Skype coaching session, 19 March 2017. 

Please note: Re-structuring of the sessions now offers the option for guests to bring their own games for group discussion. 

Recordings of some previous coaching sessions can be found at: 

http://www.open-aurec.com/Skype/PaulBenson/PaulBenson.htm
 
The following game was examined, the games 35 moves is given with annotations and then again without annotations. 

Paul Benson. 

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Annotated Game. 

White: Paul Benson, 2059 (TS). 
Black: Juan Carlos Montenegro, 1737 (TS). 
Event: Tournoi Skype 20A, 2016-17. 
Result: 1-0 in 35 moves. 
Opening: French Defence, Advanced Variation, C02. 

1. e4 e6 
2. d4 d5 
3. e5 c5 
4. c3 Nc6 
5. Nf3 Qb6 
6. Bd3 

| The first big decision. White is entering into the Milnner-Barry Gambit territory, a dangerous weapon in the hands of a well-prepared player. Instead, 6. Be2, or, 6. a3, are more popular and easier to handle. There is nothing particularly bad about offering the d4 pawn, it is more a case of whether the resulting middlegame positions suit your style of play. There is also quite a lot of theory to absorb if you are to get the best from giving up the pawn. Hard study should yield rewards. Get searching those databases if as white you like having the initiative for the cost of a humble pawn... || 

6. ... cxd4 
7. cxd4 Bb4+ 

| Black is clearly not falling for, 7. ... Nxd4 8. Nxd4 Qxd4 9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. Bxd7+ Kxd7 11. Qxd4, losing the queen for a pawn. The more usual reply here is, 7. ... Bd7, setting up the grab of the gambit pawn because the white trick involving, Bb5+, as just shown will not be check and so the black queen on d4 would be safe. Instead, 7. ... Nge7, intending, Nf5, and, Be7, is another satisfactory plan. || 

8. Nc3 Nge7 
9. O-O a6 

| Again, 9. ... Bd7, seems more in keeping with the theme of the variation. There is also, 9. ... Nf5, or even, 9. ... Ng6, to be considered, both knight moves vacating the e7 square for a potential retreat of the b4 bishop. || 

10. Ne2 

| Initially designed to protect the d4 pawn while also setting a sneaky trap. In time there might be ideas of, Ng3, or, Nf4, with some influence on the kingside, and perhaps probing with, Nh5, asking black to solve the safety of the g7 pawn. Instead, 10. a3 Bxc3 11. bxc3, protects the white d4 pawn, which can be followed up with the plan, pawn a4, and, Ba3, with play on the dark squares. || 

10. ... Nf5 

| It was necessary to move this knight as white was threatening, 11. a3 Ba5 12. b4, winning a piece for two pawns. || 

11. g4 

| White is only trying to play in the centre, on the kingside, and has plans to follow up with play on the queenside. The dividing line between ambition and greed can sometimes be a narrow one. As Meatloaf told us back in 1977, "Two out of three ain't bad", strongly suggesting white should think of terms of restricting activity to just two zones of the board. Instead, 11. Bxf5 exf5, and black can consider, Be6, followed by, O-O-O, when there will be a big kingside pawn avalanche of, pawn h6, and pawn g5, in the air. || 

11. ... Nh6 

| This black knight has spent three moves to arrive on a square it could have reached with just one move. In return, white has played two pawn moves in front of the king which might have weakened the kingside should black organise the thematic break of, pawn f5. || 

12. h3 Bd7 
13. a3 Be7 
14. b4 Na7 

| Black must find a means of trading a few pieces to reduce the congestion behind the central blocked pawns. This knight retreat offers black the plan of, Bb5, intending to trade off the potentially dangerous white light square bishop. || 

15. Nc3 

| Designed to prevent black, Bb5, and so preventing the trade of light square bishops. Black must soon find a safe location for the king, the kingside seems the best proposition, but it seems the white kingside pawn expansion is having an unexpected effect. || 

15. ... Rc8 

| So the black king is not going to hide on the queenside. || 

16. Bd2 

| White prefers to keep the dark square bishop aiming at the black h6 knight. There are known ideas of black castling kingside permitting, Bxh6, when black shuffles with, Kh8, and, Rg8, with play up the g-file. Black is now to play and makes a critical decision. || 

16. ... f5 

| Perhaps, 16. ... O-O, giving the black king safety and the h8 rook activity was preferable before such a committal move as this. || 

17. exf6 

| For better or worse, white decides to open up the position and transform a potentially static middlegame into a dynamic battle. Instead, 17. gxf5 Nxf5 18. Bxf5 exf5, also injects imbalance into the position but leaves the centre blocked. The game choice opens up the e-file creating a target on e6, but the downside is that the white d4 pawn also becomes a target. White could have tried to keep the kingside / centre blocked with, 17. g5 Nh7 18. h4, intending to switch all operations over to the queenside in the hope the extra space will offer white better prospects in the ending. It all comes down to the type of position with which one feels suits your style of play, hence white takes en passant anticipating tactics as the centre opens up. || 

17. ... Bxf6 

| Decision time again for white. The choice is between defending with either, 18. Ne2, or attacking with, 18. g5. || 

18. g5 

| Forcing matters. Imbalance is the mother of middlegame invention. White will have an open centre for piece activity. 
Black might snatch a pawn or two along the way. Over the next few moves both players must answer difficult questions. Whoever finds the best answers will take a strong grip on the game. || 

18. ... Bxd4 

| Black is not actually losing a piece here. While the h6 knight is still under attack, there is now a double attack on the once-defended white c3 knight. White anticipated this capture and had the, "refutation", ready. Best laid plans... || 

19. Na4 

| White focuses only on one tactical variation and completely misses a good fighting alternative. Instead, 19. Nxd5, was suggested during the live session. The idea is to transform the centre into one much more favourable to the white bishop pair. Many complicated lines were discovered, below is a distillation of the 20+ minutes of analysis, and doubtless there are even better opportunities to be found in what we analysed. 

Black must now carefully sift and select from: 
(A). If, 19. ... exd5 20. Nxd4 Qxd4 21. Qe2+ Kf7 22. gxh6, with the complications indicating that the black king had more problems than the white king. 
(B). Or if, 19. ... exd5 20. Nxd4 Qxd4 21. Qe2+ Kd8, trying to get the king to the safety of the b8 square. White continues with, 22. gxh6, and black must be aware of the threatened skewer of, Be3, winning a piece. So after, 22. gxh6 Nb5, there is plenty of imbalance around for both players to find inspiration or inaccuracies. 
(C). Or if, 19. ... Qd6, and the d-file is very congested. After, 20. Nxd4 Nf7, white must choose how to let black regain one of the knights. 
(D). Or if, 19. ... Qd6 20. Nxd4 Qxd5, which again passes the awkward decision back to white, there being either, 21. gxh6 Qxd4, or, 21. Be3 Nf7, from which to choose. || 

19. ... Bxa4 

| This trade is forced as the black queen must keep her defence to the black d4 bishop. || 

20. Qxa4+ Ke7 

| Risky. Perhaps black is lifting the king off the back rank in order to be able to swing the c8 rook over to the kingside? While the black king in the centre does have some pawn cover, this is not really sufficient to the task, he would be much safer on the g8 square. Instead, 20. ... Qc6 21. Qxc6+ Nxc6 22. Nxd4 Nxd4 23. gxh6, and it appears that white has won a piece. Not so, as the black d4 knight can then fork with, 23. ... Nf3+ 24. Kh1 Nxd2, and black regains the piece while seeming to keep the pawn. If white chases a forcing line with, 25. Rfd1 Nf3 26. hxg7 Rhg8 27. Bxh7 Rxg7 28. Bd3 Rh8 29. Bf1 Rg1+ mate, a hard lesson would be handed out. 

Discussion during the session revealed the position was very imbalanced after, 20. ... Nc6 21. Rad1 O-O, escaping the pin on the c6 knight. Yes, that black h6 knight is en prise, but so is the white f3 knight. The variations found during the session strongly indicated if, 21. ... O-O 22. gxh6 Rxf3, that black was getting much the better of it, especially when the black c6 knight moved kingside beginning with, Ne5. Lastly there was, 20. ... Nc6 21. b5, which again initially seemed to look for good for white but actually favoured black. White to play in the game and find some inspiration to create material imbalance. || 

21. gxh6 Bxa1 
22. Rxa1 gxh6 

| Technically black is a pawn up, but since the h-pawns are doubled, we should think of white having two pieces against a black rook and pawn. The positional imbalances make it difficult to assess who is better. The white king will be vulnerable should the black rooks double on the g-file, which will be made worse if the black queen ever gets over to the kingside. White has the bishop pair, the dark square bishop in particular must dominate the dark squares before the black heavy pieces get going on the kingside. Quite simple then. Whoever gets the initiative might become unstoppable. || 

23. Be3 Qc6 
24. Bc5+ 

| A powerful zwischenzug, claiming the soon-to-be important dark squares around the black king. || 

24. ... Ke8 

| White must turn a static advantage into a dynamic one, in particular the piece with the most powers must start pulling her weight, but how? Clue: Going backwards is not necessarily going backwards. || 

25. Qd1 

| White correctly keeps the middlegame going. The black king is caught in the middle of the board, the black rooks have yet to coordinate their activity, not to mention the isolation of the black a7 knight. The white queen is heading for the kingside where the black forces will find it very difficult to push her back. || 

25. ... Rg8+ 
26. Kf1 b6 
27. Ne5 

| Opening up the d1 - h5 diagonal with a useful gain of tempo. || 

27. ... Qb7 

| The queen on b7 might be pointing at the g2 square, but will there be any time to gain entry? Instead, 27. ... Qc7, will only deny the black king potential flight routes to the b8 square, but this possible escape route can only be used if white mishandles the attack. || 

28. Qh5+ Kd8 

| The black pieces are all scattered on the edge of the board and will look on helplessly providing white gets it right. One should not be too worried about the attack on the c5 bishop, the activity of the three white pieces on the 5th rank offers great opportunities. White will continue to invade with a mixture of checks and attacks on higher value black pieces until the position becomes decisive. || 

29. Nf7+ Kd7 

| Instead, 29. ... Kc7 30. Qe5+ Kd7 31. Qd6+ Ke8 32. Qxe6+ Qe7 33. Qxe7+, is mate. || 

30. Nd6 

| A double purpose move. Firstly, the knight is vacating the f7 square for an invasion by the white queen. Secondly, Forking the black b7 queen and c8 rook creates chances of recovering material should the attack not find a mating sequence. || 

30. ... Qa8 
31. Qf7+ Kc6 

| White to play and find some inspiration. Clue: When there is so much aggressive fire-power around the opposing king one can afford to lose some material to keep the attack flowing. || 

32. Qxe6 

| Setting up a variety of powerful discovered checks. || 

32. ... bxc5 

| White is now confronted with several strong variations. It would be tempting to spend time searching for the most efficient finish. Instead white finds the most obvious of several clearly-winning variations and decides it will be good enough and plays it without hesitation. || 

33. Nxc8+ 

| Here are five short mates, there are almost certainly more lurking just waiting to be found: 
(A). If, 33. Ne8+ Kb7 34. Bxa6+ Kb8 35. Qb6+ Qb7 36. Qxb7+ is mate. 
(B). Or if, 33. Ne8+ Kb7 34. Bxa6+ Kb8 35. Qd6+ Rc7 36. Qxc7+ is mate. 
(C). Or if, 33. Nc4+ Kb7 34. Qb6+ is mate. 
(D). Or if, 33. Nc4+ Kc7 34. Qd6+ Kb7 35. Qb6+ is mate. 
(E). Or if, 33. Nc4+ Kb5 34. Qb6+ Ka4 35. Bc2+ is mate. || 

33. ... Kc7 
34. Qb6+ 

| Sure, while the materialistic, 34. Qxg8 Nxc8 35. bxc5, leaves white a clear rook up and winning, spending a few seconds searching for cute mates can occasionally be time well spent. || 

34. ... Kxc8 

| Running away does not get far. There are two mates in three to be found: 
(A). If, 34. ... Kd7 35. Bf5+ Ke8 36. Qe6+ Kf8 37. Qe7+ is mate. 
(B). Or if, 34. ... Kd7 35. Bf5+ Ke8 36. Qe6+ Kd8 37. Qd7+ is mate. || 

35. Bf5+ mate 
1-0 

| The power of an attacking queen located a knight's jump from an opposing king trapped on the edge of the board strikes again. Such a formation means a check on the flight-diagonal of the surrounded king is mate. In essence, the black king has been caught in some diagonal crossfire. || 

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## Unannotated Game. 

White: Paul Benson, 2059 (TS). 
Black: Juan Carlos Montenegro, 1737 (TS). 
Event: Tournoi Skype 20A, 2016-17. 
Result: 1-0 in 35 moves. 
Opening: French Defence, Advanced Variation, C02. 

1. e4 e6 
2. d4 d5 
3. e5 c5 
4. c3 Nc6 
5. Nf3 Qb6 
6. Bd3 cxd4 
7. cxd4 Bb4+ 
8. Nc3 Nge7 
9. O-O a6 
10. Ne2 Nf5 
11. g4 Nh6 
12. h3 Bd7 
13. a3 Be7 
14. b4 Na7 
15. Nc3 Rc8 
16. Bd2 f5 
17. exf6 Bxf6 
18. g5 Bxd4 
19. Na4 Bxa4 
20. Qxa4+ Ke7 
21. gxh6 Bxa1 
22. Rxa1 gxh6 
23. Be3 Qc6 
24. Bc5+ Ke8 
25. Qd1 Rg8+ 
26. Kf1 b6 
27. Ne5 Qb7 
28. Qh5+ Kd8 
29. Nf7+ Kd7 
30. Nd6 Qa8 
31. Qf7+ Kc6 
32. Qxe6 bxc5 
33. Nxc8+ Kc7 
34. Qb6+ Kxc8 
35. Bf5+ mate 
1-0 

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