to follow it up with the inexplicable 19. Nb1?? and the capture of the poisoned pawn with 21. Qxa7?? and Black comes away with the point.

10...Nxe4, allowing White to regain the piece with interest, was suicidal for Black. This discovery of the pinning Bishop on b5/b4 or g5/g4 is possible when the Bishop is unprotected like it is in this game. 10...dxe4 would have been fine.