Round 2

The Catalan lives off the g2 bishop. Black grabs the pawn with 6...dxc4 and tries to hold it with ...a6 and ...b5, White answers 8.a4 and takes it back with 9.Qxc4. That is the standard bargain: White spends a tempo, Black gives up a pawn structure without weaknesses. After that the real theme of the game starts, the fight for the long diagonal from a8 to h1.

The black bishop tours 8...Bd7 9...Bc6 10...Bd5 11...Be4, chasing the white queen in front of it. Most players would now play 12.Qb3, which looks active and eyes b7. Sebastian plays 12.Qc1, a move you have to look for at the board: on c1 the queen blocks nothing, it has not really left the c-file, and above all it will not lose another tempo when the bishop comes again. It is the best move in the position.

The lesson: a retreat is not an admission. When an enemy piece chases you with tempo, find the square where it can never hit you again, even if that square looks ugly. Two moves later the reward arrives: 14.Nc3 and 15.Bxf3 trade the bishops on Sebastian's terms.

Black has freed himself with 16...Nd7 and 18...e5, and White has to choose. The move played is 19.d5, the break. After 19...cxd5 20.Nxd5 Nxd5 21.Rxd5 the position is practically level, all the tension is gone.

I would have preferred 19.Bg2 or 19.Ne4 here. Both keep the tension, leave the d4 pawn where it is and hold on to a small but real edge. The difference is not half a pawn, but it exists. For an olympiad match on board one the decision is still understandable: a dry position against a 2453 player is not a bad deal when you know your patience is the longer one. That is exactly how it went.

What you can take home: a pawn break in the centre always resolves the position, in both directions. Ask first whether you can still win the resulting position or only still not lose it. When both answers are the same, prefer the move that keeps the tension.

From move 26 something happens that is far too rare in club chess: nothing happens. 26.Qc3, 27.Ra4, 28.Rc4, 30.Rd4, 31.Rc4, 32.h3, 33.Rc8. The rook looks for the best file, the king steps to safety with 29.Kg2, the pawns are prepared. Not a single move hangs anything, not a single move gives anything away, and with every move Black's job gets more unpleasant.

That is exactly what this way of playing aims at. After 33.Rc8 h5 and 34.b4 Qe6 Black has twice in a row left squares he needed to hold, and the small edge is suddenly a real one. In the diagram 35.g4 wins most clearly, because the h5 pawn drops while the rook on c8 owns the eighth rank. What was played is 35.Qc5, followed by 36.Qc3 Qe6 37.Qc5, a repetition.

As a coach I am of two minds about that. Objectively 35.g4 was the move, and after 36...Qe6 it was available a second time and did not come either. Practically, repeating moves in a clearly better position is a proven way to gain time on the clock and let the opponent stew, and Sebastian never lost the thread afterwards. Remember both halves: take the chance when it comes, but do not lose your head when you only repeat once.

With 40.Qxe7 the queens come off, and what is left is exactly the ending the whole game was heading for: rook and bishop against rook and knight, pawns on both wings, and an open position. That combination almost always favours the bishop, because from one square it serves both wings, while the knight needs three moves for every switch.

Then comes the second ingredient: 42.Ke2 43.Rd4 44.Kd2 45.Kc3, the king walks to the centre. In an endgame the king is a piece, and whoever puts it in the middle first wins most of the duels. Black had to fight back with 46...Kg5, what was played is 46...Rc6, and after 47.Kd4 the position is decided: the king on d4 controls e4, c5 and e5 at the same time.

Not everything afterwards was perfect. After 50.Rf7+ Kg5 the straight road was 51.Rh7, and 51.Rd7 gave the opponent air once more. Such moments belong to every long ending. What matters is that the position was built so that one inaccuracy cost nothing.

Look at the king on e5. It is not standing in safety, it is standing in the attack, and that is exactly why the game is over here. With 57.Be2+ and 58.Ke5 White has pushed the black king to the edge, and now comes 60.g4, the best move: after 60...fxg4 61.Bxg4 the bishop has a free road, and the black pawns on b7, a6 and g6 are all weak.

The rest is harvest. 63.Rxb7 takes the first pawn, 65.Ke5 brings the king back to its best square, 66.Bf5 takes the last squares from the black king, and after 66...Rh2 67.Rxg6+ Black resigned, because behind the rook the b4 and a5 pawns simply run.

The rule for your own endings: activate the king first, then start the pawns, in that order. A pawn advance without the king behind it is usually just an object to be collected in a rook ending.