Raymond Keene vs William Hartston (1968)

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Raymond Keene vs William Hartston
Slater Young Masters (1968), Southend-on-Sea ENG, Sep-??
King's Indian Attack: Symmetrical Defense (A05) · 1-0

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

a

1

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

White to move.

ANALYSIS [x]

Notes by Raymond Keene. I am convinced that the best move in this and similar positions is ...Bg4 with the intention of capturing on f3 and setting up a solid barrier of pawns in the centre.I saw no reason to waste time preserving the g2-bishop from exchange. I felt that Black’s light squares would be more likely to suffer than White’s if such an exchange occurred.11...a5! followed by ...Na6 is more active. The text impairs the freedom of movement of Black’s queen.13...e5 14 cxd5 cxd5 15 Qb1 Qb8 16 c4 would still be better for White but not quite so overwhelming as the text.Since this leads to almost immediate disaster it might have been more advisable to allow White to play e5, although Black would then be in some danger of gradual suffocation.A radical method of breaking White’s grip on d6, but otherwise Nc4 followed by b4 and moving rooks to the d-file would be fatal for Black. Not 18 a4? b5! and Black equalises. If now 18...Bf8 then 19 h4! so Black must play ...c5 to avoid losing a pawn.Now Black has weak light squares, a bad bishop and vulnerable points in the d-file. It is remarkable how swiftly White’s pieces are able to seize all the key posts and occupy their naturally attractive squares.Black has no good move available and must now lose at least the exchange. The only way of putting up any further resistance. The remainder of the game is fairly simple, if lengthy, technique and requires little comment.It says much for Hartston that even in this hopeless situation he continues to play the best move available.1-0

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1

FEN COPIED

Annotations by Raymond Keene. [405 more games annotated by Keene]

explore this opening	find similar games	22 more Keene/W Hartston games
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Sep-30-08		jerseybob: Great game by Keene, but not sure I like black's play in moves 8-10. Is trading that bishop really worth all the effort? And afterward black's game just seems so sterile.

Mar-24-09		ray keene: hartston seemed attracted by this bishop trade-see one of my other wins against him here on chessgames.com where he carried out a highly similar manoeuvre

Aug-14-11		ToTheDeath: Keene gives 18...Bf8 19.h4. I don't understand the point of this move. Maybe he means 19.a4? Good game.

Aug-14-11		DrMAL: <ToTheDeath> Yes, Keene was much more of politician than some chess great. First, 18.a4 is basically as good as 18.a3 with slight advantage to white, the line he gives is weak. Second, the best here is probably 18.Nc4 but it's difficult to determine since all three are fine (and not worth annotating on anyway).

Aug-14-11		ray keene: it shd read 18...Bf8 19 b4! i think the transcriber mistook my b for an h.

Aug-14-11		ToTheDeath: Cheers Ray. That makes sense.

Aug-15-11		DrMAL: Yes, I figured the line after 18.a3 was 18...Bf8 19.b5 c5 point being that this was better than 18...c5?! played, not a justification for it. Also, after 18.a4 black must similarly play 18...b5 (not 18...c5 either). After this, 19.axb5 cxb5 20.Qxc8 and either way black takes, white takes back then goes up a pawn. 18.a4 was about as good as 18.a3 it did not deserve a question mark. 18.Nc4 was probably best anyway, after this 18...Qc7 or 18...Qb8 or even 18...Re6 and 19.a4 is coming with the knight strongly posted on c4 for a sizable advantage. In any event, it was a nice game, thanx to GM Keene for sharing it, cheers.

Aug-15-11		DrMAL: Oops, I meant to write 19.b4 instead of 19.b5 above, sometimes I have difficulty transcribing my own lines! LOL. In any event, my apology for any rudeness it's just that 18.a4 did not deserve a question mark (this was just plain wrong) and also that the move 18.a3 was not justified by 18...c5?! a clear mistake. Finally, yes, 18.a3 was a good move but 18.a4 was also and 18.Nc4 (never mentioned) was probably best.

Aug-15-11		ray keene: in such positions you have to be careful of winning a pawn but then ending up with all the pawns on the same side of the board-with a hard to win endgame-or winning the exchange but allowing counterplay-my intention was to strangle the life out of the black position hence 18a3 which i wd still play.

Aug-15-11		DrMAL: Yes, Ray, I agree with that. The endgame after all the exchanges with 18.a4 is not very promising even with the extra pawn. But with 18.a4 it still is not "equalized" nor a bad move. Like I wrote, 18.a3 was a good move one of the two best, with 18.a4 also a good (lesser) alternative. I still think 18.Nc4 was probably even better but both this and 18.a3 are "best" to accomplish what you point out and I for one appreciate your honest reply, thanx, cheers.

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