I'd like to believe that humans can still contribute, but will be interesting to see what the engines in 5 years have to say about the analysis, which hopefully holds up:
Jon Edwards wrote:The most important game in the Final was my game against Osipov. I really hoped to win in order to extend my razor-thin lead, and the game’s 119 moves testify to my determination. In one middlegame sequence, to make progress, I had to find a way to force him to advance his b-pawn one square, all while avoiding the 50-move rule. I accomplished the feat in 38 moves, in a sequence that no computer would consider or find. Such is the joy of high-level correspondence chess. Sadly, I did not subsequently find a win. But happily, I won the Final without it!
[pgn][Event "WC32/final ICCF"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/study/KuhLksvB/mdOOIffd"]
[Date "2020.??.??"]
[White "Edwards, Jon"]
[Black "Osipov, Sergey Adolfovich"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2529"]
[BlackElo "2499"]
[Annotator "Edwards,Jon"]
[UTCDate "2022.10.28"]
[UTCTime "21:30:39"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "C26"]
[Opening "Vienna Game: Mieses Variation"]
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17,-7,19,-8,-6,-14,-23,-32,-38,-27,-27,-36,-26,-22,-15,-7,4,6,4,4,4,4,24,4,4,6,
15,20,36,20,25,24,38,33,27,13,11,0,7,2,10,-1,11,3,11,3,-7,-11,-16,-12,-17,-10,
-12,-11,-5,-5,-5,-5,-3,-24,-7,-24,-1,-1,3,0,9,-1,9,6,13,18,21,13,18,13,29,13,
17,5,13,0,13,4,0,0,20,0,2,2,8,4,3,5,9,2,5,2,4,0,2,-2,-1,-1,4,0,11,12,5,4,13,6,
12,10,19,19,16,15,18,17,41,0,3,-5] Before play started, I estimated that the
winner would need a +2 or +3 score. I selected solid openings with Black to
aim for draws in those games. I played two Queen's Indians and two
Nimzo-Indians against 1.d4, and the Sveshnikov against 1.e4. All eight games
ended quickly, peacefully, and without my having to confront any meaningful
new ideas. To have a chance to win the tournament, I would therefore need to
win two or three games with White. At first, I prepared to open with 1.d4, but
I could not find anything playable against the Semi-Slav, a popular defense
used by many of my players in this tournament. I spent days reviewing
everything I could find there, but Black's defensive resources consistently
held up. I instead opened with 1.e4 in every game with white. Two of the games
involved the super solid ...h5 line against my Be3 Najdorf Sicilian. You'll
achieve considerable chess fame if you find a compelling line there for White.
I continue to hunt for it! I faced 1...e5 in the other 6 games. Three were
Petroffs. One was a Berlin Ruy. In the other two, to avoid these solid systems,
I tried a line in the Vienna Opening, the Glek variation, which has the merit
of keeping all the pieces on the board. This is one of those two games. }
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 { A move that was very well prepared. I am trying to reach positions
akin to the King's Gambit Declined. The Bishop's Opening has one variation
that provides Black with full equality and so, here we are in Vienna. } 2... Nf6 { There are other moves, but they all leave white with a playable advantage. } 3. g3 { 3. Bc4 leads, of course, to the famous Frankenstein-Dracula variation in
which Black, outfitted with a strong machine, is fully fine. 3. g3 is the Glek
Variation, which has the merit of permitting me to play chess with all of my
pieces. A number of strong players have tried this line from time to time.
There's an old Spassky win that provides the main idea. White will complete
the fianchetto, castle kingside, play h2-h3 and tuck the king on h2, and then
charge forward with f4-f5. The idea is riskless, well matched to the needs of
correspondence play, and frankly, quite appealing. } 3... Bc5 { The main alternative
is 3. ...d5 which I am now testing in the Kurt Stein Memorial. Theory is not
well developed and there are plenty of interesting ideas for White in that
line thanks in part to that lovely, very active light-squared bishop. } 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nge2 { The main attraction of the Vienna is to avoid Ng1-f3 so that
f2-f4 can be more quickly played. } 5... Nc6 6. O-O a5!? { Unexpected. He wants to
preserve the bishop and stake a claim on the kingside, but this may be
slightly inaccurate. It's certainly not critical. ...a7-a6, ...d7-d6, and ...
Rf8-e8 are more commonly played here. } 7. h3 Re8 8. d3 Nd4 9. Nxd4 { OK, the
first exchange. To succeed here, White wants to preserve as much material as
possible, but I can stomach one trade. } 9... Bxd4 10. Nb5 { Creative on my part.
Let's get a pawn to c4 to discourage Black's counterplay on the queenside and
in the center. Computers are not thrilled with this idea, but in my view,
winning in correspondence chess with any consistency requires a stable
structure and the ability to maneuver accurately with many pieces on the board. } 10... Bb6 11. c4 { He can always kick the knight back to c3, where it wants to be
anyway, but a c6-pawn creates additional long-term weaknesses in the structure. } 11... h6 { He is trying hard to limit the scope of what can become a very powerful,
dark-squared bishop. Of course, with most of the material left on the board,
this push is committal. One of White's main ideas, after all, is to press
forward on the kingside with a pawn rush. } 12. Nc3 { Black's potential
counterplay with ...d7-d5 or even ...b7-b5 is now unlikely. We can buckle our
belts. This will be a long struggle, exactly what I wanted. } 12... d6 13. Kh2 { These moves are part of the usual plan in the Glek and don't need computer
confirmation, but it's the World Final so the runs were long. When the engines
disagree with the plan, as happens often enough, the humans should step in and
reevaluate the plan or proceed. The idea here is straight forward. I want to
play f4-f5 and begin a pawn rush against his castled king. Black has no
apparent counterplay. } 13... Bd4 14. f4 Bd7 { This is supposed to be Black's good
bishop, but it has nowhere useful to post. At least without a pawn on c6, the
bishop gains some scope on the queenside. } 15. Ne2 Bc5 { After this tempo loss,
I concluded that this game was my best shot for a win in the Final. I wound up
devoting thousands of hours to the game, a great many 12 hour days, trying to
find the most accurate path forward. } 16. Qc2 { Simple development, aiming to
activate the queen's rook. } 16... c6 { He plays it anyway. As a young player, I
devoured Bent Larsen's Best Games. He talked about similar positions, albeit
with an open d-file, in which Black has to worry about the long-term weakness
of the d6-pawn. My progress depends in part on making sure that he cannot
break with either ...b7-b5 or ...d7-d5. Let's start by turning him into a
bystander of the plan. } 17. Bd2 Qe7 18. Rac1!? { Activating the queen's rook
on the c-file in order to firmly prevent a ... d7-d5 break. But this may be
the my only error in the entire game. If instead a2-a3 or Ra1-d1, White will
retain the dark-squared bishop to aid the kingside attack. I did agonize over
the decision, and I was persuaded by the plan that I outline below. But I
cannot help but note that the following plans, as impressive as they are,
would have been substantially aided by the addition of White's dark-squared
bishop. On 18. Rad1!?, which the computers reject at high depth, White can
retain the dark-squared bishop after ...Bc5-b4 with Bd2-c1. } 18... Bb4 { Black
succeeds in getting the dark-squared bishops off the board, his second minor
piece exchange. } 19. Be3 Bc5 20. Bxc5 dxc5 21. f5 { I had seen all this coming,
and I had the following complex plan in mind. I was sure that I could still
win this even without the dark-squared bishop. Black has no counterplay, and
now the kingside can begin its advance. } 21... Kf8 { His saving grace. White can
indeed press forward with the usual pawn-led advance on the kingside, but
Black's king won't be there. } 22. Ng1 { The actual details within this plan are
annoyingly minute and complex. The knight will eventually head towards c3, but
first, it needs to reach c2 in order to threaten b2-b4. } 22... Qd6 23. Nf3 Nh7 24. Rcd1 Ng5 25. Ne1 Nh7 { Effectively offering a draw by repetition, in which I
have no interest. } 26. Qd2 Ke7 27. Nc2 b6 28. a3 Nf6 29. Rb1 { Initializing the
b4-break. } 29... a4 { Black prevents the pawn break, but the pawn on a4 is now the
target. I began to implement an idea that few over-the-board players and no
computers would consider or attempt. Without permitting any counterplay
anywhere on the board, I need to reposition my pieces within this structure so
as to force Black to defend the a4-pawn with b6-b5. Too simply put, to
accomplish this task, I will need the white knight on c3, the bishop on c2,
and the queen on d1. The obvious constraint: I must carry out this
redeployment within 50 moves or face a draw, and I must make sure that when he
advances the b-pawn, he cannot trap my c2-bishop with ... b5-b4-b3. Osipov is
fully aware of what I am trying to do here and tries throughout the next very
long sequence to present small problems that I must confront along the way. If
he can delay long enough, he avoids any possibility of a successful White
initiative. } 30. Ne1 Reb8 { Throughout the next long sequence, most of Black's
moves threaten nothing. The engines rate the position as 0.30 or thereabouts,
and every candidate move for both White and Black has the same evaluation. } 31. Rf2 Be8 32. Bf1 Nd7 33. Nf3 f6 { And the 50 move rule is now in motion. I kept
careful track of the number on a white board in my chess study, the war room. } 34. Qe1 Kd8 35. Rc2 Kc7 36. Be2 Bf7 37. Qf2 Qe7 38. Qe3 Rh8 39. Rbc1 Kb7 40. Nh4 Nf8 41. Rc3 Kc7 42. Bf3 Nd7 43. Qe2 Rhb8 44. Bh5 { A cool step along the
way. I invite the trade of my bad, light-squared bishop for his good one. } 44... Bg8 { He declines the trade, partly perhaps to keep the 50 move rule clock running,
but his "good bishop" is now deprived of any meaningful scope or the ability
to transfer to the queenside. } 45. R3c2 Nf8 46. Ng2 Nd7 47. Ne3 Kd8 48. Rd2 Kc7 49. Qe1 Qd6 50. Ng2 Rd8 51. Nh4 Nf8 52. Nf3 { In the midst of all this glacial
maneuvering, the first shock of the tournament occurred. One of the players
inputted the wrong move, instantly hanging a piece and the game. In all of my
experiences, such things happen to others. In this case, I was the beneficiary.
A free point in the World Final changed everything! I was suddenly half way to
my +2 goal, and a win here would surely lock in the championship. There would
be no letup in my approach to this game! } 52... Kb7 53. Rdd1 Kc7 54. Rc3 { Osipov
posted a win against one of the German competitors. He had played well, and
the game achieved notoriety, but his opponent had played a dubious line in the
Benoni. Sadly, I had been paired with Black against this same person and had
already banked my draw, an extremely easy game because my opponent appeared to
be unaware that I had played the same defense twice before. All this meant
that Osipov and I were both +1, and this game took on even more importance. A
win here and my tie-breaks would be awesome, defeating someone who had a win! } 54... Kb7 55. Qf2 Kc7 56. Rcc1 Kb7 57. Kg2 Qc7 58. Rc3 Qd6 59. Rb1 Kc7 60. Ng1 { The knight finally commences its journey towards the c3-square. } 60... Qe7 61. Kh2 { I was getting very excited about my chances in this game. I had minimized his
play against my d-pawn. He dare not open the kingside. My pieces now have a
path to their desired squares in this first phase, and I knew that I could
carry out my plan within the constraints of 50 day rule. And then all hell
broke loose! Francisco Pessoa, one of the two competitors from Portugal,
offered a draw in a flat position to Steffen Bock of Germany, who accepted the
draw. Almost immediately thereafter, Bock, who now had three draws on the
books, suddenly resigned the rest of his games, including to me, to Osipov,
and to Neto, another Portuguese player. His resignations came during the
height of the pandemic and so, I assumed simply that he was sick, but there
are other possible explanations, of course. We may never know the cause.
Pessoa had cause to be very upset since he effectively had fallen behind the
field simply by having his draw offer accepted. A protest was soon filed, and
later rejected. But on the same day as Bock's resignations, Pessoa, playing
Black against Neto, resigned, essentially throwing his game to his countryman.
When the smoke had cleared, Osipov and I were tied for first, with Neto
narrowly behind with a slightly inferior tie break. A win in this game would
move me out of the tie into a large lead with only 50 games still in motion. } 61... Nd7 62. Qe3 Qd6 63. Rd1 Ra7 64. Kg2 Raa8 65. Rcc1 Qe7 66. Rd2 Qd6 67. Ne2 Rdb8 68. Qf2 Kb7 69. Nc3 { The knight finally reaches the c3-square, beginning the
pressure on the a4-pawn. } 69... Kc8 70. Qe1 Ra7 71. Bd1 { Now the bishop joins the
party. We have now made 38 moves without a pawn move or a capture. } 71... b5 { Finally, the first pawn advance since move 33. } 72. Bh5 { The bishop resumes
its most active perch immediately so as to keep Black's bishop bottled up. The
next step in the has multiple possibilities, but the main idea involves
threatening an exchange on b5 in order to pressure the c-file. I want to force
or encourage Black to play ... b5-b4 and then ...b4-b3, when White has a
winning plan with a king walk to a1 or b1, doubling the rooks on the g-file,
and then pushing the g-pawn forward. The computers still do not see such plans,
but humans can do so quite quickly. The computer is useful indeed in
confirming that the ideal position is winning for white. I repeatedly used the
computer to evaluate different piece placements iteratively within the
structure. } 72... Kc7 { There's a kind of helplessness to Black's moves. He has no
meaningful way to make progress and so, he is left to parry every threat and
possibility while I progress with my glacially slow plan. } 73. Qd1 Kc8 74. Qe1 Kd8 75. h4 Rab7 76. Kh3 Ke7 77. Ne2 Qc7 78. Qf2 Ra8 { Amidst my building
efforts to impel him to advance the b5-pawn, a very tempting tactic emerged. } 79. cxb5 cxb5 (79... Rxb5? 80. Nc3 $16) 80. d4 Qd6 (80... exd4? 81. Rxd4 $16) 81. d5 c4 { Black's "good bishop" is now permanently buried, White has a
protected passer in the center, and there are all sorts of promising
possibilities for the posting of White's pieces. Imagine, for example,
maneuvering the knight to b4 and c6, securing the king on the queenside, and
blasting open the kingside with support from White's major pieces. Even
White's light-squared bishop will gain a role in that scenario. } 82. Rc3 Nc5 83. Qf3 Qd7 { A huge think now. He now threatens to break on the kingside with
g5 and attempt to seal the structure. I can avoid the pawn advance by
retreating my king, but even after ...g5, I can still reorient my pieces for
an eventual h4 break. The computer evaluations are simply worthless through
here. } 84. Nc1 { The knight prevents any incursion with ...Nc5-b3 or ...Nc5-d3,
and steers the knight towards the b4-hole. Another win is posted, this time by
LeCroq of France over Schwetlick, who had also lost to Osipov. Schwetlick has
strangely hung a mate in an otherwise even position. Clearly the chess gods
were with me because, while LeCroq also now had two wins, both he and Osipov
now had tie breakers hurt by the fact that both had defeated the same person!
With the outcome of this game still uncertain, I suddenly had the best tie
breaker. If all 40 remaining games were to end in a draw, I would now win the
tournament outright even without a win in this game.. . but I never felt
comfortable, knowing that anyone's additional win would crunch my chances. } 84... g5 85. Na2 Bh7 86. Kh2 Bg8 87. Kg1 { There are lines where White's king belongs on
the queenside as prelude to the rooks relocating to the h-file. Meanwhile,
White's king can cut off black's queen from any entry squares on the kingside. } 87... Kd6 88. Bg6 Rbb8 89. Rh2 Qa7 90. Kf1 Nd3 91. Nc1 Nc5 92. Na2 { Russia attacked
the Ukraine around this time, and the ICCF soon thereafter required all
Russians to play under a neutral flag. I forwarded my move with a message of
peace. Osipov, a former Cosmonaut, did not respond. } 92... Nd3 { The repetition will
puzzle readers. It's a correspondence game, after all. But I was relatively
low on time, and this gains time on the clock. And psychologically, we both
now know that I am playing to win and that he is happy to draw. } 93. Nc1 { Sadly, the lines with } (93. Nb4 Nxb4 94. axb4 { offer no winning chances. }) 93... Nc5 94. Qe3 Nb3 95. Qe1 Qd4 96. Bh5 Rc8 97. Nxb3 axb3 98. Rd2 Qa7 99. Rd1 Bf7 100. Be2 { Finally reaching move 100, and avoiding the bishop exchange.
There are still plenty of ideas, but they now depend upon an aggressive role
on the queenside for white's bishop. } 100... Be8 101. g4 { Played so very reluctantly.
There were so many lines in which White's king or queen could infiltrate via
the g4- and h5-squares. My hopes are dwindling, relying now on infiltration
down the h-file and a well timed a3-a4. } 101... Bd7 102. Kg2 Qc5 103. Rh3 Ra4 104. hxg5 hxg5 105. Rh6 Rf8 106. Qc3 b4 { Necessary, but good enough to draw. } 107. axb4 Qxb4 108. Qxb4+ Rxb4 109. Kf3 Ra4 110. Rc1 Ra2 111. Rxc4 Rxb2 112. Rb4 Rc8 113. Rb6+ Kc5 114. Rhxf6 Rh8 115. Rh6 Rxh6 116. Rxh6 { A pawn ahead, which
looks great on the board but sadly not on the scoresheet. } 116... Rc2 117. Rh1 b2 118. f6 Be8 119. Bd3 Rc3 { Offering a draw. Over-the-board, play would go on. The
position remains complex and the lines quite fun. Readers should test their
own mettle here. One of the lines even involves two promotions followed by a
quick perpetual check. But we faced a clear path to a draw, and by now, there
were only two games left in motion. The tournament did indeed end with 47
consecutive draws, leaving me in first place with the best tiebreaks! Surely,
I missed a win here somewhere. That will continue to haunt me - the desire for
an extra dose of legitimacy - but ultimately it does not matter! The collusion
in mid-tournament did not determine the winner. Finally after more than two
years of 12 hour chess days, I can put my feet up, enjoy the engraved silver
platter, and buy a lottery ticket! } (120. Ke2 Rc1 121. Rd1 Kd4 122. Bb1+ Kc3 123. Rd3+ Kb4 124. Rd1) 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]
