[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2005.08.14"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Charles"]
[Black "Eric"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A96"]
[WhiteElo "1907"]
[BlackElo "1991"]
[Annotator ",Eric"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]

{(G/120)} 1. d4 f5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 ({I've played about everything
under the sun against 1.d4, and never really been happy. I tried to play the
Nimzo Indian for a while, but I only got a Nimzo a couple of times; the rest
were Bogos or various London/Colle/Torre/Trompowsky junk systems. For a long
time I played the Abraham/Noteboom variation of the semi-Slav (and the main
line Semi-Slav or Stonewall when White avoided it), but I never liked the
positions very much. There are many lines (for instance, 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.
Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 dc 5.g3!?) where Black surrenders the center for a pawn. In many
of them Black should be fine or even better, but I've always had a hard time
against White's initiative and imposing center; it's just not how I wanted to
play as Black. I tried the KID, Gruenfeld, and Benko also (I've had quite good
results with the KID), but I decided to give the Classical Dutch a try about 6
months when I realized that I never gave it a chance before. So far I'm fairly
happy with it (I've only played the Dutch in 3 tournament games, scoring 2/3),
but all my experience has been in the main-line Classical. I'm not really sure
what to play against systems where White avoids g3, for instance:} 4. e3 b6 (
4... d5 $5) 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. f3 (6. Nf3)) (4. Bg5) (4. Qc2) 4... Be7 ({Maybe} 4...
Bb4 $5 {takes advantage of White's move order, but I don't have any experience
in these types of positions (for instance, I've never played the Nimzo line 1.
d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 b6 5.Bd3 Bb7 6.Nf3 Ne4 followed by ...f5).}) 5.
g3 {I was happy to see this transposition.} O-O 6. Bg2 d6 7. O-O Ne4 $5 ({
Simon Williams recommended this move in his book Play the Classical Dutch; I'm
not sure it's better than} 7... a5 {, though some lines transpose.}) 8. d5 $2 {
This is a big mistake which allows Black his ideal pawn formation in the
center and weakend White's queenside. Better was:} (8. Qc2 Nxc3 9. Qxc3 (9.
bxc3 Nc6 10. e4 e5 $11) 9... a5 {, though after something like} 10. a3 Bf6 11.
Re1 Nc6 12. e4 e5 {I'm very happy with Black (though of course there are
alternatives).}) 8... Nxc3 $1 9. bxc3 e5 10. Rb1 $6 ({During the game I
thought White should try} 10. c5 {, though after} Nd7 $1 11. cxd6 cxd6 {Black
has good play against the c-pawn and control of the c4 and c5-squares.}) ({
Best is} 10. Nd2 {, preparing e2-e4. I didn't think 10. Rb1 was good, because
Black will probably play ...b7-b6 anyway, when the rook isn't doing anything
on the b-file. Also, if the bishop gets to f5 (after White's e- and Black's
f-pawns are exchanged) then Black can win a tempo by attacking the rook.})
10... Nd7 {(W 1:47, B 1:54)} ({I was pleased with this move during the game,
because I almost played} 10... Na6 {instinctually. On a6, however, the
knight's only future is to be traded for the dark-squared bishop on c5, which
I didn't want to allow.}) 11. Ba3 {White should be trying for e2-e4} b6 {(W 1:
39, B 1:50) Controlling c5 so that I can play ...Nf6.} 12. Nd2 Nf6 $6 {(B 1:
39)} ({I considered} 12... Bg5 $1 {for a while, and I don't know why I
rejected it now:} 13. e3 (13. Nf3 f4 $15 (13... Bh6 $5)) (13. e4 $2 Bxd2 14.
Qxd2 f4 $17) 13... e4 $1 14. f4 {(To stop 14...Ne5)} exf3 15. Qxf3 Nf6 {is
much better for Black}) 13. e3 ({Better was} 13. e4 fxe4 14. Nxe4 $15 {; Black
has the better structure but White is much less passive than in the game.})
13... Qe8 $1 {(W 1:31, B 1:36) eyeing the Kingside and the important a4-square}
14. f4 $2 {I think White was worried about a future K-side attack; he also
probably hoped to get the d4-square for his knight. I thought for a while (14
minutes) about how to deal with the center. I considered 14...ef, when I could
put my bishop on f6 and try to utilize the e-file, but didn't think it was
that promising. I wanted to play 14...e4, but was concerned about locking the
center pawns and especially of giving White the d4-square for his knight. I
eventually realized that I could still play the pawn breaks ...g7-g5, c7-c6,
and ...b6-b5 to try to infiltrate White's position. I calculated that I could
keep White's knight out of d4 for a long time: 14...e4 15.Nb3? Qa4; 15.Bc1 Ba6
16.Qe2? Nxd5; 16.Rb4? c6 17.dc Qxc6 18.Nb3? d5! 19. Nd4 Qc8, winning a pawn.
Once I realized that White couldn't use the d4-square, my choice was simple:}
e4 $1 {(W 1:30, B 1:23) Now both White's bishops are bad. The next phase of
the game consists of trying to prevent White getting his knight to d4, which I
felt was the "thread" of the position.} 15. Bc1 Ba6 ({maybe} 15... c6 $5 {is
better:} 16. Qb3 $1 (16. Nb3 $2 Ba6 $17) 16... cxd5 (16... Bb7 $2 17. c5 $1)
17. cxd5 Bb7 18. c4 Nd7 $15) 16. Rb4 $2 ({This looks like a mistake; the rook
is terribly placed here. Perhaps White intended} 16. Qe2 $4 {and only now saw}
Nxd5 $19) ({Best must be} 16. Re1 {to facilitate Bf1, but after} c6 17. Qb3
cxd5 18. cxd5 Bd3 $1 {Black is clearly better. On b4 the rook is very clumsily
placed; it's only job is to defend c4 and it can be attacked by the bishop on
e7.}) 16... c5 $2 {(W 1:20, B 1:02) I was enticed into attacking the rook
after debating between this or 16...c6. I thought White would take en-pessant
in order to keep control of the d4-square (which he did), but in fact White
should just play 17.Rb1!. I thought I could still get an edge after 17.Rb1 b5,
but 18.cb Bxb5 19.c4 is only slightly better for Black.} (16... c6 $1 {would
have forced White to take on c6 and transpose to the game, if} 17. Ra4 $2 Bb7
18. dxc6 Bxc6 {White is in trouble.}) 17. dxc6 $2 (17. Rb1 $1 b5 18. cxb5 Bxb5
19. c4 Ba6 $15 {I think both myself and my opponent were so concerned about
the d4-square that we didn't seriously consider that White could allow the
pawn to stay on c5.}) 17... Qxc6 $17 18. Nb3 $2 ({This loses a pawn, thought
it's hard to suggest anything else; perhaps} 18. Qa4 {? Black is still much
better though, due to the weak c-pawns.}) 18... d5 $1 {Around here I was
actually pretty amazed that a non-forcing line I had looked at before playing
my 14th move had arisen on the board! Although both sides have made mistakes,
this is the type of strategic, prophylactic game that I'm fond of.} 19. Nd4 Qd7
20. Ra4 $2 ({I don't know what White thought he was doing with this rook;} 20.
Rb1 {already!}) 20... Bxc4 $19 21. Re1 Bc5 22. Ba3 Rfd8 23. Bxc5 $2 {White
must have been demoralized that he lost the c4-pawn after getting his knight
where it wanted to go; I don't understand why he would let me chase it away
now.} bxc5 24. Ne2 Rdb8 25. Qc2 $4 Bd3 26. Qd1 Rb1 {This was a sloppy game and
White didn't put up any resistance, but I feel good about it because I feel
that I understood the "essence" of the position from move 14 onward.} 0-1

