Today I wanted to start a new series on crime and punishment in the opening. Tournament players all know that they should be quickly developing their pieces in the opening. However, in the heat of the moment, it’s surprisingly easy to get distracted by other priorities or ideas. In this recent game, Grandmaster Sandro Mareco convincingly demonstrates how to take advantage of a lead in development and an uncastled enemy king.
- e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5
The Scandinavian Defense is of course completely playable. However, taking out the queen at the beginning of the game does involve a certain loss of time. As a result, Black needs to play quite accurately in order to avoid White turning their lead in development into a serious initiative.
- Nc3 Qd6 (3… Qa5 is still the main line, but the move in the game also has a solid enough reputation.) 4. d4 a6?!
Getting Ahead
In this game, Black was planning to play …b5 and …Bb7, gaining space and fighting for the long diagonal. I think the problem is that it doesn’t bring him any closer to castling: He is unlikely to go long after moving almost all the pawns on that side. Developing …Nf6 would have been a more solid choice.
- Nf3 Nf6 6. g3! The best way to develop the light squared bishop in this position.
Other ways to develop have some flaws. 6. Bc4 walks into b5, while 6. Bd3 g6 would blunt the bishop.
6… b5 7. Bg2 Bb7 8. O-O e6
- Ne5! By exchanging the light squared bishops, White prepares Qf3. This will develop and attack the suddenly exposed rook on a8. 9..Bxg2 10. Kxg2 Nbd7? Apparently this is not right, which shows how precarious Black’s position is in the first place!
- Qf3 A new piece comes into the game with tempo. This is one of the keys to increasing a lead in development: Bringing new pieces into play with big threats. 11…Rb8 12. Bf4!
Another piece enters the game, another threat: White sets up a discovered attack on the queen on d6. The d4-pawn is not digestible. 12…Qb6 Black prudently declines to take the pawn, although he is already objectively lost!
Let’s see what happens if he takes the pawn: 12… Qxd4 13. Rad1 Continuing to develop with tempo. The d4-pawn is insignificant compared to the initiative White generates. 13…Qc5 14. Nxd7 Nxd7 15. Be3! Now the Black queen has no good way to continue protecting the c6 square. If White was allowed to play Qc6, that would lead to a winning attack against the knight on d7.
Returning to the game:
Opening the Center
- Nc6!
In addition to attacking the rook, the knight attacks the e7 square, preventing …Be7 followed by …0-0. It also makes sense to avoid the simplifying exchange of knights on e5. White wants to break things open with d4-d5, but doing it right away would let Black trade knights, play …Be7 and finally castle. This shows a key idea with a lead in development: Trying to prevent the opponent from castling.
13… Rc8 14. d5! With Black’s king stuck in the middle, White opens the center to get to it.
14…Bd6 Black is trying to get the king out of the center. 15. dxe6 fxe6 16. Rfe1 Of course:
Another new piece comes out with another threat, this time to the pawn on e6.
16…Kf7
Let’s see why Black can’t escape the center: 16… O-O allows 17. Bxd6 cxd6 18. Ne7+ forking the king and rook. This is arguably Black’s best try, but the position is beyond saving.
Finishing the Job
- Rad1
This decision surprised me when I first clicked through the game: I thought being able to exchange on f4 would give Black a moment’s respite. But this is not the case, as we will see. 17… Bxf4 18. gxf4
The new f4 pawn is actually participating in the attack! White threatens Ne5+ next, when …Nxe5 would walk into fxe5, attacking the newly pinned knight on f6. 18…Rhe8 19. Ne5+ Ke7
The only way to protect the knight a second time. But actually. . .
20. Nxd7 The knight on f6 is overworked: If it recaptures on d7, Nd5+ will fork the king and queen. Black realized this and resigned.
Key Moments:
1. 4…a6?! From Black was the beginning of an overly ambitious plan that didn’t get him any closer to kingside castling.
2. 9.Ne5! By White prepared the exchange of light squared bishops, making the rook on a8 vulnerable. This gave White the opportunity to develop with tempo with Qf3 in the near future.
3. 13.Nc6! Prepared to open the center with the d4-d5 pawn break without giving Black the chance to castle.
4. Quickly centralizing the rooks helped White finish the job.