[Event "US Championship"]
[Site "Online"]
[Date "2020.10.26"]
[White "L. Dominguez"]
[Black "H. Nakamura"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[BlackElo "2788"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2795"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]{[#]}
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 (
{</br> The Exchange line} 3... a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d4 ({Fischer demonstrated the potential in} 5. O-O { at two Olympiads. In <a href="https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044340" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">1970 against Unzicker</a>, he took the theoretically won endgame at move 5, and won it. In <a href="https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044018" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">1966 against Gligoric</a>, he turned the leads in development and king safety into a crushing middlegame attack. Consequently, every club player who ever claimed to read <em>My 60 Memorable Games</em> took up 4. Bxc6, and experienced no change in their results. }
) 5... exd4 6. Qxd4 Qxd4 7. Nxd4 { is fine for masters who like to play endings — for instance, Capablanca, Karpov, Lasker, Smyslov; four of the best endgame technicians in history.</br>} ) 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 {[#]</br> After Kramnik won the 2000 world championship match — partly because Kasparov couldn’t break this Berlin Defense — popularity skyrocketed. Carlsen, Anand, Karpov, Nakamura (it’s a particular favorite of the American champion), and every class C player in the world took up the Berlin when they didn’t mind entering an even endgame at move 8. This didn’t make any difference to the class C players, but grandmasters began to play 4. d3 when they didn’t want to play the Berlin endgame. The C players also picked up 4. d3, too, with no effect.</br> Compare this endgame to that which arose from the Exchange Lopez in the previous note. What’s the difference? A hint: The Exchange Lopez with 6. Qxd4 has never been popular, while the Berlin Lopez is hugely popular and will probably remain so. </br> The difference is that White leads the way in the Exchange line when a draw will be OK; Black defends with the Berlin when a draw will be OK. The positional bases and the drawish character are quite the same, the difference is in the player who’s steering in that direction. </br>} 9. Rd1+ Ke8 10. Nc3 Ne7 11. a4 {</br> New move. 11. h3 is about 60% draws.</br>} 11... Bg4 12. a5 Ng6 13. Ra4 Bxf3 14. gxf3 {</br> There’s some theoretical interest here. White gave up the pawn majority that confers a won pawn ending if all the pieces come off, but evened the bishop/knight balance, gained lots of queenside space, and has two fine rooks. It’s the lessened potential in the kingside pawn majority that will likely keep 11. h3. For example, in <a href="https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1816236" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kosteniuk-Stefanova</a>, China 2016, the e-pawn is passed at move 25, and Alexandra (first name basis; I edited the English edition of her book) was winning a few moves later. </br>} 14... Be7 15. f4 f5 {</br> Wow. That’s quite some judgment, handing White the passed pawn, with this caveat: the d-file alone probably won’t serve as a line of entry for the white rooks, e6 (and moreso, e7) is a good blockading square for the black king, and the f4-e5 pawns favor the black bishop over the white. This is why he’s the defending national champion; 15…f5 isn’t a call lesser players will make. Stockfish puts 15…Rd8 — the move that comes naturally — first, with 15…f5 a close second.</br>} 16. exf6 ({</br> White agrees with Black’s assessment about the passed e-pawn. Stockfish prefers to keep the e-pawn by} 16. a6 {(a more easily-understandable move, right?)} b5 17. Ra5{, with} Nf8 {going to the blocking square e6 next, slight advantage for White. </br>}) 16... Bxf6 17. Ne4 Rd8 18. Rxd8+ Kxd8 19. Be3 {</br> Not the kind of pawn position for 19. Nxf6.</br>} 19... b6 20. axb6 axb6 21. f5 Ne7 22. Ra8+ Nc8 23. Kg2 {</br> This seems like the likelier time for 23. Bxf6, taking care of the threat at b2 (depending on how real you think it is), and gaining a little time, since it’ll take Black two moves to unpin the knight.</br>} 23... Bxb2 24. c3 Re8 25. Kf3 Kd7 26. f6 ( {</br> You can see why White holds} 26. Ra2 { in reserve:} 26... Rxe4 27. Kxe4 Bxc3 { is all kinds of unclear. 26. f6 sharpens the picture on the kingside before committing to a drastic change.</br>} ) 26... Nd6 {</br> By dislodging the white knight, the bind is broken on the queenside.</br>} 27. Rxe8 Kxe8 28. fxg7 Kf7 29. Bd4 Nxe4 30. Kxe4 {</br> Both kings are placed well for dealing with the opponent’s pawn majority.</br>} 30... c5 31. Be5 b5 32. Kd3 b4 33. f4 Bxc3 34. Bxc3 $1 {[#]</br> Computers can make this decision instantly, given that chess has been solved with every position of eight units or fewer on the board. A human playing White has to do some counting — perhaps while under time pressure — and calculate that when Black captures the f4-pawn, the white king either 1) captures the black pawn, or 2) reaches f2 before the black king hits g1 or g2 to stop that. </br>} 34... bxc3 35. Kxc3 Kxg7 36. Kc4 Kf6 37. Kxc5 Kf5 38. Kc6 Kxf4 39. Kxc7 h5 ({</br> }39... Kg4 40. Kd6 Kh3 41. Ke5 h5 42. Kf4 h4 43. Kf3 Kxh2 44. Kf2 $10{</br>}) 40. Kd6 Kf3 41. h4 $1 ({</br> }41. Ke5 h4 42. Kd4 Kg2 43. Ke3 h3 44. Ke2 Kxh2 45. Kf2 { is also a draw, but 41. h4 is easier to see, for White knows that when Black captures at h4, White needs king to f4 to hold.</br>} ) 41... Kg4 42. Ke5 Kxh4 43. Kf4 Kh3 44. Kf3 h4 45. Kf2 Kh2 46. Kf1 h3 47. Kf2 Kh1 48. Kf1 h2 49. Kf2 {[#]} *
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