SC Week 5/3: Vogt - Andersson, Havana 1975 (Half-Open Files)

 "Half-open files do not need entry points. The naturally generate pressure."

Michael Stean





Notes and Observations


Andersson is willing to soak up early pressure to get the long-term strategic advantages of a pawn majority in the centre and the potential for a minority attack in on the queenside.


23 … Rc4 forces White into the difficult choice of leaving Black to occupy the square - Andersson’s rook playing across the fourth rank to the kingside - or giving up c3 as a permanent outpost.


27 c4 rids White of one outpost but 27 … dxc3 en passant gets another in return. Black occupies b4 with a bishop and then a rook … which plays across the fourth rank hitting the weak pawn on f4.



Reminder

White’s Sicilian pawn formation of c2-c3-b4, with an outpost on c3 secured by a Black pawn on b4 can also be seen in Matulovic - Fischer, Vinkovci 1968.


Comments

  1. 14. Qb8 surprised me - not a candidate move that would pop into my head - I was assuming e5 would become a weakness if I take and go Nd7 but it the two bishops immediately cause problems - maybe the way to this Qb8 move is through process of elimination if first two choices are not working what else is there
    19... g6, 20 h5 and then h4 - an instructive manoeuvre to first fix the f4 pawn (through g6) and then after h3 isolate the weakened f4 pawn further (through h4) taking away a base of support - in these situations I would also be trying to weigh up the relative weakness of the h4 pawn e.g. it's on the same colour square as the white bishop
    31 … Rc8- one of those positions where I would struggle in a game to find a move – Black’s pieces seem so well placed and White is tied down but how to exploit this? Rc8 – a backwards move looks to attack the b3 weakness from the front as it is not easy to get behind the pawn – but in the end it’s the weaknesses on two sides of the board that decide the matter. I was also continually on the look out for b4, b5 pushes etc but the tactics stop it – you just have to calculate that ….
    The closing comments about pawn structure are really instructive – particularly how the central pawn majority provides an outpost – ‘fundamentally favourable’ reminds me of Larsen’s view that the Open Sicilian is a pawn structure concession by White.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your contribution.

      I agree that ... Qb8 is a difficult spot. Retreating along a diagonal where it can be taken anyway - rather than moving off it - seems unnatural somehow.

      Good point about the h4-pawn too. I've lost this pawn in similar positions.

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