We left off with this position, and the task of finding a move for Black.
Meister played 15…Nd6. Because of the lichess live broadcast, I can see that he spent only two minutes on this move. Not a surprise – putting the knight on d6 is standard in this pawn structure. Let me try to explain.
This pawn structure, where White has played cxd5 and Black has responded …exd5, is known as the Carlsbad. It can come in many different forms, and also occurs with colors reversed. This is a standard form in a somewhat favorable version for Black, who has managed to exchange the light squared bishops.
In this form of the structure, White typically aims to play on the queenside. We can see that he is doing so, having gone Rb1 and b2-b4. One of his go-to ideas is the ‘minority attack’ – using his queenside pawn minority to engineer the b5 pawn break, hoping to leave Black with a weak pawn. Black often resists this plan as he has in this game by playing …a6. (The pawn on c6 has been there since the opening). White then opted for Na4 rather than forcing through the pawn break with a2-a4.
Black often aims to play on the kingside. I read once that his ideal scenario is to be left with all the heavy pieces plus one minor: A knight on d6. This piece resists the b5 break and also eyes the e4 square, which can function similarly to an outpost. There are many famous games that show Black’s ideas in this structure; Bobotsov-Petrosian and Portisch-Kasparov are the two that come to mind for me. If you are interested in learning more about this structure, I suggest looking these games up!
Returning to this game:
16.Nc5 Rfe8 17.Rfe1 maybe not the most purposeful move in the world, given that White’s play is on the queenside. 17…Nf8
18.Ne5 None of White’s moves are actually bad, but they do give the impression of someone looking around for something to do. 18…f6 19.Nf3 Qf7 20.Nd2
How would you continue for Black? Try to find a short plan.