Below we analyze the game Suba vs Raicevic, played in Bela Crkva in 1985. But first some thoughts I have about game analysis…
Don’t be lazy. Be prepared to roll up your sleeves and do some work.
Don’t be pedantic. Don’t get bogged down in some level of intricacy for 4 hours. It may not help you that much in the end.
Use a physical board, not the board from your chess computer.
Use different analysis methods for different parts of the game. You will see how I do this as I step through each part of the game.
Write down your analysis or record your analysis in the chess computer.
Here is the full game:
1. c4, e6 2. Nc3, d5 3. d4, Nf6 4. Nf3, Nbd7 5. cxd5, exd5 6. Bf4, c6 7. e3, Be7 8. Qc2, O-O 9. O-O-O, a6 10. Bd3, c5 11. Ng5, g6 12. h4, c4 13. Bxg6, fxg6 14. h5, Qe8 15. hxg6, Qxg6 16. Qxg6+, hxg6 17. Rh6, Kg7 18. Rdh1, Rg8 19. Rh7+, Nxh7 20. Rxh7+, Kf8 21. Ne6+, Ke8 22. Nxd5, Bd8 23. Ndc7+, Bxc7 24. Nxc7+, Kd8 15. Ne6+, Ke8 26. Bd6, Resign
Let’s start with the end of the game. The idea is to identify the earliest move for which you are able to ascertain with precision the best play for both sides for all the following moves. Your goal is to develop an irrefutable analysis that even a grandmaster would not disagree with. One approach is to start with the last move and work backward until you reach a point where your are less certain of your analysis. You can also use a computer to find the earliest move for which white has a force win. It turns out that it is move 19 for black, but we will start with move 19 for white to set the stage.
Here is the position before white’s 19th move. Using my counting method from a previous post, we have material counts of 2-1-2 for white versus 2-2-2 for black. White is down a bishop. What does white have in compensation? He does have an extra pawn, but what is most relevant is the activity of his pieces. This is critical moment. White is down material and has more activity for his pieces. What is the logical course of action? White is committed to an attack.
19. Rh7+
Per above, white is committed or he is in trouble. The only other move that caught my eye in this position is Ne6+. I won’t go into the details here, but an analysis of Ne6+ leads to absolutely nothing. So white has to give up more material.
19. … Nxh7
Seems obvious? This is a position I would come back to later on, since it turns out that Kf8 is better. But I want to focus on the following move.
20. Rxh7+
A logical choice. Forces the king to the back rank.
20. …, Kf8
20. …, Kf6 21. Rf7#
21. Ne6+
This is the only move that forces an immediate win.
21. …, Ke8
The only legal move.
22. Nxd5
White is now threatening mate with either Ncd7 or Rxe7. The alternative Nc7+ may win, but it will take a lot longer.
22. …, Bd8
If it weren’t for this move, then black could resign. Rg7 and Bd6 both lose material without stopping mate.
23. Ndc7+
I see other potential options, including Bg5, Bh6, Bd6, and Nec7+. We should also consider Ng7+ only because it’s a check. Where do we start? In a tournament setting we would need to prioritize our evaluation, and so we might as well use this as an opportunity to practice our prioritization skills. The checks are the more forcing moves, so we’ll start with those. Ng7+ seems to give black more options and may allow his king to escape the back rank, so we’ll start with Nxc7+.
23. Nec7+
This is at least as good as what was played in the game.
23. Nec7+, Bxc7 24. Nxc7+ leads back to the game, so we consider. 23. Nec7+, Kf8 {forced if he cannot play Bxc7} 24. Bd6, Be7 {forced} 25. Bxe7#.
23. Ng7+
The most viable response is 23 …, Kf7. Kf7 allows black’s king to reach e6 if the g7 knight moves, and so I’m immediately skeptical. If this were a tournament game, I would abandon analysis of this variation and only come back to this if nothing else worked out. There are two options for white here: either move the g7 knight or don’t. What options does white have when he leaves the knight on g7? He cannot move the rook and Be5, Bg5, and Nc7 allow for exchanges. While those exchanges may work out for white, alarm bells should be going off on any non-forcing variations that allow exchange. What if we move the knight on g7? The obvious options are Nf5 and Nh5. 23. …, Kf7 24. Nh5 and now 24. …, Ke6 and, likewise, 23. …, Kf7 24. Nf5, Ke6 looks suspicious. At this point, there is no further need to analyze 23. Ng7+ unless other options are inferior.
I leave it to the reader to evaluate the other move alternatives.
23. …, Bxc7
The only legal move.
24. Nxc7+
I don’t see any other options that are either equal or superior to this.
24. …, Kd8
24. …, Kf8 25. Ne6+, Ke8 leads back to the game.
25. Ne6+
I don’t see any other move that leads to immediate mate.
25. …, Ke8
The only legal move.
26. Bd6
I don’t see any other move that leads to immediate mate.
26. Bd6, Resign
White is threatening mate-in-one with Re7. The only way to stop this is 26. …, Rg7, which loses a rook after 27. Rxg7 and mate-in-one cannot be avoided.