Hi there.
In this lecture, we see Michael Adams against Luke Machine in 1997, British Championship round three.
We see Adams playing E4 after C five, C free.
So the pin variation, which Adams actually has statistically a good percentage score with white lower
game sample than with nine and three.
But it seems to suit Adams positional style quite well.
D six is already a kind of inaccuracy, believe it or not.
Might have six here seems to be more precise.
So e 595 D for D six.
These positions are about equal and if you play the Smith gambit you'll know about that need to play
often against the decline of the Smith Morris gambit.
So we get similar positions as we would from a different move order.
So okay, so here E four, C five, c3d6 though.
And it allows white to get that classic pawn center duo, which is considered quite often a positional
advantage.
So Bishop de Fray, C tanks, C tanks.
We have G 693, Bishop g7h3.
So this rules out Bishop G four, which could be useful for that later.
All 9g4 So e five we have D takes five here because the bishops on G seven are not a prisoner in a pawn
chain.
It makes more sense to play a move like D takes e five.
We're not liberating the bishop.
In fact, we're kind of blocking in the bishop on G seven.
So D takes e five.
That pawn is locking the bishop in.
Potentially.
We have 9693 black consuls.
Bishop E three This bishop seems to be better than his counterpart with ideas of Bishop C five sometimes,
or France to factor in 95 bishops C four, Knights F four and now the Queen's come off.
So you might think, Oh, this is a bit dull, but black is on a back foot here.
9g5 Bishop E thinks that's an example.
If Rook have eight, then Bishop C five and black can resign.
So 94, we're just taking out these chains and taking another pawn end of game.
So Bishop e six offering the light squared, Bishop Knight takes six, Knight takes.
So great outcome from the opening, but you might think hold on blacks got this great default square,
right?
That's true but it's not that great functionally it's good visually, but it's not brilliant functionally.
What concrete things is it do Maybe 92, but that's shut down later as we'll see.
Rook 51 Rook AC eight Bishop takes E six and F takes e six.
The thing is, if Knight takes E six, then Bishop takes a seven, winning a pawn.
So structural damage is inflicted by Adams.
So he's treating it like a dynamic structure.
Now reduce counterplay.
Now King F one stops any 92 tricks in different variations.
Rook RD 79e2.
So trying to swap off Black's best piece for a less good pace.
So this is positional play supported by the King.
So that glamorous outpost is a target.
We see Rook CD eight If rook takes C one, rook take one this position G Free Bishop f6 Rook free White
does have a big advantage here overall, but it needs work.
Rook D ain't Bishop G five Rook f8 rook d free.
And this gives flexibility not just to pile up on D four.
And that's a bit token, but it's sees the C file.
This is a great way of seizing CFO authority H six Bishop e free.
So this bishop remains a bit better than this guy and there are dark square targets here for endgames.
Bear that in mind if you've got a dart square bishop and game transitions, look out for the dart square
juicy targets.
We have G five, another Dart square target potentially.
We have rook DK free rook after one pair of rooks coming off King of 79c1 might five F free.
We have B six King E 296 Rook C6 So this is a bit painful for black, but black's holding on rook B
793 Now pressure is starting to be mounted on E five so we see some high level shuffling around.
But why is not minding this end game now?
This is a bit of a downside of a positional player playing like Capablanca that sometimes, especially
with playing a grandmaster, sometimes it's difficult to grind, even if engines think is like clearly
better.
It might not be in that you can't improve the evaluation.
This is a bit of a risk of positional play just getting an endgame like this.
However, White's pieces are slightly superior to Black's Black has committed these Dart Square targets
and E5 is one of the more exploitable ones, and we see Adams regrouping against E five here.
So this is kind of instructive.
Might be to Bishop DD six and now 9c4.
So pressure is mounted on E five The King.
Sea free so that the bishop can reroute to sea free.
So this is targeting E five.
And here we have an inaccuracy, a bad, bad inaccuracy.
This was unnecessary, it seems Bishop F thinks.
And how is Y actually making progress?
For example, this position, it does seem as though black can be stubborn, and it's difficult to see
how white will improve the position.
It's a little bit difficult to see how this is going to work, even though engines seem to like white.
But where's the plan?
So Bishop de six, though, offers white tactics to further simplify and taking out the dark square,
Bishop leaves a lot of juicy, dark square targets.
So King text is played.
If Knight takes we're just taking on E five.
There's no backfire.
So King takes Bishop B for checking.
C six, King C four.
And now, yeah, Black's getting into black's.
It's a very difficult position here.
And there is there are concrete plans for white.
96 just goes into a lost king and pawn ending here, which is obviously great for Adams.
If not hate, then the bishop could park actually on G seven targeting these guys.
And let's say this position white can actually intensify things here.
There is a way the king can come here.
The bishop can stop this king attacking these guys.
So this is an example plan and the king has light squares on the adjacent dark square pawns.
Those light squares, white can walk on those light squares here.
So this position gets absolutely critical and lost for black.
So, yes, it is bad news already, but this is absolutely plainly lost.
And I'm just takes on D six, king B five, King A six.
This is an absolutely lost king and pawn ending Capablanca rule one pawn stopping to sealing up black's
possibilities, creating zugzwang basically King B for King being a5b tanks King takes a five King seven
king a six end of game.
It's absolutely lost.
So McShane resigns here.
If King C six the thing is, King takes A seven, King B five, King B seven.
White's much quicker here to get to Black's pawns, these double pawns.
That's one of the beauty in the endgame.
We see if the positional player gets an endgame where the opponent has double pawns.
Who's looking after the double pawns when the pieces have left the house?
No one's looking after these pawns whilst this pawn is looking after that one.
And we see it in this final scenario.
Fictional scenario?
How?
Yeah, it's great that it's free.
It's like a winning advantage that every supports e that e six can be taken zugzwang.
Ouch.
So we see the total pain and nightmare of double pawns in an endgame here in a king and pawn end game.
So that helps justify this whole static philosophy that forget the fun of dynamic structure, give the
opponent double pawns at some point and the end games.
You know, there are things going on with the Kings and endgames where hanging pawns or double pawns
or back pawns, they can be targets to king aggressive kings and end games.
If nothing else, once the pieces leave the scene.
And it was also good positional play for exchanging off a worst piece for a bad piece, we say about
improving our worst piece, but also for simplification.
This is a good simplification policy where we're taking off a slightly worse night for a better night
potentially.
Potentially.
And it's actually left that though, for a while.
It's actually after a while the night moves anyway.
So yeah, the counterplay has been managed here and it's going to be a potentially good blockade square,
if nothing else, if it wasn't moved.
You know, we have Bishop, let me just show you we have bishop takes are here as example.
And and sometimes we'll we have if rock takes free and this could be a very good position coming up
because we can use the free square.
But also if there's a blockade, then 93 is going to be duty.
So for whatever reason, the night moves anyway.
So that night it's a bit of a target basically.
And then why it's improving again and it's a bit of a target on D six funnily enough for, for exchanging
off potentially.
So yeah, it's just a very interesting positional game showing how simplification can simply win games
like alla, capablanca capablanca, get small advantages, then simplify and just win.
And they became known as a kind of machine because, you know, he put it meant less risk for him to
lose any games and he was just, you know, winning most of the games through technique.
And this seems to be a bit of a Capablanca style game that just through simplification, getting this
winning king and pawn ending, it's wonderful stuff.
It just takes out the risk of losing.
Yeah.
How The double pawns are not supported by anything.
It's a major it kind of translates into major tempo, gaining that this E4 pawn in this fictional scenario
because this is after game after the game finished, is absolutely a winning situation for Zugzwang
and especially that G four that's creating a zugzwang as well that everything's being sealed up.
Yeah, so great stuff.
Very interesting positional game, Capablanca style from Capablanca style play.
You know, Michael Adams is a Capablanca style player in my view, but it's in a modern setting.
1997 so Capablanca didn't usually play such strong players as modern players because we stand on the
head and shoulders of previous generations.
Well, we stand on the shoulders of previous generations.
So it's interesting to see how Grandmaster Luke McShane is ground down for a positional game here.
Really fascinating stuff.
So I hope you enjoyed this.
And yeah, the C Free Sicilian is good for a positional repertoire.
It seems to be good statistically for Adams, but yeah, he does like the kind of glory of attacking
chess as well, attacking positional chess with 93.
But he has positional systems within certain openings.
So for example, he has been playing Bishop B five check sometimes or against nine, C six, Bishop
B five.
So there are positional choices within the nine.
It's the follow up really which dictates how positional an opening is.
It's the concrete variation you follow for the first like 10 to 15 moves.
But anyway, the ALP on the second move indicates the more positional game.
I think that's my major point here.
So we get a very interesting positional game with not much going on and an end game brains.
So I think this is actually a very instructive positional game in various ways.
It shows actually the process of simplifying, getting rid of the opponent's bad pieces, looking forward
to double pawns in an end game.
Okay.
And so much.