The Petroff Squeeze

« Articles home

Submitted by GM thamizhan on Chess.com

by GM Magesh and GM Arun
While some very young and vibrant chess talents are battling it out in the Dubai open, the Bundesliga league as always has some of the strongest pulling their brains out to take their teams home successfully.
Chess players like Musicians and Artists derive plenty of pleasure from a well played game. Nothing can beat that feeling of “Yeah, I saw that move of yours and planned something ahead to counter that.” Our first game I am sure would have given just that satisfying feeling to the Russian Grandmaster Peter Svidler who displayed very good positional skills to outplay his counterpart from Azerbaijan, Vugar Gashimov.

Svidler, P. (2731) vs. Gashimov, V. (2719)

Schachbundesliga 2010-11 | Baden-Baden GER | Round 14| 9 Apr 2011 | ECO: C42 | 1-0

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nc6 8. Qd2 Be6 ( 8... O-O 9. O-O-O Ne5 10. h4 ) 9. Ng5 Bxg5 10. Bxg5 Qd7 11. Be2 Ne5 12. b3 f6 13. Be3 Ng4 14. Bf4 O-O-O 15. h3 Ne5 16. Be3 Kb8 17. O-O-O g5 18. g4 Rde8 19. a4 Qe7 20. a5 a6 21. Rde1 Nc6 22. Bf3 d5 ( 22... Nxa5 23. c4 Nc6 24. Bxc6 bxc6 25. Qa5 ) 23. Kb2 Qd6 ( 23... Nxa5?? 24. c4 ) 24. Bg2 h5 25. gxh5 Rxh5 26. f4 gxf4 27. Bxf4 Qd7 28. h4 Reh8 29. Bg3 Rg8 30. Re3 d4?! 31. cxd4 Qxd4+ 32. Qxd4 Nxd4 33. Be4 Bf5 ( 33... Nf5 34. Bxf5 Bxf5 35. Rf1 Kc8 36. Rc3 Rg7 ( 36... c6 37. Re3 ) 37. b4 ) 34. Bd5 Be6? 35. Bxe6 Nxe6 36. Rg1 Re8 ( 36... Nc5 37. Bxc7+ Kxc7 38. Rxg8 ) 37. Rge1 Rg8 38. Rc3 Rc5 39. Rxc5 Nxc5 40. Bf4 Nd7 41. h5 Kc8 42. Re7 Kd8 43. Rh7 Rg4 44. Rh8+ Ke7 45. Bxc7 Rh4 46. h6 Kf7 47. Bg3 Rh5 48. Bf4 Rh4 49. Bd6 Ke6 50. Bg3 Rh3 51. h7 Kf5 52. Bd6 Rh5 53. b4 Rh3 54. c4 Rh6 55. b5 axb5 56. cxb5 Ke6 57. Bf4 Kd5

P|<<<<>>>>|
FLIP	SHARE	ANALYZE	PGN

<>

Given that I have shown you a very well executed win from the Russian super Grandmaster, it is time for me to soak in some of my own glory! I had a very similar game about a year ago in the same opening. The one difference being that I was playing a weaker opponent, making my life a little easier.

Panchanathan, Magesh (2533) vs. Haessel, Dale (2243)

2010 Edmonton International | Edmonton Alberta | Round 4| 30 Jul 2010 | ECO: C42 | 1-0

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nc6 8. Qd2 Be6 9. Ng5 Bxg5 10. Bxg5 Qd7 11. Be2 a6 12. h4 f6 13. Be3 O-O-O 14. h5 Ne5 15. b3 g5 16. f3 h6 17. O-O-O Rde8 18. Rde1 Rh7 19. Kb2 Rhe7 20. Bd4 Rf8 21. c4 f5 22. f4 Nc6 23. Bc3?! ( 23. fxg5 Nxd4 ( 23... hxg5 24. Bc3 ) 24. Qxd4 hxg5 25. Qa7 ) 23... g4 24. Bd3 Rfe8 25. g3 Bf7 26. Qh2 Rxe1 27. Rxe1 Rxe1 28. Bxe1 Ne7 29. Bc3 Qe6 30. a4 Ng8 31. Qf2 Kb8 32. c5 Bxh5 33. cxd6 cxd6 34. Qb6 Ne7 35. Bxa6 Qd7 36. Bb5 Nc6 37. Bxc6 Qxc6 38. Qd8+ Ka7 39. Bd4+ b6 40. a5 Be8 41. Bxb6+ Kb7 42. Bd4 Bd7 43. a6+ Kxa6 44. Qb8

P|<<<<>>>>|
FLIP	SHARE	ANALYZE	PGN

<>

A bishop pair is a deadly weapon in the game of Chess. Material advantage and other direct advantages gets your opponent concerned and they try to defend hard, but some subtle positional advantages such as a bishop pair makes your opponent think throughout the game that they are 'this' close to equalizing the game. When that equality evades them throughout the game, they will eventually crumble under pressure. We hope these games gave you an idea about this particular opening and the positional ideas in the middle game arising out of it.