WEBVTT 00:00.840 --> 00:01.510 Hi there. 00:01.530 --> 00:04.660 In this lecture, we see Michael Adams playing against Richard Pert. 00:04.680 --> 00:09.660 So this is in 2016, the British Championship, round four C for Michael Adams. 00:09.660 --> 00:11.790 We have Richard playing E5. 00:12.060 --> 00:16.200 So Adams with the English opening, diversifying his opening repertoire, in fact. 00:16.200 --> 00:17.730 So usually an E4 player. 00:17.730 --> 00:20.880 But this does seem to fit Adams's style. 00:20.880 --> 00:30.330 It's a positional opening, controlling the D five square here, 9693 Bishop C five we have 93. 00:30.330 --> 00:34.650 So this is the English 4/9 formation D six. 00:35.970 --> 00:45.720 If Black Castles, you might think this, this sequence is equal, but you might be tempted is the of 00:45.870 --> 00:47.250 with no it takes E five. 00:47.280 --> 00:53.070 This doesn't work too well here black has Bishop takes F two check nine takes E five different. 00:53.070 --> 00:54.210 It's not that great. 00:54.210 --> 00:57.030 It's about even it's playable for both sides. 00:57.030 --> 01:09.990 But okay so D six we have both sides castling e3a6d4 bishop 80 7h3 and E takes the form so Black is 01:09.990 --> 01:12.390 not wanting to push forward. 01:12.390 --> 01:14.550 That could be a target, a major target very easily. 01:14.550 --> 01:16.770 If E4 that would be a losing liability. 01:16.770 --> 01:21.630 So black trying to keep away from having fixed target. 01:21.630 --> 01:32.610 So E takes the form, e takes the 4h6 bishop e, 397 rook e, one, C six and now Adams plays D five. 01:32.610 --> 01:39.540 This does weaken white on the dark squares potentially, but white has the space advantage here, and 01:39.540 --> 01:41.100 white can afford this space advantage. 01:41.100 --> 01:47.280 Right now the pieces are able to handle the responsibility of the extra space. 01:47.280 --> 01:52.920 And in fact, at the moment it seems why it's kind of dominant on the e fo 9g6. 01:52.920 --> 02:00.300 Queen C two, Quincy seven Knight RD two Rook a e, 8a4. 02:00.300 --> 02:06.090 And simplification does tend to help in general the player with less space in general. 02:06.090 --> 02:08.220 So this is a policy of simplification. 02:08.580 --> 02:11.430 de4 So not trading rocks. 02:11.640 --> 02:13.230 Knight tanks now. 02:13.230 --> 02:15.450 Rook Sorry, now Bishop tanks. 02:15.750 --> 02:20.810 We have Knight F eight getting away from the glare of the Bishop and Queen. 02:20.810 --> 02:27.150 The King H two Queen C eight looking at H free and now g four is prompted. 02:27.150 --> 02:33.660 This is a really interesting point in the game where black can actually potentially get an edge on the 02:33.660 --> 02:34.740 dart squares. 02:35.010 --> 02:40.740 If Bishop G two then rook takes e free, isolating white's e pawn a bet. 02:40.920 --> 02:44.820 And this position should be to Black's advantage. 02:44.820 --> 02:51.450 Actually Black has that e five squared to play with soon, so g four is a kind of necessary evil move 02:51.450 --> 02:55.170 and it does further weaken white on the dark squares. 02:55.170 --> 02:59.100 You can see that there's some dark squares in White's camp which are potentially vulnerable. 02:59.100 --> 03:01.230 Queen RD eight, Rook Free. 03:01.260 --> 03:03.780 Queen G five, Bishop F5 five. 03:03.780 --> 03:10.470 Now this is an interesting moment where in fact the bishop has released this rook, which could actually 03:10.470 --> 03:12.720 come into White's possession. 03:12.750 --> 03:18.570 This is an absolutely fascinating moment, a turning point of the game Black actually played. 03:18.570 --> 03:21.540 Bishop takes F5, which technically is a mistake. 03:21.540 --> 03:27.240 Rook E1 might actually cause Adams some problems on the dart squares. 03:27.240 --> 03:33.840 The knight is defending that Bishop Clearly the rook and queen are kind of X-raying g one, which means 03:33.840 --> 03:36.090 h five might be more effective than usual. 03:36.090 --> 03:43.710 So as example, if King G two bishop takes her five hair, queen size, queen E seven protects F seven. 03:44.100 --> 03:51.630 And here, as example, it seems as though black should be pretty comfortable. 03:51.630 --> 03:56.910 Here you can see that the dark squares for white are slightly vulnerable. 03:57.120 --> 03:59.820 So that would have been a great way of playing at rookie one. 04:00.150 --> 04:04.620 And if Bishop takes D seven, nine six again, black should be fine. 04:04.620 --> 04:06.540 Queen G six protects D six. 04:06.540 --> 04:08.160 There doesn't seem to be a problem here. 04:08.160 --> 04:10.290 And also pinning that to the queen. 04:10.560 --> 04:16.140 But yeah, 95 again it looks as though black with h five you can see that the x ray effects are kind 04:16.140 --> 04:20.430 of useful on g one if g5h4. 04:20.460 --> 04:27.690 This is just a fictional scenario where things could go badly wrong for white with F3 being weak as 04:27.690 --> 04:34.800 example like this say taking on h four rook d free. 04:35.520 --> 04:41.310 You know there's pressure points around the place with this could be a really bad scenario for white 04:41.520 --> 04:46.290 but alas, Richard he didn't play rookie one. 04:46.290 --> 04:50.130 And actually this junction of the game is really quite fascinating. 04:50.130 --> 04:53.760 So Bishop takes a five mistake and it's at least equal now. 04:53.760 --> 04:57.720 It's equal either way, either with Rook takes or Queen takes. 04:57.720 --> 04:59.910 This is equal as well, but. 05:00.030 --> 05:00.630 Road taxes. 05:00.630 --> 05:07.870 Right now it's about equal Queen E seven, recovery, Queen E five, checking G two. 05:07.890 --> 05:11.760 And now an inaccuracy and a weakness of the last move. 05:11.760 --> 05:15.060 So weaknesses of the last move are a fascinating thing. 05:15.060 --> 05:16.830 There are fascinating opportunities. 05:16.830 --> 05:20.370 It's not just the tactical opportunity to use a five. 05:20.940 --> 05:22.530 It's a positional opportunity. 05:22.530 --> 05:23.760 It tangles back up. 05:23.760 --> 05:29.130 Now Adams actually doesn't defend C4, which may have been expected. 05:29.130 --> 05:35.310 He counter-attacks on F seven so there's Queen f52 looking at F seven. 05:36.360 --> 05:36.720 Yeah. 05:36.720 --> 05:42.510 If black had played Queen G five instead then any queen if black's going to take that and it should 05:42.510 --> 05:46.470 be about even this position should be about even. 05:47.340 --> 05:53.520 But you know the way it's played now, this Queen at five is a major, major opportunity to turn the 05:53.520 --> 05:56.400 table to amplify White's advantage. 05:56.400 --> 05:56.670 Really? 05:56.670 --> 06:03.150 Rook e seven Clearly, if Queen takes C four, we're just taking on F seven and taking the rook. 06:03.390 --> 06:06.930 So rook E seven We have rook for protecting now. 06:06.930 --> 06:09.450 C for evicting the queen. 06:10.230 --> 06:12.930 And this gets really uncomfortable now for Black Rook. 06:12.930 --> 06:16.620 E four we have 96 and now Quincy eight. 06:16.620 --> 06:17.280 Check. 06:18.390 --> 06:24.390 This is actually taking out well, it's changing off rooks and taking out B seven. 06:24.390 --> 06:27.420 What a complete transformation of the position. 06:27.600 --> 06:30.390 White's dance squares are not vulnerable. 06:30.390 --> 06:32.520 Here we have Queen E one. 06:32.520 --> 06:34.860 In fact, something extremely awkward is happening. 06:35.160 --> 06:39.040 If 96 this might have been one of banks. 06:39.060 --> 06:41.970 Blacks better tries to give f7b2. 06:41.970 --> 06:50.580 So we would get this kind of situation where yeah, it's it's interesting but White's isn't doing that 06:50.580 --> 06:59.760 badly in the knight and game you know this game is going to be to White's advantage overall there's 06:59.760 --> 07:03.330 work to do here but it's overall in White's advantage of that outside pass pawn. 07:03.510 --> 07:08.550 Okay Black's got passable as well but overall it's better for white if we look at this again if a five 07:08.550 --> 07:10.350 king E free is better for white as well. 07:10.350 --> 07:12.990 But anyway, Queen E one is played. 07:13.770 --> 07:23.640 So this makes things worse now because Queen rd seven and looking at D six, Black's pieces are getting 07:23.640 --> 07:27.360 tied down, overloaded, looking after weak pawns. 07:27.600 --> 07:32.850 And the problem is there's this pin now kind of strategic pin. 07:32.850 --> 07:39.240 You know, nimzowitsch put pins not just in the tactical area of the game, but also strategic. 07:39.240 --> 07:41.280 And here with this kind of pin. 07:42.810 --> 07:45.240 Otherwise, it looks kind of awkward. 07:45.690 --> 07:47.550 Well, it's looking at F seven as well. 07:48.330 --> 07:53.010 So at the moment, Queen f6, but that pin is going to recur now, my F4. 07:54.350 --> 07:58.040 So kicking the queen back into the pin line. 07:58.280 --> 07:59.750 And now, Jeffrey. 08:01.720 --> 08:05.080 And here we see blacks in. 08:05.920 --> 08:12.010 Somewhat trouble because there aren't ideas of 9 to 5 sometimes if queen have sex. 08:12.460 --> 08:13.990 So we can see if Queen have sex. 08:13.990 --> 08:16.900 This might not repeat at all with 9h5. 08:17.290 --> 08:20.020 And how is black looking after they end the --? 08:20.020 --> 08:22.090 You know, Queen E five, Queen six of seven. 08:22.510 --> 08:26.140 So black is making a big concession now F six. 08:26.650 --> 08:30.220 And this is just getting to be a horrible position, a five. 08:32.640 --> 08:34.170 We have Queen E one. 08:35.800 --> 08:38.470 So that really doesn't want an exchange of queens. 08:38.490 --> 08:41.230 Black has too many weaknesses here after a five especially. 08:41.620 --> 08:43.540 And that's an even further past pawn. 08:43.540 --> 08:46.780 So the exchange queens is not welcomed if the night moves. 08:47.140 --> 08:49.690 So Queen E one we have be free. 08:50.230 --> 08:57.610 And White's advantage now is is huge F for sorry h for Queen in 1h5. 08:57.610 --> 09:01.900 So getting rid of blacks useful moves on both sides of the board. 09:02.500 --> 09:04.210 The parenthesis is starting. 09:04.210 --> 09:05.350 Queen E five. 09:06.520 --> 09:07.990 Queen F seven. 09:11.740 --> 09:12.010 Okay. 09:12.010 --> 09:20.380 So the pin has been relieved somewhat a little bit, but a new pin has emerged against G7 and. 09:21.390 --> 09:26.040 What is actually black doing here? 09:26.760 --> 09:28.660 Blunk plays F5. 09:28.680 --> 09:33.570 If Queenie won, then funny enough in this position. 09:34.470 --> 09:35.940 Queen F ain't. 09:38.590 --> 09:39.520 And what is that doing? 09:39.520 --> 09:42.730 So black has to hold on to the night. 09:42.730 --> 09:46.810 The night can't move because the night at five and say Queen E five, Queen F seven. 09:46.810 --> 09:53.470 There's method in man that's white can make progress here going back to this pin and now King H three. 09:53.950 --> 10:00.250 So hold on in sake Queen D 725 And here, here it comes. 10:00.250 --> 10:03.070 White can now play F or one can arrange F four. 10:03.970 --> 10:10.930 And this is really problematic because now Black is losing D six and the game basically. 10:10.930 --> 10:15.160 So yeah, there are horrible scenarios where blacks kind of reduced to nothingness. 10:15.160 --> 10:18.070 So f five is played here instead of Queen E one. 10:18.580 --> 10:20.920 Yes, it's a really diabolical situation. 10:21.610 --> 10:27.340 So after nine takes F five, we have Queen E four checking G free. 10:27.370 --> 10:28.960 Queen E five check. 10:32.640 --> 10:33.810 And now King H. 10:33.810 --> 10:36.570 Ray Knight takes F5 and this is just winning for white. 10:36.570 --> 10:40.910 Queen takes her five Czech queen, takes her five G, takes King G8. 10:40.920 --> 10:45.120 But there's a key move you have to play here to make sure this is winning. 10:45.120 --> 10:46.050 So what is that move for? 10:46.050 --> 10:46.950 200 points. 10:47.070 --> 10:48.000 Move 50. 10:48.270 --> 10:49.620 What would you play here? 10:51.760 --> 10:55.240 To transition into a winning king and pawn end game. 10:57.360 --> 10:57.750 Yeah. 10:57.750 --> 11:00.510 We have to sack the pawn to give us the five square. 11:00.660 --> 11:02.130 Make way for the king. 11:02.400 --> 11:03.630 This is absolutely winning. 11:03.630 --> 11:06.360 So now G tanks Black resigned. 11:06.360 --> 11:13.740 But if G tanks King G for king for the space is really useful here because actually we're running black 11:13.740 --> 11:20.010 out of moves now after free zugzwang because the earlier moves closing off all the pawn moves shutting 11:20.010 --> 11:24.960 down Black's moves is very useful here to encourage zugzwang situation. 11:24.960 --> 11:29.310 So King E seven, King G six winning easily, etc.. 11:29.310 --> 11:30.150 King G seven. 11:30.150 --> 11:31.260 King E six. 11:31.710 --> 11:35.940 So yes, we've run black into a zugzwang here. 11:36.540 --> 11:36.990 Yeah. 11:36.990 --> 11:39.330 So it was actually an interesting game. 11:39.330 --> 11:46.320 There was a moment where the dance square weaknesses of Michael Adams could have been potentially exploited 11:46.320 --> 11:49.020 a lot better with the advisory move. 11:49.020 --> 11:51.180 Rook e one but it was a missed opportunity. 11:51.180 --> 11:53.070 So a good fight from Richard. 11:53.310 --> 11:54.600 Very good fight from Richard. 11:54.810 --> 11:56.670 Indeed, in this game. 11:56.820 --> 11:59.100 So yeah, he survived a lot longer. 11:59.100 --> 12:04.770 Some some grandmaster opponents in previous editions of the British championship. 12:04.770 --> 12:10.380 So very, very good fight, very interesting game and showing you know, Adams is also diversifying 12:10.380 --> 12:15.930 himself in terms of openings so being more of a varied target for opening preparation. 12:15.930 --> 12:19.650 So in the modern age, increasing opening repertoire preparation. 12:19.650 --> 12:20.970 So playing the English opening. 12:21.060 --> 12:23.700 Broadening his repertoire. 12:23.730 --> 12:25.380 Okay, So I hope you enjoyed this one. 12:25.830 --> 12:26.610 Thanks so much.