C. Lawton-M.Khachiyan, US Championship, St. Louis 2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0–0 9.0–0–0 Be6 10.Nxe6 fxe6 11.Bh6 Rc8 12.Bxg7 Kxg7 13.h4 Qa5 14.Kb1 Ne5 15.Nb5 Qxd2 16.Rxd2 Nc6 17.Bc4 a6 18.Nc3 Kf7 19.a3 Ne5 20.Bb3 Nc4 21.Bxc4 Rxc4 22.Ne2 b5 23.b3 Rc5 24.Nf4 e5 25.Nd3 Rcc8 26.Kb2 Nd7 27.Nb4 a5 28.Nd5 Rc5 29.Rd3 Rfc8 30.Rc3 e6 31.Rxc5 Rxc5 32.Ne3 Nb6 33.h5 g5 34.Ng4 Nd7 35.Ne3 Nf6 36.Rd1 Ke7 37.g4 Nd7

After 37 pairs of moves, White, who is the second lowest-seeded player (USCF: 2350) in this year’s edition of the US Championship is poised to upset his esteemed opponent with a likely draw. His next move, however, starts the unraveling of his slightly weakened edifice.

38.Rd3

Position after 38.Rd3

The move looks very motivated as it serves a number of purposes hoping to implement White's best interest. Firstly, if allowed, he wants to force the exchange of rooks on c3 securing the draw even faster. Secondly, the rook on d3 appears active on the half-open file and will be ready to defend the backward pawn on f3 if necessary by simply moving the knight away. Thirdly, it discourages Black from liquidating his own backward d-pawn with advantage, if successful, by inching it one square forward to d5.

A better alternative is 38.Rd2 leaving Black with a negligible advantage, but White should easily maintain the balance and force the grandmaster to concede a draw as long as he does not allow both the significance of the event and the wide rating gap to overwhelm him. Black's only reason to play on from this drawn position is his ability to change the pawn structure with ...d5. Rybka analysis confirms this assessment to be correct.

We often hear the sage advice to play the position and not the opponent. I would not label any advice as “sage” if only to disrespect it. But being particularly aware of the exceptions shows even more wisdom. In a mismatch contest, the lower-rated player is best served if he plays the position as well as the player. Playing the position alone is not enough because the grandmaster as in this instance is equipped with advance skills not likely to be matched by yours.

You have to play in constant awareness of who your opponent is as it forces you to be more cautious as you normally would if you were just playing strictly the position. It is my contention that it will actually make you play the position better because now you will bring into your considerations the fact that your higher-rated player will naturally make you doubt your confidence by probing your position incessantly. Also, being aware that your slight inaccuracy will be punished mercilessly and swiftly would usually heighten your nose’s ability to smell dangers in the air. It would not make you play the position any better than you could but only much safer than you normally would. I think the advice to “play the position and not the player” works better for the higher-rated player.

38...Rc8

What a clever response from the grandmaster aimed at subverting White’s plan. If White insists with his plan, Black will play ...Rf8 (see diagram below) attacking the backward f-pawn, which forces the knight to a bad square thereby removing its influence in the center. The f-pawn is temporarily immune to abuse by the rook because of a discover attack against it with Nd5+, but after ...Nc5 and ...Kd7, the pawn will truly be in danger.

 Analysis Diagram: Position after 38...Rf8

39.c4

Hoping to create a majority, White rushed with this inaccuracy, which Black exploited immediately. Grandmasters are quick and alert to inaccuracies; you cannot afford to give them any without exposing your position to peril.

 Position after 39.c4

39...Nc5

With his last move, he seized the initiative and followed up with a masterful display of endgame technique to exact the point. The rook has only two safe squares to save its life. 

40.Rd1

A good square for the rook to be is 40.Rd2, if White wishes to put up a fight. But even here Black's advantage is beyond dispute.

40...Rb8

With the move, Black is guaranteed to win a pawn and shatter White's majority. There is a lot that is going on in this endgame. It will benefit the industrious reader who studies this endgame deeper on his own. The main reason for including this as example is to highlight the point that when playing with titled players especially those belonging to the grandmaster class, one cannot be careless even in seemingly drawn positions. These players possess other advance skills unmatched by yours that can steal the game from you by simply playing on and waiting for even the slightest inaccuracy like an infinitesimal crack from which they can shatter your entire armor to pieces.

41.Ka2

White really wants to take on c4 with the knight, but the b-pawn will be exposed to a combined attack from the rook and knight. Also, he will be unable to defend the pawn with Rd3 since the d3-square has become inhospitable to the rook with the knight sternly watching it. Not possible is 41.b4 when Black gets two pleasant options in 41...axb4 and 41...bxc4 with either one leading to a winning advantage.

41...bxc4 42.Nxc4 Rxb3 43.Nxa5 Rxf3

 Position after 43...Rxf3

After dissolving the base of the pawn chain, Black will have no problem feasting on White's remaining pawns on the kingside. The game concluded: