Back in 1988 from March 28 to April 5, Oakham School was the venue for a 52-player Swiss tournament that was won by James Howell who scored 7.5-1.5.
Boris Gelfand, Michael Adams, Lasha Dzhandzhava and Lucas Brunner scored 6.5-2.5. Plus scores were achieved by: Ivan Sokolov, Jon Arnason, David Norwood, Grigory Serper, Matthgew Sadler, Tibor Fogarasi and Catalin Navrotescu.
Oakham is in the East Midlands of England, 28 miles south-east of Nottingham and in the 2011 census it had a population of 10,922. The town has one of Europe's largest man-made lakes and a castle famous for its collection of ceremonial horseshoes; since the late Middle Ages, every time a peer of the realm visits Oakham for the first time they are bound to present a horseshoe to the lord of the manor.
The following game between Ivan Sokolov and Lucas Brunner was mentioned in the notes in his book Winning Chess Middlegames: An Essential Guide to Pawn Structures under the heading of playing with an isolated Pawn in a position he designates as Structure 2.5.
In his book Sokolov wrote that isolated Pawn structures arise from different openings (Tarrasch Defence and Semi-Tarrasch, Queen's Gambit Accepted, Queen's Gambit Declined, Nimzo-lndian Defence, Meran Variation, Ragozin
Variation, Petroff Defence, etc.) and are therefore very important positions to understand, regardless of the opening preferences a player may have.
In addition to explaining the main strategic ideas of different isolate d-Pawn structures okolov also presents a lot of information about the openings played. He flatly states that if the reader takes enough time to study these positions he should be well-armed to meet a number of variations in practical play.
If you’re interested in this book you can take a gander inside it on Amazon, but before buying it you should also take a look at the reader reviews to see if the book might be helpful. Check it out
Ivan Sokolov (born June 13, 1968) was originally from Yugoslavia and won the 1988 Yugoslav Championship. In 1995 and 1998 he won the Dutch Championship. He currently lives in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates where he is head coach at the Abu Dhabi Chess And Cultural Club.
Lucas Brunner (born May 29, 1967) is a Swiss GM. He moved to West Germany as a child where he won the German U20 Championship and earned his IM title in 1986. He returned to Switzerland in 1990 and became the first Swiss-born GM when he achieved the title in 1994, the same year he won the Swiss Championship.
[Event "Oakham Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1988.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ivan Sokolov"]
[Black "Lucas Brunner"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]
%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
{Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5
6. cxd5 {According to Sokolov white has better chances if he takes on d5
rather that allowing black to play ...dxc4. Now black must make an important
strategic decision: capture with the P or the N. If he takes with the P white
can start a serious K-side attack. The most frequently seen move for white is
now 6.Nf3.} 6... exd5 {This is the correct way to recapture as taking with the
N has not turned out well for black in practice. A few players have tried
recapturing with the Q, but that move has always ended with black losing time
because of his exposed Q.} 7. Nge2 {Sokolov used to play this type of
P-structure a lot in his early days. White's K-side N is placed on e2 rather
than on f3. Both plans have pros and cons, but based on his experience he
believed the N is better on f3.} 7... c5 8. a3 cxd4 {Sokolov believes
8...Bxc3+ is a wrong decision here, since white soon develops a strong K-side
attack similar to what he does inthe game after 9.bxc3.} 9. exd4 {White's N is
now very well placed on e2 as it allows white to plan a strong K-side attack..
.} 9... Bd6 10. O-O Nc6 11. Bc2 {In Semkov-Hernandez, Thessaloniki 1988 black
played the interesting 11...Bg4 and got a favorable position. The most solid
move is probably 11...Re8 which Josef Pinter used to get a draw against
Korchnoi at Haninge 1988.} 11... h6 12. Qd3 {This B ad Q battery is frequently
seen in these types of positions.} 12... Re8 13. f3 {Sokolov seems to leave
the impression that black is strategically lost in this position, but in my
database against 2400+ opposition black has won two of the three games in
which this position was reached.} 13... Ne7 14. g4 {This is a typical
P-advance in these positions and it's a useful idea to remember. White is
advancing his Ps on the K-side gaining space and soon developing what Sokolov
referred to as a deadly attack and noted that it will be rather difficult for
black to create serious counterplay. } 14... Ng6 {Stockfish isn't the least
bit worried here as it's evaluation is that the position is dead equal.} 15.
Kh1 {This move makes way for the R to support the advance of the g-Pawn.}
15... Bc7 {Preparting to attack h2.} 16. Bd2 {Now Stockfish prefers the
esoteric ...a5, ...b6 and ...Ba6.} 16... Qd6 17. Rf2 Bd7 18. Rg1 {White
prepares the advance g5. All white's pieces are now transferred to the K-side
and ready to attack. Black's position has slipped to being slightly
unfavorable without his having made any obvious mistakes. Was Stockfish
correct that black missed a chance to keep things equal on move 16, or is
Sokolov's positional understanding such that he knows that in the long run
these types of positions are likely to turn out favorable for white?} 18...
Qe6 19. g5 hxg5 20. Bxg5 Bc6 21. Rfg2 {White has a dangerous attack, while
black's counterplay is nowhere to be found. Sokolov observed that black has
taken a wrong strategic course at the start of the game and now loses without
making any serious mistakes.} 21... Kf8 22. Qd2 Qh3 {Actually, Sokolov wasn't
quite correct. ..this is a serious mistake that loses almost instantly
although even after the better 22...Nh5 black remains in serious trouble. It's
doubtful that black could save the game no matter what.} 23. Bxg6 {White now
removes the King's only defenders.} 23... fxg6 24. Bxf6 gxf6 25. Nf4 Qxf3 26.
Nxg6+ Kf7 27. Nh4 {The game is decided.} 27... Qh5 28. Rg7+ Kf8 29. Rxc7 {Not
that it matters, but white has a mate in 10 beginning with 29.Ne4!} 29...
Qxh4 30. Qg2 Qh8 31. Rg7 Qh5 32. Qg3 Rad8 33. Qf4 {Black gave up.} 1-0
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