Classical Game Recap: White vs the Berlin Defense

Unnecessary loss #3 in a row! Will it ever end?

This is Round 2 of a Quad event. I lost my first game after blundering in good position — this time I was even more determined not to lose in the same way.

Time Control: 60 minutes + 15 second increment per move

White: Me

Black: 1778 USCF

The Opening

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5

In all our past games, my opponent would play 3…a6 4.Ba4 b5 immediately, but here he sat and thought for a few minutes before deciding to play the Berlin Defense.

3…Nf6 4.d3

At this moment, Black reaches a crossroads. The more “active” move is 4…Bc5 — Black plays for equality and play continues closer to an Italian Game — in fact there are many lines where the Giuoco Pianissimo and Ruy Lopez might actually reach the same position. But my opponent plays the more Closed-esque 4…d6.

4…d6 5.O-O Be7 6.c3 O-O

7.Nbd2

The repertoire I follow recommends 7.Re1 here, and during this game I learned why this is a better choice than Nbd2. Nbd2 blocks my c1 bishop in, so my position is somewhat passive; Re1 is always a useful move. I’m not even sure that I want to play Nbd2 quite yet, because Black has not yet played Bg4 — so I would retain the option of Be3 at some later point, perhaps after the move h3 to prevent Ng4 from kicking the bishop. All in all, Re1 was a better choice.

7…a6 8.Ba4 Bg4?!

This is a move I see lots of people play, but the general rule with this move is that it isn’t good until the d-pawn has to be defended by the pinned knight. Since my pawn is on d3, I’m in good shape to respond to this move.

9.h3 Bh5 Re1

The plan is to follow up with Nf1-g3 (Re1 vacated that square for the knight), or Nf1 then g4 then Ng3, threatening to capture the bishop.

Here my opponent thought for a long time.

10…d5?

This is a typical freeing move in the Ruy Lopez, but here it’s not good for Black.

11.exd5 Qxd5 12.Nf1?!

The best move here, which I did consider but rejected, was 12.d4. Black can’t play 12…exd4 due to 13.Bxc6 followed by 14.Rxe7. This was a hidden resource I didn’t see. after 12…e4, 13.Bb3! wins the e4-pawn.

12…Rad8

Piling up on the d3-pawn.

13.Bc2?

This allows my opponent to create some problems with my kingside structure. Instead, 13.g4 Bg6 14.Bxc6 bxc6 15.Nxe5 would win a pawn. Note that 15…Bxd3 16.Nxd3 Qxd3 17.Qxd3 Rxd3 fails to 18.Rxe7 (the bishop is still hanging!)

13…Rfe8

My opponent lets me off the hook a bit. 13…Bxf6 14.Qxf6 Qxf6 gxf6 would leave me with three pawn islands vs two, isolated to boot.

14.Ne3

I’m glad to get this move in and develop with tempo. My plan is to eventually play g4 to break the pin.

The Middlegame

14…Qb5

Here I had to take some time to think, but I sensed an opportunity to grab space on the queenside and equalize. I had gotten into trouble earlier with 12.Nf1, and my d3 pawn was a real target. I’d like to not have to deal with it anymore. After checking some lines deeply, I decided to go ahead and get that classic Spanish move in:

15.a4! Qc5

Another long think. The move I want to play is b4! but it loses the c3 pawn.

16.Qe2

The idea becomes clear soon enough, but this is the first step to connecting my rooks for the upcoming tactic.

16…Bd6?! 17.g4! Bg6 18.b4! Qb6?

The c3-pawn is no longer free because the Queen is trapped: 18…Qxc3?? 19.Bd2! Qb2 20.Rab1 Qa2 21.Bb3 Nd4 (a tactic to win the e3 knight) 22.Nxd4 and Black should sell the queen dearly with Qxb1).

My opponent loses time here and should have played Qa7.

19.Nc4! Qa7 20.Be3 Qb8. 21.b5

I have visions of cracking open the a-file, and doubling up on it or even tripling on it. I even see an idea involving Ba7 to block the file while I do so, but this is probably because I studied some games in Mastering Chess Strategy a few days before this game and the ideas were fresh.

21…axb5 22.axb5 Ne7

Time for another long think. I want to capture on e5, winning a pawn, but which knight?

23.Nfxe5!

23.Ncxe5?! isn’t clear after 23…c6

23…Ned5 24.Nxg6?!

24.Bd4 would be stronger.

24…hxg6 25.Qd2 Qc8 26.Nxd6 Rxd6 27.Bc5 Rde6 28.Rxe6 Qxe6 29.c4! Nb6

This position should be technically winning. I’m up a pawn, with the bishop pair and control of the a-file. The opponent’s queenside pawns are weak — and I might even trade on b6 to double and isolate them. My one issue right now is that Black’s position is centralized and active. I want to keep the pressure going and force an endgame where I’m simply better. The first step: Trade off the major pieces!

30.Kf1??

Losing. I needed to play Qe3, which I could not find due to the mental pressure of trying to win the game clouding my thoughts. I was attached to the idea of the move Re1, simply getting the rooks off and one step closer to an endgame. My opponent only took a beat and found the right move right away, because it contains two threats I can’t deal with.

30…Qe5!

This threatens both an infiltration at h2 and the hanging rook at a1. I noticed the problem with h2, but thought I had time to deal with it.

31.Bxb6??

Errors always come in pairs. My idea here was 31…Qh1 32.Be3, but this loses a rook. Had I seen this continuation back when I was calculating Kf1, I wouldn’t have played it. But even worse than this is that my rook on a1 is undefended.

31…Qxa1+

0-1

Another won position blown. Couldn’t believe it. Cursed. Got upset with myself. Talking with my opponent he admitted he was about to resign the game because he hated his positions so much in this game. And had I seen Qe3 instead of Kf1, or even just noticed that Kf1 was a ridiculously horrible blunder, the game would have continued and I would have had a nice advantage on the board and the clock; but my nerves got ahead of me and I wasn’t dispassionate enough to reject a bad plan. Ouch.

Game in a gif:

Lessons learned:

• Try to keep a clear head, and not become too attached to an idea — I need to find the trap in my thinking process that causes me to attach my navel to plans that are obsoleted by changes in the board position; and I need to look deeper before accepting or rejecting certain candidate moves.

• Nbd2 can occur too early in the Ruy Lopez, and I need to think about my Queen’s bishop before I commit to that move.

• Part of the reason I lost this and the last game was that I knew I was ahead in position and on the clock, but forgot the position and started playing the clock. Don’t do that, or I’ll just lose games from good positions over and over — my opponents are not slouches, they’re very dangerous and I usually tell myself this, but I need to say it louder.