Englishman Luke McShane is currently one of the youngest Grandmasters in the world, on par with young talents GM Teimour Radjabov of Baku, Azerbaijan and GM Bu Xiangxi of China. This is one of his most recent games, in the toughest league in chess, the German Bundesliga. 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 The French Defense. Black wants to immediately undermine White's central presence, at the cost of shutting in his light-squared B. The French is an extremely solid reply to 1. e4. 3.Nd2 The Tarrasch variation of the French Defense. White wants to avoid the sharper Winawer after 3. Nc3 Bb4, and steers the game to more quiet waters. 3...Be7!? preparing ...c5 [3...c5 is the most popular, and complicated, response to the Tarrasch. Black immediately tries to destroy White's ideal pawn center. ] 4.e5 White wants to gain space while he can. Black on the other hand, wants to begin play against d4 with the idea of undermining the support of the space-giving e5 pawn. 4...c5 5.Qg4!
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A characteristicly sharp move in several variations of the French, most notably the "French Poisoned Pawn." White is protecting his weak spot on d4 while probing the loose g7 square. [5.dxc5 Bxc5= The central pawn exchange all but acheives Black's plan for him! The pawn on e5 is left without support while Black has a nice-looking bishop on c5.] 5...g5 Black makes this move with the faith that White will be unable to make use of the weak spot it creates on f6, and tries to gain some space of his own on the kingside. 6.Qh5? White's idea is two-fold; now the g8 knight becomes a "problem" piece and white can continue development with additional pressure on g5. However, the cost White pays is in time: he has taken two moves to relocate his most vulnerable piece from d1 to h5. Further, he loses valuable support of d4. 6...Nc6 piling on central pressure, as Black has strived to do throughout the game. [the immediate 6...cxd4 is by all means possible, and leads to a fine game for Black.] 7.Ngf3 cxd4 Black's plan now involves undermining the e5 stronghold and eventually freeing his g8 Knight and e7 Bishop 8.Nb3 Qc7
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Black's new target is e5. With the fine Bishop on e7 and Queen on c7, Black also wants to dominate the dark squares. 9.Bxg5? White's mistake is subtle; he allows for mass-exchanges that substantially free Black's position. [better for White was 9.Bb5 with an absolute pin agains the king 9...Bd7 10.Bxc6 bxc6+/=] 9...Nxe5! [9...Bxg5? 10.Qxg5 likely wins for White after, for example: 10...Nge7 11.Nbxd4 Nxd4 12.Nxd4 retaining an extra pawn 12...Rg8 13.Qh5 Bd7 14.f4+-] 10.Bxe7 Nxf3+ 11.Qxf3 Qe5+!
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Rather than simply recapturing the Bishop, Black wants to position his Queen strongly as to protect his central pawn mass, especially his weak extra pawn on d4. 12.Be2 Nxe7=/+ Black has opened the position and gained a pawn. He certainly looks to have solved his opening problems: the "bad" bishop and the knight that was presenting problems, and was successful in undermining White's central presence. 13.0-0-0 White wants to reclaim his pawn, and the best way to do that is to attack the weak d4 square: why not accomplish this while protecting the king and preparing to storm the weakened kingside with pawns? 13...Qg5+! making room for ...e5, protecting the d4 square. Black doesn't want to make it so easy for White to equalize! 14.Kb1 e5
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15.Bb5+ Kf8 16.Rde1 a6 17.Bf1 Bf5 18.h4 Qg6 19.Rxe5 Bxc2+ Black has played some subtle inaccuracies, like 16...a6 and 17...Bf5. Still, he retains an appreciable advantage due to his ability to hold on the pawn and actively place his Queen and Bishop. Fritz evaluates this position as a "clear advantage for Black," or -/+, but the outcome, in my humble opinion, is still far from clear. 20.Ka1-/+
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20...Be4? The first major turning point in the battle. White has been in some trouble over the last 10 or so moves, but this move probably restores equilibrium. How can this be? [The answer is that after 20...Be4 21.Qf4 Black's bishop is out of escape squares. 21...Rg8 is the best try, threatening White's queen after an eventual f3 and trying to gain some compensation down the g-file. 22.f3 Qg3 23.Qxg3 Rxg3 24.fxe4. This is probably equal due to Black's compensatory central pawns, and Fritz claims equilibrium with 24...Re3, though I certainly wouldn't want to be sitting behind the Black pieces after giving up a clear advantage! ] 21.Qf4= White finds the right response to Black's ill-advised one move threat. 21...Nc6?? Black sees that this seemingly good move forces the Rook of its strong square. Indeed, White may keep a small edge after 22. Rg5 (the only move that doesn't lose the Rook or the exchange), by keeping Black off the dangerous semi-open g-file. White, however, finds a much better reply. 22.h5!+-
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White has bigger fish to fry than Black's bishop. This clever move actually traps Black's queen. If she tries to escape to g7 or g7, then Rg5 wins easily. It may seem that 22...Qd6 is o.k. for Black, but the clever response 23. Re8+! with a discovered attack agianst the Queen just wins for White.
Summary: Due to White's inaccurate play, Black completed his plan relatively early in the opening. Even after a mistake that allowed White equality (20...Be4?), Black could probably go on to claim a draw soon enough. However, he miscalculated badly on move 22, first missing that the Bishop and later the Queen would be trapped. This represents a good lesson: Black misevaluated White's response his 20th move and completely missed White's excellent 22. h5!. While playing, put yourself in your opponent's shoes and try to imagine what you would play as a response to the move you want to make. Also, try to stick with a good plan throughout the game: here, it seems that Black lost touch and White was beginning to slip away even before the killer tactical shot on the last move. 1-0