We are beginning a series focusing on interesting middlegame decisions in games between tournament players. Today I want to analyze an excerpt from a game between two FIDE 1900s players, played in the second division of England’s Four Nations Chess League. I will move quickly through the opening moves before reaching the first critical moment.
To Trade or Not to Trade?
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.d4 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Rb1 O-O 9.Be2 Nc6 10.d5 Bxc3+ 11.Bd2 Bxd2+ 12.Qxd2 Nd4 13.Nxd4 cxd4 14.Qxd4 Qa5+ 15.Qd2 and now Black had a decision to make: Trade queens, or keep them on the board?
15…Qd8? Black is really pushing their luck by keeping queens on the board here. White now had the opportunity to begin a direct attack.
15…Qxd2+ is logical and correct. After 16. Kxd2 Rd8 17. Ke3 e6 White can fight for an edge due to their superior centralization, but Black is not in any immediate danger. Returning to the game:
16.O-O not the most direct, but not bad at all.
Starting An Attack
16.h4!? with a simple plan: Push h5 and deliver checkmate on the h-file with the queen and rook. Even if this is not possible in its simplest form, Black will be tied down by the need to defend against it.
16…Qc7 The Black queen prepares to go to e5, where it will have access to the kingside. 17.h5 Qe5 18.Qe3 Protecting e4 and preparing what comes next. 18…e6 19.f4! This move gains space and pushes the queen away from its optimal location in the center.
19…Qd6 20.dxe6 Qxe6 21.Qd4 menacingly eyeing the g7 square. 21…Qd7
22.Qb2! Of course White is not interested in trading queens right now. This intends h6, controlling the key g7 square with mating threats and fixing h7 as a potential weakness for the endgame. This shows another benefit of the h4-h5 plan.
Returning to the game, where White preferred to kingside castle rather than advance the h-pawn:
16… b6 17.Rfd1
17.Qf4! cleverly prepares to meet 17…Qd6 with 18.e5! when White is dominating in the center.
In general White was far too reluctant to create this powerful pawn duo on the sixth rank. Note the tactical justification 18…Qxd5? 19.Bf3, winning the rook on a8. Returning to the position in the game:
17… Bd7? This is simply too passive. The superior 17… Qd6 intends to meet 18.Qe3 with e5 at least stopping White from establishing a pawn duo on the sixth rank. White stands better, with the space advantage and protected passed pawn on d5, but Black is in the game. 18.Ba6? This is more or less a waste of time. 18.e5! was called for, with the following position:
Central Domination
There are so many good ideas connected with this move!Â
1) Swinging the queenside rook to the h-file with Rb4-h4; in combination with Qh6 that threatens a quick mating attack.
2) Pushing h4-h5 while dominating in the center.Â
3) Pushing d6 at the right moment, potentially creating an advanced passed pawn.
18… Rc8 19.Rb4! Qc7 20.Ba6! This intermediate move clears the e-file for Re1 next, protecting the pawn.
20…Rce8 21.Re1 Intends Rh4 next – Plan #1.
Returning to the position after e4-e5:
18…Qc7 19.d6! exd6 20.Rbc1 Qd8 21. exd6 preparing Rc7, shows plan #3 in action.
Returning to the game, where White played the timewasting 18.Ba6? Instead:
18…Bc8 Since the bishop wasn’t up to much on a6, I’m not sure it was worth undeveloping to offer its exchange. 18…Rb8 threatens …b5, when the bishop would be stuck. White would have nothing better than to pull it back.
To Trade or Not: Part 2
19.Bc4! As is often the case, the side with more space wants to keep pieces on the board. 19.Bxc8? Rxc8 would be a serious positional mistake; Black is the one who wants to exchange pieces. With less space, his bishop lacks good squares. 19…Bb7? Again, Black’s play is too passive. 19… Bg4 aims to provoke f3 before settling on d7, where the bishop is more influential than on b7.
20.Rb3 not bad, although there were serious alternatives.
20.e5! was strong, establishing the pawn duo discussed earlier.
20. Qe3! has ideas of Rd4 and Rbd1, doubling rooks on the d-file, while continuing to keep e4-e5 in mind.
20… Rc8? Black’s last two moves show he does not appreciate the danger he is in. As a result of the undefended black king – look at his pieces on the other side of the board – we have reached a key moment.
20… Qd6! improves the position of the queen and is ready to meet 21.Qh6 with 21…Bc8! and Black is in the game.
21.Rh3
21.Qh6! was winning. The queen definitely belongs here for the attack, but the rook may be better deployed on g3 than h3. 21…f6 (21…Rxc4? 22.Rh3 shows White’s basic threat).
22.Be2 Threatens Bg4-e6, so Black’s rook should get out of the way. 22…Rc7 23.Rg3 Now the immediate threat is a destructive rook sacrifice on g6. In that case White’s remaining rook would swing into the attack across the third rank to finish the job.
23…Rf7 24.h4 Rc2
25.Qe3! White probably wants to move the queen anyway, so that after h4-h5, …g5 doesn’t trap it on h6. h5 comes next with a winning attack.
Returning to the game, where White played the reasonable, but less decisive 21.Rh3.
21…f6! Forced, in light of the threatened Qh6. 22.Bb3 Qd6! White is still seriously better, but Black is making some sense of their position. I think this was a key moment in terms of the result of the game.
Stopping the Attack – but Why?
 23.Kh1? Why so passive? After this move the game meanders towards a strange repetition.
23.Rg3 intends h4-h5, with an attack.
23. Qh6 Rf7 24. Rg3 again prepares h4-h5. Either of these logical moves would have kept serious attacking chances.
23…Ba6 The bishop was doing nothing on b7, so this makes sense. 24.Qh6 Rf7
At this point White has squandered the vast majority of their advantage. The game ended in a curious draw in the middle of a repetition: 25.Qe3?! Rff8?! (25…Bc4! would continue to improve Black’s position – as discussed earlier, he would benefit from an exchange of bishops.) 26.Qh6 26…Rf7 27.Qe3?! Rff8?! and the players agreed to a draw.
I think there are two very instructive take-aways from this example.Â
1) Black was asking for trouble by refusing the exchange of queens in the original position. With the queens on the board, White could have combined the ideas of kingside attack with creation of the e5/d5 pawn duo in the center.Â
2) By not acting on their advantage, White gradually frittered it away. First there was the time-wasting Ba6, instead of e4-e5!, creating a powerful central pawn duo. Later Kh1 was chosen instead of Rg3 or Qh6, both moves that would have contributed to the attack. Unsurprisingly, this gave Black time to make sense of their position. It reminds me of the famous precept from Steinitz: The player who has the advantage is obliged to attack. Otherwise they risk losing their advantage!