Sarana vs Bogner

Up to here everything is theory or one step beyond it. The Nimzo-Indian with 4.Qc2 and 6.Qxc3 leaves White the bishop pair but gives Black the structure to play against the pawns with the break ...f5. Sebastian did just that, traded the knights with 15...Nxe5, built the queenside up with 17...Qe7 and 18...c5, and stands here after 21.Be2 with a small deficit that can be held with ...g5, ...b6 or ...Rfd8. All three of them keep both wings open for whatever White decides to do next.

21...c4 commits. The pawn on c4 can be dislodged by b3 or b4, but as long as White does not do it, the whole queenside front is shut. That decides which side has time: White has as much as he likes, Black has only the clock. The alternative 21...g5 22.Rac1 c4 23.Rd4 g4 24.g3 places the same pawn in the centre after the kingside has been opened first, and White has both wings to think about at once. The difference is the order, not the idea.

The rule behind it: a move that permanently commits a pawn structure belongs to the side that has time. Whoever stands worse keeps his options open as long as he can. Only after the opponent has decided does one decide oneself.

From move thirty to move thirty-seven, Black made seven moves without gaining anything. The king shuttled Kf7 Ke8 Kf7 Ke8 Kf7 Ke8, with ...h5 in the middle and then Kf7 Ke8 once more. In the same seven moves White walked his own king from g1 to a2 out of reach of any counterplay. At the end of it Black stood on exactly the same board as before, with four minutes less on the clock.

The square where Black could have bought back some time was b5. The move ...b5 opens the queenside file, turns the bishop on c6 into a useful piece and forces White the one question he does not want to answer, whether to take the pawn and open lines or to wait and let Black become active. The continuation 34...b5 35.Qb6 Rc8 36.Qc5 Ke8 37.Kc2 leaves White a full pawn ahead, but Black has a piece back in the game that one has to reckon with.

The rule: in a worse and closed position the plan matters more than the move. Whoever has no plan has no move, and what he plays instead is time gone and position worse. The move that carries a plan costs thought, but thought spent on a move without a plan is thought entirely lost.

The position is three pawns worse, but it still stands. The rook on h3 is offside, the king on e8 has no cover, yet White has no immediate threat and the fortieth move brings half an hour with it. Whoever keeps his head here has a chance to play move forty-one with time on the clock.

The move that keeps the game alive is 40...Bd7 41.gxf5 gxf5 42.Rg5. The bishop stays next to the king, the rook on h3 can find its way back later, and White still has to build a whole second attack. 40...Rh8 also came into question, because it brings the stranded rook home. What did not work: the rook on d8 to d7. 40...Rd7 puts one's own cover on a square the bishop needs, and clears the eighth rank at the same time. At the other end of that rank sits the queen on a5, and it will come down to a8. The rest is calculation: 41.gxf5 gxf5 42.e4 dxe4 43.Qa8+, and that is the last move a spectator has to work through.

The rule for the last seconds before move forty: the move that serves the king or the piece right next to it comes first. Active moves into the opponent's attack belong to the side with time. Whoever does not have the time defends first and activates afterwards, once he has reached move forty-one.