[Event "French League Top 16"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/mo4VBDTR"]
[Date "2005.05.07"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Alexander Grischuk"]
[Black "Christian Bauer"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/NoseKnowsAll"]
[BlackElo "2640"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[ECO "?"]
[FEN "r3k2r/pp1qbp1p/1np1ppb1/8/3P3N/1BP2QP1/PP1B1P1P/R3K2R w KQkq - 1 15"]
[Opening "?"]
[SetUp "1"]
[Termination "Normal"]
[UTCDate "2022.02.04"]
[UTCTime "18:10:24"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[WhiteElo "2724"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]

{ We join a Scandinavian game played by none other than GM Alexander Grischuk. His GM opponent in this position is slightly worse because of the doubled f pawns, but if black can castle queenside and use the open g file for an attack on white's king, this position is not so bad. } 15. O-O f5 $6 { Unnecessary. Now the bishop on g6, which was already held captive by the h4 knight, is trapped by its own pawn. Since the f5 pawn is not fixed on f5, the g6 bishop is not yet a "bad" bishop, but it is currently doing nothing productive. } 16. Ng2 Nd5 17. Nf4 { Grischuk wisely blockades the f5 pawn so that the bishop on g6 remains inactive. } 17... O-O-O 18. Rfe1 Nxf4 $6 { It is unwise to trade your active pieces away and leave yourself with bad pieces! The more pieces get taken off the board, the more important this bad bishop on g6 becomes! } ( 18... Bd6 $5 19. Kg2 Nf6 20. Kg1 Kb8 21. Kg2 Ka8 22. Kg1 Bxf4 23. Bxf4 Bh5 $16 { This could have been a last desperate attempt to improve the bishop. Even here though, the bishop on h5 is hardly an active piece. } ) 19. Bxf4 Bd6 20. Bxd6 Qxd6 { Bauer is desperate to play f4 and get a little activity against white's king, but Grischuk is quick to stop this idea. } 21. Re5 $1 { f4 is stopped for good. The g6 bishop is looking worse and worse. } ( 21. Kg2 $2 f4 $1 $14 { And black's bishop sees the light of day. White still has the more active army, but this will at least be a game. } ) 21... Kb8 ( 21... f4 $2 22. Qxf4 $16 { Yes f4 can technically be played, but that's simply a free pawn for no compensation. } ) 22. Bc4 { Essentially up a piece, white can now slowly improve each piece to its optimal square before landing a decisive blow. } 22... Rhe8 23. Rae1 { Stopping f6. Black cannot break out of this dark square bind. } 23... Re7 24. b4 { Stopping c5 forever too. Grischuk slowly removes possible options from his opponent. } 24... Rc7 $2 ( 24... Rde8 $5 { Renewing the idea of f6 to break out is best. } 25. Qf4 $1 { Stopping the idea again. } 25... f6 26. Rxf5 e5 27. dxe5 fxe5 28. Qh6 Rd7 29. Rf3 $16 { This complicated line shows Bauer's last chance to break out: sacrifice a pawn just to activate the bishop and get a bad ending. } ) 25. h4 $1 { Threatening to trap the poor bishop. } 25... h5 { A sad necessity. Now the bishop on g6 can never use the h5 square either. More pawns fixed on light squares... } 26. a4 Qf8 27. Qf4 $1 { Grischuk already recognizes that black's best attempt is to play f4 even at the cost of a pawn. He doesn't give his opponent the opportunity to do even this.
At this point, the bad bishop is more of a tall pawn than a bishop. } 27... Rdc8 28. Bf1 Bh7 29. Be2 Bg6 30. Bf3 Ka8 { With Grischuk's pieces optimally placed, he begins an all-out assault on black's king. } 31. b5 $1 Qa3 32. a5 $1 cxb5 ( 32... Qxa5 $2 33. bxc6 $18 { [%cal Re5a5] } ) 33. Rxb5 a6 34. Rxb7 $1 { Carnage ensues on black's king, while the g6 bishop is helplessly passive. } 34... Rxb7 35. Rb1 Qe7 ( 35... Rb8 $2 36. Qc7 $18 { [%cal Gc7b7,Gf3a8,Gb1b7] } ) 36. Rxb7 Qxb7 37. Bxb7+ Kxb7 { Having now won a decisive amount of material, the rest is easy. } 38. Qd6 { [%cal Gd6b6] } 38... Rc6 39. Qb4+ Kc8 40. f4 $18 { Black resigned recognizing that his bad bishop will never escape from its cage. } 1-0