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More Guts, More Glory in World Cup 2021

jan duda1, chess blogs

GM Duda ousted GM Carlsen in tiebreak games

04/08/2021 – It takes courage and determination to beat World Champion Magnus Carlsen in  match games. GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Poland is facing GM Sergey Karjakin of Russia in the Finals of the World Cup 2021 – Sochi, Russia.

The last game between GM Carlsen and GM Duda is very interesting because the chess opening used was Sicilian but transposed to a French Defense setup.

The game below  shows why the white’s light bishop is essential to protect queenside and has a prospect attack on black’s kingside as well. Is GM Carlsen’s choice of opening in his last game worthy to aim for a win? Let’s find out.

French Defense  – Advance Variation:   This variation aims to play a closed and structured position. Black develops a solid pawn structure and methodically places pieces to apply pressure to achieve dynamic play.

torre1

CHESS BLOG No. 14 : Date: 04th August 2021

INTRODUCTION: THE ADVANCE VARIATION vs. THE FRENCH DEFENSE

french2

French Defense:   Advance Variation (C02)  Chess Opening Classification

GM Evgeny Sveshnikov vs. GM Eugene Torre

(Event: 1981  Hoogovens,  Wijk ann Zee , Ned)

1:  e4       e6       (The French Defense)
2: d4        d5
3: e5        c5       (The Advance variation)   

4: c3        Nc6        
5: Nf3      Bd7          

6. a3        Nge7  (White is preventing Bb4 or Nb4)

7. Bd3     Ng6                 

8. h4       cd4       (Early h4 by white, reasonable because it coordinates with bishop at d3 to prevent black from castling)

9.     cxd4    Qb6  (black start to initiate pressure).   

10.   Bc2       Rc8

11.   Nc3      Nge7 (Knight retreats as no more use at g6)   

12.    Rb1     Na5     (The ability of white’s bishop to maintain balance at queenside and aiming for h7 attack is a significant post)           

13.   0-0      Nc4     (This is the weakness of white as c4 square is the landing point for black pieces as shown in diagram below)

french3
french4

Let's jump to the Final Position. White moved 27. Be3 then the game was drawn. Check why white's light bishop is so important to maintain balance to the position.

COMPARE IT TO GM CARLSEN's GAME vs DUDA

sicilian anti1

This game started with white's Anti- Sicilian Najdorf move 3. Bb5 ch disrupts normal development of black. But it backfired due to the exchange of white bishop resulting in weakness at c4 square as it transposed to the French Defense position shown below.

sicilian anti2

More exchange of pieces as it reduces the attacking prospect of white at black's kingside, thus, black can castle at kingside.

sicilian anti3

How many dark pawns of white? (5), What is the color of both bishops? (dark), What square is white's weakness? (c4) What is white's weakest pawn? (d4 - backward pawn)

sicilian anti4
sicilian anti5

In the endgame part, GM Carlsen's last move was 62. Bc1 instead of Bd4. Notice, the colour of bishop and pawns, black is dictating the position. It is important to use visualization in the middle game to foresee the endgame outcome.

RNFMJesse
Author: RNFMJesse

Profession: Registered Nurse Chess Title: FIDE Master/ FIDE Chess Rating: 2339/ Education: Bachelor of Nursing (Mental Health)/ BSIT Founder: Memory Chisel University: Western Sydney University - Australia/ EARIST- Philippines

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