N WEST - Northwest Chess!

System, think of the "Blockade" and"Overprotection" materiaL). On thequeenside, Black has trouble creatingplay, because 8...a5 is met by 9.b5 and10.a4, while 8...d4? ISmet by 9.b5 tDa510.tDxd4.Onthe kingside,Black's piecesare cramped.10...16This is about all Black can do to tryto free his game.11.Ad3Takingthe opportunityto improvetheposition of my Bishop. 11.ex16? wouldbe a positional blunder: it gives up controlof e5 and sets up ...tDxb4 combinationsfor Black. white must control e5 tokeep the bind!11...f5?!Having second thoughts-Curtshould have done this last move, if hethought it betterthan the pawn exchange.However, 11...fxe5 12.tDxe5 tDxe513.Axe5 tDf6 14.1We2 (to prevent...Ab5) wouldn't havegivenBlackequalityeither. White can play tDb1-d2-f3,Ae5-d4, and then tDf3-e5, securelyblockadingBlack's centerpawns. Again,this is straightout ofNirnzovich-he wasone of the first to show that the centercan be controlled by pieces rather thanpawns.12.lIe1Overprotecting the crucial e5-pawnand forcing Black to worry about a possibleAd3xf5 sacrifice (13.Axf5 exf514.e6). Black's reply preventsthe sacrifice.1n.e ChessStoreOrder all your chess supplies online andhave them shipped free to your door.Northwp~twww.thechessstore.comC'hp~~12...tDd813.a4White should definitely not allowBlack to trade off his bad Bishop with...Ad7 -b5!13...a5 14.b5 g6Blackdoesn't havean activeplanthatwon't damage his position, which isextemely difficult to defend.15.lIa2Z...~~. 86. .....48. 5,,8..0.. . . .1m ..3~ O.t.tD.2':. m . m u n8PJ1. ~1.tD..II =a bed e f 9 hPlanning lIa2-e2, which both freesmy bI-Knight fromthe defenseof the c3-pawn and prepares a future e3-e4 pawnbreak.15...1L1f716.lIe2 Ae~This helps clear the e7-square sothatBlack can finallydevelophis kingsideandstart coordinating his pieces. The downsideis that White can force the exchangeof Back's best minor piece, the darksquaredBishop.17.Ae31L1e718.lL1bd2Bringing up the last reserves.18...0-0 19.tDb3Forcing Black to exchange Bishopson my terms. I considered playing 19.Ad4 first, but after 19...iVa7! 20.tDb3Axd4 21.exd4 llxe2 22.iVxe2 lIe823.iVd2 b6, there's no easy way to breakinto Black's queenside.19...he3 20.lIxe3 iVa7Black needs to decide how to meete3-e4 whenWhite finally gets around toplaying it. Ifhe exchanges pawns at c4,he'll be leftwith a weak pawn at e6 whenWhite plays Ad3xe4. But if he refusesto exchange, White will try to play e4-e5, setting up a queenside majority andcramping Black still further. Curt's 20thand 21st moves seem designed to makee4-e5 harder for White to play, thoughOcto hpr 2004he later decides he has to play ...d5xe4.Perhaps 20...11 fe8, anticipating the openingof the d-file, is the most accurate. - -- .-21.lL1fd4 tDg5Seizing the opportunity to activate atleast one of his minor pieces, but it's toolate.22.e4 b6 23.iVe1!81.x. ...1;": iij§.6. ..... - ." ~ iiI~5-8m - .%%.n.-~ U -48.8~. .3~ . ~m. . .t,~ ~.m"Z.Jm...~ m. IDn~ . ~2 .%!. 08~1;iiI B m ~a bed e f 9 hAmulti-purposemove.White renewshis positional threat of e4-e5 and giveshimself the option of penetrating on thedark squares with 'iWe1-a3.Black's looseg5-Knight could be a problem, too.23...dxe4?!I think Black has to try 23...tDe4,but after 24.Axd4 neither pawn recaptureis attractive.24. Axe4Now White is threatening to winBlack's e-pawn by 25.f4 or 25.h4; soBlack's next move is almost forced.24...lL1d5 25.hd5 exd5 26.e6Strong, but too obvious to award anexclamation mark. White has a killerpassed pawn, while Black's d-pawn iseasy pickings and Black's Bishop will bedriven back even further. At this point, Iknew I had forced a playoff for the citytitle.26...f4?A desperate attempt to muddy thewaters in time pressure. But Blackwouldn't last longafter,for example,26...llxe2 27.'iWxe2Ae8 (27...Ae8 28.'tWe6VWb729.e7) 28.13 (there are other goodmoves, but the text threatens h2-h4, winningBlack's Knight) 28...h5 29.e7 lIt?30.iVe8.27.lIe5 1-0Winning a piece and the game. .q